The display on the main bridge flared, as it showed the aliens particle beams cutting through Jefferson’s weakened screen.
The bridge heaved and twisted as the ship’s defense screen collapsed. Then walls melted, as a boiling vortex of energy ripped the Jefferson apart.
Then came complete silence, and total darkness.
A short time later, a light could be seen, emanating from an opening to one side of the bridge.
A tall man in military uniform stepped into the opening as light now flooded the whole of the bridge area.
“Commodore Winton. The simulation was successful,” he said. “You may leave now. But you all need to be in the operations room by ten o’clock tomorrow morning, to be given your new assignments.”
“I don’t know how he can call that simulation a success,” Captain Garret muttered as he approached the Military man. Noticing as he got closer, that his rank emblem was that of a Fleet Admiral.
“Well, perhaps not, Captain. Let's hope we’ve learned enough to do better in a real time situation than we did in this simulator exercise,” the Fleet Admiral replied as Captain Garret walked past. Then the Admiral spoke to Commodore Winton, again.
“Christopher, wait a moment,”
“I know. I cocked it up,” Winton said, stating the obvious.
“Yes, there were options earlier that would have changed the outcome. However, things have moved on, now.”
“So, can I assume that you have news, Clint?”
“Yes. The ratification of the proposed changes will take place tomorrow. The Earth Federation has already approved them.”
“About time… And what about the ships?” Winton asked.
“In hand, and your promotion to Admiral has been confirmed,” he added, sounding pleased.
“Excellent, Clint. So, are we’re ready to move?”
“Absolutely,” the Fleet Admiral confirmed then both shook hands.
“By the way, Christopher, don’t be late there’ll be a few angry faces tomorrow,” Clint remarked, looking back over his shoulder as he walked away.
“No way,” Commodore Christopher Winton replied, and walked briskly on, with a smile on his face. Relishing the thought of what tomorrow would bring.
Science officer, Lieutenant Farrow, stayed a moment longer, fascinated by the actions of the simulator as it reconfigured itself in readiness for the next battle simulation.
There had already been more than twenty different scenarios played out. With all of them so realistic, that you easily forgot that they weren’t real.
Chapter 2
Time to leave
Earth. Stardate: 2311.
It had been eight years since the human’s battles with an alien species called the Crillons, had taken place.
The humans had lived dangerously then, but with the help of the Solverons, everything had changed for the better. And, with the three species appearing to have finally settled their differences, a Tri-Planet Peace Accord had since been put in place.
In fact, it was an everyday occurrence now for the inhabitants to see StarShips and trading vessels of all shapes and sizes coming and going between their three planets. It was a really special time.
A sense of trust had finally been established between Earth, Crilla and Solvera. But this belief sometimes appeared to have cracks in it. As both the Humans and Solverons still found it impossible to entirely trust the Crillons, after the deceit and treachery that had been found to be rife within their Military, during the battles six years ago.
As a result, Solvera had continued to refuse permission for any Crillon Ambassadors to make official visits to the Solveron’s homeworld. Solvera’s government had also insisted that Captain Frank Richardson was the only one acceptable to them as an Ambassador.
In the meantime, there had been significant improvements in Earth’s StarShips space fleet. With the Illustrious and Derringer, together with their science ship, the Argonaut, having undertaken a complete overhaul.
The new Star Cruiser Neutron had also come online in the last few months. This was an experimental vessel, and its job was to monitor and test the new innovations in warp mechanics, and stealth and force field technology that were employed on the ship.
While, within the next few months, two more large StarShips were also expected to come online.
Meanwhile, the Andromeda, Earth’s first StarShip, had been in almost constant operation for most of the last six years. Nevertheless, having already been upgraded as much as was possible for her age, she had recently been re-designated for use as an Ambassadorial ship.
Now, the Andromeda was being readied to leave Earth again, heading for Crilla first. Then onto Solvera, the Solveron’s homeworld. With the intention of Frank, as Earth’s Ambassador, introducing a carefully selected contingent of Earth’s hierarchy to the Crillon’s and Solveron’s for the first time.
Frank Richardson couldn’t wait for tomorrow when he would once again be officially boarding the Andromeda. He had been on an extended break, following more than five years of travelling back and forth between Earth, Dpav4, and both the Crillon and Solveron’s homeworlds.
Susanna, his wife, was still in the ship’s Data Encryption department. However, this time, she was also accompanying him in an Ambassadorial support role. While they were away, their son Alex would be living in London with Susanna’s Uncle Jack and Aunt Georgina, who were both devoted to the boy.
Frank had heard through the grapevine, that the Earth Federation had been forced to commit to a Space Navy. However, he knew that, apart from a single space station, they didn’t as yet have any Starships, and that did concern him.
However, he was sure that it would take time for them to get up and running. Hopefully, by then, he and Susanna would have retired and would be back home with Alex, on Earth.
At the moment, Susanna was at home packing for the two of them. Therefore, having little to do, Frank had taken this opportunity to use the Spaceport’s remote video link to connect directly with the Andromeda without fully logging on. He was then able to take a quick peek at his newly configured control room.
He had to admit that the interactive view was impressive, and he felt as if he was standing in, and looking around, the room itself. Once he’d seen enough, he reconfigured the remote viewer so that everything would be seen as if he was sitting in his control seat. After checking out his console, he swung the viewer to face the main screen’s view of the outside, and synchronized the viewer with the screen, so that he could control what was on view.
Then he sat back quietly admiring the view of Earth that was being displayed. The planet was just one-thousand kilometers below the ship.
A slight glint in the distance caught his eye. He focused the crosshairs on the viewer’s scope and adjusted the magnification. Then recognized the old International Space Station as it smoothly zoomed into view, just six hundred kilometers below Andromeda’s geostationary orbit.
In its time, the space station had been invaluable in advancing Earth’s space research. But with the advent of newer and larger Multinational Space Stations over the years, the first international space station had long ago been turned into a museum. Surprisingly, it still attracted many tourists.
Further away, Frank could just see the two new space stations. The latest Multinational station and a second station that had been built more recently.
This station had been authorized by the Earths World Council, to enable them to have a military presence in space for the first time in a century. But, even now, the military was restricted to playing a defensive role in protecting Earth.
There was also a private Cargo Starship construction dock that had recently been licensed for use by the Space Federation. So far, it had only produced three Cargo ships. But this structure was out of Frank’s current view.
His mind started to wander as he continued looking outside and found himself thinking about the turbulent times they had endured during their interstellar battles. Yes, i
t had certainly been dangerous back then, but it had also been exciting, and they had won through in the end.
Then, when everything started to settle down, the Solveron government had insisted that he was the only human being acceptable to them as an Ambassador.
He had been flattered by this, remembering that it had been Andromeda who had told him that he was a born mediator. She had also reminded him that no other person had the contacts he had. Contacts that had enabled the firm connections that had since been forged between the Humans, Crillons, and Solverons.
Andromeda had been right. He alone had been the bridge, the link between them all. And, now, he was needed to introduce more of the Earth’s hierarchy to the other species. So yes, his superiors would have to listen to him now.
He smiled to himself. Then sat back again, just enjoying the view.
Chapter 3
Distant Menace
Stardate, unknown.
Location, fourteen hundred light years from Delta Pavonis.
Viceroy Verice, Captain of the Star-Destroyer Z183, was on his ship’s bridge studying his tactical display.
“Cratic. Have you ascertained the location of the survival pod’s beacon, yet?” He asked, knowing it was sometimes useful to talk aloud instead of communicating mentally.
“We will have the answer in a moment, Excellency,” his navigation officer nervously replied.
Viceroy Verice looked at him for a moment, his face expressionless.
“Very well, I’m going to my pod,” he announced.
“Yes my lord,” Cratic acknowledged.
The Viceroy then pictured his pod in his mind and was instantly teleported to it.
Even though Verice’s Pod was sparsely fitted out, it was nevertheless quite big, and luxurious by Garoden standards.
Both his Comms and Remote-Command Centre were to the right side of the room and merged with the wall when they weren’t in use. While his ‘sleeping bed’ floated about thirty centimeters off the floor, and was situated towards the center-rear wall It was a rectangular sponge-like object that automatically adjusted its contours as needed to deliver maximum comfort to the user. There was also a built-in sanitation cubicle to the left of the room that automatically provided for all his body’s functional needs.
The Captain’s pod also differed from the crew’s pods. In that his pod was detachable, enabling it to be ejected from the ship in the event of a catastrophic failure. The captain’s pods had also been improved over many cycles or years. And, it provided a time-limited stasis function that ensured the survival of its occupant for up to three cycles. During which time, rescue would normally be achievable.
Verice pushed a small platform away from the middle of the room. The platform had no visible signs of support and floated off to one side where it would remain until needed.
He concentrated his mind while looking at the blank wall in the front section of the pod.
Relax, he thought, and the wall came alive with gently swirling colored patterns. While, a soft melody played in the background.
Reflect, he thought, and the area directly in front of him changed to show a shiny surface in which he could now see himself.
Over eons of evolution, the Garoden species had virtually lost their tails, with only a tiny stump remaining. Verice had seen his ancestors fossilized skulls many times before, and was pleased that his era had lost their prominent jaw. So now they looked less like animals, and more like well-muscled, and efficient biped Killing-machines.
Nevertheless, he had been on this vessel almost a hundred cycles, and, as he looked at himself in this mirror, he was reminded of the fact that the Organic parts of him had aged considerably.
I’ve been here far too long, he thought to himself.
Viceroy Verice was part bio, part machine, as were most of the upper hierarchy of the Garoden species. He was nearly seven-foot tall and had almost smooth grey-pink skin that seemed almost metallic, and, as Garoden’s went was quite handsome.
Of course, his skin wasn’t metallic. The only major non-Bio parts of him were his heart and respiratory system, which were electro-mechanical. However, his manipulative appendages, of which there were two, were not dissimilar in shape to a human’s hands and arms, even though their make-up was evenly split between bio and electro-mechanical.
There were also several smaller bio-mechanical parts in his body. Like his specialized eye implant, that enabled him to see in the dark or simply zoom in on an object by thought alone.
While his Companion brain bio-implant was indispensable, in that it converted a Garoden’s brain signals into actions and commands.
In fact, this was what had made the Garoden race so devastating in action. And, had enabled them to take, then keep control of vast swathes of space.
The only drawback with his Companion brain, as far as Verice could see, was the fact that he had to be either on his ship or on his own world, for it to function.
Then Verice received a mental request, which brought him back to the here and now.
Yes, Cratic, he sent back.
We have the Beacon’s coordinates, your Excellency.
Put them on my remote, he ordered.
Then, having sensed hesitation in Cratic’s actions asked. What is your problem?
It is complicated, Excellency, Cratic replied, but mentally hesitant to elaborate.
Bridge. Viceroy Verice mentally commanded and was instantly standing next to his navigation officer.
“So what is it, Cratic?” He asked out loud.
“The beacon’s too far away for us to reach, Excellency.”
“Too far?”
“Look,” Cratic said, pointing at the screen. “Here we are, and over there is the beacon’s origin.”
Viceroy Verice studied the display with the distance and star distribution plain to see.
“That can’t be possible,” he said at last.
“No, Excellency. I assure you, it is correct.”
“But it’s about one thousand four hundred light-years away. How can that be, with no natural wormhole to travel through? Explain.”
“There must have been a wormhole, initially,” Cratic replied then paused, thinking. “Have we lost a ship recently? Anywhere?”
Viceroy Verice sent a mental request to the comms officer, who in turn sent it on to Garoden Command on their nearby homeworld.
Sent, your Excellency, came the confirmation.
Verice then turned to face Griken, who was working at the other end of the bridge.
“Griken, explain to me how the beacon’s signal has reached us. No answers that I don’t understand,” he snapped at the science officer.
“I’m not sure, your Excellency,” Griken replied.
“What if one of our ships was drawn into a temporary space-time fold?” Cratic suggested.
Griken thought about what Cratic had just said and smiled to himself.
“Yes. Cratic’s right, Excellency. If a fold or wormhole collapsed while a ship was within it… Then, yes. The pod could have survived if its matrix was running at the time of the fold’s collapse.”
“That doesn't explain how we’ve received the pod’s signal and data burst.”
“That’s true, Excellency. Fourteen hundred light-years are beyond even our capabilities,” Cratic hurriedly agreed.
Then, his science officer, Griken interrupted. “Your, Excellency. The Star-Destroyer Z102 disappeared seven cycles ago. Since then, Garoden Command hasn't received anything from the ship. No signals, or other communications.”
Verice thought about this for a moment, before saying anything more.
“So, Griken. Suppose your theory is correct, and there was a temporary space-time fold. And, the Z102 was drawn into it. It still doesn’t explain how the survival pod managed to transmit. But the ship didn’t.”
His science officer re-checked the data that Garoden Command had sent them.
“This could be the answer, Excellency…. Ah, yes, there it is,” h
e added. Pointing at the display.
“Come, come. Get on with it.”
“Yes, Excellency… Well, there does seem to have been a fold in the space-time… And, it would appear to match the timing of the pod’s data bursts,” he told Verice. Then paused while his screen refreshed with new data.
“Yes, it has to be this, Excellency,” Griken said, as his display swung around on its own to enable the Viceroy to look at it.
Verice quietly studied Griken’s screen for a moment. He wanted to work out what all the symbols meant without Griken realizing his lack of symbol maths.
He understood that the pod’s data had leapt across the rift in seconds and that the Rift, or fold, had long since gone.
“So, you think that the Z102 was somehow pulled into an unstable Rift. And the Captain, knowing his ship wouldn’t survive, launched his survival pod?”
“Yes, Excellency. Then, the fold must have suffered a natural Temporal displacement or shift.”
“And you think the survival pod’s exit from the rift was much earlier than its data transmission?”
“Yes, Excellency. Seven cycles ago the Z102 was in the rift, here. See,” he replied pointing to a yellow dot on the display that had several symbols around it.
“And here. You can see where the rift whipped around. Then here, at this point, see that overlap on the time curve?”
Verice looked at the screen again, all the while thinking.
“Yes, I see what the symbols are telling me Griken… And that this symbol here represents the space-time coordinates of the transmission’s origin. Yes?”
“Yes. Splendid. Excellency.”
The Garoden War. (SpaceFed StarShips Series) Book 6. An action-packed follow-on story that sees the Earth's Space Navy in action.: ‘Into the Fire.’ Page 2