Zero Hour (Expeditionary Force, #5)

by Craig Alanson

‘AI’ usually meant Artificial Intelligence, but Skippy said there was nothing artificial about him, and he thought the ‘A’ should stand for ‘Awesome’. My opinion is that regarding Skippy, the ‘A’ meant ‘Asshole’.

"That should be our motto," Chotek said sourly. "Something to the effect of 'Plan B is our Plan A'."

Thinking of light as something that travelled slowly was the most difficult, and most basic, element of commanding a starship in combat.

That was interesting, reading about how a lasor weapon shoots a beam of light a certain length long (kilometers long!) before it shuts off and that that beam actually travels like a missle travels. Fascinating stuff. I'm used to thinking that light is just there in an instant but it does have to travel, albeit fast.