Suddenly the Wanderer was near the Broadsword again, not far out of the line of fire between it and the Freedom. For a moment Nova wondered what it was doing there, then she realised — it was forcing a choice. Either the Broadsword had to divert firepower from the Freedom to the Wanderer, or it had to ignore the Wanderer and stick to attacking the Freedom.
For another fifteen seconds nothing changed, then the Broadsword switched to attacking the Wanderer. Nova grinned. It looked as if the Wanderer had caught the Broadsword out. The Imperial ship had continued with the same orders for a time, then switched to attacking the Wanderer.
The worst of both worlds. It meant neither ship would take sufficient damage to make a difference, and she suspected it showed those in charge of the Bro
