Commander Tellson was in the Command Center of the New Horizon watching the main viewscreen as a supply shuttle from Earth was maneuvered into the ship’s small flight bay. The flight bay had just enough room to hold two of the medium sized shuttles.
“The manifest shows the shuttle contains some basic supplies plus some of our food stores,” Tellson said as he studied some information on a computer screen on his command console.
“I’ll see to the unloading,” his Executive Officer, Brent Maher, spoke with a nod.
“Make sure everything is stowed properly,” ordered Commander Tellson, looking over at Major Maher. “We leave on our sublight trials in less than two weeks. I don’t want any supplies or equipment stowed incorrectly in case there are problems.”
“There won’t be any problems,” Maher promised with a confident smile. “The engineers have done an outstanding job on the ship.”
“You’re probably right,” Tellson said, nodding his head in agreement. “Just make sure the crew handles everything correctly.”
-
Maher watched as the crew diligently unloaded the boxes of supplies and some food stores. There was one small crate in particular that he was watching for. His people down on Earth had promised that it would be on this shuttle. It had been extremely difficult and expensive to smuggle this box on board with the other supplies. It was labeled emergency food supplies and when he saw it, he casually walked over and instructed the two men who were handling it to follow him.
After leaving the small flight bay, they walked through several corridors and took a small elevator up to the deck where the main mess hall was located. Just off to the side of the mess hall was a small storage room for emergency food supplies. The room was heavily shielded, and enough reserve supplies of food and water would be kept inside to feed the crew for several weeks. The box was stored and secured with several others on a large shelf. Once he was satisfied that the box was stored properly, he dismissed the two men and ordered them to return to the flight bay to help finish unloading the shuttle.
Once the two men were gone, Maher checked the corridor to make sure no one else was around. Satisfied he was alone; he went back to the small storage room and opened the heavy metal hatch. Stepping inside, he shut the hatch behind him. He approached the crate and gazed down at it. He knew what it was supposed to contain, and several inspectors down on Earth had been paid handsome sums of money to pass it through inspection. Maher also knew that those two inspectors would have fatal accidents sometime during the next week. His group couldn’t afford to leave any loose ends.
The crate had a small lock on it that Maher had the only key to. Quickly unlocking it, he opened the lid and glanced inside. This was what he had requested from his people down on Earth. Inside the crate were half a dozen assault rifles and a number of pistols with plenty of ammunition. There were also a good number of stun grenades. If things worked out as planned, the New Horizon would be making a much longer trip than the one to Tau Ceti. Now he just needed Cadet Lieutenant Barr to get his group up to the ship.
-
Jason was flying up to the spacedock in one of the new Raven class shuttles. The new shuttles were built down on Earth at a special facility in the Arizona desert. What many people didn’t know was that some of the special components, such as the miniature fusion reactor that powered the shuttle, were actually produced on Ceres and shipped to Earth. People working at the base were told that the reactors, as well as a few other specialized parts, were produced at another top-secret government facility. Jason was surprised that so far no suspected that the parts weren’t actually produced on Earth.
They had modified the shuttles and they were now the main workhorse for travel between the Earth and the Moon. One version of the shuttle had been changed to accommodate passengers only. The seats were more comfortable, and there was even a flight attendant to help out the passengers. The other version of the shuttle was to haul cargo. One other thing that had been done was the removal of the FTL drive. The new shuttle designs had been done down on Earth by several engineers from Ceres who had been directing a special team made up of Earth scientists and technicians. Everyone assumed the shuttles had been reverse engineered by Earth scientists, which is what it was supposed to look like. The shuttles were capable of traveling anywhere in the solar system, but Jason and the participating governments had agreed to restrict them to the Earth-Moon system with occasional trips to Mars.
Looking out the cockpit window, Jason saw the spacedock rapidly growing larger. The New Horizon was also visible as it was still docked. Jason felt very pleased at what had been accomplished here. The spacedock was a combination of Earth and Federation technology. The entire space facility was 900 meters long, 200 meters wide, and 200 meters thick. It had a permanent crew of 800 and was capable of producing two types of spacecraft. In its large construction bay, the 200-meter in system exploration cruisers could be built, or they could build the 400-meter FTL capable cruisers like the New Horizon.
What no one knew but Jason and a few others was that, in a few more years, they would begin construction of Federation style destroyers. The New Horizon was very similar in size to a Federation destroyer. It would take only a few minor modifications and Earth could begin building its first warships. The current plans were to build ten in the guise of protecting the new colonies, such as the ones planned for Tau Ceti, from any unknown danger. There were already plans drawn up to expand the spacedock, adding several larger construction bays. This would give them the capability to produce Federation light cruisers as well as other ships. However, all of this was in the future. Right now Jason was more concerned with making sure the current expedition was a success.
A few moments later, the shuttle entered the spacedock’s large flight bay and sat gently down on the landing pad. Jason waited patiently for the hatch to open and then walked down the extended ramp to be greeted by Captain Stinson, the officer currently in charge of the spacedock. Stinson was an engineer as well as a marine officer.
“Admiral Strong,” Stinson spoke as he saluted. “Welcome aboard.”
“At ease, Captain,” spoke Jason, smiling. He had made numerous trips up to the spacedock during the construction phase as well as when they had been building the New Horizon. He was extremely familiar with the spacedock as well as the ship.
“I understand you want to make an inspection of the New Horizon today, sir.”
“Yes, I do,” replied Jason, evenly. Jason was looking forward to this. He just wished Greg could have come, but his duties down on Earth had prevented it. Jason knew that Greg would have loved to see the newly completed New Horizon first hand. “I haven’t been on board the ship since she was completed. I am looking forward to seeing our first FTL capable ship.”
“I think you will like what we have done with her,” Stinson replied, confidently. “The crew has been checking the systems and becoming more familiar with her for the last several weeks. I believe the last time you were aboard there were still wires hanging in the corridors, as well as open panels all throughout the ship.”
“How many of the crew are currently on board?” asked Jason, curiously. He knew more crewmembers had been reporting almost daily to the ship as they finished their training either on Earth or on the Moon.
“One hundred and twelve at the moment,” replied Stinson, recalling the latest crew roster. “The civilian specialists that will be going on the Tau Ceti mission won’t arrive for another two months. Not all of the crew, as you know, have been chosen yet. There are still a few important positions to fill.”
“That should be completed in the next two to three weeks,” responded Jason, recalling the latest crew assignments. “There are a lot of qualified people that want to go on this mission, and it’s difficult to choose who gets to go and who doesn’t.”
“I can understand that,” replied Stinson, nodding his head. “The first interstellar mission. I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind going myself.”
/> “I think a lot of us would,” responded Jason, smiling.
A few minutes later, the two made their way through the spacedock to the New Horizon. The spacedock was kept at three quarters Earth gravity, and the wide, spacious corridors made it difficult to believe you were actually in space. Everything was immaculate and well ordered. They passed a few crew personnel and finally arrived at the large airlock that the New Horizon was docked to.
Commander Tellson and his executive officer Major Maher were waiting for them on the other side in the ship.
“Admiral Strong, I’m glad you could find the time in your busy schedule to come up,” Commander Tellson said, greeting Jason.
“I’m afraid things will soon get hectic with the sublight trials and the rest of the crew arriving,” Jason replied with a friendly nod. “Why don’t you take me on a tour of the ship and let’s see what we’ve built.”
“The New Horizon is going to be a good ship, Admiral,” Tellson commented as they began walking down a well-lighted corridor. “This ship makes our exploration cruisers look small.”
Jason nodded and smiled. He wondered what the commander would think if he saw one of the larger Federation ships, such as a battle cruiser or a battle carrier. For now, those ships were kept out of sight of Earth. No Federation ships were allowed around the inner planets so as to reduce the accidental risk of premature discovery.
Their first stop was in Engineering. Jason looked around the large compartment at all the controls and consoles that operated the ship’s two fusion reactors, as well as the ship’s two main drive systems. The sublight drive, as well as the FTL drive, were all monitored from here and needed adjustments or repairs could be made by the men and women who manned the stations.
“How long will the drive core need to cool after a jump?” asked Jason, curiously. He knew that Federation warships needed about four hours.
“If our calculations are accurate we are estimating four to six hours,” Commander Tellson answered. “It will depend partially on the length of the jump. When we make the mini-jumps around the solar system, we should know more about the necessary time needed.”
The tour continued until they were in the Command Center. Jason looked around and smiled to himself, noticing the similarities between the Command Center on the Avenger and the Command Center on the New Horizon. The main difference between the two Command Centers was the one on the New Horizon was smaller with slightly fewer consoles, and there were no armed guards at the entry hatch.
After looking around for a moment, Jason turned to Commander Tellson. “One of the reasons I came up here today was to pass on some information that’s been circulating around down on Earth.”
“What type of information?” asked Tellson, curiously. He was so busy he didn’t get to watch much news.
“Greg Johnson and General Greene were at the academy recently. Evidently there are rumors flying around Earth’s Internet about threats to the New Horizon.”
“Threats?” Tellson blurted out surprised, his eyes growing wide in disbelief. “Why would they be threatening us?”
“Change, we guess,” replied Jason, arching his eyebrow and shaking his head. “Your trip represents our first real step outside our solar system, and I guess it frightens some.”
“Are we taking any precautions?” asked Major Maher, trying to sound calm.
How the hell had word of their plan against the New Horizon gotten out? They had spent years putting this plan together. The other question was, how much did they know? Maher was doing his best not to look nervous. He needed to contact his people down on Earth and make these rumors go away. This could threaten everything!
“I have already ordered extra screening of all material coming up to the New Horizon,” replied Jason, looking over at the major. “Who ever these people are, they don’t have access to the space technology necessary to be a threat to us way out here. But our people down on Earth are going to be monitoring the situation and trying to find out where these threats are coming from.”
“We will take extra precautions as well,” replied Tellson, feeling agitated that someone would actually threaten the mission. Then turning to face Major Maher he continued. “Take part of the crew and begin inspecting all the cargo that has come up from Earth in the past week. I want every box opened and what’s inside it compared to the ship’s manifest.”
“I’ll get right on it,” Maher promised with a nod. “We’ll check everything, though I don’t see how anything dangerous could have slipped on board.”
“I don’t believe it could have either,” Jason said, agreeing with Maher. “But it doesn’t hurt to be safe.” It still bothered him immensely that there had been a threat against the mission. If something were to occur to the New Horizon, it could set their plans back by years.
-
A few hours later, the crew was busy checking all the supplies that had come up to the ship recently. Major Maher personally checked several of the supply lockers as well as the emergency supply room, signing off on them. His cache of weapons was still safe, but he needed to get a message to Earth. The plan must succeed. Nothing could be allowed to get in the way. If people down on Earth were talking, they would have to be eliminated. Maher smiled to himself. The only thing the admiral had to go on right now were rumors. There was no way the admiral or his people could suspect that plans had been made to hijack the New Horizon after she made her jump to Tau Ceti.
Chapter Three
Jeremy looked down at the computer pad in front of him. This was his final exam for the day. The past two days had been mentally exhausting as he had waded through exam after exam. This was his ninth exam in a succession of increasingly difficult tests from the instructors at the academy. He let out a deep sigh as he read the question in front of him one more time. This was an essay question. If he were the commander of a small exploration spacecraft with a crew of twelve, what skills would he expect each member of the crew to possess? Jeremy closed his eyes and thought. He was in officer’s training, and this was the type of question he was expected to know.
Some of the skills were obvious. You would need at least one or two ship engineers, a navigator, a communications expert who could double as a scanner and sensor operator. You would also need a medical officer and a helm officer. The rest of the crew would need to possess the necessary skills and knowledge needed in the exploration of another solar system. Even the crewmembers such as the navigator and communications officer would be expected to possess a wide range of abilities.
For nearly two hours, Jeremy keyed in his answer on his computer pad. He listed each individual and the type of skills and mindset he would expect them to possess. When he was finally finished, he read over his work one more time, making a few minor corrections. Looking around the small classroom, he noticed that Matt Barr had already finished and turned in his computer pad. Jeremy hadn’t even noticed when Matt had left.
Feeling satisfied with his answers, Jeremy stood up and handed his pad in to the instructor. The instructor nodded and told Jeremy he could leave. Walking out of the room, Jeremy felt relieved that the tests were finally over. As he stepped into the corridor, he found Kelsey and Angela waiting patiently for him.
“Was it tough?” asked Kelsey, looking at Jeremy. Some of her exams had been difficult but not any worse than she had expected. She knew Jeremy was studying to be a commanding officer one day. She just wanted to navigate a starship.
“Same as the other tests,” replied Jeremy, forcing a smile on his face. “They were all hard, but I expected that. How were your tests?”
“I think I aced mine,” Angela said with a contented grin. “I studied really hard for this and I think it paid off.”
“Mine weren’t too bad,” Kelsey added with an understanding nod at Angela. “The astrogation tests were the hardest. There was a lot of math and some extremely intricate navigation problems, but I feel pretty sure I answered them correctly.”
Jeremy looked at the two. The
three of them had stuck together all through their four years at the academy. He hoped they could continue to do so in the future. “I guess now we wait and see where we end up in the final rankings.”
“I think all three of us will be on the New Horizon,” Angela said confidently with a hint of excitement in her eyes. “I can’t imagine being on the ship without the two of you. I just hope all of us end up ranked higher than Matt.”
“We’ll see,” replied Jeremy, hoping Angela was right. It would be deeply satisfying if all three of them finished ahead of Matt in the rankings, but Matt had in the past proven to be highly intelligent. It might prove difficult to knock him out of that top position.
“Let’s keep our fingers crossed,” Kelsey said, taking a deep breath. “We should know the results the day after tomorrow at our graduation ceremony.”
“Let’s go get something to eat,” suggested Jeremy, feeling hungry. With the tests over it would be nice to unwind some, and the two girls were great company.
-
Later that evening, there was a knock on Jeremy’s dorm room door. Getting up, Jeremy opened the door to find his mother standing there. “Mom,” spoke Jeremy, gesturing for her to come in. His mother didn’t come to the academy very often. She spent most of her time on the Avenger working with the ship’s computer systems.
Lisa Strong walked into her son’s dorm room. Glancing around, she saw with satisfaction that the room was immaculate. Jeremy had always kept his room clean even as a child. “How are things going with you and Kelsey?”
Jeremy felt his face flush. Leave it to his mother to ask a question like that. “We’re just good friends for now. We didn’t want anything to interfere with our studies and finals.”
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars) Page 5