Cryptikon Far Freedom Part 2
by Warren Merkey
The Navy's mission for the starship Freedom is exploration toward the galactic hub. Admiral Demba's mission objective is a search for someone she has lost, but there is a suspected sinister third mission objective. Escape from the Navy is the first task, followed by a rendezvous that changes the physics of the ship. Demba's objective then leads to tragedy, resurrection, and startling discovery.Fascinated with Admiral Fidelity Demba - his elderly (though rejuvenated) Chief of Navy Archives, Commander of the Navy Admiral Etrhnk is at a loss as to what to do about her. His attempts to thwart her escape from him are bothered by an alien being of whom he has long been aware but has only now chosen to visit him. She is a breathtakingly beautiful golden humanoid who essentially holds ultimate power over the entire Union. Yet she has no orders for him concerning Admiral Demba but merely observes his actions. Etrhnk kidnaps Samson - the boy Demba found on Earth - and causes Demba to leave the Freedom before it departs. The golden alien saves Samson from harm and does not interfere when a member of Demba's crew rescues Demba and Samson.The Freedom is launched from Navy Headquarters and is able to lose the pursuit long enough to undergo a refitting of its drive, vastly changing its capabilities.Demba's personal mission is to find friends she has lost from before there was a Union Navy. Finding them beyond the frontiers of the Union will be not only difficult but dangerous because a different enemy, more deadly than the Navy, flies ships as fast as the Freedom and only exists to raid and pillage everywhere. The cost of finding her friends will be high. And there will be a monumental discovery at the end.