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before continuing. In that brief moment, he looked at each of them and could see the tension in their faces. This was evidently far more serious than any of them had expected.
    Captain Harris, the commander of ANS Crusader, one of the most famous ships now in the fleet, lifted the palm of his hand slightly to get attention.
    “Admiral, this all seems hasty. Have we learned something new from the Biomech soldier? Why the rush? Comets have been the harbingers for a long time, even on our worlds.”
    That one question turned the room to total silence. It was common knowledge that the soldier captured during the initial foray into Helios had been brought to this place for study. What wasn’t known though was what had happened since. Admiral Anderson looked at the man and smiled in a gesture that was hard to fully understand.
    “Captain, it is a good question but perhaps not one for today.”
    The video stream from General Rivers returned. Admiral Anderson signaled for his audience to turn their attention to his image.
    “I am sending over all intelligence required for this operation. I must take my leave of you. You have everything you need, and I expect nothing but the utmost professionalism in your approach to this problem. Any requests may be made through Admiral Anderson, who is in command of all Alliance forces inside the Orion Nebula. Good luck to you all.”
    With the General now gone, Admiral Anderson switched off the video feed and looked out to the men and women.
    “The Admiral Jarvis Naval Station is fully operational, and it will now be your permanent base of operations, as well as the most remote border fortress we have out here. It is our job to stabilize this part of space, to prevent the enemy from taking ground, and most importantly, to ensure that no Biomech ever gets within a single AU of the Black Rift.”
    His image vanished, and at the same time the Admiral stood up. He looked about the table at each of them. They looked eager for information, but there was no way he would be telling them any of what he had learned.
    “That is all for now. Admiral Lewis, General Daniels, if you would stay behind please. We have further details to discuss.”
    The rest of the officers left the room as quietly as they had arrived, and only the three senior commanders remained in the room. Anderson said nothing until the door shut behind them, and he was left with the other two.
    “Well, what did they decide?” asked General Daniels.
    Anderson scratched his chin for a second. The years had not been kind to him, and like General Rivers, starting to show his age. His skin looked tired and his hair a brilliant sheen of white. His eyes, however, glowed brightly, and he showed all the intellect and intelligence that he always had. He considered the General’s question. The other officers knew roughly what the plan was, but they were not privy to the overall strategy being adopted by High Command back in Terra Nova. He, on the other hand, had spoken with General Rivers six hours earlier and had argued vehemently against the decision that had been made. He looked at the two men and raised an eyebrow before speaking.
    “Our strategy is...unexpected.”
    General Daniels shook his head in an irritated fashion.
    “Isn’t it always? We do have a plan then?”
    Anderson opened his mouth in a narrow smile and reopened the star map that showed the known borders of the Great Powers. Each of their regions of space was colored differently, clearly showing the territory of the Anicinàbe was the largest in terms of star systems.
    “We have the Helion League, the Khreenk Federation, Klithi, Byotai and Anicinàbe territories out here.”
    He then pointed at the small region of space off to the left.
    “This is us and our six star systems. We, of course, have territories in Alpha Centauri, Proxima Centauri, and Sol, plus our newest mining outposts and colonies at Epsilon Eridani, Gliese 876, and Procyon. And in the last few years, we