"Good, Freddy. Do that. Then keep trying."
"Aye, aye."
Lights dimmed. All of Sinbad's power was going into that one blip.
"Oh, Lord," Freddy said.
"Talk to me, Townsend."
"More ships under acceleration. Fusion drives, high acceleration. I count sixteen no more than five million klicks away, all with a redshift and no drift, and I don't know where they're aimed but it isn't at the Jump to New Cal."
Renner brought the images in closer.
"Kevin, what is it?" Joyce demanded.
"Not enough data."
"There's more," Freddy said. "A whole sparkling field of drive lights at maybe sixty million klicks, all of ‘em between us and Agamemnon."
"They've cut us off," Joyce said.
"That they did," Freddy said. "Skipper, I've got four minutes integration on them now. They're showing a decreasing redshift and no drift."
"Thrust?"
"Close enough to three standard gee."
"Bound to be Warriors."
"All redshifted?" Joyce asked. "That means they're going away from us."
"Decreasing redshift," Freddy said. "Going away, but they're thrusting toward us. An airplane would be turning around, but you can't do that in vacuum."
Renner touched the intercom buttons. "Omar, have you been following this?"
"Yes, Commodore."
The Motie's voice conveyed weariness, confusion, and determination at the same time. Never off duty, Renner thought. "Watch. That group I just marked. That's the main body of the Khanate fleet. Best estimate is that their Warriors were going all out toward Agamemnon and the Jump point to New Cal until the Masters popped through."
"That is reasonable."
"Okay. But now the Masters are all moving away from the Sister, and the Warriors are slowing, probably coming back. What are they likely to think they're doing?"
"The Warriors are swarming back to defend the Masters from us. The Masters have many options. Their target may be a place of hiding, perhaps the comets around the brown dwarf star. They seem to have given up the Jump point out of the system. Something has convinced them that your defense at the Jump is too formidable."
"Jennifer," Freddy said. "She must have convinced them."
"Those bombs did not weaken her arguments," Omar said. "Whatever else you have done, you have shown that you are willing to expend resources."
"Resources to burn," Joyce said. "Which we quite literally-"
All the screens whited out. Kevin moved two dial displays, in haste. The screens dimmed to a scattering of laser-green points. Sinbad was under attack.
"Whatever. Now what's happening?" Renner mused. "Omar, that Warrior fleet is aimed right at us. Or at the gate back to the Mote system. Which is it?"
"Why not both?"
"Both."
Omar and Victoria conferred briefly. Then Omar said, "If we threaten the Khanate Masters, they will attack us, of course. But consider this. If they have abandoned the notion of forcing their way past Agamemnon, then the Khanate may have instructed their Warriors to return through the Sister to prepare a path of safety for their return to Mote system."
"They're giving up?" It was the first time Glenda Ruth had spoken since the battle.
"Perhaps." Omar shrugged. "Or they may attack Medina, to soften our power for later negotiation. Or something else. This is a matter for military strategy."
Victoria said, "They'll kill or capture the humans if they can. If your Empire has only the Khanate to negotiate with, any contract would favor the Khanate."
"Bet?"
Victoria answered in Motie. Glenda Ruth laughed as their speech became faster and faster. She said, "Uncle Kevin, they're betting! Descendants for their Masters! Victoria's giving four to one-"
"Later, Glenda Ruth. Omar, it looks like their whole fleet of Warriors is coming straight at us."
The cabin went dark. "I've found Agamemnon," Freddy reported. "I'm beaming your message again."
"Good. Very good. Now we've got to get out of here. Suggestions?"
No one answered. "Freddy, turn us around. Get us on course to go back through the"-hell-"through the Sister."
"Through the Sister. What thrust?"
Renner let the computer work for a moment. "That's a god-awful amount of radiation they're aiming at us. If it keeps up, we'll have to duck. What are they trying to do?"
"Kill us?" Freddy suggested.
"Well, if they can, but what else?" Renner studied the screens. If the Motie fleet continued on course, it would get to the Sister in about twenty-five hours. Another moment of indecision. Then, "Keep it reasonable. Say point three for now." The Field was dull red. Not bad, but they'd be bathed in that green laser glare for hours to come. "I want to see what those Warriors will do."
"What of our ships?" Omar asked.
"I'll keep Atropos," Renner said. "Have all your Motie ships reinforce Balasingham. Look, he's going to be a bit wary of them."
"We have discussed this," Omar said. "Our ships will position themselves to aid your warship without threatening it."
Horace Bury's voice trembled with exhaustion, but there was triumph, too. "Mercy of Allah! Kevin, we have sent our message to the Empire, and the Khanate has turned back. We have fulfilled our mission, whatever happens. Now we survive if Allah wills it."
"We may have fulfilled the mission," Kevin said. "It all depends on that Khanate Warrior fleet. We don't know what they're going to do, and as long as they're in this system, they're dangerous. They could still batter their way past Balasingham." Renner studied the screen again. "Well, as long as they're chasing us, they're not doing that. If they're back in Mote system, they're for sure not doing that. Maybe we can lead them there."
"Good," Bury said.
Kevin thought, Can you take another Jump? and didn't speak. What if he said no? "I'll tell Rawlins."
"My viewers may not understand," Joyce said. "I'm not sure I understand. First we come through to the red dwarf system. Then we fight. We win. Now for the past four hours we've been slowing down, and we're headed back the way we came." She looked at her screens, noted the yellow glow of the Field. Sinbad was under continuous attack.
"It's all part of the same battle," Freddy Townsend said.
"The important thing is that the Khanate fleet is moving toward the Sister, not going after Agamemnon," Glenda Ruth said. "We have to keep them heading toward us."
"But are they after us, or would they go back to the Mote anyway?"
"It doesn't matter, Joyce," Victoria said. "Anything that gets them back into the Mote system."
"So we're bait," Joyce said. "I guess that wouldn't be so bad-but to be bait when you don't even know it's you they're after!"
"They're after us," Freddy said.
"How can you be sure?" Joyce demanded.
"If they're not, they're sure wasting a lot of energy," Freddy said. "They can't spare the fuel. I think it's this way. If they can kill us, they won't go through, but if we run through, they'll follow us. Glenda Ruth?"
"Best bet," Glenda Ruth said.
Joyce said, "And there you have it."
"Situation unchanged, Commodore," Rawlins said. "They haven't tried to intercept the allied ships we sent to reinforce Balasingham. It's us they care about, all right, and there's too many to fight. Our only chance is to run. I suggest we increase acceleration. The less of this fire we take, the better chance we'll have once we're through."
"Agreed. Take it up to one point five gee."
"One point five, aye, aye." Rawlins's image turned away for a moment.
"Once we're stabilized in the Mote system, thrust along this vector," Renner said. There was a twitter of data. "And I had the Moties record some orders. You'll recover before we do. Send these messages to Base Six as soon as you can."
"Messages to Base Six. Aye, aye."