She increased the volume so she could the narrative more clearly.
“. . . was detected moving toward the base about seven hours prior to the attack.”
Devereux knew that the footage had been edited for time and dramatic effect, but she understood what its inhabitants must have experienced in real-time. The condensed news reports and fictional dramas gave the public the impression that these crises came on and were resolved quickly—win or lose. Devereux, on the other hand, knew what it was like to spend hours waiting for the enemy to approach, to not know whether their defenses would be adequate, and to understand that some of the people around her might not survive.
The battle that it showed was brief and violent. The defending ships were far outmatched by the single war cruiser that had inexorably moved in. Most of them were destroyed instantly; a few drifted away, heavily damaged. It was for those crews that Devereux felt more regret. If there life support systems were damaged, or their hulls fractured, their deaths might be fair more painful and lingering one than for those whose small vessels were consumed immediately by a direct weapons blast.
“When?” Devereux asked quietly, her voice catching.
Danela shook her head slowly. “I don’t know,” she said dully. “I missed the news this morning when I went out shopping,” she added, as if feeling that she had to explain her lack of information to Devereux.
Devereux stared at the recorded sequence, noting the time index markers in the lower right corner that gave the local and Terran GMT times.
Only a few hours ago, she realized. Barely enough time for the report to reach Earth and then be broadcast. She could imagine the chaos at Fleet Command right now. If she could manage to catch a shuttle, she could . . .
She could do nothing, she realized. She had made her choice, resigned her commission, now all she could do was to watch helplessly while an alien invader destroyed one of their space stations.
“. . . reports that occupation forces have descended to the planet below. The New Haven colony is home to . . .”
The New Haven colony, Devereux knew, was a medium-sized settlement inhabited chiefly by research scientists specializing in astronomy, exo-geology, and experimental agriculture. It also had the unfortunate distinction of being one of the furthest outlying settlements. Its chief protection came from the orbiting research and administration station. Unless ships happened to be in the area, assistance and supplies were several months away.
The remains of a shattered defense fighter passed into view before exploding into brief flames.
The unseen reporter summarized with what Devereux already undeniably knew.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he said with a subdued theatricality. “We are, once again, at war.”
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