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flagged for his immediate attention so he had put a majority of the reading off for when they were underway again.
    He had a lot of catching up to do; the galaxy had changed. He shook his head as the tender finally broke orbit and headed to the Pyrax jump point.
    “I'm surprised they didn't shake loose a warship, sir,” Commander Garretaj stated. “Though I am gratified we didn't have to squeeze into a corvette or frigate I suppose,” he said with a theatrical shudder.
    “True,” Phil replied absently, scanning the dispatches. The admiral waved off such considerations when he finished his present reading. “I have seen the current lists; every warship is vital. Having one to nursemaid me to Pyrax is a waste.”
    “Aye aye, sir.”
    “It shouldn't take me long to get through this backlog. Once we're finished, I want to go over the plan one more time and crank in any new intel. Look into plugging any holes here,” he stated, waving the tablet. The commander nodded.
    “We're going to have to hit the ground running you said, sir. But things will have undoubtedly changed by the time we arrive,” the commander stated.
    “Not that much,” the admiral stated, shaking his head. “Oh, I suppose the Horathians could have attacked Pyrax while we're headed there. Or Admiral Irons might have ordered a ship to go somewhere, or news may have come in from down south. Isn't that Tender overdue? Prometheus ?”
    “We're still out of contact, sir. We know she got as far as Airea 3, sir, since a civilian freighter passed through there. They had headed to Beta 443.”
    “And they should have jumped from there to Nightingale and then on to Epsilon Triangula and then to Gaston.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “John has dispatched Firefly south to look into the situation. Since she wasn't in Gaston to get the orders, it will take some time before she gets them.”
    “Are you considering sending a ship to investigate from Pyrax, sir?”
    The admiral frowned thoughtfully. “ Prometheus had an escort. Two frigates I believe. So I think she should be okay. Should be,” he said. He exhaled slowly then waved the tablet again. “Draw up some contingency orders to order a ship to look into the situation just in case. Have them on file. And crank that into our calculations on ship strength in the alternate plans.”
    “Aye aye, sir.”
    “I'm not happy about just having Bismark on hand as our heaviest asset to protect the star system. She's not even 60 percent strength either,” the admiral shook his head. “We're going to need to do something about it. And shipping the parts in from Antigua is out.”
    “We may need to send the ship to Antigua then, sir?”
    “She's supposed to be the flagship of Fleet 1. I think John will give her back,” the admiral said with a slight hint of disapproval. “I don't want Amadeus to get his hands on her. He'd never send her back,” he said, thoroughly disgusted.
    “Do you think he's okay, sir?”
    The admiral eyed the chief of staff and then looked away. “I don't know,” he said quietly. “We won't know until he gets into Protodon and takes the system or is bounced out.”
    “I see, sir.” the chief of staff shook himself slightly. “Well, if you want a contingency plan to look into Epsilon Triangula and south, that mean's she'll need legs and the firepower to handle anything she runs into, which means a tin can. I was thinking; if we can shave off a tin can from the convoys, it might work. We can swap out a pair of frigates since they are only making two system jumps. A side benefit is that they've been broken in compared to the new ships just coming out of the yards.”
    The admiral sat back thoughtfully in his chair and listened to the proposal with interest.

 
    Chapter 3
     
    The Neochimp rear admiral mused a bit as he watched the plot. He was always a bit maudlin while in transit; there was nothing to do but worry. He knew he wasn't as bad as Phil but bad enough. His problem was he wanted