"Captain Wolfe, the automated defenses have indeed been reactivated." Amiri's voice came over the bridge speakers with sporadic weapons fire punctuating his words. "It was done discreetly. My tech had to dig deep to find out, and he is unable to shut them down. The station personnel know we're here, and they are systematically reclaiming control. The Marines are mostly content to leave us trapped in here... for now. Please advise, sir."

Jackson's original plan had been to have his Marines aboard the Ares take one of the two assault shuttles over and give the NOVA teams enough breathing room to disengage and withdraw, but with the orbiting facility regaining the ability to defend itself, that was no longer an option. He couldn't even get the Ares in close enough without opening fire on the weapons emplacements. Worse yet, the stranded Black Fleet ships now couldn't leave dock without being fired upon.

"Tell him to stay where he is and not to risk any direct contact with the Marines unless they have no choice." Jackson resisted the urge to punch a hole in his monitor. "Helm, all reverse one quarter. Cut our forward velocity by fifty percent, and then go no-thrust. We need some time to sort this out."

"All astern one quarter, aye." The helmsman made the adjustments.

"Coms, send a flash message to the Icarus. Tell Commander Wright to wait until the Fourth Fleet ships cross the halfway mark, then stand down and make best time for the Haven jump point," Jackson said. "Tell her not to wait for us. If she doesn't hear otherwise, she's to take the Icarus back to Jericho Station."

"Message going out now, sir," Keller said. "Standard encryption via the high-power array."

"What are our options now, sir?" Davis asked.

"Not many, Lieutenant," Jackson admitted. "Not without destabilizing the Confederacy. We could blast our ships out of New Sierra, but that would galvanize the position of New America and Britannia. It'd be plausible they would secede, and we'd be without the two most powerful enclaves on the eve of an all out war with the Phage."

"With all due respect, Captain," Hayashi spoke up. "New America fired the first shots when they denied our ships free passage."

"Understood, Ensign," Jackson said. "But that will matter little if the end result is a fractured humanity before an enemy that cares for nothing except our annihilation."

"Things would go so much more smoothly without dipshit politicians fucking everything up," Chief Green said from where he stood near the hatchway. "Sir."

"Let's all agree that things have gone sideways on this mission and move past that," Jackson said sharply. "Complaining about the situation doesn't solve it. I want options. Can we get our people out without demolishing fifteen percent of humanity's ship building capability? Can they get out on their own? Get your backshops involved, and get me some answers. You have one hour."

Three hours later, and they were no closer to a solution than when they started. The only options were to abandon the Black Fleet ships and the NOVA teams at the shipyard or go in hot and risk damaging an irreplaceable resource, damaging the Ares herself, and getting a lot of good people killed. Halfway through the conversation, Jackson knew what his next course of action would be, but they were many hours away from New Sierra still, so he let his crew try and work through the problem, if nothing else, then for an exercise in problem solving.

"Lieutenant Keller, send a com request to the New Sierra government," Jackson said as the conversation hit another lull. "Tell them I wish to discuss the terms of our withdrawal."

"Aye, sir," Keller said.

"So we're going to cut our losses and bug out, sir?" Davis asked.

"We're going to try and agree to terms with the regional government of this system," Jackson said sternly. "New America is still a member state of the Confederacy until I'm otherwise notified. This was supposed to be a discreet intervention in which we would be flying out before anyone realized we'd been here. That plan is obviously scrapped, so now it's time to open official channels and talk this out before someone does something that can't be walked back. We already have a handful of dead troops on that construction platform."

"Sir, a Governor Tellaride is responding to our request," Keller said. "His confirmation codes check out with our database."

"Put him through," Jackson said.

They were now close enough to the planet that there was a significant, but workable lag in communications. The governor had opted for high-bandwidth video coms, and Ensign Hayashi put him on the main display. A video transcript of the conversation would almost certainly be used in the hearing he was sure to be called into for this stunt.

"Captain Wolfe," Tellaride said with a polite nod. "I'd always hoped to meet you one day, obviously under much different circumstances. May I ask why you've now decided to make contact with us?"

"Governor Tellaride, I'd like to speak plainly about this incident so there are no misunderstandings," Jackson said. "I'd like to offer my sincerest apologies for the aborted salvage operation that has taken place in your star system. Currently we are standing down and will negotiate with you directly. As a show of good faith, I'd ask that you also have the Fourth Fleet warships in the system stand down."

Tellaride stared at him for a moment before nodding to someone off screen.

"An interesting choice of words, Captain," he said. "We appear to have different definitions of the term salvage.'"

"Recovery effort, if you prefer." Jackson kept his irritation in check. "Whatever the term, let's be clear that we're here to secure the release of sixteen Seventh Fleet ships currently being held illegally in the docks of the New Sierra Shipyards."

"Plainly spoken indeed," Tellaride said. "An argument could be made about the legalities of the situation..." The governor trailed off as someone handed him a tile. Without another word, or even a look to Jackson, the channel was terminated.

"What the hell?" Jackson muttered.

"Com drone has just appeared on sensors," Barrett said. "It came in from Haven jump point."

"Incoming transmissions from the drone addressed for the Ares, Captain," Keller reported a moment later.

"Sort and store them, Lieutenant," Jackson said. "They can wait until we see what this is all about."

"Com channel request coming in, sir," Keller said after a few more minutes of tense waiting. "Same address as before."

"Put it through."

"Captain Wolfe, I am Administrator Hoff," an officious looking elderly man said. "Governor Tellaride has been called away on a matter of utmost urgency and asked me to relay his message to you."

"A potential civil war within a Confederate star system isn't the most pressing matter the governor has?" Jackson asked in disbelief.

"We have issued an immediate recall of all Fourth Fleet warships currently in the DeLonges System," Hoff went on, ignoring Jackson. "The security force on the New Sierra Shipyards platform has been ordered to stand down and allow the invading force safe passage to the nearest docked Seventh Fleet vessel. Furthermore, all Seventh Fleet vessels are being commanded to prepare to leave dock. They will be towed out of orbit as quickly as can be managed. Afterward, all Seventh Fleet ships are requested to depart the system. Are these terms acceptable to you, Captain?"

"They are," Jackson said. "We will halt our approach to New Sierra, and I will order my other ship to leave orbit over DeLonges and form up on the Ares."

"An appreciated gesture, Captain," Hoff said, almost sneering.

The channel again terminated abruptly but, despite the rudeness, Jackson blew out a sigh of relief.

"Nav, I want a heliocentric course that maintains our current distance and orientation to New Sierra. I want to chase it around the primary star," Jackson said. "Plot it, and send it to the helm."

"Aye aye, sir."

"Coms, issue the recall order to the Icarus, and try to get in contact with both NOVA teams. Send all classified com traffic to my office, Lieutenant Davis, you have the bridge."

"I have the bridge, sir," Davis said to Jackson's departing back.

"Hopefully this message finds you not engaged in a running battle with a full Fourth Fleet squadron," Pike's voice said from the terminal speakers. "I dispatched this com drone as soon as I found out New America had discovered you'd been deployed to recover the two battlegroups from New Sierra. They'd hoped to goad you into some rash action that could be used as leverage in the Senate. Willington thinks you're too smart for that. I figured I'd better send a message anyway.

"I also needed to tell you that Dr. Allrest has disappeared. I'm actively trying to find him, and the fact that I can't lets me know that something fairly horrible has likely happed to him. I know he thought he was being sneaky-hitching a ride onto the Ares to talk to you-but I'm afraid he's not quite the spy he thought he was. Whatever he gave you must be radioactive... I wouldn't take it as an insult if you were to share that information."

"I'll bet you wouldn't," Jackson said with a snort.

"If my sources are to be trusted, I'm guessing that the regional governor has suddenly decided releasing the Black Fleet ships was in his best interest. I'm including official orders from Admiral Pitt in this packet to get them deployed to the Frontier. The Phage have continued to build up in the Xi'an System and have been spotted in the Oplotom System. It doesn't take a xenopsychologist to figure out they're following the same path as the first Alpha. I've put all the data in there... I trust your judgment on the enemy's behavior more than I do that of our scientific community. I'll deny I ever said that if you quote me, of course."

"Oh how I love these little conversations you sneaky, back-stabbing little bastard," Jackson remarked to the ceiling of his office.

"In all seriousness, Jack... something is going on here on Haven," Pike continued somberly. "People are being extra careful to hide their movements, and behavior patterns established over years of observation are suddenly changing. These aren't coincidences, and unfortunately, they're keeping me running from one end of Terran space to the other instead of keeping tabs on the enemy." Jackson was vigorously rubbing his scalp, glaring at the likeness of the CIS spook that never could seem to deliver good news.

"Keep the Ares off the grid, and no matter what, do not bring that ship back to Haven. If my suspicions are correct, whoever grabbed Allrest will know that you've been alerted in some way. Getting rid of a starship captain, even one as infamous as you, isn't likely to give them any pause. You'll probably want to keep the Icarus out there too, even if orders come in to the contrary. The committee has picked some politically acceptable replacement as CO for that ship, and I think you're better off keeping Wright in that seat. That's all I have on my end. Keep me in the loop on the com drone net's backdoor channels. When this is all over, we're going to sit and have a drink of real Kentucky bourbon, and no, I don't give a shit about your newfound sobriety. Pike out."

Jackson leaned back for a moment and absorbed everything that was said in what was another of Pike's whirlwind messages. When he checked the rest of the inbound messages, sure enough, a recall order for the Icarus was included in there as well as orders putting Commander Wright back on the Ares as Executive Officer. The rest was some raw data from Pike on Phage movements and what they'd been doing in the Oplotom System.

The first Alpha had already wiped all human life off Oplotom's surface, so there wasn't a lot to defend there, but from what he could see they just seemed to be milling around the sixth planet. He made a mental note to come back to that and dig into the detailed files.

Rising from his chair, he locked the hatch to his office and then went to his wall safe. Inside, underneath a few other illicit items, was the data card that Allrest had given him before they'd departed Haven. Sitting back down, he turned the card over and over in his hand, trying to take a few guesses at how bad the news on it was, before sliding it into his terminal.

As it turned out, his worst fears were wildly conservative.

The video quality of the message labeled "play first" on the data card was quite poor, and Jackson could soon make out that Allrest was holding a portable camera and sitting in what appeared to be a restroom stall. The scientist looked pallid and in a near panic as he stopped twice just before he started to speak, tilting his head to listen for a moment. All Jackson could make out in the audio was that he appeared to have turned on the basin faucet and left it running as background noise. Jackson just shook his head. Any surveillance specialist worth a damn would easily be able to filter out such a steady noise, but Allrest was a researcher, not a spy.

"Captain Wolfe, I don't have much time, and I don't know who I can trust. I hope that this message, and the accompanying data, will be useful to you. As you're about to see... the Phage are only one front in a war that will determine the fate of the human species."

Chapter 14.

"You've expressed to some of my colleagues a frustration in the apparent lack of progress being made in preparation for the coming battle with the Phage," Allrest said, his voice a harsh whisper. "Although that in and of itself isn't much to go on, I have no other options, and my time has run out. I'm putting all my trust in you, Captain, and I am hoping that it isn't misplaced." Allrest was fidgety in the video and Jackson could see the man probably hadn't slept in days. What in the hell had him so spooked?

"In addition to this message, the data card I will have handed you contains a complete record of my research up to this point. This research is incredibly restricted, so I've had to assemble it in pieces over the last few weeks. The data brought back from the second battle of Xi'an and your sojourn into Phage controlled space allowed me to complete my predictive models and in the process, revealed a bit more about the nature of our enemy.

"CENTCOM and Haven don't want it widely known, but despite their seeming refusal to communicate and their acceptance of horrific losses in pursuit of their goals, the Phage are possibly one of the most advanced life forms we've ever encountered. They are not mindless beasts. They possess a terrible and profound intelligence, but it has a significant weakness that could possibly be exploited: they utilize an aggregate processing model to make decisions-the "hive mind" you were previously briefed on-but far more profound than that term would imply." A sound off-screen made Allrest freeze like a prey animal and cock his head, listening for a moment before plunging ahead in an even softer voice.

"Each Phage added to a cluster will increase the intelligence of this group-mind. Larger units, of course, have more brain power than their smaller counterparts. The Alpha you first encountered was unique in that it contained more than fifty times the neural mass of any we've seen since, able to make its own decisions and interpret your actions against it."

"I wonder why we aren't being given this data as it becomes available," a voice muttered in the darkened briefing room.

"Quiet," Jackson said sharply. He'd already watched Allrest's message twice, so now he was watching his officers' reactions as they viewed it for the first time.

"There is also strong evidence that the range of this collective consciousness is finite." Allrest's recorded likeness pressed on. "I can't give you an exact distance, but from what I've been able to tell, it's roughly two-thousand AU. I'm sure I don't need to tell you the issue with that range... It easily encompasses most of our colonized star systems. Part of my research has been trying to find out the exact method of this instantaneous communication and develop a way to disrupt it. It was to be humanity's secret weapon when we finally made a concerted stand against the Phage encroachment.

"What you need to know, Captain, is that I was unsuccessful in my efforts. There is no secret weapon being finalized in a Tsuyo lab somewhere. That was all bluster for the media and the politicians that don't already know. As of this moment, we have no way to disrupt, or even understand, Phage communications, other than the empirical evidence that it exists."

Jackson watched the faces around the table in the dim light, their reactions morphing from initial shock to scowls of irritation to cover their fear.

"There are those who are well aware of how inadequate our efforts have been in trying to understand this strange species," Allrest said, the perspective of the video shifting wildly as he appeared to stand up and look around. "I'm also embedding astronomical coordinates in the data you'll be receiving. These coordinates are likely the most closely guarded secret in Terran space right now, but I don't think you'll be happy when you see what it is. I can speak no further... Look at the data, and please think of a way to utilize it. You and your crew pulled off a miracle once. Maybe you can do it again."

The video ended, and the lights in the room came up slowly. All the officers looked around the table uncomfortably while waiting for Jackson to speak.

"The data didn't contain exact details of what's at these coordinates." Jackson stood to address them. "But from the references in the material and a list of what's been going to and coming from the planet, I can take a pretty good guess. It's a planet that they're simply calling the Ark.'"

"While I'm no expert on ancient Earth mythology, I'm guessing it's not simply a reference to a generic boat," Singh said.

"Not that I can tell," Jackson said. "I'm making all of Allrest's data available to those in this room, conditionally for now, so consider it classified-your eyes only. When we have more information, we'll discuss wider dissemination. It seems this planet is a closely guarded secret and a failsafe if the worst happens. They've been moving material and personnel to the planet for the last three years as a lifeboat for the species if we're unable to stop the Phage."

"That seems only prudent," Lieutenant Davis said.

"I would agree if it wasn't for the fact that some of the communications that were included on the data card indicate that the Ark has now become Plan A for a powerful group within the Senate," Jackson said. "They do not feel that we have any real chance against a serious offensive from the Phage. Allrest was privy to quite a bit as he was being actively recruited to relocate to the Ark. In fact, I suspect that he was probably abducted since not even the CIS can find a trace of him right now. From what I can tell, there has been a massive diversion of material and personnel from CENTCOM. It seems like they're more than willing to let the Asianic Union and the Warsaw Alliance worlds fall."

"What do we plan to do with this information, Captain?" Major Ortiz asked.

"We don't have the necessary navigation data to jump directly to the Ark," Jackson said. "We'll have to fly through the Columbiana System and then out from there. Right now, we concentrate on getting the rest of the Black Fleet ships out of dock and heading back to Haven, and then we're going on a little fact finding mission. Dismissed."

"Have a seat, Dr. Tanaka." Jackson didn't look up from his tile as the Tsuyo scientist was escorted into the office by Commander Singh and Major Ortiz.

"I am beginning to suspect this meeting request is not social in nature." Tanaka laughed uncomfortably, looking over his shoulder at his unsmiling companions.

"We will be flying into harm's way directly from this star system," Jackson said, ignoring his discomfort. "Obviously you're far too valuable to risk having aboard, and I'm sure Tsuyo would like to get you back as quickly as possible. We'll be transferring you to the Chesapeake shortly. You'll be taken directly back to Haven aboard her."

Tanaka seemed to deflate with relief, and a small smile played across his face, confirming Jackson's suspicion the man had no desire to visit the Frontier aboard a combat vessel. Now it was time to drop the hammer while his guard was down.

"However, you will not be permitted to disembark the Ares until you do something for me," Jackson said.

"Anything within my capability, of course, Captain," Tanaka said carefully.

"You will take my Chief Engineer, get into the restricted equipment aboard this ship, and disable all the Tsuyo failsafes that allow you to remotely control this vessel," Jackson said calmly.

The progression of emotions on the doctor's face was almost comical. Tanaka was a scientist, not a politician or salesman, and he was simply incapable of keeping the truth off his face.

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean, Captain," he said slowly.

"I think you do," Jackson said. "You were one of the project principles for the Starwolf-class and know every bolt, every rivet by name. Please don't make me do this the hard way, Doctor. I'm backed into a corner and I am desperate."

On cue, Ortiz shuffled beside Tanaka, crossing his muscular arms over his equally impressive chest, looking down at the scientist meaningfully.

"You cannot possibly mean to threaten me with physical violence!" Tanaka said indignantly.

"I mean to get the answers I require," Jackson said sternly. "We know that these ships were deployed with systems onboard that would allow remote access to disable our weapons, shut down the drives, or even take control and lock the crew out completely. I want them uninstalled."

This was actually a bluff. The only evidence he had that these systems even existed was a vague warning from Dr. Allrest in the data dump he'd received and Daya Singh's educated guess when he'd tried to ascertain what certain avionics boxes were for when he saw that they had been tied into all their major systems.

"Are you denying that Tsuyo Corporation installed such equipment on this ship? Are you prepared to offer me that lie as a defense?"

The internal battle Tanaka waged with himself in his own mind was playing out plainly on his face, so Jackson sat and waited.

"The fact you have knowledge of these security provisions constitutes a breach of contract between Tsuyo and CENTCOM," Tanaka finally said, deciding to go on the offensive, and unwittingly confirming Jackson's accusations and Singh's intuition.

"Doctor, listen to me," Jackson said gently. "We've long passed the point of contractual obligations and legalities. The fate of the human species is at stake here, and unfortunately I can say that without a hint of hyperbole. There are also elements within CENTCOM and the Senate who may not have our best interests at heart... I have to know I can take this ship, and her crew, into battle without the risk of interference from some politically connected officer with an ulterior motive. Will you please help us?"

Jackson's change in tactics once again confused the doctor, but he was finally able to reach a decision.

"Do you swear on your life, on the memory of your ancestors, that you will do everything in your power to stop the Phage?" Tanaka asked. "Do you promise you'll never quit, no matter the cost?"

"No matter the cost," Jackson said firmly.