Free TFS Theseus: The Terran Fleet Command Saga – Book 2 by Tori Harris

world has at least some level of monitoring and early warning capabilities deployed within the boundaries of the system, it is unlikely they will gather their forces less than two light years from Sol. On the other hand, they will also seek to minimize the distance required for their final approach and attack.”
    “That being the case, how will the older vessels manage the final portion of their journey?” White asked. “Clearly, they will need to be much closer than two light years in order to make their attack run using sublight engines.”
    “Indeed. When attacking, they will endeavor to transition as close to Terra as they possibly can. This will be accomplished by coupling the navigation systems across multiple vessels. Although this still diminishes the tactical surprise capabilities of newer warships such as the Gresav -class, the task force should still be able to transition out of hyperspace within a few million kilometers of Terra. From there, they will approach as closely as possible from multiple directions, saturating whatever defensive systems you have in place with a barrage of missile and kinetic energy weapons fire. In order to achieve this level of navigational accuracy, their rally point will most likely be less than five light years distant.”
    “If I understand you correctly, we’re still talking about the space between two concentric spheres with a radius of two and five light years, respectively, Admiral Naftur. That still sounds like an awfully large volume of space to search for potential staging areas,” Sexton observed.
    “Impossibly large, given the time we have available,” Naftur agreed. “Before leaving the Gresav , however, I tasked our AI with simulating the area within five light years of Sol to look for the most likely staging areas. Although the analysis was incomplete when I departed, it was still able to narrow the list to three hundred thirty-six of the most likely locations.”
    “That still sounds like a pretty daunting challenge, Admiral,” White sighed.
    “It does, but we have Fleet assets that might be able to work through the list pretty quickly as long as they don’t have to remain at each location very long,” Sexton interjected, careful to avoid revealing additional classified information in spite of what he knew Admiral Naftur had already observed for himself firsthand. “Let’s cover your remaining topics at a high level before I start issuing any orders, but time is of the essence where our search is concerned.”
    “Very well,” Naftur continued. “The second item is one of long-term strategy. There are no doubt many within the Sajeth Collective Governing Council who would deem my actions and continued presence here as nothing short of open rebellion and treason. Fortunately for me,” he grinned,” the classified nature of my mission prevents my whereabouts from being generally known. In any event, I strongly believe that I am still acting within the bounds of the orders I was given when originally dispatched to the Sol System several months ago. One of the Council’s objectives was to establish contact with your world, hopefully leading to formalized diplomatic relations. This was to be accomplished in spite of any interference the Pelaran spacecraft chose to employ. Accordingly, another significant part of my mission was to continue developing tactics to overcome some of its technological advantages. Ultimately, as you can well imagine, we hoped to discover a way to destroy the Guardian ship entirely, even with the knowledge that doing so might well undermine our relations with your world.”
    “It might at that, Admiral,” Sexton chuckled. “Now that we are acquainted, I hope you will seek our counsel before you attempt such a thing. I also recommend that we keep that particular piece of information to ourselves, for now. There are members of our Leadership Council, notably the chairwoman herself, who seem to be in favor of Earth rushing