“Really?” said Angela, grinning. “That’s great!”
“Sure is,” added Jeremy with a nod. “Now let’s finish our meal and go turn in.”
-
Jeremy and Kevin were sitting in their quarters watching the vid screen. It was currently showing the same view as seen on the main viewscreen in the Command Center. They could also hear Commander Tellson’s voice as he gave orders to initiate the first jump. It had been a tense morning as the New Horizon had moved away from the spacedock and then accelerated out of the Moon and Earth’s gravity well so they could attempt the first of fourteen planned micro-jumps. The first jump would be to just outside the gravity well of Mars. Then the New Horizon would fly into the planet’s gravity well and orbit the planet. The Columbia was currently in orbit around Mars and would be ready to assist if there were any problems.
“I wish we were in the Command Center,” Kevin mumbled with disappointment in his voice as he watched the screen.
“We will get our chance,” Jeremy responded. But he also agreed with Kevin. This experience would be so much more exciting if they were right where the action was occurring.
“Let’s listen to Commander Tellson,” spoke Jeremy, gazing intently at the vid screen. He reached over, picking up a control, and turned up the sound.
In the Command Center, Commander Tellson knew it was time. “Standby for first micro-jump. Major Maher, enter the first set of coordinates.”
Maher nodded at the navigation officer who quickly complied. “Jump coordinates entered,” Maher reported.
“Activate FTL drive,” ordered Commander Tellson, gripping the command console tightly, not sure what to expect.
In front of the New Horizon, a blue-white vortex formed. It seemed to beckon to the waiting ship, knowing that this was its first time.
“Take us in,” Tellson said tightly.
“Helm, enter the vortex using our maneuvering thrusters. Set forward thrust at twenty percent.”
The New Horizon moved slowly toward the vortex that seemed to have acquired a life of its own. The ship neared the vortex and then entered it. Moments later, the vortex vanished, leaving no trace of the New Horizon.
Commander Tellson felt a slight feeling of nausea and vertigo, and then everything steadied. Looking at the main viewscreen, he saw a multitude of swirling colors dominated by deep purple. Then the nausea feeling came back and the ship came out of hyperspace, exiting the vortex. Moments later, the New Horizon was alone in space, and the vortex was gone.
“Status,” Tellson barked. If they were where they were supposed to be, the New Horizon was now twenty-five point seven million kilometers from Mars.
Major Maher conferred with the navigation officer as the ship’s sensors began scanning the surrounding space.
“I have Mars on the sensors,” the navigation officer reported jubilantly. The view on the main viewscreen changed to show the red disk of Mars. The image was greatly magnified, but there was no doubt that it was indeed the red planet.
“Twenty-six million kilometers,” confirmed Major Maher, smiling. “Engineering reports the drive core is cooling down and should be ready for its next jump in six hours.”
“Just as we hoped,” Commander Tellson said with satisfaction in his voice. “Take us in to Mars, we will do a couple of orbits and say hello to the Columbia.”
“Helm, set speed at twenty percent sublight,” Major Maher ordered then, turning to the commander “We will achieve Mars orbit in two hours and twenty minutes.”
“Excellent,” Tellson responded with a nod. “We will make two orbits and then accelerate back out. We should be well clear of the red planet’s gravity field by the time we’re ready to jump again.”
Jeremy and Kevin had watched the whole thing spellbound. Both had felt a strange sensation when the New Horizon had entered the vortex and jumped into hyperspace.
“That was fantastic,” spoke Kevin excitedly, his face still flush from the adrenaline that was rushing through his body.
“Not as bad as I was expecting,” Jeremy said, looking at the vid screen, which was still showing Mars. “If things go as planned, we will do at least one jump later during our duty shift.”
“We’re supposed to jump out just beyond the asteroid field,” responded Kevin, recalling the briefing that Lieutenant Nelson had given them on their last shift. “Do you think Commander Tellson will be in the Command Center when we jump?”
“I imagine so,” replied Jeremy, looking over at Kevin. He knew that if it were his ship, he would be in the Command Center for every one of these jumps.
-
Back in the Command Center of the Avenger, Jason let out a deep sigh of relief as he saw the New Horizon appear on the long-range sensors. He had known that the jump drive on the New Horizon would function properly. However, because Jeremy was on the ship it had made him feel apprehensive. After all, the New Horizon was a new ship and things could go wrong.
“Long-range sensors have picked up the New Horizon almost exactly where the jump was planned,” Ariel reported. She had been using her sensors to watch the New Horizon very closely, particularly since Jeremy was on board. “They are off by less than two percent from their planned exit point.”
“That’s a pretty significant margin,” Jason commented with concern in his voice. His eyes narrowed as he spoke to Ariel. “If that were an interstellar jump they would be off by tens of millions of kilometers or more.”
“It’s nothing to be concerned about,” Ariel responded, her dark eyes seeming to sparkle. “They’re not calculating their jump calculations with enough decimal points. If they were to add four more, the jump would have been dead on. They will do that on their interstellar jumps. As a matter of fact, they are supposed to do that on the next micro-jump they have scheduled.”
Jason looked at Ariel and smiled. They had been friends for years. He knew that she had always wanted to talk to Jeremy, but due to security reasons Jason had not allowed it. Sometimes he wondered if he had made a mistake in not introducing Jeremy to Ariel.
-
Katie had watched the New Horizon’s FTL jump with interest. Ariel had transmitted everything to the vid screen in her dorm room, giving Katie a running commentary on what was happening. Katie knew that Jeremy had to be thrilled to be on the New Horizon and taking part in the interstellar mission. The prospect of exploring new worlds was an exciting attraction even to Katie as she thought about what they might discover. She wished she were going on the New Horizon mission. Thinking about the impending mission, a sudden thought occurred to her. Katie’s eyes grew wide as she thought about the possibilities and the ramifications.
What if there was a way for her to go on the New Horizon mission. Forget it, she thought to herself. If she tried what she was thinking, she would get into tons of trouble. But again, she was the daughter of one of the discoverers of the Avenger. She was also under the watch and care of the admiral. What could they do to her? Katie sat down on her bed and pulled out her handheld computer. For the next hour, she hatched out a plan. It would be daring and require her to write an entire series of new computer programs, but she felt sure it could be done. She would also have to keep this hidden from Ariel.
-
Jeremy was in the Command Center standing next to Commander Tellson. Lieutenant Nelson was manning the navigation console along with Kelsey.
“Well, Cadet Lieutenant Strong, what did you think of our jump earlier today?” asked Commander Tellson curious to hear the young lieutenant’s response.
“It was fantastic, sir,” replied Jeremy, allowing some excitement to creep into his voice. “It wasn’t quite what I had been expecting.”
“No, it wasn’t,” responded Commander Tellson, allowing a slight smile to cover his face. “From what I understand, we had several crewmembers get sick from the jump.”
Jeremy saw Kelsey’s face turn red. He would have to ask her later what that was about. He wondered if she was one of those that Commande
r Tellson was talking about.
“Are the next set of jump coordinates set?” asked Tellson loud enough for Lieutenant Nelson to hear.
Lieutenant Nelson bent his head closer to Kelsey and whispered a few words to her. She nodded back keeping her eyes glued to the navigation screen.
“Yes, sir,” replied Nelson, glancing quickly back at the commander. “The coordinates are set, and we have extrapolated them out six more decimal places. That should put us dead on the exit coordinates we have plotted.”
“We shall see,” replied Commander Tellson, sitting down in the command chair behind the center console. “If you can put us within two hundred kilometers of our planned exit point, I will buy you a steak when we get back to the Moon.”
“Sounds good to me,” replied Nelson, grinning. “I can already taste that steak.”
“Stand by to jump,” ordered Tellson, turning his head so he could watch the big viewscreen on the front wall of the Command Center.
“Ready to jump at your command,” Nelson replied with confidence in his voice. He glanced over at Kelsey and noticed the nervous look upon her face. “Everything will be fine,” he whispered.
“But I plotted this jump,” Kelsey whispered back, afraid the commander would overhear her. “What if it’s wrong?”
“Only one way to find out,” Nelson replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Initiate jump!” Tellson called out. “Helm, take us into the vortex.”
Instantly a blue-white vortex formed in front of the New Horizon. For a moment, everyone in the Command Center gazed spellbound at the phenomenon. Then the helm officer accelerated the New Horizon and the vortex seemed to leap at them on the screen. An instant later, everyone felt the queasy sensation they were beginning to associate with hyperspace travel.
Moments later, the New Horizon exited hyperspace and stars once more covered the main viewscreen. Everything looked just as it had before they jumped.
Kelsey let out a deep breath and began running numbers on the navigation computer. Lieutenant Nelson watched her closely, but he had already been extremely impressed by her ability to compute jump coordinates. He could already taste that steak.
“Sensors, where are we?” asked Tellson, looking around the Command Center. Everyone seemed to be doing their jobs as if traveling in hyperspace was an everyday occurrence.
Ensign Roberts and Kevin were both busy trying to determine their current location. The sensors were reaching out and scanning everything within one hundred million kilometers. It took a minute, but soon the computers began to map familiar objects in the asteroid field.
“We’re ten million kilometers from the asteroid Vesta,” Ensign Roberts reported as more information flowed across one of the screens he was watching. “Preliminary position estimates place us within two kilometers of our planned exit point.”
Lieutenant Nelson looked back at the commander and licked his lips. “I prefer my steak cooked medium with a loaded baked potato.”
“And you and Cadet Ensign Grainger will have it,” Tellson spoke back smiling. “And yes, Cadet Ensign Grainger, I am aware that you plotted the jump. Good work.”
Kelsey turned red and nodded. She wondered how the commander could have known that.
“I had his permission,” Nelson confided in her. “I told him you were ready. You’re going to make a fine navigation officer someday.”
-
Ariel flashed her dark eyes at Jason. “I told you this one would be more accurate. They’re almost dead center in their exit coordinates. All they need to do is refine their jump equations slightly, and they will nail the next one.”
“You were right,” admitted Jason, smiling back at the AI. “This is a good learning process for them.”
“It’s a shame we couldn’t give them more help,” Lisa spoke. She was standing next to the command console watching her husband and Ariel.
“We have to develop some of this technology on our own,” Jason commented with a sigh. “We are already introducing so much new tech down on Earth that we’re causing some economic problems. We don’t dare crash the entire planet’s economy. The experts on Ceres, as well as our own people, have decided on the path we need to take. They’re constantly reviewing the situation and being careful not to move forward too quickly.”
“It just seems odd some of the things we are having to do,” replied Lisa, gazing at the sensor screen above the plotting table, which showed the friendly green icon that represented the New Horizon. Jeremy was on that ship. It was the main reason she had come to the Command Center, so she could watch the jump.
Sometimes, like today, she really missed her son. Due to their jobs on the Avenger Project, Jeremy had been shipped back and forth between Earth and the Moon most of his life. Lisa was just thankful that Greg and Elizabeth had been there to help out.
“How many more jumps?” Lisa asked. She knew the new ship’s FTL drive had to be tested.
Lisa knew that the New Horizon was being watched from the Avenger as well as from Ceres. If there were any problems, help would only be a few minutes away. The Federation survivors had a light cruiser standing by if it was needed.
“Twelve more,” replied Jason, looking at his wife. “There is no need to worry. One of the assistant engineers is from Ceres and could repair the FTL drive blindfolded.”
“How many Federation people are on the New Horizon?” Lisa asked curiously.
“Only two,” Jason replied. He had met both of them, and they were each excellent officers. “This exploration mission is for Earth. They’re only along as a safety precaution.”
Ariel listened to the two with interest, but she was also focused on Katie. The young teenager had been busy on her small computer entering information furiously now for hours. Ariel wondered what Katie was up to. Since the small computer was not part of her network and the wireless connection was shut down, she couldn’t see what Katie was doing. She would have to ask her later. It was probably another new program to show to her instructors at the academy.
-
Katie had been busy for several hours now making a list of what she would have to do in order to sneak aboard the New Horizon. It wasn’t going to be as easy as she had thought. One of her biggest obstacles was going to be Ariel. Katie knew that the AI kept a constant watch on her. There was also some vital information she was going to need from the AI in order for her plan to have any real chance of succeeding. Katie laid her handheld computer down on her bed and let out a heavy sigh. She stood up and stretched. The muscles in her neck were feeling tight, and she took a moment to loosen them up.
Walking over to the small refrigerator in her room, she took out a diet soda and, popping the top, sat back down to think everything over. All of her life she had been different. Computers and how they functioned were second nature to her. She didn’t have a lot of friends. Most of the kids her age considered her to be odd and not part of the group. Katie had never fit in. While other kids were playing sports or the girls her age were talking about boys, she was playing with computers instead. The only boy she had ever found herself interested in was Jeremy, and he was too old for her. Not only that, now he seemed to have a girlfriend. Kelsey seemed nice, but Katie couldn’t help but feel jealous.
Looking at her watch, she saw it was nearly time to eat. At least the cafeteria here at the academy had much better food than the school cafeterias back on Earth. Turning off her computer and putting it in a drawer, she walked over to the door. Waving at the vid screen, she stepped outside into the corridor. She knew that Ariel had been watching her the entire time.
-
Ariel saw that Katie was going to eat her evening meal. The young teenager seemed to be doing exceptionally well at the academy. Ariel was pleased that she had made the suggestion for Katie to attend the summer classes.
“Katie is going to eat now,” Ariel reported to Lisa who was still standing next to Jason talking. She knew that Jason and Lisa would assume she had gotten that informa
tion from one of the security cameras.
“I think I will go over to the cafeteria and eat with her, Jason,” spoke Lisa, placing her hand on Jason’s arm. She had been trying to spend as much time as possible with Katie but not so much as to intrude into her space. Elizabeth called every night checking on Katie, wanting to hear everything that her daughter had done for the day.
“I’m going to stay here for another hour or so,” replied Jason, leaning over and kissing Lisa on the lips.
“I’ll bring you a plate,” promised Lisa, smiling.
Her marriage to Jason had worked out exceptionally well. They had worked so closely together in the first few years of the Avenger Project that they had fallen in love and gotten married. She knew that Greg and Elizabeth had been ecstatic when the two of them had finally joined together. Those two were still talking about possibly having another child. With the advanced medical technology from Ceres, it was definitely feasible. Both Jason and she had taken advantage of the treatments, which would extend their life spans by several decades. They both looked as if they were in their early to mid forties.
Jason watched Lisa leave the Command Center. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve such a loving and caring wife. Life now was a lot different than back in his test pilot days or during the time of the New Beginnings mission.
Jason’s gaze returned to the main viewscreen. “Ariel, what do you think of Katie?”
Ariel paused as she gazed back in surprise at Jason. She had not expected this question. “She seems very bright for her age,” responded Ariel, trying to keep all traces of emotion out of her computerized voice. “Katie is doing extremely well in all of her classes and, from what I understand, continues to amaze her instructors with the speed she comprehends computer programming.”
“Yes, she does,” admitted Jason thoughtfully. He had spoken to Greg the day before mentioning that Katie’s instructors were very impressed with her.
“I have looked at some of Katie’s programming, and it is very good; almost as good as Lisa’s,” Ariel ventured. “It is my opinion that it would be wrong to send her back down to Earth to attend their schools. The best instructors are here at the academy as well as on Ceres.”
Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars) Page 11