Fifteen minutes had passed since they had hidden themselves in a deep fissure on the moon of third planet in the star system. The gravity detector hadn’t detected any ships since the first group had passed them by. Which, by very definition, meant that the pursuing ships were at least 15 light-minutes away. But, at faster than light speeds, it also meant that they could be as little as 4 seconds away including the time needed for braking. Waiting longer could mean that they would be even further away, if they were still flying in pursuit, but could also mean that they were closer to where the Wakiran ship had hidden itself, if they had already broken off the pursuit and had come to search for his ship. No clear course of action. Myka hated making decisions without any data.

He got up from the command chair and walked over the tactician’s post. Poke was pouring over possible scenarios, attempting to find a scheme that would meet her master’s stated goal without risking the total destruction of the cruiser. Their Mother had given her a command to get the Crown Prince home safely. It was a command that she could not possibly disobey.

Myka dropped down to his haunches and looked up at his acting tactician. It is too much to put on the shoulders of a novice, he thought. She is still young, and this is her first time calling out tactics on a ship. I should let her attempt to extricate us from this predicament without insisting on us mounting an attack. Get to safety, effect repairs, wait for help from the other ships in the wing, then attack. “Pokaifashta?”

She startled. “My apologies, Commander. I am still attempting to create a suitable scheme, under the parameters set out by you and by our Mother. Simulations are currently running that I am waiting on. Two of them are balking, refusing to accept the directions I am giving them. Our Mother experienced the same problem on more than one occasion in the simulations our Lady had assigned her.”

“In English, Poke. Tell me what you think and the likelihood of success in English. The rest of the command crew do not need to know yet.”

Poke blinked twice and sighed. “The gravity detector sensed eleven different disturbances in the gravity well. Four of them were at least Groodfun-class, assuming they are using Fahlusian technology,” she told him, using a mixture of English and their language.

“That is newest technology for Fahlusia. How could pirates have access to – top of the line ships from the Fahlusian Congress?”

“The hows are unimportant my master. Ships that size are one-third as powerful as our light cruisers. And they have at least four of them. Even if we were undamaged, they can – what is the English term – outgun us? Outgun, yes. With one emitter destroyed, and another damaged, two of them would be enough to delete us.”

“Do you think we should abandon the idea of attacking, and run? This is not an accusation, Poke. I need your honest opinion, one officer to another.”

“We would not be able to outrun them, Commander. They would be able to hound us into a trap where there could be no escape. Yet, we cannot hide here much longer. They will be back soon looking for us. No matter which course of action we take, it appears that the endgame will be the same.”