Later, at a joint meeting of all the ship's commanders and fleet commanders, Smith uttered the one phrase sure to put a chill down the spine of any career military person. "We need some volunteers."

An updated map of the transit system hung before us in v-space. Much of the information had come from the cooperative alien and, where possible, confirmed by advance scouts. Dr. Hindmost, Shines Like the Sun's personal oracle had been consulted, but all he could advise was going forward as only death waited behind.

"The neighboring system appears to have once been a mining and manufacturing hub," Smith continued. "It has a half-dozen gates that all lead into it at different points. We've learned from our captive of an alternate route, a sort of transit spur that circles through these other gates." A section of the map lit up.

"We believe the majority of The Swords are dug into this system, hoping to hold us here and assuming we don't know anything about the spur. We don't think the spur is heavily protected, but there are a few key choke points, that will have to be cleared before we can attempt to bypass the defenders. We need an advance team of FACs and light cruisers to take out these choke points and clear the way for a heavier force. The heavier force will leave small task forces behind to take up positions at each of these gates, preventing surprise attacks from the rear until our main assault begins."

"I'll lead it," Chris Knight volunteered.

"The Red Wing is ready and willing to go," another commander said.

"The Robert White has never ducked a fight," a third commander volunteered.

In moments, before we had even finished the planning, we had our advance assault team assigned.

"I will lead the main force," Smith said. "We'll transit slowly into the system to keep them focused on our gate while the other group makes its way around the spur. Ken, I'd like you to take the second group and secure the other gates."

I nodded my assent.

"I want to leave one gate free to give them a way out. But, once you've secured the last gate but one, the attack will begin." Smith paused and surveyed the commanders' avatars. "If there are no questions, make your preparations and be ready to boost in two hours.

* * *

Smith began transiting the fleet into the system, only using the far side of the gate from The Swords. Some of his ships moved inwards, trying to secure advanced positions from which to launch their attack, but The Swords launched relativist missiles in such massive numbers, they had to retreat back to the gate before The Swords stopped firing.

Meanwhile, I took the rearguard and began maneuvering through the spur. We left a small task force at the first gate and proceeded onwards, coming to our first choke point. The gravimetrics picked up the presence of several ships. I took what few FACs I had and, leading from the Phoenix, which was faster than the battle cruisers, we charged into the depths of the nebula. The enemy, using their gravimetrics for targeting, fired blindly at us. They scored only minor and indirect damage, then turned and ran away as we neared their position. We sent a scout ship back to tell the fleet, via com laser, to proceed along the main route of the spur while I led the FACs into the depths of the nebula toward the next choke point.

We continued in this fashion, I and the FACs, plunging into the cloudy depths of the nebula to drive away the lurking Swords while the battle cruisers followed along in the main transport channels. We left a small task force behind at each gate then, at about the fourth gate, one of the cruisers we had left behind, came flying back towards us heavily damaged.

It was the leader of the Beta task force. He sent an urgent message by com laser. "We've been discovered. The Swords are attacking. Alpha and Beta task forces have been overrun! " We turned our long range scanners on the central system and saw The Swords streaming from their hiding places among the asteroids. They obviously had discovered we were trying to outflank them. Knowing the light from the nearest ships was hours old, I turned to the gravimetrics and saw hundreds of The Swords' ships racing to the gate where we had left Alpha and Beta task forces. Smith had apparently seen his opportunity and rushed into the system with the rest of the fleet.

Realizing we now held the choke point and that The Swords would probably follow the path we had taken, we positioned the battle cruisers to blockade the point and hid the FACs and light cruisers in the darkness of the nebula.

A few more damaged ships straggled in and we hid them behind the fleet in support positions. Not long afterwards, The Swords arrived. They stopped short in something like surprise and we unloaded our missiles on them. As they slowly reacted to that, our FACs and light cruisers plunged out of the nebula and raked them with energy weapons.

The exchange was brief but brutal. The battle cruisers kept The Swords bottled up while the FACs and light cruisers made short work of them. After losing several ships, they withdrew. Meanwhile, in the system we were supposed to be attacking, Smith charged through, nearly unopposed, towards the far transit station we were all trying to get to. As The Swords withdrew their attacks, I ordered my fleet to transit into the central system and join Smith's. As we transited, The Swords fell on us again, following behind and firing relativistic missiles at us as the fleet formed up in preparation for going FTL. They chased us all the way to the far transit station so that, once we arrived, we were forced to form up to defend those transiting behind us ordered a charge which scattered The Swords and gave the rest of the fleet time to make it through the gate.

* * *

Once in the next system, The Swords broke off their attack and sent, instead, a messenger to negotiate a truce. It turned out that the system we occupied was one of their core home worlds. They begged us not to bombard their worlds, offered both a prisoner exchange and to bring us the dead we had been forced to leave behind. We agreed, taking only what we needed for repairs and in the way of supplies. Staying only long enough to do what we could for both the living and the dead. We had hoped to negotiate a longer truce, but as soon as we left their home system, The Swords renewed their attacks.

The days that followed were a nightmare of constant warfare. It was easy to see why the Cacks would have nothing to do with The Swords. They contested every system and blocked every gate. Our only advantage lay in the detailed navigation charts we were able to compile when we hacked their home system's computers. At least we now knew the way to Overbearing's district in the outer worlds known as The Sons of the Archer.

By dividing the fleet between Smith and myself, we could each support the other through a series of flanking maneuvers. When Smith's fleet got bogged down, I would find an alternate route through the gate and attack the enemy from another direction. When my fleet got stuck, Smith would return the favor. The Swords were so tenacious that more than once after rescuing Smith The Swords would outflank us so that we had to be rescued in turn. We were fortunate the various worlds of The Swords were not able to unite enough of their fleets to stop us, but it was only by careful coordination and support that we made our way to the edge of their territory.

Smith flash messaged me. "Take a look at what our scouts have seen."

I ran a video clip taken from a scout transiting through a transit station. "I don't see anything but stars."

"Exactly. This is the edge of The Swords territory. Once we are through that gate, we'll be back in civilization."

"It's still Cack territory."

Smith chuckled. "But it's not The Swords' territory."

Somehow, I didn't share his mirth. "I'll feel better when I see the lights of human stars."

* * *

We stopped there at the edge of The Swords' territory for engine maintenance. The news that we would soon leave their territory lifted everyone's spirits. During the last seven days of non-stop fighting, we suffered more than the entire war with Righteous Ruler and Bright Fortune, but now, with our ships patched and fully supplied, the end of this particular nightmare was finally in sight.

Gathering our ships, we transited into the open space of the next system and left the nebula behind. Once on the far side, peering through the next gate that would take us into the outer worlds, we found a massive Cack fleet waiting for us. They lurked just on the far side, waiting to slaughter us one-by-one as we transited through. As we gathered before the gate, not daring to go further, The Swords, who had been amassing behind us for hours, began to transit into the system we had left, cutting us off. Trapped between these two forces, we frantically searched our navigation data for a way around either but found nothing.

Hours passed. The day shift ended and the swing shift took over. The Cack fleet only seemed concerned about keeping us out of The Archer's space. The Swords patiently gathered their forces, waiting for the right moment to attack. In desperation, I pulled up the kairogram Dr. Swiftly had provided me, and fell asleep looking for some clue of a way out. While I slept on my data console, I had a dream that I had been tied up and shoved into a small space like a closet. However I tried, I could not break my bonds or get out of the room I was in. Then, suddenly, the ropes fell off by themselves and I broke out, awaking with a start.

Bleary-eyed and blinking at my console, I awoke with a strange sense of peace. Noticing a flashing message alert, I connected and Smith's face appeared on my display.

"Ken, I—what happened? You look like crap."

I scrubbed at my face. "Do I? I actually feel pretty good."

"Well, I hope you got some rest. I'm calling a meeting of the FCs. We can't wait here any longer. We'll soon run out of supplies and the force behind us is only growing bigger."

"Agreed. We should tell the ship commanders to prepare to transit, immediately."

"That's what we need to discuss. Moving in either direction is going to cost us dearly, but we can't remain trapped here forever."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that. I know we're going to break out."

"You do? How can you be so sure?"

"Believe it or not, God showed me in a dream."

Smith gave me a frightened frown as if he thought I might be mad. "I hope He told you how."

I shrugged. "I'm sure we'll find out along the way. Be sure to invite Dr. Hindmost."

Logging off with Smith, I washed up quickly and put on a fresh uniform. While I was eating, I got a message alert from a name I didn't recognize. That wasn't too unusual. My crew knew I kept an open door policy and anyone regardless of rank could message me if they had something that required my attention. I selected the icon noting that it appeared to be a scout named Angela Saraun.

"Commander, Phon, " The young female scout began. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything."

"Just breakfast, which isn't really saying much." I smiled around a toasted yeast cake. "I should probably thank you."

"I was out scouting and we came across a small trading vessel. We didn't think there were any commercial systems nearby so we followed it and found a third gate, just inside the edge of the nebula."

I choked on my cake and washed it down with some vaguely citrus flavored drink. "Have you investigated this gate?"

"Yes it appears to be a smaller, possibly older, transit station that doesn't show up on the network charts. It looks like the Cacks had replaced it with the newer stations, but never fully decommissioned it. The thing is, it connects to another system that connects directly to The Archer's territory."

"Can you send me your sensor logs?"

"Already did so. It should be in your message queue."

I scanned my inbox. Sure enough, I had skimmed past it this morning. "So it is. Listen, we having a conference of the FCs in just a few minutes. I would like you to present your findings."

"Me, sir?" Angela looked a little panicked.

"Yes. You discovered this good news, you should get the chance to share it."

She didn't look very relieved. "Thank you, sir?"

* * *

Smith looked stunned once we told him. He glanced back and forth between Angela and me as if expecting one of us to laugh and tell him it was all a joke, then shook his head. "It seems you were right after all, Ken. The Maker really did send you that dream."

I put up the revised navigation map. It showed a ring of four interconnected systems. "System Alpha is the system we are currently in." I highlighted the lower left system. "Moving counter-clockwise, we'll call the remaining systems Beta, Delta and Gamma. The transit station to Beta is located here, just inside the nebula which is why we missed it." An icon lit up and a connecting line linked the Alpha system with the system in the lower right corner. "Alpha and Beta systems are both in the Middle Sphere, and both connect to systems in the Outer Worlds. Alpha connects to Gamma where the Cacks are holed up," the upper left system lit up. "And Beta connects to Delta which is behind their position." The system in the upper right also lit up.

"These two systems are also connected," Gamma and Delta flashed. "But while the Cacks have their forces gathered around the near gate, they don't have anything in Delta and only a handful of light cruisers at the back gate. This means, if we can transit to Beta then Delta before they know it, we can get behind them to Gamma before they can block the back gate."

"You're still going to have to go through two systems before you get to Gamma. They're bound to have other scouts. What's to keep them from splitting their forces and blocking both gates, when they see us coming?" Abrams asked.

"They don't seem to be aware of Beta system, or don't seem to realize that it connects to us here in the Middle Sphere," I began. "I suggest we split the fleet as we've been doing and have Commander Smith lead his half through Beta and Delta systems while I keep part of the fleet here to cover for them. If Smith can secure the back gate before the Cacks know he's gone, we can follow him through. If they detect Smith's departure, I'll pull the fleet to Beta, covering our rear and, hopefully, convince them that we've committed the whole fleet to attacking that gate. This should encourage them to abandon the front gate from Alpha. At that point we can launch a two-pronged attack and, hopefully catch the bulk of their fleet between the two gates."

Dr. Hindmost and the other commanders ultimately agreed to the plan and, after the meeting ended, told their ship commanders to prepare to leave the system. I worried this plan had too many "ifs" in it, but at least we now had more options than we had before.