Kilrah System

Blair saw Vagabond's Excalibur go up in flames of fury. He let out a cry of rage and grief. The Chinese pilot's last words echoed in his mind, and he made a grim, silent vow that Chang's last effort wouldn't be in vain.

Then Maniac's fighter appeared on his sensors swooping in from beyond the expanding fireball. Blair spotted the Excalibur a moment later as Maniac opened fire, battering through the Darket's shields. The fighter exploded.

His satisfaction was short-lived, though. Flint broke comm silence a moment later. "We've got trouble, boys," she said. "Heading our way."

Two more Darket appeared from beyond the bulk of the asteroid, moving slowly but gathering speed as they came. Blair's comm monitor picked up a transmission from one of them. They were summoning help.

"Lancelot Flight, break off action," he ordered sharply. "Recloak and head for the backup rendezvous."

It galled him to run, but they didn't have much choice. Though the Excaliburs could deal with these two fighters easily enough, they couldn't count on being able to refuel and rearm at this depot before a swarm of additional Kilrathi ships turned up. A thorough search of the asteroid would turn up the depot, and if they were caught inside the result would be disastrous.

He hit his afterburners and punched in the new course. Paladin's warning ran through his mind. With this depot compromised and the secondary one depleted, the Terrans were on a one-way trip to Kilrah.

If they made it that far.

* *

Audience Hall, KIS Hvar'kann.

Kilrah System

The Audience Hall was empty except for the Crown Prince, brooding on his throne. Melek hastened to the foot of the dais, bowing low. Thrakhath raised his head at the retainer's approach.

"I left orders that I was not to be disturbed," the Prince rumbled.

"An urgent message, Lord Prince," Melek told him. "One of our patrols reported engaging Terran fighters. Here in our own system . . . and they escaped using cloak technology."

"Ape ships . . . here?" Thrakhath straightened, eyes flashing with anger. "Cloaked . . . spies, seeking word of our fleet, then."

"We cannot say, Lord Prince," Melek said. "But . . . we intercepted one exchange of messages between them. And our computers have identified the voice of the apparent leader." He paused. "It was . . . the one named Blair. The Heart of the Tiger."

"Him . . ." Thrakhath stood slowly, drawing himself to his full height. "That one would not come on a mere spy mission. Could it be . . . could the Terrans be planning a strike? Perhaps they plan to attack our fleet while it is still taking on armaments . . . to break up our attack before we can leave orbit."

"It is possible, Lord Prince. But we cannot be sure." Melek hesitated. "The cruiser Kheerakh discovered a hidden supply cache in an asteroid near where the encounter took place . . . but I fear the fools destroyed it by bombardment rather than investigating."

"I trust Kheerakh has a new captain now?"

"Yes, Lord Prince. One who is . . . less impulsive

"We must look to our defenses, Melek. I do not believe the Terrans can mount a serious threat, but even a few shipkiller missiles released into the fleet while it is bunched up would be an . . . annoying setback. Order fighter patrols around the orbital yards doubled." Thrakhath paused. And have my personal ship and squadron readied to launch on short notice. If the Heart of the Tiger has come, I mean to take him myself."

Melek bowed again. "As you order, Lord Prince. He backed away, leaving Thrakhath alone in the empty hall.

It seemed the apes were far more resilient than the Emperor's grandson had ever realized. Melek wondered what other surprises the Terrans might have in store.