CHAPTER 36

As the Surge recedes, Ølvira regains ultradrive. Kjet Svensndot, with Dirokime crewmates Glimfrelle and Tirolle, assesses emergences: Alliance pursuers scatter, boasting false victories, while Blight-controlled ships maintain disciplined pursuit of Out of Band. A mail-only Star Breaker order from "Limmende" commands pursuit and suppression of dissent, confirming Kjet’s suspicions of subversion.

Ravna contacts Ølvira amid chaos aboard Out of Band, pleading for help. Kjet relays her appeal to sympathetic captains and prepares to mutiny. With Blight forces converging, Pham Nuwen urgently marks unconventional targets. Despite doubts, Kjet retasks Aniara to strike those ships.

Combat begins under ultradrive. Johanna Haugen’s Lynsnar executes a successful drone-swarm kill on a fast, high-velocity target, while Aniara suffers immediate counter-losses. Ølvira becomes a focal coordinator even as Limmende’s loyalists attack it. A near drone detonation cripples Ølvira’s systems but the crew preserves fleet control until many of Pham’s targets are destroyed.

When the battle ends, Blight’s fleet remains intact enough to continue pursuit, while Aniara is scattered and bloodied; Ølvira is damaged and far behind. Rescues and grim tallies follow. In a tense council, Jan Trenglets and Jo Haugen condemn the targeting plan and refuse to chase the Blight to Tines’ world, arguing it ensured Aniara’s ruin without securing defense there.

Ravna, grieving yet resolute, insists Out of Band must continue; the Blight seeks something at Tines’ world, and their 55-hour lead may suffice to learn and warn the Net. Kjet declares Commercial Security dead; the survivors become Aniara Fleet. Rejecting further sacrifice, they choose to abandon excess ships and, using ramscoops and coldsleep, search the post-Surge froth for a hidden world to rebuild Sjandra Kei—and for Dirokimes to survive. They part, Ravna racing ahead, Aniara vanishing to found a refuge.