Solarians fell behind—below, now, for they were dropping onto Mephisto, the deceleration creating a false gravity.
They crammed on the deceleration too; not to do so would have put them far beyond Mephisto. They crammed on all they had, and it was just enough to stay below Maynard's fleet—
Just outside of range.
The men in the combined fleets of Ertene and Terra writhed in hatred. Mars, unable to keep up with the man-killing gravities, laughed nastily—she thought that the fun would have been over before her slower ships could join.
But though amused, Mars was none the less angry. Her men in her ships were killing themselves to keep from arriving too late. They knew now that the big fight would be around Mephisto.
It takes but a minute to tell, but it was days and days in the action. Men slept and changed watches and went through the tiresome routines of space travel across the System. And ever before them was the specter of Maynard's fleet, just out of range. It maddened them, and it made them sacrifice a few fighter ships that tried to run ahead, into the other fleet. They were lost, every time, without doing any damage.
And the temper of the men increased by the minute—and days and days with hours full of minutes went by with not one bit of action to salve their hatred.
Mephisto loomed in the sky below, eventually, and the fleets swept down to Mephisto, and the Solarian fleet spread wide and passed the planet. They did not like the idea of being between a fighting fleet and its home base. Maynard landed easily, and was able to consolidate his force on the ground before the combined Ertinian and Terran fleets circled and returned.
"Just hold 'em off," said Guy.