Glayne saw that his division had scattered widely--but, at the same time, the disorganization of the Delbans was even more evident. Unaware that the sudden attack was a feint to draw them away from Tjadlinn, a dozen Delban fleet divisions abandoned the Jewel to join the fray. As the Guardian Captain scanned the screen, he saw that the tide was fast running in favor of the Delbans. The _Anza_ was finished for the day. A flotilla of swift Delban destroyers had darted in with mines and torpedoes, one of which had gotten through her shield and exploded with a devastating energy concussion against her stern, sheering off plates and jet tubes by it force. The _Altor_ and _Astrid_ were cornered by a dozen Delban Galactics and Clusters and their shields coruscated in brilliant hues as they trembled on the point of collapse. A third Guardian ship, the _Aesir_, blasted in to offer aid and even as Glayne watched, hurled her energies in a concerted salvo at a point just below the jets of one of the Delban Clusters. Its shield coruscated brilliantly, tottered, and suddenly it was strewing its guts, nova-fashion. Almost immediately the _Aesir_ followed her example as a salvo of Galactic beams struck her amidships, rupturing her shield. A torpedo ripped into the bridge of the _Astrid_ and she exploded in an eye-searing nova. The _Altor_ managed to limp away in the confusion, her beralloy hide mangled and torn from a near miss. The _Algol_ herself was in trouble. Two Delban Stellars were hurling torrents of energy at her shield, making it coruscate in a blaze of overloaded power foci. A pack of destroyers was circling hungrily, looking for a chance to dart in and plant their seeds of destruction. The pilot maneuvered desperately, but the overloaded power lines could not shunt sufficient power through the drivers to pull them out of their difficulty. Glayne swore, wondering where the rest of the fleet was. It couldn't go on much longer. The _Akkad_ had novaed; the _Ashlar_ and _Asgard_ had disappeared without leaving a trace. Only six of his original thirty were in fighting shape--and even as he watched he had to revise it to five. The _Atlas_, surrounded by a dozen enemies, exploded in nova-fashion as her shield collapsed. And then the void was suddenly full of great warships bearing the Guardian and Terran insignia, appearing magically in the midst of the Delbans. What had appeared to be triumph suddenly turned into a rout for the Delbans. Badly disorganized, they attempted to flee back to the safety of the mighty Kellander projectors of Tjadlinn. * * * * *