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“All things are not equal!” Jack pounded a fist on the railing.

The cursor blinked at him.

“We don’t leave men behind! We don’t turn tail and run when things get tough!” Jack growled at the Osiris. “We have a perfectly good plan that could save everyone!”

Could save everyone. Not will, the Osiris answered with that ever present cold logic. I recognize that Diane is on one of those ships, which is what is causing you to not think logically about this matter--

“Me not thinking logically? You’re the one who is too damned afraid to risk yourself! You want all of us to be good with dying for the cause! But you? Oh, no, not you! Unless you can back yourself up, you’re not willing to come out from behind your shields!” Jack pounded on the railing again.

The Osiris was damned right that he wasn’t willing to abandon his wife while they went to the equivalent of a glorified gas stop. But he also wasn’t willing to sacrifice Matzen or Intoshkin or any of the many Alliance personnel in those ships that had fought so bravely so far.

Jack didn’t know what he expected Diane to say to that. But what she did say was not at all what he would have imagined.

“Would it be possible for us to transfer to the Osiris?” Diane asked.

Some of the ships and escape pods may survive the crossing, the Osiris said.

“That’s may not will,” Jack pointed out to the AI just like it had pointed out the could and not will.

“That is not a possibility for all the vessels. Three of them have no access to the hangar bays and many escape pods are damaged,” Matzen said with quiet efficiency as he checked the status of all the vessels. “Even doubling or tripling up will only succeed in getting 41% of the remaining crew off the ships.”

“Does that include your vessel, Matzen?” Diane asked.

“Yes, it does,” Matzen answered with no change of tone or tenor.

“We’re not leaving anyone behind.” Jack swept a hand through the air. “And I highly doubt that the Osiris would leave Jace for that long.”

It is the only prudent course of action to take, the Osiris stated. The Pilot will destroy the Khul on Haseon.

“And how many more Hives will arrive by the time we get back from our pit stop?” Jack asked.

The cursor blinked. I have no data as to Khul coordinates; therefore, I cannot extrapolate how many Hives could reach Haseon during our absence.

“I notice you said ‘how many’ and not ‘whether’ Hives will arrive here,” Jack said, his blood running cold at the thought. “With that single Hive here, you are blocked from reaching Jace and from controlling this gate. Aren’t you, Osiris?”

The cursor seemed to blink reluctantly. That is correct.

“Will the planetary shield hold if more Hives come and we’re not here to engage them? Or will they be able to weaken it and send more dropships through?” Jack asked. “Thus endangering the Pilot and causing an unchecked chain of infection that will spread across Haseon like no plague that anyone has ever experienced?”

He could see the looks of horror blooming on everyone’s face. Even Matzen’s. The Thaf’ell went stiffer, if that was possible. But Jack knew he had made the right points. The Osiris did not respond, which Jack was guessing was its way of acknowledging that what he said was true and horribly correct.

Jack softened his voice, “I understand what it’s like to be afraid to die, Osiris. When you were on Earth and abandoned for all that time, I’m betting you do too, and you never want that to happen again.”

The cursor was still. But no words appeared. It interested Jack then that the Osiris spoke in written text and not via a voice. It could have. There was absolutely nothing stopping it from speaking to all of them that way. But he had a feeling that it didn’t because what it felt would be revealed. The Osiris felt things.

“I understand how important you are,” Jack continued, his voice still gentle. “You’ve given my son his life back and more. I don’t want him to lose you or vice versa.”

The cursor was still.

“If we leave now and follow your plan--even if you get my wife aboard, Matzen and all the others too--we will come back to find the war over and we’ll have lost,” Jack put every ounce of truth he could into his voice, trying to open his soul to the Osiris for it to see that he wasn’t being “human” or “crazy” or both by suggesting this course of action. It was the only choice. . “I don’t want to drain our shields. I don’t want any of this. But there’s no other choice.”

The cursor disappeared.

Jack shut his eyes and lowered his head. The Osiris was done with them. It didn’t care. It was going to simply shut down and ignore them and then… The railing was lowering! Jack’s eyelids snapped open.

“What’s happening?” Dai asked as he glanced all around him on the screen. “Something weird is happening here!”

There were three steps that led down to a pilot’s seat. He recognized it from his training on the Paladin-class ship. A screen appeared before it showing the view from the front of the Osiris. There were the equivalent of running lights that appeared, flashing from him down to the seat, leading the way.