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Brooks went into the brig only a couple minutes after Romon Xatier had left.  But Y was no longer there; instead, a nurse was monitoring Jan Holdur.

He spoke to the man, but aside from streaks of tears down his face, Holdur was unresponsive.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Captain – the Doctor said he had some other work and assigned me to watch the prisoner.  I believe he is in his office.”

Brooks headed there, finding out that Y was in fact in his office.

He knocked and entered, surprised to find that he was not alone; Dr. Zyzus was standing with his back to the door as Brooks entered.

“My apologies if I’m interrupting,” Brooks said, starting to back out.

“It is quite all right, Captain,” Zyzus said.  He was an older man, old enough that his hair had finally turned a natural gray.  He had been a doctor for nearly a hundred years.

“Congratulations again on the publication of your article, Doctor,” Y said to the man.  “It was a novel approach you took studying the transmission patterns on a city-ship like this.”

“Thank you, Doctor Y,” Zyzus said, turning and moving past Brooks.

“My congratulations as well,” Brooks said to him.  “I heard about that – the Union Medical Journal is the most prestigious body, isn’t it?”

“That’s right, Captain,” Zyzus replied, seeming appropriately proud.

He left, and Brooks came over.

“Well, Doctor, how was it?”

Y took a moment before answering.  “There is little I can say in regard to what I observed, Captain, as you well know.”

Brooks was thrown off by the defensive response.  “I’m not asking for you to violate your oath, Doctor.  I really just want to know how you are.”

“I am fine,” Y replied shortly.

Brooks waited, but the AI did not add on a joke or anything of that nature.

“Doctor, if you’d like to take some personal time, there’s no shame in that,” Brooks commented.

“Why would I need to, Captain, when I just stated that I am fine?” Y replied.

It was not snappish, at least, but Brooks knew he could not achieve any more than that.

“I am afraid Romon Xatier did not talk with me before he left,” Brooks continued.  “Did he say anything on the record for me?  Any message?”

“No, Captain, he seemed quite in a hurry when he left,” Y replied.  “Perhaps to consult with a lawyer.”

Brooks’s interest was piqued by that, but he could not probe further.  “Jan Holdur is back to his silence, it seems.  I suppose we’re at a dead-end in that regard, then.”

“I do not think so, Captain.  Romon Xatier will return.”

“Did he say he would?”

“No,” Y replied.  “But I am certain that he will.”

---

“Commander, we’ve got another set of enemy drones veering onto an observation course,” a sensor officer called out.

The alert had already come up on the screen, and Jaya zoomed in on the trio of Glorian drones.

They were not on a collision course, though – by starship standards – they would be coming very close.  Only a couple dozen kilometers off the bow.

Glorian tech was not as good as theirs; deadly enough in a slugging fight, but even from this distance the Craton‘s scanners could make out the bulges of sensor equipment on the drones.

“Send pickets 271-281 to intercept,” she ordered.  The computer system had marked them as being in the best positions to move into their paths, forming a net that would risk either a destructive collision or the Glorian drones to veer off.

They’d had three close-calls already today, where the Glorian drones had held their courses until the last possible moment before changing direction.  And a dozen other attempts had taken place besides that with less dramatic outcomes.

Which was good; if two drones did collide, that was one of the few things that would seriously anger the Gohhian Lord Executives.  Adding lots of tiny, dangerous debris to their flight paths would be a costly thing for them to clean up.

But these close-calls were getting routine at this point.  The bulk of Gohhi station itself hid the Craton from a lot of sensors, and of course anyone near a window could point a camera out and see them.

But there was only so much a surface scan could tell.  Much stronger sensors would be able to make out details inside the ship that could elucidate a lot of things for their enemies.

The problem was getting close enough to do it.  Sensors that big and powerful were easy to see coming.

There was a lot to learn about a ship so formidable and powerful.  The details of many of her systems were known to very few, and Sapient Union intelligence was a potent shield.  Thus far, the Glorians had never obtained the full plans to any major Union vessel.

They certainly wouldn’t get any detailed scans on her watch.

Two new dots, highlighted in yellow to show neutrality, entered the picture.  Bigger, but with higher impulse, she recognized them as tugs belonging to Gohhi itself.

“Two Gohhian tender drones are moving between us and the Glorians,” the sensor officer called.  “Glorians are veering away.”

“Recall ours as well.  Make them fly into . . . star pattern seven and flash their signal lasers.  Give them all a show.”

A round of laughter swept across the bridge, and Jaya allowed herself a slight smile, watching the drones as they formed the complicated shape, illuminating each other with lasers in sequence to create a moving pattern.  The Gohhian tugs flashed their lasers in the space equivalent of applause.  Oddly, the Glorians did not respond in kind.

“Commander!” the sensor officer cried.  “We’ve got seven more pairs of Glorian drones collapsing in from various directions – they’re making a serious run for us!”

“We are prepared for this.  Activate nearby drones to the incursions to intercept – prepare strafing runs with live weapons, but do not fire.  We will show them that this is not something we will tolerate.  Then deploy reserve drone squads H and J.  Activate further reserves in case they decide to test us further.”

“Aye!”

The drones at the edges moved to intercept, the reserve moving up to cover their previous positions.  The reserve squads were activated and deployed, keeping in a stable orbit near the ship.  The Glorians would be able to see these, at least.  However much they thought they could push this, without committing a full drone carrier, they were not going to overwhelm the Craton, who carried far more drones than most ships her size.

It was one of the advantages of being a spherical vessel; far more internal storage area than a longship.

As their drones began to make dry strafing runs on the Glorian drones, the latter began to pull back.

“All hostile drones off intercept course,” the young sensor officer said.

“Ensign,” Jaya said to him.  He looked up at her from his lower platform and she met his gaze.  “What is your name, Ensign?”

“Uh, Aka, ma’am,” he said, snapping to attention.

“Aka, is this your first time as a bridge sensor officer?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She nodded and smiled serenely.

“You do not need to panic, even if those had been enemy missiles incoming.  Panic is fear given control and we do not allow that.  Because if we let our fear control us, we cannot think and react properly.  Do you understand?”

He still looked nervous; being put on the spot did that to people.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

“Good.  You performed well, Ensign.  Do not feel shame.  But remember that by being calm we solved the problem.  Now, I’d like you to take a break and simulate the same scenario again as if they had been live missiles – with an eye first towards the ship’s safety and secondly towards limiting the potential debris.  Bring me five options, picking the one you believe the best  – there is no wrong answer here, this is only practice.”

He nodded again, saluting her.  “Yes, ma’am.  Thank you, ma’am.”

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