Free Call to Arms (Black Fleet Trilogy, Book 2) by Joshua Dalzelle Page B

not destroyed or captured.
    “I’m scanning the entire system with the high-power array,” Celesta said. “Even if they’re running silent, we know exactly what sort of return to look for from the ship’s hull material. It may take a bit, but we’ll find her.”
    “That’s assuming she hasn’t already warped out of the system while we were engaged,” Jackson said quietly. “Keep looking, and update me with every detail on my comlink if I’m not on the bridge.”
    “Yes, sir.”.
    As it turned out, it didn’t take them nearly as long to find the ship as they’d feared it would. It was less than an hour after Jackson and Celesta had spoke when the com beacon for the Icarus lit up on their display, chirping out the destroyer’s position and status loud and proud. The beacon was followed shortly by a terse com message from a terrified looking lieutenant commander.
    “This is Lieutenant Commander Nimski, tactical officer of the TCS Icarus .” His voice shook. “I’ve assumed command of this ship and have had Captain Levitt and Commander Carlton taken into custody. I would like to speak with whoever is currently commanding Confederate forces in the system.”
    “Coms! Tell Commander Nimski to rendezvous with the rest of the squadron.” Jackson leaned forward, vigorously rubbing his temples with the heels of his hands. “Provide coordinates. Let him know if he needs assistance we can help him further.”
    “Aye, sir,” the young ensign at the com station said.
    “You have the bridge, Commander Wright,” Jackson said. “I’ll be in my office. Just get that ship back into the formation so we can get the hell out of this system.”
    “Yes, sir.” Celesta slid into the command seat.
    ****
    The single knock at his door made Jackson jump as he was so focused on his task. “Enter!”
    “Sir, the Icarus has rejoined the formation.” Celesta stepped in through the hatchway. “The Artemis has sent over two requests to withdraw since… are you well, sir?”
    “Yes, yes.” Jackson waved her off. “Just trying to stitch together all the sensor logs from the squadron into a cohesive picture of the encounter.”
    “We have an entire team of analysts down in CIC doing just that.” Celesta frowned. “Is there something in particular you’re looking for?”
    “I want an unfiltered view,” Jackson said. “The analysts are always trying to be helpful by excluding what they deem to be extraneous, but you and I both know a small detail that seems unimportant can actually be the key to understanding the thing as a whole.”
    “You’re worried about something specific.” She walked in and closed the hatch.
    “I had a suspicion,” Jackson said. “I didn’t know for sure until I synced up all the time codes and played the logs from the Ares and the Artemis simultaneously.
    “The reason the Artemis never got a killing shot in on their target is that at the exact instant our missiles impacted the first Alpha, the second wheeled and fled at what I previously would have considered an impossible rate of acceleration for that type.”
    “Our target warned the other we had new weapons and tactics,” Celesta offered.
    “And the other ship fled back beyond the frontier, likely to warn its… people… and analyze the information from the battle the same as we are.” Jackson said with a scowl. “I have a feeling the next Alpha we face will already have modifications to defend against what was observed over Xi’an.”
    “Are you certain?” Celesta asked. “Our kinetic weapons were still largely effective.”
    “Not entirely.” Jackson spun his monitor. “Watch.”
    Celesta sat in one of the unoffered seats and watched the high-resolution thermal imagery of their auto-mag shells impacting the first Alpha they’d engaged. Some obviously punched through the tough organic hull, but just as many smashed against it, exploding against the surface and not penetrating. Jackson had filtered a lot of the flashes