The rest of the UPF Admiralty had already arrived by the time Admiral Hooruets entered the meeting room. Everywhere he looked in the room were Admirals, Rear Admirals, Commodores, and, finally, the Fleet Admiral herself. To the untrained eye, the room appeared to be in a state of chaos, with officers rushing in every direction and briefly congregating before rushing off again. Admiral Hooruets saw it as it really was. Each Admiral was receiving last minute updates on ship status, supplies, and system reports prior to the beginning of the meeting. There was nothing more embarrassing than to learn about a recent event that had occurred in your command from another Admiral.

Admiral Hooruets found the seat at the table reserved for him and settled in. He was accompanied by only one aide, and that was sufficient for him, but he noticed he was the only one without a sizable entourage. The meeting had been called for by Fleet Admiral Bralloff six days ago, when the Challenger's Subspace report from the Volturnus system had reached Fortress Gollwin. The results of this meeting would determine what was done about the report.

To Admiral Hooruets, it seemed just a little too lucky for the Challenger to have stumbled upon a Sathar controlled system just when the UPF was prepared to go on the offensive. The fleet had been completely rebuilt after the losses sustained in the Second Sathar War, and was trained and ready for action. The problem was, in Admiral Hooruets opinion, there was only one kind of luck, and that was the bad kind. It was all he had experienced in his life, why should it be different for Spacefleet?

He fervently hoped he wasn't alone in his misgivings about the proposed strike. He scanned the other Admirals in the room, seeking some sign of their moods. He hadn't gotten far when he heard Fleet Admiral Bralloff call the meeting to order.

"Admirals," she began, "thank you for coming on such short notice. You all know why I've called you here. The Challenger has finally managed to find a sizable Sathar target. It was too well defended for one heavy cruiser to eliminate, so Admiral Hendriks has proposed that Strike Force Nova take it out." \

Admiral Hooruets wasn't surprised to hear that Hendriks was the one who had first proposed an attack against the world. Admiral Hendriks, seated directly across from Hooruets, could only be described as an aggressive leader. Hendriks, a short balding human, had been promoted to Admiral after his effective but somewhat reckless tactics at the Battle of Clarion. In that minor skirmish with a small pirate fleet, he'd led his small warfleet to victory. Outnumbered by his foe, he had attacked with such vigor that the enemy scattered their fleet when Hendriks' force charged into their midst. This allowed Hendriks to tear his enemy apart piecemeal.

Some, Admiral Hooruets included, had argued that against a more experienced foe, Hendriks would have been annihilated by a force that wouldn't have run. It was hard to argue with success though, and the Council of Worlds had voted him in as commander of Strike Force Nova. He had served well since his promotion, but had been faced with few real foes.

"That would leave Task Force Cassadine and Task Force Prenglar to guard the Core worlds" Admiral Bralloff continued. "With half of our force still available for defense, we will still be able to react to any Sathar counterattacks. Comments?" Because most of those attending were nearly equal in rank, meetings like these were rather informal by military standards. Though she could order any strategy she chose, Fleet Admiral Bralloff tended to trust the opinions of her fleet commanders and valued their insights.

Admiral Gellane was the first to reply. "That sounds reasonable. Are there any plans to shift around our forces to cover the areas normally patrolled by Strike Force Nova?" Admiral Gellane was seated to Hooruets' right. In contrast to his race's reputation, the Yazirian admiral seemed to be the most sedate of the admirals in attendance. He was in command of Task Force Cassidine. As Cassidine was farther away from system F.S.37, he had probably already deduced that his fleet wouldn't be used in any offensive against the system before the meeting had even started. That's when an earlier comment's implication became clear to Admiral Hooruets. If half of the fleet was going on the offensive against system F.S.37, and the two Task forces which were each about a quarter of the fleet were staying behind, that meant......

Before Admiral Bralloff could reply to the previous questions, Hooruets interjected, "You said 'half' our forces on the defensive, does that mean my unattached ships are to be pulled from their current duties to join Strike Force Nova?"

She hesitated only slightly before answering, "That's correct Admiral Hooruets. Most of your unattached warships are joining in the offensive. Tell your Captains to rendezvous with Strike Force Nova in the Truane's star system by the 12th of the next solar month. All but a few of your unattached ships should be able to join by then. Do you have word on how long the Challenger's repairs will take yet? We could sure use her in the strike."

Still in disbelief, Hooruets only half heard her last question. "I must protest committing so many of our forces against this system. The Sathar undoubtedly know we're coming. If they manage to assemble a large enough fleet, we could be walking into a trap." Admiral Hooruets looked around the room for support, but saw only detached interest.

Admiral Goornev, seated further down the table, jumped into the conversation. "That's precisely why we're going to hit them with a larger strike force than they undoubtedly expect us to field. If we don't have the advantage of complete surprise, at least we can have the advantage of numerical superiority."

Admiral Goornev was a Dralasite who had been placed in charge of the UPF Landfleet transportation ships. Although the Landfleet itself was only nominally under the command of Fleet Admiral Bralloff, the assault transports and shuttlecraft used to get the troops of Landfleet from world to world were assigned to Spacefleet. So, thought Hooruets, if you're for this plan too, then Landfleet must plan on joining the action. It also appears that I am the only one that didn't know the details about this strike plan before the meeting.

Fleet Admiral Bralloff added, "Admiral Goornev is correct. The forces we're sending to that system are enough to overwhelm any forces the Sathar could hope to have there by the time of the strike."

"There are two other factors you may not have considered though." Hooruets looked around the room, fixing each admiral in attendance with his stern gaze. "Considering for a moment that this isn't a trap and this plan goes off without a hitch, there are still problems you've overlooked. One is that the Sathar could launch a major offensive from another direction while half our forces are in F.S. 37. With so much of our fleet out of position, we could be quite vulnerable. The second is that the pirates could be emboldened by our lack of fleet presence and go on a rampage against shipping. It could take years to hunt them down with so few forces as the Planetary Militias can muster."

Fleet Admiral Bralloff dismissed the validity of his concerns with a casual wave of her hand. "We've considered these possibilities but the odds of any of them occurring are slim. We have a very real chance here to destroy what could be a major Sathar production facility here, and I don't believe we should waste it due to being overcautious. Are there any other comments?"

The way she said the last question made it clear that no answer was expected. No one commented, as Admiral Hooruets could see her mind was set on her plan and everyone else seemed to be in agreement with it.

"Meeting adjourned then. I want to see the latest fleet status reports from each of you by seventeen hundred hours. No word of the mobilization leaks to the press. Is that understood?" There were a few mumbles of assent as the admirals and their aides filed out of the meeting room. Admiral Hooruets had stayed in his seat until the room cleared of all but he and Bralloff.

"You're obviously not staying here to socialize" , Bralloff said dryly.

"I would like an explanation of why I was left out of the initial planning stages when it involves ships in my command."

She paused for a moment, pondering, and then said, "Fair enough. You're the oldest admiral in Spacefleet and I respect all you've done for the Service in that time, but you're living in the past."

Admiral Hooruets could scarcely believe what he'd heard. "What do you mean by that?", he asked with just a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

"What I mean is that you're three months from retirement and you still see things as they were in your youth. Spacefleet is no longer running scared from a hint of Sathar presence. We've beaten them back twice already and have rebuilt faster than them each time. The balance of power in the universe has shifted in our favor, and the rest of us intend to take advantage of that. We needn't cower in our home systems from the worms any longer, yet you still think of yourself as some kind of knight bravely defending the Frontier against an overwhelming enemy. The rest of us have turned our attention to eliminating potential threats where we find them, not waiting for them to come to us."

"In truth Admiral Hooruets, your day passed a long time ago," she continued. "The Council of Worlds has noticed your reluctance to take risks. Why do you think you were passed over for promotion the last two times the Fleet Admiral position was vacant? Spacefleet needs aggressive leadership now, not complacency."

Admiral Hooruets stood in shock. He couldn't remember the last time he'd heard someone speak to him like that. Yet part of him wondered if her words were true. Was he too old? Was it his memories of the previous wars that made him believe the Sathar were more of a threat than they actually were? Was it caution or fear of risk that kept him from supporting this plan? No, he thought fiercely, even in my youth I wouldn't have backed a plan this foolhardy when the risks didn't outweigh the rewards.

"Admiral Bralloff, I sincerely hope you're right. When I get back perhaps we can laugh my concerns, but I still believe this plan is ill conceived. Nevertheless, I'll transfer command to the Courageous when it arrives in system and do my utmost to see that it succeeds."

"No Admiral, you've been reassigned starting today to procurement command. Command of your ships will lie with Admiral Hendriks during this mission, and by the time he gets back, your successor will be chosen. I'm truly sorry."

Hooruets laughed bitterly. "So my illustrious career ends not with a bang, but with a whimper. You'll have to find someone else for the Procurement desk job. Effective today, I'm tending my resignation. This old 'knight' is retiring. I wish you luck, because you'll need it." Before he was even out the door, Hooruets noticed Bralloff had returned to her fleet reports. He strolled into the hallway, a forgotten relic of a bygone era.

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