"Why?"
"Because Lieutenant Commander Deveraux is about-"
The hatch bell sounded, and Merlin disappeared.
"I'm not waiting, Lieutenant. Be at the wardroom in ten minutes for a briefing. Tell Maniac that I'll brief him and the rest of the squadron afterward."
As he fumbled with his trousers, Blair glanced at Maniac, who remained dead to the world. "Ma'am, if you can wait another second, I'll head down with you."
"Sorry, Christopher. She's already gone," Merlin said.
He looked to the holograph. "Yeah, and I know why."
"If you'd like my advice-"
Blair lifted a finger. "We both know what happened the last time I took your advice on women."
"But Christopher, I could have hardly known that she would be allergic to Italian food."
"Yeah, but she ate it anyway to be polite. Thought maybe it wouldn't bother her for once. Wound up spending the whole night in the hospital because you went off on that Italian spiel, talking about the whole romance language thing, the food, and you talked me into it. Never again. I think of that date, and all I see is this poor girl with hives all over her face."
"Fine. I won't help. I've made some observations of Lieutenant Commander Deveraux, but I'll keep them to myself." He tipped up his nose, snapped off.
"Merlin? Wait. What observations?"
The holograph would not activate. Blair checked his watch. Just as well. He had to get dressed.
"Commander," Blair said as he approached Angel. She stood beside the wardroom's open hatch, her uniform crisp, makeup sparingly applied. It didn't take much to enhance her beauty; the gifts were already there.
"You saved our lives today," she said softly. "I might just recommend you for more chicken guts."
His cheeks warmed, and he nervously shifted his gaze to the wardroom, where he spotted a knot of five department heads arguing bitterly. "What's with them? And what am I doing here? This looks like a briefing for senior-level officers."
"Commodore Taggart asked that you be present."
"Paladin? He's here? Whey didn't he tell me?"
"He's been busy. C'mon."
As they entered, the department heads fell silent and gave Blair the once-over, their expressions betraying no prejudice but no thrill to see him either. He took a seat next to Angel in the front row of folding chairs, then glanced back at the familiar faces. Flight Boss Raznick and Deck Boss Peterson sat in the back row, muttering to each other. Representatives from ordnance, maintenance, technical, and damage control sat on the far left. The other five squadron commanders had taken seats directly behind Blair and Angel, and two of those men, Jinxman of the Third and Lightning of the Fourth, returned somber nods and kept silent. Jinxman had draped a blue beret over the empty seat next to his, the name ACHILLES emblazoned on a patch.
During the next few minutes, Marine Corps Lieutenant Tori Andover and Sergeant Gulliver Cogan arrived with expressions that asked, Why are we here and not out kicking ass? Then the rest of the command staff filed into the room, including Lieutenant Commander Obutu. Blair liked the man and hoped that Gerald had recommend Obutu for a promotion to XO. Obutu had gone out of his way to make Blair feel comfortable during his first visit to the Claw's rec. He had even beaten Blair in a game of virtual dogfighting. When queried about his obvious piloting skills, Obutu responded that he "had a little experience." The mystery intrigued Blair.
Paladin finally entered with a data slate in one hand while he used the other to tug at the color of his black Naval Intelligence uniform. The chatter died, and everyone snapped to their feet.
"As you were." The commodore crossed to where Gerald stood before the assembled personnel.
"Place your bets," Jinxman sang, leaning forward to whisper in Angel's ear. "I say we get five percent truth, ninety-five percent bullshit."
Angel looked back, eyes brimming with reproof.
"A few announcements before we begin," Gerald said. "At seventeen hundred hours there will be a memorial service in the chapel for Second Squadron and the others KIA. Tell your people to see Lieutenant Palladino in personnel if they'd like to make donations to the families. Replacements won't come any time soon, so I suggest that you make immediate recommendations for promotions and adjust your duty rosters to compensate. We've been here before, people. I'll expect those recommendations ASAP." He eyed Paladin. "I think most of us know the commodore, but for those who do not, this is Commodore James Taggart of Naval Intelligence, call sign Paladin. Admiral Tolwyn sent him to assist us. Commodore?" Gerald retreated a few steps, and Blair guessed that he was not the only officer who detected the bitterness in Gerald's tone.
Paladin pulled once more at his collar, tightened his lips, then seemed to sum up the officers, deciding what he would and would not say. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're presently en route to coordinates that will place us between the Lafayette and Tamayo systems. We believe this is the jump target of the CS Olympus. Unfortunately, it will take us three days to get there, and she may be gone by the time we arrive. We can analyze gravitic residuum to approximate her next position, but that will only provide an estimate. I assure you, though, that we haven't lost her yet."
"Commodore, are they Pilgrims?" Jinxman asked.
He nodded. "They're being led by one of the most skilled line captains in the fleet." He went on to explain how Captain Amity Aristee had managed to take over the Olympus and how Admiral Tolwyn had sent out a task force to investigate. Then he added, "I've just learned that the remains, or more precisely, the remaining haze of that task force was discovered approximately twenty hours ago in the Enyo system. Those ships were destroyed by a gravity well. Eighteen hours ago, another haze was encountered near Vega, and we believe that it represents the remains of the Olympus's original battle group. We also suspect that at these coordinates she jettisoned remaining non-Pilgrim personnel, creating a limited but pure Pilgrim complement."
"She's a fanatic and a mass murderer who's creating gravity wells and using them as weapons and jump points," Gerald chipped in, then cocked a brow at Paladin. "Would you elaborate on exactly how she's doing this?"
"We believe she's in possession of a new generation of hopper drive that allows her to create space-time wells with a controlled matter-antimatter reaction. The well has a limited gravitic cloak verified by the pilots of this wing. But she can still manipulate the well's position and take out ships within five hundred meters."
"How did she obtain this technology? Better yet, how did she hide it from Confederation Intelligence?" Gerald asked.
"This isn't something that happens in a day, or a week, or a year. The Confederation legally recognizes three Pilgrim systems and five colonial enclaves. We routinely inspect them to be sure they're not developing technology or engaging in renewed military activity that could threaten us. For years we've had no trouble with them because those most devoted obey the edict that Pilgrims should no longer travel through space or engage in any other activities reliant on technology. They do this as penance for their loss in the war. In fact, when the Kilrathi war began, they insisted on remaining neutral and presently maintain that status."
"That's an informative history lesson," Gerald said impatiently. "But I'm not sure it answers the question, sir."
"Indulge me," Paladin said, more a threat than a request. "You see, it's not those Pilgrims who pose the threat but a more radical sect whose ancestors assimilated back into Confederation society. These Pilgrims are members of our own military. They've abandoned their edicts in favor of a new order: destroy Earth, dismantle the Confederation, reclaim what is theirs. Irony is, the Confederation taught them how to do it. We believe that research and development of this new hopper drive has been going on for ten, possibly twenty years, with construction occurring within the last four. Alarmists call it a Pilgrim conspiracy, and maybe that's what it is, but these radicals have taken advantage of those neutral systems and enclaves. We've already discovered evidence of their research in all of them. Seems they threatened those Pilgrims with force, bribed Confederation inspectors or had them replaced with Pilgrims or others sympathetic to their cause, and operated without our knowledge. The Kilrathi war still provides them with a convenient diversion and a possible ally. Admiral Bill Wilson managed to conspire with the cats."