walls and no desks. The room was set up with stadium-style seating in a
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semi-circle, with the instructor’s desk and main viewing screen next to it, situated in the center, where the rest of the room could see it. Each of the
students’ desks had electrical outlets, built-in computer terminals, and even
adjustable cooling cupholders. Fena hoped that she and her friend might
sit next to each other, but she was disappointed when Timmy pulled out an
assigned seating layout.
* * *
Half-way through the four-week flight training course, only twenty-
six of the trainees remained in the class, down from thirty. Timmy was
in a secluded observation room, closely watching his students. In a room
nearby, there were four interlinked simulators housing four of the students,
the rest mingling around the lounging area nearby.
Timmy was adjusting some of the camera controls to get better views
on his students, his headset plugged in to hear any audio.
“—we did last night. It was…intense.”
“So, are you guys going steady now, or is it just a one-time thing?”
Completely uninterested, Timmy moved the camera to focus on some-
one else. Noticing a lone student in a corner on his cell phone, he switched
to the overhead camera and zoomed in on the conversation.
It’s fine, really.
Well, it’s not like I can change my
mind now.
No matter what happens, we will
always love you.
I know, mom.
Just do your best. Just because
you’re scoring low, doesn’t mean
they’ll cut you.
They already cut three other people.
I know I am next, I just know it.
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Timmy adjusted the camera again and focused on two other students sitting very close to each other.
“The thing I don’t understand is, we know the Zorn are coming, and
soon. Why are we going to let them come all the way to us? A battle over
our heads is more dangerous. We should meet them in open space, where
they’re less likely to kill civilians. If their main method of battle is boarding action, we have the advantage. All we need to do is sit out of their range
and obliterate their fleet,” said Fena.
“It does seem simple, doesn’t it? If it were that easy, I doubt they would
have been able to conquer other planets. How did you get these videos,
anyway?” asked Stacy.
“I have no idea, they just showed up on my data pad last night. Look
here.” Fena pointed to her data pad. Timmy was not at a good angle to view
her screen and had no better camera options to use. “The Theans are slow
to respond—there’s a twenty-second delay in everything they do.”
“What is that?” Stacy pointed to an odd-looking Zorn ship. It wasn’t
pointed like most of their vessels. This one was shaped more like a large
oval, a space pill.
“I don’t know, that’s the thing. We are training for pods and destroyers.
Yet someone knows about the cruisers and these other ships. Why aren’t we
training to fight those?”
Timmy’s attention was caught by the battle in the simulation, which
took a devastating turn. The pilots were exiting their simulators in disap-
pointment. His phone rang, and he pulled off his headphones to answer it.
“How goes pilot training?” asked Alex.
“There are a few better than me already… I am afraid the battle isn’t
going to be won by pilots. The simulators are more than clear about that.”
“If there are a few better than you, why are you prolonging the train-
ing? Why not just advance them out of training?”
“Where would I send them? The ships aren’t ready yet.”
“Good point. You think you’re going to release any other pilots?”
Timmy relaxed into his seat and zoomed out to get a view of his whole
class on the screen.
“Not sure, maybe one or two others. But you should know, I just
learned that someone is passing video of the Thean battles to my students.”
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“Really?” There was a long pause. “I’ll look into it. Thanks, Timmy.
Keep it up.”
Timmy put his phone away, glancing at the screen. It was time to
return to the classroom.
* * *
Alex pulled out his data pad, lost in thought.
Kalibri, find out who has been
sending my pilots videos of the
Thean battles.
No need, Captain. I sent them to a
trainee named Fena.
Interesting… Why did you do that?
In the whole of the UEF, she is the
best pilot and possibly the best
strategist. I have been observing all
of the recruits closely. There are a
number of gifted individuals in your
various programs as we speak. Fena
is just one of them.
For what purpose?
I believe for you to have the best
chance of winning this war, you will
need the best people you have to
fight in it and as you have been
cultivating your people for this
purpose, I have been assisting. I
assure you, the little I have done has
not hampered your efforts in any
way, but strengthened them.
Alex typed a message but halfway through, he stopped and deleted it.
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Then he realized Kalibri was sure to have seen the little he did write, and a long silence followed.
Captain, there are few computers
on your planet that exist which I
have not examined. As I speak, I
have an advertising campaign that
will lure the right people into your
cause. I assure you that you have no
greater ally.
The hairs on Alex’s neck rose as he contemplated all that Kalibri was
capable of. Considering that an advanced alien race was already on their
way to eliminate humanity, he shrugged it off. Besides, if he couldn’t trust
Kalibri, then humanity was doomed already.
Very well.
Alex turned off his data pad as he looked out of the window to his
shuttle as it set down in a remote area that bordered an Israeli desert. An
awaiting vehicle escorted Alex to an underground network of caverns,
one of which contained the UEF Abraham, the secret ship the Israeli were building, which Alex and Laura were about to tour.
59
Chapter 5
Flight Training
FOR A COUPLE of weeks, Jorge had the new pilots rotate through his
little construction shuttle as a co-pilot, mostly for familiarization and
added experience. Timmy’s piloting class ended with twenty-six graduates.
These pilots would fly every kind of vessel the UEF had in its inventory
before they got their first assignment.
To Fena, once you learned how to pilot one UEF ship, they were all
the same. She was looking forward to the newer engines on the projected
construction schedule to allow for FTL travel. Kalibri mentioned it would
be teaching a few classes in the near future, and she was looking forward to
that as well. In the meantime, she was getting bored watching Jorge maneu-
ver, align and weld. In that order.
T
he construction shuttle only seated two people, just like most of the
other shuttles. This one was modified with four highly maneuverable arms
that could grab or be utilized like a large tool. After watching Jorge for ten minutes, she figured out the whole system and boredom sink in.
“Do you want to take a stab at it?” Jorge said while looking at Fena.
Fena’s face brightened, and she quickly and eagerly took the controls
in front of her.
“Now just take it slow at first, let me get comfortable with your
piloting.” Jorge reached up and unlocked the second control panel by pushing a button. Jorge made an exaggerated motion that he was leaning back
in his seat and wouldn’t interfere in the piloting.
Fena maneuvered the shuttle to the next open segment of the nearly
completed orbital shipyard. The shuttle faced the shipyard, and she used
lateral compressed air thrusters to move the ship left and right while keep-
ing the shuttle’s nose pointed in the same direction. Once in place, she
activated the arms on the shuttle. She extended one of the arms and latched
onto the shipyard. With a second arm, she pulled out a completed section
of outer hull from the overly large basket that was attached in the midsec-
tion of the shuttle, separating the rear and forward sections of the shuttle.
The third arm was used to help align the hull section to the shipyard itself.
Once all three arms were locked in place, she activated the fourth arm and
welded the joints.
After the first couple of sections were installed, Jorge relaxed; she was
nearly as good as he was.
“I am worried you’re spending all this time on a pointless exercise.”
Fena looked over at Jorge.
Jorge shot a quick glance at her, then slowly returned his gaze forward.
“Yeah, no ship built here will be anywhere near completion by the time the
Zorn return.”
“So why are you doing it?”
“As you can see, it’s a simple task. No one is up here telling me what to
do or how to do it. This time has given me a lot to reflect on.”
Fena thought about the few times in her life she was alone somewhere,
and realization struck her.
“I’ve seen video of the Zorn attack fleets. Our five ships will be no
match the hundreds that will arrive. We should be thinking about other
ways to prepare for the attack.”
“Do you think I’ve been sitting up here thinking about my personal
life?” Jorge fired back.
A shadow of confusion crossed Fena’s face. The shuttle had run out of
hull sections, and they would need to retrieve more from the surface.
“Do you know the story about how we came up with the anti-grav-
ity device?”
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Fena was silent. She, like everyone else, knew nothing about how it all started, and to be told such information was special, to say the least. She
shook her head as Jorge piloted the shuttle back to the supply point on the
surface to reload his basket with hull sections.
“It’s a fantastic and long story, but in short, Timmy theorized, and I
built… To be perfectly honest, Timmy could have used any good engineer
or software programmer to complete the project like I did. He was the
true mastermind.”
“What did Alex do while you guys built the Surprise?”
“See, that’s what bugs me…”
The shuttle hit a bit of turbulence but continued its gradual descent
into the atmosphere. Fena looked over at Jorge and expected him to explain
what he meant. After a few moments, she feared he wasn’t going to elabo-
rate anymore.
“Are you hungry?” Jorge asked as they approached the supply point.
“Sure, I guess.”
As soon as the shuttle landed, a large crane swayed its contents towards
the basket affixed on the construction vessel. The hull sections fit nicely
into the basket, and the crane released its hold. Timmy made it look like
he was about to shut down the shuttle, prompting Fena to exit her side of
the ship. As soon as she touched the ground, Timmy spoke via the headsets
they were wearing.
“Take the day off, you’re as good a pilot as I am. I’ll sign you off,
enjoy yourself.”
The shuttle ascended back into the air, leaving Fena stunned on the
ground, unsure of what to say. She knew she certainly was not in the mood
for a day off.
* * *
The situation room hadn’t changed much over the years. As presidents
and generals came and went, the design was the same; only the equipment
seemed to undergo frequent updates.
“We couldn’t have known the Nuboko would return so quickly. If not
for it, the ship would be ours,” Hammond said.
62
“Agreed, sir. When the operation launched, we had no indication the ship had already returned,” General Green added.
“Shiddits! Go to plan A.”
Almost immediately, the whole room rumbled with groans or objec-
tions. It was Lucy, the President’s Chief of Staff, that cut through the noise.
“Sir, it seems the people at this table, and I would agree, believe that
it’s not the right time for this kind of operation. The Zorn will be arriv-
ing within the next year, and Alex is preparing our defense. To take him
out now could be detrimental to the security of the planet. Besides, when
we offered this as a possible method of action, it was suggested under
the assumption that we would be able to fill in or take over the program.
Unless we did an unprecedented corporate takeover of the UEF, we cannot
fill their shoes or duplicate their technology. It is no longer advisable to
consider this a viable solution.”
The President looked around the room to people with nodding heads.
“Sir, if I may…”
The President looked at Hammond, his NSA Director, but said nothing.
“I now have a dozen people in the ranks within the UEF. It’s only a
matter of time before we obtain the technology to duplicate their method
of travel. I suggest we continue to support the UEF and prepare for the
attack in our own way. Once we obtain the technology, we can marginalize
the UEF. Besides, now that Congress is openly funding and supporting the
UEF, they have garnered a lot of support within our own ranks.”
The President stood and slowly walked around the table, like a shark
circling its prey. Those at the table shared uneasy glances with each other. A few were going to add to the conversation, but were now too intimidated to
speak, unsure if their opinion would be opposed to the President’s.
“I am left with no good option. See that it’s done!” The President
extended his arm to point at Hammond. As soon as he lowered his arm, he
stalked from the room, the door slamming behind him.
Lucy was the first to break the tension caused by the President’s exit.
She collected her belongings and went to leave the room herself.
“The President is well-served by having you by his side.”
Lucy turned around to see which one of the many men in the room
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spoke. One of the Joint Chiefs in a Marine uniform tipped his head slightly in her direction.
“I second that!” a Deputy Director to the FB
I said, mimicking the
marine’s head movement.
Without saying a word, Lucy turned away from the group and exited
the room. Moments later, she was in the Oval Office with the President, as
she knew he would be waiting for her.
“Any belly aching back there?”
“No, but it did occur to me that we don’t know some of those people in
that room very well. Maybe it’s time we look at replacements.”
“I am way ahead of you.” The President pulled out a paper notepad
with a list of names on it and handed it to Lucy.
Lucy looked over the list, and her eyes brightened slightly, her eye-
brows shooting up as she considered the last name on the list.
“What do you think?”
“Certainly changes the game a bit. I’ll reach out to him.”
* * *
Another month passed. The Founding Four were together once again as
they celebrated Timmy’s birthday party in a large banquet hall in one of
the upper floors of the Complex. They invited a large number of people to
join in on the festivities, including the assistants, the pilots, the intended Captains of all five constructed or soon-to-be constructed UEF ships, and
some others from within the Complex.
Almost everyone was seated around large dining tables while a food
vendor catered for them. There was a stage at the back of the room, vis-
ible to all those seated. On stage, the five Captains were doing a comedy
sketch that wasn’t meant to be funny, but they couldn’t act, so their audi-
ence found entertainment in their missed cues and fudged lines.
The volume of the audience’s laughter rose as Mason’s armored knee-
cap fell off and made a loud clinking sound on stage. He was dressed as a
medieval knight, and they were in the middle of a battle over Lady Laura.
Mason’s arch-nemesis, Tyrant Cinnamon Styx, waved her gleaming plastic
sword in the air.
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“Ha, you can’t even afford good armor. You are not worthy of such a lady,” Cindy crowed with all the pomp she could muster.
Laura sat on a throne in the background while she waited for the one
true knight to win the battle and her heart. Her attention occasionally
drifted to the knight lying dead at her feet, and she would stifle a grin or
a giggle as Alex provided commentary on what was going on downstage.
His character was supposed to be dead or dying at her feet after losing a
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