《Novu Sol (#1 in the Novuverse)》


 Prologue

    "So its lost then?"


    The speaker looked at the young man standing before his desk in a uniform that was still too new to be familiar, even to the man who designed it.


    "We jumped into Sol like you said. All those ships, the ones that were controlled by Virtual Intelligence, have overrun everything. We sent queries to everything and everyone we could. All we got back were hostile virus intrusion attempts we barely managed to contain." The young officer, damned he looked so young, (weren''t they all though at this point?) shook his head. "Best we can tell, what we saw on our way out with the colony ship was a mass AI uprising. Low level AI at the moment yes, but AI, not VI."


    The president sat back with a pained expression. All those lives, billions of them, dead. All that was left were the fledgling colonies. None as populous as Sol and Earth had been.


    "You, Commander, are going to be busy over the next few months." He said. "None of those ships had hyper technology correct?"


    "The station that sold and outfitted them was gone, we tried to find backup servers but there were none. They were a cocky bunch, remember how hard a time you had buying the drives for our ships?" He asked.


    "Well just in case, we have to convince the other colonies to not go to Sol, no one has the firepower for this and we cannot risk letting a hyperdrive fall into the hands of the AI. They will wipe all of us out with no mercy and no restraint." The president frowned and scribbled a note onto a piece of paper.


    "What else Sir?" The Commander asked, pausing then adding. "Is there something else?"


    "It will be a hell of a time and resource sink, but we need those worlds to evacuate further from Earth. If, perhaps, the AI somehow manage to get out and visit the colonies they may believe we died off and not go looking further. The colonies can do it, but it will not be easy."


    The Commander straightened and saluted. "I should get going Sir. Time is not on our side and I am only one ship. I have at least five colonies to visit that are a bit too close to Sol for comfort."


    The president nodded. "Go. Take all the fuel, food and things you need with you. I suspect, if we are lucky, at least one other colony will send a ship to Sol for some reason that will see the destruction, escape and lend us support."


    The Commander nodded and walked quickly out of the office.


    __________________________________________


    The murmur in the large room was a buzz of distressed voices, some people dressed in the professional attire that signified ambassadors, others more casual, no one was happy.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    50 people, from 50 different colonies, all of them in the process of moving outwards to different worlds that had once been meant for other colonies.


    Colonies that would no longer need their worlds as their future colonists were all dead.


    The president tapped the microphone and cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming everyone, I know it was not easy assembling you when your resources are tied in evacuation, but now that every representative is here I have a proposition."


    He tapped a button and projected on the wall behind him was a star map, showing a region of space that use to be near Sol.


    "We believe it is in our best interest to turn this area into a quarantine zone, where no ship, colony or station is allowed to live. It''s months travels deep at this point, it would take seven months for here to Earth straight out and you''d still need to stop for fuel on the return journey. This will keep the threat far away from our people and worlds, and stop anyone accidentally stumbling into the star system." He tapped to add something else, a red bar outside the circle of quarantine. "This here is what we are tentatively thinking of calling a buffer zone, while it''s outside quarantine, and only a few habitable worlds are in it, not colonizing this area and keeping it off limits will extend the range to travel just enough from our worlds to Sol, to stop anyone without the right resources from traveling there."


    "Wait who would want to go back?" Someone asked, they sounded terrified.


    "I do." The president said grimly. "I want to go back and make those digital bastards pay for what they did, we have neither the warships, time, people or resources to strike back at the moment but one day we will." He straightened, looking grimly determined. "We will make them pay for killing Earth, Mars, Venus. All those people and settlements. We WILL take Sol back."


    All the ambassadors and representatives murmured and shuffled around a bit, but all seem to agree, nodding and offering words agreement.


    "But, I cannot do it alone. No one planet can." The president paused. "This is why I propose we form a new nation." He saw some of the people begin to anger. They had not fled Sol for another master. "A nation that is free and just, not like the anarchy you saw in Sol, not formed to oppress but to allow all free trade between worlds, free exchange of information and mutual support to each other in times of need."


    "And what are we going to call it?" Someone called. "We all had our own names and cultures, why should we submit under a single name and rule?"


    The president nodded. "I asked around for ideas while we gathered people, some names were unsuitable or jokes, but one... one stood for something I believe we can all agree to." He paused to allow people to get interested, and draw their gazes solely back to him. "Novu Sol."


    "As in "New Sol?" Someone questioned.


    "Novu Sol, the new Sol, the place were we will begin again, to unite us all and make new history, new hope, a new future for our children and grandchildren." He said, filled with emotion, "It will represent that not only are we not going to forget Earth and the loss we have all suffered, but that we will make something new that no one can extinguish."


    The silence for a moment was absolute then someone stood and clapped, then another, then more until everyone in the room was clapping, a few of the bolder ones cheering "NOVU SOL, NOVU SOL!"


    The president grinned fiercely. "We will take back the Sol System! We will defeat the AI menace and we WILL thrive no matter who, or what, tries to stop us!"


    "WE ARE NOVU SOL!"

 Chapter 1

    Novu Sol Star System


    Novu Sol


    Genesis City


    Genesis City was large.


    That was probably a bit of an understatement. The man looking out the window at the city sprawling below him, high enough clouds would regularly pass below his window, and frowned. The view was pleasant, seeing the lights of aircars flowing through the traffic grid, the sun glinting off some buildings, while greenery draped over others like a veil, shuttles could be seen as distant dots rising into the sky like man-made birds. The city stretched well into the distance on all sides, only the ocean off the the right a barrier to the city in that one direction.


    "Does the high office not suit you Mr. President?" The voice was that of a woman, humor coloring the words.


    President Trevor Desar turned around and gave a small smile.


    "Admiral Vales, its nice to see you again."


    Admiral Julia Vales, military head of the Novu Sol Navy gave a smile back to him. They had been friends for a long time, but with him in politics and her in the military, they often just fell back on whatever their current title and rank were, even in private. He motioned to the seat across the desk and as she sat down, he took his own seat, waved away a myriad of holograms that waited for his attention. "What brings you here today Julia?"


    "This is more an Admiral Vales thing than a Julia thing Mr. President." She looked a little apologetic, taking off her black-visored cap. "Have you received the latest naval intelligence reports?"


    Desar frowned, deeper this time. "That depends," He brought up the mess of holograms again and began to flick away them one by one, dismissing them again, but scanned them quickly. "Is it going to be here or in my queue?"


    Vales shook her head. "An hour ago we got some new reports in."


    "An hour? Julia I know I like to think my informants are good, but they are not magic!" He said, obviously exasperated. "Surely whatever it was could wait until the intelligence people get it written in a nice formal report and drop it on a secure pad to be delivered up here by a runner."


    Vales looked straight at him, all signs of former levity gone. "It was about her." Her tone was cool and calm, the fire in her eyes was not.


    Desar felt like his stomach just knotted. He took a moment to calm himself. If it was truly something big, then the press probably would have beat down his door before the intelligence report was finished. "What is it?" He asked instead. "Bad? Good?"


    "Both." Vales moved her hands in front of her, a hologram popping up in front of her, she put in a few commands and then pushed the hologram over the desk to him. As he studied it she spoke. "It was on the edge of the Confederacy, a convoy of merchants and their escort were headed home, stopping to pick up one last add-on to the convoy."Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and four destroyers?" Desar questioned. "What was that much metal doing out there anyways for one convoy?"


    "They were scheduled to come back in smaller groups, but a couple of the ships ran into problems that delayed them, which caused a cascade for the rest of the merchants, so they all just rolled into one under command of Captain Lamoe." Vales explained. "I don''t blame them, it was a fairly juicy target and the big escort probably warded off some smaller pirates that would of gone at destroyers but,"


    "But it wasn''t enough to scare off her." Desar sighed, rubbing his temple in frustration as he read. "From what I''ve seen of our navy Admiral, that should have been heavy enough to ward even her off." He suddenly sat up straighter, eyes intent on the report and looked up at Vales. "She had help?"


    "From what we can tell, she was accompanied by three other vessels about the size of a cruiser, and six smaller vessels, we are still working on refining the data, merchant ships never have the sort of clarity we need, but they may have been destroyers or they may be other cruisers. No positive ID on the nation, except of course the Ionosphere."


    "I still cannot believe that...woman," He spat out the word with hatred, "stole one of our Atmosphere-class battlecruisers and continues to be able to use it! She should have run out of ammo, fuel, spares, everything by now!"


    Vales looked frustrated. "She has allies Trevor, you know that."


    "She shouldn''t!" Desar got up to pace his office. "You would think a fucked up lunatic like that would be one no one would want to mess with, to immediately report on, drive off, turn away, kill!" He let out an angry breath, glaring at a painting on the wall of the Founding President of Stellar Democracy he helped run. "But no, all those governments have to be completely insane themselves, thinking they''re so cute and innocent when we learn about what they are doing and deny her being there when we have reports, sensor readings..."


    "I know what you are going to say, and I''ve said it a million times to everyone else, if we go on a crusade snuffing everyone else out, not only are we going to have to stretch our naval assets way too thin to cover the area needed, but trade will be ruined, people will hate us, the taxpayers will complain about increased war costs, other nations will get into arms races the second we ''raise the banners'' so to speak, and it will be a giant clusterfuck that will probably vote you out of office." Vales sounded disgusted with her own logic. "We will get her one day Desar, but we cannot be swinging sledge hammers at fruit flies."


    Desar came and sat back down, swiveling his chair around so he could stare moodily out the window at Genesis City. "So what part of this is good? None of your warships survived, and all but two merchants got away."


    "It was the damage done. From what we have, we can see that the warships took a sizable chunk out of Ionosphere, and lamed her helpers, whoever they belong to. She''ll need to retreat to repair, there might be a good chance if we send some, say, ''escorts'' with merchants to Empire of Callisas, we might find her there, you know very well how deep she is in their pocket."


    Desar didn''t turn back around but nodded. "If you think it can work, I''m not going to overrule the naval officer here." His voice was still filled with anger, but a note of glumness had snuck in there too.


    "What else is bothering you Trevor?" Vales voice softened, she walked around the desk to stand beside his chair and stare out the window. A white cloud momentarily overtaking the building, blocking the city out with a fine monotone white.


    "Have we figured out why?" He asked softly. "Do we know and I haven''t been told?"


    "No." The answer was short, but Vales didn''t look away from the window and the cloud currently blocking the view. "Until we capture the ship itself, until we capture her..." She paused, "We are doing the best we can Trevor but remember even with her crimes, we can''t be everywhere, we can''t do everything."


    "3.5 billion. I still hear the screams from the Centurion IV recordings Julia." Trevor sunk a little lower in his chair, hands covering his face and muffling his words. "And the plea for help. I was just a low level bureaucrat then."


    "And I was just a Rear Admiral, getting ready to go speak with my superiors about a posting here at Government Central." Vales said bitterly as the cloud finally passed and revealed the city again. "We all saw the news reports. By now everyone that can use the holonet has probably heard the screams too." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "We will find Desson, and we will bring her to trial, I swear it, but we cannot let blind revenge make us do things which could cause our downfall."


    Desar sat back up, fixing his shirt and nodded. "I trust your judgement Admiral Vales." He gave a bitter smile. "I do Julia, I swear. I just wish that it could be so much easier to bring her in."


    Vales just nodded and stared out at Genesis City.

 Chapter 2

    Himalaya Star System


    Everest


    "I cannot believe what you led our navy into!" The man roared at the woman across the desk from him, leaning almost threateningly on the desk. Every line on his face and muscle in his neck spoke of anger... and a lot of it. "I demand a refund!"


    "There are no refunds." The woman replied, in a voice that was unnaturally calm. Compared to the burly man across from her, she was a tiny thing, petite, 145cm tall, with long platinum blonde hair that fell neatly to her waist. An ugly dark red scar on the left side of her face, the tip starts right under the eye continued down to the right onto her neck  that was striking against her pale skin. She wore a uniform that instantly recognizable across the cosmos. The black with dark metallic blue accented military uniform of the Novu Sol Navy.


    Unlike most other uniforms out there, which would usually combine a darker color with a light color for accent, the Novu Sol Navy did not, at least for the base fabrics. It was iconic, you knew if you saw those uniforms you were dealing with professionals.


    "You almost got two of our cruisers destroyed! And it killed 176 of my people! You... you can''t..." The man was so angry his voice stuttered.


    "That is the nature of war, Kepala." The woman''s voice was still calm, but crystal blue eyes sharpened on their target. "They are called warships, they are meant to dish out and receive damage."


    The Kepala paled a little, but didn''t back down. "You should of never attacked such a well defended target, I wanted you to train my people, not murder them!"


    The woman sighed and stood. "If I did not bloody them, someone else would have and the only person you would be yelling to is a pirate with a gun to your head." Her voice was still the same, level, calm, almost unnaturally so. "They know how to fight now, and against the most powerful navy in space, all of your ships returned and we even managed to... take... two of the merchants, both loaded with raw materials that will serve you well in repair efforts." She leaned forward a fraction of an inch. "And lets not forget I had a sizeable chunk of my ship taken out by those escorts in an effort to defend your vessels and make sure none of them got away to report about it, so the least you can do is sit down, shut up and say thank you." Her tone had grown cold, eyes narrowed as she looked at him.


    "You think you are so powerful Admiral, but you are just one ship, what makes you thin..." The man''s bluster was suddenly cut off as the tip of a sword rested under his chin.


    The woman held it there, studying his face for a few moments with those cold eyes. "Tell me," She said casually, "did the planet of Everest ever receive copies of the news reports on the Massacre of Centurion-IV?"


    "Yes." The man''s voice was a bare whisper, not wanting the sharp blade under his chin to cut his throat.


    "Do you know what happened to customers that have attempted to stiff me in the past?" She asked.


    "Yes." The answer repeated, the color beginning to drain from his face even more.


    "Good." The woman gave a warm friendly smile that didn''t touch the cold look in her eyes. "Then you know this is a bad idea. When I remove my sword from your throat, you will say ''thank you,'' I will nod and leave, the contract will have run its course and you never need to see me here again." She slowly moved the sword away and sheathed it, watching the Kepala take a deep breath, like he had been scared to breathe and slumped back into his chair. She stood there, waiting.


    "Thank you Admiral for your services." The Kepala said eventually, not looking her in the eyes.


    She nodded, turned and left. As she exited the door to the office she looked at the sentries which were both army soldiers, not her domain of training, they saluted anyways.


    "No need for that anymore, the contract is over. I wish you luck." She said, pleased at how they still looked at her with respect. That was normal for most of her clients though.


    As she strode out of the government''s main offices into the brisk autumn air outside she looked over a city nestled firmly in some large rolling hills, not quite tall enough to be like the mountains looming in the distance. A short walk distant was a secure landing pad with a shuttle, Novu Sol Military-Standard deployment, for VIPs and Flag Officers. Other than the pad being guarded by the natives, there was no one else around the craft.


    "Admiral! Wait!"


    The woman stopped halfway down the steps and turned. A young man in the native naval uniform rushed up to her and stopped, breathing hard. "Admiral, I''m sorry to hold you up but I needed to..."


    "Commander Yakow," She remembered him from training. Smart, fast learner, a bit too aggressive, but would mellow out with age. "What is it? You do realize my contract is done, no need for formalities."


    "Admiral, you taught us everything we know, formalities are the least we can do for you." Yakow said as he straightened. "Without you, we never could of grown to what we are today."


    "Glad to see you''re intelligence isn''t lacking." She replied. "Now what is this you need?" She did have to get going, there was no way she was going to trust these people to repair the Ionosphere. And while her ship was stable for travel, it would not be fit for fighting until she could get it to a repair dock she could trust.


    Yakow pulled out a small box covered in fine ruby red velvet. He opened it, inside sat on pure white silk was a golden five pointed star, with the craggy peaks of the very mountains that rose in the distance molded into the medal.


    "This is your nation''s Medal of Courage?" She asked, she had studied the various medals of the nation she had been currently serving, finding it odd that the highest ranking medal was one with a name that was humble. It was a fairly good reflection of their actual culture, but most places went for grander names for the rare, high cost medals of military honor.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    "It is Admiral." He said. "We, the other ship captains and I, noticed you have a collection on your persons." He motioned to a small chain at her left side, heavily laden with a mix of military medals from different nations. "And we wish to give you one to add to it, given your service to us."


    "You do know," Her voice actually was tinged with humor now, "How I got these right?" She detached the chain from her belt loop, admiring the shine of the golds, silvers and bronzes of her collection.


    "You killed their former owners." Yakow said it like it was a normal occurrence. For her it was at least it was. "But given that we actually knew to listen to you and heed your wisdom, there was no need to kill us, so to thank you," He offered the medal to her in a half bow. "This is yours Admiral."


    She took the medal, noting the lack of ribbon which she usually cut off anyways. Flipping it over and on it said:


    FOR SERVICE TO OUR NATION:


    THE ADMIRAL


    She carefully opened the chain, threading the medal on in front of the bunch, before she closed and hooked it back onto her belt loop. She glanced back up to see Yakow staring at the medal with pride.


    "Why do you look at me like that Commander?" She asked, motioning for him to walk with her, her pace sedate to hear the man out.


    "I am proud we hired you. The Generals and Commandants may not be grateful, but we all know the rumors of what happens to nations that take up the training of the actual Novu Sol Navy." He looked disgusted. "They become mere pawns and have to bend over backwards to satisfy them, often at their own expense as a culture. You may charge a high price, but you know your job and do not demand we sacrifice our way of life."


    "Why, thank you." She responded as she stopped in front of the ramp to the shuttle, and turned to face him. "Commander," He stood at attention at her change in tone. She looked him over from head to toe, "Out of all the ship COs, why you?"


    "I volunteered Ma''am." He answered. "And some of the others were intimidated by you."


    "I see great things in your future Commander. You trained well, I only wanted to stab you once I believe." There was no humor in her voice, she was being completely serious. "Your job as a commander may not always be easy, but if you manage to not get yourself killed, one day, when you are old and gray, you can be the Naval Commandant for your nation. In the mean time, stay creative, stay sharp and stay smart."


    "Yes Ma''am!" Yakow responded enthusiastically as she snapped off the local version of a salute.


    The Admiral returned it with the Novu Sol version as she always did, turned and trotted up the ramp.


    She settled into the pilot''s seat, checking all the read outs, the sensors to make sure everyone was clear of the engine danger zone, the flight path up to her ship. Everything checked out, so she fed power to the engines and the craft lifted easily from the pad and shot upwards to space. The Admiral always kept a close eye on her read outs in case action was needed. Autopilots could of flown most of the journey, dumb software was smart enough to go from point A to B, but to land neatly and actively look for threats before they became a danger took human eyeballs on the readings.


    Perhaps an Artificial Intelligence could of been trusted with the task, but no human in their right mind would use a ''true'' AI. Not only were they illegal literally everywhere in human space, but the overarching culture of fear surrounding AIs made it impossible. AIs had been the ones to kill Earth, Venus and Mars, to murder all humans in Old Sol, why would anyone want to repeat that atrocity out here? It was thanks to Novu Sol''s efforts in the early days, establishing the Quarantine and Buffer Zones, later installing high tech warning buoys that could squawk warnings of the area in both normal and hyper space into ships approaching the area.


    The Admiral made a disgusted noise at her own thoughts. Her former nation did not hold a high opinion in her mind. She knew not to underestimate them, as her latest clash showed her clearly, but they did not hold any respect from her. The feeling was mutual.


    But that was just fine with Admiral. It really did not matter what Novu Sol thought, for all their naval power and influence, they still had yet to bring her in. That was just one of many reasons she saw them as weak.


    Her eyes traveled up to look out the cockpit''s glass. A small shiny dot in the distance was growing in size. It grew from mere dot, to toy, to ship. The sleek and lethal shape of a battlecruiser, sitting quietly in orbit.


    As she flew closer, in large lettering on the side was the name Ionosphere, and the designation BC(A)-11 (Battlecruiser, Atmosphere- 11th built) under that. Just behind that was a darkened patch of buckled armor and a hole large enough to see the ruins of passageways and rooms inside as she flew past to inspect it once more.


    The Admiral twisted her shuttle around and up to the hangar, passing inside the force field and settling the craft gently on the deck with the ease of long practice. She ran through the list of things to shut down and lock the craft in place, going through the motions in the cockpit, then the engineering station in the shuttle, then exited.


    The hangar was completely silent. It had been that way for a while. The Atmosphere-class of ships had naval crews of around 2,500 people, or should have.


    The Admiral had disposed of all of them, she ran her ship alone. It meant more work for her, but she didn''t mind it. It meant that if something major broke, it was much more stressful to deal with, but she had accepted that responsibility a long time ago as well. This was the life that she''d chosen.


    The walk through the passages to the bridge was dead silent, broken only by the sounds of her own footsteps. Entering the bridge to the same silence she walked over to the command seat, ringed with more displays than an average ship of this class, sat down and began the process of readying the ship to leave.


    Reactor came fully online, its fuel stores topped off, lighting the engines and thrusters, checking the shield strength and its various generators. Numbers flickered on screens, telling her of damage, energy output, everything a person might need to run a ship.


    The Ionosphere came to life under her touch, and The Admiral smiled. She did enjoy this, the slight tremor of the engines as they came to life, the way the readouts flickered and danced to her touch. She entered a course out of orbit, avoided what little traffic there was to Everest, and entered it into the helm.


    The Ionosphere leapt gracefully from orbit, twisted about to race out system, its engines flared bright blue with energy as the ship pushed herself away from all those around her.


    The Admiral entered another command, the ship didn''t slow, rather its engines shifted color from blue to red as it reached a predetermined point, space rippled in front of the ship and suddenly, like a bubble being popped, the ship vanished from the Himalaya System into hyperspace.


    <div>

 Chapter 3

    Hyperspace


    Ionosphere


    The Admiral sat on the bridge of her ship, watching the visuals of hyperspace on one of her displays. A mottled black and gray, with flashes of red. At least that is what registered on the screens and in the eyes of humans. Hyperspace was simple. It got you were you wanted to go faster than real space did. Trade Routes, special faster ''lanes'' of hyperspace, connected most of the important areas.


    She had to avoid the two biggest Trade Routes, the ones that led into Novu Sol''s territory. But the other two major ones she was free to use, though she did have to be careful since it was possible for Novu Sol warships to be in the system and cause trouble for her. It took her longer to get places at times, but this was why she was headed to where she was.


    Her hand ran over a line of commands, activating them to bring the ship bursting out of hyperspace and into a star system. A few freighters slowly trudged their way in-system from other directions, but as she watched her display fill with vectors, they all intersected at the same place.


    A large asteroid glowed bright on the display as the destination for these freighters, its color green, for a friendly base or unit.


    The Asteroid Trading Station, or ATS for short. In a relatively worthless star system between the Nation of the Free and the Treos Clusters, it served as a rest stop of sorts, for merchants who may want to avoid the custom patrols and taxes that passing through Novu Solarian space might bring. It came with more risk, but the profits were worth it to some people.


    The Admiral tapped her communications, bringing up a link to ATS and moved her ship towards the asteroid.


    "Ah Ionosphere! It''s good to see you again."  The voice crackled a little, aging equipment that had probably been stolen or ''damaged in transit.'' "You need your dock opened up?"


    "Only once I get closer, refuel as well." She said simply.


    "Yes Ma''am." With that the communication ended. The other merchants didn''t seem bothered by the Novu Solarian ship in their presence as it swept past the normal docking facilities to a concealed dock  in a deep crater. The hatch expertly painted to look like the surrounding rock, small enough to not be worth a second glance, and hard to maneuver into for any large, civilian vessel. She had it installed 4 years ago, when she got tired of her ship being ogled in the regular docks and an uptick in Novu Solarian patrols in the star system meant the station had lost a lot of business. It benefited them both. She paid good money to the station and they helped her stay hidden.


    <hr>


    Unnamed Star System


    Asteroid Trading Station (ATS)


    The Admiral walked easily through the crowds of people, small enough to not be of any notice, wearing gray working coveralls and hair twisting up into a bun. She was armed with a sidearm, that was just common sense out here, but other than that, she did not wear her uniform. Today she needed to blend, not attract attention.


    The crowds were starting to thin as she continued her walk, less business was being done around this area, this was the station crew, the people that worked here, lived here for the most part.


    A guard in armor that looked worn nodded to her and opened an old fashioned door labeled "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.'' before her stretched a passage where only a couple people walked and she strode past them, a confused glance from the younger of the pair as she found the hatch for the conference room.


    She sat down in one of the well used chairs, rested her arms on the table and waited.


    Two minutes later, a hologram popped up with the face of a man, unnaturally handsome with a decorative burn of some ancient Earth language on his forehead.


    "Well Admiral, it''s nice to see you again."


    "Don''t flirt, I want to know if any big requests or fishing attempts have been made." She said coolly.


    The man rolled his eyes, "Yes Ma''am. No, I have not heard anything big since the Mountain Men decided to actively seek you out. A few merchants you''ve escorted before tried to fish, but you weren''t here so they moved on."


    Not an unusual state of affairs. Her services were never needed at all times, even if there was a demand. "What about intelligence from Novu Sol?"


    "There have been some rumbles lately." He paused, almost for dramatic effect. "Mostly small time efforts to look into your whereabouts though. I heard you were busy raiding a large convoy which kicked your ass, but considering you are here, I''m starting to doubt those rumors."


    The Admiral nodded. "Thank you, I assume you want the usual payment?" She pressed a small chip into the table, the hologram lighting up with the information on it, credits.


    "Yes, and one more thing I heard that,"


    The man was cut off as another signal overrode his. This time the face of a woman appeared, the person who was pretty much considered the owner, looked grim.


    "Admiral, we have a problem."


    <hr>


    NSW Rose


    Commander Harvey Avern


    "It has been a while Sir." The young Lieutenant said as he looked over the notes on the hologram in front of him. "A little over a year ago since the Navy has been here."


    "Thank you Lieutenant." Commander Avern said as he sat back in his command chair on the Novu Sol Warship (NSW) Rose. He was out here in his light cruiser with fellow light cruiser Commander Harving of Daisy, to investigate possible areas where that traitor ''the Admiral'' went. Hopefully they''d pick up more of a lead here, as so far, none of the reports being swapped around the various ships on this mission had gotten a whiff since those merchants had come stumbling home screaming about her.


    This was small fry though, two light cruisers could handle any of the worthless pirates that may be around, and ask the hard questions to people who were afraid of their profits and lives being shot apart. This base here was an open secret among merchants and the Novu Sol Navy rarely wasted its time out here. Coming out here too often meant it would only scare off the low lives that live here and they would have to put in a massive effort to find the next place they set up shop.


    "Communication, contact ATS." Avern said and he waited until the face of the woman that ran the place appeared. She looked annoyed. "Oh hello there ATS."


    "What do you want?"


    "Not even a hello?" He said in his best injured tone, "I am Commander Avern and I just came out here to ask you a simple question, not clean up the small fry."


    "Then what is it?"


    "Has The Admiral been out here recently?" He watched her face, and to her credit, almost concealed the reaction. It was tiny, but he saw her face tighten a bit, eyes narrow a little.


    "No. I haven''t seen her in a long while, didn''t your navy beat her recently or something?"


    He nodded slightly to himself. Lying to cover her tracks. Not uncommon. He wondered how much that traitor had paid her. "Alas no, we gave it a good try and are following the blood trail." Avern''s eyes never left the woman''s face. "We believe here was a good place to check for the blood, so to speak."


    The ATS woman nodded as though she were just comprehending why two small Novu Sol ships would be here. It was a game they were playing. Could he trick her into admitting when she was here? Could she navigate around the subject and get out unharmed?


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Well I''m..."


    "Sir!" Communications interrupted. "Commander Harving says they see an odd opening in the asteroid. Tactical?"


    The tactical officer was busy with some information but soon a small hologram out of sight of the com pick up for the ATS woman highlighted an unnatural hole dark and hidden, away from other openings to the actual docks. Had they caught say, a slaver dock that was dealing secretly out here at ATS? Perhaps they had cleared the departure not knowing that warships were here, and had now given away their secret space.


    He muted the pick up for a moment, the software working to blur his face for a moment to allow to speak freely. "Tell Harving to get closer and check it out, see if we can get a good look inside that dock." Avern then unmuted the feed and the woman looked puzzled. "Sorry, one of my officers decided something very unimportant was important enough to interrupt you." He apologized, his gaze glancing down at the hologram that showed Daisy moving forward to get a better look into the hidey hole that had opened up. Visuals showed it to be pitch black barely visible to the naked eye in the shadow of a crater rim. Well hidden, he thought, but whoever opened the door was dumb as a headless chicken. The woman was explaining something as she looked through notes about the last time Admiral was here and even half listening he could hear the lies in it. None of it was true or perhaps a partial lie. He didn''t really care, he could go back and listen to this at any point, taking care of this hidden secret dock which the ATS wasn''t even acknowledging or apologizing for was more important.


    "What the fuck?!" Tactical yelled, sitting back with a jerk and even Avern felt his whole body tense in shock and dismay. As Daisy approached there was a single surge in her energy levels, like the cruiser was trying to raise shields before the ship was blown to pieces, no piece large enough to hold any survivors. He watched in numb horror as a shape began to emerge from the dock and his computers instantly identified it.


    The Ionosphere. No wonder the light cruiser hadn''t stood a chance. On a good day with shields and a running start a light cruiser may get away with a serious fatal mauling from an Atmosphere-class battlecruiser. He couldn''t actually outrun the battlecruiser not from a dead stop while the larger ship already had momentum and engines running. He would be dead before he could get out far enough to hyper out.


    Avern startled himself out of his numbed horror. He had to save his ship. Get word back that The Admiral was here.


    "Get us moving, behind ATS, now!" He snapped.


    Helm seemed stunned as everyone else but quickly the ship surged to life, accelerating around the curve of the asteroid as the battlecruiser had just started to turn their direction.


    Avern pressed a command the general quarters alarm went off, shrill and loud, summoning those who were not already at their stations to them, preferably with skinsuits for protection should damage be taken. His mouth was dry and still felt horror as he watched his ship come to battle readiness. He thought he had the easy job, just following the crumbs of logic while bigger ships hunted down their enemy. Instead here he was, trapped on the other side of an asteroid from a battlecruiser that wanted him dead.


    His eyes traveled over the data now that he had a bit of time. It was definitely the right ship and most certainly hers. Data showed under the shields a gaping rent in armor and energy signature was off, a sure sign of damage, he was dead. Maybe if he could delay long enough he could out dance her. She was one person she had to get tired and there would be no one to fight her ship for her once she fell from exhaustion. It would be hard, but maybe.


    "Communication for you Sir." Coms said, sounding nervous.


    Avern looked up at the officer, who looked more terrified than he''d even seen. "Put it here."


    The face of a pale woman with platinum blonde hair and an angry red scar under an eye appeared next to him. She wore a crisp professional Novu Sol uniform, looking like something out of a recruitment poster. She smiled. "Hello Commander. I see the Navy is putting a little more effort into finding me than I first believed." She paused to see if he would speak. Avern felt he couldn''t trust his voice just yet. "I can make this easy on you Commander. Come out now and your ship''s death will be painless."


    "No I will not." He said firmly after a moment. "You traitor."


    "You wound me." The Admiral gave a frown, then a tiny shrug. "If that is your choice, then so be it." The communication ended abruptly and Avern looked over to tactical.


    "Ready point defense, helm, if that ship even pokes its nose out from behind the asteroid, you run the opposite direction."


    "Aye Sir!" The helm''s voice was a bit high from nerves and Avern sat back, trying his best to project calm confidence now that the shock was over. He was a dead man. He had to be. Unless the traitor messed up, got too cocky or lazy. He had a sinking feeling that she wouldn''t. It was so easy, he thought, to be confident that they would track her down and sic a fleet on her; he hadn''t considered what would happen if his ship got caught alone with the Ionosphere.


    The wait that followed was excruciating. His ship held at alert while slowly trying to circle the rotating asteroid, putting on bursts of speed when the Ionosphere was seem in a certain direction. He cursed at the Asteroid Trading Station when suddenly their own sensors became next to useless, hashed to oblivion by electronic warfare from the asteroid that while crude was effective.


    "Can''t get through it Sir. We can still see, but they have to be burning their sensor output at around 200% to get this kind of hash." Tactical reported, the past four hours of tense evasion apparent in his voice. "They can''t do it forever, not even with last generation high tier civilian equipment."


    Avern rubbed his eyes and glared down at what little info they had now. Maybe they could make a run now. "Helm, we are going to break for hyper, put everything we got into it."


    Helm was about to answer when suddenly the blare of multiple alarms caught their attention. Missiles were streaking hard around the curve of the asteroid, with Ionosphere burning her engines hard behind them, no longer coyly playing but on the hunt. Helm threw the ship down and away from the approaching missiles, bidding to get back behind the asteroid. Avern felt a bit of hope as his ship accelerated away smoothly. He knew this move. Put something between you and the missiles, they might burn more fuel correcting their course, making them easier to evade or possibly destroy. And with the battlecruiser in hot pursuit she would now have to guess which way they would break to avoid running into her instead of toying them in a certain direction.


    Another alert screamed and Avern saw it an instant too late. There had been missiles waiting for them, dropped in space and activated as his ship came into view. They didn''t have much beyond surprise, but where they had been dropped meant he had only a half a second before they slammed into his shields.


    Rose''s shields went down and depressurization alarms wailed on the bridge at the damage. He slammed a fist on the arm of his chair, damage reports flooded in and he glanced up as the missiles that had chased him this way puttered out and exploded. His ship continued to limp away but the blood was in the water now.


    A few minutes later Ionosphere swam into view, all of the sensor hash dropping as the ship moved closer. Avern watched the ship as it closed, a few pitiful missiles firing off and splashing harmlessly off the shields.


    He noticed a symbol. A communication. He pressed it, looking up at communications who was busy coordinating damage repairs.


    A voice, chilled and calm spoke to him. "This could have been painless Commander."


    He stared in silent hatred at the image of the battlecruiser.


    "Fuck you." He hissed in return.


    There was no reply. Only the world exploding around him. And nothing.


    <hr>


    The Admiral sighed. More wasted missiles.


    "Well," she said to the face of the ATS owner. "They are dead, you realize this means ATS is on borrowed time when they realize you were involved, right?"


    "Oh I can rebuild this in another star system." The woman shrugged. "This place was nice, but I can always set it up somewhere else. Plenty of worthless asteroids to take over."


    The Admiral watched as all the merchant ships that had been docked began to flee as fast as possible in different directions. "Shame. Can you get your new location information to my informants?"


    The woman nodded. "I can indeed. Even build you a nice new hidey hole when all is said and done." A large bulky old passenger liner separated from the asteroid and began to trudge away in a direction that pointed to no nation. "See you around."


    The Admiral nodded and began to fly her ship away from the asteroid as more and more craft spilled from it. She took her time, watching them all buzz around and fly away, trying to cover tracks and save supplies.


    She was sitting quietly out-system, ship prepped for hyper when the ATS suddenly vanished in a bright ball of light, sending shards of asteroid and its inner hidden base flying. She took a deep breath. She was tired. Time to go and hopefully get some rest.


    Her hand ran down the line of commands and her ship vanished into hyper, leaving an empty system behind.


    <div>

 Chapter 4

    Callisas Star System


    The Empire of Callisas


    Callisas-3


    "You really need to stop doing this Admiral." The voice was amused as a silent staff member poured a cup of coffee and began to mix in cream and sugar. "Running back to us like a child to their parent''s skirts."


    "I can try Your Majesty." The Admiral said politely, "I cannot offer any promises."


    The monarch of The Empire of Callisas snorted in amusement and came to sit back down on the couch across from the Admiral. They took the coffee gratefully and sipped. "Do you want anything?"


    "A glass of water will do fine."


    The monarch nodded to the man, he diligently poured a glass of water and handed it to the Admiral with a small bow. He looked back at the monarch and they made a waving motion to dismiss him.


    The Admiral sipped politely on her water while the monarch savored their coffee. She didn''t have much to say at the moment, she knew they had been surprised when the Admiral had shown up on their doorstep with a damaged ship and already dressed in the purple uniform of the Callisas Navy. Even now sitting here in this dark purple uniform with white stripes on the sleeves signifying her Admiral''s rank, hair up in a tight braided bun, she looked liked she might of belonged in their navy. It was all just a cover of course. Callisas had been very.... supportive of her. They were the ones she trusted, as hard as that was to earn. They didn''t openly claim her, but this empire was one of the ones she knew she could trust to repair her ship and not tell anyone.


    "Now." They said, leaning back. "I know the yards told you it''d be about 3-4 weeks to repair the damage."


    "That''s an initial estimate. They may be overconfident, there''s a lot more damage than you might first think." Admiral replied.


    "Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you need, though I suspect you will draw some ire to us because of that whole business at the asteroid base." They mused. "I''m not trying to rush you out the door, it''s just much easier to deny you are here when your ship isn''t being repaired in our yards."


    "Only logical of you." She replied as she studied the fine sitting room in which they rested while the monarch took another long drink and think session.


    After a couple minutes of silence the coffee was finished and mug placed down on the coffee table. "Well in the mean time you are here, I want to put you to some busy work, if you don''t mind. I can have the treasurer get the usual pay to you."


    "I''ll take half this time considering the work your yard is about to put into my ship." Admiral cut in and they looked surprised but quickly nodded.


    "Yes of course." They paused to gather their thoughts, undoubtedly caught very off-guard by the offer of a cheaper price for her work.


    It amused her.


    Finally they recovered enough to speak. "I don''t need much from you, I want you check over our newest students in the Naval College, and maybe tour our newer designs. Just to hear an opinion on them."


    "The half price isn''t to give me half a job." Admiral pointed out.


    "Its not." The monarch said, tossing a bit of a glare at her. "You came suddenly so I am using you as we need. I cannot generate more work for you." The Admiral actually gave a snort of amusement and the monarch''s glare relaxed. "Anything special for this stay?"


    "I do want to have dinner with Captain Fitzkeller when he is free."


    "I believe you can handle that. I don''t control the navy''s schedule and he is his own person." They said as they stood.


    The Admiral took the hint. Her visit with them was over. Time to get to work. "Yes Your Majesty." She stood, crispy saluting in Callisas fashion, a flat right hand over the heart, then bowed to the leader. She turned sharply and walked out of the room.


    They watched as the Admiral left, worry suddenly filling their face as they opened up a hologram and spike. "Double the guards on the Yard and contact the Yard Handler. I do not have a good feeling about Novu Sol staying away."


    <hr>


    "So, I was able to get myself a new <u>Gazt-class </u>cruiser, though the Navy warns me I''m probably going to stay here a while." Captain Francis Fitzkeller said as the waiters removed the first course of dishes from the table, another pouring wine to refill his glass.


    The Admiral nodded, pleased with the news. <u>Gazt-class</u> cruisers were powerful and heavy hitters for their size, smaller than her battlecruiser but mounting some of the most powerful launchers one could cram into a small cruiser, meaning the missiles she slung around where extremely dangerous for the ship they were being fired from. She wouldn''t of cared to tango with one without the element of surprise. They had a massive flaw in that they couldn''t really be deployed out on their own, far from home, the fuel stores and other amenities had been cut into drastically to make the launchers viable.


    "A nice move for your career." She said, "It''s good to see my recommendations for your advancement we''re taken seriously."


    "I do like to think we can trust your judgement Admiral." Francis said, sipping his wine. "You taught pretty much our entire Navy."


    The Admiral nodded, Francis was probably her favorite of all the people she had ever had to teach. He listened, had learned fast, and knew when to fold his cards if necessary. He was the rising star of the Callisas Navy, and she could see him becoming a great leader when he had more experience and age to smooth the jagged edges of youth down.


    "Very good. Anything else I should know about?"


    "Nothing spectacular. I was actually going to head over the Naval College and run some battle simulations to give them a tough time, but now that you are here," he trailed off suggestively.


    "You want me to beat up on Midshipmen barely out of their cradles? What sort of torture do these people deserve?" The Admiral asked and Francis laughed.


    "Admiral it will give them quite a shock and teach them that there are always bigger fish out there. Not to mention they''ll get to meet you. The person who built our officers from the ground up."


    "Putting the fear of their gods into them might do wonders for their confidence." Admiral pressed her credit chip to a small red square on the table and it lit up blue as the payment processed. "Are you headed over there now?"


    "Yes, I told them I''d be around after dinner." Francis stood, brushed a few crumbs from his uniform. "You need a ride over? I have my air car outside."


    The Admiral nodded, stood and followed the captain out of the restaurant as they chatted.


    <hr>


    Francis has to wipe actual sweat from his brow as the simulation finished. He''d been pretending to be the ''flagship'' of a convoy with the midshipmen controlling the escorts. He had never told the Admiral where his flag was, or what the escort was.


    She had, to put it lightly, slaughtered them. He would have removed himself early from the battle but his simulated ship had been blown away in the first salvo, and it went downhill from there as the Admiral picked off each ship with the ruthless efficiency she was known for. He got up and exited the simulation room he was in, seeing the midshipmen none too happily milling around.


    "What the fuck was that!?" One young man yelled at one of his fellows, a young woman who looked to be all knees and elbows and very timid in the face of his wrath. "You let that enemy defeat us so easily! I can''t believe you are the one who has top marks in electronic warfare theory!"


    Francis''s face hardened in anger, eyes fixing on the midshipman.


    He started a little as a hand rested on his shoulder. He looked down at The Admiral, she was looking at the young man with a calm expression and a dangerous glint in her eyes. She held her arms behind her back in a relaxed posture and walked forward.


    The man was still yelling at his bridge mates for the simulation''s outcome.


    "What seems to be the problem?" She asked.


    He turned on her, looking down with a bit of confusion.


    "What''s wrong!? That simulation was rigged and my fellow ''officers''," He practically growled the word, "were utterly useless! I did everything right yet the reaction times and accuracy of the enemy was literally impossible. You were there! We got our asses kicked for no good reason other than our teachers wanting a laugh."


    Francis suddenly felt his chest tighten in fear. The midshipman had thought her to be a classmate in his anger.


    "So you don''t believe a human could do that?" The Admiral asked, her voice almost coy, baiting.


    "Of course they couldn''t!" The man exploded. "No one could ever be that good, that accurate. When I tell my father about this damned..."


    He stopped, confused as she brought her arms around front, revealing the admiral rank stripes on the sleeve.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "And who is your father young Midshipman?" She asked, her voice going cold and suddenly the man began to look a bit nervous.


    "Gared Jaruth, 20th Earl of the Lands of Jaruth." He replied.


    "Oh an Earl," The Admiral took a step closer. "Tell me, what will daddy do when you get your first ship?" She waited as the man stammered a bit, not understanding. "What will dad do when you are out in space, far from home? What will father say that will save you from an enemy salvo?" Her voice had gone savage and all the other midshipmen had taken a few steps away from her. She got right in the man''s face as the temperature of her tone dropped to absolute zero. "What. Will. Daddy. Do?"


    The young man continued to stammer and The Admiral gave a dismissive noise from her throat and stepped back. "Exactly. Your father won''t be there to save you from an enemy salvo or the vacuum of space. No. These people, however, will be." She motioned around her to the midshipmen. "Your crew will be the ones who will be there to save you from your mistakes and fuck ups. And when you are laying on the deck, a shard of metal lodged in your stomach as you call for help. Look me in the eyes and tell me that your ''friend'' that let you down just now will come and help you rather than letting you die like you deserve."


    The midshipman looked pale and almost sick, his eyes darting back to the young woman he had been yelling at. She wasn''t looking at him but finally looked back up into his eyes and straightened her posture, features settling into a cold neutrality. The man got his answer from that and Francis could see his hands shaking a little.


    "Get out of my sight Midshipman." The Admiral said quietly and the man scurried off after a shaky salute. The other midshipmen looked like they wanted to take leave as well, but they were not dismissed. "Okay," The Admiral said her voice now normal. "We are going to review the simulation and see what you all learned from the experience. As you all may of guessed," she pulled on the sleeve of her uniform jacket. "I am The Admiral, so losing the simulation was all but guaranteed for your skill level, however that doesn''t mean there is nothing to learn from it. There may come a day when your ship is matched against an enemy who is bigger, stronger, or smarter. You have to know what it feels like to lose."


    "Or else you never know when to fold." Francis finished the phrase for The Admiral and motioned down the hall. "Let''s go and see what we all can learn from this experience." He turned and walked with The Admiral at his side down the hall, the slightly dazed midshipmen followed behind.


    <hr>


    Callisas Star System


    The Empire of Callisas


    Their Majesty''s Ship Jatz


    The Admiral never cared to teach the really young ones. The officers fresh out of grade school, smart but unseasoned in the ways of the world. She was glad to get away after having to put up with trying to lecture them on the ways of naval combat.


    She had traveled up to Francis''s ship with him, Their Majesty''s Ship Jatz, and liked what she saw. The crew was crisp and professional, the ship itself clean and well made. She was pleased to see that Francis was doing as well as he said.


    At the moment, the Jatz was on a small patrol of the Callisas Star System, in company with two other ships, one a destroyer on its work-up trials out of one of the builders yard, and a patrol craft on a training run. She stood at the back of the bridge, watching with quiet satisfaction. She might like to command her ship alone, but seeing a crew working professionally was still an enjoyable pastime as it showed her how much her efforts to teach this navy has paid off.


    The Admiral kept an eye on Francis as he moved calmly around the bridge, speaking with each station in turn before he returned to his command chair to study the data collected there.


    "Your crew looks professional Captain." She said.


    Francis looked up at her and nodded. "They have shaped up well." He replied simply, though The Admiral did notice a few of the crew straightened at the praise. She was going to say something else when a wailing alarm made most of the bridge startle.


    She saw the tactical station going to work so she stayed silent, walking up behind Francis as the data was transferred to his screen.


    A group of ships, around 30 strong, sat within what was practically spitting distance of the Jatz. As she watched the sensors picked out 5 merchants and 2 passenger liners in the center being guarded by what must be an impromptu fleet of warships. It was bordering on an invasion force it was so large.


    "Admiral, what are those ships?" Francis pointed into the hologram at the largest warships with tentitive identifications at battlecruisers but no class names like the rest of this formation.


    The Admiral frowned, studying the shape and what little bits of details the sensors could pick up. She almost wished she was on her own ship so she had full control over the information. She would have to make due for now. "They don''t look familiar." She said. "The readings coming off the shields are stronger than my own at peak performance. The shape is bit more streamlined and," she paused to trap a holographic copy of one of the ships and scale it up as large as she could, practically submerging the bridge in the representation of the ship, "I can''t see any weapon ports. This is a new ship class, one that just got let out of the testing yards."


    "Battlecruiser?" Francis asked, waving a hand to dismiss the large hologram.


    "What does tactical think?" The Admiral knew she was usually the expert on Novu Sol ships, but Francis was going over the heads of his officers to ask her and that wasn''t healthy. He was better than this.


    Francis nodded and turned to the tactical station, the officer there looked a little nervous but began to speak once he had his captain''s attention.


    "Captain, this looks to be a new battlecruiser. There was only a short note in the briefing from Intelligence Office about sightings of a new ship but information has been sparse. Our sources haven''t gotten a good look at any yet so this may very well be the first actual deployment of these ships."


    Francis pursed his lips for a moment before turning to face communications. "Have they said anything yet?"


    "To us? No." The woman tapped her display. "We''ve caught some messages from the merchants and liners going out, probably contacting the station for docking procedures Sir."


    Francis then turned back to The Admiral. "What yard do they have your ship at?"


    The Admiral gave Francis a bland look. "Captain, I''m not answering that question, you should know that."


    Francis knew just to nod and turned back to the problem at hand as his little patrol changed course slightly to stay well clear of the Novu Sol ships.


    <hr>


    Callisas Star System


    The Empire of Callisas


    Callisas-3


    "What do think you are doing here!?" The monarch usually left diplomatic niceties up to their government. But this was too much. Novu Sol was allowed to escort their civilian traffic, sure, but two battlecruisers, ten cruisers and eleven destroyers was practically a small invasion force. Their own navy had more than enough firepower in system to wipe them out, but one did not just send this amount of metal into the capital without permission.


    The man staring out at them wore the rank insignia of a Rear Admiral on the black and dark blue of Novu Sol. He had introduced himself as ''Ares Centios,'' and their computer had automatically popped up what the Empire knew of the man. He was getting to promotion age, the profile pegged him at 247 and should be advancing to Vice Admiral soon. Last the IO heard of him, he was teaching at their commanding officers course on Novu Sol. So him being here was a surprise.


    Or maybe a calculated move. Highlighted as ''you need to know this now'' on the hologram was his birth place, the capital city of Centurion-IV,  Foundation.


    The city The Admiral had flattened in the Massacre of Centurion-IV.


    He was keeping a very calm collected face about himself though. Impressive for a naval officer that must hate having to be civil when he really wanted to make demands. Why else would a small fleet be here?


    "I am escorting my nation''s commerce and people to their destination." Centios said calmly. "You surely had heard that recently Novu Sol has suffered losses."


    "That is no excuse to come barging in here like an invasion force Rear Admiral." They said coldly. "The cruisers would of warded off any pirates and still been over kill."


    "Your Majesty its not pirates we were worried about. Its Desson. Did you realize that she destroyed that Asteroid station, and left nothing but dust and no survivors?"


    If they hadn''t heard about it from The Admiral first, they probably would of believed it. Not that they had been thrilled with the news that The Admiral had needed to kill those two cruisers that had come after her, but they expected nothing less. Of course Novu Sol was placing the blame of the destruction on her directly rather than a security measure against when Novu Sol undoubtedly came barging in and arrested everyone.


    "This is the first I''ve heard. Do you know if any of your people were lost there?" They saw Centios eyes narrow slightly. He glanced off to the side and then back.


    "Yes, we lost two cruisers doing a normal security patrol in the system."


    "I am sorry for your losses." The Monarch wanted this man gone from their star system. "But that still does not excuse you bringing this much escort into my capital system. Your merchants are welcome to stay and our navy would happily escort them with our own civilian shipping, but you must leave." They made their voice firm and commanding, they refused to let Novu Sol walk all over their nation.


    Centios made a small bow to his pick up. "Yes Your Majesty. We will take our leave." His tone making the order to leave seem more like a suggestion he had not needed to follow. The com link was cut with no more formalities and they glared at screen while the hologram showed the Novu Sol ships change vectors as the warships turned, leaving their civilian ships to trudge in system as they vanished from normal space.


    "You were listening in the whole time?" They asked and the screen lit with the face of the head of the Intelligence Office.


    "Yes Your Majesty."


    "Then other than general dickishness, why send the new ships here?"


    The woman frowned. "I''d say they were planned to be deployed to the Buffer Zone for patrols and exercises. If the ships had gone straight there, we probably would not have seen them for another 8 months, minimum. Instead they tacked on a few merchants and an escort and sent them here." She looked down at something and some tapping sounds produced a mess of calculations on their screen they barely could follow. "If their math was right, The Admiral should of been here only for a short time, maybe a week at best. Thus a high chance of seeing her ship out in orbit or in transit out of the system."


    "She''s been here over a month now." They pointed out. "Look I know I want them to be stupid, but their math shouldn''t be any different than what you have."


    "Your Majesty..." The woman stopped, she looked worried.


    "Go ahead. If I have to pay her to calm her down about whatever you say, I will." They said firmly, the IO head took heart and continued.


    "Every time The Admiral had returned here, either on summons or on her own, it''s always been faster than normal. Even with our own research into better drives, longer ranges, she''s setting speed records racers would envy. And our yard has had to reconstruct her hyperdrive before. It''s no different than anything Novu Sol, or we, have."


    "That''s interesting. I wonder how she does it." They mused, rubbing their chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I''ll ask her before she leaves. Though knowing her it''s a trade secret, can you give me ideas?"


    The woman shrugged. "Best guess I can think of is she had some experimental technology she is hiding, but the Yard isn''t reporting anything out of place or unusual beyond the extra wires and programming for The Admiral to always be in sole control."


    "As I said, I will ask when I see her next." They shook their head, watching the merchants move into orbit. They were gonna have to send The Admiral out to her ship rather than bringing it back here. While those merchants were here, they ran the risk of them seeing the battlecruiser and trying to run. If the Empire has to try to cover for The Admiral, or even just let her hunt them down, in their space then Novu Sol would gladly use the excuse to invade. They wished they could truly stand up to Novu Sol, but with a sparse population and smaller navy, their empire would not stand a chance. It''s why all they could do was send a strongly worded letter to the Novu Sol President about his navy''s ''intrusion''. They could see the reply already, a mistake in the orders, a commander a bit too eager to catch the murderer Desson, reprimands would be given and punishments made before they forgot and did it again when they felt like it.


    Maybe one day, their nation would be strong enough to knock Novu Sol down. But not yet. For now Callisas would have to live in the shadow of the giant old star nation.

 Chapter 5

    Ares Centios


    The Buffer Zone


    NSW Lunar Eclipse


    Rear Admiral Ares Centios nodded in greeting to his flag lieutenant as he passed the man, sitting down in his place on the flag bridge, sipping a cup of delicious coffee. His steward always made it just right, warm, sweet and a touch of heavy cream.


    He had to admit it provided a good distraction from his job, as much of it as there was. Being the newest flag officer out here at the Buffer Zone, he was put in charge of the small fleet which followed around the repair ship as it serviced the special beacons which marked the edge of the Zone.


    The beacons were pretty much old tech now, but the process for making them had always interested him. You couldn''t really talk to ships in hyperspace from normal space. Half the reason was that you had to hit a receiver with enough strength to get the message through to the ship in FTL, next you had no way to know where the ship was, for the most part. Most ships these days stayed on predictable straight-line paths between stars, but being able to enter hyper at any angle or anywhere not in a certain range of a celestial body which could hinder it with gravity meant the math to guess the location was next to impossible unless you planned it down to the last centimeter.


    You didn''t need that for a blanket scream message though. With powerful transmitters, regular service and plentiful power, the beacons could blanket the general area, both normal and hyper, with the warning of what this was, why you shouldn''t be here, and what will happen to you if you cross this area. A restricted area, the AI will attempt to murder humanity, so we will destroy you if you continue past these beacons. The sensors which generated breech reports were even more expensive and hard to tune. Being able to sense a ship in FTL might be a godsend, but the power needed to pin down where it was was astronomical. Even Novu Sol couldn''t afford that luxury anywhere but here at the Buffer Zone.


    Centios sat back, studying the data he had on hand, a large, ungainly repair ship docked beside the massive array they were beside that was bigger than even his ship, giving off a powerful energy signature, and his own small fleet of warships, headed by the new Event-class battlecruisers. Had he not been a Novu Sol ship, his communication system would be swamped by the endlessly repeated warnings, however whenever a ship came out here, they were given codes which muted the message in their own systems and allowed them to move about freely without generated breech reports at the central Buffer Zone station.


    He looked around the command deck, his crew hard at work even with the uneventful duty. He could see in the younger officers and enlisted some tension, they stole glances around, tense postures and nervous expressions, but every Novu Sol officer comes out here at least once in their career to see what it was like unless they get dishonorably discharged before then. He had been here before and nothing ever happened, not any more. People use to be curious, pirates or thrillseekers thinking they could ''run the gauntlet,'' but Novu Sol had enforced their policies ruthlessly, anyone caught was to be arrested, ship destroyed and the nation reprimanded. If they didn''t yield to warship''s command to stop, they were completely and utterly destroyed.


    Centios eyes then rested on the beacon in the visual display. No one wanted to be the one to open the cage anyways. What if the AI got out of Old Sol? Even now, he felt a knot in his guts at the thought of getting a breech report coming out the zone rather than going in. The AI that''s infested Old Sol star system were practically trapped, no hyperdrives to use, they could do sublight journeys but that would take so long they wouldn''t even be halfway to the Buffer Zone. Still, those AI had always been extremely aggressive during past scouting missions to Old Sol, there was no doubt that if they got their hands on a ship that they would launch an attack on humanity as soon as possible.


    It was why they were here, holding the line against AI that couldn''t reach them.


    Centios sighed then signed off on another report. He wondered what it would like to not have to do this anymore, to stand a vigilant watch which had only been disturbed by the people they protected, not the ones they guarded against. He pulled up the old data from the last scouting mission, over 100 years ago, reading the brief report and sensor data with a frown. Advanced AI warships all moving around, smaller AI scouts making an aggressive beeline for Novu Sol''s scout, the far distant world of Old Sol still circling the star. Compared to the report before that, there were ever more ships than last time. They were multiplying, and seemed to form an impressive battle fleet that would give any Novu Sol war fleet pause.


    He wondered if they could actually do it. With enough ships and weapons sheer numbers could overwhelm just about anything, and Novu Sol had the population, the resources, the technology, they had everything.


    Now if only the politicians weren''t as scared as everyone else. The years had not been kind to the idea of taking back Old Sol. Oh the propaganda was still there and always in full force. Movies being made about mad AI attacking worlds, think tank articles about how things would be different if we hadn''t needed to flee the initial murderous rage of the AI, platitudes from politicians that still told the people they would when they were strong enough, when the time was right and the Galaxy was at peace. Centios knew it was all just talk, no one wanted to go back. Because it meant to stay in the same space as the AI, it was not the risk of a single ship, easy to flee, it would be thousands of military personnel, every ship they were at risk of being captured if they did not win and the AI had nothing to lose, while humanity would lose everything.


    "Sir."


    He startled at a touch on his shoulder and he looked up to see his staff commander, Captain Alixia Pacetto stood to his right looking concerned. "What is wrong Alixia?"


    "You looked a little out of it Sir. Did you get enough sleep last night?" She asked and he grinned.


    "I don''t need you to baby me Captain, just thinking some things over." He answered and Alixia grinned back.


    "Thought you agreed you were not allowed to think unless you passed the thoughts to me first."


    "Ha," He took another sip of his coffee, "nice try, but it was nothing important." He motioned slightly with his head over the meeting room off the flag bridge. Alixia took the hint and slipped into the room, he followed a few moments later and sat down at the table, Alixia settled into her seat to his right.


    "So, what is bothering you Sir?"


    "Alixia, do you want to retake Earth?" Centios asked.


    The surprise in her expression was obvious. "Of course I do Sir, who doesn''t?" The response was instant, almost a reflex.


    "No Alixia, I want you to really think about it. Don''t parrot the propaganda, if we could summon every ship, every asset we had and go to Earth to fight right now, would you do it?"


    She frowned at him, then sat silently in thought, rubbing her chin while her eyes focused on the table. She stayed that way for at least a minute, while Centios waited for her answer.


    "I..." Alixia paused and seemed unsettled. "No, I don''t think I would want to. If I was ordered? Of course, I am an officer in the Novu Sol Navy and I go where commanded, but if they asked for volunteers... I don''t think I could do it Sir."


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Centios nodded. "Why?"


    She sighed. "It''s daunting. During the last scouting mission the amount of ships was impressive, the response was extremely aggressive and undoubtedly since then they have built more and better ships, who knows what kind of improvements to systems they could make. But they are trapped in Old Sol, so why should we risk it? People die in war, but if we were forced to retreat all it would take is one wreckage that didn''t get destroyed to give them access to a hyperdrive and well..." She trailed off as she looked back up at him. "I don''t think it''s worth the risk anymore."


    "I thought so Captain. It''s been a part of our culture for so long, we are taught as children and hammered into us as young officers that ''One Day We Will Return!'' to Old Sol like a triumphant general riding home, that we don''t realize we need to focus on other priorities." Centios leaned back in his chair. "That''s what I was thinking about Captain. We need to focus on us first, and to be fair, many of these years we have been focusing on ourselves, we are no more going to charge into the Quarantine Zone now as we were when it was first built. However we are still sitting here out at the Buffer Zone, keeping people away from Old Sol while nothing happens inwards. Even now, everyone has learned what happens to people that try to run across the Buffer Zone, they don''t do it anymore. The last incident was around 70 years ago and that was a merchant running to the Buffer Zone and our fleet here for protection from the pirates that had chased her so it wasn''t even a breech, it was just a civilian running to a guard force for protection."


    "Do you think we should stop manning the Buffer Zone?" Alixia asked, he noted she didn''t look terribly pleased with the idea and he shook his head.


    "No I think we should stay here just in case. The Zone is a place to exercise our fleets, test new officers, and keeping newer ships out of the public eye while we train up the crews to full readiness. It''s a valuable place even if it seems pointless for the reason we were out here in the first place for." Centios smiled. "It keeps the smaller nations sober too, knowing we are holding the line for them."


    Alixia nodded slowly. "I understand and I have to admit it''s weird to think about it. I''m so use to automatically just assuming we will go back some day in the future without realizing it''s been so long maybe it''s best we don''t."


    "Thank you for indulging my train of thought Captain." He looked over at the hatch. "Your newer officers are doing well for their first time out here."


    "They are all still nervous. I''m just waiting..."


    They were interrupted by the chime on the panel. It wasn''t high priority and there was no general quarters alarm going off. The two grinned at each other.


    "5 credits bet to say it is what you were about to say." Centios offered and Alixia shook her head.


    "No I don''t take bad bets." She accepted the com call. "This is the Pacetto, go ahead."


    "Ma''am, tactical just saw something odd."


    "I''ll be out in a second." She closed the call and stood as Centios did. "What do you think it is?"


    "Glitch in the updates I bet. A bug that wasn''t smoothed out." He said before they exited back out onto the flag bridge. "Alright," his voice carried across the bridge, "what is it?"


    A young Ensign pointed into a large hologram he shared with a few other flag officers, a small smudge that flickered in an odd way, the system seemed unsure what to label it as ghostly text flickered from word to word next to it. "We got this from the arrays a minute ago, the system doesn''t know what to make of it."


    Centios frowned thoughtfully. He knew this was a bug in the software because the system almost always slapped an ''unknown'' label on things it could sense but not categorize and if it had been a ship actually breaching the zone then the ships would of been getting a breech report and orders to pursue.


    "Then what do you make of it Ensign?" Centios asked.


    "I don''t know." He said, "the system doesn''t have any designations for this."


    He heard Alixia give a laugh covered up as a cough. He had to keep from laughing himself. Rookie mistake to trust the systems a little too much.


    "So then why wouldn''t the system know what to make of this?" He prodded as he tried to get the young officer to come to the right conclusion himself. The young man began to look over to the other other officer and Centios quickly shook his head. "I asked you Ensign, not them."


    The ensign swallowed nervously and turned back to study the contact. "I... I don''t think it''s an actual breech. Or else we would have gotten a report." He paused to rub his hands together. "No orders coming in from The Central Buffer Zone Station, no threat level assignments from the system."


    Centios saw the realization dawn in the young man''s eyes.


    "It''s a bug in the software, since we are updating the array the ship is working on with both hardware and software, something is causing a problem to report to us that isn''t there!" He tapped a command into his station. "Of course it''s possible that all the fail safes we have in place have failed and this really is a real contact of some sort, but even if the array we are currently at was seeing something, then at least one other array would catch it and give the system the proper information to label it."


    "Good job Ensign!" Alixia said warmly, "Now how do we solve this problem."


    "Report it to the repair ship and query the other local arrays and Central Buffer Station to see if it needs to be investigated further?" His confidence faded a little as he looked between his Admiral and Flag Captain.


    "That sounds like a solid plan. Get on it, and if it turns out to be something we need to worry about then we can worry about it once we have cleared this up. Remember just because we are the Buffer Zone doesn''t mean every single thing the sensors manage to pick up is a problem or even real. It''s good to be on alert but if you stay tense and waiting then you will only stress yourself to the point of exhaustion."


    The newer officers around him seem to take heart from the impromptu speech and Centios gave a confident nod. "If anything changes, I will be working in my cabin. Captain, hold the fort while I''m gone."


    "Aye Sir." She gave an informal salute and turned to supervise the officers as they set about trying to correct the problem.


    Even as he turned away he could see the small flickering contact wink out of existence, showing that they already isolated part of the problem and were correcting it. The new people were always worried. He did too the first time he was out here. In fact he''d had pretty much the same problem when he''d been deployed here as a newly promoted Captain.


    <hr>


    Centios sat back at his desk, stretched out his arms and winced slightly as a joint cracked in protest of the movement. He had gotten lost in the endless paperwork of running a fleet and looking at the time, it was time to retire to bed.


    He wasn''t quite tired yet and swiveled the chair to face the painting. An absolutely beautiful painting hung there, a planet that was a marble of green, tans, browns and blues, clouds layered over those rich colors like puffs of candy set atop the dark star-speckled majesty of space. Centurion IV. His homeworld. His eyes traveled across the land masses visible in the painting, landing on a small sea near the equator, most of its coast an odd grayish silver and green, showing where the city of Foundation, the capital of the planet, had once existed.


    He felt his thoughts darken at that. Foundation had been a thriving city of over 3.5 billion. It had been his home, the place he had been born and raised.


    And it was still a pile of ruble and ash on the edge of evaporated dead dry sea to this day.


    Like many others, he wanted to know why Desson had done what she had done. Why had she flattened the city? Why had she betrayed her crew, her nation to run off and play tin god out in sparsely populated regions of space? He wished he could just have them answer, to magically know what excuse would bubble from her lips when she was inevitably locked in a jail cell to await her death.


    She had been there, hadn''t she? Centios narrowed his eyes. She had been in the Empire, somewhere, maybe not in the capital, but there. He could of had her in chains if only he''d come with a true fleet. Callisas had nothing on Nov Sol, no one had the power to stand against them. It would be so easy to take them out, snuffing out her allies, closing the jaws of a trap the size of human space around her until there was nothing left but her own ship, desperately on the run, slowly starved of food, fuel, and ammunition until she was dead in space, easy prey for the powerful Novu Sol Navy.


    But they still coyly avoided that action, as easy as it would be. Politicians fearful of repercussions that would never come, officers afraid to commit to action that would inevitably lead to death of some of their people.


    Centios swung back to face his desk. One day, he, or the Navy he served, would hopefully would bring Desson to her knees and eliminate the threat she posed. Right now guarding the Buffer Zone was an exercise in boredom, but one day he would get the news of her capture.


    Preferably while his ship sat in front of the wreck of the stolen Ionosphere and a shuttle brought her over to him under arrest.


    One day, that dream would be reality.


    <div>

 Chapter 6

    Novu Sol Star System


    Novu Sol


    Genesis City


    Admiral Julia Vales was a busy woman. Being the head of Novu Sol''s navy was no easy feat, wearing the stellar burst was a heavy burden and she would have it no other way. She''d worked hard to get here, there was no better way for her to serve her nation than being one of the top Admirals that ran the show. Sometimes she did miss having an actual ship or fleet to command, but so was the sacrifice of rank. One could not stay a captain forever and by serving her navy in this manner she got to watch an entire navy''s worth of officers thrive.


    She smiled at the young man sitting at a desk outside her office. Her personal yeoman, he kept her on track and always seemed to know what she needed. "What''s on the schedule for today Zander?"


    "Your biggest commitment is a meeting with the rest of High Command at 1400. We had some files come in for review from the Buffer Zone and  I believe that yesterday you told me you wanted to be reminded to..." He squinted down at a note on his desk, "Check with the Logistical Office about the shortages they reported about a week ago."


    Vales snorted. "Of all the things to run short on, you''d think they''d learn to check their decimal points when ordering things."


    "Ah but surely you remember the plight of trying to get Logistics to cough up what you want Admiral." Zander grinned. "How much fun it was to fill those forms."


    "I still get night terrors to this day of trying to get those extra parts for my heavy cruiser command when they absolutely would not cough them up for my engineers." She chuckled. "Thanks Zander."


    She walked past him into her office, then paused when she saw his hand press the accept call button on his screen. She watched as he began his usual spiel and then stayed unnaturally silent for a long period of time. Vales leaned on the frame of her door, Zander began to take a furious note then shot up and turned to obviously tell her in person about the call. He stopped short as he saw her still standing there.


    "Uh Ma''am..." he seemed a bit stunned. "We have a training request."


    Vales quirked an eyebrow. That was unusual. It had been a while since anyone had taken the Novu Sol''s navy up on their long-standing promise to train  warships in proper space warfare and pirate protection measures. She knew a good portion of the reasons why people didn''t is that they were hiring that traitor Desson, but another part was that there weren''t very many nations left that had the ships to request the training and not just straight up ask for regular patrols.


    "Who is it? Did they already pass screening?" She asked.


    "Yes, or else we wouldn''t have gotten the call." Zander made a motion to his ear piece. "The Ambassador of the TriStar Systems is on the line, it''s just so unusual to get the requests I thought I better warn you face to face."


    She nodded and gave a warm smile to Zander. "Thank you, transfer it over and I''ll speak with her." She closed the door to her office, sank into the comfortable chair, and took a deep breath, using the moment to gather her thoughts.


    The TriStar Systems was a set of three relatively close star systems each with a habitable world in its third orbit and a notable gas giant with an expansive moon system. Almost mirrors of each other, the odd trio of stars had long shared close relationships with each other and merged to form a tiny nation that despite its small number of systems, did well by itself by trading materials, goods and the occasional service. They never boasted a huge naval presence, some patrol craft in the actual star systems, some destroyers and obsolete frigates to police the merchants. They never needed a large force due to their proximity to the Stellar Democracy.


    She wondered what caused this change of heart. She hoped it was just them wanting some extra punch to their minimal navy rather than a disaster.


    Vales accepted the call once she felt she was ready to talk to the ambassador. The face of the ambassador appeared, her dark eyes seeming troubled. Not a good sign. "Hello Ambassador Surya, my secretary told me you were approved for our naval training program?"


    Ambassador Surya gave a nod. "Yes Admiral Vales, I was told to contact you once the approval from screening came through."


    "Ambassador, why did you apply for our program?" Vales asked as she pulled up data on what they knew about the TriStar Systems. "Says here last we knew you had 20 patrol craft, 5 destroyers and 3 frigates. Considering your nation is on the outskirts of our borders, that should be more than enough to protect your worlds."


    Vales looked back at the ambassador and saw a bit of panic on the other woman''s face. "You aren''t going to withdraw..."


    "No! Of course not." Vales quickly cut off the worried woman''s train of thought, "I was just wondering why you feel you need it."


    Surya took a deep breath, stealing her nerves. "Around nine months ago we noticed an uptick in attacks against our shipping outside our space. We changed our habits and began to tag along with your convoys, which helped a little. Then one of our patrol craft went missing, then a frigate, then two of our destroyers. No debris, no distress calls. They went silent."


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    Vales felt her stomach knot. She did not like where this was going. "Did you find anything?"


    "They reappeared, least the hyper capable ones did. They were damaged and limping back into orbit and when they got there they opened fired on the orbital defenses. Caught completely by surprise they destroyed a good chunk of the station and killed a lot of the people in it. They demanded our planet''s surrender and only the rest of that system''s patrol craft and all the other destroyers flocking to our rescue saved us from ceding the planet to these pirates. Having lost those ships, and the damage done to our other ships, we need Novu Sol''s help and honestly it''s protection while we build more ships. We have our first cruiser under construction right now, and we are looking into buying some more destroyers from Novu Sol." Surya looked down, "The TriStar System needs your help."


    "And we can provide it." Vales said with a soft smile. "Ambassador, it''s why we have the program to begin with. So smaller nations can learn to fight and protect their planets. Your losses sounded horrific, but your nation is doing the right thing by coming to us for help. My navy would be more than glad to help protect your people while you build up your forces." She paused for a moment to let Surya digest that. She wasn''t going to mention that they could have gone with the lunatic Desson and gone broke if they hired her, but it was better to not acknowledge that little black spot on their reputation. "In fact if you give me a few days, let me get in contact with the Vanquish yards to see about starting on a set of destroyers for you. I cannot promise anything but if I talk to the Treasurer and the President, I might be able to get them subsidized for your nation."


    "Really?!" Surya sounded both ecstatic and shocked. "That is far beyond what I imagined this program would offer. I was under the impression that it was more of just a study program."


    "Oh no, of course not." Vales tapped a note into her console. "You are a interstellar neighbor of ours and the TriStar Systems had never been an enemy so why wouldn''t we want to help you?" She sighed, looking a bit troubled as her mind raced over all she would have to do. "Right now they just went after your nation, which is fairly underwhelming in the firepower department. But who''s to say that the next target won''t be one of our worlds? We may have the most powerful navy, but we cannot be everywhere at once. Sometimes pirates get through the cracks we cannot cover, which is why having powerful allies is so important."


    "Thank you Admiral! I cannot thank you enough." Surya was practically gushing and Vales couldn''t help a small chuckle.


    "I haven''t even done anything real yet Ambassador! Please, let me show some results before giving me the first place trophy."


    Surya gave a snort of laughter herself. "It still means a lot to me, and to my nation. We were afraid after the attack, afraid for our children, our trade, our homes."


    Vales nodded, serious once again. "I understand wanting to make sure your home is safe from those that might threaten it. It''s why we build militaries in the first place. When does your next dispatch to home go out?"


    "In about...." Surya checked something out of view of her com screen, "Six hours. Why?"


    "I have an information packet and proposal I want to send to your Prime Minister. Mostly normal information about what will happen and how we will go about it, but in order to give you a vast and experienced pool of people, I want to propose that your military send some naval officers to serve on our ships and some of ours on yours. A cultural exchange sort of arrangement, but a good way to immerse less experienced personnel with people who have been doing their job for years."


    "That sounds wonderful!" Surya practically beamed. "I doubt it will be a problem, it sounds like a good idea and The Prime Minister will love it. I just know it."


    "Then it''s settled." Vales tapped a command on her screen. "I sent you the proposal and the information, I will get the ball rolling on the rest of what I need to make this happen as soon as possible. If I have any hiccups, may I call you Ambassador?"


    "Yes of course Admiral." The Ambassador gave a sort of half bow to the screen. "Thank you once again, it means so much to me... to us."


    "It''s not a problem Ambassador." Vales gave a respectful nod to her and said, "Have a good rest of your day," before she ended the call.


    Vales sat back, rubbing her chin in thought. They were a bit more desperate then she''d expected, but the Ambassador might just be the excitable sort. A person unable to keep her emotions in check when it came to negative experiences. Not the best Ambassador to have but then again, did the TriStar Systems ever expect for a pirate band to be brazen enough to attack them with their own ships?


    That was worrisome, but in the end a small problem for a navy as large as the one she controlled.  Vales wouldn''t want to risk isolating any smaller destroyers just in case but small ships being on isolated missions was fairly rare, and she could probably work with her people to make sure to step up security patrols and protocols for the more remote planets her ships were stationed at. She wondered who the bright spark was behind the pirate band that did it. It was clever, but Desson was one person and would not have allowed herself to be defeated, so her probable involvement was slim.


    She brought up a star map, dimmed the lights in her office and traced a speckle of stars that was at this viewing angle slightly above and to the general ''right'' of Novu Sol. Hornrasier''s Confederacy, the interstellar equivalent of a pit of snakes as always highlighted a dull mustard yellow as an indication of dangerous, but not actively warring, space. A nation with such a weak central government it couldn''t keep its own planets under control half the time, often subject to corrupt power plays by tin pot dictators and breakaway movements that rarely stuck. It was a common place for pirates to come from because it was such a hellhole that if a corrupt politician siphoned off a few armed ships and gave the crews orders to do something, there''s was a good chance no one could trace it unless the politician was dumb enough to not cover their tracks. Of course some people were always bound to be bastards, which is why anyone had a military in the first place, and who knows, maybe some random person got tired and decided to go attack the TriStar Systems because they thought they could actually succeed.


    Vales brought the lights back up, leaving the star chart to float there in the air as she entered a command to call her various advisors and staff. Time to get this ball rolling.

 Chapter 7

    Callisas Star System


    The Empire of Callisas


    Callisas-3


    "What do you mean you applied for the training!?" Their Majesty rounded on the man that sat in their office, their glare fierce. He fidgeted nervously, not looking them in the eyes.


    "We were accepted for training Your Majesty." He stressed the word slightly. "I told you what happened in the Uno System, why wouldn''t we want more training?"


    "Jack," They said, sitting down at their desk, their voice still hard, but more reasonable. "You have to know what happens to worlds that accept Novu Sol''s offer for training."


    The man, Jack, glanced up, a bit of defiance in his eyes. "It can''t be any worse than almost losing your world to pirates."


    "I''m not going to insult our friendship and you by saying your world would be better off in their hands." They sighed. "It wouldn''t be, but Jack, your ships drove them off, yes with some loss of life, but they did do their job. At most all you needed was some protection, the Empire would of been happy to provide it so you didn''t have to sell your nation''s soul to the devil."


    Jack shrugged. "I don''t understand why you think the Stellar Democracy is that bad. They have been good trading partners for years and never caused any problems. They even offered to take and train people in their own navy, so we''ll get a good close look at their tech while our people do that."


    The monarch buried their face in their hands. "They do that so they can start separating the culture from those officers and infusing their own. They''ve done this countless times to nations before, it''s death by assimilation, a million tiny cuts before your identity is swallowed by the mass that is Novu Sol." They looked back up. "Why didn''t you come to me for help? We would have been glad to help, you have been an ally of ours since I was a kid. We practically grew up together Jack!"


    Jack got up to walk around the sitting room, pausing to look out the window out upon the rolling garden that surrounded the Palace. "As Ambassador from the TriStar Systems, I not only have a duty to be a link between our nations, but give my advice to my government when called upon." He glanced back at them. "So I did."


    "Did the Prime Minister reject the idea of asking us?" They were puzzled, why wouldn''t their close ally want to deal with them in matters of protection? It made no sense and they stared at Jack, confused. "Why would he do that?"


    "No, I told him not to ask." Jack''s voice had gone flat, like he was reciting lines from a script. "That it was in our best interest to contact Novu Sol for training."


    "What?!" They sounded shocked. Had Jack not been a close personal friend, they would have kept their tone more neutral. This however was a betrayal of their trust and friendship. "Why? What did we do?"


    Jack hunched a little, his voice still flat. "One of your Admirals...."


    "One of my..." they took a sharp breath. "The Admiral, what about her?"


    "I do not trust her." Jack said.


    "You do not need to trust her to use her services." They replied, as they glared at Jack''s back. "She is a former Novu Sol officer and has imparted much more wisdom on our officers than Novu Sol ever would. And while she might charge a high price, she is worth every credit because she won''t ask you to give up your culture for the pleasure of kissing her ass."


    "No Your Majesty," Jack''s voice went quiet. "It''s not... not that." He fumbled slightly with his words.


    "Then why? Hell you know she''s available and you could have asked for her contact through our sources! She would have come willingly and dealt with your people fairly!" They made a frustrated motion. "Hell Jack, I would have been more than willing to help with paying the cost of her services, she really is worth the money."


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Our navy has suffered enough, we don''t need The Admiral killing our people as well as pirates." Jack countered, still staring out the window to avoid their gaze.


    "She has a fixed price on not doing that that is actually reasonable compared to her usual asking prices. I could pay it out of pocket right now Jack! Why does..."


    "Because she''s a lunatic!" This time Jack rounded on Their Majesty, a fire blazed in his eyes. "She is an unhinged maniac with the power of an unchecked warship at her command! She murdered billions, she razed an entire world for not paying her once, she has, may I remind you, murdered one of your officers in cold blood for talking back to her." He made an angry gesture, breathing ragged as he let his true feelings show. "Not to mention what she''s done in other nations, the people she has killed, the ATS thing recently." Jack turned his glare on the Empire''s leader. "And you continue to support her and protect her."


    They stared, shocked at the outburst before slowly getting to their feet, their face settled on a cold neutrality. "She was all we had after Novu Sol rejected us multiple times for that training, calling our government corrupt simply for having an aristocracy and refused to even consider our vast and fair voting systems in place for the population. She trained our forces and we earned her trust."


    "And how far will that get you?" Jack''s voice was bitter. "What will stop her from turning on you the second you can''t pay her the credits she wants? Why should she care about you and your nation when she was willing to bomb a capital city to rubble for the nation she swore to protect but instead defected from? She''s a danger to everyone, don''t think that just because the snake keeps crawling back to you, that you cannot get bitten. She is a danger to your people and it is foolish to think otherwise."


    They locked eyes with Jack, they were obviously not happy with being lectured on how they ran Their nation. "Jack," they kept their voice as level as they could make it, "it''s a danger that is easy to avoid and accept in exchange for keeping our culture and traditions. Yes I do remember the person she killed because at first we didn''t pay the fee. I would not wish anyone die in vain, but that man had posed a hazard to his crew, ship and my nation and when he stepped out of line too many times thinking he was immune, he was killed. If it wasn''t The Admiral that did it, he would of been killed doing something stupid with his ship before we could eject him from the service due to politics."


    Jack looked disgusted. "You are making excuses, Your Majesty. I don''t care how you want to flavor it, there are ways to do things and using a traitor and criminal as some high example for your officers is beyond shameful."


    "Jack please," they''re voice was almost begging now. "Just tell your Prime Minister to withdraw from the training, I swear we can be..."


    "I am not going to accept training from a nation that conspires with a traitor and murderer!"


    The second Jack snapped that off he seemed to regret it but he did not take it back. A long silence followed, the stillness in the room so quiet and fragile that even a single breath would be too loud to bear. They waited but Jack said nothing more, his gaze once again fixed down on the floor to avoid their eyes.


    After the silence had drawn on long enough to become uncomfortable the monarch of the Empire of Callas straightened, their features settled into a cold, neutral expression. "Ambassador." Their voice was now cool and formal.


    Jack physically flinched at the change in tone. He had rarely ever heard that tone from them, but when it had been used in the past, it had never been for anything good, but it had never before been directed at him. The use of his official title as Ambassador made it worse. They were not talking as a friend anymore, but as a leader. "Yes Your Majesty?" His own voice sounded detached.


    "I am going to have to ask your Embassy to pack its things and leave, I''ll give your people a month to wrap up anything business they have here and pack their things. I can loan you a passenger liner to take back all of the TriStar citizens that  moved here for the purpose of serving the Embassy." They looked down at Jack, his gaze still fixed firmly to the floor. "Your merchantmen will still be allowed access to our economy, but the waiving of fees and import taxes will be raised to the same level as Novu Sol''s. You are dismissed, Ambassador."


    Jack gave a stiff, formal bow and turned to leave, then he paused as he put his hand on the doorknob, looking back over his shoulder at his friend. "I''m sorry Your Majesty." His voice quiet.


    "I know." They replied just as quietly and Jack slipped out of the room, the click of the closing door sounded final, the last confirmation of the end of a life-long friendship and even longer alliance.


    They slumped back into their chair, buried their face in their hands and began to sob, tears ran down their face as they cried for the loss of their close friend and the death of an allied nation.


    <div>

 Chapter 8

    Ares Centios


    The Buffer Zone


    NSW Lunar Eclipse


    Centios looked over the message on his terminal with a thoughtful expression.


    A message from home had come in with a delivery of supplies and new personnel from the Central Buffer Zone Station. People often rotated between ships and the station out here to give them experience in a large range of jobs in a ''safe'' place so they could find their strengths and work on their weaknesses. It was rare for people to ship out here en masse but sometimes smaller groups of people were sent with the supply ships that provided the station and it¡¯d attached fleets with what it needed.


    He had been given a batch of those people. Not a lot, only an Ensign and few enlisted, but they weren''t Novu Sol citizens.


    They were TriStar citizens and military personnel. This message explained that the TriStar Systems had been accepted to be trained by the Novu Sol Navy and some personnel were being taken aboard Novu ships for training purposes. Most had some experience, pretty much anyone who had been on a hyper capable ship had fought the pirates that had threatened the capital planet or at least worked on a ship for some period of time, but their actual ships were far behind Novu Sol standards in terms of hardware, software and capability.


    Centos smiled a bit as he tapped a command to comm for the new arrivals into his cabin''s terminal. It would do them well to serve on his ship, the best Novu Sol had to offer without going to the Test Yards themselves.


    After a few minutes a young ensign shuffled in, he looked tired but presentable and the enlisted, two older men and a woman, looked nervous. They weren''t used to being brought up in front of Admirals for much of anything. He studied them, their uniforms a light gray with rank markings or patches that were pitch black, making them stand out from their base fabric and he had to admit it made it easy to tell their ranks apart in a mere instant. Their salutes were crisp and close enough to Novu Sol salutes it didn''t seem awkward to watch.


    "I am sorry for summoning you like this, I know it''s been a long day getting your bunk assignments settled and making sure you have jobs to do but I wanted to speak to you." Centios laced his fingers together, leaning back in his chair and let the silence draw for a moment. He saw the woman steal a nervous glance at her companions but everyone else remained at attention. "At ease." He said, a mild amusement in his voice. They relaxed at the command but remained attentive. Good.


    "I have been reading the report about the attack on your capital and I have to commend your navy for managing to destroy the pirates, that took guts and skill." He looked at the Ensign. "Ensign Vance, I believe you were on one of the other destroyers for the battle were you not?"


    "Yes Admiral." Vance responded. "It was not an easy fight."


    "Battles rarely are." Centios agreed, his voice solemn. "Why did you come out here?"


    Vance still looked nervous, his young age showing as he swallowed and shifted slightly, eyes flicking away before returning to him. "I volunteered to come out here because I wanted to learn from the best navy in space. What better place to learn than the place where Novu Sol sends its best ships?"


    Centios looked at the enlisted. "Is it the same with you three?"


    They nodded.


    "That is good to hear." Centios said. "See this is the first time I believe any outsider had been allowed to serve in the Buffer Zone. Quite an achievement for all four of you. I do not know what you have heard about the Quarantine Zone or the AI or any rumors about this place," His voice got stern, cold, "And I do not want to hear that you are trying to spread rumors or lies. Facts and stories have grown in the telling and we have a very important job to do out here. We guard our planets from the menace that stalks the Old Sol Star System, we make sure the warning arrays stay functional but most importantly, we protect people from themselves."


    He could see the confusion on their faces, Centios'' smile was thin and humorless.


    "You see, one thing we are all taught at a young age is that AI are bad, if they get a chance they will attack us and bomb our worlds in a heartbeat but you see," He waved a hand and a star map appeared, showing the span of stars all the way back to Old Sol. "Old Sol is all way back here, without hyper technology, they cannot reach us, sublight travel would take decades and still barely be out of the star system itself. However we have hyperdrives. Civilians have hyperdrives. Pirates, privateers, thrill-seekers... they have the ability to reach that star system and put themselves and all of humanity at risk. All it would take is one ship, one person stupid enough to think they are the exception to the rule to put every world in danger."


    He leaned forward, his gaze fixed on the four TriStar citizens. "You have to realize what position that leaves us in. We may one day be asked to do something none of you would like. Perhaps it has been hinted at or told in passing, but I will tell you plainly. We have orders to open fire and disable any ship that crosses the Buffer Zone. If they do not heed our warnings and still attempt to run or resist we will destroy them. It doesn''t matter who they are. Pirates, merchants, passenger liners. We will destroy anyone who does not heed our threats." A small pause. "Even our own. Do you understand?"


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The four were silent for a minute, looking at the star map and exchanging glances before the Ensign, looking back at three enlisted and said something in a language Centios knew was the TriLingua, the native language of the TriStar Systems. The three nodded and Vance turned back to Centios. He would have to address that later.


    "Admiral, Sir." Vance said, "We will do our duty to protect humanity, not just our own."


    "Even if it means open firing on one of your own civilians?" Centios pointedly asked.


    "Yes Sir." Vance nodded. "It''s our duty to protect civilians, but not if they are endangering literally every world humans live on."


    "It''s not an easy promise to make but I feel you mean the words you speak." Centios smiled. "Thank you Ensign, you all are dismissed." He watched them salute and walk out the hatch, his eyes lingered on the star of Old Sol. Perhaps putting the fear of god into them wasn''t exactly the right way to do things, but Centios had to make sure. It was too easy to be lulled into a false sense of security and get dangerously soft. It was then that the security measures would fail and someone would try to get into the Quarantine Zone. Staying paradoxically both alert and not too nervous was a fine balanced line he would have to impress upon Vance and he knew his Chiefs would impress that upon the enlisted.


    After all, the TriStar Systems let their guard down and got burned for it. They managed to escape the dire consequences of their tiny navy though, the burn minor compared to what could have happened. Novu Sol was still paying the price for humanity''s hubris with the AI in Old Sol, and, he thought bitterly, eyes turned from the star map to the painting of his home world, Novu Sol still has a debt to pay to you, to me, to all of us on Centurion IV. What could truly have gone wrong in the TriStar Uno System. You better be glad it didn''t happen to you. Lucky bastards.


    <hr>


    "Good job Ensign." Alixia praised as she looked over the shoulder of Ensign Vance. "You got the timing just right on the defensive fire activation, giving the enemy missiles little time to adjust their courses." She smiled as straightened. "Not bad for only having three months out here with us. It took me weeks to grasp how to properly manage defensive fire."


    Vance seemed almost overjoyed at the praise. Alixia loved to help train young officers, but she wasn''t too free with her praise. She always knew just when to give it to max effect so the younger officers felt they had learned and grown enough to earn it, rather than being babied along or straight up abused. "Thank you Ma''am. I still see a few things I could have done better."


    Alixia seemed pleased that it wasn''t going to his head. Last thing anyone wanted was him thinking too highly of himself. An officer with an inflated ego was a terrible thing. "Of course Ensign, there is always room to improve, but you have come far for someone raised on aging last-generation equipment. The navy we are helping your nation build will be much better able to defend your planet."


    "I hope so Ma''am." Vance replied as he shuffled data around his station, referencing a guide on one screen before tapping in some commands to send the data of the simulation to his tablet. The small tablet at his side beeped in confirmation of receipt of the data.


    Centios watched from his position at the back of the flag bridge, not wanting to intrude but interested in the progress none-the-less. As an Admiral he usually didn''t have a direct hand in training young officers, being too worried over fleet matters and multiple ship captains to have time to worry about junior officers. He did indulge himself occasionally, after all he had just come from a stint teaching at the Academy and fostering the next generation of officers was the least he could do to give back to his navy.


    Vance turned around as one of his fellow TriSystem people approached, he grinned at the woman as she presented her tablet to him to transfer her own information to his station. He began to talk to her, his native language standing out on the bridge, making some of the others falter as they glanced over at him, not used to hearing the language.


    "Ensign!" Centios gave his voice the snap of command and instantly the Ensign turned to him, the enlisted woman almost coming to attention at his side.


    "Yes Sir?" He asked, eyes nervous.


    Centios walked over to stand beside him, looking down at the young officer for an uncomfortable moment of silence before he spoke. "Here on this ship we speak Novu Solarian, Ensign. I do not care what language you spoke on your own ships or what you do in your own time, but you are a guest on my ship and of my navy. You cannot be speaking the TriLingua here."


    "I... I''m sorry Admiral." Vance said. "Since I was talking to Petty Officer Lucia I thought it would be fine."


    Centios spared a glance over at the woman who said nothing, not wanting to invoke the wrath of an admiral.


    "As I said, what you do in your own time is your doing. I will not fault you for writing home in your native tongue, or speaking to your fellow countrymen off duty in TriLingua, but when you are on duty, you speak Novu Solarian." He paused for a second, eyes flicking over to Alixia and made a small hand motion to her.


    "Ensign," she picked up the thread of his logic seamlessly, "there are very good reasons. You are young and prone to mistakes, more so than our own young officers given that you were trained on last generation, less effective equipment. We need to know what you are saying so we can catch mistakes before they become a problem. It also helps with information flow, even if you were the best officer in the universe, no one here would understand your orders or warnings, as you can imagine, in a crisis that would Be the death of this ship."


    She laid a hand on his shoulder, a comforting smile on her face compared the stern expression Centios wore. "So stick to Novu Solarian while you are out here Ensign. Before you know it, you''ll be home and serving on a TriStar cruiser, where you don''t have to worry about any crossed wires due to language."


    "Yes Ma''am, Yes Sir." Vance straightened in his seat and turned back to his work.


    Centios, satisfied that the point had gone home, looked over at the TriStar enlisted woman. "You may continue your work, and tell the others the same goes for all of you. You are on our ship, you speak Novu Solarian."


    "Yes Sir." The woman saluted and hurried off back to her job.


    Centios watched her go, hiding his smile until he was out of the flag bridge, no longer needed there to hover and stifle Alixia. He was in the mood to go lift some weights, it would do him some good to get some exercise.

 Chapter 9

    Uno Star System


    TriStar Systems


    TSS Pavone


    "Commander, they are bearing down on our starboard side! They are trying to get behind us!"


    TriStar System Commander Aminta Caccia of the Pavone looked at her data of the enemy trying to close the distance to her ship. Her ship was a light cruiser, fast and agile, which also meant it was fragile.  She had decided to engage the older heavy cruiser that had taken a few terrible hits and looked lamed enough for her ship to finish them off at close range.


    She had been wrong, whatever had been hit in those initial first moments of battle had not been enough. Suckered into close range, the heavy cruiser had swiftly launched missiles that had found their way to her ship''s engines, only her shielding prevented her outright destruction. Now the enemy was going for the kill, slamming energy weapons hard into her weakened shields, maneuvering their ship to try to get a clean hit in the already damaged engines, which could either completely disable the ship, leaving it drifting with only maneuvering thrusters to work with, or cause an unstable feedback into the reactors which would be the end of her ship.


    Either way this fight was heading south fast and she racked her brain trying to think of something she could do.


    "Helm, can we outrun them?" Caccia asked.


    "No Ma''am, the damage is light but it''s enough if we strain it it might cause worse damage." The officer at the helm station replied. Caccia couldn''t help notice how young the officer was at this moment, wielding the power of moving an entire ship at his hands and not having the long years to suggest something. She didn¡¯t really have the experience to think of something truly clever.


    A thought suddenly struck her as she gazed at the movement of her opponent, it would be dangerous, and timed wrong it would cost her her ship but she input a few commands into her controls, watching them come back green across the board and grinned. She could do this.


    She hoped.


    "Helm, we are going to flip our ship. End over end." She snapped at the helm officer who just looked shocked. Ships normally didn''t do that, preferring to turn, or ''bank'' around in larger arcs, or twisting headings, as it eased the load on inertial dampeners. Flipping end over end was something ships avoided because while it could get you facing backwards quick, the second you lit off your engines you were fighting your momentum in the complete opposite direction, it slowed you down considerably, strained the dampeners quite a bit and if you had taken damage, like Pavone had, it could mean turning your crew into paste if even one dampener with unknown damage buckled under the stress.


    "Tactical, line up your forward energy weapons on the spot where that cruiser is going to be when we flip over. Helm, we need to flip fast and accurately. We cannot lose a second or we will be in a bad position in terms of weapon engagements. Got it?" She snapped and the helm officer nodded fearfully and turned back to his station, working with the ratings for a moment.


    "23 seconds to flip!" He called out and the tactical officer, sweat gleaming on her forehead gave a shaking affirmative reply. The seconds sped downwards as everyone waited, an endless eternity of time as the heavy cruiser crept closer to where it would strike its killing blow against the engines.


    " Now!"


    The command perhaps unnecessary as the ship went into a controlled tumble, Pavone''s thrusters pushing her front up and swinging the engine quickly away and bringing her forward energy mounts and missile batteries to bear. The pressure leaking through was like a solid mass sitting right on her lungs and she was well aware of the tin-y sound more felt than heard as the dampeners strained to keep the force from killing the crew. The engines lit up, slowing them just a touch for the perfect shot. Caccia was very keenly aware of the very high pitched, barely audible whine that climbed out of the first noise of the dampeners as they bore the stress of the maneuver.


    Just enough for tactical to lock in the solution to fire and press the firing key flat. Four missiles leapt out the ship, streaking towards the now oncoming enemy cruiser, while the shields on the bow on the cruiser momentarily tried to resist the hits of Pavone''s energy mounts. The shields failed and the cruiser began a hard turn to port, in a vain attempt to interpose an undamaged shield between the missiles while counter measures raced out frantically.


    They were too close for the countermeasures to be worth much, as even the dumbest missile could find their target in energy range and when pointed straight at their target not to mention there was barely enough time to properly register the missiles were there. The missiles slammed hard into the heavy cruiser, the shields failing as the missiles burst upon their target''s bare armor. The explosions of the missiles were drowned out a moment later as the forward magazines in the cruiser exploded, breaking the front half of the ship open like a used tin can.


    Commander Caccia felt a little dizzy that her plan had worked, but she could not dwell on her shock, the enemy was still there, broken, but still there.


    "Fire all energy weapons! Straight into the wreck!" She snapped and with an enthusiastic ''aye'' the tactical officer bent to the task of reducing the heavy cruiser to wreckage. She watched as the ship was attacked under the direction of the tactical officer, her eyes occasionally flicked over the rest of the battle. Thankfully no other enemies were coming to the aid of the now broken cruiser, most tied up in losing battles or fleeing for their lives.


    A tone sounded, a pleasant voice announced "Simulation Complete, TriStar Forces Win."


    A cheer went up around the bridge and Caccia didn''t have the heart to calm them. It had been a difficult fight, something very reminiscent of the battle in the Uno System against the pirates, so their joy was understandable. It meant they were doing better against skilled opponents and would thus be able to defend their nation from the scum of the universe.


    "Good job Aminta. That was a smart move."


    She sat up straighter, turning her head as a man in the dark uniform of the Novu Sol Captain walked up beside her chair. He was one of the many officers sent out here to help train the TriStar Navy up to standards and often seemed to hover about Pavone like a nervous parent over a child.


    "Thank you Sir." She replied. "I do not believe I would actually want to try to pull that off in real life though."


    "For good reason. It was a smart move against your single opponent." He reached down to her command controls and brought up a still from the battle, right after she had flipped and had fired on the heavy cruiser. "See this here? It was a risk, and one you had to take or else the heavy cruiser would have worn you down to nothing given time, but..." The captain motioned to the still. "What was wrong?"


    She looked up at him blankly and then back down at the still. "Wrong? Was it too risky to try? My dampeners were heavily strained so I can understand if it was too risky from that point."


    "Yes and no. I saw you redlining your dampeners and yes, they were right on the edge of failing had they taken any sort of damage. They didn''t fail so that''s not what the danger was. Expand the view on that still." He instructed.


    Caccia did as told, expanding the view out farther than her one on one duel to the entire battle. Ships surrounded hers in a wild melee of close in fighting, enemy and friendly alike.


    "See here?" He pointed into the still at a Novu battleship.


    She stared at it for a long moment, her eyes searched for a problem but she saw nothing. "What?"


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Alright here, if the simulation hadn''t ended when it had..." He overlaid a much more detailed hologram over it, with targeting data from the battleship. "Now do you see?"


    Caccia sighed. "The battleship was aiming straight at my engines with an energy battery. We would have been dead in a single shot if it had fired."


    "Good. You have to keep an eye on the entire battlefield, not all the time and not alone, but you have to remember there are multiple factors at play and while you were winning the battle, you would have lost the war, one might say, if you hyper focus on a single target." The captain pointed out. "Now make sure your crew gets some rest and reviews their departments¡¯ performance. I think tomorrow''s exercise is going to be worse."


    <hr>


    Uno Star System


    TriStar Systems


    Government Central


    Former Ambassador to the Empire of Callisas Jack Perez sat somewhat nervously in the office of Prime Minister Voya as the man stirred cream and sugar into his coffee, his own cup sitting on the desk in front of him but unwilling to touch it.


    "So they kicked you out?" Voya finally asked.


    "Their Majesty doesn''t like the Stellar Democracy." Jack said, "They didn''t take too kindly to the fact I recommended Novu Sol over their own navy for help."


    "I can imagine. Shame we lost the decreased tariffs." Voya sipped his coffee and Jack could not help noticing they were talking in Novu Solarian, not the TriLingua. In every correspondence home, every meeting, everything he had ever received from Voya or his predecessors, it had been in the TriLingua. Jack may not be a TriSystem-born TriCitizen given his parents had been serving the Callisas Empire when he was born, but he spoke it fluently. The TriSystems had always been proud of its language, using it more frequently than the standard Novu Solarian that most other nations defaulted to. It wasn''t uncommon for TriCitizens to be fluent in both with Novu Solarian being neglected for their native tongue. He felt unnerved, as his mind replayed the warning from Their Majesty about Novu Sol separating their culture from them to transplant on their own.


    The door behind him opened and Jack turned to see a wispy man in a gray suit walk in and sit down next to him with no formal greetings whatsoever. "Hello Ambassador, I am Novu Sol''s Ambassador Richard Weinster. Nice to meet you." He held out a hand and Jack took it, the man''s grip was almost too strong, probably a heavy-worlder.


    "I''m not an ambassador anymore. Just a person who burned a bridge unexpectedly." Jack responded.


    "Do not worry about that, you did your job and Their Majesty overreacted from your initial report." Weinster said dismissively and Jack glanced over at Voya in surprise. When the Callisas passenger liner had arrived back in Uno, he had shot off a small report he''d prepared to the Prime Minister and asked to meet him in person to explain the circumstances of his inglorious arrival home. He had not expected that report to be forwarded to the Novu Sol Ambassador.


    Voya handed a cup of coffee to Weinster and the man leaned back with a satisfied smile. "Richard here is right, do not beat yourself up for the actions of a person who is overreacting and riddled with self guilt for their poor choices."


    Jack glared at Voya. "I know I said some damning things in my recommendations but I would prefer I''d you didn''t insult Their Majesty. I still think they are of relatively sound mind."


    "If they were of sound mind," Weinster chimed in, "They wouldn''t have kicked you out and they certainly wouldn''t have turned to a mass murderer to train their troops. Do not let your friendship to them blind you. They made poor choices that deprived them of their ally, you did nothing wrong."


    "Maybe if Novu Sol hadn''t rejected them for training then I wouldn''t have to be sitting here!" Jack snapped, he''d grown to hate his own choice in burning the bridge with Their Majesty. He hated losing the friendship, the connections, the world which was as much his home as Uno-3 was, uprooting the entire embassy to bring them back when they had friends, lovers, even family there.


    "We do not train the troops of dictators." He said calmly with a shrug of his shoulders. "Their people will eventually rise up against them and join us in the real world where all leaders are elected, not inherited like some heirloom dinnerware set. But debating Callisas legality and its eventual overthrow is not why we wanted you here."


    Jack didn''t know how to respond, his eyes flicking between Voya and Weinster. He wanted to be mad at the baseless accusations the Novu Solarian made, however he was curious as to what the ambassador was on about. What did they have planned for him?


    Voya motioned to Weinster to continue and the ambassador placed his cup down and smiled.


    "Well Mr. Perez, with the upgraded relationship between our nations, we," he motioned to Voya, then himself, "need a new ambassador for Novu Sol."


    "But Surya..." Jack began.


    "She needs to come home." Voya cut him off. "She has family matters to attend to in Duo, and while it isn''t urgent, she has requested a replacement so she may come back."


    "And since I''m out of a job, unmarried, and used to long stays away from the TriStars, you want me for that?" Jack questioned, his voice flat. "The man who just lost our nation an ally?"


    "The only thing you have lost is a connection to a nation with questionable morals." Weinster said, placing a hand on Jack''s shoulder. "It is not your fault that they are blinded by the poison they drink, Mr. Perez. The end of that relationship was all but guaranteed as no empire in the history of humanity has ever stayed satisfied with just having allies, and would have tried to move on your nation to absorb it eventually."


    Jack recoiled from the ambassador. "What? No! Callisas doesn''t work that way and anyways, I''m not a military genius but the astrography for that wouldn''t work... right?"


    "Ambition can be blinding." Weinster said sadly. "As can friendship. I know it''s hard to think of a lifelong friend like that but you must realize I wouldn''t be saying these things if we didn''t have proof." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a data chip, placing it in Jack''s hand. "This is classified at the highest levels, what we have on Callisas Expansion plans, not a lot, but you can read it on your trip to Novu Sol Ambassador Perez."


    Jack looked at the chip, then to Voya, who nodded approvingly. He swallowed the lump in his throat. He knew them better than anyone. There was no way any of what was on here was actual proof. "I serve the TriStar Systems and will be glad to be our ambassador to Novu Sol."


    "Very good!" Voya clapped his hands together and grinned. "I knew you would accept! How much time would you like here before going off to Novu Sol?"


    "A month." Jack said, closing his hand around the data chip. "Get some affairs sorted, enjoy a vacation, then go back to work."


    "Only a month?" Voya chuckled. "You always struck me as a man married to the job so I doubt I could convince you to take more. Fine, you have a month. Go enjoy it."


    "Thank you." Jack stood and shook hands with Voya and Weinster. "It''s a pleasure to be of service to my people."


    "You made the best choices you could, Ambassador." Weinster said. "I understand it must be hard to process what they did to you and how they duped you, but this is much better for everyone involved."


    "Of course." Jack said, his tone carefully neutral. "If there is nothing else I will take my leave."


    He turned and walked out through the halls of Government Central, suddenly much more aware of how many Novu Solarians were around, how many TriCitizens were not speaking the TriLingua, and how many signs had changed from his native language to the more universal Novu Solarian language.


    Jack stepped out onto the front steps of the building, the warm sunlight on his face feeling wrong somehow as he looked around at the people sightseeing at their government''s central building. They all looked so calm, how could they all look so calm? His eyes tracked up to the city beyond the grounds. Maybe a walk would calm his nerves.


    As he walked down the stairs a child came barreling up and ran almost full force into him. Thankfully she only fell back onto soft grass, looking none the worse for wear.


    "?Est¨¢s bien kleines Kind?" He asked as the small girl got up and looked up at him with an uncomprehending gaze.


    "She doesn''t speak TriLingua." An older woman with a thick accent from the Trios System trotted up and picked up her child, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Say sorry to the gentleman."


    "Sorry." The girl said shyly, burying her face in her parent''s shoulder.


    "Guess the Lingua classes aren''t sticking very well?" He joked.


    The woman laughed. "They removed mandatory TriLingua classes from the curriculum, Novu Solarian is the best language for interstellar and local use anyways. Hope you have a good day Sir!"


    Jack watched the woman and her child go, suddenly the data chip in his hand felt heavy and dangerous as he glanced back at Government Central. Overhead a Novu Solarian shuttle came into land on the roof stirring up a breeze that popped out the two flags flying in front, one for his own TriStar Systems, and the other being that of the Stellar Democracy.


    As he turned around and continued his walk, maybe it was just his imagination, maybe he was overthinking things, but it almost looked like his nation''s flag was lower than Novu Sol''s.


    <div>

 Chapter 10

    Solarian-Free Trade Route


    Deep Space


    TMS Jatz


    Captain Francis Fitzkeller sat in his office off the bridge, sipping a cup of tea as he watched the timer projected onto his wall turn from its normal blue to a blinking yellow, warning him that it was close to the time they would be exiting the Trade Route and should go to the bridge. He didn''t need to, where the convoy was heading was perfectly safe, but he couldn''t just brush off his job or hide in his office all day, which is why the reminder was there at all.


    His ship Jatz was one of 4 cruisers and 4 destroyers selected for merchantmen escort duty, taking the hyperspace Trade Routes to the Stellar Democracy and splitting off a few charges there, then heading to The Nation of the Free to transit out to the Confederacy. He stood, brushing wrinkles out of his working uniform and walked out onto the bridge.


    "How are things looking Lieutenant Nami?" He asked, a very young woman sitting in the command chair, her dark skin pale and sweat beading on her forehead. Francis put a hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay? Do you need to go to sickbay?"


    Lieutenant Nami swallowed and wiped at her forehead, Francis looked around and saw most of the bridge crew quietly doing their duty, very pointedly ignoring the person who was supposed to be holding the watch. "Captain, Sir, I''m sorry I just..."


    He placed a finger on his lips. "Listen Lieutenant, I understand you are nervous and very unused to being this far from home but you cannot let that show to the crew. It reflects badly on you and if word gets around you''ll lose the faith of those under you." It felt odd to kneel down next to the command seat like a parent comforting a small child, but Nami had been a brilliant student in the academy, albeit a bit shy and reserved. He wanted to nurture that into an officer Callisas would be proud of, not one that would flop and be drummed out of the service. "Remember, while The Nation of the Free is a bit... chaotic, they know better than to attack guarded merchants or our naval vessels."


    "They aren''t our allies though." Nami said, distracted from her nerves now that she was focusing on something else. "And they have so few laws, a very wealthy system, what''s stopping them?"


    "Self preservation helps."  Francis tapped a command into the chair and a hologram of most of human space sprang up front of them. "See here?" He pointed in at the single star labeled ''Nation of the Free.'' "They only have one star system and while the Trade Route does provide them with an impressive economy, we still have more people in uniform to strike back if they make trouble."


    She made a noncommittal noise and nervously dry washed her hands in her lap.


    "Okay, fess up Lieutenant, what''s bothering you?" Francis added a touch of command to his question. She might be young, but she was an adult, she shouldn''t be acting like this even if she wasn''t the most confident of personality types.


    Nami looked around and bent her head closer to her Captain. "Sir, I''m afraid of going down to the planet."


    Francis blinked in surprise. This was not what he had expected to be bothering the Lieutenant so much especially since... "but you signed up for a day down on the surface, I approved the list since we have to stay with the merchants that are just laying over here to transfer cargo. Why did you sign up if you''re scared?"


    Nami looked around again and Francis hit a command button, a sound-dampening force field shimmered into place around them.


    "There, now they can''t hear us or read our lips."


    She let out the breath she''s been holding. "Sir, I''ve never actually been anywhere except Callisas and my home planet of Centro. Callisas is a well developed, well policed world, with low crime rates. Centro is a cold backwater with a million permanent citizens scattered around the planet. Neither of them come close to matching the sheer madness of the tales I''ve heard from some of the older chiefs who have been here." She shuttered. "It''s scary. I''m qualified in a sidearm, and there''s obviously no law against it there, but I just," she shifted uncomfortably. "I''m afraid I''ll take something illegal or get into trouble and die."


    Captain Francis Fitzkeller might be young for his rank, but he was well traveled enough to have visited many places under the navy''s banner and in company with The Admiral. He suspected that traveling with The Admiral gave him a special protection he couldn''t exactly lean on if the woman wasn''t here to throw her weight around. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I can understand being nervous, but it is good for you to experience life outside Callisas borders. Go down to the more touristy places and browse then come back up. No need to wander or try anything weird." He stood, beginning to reach to deactivate the force field when Nami rubbed her hands together and opened her mouth, then shut it. "What?"


    She seemed torn before she finally spoke, "Some of the other lieutenants are planning to go down and take some illegal drugs, it''s why I''m really scared to go."


    "Don''t go with them then." Francis said plainly. "Now remember it''s not illegal here and as long as they show up sober for their next shift and don''t murder anyone, I am willing to overlook it." Modern medicine could cure just about anything, and erasing any chemical dependency was fairly easy. Psychological dependency was a bit harder to work with and the navy preferred its personnel to not have crippling addictions. "So I am going to pretend the field was acting up and you didn''t say that."


    "Uh, thank you Sir." Nami said, her face flushing in embarrassment, reaching over to deactivate the dampening field herself, saying more loudly so the watch on duty could hear. "We have a minute until we exit the Trade Route Captain."


    "Thank you Lieutenant."


    <hr>


    The Nation of the Free


    The Planet of the Free


    Francis looked out the viewport as his shuttle wove the dance of a craft in crowded airspace. Most planets had a tendency to restrict where space stations and their craft could be. His own home of Callisas-3 kept all spaceborn infrastructure to the equatorial orbital zones, creating dense, but organized orbital space.


    Given the few regulations this place had, The Planet of the Free''s orbital space was saturated with space infrastructure, placed wherever there was room and sometimes where there wasn''t. It was almost another layer''s worth of atmosphere it was so thick. Stations of all sorts hung where they had been built, surrounded by the craft that serviced them, shuttles, civilian and military alike, wove courses through the structures like snakes through rocky ground. There was no orbital control to tell everyone where to go, you flew and you made sure you paid attention to your sensors.


    As a captain, and a fairly junior one at that, he really shouldn''t be going planetside as while his assurances to a young officer who had a bit of nerves about a new place was much more expendable than the man that commanded the ship. He had business here, though he had begged off on the understanding that he took a couple of marines to guard himself with just in case.


    Space black soon gave way to a light blue sky filled with clouds, the shuttle breaking through the cloud layer to reveal the land below covered with buildings of all shapes and sizes, with no coordination in style, some plastered with flickering ads while others looked more like ominous monoliths. Green plant life speckled the tops and sides of the sky and spacescrapers here and there, and as Francis watched, and felt, his shuttle jink hard to the side to avoid an atmospheric craft flying too close to its own path.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    This planet was a mess, but it had its uses, and some friends.


    His shuttle dove lower towards his destination, dodging between layers of air vehicles with a precision of a pilot who had prepared for this. The largest spacescraper on this half of the planet, a white building with occasional black accents loomed before them, the shuttle now heading straight for what appeared to be a solid wall.


    Passing through the hologram to a well-kept, well-lit shuttlebay, the Callisas shuttle settled down into its designated spot. He waited as the flight crew went through the landing checklist and his marine guards stood, grabbed their rifles and stepped out of the shuttle before him to check if the bay was secure. Once he heard one of the marines call back in it was all clear, he walked out as well.


    "Captain Fitzkeller!" A tall man, easily around 2 meters tall with dark metallic red hair and beard that matched the blood red irises he also had. As he strode forward his uniform had obviously once been the pure white with black rank markings, but had since been colored in with a psychedelic mix of reds, blues and purples. "I  didn''t expect to be getting," he jumped a little as the door to the bay slammed shut. "Damn it! Lebev! Get that fixed or else I''ll throw you off the top floor of this building!"


    "Sorry Comrade Commodore Magnatovich! I''ll get right on it!" A reply from a man wiping his hands on a grease-stained rag before he jogged up to the hatch to check it himself.


    "Comrade Commodore?" Francis asked. "Seems I''m not the only one who got a promotion. How are you Kaminov?"


    "I told you, call me Kamya!" Kaminov Magnatovich, the long time friend he had come down from orbit to visit in person, flashing bright white teeth in a grin at him. "So how have you been, why the guards? Don''t trust me anymore?"


    "The CO of the convoy said I couldn''t leave the ship without them, so like the good little officer I am, I agreed and picked the two worst marines I could find." He responded and saw one of the marines crack a grin as they fell in behind Kamya and Francis as they left the bay behind. While they walked, chatting, Francis let his eyes wander over the crowds of people they passed, a great many of them having unnatural hair, eye or even skin patterns, some having cybernetic advancements far beyond what most of the galaxy deemed acceptable and even fewer having body modifications like extra arms or eyes.


    The Nation of the Free truly lived up to its name. Few regulations meant it was the one place in the universe where there were no repercussions to making a designer baby, changing your, or your child''s, body in ways far beyond what most of the rest of humanity considered normal. To most people there was a vast difference between editing a life-threatening disease out of existence and giving all your offspring blue hair and four arms. Not to The People of the Free, it didn''t matter to them so their population was often an impressive explosion of colors and oddities that still slightly unsettled Francis as he watched a person with what looked like tail walk past, he was unsure if it was real or cybernetic.


    "Still haven''t gotten that stain out of your uniform?" He finally asked, and Kamya looked down at his uniform, a puzzled look on his face.


    "What stain?" He asked before realization hit him. "Oy don''t go dissing my uniform, I don''t complain about you wearing purple all the time now do I?"


    "No, but you would look less like a walking puddle of oil water if you just wore regular uniforms." Francis said as Kamya stopped in front of a door, pressing his palm onto the panel beside it.


    "Everyone knows it''s the sign of a weak officer to not personalize their uniform." Kamya gave a look at the marines and Francis pointed to beside the door.


    "You two stay out here and make sure no one tries to get in. And no matter how many free drugs you get offered, don''t take them." He admonished, getting the other marine to smile as they took up their posts.


    "Yes Sir!"


    <hr>


    As Francis walked into the apartment he took off the purple outer coat of his uniform, revealing a white undershirt and flopped down on a couch. Kamya shook his head and snapped his fingers.


    "There you go, the anti-bug field is up, so, why did you come and visit me old friend? I have never seen you outside of trailing behind The Admiral like a lost puppy. So? What''s up?"


    Francis chuckled. Kaminov Magnatovich had been only a Comrade Commander when he had first met the man during a training mission where The Admiral had kept a small crew aboard her ship to personally oversee their progress for around a year back when Francis had been a mere lieutenant. It had been an expensive undertaking for his own nation, but one he was grateful Their Majesty had been willing to invest in. One of the stopovers had been here at The Nation of the Free, and fighting simulation battles against Kamya gave him an appreciation for the sometimes strange tactics and ways of the Free Navy. And it had netted him a friend in the form of the Free officer he now talked with. "I came to see what information you got about her," He crossed his arms, "Anything I don''t know."


    Kamya shook his head. "I may be genetically engineered to be just about perfect but I am not a mind-reader. Be more specific or I might start asking for payment."


    "Anything on her whereabouts? Our sources have been coming up blank for the last year since she left our yards and are getting desperate." The Callisas officer explained. "We don''t need to know where she is, but we usually have at least some whispers and we have nothing."


    Kaminov frowned and sat down on the couch next to Francis, rubbing his metallic red beard thoughtfully. "I haven''t heard anything either, so unless some super secret Free Black Ops source is holding an ace they haven''t been paid for yet, I doubt I know more than you. Last I heard I think the Solarians were trying to corner her in your neck of the woods. That sound familiar?"


    "Yeah," Francis moved a bit closer to Kamya. "I was cleared to tell you, so I won''t get in trouble, but Novu Sol sent out a task force under the guise of a ''convoy escort'' to our capital to try and pin her down. They didn''t succeed but it was a big push for them to make."


    Kamya leaned back, placing his arm along the back of his couch, looking down at his longtime friend and sighed. "Guess we''ll just have to wait, like we always do. The Admiral serves at the beck and call of our nation''s wallets not that actual call. If she''s laying silent in some underdeveloped star system until Novu Sol gets the most recent stick out of their ass then all we can do is wait."


    He shouldn''t miss her, he was a captain in the Callisas Navy, The Admiral was a for-hire teacher and honest-to-gods psychopath, but she shaped his sense of duty and taught him skills he never knew existed. Being loyal to The Admiral was not something to be particularly proud of, however there was always a sense that she had a plan and a reason for her actions. She had taught him, taught Kamya, taught countless other navies how to fight when Novu Sol turned their backs on those they saw as not worth the effort.


    Francis stiffened in surprise as Kamya pulled him in close to his side, resting his chin on Francis''s head.


    "You okay?" He asked softly. "You look worried."


    Francis leaned into the embrace and closed his eyes. "I worry about The Admiral sometimes."


    "She can take care of herself." Kamya pointed out.


    "I know she can, but I worry what it will mean for everyone once she is gone. She represents so much to us smaller nations out here."


    "Like being free to be our own people." Kmaya said, "I don''t know what I would do if Novu Sol came here with a war fleet and took over, imposing laws and restrictions on the freedoms we hold so dear. I would fight and gladly die to stop them, but I would die and all The Admiral would of done at that point is trained a bunch of dead Navy personnel. We know why Novu Sol trains people, but why does she train people? It can''t just be for the money."


    Francis laughed. "At this point I think the Intelligence Office just assumes she''s doing it to stick the middle finger to Novu Sol, she had more money than any one person could possibly desire, if she vanished to retire in the Confederacy somewhere she would be set for life!"


    "I''ve really missed you Francis." Kamya''s voice was softer as he pulled the man fully into his embrace. "I am really scared that Novu Sol might make a play to absorb us, they got the TriStar Systems and that leaves The Nation of the Free as the only democracy they''ll acknowledge outside of their control. The galaxy is never truly safe, but..."


    Novu Sol had a bad habit of eating smaller nations for breakfast under the guise of ''training.'' Francis shuttered and pressed a bit closer into his arms.


    "Such is the game we play Kamya." Francis said, "We try to survive at the feet of a giant and pray that when our people call on us to fight for them, we can bring the giant to its knees." He freed his arms from the embrace to hold Kamya''s face in his hands. "But I think for now, we enjoy what freedoms we have." He pulled Kamya down so the other officer was laying on top of him, giving the Free man a hungry kiss that left both of them a bit breathless.


    "You sure you have the time?" Kamya''s red eyes flicked up to the door of his apartment.


    "I did not come down here just to talk intelligence, Comrade Commodore." Francis grumbled.


    "Oh, well then Captain, my sincerest apologies," Kamya gave a hungry smile, "let me make that up to you."

 Chapter 11

    The Nation of the Free


    On Route to the Free-Confederacy Trade Route


    Francis watched the tactical plot with some sorrow as their convoy slowly but steadily made its way out system to where they could enter the Trade Route linking the Confederacy to The Nation of the Free. Three days in total spent in the chaotic orbit before they set off towards the snake pit that was Hornraisers Confederacy. He had spent a vast majority of that time with Kamya, longtime friend and distant lover. He sometimes wished that their nations were allies to make life a bit easier, but the two nations had such fundamentally different viewpoints it wasn''t exactly unsurprising that Callisas and The Nation of the Free were on distantly friendly terms.


    So he sat in the command chair as the convoy pulled out system, farther than was necessary for their hyperdrives to actually let them go FTL. Trades Routes were an anomaly of space as no one was quite sure how they worked. Hyperdrives themselves were a bit of a mystery too. Oh people understood, roughly, how they worked. A hyperdrive ''grabbed'' the fabric of reality and sent a ship ''flying over it'', many of Francis''s Naval College teachers had compared it to skipping a stone over water, with smoother stones (aka military-grade drives) doing better times than rough stones (civilian-grade). A military drive could of course pull its power to match a civilian but a civilian could not boost their power to match military grade due to hardware quality differences. But for the part, hyperdrives were vastly unknown, with a good chunk of the reasoning being the people who discovered the drive had been speed maniacs who had barely had a grasp on science and to top it off they had been paranoid about people stealing the idea so they had jealousy guarded it and only sold hyperdrives at high cost with no backups of the science or drive designs.


    Then the Old Sol AI had attacked and wiped their station from the universe, killing anyone who may have understood the principles behind the FTL drives they used. Of course there were people out there studying the drives, hyper, and how they worked, but if anything groundbreaking had come about they hadn''t shared it.


    Trades Routes were a whole different beast though, as no one in Old Sol, to anyone''s knowledge, had known of them. Focused ''lanes'' that catapulted ships forward much faster than normal hyper jumps, they cut travel times drastically for long distances. There were only four of the things, and The Nation of the Free anchored the end of two of them. The Solarian-Free Route was far distant on the opposite side of the star system, ending at around a light hour outside the ice belt of the system and the Free-Confederacy Route which started 10 light hours distant from the ice belt.


    And to enter a Trade Route, you had to do it in a certain area of real space, so one could not go from one to the other without a brief transition back into reality.


    They were almost to the transition point when an urgent beeping from the tactical station caught his attention. He looked over at the station as the young woman went to work and the enlisted around her began to murmur in surprise. Francis got up and quietly walked over to look over tactical''s shoulder. "I assume we are not under attack by the lack of an immediate report, so Lieutenant Commander, what is it?"


    The tactical officer startled and looked up at her captain. "Sorry Sir, we just don''t know what to make of it." She tapped her ear and the barely visible earbud there. "The other tactical officers and I were discussing it."


    "So what is it?" He asked.


    "Here," she summoned a somewhat large hologram and presented it to him. In it it showed a very dense and large cluster of contacts that had just jumped in, most which carried a tag that labeled them as belonging to Novu Sol. Although... "that is an extremely tight formation to be jumping in with civilian ships." He pointed out, reaching into the hologram to zoom in on the contacts. The cluster seemed to be something like a tightly-packed sphere, an outer layer of smaller warships, destroyers and lighter cruisers, with the civilian ships, looked like mostly cargo carriers, layered in behind them with at least four battlecruisers between them, all Atmosphere class ships. Most civilians didn''t have the training or the ship quality to jump in that tight formation, even the ships he escorted had ample space between them with the cruisers loosely ringed around them. "Do you think those are Q-ships?"


    The officer shook her head. "Novu Sol has never been coy about its armament, it has been around," she queried the databases. "Around 150 years since they last used a Q-ship design in any form and I won''t discount the idea that the Intel Office missed something but we would have heard if they were going on a more cloaked effort to thin the Confed''s pirates. Maybe they are Navy Reserve crews." She paused as she pressed her finger to her ear to listen to something one of the other tactical officers was saying. "Tensi is saying the formation looks like a blocking formation."


    "Like they are trying to hide something in it?" Francis nodded and squinted at the hologram. "That makes sense, but what? Can you get a good read on what''s behind them?"


    "I''m doing my best Captain, but that formation is awfully tight." She turned her gaze up to him. "Could I drop a sensor drone?"


    "No, we don''t want to piss them off." Francis rubbed his chin as he studied the data, more information popping up on the ships as he watched. "Just keep a close eye on it," he waved away the hologram and sat back down in the command chair. He had barely sunk back into the chair when a surprised gasp from the tactical officer made him look back over at her. "Dump it here." He commanded.


    "Sir..." she said slowly, "one of the merchants had to adjust their position and we got a peek..." she sounded stunned and Francis couldn''t blame her.


    "A battleship." Francis said, not quite able to keep the awe out of his voice as the crew around the bridge murmured to each other in shock. Battleships were big, rare, hulking beasts of ships that were so expensive to build and maintain there were only four battleships in existence and all of them belonged to Novu Sol. From the last intelligence download, three were deep in Novu space doing the usual flag showing tours to all the colonies and the last had been in the TriStar System to help them train. "Commander, which one is it?" Since there were only four battleships in existence, being able to tell them apart was child''s play. Every ship might start out the same, but wear, tear, and upgrades rendered the four battleships very different from each other.


    She stayed silent as she looked into her database, trying to match the ship that was here to the records on hand. After a couple of minutes she turned to face her captain. "It''s a tentative marker, but I believe this is Liberty."


    "The one that was in the TriStar Systems?" He asked, his interest in the battleship fading as something else about the data in front of him poked at his awareness. Something was not quite right about what he was looking at.


    "Yes Sir." She highlighted the shape of the Liberty behind its cover of other ships. "I don''t believe the battleships have ever officially left Novu Sol space before, well," she shrugged, "Technically they have when this one went to the TriStar Systems, but we all know that''s just a technicality at this point. The TriStars are pretty much officially theirs at this point."


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    "What?" Francis looked up at the tactical officer who seemed a bit surprised.


    "I was just saying that the TriStar Systems are pretty much already a part of Novu Sol, so the battleship ''leaving'' their space is a technicality rather than an actual noteworthy event. Was that observation out of line Sir?" She asked softly.


    "No Commander..." Francis tapped the data and highlighted a couple of the ships, a few small cruisers and destroyers. They had name tags, which was extremely odd. Unlike battleships, where there were only four to keep track of, cruisers and destroyers were so numerous even the data storage capabilities of most ships would be stretched to breaking in trying to keep track of every ship name in the universe. So unless the ship was actively in communication with them and had given a name, there was no reason those ships would have names pinned to them. "The named ships, Pavone? Usignolo? Colibr¨¬? Isn''t that the TriLingua?"


    "It is." She frowned.


    "Commander Jasai." He looked over at the XO, bent over the operations station as they worked with the people there. "Novu Sol doesn''t name their ships in anything other than Novu Solarian, right?"


    "Yes Sir." Jasai straightened. "These ships were identified out of our databases as ''former allies.'' Not because we have an IFF or any transmission tags from them. Our intelligence still has enough contacts in TriStar space to apparently nail down the names of the ships of the new-built cruisers and Novu destroyers the TriStar Navy is now using."


    "That is an integrated, and well trained formation." Francis said. "There is no way they did that by accident, what are they doing out here with a battleship?"


    "Educated guess Sir?" Jasai asked as they came over to stand beside the command chair to look down at the data with their captain. "I think that they are doing what The Admiral likes to do, just with more armor to back them up."


    "So a training trip into the Confederacy to shoot up anything that threatens their shipping and allows them to practice with real weapons in a place that isn''t there own system?" Francis popped the data off the screens around him and into a 3D hologram, spinning the representation of the formation in front of him as it slowly moved towards the transition point for the Free-Confederacy Trade Route. "But the TriStar Navy is still tiny, three of their cruisers and seven of their destroyers? That''s..." He cut himself off as a thought struck him and when he looked up at Jasai, his XO looked grim.


    Jasai leaned in closer, pitching their voice low so no one else could hear. "Imagine what influence a Novu Fleet could have if most of their navy left on a long ''training mission.''"


    Francis felt queasy as he looked at the TriStar Naval ships, all of them tightly tucked into the formation like they belonged there, like they were already a part of the Novu Navy. There was nothing he could do about it, just write a report of his thoughts and forward it to the Intelligence Office. Did those TriStar people realize what this was? Did they see the changes that Novu Sol had forced upon them? Maybe they did, and thought it really was for the best.


    Francis always liked to think that if Novu Sol had accepted the Callisas Empire for training, he would have seen what they did and stopped it, but back when Their Majesty had first applied he had been barely a glint in his mother''s eye. By the time he had joined, he had been only a week into his first year at the Naval College when The Admiral had walked into the classroom and changed the Callisas Navy forever.


    The tiny nation stood no chance against Novu Sol, they always got their way in the end, and this was just another way for Novu Sol to do its dirty work.


    "Orders from Captain Emmet." Coms said. "She said that we are to stay well clear of the Novu Sol formation and slow down our progress towards the transition point to let them go first. We say nothing to them, we will pretend like we didn''t notice they are hiding a battleship under the curtains."


    "Acknowledge receipt of order. We will do as we are told." Francis said, his gaze held on the TriStar System ships.


    "Poor bastards." Jasai whispered.


    "Aye," Francis''s voice was equally quiet. "Poor bastards indeed."


    <hr>


    Free-Confederacy Trade Route Transition Point


    TSS Pavone


    "There is no way they didn''t see us." Commander Aminta Caccia pointed out to the holographic forms of all the other commanding officers sitting at the holographic conference. Since no one couldn''t talk to even ships you jumped in formation with in hyper, they were using the transition point to hold a conference about what they were doing once they reached the Confederacy.


    Novu Sol hadn''t expected other warships to be here, their own intelligence saying the window they were going to jump in should have been clear. The Callisas Naval ships were unexpected, and might ruin the surprise.


    "Commander." Admiral Dimitry Tobin, the flag officer in charge of the formation and the man flying his flag from Liberty, said from the head of the table. "Look at what they are doing."


    Caccia studied the vectors and speeds of the Callisas formation before she bowed her head in embarrassment. "They are pulling back on their speed and letting us go first, so by the time we exit the Trade Route they won''t have time to have warned everyone of our arrival because we are going to be there first."


    Tobin nodded. "Exactly. It''s not exactly a big wrinkle in the plan, but them knowing Liberty is here is hardly  a bad thing. We are going out to ''thin the herds'', so to speak, of pirates that are currently eating our shipping alive out here, and if we can startle someone into staying on the straight and narrow by the mere thought that a battleship is out here, then it makes our job easier. Remember people," he tapped a stylus on the table. "I want you all to come back alive, I don''t want to tell my husband about how many people I lost out here. Sometimes the pirates are very well armed for their job, as the TriStar people know all too well."


    Caccia flinched at the reminder of the attack on her nation but nodded along with everyone else.


    "I have initial deployment plans for where we all are going and how we are going to protect our shipping and some who are going to run ambushes in high value target systems. If you need anything before we split, send the requests to my ship before we hit the transition point and I can have the resources allocated by the time we exit the Trade Route." Admiral Tobin looked around. "Any questions?"


    One of the battlecruiser captains made a motion with her hand to gather attention. "Admiral, what do we do with prisoners?"


    "Standard procedure, shoot pirates, dump the bodies, they want to take on this life, they pay the full price for it." Tobin''s voice was grim. "Anyone claiming to be privateers or acting on orders is much the same, I have very little patience for the corrupt politicos out here. If you think they are genuine you can turn them back over to the locals, but just realize the more we shoot, the less likely someone is to think it''s a lucrative job. Any pirate ship you seize is to be blown after you extract the data from its computers and search it for any cargo."


    Caccia shivered. It was part of her job, but she never had expected to be this far from home, confronted with the possibility that she would actually have to act on her navy''s orders to shoot pirates and dump the bodies out the airlocks. Pirates deserved it, but the thought still made her feel unsettled.


    "Anything else?" Tobin asked. When no one responded he smiled and stood. "Then I will see you all in Hornrasier''s Confederacy. I hope you all enjoy the hyperspace downtime as we will be very busy once we get there."


    As the various ship COs began to vanish from the conference, Caccia looked over the representation of the Callisas ships again as they changed their vector oh-so-slightly to make sure they were behind the joint Novu-TriStar formation. No doubt trying to get a better look at Liberty, she sighed and signed off of the conference as well. She had work to do, and it wasn''t going to get done while she dallied here.

 Chapter 12

    Novu Sol Star System


    Novu Sol


    Genesis City


    Jack Perez had seen large cities before. The capital cities of Callisas-3 and Uno-3 paled in comparison to Genesis City. The city where the heart of the Stellar Democracy beat, it was almost too big, sky and spacescrapers growing out of the ground in majestic splendor, their sides unmarred by advertisements or wear, some of them gleamed, others hid behind draped greenery like they were shy children.


    The embassy from the TriStar Systems was a part of a larger building along the coastline of the New Atlantic Ocean, with a view of the rolling blue water that rivaled anything he had seen before. As he looked out the office window he could see the somewhat menacing form of Freedom Spire looming in the distance, where the President lived and the government of the Stellar Democracy ran the star nation.


    He honestly never thought he would ever get to visit Novu Sol, the generally accepted ¡®center¡¯ of humanity¡¯s settled worlds. Jack had always been busy with work, loyal to the TriStar Systems and Callisas, never considering venturing far from either. But now that he was here he felt overwhelmed. There were over a trillion people living and working in this city alone and yet the way the traffic grid was designed and the city laid out, it looked almost calm from his new office. A strange dichotomy.


    A knock on his office door made him shake his head. ¡°Enter!¡± He called.


    The door opened to reveal his new secretary, Surya¡¯s old one, and she smiled brightly at him. ¡°Hello Ambassador, just popping in to remind you that your meeting with the President is in an hour.¡±


    ¡°Please Miss¡­¡± he trailed off and the woman smiled.


    ¡°Ms. Tiffany Delegro, I have a name tag I can wear if it would help.¡± She gave him a small curtsy.


    Jack shook his head with a smile. ¡°No, I¡¯ll remember, still getting used to the new job. Thank you Ms. Delegro.¡±


    The secretary left and Jack turned back to look at Freedom Spire.


    <hr>


    An hour later Jack was being ushered into a grand-looking office with a large desk, data chips and various information pads scattered over the desk in neat groups. The carpet was thick, walls painted in a gorgeous blue and the window behind the desk had an even grander view of Genesis City than he had at the Embassy.


    The man that ran the Stellar Democracy was a man of average height with eyes that were too green to be completely natural, with sandy blonde hair that was going gray in places no doubt due to the stress of his job. President Trevor Desar stood and walked around the desk, smiling genially and they shook hands.


    ¡°Ambassador Perez! It''s nice to finally meet you, I am Trevor Desar, how are you settling in?¡± He motioned over to a set of couches where some glasses of water were waiting on a coffee table. ¡°Come! Sit down, you must be busy taking over the role from Surya, how is she anyways?¡±


    ¡°Surya is fine, just had some family business to attend to back in the TriStar Systems.¡± Jack answered as he sat down, ¡°And I have been settling in just fine Mr. President, Novu Sol is a beautiful planet.¡±


    ¡°Please, call me Trevor when we aren¡¯t in front of the media or at a formal dinner.¡± The President chuckled. ¡°I know I ran for the title, but sometimes the Mr. Presidents get laid on a bit thick.¡±


    ¡°Can I stick with Mr. Desar for now?¡± Jack asked and the president gave a theatrical sigh.


    ¡°You may, Ambassador Perez.¡± Desar sat back with his glass of water. ¡°Do you mind if I ask you some questions?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, I am here to be of service to you as much as my nation.¡±


    Desar took a drink of his water, ¡°I got an initial report from our ambassador in the TriStar Systems, but I want to hear it from you. Why did Their Majesty kick your people out?¡±


    Jack sighed and looked away. He didn¡¯t want to have to explain this again, nor did he want to tell the truth. He was sure the President would love it due to his rejection of The Admiral as a training option, but he still has killed a close friendship with what he had said. ¡°It¡¯s not something I like to dwell on Mr. Desar.¡±


    Desar looked confused. ¡°Is it just because you got accepted to train with our Navy and they didn¡¯t? I can understand being bitter about that.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.¡± Jack felt his stomach turn, once again in front of a leader trying to explain his actions. He knew Desar wasn¡¯t going to do anything to him, but he couldn¡¯t help but see Their Majesty sitting behind their desk, face carved from stone as they told him to leave. ¡°Look Mr. President, I don¡¯t know if you know, but Their Majesty and I were lifelong friends, I knew them before they took the throne and dropped their name. The disagreement was over the training, but I did also insult them and I know them well enough that I am well aware I hurt their feelings when I did that.¡±


    The President gave a nod, at least he appeared sympathetic. ¡°Then if it''s a lifelong friendship, that should have given you more leeway. Among my friends, at least in private, we can sling a few insults around and still be friends at the end of the night.¡±


    Perez had been about to answer when the door to the office opened behind him. Startled, he turned around to see an Admiral standing there in what he assumed was one of the less formal uniforms of the navy. His eyes first caught on the starburst, then to the gray kitten standing on her shoulder, a harness fit snug around it''s body connected to a leash Admiral Julia Vales was holding.


    ¡°Oh damn,¡± the woman in charge of the entire Novu Navy said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Mr. President, I¡¯ll come back in a few minutes, I didn¡¯t mean to interrupt.¡±


    ¡°No please, come in.¡± Desar waved her into the room, ¡°I was just doing a meet and greet with the new TriStar Ambassador. Mr. Perez, this is Admiral Julia Vales, Julia, this is Ambassador Jack Perez.¡±


    Vales carefully crossed the distance and reached up to grab the kitten on her shoulder and hold the squirming cat in her arms. ¡°Not the best first impression is it?¡± She scratched the cat¡¯s ears. ¡°This here is Bulkhead LVI, the heir to the Novu Navy¡¯s current top Mouser. I have to get him used to people, as he¡¯s more of an educational tool and Academy pet than a shipboard cat.¡±


    Perez had never been well-versed on naval affairs. He understood it vaguely, but he always had to ask about certain things. Like this. ¡°A Mouser? What is that?¡±


    ¡°Exactly as the name suggests. It''s what we call the breed of cats we use aboard ships to control pests like mice.¡± Vales put the cat down and he began to wander, trailing his leash behind him. ¡°I thought the TriStar Navy had Naval Mousers as well?¡±


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    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to sound rude Admiral Vales, but understanding how the navy does things is far beyond me at times. I am just an ambassador and a civilian, I tend to lean hard on others when it comes to military matters.¡± Jack said, somewhat grateful for the distraction.


    ¡°To be fair to Mr. Perez here,¡± Desar grinned, oddly boyish for a man of his stature, at Vales, ¡°and his nation didn¡¯t have much of a navy, so the concept of Naval Mousers are small, while to you, they are an intricate part of life.¡±


    Vales sat down on the couch next to the president, ¡°Of course, we did actually have to give the TriStar Navy some of our cats for their new ships. It''s simple really. Ships often have pest problems, a breed of cats designed for ships worked out best.¡±


    Jack watched as the cat slunk around the desk. ¡°That is interesting Admiral, are they for sale?¡±


    ¡°Oh heavens no.¡± Vales laughed. ¡°Naval Mousers are way too specialized to just be sold to anyone. Their intelligence levels are off the charts, their activity level could probably wear out a marine. They would be utterly neglected in any home that left them alone in a single housing unit, so we only use them on military ships and stations, where the training and hunting can keep them occupied. Trust me, I had a retired one with a missing leg back when I first got a steady desk job and even being old and three legged she would run me ragged!¡±


    They all laughed and Jack felt a bit more at ease. Perhaps being Ambassador to Novu Sol wasn¡¯t going to be that bad.


    ¡°So Ambassador, can you tell me why you were kicked out of the Empire?¡± Desar asked again, Vales did not seem surprised by the question and he shrugged.


    ¡°I said I didn¡¯t want my nation trained by a nation that used a murderer to train their own navy.¡± Those weren¡¯t the exact words, but it was close enough for his purposes.


    ¡°You actually told the Monarch that?¡± Vales seemed surprised.


    ¡°Right to their face.¡±


    ¡°Thank God.¡± Vales seemed relieved. ¡°I assumed by the fact that your nation got through our selection process at all meant you were unlikely to turn to Desson, but it''s good to hear that some people have a head on their shoulders. Who would want to risk that threat in their orbit?¡±


    Jack nodded. ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am. I don¡¯t get it either.¡±


    Vales sat forward, her eyes intent on him. ¡°Since you were close friends with Their Majesty, do you think you can tell me why they hired her? How often does she visit them? How much do they pay?¡±


    ¡°Admiral, I was a close friend, but also an Ambassador. I did not need to interact with Desson whenever she was there so I rarely even knew anything about her. I do remember Their Majesty complaining once about the costs involved, but it was around the time the Callisas government does an annual budgeting review so I could have misheard.¡±


    Desar sighed. ¡°Well I can¡¯t blame you for getting excited Julia.¡± He sat back as the kitten jumped up onto his lap, immediately curling up in a ball in his lap.


    ¡°It''s always one forward, two back with Desson.¡± She replied with a sour expression.


    Jack looked between them, a bit curious now. ¡°Can I ask a question which may or may not be totally appropriate? If it''s classified, you can always say no.¡±


    ¡°Depends on the question.¡± Desar said, eyeing him as he stroked the cat on his lap.


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you been able to pin down Desson yet? Like you know she likes to go to Callisas, your navy is the strongest in space as far as I¡¯m aware, you built the ship she uses, you should have every advantage.¡±


    The two Novu Solarians exchanged glances before Vales sighed and spoke. ¡°I like this old metaphor for the situation. Yes we do have the most powerful navy in space and Desson is one person, but that''s the exact problem. Novu Sol is armed with a sledgehammer, and Desson is the fly. We swing and not only are we likely to miss, but we also will inflict collateral damage. Does that make sense?¡±


    Jack shrugged, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Is collateral damage like destroyed space stations and burned cities? Like Foundation?¡±


    Desar flinched a little at the mention of the former capital city of Centurion-IV. Vales shook her head. ¡°Yes and no. We are well aware that if we manage to corner Desson in orbit or on a planet it''s likely not to go well, but It''s more along the political lines. Imagine¡­ oh Trevor I¡¯m pulling a blank, we¡¯ve gone over this, can you explain?¡±


    Desar nodded. ¡°It''s simple, due to the choices others have made, most people only tolerate us. If we send a fleet, not some thinly disguised escort, a true war fleet, to capture Desson, it is going to read like we are declaring war. It won¡¯t matter if we don¡¯t want to fight if someone else fires the first shots. Novu Sol doesn¡¯t want war, and taking over and incorporating those planets? Too much of a time and money sink. Taxes and fees will have to rise, trade goes down as the barriers of nationality between goods and services are removed.¡±


    ¡°And people would start having an arms race if we moved to any sort of war footing. It''s easier to keep the masses calm than to calm them down.¡± Vales explained, reaching over to rub the cat¡¯s chin while it purred loudly.


    ¡°I never thought of it that way.¡± Jack said. ¡°I was often on the same planet as her. Never had any close encounters, she¡¯s definitely not the social type, but damn it must be frustrating to have that hanging over your heads when all you want to do is help.¡±


    Vales smiled sadly. ¡°That is why I am eternally grateful I was able to help set up the training plan for the TriStar Systems. My navy hasn¡¯t trained a navy since¡­ what? Admiral Vex had the starburst?¡±


    ¡°It was before Desson, and my own time in office, I remember that.¡± Desar replied before he waved the hand not currently engaged in petting the cat. ¡°Long story short Ambassador. We are glad you are here, glad the TriStar Systems trusts us and very glad to be of service.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Mr. President.¡± Jack smiled, he felt relieved that the President and the Admiral were obviously good people. He had been afraid that maybe he had made a mistake. He didn¡¯t trust the Novu ambassador¡¯s opinions on Callisas, but the actual leaders of the Stellar Democracy had their heads on straight.


    ¡°I really should get going. I want to expose Mr. Lil¡¯ Bulkhead here,¡± Vales scooped up the kitten, who protested with a loud mew. ¡°To a classroom full of teenagers over at the Academy. It was nice meeting you Mr. Perez.¡±


    ¡°Wait Admiral, before you go, one more thing.¡± Jack said as Vales began to walk to the door. She stopped and turned, cradling the cat in her arms.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°How does the training look from your end? I thought the new navy you helped my nation build looked very nice, but I am not a naval officer.¡±


    Vales smiled. ¡°Your people are doing wonderful, most of them are naturals and everyone has been adjusting to the new technology and tactics well. The set we sent out to the Buffer Zone is due to go home soon, Centos says the Ensign Vance your navy sent out there is soaking up the materials faster than he can teach the kid. And, even better, we decided around a month ago that to send most of your newer ships out for escort duty in the Confederacy. We moved one of our fleets into the TriStars to compensate for the loss of protection, but while sims are all well and good, to truly break in a new warship, it had to be tested against an enemy.¡±


    Jack felt a nervous twinge in his stomach. ¡°You¡­ sent most of our navy away?¡±


    Vales chuckled. ¡°Not without an entire Novu fleet coming in to reinforce the TriStars while they are gone. Do not worry, the Novu Navy will not allow any harm to come to your worlds! We will make sure of that.¡± She looked up at the clock on the wall and grimaced as she let Bulkhead scramble back onto her shoulder. ¡°I really do have to get going now. It was nice meeting you Ambassador.¡±


    He watched her go and Desar patted him on the shoulder. ¡°She means what she says. We would never allow any harm to come to your nation while we protect it. We always keep promises like that.¡±


    Jack blinked and looked back at Desar. ¡°Of course Mr. President.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you would call me Mr. Desar.¡± The president said with a grin.


    ¡°Uh, of course Mr. Desar. Habits as an Ambassador. You understand.¡± He said, feeling off-kilter, like he had just been told something too important for the casual way it had been delivered. ¡°I should get back to my office if there is nothing else. Paperwork to do, things to oversee, all the usual Ambassadorial things.¡±


    ¡°Of course Ambassador.¡±

 Chapter 13

    Hornraiser¡¯s Confederacy


    Begyndelse Star System


    TSS Pavone


    Caccia wondered if this system was going to be a bust as well. Her own cruiser and two of the TriStar destroyers were off on their own escorting a lone freighter registered to their nation though some truly backwater planets. Admiral Tobin had warned the path they were taking was low risk given most of the systems they were visiting were low population and thus unable to afford to back pirates as well as low traffic enough outsiders wouldn¡¯t travel to them to commit crimes. Part of her was very glad she didn¡¯t have to execute pirates yet, another part of her was bored out of her mind. She understood that boring meant things were going well, but she wanted something to lighten the mood.


    Her three ships had come out of hyper before the merchant some light hours outside of the usually accepted ¡®edge¡¯ of a star system so they could sneak in on a ballistic course. She¡¯d planned the vectors herself and she was proud of the formation; the two destroyers aimed ¡®low¡¯ under the course on either side of the merchant while her own cruiser took an over watching path above the merchant, a triangle in space that should be able to intercept anything that came at them.


    But with nothing happening she considered giving the order to light the engines and assume a more conventional formation so they wouldn¡¯t coast all the way into Begyndelse¡¯s orbit.


    ¡°Lieutenant.¡± She turned to her coms officer. ¡°Tell everyone we are dropping the ruse here in a minute. The destroyers will pull in as front guard, I¡¯ll keep Pavone as back high guard.¡± She was going to offer the merchant ship captain a meal as thanks for acting as bait but not until they were completely safe in orbit. She watched as the two smaller warships lit up space, they surged forward under power to assume their position in front of the lone merchant. As she watched, the freighter sped up a little to fall into perfect alignment. She definitely owed that woman a good meal and beer.


    Caccia was content to enjoy the moment, knowing that some of the other ships they had come out with weren¡¯t going to be as lucky as she was.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am!¡±


    She snapped out of her woolgathering and focused on her data. A tiny ship, an old frigate, was making a beeline straight for the freighter. A small but tiny threat, a definite warship, even if an outdated one. As she watched, she felt a slight pang of panic which she ruthlessly shoved aside; this ship was barely a threat to her destroyers, let alone her cruiser. This was not Uno, and these scum were not attacking her home but they were attacking her freighter.


    The two destroyers peeled off before she could give orders, vectoring to intercept the tiny pirate. The pirate continued to close for longer than necessary, more bravado than sense perhaps, before it turned and began to run. Caccia shook her head, that had been an extraordinarily bad move on the pirates'' part, perhaps they had thought the crews weren¡¯t paying attention or had been some other type of civilian shipping. Whatever they had thought, it was going to be the last mistake they ever made. As she watched the destroyers were piling on speed to overtake the frigate. The smaller ship didn¡¯t have the engine size and power to escape.


    Something about that made her frown. Why had the frigate attacked? Unless that ship was older than it looked, it should have sensed the power readings coming off her ships, hell the simple fact that they had been stealthed up until recently should have made it clear that they were not to be trifled with. The memory of that one exercise, where she had been too focused on her opponent to see the big picture. Her ship was under threat from a bigger opponent while she focused on the small fry.


    She hit the general quarters alarm before activating a command override of the coms system to both of her destroyers. ¡°Both of you reverse course immediately! There¡¯s a bigger threat coming!¡±


    As soon as Caccia finished speaking, no less than three contacts lit off their drives and surged forward.


    ¡°Give me details!¡± She snapped.


    ¡°Looks like what the Novu Navy would call a light cruiser, a destroyer and another one of those frigates.¡± Tactical reeled off immediately. ¡°All older ships, probably more lightly armed than modern vessels but combined could be dangerous.¡±


    She had stumbled into a well-laid trap. And now she was going to have to match her cruiser against these three pirates while her destroyers desperately tried to get back to support her.


    ¡°Com, tell our merchant she is to accelerate as fast as she can towards the planet. I know it''s not fast but if she can pull out of range then she¡¯ll be safe in orbit.¡± Caccia took a deep breath, sat up straight in her command chair. ¡°Now helm, I want you to ram us straight down their throats. tactical, we are going to be launching missiles and following them in as fast we can, adjust your missile spread for that and we better take out their cruiser on the first pass, you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am.¡± The tactical officer responded as Pavone twisted in space and began to accelerate towards the pirate cruiser. Caccia watched the range drop, she trusted her tactical officer to launch at the right time, though she had an itching need to launch now, attack now even if doing so wouldn¡¯t result in anything of substance. ¡°Launching now!¡± They called and four missiles separated from her ship to race towards the pirates. She couldn¡¯t help a check of their target, but was relieved to see they were all targeted on the pirate cruiser.


    Then the missiles exploded. Caccia didn¡¯t even have to time ask what had happened because those missiles had been no where close to their target when an ear shattering alarm made her instinctively clap her hands over her ears; Pavone¡¯s course slewing wildly as the computers sensed that something was too close to the ship and attempted to compensate much faster than most humans could react. When the alarm died down she looked over to the helm officer and he looked as pale as a ghost. In fact he was shaking as he turned to look at her. ¡°We barely avoided collision with a ship coming out of hyper.¡±


    ¡°What ship!?¡± Caccia asked incredulously as she looked at the contact in her holograms. ¡°Aren¡¯t we too far in for that?¡±


    ¡°It looks like a Novu Navy Atmosphere-class.¡± Tactical reeled off instantly. ¡°I don¡¯t believe it''s any of the ones that came out with us or else our system would have identified it immediately.¡±


    ¡°But, Admiral Tobin told us there wasn¡¯t anything heavier than a Novu light cruiser out here. There''s no way they misplaced an entire battlecruiser.¡± Caccia watched as the battlecruiser twisted in a turn so tight the crew had to be feeling sick from it, the pirates trying to turn tail and run. ¡°It has to be one of,¡±


    The new battlecruiser turned the blood red of an enemy contact, a label popped up beside the battlecruiser as it slung much heavier missiles into the pirates.


    Ionosphere.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am what are we going to do?¡± Tactical asked. ¡°Do we target¡­ Do we target the battlecruiser?¡±


    Caccia shook her head, ignored the fear that clawed at her throat, and surveyed the battle space. The pirate ships were clustered tightly together, much closer than most sane people or untrained helmsmen would try in order to kill the missiles Ionosphere was pelting them with. Her destroyers were double-timing it back to the merchant, who was, like she was told, pushing her drive all out, the strain on the civilian equipment obvious as she adjusted vectors to stay well away from the battlecruiser now in their mist. Her ship was still headed towards the pirates but not doing anything.


    ¡°Helm, swing us opposite of Ionosphere. We are going to pin those pirates between us and destroy them.¡± She turned to face the tactical officer. ¡°You make sure nothing more of ours hits that battlecruiser, am I clear?¡± When the officer began to protest she cut them off ¡°Am I Clear Lieutenant?¡± She snapped.


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am.¡±


    ¡°Good, now vector us in and fire our energy mounts once in range.¡± Caccia watched as Pavone moved, vectoring out to cut the pirates off from being able to engage their hyperdrives without challenge. She watched as Ionosphere began to push in and under the pirates, which herded them right towards her ship. The range dropped, the numbers turned green, and then ¡°Fire!¡±


    Pavone¡¯s energy mounts, two powerful laser cannons mounted in her forward nose, fired, the first target was the frigate, the tiny ship vaporized from the energy, it''s weak shields no match for modern energy weapons at even extreme range. A second passed then another shot hit home on the cruiser. The pirate cruiser was tougher, the shields degrading with the hits but not falling. On her displays she watched as a bright fireball marked the death of the destroyer that had been tucked away on the other side of the cruiser.


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    Whoever was commanding over there was no slouch, as they vectored their ship in a way that would bring them in to close with Pavone while keeping their engines out of danger from Ionosphere. It was not a perfect path, but if he could survive a pass from Pavone they might just be able to hyper out. How did she stop that from happening? Her destroyers were still too far away, the pirate cruiser¡¯s point defense and ECM was on point, and Ionosphere wasn¡¯t in quite the right place to get a clean hit on the engines. Caccia knew relying on Ionosphere to stay friendly was a bad idea but how did one call up a psychopath in the middle of a battle to plead for their help? The rogue battlecruiser hadn¡¯t once fired on her cruiser or made any move to hurt her so she assumed for the moment they were on the same side. If she gave Ionosphere the chance, she would take the shot.


    ¡°Helm,¡± She said, an evil grin grew on her face, ¡°I want you to run away, show the pirate our engines, make it seem like we¡¯re scared of them.¡±


    ¡°Commander?¡± The man glanced over his shoulder at her. ¡°That puts our ship at significant risk¡­¡±


    ¡°At significant risk of damage and possible death yes I know, thank you for the reminder and note for the log. I fully understand that turning tail to run is a bad idea.¡± Caccia gave a short chuckle. ¡°The pirate is desperate to escape alive. They thought they had us until that battlecruiser decided to jump in and join the fight. It probably looked like a well-timed trap. We stand in the way of them escaping so if we can bait them into trying to kill us for ¡®fooling¡¯ them. Well,¡± she paused and looked at the helm. ¡°We flip the ship.¡±


    He cringed at that but nodded. ¡°Vectoring away from the oncoming pirate, how long until we flip?¡±


    Caccia held up a hand as she watched her data, the pirate cruiser shifted its course slightly, missiles lept from it''s tubes as it began to chase her ship. Point defense easily shot them down, bright fireballs licked at her heels as she ran. She did some mental calculations as she watched, her maneuver had barely taken her out of energy range, so she needed to balance this very carefully. Her eyes flicked over to the status of the inertial dampeners, all green. If she fucked this up her people would be dead for real.


    ¡°Now!¡± She snapped and Caccia was instantly pressed back into her chair, her lungs screamed as what felt like a giant hand pressed down on every inch of her body as her ship flipped end over end to face the pirate, the engines lit and the pressure got worse but the flip did it''s job and lined up her nose on the pirate cruiser. Her two laser cannons fired, splashing against the shields of the cruiser.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t do any damage, shields only mildly degraded.¡± The tactical officer said, as she tried her best to not sound terrified.


    ¡°We don¡¯t need to.¡± Caccia replied.


    The pirate had not truly understood why Pavone had done what she had. Whatever shields the pirate had installed on their ship were tough and it was obvious that Pavone would have been outclassed by her alone, let alone the two companions they had kept with them. Her end for end flip was just as unused out here as anywhere else as you did not want to break a dampener and her energy mounts would need much more time to burn away the shield.


    Pavone needed the pirate to flinch. Flinch they did, a helmsman too frazzled by the battle and unexpected move they had briefly checked their acceleration before resuming their forward charge.


    It was all that was needed. Ionosphere blazed in from behind, her own energy weapons shredding the shields to blast open the engines like a used tin can as the battlecruiser shot past the cruiser. Even as she watched the cruiser spat out a few pitiful escape pods, the pirate¡¯s energy signature went dark as they shut down the reactor in an attempt to fix it. But with their engines destroyed, they could not go into hyper. She looked over the space around her again. Her destroyers had settled in behind the merchant, covering the civilian from the only threat left, which was Ionosphere. The frigate that had started this whole debacle was nowhere to be seen, so she assumed it had jumped away for their own safety.


    Caccia watched the Ionosphere pull a wide lazy arc in space so it could come to rest relative to Pavone.


    ¡°We are getting a com request from the Ionosphere. It''s addressed to ¡®Commanding Officer, unknown cruiser.¡¯¡± The com officer said. She took a moment to gather her nerves.


    ¡°Put it here,¡± she pointed to one of her screens around her chair and it immediately lit up. A pale woman with an angry red scar under one eye sat in a Novu style command chair, the black skinsuit unmarked with the usual rank markings. Her helmet was off and she lounged back confidently in her chair, a small smirk on her face. ¡°This is Commander Aminta Caccia of the TSS Pavone, how may I help you Admiral.¡±


    The smirk grew a little. ¡°Ah you¡¯re a TriStar ship! I thought with those Novu destroyers you might have been a new design for the Solarians.¡±


    She swallowed nervously. ¡°No Ma¡¯am, those are Zenzero and Timo.¡±


    The Admiral nodded, ¡°Good to see smaller nations growing their navies, even if it is with Novu tech. I have to admit to being impressed with your skills. A little squeaky around the edges I assume as last time I had info on your nation you didn¡¯t have cruisers, but that flip maneuver took some guts to pull off. Not many ship handlers have it in them to do that, tell your helm officer that.¡±


    ¡°I will Admiral.¡±


    ¡°Oh and before I go Commander.¡± The Admiral¡¯s smile widened. ¡°Next time you need to sneak in-system to try and lay a trap, make sure your equipment is properly locked down. Your destroyer COs were chatting too much and I easily picked up the transmissions from one of my sensor drones out here. The pirates seeded the system with a drone system of their own so they knew exactly where you were and what you were doing long before they attacked. It was no accident that the first frigate pulled off your destroyers in the way it did.¡±


    Caccia was confused, why was Desson wasting time using this like a teachable moment? From all reports and warnings, Desson should have blasted them out of the sky with the pirates she just helped her kill. She wasn¡¯t, however, going to ask why she had been spared. ¡°Thank you Admiral, I will keep that in mind.¡±


    ¡°Good! Now be careful, next time I have to save you I will charge you enough credits to bankrupt you.¡±


    <hr>


    Hornraiser¡¯s Confederacy


    Zenith Star System


    NSW Liberty


    Admiral Dimitry Tobin sat back in his office as the recording finished it''s play through.


    ¡°How did she do that?¡± His flag captain, Captain Alicia Motoro glared at the recording. ¡°I used to be a pretty good ship handler back when I was young but the math for that sort of emergence from hyper should have killed her when she smacked straight into Pavone!¡±


    ¡°Captain Motoro has a point.¡± Captain William Becker, Tobin¡¯s chief of staff, said. ¡°Even with her own drones in position to feed her data, one wrong twitch by Caccia or a misplaced decimal in the hyper jump calculations and both of them would of been dust. Never mind the fact she rammed straight into Pavone¡¯s missiles!"


    ¡°And with no apparent damage. TriStar cruisers use our heavy cruiser missile designs so that should have made a dent in even her shields!¡± Tobin sat up and quickly summoned the stats and layout of an average Atmosphere-class battlecruiser. He then brought the Ionosphere beside that hologram, power readings on the shields, weapons, missiles, everything that Pavone had picked up while the two ships had fought the pirates together. His gaze flicked between the two and waited for someone else to draw the conclusion.


    ¡°That¡­ is strange.¡± Motoro said slowly. ¡°More powerful shields, stronger energy mounts and sensors accurate enough to let her jump in from hyper literally a meter away from a ship without dying? Those are some massive improvements on the Atmosphere design. Even the Event-class battlecruisers aren¡¯t that good and that design just got deployed out of the testing yard last year!¡±


    ¡°And Callisas might be good, hell,¡± Becker made a throwaway motion, ¡°I¡¯ll even admit their ships could probably match our own quality wise, but they are not better. There¡¯s no way Desson got those improvements from Callisas.¡±


    ¡°Then who can she be getting the improvements from?¡± Motoro turned to Becker, ¡°Those Freedom lunatics have always had worse shields than us, the Treos Clusters are about two generations behind even Callisas, and the Confeds?¡± She laughed harshly, ¡°absolutely not them, as they can¡¯t even hold together long enough to agree on technology standards before someone is trying to cede again.¡±


    Tobin shook his head. ¡°We¡¯ll have to ask if we can capture her." He waved away the representations of the battlecruisers and smiled. ¡°Good thing Commander Caccia did not tell Desson we were here. Alicia,¡± he turned his attention to Motoro, ¡°I want you to prepare the ship for a jump back to the end of the Free-Confederacy Trade Route, but plan the jump as if we were sneaking up on it, if too many arrivals see us, they will spread the word of our arrival too fast.¡±


    ¡°Is this a single ship jump or a fleet?¡±


    ¡°Fleet. We are bringing all the ships still with us in system on this little trap.¡±


    Motoro nodded and Tobin looked at his chief of staff. ¡°I want you to get I touch with the Zenith Government Authority and warn them we are leaving them to their own devices for a while, but put our departure time at 2300 hours tomorrow,¡±


    ¡°Are we really going to be taking that long to get ready Sir?¡± Becker questioned.


    ¡°No, I want us out of here at 2000 hours, enough time that it will give any spies or sources time to report the wrong departure time, but not enough time to correct it.¡± Tobin shrugged. ¡°I trust the Zenith people, they have always been good to Novu Sol, but sometimes sacrifices must be made. Now get going.¡± Tobin clapped his hands together. ¡°We have a traitor to catch!¡±

 Chapter 14

    Hornraiser¡¯s Confederacy


    Sanxing Star System


    NSW Liberty


    The Sanxing Star System was an oddity in human space, a Trinary star system, with the main star system containing a G-type star(SanxingA) orbited closely by a small red dwarf(SanxingB). This was where the main planet of Di orbited far from the close binary that formed the first two parts of the trinary star system.


    It¡¯s very distant third was a white dwarf(SanxingC), functionally meaningless to most humans, as the star has long blasted away any rocks worth exploiting. Had long study in SanxingAb not noticed the distant pull of SanxingC, it probably would have been ignored forever. Except SanxingC was the ¡®anchor¡¯ of the end of the Free-Confederacy Trade Route, almost on top of the limit which stopped ships from activating their hyperdrives inside it. So there was a small emergency station here, tangentially owned by the Confederacy, but staffed mostly by those from Sanxing, it was by most considered to belong to them, not the government as a whole.


    These were distracting thoughts as Lieutenant John Savor once again went down the checklist the lead engineer had assigned him to work on with Chief Petty Officer Dawson. Both of them were currently checking the power feed lines from the reactor, a task that had Dawson nearly halfway buried in an access panel, reading out data from the scanner tool he had in there with him. It was his job to mark down the numbers and then check them against the safety standards set by the navy. If something was off, he would need to call it in to the lead engineer and they could work on it.


    ¡°0.54% Lieutenant.¡± Dawson called out from inside the bowls of the ship, a few seconds passed, ¡°and 0.56%.¡±


    Savor didn¡¯t even need to check the listed safety thresholds to know that was perfectly within tolerance, the only way it could have been better is if they had just taken the ship out of the builder¡¯s dock for the first time.


    ¡°God this is boring as hell.¡± He muttered, marking down the numbers on the tablet. ¡°Everything looks good on this panel.¡±


    The chief pushed himself out of the access, sat up, and twisted his back with a grimace. ¡°Boring means things are working as they should be. Interesting means your life is about to go to hell Sir.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get why we have to do it again so soon after the last check, we did this three months ago, a detailed inspection isn¡¯t scheduled for another three!¡±


    Dawson looked up Savor with a bland expression then pulled himself up to his feet. He was short and somewhat skinny which made many people underestimate him. Savor knew better than to underestimate any enlisted, they ran most of the ship after all. ¡°Sir, you probably know more about what we are doing than I, but the rumor mill has us here, secretly I might add, to fight the Murderer of Centurion IV.¡±


    Savor blinked and gave a slow nod. That¡¯s what he had heard too, most of the senior officers were being awfully cagey about details, operational security apparently despite them having come out here on a mission to hunt pirates. If they were going after the traitor that bombed one of their worlds¡­


    ¡°Then you know she is a tricky person to fight. We might have the firepower, the armor, maybe even the stealth. But never she managed to trick then murder her entire crew before she rained hellfire down on Foundation. We need to make sure everything is in working order or else she will find a way to exploit it against us.¡± Chief Dawson paused. ¡°You best remember that Sir. It could save your life.¡±


    Savor swallowed a nervous reply and just nodded, looking down at the numbers that seemed more important than they had before. ¡°Thank you Chief.¡±


    <hr>


    Hornraiser¡¯s Confederacy


    Zenith Star System


    TMS Tensi


    The meeting room was crowded with the holographic forms of every Callisas ship commander that was in the Zenith Star System.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    The convoy had come here because Zenith was a wealthy star system by Confederacy standards, unusually well protected by what Confederate warships weren¡¯t actively involved in a rebellion or suppressing one. It was also where larger formations of Novu warships tended to linger when they came out here due to the Zenith Government Authority being in their right pocket. So the Callisas convoy had expected to see at least the battleship here, if not a good chunk of the formation they had met at the beginning of the Free-Confederacy Trade Route.


    They were nowhere to be found and that made Captain Nava Emmet suspicious.


    ¡°Alright settle down.¡± She called across the low noise of conversation and waited until all of their eyes were on her. ¡°I called you all into this meeting because there¡¯s something missing. In our travels we have come across a few of the Novu Sol formation we saw on our way into the Confederacy, but never the battleship. I thought we would see them here.¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t.¡± One of the older captains said bluntly. ¡°To be fair to them Captain, while the ZGA¡¯s connections to Novu Sol are the worst kept secret in space, a battleship is a bit much to expect to hide and keep secret.¡±


    Emmet shook her head. ¡°I would usually agree but anywhere else would be a dead give away and it means they would have to be self-sufficient. Battleships are capable of that but these are ships used to always being in friendly territory with a planet nearby for support and shore leave for the crew. They¡¯re up to something.¡±


    None of the ship commanders looked pleased at the idea of Novu Sol being ¡®up to something.¡¯ Over a year ago they had all but invaded their capital system, so it wasn¡¯t out of the question, especially with a battleship at their disposal.


    ¡°So,¡± Emmet continued, ¡°I want to send a ship to keep a close eye on the Trade Route entrance in SanxingC.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Emmet wasn¡¯t surprised to see Captain Fitzkeller volunteering. She shook her head at him. ¡°Captain, as much as I¡¯m grateful that someone volunteered, I think it would be safer to send someone who isn¡¯t deep in The Admiral¡¯s pocket.¡± She held up a hand as he started to object, his dark eyes flashing with anger. ¡°If the Novu Navy sees you out there keeping an eye on them, they will probably think you are a scout of some sort for her. It¡¯s such a badly kept secret that you are her favorite that I¡¯m surprised that Novu Sol hasn¡¯t tried to arrest you. No, I am not going to put you in a position where the Novu Navy might have cause to try to capture in order to bait The Admiral in.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯d sooner shoot me than fall for anything like that.¡± Fitzkeller mumbled.


    ¡°Yes but Novu Sol is not known for their subtlety.¡± Emmet said dryly. ¡°Anyone else before I start handing out orders? I need someone with at least a little plausible deniability.¡±


    There was silence at the holographic conference for a few seconds before one of the destroyer commanders raised his hand to gather attention. ¡°I¡¯ll go Ma¡¯am.¡±


    Emmet made sure to check the name tag as Commander Daniel Clark of the TMS Swiftsure hadn¡¯t ever been a big presence at any of these meetings. (Though that was more due to the man''s lack of seniority.) A pale man with neatly kept facial hair and short hair that was light brown bordering on dark ginger. Not exactly who she had expected to step up after Fitzkeller¡¯s attempt to volunteer but she was pleased that she had a person to voluntarily send rather than order.


    ¡°Alright Commander Clark,¡± Emmet said, pulling up information on his destroyer, making sure the ship was up to the task. ¡°I want you on your way out of Zenith in an hour. You are to take all due precautions in making sure Novu Sol doesn¡¯t see you there. You are to stay quiet until we return with the convoy. There are only two circumstances in which you are to go active and that is to either stop a pirate attack or if you are in imminent danger.¡±


    Clark nodded. ¡°And if they actually do something before you get there?¡±


    ¡°Depending on when that is, you are to come find us and warn us.¡± Emmet tapped a command into her console. ¡°If Novu Sol is making a move to seize the end of the Trade Route we need to know as soon as possible. It¡¯s likely that would be a precursor to taking over the Confederacy.¡±


    Fitzkeller frowned. ¡°Ma¡¯am we don¡¯t have anywhere close to the firepower here to stop them if they want to do that.¡±


    Emmet gave a snort of laughter. "We can definitely try to lodge a complaint, but no, we aren''t going to start a war with the Premier power in space for the disaster that is the Confederacy. We are going to rush home and warn our government. On the way we can warn The Nation of the Free given that the Confeds are in their backyard. But we need information." She looked down at Clark. "And you Commander are going to get it for me."


    "Yes Ma''am. Is there anything else you need?" He asked.


    "No, now go," she looked at the clock, "I want you gone in 55 minutes."


    Clark gave Emmet a crisp salute before he vanished from the conference.


    <hr>


    Hornraiser¡¯s Confederacy


    Commander Daniel Clark


    TMS Swiftsure


    "So you think Novu Sol really is going to grab the Confeds?"


    Daniel Clark looked over at his XO, Lieutenant Commander Jessica Harrington, standing beside the junior tactical officer on duty.


    "Not particularly. It doesn''t seem like their style." Clark responded. "Too blatant."


    "And you didn''t bring this up with Emmet?" She asked.


    "It wasn''t worth bringing up. There''s little worse than what the captain already guessed, except maybe if they were invading Callisas. Operational security would keep any sign of that locked up tight back in Novu Sol, we wouldn''t see anything out here suggesting that. Too far away." He explained, sitting back and relaxing his posture, doing his best to seem unbothered by the idea. "We are going to SanxingC, and seeing what is going on." He motioned Harrington over and his XO came to stand beside him.


    "Yes Sir?"


    "Novu Sol are bastards but they are smart ones. Something has triggered them to not be here. I believe Emmet was right to assume the battleship would have been here, it makes the most sense for a pampered ship used to flag runs. Whatever it is, we need to be prepared for anything in SanxingC, understand Jessica?" Clark said quietly.


    "Of course." She looked around the bridge. "I''ll make sure the ship lives up to her name."

 Chapter 15

    Hornraiser¡¯s Confederacy


    SanxingC Star System


    TNS Swiftsure


    Commander Daniel Clark looked up from the book he had just opened as the admittance chime on his office door sounded. He sighed, he should have known better than to expect his free time to stay free.


    He brought up the security camera feed and saw Harrington standing there, data pad tablet under an arm.


    ¡°Enter!¡± He called and the hatch slid open for his executive officer. Clark motioned to one of the seats across the desk from him. ¡°Jessica, may I ask what brings you to my office just as I was about to start a new book?¡±


    ¡°More work.¡± She said dryly as she sat down. ¡°Anyways, as your XO, it¡¯s my sworn duty to make sure you don¡¯t burn through your book collection too fast.¡±


    Clark gave a small snort of laughter. ¡°Thank you Jessica for your valiant sacrifice, but unless there¡¯s a Novu War Fleet out there, I doubt the sacrifice was necessary.¡± He sat back, crossing his arms. ¡°So what exact work did you bring me?¡±


    She laid the tablet on his desk and pushed it over to him. ¡°Some discipline issues.¡±


    He picked up the pad and thumbed it on, beginning to read the reports. ¡°Any of these in particular I should be reading?¡±


    ¡°The most recent one is the one I wanted to bring your attention to.¡± Harrington reached over and swiped the reports away until it was on one dated from yesterday.


    Clark looked up at Jessica. ¡°Lieutenant Sharpe? What is he up to?¡±


    ¡°Is ¡®being a bastard¡¯ too crude a description Sir?¡±


    He arched a silent eyebrow at her and she pinched the bridge of her nose.


    ¡°A few days ago, Master Chief Summers came to me. She said she was hearing rumors of plans to find Sharpe in a dark passage and beat the living hell out of him. I of course asked why, given that such things are illegal and a great way to end up in the brig.¡± Harrington said. ¡°She said he was being a petty tyrant to the enlisted, both on and off shift. I, at first, tried to corroborate what she said by watching him, but he was always proper as pie when I was around. I finally caught some of his actions during his bridge watch yesterday. I told Sharpe I was going down to engineering to check up on the inspections they were having down there.¡±


    Clark was frowning at the tablet, reading the report. ¡°You saw through the bridge¡¯s cameras to see him trying to bully Ensign June into doing an active sensor sweep for him. She refused, rightfully so.¡±


    The Swiftsure was currently running on silent, having deployed a few sensor probes in the star system, watching for any signs of activity from Novu Sol. An active sweep would be disastrous for their stealth.


    ¡°So,¡± Harrington concluded. ¡°I read him the riot act. Still I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d let him lead even the slowest shift again until he shapes up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll look into straightening him out. Who else is on this roster of yours?¡± He had begun to thumb back through the reports when a sudden alert popped up on his terminal, a call from the bridge.


    ¡°This is Clark, speak.¡±


    ¡°Sir, please come to the bridge...¡± It was Ensign June, she sounded unsure, ¡°A Novu Sol battlecruiser just came out of hyper and is heading towards the transition point for the Trade Route.¡±


    ¡°Why do you sound like you don¡¯t understand it then Ensign?¡± He asked.


    ¡°It''s showing up as friendly. Not neutral.¡±


    Clark looked over at Harrington in surprise. ¡°I¡¯ll be up in a moment Ensign, do not do anything unless the ship is in danger.¡±


    ¡°Yes Commander.¡±


    As soon he closed the com link to the bridge Harrington let out a breath she¡¯d been holding. ¡°The Admiral? What is she doing here?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He quickly and efficiently slotted the tablets into the desk, put the book away on his bookshelf to keep it safe and paused to look at his XO. ¡°The IO has had no bead on her at all this last year and even with her wealth there¡¯s no way someone wouldn¡¯t blab about the short quiet blonde women hanging around their world. Novu Sol had made her infamous, there isn¡¯t a planet out there that hasn¡¯t heard about her so how could she have been hiding here?¡±


    ¡°Well whatever she was doing, let''s go see what she¡¯s up to now.¡±


    <hr>


    As Daniel strode onto the bridge to the relief of Ensign June he quickly sat down in his command chair she left and began to pull up more information on his screens.


    "Talk to me."


    "Sir, the Ionosphere appeared in the system about two minutes ago on the opposite side of the star system." The rating that had been manning the tactical sensors while June ran the watch said. "The ship isn''t broadcasting any ID and came at a time when traffic is supposed to be very slow."


    So The Admiral was banking less on her scaring people than she was leaning on Novu Sol''s reputation and fewer eyes to call her out.


    "Any sign of other activity?" Clark asked.Stolen story; please report.


    "No Sir. The last ship we saw was a passenger liner coming through the Trade Route and almost immediately reenter hyper. If there are others here, they are staying extremely quiet." June still sounded nervous. "Should I call up Lieutenant Whitmore?"


    "No, you have this under control." Clark assured her. "We are here to watch, not fight."


    And so they watched as the Ionosphere trekked across the star system in silence. It shouldn''t have been a nerve-wracking experience but for some reason Clark couldn''t pin down, as The Admiral''s ship crawled ever closer to the entrance of the Trade Route, he felt restless and uneasy. He had told his crews to notify him if they saw Novu Sol ships and all the time they had been here they had seen nothing except freighters and the occasional messenger ship.


    It seemed that The Admiral must be as paranoid as he was nervous, as Ionosphere began to bring up her shields and the ship began to twist to present the best weapons profile towards the Trade Route ''entrance''. He itched to order an active pulse in the area but that would give away his ship and he knew Captain Emmet would skin him alive if he did that unnecessarily.


    The Ionosphere was just about to leave the gravity well of SanxingC when a bunch of contacts lit up. They had been lying in wait just beyond the gravity well, the Trade Route ¡®exit/entrance¡¯ area was large enough that even the presence of four battlecruisers and four light cruisers had been easy for incoming traffic to miss. They must have been there a while as when Swiftsure had crept in there had been no sign at all that they had arrived, not a ghost or stray energy signature to be seen.


    So they had a ringside seat to the circus. The Ionosphere braked hard, shields flaring up to full strength as the Atmosphere-class battlecruiser lashed out with a spread of missiles at the battlecruiser closest to her. The Novu vessel easily knocked them down with the help of the light cruisers and began to crowd in on the Ionosphere. Then from below and behind The Admiral¡¯s ship, two more battlecruisers, two cruisers and three destroyers lit up as well. They were much farther behind the lone battlecruiser they were there to take down but now Ionosphere was fairly effectively trapped. The Admiral would have to pass in range of the guns of at least one of the groups in order to make a beeline for a clear space for her to go into hyper. If she heavily engaged either group, the other would come blazing in to support them and if she tried to just blast through that meant taking serious damage at the expense of escaping.


    As Clark studied the battle, missiles blazing out to shroud the Ionosphere in a halo of nuclear fire, he couldn¡¯t help but notice something. It wasn¡¯t a perfect trap, no trap really could be with humans involved, but there was a way out, by angling straight up away from the ecliptic of the star system and pulling some very stressful Gs, The Admiral could pull out and still make it to the Trade Route with the battlecruisers dogging at her heels. The Admiral could do it, she was brilliant like that but something was missing. The battlecruisers being here en masse to kill The Admiral was almost expected and as he watched he saw Ionosphere take a hard missile hit to her port side as she twisted the ship around impossibly fast to point into that narrow opening he¡¯d identified he wondered.


    ¡°Ensign¡­¡± Clark said slowly. ¡°How many cruisers and destroyers are we missing?¡±


    June was startled by the question, but quickly began to pull up data and after a minute she said, ¡°Around ten destroyers and four other cruisers, including the TriStar ships that were with them when they came out here.¡± She hesitated. ¡°And the battleship Sir.¡±


    Clark¡¯s voice was stone as he watched the Ionosphere accelerating hard towards the Trade Route. ¡°It''s not missing Ensign.¡±


    Before she had a chance to ask, a bright flare of light and energy washed over the sensors to the startled yelp of the young officer.


    The battleship Liberty had just burst out of hyper so close to the redline of the gravity well the ship¡¯s hull was actually glowing visually from the energy still clinging stubbornly to it''s armor. A dangerous move and one that was going to cost the battleship in the future but might pay dividends now. Ionosphere had been charging right into Liberty¡¯s grasp and with the battlecruisers arrayed how they were, trying to turn and run away meant exposing the vulnerable engines to the firepower of a battleship which would shred the battlecruiser given a few shots on a bad day.


    The Admiral didn¡¯t even seem to flinch and for a moment Clark wondered if the person who had taught his navy how to fight was going to lose and he was going to witness her destruction. As the battleship opened up with a massive twenty missile salvo and energy beams began to find their marks he waited. The initial few energy beams that connected seemed to be deflected by the shield, that was good but what was The Admiral going to do?


    He got his answer and he actually recoiled from the feed in shock as Ionosphere charged at Liberty, full tilt, engines blazing away to ramp her speed up to suicidal levels as she ran straight at the bulking behemoth of death right in her path.


    No one had really been expecting that. The Admiral was brilliant, calm, and never where she shouldn¡¯t be in a fight. She¡¯d been shown to engage in risky maneuvers from time to time but this was so far outside her profile it seemed ludicrous. Was she sick? Or really this desperate? Clark was sure The Admiral was never desperate, but she never had faced down a battleship.


    It seemed to mess up Liberty as well as the battleship began to scramble to present her broadside to the oncoming ship, better to take a direct ship-to-ship hit on the side where the armor was thickest and less likely to be jammed back into waiting warheads and energy weapons for firing forward. Liberty  then opened up with a large barrage, seven missiles blazing out of missile launchers on her sacrificial side, shields beginning to glow stronger as the massive battleship shifted all power it had to spare to brace for the impact to come.


    The Ionosphere ignored all of this, the missile defense reaching out almost as an afterthought to swat down the large missiles aimed at killing her. The site was impressive, watching the missiles explode around the rogue ship as it charged.


    ¡°What the!¡± someone cried.


    Static sparkled across the feed as the sensors were temporarily overloaded, Clark rubbed his eyes before he hit a command on his console to replay what had just happened.


    The Ionosphere had been a mere second from impact with Liberty before the engines had shifted from blue to.... Purple? Purple wasn¡¯t a color engines were supposed to turn. Blue for normal space, red for hyper, maybe if your eyes played some tricks on you it would see a bit of purple as the engines switched modes. This wasn¡¯t the case, the engines had a clear glowing purple color to their light; the static and energy that had blinded the sensors became clear as space twisted in a way that made his eyes faintly dance away, like he was looking at something intrinsically wrong and then, just like that, Ionosphere and The Admiral were gone.


    Not without a bang apparently.


    Whatever that transition to hyper had been, it had been inside the redline gravity limit of the star, Ionosphere should not have been able to make that jump without vaporizing the entire ship yet no dust cloud of the battlecruiser¡¯s remains could be seen. Just Liberty, reeling in a strange tumble towards the Trade Route transition point, it''s shield gone, engines off, weapons and sensors either dead or off and a giant gouge carved out the side it had turned to face the Ionosphere.


    Clark watched, mute with both admiration and horror as the battlecruisers began to chase down their injured battleship. The cruisers and destroyers raced past the battleship to surround it in a delicate shell of protection as the battlecruisers latched on with tractors to slow the tumble and momentum imparted by the massive hit it had taken.


    He looked down as a small communication window opened on one of his screens and Harrington looked out at him, her face was pale, eyes wide and he wondered if his own face looked as shocked as she was.


    ¡°We need to go.¡± She whispered, there was no need to do so, but maybe that was all she could muster. After all it wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t like seeing Novu Sol taken down a peg, it was that somehow, Ionosphere had managed to pull off something entirely new right in front of their eyes that managed to disable an entire battleship. What if one of the destroyers or cruisers had been in The Admiral¡¯s way? Would it too have just been knocked around and damaged? Or would it have been vaporized completely? Was this a new weapon The Admiral had managed to buy or just something done out of desperation that had just happened to have a welcome effect of nearly killing a battleship? The sheer impossibility, the wrongness of it, stuck a cord in all of them.


    Commander Daniel Clark nodded. ¡°Helm.¡± He said, ¡°I want you to start us out system, slowly, carefully.¡± He looked down to the frozen image of the twisted space of Ionosphere¡¯s transition to hyper and then to the live feed of Liberty being slowed down by her battlecruiser companions. ¡°We need to tell Emmet about this.¡±

 Chapter 16

    Novu Sol Star System


    Freedom Spire


    Ares Centios


    Rear Admiral Centos didn¡¯t come down to Freedom Spire often. Being born on one of the core worlds of the Stellar Democracy meant that every kid got a small vacation to visit Novu Sol in all its glory, sometimes more than once if they had the right selections of classes. He had no need to come here unless on business and the only reason he was in the capital in the first place was to transfer the TriStar military personnel off his ship so they could continue their education elsewhere.


    This was, however, some serious business. Apparently big enough to pull every flag officer that was within two hours flight of Novu Sol to the Spire for an in-person meeting. Which was not a good sign, though if it was something like say, a declaration of war, then he wouldn¡¯t have been summoned but rather given orders and sent on his way. So as he settled back in his seat, sipping his glass of water while the last stragglers finally found their seat, he studied the large auditorium and the people at the lectern.


    Admiral Julia Vales and President Desar were both there, hunched over a tablet to review some data. He assumed that Vales was here to present the information, and the President being the leader of the nation here to back her up in case certain actions needed to be taken. There were a few techs checking to make sure the hologram system was working properly but they weren¡¯t anyone Centos knew. He was surprised to see General of the Marines Natao Omar and General of the Army Ceta Graves in the front row, as while Marines were deeply linked to the Navy, the Army was more distant. He didn¡¯t see any other Army personnel here so perhaps she was here just as a courtesy.


    His attention was pulled back to Vales as she stepped up the lectern, clearing her throat into the mic to get everyone¡¯s attention. The room fell silent, expectant of what vital information the head of the Navy had to offer.


    ¡°Afternoon everyone, and thank you all for coming on such short notice. This presentation will be recorded and copied to every flag officer in the Novu Navy. Let me dispel any fears or rumors now, no, this is not a summons to war. It is an informational briefing on something that has occurred that you all need to be aware of.¡± She paused to let that sink in, no one spoke of course, but everyone seemed to sit up a bit straighter, focus more intently on their superior.


    Vales dimmed the lights and a massive hologram lit up the air above vales head. A vision of a star system with ships lying in wait for prey to fall into their trap. Centos¡¯ eyes narrowed, was that SanxingC?


    ¡°This here, in case you don¡¯t recognize it, is SanxingC, the star system that anchors the end of the Free-Confederacy Trade Route. The unusual property of this star system is that rather than the Trade Route ending at some point far outside the gravity well like all the other Routes do, this one rides right up to the redline of gravity,¡± Vales paused for a second. ¡°Most ships exit the Trade Route and are already coasting over the redline, though some helmen fast on the con can immediately reenter hyper without accidentally triggering a return trip on the route. Ships entering from the Confederacy usually have to exit hyper somewhere else in the star system and transit in normal space for at least ten minutes before entering the Trade Route.¡±


    Centos narrowed his eyes at the set up, most of them knew that, even if it had been rusty knowledge from long years running fleets rather than helming ships.


    ¡°Admiral Tobin was in the Confederacy on a dual mission; to both train the newer TriStar ships in merchant protection and to thin the pirates out there since the Confederacy is undergoing yet another revolt and our shipping is starting to get targeted heavily again. One of the TriStar ships had a close encounter with Desson and Ionosphere, but did not engage her, an action of which I approve as it seemed Desson did not realize that they were here under our protection and bound to report to Tobin about spotting her.¡±


    Suddenly he was very interested. Had they gotten her? No, no he should know better than to hope like that, he would know when she was dead when it was on the news before official reports confirm it.


    ¡°So Admiral Tobin set a trap, taking his battleship with a healthy supporting force of battlecruisers, light cruisers and destroyers and having them lay in wait for her to arrive while Tobin took Liberty out system and would use a microjump to come in and seal her into the trap. Desson came in on almost a perfect vector and the battlecruisers, like they planned, forced her on to a vector which would make it easy for Liberty to engage and hopefully disable her ship.¡± Vales paused to let the scene play out above her, Ionosphere zipping across the system into the jaws of the trap at a compressed time scale. Her ship twisted up and into a narrow green cone and a few moments later, Liberty was there, her hull glowing like a comet in the night sky. She began her attack and watching this, he couldn¡¯t help feeling pride. Battleships were the pride of the fleet; it was an honor to command one and even more an honor to fly your flag from one. Tobin was a lucky man to have such an asset at his disposal. The tactical plot paused here, Ionosphere trapped between the force of battlecruisers already showing their vectors moving to cut off any escape without exposing her engines to the ship that was to be her killer.


    ¡°And then,¡± Vales voice got more serious, ¡°This happened.¡±


    When the plot resumed it''s deadly play he watched, first with interest, and then with mounting horror as Ionosphere turned it''s vector onto a deadly collision course with the Liberty. The battleship turned to present her thickest armor and strengthened her shields on that side to such a degree warning icons popped up around the representation of the huge ship, warning of possible overloads and parts of the ship that should have power, like life support and weapons on the far side, were shut off to preserve the ship in that moment. The speed at which Ionosphere had climbed in that short distance was terrifying and even as he watched the battlecruiser shields shrugged off a direct missile hit like it was nothing. He knew the Atmosphere-class battlecruiser. That should not be possible but even as he thought that another thought struck him. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    He couldn¡¯t claim to understand Desson, he wanted her dead and he knew she was a psychopath, simple as that, but if she rammed Liberty, she would be dead, her ship would be dead, converted to dust and debris by the massive kinetic energy of the collision with a larger, less moveable object. Even for a psychopath who would want people dead for little reason and having no qualms about killing, that made no sense. She should be trying to preserve herself, not trying to die.


    Centos got the answer to a question he was almost too afraid to ask. A second before the rogue battlecruiser would have hit the Liberty, the battlecruiser engines turned purple and a haze of static and energy flashed across the plot, making all the various ships in the plot look hazy before it refocused.


    And Liberty was dead in space with the Ionosphere nowhere to be found. A massive gouge on the side of the battleship as it slowly tumbled away, the rest of the Novu ship rushing to the ship¡¯s aid.


    ¡°That was a recreation of the event with special filters on,¡± Vales said into the stunned silence. ¡°That was not an error, Ionosphere managed to transit into hyper well inside the gravity redline. The warping of space is so unsettling to the eyes that it can, at it''s best, make humans dizzy. It made one of my staff throw up and faint, so while I will be sending the raw data to all flag officers, please be warned that you should not view this lightly. But we need to discuss what exactly happened to Liberty.¡± She made a motion and a new view replaced the tactical plot, showing the view from a shuttle flying by the gouge to assess damage.


    Except it wasn¡¯t a gouge, not really. There was nothing missing that Centos could spot, rather it looked like a large dent on a plastic toy, the outer shell collapsed into the ship as though it was hollow. All the armor, the weapon ports as strange as it looked, it was there, it just was in the depression. Some people gasped but Centos'' mind was already straying to what the inside might look like.


    He didn¡¯t have to imagine for long as the view spit to a screen showing a Marine wedging himself through two warped bulkheads to a pocket where he could stand, the light from his helmet sweeping around to see the extent of the damage. It stopped and he heard the Marine¡¯s strangled gasp of horror. Marines were tough but what his light was resting on was a scene straight from hell itself.


    What had once been the hatch to a missile battery was half swung open, cockeyed at an odd angle due to the way the way the bubbled passage curved and fused with the hatch to keep it open. Someone had been making a run for it away from what was going to be the impact zone when the warping of space-time had dented Liberty. They never made it out. Their arm was half fused into the frame of the hatch; the ghostly shape of the arm could be seen fused into the metal of the passage beside the hatch, metal stained red as though it had been forged that way rather than infused with blood. While the rest of the body seemed twisted in an agonizing position of pain and fear everything seeming at just the wrong angle, a foot fused to the deck at the ankle, the face had no eyes, blood seemed to just be pooling in the sockets where they should have been, and the skull looked like someone had flattened it without breaking the skin. It almost looked like a mockery of the human form.


    Someone in the auditorium was retching. Centos himself had to look away from the horrors that the ripples in space-time had caused this poor rating. He felt the blood drain from his face. Not only had The Admiral disabled a battleship, but she had done it in a way that pales in comparison to anything else she could have done. It might have been better if she had just blown them up rather than this. What should have reduced her ship to ash had let her escape and kill¡­ how many?


    ¡°535 people were KIA due to this.¡± Vales reported as though she heard his thoughts. ¡°Another 96 had serious injuries from needing to be cut free of body parts fused to walls. All of the crew suffered side effects from this, a short list of the side effects being things like nausea, vomiting, loss of balance, internal bleeding, and blindness. The battlecruisers had to tow her home and left behind most of the escorts to gather up their merchants and the TriForce ships before they came home as well.¡±


    ¡°Is Tobin still alive?¡± Someone asked.


    Vales nodded. To even be considered for a flag position on a battleship your career and connections had to be damn near perfect. Dimitry Tobin had been an exceptional officer and one that many in the navy considered to be perfect for the slot. Always calm and well mannered, his flag-showing tour had been highlighted by many of the worlds he visited not with disdain or eye rolls like some other, but generally well-liked. If there was a ¡®face of the navy¡¯, Tobin was it.


    ¡°Admiral Tobin is alive, but like I said, no one escaped the side effects.¡± She made a small hand motion and the split scene above her vanished, leaving the room darker but at least no one had to stare at that poor person anymore. ¡°He suffered blindness in his right eye, balance issues and some nerve damage in his right arm. Nothing a year of regeneration and physical therapy can¡¯t handle. He¡¯ll be returning to Castle to recover with his husband.¡± Vales bright back up the lights.


    ¡°Any more questions?¡±


    ¡°How did she do this?¡± Centos asked. ¡°If one of the other nations has found a way to weaponize hyperdrives, we should have heard about it.¡±


    Vales looked over to the President who nodded to her to go on.


    ¡°I¡¯ve checked with all our various intelligence branches and none of them have found any hint at the idea of a ¡®weaponized hyper jump.¡¯ We are currently working on the assumption that Desson was desperate because she was facing down a battleship and decided to test her luck with a jump inside the redline rather than surrendering. We do have a few people in the Test Yards trying to simulate exactly how it works just in case.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Ma¡¯am. I did not mean to question the abilities of our intelligence agencies, I was just curious.¡± He said, sitting back as another younger flag officer jumped in with a question he tuned it out.


    It wasn¡¯t important. Not at the moment.


    They had been so close to having the Murderer of Centurion in their grasp, so close to her being dead. He would never admit it to anyone but he was almost glad. He wanted to see her defeated as badly as any other officer, to see her brought to justice and executed for her crimes. Centos, however, wanted to be that person. He wanted to be the one looking into her eyes as Marines marched her onto his ship in chains. He had to be, for all the family and friends he had lost, the memories and moments all burnt to ash by her hand.


    Everyone felt the loss of Foundation in the Stellar Democracy, but those from the place that had once been a city felt it more keenly, the place that was there was gone and it would never return even if they rebuilt an exact replica. It was all just dusty memories now, glimpses in the words and shared moments of people who had lived there but had been away that fateful day, bits of movies and shows filmed there that would never return to there for sequels, books that spoke fondly of it would now forever be entombed in a curse of the past and only in fiction could anyone ever return to Foundation in the present.


    Perhaps it was foolish of him, being only one man among a crowd who all wanted the same thing, to lay claim to revenge against Desson.


    But for now he would, no matter how foolish.

 Chapter 17

    K5X33-12 Star System


    Calling K5X33-12 a ¡®named¡¯ star system would be like saying a pile of debris is a spaceship. The only reason it had ever gained a catalog name in the first place was that some poor bastard had purchased the mining rights to it then got there and found the system to be unimaginably poor in just about anything a person could mine for profit. There was iron and nickel and all sorts of material, but not enough to be worth the cost of shipping people out here to work. The only other thing of note was a tiny blue gas giant. So the owner had written it off and died a long time ago, leaving the place abandoned.


    Which made it the perfect place for the Asteroid Trading Station to rise again.


    An asteroid of appropriate size in the sparse inner debris disk around the weak star had been selected for the new location then hollowed the areas which would function as the station in the future. That was well over a year ago now and Nayla Reyes was very happy with the progress.


    Her old passenger ship, the Aster Aster, served as a mothership for four small parasite miners which carved out the interior docking bays and allowed her crew to get to work carving out other smaller areas by hand while the tiny mining ships went to collect more material they needed to build the passages.


    So it was a bit rough around the edges at the moment, but the Asteroid Trading Station II was already like home to her.


    ¡°Nayla.¡±


    She turned, smile warmly at the man who had called her name. Nayla was no stranger to working with people of all kinds, ATS after all was at its best a fairly lawless place, rules enforced only by whoever was the biggest threat. Criminals of all stripes had made their way through ATS as well as legitimate merchants looking to invest in goods you couldn¡¯t buy in civilized space.


    So when a man with no credentials to his person showed up on her doorstep and asked for a job a month before she¡¯d had to flee, she hadn¡¯t been fazed. A bit of questioning and prodding to make sure he wasn¡¯t an outright slaver, (afterall ATS wasn¡¯t that lawless,) she hired Harold on as a sensor tech.


    Then quickly fell in love. After she¡¯d left her homeworld and struck out in hopes of making a name for herself, she had all but given on relationships. Flings and one night stands were one thing, a prolonged and serious fling meant there was someone in the universe that could be held against her. Harold had been different though, he was sweet in a strange way, never one for chocolates and roses but more than willing to stand by her side brandishing weapons and cracking heads then giving her a kiss on the cheek once the dust settled. She knew he vaguely may have have warrants out for his arrest, fraud and perhaps assassination attempts? It didn¡¯t matter, Nayla couldn¡¯t claim to be a paragon, so as long as he didn¡¯t sell people for a living, she was happy to have him around.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked as she leaned against the crate in the dim recesses of a newly craved out cargo bay.


    ¡°Well I wanted to share a lunch with you but I got distracted by the need to bully a merchant for denting our nice new docking cradle.¡± He said dryly.


    Nayla winced. ¡°Is it bad?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully no, but we are going to need to requisition spares as we only had enough for one replacement of all the damaged parts. We expected not to need them as badly in these early days as even the kinds of rabble that come out here tend to respect the furniture or get thrown out an airlock.¡± Harold shrugged. ¡°But it''s late enough now I could ask if you wanted to share a dinner instead.¡±


    ¡°That sounds wonderful.¡± Nayla stretched her arms above her head, pausing as Harold none-to-subtly checked her out. ¡°Dessert comes after dinner you hedonist.¡±


    ¡°You look like a main meal to me.¡± He shot back with a grin.


    ¡°Please spare me your terrible one-liners! I¡¯m dating you because you can hit a target at range in a cramped corridor, not because you¡¯re hot.¡± She complained as the two began their walk back to their quarters to share some sort of food, probably a ration bar and refiltered water as ATS II didn¡¯t have the traffic yet to buy and pilfer the fresher foods yet.


    Suddenly an alert buzzed in her ear-piece , making her stop dead in the corridor to press a finger to the device. ¡°This is Reyes, speak.¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am. Please come to the control center, there is something here you have to see.¡±


    Nayla shouldn¡¯t expect military precision from civilians who chose to live such questionable lifestyles, but that was so vague she didn¡¯t know what to do with it.


    ¡°Details. Is it Novu Sol? A Privateer? Are the Gods themselves manifesting outside in space? Tell me so I know how fast I need to run.¡± She snapped.


    ¡°Sorry, it''s Ionosphere Ma¡¯am.¡±


    That actually made her relax for a moment. The Admiral was no threat to her and while basic, they had her hidden dock already carved out and hidden. Then she remembered that for some reason the tech wanted her to come to the control center. Ionosphere on her own wasn¡¯t much to write home about, so what was going on?


    ¡°I¡¯ll be there.¡± She said, tapping the ear-piece to end the call then looked over to Harold with an apologetic expression. ¡°Sorry Harold, duty calls. we can eat later.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll come with you.¡± He said as he once again fell in beside her as she began to quickly walk towards the command center. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Ionosphere is here and someone in CC decided it was important enough for me to be commed.¡± Nayla looked around, as though trying to spot something that wasn¡¯t there. ¡°Best go check it out.¡±


    <hr>


    In the command center of ATSII it was busy, but not frantic, so once again nayla had to wonder what was important enough to contact her. She could see on the large hologram of the star system a single green dot representing the Ionosphere, but the contact was moving almost too slowly. No damage could be seen on the ship at all.


    ¡°Has she spoken to us?¡± Nayla asked as she turned towards the communication section of CC.


    ¡°Yes, but it''s eyes-only for you Nayla.¡± One of the com people said. ¡°We can¡¯t crack the code on it, but it doesn¡¯t look hostile. Just strange for The Admiral to communicate this way.¡±


    Nayla swallowed hard, that wasn¡¯t good.


    She walked over to a console, sat down, then brought up the message, entering the special code she had been given by The Admiral to unlock any eyes-only messages sent her way. She waited while the codes exchanged relevant information and decoded itself into a format she could watch.


    There was The Admiral, in her command chair as always, but something was off. The eye over where her red scar started was strangely unfocused and half-closed, usually neat hair disheveled and uniform looking overly worn and dirty.


    ¡°Nayla Reyes,¡± The Admiral¡¯s voice was surprisingly level, but the words sounded like they were pulling energy from her that she didn¡¯t have. ¡°I come to this place because it is the safest place not currently under close watch by Novu Sol agents. My medical equipment is top notch but it cannot properly heal me in my current state. I ask you a favor, one which will¡­¡± she coughed, taking several deep breaths, ¡°come with good pay. In order for my body to heal I want you to care for me while my body regenerates. Please highlight where my dock is if it had been built. I am capable of docking but if I do not disembark my ship in a half an hour to greet you, then you will need to come aboard and help me. Admiral, out.¡±


    Nayla sucked in a deep breath. Holy ships in a biscuit The Admiral was coming to her for help like this?


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Harold had crept up behind her, peering over her shoulder at the still image of The Admiral that had frozen on screen at the end of the message. ¡°Damn she looks terrible. Nothing wrong with her ship though,¡± he pointed out.


    Nayla shook her head. ¡°We can discuss it in a bit, traffic control, guide The Admiral into her dock and then lock the concealer hatch once she¡¯s safely inside.¡± She stood, checking the gun at her hip. ¡°I¡¯m going down there to wait for her.¡±


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    She didn¡¯t even wait for any acknowledgement as she strode out of the command center with single-minded focus for the hidden dock where she would meet The Admiral. She knew exactly what this sort of thing would buy her. The Admiral had trillions of credits to her name and while yes, that money investment would bring ATSII up to it''s former glory quicker and maybe even better than before, she was thinking more long term.


    The Admiral didn¡¯t trust. Or when she did she did so selectively and very carefully. The open secret of her being pretty much being sponsored by Callisas meant she trusted them to some degree, but at the moment she didn¡¯t trust their security to protect her. She was trusting this isolated,hidden, half-built station to hide her while whatever injuries she had sustained healed. It would be so easy to watch her fall asleep under her watchful eye, lock the dock down and send a ship to Novu Sol, wouldn¡¯t it?


    But it would be the end of ATSII. She might reap the reward of catching The Admiral, clearing her crimes and being offered all she could desire, but the dream of her trading station would die. Novu Sol would scrub this place clean and turn it into something it wasn¡¯t. She didn¡¯t know that, they might leave it, or destroy it, or think she was lying. Whatever it was, she refused to deal with Novu Sol. She barely tolerated them as is.


    ¡°Wait! Nayla!¡±


    She was pulled to a stop just outside the unassuming hatch that led to The Admiral¡¯s secret dock by Harold, who looked concerned. ¡°What did she tell you? Can I help?¡± He sounded just like he looked and she guessed she probably looked more serious than she intended. Nayla didn¡¯t say anything as she opened the hatch and stepped inside, Harold following and closing it behind him. ¡°Please if this is going to be trouble¡­¡±


    ¡°The Admiral is injured. I will be taking care of her while she recovers.¡± She replied simply. ¡°I do not need your help for that, though I thank you for your concern. Please go eat dinner, I¡¯ll take care of The Admiral.¡±


    He hesitated for a moment, like he wanted to say something, but just nodded, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and left.


    <hr>


    One month later, Nayla had to admit she wondered if The Admiral was actually getting better.


    She rarely woke up, only getting out of bed for an occasional shower and meal. She rarely talked even when Nayla talked to her about things on the station, knowing her famous temper and not seeing her try to threaten her for talking too much was telling of her state. The Admiral occasionally asked for certain drugs, and once had to stumble her with her help back aboard Ionosphere in order to find a drug which Nayla had never seen before one night after she apparently had a seizure.


    Weak. It was not a word she would associate with The Admiral, but seeing the tiny woman like this made it clear why she wasn¡¯t just laying in deep space to recover. She needed help, no matter how minimal.


    As she walked down the row of living quarters that would soon house more important permanent residents she paused at Harold¡¯s. Helping The Admiral recover cut significantly into her time but she had some time now, maybe they could have a bit of fun with it.


    ¡°Oh Harold¡­¡± She called seductively as she slipped into his room, more than ready to start unzipping her work jumpsuit and make demands of her lover. She paused as she entered, he wasn¡¯t there. He always had some ocean white noise playing when he was here, so even though he¡¯d left the lights on, unusual for him, his quarters were dead silent.


    She sighed in disappointment, he must have been called away, Nayla should have known better than to expect her free time to stay free.


    As she walked down the hall to the furthest room, the one she had willed to The Admiral¡¯s recovery, she paused at the hatch. Something seemed different, but for some reason she didn¡¯t think it was related to The Admiral being better. She honestly expected to find The Admiral gone one day like a ghost rather than thanking her. It was the quiet, she thought. There wasn¡¯t anyone else here, just a low hum for life support.


    She opened the hatch and stepped in.


    Standing over the bed, his form silhouetted from the lights outside, was Harold.


    ¡°Harold?!¡± She said in surprise. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


    Harold didn¡¯t turn. ¡°I¡¯m here to save ATS.¡±


    ¡°What are you on about? Get out of here before you wake The Admiral up.¡± She commanded.


    Finally he turned and she was startled to see his pistol in his hand, a finger resting in the trigger making her instinctively take a step back into the hatch to give her an escape if he fired.


    ¡°Nayla, she is a danger to your dream! Why can¡¯t you see that?¡± He motioned to the sleeping form of The Admiral on the bed, the woman showing no signs of hearing any of this. ¡°She is not your friend, the second she is well she will destroy this place for seeing her weakness because no amount of money in the universe can keep gossiping spacers quiet.¡±


    ¡°The only people that know she is here to recover from whatever injury she sustained are you, me and her. Her ship is in her secret dock and The Admiral is well known for being a recluse. Her not being out and about is perfectly in character.¡± She argued back. ¡°Now stop pointing that gun at me you dumbass, you know better.¡±


    Harold scowled, but lowered the gun to point at the deck. ¡°I think you¡¯re being blinded by some sort of sentimentality. The Admiral doesn¡¯t care about you or the ATS, it¡¯s all just assets in her life to be used and discarded.¡±


    ¡°She protected the last ATS from the Novu Navy.¡± Nayla wondered what exactly had gotten into him.


    ¡°And then you had to destroy it and move here, losing business in the process and having to spend time building it again! How often are you going to let this psychopath use your ATS as a shield for Novu Sol to beat it''s head against?¡± She started to inject but he rolled right over her. ¡°Think about it, to be free of this curse that makes Novu Sol want to look closer at you, you¡¯ll never need to fear them again if we kill her and turn in the body!¡±


    ¡°Are¡­are you mad?¡± Nayla blurted out, ¡°you think Novu Sol, the most powerful nation in the universe right now, is just going to forgive and forget because we took down The Admiral?¡±


    ¡°Maybe not that simple, but at least they might clear our names and turn a blind eye.¡± Harold said defensively. ¡°It¡¯s better than them coming out here and arresting everyone because they found out you let her sleep here and they want to clean up loose ends!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the way Novu Sol works and you know it!¡± She snapped. ¡°If they decide they want to do something, nothing will stop them. We all exist on their sufferance, the mice to paw at until they get bored and kill us. If you think you¡¯ll get anything out of Novu Sol, you¡¯ll get a nice warm thanks before they shoot you for your crimes!¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t keep doing this! We can¡¯t keep pushing back to protect a bastard of a human against the most powerful nation in space!¡± He motioned wildly with his gun at The Admiral, miraculously still asleep.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be we.¡± Nayla looked away. ¡°You don¡¯t have to stay here. Next ship going into the Confederacy that stops here I¡¯d gladly finance you a ticket out of here. You can disappear there easily, even pick up your old job, and I will stay here and suffer whatever wild consequences you think I¡¯m going to get from this.¡±


    Harold blinked rapidly and she was surprised to see tears fall from his eyes. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to leave you! I don¡¯t want to see ATS go under or get closed down. I just want you to have your best life and not get arrested for something as stupid as supporting her. Just hand her over to Novu Sol, it''s literally that simple. They want her so badly they¡¯d be willing to do anything, and she¡¯s still weak, her ship locked in your dock. Just let''s get rid of this mad woman and live our lives.¡±


    ¡°So we just roll over and submit to Novu Sol, just like that?¡± Nayla said, her anger rising. ¡°That we should just ¡®fall in line,¡¯ and ¡®speak the language¡¯ and ¡®start acting like a normal person?¡¯ Last time someone said that my homeworld got invaded, the government overthrown and in two generations we went from a prosperous planet to a bug squashed under Novu Sol¡¯s boot. My grandfather and his generation died trying to resist the takeover. All it got was a permanent occupation force and propaganda up to our ears to turn us into them.¡±


    ¡°Then you understand why this is such a shit idea!¡± Harold practically yelled. ¡°Maybe if your world hadn¡¯t pissed them off they wouldn¡¯t have gotten attacked.¡±


    Nayla didn¡¯t know what she would have done. How many times in her life had she heard that? How she remembered the blas¨¦ way Novu Solarians dismissed their oppression, the traditions that had been mocked and guilted away to conform with Novu society.


    She never had to know what she would have done.


    Harold suddenly lurched forward, a flash of fear passing over his face before he fell forward and hit the ground, a sizable dagger stabbed into his skull through his brain stem.


    The Admiral stood from her bed, wearing one of her plain Novu Sol uniforms, fixing the sleeves and wrinkles before walking over to Harold¡¯s dead body. She knelt down next to it, careful of the growing puddle of blood, took a firm grim on the dagger then pulled it out; she wiped down the blade with an old rag and studied the blade in the darkness. The fact that she was armed and dressed must mean she felt well enough to leave.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need that kind of negativity in your life.¡± She said mildly, ¡°Come, walk me to my ship.¡±


    As Nayla numbly fell in beside The Admiral, she couldn¡¯t help asking. ¡°How much did you hear?¡±


    ¡°Everything. I am a naval officer, I sleep lightly.¡± The Admiral walked with confidence, though at a pace slower than normal, so perhaps she wasn¡¯t one hundred percent better. ¡°Shame really, if he had waited another five hours I would have been gone.¡±


    It took until they had arrived at Ionosphere¡¯s dock for Nayla to snap out of shock, her eyes refocusing as The Admiral began to walk to her ship to leave. ¡°Wait!¡±


    The Admiral stopped, though did not turn around. Nayla wondered if she should even dare to ask a question.


    ¡°Why did you come here?¡± She asked.


    For a moment, The Admiral was silent, staring at her ship and Nayla was sure she was just going to leave, pretending not to have heard as was her usual way of ignoring questions she hated.


    So she was very surprised when The Admiral turned and walked to stand in front of Nayla, looking up at the woman with those unsettling blue eyes.


    ¡°Naykalaea Reyes.¡±


    Nayla took a step back, eyes wide. How did The Admiral know her True Name? To her knowledge she¡¯d never written it down or had it spoken to her outside her homeworld. Not even what files she had back on her home planet had that name as it was a gift from her grandmother.


    ¡°I came to you because I was injured in a way that came very close to killing me. The Empire of Callisas was too far and too public. So ATSII was the best place.¡± She said simply.


    ¡°But if you died there¡¯s a good chance we couldn¡¯t revive you.¡±


    The Admiral actually smiled. It was an unusual expression for her as this one seemed genuine, even reaching up to her usually cold eyes.


    ¡°I had plans in place in case I died.¡± Her tone was amused, more than Nayla thought she was honestly capable of. ¡°If it was my time, it was my time, surviving a transition into hyper inside the redline of a star system is impressive enough as is, but I still have some fight left in me, can¡¯t leave without going out in a more spectacular fashion.¡±


    The Admiral then turned and began to walk away, with Nayla standing there, unsure of what to do with this interaction. The most dangerous person alive had confided some human emotions in her and that was honestly scary.


    ¡°Oh and Naykalaea.¡±


    Nayla startled and looked up at The Admiral. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°The stars will see you home, but not without building your own ship. I''ve had around 3 billion credits transferred to your ATS, use it wisely." She said before she turned back around; the hatch slid shut behind her before Nayla could ask what she meant by that first part.


    So Nayla just watched through the viewport as Ionosphere pulled quietly away from her secret dock into space, wondering what she had done to deserve this.

 Chapter 18

    Novu Sol Star System


    Novu Sol


    Genesis City


    Jack Perez sipped at a wine that was too expensive for his tastes, in a restaurant that was honestly a bit too snobby even for what he was doing. The President sat a few seats away, food and wine ladened the table to bursting in an almost comical manner as waiters circulated with other drinks for the varied guests.


    It was an off-year election, meaning that while the Presidential seat wasn¡¯t up for election, a lot of senatorial and more local planetary governorships had been up for grabs. According to his research, the New Starburst Union was the up-and-coming party to support, being President Desar¡¯s party of choice compared to the older Civic Red Party or New Starburst¡¯s predecessor, United People¡¯s Union. New Starburst had won the President¡¯s office by a hair and had been greatly opposed by the CRP.


    But now, Jack thought as he watched the President laughed boisterously, waving a hand in a wild telling of a story, the NSU had won an 80% majority in the Senate and some 50% increase in the amount of Governors (and thus their general planets) who supported the party. It was cause for celebration, if Desar and the NSU kept up the good work Desar was all but guaranteed another three terms in office. So the President had decided to invite the ambassador of the TriStar Systems to his party, in a show of good friendship.


    ¡°You know, I don¡¯t think I ever caught your name handsome.¡± A rather lanky woman with short cropped blonde hair leaned on the table, a margarita that was actually glowing in one hand. ¡°Been passing by so many faces I can¡¯t put the new NSU members to heart.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Ambassador Jack Perez, from the TriStar Systems. I¡¯ve been here on Novu Sol for a while but when you work in a place as large as Genesis City, seeing repeating faces outside of work is hard!¡±


    The woman gave a laugh that was beautiful and she leaned in a little closer. ¡°Well welcome to Novu Sol, Ambassador. I am Senator Ace Milana from the planet of Cankun, we don¡¯t always party this hard, so don¡¯t take this as us being hedonists.¡±


    ¡°I would never, anyways, your party has won a lot of elections and established a comfortable majority. That is something worth celebrating. May I ask though, Senator Milana, where is Cankun?¡± He was curious, he¡¯d never heard of the world before, but with well over 200 worlds in the Stellar Democracy, he only knew the most important.


    ¡°Cankun is one of the original founder worlds of Novu Sol, part of the Novu Solarian core and is about 20 light years galactic west of Novu Sol itself.¡± She sipped her drink. ¡°It''s a beautiful planet, you think Genesis City beaches are nice, my homeworld is considered a vacation planet, perfect tropical weather in all the right places and ice caps for colder leisure activities. If you¡¯ve even seen a video of rainbow sanded beaches, that''s from Cankun.¡±


    ¡°I have to admit Senator,¡±


    ¡°Call me Ace.¡± She flashed a smile at him.


    ¡°Okay Ace,¡± He said, ¡°I have to admit it sounds amazing, maybe I¡¯ll take a real vacation there. Though we do have some black sand beaches on Uno-3 that are spectacular in their own special way.¡± Jack leaned back in his chair and Ace took the opportunity to scoot in so they were practically pressed together. ¡°Getting to see a planet that produces beauties like you would be a welcome bonus.¡±


    She downed the last of her drink, then looked up at him coyly. ¡°I don¡¯t remember the title of ambassador being associated with smooth talking men.¡±


    ¡°The TriStar Systems trains their diplomats well.¡± While he managed to keep his voice completely serious, the somewhat cocky grin on his face he couldn¡¯t control, a touch too much wine he suspected. It was the most fun he¡¯d had in ages; his job kept him very busy, especially with the Novu Navy training his own ships to be combat capable warships. He¡¯d even had training proposals for the Army and Marines come through as well and submitted his recommendations for those proposals to the Senate. Having a bit of fun wouldn¡¯t hurt him.


    ¡°How well?¡± Ace¡¯s voice sounded too innocent and Jack casually glanced over at the clock on the wall. It was late, surely the NSU wouldn¡¯t mind a couple people wandering off.


    ¡°That depends, Senator.¡± He rose and pulled her to her feet. ¡°On what you consider well.¡±


    She grinned at him, grip tightening on his hand and pulled him towards the exit. ¡°Then we will just have to test it, won¡¯t we?¡±


    <hr>


    ¡°I didn¡¯t even know Freedom Spire had apartments like this.¡± Jack lounged lazily on the long couch in front of the stunning view over Genesis City the next morning in Ace''s bedroom. Somewhere close to the top of Freedom Spire were some very luxurious living spaces for various government officials, both permanent and temporary. It turned out that at least 50 of these were always reserved for the 49 original worlds of Novu Sol and an extra in case an apartment was put out of commission.


    ¡°You might be trained well, but I¡¯ll give you props for learning.¡± Ace laughed as she walked up to join him, offering him a cup of coffee, her silk bathrobe doing absolutely nothing to hide her form as she sat down. ¡°Been using this ever since I was elected. Home away from home.¡±


    ¡°What is your term limit?¡± He asked, sipping the sweet coffee appreciatively.


    ¡°I have another seven years in office. We do terms of four, and if we are still alive two terms after those terms, we can run for another four. Cankun has always been a bit more on the freeform side of voting. If the people decide they want some old hand back after trying someone new, that¡¯s their choice.¡± Ace yawned. ¡°Lord knows there''s enough injustice outside Novu Sol¡¯s borders with false elections or none at all.¡±


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    He looked over at her, then back out Genesis City, starting to come alive under the warm light of it''s sun. ¡°Is it hard?¡±


    ¡°Oh of course. Even with a majority, the NSU isn¡¯t uniform, there are gradients, it''s just that we all want to work together to better the Stellar Democracy.¡±  She looked over to him now. ¡°And what about you Mr. Ambassador? Is it hard for you?¡±


    He nodded, taking a long drink of his coffee before he replied. ¡°Hard in different ways I think. You might have all the trouble in the world, but in the end it''s all about the Stellar Democracy and making sure it functions. I have to make sure the TriStar Systems functions well with a nation that has different traditions, laws, and such.¡±


    She cocked her head slightly.¡±The TriStar government isn¡¯t too different from ours as to be alien.¡±


    ¡°Even the tiniest of space debris can make a dent in an unshielded ship.¡±  Jack shrugged. ¡°Little stuff can snowball and it keeps me on my feet, that''s all.¡±


    Ace gave a tiny laugh, it still sounded beautiful to his ears. ¡°I can get that. We¡¯re both busy people from two different nations.¡± She paused but Jack was content to let the silence linger. She still had more to say. ¡°Any expectations?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± He moved so he was sitting next to Ace, she leaned in.


    ¡°You seem like a good guy Jack, but if you want this to be a one-night stand then we¡¯ll let it be at that. I have duties to my world which may make me travel back to Cankun for long periods. And the TriStar Systems is way out in the Novu Sol slums¡­¡±


    ¡°The slums?¡± He questioned and she winced.


    ¡°It¡¯s a derogatory term for the Novu Sol outer colonies. I didn¡¯t mean it in a bad way, I swear. It¡¯s just the newer planets of Novu Sol tend to be far away, less settled and a bit more wild; what would you rather do? Travel 50 light years to a planet for a mediocre experience with little to do or stay in the inner colonies and know every planet you go to is well-settled and chock full of various experiences from hunting to ski resorts to museums rich with history.¡± She sighed, finished her coffee and placed the cup down on the end table. ¡°Still, I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s an easy thing to joke about.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Jack said, planting a kiss on her forehead. ¡°Still I think I would enjoy trying something serious. Maybe we can go out for a proper dinner?¡±


    ¡°Not this week. I¡¯m on a committee for military expenditures and this week we¡¯re going over some proposals for Marine and Army training plans that are way too expensive.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Something about shipping out a bunch of high rankers out a bunch of light years with troops for combat training.¡±


    Jack frowned down at Ace. ¡°I¡­ I believe those are my proposals for getting the TriStar Military fully up to speed.¡±


    Ace looked up at him, then shook her head. ¡°Then the committee is going to be annoyed I seduced the TriStar Ambassador. They¡¯ll think I¡¯m bias now.¡±


    ¡°I know you enjoyed yourself last night but please I¡¯m not that good.¡±


    She began to chuckle.  "Still, I am going to review them fairly and if we don''t have the budget, I can''t approve them. Might be easier to just join the Stellar Democracy. Then we really can''t deny you the resources."


    "We''re fine on our own, but we do appreciate the help."


    "I''m sure but¡­" Ace paused, twisted around to spy the clock and immediately leapt to her feet. "Damn it I almost forgot I have a meeting with the Core Trader Incorporated CEO at 1130!"


    "Then let me help." Jack rose to his feet. "What do you need?"


    The senator smiled in relief and began to walk over to her closet. "Top left drawer of the dresser. Can you get me a pair of breast forms?"


    He walked over to the dresser, opening the requested drawer, frowning at the contents. ¡°Does it matter which?¡± He called.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t grab the really large pair!¡± Her voice was muffled as she dug through her closet for what she needed.


    Jack picked a pair and walked over to the bed as Ace pulled the outfit she needed from the closet and joined him. He took the silk robe as she shrugged it off, folding it and laying it on the bed, turning back so he could help her hook her bra on while she adjusted the inserts he had picked out.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do it too tight did I?¡± He asked.


    Ace smiled, tugging on a strap. ¡°No, thank you though, it makes the morning routine a bit easier to get through.¡± She pulled on a V-neck light blue shirt, a pair of mauve trousers and then a matching mauve blazer. She ran a hand over her short hair, which fixed it with ease. ¡°How do I look?¡±


    ¡°Stunning. That color suits you.¡± Jack said with a smile.


    Ace shook her head reprovingly at him. ¡°Says the man, still half naked.¡± She sat down, pulling on a pair of shoes. ¡°But other than my forgetfulness, you don¡¯t need to rush out of here. Housekeeping will come in to clean and change the sheets around 1500, the door will auto lock when you leave. Feel free to take another shower or enjoy some more coffee before you go.¡± She stood with a smile. ¡°If I com you around, say, 1800 hours, we can discuss a good time to make reservations for a proper date.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a deal Ace.¡±


    She gave him a kiss and quickly left, leaving him alone in the stately room. He smiled, wandered over and finished his now room temperature coffee in a single long drink.


    Jack stared out at Genesis City, though his mind wandered to the Senator and the night they¡¯d had. He checked the clock and it said 1120, so he began to collect his discarded clothing to get dressed.


    He had work to do, and hopefully that would pass the time to when he could speak with Ace again.

 Chapter 19

    Callisas Star System


    The Empire of Callisas


    Callisas-3


    Captain Francis Fitzkeller loved his nation, he loved his job, being a naval officer was his life and there was little to compare to the joy of commanding a ship.


    But he hated being debriefed by committees of high ranking officers.


    Even as a captain, he was nowhere near high ranking enough for this amount of scrutiny, yet this was probably the third time he had been called in front of a panel of his own Admirals to tell them about The Admiral and what she had done to warrant their attention.


    He watched with poorly disguised longing as Captain Emmet saluted and left, her part in this interview done. After they had gotten home from their long merchantmen escort mission and had seen the fight between Novu Sol and The Admiral, Emmet, Clark and himself had been called down to the Naval Command Center for debriefing on their eventful trip. Now this left himself and Commander Clark sitting before the various admirals, waiting to answer more of their questions if they had them. Fitzkeller glanced over at Clark, who looked extremely uncomfortable even being here, most officers never wanted to have to stand in front of some of the most high-ranking members of their service to be talked down to.


    ¡°Now that Captain Emmet has left, I have a question for you, Commander Clark.¡± Lord Admiral Daban said, his voice almost bland as he held up a tablet to read. They waited while the older admiral read before he finally looked down his nose at them. ¡°Why did you believe Desson lived through this confrontation?¡±


    ¡°There was no debris, no dust cloud, no radiation bloom Sir. No sign her ship didn¡¯t successfully make the transition into hyper.¡± He answered.


    ¡°No ship has ever survived a transition inside the redline of gravity.¡± Daban¡¯s voice was harsh. ¡°While I am sure Desson seems like an untouchable badass to you younger officers, she is not perfect and I suspect that in her haste to flee the Liberty, her ship, and her, were destroyed.¡±


    Clark stiffened at the remark, not technically a direct attack on the Commander, but the implied distrust of his report was an insult nonetheless.


    ¡°Lord Admiral, please remember we have invested a lot of money into The Admiral and she had taught our navy well. I know you don¡¯t like her, but don¡¯t take your hatred out of the Commander.¡± Admiral Itechi cut in. At least the Naval Intelligence director seemed to have her head on straight.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t taking anything out on the Commander, Itechi.¡± Another older Admiral snapped back. ¡°We are just pointing out flaws in his reports. Sometimes you have to accept the cold, hard reality rather than hoping your manic psychopathic naval officer is still somehow alive.¡±


    ¡°Just because she almost stabbed you when you were younger does not mean you should be dancing on her grave.¡± Itechi shot back.


    ¡°Now is not the time.¡± Lord High Admiral Abigail Shole said and immediately all the others fell silent, though Itechi still had a death glare fixed on Daban. ¡°And while the Lord Admiral was crude about it, he does have a point.¡± She looked pointedly at Clark. ¡°Commander, you¡¯re young, it''s your first command and you''re what we like to call ¡®The Admiral¡¯s Generation¡¯, you were raised in the traditions and knowledge of The Admiral from the time you entered the Navy, while the rest of us flag officers have had years of experience before she came along. There¡¯s no shame in being a little attached to the person our Navy has been using as it''s model. But you can¡¯t let that influence your decisions and reports.¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am.¡± Clark¡¯s response was wooden, face a mask. Fitzkeller couldn¡¯t blame him, being lectured as though he were a child unwilling to part with a toy.


    ¡°Do we have any other questions for Captain Fitzkeller and Commander Clark?¡± Duban asked. ¡°I think it''s best we work on the assumption that The Admiral is never returning. Commander.¡± The old Admiral looked down at him again. ¡°Considering the¡­ veracity of this sensor data, we are going to have Swiftsure put in dock for an early maintenance cycle so we can check to make sure all your hardware and software is in working order.¡±


    ¡°And what are my orders Admiral?¡±


    Fitzkeller had to admit he was impressed with the fact that Clark just dropped the first part of Duban¡¯s rank. That took some nerve but then again they were all but beaching him unless they gave him another ship to command or a seasoning job desk role (and it was way too early in Clark¡¯s career for that.)


    Duban narrowed his eyes. ¡°You will be getting official orders after this meeting is over, but you¡¯ll be taking some leave while we complete the maintenance cycle to resume command of Swiftsure once it¡¯s complete.¡±


    So they were beaching him, making sure he wasn¡¯t involved in the maintenance so he couldn¡¯t screw anything up in case Clark had for some reason made the sensors report the wrong data.


    ¡°Yes Sir.¡± Was all Clark said, it was all he could say without getting himself in serious trouble for back talking to their superiors.


    Fitzkeller turned a glare down at the lush carpet as though he might set it on fire with his anger alone. Clark didn¡¯t deserve this, The Admiral was strange and a divisive topic in the Empire¡¯s military forces. She cost a lot of money, had killed a naval officer for talking down to her (granted, he was universally disliked, but being disliked doesn''t mean he deserved to die,) and put them pretty much constantly under Novu Sol scrutiny. He didn¡¯t know why The Admiral had done what she had done, but he understood that she wouldn¡¯t have¡­


    ¡°Captain!¡±


    Fitzkeller looked up to see Shole looking intently at him. ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am?¡± He asked.


    ¡°You said ¡®The Admiral wouldn¡¯t have.¡¯¡± She sat back, ¡°Finish your thought.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t realized he¡¯d spoken out loud. ¡°I meant to say, The Admiral wouldn¡¯t have taken the risk if it meant her death. She has no death wish, she does not want to die.¡± He paused for a second, straightening his posture. ¡°Commander Clark wouldn¡¯t lie to try will The Admiral back to life because she isn¡¯t dead. Yes, she did something we have never seen before, but that does not make it impossible.¡±


    ¡°Your dedication to your patron is impressive, but no one has survived such a transition that far inside the redline.¡± Duban waved a hand somewhat dismissively. ¡°You are like the Commander, a product of The Admiral¡¯s Generation and you are further blinded by her doting over you.¡±


    ¡°Technology improves with time, things that were not possible become possible as hardware and software improves. We know that The Admiral has some special code or trick to her hyperdrive because of how the math works out on her arrival times from wherever she was hiding. The only reason we don¡¯t translate inside the redline is because older ships couldn¡¯t handle it.¡± Fitzkeller replied, steel lined his voice. He would be damned if he was going to let these assholes just walk over both Clark and The Admiral. ¡°She¡¯s obviously discovered something new, anyone with eyes can see that.¡±


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°She is one person and it would do you well to remember that, Captain.¡± Duban¡¯s voice dripped with venom but before he could say more, Shole stood from her seat.


    ¡°Captain, Commander, you are dismissed.¡± She turned cold eyes on Fitzkeller. ¡°And we¡¯ll overlook your lectures for now Captain, just keep in mind your protector might not be around anymore.¡±


    ¡°Yes Lord High Admiral.¡± Fitzkeller said, saluting in perfect sync with Clark before he turned and walked out, Clark a step behind him.


    Once out in the hall, not caring if the marines guarding the door saw, he paused to let Clark fall in beside him before they both continued on their way.


    ¡°Are you okay Daniel?¡± He asked the younger man and Clark took the deep purple uniform cap off his head to run a hand over his short hair.


    ¡°Not really.¡± He didn¡¯t seem to want to elaborate, but then again they were in the Naval Command Center, if someone or something wasn¡¯t listening in on your conversation, that was either a bad sign, or you were high ranking enough to jam all the listening devices without consequences.


    ¡°How about a drink then? I¡¯ll pay.¡± Fitzkeller offered. ¡°I could use something stiff to wash that amount of white out of my eyes.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re offering free booze Sir? Is it even legal to reject that offer?¡± Clark said with a wry smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it''s in the Military Legal Code somewhere, it''s been a while since I read it,¡± Fitzkeller grinned. ¡°Meet at Sundown¡¯s in an hour then?¡±


    ¡°Thank God, I thought you were going to make me go drinking in full uniform.¡±


    <hr>


    Sundown¡¯s Dive


    Sundown¡¯s Dive was old. Like ¡®was around when the first colonists were building up Callisas¡¯ old. Nestled in the heart of Solidarity, Callisas¡¯ capital city, Sundown had once been positioned in a way that a majority of the year, the sun set right over the rooftop. These days, it was surrounded by taller buildings, so the sun no longer actually set on Sundown, but the navy was glad it was here.


    It was ¡®their¡¯ pub, safe from the prying eyes of any of those army ruffians with the occasional marine intruder hanging out with naval-aligned friends. A haven in which everyone understands your woes, jokes and will have exactly what you need to drink for celebration or sorrow.


    So right now, Fitzkeller and Clark were commiserating together, a few shots for the sorrow, and a beer to wash it down. Clark was in more comfortable civilian clothing, jacket draped haphazardly over the booth seat as he stared into his bottle. He was on leave, he didn¡¯t need to wear the uniform, but then again, this leave hadn¡¯t exactly been planned.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get Swiftsure back Commander, I know you will.¡±


    ¡°Call me Daniel please. Not really in the mood to hear the rank.¡±


    Fitzkeller sighed. ¡°Okay, Daniel, I know they are just blowing hot hydrogen, they know they aren¡¯t going to find anything and are swinging their metaphorical dicks around to try and prove a point. They¡¯ll get over it.¡±


    Clark glanced up at him. ¡°You really have a lot of faith in The Admiral don¡¯t you?¡±


    Fitzkeller glared at Clark. ¡°Why is everyone always on my case about The Admiral? Okay she¡¯s a bit of a maniac, so it''s not my fault she took a liking to me.¡±


    ¡°You do realize the only other person she¡¯d ever dined with alone for just social reasons is Their Majesty right?¡± Clark waved his bottle at Fitzkeller as he started to object. ¡°You¡¯re fucking blind as a merchantman, stop trying to pretend it isn¡¯t special or some fluke in her wiring. She doesn¡¯t do anything without considering the options, measuring the angles, and knowing the competition. Whatever you do, or did, to impress her makes you the best lenses we have on our tamed maniac.¡± He placed the bottle down and rested his arms on the table. ¡°So what¡¯s going on Mr. Admiral Expert? What is she doing right now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Fitzkeller said defensively. ¡°If she is alive, then she¡¯s hiding somewhere, trying to keep out of sight. Fuck Daniel, I am not a crystal ball, I can¡¯t see what she¡¯s doing, she was gone a year with no clue of where she was, then she suddenly reappears in the Confederacy, sporting shields capable enough to stand up to a battleship and the ability to apparently jump far inside the redline. She¡¯s a goddamned mystery and I am SICK of everyone thinking I somehow KNOW her motives.¡±


    Clark stared at him for a minute before downing the last of his beer. ¡°Sorry, didn¡¯t mean to push a button there.¡±


    ¡°I should be used to it, but honestly she¡¯s as much a mystery to me as she is to anyone else.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m also mad at the way they are treating you too, you were just following directions and you have no motive to lie about what your ship saw.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal,¡± Clark studied the rest of the room, the various uniforms and groups as they all talked over their own stories. No one paid them any mind of course, a captain and a commander wouldn¡¯t warrant anything special attention.


    ¡°So what are you going to do with your enforced vacation?¡± Fitzkeller asked.


    ¡°Visit my family, my girlfriend, maybe go on a trip to Summergate. I¡¯ll have the time since they don¡¯t want me to meddle in their investigation.¡± Clark looked back to Fitzkeller. "Can I ask a favor, Sir?"


    "Shoot."


    "Try to make sure they don''t get to Harrington for any of this bullshit. If they think I''m somehow messing with my ship, then they might try to go after her as well."


    Fitzkeller frowned. "I will definitely try, my XO is due for a promotion anyways and I''ll need a new one so I might be able to poach her. I am just a captain though Daniel. If the powers-that-be want her, I can''t stop them."


    "Understood." Daniel checked the clock on the wall. "Thanks for the drinks, but I should really be getting back home though.¡±


    ¡°Stay safe and don¡¯t forget to enjoy yourself.¡± Fitzkeller called after the younger commander as he walked away, leaving him alone at the booth, the chatter from the others in the Sundown¡¯s providing a comforting background noise as he sat there, nursing his last beer.


    Was he really some sort of favorite of The Admiral? He guessed he should have known this but the woman was so hard to read. You ask her a question she didn¡¯t like and she would ignore you, possibly try to stab you or straight up tell you she wouldn¡¯t answer. Fitzkeller had always found her teachings informative, helpful, and extremely useful but he knew the cost of fucking up while she was your teacher could be severe. He really just could not fathom her being dead; it didn¡¯t seem quite right yet here they were, home from the Confederacy, no news or rumors about The Admiral or even the Liberty found anywhere.


    He would just have to wait and see how it all fell out.

 Chapter 20

    Uno Star System


    TriStar Systems


    TSS Pavone


    It was nice to be home again.


    Commander Aminta Caccia sighed in relief as her ship exited hyper on the edge of Uno Star System. Uno-3 was surrounded by a comforting level of warships and civilian traffic telling of the agreements between the Stellar Democracy and the TriStar Systems. She had successfully escorted her charge, a TriStar registered merchantman, to the snakepit that was the Confederacy and lived to tell the tale.


    It was a close run thing, considering her run-in with


    But then Admiral Tobin and his battleship had suffered for the trick he had tried to pull and there wasn¡¯t even any guarantee The Admiral was dead (though the captain that had taken over the mission once they realized Tobin was injured thought there was no way she was alive and no one had argued.) She hoped Desson was dead, there was no way she wanted to encounter the rogue Novu officer ever again.


    ¡°Well Coms? Speak to me, does Traffic Control know we''re here yet?¡± Caccia said with a grin.


    ¡°Not yet Ma¡¯am!¡± The communication officer smiled back at her. ¡°One moment,¡± a few commands entered into their console later, ¡°Uno-3 Orbital Traffic Control, this is TSS Pavone, requesting a slot in orbit, military normal priority.¡±


    A second passed in silence, everyone in the bridge content to wait in in a happy quiet. Now that they were home they were undoubtedly planning visits to family and considering how to celebrate a mission well done.


    ¡°TSS Peacock, this is Uno-3 OTC, your orbit coordinates are being transmitted to you now. Welcome home.¡±


    There was a pause to the chatter on the bridge, and the com officer looked confused.


    ¡°Helm, did we get those coordinates?¡± Caccia asked into the silence.


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am. It¡¯s properly formatted and exactly where I expected to be placed, in formation with the cruiser


    ¡°Coms, call them back and ask, just in case there¡¯s a civilian ship we got mixed up with.¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am.¡± He flipped the channel open again. ¡°OTC, this is the TriStar Ship Pavone, please resend the coordinates and confirm them, as we were addressed by the wrong name.¡±


    ¡°TSS Pavone, sorry for any confusion but I am currently teaching a new hire who is listening in and I¡¯ve needed to pick up the habit of speaking Novu Solarian since they don¡¯t speak TriLingua.¡± The voice from before answered, sounding apologetic. ¡°I automatically translated your name without thinking. Coordinates re-sent and confirmed, welcome home.¡±


    Caccia nodded. ¡°Well then, helm, bring us in, let¡¯s not keep the crew from their plans any longer.¡±


    <hr>


    Uno Star System


    TriStar Systems


    First Central Park


    Aminta was glad to be home. Well, technically Trio-3 was her birth planet, but the capital of Uno-3 was just as much home these days, where she had a small apartment and her sister lived here too.


    It was a gorgeous day outside today, and dressed in a light t-shirt and shorts, she had decided to take a stroll in First Central Park on her first day of leave from her ship. She could visit her sister later, getting a bit of natural sunlight would be good for her.


    There were quite a few people in the park today. More than usual to be honest; Central Park on Uno-3 was located in the center of Capital City as well as surrounded by tourist attractions, restaurants and museums. But this many people out here was kind of strange. As she looked around, most of them didn¡¯t look like natives, their style of dress wasn¡¯t quite right, the way they looked around and took a few too many pictures. Tourists? She didn¡¯t remember First Central being this popular.


    ¡°Greetings Uno Star System! Are you ready to feel the beats of Sol?¡±


    Caccia looked around, very confused for a moment, before she spotted a small stage set up in the park with a band readying instruments on it; a small crowd already gathered in front of them, eagerly waiting for the show.


    ¡°Oh my God!¡± A nearby woman with a ponytail that looked like it had been dipped in blue cried. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be this lucky!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Caccia said, the young woman turning to face her, ¡°what exactly is this?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve never heard of Waves of the Sun?¡± She sounded confused but still happy. ¡°They are THE top band in the Stellar Democracy and have been kinda quiet lately so we all thought they were taking a break but they must have been traveling here!¡± The woman grinned. ¡°Oh they are my favorite!¡±


    ¡°No but,¡± Caccia struggled for the right words for a second, obviously this woman was a tourist and didn¡¯t come from Uno.  "Why out in a park? We have perfectly good concert halls."  After all, she didn¡¯t come here to have her ears assaulted by random music and overly excited crowds. This park might be busy due to its location but it was never overly loud. Disturbing the peace of the park seemed disrespectful to those who just wanted to peoplexwatch and enjoy being.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    The woman looked at her before realization dawned on her face. ¡°Oh! You aren¡¯t from the Stellar Democracy, no wonder.¡± She giggled, a bit too happy for Caccia¡¯s tastes. ¡°Well you see we have a tradition back home to promote music. Bands can, if they are respectful, set up stages in public places and perform for whoever is nearby, no cost. It allows new people to hear music they might otherwise miss, people get to enjoy a free show, and everyone benefits!¡±


    ¡°But¡­ it¡¯s a park, no one comes to the park to listen to a loud rock concert.¡± Caccia replied, mildly annoyed that this tourist seemed to miss the obvious point.


    The other woman just shrugged. ¡°Well the park will still be here tomorrow! I am going to go watch the show.¡± She happily trotted off to the now sizable crowd as the band, Waves of the Sun apparently, began to play their first song to the screams of the happy mass in front of their stage.


    Caccia sighed, running a hand through her short dark brown hair, so much for her walk in the nice, quiet park. She quickly slipped out of First Central Park and into a small coffee shop sandwiched between a museum and an office building. With the door shutting out the sound of outside, it was quiet and peaceful here, only a couple of other customers sat at tables sipping drinks of their choice while the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans floated in the air. The music being played was soft jazz of a strain she¡¯d never heard from the TriStars before.


    ¡°Welcome to The Three Bean Cafe!¡± A young woman with a similar color-dipped ponytail (though hers was lime green) called in a bubbly voice. ¡°My name is Mary, I can help you whenever you are ready.¡±


    As the TriStar officer stepped up to the counter, she inhaled deeply. ¡°What are you roasting back there, it smells delicious.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Mary smiled. ¡°It''s a new kind of coffee bean we just got in from the planet of Cankun, it''s a complex coffee with an almost smooth, fruity taste that apparently comes from the fact coffee can grow naturally there and it adapted super quick to the planet. You want a cup?¡±


    ¡°Hm, a coffee from Novu Sol? That sounds interesting, how about a medium.¡± Caccia took out her credit chip and tapped it on the counter to pay for it.


    ¡°What would you like in it?¡± The barista asked as she grabbed the requested size and began to work.


    ¡°What is the best way to make it?¡±


    ¡°Bit of brown sugar and a touch of half and half.¡± Mary said. ¡°Least that¡¯s what I like.¡±


    Caccia leaned against the counter to watch. ¡°Sounds good to me.¡±


    Mary was quick to finish the coffee and began to stir in sugar and creamer, before she handed it over with a smile. ¡°Here you go! One medium Cankun Coffee, brown sugar and half and half!¡± She paused for a second. ¡°Do you want me to write your name on it in pretty lettering?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m a naval officer, I don¡¯t play in food holography.¡± Caccia took the coffee, sipped and gave an appreciative nod. ¡°Very nice. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°If you need anything else, let me know, we have some lovely flake pastries we baked this morning as a side to the coffee.¡± Mary smiled and moved to clean up her station.


    Caccia paused mid sip and decided to ask. ¡°Look Mary, I¡¯m old and out of touch. What¡¯s up with the hairstyle? Brightly colored dyed hair wasn¡¯t popular last time I was home.¡±


    Mary finished wiping down a cup and laughed. ¡°Oh, it''s a fairly new trend being spread around the holonet called diptails! If you have long hair you do it up in a ponytail and then you dip it in high-concentration hair dyes. Whatever that one dip comes out as is what you got. It''s a lot of fun!¡± She reached up and pulled her dyed hair around to show off the bright green dye job. ¡°I think it started on Novu Sol as a joke in a TV teen movie but it caught on as a look of course because it looks amazing.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± Caccia frowned a little but covered it up with a sip of coffee. The coffee from a Novu world she had gotten to escape a distinctly Novu tradition in the capital of her star nation. ¡°Thank you for explaining, too bad I can¡¯t do it, hair isn¡¯t long enough and my superiors would kill me for it.¡±


    ¡°No problem! It''s slow right now and I¡¯m always willing to take the time to help one of TriStars¡¯ finest!¡± The young barista practically beamed as the music shifted from a slow jazz to a slightly more upbeat chillpop song. ¡°Oh my god I didn¡¯t realize my boss had purchased the rights to play the Ballad of the Core Worlds soundtrack! Oh that musical has the best songs in it.¡±


    ¡°Bet you¡¯ll be sick of it by the end of the week.¡± Caccia joked and Mary shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m a theater kid at heart. Any old musical numbers, especially from the center of humanity, tug at my heartstrings. It''s nice to hear the music getting more traction.¡± She perked up as the door opened to admit a few more customers, the sounds of the loud concert in First Central Park filtering in for a moment. ¡°Hello! Welcome to The Three Bean Cafe!¡±


    Caccia excused herself and sat down in a comfortable seat in the corner, tapping the wall to bring up a hologram so she could browse the news while she half listened to the barista do her sales pitch to the new customers.


    There was a lot of news from the Stellar Democracy, perhaps that shouldn¡¯t be a surprise given that the star nation was the largest and most populated thus generating more news.


    It just didn¡¯t feel quite right. Like coming home and finding all your furniture moved two inches to the left, everything was there, it was still technically the same just not how it should be. It made being home here in Uno a little less comforting and she didn¡¯t care for that. She was sure it was all in her head, especially given what had happened in the Confederacy. She just needed to readjust and relax and everything would fall back into place. She knew it would.