“That’s what has my corporation baffled, it was Highline that sued for peace and even threw in some small mining bases on the border to get them to accept.”
Now the Slones were really confused. Highline Corporation was only behind Sinclair when it came to power, yet they wanted to end a war they didn’t even start. “Ok, what are we missing here?”
This time the Consul interrupted, “I may be able to answer that. One of our freighters we use for keeping an eye on the corporations sent a priority capsule through corporate space to Petrovia and they forwarded it to us after refueling the capsule. They were in the Highline home system making a delivery and monitoring message pods when a sudden flurry of activity commenced. They were able to pull all of the messages off the pods as they were being retrieved. It took some time to decipher them, but when they did, they felt it was important to notify us as soon as possible and they left the system and sent the pod from an uninhabited system.”
“What exactly was so important?” Alaya asked her father.
“Most of the pods came from Alexandra Stewart, the CEO of Coreward Industries, which is a protectorate of Highline Corporation. Apparently, about two years ago there was an attack by forces unknown against the most coreward of their mining bases. One of their secret police enforcers was there to check on the mining operation when the attack occurred and he escaped with his crew to warn the home world. They sent their fleet, which consisted of three old cruisers and four destroyers to check on the attack and only one destroyer and one cruiser returned. Apparently they ran rather than fight. A year ago they started losing contact with some more of their distant bases and now they are starting to get streams of refugees in freighters moving towards the home world and the Highline border.”
This time Christopher interrupted. “Did Highline think this was part of the war and wanted to end it? Or is there a large pirate fleet out there?”
“I am afraid neither is the case. They sent a picture of one of the attacking vessels,” Consul Strabo said and then pressed a button on his desk. A hologram appeared in the air above the desk and the Slones were in shock. There as plain as day was a hologram image of a Saltic capital ship, the type they called a harvester.
Alaya was the first to recover from their shock, “The Saltic. They must have built a new planetary wormhole drive. Is this an invasion? They have known about human space for a long time and never came with the intent to stay.”
“We don’t know. I filled Dalton in on your mission to the other side of the galaxy, and we both agree this may be the beginning of a much larger incursion. I must take this to the Senate tomorrow and see what their advice is. These events are happening as far from us as possible, but with wormhole drives, we can no longer feel there is safety in distance.”
“I agree,” Slone said.
“I’m glad you do, since I want both of you to attend the Senate meeting with me tomorrow and reinforce what I will be suggesting.”
“Anything we can do.”
Strabo continued, “To deal with this threat, we will have to ally with the corporations and that does not sit well with many in the senate. After all, from birth on we are taught our mission is revenge on the Corporations for what they did to our ancestors. However, this threat is real and very dangerous. If the Saltic decide to stage a major invasion of our galaxy, we have no idea how many of them there are in Andromeda.”
“We will be there, Dad, you can count on us.”
“Let’s discuss what we have to say.”
The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent discussing the possible course of action. By the time they were finished, it was too late to return to the lake house, so the Slones stayed at a penthouse they kept in the capital for just such an occurrence. Since Christopher was to be the new Military Consul, they would be spending a lot more time in their penthouse. They called Olivia and told her they were staying in the city for the night and had some government business to take care of in the morning. The penthouse was one of the nicest in the city. They had come to the Romani with a ton of gold that they put to good use buying property. Since the lake house had been a wedding gift from Alaya’s father, they could use their money to buy the penthouse. It actually covered the upper two stories of a 90 story building on a rise overlooking the city. The view was breathtaking and there was a garden on the roof that only they had access to. Their gardeners maintained it and their staff maintained the penthouse. Every time Slone, who had grown up poor until he joined the Sinclair navy, saw the view from the garden he had to admit it was good to be rich. The Nova Romae sun was setting behind him and the orange rays were lighting up the Senate House across the valley on its escarpment on the other side of the city. A sight he never tired of.
Alaya came over to her husband, “Let’s go in, Chris, dinner is ready and I am famished. It’s been quite a day. I’m not sure we will ever be free of the Saltic.”
“I hope you’re wrong, Hon. We could lose all of this if it comes to an intergalactic war.”
They both realized the potential disaster of such an occurrence. He didn’t relish living in a galaxy where they were constantly trying to repel attacks from a relentless foe from another galaxy. As they left the roof garden and went inside, both of them looked at the beauty of the city in the setting sun and hoped they were not going to witness the setting of human civilization.
As the Nova Romae sun rose in the east, the sky lightened but most of the city was still in the shadow of the mountains to the east that also held the Senate house on an escarpment. The artificial lights were still burning in the city and over the escarpment containing the Senate house. However, the day was brightening and the artificial lights were starting to blink out. Slone walked out onto the roof garden. The master bedroom opened onto the garden as did the living room. The rest of the condo consisted of four bedrooms, a kitchen, den and office, all on the floor below. There were also areas for storage and a small apartment assigned to the house manager who lived there with her family. Slone was in his best dress uniform and shortly his wife came out to join him, wearing her finest scout dress uniform. She went over to her husband, “Ready to head over to the Consular offices to meet up with dad?”
Slone looked at his wife. She was still as beautiful as ever. “Sure, let me get my hat.” Slone reentered the bedroom and took his captain’s hat with all the filigree so important to humans. He put his hat on and returned to his wife. They then both entered the living room and went to the elevator which they took down 90 stories to street level. There an official staff car was waiting to take them to the Consular offices. The hover car moved into traffic and joined up with a police escort arranged by the Senate. They were soon at the Consular offices where Alaya’s father joined them, and they were all taken to the east side of the city and up the escarpment to the front of the Senate house. The structure was built as a replica of the Parthenon that used to stand in Athens on Earth. Only the decorations depicted the Great Spinward Exodus and the founding of the Republic of Nova Romae.
The Consul Strabo exited the vehicle first and the guards snapped to attention and saluted. This was repeated as the Captain’s Slone exited and walked into the Senate building along with Alaya’s father. Strabo told his daughter and son-in-law to have a seat in the entrance hall as he went into the Senate chambers. The Slone’s watched as the Consul and the large number of senators in the entrance hall moved into the Senate chambers. The second Consul, Juan Lorenzo, was also there and, after greeting the Slones, entered the chambers. The doors were then closed and the Slones awaited developments. They were surprised to see Jack Dalton also sitting in the entrance hall. His wife was the newest senator from the Petrov Corporation, but normally spouses did not sit and wait while the Senate deliberated. The Slones went over to Dalton, who shook their hands and bade them to join him.
“Jack, what are you doing here? Waiting until Larisa is finished?” Slone asked.
“Yes and no, Chris. I do plan to take her to dinner while w
e’re in town, but the Senate requested my presence here. Any idea what this is all about?”
“I know it all has to do with the odd ending of the corporate war, along with the other items we discussed concerning the Saltic. The corporations need to be warned and perhaps that is why you’re here.” Alaya interjected.
“Well, as an ambassador, when the Romani Senate asks me to come over, I only ask how fast they want me.” And the three friends all had a good laugh about that one. The rest of the time was spent in some small talk and then the three of them pulled out electronic tablets and went over their respective paperwork. Dalton looked at some dispatches sent him by his corporation, Alaya needed to approve some items for the scouting service and request others, and Slone had to make sure his battleship was ready for orders at any moment. As the three were sitting there, a herald came out and told them the Senate was nearing a decision and they should be ready for orders. Dalton and the Slones were confused. They all thought they were there to testify about the dangers of the Saltic to the humans, but now it looked like they weren’t even needed. The deliberations continued for just less than an hour more, when the doors to the Senate chamber suddenly opened and the senators filed out. Slone was no diplomat, but he could tell by the expressions on the senator’s faces that things did not go well. Both Consuls came over to the three friends waiting to hear the outcome. The Slones snapped to attention and saluted. Since Dalton was an ambassador and he was not in the Romani military, he simply stood and gave a small bow of acknowledgement.
The Consul Strabo was the first to speak, “At ease and please have a seat.”
The Slones, Dalton and the Consuls sat down in the waiting area. Most of the senators had moved out of the building and Larisa Dalton came over to join her husband. The Slones greeted her as she gave her husband a peck on the cheek and they sat down together. Alaya’s father now delivered the will of the Senate.
“I know you had all thought you were here to testify as to the danger the Saltic pose, and you would have, if that was the will of the Senate. But the information we had from your video logs, along with the old video logs of the Hayden mission told us all we needed to know. The Senate is heavily divided as to what to do. Some of the Senators are not willing to help the corporations due to the old animosity towards them going back to the Great Spinward Exodus. Others feel, and I believe rightfully so, that this is a threat to all humanity and we should lay our animosities aside and offer aid to the corporations. At this point I brought up a compromise that they all agreed to. The Senate will hold off voting on any resolutions concerning aid to the corporations until they have contacted their home systems for advice. In the meantime, we will send an exploratory expedition into Highline space to evaluate the status of the border with Coreward Industries. A deputation is also to be sent to the Sinclair Corporation home world to attempt to forge an alliance with Sinclair Corp. If this is possible, we would be able to secure all of humanity on the Spinward side of Earth.”
“Ok, I have a feeling I know where this is going,” Alaya said to her father.
“If you thought this mission might go to the two of you, yes you are right. I want you to go to New Chicago and make contact with the CEO of Sinclair Corp. It is your old friend, Femi Okar. From what we can tell, she is doing a good job and the corporation is slowly changing to a less avaricious stance. We have been trading with her through Petrov Corp and so far everything is above board. Far different from when your stepfather ran the show.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Femi was always ruthless but fair in business. I knew she would be a good choice for the job.”
Consul Strabo continued, “You will all receive your orders tomorrow, so have your crews ready to move out then. We are already recalling all shore leaves and restocking the Tempestas. You will first go to New Chicago and attempt to cut a deal with Sinclair Corp. Following that, you are to jump to Highline Corp space and assess the level of threat. You will be cleared to engage any Saltic you feel capable of dealing with. Basically I was able to get carte blanch for you in dealing with them.”
The Slones had no questions and signified their understanding of the mission. The Consul now turned to Dalton. “Ambassador Dalton, the Senate requests that you go to Lagarde Corporation and lay out for them both the danger and what we are planning to do about it. I know their relations with Sinclair have not been good in the past, but I also know they are improving under the Okar regime. If we are to protect Spinward humanity, we must have them and Tudor Industries on our side. To speed your trip, I will have a wormhole drive equipped dreadnought from the tenth legion open a wormhole to the New Wales border with Lagarde and that will cut two months off your travel time.”
“Thank you, Consul. I will be ready to leave as soon as the dreadnought is available. I will need a ship to travel from the end of the wormhole.”
“I will have one of our new corvettes take you. They are all equipped with the energy weapons used by the Saltic.”
“Thank you, Consul Strabo.”
“Alaya, you and Chris be careful out there,” and this time Consul Strabo was speaking as much as a concerned father and grandfather than as the head of government. He knew full well that he was sending his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter back into harm’s way.
The Slones were happy to get back into the action. Of all the people in Nova Romae space, they and their crew knew what humanity was up against and wanted to do their duty to save their people. Alaya and Chris wished Dalton a safe journey on his mission and left the Senate house. At one end of the escarpment, there was a cab stand. Cabs were always in demand by the various people who had business with the government and the Senators themselves often used them. The Slones flagged one down and took it back to their penthouse. To their surprise, when they got there, they found their daughter and the Gardners waiting for them as they got off the elevator.
“Hello Mom and Dad, how did the Senate meeting go?”
“What are you all doing here?” Christopher asked.
Before the Gardners could respond, Olivia answered, “We all got the recall notice and thought it would be more convenient to leave for the station from here.”
“Good thinking, dear, but what about packing? This may be a long mission.”
“Oh, Mom,” Olivia said and rolled her eyes as only a teenage girl could. “I packed everything you always take along. I should know by now what you need, since I have been helping you pack for years. If I forgot anything, I will fly back to the lake house and get it. So what is our mission?”
The Slones filled everyone in and their official orders arrived before they were finished with dinner. As the coffee was being served, the Slones and Gardners went over the orders. The Tempestas was to partner with the all serpent crewed dreadnought NR Avenging Talon, commanded by their old friend Captain Artok. The first part of the mission required them to travel by wormhole to an uninhabited system in Sinclair Corp space near New Chicago. They were then to make contact with the CEO of Sinclair Corporation and attempt to negotiate an alliance. They were cleared to show them as much of the Tempestas tapes as they felt necessary. After this part of the mission, they were to enter Highline Corporation space and assess the situation. The orders required them to leave ASAP.
“What do you think of all this, Chris?” Diana asked.
“I think it is shortsighted of the Senate to take only minimal action. They are still thinking slipstream travel and hope the coreward corporations will keep the Saltic back for a long time. They don’t realize the true leap forward the wormhole drives represent. There is no place in human space the Saltic cannot reach instantly. I also find it odd that they agree we can travel fast with wormhole technology but the Saltic will just lumber along. I truly think they feel the Saltic will not want to have humans in their rear and will do a systematic invasion from the outside in. If they were limited to slipstreams, I would believe that. But they are not and that makes the Senate far too complacent when it comes to dealing wit
h this threat.”
“I agree,” Alaya said and there was a short period of quiet and reflection at the table. The dessert was eaten in quiet and then the group decided not to stay at the penthouse but rather to move up to the ship and stay aboard until departure. Alaya gave instructions to the house staff and then the Slones and Gardners went down to street level and had the doorperson hail two cabs. The luggage was already on their shuttle and the hover cab took them to the spaceport. From there they flew their shuttle to the space station where the Tempestas was docked and awaited the arrival of the Avenging Talon, which was being detached from patrol and would arrive in the Nova Romae system in three days time. The remnants of the Andromeda seven and their fellow Romani prepared the Tempestas for yet another mission to deal with the Saltic. Only the future knew the outcome.
Chapter 2 – New Chicago
In an uninhabited system, several systems away from the home world of the Sinclair Corporation, there was a sudden burst of energy as a swirling, light green structure opened. The structure was one end of a wormhole and it remained open for a short time then suddenly vanished as quickly as it came. After the wormhole disappeared, the system was again quiet and deserted. However, looks could be deceiving. When the wormhole opened up, the Tempestas and the Avenging Talon entered from an uninhabited system near Nova Romae. They exited in Sinclair Corp space near the Sinclair home world. The Romani medical corps had discovered the right mix of drugs to prevent the effects of wormhole travel and there were no longer any effects from the trip through the wormhole. The Romani ships came out of the wormhole invisible and remained that way. Christopher Slone sat on the bridge of the battleship and waited a few minutes to make sure everyone came through the trip without problems. Intellectually, he knew the drugs took care of the effects of the wormhole trip, but he still had a hard time believing that the stretching of the ship was just an optical illusion. It looked so real, but engineering reported no damage.
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