Star Man 2: Star Rise

by I. G. Roberts

  Colin caught the eye of one of the police and asked, “Are you alright? Do you need any help?”

  “I’m okay, thank you, Sir. Is this what it was like when you were fighting the Pirates?”

  “Pretty much, unfortunately, these guys want to make war on the Federation, and this is what it looks like. I think the Federation government has had a wake-up call in the last year and they’ve started to take the steps necessary to improve security.”

  “Weren’t you scared out there? I mean, you are looking kind of cool and collected now, all of you do. How do you take this so calmly?”

  With a smile, Colin replied, “Trust me when I tell you we were all frightened during the fight. Being frightened by something like that is natural. Anyone who says they aren’t disturbed by that kind of experience is either lying or insane. What’s important, isn’t that you’re frightened, but what you do with the fear. The better soldiers compartmentalize it and use it to drive their actions in a controlled way. It can be used to speed up your reaction time, to give you the ability to run faster, or to be more observant of what’s going on around you. While you’re in danger, you can use the fear to motivate you to do things you might not do under other circumstances. Now the danger is past, we’re all just trying to deal with what we’ve been through in the last hour or so. These people will talk about it together later to address the issues. I must admit, being frightened tends to make me angry, and I have to control that as well, so I don’t do anything that’ll get me, or worse, someone else injured or killed.”

  The Officer looked surprised as he asked, “You’d rather die?”

  “Not really, it’s just that if I make a mistake resulting in someone else being injured, of killed, the guilt is mine alone. If a mistake is mine and I’m killed or injured, then the consequences of my mistake are squarely on me.”

  The police Officer nodded to acknowledge the reply then lapsed into a thoughtful silence, clearly mulling over what Colin had said to him. Colin noticed the other Officer took everything in he’d said but just gave a tiny nod of his own and stayed silent. Colin didn’t know it, but he’d impressed the two police Officers by his calm acceptance of the circumstances. One of them had a brother in the Navy and was always impressed by the way his brother never seemed to panic or become flustered. He could see the same characteristic in Colin, though here, it was even more pronounced. He realized he’d have quite a story to tell his partner and children when he arrived home. The young ones were infatuated with this human, and that was only from what they’d seen in the news media, to know their father met him in person, even talked to him would be so exciting for them. At the same time, the policeman had to do his job, he had to make sure this man hadn’t done anything wrong, a civilian was wounded, and if he’d done something to cause this, then they might need to act against him.

  Not long after the conversation ended between Colin and the Police Officer, the Shuttle set down at the Naval Shuttle Station. As soon as the engines were shut down, some armoured cars sped out and stopped near the Shuttle hatches. The passengers all exited the Shuttle and were quickly shepherded into the armoured cars ready for the trip to Naval Headquarters. Colin, Anne and four of the Troopers were directed to the first vehicle, and as soon as they were settled, it roared off, heading for their destination. At last Colin began to feel a little safer. He idly wondered if this was to be the pattern for the rest of his life, always having to be looking over his shoulder, always waiting for the next attack. Would he always need to have security with him wherever he went?

  The vehicles they were in for the trip to Headquarters were very fast on a straight road, able to reach speeds of about 150 kilometres per hour, so the journey to the Headquarters complex didn’t last very long, only about twenty-five minutes. When they arrived, the security detail was made available to the two police Officers for immediate questioning. This was done to keep the cops busy while Naval Officers had a few words with Colin and completed the necessary formalities to induct him as a Naval Officer. That completed, they arranged for him to be issued with the appropriate uniforms and other equipment, then assigned his quarters in the Complex. Colin wouldn’t be departing the Complex till it was time to leave the planet for his first assignment. By inducting him into the Navy, they’d made him virtually untouchable as far as the local civilian police were concerned. The last thing anyone really wanted, including the police themselves, was to have some overzealous cop deciding to arrest Colin for inciting the recent unpleasantness, or on some other equally ridiculous charge. By the time everything was in place for Colin, the police had completed their initial interviews with the Troopers and were ready to talk to him. When Colin walked into the meeting room where the police waited for him, he was wearing the uniform of a full Commander. The police took a double take as he made his way over to the chair set aside for the interviewee and sat.

  Colin said, “Okay gentlemen, shall we get this interview started?”

  The police sat staring at Colin for a few seconds in surprise, but recovered quickly and began the interview. They walked through what he was doing on the road at the time, why he had the firepower with him, the Troopers, the armoured vehicles, everything. Once again, these Officers were experienced at interviewing people, but Colin had been interrogated by others with more experience and more efficient techniques than these two when he was on Cotoni Station. These two didn’t really want to incriminate him, but they had to investigate what happened.

  The police asked Colin how many shots he’d fired and in what directions. They were very surprised when Colin informed them he hadn’t even taken his weapon out of its holster. They didn’t seem to believe him, so Colin explained how Lieutenant Fraser and one of the Troopers restrained him before he could exit the vehicle. They appeared to accept this and pursued the reason why he hadn’t taken an alternate route, or why they didn’t fly here, the way they did in the end. Again, Colin patiently explained, the mode of transport and the route were not his to choose. He did admit, he probably would’ve done the same if he’d had the choice. In the end, the police couldn’t find any inconsistencies in his version of events, even when they compared his version with the others they’d obtained. There was enough difference between the stories to suggest those differences were purely the result of different points of view and to show a complete lack of collusion between the witnesses. They decided this was exactly what it seemed, nothing more, nothing less. When his interview was completed, Colin went looking for some dinner before returning to his quarters for sleep, it had, after all, been a huge day.

  After the Police had finished interviewing Colin, they discussed the possibility of revisiting some of the interviews with the Navy Legal personnel then were taken back to their police station. Colin never heard anything more from them, though at the time, he only stayed on Sankarah for two more days before being sent off to Cambridge for medical treatments, to learn how to be a Naval Officer and command a ship. After much debate within the Naval hierarchy, it was decided ship command of a Warship would be the best use of Colin’s talents.

  Colin woke early next morning, ready to move on with his new life. The first task for the day was to attend an interview with several senior Naval Officers. When he arrived at the required location, Colin found he would be talking to the heads of several departments including DNI, Fleet Command, and the Senior ranking military Officer for the entire Federation Navy, Admiral Dalkasan. Colin was the first of the participants to enter the room, other than an Aide attached to one of the other Officers. Colin had only been in the interview room for a few minutes when Lieutenant Fraser, and then Jack Lanning arrived.

  When Jack entered the room, he grinned and said sardonically, “You two just can’t keep yourselves out of trouble, can you? What's the tally now, three Pirate ships, no four, around 150 assorted spies, ten mercenaries I think? There could even be some more I don’t know about. Colin, you’ve been either in the Federation or attached to a Federation ship for only about
ten months, but you’ve already achieved more fighting the Pirates than most Officers do in a lifetime of service. You know, you’re setting records here, you need to slow down, let someone else in on the action. The two of you seem to be a hunting pair, dangerous on your own but more than doubly dangerous when you’re together, at least for Pirates, Slavers, and their minions.”

  Colin struggled to think of anything he could say, beyond greeting the two Officers. He’d only just finished that courtesy when the others all trooped in. Colin started to salute Admiral Dalkasan but was waved down and told to dispense with the formalities. He could see this Officer was all business, someone who knew exactly what he wanted to do and say. Colin saw Anne looking rather intimidated by the rank in this room as she moved to a position near him. With all the greetings over, Jack Lanning told the assembled Officers about his observations just before they entered.

  Admiral Dalkasan’s only comment to Jack’s observation was, “Quite.”

  As soon as everyone settled, the Admiral turned to Anne and asked, “Lieutenant, you were sidelined during your Officer Training, forced out of command track and into a backwater stream leaving you little or no opportunity for advancement. And yet, you still did the best you could in that role, and I’m told, your best is superb indeed.”

  “Thank you, Sir. Could you tell me why you’re telling me this please, I don’t really understand why I’m here? Sir?”

  The Admiral, smiled before replying, “As Mr. Lanning mentioned a few moments ago, you and Commander Gordon are a very dangerous pair when you’re operating together, at least, as a pair, you are very hazardous to the people who’d bring harm down upon the Federation or its citizens. I have a proposition for the two of you, a proposition I think you’ll both appreciate, once you understand its full scope.”

  Anne said, “Yes Sir.”

  The Admiral continued, “Lieutenant, you first came to my notice after the return of FNS Destiny. I’m told you acted as her Executive Officer under Commander Gordon here, and from the reports I’ve seen, you did an excellent job in that role. Unfortunately, when you were sidelined to the political track, you missed the opportunity to complete some of the necessary courses required for command. We propose to rectify this shortfall, you are to attend the Naval Academy and take those classes along with Commander Gordon. I must tell you, there is a catch, however. While there, you and Commander Gordon are to investigate some anomalies we’ve been noticing over the last ten years. We’ve had a few too many promising young Officers such as yourself sidelined to streams where they could not be their most effective. We need to find who’s responsible for this and put a stop to it. The two of you will be ‘killing two birds with one stone,’ at least, this is our hope. We also need to identify Officers like you, who should be redirected back into command track, but that is not your job.”

  Both Anne and Colin were surprised at this piece of news. Colin reflected this meeting is just another kind of ambush, apparently not as lethal as the one he’d experienced the day before, but an ambush nonetheless. On the other hand, Colin thought in for a penny, in for a pound. This was just more of what he’d been doing since the beginning, almost since regaining consciousness on FNS Destiny all those months before. Colin could see Anne was nodding, hope in her eyes, she couldn’t turn down an opportunity to return to command track, and Colin couldn’t let her down, he knew the Admiral had baited his hook very carefully.

  Anne answered for them both when she said, “We’ll find whoever is doing this Sir. When do we start?”

  Admiral Dalkasan smiled and said, “I know you will Lieutenant. You’ll be starting almost immediately.”

  Then turning to Colin, Dalkasan said, “Commander, while I can’t order you to do the next thing I ask, I can strongly recommend you accept the offer, it may make the difference between success and failure when you’re at the Naval Academy.” He then paused waiting for Colin to respond.

  Colin took the hint and asked, “What’s your recommendation, Sir?”

  Dalkasan replied, “We are asking you to undergo a full rejuvenation. This’ll achieve several things, both for the mission and for your Naval career in general. First, you’ll look much, much younger, so you’ll fit in with the other cadets at the Academy better. In effect, you’ll be in disguise. The second reason for you to accept rejuvenation is you’ll need the energy of youth both at the Academy and later after you graduate. The period while the rejuvenation is underway will allow the public memory of you to fade a little and will give us the time we will need to finish setting up undercover support for you at the Academy.”

  Colin thought about the implications for a few seconds then said, “I accept your recommendation, Sir.”

  With Colin’s reply, Admiral Dalkasan nodded, then turned, leaving Colin and Anne with the rest of the Officers. For the remainder of the day, the two of them were briefed on what to expect, how to request help and a myriad of other details. They were both to be assigned to Cambridge for a short while so Colin’s rejuvenation could be undertaken and the public’s memory allowed to fade. Colin slept well that night, the day had been a big one, and the next day would be as well.

  Next morning, Colin rose early, ready for the next chapter in his life. This was the day the initial rejuvenation treatments were to start. The full course of treatments would take nearly six months from start to finish. Then, Colin was to attend the Naval Academy to pick up the knowledge required to be able to command a Starship, at least, the knowledge he hadn’t already been shown to possess. Colin’s rejuvenation treatments were mostly to be administered on Cambridge, but he still didn’t know how he was to get there. Colin expected to find out soon enough. Once showered, he put his uniform on and packed his few belongings then leaving his duffel on his bed, made his way down to one of the base cafeterias. Colin had previously arranged to meet Anne there for breakfast before they completed a few formalities needed to arrange passage to Cambridge. When all these tasks were finished, Colin and Anne were transported out to the Shuttle Station for the beginning of their trip to Cambridge.

  At the Shuttle Station, they were driven directly inside a Hanger and exited their armoured vehicle beside a Shuttle after the Hanger doors were securely closed. Outside their party, which included Ani, Shasi, and their driver, there was nobody else visible inside the Hanger. Ani and Shasi began to herd them towards the Shuttle that was sitting in the middle of the space, waiting for them to board. After they had made it safely inside, the hatch was closed while they stowed their duffels then strapped themselves in, ready for the trip.

  By then, it was night outside so all the lights were extinguished inside the hanger and the hanger doors opened. The Shuttle had electric motors within the wheels so it could taxi around the hardstand without needing to rely on a tow vehicle or start the main engines. When the hanger doors were fully opened, the Shuttle silently taxied out and away from the hanger to a location where it could launch. The pilot obtained clearance for the launch, and the Shuttle was quickly airborne, rapidly beginning to ascend toward the outer limits of the atmosphere. The entire operation was highly covert. Admiral Dalkasan didn’t want anyone knowing who was on the Shuttle and he wanted to minimize the number of people who even knew a Shuttle was launched, hence the cloak and dagger approach.

  They soon ascended to a point where Sankarah’s atmosphere was left behind. As soon as the Shuttle left the atmosphere, the pilot engaged stealth and changed course toward the system limits. Meanwhile, a Starship was slowly crawling out towards one of the System’s Jump-Points. She was a battered ship, looking quite the wreck, no longer the proud looking Starship she’d once been, but she was sound, and her crew was proud of her. This ship had been through a lot, and yet, she’d still carried them home safely.

  Some hours later, the Shuttle rendezvoused with the Starship and docked to one of the Shuttle docking ports. When everything was secure, the hatches opened so Colin, Anne, and the others on board could exit into the ship. On entering the ship,
Colin thought the surroundings looked familiar, but even then, when he passed out of the airlock, into a larger compartment, he was still surprised to be greeted by Captain Carlon and a selection of FNS Destiny’s crew. It was only then, he finally realized he was in fact back on board FNS Destiny.

  Captain Carlon smiled warmly as he welcomed them all back. Colin noticed the crew members who were present were all saluting him. He returned their salutes, then shook Captain Carlon’s hand. At least now that Colin was an Officer in the Federation Navy, he was more comfortable with people saluting him. Colin was finally beginning to accept that he’d achieved something quite extraordinary when he brought this ship back home. The formalities over the crew dispersed, some taking Colin’s, and Anne’s belongings to their quarters. Colin and Anne went with the Captain to the bridge. On the way, Captain Carlon thanked Anne for helping Colin to bring FNS Destiny back to the Federation. As they traversed the corridors on the way to the bridge, they passed several of the crew, all of whom recognized Colin and Anne, all smiled before saluting. They’d placed their trust in Colin to bring them all home, and he’d done exactly as he’d promised. The ship was now airtight and restocked for her trip back to Taralyn, the Tangesha home world.

  Once FNS Destiny reached home, the crew would all be going on extended leave while she was to be refitted and upgraded with stronger armour and Shields plus a slightly larger weapons payload. Both Colin and Anne were pleased to see lessons were learned from Destiny’s last voyage and something was being done to rectify the shortfalls. There were also changes in the wind with the regulations, though these would take some time to be made, simply because the hierarchy had to find the right balance. If they could get it right, Officers would still be able to fight if the need arose, but the definition of the need would change, so the situation Colin was in, where all the Officers were down, many because of what was effectively hubris, should not be repeated in the future.