On the large viewscreen, the massive metal doors at the end of the one thousand-meter tunnel slowly began sliding back, revealing space and a few beckoning stars. Amanda watched for a moment, drawing in a sharp breath. It would feel good to be back out in space again. For the last four weeks, she had run her crew through drill after drill until she felt satisfied they were melded together. Now it was time to test that with drills in open space.
“Take us out, Major Fields,” ordered Amanda, glancing at her second in command.
Major Fields was standing next to the holographic plotting table. Reaching forward, he activated the holographic display. The air above the table began to glow, and then an image of the WarStorm and the tunnel appeared.
“Helm, activate maneuvering thrusters and move us out at ten percent thrust,” ordered Major Fields, keeping his eyes focused on the holographic image. “Keep the WarStorm in the center of the tunnel and be prepared for emergency stop if necessary.”
“Yes, sir,” the helm officer replied as he activated his console.
Computers would handle the actual movement of the WarStorm. The helm officer knew that all he had to do was keep a close watch on their trajectory to ensure the computers were actually doing as instructed. His primary job was telling the navigation computers what to do and to initiate minor course corrections as needed.
The maneuvering thrusters fired, and the massive warship began moving slowly down the tunnel. The computers constantly scanned the distance between the ship and the tunnel walls, making instant adjustments to keep the large ship in the center. The helm officer watched his data screens closely as they showed the distance the WarStorm was from the tunnel walls. So far, the navigation system was performing flawlessly.
“How soon until we exit the tunnel?” asked Amanda, trying not to let her impatience show in her voice. She wanted to get back out into space.
“We will exit the tunnel in two minutes,” the helm officer reported as he made some minor adjustments to his controls. One of the maneuvering thrusters seemed to be slightly out of balance. He reported the minor problem to Engineering knowing it should be an easy fix from there.
Amanda leaned back in her chair and smiled. It felt good to be exiting the construction bay. She felt alive and rejuvenated knowing that shortly their mission would begin. Watching the main viewscreen, she could see the tunnel exit gradually growing wider as they got nearer.
“One hundred and twenty meters and we will exit the tunnel,” Major Fields reported as he watched his holographic display intently. He didn’t want the WarStorm to accidentally graze the tunnel walls. He knew that numerous people, including Admiral Anlon, were watching the ship depart.
The ship continued down the tunnel and then exited out into open space. Several fighters appeared and, after making a close pass of the ship, began wagging their wings. The Federation’s newest warship was now officially in service.
“Forty percent thrusters,” ordered Major Fields. “Let’s put some distance between us and Ceres. Lieutenant Trask warn those fighters to keep their distance. I know they’re excited about seeing the WarStorm, but I don’t want to accidentally slam into one of them.”
“Yes, sir,” Angela replied as she switched over to the fighter’s com channel so she could contact them.
The ship seemed to move forward a little faster, even though the highest thruster speed was far less than the minimum speed the sublight drive was capable of. On the main viewscreen, which was now focused on Ceres, the asteroid could be seen gradually receding.
After several minutes, Major Fields was satisfied and turned toward Colonel Sheen. “Ship is ready to initiate sublight drive Colonel.”
“Very well,” Amanda nodded with an expectant smile. “Take us out at ten percent sublight until we clear the asteroid field, then go to forty percent until we clear the field’s gravity well.”
“Yes, Colonel,” Fields responded as he passed on the order.
The WarStorm seemed to leap forward as her sublight drive was activated. A light blue glow came from her engines as she gained speed, and the helm control officer guided the warship out of the asteroid field.
Forty minutes later, Major Fields studied his holographic display, which showed the WarStorm was finally clear of the asteroid field’s gravity well. “We can jump at any time,” he reported, looking toward Colonel Sheen.
“Plot a micro-jump to just outside the orbit of Neptune,” ordered Amanda, noting how smooth everything was functioning. The Command Center reminded her a lot of the StarStrike. Glancing at the crew, they all looked to be professional and adept in their jobs. “I want to plot three long-range jumps to New Tellus.”
Major Fields passed on the order and Lieutenant Ashton began plotting the jumps. The new computer systems made everything easier. They were much more advanced than the ones used on the StarStrike or on the Victory. It didn’t take long for Lieutenant Ashton to have the first jump plotted.
“Jump plotted,” Fields reported as Lieutenant Ashton keyed in the first set of jump coordinates.
“Initiate jump,” Amanda ordered, her eyes focusing on the main viewscreen.
A swirling blue-white vortex suddenly formed in front of the WarStorm. The helm officer quickly guided the ship into its center. Moments later, the WarStorm and the vortex vanished.
Amanda felt a sudden queasiness as the WarStorm jumped into hyperspace. They were on their way to New Tellus. Amanda closed her eyes for a moment. Another few weeks of trials and they would start the long journey back to the former Federation worlds. Letting out a deep breath, she wondered what they would find. She hoped she could take a shuttle down to the surface of Aquaria, and visit Krall Island to see if there was anything left of their old vacation home. She would also like to discover the fate of her parents. The not knowing had bothered her for months after they had left Federation space. This mission might offer her the chance to put that guilt to rest.
-
In the Command Center of the Avenger, Jason watched the long-range sensor screen as the friendly green icon representing the WarStorm vanished. He let out a deep breath as he thought about the consequences of this mission. This was the first step in finding out what the Hocklyns were up to and if their timeline was still workable. It was hard to believe they were planning a future interstellar war that very few people on Earth even knew about.
“They’re gone,” reported Ariel, seeing the WarStorm vanish from her sensors. “They should arrive at New Tellus in ten hours.”
In some ways, Ariel missed not being able to travel in space. She knew the Avenger would never take to space again. However, the Fleet Academy took up a lot of her time now, and she enjoyed watching the Earth humans and being able to interact with some of them. Perhaps sometime in the future she would return to space in a new warship.
“That’s fast,” Jason commented, amazed at the speed the new warship was capable of. It was far faster than anything else they currently had. Jason knew that it had a lot to do with the extended range of its jump drive, as well as reduced cooling time for the jump core.
“They could have cut the time even more by only using two jumps instead of three,” commented Ariel, feeling a little jealous over the WarStorm’s new drive systems. “However, Colonel Sheen wanted to do the extra jump to further test the ship’s systems.”
Jason sat down in the command chair behind the command console. He folded his arms across his chest and gazed speculatively at Ariel. Her avatar was prominently displayed on the main viewscreen as it usually was. She was wearing her dark blue fleet uniform, and her black hair lay upon her shoulders with a slight hint of a curl.
“Ariel, what is Katie currently doing?” asked Jason, curiously.
He had been so busy with everything recently that he hadn’t taken the time to check on how Katie was. He felt guilty in some ways since he knew that Greg was counting on him and Lisa to keep a careful watch over their teenage daughter. Jason knew he had left too much of the burden of
watching the young teenager to his wife. Lisa was a fabulous wife and had done a tremendous job raising Jeremy, but now they had another teenager to take care of.
Jason had asked Ariel to help keep track of the young teenager to ensure that she stayed out of trouble. He knew that Lisa had quickly found out that Katie was a handful. She had so much energy and always seemed to be full of hundreds of questions. She was also tearing through the academy’s computer courses as if they were elementary science. Her instructors had been highly impressed and had placed her in even higher-level classes.
Ariel always kept track of Katie. She was amazed at how rapidly Katie was absorbing the information being taught in the academy’s computer classes. Ariel didn’t want to admit that she watched the young teenager almost constantly through the vid system that she was tapped into. Jason had no idea that she could do that. As far as Jason knew, the only cameras Ariel had access to were the security ones scattered throughout the Avenger and the academy complex.
“Katie is currently in Professor Style’s class,” reported Ariel, putting Katie’s class schedule up on one of the smaller viewscreens. “He teaches advanced computer programming.”
“Yes, I know Professor Style,” Jason replied with a nod. “He is an excellent instructor.” Jason didn’t go on to add that Professor Style was also from Ceres and knew more about computer programming than almost anyone in the solar system.
Jason knew that Katie had really been studying hard trying to take advantage of her short time at the academy. She only had another four weeks left before she would have to return home. Jason supposed it would be a good idea to invite her over to the Avenger for a meal with just Lisa and him. He would like to discuss an idea he was toying with and see what Katie and Lisa thought about it.
-
Aboard the New Horizon, Jeremy was sitting in the commander’s chair behind the command console. Reaching forward, he adjusted several of the small viewscreens to show additional information on the ship’s current status. For the last two weeks, Lieutenant Nelson had been allowing Jeremy to command the night shift operation under his watchful guidance.
Lieutenant Nelson was currently sitting at the navigation console plotting potential jump points. Tomorrow, the New Horizon would leave the spacedock and begin a series of fourteen planned mini-jumps within the solar system. Once they were satisfied the jump drive was working properly, they would start on their mission and jump to Proxima Centauri. From there it would be on to Tau Ceti.
Jeremy looked around the Command Center. Over the long weeks of intense drills, he had become extremely familiar with all of the duty stations. Angela was currently at Communications talking to someone on the spacedock. Kelsey was at Navigation talking to Lieutenant Nelson and watching him plot jump coordinates. Every once in a while, she would stop him and ask a question or point to a mathematical formula on one of the computer screens. Kevin was at the scanner and sensor controls tracking an incoming shuttle that was bringing up more food supplies.
The hatch to the Command Center suddenly opened and Commander Tellson stepped in. Jeremy instantly stood up and snapped to attention. “Commander on deck!” he called out.
“At ease,” spoke Tellson, gesturing for everyone to continue as they were. He walked over to Jeremy and stood looking at him. “You seem to be doing extremely well, Cadet Lieutenant Strong. Are you ready for our jump trials?”
“Yes, sir,” Jeremy replied evenly. “The ship will perform well, sir.”
“I believe you’re right,” replied Tellson, allowing a slight smile to cross his face. “If everything goes according to plan, we will be leaving for Proxima Centauri in two more weeks. How do you feel about leaving our solar system?”
“It’s the right choice, sir,” Jeremy replied with a slight nod of his head. “Our future is out there in the stars. New worlds for us to colonize and who knows; perhaps even other civilizations for us to contact.”
“Do you believe in aliens?” Tellson asked curiously, his eyes focusing on Jeremy.
“It’s a big galaxy, sir,” Jeremy replied carefully, not certain where the commander was going with this question. “There has to be other life out there somewhere.”
“Good answer,” responded Tellson, nodding his head satisfied. “It shows you realize we’re going out into the unknown. Do you agree that this ship should be going off exploring and not armed with any weapons?”
“I don’t know, sir,” Jeremy replied honestly. “You would like to think that if a race is advanced enough to have space travel they should be peaceful. But look at our own world. There is still a lot of violence on the planet every day. Not everyone out in the galaxy may be friendly.”
“Yes, there is a lot of violence on our world,” replied Tellson, fully in agreement. “But by the New Horizon not being armed, we avoid the risk of there being an incident if we were to encounter an alien race. It was a tough decision, but I believe it is the right one. If there were aliens close by, they would have contacted us by now. I doubt if we will find anything dangerous in any of the nearby star systems.”
Commander Tellson stepped away from Jeremy and walked over to Lieutenant Nelson. The two talked for several minutes before the commander left the Command Center.
Later, Jeremy and the other cadets were in the mess hall eating a quick meal. They were all excited about the upcoming jump trials.
“Just think,” Kevin said excitedly. “We could be on our way to Tau Ceti in two more weeks!”
“Do you think we might find aliens at Tau Ceti?” Angela asked her eyes wide. “It’s possible isn’t it?”
“I doubt it,” replied Jeremy, smiling at Angela who was seated across the table. “It’s more than likely we won’t find any habitable planets in the system. It might take a long search before we find another world like Earth. We don’t know how common Earth-like planets are. That’s why we need to go out there and explore.”
“They may be more common than you think,” Kelsey spoke as she buttered a warm roll. “Earth-like planets may be very common. Almost every star has a habitable zone where liquid water can exist.”
“But in some of the multiple star systems that zone may change due to the orbits of the companion stars,” spoke Jeremy, shaking his head in doubt. “I just don’t think Earth-like planets are that common.”
“Depends on the distance between the stars and how they might affect the liquid water zone,” Angela spoke thoughtfully as she used her knife to cut her chicken sandwich in half. “I guess we will find out shortly.”
“Eating again, daddy’s boy?” spoke Matt Barr, walking up to the table with a smirk on his face. This time he was with two other members of his former squad that had qualified to come on the New Horizon mission. “I heard the commander made a visit to your shift. Probably had to go and straighten up some of your screw ups.”
“More than likely you’re the one screwing up,” retorted Kevin, glaring at Matt. Kevin had decided that Matt was someone he didn’t really care for. He didn’t understand what the problem was that Matt had with Jeremy, but he knew it had started at the academy and now had carried over to the ship. “Why don’t you go mind your own business instead of bothering us?”
“Think you’re big enough to make me, freckles?” taunted Matt, stepping closer.
Kevin stood up his right hand making a fist. He was tempted to see if he could knock that smirk off Matt’s face.
Jeremy quickly stood up, placing himself between the two. “Cut it out Matt,” Jeremy warned in a determined voice giving Matt a cold and disapproving look. “We’re not going to have a fight in here.”
“Is there a problem cadets?” a powerful voice cut through the room.
Jeremy looked toward the door and saw Lieutenant Nelson standing there. The lieutenant quickly walked over to the table, frowning at the group. “Care to explain to me what’s going on?”
“Nothing, sir,” Jeremy responded quickly. “Just a minor disagreement. It’s been settled.”
&nb
sp; “Is that correct?” asked Nelson, looking directly at Matt.
“Yeah, it’s settled,” replied Matt evenly. “We were just leaving.”
“Then I suggest you do so before you find yourself on report,” Nelson warned.
Matt nodded and turned to leave, followed closely by his two supporters. A few moments later, they were gone.
Lieutenant Nelson watched the three leave and then turned toward Jeremy. “A word,” Nelson said, indicating for Jeremy to follow him. They stepped over to one side of the room where they could not be overheard.
“Watch out for Cadet Lieutenant Barr,” Nelson warned in a steady voice. “He doesn’t like you.”
“I’m well aware of that, sir,” responded Jeremy, wondering how Lieutenant Nelson had found out. “There won’t be another problem.”
Nelson was quiet for a moment. He had been warned by Instructor Branson about the problem between Matt and Jeremy. Branson and Nelson had been friends for quite some time.
“We leave for our FTL trials in less than twenty-four hours,” Nelson continued in a serious tone. “Don’t do anything to get kicked off the ship because of Barr. I will be watching both of you.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Jeremy, wishing this conversation wasn’t occurring.
When Jeremy returned to his table to finish his meal, the others didn’t say anything. They figured if Jeremy wanted them to know what Lieutenant Nelson had said, he would tell them.
“We leave spacedock tomorrow,” Jeremy said, looking around the table at his friends. “I think we should all get a good night’s sleep. We’re going to need it.”
“I agree,” Kelsey said completely in agreement. For a moment, she had been afraid there was going to be a fight. She was relieved that Lieutenant Nelson had showed up in time. This interstellar trip was important to her, and she wanted Jeremy to be a part of it.
“A good night’s sleep,” Angela said doubtfully, rolling her eyes. “I’m so excited I don’t think I will be able to sleep!”
“Lieutenant Nelson said he might let me plot one of the jumps,” Kelsey commented casually as if it wasn’t big news.
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars) Page 10