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Varion’s own capital ships. He
has
to deal with you quickly.”
    “He’s used this formation before,” Kern said. “Remember Gallosect IV? He focused on beamships first so that he could surround the flagship and take it from a distance.”
    “He had 2-to-1 advantage at Gallosect,” Dennison said. “He could afford to expend fighters keeping the flagship busy. He’s too thinly extended to try that here—by pressing to the east, he’s going to expose himself to your batteries. He’ll lose capital ships that way.”
    Silence.
    “You wearing your visor, Dennison?” Kern asked.
    “No.”
    “I thought not,” Kern said. “Put one on.”
    Dennison didn’t argue. The same aide walked back, proffering the equipment. Dennison slipped it on and saw a view from his fighter commander’s cockpit.
    “Here,” Kern said, through the earpiece, no longer using an open channel. “Look at this.”
    The right half of Dennison’s visor changed, showing a smaller version of the battle map. It was covered with arrows indicating attack vectors, and there were annotations around most of the vessels.
    “What is this?” Dennison asked.
    “Speak quietly,” Kern said in a whisper. “Not even my bridge officers know about this feed.”
    “But what is it?”
    “Intercepted
klage
communications,” Kern said softly. “This image is being sent from Varion to his commanders here. It’s how he commands—not verbally, but with battle maps outlining what he wants done.”
    “You can intercept
klage
communications!” Dennison said quietly, turning away to muffle his voice. “How?”
    “Varion wasn’t the only one who spent these last few decades working on technology,” Kern said. “We focused on communications and may have gotten the better end of the bargain, since it appears his shields are only effective on a personal scale. Our scientists developed a special bug that can work on a klage transmitter. The bug in Varion’s ready room, the one he thinks he’s so clever to have found, is just a red herring.”
    “Can you intercept the responses from Varion’s commanders?”
    “Yes,” Kern said. “But only if they come through the
klage
transceiver on the
Voidhawk
.”
    “And could we change the orders he sends?” Dennison asked.
    “The techs say they might be able to,” Kern said. “But if we do, we give away that we’ve been listening in. This gives us an edge. Read that map and tell me what you think.”
    Dennison zoomed his visor in on Varion’s orders. They were succinct and clear. And brilliant. As the fighters engaged, he saw patterns emerge and interact. His brother made brave moves—daring, almost ridiculous moves. Here, a squadron of fighters was lured too close to another group. There, a gunship used its opponents as screens, keeping their cannons silent lest they destroy their own forces.
    And he continued to push east. Varion didn’t explain himself in his transmissions, but after just a few minutes of watching, Dennison had confirmed his suspicions. “Kern,” he said quietly, drawing the admiral’s attention back from his command. “He’s coming for me.”
    “What?” Kern asked.
    “He’s coming for me,” Dennison replied. “He’s defeated every commander he’s ever gone up against—and now he has a chance for what he sees as the ultimate battle. He wants to fight himself. He wants to fight me.”
    “Nonsense,” Kern said. “How would he know where you are? He doesn’t have our
klage
interception capability—of that, we’re as certain as we can be.”
    “There are other ways to get information,” Dennison said.
    He stood quietly for a moment. And then he felt a chill.
    “Kern,” he snapped, “we need to retreat.”
    “What?” the admiral said with frustration. He obviously didn’t like being distracted.“This whole battle is wrong,” Dennison said. “He’s planning something.”
    “He’s
always
planning something.”
    “This time it’s different. Kern, he