But now, Astrid knew why Terra was not safe for her.

    In fact, part of the reason why Astrid could not go down
there--because any Spacer could violate Earthspace and enter the
Terran atmosphere--was because the Admiralty thought her to be
too important to the Union to let her go down there.  If the Union
gave her a warrant for landing, she could easily have taken a ship
to Terra and gone wherever she wanted, because Terra was
unwilling to fight against the whole of the Union of Planetary
Republics.  But that did not guarantee that Terrans would ignore
her.  They knew she was a Spacer, and as the conflict with
NeoTerra had escalated, Terran anger toward Spacers grew.

    Even if the battle were legal and not an all-out war, the
Admiralty’s Galactic Network had enough firepower in Spacer
ships to obliterate all the major cities of any planet in the Union. 
It was just that the AGN never did anything like that.  It was
something which would never come up in their legislation, and no
other branch of the Union’s government would support such an
atrocity.  The Spacers might be sent in to save Terra from
destroying its own civilizations, or to evacuate the planet if
necessary, but they would never dream of obeying an order to fire
on millions of innocents on the surface of any planet below their
ship.  It was unthinkable.

    Despite the fact that the Union really did want Terra to return to
its posts within the government and to receive Terran delegates
and representatives, Terra did not cooperate with diplomatic
ventures nor did Terra comply with direct orders.  And NeoTerra
was worse.  They flew ships in patrol around their sector of the
Union and threatened any Captain who gave the order to go into
their space.  Several ships went to supply outposts to deliver their
routine cargoes, and they never returned.  Since then, the Union
had actually opened hostilities with NeoTerra.  They fought to get
back to the Union outposts and evacuate the people there, but
NeoTerran forces were too strong, and they hit upon the idea to
use the Spacers in the outposts as hostages.

    The situation was degrading fast, and it could tear the Union to
pieces all over again.  Back in 2249, the same thing had happened,
but the resilient nation sprang back, thanks to Captain Marcus
Laurence Hamilton of AGN - 17380  U.S.S. Berkeshire.  That was
the first Berkeshire built.  Now things were tougher.  Now, the
Belts were coming, and it seemed like everyone was for
themselves.  Everyone wanted out of the Union but they didn’t
want into anything else.  Terra wasn’t the only planet denying
Spacers access to its landing pads or any of its resources.  Luckily,
their situations had not yet degraded to the point of NeoTerra’s. 
The last thing the Union needed now was to fall apart just before
its newest flagship was finished.

    Edlyn Astrid was wearing the Captain’s uniform of that new
ship.  That had been why she visited Admiral Pon, and also to be
assigned a crew.  She thought she was alone in the simulation test
with a bunch of simulated officers in a ‘crew.’  It always seemed
like that, even for Captain Hamilton from so long ago.  He had
spoken on that subject in many of the classes he taught as an
academy Admiral.  She had gone over the list of officers and
realized just who they were.  They were among her classmates
from all of the seminars and training sessions.  She knew some of
them, was friends with a few others, and had never seen some of
the rest.

    Now, they were her officers.  Admiral Pon had already told
them this, before Astrid met him, and had made arrangements for
them to visit her.  Now, she was waiting for the arranged meeting
time, so she could see them all together.  Knowing that she had at
least an hour before the official meeting time, she headed to the
meeting place.

    It was one of the areas in the Commons of the Spaceport.  Here,
people hurried from place to place, on business, leisure, or for
other purposes which Astrid did not guess.  There wasn’t much
more for her to do there but sit on a bench and wait for her officers
to assemble.  It seemed odd to her that protocols were for officers
to meet in a public place, but it did make sense once the first few
officers began to show up.  Captain Astrid’s trained mind deduced
that it was because the officers and the Captain would be more
relaxed and at ease in a social setting rather than aboard a ship or
in any duty-related area.  She was right.

    Unfortunately, she was only right for the other officers.  She
seemed isolated.  Perhaps that was because she was the
commanding officer and the others were one rank lower than she. 
She watched them talk to each other, and wondered what they
were saying, because they hadn’t seen her yet.  Perhaps they
thought that she was a level above them, and should therefore not
be disrespected, and that they may do that by letting her in on their
“petty” conversations.  Actually, she was the same age as a couple
of them, and quite a bit younger than most of the rest, though a
couple of them were also younger than she.

    But they were the best at what they did.  She knew that when
she first met the ones she befriended.  The three she knew best
were Hiram Lothair the Chief Tactical officer, Charles MacHaley
her second in command, and Lura’aknul the Chief Science officer. 
They were the ones she had the most contact with during her test,
and not surprisingly were the ones whose rank was the closest
match of her own.  It was the bond of trust between herself and
MacHaley that had helped her pass her part of the simulation test. 
But the odds of the test were always stacked against her and her
ship and her crew because it was a no-win situation.  She had tried
her best to win, but she couldn’t ever surpass the superior strategic
knowledge and experience of the computer.

    Just the thought of the test brought back the horrid details of
that simulated mission to stop a superenemy race called the
KobalThi.  As far as anyone knew in the Union, only seven ships
had ever met the KobalThi and survived, the only seven ships had
ever encountered them.

    The ships always survived, but their crews never did.  The ships
always came back with an eerie emptiness of personnel.  There
weren’t even the typical “massacre leftovers” of dismembered
parts or bones or even patches of blood on the decks.  The people
were always gone, without a trace...

    Her simulated ship was part of the vanguard of the Union’s
exploration of KobalThi space.  They traveled through the Owlasi
wormhole that took them across the Milky Way Galaxy.  There,
they were to begin exploring a planet that the KobalThi supposedly
had abandoned.  Teams of explorers and Marines to protect them
were teleported down.  Then, while the ship was pinned down, and
forced to protect its exploratory teams and not abandon them, the
KobalThi attacked...

    There were two other Union ships in the simulation which
Astrid also relayed commands to.  They deployed fighters, but the
KobalThi were relentless.  Despite their massive array of weapons,
and each Heavy Assault SuperCarrier’s deployment of forty
thousand fighters, the spaceborne KobalThi overwhelmed them. 
Despite the massive defenses aboard her ship, a Vanguard-class
ship, Astrid was powerless to protect against the aliens...

    The fear has been racing through her mind since sometime this
morning, when they arrived at a planet supposedly abandoned by
the KobalThi.  They were supposed to begin colonizing once they
were sure it was safe.  But it is not safe at all.  KobalThi had
converged around them and it is up to Captain Astrid to save all
three ships.

    “We’re completely surrounded, Captain,” the Tactician reports. 
“There are KobalThi coming from every direction!”

    “Keep firing, Tactical,” Astrid commands, “Helm, try to work
your way out of the main theater of action.  There’s too much
going on for us to be of any good.  And get us out of range of
SuperCarrier Zhattalan.  They’re hitting us with their pulsar
torpedos!”

    “They’re bringing in the heavy artillery, Captain!” the Science
officer reports.

    The Navigator begins to maneuver through tight turns and
loops, like a dogfighter.

    “I can’t lose ‘em.  There’re three on my tail and they won’t
shake off.”  He puts the ship through as many evasive maneuvers
as he can, but the KobalThi can move faster since they aren’t
hindered by the bulk and weight of starships.  They let loose with
bioplasmic torpedos that slam into the ship.

    “They’re firing bioplasm at us, Captain!”  The Tactician reports. 
“Shields at thirty percent power!”

    “From one hit?”

    “Aye, Captain.”

    “Engineering, transfer power to shields,” The second in
command orders.  “And fire up any additional power reactors we
have so we can afford to transfer that much power.”

    “I can hardly keep up with power demands already,” the
Engineer reports, “Let alone give you whatever you like.”  Her
Scottish accent reminds Astrid of an old television science fiction
series, but not enough to make her lose the urgency of the present
situation.  The Navigator continues to pelt through tight turns, and
tries to make close passes at other KobalThi to shake off the
pursuers.

    “Tactician, lock onto the KobalThi chasing us and try to get
them to hang back farther,” Astrid says.

    “It’s not working, sir.  The bioplasmic attacks just consume our
missiles.”

    “Then switch to lasers, or try antimatter torpedos.”

    “Firing.”  The resonating boom of torpedos fills the Bridge as
they are flung from the torpedo tubes.  They arc back around and
shoot back toward the KobalThi.  The shock waves as they
explode rattle the ship.

    “No effect.”

    “What about neutronium explosives?”

    “Captain, we can’t just transnuke them.  The blasts would
irradiate the whole sector.  Not to mention probably kill the
exploratory teams.”  The Second in Command has made a valid
point.  Astrid relents.

    “Can we teleport them up?”

    “Negative, sir.  They’re being attacked with bioplasm as well.”

    “Can we communicate with them?”

    “Opening the channel now,” the Communications officer
reports.  Static fills the Bridge, but the voice of a Marine can be
heard over the minor interference:

    “Captain, we’re being attacked by KobalThi landers!”  There is
the sound of vicious laser fire, augmented by explosions and the
screams of different people, some hollering orders and others
shouting as the savage KobalThi scoop them up in their slavering
jaws to begin eating them alive.  There is the syrupy sizzle of
bioplasm as it is sprayed over victims who resist too much.  Then
rattling explosions as the bioplasm explodes.

    “Marine report!”  Captain Astrid demands.

    “We’re stuck in a cul-de-sac, and there’s cover fliers over us. 
They jammed the hyperband radios, but ansibolic is still operating.”

    “How many casualties?”

    “Not many so far.  We had two hundred people total, fifty
explorers and the rest Marines.  So far, only Marines have been
hurt or killed.  We lost about twenty so far, sir,” the Marine
reported.

    “Try to pull back.”

    “There’s no place to pull back, sir!  Sir, we’re as good as dead
here, and that’s the way the KobalThi planned it.”

    “Then try to sit tight down there.  We’re trying to cut through
the interference.  Make sure you’re as ready to teleport at any
time,” Astrid says.

    “We can’t give any guarantees about your survival,” the Second
in Command adds.

    “It’s all in the job description sir,” the Marine says, “I knew it
when I signed up, and I’ll know it when I die.”

    “We’ll do what we can,” Astrid says.

    “Helm, try getting us closer to the planet.  If we can stay put
long enough, we can teleport the team up.”

    “Will do, sir,” the Navigator answers.  He weaves between two
KobalThi and they fire point blank, even though they barely had a
chance to do so.  The ship flits between them, and they let loose
with a vile burst of sulfurous bioplasm that rocks the ship as it
explodes on the shields.  The other KobalThi had quit pursuing, so
the Navigator steps on the gas to try to avoid further harassment
from these aliens.  It of course is of no use.

    “How is SuperCarrier Aquarius handling the attack?”  Astrid
asks.  The Communications officer answers.

    “They’re taking a heavy beating.  But they’ve taken worse and
they’re still well protected.”

    “Launch our fighters,” Astrid orders, “We need as much
firepower if we’re going to sit idly by and let them fire at us while
we teleport the team up.”

    “Fighters launching,” the Tactician reports.  “All squadrons are
prepared for launch.”

    “Keep them coming,” Astrid orders, “But leave us a reserve so
that we can deploy more if we need them.”

    “Aye, sir,” the Tactician replies, and he sets to work.

    “Captain, Marines report five additional casualties, but now
they’re from the explorers themselves.  The Marines are covering
them as well as possible.”

    “What’s the deal with this group of KobalThi?” the Second in
Command asks the Science officer, “I thought most broods were
smaller.”

    “This is an unusually large brood.  I believe that there may be
several separate broods working in conjunction to achieve a higher
goal.”

    “But that goes against our knowledge of the KobalThi.  They
were not too sophisticated, and I didn’t think Intelligence ever
proved that they were sentient.”

    “Current opinion is that they’re not, and that they’re just able to
follow the swarm or the hive mentality and multiply their
intelligence by sharing each drone’s thought,” the Science officer
answers.

    “Can we disturb or disrupt that?”

    “They appear to jam hyperband radio with their telepathic
signals.  We might be able to spray out charged plasma from our
ships and phase band it to absorb hyperband emissions and deliver
the energy to us as a variant of the Koenar Tactic.”

    “First done by Engineer Cheryl Koenar,” the Second Tactical
officer reports.  “We extend one or more cables from the ship and
we tap an enemy’s shield power through the cables by dragging
them through the shield.  We might be able to phase band the
plasma with those cables and effectively jam their signals.”

    “There is one problem,” the Science officer adds, “That we need
to drop our shields to do it.”

    “How about using our RANAR?” the Second Science officer
suggests.  “If we can put out enough noise, maybe we could irritate
them enough to go away if we find the frequency that they
transmit their signals on.”

    “Captain!”  A voice demands Astrid’s attention from the plot
the officers are forming.

    “They’re boarding my ship, Captain.  We’re trying to evacuate!” 
From the communications link, the Communications officer
reports:

    “They’re in the tail sections of the Aquarius, and they’re
moving through the ship fast.”

    “Try to find the hole and cover it so no more can come
through.”

    “We have the Marines and the exploratory teams aboard, sir,”
the Engineer reports.  “They’ve taken casualties, but we have some
Marines we could send aboard.”

    “Teleport in any Marines from our Marine deck and get the ones
who were on the planet and didn’t get hurt.”

    “Aye, sir.”  The Engineer answers.

    But it’s too late.  Suddenly, the entire front end of the ship,
down to somewhere in the middle, explodes.  Pieces of the
Aquarius float out into space as an expanding shock wave drives
them away.

    “They used some kind of bioplasmic antimatter,” the Tactician
reports.  “It blew away at least a third of the Aquarius.”

    “You’ve gotta help us!”  the commander of the stricken ship
hollers.

    “We’re sending in the Marines.  Try to hold off the KobalThi
that have invaded.”

    “We lost most of our men, Captain.  And the KobalThi have got
Engineering good.  There’s nothing we can do to save the ship.”

    “Lower your shields,” Astrid commands.  “My ship can merge
shields with yours.”

    “It won’t work.  They’re already coming!”  Someone from the
Bridge of the Aquarius hollers.  “KobalThi!”  And then there is a
brutality of a laser fight as Union officers blast as many as they
can before they too become food for the ravaging aliens.

    “How many are still alive aboard that ship?”

    “At least fifteen hundred,” the Communications officer answers.

    “Ask the Marines we sent in, can they get them all out?”  The
Second in Command asks.

    “Not by a long shot, sir,” a Marine answers, “You’ll have to
dock just to pick us up.  We’ll try to bring as many survivors as we
can, sir.”

    “Helm, make it so.  Dock us with the nearest proper docking
facility on the Aquarius.  We might be able to save some
evacuees.”

    But the situation degrades.

    “Captain, we’re being hit too hard by enemy fire.  We need to
pull back to a safe place,” the Navigator reports.

    “There’s no safe place here,” Astrid complains.

    “Yes there is.  Back in the Owlasi Wormhole.”

    “No!  We have to pull out our officers,” Astrid protests to what
the Navigator just said, even though she is the Captain.

    “And we can’t abandon the Zhattalan,” the Second in
Command amends, “We have to help protect them also.”

    “Captain,” the Communications officer reports, “The Zhattalan
is being board--”  Suddenly, enemy fire hits the ship, and it shakes
violently.  Sparks shower from the consoles on the Bridge.  “Oswi
Gatheliñe!” he shouts, as he is thrown back by the force of the
explosion of his console.

    “We just lost communication,” the Communications officer
reports as flames erupt from his station.  A couple of officers have
grabbed extinguishers and spray the flames down.

    “Captain,” the Science officer says, “Look!”

    The Zhattalan starts to drop nose first toward the planet below. 
There is a flash, as some form of bioplasm hits the ship, and it
begins to fall faster.

    “She’s going down with all hands aboard, sir, except for the
fighters which have all been lost,” the Second in Command now
reports.

    “What about our Marines on the Aquarius?”

    “We’re out of touch with them.”

    “Move in to dock.”

    “Sir, I’m afraid we can’t do that.”