19.
 Our situation was more desperate than even I realized. The Kaarrk had cut off our lines of communication with rear commands. The Corduwaine system was a strategic hub in the Temporale transit network. Hour by hour, it became clear that the Kaarrk were already attacking light years beyond the ruins of the Corduwaine system. Their objective was to neutralize the main star wall perimeter of the humansh command system in the Sea of Sapphire Stars, where a good half of surviving humankind occupied a thousand or more habitable worlds. If they could punch through and raid those planets, they would destroy half of humankind in a short time. Then they could organize a jihate against the remainder of our race, and purge us from existence in service of their incomprehensible madness.
Since they do not have individual life, they cannot comprehend us. They live as worms, and die as worms. The individual has no meaning. They have only meaning in the unitary central emo of their race, said to be a huge blob of gelly residing in a honeycomb slime nest orbiting a dim green star in the Sea of Fear (name given by the one humansh explorer craft that entered their system and emerged to tell about it).
"My love."
"Zara."
"I am going out on patrol."
"No. I need you with me. I need you to be safe."
"My brothers are both dead. There is an empty commander's seat on a fighter craft."
"But you are not a trained fighter."
"My brothers spent many hours teaching me. There is nobody else left to fly, to lead the eleven pilots waiting for a main chop."
"Zara."
"I love you more than I love my own life."
I blew her a kiss. There wasn't time for anything else. My office had four doors, all of them now rattling with urgent pounding. Messages flowed in from the city, the government, the remaining space command. As the holog faded, and her beautiful face with it, I was torn across a hundred tasks.
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