“There’s an alien ship out there, Jason. Either that or someone is playing practical jokes on us!” Jayce reported insistently. “One of my mini-bots just took out an alien probe board Fury!”

“Where did it come from?” Jason asked.

“Unknown, but the rest of the fleet has to be on the lookout for intruders. They could appear anywhere at any time!”

“Acknowledged, Fury. Tactical, notify Second Marines I want all decks upgraded to intruder protocols. Have the Deck Officers notify the Quartermaster I want all personnel armed until further notice.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“You might want to do something similar for the rest of your task force, Jayce. Things are going to be dicey enough out there without asking for trouble indoors. While we’re at it, let’s get Ajax and Jefferson up front in case something jumps out of that asteroid field at us.”

“Affirmative, Captain. Fury out.”

Jason bared his teeth as he watched the first wave of heavy paladins streak into space towards the enormous ground emplacement in the distance.

“Shoot me, you bastards.” Hunter growled under his breath. “Take your best shots at me. Let’s see if that gun can beat my ship.”

The shattering explosion that silhouetted Scorpion One Three caused Argent’s entire bridge crew to gasp. Plasma fires reached a thousand miles into space in every direction, and gigantic chunks of dense rock tumbled away from the asteroid’s main body. The Sentinel emplacement swiveled rapidly to target something at the far edge of the asteroid field.

“Tactical, tell me what I think I just saw!”

“Confirmed! That blast came from Barker’s Asteroid, sir! A full power war shot!”

Jason Hunter rose to his feet and vigorously punched the air. “Flash message to flight leader Highlanders! Belay landing operations and reconfigure for strategic bombing!” Hunter grabbed the black phone from the overhead console. “STC, this is the Flag. Raise Highlander One on battle frequency. Do it smartly!”

“You’re on, Captain!”

“Highlander One! This is the Flag, report!”

“Six thousand miles to target. Received new orders. Weapons free in thirty seconds!”

“Make sure there’s nothing left but a forwarding address, Nick. Be advised the Sentinel on Barker’s Asteroid is still engaged.”

“Yes sir.”

Hunter slammed the handset back into its cradle. A moment later, another thundering explosion crashed into Scorpion One Three.

“Way to go, Yili,” Hunter said quietly.

“New contact! Designate Silverback Seven Five Five bearing three one mark four, range 42000 miles!”

Both Annora and Sabrina snapped around to look at the forward screen. Sure enough, an unidentified ship had suddenly appeared only sixty miles from Scorpion One Three.

“Identification?” Doverly shouted.

“Negative. No known configuration. Her drive field is fluctuating. Now on a breakaway course, accelerating and veering off!”

“Sabrina! Take the helm. Plot an intercept course!” Doverly ordered. “Engineering! Engage main power. All ahead flank speed! Do not let that ship escape!”

The enormous battleship righted itself with customary capital platform prodigiousness and then roared directly into the asteroid field. It wasn’t until her starboard battlescreens shoved a six-million-ton rock to one side that the rest of Strike Fleet Perseus realized what they were seeing wasn’t some kind of hallucination. A moment later, both of the mighty vessel’s ventral guns fired into the asteroid field away from Scorpion One Three.

“What the hell is she shooting at?” Hunter barked from the Argent bridge. “Signals! Raise Ajax and Jefferson! I want them escorting Kingsblade. Order them to close fields so your battle screens can absorb any mine detonations. Go!”

“Affirmative Captain! Coding your message!”

An instant later the Scorpion One Three Sentinel fired on Barker’s Asteroid.