	It was baffling.  Incomprehensible.  The battle to wipe out the Shivan shielding project was going unbelievably well.  Resistance was light and there were no major casualties, for the most part the Shivans were being swept aside.  The only concern was that the consumption of high powered fighter munitions was higher than anticipated.

	There had to be a catch.  If anything the Shivans had proven to be unpredictable, the whole event with the Sathanas armada had proven that.  Try as he might, sometimes Ross Brahms just couldn't far enough outside the lines to comprehend Shivan behaviour and that was where Captain Hendrick Rothmeyer was an expert.

	Hendrick was a rapidly aging man and some would say a little off his rocker.  You would have to be to work in the xenology department of the GTVI, because sometimes somethings were just too strange to be understood by a rational mind.  He was the first to purpose the "hive mind" philosophy concerning the Shivan organizational structure and have his theories close to being proven when the Lucifer was destroyed.  But at this point, he was stumped.

	"Truthfully sir, I believe that this is more likely an area in which you would be the expert." Hendrick said.  He occupied one of the leather cover seats in the Brahms office and held a stack of computer notepads in his lap.

	"Come on Hendrick, I need something new."  Brahms eyebrows knotted in the middle,  his sign of frustration.

	Hendrick shifted his weight.  "Well sir, I think the only reference I can give you would be the incident during the closing days of the Great War in which the Shivans made another target available, that at the time seemed more appealing.  Two Cain cruisers were allowed to escape in favour of destroying a large supply depot.  Those cruisers were instrumental in destroying the GTD Kleinburg."

	Brahms eyebrows flattened.  "What are you trying to say?"

	"They're distracting you.  They need time for something.  What it is I can't begin to imagine, but if it is important enough to sacrifice an entire operation like this one, you can bet it will on the top of your ‘things to kill' list."

	"No doubt.  But what could it be?" There was a deep and growing concern within the Admiral, and was worse than he had even felt before.