Fifty nine - EARTH (DIVIDED)

Lieutenant Roman put an end to her mental worries. "All units report battle readiness, ma'am".

Salom nodded, fought the urge to clutch the arms of her chair, and gave the necessary order. "Phase one, execute".

It seemed as though the words were barely out of the officer's mouth when the tiny red dots started to vanish off the display. Those located nearest to the loyalist ships were destroyed first, followed by mid range targets, and a few on the far side of the planet. Spy satellites mostly, mined by tiny self propelled robots and rigged to blow.

The response was a little slower than Salom had expected. Were the mutineers napping? Or was their chain of command subject to the same sort of carefreeness that hers was? They had all come up through the same system, so the question was stupid.

The naval officer shrugged, ordered her ships to attack, and said a little prayer. It was silent, but Roman read her lips. The "Amen" was hers.

* * *

The lights we