The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier Invincible

Desjani gave him an alarmed look, herself focusing on the spider-wolves’ position and movements. “They’re . . . aiming for an intercept with the enigma bombardment,” she said in disbelief. “According to our system, they can manage it since they were positioned closer to the inner star system than the enigma launch points and have better acceleration than we do.”

“Why?” Geary demanded. “What’s the point of intercepting a kinetic bombardment? The projectiles move too fast and are too small to get a decent fire control solution on them.”

“For us,” Desjani said, understanding growing in her eyes. “Admiral, the spider-wolf ships are faster than us and a lot more maneuverable. They were where they needed to be to intercept a bombardment launched from the enigma ships. If they can come in behind the kinetic projectiles, reducing the relative speed of the engagement, and maneuver into the right positions, our systems say that in theory they could at least score glancing hits and divert the paths of those rocks.”

Rione was staring ahead, openmouthed with surprise. “They’re intervening. They won’t help us fight the enigmas, they won’t help defend warships against the enigmas, but they are moving to try to defend our civilian population.”

“You say the spider-wolves were where they needed to be to manage this intercept?” Charban asked Desjani. “It seems they intended to be able to do that if necessary.”

Desjani looked frustrated. “Why do they have to be so damned ugly?”

“I am increasingly certain that they are asking the same thing of us,” Charban replied with a smile. “They know that the people here are those who are, or were, our enemies, and it impressed them that we were willing to fight to defend them. Perhaps that action by us decided the spider-wolves to take their action. As different as we are, this is a point at which our understandings meet.”

“It’s strange,” Geary said. “We seem to have a number of things in common with the spider-wolves, who are the most physically unlike us of the alien races we’ve encountered. The two other alien races, the enigmas and the bear-cows, may look a lot more like us but their mental processes are more alien than those of the spider-wolves.”

“No one ever promised that the universe would be easy to understand,” Charban said, “or that it would meet our expectations rather than challenging them.”

“Nineteen minutes to intercept of the spider-wolves with that bombardment,” Desjani said. “Look. The spider-wolf ships aren’t locked into formation anymore. They’re adjusting their vectors to come in behind different clusters of rocks launched by different enigma ships.”

The resigned and disheartened waiting of a short time before had been replaced by tension. Geary watched the tracks of the spider-wolf ships and the rocks converging, curves sliding steadily close to contact, wondering if even the spider-wolves could handle a maneuvering problem that difficult.

“Beautiful,” Desjani breathed, as the curving paths of the spider-wolf ships altered subtly. “Even their maneuvers are gorgeous.”

“Our systems estimate that the spider-wolf ships will be within weapons range in two minutes,” Lieutenant Yuon reported.

Geary checked the distance. Twelve light-minutes to where the spider-wolves and the kinetic bombardment would meet. Whatever the spider-wolves had accomplished might already be done, over before the human ships could even see the beginning.

The bridge had gone silent, everyone watching their displays. Geary realized that he was even breathing as quietly as he could, as if any sound could disrupt events occurring far distant from him. Human instincts, born of hunters in the ancient past and on a world unimaginably far away, still subconsciously dictating actions among the stars.

“How long until we know?” Rione asked, peering at her display, her voice, low as it was, still resounding to break the spell of silence on the bridge.

“Another three minutes until we might see something,” Lieutenant Yuon replied.

They were a very, very long three minutes, then several gasps sounded simultaneously as the first actions were seen. “Look at that!” Desjani said, her eyes lit with admiration. “They came in perfectly! Right behind their targets, zero deflection shots, getting the relative velocity as low as possible!”

“But they still only have a short firing window before those rocks pull away.” Geary watched shots going out from the spider-wolf ships, willing them to hit even though he knew hits or misses had happened over ten minutes ago.

“One, two, four, seven,” Lieutenant Yuon called out as the systems reported kinetic projectiles knocked off of their trajectories by hits from the spider-wolf weapons. “Twelve, nineteen, twenty-six, thirty-eight.”

Geary kept his eyes on the firing. Thirty-eight out of seventy-two rocks accounted for.