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panel with his hand. “Dammit, Brutus , thought we told you to stay put.”
    Not exactly the best way to talk to the flagship, but Henricksen was a Valkyrie captain, and the Valkyrie captains were allowed a few more liberties than the Titans and Auroras. And they were known for being a bit bolder than the captains the Dreadnoughts chose.
    “I’ve had enough of waiting, Captain.”
    “ Brutus, ” Kusikov breathed, staring in horror at his captain. “That was Brutus himself, not Comms.”
    Or the Captain. Surprising that the Bastion would answer himself, and probably not good, but Henricksen didn’t seem to care who did the talking. He just looked ticked off at the entire situation. He opened his mouth, ready to volley something equally pithy back. Serengeti decided it was time for her to intervene.
    “May I?”
    She didn’t need Henricksen’s permission, but she respected him. And when his blood was up, the captain could be somewhat…unpredictable.
    Henricksen frowned in annoyance and then glanced outside, considering Brutus’s far-off bulk. “Have at it,” he said, waving his hand angrily.
    “ Brutus, this is Serengeti. Request you hold position while we finish our sweep of the area.”
    Silence. Absolutely silence for a full five seconds. Brutus’s way of showing his displeasure.
    “Acknowledged,” he sent back. And after a short pause, “Hurry up about it.”
    Annoying .
    “That’s the plan,” Serengeti said brightly and then closed the comms, all but cutting the Bastion off.
    Seychelles sent a message—private channel, one Valkyrie saying hello to another, trading messages faster than a human blinked an eye.
    Sorry for the intrusion, her message read. Our fearless leader was in a hurry.
    Smiley face appended to the end. Serengeti couldn’t help but laugh.
    He’s grumpier than usual, Serengeti sent back.
    Yeah. Well. Cerberus called while you were away.
    The Citadel himself. Wow. That can’t be good.
    Nope. Seems the masses aren’t very happy that this is taking so long. Cerberus is thinking of replacing him, Seychelles confided.
    Really.
    Uh-huh.
    This was a private message I assume. Ship-to-ship, not meant for other ears?
    Mm-hmm.
    And how, pray-tell, did you come by this message?
    Seychelles sent a winky smiley face. Refit crew owed me a favor.
    You bugged him. You bugged Brutus’s comms system during an upgrade. Unbelievable!
    You’re just mad you didn’t think of it first. Another smiley face, then, Ciao, sister. Stay out of trouble.
    Serengeti wiped the messages—best not to keep that kind of thing around—and returned her attention to the bridge.
    “Hurry up he says.” Henricksen snorted in derision. “What’s he think we’ve been doing? Sitting here with our thumbs up our asses?”
    “Brutus is under pressure,” Serengeti told him. “We’ve been chasing those DSR ships for almost three weeks now and Cerberus wants this over and done with so he can call the rest of us back to the fleet.”
    Cerberus, Citadel class—the one and only, the AI Admiral in charge of the entire Meridian Alliance fleet. Brutus was one of five Bastions, Serengeti one of four hundred and ninety-eight Valkyries, the twenty Dreadnoughts out there a small subset of a nearly seven hundred ship contingent, and the Titans and Auroras numbered almost eight thousand. All those ships, and just one Cerberus . Just one Citadel in all the galaxy, because that’s all the Meridian Alliance could afford to build . Serengeti wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
    “ Cerberus will take his command if he fails,” Serengeti noted.
    “Yeah? Well, boo-hoo. We’re all sick of chasing those bastards around the galaxy.” Henricksen folded his arms over his chest, grey eyes glaring out the windows. “Shouldn’t be here,” he growled. “Armada’s got no goddamn business being here until we’ve swept the area and called them through.”
    “ Brutus leads the fleet,” Serengeti reminded him.
    “Not all of