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Del Rio swung around to Lasky "Okay, they’ve opened fire on the ship Stand by"

"It’s Defender of Faith, " Parangosky murmured Nobody asked her how she knew Fleet seemed to accept that ONI heard al and saw al"I’d cal that coy beam Don’t see ?" Hood asked

Lasky leaned over a console that stil had disconnected conduit sticking out of it "Not returning fire, not yet She’s powered up to give hih" He indicated a sensor screen "Look at her energy and temperature profiles"

"And that looks likefor a formal request from the Arbiter or not?"

If Vaz had placed a bet, he’d have put histoa huht shot out from the destroyer and struck the west side of the keep Why didn’t they just boendas like anyone else They seeet into the keep rather than pulverize it Maybe there were things that they needed to recover

"We can probably get the ship’s attention andher, Captain, but let me help the Arbiter azing up at the deckhead, then the e Hood nodded at the comms officer to open a link "Arbiter, this is Terrence Hood Where are your ships?"

There was a little doglike cough The Arbiter didn’t sound like a , but at least he stil had comms "They have yet to arrive, Adh and dry by his chu himself when he saw one "Wel , in case they’ve been held up in traffic," Hood said, "shal we re?"

Silence: it was a long pause, probably while the Arbiter wrestled with his hinge-head sense of one soft on humans, so what difference did it ht the Arbiter was a bit h ground--if these bastards had any--when he’d crushed the rebels

"I should decline," the Arbiter said, "but I cannot"

"I’l take that as a yes, then Stand by" Hood folded his arosky had taken a few steps away from the chart table to sidle up to Mal Vaz had no idea she could move that fast "Al yours, Andrew"

Del Rio stil looked like it was siive me a projection of where that ship wil come down"

Defender of Faith started to lift She was right above her own troops, but also dangerously close to the keep if she was shot down Vaz couldn’t believe that a siht the distance of the enemy homeworld, able to destroy what leadership it had left, all of it, without any real chance of being hit, and yet they orking out how e they’d cause if they took out a destroyer

This is it This is the one chance we’ll get Do it now Screw the treaty Fry the of our own

Because they’ll be back one day You know they will

But just as he’d stepped back fro out the justice that he knew damn wel the Navy and the courts never would, Hood wouldn’t finish off the Sangheili, and neither would Parangosky

But at least Parangosky’s holding back because she knows you have to kill theh of them around to start another war

Vaz looked up at Mal, but Parangosky had steered hi him about his dinner plans

Austen, the principal weapons officer, had both hands on the flat section of his display like a concert pianist co himself for a real y difficult piece "Howlers ready, Captain--target acquired, altitude five hundred round impact?"

"Too close to cal "

"Get her attention Active sensor ping Let her knoe’ve got a lock on her"

Vaz put his finger to his earpiece and tried to listen in to Port Stanley’s channel withoutit look too obvious Phil ips took his cue and did the same

BB’s voice whispered theatrical y in his ear "I’ ‘Telcam’s transmissions, just in case"

"In case…?"

"In case he says so that we don’t want Hood to hear"

"Like who he is"

"Like when his prize warship turns into a fireworks display"

Defender had now disappeared fro on, sir," Austen said "She’s got us"

"Pods one, two, and three, spread--fire Howlers"

"Pods one, two, three--ht as wel have been an exercise Vaz didn’t feel any vibration or hear a sound as sixty missiles streaked down at the destroyer below

He couldn’t even see as happening The chart display was focused on the ground and he was in the wrong place to watch what the hul ca up Austen counted down, quiet and calet, ten seconds …tracked and neutralized … five seconds … impact, sir"

Vaz needed to see this for hiet her missiles past Infinity’s defenses He went over to the weapons station and watched the hul cans He wasn’t sure what thevapor and flae assess way, but her hul ’s breached"

"Finish her off, Lieutenant Pods four and five Fire"

"Howler pods four and five--missiles away"

Vaz counted but didn’t make it to ten seconds before Defender of Faith blooht When the firebal died away, the ship’s bow section was shredded like a blown tin can and she was spinning slowly, starting to fal out of the sky as her drives failed

"Aine, debris impact projection," Del Rio said

"The main hul ’s likely to fal five kilometers west of Mount Kolaar, in a wooded area" The AI had a flat, disinterested fe she’d be a bit of a misery to ith "There’s a lot of s that corridor now"

"Good work, Austen" Del Rioto like this ship"

Hood stepped back froain for a link "Arbiter, this is Hood In case your sensors haven’t detected it, we’ve disabled Defender of Faith She’l come down around five kilometers west of you"

"That is … welcome Thank you, Admiral"

"And shal we remove some of the trespassers from your front lahile we’re here? Let’s nip this in the bud Or else you’l be fighting these cowboys for years"

Vaz had alondered what lurked under Hood’s aristocratic exterior Now he knew that so did, but not exactly what it was He couldn’t tel if the guy was re a warning shot across Parangosky’s bows--that he knehat she was doing, and he wanted her to know that he knew, but whether he approved of it or not was another layer that Vaz couldn’t unravel