The Fleet comline blinked at her, and she put the button in her ear. "Lieutenant Commander Arly, acting captain of Zaid-Dayan."
"Arly, it's Lunzie. Do you recognize my voice?"
Of course she did. She'd enjoyed meeting Sassinak's astonishing young ancestor. But why was Lunzie calling on the Fleet line? "Yes. Why?"
"You need to know I'm who I say I am. I'm on FedCentral. I can't tell you where."
Arly's heart skipped a beat. Could she be with the captain? Were they in hiding?
"Sass - Commander Sassinak?" She heard the rough edge to her own voice, and hoped it would not carry.
"We don't know. Arly, the real Admiral Coromell wants to speak to you. I know he's the real Coromell because I knew him years ago. Before my last session of coldsleep. Do you trust me?"
Something in the voice sounded different; something had changed since Arly had said goodbye as Lunzie left the ship back at Sector HQ. Arly considered. Lunzie sounded more mature, more confident. Did that matter? Did it mean anything at all? And even if she didn't trust Lunzie, she still wanted to hear what this mysterious Coromell had to say. She gestured to Bures, who bent close, and tapped out a message on her console: get Flag Officer Directory. Bures nodded. Arly spoke, hoping her voice sounded calm.
"I believe you're Lunzie if that's what you mean."
"It's not, but it'll do. Here he is."
A silence, then a deep voice that certainly had the expectation of command.
"This is Admiral Coromell. You're Lieutenant Commander Arly?"
"Yes, sir."
Bures handed her the Directory, and she flipped through it. Coromelclass="underline" tall, silver-haired, bright blue eyes. A handsome man, even approaching old age. He had probably been very handsome when Lunzie knew him before. She wondered whether they'd had anything going, and forced herself to listen to him.
"As you no doubt realize, the situation is critical. Your captain has disappeared and the local law enforcement agencies were, until a few hours ago, convinced that she had killed me. I've been unable to find out what's going on, and some of my own staff have vanished as well."
"Sir, I thought the admiral was hunting over on Six. That's what Commander Sassinak was told."
"I was. I had an urgent message to return, and my return was complicated by Lunzie's…"
A flashing light on the console yanked Arly's attention away from Coromell; the Ssli biolink alarm. Could she interrupt an admiral?
"Excuse me, sir," she said, as firmly as she could. "Our Ssli has a critical message."
He didn't quite snort, but the sound he made conveyed irritation barely withheld. "Check it, then."
Arly touched the controls and the Ssli's message began scrolling across the console's upper screen.
"Enemy approaching. Seti fleet entering system, downwarping from FTL, expecting assistance in evading detection and system defenses."
Her hands trembled as she acknowledged that much. The message continued with details of the incoming menace. Number of ships, mass, weapons as known, probable crew and troop levels.
Bures, craning his neck to read this sideways, let out a long, low whistle. Mayerd, then Currald, joined him, their faces paling as they watched the long lists grow.
"Commander Arly?" That was the admiral, impatient of the long silence.
Arly answered, surprised that her voice was steadier than her hands.
"Sir, our Ssli reports an incoming Seti fleet, definitely hostile." She heard a gasp, but did not stop. "Apparently they've got Insystem help that's supposed to disable some of the system defenses. They're timed to arrive here during the Grand Council session. There's some kind of coup planned." The display had stopped. She tapped in a question to the Ssli, asking for the source of all this.
"But how do they know?" Coromell asked. The answer came up on the screen even as he asked.
"Sir, our Ssli says there's a Ssli larva, captive, on the Seti flagship, and a Fleet officer… Dupaynil." Her own surprise carried to him.
"Who's that?"
"A Fleet Security officer assigned to us a few months ago. Then he was transferred, I think to go look up something in Seti space."
"Which he quite evidently found. Well, Commander, you have my permission to leave orbit and make life difficult for those Seti ships."
She opened her mouth to ask what about Sassinak and realized the futility. Even if the captain had been at the shuttle port, they couldn't have waited for her. Not knowing where she was, they certainly couldn't delay.
"Yes, sir," she said. Then, "Request permission to drop a shuttle and pilot in case Commander Sassinak shows up. She may need it."
"Granted," he said.
That was all. She was now more than acting captain: she had command of a warship about to fight an alien fleet. This is impossible, she thought, touching the button that set red lights flashing throughout the ship. She punched the ship's intercom.
"Ensign Timran to the bridge." And, off intercom, to Bures, "Get one of Sassinak's spare uniforms from her quarters and whatever else she might need. Get it up to Flight Two, fast."
More orders to give, evicting the Insystem Security monitor teams that had the weapons locked down, to Engineering to bring up the drives.
"Ensign Timran reporting, ma'am!"
He was very quick or he'd been lurking in the passage outside. She hoped he would be both quick and lucky with the shuttle.
"Report to Flight Deck Two. You'll be taking a small unit to the surface."
The admiral had said nothing about an escort, but whatever had happened to Sassinak, a few Wefts and marines couldn't make things worse. When she looked at Currald he nodded.
"Ten should do it," he said. "Leave room for her and that Aygar, coming back." He picked up another comset and called his own adjutant.
"Yes, ma'am!" said Tim, eyes gleaming. "Do I have permission…?"
"You have permission to do whatever is necessary to assist Commander Sassinak and get her safely offplanet at her command. Bures will have some things for you to take. Check with him."
He saluted and was off at a run. She hoped she'd done the right thing. Whatever had happened to Sassinak, if she was still alive, she would think she had a cruiser waiting for her. And now we're leaving - I'm leaving, taking her ship, leaving her nothing but a shuttle.
Arly couldn't believe this was happening, not so fast, but it was. Through her disbelief, she heard her own voice giving orders in the same calm, steady tone she'd cultivated for years. Longscans on, undockmg procedures to begin immediately, two junior Weft officers to report to Flight Two. A loud squawk from the Station Dockmaster, demanding to know why the Zaid-Dayan was beginning undock without permission.
"Orders of Admiral Coromell," said Arly. Should she tell them about the Seti fleet? "We'll be releasing one planetary shuttle."
"You can't do that!"
"We're releasing one planetary shuttle," she went on, as if she had not heard, "and request navigational assistance to clear your Station without damage." She punched the all-ship intercom and said, "Ensign Gori to the bridge."
"But our scans are showing live weapons…"
That voice abruptly stopped, and an Insystems Security Force uniform appeared on one of the viewscreens.
"You are in violation of regulations. You are requested to cease and desist, or measures will be taken…"
"Ensign Gori reporting, ma'am."
Not as quick as Tim, but eager in his own way.
"Ensign, the cap - Commander Sassinak said you knew regulations forwards and backwards." He didn't answer, but he didn't look worried, either. "You will discuss regulations with Insystems Security. We are withdrawing under threat of enemy attack, at the orders of a higher officer not in our direct chain of command." Gori's lace brightened and his mouth opened. Arly pushed him toward one of the working boards, and said, "Don't tell me, tell him."