Two inches of transparent aluminum armor separated Admiral Akira Tenaka from the blackness his midnight-colored eyes surveyed. His gaze focused for a moment on the vivid blues and greens on Earth, some four hundred kilometers below his viewpoint; his focus then shifted toward a bright pinpoint of light in Aries. Distant Saturn, Admiral Tenaka thought as his hands journeyed through his disheveled raven-colored hair and the streaks of silver that highlighted it. Tomorrow, you will be the field of battle for the largest conflict we've yet fought in this war. It will be a battle to determine the fates of some ten billion humans. A sigh escaped the Admiral's lips. May our Ancestors have mercy on us on that day, and on the days thereafter.

A chime sounded to let the Admiral know someone waited at the door to his office. He seated himself in an office chair behind his oak desk and said, "Enter."

The office door opened; light from the hallway beyond silhouetted the figure that stood in the doorway. The figure stood slender and long; a flight helmet rested underneath the figure's left armpit. The figure raised its right arm in a salute to the Admiral. "Colonel Jeanette Duveaux reports as ordered, Admiral," the figure said; the voice was feminine, sultry.

Admiral Tenaka returned the salute and signalled Jeanette to enter. Jeanette entered the room; her obsidian eyes met the Admiral's as the door closed behind her. The office light revealed her olive-toned skin and onyx-hued eyes; her hair stayed the same raven-black it had been in the shadows.

"You and the squadron are well, I hope?" the Admiral asked.

Jeanette nodded. "Drake Squadron is back at a hundred percent, if that's what you're asking, sir," she answered. "After what we all saw and survived in the Tau Ceti system, I don't think any number of Ceti ships can frighten us."

Saturn, with Titan visible in the upper-left.
Photographed by Cassini in November 2002.

Admiral Tenaka gave the Colonel a faint smile. "Good. Our forces will need every advantage they can get for this battle; a capable commander such as yourself will be a valuable asset to the rest of the fleet at Saturn. What is the current status of the rest of the fleet?" His fingers typed a command into a keyboard built into his desk; a moment thereafter, a holographic display of Saturn and its largest moons shimmered into existence a half meter above the desk.

"As of about five minutes ago," Jeanette replied, "the Seventh and Ninth Fleets are in position--the Seventh in orbit over Mimas, and the Ninth stationed near Titan. Excalibur Squadron is on guard with the Ninth Fleet; they'll move to engage in twenty hours. The Seventeenth and Twenty-first Starborne Squadrons are parked on Titan's surface, beneath the moon's thick atmosphere. Most of the other starfighter squadrons are attached to our starships, but I've attached the Sixteenth and Eighteenth Starborne Squadrons with Drake Squadron and placed them in the Cassini Division."

The Admiral's eyes widened as several blue icons appeared on the display to represent Colonel Duveaux's placement of the Terran forces. "The Cassini Division?" he asked. "Placing our forces within Saturn's ring system is an audacious move, Colonel, but one that I am sure the Ceti will expect. It is also a dangerous move, almost foolhardy. Please, explain your decision."

Jeanette's lips curved into a smile. "It's a win-win situation, sir. We have civilian and military outposts on Mimas, so we know it will be one of the Ceti fleet's objectives." Her right forefinger traced a path from outside Titan's orbit toward Mimas; the holodisplay drew the path Jeanette had traced in bright red. "If the Ceti do expect us to have forces waiting in the rings, they'll have to cover their flank as they approach Mimas--meaning they'll have ships pinned against the rings while we can bring all our ships to bear on their fleet. If they don't expect it, they'll use the rings as cover and bring ships onto their opposite flank. . . which will give our starfighters opportunity fire at their command ships."

"You have planned the defense well, Colonel; I commend you. However, what if the Ceti fleet should bypass Saturn altogether?"

"I don't think they will, Admiral," Jeanette said. "Our commercial and military assets there are tempting enough that I don't think the Ceti will be able to resist." Pause. "If they do, we can jump the Seventh Fleet in front of their position to lay mines while the Ninth jumps behind their armada to hit their supply vessels."

Admiral Tenaka nodded his approval. "One last question, Colonel," he said. "You have not mentioned the Eighth Fleet. . ?"

Jeanette placed the tip of her finger a millimeter within the holographic picture of Saturn. "The Eighth Fleet is in a position where even God would be hard-pressed to find it."

* * *

Captain Dimitri Tucharov took a moment to watch the main viewscreen on the Gabriel's bridge. Saturn's golden clouds swirled below, around and above the vessel as the planet's winds drove against the ship with phenomenal force. Once or twice a minute the sound of thunder rumbled--thunder from lightning bolts a hundred kilometers distant.

A junior officer approached the captain and reported, "All ships have reported in, sir. The Eighth Fleet is in position."

Captain Tucharov nodded and waved the officer away. In Hell is more like it, he thought. Colonel Duveaux, when we survive this battle, you are going to owe me big-time.

* * *

"Your strategy, though audacious and unorthodox, is sound, Colonel Duveaux," Admiral Tenaka said. "I entrust you with the defense of Saturn. I have one order, however, that I must require you to plan your strategy around when you engage the Ceti armada."

"One order? Easy enough," Jeanette said. "What is it?"

The Admiral typed another series of commands on the keyboard; a gold-colored point of light twinkled on the holodisplay. "Begin a counter when you declare you have engaged the Ceti fleet. At T-plus eighty minutes, the Ceti fleet must be at these coordinates. If you must pin them down to keep them from moving any further, then pin them down. If you must fall back toward Mimas, fall back. But make sure the armada is where I need it to be."

"I don't suppose you have any explanation for your order, Admiral?"

"At this time, I do not. At T-plus eighty minutes, I will. Dismissed."

Jeanette gave the Admiral a salute; Tenaka returned the salute, then turned to face the windows as Jeanette walked toward the door.

"Colonel," Admiral Tenaka said.

Jeanette stopped, turned to face Tenaka. "Yes, Admiral?"

Tenaka's focus lay in the constellations that rotated in and out of view. "Walk with strength," he said, his voice a billion and a half kilometers distant.

Jeanette left the Admiral's office and strode down the hallway toward the elevator that would carry her to Liberty Station's secondary flight deck. If I can ever claim to comprehend that man, I will die a happy woman, she thought. He gives me the job of defending Saturn from a force that outnumbers us six-to-one. Then he says I have to have the Ceti fleet in this position, at this time. . . and if I know him, to the devil with how many people I lose to make sure the Ceti are where he wants them to be.

"Colonel Duveaux!"

Jeanette's startled reaction lifted her a decimeter off the floor in the station's reduced gravity. She turned toward the source of the voice that had disrupted her thoughts and found herself looking at the ardent face of a young man with emerald-colored eyes and dark blonde hair who stood a few centimeters shorter than her. Jeanette noticed the SolarNet News emblem on the man's outfit, then resumed her brisk walk toward the elevator. "If you got questions, Snoopy, make 'em quick," she snapped.

The reporter nodded and walked alongside Jeanette. "What are the odds of our winning the Battle of Saturn tomorrow, Colonel?"

"That depends on what you mean by 'winning,'" Jeanette replied. "Are we going to destroy the Ceti armada down to the last ship? No. We're there to hurt them, Snoops. Do you know what I mean when I say we're there to hurt them?" She stopped and turned toward the reporter.

The reporter's eyes betrayed confusion and a measure of fear. He shook his head and waited for Jeanette to continue.

Jeanette resumed her course toward the elevator. "We're going to take out as much of the Ceti armada as possible, while losing as few of our own ships as possible," she explained. "Now, the Ceti have six times the number of ships headed for Saturn as we have to defend it, so we'll need all the home field advantage we can get. . . and as long as we can take out somewhere between four to six of them for every one of us, I'll mark the battle as a victory in my books."

"What kind of casualty reports can we expect from this battle, Colonel?" the reporter asked.

Jeanette sighed. "Heavy ones. At the rate the Ceti fleet has been moving, it's a week from Earth. We need to slow them down. . . and to slow them down, we need to hit them so hard they'll have to give their whole invasion second thoughts. The only way we're going to hit them that hard is by giving everything we've got and then some.

"Tell the mothers and fathers, the sisters and brothers, the husbands and wives. . . their loved ones are going to make them proud tomorrow. They may not survive. . . but I promise you this much, their odds of surviving this battle are at least as good as mine. No one will get special treatment."

"Last question, Colonel. . . do you have any comments regarding Drake Squadron's successful raid of Tau Ceti just last week?"

Jeanette stopped at the door to the elevator and pushed the call button on the door's right side. "Yes, and my comment is this. . . if I have anything to do with it, the Drakes will be the first Terran forces out of the gate the next time we're there-because we will go back. And the next time we go back, it won't be just for reconnaisance." The elevator door opened, and Jeanette stepped inside. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a shuttle to catch."