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  The woman nodded. "Unfortunately yes, Admiral, but the 'echo' we are getting from behind it is massive. We're sending your operators the feed now."

  Gail looked troubled. "Admiral, if they are using that scanner shadow, then the Lizards know how our hyperspace scanners work and what their weakness' are."

  Yolinar nodded. "Confirmed or not, if this track proves real, they will emerge within two light hours of Hyclarion. Lieutenant," Yolinar said looking at Gail's scanner operator. "If your scanners are true, how large would the fleet have to be in order for you to detect it in this manner?"

  "Massive Admiral. The computer is having a hard time predicting the number and type of ships because the mass readings are so large. Something on the order of two thousand super-destroyers or twice that number of destroyers. Sir, we're talking about the mass of a dwarf planet."

  "I understand, Lieutenant. Very good work. Do you have an estimate of arrival?" Yolinar asked.

  She shook her head. "Impossible to calculate at the moment, Sir. However, I would say less than twelve hours."

  Yolinar nodded. "Based on what assumption?"

  "The probe fleet we are tracking; if we assume the Lizards believe we can't see their main force and are moving the probe fleet in as a diversion, I would assume the main fleet would pass the Mass shortly after the probe fleet arrives here. Once that fleet gets close enough, it should be assumed that the General will have committed the bulk of our forces to repelling the probe fleet, leaving both our systems open to attack from the other fleet," the operator explained.

  Both Yolinar and Gail nodded agreement with her analysis of the data. "If they drop out and turn after passing the Mass, they could be in Terran orbit in three hours." Yolinar agreed. "Let us give them a gift. General Greenwold, I am officially requesting control of four of your outer system hyper-launchers for a two-hour fire mission."

  "Of course, Admiral!" Gail replied and looked up to locate the commander of the system defense network. "Colonel Forbes! Join us for a moment?"

  The man looked surprised, but immediately ran down to join the General. "Yes Sir?"

  Gail nodded to the hologram of the Admiral. "Admiral Yolinar has a fire mission for some of your out-system missile launchers. This is an official Imperial Military mission. Please, follow his orders for this mission."

  The man nodded his understanding. When Gail told him it was an Imperial Military mission, that meant that for the time being, Admiral Yolinar had direct and final authority of their use.

  The Colonel faced the Admiral. "Sir, what can we do for you?"

  "I need you to fire your missiles for detonation at predetermined coordinates in the F'orindante Mass. Payloads will be type nine enhanced antimatter," Yolinar replied.

  The colonel went pale at the mention of the largest warhead in the Imperial arsenal. "Yes Sir, single or volley fire?"

  "Four launchers single shots, but reload and stand by for new coordinates. We're going to move the Mass," Yolinar smiled grimly.

  Gail chuckled. "Remind me never to piss you off, Admiral!" She looked at the Colonel, "We need to bring more fire power to bear on the inbound probe ships. I need you to ruin their day."

  The officer nodded his head and used his tablet to issue the orders for the two missions.

  "Operations, except for pickets, move the rest of our defenders to Indigo sector. If any of those ships make it past the launchers, we'll have to stop them far enough out to prevent scans of the inner system. What's the status of the Aegis station?"

  "Aegis One is currently still in route to the Indigo sector. E.T.A. is twenty minutes, but they are powering up their weapons and have their shield system on warm standby," came the reply.

  Gail had divided up the system into defense sectors and named them with colors. Indigo was the outer system sector closest to the incoming probe ships, but furthest from where the big fleet would arrive if it turned toward Terra. There were five more of the Aegis stations planned, but the next one was still under construction. The Aegis project was for the construction of six massive, heavily armed and armored battle stations that could defend entire quadrants of the system. The design of each of these stations was such that they could stand toe to toe with Lizard super-destroyers and hold them until reinforcements arrived. They were massively expensive to build, very slow to move, and had the energy signature of a small star. They had every weapon and defensive system known, and a few experimental ones installed on them as well. Aegis One had only been commissioned and in operation for three weeks and was still technically in a shake-down mode.

  The nature of hyperspace fields prevented direct damage to a ship traveling through hyperspace. The payloads for the hyperspace missiles were not exactly explosive in nature. What they did was create a very short term, very intense gravity well in close proximity to the ship while still in hyperspace. A hyperspace field could not operate in 'heavy' gravity. Every star system had what was called a 'transit limit'; a point at which gravity became too strong for the field to form that was based on the overall mass of the system and the parent star or stars. The exact specifications of each ship's field generators varied based on ship mass and generator strength. The hyperspace missiles, or hyper-missiles, created a very short-term gravity well that was far stronger than any generator could overcome.

  When the missile 'detonated' and created the gravity well, the hyperspace field for the ship collapsed which dropped it out of hyperspace without reduction of speed. Einstein took care of the rest; relativity can be a real bitch.

  The problem with the whole system was targeting. Firing a hyper-missile at a target in hyperspace was like trying to hit a bullet with another, smaller, bullet.

  "General, Aegis One has a hard lock on fifteen inbound targets; six super-destroyers and eight destroyers. They are requesting weapons free."

  Gail was surprised by the request since the big station was still ten minutes from its destination. However, hard lock meant a greater than ninety percent accuracy on the missiles.

  "If they can hit them, they can have them. Permission granted!" Gail replied.

  "Aegis One is hot and bothered. Issuing a system warning," the operator replied.

  "I look forward to the day when we get those stations here," Yolinar replied nodding. "They are a very formidable defense platform."

  Gail agreed. "Yes, but they are still experimental. We'll just have to see how well they work." She thought for a moment. "Admiral, do you remember how the Lizards trapped the First Guardian fleet?"

  "Yes, I remember," Yolinar replied, but frowned. That loss still bothered him.

  "I've been thinking about that as well as a few other incidents since the beginning of this war. I think the Lizards have our transponder codes," Gail replied.

  "What? How do you think this?" he asked urgently.

  Gail smiled sadly. "How did the Lizards even know the First Guardians were there? That rendezvous was far from any habitable worlds, and well off the standard shipping lanes. Have you noticed that they seem to shift their forces only hours after we move our forces?" Gail shook her head. "Even with Conti feeding them information, it would take longer than that to react. No, from what I'm seeing here, they have to know exactly where our forces are."

  Yolinar nodded. "This has been bothering me as well. Your explanation is the only one that fits the circumstances we have observed. The only problem is that we have over a million assets that will need to have their transponders altered."

  "Yeah, it's gonna be a nightmare to change, but the alternative would be much worse," Gail replied. "If it's just a programming issue, the local engineers should be able to handle it. We just need to get new codes issued out to them to program in."

  Yolinar shook his head. "The ship's engineering staff do not have access to those devices. It's a holdover from the early days of the Empire when we had crews turning pirate and stealing our ships. Transponder module modifications have to be performed in a dry dock."

  Gail nodded. "I'll make
a note to speak to the shipwrights about this. Does the Empire wish this to remain a dry-dock only function, AI access only, or allow the engineers access as well?"

  Yolinar shook his head. "That isn't a decision I can make on my own. I will discuss it with his Majesty and give you an answer. This has a high priority; I will get that answer for you quickly."

  "I understand, Admiral. I'll make what arrangements I can until then," Gail replied.

  "Aegis One reports heavy damage to inbound probe fleet. One super-destroyer and three destroyers remain. More missiles are in flight!" an operator said.

  Gail grinned. "That'll help greatly. I'm surprised those idiots are still coming. They have to know it's suicide at this point. Four ships don't stand a chance."

  "Their objective is to draw off and occupy your forces so they cannot be used elsewhere," Yolinar replied. "The loss of those ships would be well worth that accomplishment depending on what their primary objectives actually are."

  Gail nodded agreement. "Do we have any more information on the hidden fleet yet?" Gail asked a Lieutenant monitoring the Mass.

  "Not yet, Sir, but if the bombardment of the Mass continues, we should have more information very soon," the Lieutenant replied.

  "Keep us posted please. I think the Admiral and I would both like to know what we are facing as soon as we can," Gail replied. "Operations, let's see if the Lizards react to this; turn our guardian fleet around, and have them look like they are crossing the system to jump for Hyclarion. Tell them not to actually jump, but to make it look like they will."

  "What about the four remaining ships?" the operator asked.

  Gail snorted. "Aegis One has them. If those poor bastards are dumb enough to keep coming, I'm sure Commander Albright is dumb enough to blow them out of space."

  Yolinar smiled. "A bold plan." He turned to his own staff. "Order the third and fifth fleets to move into position to jump for Terra, but tell them not to jump. Have the twenty-first Orlander fleet jump for Hyclarion. Move the sixty-first assault fleet to the Orlander system. I want immediate reports on enemy movements as we learn them." He turned back to Gail. "This should prove your theory one way or the other without exposing us. If it proves true, I will execute Conti myself. As a Command Staff officer, he would have had access to the codes."

  "Sir," Yolinar's operations officer said. "With respect, in light of recent events, I feel that all of us should be re-verified for our positions, just to be sure. The former Senators had a lot of influence and a far reach," He had said it quietly, and only for Yolinar, but Gail and her people heard it as well.

  Yolinar considered the officer's words before nodding agreement. "I suppose you are correct, B'jorinet. Can you get a discrete message to the Commissioner, or would you like me to speak to him?"

  "I would imagine, in light of the arrests, he is already doing it. I would think a simple word to those we summoned to take Conti and his cabal into custody would suffice," B'jorinet replied. "With your permission Admiral, I will see to it immediately and personally."

  Yolinar nodded. "Thank you, B'jorinet."

  "If you have need of us, just let me know Colonel," Gail said quietly to let him know she had heard as well.

  The man gave her a small smile and slight bow before turning back to his duties as if nothing had happened.

  "Admiral, I sent you a report on the possibility of rotating command staff personnel, have you had the opportunity to review it yet?" Gail said casually.

  Yolinar quirked an eyebrow at her. "No, I'm afraid I did not get to it yet, General. May I ask what it is about?"

  Gail almost laughed at the look on some of the faces in Yolinar's command room. "It was simply an idea I had to give our people a better understanding of not only their duty, but also a wider knowledge base of tactics and procedures to draw on. It would seem to me that more experience would lead to a better staff."

  "It is certainly an interesting idea. I will look into it more and give it some thought. Thank you for the suggestion, General," Yolinar said trying to hide the smile. Simply by sending them to the system, each officer would have to go through an intense security background check, not only by the Rangers, but by Mother as well. She already had a reputation in the Empire for finding even the smallest flaws in a being's history. "Let us see what can be done to welcome our visitors to our sector, shall we General?"

  "It would be my pleasure, Admiral," Gail replied.

  The F'orindante Mass was an extra-solar asteroid field of sufficient size and distance to create a large blind spot in most sensors. The density and movement of the field prohibited the installation of sensors or picket ships inside the mass. Even if that had been possible, the composition would prevent any communications directly with the unit. If it had not been positioned, literally on the border of Lizard space, there would have been mining ships slowly tearing it apart already. As it was, Gail was trying to figure out a way to let the miners have it.

  Even then, it would be horribly dangerous for them just from the structure of the formation. It tended to create its own gravity, but in totally random ways and locations. In astronomical terms, it was an enigma in all ways. The first of which was that it shouldn't even exist. The theory was that the F'orindante Mass had once been a planet. All the readings that could be taken of it supported that claim, but there had been no evidence of it ever being subjected to the intense radiation or heat from a nova, which would have ejected it from its system.

  Also, it wasn't actually moving in relation to other astronomical bodies, it was relatively stationary in comparison to all other local objects in local space. Internally, it was in constant motion as all the separate asteroids tied to orbit each other. It had been a source of much study by Imperial astrophysicists over the years, and had many of the new humans wanting to check it out as well, but thanks to the war, it would never be the same again.

  Due to the intense force of the warheads Admiral Yolinar ordered fired at it, the F'orindante Mass did something it had never done in recorded history.

  It moved.

  "The scientific community is never going to forgive me for wrecking their research project, but it had to be done," Yolinar said. Gail only nodded her agreement. "We'll have to figure out how much of it we knocked loose and try to track them, but for now…" she looked up at the tracking section. "Lieutenant Meyers, tell me we can see that fleet better now."

  The Lieutenant nodded, grabbing her tablet while she stood and came down to the tank. She sent her tablet display into the big projection unit. "Since Bill and the others are tracking the other stuff, Terri and I are focusing on this. The Mass is still moving, and the further over it gets the better resolution we have. However, here is what we have so far…"

  In the tank, the computer was counting and tracking the ships of the fleet as they became visible. It was at one hundred ninety-two and still going up.

  "I've heard of Lizards hiding under rocks, but this is ridiculous!" Gail said quietly.

  Yolinar suddenly coughed to hide the chuckle, and Lieutenant Meyers grinned at her commander.

  "They're coming in fast, but it looks like they aren't fast enough. They're timing is off. The decoy ships would have arrived here about a half hour earlier," Gail said. "When will they get in range of the missile systems?"

  "Not for another half hour for us, twenty minutes for the Hyclarion systems," Meyers replied.

  "If these numbers continue to rise, we are going to need more ships at Hyclarion to repel them," Yolinar replied. "We are already outnumbered."

  Gail shook her head. "I don't think it's going to be an issue, Sir."

  "How do you mean?" Yolinar asked.

  "The Lizards are using the old computing method for plotting hyperspace. Very soon, their computer is going to drop them out of warp because of a navigation error. When that happens, they are going to get hit right in the face with a load of very high velocity buckshot," Gail explained. "If they survive that, then they'll have to re-compute the jump and pu
t themselves at the mercy of our missile launchers."

  Yolinar looked confused, but the Meyers looked thoughtful. "The rock fragments from the Mass?"

  Gail nodded to her. "See if you can increase the resolution in front of them Lieutenant. Look for mass that is spread out."

  The young woman began typing on her tablet. The display changed slightly, she frowned and typed in something else. She frowned again and typed more. Suddenly what looked like a cloud could be seen slowly approaching the enemy fleet that could be seen, the edge of which would cross the path of the enemy fleet.

  "The timing would have to be almost perfect, Sir," Meyers replied. "I read five minutes until the tracks intersect."

  "I am not following you, General," Yolinar said. "What are we looking at here?"

  Gail smiled at him. "Sir, when you ordered the Mass moved, the explosions fragmented a lot of the smaller asteroids on the fringes of the Mass. Those fragments were then launched at extreme velocity into deep space; that is the cloud-like grouping we are seeing in the display. When the enemy fleet drops out to re-compute their course, that cloud should be there waiting for them, provided they drop out at the right time."

  Yolinar snorted. "We should be so lucky."

  "I think we might, this action has taken them by surprise. They still believe they are outside our detection range and undiscovered. I'm sure they detected the explosions at the mass, but I doubt they will connect that to a hostile action," Gail replied.

  "Enemy fleet is slowing. Dropping out in two minutes. The rocks will arrive thirty seconds later," Meyers replied. "Won't their shields protect them?"

  "That far from the enemy, why would they even raise them? I mean, sure, they'll have the junk screens up, but this should overwhelm those in pretty short order," Gail replied. "Maybe I'm hoping for too much from the asteroids, but hey, if it doesn't work, we still have the missile launchers."

  "In the old days, the Lizards would use asteroids taken from a system's main belt and use them as kinetic weapons for planetary bombardment. At sufficient velocity, even objects as small as ten konn, or what you would call about two tons, would hit with the force of a class four warhead," Yolinar explained. "Kinetic weapons are still very lethal. At the velocity shown on the scanners, there will be nothing the enemy can do to either avoid or stop what is about to happen to them."