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Jace, there is no hope. Letting this go on is only making it worse, Khoth said tenderly.

Jace looked into the Thaf’ell’s blue-on-blue eyes and, for a terrible moment, he imagined they were Khoth’s. His gorge rose in his throat that, too, felt so far away.

The Khul are trying to communicate with us, Jace, Gehenna sounded alarmed.

Jace felt alarmed. The metallic bite of fear entered his mouth.

I see that, Jace said. Khoth, the Khul are trying to talk to us.

Of course, they are, Khoth growled. They want to trade his life for yours. It cannot be done--

That’s not what they want, Gehenna interrupted. They want the--the database.

No Other Choice

Meanwhile, on the Osiris above Haseon…

“There’s no other choice, Osiris,” Jack said patiently.

No.

Jack let out a breath. “It’s the only way to destroy this last Hive. No matter what we’ve done, it won’t come near the big gun. And we can’t keep playing cat and mouse out here much longer. The other ships can’t take it.”

The Hive was near the gate, spinning slowly like a recalcitrant top. Jack felt it was taunting them. It occasionally sent a shower of blasts their way. While the Osiris had managed to block 99% of them, that one percent that got by had done more than enough damage.

He glanced at the next screen that showed him the remainder of the Alliance fleet. Some had no shields left. More than a few had single digits. And even those still in the double digits were so low that one blast would be enough to damage or even destroy them.

Diane’s ship included in that.

Jack pinched the top of his nose. He could imagine exactly what one of Jace’s old headaches felt like. It was looming over him like a sledgehammer. The stress had his shoulders nearly up to his ears. He tried to shake himself loose. Tight body equaled throttled thinking. That was never good.

“Dai, tell the Osiris I’m right,” Jack said.

“I don’t think the Osiris listens to me,” Dai answered with a shrug. “But for what it’s worth, you’ve been right all along.”

“We can give you cover while the Osiris’ weapon powers up,” Matzen offered.

Again. He’s offered it just as often as I’ve pointed out this is the only way, Jack thought.

“What other options are there, Osiris?” Diane asked. “Lay it out for us. What’s your plan if you won’t go with Jack’s?”

The cursor blinked for long moments and Jack wondered if the AI would even bother answering.

We can leave this system. Go to one nearby and replenish my power supplies, the Osiris answered.

“The nearest system with an appropriate gas giant is three days' journey away without a gate,” Matzen stated.

None of your ships is capable of making the journey in three days or three years, the Osiris seemed to sniff. It would take me 49 hours and 23 minutes to seek out a fuel source and return.

“But without the Osiris to shield us, our ships will be destroyed!” Diane pointed out.

The cursor blinked a few times and then the Osiris answered, Yes.

“So you’d suggest leaving all of them to die?” Jack’s voice was very neutral, which was where he went when very angry.

It would be an unfortunate sacrifice, but my survival is far more important than theirs, the Osiris answered. This battle has proven that surely. Ask Commander Matzen his opinion on the matter.

Matzen’s expression was unchanged. No matter if his ship was teetering on the verge of collapse or he was staring off at a peaceful starscape, the Thaf’ell never looked different. He stroked his chin and stated, “That is true. All things being equal, the Osiris’ survival is far more important than any of ours.”