"As best I can tell, he'd received intel directly from Dr. Allrest before Tsuyo's personal goon squad snatched him off Jericho." Pike lounged in a chair as his boss paced back and forth like a caged animal.

"Yes, but why was he there?" Wellington snapped. "He get's intel reports every time that ship enters a system. Does he chase every single one of them?"

"I couldn't say, sir."

"It was a rhetorical question, you jackass," Wellington said. "So he goes blazing in there and blows your cover. Now McKellar and Marcum know that we know about their dirty little secret."

"Not necessarily, sir." Pike yawned. He'd been unable to get any sleep since as soon as the Broadhead entered the system, the Senator lit up his com panel with orders for him to dock and take him aboard. Apparently Wellington had been waiting for some time for him to show up.

"They have no idea which Broadhead this is. There are seventeen in operation and only ten belong to the CIS... For all they know, it could have been a civilian spy. Either way, it was unlikely I was going to sneak out undetected. Once I landed, they activated an orbital LIDAR array and had space pretty well blanketed. I think one of those new boomers might have observed my entry."

"I guess it's all academic now," Wellington said. "I'm surprised we haven't seen a general alert go out for the apprehension of Wolfe. Marcum must be playing this very close to the vest."

"Or they haven't decided the best way to go about it," Pike said. "They know Wolfe is very single-minded about rallying a sizeable force to the Frontier to try and stop what looks to be a significant Phage offensive. He's not stupid enough to let them board the Ares and he may decide to just let them play their games while he goes directly to Admiral Pitt to lobby for more ships."

"He did manage to secure the release of both Black Fleet battlegroups," Wellington said with a nod. "He's been rather aggressive in his attempts to stay out of the politics on Haven. McKellar may be of a mind to just let him go and hope anyone he raves to will just ignore him. Despite everything he's done in the last few years, the old resentments don't die easily-there are still a lot of people in the Fleet who aren't too fond of Captain Jackson Wolfe."

"He's not unaware of that fact," Pike said. "But he doesn't care. He's been looked down on his entire time in service to the Confederate Starfleet. He's quite an odd man in that he's fighting harder than everyone else to protect a group of people who couldn't care less that he even exists."

"Takes all kinds, I suppose," Wellington said with forced disinterest. He seemed to take any mention of the blatant bigotry within the Confederacy toward Earth as an indictment of him personally. "Has the director stopped bugging you about reporting on me now that you've been officially detached to my office?"

"He's not happy about the posting, but he's a political animal. He'll honor the agreement. When I'm sent back to the CIS, however, I'm likely to be thrown into a cell for prolonged interrogation," Pike said. "I'm actually only half-joking about that."

"He can shove it," Wellington said. "He deserves no less for trying to infiltrate my office to being with... what's that?"

An incessant beeping had been coming from one of the terminals on the Broadhead's flight deck. It had been getting louder, but Pike had originally intended to ignore it completely.

"No idea." He groaned slightly as he climbed out of the comfortable seat. "Shit! I guess I have no chance of actually getting any sleep anytime this month."

"What are you blathering on about?" Wellington demanded from where he stood in the ship's small lounge area.

"The Ares has just arrived in-system," Pike said. "I take it you'd like me to arrange a meeting?"

"Tell Wolfe to keep to the perimeter, and we'll be docking with him shortly," Wellington confirmed. "And you can sleep on the way back to Haven when you drop me off."

"I wasn't aware I was going back to Haven," Pike muttered under his breath as he brought the ship's com system fully online.

"Transponder is active, Captain," Lieutenant Hayashi said. "We should know pretty quick if any orders to detain the Ares came out of the Ark System."

"Understood, Lieutenant," Jackson said. "Nav, give me a course that clears the area. I want to fly a wide lap around the edge of the system."

"Aye, sir. Sending it to the helm now."

"Helm, you're clear to engage the main engines," Jackson said. "Ahead one half."

"Ahead one half, aye."

The trip into the Columbiana System had been tense. Nearly twenty-six days of warp flight while being completely isolated, not knowing if they were flying back to be arrested or, worse yet, if a couple of those Dreadnought-class battleships had decided to make the trip to Columbiana to wait on them as it was the only logical destination for them.

During the long flight, Jackson ran through every conceivable scenario in his head as to why elements of the Confederate government would be hiding on an unknown, uncharted planet under com-silence protocols. The obvious answer was to maintain some semblance of a working government in the face of the first serious push by the Phage into Terran space, but six brand new battleships loitering in the area made Jackson think there may be more to the story than that.

The entire remainder of the Fleet only had three true battleships after the Dao had been lost over Xi'an. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't shake the feeling that the Ark represented a profound betrayal on the part of the people who had sworn to do whatever necessary to protect and serve their citizens.

"Captain, coded message coming in. Text only," Lieutenant Keller said after over four hours of creeping around the edge of the system.

"Send it to my terminal, Lieutenant," Jackson said. Once he entered the decryption key, he could only roll his eyes.

Wolfe, Senator Wellington wants a face-to-face with you. So far no news out of that star system regarding you or your ship. Maintain current course and speed, and we'll come alongside.

Pike He trusted the quirky CIS spook well enough to know that he wasn't trying to sneak his way aboard just to try and arrest him and assume command of the Ares. The fact that he had Senator Wellington on gave Jackson some small amount of hope. It went a long way to confirm what Pike had said earlier... and that Wellington had nothing to do with what was happening in that hidden star system. If the Senator wanted a meeting with him, perhaps he was about to be given some more answers about what he'd found.

"Helm, steady as she goes. Engines to zero thrust."

"Zero thrust, aye," the helmsman said. "Maintaining current heading and velocity."

In the time it took for the Broadhead to come alongside the destroyer, Jackson had already ordered his crew back to normal watches and had a full six hours of sleep. He was now dressed in a fresh uniform and standing down at the port airlock as the technicians cycled the safety locks before opening the hatch.

"Attention on deck!" Jackson snapped.

Senator Wellington was a civilian, so Jackson didn't salute as he crossed the threshold onto the Ares, but he was a powerful member of the Fleet subcommittee and a man Jackson had grudgingly come to respect, so at least a little bit of ceremony for the man was in order.

"You honor me, Captain," Wellington said as he recovered from the surprise. "All of you, thank you."

"If you and your aide would follow me, sir, we can go somewhere secure to talk." Jackson lead the pair out of the area while his spacers remained at attention.

"Captain Wolfe, would you be so kind as to order your location beacon off?" Aston Lynch asked, looking bored as he walked along the corridor. "The Senator does not wish this meeting to be public knowledge."

"Of course, Mr. Lynch." Jackson pulled his comlink out and called the bridge to give the order.

After a short trip up to the command deck, Jackson decided to hold the impromptu meeting with one of the most powerful men in the Confederacy in his own office, instead of the conference room.

"Let's get to the point, Captain." Wellington sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. "I want to know what the hell you were doing in that system."

Jackson had come to expect such brusqueness from his many encounters with the Senator and understood that it wasn't meant to be demeaning.

"Dr. Eugene Allrest managed to sneak himself aboard this ship before we were dispatched by Admiral Pitt to try and get Black Fleet's two battlegroups away from New America," Jackson began as he opened the wall safe behind the desk. "He turned over information that he felt I needed, information indicating that there were factions within the government on Haven that didn't think the war was winnable. He told me the political drama with New America and Britannia was little more than a contrived distraction to keep the legislative body in upheaval." Jackson pulled the data card Allrest had given him out of the safe before shutting it and sitting in his seat.

"He also gave me this." He tossed the card to Pike. "It contains all of the current research on the Phage, things the Fleet commanders need to know."

"Was there anything else?" Wellington asked.

"Yes, sir," Jackson said. "He told me about the planet they were calling the Ark' and said it was vitally important that I know what was happening there as well as mentioning that the much-hyped super-weapon against the Phage doesn't actually exist."

"Little bastard sure spilled his guts," Wellington grumbled. "Why trust you?"

"Likely due to the underserved reputation I've gotten in the public's mind thanks to the dramatic portrayals of the first Xi'an incident, sir."

Wellington just looked at him through narrow eyes. "I like you, Wolfe," he said finally. "I don't have to mince words or drag answers out of you. Even if I'm not going to like them, you just toss it on the table. So we know that Marcum and McKellar are involved, or at least they're the Confederate representatives involved in what's likely something cooked up by the Board."

"Do you really think Tsuyo would be involved with this other than just a supplier?" Jackson asked.

"That's one problem with your aversion to politics, Captain," Wellington said. "You're woefully ignorant of the realities in the Senate... and on Haven in general. Tsuyo's board of directors makes most of the major decisions in the legislature via proxy votes from all the senators they're able to buy.

"In the good old days before the Phage, when we didn't have anything to do but harvest resources, colonize uninhabited worlds, and entertain ourselves with meaningless political posturing, it was all just harmless fun. Now that the species is facing its first serious threat, or at least one that isn't itself, things aren't quite so jolly. So no, it wouldn't surprise me if the analytical bastards have calculated the odds of success and have determined that their best bet is to select those who can be in the lifeboat and leave the rest of us to our fate."

"So the Ark is exactly what it sounds like?" Jackson asked. "They'll hide out there and just hope this new threat blows over or that they can wait it out?

"Or the off chance that the Fleet will be able to hold them at the Frontier," Pike said. "But they won't be wasting' resources by shoring up beyond what's already been sent."

The confirmation of his worst suspicions caused a hard, cold lump to form in his stomach. He had to swallow hard before continuing.

"So I take it the people of Podere will not be getting any help to hold off the Phage?" he asked.

The pair in front of his desk shared an uncomfortable look.

"What?"

"Son, Podere is gone," Wellington said softly. "Word came in a week ago that the Phage moved in with four Charlie constructs and wiped them out. There's nothing left of the planet, and Eighth Fleet lost six ships before they called for a general retreat."

This time Jackson could stop himself. He leaned back and grabbed the garbage can, vomiting what little there was in his stomach into the bin.

"That was much the same reaction we had," Pike said without a trace of his usual sardonic humor.

"Please excuse me," Jackson said once he'd recovered.

He knew how the Charlie ships worked on an intellectual level, but to know they'd already been used on a populated planet, a planet with terrified and helpless humans on the surface... it made his head swim, and he felt like he might either be sick again or simply pass out.

"Don't lose it on us, Captain," Pike said seriously. "We need you clear headed and firing on all thrusters."

Never had Jackson felt so inadequate, so out of his depth. "What the hell use can one ship be against something that eats planets?"

"We need a plan, Captain," Wellington insisted. "The Prowler we had in the area has let us know that the Phage armada is slowly mobilizing toward the Nuovo Patria jump point. What practical defense can we offer the millions of people on that planet?"

"With only Ninth Squadron and the two Black Fleet battlegroups?" Jackson asked incredulously. "Assuming they can even get there in time, not a whole hell of a lot."

"What else is there?" Wellington pressed.

Jackson tried to slow the spinning of his mind and really see what options were in front of him. Twenty-one ships from Seventh Fleet simply weren't going to do it, no matter how unorthodox the tactics or how lucky they got.

"We need to deny the Charlies orbit over Nuovo Patria." The wisps of a plan started to coalesce in his mind. "But a simple blockade won't work. We don't have the numbers or the sheer firepower it would take to repel the Alphas and Bravos that will fly in with them."

"That's fairly obvious," Pike said. "So how do we accomplish that?"

"We need to focus on the Charlies themselves," Jackson said. "Every formulaic strategy that's come out of the academy dictates that an inferior force needs to dig in against superior numbers and play a defensive game, make the enemy come to you. While that allows us to choose the exact nature of the engagement, it won't work here. Those Alphas will blow through us like smoke and clear a path to a defenseless planet. If we can take out one or two of those Charlies, then we deny them the use of their primary weapon."

"But the Alphas are capable of wiping out the surface on their own," Wellington pointed out.

"I'm not so certain, sir. From what I've seen, and what Allrest's data confirms, I think that first Alpha was a special type and not normally deployed within large formations. The fact they even bring Charlies at all when they have dozens of Alphas in the same system backs that up." Jackson waved away the distinction between the two known Alpha types. "While that's an interesting side topic, let's not chase that right now and just assume that any Alphas we encounter can't effectively wipe out the surface. If they can, we're screwed anyway so there's no point planning around it."

"Blunt enough," Wellington said. "So where do we start?"

"I'm going to need to override the access protocol on the com drone network in order to gain Fleet-wide access," Jackson said.

"Is that all?" Wellington asked sarcastically.

"For starters."

"I never realized how cramped these were inside," Jackson commented from the copilot's seat of the Broadhead. "You spend months at a time in here?"

"Confined spaces are the least of my worries in my line of work, Captain," Pike said.

The pair had left the Ares running silent near the edge of the system and had flown down to the com drone platform that was in heliocentric orbit between the fourth and fifth planets, the Broadhead running in full stealth mode for the trip.

"I can imagine." Jackson idly looked over the expansive control and instrument panel in front of him, most of it controlling technology he'd never even heard rumors of.

They remained silent for the remainder of the seven hour flight as Jackson worked on his tile and Pike concentrated on flying a course that avoided coming close to the heavy traffic in the Columbiana System. The capital world of New America had no shortage of Fourth Fleet warships, civilian cargo haulers, and intersystem mining ships. Jackson had just put his tile away when he saw a single speck of light moving faster against the unmoving stars as they continued down into the system.

"That's it," Pike confirmed. "We'll come in behind it and then give the first override order before our final approach, so it doesn't squawk an alarm at these Fourth Fleet frigates nearby."

"And then we can just dock to the maintenance hatch?" Jackson asked.

"More or less. This isn't even the first time I've done this."

"Really?"

"The best way to intercept a message or monitor communications within a system is to come right to the source." Pike shrugged. "I've spent many, many hours sitting on one of these platforms. It's actually fairly nice inside, and the platform is one of those things everybody knows is there but almost universally ignores."

The platform was simply enormous. It was at least three times the size of a fleet carrier and festooned with antennas and specialized capture and launch apparatuses that snagged, refueled, and redeployed com drones as needed, all without a single human onboard. Most platforms were not so large, but since this one sat in orbit above the capital of the largest enclave, it had to be able to handle the substantial amount of com traffic.

The Broadhead automatically recognized the docking collar near the middle of the platform and guided itself to a soft dock with hardly a bump to announce their arrival. A few seconds later, the computer verified that it had established a hard connection, the mooring clamps were attached, and the airlock was being flooded with atmosphere. Now that his plan was coming up to the part where he would be required to perform, Jackson felt the familiar butterflies in his stomach. He grabbed his tile and followed Pike off the flight deck and down the short, narrow corridor to the ship's starboard airlock.

"Once we do this, we're going to have to get the hell out of here... fast," Pike warned. "I can override the initial security measures to allow you the access you need, but once this thing starts launching drones, everyone in the system will know something is amiss. I can't stop the platform from answering a direct query from any of those Fourth Fleet ships, so if we're not in the ship and departing, it's completely possible they could lock us in."

"We'll be fine," Jackson said with a confidence he didn't feel.

"I know you don't see it, but you have to believe you're vital to this effort." Pike stopped at the airlock to face him.

"No single person is vital." Jackson wanted to stop the conversation before it started. "If I'm good enough to get everyone moving in the right direction, then this won't have been wasted time."

Pike looked like he wanted to say more but just shrugged and opened the airlock hatch. "We'll be going through the crew living area and then directly to the operations terminals two decks up."

He hadn't been exaggerating when he said "living area." Jackson was thoroughly surprised at just how plush the accommodations were as they passed through a well-appointed lounge area. To his left, there were two berthing bays with multiple racks and between those a galley that looked like it could feed fifty crewmembers easily.

"Why bother with all this for a station that was always meant to be completely automated?" Jackson asked.