15
Decisively Engaged
Decisive engagement: In land and naval warfare, an engagement in which a unit is considered fully committed and cannot maneuver or extricate itself. In the absence of outside assistance, the action must be fought to a conclusion and either won or lost with the forces at hand.
—United States Department of Defense, official definition
Admiral Beck spoke to an audience of dead-quiet disapproval. “I want them shot down.” He did not yet say it as a command, but rather as a desire to be considered.
His staff officers, experts in every aspect of naval warfare, were reluctant to argue. His adjutant Lieutenant Lambert, however, was still young enough to believe himself invulnerable. He spoke quietly. “Those satellites are the only thing that stands between all of humanity
