Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars)

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Tau Ceti,” responded Jason, recalling the numerous long discussions. “We have discussed it in detail, and it should be a good enough test for the new systems and the FTL drive the New Horizon is equipped with.”

  “Tau Ceti,” repeated Greg, trying to recall what he knew about that star. “Isn’t it about eleven light years distant?”

  “Yes,” answered Jason, nodding his head. “It’s 11.9 to be exact. There are two habitable planets in the liquid water zone. They are both suitable for eventual colonization.”

  “Won’t it take two jumps for the New Horizon to get there?”

  “They will jump to Proxima Centauri first, take a few quick sensor scans, and check the ship’s systems. If everything is working properly, they will then jump to Tau Ceti.”

  “I can still remember when I was young and dreamed about going to the stars,” Greg spoke with a distant sigh. That seemed like so long ago. “That was before we found the Avenger and Ariel.”

  “You can travel to the stars anytime you want, Greg,” Ariel spoke with a refreshing and innocent smile. Her black hair lay upon her shoulders, and she was wearing her customary dark blue fleet uniform. “Ships leave Ceres all the time. I can arrange for you to go to any of the explored star systems if you like.”

  Greg looked at the large viewscreen in front of the Command Center where Ariel’s avatar was displayed. He knew she was serious in her offer.

  “It’s not the same now,” he replied slowly. “However, going on the New Horizon would be fun.”

  Jason laughed and shook his head. “I think we’re both getting too old for that. We can leave the exploration of the nearby stars to our children. At least we both got to go to New Tellus together with Admiral Streth in those early days.”

  “Speaking of our children, isn’t it getting close to time to eat?” commented Greg, rubbing his stomach. He had gained a little weight as he had gotten older, but he was still in pretty good shape. “I’m starving.”

  “I think you’re always starving,” responded Jason with a chuckle. “Let’s head on over to the cafeteria. I suspect our families are already waiting.”

  “Just keep a watch out for Katie,” Greg warned with a heavy sigh. “That daughter of mine has been driving me crazy recently with all the questions she has been asking about the Avenger.”

  “She’s a teenager, Greg,” Jason said with an understanding smile. Then, looking over at his best friend, he continued, “What did you expect?”

  -

  Kelsey had just finished dressing and was looking at her reflection critically in the mirror. Adding just a little bit of makeup to her cheeks, she felt satisfied with her appearance. She felt nervous about the dinner tonight. Taking a deep breath, she looked at her reflection one more time. Her deep blue eyes gazed back, and while her blonde hair was cut short, it was still long enough to allow for a slight curl. She was dressed in a dark blue fleet uniform, open at the neck, which was allowed for informal meals.

  Hearing a knock at her door, she knew that Jeremy had arrived. Kelsey wondered why she was feeling so nervous about this date. She had known Jeremy since her first day at the academy, and he had always been charming and polite. Not once had he ever acted inappropriately or tried to take advantage of his father being the admiral in charge of this facility on the Moon.

  Opening the door, she found Jeremy standing there with one of those big, easy smiles that always seemed to be on his face. “Hello,” she said hoping she didn’t sound nervous.

  “Hi Kelsey,” Jeremy replied innocently. “Are you ready for this?”

  “Sure,” answered Kelsey, trying to sound as normal as possible. She could feel her heart fluttering. Perhaps she was expecting too much out of this. After all, it was only a meal, and he had been nice enough to ask her to accompany him.

  “Then let’s go,” said Jeremy grinning. “This should be the best food we have had in a while. I’m hoping for a big juicy steak!”

  Kelsey laughed, pleased that Jeremy seemed to be looking forward to this. “I could use a steak myself,” she admitted, then glancing down at her figure she added, “A small one, anyway.”

  “You look great, Kelsey,” said Jeremy, noticing that she had evidently spent some extra time on her hair and applying makeup. Jeremy realized something he had taken for granted, perhaps because he had always looked at Kelsey as a close friend and nothing beyond that. Kelsey was actually a very beautiful young woman.

  “Thank you, Jeremy.” Kelsey felt her face flush and hoped that Jeremy wouldn’t notice. Damn! She felt so out of place in this situation.

  The two walked down the corridor and toward the transit tube that would take them to the cafeteria and the private dining room. Neither suspected that after the events of tonight their lives would never be the same again.

  They took several sets of stairs and walked down a long transit tube to the large building that contained the cafeteria. They passed several other cadets who gave them some questioning looks, probably wondering why they were so dressed up and where they were going. A few minutes later, they entered the private dining room. Jeremy took a moment to take stock of who all were there. He saw his father and mother and of course Greg Johnson and his wife Elizabeth. Commandant Everson was also there, as well as semi-retired General Greene and a few others.

  “Jeremy!” a high-pitched voice screamed.

  Jeremy turned just in time as Katie threw herself at him, trapping him in a tight, embarrassing hug. After a long moment, Katie let a flustered Jeremy go and then turned to look questionably at Kelsey.

  “Who are you?” she asked in a voice tinged with jealousy.

  What have I gotten myself into? Kelsey thought, looking at the young teenage girl with shoulder length blonde hair. She knew that this must be Greg and Elizabeth Johnson’s daughter.

  “I’m Cadet Ensign Kelsey Grainger,” she answered in a calm voice and smiling at the young girl.

  “Kelsey, huh?” Katie spoke sharply, her green eyes checking Kelsey out. Then turning back to Jeremy, she asked. “Is she your girlfriend?”

  “We’re just close friends,” Jeremy responded, quickly feeling self-conscious He noticed that everyone in the room was staring at them. This wasn’t how he had wanted the evening to go. Leave it to Katie to attract everyone’s attention.

  “You’re sitting next to me,” continued Katie looking at Kelsey challengingly. “Your girlfriend can sit on the other side of you.”

  “Go sit down, Katie,” her father said in a firm voice, walking up and shaking Jeremy’s hand. Greg knew that Jeremy needed rescuing. Katie had a way of doing that to people. “You sure are growing Jeremy. You remind me of your father when he was your age.”

  Jeremy nodded. He knew that his father and Greg had been friends even before the New Beginnings mission. “This is Cadet Ensign Kelsey Grainer,” Jeremy said introducing Kelsey to Greg.

  “Hello, Kelsey,” Greg replied with an easy and disarming smile. “Don’t let my daughter scare you.”

  “Hello Mr. Johnson,” Kelsey replied, her eyes growing wide at actually talking to Greg Johnson, one of the two men on the New Beginnings mission. The other was, of course, Jeremy’s father, Admiral Jason Strong. “I have heard and read so much about you.”

  “Don’t believe everything you read,” replied Greg, grinning. “The history books tend to exaggerate.”

  A few moments later, they were all seated and the meal began. Jeremy knew he was going to be in for a long evening with Katie sitting next to him. Kelsey seemed to be adapting to everything extremely well. She was like that and it was one of the reasons Jeremy enjoyed her company so much. Nothing seemed to take her by surprise.

  “So, are you going on the New Horizon mission?” asked Katie, staring at Jeremy and pointedly ignoring Kelsey.

  “The cadets haven’t been chosen yet,” answered Jeremy, uneasily. He knew that Katie was going to bombard him with unending questions the entire evening.

  “The cadets will be chosen afte
r graduation,” Commandant Everson spoke from where he sat across the table. He had been watching Jeremy and Katie with amusement. His own daughter had been much like Katie when she was fifteen. Now she was grown and working on the shipyard at New Tellus. “Katie, I am sure you will be interested in knowing that both Cadet Lieutenant Strong and Cadet Ensign Grainger are at the top of their class.”

  Katie looked down the table at Kelsey with a frown. “So that means that both of you could be going on the New Horizon mission.”

  “Could be,” Kelsey spoke with a friendly smile. It was so obvious to her that this young teenager had a crush on Jeremy. No wonder he had wanted her to come tonight. He needed some protection from this young adolescent girl. It didn’t bother her that this was probably the reason he had asked her out. It made her feel good to know that he had turned to her for help. “What are you studying in school Katie?”

  “Computers,” Katie spoke, her face brightening. She loved to talk about computers. “I hope to be a programmer when I get older.”

  “We can certainly use some good programmers,” Kelsey responded with a nod. “If we have time, perhaps later you can show me some of what you have learned in school.”

  “That would be great,” responded Katie, deciding that maybe Kelsey wasn’t so bad after all. She would reserve judgment until later.

  “I have seen some of Katie’s work with computers,” Lisa spoke from where she was sitting next to Jason. “It’s very good. If she keeps it up, she may find herself working up here at the academy someday.”

  “If she can stay out of trouble,” added Elizabeth, eyeing her young daughter. She hoped Katie wasn’t bothering Jeremy and his date too much. The young woman Jeremy was with was quite attractive. Lisa hadn’t mentioned that Jeremy was dating. She would have to ask her about it later.

  “I can stay out of trouble,” Katie said defensively, glancing at her mother.

  “Really?” Jeremy spoke quietly so only Katie could hear.

  “Yes, I can!” replied Katie, giving Jeremy a threatening look.

  “I’m sure she can behave if she needs to,” added Kelsey, nodding at Katie. “Girls are just different than boys.”

  Katie nodded. She was beginning to like Kelsey better all the time.

  Everyone continued to eat and make small talk. Kelsey began to feel more at ease and even allowed herself to be drawn into a conversation with Admiral Strong, Jeremy’s dad.

  “What are your future plans, Kelsey?” asked Jason, preferring to use first names in this informal setting. “I understand you’re studying astrogation.”

  “I want to navigate a starship someday,” replied Kelsey, her blue eyes taking on a faraway look.

  “An ambitious goal,” responded Jason, nodding his head approvingly. “If you qualify to be one of the cadets to go on the New Horizon mission, you might just get your wish sooner than you expect.”

  “I hope so,” Kelsey responded, respectfully. It had sent chills down her back hearing Admiral Strong use her first name. She had already decided that she was going to like Jeremy’s dad.

  “Speaking of the New Horizon,” Greg broke in as he used his steak knife to cut off a generous portion of the tantalizing steak on his plate. “You were saying earlier that the ship’s ready?”

  “She could leave tomorrow if she had to,” responded Jason, recalling the latest status report from the spacedock. “Part of the crew is currently on board, and they’re in the process of doing a final check of all the ship’s control systems.”

  “When will they be checking the ship’s drive systems?” Commandant Everson asked curiously. He knew the ship hadn’t left the close vicinity of the spacedock yet.

  “In another two weeks,” responded Jason, recalling the schedule. “If everything is found to be working properly they will be taking the New Horizon on a sublight trip to Mars. The Columbia will be escorting her in case there are any problems.”

  Everson knew that the Columbia was one of the four smaller exploration cruisers that were being used to explore the solar system. The smaller ships were also used on a regular basis for further training of the cadets after graduation. A few cadets were placed on each of the exploration cruisers to complete their officer’s training.

  “What about the FTL drive?” asked Greg, laying his fork down and looking over at Jason. He knew this was the key to the ship’s mission. The drive was not as efficient as a Federation drive, but they were trying to introduce Federation technology gradually.

  “It’s scheduled for testing a month after the sublight trip,” responded Jason, recalling the FTL test schedule that Commander Tellson and he had come up with. “The ship will make fourteen micro-jumps in the system to check the drive. Once we’re satisfied everything is working properly, Tellson will bring the ship back to the spacedock and we will begin making the final preparations for the actual mission.”

  “We have introduced so much in the last few years,” Lisa said, looking over at her husband. Sometimes it feels as if we’re moving too fast.”

  “I wish we could introduce the new technology even faster,” Jason responded, looking around the table.

  “How is Earth adapting to the new technologies that are being introduced?” asked Emerson, looking over at Greg. “I understand there have been a few problems.”

  Greg leaned back in his chair and nodded his head. “The medical technology has been the biggest problem. The new medical technology has allowed us to cure most forms of cancer. Several other serious diseases are also in the process of being eradicated. This has had a serious economic impact in the medical community, which has for years based its economy on long-term care. It’s caused tens of thousands of people to be put out of work.”

  “That’s why we’re introducing the technology we found on the Avenger gradually,” Jason added. He was being careful in what he said. Not even his son knew about Ariel and the Federation survivors on Ceres. Only a select group on the Moon and in the leading governments down on Earth knew about that closely guarded secret.

  “Some of the Third World countries are resisting the introduction of some of the new technology,” commented General Greene, picking up his glass and taking a sip of water. “There have even been some threats against companies that use some of the technology.”

  “I’m not surprised,” spoke Emerson, nodding his head in acknowledgement. “People are always resistant to change.”

  “That’s one of the reasons we have tried to be so careful with some of the technology we have been introducing in those countries,” explained Greg, looking around the group. “We have been working very closely with those governments on what we thought would be safe to introduce. Even so, we have found some of the people in those countries to be very resistant to new ideas and technology.”

  “There have even been some threats made in our more advanced countries,” added General Greene, showing some worry on his face. Over the years his hair had turned mostly gray, and there were more worry lines around his eyes. “Even a few against the New Horizon mission.”

  “Anything we should be concerned about?” asked Jason, frowning. He wasn’t pleased to hear there had been threats against the New Horizon.

  They were being so careful to introduce Federation technology slowly. The plans were to have Earth up to what was considered normal on the former Federation worlds within one hundred years. Once that was reached, the Federation survivors on Ceres would reveal themselves. It was also at that time that Earth and Ceres would begin focusing on preparing for the eventual war with the Hocklyns.

  “We are watching several dissident groups down on Earth,” General Greene responded in a serious tone of voice, leaning back in his chair. He was working as a security consultant to the government for anything that had to do with the Avenger and its technology. “We don’t think they pose a serious danger as of yet, but they do bear watching. We have several people close to their organizations, so we will know shortly if there is a serious threat.”

&n
bsp; Jason nodded his head. He had a meeting scheduled later with General Greene and Greg, and he fully intended to get into more detail about this. It might also be necessary to involve some of the Federation people. There were a quite a few of them down on Earth, and he wanted to make sure that none of them were in danger.

  “How are things going at the academy?” asked Elizabeth, looking at Commandant Everson.

  She didn’t like the men talking about things that might worry her. She was much more familiar with the academy since their son Mathew had graduated from here four years ago and preferred to talk about it. It had taken her a while to get used to the idea of flying to the Moon and Mathew joining the academy.

  “Our current graduating class is by far the best yet,” replied Emerson, glancing over approvingly at Jeremy and Kelsey. “Our freshman class is the largest up to now, and we expect to continue to increase enrollment over the coming years.”

  Jeremy and Kelsey listened with interest as the two talked. Every once in a while, Katie would ask one of them a question about the academy and its classes. She was highly curious about the Fleet Academy and what it was like to attend. Jeremy and Kelsey found themselves drawn into the conversation, explaining to Katie what life was like living on the Moon.

  The meal finally ended, and Jeremy noticed his dad staring at him. He wants something, Jeremy realized. He just isn’t sure how to ask it. Jeremy braced himself. He knew it probably had something to do with Katie. His dad probably wanted him to show her around the academy.

  “Jeremy,” began Jason, knowing that Jeremy wouldn’t be pleased with what he was about to ask. Then his eyes fell on Kelsey, and he realized that perhaps this could work out. He knew that Kelsey had been wanting to go on board the Avenger for quite some time. Her advisor had mentioned that to Jason several weeks back when they had been discussing the academy’s top students. “Would you and Kelsey mind doing us a big favor?”

  “What kind of favor?” Jeremy asked with a sneaking suspicion, noticing that his mother and the Johnsons were staring at him.