The magneto-lift opened into a scene of abject chaos. The observation deck outside STC Command was nearly covered in scoring, scorch marks and impact points. Flashes of weapons fire were going off inside the darkened control room. Moo gave the rest of his squad an abrupt hand signal and the marines advanced on the access hatch.

Forward and aft of the starboard side bulkhead, Yili could see the sweeping dorsal surface of Argent’s hull. She felt a little twinge of pride when she noticed rail cannons three and four were still oriented for an off-starboard shot. It was pretty clear at this point they may have been the difference.

A debris cloud and intermittent venting atmosphere were occasionally visible over the leading edge of the port quarter. From this vantage point, Yili could see the superstructure of the bridge, but at this angle it was hard to make out any details or possible damage. She did note all the forward running lights were still dark. She cursed the fact she couldn’t get forward far enough to evaluate the problem.

The fact remained DSS Argent was badly wounded. Lieutenant Curtiss felt the difficult to ignore urge to get out there and evaluate the damage, everything else be damned, but she also knew the ship needed stable command and control. Without it, they were defenseless, and based on the events of the last hour, she was fairly certain there were more attack cruisers out there. If the next one arrived at the wrong time it could make the situation dramatically worse in a hurry.

Two heavily-armed marines bracketed the hatch while two more took up head-on positions, ready to fight their way in to the room if need be. The STC control room had become unsettlingly quiet in the few moments since their arrival, as if whomever was inside was preparing for something.

Moo moved up and keyed his command access code into the small control console. The lights shifted from amber to green and the hatch opened.

“Argent Marines! Acknowledge!”

Silence.

“Argent Marines!”

Moo looked to Yili and she nodded. He signaled his men to advance. The two at the door moved inside and took up defensive positions with side-to-side fields of fire. The two head-on riflemen advanced quickly and secured lines of sight.

“Clear!”

“Clear!”

The major rolled around the edge of the bulkhead and stood the doorway, TK40 at the ready.

“Nobody home, sir.”

Yili was getting that feeling something was just off enough that it didn’t make sense. She had just ordered Skywatch to ready a strike force on the flight deck. There was weapons fire. Where did everyone go?

“I don’t like it Moo. I gave this station orders ten minutes ago.”

“Correction, lieutenant. You gave me orders ten minutes ago.”

Moo whirled. Yili felt the cold business end of a blaster pistol press against the side of her head. The voice behind her spoke in a commanding tone.

“Weapons down, gentlemen, or I’ll vaporize the lieutenant’s head and most of this deck with it.”

Standing behind Yili in a somewhat dilapidated marine colonel’s uniform was a man that looked to be at least in his sixties. He wore a fancifully styled mustache and had thin slicked-back gray hair. His eyes were small and gleamed with menace.

“That was not a request, major. This entire facility is wired. If I don’t activate the deadman switch in my coat pocket in twenty seconds, you’ll have a front row seat to the biggest explosion since the Gitairn primary went nova.”

The major looked like he was weighing his options right up to the point when the colonel announced there were explosives wired into the STC control facility.

“Stand down, marines,” Moo said coldly. His arms relaxed and he let his weapon drop. After placing it on the floor, he rose back to his full height and glared at the colonel. The rest of his men reluctantly followed his lead.

“You too, lieutenant.”

Yili carefully placed her blaster on the deck, making sure it was within reach in case things got dicey.

“What’s this all about, colonel?” Moo challenged, putting a particular sarcastic emphasis on their opponent’s supposed rank.

“This is about a young crew that doesn’t seem to want to listen. I warned you to stay away. I told you this sector was a trap, but you wanted to do things your own way. Now you’re tangled up in this, and you’re going to have to pay your own freight to get out of it.”

The man pulled an electronic detonator out of his pocket and clicked the deadman switch. “That buys us another sixty seconds.”

“Colonel, if you’ll kindly lower your weapon, I will promise you no tricks.”

“Very well, lieutenant,” the colonel replied calmly. “No tricks.” He relaxed, pistol in one hand, detonator in the other.

Yili backed away a few steps and stood near the major. “What do you mean “tangled up in this?’ What are we tangled in?”

“What you’re experiencing here, lieutenant, is what happens when two opposing groups are in charge of the same military operation. The Dunkerque wasn’t sent here to ‘show the flag.’ Admiral Hughes was out here to make pretended peace overtures. His real orders were to mine the Reach side of Gitairn Sectors Eight and Ten and try to lure the enemy’s strength into it.”

“A sneak attack?!” Moo exclaimed. “Why start a war against a superior force?”

“Because they won’t be superior any more if the minefield goes off, boy!” the colonel shouted.

“Everything was going according to plan until some handwringing apron-wearing busybody at Skywatch Command took Hughes’ cover orders seriously and declared him overdue. Then you geniuses show up with your big shiny battleship ready to make a name for yourselves. If enemy command sees you here without a good explanation they’ll think Hughes is up to something, and it will blow the whole operation straight to hell!”

“Then it was you who fired on a Skywatch vessel, sir?” Yili asked. “You tried to blow up two of my reactors?”

“You had to be stopped.”

Moo wasn’t buying a word of it. There was something else going on here, and he was bound and determined to get at it one way or another. “Colonel, where is this enemy fleet of yours? So far we’ve seen one ship.”

“An old automated hull with a set of pre-programmed drills plugged in to its navicomp and battle computer. You saved us the trouble of disposing of it.”

The colonel clicked his deadman switch again.

“That old hull almost took our port quarter off!” Yili snapped. “That’s an act of war, sir, no matter what your rank or your supposed orders!”

“Grow up, lieutenant. I didn’t come all the way out here to listen to your idealistic accusations or your histrionics about who hit who first.” The older officer gestured in the direction of Barker’s Asteroid. “The strike force on the opposite side of that asteroid field is anchored by twelve heavies including four carriers. When they move on Core’s Edge, there will be fifteen billion lives at stake, and that’s a hell of a lot more important than a new paint job. Now I’m going to ask you this one time, major, as I’m presuming you are in charge of this little field trip. Are you going to join the winning side or not?”

Moo’s face darkened. The colonel stared right back at him.

“If not, I’ll just drop this switch down the lift shaft and let eight tons of explosives solve your problem for you.”