《Shepherd Moon, 2nd Edition》


 Prologue

    Prologue

    <strong>Prologue</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>A Short History</strong>

    -----

    From Chapter 1 of the book <strong>The Earther Era,</strong> by the Erocii historian, <strong>Dr. Autumn-Sun-Rising-in-the-East</strong><em>(</em><em>EAN (ISBN-99) </em><em>978031</em><em>99999</em><em>79</em><em>; </em><em>ISBN (ISBN-</em><em>96</em><em>): 031</em><em>99999</em><em>79</em><em>; genre - history; publishing year - 2519AD (Earth); </em><em>ssic print & hardcover publisher - McGraw-Hill Gctic; ebook/omnibook publisher - Amazon-Penguin Sr; Erocii University Library folio#1701156131251211, Erocii University 1701)</em>

    -----

    It is almost a universal fact that, with most of the peoples of the gxy, war is a racial trait.

    The Homo sapiens of Earth were no different. Many of Earths famous human historians recall the many battles of many of their old ind-nations, when progress and prosperity were achieved through tribal one-upmanship and routine economic deception, sabotage, and, very often, open warfare.

    But, as it is alsomon with most of the peoples of the gxy, there is always a turning point, when the people develop concepts of Morality, of Civilization, of a so-called Fundamental Right or Wrong, and the willingness to live by them.

    To the Elyrans, it was theing of a messiah that heralded the beginning of a new age, when very was prohibited, when discrimination and bigotry (in most things, at least) became almost apocryphal traits of older generations.

    To the Tirosians, it was the discovery of star travel that brought on this new awakening, when star travel gave its people an opportunity to channel its natural warrior proclivities outside of its own system, hence bringing them together and unifying their people into one integral society conquering the alien and unknown instead of different nomadic city-nations conquering each other.

    To the Dixx poption, it was just a matter of time, time enough for the people to learn the benefits of working together instead of against each other. And, in their first century after the Turning, aary government was formed.

    To the people of Earth, it was a bit different, though not exactly unique: It was a war that started it all.

    There have been only two other times in their history that there was war approaching this magnitude. The first global war brought devastation to many of the Earth''s nations as well as poverty and tragedy to many of its people.

    The second was the same but on arger scale. Technology allowed the routine massacre of whole viges and towns; misguided individuals allowed the mass killings of whole nations, almost bringing them to the brink of extinction. And the advent of the nuclear age brought home in graphic examples of its devastating potential the possibility of global genocide.

    Many great thinkers then thought that the ultimate weapon of that time, the first true offspring of the nuclear age which was the Atom Bomb, and its great potential for destruction, would frighten them enough to unite them and bring about global cooperation and peace.

    To a certain extent, it was true. Former restrictions between nations were dropped and free trade between them was almost the rule.

    However, mutual distrust forced many nations to produce and stockpile atom bombs, and the newer and deadlier permutations of the atom bomb, for fear of the others having more than they did.

    It came to a point where the mere threat of using these weapons was enough to turn the tide of battle. They called this policy of government MAD, or the Mutually Assured Destruction policy: a deterrent to those who would want to use these weapons.

    There developed what they called the Cold War. Seemingly open rtions between nations were maintained but nuclear stockpiling continued at an ever-increasing rate, with political intrigue in the background.

    So-called Nuclear Bans and Nuclear Treaties notwithstanding, this esction continued. Many world leaders said that it was only a matter of time before one of these weapons was identally or deliberatelyunched or detonated, thereby triggering a third world war in which, they warned, perhaps no one would survive.

    Even after the end of the Cold War, after the fall of that greatmunist hegemony, the USSR, the threat of nuclear death did not disappear. For, even if the USSR was gone, the machinery and technology was still there. And the broken pieces of the USSR scrabbled for their share.

    Many of the popce did not care about, or were unfamiliar with, the precarious bnce of the world, and life continued.

    During much of the twenty-first century, with the increasing unrest in what were then called the middle east nations, the near copse of the world financial system brought about by the runaway financial debt of the leading nations at the time, and numerous natural disasters brought on by so-called global warming and unchecked pollution and deforestation - the nuclear threat was just one of many that almost spelled disaster for the Human Race.

    In the fullness of time, two world powers coalesced, superseding all former global alliances: the Western Alliance forming around the old Allies of the second world war and other economic powers, and the Eastern Coalition, forming around the Chinese, the middle-eastern powers and the economically beleaguered former Soviet nations, with their leftover nuclear arsenals and growing civil unrest. This further aggravated the unstable bnce of power on the. Predictably, the popr press called the Coalition the Commies, or the Reds or some such. And, naturally, the Western Alliance was called the Allies.

    Life went on.

    More than a hundred years after the second world war, a technological boom was on, made possible by the almost open cooperation between nations and with it rtive peace (not counting the odd dictator or two): advancements in gics and medicine made most diseases, including the twin scourges of cancer and AIDS, almost things of the past; new discoveries in the physical sciences helped to recover lost ground in ecological preservation and made it possible for Humanity to colonize the rest of thes around their sun, pushed on by a phenomenal increase in poption (despite radical, and sometimes brutal attempts at birth control, Humanity was safely past the twenty billion mark).

    But even in this brave new frontier, political and regional bias extended. The Outers, as the colonies were called, were, from the start, military outposts of either the Allies or the Commies.

    This was the war''s trigger. Both sides bickered over settlement rights, boundaries and resources, causing international tempers to re out of control: former trade restrictions that had been lifted were again reinstituted; travel to and from countries was again made difficult by even more rigid immigration and travelws. The century''s shining moments were at an end and the people knew it.

    Most nations were holding their breath, just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was just a matter of time before someone pressed a button somewhere and started it all.

    And then, a spy for the Reds discovered a fully functional missile bunker on the Allies'' base on the dark side of the moon, i.e. the far side. Dark doesnt mean this side is literally in shadow  this was a carry-over twentieth-century term simr to the old name for the African continent, which was known as the dark continent because it remained unexplored and unknown for a time. The moons far side was never seen Earthside, so it was easy to hide things in there from earthbound people.

    It was not as if both did not have military instations on their bases on the other Outers, ready to fire their deadly nuclear arsenal at each other, but both kept them secret.

    This, of course, aggravated the already worsening international situation and fanatics on both sides were ready to take advantage of it

    THE WAR ITSELF was short and brutal. The nuclear exchange onlysted for neen hours. But skirmishes between both sides happened on and off for a year, and the devastationsted for five more years. Almost neen of Humanity''s more than twenty billion perished in the war or from after-effects of the war (a hidden blessing, some of the more radical sociologists said).

    None won. Everyone lost.

    Were it not for the Reds'' converted spaceships that made circuitous orbits around the Colonies and the Mother, and sifted the wide seas forty times over, sucking out the nuclear cancer from the air and the oceans and the Earth with technology newly discovered in their desperate race against time, it is doubtful the remaining billion would have survived.

    A substantial portion of the Earths infrastructure remained intact, due to the use of ERW, or Enhanced Radiation Weapons, or colloquially neutron bombs. These were designed to maximize casualties but to keep structures intact. Because of this, naturally, the more industrialized nations were the first to recover, such as the United States, most of Europe, China, Russia, Japan and most of the so-called first world nations.

    The colonies outside of Earth were also on the brink of copse since resupply missions were gone for a while. But there was a bit of a grace period. Even back in the twenty-first century, the old International Space Station could survive for up to three months without the need for resupply. At the time of the third world war, the colonies could survive for about a year, which was enough for the remaining people Earthside to get back enough space capacity to give the colonies at least some assistance. The necessity to be self-sufficient also pushed the colonists ingenuity into overdrive and they became self-sufficient enough to survive until the situation on Earth normalized.

    The tired and beaten remnants of each side sued for peace and new preliminary treaties were drawn. As it was agreed, each jettisoned their stockpiles of nuclear death towards their sun, to be consumed by the nuclear power of a different sort. Those forgotten were left to rot.

    The old United Nations was reborn and transformed, from an ineffectual advisory forum to a real international organization with the true power of government andw.

    The treaties, drawn in haste and desperation, were reviewed, corrected, strengthened, and finally ratified by all. The original documents were preserved and kept in clear blocks of Crystalline metal, and disyed in the main lobby of the old U.N. building, ready for all to see. The final documents were hand-written on real paper, to show to everyone the solemnity and importance of them. These were also preserved in clear stasis boxes, as paper and ink would not survive the ravages of time, and likewise disyed. True peace, or the closest approximation humans are able to make of it, was at hand.

    Many doom-criers, so many in Earth''s history, have said that this would neverst, that Man was a natural-born predator, a killer. Alexandra Romarkin, the fifteenth and longest-elected secretary-general (for secretary-generals were now elected by the global poption) of the New United Nations said that, if that was so, then all was lost. But Humanity would try, she said. That was what civilization was all about. And if they were sessful, then Humanity would have evolved a step higher towards the ideal, a step closer to touching the face of God.

    The popce was able to recover. The natural and physical sciences were again moving forward more rapidly than they ever had in the past century, allowing the bases on the moon and the Outers to be true colonies - self-sufficient in every way, allowing war-ravagednds and seas to be recovered and made fertile again, allowing forests denuded of all life to be reseeded and again made alive, full of living things.

    It was again a new world, opening endless possibilities for Humanity.

    As with the Dixx, it seemed that it was the time of The Turning, when, though still a young speciespared to the other gctic races - the earliest traces of human civilization dating back only a mere fifty thousand Earth years - Human Civilization passed through the crucible and survived and, as a species, became wise enough to coexist. But, like the Tirosians, Earth''s first taste of space travel, the small steps Man had taken to colonize and explore hiss, only whetted his appetite for exploration.

    For many generations, humans had believed in the existence of other sentient beings in the universe. And maybe humans were now ready to join them.

    In that way were the humans the same as the Tirosians. Perhaps the expected exodus to others would curb Man''s destructive tendencies.

    It was just a romantic dream then, star-travel. Man''s technology just wasn''t ready for it. But, as a very old and hackneyed piece of human wit goes, necessity is the mother of invention. Man''s natural persistency and curiosity, perhaps a carry-over from his simian past, carried him over the hurdle.

    Man''s first interster spacecraft, the multi-generation starship Earthship Two, was the first physical manifestation of this new direction.

    As expected, it was of a very crude design by present spacecraft standards, flying just below the speed of light. But it was a start. Onboard, it did have an adaption of Earths Serenmunication system, which allowed distancemunication at about 4.7 times the speed of light (the Seren stations could do it thousands of times faster, however).

    True star travel was just over the horizon, for scientists were just on the brink ofpleting a workable star drive, incorporating and expanding on newly discovered principles of gravitation and the artificial generation of gravity that made the recovery of the mother and the creation of Earthship Two possible.

    At that point, they were almost satisfied by speed-of-light travel. But the clues that their gravity-generation machines gave them hinted at the possibility of exceeding that universal speed limit without the need to conjure up open-ended wormholes or other still-improbable phenomena. They knew that the possibility to surpass the speed of light was there, but something was missing, some bit of knowledge just out of reach of their present science. They knew they were on the right track. What they needed was a clue, just a clue, to make their drive workable. In short, as one scientist said, they needed to have a look at a real working star-drive.

    But this new preupation of the Earth''s scientists was swept away. In the year 2299, fifty years after the signing of the new treaties and the third world war, four months into Earthship Two''s maiden voyage, something happened.

    First contact.

 Part One

    Part One

    <strong>Part One</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>Shout Into The Void</strong>

    Think of a future Earth, where the long-dreaded nuclear war hade and gone, and the global poption was knocked down to the level of the early neen hundreds, but had fully recovered and was prosperous again, with the Human Race taking their first steps to explore the gxy.

    But when the humans get the inevitable proof that there was indeed other intelligent life, what would happen? And what if these aliens weren''t terribly different from the humans, and what if these aliens were on the brink of war...

    - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael Straczynski, Larry Niven, David Brin, E.E. (Doc) Smith, Iain M. Banks, and, of course, George Lucas.

    My thanks. And my apologies.

    <em>The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not Eureka!, but thats funny</em>

    - Isaac Asimov, Earth scientist and writer, 20th Century Earth

    <em>Of course we wanted to find out about Earther technology - were Arachnians, after all.</em>

    - The First Ambassador, Arachnian scientist,

    politician and philosopher, Arachnia Millennium 2

 Chapter 1: A Happy Accident

    Chapter 1: A Happy ident

    He stepped out of the taxi on the roof of a publding pad - a seemingly average man.

    He leaned over the window of the driver, mentally converting Srs to dors.

    "You got change for a fifty?" the brown-haired man said, knowing his credit ID wouldn''t work here.

    The cabby smiled. "That old trick won''t work with me, buster," he said in a decidedly Russian ent (Leningrad, perhaps, the man thought). He keyed the lock on his cashbox. "I got your change."

    Now how did a Russian such as this get to be in New York and be, of all things, a cabby, Bill thought, and smiled.

    The man handed over a fifty-dor bill, reminding himself that he was in the States now. The cabby handed him his change, a big wad of bills and coins, and smiled at him mischievously.

    "Have a good day," said the driver.

    "Thank you, and a good day to you, too." He stepped back as the turbines of the taxi whined and pushed it upward into the blue sky. It''s strange, he thought, how time can change men and cure old wounds. We almost wiped out the race and now we''re able to exchange pleasantries with each other - two people from opposite sides of the fence. A few generations ago, we wouldn''t be caught dead in the same car. Now, look at us. Times sure are changing.

    He looked at the wafer-thin chronometer-pad on his wrist and discovered that he waste. "Damn," he muttered, as he hurried down an esctor to ground level.

    There, he checked out a personal electric cart and hummed off to the old U.N. buildings, still the same after more than 300 years. Of course, such structures wouldn''t have survived that long even if they escaped the bombings of the war. They had been almost totally rebuilt, but pains were taken to maintain the buildings'' old facade. He liked it. He was always a sucker for tradition.

    He parked the cart in one of the ground-level stalls, where it was whisked away by machinery to some other person needing it. He looked up at the U.N. Secretariat building, dwarfed by the other more modern hundred-level buildings surrounding it, and watched the sun reflect off the ss. It wasn''t really ss anymore but Crystalline metal, a metal alloy that, when properly treated, had the refractive index of ss, but was metal and attracted mas.

    He stepped through the Crystalline doors of the building adjacent to it, the U.N. General Assembly building - a structure that looked like a ttened soapbox, also another three-hundred-year old relic, but clearly echoing the graceful lines of itspanion.

    He was immediately grabbed by the cor and pulled through the throng of reporters and media people anxious to interview him.

    "Dammit, Bill, where''ve you been? You''re alreadyte," said the pretty, smartly-dressed woman.

    Bill smiled in amusement at the obviously harried Sahsha, who was, as a rule, always calm and levelheaded.

    "Nowhere, really," he replied. "Our ship developed problems out on the moon and the Captain had to wait until the ground crews could fix them." He gently pulled her hand off his shirt. "I would appreciate it if you would let go of my cor," he said as he hurried to keep up with her to the old-style elevator.

    The tall man had to lean down, as Sahsha was quite short. Petite, he corrected himself. Thedy doesn''t like to be called short.

    "Now," she sighed as they got in the elevator and pushed the CLOSE button, "I cleared you with Security when I saw you park and I also got your ID and badge." She handed him a clear visitor''s ID, which he pinned on his jacket pocket.

    "Efficient," he said, making a show of being impressed.

    "No sarcasm," she said. "I''ve got you scheduled after the Venusian representative and he should be finishing right about now." She looked at her wrist. "Have you got everything?"

    "Yes. You''ll never know how much we''re paying for that transmitter."

    "And Marc?"

    "Yeah, he''s ready."

    The doors opened out to the General Assembly Hall, thergest room in the U.N.

    "Well," he said, looking at his watch. Just in time for Earthship Twos transmission. I guess this is it." He turned and smiled at Sahsha. Impulsively, Sahsha stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the nose.

    "Good luck, Bill," she said and hurried down to the observation room.

    He smiled bemusedly and watched her hurry down the aisle. Shaking his head, he went up to the conference room. A short but dignified figure walked toward him in the aisle, plodding in that heavy gait of those few who were born and raised on the Outers, with the far weaker gravity of their centrifuge-cities.

    "Marc!" he said in greeting though the Neptunian frowned at him.

    "You''rete, Bill, or don''t you know?" he said in that gruff, familiar voice.

    "I know," he said. "Sahsha told me. But she also said that I''ve been rescheduled after the Venusian representative..."

    "And he''s just about to finish. We''d better hurry."

    "Well, at least he''s finishing."

    "That''s in bad taste and you know it," Marc said.

    Billughed. "Yeah, I know. I''ll try to behave."

    Venusians have had a reputation, for a long time now, unfounded for the most part, of talking so slowly that they put most people to sleep. Something to do with an effect of some of the gases left over from their terraforming days on the brain''s speech center, or so theedians say. But one thing was for certain, Senator Valker of Venus was one hell of a bore.

    They sat near the podium. "Hope we make it before Earthship Twos transmission," Bill said. Earthship Twos pseudo-Seren transmitter allowed 8-bit data transmissions at two and a half times the speed of light. "Sit with me awhile, Marc. I''m a little jittery.

    "I have to get back to my seat," Marc replied.

    "Just a little while."

    "All right." He gestured at a page to bring him a folding chair.

    "You know," Marc said as he sat down, "I really went out on a limb for you. Did thoseputers of yours get anything more out of it?"

    "Wait ''til I get on the stage."

    The Venusian was finally winding down. It was a speech aboutpletely demilitarizing the Outers, a very, very old thorny issue for the U.N.

    The Treaty notwithstanding, garrisons on the Outers were still there, Marines and battleships at the ready. With the Phobos rebellion and the Asteroid Wars half a generation ago still fresh in the minds of the people, the question of full demilitarization was a premature one. It was only by a stroke of luck that the garrisons of the old Alliance were still intact and the Mars colonists were able to fight off a band of fanatics from Phobos that ransacked and looted the old bases on Mars for supplies and technology, and hid out in the sparsely cluttered area between Mars and Jupiter, their ships masquerading as asteroids.

    Though the asteroids were scattered far and wide, there was enough uncatalogued debris there to fool spaceship tracking, and give the pirates the chance to pounce on unsuspecting travelers ory siege to the Outers.

    Only the reactivation of the old Allied bases helped stave off this new threat to the Peace. It was a time when the Treaties themselves were put to the test. As it happened, Bill was there. He had, in fact, yed a major thoughrgely unknown role in the ending of the Asteroid Wars.

    The Venusian finished his speech and was greeted with mild apuse as he walked back to his ce.

    "Thank you Senator Valker," the floor leader said, as he took over from the Venusian. "I now call the question: Please signify your assent in the usual manner." The House Speaker waited the prerequisite time and then banged his gavel. "Very well," he said, "By mutual consent, the proposal is postponed for consideration at ater time on the calendar. Not a surprising turn of events.

    He consulted his pad as well as some papers and continued with the day''s agenda. "''In a special privilege speech,''" he read off the sheet, "''the eminent Doctor William Steele is to speak of a very important scientific announcement.''" He turned to Marc and Bill. "Doctor?" he said.

    "This is it," Bill said to Marc, gave him a thumbs-up sign and climbed onto the stage.

    "Thank you Mr. Speaker," he said, and waited for the polite apuse to die down.

    "Ladies and gentlemen of the United Nations," he began, "as many of you know, the world media has been spreading rumors of a momentous discovery I and my associates have made in ourboratories on Triton. I have, however, held my silence.

    "Yes, it is indeed a momentous discovery. This discovery will probably go down in our history as one of Humanity''s milestones. But I had to wait until I was sure. I would be remiss in my duties as a scientist if I didn''t.

    "You see, like many of today''s scientists, I have been preupied by the fact that, even as we develop spacecraft with speeds approaching that of light, and technology that can counteract the effects of rtivity, our navigation andmunication technology have been unable to remain in step. Hence, our problems inmunicating with our multi-generational starships and in keeping track of them, even navigating them. Even adapting Dr. Ava McCarthys Seren technology to give our new ships faster-than-lightmunications is not enough.

    "Recently, I have developed a system by which I can extract real-time data from sources light-years away with no timeg, no problems with the Doppler Effect nor signal attenuation because of distance."

    The representatives from the Outers listened with interest while the others simply looked bored. They were "Groundhogs" - the new ng term for those who hadn''t left the and visited space. Unlike Spacers, they weren''t familiar with, nor very much interested in such matters. To the Spacer, the importance of such things was very apparent. Indeed, unfamiliarity with these things usually meant life or death.

    Bill nervously looked at his watch and continued with his speech.

    "During experiments, I identally detected an intermediate wave form simr to radio waves except that it propagates itself in what we may term as ''Hyper-Space'' or ''Hyper-Dimensions'' - measurable yet, for all intents and purposes, non-existent regions of space. We do not yet know where or what these regions of non-space are, exactly, but we have postted that perhaps they are regions of space of a universe parallel to but separate from our own.

    "If we were able to enter and leave this theoretical universe at will, we could reappear at any point in our own universe without psed time or wasted energy, for effectively we would not have traveled in our universe at all.

    "As of now, I have not been sessful in moving physical matter in and out of this parallel universe except for this unique energy wave-form.

    "During these past few months, I have been perfecting my generator and receiver for this wave-form which I call Phase-Wave, for it involves an electromaic process whereby, at a certain phase in the process''s cycle, a radio signal is spontaneously transmitted as well as a duplicate signal that ''leaves'' our universe and, at another phase of the cycle, re-enters our universe.

    "Controlling the departure and arrival points depends on the strength of the signal as well as the particr frequency of the oscitions of the various forces of the process.

    "In summary then," he continued, "I have been sessful in transmitting and receiving these radio wave-like emissions that can pass from one point in our space to another point without traveling in it. That means that we can send and receive messages, and gather information from light-years away, seemingly without interference or loss in time."

    He paused and took a deep breath to collect his thoughts, and continued.

    "I believe that this discovery,dies and gentlemen, is important enough to have warranted its inclusion in today''s calendar but, yet, this is not the only reason for my being here today."

    He looked up at the observation gallery and nodded to Sahsha. She turned away from the window in search of the sergeant-at-arms.

    Bill dug out a small recording chip from his pocket and went off-stage and whispered to a page. He handed her the chip and walked back to the podium.

    "In the course of my experiments," he said into the podium''s microphone, "I found that my phase-wave receiver was able to pick up regr electromaic signals, including radio. Over the past month, we picked up many signals. Most of them were normal everyday radio traffic from almost every point in the system, except for one very weak but distinct message from very far away."

    He waited a few nervous moments as the house technicians readied the room''s public address system for his short recording.

    Soon, loud crashing static assailed everyone''s ears. The delegates flinched but stayed in their ces. By now, those previously uninterested were intrigued by Bill''s theatrics and waited in barely suppressed anticipation. Bill''s mboyant style was well known across the entire system, and it usually preceded something good. The other Spacer delegates were also listening anxiously. They seemed to have caught on to what Bill was doing.

    The static faded to eerie silence but for short stuttering bursts, and these too faded away.

    Suddenly, a clear, high and melodious female voice broke the silence with a word. It sounded something like "T''chahn!"

    It was answered by a different voice, an odd one that seemed somehow alien. It sounded like the person was suffering from a severe bout of cold, yet the single word it spoke, for it was a word, was clear and undistorted.

    "T''chahn!" it answered.

    The two voices continued. It was a conversation. But, in whatnguage no one could say. Those listening to the U.N. VOX Trantion Systemputer feed were also mystified. At first, it seemed to fail to start. After it did kick on, it was seconds behind the recording. It was like listening to two conversations at the same time.

    What those heard via earphone was weird:

    "Greetings!" the female voice said.

    "Greetings!" the other voice answered. This oddly echoing voice seemed to be two voices ovepping each other - a male and a female voice.

    A very disjointed conversation followed - a sure sign of a crashing trantion program.

    "Request ... direction ... permission to enter ..."

    "Permission ... to wee ..."

    "Our thanks ... friend ... of this ce "

    "Your ... flying ... not wet ..."

    "The same ... to fly ... of yours."

    Then static faded in,pletely obscuring the voices.

    The whole recording perhapssted less than thirty seconds, yet the reaction of the people was almost like shock: The whole delegation fell into silence with the static of the remainder of the recording - the only sound to be heard in the room.

    A technician switched it off and that seemed to break the people out of their spell. Slowly, like a tide, snatches of conversation spread through the room. Many of the delegates were gesticting wildly and even the usually sedate Spacers were excited.

    It was a long time before the Speaker of the House thought to use his gavel. Bill fidgeted and looked at his watch again.

    The speaker had to pound the gavel a long time and to call for silence twice before the various dignitaries behaved.

    "Order, please,dies and gentlemen," he said again.

    A hand near the back waved for attention.

    "The representative from Mars is recognized. Yes, Madam."

    A deeply tanned woman stood and faced Bill.

    "Doctor, this, uh, recording - did you get more?"

    "No, Maam, I''m sorry. I was experimenting with the receiver at the time, and I passed the, umm, frequency, before I realized it."

    "Have you confirmed thenguage?"

    "Well, I tried to, Maam but I failed. One of the reasons I flew all the way from Triton to New York was to get a chance to use the U.S. Library of Congress database. As you know, New York has one of the mostplete databases regarding national customs and culture, includingnguages and dialects.

    "Anyway, the only thing I have been able to ascertain was the fact that this is not a Terrannguage. And I am sure that this will be verified as soon as I consult the library."

    Another hubbub was growing and the Speaker pounded his gavel again to forestall it.

    "There are very intriguing simrities to some obscure European dialects, to be sure," Bill said, "but I assure you,dies and gentlemen, that this message is not of the Earth."

    The U.N. delegates exploded. Each tried to yell above the other, firing questions at Bill one after the other.

    The Speaker of the House banged his gavel until the top flew off and still the confusion continued.

    He pounded on his podium with his palm instead, and yelled over the noise.

    "Order," he shouted. "I will have order or this session will be postponed!"

    Bill waited calmly for the noise to die down.

    It took a few minutes but the cacophony did die down. The Speaker sighed and addressed the delegates. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the U.N., we must have order for us to be able to aplish anything. Press your indicators or raise your hands if you want to be recognized."

    He spotted someone waving. "The representative from the United African Nations is recognized."

    The representative stood. "I would like to ask the doctor about the authenticity of the recording. Is it possible, Doctor, that this recording that you have yed for us is just another routine Earth signal that you have inadvertently intercepted? If garbled enough, could it have been mistaken for a foreign, even aliennguage?"

    Bill seemed to ponder the question. "Yes, sir, it''s possible. I don''t see why not. But, if so, then all my work regarding Phase-Wave is all wrong. He smiled. You also have to consider the fact that the few words that you heard tranted were actually unrecognizable and verifiably not of any known humannguage. Very unlikely, sir."

    The ambassador frowned. "Well then, couldn''t it be that someone is doing this to you deliberately? I mean, couldn''t someone fake this supposedly non-humannguage?"

    Bill smiled. "I thought of that right off," he said. "I checked with myputers and the way the words are put together indicates anguage structure. Analysis of the voices shows that there are inflections in certain parts of the dialogue, indicating certain specific meanings to these particr ''words.'' Let me exin.

    "Assuming that the cultural values and views, as pertaining to societal customs approximate ours - the dominant Chinese-American-European westernmunity of Earth - I mean, ourputer systems are able to detect the meanings of sentences and phrases by referring to their records of existingnguages andnguage structures, and by the way they are spoken. There are many racial constants in the way all humans speak. These can be identified and catalogued and, hence, analyzed. I have used this technology to decipher this ''conversation.''

    "The way a person says a word can indicate the meaning. The way he stresses particr vowels, the minute hesitations, in fact the entire ''feel'' of his voice can indicate meaning as well as feeling. And in a whole sentence, the many minute hesitations, intonations and stresses of each particr word in the sentence sets up a particr pattern easily recognizable and is as distinct as a signature. This is irrefutable proof of it being a genuinenguage.

    "It has been proven that people always pause before each phrase they speak. These very minute pauses are the person pausing to pick out the particr word or phrase out of his stock of vocabry that he has been umting all throughout his life. The frequency of usage is inversely proportional to the length of pauses he makes, so long as it is consistent with his grammatical rules. Thus, if a person uses a word frequently, the pauses are shorter.

    "All these are indicative of a truenguage, and many of these indicators and clues are present in the recording."

    The murmuring among the delegates was increasing. The speaker banged on his podium. "Please go on, Doctor."

    "Thank you, sir," he said to the speaker. He looked at his watch again and changed to a different tack.

    "Each clue to anguage has its counterpart mark indicating the falsity of anguage. Most governments, I am sure, employ secret codes for sendingmuniqus and messages. I assure you that each code can be proven beyond a doubt that it is only a code and not a genuinenguage in the way that I described."

    The delegates stirred nervously. Bill raised his hand. "Let me assure you that such codes are not easily decipherable." He smiled, as these words seemed to calm them down. "It is that these are only codes and intended only as such, and are therefore easily recognized as such.

    "In order for this fraud message, if it is a fraud, to be as good as it was, the counterfeiter must have created his ownpletenguage from scratch, with its own rules of grammar and set of words, intonation and pronunciation, practicing constantly for quite a while and, well, the whole lot of it. And that, I believe, though possible, is highly unlikely."

    Another signal light shed. "The representative from Neptune. Yes?"

    "Doctor, have you tried to interpret this, uh, ''conversation?''"

    Bill smiled at the nted question. "Yes, Doctor, I have attempted to. Those of you who listened to theputer perhaps heard a fragmented conversation. May we have the house technician y back the whole trantion for all to hear?"

    They waited for a few moments as theputer operator reset the recording and soon they heard the weird, fragmented English trantion of the conversation.

    Bill waited a moment for the people to digest this. "Let me exin what happened,dies and gentlemen. The whole trantion started many secondste. This indicates that theputer did not have a base topare it with. As you know, most Terrannguages have many simrities. Theputer found too few simrities and had to extrapte as the conversation progressed. This ounts for the fragmented conversation.

    "The first word, the ''Greetings,'' was only an assumption on the part of theputer. It extrapted this probably from the tone, the exmation, and other peripheral indicators, such as the fact that it was the first word in the conversation.

    "If you will notice, the first voice is female. However, the second voice seemed to be two people talking together. This indicates that theputer could not identify the gender, and theputer was unable to decide which of its library of voices to use in ce of the aliens.

    "About the rest of the conversation, most of it is extraption again, using the kinds of clues which I mentioned. He took a moment to get his valise from beside the podium. He pulled out a sheet ofputer paper. "The final analysis is all generalization, I''m sorry to say."

    He took a moment to scan the sheet. "The conversation is between the femalemunications officer of a spacecraft and the docking officer of a space station. No names were mentioned in the conversation, or if there were, we were not able to recognize them. The first two words were greetings between the two. The conversation is all about the female asking clearance to rendezvous, most probably to dock, with the space station and how the docking officer gave permission."

    He smiled as he read the rest of the sheet. "Thetter part of the conversation seems to be them officer admonishing the docking officer to ''never let your wings get dry.'' It seems to be a joke between the two as the tone of voice indicates. The docking officer is clearly amused and returns the joke. The rest of the message is only parting words, not very important."

    He put the paper back in his valise and continued. "What we can gather from this is that it is a conversation between two dissimr species, as indicated by theputer''s inability to determine the gender of one of them while easily identifying the other''s. One of them seems to be a winged species, or maybe both are. The fact that they are able to converse with one another easily gives credence to some kind of close rtionship between the two. Beyond that theputers cannot add more."

    Most of the delegates were stunned. It was one of mankind''s most frustrating questions answered in a lump. Some were openly skeptical.

    A signal light and a waving hand. "The representative from the Russian Republics."

    "Doctor, are you sure that this, hmm, message, is genuine and not some sort of fabrication on your part?" the delegate said, sarcasm very apparent in his voice.

    Bill''s face turned crimson. He took a couple of deep breaths. "I am an ethical scientist, sir," he said calmly, and a highly reputable one, if I may say so. My achievements attest to this." The only way he could haveid it on thicker was by enumerating his one-hundred-and-one awards and patents that made him the most well known scientific authority in the eight worlds. "I find it beneath my dignity to even consider your insinuation, sir. If you feel that way, then I will be happy not to share my knowledge of Phase-Wave with your government. That''ll shut him up, he thought.

    The Russian delegate sat down, grumbling.

    Another delegate signaled. "The representative of the European Community of Nations. Yes, madam?"

    The plump woman stood up. "Doctor, although I see some importance in all this, I haven''t heard what you want from us. What is it exactly that you need from this body?"

    "Thank you Maam, I''m about to get to that part."

    He paused for a moment, looking for a way to put his thoughts into words.

    "Have you ever heard of SETI, Maam? No? Well, SETI stands for The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, ate-twentieth century scientific program searching for proof of life on other worlds. They used to send radio messages out into space to sort of announce our existence to our immediate neighbors. Of course, by the time these reached any intelligent life capable of understanding them, they were probably too fragmented and faded for them to make anything of the signals other than as random radio interference.

    "With the United Nations'' help, I intend to develop the Phase-Wave technology to achieve this goal. I intend to establish Phase-Wave stations throughout the system, and make permanent two-waymunication possible with our interster neighbors."

    "A very idealistic goal, Doctor, and one with no immediate practical value."

    "On the contrary, Maam. This technology can be applied to domestic use, and improve ourmunication facilities, weather tracking, navigation systems, and reduce their cost by a very great deal.

    Weather tracking, Doctor?

    Think of Phase-Wave as an analogue of radio. Therefore, Phase-Wave can be adapted to Doppler radar technology to and other weather detection systems.

    Thank you.

    In any case, I''m ready to show you a small demonstration to very graphically prove this point."

    He walked to the foot of the stage and called a page. "Have you seen Sahsha, I mean Miss Delyer?" He nced at the ss observation booth, saw a frantically waving figure. "Never mind."

    He waved back. Sahsha gestured at the stage. Bill nced back and saw a technician pushing a table on casters onto the middle of the stage, with a package on top.

    He walked backed to the podium, reached for the portable audio pickup and walked to the table.

    "I have set up this little demo with the help of Doctor Bidwell''s children that I am sure you will find very amusing. However, I will need the good doctor with me. Marc?"

    Old Marc stood up, if a little quizzically, and made his slow way to the stage.

    Marc held his hand over the microphone and whispered in Bill''s ear. "Listen, what''s all this funny stuff?"

    "Trust me. Just y along, okay?" He lifted Marc''s hand from the pickup and faced the delegates.

    "Some of you may know that the Doctor here has two sons, twins by the way. I have set up a video transmitter to aplish what has not been aplished before: a deep-space conversation in real-time."

    Bill reached down and switched on the receiver. A square of light hit the wall behind them just below the U.N. logo. Slowly, it became more distinct, showing a picture of a children''s room,plete with cribs, toys piled high and assorted baby clothes scattered helter-skelter. In the foreground was a ypen, empty at the moment. Old Marc turned crimson. His wife, Miriam, never was a good housekeeper and now, here it is, for all the worlds to see. Damn it, why couldn''t Bill have warned me, he thought.

    A tall, pretty girl in a housecoat came into the camera''s range: Miriam, Marc''s wife.

    "Hi Marc, hi Bill." The image waved. Reference-and-picture was in synch as the image seemed to wave to them.

    "Where are you two?" she asked. "When did youe in? No flights are scheduled for today. I hope you don''t stay out too long. The kids miss you. And you, Bill? When are youing to eat with us? The kids''ve been asking for you. ''Where''s Uncle Willy, where''s Uncle Willy,'' they keep asking ...'' the woman kept chattering on. Obviously, she didn''t know that she had the whole U.N. for an audience, and she thought they''d just arrived back on Triton.

    Marc''s face went to an even darker shade of crimson, clearly embarrassed. Bill whispered something into his ear.

    "Miriam, dear, he said to the image, let this all wait ''tilter. Bill wants you to bring the kids to their room, so the Vid scanner can pick them up."

    The image on the screen took several seconds before reacting. Typical transmission dy for Seren deep space calls. The extremely expensive wormhole-based Seren system allowsmunication reception at 1,073.64 times the speed of light. Even so,munications between Earth and Neptune still had about a 12 to 20-second dy.

    "Why?" Miriam asked Marc, "Is something wrong?"

    "No, dear, I''ll exinter. Can you bring them out, please? But make sure to put them in their own cribs, okay?"

    "All right," she said after a lengthy dy. She moved out of range. While waiting, Marc switched on another receiver, and another image of the room popped up, this time from a different angle.

    The picture was curiously t with virtually no depth resolution at all; very different from the 3-D images that were standard in all video transmissions. This t image showed another ypen simr to the first one, also empty at the moment.

    Soon, Miriam came back. The whole room was buzzing with excitement. She entered the first picture, the 3-D one, bringing two bundles, andid down one of the small infants in the ypen. She left that picture and she appeared in the second 2-D one,ying the second baby in the second crib as well. After putting each baby down, they immediately stood up, grasping the bar of their individual ypens in their small chubby hands. Obviously, they were twins. They smiled disarmingly and the delegatesughed in delight.

    Miriam looked up into the scanner. "Is that all, Marc?" She looked confused.

    "That''s fine, Miriam. Would you mind moving out of range of the camera?" She looked even more puzzled but she moved to the back of the room.

    With a small smile on his lips, Bill faced Marc. "Now, Marc," he said, speaking directly into the mic, "I want you to wave at them."

    Marc paused and smiled. He turned to the images of his children smiling expectantly. He raised his hand, waved and said, "Hi, kids!"

    The children smiled even more. David, the one in the 2-D screen, immediately let go of the bar and waved his hands in the air. "Dada!" he said at the top of his voice. The people watching burst intoughter. The infant started to totter and lose his bnce. He fell on his back and immediately started to cry. The mother came in like a shot and cradled Davie in her arms.

    His brother Peter, on the other hand, the one in the 3-D screen, was still looking expectantly. Only after several long seconds did he react. He was a little smarter than his brother, though, as he kept one hand on the bar.

    "Dada!" he said.

    In the other 2-D screen, Miriam was talking to the crying baby. "Hush, dear." She looked up to the scanner. "Better callter, Marc. Poor Davie''s crying."

    "Of course, Miriam. Later. Out." Bill switched off the projectors and the two pictures went out. Bill and Marc turned to the delegates. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said, "what you saw were two deep-space transmissions from Neptune,ing from Doctor Bidwell''s home on Triton." Marc stepped off the stage, his part of the presentation over.

    "Marc''s home, the United Satellites of Neptune, is, as some of you know, hundreds of millions of miles away from the Earth at this particr time. At this time in Neptune''s cycle, it takes about twelve seconds for a message to reach Earth and a return answer to reach Neptune via tight-beam high-power Seren transmissions. Obviously, that is not what happened on the two-dimensional transmission you saw. There was no dy at all. No, let me correct that. My calctions show that estimated timeg is about zero point zero-zero-zero-zero-one of one nanosecond, due to the electronics of the transmitters, and not because of dy in the transmission. That,dies and gentlemen, is an example of a Phase-Wave broadcast."

    There was absolute silence in the hall. A signal light shed. The delegate from the Russian Republics.

    Before the floor leader could recognize the man, Bill quickly said, "I am sure some of you wonder whether this entire presentation is a hoax or not. That is why I have cooked up another demonstration for you."

    He walked back to the podium and retrieved something from his valise, another printout. "As you know, the U.N.puters are connected to the Terran Exploration Center on Phobos. We here can therefore listen in to themunications band monitoring transmissions from Earthship Two. We can hear whatever message Phobos Center receives from Earthship Two even as they receive it, with a little dy via Seren transmission.

    He paused, looked at his watch and directed a question to the U.N.puter. "Computer!" he said, triggering the system''s on-line interactive audio interface program. "What is the status of Earthship Two as ofst report?"

    A t, mechanical voice answered. "Earthship Two wasst contacted forty-five days ago. Ship was then two light-months out of the sr system, three degrees above the ne of the ecliptic..."

    "Thank you, endit. Sadly,dies and gentlemen, Earthship Twosms only transmit at 2.5 times the speed of light. The verbal report Earthship Two is required to send every two weeks will be one and a half months old. If the Captain follows the mission ns, she would have sent one six weeks ago. Phobos should have received it and it will be ryed here via Seren transmission in about ..." he looked at his wrist, "... fifteen minutes. Computer!"

    "Acknowledged," theputer answered.

    "Patch in the Seren monitoring band of Phobos Center into the conference hall, please." A dull hissing came from the overhead speakers, deep space static.

    Bill held up the printout in his hand. "Ladies and gentlemen, I intercepted that message six weeks ago. Here is the text of the audio portion of the message.

    "''Phobos Center,''" Bill quoted, "''this is Captain Esteban of Earthship Two,mencing message eighty-eight stroke six stroke four. All is well aboard. All systems functioning and conforming to project programming. We had a small problem a few days ago. Particle shield on quad eighteen failed momentarily and the drive irradiated a small part of our hydroponicsb. No one affected except a few strains of radishes and carrots. Results should be interesting after a few weeks. We''ve also had to reduce power by ten percent to prevent damage. All''s well now and still within error margin.''

    "Captain Esteban continues with the report proper, with the rest of her logs and, hmmm, she closes the report after about thirty minutes. I''m sure you don''t want to hear the rest of it."

    He folded the paper and pushed it into his valise. "Now, the final proof. In a few minutes, we will hear the same message, as ryed by the Phobos Center."

    The entire delegation''s attention was dragged to the overhead speakers. All they heard was the hissing static of space. And though they had more than ten minutes to wait, they all sat patiently. Eventually, the static slowly gave way to silence. Suddenly, the voice of Captain Esteban could be heard: "Phobos Center, this Captain Esteban of Earthship Two,mencing message eighty-eight stroke six stroke four. All is well... "

    The rest of the message continued, word for word exactly the same as what Bill had said. pping started spontaneously. Afterwards, no one will remember who started it.

    Bill said, just above the din, "I also have the Captain''s other two transmissions that she sent afterwards, if you''d like to hear them..." The pping became deafening, the cheers drowning Captain Esteban''s voice.

    Bill''s face brightened, and he smiled.

 Chapter 2: Bubble Memory

    Chapter 2: Bubble Memory

    Jawharal Bhavnani-Singh, a big-muscled Bengali almost two meters tall, was quietly cursing at theb terminal. Theputer program was on the blink again after some ignorant technician forgot to re-seal the lock on a maic memory-suspension circuit on the main motherboard of the station''s mainframe. As a result, arge chunk of the cipher program had slowly randomized intoplete uselessness.

    "Goddammit," he shouted at the duty officer, "get me the maintenance personnel roster!"

    Responding to his boss''s angrymand, Alexi rushed to therge bulletin board of the control station and ripped off a printed list of the day''s duty personnel. Other pieces of paper flew off as their maic sps were pulled out.

    He ran back and handed it to Singh. "Here it is, Boss," he said, trepidation in his voice. Singh''s extremely short temper was well known all over Triton base.

    He ripped the sheet out of Alexi''s hand and quickly scanned it. His eyes stopped on a particr name. "Aha, here it is. Hua Sung!"

    He swung around in his swivel chair. "Find Hua Sung," he said to the trembling officer, "get him and bring him to me. Now!" Alexi ran off to start his manhunt.

    He turned to his assistant. "I''m gonna find the smartass down in Base Ten who assigned us that SOB and I swear his head''s gonna roll." He drew a finger across his neck.

    His assistantughed. "You better cool it, Jerry, or you''ll bust a vein the way your blood pressure''s up. Take it easy on Hua Sung. He''s just a cadet fresh out of Academy."

    The Indian paused, took a breath and tried to calm down. He sighed andughed a little ruefully. "Yeah, I guess you''re right, Phil." He gestured at theputer terminal. "It''s just that the cipher program is shot and we''re gonna have to trante manually. Again. That pisses me off."

    "Speaking of tranting," Phil said, and brought out five six-inch thick loose-leaf binders, which constituted a years worth of work. It was the hard-copy version of all that they knew of the Elyrannguage, thenguage of the first recording of an extra-terrestrial conversation first heard in the halls of the U.N. over a year ago. They were the result of deep analysis of all the audio and video intercepts that they have intercepted.

    They were also working on the other gctguages, but at the moment, priority was given to Elyran.

    Like all of the colony cities, Triton Station didnt really stock paper, but hardcopies are asionally needed, such as now. The paper used in the binders was made from cellulose from the stations recyble trash and refuse.

    With a grimace of distaste, Singh dropped the top binder onto his desk with a thud, and started punching up thetest audio and video intercepts on his terminal. "This is gonna be another long shift," he said.

    It was one year after Bill made his momentous announcement to the U.N. that made Triton Center possible, presently under the fuming Jawharal Bhavnani-Singh''s (Jerry to his Western friends) expertmand. Jerry''s title of ''Commander'' was a civilian rather than a real military position. Everyone at Triton Center, in fact all CETI personnel, were kept strictly civilian.

    Triton Center was one of the seventeen Terran Phase-Wave bases (Terran because they were under the direct control of the U.N. instead of the local colonial governments) scattered in the system. These seventeen bases, officially under U.N. management, were the working arm of the new CETI Council.

    The name CETI was borrowed from an old twentieth century organization (at least the acronym, that is). Now it means the ''Council on Extra-terrestrial Intelligence''. The organization of this new U.N. department was pushed on by the controversy of Dr. Steele''s announcement, which almost immediately grew to mammoth proportions after its release to the press.

    Originally, the main thrust of the CETI Movement was the development of the new science of Phase-Wave. The CETI team, working under the leadership of Dr. Steele, made it practicable enough to convert mostmunication and tracking systems to the new technology. The main problem was that the old technology couldn''t be interfaced with the new one. Phase-Wave systems could intercept radio signals, but could not send signals that could be received by a radio-based system.

    The first prototype of a Radio/Phase-Wave transmitter was being developed but it was everyone''s opinion, even Bill''s, that the device would not work. But such a device was necessary for the second major step in the CETI program. So, regardless of this, they pushed on.

    Presently, the spearhead of the CETI program was down in one of the base''s conference rooms discussing thetest, and by far, one of the most important projects of the program, with the base''s research team.

    "Good job," Bill was saying to the team while reading the folder in his hand, "but a little too long, don''t you think? And too much detail. How long will the broadcastst?"

    "A little over an hour," answered one of the systems specialists across the enormous round table cluttered with portableputers, printouts and disks. "That includes the visuals, too."

    "One hour? Whew! Talk about long. It shouldn''t go over ten minutes and even that''s too long."

    A small mousy man across the table answered. "You must understand, Doctor, we can''t possibly fit a million years of Earth history and evolution into a ten-minute program. It''s just not possible."

    "This is not an anthropology ss, Doctor, just a friendly Hello, as we agreed. An hour is too much. Furthermore..." He got up and walked over to arge disy screen. He punched up some instructions on the keyboard.

    The screen lit up with a picture of the gxy. Bill punched up moremands and the picture zoomed in on a small part of the picture, towards the edge of the milky-white saucer. A small arrow appeared, pointing to a small star.

    "We are here. We control this small area of space, our Sr System." The arrow moved around a little. "Thatprises the total territory of Homo Sapiens." He punched in more instructions and the picture zoomed out enough to show a small arm-like band of stars with the Sun at the edge of the picture.

    "Now, the people we want to reach are about here and they control this area of space." The little arrow circled almost the entire arm. "They go from system to system as easily as we go from, say, Earth to Jupiter. They have true space travel, gentlemen, we do not."

    "That much is obvious, Doctor," one of them said, "but what is the connection?"

    "Don''t you see? Such a capability would give rise to a different kind of cultural structure. I mean, getting to the home world of your nearest neighbor would be as easy as a hop on the next space liner. They''re amunity, gentlemen.

    "As unacknowledged neighbors, ouring in out of the cold would make us the outsiders to thismunity, the newest people to move into the neighborhood. As such, we have to be careful with the social and political norms.

    "And," he continued, "we have to be careful not to give too much information about ourselves away. We can''t afford to. What if we were walking into an inteary war or something? We simply don''t know enough, and we can''t afford to gamble with the System just because we thought that they''d be friendly."

    The group leader smiled indulgently. "I thought that all of us have grown out of the old fears about alien life. I''m surprised at you, Doctor. No one said that xenophobia was part of your psychological profile."

    Bill smiled a little at that. "Military doctrine, Doctor, refers to a threat not in the context of intent but in capabilities. We cannot gamble with the race. We must be sure. We cannot spoon-feed these people with information that can be used against us."

    The leader waved his arms in exasperation and continued. "All right. Granted that you are correct, that we don''t know that much about our interster neighbors, but such a gross condition of, shall we say, antisocial tendencies or political unrest would show up in your Phase-Wave intercepts. Have they?"

    Bill hesitated, "Well, there have been some, hmm, indications of such things."

    The three scientists sat up in rm. "What?" the group leader said, "Are you saying that..."

    Bill interrupted. "Forget what I said. The point is that we can''t show up with open arms and expect them to do the same. We just can''t afford to gamble. If, and I''m saying if, ites down to that, do you think we can defend ourselves against them? Hell, they''d just be taking pot shots at us. We can''t even chase them away if we needed to, not to mention us being outnumbered by a whole hell of a lot."

    One of the other scientists crossed his arms. "All right, then, what would you suggest we do? Hide from these imagined hordes of interster psychopaths? I thought the whole point of the broadcast was to make them notice us."

    Bill took a deep breath. "Everyone here realizes the necessity of contacting these other races, Doctor. It is a necessary part of the growth of a species. But I must stress caution. We are dealing with an unknown factor. We must move in the most circumspect manner when dealing with these people.

    "If and when we get that radio/Phase-Wave transmitter working, and I hope that will be soon, the broadcast should be limited to the most basic information. A picture of our people, glimpses of our culture, our civilization, the location of our system - for apparently they do not know that we are here - snapshots of human life and society. Something like that, gentlemen, would be enough. And even that may be too much."

    "But the objective here is..."

    "The objective here is simply to make contact. That and that alone, Doctor." Bill looked at the man straight in the eye. "Make the program the way I want it, Doctor, and I guarantee you that we will be speaking to them face-to-face inside of a year."

    The doctor looked at him. "All right," he said. "We''ll do it your way." He chuckled. "It''s not as if we had a choice, Doctor. You''re the boss, after all."

    "You always have a choice, Doctor. That''s what it''s all about. I''d rather have your grudging cooperation than blind obedience. We''re not in the Navy, you know. Thank God we''re not in the Navy," he said with augh, a personal joke.

    "Now," he said, "can I see a copy of the material you''ve put together again?"

    They gave him back the thick folder. Bill had especially asked them to print up the script (printed documents sere not the norm anymore) so that editing and adding notes would be more convenient.

    Bill sat down and produced arge marker pen and proceeded to cross off lines and, as each line was crossed, the scientists either winced or frowned.

    "Doctor," one of them said, "as for the things you were alluding to, can you..."

    The hissing of the room''s pressure door interrupted him. Four people rushed in, visibly hurried. Two of them Professor Jennifer Priestly and Ambassador Marcus Bidwell - both members, along with Bill, of the fifteen-member CETI council. The other two were Walter Thorpe, Bill''s personal assistant, and the other Sahsha Delyer, U.N. liaison officer for the CETI Program.

    Bill looked up and smiled in greeting. "Sorry we''rete," Walter was saying, "but the tubes were jam-packed. Shift-change, you know."

    Out of all the avable seats, Jennifer and Sahsha rushed to the ones on either side of Bill. Walter frowned while the rest smiled amusedly. The doctor''s effect on women was no secret in the base. Bill was, at best, uneasy and ufortable with this curse, as he thought of it, while his assistant was just exasperated with it. It was Walter''s opinion that Bill, being as busy and important as he was, didn''t need the distraction. Jealousy didn''t enter into this attitude of his. Perhaps before, when he had just started working for him. But as he came to know the man, his respect for him grew. He was, in fact, in awe of him and his aplishments. Knowing him personally and being his friend, Walter hade to content himself with the thought that some had it and some just didn''t.

    Walter let Sahsha have the seat to Bill''s left that was customarily his, and sat down to her left instead.

    "Good morning, Bill," Jennifer said breathlessly, almost on his face, and held his right hand.

    "It''s the afternoon," said Sahsha menacingly.

    "Uh, good afternoon, Jen," Bill stuttered.

    "I just can''t get used to space time," Jennifer said, "It''s just so different." Jennifer was far from being a vacuous socialite, but she couldnt help being flirtatious around Bill.

    "Yes, it does take a little intelligence to figure it out," Sahsha said venomously. Jennifer red back.

    To forestall any more bickering, he hastily thrusted the folder he was changing to Jennifer and Marc, and asked them to do a little editing.

    "I just found out that the material was a bit over-long. I was just making a few deletions."

    "Yes, I can see your ''few'' deletions," Marc said, looking over Bill''s corrections.

    "See if you can trim it down some more, Marc." Marc took the folder, reached for a pen of his own and started crossing off more lines.

    "Jen?" Bill held out a copy to her.

    Jennifer pouted, looking stubborn, but gave in and conferred with Marc about the changes. Bill took the opportunity to extricate himself from this sticky situation and went to the water cooler for a drink. Sahsha followed and got another cup.

    Walter went over and handed Bill some printed sheets. "Here''s a partial transcript of today''s intercepts, Bill."

    Bill looked puzzled. "Why partial? And why printed? Something wrong?"

    "Uh, Phil said to tell you that Jerry said that someone fouled up the cipher program again."

    Bill groaned. "Don''t tell me. Hua Sung!"

    Walter grinned. "How did you know?"

    "Ever since Sanchez over at Base Ten foisted him off on us things have been going wrong all over. I think he''s a jinx. I never was one for putting raw recruits on the staff."

    "Want me to trade him off?"

    "No, never mind. Helium-bubble memory is fairly new technology. Anyone could have messed it up. He''ll probably get better after he gets the hang of things around here."

    Bill started reading through the papers at a fast clip. Walter always wondered how he was able to do that. His profile never said anything about a photographic memory. "Here," Bill said after a few moments, "these are okay. Better phase-wave these to Earth Base quick."

    "Right away," Walter said, and went off.

    Bill turned to Sahsha, who was, at the moment, extremely delighted that she had Bill all to herself. "Well, Sahsha," he said, "how''s everything?"

    "Pretty good," she said as she leaned a little bit closer. "I''m liaison officer to you guys now."

    "Well, I''ll be... Congrattions!"

    "Actually, I''m filling in for Mr. Li while he''s on vacation, but if I do well, they say I might fill in permanently."

    "You''ll do fine." Bill cocked his head towards Jennifer who was conferring with Marc and the research team. "I see you''ve met Jen."

    "You mean ''the Barracuda.'' Yes I''ve met her. We sat together in the shuttle."

    Billughed. "I know what you mean."

    After chatting for a while the research team came over.

    "Excuse me, Doctor," the team leader began, "but we''ve been going over the material with Ms. Priestly and the ambassador and, well, can we talk it over?"

    "By all means." Bill led everyone back to the table.

    "Now, what is the problem?"

    "The problem? Well, take a look at it yourself." He flopped the corrected folder down and Bill picked it up.

    "Hmm, I see what you mean."

    "They''ve pretty much deleted the whole lot of it! If we go by this, about ny-nine percent of the material will be taken out. I mean, we''ve worked on this thing for over six months. We''ve had to work with the US National Geographic Society as well as a lot of other organizations and people to put this together, not to mention the money that we spent. Now you''re asking us to throw all that away!"

    Bill thought it over. "I had the impression that you agreed with me, Doctor."

    "Agreed with you? Seriously, Doctor. Alien goblins and bug-eyed monsters?"

    "No, Doctor, I was very serious."

    "I was joking about that xenophobia thing, but on second thought, maybe you should get yourself analyzed. My god, Doctor! Paranoia is the only word I can think of."

    Marc raised his hand. "Gentlemen, please. Before everyone gets hot under the cor, let us exin." He tapped the folder. "There''s a good reason for this, you know. Not just an arbitrary decision of the higher-ups." Marc looked at Bill, who nodded.

    "Now, from what I gather, Bill has given you hints about the reasons for this."

    "Paranoid nonsense! Come on, Mr. Ambassador, where''s the proof?"

    Jennifer cut in. "There is proof, gentlemen. Only we are not at liberty to tell you."

    One of the other scientists exploded. "Not at liberty! This is too much. Professor, either this is one big colossal bluff or the biggest cover-up job in the history of the system. Either way, I ask, no, I demand that we be told what is going on!"

    The hissing of the pressure door interrupted them. "I''m sorry, gentlemen, but you are not in a position to demand anything."

    They all turned to face themander of Triton Center.

    Bill stood up to forestall any argument. "Gentlemen, I think this meeting is over."

    "See here," said one of the frustrated scientists, "you can''t do this!"

    "But I can, Doctor. By the way, everything that we have discussed here is to be treated aspletely confidential. I am invoking the Official Secrets Act under the U.N. treaty."

    "You can''t do this. You don''t have the authority!"

    "I assure you I do."

    "No, you can''t shut us up by quoting some antiquatedw no one''s even used in fifty years. We won''t stay quiet! The press is going to hear about this."

    "If they do, Doctor, then you are going to be locked up. This meeting is over, gentlemen. Thank you."

    The three scientists walked out, still defiant, even if a bit subdued.

    As the door hissed closed, Bill let out a sigh. "That was close. Tactical error, Jerry. You shouldn''t have opened your mouth."

    "I know. Sorry."

    "That''s okay. The danger''s passed. But you can be sure that there''ll be some hot rumors floating around tonight."

    "Yeah, well... It''s just a matter of time before the cat''s out of the bag anyway."

    "Well, that''s okay. We only need a few more days. Listen, you haven''t met everyone, have you?" Bill made the introductions.

    "How is everything, Commander?"

    "Everything''s fine, Maam. A little trouble but nothing we can''t handle."

    "I heard about Hua Sung," Bill said.

    "That reminds me," Jerry said, "here''s the rest of the intercepts. I gave Walter a copy."

    "That was fast."

    Jerry grinned. "When Kim Hua Sung heard about what happened to the cipher program, he got most of it recovered in nothing t. A bright kid, actually, aside from his moments of clumsiness."

    "No doubt with some emphatic encouragement from you." Billughed. He signed the intercepts by putting his thumb on the spine of the holographic hardcopy and gave it back.

    Walter popped in again. "Your quarters are ready,dies, Ambassador. Would you care to see them now?"

    They walked out into the passageway, detouring to the right to avoid the tube terminals that were still overcrowded. It was still shift change. They got on the esctors and stepped out onto the main concourse. The visitors often asked things, acting like a group of tourists, even though Marc had visited the station once before.

    As they reached the guest quarters, a soft chime echoed through the hallway and most of the people cleared the corridors.

    "What''s happening?" Sahsha asked.

    "Standard operating procedure," Jerry said. "When a shuttle''sing in, all off-duty personnel should clear the aisles in case of an emergency, like the shuttle crashing into the base."

    "There''s no danger of that, is there?" asked Jennifer.

    "Virtually none. Spacer pilots are careful," he said with a smile. Most of the time.

    Bill looked at his chronometer. "That''s probably the secretary-general. She''s scheduled to arrive today. If you''ll excuse me, my friends, I''ll just go and meet her. Come on, Walter."

    "Right."

    "I bettere along, too," said Sahsha. "That''s my job."

    They made their goodbyes and the three moved off to the shuttle bay. They heard the muted roar of the shuttle as the anti-gravs were cut off and the conventionalnding rockets took over. Their tube car stopped with a pneumatic hiss and the docking arm''s reception door opened. Secretary-General Alexandra Romarkin, the no-nonsense Russian-born politico, came out looking elegant and trim in her pastel-colored traveling clothes.

    "Allie!"

    "William! How good it is to see you."

    They embraced. Sahsha stepped forward. "Madam Secretary-General," she said.

    "Sahsha, how well you look. It has been a long time. How are you?" She turned and looked at Sahsha. She noticed Walter just behind Bill. "And who is this?"

    "Allie, I''d like you to meet Walter Thorpe, my good friend and personal assistant. Walter, Madam Alexandra Romarkin, a very close family friend who just happens," heughed, "to be the secretary-general of the New United Nations."

    Walter bowed and took her hand. "I am very pleased to meet you, Madam Secretary."

    Allie made a shushing motion. "Enough of that, Walter. We don''t have to be that formal when we''re among friends."

    "Of course, Madam."

    Allieughed delightedly. "William, you have a most charming but very stuffy assistant." Walter reddened. Allie introduced them to her personal secretary and assistant and tried to ignore the half-dozen security people that tried to look inconspicuous in the narrow corridor.

    Bill ushered everyone into the tube, the security people tagging along trying to be part of the wall.

    "Listen," Bill said as they were getting under way, "I''ve set up the meeting forter tonight so that your people can have a chance to go through the rooms."

    "Pardon me, sir," one of the uniformed guards spoke up, "How do we get there?"

    "No problem," Walter answered for Bill. "We''ll just detour the tube so that we can drop you off there."

    He punched up new instructions into the controls. They felt the slight shift in direction as the car changed tubes. The security captain faced his second-inmand, a stiff-faced female lieutenant, and issued some hushed orders. When the car stopped, four of the guards stepped out. The car continued on to the guest quarters.

    "Allie, how can you stand to have a toon of soldiers around you all the time?"

    "One can get used to anything, William. Actually, my chief of security is quite mad at me for thisst-minute change in my itinerary since he didn''t have time to prepare adequately. Now then, why did you drag me all the way here to Neptune? You said that it was very important. You could have gone to CETI Central instead of having mee here."

    "Can''t wait, huh?"

    The secretary-general was almost tapping her heel in impatience. "Well?"

    "All right. Partly security. Central is much too open to the public. And I couldn''t afford having my transmission intercepted."

    "And besides," said Walter, "all the hard data is here. We don''t send everything back to Earth."

    "You''ve been holding some of your findings back?" she asked, surprised.

    "The council decided that we had to. You''ll see why,ter."

    "Why wasn''t I informed of this?"

    "I know you take a dim view of holding secrets from the public..."

    "You''re damn right I do."

    "So I persuaded Mr. Li, our old liaison officer, and Sahsha here to convince you to make this trip out to Neptune."

    "There have been developments, Madam Secretary," said Walter.

    "What kind of developments?"

    "Lots of developments, Bill replied, most of them to do with our alien friends."

    "So? What does that have to do with us? How does that affect us?"

    "It will affect us, Maam, Walter said. The whole Human Race."

    Bill raised his hand. "I think we''d better postpone this discussion for tonight, all right? So that everyone can be rested up." Allie looked at Bill with a raised eyebrow.

    The tube''s doors opened and they all stepped out near the guest quarters. They were met by Jerry, Marc and Jennifer, obviously waiting for them.

    They chatted for a while but Allie excused herself because she wanted to rest up. The others decided the same thing as well and went to their own guest rooms. Before going into hers, Allie stopped Bill.

    "Is it serious, William?"

    "Yes, it is."

    "All right." She let the doors slide closed.

    Bill, Jerry and Walter turned and walked towards Master Control.

    "Does she know?" Jerry asked.

    "No, but I think she''s getting the drift of it."

    "What was it she asked you?"

    "If it was really serious."

    "Is it?"

    "Yes, my friend. Very serious."

 Chapter 3: Encyclopedic

    Chapter 3: Encyclopedic

    The meeting started normally enough. Arge rectangr table filled the middle of the room. Arge screen (no 3D stage projectors in sight) upied one end and a bank ofputer control panels the other. Allie, two assistants to her right and Sahsha to her left, took one side of the table.

    Walter, Jerry and his assistant Phil McIntyre took the opposite side. Marc and Jen sat at the foot of the table. Allie''s security was noticeably absent, but they knew that they were just outside. Bill was at the head of the table fiddling with the controls of the video screen.

    "All right," Bill said when everyone had settled in, "I think we can start with the meeting. For the record, this meeting, since it is dealing with matters of grave importance to the System, will be kept confidential, per the new Official Secrets Act. The Secretary-General has so agreed. We will start with a summary of what we''ve found out about our nearest neighbors that we have been able to gather mainly through the intercepts we''ve been getting of theirmunications via Phase-Wave. I''ve brought Commander Bhavnani-Singh and Commander McIntyre to discuss this with you, as they are the ones who have been the most involved with our Phase-Wave intercepts. I''ve also brought two members of the CETI Council to observe and help rify matters of relevance to this meeting. So, let''s begin. Jerry, I think you had better start the discussion."

    "Thank you, Bill," Jerry said, standing up. He walked over to the screen and punched in some instructions. A map of the gxy sprang up with the area around the Earth magnified.

    "Earth and her system are about here upying about this much space, about eighteen thousand, three hundred-plus million kilometers from edge to edge. A fairly average-sized system as we now know from the information we have at our disposal." He pressed a button and the area turned into a bright yellow.

    "Our nearest neighbors are about ten light years from us, as measured from their nearest inhabited world." He pointed at an area near a trailing edge of the gxy. He pressed some buttons and the group of stars turned bright red.

    "We have found out that these neighbors of ours are not of a single race but a conglomeration of different races. They control a vast area of space and are technologically more advanced than us. Phil?"

    "That''s what we think," Phil continued. "We get very few intercepts from them. It was as if they were constantly restricting theirmunications, almost like in a state of siege. It''s hard to get a clear picture, but I think we''ve pieced together the basic stuff."

    Jerry continued. "They call their territory the Tiros Empire, apparently after the home world of the dominant species, the Tirosians, and areprised of about fifty different races, where Tirosian is naturally the mostmonnguage. They have a semi-feudal sort of society, the upper castes beingnd or property owners and the masses the ''tillers of soil,'' the peasants." He looked pained. "At least we think so."

    "What''s the problem?" the Secretary-General asked.

    Phil took up the question. "If looked at superficially, it seems that way," he said, "but Ms. Priestleys cultural analysts and sociologists believe that they are a dictatorial society, with the dominant race holding the rest of the empire in thrall. We are not sure, but we have had strange intercepts that came from that region of space. Professor Priestly can exin it better."

    Jennifer took up the discussion. Sheced her fingers under her chin. "We sociologists," she began in her best professorial tone, "are always on the lookout for cultural indicators, culturalndmarks, if you will, that give us hints as to their cultural norms and values. And what better cultural indicator thannguage. Do you know that we have so far not found any Tirosian equivalent for the word ''friend'' or ''please?'' That is, however a minor thing. But such things cannot be denied as hard evidence of very basic cultural differences between them and us.

    "Furthermore, from the transmissions we''ve gotten, we''ve often heard ''ve'' associated with some species name or other. Also, themander has been getting numerous transmissions that deal with the movement of ''cargo'' that often mean weapons: huge fleets of spacecraft ferrying huge loads of weapons from oneary system to another, from one trouble spot to another; it seems that they often have rebellions, at least one major revolt every few years or so. We''ve also been intercepting numerous transmissions about punitive raids and attacks on outlying worlds by the Tirosians.ary studies of their industries also seem to indicate that as much as seventy percent of their resources are poured into the military. They have a staggering military potential, out of proportion even to their vast size."

    They pondered this in silence.

    "Yes," the Secretary-General said, "that is troubling. But, you say that they are more than ten light-years away from us. I don''t think any problems these Tirosians have would affect Earth. Besides, what possible interest could they have with us? We''re only oneary system, after all. Surely they have other things to upy their time."

    "They have true space travel, Maam. Their Empire extends more than five thousand light-years from end to end, which they travel as easily as we travel from Earth to Pluto Base. So distance doesn''t really count.

    "Also," continued Jennifer, "they''re expansionary. But their idea of colonizing is by conquering. You know, war and glory, that kind of thing. Their sociological profile seems to indicate that they are from a ruthless race that prides themselves with their power over others. By our lights, of course. I doubt if they''d leave us alone if they ever find out about us. And I doubt if we will survive such an encounter."

    "Yes, I see," Allie said, subdued. She turned and faced Jennifer. "How sure are you of your facts, Jennifer?"

    "As sure as we can be, Madam Secretary. Like themander said, the intercepts that we have been getting are not enough to be able to put together aplete picture."

    "But the council has known about this?"

    Marc answered, "Yes, madam, ever since Dr. Steele alerted us to it."

    "And you have kept it from the public."

    "You must see why," Bill said. "We can''t afford panic among the masses, especially now. This is a bad time for us. It''s only now that the people are getting over the paranoia and violence of the war. But there''s more. Would you continue, Jerry?"

    Jerry thumbed some controls. "Aside from the Tirosian problem, there''s another one."

    The picture on the screen shifted to show a belt of stars adjacent to the Tiros Empire but further into the gxy. Jerry pressed some buttons and they turned a bright blue. It bordered the Tirosians on its outer edge. Earth was towards its tail end but it was sandwiched between the two groups of stars. The red-tinted and blue-tinted stars bracketed Earths tiny yellow.

    "As you can see, we are surrounded on all sides by these two star groups in our spiral arm. This new group of stars is the territory of what the inhabitants call the Gctic Federation of Free Races, a rather blown-up name considering that they upy only aparatively small part of the gxy. Their nearest inhabited is fifteen light-years from us, and the Federation is made up of about seventy to eighty different races.

    "We know a hell of a lot more about them than we do the Tirosians because we get more intercepts. Anyway, to summarize what we know of them, theses owe allegiance to a major governing body, the Federation Senate, if we can call it that.ary governments work under this governing body but maintain jurisdiction in their own systems. We can see some parallels to our own U.N. here. These races engage in free trade with each other but specific trade rtions vary from to, depending on the local customs and situations.

    "Militarily speaking, their potential is about equal to the Tiros Empire. They are, however, at a disadvantage in that the military forces of the local governments are not under the direct control of the Senate. Now, as regards specific information: we have put together a more-or-lessplete backgrounder on some of the major races, the Elyrans, for one. We can even speak some of theirnguages now. Bill is bing very fluent in Elyran, I believe."

    Allie turned to Bill. "Is that true, William? Can we hear something in Elyran?"

    Bill smiled. "Well, maybeter. When we finish all this. Jerry?"

    "Okay. To continue then, with the sponsorship of a present-member race, membership to the Federation is granted upon application and evaluation of the applying species. Rarely is membership of a species actively solicited, but there are no restrictions on who can apply."

    "I gather then, Commander," Allie said, "that you want us to apply for membership. Is that it?"

    "Well, yes, Maam," Jerry said, "but I doubt if we''ll be able to pass the test."

    "What?"

    "From our information, their screening is pretty tough," Bill said. "Random samplings of the people have to undergo sophisticated tests, as well as a review of their science and a scrutiny of their customs and history. Even so, that is not the difficult part. If it were only that, then I suppose the human race would pass, even if not with flying colors.

    "There are powerful races among the Federation who seem to have this conviction, almost a matter of religious faith, that true civilization onlyes with time. A species needs to be old enough to join them and, by their standards, we are barely old enough to be considered even just intelligent animals. Our oldest fragments of artifacts suggesting the beginnings of human civilization can only be traced back to maybe a hundred thousand years, whereas the recorded histories of the youngest members of the Federation can be traced back up to a hundred times that. In fact, in the past, wars have been fought for the right to an audience. The right to membership is a very important matter.

    "There is another thing. How shall I say it... the mercenary aspect of it. More often than not, the races that are admitted have technology that approaches, or is at parallel to, the aggregate technological level of the Federation. It is simpler to say that such advancement trantes to the ability for true space travel. After all no Federation member race would be willing to support an outsider race with technological and resource assistance just to help them be self-supporting and would rather leave them alone until they be beneficial members of the Federation their on. "

    "Are there rules to this effect?" asked the secretary-general.

    "Well, no, but few have really tried and came ahead. There are only two species that we know of that won membership in spite of this prejudice. One was the Arachnians - that''s just what we call them; the real name is hard to pronounce as most of theirnguage isposed of clicks and whistles. These Arachnians didn''t have space travel but they were beyond a doubt civilized. They more than held their own in their Senate. After a while, the Arachnians developed faster-than-light travel on their own. Membership was granted retroactively.

    "The other race was the Elyrans. These people were just a few hundred millennia old, mere babes, but they were granted membership. Many of their colony worlds were in the path ofmercial travel routes. No doubt that gave them the edge. And now, there is no denying that the Elyrans have be one of the most important races in the Federation. As an indication of this, theirnguage is the single most widely spokennguage among all thes."

    Allie thought for a while. "Yes, I can see the trouble there. But, is it really a problem? For us, I mean. Why don''t we just ignore them? It''s not as if we need them: We can survive on our own."

    Marc sighed. "If it were only that, it would be fine. But there''s more." He stood up and approached the video screen. He contemted the image on the screen silently.

    "Rtions between the Empire and the Federation are, shall we say, less than amicable. In fact, the only reason war hasn''t broken out is because the Tirosians have so far meticulously avoided open hostilities. That, of course, doesn''t rule out sneak attacks and raids on the Federation''s outlyings. Skirmishes betweenary defense fleets and Tiros raider ships are almostmonce. It is only a matter of time before war breaks out.

    "What is more troubling is that sooner orter, we believe sooner, either the Tirosians or the Federation will discover us. Right now, Tiros survey and colony ships have been extending their area of exploration closer and closer to our system. Perhaps next year or the year after, they''ll stumble over us, and we''re going to be dragged into a war that we didn''t ask for."

    "If we were involved in such a war," Allie asked, "how would we fare?"

    "Phil, you have the hard facts for that. How would we cope?"

    Phil rustled some papers in front of him. "From what we''ve gathered, we are about on the same level as them so far as basic technology goes. Of course, we don''t have star-travel and they do. But we do have Phase-Wave, and it appears that they don''t. Resource-wise, we are all right, but since we are trapped in our one system, it would be like a siege."

    Allie frowned. "No one in the Federation has ever discovered Phase-Wave?"

    "So far as we can tell. The Tirosians, too. They seem to rely on message carriers and shuttles to handle theirmunications across the inteary void. Thats not too surprising - it took a few propitious idents and a lot of guesswork on the part of Bill and his staff that we have Phase-Wave at all.

    "To summarize then: One, we are at a disadvantage with space travel and star-mapping. Two, they have the slight edge over us with anti-gravity and rted technology. But, three, we do have it over them with Phase-Wave, and, four, we are more advanced in terraforming technology, food production and synthesis and life support, as well asputer and superconductor technology, nuclear technology, aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. Finally, five, we are about equal in weapons technology. But, of course, we only have this oneary system to our name, and therefore have only a limited source of raw materials and energy.

    "If it ever came down to it, I believe that we can probably hold our own for about a year. Beyond that, I don''t know."

    Allie was silent. "Your people paint a grim picture, William."

    "Yes, it looks bad, doesnt it? But I think we''ve found a solution."

    "I thought you might have something up your sleeve," Allie smiled. "Go ahead, spill it."

    Bill smiled as well. "Well, it''s something like this: I propose to set up a new group, one that will find the solution to the hyper-light issue, a group whose sole task is to find a workable faster-than-light propulsion system so that, if it ever came to it, we can at least defend ourselves better. And, I hope, have an ace up our sleeve if we have to choose sides and need to sue for membership in the Federation.

    "Parallel to this, I also propose to set up a research group - one that will go over all intercepted broadcasts and try to piece together everything we can concerning our alien neighbors, from theirtest technological advances to anything and everything about their culture. I want us to know enough that we won''t be overmatched if wee face to face with them, or at least know enough that we don''t throw bricks around when we get invited to a party. The third item I..."

    Allie raised a hand. "Hold on, William, hold on. These are all well and good. But what leads you to believe that these things will be easy to do? For one thing, we''ve been trying to develop such a contraption for a long, long time. What makes you think we can do it now? Another thing is this research group. It will take a lot of resources and many people to do this. I don''t believe the U.N. will stand for such an expense. Even now, I''ve had to fight for your budget from some people who believe that the money could be better spent elsewhere. You''ve got to give me a n, William. This just won''t stand up."

    "A good point, Allie. I was just getting to that. One way to get the budget and resources for something like this would be if we had a central military arm under the jurisdiction of the U.N. I mean, the resources are there, manpower, money, material. The only hitch is that they''re under the control of different national and territorial governments. If we were somehow able to pool them together into one big resource under direct U.N. control, then maybe it would just be possible to make this work. An added bonus there is that we''d have a ready-made fighting force that we can mobilize in case we need it.

    "Anything is possible, really. The only key here is cooperation. Look at what we''ve been able to aplish with CETI. With all the nations contributing, we''ve been able to do in a year what it would have taken decades to aplish otherwise. It''s a miracle, really. If we can pull that off again, we''d have another miracle on our hands. One that we hope can save us from another war."

    "I can see the practical values of that. But what makes you think that the U.N. would be willing to do it? National interests, priorities and pride are things that cannot be easily overlooked."

    "I know, Allie, I know. But we are sure of two things - this interster war is inevitable, and that we will be involved. We need to be prepared for theing storm. There is no choice."

    After a moment, Allie nodded to for Bill to continue.

    "The trick here," Bill continued, "is to motivate the people into wanting this thing. To do that, I have something else up my sleeve. What I want to do is to send a transmission to the Federation central worlds, sort of announcing our existence. The transmitter is almost finished, and the message that we''ll be using to send the transmission was finished just an hour ago. If and when we do this, there won''t be any choice. Either we choose up sides or we face the gxy alone. And if the people realize that we aremitted, then at least we are following a course that we determined on our own, a future that we have a measure of control over instead of just leaving it to the fates and to the sensibilities of alien minds."

    Allieughed. "ckmail, huh?"

    Bill waved that down. "We have to be sure that the Federation will receive it. But, when they do, we can also be sure that the Tirosians will hear of it, too. We''re fairly certain that there is an undergroundwork of Tirosian spies within the Federation, and these spies will surely get word to the Empire about us.

    "To stack the cards in our favor, the transmission should not dwell on specifics, and, as much as possible it should confuse the issue. The way we want to appear to these people is that we''re better than we really are. With help from our small research group here, we''ve been able to put together something like that. If it meets with your approval, then this is what we will broadcast."

    Bill pressed some keys and the screen nked out.

    A title page appeared. Printed in bold white letters over the blue-and-white U.N. logo, it said, "Proposed Extra-Sr Broadcast of the Species Homo Sapiens." Just below and to the left was the smaller CETI logo. This faded out and was reced by a map of the gxy, as seen from above the gctic ne.

    "The original was voiced over in Elyran," Bill was saying, "We dubbed it with English just for this meeting."

    As Bill said, a voice apanied the film. In the background could be heard the muted Elyran version. The video started with a static shot of the gxy. Then it started to zoom in and re-focus on the area of the Sr System. The voice introduced the species Man and started to exin the location of the system in rtion to various reference points, such as the positions and periods of pulsars as they are perceived from Earth and Elyra.

    The picture continued to zoom in, with the voice exining what was happening. Soon, the Sr System was in focus, as seen from above the ecliptic ne. The orbits of thes was greatly apparent because of the speeded up picture: thes described stately round circles around the Sun while the outermost pseudo Pluto (as well as the other dwarfs), continued on its maverick course, departing widely from the Sr ne and then swinging back.

    The picture rotated so, instead of being seen from the top, the view of the system was edge-on.

    ssical music apanied the film, changing the very dryputer-generated video into something majestic. The picture zoomed in further with the viewer''s point of view passing close to thes and satellites. The music started off with the mournful tones of a Mahler symphony. It faded away to be reced by the rich and colorful music of Brahms and then by the more popr creations of Beethoven as the picture seemed to closely skim the outers'' moons, with many glimpses of colonies and pressure domes on the surface.

    The "camera," for it seemed that they were looking through the lens of an old 20th-century movie camera instead ofputer graphics, skimmed the surface of giant Jupiter, passing directly over the famous "Great Red Spot," that centuries-old cyclonic storm that had persisted ever since man discovered it. They "oohed" and "ahhhed" as their camera skimmed the moons of Saturn and then flew through the fine snowke-like mist of the''s rings and the sparse scattered rocks of the Asteroid Belt.

    As they neared Earth, more and more spaceships were in evidence. None in the room were that familiar with ship designs and spacecraft so no one noticed thepletely bogus ships that appeared to be flying by their camera. Bill smiled to himself and hoped that the aliens'' reactions would be the same as those in the room.

    New music faded into the picture as they neared the Earth, with the rtively newerpositions of twentieth century artists like Charles Ives and the neo-ssic jazz influences of Louis Gruenberg.

    They passed just inside the orbit of Phobos and came up on the moon. The night side lunar base was clearly seen just as a conventional cargo rocket was taking off. The enormous base was momentarily spotlighted in the flickering light of the rocket''s exhaust and showed the extensiveness of the base before it shifted to its anti-gravity engines. The camera continued and flew over thending site of the old Apollo mission. The aliens would probably miss the sight but no human would. Bill was subtly gratified by the recognition of Allie and the rest. John Williams'' muchmercialized music reced the atonal melodies of Gruenberg, yet its symphonic tones lent the video an air of grandeur.

    The angle shifted again to put the Earth at the center of the picture. It was bright blue against the inky background, with drifts of cloudszily floating over its face. The camera shot into the atmosphere with the sound of air whistling passed.

    They skimmed the surface, passing over continents and vast oceans. As the speed ckened, they were able to pick out several ships, cities and nes flying just below them in the now sparsely clouded sky.

    They were slowing down even further and were approaching the coastline of arge continent, zooming passed a great green-and-gray statue of a woman holding aloft a burning torch. It was the rebuilt Statue of Liberty, they knew, yet the effect was still very powerful.

    The picture continued to close in onto the shore. It focused on the tall U.N. Secretariat Building, its many Crystalline windows reflecting the Sun''s rays like a multi-faceted jewel. In the foreground were the Library Building, the Dag Hammarskjld Library, and the U.N. General Assembly Building, with national gs, the colors of the different races of man, waving gently in a curving line in front of them. A silvery fountain in the middle of the courtyard sshed merrily.

    The camera''s angle shifted and they found themselves looking down onto the open space between the buildings. People were going about their daily lives. Small electric vehicles whizzed by carrying passengers on their daily errands.

    The focus shortened until they could see individual faces. Theputer rendering was so realistic that they thought that they were really looking at a real afternoon downtown street scene. The picture centered on a little girl holding a balloon as she watched the gurgling fountain. She seemed to sense someone looking at her and she looked upward at the camera.

    It was a pretty, dark-haired girl in pigtails. Surrounded by the fine sparkling mist of the fountain, she smiled widely and waved at the camera.

    With a final burst of music from John Williams'' interpted version of "When You Wish Upon a Star," the picture faded away.

 Chapter 4: Interception

    Chapter 4: Interception

    Silence came over the room; most of them were a little overwhelmed.

    "Well," Bill said, "what do you think?" He was smiling broadly.

    "That was very beautiful, William," Allie said.

    "Thank you, Allie. I just hope it''ll work."

    They paused for a while before continuing with more prosaic matters.

    "Artistic values aside," Jerry said, breaking the mood, "we took pains in keeping everything on the most general level possible. If you will notice, besides our location, there''s nothing specific about the Earth in the film. Glimpses and hints, really. That way, we can gloss over the faster-than-light issue."

    "Isn''t this risky? What will happen when the Tirosians pick this up?"

    "We know that the Tirosians will get wind of it sooner orter, but, if this works the way we intend it to work, the Federation won''t look too kindly on the Tirosians interfering with a newly discovered race. They might even ask us to be members right there and then."

    "That''s what were hoping for," Bill said. "We''re betting that the Tirosians won''t risk all-out war just because of us. Even so, it''s still a calcted risk. But, in any case, war is inevitable between the two, even if it''s not because of us. Best projections show that, within the next two years, hostilities would be so bad that war will formally be announced. When ites to that, at least we''ll be on the side of the good guys, right? I mean, I don''t have to ask which side we''d rather be on, do I?"

    "Yes, William, you''re right. I agreepletely. Now, about your n. How do you propose to start with this project?"

    "Well, first, we have to send this transmission out as soon as possible. Our first big stumbling block there is the Radio/Phase-Wave transmitter. I think we''ve got that licked but we won''t know until we use it.

    "Next is for you to announce our findings in a joint, closed-door session of the U.N. noter than next week. Marc can help you there. And have them approve the formation of a unified military force underplete U.N. control, as well as appropriating sufficient manpower and resources for it."

    Allie shook her head. "Few will agree to that. There''s still a general aversion in them regarding full militarization. No one can really me them. But Ambassador Valker''s growing istionist movement is gaining ground among many of the representatives. We have to move fast."

    "We have some ideas about that: It really depends on how you treat it. We have to sell them the idea that this is a matter of necessity, which it is. We are faced with a very real power threat of immense proportions. We must be prepared. We have no choice, really. We have to get full support. We just have to.

    "Also, doing that isn''t so difficult. We''ve checked around. Ever since the Asteroid Wars, the old bases in the Outers and on the moon have remained mostly dormant but, as far as we can tell, they''re still functional. There are also a lot of military spacecraft out there, mainly in mothballs. Most of them are still functional. And if they aren''t, we can melt them down and use them as sources of metal and refurbish the bases that can be rehabilitated: We won''t need to do expensive space-mining operations."

    Bill took a deep breath. "It won''t be easy. Sure, we know that. But it won''t be that hard, too. If we do this right. We had a vote, the CETI council, I mean, on this matter. It was andslide - the majority decided to push through with it. It''s your decision, now, Allie."

    "All right," Allie said, and struck the table. "We''ll do it. If you can swing it, maybe I can, too."

    Everyone nodded in agreement.

    "I''ll start negotiations as soon as I get back. But you realize, of course, that I have to be totally open with them. I can''t push all this through without letting them know all about your research."

    "I know," Bill said. "Here''s everything that you''ll need." He thumped down five or six thick binders and some cassettes, disks and recording chips. He grinned mischievously.

    Allie groaned. "William, you sadist." She eyed the material balefully. She gestured to her assistant to pick up the reports and disks.

    "You must realize the importance of keeping this matter secret, Maam," Jerry said. "We can''t afford to have the public go into panic over this."

    "Your point on keeping this hushed up is well taken, Commander. Rest assured that I will take all steps necessary to maintain secrecy."

    "Speaking of which," Bill said, "I think you have to put a mp on our research team. They were the ones who made that tape you saw. They suspect that something is up and I''d rather not have rumors floating around."

    "Do not fear, William," Allie said, and called in her guard captain. She mumbled some orders and the Captain left with one of his people in tow.

    "There, I''ve put those people under detention. A day or two of sweating and they won''t be so eager to talk."

    "I wouldn''t ordinarily trouble you with something like this but they''re outside consultants and I don''t have any authority over them."

    Allie smiled. "I''ll have mymittees stop sending you people and you can start picking your own." She stood up and closed her briefcase with a snap. The meeting was at an end.

    "All right," she said, "I''ll start the ball rolling on my end and you start everything on yours. I must admit, William, your people gave us an eye-opener. Don''t worry; I''ll give this top priority."

    "Thank you."

    "When do you n to send up that transmission of yours?"

    "Oh, if all goes well, probably in a few weeks. I n to send it up just after your U.N. meeting. I want to make it a big event."

    "All right." She made a move towards the door. "In that case, I''d better leave on the earliest flight out."

    "There''s a shuttle leaving this evening."

    "Then I''d better say my goodbyes and start packing, just after I finished unpacking, too." She embraced Bill and shook hands with the rest. "Take care of yourself, William. Thank you all." She left the room, trailing her retinue. Sahsha escorted her out.

    As the door hissed close, Bill sighed and sat down heavily. "We did it."

    "Do you think she''ll do what she promised, Bill?"

    "You don''t know the Secretary-General, Commander," Marc said. "When she says shell do something, she will."

    "Is it really as bad as you say?" Phil asked.

    "No, not that bad. It''ll probably be a few years, ten at thetest, before we get affected by anything happening out there."

    "What worries me," said Marc, "is that the estimate used to be decades. Now its down to years."

    "Yup. That''s why we''re doing everything we can now."

    "The question is," said Walter, "is everything that we''re doing enough?"

    ------

    It was several weeks after that meeting. Little Davie was tugging a Miriam''s pants leg. "Mommy, mommy," he said excitedly. He was pointing at the video screen. It was a live satellite feed of thetest U.N. conference that was just finishing up. Evidently he recognized his father among the people in the crowd.

    "Hush, Davie," Miriam said. She was putting Peter, David''s twin brother, gently to bed. He was innocently asleep.

    Thetest U.N. meeting, one of the very few closed-door sessions in recent years, was turning out to be a controversy. Rumorsing from all over the system, most especially from Triton, coupled with the Secretary-General''s secrecy and the tight-lippedments of Bill and the CETI council members, had resulted in a very wide media coverage of the whole affair. Thetest word from the grapevine was that something bad had been intercepted from space, via Phase-Wave. There were whispered fears of invading Bug-Eyed Monsters and other equally improbable yarns circting in some of the remotemunities on the Earth and in the Outers, but most of the popce pooh-poohed these as ridiculous and paranoid. Still, they were curious to know what was afoot.

    The reporter from News Ten, the most notorious gossipwork on the North American wavelengths, was just recapping these things, trying to make the static picture of the U.N. conference building and the milling crowd of delegates just leaving the General Assembly building interesting.

    Finally, the focus of the picture changed and zoomed in on some of the delegates near a temporary stage and podium erected in the courtyard. The reporter changed his spiel as Secretary-General Romarkin came out of the building and walked to the podium.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," the reporter said, "you are now seeing some of the system''s political luminaries leaving the building after their no-doubt grueling session. In the lead is the secretary-general herself, Madam Alexandra Romarkin, and apanying her is Doctor Marcus Bidwell, ambassador from Neptune and also a member of the CETI governing council, which, we believe, was instrumental in the conference. Sources say that the meeting has a bearing on the extra-terrestrial transmission the CETI council announced they will broadcastter today.

    "The actual broadcast, details of which have yet to be disclosed, was approved by an internationalmittee made up of various scientists and prominentymen. This has actually caused an evenrger issue than the mysterious joint session of the U.N. Later on our correspondent up in Triton Center will bring you the actual transmission."

    The picture became a close-up of the secretary-general as she stepped up to the podium. The press was barely held back by the blue-uniformed U.N. guards surrounding her. Marc was still at her elbow, ufortable in the unustomed higher Earth gravity. Allie started her speech.

    "Ladies and gentlemen," she said, her amplified voice reverberating between New York''s tall structures, "people of the Sr System. This is a momentous day in the annals of human history." The crowd became silent.

    "I and my fellow representatives of the many nations of this great race of ours have reached an ord that has far-reaching effects on our future and the future of our interster neighbors.

    "Later today, in the moons of distant Neptune, a message will be sent to our neighbors, announcing our presence and thereby making us a part of this greater gcticmunity."

    This was met with thunderous apuse. The secretary-general waited a moment.

    "It is our hope," she continued, "that this will herald the opening of new and better opportunities, as before undreamed of, for our race. It has been our dream to venture to new worlds and meet new people, perhaps to learn from them, perhaps just toe face to face with the other children of God. And now that dream wille true.

    "We have already made the first few steps towards this goal. The CETI Council has given us proof of extra-terrestrial life, but as yet we have not been able to achieve two-waymunication with them. But, even if that was possible, the other part of our dream will still remain unrealized.

    "In our joint session, the U.N. has created a new council, to beposed of the brightest citizens of our race, whose sole objective is to study the possibilities of creating a way for us to bridge those uncounted number of light-years, to make it possible for us to travel those billions and billions of miles, to create a spacecraft that will be able to aplish this feat, and perhaps bring us to those imagined worlds ande face to face with our interster neighbors."

    Allie paused and surveyed the crowd.

    "But recent data gathered by our CETI outposts have uncovered an ugly development." The people stirred nervously.

    "We have found that this newly discoveredmunity of races that we are, as yet, unacknowledged members of, is on the brink of war. It is only a matter of time before we be unwilling bystanders caught in theing crossfire between the stars." Murmuring spread throughout the crowd.

    "It is indeed painful to the heart to find the eve of battle so close to our doorstep when it is only now that we ourselves have achieved a measure of peace; to find our hard-won battle for order and prosperity, tempered by more than half a century of grief and bloodshed, threatened again.

    "Those of us who represent your will in the assembly have also felt this pain. But we did not shirk our duty. We have resolved to meet this challenge with all the resources of the Human Race."

    Some in the crowd apuded and murmured their agreement.

    "To meet this challenge, we have resolved to unite our people''s might to oppose thismon menace, to create a unified Armed Force. Together with the newly created council, the people of the Sr System will soon be a force to be reckoned with in the gxy." There were scattered cheering in the crowd though some frowned and shook their heads.

    "Thus we have decided and done," Allie continued. It is our fervent hope that the people unite their voices as one in support of this n, that we, the members of the Human Race, may take our ce in this newmunity of races with dignity and pride, unmolested and unscathed and unblemished in body and spirit."

    pping and cheering greeted the end of the speech, though many were dubious of what the secretary-general said. Theing months would tell if the people would believe.

    Anxious reporters pressed in to try and interview the secretary-general, but she was able to escape back into the building.

    Miriam turned the volume down and faced Bill.

    "That was pretty good," she said.

    "Yes, it was," Bill said. He was standing by the living room doorway holding a te of spaghetti, lifting a forkful into his mouth.

    "That''s not what I meant, you idiot," she said throwing a pillow from the couch she was on at him.

    "Daddy, Daddy," David cried, upset that his father wasn''t on the screen anymore.

    "Cheer up, kid, your father''s going to be home soon," Bill said as he set his te on top of the video set. He wiped his lips of spaghetti sauce. "That reminds me, I have to be at the center in ..." he looked at his wrist, "thirty minutes." He kissed Miriam on the cheek and mussed Davie''s still-sparse hair. "Thanks for the chow."

    Miriam stood up. "So soon?"

    "I really have to go. We''ll be transmitting the broadcast soon and I''ve got a lot to do before then. I''m not even sure if the dumb transmitter will work." He stooped down and gave David a bear hug.

    "See youter, champ."

    Miriam slipped her arm around his and walked him to the door.

    "Marc will being home, she said, and left it hanging.

    "I know. So?"

    She didn''t answer.

    They''d been friends for a long time now, almost as long as Bill''s been friends with Marc. As with close friends, they knew each other well, enough to be able to read each other''s feelings.

    Bill''s question was more or less rhetorical. Their long friendship had been one long unrequited love affair. When they met, Miriam and Marc had long been married. Marc became one of Bill''s closest friends, and Bill was greatly worried by his growing infatuation with Miriam. What''s more, Miriam reciprocated his feelings. But, knowing Marc''s old-fashioned ideals, Bill did his best not to let this rtionship grow. Miriam sensed this and had eded to Bill''s decision. She loved Marc, after all, and was willing to do anything for him, and he for her, and she had long since tried to conform to her older husband''s ideals.

    But at times like this, she barely could.

    "Will you being over to the Centerter?" Bill asked, breaking the uneasy silence.

    "Maybe," she said. "I just want to finish this program."

    Bill was about to go out of the door but was stopped by Miriam''s hand on his arm.

    "Bill," she said.

    "Yes?

    "I love you," she blurted out.

    Bill paused. It was the first time she said it out in the open.

    "I know," he said, softly. "And I love you. But what about Marc?"

    "I love him, yes. But the problem is that I love you, too."

    "We can''t." Heid a finger across her lips. "Let it lie," he said. "Just let it lie." He hugged her and kissed her tenderly. Her eyes were bright with tears. "See youter, okay?"

    She hung her head and nodded, closing the door ever so gently.

    Bill stood outside in the hallway a moment, gazing reflectively, sadly, at the door until the fast tap-tap-tap of heels broke his reverie.

    He nced down the hall and saw Sahsha running toward him, looking winded.

    "I knew I''d find you here," she said breathlessly. "We''re about to start the broadcast and we need you there."

    He smiled perfunctorily at her and allowed her to lead him to tube 017, one of many connecting the city to Triton Center. Sahsha frowned, picking up his preupied, worried and sad look. She nced back at the apartment door, wondering what happened. She soon forgot this as Bill seemed to break out of his gloomy mood and started a conversation in his usual delightful and engaging manner. She sighed and slipped her arm through his and leaned on his shoulder.

    The usual dull facade of Triton Center was changed. The t, four-floorplex, with its many ess tubes radiating out like the spokes on a great silver wheel was alight withrge illuminatingmps that surrounded the base. The numerous Crystalline windows were alight, making the center look like some enormous, squat Christmas tree.

    Therge rectangr Phase-Wave antenna grid rose up from the middle of theplex, and tilted towards the sky. Unlike old cumbersome radio antennae, it was still notrge nor tall enough to merit warning beacons; small winking navigation lights sufficed. But still it dominated the Triton skyline.

    The light provided by the illuminated the base and showed the legend "CETI 05" painted on the antenna''s grid. Today, the center was appropriately oriented to maximize the effectiveness of the transmission.

    Most knew that this present position of the base and the orientation of the moon were very important for this particr project. Bill and his people took advantage of this transmission "window." This particr configuration of the moons and thes, in rtion to the targets in the Gctic Federation, would onlyst a few hours, and the next time this happened would be hundreds of years in the future, so it had to be done right the first time.

    Jerry was waiting on the fourth floor, in Triton Center''s Main Mission control station. He looked out of therge panoramic Crystalline window. In the distance could be seen the threergeplexes, outlined in their bright aurora of blinking lights. They were connected to the base and to each other by atticework of bright and transparent Crystalline ess tubes embedded in the rock and ice. If one looked down the window, one could see the center''s own tube stations linking it to the others. Together, theseprised the Triton State, one of five in the United Satellites of Neptune, which was one of the most powerful nations of the Outer Worlds, second only to the moon.

    Jerry looked down in time to see an iing travel tube, its lights cutting a furrow in the jet-ck night.

    He turned around to face his people, busy with their jobs. He tapped the dutym-officer''s shoulder. "Have someone fetch Doctor Steele," he said. "He''sing through gate seventeen."

    The officer nodded and turned back to her console and issued some orders.

    A littleter, Bill was able to get through the mob of reporters and newspeople with Sahsha in tow. The reporters stuck like glue and Bill was less than courteous when he started shoving people out of the way. The appearance of a security guard helped clear a path for them.

    Ten minutester, they were able to set foot on the control station deck. Bill sighed with relief and thanked the guard. The guard smiled, touched a casual hand to her cap and left.

    A hand pped him on the shoulder. "Bill," Walter said in relief, "Damned d you got here in time. We''re about to start and everything''s set."

    "Hello, Walt," Bill replied. "Is the tape finished?"

    "Just about," he said, leading them to the Main Mission proper, the nerve center of the whole base.

    Hearing them, Jerry turned around from his console and smiled in greeting. "Oh, Bill, Sahsha, d you''re on time."

    Bill nced up at the status boards to find out what was happening. He looked at the main view screen. On it was himself giving the opening speech that he had taped earlier so that he would not have to do it live in front of the entire human race. Immediately after would follow the actual Transmission.

    "Is that the media hookup?" Bill asked, pointing to the screen.

    "Yes, it is. What the system is getting: Bill Steele, almost live, straight into two billion homes."

    "Ha ha, very funny," he said sarcastically. "Why is the antenna out of alignment?"

    "Something Phil''s cooked up. You''ll see."

    "But the..."

    "Wait and see," Jerry said, cutting him off. "Don''t worry. Trust me."

    "If we go off schedule and miss the corridor..."

    "No, we won''t. Trust me."

    Bill sighed. "All right, on your head be it." He punched up status on a terminal. "Where''s Phil now?"

    "Navigation. Riding herd on that nightmare you insist on calling a transmitter. He''ll be upter, after the Transmission. Assuming there''s ever going to be a transmission."

    Bill gave him a sour look.

    "Attention, attention," a loudspeaker boomed, "Transmission willmence in T minus one minute. All personnel to duty stations."

    At the sound of the speaker, all the workers looked up from whatever they were doing and looked to the view screen. On it, Bill''s pre-taped message was just winding down. The room became quiet, save for the clicks and whirs of the machines.

    Everyone was waiting, waiting.

    "This is it," Bill whispered.

    "This is it," Phil said, an unconscious echo. "Okay, gang, it''s our show, now. Everybody stay on your toes. Various "Yeahs" and "Rights" echoed among the people of Navigation Station.

    "Lock the board at T minus thirty and get ready on the gyros," Phil said to the main operator, "and have someone crack another tank into the core; temperature''s going up again." A trainee ran up the tunnel-like ess tube and unscrewed the top of a nitrogen tank, letting the liquid gas pour directly into the transmitter core.

    Someone punched up status on his board and a countdown lit up Phil''s small screen.

    "Cross your fingers," she said.

    When the count hit thirty, the whole board lit up like a Christmas tree.

    "Okay, people," Phil said, "we''re live. Hit the mains. Put us on line."

    A meter climbed up from zero to one hundred. "We''re on a hundred percent, now," the main operator said to Phil.

    "Good. Feed power into the gyros."

    "Right."

    "Activate."

    The massive flywheels and gears that moved the great antenna went into action. At the push of a button, antenna oh-five started turning, ponderously aligning itself to a position painstakinglyputed and pre-set weeks ago.

    Up in main mission, the main view screen had cut to a shot of the antenna as it majestically swiveled on its axis. Bill now knew why Phil had mis-aligned the antenna: As therge metal te swung around, it eclipsed some of the bright unblinking stars of Triton''s sky, while revealing others. The ever-present mist of the moon draped away from the antenna, making glowing, iridescent trails in the starlit night, like wisps of clouds on distant Earth. It was beautiful.

    The people watched awed, mesmerized by the image on the screen.

    The antenna stopped swiveling and tilted its great mast heavenward, slowly, ever so slowly. And stopped.

    A buzzer sounded, signifying that all were in readiness: the antenna was set, power was up, the video file was ready, and, more importantly, the transmission "window" was open.

    Bill whispered, "Now," and brought down his finger that was poised over the transmission switch.

    As the button clicked home, Earth''s first interster message flew across the void.

 Part Two

    Part Two

    <strong>Part Two</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>Winds of Change</strong>

    In a future Earth, where the long-dreaded nuclear war hade and gone and the humans had started to rebuild, Earths new tranquility was shattered yet again.

    The arrival of aliens at their doorstep forced them in into battle once again for reasons they barely understood. This was the precursor to a wave of change that would sweep the gxy and put the fate of a hundred species in the bnce.

    But no one could have predicted that at the time

    - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael Straczynski, Larry Niven, David Brin, E.E. (Doc) Smith, Iain M. Banks, and, of course, George Lucas.

    My thanks. And my apologies.

    <em>Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.</em>

    - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Earth poet, ywright and naturalist,

    19th Century Earth

    <em>The scriptures say many things about theing of the saviors.</em>

    <em>But then again, they also leave many questions </em>

    - The Keeper of the Heritage, on being asked about

    the Warrior Race, GY 9998

 Chapter 5: Long Distance Call

    Chapter 5: Long Distance Call

    The princess walked briskly across the high-vaulted main hall of her keep despite aching muscles fresh from diator practice. The heels of her riding boots, much smudged from a day of tromping on hard, dusty earth, made rhythmic tapping sounds on the polished green-marble tiles. Her mail battle skirt made a rasping noise on the balustrade as she wearily climbed the stairs. Her valet hastened to give her a helping hand.

    The princess pulled back her arm. "I''m all right!" she barked and red at her valet, her solid-crystal blue eyes shiny with fatigue.

    Lena drew back. "As you wish, My Lady," she said.

    Abashed, the princess smiled a little bemusedly. "I beg your pardon, Lena. My mood is always foul when I''m tired."

    "Quite understandable, My Lady."

    "Ahhh, for a hot bath and a long nap." She topped the stairs and turned to her lounge. "Is Ren up?" she asked.

    "Yes, My Lady. The Prince has been up since morning, awaiting your return."

    "Then, I shall not keep him waiting any longer. You may go."

    Lena bowed and went back downstairs.

    Elyrans, for the most part, looked just like the humans of Earth, except for the four-fingered hands and the solid-colored eyes. The Elyrans were also a trifle shorter than humans, but aside from these minor characteristics, both races looked practically identical. Because of this, it would lead many of the less informed from both races to believe that the two races came from amon ancestor, or were distant cousins, species-wise.

    Tasha gripped therge crystal doorknob to her royal bedchamber and swung open the door. She threw her broadsword and shield on the bed even though she knew Ren hated it; she was too tired to care.

    "Ren?" she called, "Are you there?"

    Ren came in, looking especially handsome in a new silver suit with ruffles at the cuffs and neck. She smiled and pped her hands.

    Ren smiled and pirouetted in disy.

    "You look wonderful, Darling," she said, taking him in her arms and kissing him strongly.

    "How was your day?" he asked.

    "Fair to middling," she replied. "I only won two out of three practice duels in the field."

    "Lost only one. And to you, that is only ''fair to middling.''"

    "Well, you know how I am." They bothughed at their private joke. "Would you be a dear and draw a bath for me while I change?"

    Ren went to the bathroom and turned on the taps. Tasha came in as the tub was filling, casually nude with a towel over her shoulder. Ren looked up and sighed exasperatedly.

    "Tasha, I just got dressed," heined. Tasha started unbuttoning his vest.

    "Well, you can always dress again." She threw his jacket and vest towards the bedroom.

    "But the others will being, and ..."

    "Let them wait." She pulled off his shirt and ran her hand through the fine curls on his chest.

    "But..." She stopped further protests by kissing him and dragging him to the tub.

    -----

    The first to arrive were the outworlder rulers. And, by Ren''s count, almost all the outworlders were there, save two or three. They all had their assistants or personal secretaries with them. Not all of them were female, and that made Ren feel a little better. The other ducal rulers were trickling in. Of the seven major fiefdoms on the, six were already there, with the seventh just walking in. Ren directed them to their seats around the great marble table.

    Some of those who didn''t know him were a little scandalized to find a man doing a woman''s job, and were even more so when they found out that Ren was also the personal assistant and secretary of the princess, Tasha Liaran-Kerr.

    The other more liberal-mindeddies were more tolerant and passively went to their seats. Indeed, some of them had men in their retinues as well.

    It was a sign of the changing times.

    After seating them, Ren went over to the massiveputer console at the end of the room and switched it on to give the vacuum tubes time to warm up. Tasha was very proud of the castlesputer systems. It was quite an achievement for her. The Liaran-Kerr''s houseputer system was thergest and most powerful on the and the other fiefdoms, and it had cost the n a great deal to design, build and program. A great artificial cavern was hollowed out under the castle to hold the rest of the massive memory banks in a controlled environment. The castle staff held aplete team of specialists on hand to maintain the system. The vacuum tubes were very notorious for their propensity for burning out and needed constant supervision. Only about half of the circuitry of the castle''s new system used vacuum tubes. The rest was made out of printed circuit boards and expensive integrated circuits, making the system faster and more reliable than most.

    Ren patted his still-damp hair and smoothed down his deep-blue shirt. He fervently hoped that he didn''t look disheveled. It''s Tasha''s fault, he thought. She didn''t have to drag me in and ruin my new shirt. He picked up a sheaf of papers, went over to the table and stood by his princess''s chair. He scratched his finely powdered jawline withcquered nails and surreptitiously daubed some cologne on his neck.

    He breathed a sigh of relief when the princess came out, striding in her familiar, firm manner, her short dress sword jingling and swaying against her mail skirt. She gave her mate an assuring smile and sat down.

    She gestured to the goblets in front of them and all the representatives raised them and drank the symbolic drops of wine, as tradition required, before the beginning this important transaction.

    The discussion began with an introduction of everyone present. There was Princess Mara Dorian-Kerr, a distant rtive of the Liaran-Kerrs of the Great Northern Kingdom, heading the eight major-power kingdoms on the. The Northern Kingdom was one of the most powerful, second only to the Great ins Territory of the Liaran-Kerr and Tevann-Reshanii ns.

    The unlikely marriage of Tasha and Ren had forged their two separate kingdoms into the Great ins Territory, which changed the bnce of power on the. Princess Mara was far from happy with this arrangement butw and tradition dictate that she ede to this set of circumstances, the only alternative being that of open warfare.

    Besides, the people had a great love for tradition.

    Twelve of the sixteen outworlder fiefdoms were represented by their rulers, the others by their royal ambassadors.

    After the lengthy introductions, the subject matter of the meeting was broached. Tasha asked Ren for a short summary.

    "Great rulers, noble born," he began, "As some of you may know, one year and two months ago, a very powerful signal of unknown origin nketed themunicationworks of many of the Federations. The sheer power of this signal nked out mostmunication grids from here to Dixx, all of themercial and regr wavelengths being affected."

    He walked over to theputer console and switched on the screen. He gestured to a family retainer and she brought out two reels of recording tape. Ren inserted them into a cavity in the console and the screen came to life.

    "By chance, a number of radio receivers all over the Federation were tuned into the proper frequency and some managed to record the transmission." He gestured to the screen. On it was a picture of the gxy, as seen from above its ne. The gxy looked like a silvery-white drop of milk in the dark fabric of space. The angle shifted until they were looking at their spiral arm. They knew, more from inference than recognition, that it was their arm. The picture shortened its focus until they were looking at a small pinprick of light.

    Ren lowered the volume of the console speaker into a muted murmur so that their discussion could go undistracted by the voice-over and musicing from the video.

    "The purpose of the transmission," Ren said, "is very obvious. The people responsible for it, the people of the Earth, were announcing their presence to all of us in the Federation - a previously unknown race. Many of our scientists and analysts have been pondering it, and the answers the transmission brings to light have given us new data on this part of space, not to mention a look at these Earth folk. What is troubling is that, even as it gives us answers to unasked questions, new questions seem to present themselves. And these have given rise to many grave implications for us and the Federation."

    Most of the women were paying more attention to Ren than to what he was saying, which irritated Lady Mara obscurely. "What are these implications, specifically," Mara said, interrupting Ren.

    One of the outworlder ambassadors took up the question. "If I may, My Lady," Ambassador Fal of the First Colony said, "One of the reasons that I am here instead of my Princess is so that I could bring up these questions in full council." She gestured to her personal secretary, also her mate, to pass around copies of the papers she had.

    "I have been appointed by My Princess to be our colony''s ambassador to the Federation, and I have recently sat in on a conference at Colossus about this same mysterious transmission. The group hase up with some conclusions." She nodded for Ren to continue.

    "Consider these facts, mydies," Ren said. "The broadcast is apanied by a narration. In Elyran, no less." He increased the volume slightly and they could hear the voice and the music.

    "The fact that they know Elyran indicates a deep knowledge of us and the Federation: for example, from all the dominantnguages in the Federation, they knew enough to pick the most usednguage in the Arm.

    "The message of the broadcast itself is not straightforward, Fal continued. As the Prince said, it raises new questions even as it answers others. Also the manner of the speech. It is very literate and fluent, and the ent is correct. They have an in-depth knowledge of thenguage, even to the use of grammatical subtleties.

    "Consider also that they were able to send the signal in the first ce. None in the Federation can do that. We employ couriers and messengers to carry our messages across the void yet they could do it via a transmission. Many of the Federations top minds are even now trying to find out how they were able to do that.

    "It all points to a very technologically advanced race. The images themselves are an indication of this. Though they look very realistic, analysts at Colossus are fairly sure that these werepletely artificially generated.

    "The images themselves support this hypothesis of a more advanced technology," Ren said, and gestured at the screen. "Of their eights, we gather from the tape that they have settled on all of them, or their moons, meaning a sizable poption, and industries of a very high level just to maintain it.

    "Mydies, these beings will no doubt have a great impact on the Federation as a whole but, to us Elyrans as a race, there is more. Please look at these final images of the transmission."

    On the screen was a picture of an alien blue sky, brighter than it could ever be on Elyra. The images moved until it zoomed into a picture of an immense statue standing in the bay of an alien city: that of a woman holding up a torch, her head crowned by a spiked corona. They gasped. "By the Gods," murmured one of the outworlder princesses. Clearly, she hasnt seen the video yet.

    The view swooped past the towering statue and focused on a brightly shining ss building, pennants flying at its forecourt - pennants presumably representing the tribes of the race, as the building looked like an important meeting ce for the people. Then the focus shortened even further until they were looking at the upturned face of a young girl in the middle of a bustling crowd, looking up at them.

    "By the Gods, it cannot be," Mara eximed, for she, like most of those on Elyra, had not seen the video part of the transmission yet. She looked at Tasha. "Elyrans?"

    "Perhaps," agreed Tasha, softly.

    The young girl smiled and waved and the picture stopped.

    "Five fingers," muttered Mara. She looked at her own four.

    The image slowly faded as the video ended, but it stayed lingering in their minds.

    "If I may continue," Ren said after a moment. Tasha nodded.

    "We then have the following facts." Ren ticked them off on his three fingers.

    "We have a highly advanced technological race, perhaps Elyran - we are not sure - with a veryrge poption. If our estimates and the film are to be believed, they are about forty-five billion in that system of theirs," he said, using the Elyran Base-8 counting system.

    "Second, this race, these Earthers, have an in-depth cultural knowledge of the Federation, perhaps even us, specifically. Third, these Earthers also possess a very high military potential. That much is obvious from the recording. And they have the numbers to make this potential a reality.

    "However, other facts have given us worries." Ren punched up new instructions into the console. The after-images of that familiar-looking alien child slowly disappeared and were reced by a set of figures and a small astrogation map at the bottom, with a small blinking arrow.

    "They are twenty-two Elyran light-years straight-line distance from the nearest Federation," Ren said, using the Elyran Base-8 system, "toward the end of the arm, and on the gctic ne. That means that they are in extremely close proximity to the dered boundary of the Tiros Empire."

    This was greeted with silence.

    "But we are sure that they are not in alliance with the Tirosians, are we not?" asked Princess an, ruler of the Everon Colony, thergest of the Elyran outworlder colonies.

    "We are rtively sure of that, My Lady. Our spies on Detterex have said that they are not."

    "Well, then, there is no problem."

    "But there is, My Lady. When they sent the transmission and nketed many of the Federation''smunicationsworks, its sheer power would almost assure its reception in the Tirosian sphere of influence, if just the fringes. And reports from our spies have indicated that there is something afoot in the Great Halls. Almost assuredly, this is about the broadcast."

    "Hmm, I see."

    "Now," Ren said, "its rtive nearness to ours could provide a good strategic base of operations for the Tirosians. On the other hand, it could provide the Federation with the same advantage against them. Given that we could persuade them to be Federation members, of course."

    Mara shook her head and everyone turned to her. "You are being an rmist," she said. "It would be years before this Earth system could be prepared as a military base, not to mention that such an operation would be very conspicuous and very expensive. The Tirosians cannot do such a thing without all thes finding out about it."

    "As I said before, My Lady," Ren argued, "they have a very high military potential, we suspect even higher than our best estimates. Also, they have that huge poption on hand, ready to make any massive project feasible. The Tirosians need not exert that much effort to make this a reality."

    Ambassador Fal of the First Colony shook her head. "Poor Earth," she muttered.

    "To summarize, then," Tasha continued for Ren, "it would pose a grave direct threat to us if these people were ever turned against us. Is that correct?"

    "Quite correct, My Lady," Ren answered. "It is therefore a priority for us to send an emissary to Earth, to convince them to be part of the Federation."

    "Is that not a task for the Council?" Princess an of Everon said. "We should not decide and act for them. This is premature."

    "I agree," Tasha said. "However, we have anticipated their decision and have therefore prepared ordingly."

    "You have, eh?" Mara said suspiciously.

    "Yes. If the Federation governing council agrees to send an emissary, then they would be d of our quick thinking and quick action."

    "And if they decide not to?"

    "Then we still go ahead. May I remind you, this is a question of war? As it is, we are on the brink. Something like this will surely overbnce the scales of fate and we will have to do battle with the Enemy regardless. This Earth may prove very valuable in thising war."

    Mara folded her arms over her breasts. "I am not convinced that it will," she said.

    "Fortunately, it does not matter whether you are or are not," Tasha said. "The Great ins Territory will continue with this, regardless. The Dixx and Arachnian nations are supporting uspletely, and are sending their own people to join our expedition."

    Tasha rose and faced the rest. "The reason for this conference was partly to inform you of this project, and perhaps to ask you to join us. We are not too proud to say that whatever assistance you may give will not be of help. The Great ins people invite you to join. What do you say?"

    Ambassador Fal stood. "I have informed my Princess of this and have been given authority tomit my people to any decision I was to make here. But I had made up my mind long before I arrived. For myself there is only one decision. Indeed, for any Elyran." She nodded toward Ren. "Would you project thatst frame again, please?" Ren fast-forwarded the recording until thest image of the girl was on the screen, and froze it there.

    Fal contemted the smiling picture for a moment, and faced the rest.

    "The Prince made an allusion to the importance of theing of these people to the Elyran race. But, so far no one else hasmented on it, though I know that it has never left your minds. If I may, mydies, I will quote from the Holy Book of the Ages.

    "''And a great warrior race,'' it is said, ''made in thy image, wille from over the horizon, to herald theing of war, and do battle against thine enemies. Kingdoms will be cast asunder. Fire and destruction will rain from the heavens, but the righteous will survive. Woe to those who stand against the light, for they will be cast in eternal darkness. And from their ashes they will let emerge a new age, renewing the eternal cycle, and these Warriors will protect thee from those who would harm thee, until theing of the Great Ones.''"

    Fal gestured at the picture. "These, mydies, may be the fabled warrior race that our ancestors have been awaiting for uncounted eons. True, it is but a legend, and no one can really be sure. But the possibility cannot be overlooked.

    "It is true that, in the past, our ancestors mistook the Detterex for this legendary race, and this error has cost the people much. It is but a natural mistake as everyone knows that the Detterex are actually Elyrans, descendants of some lost tribe.

    But the possibility cannot be ignored now, as it could not be ignored then.

    "Because of the arguments presented here, but more because of the legends of our race, do Imit the people of the First Colony to this enterprise: We, too, shall join this expedition."

    "And my people, also," Princess Thssa of Harcon eximed, and stood. Her kingdom was the third most powerful on the, and her word carried great weight with the others.

    "And mine," cried Princess Radha of Petri. Soon, it was unanimously decided, though Mara was one of thest to agree.

    By the end of the meeting, it was decided that an expeditionary force of five battleships of Elyra would join the four of Dixx and Arachnia at a predetermined time and set of coordinates. From there they were to proceed directly to Earth.

    At the meeting''s conclusion, the customary wine was drunk and most of the dignitaries left, at their lead the Princess Mara Dorian-Kerr, her head held haughtily high and proud.

    After she had left, Ambassador Fal went over to Tasha and bowed. Tasha acknowledged her and both gripped sword-arms, as was the custom between friends among the royalty.

    "How has life been treating you, Fal?" Tasha said.

    "I cannotin My Princess, although I am getting on in age." She was more than fifty-two standard years, roughly equivalent to sixty in Earth years but, in age, about as old as an eighty-year old Earthwoman: She was past her prime, and she showed it.

    "I fear that I must retire soon," she said.

    "Nonsense," Tasha said. "You are still as strong as you ever were."

    "Thank you for saying so, My Princess, although I cannot believe it."

    "You should," Tasha said, and led her friend out of the hall. Ren followed a few discreet steps behind them with Micah, Fal''s mate. They left the others to theirckeys.

    Princess Thssa and an joined them as they walked back to the castle''s library, and paid their respects.

    "It seems that you have stepped on the Northern Princess'' toes, My Lady," an said jokingly.

    "Well, she does have eight of them, after all," Tasha said with augh.

    They walked through the Liaran-Kerr familys Hall of Gifts, where numerous family heirlooms and trophies won in battle were disyed. Many were hundreds of thousands of years old.

    "And you have stepped on them before," Thssa observed as she stopped before a full suit of tenth-millennium armor and studied the fine tooling on the metal. "Many times. Tell me, how do your people take this growing feud between you and the Northern Kingdom?"

    "We of the ins do not put much stock in what the Northerners think. There is nothing anyone can do, after all. She led them to some other disys in the room.

    "A very admirable view. And one that leads away from battle. But really, how are your rtions with them?"

    "Well, ever since I won Ren over Mara, rtions have been less than amicable, blood ties or no blood ties. But as they say, that is life."

    "I really am not surprised," Thssa said. "Your Ren is quite handsome. You are very lucky."

    Ren nervously coughed behind them. Thedies turned and smiled at the blushing prince.

    "Pardon us, Ren," Tasha said. "Just some women-talk."

    Ren bobbed his head, blushing furiously.

    "If you like, perhaps you can take Micah on a tour of the castle grounds?"

    "As you wish, My Princess," Ren said, and left the room taking Micah with him.

    Tasha shook her head in fond exasperation.

    "Forgive the interruption," she said. "But you know how men are." Theyughed and continued walking.

    "How is the prince?" an asked.

    "I would hardly talk about My Prince as if he was just a fine Ro''an," the princess said, referring to that breed of animal they used as beasts of burden in the olden days. "At least, not in politepany." Theyughed. "He has recently been taking linguistic lessons. Broadening his horizons, he says."

    "Any heirs in the offing?" an asked.

    "s, no," Tasha answered. "But soon, we hope. Ren''s mother alwayses down from the pce to ask whether I am with child or not. The queen is impatient for new children to mother. ''Soon,'' I always tell her."

    She looked at an. "But perhaps now is not the time for children. Battle seems just over the horizon, and I do not relish the thought of raising children in times of war. It is one of the reasons that I decided to continue with this little expedition of ours, that my children need not look forward to such a future."

    They walked on in silence.

    "Have you heard from the Federation council, Fal?" Tasha asked the ambassador of the First Colony.

    "No, My Princess, I haven''t. But the outlook is not favorable. With the Dravidians in power, the best that we can hope for is a formal addressing of the question of an expedition. But our furry friends are not noted for their imagination nor initiative. We can expect them to decide against such an expedition, with many rationalizations as to why not, which will sound reasonable to the present council members."

    "Do you have any ideas what these will be?"

    "Any loophole they can find in the Federation charter, I suppose. All in the name of saving money. They would probably even bring up the Laws of Membership."

    an snorted. "I don''t think the council would ept that as justification. The Earth transmission would make any question of these people being ''civilized'' even less than an academic discussion."

    "Yes, I know," answered Fal. "Even so, bureaucracy will still have its way. They will still be required to pass the prescribed tests."

    Tasha waved her hand. "Still, everyone knows that the tests do not mean much in the long run. It is the opinion of the Council of Custodians that counts. And space-faring races are more or less acknowledged as ''civilized'', excepting, of course, the asional Arachnian or two. The Custodians have virtually admitted to this belief of theirs."

    "True, My Lady, true," Fal agreed, "but do we know that they are star-travelers?"

    "You saw the tape!" Tasha eximed.

    Fal raised a cating hand. "Yes, My Lady, yes, I saw. Space-farers, true, but star-travelers? Consider: they had to resort to this message. Why note here personally?"

    They all walked in silent consideration of this thought.

    "Yes," Tasha finally agreed, "I recognize the remote possibility of that, but it''s so far-fetched ..."

    "Yes, My Lady, far-fetched. But, these are the things that the Dravidians may use in their defense. Another good reason for us to go without the official blessings of the Federation Governing Council."

    -----

    COLOSSUS, the great artificial that housed the government of the Gctic Federation of Free races and Federation Garrison spun slowly on its axis. The Federation Governing Council (or Senate) and the people from the official embassies of all the member races of the Federation, and, of course, the office of the Council of the Custodians, whose job it was to approve, disapprove, remove, suspend and reinstateary membership to the Federation, as well as the collection of taxes - they all went blithely about their business as Colossus slowly turned.

    It was the pride of the Federation, this technological miracle. It had the equivalent size of a small moon though not shaped like any natural space body - it was like some immense gray tube.

    It had taken the resources equivalent to aary system to build. It wasn''t as massive as a real moon, of course, so it had to be spun to induce artificial gravity. Modified anti-grav engines as used in Federation spacecraft would have been better but to constantly operate these devices on such a massive scale would be hellishly expensive. It had been decided that centrifugal pseudo-gravity would suffice.

    The spin wasn''t that much of a problem for the temporary inhabitants. The down-is-out orientation was not apparent because the whole base was sealed and the view to the outside was restricted to small viewports in special habitat blisters on the station''s surface, or portholes on what would be the floor. The Coriolis Effect within the station was something that one could quickly get ustomed to and easily ignored - the skill of keeping ones ss of krahnng from slopping over was an easy skill to develop, especially because of the practice one gets from frequent diplomatic receptions. (Because of its tubr construction and precise spin control, the Coriolis force was kept constant.) And the station wasrge enough so that the curvature of the decks was not too bad.

    The central core was where the massive power generators were housed. Half of the power was generated from the monoatomic hydrogen constantly being collected and ferried to the station and into maic holding tanks. Almost all of it came from the sr receptacle-panels on the skin of the station soaking up the output of stray atoms of the nearby yellow star.

    Immediately surrounding the core was the hydroponics area. This gave Colossus literally hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of greenery to supply the inhabitants with breathable air (almost all Federation member species were oxygen breathers. Those who were not had special sections of the deck closed off to house their own kind of nts, or other suitable life forms, or machinery to generate the appropriate atmosphere in their special living sections).

    The next tubr deck around the main core housed the station utilities. Most of this deck was given over to machinery for recycling the station''s garbage and waste. The rest were for misceneous things like storage, equipment and the production of essential consumables.

    The next ten decks were where the offices and quarters were housed. The outermost deck, which was just below the outer skin of the station, and on its t northern and southern areas, were for spacecraft hangars and defense stations, as well as the rocket thrusting spin-stations that spun Colossus at the rate of fifteen rotations per Elyran hour, and where VIPs had their living quarters with their highly sought-after viewports.

    It was within this deck where the Princess Losira had her private chambers, where she was currently pacing with barely-controlled impatience. She waited for Ambassador Br as patiently as she could, but she was not known for her capacity for patience, nor her ability to keep still for any reasonable length of time. Two traits that did not make her fit for her present role as Ambassador for the Elyran race. But she asked for this. Fal had not given up her ce so easily, but royalty did have its privileges.

    She heard a soft muffled knock and her valet went to see who it was. Shortly she announced Br, Ambassador of the Dixx nations, a few moments just before the Dixx rushed in.

    "Sorry I''mte," she said as she puffed in short whistling gasps. "Too few scooters avable so I had to fly over." She folded her wings into a small lump on her back and gratefully plunked down onto a couch.

    "T''chahn, my friend," she greeted the neer. The princess smiled and let her friend rest and cool off. Like most Avian races with their faster metabolisms, Br needed a rest and a stiff belt of krahnng, which she kept in stock just for her avian friend. The Dixx drank the glucose-rich wine like water.

    Losira patiently listened to Br''s chatter as the Avian gulped her krahnng. It was solely for her friend that she kept the drink in stock in her chambers, though it was hard to get them, with their propensity for fermenting too quickly and bingpletely unptable to Dixx taste buds. She and her fellow Elyrans did not tell their Dixx friends, of course, what they did with their krahnng after it went bad, though informal parties were rather frequent at the Elyran embassy offices.

    After a while, Losira raised her hand. "If I may, my friend, may I inquire about the meeting?"

    Br shook her head, a habit she picked up from Losira and the Elyrans. "No results worth speaking of. Am greatly disappointed."

    The Dixx was, of course, not really a She, for she was both male and female. But other delegates who had two or more sexes found it convenient to refer to them in the female gender, and the Avians didn''t really mind.

    Br pulled a folded memorandum out of her jumpsuit and tossed it to Losira. "That is the ess code for what the Council has called ''Project Earth''. And getting it was no easy matter. Dixx, Arachnians and Elyrans have been denied ess to it."

    "What?" Losira eximed. "By the Lords, how can they do that? What about Councilor Reger and the First Ambassador? What of them?"

    "Councilor Reger was the one, in fact, who proposed to the Federation Assembly to send an expedition to Earth. But Dixx are not known for their speaking ability. Assembly has decided to defer decision to Federation Council."

    "What about the First Ambassador? What did he say, and how did the others take it?"

    "The Arachnian did his best, but Im afraid Council decided against him."

    "Damnation!" she eximed. "Then our meeting is on?"

    Br nodded yes.

    "We might as well get it over with." She went to her desk and got her dress-sword and dagger. Br hurriedly downed her krahnng and followed Losira out to the hallway. There they jumped into a waiting scooter that took them to a shuttle station. From there they transferred to a shuttle that whisked them to the Council Chambers in a matter of minutes. These shuttles, unique to the station, were attached via rails to the surface of Colossus. It quietly streaked on its rails, the sun-shield automatically snapping down as they passed the terminator into the dayside.

    The shuttle rapidly decelerated, its rockets zing, and deposited them in the Council shuttle station. They got off and quickly walked to the Council Chambers. She had to let Br lead the way as she followed, out of breath. Like many Elyrans who served on Colossus, she was still not used to the Gctic-normal gravity. It was about ten percent stronger than that of her home.

    Losira and Br entered the room with time to spare. Most of the others were still justing in, but they spotted the First Ambassador patiently waiting and cleaning the feathery tip of his left antenna, much as an Elyran (or an Earther) would twiddle her fingers or drum them on a tables surface.

    The white-and-orange Arachnian politico waved his four upper arms in theplex traditional wee of his people. Losira satisfied herself with a short nod.

    "How has the meeting been going, Ambassador?" she asked as they were led to their ces around therge conference table made of very expensive polished granite.

    "Terrible, I''m afraid," he said as he settled into his saddle. He wore a bulging pouch on his thorax, which everyone knew to be an aural trantor. With such races as the Arachnians, whosenguage consisted mostly of clicks and whistle-sounds, many of the delegates found it useful to have these expensive Arachnian devices and avoid misunderstandings during important meetings and discussions - one of Arachnias more popr export items.

    Losira, Br and the First Ambassador were very good linguists, and didn''t need such devices. The First Ambassador only used it out of deference to the other delegates.

    Losira and Br found seats beside the Arachnian and waited for the other delegates to settle. The First Ambassador swung his armored head and surveyed the iing delegates. He couldn''t see them very well, but he had other senses that worked far better in the slightly dim reddish light the others preferred.

    Losira and Br, on the other hand, had superb eyesight and could see them clearly. Losira''s solid ruby eyes, characteristic of Elyran royalty, identified the others as she sipped at the wine left in front of her: There were the Axons, the Daemons, Erocii, Kembels, those from Star 453-A, and the Dravidians. Along with the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian representatives, the people in the room represented a sizable chunk of the most powerful members of the 74 member races in the Federation: a sign of the importance the Assembly gave the issue to be discussed here. Even the representative from Star 453-A, a well-known member of the Council of Custodians, condescended to appear.

    When they were all settled, the chairman, arge bear-like Dravidian, called the meeting to order. It was conducted in Elyran, as most meetings were. Councilor Cor''s short fur was reddish-brown, marking him as one of royal lineage. The Dravidian did not mince words and got down to the matter at hand.

    "As I was saying before the recess, my colleagues," he said, continuing the meeting, "the real point of contention is this proposed expedition to the newly-discovered of Earth. Some of us," he nced meaningfully at Losira, Br and the First Ambassador, "have been pushing for this ill-timed expedition, while those of us with more sensible dispositions have decided to defer it for ater, more opportune time. We-"

    The First Ambassador interrupted. "If I may, Councilor," he said. The red "activate" lock of his trantor shed in cadence with the electronic voice. Cor signaled his consent. "That is all very clear. What is not clear are the objections raised against the expedition in question."

    "You are forcing me to repeat myself, Ambassador," Cor said and sighed (or, more properly, wheezed) for dramatic effect. "We have covered that area at great length in the previous meetings."

    "If I am, my apologies," he answered, and moved his arms in the traditional gesture for sarcasm mixed with humor, though it was lost with Cor and the others. "But even so, would you be so kind as to forgive my rudeness and refresh my memory."

    Ambassador Cor sighed again. He gestured to another Dravidian. "Sel," he said, calling another Dravidian. "Please summarize for the Ambassador the points that have been raised.

    "Certainly," he said and referred to his recording tablet (it was one of the more expensive ones that was just a couple of inches thick). He toggled it back a few pages and quoted from his notes.

    "It has been argued that such a project is non-essential and of low priority at this time, with other Federation projects needing funding more urgently. Secondly, such an expedition has been considered by the majority of those present as a premature move, in view of the fact that the Xenological Committee is yet to put the matter on their agenda, much less consider this new race worthy of an expedition.

    "Thirdly, it is the considered opinion of the majority of those present that such an expedition would gain the Federation very little and is not worth the expenditure and effort, not to mention a possible political incident if this were known to the Tirosian Government."

    Br smiled a small non-believing smile and rapped the polished granite.

    "To me," she said mildly, "is pointless to ask who specifically in this group raised these points."

    She shifted to the dry and rumbling style of Cor. "To the question of whether expedition is worth trouble and expense, beyond any doubt it is. Technological benefits would gain us more than mere credit."

    "And what makes you think that they have these to give?" said the Erocii representative, her spiny antenna bobbing up and down, trantor light winking.

    "Is obvious from message alone. If half of the things that it hinted at were to be believed, we are talking of the discovery of a race that has surpassed any other single race of Federation in material and technological achievements, which hasnt happened for a very long time. Taking this as working assumption, am extremely sure that they are an advanced culture that is more than ready for membership."

    "Supposition on a supposition," exploded the Erocii, "Are we then to undertake this project on blind faith? I find this totally absurd."

    Br red at the arthropod, using herrger frame to intimidate the smaller alien. The Erocii shrank back on her saddle.

    "To me," Br said, "conclusions that those opposed to this project have formed are equally absurd." Br was half out of her seat.

    A shy Elyran male silently entered and handed a small envelope to Losira. She read the note inside and smiled. She dismissed the aide with a whispered message and tried to catch the First Ambassador''s attention.

    Br continued, almost shouting. "Evidence is clearly against you. Does not take a lot of intelligence to see this. Anyone withmon sense can see."

    Losira put a restraining hand on the tall Dixx''s arm and pulled her back. Losira nodded to the First Ambassador and smiled. The Arachnian gestured the sign for victory and agreement.

    "My friends," the First Ambassador said as Losira gently pulled Br down, "there is no point in bickering amongst ourselves. We should not let our differences get the best of us.

    "Now," he said, "the issue at hand can be parsed down to a question of priorities. Everyone agrees that the project could be undertaken provided that other projects were forgone or postponed.

    "And," he said meaningfully, ncing at the Dravidians, "none of you are willing to do that." He turned to Cor.

    "Councilor Cor," he said, "would not want to halt his favorite project, that of the instation of satellite beacons near the Inner Rim. Of course it is for the good of the Federation, this aid to interster navigation. It is just a happy coincidence that Dravidianmercial spacecraft are the ones who most frequently ply those routes.

    "Of course no Erocii would dream of halting the geoforming project on Eros Nine. True it would yield substantial amounts of refined metals for the Federation. And who are we to begrudge Erocii from makingrge profits from the tourist andmercial trade this would bring.

    "And, of course none in the military," he said, as he nced at the many military insignia that adorned many of the councilors'' clothes, "would want to reduce the armed forces budget for newer battleships and weapons. The protection of Federations cannot be ignored!

    "Let us face it," he said, "there is nothing neither I nor my friends can do to change that. But one wonders why these people cannot change their minds when my government diverted a substantial portion of its meager budget from the ice-towing project my people needed so badly, as the drought continues on Arachnia unabated, so that they could assist in this expedition. One also wonders how the Dixx could likewisepromise their reforestation project, knowing how essential that is in maintaining their ecosystem. All in the name of our Federation and its charter.

    "There is no question how this will turn out," he said. "And seeing how everyone is so anxious to conserve Federation time and money, I and my friends will cease to bother this so-honored Council, though I and my colleagues would rmend that this council review the Federation Charter.

    "Princess Losira has received a specialmuniqu that I hope you will find interesting." He gestured to Losira.

    "I have just received a message from Elyra," she said. "My people wish me to announce the following: ''We, the peoples of Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia,''" she quoted, "''inform the honored Councilors of the Gctic Federation governing body, that we have decided, in the event of a decision that agrees with the forming of a xenological expedition to the newly-discovered of Earth, we offer our own resources in this venture, which includes nine fleet ships and a fullplement of explorers.

    "''However, if such an expedition is not forting, we want it known that we will continue with an expedition of our own, regardless, following the Federation policies and regtions for establishing contact with new races.

    "''We hope that the Federation may join us on this enterprise, in keeping with the spirit and ideals on which the Federation was founded, and the spirit of its noble charter. By the Elyran Council for Government, the Arachnian People''s Government and the Dixx Ruling Council."

    Losira folded the paper with a sharp crease and strode out of the chamber, followed by Br and the First Ambassador.

    The councilors followed them out with their eyes (and other equivalent senses), and then their attention was turned to Losira''s seat. They saw the ceremonial goblet. All of them had chalices, or their equivalents, in front of them, an adaptation of the Elyran custom. All of them were in ce except Losira''s: she had tipped it over and the wine had collected into a puddle on the granite table''s surface.

    They knew that such a gesture meant many things, ording to Elyran custom. And they knew that one of them was contempt. Cor and the others had the grace to blush (or its equivalent) in shame. With the automatic recorders, they knew that their actions here were now part of the official records. Only time would tell how history would regard their actions. However, the representative from the Council of Custodians smiled a little and silently wished these young upstarts well.

    -----

    IN THE IMPERIAL CASTLE of Tiros, seat of the Tiros Star Empire, a meeting of the Supreme Ministry was about to start.

    Any meeting of the Ministry was always presided over by the Emperor himself, or by his Detterex Prime Minister. This time, both were to attend. The Prime Minister was already at her post, standing to the left of the Emperor''s throne. She made sure her battle dress was spotless and her dress sword was in ce. She also made sure that her sidearm was ready. Being the lone Detterex in a room full of the reptilian Tirosians, it was best to be sure. She snapped her fingers and a diminutive Tirosian female ve wiped the moisture collecting on the polished wood of the emperor''s throne.

    Like any Detterex, the prime minister looked just like an Elyran, and like all Detterex, she was taller than any Elyran ever was. No surprise, really, since both races were actually the same, biologically speaking. Up ''til now, many of their historians were still trying to find out where their culture diverged into two, and how they ended up in differentary systems.

    The two ceremonial guards by the great iron doors, brown rust covering them in spots, raised their crossed spears and allowed the Emperor to walk through.

    Around his neck was the heavy green emerald Star, the symbol of his seat of power. He wore a heavy purple cape that set off his greenish scaly skin, mottled by many leprous yellow spots - a sign of full maturity.

    He walked in his familiar arrogant manner, thrusting his waist forward, disying his enormous erect phallus, a gesture viewed as a disy of strength and arrogant pride in his virility - proper court behavior.

    The Prime Minister bowed and waited while the emperor sat on his throne. He coiled his tail under him, arranged his cape around his shoulders and nodded for the meeting to start.

    Although Detterex held a sizable chunk of the Empire, seldom were any of their representatives present in council, and none were around now, except for the Prime Minister. The Detterex were satisfied with allowing the lizard-like Tirosians to manage the Empire but did insist that they be represented. They would not admit that their reputed slow-wittedness did not allow them to meet with Tirosians without a loss of face, nor concede the fact that Tirosians were better at political infighting than they.

    However, in recent years, their primary representative, by dint of enormous ability, persistence and, most especially ambition, was appointed by the emperor himself to the position of prime minister of the Empire.

    Though it was undeniable that the prime minister was more than capable, her appointment wasrgely a shrewd political move by the emperor in order to cate the growing resentment of the empire''s Detterex citizens.

    Besides, it didn''t really affect anything - the prime ministership was there only for show, a necessary inconvenience to prevent the smaller annexed Detterex Empire from seceding.

    When the Emperor was seated, the others around the huge hardwood table sat. Though the humidifiers were working, the furniture had no collected moisture. The Prime Minister had seen to that.

    The Emperor reclined in his throne, adjusting his tail to be morefortable. He gestured to his minister. "Speak," he hissed.

    The Prime Minister bowed and activated the projector suspended overhead. The now-familiar images of the Earth transmission cast themselves on the screen above the great table. "Governors," the Prime Minister said without preamble, with only a trace of an ent, "Tiros ground stations received this broadcast one and a half years ago. We still have to trace from where this broadcast originated, but at this point that is purely academic. From our findings, we have also determined the target of the signal was undoubtedly the Federations. We only intercepted the fringes of the signal, hence its fragmented reception. Here is the full version."

    The thirty sector governors watched the recording. Some were only feigning ignorance: the Prime Minister knew that some have already seen the recording. She was more or less sure of thework of spies within the Castle - she and the Emperor had spies of their own.

    As the tape wound down to its final seconds, the Prime Minister began again.

    "You then see the implications of this," she said. "An un-allied race with superior technological and material resources. Perhaps a great military asset, if handled correctly."

    "Pardon me for the interruption, My Lord," Governor Drishnak of the outer sectors interjected. The Prime Minister had a reputation for being quick to anger, which those who had tested her patience before knew from personal experience, but she did her best to hide her irritation now.

    The Emperor raised a hand to forestall an argument and nodded for Drishnak to go on.

    "Thank you, Excellency," he said and turned back to the prime minister. "You have shown us the recording and all can see the importance of it. No need for the coy introductions, My Lady. I trust that you have a purpose for calling us to this meeting? I suggest we go directly to that. Surely this is not about just another raiding expedition?"

    The Prime Minister bowed. "As you wish, Governor Drishnak. No, this is not just another raiding party."

    She turned to the other governors. "Our strategists, both Detterex and Tirosian, believe that an expedition to this system by the Gctic Federation is imminent. Our Detterex spies on Elyra tell us that an agreement between the Elyran, Arachnian and Dixx governments was formed a few months ago, which was about just such an expedition.

    "Our strategists believe that this expedition will be carrying envoys to this Earth, perhaps to open diplomatic rtions. And if that should happen, we''ll have a lot of problems that may be difficult to resolve."

    She punched up an interster map on the overhead screen and continued. "Their system is within striking distance of our boundaries, and is between the bulk of the Empire and Federations. It isposed of eight majorary satellites orbiting a medium-sized yellow primary. If the recording is to be believed, they have fully colonized all of theirs, except of course the outer gas giants. But even there, they have colonized the giants'' minor satellites. This shows us that they have mastered geoformy, enabling them to restructure aary ecology to suit their needs."

    She turned back to the map. "What interests us most is the fact that they are a scant few light-years from the Federation. Earth could be an ideal military outpost for them. But what is more important is that they are also close to several of our poption centers, meaning that they are also strategically very important to us."

    The Emperor broke in with a stomp of his foot on the marble floor. Everyone turned to him. He cleared his throat.

    "Some of our spies," he said, "have informed us that arge force has already beenunched from Elyra. This may well be their expeditionary force to Earth. We do not have time to lose."

    He rapped on his throne''s armrest with his w-hand. "Admiral Hanoch!" he hissed.

    "My Lord," Hanoch replied and stood.

    "I order you tounch a strike force to this Earth. You are to obliterate these Federation ships and subjugate this new system and annex it as a territorial of the Empire."

    "As My Lordmands," he said and bowed.

    "Minister!"

    The Prime Minister approached the throne and bowed. "My Lord."

    "No less than five heavy cruisers are to be provided by the other sector governors. You are to order the Detterex fleetmander to provide the Admiral with ten extra cruisers, outfitted with a fullplement of attack infantry."

    "Yes, My Lord."

    The Emperor rose, a signal that the meeting was over. He strode quickly out of the chamber, not even acknowledging the others, but stopping in front of Hanoch. "Do not fail, Hanoch," he said, almost in a whisper.

    Hanoch bowed, and the Emperor strode out of the room.

    The governors gathered their things and prepared to leave, but Hanoch was ahead of them. He knew that if he did fail his Emperor, his life was forfeit.

 Chapter 6: A Little Change

    Chapter 6: A Little Change

    Bill was striding down the hall in his usual, preupied manner. The changes made to Triton Station made him feel old, useless. But he knew it was inevitable. New locks were on the doorways, more machinery was running, and more guards and uniformed people with sidearms were in evidence.

    It was only a year since the papers for the United Earth Defense Force were finalized and signed - no mean feat considering the unspoken paper war at the time between the Eastern and Western nations.

    But to many of the people it was no surprise, considering that the U.N. Secretary-General herself and the eminent Dr. William Steele were the project''s prime movers.

    It was also not surprising how strong the people''s belief in Bill was. Most knew of Bill and his much publicized talents and aplishments. He was a certified genius, with an I.Q. of 250 (the only other Human who had a confirmed IQ simr to his was the 19th-century American, William James Sidis) . He was tall, well-muscled, though more in the lean lines of a swimmer, good looking, and with a gentle disposition. He knew fiftynguages and their attendant dialects, and had degrees in chemistry, electrical and mechanical engineering,puter science and cybeics, and was also a licensed M.D.

    Hed finished his secondary school subjects by age ten through eleration programs and schrships, finished all his degrees by age eighteen - the only one in the history of the European Continental University to be allowed to take multiple courses at the same time, and acquired his medical license by age twenty through a special program of the University''s Department of Medicine.

    But despite his academic attainments well beyond his peers, he did not grow upcking in what most would call the social graces, as most overachievers and child-geniuses were apt to be. This was due to the fact that he wasn''t segregated out of social groups as others were.

    And this wasrgely because of his parents, both widely acimed psychologists who knew the probable problems their son would face. They taught him how to behave and be epted by his peers, not to use his unique position to dominate over them, and thereby be epted by his friends and ssmates.

    They allowed him the social freedom given most children, and didn''t keep him the way other parents did with child protgs. They encouraged him, from an early age, to join people and make friends; to learn to make allowances for others who couldn''t keep up with him intellectually, and never antagonize anyone or show off.

    It was because of this that he was always voted president of his ss (even if he only stayed in a ss for less than a semester before moving on), was always popr with the girls, and was always active in campus activities. Even as he was getting medals for his more than excellent work, he was also voted as the most popr guy on campus. Though his parents didn''t stop him making friends with his ssmates, who were usually more than five or six years older than him, not to mention about one or two feet taller, they encouraged him to associate more with those closer to his age. And his natural affability came from his getting social fulfillment from kids his own age, and academic fulfillment from his ssmates.

    However, though he was exceptional in intelligence, physically he was not so remarkable, except for his height - upon entering puberty, he shot up to about six and a half feet  or about two meters. (In his mind, he unconsciously switched from English to Metric  in this day and age, most people use English and Metric interchangeably, as most did, though people from the North American region still used English units of measurement most of the time.)

    His physique, though well-toned, only showed normal muscr definition an any normal strength. However, his consummate coordination and reflexes made him an ideal football yer, which were at odds with his love of ying the piano, his mother''s favorite instrument, or his skill in fencing, his dad''s favorite spectator sport.

    After finishing his degrees and his masters, he was recruited by his countrys Space Force. He finished his four-year tour as a captain in the Navy, a veteran of the Asteroid Wars - indeed a full-blooded hero - a decorated member of the Sky Eagles special Marines unit, and as a certified M.D. specializing in space medicine.

    He then went on to other things. He became the foremost pioneer and greatest advocate of science and space medicine. He developed a new electronic system that jumpedputer efficiency a magnitude or so, and patented the EDS line ofputing systems that was now the mostmonputing tform in the system. He developed new medical equipment that simplified diagnosis of patients'' conditions, and because of these, the medicalmunity was finally taking thest steps towards the abolition of that ancient scourge: cancer. He also formted and proved the maic field theory that made gravity control and Earthship Two possible. And he, of course, discovered and developed Phase-Wave. But everyone knew that.

    He thought of the unique path his life had taken. The revtion that his mother and father made right before his twentieth birthday that exined much of it still shook him. Apparently, he was part of a ndestine eugenics experiment that had started in thete neen-forties. It was not about any unusual medical treatment or medical procedure, but rather the deliberate, though voluntary, selection of mates with the goal of producing superior progeny. Over the years, though, the "grand experiment" slowly lost headway, as more and more of its believers started doubting the ethics of the program. As such, its few remaining proponents discontinued the unofficial program. He was therefore thetest, and thest, of the 400-year-old program''s supposedly superior humans.

    Bill shook his head and banished these bad thoughts, and looked up to find that he was at Main Mission, Triton Center''s main control station - the heart and nerve center of the entireplex. It brought back the things he was thinking of a moment ago - of the proposal his good friend Marc and his faithful assistant Walter had told him, and how he felt about it.

    But even that he tried to forget for the moment. He''d been monitoring a heavy load of restrictedmunications between Triton and Earth for a long time now, and he finally decided to get to the bottom of it, and find out what was happening with their gctic neighbors. He pushed his pass card into the newly-installed security lock of Main Mission.

    His card bore little resemnce to the standard-issue cards. For a long time now he had quit using his real card, though he still carried that around for identification purposes. Instead he used a card of his own construction. The maic dots on one side could be raised and lowered as dictated by a small microchip, whose sole programmed function was to open virtually any lock in theplex.

    After inserting his card in the lock, the pressure door rolled back smoothly. No angry buzzers or pre-recorded warnings greeted him: the mindless machine had been fooled.

    He walked in and noted the increasing number of military personnel taking up functions that civilians formerly handled. There were also no terminals with touch-screen or VR pads  the military preferred clickable keyboards which gave a more tactile feel with the all-important haptic feedback that they needed, especially during battle situations.

    The militarys virtual take-over annoyed him but he held his protest in check. He was still in the Navy, after all, though inactive in the Reserves now. His military background was one of the few things that the public knew little about, save for those officers and soldiers who served with him, and it was this background that made him appreciate the military.

    He went to A-station, which was Phase-Waveary monitoring, and tapped the skinny lieutenant who was currently manning it.

    "Good morning. Anything new out there?" he asked good-naturedly.

    The officer swiveled around. "Oh," he said. "Doctor Steele. Themander was just looking for you. I think we finally have something via the new Phase-Wave detectors. Look." He pointed at his screen.

    Bill bent over and surveyed the dots on the screen. "Hmm," he murmured softly.

    "As you can see," the officer said, "they''re in two groups,ing from two different directions. We''ve been running someputations. One of the two targets hase from somewhere inside the Arm. At least we''ve traced them as far as the Outer Rim. Data indicate that they have been decelerating at a very rapid rate, and the Brain says that the two targets'' destination is here. The Sr System. Just within Pluto''s orbit at the ne, in fact."

    "Have you identified them, yet?"

    Commander Thackary came over. "No, we haven''t, but we''re working on it, though. Hello, Doctor."

    "Good morning, Commander," Bill said. He pointed to the screen. "Any new info?"

    "Nothing. But we expect to get something soon. Some of the boys are having difficulties."

    Bill frowned. "It''s probably not that much of a problem."

    "Well," themander said, "at this time of day, the system''s usually overloaded, and we''ve been having some problems with -"

    Bill grunted in suspicion and turned away, walking to a vacant terminal. "Somehow, I don''t believe that."

    He inserted his homemade pass card and punched a high-level User Password. He addressed the terminal''s microphone and spoke in crisp and clear sybles.

    "Priority alpha-delta three. ept emergency manual override to the operating system, category security officer."

    The terminal responded after a few seconds. "Priority override epted. Proceed."

    Key terminals started shutting down. The exmations of various operators all over the room could be heard as the system started shutting them down to prevent others from being able to take a look at whatever Bill was doing.

    Bill punched in a linkage between his terminal and the system''s random-query data retrieval subsystem. No one but Bill and Walter knew of its existence, because they were the ones who installed it in the system in the first ce.

    Bill started a dialogue with theputer, his queries disyed in capital letters, while theputer answered in lower-case.

    <em>"QUERY - IDENTIFY TARGET IMAGES ON A-STATION TERMINAL. ARE THEY OR ARE THEY NOT NATURAL SPACE BODIES I.E. METEORITES. ELABORATE"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - images not of natural phenomena. images consistent with spacecraft- type profiles"</em>

    <em>"QUERY - ARE THE TARGETS CONSISTENT WITH EARTH SPACECRAFT PROFILES. ELABORATE"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - images inconsistent with earth spacecraft profiles. interrogation of database shows no earth spacecraft possible to be in that sector. further interrogation shows no current earth spacecraft type capable of such maneuvers"</em>

    <em>"QUERY - IDENTIFY TARGETS USING NON-TERRAN SPACECRAFT PROFILES"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - first target consistent with profile for gctic federation military spacecraft. second target consistent with tiros empire military spacecraft"</em>

    Bill stared at thest line. He started typing furiously.

    <em>"QUERY - BREAK DOWN TARGETS TO INDIVIDUAL BODIES. IDENTIFY EACH AS TO SIZE AND TYPE"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - first bodyposed of 9 spacecraft consistent with battle-cruiser configuration. second bodyposed of 22 separate spacecraft: 13 battle-cruisers, 7 heavy-escort ships, 2 fuel carriers"</em>

    (Since EarthForce was not fully aware of all the current Federation and Empire ship types, most Earth military people would use terms like warship, battleship, cruiser and battle-cruiser interchangeably. Theputer was therefore programmed to generically refer to them as battle-cruisers.)

    "By God," Bill murmured.

    <em>"QUERY - COMPUTE COURSE OF BOTH TARGETS RELATIVE NEPTUNE"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - targets will rendezvous within 600 million miles of neptune"</em>

    <em>"QUERY - EXTRAPOLATE FROM ALL PERIPHERAL DATA TO GET OBJECTIVES OF ALIENS, DISPLAY MOST PROBABLE COMBINATION"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - insufficient data to achieve 90% uracy. most probablebination indicates that targets will rendezvous with earth after imminent battle engagement"</em>

    "Jesus," Bill cried.

    <em>"QUERY - INTERROGATE CURRENT FILE, CROSS-REFERENCE A-STATION IMAGES. WHAT ACTIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN REGARDING ALIEN SPACECRAFT"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - inter-system defense craft has been scheduled to arrive at triton center within one-point-nine months for refuel and resupply. spacecraft will then rendezvous with targets at moment of engagement three-point-one monthster. mission orders are to intercept and repel hostile intruders prior to reaching inner system boundary"</em>

    "Goddammit. Who''s the jackass..." Bill choked himself off and continued typing.

    <em>"QUERY - CONFIRM MISSION ORDERS"</em>

    <em>"rqdrs - mission orders confirmed as: intercept and repel hostile aliens prior to reaching inner-system boundary, by order ofmodore karpatov, upon rmendation bymander thackary, neptunemand"</em>

    Bill swore and signed off. He whirled on Thackary. Themander looked away.

    "Well, Commander? Do you want to tell me about it?" Bill''s eyes shed angrily.

    Themander stammered. "Well, uh - it is, after all, a military matter. I did what I thought best in the interests of the System."

    "And you never once gave a thought to the general directive ordering you to inform and consult with CETI Central about any matter touching on extraterrestrials?"

    "Well, you see, Doctor, I -,"

    "Never mind," Bill said angrily, gestured him aside and walked over to them console.

    "Get me an open line to United Earth Defense Forces Headquarters," he said to the young officer operating the console.

    The junior officer nced nervously from Bill to themander.

    "Did you hear me, soldier?" Bill said angrily. "I said get me an open line to headquarters. Now!"

    Damn smartass son of a bitch, Thackary thought, but never mind. Better this than him causing a scene. "It''s all right, lieutenant. Let him through."

    Bill nodded in angry satisfaction. All right, Thackary thought. Let''s see you get through. And even if you do, themodore will back me up a hundred percent. Thackary smiled a small knowing smile, and waited.

    The operator''s fingers flew over the keys and a face soon appeared on the screen that promptly responded, thanks to Phase-Wave.

    "United Earth Defense Force Headquarters," the young ensign on the screen said. "May I help you?"

    Bill leaned over the screen. "Please connect me to the Fleet Admiral, ensign."

    Thackary and the console operator were taken aback. The Admiral! Who does he think he is, thought Thackary, but the ensign on the screen just shed her practiced, professional smile. She was used to turning down cranks.

    "I''m sorry, sir," she said ndly, "but Fleet Commandmunications are restricted to priority military calls, or to authorized personnel only." She moved as if to break the connection.

    "Wait!" Bill eximed, and brought out his long-unused pass card. "I think you''ll find me to be one of those authorized people you were referring to."

    He inserted his card into the terminal and punched the Transmit button. The ensign on the screen leaned over to someone out of range of the picture. "Crackpots," she muttered to the one off-screen, but turned back to face them.

    "I assure you, sir, your identification code will not help you to- ,"

    Bill waved her down. "Even so, humor me. Even crackpots pay their taxes, you know." The ensign gave him a sour smile but bent over to her right and read the thin flimsy that extruded out of her printer. It serves as a physical receipt that she can file in the non-vtile records.

    Her eyes grewrge and gasped with surprise. She fairly goggled at Bill''s priority ess level - the highest she''d ever seen. He must be the Admiral''s fair-haired boy, she thought incredulously, but she still went through the motions of confirming the code.

    After a while, she said, "Priority six ess confirmed, ahh, Captain." She was a little red with embarrassment. "Just got caught off-guard for a moment. Very few official calls go through the front desk, sir. I am clearing you to block one, Fleet Command." She smiled nervously at Bill. "I''m sorry, sir, but it will take a few minutes. Please stand by."

    "That''s all right, dear," Bill said.

    The ensign smiled in some relief. "Thank you, sir." The screen was reced by a color test pattern.

    Thackary''s eyes were raised in surprise. "Captain...?" he asked a littlemely.

    "I was with the Navy a while back," Bill said in calcted nonchnce. "I''m in the reserves now."

    The screen came alive again. "Fleet Command, EDF Headquarters," said a stone-faced Marine.

    "Please connect me to the Fleet Admiral''s Office," Bill said. "I want to talk to the Fleet Admiral."

    Thackary''s eyebrows were fairly climbing up into his hair, but he kept his mouth shut. He never thought that Bill might actually get through. And to the Admiral himself!

    "Level six clearance is confirmed, Captain. Connecting you now to the Admiral''s private circuit."

    Soon, the picture coalesced into the craggy features of Fleet Admiral Benjamin Silverman. The gruff Englishman was frowning.

    "Alright, alright," he said without preamble. "Who''s there? What do you want?" But his eyes soon smiled in recognition. "By Jove, it''s William!"

    "Bill smiled. Hello, sir."

    "By God, this is sensational. How have you been, old boy? Been keeping well, I trust."

    "Quite well, sir. And congrattions, by the way."

    Silvermanughed. "Nothing like a bloody emergency to speed up the promotions, eh?" Heughed again.

    "You''ve earned it. You''ve gone a long way since I was under yourmand."

    "I suppose so. Yes, a long time since I''ve had you under mymand. But enough of this chitchat. I trust this call is an official one, or else I''m going to have to ask you to get off the line. What is it?"

    "We have a problem, sir," Bill said, and quickly outlined what was happening.

    The Admiral mused for a moment. "Yes, we''ve picked up those blips here as well. But that''s as far as I know." He looked up. "You know, none of this has reached me, yet. Hold on a moment." The Admiral leaned back and rifled through a very thick sheaf of papers  a concession to the coalition forces still-nonintegrated systems.

    "Yes, here it is. Quadrant A42. Unidentified bodies, suspected to be natural phenomena..."

    "But it''s not. We could have gotten the information to you sooner, but the basemand here has been less than cooperative. Getting anything from this bunch is like trying to pull out teeth."

    "And you say that an intercept force has been arranged already," the admiral said, and looked up to the screen. "Let me speak to themander, please."

    Bill stepped aside for Thackary.

    "Aye, sir?" themander said.

    "Commander," the admiral said, "I would like to know the reason why I was not informed of this matter immediately, and why Doctor Steele here has been having trouble getting information out of your people. Have you, by any chance, forgotten EarthForce''s agreement with CETI that, in turning over to us their facilities, we would, in good faith, inform the CETI staff of matters such as these, immediately as theye?"

    "Sir, please," Thackary pleaded. "I thought it best if I kept this matter confidential. You see, I-,"

    "You take a lot upon yourself, don''t you, Commander? Did it ever ur to you that such a decision is not within the limits of yourmand? That disobeying a direct general fleetmand makes you liable for a court martial?"

    Thackary shrank back. "Sir, I assure you that my actions were approved by the sectormanding officer."

    "It was, eh?" Silverman turned to his desk inte. "Evelyn? Would you please find out who is holding down sector operations for Neptune?"

    "That would be Commodore Karpatov, sir," the admiral''s secretary answered. "Commanding officer for Sector Seven."

    "William," the admiral said, "I will have to get back to you on this. I have to, ahh... how do you say it, I have to ''kick some butts'' down here."

    "Aye, sir," Bill said, smiling.

    "And enough of that ''sir'' rubbish, all right? I''ll call you up soon. Commander, I will be calling you back in fifteen."

    "Sir!"

    "Endit."

    "Endit," Bill agreed, and the connection was broken. Bill pulled out his card, thanked the lieutenant politely, and walked out of Main Mission. Thackary and his staff officers followed his exit with something more than stunned surprise. Bill hid a smile, rather enjoying the feeling.

    That smile faded, however, as his thoughts went back to his earlier discussion with Marc and Walter.

    -----

    "So what''s this all about, Marc," he had said just a couple of hours before, when he and Walter were sitting in Marc''s office sipping coffee. "I appreciate this a lot - we needed a break. But we''re really just too busy..."

    "Bill," Marc said, "I needed your opinion on an idea that the kids in the CETI alien encounter group came up with. I thought it a little off-the-wall myself, but I was all ready to sign off on it. Then again, I thought to ask you first."

    "Walter and I are all ears. Shoot."

    "Here are the preliminaries - based on the current CETI research, some of the major races in the Federation seem to be matriarchal in nature, that is to say, their societies are dominated by females. At least some of those races with male and female genders."

    "Well, that''s a bit of a slippery slope. For example, statistically, if you are looking at the slightly higher number of males of influence in human societypared with females, you could probably say humans have a patriarchal society. Although there is some superficial truth to that, in this day and age, there are no real preferences in roles for genders forced by current human mores, except those that individuals prefer for themselves, and neither gender has any dominance over the other, at least not anymore.

    "But... until we actually visit Elyra ourselves, Marc, we won''t really know anything for sure."

    "Good argument, Bill. However, the analysts say that, at least with the Elyrans, and they think the Detterex as well, their society is indeed matriarchal. Or as sure as they can be."

    "As it happens, I agree with them, actually. So what?"

    "So... we also know they have a feudal system running, and you know how that went for us."

    "I don''t understand what you''re getting at, Doctor," Walter said.

    "Counting coup, saving face, loyalty to one''s liege, caste systems, social sses, ves, serfs, noblemen et cetera, et cetera."

    "What?"

    "That''s what goes for normal in feudal societies. I doubt if our own present social system would be eptable to the Elyrans."

    "Doctor, I don''t under..."

    "As technologically advanced and as old as their civilization ispared to Humanity, their society doesn''t seem to be quite so progressive. They seem to share many parallels to our older eras, except that the more dominant gender is the female."

    Bill sighed in exasperation and looked to Walter. "See this, Walter?" He gestured to Marc. "This is the good doctor''s lecture style that everyone who has had to sit in his ss knows oh, so well. He will draw out the discussion, doling out the information piece by piece until..."

    Marcughed. "All right, Bill. Simmer down. Here''s the idea that the kids came up with. It was their thought that it would be best if all of our personnel who would be in positions ofmand should be female."

    "Huh?" Walter said. "Female? What..."

    "Would Att have been able to rule the Huns if he were female? Would the French army have followed and died for Napoleon if he were a woman? Would Guinevere have been able to create the Knights of the Round Table instead of Arthur?"

    "But that''s no longer true," Walter argued. "Look at Golda Meir, Indira Ghandi, and Margaret Thatcher. Hell, look at Secretary-General Romarkin."

    "Indeed," Marc said. "But as far as our information shows, Elyra is more like Ennd of the middle ages. And, in medieval Ennd, would a woman even be able to ask for the time of day? Do you see the point?"

    "So what they are suggesting," Bill said, "is that all of our people that are supposed to work with the Elyrans should be women?"

    "That is hardly possible, of course," Walter said.

    "They know that," said Marc. "So, instead, what they are suggesting is that we load our crews with as many females as possible, especially inmand positions."

    "I can just imagine the recruitment posters..."

    Walterughed. "How about, ''we are looking for a few good women?''"

    "Or how about, ''one small step for woman; one giant leap for womankind...''" Bill volunteered.

    "Hey, how about this? ''To boldly go where no woman has gone before!'' Good God, Doctor, isn''t the Human Race done with all of this gender nonsense?"

    Bill patted Walter on the shoulder. "Hold on, Walter," he said.

    "You canugh about this all you want, Walter" Marc said, "but Silverman is about to issue the order."

    "Silverman?" Bill said, surprised. "You don''t mean Benjamin Silverman?"

    "Yes. He was appointed by Allie as the new Fleet Commander just a month ago. He''s well regarded by the military on both sides. Allie told me he was the only choice that was eptable to all the major powers."

    "Silverman''s a good man. He was mymanding officer during my mandatory service. Good choice."

    "Well, good choice or not, he''s the fleet admiral now, and he is about to issue this." Marc handed Bill his CC. On its screen was a Fleet Command Memo.

    Bill read it quickly and passed it on to Walter.

    After a bit, Walter looked up. "Hmm. Listen to this: ''It shall be the responsibility of allmanders whose units wille in contact with non-terrestrial personalities, entities or units, to insure two thirds of their units shall be under themand of a female officer, and this ratio shall be maintained in allmand structures, from toons or wings up to fleet-size forces.'' I wonder how he intends to enforce that."

    "You''re forgetting, ''units under a femalemander are the only units that can be assigned missions that will expressly engage non-terrestrial forces,''" Marc quoted from memory.

    "Yeah, that, too," Bill said. "Well, all I can say is, good luck to him."

    "But you agree, Bill?"

    "Sure."

    "Silverman doesn''t like it but he has no choice. The whole point of the joint military is to defend against the aliens..."

    "Not necessarily defend against..."

    "Don''t split hairs, Bill. You know what I meant. The CETI kids won''t sign off on the fleet without this, so Silverman has no choice. He did say that he wanted three things that the government has to guarantee, though."

    "Which are?"

    "That any political fallout from this will be managed by the civilian authorities, that this policy will be in force for a limited period only, and that this is not to be kept confidential since there is virtually no chance of this being kept from the public given the size of the new fleet."

    "That''s the Silverman I know! He is the best person for the job."

    "You agree?"

    "Hell yeah, I agree. Silverman''s right - no secrecy. Send amuniqu to him, and suggest the following changes: add the phrase, ''These general directives shall be in force until the current xenological crisis has passed,'' as well as ''to be strictlyplied with,'' and at the end, include the phrase, ''all inquiries regarding these directives are to be directed to the Alien Threat Assessment Command, Triton Base.''"

    "Uh, Bill," Walter said, "Alien Threat Assessment Command? There''s no such thing..."

    "I know. So you and Marc and maybe Admiral Silverman, too, should get cracking and make up this newmand right away. I suggest you start picking people from CETI you think would be appropriate to draft into the service." Bill smiled mischievously.

    "And what, pray tell, would thismand be doing?"

    "Why, to educate the military about the aliens, of course. What else? And to handle the press and to act as buffer for the military in case anyone raises an issue."

    "What else, indeed," Marc said dryly. "I better get on the phone to Allie and the admiral then."

    -----

    All these things went through Bill''s mind as he thought of what he had just seen. "Aliens are ain,''" he whispered to himself, half excited and half worried. "Woohoo..."

    The purpose of the original transmission was to get these aliens toe. And here they are. But who''d have guessed Federation and Tiros ships woulde at the same time. They thought that was virtually impossible, so no one ever nned for this. The only conclusion here was that maybe both groups found out about the transmission at the same time. And maybe one or both groups found out what the other was intending to do. It seems everyone underestimated the impression that the transmission would make... So heree the aliens, in force, racing to make sure they get dibs on the new. Theputer was probably right. Fireworks...

    Bill made the decision. He wanted to be part of the group that would be meeting up with them, but, more than that, he wanted to be in a position to influence events. And besides, this was all his fault. He''d be damned if he''d be the cause of interster war.

    He stepped to the side to let the foot traffic pass him by. He punched the speed dial for Sahsha on his chronometer - an inteary call as easy and as cheaply as any local call - something that would have been unthinkable before, but thanks to Phase-Wave, making such a call now was something that people took for granted.

    "Hey, Bill," Sahsha''s tiny image said.

    "Hi, Sahsha," Bill answered. "I got a question."

    "Shoot."

    "How do I go about getting a sex change?"

    -----

    Bill looked at his reflection in the Crystalline mirror, feeling slightly foolish in his brand new uniform. Not because of the uniform, really, since he''d worn military clothes before, but more because he was wearing shiny ck high-heel pumps and tights instead of dress shoes and socks, and a short skirt instead of pants. And the shirt and coat felt different somehow, since they were tailored to amodate his new feminine curves and bustline, with darts sewn into the blouse to amodate his bra, his newly-grown breasts and surgically-altered waistline. Still, they feltfortable enough.

    The four silver braids glinted prominently on his sleeve-cuffs,plementing the four silver stripes and blue sunburst chevron on each of his shoulder-boards: insignia of a navy captain, but in the design of the new United Earth Defense Forces Fleet.

    He adjusted his shoulder-braid and prepared for his debut. Except for a few people, no one in the CETI staff knew that he was ever in the navy. But with his new look and identity, that hardly mattered now.

    He picked up his cap and briefcase, and was turning to leave when his door swung open.

    "Hey, Bill, I - ," Jerry Singh was saying, then he caught sight of him.

    "Whoa," Jerry eximed. "You''re lookin'' real hot, Bill... I mean Mia. And nice set of threads, too... Captain." Heughed.

    Mia (she resolved to think of herself as a female from now on) made a dismissing, irritated gesture. "Alright, Jerry. Cut the crap. I don''t need you to finish off this lousy day for me." Besides the good-natured kidding, there was a lot more that had contributed to her foul mood... Hormones.

    Old man Silverman, quite aware of his appointive position, and very anxious to keep it, ran over to his de-factomander-in-chief, U.N. Secretary-General Alexandra Romarkin, and informed her of the situation. They conceded that the case in point was in fact a military situation, and is therefore off-limits to civilian interference. To allow them to interfere would endanger the delicate bnce they had been trying to maintain to keep the United Nations'' United Earth Defense Force in existence. The g officers of the new navy were very touchy as it was.

    However, First Contact was another touchy matter best handled by the most qualified person - someone who knew as much as anyone about the aliens, but had to be in the military as well, AND was even-handed at diplomacy and protocol. And it had to be a woman.

    That was how Bill, now Mia, was transferred from Reserves to active service. Silverman "epted" Bill''s proposal. Bill''s new assignment: to assumemand of task force 41/18, intercept the alien fleet, and to take steps as necessary to insure the welfare of the race. But he would do so as a woman... So goodbye, Dr. William Charles Steele. Hello, Captain Amelia Catherine Steele.

    -----

    Changing sexes had its real beginnings in the first half of the twentieth century, to address what they used to call gender identity disorder which, though it wasn''t widespread, it wasmon enough that people knew about it. This disorder was probably due to the rigid norms surrounding old twentieth and twenty-first century gender roles. In Twenty-Fourth Century Earth, though, a more rxed and tolerant society prevailed, and GID cases were very umon (at least those that weren''t gically caused).

    Still, it was easy for present-day medicine to aplish what surgeons could only dream of before. Cloning new, gicallypatible... "spare parts" was pretty straightforward nowadays, as well as surgically transnting them into people''s bodies puter-assisted micro-scalpels and other instruments made the surgery so much easier). And although creating equivalent parts in the opposite sex was slightly more difficult, it was extremely do-able, so sex-changers now had the benefit of full functionality.

    For Bill/Mias transformation, force-growing the parts needed took less than a week, and the surgical operations needed to rece his male reproductive and ndr organs with female ones even less time.

    Making Bill a functional female wasparatively straightforward. What took some effort, and the skill and artistry of skilled surgeons were the procedures to make the new Mia look believable.

    Strategic bone decalcification made Bill''s bones pliable enough that the doctors were able to change his skeletal structure into a more feminine configuration, and re-calcification permanently fixed them that way, giving Bill a permanently wide-hipped stance, along with the appropriate hip-swinging walk that men find so attractive. His wide shoulders were narrowed, his legs, arms and neck lengthened into the female ideal, his eyes were made to appearrger and his forehead made smoother, his nose made appropriately smaller, his cheekbones built up, and his chin reduced.

    Additional surgery to shave down his Adams apple and to modify his voice box (which gave him an incredibly sensual, low, but undeniably feminine voice) were thest of the major surgeries. Minor chemical and electrical skin treatments followed, which removed hair follicles where they were not wanted and left them where they were. And liquefaction and relocation of adipose cells made it easy to change his body measurements to the ideal female measurement-ratios. His now-longer (and slimmer) arms, legs and very elegant neck gave her a couple more inches in height. Her updated medical charts now had her height at six feet seven inches: her final physical attributes were now in line with BuPers design for the ideal female, which was based on the current surveys and the prevailing mores. Mia was too tall, though, but that couldnt be helped.

    The chemical and hormone treatments that followed took longer than the time it took to grow the parts,plete the surgical procedures and finish the calc/decalc & fat mobilization treatmentsbined, but they were necessary to soften his skin appropriately as well as change his muscle density closer to female configurations. In the end, all the procedures made her one of the most attractive women ever to enter military service. By design.

    Most of the scientists in CETI tended to anthropomorphize the aliens, and they argued that simr-looking species with simr needs would have simr aesthetics. (Spectral analysis of almost all of the Federation and Tiros worlds showed they had oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres in ratios simr to Earth''s, with chlorophyll-based flora in quantities simr to pre-21st-century Earth, as well as simr ambient temperatures, color spectra radiation levels, and with gravity ranges near Earth-normal.) The doctors from BuPers and BuMed thought that was a specious argument, but since studies showed that soldiers tend to more readily obey attractive people, they agreed to Bill''s "redesign."

    BuMed did insist on one final item before they would allow BuPers to clear the new woman for military service - a psychological test, conducted by the famous civilian psychotherapist, Doctor Isabe Puerrot.

    After telling the military to get her all the information they could get about Bill, as well as all the details of Bill''s transformation, the legendary doctor shut herself in her office for a day, and then afterwards asked to meet with Bill, now Mia.

    She met Mia at the Bethesda Military Medical Center, which was just a few minutes'' from Washington DC by jumper belt. There she met with Mia, who was undergoing thest of her physical therapy. During one of Mia''s therapy breaks, they indulged in small talk.

    Dr. Puerrot told Mia a riddle. "A man goes to a bar," she said, "goes to the bartender and asks for a ss of water. The bartender brings out an old-fashioned shotgun and shoots at the man. Why?"

    That basically was the extent of her evaluation. Puerrotughed with Mia at the joke, and noted down Mia''s answer.

    Before leaving the hospital grounds, Puerrot called Admiral Silverman as she waited for a taxi.

    "She passed," she told the admiral, and disconnected without any more exnation.

    Not sure how to interpret that, Silverman had her summoned to his office.

    "Mademoiselle Steele passes with flying colors, Admiral," Puerrot said in the admiral''s office. (As soon as she got out of the taxi, she was kidnapped, very nicely, and brought to the admiral.) "She is as sane as you or I, and she is adjusting well to her change. I guarantee that she will have no psychotic breaks, nor will she experience any kind of break from reality as a result of her transformation. No doubt she will have momentary difficulties from time to time, but she will get over these minor troubles quickly. And I am sure she will excel in this new journey of self, as she has always done with all the things that she has set her mind to do. She is an impressive, remarkable, brilliant, and quite attractive young woman, Admiral. Take my word for it: she can be relied upon."

    "Doctor, your exam amounted to you asking her a single question - a riddle. That''s your so-called examination?"

    "Well, that and an exhaustive review of his background, history and files. And I spent an hour in thepany of the new, lovely young woman, and I got to know her."

    Silverman sighed and gave up. "All right."

    As the doctor stood to leave, Silverman asked her a final question. "I am curious, Doctor, how did she answer the riddle anyway?"

    Puerrot smiled. "She said, ''the bartender took a shot at the man because he had the hups.''"

    "Eh? That''s it? What does that prove?"

    "Think about it, Admiral."

    She shook his hand onest time and left.

    He did think about it, and he agreed with the doctor. Silverman had also raised an eyebrow at the word "attractive," but after asking the hospital to send him some pictures and video of Miater after the doctor left his office, he had to agree with that, too.

    -----

    It was like a whirlwind. It took a week and a half to travel to Earth, a little over five weeks for the surgeries and medical procedures, and another week and a half to travel back to Triton. Just in time to meet up with Intercept Fleet 41/18. This made Mia a less-than-happy girl.

    The other reason for Mia''s foul mood was that, since she was now officially "non-civilian," she had to give up her post as a CETI member. CETI''s present policy was that, under no circumstances would any military personnel act in any capacity for CETI whatsoever. It was the only way to keep CETI free of the military''s ws.

    Bill/Mia had already found her recement in her assistant and friend, Walter Thorpe, and had already removed all of Bill''s things from his office so Walter could move in. The only thing left to do now was to tell the people.

    It was time to lift the veil of secrecy over the matter that had, in its own way, created more problems. Sure, the arrival of three space cruisers had caused more rumors than the truth, for, though it was easy to hide the departure of DSR Seeker, Hermes and Constetion down on Earth, where dozens of spacecraft arrive and depart every day, it wasn''t so easy to hide their arrival in distant Triton. But that seemed so minorpared to the uproar within the CETI organization that was caused by the drafting of Bill and several important CETI analysts.

    "Time to go now, Bill," Jerry said to her. "I mean, Mia." Jerry smiled sheepishly.

    "I guess it is," she answered her friend in her new, melodious voice, and tried to smile. She sighed and picked up her briefcase again. The other CETI anthropologists and linguists that she''d hadmissioned for the intercept fleet (which sounded better than saying she had them drafted) had gone on ahead, and it was time to join them.

    As she turned to close the door, they heard the fast tap-tap of high heels approaching. It was Sahsha. The high-heeled shoes she preferred to wear (probably to offset her height) and their tap-tap-tap was very much the trademark that the people in the base hade to know her by.

    "Mia!" she cried.

    -----

    Seeing Sahsha again was good. Bill/Mia always had to smile. Every time he saw Sahsha, he/she just had to. He''d always been attracted to the petite littledy, and perhaps his, now her, feelings for Miriam were all that was stopping him/her from pursuing the rtionship. But Miriam, after her numerous trips to the hospital to visit Bill, had made her feelings clear.

    They would always be best friends, she said, but she could never love a woman. In that way. Mia didn''t argue the point even as she hugged little David and his twin brother Peter to her and looked out her hospital room window in silence. After a while, she turned back to Miriam, eyes bright, and smiled sadly at her and nodded her eptance. Miriam''s visits tended to be short, as her spacer''s physique made her ufortable in the slightly higher Earth gravity. (It was toote for Miriam, but she was making sure her kids would not have the same problem, and brought them to Earth as often as she and Marc could as well and had their spots reserved an the school in Tritons new Spin City.)

    The sex change had made Mia give up so many things, so many rtionships, so many friendships, and her unrequited love for Miriam was one of these things. In a way, it was a good thing, because she could now close this part of her life, and allow her and Miriam to move on.

    But now that her thoughts shifted to Sahsha, she prayed that Sahsha wouldn''t be someone she would have to give up as well.

    -----

    Mia and Jerry stopped to wait for her. Mia smiled in greeting, and waved for Jerry to go on ahead.

    "The Seeker''s here," Sahsha said.

    "Yes, I know," answered Mia as they linked arms.

    "You''re leaving pretty soon, aren''t you?"

    "Yup. Just going over to Main Mission now, to watch Jerry make the announcement."

    They walked inpanionable silence for a while.

    "Youre going to miss... Miriam, aren''t you?" she said suddenly, breaking the silence.

    Mia stopped and turned her around. "Hey, what is this?" she asked and lifted her chin, a faint smile flitting across her lips. "Don''t tell me you''re jealous. Nothing''s going on between me and Miriam and I. We''re just friends."

    "No, I''m not," Sahsha said defiantly, turning her too-bright eyes on her. Bill could always read her like an open book, an ability she sometimes loved and sometimes hated, and Mia was no different. "I''m not," Sahsha repeated.

    Mia ced her hands gently on her shoulders. "Yes, I''ll miss her," she said, and bent down to kiss her softly on the lips. "But, I''ll miss you, too. Even as I am now. Very much."

    "Oh, Mia," she cried softly and wrapped her arms around her neck.

    "Hey," she said, "It''s not as if I''m noting back." She rubbed her back gently, soothing her. "Lighten up a little, huh?" She pulled her into her arms.

    Passers-by raised their eyebrows in curiosity but they both ignored them.

    The Base P.A. suddenly boomed to life, breaking their shared moment of intimacy. They needed Mia in Main Mission, the voice said.

    Wordlessly, they turned, still holding hands, and walked in the direction of Main Mission, each wrapped in private thoughts.

    -----

    After Jerry''s presentation, Mia stood in front of Main Mission''s master console, her back to therge Mission Screen. At least Main Mission''s been cleared of those uniformed jokers, she thought, and addressed the whole of CETI. She looked around for Miriam and Marc, but they had said their good-byes already. Probably didn''t want to be there.

    All the people in Main Mission were friends, and she could count on them keeping his/her... change secret. Though she knew that wouldn''t be for long, and it would eventually leak out. Mia just wanted to make sure the ships would already be out before the story leaked.

    "Many of you," she began, her face and voice reaching her people through the P.A., "have no doubt been hearing some rumors flying around for some time, by now. Well, let me put all of them to rest."

    She then gave them a short summary of the discovery of the alien spacecraft, adding to the information Jerry gave, the spacecrafts'' probable origins and intentions, and that they were less than three months away from Neptune. She told them about the three ships that had just arrived from Earth and their mission orders. And then she told them about the role she was about to y.

    "Few of you know that I was formerly with the Navy, as an officer in the American space fleet, working with the Allies, and that I fought in the Asteroid Wars. But that was a long time ago, and I resigned from active duty. Now, this emergency hase up, and the Secretary-General has seen it fit to draft me back into active service  In the form you see me in now."

    There was a lot of murmuring. The people had already found out what had been done to Bill, and therge turnout was partly because of the curiosity they had about the new female Dr. Steele.

    "Let me first tell you that I volunteered for this change, she continued. All of you know why it was necessary. But know also that I was not forced into this. I did so willingly. I hope this doesn''t affect your perception of me. I am still the same person, except for the obvious changes, of course." She humorously gestured at herself, especially at her new chest. Mostughed with the new Mia - who still had the same wry humor that Bill was known for. Many were pleased to know that underneath it all, it was still Bill.

    "I''d like you to keep this quiet for now, she said. I don''t mean that you should keep it secret - just don''t tell anyone anything unless they ask." She paused a bit as many nodded in agreement. "Now, on to the main subject - as I have just said, I have been ordered to takemand of intercept fleet 41/18 as soon as possible, and because of this, I have to leave CETI. I have therefore appointed Dr. Walter Thorpe to take over in my behalf." She gestured for Walter to join her in front.

    "So," she continued, "Starting now, direct your wonderful little problems to him. I am now officially resigned.

    "My best to you all. And my heartfelt thanks."

    She put on her uniform cap. It was a significant gesture - a punctuation.

    In front of everyone, Mia shook Walter''s hand. "Congrattions, Walter. And good luck." She gave him a friendly sock on the shoulder and a light kiss on the cheek, and then walked out of Main Mission.

    "Bill," Walter said softly, but Bill/Mia didn''t turn around as everyone followed her with their eyes as she left.

    "Bye, Bill... I mean, Mia..."

 Chapter 7: Back To Normal, Sort Of…

    Chapter 7: Back To Normal, Sort Of��

    Bill stepped into the "Mud Turtle" shuttle - one of many in Seeker''splement, and was met by the little ship''s co-pilot.

    "Hello, ensign."

    "Good day, Captain. Wee to Seeker shuttle oh-four. Ill bring you over to the Seeker."

    She wondered where Mike, Pedro and the other CETI specialists she had requisitioned were in all of this. She hoped they were okay.

    The flight to the Seeker was uneventful, and they entered Seeker''s deck without a hitch.

    Mia surveyed therge pressurized bay through the shuttle''s window as she waited to get out. The Seeker''s fleet of fighters were in various states of disrepair. Streamlined fusges were cracked open, exposing their inner mechanisms like metal and stic intestines. People in protective clothing scurried from one machine to another.

    The bay itself was also undergoing furious repairs, as was the whole ship. The telltale shes ofser welding bounced off the deck and curved ceiling as technicians hastened to rece worn out or outmoded fixtures and equipment.

    The whole Seeker was, in fact, outmoded, a veteran of the Third World War. An outdated battlewagon. It could clearly be seen in its streamlined, aerodynamic silhouette. It was one of the fewrge-scale spacecraft still flying that were designed to be able to operate in atmospheric conditions as well as in the vacuum of space.

    The lines of the new spacecraft under construction were however radically different from Seeker because, with the now-widespread use of force fields, streamlining was not necessary anymore, as force fields can be tuned to react like a streamlined hull in atmosphere. Besides incorporating force fields and thetest space drives and gravity generators like the FTL stardrive engines designed by the year-old Propulsion Research Commission, or PRC, current ships all looked like massive conglomerations of bulky and awkward modules and living sections, whose designers only concession to anything approaching streamlining were considerations for off-axis tangential stress loads and off-axis thrust (A good spacecraft, after all, had to be maneuverable and be able to stand up to all the possible gyrations and maneuvers itsmander would see fit to put it through, and not just be air-tight.).

    To a very noticeable extent, this type of thinking now extended to most other space vehicles, even those which, as a necessary part of their function, had to operate in both air and space. Although these ships were very effective, they could not be called beautiful.

    The Seeker and its squadron of twenty-five Shrike fighters, plus a smallerplement of Mud Turtle shuttles and troop carriers, did not share this design preference. They were holdovers from a time when people were still "Earth-minded" - as well as being efficient in vacuum conditions, they were also sleek, fast and efficient in the air, looking more like metal birds of prey than spacecraft.

    The new fleet craft under construction had the newly-developed supra-light FTL engines of the Propulsion Research Commission, or PRC - the new U.N. body formed to create a working design for a faster-than-light propulsion system. It was something of a miracle that the project was working so well. Mia knew from her experience with CETI that it was all a question of the best minds in the System working together with a single goal. In fact, half the fleet was already finished and just undergoing final assembly or shakedown, and the rest were in their final stages of manufacture.

    Even so, none of them, except the Constetion and Hermes, were avable for this little shindig. So the top brass did the next best thing: Intercept fleet 41/18 wasposed of the tworge "Inter-system Defense Craft" (a long-winded way of saying they were sub-lights) - the Constetion and Hermes, and supplemented with a third Legacy ship - the old DSR Seeker. It was a matter of beggars not being choosers.

    Hermes'' and Constetion''s bulky, ugly facades contrasted greatly with Seeker''s. As new ships, they didn''t need refits. Not so with the Seeker.

    From what she saw in the shuttle''s windows as they flew in, the refit being undertaken on the Seeker was quite an extensive one. During her short flight up, she saw the engine sections half torn off. It hinted at the radical changes being done, and it bothered Mia.

    She''d seen the original blueprints for the Seeker''s redesign, and they didn''t seem to match the changes now being made. For example, there was an engine pod behind each of the two wings, which were not supposed to be there.

    -----

    Havingnded in the hangar without incident, they got the all clear and she got out and waited by the shuttle hatch. She smiled her thanks as the shuttle crew disembarked and left to file their report.

    She waited for some sort of a receptionmittee for some time, dodging maintenance people busy securing and checking out the shuttle, but she was bing bored. She went looking for them instead. Mia started osting ratings and some ensigns who didn''t look so busy to direct her to Commander O''Connell.

    At Mia''s polite question, Petty officer second ss Cassel looked up from the recalcitrant valve she was helping a spacer weld into ce. She wiped her sweaty brow with her greasy forearm, and gestured down a corridor.

    "Themander''s down in Propulsion, sir, with Yardmaster Collins," she said. "Just follow the signs."

    "Thank you," she said, and went through the corridor. Curious eyes followed her out.

    When the lift doors opened to the Propulsion Section, or moremonly known as the Engine Room, she was not surprised to find it a shambles. Tornponents were ripped out of the walls and littered the deck. Exposed ducts and pipes hung loose from the ceiling and trailed wires and cables, which made a spaghetti-like mess on the deck, making the already confusing helter-skelter of workmen and equipment even more chaotic.

    At first, Mia thought that the room was open to space. She nervously looked around for a pressure suit, but it took a second nce for her to recognize Crystalline shields snapped over the hull. Through the transparent metal she could see a space tug hauling an engine section away, and another tug towing another toward the ship. Mia recognized the section as the coil assembly of an FTL antigravity engine, but it sported odd lumps and projections she didn''t recognize.

    Mia looked around and picked out O''Connell by her stripes. She was in a heavy discussion with the yardmaster and Marta Running-stream, the old civilian systems specialist who was now confined to a wheelchair because of some lingering after-effects of radiation exposure.

    Marta was one of the few that couldnt ept cloned body parts, and though cybeic recements had been in existence for two hundred years now, Marta would not consent to having them attached to her body. Even though these artificial limbs and organs have helped thousands of unfortunates shorn of their limbs, the Propulsion Research Commission''s top engineer disdained them, and contented herself with getting around in her wheelchair.

    Her frail form belied her inner strength. She was a full-blooded American Hopi Indian, and was fond of pointing that out. There weren''t many around these days. And those who knew her felt she still had the strength and tenacity her people were reputed to have.

    At the moment, she was exercising her ancestral gift for colorfulnguage on the Commander and Yardmaster Collins.

    "I believe it is idiotic," she was saying heatedly, "to just stop construction so that you can follow a set of silly blueprints. We''re almost through. Isn''t that enough?"

    "Doctor, I - ,"

    "With all due respect, Commander," Marta interrupted, "you gave Commander Collinsplete authority over the refit. And I requested the Commander to allow a few changes to the design. He has so agreed."

    "I am amenable to a few changes, Doctor, but these," she gestured around her, "are hardly ''a few changes.'' With the major adjustments that we have made to the timetable to be able to amodate your ''few changes,'' we''re now behind schedule by a day. I''m sure that when Captain Steele arrives, she will be greatly less than pleased."

    The clearing of a throat behind them made them all turn around. Marta smiled. "Speak of the devil," Marta said. "Here he is now. Hi, Bill. Dammit! Mia! I meant Mia!"

    Mia leaned down and gave Marta an affectionate peck on the cheek. "Hello, Marta," Mia said. She turned to Commander Elizabeth O''Connell and smiled, acknowledging their salutes. "Hello, Commander. d to meet you atst." She extended her hand. Permission toe aboard.

    O''Connell shook her hand. "Granted, Captain. My apologies for not being able to meet you earlier, as well as not being able to meet you as you came aboard." She gestured at the bay. "We are rather busy."

    "So I see," Mia smiled. She gave O''Connell a fast appraisal. O''Connell was tall and willowy, still young - about her age, quite the opposite of the female line officers the academies turn out. Her face was fair, pretty, and was surrounded by a nimbus of ash-blonde, almost white hair. Her grip was strong and firm. And from the expression on her face, it was obvious that she took Mias presence with something less than delight.

    Mia could sympathize with her. After all, who would want to have hermand taken away from her? Mia knew that she was the outsider here, and decided to tread very carefully.

    "Is there some difficulty?" she asked. O''Connell deferred to Marta.

    "Not on the technical side, Bill... Mia," Marta said. "You can rest assured on that ount. It''s more of an administrative problem."

    "A difference of opinion, really, Captain," O''Connell said. "Between us and the doctor."

    "Well," Mia said, "if it''s going to hold us up more, you''d better update me. We''re behind schedule as it is."

    "Well, the problem is - ," Marta started but was interrupted by O''Connell.

    "The problem, O''Connell said, is what you see out there." She pointed through the temporary Crystalline barrier, to the torn hull of Seeker and the new engine section being jockeyed into position outside.

    "The refit n that my crew has been trying to implement for the past six months was a n to convert the Seeker into an inter-system cruiser. The engine section was to be left mostly alone. Look at that thing."

    "I see what you mean," Mia said, and turned to Marta. "Commander O''Connell makes perfect sense, Marta. What do you have to say?"

    "On the contrary, Mia," Marta answered. "If the refit design was kept to the original n in the first ce, then I guess themander is correct.

    "But the present situation is not that way anymore. The refit has been modified ording to my specifications, and we''re about ny percent through. But if we suddenly turned around now and started doing it the way themander wants it done, it will take twenty times as long as the time it would take to finish up construction the way it is."

    Marta raised a hand against O''Connells rising protests. "Alright, alright, I freely admit that what I did was pretty dirty, tricking you and Commander Collins. But we do have an emergency on our hands. You can sue meter." Marta smiled feebly.

    Mia paused for a moment and thought it over.

    "Commander," she said finally, "I believe that the situation has quite tied up our hands, and anything we may decide here will be purely academic. It seems that there is only one course of action open to us now, and that is to continue the redesign. Deciding who is responsible now is futile, and is a waste of time best spent on other more important things. There will be time enough for thatter."

    O''Connell stood stiffly. "Is that to be taken as an order, sir?"

    Mia raised an eyebrow. "If you like, you can, as Marta says, ''sue meter.''"

    "Aye, sir." O''Connell saluted smartly and stiffly strode out of Engineering, and on her way to the bridge.

    Collins turned as if to follow but winced when he was called back.

    "Commander," Mia called, "A word, if you please."

    Collins reluctantly turned back. "Aye, sir," he said.

    "How well is the construction going? I want to be brought up to date."

    "As well as can be expected, sir," he answered. "Most of the major stuff''s finished, like the doctor says. Except for the fixtures and fittings, and packing away everything, and so forth, only that," he said, "and the fighters are the only major things left."

    He looked undecided for a moment and then pulled out a fat binder from under his arm. No time to beat around the bush, he thought. "The problem, sir, is that the redesign is so - how should I say it - so drastic, that half of the changes haven''t been run through the ship''sputer. In fact, the brain itself and all the cybeic systems are new and still unfamiliar to the crew."

    He pped the binder of holo sheets in his hand. "If you find yourselves in a real pickle, a major blowout in the ship, you won''t even know what to repair or rece, and if you did, odds are that theputer won''t be able to help you at all."

    He looked at Marta. "I''m not trying to be difficult, Doctor, but I don''t know how to do all that you''re asking, and still stay on schedule. Half my crew is running around trying to figure out just what it is that they''re supposed to be doing. Look."

    Collins opened his binder of holo-sheets. Notations and penciled-in corrections and scribbling filled the margins, and most of the schematics themselves (the main reason Collins carried around the binder instead of a pad). "Just look at this. This is the n for the cont flow in the FTL modules we''re interfacing with Seeker''s old system. These charts are off the original specs of the FTL. But with that monstrosity," he pointed out the window, "we''ve had to redesign the whole thing as we go along.

    "My people are the best, Captain, and Dr. Running-stream''s assured me that she has the budget for it, and the Quartermaster''s Office has a lot of spares. But we still need to have ns to work from."

    Mia looked at him. "Any ideas how we can speed things up?" she asked.

    Collins shook his head. "Sure, I do. Like I said, we need honest-to-goodness ns. With real blueprints I guarantee that we''ll finish the thing in half the time. And if you can give us ten more systems specialists who can help us encode the changes into the on-boardputer''s database, we''ll finish even faster."

    Mia made a quick decision, and pulled out hermputer (or CC) - abination stylus screen, database interface,municator andputer - standard equipment for Armed Forces personnel - and thumbed the switch.

    "Get me Triton Center Seventeen. Doctor Walter Thorpe," she said into the box, to a young lieutenant at the other end. After a short while, Walter''s face came on the screen.

    "Hello, Walter. Can''t talk now. We have an emergency. Can you do me a favor?"

    "Mia, I - ,"

    "I need to borrow twenty cybeics specialists familiar with the..."

    "EDS-200," supplied Collins supplied.

    "...the EDS-200puter system. I think that''s a bit rted to the -361 we have in the base, so we have no problem there. Can you loan them to me?"

    "Jesus, Mia, you know my hands are tied. I"

    "Don''t quote me regtions, Walter. I wrote them in the first ce. And I know I''m being unfair. But we''re desperate. Can you help us?"

    Walter stared at her for a moment and then said, "All right, Mia. I''ll get twenty from the night shift people for you. I''ll get them on the pad, but you better get them back to me within ten hours, okay? Otherwise, you talk to the union."

    Mia nodded and smiled. "Walt, you''re a life-saver. Thanks. I owe you one."

    Walter smiled. "Don''t think I''m not keeping count. Endit."

    Mia got the lieutenant back and asked for O''Connell. "Send a shuttle to Triton Center Seventeen to pick up twenty civilians," Bill said to themander, "right away. Theyll be waiting."

    "Aye, sir."

    Mia switched off and turned back to Collins. "How long do you think it will take to finish up now, Commander?"

    "Sir? About forty hours, sir."

    "Commander, you now have ten."

    "Sir!" Collins eximed indignantly.

    "Well do the cleaning-up, Commander. Just get the major stuff done. Those ns you spoke of - we''ll get them to you within the hour. Marta, I''ll need your help. Let''s go to my quarters, wherever those might be."

    -----

    Commander Elizabeth O''Connell paced the bridge in irritation.

    "Lieutenant," she said, "prepare a troop carrier to pick up a party of twenty at Triton Seventeen. Inform the pilot that they''ll be waiting on the pad."

    "Aye, sir."

    "Damn her, she thought as she walked back and forth on the deck. Who does she think she is? Still she had to follow orders. To be fair, maybe the Captain''s under orders, too. But she still remembered Fleet Admiral Silverman''s call that fateful day, and could remember each word verbatim, with anger and frustration.

    "Captain," she recalled Silverman saying over the bridge''s main screen, "first of all, I would like to apologize for what I am about to say. The Defense Council has decided, and there is nothing I can do about it.

    "New orders will be transmitted to your ship, but I would like to tell you the main points of your new orders personally. One, you are to make for Neptune Outpost Three, and pick up a special consignment of cargo and technicians to help you in your current refit and shakedown. Two, you are then to set course for Phobos Orbital Station twenty-eight to rendezvous with cruisers Hermes and Constetion. Together with your ship, DSR Seeker, they will make up intercept fleet 41/18, whose mission is to intercept, possibly repel a hostile fleet of alien vessels that is on course for the Sr System. You will then proceed to Neptune Three. During the trip to Neptune, the special group of technicians that you will be picking up will perform further updates and modifications on your ship and all equipment on board.

    "Upon docking, Seeker will undergo more modifications. Do not take offense, Captain, but we would not have chosen the Seeker for this mission  a ship that, we believe, is very much out of date. We would have preferred the new ships like the Constetion and Hermes, but you are the only other cruiser that is avable and capable.

    "It is for this reason that she will undergo drastic redesign and refit. Yardmaster Collins and some people from the Propulsion Research Commission will be ready for your arrival. It better be fast, Captain. You will have very little time avable."

    Silverman seemed to hesitate. "Captain Amelia Steele is to takemand of the intercept force. Shes a veteran of the Asteroid Wars and an expert on the aliens. She will be there waiting, ready to takemand of the intercept gship. That will be the Seeker."

    O''Connell realized what wasing next.

    "You will undergo temporary grade reduction tomander. You will be Seeker''s first officer, and act as exec to Captain Steele."

    She then remembered the shocked silence on the bridge.

    "The specific details will apany your orders, Captain," Silverman said. "Questions?"

    "Uh, none, sir," she had blurted.

    "All right, then, transmitting your orders now. And I''m sorry, Captain."

    She remembered ordering a course change for the outpost, turning the con over to her exec, and walking out of the bridge.

    She had taken it all on the chin then, and neverined. But if this upstart thinks she can order me and my ship around like this and expect me to sit still for it, she has something elseing. I''ll show her, she thought. I''ll show them all.

    -----

    Finding Mia''s cabin wasn''t as difficult as they thought. She and Marta were pointed to the right direction by some helpful ratings. Many of them were out helping with the refit and, perhaps, waiting for a chance to get a look at the new captain. A good thing that the order came from Silverman himself. This crew could have mutinied.

    Mia closed the door behind Marta and took a first look at her new quarters. It was formerly the quartermaster''s cabin, who had had to be bumped off to other lessfortable quarters. The bulkheads showed signs of recent work. New lockers were riveted to the wall and them set andputer terminals had been converted to a shipmander''s set - with facilities to connect her to the bridge, to the mainputer, to tap into the ship-wide inte, and all the other facilities a captain might need that werent avable in other cabins.

    Inside the bathroom, new fixtures reced the old ones, and thevatory and shower were converted to grav and non-grav ones so she could take care of business whether the gravity tes were on or on the blink. Inside the lockers hung new sets of uniforms with proper sizes and nametags, as well as her new pressure suit.

    Since her suit was here, she assumed that the apanying outer shell - her battle-armor suit - had also been brought in, and was probably down in the main airlock lockers. Mia could have hardly done with someone else''s. Space suits and armor are always tailor-made to their users and, as expected, most spacers be attached to their suits.

    She dropped her attach case on the bed and sat on the edge facing Marta.

    "All right, Marta," she said. "Now you are going to tell me what the hell you''ve been up to."

    Marta rolled her chair up against the wall facing Mia. "Okay, Mia," she said, "or can I still call you Bill?" She looked Mia up and down, smiling. "I have to say, you really look good as a girl. Too darn tall, though." She leaned down and whispered mock-conspiratorially, "Does everything, you know, work?"

    Mia held in herughter, although just barely, and tried to look at her old friend with her most stern look.

    Marta made a patting gesture. "All right, all right. Simmer down. I know what I did was wrong."

    "Will you tell me why you did it?"

    "It''s very simple, really. Okay, let''s start from the beginning. You know what''s been happening at the PRC, don''t you?" she said, referring to the Propulsion Research Commission.

    "I''ve heard you''ve been having some words with the othermissioners," Mia answered. "Budget appropriations, I take it?"

    "Well, partly yes. You must be familiar with the basic FTL engine design by now. We got the design ideas from your Phase-Wave audio and video intercepts, as you know. It''s been a bit like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle. A clue here, a hint there. After a while, we got a fairlyplete picture of how their engines work, and we''ve been able to improve on it by a great deal with our own FTL.

    "The principle of the Earth FTL engine was simr to the Elyran drive concept. In the Elyran drive, artificial gravity generators set up a constantly increasing gravity field at the rear of the ship, propelling it at a constantly increasing speed in the opposite direction of the gravity waves. There were, however, several practical problems."

    Mia knew about those problems. The main one was that during eleration to light speed, the constant increase in eleration meant a constant increase in on-board gravity. In a short time, the passengers as well as the ship would be smashed t. The same problems existed on deceleration below light-speed. Half of the travel time would have to be taken up by deceleration as the field is reversed, and still the ship would be smashed, but this time in the opposite direction.

    And once light speeds were reached, there would also be problems with time dtion and the safe passage of the ship through space. Hyperspace was a strange universe where seemingly impossible things came into being, where tachyons and other invisible particles became deadly physical dangers, where X-ray stars and neutron stars became visible, and where dark holes in space became real dangers. And where spacecraft often vanish without a trace.

    The Elyrans handled this by totally cocooning their ships in a separate bubble of gravity. The bubble maintained a constant non-variable gravity field for the passengers. They also extended a separate force field of sufficient strength hundreds of thousands of kilometers in front of them to stop or deflect cosmic debris that might cause damage to the ship.

    The good thing about it was that these generators, which the PRC engineers copied, produced an isting effect within the field, isting them from the effects of the field itself, and the warped space it generated around it. It therefore transported the ship and its upants encased in their own unchanged rtivistic space and time, and thereby kept their rtive time in the same constant rate as when they started their journey. The upshot of it was that there was no problem with time dtion. But, it made the time it took to travel a variable one.

    Earth''s own FTL system incorporated all these principles but with key differences that brought them to unparalleled efficiency. For example. instead of creating a separate field to oppose the main field''s effects, the Earth system extended the main field over the entire ship, including the other smaller gravity field, so that it didn''t take that much power to maintain a down-is-down orientation for the upants, and to maintain rtivistic equilibrium.

    Earthpeople had known of artificial gravity for some time and, with the knowledge gleaned from Phase-Wave intercepts, they had made gravity maniption more efficient: As well as creating it, new devices attached to Earth generators were now able to absorb inertial energy and turn it to radiant energy. Deceleration was no longer necessary. Travel time was therefore cut in half. And despite what was essentially going full stop, the passengers arent mashed to pulp since the inertia and rtivistic mass disappears - the inertia converters convert the inertia of the entire ship including contents, which includes the passengers and crew. True, there were some limitations to this inertia conversion technology, but the concept of reaction mass has be irrelevant, at least on Earth ships.

    And, with their expertise inputer technology and the use of Phase-Wave, Earth interster navigation technology was now several generations ahead of the Federation. Plus, with their expertise inary engineering, energy generation and synthetic-food production, they were more than equal to their extraterrestrial counterparts.

    "I know," Mia said, continuing their conversation, "that you''ve made enormous strides in your research. Just the same, what has that got to do with our present problem?"

    "Well, you know that the Commission''s been pressured to settle down on a final design. That''s the FTL system. I and a few of the othermissioners have, however, argued that the FTL could be improved, by an unprecedented factor of two, maybe even four or six. Of course, the othermissioners voted that down. Too much money and too little time, they said. Even our sit-down strike didn''t change the situation. That was why we were at Outpost Three, you know."

    Mia tapped her fingers on the metal bedside table impatiently.

    "I still don''t get it," she said.

    "Don''t you see, Mia?" Marta said. "The Fleet''s done. No way out of that, now. Like Hermes and Constetion and their sister ships, all the others will be carrying FTL engines. But when the Navy approached us to refit the Seeker, we thought of it as our chance. They only wanted a sub-light cruiser but we''re going to give them something more." The corners of Marta''s eyes wrinkled as she giggled. "By the time we finish with her, she''s gonna be the fastest ship in the gxy.

    Mia thought it over a moment. "Does the Defense Council know what you''re doing?" she asked.

    "Are you kidding? Do you think they would let me do it if they knew?"

    A slow smile spread across Mia''s new face.

    "Okay, Marta," she said. "Let''s do it. If only to bug the Navy."

    They bothughed, and soon they were into a deep discussion about the redesign.

    Almost twenty-four hours had passed - fourteen hours beyond Mias self-imposed ten-hour deadline - when Mia followed the shuttle containing Marta and Walters borrowed systems specialists back to Triton Seventeen with satisfied eyes. Walter was fairly screaming then. But never mind. The job was done, and Walter would forgive her in time.

    She, Marta and the crew of Seeker had done the job. She was still a sub-light, but when they got all the subsystems up and running, she''d be the fastest ship in the Fleet. There''d be time enough for that during the months it would take to reach the rendezvous point.

    "Time?" she asked Commander O''Connell.

    "Seventy-two hours behind schedule, in total," she frowned. And still no shakedown time, she added silently.

    "Then we''d better set for departure. Helmsman, all moorings away. Fire all maneuvering thrusters, spool up the flywheels, and get us to free space."

    "Aye-aye, sir." The helmsman started flicking switches and grabbed the steering controls.

    Thrusters fired and he eased the sleek battle cruiser out of its docking bay cor. The huge internal flywheels,mon to old battlewagons like Seeker, spun and bnced the ship as it turned.

    "Free and clear, sir," the helmsman said.

    "Good. Synchronize with Hermes and Constetion, punch in our course, and engines at optimum."

    "Aye. Courseid in and engines powering up. Ship starting eleration."

    "Steady as she goes."

    "Steady as she goes, aye-aye."

    They were finally on their way.

 Chapter 8: When It Rains, It Pours

    Chapter 8: When It Rains, It Pours

    Tasha looked at the Plotputer, and stared at a group of dots moving across the screen.

    "What are they?" she asked the pilot-navigator.

    "Detterex and Tirosian vermin, My Lady," the pilot answered. "We have been tracking them ever since we crossed the edge of the Federation boundary, but it is only now that we have be sure of them. We thought that they were just interference, but as we went into deceleration, the picture has be clear. They are Empire spacecraft, beyond a doubt."

    Tasha nodded slowly.

    The bridge''s ess tube dted and Ren stepped out. Tasha turned and gave him a brief smile. Ren came over and stood by her.

    "There are further problems, My Lady," Reena was saying.

    "Continue, Pilot."

    "My Lady, Astrogation says that, ording to their calctions, the enemy will be emerging into sub-light at approximately the same area and time that we will. Obviously, they n to intercept us."

    Tasha thought awhile. "Their spies are very good," she was saying to herself. "We must keep tighter security at the pce." She looked up from the Plot screen. "When do we be ship-maneuverable, Pilot?"

    "In a short while, My Lady. I cannot be exact as to the time. The Chief Engineer says that the drive fields are fluctuating because of the long trip."

    -----

    "Ship-maneuverability" was the term they used when a spacecrafts speed was low enough that rtivity effects were negligible, when the ship bes maneuverable again and course changes can be made. It was also when short-to-medium range navigation systems start working, and EVAs became possible again.

    The problem had to do with the effect of time dtion. Even as early as the twenty-first century, Earth had been aware of such problems, which was why their old-style global positioning system satellites had to have timing adjustments. Of course, these were very minor things - minute fractions of seconds  and such minor problems were easily managed. But at higher velocities, the discrepancies berger, enough that they would cause interaction problems within the timingponents ofputer or electronic systems, and problems with the time perception of pilots, just enough to case errors in judgment.

    It was therefore important for ships to transition to and from light speed quickly, and to avoid maneuverings during these transition speeds. But once they hit the speed of light and are able to engage their FTL drives, these problems disappear because their drives would iste the ship and everything inside from time dtion.

    For the Federation and Empire, they pinned this at 0.4C. As for Earth ships, Earthpeople estimate this to be at about 0.6C,rgely because of betterpensating systems and better atomic clocks (at this point, this was still an estimate since their ships had yet to attain velocities approaching light speed).

    In any case, ship-maneuverable speed was the speed where onboard systems and time perception are not too affected by time dtion that maneuvering and short-rangems were still safe or possible.

    -----

    Tasha nodded at the pilotsment and thumbed a switch. "Wing Marshal," she said, and an aged warrior came on the screen.

    "Yes, My Princess," she said as she brushed silver-streaked hair from her eyes.

    "We will be ship-maneuverable soon, Marshal. Make sure your pilots are prepared forunching."

    "Yes, My Princess. All will be in readiness."

    Tasha turned to her bridge crew. "Prepare all batteries and issue sidearms to all hands. And prepare my personal ship. I shall be leading the attack wing myself."

    Ren gasped and reached for her. She batted his hand away irritatedly. Tasha turned to the pilot.

    "Send a signal to our other ships as we be ship-maneuverable, and have them make simr preparations."

    "Yes, My Lady."

    Ren was pulling on her sleeve. "Tasha, no. Let them do the fighting. It is improper for ,"

    "Ren!" she cried, and turned to look at everyone. The bridge personnel were looking away, embarrassed. Even the pilot was pretending to study the Plot screen.

    She turned back to Reena. "I shall be in my quarters, Pilot. Inform me of any new developments."

    "Yes, My Lady."

    She turned to Ren. "Husband! Attend." They left the bridge in silence.

    -----

    As she turned to lock the door to their quarters, she said, "do not do that again." She unhooked her belt and dress-sword and threw them into a corner.

    "Tasha -," Ren said.

    "You will not embarrass me again," Tasha said. "Ever."

    "Tasha," Ren said again, pleading.

    "I took you along with the understanding that you would not make a nuisance of yourself. I told you that there may be fighting. And you agreed."

    Ren bowed his head, almost sobbing. "Yes, My Princess. I will remember."

    Tasha looked at his stricken form, and her anger softened. "No, my dearest," she said as she took him into her arms. "Do not cry. I understand. But you know I must do this. I must. A princess of the blood cannot do otherwise."

    "I know, I know," Ren said, crying, "But I am afraid."

    "Hush, my dearest."

    Ren pulled back and wiped away his tears. "Ever since our marriage, when I surrendered my being to you in the Eternal Bond, I have given up any hope of living if ever you should be taken away from me." He looked into her eyes, those beautiful sapphire eyes that he loved so much. "Please do not do this."

    A little of Tasha''s anger returned, and her arms around Ren tightened slightly.

    "It is good that you remember the Bond that is between us," she said. "Do not force me, Ren."

    "I won''t." Ren kissed her softly on the lips. He smiled shyly, looking into her eyes. "Tasha? Do you want to? Tonight?"

    Tasha smiled and slowly started to undo the jeweled buttons of his shirt. She leaned down, rubbed her cheek against the fine hairs on his chest, and allowed him to lead her to the bed.

    She opened the psychic link between them, and was answered by a wave of passion. She swooned with the intensity of it.

    the Elyran Rites of Marriage were very old ones, so shrouded in antiquity and thousands of generations of Elyran custom, that none could find the beginnings of the Rites. For Bridges, part of the Rites was the Consummation of the Bond, where psychic links are opened and hold the couple together, stronger than any physical chain ever could.

    The Bond teaches emotional dependence of one Bridge to the other, for the physical and emotional closeness is so intense that, oftentimes, one cannot live without her partner. That was why warriors were forbidden to marry until they retired. Royalty were exempted, of course.

    In normal pance, in the Bond, the more dominant of the two is called the "bridge," and this is usually the female partner. It was probably because of this that Elyran society became a female-dominated one, though with the arrival of the Great Teacher (some priestesses would call her the Messiah), Elyran civilization slowly moved away from such bigotry.

    However, not all Elyrans were really bridges. Only about five percent of the poption were real bridges, and these were mostly royalty.

    A real "bridge" is able to extend a kind of control over her partner, but to extend full control would greatly traumatize him, often sending him into insanity or suicidal shame. The degree of trauma was often as strong as the depth of the psychic hold of the "bridge."

    Tasha was so deep into Ren''s soul that she never held him so strongly to her will, for it would surely mean his death.

    Yet Ren was one of the few - a male "bridge." Male bridges were considered rare, and their favors were fiercelypeted for. But Ren was also handsome and intelligent, and a prince of the blood. Many of the royal family made a bid for him, including the princess Mara Dorian-Kerr, but it was Tasha, a ymate and friend from his childhood days that he picked.

    If he were to be given away, he thought, it might as well be to her as anyones. It was for this that the aging feud between the Northern Kingdom and the Great ins was given a new cause for dispute.

    On the day of the Consummation of their Bond, as Ren opened his psychic gates to Tasha, for the first time in his life Ren felt a power stronger than his: a bridge stronger than him. Tasha tore his barriers down like flimsy pieces of tissue, and he wasid bare to her like an open book.

    For him, as well as for her, it was the beginning of a voyage of discovery. Before her, he never knew how it was to be one, truly be one, with another. And he knew that it could only be this way with Tasha. What was conceived of as a marriage of convenience became a true one. And what he thought of as just a ymate of his youth, he now saw with different eyes.

    True, the dangers of the Bond to the lesser partner were many, but so were there many dangers to the dominant bridge.

    The bridge-to-bridge Bond could only be broken by the death of one, and a partner''s death is as traumatic as it could ever be for the other. It was akin to having a part of her soul torn from her. And the intensity of the pain was as strong as the depth of the link, and Tasha and Ren''s Bond was as deep as any in the royal family. The only way to endure the pain would be to open a bond with another. Any Bond with any other. Though the results of such a union were often thought of as futile since the soul lost to madness have never been redeemed, except in legend.

    -----

    Tasha and Ren''s excitement increased as they undressed each other, their fingers scrambling to undo buttons, and, as shey naked on top of Ren, Tashapleted the link.

    The opening of a link often brought with it sexual excitement, the link amplifying every sensation to an unparalleled peak. Any other form of sex would pale inparison. This was also one of the reasons why Elyrans were always monogamous in their amorous liaisons.

    Tasha reached for Ren with her feelings, and was answered with his own fiery passions. As she took Ren in the old, ancient way, and the waves of sensual fire spiraled upward and upward, Ren cried out and gushed into her. And as they both reached their peaks in ecstasy, she smiled inwardly, to know that only she, she alone, could bring Ren to this most intense of pleasures.

    -----

    The crew made way for him, as Lord Norga strode along the Defiant''s corridors. Being a Detterex, Norga looked much like an Elyran, though of courserger and taller than any Elyran ever could be. Solid-ck eyes red at passing crew-people and his three-fingered hand gripped his dress-sword as if he was about to cut them down.

    Though he was not of the royal blood, he was given the privileges of royalty. For he was mate to the princess, Lady Arvan, and that exined much.

    Princess Arvan, the eldest child and therefore the heiress to the most powerful family of the royal Detterex n, ruled with an iron hand. Most of those around her on the bridge gave her a wide berth, and spoke most softly and carefully, for her subjects feared her.

    Like most Detterex royalty, she was brutal, domineering and ruthless, secure in the knowledge of her royal birthright. This also extended to her close personal rtionships. She had gone through seven partners already, some were bridges like her, and was as ruthless with them as with anyone else. All seven came out insane, their Bonds with the princess almost tearing up their psyches. To be linked with her was akin to torture; no rape was as fundamental as the power she held over her mates. Each one sumbed to insanity after only a short time.

    But it was different with her eighth mate.

    Arvan saw Norga in one of her ver pits on Detterex, and was struck with his physical beauty. Norga was tall, taller than Arvan, his muscr body developed by years ofboring under harsh masters. Though his body bore the marks of his years as a ve, he still retained the craggy good features he inherited from his father, a highly regarded ve-breeding stud. And he still retained his teeth and nose, and his solid-ck eyes remained unclouded.

    Arvan took him in, never once considering that the ve could perhaps be a bridge, let alone one that could overpower her in the Bond. She was, after all, unquestionably the dominant bridge with her seven mates. But, when she opened the gates between her and her new "husband," she was assaulted by the sheer raw power of a native bridge. Though her psyche was strong, his was stronger. It was toote to back out then, and it was toote now. She felt the debasement and humiliation she had forced upon her previous husbands. She despised herself for her dependency on her lover, but she could not help herself. No drug could be as addictive as this. She yearned for the insanity that had imed her other lovers, but Norga was very careful to avoid such an ending, and kept her on a knife-edge of sanity and insanity.

    She turned when she heard the bridge tube dte open. She had to force herself from rushing to her lover, and blushed with shame.

    Norga stood beside her and held her hand, as was the right of a mate.

    "T''chahn, My Lady," he said with all but a sneer.

    "T''chahn, my love. I see the day has found you well."

    "And you." He turned away to look at the Plot screen. "Are there any further developments?"

    The pilot-navigator came up. "Yes, My Lord. Our initial estimates were correct. We are justing out of hyperspace and we will be ship-maneuverable in half an hour, but it is only now that we are getting anything definite from Plot. We are now in the outskirts of the Earth system, as are the Federation ships. But we will be a few minutes ahead of them before reaching ship-maneuverable speeds."

    "That is unexpected good news. Signal the other ships tounch attack craft as soon as conditions will allow. We will ambush them. And even if they tumble to our ns and put up a fight, we will decimate them."

    "I have already given such an order, My Lord."

    Norga''s eyes narrowed to slits. "You have, eh?" His hand jumped to his sword. "Are you trying to make a fool of me, Pilot?"

    "No, My Lord. I merely said -,"

    Norga''s swinging sword-de cut her throat in mid-sentence. Pink blood sttered on the navigation console. The pilot''s expression seemed to say that she couldn''t believe it. Her body toppled to the deck, slowly dying as blood spurted from her.

    "Norga!" Arvan eximed, bending, trying to catch the falling body, but she was toote. She clenched her fists in anger.

    "You should not have done that," she said in deadly monotone. We needed her.

    The other people on the bridge stared. Norga felt a vestige of fear. She had not spoken that way to me before, he thought. Unconsciously, he stepped back. He tried to sound unaffected. "I should not?" he asked sarcastically, only a fraction of uncertainty creeping into his voice.

    Arvan stood slowly. She red at her mate. Norga stood uncertainly.

    What is happening? he thought.

    Arvan still stood there ring at him. He saw with his peripheral vision her hand clenching on her sword-hilt. By the Gods, he thought, she''s going to kill me.

    But Arvan slowly unclenched her hand and hid her face.

    "No, of course not," she said. She was ashamed of her weakness and yearned to die.

    Norga breathed a sigh of relief. "Prepare our ships," he said.

    "Of course," the princess said, and turned away to leave.

    -----

    O''Connell paced the bridge of the Seeker, waiting for something to happen. Anything at all. She was looking at the main screen, which was trained on Mia as she worked down inside the ship. She envied her. At least she had something to do.

    She looked at Mia as shebored along with the officers and enlisted personnel. Two months was not a long enough time for a captain to get to know a crew, nor for two hundred and eighty-six men and women to get to know their new captain. Yet there she was. Mia presently had her jacket off and was talking to one of the midshipmen as they both wrestled a square tank into its slot. He smiled shyly at a joke that Mia made.

    Perhaps it was therge amount of time that she spent among the crew, and the lectures that she regrly gave that made the crew feel at home with her. In fact, most of the first attendees came out of curiosity. But, as they got to know their new captain, and as more and more attended her lectures, it, as well as she, became just another part of shipboard life.

    The Seeker and her crew had seen more work in the past months than they had seen in a while. Everyone had done their share of work. Even O''Connell had helped carry and clean up. She hade to think of her time on the bridge more as a rest period than as a duty station.

    But the ship was showing signs of their hard work. Everything was shipshape now, and back in their ces again. Her Shrike fighters and Mud Turtle personnel and assault carriers were reassembled, and, if O''Connell could believe the chief engineer, they were better than ever.

    Collins and his people were as good as their word, and everything was working again, though the engines were still running in sub-light. She remembered her visit to the Engine Room and her surprise when she saw from the various newly-calibrated indicators that engine power output was only at five percent.

    Captain Steele had said that only a few cables and circuits needed to be connected, and they could have FTL anytime they needed it. That was the very first thing that she looked into. Only thing to do now was try out the new engines.

    "Commander," hermunications officer called. "I''m getting something from the Empire fleet. A radio signal."

    "You are? Trante immediately, and call the Captain to the bridge."

    He nodded and turned back to his console. "Captain Steele to the bridge. Captain Steele to the bridge, please."

    On the screen, she saw Mia turn and walk out of the picture.

    "Navigator," she said, "let''s see exactly where they are."

    The navigator threw up a picture of their sector of space. Two blinking dots were moving slower and slower, and slowly converging.

    Mia came in, just putting on her jacket.

    "Yes, Commander? Anything new?"

    "Aye, sir. We''ve just picked up something by Phase-Wave. It''sing from the Empire ships."

    "Have you tranted it?"

    Themunications officer turned. "Doing that now, sir."

    "What''s it say?"

    Themunications officer held a phone to his ear. "It says, ''Coming out of light-speed, and ship-maneuverable in eight and three-eights minutes. Prepare tounch attack ording to n as soon as able. By order of Princess Arvan.'' A simr message in Tirosian is being broadcast from the leading Tirosian ship."

    "Princess Arvan. Hmm. That tells us a lot. When do we reach the two fleets?"

    "Twenty-three minutes, present course and speed."

    "Not good enough. Helmsman, increase engine power to ten percent. Commander, prepare Shrike squadron forunch and arm all weaponry. Lieutenant, inform the Hermes and Constetion that they are to do likewise."

    "Aye, sir."

    "Now," she said as she reclined in hermand seat, "we wait."

 Chapter 9: So, what is an Earther?

    Chapter 9: So, what is an Earther?

    On the Defiant, activities had reached a fever pitch. They had just reached ship-maneuverable speed, where the Defiant could now maneuver and fire her weapons, and allow Arvan tounch her fighter craft.

    She, as well as the other ships in her fleet fired their braking thrusters and turned to face theing Federation ships. All twenty-two ships were now at a rtive standstill. At Arvan''s signal, Defiant and her sister shipsunched their single-seat fighters. The small, tubr ships streaked out of the sides of their mother craft, chemical fire and burning hydrogen spewing out of their exhausts, and arranged themselves into ragged formation.

    Soon, the nine Federation ships mmed near their area of space. Ship-maneuverability status suddenly cleared up their tracking systems, and the Federation people saw the battleships in their path. Some started reversing fields and firing braking thrusters. Others turned and tried to avoid the wall of ships. But the others were toote in reacting. Though the two fleets were a good thousand klicks away from each other, considering starship velocities, such distances were practically zero. They couldn''t reduce their momentum and velocity sufficiently, and mmed into the blockade.

    Given the distances, collisions were unlikely, unless it was deliberately intended, and the Empire ships did indeed intend this, otherwise, how do they stop the Federation ships from proceeding. One would think that such a n was a suicidal one, but Tirosians relish suicidal ns, and Arvan, through Norga, was able to control her crew.

    Two of the Elyran battleships couldn''t turn fast enough and collided with one of Arvan''s tanker-carriers. Asrge holding tanks ruptured, the vtile hydrogen inside spilled out as snowkes. Some mixed with the hot gases liberated by the collision and exploded, starting a chain reaction and turning the three ships into a glowing fireball.

    The other cruisers were far enough away to avoid major damage, but many of the small Detterex fighters were caught like moths in a fire. The others scattered like angry bees escaping from their hive.

    The Dixx cruisers were the first to take action,unching their own fighters, energy weapons shing their deadly streams of light, but it was very clear that they were outnumbered.

    The three remaining Elyran ships veered away and passed the line of cruisers, trying to avoid confrontation as yet: Tasha and hermanders were not expecting this.

    The two Arachnian ships responded sluggishly to themand of their pilots, and continued on through the line of Empire ships. Detterex fighters mmed into their hulls, creating momentary glowing balls of fire on their surfaces. Sections of the ships automatically started sealing themselves. Fire control teams inside rushed to trouble spots even as the air that fed the zes whistled out into space.

    Arvan and her people took advantage of the opportunity andunched missiles at the Federation ships. The Dixx ships were able to repulse the deadly rockets but Talon and her retreating ships were hit.

    Talon and zing Star took hits at their stern, the missiles luckily missing much of their engine sections, but the other Elyran ship took one right through the middle - a warhead of one of therge missiles was hit by a lucky shot from one of the Star''s gunners, and had exploded before hitting the other cruiser. What was left of the missile''s engine section mmed into her hull. The ship appeared to bend slightly as it reeled from the impact. Its pilot sent the ship rolling to avoid colliding with Talon, and drifted away.

    -----

    Mia looked at the screen with worried eyes. "Good God," she said.

    "Can''t we do anything?" the navigator asked as the whole bridge crew looked at the long-range projection on the main screen.

    Mia looked on, making up her mind. "Probably," she said. In sudden decision, she punched the line for the shuttle bay. "Air Wing Commander," she called, and Seeker''s CAG answered.

    "Aye, sir."

    "Are your fighters ready forunching?"

    "Aye, sir. We''ve been standing by for a while, now."

    "Good. Prepare tounch."

    There was a slight pause.

    "Sir? Shouldn''t we wait for ship-maneuverable?"

    "No, Commander, we will not. We''llunch as is. In fact, I''ll have to bring up our power to reach them in time. We''ll have tounch while under power. Helmsman, push it to fifteen percent. Steady as she goes."

    "Aye, sir. Bringing her up to fifteen percent. Will soon exceed point six C."

    Mia turned back to CAG. "Leave one of the ships for me, Commander. I''ll be joining you. Make sure my ship has a radio transmitter." She turned to O''Connell. "Commander, O''Connell, go to red alert. You have the con." Mia was already walking to the lift as horns started hooting around her and shing red lights reced the ship''s regr lights.

    Mia had already changed into her pressure suit, a rebreather pack on her back. She was wriggling into the battle armor that went over the suit when she heard someone call.

    "Turn around, and I''ll check you," O''Connell said.

    Mia turned around and let OConnell snap thetches on the back.

    "That was an order I gave you, Commander," Mia said.

    "Want to save it forter and tell me what''s this crap about you going out?"

    Mia shrugged. "I''m going out. It''s that simple."

    "The fighters may just explode as soon as they leave Seeker''s gravity field, you along with them."

    Mia smiled tightly. "I know. That''s why I''m going. I will not let my people risk their lives if I wasnt willing to risk mine as well."

    O''Connell crossed her arms over her breasts. "I can''t let you do that."

    Mia whirled on her. "What would you like me to do?" she said tightly. "Those ships are getting a beating out there. If we don''t do something, they''ll all die."

    O''Connell shrugged. "We can wait for ship-maneuverable. Besides, it''s not our fight."

    "We don''t have time for this." Mia replied. She snapped on her flight helmet and started walking over to the Shrike fighter that was assigned to her. "And you''re wrong. It <em>is</em> our fight."

    O''Connell walked with her. "Listen. This is crazy. These fighters aren''t even tested yet, let alone tested above ship-maneuverable. I can''t let you."

    Mia was getting into the cockpit. "You don''t have any choice in the matter. Mind the ship, Number One. That''s an order." She snapped down her visor, ending further conversation.

    "You''re not qualified!" she yelled. Mia closed the cockpit.

    The rest of the pilots were ready, and Air Wing Commander Kajima was making the circr gesture to start spinning the deck.

    O''Connell shook her head in frustration. The whole deck started to rotate, depressurization warnings echoing in the bay. O''Connell started walking out of the deck.

    Seeker''s shuttle bay was of an old design from a time when small underpowered ships needed a boost even before firing their rockets. Large counterweighted flywheels spun the whole flight deck at enormous speeds; centrifugal force flinging her ships out into space at speeds that would have taken regr ships a while to attain on their own, though, with Seeker''s refurbished fighters, this wasn''t needed anymore.

    Mia and Seeker''s fighter pilots felt their suits tug at the straps that held them down to their seats. They had the sensation of falling away from the ship as the bay spun them around and around.

    When therge flywheels under the deck reached optimum speed, their fighter ships were released from their bays one by one. Two lines of the sleek Shrike fighter nes shed out of Seeker''s bays forming a line of fighters streaming out from either side of the ship, just above her two wings.

    Mia was mmed back into her seat when her turn came. Just before clearing the shuttle bay tunnel, her ships own internal gravity field automatically kicked on. It had to be that way to avoid her field from nullifying the centrifugal catapult effect, and to avoid being crushed as she left Seeker''s protective bubble of gravity. One of the reasons to wait for Ship-maneuverable.

    Mia felt the slight difference as her fighter''s environmental systems stabilized. She kicked on her engines, and a soft blue glow radiated out of the rear. All of Seeker''s Shrike fighters now had miniature versions of her FTL drive which, although the minuscule fields generated could not push them into anything approaching light-speed, made them (or at least were supposed to make them) a hell of a lot faster and maneuverable than otherparable ships.

    They werent true FTL drives but were more akin to the ships gravity tes, but their outside manifestation (the blue glow) and the ability to manipte the force lines were very FTL drive-like.

    She heard Air Wing Commander Kajima in her helmet speaker.

    "Wing Leader to Strike Leader, Wing Leader to Strike Leader. All nes ounted for, Captain. What''s our heading?"

    "Straight ahead, Commander  same heading as Seeker. Until we hit them. And no firing unless fired upon. Acknowledge."

    "Acknowledged, aye. A-team with me. B-team, with the Captain. Go into full power, and let''s hope for the best."

    Seeker''s squadron of fighters leapt as if kicked, and pulled away from their mother ship. The soft blue light of their engines turned into a brighter blue and they shed towards the fray at better than half the speed of light.

    Mia clicked a tongue switch. "Strike leader to Seeker. Commander, are you listening?"

    "Aye, sir," O''Connell answered.

    "Wait for Hermes and Constetion before you do anything else. Have themunch their fighters as soon as you rendezvous, and follow on ahead. You are ordered to hold your fire, Commander. Do not fire unless fired upon. Got that?"

    "Aye, sir. Acknowledged. How are the fighters holding up?"

    "They seem to be doing okay. No problems yet. Don''t worry. We''ll keep our eyes on it."

    "Aye, sir."

    After a while, Kajima''s trackingputer started beeping for attention.

    "Seems like we''reing up on them. What now, Captain?"

    "Move on to the Elyran ships. They''re closer. Have your team tackle the bastards that''re on the left ship. We''ll take the ones on the right."

    The Terran squadron split into two and raced to the stricken cruisers. Each ships blue light changed its hue, and they started to decelerate. They cut their speed to just below six hundred meters per second as they sped toward the alien fleet.

    Talon and zing Star fired their weapons at the angry gnats that swarmed around them. The third Elyran ship was virtually ignored by the gnats because it seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, dead.

    As the Detterex nes circled the two ships, and as sixteen Empire cutters moved in looking for a chink in the Federation ships defensive armor, the Earth nes streaked in and sneaked up on them from behind.

    Their unexpected arrival broke up their formation and scattered the small ships. One of them fired on A-team, and one of the Shrike fighters exploded in a gout of yellow fire.

    "Shit," one of the pilots eximed. "That''s Peebo. Goddamn."

    "Seeker squadron," Mia shouted. "Fire at will!"

    The Terran pilots released their already itchy trigger fingers. The burning Shrike fighter triggered a hail of pulsing fire from the others and annihted seven of the Empire fighters.

    Mia swung her ship to follow the remaining Empire fighters and thumbed a button on her control panel.

    "Attention Elyran spacecraft," Mia said over a conventional radio frequency, in fluent Elyran, "attention Elyran spacecraft. This is Captain Steele from the Earth battleship Seeker. We areing in to help you. Do not fire on our ships. We are friendly craft, repeat - we are friendly ships. Hold your fire."

    -----

    Before their weapons could be brought to bear on the neers, Tasha''smunications officer let out a surprised yell.

    "Hold your fire," she shouted. "Those are Earth ships! Pilot, they are Earth ships."

    Reena whirled and hit a button on her control panel.

    "Princess! Did you hear that? They are Earth ships. They''vee to help us."

    Tasha looked up from her control panel. She, like the other fighter pilots, was trapped in her fighter ne, unable to take off.

    "What? Earth... But, where, Pilot. Where did theye from?"

    "I do not know, My Lady. Still, the Earthers have drawn away the Empire vermin for the moment. We canunch our fighters now."

    "Good. Launch immediately, Pilot."

    Tasha and the others braced themselves. Powerful hydraulic rams literally kicked them from behind and hurled them out into space.

    Tasha ignited her engines and she could feel the dull thrumming of the rockets. She whipped her ship around, but it took the small craft a few moments to counter its momentum.

    A beeping from her panel warned her of an oing missile. She craned her head as she looked through the prizable canopy of her cockpit. There! A missileing straight for her.

    She fired attitude rockets to bring her guns to bear,boriously pointing the entire ship toward the deadly projectile. She depressed the firing button, and a long finger of green light struck the missile. Her ship was buffeted by flying metal as she looked at a radiation gauge. Good. Non-nuclear.

    She switched her screen to long-distance and could see the Earthers pursuing the enemy ships. She longed for one of the enemy ships to drift closer to her, but the battle was moving away. She increased her rocket-power and went after them.

    -----

    Mia was chasing one of the Empire ships. Their rockets left trailing lights that could easily be picked out. Her ship was fast pulling up near her quarry, and she let a fuside of pulsing rays pepper the enemy.

    The Empire ship violently swerved right and down as its upper left tank ejected its hydrogen in a glowing finger of me. The pilot''s ears bled from the loud explosive crack that resounded through her cockpit. She finally wrested control of her ship and brought it out of its wild tumble, but her eyes widened as she saw Mia''s fighter barreling towards her. What was left of her craft exploded in a hail of pulsing red bolts of energy.

    Mia passed the still-burning Empire ship by and headed back to the Elyran cruiser. By their silhouettes, these fighters have to be Detterex. Where are the Tirosians? Mia thought.

    But the Empire battleships were presently engaged with the other four Federation ships. As the two Arachnian cruisers plowed into them, unable to check their momentum, the Empire ships let loose everything they had.

    It was clearly an unequal battle, and the two ships were left battered and lifeless, surrounded by a cloud of radioactive debris, the result of a near-miss.

    But the armored survival pod inside one of the ships survived. They had shut off all external sources of power and the Empire ships took her for dead.

    The Empire ships turned their attention towards the other Federation ships, the two Dixx cruisers, but the Dixx were prepared for them.

    The smaller Tirosian cruisers pulled back and let the Detterex ships head the attack. Three of the lumbering Detterex cruisers were caught in the outer nimbus of an exploding nuclear missile, and were effectively taken out of the fight: With their shields down, everyone inside the ships were cooked alive.

    Tirosian single-seat fightersunched from behind the Detterex lines and joined the fray. The Detterex fighters were being cut down one by one by the fierce pilots of the Dixx squadrons. As the Tirosians joined their Detterex allies, the Dixx fighters moved back to regroup.

    The Empire squadrons fired their guns simultaneously at a spot on the nearest Dixx cruiser''s hull. A ball of glowing gas erupted from the rear of the bridge section, and the me inched closer and closer to the bridge as the fighters adjusted their sights.

    The Dixx fighters turned on the Empire nes and let loose their own barrage. The Empire ships broke up and scattered to avoidser fire, stopping the concentrated onught to the cruiser, and the Dixx took them on one-on-one.

    But it was a losing battle. Despite great losses on the part of the Detterex nes, it was still a twenty-to-one ratio against the Federation fighters.

    -----

    Mia and her pilots were cutting down the enemy fighters harassing the two Elyran cruisers at an ever-increasing rate. These nes are incredibly slow, she thought. Our Shrike fighters could run rings around the Detterex nes without even trying. The alien ships seemed to be driven by conventional rockets and fused hydrogen drives. Understandable.

    That''s probably why they need those fuel carriers, she thought.

    She saw theing Elyran fighters, and sighed in relief.

    "B-team," she said into her helmet mic, "Iing friendly ships. Repeat, iing nes. The Elyrans are here. Hold your fire." She switched on her special radio set. "Elyran Commander, Elyran Commander, acknowledge," she said in fluent Elyran.

    Her helmet speaker crackled. "T''chahn, Earther. I am Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr. I acknowledge for my Elyranrades. I would like to thank you for..."

    "Apologies for interrupting, My Lady," Mia said, "but there''s an emergency. The other cruisers in your fleet are taking a hard beating. We are going over to help. Can you take over for us here?"

    Tasha frowned at the ill manners of this Earther. And it was a woman, from the voice. An Earther woman.

    "Rest assured, warrior. My pilots can handle the few dregs that you left us. But let some of my fighters join you..."

    "If you wish, My Lady. Out."

    "By the prophets," Tasha heard one of the pilots mutter. "Who does she think she is, the impertinent..."

    "Gently, pilot," Tasha said. "They are, after all, aliens. Learn to make allowances. Wing Marshal, acknowledge."

    "Yes, My Princess. I am listening."

    "Have half of our warriors join the Earthers. The other half will be sufficient here. We will help our other cruisers."

    "Yes, My Princess." A handful of Elyran fighters whirled to join the Earth nes as they went to go to the aid of the remainder of the Federation ships. The battle was almost won here.

    Tasha fired her rockets and turned her ship to follow the Earthers, her two escort ships trailing her.

    As they shed towards the Empire ships, she had a chance to look over the Earth fighters. She saw the sleek streamlined bodies of the Shrike nes, their sharp beaks and angled wings, very reminiscent of the birds from her home world, very different from her own ship''s tubr construction. And the curious glow their engines made. Almost like Talon''s gravity drive, except they were blue instead of red.

    Even as the Elyran ships got up to full power, the Earth fighters pulled away from them. Tasha fired all her boosters even as her navigationalputer beeped a warning. Her fighter had reached speeds where the engines could not assure safe maneuvering. She switched off the insistent rm and braced herself as she was pushed back into her seat and the thrum of her engines increased in pitch.

    Her ship recovered some lost ground, but the Earth fighters continued to pull away from them. Damn. She moved to increase her power, but saw her fuel indicator. Better conserve fuel and be sure of getting back to the Talon.

    "Wing Marshal," she said.

    "Yes, My Princess."

    "Bring your ships to half-power. Conserve fuel."

    "My princess, the Earthers are pulling away. They are leaving us behind."

    "Yes, Marshal. But we have to conserve our hydrogen to be sure of a safe return to Talon."

    Her wing marshal sighed. "You are correct, My Princess. Acknowledged."

    An urgent message came in over Tasha''s helmet speakers. "Princess,"

    Talon''smunications officer said through the ever-present radio hash of space, "Boarders! We have boarders invading Talon!"

    Tasha''s thoughts flew to Ren. But she had a job to do. "Tell Reena to handle it as best she can, warrior. We will be returning soon."

    She shook her head and resolutely kept her ship on course.

    -----

    Arvan watched impotently as she listened in on her fighters''munications. She longed to be there, but Norga had forbidden it.

    She had been shocked to hear that the bulk of her fighters near the Elyran cruisers were being decimated by the surprise arrival of the Earth fighters. From what she gathered from her pilots'' radio signals, it was only a handful of nes, three eights and one, that was killing her warriors. But she didn''t pull them out. She, not to mention her warriors, would lose great face. None of them wanted to retreat.

    She turned her attention to the other fighters. Atst the Tiros fighters had joined her nes. Those damned lizards had finallye out of their holes and were joining her nes in attacking the Dixx cruisers. She switched to a close-range pickup of the torn corpses of the Arachnian cruisers. A damned undignified way to die, she thought, even for them.

    "Princess Arvan," hermunications officer called. "I am getting an urgent message from our fighters."

    "What is it," Arvan asked.

    "The Earth ships have broken away from them and are heading our way. Elyran fighters are presently harassing them. There are only one eight and six of our warriors left. They are outnumbered and they request reinforcements."

    "Reinforcements for a measly handful of beaten warriors? They must be joking. Tell them I give them to the Elyran worms."

    She turned back to the main screen. "Give me a picture of the Dixx battleships."

    A long-range picture of the two besieged Federation cruisers gave Arvan a good idea of the slim chances for the Federation people to survive. Soon after the Dixx are obliterated, my warriors will go after the Elyrans, Arvan thought. But not before. These cruisers were closer and more intact. They posed the greater danger. The news about the Earth fighters didn''t worry her. Their victory over her fighters was a fluke, an unnned surprise attack. Now they were prepared.

    -----

    Kajima dispersed his team a little bit more, and sent them towards the nearer cruiser.

    "How''s our Elyran escort doing, June," he asked his wingman.

    His wingmanughed. "We''ve left those crates a long way behind. It''ll take them some time to catch up, boss."

    "Yeah. It doesn''t matter, anyway. Wing Leader to Strike Leader. Captain, I suggest you loosen up your formation. Lessen the chances of the enemy getting you with one shot."

    "Good suggestion, Commander. B-team. Disperse and attack second group of spacecraft."

    Mia''s fighters nked the farther cruiser and skimmed along its surface. As the Empire fighters continued their attack, Mia and her pilots hit them from underneath and the Dixx fighters hit them from the top.

    Though the Dixx fought furiously and unceasingly, it took the arrival of the Earthers to turn the tide. The faster and smaller Earth fighters flew in and around the Empire fighters and picked them off at will. The Dixx fighters were hard put to not hit the Earthers.

    Arvan watched the battle. What is happening? she thought My warriors are dying. The best of my warriors. She whirled on her navigator. "Where are the Tiros fighters?" she asked her.

    "They are stilling, My Lady. It will take them a few minutes before they arrive."

    "Damn."

    Shortly, a sh of deep-red and bright-blue lights from the main screen startled them.

    "What was that?" she asked. "An explosion?"

    "No, My Lady," hermunications officer said as she looked over all her indicators. "All decks report all well."

    The Pilot-Navigator shouted. "Princess! Look."

    Arvan whirled and saw two bulky spaceshipsing to rest right near the massed Tiros cruisers. What are they, and where did theye from? They look like Dravidian cruisers but...

    A sh of white light momentarily overloaded their screen.

    "Look! Another one!" her navigator eximed.

    -----

    Seeker fired her newly-installed inertia converters, and converted her inertial energy into radiant energy. A solid front of white light radiated out of Seeker''s fore and aft projectors like an enormous sh of lightning, and she braked to a virtual standstill.

    Seeker got clearance from Fleet HQ and fired a nuclear missile at the unsuspecting Tiros battleships, and took out four of them in one shot.

    The Tirosian battleships raised their shields, so Constetion''s and Hermes'' fighters swooped down on the rest of the cruisers, easily breaking through the shields.

    The small box-like Eagle fighters from the Constetion and Hermes passed through the shields of the first cruiser and started firing. Large gouts of fire sprang from the cruisers surface as the fighters'' shots exploded against the metal hull, starting a chain reaction of explosions within the ship.

    Before they could bring their remaining guns to bear, the two groups of Earth fighters moved on to the next ship.

    The Tiros fighters that were dispatched to assist the beleaguered Detterex nes were suddenly recalled. They wheeled and turned back to their mother ships.

    Hermes and Constetion started pulling back to give themselves room to fire their missiles, and Seeker turned around to follow the three drifting Elyran battleships.

    Arvan saw the retreating Earth cruiser, and whirled Defiant to follow.

    -----

    Armored Cobra carriers from the Constetion and Hermes pulled up alongside the breaches in the Elyran ship''s hull, and Marines started pouring into the Federation cruiser.

    O''Connell watched this on a monitor while she started putting on her battle armor. She then followed Seeker''s Marines into the armored Mud Turtle shuttle-sh-carrier. She hefted her pulse rifle and nodded to the pilot.

    The carrier moved out of the bay, and joined the other carriers moving out to the Elyran cruiser.

    O''Connell leaned over the pilot''s screens, tapped Nick on the shoulder and pointed to the Detterex carrier sitting on the Federation gship''s hull.

    The CETI specialist nodded and said, "Yeah, that''s the spot. But someone''s in the way."

    The pilot nodded and let loose a barrage of pulsed energy. The carrier exploded and spun away from the hull.

    The pilot then took the Mud Turtle in and touched it down near the area where the Empire ship had rested. As the Turtle''snding ws crunched and held onto the cruiser''s hull tes, O''Connell snapped down her visor and led the others out of the shuttle and into the jagged tear in the ship''s metal surface.

    She had a momentary feeling of nausea as she left the carrier''s artificial gravity and felt Talon''s own wavering and unstable field. She could barely see through the floating particles of frozen gas and debris. She gestured a demolition team closer and pointed to a sealed airlock door.

    As soon as her whole team got in through the hull, the others snapped some copsible Crystalline barriers across the torn metal and started welding them to the hull, effectively sealing the gap.

    The demolition team waved and the Marines hunkered down.

    From inside the hull, the nted explosives detonated and tore the door from its hinges, but with the Crystalline shields, no further air escaped into space. O''Connell and her people rushed through the broken doorway, weapons at the ready. She switched off her visor''s infrared as she squinted through the thick smoke and fumes, and saw a stunned armored alien staggering and lifting her weapon.

    O''Connell fired her pulse rifle as aser beam sshed across her shoulder. The Detterex warrior was thrown back as O''Connells explosive slugs ripped her armor.

    A dozen Marines ran ahead of the fallen Empire officer and squeezed through the airlock.

    What now? she thought.

    She saw about twenty-four huge armored Detterex warriors hunkered down at the end of the corridor.

    "Shit," she cried. "Everyone down. Now!"

    A fuside of beams flew through where their heads were a moment ago. One of O''Connells people threw a grenade to the other side and, as a deafening explosion reverberated in the hall, O''Connell and her people rushed the Empire warriors.

    Most of the Detterex invaders were dead or stunned. Those still alive were jerked up and held at gunpoint.

    O''Connell was picking up one of the torn Empire helmets when one of the prone bodies started firing. A shot hit her full on the silvered front of her suit. Though the surface material of the armor reflected much of the energy of the shot as the maic bottle of the cartridge ruptured, the detonation knocked her against a bulkhead. The other Marines fired on the Empire soldier, and her body jerked and thumped to the deck.

    "Commander," the Marine lieutenant said as he helped her up, "are you all right?"

    "I''m okay, Lieutenant. Just a bit stunned."

    The Marines inched on into the ship, weapons ready. They dragged their prisoners with them. The Detterex warriors wererger than their captors, averaging more than a foot higher than O''Connell, but, being stripped of their armor and disarmed, they went along passively. O''Connell, mindful of Mia''s lectures, left the prisoners to the female officers.

    After a while of walking through the seemingly endless but empty corridors, she stopped at a corridor blocked by torn odds and ends piled high into a barricade, and turned to the Lieutenant.

    "Lieutenant, I think we''re lost."

    "Yeah, I think so, too. I think we better give the ship a call."

    O''Connell pressed the side of her helmet. "Hello, Seeker," O''Connell said. "I think we''re lost. Get a fix on us, will you?"

    "Aye, Commander. Getting a fix on you now." Some of the people on the bridge snickered.

    "Is something the matter, Lieutenant?" O''Connell said in deadly monotone.

    "Uh, nothing, Commander. You''re, uh, just a few meters away from what we think is the bridge section. Keep going the way you''ve been going and you''ll be there in a few minutes."

    "That''s a relief."

    Suddenly they heard shouts at the far end of the metal corridor, and the ng of heavy boots made the Marines point their weapons at the source of the sounds. O''Connell raised a hand and pushed the barrel of the nearest soldier''s gun down.

    "Wait!" she cried. "Thanks, Lieutenant, but I don''t think we need help. The Elyrans seem to have found us. Call youter and tell you how things develop. Out."

    As they cautiously peered over the rubble, they saw a cluster of aliens at the other side. Some of them seemed to be arguing with each other, and some of the slightly bigger ones nervously pointed their weapons at them.

    O''Connell took the opportunity to survey the aliens: Like the Detterex, they looked like humans, but with long hair tied loosely with thick yarn, almost like fur in their extravagant thickness and fineness. Not unattractive at all.

    They looked just like their captured Detterex warriors, close enough that they could be mistaken for Detterex, except that they were smaller. Smaller than humans, even. The Detterex averaged about a third of a meter higher than the average human, but these Elyrans were diminutive, even by Earth standards. The lone male in the group looked to be about 1.3 meters in height, and the others were just about one and a half meters.

    But more than just the height, she instinctively knew that these were different. They had a different feel about them that made her sure that these were a different set of people and not just another bunch of Detterex. It was almost like the way you would distinguish a fox from a wolf. The novel feeling brought home to her the alienness of these beings. They weren''t humans at all. And she felt a slight tickling within her skull, a very faint but pleasant itch that she felt was being caused by the Elyrans.

    The Elyrans seemed to have finished their arguments, and the lone Elyran male moved forward.

    "T''chahn, Earther," the Elyran male said distinctly. He then followed it with a stream of fluent Elyran.

    By its cadence, they could tell it was something ritualistic. Some sort of greeting, perhaps.

    O''Connell wished that the Captain was here. She could talk Elyran like a native, though she knew that her voice would probably sound very heavily ented to the native-born. She gestured for Nick, the CETI specialist, toe closer.

    "What''s that character saying, Nick?"

    Nick grinned though he knew she couldn''t see him through his visor. "You can use the trantor in your suit, Commander. Still, I think I could help you out.

    "He says greetings and extends the congrattions of the Federation ambassadors to the valiant Terran warriors. He calls us Earthers. I kinda like that. Nick chuckled. Anyway, he said he would also like to talk to thedy in charge. Commander, I think you''d better move forward, and take off your helmet, too."

    O''Connell nodded. She switched on her trantor set thereby connecting her to Seeker''sputer and tranting anything spoken within the range of her suit''s mic to Standard English. She took off her helmet, praying that the scientists'' predictions about alien germs and pathogens were correct, and shook her hair free. The Elyrans were taken aback. O''Connell turned up the gain of the suit''s microphone. "Come on then," she said to Nick.

    Nick took his own helmet off and they both moved forward. The Elyrans gasped as they saw their faces. Only the small alien male seemed less surprised.

    Nick bowed very low and spoke in halting Elyran (he preferred not using a trantor). O''Connells trantor, however, echoed his voice in English.

    "Greetings, My Lord," O''Connells trantor spoke for Nick. "I speak for My Lady, Commander Elizabeth O''Connell of the Earth warship Seeker. Please pardon My Lady. She has yet to master your speech."

    "Quite all right, quite all right. Please tell her that I am Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii of the Great ins of Elyra, husband to the princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr who leads our expedition. We thank you and bring our greetings to you and your people."

    O''Connell smiled. "Nick," she said, "tell our host that they are quite wee. Ask him if they need anything in the way of supplies or assistance."

    Nick ryed the message, and the Elyrans went into a huddle.

    "We thank you for your generous offer," O''Connell heard the Elyran say to her through her trantor, "but we are as yet not in a position to evaluate damage and losses. Perhaps when all duty stations have reported, we will have a better picture."

    "Tell him that we are standing by to help, and that we offer more Marines to help repel other boarders. Ask him if there are other intruders other than the bunch we bumped into."

    Nick tranted and the Elyran turned to her. "There are some in the forward decks, but they are under control." The Elyran looked at her quizzically. "May I inquire as to how you are able to understand us, yet are unable to speak?"

    O''Connell smiled, and Nick exined about their trantors.

    "All your warriors are furnished with these devices?"

    "Yes, My Lord. They are built into all our spacesuits. We are currently upgrading them so that soon, maybe in a day or two, they will also trante our speech to yours."

    "Yet, you do not need this device."

    "No, My Lord. I am a student of the arts, and my field of study is yournguage and culture. I am fluent enough that I do not need electronic aids."

    Ren''s eyebrows went up. "You are a schr? I am myself also a schr, though my field is not in the aesthetic arts. Tell me, are you of a royal family?"

    Nick coughed self-consciously. "Umm, no, My Lord. I am but one of many soldiers sent to meet with you and your people."

    "Then you are mated to your Commander."

    "Umm, no My Lord, I am not."

    Ren seemed puzzled. "I am at somewhat of a loss to understand: an Earther male, a schr, and yet not of royal blood. Are all Earthmen as privileged as yourself?"

    "In our society, My Lord, all are free to undertake whatever studies they would like, be whatever they would like, whether they be male or female."

    The female Elyran soldiers were shocked and a little scandalized.

    "You say that there are female schrs in your world?" One of the soldiers said in mild surprise. "What kind of female would do such a thing?"

    Nick bowed to the soldier. "In our world, warrior, we take pride in our learned citizens."

    "Is it not the exclusive privilege of royalty and clergy to learn and study the arts and sciences?"

    "To us, all citizens have a right to aspire to, and be, anything they choose to be."

    The Elyran seemed ready to argue the point, but Ren cut her off with a downward gesture of his hand.

    "Gently, warrior. These are, after all, not Elyrans. We must make allowances for different customs and practices."

    "A good sentiment, My Lord," O''Connell said in halting and heavily ented Elyran. "''Do not grudge to pick out treasures from an earthen pot,''" she quoted.

    "What? You can speak!"

    "Yes, My Lord. But not very well yet."

    "What was that you said?"

    "That was an Earther quote, My Lord," Nick said, "from someone in our recent past. The passage goes, ''do not grudge to pick out treasures from an earthen pot. The worst speak something good.''"

    Ren nodded slowly. "Perhaps. Very apt, yes." Ren gestured to the forward decks. "May I escort you to our bridge? From there I hope to be able to give you a clearer picture of shipboard status."

    O''Connell bowed and followed their host toward the bridge.

    -----

    Defiant fired her maneuvering rockets, and was fast approaching Seeker and the battered Elyran cruiser. Talon''s gunners let loose a brace of explosive missiles, but Arvan''s crew was able to intercept them. Defiant barely felt the missiles as they exploded outside of her hull. Seeker kept a constant barrage of pulsedser fire on the Detterex gship, the resulting chain of explosions forcing her to veer away.

    Lieutenant Commander Tomoguchi surveyed the space surrounding them from Seeker''s bridge screen. "That was close. Anything elseing, Lieutenant?"

    "Not for the moment, Commander. The others seem to be keeping their distance, and Defiant is retreating at high velocity."

    "Good. Get me the Captain."

    "Aye, sir. Captain on line."

    "Captain, this is Tomoguchi. The Federation ship Talon is secured, and our boarding party has already made contact with the aliens. Any further orders?"

    "None, Commander. Good work. Carry on. But be sure to recover all our equipment. Part of the standing orders from the Admiral is not to leave anything behind for the aliens to study. Find out if the Elyrans need further assistance. Lend whatever medical aid or supplies are needed, though I don''t think we''ll be of much help."

    "Aye, sir."

    "Where''s Commander O''Connell, by the way?"

    "I''ve been left in charge, sir. She went down with one of the boarding parties."

    "God damn it! Did she take Nick along, at least?"

    "Aye, sir."

    "Then, I suppose it''s all right. Keep me posted, Lieutenant. The enemy''s just about through. We''ll being in shortly."

    "Aye, sir. Seeker out."

    -----

    Arvan turned to her new pilot-navigator as Norga paced restlessly around the bridge. "Give me a report on our fleet, Pilot."

    "My Lady, our forces are scattered on the outermost side of the battle zone. We and some of our other ships are still well within range of the Federation ships."

    "How many of our fighters are left?"

    "About a fifth are still functional, My Lady. The rest of our fighters are still in the hangars of the cruisers, so we have about a third of ourplement intact. We are, however, currently short on warriors to be able tounch all of our remaining fighters."

    Arvan shook her head. "Recall our fighters, Pilot. And have our fleet regroup on the far sector. Organize an orderly retreat."

    "Retreat!" Norga bellowed, as he stepped down to the main deck. "The pride of the Detterex Space Fleet, retreating?" He all but spit in her face.

    Arvan hung her head. "We have no choice, my husband. Either retreat or perish."

    Norga swung his arm in a vicious backhanded blow to her face. "No! I will not have us retreat like whipped curs! We must fight!"

    The new Pilot-Navigator stood and openly defied him, her loyalty to the princess oveing any rational thought or any fear. "My Lord, it is the only wise move. Our forces have been decimated, and more than half of our warriors are dead or wounded. We have been surprised by the Earthers, and we need to regroup and rebuild our strength. Even the Tirosians who have not been hurt as badly as we are retreating."

    Norga was about to pull out his sword, but he felt Arvan''s hand on his sword-arm.

    "No, Norga," she whispered. "Please."

    Norga sneered but relented. "All right. So be it. Though I think your judgment errs too much on the side of caution, Wife. Would you have it said that you ran from battle to cower in fear from these worthless Earthers?"

    "No, but history will say that I saved my people from needless death, so that they may again fight another day."

    "And will that daye soon, my love?"

    "I will make it soon." She nodded to her Pilot-Navigator. "Do it."

    Her new Pilot-Navigator immediately issuedmands, and slowly, Defiant rotated on her axis and fired her main engines. She pulled away from Seeker and the Federation gship, on a rendezvous with her other sister ships. Though many of her warriors openly protested the retreat, it was merely for show as they nevertheless quickly broke off from the Federation and Earther fighters, and headed for their individual mother ships - a pitiful remnant of what they once were.

 Part Three

    Part Three

    <strong>Part Three</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>Picking Up The Pieces</strong>

    In a future Earth, where the long-dreaded nuclear war hade and gone and they had started to rebuild again, humans learned to face the consequences of their first space battle in over two decades.

    In the Asteroid Wars years before, humans learned much about how to wage war in space, but whatever they learned, it wasnt enough for what was yet toe.

    - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael Straczynski, Larry Niven, David Brin, E.E. (Doc) Smith, Iain M. Banks, and, of course, George Lucas.

    My thanks. And my apologies.

    <em>You are not the same people who left that station,</em>

    <em>Or who will arrive at any terminus,</em>

    <em>While the narrowing rails slide together behind you.</em>

    - from "Four Quartets" by T.S. Elliot, Earth poet and ywright,

    20th Century Earth

    <em>"Insufficient data to achieve ny percent uracy.</em>

    <em>Most probablebination indicates that targets will rendezvous with Earth after imminent battle engagement."</em>

    - EDS 361 Base Computer - Triton Center Seventeen, Year 2300

 Chapter 10: Prelude to a War

    Chapter 10: Prelude to a War

    The Tirosians and Detterex had pulled out of the fight early in the game, and were nowhere near the battle zone. Seeker''s Phase-Wave sensors paced the Tirosian-Detterex fleet easily as it sped away on a curving course away from Earth. Though Commander Tomoguchi kept close track of them, he still breathed a sigh of relief as the immediate danger of the Empire was removed. He turned back to plotting the course of the retreating invaders on the map in front of him and continued tallying losses.

    "Give me a damage report on all decks," he said.

    "Five turrets on level three overloaded and are unusable, Seekersm officer replied. We were hulled aft of the shuttle bay, but damage control got to it right away: all bays are usable. Shield generators at ny-nine percent: power is currently off on deck seven, but the Chief Engineer''s crew is working on it."

    "Nothing major then. Never mind that now. How about our people?"

    "Sickbay reports thirty-seven minor injuries, and none in serious condition. We have one casualty, thought - one of our fighters got taken out in the battle, but the others report all well. Ournding parties also report all well."

    "It could have been worse. How about our other ships? How are the carriers from the Constetion and Hermes doing?" he asked.

    "There are casualties there, I''m afraid, Commander. Captain Dupont has pulled his people out, but Hermes'' ships can''t lift off yet. Landing party says the battle''s pretty fierce and they''re going to have a hard time getting back to their carriers. One of them has already been blown away. They''ve requested fighter cover to protect the other carriers."

    "Have our fighters responded, yet, Lieutenant?"

    "The two squadrons from Constetion and Hermes are already on the way, sir."

    "Good. Tell the Constetion and Hermes that as soon as all our people have vacated the enemy ships, to regroup on Seeker, and to start collecting damage reports."

    "Aye, sir."

    "Give me status on the aliens."

    "The Empire fleet is retreating, Commander, and are now on a slow course away from Earth. We''ve taken out ny of their fighters and damaged their mother ships. Three Tiros cruisers and one Detterex cruiser have been taken out. One tanker and three escort ships are damaged beyond use, no survivors reported. They still have nine cruisers, four escort ships and one tanker. Internal damage, we don''t know, but I think we''ve hurt them."

    "But not enough to make them go away faster."

    "No, sir. The Tiros and Detterex gships have taken substantial damage, but the others escaped almost untouched."

    "All right, how about the Federation ships?"

    "There are three Elyran cruisers left, and the two Dixx cruisers survived."

    "The two Arachnian ships?"

    "Just radioactive debris, sir, though we got some electronic activity in one of them. Our probes have detected arge sphere in the center of both wreckages. ording to the readings, they''re either very dense, denser than anything we have, or they''re very heavily shielded."

    "Let''s risk a pulse and see just what we have."

    "Aye, sir," the lieutenant said, and started working on her console.

    "Seems like we have a live one, sir. Variable electromaic signals in one of the spheres, indicating electronics and machinery."

    "Damn. Try to find a chink in their armor, Lieutenant, or at least a thin spot, so we can send a radio message to them."

    "Aye, sir."

    "Give me the chief engineer."

    "Aye, sir. Chief Engineer on-line."

    Tomoguchi turned to the ceiling mic. "Chief, we''ll be making a ship-to-ship rescue. Can you rig four or five carriers for radiation?"

    "Radiation, sir? Against how much?"

    "As many R''s you can shield against, Chief. We''re going to rescue some aliens from one of the two Arachnian cruisers."

    "Sir? Those two radioactive hulks? I cannot guarantee..."

    "I realize that, Chief. Just do it."

    "Aye, sir."

    "Get me the Captain, lieutenant."

    "Aye, sir. Captain on-line."

    "Captain, this is Tomoguchi. We have detected some signalsing from a shielded area in one of the radioactive Arachnian derelicts. We think there are some survivors there. I''ve started rescue operations."

    "Survivors? Good, Commander. Keep me posted. I won''t being in with our other pilots. I''ll be escorting some Elyran fighters back to their gship."

    "Aye, sir."

    Mia switched off her mic and switched her headphones to the radio frequencies being used by the Elyran fighters. She listened to the alien voices. So humanlike yet so different. They were higher in pitch, she would have said like the voices of children, or at best young teenagers, but yet not like the voice of any human child she knew. Voices like the purr of kittens, and in moments like the growl of tigers. She wondered how her own voice sounded to the aliens.

    Mia switched on her radio transmitter and hailed the Talon. Her request for anding berth surprised the Elyran operator, but after a while, obviously after it was referred to higher authority, her request was granted.

    "An escort ship will guide you in, Earther. Do not worry." Mia smiled. The operator sounded just a bit patronizing.

    Shortly, a tubr Elyran fighter cut in front of her, rockets glowing at full thrust. There was an awkward moment as the pilot had to cut in her forward jets to stop her ship from shooting too far forward, causing the fighter to swerve violently left and right before settling down. She was obviously showing off, Mia thought. She gave her a wide berth.

    "T''chahn, honored Earther," she said in an almost sarcastic tone, "I am of the Talon. I have been instructed to guide you in. Please follow me."

    "All right, warrior," Mia replied. "Thank you."

    It was an uneventful five minutes to the ship''s hangar deck, and Mia took the opportunity to examine the alien cruiser a little more closely. As they coasted into the hangar, she noticed no one on the deck. Obviously the deck was in vacuum. She followed her escort further in until they coasted into an enormous hatchway. The hatch slid down behind her, and she heard air whistle into the bay and felt gravity grip her body. Her escort ship rolled gracefully into a sort of metal cradle, one of several already filled by other ships.

    Already several Elyrans in what Mia thought were maintenance uniforms poured into the bay even as she guided her own fighter into a cradle, though no matter how much she jockeyed her ship on its anti-gravnders, she could not fit it in. Her ship was simply the wrong shape. She settled for moving her ship as close to the wall as possible, and shut off all systems.

    After a short check on the atmosphere, she popped her canopy open and climbed down from the fighter. Have to take chances on alien germs and things, she thought, and trust that her nanobots would take care of her. She was d she had that nanobot booster shot in herst checkup.

    Mia''s escort was already at the foot of herdder, waiting. She had her helmet off. When she looked up, Mia felt a slight tingle somewhere in the middle of her head. She had never felt the sensation before, and wondered what it was. As she locked the cockpit and climbed off from thedder, she unhooked her own helmet and clipped it to her belt. The Elyran warrior''s eyes widened in surprise, but quickly caught herself. She gave a short courtesy bow, and Mia answered with a deeper bow, with her fist over her heart, a greeting reserved for Elyran royalty.

    The warrior blushed to a deep pink hue, and Mia smiled.

    "T''chahn, My Lady, wee to the Talon, she said in respectful tones  obviously, she assumed Mia was royalty, perhaps because of the bow. She started to say something more but stopped herself, forgetting for a moment.

    "T''chahn, warrior, Mia responded. Thank you for your wee. And thank you for your guidance. It was skillfully done."

    "It was of no consequence, My Lady, but thank you. Does your spacecraft need any maintenance or resupply?

    Mia assumed it was just a courtesy. Or maybe she did assume that her Shrike fighter needs fuel or something. You are too kind. No, my ship is quite fine. It does not use conventional Elyran fuel. Please ask your personnel to not bother with my ship.

    The pilot nodded and signaled to the maintenance personnel that were surrounding it. They nodded and proceeded to another ship. If you will follow me, the pilot continued, I am to escort you to the Lady Tasha. This way, please."

    They walked around her ship towards the main airlock, and passed five Elyran fighters in their berths. The Elyran technicians, and the warriors overseeing the work on their ships, paused to take a look at their visitor.

    Mia politely nodded to the nearest ones, all female. And she had that tingling feeling again. What are they doing to me? she thought.

    As they passed the exhaust ports of the fighters, she could still feel residual heat from their rockets and smell the faint acrid fumes from burned fuel. Kerosene?

    As they neared the airlock, she could see Elyrans waiting there for them. By their outerments,bat warriors - the Elyran equivalent to Terran Marines. The lead Elyran rested her hand deliberately on her ornamental dress sword, and walked to face Mia.

    She bowed in the traditional wee for royalty, her fist over her heart (Mia recognized it from CETIs recorded Phase-Wave intercepts). "T''chahn, My Lady. I am Lena, swordmistress of the princess, Tasha Liaran-Kerr, who leads our fleet. I have been sent to escort you to our bridge, where you will await the arrival of our princess."

    Mia bowed in the same manner. "T''chahn, swordmistress. Thank you. I am Captain Amelia Catherine Steele, from the Earth ship Seeker. I am at your service."

    Lena gestured to a waiting lift and they all climbed into it. Mia found herself surrounded by small alien females, all wearing sidearms. Her close proximity to them made her aware of how they smelled. They did not exactly smell, but she was sure that these Elyrans needed a shower. Or maybe it''s a natural condition with them, she thought. A slightly unpleasant idea.

    She felt them close in around her, more than the cramped space could ount for, as if they were intentionally crowding her.

    And she felt odd sensations, like she was having unfamiliar thoughts. The tingling feeling was stronger. She tried to ignore the feeling and looked up at the elevator indicator. The shing Elyran glyphs told her that they were nearing a level designated as One, presumably the bridge. And when the door dted open, she was one of the first to escape out onto the bridge.

    It was bing ufortable in there. She felt like all the Elyran eyes were on her and that she was being mentally undressed.

    She took a deep breath and quickly scanned the bridge, noting the people and equipment. She smiled in recognition when she saw O''Connell.

    Time to go into our act, she thought. She gave a short bow in O''Connells direction, and gave her a small wink. "Hello, Commander," she said. "Everything all right?"

    O''Connell remembered, and gave her a deeper bow, her fist over her heart. "Everything is fine, sir. And is this really necessary?"

    "Yes, it is. Just y along, Commander. It can''t hurt anything."

    OConnell gestured towards the short bejeweled male. "Have you met the prince?"

    "No, not yet." She stopped by O''Connells side and acknowledged the bows of the rest of her people. One of the Marines was a bit slow, so Mike poked him in the ribs.

    Lena, not missing the by-y between the Earthers, quickly moved forward and introduced her to Ren.

    "My Lady, I present you Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii of the Great ins of Elyra, husband to the princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr, and our honored Chief Scientist. My Lord, this is Captain Amelia Catherine Steele of the Earth Warship Seeker."

    "T''chahn, Captain. I and my people are greatly in your debt."

    "It was but our duty, My Lord. Wee to the Sr System."

    "Your wee honors us. But I am at a great loss to understand how you knew of ouring. We ourselves only knew of our time of departure a little less than seven standard months ago."

    Mia did a little mental calction. Approximately one year and five Earth months since the broadcast. "If I am correct, My Lord, that was about 1.2 standard years after we sent our transmission to you."

    "The transmission. Ahhh, yes. We have several questions about that. Perhaps we can talk about itter?"

    "Of course. Well, after we sent the transmission, we have been waiting for some sort of expedition from the Federation. We knew where the bulk of the Federations were, and were able to calcte the general area of space that you would being from, provided that you left the Federation almost immediately after the broadcast."

    "The ''general area of space?''"

    "Well," she smiled, "there was also a great deal of luck involved."

    Just then, the lift doors dted open. Tasha stepped out, still in her pilot''s spacesuit. She went to Ren, and held his hand. She shut her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief and thanks. She turned and faced the Earthers.

    Mia bowed and gestured for her people to do likewise. Tasha acknowledged them and turned to Mia.

    "Wee, Captain. You and your people fight well."

    "Our thanks, My Lady."

    "You know of our mission here? To your Earth?"

    "We know of it, My Lady. In fact, that is also why we are here. I bring the greetings of the whole family of the Human Race, and I bring the invitation of the one who leads us all, to visit our mother world and meet with the leaders of our different kingdoms. It is her fervent wish that you ept this invitation and allow us to escort you to our world."

    Tasha smiled, and bowed deeply. "In behalf of the peoples and races that I represent, I am honored to ept your invitation. If it pleases your people, we would invite you to partake of a few refreshments, although I am not sure that you might find them ptable." Sheughed.

    "My Lady. Forgive me if I offend, but I and my people must return to our ship right away. The battle was fierce and we, as you, must recoup our strength and tally losses."

    Tasha smiled. "Politely spoken, Captain. And rightly so. But surely, you and your immediate staff can stay a while?"

    "If you insist, My Lady. Commander O''Connell and one of our scientists, Nichs, will stay with me, if it''s all right."

    The princess bowed. "We shall be honored."

    "Then, if I may, I would like to escort my people back to their ship, and wish them a safe journey home - one of our customs. I hope you understand."

    "Of course, Captain." Tasha turned to her swordmistress. "Lena. Escort the Captain and her people back to the hangar bay. See to it that it is speedily done. The Captain has a lot to do. Captain? I trust that I will see you soon."

    "You may count on it, My Lady." Out of ingrained custom and reflex, Mia kissed her hand. Tasha blushed to a deep crimson. A dozen of the alien officers were taken aback, most especially Ren. It was toote when Mia realized her faux pas. She contented herself with an additional short bob of the head, and turned to walk out of the bridge.

    The walk back to the hangar bay was uneventful. O''Connells carrier was waiting near the hatchway, with Marines near the open shuttle door, at port arms. O''Connell turned over her Detterex charges to waiting Elyran guards. Mia gave final instructions to her people and the shuttle co-pilot, surreptitiously handing over her suits recording chip, observing the same with Nick and O''Connell, went over to her ship, and pretended to inspect it for damage and got a fresh stick from the Misceneous Itemspartment in the cockpit.

    O''Connells Marines stepped into the shuttle, and they and her fighter (the carrier''s co-pilot flew her fighter back) sped back to the Seeker.

    "Okay," she mumbled, "back to the princess."

    -----

    "Well?" Tasha turned to ask Ren. "What do you think?"

    Ren shrugged nomittally and turned abruptly away. Tasha smiled and turned to her swordmistress. "Lena?"

    "They seem to be people of good stock, though with unusual ideas about propriety."

    Tasha raised an amused eyebrow, and Reena nodded in the direction of the prince. "I sense in them a strong will and a strong mind. One thinks of those of the royal blood when you meet them," she said.

    "I agree, pilot. But most of them are like that," said Tasha.

    Reena smiled. "A race of Bridges. The mind boggles."

    Ren turned to face her. "A patent impossibility," he said heatedly. "Science tells us that the probability of conceiving a bridge is about one in three hundred thousand."

    Reena bowed. "Of course, My Lord. But they are not Elyran. Who can say what is possible for them."

    Ren glowered at her and turned to the princess. "My Lady, I find myself feeling a bit faint from all this excitement. May I be excused? I will retire to our quarters."

    "Of course, my love. But make it a short rest. We have to meet with the Captain soon. Perhaps in less than half an hour." Ren bowed stiffly. They watched him leave with faint amused smiles.

    "These past events bode well for the expedition, My Lady," Lena said.

    "Well," the pilot-navigator murmured. "Much of the fleet has been destroyed, many of our people have been killed, and we have yet to ount for all of our missing warriors."

    "You mistake my meaning, pilot," Lena said. "I, too, grieve for our lost sisters. But theing of the Earthers has saved us from an even worse fate. And here they are, apparently ready to talk. Does that not mean well for the expedition?"

    "Indeed, yes," Tasha said. "And perhaps we will get to know more of them in theing days."

    Tasha left to change out of her space suit and the rest turned back to their work.

 Chapter 11: Female Chauvinist

    Chapter 11: Female Chauvinist

    Mia deliberately walked leisurely back into the Talon, surrounded by her armed Elyran escort, taking her time to take a look at the bustling Elyran activity in the corridors. Nick took the opportunity to discreetly record more in the hidden camcorder mounted on the shoulder of his suit.

    "So, Nick," she said, "what are you thinking?"

    Nick minutely swiveled his suit from side to side as he walked. "Well, Skipper, everything seems to be going well." He bent backward and focused on one of the ceiling light panels. "And the Elyrans seem to be friendly sorts." He bent over and focused on the deck. "In a very neenth-century Victorian sort of way." He smiled.

    "Their civilization is at least eighty millennia old. I find it hard to believe we''re still dealing with a bunch of prudes."

    "So? Age doesn''t make one an automatic sophisticate."

    "Notice the smell?"

    Nick sniffed cautiously. "It''s almost gone, now."

    "I think it''s some kind of natural pheromone or chemical. Ites out during stress or fear. Something like that."

    "Wish we could get a sample."

    "Good luck."

    "Tiny little buggers, huh?"

    "Just a bit. What about those other ones - they werent small at all."

    "The Detterex?"

    "Yeah, the Detterex. I wish we could keep one of them for tests and observation."

    "These aren''t pets, Nick. These are people."

    "I know, I know. Just wondering out aloud."

    O''Connell looked ill at ease. Though she knew the Elyrans couldn''t understand what they were talking about, she couldn''t help but blush in embarrassment. Their Elyran escorts looked at her somewhat in shock, but quickly looked away. Now what did that mean? She reached up to her suit cor and turned up the gain of her trantor but the aliens weren''t talking.

    She turned to Mia. I''m being silly, she thought, and decided to join in.

    "I think the princess has the hots for you," she blurted. Mia and Nick looked at her, and sheughed.

    "How can you tell?" Nick asked.

    "I know. Women almost always know."

    "Ma''am," Nick said, "beggin'' your pardon, but this particr woman was born hundreds of light years away. Not to mention the fact that we have more inmon with a bullfrog than with her. And besides, Mia''s a girl, too."

    "What? There are no lesbians in Elyra?"

    Nick spluttered.

    O''Connell tried to hide a small grin. Mia blushed, and the Elyrans looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

    "This discussion is getting us nowhere," Mia said gruffly. "Let''s drop the subject." She tried to change the topic. I wonder where they''re leading us. This isn''t where we passed through before."

    Nick tapped the lead Elyran and asked.

    "We are going to My Lady''s main audience chamber," the Elyran answered, "where we are to meet the Princess, and Prince Ren''s science staff."

    "That''s good. Lead on, MacDuff."

    The Elyrans looked at each other. "Macduff?" one of them asked the other.

    -----

    Tomoguchi peeked through the window of the carrier''s airlock. "I don''t think the Captain or Commander O''Connell will like this, sir," his aide said.

    "Shut up, Lieutenant." Tomoguchi knew hismanding officers would not like the fact he left the ship in the hands of the chief engineer, But he felt he had no choice. No way would he risk someone if he could stand in for that person. He turned back to his work.

    "Everybody ready?" He took a deep breath and swung open the door. He could only half see what was in front of him: barely perceptible coruscating bands of rainbow-colored distortion washed over his helmet''s facete as his radiation shield ticked over, blocking his vision enough that visibility was cut down to about eight feet or so.

    "Alright, people. We only have an hour to do this. Let''s make it snappy." He pulled out a utility sword with a curved de and hacked away at the jutting pieces of metal, like an explorer in an old jungle movie. The pieces of metal made easy work for hisminated-durasteel sword as he rapidly cut into the Arachnian ship''s hull. Around him were several of Seeker''s Marines and the rescue team, quickly cutting into the ruins of the ship. Each time they reached a main bulkhead, Tomoguchi''s demolition squad would attach a detonator and st a hole into the deck, and, foot by foot, they went deeper into the ship.

    Luckily, they chanced upon a ruined elevator shaft, and going down suddenly became easier. In a short while, they reached their goal.

    Tomoguchi pushed away pieces of junk andid bare a small patch of a smooth, ckened metal surface. One of his technicians attached a sound transmitter to the metal and spoke very loudly in a much-ented Elyran.

    "Hello, in there. We are from the Earth ship and we havee to rescue you. You are instructed to move away from this part of the wall as far as you can. Please signal that you willply."

    A faint answer could be heard - something about radiation.

    We have taken care of that. Signal that you understand and willply.

    After a muffled reply, the technician nodded to the rest of the team.

    Tomoguchi''s aide produced what looked like a packet made of clear stic. As they shook it out, it started to look like a big cellophane-like bag. Two spacers stepped in the bag and the rest glued the opening to the ck hull.

    Faint rainbow-like patterns of distortion surrounded them, like those on the surface of a soap bubble or a film of oil, as a field-unit radiation shield was activated. The spacers took out what looked like pick-axes and started hammering into the metal.

    They found the metal rtively thin, actually, and had an easy time of it.

    As pieces of metal were gouged out, a faint hissing sound could be heard and the stic bag puffed out. The spacers dropped their axes and used their gauntleted gloves to peel and push aside the metal. Tomoguchi peered into the bubble and gasped as two big white-and-orange insects with antennae levered themselves from the crack in the hull.

    Umm... hello, he said, and shrugged as his aide gave him a sour look.

    -----

    Mia stood at the podium of Seeker''s main conference hall. She had invited all of Seeker''s officers and crew who hade in contact with the aliens.

    On the screen were the officers and crew of the other ships in a split screen, who, like them, came in close contact with the aliens. She nodded to the yeoman technician who pressed a switch on her console, and broadcast the electronic conference on the three ships'' entertainment channels.

    "Settle down everyone." The soft murmuring of the crowd petered out.

    "I''ve put together this meeting so as to get all of your impressions about the aliens. We''re putting it on close-circuit so that the rest of the ship can watch. Needless to say, we will be recording this and sending it back to Fleet Command."

    Mia nodded again to the technicians and various close-up shots of the Elyrans reced her half of the screen.

    "Here you see close-ups of some of the aliens we''ve met. Notice that most of them are female. In fact I can only recall actually encountering just one male.

    "There are also several simrities between us and them, besides having two sexes. As you can see, the gross anatomy is obviously humanoid. There are, however, several differences in detail. Notice here that they have only three fingers, not including the expected opposable thumb. Notice also the solid-colored eyes and the thick fur-like hair.

    "They also seem to be a little on the short side, by our standards. They average about 1.5 meters. Or five feet for those from NorthAm. Peopleughed politely. Yet other than this, they seem for the most part like us."

    Mia noticed a waving hand. "Yes, Lieutenant?"

    "Sir, what about those other aliens we encountered? They were definitely more than 1.5 meters. They were more like two meters or more more than seven feet.

    O''Connell interrupted. "Those weren''t Elyrans, Lieutenant. They were Detterex soldiers. But some of our Phase-wave intercepts say these two racese from the same gic stock. The physical differences are minor. The Detterexnguage is even Elyran, although with a very pronounced and distinct ent. Most of the fighters that we''ve gone up against were Detterex. The other Empire ships, the Tirosians - we never had a chance to meet up with them. For some reason, they seemed to hold back from the battle. I don''t know why.

    Mia was impressed with OConnells knowledge. "Other things you''ve noticed?" Mia asked her audience. She saw another raised hand. "Yes, Nick?"

    "Captain, when we were brought to the bridge, I couldn''t help but notice the, umm, smell. None of us were expecting that."

    "Yes, I noticed that as well. But the Elyrans seem to be well disciplined. I''m sure that they know the value of good hygiene especially in a spacecraft. This leads me to suspect that this may be a normal, natural condition."

    "Ugh."

    "Well, it isn''t bad. Sort of a musky dry scent. We can get used to it. But we have to warn everyone to stock up on air fresheners." The shipboardpanyughed.

    One of the Marine sergeants raised his hand. "Sir, it may be just me, or maybe it''s because of the sts, but I felt sort of funny when we were in close quarters with the aliens. Sort of an itchy feeling, but inside my head. Y''know what I mean?"

    Mia looked at the others. "I also had a feeling like that. Anyone else?"

    Almost half of those who went on board raised their hands, mostly the men.

    "So it wasn''t coincidence. Anyone have an idea what it was?"

    The Captain of the Hermes signaled. "Well, it was obviously being caused by the Elyrans. Because, if it wereing from their equipment, I''m sure we''d have picked up something."

    "I agree, Captain."

    Another one, a Marine this time, raised her hand. "Could they be telepathic, Captain? You know, read minds and stuff."

    Mia shrugged. "I don''t know, Private. They could be. Gives them one hell of an advantage, if thats true." The looks that she got were thoughtful.

    "Anyway, Fleet and the CETI people will investigate this and get back to us."

    In the video pickup, one of the fighter pilots from the Constetion raised his hand. "Sir, mostly the thing I noticed was their fighters. They look like rocket-powered ships. Now, why would they use rocket power, when they have artificial gravity? Look at us. All our ships have gravity engines."

    "That''s right, Mia said. And, you know, the Detterex had two tankers? One of them was blown up by an idental collision. They probably use the tankers to refuel their fighters and other smaller ships."

    Either they know something about gravity tes that we dont, or else theyre not as smart as we thought theyd be, O''Connell said.

    Someone else signaled for attention - the chief navigator on the Constetion. Sir, how about military tactics? Seems to me, our guys were able to run rings around em.

    I think it was more technology than anything else, lieutenant, Mia answered. Naturally our ships were faster and more maneuverable.

    The lieutenant raised a slightly dubious eyebrow. Well, maybe.

    O''Connell turned towards Mia, a questioning eyebrow raised. She was wondering if they should talk about the meeting. O''Connell decided to shut down the meeting instead. "Well, sir, OConnell said. After all of this, what now?"

    "We''ll wait for our people that are investigating the Arachnian derelicts, and, unless Fleet Command has other ideas, we will escort the Federation ships back home."

    "Back home, sir? Back to Earth?"

    "Yup. Also, have the Quartermaster rece all issued trantors with ones that can also broadcast English-to-Elyran.

    OConnell nodded. "What about the other aliens, sir? The Detterex?"

    "Theyve changed course and seem to be headed the same way, Commander. Along with the rest of their fleet."

    -----

    Tomoguchi gave terse instructions to his pilot, and their carrier smoothly took off from the ruined alien ship. He felt his back prickling but suppressed an urge to look back.

    On his ship were twenty-one of the bugs (Excuse me, he thought to himselfughing, I meant extraterrestrials. The captain wouldnt like it if he made such a mistake out loud.), which ounted for roughly two thirds of the surviving Arachnians. Another shuttle carried the remaining third, along with a load of their equipment and personal effects. Both shuttle-carriers were headed to the Seeker.

    He listened with more than half an ear to the chattering and clicking alien talk and tried to sense some meaning in them. He could not shake the vague impression he had of the aliens being familiar. He thought of spiders but they werent that simr to strike a chord. He snapped his fingers and thought, Aha!

    The aliens curiously looked over to him, and he turned and automatically shrugged, as if to say that he didnt mean anything. Unexpectedly, the other aliens shrugged, too. Almost as if imitating him. One of the scientists they had on board who was trying to converse with the only alien that was wearing an Elyrannguage trantor raised a curious eyebrow, as the aliens started chattering to each other with renewed vigor.

    Whatever it was, Tomoguchi thought, I missed it. Hope it didnt mean anything. He turned to face front and thought back to the idea that made him go Aha.

    I know what they remind me of now, he thought. Crabs!

    Once he was at the Fishermans Wharf in old San Francisco, and he remembered the delicious crab that they had for lunch then. Despite their general appearance as big overgrown tarants, the aliens shininess and spotty orange-on-white coloring made them look like big crabs fresh out of the boiler, and reminded him that he hadn''t had lunch yet. Their lemony scent reminded him of shrimp in lemon sauce, and he tried to hide a grimace.

    The scientist talking with the aliens bent his head lower and tried to understand the alien and answer his questions better. He again tried to exin that they were on their way to Seeker, and then to Earth.

    The alien, whom he found was referred to by the others as the First Ambassador, apologized for being too much trouble.

    It is our pleasure, sir, he said in a very poor, ented Elyran.

    The curious alien started pointing at the fixtures on the wall again, and he did his best to exin the function of each without missing details.

    After a few minutes, they cruised into Seekersnding bay and felt a soft bump as their carriernded on the bays deck. Tomoguchi felt the artificial gravity push his feet against the deck, and walked quickly to the back of the cabin. He opened the carriers doors and escorted the aliens down the ramp. The aliens stood on hind limbs and gingerly walked down the gangnk.

    Mia was at the bottom of the ramp. Tomoguchi gave her a crisp salute and a short verbal report. Mia nodded, thanked Tomoguchi warmly, and faced the Arachnians. Mia bowed Elyran-style, with fist over heart, and the First Ambassador gave her a salute, a pretty good imitation of themander, but using two front limbs instead of one. The others did the same thing, and Mia tried not to smile too widely.

    Wee to the Seeker, Ambassador, she said in her best Elyran. I wish we could have met in better circumstances, but nevertheless, we hope that you will find your stay with us to be afortable one. I am Amelia Steele, captain of the Seeker.

    Thank you, Captain, the ambassador said through his trantor.

    Friendship found in war is as wee as a drink in the desert. I cannot say our thanks enough. You saved us from sure death.

    Just doing our job, sir. If you care to follow my people..."

 Part Four

    Part Four

    <strong>Part Four</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>Sd Forks and Other Things</strong>

    - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael Straczynski, Larry Niven, David Brin, E.E. (Doc) Smith, Iain M. Banks, and, of course, George Lucas.

    My thanks. And my apologies.

    <em>Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others.</em>

    <em>If you have that awareness, you have good manners,</em>

    <em>no matter which fork you use.</em>

    - Emily Post, author and founder of the Emily Post Institute,

    <em>Good manners can rece morals. It may be years before anyone knows if what you are doing is right. But if what you are doing is nice, it will be immediately evident.</em>

    - P.J. ORourke, journalist and writer, early 21st Century Earth

    <em>Learn young about hard work and manners </em>

    <em>and youll be through the whole dirty mess</em>

    <em>and nicely dead again before you know it.</em>

    - F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist and poet, 20th Century Earth

    <em>Aliens, humans -bels hardly matter: at the heart of things, what one needs to know is that, beneath the exterior, we are all people, and we should treat each other as people, ording to ones traditions and culture. Thats what good manners are. If you have that, its easy to make friends, whether they be Human or Elyran, Dixx or Detterex, Arachnian or Erocii. All it takes is augh and a smile. The problem, of course, is to understand what a smile looks like for an Arachnian or a Dixx.</em>

    - Dr. Alexandra Romarkin, Secretary-General of the New United Nations, 2310 Earth

 Chapter 12: Homeward Bound

    Chapter 12: Homeward Bound

    It had been a few days since the battle engagement with the aliens and the rescue of the Arachnians. Human-Federation history will record that engagement as the Battle of Pluto. Very misleading, of course, since the battle was nowhere near the dwarf. But since it happened at a distance from the sun the same as Pluto (specifically, the exact distance as the nearest point of its orbit around the sun, and on the same orbital ne), it was a convenient name. But that was still far into the future. For now, it didnt have a name yet.

    At the moment, the remaining Tiros and Detterex Empire ships,posed of nine battle cruisers, four escort cruisers and a tanker, had disengaged and moved away at high sub-light, and had taken a curving, decelerating path that would take them to Earth, decelerating all the way. Fourteen out of an original twenty-two ships. And since they were now moving substantially less than light speed, theyd only be on Earth in a month - maybe more since they seemed to have designed their path to specifically take a long, slow way around.

    That was still a lot better than the Federation ships - out of an original nine ships, there were only three Elyran and two Dixx cruisers left. A sixty percent survival ratio for the Empire ships, and fifty-five percent for the Federation. Such low survival ratios have never been recorded in any Elyran engagement in recent years, making the battle one of the worst military engagements.

    Military strategists on the Earth were actually a little dumbfounded by these numbers. In the first ce, they were hoping a military engagement could have been avoided altogether - they were only able to send a force of three cruisers after all, to meet thirty-one ships. If they couldnt avoid a battle engagement, their pessimistic predictions showed a four-to-one win-loss projection, or in other words, neen surviving alien ships to zero survivors for Earth. Its no wonder that the Earthers were dumbfounded.

    -----

    The Earthers could actually intercept the remaining Empire ships if they wanted to long before they reached Earth, if Seeker and her twopanion ships didnt have to escort the Federation aliens, or if they used some of their other ships outfitted with the PRCs Type-One or Type-Two FTL engines and inertial converters. But they didnt: Mia was under orders, and the Admiral of the Fleet declined to send more ships. Silverman was painfully aware that most of his fleet of fifty Type-One interster cruisers and fifty Type-Two inteary cruisers was still in various states of readiness. Only two of the new-generation ships were running - the Hermes and the Constetion - and they were Type-Twos (not counting Seeker and the other pre-FTL ships, of course) and already engaged. Five other Type-Twos had, however, just beenunched a few weeks ago, and were already undergoing shakedown beyond the Oort Cloud boundary.

    Silverman had decided that the Hermes and Constetion couldnt be pulled out of their current mission, so he was hoping that the other new ships would be done with their try-outs soon. He had been lucky with Hermes and Constetion,unching them untested and only almost finished - it was a miracle that they didnt break down right away or something. But he didnt want to risk that again. In three weeks, another twelve new Type-Twos would be ready for their shakedown (making a grand total of neen), and maybe even a couple of the Type-Ones might be ready formissioning soon. Hed at least have something flying that he could count on other than Hermes, Constetion, and the old, retrofitted and oversized Seeker.

    The production of the new ships wasn''t really problematic for Silverman. New Copernicus, the big ship assembly base located in Copernicus Crater on the moon, was already configured to manufacture hull sections and bulkheads for the so-called Enterprise-ss fusion ships, as well as to assemble them. That was why the Propulsion Research Commissions design for Earth Systems first FTL ship was so heavily-influenced by that ten-year-old design: Marta Running-Stream intended for the new ships to be easily manufactured by using the foundries, molds and forms New Copernicus already had for creating, cutting, pressing and molding the hulls and bulkheads for Enterprise-ss ships. Thats why internal construction of the Type-Ones and Type-Twos was very simr to the fusion ships, and therefore easy.

    Prior to their new slew of orders for Type-One and Type-Two FTLs, New Copernicus production was about one fusion cruiser a year, but at full capacity, the New Copernicus Shipyards could churn out three to five ships a month, which was now the norm. It had to be that way because their contract with the system government was toplete one hundred ships within two years. But they knew that this wouldnt have been possible if the systems government didnt arrange for other manufacturers to be involved.

    All the major systems andponents of the ships were outsourced: the specialized electronics and other rtedponents were mostly off-the-shelf and could be outsourced to the factories of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune. Actually, there was enough in stock with the various retailers on Earth, so they were geared more to rece Earth stocks. As for the specialized gases, chemicalponents and materials required, Venus would ship them in thousand-gallon cargo containers fired into lunar orbit via rail guns (the only delivery system that would allow them to hit the required 1,700 miles per second and higher without resorting to FTL). As for the electromaic containment systems, they came from thebs in Mercury  the systems experts in tokamaks and sma containment - while the FTL systems came from the PLCbs and factories on Earth.

    As for the raw materials that they needed for the hulls, which were, by far, the biggest supply concern that New Copernicus had, the Ceres Consortium on Mars provided refined iron, steel, aluminum and other metals from their mining and refining operations on the dwarf, Ceres. They, of course, had to get sufficient supplies of carbon from Earth and Venus to produce the steel that New Copernicus needed, but Mars was managing that. Almost daily, the Consortium would firerge kiloton-sized billets of refined metals into Mars orbit via rail gun.

    Their mining operation had also liberatedrge quantities of H2O and other minerals, which Mars was now stockpiling on the surface. In fact, soon, they might have enough H2O to begin terraforming, making Mars the third in the system to allow their citizens to live on the surface openly instead of under domes. As to the other surplus minerals, they n to sell them to all the others, guaranteeing that theyd recoup their mining operation expenses, and perhaps fund their future terraforming ns.

    The government was burning through money like it was firewood in the winter, as were all thepanies and operations involved, but as fast as they spent it, the bulk of the money was circted back to into the systems economy  after all, most of the corporations andpanies involved had their own bills to pay. It was a ssic example of a closed economic system. In the short term, this situation of demand-feeding-supply-feeding-demand would be good, but eventually, most economic experts said that this would lead to eventual economic burnout.

    Jennifer Priestly would actually say that this was one of the reasons that they needed to be part of the Gctic Federation. At the very least, Earth would find a new market to sell its products to, and new ways to spend its incredible, newfound wealth. Otherwise, the systems economy would implode. Some of the older economists would say, for some people to be rich, there had to be people who were poor, but this view was very twenty-first century. Present-day academics would just say that there must be more than one economy. As a famous quote from seventeenth-century Earth poet John Donne goes, No man is an ind. And this was apparently true for Silvermans Ind Earth as well. The Gctic Federation could actually be Earths economic savior.

    -----

    The ships were a big problem for Silverman, but a bigger problem was trying to ride herd on this coalition army of his. National pride and national interests were causing him headaches. In actuality, the original, individual national armed forces that were subsumed into therger United Earth Defense Force (or EarthForce) need not change, and their missions need not be altered. Peacekeeping was peacekeeping, after all, and admin was admin. But the creation of thebined space force changed things.

    The discovery of the Gctic Federation, the discovery of Phase-Wave and the development of real FTL travel had changed the races perspective. National concerns seemed smaller now and less urgent, especially when almost all humans were well-fed, well educated and doing well, and there was a whole gxy out there now, plus the discovery of a new bogeyman in the form of the Tirosians and the Detterex.

    Now, most nations wanted a piece of the interster pie, especially the smaller countries. Everyone was busting his doors down to get a chance at one of the new FTLs. His present strategy was to assign one FTL to a country. But there were about two hundred nations in the U.N., and Silverman only had one hundred FTLs nned altogether, so the virtualpetition for the ships was fierce. In order to manage this, BuPers had updated their crew evaluation tests and protocols, and prospective crews were put through the wringer. Those few that passed BuPers and BuMeds veryprehensive battery of tests were then matricted into the new navys month-long Flight School Programme, and immediately assigned an FTL afterwards.

    Priority was, however, given to people of the same nationality as of already-existing crews. The unmatched esprit de corps of such nationally homogenous crews was invaluable, especially those that had battle experience. The French-crewed Hermes and the African-crewed Constetion were examples of this. There was talk of dispersing these crews to the new ones, though, but the cohesiveness of these single-nationality crews was valuable to Silverman so he vetoed that.

    The Seeker crew was an anomaly in that, though it had argely North Americanplement, its crew was more international than the others, and had the most experience of all the veteran crews. Furthermore, the new recement ensigns and yeomen they took on at theirst port of call on Triton were handpicked by OConnell, and were a mixed bag of nationalities. This made the Seeker crew even more diverse than any in the present navy.

    None of the existing non-FTL ships were being upgraded since an upgrade would essentially mean gutting them. It would be too long and tooplicated, so it was better to just assign the crews a new FTL. Therge, t basin near New Copernicus was designated as the navys bone yard, and more than a dozen of the older non-FTLs were already parked there. A motley collection of the old ships was still in operation, though, and would remain so until they could be reced by new FTLs.

    Seeker was yet another anomaly in that it was currently the only refitted pre-FTL ship. Dr. Running-Stream had determined that J-ss cruisers were one of a handful of existing ship designs that could be upgraded in a short amount of time so she had lobbied for the Seeker to be made part of Task Force 41/18. Pressured to beef up the task force at the time, Silverman agreed.

    There were more ships in the pipeline, of course, and Earth nners could foresee the boom times for ship construction to continue on into the foreseeable future because of this. But, for now, they were at the limits of their production capacity.

    In the meantime, in response to the current emergency, most of the decrepit Seeker-era cruisers that were assigned to Earth and the moon were mobilized, and were on their ponderous way to a rendezvous beyond lunar orbit.

    That was a little bit too close to Earth for Mias taste - she and her friends from CETI and the new Alien Threat Assessment Command would have preferred that the rendezvous happen earlier and much farther away from Earth, so U.N. Secretary-General Alexandra Romarkin decided to talk with Silverman and find out if that was possible.

    Did Captain Steele ask you to speak with me? the Admiral said when she approached him with Mias concerns.

    Do you think Mia would bypass your authority, Admiral? Of course not. I found out about this on my own.

    Madam Secretary-General, Silverman said, I need not tell you that I have the highest opinion of Dr. Steele, and would trust him implicitly, but I have my own opinion of the situation.

    You mean her, Romarkin said with a small smile.

    st it, I keep forgetting. Yes, youre quite right - I meant her.

    But you arent agreeing with her this time?

    The criticality of the situation, Madam Secretary-General, is not enough that I would be willing to jeopardize fleet assets, and, more importantly, the lives of men and women under mymand. However, as apromise, I have asked the PRC engineers, and had the individual shipmanders currently conducting shakedown flights, to assess the performance of the new ships, and look into the possibility of early deployment. I am also going over evaluation and test scores of the ships, as well as their crews scores and readiness to ship out on a real mission, and I think I may be able to have five FTLs avable to Captain Steele in, say, seven to eight days. In the meantime, a squadron of our Legacy ships will be ready to rendezvous with the aliens as soon as they get to the vicinity of the moon.

    Legacy?

    Thats what were starting to call all the old pre-FTL and pre-gravitic ships.

    Well, thats a lot better than calling them blimps, at least, she said, referring to the current navy ng for them - a derogatory one that referred to the old construction style of most of the old ships, a necessary design style because of therge tankages they needed to store their liquid-chemical fuels.

    Speaking of which, she continued, what about the Seeker - do you consider Seeker a Legacy Ship? Even after her refit?

    Well... I suppose so, but its a J-ss ship and it used highpression chemical tanks. So its certainly not a blimp.

    Hmmm, Romarkin thought. Thats one piece of scuttlebutt she wouldn''t be passing on to Mia and her crew.

    She understood Silvermans position about not sending any of the new ships yet, and she agreed with it. She therefore dyed issuing any official instructions. Officially, though, if asked, she nned to say she had no opinion about the situation since it was not her area - that it was the Admirals decision to make.

    Very well, Admiral, Romarkin said. Thank you. Please keep me posted on further developments. She signed off and called Mia back.

    Though she didnt have any good news, that didnt stop her from asking Mia for help in getting to know the new neighbors.

    So Romarkin first asked to be briefed on the just-concluded engagement and, through Phase-Wave, Mia, Commander OConnell, Captains Dupont, Okonkwo and their execs did a thorough job. Mia also talked about the grilling they had at the hands of the alien Prince and his staff onboard the Talon. At that point, Mia asked Nick,te of CETI, and Jerry Bhavnanis former superstar code-breaker, to join the briefing.

    Well, Maam, Nick began as he sat down, I wouldnt call it a grilling, per se.

    Yeah? OConnell said. Then what would you call it, Lieutenant?

    Nick shrugged.

    Well, whatever, Romarkin said. Tell me what happened during this grilling.

    During the grilling, it became apparent that the aliens were curious about Earth technology the most, but Mia and the others were careful not to give away anything that could be considered strategic or top secret. They agreed to the meeting because they were confident that they could cope, especially since they got expert coaching from the rest of the crew via their hidden Phase-Wave earpieces.

    They gave some of the rudimentary concepts about the means of propulsion of the Seeker, Hermes and Constetion, and the aliens concluded that Earther technology was essentially the same as theirs (it was mostly true, after all, so Mia and the others did not disabuse them of this impression).

    Asked about the light that the three ships emitted just before they became ship-maneuverable, Mia exined that the light was an effect of their engines field generators when they rapidly reduced their rate of output. Again, strictly speaking, that was true - when adjustments are made to the fields they generate, Elyran-style engines sometimes emit a Cherenkov-like light effect. (When charged particles move through an electrically prizable medium faster than light normally would, a glow would be emitted. Humans called it Cherenkov Radiation, after the scientist who discovered it in the neen-fifties. Elyrans, of course, called it something else.) Elyrans and humans knew that in this situation, the effect happens in inefficient antigrav field generation in regions of space saturated with sma or gas particles, such as on or nearary surfaces or near nebe and simr phenomena. The Elyrans exchanged amused, barely-hidden smirks at what they assumed to be inefficient, badly designed generators.

    Once again, Mia didnt disabuse them of that assumption. She didnt tell them, of course, that a Cherenkov-lookalike effect was also generated by their newly-invented inertia converters, which was part of the light they saw when Seeker, Hermes and Constetion braked. And besides, there wasnt enough gas around the ships for the Cherenkov light effect.

    She didnt lie. She was able to get away with it because she just didnt really answer their question. The aliens apparently knew nothing of this kind of braking technology, although its principles could be extrapted from the gravitation maniption that made faster-than-light travel possible. She and Marta Running-Stream had a bet about that, and since Marta said she couldnt believe the aliens wouldnt know anything about it, Mia won.

    Anyway, Mia kept the aliens ignorant of the humans inertia converters and preserved their tactical advantage by not giving them any more information, although the Earth-designed inertia converters would only work above a certain inertial mass. Below that, ship thrusters and engines would have to do the braking in the conventional manner, i.e. where Newtonian physics were applicable.

    The Elyrans also asked the humans about their fighters, and Mia exined that the Vipers and her own ships Shrikes used miniature versions of their FTL. The aliens were shocked to hear this. They said Federation science could only miniaturize their stardrive systems only up to a certain point, which would, at best, make such systems fit ships half the size of Seeker, and they knew no way to make them smaller than that and fit something like Seekers Shrikes. Besides, FTL engines would not have any effect at velocities below light speed. Mia, Nick and OConnell didnt say anything more and let the aliens think whatever they wanted.

    I think you shouldnt have given that information, Mia, Romarkin saidter.

    Actually, Madam Secretary-General, Mia exined, it was deliberate. Just from seeing our fighters, they would eventually conclude that we use a version of our stardrive generators on them. This way, we give them the impression we arent hiding things and are actually volunteering information, though in fact we ARE hiding things.

    Mia exined to the Secretary-General that what she didnt tell the Elyrans was that Earth science had the same limitation in reducing the size of their stardrives as well, and that FTL engines do not work below light speed. The thing was, knowing this, Earth used its ability to miniaturize their technology to make the engines for ships like Mias fighters that generate field effects that, at best, would only be good for eleration until they reach about a fiftieth the speed of light. Which was still mind-boggling - Shrikes could manage elerations up to twelve miles an hour per second, toreach 13 million miles an hour. That was ridiculous, of course: the human body would not be able to cope at those rates of eleration, so there was a limiter that prevented them from elerating more than twelve G''s the maximum Gs that a human body could tolerate. Federation fighters and shuttles, on the other hand, could only manage a maximum of about 4,000 miles an hour using their hydrogen-oxygen-kerosene rocket engines.

    At such lower-power dimensions,sers and reflectors made of high-precision ss and crystalline mirrors were sufficient to control the engines smaller and weaker fields. There was therefore no need for therge electromaic shield generators required to contain more powerful fields. The extremely precise miniaturized control systems was what allowed them to rece the gigantically-massive field generators of FTL engines with precisely controlled mirrors andsers. It was doubtful if the Federation could mass-produce such systems.

    Theplexity and gigantic size of FTL generators were the reason faster-than-light Federation, Empire and Earth starships couldnt be made any smaller. And because of this Earther design innovation, a generator from one of Mias Mark 2 Shrike fighters would only be the size of a small twentieth-centurybustion motor in what they used to call a supact car. These engines were more akin to Seekers shipboard gravity tes than to starship engines. In fact the inspiration for Martas first prototype fighter engine was artificial gravity tes. As it was, the Shrikes didnt fold normal space as FTL ships did, but rather traveled in normal space as all vehicles that traveled below the speed of light did. Earths ability in miniaturizing their technology had made all of this possible.

    Another key difference in their ships technology that Mia didnt share was that their FTL engines worked both above light speed and below. Dr. Marta Running-stream, the brilliant head of Earths PRC, would exin in her secret files that the Federation would only see several centuriester, that the problem of the Federation and the Empire was that their scientists didnt make the counter-intuitive leap that Earth scientists did: Instead of trying to make the FTL folding effect or rtivity-isting effect work in both rtivistic space and normal space, at sublight, the Earthers would switch the function of the engines from generating a gravity field bubble to the equivalent of massive gravity tes radiating in-Jane, run-of-the-mill anti-gravity from the rear of the cruiser. The Federation scientists could have easily duplicated this except that their thinking was too conventional and the idea never even urred to them. Using an Earther idiom, they didnt know how to think outside the box.

    There was one other thing about the Earther sublight propulsion: like the tiny Shrike engines, these massivelyrge generators would create Cherenkov-like light. But at these massive levels, they were able to tweak the light that leaked out so that the they would imitate ion thrust, at least visually. And it was enough of a camouge to hide the nature of their engines from the aliens.

    Decadester, Marta would exin to the U.N. Security Council that the finesse of control that Earths electronics allowed them made all of this possible. It was likeparing someone whos trying to blow up a balloon to someone whos trying to whistle: Federation FTL engines could only blow up balloons with their less-precise controls while the Earthers could control theirs with such a level of finesse that they could actually whistle.

    Though reluctant to do so, Marta rmended that the Security Council do everything it could to hide this fundamental difference of Earth systems from the aliens, and thereby maintain the tactical advantage that Earth had.

    -----

    Continuing on, Mia exined to Silverman and the Secretary-General that, by hiding these things, the impression they were able to give the aliens about Earth tech during the grilling was that it was mostly a mix of current, outdated and advanced technologies, and this would quell any feelings of doubt and suspicion the aliens had about the information they were being given. Thats because such anachronisms would make the information feel real. Romarkin didntpletely agree with that logic but, as she tried the idea on for size, she realized Bill, or rather, Mia, was right again. She was d that when Bill changed into Mia, the change didnt dull his sharp mind. Or, rather her sharp mind... So confusing...

    -----

    Nick added that the impression they''d tried to create could be exploited in many ways, all to the humans advantage, and cause the aliens to underestimate Earth people.

    Other things were discussed during the grilling - Mia took that opportunity to ask the Elyrans about the status of the remaining Federation ships, and what the Earthers could do to help. What they were told confirmed their telemetry. OConnell, in turn, told them about the handful of surviving Arachnians they rescued. Ren asked about the First Ambassador, and when OConnell told him he was among the survivors, Ren cried in relief. The Princess Tasha hugged him, turned and expressed to Mia their familys gratitude.

    Mia nodded, feeling a little proud of her crew. She exined, however, that she was unsure if they could help the Arachnians further medically, and she didnt know if their equipment and spares could be of any use to them, but she would be ready to help nevertheless. The Princess offered to help as well.

    That was, of course, a while ago, and since then, the Arachnian ship was abandoned and the humans had settled the Arachnians on the Seeker. Since then they seemed to be thriving in Earth atmosphere. Btedly, one of the Arachnians had some sort of seizure. Mia was told that it was due to exposure to radiation onboard their old ship, but she still had the aliens quarantined in biologically-neutral istion rooms, on the off-chance that the Arachnians exposure to Earth atmosphere might have caused it. True, it was probably a futile safeguard (they had already been exposed to airborne Earth biologicals via the ships atmosphere), but it might help.

    The First Ambassador told Mia not to worry, and had shown her a little belt-like device that all the Arachnians wore.

    She was assured that it was a passive technology, and she shouldnt worry. He exined that it was their version of a lifesigns detector, and it would have warned them if the conditions onboard Seeker were inimical to them in any way, whether it be environmental or biological, like radiation, gravity, temperature, bacteria, viruses, spores, or something else altogether. The Ambassador was confident that they were in no danger, but eded to Mias restrictions just to be polite and cooperative.

    Mia asked if they could spare one of the belts. She was given sixteen, and she passed them on to her science team to analyze. Later on, the humans would be told that all the races in the Federation and in the Empire used such devices constantly. The belts had little tubes running around it. Each of the tubes in the belts carried a simple life form that looked like a chubby little white insect grub orrva, what the Elyrans and Detterex called a yochu, about the size of a small human thumb, and, depending on its reaction to the atmosphere and other environmental conditions it was exposed to, one would know if he or she was in danger. These artificially grown worms didnt excrete anything, and were engineered to survive on their own for a period of about seven Earth months. Beyond that time, the worms would die naturally, and an Arachnian would need to get fresh recement cartridges for her belt. The same life form was now used by all of the known races, but bred and customized to suit each individual species. The breeding of these life forms and the manufacture of the belt devices themselves were a thriving industry within the Federation and the Empire.

    -----

    After the briefing, the Secretary-General said that she wanted to talk to the aliens. And, since their ships were traveling at the same constant velocities well below the speed of light, and were in close proximity with each other, they could remain in radio contact.

    Via radio, Elyran technicians were able to help Mias people understand the coding of virtually all Federation and Empiremercial transmissions (previous to that, the humans could only decipher Elyran government audio and video transmission frequencies since these used direct-analog coding), and after the Elyrans showed them how, humans could now properly decipher almost all the Federation transmissions they had patiently been intercepting and recording since, as well as many Empire transmissions, from the previous year. Mia sent the coding information back to CETI right away.

    -----

    A few yearster, after the humans got the hang of the aliens radio frequencies and coding, BBC Sr and the other major media outlets in the system would start airing deciphered, reformatted and redubbed (or subtitled) Federation - mostly Elyran  video shows (all with permission, of course, courtesy of the Royal Elyran Communications Institute). Not surprisingly, what became the most popr shows were what humans would have called alien action movies and soap operas. The gender role reversal, and the existence of bridges, gave an interesting twist to what would have been very familiar themes and plots and, even though Elyran programs had a medieval kind of atmosphere (given the knight-errant kind of ethic, and swords, armor, kingdoms, castles and so forth), many humans became avid fans. Critics thought they were over-wrought, and over-acted, but the fans didnt care. Besides, most humans thought Elyran females were gorgeous, and Elyran males cute.

    By that time, many humans became obsessed about the pseudo-telepathic/empathic phenomenon of Elyran bridges, and many wondered if they would be able to experience such things. They would be disappointedter when it would be known that virtually all humans were unaffected by the phenomenon. However, there was one bigger secret to this effect that would never be directly disclosed to the general human poption.

    On an even more mundane point, the growth in poprity of Elyran entertainment would affect human entertainment as well, and programs with Arthurian themes, knights, kings and queens would be extremely popr. And, in truth, the gender role reversal wasnt too strange as modern human society had gotten over archaic gender-associated social mores a long time ago. Well, more-or-less.

    The bigger thing, however, was that the understanding that humans had of Federation society - Elyran society in particr - became all the better. Earths ability to integrate into the gcticmunity became virtually assured.

    -----

    An hourter, after Seekers video systems were properly adjusted to be able to read Elyran radio signals, the Secretary-General was able to converse in real-time with the Elyran Prince and Princess, the First Ambassador of Arachnia and his surviving staff, and High Admiral Daxx of Dixx Primesary Defense Squadron, who was leading this Federation contingent. Transmissions to and from Earth were transmitted via Phase-Wave and then ryed to the Federation ships via radio courtesy of the Seeker. It was the farthest and longest two-way radio videoconference in history.

    The Federation envoys were very pleased to be talking directly with the leader of the Earthers, and Romarkin was pleased as well. The aliens thought it was an incredible stroke of luck that the Earthers were fluent in Elyran, or had tools that made them virtually fluent - misunderstandings were kept at a very minimum. (The aliens didnt inquire too closely about how the Earthers became fluent, since they seemed unwilling to discuss it.)

    Pleasantries and other things that people talk about when they want to get to know each other took up a leisurely hour or so. It was a cordial talk, each being very careful not to offend. Inter years, Romarkin wouldment that it was easy to be friends with the aliens. All it took was augh and a smile. The problem, of course, was to understand what constituted a smile to an Arachnian or a Dixx...

    As they talked, a newplication had arisen. It seemed Admiral Daxx was harboring stowaways...

    As they chatted, one and one-half eights of new faces (an Earther would have said one dozen instead of one and one-half eights, but there was no single Elyran word that was an equivalent to the human word dozen) walked into camera range on Daxxs screen: A pair of mated Dixx priests (judging by their outerments), two Arachnians, tworge Dravidians and five little Erocii servitors. Along with the Elyrans, the neers represented some of the most powerful races in the Federation.

    The twelfth alien, though, was of a species that Mia didnt recognize. She recognized the Dixx and Arachnians, and recognized the others from clues she heard or read based on the audio and video intercepts, but she was clueless with this one. It appeared human or Elyran for the most part, except that it was taller than an Elyran - about as tall as an average human female - and had four arms - one pair below the more normally-positioned pair, and the expected Elyran three-fingers-and-thumb per hand.

    The four-armed humanoid looked like a tenth-century mandarin priest - he was dressed in a flowing silk (or silk-like) robe in white and gold, and a silken box hat sat on his head. He had a slim build and a wizened, faintly oriental face, long silvery hair, bushy eyebrows and a long mustache-beardbination. All four of his hands were thin and spindly - appropriate for a human of his apparent age, each with three long fingers and a thumb, topped with nails that were probably colored with some kind of chrome nail polish.

    The deference of his retinue indicated to the humans the high regard that they held him in. Romarkin caught Mias eye, her question faintly evident. Mia shrugged, not knowing who or what the new alien was.

    Admiral Daxx introduced this new group. Friends from the Earth, it is honor to introduce you to the Keeper of the Heritage and his retinue. The Keeper of the Heritage is to be addressed as Your Excellency or noble born.

    The Admirals words intrigued Mia. Who, or what, was this Keeper of the Heritage? She desperately wanted to check in with Walter and his staff but for the moment she decided to y it by ear.

    She bowed towards the screen with Daxx and the new aliens, as an Elyran would bow towards someone of royalty or high nobility. Greetings, noble born, she said in formal tones. We are pleased to meet you. I am Captain Amelia Steele. May I introduce she who leads us, Madame Alexandra Romarkin, Secretary-General of the New United Nations of Earth.

    Taking her cue from Mia, Romarkin bowed as well.

    Your Excellency, she said.

    The four-armed alien remained quiet and studied Mia and the other humans. His gaze lingered on Romarkins face, and lingered even longer on Mias. With his white-tipped cane, Mia couldnt help and think he should be wearing a top hat instead of something that looked like a mandarin box-hat.

    After a while he nodded to one of the Dravidians, turned and walked out of the range of the screen. Except for that one Dravidian, he and his retinue left the room.

    The big bear-like Dravidian that remained turned to Mia and the Secretary-General and bowed in what was unmistakably a courtly manner.

    Greetings, Excellencies, the Dravidian said. Please forgive my master - it is his time of prayer and reflection. He does not mean to be impolite. He hasmanded me to ask that he be allowed to talk with you in person as soon as it is convenient. He has much to discuss with you. Again, he bowed courteously. If you will excuse me, I need to go and join myrades. He then turned and walked out of the screen.

    After a moment, Romarkin spoke.

    Who the heck was that, she asked, puzzled. What she actually said was more... colorful. Fortunately, her trantors program was equipped to trante even rude colloquialisms into more polite Elyran equivalents.

    Daxx found it hard to answer Romarkin. That was, ummm, our most important religious leader. And his retinue. He speaks for most citizens of the Federation in matters of spirituality and other holy things.

    Mia was puzzled. I didnt know that the races of the Federation had the same religion?

    No, we do not, Daxx said. But most of our, how shall I say it, our written religious... legends...

    Scripture? Mia offered.

    Daxx nodded. Yes, scripture. Most of our scriptures havemon, or at least simr, ...legends. In fact there is such amonality, such an uncanny parallelism that many theologians im this to be proof of amon root or ancestry or origin, of our cultures, histories and beliefs. The Keepers of the Heritage have be the caretakers of many of our different races holy relics, and they are the ones that help us interpret scripture. For those of us who believe, he is the most important person in the Federation.

    How did hee to be the Keeper, and a stowaway on your ship?

    Daxx shrugged. Most would not gainsay His Excellency in any of his wishes. And it is rare that His Excellency would leave Chaisteal An Linn Arsaidh, his home, and deign to travel with any of us mere mortals. He said he wanted toe, so he did.

    Mia and the Secretary-General looked at each other, not understanding any of it. Mia was disappointed - the Admiral didnt answer her questionpletely, so she surreptitiously sent Pedro, her designated CETI specialist over in Triton, a short text message by Phase-Wave phone, asking him to look for the phrase Keeper of the Heritage in his Elyran intercepts, and to send her all the material he could find on it.

    However, Daxx noticed Mias reaction. As to how he was selected to be Keeper, Daxx continued, prior to his ascendancy, he was apprentice of the Keeper of the Heritage then. When the old Keeper passed away, he assumed her mantle.

    Well, Mia thought, that literally gives an answer to my question, but that wasnt what I wanted to know... She decided not to pursue this line of questioning since the Dixx didnt seem too forting on the topic. How long has he been the Keeper? Mia asked instead.

    Not too long, Daxx said. A little over twenty-four thousand, four hundred twenty Elyran years.

    Romarkin, listening to the tranted speech, was goggle-eyed. Mia had to do someputations in her head, tranting the Base-8 number into decimal, but even without tranting the number, the humans were shocked, to say the least. Still 10,512 years

    The humans stared at the Dixx Admiral. She shrugged.

    By tradition, Keepers are treated as if immortal, she exined. But they are the same as all living creatures - they do not grow old but do pass away, perhaps by ident or some other cause. Otherwise, why would Keepers have apprentices?

    Through the magic of Phase-Wave, Mia and Romarkin looked at each other.

    -----

    Later photographic analysis showed that the simrity of the new humanoid to the Earthers was actually superficial. The high organometallic content made the hair more simr to thin wire. The skin reflected a subtle patterned sheen that indicated that the alien probably had scales. Folds in his sleeves showed that his arms actually had two elbows each, like the jointed limbs of, say, Arachnians. His eyes were actuallypound eyes, and the thick nails on his fingers were most probably something simr to ws. Still, the total image he presented was like that of an old, four-armed human or Elyran. Weekster, Pedro would still be trying to match his image to a race.

    But there were more pressing matters at the moment, so the humans dropped the topic of the Keeper altogether and the discussion continued, and it slowly turned to more immediately serious matters.

    The recent military encounter was discussed at length, and the Federation representatives were all in agreement that it constituted a deration of war against the Federation. Prior to embarking on the expedition, the Ambassador, Tasha and Daxx were empowered by their governments to confirm a deration of war on behalf of their governments, but they need to announce it at Colossus first and present it to the Federations leaders in the hopes ofmitting the rest of the Federation to making a simr deration. If ever they did so, the First Ambassador said that word would get back to most of the major Federations and mobilize theirbined forces in about five Earth years. It was unfortunate or that their expedition was notpletely defeated, joked the Arachnian, because if they were, the Federation would avoid all the trouble of mobilizing for war.

    Romarkin was taken aback - she didnt realize the timelines involved. She looked at Mias projected image, and Mia nodded. Mia wouldter exin that, without Earths Phase-Wave technology, the aliens needed to use their ships to courier messages from star system to star system, and, without Earths more efficient FTL engines and inertia converters, their ships would take more than three times longer than Earths new cruisers to do the same. It was probably because most humans took Phase-Wave for granted nowadays that Romarkin didnt make the intuitive connection.

    -----

    Admiral Daxx held up a peremptory hand (or was it a wing or a w) - they needed to get the particrs straight first, and see if it was even possible to conclude a presumptive act of war even happened. Per the logs of all the Federation ships, it was the Dixx who fired first, and this was worrisome for the Admiral. It might be said that, technically, it was the Federation that dered war.

    But human telemetry records showed that the Tiros ships had deliberately blocked the path of the Federation cruisers, knowing that this would force the Federation ships to stop and engage them in battle. Furthermore, the humans had intercepted and recorded most of the Tiros and Detterex ship-to-ship audio and video transmissions; the most damning of these recordings was the one taken from the Defiant, the Detterex gship: Prepare tounch attack ording to n as soon as able, the voice of theirm officer said before the arrival of the Federation ships. The transmission ended with the phrase, by order of Princess Arvan.

    Secretary-General Romarkin knew most of the important details of the Seeker, Constetion and Hermes records of the battle. She and Admiral Silverman had no choice but to recognize and approve the actions of their three cruisers. Either that or arrest their crews as genocidal mutineers. So it was in Romarkins interest to help the Federation. True, she would have wanted to regardless, but this gave her a politically convenient justification.

    She agreed to share the humans records, and to send an envoy with them back to Colossus as well, to swear to the veracity of the recordings.

    The rest of the human poption was another matter - this action that Romarkin suggested needed to be sent out to the public - the human public - and eventually get a consensus, perhaps through a referendum. After her talk with the aliens, Romarkin met with her people to talk about this. Her chief of staff suggested holding a press conference, and to release to the public the video and audio recordings from the battle. Romarkin agreed and asked him to contact BBC Sr. And while youre at it, Romarkin said, contact Sahsha Delyer as well. Shes at Triton, I believe, with Dr. Bidwell. I want her to be the one to control the content.

    Also, coordinate with the Fleet Admirals office and contact Mias number one, Commander OConnell. Get as much footage of the battle as you need. She had also called Silverman and asked him to send a moment-to-moment timeline of the events of the battle, basing it from the reports of the intercept fleet as well as the telemetry of the fighters involved in the battle. Romarkin needed it for her briefings, and for public dissemination.

    She called Mia back and told her everything they talked about.

    What do you think, Mia? she said.

    Mia shrugged. Getting Sahsha involved was a good idea...

    But?

    But I think theres more to be done. For example, you need to convene the General Assembly, or at the very least a meeting of the Security Council - get support for what were doing.

    Done. Thats happening tomorrow. Marc will take care of it.

    Mia grinned at that. Okay. Next, assuming this is passed, and passed unanimously, we need to tell our alien friends the criticality of the timing. With Phase-Wave and our faster ships, we can substantially reduce the time itll take to report to Colossus.

    All right. Ill leave that to you.

    Then we will need to contact Admiral Silverman and get cracking on getting ships ready, assigning ships, et cetera...

    Done. What else?

    Mia grinned again. You think youre pretty smart, huh?

    Romarkinughed. Whatever do you mean, my dear?

    -----

    The next day, talks proceeded with the aliens, but without Romarkin. Mia exined that the Secretary-General had a lot to do at the moment, and she would be the one managing things for now, which Mia found hard to do given a new problem that had arisen.

    As a discussion on the matter of the Empire threat started, Mia received a call from her Chief Engineer. She excused herself to answer her CC.

    It seemed that, after theirst use of the inertia converters, data indicated that their converters would likely fail if ever they flew for a more extended duration than they had yet flown, or at higher velocities, as there would be more energy to convert. It seemed, unlike the purpose-built projectors of the new Type-One and Type-Two cruisers, Seekers new projectors were not rated to cope with the higher energies that their Frankenstein engine could now produce (the term was coined by Mias CETI expert on board, Nick, who was a 20th Century movie buff). It wasnt something anticipated, and only after a period of sustained use would they have found this out. But the fix was easy - just put in more converters.

    The thing was, they didnt have any more. To manage any possible overload, the chief suggested putting a brace of emitters made from sixteen spare gun turret parts in the cargo bay just in front of, and below the bridge section, just in case. Theyd sit in the area where the old vertical retro thrusters were before.

    Mia asked why not run the converters longer if they needed to, but the chief engineer said that Seeker was not a purpose-built FTL ship - her superstructure would have imploded or the storage coils would have melted and exploded long before the converters siphoned off enough potential energy.

    Though that meant dumping a lot of stuff overboard to clear enough space below deck for the new emitters, Mia reluctantly agreed. But she was told that the stuff they had to dump was Seekers old stuff - the old tankages and pipe sub-assemblies of the old thrusters that werent needed anymore. She wondered why they kept all that junk, but the chief exined that they didnt know if Mias upgrades would take, and they might have needed them again. It seemed that some people still werentpletely sold on Seekers changes.

    Mia sighed. She decided not to get offended and cleared the chief to start her new project.

    Just another day in the life of Seekers captain, she sighed again. She walked back to the conference.

    -----

    In a lull in the talks, Mia brought up thetest thing Romarkin wanted to be discussed regarding the Empire threat, and the critical timing issue connected to it.

    The Secretary-General, Mia began, feels that our people need to be informed of everything that has been discussed so far, as soon as possible. We must inform them of our ns and get their approval. And then we can be in a better position to help you raise the rm.

    When would we arrive on Earth? Daxx asked.

    A month from now. Maybe less. It depends on the maximum thrust of your engines, and the bnce of eleration and deceleration.

    That is true, Admiral Daxx said heavily. I wish there was a way to get word to Earth more quickly.

    I understand that, sir, Mia said. But whatever time we can get is time that we can use to do what is needed. However, Admiral, they already know back home.

    The alien Admirals image on the screen smiled and nodded to Mia. Well spoken, Captain, she said. You think like a Dixx. You are right, of course. I suppose we can transmit our data and start sending some reports. But notmunicating face to face would not be very efficient.

    I think you misunderstood, sir. Secretary-General Romarkin is currently on Earth and, even as we speak, she is meeting with our leaders. Our officials already know the details.

    This was greeted with silence.

    Then who was the Earther that we have been meeting with? the Dixx Admiral asked, perplexed.

    That was the Secretary-General, sir.

    She and her staff looked at each other in confusion.

    What...

    We have beenmunicating with her via a direct link from my ship to U.N. headquarters on Earth. Inside, Mia was smiling at the consternation that she was causing, but outwardly, she yed it cool and polite.

    The Elyrans and Dixx, and the Arachnians in their bio-istion rooms onboard Seeker, erupted in loud exmations and general confused discussions. Mia and Nick looked at each other, smiling faintly. Mia gave Nick a wink.

    Quiet! Ren, the Elyran Prince, and the expeditions chief scientist, finally shouted. It cut through the confused melee, and as soon as the noise died down enough, he turned to Mia.

    Captain Steele, the Elyran said, are you saying you are able to send real-time transmissions anywhere? Even over inteary distances?

    Mia nodded. Yes, Your Highness, provided that the other party is simrly equipped with the proper devices.

    The Prince exchanged significant looks with his staff.

    What sort of devices would those be, Captain?

    I am sorry, Your Highness, I am not allowed to divulge any information about that.

    The scientist look nonplussed.

    For the moment, Mia added.

    That failed to mollify the alien Prince, but Mia couldnt help that so she just continued on with the meeting.

    Mia said that they had done some turnover figures and, with their direct route to Earth, and by increasing their eleration, or rather cking off on their deceleration, they could arrive a couple of weeks ahead of the approximate arrival of the Empire ships.

    Talons pilot said that they would overshoot Earth if they did, but OConnell said no, and she showed their calctions - more precise because of more detailed, exact information and better equipment. The aliens reviewed and crosschecked the figures and the pilot grudgingly agreed. The various ship crews would therefore be conferring with each otherter, and synchronizing flight ns.

    Nick was thinking of suggesting that the Federation representatives transfer over to Seeker since the Earth ships could be back home in less than a day (given their newly-avable FTL capacities), but Mia said that wasnt necessary since most of what needed to be done could be done via Phase-Wave telepresence. Nick shrugged.

    An hour or soter, warning xons rang throughout all of the ships and everyone felt a slight change in their ships gravities as their crews executed their new flight ns, based on the Earthers, or rather, humans calctions.

    Nick and his former colleagues in the Alien Threat Assessment Commandrgely took over the discussions the following day, with much of their discussion being ryed back to CETI, the U.N. Security Council, the Fleet Admirals Office, and a lot of the protocol-rted offices and departments of the U.N. Agreements were made and an itinerary of sorts for the visiting alien dignitaries was drawn up, assuming an arrival in a few weeks time, and if the Empire doesnt throw a monkey wrench in the works. But to the humans, that few weeks was quite a while to wait, therefore much of what should be ideally done dirt-side was to be aplished onboard while en route.

    Discussionsmenced in earnest, and Admiral Daxx suggested a three-pronged approach, which both groups readily epted:

    One - an exchange of technology would be undertaken while en route to Earth, where the technical and science staff of the alien expedition would meet, via telepresence with leading representatives from the humans scientific and industrialmunities and institutes. Through Admiral Silverman, Secretary-General Romarkin appointed Mia as the one to select the human representatives to these real-time teleconferences, and everyone in industry and all the major scientific institutes agreed with this appointment, which made Mia more popr than any video star of the time. Various individuals and interest groups mored for a Phase-Wave audience with her, hoping to be part of this group. In the end, after Mia briefed everyone on the necessary restrictions, she selected ten individuals, three of whom from CETI. Talksmenced the following day.

    Two - a cultural exchange would be attempted, and many academics throughout human society mored to be included in this discussion. Again, Mia was the one appointed to select the human representatives, and she loaded themittee with CETI people - five of the ten representatives were handpicked from Mias former CETI staff, to be headed by Professor Jennifer Priestly. Talks on this wouldmence two dayster.

    Three - representatives from the governments on both sides would discuss matters of government, policy and dtente. Romarkin took this upon herself. Chief among the activities for this part were reditation of various Federation governments as sovereign states, establishment of embassies, and the creation of treaties for economic andmercial cooperation, and mutual defense. The aliens were surprised to find that the humans were as prepared as they were - even as the Federation representatives proffered drafts of treaties they had painstakingly crafted after months of wrangling with their politicians, and consulting eights and eights of legal experts, the humans also had their own versions to proffer.

    This effectively tabled their discussions for a while as both groups took time out to study each others documents.

    Before they ended for the day, though, Romarkin did have a surprise - she announced that, through a U.N. appropriations act, seven smallish inds that were part of a small archipgo called the Isles of Scilly off the southwest coast of Ennd (secretly bought by the world government from the Duchy of Cornwall and passed on to Mia to be her new duchy), will be used by the Gctic Federation as a site for their embassies and other facilities they may want to construct, so as to insure a continuous presence on Earth (like such things as hospitals, food preparation facilities, housing, et cetera), provided, of course, that the aliens would agree to regr inspections for weapons, and the building of filtering and disposal systems for substances inimical to indigenous Earth life forms.

    It never would have been discussed at all if the Earth scientists did not say that there would be minimal danger from extraterrestrial contaminants. Still, they said this wouldnt be allowed without further tests.

    The aliens were aghast. But it wasnt the proviso regarding testing and inspection-on-demand that surprised them. It was because they couldnt get over how generous the humans were being.

    Ren asked about the sizes of the inds. When they were told that the inds being leased to them had a surface area of over seven square kilometers altogether (they exined what a kilometer was, of course), not to mention several square kilometers of ocean surrounding them, they were in further disbelief. And that the lease was to be for one hundred Earth years.

    Usable and habitable locations were at a premium among Federation-registereds and territories. The generosity of the Secretary-General was unbelievable. The Federation representatives excitedly pored through all the material they were given about the seven inds. Initially, they were disappointed to find that the inds were affected by nuclear fallout in a global war many Earth years ago, but they were happy to hear that all traces of radioactivity and other damage had been removed, and that the inds were, in fact, the home of over a thousand individuals now. The names of the inds were St. Martins, St. Agnes, White Ind, Bryher, Gwael, Gugh, and Tresco. St. Marys was thergest of the Isles of Scilly, but that wasnt being given up by the duchy  only the other inds. Still, the other inds put together had a surface area that wasrger than St. Marys. But it was judged that having separate inds might be good for some species, so it was epted that the seven major inds, excluding thergest, would be used for the Federation embassies.

    Ren wondered how the Earthers were able to recover the radiation-contaminatednd in such a short time when Federation and Empire protocols required areas that have been contaminated by radiation to remain fallow for hundreds, sometimes thousands of years until such radioactive areas would naturally recover on their own. He resolved to askter how they were able to aplish that.

    They expressed concern about the humans they would disce, but Romarkin said that most humans were very excited about their arrival, and wanted to help in any way they could. The residents were mostly d to amodate them, even if they had to relocate. But they were government employees in any case. Even so, the government dly offered generouspensations, provided them with new and better homes on the maind in Cornwall, and even to transnt some of the families houses for those who didnt want to stay on.

    Ren then expressed concern about whether they could afford the appropriate guild payments. There was a little bit of confusion as the humans tried to understand the problem. It turned out that the Prince was just concerned about the expected rent and taxes (or the equivalent) that would be levied on them.

    The humans were ready with an answer to that, and they said that, as rent, for each Earth year, they would charge the Federation ten tons each of pure Lanthanum, Cerium, Neodymium, Europium, Erbium and other minerals, in easy-to-manage ingots (or other equally easy-to-manage form). After a long discussion on what these minerals were, and what a ton is exactly, the Federation scientists said that most Federations dont normally produce or use these admittedly-exotic minerals in any meaningful quantities, but the amounts demanded were more than manageable for the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians (especially the Arachnians) though transporting them back to Earth would be problematic. Again, the Earthers were ready with a response, saying theyd pick the minerals up themselves, if necessary.

    Ren asked what these would be used for and Mia exined that these rare earth minerals were needed for the production of their electronics, optics and other rted systems. Daxxs chief technician confirmed that these were indeed used in the fabrication of some of the Federations more exotic experimentalputer systems as well, though their currentputer systems and electronic equipment were made mostly from other materials.

    Mia asked what sort of raw materials they used in creating their regrputer systems, and it turned out they used moremon minerals like tungsten, carbon, thorium, copper, barium and strontium. Ren exined that the mainponent, or module, of their electronics was typicallyposed of electrodes and a heating fment surrounded by a metal te and then sealed inside an air-tight tube made of ss or other material that is a poor electrical conductor. They preferred ss since it was strong, cheap, easily produced, and allowed them to easily see inside the tube.

    Mia and her scientists looked at each other. My God, Mia thought. Vacuum tubes? Seriously?

    She thought of it and, seriously speaking, there were many advantages that a vacuum tube gave: it was useful for high-powered applications, has little feedback, has a resistance to EMP, burn-through and overload, and the materials needed for it were cheaper and more plentiful.

    Mia stopped paying attention. Her mind was still stuck. She couldnt believe it. Vacuum tubes. Theyre outdated four hundred year-old technology! She was itching to have a look at one of theirputers.

    Mia could imagine their electronics still working with vacuum tubes if they didnt discover solid-state electronics, but since they had, despite the higher cost of production, vacuum tubes were quickly reced. It intrigued her. Vacuum tube technology definitely needed to be revisited. But the discussion was still going. Mia turned her attention back to the others.

    Madame Secretary-General, Ren continued, oblivious, I think we can easily meet your price. But we will need to inspect the inds first, of course.

    Romarkin, not picking up on the consternation spreading among her own scientists, nodded. Of course, she smiled.

    Ren also made somements about wanting to see some of Earths fabrication nts where these minerals were used, and Romarkin said that she could arrange that but shed have to check schedules first.

    Ren and the others then went back to looking at the pictures of the Isles of Scilly, and he and the others resumed their excited discussions. They spoke so rapidly, and there was so much of it, the humans trantor devices could hardly keep up.

    -----

    The following day, in coordination with the other ships, Seekers techs set up threem. channels - channel A would be the frequency dedicated to the technology exchange, channel B was for the cultural exchange, and channel C would be for government. With the ships speed and rtive distance between each other, radio transmission was not a problem. And as the humans slowly got themselves organized, formal discussions began.

    The staff of the Keeper of the Heritage somehow found out about it, and requested to be provided viewing facilities for the three channels. The Earthers didnt know the import of this, so they just shrugged. And besides, what could they do about it, anyway?

    <strong>Channel C </strong>

    Part of the humans n was for the U.N. Security Council to ratify a proposal to send envoys to Colossus, to apply for membership to the Federation, and to offer assistance in any interdiction action on the Federations vanguards nearest to Earth that were in immediate danger, with an agreement that the arrangement would be reciprocal. The Secretary-General, with the assistance of Ambassador Bidwell and other representatives from the Outers, was confident that this would pass - not easily, but pass nevertheless.

    And although the Federation ambassadors were anxious that Earth ally itself with the Federation against the Empire as soon as possible, this was all that Romarkin was willing to discuss.

    The aliens conceded that this was all they could reasonably expect. Nevertheless, on the assumption that Romarkin would be sessful, they nned ordingly.

    Admiral Daxx, however, said a contingency n should still be prepared.

    Nick informed the aliens that the Neptune delegation had offered to sponsor one of the Federation representatives to speak before an ad hoc general assembly of the U.N. If their ns go awry, the Neptune representatives could then try to make their case for them, and perhaps convince the Human Race to ratify this hoped-for alliance.

    <strong>Channel B </strong>

    Before then however, the Earthers nned to give the visitors a g reception when they arrived, on a scale the likes of which humans had not done since before the war. Earths nominal leading authority on alien culture, Professor Jennifer Priestly, a brilliant academician from CETI, with a forceful and masterful personality at odds with her blondee-hither, runway-model looks, worked closely with Nick and the Elyran Prince, checking if the things they had nned were eptable, and for those that werent, to find out what was.

    Princess Tasha never really grew to like the professor. Mia and all the others had correctly assumed that the Princess was actually jealous since the Prince seemed to have developed a small crush on Jennifer. But despite her brusque nature, Mia knew that Jenn was at least a kind and understanding soul, and Mia trusted her to manage this sticky situation correctly and with kindness.

    In their talks, Jennifer and her new team voiced their concerns to Ren about pathogens and other biologicals that might be inimical to the aliens, and vice versa. This could be a serious roadblock to any sort of cultural exchange they were trying to do.

    Even back in the neenth century, humans had already thought of this possibility, and theories like back-contamination were things that were taken seriously. But through their years of limited exploration, such fears were never conclusively proven. Recently, however, with the beginnings of extra-sr exploration and the confirmation of the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life, such theories had been brought out of mothballs and again reconsidered. One of the things that the aliens did for Earth was to make these theories more believable. However...

    Federation and Empire races had been co-mingling for hundreds of thousands of generations now, and the biological ecosystems of the various races had adjusted to each other. True, there were many outbreaks of unprecedented virulence in the past brought on by the co-mingling of simr but ipatible ecosystems, but with the invention of the Arachnian lifesigns detector, steps were taken early, and they had be a rarity over time. The Arachnians onboard Seeker had been continuously sending out readings from such detectors to the other Federation ships, courtesy of Seekersm people, and if Seekers environment was a normal Earther environment, then no Federation citizen should fear setting foot on Earth, or any Earther in visiting any Federation world for that matter. Ren asked what Earths equivalent was to their detector and Jennifer said they didnt have any. She didnt exin that all humans are inocted periodically with organic nanobots that were programmed to eradicate any known biological or viral infection or parasitic infestation in the body, plus, in recent years, Earth medical science had been pursuing the concepts of universal antiviruses and antibiotics, and in time, Earth scientists were confident these would be avable. But for the moment, they werent sure Earther medicine could cope with alien bugs.

    That is worrisome, Ren said.

    He exined the rudimentary functions of their detectors and said that the Earthers should replicate them - he knew the Arachnians had already given sixteen of them to Mia. To help, Ren transmitted to Jennifer all the information they currently had on the belts, including, fabrication, breeding the yochus, and their application. He exined further that, based on the readings the Arachnians had been sending them from their detectors, they and the Earthers had no reason to fear anything in terms of any environmental factors. Surely something or other would be found, something always was. But Ren was confident that they would find a way around it, whatever it would be, his confidence borne of more than a million years of Federation history coping with alien bugs and things.

    Jennifer had enough scientific background to understand the meaning of this - a universal detector. It had many potential applications, and the potential ability topletely open up the universe to humans.

    She hurriedly excused herself from the meeting, switched her screen to Mia, and asked her about these detectors. Mia showed her, via Phase-Wave video, the belt devices that the First Ambassador gave her. Jennifer then talked with the Secretary-General and asked her to find a way to have the devices be brought to Earth right away. This was absolutely vital, she said, and exined why.

    The thing was, they were above ship-maneuverable speeds, and transferring from ship to ship was impossible.

    The Secretary-General was advised to order their speed to be reduced. But Mia thought a bit and came up with a notion that she discussed with her chief engineer. After a while, aplicated procedure was initiated where one of the other Earth ships, in this case the Hermes, would inch closer and closer to the Seeker until their drive fields merged at their interface point. This allowed one of Hermes two-man Eagle fighters to trans-ship to Seeker and take on a package made up of a bio-istion case containing ten Arachnian lifesigns detector belts, including the two that the Seekers science people had already started to take apart.

    If the maneuvers were done slow, and were as precise as expected, the whole operation should be safe, but since it was the first time this was even thought of much less attempted, it could conceivably destroy both ships. But Jenn was able to convince Romarkin and Silverman that it was worth the risk. Needless to say, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the operation was over. The aliens were unaware of all of this happening, of course.

    With the package aboard, Hermes then pulled away and went into high velocity, pulling ahead of the Earth-Federation floti, and would eventually arrive on Earth less than a dayter - weeks ahead of schedule (at those velocities, the inertia converters would work).

    <strong>Channel B </strong>

    Jenn went back to the meeting several hourster, with Mia in tow. Being left alone for such a long time with Earthers he didnt know miffed Ren, but he tried to hide it. Mia noticed the Princes agitation, however (so far she was still the best at reading Elyran facial expressions), so she exined what they just did and why. Ren listened, once again at a loss for words. No one among the known races had even thought of doing such a thing before, perhaps because they considered it too dangerous an operation. And heree the Earthers...

    Ren called Daxx, the Princess and Reena, Talons pilot, and asked them to tune in to Channel B, and he asked Mia to repeat what she just said. Mia exined again.

    The reason you were unable to detect our actions, and the eleration of Hermes, Mia added, was because, as you know, most detection systems are not reliable in short range when ships are above what we call ship-maneuverable speeds, or when they are elerating. We were also unable to inform you right away because we were, ummm, a little busy at that moment. I am sure you can detect her on your long-range scans now that she has a somewhat reasonable lead on us. Reena momentarily left the screen, presumably to do just that.

    Ren nodded impatiently. Yes, yes, yes. I understand that, but you say your cruiser will be on Earth in less than one of your days?

    Yes.

    How is that possible?

    Mia shrugged helplessly.

    Why do you not...

    My engineers believe our ships are a little faster than yours in sublight, Your Highness. Its that simple.

    After another one of those breaks that had beening on more and more frequently, Ren and the others asked more questions. Channel B suddenly got crowded when the others switched frequencies, so Mia suggested that they take this particr discussion over to Channel A and not disrupt the meeting.

    Ren clearly wanted to pursue this but decided on a little forbearance. He stopped the stream of questioning and bid everyone to return to their own discussions and allow those on Channel A to pursue this topic. He continued on with his own meeting with the Earther professor. And, as their discussions progressed, the fascinating facts that Ren learned about the Earthers traditions, customs and history soon took his mind away from the matter of Hermes departure and possible early arrival on Earth.

    <strong>Channel A </strong>

    The Federation representatives on Channel A were all on tenterhooks, and waited impatiently for Mia toe online.

    Hello, everyone, Mia said as she again rejoined the technical discussion on A.

    Forgive me, Captain, Daxx said abruptly. But you must exin what you and your battleship, Hermes is it?

    Yes...

    ... Hermes, yes - what you and the crew of Hermes just did.

    Mia turned to Nick, and Nick exined the concept of merging FTL fields, and how it was done. Its all about making sure that the fields are tuned and synchronized, he said, and exined the basic theory. As it was during most of the meeting, the attendees again brought out notepads and their equivalents, and took notes.

    A little Arachnian scientist raised an armored limb in a gesture that the humans hade to understand. It was somewhat akin to a schoolboy raising his hand to get the teachers attention.

    Yes, sir? Nick said, acknowledging the Arachnian.

    May I ask, Earth Lieutenant, the Arachnian that everyone referred to as the First Engineer said in wlessly ented, if stilted, Elyran, courtesy of his Elyran trantor, stood up. Earth Captain Amelia Catherine Steele has said that the Earther warship Hermes will be arriving on Earth in less than one Earth day. Is that correct?

    Yes. Clearly, pronouns were not much used with Arachnians.

    Earth Lieutenant, I would like to ask how Earther warship Hermes will be able to aplish this?

    I do not understand the question, sir. Nick shrugged helplessly. Shell just fly there?

    The aliens all had puzzled looks.

    Let me exin, everyone, Mia interrupted. Hermes is not doing anything unusual. She is just on-course to Earth with a less decelerated flight n. It is well within her operational parameters. As far as we can tell, Seeker, Hermes and Constetion are able to decelerate more efficiently than your ships, making them about eleven times faster. She turned to her fellow humans. Thats nine times, in decimal.

    So we heard from the trantion, sir, OConnell smiled.

    Daxx looked disbelievingly at Mia and OConnell.

    How is that possible? Daxx asked. You described to us theory behind your ships drive, and it is basically the same as ours.

    Yes, thats right.

    Then how is it that your ships are able to fly that fast?

    You mean, decelerate better.

    There is no difference. You know what I mean.

    Mia shrugged. What can I say, Admiral. We arent using new technology. Maybe our equipment is just more efficient?

    The aliens werent willing to ept what the Earthers were saying, and continued to ask the same question over and over. Before they could pursue it further, Mia deftly changed the topic, and the discussion finally continued on. Mia knew, of course, that this topic would be brought up again. She hoped her team would be prepared to manage it by that time.

 Chapter 13: Face-to-Face

    Chapter 13: Face-to-Face

    <strong>Going To Bed </strong>

    It was a long day for Mia. After more than two days of discussions, everyone decided to adjourn, and continueter. Mia mused that the ability to cram and pull all-nighters was the specialty of the young, and she ruefully admitted to herself that she might have lost the talent.

    Earlier on, Mia gave instructions to OConnell to change around the duty shifts on the bridge, and was not surprised that OConnell had taken care of it already. With that settled, for a change, Mia nned to stay in her cabin tonight and to catch up on some sleep. She had been going for more than two days straight now, having to manage all three teleconferences with just short naps and breaks from time to time. It had taken its toll on her. And it would be more of the same tomorrow.

    She closed her cabin door and breathed a sigh of relief. Alone, finally. At least for a little while. She sat on her bunk and pulled off her boots. Her boots didnt feel too different from her old ones, although they had higher heels  maybe a couple of inches higher, but she was used to them by now. They were also a lot narrower than her old boots, but they suited her remodeled feet well.

    She took out the hairpins that kept her hair up and out of the way, and the blonde locks cascaded down her back. She scratched her head vigorously and felt relief as she allowed her scalp to breathe. She took off the rest of her uniform as well, making sure to take out all the pins and other devices before dumping it in theundry chute. It left her d in underwear and thigh-high stockings, and she felt relief in finally getting out of her uniform.

    She didnt used to feel that way - she used to feelfortable enough to be in the same clothes for days on end. She wondered if this was a female thing.

    Well, whatever. But it sure felt good to be rid of the sweaty clothes. She also decided to take off her bra, which felt warm, sweaty and a little itchy, and used a little terrycloth towel to wipe the underside of her breasts, which felt the most sweaty and itchy. She supposed that it was because she was still new to female clothing. She dropped her bra and the little towel in the chute as well. Sitting by her desk, she picked up hermputer, programmed her on-line auto-assistant to wake her up six hourster, and dropped the little device on the cluttered desk.

    As she stood to go to her clothes cab, she caught her reflection in the floor-length mirror tacked to the back of her cabin door. She was used to how she looked now, but noted again the major differences. She kept her long, strawberry-blonde locks (she still remembered when it used to be brown) well below her shoulders now, and it was now brighter, thicker and shinier than ever before. Her general lines were also longer and leaner now, more along the lines of someone like her friend, Jennifer Priestly, except, of course, Mia was so much taller than Jenn. Part of her remodeling was the reduction of muscle mass and the remodeling of many of her bones. She was now closer to the modern idea of female physical perfection than any woman she knew.

    She leaned closer to the mirror and examined her face more closely. Her new face reflected the changes that were rmended by BuMed that she had okayed - a feminine heart-shaped face, a higher hairline than before, finer eyebrows,rger-looking eyes, smaller and narrower nose, more prominent cheekbones, smaller mouth and a less prominent chin.

    The doctors were somehow able to keep close to her old look as well, so she was more-or-less still Bill, though a pretty, female version. At the very least, she looked like a close rtive - a very good-looking close rtive.

    How everyone thought of themselves was usually connected to how they looked, even in this new, more liberal and emancipated age. But as she told her best friend Walter Thorpe thousands and thousands of times, looks shouldnt count - it was who he was inside: his heart and mind are what make up the true person.

    But looking at her new physical self now, Mia was starting to doubt her words. Because she felt lost. In her short life, she had alwaysported herself as the best man she could be, perhaps mostly to please her parents, and she had reaped recognition and rewards for it, and made friends and developed rtionships as a man. The way she rted to people then, and how they rted to her - it was as a man. But having lived as a woman thesest few weeks, to her dismay, she had found that there still were roles that society still has pigeonholed as male roles, and others as female.

    She had generally believed, like most humans of post-apocalypse Earth, that gender didnt count anymore. And for the most part, it didnt - opportunities and possibilities abounded in the twenty-fourth century and gender wasrgely not a factor - only skill, knowledge, ability, drive, and heart. Likewise with opportunities to advance professionally. And it was this belief, and the belief that there wouldnt be any major changes in her life, that made it easy for her to decide to transition to being female. But she did not expect the rtionships, the personal connections that shed made in her life as a man to change. Oh, she was realist enough to know that a few adjustments had to be made. But it turned out that she had underestimated things.

    Her rtionship with her friends from CETI, for example - Jerry, Phil and the others: there were changes, some subtle, some major, and some both. Sure they relied on her advice on professional matters as always, but she wasnt a buddy and close confidante anymore. The two would never again include her inte night barhopping. Never again would Jerry talk to her about his rtionship with Anushka, his wife. Never again would Phil ask for dating advice. Never again would Marc wax lyrical about the inscrutable female mind as he weathered another bout of arguments with his wife. Never again would Jennifer make a pass at her.

    How could things remain the same with her looking the way she did now? Among all her friends, only her rtionship with Sahsha and Allie had not changed, or at least not a lot.

    And shed lost Miriam...

    Never again would women find it chivalrous for her to help them with doors. Never again would she ever feelfortable swearing, or maybe she just needed a new vocabry for that, sheughed. Never again would Admiral Silverman confide in her about his hopes and aspirations for the military, or for her; never again would he invite her over to Sunday dinner with his wife and daughter. Or maybe he still would. Time would tell.

    And her new rtionships... She had always prized having good rtionships with her staff, and had always found it easy to do that. But with her new crew, even though she did her best, especially with OConnell, it was like she was getting the cues wrong. She suspected that she was still behaving like a man with them when they were all expecting something else. She should try behaving like a girl, but she didnt know how.

    Her mother and father were geniuses that valued being able to get along with people as important as intelligence or skill, because they believed that it was the only way for society to progress. So she grew up to be the Bill Steele that everyone knew - intelligent, capable, reliable and affable - she tried be the best man she could be. That, and because she had a seemingly innate need to try to do the right thing. But now...

    Now she was a woman. How did she do that now? What did she know about being a woman? Oh, how she would dearly have loved to get her parents advice right about now...

    Most men would never have considered bing female, especially if the only reason to do so was because of an abstraction - an intellectualization. But she was William Steele, someone whose life was built on intellectualizations, and trying to do the right thing. Of course shed change genders.

    It seemed to be the correct decision at the time, but now that she had, and that she had lived as a woman for a while - she felt... lost. For the first time in her life.

    The rules she had always followed as a man, all that she had done, from the time of her birth, all gone. Miriam Bidwell, too - gone. Everything.

    She tried to change her train of thought, and thought of what had gone on today, of everything that had happened. She also thought of all the people that had died, and she felt shame because she realized that she was grateful almost all the deaths were those of aliens and not humans. She felt guilty that she felt that way. Was it a kind of bigotry to feel that way?

    Years ago, during the Asteroid Wars, she, or rather he, had struggled with simr thoughts when he fought for the side of the Allies, that he did not feel as bad if it was the enemy who died. But he was able to sublimate any guilt he felt with the belief that what he was doing was a necessary thing, that it was his role to fulfill. He had contented himself with a resolution not to kill except as ast resort, and, by andrge, when he needed to, he was able to rationalize his actions this way - he rationalized that he was a patriot and not a murderer.

    After the wars, though, he had tried to atone, and as a result, in recent years, he had be one of the leading advocates for peace.

    So, no, she reasoned - much of her current... mise couldnt being from this. But where? Eventually, she realized that it wasing from worry about the future. Not just hers or her familys or her friends, but everyones. And what if what she was doing was wrong? What would that mean for them?

    She had tough - she sounded so egotistical - that she thought everything was all on her shoulders. Her parents would not approve, she chuckled in a sad kind of way, but she knew it was mostly true. No one else could do what she needed to do. But could she even do it? She didnt even really know who she was anymore.

    She again looked at herself in the mirror. She was beautiful. Almost perfect, although just a touch too tall for her taste. The doctors were geniuses. She brought her hand up and touched her left breast, and then the other. They felt natural, like she had been born with them. They even felt good. But she wasnt a girl. In her innermost core, she was William Steele, not Amelia. Or was she?

    She touched her long hair. It felt softer. She moved the thick mass so that the ends of ity on her upper chest. She had always liked how Miriam looked when she had her hair in this position, though Miriam had significantly longer hair. Maybe she could grow her hair as long as Miriams.

    Mia is pretty, she thought. She didnt know that she was thinking of Mia as if she were a different person.

    She traced her new, incredibly feminine curves. Her skin was so smooth, sensitive and soft. It didnt used to be.

    She looked down. Navy-issue underwear, she thought, andughed a little. She ced her palm on the front and between her legs, and was amazed, as always, that it was t, except for a small mound with a cleft. She quickly stooped, pulled down the white panties and threw them into theundry chute. Nothing wrong with her aim.

    She looked at the entire her - nude save for her stockings, and incredibly beautiful. The doctors did good work, she thought again.

    She reached up to wipe the wetness from her face. As she did, she looked up. Why is this beautiful girl in the mirror crying, she thought. Can I help her?

    She reached out to the mirror with her other hand. Dont cry, pretty girl, she thought. Dont cry. But all she could touch was the mirror.

    After a while, she turned away. She went to the head and grabbed some toilet paper, wiped her face and blew her nose. She went to bed, curled up into a ball on her side, and continued to cry silently. Eventually, she fell asleep.

    -----

    The soft but insistent chimes of hermputer (most called them CCs nowadays) woke her up. She didnt feel all that rested, but at least she didnt feel as tired as she did yesterday. And it was 6AM already, her CC dered.

    With a sigh, she sat up. She shook the cobwebs left over fromst nights panic attack and squared her shoulders - her sense of duty again overriding any personal concerns. She was starting to get worried, though - this was the eighth panic attack this month. Maybe Ill give Dr. Puerrot a call when Im Earthside next and have the time, she told herself sarcastically, since it was unlikely she ever would anytime soon.

    She looked down and noticed that she had fallen asleep above the sheetsst night. And naked. First time she''d done that. Things were getting worse... She thought of that visit to Puerrot more seriously, and got up.

    She stretched, switched off her CCs rm, took off the stockings and went to the little shower-bathroom alcove for her morning routine. After a while, she stepped out, finished drying her hair with a blow dryer, and then hung up her towel to dry. She went to her cab and picked out a fresh service uniform. As she started getting ready, she switched her inte to survey mode and watched some live video of the main sections and departments of the ship - something she did regrly to check how the ship was doing.

    As she was getting ready to fix her hair into the updo she usually wore, she noticed the styles that the female crew used for their hair, and it gave her the idea to change hers, and maybe break herself out of her current funk.

    She especially liked the hairstyle that the pretty medical officer currently on duty in sickbay was wearing: the girl basically kept her blonde hair loose with just a couple of barrettes at her temples, and it swung saucily as she went about her routine. Though it was well within regtions, she still managed to look very pretty, in a clean-cut kind of way. Mia thought it looked somewhat like the style that the Elyran Princess wore.

    Mia decided to experiment a bit and copy her style. Shebed her hair straight down, fluffed it up with her fingers and then parted it on the side. She then took out a couple of red barrettes that were in her suitcase - something left over from the hair and makeup kit the nurses had given her while she was in Bethesda.

    She tucked the hair behind her ears and then clipped the barrettes by her temples. She looked at her reflection and decided that it was cute. She shook her head a little bit; the barrettes didnte undone, and they kept the hair from her face as intended. She smiled and decided to wear her hair that way for the rest of the day.

    She finished getting dressed and decided, at thest moment, to swap the pants for the uniform skirt instead. She also decided to wear the higher-heeled boots. Sahsha would have said it was a dressier outfit than her usual ensemble, but regtions allowed this, especially since there were dignitaries on board, and they''d been secured from General Quarters for a while now.

    As a finishing touch, she spritzed herself lightly with some perfume, also a leftover from her time in Bethesda, picked up her CC and left her cabin.

    The crew saluted her as she made her way forward, and she acknowledged them with crisp but friendly nods.

    As she stepped onto the bridge, one of the on-duty officers eximed, Captain on the bridge!

    As you were, she said automatically. Everything all right, Commander? she said to Kajima as he came over to report.

    Kajima nodded. Aye, sir. Nothing to report. Alls well.

    Very good, Commander. Thank you for taking my duty on the bridge these past few days. I had to run the... meetings with the aliens...

    Aye, sir, but no need to exin.

    All right then, she smiled. Ill be going down to the mess for some breakfast in case you need me.

    Aye, sir.

    After she had left the bridge, one of the officers in battle ops said quietly, Did the Captain change her hairstyle?

    Another quietly replied. Shes very pretty this morning. Especially with the skirt and the high-heeled boots.

    Kajima growled. I suggest that we keep our discussions to a minimum, people, and pay attention to our work. Thats our captain youre talking about. Show some respect!

    Aye, sir. Sorry... the one who spoke first apologized. The other one nodded a little sheepishly.

    After a few moments of nervous silence, Kajima regretted his words. It was only natural for the crew toment on their COs looks, and they were respectful enough. So he relented.

    I especially like the barrettes, he said. And after a beat, everyoneughed lightly, and broke the gathering tension.

    At the moment, their subject of discussion was making her way to the officers mess, but she detoured first to the enlisted personnels mess. It was a routine of hers that most hade to know. Like Kajima, she took the crews well-being seriously, and she believed being visible to the crew would foster esprit de corps better than any order she could give.

    Mia always marveled at how many of the crew ate breakfast so early in the morning. Shift change was at 0900, and it was only 0700. Still, the mess hall was full. Knowing that officers were normally not admitted in, she politely asked permission from the duty crewman by the door. By custom, he pressed a buzzer and waited for a moment. An answering buzzer sounded and he saluted and passed his captain through. Mia smiled her thanks as she walked in.

    Mia gave a nod to the petty officers sitting by a table near the coffee urns.

    Coffee, Captain? one of the petty officers asked, and stood to pour her a cup even before she could respond.

    Thank you, Petty Officer, Mia said, and epted the proffered cup. She got several sugars and dropped them into the cup, as well as pouring in a generous amount of cream. It was her way of managing the strong and heavy brew that seemed to be the trademark of the Seeker.

    She took her time with the coffee and asked after the crew - at least those she could talk with. Many asked about the aliens, and she told them all she could, which was not a lot since most of the discussions were confidential.

    She worked her way from the front of the mess hall to the back, saying a friendly hello to those who greeted her, and left her by-then empty cup with one of the ratings.

    She then proceeded to the engine section and visited with the Chief Engineer. She was pleased to find that all the modifications had been holding up well, and that Seeker was just ticking over as she nursemaided the alien ships through Earth territory. She then went to life systems, sickbay, and then to hangar deck, checking over everything. Most everyone knew this morning routine of hers well, and everyone tried to act busy and to keep everything shipshape when she would make her informal visits. OConnell was known to do the same thing from time to time, but Mia did it almost regrly before she would take the con in the morning (she hadn''t been able to do this for the past few days, however).

    After herst visit of the morning, she made her way to the officers mess and sat down at her customary ce. The stewards were all set, and served her breakfast as soon as she settled in. As usual, the chief cook anticipated her order. She nodded hello to the officers who were there just finishing their own breakfast.

    As they were all leaving, OConnell came over.

    May I join you, sir? she asked.

    Of course, Beth, Mia said pleasantly, and gestured at the seat to her right. She tried to make it a point to call her immediate staff by name when not on duty. A steward came,id out a ce for her and took her order.

    Thank you, sir. OConnell said. I hope you had a good rest... Commander Stevens was worried, she said, referring to the short discussion she had with the ships doctor. He knew that you hadnt had any sleep for about three days now.

    Yes, he called mest night. Now, how do you suppose the good doctor found out about myck of sleep?

    I told him. OConnell said, deadpan.

    After a bit, both of them chuckled. They became quiet as the mess boy brought OConnell her food.

    Thank you for the concern, Beth, Mia said as soon as they were left alone, but I am fine. But you should take care of yourself, too - I know you havent been getting enough sleep as well.

    Yes, the doctor called me about itst night, too. He said you told him.

    Miaughed at that. Well, the ship cant afford you being tired and performing below par.

    Touch, OConnell smiled.

    After a few bites, OConnell cleared her throat. Ummm, Captain - the Arachnians have a request.

    Yes?

    Theyre saying they want to have ess to... Earther visual entertainment...

    Huh?

    They want to watch TV...

    TV, huh? Mia smiled at OConnells dated choice of words. How... fancy of her. Howd they find out about TV?

    OConnell shrugged. Maybe from one of the crew? There were several ratings in their quarters yesterday, installing additional video screens for the conferences. Maybe one of them?

    Mia sighed. Cant be helped, I guess. Theyre bound to find out about us eventually. Okay, run it by the CETI people, and ask them which channels are all right to feed into their quarters.

    OConnell nodded. Aye, sir.

    Im terribly sorry about sticking you and Kajima with the con for the past couple of days, Mia said. The conferences...

    No need to exin, sir. Seems to me, theres been lots of progress made.

    Mia gestured at the stewards, and they left Mia and OConnell alone. Sometimes officers wanted to discuss confidential matters, so they were used to it.

    I think so, too, Mia responded to OConnell, continuing their conversation. But there are lots of things remaining to be done. What Im really worried about, though, are the Empire ships. Whats thetest from Sr Tracking?

    They are still en route to Earth. Tracking says they are approximately neen days behind us and from anding on Earth, although no one is really keeping that close a track of them, so that might not be true anymore - that figure could move up or down. Their flight path is pretty obvious, though, so no ones done any kind of constant tracking, but Phase-Wave can pick them out whenever we want.

    And what about us?

    Were still a ways off, but well reach Earth at least ten days ahead of the enemy. By the way, Hermes arrived in Earth orbit a while ago.

    Were cutting it close...

    Well, if we didnt need to escort the alien ships, we could be back home in less than a day, or we could actually intercept the Empire ships long before they reach Earth. I wanted to ask about that, actually, Captain. Anyway, I wouldnt say thats cutting it close...

    Youre right, Beth - although were not really needed to prepare for the arrival of the Empire aliens on Earth - the Admiral has that in hand, Im sure. And he knows we have to capture them, not eliminate them. Still...

    Mia buttered a slice of toast and OConnell cut some ham and chewed on it with some eggs. And as they continued their leisurely breakfast, they continued to discuss business.

    I dont understand what theyre trying to do, OConnell said. They know we can see them. Even without Phase-Wave.

    A suicide mission, perhaps. They need to wipe out the Elyrans before they can send word back to the Federation. This could be the prelude to war, and if they can prevent word from the Elyrans getting back home, it could buy them maybe six to ten years.

    I know their ships are slower, Captain, but ten years? It cant take that long to get to Colossus.

    Getting there is one thing. Getting word back to their homes is another. And getting their military organized is yet another thing altogether. Think about the time of ocean-going sailing vessels before radio, before steam power, and how they sent messages to each other. Thats what were looking at.

    But they know we know. And after the transmission fromst year, they know we can send word back to Federation HQ.

    They knew that beforeing here. I can only suppose that, knowing that the Federation had sent envoys, sending their own ships was the only thing left to them, and besides, we arent part of the Federation. She gestured with her fork and changed the topic.

    Brief me on what Admiral Silverman is doing to prepare, Mia said.

    Well, Captain, OConnell said, and sipped some coffee. The Admiral has cut down the shakedown times and elerated themissioning of the new ships. Thetest PRC bulletin says that there will be five Type-Ones and twelve Type-Twos that will be ready almost by the time were home. HQ has also dispatched about fourteen of the Legacy Ships -

    Legacy Ships?

    Thats what everyone is calling the existing fleet... the pre-PRC ships. Like Seeker.

    Beth, Seekers so much more than a... Legacy ship. Shes a Type-One now - the most advanced Type-One at the moment. And her crew is skilled, disciplined - I for one think were the best in the fleet. When all of this is over, Beth, better try and keep her.

    As if thats even possible...

    Mia paused at that. Do you think I want to keep her? Beth, youre her real captain. Im just borrowing her temporarily. Im going to leave eventually.

    Mia leaned over and gave OConnell a friendly peck on the cheek. Seeker is yourmand.

    OConnell looked at her. She was a bit shocked, but she tried not to show it. She couldnt stop from blushing, though. She was d they were alone and no one saw the Captain do that.

    You were saying about the Legacy ships? Mia continued on, smiling a bit but unconcerned.

    Ummm... yes, sir... As I was saying... The, ummm, Admiral has gotten all avable lunar, Earth and near-Earth Legacy ships - fourteen in all - en route to lunar orbit, with instructions to rendezvous with us, and to provide escort. The newer ships will remain on standby as they be avable, in reserve in case we need them. Together, the Legacy and FTL ships will set up a blockade to deal with the Empire cruisers beyond lunar orbit.

    All right. In the meantime, as we make our slow way back home, we aplish what we can.

    Which is?

    Treaties, negotiations, information exchange - everything we would do if the aliens were dirt-side.

    Surely we can do more? I realize that those are all important things, but cant we do more? Why cant we intercept the Empire aliens now?

    Well, there has been no formal deration of hostilities between our peoples. We wouldnt want to be the proximate cause of a war. And we need to capture them alive.

    OConnell grumbled. Politics...

    Yes, Commander - politics. But necessary politics. Tell me, Beth, were you there during the Asteroid Wars?

    I didnt have a chance, sir. I was still doing myst year in New Annapolis when the rebellion was finally put down.

    I was there, Beth. And Ive seen enough to know what can happen. And it was because of politics that it was ended, and the rest of the system remained untouched by that... madness.

    Politics, Beth, can be a good thing, if done right by the right people, for the right reasons. And we are here to make sure that happens.

    Mia swallowed ast bite, drained her coffee cup and daintily wiped her mouth.

    Well, Im stuffed, Mia said, and stood up. She waved OConnell to remain seated. Back to the grindstone. You know where Ill be, Commander. Let me know if you need me.

    Aye, sir...

    Mia nodded at the few others who just came in the mess, and made her way out. OConnell watched her leave, remembering the friendly kiss. The Captain really does have her own way about her, she thought.

    <strong>Short-Circuited Treaty </strong>

    Mia resumed the talks again, and proceeded with new topics of discussion. She told everyone that Secretary-General Romarkin was avable again, and she insisted on taking over the discussions on Channel C, this time apanied by Sahsha Delyer and Doctor Bidwell from Neptune.

    On channel C, the Secretary-General came on, proffering a copy of the proposed Elyran treaty, with modifications made by the humans.

    Let me start off by saying that your proposal was quite logical and eptable to my colleagues, she said, except for some provisos which we had discussed a little bit before.

    Please enlighten us, Excellency, Admiral Daxx said.

    In the screens of the Federation envoys, they saw Romarkin gesture at someone off-camera and in a second their individual printers started cking away. Romarkin had apparently transmitted copies of the modified treaty to them, in Elyran.

    Let us start easy, then, Romarkin said while everyone got organized. If you were to go to the fourteenth provision, excuse me, I mean the, ummm, the sixteenth provision. Romarkin did the little exercise to convert the number to Elyran with a small calctor. It was unnecessary, of course, since the trantor would trante the numbers as appropriately, but it was sort of automatic, and she did theputation involuntarily, without really thinking about it. Most of the Earthers did it, actually, out of a worry that they would be misunderstood.

    The delegates turned to the appropriate page.

    You are referring to the section onmerce and trade between Federation and Earther... I mean Terrans...

    Earther is fine. But, yes. On the main points, my people agree. However, we disagree about epting each others currency, and establishing a currency exchange rate.

    The aliens looked at each other.

    Exin, please.

    My economists believe that it is premature to initiatemerce agreements and permanent tradews, and that any transaction between us should be limited to barter-and-trade for now. For products, resources and services - no currency transactions. Still, aside from a list of proscribed items, bartering for, or with any goods or products should be allowed if the transacting parties should want to.

    But as rtions normalize, Daxx responded, barter-and-trade will be cumbersome. Eventually, traders and businesspeople will find it unwieldy to do trading and bartering. It will slow down transactions unreasonably, not to mention the need to transport products unnecessarily, and those doing business will eventually want to transact using currency, and everything that implies.

    I understand that, Admiral. But my people are of the opinion that we should deal with those problems when they be apparent.

    Daxx was not too convinced, but her attention was caught by Romarkins nextment.

    To be very frank, Admiral, we are worried about the possibilities of counterfeit currency and other... rted concerns.

    Daxx tried not to react to that, but, at the moment, many Federation markets were suffused with counterfeit currency, not to mention being rife with unfair trading practices and virtual monopolies. Daxxs people, the Dixx, were one of the hardest hit by illegal trade, restrictive regtions, counterfeit money and monopolies, since many of their colonies were not as self sufficient as others. Daxx was actually a little d that the Earthers were thinking this way. But she had to wonder how they knew...

    It would have surprised the alien to know that Romarkin was actually fully aware of the Federations problems in this area. She was actually given regr briefings on Federation economy. Romarkin and her people were convinced to slow down themerce aspect of any sort of alliance.

    We will study your rmendations, Daxx said, and make rmendations of our own if we believe any are needed.

    Romarkin nodded, relieved that any questions about how they got their information was put aside for the moment. All right. Thank you, Admiral. Well, let us move on?

    There were other issues rting tomerce and trade that were discussed, such as the establishment of trading routes, ess to local markets and other simr things, but these were easily managed as both sides had experience in negotiating on these matters.

    As the talk progressed, more important aspects of the treaty were eventually discussed, such as security and defense.

    As Romarkin said in previous discussions, the humans were only prepared to agree to help protect Federation citizens and interests within human-controlled territories, and would dly do so, with the expectation that the Federation government would do the same for the humans.

    Daxx readilymitted the Federation to these provisions - the Federation would have protected anyone in any case. But Daxx tried to improve this by again proposing an actual alliance. Romarkin countered that Earth could notmit to that at the moment, saying that her government could only discuss this possibility if the rest of the Federations were directly represented in the negotiations. Such a stance could have been interpreted as a sort of rejection or even as an insult. It was a testament to Romarkins negotiating skills that none of the Federation people present took it negatively.

    Daxxmented the impossibility ofmunicating this to Colossus right away, but Romarkin said that Earth was prepared to send a ship to escort Daxx and her expedition back, with people prepared to present the proposal directly to all of the Federation.

    Romarkin also said they might be able to send word to Colossus and the majority of the Federation homes before then, simr to the way that they sent their first message.

    All conversations stopped at that moment, and everyone looked at Romarkin.

    We did not think of that, Daxx said. Come to think of it, why is it that you did notmunicate with us that way again after the first time?

    Romarkin, Mia and everyone in the nning team thought that this woulde up, so they was prepared with a pre-agreed response. Romarkin took a deep breath.

    Admiral, she said, Earther and Elyran long distancemunications technologies are notpatible. Two-waymunication is not possible.

    Then how was your first message transmitted, then?

    The first message was aplished by using an experimental system that could only transmit once. Further, that transmitter was destroyed after the transmission. And I am sure most of your radiowork was affected as well. Our scientists have concluded that will happen every time. That approach is not a viable one, and was abandoned.

    That is an understatement. More than half of the Federationsary systems were shut down for a time.

    But the same was true for the Tirosians! one of the other Dixx blurted out. Daxx red at her and made a peremptory gesture. The Dixx assistant looked down sheepishly.

    Romarkin filed that little piece of information away.

    In any case, Romarkin continued, through further experimentation, we have determined that, using that technology, if the transmission is on a specific radio frequency, focused at a specific target in space, and it does not exceed... she typed something in her CC, two Elyran minutes, the receiving end will be all right.

    What of your transmitter?

    Theres no stopping it - itll go kerflooey, as usual.

    Im sorry? Kerflooey?

    The Earthersughed.

    Romarkin snickered and continued. I suppose that word hasnt been included in the trantion databases yet. I meant that our transmitter will be destroyed just like the first one, regardless.

    Then how...

    Then we just have to have enough transmitters on hand, thats all. And that we keep any transmission under two minutes.

    The aliens took a moment to digest that.

    Our n, Romarkin continued, is to transmit our intention to Colossus and the main Federation worlds and then escort your fleet back to Colossus, where we hope to request an audience with the Federation Assembly, to sue for membership.

    After a short silence, the Federation representatives broke into apuse.

    <strong>Star Station </strong>

    As discussions continued, Daxx wasnt able to concentrate. She was still thinking of what the Earth leader said, but she decided to control any outward expression - a difficult proposition for a Dixx - and to hide her excitement. The goal of the expedition was to establish an alliance, but since this was not possible given Earths stance, what they got was the next best thing. After thest eight Earth hours, Daxx now considered the expedition a sess. And, as an Earther might say, everything else that they aplished from this point forward would be gravy.

    As for the other meetings, the other Federation representatives would also be making simr progress during the course of the day.

    -----

    Tasha had insisted on taking over discussions on the cultural exchange in Channel B from Ren. Ren was taken aback by Tashas firm, almost belligerent insistence on this, saying that his scientific acumen was needed more in the channel A discussions. He had some misgivings, but over the years he had learned not to contradict Tasha when she was in this kind of a mood, so he left one of his assistants with Tasha, and left the room to transfer over to Channel A. Besides, he thought, hed get to spend more time with the fascinating and astonishingly attractive Earther captain that was responsible for saving their expedition and their lives.

    Ren moved to the conference room where the discussion on technology exchange was happening, and sat quietly to get caught up. He was delighted that Captain Steele interrupted her talk to greet him by name. He grinned like a little boy, but btedly realized that the Talon crew could also see him, so he settled down as the alien captain continued her discussion on Earths fleet, and the status of human industry and technology.

    Captain Steele prefaced her discussion with the statement that they wouldnt disclose everything, and everyone nodded at that. State secrets and all that. Still, in her three-hour talk, the aliens thought they learned a lot.

    For example, Elyran scientists had assumed that the Earther poption was in the area of forty-five billion in Elyran Base-8, or 4,966,055,936, when in fact the poption was a little less than to two billion (or 16,715,312,000 in Base-8), and more than eighty percent was on the mother. Subsequently, the aliens learned that the Earthers only colonized their systems inners and the moons of their three gas-giants and not the gas-giants themselves. Of course! Ren felt like hitting his head against the wall - stupidly, he had relied on projections made by aputer program, which assumed poption numbers based on surface area, and which did not ount for the fact that, as in mostary systems, the outermosts would be gas giants - virtually uncolonizable. He resolved to have words with whoever wrote that program, and was chagrined to realize that it was he who wrote it.

    He also concluded that, using his best estimates, in the area of food production, thend the Earthers used was less than one eighth the equivalent area of what typical Elyran farms would need to produce food of the same type and amount. They were also amazed to hear that all of the off-Earth colonies grew, raised, manufactured or synthesized their food, air and water on their own, and, if need be, could be virtually self-sustaining even without help from the mother world.

    Ren wondered at that. He could only conclude that their kinds of livestock and produce were very different from what he''d known, or Earther physiology was radically different from what he was expecting, or Earth-type environments were radically different from what he had known, or their food production and synthesis technology was extremely efficient by unheard-of levels, even if he included aeroponics, hydroponics, aquaculture and mariculture techniques. Ren asked, and the Captain promised to tour them through some of their-side food production facilities at the earliest possible convenience.

    He also learned that the entire Earth system was fullyworked formunication, using their almost-magical instantaneousmunication technology. In fact, almost everyone carried either what they called a cellphone or a CC, powered by the same technology. To say all the Earthers were hooked up to theirwork was the literal truth. He burned to know how their technology worked, but he bided his time. If the Earthers wouldn''t tell them, hed somehow find another way. To have such technology would change their lives.

    He listened with quiet amusement when the First Ambassador of the Arachnians spoke of Earther television programs, and how entertaining they were. Even in that, their technology enabled them. Ren thought of this TV for a bit. He told himself that he must askter if this could also be extended to the Talon.

    -----

    The Captain exined that the currentwork was based on fairly new technology. Previous to that, they used a system based on the transmission of electromaic radiation, of wavelengths below visible light, which they called radio waves. Ren checked the details, and he noted that this was what Empire and Federationmunications were currently based on.

    But, considering interster distances, radiomunication was not up to it. Federation citizens were painfully aware of this since they had to use couriers or automated ships to get messages across the void. Even if just across inteary distances, the several hours timeg was inconvenient, to say the least. The Federation and the Empire had to make do since there were no other options.

    Humans also had to make do in this same way as well, until the creation of their Seren stations.

    Seren was the Irish word for star, and it was the name its inventor, the noted physicist Doctor Ava McCarthy, gave the new system.

    There used to be five Seren stations in the Sr System - one in orbit around Venus, another on Phobos near Mars, and three others in orbit around Neptune, Jupiter and Earth.

    A Seren station was a kind of wormhole generator that allowed electromaic waves to go through before the wormhole closed. Though the wormhole remained open mere nanoseconds, the copse was predictable, without any unusual effects when it does, and it could be re-opened at will.

    Seren transmitters worked in pairs - one on each end of the wormhole tunnel. Since the tunnel remained open in infinitesimally short segments of time, the transmitters had to be synchronized very precisely, especially the wormhole copse, so the transmission and reception of light pulses or electromaic waves could be coordinated properly and then reassembled correctly at the other end.

    The transmitters were able to provide near-instantaneousmunication between six of the seven majorary settlements: Earth, the moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Neptune, with Saturn the only other major one remaining unconnected.

    The stations required a lot of power to operate. Fully half of the entire systems aggregate power output was used to run them. But even so, the humans thought the cost well worth it: It was a major boon to solidifying the major human settlements into a system-widemunity.

    But with Steeles discovery of Phase-Wave, the Seren stations were retired, freeing up trillions of joules of energy that could then be used for other things. Captain Steele, however, didnt talk about Phase-Wave even though Ren and his associates pressed her on it.

    Captain Steele distracted them from asking about it further by saying she had gotten permission to offer Seren technology to the Federation. She told them that Earth scientists were in the middle of tranting the material to Elyran, using equivalent Elyran scientific and technical terms and concepts. She said the material should be ready in a week or so. In his mind, Ren thought getting this technology might actually make this a profitable expedition.

    After a short break to allow the aliens to talk this through and to allow their excitement to die down, discussions resumed and they segued into matters of defense.

    The Federation envoys were bbergasted to learn that the humans had more than one hundred thirty capital ships (more than 200 in Elyran Base-8). The exact number was carefully hidden, of course. But that was almost twice the size of the entire fleet of Elyran starships, which happened to be thergest fleet in the Federation. But Ren tookfort in the fact that thebined ships of the Federation outnumbered the Earth ships by a factor of sixteen-to-one. Still - one hundred-thirty... (Mia neglected to tell them, of course, that nearly two-thirds of these ships were not yet ready and were, in fact, still undergoing construction or shakedown, and the ones now avable were outdated thirty to fifty-year-old non-FTL ships.)

    All throughout Mias talk, the aliens interrupted often, but Mia was patient, and answered all that she could except those touching on their ships motive power, speed, armament,plement of on-board ships or range. That truncated the discussion and the Captain decided to break early for lunch.

    When they reconvened, It was the aliens turn. Ren offered to be the one to brief the Earthers about the Federation. Like Mia, he began his talk by saying he would also not disclose everything because of security reasons. Everyone nodded at that, and settled down.

    Like Mia, for those pieces of information that he couldnt disclose, he tried to be vague or non-specific, or to actually say that he couldnt tell. Ren covered most of the same areas that Mia had discussed and tried to be as thorough as possible (or as un-thorough as the case may be), but his talk was longer than Mias as he covered some material concerning the other member races of the Federation. asionally, the Earthers would jot down something he said, but they were curiously quiet the rest of the time. He had the impression that the Earthers knew already, even during those times when he broke down in a bit of frustration and disclosed something he wasnt supposed to.

    In fact, one of the Earthers even corrected him when he mentioned an erroneous number for the standard range of Detterex Defiant-ss cruisers. There were also several telltale questions, such as when someone asked how the two thousand-plus Federation ships were deployed throughout Federation territory when the number of ships was supposed to be confidential. He was greatly surprised by this, and the implication was that Earthers knew more than they were saying. He hid his suspicions, however, and continued on.

    Because there were minimal interruptions, Ren finished more quickly than he expected. At the end of his talk, and before adjourning for the day, Captain Steele transmitted to them several reference documents that had more specific information about the things that they talked about, without the confidential items, of course.

    He looked to the back of the room he was in. One of his assistants looked up from a terminal and a printer spitting out sheets and sheets of paper, nodded and made a gesture like a stack of books a meter high. Ren smiled and turned back to the screen. He made a decision.

    The Federation thanks you, Captain Steele, Ren said. We were unprepared and cannot reciprocate. Our team will try and get together our own documentation, and have it ready in, at most, a few days. We would also like to invite you to a more through tour of our ship as soon as feasible.

    Thank you, Highness, the Captain said. How about tomorrow?

    Tomorrow? For the books?

    Ummm, no. I was referring to the tour.

    But...

    We can perform the same maneuver that Hermes did, but we will need some information about your ships defense field generator. Afterwards, we can tour your ship.

    Ren looked at the Captains image on his screen. After a moment, he made a decision. He nodded and snapped a finger at one of his assistants and whispered in his ear. The assistant scurried away.

    Please have your engineer call our pilot at her earliest convenience, Ren said. Our pilot will give her whatever information is needed.

    The Captain nodded her thanks and subsequently ended the meeting for the day.

    <strong>Being Catty </strong>

    On Channel B, Princess Tasha and Jennifer Priestly were wrapping up as well. It was obvious that the discussion didnt go as well as it could have, as the Princess was less than cordial. Still, a lot was aplished since everyone tried to be cooperative despite Tashas mood.

    From the information gleaned by Jennifers team in this one session, a lot of CETIs then-open questions about Elyran society were answered. They were starting to feel confident that they now had a good handle on what Elyrans were all about until Jennifer made her unintentional gaffe.

    Jennifer gave a lot of credit for the days progress to the Elyran sociologist that apanied the Princess. Ben seemed to know his stuff and was eager to expand his knowledge of the Earthers. He tried to smooth over the Princesss catty behavior to keep the discussion from stalling out, for which everyone was grateful.

    Making conversation after the meeting, Jennifer learned that this young sociologist named Ben was actually Prince Rens contemporary in the Elyran Institute of Science. He specialized innguages, and had met the Prince when he was retained by the Royal Family to help trante documents their spies brought back from the other side. From then on, he was part of the familys staff.

    Benmented that some of the Earthers he met had names that curiously sounded familiar. Jenn said she felt the same thing about Elyran names. She told them that Ben was actually a verymon name on Earth, and the little Elyran male seemed oddly proud of that.

    Ben is actually a nickname. Its short for Benjamin, Jenn exined, which meant the favorite son in the olden days.

    Jenn was surprised when the Elyrans suddenly became quiet and the young scientist blushed, ducked his head and look shyly away.

    Jenns eyebrows rose. Something was wrong. Umm, Im sorry. Did I say something wrong?

    No one answered.

    If I did, I apologize. My grasp of Elyran is clearly not perfect.

    You didnt say anything objectionable, Doctor, Tasha said. Not exactly. What you said was actually a kindness... of a sort.

    What do you mean, Your Highness?

    The name you mentioned? To us, it sounded like you said, Ben, zhem ain. It sounded like you said, Ben, my love is yours forever.

    Ben excused himself and left the room.

    This was one of the few times Jenn was caught without anything to say - she was definitely caught off-guard. She looked at her team and they, after looking through thenguage databases in their CCs, were shaking their heads.

    Your Highness, Im...

    Do not fret, Doctor. It is not surprising that you did not know. It is in the formal ancient tongue, not inmon use anymore. In formal Elyran, the phrase trantes to Jem eem zheh taime, which is very different from what you said. The ancient form, however, is an expression of love reserved for ones bonded mate, from ones bridge. No one else may presume to say it.

    Jenn gulped. Your Highness, I did not know. Please believe that I intended no insult. Please tell Ben...

    Tasha raised her hand. Do not worry, Doctor. Ben knows, and does not me you. But he is unmated. Please give him some time. He needs topose himself. So let us continue tomorrow?

    Of course, Your Highness. The screen cked out when the Princess abruptly switched off from their side.

    She turned to her team. What the hell happened! she cried.

    I dont know, Doctor, one of the CETI scientists replied.

    What does any of this mean? Any ideas?

    He shrugged. And whats the implication of being unmated...

    Stop it, someone else said. Its useless to specte.

    This is bad, Jenn said. Better tell Mia.

    Tell her what?

    Well, everything!

    -----

    Tasha went out into the passageway outside the little conference room they were using, and found Ben. She saw him huddling in a corner, crying. The people in the passageway were looking at him sympathetically, but didnt know how to help.

    Tasha grabbed a passing steward. Find the Prince, she said quietly. Bring him here quickly. He is needed.

    Tasha approached the stricken little scientist. Dear Ben, she said, putting a gentle arm around his shoulder. She knew it was safe since she was already mated. The alien scientist didnt mean it. She didnt know what she was saying or doing. She didnt know...

    I know that, Your Highness. he said. Normally, I wouldnt have been...

    Of course...

    But she is a bridge, It is hard not to...

    She gave him a sisterly hug. I understand. Everyone understands.

    Its like all the Earthers are bridges! He started crying. I want my mother.

    Im sorry, she isnt here, dearest.

    I know, he sniffed. But I really wish she was. Id be happy to even just talk to her. The Earthers are so lucky, they can talk to anyone they like anytime they want.

    Maybe theyll teach us how to do that soon.

    Tasha felt a touch on her shoulder. Looking up, it was Ren.

    Its my turn to help, my love, Ren said. Thank you for being here for Ben.

    Tasha stood and gave her husband a kiss, relinquishing her ce. Ren kneeled and gave Ben a hug. He pulled the crying man up.

    Come on, dear, he said. Lets go to my quarters. Im sure we can both use a cup of krahnng.

    She looked in fondness at her husband as he helped his friend to their cabin. If anyone could understand what Ben was going through, it was Tashas mate.

    As royalty, it was important, politically, for men like Ren to remain unattached for the longest time possible, so as to give royal families the hope of possibly allying with theirs. This was exined to Ren when he entered puberty, so Ren understood the reasons why. But it became more difficult when they discovered he was a bridge. Bridges were the most attractive individuals among Elyrans, not just from a purely physical point of view, but also in most other aspects where sexual attractiveness was a factor. And as the more passive of the genders, male bridges still unmated after puberty were especially at risk from more powerful, inconsiderate female bridges.

    Ren was taught how to cope and resist other bridges. So despite being so in demand, his training gave him the ability to remain unmated for as long as possible, and to select his own partner instead of others forcing themselves on him. In the end, it allowed him to discover true bonding with his eventual mate. For which Tasha was grateful.

    Bens life was a bit simr - he was a scientist and had taken a vow of celibacy as part of his matriction. Because of this, he only discovered he was a bridge rtivelyte in life when, in the course of his work, he had to associate more and more with the opposite sex, and, as a result, he never learned to manage his urges nor manage the advances women made on him.

    Ren knew what the brilliant young man was going through and felt for him. He made him part of his royal staff, and during their off days he tried to help him by teaching him the concentration and focus techniques he learned, normally only taught to royalty. And with it, Ben had been able to cope most of the time. But as he got older, Ben found these techniques less and less effective. He knew that he would need to choose a mate soon. Sooner more thanter.

    But his control was still good enough that he felt he didnt need to worry about it for a while. The thing was, it didnt ur to him that the Earthers would turn out to be a race of bridges (he knew that was impossible, but that was how it felt like). Ren could imagine what Ben was going through, and the kind of self-control he needed in order to cope. He must be going mad with frustration, Ren thought.

    As Ren walked his friend to their quarters, he thought of his beloved. He knew his love for Tasha was true - the visceral biological urges were undeniable. He and Tasha would have sumbed as well to the attraction the Earthers couldnt help but exude, but they were mated: the Earthers effect on them was as negligible as the effect other bridges would have to any mated pair. He thanked the gods for that, and that Tasha had allowed him toe with her on the expedition.

    He shrugged that all aside as he helped his best friend to their quarters. It would be a long night of counseling, meditation, and providing a shoulder to cry on.

    -----

    After a panicked call from Jenns assistant, Mia punched up Jenns personal number on her CC.

    Jennifer! Mia eximed. Whats the matter?

    A frantic Jennifer told her all the details. Mia was puzzled. I dont get it, she said.

    I know. Were missing something, Mia, and I dont know what it is.

    All we can do is to apologize again, and hope that they ept it.

    I guess...

    Try and leave it alone for now.

    Okay... Mia? Can you pass your chair to your assistant tomorrow, and join me on Channel B?

    That may not be possible but Ill try. In the meantime, Jenn, get Jerrys and Phils people together, and see if you can figure this out. And keep it confidential.

    Right away. And Jenn unceremoniously hung up.

    Mia thoughtfully walked to the bridge, wondering what it was all about.

 Chapter 14: The Tour

    Chapter 14: The Tour

    <strong>Less-than-lightspeed </strong>

    Tasha decided to sleep in another cabin so that Ben could stay with Ren. Talons senior crew vied for the privilege of offering their cabins to her. They were about to draw lots but she decided to stay in Bens. As Tasha tried to sleep in the unfamiliar cabin, she couldnt help but be curious about what it is that people did during counseling sessions like Ben was having with Ren - her prurient curiosity was piqued, and she had a hard time sleeping.

    In the morning, everything seemed back to normal, but Ren pulled Tasha aside and asked if Ben could stay with him in their conference. She eded to this, and decided to leave them to it and go to the technology discussion group instead.

    Tasha walked into the room used for the Channel A discussions and tuned in to the meeting in progress.

    Mia noticed her, and made a small bow in her images direction. Tasha smiled in a friendly way, nodded acknowledgement, and settled down to listen.

    The discussion was presently about how to manage theplicated procedure to merge ship defense fields. Both groups realized that their field technologies were very simr, and were able to discuss the project without much trouble. As in previous discussions, it helped a lot that the Earthers were able to understand and trante. Ren and her other scientists had wondered how it was that the Earthers had be so fluent with Elyran, But far be it for them to question this gift.

    As the discussion progressed, the Earthers discovered that the Talons drive was not exactly easy to tune while in use. They thought this a defect in their design and were surprised to find out that it was deliberate.

    Further discussion revealed that most Federation systems were designed in such a way that, in case of a control systems failure, the ship could coast for a while before requiring intervention because their drive parameters were locked and would take time to drift - a concession to their less than reliableputers. This had served the Federation well, but the trade-off was that ship fields and propulsion could not be adjusted easily while in flight. So Reena, their pilot, went over the few field elements that could be manipted while under power, and pointed them out to the Earthers.

    All this new information, plus the readings they had been gathering since the aliens arrival gave Martas PRC engineers enough clues that they were now confident they could reverse-engineer Talons engines if they wanted to. For the moment, however, OConnell was only concerned about how to aplish what Mia wanted.

    Are you sure you can keep these stable? OConnell said, indicating the figures currently on the screen.

    With ease, Commander. In fact, we can assist by...

    Oh, no, no, no. Dont touch them. We can manage. Right, Chief? She turned to Seekers chief engineer.

    Yes, Commander.

    Okay, then. The next issue is to connect the ships.

    Thats too dangerous, Mia said. Instead, we can just use a couple of Mud Turtles to transfer over. She pointed to a section of the Talon at the starboard rear section. This is your shuttle bay?

    The pilot nodded (a gesture that Elyrans and Earthers shared, apparently).

    How many berths are avable?

    On the main deck, we have none, but we can move around the parked ships on the other decks, move some from the main deck there, and give you room.

    Ah, all right then. Mia pressed a button, connecting her to the bridge.

    Commander Kajima, she said.

    Aye, sir, Kajima responded.

    I am shing on your screen theyout of the Talons flight deck. We are intending to bring over two Mud Turtles. Talons crew can move around their ships and give us room on the main deck, where their main hatch is. How much space would you need on the main deck? She indicated the picture.

    This is the airlock, sir?

    Yes.

    Can this spot be cleared? He pointed to one of the slots near the airlock.

    Excuse me, warrior, Talons deck mistress interrupted. You will be requiring just one berth?

    Yes, sir. This particr one.

    Captain, the deck mistress turned to Mia. The Mud Turtle spacecraft you are referring to are the same ones thatnded on the Detterex ships? The box-like ships that have ws?

    Thats correct.

    It seems to me, one berth will not be sufficient for your two Mud Turtles.

    Commander Kajima says he just needs one.

    The Elyran shrugged.  All right - whatever you say. Yes, we can have that ready.

    OConnell picked up her CC and contacted the bridge. This is OConnell. Have two Turtles prepped and ready by thirteen hundred hours, as well as two squads of Marines. I will brief you on the crew makeupter. The Captain will be going over to visit the Elyran gship.

    Visit, sir? the bridge duty officer cut in. The Elyran...?

    Yes. In five hours. Just do it.

    Aye, sir!

    -----

    Thending party included Mia, of course - something OConnell and the othermand personnel were not happy about. This was against regs. But orders were orders. And because she was going, OConnell couldnt go as she would have to takemand. Mia would be joined by Seekers second engineer, one of the doctors from medical, someone from battle ops familiar with Seekers cybeics and control systems, and their second-best expert on aliens, Nick. The First Ambassador and three other Arachnians also asked to join the tour. And since the ships doctor had cleared them, there really was no reason to deny the request.

    The bnce was made up of members of Seekers Second Combined Marine/Infantry Squad - the ships toughest ground pounders. But they also made up the majority of Seekers honor and color guard. Which was not idental. And OConnell, without being asked, knew enough to select as many females from the squad as could be spared.

    -----

    On a monitor, Ren watched the Earth spaceship approach the Talon. He tried to search out the other ships but they were too far away to be visible other than as moving pinpricks in the sky.

    It was a bit unnerving to see another ship this close, anding even closer. Its movements were so smooth, however. It was like the ship was alive. Instead of blocky, rigid movements like a normal ship would make when maneuvering with thrusters, Seeker turned and maneuvered fluidly, like a shark slowly maneuvering in calm water. It was amazing. Ren heard thement from Reena that they were probably usingputer-controlled flywheels. Large ones. Elyrans also used flywheels on their ships, of course, but not in any scale that would allow their ships such graceful movements. Elyrans mostly used flywheels and gyros just to assist in stabilization and trim - not to actually turn or maneuver a ship.

    What Ren took as a wing came near, and a few scant meters from Talons hull, a bright, electric-green light, like the glow from an aurora, bathed Talons side. Where the wing touched the glow, the glow disappeared. The wing was less than four arm-lengths away from Talons hull and it stayed there as if nailed down. The preciseness of the Earthers control was amazing.

    Showoffs! Reena muttered, amazed at the precise, fluid movements of the Seeker.

    Ren looked over her shoulder at Reenas monitor. On it, he saw the outline of Talons field. Instead of a perfect oval enclosing the silhouette of the Talon, it was like the ovals of the two ships were attached. Theirbined fields now looked like a figure eight. As far as he knew, the geometry of the field was something that Elyran scientists and spacers thought impossible to sustain, but there it was.

    Amazing, Reena said.

    Ren looked back at the other monitor and saw two little round shapes slowly leave the Seeker, move slowly under Seekers wing, and on towards Talon. Clearly, their pilots were making sure they remained within the ships field.

    When the two little ships had gone out of his view, the Seeker rolled, its wing rising and clearing Talons field in a moment. A momentary green glow spread around the wings leading edge and died after Seekers wing cleared the field, and in seconds Seeker had moved away. In a minute, she was just another light in the sky.

    One of themunications people went to Ren and bowed.

    My Lord, the Earther shuttles have arrived. Ren nodded. I suppose its time, then. Send a message to Her Royal Highness that I am on my way, and I shall meet her at thending deck.

    There is no need to rush, Your Highness - the deck is still being repressurized. There is still time.

    Ren nodded.

    He and his ceremonial entourage went with him to the science deck to fetch Ben.

    My Lord, Ben bowed.

    The Earthers are here, Ben. Are you sure you can do this?

    Ben nodded confidently. After their meditation sessionst night, he was calmer, and felt himself in control.

    I am, Your Highness. I will not embarrass our Family.

    He gave Ben a hug. Good. Then let us go.

    <strong>Parade </strong>

    Sir, the Elyrans have radioed in that the deck is under pressure again, the pilot said. Instruments read a steady fifteen pounds per square inch. Seventy-three percent nitrogen, twenty-five percent oxygen, one percent carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of hydrogen, ozone, methane, helium, neon, krypton, xenon, argon and carbon monoxide. Other gases too low to read out on my equipment. Plus a low level of water vapor. All detectable radiation types within normal ranges, and no red lights on the bio detectors.

    Seekers Second Engineer, Engineer Haskell, looked at the pilot in irritation. What does that mean? he asked intively.

    Ummm, sorry, sir. It means the atmospheres breathable and safe. Oh, and gravity is at a steady point-eight G.

    Mia nodded. Seems about right. She looked at the monitor tuned to the view outside the shuttle and saw the Elyrans arrayed in orderly rows, the Princess and Prince at their head, surrounded by banners raised by what looked like ceremonial guards. Given all the banners, swords and armor, it looked like a scene from some medieval reenactment.

    She was right - they indeed needed some theatrics, and was d they had nned ahead. Earlier, they''d decided they would exit out the shuttles via the ramps, so Mia had the other Turtle park parallel to theirs so that they could do this while facing where they assumed the Elyran entourage would being from.

    Mia had asked everyone to wear bulky ss Five battle armor, and if they didnt put on the helmets and the crinkly reflective antiser ponchos, and if the top tes were spray-painted in chrome or something, they would look pretty close to medieval armor. Mia asked for this to be done but the ships Second Engineer and the people from Damage Control did her one better - they had done what amounted to powder-coating all the visible top surfaces of the suits with the quick-setting damage control powder sent they used for the outside hull. It just took five minutes to set, and now their suits had a permanent, uniform, shiny, slightly chromed gunmetal look to them.

    One other thing she asked for was for everyone to also wear the dress swords from their Dress Blues clipped to their armors belt.

    Per the new regs of the new armed forces, all officers were required to wear a ceremonial sword with their formal Dress Blues uniforms, but they had been given the option of recing these with equivalents to reflect their culture or traditions. Because of this, people preferred their own instead of the bad-looking, useless ceremonial swords the quartermaster issued. So dress blues were never issued with swords anymore.

    Anyway, all that meant was that everyone hade onboard with their own dress swords or equivalents. Mia had seen a lot of variety with these substitutes over the past months - things like ymores, longswords, broadswords, even ils, katanas, krys, machetes and bolos, for example. She even saw a few axes and a mace once. And all of them a reflection of the traditions of the wearer.

    The soldiers from the Second Marine/Infantry Squad didnt have swords however, since they were all nons, but they said that was okay since they preferred their rifles anyway.

    As an American transnted to Neptune, Mia didnt really have any military traditions about swords, and therefore didnt think to bring one on the trip. The quartermaster wanted to give her one of those tin dress swords, but she nixed that. So, for today, she asked the Second Engineer to find her something.

    Chief Haskell couldnt find anyone with any sort of a spare sword, so what he ended up giving the Captain was a device he had cobbled together.

    Originally, he was thinking of just grinding down a piece of steel into a sword shape, but he had a brainwave.

    What is it? Mia asked. She looked her new sword over.

    Its a modified portable cutting torch from the Engineering Deck spares, Chief Haskell said.

    These choppers (as they were called) were high-powered portableser utility cutters that could cut through any kind of material - once ubiquitous and indispensable tools onboard ships older than the Seeker, it was used by engineers, artificers and damage control officers onboard the old DSRs.

    They were practically obsolete now, and only a few could be found anymore, having been reced by smaller, less bulky, less powerful but more efficient versions.

    A chopper was essentially a twinser emitter, but it had a limiter that stuck out from the handle and between the emitters like a long, slender Crystalline capital letter T but with a really tiny horizontal crosspiece at the tip. Its twoser beams would be emitted from near the handle, on either side of the Ts bar, and would be stopped by the crosspiece. Also, when thesers hit the crosspiece, a visible light would be emitted, reflecting back along the beams and Crystalline limiter. This gave the effect of making theser beams and the limiter visible, which aided in keeping the chopper safe for use (people would see the actual operational beams and be able to avoid them), as well as act as a kind of shlight to aid the person when working in space or in dark ces. When activated, it looked like a longsword with a twenty-eight-inch long glowing, ruby-red de with the glowingser beam at the edge of the crystalline de.

    Chief Haskell shrugged sheepishly. Sorry, Skipper - a chopper was the best I could do on short notice. But look: the handle and hand shield look pretty close to a sword grip and cross guard, you have to admit. And one of the artificers welded together a scabbard for it using some of the spare Crystalline te we have, and I reced the battery pack as well with apact unit that fit inside the grip. Neat, huh? He grinned. My guys took all of thirty minutes to cobble it together. He was obviously proud of his people.

    Mia grinned as well. Yes, indeed, Chief. Thank you. She pulled it from the new scabbard and noted its feather-light weight. The limiter bar for the beam had been extended so that it was now as long as a standard longsword, and a sharp pointed Crystalline piece was welded onto the end to make it look like the point of a real sword. Mia touched the point and noted it had been sharpened and filed to a fine-edged point. She felt the limiter bar, too, and its edges had been filed down to a fine cutting edge as well, and was reinforced a whole hell of a lot. Even without thesers, she reckoned the choppers limiter bar would function adequately as a regr sword-de.

    She knew cutters and nodded in satisfaction as she slid it back into the transparent scabbard, clipping it and her pistol to her belt (when she put it into the scabbard, theser switched off automatically, otherwise, it would just cut through the scabbard). In university, she did a little bit of fencing, along with the football. And though she had to get used to its heft and bnce, she thought she could manage her new sword well enough. She wondered how well shed do in a real sword fight. Probably very badly, she assumed, since fencing wasnt really real sword fighting.

    Guess Im all set, Chief. Signal the people from the other shuttle to start.

    At Mias order, they all formed up and waited for their turn. In the meantime, they watched on the monitor as the loading ramp of the other shuttle opened up.

    To the Elyrans, what they saw were a handful ofrge Earther warriors almost asrge as Detterex rushing out of the right-side shuttle, smart and dangerous-looking in their metal armor, and taking up posts at either side of the open loading ramp. They definitely werent Detterex since they moved so much faster.

    Four Arachnians then came out, escorted by eight other Earther warriors in the same kind of armor, and marched in a precise military cadence as they walked the Arachnians to the Prince and Princess. Their loud, precise footfalls echoed like the beat of drums in the vaultednding deck. Two of the warriors at the lead carried banners - one was the triangr orange, ck and white pennant of the Arachnian Republic, and the other was the New United Nations white seal on a rectangr field of sky-blue.

    Upon reaching the Prince and Princess, the warriors crisply presented arms. The two with the gs did a right m. Together, they stopped.

    The Arachnians raggedly moved out of their ces, bowed to the Earther soldiers and moved to the Prince and Princess. Ren eximed when he saw the First Ambassador, rushed forward and hugged the insect-like alien.

    The glyphs chiseled onto the chitin of the Ambassadors top left shoulder would have identified him to others, but Ren and Tasha didnt need them - theyd recognize the little alien anywhere.

    The Arachnian didnt return the gesture, of course, for fear of hurting Ren. Besides, he didnt really know how - the closest thing to a hug that Arachnians did was the kind they did when in ritualbat, or when having sex. But despite his not returning the gesture, the agitated movement of his antennae showed the emotions he must be feeling.

    Skin slid against chitin as Ren hugged his best friend. Rens tears flowed freely.

    You know, My Lord, Arachnians are not built to be hugged, the First Ambassador joked, the voder trantor around his neck urately tranting his Arachnian clicks and whistles. It wasnt really tranting. Rather, it was converting the ambassadors speech to equivalent humanoid sounds. It was actually the ambassador speaking Elyran, or as close as he was physically able to.

    He touched an antennae to Rens wet cheek. Dont cry, my dear friend, the First Ambassador said. I am fine.

    We were all afraid you were dead.

    Clearly, I am not. And its not as if we havent been chatting daily via radio.

    Ren giggled. Oh, shut up.

    In all our years of knowing each other, I find it surprising that you still believe you can make me shut up.

    Tasha looked on with fondness at the reunion of the two friends.

    Ren let go, smiled, and looked fondly down at his friend. He reached out a finger and touched the feathery tip of one antenna - an interspecies gesture of friendship and affection as old as the time when the races of Arachnia Prime and Elyra first discovered each other and became friends.

    The Arachnian proffered his antennae to Tasha, and she affectionately did the same.

    Ren turned to the Earther warriors and bowed. My gratitude to you and your people, he said.

    The lead Marine smiled slightly and bowed. The two Marines carrying the gs raised them, and the others went to right shoulder positions. They turned smartly and marched precisely back towards Mias shuttle, where they formed lines on either side of the still-closed ramp.

    As soon as they were in ce, the second shuttles ramp slowly lowered. Bright, blue-white light spilled out, and what human music aficionados would know to be the Throne Room Theme from the ssic twentieth century movie Star Wars started ying from the Mud Turtles PA. It was courtesy of Nicks collection of vintage ssic musical pieces. Any humans present might just haveughed at its ridiculousness, but thankfully there were only Elyrans. In fact, the Elyrans were actually entranced by all of this seeming pomp and pageantry.

    In time with the music, four of the Marines marched, with the gs of the New U.N., the United Earth Defense Force, the colors of the Seeker, and, per tradition, the home g of Seekers Master - the green, white and blue g of Neptune was thest toe out.

    When the four cleared the ramp, two other Marines marched out, their rifles in right shoulder position. Nick, and then Mias cybeics officer followed, and right behind them were the doctor and Seekers Second Engineer. And behind them, Mia. Four Marines then followed, rifles at right-shoulder too.

    Together, Mia and her entourage walked down the ramp and went to the front of the arrayed royal party.

    In precise military movements, Mias group arranged themselves in two rows in front of the Prince and Princess, and stopped. The pilot of their shuttle mercifully faded the volume of the music away until it was off.

    Present arms! the lead Marine eximed in English, and the soldiers presented arms and the ones with gs raised them high. Mia and her officers crisply saluted. The synchronized crack of their movements sounded like a single gunshot inside the otherwise-silent deck.

    After a few moments, from a barely detectable signal from Mia, the lead Marine then eximed, toon, at ease!

    Hardly a toon, Mia thought amusedly, and everyone went to Parade Rest while the colors were dipped forward.

    A wild thought sprang inside Mias head. She chuckled inside when she decided to surreptitiously turn on her sword. She kept the power to absolute minimum, of course, just so she could light it up, and an extremely faint, but noticeable, ruby light started to glow from inside her Crystalline scabbard. The onlooking Elyrans gasped when they saw this. Mia had the sense that it was like humans going aaahhh in amazement.

    Nick, the First Ambassadors deputy and the lead Marine had coborated to concoct this new routine before leaving Seeker, trying tobine Elyran styles of presenting as well as Earther color and honor guard moves, hoping that it would impress the aliens. They ended up with something akin to the normal presentation of colors but modified to suit Elyran sensibilities. With the reaction from the Elyrans, they knew they had seeded, and eventually, it would be a standard parade routine as recognizable as a pass-and-review.

    Mia broke ranks and stepped forward. She bowed deeply in front of the royal couple, straightened out, drew out her glowing, ruby sword, touched the bar of the limiter to her forehead (a move she copied from an old movie she saw as a boy) and brought it down to her side.

    Your Highness, Mia formally said in Elyran, we request permission toe aboard the royal gship.

    Tasha was a little bit confused. Havent theye aboard already? she thought. It must be an Earther ceremonial thing.

    Permission is granted, Lord Captain, she said in equally formal tones.

    Mia touched her sword to her forehead again and sheathed it.

    Smiling, the Princess reached out a hand in the gesture she observed Earthers do with each other when they meet, and shook Mias hand.

    And everyone on the deck cheered and apuded.

    <strong>Scientists, and shaking hands </strong>

    Before the tour began, the Earthers, as well as the Elyran receiving party, took time to change out of their armor. Mia remembered wearing dress blues before when she was a young man in the Navy. She remembered hating how ufortable it was. This time it was a little better, but not by much. At least the new outfit didnte with a hat anymore.

    The new navys version was made up of a double-breasted navy-blue jacket with brass buttons, gold trim at the edges, a high, Napoleon-style cor trimmed in gold as well as decorated with gold miniatures of the U.N. crest, Napoleonic gold-tasseled epaulettes, gold braid at the cuffs denoting rank, and knee-high ck armored boots that look like riding boots over skin-tight white pants that looked like leggings (the mens were... boldly padded for, well, modesty, and for protection). It was finished off with a sidearm in a holster and, for officers, a dress sword in a scabbard (or its equivalent). A red sash went over the belt and around the waist. Navy regs required that miniatures of any decorations one had received during past service in the new navy as well as in other military forces should be worn on the upper left breast of the jacket (apromise for the fact that the new navy was an amalgam of various armed forces), and a silver namete bearing name andmand on the right breast. Mia was embarrassed that she had more miniatures than most.

    As she stepped out of thevatory of the small room they were assigned, Nick caught sight of her and wolf-whistled.

    Lookin good, Skipper, Nick said, and waggled his eyebrows humorously. His chest was bare of any devices or medals except for hismissioned officers pin and a miniature of the Seeker.

    Shut up, Lieutenant, or Ill put you in the brig, she answered, smiling. Lets go.

    The Prince and Princess and their people had also changed out of their armor, and were wearing what to Mia looked like period costumes from 16th or 17th century France, except that the women were wearing what the men were wearing as well, except for the lower necklines and daring dcolletage, longer tails, long skirts instead of pants, and high-heeled boots.

    The tour began, with Reena, as ships mistress, having the privilege of performing the tour. It was asprehensive as a three-hour tour could be, especially since the Earthers questions and the things they wanted to see were very specific. Reena thanked the goddesses for the presence of the Prince and his assistant, as it was they who gave most of the answers the aliens asked for. Never would she question the value of scientists in general, Prince Ren in particr, ever again.

    The tour went rapidly from the bridge to the engine room, to the main power nt chamber, the medical center, one of the main living decks and then to the system support chambers that contained Talons recycling facilities, atmosphere regeneration nts andputer chambers. The weapons control chamber was off-limits, however. Even so, there was a lot to see. It was a long day.

    When they were three-fourths through with the tour, Reena could see that the aliens were showing some signs of fatigue. She was sure she was feeling tired, too, and no doubt the Prince as well, but they were determined to see this through, if just for the sake of her crew: everyone wanted to have a personal look at the new Warrior Race and their queen, and she didnt want to disappoint. The Princess had already retired earlier, however.

    Reena resented the perks of royalty.

    All throughout the royal tour, many of the crew were on hand and eager to assist in showing the Earthers their ship. Along the way, of course, the crew were anxious to tell the Earther captain how grateful they were for their assistance in battle, and wanted an opportunity to shake hands with the Earthers. Also, those who dared reached out and touched the scabbard of her glowing sword.

    Reena appreciated Captain Steeles graciousness as she and her officers epted these des, even though it undoubtedly became tiresome after a while.

    When the tour group entered the medical deck, the medical staff greeted them and the non-bedridden patients standing and then bowing, in the gesture the humans hade to know as something reserved for royalty. It was a bit different here in that most of the Elyrans on duty, approximately three-fourths, were males.

    Everyone who could, stood and bowed, even the patients, including some of those that seemed to be heavily injured.

    Mia knew the kinds of injuries anyone who was shipboard could sustain, and she recognized them in the Elyrans here. Many of them sustained injuries such as third- and fourth-degree burns, shattered bones, orrge-scale wounds.

    Despite that, almost all of them stood to bow, whether with the assistance of crutches or the support of the mostly-male medical staff.

    From her strange-yet-familiar eyes, Reena could tell that the Earther captain was touched. She noted moisture leaking from the Captains eyes. Though she knew it was a mistake to assumemonalities between species, Reena knew Mia was crying.

    We are honored, the Captain said hoarsely as she struggled to contain her emotions. But, please, be at ease. I apologize for disturbing you.

    It is no trouble at all, My Lady, the Elyran who seemed to be in charge answered for everyone. We, and all my charges, are happy to meet you in person.

    Captain, Reena said, I would like to introduce you to our chief medical scientist. Her name is Tarna.

    Captain, Tarna bowed. Mia, in turn, reached out and shook her hand in a two-handed handshake.

    I am so honored to meet you, Doctor.

    Tarna had heard of the Earther custom of shaking hands. But she didnt expect to be doing it. She thought of shaking hands as a little... unhygienic. But, with that little bit of squeamishness aside, she found the gesture a very appropriate and wee one, especially since it came from the Earther Warrior Queen herself. She also felt herself blushing. The gesture was quite intimate as well, and the tactile feel of the Captains hand was quite... pleasant, despite the odd feel of the wider palm and extra finger.

    She gasped. No doubt because of the handshake, she caught the fringes of Mias aura - it was kind and gentle, but with a strength and sensuality she could feel, though it was kept in check by the Captains will. Never did she have such an experience before except for the few times she had asion to interact with a bridge, and as a regr Elyran, she didnt have asion to do that often.

    Mia asked after her patients, and she had to shake herself from her thoughts. She was pleased to report that, except for a few, everyone was well on their way to recovery. She whispered that there were a few that didnt make it, and their bodies were now down in the hold.

    Mia nodded. She knew enough about Elyrans that she knew they do not mourn their fellow Elyrans publicly except during the appropriate time, so she knew not to refer to them again. She gravitated towards the bedridden ones in the back that Tarna said were the most hurt, and said hello, leaving the data gathering to Nick and her people.

    My Lady, one of the pilots that was in bed said as she tried to get up.

    Mia gently pushed the pilot back down by the shoulder.

    Please, my dear, Mia said. Be still.

    She pulled up a stool and sat beside the injured Elyran, asked her about inconsequential things and tried to get to know her a little. Eventually, Mia asked about her injury. It seemed a piece of metal had cut into her, damaging several organs. Per Tarna, surgery had repaired her and she was as good as new, but she needed time to recover from the surgery.

    I am pleased to hear that, Mia said.

    I appreciate all that the medical people have done, the warrior said, but I am chafing to get back on duty.

    I understand, Mia nodded, but we all need time to recover from injuries, if we are to be of service to our people. Dont you agree?

    I suppose so, Your Highness, the injured pilot said reluctantly. Mia didnt bother to correct her, and tell her she wasnt royalty. But...

    Miaid a finger on the pilots lips. Enough, my dear. Your new duty is to rest and get better. Isnt that right, Tarna?

    Tarna smiled. My Lady speaks the truth.

    Mia nodded. So I am afraid you wont be piloting ships and harassing the enemy for the moment, and will be harassing the nurses instead.

    Everyone within earshotughed, and Mia kissed the warriors forehead in benediction. Get well soon, my dear, she whispered.

    Mia went to the next bed, and to the next. There were eight of them in the small area, and Mia took about five minutes to get to know each of the patients. After a while, however, Nick cleared his throat and pointedly gestured at his watch.

    Mia sighed and stood. My friends, duty calls. We must leave now, but it was a pleasure spending time with you. I wish you a speedy recovery.

    She and her group followed Ren and Reena, and made their way out of the medical center. The Earthers shook hands and said goodbye to everyone.

    As they stepped out of the center, Tarna pushed her way through the throng towards them.

    My Lady! she called.

    Mia gestured for them to stop.

    Yes, Doctor? Mia said.

    Your Highness, she said, I... there are no words...

    It was of no consequence...

    But, Highness, It is. My patients - I... your words... Your words have meant more to them than anything, and will put them at ease until they are ready to return to duty.

    It really was of no consequence, Doctor...

    Im sorry to disagree, Highness, but it is not. To ease a warriors mind, to motivate her - that is important.

    Then Im pleased we were of service. Mia bowed to her, and, at a subtle signal from her, Mias people also bowed.

    Tarna was taken aback, but, unwilling to be on the wrong end of the civilities equation, she got her people to line up and bow as well.

    I like the Earther warrior queen, she thought.

    <strong>A formal dinner </strong>

    As expected, Mias hosts, in an effort to be gracious, offered refreshments after their tour. Mia was conducted to a small but well-appointed lounge.

    Her officers, plus a small group of Marines, followed.

    Ren had sent word beforehand, saying that it was to be a formal affair, and that they would be recording for purposes of posterity, and for sharing with the rest of the Federation. The Earthers assumed as much and were prepared to act ordingly. Why else would they have worn their dress blues, after all?

    Though they were a little smaller than they were used to, Mia and her officers found the furnishingsfortable enough though slightly cramped.

    Normally, one would put aside sword and sidearm to be able to sitfortably, but they were told that, per Elyran custom, one wore them throughout a formal meal. The First Ambassador exined to Mia that in ancient times, warriors were loath to divest themselves of their weapons, otherwise theyd be vulnerable to assassination or attack. So Mia and her people kept their weapons on as they sat.

    On a low table that looked like a coffee table except it was as long and wide as arge conference desk, Ren served them deep dishes of what turned out to be some kind of dip with a color and consistency simr to cheese sauce, and bowls filled with round pieces of bread, each about the size of arge potato chip and in a rainbow assortment of colors - pastel yellow, pink, blue, dark green, dark and bright orange, navy blue, purple, brown, red, bright green, and many other colors. He alsoid out pre-cut slices of fruit and vegetables of different shapes and sizes, and thin slices of meat artfully arrayed like expensive tes of sushi. There were also miniature bowls of what looked like oatmeal, plus what looked like bowls of clear broth with a pile of cut yellow and red vegetables beside each of them.

    After he finishedying them all out, Ren picked, poured and sliced very small pieces of all the food, arranged them on arge te, and then offered the te to Mia.

    They were briefed that this might happen, and they came prepared. Mia bowed to Ren, and then gestured to a Marine that had been patiently standing beside her.

    The Marine, on Mias nod, got the te, took out a small spectroscope analyzer out of a pocket, and ran its beam over the food. The device analyzed the chemicalponents of the food, as well as X-rayed them for metal and other foreign particles, any moving particles or dangerous organisms, bacteria, fungi or viruses. They would not have agreed to go through this ceremony except that they were provided a medical database as well as food samples by their Arachnian guests, and were fairly confident that any food served would be safe.

    Having finished checking the food for poisons or other inimicalpounds or any obvious parasites, the Marine gulped, knowing what was next. He took one of the tiny pieces of bread. Ren gestured at the dip and the soldier dipped it into the cheese-like sauce. He popped it into his mouth, grimaced and then chewed. But the texture and taste was actually good, like excellent French bread dipped in really tasty gravy.

    Oh! he eximed. Thats a bit of all right, that! he said, forgetting to tone down his Irish ent. He noticed everyone was looking at him, smiling. Ummm...

    He then took bites out of everything on the te, and then saluted Mia. Food passes inspection, sir! he said crisply, but the food in his mouth and the te in his hand ruined the effect.

    Mia nodded, andughed. Good work, gunny.

    Sir! He saluted again.

    Per the custom, it was the visitors turn this time to provide drinks, aperitifs, digestifs, sweets (or equivalents) and desserts. The parallels to human western eating preferences were striking. Nick stood and went to arge, wheeled sealed cart that one of the Marines had brought from the shuttle. He rolled it to the side of the table and brought out thermos sks of tea, coffee and orange juice plus arge coffee service. Nick also brought out several six-packs of beer, aluminum cans of soft drinks including ssic Pepsi and Coke (and Pepsi-Coke, of course, invented when the two leading pre-war beveragepanies merged), several magnums of the galleys best wine (it was white wine only since red was always in short supply on the ship), and a few precious bottles of Earth-side champagne.

    As a sort of pice de rsistance, Nick, smiling, brought out a cooler with arge tub of Rocky Road ice cream, and several New York-style cheesecakes. On a tray, Nick poured samples of each drink into small shot sses they had borrowed from the officers mess, and small samples of the cake and ice cream onto small saucers.

    An Elyran male came forward and did a ritual testing and tasting of the Earther''s offerings as well, with Nick on hand to assist. The Elyran dipped a little device that looked like a girls lipstick tube in all the sses and into the ice cream and cake, and then he tasted everything. Eventually, he turned and bowed to the Princess.

    With an expressed note of appreciation, the Elyrans epted the Earthers offerings, and they started with the meal.

    Part of the fun was watching each other tasting the others food and watching each other''s reaction. With the Elyrans, they all appreciated everything that the Earthers brought, except, perhaps, the beer, and were over the moon with the soda, ice cream and cheesecake. It was the same thing with the Earthers, except for a few of the meat slices - though they didnt taste too bad, the vors and textures were a little iffy.

    The four Arachnians joined them as well, and the representatives of three interster races had a pleasant time just getting to know each other. Though they had spent countless hours in virtual conference, it was another thing altogether to be speaking to each other in person.

    One of the bigger things that a face-to-face meeting added to the experience was how each smelled to the other. To the humans and Elyrans, the Arachnians smelled especially nice, like sandalwood with an earthy trace of expensive leather. The Elyrans smelled a little musky to the humans, but not unpleasantly so - like freshundry left too long in the sun. As for the Earthers, the Elyrans couldnt tell much: most of the Earthers wore artificial scents - a custom practiced only by high-caste Elyran males nowadays. But the perfumes and colognes they did wear were extremely... sensual. And all of them had the feel of bridges. As for the Arachnians - scents and smells did not mean much, except as olfactory cues to indicate substances inimical or beneficial to Arachnian health. Both races exuded neither.

    Nick and Mia freely conversed with the aliens, and the other Earthers almost as freely, too, courtesy of their trantors. The Elyrans and Arachnians were thankful for this, but Tasha resolved that they would learn to speak Earther as well as soon as possible. But it really did raise the question - how did the Earthers learn to speak Elyran in the first ce? Did their races share amon history? Were they a rted species, like the Detterex, or a long-lost Elyran colony?

    But Ren was reluctant to ask the questions (though both knew they had to be asked eventually). The Princess decided to leave it to him to find a proper ce and time to ask. It was so frustrating. So many questions - the three big questions being thenguage thing, themunications thing, and their ships... and maybe a fourth - why did they look so much like Elyrans!

    Ren decided to bide his time.

    Tell me, Captain, Ren said, changing his train of thought, how long have you been inmand of Seeker?

    Not long, Your Highness, Mia said. A year ago, I was, in fact, pursuing my vocation as a scientist when the Secretary-General asked me to serve. It was only then that I became Seekers captain.

    You were a scientist? Reena said incredulously. Are all Earthers... as multi-disciplined?

    Miaughed. Ah, I suppose I am an anomaly. I was in my countrys navy years ago, but I resigned mymission when I had enough of... well, I had enough, and decided to go back to science.

    Reena understood what Mia had implied she had gone through. Many of Reenasrades had retired early as well, having seen enough of death and violence. She supposed she would eventually retire as well. But she was lucky to have been made the mistress of the royal gship - it was rare for them to be in actualbat.

    But I was called to serve again, Mia continued. So I returned to military life, and here I am. She speared a little piece of meat with one of the little skewer-like forks they provided. It had the taste and texture of fresh salmon sushi. Mia ate it with relish. If only they had brought soy sauce and wasabi as well...

    The discussion went back and forth and they exchanged little personal vites as everyone sipped on the Earther beverages. Just like a cocktail party on Earth, except that everyone was sitting down.

    Nick had exined that he was not mated to the Captain, and the Elyrans were surprised to find that not being married was less of an issue on Earth than on Elyra, Aftering of age, most Elyrans were bonded to partners in monogamous rtionships analogous to Earth marriages, and they were scandalized to find that divorce was possible for Earthers. For Elyrans, pair bonding, or marriage, was a lifetime thing.

    As for the Arachnians, though they understood the concepts, they themselves did not practice pair bonding or marriage, since for them sex was strictly a matter of momentary pleasure or for procreation. They did ce a lot of importance on friendships, though, and on establishing a dynasty, on ideas of loyalty, and themitment to oaths and promises. And to having a lot of offspring, and iming affiliation to arge and powerful n - these were extremely important to Arachnian society.

    They switched to more mundane things, like what each race did for entertainment. Much was made of Earther TV and how many of its programs were simr to their Elyran counterparts. As for Arachnians, they preferred news and documentary programs. Mia found that intriguing. Nick thought that boring. They talked of hobbies, music, art and sports, and much was made of the differences of each races activities. The Arachnians were disappointed, however, that sexual activities were not discussed. But they were not too surprised. They knew that most beings closely associated sexuality to their sense of self, and inextricably linked it to how they viewed themselves and their rtionships with each other, that it was mostly a private thing. It was not a surprise, then, that Elyrans and humans werent too open about it.

    As for Arachnians, sex was strictly for momentary enjoyment or for procreation. Their drive to procreate was more based on the need to establish dynasties - an intellectual abstraction instead of a visceral biological need or a biologically triggered feeling of attraction. In this way Arachnians (and Erocii, the only other Federation species whose form closely resembled the tiny exoskeletal insectoids found on Earth and other worlds with oxygen-based ecosystems) differed from other species. This had, actually, created consternation and debate amongst most Federation biologists when they were first discovered, as they tried to ount for this anomaly and tried to find out how the species was able to maintain its poption. In fact, sexuality was more like a spectator sport for Arachnians, with many Arachnian video programs dedicated to them, as well as hundreds of thousands of books and videos on these sexual athletes, and tutorials and how-to books for improving technique, et cetera being the most popr books around. There were even many citizens who achieved fame for being aplished sexual athletes.

    But the First Ambassador and his associates did not make much of this reticence of the Earthers and Elyrans. Arachnians were known for their politeness.

    During the meal, Admiral Daxx called. The call was ryed to them, and she inquired on how the tour was going. The Prince answered for the group.

    We have just concluded the tour, actually, Admiral. We are having the ceremonial evening meal at the moment.

    Oh, I apologize, Highness, Daxx said. Did not mean to interrupt.

    Looking at the Admirals image, Ren smiled. Though he didnt know the Admiral personally, he had worked enough times with Dixx that he could recognize the expression. Daxx wanted to be there, too.

    I am sorry you could not join us, Admiral, Ren replied to the tall alien. Perhaps when we arrive on Earth, we can sit down together to a meal and finally meet face-to-face.

    That is quite gracious of you. Thank you. She apologized again and switched off.

    -----

    At the conclusion of their formal meal, Ren leaned over to Ben and whispered in his ear. Ben stood and left the room, and came back carrying arge gilt box encrusted with what appeared to be red, green and blue stones. The room grew quiet.

    Ben stood beside Mia and bowed. Mia, not being briefed on this, looked at Nick. Nick, also at a loss as to what this was, shrugged. Mia decided to y safe, stood and bowed as well.

    Ben proffered the box and Mia epted.

    My Lady, Ben said in formal, if nervous-sounding tones, Tasha Liarran-Kerr and Ren Tevann-Reshanii-Kerr, crown Princess and Prince of the Great ins of Elyra, would offer you our royal familys Torch of Freedom. The Torch is an ancient, sacred symbol from thousands upon thousands of generations ago, from the time of the Great Messiah, and has been passed from one Great House to another during times of strife. My Lord and Lady have decreed that the Torch be awarded to you - a symbol of the debt that all Elyra owes you and your people, and a token of fealty that the line of Kerr and Reshanii swear to your species, n and forbears, that, at your word, all Elyra, no matter what time or distance lie between now and eternity, shalle to your aid, to sor and save, to bring light to darkness, to defend honor and, if need be, to avenge, now and forever.

    With the First Ambassador, as well as his fellow Arachnians, Bens words had struck a chord. All Elyrans gave value and importance to friendships and loyalty. His own n and Rens had exchanged simr vows, and he now considered himself part of the Tevann-Reshanii family. By extension, he felt pride and gratitude as well, that his extended family was executing this ceremony.

    Mia epted the box, but didnt know what to do. There was an awkward pause.

    There is a catch in front of the box, My Lady, Ben whispered. Open it, bring the jeweled bar out and hold it over your head.

    Mia felt for the catch, and felt a small hook. She slipped the hook from its catch and opened the box. The top part swung on a hinge. Mia peered inside and saw a solid-gold bar nestled in a bed of some green velvet-like lining. It was covered with glyphs and symbols carved all over its surface, and had a teardrop-shaped multi-faceted ruby the size of a chicken egg mounted on one end, and an opalescent blue marble on the other. It indeed looked like a stylized torch, with the ruby in ce of the fire.

    Mia picked it out of the box, and, after a pause, proudly lifted it over her head as she would a real torch.

    All the Elyrans and the four Arachnians apuded. Mia signed to her people. The humans stood and, as one, bowed. The apuse doubled in volume.

    -----

    After a while, the apuse slowly died down and everyone took their seats. Mia remained standing, wracking her brain toe up with an idea.

    She reverently returned the small gilt bar inside the box and handed it to a nearby Marine. She then beckoned to Nick. Get the document case, she whispered.

    Nick, picking up on her idea, went to one of the carts they brought. He reached for the pressurized cargo transport case inside. Cases like this were used to hold industrial liquids, tools and other odds and ends for transport, and were all over all human spacecraft - as ubiquitous as a cardboard box would be-side. Nick had the quartermaster scrounge one up from somewhere, but his people were thorough enough to steam clean it and remove all the oil, gunk and grime that these cases usually had. But though clean, it was still beat up and ugly as hell. This particr type of case usually held bottles of lubricating oil or engine cont, but Nick had repurposed it to hold the printed document that they promised the aliens - the one that documented all the information that they had so far given the aliens via the conferences theyd been conducting, with additional references and supplemental data. (The confidential data was left out, of course.)

    The document inside was roughly five kilos - an unbound printed volume with about thirty thousand loose pages of text and diagrams, all in Elyran.

    The case served a dual purpose: because the document was vacuum-packed inside the case, it naturallypressed the pages to a pile eight inches high - ten percent of its normal size. If put together in one unpressurized pile, it would make a stack that was about six and a half feet tall.

    Nick handed Mia the case, as well as a little metal device that he dug out of his jacket pocket. It looked like a ttened cube roughly the size of Mias palm, with arge rectangr hole on one of the narrow sides.

    Mia stood in front of the Prince and Princess and bowed, copying Bens actions move for move.

    Ren and Tasha scrambled to their feet. To say that they were surprised was an understatement. This was unprecedented!

    My Lord and Lady, Mia bowed again. We are all humbled by the honor you have bestowed upon us. We will never be able to reciprocate your generosity. But as a token of our gratitude, please ept this humble gift to honor you and your people. It is a gift of knowledge that we wish to share with you, so that we, the children of Earth, can share with the children of Elyra, Arachnia and Dixx our hard-won bounty. It is but a paltry gift, a poor token, but one born of an earnest desire to show our gratitude and friendship. Mia extended the case.

    Tasha took the case and noted its pitted, dented and weathered surface. Clearly, its something of ancient origin, she thought. Though there were no jewels or other decoration, Tasha thought its spare look lent it an elegance that made it mysteriously beautiful.

    She felt around for the lock or the catch and, before Mia could stop her, she discovered the recessed button on the lid and pressed it. Mia tried to hide her chagrin - she wasnt able to tell them about vacuum-packed documents.

    Oh, well, Mia thought. I just hope they arent too surprised.

    The popping of the cover broke the vacuum and the case made a hissing sound as air seeped in.

    There was a gasp from the onlookers and, when the hissing faded away, Tasha flipped the cover open, She and Ren peered inside and saw the cover page of the document. They read the title, which was in Elyran:

    <em><strong>Selected Technical and Historical References</strong></em>

    <em><strong>and New United Nations Geo-political Analysis Reports</strong></em>

    <em><strong>Submitted to the first expedition of the Gctic Federation to the Sol System,</strong></em>

    <em><strong>Prepared by Terran Encounter Task Force 41/18</strong></em>

    <em><strong>and the CETI Commission -</strong></em>

    <em><strong>The New United Nations and</strong></em>

    <em><strong>the United Earth Defense Force</strong></em>

    Ren and Tasha looked at each other. They noticed a movement from the box and they looked back down. Incredibly, the pages of the document wereing out of the box. It was the paper expanding, as air got into and between the sheets, as it was designed to do.

    When there were about five inches worth of pages sticking out, Ren eximed. By the Goddess. Ben!

    Ben came and got the pages before they had a chance to fall. He brought them out, presumably to give to colleagues waiting outside.

    Incredibly, more pages rose from the box, and Ben had to make multiple trips. Eventually, no more pages came out. Thank the Goddess, Benmented in relief, and everyoneughed at that.

    Smiling, Mia handed Ben something else - the ttened metal cube Nick gave her.

    To the Elyrans, it looked like the jack from a standard Elyran i/o storage pack, but missing therge box-like storage pack that would normally be attached to it. Ben wanted to ask why give a useless device but thought better of it, epted the device and just bowed. (What they didnt see, of course, was that a teeny-tiny, throwaway 128GB secure digital memory card reced the storage.)

    He carried the connector and the case that still had thest of the pages of the document inside to the hallway outside.

    Your Highness, Mia again addressed the Prince and Princess. Thank you for your gracious amodation and hospitality, the tour and the excellent meal. I apologize for being a poor guest but we must get back to our ship.

    Nonsense, My Lady, Tasha said. It was our honor.

    Mia and her group did the ceremonial leave-taking, as required by Elyran custom, and then they, and the Arachnians, made their way back to the shuttles for the short ride back to Seeker.

 Chapter 15: Saturnfall

    Chapter 15: Saturnfall

    <strong>Comparing notes </strong>

    Half a dozen Elyrans, all male, met them at their shuttle. As they approached, the six bowed low. In their hands were several cardboard boxes.

    They apologized. They exined that they had only gotten their instructions a few minutes ago. In the boxes were about two-dozen of those i/o storage connectors, with four-by-four-by-four inch cubes attached to each of them. They exined that these were references and textbooks from their library, and hoped that their selections were useful.

    Two of the Marines moved forward and got the boxes. Mia moved forward and bowed.

    Many thanks, she said.

    Thest of the six moved to the front, bowed low and proffered a golden gilt box.

    Whats this?

    It is Princess Tashas family scroll, My Lady.

    Family scroll?

    It is the Princesss personal scroll that was given by her mother-inw on the asion of her bonding with Prince Ren - the Holy Book of the Ages, which is thest of the seven Ancient Scrolls. It is quite priceless.

    The six put their fists over their hearts and bowed low. They remained bowed until the Earthers were all in the shuttle.

    Hmmm, Nick said.

    -----

    TChahn, royal Earth shuttle, the Talonsmunications officer called over the radio,nding bay has been fully depressurized and main hatch is open. Please extend to Her Royal Highness, Captain Steele, the good wishes of the crew of the Talon, and our wishes for her safe journey back.

    Ummm, roger, Talon, the shuttle pilot responded. He didnt know how to take that. Ahhh, royal party is departing. Thank you for your hospitality.

    Mia was also surprised and confused by that as well, but she let it go.

    The trip back to Seeker was quick - from leaving the dining room and walking back to the shuttles, waiting for the bay to be evacuated, waiting for the merging of their ships fields, flying back, and thennding in Seekers own bay, it took less than thirty minutes. The Earthers and Arachnians had a pleasant half-hour of chitchat, and talked about the meal and meeting the Prince and Princess.

    Some of the Marines and crew were a bit ill at ease talking with what looked like big orange-and-white spiders. It was something Arachnians and their kind were familiar with: Arachnophobia was not exclusive to Earthers, after all (although the aliens called it something else). Most inhabited oxygens had small insects, spiders or their equivalents, and most intelligent species had an aversion to them to some degree or other, due to the parasitical nature of these insects. Arachnians and Erocii were not spiders at all despite a spider-like appearance. But such niceties didnt count for much, especially to those who had arachnophobia.

    Arachnians and Erocii knew this and just learned to live with it, trying to educate where they could. And as Federation society evolved, most peoples had adjusted. The First Ambassador prayed that the Earthers would, too. It would be too bad if the Earthers didnt as well, he thought, because he respected them. And, more importantly, he liked them.

    So how did you like your first face-to-face meeting with Ren and Tasha? he asked the Earthers as they felt the shuttle lift off.

    In the past, many had been taken aback by his overly familiar behavior with the Prince and Princess. Nick looked at him with a raised eyebrow - a visual cue that the ambassador was now familiar with.

    He moved his upper arms in the gesture that denoted mild amusement. Do not mind me, Lieutenant, he said. I am allowed a few liberties with the Prince and Princess. I am a family friend, and they tolerate my few impertinences.

    They were shorter than I thought theyd be, sir, one of the Marines said.

    Actually, the Princess is considered above average in height.

    She is?

    The ambassador moved his arms in the gesture that was equivalent of a shrug.

    Have you been to many royal receptions, Ambassador? Mia asked.

    I have been to many royal receptions, as well as other ceremonial and formal events. In my capacity as a representative of my government, attending such events is part of my regr schedule.

    Mia nodded. I would have assumed so. How did this onepare?

    The protocols were a little different, he said. Your Earther Marines have put a touch more drama to the proceedings, but it was mostly like the others. What made it different was the exchange of gifts during the meal.

    Im sorry about our gift. Mia sighed. It was ast-minute thing. The expanding pages must have been weird. The Seeker peopleughed.

    What is wrong? the ambassador said. Even through the trantor, his puzzlement could be clearly heard. He waved his upper limbs left to right - the gesture of inquiry.

    Mia, giggling, waved it down. Forget about it, Ambassador. You wouldnt understand.

    Well, whatever, he made a sweeping gesture of dismissal. But the Elyrans were very surprised and very appreciative of the gift.

    So, Captain, he continued. The Torch of Freedom. A great honor, and an unprecedented one. Only a handful of non-Elyrans have ever been orded the honor.

    Im afraid I do not know Elyran history well enough to know the significance...

    So the Ambassador went professorial and exined the background of the icon.

    -----

    More than a thousand millennia ago, the Elyran legend went, the Queen Mother had gone to war, in defense of a people being oppressed by their brethren. These were ves more than anything, considered so because of an ident of birth. The legends say the Queen Mother challenged this, and her outnumbered warriors did several nighttime raids and, under cover of stealth and darkness, freed more than a thousand of these oppressed, as well as several crches of their children.

    Her actions rallied the remaining ves and, together with her warriors, they eventually rose up and defeated their oppressors. It was from these original twenty-four tribes that many of the present royal families came from.

    In gratitude, the newly-free people, called the Th Anthropoi in the old tongue, presented the Queen Mother and her allies three eights and one ornamental torches carved from gold, silver and precious stones - made in the image of wooden torches - the kind that they used when they freed the children during those dark, moonless nights. The three eights, or twenty-four, torches were given to each of the chieftains of the twenty-four warrior tribes that undertook the rescue. The twenty-fifth of course was given to the Queen Mother herself. The Th said that the torches were symbols of their debt, and that whatever the reason, if ever the debt was imed, they woulde - a promise written in the blood of their children.

    But the Th had disappeared from history, and the debt was never imed.

    The various families kept the icons, and through the centuries, they had acquired the patina of legend. The icons themselves were lost over time. Nevertheless, the people descended from the original twenty-four tribes made facsimiles of the originals. One of these tribes, which became the royal family of Kerr, started the tradition of giving jeweled copies of their torch as a token of their gratitude to those who helped them, and as a token of their pledge of loyalty. Subsequently, because of this, the Kerr Family acquired many allies over time and became one of thergest and most powerful royal families on the.

    Seeing their sess, the other twenty-three copied this practice, but more as a means to expand their influence, or to curry favor among their neighbors.

    But that was ancient history. Nowadays, the torches were rarely awarded, and only given out by the families to those truly deserving them.

    -----

    There are many things in this universe that are wrong, the First Ambassador said, apparently wrapping up his lecture. It is important to celebrate those that are right. This ceremony is just one of those.

    Well, Mia said, embarrassed. Well... Thank you. I guess.

    Here is another one, he said, and reached inside a pack that was belted around his thorax. I would also like to give you something. Here. He held out a small, jeweled medallion or coin that hung on what looked like a thin chain ne. May I?

    She couldnt very well say no, so she stooped, a little bit confused, and let the little alien put the ne around her neck.

    After he snapped the sp closed, Mia straightened. She lifted the little medallion and looked at the design on it. It looked like a tree, with little shards of diamond or some other sparkly stone scattered through the branches.

    Does the design have some meaning? she asked.

    It is my familys... crest, for want of a word with a closer meaning. Usually, we have them iid permanently into our chitin once we reach adulthood, he pointed to a simr one embedded into his carapace where a breast pocket would be in a shirt. Yours is especially struck to be suitable for Elyranoids.

    Elyranoids... Mia thought, and smiled. She had not heard the word before - the word that the little trantor she had been wearing that was set on assist mode chose seemed a little too onomatopoeic to be taken seriously, but it had the virtue of being clear in its meaning.

    The crest is not something that is given to non-Arachnians lightly, and when we get back, I will have to ask you to apany me to Arachnia Prime so we can present you the medallion in the proper way.

    Mia smiled. Okay. Its a date then.

    A date?

    Mia didnt answer, and just reached out with a finger. The Arachnian responded automatically, and extended a feathery-tipped antenna.

    The human and the Elyran regarded each other, and if someone else would see the two mismatched sapients, they would somehow know that these two were friends.

    -----

    Well, Mia said, thank you very much for this, Ambassador. She gestured at her new medallion. As well as for the history lesson. I see now how important the Torch is.

    It is more than that, Captain, the Ambassador continued. This evenings events were unprecedented. And the fact you reciprocated by giving a gift as well...

    Isnt giving a gift in return just the polite thing to do?

    Indeed it is. But on Elyra, only a peer may presume to exchange gifts with royalty...

    Mias eyes grewrge. So that means they think...?

    The ambassador made circr motions with his four upper arms - the gesture for amusement.

    Indeed, he said.

    Mia shook her head and groaned.

    -----

    So thats how it went, Madame Secretary-General, Mia said. She, Beth OConnell and Nick were reporting to Romarkin, the Admiral, Marc and Jennifer about their visit to the alien ship from inside Mias cabin. CETI liaison Sahsha was also there, via Phase-Wave, to record.

    Their technical report wasnt ready yet - it was still to bepiled and would take time, but they felt this warranted an emergency call. So as soon as their shuttlesnded, Nick made the call.

    This business about the torch... Jennifer said.

    Yes, Maam, Nick said. The Ambassadors impromptu lecture was helpful, but I guess we need more information.

    Indeed. Still, Jennifer turned to Marc, seems we got a pretty big IOU from the Princess. She grinned predatorily.

    And the other problem? The Admiral asked.

    Well...

    They think Im royalty, sir, Mia interjected.

    No one spoke for a moment.

    Well, Romarkin said, thats not necessarily a problem, is it?

    Silverman grinned. So long as the chain ofmand is preserved, I have no problem with one of my officers being...

    Princess Amelia... OConnell snickered. She sobered up when Mia gave her a look. Sorry, sir!

    Mia then turned and gave Romarkin and Silverman an aggravated look.

    I dont think we can do anything about it, Captain, Silverman said.

    Guess you have to ride it out, Mia. I mean, Princess... Everyoneughed.

    This will not be good for shipboard discipline, Miained.

    Jennifer giggled. Its your fault, after all, Mia.

    But I didnt know! How could anyone know?

    The Admiral made some patting-down gestures. All right, settle down. Lets just keep this story hush-hush for the moment, Silverman said. No one knows about this, even the Marines in the shuttle. So, lets just not spread it around. Either it dies down, or your crew adjusts, Captain.

    He turned to Nick. Lieutenant, get those books copied and transmitted to CETI immediately, and make sure your report gets to us noter than 0900 hours tomorrow. He then turned to Jennifer. Professor Priestly, I would appreciate it if you can trante those books immediately.

    Of course, Admiral. But Nick can do it right now, actually.

    He turned back to Nick. Then get cracking on that right away, son. I guess that pretty much covers it, Madame Secretary-General. Anything to add?

    I agree, Admiral - thats pretty much it. Good work, everyone. Lets all get some rest. Talk to you all tomorrow.

    She logged off, and everyone followed. But before they were cut offpletely, Sahsha called out, Bye, Princess!

    Mia groaned again.

    -----

    Mia, OConnell, the Second Engineer, the doctor and some of the Marines that were with them worked through the night and finished up the report the Admiral wanted, while Nick oversaw CETIs trantion program. He was gratified that their analysis of Elyranputer systems was right on target, and he was able to read the books without problems, except that the i/o socket was a trifle loose in their fabricated adapter. A little bit of toilet paper wadded in the appropriate area fixed that right up, though.

    The Elyran data files were coded in the format that Nick and the CETI people were familiar with, and his program had an easy time opening them. The data came encapsted in three formats - one for graphics, another for audio and video, and one for text. It was straightforward.

    Except for the physical media, he could have done it all on his CC. He had finished creating English-text versions in an hour. Interpting and dubbing the spokenponents took an extra two hours, and subtitling the text in the video and graphicsponents took an additional two. But Nick basically had nothing to do except make sure they were properly rendered.

    So he remained in the discussion that Mia conducted via inte, only asionally taking a peek at theputer as the program finished rendering the Elyran references into English.

    To help Mia out, Nick had followed her advice and had Ms. Delyer join them online as well. Her transcription and documentation skills went a long way towardpleting their report.

    By nine AM the following day, they hadpleted a first draft of their report, as well as copies ofplete tranted versions of the books. He transmitted them to the Fleet Admiral and to Professor Priestlys office. He left it to Sahsha to make copies for the Secretary-General.

    After he had done that, he made excuses to his shipboard supervisor, and went to his bunk for some well-deserved shut-eye.

    But he didnt really get much sleep. Thirty minutes after falling asleep, a rating sent by OConnell shook him awake. It seemed the Captain was paging him - it was some sort of emergency.

    <strong>Disappearing act </strong>

    Nick came onto the bridge, still buttoning his shirt. The chronometer on the wall said ship time was 0945H. But no one could me him for beingte - he wasnt supposed to be up yet.

    The Captain and Commander OConnell were there already, looking disgustingly well rested (he wondered how they were able to do it). Beside them was the First Ambassador with his ever-present assistant, and on the main screen, in split-view, were the Prince and Princess, Admiral Daxx, Fleet Admiral Silverman, the Secretary-General, and Walter Thorpe from Neptune.

    Sir, Nick said and saluted the Captain.

    Nick, Mia said and acknowledged his salute. d youre here. Sr tracking has lost the Empire ships. But more than that, Walter and Admiral Daxx have a bigger problem. Walter, Admiral Daxx - can you show Nick what you just showed us?

    Hey, Nick, Walter said. I think the Admiral should go first.

    Lieutenant, Admiral Daxx said, your captain has said you may be able to get to bottom of this. Her image on the screen was reced with that of a ck rectangle with small dots of light oveid by a grid.

    This is one of the frames from our radar navigation imaging systemst night. What you see are stars as seen from where we currently are, looking toward your star, but using our radio navigation. However, since a few hours ago, all we have been getting is this.

    The star map was reced by what looked like static from an old-style ck-and-white TV set.

    Whats that? Nick asked. Cosmic rays? Background radiation in this part of space isnt...

    We thought so, too, Nick, Walter said.

    Hey, Boss.

    Hey, Nick. Long time no see. No, this isnt just regr cosmic background radiation. After all, thats more or less constant. This... phenomenon just happened to appear in thest few hours. Plus, its also messing up Phase-Wave.

    What? But thats impossible! Thats clearly electromaic - radio stuff! It shouldnt affect Phase-Wave.

    We are very worried, Lieutenant, the Prince said. Ourmunications have been rendered inoperative. If not for the Earther shipsser ryed data, we would be lost. We have essentially been rendered deaf and blind.

    Nick pointed at the screen. Well, no wonder. But Seeker and Constetion are okay? Phase-Wave is unaffected?

    Notpletely, Walter said. Thats why we called you. Take a look at this. He shed another picture.

    It was a ck-and-white picture of some stars again, but this time as seen from above the sr ne. It was a Phase-Wave extrapted graph. He knew this was from above the ne because the orbits of the majors were marked, and there were nine of them - they had included Plutos telltale entric orbit even though it wasnt a. It was therefore easy to recognize. But...

    Whats that smudge? He pointed to a gray blob in between two of the circles. Why would aputer projection include a smudge? Counting the marked rings, Nick found that the big perfectly circr blob was near the sixth ring. That smudge is near Saturns orbit, he thought to himself.

    That is exactly what were trying to figure out, Walter responded. And its moving towards Saturn fast, and decelerating.

    Maybe its a natural phenomenon?

    Walter didnt react to that. Instead, he magnified the picture. A perfectly-circr blob half a million kilometers in diameter, and its only visible as a Phase-Wave blind spot thats moving towards Saturn at a substantial speed? I dont think that smudge, as you put it, is some natural phenomenon. And the Empire ships have disappeared. I bet you theyre hiding in that blind spot.

    Nick looked at the picture more closely. What is it? he murmured to himself.

    We were actually hoping that youd be able to tell us, Mia said.

    Nick looked at the picture further. He tried to see if any situations described by the Phase-Wave audio and video intercepts CETI had gotten matched the present situation. Nick felt like he was back in Triton Center still breaking Elyran and Tiros cyphers. His knack for breaking codes and his knowledge of things Elyran made him CETIs best breaker, and he guessed that was the reason Mia picked him for this mission. He looked at Mias expectant face and realized that he had a reputation to uphold...

    So, lemme get this straight, he said, this phenomenon has jammed all electromaic signals in the system? No radio, no radar? The only thing I can think of that could fit this is... He turned to the Prince and Princess.

    Your Highness, he said, does the phrase curtain of light mean anything to you?

    Ren and Tasha looked at each other. Clearly, they knew something about it but were unwilling to talk. Daxx looked at both, and when the silence became too much to ignore, she all but exploded.

    Oh, please! Daxx eximed. Tell us already! The Earthers already know!

    And everyone within earshot broke intoughter.

    Ren nodded to Tasha.

    Well, Tasha said, our agents have been hearing about developments in the Empire. The Tirosians have been trying to replicate the Earther instantaneousmunications technology, but have so far failed.

    They have yet to discover the basic principle of your technology, Ren said, but in their experimentation, they discovered something else. They call it the curtain of light.

    What is it?

    We do not know exactly, but it has to do with electromaic radiation. They are developing it as a weapon to disable spacecraft.

    Lieutenant, Silverman said, what makes you think this is this curtain of light? Seems to me...

    Admiral, Nick interrupted, may I make a request? If you can have your people zoom in on the coordinates for the smudge with the Hubble optical scopes on the moon. Adjusting the coordinates back to the appropriate time, of course.

    Silverman sighed and gestured to someone off-screen. They made some adjustments on the apparent coordinates andpensate for the image dy, and the image was changed to a closer color view. On it could be seen some stars and nothing else. Of course, no blob or smudge could be seen. The radiograph they saw before was only aputer-generated graphic representation of what the Phase-Wave sensors were receiving, after all, whereas what they were looking at now was purely optical.

    Can you zoom in further, Nick asked. The image shifted several times, zooming in until they could see a small speck precisely in the middle of the coordinates for that smudge. Being in the shadowma of the, and being too far away from Saturn for any reflected light to matter, that speck shouldnt have been visible. They couldnt get different views since these shots were over an hour old - since it was optical, they knew the image wasnt real-time, and was a shot of the sky an hour or so ago. Still...

    Well, hello there, Nickmented.

    -----

    Using the pictures taken by the moons array of visible light telescopes, more properly known as the Hubble Optical Observatory II, they studied the area further. To supplement this, Seeker and Constetion also focused their own optical scopes on the area.

    To say near Saturn was rtive. The strange blip was several hundred million kilometers away, moving towards the and rapidly decelerating. But just using visible light to track it, without the assistance of Phase-Wave or even radar, it was difficult, to say the least. And even if it were decelerating rapidly, it was still traveling at several thousand kilometers a second, and that was on top of adjusting the coordinates because the visual would be from several minutes ago.

    By tracking the Phase-Wave interference, they were able to use that to grab some still pictures, and close-ups showed that the speck was actually the Empire ships. Whats more, they were in the precise center of the so-called smudge.

    Its clear then, Silverman said. The Tirosians are using their new technology to hide. They were counting on the electromaic interference to cloak them.

    But they did not count on your Phase-Wave to prate their cloak, the First Ambassador said.

    Still, Mia said, Phase-Wave was only partially sessful. She gestured at the Phase-Wave blind spot, or smudge, on the screen.

    Regardless, Romarkin interjected. It was good enough to get us this far. Your Highness, she turned to the Princess. Any more information on this curtain?

    Not much more than what Ive said, Im afraid, Excellency, Tasha said.

    We will transmit all that we have on it, of course, if...

    Thank you, Your Highness. We will likewise transmit what we have, as soon as the radio interference clears. She turned to Silverman. Admiral, whats your tactical assessment of the situation?

    Silverman turned to Nick. Lieutenant?

    Well, Nick said, lets see... He started ticking things off. One - this new technology isrgely unknown, which poses an unknown, un-assessed threat. Its therefore necessary to get more information about it. Two - the proximate danger of the alien fleet has increased. This threat should be eliminated as soon as possible. And, three - the alien fleet is approaching Saturn. We need to warn Titan Colony.

    Titan Colony? Ren asked.

    Its one of ourrgest off-Earth settlements, Silverman responded. Its located on one of the moons of Saturn, the sixth from our sun. He turned to Nick. Very good, Lieutenant.

    Standard military doctrine, sir, Nick said. He turned to Mia and OConnell. Sir? Shouldnt we raise Titan now?

    Dont worry, Nick, OConnell said. Weve been able to raise Titan Control. Theyre, in fact, busy talking with Command. Theyve said theyre being appraised of the situation. The Admirals staff has already fully briefed them...

    But theyre not within the blind spot?

    No, Lieutenant. Not yet, at least.

    On-screen, they saw a uniformed lieutenant whisper something to Silverman. He whispered back and the officer nodded.

    What is it, Admiral? Romarkin asked.

    Silverman dismissed the officer. Maam, something is wrong. About the Empire ships - instead of nine battle cruiser-ss ships, four escort ships and a tanker, were only seeing six cruisers and two escorts. Theyre missing six ships.

    Where are they, then?

    We are trying to find out. Silverman turned to Mia. Captain?

    Sir. Mia responded. Navigation, set a course for Titan Colony, best speed. Communications, get me Captain Dupont.

    Aye, sir. Captain Dupont is on-line.

    Bonjour, Capitaine Dupont. Ceci est Amelia Steele.

    Bonjour, Capitaine Steele. Oui. Nousprenons. La Constetion est a votre service.

    Tres bien. Merci, Capitaine. Nous irons a Titan Colony. Restez avec flotte de Federation et continuez sur Terre avec meilleure vitesse.

    Reconnu, Capitaine. Bonne chance.

    Bonne chance, Capitaine.

    With that, Captain Dupont signed off.

    Ren and Tasha looked at each other.

    What was that? Ren said.

    Oh, sorry, Your Highness. I was just giving instructions to Captain Dupont of Constetion to stay with the fleet. Im afraid Seeker will have to leave.

    Your Highness, Admiral Silverman said to Ren, given the new developments...

    We heard, Admiral, Tasha said, No need to exin, we are in full agreement. Lady Amelia, may the Messiah be with you.

    Mia chose to ignore the Lady Amelia. Thank you, Your Highness.

    Admiral Daxx nodded as well. Quite so, Admiral. She turned to Mia.

    Your Highness, if only we were able to apany you. Good luck, and do not let your wings get dry.

    Mia remembered that phrase, from the first ever Phase-Wave transmission. She bowed. And you as well, Admiral. Good luck to us all.

    Godspeed, Captain, Silverman said. Well take care of locating the missing ships. In the meantime, protect Titan. Keep in contact for as long as possible.

    Aye, sir. Well maintain telemetry and open channels for as long as possible. Helm, execute course. Best speed to Titan.

    <strong>Battle at sea </strong>

    A few hourster...

    Captain, we are starting to losemunications with Earth.

    Mia nodded. We must be entering the blind spot now.

    Yes, sir. We cant raise Talon, the Constetion or Earth, or anyone. And telemetry is sporadic to nonexistent. And...

    Yes?

    Weve lost shields...

    It was less than eight hours since they''d left the Elyran ships, and cruising at about thirty percent of the speed of light, they were now just a few hundred million kilometers away from the Tirosian and Detterex cruisers.

    Though there were no electromaic or Phase-Wave means of tracking them through that so-called smudge, Earth was able to track them via telescopes. Talon, Constetion and the other ships were far enough away from the source of the interference that Constetions Phase-Wave systems were still working. Even so, they could not track Seeker through the smudge either, except through telescopes.

    Noted on that, Lieutenant. Give me ship-wide.

    Aye, sir.

    This is the Captain, Mia said, addressing the crew on the ships PA. We are about topletely lose our Phase-Wave systems. That means we will be relyingpletely on dead reckoning and visual navigation.

    I am sure the enemy has also seen us approaching, and is presently tracking us. This was intended, I assure you. Nevertheless, it means that we have now re-engaged the enemy.

    She sighed in resignation. I am sure you have all been briefed on the situation, she continued, and if ever there was a time that we needed everyones best, its now. We are Seeker, the best ship in the fleet. Lets show everyone how good we really are.

    She turned to the pilot station.

    Helm, get ready to execute new course, and set for maximum speed. Lets get her moving.

    Aye, sir. New course has been programmed. Awaiting yourmand.

    Execute!

    The pilot on duty grabbed the twin eleration joysticks on the pilot control board and slowly pushed them forward. He kept his eye on the power indicators and elerated as fast as he could without red-lining.

    Throughout the ship, a kind of thrumming, almost subliminal, could be heard. It was more felt than heard, actually. Seekers hybrid engines were being pushed past what they had been before. In the months toe, the hum would be a normal thing - just another part of life onboard Seeker, but for now it was something new. Everyone looked up from whatever they were doing, knowing what it meant.

    <strong>Pirate ship </strong>

    On the bridge, Mia looked at the main screen where theputer disyed where it thought they and the enemy were. It wasntpletely based on dead reckoning - they did have their telescopes and optics.

    Lieutenant, project our course on screen.

    A curling line was oveid on the disy. It showed Seeker moving in a curving course away from the empire ships, and continuing on to the Saturn system.

    I dont understand the reason for all of this, the First Ambassador said.

    He was wearing a cobbled-together self-contained trantor with a very, veryrge battery the size of arge briefcase attached via a cable.

    Apparently, devices that generated their own power worked in the EM suppression field, but battery-powered devices would be drained very rapidly. Instead ofsting a couple of years, the Ambassadors pack would onlyst for twenty minutes and he would need to rece it with a freshly charged one before then.

    Oh! I didnt see you, Ambassador. Mia said, having forgotten her standing order to give the ambassador ess to the bridge.

    The Ambassador bowed and made an up-and-down gesture of apology. He seemed to be managing his battery pack well enough. I apologize for disturbing you, he said. And your crew as well.

    Oh, its all right. Mia gestured at the screen. You were asking about...

    Yes.

    Well, we needed to engage the enemy. But we are outnumbered, eight ships to one. Since the battle, we have been tracking them continuously, and they have undoubtedly been tracking us continuously as well. So they can see us approaching - we have no element of surprise.

    Why were you able to surprise us before?

    Space is vast, Ambassador. If you dont know where to look, then its difficult to find a ship. Unless you have Phase-Wave... But she didnt say that aloud.

    I see. And you believe they have been tracking us since. So you think that they are unaffected by the electromaic interference?

    No. Given that the interference is spectrum-wide, the Empire ships are as deaf and blind as Talon. We think. But regardless, they still have optics. They can track us that way, which is how were tracking them now as they head towards Saturn.

    I see.

    Were actually counting on their being affected by the interference as well for this ruse to work. Having seen them, we now retreat. Our course, she gestured to the screen, will move us away from them and towards the gas giant. Once behind the, we will then brake. To the Tirosians and Detterex we will have disappeared. They will make the conclusion that we have gone, maybe even back to Earth. Which is a reasonable assumption given thes position, and since we would appear to be hiding behind it.

    We dont know why the Empire ships are going to Saturns system. We can make some assumptions, but regardless, its our intention to protect Titan, and we will hold out until reinforcements arrive.

    The Ambassador nodded his head, a deliberate affectation he borrowed from the Earthers and Elyrans. I agree, but you have an important mission. Wouldnt it...

    We are soldiers, Ambassador. Its our duty to protect our citizens. Thates first. But dont worry. Ourrades are protecting your fleet. And I assure you, Captain Dupont is an excellent captain.

    The Ambassador bowed. I am humbled, My Lady. You are right, of course. And I did not mean to gainsay you. I apologize.

    Mia bowed in return. Thank you, Excellency.

    How may I assist?

    You and I need to strategize.

    -----

    Mia conducted a short impromptu strategy meeting with the Ambassador, the other Arachnians, Nick, OConnell and some of her other officers. They came up with a rudimentary strategy. And though the Arachnians suggestions and insights into Detterex and Tirosian thinking were helpful in deciding on options, Mia thought they werent too out of line from what the humans were thinking. At least it gave her a measure of confidence since the aliens concurred with them. She nervously fingered her new medallion.

    For the Ambassador, this strategy meeting was another chance to get to know these fascinating creatures. He was greatly intrigued by the Lady Amelia - such capability in such a young creature. It was too bad she wasnt Arachnian. He could imagine the great wonders that she would have done for the family, of the great feats and achievements she would have aplished for Arachnia Prime.

    He had only felt this way about aliens a few times before - one of them was when he met Princess Tasha and Prince Ren. That was partly the reason he felt an affinity for them. And here was another one. Princess Amelia wasnt an Arachnian and could not truly be of the family, but that wouldnt be any reason she could be one in most other ways.

    Their discussion was interrupted.

    Bridge to the Captain, the inte called.

    Mia broke off from her conversation and brought out her CC. It didnt work so she went to the wall inte.

    This is the Captain.

    Sir, you wanted to be informed when we reached Saturns area of responsibility. ETA is ten minutes to the boundary.

    Thank you, Lieutenant. Ill be there shortly. She went back to the others. Well, friends, its showtime.

    A few minutester, Mia, OConnell and the Ambassador walked onto the bridge. The officer of the deck reported to Mia. She acknowledged the Lieutenant and asked for the main screen to be activated.

    In a second, they saw an image of the Saturn. They were approaching her at an angle so they could see her famous rings to their best advantage. The Ambassador madements about the beauty of the and its rings.

    Whats our present velocity, Lieutenant? Mia asked.

    About just below a hundred fifty thousand kilometers per second, sir. Point-five C. That was fast enough for the inertial converters to work, and still be ship-maneuverable.

    Time to put on the brakes, then. Get me Engineering.

    This is Engineering. Aye, Captain?

    Were about to test your new brakes, Chief. Any opinions?

    Brakes the ambassador thought to himself, but he decided there was no time to pursue this and decided to follow it up at another time.

    None at all, Captain, Seekers chief engineer grinned as she responded to Mia. I stand by my peoples work.

    All right, Chief. Lieutenant, at your discretion.

    Aye, sir. Making the curve around the... now. Were out of Empire ships line of sight. Reversing thrust and firing all forward converters.

    None of them felt anything, but they all noted the disappearance of the thrumming.

    Whats our velocity now, Lieutenant?

    We are now at about 1 kilometer a second, sir, and leveling off.

    Engineering: how are we doing?

    Very well, Captain - all excess inertial energy has been dissipated. Engine holding steady - power output still at five percent.

    Excellent. Helm: set course for the Cassini Divide. Well park underneath the rings and use them to hide from the enemy. Avoid disturbing the rings.

    Arent the rings too thin to hide under, sir? the lieutenant asked.

    Youre forgetting - there are no EM or Phase-Wave detectors to help. Theyre thick enough for our purposes at the moment.

    Also, sir, the lieutenant said, you realize, of course, we wont be able to use the inertia converters much given the speeds well be moving at. The inertia converters are only going to work above a certain inertial mass. Below that

    Yes, Lieutenant, Mia sighed exasperatedly. I know. Were gonna have to manage with conventional braking. She gestured to Communications. Get me Kajima via inte... Commander: get your squadronunched. Best speed to Titan.

    Kajima was expecting the order and was standing by an inte. Are we ship-maneuverable now, Captain?

    Were at about one klick a second, Commander. Practically crawling.

    Acknowledged, Captain, Seekers CAG responded. In a while, the bridge crew could see two lines of Seekers Shrike fighters flying out and away.

    I count five eights of your fighters, Captain, the Ambassador said, his jury-rigged trantor winking.

    You are very observant, Excellency. Yes, all forty of Seekers fighters have been dispatched to Titan.

    Will Seeker not be vulnerable in case of attack? Perhaps a few should have remained...

    We still have our Mud Turtles and tow barges. Well handle thatter if the need arises.

    Soon, they had reduced speed further (they were now down to three hundred meters a second), and were upon what they called the Cassini Divide, which was one of the many breaks in Saturns rings. On the screen, they saw iting up. In seconds, Seeker breezed through the gap, flying sideways so as not to disturb the rings, and came through to the other side. The gap was more than 4,500 kilometers wide but Mia wanted to reduce even effects from residual maism.

    Level out and maintain station keeping, Mia ordered, and the ship changed its angle of direction slightly, and slowly rotated about ny degrees. After Seeker deliberately had drifted underneath the B-Ring, settled down and gone to a virtual stop, they looked at the screen again. The rings were like an incandescent roof over Seeker, the bottom side of the illuminating the rings above them spectacrly.

    Even in my wildest imaginings I never thought I would be privileged to see something liked this, the Ambassador said. Even through the artificial sound of his trantor, his emotions were very obvious. He had obviously swapped out the battery for a freshly charged one.

    Mia chuckled inside. Me, too, Ambassador. But as they say, ones needs dictate ones actions.

    Nevertheless, Your Highness, my gratitude for this moment.

    Mia smiled. It is our pleasure, Ambassador. Instinctively, she leaned down and held out a finger, and the Ambassador let her touch the feathery tip of his left antenna.

    OConnell to the Captain, the bridge inte interrupted.

    Mia thumbed a switch on her armrest. Yes, Commander.

    I am in the tower observation blister, as ordered. Captain, you have toe up and see this!

    Mia smiled. She could just imagine what OConnell was seeing, of feeling like she was floating just underneath a vast cloud of snowkes, with lighting from the. Maybeter, Beth. Okay, turn on your visors monitor so we can see, and you can start calling it out.

    Aye, sir. A momentter, the bridges screen was reced by OConnells magnificent view of the ring, but closer this time.

    All right, OConnell said, and picked a break in the ring. Okay. Move the shipterally, fifty feet to starboard. Another fifty feet, another... stop! Ten feet to port. All right, now start to move up perpendicrly. Slowly... slowly...

    Seekers pilot closely watched his gauges, and made sure he kept his movements precise. The ship moved upwards at a minuscule half a foot every fifteen seconds.

    With OConnells exact directions, the pilots precise control, and Seekers finely tuned inertial flywheels, it was like the Seeker was rising out of some ocean, like some ancient submarine. On the screen, they could see themselves rising out of the t bed of snowkes through a narrow but seemingly convenient break. The pilots precise movements prevented the B-Ring from being disturbed despite his keeping it above the ship, but keeping the bridge superstructure clear while he maneuvered it through the crack.

    Stop! OConnell suddenly eximed. Drop the ship five feet. More... more... okay, stop. Hold rtive position here. Now, it was like the Saturnian roof was just a few feet over their heads.

    What is it, Commander?

    We had to go down - the rear fins were breaking the rings. Theyd spot us right away. Im sorry, Captain, I guess this is the best that we can do.

    Understood, Commander, but this is not good enough. We need to see from the other side of the rings...

    Sorry, sir.

    Its not your fault. Besides, our hulls residual maic field is already disturbing the rings. Okay, stand by while we think of something.

    Standing by.

    In the meantime - helm, pull away far enough that we dont disturb anything.

    The ship retreated downwards an additional fifty feet or so.

    Now hide uspletely under the ring.

    Seeker movedterally until they were away from the Divide, and againpletely covered by the ring.

    Mia sighed. All right. Were hidden again. Any ideas, people?

    The silence was thick, but no one was responding.

    A rustling, the kind that was made by two Arachnian forelegs being rubbed together, was loud in the silence. Mia knew that sound by now - it was the Arachnian equivalent of a human clearing her throat or an Elyran whistling.

    Yes, Ambassador?

    That amazing view... it reminded me of a... movie I saw on your television.

    Mia had to smile at the incongruity of that statement. But over the days, she hade to know the Ambassador, and thought of him as an astute and brilliant man... being... that brought a unique perspective to things, and rarely spoke frivolously.

    Yes?

    The movie I was watching was called a pirate movie. It was about crews of ocean-going sailing ships battling each other for reasons I did not understand. Nevertheless, it was an exhrating piece of entertainment that gave us hints of your recent history.

    I wouldnt call a thousand years ago recent. But what is your point, Ambassador?

    Well, what we saw reminded me of these oceangoing ships. They used a kind of observation post at the very top of their ships. They called this a crows nest, I believe.

    Mias eyes grewrge. You cant be serious!

    The Ambassador moved his upper limbs in a good approximation of a human shrug. Its just a suggestion, Captain.

    Mia sighed. Well, unless anyones thought up something else? This was greeted with further silence. Okay. A crows nest, then.

    -----

    Engineer Haskell, Seekers Second Engineer, was inspecting the new converters. They were based on his design, and he was gratified that they handled the load well. They never even reached a percent of full capacity. The fact that they were originally parts from Seeker-era gimbaled energy cannon made them weapons-grade, and therefore excellent energy emitters, as good as any he had seen from the drawing boards of the Propulsion Research Commission, maybe even better. Based on thest readings from the engines, he was now sure his new emitters could handle anything Seeker could dish out.

    Captain to Assistant Chief Engineer Haskell, Mia called via the PA.

    Haskell brought out his CC. It didnt work, of course. He went to the inte on the bulkhead. Yes, Captain?

    Chief, meet me in the observation blister in ten minutes.

    Engineering blister, Haskell thought. Was that still even functional?

    Aye, sir, he said. Whats it about?

    Youre going to help me set up a crows nest.

    A what, sir?

    -----

    Will someone exin whatinhecks a... crows nest? Haskell asked again.

    Mia waved his question away impatiently. Never mind that. If Im correct, aside from the Chief Engineer, you are the one with the best knowledge of Seeker, right?

    I suppose so, Captain. Aside from themander. He gestured to OConnell.

    Excellent. Commander, how far do you think the back fins stuck out earlier?

    Not much, sir, OConnell responded. Maybe ten, fifteen feet.

    All right. Chief Haskell, is there any way to raise the blister a further twenty to twenty-five feet?

    Sorry, sir. This is the highest it can be raised. It was originally designed as a mooring mast for the beanstalks. If it was raised further, there would not be enough structural strength for that.

    Dammit.

    You know, Captain, I might be able to help more if you exin what you need.

    What we need is a way to look out over the ring.

    Well, then...

    But we need to keep Seeker on the other side...

    Haskell thought that over. Oh! A crows nest! I get it! Like the old sailing ships! He blushed when he noticed everyone looking at him. Ummm... Okay, I get it. Now, lets see... He grew quiet again.

    Well? Dont keep us hanging!

    Well, the blister also carries an EM mast. It was only asionally used, even prior to Phase-Wave. Normally, its kept retracted, even when the blister was fully raised.

    But, Chief, OConnell said, wouldnt that aerial be a little too flimsy for what we intend?

    Not the bottom part, Commander. The bottom twenty feet of the mast is about half a meter wide. That parts pretty sturdy.

    What do you think we can use for an observation tform?

    Lets see... Hey! How about a packing crate? I think we have a few that arent doing anything. In fact, I think they were about to be ejected with the rest of the refuse.

    How big are they?

    Theyre reinforced polymer packing crates about three by three by three meters in size. Very sturdy, actually, impact-resistant and rated for about a thousand cubic kilograms of pressure.

    All right, then. Use one and start jury-rigging it as an observation tform.

    It wont be enclosed, Captain.

    Thats all right, Chief. get to it. Chop-chop, Haskell.

    Aye. Haskell grinned, turned and went down the blisters hatch.

    Mia turned to OConnell. Okay, Commander, what else do we need?

    Whoevers going to be in that crate, shes going to be in open space.

    Well, then shell need to be properly attired. ss fives have their own air supplies and regenerators, and are good for protecting against debris.

    Okay. ss five armor seems appropriate.

    But shell need additional protection against EM fields and static electricity.

    All right. Get to it, Commander.

    Aye, sir. Chop chop?

    Mia chuckled. By all means, Commander. Chop chop.

    -----

    The new crows nest was ready shortly. Originally, Mia wanted to be the one, but OConnell and, in fact, most of the officers, were adamant (although respectfully so) that someone else be the observer. So, toply with regtions, OConnell would have the responsibility.

    Haskell grinned. Now, if we can only convince the Commander to wear an eye patch and bring a parrot along, he thought to himself,ughing.

    They had establishedmunications with Titan via line-of-sightserms. Everything else didnt work. On the bridge, they had Titans Governor Kushenko and Commander Kajima on screen.

    Apologies for this less than efficient means ofmunication, Captain. And I am pleased to meet the First Ambassador.

    The Ambassador bowed in a reasonable approximation of the Elyran version.

    No need to apologize, Governor, Mia said. But I would also like to apologize. The cavalry will take some time ining. Im afraid we are it for now.

    Commander Kajima has exined this. But Titan isntpletely defenseless, Captain. We have taken all of our projectile weapons out of mothballs. We also have our own capital ships. We have three K-ss ships which we are now outfitting with rocketunchers and as much ordnance as their cargo holds can contain.

    K-ss? the Ambassador asked.

    Those are smaller, unarmed civilian versions of the Seeker, Mia exined. They are mainly used as cargo carriers, and are chemically propelled instead of using FTL-type engines.

    She turned back to Kushenko. Governor? Why projectile weapons and rockets?

    I will let themander exin.

    Kajima stepped forward. Captain, Im afraid...

    Mia cut him off. Commander. How are our pilots?

    Kajima smiled. They are fine, Captain. Everyone is just going over to the mainmissary to enjoy Titans excellent hospitality and have some breakfast. In the meantime, the Titans are doing some adjustments to our ships.

    I envy you. I havent had Titan coffee in the longest time.

    Smiling, Kajima brought up a coffee cup and made a show of slurping.

    Mia harrumphed, chuckled and gestured. All right. Report, Commander.

    Sir, we have discovered that the EM suppressing field...

    You mean the EM interference field.

    Yes, sir, but I think its more appropriate to call it a suppressing field.

    Why?

    When we were near enough to Titan, we tried all means ofmunications, but it turned out only line-of-sight visualmunications were working. Nothing unexpected. The people here were briefed by Earth before they lostmunications, though only partially. So they were expecting us.

    Anyway, havingnded, we tested out all of our Shrike systems, per protocol, and we noted that all our energy weapons werent working.

    Mia and the Ambassador looked at each other. We never thought to do a test...

    Our weapons output seem to be suppressed - we can only assume it''s the alien field. The yardmaster has been testing all EM wavebands as well, and they have identified some things.

    Mia listened closely. Continue, Commander.

    All radiomunication frequencies are not avable. All Phase-Wave channels configured into our equipment are likewise dead as a doornail. All coherent-energy weapons arent working, or rather they break downpletely within a meter or so from their emission source. EM energy within the visual spectrum, however, is unaffected, as well as FTL and gravity fields. Energy traveling in a physical circuit or wire that is continuously renewed via a power-generating source seems to be fine, too, but batteries are quickly drained. Shipboardputer, power and life systems are therefore safe. And, Captain, look at this.

    Kajima shed a picture of what looked like fragments of a missile floating in space.

    Whats that?

    That was a missile with a nuclear fission warhead.

    A what?

    Yes, sir. The chemical-explosive trigger was set off by a switch on a mechanical timer an hour ago...

    But...

    The suppression field works on nuclear weapons as well.

    Mia thought that over.

    Oh, and deflectors are off as well, he added.

    How about structural integrity fields?

    Well, those work via direct-conduction, so they work. That means, so long as Seeker doesnt get hit by really massive debris, or too much radiation, the SIF will be enough and youll be fine, sir.

    Continue, Lieutenant, Mia said.

    Aye, sir. Anyway, based on all of this, Titan Sector Command ordered all of the colonys coherent-energy weaponry to be temporarily reced by chemical, rocket or projectile-based armament. He has also had the energy weapons temporarily removed from our Shrikes to make room for some rail guns salvaged from the eighty-year-old equipment of the original Saturn expeditions.

    Who authorized...

    The Commodore is the ranking officer here at the moment.

    Mia nodded at this resignedly.

    I suppose he has enough rail gun ammunition in stock?

    Well, theyre just metallic slugs four centimeters long and a centimeter in diameter. They probably just machine-shopped them just for us.

    Mia nodded. All right. Well, now that youve gotten they of thend, any ideas on strategy?

    The Commodore has... appropriated my squadron, sir. He has integrated us into hismand, at least for the duration of the emergency.

    The Commodore apologizes, Captain, the Governor said. There was no way to contact you. I have signaled him and hes on his way down. Hell be here in a moment.

    Governor? someone called from off-screen.

    Ahhh, Commodore. Captain Steele, Id like to introduce you to Commodore Oshiro,

    Good morning, Captain,

    Mia stood at attention. Good morning, sir.

    Stand easy, Captain. Firstly, I apologize formandeering your squadron. There was no way to get word to you.

    Not at all, sir. As it happens, I agree with you. May I introduce to you the First Ambassador of the Arachnian Peoples Government. Ambassador, this is Commodore Oshiro, themander for the Saturn Sector of the United Earth Defense Force.

    The Ambassador executed an Elyran bow. I am pleased to meet you, Commodore.

    Everyone could see that Oshiro was a little ill-at-ease, but Mia glossed over that politely. I apologize for the interruption, sir. You were saying?

    The Commodore shook his head. Ahhh, yes. Well, aside from getting ourselves properly armed, we dont have much intel to n with. Naturally, weve lostmunications with all our stations. And Titan is currently at the wrong angle to get any proper observations.

    Were trying to rectify that, sir. Commander OConnell?

    Aye, sir. Im about to step out of the blister now.

    Keep your inte plugged in, Beth. Kajima says unwiredms will not work.

    Aye, sir.

    Good luck.

    Thank you, sir.

    -----

    OConnell depressurized the observation blister, and as soon as it was safe, she opened the blisters hood. Keeping a good grip on an external handhold, she stepped out into open space. The armor, not to mention the EM cloak, the probe and the projectile rifle she had to carry, made her movements a little cumbersome.

    OConnell doubted the utility of the cloak. It was made out of thin copper wire, woven into a kind of mesh cloth. It was based on how a Faraday Cage and a lightning rod worked, but in order to make it work, shed have to bepletely covered by it, which was not exactly do-able.

    She''d told Haskell this earlier, and said she wanted to ditch it, but the Chief insisted - he was strictly following orders. So she took the EM shield with her, but tied it around her neck instead so it would be out of her way. She started climbing up the mast, but had to pause for a second.

    It was like she had an enormous chandelier above her. The sight of it took her breath away.

    However, the static electricity generated by the Seekers proximity to the rings caused small random lightning bolts to strike the ships hull from the rings above. This galvanized her to start climbing up the mast again.

    She eventually got to the jury-rigged gond and climbed in.

    Captain, Im in ce. Im switching on my helmet camera now.

    She pressed a button on her sleeve and the camera in her helmet winked on.

    OConnell to helm. Are you ready?

    Were ready, Commander.

    All right. Just like before. Lets get matched up with the break we were making for earlier. Start moving the shipterally. Move us starboard at a rate of ten meters per minute. She looked up and saw the break in the ring.

    Okay, keep going... keep going... Stop!

    She checked the crosshairs on her helmet, and they were dead-on. Okay, thats fine. Now, start bringing us up at a slower rate. Okay. Good... good...

    Mia and the others saw the image that OConnell was transmitting. And they saw the ringsing close. Stop! they heard OConnell say. Move half a meter to port. Okay. Now, resume moving upward. Steady... steady...

    On the screen, they could see them moving up again. The rings wereing closer and closer, and in moments, they cleared the divide and were through.

    Good Lord! Mia said.

    Stop, OConnell said as soon as the observation gond was clear of the rings. Are you seeing this, Captain?

    We are, Beth. An incredible sight!

    The view was now from above the rings, and it was like they were skimming over a sea of crystals, snow, rocks and dust. The asional electric discharges illuminated them from below.

    Keep your lightning arrestor in front of you, Commander, Haskell said. If a lightning bolt hits you, youre dead.

    OConnell agreed. Youre right, Chief. She brought out the two-meter-long telescoping rod and pointed it ahead of her - a lightning rod.

    Okay, what now?

    Maintain station-keeping here, Mia said. Look around, Commander. See if you can spot the Empire ships. Well try and help.

    Aye, sir. OConnell scanned the sky. Down in the bridge, Mia used the images being transmitted to spot the enemy ships as well.

    Stop, Commander! We found them. Look to the upper-right edge of the. Theyre just emerging.

    OConnell looked at the appropriate part of the sky through her telephoto visor. I see them. Question now is, can they see us.

    Well, if they can, then everything we did has been wasted. Commodore Oshiro, we are sending you telemetry. The data transmission viaserm will be a little slow...

    Getting it now, Captain... Ah, here it is.

    Theyre on continuous deceleration and heading for the rings, sir, on a direct line to Titan.

    Were seeing it here, Captain. And theyre not being shy about it, either.

    They believe youre defenseless.

    Well, not exactly defenseless. They dont know youre hanging around.

    Whats the n, sir?

    Well, we cant afford to allow an attack on Titan itself. All the settlements are well away from the methanekes - thank goodness for the low temperatures andck of free oxygen. Combustion is unlikely. But even so, ice fractures can damage our buildings.

    Im from Neptune, sir. I understand.

    There are over fifty million people in the Saturn system, and eighty percent of them are on Titan.

    Noted on that, sir. What are your intentions?

    My intention is to create a perimeter with some of your Shrike fighters and other ships, and prevent any close approach. Meanwhile, our cruisers will lure away as many of the enemy ships as possible and try and shoot them down. Seeker will do its best to lure away the enemy as well, and defend the system from any stragglers. Hopefully, we will be able to hold out until Earthes.

    Pardon me for saying so, Commodore, but that... sounds pretty thin.

    Oshiro wasnt offended. He sighed. I know, Captain. But we have very little to work with.

    Well, you can count on us, sir. Well transmit telemetry as long as we have direct line-of-sightserms. Commander Kajima.

    Sir.

    Titan is counting on you and your people. Do us proud.

    Aye, sir.

    Governor, Commodore, Good luck. Seeker signing off. The image was reced by OConnells view of the rings.

    Commander, Mia said to OConnell, how are you doing?

    Well enough, sir, OConnell said. I had a close call with a lightning strike a second ago.

    But youre fine?

    Im fine, sir. Thanks to Chief Haskells lightning rod.

    Well, you be careful, Beth. How are our friends?

    The view swung upward again.

    Theyre a lot closer, and since I can visually follow them, theyre probably below ship-maneuverable now.

    Mia ordered a close-up of the ships, and puffs from the jets of chemical rockets could be seen.

    Theyve justunched their fighters, someone on the bridge said unnecessarily.

    How close will they pass?

    If the enemy is going to attack Titan, the Ambassador said, and does not care about not disturbing the rings, or worry about reprisals, they should make a direct line to the colony. That means theyll be passing close.

    Everyone looked at the little alien.

    I cannot be sure but their apparent position and direction of flight indicates this. And if I am correct, they will be passing near our current position in a short while.

    Mia looked at him incredulously.

    The Ambassador moved his upper limbs in circles, the gesture forughter. I am an Arachnian and therefore excellent at spatial geometry. Also I am, after all, a certified astrogator, Captain.

    Miaughed as well. Lieutenant, get on what the Ambassador just said. Give me a precise heading.

    Aye.

 Chapter 16: Saturnfall II

    Chapter 16: Saturnfall II

    <strong>Loop-the-Loop -</strong>

    They had figured out that the aliens would be smashing into Ring B a few hundred thousand kilometers away. These new developments necessitated changes in their n. Per the Commodores new orders viaserm, Mia started giving instructions to move the ship to the closest part of their break in the ring to the enemys estimated ssh-through point.

    Well be moving the ship again, Beth. Hold on.

    You know, Captain, I think a camera here would have been better. I am not doing much good just standing out here.

    Well, true, but we didnt know cameras would work.

    But now that we do?

    Did you bring a portable camera with you, Commander?

    Ummm, no sir...

    Then youre stuck there for a while. Sorry.

    OConnell didnt speak, although they heard her grumble a little bit. Later on, though, OConnell would say that what they heard was probably just interference, most probably induced by the static. Nobody believed her, of course.

    They moved the ship closer to where the enemy was making for and, with OConnells direction, they were able to stay in the Cassini Divide and avoided disturbing the rings.

    Give me ship-wide, Lieutenant. To the crew of Seeker: what may be our moment of truth ising. Within this half-hour, the enemy will be passing above our port bow. Yes, we have neither Phase-Wave nor radar, but Commander OConnell is outside and her rys will be guiding us. When the enemy arrives, we willmence an attack. We will, of course, do our best to defeat the enemy, but in the event we cannot, we will do our best to split them up and allow reinforcements from Titan to get closer.

    Commodore Oshiro, however, will make sure to hide his forces until we make our first move. This is so that the enemy will not change their trajectory, and therefore allow us the opportunity to attack.

    All right. Time to prepare. All hands: general quarters. Everyone is required to be armed and in their pressure suits. All damage control teams in ss Five armor. All pressure doors to be dogged down and sealed. All pulse and energy cannon to be deactivated. All rail gun crews are to use manual range and targeting. All rocket and missileunchers will be set to manual targeting. Hop to it, people.

    Only then did the duty officer sound general quarters, and everyone started moving.

    The bridge crew took turns to change into their pressure suits. They didnt wear the helmets as they would impede their activities. Besides, there were helmets avable in most locations on the ship in case of depressurization.

    Current military pressure suits were basically airtight suits tightly woven out of a very strong special fiber, and woven specific to the individuals measurements and dimensions. The thin, flexible, skin-tight threeyered construction allowed the wearer to survive space and vacuum without the balloon effect of older designs and essentially allowed the wearers own skin and sweat nds to regte her temperature, with only a minor assist from a device in the helmet mount that was around the suits shoulders, that forced chilled air through the porous innermostyer. It had the effect of making the suit feel totallyfortable and flexible without changing the blue unitard-like look and feel. And like all suits, it was, of course, equipped with a radiation shield.

    There were still, of course, many of the less efficient, older-design, universal fit-anyone kind in the lockers, but these were only meant for emergencies, or by those without their own suits.

    Someone brought Mias. She excused herself for a few minutes to change, and came back wearing it.

    Many stopped what they were doing as they watched Mia walk back in wearing her skin-tight pressure suit. Her hair hade undone so she just wiped it back from her forehead. The glowing reddish-white interface patches on the back of her suits gloves made glowing tracks. Like other pressure suits, there was another patch on the upper-left part of her suits chest and arge one on her back, but her undone hair obscured that a bit. These redundant connectors were how the suits connected with their armor and other exo-suits, but, when not in use, they were little more than cute ents for her sexy outfit.

    She waspletely unaware of how she looked, but as she buckled her belt and holstered her sidearm, she finally noticed the attention. Mia looked at them and raised her eyebrow.

    You people pay attention to your work, she said, blushing.

    Everyone suddenly got busy.

    Mia sighed and handed her folded uniform to a passing ensign. She sat down on themand chair for a moment, put her high-heeled uniform boots back on, and stood. She preferred the boots to walking around in just the suit - the foot part felt a bit like walking in ones socks. She gestured to Nick and the Ambassador. You two find seats and get strapped down.

    Nick nodded and sat in one of the observation chairs and buckled up. The Ambassador found it a little difficult but was able to straddle one of the seats and just buckled the seatbelt across his thorax. Nick wanted to ask if Mia would be sitting down and buckling up, too, but thought it better not to. Clearly she had no idea how she looked walking around in her skin-tight pressure suit.

    Get me thending bay. Mia said to thems officer.

    Aye, sir.

    This is the Captain to the Deck Duty Officer.

    Landing bay, aye, sir.

    Get me the Electronic Detection Wing Commander.

    After a few moments, someone came online.

    Aye, sir. Mission Commander Lassiter here.

    Lieutenant Lassiter, this is the Captain. I have a mission for the Turtles. But I am not sure your pilots will like it.

    No problem, sir. What is it?

    This is not an EW, transport or surveince mission, Im afraid. More like something for Kajima and his jet-jocks.

    The Turtles are up to it, sir.

    Okay, then...

    -----

    Commander OConnell, Mia called, the enemy is just a few minutes away now. I changed my mind. I think its time for you toe back in...

    Im changing my mind, too. Im staying here, Captain.

    Beth...

    Captain, OConnell interrupted, Im sure you can use more rys, right?

    Beth, you know the electrostatic...

    Im staying here.

    Beth, Im not kidding.

    Skipper. You need someone here. And its toote to get someone else. Please dont order me down.

    You know, youre a very stubborn officer, Commander.

    I see youve talked to my dad, she smiled.

    Mia chuckled. All right, all right. Get back to work.

    OConnellughed. Aye-aye.

    Captain, the lieutenant at the helm said, the enemy ships are about a minute away now.

    Its time, she mumbled. Send aser sh to the Turtles. Tell them to start.

    Aye. They are away.

    Beth, turn around, please, and check the aft part of the gap.

    The view on the screen swiveled one hundred-eighty degrees as OConnellplied. They saw nine Mud Turtlese out of the gap. They moved upwards at a slow fifty KPH, the glow of their FTL drives momentarily illuminating the rings in electric blue.

    Any signs they notice the Turtles, Beth?

    The view moved again. Now they were looking upwards, toward the iing ships.

    No reaction, Captain. I dont think theyve seen them, or us for the moment. But that wontst.

    It doesnt need to.

    Apologies, Captain, the First Ambassador interrupted in Elyran. Is the Defiant one of the ships?

    Beth?

    No, sir.

    Mia shook her head at the Arachnian.

    Ahhh. Thank you, Captain. Remember what we talked about.

    Absolutely, Ambassador.

    On-screen, they saw the cruisers. They were bingrger as they grew nearer. There were brief shes on the surface of the two nearest ones - missiles being fired at the Turtles.

    Theyve seen the Turtles, sir.

    Someone reduced the magnification, and they were able to get the Turtles in the picture as well, just in time to see the lead Turtle fire anti-missile defenses.

    In Mias mind, they needed that. They had baited the enemy to fire first again, thereby giving them the excuse to fire back.

    As the Turtles easily avoided the explosion of the first Empire missile, they fired their own. After which, they turned around one hundred-eighty degrees and sted in the opposite direction.

    The enemys remaining missiles didnt follow. Electromaic systems didnt work through the interference so, as expected, there was no radar-controlled tracking. As for the Turtles missiles, that wasnt a problem as they were just flying straight at the lead cruisers bow.

    After a volley of anti-missiles missed them, the lead cruiser, a Tirosian ship, started to fire enormous retros and ponderously changed direction, moving up and away to avoid the missiles. In a few seconds, it was clear the rockets would miss the cruiser.

    But as the missiles missed it, two other missiles came up, from another Turtle that had hung back as nned, flying at ten times the speed of the first ones. The tenth Turtles missiles, aimed lower down the cruisers ventral structure, struck it amidships.

    They werent nuclear or even anti-ship - the explosions they caused shouldnt have made much damage, but they must have hit something critical. Large gouts of me spat out of the ships underside, fed by chemical fuel and leaking oxygen, and the red glow - the visual aftereffects of their idling FTL field - faded away. Something critical was damaged. Game over for that cruiser.

    Many of the enemys fighters, flying around their ships like pilot fish, wheeled around. As soon as their momentum was countered, they started pursuing the Turtles. The ploy was an obvious tactic but it was typical for the Detterex pilots to fall for it, and no one could order them to stop through the suppression field.

    The Turtles, for their part, continued their retreat. They did not fire any new rockets or missiles since they only had a limited number and were conserving them. Their orders were to lure any enemy ships and then double back at high speed. That would thin out the herd, hopefully long enough to make a difference. That was the only thing they could do at the moment - without anything but missiles, they wouldnt have a chance against fighters, even against the Detterex and Tirosian rocket blimps.

    But Mia wasnt really worried about them. Lassiter was apetent man, and she knew his FTL-powered Mud Turtles could outrun anything the Empire ships could send after them if they needed to, so she concentrated on the cruisers.

    All right, Mia said, its our turn. Weapons - fire tubes four, eight, nine and thirteen.

    Four very slight thumps could be felt as the missiles were fired. Those particr missile tubes were selected and programmed so that their missiles would go through the gap in the rings and then straight on to the enemy ships.

    Though they could not be targeted specifically, Mia was pretty sure at least some of them would hit something, and she was right. One of the four missiles hit something while the rest flew away harmlessly or were shot down.

    They saw the ship that was hit - a Detterex cruiser. Though the missiles were non-nuclear too, they still packed a lot of punch, each of Seekers anti-ship missiles having the explosive energy equivalent to five kilotons of TNT. A big chunk of the port side of the cruiser was blown away, and it went into a slow, uncontrolled spin.

    It seemed the enemy had learned from before. The other six ships stopped, or rather increased their deceleration enough to go into a virtual standstill, and avoided hitting the damaged ones but in far enough away from each other not to hit anything else.

    So thats two down and six to go, Mia thought. Time to get out of here, she said aloud. Beth, Mia called, were moving the Seeker away - theyve probably figured out where we are. But chances are, they dont know its us. Id like to keep it that way for as long as possible. Hold on tight.

    Im all set, Skipper.

    Mia nodded. Helm, Z minus one hundred meters.

    OConnell had the sensation of sinking into water, like in an ocean in the middle of a lightning storm. That reminded her to raise her lightning arrestor again. In moments, however, she was out of the rings.

    Heading, sir? Seekers pilot asked Mia.

    Ahead a thousand KPH, Lieutenant, Mia said. Slow and steady. Just keep us underneath the rings and out of their sight.

    Aye.

    Sporadicserm signal from Titan, sir, Comms said. Yamato, Musashi and Shinano are en route, and will be here in ny seconds with our Shrike squadron. Governor Kushenko also says, congrattions.

    Yamato...?

    Ive been told those are the new designations for Titans three refitted K-ss cargo ships, sir. Theyre calling them the Yamato Squadron.

    Ahhh. Fancy...

    Their visuals showed them the three K-ss cruisers racing towards the spot where Seeker was before. They looked simr to Seeker. After all, K-ss DCC ships were made from the same basic design as the J-ss DSR Seeker, except that the K-ss was thirty percent smaller but with forty percent more cargo capacity. Despite being blimps, they were not substantiallyrger than newer, more modern non-chemical ships. They looked like midget Seekers, except they didnt sport Seekers FTL enhancements. Instead of Seekers blue FTL glow, the three spouted yellow-white chemical me as they flew headlong into the rings on their main rockets.

    Unlike the Seeker, these three ships didnt care about being noticed. They pierced the rings like arrowheads going through a stretched piece of cloth, static lightning apanying their violent collision with the rings, and close behind the three were twenty of Commander Kajimas Shrike fighters, flying through the holes the ships conveniently made. Deflector shields would have been useful, but they were not avable. But with the old-style design of the ships - designs that came from hundreds of years of non-deflector ship design, where Earth had learned how to make the hulls of their ships durable enough to resist debris and meteor strikes, they could weather this small chore of flying through Saturns rings (but the Yamato ships and the fighters would definitely need a paint job afterwards).

    Dammit, Mia eximed while watching the three Titan ships fly past, we gotta see whats going on. Bring us back up there, Lieutenant.

    Aye, sir.

    With the absence of more specific orders, the pilot again made for the same gap as before. He knew now what to do, and didnt need OConnells directions. In moments, he was able to poke Seekersm mast out of it.

    Obviously, OConnell was ready, and as soon as her gond cleared the orbiting rocks, dust and snowkes, she faced her visor towards the direction of the battle.

    Comms was ready, too, and zoomed the picture in immediately.

    They saw the three K-ss ships fire their missiles, but they were all ineffective against the enemys anti-missile defenses. After that useless volley, the three separated but kept the enemy in between them.

    They opened fire with their rail guns. Everywhere that the rail guns hit, blossoms of fire erupted. But the rail guns were too few and were not too articted and therefore not too urate. Mia guessed they were jury-rigged from old orbital cargounchers (she didnt even know that there were any orbitalunchers left). As a result, the cruisers had to fire at the enemy broadsides, and though they were more maneuverable than the empire ships, they were hampered by the fact that they had to maneuver the entire ship just to fire at the enemy.

    The enemy realized this shoring the moment the Musashi had to change its position and show its side to them before it started firing its rail guns and missiles. The enemy started to execute maneuvers that made it difficult for the three to get a bead on them while at the same time they showered the Earthers with missiles.

    The three Titan ships were hard put not to hit each other while defending themselves, but, so far, no enemy missiles had gotten through their rail gunfire. These, however, kept the Earthers too busy protecting themselves to fire at the enemy. The Shrikes tried to make up for this tactical difficulty and shifted their attack from harassing the enemy fighters to firing on the enemy cruisers. They found it difficult to do this, too, however, since enemy fighters were always there, forcing them to shift targets constantly, and to run interference for their cruisers. And since there was noputer-controlled Phase-Wave assist, Kajimas jockeys were hard put to stay clear of the Earther cruisers line of fire.

    After realizing the Earthers ploy, the tubr Empire fighters that had chased the Turtles hade back, but they were clearly wary of tangling with Seekers fighters again and mostly gave them a wide clearance. That didnt stop Kajimas pilots from harassing them, however. The thing was, since the Shrike fighters didnt have energy weapons to use now, a substantial chunk of the their advantage was lost. It was as close to a level ying field the Detterex have had so far.

    -----

    As Mia looked, the two ships damaged by the Earthers, though dead in space, still continued forward propelled by their momentum. They hit Saturns rings like whales sshing into the ocean, or, perhaps better, like ocean-going ships sinking into the sea. Once through, Seeker became visible to them, and one of them fired a brace of missiles towards Seeker. They werent as dead as Mia thought, after all.

    But as soon as Seekers crew saw this, she fired her own rail guns and exploded them before they got in range. After that, nothing more. These two were definitely out of the fight now.

    On the other side of the rings, a small group of sixteen Detterex fighters broke away and started making for their location. Clearly, Seeker had been spotted and Mia had them sink back again and gather more distance, hoping to lure more of the enemy away.

    It seemed to work since one of the enemy cruisers started to pursue. A blocky Detterex escort cruiser sshed down on Saturns rings like some enormous sperm whale breaching, and as soon as it cleared the rock, dust, ice and snowkes, and emerged on the other side, it fired its chemical rocket drives and started making for Seeker. Lacking Seekers more efficient FTL drive and inertial flywheels, she was stuck with chemical thrust. Still, her rockets were very powerful, and they rapidly elerated the little cruiser towards Seeker.

    Seeker, keeping the rings above their heads, raced away in a straight line, quite slow but just fast enough to stay ahead of the Detterex escort ship and no more, luring them further and further away.

    Realizing that they couldnt close in, the enemy fired several missiles.

    Captain, the enemy has fired. Distance closing rapidly.

    Get ready to fire anti-missiles...

    Captain, I dont think thats a good idea. Theyre awfully close and were not sure of the yield...

    Can we avoid them? Change direction?

    There are missiles headed for our rear, ventral, port and starboard sections. It would be difficult to maneuver.

    Options?

    We can pull away, sir - escape.

    Not the point of our mission, Lieutenant.

    Captain, OConnell interrupted from the observation tform, they didnt target the area above us. Probably afraid of premature detonation if they graze the rings or get hit by static discharge...

    Mias eyes grew wide.

    Of course! Why didnt I think of that? Beth, youre a genius. Helm, whats our current velocity?

    One thousand kilometers per hour, sir.

    On my order, prepare to reduce velocity to three hundred KPH and increase forward angle of attack by twenty degrees. Tell me when youre set. Beth, are you following?

    Aye, Skipper.

    Be ready, Beth. Youre gonna be dodging rocks and other crap. You know that?

    Do what you have to, Captain. Im set. You know, this is going to be one for the history books. You should have told Chief Haskell to put seatbelts in this thing.

    Miaughed. Helm! Are you ready?

    Controls are set, Captain. Awaiting your order.

    Execute!

    Seeker pitched upwards and breached the ring, the angle of the ships direction of thrustpared to its direction of movement, or what spacers erroneously called the angle of attack, remaining at twenty degrees.

    The term was erroneous, of course, since it was a term used in fluid dynamics instead of in the vacuum of space. But spacers continued to use the term - a legacy from the third world war, when most spacer pilots were also aircraft pilots.

    The gravity tes that generated the artificial gravity on Earth ships, were like those of all the ships of the time, so they werentpletely stable if a ship had constantly changing directions of flight. As a result, the crew felt the change in direction in a major way. Hold on! Mia called, and the crew braced themselves against the climbing effect of the ships movement and the gravity systems attempt to cope.

    Rocks and interster snowkes hit its hull. Since the deflectors were off, it sounded like a thunderstorm inside the ship. Residual heat, and the heat induced by impacts and static charge, were enough to change the snow that touched the hull to gaseous form, so Seeker trailed streams of white smoke made luminous by sunlight and Saturn-light. Lightning arced from the ship to the rings and it was as though Seeker was emerging from a thundercloud trailing streamers of smoke.

    Several small items fell to the deck but no one made a move to pick them up, not that anyone could. Mia imagined she was in an old-style aircraft from World War 2 making a steep climb through a very bad thunderstorm. She was standing the whole time and was out of hermand chair, so she could only hold on to the back of her chair for dear life.

    Woohoo! OConnell eximed from her observation gond. Despite the gravity of the situation, manyughed along with her. It was exhrating, to say the least, over and above what was happening.

    Ride em, cowboy! OConnell whooped as she ducked rocks and used her sidearm to st those toorge to duck. She could feel the mast vibrate with impacts but it held.

    Mia heard her and chuckled, recognizing the phrase from old movies. She doubted anyone else on board would have recognized it, except for Nick perhaps. She imagined OConnell wearing a ten-gallon hat and spinning ariat over her head as she held on while the Seeker did its loop.

    At the apex of Seekers loop, they could momentarily see the enemy ships and the three mini-Seekers at a distance, upside down, courtesy of OConnells visor and the ships forward scopes. The ship cameras were badly blurred from the snowkes and sub-zero gas, but it was unmistakable that a Detterex cruiser had broken away and was now flying just above the rings, directly below the others. It was probably going to follow the other one.

    As for the three Earth ships, they seemed to be having a bad time. Hold on, guys, they heard OConnell mumble. Wereing back for you.

    Yes, we are Mia said. Hold on.

    Seeker finished transcribing its loop, leaving a luminescent trail in the sky, and sshed back into the ring.

    Reduce our forward velocity further to one hundred KPH, Mia said immediately after the thunderstorm stopped. Beth, let us know when were parallel to them.

    Aye, sir, OConnell said. Steady... steady... now, Captain!

    Helm - set a course parallel to the enemy, and close in to fifty kilometers from their hull.

    Aye.

    To everyone onboard, they felt as if the tilt of the ship went even farther up, but after a few seconds, the pilot reduced the angle of attack, and the gravity systems stabilized. Their pilot made a few more adjustments and they found themselves traveling in the same course and direction as the enemy, the rings above them once again. Seekers FTL surged slightly and they caught up to the other ship in half a second t. Seekers inertia converters blipped for a small fraction of a second and let out a barely-noticed sh of light, reducing their speed instantly (their inertial mass was momentarily high enough for their converters to work).

    After they reduced their speed, without automatic ranging aids, the pilot had some trouble and had to jockey the ship manually to maintain a fifty-kilometer distance between them.

    Mia knew it was a game of seconds now - who got to fire first. Weapons, fire all forward tubes straight ahead.

    They heard missiles fire and saw them on the blurred camera flying towards the enemy.

    Again, Mia said after a few seconds, and another brace of missiles was fired. Again, she repeated, and yet another brace of missiles wasunched.

    Helm, reverse course. Straight back, one thousand KPH.

    Their flywheels spun and Seeker pirouetted exactly one hundred eighty degrees. Her FTL glowed a little stronger and she ran away from the Detterex ship at a thousand kilometers per hour.

    Beth, take a look and tell me what you see.

    OConnell swiveled around and used a gloved hand to wipe her visor. She also turned on the helmets de-fogger. On the screen in the bridge, they could now see a clear picture of the enemy ship underneath thes rings courtesy of OConnells visor, and it became smaller as they sped away.

    Our first volley is nearing the enemy, OConnell said, and... their anti-missile defenses took out all of them. On the screen, they could see their missiles explode well away from the enemy ship.

    Another set of explosions punctuated the sky. Theres our next set of missiles... none got through again. But...

    The third set was apparently more sessful: there were two explosions, and they knew they hit their mark.

    Got em! OConnell eximed.

    Mia sighed. All right. Helm, she said, get us back to our cruisers. Quickly.

    Ummm, Ill do my best, sir.

    No fancy moves, Lieutenant. Just get us there as fast as you can.

    Aye, sir.

    The pilot furiously started typing on a console to do his calctions and swung the ship around ny degrees again. After figuring out what to do, he started a timer and then turned back to his control levers. I hate flying manual, he muttered. Here we go.

    He kept an eye on the timer and when it reached 10, he banked the ship thirty degrees up, right into the rings. When the timer reached 15, he straightened it out again. Seeker flew level until the timer hit 60. When it did, he tilted the ship down slightly, just a few degrees, and when it hit 65, he reduced the angle of attack back to zero. Seeker started climbing up into the rings more shallowly.

    Here we go again, OConnell said, and held her lightning rod out.

    Lightning bolts started to hit Seeker again because of the static buildup, and the thunderstorm resumed as rocks hit the hull.

    -----

    Onboard the Detterex battle cruiser, its pilot maintained station keeping at the point in the rings where the Earther fighters came out. She was constantly making adjustments and constantly had to fire the ships maneuvering rockets to remain there. The Tirosian gship had signaled them to investigate, and since they had not had word to the contrary since, her Princess had ordered them to stay put. It was too bad the Defiant wasnt around - the pilot badly wanted to signal Princess Arvan and perhaps get new orders. But Defiant had left the main group a while back, plus no transmissions could get through the Curtain. She was itching to follow their other cruiser down into the rings, but her Princess was new tomand and did not think to give the order.

    A few moments ago, they had seen an Earther ship emerge from the rings like a leviathan of legend leaping out of the homeworlds oceans, and then sshing back in. The pilot had not seen or heard of any ship make such a maneuver. She didnt know why it had done so. Perhaps it had to do with their other ship.

    As for the three little Earther ships, they continued harassing the rest of their small fleet.

    These three Earther ships were about the size of their escort cruiser, but otherwise, they looked like smaller versions of that Earther ship that first intercepted them. Perhaps this was the basic design for most of their ships.

    The pilot was amazed at the continuing stream of projectiles that the little ships fired. Their supply seemed inexhaustible and the power of the projectiles... As she watched them, she couldnt help but think of thatrger devil ship, and she hoped that the ship they were currently chasing wasnt it. It couldnt be, of course. They had lost track of it when it had sped away, and it was undoubtedly on the way to Earth now.

    As they hovered over the rings, yellow-white lightning bolts started arcing from its surface some distance away. The Prince, their chief scientist, said that it was probably static energy from a ship moving through the ring debris - the Earther ship that had fired on them. The Princess ordered missiles fired at the spot.

    The pilot could have told the Princess that wouldnt work, but it wasnt her ce to say. As expected, it was totally ineffective - the missiles exploded against the rocks and ice. They had to wait for the enemy ship to emerge, and the Princess ordered them to stop firing.

    They continued hovering over the rings and watched on the screen the spouting fountain of electricitying closer, but bing less and less violent - an indication that the ship was about toe out of the rings, or so the Prince said. The Princess ordered the pilot to move them towards the enemy. Finally, the pilot thought, and got their ship moving.

    As they were watching, in approximately the middle of the static electricity field, they saw bolts of lightning emanating from one spot. It was unusual because it was blue. Let me see that! the Princess said.

    The image focused on that spot. It was like an antenna rising from the mist, and as they watched the antenna continue to rise, blue lightning came out of its bottom. They also saw a kind of spear or spar emerge, in line with the direction of the movement of the ship underneath. Blue bolts starteding off it, too.

    Zoom in on that! the Princessmanded.

    In the picture, they saw the spear. It cut a line in the ring in front of the antenna as it lifted out of the vapor. In moments, they saw a figure rising out of the mist holding out the spear. It was an Earther warrior.

    Why would... the pilot started to say but, like everyone else, she was caught by the image of the alien on the screen. She was in Earther armor, like what they''d seen them wearing before - the magical kind that repelledsers and was resistant to explosives. Wisps of vapor streamed from the Earthers helmet and shoulders. She held her spear, or maybe sword, in front of her, like one of the Roan-mounted armored knights of old charging the enemy, but instead of a Roan, she was riding an interster spaceship.

    Blue lightning sprang from her sword and discharged into the space around her. She had a gold cape tied around the neck of her helmet and it waved in the slight breeze created by the gas sublimated from the snow and ice that had been heated by the static bolts of electricity. Her helmets light created a cone in front of her through the thin mist, much like a searchlight through fog.

    The pilot was captivated - it was like she was seeing a storybook figuree to life.

    Someone behind her, she wasnt sure who, mumbled a passage from the Ancient Scrolls, or what the Elyrans called the Holy Book of the Ages. They were all thinking it, she was sure. And even though the voice was indistinct, she recognized what that warrior was quoting - all Detterex and Elyrans would have.

    A great warrior race, the warrior mumbled, made in thy image, wille from over the horizon, to herald theing of war, and do battle against thine enemies. Kingdoms will be cast asunder. Fire and destruction will rain from the heavens...

    The pilot shivered. The warrior race of legend, she thought, recalling the passage from her theology sses. What if the Earthers were that race?

    She looked at the screen again. In her mind, she finished the quote. Woe to those who stand against the light, she recalled the ancient words, for they will be cast in eternal darkness. And from their ashes they will let emerge a new age, renewing the eternal cycle, and these Warriors will protect thee from those who would harm thee, until theing of the Great Ones.

    Like the Elyrans, the Detterex assumed that if this legendary race shoulde, they would being to their aid, and that the new age would be theirs. But she had a different thought now... what if they wereing for them instead?

    On the screen, the Earther warrior continued to rise from the rings. In moments, they finally saw the figure fully emerge. She was in a kind of perch mounted to a tower, and once her little box was out of the rings, the ship beneath her rose rapidly, faster than before. Missiles fired from the ships bow.

    Their Princess ordered them to fire as well. But it was toote - though they were able to fire off one missile, three of the Earthers missiles hit their ventral sections. She felt the ship shudder and its artificial gravity waver. And they just had enough time to see their one missile miss before theypletely lost power.

    -----

    You were right, sir, thems officer told Mia. Their power systems are amidships in the lower decks. All indications are they dont have power anymore.

    Indications?

    No lights.

    No lights? Thats it?

    Sorry, sir. Best we can do - no sensors or anything.

    Mia sighed. All right. Keep an eye on it, Lieutenant. Helm, increase speed to two thousand KPH. Raise angle of attack fifteen degrees. Execute.

    Seeker started climbing again, and as soon as Mia judged they were at the correct angle, she stopped their climb.

    Bring angle of attack to zero, and intercept: X plus fifty meters. Execute.

    Seeker moved sideways, aligning itself to rendezvous with the ships overhead.

    Another fifty meters. Execute.

    Seeker moved sideways again. Looking at the screen, they found that they were making for the portside ships. Though Mia was doing her maneuvering by the seat of her pants, it was still impressive. The pilot decided to throw away his misgivings and just follow his captains directions explicitly. Flying manually was actually fun, he thought, provided that someone else was doing theputing.

    Comms, Mia said, are we in the right angle and range forser?

    Yes, sir, but Im not sure if theyll receive...

    Try anyway. Send the following message viaserms to our people: Seeker to Yamato, Musashi and... whats the third one?

    Shinano, sir.

    ... thanks. Seeker to Yamato, Musashi and Shinano. Be advised that... Mia snuck a look at the astrogators panel. Seeker will be passing east southeast ecliptic your position. We shall be assisting. Engage the enemy ships individually. Fighters will provide cover. Seeker to Shrike fighter wing. Split up and provide cover for each of the Titan ships. Anyone who receives this message will ry it to the nearest ships. Acknowledge.

    Targeting them and transmitting now, sir. But I wont be sure if...

    Just do your best, Lieutenant. Keep repeating it until they acknowledge. Beth! How are you doing out there?

    Doing okay, sir, Beth replied. That was fun, flying through the rings. Lets do it again!

    Miaughed. Ill see what I can do. Keep an eye out. She nodded atms. Connect me to the gunnery crews.

    After a moment, she got the high sign.

    Captain to rail gun crews, be advised we are about to engage the enemys main body. Your standing orders are to prevent any missiles from approaching. I am dering a fifteen-kilometer perimeter around the ship. Fire only when missiles break that perimeter. I realize that fifteen kilometers is very close, But we have no range finders online. This way you have a chance of hitting the enemy missiles yet give Seeker enough of a st margin. Remember your training. Forget range and drift. Aim is more important at the moment. Set your guns at their highest recycle settings, and use a strafing motion when firing.

    Missile crews, conserve armament but fire when able. The target is the ventral section of the ships. Prioritize aim over everything. Given our missiles yield, your minimum arming distance is thirty kilometers.

    Sir, we have received partial replies viaserms. Yamato and some of the Shrikes have acknowledged your orders.

    On screen, they could see their three Titan cruisers move further apart, and the Shrike fighters divvying up, seven to a ship. And though there were only seven fighters to shadow each Earth cruiser, the reluctance of the Detterex fighters to engage the Shrikes would make them hang back.

    The three cruisers had adopted a new offensive tactic. Given their insufficient firepower, each of the cruisers started spinning around their axes, thereby allowing their rail guns to cover more of the sky, shoot down iing missiles and give them a chance to fire their own - theirunchers firing a pair the moment their tubes were facing their target ship. The Shrikes also did their best to keep the enemys fighters off their backs long enough to give their missile crews a chance to fire.

    As for Seeker, she flew straight for the unprotected southeast section of the imaginary cube that the Earth ships were flying in. Seeker violently flew close, and then violently sheared away, firing half a dozen of its missiles before it did.

    Some missiles sts did impact two of the alien ships but they didnt hit the all-important underside. Seekers violent maneuvers did, however, bring it close to a formation of Tiros fighters sitting on the sidelines, as usual. Instead of trying to evade, Seeker plowed through them. Its structural integrity field was maxed and the fighters exploded on her hull, or were blown out of the sky by its gun crews. Seeker was like a giant flyswatter going through a swarm of bloated bees full of hydrogen. As it flew away, very few of the fighters were left, and though there were breaches on Seekers hull, none were too bad for Seekers DC teams to handle.

    Since the Yamato cruisers now had targets to concentrate on, each of them was able to hit their target ships multiple times using their spinning tactic.

    None of them were able to hit the enemys vulnerable spots, however.

    So, even though the Empire ships outnumbered the Earthers, given the Earthers superior tactics and maneuverability, they were outmatched.

    As Seeker got further and further away, Mia noticed that they were unable to lure any of the enemy cruisers. Mia had the ship execute another one hundred eighty-degree turn, blipped her inertia converters and went back to the fight at a slow one hundred KPH.

    As they flew back, something exploded above Seekers upper port bow.

    They frantically searched the sky around them looking for the enemy.

    OConnell finally found the source. Seekers Mud Turtle Squadron had returned. One of the Turtles fired two missiles, in courses set to make them collide and explode far enough from Seeker to cause no damage, but close enough to get her attention.

    Later, Lieutenant Lassiter would exin to Mia that, because of theck of any navigational assists, he felt he and his pilots had only one way to get back - reverse course and backtrack. But he was afraid the Detterex wereying in wait for them, and all they had as armament were missiles.

    But using basic flight tactics, he decided to maintain course, increase their velocity and whip back around the and bring them to their starting point that way, but from the opposite direction.

    Obviously, it worked.

    Wee back, Lieutenant, Mia said overserms. Commander OConnell said you were good.

    Just doin my job, Skipper, Lassiter said in false modesty.

    All right, get behind us and follow Seeker in. Your squadrons job is one thing, and one thing only - fire your missiles at the enemy cruisers and keep doing so until you run out. Well break ground for you. Use us as cover. Lasers going to be pretty unreliable since well be maneuvering a lot, so assume we wont bemunicating until this is all over. Got it?

    Got it, Captain. Turtles acknowledging.

    Okay. Helm! Bring velocity back up to one thousand KPH. Execute.

    Here we go again, the pilot mumbled, and in minutes, they were back in the fray.

    Mia decided to use Seekers speed and ability to change direction to full use. Simr to Its loop-the-loop maneuver earlier, Mia had its bow face the enemy, and then changed its angle of attack to forty-five degrees. The Seeker therefore circumnavigated the ships over and over and over in a constantly shifting orbit, and used her guns to shoot down any missiles it could. Her Turtles asionally peeked out from underneath her and sniped with their missiles. Though it was tough on their crews, Seeker and the Turtles continued the new strategy. The enemy was so confused and shocked by Seekers FTL-and-flywheel powered maneuvers that they could not coordinate their actions.

    With the pressure off, the three K-ss cruisers were able to target the enemy. But the enemy changed their formation such that their ships vulnerable ventral sides were facing inside of therge imaginary globe that Seeker was inscribing with its incredibly tight and fast maneuvers.

    The end result was that the Earth missiles could only hit the enemys heavily-armored and defended upper decks. Hence, it was a standoff - one that wouldntst, surely, but unless something changed, the standoff mightst for hours.

    And the Detterex fighters continued to harass the cruisers even though their Tirosian partners had abandoned them and returned to their mother ships. Still, despite reduced numbers, the Detterex continued to fight ferociously and valiantly.

    We have to break this stalemate, Mia said. Comms! Get me Kajima and Lassiter.

    Captain, I dont...

    I know, Lieutenant. Do your best.

    Mia busied herself with checking on her damage control teams. The DC teams were having a hard time working in the steep gravity but Mia kept Seekers flight constant and steady. So, because it was constant, her people were able to manage, and Seekers hull breaches, fires and other damage were slowly being fixed, and, thankfully, no other new damage was being inflicted.

    Mia then checked in with OConnell, and found that her Number One had a bad case of motion sickness and hadid down on the observation tform and strapped herself down using her arrestor rods cable. Mia resolved to get a pair of DC specialists up there to rescue her ASAP.

    In a little while, Comms was able to connect with Kajima and Lassiter.

    Commander, Lieutenant, I have an assignment for you. I need a couple of Turtles to go through that mess -  she gestured at the enemy ships, and fire on them and get them in their hindquarters, and I need some Shrikes to give them cover. Can you do it?

    Aye, sir, Kajima said. Leave it to us.

    Okay, then, Mia said. Im going to sign off now. Commence your mission when feasible.

    Aye.

    Mia made a cutting gesture and Comms cut the tenuousserm link.

    Seeker continued its looping maneuver, and continued to wear the enemy down while they waited for Kajima to make his move.

    In about ten minutes, half a dozen Shrikes approached Seeker. Two Turtles then broke away from Seeker and, together with the Shrikes, they made their way to the enemy ships. With the Shrikes surrounding the Turtles, they went in, threading their way through the enemy ships.

    Since they mostly saw the undersides, there were very few missileunchers, and the enemy only managed to fire a few missiles their way. The Shrikes also had an easy time dispatching enemy fighters so the Turtles had an easy time as well picking targets.

    They fired their entireplement of missiles in one go, and with empty missile racks, the little ships and their escorts hightailed it out of there before the missiles detonated.

    As they came out of the imaginary globe, the missiles started detonating. When they did, Seeker cut her angle of attack back down to zero and they flew straight away from the enemy.

    The three smaller Titan cruisers were a little slower to react as they didnt know what was happening, but as they saw the explosions and Seeker streaking away, they started moving away from the enemy as well, just in case. They trailed Detterex fighters in their wakes.

    The two Tiros cruisers seemed to have been critically hit, and stopped firing any new missiles. The other two cruisers and the escort fired thrusters and started to move away from each other to prevent collisions.

    Suddenly, Seekers Phase-Wave and EM systems kicked in. Apparently, the EM suppression field had been switched off. The conclusion was that one or both of the Tiros cruisers generated the field, and with the critical damage they had sustained, whatever machinery generated them had been knocked out.

    Captain! Seekersms officer called, Phase-Wave and all systems are back! Deflectors are back!

    All right! Contact all our Shrikes and Turtles. Have them execute the same maneuver as Kajima and Lassiter. Go!

    The Lieutenant turned to his panel and started getting busy.

    Mia finally thumbed herm panel, tuning in to the general Phase-Wavem frequency.

    Seeker to Yamato, Musashi and Shinano, she said over the general freak. Be advised, we are returning to re-engage the enemy.

    Yamato to Seeker, Mia heard someone respond. Message acknowledged. We are likewise turning back.

    A more powerful signal overrode them, however.

    This is Commodore Oshiro to Earth fleet. By that. Repeat, by that. We have marked the enemy ships and haveunched a missile attack. Stay clear of the enemy. Repeat, stay clear.

    This is Seeker, Mia responded. Commodore, we need the Tiros cruisers intact! Repeat, we need them intact. Request that you fire only on the Detterex ships. Acknowledge.

    Acknowledged, Captain Steele. We are now reprogramming our missiles ordingly.

    Thank you, Commodore. Standing by. Mia gestured at herms officer.

    Tell our fighters and Turtles to by my previous instructions. Tell them to return to Seeker.

    Aye, Captain.

    I think you can unbuckle now, everyone, she said. I dont think we will be doing any more weird maneuvers. Also, she said, smiling, has someone fetched Commander OConnell? I imagine shes had enough.

    With sighs of relief, everyone started to unbuckle. Nick helped the First Ambassador down from his perch.

    They saw Seekers little fleet wheel around ande back, and waited for Titans missile wave to make an appearance. Now that their Phase-Wave systems were back online, they had an easy time tracking them. They also started getting calls from Earth and other ces. Mia found that she was greatly relieved at being back in contact with Earth.

    She asked Nick to update EDF headquarters and CETI, send them all un-transmitted sitreps, as well as a copy of all the recording logs since they lostmunication. She then turned to the First Ambassador and asked him to likewise update the Federation ships.

    The First Ambassador saluted with his upper right limb, and his voder said, aye-aye, Captain.

 Chapter 17: Lunar Lunacy

    Chapter 17: Lunar Lunacy

    <strong>Mopping up </strong>

    It was a bit anticlimactic. As the massive cloud of missiles from Titan approached, the enemy finally detected them with their newly avable radar. They fired their missiles but, as soon as they did, someone over at Titan sent a remotemand and the missiles made random changes in their direction. And though the anti-missiles caught a handful, the rest were able to get through. Right behind them followed an adaptation of bomber aircraft of an earlier time - Eagle fighters stripped of all extraneous material withrge missile warheads strapped to their bellies.

    The bombers easily broke through the enemy ships newly reactivated deflector shields, dodged their weapons and dropped their deadly cargo right on top of the enemy ships hulls.

    After a few seconds, their warheads detonated. One cruiser exploded while the other two were almost broken in half.

    -----

    When there was no more observable activity in the cruisers, Seeker and her three smaller sister ships started moving in. It had now be a recovery and rescue mission. There were several straggler Detterex fighters, however, but the remaining Shrikes from Titan zoomed in to take care of them and waited to be relieved. It took time because Seekers other fighters and Mud Turtles had to be refueled/recharged and re-armed. The Shrikes jury-rigged rail guns had to be taken out and they needed to be re-armed with their regr weaponry.

    The three smaller Titan cruisers started making for the disabled enemy ships on the other side of the rings while Seeker and her Turtles started moving to the ones on their side of the rings. Seekers Shrikes eventually finished off the remaining enemy fighters - clearly the enemy pilots had lost their will to continue the fight and most of them just surrendered.

    Seeker was able to capture the fighters intact and their pilots unhurt, and passed them on to Titans recovery forces.

    Hours into the operation, however, they received word from the Commodore. Seeker was ordered to abandon her mop-up operation and to leave the enemy to the iing troop carriers and tow barges from Titan.

    It was like another wave, but this time it was military cargo transports.

    Im sorry, Captain, Saturn Sectors Commodore Oshiro said over Phase-Wave, but the Admiral wants you elsewhere.

    Aye, sir, Mia said tly.

    Ipletely understand, Captain, Governor Kushenko said, noting Mias tone. Everyone knows of Seekers important mission. Leave it to us to clean up. Yeshche. Spasiba. Godspeed, Captain. And it was a pleasure to have met the First Ambassador. Please tell him that he has a standing invitation.

    The First Ambassador stood on his hind limbs so as to be seen on the monitor.

    It was also a pleasure to have met you, Governor, he said using his jury-rigged trantor. Thank you. Perhaps we will meet again under better circumstances. Until then. The Ambassador bowed.

    The Governor tried to hide his uneasiness, and tried to be gracious. He bowed as well.

    Captain, Commodore Oshiro said. Saturn Command thanks you as well. Subete no go kyoryoku itadaki arigatogozaimasu. Taitanha eien ni kansha surudeshou.

    Domo arigato, Commodore, Mia responded and switched off.

    That sounded like yet anothernguage, the Ambassador said. What did the Commodore say?

    Mia shrugged. Oh, it was nothing, Ambassador. He just expressed his thanks.

    How manynguages do Earthers speak anyway?

    Miaughed. Im sorry, Ambassador. Next time, Ill make sure youre your trantor will manage <em>all</em> Earthernguages. As to your question, thats difficulty to answer. After all, how do you differentiate anguage from, say, a dialect. But I would estimate there are about... 15,530 Earthnguages.

    Or seven thousand in Earther decimal.

    Miaughed. Youre getting good at that.

    Thank you, he said, and moved his arms in circles, the gesture that Mia now knew denoted something simr toughter.

    Mia gave orders to finish the transfer of all of their captured personnel and material over to Titans forces, and as soon as they were done, they made preparations to depart.

    Well, its time to go and meet up with the others, Mia told the First Ambassador. The Ambassador nodded, and Mia asked to be connected to Engineering.

    Chief, she said. How are we doing?

    Quite fine, Captain, the Chief Engineer said. All DC teams have reported in. There wasnt any damage that we couldnt manage. Were in good shape, sir. Repairs continue, but we can depart anytime.

    Great news, Chief. How about the engines?

    All speeds avable at the Captains discretion.

    Excellent. Thank you, Chief.

    She turned to her bridge crew. Helm, she said to her helm officer, set course to rendezvous with Constetion. Best speed.

    Aye, sir. By the way, sir, Hermes has already rendezvoused with her as well.

    Thats good. You have the con, Lieutenant, and secure from General Quarters. Were going to check on Commander OConnell.

    Aye.

    -----

    Mia and the First Ambassador took a Marine escort with them and went to the medical bay to check on OConnell. They found her sedated and in bed, looking a bit banged up. Mia asked the doctor about her condition.

    It isnt serious, the doctor said, but she does have a mild concussion, some contusions, a broken rib and broken arm, and shes also suffered from extended kosis... motion sickness. Weve given her some painkillers and a strong sedative to help her sleep. Were running a mild EM analgesic field so she can sleep despite the concussion. Shell stay in sickbay tonight for observation, but shell be okay by tomorrow.

    Mia looked through OConnells chart and saw the same things as well. She was an MD, too, after all.

    No radiation, the doctor continued, and no burns. But Im afraid shell have to be on light duty for at least a week, and she has to have regeneration treatments for her rib and arm at least once a day.

    I concur, Doctor. Thank you.

    Mia looked down at her exec. OConnell looked tired and awfully pale but she had a gentle smile on her face. A bit of drool started trailing down her chin. Mia chuckled. She reached for a tissue and wiped her lips and cheek.

    Mmmph, OConnell mumbled, waking up. Her eyes fluttered open.

    Hey, Skipper, she said sleepily. I take it we made it?

    Yes, we did, Beth, Mia said gently, and sat down beside her bed. All because of you.

    Nahhh. I was just followin orders.

    Yes, you were. Yes, you were, and you did well.

    Thanks, Skipper. She yawned bone-crackingly. Im real tired...

    Thats all right, Beth. Rest. Thats an order, my dear. Mia smiled gently.

    Aye, sir... And she innocently fell asleep again.

    That she had a mild concussion, and a broken rib and arm despite her armor indicated how bad it was. And how long did she have motion sickness? Did she vomit in her helmet? She should have told me, Mia thought. But they needed her up there, and even if she had ordered her toe back in, Mia knew she wouldnt have. Mia wouldnt have been able to do anything.

    She took OConnells hand in hers. It felt a little dry, but warm.

    Dehydration, maybe, Mia thought. She could imagine the kind of hell Beth had to endure, but she had let everyone think she was having the time of her life.

    As she looked at OConnells face, she felt a feathery touch on the back of her neck. It was the Ambassadors antennae.

    You seem sad, My Lady, the Ambassador said. Is Commander OConnell not well?

    Mia cleared her throat. Oh, yes. Shes recovering well. Its just... Mia voice trailed into silence.

    The Ambassador reached out and put the three fingers of his armored upper left limb gently on her hand.

    My Lady, he said, she did what was necessary. As did you. Who else could have done what you and she did? It was the right thing to do.

    Mia shrugged - a gesture that the Arachnian knew by now.

    Whos to say whats right and whats wrong? Mia said. Im sure if you ask the Detterex...

    Princess Tasha also had to face such doubt several years ago, the ambassador said, referring to his Elyran friend. She hade back from a campaign at the edge of Federation territory, where she and her warriors had taken their turn in enforcing a defense perimeter against supposed pirates, who were really rebel Tiros invaders. Their relief was overdue and they were running low on supplies when the enemy decided tomence a final push.

    Whatever might be said of that day, what the Princess and her people were able to achieve was almost like a miracle. Most of her fighter craft were grounded by then as most of them had used up their fuel, and her people were outnumbered by the thousands. Even so, they lured the enemy-side, engaged them in a ground action, and held them until reinforcements arrived. With an incredible piece of luck, some of her people boarded and took over one of the smaller ships and used it to defeat the others. It was a coup for Elyra as they were able to capture three Tiros and Detterex squadrons including capital ships and fighters mostly intact. But the Princess had to use her warriors ruthlessly. She lost two thirds of her people, and many of those that returned home were badly hurt.

    In the end, Tasha reconciled herself with the fact that she was able to stop the enemy from gaining a foothold on the and halt their encroachment into Elyran and Federation territory. She had an objective that she knew needed to be aplished, that she knew to be right. Also, the three-eights, I mean twenty-four, cruisers that she helped capture now ount for almost one third of the current Elyran fleet, and have since been deployed to good use. And the loved ones of her fallen warriors now proudly im her as their Chu-ahn Tru - their valiant defender.

    Mia sorrowfully looked down, but the Arachnian lifted her head gently with a light touch under her chin.

    True, many of the enemy have perished today, but it was necessary. And no Earthers, Elyrans, Dixx or Arachnians have been hurt further. And what is more important, you, Commander OConnell and the crew of the Seeker have saved the people of Titan. He shrugged. Who knows, My Lady, perhaps the people of Titan might call you their Chu-ahn Tru as well.

    Mia looked at the alien and smiled sadly. She couldnt help herself and reached over to hug him.

    You should stop, My Lady, he said. Ren will be jealous.

    Miaughed. Oh, all right, she said, and let him go. I think Ill go to my quarters and get a fresh set of clothes. She ushered the Ambassador out of the Med Bay.

    That is a good idea, My Lady, the Arachnian said, and moved his limbs in circles.

    I dont understand, she said quizzically. Whats so funny?

    Well, he said, stillughing, I do not know for sure, but your crew is having a hard time staring at you, yet they are trying to appear not to. He gestured at her skin-tight pressure suit. If Elyran and Earther aesthetics are even remotely simr, I can understand why.

    Mia blushed. She asked the Marine to escort the Ambassador back to their quarters, took her leave and hurried to hers. She hadpletely forgotten to change.

    After being on her feet for more than a day, she was dead tired. As soon as she got to her quarters, she flopped down and groaned in relief.

    After a few minutes, she turned over and sighed. She reached for her CC.

    Captain to bridge. Status report, please.

    Aye, sir. DC teams report ny percent of ships damage repaired. Repairs should bepleted within eight to twelve hours. All Shrikes and Mud Turtles recovered and are now undergoing maintenance. Engineering reports all systems are nominal.

    Aha. So, no change since I was there thirty minutes ago, then, she said drily.

    Ahhh, yes, sir, the deck duty officer said sheepishly. Mia recognized the voice as one of the ships new ensign recruits from Triton. She sighed and decided to let the young man off the hook.

    What is our course and speed? she asked.

    We are on course to rendezvous with Hermes, Constetion and the Federation fleet, at point seven light speed. He sounded slightly amazed. It was probably the fastest any Terran Earther ship had flown other than Hermes and Earthship Two. Mia couldnt me the young man for being excited. ETA is oh-nine hundred.

    Thank you, ensign. Continue sending regr updates to HQ.

    Aye, sir.

    She switched off and dropped her CC on her desk. Sitting up, she pulled off her boots and walked over to her mirror. She also took off her belt with her sidearm and hung it in her locker.

    She inspected herself in the mirror. She had to admit that she looked good.

    The pressure suit was tight all over, and she had to say she was a knockout. She blushed, realizing she had inadvertently been disying herself to everyone. She didnt know if that was a mistake, and if it would affect her rtionship with the crew. At least she didnt think it did today - she felt the crew functioned exemry today, better than any time before, in fact. But, still, she couldnt help but worry.

    She struck several poses in the mirror, giggling, imagining the kind of effect she had on the crew. Smiling, she shook her head. Better minimize this kind of thing. Not good for discipline.

    But deep inside, it didnt really bother her. She was proud of her crew, and felt her self-image as a female appropriate now. She hoped that her crew was okay with her performance as well. Though she was seen as a physically attractive woman (and was objectified a little bit for that), people still treated her professionally, and with respect and consideration.

    In fact, everyone followed her orders with more crity, and seemed eager to do so.

    She unzipped her pressure suit, dropped it in theundry chute, took off her button earrings, watch and new Arachnian medallion, and dropped them in a little jewelry box on her desk (she''d had her people analyze the medallion and chain, and it turned out to be a normal little medallion and chain, with simple raw shards of quartz embedded into the embossed picture of some tree. The only difference was that the alloy the chain and coin were made of was something they didn''t see often. But that was nothing  many of the metals that they use were alloys that humans hadnt created before).

    She went to her cab and got a towel and toiletries. She luxuriated in a hot shower and washed the tiredness and tension out of her. She wanted to stay in the shower longer but guilt finally chased her out when she realized she was using more than her allotted share of hot water.

    Before sleeping, she decided to wear something nice to bed for a change. She found the three negligees that the people at the hospital gave her. Picking the powder blue one, she put it on over her panties and nothing else.

    She marveled at the feel of it, the lightness and the sheer luxuriousness of it. With a sigh, she slipped between the sheets, and fell asleep almost instantly - the best sleep shed had since she boarded Seeker.

    <strong>Back to the same routine </strong>

    It was a joyous reunion. The congrattions of the Prince and Princess were more than effusive, as were those from Admiral Daxx, but Mia was anxious to get back to normal and insisted on continuing where they left off right away, to start catching up on things.

    Thinking of how helpful the First Ambassador had been in giving them insights on the enemy, Mia had suggested a change. The First Ambassador and his people had guided the Earth forces to a winning strategy of splitting up the enemy cruisers. The fact the Detterex lead ship was not with them implied to the Ambassador that the Detterex forces would be less than cooperative with their Tirosian partners, and would be less coordinated in their tactics. And this was proven to be correct.

    Furthermore, the Arachnians and Earthers seemed to be cooperating more closely than they expected. Mia smiled and expressed her thanks to the First Ambassador. The Arachnian stood and performed a credible imitation of a curtsey - something he undoubtedly saw on TV, and all the Earthersughed. The Elyrans and Dixx smiled, clearly not understanding it but could sense the friendly humor of the moment.

    From their sess, Mia therefore concluded there was great value to knowing more about their friends as well as their enemies, not just their facts and figures but who they were as people, and what they were about. Channel B was therefore changed to a tutorial ss for Federation, Earth and Empire history and culture. Ren and his assistant, Ben, readily weed the chance to lecture, and offered to manage it. Ren also suggested to get the assistance of one of Admiral Daxxs people as well as the assistance of one of the Arachnians, to perhaps give their own perspective on things.

    Dr. Priestly thought that a good idea and innocently suggested that, if there were qualified individuals avable, maybe some of the Dravidians and Erocii from the staff of the Keeper of the Heritage should be invited to lecture as well.

    Daxx was taken aback by the suggestion. How could she even presume to ask His Excellency? But before she could find a way to politely deny her request, a message came from the Keepers staff epting the suggestion. Theypletely forgot about the fact that the Keeper was also tuned in to the meetings.

    The Admiral eded to this, and promised to arrange things.

    But for this first day, they spent it by briefing everyone on the current status of the Empire ships and prisoners.

    -----

    Transmitting from Earth, true to his word, Admiral Silverman reported that his people had continued to search for the five missing Empire ships.

    They were able to spot two of the five, but thest three continued to elude them. Silverman instructed Mia to send a ship to the two they found, since hers were the closest. Mia ordered Constetion to check them out - she thought that the mission would be a wee break for her crew.

    As for Hermes, it was sessful in delivering the Arachnian life signs detector belts, and Earth scientists had started their analysis of them.

    They had a great start because of all the information they were provided beforehand, and they had high hopes that they could start producing their own version of a life signs detector, and help open up the gxy for the Earthers.

    Commodore Oshiro had sent a report that over three hundred of the enemy had been captured, and Silverman said all of them were going to be interred in refitted cargo barges that were being fixed and then towed into Saturn orbit. Their debriefing would start as soon as CETI sent representatives. Jennifer Priestly said that her CETI breakers will be working with the ATAC people, and she would send them over to Saturn as quickly as possible.

    Admiral Silverman asked if the Federation would like to make ims on the recovered Empire ships. Admiral Daxx said, per Federation rules, they would not make any ims as they were Earths property now. However, Daxx drily said that they only asked to share in any discovery they might make, say, for example, in information on the so-called curtain of light.

    Silvermanughed with the Admiral, and said he''d see what he could do. They understood each other perfectly. Clearly, the two were cut from the same cloth.

    In the meantime, Silverman had his people transmit the logs of some of the ships they had captured courtesy of Commodore Oshiro. Daxx and Ren set their systems to record, and Mia promised the First Ambassador copies as well.

    The Secretary-General then took over and talked about developments on Earth.

    It seemed that, in the twelve hours since Seeker had gotten back in contact with Earth, and word of what had happened in Saturn System started to spread, the poption had be even more obsessed with the aliens.

    The proposed referendum was a hot topic now, and the Secretary-General said this pressure had elerated their timetable. Her people now believed that the referendum might have to be moved to next week.

    Views on the aliens seemed to have prized. The majority of the poption was excited to now be acknowledged members of arger gcticmunity, and were intrigued by the aliens. Information regarding the aliens was gobbled up as quickly as it came out in the popr media. The Prince and Princess had be very popr, for example, and fans avidly shared around pictures of them.

    But a significant minority also med the government for dragging them into a war. The official line of the government was that they couldnt have avoided it in any case, and it was better this way so they could pick sides and maybe get some help, if at all possible. Still, a few didnt believe that, and insisted that they could still remain neutral.

    The Secretary-General was confident, however, that they would get the required fifty percent-plus vote necessary to pass the referendum. The ambassador asked what kind of system they used, and Mia tried to exin their federated governments electoral college system.

    The basis for this was the voting system of the original U.N., where each nation was given a vote, thereby allowing even small countries the same impact on a vote as other countries. In the current U.N., this was modified so that each kingdom, or rather country, was ranked on a ten-point scale ording to the size of their poption, and were allotted electoral votes based on this. Each countrys votes would be cast together like one ballot.

    As to how a country determines this depends on the their rules. This system would prevent territories or countries asrge as North-Am or China to cause votes from always breaking their way, and allow small nations like the United Satellites of Neptune to be relevant during a referendum or election.

    There were, of course, many who thought vote counts should be directly based on actual vote count, but there were others who argued that smaller countries would be routinely disenfranchised if this was the rule.

    However, a move to amend the U.N. charter to allow this was still to be proposed.

    As she was exining this, Admiral Daxx interrupted and asked what were the items to be voted on.

    The Secretary-General didnt mind being interrupted, and exined that her people had boiled it down to four items: one - to approve sending representatives to Colossus and provide all the information they had about the events in Earth System since the arrival of the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians; two - to submit an application for membership to the Federation; three - to approve an alliance with the Federation or, if membership was not forting, to limit it to an alliance with the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian nations; and four - to dere war on the Detterex and Tiros Star Empires, which would grant EarthGov martial powers.

    Daxx nodded sagely. Difficult matters, indeed, she said. I agreepletely that it needs to be decided on by all your people. I suppose all I can do is to offer encouragement. Please let us know how we can to assist you.

    You are most gracious, Admiral, she said. Thank you. Perhaps we can talk more about it tomorrow.

    I am at your service, Excellency.

    Daxx would have preferred to continue, but the Secretary-General insisted that they adjourn for the day, in time for the Earthers mid-day meal, and to allow everyone to review the Tiros and Detterex logs.

    Oh, well, Daxx thought. Theres still tomorrow.

    -----

    Secretary-General Romarkin got everyone in the briefing to stay on a pretext, and waited for the Dixx and Elyrans to switch off, and for the Arachnians to leave the room. When she was sure only the humans were left, she sighed.

    All right, everyone. Thank you for staying. I have some news. Jennifer?

    Yes, Maam, Professor Priestly replied. The people from the PRC have a theory about that so-called curtain of light. Theyre waiting on Commodore Oshiros people to confirm it when they go though the Tirosian hulks. If they confirm it, then that means we know how the Tirosians did it.

    Thats good, Commander OConnell said. She was a little subdued, probably still a little off from the medications, and probably a little embarrassed by the cast on her arm. She was still supposed to be off the duty roster, but she insisted on joining the briefing.

    But, Maam, why didnt you bring this up earlier? Im sure Admiral Daxx and...

    Mia raised her hand to stop her. I think the Secretary-General is trying to say something else, Beth.

    Romarkin sighed. Commander, we arent even sure we want to share the information with the aliens at this time.

    Maam?

    Commander, we arent sure we want to lose a tactical advantage.

    But theyre our friends, Maam. Were even trying to make an alliance with their governments.

    Thats right. In fact, since the beginning, we have been sharing everything we could with them to see us through this time when we need to prove ourselves deserving to be part of their federation. Weve only held off sharing things that gave us clear strategic advantages, such as Phase-Wave et cetera. Now we find ourselves in the unenviable position to be the ones judging, and seeing if they deserve to have our new information. Sounds arrogant, yes. And some may even question that view. But lets put that aside for the moment.

    While she was speaking, Jennifer Priestly excused herself and switched off for a minute.

    The Secretary-General didnt let that distract her and continued. We are now about to acquire new knowledge that will give us yet another advantage. And the government has not seen anything to change our current policy. In fact, the events at Pluto Orbit and Saturn have given us more cause to make sure that Earth System protects any advantage it has. Admiral?

    Silverman turned to OConnell as well. You are a military officer, Commander. I am sure you understand the need to maintain numerical, technological, and tactical superiority, as well as not to surrender the initiative. Am I correct?

    You are correct sir, OConnell said. Standard Military doctrine. I understand. I apologize for the question.

    Silverman nodded. Not at all, Commander. Silverman then addressed everyone. That brings us to another topic.

    He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. The men and women of Task Force 41/18 have proven themselves supremely capable, and a credit to the entire race. We are proud of all of you. Everyone was pleased but puzzled at this apparent non sequitur.

    I dont say this frivolously, Silverman continued. I say it only to show that the Admiralty has the highest confidence in you all, and have no reservations in your following orders. As yourmander, I know that I do not need to exin myself, but I am doing so now because we want not just your obedience but your active cooperation as well, and we want you to share your ideas on how to manage the situation we find ourselves in.

    Officially then, you are all under orders not to discuss this with any unauthorized personnel outside of this group, and to directly contact your captains if you have concerns or ideas. As for the civilians, you are all officially notified that the Official Secrets Act has been invoked, and shall be in effect until further notice.

    Captains Steele, Okonkwo and Dupont, you are under direct orders to enforce this order, and to forward all information pertinent to the matter of the Empires EM suppression field technology directly to my office. Are we clear?

    All the military personnel on the circuit said, aye almost simultaneously, and everyoneughed at that (politely, of course - they were talking to the Admiral of the Fleet, after all). It helped break the tension.

    Ummm, Admiral, Professor Priestly interrupted, havinge back. Im afraid I have some news that changes everything...

    There was a silence.

    Is it good news or bad news, Jenn? Romarkin said.

    I dont know, Maam. She switched to a different audio channel, obviously to tell Romarkin.

    Romarkin nodded as she listened.

    Well, enlighten us, Doctor, Silverman said, after they switched back.

    Yes, Admiral. Doctor Thorpe just called me from Triton Center, about an audio intercept they got from Elyra. It seems the Elyran scientists have finally cracked the EM suppression field...

    The silence was overwhelming.

    You mean...

    Yes, Admiral. To be sure, they are just refining their theory on the field suppression effect, but they are well on their way. So there is really nothing to hide from the Federation.

    That changes things...

    Yes.

    Madame Secretary-General, Silverman said formally, do you have any orders?

    Admiral, let us stay the course for now, until we have more information.

    Silverman nodded. All right, then. All orders stand. But before you are dismissed, I have four more items.

    <strong>Orders </strong>

    First, the Admiral said, it has been decided that Task Force 41/18 shall be a permanent fleet, to be designated as Earths Fifth Fleet, and shall be assigned to first contact missions, and our vanguard fleet to push the boundaries of Terran influence and be ambassadors for the race.

    What? OConnell said in the silence.

    Silverman chuckled at this response, ignored it and continued. Second, DSR Seeker, Hermes and Constetion, as well as four additional Type-One FTL cruisers, shall be permanently assigned to this new fleet. Pursuant to this, Hermes and Constetion shall be upgraded ordingly, in order to fulfill their new and important roles. Captains Okonkwo and Dupont.

    Sir!

    Orders shall be sent to you through channels within the day. Congrattions.

    Everyone apuded.

    Third... where is Commander OConnell?

    Sir! OConnell responded.

    Third, Commander Elizabeth OConnell is hereby formally reinstated as Captain, and is permanently assigned as master of DSR Seeker.

    This was greeted with a loud and enthusiastic response from those present that were part of Seekers crew. In OConnells head, she felt gratified by this - an open acknowledgement from her superiors and her peers. She looked at Mia sitting beside her, pping as enthusiastically as everyone.

    She realized that Mia truly had no designs to supnt her. This realization had slowly beening for a while now, actually, simply because she''d noted how Mia worked with her and the crew. Plus, Mia had consistently said her assignment onboard was temporary. Besides, over the months, OConnell hade to believe that Mia was the right person for the job, and might actually be the rightful captain. Seeing her in action, first in the Pluto orbit engagement, and then in Saturn, just confirmed it. Mia belonged here, maybe even more than her. Mia would be leaving the service eventually, but it wouldn''t be because of her.

    Sir, I respectfully decline.

    Silverman was surprised, to say the least.

    Can you exin the reason for your decision, Commander?

    Sir. I wish to remain at my post, and remain as Captain Steeles exec.

    Well... Silverman chuckled, before you do, perhaps you should wait for me to finish, first?

    Ummm, sir?

    He waved her down and continued.

    Fourth, Captain Amelia Catherine Steele, in recognition of hermand capabilities, unparalleled skills, intelligence, and unwavering dedication to the cause of the Human Race, is promoted to Rear Admiral, and is assigned to themand of the Fifth Fleet. Congrattions, Admiral.

    Mias jaw dropped. She stood up, not believing what she heard, while everyone in the room, and those hooked to the circuit, apuded long and enthusiastically.

    Well, what do you say?

    I... thank you, Admiral.

    Ummm... Admiral, OConnell said. I respectfully retract what I said, sir, and gratefully ept the reinstatement.

    Silvermanughed out loud. Are you sure this time, Commander?

    -----

    Mia had propped up her CC on top of the desk in her quarters. She had Romarkin, Silverman and Jennifer Priestly on her personal phone via Phase-Wave.

    You cant do this to me, Ben, she said to Silvermans image on her CC. You knew that I took the job with the understanding that it was only temporary.

    Temporary? Silverman responded. You changed sex, for Gods sake, Bill... I mean Mia. Doesnt sound temporary to me.

    It was necessary! There was no choice!

    And it is our estimation, Romarkin said, that we have no choice now.

    Jenn! Help me out here.

    Jennifer shook her head, refusing to take sides.

    Mia, Romarkin continued, tell me who else can do the things you do? Give me a name and, I promise you, youll be back to being a civilian so fast, itll make your head spin.

    Allie...

    Mia, Im serious. Give me a name.

    Mia sighed.

    I thought so. So, in the meantime, Admiral, suck it up and soldier.

    Smile, Bill, Silverman smiled. Itll be all right.

    Ben, just you wait...

    If youre thinking of ratting me out to Allison or Tara, they already know. And they actually like the promotion. Tara is actually asking when you cane by the house.

    Whore Allison and Tara? Jennifer asked.

    Thats the Admirals wife and daughter, Mia said.

    She decided to change tactics. Allie, how will the public take the fact that your most-recently promoted officer handling first contact is a woman who used to be a man?

    Its actuallymon knowledge now. The news on the is that you decided on changing genders because it was necessary to your work, that the Elyrans would find it easier to rte to a woman, and since no one else could do it, you decided to undergo sex reassignment for the sake of the people. Everyone finds that selfless and brave.

    You cant be serious.

    You clearly havent been following current events.

    Mia groaned in exasperation. I cant believe it. Dont they think Im some sort of pervert, or...

    Romarkin shook her head. Other people have changed their sex, Mia. Its not exactly unique. Besides, no one cares about peoples sexual orientation anymore. Its not the Twenty-First Century. Sure, there are still people out there who get off on doing things society thinks are perversions, but with the demystification of gender dysphoria, its stigma has been erased. Thats one less perversion avable for people to obsess about. Were beyond such prejudices, Mia. You know that.

    Mia nodded impatiently. Even so, that must have been some kind of PR campaign you guys did.

    It wasnt a campaign! Some people in the know just gave interviews when the media approached them. The public already knew who Doctor William Steele was, so they were naturally curious about the new Captain Amelia Catherine Steele.

    And who, pray tell, gave these interviews?

    Well, that would be Captain, excuse me, I mean Admiral Steelesmander, of course - Admiral of the Fleet Benjamin Silverman, and the person that took full chairmanship of the CETI council when Dr. Steele resigned - his good friend, Professor Jennifer Priestly.

    Of course...

    But, you know, Jennifer said, I think your eptance by the people is the least of your problems.

    What do you mean?

    Someone here in CETI got ahold of some pictures and were showing them around to the people here. Theyre from Seekers log. And somehow theyve leaked out into the. Jennifer pressed a key on her CC and sent some of the pictures over.

    How did they get them anyway? Mia asked. Video logs are confidential navy... what the...?

    Jennifer had sent four pictures, all of them cropped from Seekers bridge video log, and she had them on the screen. They were all pictures of Mia on Seekers bridge during the Titan encounter. She was in her skin-tight blue pressure suit and knee-high boots.

    One was of her with her fists on her hips, looking exasperatedly at someone off-picture and looking very cute at the same time. Another was her standing by hermand chair holding down a button on the armrest, with an intense look of concentration on her face. Another was of her in action, pointing at the main view-screen off-picture and giving orders while trying to keep her bnce by holding on to the back of her chair, her hair flying over her shoulder. There were other people in that one, and they were strapped to their chairs and trying to hold on against the movement of the ship as well. The framing of the picture was even artfully set at a fifteen-degree angle. It was almost like a frame from some old action movie.

    Thest one was a blown-up picture of her from the waist up, smiling at someone off-picture and looking radiant. She had her head canted a bit and was using her left hand to fluff out her blonde hair.

    Jennifer giggled. Youre a babe, Mia!

    Who the hell took...

    Jennifer raised her hand. Im already tracking down whoever did it, and as soon as I find out who, be assured I will deal with him, her, or whoever.

    But the damage is done!

    Ill say, Jennifer giggled again. Youre the new It Girl, Mia!

    Im thinking of calling Recruitment and get them to use those pictures, Silvermanughed.

    Mia sighed, and bonelessly sank into her chair. Ill get you guys... she mumbled, and everyoneughed.

    Okay, Mia said. If Im doing this, I want something in return.

    Yes? Silverman asked.

    I want carte nche on how to put together my fleet.

    Absolutely, Mia, Romarkin said. How you want your ships outfitted, which new ships you want, your crewplement. Everything - its up to you.

    Mia couldnt find any other excuses to turn down the position, other than her not wanting it in the first ce. She groaned again and gently hit her forehead on the desk over and over. Everyoneughed again.

    Oh, Mia, Romarkin continued, since were talking, I think I need to let you know that I talked to my friend Peg, and...

    Peg? Arrrgh!

    Wait. Jennifer interrupted. Whos Peg?

    Peg. The queen... Mia mumbled into the desk.

    What! Jennifer said. The Queen of Ennd? Her Royal Highness, Margaret the Second?

    Pegs one of my best friends, Jenn, Romarkin said.

    Youre kidding... And you call her Peg?

    Romarkin shrugged, smiling. Anyway, I told Her Royalness, she giggled, about Mias little snafu during the dinner onboard the Talon, and...

    Oh, no... Mia groaned.

    Well, she understood the situationpletely, so she got her secretary to churn out a Letters Patent, and perw and custom, had it quietly published in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes. And, with her sponsorship, in closed session, the Parliament also unanimously approved your nomination as a British citizen. So, once you sign your citizenship papers, Im sure you will get a letter from Her Highness a day or so after, for the ceremony and de for your formal Knighthood. Its just a formality, but Im expecting an invitation to the knighting, of course.

    Romarkins grin was ear to ear. By the way, Ben said that you are under orders to ept the citizenship and the knighthood. Isnt that right, Ben?

    Thats right, Maam, Silverman said, chuckling.

    Wait, wait! Jennifer said. Knighthood?

    Yes, Jenn. Meet the soon-to-be Lady Amelia of Saint Mary, St. Martin and St. Agnes, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet of Earth.

    Oooh!

    Shut up, Jenn, Mia said.

    Romarkin looked worried. She was thinking that they may have overdone it, and pushed Mia over the edge. So... Mia? Are we okay?

    Mia smiled tiredly. Yeah, yeah. Now, go away... with respect, Maam.

    Romarkin felt relief. Everyoneughed again and signed off.

    Mia sat at her desk, thinking. She couldnt believe how much her friends had been picking on her. But then, this was always the way she and her friends bantered with each other. Why did she think it would it be different now? Its like they were still seeing Bill and not Mia, or maybe they were just epting Mia as Bill. She was touched, and she started to tear up. It might notst or she might be reading too much into it, but for now, it was like the way it was before the change.

    She also knew that everything that Romarkin and Silverman did was necessary, so she wasnt really as angry as she was behaving. Besides, she was fairly sure they saw through it and knew she was at least half joking.

    All in all, I know what my friends are doing, and I guess theyre right, she thought. I just wish... And then she thought again... My friends... That phrase echoed in her mind. They joked with her just like in the old days, like nothing has changed, and she was grateful. She chuckled that she thought of a few short months back as the old days.

    There was one other thing that she did notice - she didnt react to their jokes like before, and wasnt hurt at all. She was also more flirty and less... direct in her jibes. In fact, she wasnt being as strong in herebacks as before, and seemed to be more passive and self-deprecating... But she wasnt doing it deliberately. It was all instinctual and automatic. Was it just in her head or was it just part of being female? Anyway, regardless, it was like they didnt care that she reacted differently.

    Someone buzzed her door. She checked who it was with her CC. It was OConnell.

    Come in, she called, hastily wiped her eyes and sat up.

    OConnell came in. Good afternoon, sir.

    Mia motioned her in. Good afternoon, Beth. What are you still doing up? You should be resting in your quarters. Well, anyway, what can I do for you?

    I, ummm, just wanted to know how you want me to manage things, sir. Now that, ummm...

    Now that you are back in charge? Mia chuckled.

    Ah, yes, sir. OConnell smiled, and giggled as well. She was relieved that her boss was at ease with things.

    Well, unless you disagree, Mia said, answering her question, my thought is to keep all of the Admirals announcements under the radar. That way, there wont be any disruptions in our daily routines.

    I think its toote for that, sir, she said, and exined.

    Apparently, after the briefing, Silverman had sent the orders out to all three ships as a General Dispatch, and in the clear. He had also sent out a Fleetmuniqu with all the details. He also contacted Admiral Daxx, Princess Tasha and the First Ambassador, informing them of the new developments. They had immediately sent their congrattions to the three captains as well as to the new admiral. Mia noted that she still had not received hers. OConnell exined she had not forwarded it yet since Mia was in a meeting and she did not want to interrupt her. But OConnell had made hardcopies and brought them over with her.

    Mia read the messages. She was particrly touched by the message from the First Ambassador. She sighed.

    All right, Beth, she said. I guess we cant keep this quiet. You take over fullmand of the ship immediately. But you will also be Fleet Exec for the duration. That may mean some kind of brevet promotion, but we can think about thatter. All captains in the fleet will report to you, and you will report to me. Now, give me a sitrep on all new developments.

    OConnell nodded, secretly proud of again being selected as Mias exec instead of Okonkwo or Dupont - both more senior than her.

    Seekers damage is almost one hundred percent repaired, sir, OConnell reported. The Chief expectspletion within the hour. All Shrikes and Mud Turtles are again fully operational and re-armed, and all pilots are avable. Constetion is approaching the two ships theyre supposed to be investigating. We are expecting a report shortly. Everything else is shipshape. Hermes reports all well. The Arachnians seem to be happy and report all well, and the Elyrans and Dixx report all well, too.

    Mia nodded. Good. Ill expect a report as soon as the Chief says we are back to one hundred percent. Also ask her to look into equipping our squadrons with rail guns withoutpromising their current armament. Whats the spacecraftplement of Hermes and Constetion?

    Each has twenty-five Type-One Eagles and twenty Cobra multi-role transports versus our maximum forty Shrikes and fifteen Mud Turtles. They were originally designed for patrol and ground action, after all, so they have more carriers, and less fighters, than normal.

    All right. Inform Okonkwo and Dupont what we are doing with our ships, and tell them to do the same with theirs. Make sure that all of our engineers are working with each other. Also, select one of our Turtles and outfit it withplete radiomunication facilities as well as EM-based navigation.

    To rece its Phase-Wave systems, sir?

    No - in addition to them.

    The extra equipment will take up some space, sir...

    Thats all right, Beth. We wont be using that as a carrier. Since I know none of you will let me near a Shrike ever again, Im going to need alternative transport. Still - make that Mud Turtle thest priority in your list.

    Were making a captains gig, sir?

    Beth! Its going to be the admirals barge!

    OConnell grinned. Of course, sir. The Admirals Barge - apologies.

    Oh, and get Haskell to look into providing the crew with alternate sidearms that are projectile-based.

    Youre worried about another EM suppression field situation?

    Imagine it being deployed when we find ourselves in hand-to-hand scenarios. We need to be able to level the ying field when the aliens deploy the one single item in their arsenal that can negate our technical advantages.

    Aye, sir. Anything else?

    Id like to see the bridge duty roster when youre done with it.

    Ummm, okay, sir.

    Mia sensed some reluctance from her. She reached out and held her hand.

    Beth, weve been working hand-in-hand for months now, and if you still dont feelfortable about speaking your mind, this will definitely not work. When we are with the crew, I understand. But when its just us, I expect it to be like it always was. So, whats your concern?

    OConnell sighed. Nothing major, sir. I was just thinking that... it might not look appropriate if our admiral stood regr duty shifts... sir.

    Mia smiled. Was that all? She thought about it. Well, youre absolutely right. But you better get used to me looking over your shoulder all the time.

    Thats all right, sir, OConnell said, smiling. Admirals privilege.

    Okay. Anything else?

    Ah, one final thing. Really minor.

    Yes?

    Our Supply Officer will be passing by within the hour. Sorry, sir, but Admiral Silvermans orders. He knew that if I didnt remind you, chances are...

    Why is he passing by?

    Hes passing by to alter your uniforms, sir. You know? Admirals stripes? Stars?

    Miaughed.

    He also has suggestions for ships patches, rocker tabs, UIMs, shoulder sleeve insignias, wing badges and such.

    Youre not serious.

    OConnellughed. Oh, yes, sir. You cant imagine how excited everyone is about the new fleet, and our new mission. Theyre very proud to be on the Fleets g carrier. And a lot of them have suggestions.

    Miaughed again. All right. In that case, get him up here as soon as hes free.

    OConnell nodded. As she stood up to leave, she paused.

    Sir I dont know if its my ce to ask

    Mia sighed.

    Beth, she said, we have gone through too much for either of us not to trust each other. Speak your mind, my dear.

    I just wanted to ask if if youre okay. The crew is worried. They say that you seem sad somehow.

    Mia smiled at her in a mncholy sort of way. Thank you for your concern, Beth. But Ill manage. I guess it takes time to get used to things.

    I cant say I know what youre going through, but I can imagine how difficult it must be. Itll get better, I guess. Being female isnt too difficult. In fact it can be great. Most of the time. It can even be fun.

    Mia looked at her and giggled. And what is your idea of fun, Beth?

    OConnell shrugged. I guess youll find out for yourself.

    Mia shrugged. Thank you, Beth, but its not that. I guess Im feeling alone.

    Its the cost ofmand.

    Yes. But its not that. I feel lonely. I feel lost She shook her head. But this isnt your concern. Im yourmander, after all.

    OConnell turned serious, as well. Sir Mia youre mymander. But I think youre my friend, too. And friends are there for friends. If you need to talk about things, Im here. And dont worry that you will lose my respect. Youll never lose it. You are a goodmander. And your crew will follow you through the sun and back. But, I wouldnt want mymander to doubt herself for something as small as her being a former boy. Your crew doesnt care. I dont care. But if you need to talk things through

    Mia stood and reached out for her hand. Oh, Beth. Thank you. And I think of you as my friend, too.

    Impulsively, OConnell gave her a hug. Ill be there for you. Just let me know.

    After a while, though, the hug started to feel awkward.

    Ummm, Boss I just want to let you know. I dont, you know, swing that way But then, she heard Mias giggles, and then she let go, realizing Mia was ying a joke on her.

    Youre a stinker, you know that? OConnell, said, giggling herself.

    Yes, I am, Mia agreed, still giggling.

    OConnell mock-frowned. Youre hrious, you know that?

    Mia smiled and shooed her away. Go away, Beth. Take care of the ship.

    Aye, Boss, she said, saluted casually and stepped out of Mias office.

    <strong>The Fifth Fleet </strong>

    Mia had called a meeting of themand crews of all three ships.

    OConnell was there with her new Number One (which was again Commander Kajima), Captain Okonkwo and his exec, and Captain Dupont and his Number Two, which was his chief engineer (at the moment, his exec was unavable - she was supervising the inspection team of the alien ships they were investigating).

    They spent an hour or so discussing Admiral Silvermans orders, and how to manage the new fleet. Mia was relieved that Captains Okonkwo and Dupont, by far the most senior of the eight, were not resentful of Mia being promoted. In fact, they went on and on about the videos from the captured enemy logs, showing Seekering out of Saturns rings, or making the loop, or her Mud Turtles and Shrikes delivering the blow that shut down the EM suppression field.

    -----

    It was announced that Fifth Fleetsmand staff would be holding a fleet-wide briefing at eighteen-thirty hours, after the final dinner call. Admiral Silvermans office was, of course hooked up, as were the Federation ships and the Arachnian quarters via video. Everyone was anticipating the meeting.

    Promptly at eighteen-thirty hours, Mia stood in front of a video camera in her new uniform. Everyone checked out her new Admirals Stripes, and murmurs spread through the crowd when they saw the new miniature on her uniform. It was too small to see the details, but they still tried to nevertheless.

    Mia cleared her throat and began the briefing.

    To the men and women of Earths new Fifth Fleet, good evening. I stand here before you now as yourmander. Currently, the fleet is made up of the newly re-designated DSC Hermes under Captain Okonkwo, with hull number sixty, DSC Constetion under Capitaine Dupont, hull number seventy-four, and the first of the new ss J-One deep spacecraft, DSC Seeker. With that ressificationes a re-christening. We are all excited to know what Seekers new name will be, and the Admiral assured me this will happen soon.

    Captain Elizabeth OConnell is again the master of Seeker, and Commander Kajima shall again be doing double-duty as both her exec and Seekers Air Group Commander.

    Our fleets new mission is First Contact. We shall be visiting our new Federation friends and be Earths ambassadors to the Federation. We shall also be the vanguard of Earth defense, interceding during military engagements, and also be the frontline of EarthForce. We shall also be picking up where Earthship Two left off, and help discover news and new peoples, and go where no human has gone before.

    Our three interster cruisers will soon be joined by four more, which will rendezvous with us at New Copernicus, the PRCs naval yards on Luna Colony.

    For the moment, we continue with our mission of defending Admiral Daxxs ambassadorial fleet as they make their way to Earth and, depending on the results of the uing referendum, we may be escorting them back home.

    Mia took a deep breath. As you know, we have just had our first encounter with the Empires newest weapon, and though they had the advantage of holding the initiative and attacking first, we still emerged triumphant.

    But it underlines yet another concern. We need more information on our enemy. Ourrades on Titan are working on it. They are studying the salvaged Empire ships, and our own Capitaine Dupont and DSC Constetion are even now investigating the ships they abandoned in the space between Saturn and Neptune.

    We have much to do, still, and I am excited to push on with our mission, as I hope you all are.

    All three crews apuded. Vive flotte! some of the crew from the Constetion cheered.

    All right, then! Mia said. As this is an informal briefing, I am opening the floor to any questions you might have for myself and Captains Dupont, OConnell and Okonkwo. Approach your deck officer and he will get it to us.

    The first question came in from Constetion, ryed by Duponts First Officer.

    Bonjour, Amiral, she said. C''est le Commandant Devereaux de Constetion. One of our crew would like to know if there will be any shifts in themand structure.

    Bonjour, Commander Devereaux. Thank your crewman for the question. The answer is, no there will not be any change inmand structure. Captains Dupont and Okonkwo shall be inmand of their ships and crew as always, while Captain OConnell shall again be inmand of Seeker. The Captain shall also be Fleet Executive, and will be overseeing fleet activities. I shall be inmand of the fleet and shall be reporting directly to Fleet Admiral Benjamin Silverman.

    Commander Kajima then came on. Ummm, sir, there is a question from our Arachnian guests. They would like to know why we have been designated as the Fifth Fleet, as well as why our ships have new designations.

    Mia smiled. This sounded like a question from the Ambassador. Thank you, Commander. We have been designated as a fleet because we have been made into a permanent group with a standing, permanent mission. We are now called the Fifth Fleet since there already are four others in the newly reorganized EarthForce.

    The First Fleet is the primary group whose area of responsibility is the Earth System. The Second Fleet is the systemsary Guard, in charge of police action and rescue. The Third Fleet is the territory fleet, in charge of patrolling the boundaries of Earth System in what we call the Oort Cloud, and beyond. The Fourth Fleet is our outbound missionsmand, which will handle all missions outside of the system. That therefore makes us the Fifth Fleet.

    As to ship designations, DSC refers to interster spacecraft and DSR refers to inteary or in-system spacecraft. Because of the change in our mission parameters, we shall now be operating extra-sr as well. They have therefore redesignated Constetion, Hermes and Seeker as DSC ships.

    And before the Ambassador asks about types and numbers, Commander, tell him thats ssified information. They could hear the guffaws of some Elyrans and Dixx in the background. She smiled.

    There was a wide assortment of questions that came up. Some were intelligent questions, such as those about their new mission. Others were less so, such as what cheese omelet was in French. It was a question that came from the Arachnians, most obviously an effort to lighten the discussion.

    It seems the Arachnians enormously enjoyed the cheese omelet onboard Seeker. They were told proudly by Seekers chief cook that the cheese they used was authentic Reblochon cheese from France, hence the question. Far from being offended, Captain Dupont chuckled and said omelette du fromage in his very best French ent.

    Some were very curious questions, like the question from that ensign aboard Constetion. The young officer wanted to know how OConnell felt while floating above Saturns rings, and OConnell talked about her awe at the amazing colors and lights, and the cotton-like surface of the rings one moment, and then her near panic as the Admiral sent the ship careening back inside the ring the next. Her audienceughed and hung on her every word.

    One of the more interesting questions was the one about the miniatures Mia, the three captains and their first officers wore. The camera zoomed in on the one Captain Okonkwo was wearing, and it looked like a stylized metal replica of a knight from Earths history books, with space armor, a cape pping in the wind, and a sword stretched out. The only thingcking was a horse. Okonkwo said that it was actually based on a video they saw from some of the captured Detterex ships logs. They used an image from that video as the model for the Fifth Fleets new campaign miniature. They shed the picture he was referring to, and it turned out to be of Commander Elizabeth OConnell in her armor, as she stood in Seekers crows nest while she gave directions to Seekers crew and helped them navigate through Saturns rings. When it had first been suggested, Mia had instantly approved the idea over Beths protests.

    The response was predictable. After several ooohs and aaahs and wows, there was a mad dash by everyone to grab their CCs and ess the logs the Captain mentioned from ships memory. (They couldnt, of course, since the files were still confidential.)

    The questions continued for quite a while until Mia decided to adjourn an hourter.

    After the briefing, the supply officers of all three ships were inundated with requests for Fifth Fleet miniatures, as well as fleet patches, shoulder sleeve insignias, wing badges, rocker tabs, UIMs and such (UIMs are unit identification marks  the navys equivalent to the armys rocker tabs).

    Unprepared for the requests, they would tell everyone that their orders would be ready for pickup the following morning, and they and their crews would spend the night stitching patches and printing up 3-D metal pins for everybody. It wasnt that difficult, actually, since the fabrication was all automated, after all. It was just that there were too many requests.

    After the briefing, Mia took a quiet, leisurely turn around the ship, and conducted an informal night inspection of all of the Chief Engineers repairs as well as casually visiting with the crew that was on duty. By that time, though, the crewmen from the first and second shifts were in their bunks quietly dozing. Mia decided to peek into one of the wardrooms.

    Sensing something, the girl in the first bunk woke up. When she saw it was Mia, she jumped down. Admiral on deck!

    Shhh! Mia shushed the girl. At ease, crewman!

    Nevertheless, it was toote. Everyone was already awake. They had all gotten up and stood at attention by their bunks.

    I said at ease, everyone! And back to bed! Otherwise, youre all going to stand double duty tomorrow!

    Almost as quickly, everyone was back in their bunks in a sh.

    Well... that was fast...

    They burst outughing.

    Im sorry to bother you. Good work yesterday.

    Before Mia could leave, the crewman who first woke up called out.

    Ummm, Admiral? she said.

    Mia turned back. Yes, crewman?

    I just wanted to say thank you for giving the ship back to the Captain.

    Mia nodded. It wasnt up to me, you know.

    Im sorry, sir, the crewman said nervously, worried that she had overstepped. It could mean her stripe. We all think youre a great skipper. I didnt mean...

    Stand easy, my dear, Mia said. Youre okay.

    What I meant to say was my posting as your captain has always been temporary. It is a privilege to have been your captain, but Seekers real skipper is Captain OConnell. However, Command had determined I was needed for this emergency. It was important to the Earth, to everyone. I had to be the one to take care of it.

    She giggled a little. As you see, besides being indispensable, I am also very humble. Everyoneughed.

    Mia sighed. With your good work, as well as everyone elses, a crisis was averted. The people of Titan are safe once again. But the emergency continues, and may continue for a while. A more permanent solution was needed. And thats the reason for the Fleet.

    One good thing that has happened, though, was that your captain has been put back in Seekersmand seat. The bad thing however, is that you are still stuck with me.

    Everyoneughed again, and the tension and seriousness finally lifted.

    The crewman sat up and started asking about the picture of OConnell that they saw earlier, so Mia exined why she was there outside the hull in open space, what the crows nest was, what Saturns rings were made of, and what was the implication of going through them with just a structural integrity field and no deflectors. She also described what it was like navigating with just eyes and telescopes, and managing to fight the enemy without any tracking aids and without most of their weaponry.

    Mia was d nothing happened to them, otherwise they would have been stuck there, making the Seeker Saturns fifty-fourth named satellite, at least for a little while, that is. She brought up the terms shepherd satellite and shepherd moon, and asked for volunteers to exin the terms. She was d that many raised their hands.

    No one got back to sleep right away that night and listened instead to Mias descriptions of their Saturn encounter, some stories that she knew of the aliens, stuff about their homes, theirnguages, and anything else the crew could think to ask.

    Many of them knew a lot already, and Mia remembered these people from the sses she used to conduct. She apologized that that particr practice hadpsed, but everyone had gotten busy. She said she''d see if the sses could resume again, and let them know as soon as they did.

    After more than an hour, she decided to dere lights out and bid them all good night. She closed the wardroom door but, before walking away, she put her ear against it.

    She could hear the crew chatting animatedly, and though she couldnt really make out what they were talking about, she was pleased regardless. She went back to her quarters with a spring in her step.

 Chapter 18: Lunar Lunacy II

    Chapter 18: Lunar Lunacy II

    <strong>Complications </strong>

    Most of the things onboard Seeker seemed to be the same as before. There were a few changes though, most notably that Mia wasnt standing watches anymore, but it made little difference as she was still on the bridge a lot of the time. Mia was careful though not to givemand instructions, and coursed any through the watchmand duty officer.

    She alsomandeered Seekers smallest conference room, which happened to be on the deck below her quarters, and just two cabins over.

    She had it converted to her new office and had Chief Haskell installmandmunications facilities. Haskell had also taken the initiative to cut through the two adjacent cabins, and cut through Mias own cabin so shed have direct ess to her new office. (The upants of the now-smaller cabins were moved to more spacious refitted cabins, the old contents of the refitted cabins moved to the now-smaller unusable ones.)

    As soon as her new office was ready, Mia moved in, much to the relief of the entire bridge crew, and conducted most of her work from there. The First Ambassador was a frequent visitor, and Nick practically lived there - he found themunications facilities extremely convenient when working.

    There were now guards posted at the door of her quarters and office, not really for security, but to control ess to her. As a sign of the times, many senior officers preferred having personal security. Mia did not like to have any but she at least acknowledged the need for having a few guards, if just to give her office that much-needed touch of ceremony. But Silverman and Romarkin did insist she at least find an assistant.

    Since there was no way around it, she chose Nick since she had him around almost all the time anyway.

    Nick epted the position of Mias Aide-de-Camp eagerly - he said it wasnt too big a change from his current work anyway, and besides, he wasnt too used to military life, and this would probably be a little better, and closer to what he was used to before being drafted. Mia joked that he probably just liked the gold-and-blue braided aiguillette that hed get to wear.

    Once all of that was set, Mia started developing a routine, and she spent the remaining weeks they still had before arriving on Earth in her office, finishing up some more details before they got near Earth.

    Her first meetings in her new office were spent working with Commander Devereaux, Commodore Oshiro and Marta Running-Streams people, as they got a handle on the EM Suppression Field technology. It was mostly Phase-Wave videocons but her new officesm facilities were great.

    In hertest meeting, she found out Commander Devereauxs people had quickly finished their investigation of the abandoned escort ship and carrier, boosted them into a slow course towards Titan, and had started making their way back to Seeker.

    Devereauxs people had found many keyponents of the cruisers FTL systems were taken out, mostly therge electromaic generators of the engines. This rendered her engines inoperable so they''d abandoned it, along with the empty fuel carrier.

    As for Titans engineers, they found these subsystems retrofitted into the drive of one of the Tiros hulks, and Martas people confirmed that their interaction caused the field effect. Martas people also concluded that there would be some kind of Cherenkov-like effect, simr to a badly tuned FTL field or maybe like their inertia converters. This might be why they called it the Curtain of Light, but they wouldnt know until they made their own prototype.

    Oshiros people also found out from the captured Empire personnel that the p-dash nature of the retrofit was problematic for its Tirosian crew. Microwave radiation burns caused by poorly assembled microwave shields affected a lot of their engineers. One of them died while they were interred because of untreated and unreported burns.

    Microwave burns are simr to electrical burns - but they run deeper into tissues than normal thermal or chemical burns. They were simple to treat, actually, but with what they were dealing with at the time, not many of the affected Tirosians were able to get their burns treated even while they suffered more burns. Many died during their journey to Saturn, and a few more died while interred, mostly from infections, fluid loss or nerve damage.

    The captured Tirosians readily gave up their secrets and their ships, and Martas people were able to quickly replicate the effect on a small scale. They were now in the process of building their own safer and far morepact versions. Marta herself was, in fact, unavable for the meeting since she was concentrating on creating their own prototype EM suppression generator. There actually very few captured Tirosians, and Mia wondered why.

    As for how to protect against the EM suppression fields effects, they were not sessful. For now, there were no known ways of protecting against the EM field.

    Mia left it to the PRC people to find out how tobat the field effects. For now, what she needed to work on was weaponry that worked inside the field.

    During the Titan encounter, the things that they were able to use were rail guns, rockets and missiles, so she thought using rail guns would be a good idea.

    As an older ship, Seeker still had rail guns - a total of eight individual rail guns in fact, each capable of firing projectiles at up to several thousand meters per second, giving each over 4,000 megajoules of energy, or over a kiloton of TNT. Their destructive energy was basically from the projectiles kic energy, but that could be increased if explosive projectiles were used.

    Hermes and Constetion, like all Type-Ones and Type-Twos used more modern weaponry, but they did have at least one rail gun that fired through ten tubes, capable of firing projectiles at velocities that gave each about half the kic energy of Seekers. The rail guns were used to supplement their energy weapons and missiles - after all, FTL ships had enough power to generate the millions of amps needed, and the guns themselves were small enough and easily manufactured.

    The ease with which rail guns could be manufactured made the humans wonder why the aliens didnt use them, which was confirmed by the alien hulks.

    As for Earth fighters, they couldnt have rail guns - the energy required was just too much for the little spacecraft to produce. It was lucky Titan had several small, mothballed eighty-year-old railunchers that had independent power, so they were able to equip some of the Shrikes. But, Okonkwoined, where would they be able to find enough of the outdated mechanisms to outfit all their nes?

    As for individual hand weapons, that was easier. Many handguns that used bullets propelled by exploding or expanding gases were still in wide use. There were none on board any of the ships, however, but it would be an easy matter to fabricate simr weapons.

    Thest item on their daily agenda was the problem ofmunicating without using radio or Phase-Wave. Except for light andsermunication, the crew of the Seeker found no other ways that worked.

    So they decided to look further intoserms.

    Other than that, everything else that they tackled was mostly administrative, and they breezed through those items quickly: Mia hurried those along to keep her staff meetings down to a few hours only, so she could attend to the conferences that were still continuing - the so-called Channels A, B and C meetings.

    Before the meeting broke up, though, OConnell brought up the matter of the admirals barge as theirst housekeeping item.

    The term admirals barge was taken from the old 20th-century maritime term for the g officers personal boat that hed use to get ashore, or move from ship to ship. It would have been a captains gig, but since it was for Mia, and since the Seeker was the g carrier of the fleet, naturally, theyd have an admirals barge.

    And thats what she called the Mud Turtle that Mia had asked to be refitted for her use when she needed to get around. Since the Fifth Fleet would be traveling between systems most of the time, it wasnt unreasonable that theyd need a ships boat dedicated for officers to move around, hence the admirals barge.

    OConnell shed a picture on their screens.

    The Barge was a Mud Turtle, like OConnell said, but it was re-done so that it now sported a radome on its roof, round Crystalline ports at the corners forserms, extra ports on the sides that she exined were mini-rail gun tubes, and a couple of round, stubby wings. They werent wings, actually, but the housing for maneuvering flywheels.

    The ship also had a new paint job. It now sported a darker gray color than the normal gunmetal gray of Seekers shuttles and Shrike fighters, and had a narrow red trim running around its hull. The red trim wasnt just for aesthetic purposes  it actually hid the piping for a spruced-up, reinforced Structural Integrity Field, or SIF.

    On its port and starboard hulls near the bow, it sported two admirals sunbursts, and beside the painted sunbursts the words 01, Galileo  DSC Seeker. The hull towards the stern had miniatures of the U.N. g, and the rear boarding hatch had the words EDF FIFTH FLEET  DSC 05 SEEKER, FLAG.

    We have never had captains gigs and admirals barges on any Earth spaceship. The only one that has something like that is Earthship Two. So my people had to do some research. These are authentic colors and livery for a barge.

    Anyway, the Galileo is ready to go. And the reason Im showing her to you is that you might want to look her over  the modifications may be useful, and you might want to retrofit the other ships in the same way.

    The Galileo, Dupont mused. Where did you get the name, Capitaine OConnell?

    It was suggested by the Admirals Aide-de-Camp. He says its from an old twentieth century television show. Also the name of an old Renaissance scientist.

    I like it.

    Mia grinned. Thank you, sir.

    -----

    Though the tech briefings on Channel A continued, the pace of the briefings had significantly slowed down. There was still a lot to learn from each other, but most everyone had suggested to end the briefings after a few days. The whiz-bang nature of the talks had petered out, and the researchers wanted to work on other things. So the briefings were discontinued.

    To substitute for the briefings, the people from CETI transmitted to the aliens several tranted encyclopedias. They exined these were actually just books that everyone could buy. They just tranted them. Together with the documents Mia gave before, they suspected the aliens would take at least a few months getting through the books.

    What the CETI people didnt tell them, of course, was that these were the original references made by the researchers responsible for the original transmission sent to the Federation. Those researchers hadbed through the material beforehand, of course, removing any sections or references that Mia (when she was still Bill) wanted to keep secret: like things about Phase-Wave, spacecraft numbers and details, weaponry, poption distribution, et cetera. The CETI people had been working on these since the original transmission was sent, and by now, they were so sanitized that they held no strategic value for the aliens whatsoever. They never did transmit them, and Jenn thought this was the opportune time to send them.

    The Elyrans and Dixx epted them gratefully, and reciprocated by transmitting their own version of an encyclopedia as well. These were so much better than the first books they gave, and Jenn and her staff were d to receive them. What was more, they were also given Dixx as well as Elyran technical references on various subjects, allowing Jenn and her people to cross check/cross-reference them with each other.

    To reciprocate, Sahsha sent some other stuff - she sent copies of some fashion and entertainment magazines.

    There were a few magazines still publishing regr printed issues and Sahsha thought it might help the aliens understand them better if they could get copies. Jennifer approved it so they did quick scans and trantions and sent them off.

    Ren and many of his friends in Talon were quite excited about the magazines, and they pored over the pictures and articles, amazed at the Earthers ideas on fashion and entertainment. It seems an interest in celebrity gossip was somethingmon to both races.

    To Ben and his friends, Earther fashions seemed quite suggestive and risqu, and sometimes they found them scandalous. But they were professionals and made allowances. There was no ounting for taste, especially for aliens. But one thing they agreed on: they learned a new Earther word, and that word was sexy. Earther fashions were sexy.

    They wanted to reciprocate, and Ben, the Princes closest friend on board, went though the entire science staff and scanned copies of their magazine collections.

    Most publications on Elyra were still print-only so Ben had to scan them first, but that wasnt a problem, and he was able to transmit them in short order.

    Sahsha was excited to receive the magazines, and could hardly wait. And when she received them, she was over the moon, and started poring over them as soon as theputer spit them out. She took half a day, and she was like a little girl looking through an old-fashioned fairy tale pop-up book. To Sahsha, Elyran styles looked very simr to seventeenth century French court fashion, and in her mind, she imagined herself dressing like Cindere or something, walking the halls of the castles of Elyra Prime.

    She even went through the trouble of tuning in to the conferences and thanking Ben personally.

    Mia, as did most that were there, listened in on their conversation, and she couldnt help but smile. It was like listening to two giggly adolescents excited by the idea of a shopping trip to a mall on Earth (she wondered if Elyra had malls). She could easily imagine these two bing best friends. Maybe she could bring them on a shopping trip to the New Mall of America in Minnesota or the New Mall of Asia in Man. Goodness knows she owed Sahsha at least one shopping trip from when she was still Bill.

    She whispered to Nick, to make a note to ask the Secretary-General to make Sahsha a permanent member of the contact team, and to rece her trantor device with a smaller, more portable version. Her rapport with Ben could be very useful, and they definitely needed someone who was a good documenter.

    -----

    On Channel B, the newly reformatted channel B briefings had now morphed into what amounted to a social science and history ss. Prince Ren, his assistant Ben, their staff, and Professor Priestly now jointly managed it. Their efforts were supplemented by Jaxx, a Dixx scientist from Admiral Daxxs staff, Cale, the Dravidian from the Keepers staff that they first met during their encounter with the Keeper of the Heritage, plus two silent Erocii, also from the Keepers staff, that seemed to be there to assist Cale.

    The attendees were usually the science staff of Fifth Fleet, Earther and Federation alike (Daxx and Reena assumed they were part of the Fifth Fleet, and Mia went along), plus arge contingent from CETI and many from the Earther universities.

    Cale did a masterful job, and his portion was by far the most visually interesting. His presentation was thorough, and the graphics and illustrations his Erocii assistants put up gave everyone a lot of information, which covered Dravidian and Erocii history and culture, as well as a Dravidians take on the various major races in the Federation (the portions on the Dravidians and Erocii were particrly detailed, of course).

    For the First Ambassadors people, they did it together - four of them did the lecture in what an Earther would have said was abination lecture and pantomime. The information was not as rich in reference material since everyone knew the Arachnians had lost everything, but they did their best, with the able assistance of Nick as friendly trantor/go-between, and all of the resources of Seeker at their disposal. It was surprisingly entertaining yet informative. The Arachnians were puzzled by what they were told was a standing ovation until the First Ambassador exined. So, under the First Ambassadors direction, they did a respectable version of a curtain call bow.

    It was, in fact, very entertaining, and Jennifer was happy they did it that way. Any xenophobic feelings that people may have had were surely washed away by the humorous drama-sketches that they performed, with Nick as their straight man.

    As for the Elyrans, during Rens lecture, he included a ckboard and pointer in his lecture, although he didnt use the traditional Earth-style green board and white chalk. What he used looked like a yellowish papyrus or some kind of woven straw mat tacked to a board, and what looked like charcoal sticks. He behaved like the absent-minded professor that Earther schoolchildren would instantly recognize. His part, Jennifer thought, was the most popr, especially among Earther females. He and his assistant Ben were extremely cute, after all.

    Not to be outdone, during her part, Jennifer did the whole schoolteacher shtick as well. She couldnt find a ckboard or chalkboard so she used a standard Crystalline disy board and several UV markers. She finished it off with the stereotype teacher look - a long ruler in her hand, eyesses on a chain, long-sleeved white blouse, pencil skirt, tights and ck pumps.

    Jennifer made sure, though, to keep the top buttons of her blouse unbuttoned. She also picked her favorite patent-leather high heels and one of her shortest short skirts. She wanted to y up to her Elyran audience, too, after all. The Earthersughed when Jennifer did the stereotype stern schoolteacher look, but she was sure she had as big an effect with the Elyran males as Ren did with the Earther women.

    Mia took a little time to exin to the non-Earthers the cultural references for Jennifers outfit, and they seemed to understand. Ren exined that they had a simr male archetype in modern Elyran culture.

    Young Miss Amelia! Jennifer mock-eximed, and pped her ruler in her hand several times. What do you think youre doing? Stop chatting with your ssmates! Back in your seat!

    Yes, Maam, Mia said contritely, ying along. She scurried back to her seat, and everyoneughed.

    Needless to say, Jennifers lecture was the most popr among the Elyrans.

    -----

    Upon Jennifers rmendation, Secretary-General Romarkin had shared recordings of the raw, unretouched recordings to all the legitimate news agencies with an audio trantion channel and a subtitle channel built in. There was, however, a thirty-minute dy before they sent it off so that CETI had time to cut out any security-sensitive material. The breaks caused by the deleted spots were quite irritating, actually, so most of theworks took the raw feeds and edited them, adding appropriatementary andmentators, music and other things to give them more mour and pizazz. They also re-transmitted them at more convenient viewing hours, and in more ptable, re-cut and rearranged fifteen-minute chunks. This also gave them a chance to sneak in theirmercials in between. Ren and the others watched the edited versions of their history sses and were bowled over by the quality of the shows. Ben giggled and said he was a video star now.

    The sses became the most popr transmissions on the Sr Network at the time. The entire human poption was very curious about the aliens, and any material about them was gobbled up. But, more than that, these transmissions were the most popr ones since people had a chance to see the aliens live. They were especially popr among the younger viewers - they thought the Elyrans very attractive, especially Ren with the girls, and their ents were thought of as very cute (most preferred watching the videos subtitled instead of dubbed).

    Some of Jennifer Priestlys people were worried about xenophobia, and they thought broadcasting the sses was a risk, but they were relieved when there were very few signs of this, as Jenn predicted there would be. She attributed the peoples eptance to the Seeker staffs friendly, casual and cordial rtionship with the aliens, especially Mia, which was so obvious in the ss. If a beautiful, intelligent, morous person like Mia could be close friends with what superficially looked like arge orange-and-white spider, they couldnt be all bad. There were even rumors that Mia and the First Ambassador had actually be close friends. Plus, the Elyrans were cute, the Erocii were likerge, colorfuldybugs, Cale the Dravidian looked like a big, cheerful bear and the Dixx looked like tall, regal birds with bright feathers.

    Jennifer was actually a little worried about the reverse. Xenophilia wasnt really something she prepared for, but there were lots of signs, especially for the Elyrans. It wasn''t necessarily a bad thing, some may even say it was a good thing. But any good sociologist (and Jenn was the best) knew that this could be as bad as a xenophobic wave. Images of the cults and fanatics of Earths past were in her mind, and those were not good.

    But that was probably not going to happen. Guess well see, Jenn thought.

    -----

    As for Channel C, the closed-door meetings were ably managed by Secretary-General Romarkin (when she was avable, which was seldom), Sahsha Delyer, and Admiral Daxx herself.

    The discussions were fairly well along already, so the meetings usuallysted only for an hour or so nowadays. That was because the work they didtely was mostly to review and refine the wording of the treaties and other documents they had been working on. The documents were all mostly done, and they just needed to be finessed and approved. Their days were now spent mostly going over suggestions and modifications requested by various interest groups or certain Earth politicos.

    The advantage the humans had over the aliens was that when a decision had to be made, the humans authorized to make decisions were avable to them, and therefore the decisions were fairly easily made. As for the Federation envoys, they were only empowered to approve certain things, and they were already at their limit. They had to disapprove most of the new changes pendingment by their people back home.

    They were also working on another document, something they were calling the proposed Terran-Federation Treaty, or what Marc Bidwell called their wish list. It was their working draft of the treaty they would propose in case Terran membership to the Federation would be approved, patterned after the existing treaties currently enforced in the Gctic Federation, and predicated on best-case scenarios and the things the Earthers wanted: favorable trade positions, for example, right-of-way in trade routes, trade priorities, equitable mutual defense agreements, fair settlement rights and so many others. They had been heavily modifying this document using input from the First Ambassador, the Prince and Princess, and Admiral Daxx, about what they felt the other races in the Federation would or would not agree to. It was fortunate that the Arachnians were advising them - it was amon view in the Federation that Arachnians got the worst treatment from most. Not that there was anything remotely like overt oppression or discrimination among the races, but it was indisputable that the Arachnians hade out of most trade negotiations or arbitrations on the losing side. Things were improving for the Arachnians, however, as they were starting to be adept at how to deal with individualists instead of team yers, as Earthers would say. Romarkin and her people were reaping the benefits of all of their hard-earned lessons. The resulting document was one they felt would find easy approval by the Federation yet stack the cards in favor of the Earthers, and to a significant extent, the Elyrans, Arachnians and Dixx.

    During the frequent lulls in the discussion, when one or the other person needed to concentrate on reading a newly edited section, the others would chat about the Isles of Scilly. The aliens were excited to see their new home on Earth, and were bowled over to find out that they were part of a duchy of the Lady Amelia, which she was allowing them to use. And when she was free, they would usually ask Mia to dial in and talk about them.

    Mia dreaded it when the Elyrans, Arachnians and Dixx wanted to talk about the inds, but she did her best to be a credit to the Secretary-General, and to help forward her scheme: she had dutifully researched the Isles of Scilly, which she was informed was her duchy now. How could she take this seriously, she thought. And with a name like Scilly... It didnt really matter that the inds were supposedly hers - since they were mostly deserted, especially after the Third World War. There really was no real difference to anyone whether they were Mias or not.

    There were still, however, several hundred hardy individuals who made the inds their home while they managed them for the British government and performed patrol, erosion prevention, agricultural recovery and weather monitoring work, as well as managing the next-to-nonexistent tourist facilities.

    These hardy civil servants were surprised to find out just days ago that the isles they''d been living and working in was actually Mia''s duchy. They were not too suspicious, though, and did not question this - many records were lost in the war so reconstructing records and returning property held in trust by the government to their rightful owners happened from time to time. They werent as surprised as Mia was, of course, but she didnt contradict the British government.

    The people living in and working on the inds were all given options to ept new government positions on the maind or to be part of the soon-to-be embassypound. Most jumped at the chance to stay, of course.

    Admiral Silverman also had his people deploy personnel from the Seabees  the Navy Engineering Corps - to the inds, and started doing what was necessary to prepare them for upancy, and to train the would-be embassy staff. They dutifully sent reports to Mia, and she dutifullymitted them to memory.

    In meetings, Mia would tell the aliens that they were mostly upied by government personnel posted there to manage them. None were native to the inds since they were abandoned during the war, but all of their new residents were very fond of the ce.

    The global government had started preparing the inds, she said, clearingnd and putting up temporary structures for their new guests.

    She exined that the weather was mostly mild throughout the year, except when there were storms or in winter of course, and the Elyrans seemed excited as they listened to her.

    Ren was curious about how Mia became their duchess, so Mia went into the song and dance that she had worked out with Romarkins people.

    Well, Your Highness, I am notpletely sure, actually, she said. Many records were lost in the war, and families lost touch with each other. All I know is that the inds have been passed on to me because an ancestor on my mothers side was a duke, and I inherited the title and property. Truth be told, I havent been to the inds in a while, (try never, she thought) but I know how beautiful they are, and I am sure that you will enjoy your stay.

    She then showed them pictures of the inds, most particrly St. Marys, which she imed was her ancestral home (she actually got the pictures from the Cornwall Tourist Board), and talked about the features of St. Marys and the other inds, taking most of her material from the tourist brochures she was given.

    To Ren and Tasha, her exnations were all proof positive of Mias credentials, and they treated her from then on as a royal peer. Taking the lead from them, the rest of the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians all referred to her as Lady Amelia from then on, or My Lady or Lord Captain.

    Mia sighed. With everything that was happening, she now had to endure this as well. And she knew her people would start doing the same. She sighed again. Complications... Life really was full ofplications...

    <strong>Innovations </strong>

    Over theing days, Mias people would make headway in developing EM suppression-proof equipment, and they did their best to push innovation to the edge.

    The teams did the easiest things first. In order to provide their people withmunications, even ifparatively short-range, they retooled the helmets and armored headpieces of all their people and, using off-the-shelfponents, put sixteenser emitters and detectors in a silvered ring. The idea was, when theser system was engaged, it would fire invisible, harmless message-encodedser beams in a global pattern (they confirmed with the PRC people that the frequency of light they used was not affected by the EM suppression field). When a beam hit a detector on another helmet, that other helmet would re-transmit the message as well as transmit its wearers own message beams. In this way, the wearers would create their own real-timeser-basedmunication rywork. The user could even switch channels, and listen to specific people since everyone had their own encoding, or listen to everyone at the same time.

    They also replicated the same concept onboard the three ships, their fighters and their shuttles, and if they received any of the encoded messages from the suits or the other ships, theyd act as repeaters as well.

    One of the big things withsermunication was that the parties needed to be precisely lined up and targeted. Not with this new system. The two main limitations with their system however were that theirmunications could easily be intercepted and they had to have a minimum number of people to create awork and ry messages. But this shoring was thought a small trade-off to not having anymunications at all.

    The next thing that they tackled was the individual sidearms for the crew.

    When Mia asked what they hade up with, she was presented with two tubes - one of them six inches long and the other about a foot and a half long.

    They were based on an idea someone from Hermes had. Essentially, they were blowguns powered by super-pressured gas cartridges, allowing precisely machined metallic slugs to be propelled at around two hundred meters per second. In the prototype, there was gas enough in each cartridge to fire up to two dozen rounds, and it was a simple matter to swap out a cartridge for a fresh one, with a protective valve that allowed it to operate in vacuum.

    The tubes were to be mounted to their existing weapons, and would be fired by the same trigger. They also intended to mount a low-poweredser sight so all they need do was to shine thesers red dot on their target and fire, and theyd hit it every time (the frequency tuned to a filter in the soldiers visor, so she would be the only one to see her gunsser dot). It was an old-fashioned twenty-first century innovation, but one that had the virtue of working long-distance yet remaining impervious to the EM effect.

    Mia wondered that, ifsers worked, why not makeser ray guns (Nick snickered at the term). The Hermes chief engineer exined that any beam with sufficient power to be used as an offensive weapon would just break down.

    The more difficult item was thest one they tackled - equipping their small ships with rail guns.

    The first thing Beths people did was to break down one of the twenty antique railunchers that the people from Titan had installed in the Shrikes. The gun itself was easy to fabricate but their problem, as before, was the power supply. They couldnt figure out how the oldunchers were able to store the necessary power to make them work. They seemed to be made from regrponents, but no one could figure out the trick. That is until they cracked open one of the enormous, ancient battery cells.

    Each cell had a wire made of some alloy that wasnt used much anymore due to their brittleness in vacuum. They were wound around and through an armature made from a powdery substancepacted into a cylinder in a kind of crisscross pattern no one recognized.

    Through experimentation, they found the cell was actually a capacitor, able to hold an enormous charge but only for a short period, which could only discharge it all in one go, and if not discharged in, at most, a minute, was liable to explode. Used as a battery, it was a failure. That was probably why the technology wasnt used anymore and why there were no references about it avable.

    But for a device requiring a gigantic jolt of power, it came ready-to-order, provided, of course, one could generate the minimum power it required at the start. The capacitor that they cracked open for example, could only hold charges two hundred thousand amps up, but no less.

    Another catch was it would take a second or so for it to charge enough to fire a round, even with a Shrikes or an Eagles semi-FTL engine. The rail guns rate of fire would therefore be around thirty to forty rounds per minute, at best.

    Mias people were able to scrounge up enough of thepounds they needed to make batteries for just a few of their ships, but at least now they knew how to do it. When they were docked, they were sure they would be able to requisition enough raw materials.

    -----

    Mia also had other meetings to help her decide on the rest of her fleet. She originally thought of requisitioning four more ss J cruisers and converting them to ss J-Ones just like Seeker, but apparently, there were no others. Thest one was actually in the middle of being dismantled and recycled for its metal. Seeker was, unfortunately, thest of her kind.

    Mia called up Marta Running-Stream for advice, but Marta said the other Legacy ship types were too much trouble to convert, so she advised Mia to just select from the Type-Ones.

    That reminded her about Hermes and Constetion. She checked on their required upgrades, but Marta said it was a fairly straightforward upgrade.

    Type-Ones didnt differ much from Type-Twos - they were basically the same design, except that Type-Ones had therger FTL engines meant for light-year velocities, and were outfitted with fewer Eagle Fighters and less Cobra shuttles. In fact, she said they already had the Type-One engines for Mias ships ready, and were just waiting for them to arrive. Once they did, Martas people could swap the engines out in a few days.

    As for the new crew makeup, Mia wanted to get as many social scientists and CETI specialists as she can get, but that might not be possible. Still, though Phil didnt want to give up any of his staff, Mia felt she might be able to sweet-talk Jenn into giving up some of hers.

    -----

    Mia also spent a lot of time tuned in to Channel B and was fascinated by the material being discussed. It was a good idea that the briefings were reformatted. As for Channel C, after a few days, they had officially dered their workpleted. They were only waiting for the Earthers referendum to ratify the treaty now. To cap their work, Mia turned over a prototype Terran-Elyran trantor to the First Ambassador - one of many that the Earthers nned to use for the duration of the stay of their visitors on Earth. It was intended that the Arachnians test it out prior to their arrival.

    The First Ambassador eagerly epted the duty to test-drive the prototype, and Ren just had to giggle at his excitement.

    On Channel B, the lectures went well. Thest one to lecture was Jennifer. She took two whole days to lecture about the Earthers, and there were a lot of questions during and afterwards.

    The lectures that the Elyrans gave also provided the Earthers with a lot of info, as did those of the Dixx, the Dravidian and the Arachnians. For example, they found that with the Elyrans, as with the Detterex, tradition and honor were important drivers for their lives. As for the Dixx, obedience to authority, and how well they were able to do so gave them their sense of fulfillment. For Dravidians, personal sess was important, as was following rules. The highest honor was achieved by attaining the highest personal sess yet still following the rules. As for the Arachnians and Erocii, to be part of a n or family gave them their fulfillment, but the Erocii found the need to establish their own dynasties instead of just being part of one an equally important drive. As for the Tirosians, it was amon view in the Federation that they were cunning and ruthless, willing to do anything to get their way, but onlymitted to engage an enemy if they had the advantage.

    The aliens didnt see it, but the new information gave Earth strategists insights on how to manage them. Jenn said that the advantage of the human psyche, at least in this particr situation, was its multifacetedness. Compared to the Federation races, humans were unusually neurotic. But that was because humans were a lot less single-minded, which allowed them to second-guess the aliens, even to the extent of anticipating their actions.

    Jenn thought, given a few thousand millennia, humans would probably be the same as the Federation - set in their ways and less willing to consider new methods of doing things. But as of this moment, the Earthers were the provincials that didnt know table manners but were also the ones that werent mired yet in Federation cultural narrow-mindedness, allowing them to explore ideas and concepts that would not have even urred to the aliens. Time would tell if Jenn was right.

    For now, everyone was feeling good about the progress they were making, but the pessimist in Mia thought it couldntst. Unfortunately, she was correct.

    Several days beforefall, a full fifteen days before the earliest expected arrival of the Empire ships, they received a message. It seemed radio signals all across the board had disappeared.

 Chapter 19: Lunar Lunacy III

    Chapter 19: Lunar Lunacy III

    <strong>Hiding in in sight </strong>

    Admiral Steele, Silverman said. How are your Federation charges?

    Theyre fine, sir, Mia responded. As soon as we heard about the EM effects, we established aserm line to them immediately. All five of their ships are all right.

    Good.

    Has the EM fields Phase-Wave boundary been identified, sir?

    Here you go, Silverman said. His people sent over an extrapted Phase-Wave graph of the system and it reced the video on the main screen. It was the Sr System as seen from above the ne of the ecliptic, with the eights orbits marked.

    There it is, Admiral, Beth said, pointing to another round smudge. It was well past Mars orbit.

    The fields trailing us, Mia said. Needless to say, the enemys inside the field, of course. They probably spotted the Federation ships a while back and matched course. Its only a matter of time before the fields leading edge overtakes us as it has the Federation ships.

    Show the stats for the Admiral, Silverman instructed and the picture changed. A new graph was disyed showing their eight cruisers in rtion to Earth, the moon and the EM suppression field. Two scales underneath each showed distance to Earth and their ETA. Mia looked at the changing velocities but also at the time-over-distance figures.

    Admiral, Beth pointed out. The field will be intercepting us in... Just under three days.

    Captain OConnell is correct, Admiral, Silverman said. Assuming the aliens are in the middle of that field, and speeds are constant - two point seventy-three days, give or take. But theyre speeding up. Or rather cking off deceleration.

    Theyre traveling too fast, Beth, Mia said worriedly. They want to catch us before we make it to Earth. But at those velocities...

    They must know theyre not gonna be able to decelerate in time before hitting Earth or shooting beyond her... Beth murmured. Skipper, its a suicide mission.

    Admiral, Mia said to Silverman, These ships are going to wipe away the Federation ships at all costs. They have no intention of escaping. Seems theyve decided that the priority is to prevent word from getting back to the Federation.

    Thats what my people here tell me, too. Its time to change Fifth Fleets course, Admiral.

    Sir, Beth said, and pulled Mia aside to whisper into her ear. Mia whispered back. No one was disturbing them as they whispered to each other.

    Mia? Silverman said. He was getting a little impatient.

    Admiral, Mia said. If I may ask, what is the status of the Legacy ships?

    Sir, one of Silvermans staff answered, ten of the fourteen are near lunar orbit now. Thest four will be arriving some timeter tonight.

    Mia nodded at that. Sir, with your permission, Beth and I have an idea...

    Go ahead.

    I suggest that we set course for Luna Colony, and get the enemy to follow us into an orbit around the moon, to give Lunar Control a crack at them with their colony defenses.

    How will you guarantee that they follow you, and don''t continue on to Earth?

    I would have all avable cruisers establish a picket line across their path in between the moon and the enemy, but leave a path open for us to power through and into a course to the moon, which, of course, would also be open to the enemy. I would have the picket line established as early as possible; let the enemy see it early and let theme to the conclusion we want. Ill want to get Lunar Patrolunched to keep the enemy bottled up and orbiting as long as possible until theyre slow enough that Lunar Defense can start tracking them manually and shoot them down.

    Lots of possible holes in that, Mia.

    Aye, sir. As I see it, the Fifth Fleet has four main objectives here: protect the mother, protect civilians in Luna Colony, protect the Federation envoys, and disable and capture the enemy. In that order.

    Of course, we can run the safe y, sir, and lure away the enemy, or fire on them now, but we might not achieve all four objectives. I believe, sir, that our n can achieve all four objectives with sufficient precautions in ce.

    Silverman looked away to his left. Mia knew he only did that when he was trying to ept an idea he didn''t believe in, but in the end he did.

    All right, Mia, he said. Well do it your way.

    Aye, sir.

    Better do it quick before we lose Phase-Wave. The EM suppression field will overtake you soon.

    Aye.

    My people will brief all ships per your n, and put them under your temporarymand.

    I appreciate your trust in us, sir.

    Silverman nodded and switched off.

    Beth, please get Captains Okonkwo and Dupont, and exin to them the n. Im going to my office to brief the Federation people. She stepped off the bridge.

    Aye, sir. Lieutenant, get Admiral Daxx and Lady Tasha onserms, and pipe the line to the Admirals office.

    -----

    In about sixteen hours, all the so-called legacy cruisers were in ce, and were maintaining station keeping along an imaginary wall fifty thousand square kilometers wide. It was a pretty thin wall since there were only fourteen ships, but this number was increasing as more of the new FTL ships arrived, fresh from their shakedown missions, and the ships rearranged themselves as needed.

    As for Luna Colony, their people had been able topute a course for the Federation ships and Mias three cruisers. Lunar Defense had trundled out all of their crewed mobileunch tforms, mostly missile batteries on tracks, and put them along and to the sides of where they expected the ships to pass over. They selected concealed locations well away from popted areas, and their missile crews all stood by at the ready.

    The massedunchers were impressive. The moons defensive weaponry was the most extensive in the system since they were part of Earths defensive shield, and the massed mobileunchers represented forty percent of all of the moonsunchers. Their confidence in being able to shoot down the enemy was a hundred percent. That is if Mia could get them to fly over theunchers as they expected them to.

    -----

    The blockade ships would asionally fire maneuvering thrusters in what looked like efforts to maintain station keeping, but was primarily to provide beacons to make it easier for the enemy to visually home in on them and map out their positions.

    The picket line was not literally a line, but a term borrowed from twentieth century warfare. In this situation, it was a formation of ships ced forward of a position to provide warning of an enemy advance.

    But if the enemy were to analyze the spread of the ships, their pilots would easily spot a break in the wall, and the trajectory of the Fifth Fleet would clearly show that they were making for that break.

    The three Empire ships decreased their rate of deceleration further, trying to catch up to Mia before they reached the Earth blockade, and continued to gain on the Fifth Fleet. Mia yed it cool and didnt react to this move even when the EM suppression fields boundary finally overtook them. It was as if Mia didnt know the enemy was there, hiding in in sight. But when they were already so close to each other that it couldnt be denied they could see each other, Mias eight ships decreased deceleration as well.

    The distance separating the two groups of spacecraft started to increase again. Mias three ships maneuvered so they were between the Empire and Federation cruisers.

    Like fish following bait, the Empire cruisers decreased deceleration more, which forced Mia to decrease likewise. In a short while, both groups were zooming through the hole in the defensive wall, definitely above ship-maneuverable. At that speed, the blockade ships couldnt do anything but let them through, but once they had passed, the blockade ships started trailing them as well.

    General Quarters had echoed through the three ships a while ago, and following Mias standing order, everyone had changed into their pressure suits. Mias cheeks were a constant red from too much blushing, recalling her pictures from before. It was toote to rescind her order now though, so she just sighed and tried to act normally.

    She stood beside the Captains chair while Beth stood on the other side, neither willing to sit, knowing the symbolism of themand chair.

    Helm, status, please, Beth said, taking a page out of Miasmand stylebook. She had seen how the crew responded to Mia, so shed been trying to sound more like her, saying please a little more, trying for consensus when she could, and to exploit every teachable moment - a term she learned from Mia.

    Aye, sir, the lieutenant manning the helm responded. The five Federation ships are above ten percent of ship-maneuverable while our three ships are remaining in pace with them. The three enemy ships are fifteen thousand kilometers and closing at a rate of seven hundred meters per minute. They will be in firing range in about twenty minutes.

    Why have we fallen to the rear of the Federation ships?

    The lieutenant gulped thinking he was in deep trouble. Ummm, Im sorry, sir. The Federation cruisers didnt have too precise a control of their velocities. They had up to a two-meters-per-second variation. The Hermes and Constetion pilots and I decided to let them take point and we would match up with them instead of them matching us. Its safer. Im sorry I didnt clear it with you first...

    Beth nodded. Not at all, Lieutenant. I would have made the same decision, and its within your area of responsibility. Good work. And be sure to thank your co-pilots.

    The lieutenant grinned delightedly. Aye, sir.

    Whats the ETA to the moon? Mia asked.

    The pilot checked his screen. We will be reaching the moon in neen minutes or so, Admiral.

    One minute margin. Thats pretty tight. Captain?

    Lieutenant, Beth said to the pilot, any way to increase the margin?

    Im afraid not, sir. If we speed up, well rear-end the Federation ships. What if we pull away to the side?

    If we do, then the Empire ships might not stay on course, Mia said.

    We canunch our fighters, sir, the lieutenant said.

    Not at the moment, Beth said. Most of them are being retrofitted with rail guns and Haskellsser halo.

    We can fire some missiles along our track...

    We would like to capture the Defiant, if at all possible, Lieutenant. That move would be reserved as a final resort.

    I guess we have to live with a minutes margin, son, Mia said to the pilot.

    Can we talk to the Federation ships? Beth asked.

    Im sorry, sir... the Lieutenant responded.

    How about Hermes or Constetion?

    The Lieutenant shrugged nervously.

    Dammit...

    Patience is a virtue, Beth, Mia said.

    Nuts...

    -----

    Seventeen minutester...

    Good evening, Captain OConnell, the First Ambassador said from the bridges main door. Permission to enter? The Ambassador had taken to wearing his new English-Elyran trantor everywhere, but since they were in another EM suppression field, hed taken to using his older jury-rigged stand-alone one.

    OConnell was about to deny permission, and tell him it was General Quarters, but Mia said, sotto voce, He was usefulst time, Beth. He may be again.

    Good evening, Ambassador, Beth said. Wee. I hate to be tedious, but were at General Quarters...

    I know the term, Captain. I will stay out of the way.

    Mia went to the Arachnian. Come with me, Ambassador. Lets see if we can find seats.

    Beth nodded her thanks and gratefully sat in the Captains chair.

    All right, its time. Comm. Send a message to the Federation ships viaser. Remind them we aremencing in thirty seconds. Keep on trying until you get acknowledgement.

    Aye.

    Helm. Prepare to change course the moment the Federation ships change trajectory.

    Aye, Captain.

    The entire bridge crew grew silent as they waited.

    One minute to course change, Helm said.

    Forty-five seconds...

    Thirty seconds...

    Ten seconds. Here we go...

    They saw the Federation ships fire retros and start dipping down towards the moon, and Helm started to change their trajectory as well.

    Captain! the lieutenant manning Coms called, the lead Empire ship fired!

    What? Tactical on screen!

    A graphical representation of all eleven ships was thrown up, as well as the missile that was just fired.

    Okay. Projection: time signature times twenty.

    The image was fast-forwarded and they saw all the ships moving downwards. The trajectory change for the Empire ships were, however, so much sharper. A few seconds forward, the missile detonated. A ring representing the st radius was also disyed, and it didnt hit anything. And with the velocity of the ships, they quickly left the st area behind.

    Whew... That was much ado about nothing.

    Captain, if I may...

    Please, Ambassador.

    The spouse of the Detterex Princess Arvan is Lord Norga. Though he has married into royalty, he himself is not of royalty. But at the same time, it is said that he holds much influence over the Princess. And it is almost a certainty he is onboard the Defiant, and that he is with the Princess now.

    Very interesting, Ambassador. But whats your point?

    Norga has had little formal schooling. He knows little of military strategies, much less of spacecraft tactics and weapon technology. Many within the Elyran military think his battle techniques and strategies un-nuanced, rudimentary and unsophisticated, and he has historically used unwarranted disproportionate force at every military engagement he has been part of. It is this style of his that has led to his many victories in the name of his Princess.

    I dont understand...

    I think what the Ambassador is saying, Mia said, is that the missile that the enemy fired is probably not a in, regr missile, but is a lot more.

    You mean...?

    He thinks the missile is nuclear.

    Oh, my god...

    Mia bent over and had a quick conversation with the little Arachnian, Mia talking in fluent Elyran and the Ambassador in native Arachnian.

    Mia then went to a nearby console and did someputations.

    Captain, Mia said, the Ambassador says that, if the missile is a standard Detterex nuclear missile, it would have up to three independent warheads, each one having the equivalent power of about three kilotons of TNT. I would guess they would be set to detonate together.

    Beth thought that over a bit. Adjust tactical with the new information from the Admiral. Assume three warheads.

    The screen nked out and then the graphic was repeated, this time the st ring was so muchrger. The three Earth ships were not able to outrun it and the ring ovepped them, though the five Federation ships were able to escape.

    Well... Beth said ironically, thatll put a damper on the rest of our day...

    Captain, Mia said, the Federation ships will clear the st. Wont even touch them.

    Beth understood that Mia was trying to tell her something, but was trying to without appearing that she was for the sake of not dictating to her, and for her to save face. Beth appreciated it, but was a little frustrated that even though they were minutes from obliteration, Mia wasnt telling her what was needed... and then it crystalized in her mind. Maybe she finally understood what Mia was about.

    But at the moment...

    Mia said the Federation ships will clear the st, Beth thought. What the hell is she getting at... Aha!

    Helm! Get us as close to the Federation ships as you can. I dont mind that we end up kissing their asses. Get us close! Comms! Laser a message to the Constetion and Hermes. Tell them to follow our lead. Keep on trying until they acknowledge.

    Sir, Helm said. I have no sensors. I cant tell if were going to run into...

    Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Weapons! Get the forward rail guns to fire at the trailing Federation ship. Three-second intervals until I say otherwise.

    Sir?

    Use point-zero-five percent power. Make sure that the projectiles will just bounce off their hull tes. Execute!

    Aye.

    In moments, projectiles started pinging against the hull of Admiral Daxxs ship, one every three seconds, and each traveling at a puny one third of a meter per second, rtive. They would hardly have prated the hull of a cargo transport much less a capital ships. But what they did was that they gave Seekers pilot an indication where the boundary was by looking for the small glowing sparks the projectiles made.

    In the past days, Seeker''s helm officers, and to a lesser extent, the Hermes and Constetion''s helm officers, have flown under manual control - a practically unheard-of thing nowadays. In car driving terms, it was as though most ships almost always ran under cruise control. But recently, Seeker had had to perform the most difficult maneuvers in decades, and had to do it under manual control. Seekers pilot was, in fact starting to get a reputation as a hotshot star jockey.

    His manual piloting skills were being tested again. Without any navigation aids save bouncing rail gun projectiles, Seeker was now tailgating therge Dixx gship. It was doubtful that the Federation people knew they were there. Without radar or radio, and when theserm feed from Seeker, Constetion and Hermes were cut, theFederation ships wereblind as bats. They were probably wondering what the pinging was. Maybe someone would peek out a window, but Seeker wasnt counting on that.

    Seeker surged and receded in time with the fluctuations of speed of the Dixx cruiser. Beth heard her pilot curse at the aliens unstable engines.

    Stay with it, kid, she said to her pilot. Youre doing good. Keep it up.

    Captain, Comms said. Intermittent contact with Constetion and Hermes. Theyre asking what were doing.

    Captain OConnell, Mia said. May I respond?

    Beth nodded.

    Mia turned to the Comm officers disy as two pixted images were put on it split-screen style.

    Captain Okonkwo, Captain Dupont. The two static-filled images nodded. I apologize. Captain OConnell is quite busy at the moment. Anyway, I am sure you have figured it out. We believe that missile on our tails is nuclear.

    The two nodded.

    We cannot afford to fire at the missile nor at the enemy. And we cannot split up and risk the enemy running. We are therefore getting as close to the Federation ships as we can. Constetion and Hermes are therefore going to fly parallel to Seeker in a picket line formation. Hopefully, we will be able to stay ahead of the st wave. Do you understand?

    The two captains acknowledged and, on the navigation screen, they saw Constetion move slightly above and to the right of Seeker while Hermes maintained its position on Seekers left side.

    Mia nodded to Beth, and Beth turned to the pilots console. On it was a tactical graphic of all the ships plus the missile. The three Earth ships were right behind the Dixx ships. It looked like they were chafing at the end of a line.

    Come on, you bug-eyed monsters... Beth muttered. Move your asses.

    The Ambassador leaned over to Mia.

    Excuse me, My Lady, he whispered via his old jury-rigged trantor with the giant battery. Bug-eyes monsters?

    Miaughed. Oh, dont be offended, Excellency. Beth didnt mean to be insulting. The term is a cultural historical reference from more than three hundred years ago, when Earthers hadnt seen an extraterrestrial yet. They imagined aliens to look like caricatures of humans, withrge craniums andrge, bulbous eyes, like thepound eyes of terrestrial insects. Hence the term. Today, the term is a humorous one. Beth used it in, well, in affection, I suppose...

    The Ambassador windmilled his arms again,ughing in that unique Arachnian way. Now, what made you think I was offended, My Lady?

    Oh, I dont know... Miaughed.

    In the back of her mind, Beth was a little irritated with how Mia and the First Ambassador were being so casual about things, but she thought it through.

    Comms, Beth said, time to projected detonation?

    Umm, three minutes, Captain.

    Ahhh. Thats why, she thought. Nothing else to be done but wait. So it was time to diffuse the tension, even if just for a little while. Beth took a calming breath.

    Comms, Beth said in a deliberate and calm, confident voice, please call out the time, in thirty second intervals.

    Aye.

    Get me Engineering.

    Engineering here.

    Chief, we are expecting a nuclear detonation in a short while. How are we with our structural integrity fields?

    Power cells are spooling up as we speak, Skipper. Field conduction is nearing one hundred percent strength.

    Good. Thank you. Please alert and post all DC teams to their assigned damage control areas.

    Aye.

    Comms - PA, please.

    Public address ready, sir.

    Beth flicked a switch on her chair. This is the Captain. In less than three minutes, we are expecting a nuclear detonation. We believe that we have done all that we can to avoid Seeker being caught in that explosion. But even so, I want everyone wearing their helmets and pressure suits with anti-radiation fields activated.

    T minus two minutes, Comms interjected.

    Beth took a breath and continued. Dear old Seeker has been through a lot these past months, and I am sure the Admiral will agree with me that she has performed exemry. And that isrgely because of all of you. The Admiral told me once that Seekers crew is the best in the fleet. I happen to agree. And if we do not get through this, I just wanted to let you all know that it has been a privilege serving with you.

    But I believe we will get through this, and it all depends on you once again. Everyone stay sharp, stay at your posts and well get through this. And she clicked off the PA.

    T minus one minute, Comms said.

    Lieutenant.

    Sir? the helm officer said.

    Kid, youve done great so far. Congrattions.

    I appreciate that. Thank you, sir.

    Beth patted him on the shoulder.

    T minus thirty seconds.

    Here we go. Beth sat down and buckled herself in. Lieutenant, start counting it down.

    T minus twenty seconds... neen... eighteen...

    Mia and Beth silently looked at each other. Mia gave her a gentle smile and a wink. It reassured her.

    Fifteen... fourteen... thirteen...

    Darn, Mia said, I think I forgot my coffee mug on my desk.

    Everyone paused at that non sequitur. Why would the Admiral think of her mug at a time like this?

    Beth chuckled. A fewughed with her, but most did not dare do so, especially when a superior officer was involved. But it did lighten the mood. Which was no doubt the Admirals intention. She smiled. At least she was starting to understand her boss a little bit more.

    Seven... six... five...

    This is it, Mia mumbled.

    Three... two... one... zero!

    They saw the missile on screen. Its on-board chemical engine cut off, but nothing else happened.

    What...

    They continued to watch the image. Without forward eleration, the missile rapidly fell away from them.

    T plus ten seconds... eleven... twelve...

    This is Engineering.

    This is the Captain. What is it, Chief? But Beth knew why she called.

    Actually, she had the same question in mind.

    Ummm, shouldnt there have been a big ka-boom by now?

    Comms, whats the count now?

    Ummm, T plus one minute, Captain. One minute five... ten... fifteen...

    Dammit, Mia eximed. Didnt the Titan people do a test on a nuclear missile? And they found that the missile payload became inert...

    I remember that as well, the Ambassador said, but since the Detterex shipunched a nuclear missile, I thought they had found a way around that...

    Me, too, Mia said. But apparently theyre totally ignorant about it.

    Well, thats too bad, Beth said.

    Excuse me, Captain? Mia said.

    All of this preparation, and all for nothing.

    Ha-ha, very funny, Captain, Mia smiled.

    Chief, tell your people it was a false rm.

    Aye, sir. The DC crews will be relieved.

    Lets not assume were out of the woods, yet, Chief. Keep them at their posts. Helm, pull back from the Dixx ship. Are we on course?

    Aye, Captain. Fifth Fleet and Federation cruisers are two minutes from lunar orbit. The Enemy ships are behind and below us. Theyve ckened eleration more topensate for their course change...T minus one minute thirty now.

    Rtive Speed.

    We are now roughly ten percent the speed of light. Down by about thirty thousand kilometers per second. By the time we are in lunar orbit, well be at about two and a quarter kilometers per second, or about five thousand miles per hour.

    Sound collision rm.

    Lights shed and xons swept the ship, and everyone steeled themselves.

    Screen to forward view.

    On the front screen, they could see the lunar surfaceing up, and in moments they were on top of it. They saw the lunar rocks and sand rushing very closely below them, but too fast for them to see any details. It felt like they were just a few meters away from the surface and Beth felt a thrill rush through her insides.

    Screen to aft view!

    The screen switched to a view facing towards the rear, and they saw the enemy on their tails, the lunar surface sliding fast beneath them. The bridge crew was just holding their breath, waiting for them to fire something, but before they did, explosions hit the enemies undersides, andrge gouts of me spewed out.

    Even with thebination of their forward momentum, the rearward deceleration force and the moons gravity, the explosions at its belly wouldnt have affected their flight, but the explosions did cause the cruisers bow to tip upwards and its rear grazed the lunar surface. This made the cruiser flop forward and m into the moons surface like a fish being pped down on a chopping block. The megatons of kic energy that liberated caused an explosion that could be seen all the way to Earth. Only its structural integrity field kept it together.

    The other two cruisers behind her suffered simr fates, and big clouds of moon dust were thrown up marking their impact zones. Tanks ruptured and many spots on the ships btedly erupted in mes as vtile chemicals mixed with escaping oxygen.

    The pilot whooped. Thats it! The lunarunchers got them dead on!

    Pilot, full deceleration and maintain station-keeping above the enemy. Comms, get some cameras on the cruisers. In ten minutes or so, they were practically at a standstill.

    In a moment, the screen disyed a shot of the crashed cruisers. They lookedrgely intact, but they could see jets of gas leaking from various points on their hull as well as fires being fed by the leaking gases. The little readout on the side showed that they had crashnded inside a crater inside of the Mare Orientale  the Eastern Sea.

    Comms, have radio and Phase-Wavee back?

    No, Captain.

    Okay. That means their EM device is still live. I would have thought their systems would have beenpletely crushed and their crew smashed into jelly. Have Commander Kajimaunch all Shrikes and Turtles as soon as our Marines are onboard the Turtles. Weapons, do not fire on the enemy, but maintain anti-missile defenses. Admiral, any additional orders? Admiral? Beth looked towards the Captains jump chair, and then at the chairs at the rear of the bridge.

    Wheres the Admiral? Beth asked the Ambassador.

    The little Arachnian shrugged his two upper shoulders helplessly - a good imitation of the Earther gesture.

    Dammit, Beth mumbled.

    <strong>Beached in the Middle of the Sea </strong>

    As Mia ran to the flight deck, she finished donning her ss Five armor over her pressure suit, snapped her newly-modified helmet on but kept the facete up.

    She then snapped on her holster belt over the armor, which had her dress sword and newly-modified sidearm.

    Running up to the ramp of the modified Mud Turtle, she waved Marines in.

    Come on! she called.

    As soon as the Turtle was packed, she had the ramp closed, tapped the pilot on the shoulder, and he moved their shuttle into line with the other Turtles going to the airlocks.

    -----

    Mias shuttle was thest tounch, and as soon as it cleared Seeker, they made straight for the crashed cruisers. The enemy hadnded inside a rtively young crater inside the Mare Orientale - maybe only a hundred thousand years old - one not too full of sand and dust, not enough that the ships would sink much.

    Clearly the enemy ships had all suffered massive damage. But, unbelievably, they were all still in the fight. Large waves of missiles and projectiles came up from the beached cruisers, and the Shrikes and Turtles couldnt get near. They knew the enemy would eventually run out but, for the moment, it was an impasse.

    This is the Admiral to all Turtles, Mia called out via their newserms, make for the crater rim two kilometers to the right of the lead cruiser. All Marines to disembark on the far side of the crater rim and make their way to the nearest cruiser on foot. The mission is to capture the ship intact. All squad leaders will takemand of their own squads but will coordinate their movements with the Captain onboard Seeker. All Shrike pilots will provide air cover and ry all observations to Seekers Comms. Thats all, I guess. All right people, execute!

    -----

    The Constetion and the Hermes saw Seekers maneuvers. They decelerated as well. When they got closer, Beth briefed them viaserms, and they prepared to deploy their Eagle fighters and Cobra shuttles to the Tiros ships.

    As for the Elyran and Dixx cruisers, they were still traveling very fast. The five ships would circle the moon every hour or so.

    On the surface, Mia jogged towards the crashed Detterex ship and watched the lunar dust as it was kicked up by her boots, her high-tech sword giving her surroundings a ruby kind of glow. Though the dust was as dry and fine as talcum powder, she couldnt help feel that the dust was more like wet sand in the way that it didnt hang in the air for long when it was puffed up by her boots. No air on the moon after all, but knowing why didnt help her get rid of the odd feeling.

    She looked up and saw the looming cruiser. It felt big, the biggest shed seen, even though she knew Seeker was near that size. It was one thing to see a spacecraft on some screen, and another to actually see it in the flesh. She looked to her left and then to her right, and saw the Marines running with her. They did look formidable. The armor made them look big and powerful, and their confident, purposeful movements made them impressive, if not outright scary.

    She knew the basics - run when in exposed ground, and run for the nearest cover. In this way, the Earthers made rapid progress towards the ship as they ran from one basaltic boulder to another, and felt rtively safe. If this were Mars, thered be a lot less rocks, but the moon had more, so their sprints werent long, perhaps a minute at a time. This tactic didnt really hide their movements much, but it did give them a chance to rest in between runs behind the convenient rock or boulder.

    The Detterex manning the missile batteries were at a disadvantage since the traverse of their weapons was very limited, given that many were at ground level and the ground clutter didnt give them any clear shots, and the ones higher up just didnt have the correct angles. So they quit firing at the running Earthers after a few tries.

    Mia hit thest rock she was making for with a powerful thud. The weak gravity made their movements more powerful than normal, naturally, but she was in armor so she wasnt concerned about sharp, pointy rocks. She was just fifty meters away from the cruisers hull and was starting to feel nervous. Looking to her left, she saw a Marine also fetch up against another rock. The guy unholstered his sidearm, so Mia did, too. She didnt think she needed to yet, but she had decided to take her cue from the professionals.

    She moved from behind the rock and saw big Detterex warriors in armor lumbering towards her. There were so many of them! Mia had to wonder where the Detterex Princess Arvan was getting all of them, and then she realized - they probably werent warriors. Probably just regr ship crew.

    Arge Detterex came at her swinging arge broadsword. Mia ducked and grabbed the hilt of hers. She swung it up, its thin power cable trailing, intending to block the Detterexs follow-through swing, but theser just cut through the enemys sword de.

    She then fired six rounds from her sidearm, and the slugs just punched through the aliens chest without trouble and out the back. A spray of blood-red mist and ice came out from the soldiers back. As she fell, Mia saw her face through the helmet, and saw the aliens shocked and hopeless expression frozen in death.

    True, she had been responsible for shooting down several Detterex and Tiros fighters, and several of their cruisers, but Mia hadnt seen the face of the enemy in death. Seeing the face of the soldier during the moment of her death rocked Mia to her core.

    But she couldnt stop. Another one wasing at her. Mia fired at the soldier and dodged. The soldier fell headlong into the lunar dust and didnt move anymore. Mia tried firing at the others but her guns nitrogen cartridge was out and she couldnt spare any time to rece it.

    Another Detterex soldier swung at her. Instinctively, Mia swung her sword in the standard parry she used in fencing, but her sword was far from just another epee, so the enemys sword was cut in two just like the first one.

    Despite this, Mia still executed a riposte as per standard fencing, and ran the soldier through. She kicked away the soldier and saw moreing in.

    She made a calcted move and spun around, sword outstretched. All the soldiers around her were caught - one of them in the belly, another on the bicep. These cuts were deep - the first one lost all her air almost immediately while the other ones arm was almost cut off. The others didnt have it as bad, but bad enough that their suits started leaking air.

    The cuts were toorge for their self-sealing functions to cope, but they fought on. One of them was able to bring down her sword on Mias shoulder, but since the cutting edge didnt hit her squarely, it just bounced off the armor.

    Mia didnt have time to be surprised at that. She dropped her gun, reached out with that hand and pulled the soldier forward and to her left, using the Detterexs momentum to make her fall.

    The soldier to her right didnt have a sword but a long piece of pipe, and she hit Mia on her right shoulder. With her armor, Mia didnt even feel it but she was pushed back strong enough that she slipped on the loose lunar dust and sand and fell on her back.

    The remaining two soldiers came at her supine body with their swords. Using an upward pinwheeling movement of her arm, Mia used the non-cutting t side of her sword to sweep away the soldiers weapons. She didnt have enough arm strength to smash them awaypletely but just enough to push them far enough away that their sword strokes missed her.

    She switched her grip and swung her arm upward, forward and then down. She caught them on their lower arms and cut their sword hands off.

    Inadvertently, she had let go of her sword when the two bodies smashed down on her. The bodies pinned down her left arm so she pushed them off her using her right hand. As she was doing so, thest attacker hit her on her upper right arm with the pipe again. In the back of her mind, she was wondering why this one kept smashing her uselessly with the pipe. Didnt she realize that she was wearing armor?

    She reached out, grabbed the pipe, and pulled it out of her enemys hands. The palms of her armor suit were rubberized and textured, giving her an enhanced kind of grip and she was able to do this easily.

    Using the pipe to bnce herself, Mia got up and swung the pipe down the soldiers helmet. The soldier rocked backwards but wasnt hurt. She tried to close in on Mia, but Mia swung at the soldiers helmet again. Mia swung at the same spot again and again until the enemys helmet started to crack.

    Mia was relentless, and swung and swung at the helmet. The cracks grew and grew until the ss exploded outward.

    Mia stood there, eyes closed and breathing hard.

    Enough, she whispered, almost crying. Please, enough now... I cant anymore...

    After a moment, she lifted her head and looked around. Enemy bodies were piled around her. She saw her sword hilt and pulled out her sword from under the bodies. The power lead had been pulled out and turned theser emitters off so she plugged the cable back in and switched it back on before climbing over the bodies. Though she didnt intend to, she got a better vantage point as she stood on top of the bodies.

    From there, she could see her people had dispatched most of the enemy. It seemed her people had relied mostly on their sidearms, but a few were caught like her - not having enough time to rece their cartridges, and had to fight it out with their swords or equivalents. Though all she could see standing were her crew, shed have to checkter and see if any of her people didnt make it.

    Mia looked up at the crashed Detterex cruiser and ran her eyes along the lower deck near the ground. She found four airlock doors the enemy all came out of, and knew that they were prepared to repel her people from the other side of these doors. She looked some more and found a part of the hull where two tes had buckled. The hull had split, with a crackrge enough to drive a smallndcar through.

    Mia switched on her newserms, but it wasnt working. She assumed that it was damaged during her short... tussle with the nine Detterex soldiers. So she switched her sword to the highest illumination level and raised it above her head. When she caught the eye of some of the people, she motioned to the breach in the hull with her other arm. Eventually her people started moving to her, and then to the hull breach.

    When most of her people were there, she looked for her shuttles squad leader. She pulled him towards her until their facetes touch.

    Sergeant, Mia said, her voice traveling to the sergeant via the vibration of her helmet.

    Aye, sir.

    Im gonna use yourserms. Switch it on.

    Aye, sir. Comms switched on.

    Ladies and gentlemen of the Seeker. This is the Admiral. We shall be boarding the cruiser through this hull breach. Our mission is to locate the EM suppression equipment and disable it, and to hold our ground until reinforcements arrive to help us capture the ship intact. Everyone is to take their instructions from their squad leaders. Squad leaders, get your squads organized and get them in there. Is everyone clear?

    Various ayes and yes sirs came back.

    All right then, Execute!

    Mia then moved away and gave her squad leader a thumbs-up, and mouthed, Thank you. The sergeant nodded and started organizing his squad.

    Mia couldnt help much since she didnt have anymunications so she stepped away and allowed her people to get on with it. Instead, she went in search of her gun and found it near her boulder. She shook the dust out as best she could and reced the cartridge.

    As she walked back, she saw each of her six-man squads make their way to the hull breach, and at a signal from their leaders, each group rushed through.

    Mia watched as a dozen people came over. One of them touched helmets with her.

    Sir, the young Marine said, All of us have non-workingms as well, so, to keep us out from underfoot, my sergeant has assigned us to secure the breach outside. Wed be honored if youd stand with us.

    Mia knew it was their polite way of protecting her. No senior fleet officer should be in the frontline but she was already there and it was toote for anyone to change things. So this was, she supposed, theirpromise. She had pushed the regs as far as she could already, so she agreed to this.

    Thank you, Corporal, she responded. The honor is mine.

    The corporal stepped away and saluted. She then gestured and half of them took ces around or near the hull breach. She then gestured for Mia and the remaining people to spread around and take positions nearrge rock formations. Mia gestured at the bodies of the enemy, and the corporal nodded. The seven of them spread out and moved all the bodies that they could find out onto arge, t area free of boulders. They did it with respect and as little violence as possible - Mia insisted - but they had troubleying them t since they had already frozen into their final positions. It was just as well that they didnt havems.

    Mia tried to be emotionless but didnt quite seed. Death was death regardless of what species it was, and she felt remorse. She saw some of her people shaking their heads, and she knew it was them trying to get rid of tears. She had to do it a few times herself.

    They werentpletely sure of the crew size of a Detterex cruiser, but she estimated over three hundred bodies. Mia thought this might actually make up most of their crew.

    She was thankful, though, that none of them were her people. Clearly, the Earthers sidearms and armor gave them the advantage.

    When the ground was free of bodies, they went back to their positions, hunkered down and waited.

    From time to time, Mia or someone else would pop up and survey the area, but nothing was happening. The silent tableau stayed like that for about thirty more minutes, with Shrikes, Eagles, Turtles and Cobras circling overhead unable to get closer, until one of the airlock doors popped open.

    Incredibly, several Detterex came out of this door but without suits. Of course, they didntst long in vacuum, their dying bodies sprawling on the sand. Later on the Earthers would find that these people were actually trying to escape being blown up by a grenade.

    A few momentster, the other doors opened and more came out. Some were in armored space suits, but most were just in regr pressure suits. But all of them were armed with something. Some had the broadswords that the Detterex seemed to prefer, but most just had odds and ends in their hands, like pipes, pieces of furniture or things like tools and even cooking implements.

    Mia saw her people start aiming and saw little red dots sprouting on the chests of the enemies. Center mass was the easiest shot, especially from a distance. And she saw these Detterex go down one at a time from shots in their torsos.

    It was virtually a massacre.

    Mia decided to join, loathe though she was to kill more people, but she didnt shirk her responsibility or her involvement. However, she decided to start firing at the Detterex that were just emerging from one of the airlocks. In a few moments, she had choked off that airlock with dead Detterex and no further aliens coulde out. She moved on to another airlock and did the same. Pretty soon, three airlocks were clogged, and no more aliens coulde out of them, which was her way of minimizing the casualty count. In the first airlock where the Detterex that werent wearing pressure suits came from, no one else came out.

    As for those that were already outside, Mias people made short work of them, and the tableau became still again. They hunkered down as they waited for reinforcements.

    -----

    In the end, it became a long, drawn-out battle, more a battle of attrition than anything, one in which the Empire people were destined to lose.

    When the Hermes and Constetionnding parties touched down and broke into their assigned cruisers, their assault crews were so muchrger than the Seekers, so they were expecting to have an easier time. What they didnt expect was that the Tirosians wouldnt put up any resistance at all.

    When the Hermes and Constetion crews broke up into their assigned ships, the missiles stopped firing, and when the Earthers started going through the airlock doors, all they saw were dead or dying Tirosians with slit throats. The Hermes crews saw some still-alive Tirosians running from cabin to cabin, and they ran after them.

    The Marines peeked into the cabins that the running Tirosians had just visited moments ago, and saw Tirosians inside with very deep, dark red, almost ck, blood spurting out of freshly-slit necks. Some of the medics rushed in, took off their helmets and gauntlets, and tried to save them, but Tirosian physiology was not familiar, the blood loss was too much and the wounds toorge. The rest of the Marines went after the running Tirosians, but the shipsyout was too unfamiliar, the ever-present moisture everywhere made the deck slippery, and the light levels were too low. They just couldnt catch up. Eventually, they did catch up with them, but it was toote - they found most of them on the bridge, dying by their own hands.

    Both crews did a cabin-by-cabin inspection, looking for booby traps or enemies that were still alive, but no one was left. The few jury-rigged booby traps they found were hastily cobbled together so they were crude and easily disabled. In the end, they had captured both ships intact and without any resistance. But the EM field equipment was not onboard either of them.

    As for Seekers crews, they had a harder time since they had to battle for every inch. However, it seemed they were the only ones with sidearms functional in the field, and they were able to hold their ground easily.

    Furthermore, there were enough of them scattered in the ship yet within line-of-sight that theirsermwork was functional. These two technology advantages, plus their training, gave them more than enough of an edge.

    They also made judicious use of their hand grenades and were able to clearrge sections at a time. The Detterex tried using grenades and other explosives as well, but the Marines were all wearing armor, and Detterex munitions didnt seem to be as powerful or precise as the Earthers, and their throwing skills were... less than perfect.

    Eventually Seekers boarding crews were able to consolidate their positions and held on until reinforcements arrived.

    When Constetions Marines arrived, they brought Mia with them. Mia got a cable from one of the Constetions Marines, and plugged her suit into one of Constetions Marinesm aux port.

    Mia started giving instructions and a couple of squads of the Constetions Marines took positions at the rear of the Seekers tech squad. Two of Seekers other squads took point and, with directions from Mia, they crept forward to the ships engine room.

    Once they got to the engine area, they saw about six Detterex entrenched by the main bulkhead door armed with swords. Mia patted the Marine in front of her on the shoulder. He nodded and expertly lobbed a grenade near that door. When it exploded, all six Detterex slumped dead and the Earthers rushed through, one squad at a time.

    Mia followed her Marine escorts inside and found herself hustled behind arge load-bearing support column. She peeked around the column and saw about twenty-four Detterex soldiers deployed in good tactical positions around one of therge electromaic generators. A handful of them had bulky, jury-rigged projectileunching devices attached torge tanks of gas, probably nitrogen, and fired things that looked like round bottles full of sulfuric acid, and sometimes really heavy, rough metal balls the size of chicken eggs.

    The Earthers took cover and the aliens fired their weapons. The velocities were rtively high but Mias people were able to dodge the projectiles. Round metal balls and ss bottles flew across therge room and smashed against the bulkheads. Acrid liquid started to hiss and bubble. The few soldiers who had their facetes up mmed them down.

    Fire on those things! Mia ordered, and the ones in front started on them.

    Their projectiles just bounced off the devices themselves, so they fired on their tanks. They were rewarded with the sound of hissing gas. All six of the devices were rendered useless very quickly.

    Fire on those bottles!

    They shifted focus and fired on the enemys piles of ammunition, smashing all the bottles. Pretty soon, the room started filling with acid fumes.

    With a loud cry like the Maoris battle cry in the Haka, the Detterex soldiers rose and rushed the Earthers, but Mias people were able to pick them off easily and soon there were no more enemies rushing them.

    With Marines around her, Mia approached the control panel of the gigantic generator. Her suits radiation detector started warbling. She clicked her tongue switch and saw in her heads-up disy that there was a lot of microwave radiation emanating from the generator.

    Irritatedly, Mia pped the rm cutoff near her armors upper chest, and concentrated on deciphering the panel. She wasnt sure but she made the decision to hit therge red button in the middle. After all, what else could a big red button be for?

    She hit it with the heel of her armored hand and was rewarded with the high-pitched whine of therge generator getting lower and lower, and eventually disappearing. She clicked her tongue switch and saw the microwave emissions had disappeared.

    She finally clicked on her Phase-Wavems and switched to the general freak.

    This is the Admiral! Come in, Seeker!

    Aye, sir! This is the Seeker!

    Mia breathed a sigh of relief.

    d to hear you, Seeker. Am pleased to report that the EM Suppression Field has been deactivated, and we have captured the generator intact.

    She smiled when she heard her crew apud in the background.

    Aye, sir.

    Admiral! Beth eximed.

    Mia chuckled. I know, I know. Im on my way out. Keep your bra on, Beth. Im going back now.

    Make sure that you do, Beth growled. ... Sir...

    -----

    When Mia and the Seeker crew had managed to deactivate the EM suppression engine, it was like the switch to an old-fashioned radio was flipped back on, and the Phase-Wave bandwidths lit up with millions of calls and messages. And none too soon - the entire system was in turmoil: everyone was bing desperate by then. Any further absence ofmunication with the mother world and thergest colony might not have been good for the system.

    The field had covered the entire Earth and the moon, and with the mother and thergest colony rendered silent, the cohesion that constant avablemunication gave the Earth System had almost broken down.

    It was not unreasonable to say that had themunication ckout not ended when it did, human civilization would have started to break down. Were it not for the advance notice that Earth Government had sent out earlier,merce and other vital industries might not have remained intact.

    But Earth was back on the air again, much to the relief of everyone - it was quite a scary period. Because of this momentary loss of Phase-Wave, there was talk already about reviving wiredmunications and otherms systemsrgely abandoned since Phase-Wave. They were also talking about reviving the Seren stations as well, just in case they lost Phase-Wave again. If they proved to be suppression-proof, of course.

    <strong>Escape Artist </strong>

    When Lunar Defense had taken over all activities to secure the three ships and their captured Detterex soldiers, Beths staff finally had time to sort through themuniqus and other material that had piled up when the Phase-Wavems went down. When they had more-or-less caught up with everything, they found one specific item that they thought the Captain needed to know about right away.

    Once Beth was briefed, she thought Mia needed to know about it, too. At that moment, a call from the Fleet Admiral came through. She knew why the Admiral was calling.

    Before she acknowledged the call, she went to Comms.

    Lieutenant, please ask Admiral Steele if I can meet her at her office, and please pipe Fleet Admiral Silvermans call there as soon as I get there. Give me five minutes.

    Aye, sir.

    She transferredmand and hurried down to Deck Four.

    Reaching Mias office door, Beth nodded at the two Marine guards.

    Good morning, Captain, the more senior Marine said as she saluted. The Admiral is expecting you. She opened the door and ushered her through.

    Beth nodded at that and stepped in.

    Hey, Nick, she said, nodding to Nick, who was sitting at the guest chair in front of Mias desk.

    Nick stood and saluted. Good morning, Captain.

    Hi, Beth. Mia said. She waved them both to sit down.

    You know, Mia said, I know why youre here.

    I wouldnt be surprised, sir, Beth replied.

    I only btedly realized that the Detterex cruiser was the Defiant. And I was curious why we couldnt find Princess Arvan anywhere on the Cruiser. I suppose youre going to tell me that an unidentified spacecraft was detected leaving the system at high speed while we were chasing down the three cruisers.

    Beth nodded. Exactly so, sir.

    Would you be surprised if I were to tell you that there is arge, vacant section in the Defiants lower decks that had almost enough room to fit a K-ss cargo ship?

    I would not, sir.

    Maam, Nick said, umm, Im sorry. Admiral Silverman is on the line...

    Not a surprise, Nick, Mia smiled.

 Chapter 20: Homecoming

    Chapter 20: Homing

    <strong>Earthfall </strong>

    The three Elyran and two Dixx cruisers continuously went around the moon on constant deceleration, continuing to bleed off their velocity.

    As for Seeker, Hermes and Constetion, they, as well as several other ships, were parked in orbit just above the three crashed cruisers, with the Legacy ships doing asional re-orbits to maintain position. They patiently waited for their Federation friends to bleed off enough velocity so that they could join them.

    Mia had deliberately selected different ships - a couple more Type-Twos and a dozen different kinds of Legacy ships. The purpose was to impress the Federation envoys and show that Earths fleet was made up of many different ship types.

    When the Dixx and Elyran ships were slow enough, they started to maneuver so that they copied the Earth Ships orbits, and came to rtive rest near the Earthers.

    From the Federation ships vantage point, they could see several tractors and crawlers moving around the beached ships below. Earth scientists and engineers were making the most of the opportunity, and were studying everything that they could get their hands on. Marta Running-Stream herself had evene over to do some hands-on. For Tasha, Ren and Daxx, they werent too impressed - theyd already seen Detterex and Tiros ships before. They were more impressed by the orbiting Earther ships.

    As soon as they were ready, the five Federation ships and seventeen Earther ships changed their delta-vs and elerated for Earth.

    This close to Earth, none of the aliens activated their FTL systems and used more conventional propulsion. Earth was about four hundred thousand kilometers away so they knew they would take several hours to get to the. As soon as they were on their way, Kennedy Spaceport started relocating all air and spacecraft on itsnding tarmacs and put into action longid ns for the arrival of extraterrestrial VIPs.

    The Fifth Fleet crews knew there was going to be a ceremony, but more than anything, the Secretary-General would be there. Seekers crew, without exception, would have to be in dress blues, and be prepared for an inspection, which the First Ambassador had warned was something the Princess might ask for. Everyone was pressed into service and, in a few hours, the Seeker was as clean and organized as it had never been before.

    Beth quipped to the Chief that they should have inspections by extraterrestrials more often.

    Seekers sister ships were safe, however, much to Beths annoyance. As soon as the Federation shipsnded, Constetion and Hermes were to make for New Copernicus for their upgrades, so, except for a couple of Cobra shuttles, their captains and a small party, their crews were exempted.

    A few hours beforefall however, Mia had unexpectedly called for an emergency meeting.

    It was old hat by now. Everyone knew their routines and logged on to the Channel A frequency.

    All of Seekers people were in formal uniform, and Mia nodded in satisfaction. They all wore the double-breasted navy-blue jacket with the two rows of brass buttons and the gold trim at the edges, Napoleon-style gold-trimmed high cor and Napoleonic gold-tasseled epaulettes went well the skin-tight white legging-like pants and the shiny, ck riding-style knee-high boots.

    As before, Mia had her high-tech sword (the light turned on, of course, and running on its internal battery this time), her modified sidearm and holster clipped to her jackets belt, and over the belt was tied a red sash. On her jackets lower sleeves were more gold stripes than before, and on her jackets left breast were the miniatures of her decorations. On the right was a silver namete, and the old Seeker miniature had been reced with the new Fifth Fleet miniature.

    She looked at Nick by her side.

    Suits you, she smirked, referring to the gold-and-blue braided aiguillette that was strung on top of his jackets left shoulder and then under his arm. His chest was bare of decorations, though.

    Nick couldnt respond in kind so he just grumbled. At least grumbling wasnt insubordination.

    Mia noted the clothes that the Elyrans wore - the same type as the clothes that they wore during their meal on Talon. They looked like refugees from a Shakespeare y. However, there were a few who wore ceremonial armor instead. Mia noted this, and she motioned for Nick. She whispered something in his ear. Nick nodded and rushed out to call Sahsha.

    The Arachnians took their ustomed ces. They were wearing their formal attire - bright colored torcs around their necks and what looked like vests over their thoraxes. Each vest was in one solid color - either red, green, blue, yellow, magenta or cyan. Based on the lecture that the Ambassador gave, the Earthers knew that the colors represented the major guilds in Arachnian industry and society: There were three major guilds - the Warriors in green vests, the Philosophers (what some might think of as priests) in blue and the Builders in red. There were three other guilds, the so-called allied guilds - the Scientists in magenta since their members were specialists from the Warriors and the Builders, the Doctors in yellow because they were from the Philosophers and the Builders, and the Engineers in cyan because they were from the Warriors and the Philosophers. The colors that they used to represent each made humans think that the way Arachnian vision worked was simr to humans. The fact that they used what humans called the three primary and three secondary colors indicated that Arachnian vision may be trichromatic as well, and sensitive to red, green and blue. Maybe the Arachnian eye wasnt really apound eye.

    As for Admiral Daxx, she and her people were wearing what looked like a kind of flowing cream-colored robe that left their arms bare from the shoulders down. They had only ever seen the Admiral in what were like long-sleeved high-cored shirts, and it was a revtion to find her arms covered in what appeared to be thick,rge and luxurious white feathers.

    It made Mia wonder and think back to the words of the first-ever recorded Federation message.

    Mia stood and bowed to everyone in the formal Elyran manner.

    Well, she said, doesnt everyone look wonderful. Andughter drowned out everything. Mia smiled. Good afternoon, friends. We are finally here. So much sacrifice. Nothing more need be said about that, except that it is up to us to see that their sacrifice was not in vain.

    There was a short period of appreciative silence.

    Mia pped her hands. Anyway. Let us push on. In a short while, we will bending in Kennedy Spaceport, and from there, we will take a short ride to the United Nations, where a few of us will be given a chance to speak before the U.N. Assembly. Everything is moving forward as nned.

    However, I would like to report a new development.

    The Earthers and Elyrans groaned, and if the Dixx and the Arachnians knew how to, they would have groaned as well.

    Yes. Again. Something has happened again. But this time, its not as bad as before.

    She gestured at the screen behind her, which had switched on with a video running on it.

    What you see is the crashed Detterex gship, the Defiant. We had moved all Detterex survivors. She cannot fly again - she had sustained too much damage in its crash.

    Yes indeed, she did contain the Curtain of Light generator, and we were able to capture it intact and switched it off. But, checking through all the crew and survivors, and checking the entire ship itself, we were unable to find Lord Norga and Princess Arvan. What we did find inside the ship was this...

    On the screen was a picture of arge empty hold as seen from a height. Based on the tiny size of the Earther standing in the middle of the empty space, it was indeed a veryrge, empty space.

    Furthermore, there was this...

    A new video was disyed, this time, a grainy long-distance video taken off Seekers on-board cameras. In it was a picture of Defiant flying through space as it was gaining on Seeker. After a moment, some kind of movement was seen happening underneath it. It was just for a moment so it was easy to miss it. The video was run back and was put in slow motion. The movement turned out to be a small ship the size of the Yamato being ejected from underneath the bigger ship.

    And here is the final piece...

    On the screen was a tactical disy. The aliens wouldnt have understood the Englishbels and symbols, but the image itself was self-exnatory: it was a spacecraft leaving the Sol system at high hyperspace speed.

    Unfortunately, this ship was found after the EM field was switched off, and was already flying at speed before anyone noticed it. This spacecraft is now already too far away for anyone to be able to do anything.

    Lady Amelia, the Princess said, are you saying that the Detterex Princess has been able to escape?

    Thats correct, Your Highness, Mia responded. It is our conclusion that, while the remaining three Empire ships were pursuing us, sheunched her escape craft under the cloak of the EM suppression field. Analysis of its trajectory indicates that it is on its way to Detterex, where Princess Arvan will undoubtedly raise the rm.

    What are the turnover times, My Lady? Ren asked.

    Mia shrugged. I apologize, Your Highness. We dont have precise numbers yet, but we believe Princess Arvan should be arriving in Detterex in approximately twelve Earth months.

    Well...

    Mia nodded. I know, Your Highness, and you are right. Our problem is clear-cut, but there is still time. For the moment, though, there is nothing to be done. Let us therefore concentrate on something happier: our homing.

    Ren nodded. Well spoken, My Lady. You are quite correct.

    -----

    The twenty-two ships, made up of three Elyran Cruisers, two massive Dixx cruisers, Earths DSC Seeker, four Type-Twos which included Hermes and Constetion, and a dozen Legacy ships - three Orions, a Daedalus, four super-massive, eighty-year-old Dreadnoughts, a pair of re-engineered Enterprise-ss fusion cruisers and a pair of Jovian-ss Corvettes.

    The Legacy ships were easily the same size as the Elyrans ships, except for the four deuterium-fueled Dreadnoughts. which were evenrger than the Dixx ships. It was all part of Mias n - to impress, even intimidate, the aliens with the sheer number and types of ships they had at their disposal.

    As they neared the Karman Line, the Federation and Legacy ships switched to atmosphere-friendly propulsion. Seeker and the Type-Twos didnt need to.

    Seeker led them in at the appropriate speeds. Beth made the decision to turn off her deflectors and just rely on her structural integrity field. It had been a long time since Seeker had entered atmosphere but herrgely-unchanged lines kept her aerodynamic.

    Beth knew all eyes in the world, indeed in the system, were focused on them so she put on a show. With appropriate clearance, why the hell shouldnt we put on a show, she thought.

    As prearranged with Hermes and Constetion, Seeker broke formation and burst forward, leaving the other ships for a moment. This gave her some room to showboat.

    When she neared the surface of the water, she reduced her speed to barely fifty kilometers an hour and flew around the ind of Manhattan. She then flew unusually low and slow, and buzzed the head of the Statue of Liberty as closely as her pilot dared. When she was clear, Beth checked if there was any air or water traffic ahead. Seeker then switched on her long-unused retros. They werent needed, but with the air turbulence and heat generated, Seeker threw up a big spume of water. She dipped and then pulled up sharply, creating a spray of water and steam. It was like she was climbing up on a pir of fire and clouds, like the Saturn moon-rockets of old.

    From there, she switched off her retros and climbed back up to formation. She left a slowly dissipating steam cloud, but before it waspletely gone, a rainbow shined in the New York sun.

    -----

    All air traffic had been cleared above New York, so the twenty-two ships didnt have any trouble going to Kennedy andnding on the preparednding fields.

    All five Federation shipsnded first on the marked field, and once they were secured, Seeker and her sister Type-Two ships thennded. When the Earth ships were secured, the four giant Dreadnoughts started their descent.

    Never before had Kennedy had so many spaceships there at the same time, and it barely had room to amodate all twenty-two. But the Flight Manager was able to manage. Though he was told he couldnt give instructions to the five alien ships, he was ruthless with the Earth cruisers. He was sure he wasnt making friends, but either that or hed have to turn away some of them. He gave instructions to how they parked and the power settings they were allowed to use. He used a lot of... creativenguage and he thanked the stars he was on an open frequency so they didnt give too much backtalk. He had some trouble with the Dreadnoughts, however, especially since theynded on their tails and needed a rtively tnding tarmac. The Dixx and Elyran cruisers hadnt bunched up much, so thending space left was at a premium. Seeker, the Type-Twos and the Orions and Enterprise-ss ships had anti-gravs so he pushed them together and as close to the aliens as possible. The Daedalus and three of the Dreadnoughts had just enough t ground tond, and touched down safely under arge cloud of smoke and dust. As for the fourth Dreadnought, the spaceport only had onest piece of empty space, but it wasnt finished yet. Bulldozers, graders and tractors were still in evidence.

    But there was no choice. At least it was t already, though still rough.

    After the equipment had been moved, the pilot maneuvered thest Dreadnought precisely over the semi-finishednding pad, and had here down slowly. He knew that shed use up a significant portion of her fuel, but it did provide a great show.

    The giant ship came down on a column of fire and smoke and as it got nearer and nearer, the roar of her rockets became louder and louder.

    Sound suppression fields kicked on, much to the relief of the spaceport staff.

    About fifty meters from the ground, the ship stopped its descent, and, incredibly, it hovered. Great clouds of smoke and dust grew. And as it stayed bnced on its tail of fire, it slowly transcribed a circle, creating arge area of sted and burned t ground.

    -----

    On the Talon, Tasha and Ren had been watching video feeds from an Earther satellite, and feeds from Earth news outlets, ryed to them via the Earthers New York Weather Station. Ren wondered why a Weather Station, but he suspected it was because their weather sensing systems were the onlyrge radio-based systems they still had.

    They watched on TV as Seeker showboated for everyone. In the back of her mind, Tasha thought of how expert Seekers pilot and crew were, and how wonderful the ship looked. The cloud of steam that enveloped her before shooting back up into the sky was so beautiful. And the rainbow that remained was wonderful.

    But for her, the most amazing was what this gigantic ship was doing now.

    What is it doing! Ren eximed.

    Its burning the ground, Reena said. Its ttening it.

    But why?

    So it cannd, Tasha said. Thats brilliant.

    And after ast circuit, the huge spacecraft slowly settled down onto the ground.

    Your Highness, one of her people said.

    Yes, warrior?

    We are getting a message.

    -----

    After thest Dreadnought hadnded, the Flight Manager breathed a sigh of relief. He reached for his CC again and tuned it to the Flight Control frequency. He was told the Federation crews wouldnt have Phase-Wave nor would they understand English, but he was assured that Seeker would trante and ry his message for him.

    TChahn, honored visitors from the Gctic Federation, and members of the United Earth Defense Force. In behalf of the Secretary-General and the people of Sol System, wee to Earth, and to the John F. Kennedy International Spaceport.

    May we invite representatives of your respective parties to disembark. A receptionmittee shall be on hand to meet you at your ships and bring you to our United Nations.

    -----

    Tasha reached out for Rens hand.

    Its been more than two years, my love, Tasha said, but were finally here.

    The price has been high, Tasha...

    We all knew the risks...

    Ren went to her, andid a finger on her lips.

    Hush, My Lady. Im sorry to have brought it up. I know you would have been ready to die in their...

    Tasha hugged him tightly to her to quiet him.

    Your Highness, one of their people came up. A message from the Earthers. Your ride will be outside in seventeen minutes. Her face made a little moue of displeasure.

    They do have an odd turn of phrase, dont they, Warrior? sheughed.

    -----

    Mia and Beth, with Nick following, led Seekers contingent down her seldom-used ventral ramp. As they stepped down, Beth snuck a look at the ships hull and felt dismay at her somewhat dented and scratched hull. Mia hip-bumped her.

    The boss is looking, Beth, Mia said sotto voce. An official delegation from the U.N. was approaching, and in the lead was the Secretary-General.

    Beth snapped her head forward, and continued marching.

    Dont worry, well get her looking pretty again before we take her out.

    Thanks, Boss.

    They stopped and formed in parade formation, and waited for inspection.

    Here shees, Mia said as the Secretary-General approached them.

    Look whos with her, Beth whispered. Oh, no...

    Mia groaned.

    Walking beside the Secretary-General was Queen Margaret the Second - Queen of All Ennd and the Commonwealth. Behind the Secretary-General, acting like her adjutant, was Admiral Silverman, and by his side, acting as the Queens adjutant was Prince Stephen, Lord of the Realm, Knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim, Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Sword, and who also happened to be the husband of the queen.

    No other VIPs followed who were of the same level of importance to the system as these four. The real VIPs couldnt make it since everything was all hurried, and few could adjust their schedules to make it to New York with their earlier-than-expected arrival, and the arrival ceremonies. Instead, various ambassadors and other lower-ranked government officials substituted for them.

    As the queen approached, Mia struggled to remember the protocol for greeting her. Beth noticed her agitation.

    Whats wrong? Beth asked.

    I cant remember what to do, Mia said in an uncharacteristically panicked voice, referring to the epted protocols for greeting royalty. It had only changed a little bit over the years, of course, even after the war, but Mia couldnt remember any of it.

    Beth giggled and whispered to Mia the procedures.

    When the queenes to you and youre a subject, which you are now, you bow or curtsey. Since youre in uniform, you bow. The phrase you use is Your Majesty or Your Royal Highness. If she has her hand out, ept it with a light touch and then let go. After that, you are to address her as Maam.

    Mia nodded. Thanks, Beth, she said. Youre a lifesaver. Wups, watch it. Here shees!

    The queen stepped close, Romarkin beside her.

    It is wonderful to see you again, Lady Amelia, she said in that voice that was so well known to almost all Earthers. I have heard you have had a very... eventful trip? She held out her hand, grinning like the proverbial Cheshire cat from Alice in Wondend.

    Mia bowed and shook her hand lightly, as protocol required. It was all she could do to return Her Queens grin. As it was, all she could manage was a small, nervous smile. My Queen... Thats amazing, she thought.

    It was a pleasant enough trip, Your Majesty. Thank you for asking.

    I trust you will tell me all about itter?

    Mia bowed. At your convenience, Maam.

    The queen nodded at that, and walked down the front row of Mias assembled crew, apparently starting her inspection. Mia was pleased that her crew was behaving appropriately, saluting in the required manner when she stopped. Some bowed, and a few of her female crew who were in the uniform skirt actually curtseyed. This reminded her that some of her people were British subjects. She reminded herself to check out who were Britishter. Her new, embarrassing title might make it more awkward to deal with these particr people. It was best to be prepared.

    When Romarkin and Silverman passed in front of her, they both grinned widely. Silverman actually winked. Prince Stephen, obviously in on it as well, waggled his brows. Mia seethed with both embarrassment as well as frustration at not being able to tell them off.

    They trailed behind the queen, and when the queen was done, she and her entourage went back down the ramp and back into their limousine. It was a sign of the times that they didnt have any bodyguards with them. In previous decades, bodyguards would surround VIPs like them.

    As soon as the big ck car started moving away, Mia nodded to OConnell and she got them moving to a waiting bus.

    As they were getting on the bus, a uniformed Royal Guard came up and bowed.

    My Lady, he said, Her Royal Highness has brought a vehicle for you, Captain OConnell and your staff. He gestured at a humongous, shiny ck stretch limousine.

    Thank you, Mia said. Staff, she thought. She turned to Nick.

    Nick, she said, get us four Marines and find Commander Kajima. Were going to the U.N.

    Marines, sir?

    Yes. Make sure they are in ss fives, and with their sidearms.

    Aye. He pulled out his CC and started making calls. It was difficult to round up the necessary Marines since those off duty had already departed, but he was able to get four soldiers and Kajima.

    Sir, Kajima saluted. Sorry, we just got the Lieutenants call. Reporting as ordered.

    The four Marines with Kajima were female, and were even taller than Mia. From their outrements, she saw that they were from the Second Marine/Infantry Squad. Guess Nick figured out what I wanted, she thought.

    Thanks, Commander, Mia said and turned to the lead Marine. Were going to the U.N. Im afraid we need to put on another show. If you know what I mean.

    The Marine nodded. I thought as much, she grinned. You can count on us, Skipper.

    Thank you, Sergeant, Mia said.

    The four Marines went to the front part of the limo and upied the front two cabins and Mia, Nick, OConnell and Kajima sat in the rear-most cabin. And as soon as they got settled in, the long vehicle started moving.

    -----

    As the long procession of cars slowly made its way through New York, the First Ambassador looked through his limousines windows and saw the crush of Earthers that lined the boulevard they were traveling on.

    A parade, he thought. Many races had the same kind of thing - the Arachnians, too, though they varied widely in detail. Still, he felt this very familiar, and was delighted. It boded well for their future ns.

    They are so many, one of his colleagues marveled. They were the third car in the procession, the Princess and Princes car in the lead followed by the Admirals, followed by theirs.

    What are they doing? another asked.

    Theyre waving around miniature gs, and screaming and waving at us.

    I can see that! he said. Stop being literal. I mean, why are they doing that? Are they angry?

    The First Ambassador sighed, or did their equivalent of a sigh.

    Theyre cheering us, he said.

    They are?

    Yes. Obviously. He then suddenly leaned forward and, using his Elyran-to-Earther trantor, talked to their cars driver.

    He then leaned back.

    One of the others tapped him on his upper left arms shoulder.

    What did you tell the driver, he asked the First Ambassador.

    I asked him to open our cabin roof.

    What?

    At that moment, their roof started folding towards the back of the car like an ordion, and the ss windows started sliding down and disappearing into the doors.

    Being out in the open, they could now hear the crowd. It was very visceral how the cheering of the Earthers felt. Yes, he thought, this is how a parades supposed to be.

    The First Ambassador stood on his hind limbs, surprising his fellow Arachnians, stuck his upper body through the roof, and waved his two upper right limbs at the Earthers, doing his best to emte the people he saw on TV.

    It must have worked because the cheering of the crowd doubled. The First Ambassador bowed in the Elyran manner, and, judging by the response, he did right.

    -----

    What happened? Ren asked Tasha. Why are they cheering like that? He looked through the windows of their limousine but didnt see anything. He craned his neck and looked back through their rear window and saw, in the rearmost car, the First Ambassador standing up on his back limbs in his now-roofless limousine and waving to the spectators.

    That showoff, he said, grinning. That damned lovable showoff. Tasha!

    Tasha turned and looked through the window. Sheughed.

    Whats more, they saw the roof of the car in between them fold open as well, and Admiral Daxx, in her snowy-white formal uniform, stood as well.

    The loose sleeves of her robe fell away as she waved. Her slim arms were uncovered, showing the very fine, snowy white feathers almost like fur in their extravagant thickness and fineness covering them. On her face was a simple, uplicated smile as she acknowledged the cheering of the Earthers. She looked towards their car and gestured for them toe out as well.

    Come on! Daxx mouthed, and waved for them toe out. Come on! she repeated.

    Ren and Tasha looked at each other. They giggled.

    Tasha shrugged. Why not, she said, and tapped on the partition between them and the driverpartment, exining they wanted out, too. Either the driver knew Elyran, or he had a trantor, because he understood her straight away.

    In a moment, their cabin also opened and both of them stood.

    The air was a little cool but the sunlight was warm and wonderful, and the atmosphere was just moist enough to feel pleasant. Their noses were assailed by scents and smells that were mostly familiar but wonderfully exotic as well. Ren looked at his life signs detector and was relieved that the atmosphere was safe.

    The already-raucous crowd even went wilder. Tashaughed and waved.

    Ren put his arm around her and gave her a hug, and waved to the crowd as well.

    Never in a million years would I have imagined wed be here, and in a parade, Ren said into her ear,ughing.

    Tasha pulled him close. I as well, my love, she answered, and kissed him happily. I as well.

    As they kissed, the people went even wilder, if that was even possible.

    The crowd surged forward. Hands reached out to her and Ren, and they touched hands with the Earther citizens.

    Young and old, male and female, it felt like every kind of Earther theyd ever seen was there, and they pressed forward wanting to meet the two of them.

    The caravan had to slow down, and even more people took that opportunity to get closer. Some of the braver ones actually snuck forward and shook their hands or gave them kisses on the cheek.

    Ren couldnt stop himself and, though he didnt kiss them back (Tasha was watching, after all), he shook hands with them or hugged them back instead.

    Ren looked back at the other two cars and it appeared that he and Tasha had therger group of fans (he had learned the word from the Earther Sahsha). Still, other Earthers also crowded around the others. He was surprised to note that it was mostly children that congregated around the Arachnian limo. The First Ambassador was probably having the time of his life meeting the Earther children.

    In a few minutes, however, a group of uniformed Earthers came over blowing whistles and politely, but firmly, held the throng back, allowing the vehicles to continue on their way to the U.N.

    N.Y.P.D, their driver exined. Ren wondered what En-Why-Pee-Dee meant until the trantor gave him the meaning of the acronym.

    -----

    When they reached the U.N., security people approached their car and opened the doors. They stood at attention and saluted in the Earther manner as the extraterrestrials stepped down from their cars. Several of the Elyran bodyguards who were in the rearpartment of their limo got out and surrounded the Princess and Prince.

    Ren spotted the Secretary-General and the queen, and they went over and climbed up the stage they were standing on. The cheering crowds tried to surround the stage but were held back by Earthers in the same uniforms as before. En-Why-Pee-Dee meant Police, Ren remembered.

    He actually wondered why they allowed these people to get so close. Didnt they worry about security? But then, he didnt understand the dynamics of the situation so he just decided to trust them and his small, handpicked Elyran security contingent to keep him and Tasha safe.

    He and Tasha bowed to the queen and the Secretary-General deeply as Elyran royalty would with peers, and followed that with handshakes in the Earther manner. They noticed the little Earther female they''d met before via Phase-Wave, Rens little friend Sahsha, and waved to her.

    Soon Admiral Daxx, the First Ambassador and their parties joined them. Prince Stephen talked with them via a trantor unobtrusively pinned underneath his cor, and sorted out theirrge group onstage. In a while, Rens and Tashas, the Admirals and the First Ambassadors people were escorted down to seats at the rear of the stage. That left the queen, the Secretary-General, Admiral Daxx, the First Ambassador, and Ren and Tasha.

    The aliens and Earth dignitaries found seats at the left side of the stage, and after they had settled down, the Secretary-General stepped up to the podium. As soon as the gathered spectators had quieted down, she began her short prepared speech.

 Part Five

    Part Five

    <strong>Part Five</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>When Things Start To Feel Real</strong>

    - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael Straczynski, Larry Niven, David Brin, E.E. (Doc) Smith, Iain M. Banks, and, of course, George Lucas.

    My thanks. And my apologies.

    <em>In the history of Humanity, there have only been a handful of events that equal today - the establishment of the Greek and the Roman Empires, the births of Jesus and Mohammed, the unification of China, the Italian Renaissance, the discovery of the New World, the first circumnavigation of the Earth, the beginning of spaceflight, the colonization of the Sr System, the Global Armistice, the inauguration of the New United Nations, themissioning of the first of the Seren stations, and theunch of Earthship Two.</em>

    <em>Today will go down in history as momentous and as significant to mankind as these have been.</em>

    <em>But in truth, today was not un-anticipated. It all began with that first intercepted signal from our neighbors, which turned out to be humdrum housekeeping traffic between a Dixx signal operator and an Elyran shuttle pilot.</em>

    <em>Those two individuals probably had no inkling about what they would set in motion, but here we are, at the conclusion of what they had started.</em>

    <em>We are here now. We are here to officially recognize and acknowledge our neighbors, and to wee their representatives.</em>

    <em>Please join me in weing our new friends to the home of Humanity.</em>

    - excerpt from the wee speech of Alexandra Romarkin,

    Secretary-General of the New United Nations,

    during the arrival rites for the first GFA, Earth, 2302

 Chapter 21: Blue Skies

    Chapter 21: Blue Skies

    <strong>Speeches </strong>

    The Secretary-General, her group and her visitors walked a little behind Queen Margaret and Admiral Daxx to give them some privacy. By the look of things, the two seemed to have hit it off and were having a good time getting to know each other.

    The queen looked positively diminutive walking beside the tall Dixx admiral: Dixx were extremely tall creatures, typically as tall as Detterex. As Earthers would find outter, the Dixx and Detterex were the tallest among the known oxygen-breathing bipedals. There was more than three feet of difference between the Dixx and the queen, but the pair didnt care, and continued on with their boisterous conversation.

    Various delegates stopped to greet them. The aliens were unfailingly cordial and shook hands with everyone.

    That was a wonderful speech, Marc said to Romarkin as they walked the hallways of the U.N. towards the Assembly Hall.

    Thank you, Marc. I hope it went over well with the people.

    Im confident it did. Where is... Amelia?

    Romarkin looked back at Marc.

    Marc shrugged. Sorry, Im still not used to... her.

    Romarkin nodded understandingly. I know... It took me a long time to get used to her, too. Well I think shes just a little dyed. Thest word was that she was getting her, ummm, entourage together. I guess she thought she wasnt going to be part of all this pomp and circumstance.

    Well, she was wrong. Everyone knows what shes done to make this happen. People are expecting her.

    I know. Sahsha said shed be by shortly. We just have to proceed with everything until she does.

    Pretty soon they were entering the U.N. Assembly Hall, and all the U.N. ambassadors were in attendance - a rare asion. Romarkin made her excuses, left them and entered the Hall via the back way.

    The delegates whose seats were next to the aisle were much envied, as they were able to see the visitors up close. The Federation representatives were gracious and nodded to everyone cordially, and shook hands with the few who offered.

    They were preceded into the hall by their security, which doubled as their honor guard. For the First Ambassador, his colleagues y-acted as his honor guard since there were no others to do it, carrying short dress swords borrowed from some of the Seekers crew, and several banners Seekers quartermaster had hastily stitched together based on the ambassadors drawings.

    They made their way to the new, hastily installed seats in the front row, with a few specially constructed saddles to suit Arachnians.

    As they settled in, the queen then followed with her own honor guard, and sat beside the Princess and Prince, as befitting royalty. As for the Secretary-General, she was already on the stage. She went to the podium and began with some weing remarks, echoing the themes she''d covered in her earlier speech, and invited the representatives of each of the three ambassadorial races from the Federation to speak.

    The entire Assembly was very thankful for the human trantors that the U.N. had drafted especially for the asion.

    Each of the visitors waxed lyrical and effusively thanked Humanity for all that they had done. Electronic trantors would never have captured the poetic and lyrical nuances of the aliens speeches the way the trantors did (on special loan from CETI) as the Admiral and the Princess took their time and indulged their poetic, oratorical side. Neither were, however, as poetic as the First Ambassador. He was thest of the three to speak, and took the longest. He ended his long and rousing speech with a heartfelt thanks to the Earthers, and in particr, the Lady Amelia and her crew.

    Mia being mentionedst was pre-arranged, so that there would be a natural segue to bringing in Mia to the podium to speak. Quiet descended in the hall after the First Ambassador had requested the honor of her presence.

    And as the silence stretched out, they heard the sound of marching.

    -----

    On the trip over, Sahsha had briefed Mia and her people on the expected protocol via their CCs, but Mias Marines were old hands at this (they were part of the Second Marine/Infantry Squad after all), and picked up the routine quickly.

    They stepped out of the limo after it had pulled over, and they made their way to the Assembly Hall. Mias Marines marched with precision and she and her people just followed them.

    They halted just outside the hall, politely waiting for their cue. And when the First Ambassador finished his speech, the Marines resumed their march, making their footfalls especially loud.

    At the entranceway, the lead Marine called loudly, Admiral on deck, and the Marine beside her raised the Seekers colors.

    With precision, they marched down the aisle and arrayed themselves at the foot of the stage. The officers filed by the aliens and the queen, saluted while marching with eyes right, and continued on. Mia, being quietly coached by Sahsha via her hidden CC, stood in front of the alien delegates and bowed in the Elyran style. She then stood in front of the queen, saluted and waited for her liege to acknowledge her.

    She then proceeded up the stage. She bowed to the First Ambassador, and the Ambassador relinquished his position.

    The Marine with the Seekers colors raised them high, and though it wasnt arranged, everyone broke into spontaneous apuse.

    Honored delegates of the U.N., Mia began, ambassadors from the Gctic Federation of Free Races, Madame Secretary-General, your Royal Highness. Thank you for your warm wee. Its great to be home.

    And this was met with thunderous apuse.

    <strong>Jetsetters </strong>

    After all their ns, after all their worrying, everything went as smoothly as Mia and her people had hoped. For the aliens, it was like their sacrifices were worth it since all that theyd set out to aplish were sessful.

    After days of speeches and ceremony, copies of the draft treaty theybored to craft were circted amongst all the U.N. delegates, and Sahsha provided all the news outlets with copies as well. Mia, the Secretary-General, and all the Earthers involved in its creation, thought the document good, and that it was so uniform and generic in itsnguage that no special interest group would have any objections, and there was no security-sensitive material in it so none in the military would find it objectionable. It was actually on the instructions of the Secretary-General that Sahsha gave copies to the public.

    For theing weeks, the aliens and the draft treaty were the main topic of discussion almost everywhere. All the humans seemed to have opinions about the treaty, and almost every news program had at least a piece on the treaty, or the aliens, or both. Several fan clubs dedicated to either Ren or Tasha sprang up (although they were respectful enough to not call themselves fan clubs). And any show that had new video or pictures of the aliens or Mia got the highest ratings for that day.

    Secretary-General Romarkin had several marathon meetings with the Security Council, the representatives of the Spacers and the leadership of all the major-power countries on the. And, in less than a month, they hade to a consensus: the treaty was eptable, and the EDF was instructed to proceed with the n. What was called the Harbinger Program was given the green light.

    In that month, while the politicians did their thing, the Federation representatives were given a whirlwind tour of the Earth with Sahsha as their personal tour guide. They couldnt see everything, of course, especially with only a month, but Sahsha made a special effort to show them the most interesting ces, and those that she believed showcased the humans and their home at their best.

    The rest of the alien crews also had an opportunity to see the as well, though they did not benefit from Sahshas personal touch - during their free periods, and with passes in hand, the aliens, in small batches, had time to go around New York City while some were lucky enough to win government-arranged week-long twentieth-century style sightseeing Caribbean cruises via ship-board lotteries.

    Sahsha had messages delivered to the Keeper of the Heritage and his staff, inviting them to join the crew people joining the cruises or the month-long tour, but Cale, the Dravidian who participated in their lectures, politely declined the invitation, and said they would prefer to stay onboard the Dixx gship. He said Earther TV would be more than sufficient entertainment. Instead, he said the Noble Born would prefer to spend his time meeting with the races academics (Jennifer Priestly foremost among them) and religious schrs.

    Sahsha took the hint, so she had the U.N. PR office make special arrangements to facilitate just that. Also, within that same day, Federationmunications people were able to tap into all the local TV programs via recoded radio signal - the new channels reced the canned videos the Federation people were getting before, but with appropriate Elyran subtitles and dubbing.

    The PR people were apologetic that the programs would be dyed by two Earth hours because they needed the time to add the subtitles. That, however, wasntpletely true: the subtitling and the dubbing were automated and only required little time to code. The real reason for the dy was that the ATAC people, supplemented by Jerry Bhavnanis CETI analysts, needed to edit all the feeds to make sure that stuff the government didn''t want transmitted were taken out (such as tactical information or information on proscribed tech like Phase-Wave). And, with over a thousand channels, this was not easy to say the least. Thank goodness the by-subscription channels werent included, otherwise the dy would be very, very, verrry long.

    It was obvious to the aliens that the Earthers were censoring things since static-filled nk screens and jarring cuts made the edits obvious. The aliens didnt mind this much since it was expected, but their science staff was ecstatic nevertheless. This was the best way to learn about the Earthers in the shortest time possible. And with selectable subtitling and dubbing, they were even making headway in learning Earther speech, not just in the dialect they found out was called English but in other Earther tongues as well.

    Though the references provided them before by Seekers crew didnt includenguage manuals, they did include a couple of dictionaries. The crew of the Talon had started usingmon Earther phrases: hello became as much in use as tchahn was. And watching Earther TV programs became the thing to do during off hours.

    Earther-speak became the in thing onboard Talon. Never was mess hall talk more fun than peppering the discussions with Earther words, and the most popr people were those that could recite whole passages from their favorite Earther shows dialogue. And because of a CETI decision to not edit thenguage, the Earthers transmissions were embarrassingly rich in colloquial swearing and other things... Andmon throwaway words like gotcha or dude became part ofmon on-board ship-talk. It was good Reena did not stand for profanity, whether in Elyran or English, so Elyrans avoided the racier Earther words and phrases, and ship-board life did not degenerate into a polyglot mishmash of bad behavior and alien swear words.

    Talons two scientists who doubled as their linguists suddenly became the most popr people on-board, and were pestered fornguage sses. But despite all of the information they were getting, they told everyone they wouldn''t be ready for months. So they eventually caved, put pride aside and asked the Earthers for help. And And the Earthers said theyd be sending their best. Jennifer Priestly would therefore be on her way via a Type-Two cruiser just finishing her shakedown, and should be back in a week to arrange for face-to-facenguage sses, as well as her tte--tte with the Keeper. But even while in transit, she had already started her sses, in the same manner as their old Channel A, B and C meetings.

    -----

    In the meantime, the Federation ambassadors continued with their sightseeing.

    The Earthers found that, for the most part, the Elyrans liked the same things they liked, and trips to the beach and amusement parks were highlights. As for the Dixx, they liked going to parks, and going on walking tours through Yosemites forests, but they didnt like going to the Amazon - they had trouble with high humiditybined with high heat  and tended to overheat, something akin to heatstroke.

    And for all the theories of the exobiologists, the aliens werent so alien that the people couldnt rte to them. It was mostly because the visitors had experience dealing with other alien peoples and cultures, and made it easy for the Earthers.

    For Ren, Tasha, Daxx, the First Ambassador and their staff, first on the agenda were all of the things that Mia and the others promised them - in-depth tours of manufacturing nts, farms, electronics factories and the other things they had discussed in their long meetings onboard Seeker.

    The host governments were more than amodating and arranged everything.

    Two Airbus A300-1000H Hypersonics were spruced up specifically for use by the visitors. No one said that was overkill. They needed the suborbital ballistic shuttles, otherwise they would have needed tomandeer a Type-Two or something, just to get around the. And that was patently ridiculous.

    The enormous ballistic passenger nes were fast enough to keep up with time zones, and the ride they gave was smooth andfortable enough that they allowed the passengers to do their sightseeing during the daytime and rest during the night-time: Sahsha had set up their itinerary such that their schedule allowed them fourteen solid hours (with slight variations) of sightseeing time followed by two five-hour stretches of night time that the pilots used as their flight window, and the passengers used for resting, for quiet, rxed conversations, for reading, sleeping or their equivalents, with about an hour snuck in there for any interviews the news outlets wanted or for consultations with the U.N. people.

    It did, however, require meticulous nning so that their tours coincided with local daytime via Mach 5-plus suborbital flying. If a diagram of their flight n was traced on a map, it would look like spaghetti.

    Their transportation felt more like apartments rather than nes: when they stepped out of them, they were always greeted with sunshine, and when they were done, it was always evening. And the inside felt just like apartments unless one chanced to peek out of therge round windows and saw the clouds as they passed below them.

    All of the aliens were given tiny trantors so they didnt need anyone to trante for them. In reality, though, they were, however, just radio-based rys that interfaced with the U.N. VOX trantor system. That way, any enterprising Elyran or Dixx who tried to open them and study their innards would have just been disappointed to see nothing special other than a voice-activated radio transceiver - they werent even Phase-Wave. (Sahsha regrly reced trantors that were identally damaged, no questions asked.)

    Arge advance contingent from the U.N. protocol office also made sure that the ces the aliens were going to visit were all environmentally okay, courtesy of squads of U.N. inspectors equipped with lifesigns belts with Elyran-style yochus from the Talons stores. And several covert security personnel (provided by the US Secret Service, MI6, Mossad, the Lunar Defense Corps and the Muslim League) apanied them, providing unnoticed, unobtrusive protection.

    So the Federations first ambassadors to Earth got to see the enormous shipyards and spaceports of Singapore, the enormous manufacturing and electronics nts of Beijing, therge research facilities in Bonn, the underwater farms in the Aleutians, the sprawling urban ghetto farms of the Bronx, the cattle and animal farms of New Zend, the electronics nts of Silicon Valley, the stics and syntheticsbs of South Africa, and thergest military training camp in US territory which was located in Washington State. And of course, time at Waikiki, walking tours amongst the forests of Yellowstone, New Zend, Anthony Bourdain-style pub crawls and restaurant meals (In the 24th century, no one knew who Anthony Bourdain was anymore, except as being part of the generic term for bar-hopping and eating good food.)

    The highlight of these tours was at the end, of course - their two-day visit to the Isles of Scilly, and every one of the Federation ambassadors was happy and excited to see their new home away from home in person instead of just in pictures.

    The Sciollian locals seemed quite proud of their little corner of the Earth, and eagerly showed their visitors around their inds. And as they were conducted around, Ren and Tasha had an opportunity to observe how the Lady Amelia treated her subjects.

    To them, it looked like the inders seemed excited to see their duchess, which wasnt unexpected since she had been away from them for a while.

    They noted that Mia didnt seem to believe in unting her power over her subjects. She would acknowledge the ritual obeisance of her people (the bowing, the My Ladys, Your Graces and so forth) in a familiar, matter-of-course kind of way, and was quite friendly with them, even calling some of them by their first names.

    In truth, of course, Mias actions were a result of practice and a lot of preparation. She had tried tomit all of the material the Cornwall Tourist Board provided and was therefore familiar with her new duchy, and she had also studied the personnel file of key people on the inds, memorizing their names, faces and personal histories.

    So the inders were impressed and epted Mia as something akin to their new Mayor, and happily followed her requests the few times she deigned to ask.

    -----

    The aliens already knew most of the facts and figures of the inds and just tried to soak the ce in. The air was crisp, cool, and, above all, it was dry, so Daxx and her staff didnt feel ufortable walking on the verge next to the strip of sand that circled Tresco, thergest of the inds they would be allowed to lease. And despite the asional spray of water, Daxx and her people actually felt quite at home.

    The locals talked about the kind of weather they had, and the kinds and quantities of Marine life that abounded in the surrounding waters.

    The First Ambassadormented that he thought there was a lot of it, and it would probably yield catchesrge enough to support the inders.

    Actually, Ambassador, Mia said, nothing from the sea is really farmed. True, the locals would asionally catch some but mostly for sport, or if they had a hankering for something fresh, or it was for a special asion, like tonight.

    Tonight, My Lady? The Arachnian politico asked.

    Tonight, the county council will be hosting a special meal in your honor, using the catch of the day, and local game and produce. Sciollians are quite proud of our cuisine. Mia smiled down at the Ambassador.

    They spent the entire day roaming the inds, and many of the inders got to meet them. It was fun for all involved, although the Elyrans and, most especially, the Dixx, got worn out pretty early in the day, and decided to end the tour at around three in the afternoon. Nick suspected that it was because of the unustomed higher gravity of Earth (Earth gravity was eleven percent stronger than the Federation average).

    In the evening, a special ck-tie affair was hosted by the Sciollian Council (Mia exined what ck-tie meant). The ambassadors insisted that the affair be conducted like a normal Earther event, and the protocol officer went though how such an event was conducted. The aliens again wore their formal attire except that Tasha decided to wear the little ck dress that Sahsha had given her as a gift when they toured Rodeo Drive a few days ago. From the reaction of the Elyran and Earther males, Tasha knew she chose well.

    As for Mia, she was wearing a simple, long ck dress and high heels. It was a simple sheath dress but, with her fabulous figure, the sheer, stretchy material and the bare back and shoulders made her the center of attention, even more than Tasha was, and the Elyrans just gravitated towards her.

    The Earthers sort of kept their distance, however. Tasha was Elyran royalty, and Mia was the Lady Amelia after all, as well as the Admiral of the Fifth Fleet.

    The event itself went over without a hitch, and their guests enjoyed the dinner in the dining room of the Councils Main Hall surrounded by a lot of local memorabilia, mounted armor, mounted heads of animals andrge paintings of military victories and other significant events of the Inds. Their host apologized that several of the pieces of memorabilia were only reconstructions, and took pains to point out the ones that were still original.

    Their guests enjoyed the eventrgely because of the novelty and the ability to openly chat with the locals. Sitting and having a formal dinner was fun, and the food was quite good. Nothing over the top but very traditional nevertheless. The aliens found eating the meal with Earth eating implements manageable but very unorthodox. Slicing up their food themselves instead of having them pre-cut was unusual, but they rationalized that, by doing so, they could eat bites in the sizes that they wanted. Mia and the others nodded like they knew, but it was an unusual idea for the Earthers  pre-cut food had the stigma of pre-packaged food, and therefore of lesser quality.

    It was exined that the practice of scanning and exchanging food before the meal wasnt normally done, so the tourists didnt expect it, although the Elyrans scanners were discretely ced beside their tes in case they wanted to scan anything.

    Talking during the meal was something that they expected, and the subject matter included a wide range of topics, as usual, although the discussions were less fact-finding than they were a getting-to-know-you kind of thing.

    After the meal, they retired to the Main Halls library for more talk and after-dinner drinks. The Arachnians found a growing fondness for coffee  in ck, as usual - while the Dixx liked Earther desserts  the sweeter the better. The Elyrans loved Earth-style wines and champagnes even though they learned that they couldnt hold their Earth alcohol as well as the Earthers. As for the Arachnians, they loved vegetable juices and drinks. Their all-time favorite Earther drink was the Bloody Mary.

    So the Elyrans and Earthers enjoyed flutes of champagne and sses of port, the Dixx with cups of fruit cocktail in syrup, and the Arachnians with tall Collins sses of Bloody Marys with the prerequisite stick of celery.

    The evening endedpanionably when they realized that Tasha had actually fallen asleep. With Rens permission, Mia volunteered to carry her to their room. Rens and Tashas personal guards were scandalized that Ren agreed, but they could not go against His Highness wishes.

    Ben let them into the suite assigned to the royals. As Mia walked through their door, their guards bowed and took positions by the door. Mia went to their bed and put the Princess down. Ren bent over and tenderly gave her a kiss. He took off her shoes and turned to Mia.

    So, I guess I will see you guys tomorrow, then? Mia asked.

    Yes.

    Ummm, well, Mia said awkwardly, good night then.

    Ren went to her and gave her a hug. Mia didnt know how to react. But out of ingrained instinct, she hugged him back.

    Thank you Mia, he said.

    Oh, it was nothing, Your Highness she pshawed.

    No, it is not. He sighed, and let go. These past few weeks  they have been like a dream, like the culmination of all that we have worked for. We paid for this with the lives of our people and our friends. For their sake, this expedition must seed. We cannot let their sacrifice be for nothing. And thanks to you, it has indeed seeded.

    Mia looked down at the little Elyran.

    Never think that you are alone in this, Ren. I will do all I can. And I will be there for the two of you. Whatever happens.

    Ren started to cry. I know that, Mia, he whispered, and gave her a fierce hug. I know.

    Mia had to bend down, but she didnt feel too awkward doing that. As for Ren, he didnt feel too awkward at all. Normally, he wouldnt be hugging any random female, but he trusted the Lady Amelia, and he trusted in the depth of his connection to his bridge, Tasha. He wasnt partner-less like Ben, and felt safe. That reminded him.

    Ren hastily let go of Mia. Ben? he called. Would you please show the Lady Amelia out. I, ummm, have to get Tasha ready for bed.

    Ben bowed. Of course, My Lord.

    As they stepped out, Ben had a whispered talk with one of the guards, and walked Mia back down to the library.

    I told them that the Prince and Princess need some rest so they should not be bothered, he exined to Mia.

    We missed you at dinner, Mia said.

    I apologize, My Lady. It was just... I decided not to join. I am not feeling quite myself tonight.

    After a moment of silence, Mia stopped on the stairway and faced Ben. I cannot pretend to understand what is going on, but I will do anything I can to help. Just tell me how.

    Ben sighed, and smiled sadly. It is strange that Elyrans and Earthers are so alike. It is like we are the same. But there are differences. Tonight is a case in point. He reached for her hand. Thank you for the offer. I would ask for help if I need it. Believe that.

    Mia smiled at the Elyran. All right.

    They continued to walked down the stairs. So...

    Mia giggled a little. So.

    Did you notice?

    Notice what?

    The Prince called you by your name.

    Ummm, he always does. I dont...

    Ren shook his head impatiently. No, no. What I meant was, he called you Mia. Not Admiral or Lady Amelia.

    Mia looked at Ben. I dont...

    Perhaps Earthers are more casual in how they address each other. Quite unusual in this day and age. Most races are not so casual. To be addressed with ones proper title and name is only appropriate. None may presume to call another so casually as the Lady Tasha or Prince Ren did you just now, since this is a right reserved for family and close friends. On Elyra, indeed most everywhere, no one else may presume to. To do so is considered quite a substantial breach of etiquette in most Federation societies.

    Oh...

    The feelings of My Lord and Lady have changed towards you. Much in the same way as the First Ambassadors have. You have buried yourself into their hearts. You are much more than a colleague to them now. More than a friendly, helpful alien. To use an Earther phrase, you have shown your true colors to them. You have shown where your heart lies, and where your loyalties lie. For most of us, doing that does note easy. Who can you trust to show your true self to, after all? So it is not easy to divine the hearts and intentions of others. But with you, it seems that we can do that quite easily. If that kind of character is normal for Earthers, then thank the Messiah that our peoples have be friends.

    You know, you remind me of the First Ambassador...

    Ben giggled. Yes, I know what you mean. He does talk a lot.

    They were nearing the library.

    Then what are you trying to say? Mia said.

    Ben sighed. The Arachnians have a tradition of adoption  that, for whatever reason, those that are worthy of the family or n, or have an extraordinary need, are adopted. A whole ritual is devoted to it. Nothing tooplicated  nothing as formal as the ceremony you went through with the Torch of Freedom. And I see you wear around your neck the First Ambassadors family crest. The First Ambassador has bestowed upon you a great honor and has admitted you into their n.

    Ben...

    As for us Elyrans, there is no such ritual or ceremony. Except, perhaps, through marriage.

    Ben...

    My Lady, the Prince called you Mia! He allowed you to carry the Princess to her bed!

    They had stopped right at the librarys door, and people looked at them curiously.

    Lets take a walk, Mia said. They stepped out through some sliding doors and onto a verandah that overlooked the beach, and further on, the Antic Ocean. A small walkway was connected to it that led down to the beach, but neither decided to go down.

    Ben... Mia said.

    My Lady, Ben said, he allowed you to carry his love to bed. He called you Mia. You are part of their inner circle now.

    Ben...

    You are family to them now, in all but name. It... He hesitated.

    Whats wrong, my dear?

    Oh, nothing. All I am saying is that its a good thing. And I am proud of you, if you will forgive my impertinence in saying so.

    Oh, Ben, she said in mock exasperation, leaned down and gave him a hug.

    Ben stiffened in her embrace and started to tremble.

    Oh no! She let him go. I hope I didnt do something wrong again?

    Ben took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. No, My Lady. I am fine.

    Well, all right. She leaned on the railing. I appreciate what youre saying. I guess I didnt get the nuances of whats happening. I suppose my confusion is a cultural misunderstanding...

    Perhaps. However simr we appear and seem to be, Elyrans and Earthers are not the same in certain ways.

    Mia nodded. But you know, she looked at him, and smiled. I disagree. I think we are more alike than not.

    What do you mean?

    Do you watch TV?

    What?

    Earth TV. Do you watch it?

    He giggled. What? TV? Yes! Its my most favorite thing!

    I have a suggestion. Have you tried watching old television ssics? Shows and movies from the twentieth century, I mean.

    Well, I havente across any. There are too many channels...

    Mia smiled. Talk to Sahsha. Im sure she can help you find the right ones.

    I do not understand you Earthers, Ben grumbled under his breath. Sixteen thousand channels. And many of the programs are repeats or duplicates.

    Mia shrugged. Youre not the first to say something like that.

    Why are television ssics so special?

    They were made over three hundred Earth years ago. The style of the shows is a little dated, but they have the virtue of being sensitive to many of the proprieties that we still hold to, and are able to show them with less artifice, I guess, so its easier to understand. Watch some of them and you will realize that we are more alike than not.

    Ben bowed. As My Ladymands.

    -----

    The following morning, all parties were up early, eager to tour the inds some more, except for the Lady Tasha, so Ben decided to remain behind to help her through what the Elyrans coyly called the morning ailment, leaving only Ren to join them.

    After Ren tried exining what it was in a very long, evasive, vague and roundabout way, Nick went, Ah! A hangover! And all the humans in earshotughed. Nick blushed in embarrassment.

    With a questioning look, Ren asked why that was funny, and Mia, still giggling, waved it away, saying it wasnt important, and she would exinter.

    Before starting the day, Ren handed Mia a note from Tasha. She broke the wax seal and unfolded the note.

    Dearest Mia, the letter began, I apologize forst night. I suppose I felt more tired than I realized. I believe that it was your fault, that you did not warn me sufficiently about the potency of your Earther champagne.

    The word champagne was followed by what looked like a squiggly equal sign, except that it used tildes in ce of dashes. Mia asked Ren what that symbol meant; apparently it was the equivalent of an LOL emoji. Mia chuckled and read on.

    My Ren and I thank you for your discretion. We were not wrong when we decided. You are a soul that we can trust. Ben thinks so as well, Amelia eem zheh taime. I will see you and Renter  with much love, Tasha li zheh taime.

    Mia didnt want to expose her ignorance, but the phrase li zheh taime seemed to be a variant of eem zheh taime, which, she knew meant my beloved. An educated guess told her it probably meant your beloved, but shed have to leave finding outter if she was correct or not.

    She looked up to Ren, and his expectant and happy face telegraphed to her his feelings, and she enfolded him in a hug. Thank God for the two of you, Ren, she whispered into his ear, and let go.

    Ren let her go, and after Mia straightened up, Ren reached for her hand and kissed her palm. Rens smiling eyes were bright with unshed tears.

    The cues were different, Mia acknowledged, but she couldnt be wrong with the sentiment.

    Lets go, my dear, Mia said. Time to show you your new ce. She crooked her arm and waited.

    Ren had seen this in some of the Earther TV programs hed seen, and put his arm through it, and they walked out into the morning sunshine.

    -----

    People from the Army Engineering Corps apanied them and discussed some construction ideas while they waited for the submersible. The federation envoys talked about their preferences for living quarters, and the engineers dutifully took down notes.

    After a bit, a couple ofrge sea skimmers  flying saucer-shaped submarines designed for shallow underwater operation  rose from underneath the water. They were used a lot in underwater colonies and farms, like the ones they used when they visited the Aleutians. The visitors all climbed aboard and the skimmers sank into the sea.

    The panoramic windows allowed them to see the inds from under the sea. The shallow rock and coral formations were ideal for building underwater living quarters for the aquatic members of the Federation, Mia noted. The engineers tried to get some ideas but the aliens werent being too cooperative since they were too busy oooh-ing and ahhh-ing. The Seabees were frustrated because the aliens focused more on the sea flora and fauna rather than on what they were saying. But it was fun for the visitors, especially how Mia and Nick made the tour more than just about construction.

    It ended all too quickly for everyone, and their Federation guests were acting a little mncholy. That was understandable - it was thest day of their month-long global tour of Earth.

    The Sciollians wanted to arrange another dinner but made do with a simple afternoon meal served out on the beach. And after a quick exchange of gifts and short speeches, they took aunch to their nes, and made the quick trip back to Kennedy Spaceport in New York. They arrivedte evening.

    Instead of disembarking and checking into a hotel, everyone decided to stay onboard their nes, and the people from Kennedy shut down thending strip they were on and rerouted all the nes around them, letting the tworge Airbus shuttles stay on thending strip overnight.

    -----

    Yet another round of speeches had to be made, and everyone dutifully did what was expected of them. They then had a series of closed-door meetings to n out the Harbinger Programme, breaking it down around the important parts of the n. There were several things that the Earthers proposed that did not go down well with the Federation people but they knew that there really was no choice but to ede to their suggestions.

    So, afterpletion of the thorough month-long repair, refuel and refit of the five remaining Federation cruisers, courtesy of the people from the New Copernicus shipyards, all of the Federation ships were one hundred percent ship-shape, and everyone was raring to go.

 Chapter 22: Colossus

    Chapter 22: Colossus

    <strong>Bubbly </strong>

    In yet another ceremony, because of their upgrade to Type-Ones, the former Type-Two cruisers of Captains Dupont and Okonkwo were rechristened as DSC instead of DSR cruisers. They were also given new hull numbers  Hermes was now DSC 60 and Constetion was now DSC 74.

    Four other new Type-Ones were added to the Fifth Fleet. This made the fleet almostplete - Mia now had six Type-Ones under hermand. She was still waiting for another one, but it wouldnt be ready for a while. But this was all news B-roll. The bigger event was the Seeker.

    Seekers refit was formally certified, her modifications were permanently logged into her database and the new refitted ship was formally included in the Fleets technical specifications catalogue. And because of the extent of the refit, ording to the new military protocol, she was given a new ssification (she was now a J-One ss interster cruiser), as well as a new name and a new hull number.

    The exploits of the Seeker and the rest of the Fifth Fleet had captured the attention and imagination of the entire system. It was the first time that a space battle of thisplexity and magnitude, and this... level of excitement had ever happened in the system. It was like some adventure movie. Some said that it overshadowed all previous battles, even the ones from the Asteroid Wars. And it was only possible because the new ships and their new capabilities matched up with the alien ships capabilities. Pre-FTL chemical ships, the so-called blimps, like the Orion-ss and Daedalus-ss ships, and especially the massive Dreadnoughts, would not havested a minute, though the non-chemical Enterprise-ss and Jovian-ss ships might have been able to cope. After all, Saturns three K-ss ships more than held their own. The idea of re-tooling Enterprise and Jovian-ss ships in the same way the PRC had re-tooled the Seeker was being given serious consideration.

    In any case, given the Seekers exploits among the rings of distant Saturn, some of the bright kids from NASA and the ESA suggested a new name for her that everyone thought appropriate.

    Some moons or other natural satellites that clear gaps inary ring material or keep particles within a ring contained were called shepherd moons. The name came from the fact that they limit the herd of ring particleslike a shepherd would with his flock of sheep.

    Due to their gravitational effect, shepherd moons pick up particles and deflect them from their original orbits through orbital resonance. This causes gaps in a ring system, such as the famous Cassini Divide that Seeker made full use of in their now-famous encounter with the Tiros and Detterex invaders out in Saturn.

    So a bunch of NASA and ESA interns suggested this as Seekers new name. This got back to the Fleet Admiral somehow, and Silverman thought it was a great idea.

    So DSR Seeker was rechristened the <em>Shepherd Moon</em>, with hull number DSC 05 (after all, she was the gship of the Fifth Fleet).

    Arge group of VIPs, along with Earths first Federation friends, gathered in therge observation blister of New Copernicus orbiting dry dock to listen to more speeches and witness its official rechristening and reunch.

    After everything was said, Her Royal Highness, Queen Margaret II, pushed a button and an expensive magnum of champagne was ejected towards the ship. A little conduction heater tab the size of a penny was taped to its bottom to prevent its contents from freezing.

    Nick had exined to the aliens the background of the little ceremony they were witnessing, and the aliens watched it with great respect and anticipation. After the ten year-old bottle shattered on the Shepherd Moons bow, and its contents fizzed out and away, everyone cheered.

    Commander Kajima then engaged the Shepherd Moons parking engines at their lowest power setting and the ship glided out of Copernicus dry dock at a stately five kilometers per hour, slow enough to get everyone to oooh and ahhh as she cruised by the observation blister.

    Such a waste, Princess Tasha said, watching the ship cruise by. Most of the conversation around her stopped.

    What do you mean, Your Highness? the First Ambassador asked.

    She gestured towards the ship. All that champagne... what a waste.

    Everyone erupted inughter. Tasha sheepishly smiled at that, and when everyones attention moved on, she leaned close to Ren. I do not understand, she whispered to her husband. Why did theyugh? I was being serious.

    Ren giggled and hugged his princess wife. Her growing fondness for Earther wines and bubbly was something that everyone on Talon knew by now.

    Oh, my dearest, he giggled and squeezed her yfully.

    <strong>Hitching a ride </strong>

    Harbinger was a very ambitious n, but a n that the Earthers'' leadership had decided was absolutely essential for the Human Race, indeed for therger gcticmunity as well.

    The n called for many things: one - to raise the rm about the escape ship of the Defiant, at present making its way to the Detterex homeworld. It would be arriving there in about one Earth year, presumably to initiate retaliation ns against Earth and the Federation.

    In order to raise the rm, the Fifth Fleet needed to transport the Federation representatives back to Colossus to brief the variousary representatives and ambassadors, and after they had been briefed, to then help them get word back to the Federation homes.

    Two - to arrange for a coordinated defense n among the various Federations in case of attack. Owing to theirck of instantaneousmunications, such a thing could normally only be aplished in about five years. So it was difficult, to say the least. But all things being equal, the Empire would also need roughly the same amount of time to mount an invasion or retaliation n.

    As usual, the Earthers had a suggestion: Harbinger called for a message simr to the first transmission Earth sent to the Federation, specifically to Colossus, to inform them of the pending arrival of the Fifth Fleet. To avoid burning out Colossus systems, themunication would have to be less than two minutes. A disposable transmitter will have to be used to aplish this.

    Also, the Prince and Princess, the First Ambassador and Admiral Daxx would hitch a ride on the Shepherd Moon for the trip to Colossus. The trip, all told, shouldnt be longer than a couple of months  substantially less than the six months they originally took to get to Earth. That would give them a jump on the Tirosians. As for the Elyran and Dixx ships, they would follow at their best speed, escorted by a couple of the Fourth Fleets Type-Ones.

    Reenas crew, not to mention Admiral Daxxs, did not like it. But they were soldiers that knew how to follow orders. The n only merited a little bit of grumbling.

    So, with much fanfare, Mia and the Shepherd Moonsmand personnel who were there to witness the ceremony lifted off from the New Copernicus observation bubble via the retooled Mud Turtle shuttle that the Shepherd Moons people were now calling the Admirals Barge. The Federation envoys joining them were onboard two other shuttles  an Elyran and a Dixx. They simultaneously detached from intable bridge tunnels connecting them to the bubble. And as the three shuttles made their way to the Shepherd Moon, eight alien interceptors  four Elyran and four Dixx  provided escort. The barge entered via the normal airlock while the two alien shuttles and eight fighters docked to the Shepherd Moonsrge cargo booms in pairs, and were winched onboard.

    So it was that the Earths Fifth Fleet,posed of six EDS Type-One cruisers and one refitted J-One ss cruiser, left the Sr System on its historic first trip to the heart of the Gctic Federation.

    <strong>Arrival </strong>

    Everyone had a lot to do during the trip so the two months went by very quickly. Though it wasnt at a breakneck pace anymore, cultural and technology exchange continued. And with Phase-Wave links, the Fifth Fleet, the Federation fleet and the CETI people were still able to coborate.

    A small wrinkle was introduced, however. Before they had left the Sr System, they got a call that the Keeper of the Heritage and his staff were insisting on joining them. That was a bit troubling, but they had no choice except to agree. A Type-Two had to catch up to them to drop them off onboard the Shepherd Moon. The Dravidian from his staff, Cale, however, remained on Earth to join the new Gctic Federation Embassy being constructed on the Sciollian Isles.

    Together with a small contingent of Elyran, Arachnian and Dixx representatives, they started operations and performed all the necessary ambassadorial work that a new Embassy had to take care of. Cale and his two Erocii assistants produced credentials that showed them to be empowered to represent the Dravidians and Erocii in any negotiations, at least to the same extent that the Elyran, Arachnian and Dixx representatives were. In a matter of days, their new Federation Missions to Earth moved into their new offices on St. Agnes and St. Martins Inds in Mias duchy of the Sciollian Isles.

    To offset the loss of his staff, the Keeper had asked, via his staff, for volunteers to help him with his temporary manpower shortfall. Many of herpeople from CETI volunteered, and after Mia approved it, the Keeper selected three from the Shepherd Moons crew, and they then started reporting to him as his staff. Mia and Jenn suspected that the Keeper wasnt really under-staffed, and was only using this as an excuse to have some humans up close to study. But they didnt mind - they could also benefit from this. Thats why they had briefed the three CETI staff beforehand to be sure to gather as much data as they could.

    The Keeper was more visible onboard the Shepherd Moon than he was among the Dixx, as he was always touring the ship with his staff, and joining the Earther crew during mealtimes. He did not mind that certain areas were off limits and that he and his people had to submit to inspections from time to time. But other than that, he stayed out of everyones way, and when not touring, spent the rest of his time in his quarters.

    Having gone through the same thing with the Arachnians, the crew knew how to manage the Dixx and Elyrans and make them feel at home. And it helped that Sahsha was onboard. Sahsha made some suggestions to the Princess and the Admiral. She suggested that their security people and fighter pilots join the Marines workout and training sessions. They had agreed, and the Princess had her warriors train and work out with the Earthers in shifts. Daxx followed suit for the Dixx personnel, and during the trip to Colossus, Talon warriors and Dixx soldiers learned Marine techniques and methods.

    For their part, the Elyrans and the Dixx also taught the Earthers their own methods and, aside from some things that were specific to alien physiologies, the Earthers were able to adapt many of them to their regr routines. The lead Marine drill instructor reported to OConnell, Tasha and Daxx that many of the Elyran routines helped them to be better at close-in fighting while the Dixx showed them a thing or two about managing in low-gee situations.

    However, Renughingly told them about how their warriors would limp back to their quarters exhausted from their workouts. Mia gave OConnell a significant look, and OConnell picked up on that right away. She then said that the joint workouts would now be done in Federation standard gravity.

    The fact that Sahsha was onboard as the official expedition secretary and the representative of the Secretary-General bothered Mia greatly. Not that Sahsha had an important role to y, but rather that she was there at all. Though they hadn''t consummated the rtionship, Mia was still in love with Sahsha regardless of her gender switch, and that Sahsha had served notice that the switch hadn''t changed her feelings. Mia was d of that, but how could she feel good that Sahsha was in harms way? The expedition wasntpletely a diplomatic mission  there was a distinct possibility of another encounter, or even several encounters just like the one around Saturn. But she made no move to stop her from joining: she knew it wouldnt have made a bit of difference.

    It was also such a temptation and distraction for Mia that Sahsha was around, but she had to keep things professional. Otherwise, it would have made things difficult, and maybe even undermine her authority with her crew. Mia tried to exin it to Sahsha once, and she seemed to understand but wasnt too happy about it. As a result, she had been very standoffish throughout the trip from Earth to Colossus.

    Life went on.

    -----

    When they were a day out from Colossus, a fleet-wide call went out and everyone started getting ready.

    They werent sublight yet so Colossus wasnt aware of their approach. As arranged, Captain Okonkwo transmitted the pre-recorded two-minute signal they''d prepared. They used one of the disposable Phase-Wave interptor transmitters they brought and fired off the signal directly at Colossus using the general Federationmunication frequency. They had several dozen of the transmitters onboard, as did all the ships in the Fifth Fleet, so that meant they couldmunicate with the aliens anytime they needed to. But, unless approved by the Admiral, they were not to use them and instead use only regr radio tomunicate with the aliens, and thereby conserve their limited number of transmitters. In the Shepherds hold, though, aside from the several dozen disposable transmitters, there was arge crate half the size of a Shrike fighter. It was something that no one knew about except for Mia, OConnell and the Chief Engineer.

    -----

    Onboard Colossus, theirmunications people suddenly found all iing transmissions cut off. They, as well as everyone, were puzzled at the loss of radiomunications. One of the technicians in Comms spun her radios dial and frantically scanned through all of the regr frequencies. And there was only one signal she found.

    Sire! she said, and turned to her Dravidian supervisor. All radio frequencies have disappeared!

    What! Check all bands!

    I already have! All of them are gone, sire. UHF, VHF, AM, FM  everything! All gone! Except...

    Yes?

    Theres one remaining... on the regrmunications frequency... She pressed a button and they heard it over the rooms speakers.

    Oh, gods! Do you think...

    Do you think what?

    Its them! Record it! Quickly!

    One of the Telcontari technicians scurried to the main control board. The little, furry Telcontari pressed one of the buttons and their equipment started recording the signal.

    On the speaker, aputer voice reced the carrier tone and started counting down in fluent Elyran.

    twelve eleven ten... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one.

    Its Earth! the Dravidianmunications chief whispered in awe. They had been waiting for this call for months and months. It was finally here.

    Another voice spoke. A male voice. Great rulers, My Lords and Ladies, noble born. TChahn. I am Mklele Okonkwo, a captain of the Fifth Fleet, United Earth Defense Force, and I bring the greetings of our leader, the Secretary-General of our United Nations. We are a day away from Colossus and request permission to approach. Wee in peace. We are conveying our new friends from Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia back home, and wish to speak with the Assembly. Furthermunications will be via regr channels. Please stand by. Thank you.

    The tone came back and slowly faded away.

    By the gods... Contact the Lord Chambein now!

    -----

    Soon after that transmission, the seven ships of the Fifth Fleet mmed into Federation space. In a matter of nanoseconds, all seven ships decelerated from faster-than-light speed to sublight, and well on the way to being ship-maneuverable. Beth ordered all radio jamming lifted at that point (they had instituted the jamming onboard so that their passengers would not be able to use their instruments to see how the inertia converters worked, and how quick the deceleration was). Ten minutes after that, OConnell had a radio beacon started, on the frequency they knew the Federation used.

    A few hourster, the envoys went over to the bridge and looked at the main screen. Beth asked her people to magnify the image and they saw therge cylindrical station spinning in orbit.

    Look at that, Mia, Sahsha whispered. Wow...

    The Earthers were impressed by the size andplexity of the station  its long axis was about three hundred kilometers  which was overtwo percent of the Earths diameter. It was truly vast, and it bristled with antennae, radar and microwave dishes, as well as several little sr panels sticking out of its surface. Sixrge rings dominated the structure, the middle one with t tforms sticking out like the wings of a dragonfly. Several ships were mounted on top of the tforms (that is to say, on the leading side in the direction of the stations spin).

    Tasha held Rens hand. He was crying silently.

    Were back, my love, Ren said. Tasha hugged him to her and kissed his cheek. Mia put her hand on Tashas shoulder.

    Has Colossus contacted us? Daxx asked quietly.

    Not yet, Mia said, but we are still a bit far away. Mia calcted turnover rates in her head and determined that they would be pulling beside Colossus in a little below twenty Earth hours. Still some time to go, she said. And it will take around four Earth hours for radio signals from Colossus to reach us.

    Oh.

    Actually, Admiral, Shepherdsms officer said, we just got a radio signal that just started transmitting. Its on a repeating cycle so its being sent constantly.

    There is? Lets hear it, Lieutenant.

    Theyre not expecting for us t receive it yet, given the four-hour radio timeg. She hit a button.

    Tchahn, honored visitors, a Dixx officer judging by the voice, said. The Gctic Federation wees you and the Fifth Fleet of Earth to the Zeos System, and anxiously await your arrival at Colossus. In the meantime, may we speak to Admiral Daxx if she is avable? One of our colleagues, Ambassador Br, is anxious to find out how she is, and how their mission has gone.

    The Federation people only expected a response eight hourster but, nevertheless OConnell gestured Daxx to one of the avable consoles. Daxx bowed and sat in front of the console.

    One of the officers set the controls. Just press this before you speak, Admiral, the officer said.

    Daxx nodded and depressed the switch.

    Tchahn, my dear Br. This is Daxx. I hope you have time. Because I have much to tell you...

    -----

    The people on Colossus didnt expect to hear from them hours ahead of schedule, but were happy to hear from Daxx nevertheless, in four Earth hours instead of eight. They chalked it up to the Earthers magical tech. They were still able to record Daxxs transmission, however, and everyone on Colossus listened with rapt attention as Daxx reported.

    The Dixx, Elyran and Arachnian constes were dismayed to hear that many of their countrymen perished in the mission, but were moderately cheered by the aplishments that their people had achieved. The news of the loss of so many ships and citizens was a blow, and needed to be reported to the homeworlds immediately. They quickly dispatched courier ships to Elyra, Dixx Prime and Arachnia Prime, and the other races followed their lead. There was a small exodus of small courier ships from Colossus, and many of them streaked past the Fifth Fleet ships.

    Mias people informed her that several detection beams had been going over the Fifth Fleet ships in waves, obviouslying from the courier ships. Captain OConnell said that she suspected that they were deliberately detouring their ships to pass closely by and get data on their ships but OConnell said it was an easy matter to block their beams. All they got for their trouble were very nice close-up pictures.

    -----

    Daxx had told them to monitor a specific frequency she specified and, after several hours, they received the Earthers'' more detailedpiled video mission report via a tight-beam radio transmission. The people of Colossus watched and listened, ck-jawed, at the information they started receiving, and saw how many of theirrades had died. They then saw theirrades escape to Earth and how the Earthers had staged their final confrontation with the Empire invaders. Everyone that had sent out courier ships felt a little frustrated since they could have waited a few hours and had been able toinclude this. In any case, some of them, including the Dravidians, Dixx and Elyrans sent follow-up courier ships.

    They were also amazed because themunication implied that the Earthers were in continuous contact with their homeworld as well as the two Elyran and three Dixx cruisers still on their way to Colossus. Daxx confirmed this in her next signal, and the Dixx excitedly sent back messages to be ryed to the others onboard the remaining three Dixx cruisers. The Elyrans also sent their own messages. Mias crew dutifully ryed their responses, which Colossus received about four hourster.

    -----

    Through another radio message, the Earthers were informed that a reception was being arranged to wee them. Truth be told, Mia was starting to get real tired of these things. But this time, she was going to meet a whole lot of other aliens, so she was very excited. For example, the Telcontari were hosting the reception.

    It was the first time for the Earthers to hear of Telcontar, and the First Ambassador med himself for this oversight  most Federation members tend to overlook and discount the Telcontari. Telcontar was one of the newer members - the newest, in fact. They had just discovered interster space flight when Dravidians stumbled over them about fifty thousand Earth years ago, but it was the consensus that they were quite qualified to be members nevertheless. Still, the senior and most powerful races tend to overlook such junior members. The Elyrans could identify with this since this happened to them early in their apprenticeship as a Federation member race. Even so, they were also guilty of overlooking the Telcontari - this prejudice seemed to have infected the Elyran contingent, too, and Ren and Tasha felt shame for this, so they tried to rectify this deficiency by telling the Earthers about the Telcontari right away.

    Ren exined that, per the practice on Colossus, many of the administrative posts were given to Telcontari. It was their way of familiarizing new members with the inner workings of the Federation government. This was one of the many intricate things that the allied races had learned to do over the eons in learning to administer the Federation, and as part of learning to live with and adjust to each other. So it was not surprising that the Telcontari will be their hosts.

    This started a flood of questions from everyone, so Ren and the First Ambassador decided to conduct a more formal briefing for Mia and her officers.

    Ben and Nick arranged for the briefing in Mias office, and Ben decided to start it with a short geography lesson.

    -----

    Ben had a diagram disyed on Mias 3-D conference screen. The Federations territory was marked red while the Tiros Empire was in blue.

    Roughly speaking, the Federations territory was shaped like a somewhat elongated egg, with Colossus roughly in the middle of the thickest part of the egg, and the Earth at the farthest edge of the round part of the shell. The Tiros Empires territory was a shapeless mass that was on the far side of the Federation, with Earth between them.

    I believe Telcontar is here, the First Ambassador said, pointing to a spot that was at the edge of Federation territory directly opposite of the Earth. It was right at the narrowest tip of the egg. An almost straight line could be drawn from Earth to Colossus to Telcontar, which made it the farthest Federation to Earth.

    As you may know, the Federation has been expanding its territory and sphere of influence in this direction. He traced a line from Colossus to Telcontar and further on. But we have not been having luck finding habitables. Telcontar was actually the first that we hade across in about fifty thousand Earth years. It was both a blessing and a disappointment when we found Telcontar. For, although they provided additional diversity and new capabilities and skills to Federation culture, their civilization was still confined to their home system. Other news remain to be discovered.

    Telcontari are not foremost in Federation culture, to be sure. They are, after all, the youngest among all the members. But they do provide a unique perspective that has yet to make an impact on our worlds.

    What perspective is that, Ambassador? Mia said.

    The Telcontari are much like us Arachnians in that we give importance to family and n, that to be a member of a family is a high honor.

    I suppose that perspective is something most races can im.

    True, but for the Telcontari, they believe that bing part of a family is not a privilege avable only to a few, but something that should be avable to anyone.

    To be sure, Telcontari demand fealty to ones family and n, and to not bring dishonor to them. Their penalties are far greater than even the penalties Elyrans, Dixx and we Arachnians impose. No, the difference is that, despite this, the Telcontari are not miserly in terms of family. They wee allers, and evaluate them in a very impartial and unprejudiced way, on a level unprecedented for any advanced society, and they expect the same from others. No other Federation race is as open.

    I dont understand, Ambassador, Nick said. Wouldnt an advanced people recognize the value of new things and new ideas?

    Of course, the Ambassador said, but in order for a society to exist, a set of norms, of rules, of ethics, even of aesthetics, has to be observed and imposed, otherwise there would only be chaos. I suppose we are too set in our ways. As for the Telcontari, they are willing to put aside rules, ethics  whatever, and consider another perspective, so long as it furthers themon good.

    But, Ambassador, surely the idea of amon good requires the application of rules and ethics...

    That is absolutely correct, Lieutenant. I suppose, like all sentient beings, they still have fundamental, visceral biologically-driven needs that give rise to ideas of a fundamental right and wrong. The need to live, for example, and to procreate. But to them, everything else that rues from that, like not to kill another, or the ideas of beauty  they are fair game. So long as they themselves survive, and they are able to procreate, anything else is worth considering.

    That doesnt make them sound like good people.

    The Ambassador windmilled his arms  the gesture of Arachnianughter.

    I apologize, Lieutenant, if that was the impression I gave. They are actually a very likeable people. Almost to a fault. They like to be friends, with the hope of being included and being made part of another group or family, so to speak. And they dont understand the reaction of the more, shall we say, nnish, races, who are not as open.

    Ahhh.

    As a result, Telcontari find it difficult to find advancement in many areas of society dominated by more nnish races like, say, the Dravidians or the Erocii, and, until recently, the Dixx and us Arachnians. And as you know, these are some of the most influential races in the Federation.

    Then why are they hosting us now?

    Management of the Federation government is via rotation. I will try and use Earth Base-10 numbers. So. A member races ce in the rotation is determined by drawing lots, which is performed every hundred millennia, and the time apportioned to each is divided equally so that each race will have about an equal chance to govern  about seventy times between each new rotation at present, each time about twenty years. This is called custodianship.

    But because Telcontar is new, she will only have a chance to be part of the rotation at the next lottery, which will happen ten Earth years from now.

    Telcontar is not the only race to find itself in this position  all of us had gone through that. Federation society feels bad for these people because of this. As a sort of rpense, administrative duties and ceremonial events like this have been put under their purview, so weing neers, at least this time around, is going to be managed by the Federations youngest children.

    Well, Ill be d to meet them, Mia said.

    The briefing continued and they learned more of the Telcontari, and the inner workings of the Federation government, but they had to cut it short since they were nearing Colossus.

    -----

    Earths Fifth Fleet arrived in Colossus sphere of responsibility with much fanfare. When they were a few hundred thousand kilometers from Colossus (therefore within visual reception) missiles were fired at them. But Prince Ren said they were not meant to harm. They all exploded well away from Mias seven ships, and a lot of multicolored lights exploded around them.

    Fireworks! Miaughed delightedly.

    The gases and trace metallic dust that the exploding missiles spread caused a multicolored cloud of sparks to surround the ships.

    OConnell asked Second Engineer Haskell if their little disy might interfere with theirms and navigation. Haskell checked and, aside from the pretty light show, the Shepherd Moon and the other ships were not bothered.

    Captain, the officer manning Navigation said. Receptionmittee approaching.

    What Earthers were told to be Dravidian capital ships met them and imposed themselves between Colossus and the Earthers. It was a blunt gesture  to show that they were there to protect Colossus. But Earthers didnt hold it against them, knowing that the Dravidians were just doing their jobs.

    In Engineering, the Shepherd Moons chief engineer looked over the Dravidian ships via long-distance video. The ships reminded her of the old-style Dreadnought-ss ships - extremelyrge and bulky. But these were not blimps. Even so, they were, in fact, twice the size of the dreadnoughts.

    The Phase-Wave pulses and radar beams that she showered them with revealed that massive electromaic shield generators were the main reason for their enormous sizes, which gave a clue to the kind of gravity fields they could produce. These were very powerful ships. And all of that power which was needed to run those generators could make their offensive and defensive capabilities very impressive, indeed.

    Shepherd Moonsputer had started to churn the Phase-Wave data that they were getting, but that would take maybe an hour or so of processing. So, for now, they made do with visual analysis.

    What do you think, Haskell? she asked her Second Engineer as they reviewed the pictures.

    Well, look at these, Chief. He pointed at a row of turrets. Some kind of pulse emitters.

    They arent detectors. Theyre offensive weapons. And there are a lot of them.

    Too many, I think. And look at those open ports on both the dorsal and ventral sides. Missile ports?

    Probably.

    And look at those. The ships were mostly sharp edges and t angles made up of thick, bolted-together metal tes. Most of them were sticking out from the deck. Didnt they bother to trim those back? Its like they just bolted a bunch of tes and bulkheads together and left it at that.

    Yeah. Those ships are the ugliest sons of bitches Ive ever seen. But those tes would make these ships extremely strong, too. With the hull so thick, these ships dont need any load bearing structures.

    Its not just that, Chief. He adjusted the controls and zoomed in on the tes.

    On the thick edge of one of the untrimmed tes, they could see pipes that ran through them sticking out, and then going back into the metal. Those have got to be structural integrity field conduits. If they are, those ships will be motherfucking strong!

    The chief nodded. Language, Commander. But, yes, I agree. If we go up against them, itll be like trying to beat up a lump of rock with bare knuckles. Start making notes, Haskell, and be sure to pass it back to the Captain.

    Haskell moved the picture around further. Lots of maneuvering jets.

    Yeah. Dont they use antigrav thrusters or even inertial flywheels for Gods sake?

    Maybe they do.

    Then why all of those chemical thrusters?

    I dont know.

    Well, keep on making those notes.

    <strong>Uniforms </strong>

    Mia, along with Sahsha, Nick, Beth OConnell, Ren, Tasha, Daxx and the First Ambassador, boarded the Admirals Barge. Two squads of soldiers made up of almost equal numbers of Earther Marines, Elyrans and Dixx followed, all wearing United Earth Defense Force uniforms with the Fifth Fleets insignia patch on the left shoulder and their individual ships patch on the right. The uniforms of the Dixx were specially tailored, of course.

    Several Arachnians followed, wearing their own Earth uniforms, as well.

    -----

    The idea of an integrated crew was first brought up by Daxxs exec a few weeks into the trip and, surprisingly, all the Dixx and Elyrans were enthusiastic about the idea. It had all started with Tashas security people working out with the Shepherd Moons Marines, and the idea of really bing part of the Fifth Fleet, not just in name, had spread. The Shepherd Moons quartermaster had started fabricating equivalent Fifth Fleet uniforms for their visitors. The quartermaster even put nametes on their lookalike EarthForce uniforms except, with the new uniforms, their patches were bilingual  in both Earther Roman script and Elyran script. The idea of uniform insignias and patches were new to the Dixx and Elyrans but they thought them wonderful innovations and adopted them wholeheartedly.

    Mia had heard all about the thing with the uniforms, and put in a priority call to Jennifer Priestly asking for advice.

    Jennifer said that something like this was sort of anticipated, given the feudal nature of Federation societies: their Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian friends were eager to be part of the Fifth Fleet family, and as in many cultures, symbols and outrements were an important part of that. It was simr to a video fan copying her idols clothes, or an Anglophile trying to speak with an English ent. Jenns advice was to let the Federation people do what they wanted. In fact, if the Earthers didn''t, the aliens would lose a great deal of face, and that was to be avoided as much as possible.

    So Mia called Silverman and exined their situation. The Admiral, following Jennifers and Mias advice, then made arrangements for all the crewmembers of the five remaining Federation ships to be made official members of EarthForces Fifth Fleet.

    So, using the selective conscription provision under the United Nations Conscription Act of 2299, the remainder of the Federations expedition to the Earth System was now an official part of the Fifth Fleet, including their ships. Forck of a better word, a contract was drawn up to the effect that the Federation crew were to observe four things:

    (1) that they were to put themselves under themand of the Fifth Fleetsmander, and to observe the Fifth Fleets integrated chain ofmand (this chain ofmand was spelled out in the contract as well. In essence, the equivalents of ranks used by any of the four species were observed, except that Daxxs and Tashas ranks were to be considered below the Fleet Admirals);

    (2) that they should obey allwfulmands, as reckoned by Earthw and their own homeworldsws (Earthws taking precedent);

    (3) that they treat everyone in the fleet with dignity and respect, and;

    (4) if they were unable to fulfill any of the three provisions for whatever reason, they had the option of collectively terminating the contract, as well as all of its provisos and penalties following a period no shorter that 9.3 Earth days (the equivalent of one Elyran week) after the Fifth Fleets entiremand staff was so informed. These rules would not apply to other Earther forces, however  the Federation crews loyalties would only be to the Fifth Fleet.

    For their part, the Fifth Fleet Earthers would follow the same rules as well. It wasnt that big a departure from their current way of doing things, except that many of them found that, under the new chain ofmand, they were now under alienmanding officers, and some of them now had aliens as part of theirmand.

    That wouldnt be a problem for Mia for a while, though, since the three Dixx and two Elyran ships were still on their slower route to Colossus.

    -----

    It was a big deal to Daxxs and Tashas Dixx and Elyran crews, however.

    Everyone quickly traded their old uniforms for Fifth Fleet ones (though they werent required to do so  it was just something they wanted to do) and put their other suits in their lockers. As for Tasha, Daxx and the others onboard the Shepherd Moon, up to that point they still wore their old uniforms, but Mia thought it was the appropriate time to start making up uniforms for them, and the first sets came out just in time for this little ceremony. The uniforms were in styles and had outrements appropriate to their physique and equivalent positions (Tasha, Ren and Daxx got Admirals uniforms). Of course, the Arachnians couldnt wear humaniform (or more appropriately Elyraniform) clothes so OConnells quartermasters made arm brassards for them that had the appropriate names, titles and emblems.

    In deference to the aliens new uniforms, Silverman required all of Mias people to make slight adjustments to their own as well  specifically, to make their name patches bilingual, too. That was easily done, and it didnt ruin the look of their clothes  something that navy people put a lot of importance in.

    -----

    The Admirals Barge lifted off the Shepherds deck and was followed by the eight Elyran and Dixx fighters.

    Mias pilot followed the directions radioed by Colossus, and they drifted into Colossus mainnding pad shortly. All ninended almost simultaneously.

    When the big pressure doors closed, jets of air were directed at the eight fighter ships to st away the remaining chemical fumes from them.

    Exhaust fans took the fumes away and the deck filled up with fresh air. As for Mias shuttle, it lifted off again using its antigravs, but this time just six inches off the deck, and moved closer towards the passenger airlock doors.

    It pirouetted around so its loading ramp faced towards the doors, and settled down.

    This maneuver surprised the Federation people. They thought the Earther shuttle to be a conventional ship, but it actually had antigravs. It wasnt unheard of for small ships to have antigravs, but there were only a few of them around due to their expense.

    The eight pilots climbed down from their fighters and rushed to the side of the Earther shuttle. They formed in two rows of four, the Elyrans in the front row, the taller Dixx at the back, and they stood at attention.

    From the shuttle, a boom was raised  almost like an antenna, except it was thicker. At the top of it was a little cage with a yochu grub inside. After a moment, the little yochus skin rippled with bands of multicolored hues.

    The effect was like that of a squid, octopus or cuttlefish trying to blend in with the background. But after a moment, its colors went back to its usual pasty hue. To the shuttles upants, that meant that the environment outside was safe. The boom was retracted and Mias party debarked from the shuttle. They formed into one line with three of their Marines, plus one Arachnian, carrying the gs of the U.N., the Fifth Fleet, the Shepherd Moons colors, and a red triangr banner with the Federations sigil.

    They formed another wide-spaced line in front of Mia, and the other soldiers took ready positions around the entire party, with weapons drawn.

    The symbolism was clear  those carrying the gs were made up of an Earther, an Elyran, a Dixx and an Arachnian, which meant that the new arrivals were representing Earth, Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia, and though they came in peace, they also came with weapons therefore signaling that they were prepared to defend themselves.

    Slowly, a band of Federation officials came out. It was a motley mix of Dravidians, Axons, Erocii, Daemons, Kembels, Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians, plus half a dozen representatives from Star 453-A. At their lead were Telcontari.

    To the Earthers, the Telcontari looked like little, white pr bear cubs with very thick and fuzzy prehensile tails that walked on their hind legs. Their arms were as thick as their legs but were clearly arms that ended with prehensile three-fingered hands.

    Theyre sooo cute! whispered Sahsha to Nick and Mia, and they all couldnt help but grin.

    The bear-like Telcontari went over to Mias party, bowed in the Elyran manner and proceeded to put medallions around everyones necks. The Earthers took their cue from the Dixx and bowed so the little bear-like sophonts could slip the ribbons around their necks.

    After the Telcontari scurried back, the Dravidian in the lead, the Lord Chambein of Colossus, stepped forward and made a short five-minute weing speech that he read from a scroll. Mia bowed and gave her own five-minute speech, but hers was off-the-cuff. Shed gotten a lot of practice over recent months and was easily able to make up the speech.

    Thankfully, after that little ceremony, there were no more... rituals, and everyone moved forward to greet them. The Federation representatives were relieved that the Earthers all seemed to know Elyran, and were freely able to converse. The Earther style of greeting, i.e. shaking hands, was a little unusual but everyone gamely tried it.

    One of the reasons that the Federation weing party was sorge was because they didnt know who wereing. And they had to have people of the same social standing as each member of the arriving party so that they would have someone to converse with. Since Federation culture was so socially stratified and ss-aware, this was the only way they knew to do.

    The First Ambassador had exined during their briefings earlier that this would most likely be the case. Such a thing was a Dravidian practice, and it would have been the norm at the moment, since Colossus was currently being managed by the Dravidians (it was the Dravidians time, after all, to manage the Federation government).

    It was like a little cocktail party,plete with fluted crystal sses of krahnng that the little Telcontari helpers handed to everyone. Everyone sipped at their cold, fizzy krahnng and got to know everyone else. (In deference to Elyran custom, everyone was offered small lifesigns detectors that they could use to test their beverage, or anything else they wanted to test. The visitors politely declined them, however, preferring to use their own).

    One of the First Ambassadors staff had helpfully exined to the Colossus receptionmittee who was who, as well as the social standing of each visitor, as the Arachnians currently understood them. Various Federation aliens came over and made beelines for specific people  those that they deemed were of equal social standing as they. The Dravidians felt a little scandalized, however, since the Telcontari were unmindful of any social borders and freely mingled with everyone. Because of that, however, Mia had an opportunity to observe the little, furry aliens up close.

    Though the Dravidians looked superficially simr to the Telcontari, in that both had a bear-like aspect to their look, the Dravidians looked more like therge, ten-foot tall brown bears native to the North American continent, whereas the Telcontaris looked more like small, white, upright pr bear cubs.

    Also, it was automatically evident that, unlike the Dravidians, the Telcontari had some trouble with the Elyrannguage. Because of the way their mouths were constructed, they had problems with the plosive consonants that Elyran and English use. Because of this, Telcontari speech was full of F sounds in ce of P, and V in ce of B. Plus their vocal cords and smaller speech parts made their voices sound like puppies.

    And, because they were small, childlike and seemingly helpless, this made Elyrans and Earthers gically predisposed to like them. Earthers even had a word to describe them  to Earthers (and Elyrans), they were cute  yet another word that the Elyrans co-opted into theirnguage. Of course, the Telcontaris helplessness wasrgely an illusion  they were capable space-farers with a civilization older than the Earthers.

    Though stilted at the beginning, the little cocktail party quickly developed into an enjoyable though not boisterous time. And much of that was due to the representatives from Star 453-A. Despite how they looked, it was exined to the Earthers that these were not intelligent robots. They were inhabitants of severals that orbited a red giant star not too far from Earth, as gctic distances go.

    In their distant history, the people from Star 453-A had to find a way to survive their situation  their star had started the process of bing a red giant and, as a consequence, theirs global temperature started increasing, its water reserves started disappearing andrge parts of its ecosystem slowly started to shut down and die off. And since they didnt have the option of relocating, they did the best they could and moved underground. For over a millennium, it worked. But through seeding generations, their physical forms started to be less viable. They were able to arrest the slow decrease of their lifespans by recing failing organs and body parts with artificial substitutes. In time, they found it easier to rece almost all of their major body systems with artificial robotic recements immediately after birth. After several hundred thousand more years, the developing red-giant star would swallow all thes of their system, but they already had several colonies in other systems and were prepared to relocate once they had no choice anymore.

    So, although they were technically biological beings, the means by which they interacted with the outside universe was via their robotic bodies. As a consequence, their species was the most technologically advanced in the Federation, though Ren privately thought that distinction was soon to be supnted by the Earthers.

    In any case, these robotic aliens were very fascinating to the Earthers and most Federation citizens, and they helped to break the ice of first contact.

    -----

    After a while, when drinks and conversation started to get low, the party broke up and the visitors were offered guest quarters as well as facilities to contact their ships. They were formally told that, in ten and one-quarter hours, they would be invited to attend the next Gctic Assembly, and they might find it more convenient to stay onboard until then.

    This was one of their goals, after all, so Mia quickly and formally received the invitation from the Lord Chambein, bowing low in the Elyran fashion. Later on, she would find that Daxxs friend, Ambassador Br, engineered it. It was unheard of that an invitation would be extended so quickly.

    Br herself was supposed to personally extend the invitation but the Chambein used his position to supersede her and took the honor of extending the invitation himself. Br couldnt take offense since, per the Chamber Rules, the Lord Chambein had the responsibility for arranging for the actual invitation. Of course, the reason for this rule was because such invitations usually required arranging for courier ships to be sent to the dignitarys home.

    As they were ushered into their quarters, they were discussing that particr thing.

    (Unbeknownst to anyone, some of Mias people surreptitiously turned on some devices to mask, block or jam any recording or spy devices. After which, the Earthers felt secure enough to talk freely.)

    As they sat down, the First Ambassador exined that the time interval specified by the Telcontari was for the following morning, Colossus time. Tasha said that it may be a ceremonial kind of assembly since it wasnt on the schedule for the year. She showed Mia her old copy of the Federations council schedule, and it wasnt on it.

    So Mia had a contingent of four go to her shuttle to pick up all of their dress uniforms. Tasha sent a message back to the Shepherd Moon and exined the situation. The First Ambassador went to the wall inte and called the Chief Protocol Officer, asking if tomorrows meeting was ceremonial or a conference. They were told that it was actually a real conference, to ask the Earther representatives for a report, but that it would be a formal one, as well.

    They were expecting that and they came prepared. With the help of the First Ambassador, Ren, Tasha and Daxx, Mia had prepared a presentation, which they rehearsed. The Earthers had even fabricated a bunch of Elyran-style data cubes to allow them to interface with Colossus equipment so that they could disy their presentation properly.

    To the side of their quarters lounge area was a bank of what looked like vending machines, and to the right of them were several bowls with what looked like pens. Daxx exined that they were actually lifesigns detectors. The ones with red tips were for Elyran physiology while the others were for Dixx and Arachnian.

    Mia nodded. She scanned through the littlebels they had, and selected arge tumbler of iced krahnng and an Arachnian vegetable custard. The color and texture looked simr to sweet English egg custard. Mia had her fingers crossed that it was like English custard.

    The First Ambassador pinwheeled his upper arms.

    Now what, Mia said in mock exasperation. Why are youughing again?

    You realize, of course, My Lady, the First Ambassador said, that Arachnian dishes are mostly savory.

    She looked at him. Youre saying that this isnt a sweet custard?

    I like it myself. But I cannot vouch for Earther ptes.

    Mia experimentally got a spoonful of the custard (with something that looked like the spoons she was used to), and put it in her mouth. And, though the look and texture of the custard was what she expected, it was very bitter, spicy and salty.

    Everyone looked at Mia expectantly.

    Well, she said, and chased it down with a big gulp of krahnng. Everyoneughed. After that, all the Earthers started asking what the dishes in the vending machines were, selected those that sounded tasty, and it turned into a kind of pic.

    -----

    The following morning found them in the main Assembly Hall of Colossus, which was called the Shihayn. Mia couldnt help butpare it to the U.N. General Assembly Hall. This one had steep tiers and bigger ces for the delegates (some enclosed by a kind of transparent dome), which allowed everyone a more unrestricted view of the people speaking. But then again there were only about eighty delegates and their missions as opposed to about two hundred twenty in the New U.N. Mia couldnt help but think how much better-looking the Shihayn waspared to the GA, but then again the U.N. building was from a design circa 1947 Earth.

    The First Ambassador and Tasha elected to join their Federation mission colleagues so that their embassies would be properly represented. This would be doubly important if ever there would be a vote called since they would be able to influence it if ever that became necessary.

    Still, the First Ambassador wore his EarthForce brassard proudly. And since Ren and Daxx were not officially part of their embassy staff, they elected to stay with Mia, and stood proudly with the Earthers on the dais  a move not lost on the gathered Assembly.

    Mia was chosen as the sole speaker for the Earthers and stood in front of her group. She looked very professional and formal in her dress jacket, white tights and boots, with her glowing ceremonial sword adding a further visual touch to her look that was intriguing and unique. Ren, Daxx, Sahsha, Nick and her other colleagues stood behind her. They were not expected to speak, but that was the style. She found this style of presenting a little different from what they were used to, but she didnt mind. It was a chance to learn how the Federation does things.

    Following the Telcontari assistants were their Earther, Elyran and Dixx Marines in ceremonial armor. They surrounded her group, the ones in front standing on the conference floor itself instead of directly in front of her on the dais. Otherwise, they would block her and the delegates would not be able to see her. On either side of her were two Arachnian personal guards, actually two scientist colleagues of the First Ambassador wearing their EarthForce uniforms, with ceremonial Arachnian swords drawn and ferociously surveying everyoneing near, seemingly prepared to attack anyone who approached Mia. (Later, Tasha and the First Ambassador would say that they had a hard time controlling theirughter, seeing these two gentle academicians trying to act like a couple of heavies, but they were the only two Arachnians from Shepherd Moon that could be spared.)

    Mia got a storage cube from her jackets pocket and handed it to a Telcontari clerk who installed it in the dais disy controls.

    Another Telcontari then approached her, bowed in the Elyran way, and handed her what looked like a microphone on a long cord. In her earpiece, she heard the First Ambassador exin that it was indeed a microphone with simple button-controls on the side to trigger and control her presentation file, which would be presented on therge screen mounted over their heads and on the wall behind them.

    She gazed at the massed alien delegates looking at them. She was itching to start, but the First Ambassador said in her earpiece, not yet.

    After a while, she heard the start of what she thought of as apuse, and she was cued by the First Ambassador to bow. The apuse continued and she straightened up. She gestured at her colleagues behind her, and they bowed together. It continued for an embarrassing two minutes, but it eventually faded away. Before itpletely faded away, Mia was cued.

    In consideration of those who could not clearly see her, they had decided for something to clearly identify her as an Earther and not an Elyran, and she hade up with a gesture.

    She brought up the hand not holding the microphone, fingers syed and palm facing outward. Ren and Sahsha cooked up the gesture. It highlighted the fact that, she had five fingers instead of four, that, despite the fact that Earthers looked like Elyrans, they werent.

    A hissing kind of murmuring spread amongst the observing delegates, somewhat like how a crowd of humans would go ahhh when they saw something amazing or something of great import.

    When the crowd settled down, she brought up the microphone, pressed a button and the first frame of their visuals was disyed on the overhead screen. So she began her prepared speech, apanied by the images and sounds they had so painstakingly prepared andpiled.

    <strong>English trantion of the speech of Lady Amelia Catherine Steele, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet, to the Gctic Federation </strong>

    <em>My Lords and Ladies of the Gctic Federation, thank you for your warm wee. I am Lady Amelia Catherine Steele, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet of the United Earth Defense Force. Ie in ce of mymander, Fleet Admiral Benjamin Silverman, and in behalf of our leader, Madame Alexandra Romarkin, Secretary-General of our United Nations. I am here in their ce to speak for the Humankind of Earth, and to tell you what has recently taken ce in Earth System.</em>

    <em>As you know, several months ago, an expeditionposed of representatives of the Gctic Federation, the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians came to the Sol System in answer to our invitation, and to extend the hand of friendship from their peoples to ours. We knew of theiring, and traveled to meet them partway at a location seven billion and five hundred million kilometers from our homeworld. But we were unable to meet them. A fleet of twenty-two spacecraft from the Tiros Star Empire, led by their Detterex gship Defiant, had intercepted them, on a mission to eliminate our Federation visitors before they made contact with us. Hear now the images and voices of Defiant.</em>

    (Coming out of light-speed, and ship-maneuverable in eight and three-eights minutes. Prepare tounch attack ording to n as soon as able. By order of Princess Arvan. - Commence attack. All warriors,unch.)

    <em>As you heard, the Lady Arvan, Crown Princess of the Ruling House of Detterex, helped to lead the enemys forces. There is no doubt that the Detterex Empire, the close ally of the Tirosians, orchestrated this attack, at least in part. It is a foregone conclusion that the Tiros Star Empire and the Detterex Empire have entered into war, albeit covertly, against the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian peoples, and, therefore, against the Gctic Federation itself.</em>

    <em>We endeavored to protect the Federation representatives without engaging in hostilities with either party, but the Tirosians fired upon us. We therefore defended ourselves, as well as yourrades. See and hear now our images and voices.</em>

    (Shit, thats Peebo. Goddamn. - Seeker squadron, fire at will! - Attention Elyran spacecraft, attention Elyran spacecraft. This is Captain Steele from the Earth battleship Seeker. We areing in to help you. Do not fire on our ships. We are friendly craft, repeat  we are friendly ships. Hold your fire. - Those are Earth ships! Pilot, they are Earth ships. - Princess! Did you hear that? They are Earth ships. Theyvee to help us. - The Earthers have drawn away the Empire vermin for the moment. We canunch our fighters now. - B-team, iing friendly ships. Repeat, iing nes. The Elyrans are here. Hold your fire. - Theres an emergency. The other cruisers in your fleet are taking a hard beating. We are going over to help. - B-team. Disperse and attack second group of spacecraft!)

    <em>In the Battle of Pluto, four out of the nine Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian ships perished, but we and the Federation expedition were able to exact a higher toll on the enemy. Eight of their twenty-two ships were eliminated.</em>

    <em>We then apanied the remaining five Elyran and Dixx cruisers as they made their way to Mother Earth, but, while en route, the enemy tried to intercept them again near our systems sixth, Saturn, deploying a new, insidious weapon they called the Curtain of Light.</em>

    <em>In a pitched battle, with the able assistance of Earths colony on Saturn, my forces were able to fend them off, eliminating eleven of their remaining fourteen cruisers. See and hear now our images and voices.</em>

    (Its moving towards Saturn fast, and decelerating. - Maybe its a natural phenomenon? - This phenomenon has jammed all electromaic signals in the system? No radio, no radar? The only thing I can think of that could fit this is... Your Highness, does the phrase curtain of light mean anything to you? - Navigation, set a course for Titan Colony, best speed. - Well take care of locating the missing ships. In the meantime, protect Titan. - Commodore Oshiro, we are sending you telemetry. The data transmission viaserm. Getting it now, Captain. - Theyre on continuous deceleration and heading for the rings, sir, on a direct line to Titan. - Were seeing it here, Captain. And theyre not being shy about it, either. - Theyve justunched their fighters. - How close will they pass? - If the enemy is going to attack Titan and does not care about not disturbing the rings, or worry about reprisals, they should make a direct line to the colony. That means theyll be passing close. - All right, its our turn. Weapons  fire tubes four, eight, nine and thirteen. - Captain, the enemy has fired. Distance closing rapidly. - Get ready to fire anti-missiles... - Helm! Are you ready? - Controls are set, Captain. Awaiting your order. - Execute! - Weapons, fire all forward tubes straight ahead!)

    (A great warrior race, made in thy image, wille from over the horizon, to herald theing of war, and do battle against thine enemies. Kingdoms will be cast asunder. Fire and destruction will rain from the heavens... - The warrior race of legend what if the Earthers were that race? -  woe to those who stand against the light, for they will be cast in eternal darkness. And from their ashes they will let emerge a new age, renewing the eternal cycle, and these Warriors will protect thee from those who would harm thee, until theing of the Great Ones.)

    (Captain! Phase-Wave and all systems are back! Deflectors are back! - All right! Contact all our Shrikes and Turtles. Have them execute the same maneuver as Kajima and Lassiter. Go! - Seeker to Yamato, Musashi and Shinano  be advised, we are returning to re-engage the enemy.)

    <em>We then continued on to Earth, having taken out eleven of the enemys ships. We believed that was the end, and we were safe from further attacks, but our systems tracked the remaining three enemy ships and they were closing in on us. We were forced to engineer an engagement at the moon, Mother Earths lone satellite, to stop them from continuing on to Earth.</em>

    (Dear old Seeker has been through a lot these past months, and I am sure the Admiral will agree with me that she has performed most exemrily. And that isrgely because of all of you. The Admiral told me once that Seekers crew is the best in the fleet. I happen to agree. And if we do not get through this, I just wanted to let you all know that it has been a privilege serving with you. But I believe we will get through this, and it all depends on you once again. Everyone stay sharp, stay at your posts and well get through this. - Fifth Fleet and Federation cruisers are two minutes from lunar orbit. The Enemy ships are behind and below us. Theyve ckened eleration more topensate for their course change...T minus one minute thirty now. - Sound collision rm. - Thats it! The lunarunchers got them dead on!)

    <em>And, although we found their Curtain of Light still functioning, we were sessful in bringing down their three remaining ships, and quickly proceeded to take all survivors prisoner.</em>

    (Okay. That means their EM device is still live. Have Commander Kajimaunch all Shrikes and Turtles as soon as our Marines are onboard the Turtles. Weapons, do not fire on the enemy, but maintain anti-missile defenses. - This is the Admiral to all Turtles  make for the crater rim two kilometers to the right of the lead cruiser. All Marines to disembark on the far side of the crater rim and make their way to the nearest cruiser on foot. The mission is to capture the ship intact. All squad leaders will takemand of their own squads but will coordinate their movements with the Captain onboard Seeker. All Shrike pilots will provide air cover and ry all observations to Seekers Comms. - All right, people, execute! - Ladies and gentlemen of the Seeker. This is the Admiral. We shall be boarding the cruiser through this hull breach. Our mission is to locate the EM suppression equipment and disable it, and to hold our ground until reinforcements arrive to help us capture the ship intact. Everyone is to take their instructions from their squad leaders. Squad leaders, get your squads organized and get them in there. Is everyone clear? - Aye! - Yes, sir! - All right then, Execute! - Fire on those things! Fire!)

    <em>We were sessful in deactivating the device, as well as capturing all the survivors of the enemy vessels.</em>

    (This is the Admiral! Come in, Seeker! - Aye, sir! This is the Seeker! - d to hear you, Seeker. Am pleased to report that the EM Suppression Field has been deactivated, and we have captured the generator intact.)

    <em>We were, however, unable to capture the Detterex leader, and she was able to escape.</em>

    (Yes indeed, she did contain the Curtain of Light generator, and we were able to capture it intact and switched it off. But, checking through all the crew and survivors, and checking the entire ship itself, we were unable to find Lord Norga and Princess Arvan. - Unfortunately, this ship was found after the EM field was switched off, and was already flying at speed before anyone noticed it. This spacecraft is now already too far away for anyone to be able to do anything. - Lady Amelia, are you saying that the Detterex Princess has been able to escape? - Thats correct, Your Highness. It is our conclusion that, while the remaining three Empire ships were pursuing us, sheunched her escape craft under the cloak of the EM suppression field. Analysis of its trajectory indicates that it is on its way to Detterex, where Princess Arvan will undoubtedly raise the rm. - What are the turnover times, My Lady? - We dont have precise numbers yet, but we believe Princess Arvan should be arriving in Detterex in approximately twelve Earth months. - Well... - I know, Your Highness, and you are right. Our problem is clear-cut, but there is still time.)

    <em>Indeed there is still time. But nevertheless there is still much to do, and it must be done quickly and decisively. If we assume that they have prepared for an oue where their forces are defeated, they may just be waiting for a signal to activate such ns. The arrival of the Lady Arvan may be such a signal. Word must be sent to all majors as quickly as possible.</em>

    <em>My people, together with the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian nations are formally dering war against the Detterex and Tirosian Invaders. Amuniqu to this effect has been prepared, and will be dispatched to the two empires homeworlds through official channels. Earth hasmenced preparations for war, and we will soon be ready to defend our world against any attack. And once word gets back to their homeworlds as well, Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia will be as well. We believe we have no choice. We do this for the sake of those we lost, for honors sake, and for the sake of freedom</em>

    <em>But our news is not all dark. We also bring d tidings. I am privileged to announce that Earth Government has entered into aprehensive alliance with Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia, guaranteeing the protection and safe passage of all Earth and Federation citizens on any of our worlds.</em>

    <em>We have also entered into an agreement that guarantees free and unimpededmerce and tourism, and a mutual defense treaty for mutual protection between Earth, Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia. We were unable to make the agreement universal because, as you know, there are many considerations that will require individual agreements with any worlds that wish to engage inmerce with us.</em>

    <em>We have also begun sharing cultural, scientific and technical knowledge thereby enriching our four peoples both materially and culturally, and taking the first steps to bing closer as people. Technology rting to space travel,puting systems, electronics, construction, food production andmunications are part of what we have been sharing, so that we may benefit from each others material gifts. Our new friends gifted us with the technology behind your life detectors enabling us to start our own yochu breeding program. We, in turn have shared our Serenmunications system, which would allow our new friends to improve theirmunications a thousand-fold.</em>

    <em>We have also started sharing our customs and traditions with each other in an effort to be better friends and neighbors. As we learn more and more about each other, we have learned that we are more alike than not. We have enjoyed, for example the historical dramas that the Elyrans and Dixx have introduced us to, and we are all admirers of the First Ambassadors poetry. We have in turn introduced Earth television to our new friends, and Admiral Daxx has be an avid viewer.</em>

    <em>We have also outlined agreements rting tomerce and travel between our worlds, and, as soon as our treaties be recognized and epted across all of our worlds, we can expectmerce to begin in earnest. We are awaiting our first shipments of krahnng, and we shall, in turn be shipping wine, Rocky Road ice cream and cheese, the favorites of Admiral Daxx, Lady Tasha and the First Ambassador.</em>

    <em>We have also dedicated an embassy on Earth for their use as ambassadorial offices and quarters for the Earth diplomatic missions of Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia. Representative Cale of the Dravidian Republics and Dr. Autumn-Sun-Rising-in-the-East from Eros Prime have also set up interim diplomatic residences as well while they explore the possibilities of permanent diplomatic andmercial rtions with our government. In future, however, the ten square kilometers of the facility will be more than able to amodate other missions from the Federation.</em>

    <em>There is much to celebrate, even as we mourn the loss of so many friends andrades. But, as I said, there is still much to do before we can. In earnest of this, I bring a plea from my people. The Humans of Earth formally apply for membership to the Gctic Federation. We submit ourselves to the honored gentlebeings of the Federation Assembly, and hope to have an audience with the Chamber of Migration and Peerage at its earliest convenience. We pray that it be soon as we have many pressing matters of security and race that depend on the oue of our application.</em>

    <em>In behalf of my party, I thank this honored body for this opportunity to speak before the Federation Assembly, and may the spirits of all our ancestors smile and bless us in all our endeavors.</em>

    <em></em>

    <strong>Deliberations </strong>

    Mia and her party retired to their assigned quarters where they were met by a pair of Telcontari. They bowed and introduced themselves as Mumu and Pinpin from the Protocol Office, assigned to provide them a tour of Colossus. They reached forward and shook hands with Mia and the other Earthers. It seemed that they had done some research since they knew about handshakes. Mumu and Pinpin informed them thatter in the afternoon, there would be another plenary session where members of the Assembly would be discussing her report, and she would be requested to sit in to answer questions. But that would be several hourster, so they had time for the tour.

    The two loaded the Earth party into a small tram that ran on tracks on the skin of the station, and they saw most of the facilities of Colossus. Their tour upied most of the morning but given howrge the station was, most of their time was used up by traveling from location to location despite the quick rail transport they were provided. During these lulls, and Mumu and Pinpin were preupied with answering questions from Mias Marines, Mia, and the others discussed her speech and the reaction of the gathered assembly. Tasha and the First Ambassador werent with them, however, since they had joined their embassy staff.

    It was their consensus that Mias half-hour speech went over well, and there were many parts in particr that seemed to catch the attention of many of the aliens while causing consternation in others. The many video and audio clips that they had included made her speech very interesting indeed.

    The Protocol Office had a closed circuit feed going to all the diplomatic missions of all the delegates so that their staff could listen in and watch events in the Assembly, and everyone was able to watch Mias presentation. However, in the Arachnian Mission, the First Ambassadors staff had plugged in a vampire transmitter to their control panel. Using this device, they were able to send the feed to the Shepherd Moon via an encrypted high-frequency radio signal (the encryption algorithm provided by the Earthers), and the Shepherd Moon then, in turn, ryed it to the other ships and to Earth via Phase-Wave.

    Mia reiterated her uneasiness in including intercepted Detterexmunications, most particrly the ones where they recorded the Detterex quoting Elyran scripture. It seemed self-serving and in poor taste.

    Ren had agreed that it would be useful to include the quote but he didnt know how appropriate that would be. So they followed the First Ambassadors advice on that - they had agreed with him on the impact it would have, and ended up including the quote. It would resound with the Elyrans and the Deterrex, and with any of the other races that had simr legends. Nick said that there could not be very many of them, but Ben said that, surprisingly, there were a lot. Themonality of many Federation legends was part of the reason for the cohesiveness of the Federations collective culture. Ren asked about Earther culture and if they had legends simr to the Savior Race legend, but, offhand, Mia and Nick said they couldnt recall any such legend in Earth lore that matched the Elyran scripture. Ren found that curious.

    They again discussed the possible questions the delegates might have and prepared for them, and by the time the tour was over, they felt they were ready.

    -----

    While the Earthers were on their tour, the Federation Assembly delegates had gone back to their various embassies and started discussing Mias report. The rest of the Assemblys agenda for the day was suspended to allow for the delegates to prepare for the follow-on discussion of the Lady Amelias report in the afternoon. She had already been informed by the Protocol Office toe backter in the afternoon, and she had sent back her confirmation that she would attend.

    In the diplomatic mission of the Dravidian Republics, the Dravidians were, at that moment, in closed-door session. Though it was a little unorthodox, the Lord Chambein of Colossus had joined them. Some may havemented that the Lord Chambein attending and influencing the decisions of a diplomatic mission might be inappropriate, even if it was the Dravidian Mission, but since it was not against any rules or conventions, it was allowable. Far be it for a Dravidian to go against the rules  Dravidians were known for remaining within the letter of thew, even if not always in the spirit of thew.

    Councilor Cor and all the Dravidians were aghast that Cale had been interfacing with the Earthers all along, and had actually already initiated diplomatic discussions. Most of the other Dravidians said that he had no authority to do so, but a quick check showed that he did: the duty rosters showed that Cale had full ambassadorial credentials.

    What was actually troubling, though, was that Cale was even on Earth at all. Hisst assignment was to be part of the staff of the Keeper of the Heritage.

    Thest they knew was that Cale was part of the Curia of the Heritage Trust  a great honor and responsibility. The Erocii scientist, Autumn-Sun-Rising-In-The-East, was also with the Keepers staff. That Cale and the Erocii were on Earth implied that the Keeper either apanied the Elyran/Dixx/Arachnian expedition there, or had been on Earth ahead of them. The possibility that the Keeper might be allied with the Earthers might sway the other Federation delegates to their cause.

    The Chambein and the other Dravidians desperately wished that they could talk with Cale and find out what was really happening, but they couldnt. As Councilor Cor, the Dravidian Ambassador, said, they had no choice but to take the Earther at her word, and that the facts were as she painted them.

    They also discussed the images that the Earther had presented, and these gave the Dravidians an overall picture of a situation that was troubling  at least to them. In true Dravidian form, they ignored the Earthers'' warnings of an iing storm, but rather were more focused on the fact that the troublesome Elyrans had beaten them again, this time to a rich and untapped market, one that also appeared to be a source of new and unique resources and technology that could allow them to maintain their dominant position among the races for many megayears toe.

    They were intrigued with the Curtain of Light  something that they had heard rumors about but didnt know what it was until now. There must be some way of acquiring it. That and the Earthers magicalmunication technology, Sel, Cors right-hand man, reminded everyone.

    Many of the other leading races had simr thoughts and concerns but, unlike the Dravidians, they were more focused on the simultaneous derations of war by Elyra, Dixx, Arachnia and Earth. It was a foregone conclusion that the deration was justified  the evidence that the Earthers brought with them was incontrovertible, and even if the Federation didn''t back up their derations of war, the Federation covenants they had made all of them duty-bound to protect the Dixx, Elyran and Arachnian homeworlds and colony worlds. Only Earth was not included.

    But the more religious of the races had more concerns.

    Dr. Autumn-Sun and Representative Cale were on Earth. Did that mean that the Keeper of the Heritage was there as well? What would that mean? Was the Keeper allied with the Earthers? (His presence onboard the Shepherd Moon was still a secret from the Federation, as requested by His Excellency himself.) Why wasnt he in Chaisteal An Linn Arsaidh, they wondered? The answer to that question alone might sway those that revered the Keeper of the Heritage.

    Plus the images that they saw  they depicted a race of formidable warriors who were able to repel an invasion of twenty-two capital ships of the despised Tirosians and Detterex with weapons and technology rivaling any in the Federation, and tactics that none recognized.

    Most knew that turning back twenty-two capital ships with a lesser number of ships was a near impossibility. Few worlds in the Federation would be hard put to muster ten ships of equal capability on short notice, much less twenty-two. And if Daxx and the Earthers reports were true, these Earthers were able to do it with only three of theirs. That really put the fear in many of the delegates.

    But with the Curtain of Light in y (apparently some had heard about it already), that had jumped the fear factor up even higher. No one really understood what the Curtain of Light was, but that didnt seem to matter at the moment. It just added anotheryer of mystique to the Earthers reputation.

    The recordings of the Detterex bolstered that reputation. When they heard the Detterex quote the passages from the Elyran Holy Book of the Ages Most of the delegates were academics, so they were familiar with the quote. The Elyran and Detterex legend of the warrior race had echoes in their own legends, and that went a long way to convince them to at least give the Earthers a fair hearing.

    As for the Dixx, Elyrans and Arachnians, their intentions for the uing session were a little different. If the gathered delegates did not call the question of a deration of war, or open up a discussion of the matter of the membership for the Earthers, then no deration can be recorded into the official record. They were also set to derail any machinations of the Dravidians to push their own selfish agenda because, at this point the Federation couldnt afford it.

    This was one of the most exciting things to happen in the Federation for many megayears. Those that had not been intending to attend changed their minds. The plenary session that afternoon was the only Federation Assembly that had full attendance in an eon.

 Chapter 23: Treaty

    Chapter 23: Treaty

    <strong>Plenary Session </strong>

    A long, slow tolling echoed through the station, signifying that the next session was starting shortly, so Mumu and Pinpin cut the Earthers tour short and started escorting their charges back.

    Mumu said that the afternoon session was being moved from the Shihayn, the Main Assembly Hall of Colossus, to Aonta, the Main Debate Hall, but only Mia was required, so he was to escort Mia plus a small handful of her Marines to Aonta, while Pinpin was to escort the others back to their assigned quarters.

    Before they split up, arge version of what an Earther would say looked like a clunky CC, was offered to Mia. The device was meant for Mia to keep in touch with her people. For Nick, he thought of the device as a glorified World War II-era walkie-talkie. Nick asked if it was allowable for them to use their own devices (skipping, of course, the fact that Mia had a Phase-Wave earpiece already in her ear).

    Mumu squeaked in what was unmistakablyughter, and gestured at Mias earpiece. He said that they could continue using the device that they had been using  that was allowed, of course. He was just required to make the offer. Mia and Nick looked at each other, chagrined.

    -----

    Aonta was about the same as Shihayn except that the Main Debate Hall was arranged in a circr manner, allowing the representatives to have discussions and debates. In fact, most sessions were held in the Debate Hall.

    Mumu gestured to the halls main door, handed Mia a microphone simr to what she''d used earlier but wireless this time, and left her. He said that she needed to cross the threshold by herself. She looked at him a little quizzically as he started walking away.

    Its a tradition, he said, bowed and left.

    She took a breath and walked through the doorway. This could be it, she thought while Nick and the other Earthers, including Ren, Admiral Daxx and the other people in her party, were escorted back to their assigned quarters. If this goes as nned, maybe I can give all this up and pass it back on to Admiral Silverman, she joked to herself.

    As the main resource person for the discussion, Mia was asked toe in early but alone. So, except for four of her Marines, Mia entered the still-empty Debate Hall. She walked over and stood on arge, circr dais in the middle of the hall. Arge dais slowly spun around. The speed of the turning stage was slow enough that she hardly felt it nor feel dizzy or disoriented in the least. As for her Marines, they didnt stand with her on the slowly-revolving stage but on the floor immediately surrounding it  one tall Marine from the Second Combined Marine/Infantry Squad, one of Daxxs personal guards, one of the Elyran fighter pilots, and one of the Arachnian scientists made up her little squad of four. They stood and faced outward and put their hands on their sidearms whether they be pistols or swords, and practiced looking fierce.

    She switched the video pickup on and allowed everyone back in their quarters to see.

    Nick had set up a small macro projector to project Mias images into the middle of the room. The images floating in the air wereing from the tiny video cameras in Mias and her four Marinespel pins. There were even cameras mounted in the back of her cor, and the cors of Mias Earther and Elyran Marines so that Nick could get a choice of shots.

    Nick had all eight cameras on-line and transmitting video. He apologized that they were only two-dimensional video feeds instead of 3-D. Ren, Daxx, Ben and the other Federation people looked at each other, shrugged and just epted the amazing view of a moving image projected into empty space  yet another piece of magic from the Earthers seemingly-bottomless bag of tricks.

    Nick, can you hear me, Mia said in Elyran, relying on the trantors to trante for those who couldnt speak it.

    Five-by-five, Admiral, Nick said.

    Image okay?

    Perfect.

    How about Lady Tasha and the First Ambassador?

    We hear you fine, Mia, Tasha responded.

    Likewise, Admiral, the First Ambassador responded.

    This is Br, the Dixx Ambassador responded as well, although a little hesitantly. We hear you as well. I hope Im working this device properly. Is Admiral Daxx there?

    Im here, my friend, Daxx said. Im here. Do not worry, you will get used to this. Trust me  we are old hands at this.

    Everyone, except Br and her people in the Dixx embassy, broke intoughter.

    I apologize for my friends, dear Br, the First Ambassador said. But we have been meeting for months in this manner. I guess my friends are a bit tired of this. But I think onest time is all right.

    Thats fine, Ambassador, Br said. We understand.

    Secretary-General Romarkin, Admiral Silverman, Mia called. Are you on-line?

    Yes, we are, Lady Amelia, Romarkin responded. We are all here.

    She called me Lady Amelia again, Mia thought, both irritated and amused. She just had to get that in the record, the rotten little fink.

    Mia, Jennifer Priestly came on. Jerry, Phil, Marc and I, as well as the entire CETI team are on-line as well.

    Before you ask, Br, Daxx interjected, I will introduce everyone elseter, and, yes, you did hear Her Excellency, Secretary-General Alexandra Romarkin, the leader of all Earth. Yes, our new friends have the ability of instantaneousmunication over the void.

    By the gods, Br murmured in Dixx.

    I know, my friend, Daxx responded, also in Dixx. But hold that forter. Let us focus on the here-and-now. We have a job to do.

    Thank you, Admiral, Mia said, also in Dixx, and then shifted back to Elyran. This is about to start. If anyone has anything to say, nows the time.

    Actually, Mia, Jennifer said, I have a confession. We transmitted your speech earlier over the systemwork, and because of the great interest everyone has shown, there was a great mor for us to broadcast this session as well. Live this time.

    Mia paused. Jennifer. Thats a mistake. What if the session goes badly?

    I know, I know, but the oppositionists have made a big deal about the nature of our dealings with the Federation. Theyve been insisting on more transparency instead of closed-door meetings. Theyve also been threatening to file a motion to repeal themunications secrecy act despite concerns about security, and open up all the Phase-Wave bandwidths. Theyre a minority, I know but theyre a very vocal minority. We have no choice, Mia.

    Mia sighed. She wasnt one to rail against the things that she couldnt change, so, in typical Mia fashion, she decided to push on.

    All right, Mia said. When will this general broadcast start?

    As soon as you signal us.

    Okay. Stand by.

    Mia stood and waited. Btedly, she noticed that her sword was identally turned off, so she switched it back on to standby mode. No need to plug it into its power cable  no EM suppression field to drain the battery.

    In a while, the delegates had started toe into the hall. All right, Jennifer, she whispered. Better start now.

    Aonta looked like a big tiered bowl, with the delegates upying the tiers. Mia looked at each of the delegates as they came in. All of the delegates looked down at her, and she couldnt me them for being curious. She bowed to those that were very curious, not knowing that they would bow in return.

    After everyone had settled down, the Lord Chambein walked in. The nearest two of Mias Marines  the Dixx and the Arachnian  drew their sidearms and interposed themselves between Mia and the Chambein.

    The Dravidian stopped short and bowed low. Mias protectors re-holstered/re-sheathed their sidearms and went back to their ces.

    There was not threat, of course. It was all part of the rituals associated with the politics of the Federation.

    When Mias guards re-holstered their weapons, the Lord Chambein continued forward and stood at the foot of the stage. At that point, it stopped spinning. Silence descended, and the Chambein waited.

    My Lady, Ben whispered to Mia via her earpiece, you are expected to bow.

    Mia turned to the Chambein and bowed deep in the Elyran fashion. This time, it was her turn to wait.

    The Lord Chambein also bowed. As he did, the dais started to turn again.

    And as it did, something that sounded like the beginning of a rainstorm echoed in the hall. Mia looked up, and saw that everyone was apuding.

    She didnt know what the implication of that was. So, she just bowed, allowing the stage to turn her around to face everyone.

    Mia had to reciprocate. In behalf of my people, Mia said, I thank you.

    -----

    After the very specific rituals to wee their visitor had been dispensed with, the discussion of the speech that Mia had given began in earnest.

    Certain particrs were discussed. First off was the deration of war by the four races. One of the more junior races pinged his bell, and asked Mia to borate on the basis of their deration. Mia was expecting this and again reiterated the rationale for the deration.

    Someone from a species that Mia didnt recognize pinged and asked if they had the authority to do so, and Mia exined that the three leaders of their expedition  Admiral Daxx, Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr and the First Ambassador of the Arachnian Republic, when acting together, were empowered by their leaders to do so. As for Earth, Mia went on record that their United Nations had voted on the matter.

    Another one, the representative from Eros, pinged and then asked the question about what the repercussions of the deration were to the rest of the Federation. The First Ambassador pinged to take up that question and exined that the Dixx, Elyrans and Arachnians were expecting their fellow Federation members to just honor the covenants of the Federation. He exined that he was referring to the Federation treaties for mutual protection  that the homeworlds and colony worlds of member races would be protected against invasion or attack from external entities.

    The Erocii pinged again to express the opinion that such a situation seemed unfair. Why should other races not involved in their conflict help them?

    The rest of the delegates were shocked to hear that. Murmuring among the others started to build.

    He pinged again. He went on to say that if they did assist, then any future possibilities ofmerce with the Tirosians and Detterex would be lost.

    That triggered an explosion from the rest of the assembly, many of the delegates openly protesting. A few supported the Erociis view, so the argument grew. Per council rules, the tumult went unabated for about seventeen minutes. After which, sound suppression beams kicked on and everyone had to discontinue their discussion.

    After a few minutes, the beams switched off. Usually, that was enough to end debates before they became full-blown arguments, and in this case, they <em>did</em> nip any brewing arguments in the bud.

    Lady Tasha pinged and took up the discussion, and said that the same covenants were applicable to all Federation members. If the others found themselves in the same situation, all members must answer the call. Tasha said that they would be first to provide assistance, if ever the situation was reversed.

    This discussion went back and forth for a long time, with the discussion bing more and more loud and confrontational until the representative from Star 453-A, who was also the sole member of the Council of Custodians among all the representatives, asked a question.

    I would like to pose a question, if I may? he said mildly, and everyone paused to listen.

    I would like to pose the question to our guest, Lady Amelia. It seems to me that someone who is from a world not allied to the Federation might have a fresh perspective on the subject. Lady Amelia?

    Mia bowed. My Lord, she said.

    Do you believe it is an equitable situation, that Federation members should endeavor to protect the Elyran, Arachnian and Dixx worlds from attack even though they have not dered war on their enemies?

    Mia bowed again. It seems to me, My Lord, that such considerations are immaterial. For us Earthers, we judge ourselves by how well we abide by the covenants we undertake, and how well we honor ourmitments. If the people of the Earth be members of the great Federation, we will honor ourmitments as members regardless of our opinions. If we were not prepared to do so, we should not have sued for membership.

    The robotic alien nodded.

    There you are, gentlebeings. The representative of the great warrior race of Earth has expressed an opinion that I am in agreement with. Thank you, My Lady Amelia, for your wise insight. You remind us all, and have gently tweaked our collective noses about what it means to be a member of our Federation. Mypliments to you.

    Mia bowed low.

    With all due respect, sir, the Erocii said, but our honored Lady Amelia is biased. Her race has an interest in the oue of this discussion.

    A Daemon pinged next. Shebed her very luxurious mane away from her face in order to speak into her microphone. The hair and the general features of her face reminded Mia of a male African lion. That is a fact that is not in question, My Lord, she said, but another thing that cannot be questioned is that, regardless, her point of view is correct, whatever ones sentiments of on the matter may be. I alsomend the Admiral of Earth.

    She stood and bowed to Mia. Mia bowed in return.

    I therefore call for a vote, the Daemon ambassador continued. I move for a resolution, that the Gctic Federation acknowledge the deration of war by the Dixx, Elyran and Arachnian nations, and deres that they haveplied with the provisions of the Articles of War of the Federation, and that the Federation further resolves to honor itsmitments to our fellow Federation citizens from Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia, as outlined in the Federation charter.

    This was greeted with apuse from most of the representatives.

    My fellow Daemons and I express our sorrow at the loss of yourrades, she said to Mia. May the Ancient Ones find justice for them.

    This was again greeted with apuse.

    My Lady, Mia said, in behalf of my people and my new friends, I thank you. She bowed low and remained so.

    This forced the entire assembly to respond in kind, and they all rose to their feet and bowed.

    -----

    Per the rules, as the delegate who made the motion, the Daemon ambassador, conducted the vote and the resolution was voted unanimously. Clearly, some were ambivalent, but since they would be the odd man out if they didnt vote for the resolution, they voted along with everyone, even the Erocii and the Dravidians.

    Also as the delegate who made the motion, it was the Daemon Ambassadors responsibility to draft the resolution, and she said that it would be circted among the delegates by the next day.

    She then dered that this matter was resolved, and the discussion continued with other matters.

    The next few questions were a discussion of the treaties that the Earth had entered into with the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians.

    Mia outlined the main provisions of their treaties, which essentially allowed their citizens safe passage on all their worlds, and to allow them to engage in trade andmerce.

    Does that include all products, services and technologies of all four races? one of them asked.

    Anything that any of the races are willing to trade, which are not directly inimical to the well-being of other races.

    Are there any provisions to safeguard this?

    Yes, indeed, Your Excellency. All four of the races have wholly adopted the Protocols for Commerce and Trade of the Federation, which allows for equitable, free, safe and secure trading.

    Will you be establishing amon currency or mode of exchange?

    We will essentially be conducting a barter-trade method ofmerce. Given the current problems the Federation is currently facing with inter-economy trading, we believe a barter-and-trade method will inste us from these concerns.

    That made everyone pause for a while, and then they sort of shelved the topic - it had shifted to a topic that was very delicate at the moment.

    Someone else pinged, and asked about the embassies that had been established on Earth. Mia told them about the kinds of activities the embassies had been conducting, and that the Earth had high hopes the rtionship between the four races will grow. At the urging of some of the delegates, Mia took some time to discuss the Isles of Scilly, what facilities had been provided, and the fact that it was her duchy.

    Someonemented that he was excited to see the inds himself. Mia said that he would be most wee. She asked permission to show some pictures, and brought out a tiny macro projector shaped like an old-fashioned fountain pen. She projected thirty-foot floating images in the open space above her and the representatives were torn between being amazed at the wonderous technology that Mia so casually wielded, or be excited at the images of the the inds that, if they were lucky, would be the home of their new embassies soon.

    Someone then pinged to ask about their treaties regarding security and mutual defense.

    Mia said that they had adopted most of the provisions of the Articles of War that the Federation observed.

    You say most provisions. Which provisions did you not adapt?

    The provisions that extend the same benefits to the other members of the Federation, and the provisions regarding the limited protection uses and conditions.

    Everyone paused at that.

    Someone else pinged. Lady Amelia, the new speaker began, your agreements with the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians seem to be faultless, and well thought out. But are you Earthers even capable of providing the level of mutual protection that is demanded by the Articles of War? I apologize for the question, but it is something that I am sure the other delegates would want to know about.

    Mia bowed. No apologies necessary, Your Excellency. To answer your question, all of our popteds and colonies have between ss Four and ss Sevenary defense facilities. Not counting other ships, we currently have a fleet of more than one hundred and forty-three capital ships equivalent to Talon-ss cruisers. We will be dedicating twenty percent of this fleet to mutual defense, with the rest held in reserve.

    This was greeted with silence. ss Six was currently what Colossus own defenses were rated at. In fact, there were only twos whose defenses were rated as ss Seven  the Dravidian home and Star 453-A. Who could believe the Earthers assertions?

    We, of course, know that the Council of Custodians will need to confirm this. We are prepared for their inspection.

    That sort of ended that train of discussion.

    The next one to ping was the Kembel representative. It raised the discussion of the Earthers application for membership. It started quizzing her whether she knew the requirements for membership.

    Mia replied yes, and quoted the beginning preamble of the charter of the Chamber of Migration and Peerage. She then outlined the basic steps for processing a membership application, and acknowledged that it was indeed a lengthy process. However, she exined that a probationary member status might be awarded by the Council of Custodians, pending the results of the application.

    She was then asked if she knew how the Council went about dering a probationary membership.

    Mia then exined the rationale for probationary membership  that a temporary membership might be granted if the prospective member would be able to provide resources, technology or other considerations that might be of great value to the Federation. Mia then expressed the idea that this was not necessarily an inequitable kind of situation since the prospective member would enjoy all the privileges of a full-fledged member except that they couldnt be on any board, council,mittee or other governing body of the Federation, and cannot have representation. (The humor was not lost to the delegates.)

    The alien then asked if Earthers were ready for this.

    Mia exined that they were ready for the representatives of the Council and the Chamber toe and do their examination.

    The Dravidian, Cor, then pinged. I have to ask, what do Earthers have to offer the great Federation?

    There was a collective gasp. The other delegates couldnt help but react.

    I am sure the Custodians will be able to tell the Ambassador after they havepleted their examination, Mia replied

    The Dravidian would not let it go. Will this include the Earthers instantaneousmunication technology? Or information on the Curtain of Light?

    That is not for me to say.

    I would put this on the record, that the Dravidian Republics would not be in favor of probationary status for your Earth if these were not made avable to us.

    As I have said, Your Excellency, that is not up to me. It is up to the Council of Custodians to negotiate with Earth and determine what the Council will be willing to offer. It is improper for me to make any premature announcements.

    The Dravidian was surprised to be receiving backtalk from this Earther.

    Are you saying you have not been empowered tomit your Earth to an agreement? If not, then why are we wasting our time on you?

    This caused more consternation among the delegates.

    Mia, clearly feeling antagonized, kept quiet, and waited for the hubbub to die down. When there was silence, she answered the Dravidian.

    Your Excellency, to answer your questions  yes, I have been empowered to negotiate with the Federation, and am empowered tomit the Earth to any treaties, covenants or agreements. And I believe you are not wasting your time.

    The Dravidian was more than surprised. This Earther was not being intimidated!

    After a moment, he responded. My question, Admiral, was why are we wasting our time?

    Mia bowed. My apologies, Your Excellency. I did understand your question. However, I do not agree with the premise of your question. Therefore I cannot answer that question.

    Premise? What do you mean? Perhaps yourmand of Elyran is not as well as you think.

    Mia bowed again. I am sorry Your Excellency is having trouble understanding me. If I may use an example, it is as though I asked Your Excellency, why, sir, have you not stopped stealing from your neighbors?

    The Dravidian stood in anger. This is an outrage! How dare you say such a thing? We have never stolen anything, nor will we ever steal anything from anyone!

    Mia bowed very low. I am sorry that my words have given hurt. I only said them as an example. I, too, do not believe that the honorable Dravidians have stolen from their neighbors. But as you so violently disagreed with the premise of my question, so do I vehemently disagree with your questions premise. We are not wasting this honorable bodys time.

    The Dravidian stood, with mouth agape. And the rest of the assembly pped and cheered the Earther. Rarely had anyone stood up against a Dravidian in public and taken them down at their own game.

    Mia then bowed very low, and waited for the Dravidian to respond. After a long moment, knowing he had no choice, the Dravidian responded and bowed as well, although his bow was quite shallow.

    The Assemblys apuse echoed in the hall as they roared their approval and congrattions.

    The representative from Star 453-A, who was also a member of the Council of Custodians, pinged for attention.

    Well said, Lady Amelia. My congrattions. You do your fellow Earthers proud.

    He stood and addressed the rest of the assembly. My Lords and Ladies, never in the recent history of the Federation has someone such as the Lady Ameliae and shown us the true blessing and power that is the basis of our united races. Based on the performance of our Admiral from Earth, by the power vested in me as a member of the Council of Custodians, I am hereby granting the status of probationary membership to the Earther System.

    This was greeted with high acmation. Cor knew that it was in the Ambassadors power to do this so he decided not to raise any objections at this time. He subtly signaled the Erocii Ambassador to not react as well.

    My Lords and Ladies, I hereby present you Lady Amelia, representing the newest member of the Gctic Federation of Free Races, Earth!

    The din that echoed through the hall did not die away for a long time.

    <strong>Spreading the Word </strong>

    The mission that they had set out with wasrgely aplished, even though the Federation had not supported their deration of war with a matching deration of their own. But Mia and all the others knew that particr one was a long shot. Back onboard the Fifth Fleet ships and in the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian embassy offices, they were all flipping for joy, figuratively-speaking at least. And as soon as the rys hit the Dixx and Elyran ships still on the way, the celebrations onboard were even more boisterous.

    Back on Earth and in all her colonies, the celebrations were less boisterous but were almost as joyous. Video on their arrival rites and reception, Mias speech, and the following plenary session, were transmitted in full, but the plenary session was artfully switched from camera to camera to maximize the dramatic impact. They had not had the same opportunity to do so with the footage of their arrival nor with Mias speech since they only got footage from Colossus Protocol Office that time.

    The noisy minority that had been challenging the Secretary-General had finally been silenced, not because of the facts of the situation but mostly because of Mia herself. Her poprity among the poption had been going from strength to strength, and it seemed insurmountable now, especially with thistest new victory of hers, even with the looming prospect of war.

    It wasrgely the rabble-rousers fault since they insisted the coverage of the Fifth Fleets arrival be transmitted back through the general Phase-Wave frequencies. With the reception of Mias speech, both by the aliens and the people back home, it seemed Mia could do no wrong. And since Romarkin and Silverman were openly affiliated to Mia, it would be political suicide to go against them.

    The races leadership had been coalescing for quite some time already. Even the rivalry between the old eastern and western alliances had all but disappeared. But Mias speech was the final catalyst that forged a true unified voice from the various political parties and leaderships of the different Earth groups, nations and colonies. Never mind that it was actually mostly just for political expedience. What the people would remember was that the voice of all Earth was now unified for real.

    Some wouldter say that the effect of Mias speech was analogous to that of the invention of star travel to the Tirosians, or theing of the Messiah to the Elyrans, that it provided thest step to finally unify them and achieve racial unity. Most political analysts and historians would argue that they actually didnt any kind of final push. They firmly believed that, like Dixx and so many other races, it was an eventuality that would have happened in its own time, that any system-wide event would have triggered it. If at all, Mia was just at the right ce at the right time.

    From then on, with the absence of any significant opposition, most of the programs of the government had an easy time being executed, and though debate between the Earth nations and colonies continued to be as contentious as before, and bills and resolutions were still difficult to pass (even more so now, since now there were new concerns and topics of contention), the length of time to debate, discuss and vote were not unduly extended (filibustering and dy tactics were rarely done now), and once voting was concluded, the poption got behind whatever it was and the Earthers pushed on.

    -----

    With regards Mias speech and the just-concluded plenary session, there were many points of rification that needed to be made, so Mia, Nick and Sahsha onboard Colossus granted Phase-Wave interviews with the major Earthworks, with some of the interviews being fielded by Ren and Daxx, in their capacities as Fifth Fleetmanders, of course. It went a long way to rify things for the Earth poption.

    A few of the questions raised had to do with how the Federation homes would be informed of the events that had happened, and what would happen next. Daxx said that it would conceivably take several months, in the case of some worlds, maybe even years, before they got the news since information was sent via courier ships.

    After that, each individual races leadership would have to inform Colossus and their Federation ambassadors, via courier ship again, and from there, the Federation, as a body, could decide on the next steps. And this would probably take longer than just informing the homeworlds.

    Ren said that, unfortunately, the Federation was not familiar with Phase-Wave technology. Earth could assist by transmitting the messages using their magical Phase-Wave, or EarthForce can ferry Federation people to their homeworlds using their faster ships, but, as probationary members, Earthers would not be allowed to offer, or even suggest to offer, assistance.

    That brought up some interesting questions about Federation procedures and protocol. As the groups de-facto expert on Federation history and politics, Ren fielded that. He began by saying that he was very impressed with the Earthers general level of knowledge of Federation rules, procedures and traditions, and they only needed some polish and some more information about the arcane details that non-members would not know about in order to learn the nuances of what it is to be a Federation member. He was confident, however, that they would pick them up very quickly. For now, he answered the curious questions of the Earthers.

    When they were through with all the interviews, and had already moved back onboard Shepherd, Daxx, ever the strategist, had a brainstorm.

    Since there was no information discussed that was confidential or strategic in nature, it was Daxxs suggestion to have these interviews leaked. That way, the rest of Colossus would pick up on how up-to-date the Earthers were, that they werent dealing with provincials or rubes, and were as sophisticated as any Federation citizen. And this would again bring home the fact that Earthers had instantaneousmunications, and that it was called Phase-Wave.

    That, and the fact that the Earthers were open to assist getting word back to the homeworlds.

    -----

    In order to engineer the leak, the Earthers asked for assistance from the Protocol Office to send three data cubes back to the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian missions.

    A message gig pulled up to the Shepherd Moon, and two Telcontari, their old friends Mumu and Pinpin again, were conducted to the ships bridge.

    Knowing that everything that they would see and hear would probably be recorded, OConnell ordered general quarters, and asked the Second Combined Marine/Infantry Squad into armor, and to escort the Telcontari to the bridge. She had also ordered all Elyran and Dix Marines into armor as well, and to stand post with the Second Squad at each of the major bulkhead airlocks leading from thending deck to the bridge.

    She had also ordered runners to ferry supplies and materials from the quartermasters to the various section chiefs. The section chiefs were puzzled why they were getting office supplies they didnt ask for so they sent them back.

    To the two diminutive Telcontari, it felt like they had stepped onboard what was an extremely busy ship, with the Elyrans and Dixx fully integrated into their crewplement.

    When they stepped onboard the bridge, there were several Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians mixing freely with the Earthers, and the bridge was full of coordinated chaos  control panels and screens disying iprehensible symbols and glyphs. In the style of Dravidian, Dixx, Elyran, Tirosian and Detterex ships, arge view screen dominated their bridge. On it was disyed an image of Colossus, with half of it looking like a wire-frame schematic. They noticed it wasnt a static projection but a live disy given there were small figures walking around the transparent half.

    The Telcontari had to blink several times because of the unustomed number of shing lights and brightputer screens. There was also a continuous susurration of sound made up of Earther speak and a little bit of Elyran. Sitting in the middle, in what looked like the mainmand position was the Lady Amelia, clearly the center of all this activity.

    The two made a beeline for her, and bowed low  the proper Telcontari thing to do: introduce themselves to the leader before doing anything else.

    Instead of bowing as well, Lady Amelia stood and held her hand out.

    Having been briefed beforehand, the two knew to respond by extending their hands as well. They smiled and squeaked in the simple pleasure of being acknowledged by the Earther queen, and actually experiencing a handshake from her.

    Mia, ying the role to the hilt, excused herself, said that she was busy, and directed them to her second-inmand. She signaled to OConnell, who stepped up and saluted. Officiously, Mia instructed her to assist their visitors, and then turned back to her work.

    It was all very impressive and intimidating.

    OConnell then shook hands with them as well and introduced herself. She handed them three identical data cubes saying they were to be delivered to the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian missions. She then said that Admiral Daxx, Prince Ren and some of the Arachnians also had some correspondence to be delivered.

    The two bowed to acknowledge the instructions, whereupon an Arachnian sporting his Earth uniform of a bright-blue vest and a brassard stepped up.

    The Arachnian bowed and said that he had some correspondence that needed to be delivered to the First Ambassador.

    The two bowed and epted yet another data cube, but this one had a diplomatic seal tied around it. Pinpin gestured to the brassard and curiously asked what it was.

    The Arachnian exined that it had his EarthForce rank and name printed in English so that people could easily identify who and what he was. He exined that he was a Captain in the Fifth Fleet, and was one of the officers assigned tomunication and astrogation.

    The two murmured their awe at that, and asked how he ended up as an Earther officer.

    He exined that he was now off-duty as his shift had just ended. He was d to tell them and offered to bring them to the offices of Admiral Ren and Admiral Daxx so that they could give them their own packages for delivery to Colossus.

    The two epted with gratitude. They bowed to OConnell, who responded with a bow of her own, and they bowed to Lady Amelia, who responded by waving goodbye  yet another new thing they had learned. They hugged each other and giggled.

    Once the Arachnian and the two Telcontari had walked out of the bridge, everyone stopped talking.

    Thank God, OConnell said, and everyone burst out intoughter.

    Okay, everyone, she said, smiling. Hope we were able to put on a good show. Rx and terminate all diagnostics and diagnostic sweeps. Shut down all non-essential programs and disys. Everyone apuded andughed.

    Many of the bright disys were shut down, and the unnecessary lighting was dimmed back down to normal.

    Before the little gig from Colossusnded, OConnell had ordered all bridge diagnostic routines to be executed, which changed the normally staid bridge into a ce full of niose, bright disys and blinking lights.

    To assist in the charade, Mia had also ordered her navigation chief to conduct a briefing on astrogation processes for their Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian officers. Hopefully, this would give the impression that Shepherds crew was surfeit with Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians.

    Beth, Mia said to OConnell, heres your chair. She got up from themand chair and started walking to the bridges main door. Keep the Marines at the airlocks and keep the, ummm, delivery of supplies going. If anyone needs me, Ill be in my office. She waved to everyone and walked off the bridge.

    Aye, Skipper. Grinning, OConnell turned to her inte and sent out her instructions to keep the farce going.

    -----

    After being escorted to Admiral Daxxs and Admiral Rens offices onboard Shepherd, the Telcontari received the small, sealed personal letters that they gave. They received the packages, bowed and went back to thending deck with the Arachnian and their security people, which they found were called Marines.

    They bowed to the Arachnian, got into their little gig and waited while it was winched out into open space. From there, they made their way straight back to Colossus.

    The Lord Chambein of Colossus called them even though they were still far from the station. He asked them what they received and Mumu exined that they received four data cubes and two sealed diplomatic pouches.

    Are all of them sealed?

    No, My Lord, Pinpin said. Only the packages from the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians had seals. Three of the data cubes are not.

    In that case, per the rules, those data cubes are not confidential. Copy their contents immediately.

    The two looked at each other.

    But, My Lord, Pinpin said, Im sure the Earthers meant for their recipients to be the only one to

    Young one, does it not say in our protocols that for the confidentiality of such messages, they must be clearly marked as such, or sealed, otherwise copies can be distributed to any official representative to the Federation who asks for a copy?

    Yes, My Lord, but the Earthers might not be aware of the protocols

    Their ignorance is not my concern. As officers of the Protocol Office, it should not be your concern as well. Perform your duty. Do as I say.

    The two looked at each other. Strictly speaking, the Lord Chambein was correct. They did as they were told, and made a duplicate for him.

    Our Lord Chambein is correct, Pinpin said to Mumu as their little gigsputer started the copying. But if the Dravidians get the information in these cubes, the other missions may be put at a disadvantage because they are not able to share in the information

    Mumu nodded in agreement.  and that is against the protocols as well He looked thoughtful. Dont tell me, Mumu giggled. I think I know what youre about to suggest.

    Pinpin shrugged. We are just fulfilling our role as protocol officers, after all. Even Our Lord Chambein will not fault us for doing our duty, and helping him to not break the rules. He pointed to their gigsm panel.

    We have very little time before we dock. I suggest you start contacting the various delegations. I will slow the progress of our gig, and will take care of the duplication.

    Mumu nodded and started making calls.

    -----

    Several hourster, the Shepherd Moonsm officer called OConnell to say that he had the Kembel ambassador on the line, and it was asking to speak with her.

    Here we go, OConnell muttered, sent a message to Nick, and he took the call.

    Several hourster, OConnell and Nick had fielded several dozen simr calls, all asking about Phase-Wave, and if they could help them send messages. She exined that they could indeed help transmit messages to their homeworlds in real-time, but only messages up to two minutes long, and she exined why. That made them rethink their ns. As expected, they would callter and say that they intended to send a message that would include apressed-data encrypted message.

    OConnell would then respond that they were familiar with most of the data-encryption algorithms used by the Federation, and would require a few minutes topress a three-hour message, which, by their calction, was the longestpressed message that would fit in a two minute transmission, or, alternately, about 500 megabytes in data. (Federation and Tirosianputer systems work with twelve-bit bytes as opposed to the Earther eight-bits, so 500 megabytes trante to around 350 million Elyran bytes. And in Elyran Base-8, that would be around 2.465 billion.)

    After a short moment, the person on the line would agree with thatputation (obviously having taken time to do someputing as well to confirm her numbers), and would sign off to call againter.

    Obviously, theyd prefer to do the encrypting on their own, but encrypting a three-hour message would usually take them about two weeks. So when they called back, theyd say they had their recorded message ready for encryption. Typically, it would be made up of a recording of Mias speech, a full recording of the plenary session, the joint deration of the Federation as drafted by the Daemons plus recordings of Daxxs transmissions and a long voice report from the ambassador to their homeworld.

    OConnell would exin that it would cost 11,610 Elyran Crowns (in Base-8) or their equivalent in any other Federation-recognized currency, to transmit the message, and the encryption would cost 1,760. (Later on, OConnell would ask why the oddly-specific amounts, and Nick would exin that 1,760 in Base-10 would be 1,000, and 11,610 would be 5,000. It was a subtle way ofmunicating to them that Earthers preferred to deal in their own numbers and measurements.)

    Being charged would surprise them but since the fees were very reasonable, theyd pay up. A long queue of shuttles, sloops and gigs would start pulling up by the Shepherd Moon. OConnell had to deploy a picket line of Mud Turtles to maintain a perimeter, and Mia had to borrow Cobras from the other ships to help.

    The little ships were winched onboard five at a time, and the operation to get them onboard and exchange packages took about twenty minutes. More than eighty boats would take a long time so they processed their visitors ording to their consumables. The following day, Shepherd Moon started their transmissions.

    <strong>Shepherd Moon Transmission 1423/231/1231-22, to Elyra Prime:</strong>

    <em>TChahn, honored peers and fellow citizens, I am Princess Tasha the Forty-Third, by Grace of the Messiah, of the Great ins of the Kingdoms of Elyra and Her Dominions beyond the Rim, and leader of your forces to the Earth System. I bring tidings from Colossus, but I require you tomence recording my transmission in twelve seconds. Stand by stand by Compressed messagemences now!</em>

    -----

    Throughout the gctic arm, consternation spread throughout the Federation colonies and homeworlds, but they had responsibilities, which took precedence over everything.

    Per Federation treaty rules, the homeworlds needed to prepare for deployment of ships for the defense of the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian homeworlds. Each needed tomit to send at least one capital ship to one of the three home worlds, as per the Daemon-drafted resolution. As to which of the threes to send each, the resolution was clear. Over fourteen ships (or twelve in Base-10) were on their way to each of the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian homeworlds and some of their major colonies.

    The homeworlds then sent high-speed courier ships to their colonies to spread the word.

    As for the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians, the message was slightly different. After they received their transmissions, high-speed couriers were sent to their colony worlds, as pre-arranged, to trigger their ns for defense and invasion, but with updates care of Tasha, Br and the First Ambassador.

    With the news of Federation ships being sent to their homeworlds, the decision was to beef up the protection for the colonies. Ships from the homeworlds were immediately dispatched.

    An offensive against the Tiros and Detterex themselves was still being nned, but at this point that was still in the air.

    They knew that the Earthers weremitting their entire Fifth Fleet of seven capital ships, including the Shepherd Moon. Daxx, as the strategist for the Earth Alliance, had decided to split the Earther ships and to deploy four of them to beef up the picket line around Arachnia. Arachnians had the smallest and weakest navy among the Federation, weaker even than the Telcontari, and they needed the assist. The other three would be deployed to Elyra since, given the bad blood between the Detterex and the Elyrans, it was expected that Elyra would bear the brunt of the attacks.

    Furthermore, it was strategic: Star Harbor was in orbit around the, and the Elyran fleet, thergest single naval fleet in the Federation, used it as their home port. Knocking it out would seriouslypromise the Federation war machine.

    The hard fact to ept, however, was that, despite the new status of Earth, no ships would be sent to Earth. Until all the member races had sent acknowledgment of Earths status from their homes, and they had a chance to reallocate their resources in consideration of this, Earth could not expect any assistance. Fleet Admiral Silverman therefore adjusted his ns ordingly. If Silverman was being truthful, however, this didnt make much of a difference to him. The ships that had arrived from Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia didnt impress him much, and he preferred to have Earth FTLs. As it stands, at the moment, he now had seventeen Type-Twos and two Type-Ones avable, all of them manned by experienced crews. He was expecting five more to be returning from a short shakedown cruise shortly, and there was another five scheduled to bepleted soon.

    Earths FTL Fleet was now made up of seventeen Type-Twos, thirteen Type-Ones, and the refitted DSC Shepherd Moon. This was supplemented by a dozen of the older pre-FTL ships now assigned to the Second Fleet, and, in a pinch, he could rmission the now-beached pre-FTLs parked down in New Copernicus. If he didnt need to spread his resources too much, he knew he could put up a credible defense of the homeworld.

    Now, it was a waiting game, waiting for all the ships to be in ce, which would roughly be in an Earth month or so.

    Meanwhile, the Elyran and Dixx ships with their Fourth Fleet escorts were nearing Colossus, but were still several weeks away. Nevertheless, they were appraised of all thetest developments and knew that they were destined for their homeworlds. It was decided that the Fifth Fleet would wait for their arrival before departing.

    In that short, intervening time, Mumu and Pinpin assisted the Earthers to get the necessary licenses, patents, registration and other paperwork to get their delegations office up and running. They also purchased all the necessary references, manuals and documents they needed to get themselves familiarized with the rules, regtions and processes of Colossus in order to master the necessary red tape. They also talked with the Office of Habitation and Lodging and rented a very small suite of offices located at the very end of the deck where all the administrative offices were. Because Earths status was still probationary, the Earthers were not allowed to put up an actual mission on the deck that everyone called Embassy Row. Instead, they were only allowed to have an office.

    They were given what everyone thought of as the worst avable space in Colossus, but at least it had the virtue of being very cheap, and the lease was valid for roughly twenty years.

    The distinction between office, embassy and mission was totally lost to OConnell, but she just epted it and facilitated the setup of their new office. She had all the life systems specialists and quartermasters officers of all the crews of the Fifth Fleet to coborate, and to start re-outfitting their new digs, as Nick called them.

    Their offices were near the south pole of the station, where the cargo airlocks were, and were actually under one of the gravity booms of the station, which made the space the least ideal anywhere on Colossus (gravity booms were like towers attached to the hull. Their position and height helped to bnce the spin of the station). The people who showed them the space apologized for its tininess (it was roughly 1,600 livable square feet, whereas the standard embassy office was at least 10,000.). Nick asked why they couldnt get one of therger avable offices that they were told about, but the little Telcontari couldnt answer.

    Chief Haskell asked what they could do to physically spruce up their ce, but the office people said that they could do virtually anything so long as they didn''t affect the environmental systems of the station or the spin-induced gravity. He asked about the boom, and it was exined that the boom wasnt necessary anymore since the thrusters of the station had moved it to its present rtive position around the Zeos Systems primary centuries ago. If the Earthers wanted to remove it, that would be fine.

    They had also been referred to several subcontractorpanies that specialized in retrofitting living and office spaces on Colossus (it was a necessary service given the many different environmental requirements of the delegates), but they decided not to ask for their help  between the engineering crews of their seven ships and their stores of spares and supplies, they said they could manage on their own.

    The Telcontari clerk from the Office of Habitation and Lodging shrugged, and said that it was their option.

    The Earthers applied for the necessary construction permits and, under Haskells direction,rge prefabricated living units were towed to where their new office was. The boom was taken off and towed away, and in its ce, the living units were grafted on where it used to be. Twenty prefabricated living units were stacked on top of each other, and from the outside, the living units looked almost like the boom they reced, and it did not change the gravitational geometry of Colossus at all.

    The effect of their construction was that, when entering the new offices of the Earthers, one would enter what amounted to a reception area. From there, they would enter an elevator which could bring them down to any of the twelve floors that contained offices, meeting and conference areas, libraries and other rooms. The bottom four floors were dormitory and guest areas, and environmental and equipment areas. That gave the Earthers the equivalent of about 100,000 square feet of usable office space, with each floor having a head clearance of twelve feet per floor. Theirs was now officially thergest living space in the station.

    And though it wasnt an embassy, it was to be treated as a sovereign territory of Earth, with all the implications that had.

    It was good that they had charged for the transmissions, otherwise they wouldnt have had the cash to pay for all the paperwork. They had collected close to 500,000 Crowns, and had only used up around 15,000 for red tape. They had also pre-paid their twenty-year lease, which cost them 240,000 Crowns, which left them about half of their original collection. They had asked Mumu and Pinpin some assistance to open an ount with the Paymasters Office onboard Colossus with their remaining cash, the closest that the Federation government had to a bank on the station. True, the interest rate was very low, but they were okay with that  they werent really looking to make money, after all. Otherwise, theyd either have to keep the cash themselves, or deposit it with one of the Dravidian or Erocii banks. And they didnt trust the Dravidians and Erocii much at the moment.

    -----

    As soon as their offices were ready, they started receiving a long line of visitors that came calling to say hello and to consult. Mia drafted the seven captains of her ships to take care of the visitors, and the Captains foisted off the job to their staff.

    After some effusive hellos and tchahns and a little chitchat, the visitors would usually extend their wee and to extend offers to assist the Earth delegation in any way they could. It wasnt too different from how politicians behaved back on Earth, and the Earthers were able to properly deal with them. However, it was clear that they had a hidden agenda.

    No one could me the aliens, of course. The idea of instantaneousmunications was a powerful lure, especially with such a widely spreadmunity. The benefits of such technology couldnt be overstated. But what had be obvious to everyone was that the Earthers were not ready to share it. Many understood the reason. After all, in a situation where they needed every advantage they could get, many agreed that keeping the Phase-Wave technology under their belt was only a proper strategy.

    Of course, it was an article of faith among the delegates that the Earthers advantage was a temporary one. Eventually, the technology would be discovered, given that the Federation knew about its existence now. After all, every other technology had been. So, many didnt push as much as they wished they could. However, when the Dravidians came over, it was different.

    First off, they came in full force. Twelve Dravidians crowded into the office, obviously thinking to intimidate the Earthers.

    Councilor Cor, The Dravidians ambassador, bellowed and demanded to see the Earth ambassador. Prince Ren, who was there at the time,mented that Earthers did not have an ambassador yet as their membership was still probationary.

    That took away some of the wind from Cors sails, but he persisted. He questioned the presence of Ren in the Earthers office, as well as several other Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians, and Ren exined that he was part of EarthForce, as was Admiral Daxx and several others from their expedition to Earth. He also asked the ambassador what specific rule said that they were not allowed to be there.

    Cor ignored that and demanded to see Mia. Ren shrugged, went to an inte and spoke to someone. He then pressed a button and an elevator door opened. He gestured Cor into the elevator, and all twelve of the Dravidians crowded inside. The door closed and the elevator started moving down.

    From therge Crystalline window, they could see the elevator passing six levels. Cor didnt know that their office even had levels, let alone this many. At the seventh one, the elevator opened and they found themselves in arge conference room where Mia was conversing with Admiral Daxx and the First Ambassador.

    Mia looked up. Ahhh, Councilor Cor, a pleasant day to you. Wee.

    Lady Amelia, I will speak with you alone. Send these two away.

    Mia raised an eyebrow at the Dravidians rudeness. She shrugged apologetically at her friends, and the two walked to the elevator.

    Without being asked, Cor sat across from Mia and made himselffortable. Mia, being a good host, poured arge goblet of krahnng and set it in front of him.

    As Mia took her seat, Corspanions stood behind him with weapons at the ready.

    Mia raised a suspicious eye at that. She picked up her CC and spoke into it. In moments, two squads of Marines in full armor came in. One squad deployed themselves around the room, and the other stood behind the Dravidians with weapons drawn. The ominous clicks indicated that their weapons were just armed.

    If you wish to speak with me, Mia said, I would appreciate it if your friends left us. There are refreshments avable at the second level. Perhaps my Marines can escort them there?

    Cor looked at Mias Marines, and after a few moments, he nodded to his people. The Marines apanied the Dravidians to the elevator. They had to go up in two groups, but eventually they were alone.

    As soon as they were alone, Cor pulled out his sidearm. As he did, half a dozenser lights focused on Cors weapon, lighting it up with several redser dots.

    Cor, seeing this, gently put the weapon on the table. A Marine came out and took it away.

    Your weapon will be returned to you before you leave, Mia said, putting away her CC. As to who she was talking with, she didnt say. She turned to the Dravidian. Perhaps we can talk like civilized beings now? What has brought you here?

    The Dravidians will purchase from you your Phase-Wave technology.

    I see. Im afraid that you have wasted your time, Councilor. Earth Government is not prepared to share our technology at this time.

    No! I demand you give us your technology. Name your price.

    I am deeply sorry, but my hands are tied. I cannot.

    Then we will trade. We have unique technologies of our own, as well as resources and information you will undoubtedly want. What we want in return is your Phase-Wave.

    There is nothing you can offer, Councilor.

    The covenants of the Federation demand that you treat all races equally! It is not to be permitted!

    What do you mean?

    It is unfair that your so-called Earth Alliance enjoy the benefits of your Phase-Wave while the rest of the Federation have to do without!

    I believe you are mistaken.

    Your ignorance of the protocols is to be expected. Young ones without a mentor will always have difficulty navigating the morass of council rtions and procedures. You Earthers would do well to establish a rtionship with a senior race such as us.

    Well, I dont know about that, Mia chuckled. We have reviewed all the avable material the Office of Protocol have provided us, and we have adhered to all of the Federations rules. I am not aware of any rule that requires us to share our technology. Also, we have indeed affiliated ourselves with several senior races. I am sure you have met our Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian friends. They have been of great help to us so far.

    The Dravidian looked at Mia in offended surprise and couldnt speak.

    Furthermore, she said, regardless, as probationary members, we are exempted from many rules and conventions, and that includes conventions on trade andmerce. Surely a member of a senior race would be aware of that.

    Such impertinence cannot be tolerated! Watch your words, youngling. I will have the Lord Chambein chastise you. Know your betters.

    There is no need to tell the Chambein. I am having our conversation recorded. My adjutant is now parsing out a letter of protest to the Lord Chambein, protesting the high-handed manner by which the Dravidian ambassador has treated me and my fellow Earthers, and will request a redress.

    But you cannot! It is not allowed

    Per the two hundred seventh protocol of the Office of Propriety and Etiquette, I mean three hundred seventeen in Elyran Base-8, we are allowed to record conversations provided that we are one of the parties in that conversation. I am sure you are aware of that as well. (Since Mia wasnt using a trantor, she needed to transpose her numbers.)

    After an initial expression of surprise, Cor calmed down. After all, the Lord Chambein was a fellow Dravidian. It couldnt go that far. But Mias next words started to worry him.

    Also, per protocol, Mia continued, I am also going to send a copy of our protest to the Council of Custodians. Per the Councils standing rules, we are, in fact, required to do so with things such as this.

    Cor look chagrined. Actually, he didnt know that. There had been no probationary members the whole time he was the Dravidian ambassador. He needed to study up on the rules.

    Since he didnt know, he decided not to react to that.

    Mia continued. Although Earths treaty with Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia fully gives us the right to share our technology with them without sharing it with all Federation members, for the record, we have not shared the secret of Phase-Wave with them. Therefore, regardless, you have no basis for yourint.

    Cor looked at her with increasing desperation.

    I must say, Councilor, Mia went on, we have been told that Dravidians are one of the most courteous among the races in the Federation, that their considerateness and politeness is known throughout thes, and their behavior is beyond reproach. I can only hope that your behavior is an anomaly.

    Cor sighed. Because Earthers were still unknown to them, his colleagues had said to not use the usual blustery, arrogant tactic that Dravidians normally use to intimidate neophytes. But he had not paid attention. Now they would have to pay for his mistake.

    I apologize if I gave offense, Cor said contritely, turning on the legendary Dravidian charm, but it was toote. The artifice of it was all too obvious given his previous behavior. I had not meant to overstep my bounds. I hope you ept my apology.

    Cor waited for Mia to react. If it could be on record that Mia epted his apology But she wasnt talking.

    After a while, Cor continued. I have alsoe to extend the wee of the Dravidian people, and an offer to be of assistance to our new brothers, as they integrate into the great Federation family

    Even with his friendly smile, his words fell t, and Mia did not deign to respond in kind. Instead, she was cold and distant.

    As the temporary representative of my government, Mia said, I formally express thanks for the councilors offer, and acknowledge the councilors wee.

    Mias cold and distant words were too obvious for him to miss. He decided to switch tactics, and resort to some pleasant chitchat.

    Your embassy office is quite pleasant. It is lucky that you had brought the necessary materials for the construction. We are all amazed at the quickness of the construction.

    Mia just looked at him coldly. Yes, she said.

    They are quite luxurious, actually. The idea to construct structures stacked one on top of the other to increase living space vertically  the idea is creative. I am wondering why you had thought to revamp your new offices so heavily.

    Mia shrugged. We had no choice. The space we were allocated was very small.

    I am sure the Office of Habitation and Lodging could have found alternate spaces. I, in fact, know of some spaces avable near the Dravidian offices. You should have told us  we could have assisted you. Or we could have asked our people to help you in your construction. Several Dravidianpanies that specialize in customizing living structures are based here on Colossus.

    Mia just looked at him. I am sure we would not have been able to afford your fees.

    Cor gulped. I am sure we would not need to charge you. Some kind of arrangement could have been made to waive the customary fees.

    I would not want to owe any Dravidian any favors. Most in the Federation know the reputation of Dravidians when ites to debts.

    Cor looked shocked at the implied insult. Eventually, he got the message and took his leave, this time more politely than when he came in. Mia used her CC and several armed and armored Marines came out to frog march him to the elevator. Before he stepped in, though, one of the Marines handed him a listening device that he had identally dropped.

    After the elevator closed, Mia sighed. This is hard, she thought, and could hardly wait for the real diplomats from Earth to arrive and take over.

    Within the day, the letter she had threatened Cor with was sent to the Lord Chambein and the Council of Custodians. Mia sent it via official messenger from the Protocol Office. Again, she had neglected to put a seal on the message, so the contents of the letter had inadvertently leaked.

    With incontrovertible video proof, the Chambein had no choice but to publicly chastise Councilor Cor during the following session, and required him to pay reparations. Many thought it was a little improper for him to chastise Cor personally instead of chastising the entire Dravidian Mission, and that the payment of reparations was a dodge. After all, what was money to the Dravidians. But then 200,000 Crowns (or 65,536 in Base-10) was a serious amount of money. The Chambein said that was due to the gravity of the Councilors infraction. Cor was required to publicly apologize to Mia as well.

    From then on, those that believed the Earthers were nothing but clueless provincials changed their minds, and paradoxically, the queue of visitors to the Earther offices had be longer.

    There was one beneficial thing that Cors mistake had started: in emtion of the Earther admiral, being surrounded by military escorts and security staff, as well as the carrying of arms, fell out of fashion.

    Invitations to visit were left at the Earthers offices, and Mia and Nick took some of them up on it, especially the ones that were considered underdogs in the assembly. They had a good time getting to know these friendly and well-meaning sophonts, especially since everyone was bending over backwards to show their friendliness and affability. They wouldnt want to do what Cor did.

    Mia had also epted a few invitations from the more known and powerful races, such as those from Star 453-A, the Daemons and others. Of course, they had standing invitations from Ren, Br and the First Ambassador, but Mia and Nick were often at their embassy offices anyway, as often as they were over at the Earth offices. This only helped cement the idea of the Earth Alliance that many now wanted to be part of.

    One thing that Mia and Nick did during their visits was to return devices that were identally left in their offices. They handed them over themselves so that it wasnt publicly embarrassing. As for transmitting devices, they were disabled right after they were brought into the reception area, and any sensors that tried to see inside of the offices just bounced off. It just frustrated everyone. As for the Earthers, if the delegates found out how easy it was for the Earthers to eavesdrop into their own offices, it would cause utter consternation.

    As for those that didnt extend invitations, Nick had Mumu and Pinpin pick up and deliver little sealed parcels to them containing the devices that they had identally left. A friendly little paper note was included exining that the devices were identally left in the office, and were just being returned to them.

    Truly, everyone was now aware of the new beings in their midst. Very few would underestimatethem anymore.

 Chapter 24: From the Far Side of the Sun

    Chapter 24: From the Far Side of the Sun

    <strong>Top-Up </strong>

    This is Reena, shieldmaiden of the Royal Elyran gship, Talon, battleship of the Earths Fifth Fleet. I am calling in behalf of EarthForce. Greetings to all of Colossus and the Gctic Federation of Free Races, and request permission to approach.

    This is Colossus Control to Talon. TChahn, shieldmaiden. From all of Colossus, wee to the Zeos system. But our detection systems do not see you yet. Are you ship-maneuverable?

    I am aware of that, Colossus. We are still about fifty Earth hours out, I mean sixty-two! You are receiving my signal real-time via a radio ry from the Earth Embassy. Please inform the Lady Tasha of our impending arrival.

    We understand, Lady Reena. We shall be contacting the princess shortly.

    Thank you Colossus. Reena of the Talon signing off.

    -----

    The arrival of Talon and the other ships wasnt going to be met with the same pomp and pageantry that the Shepherd Moon and her six ships received. Many assumed this was due to the machinations of Councilor Cor, who was rapidly bing one of the Earthers favorite people, but that didnt stop the Fifth Fleet from doing its own reception ceremony.

    Through Tasha, they were able to secure permission to use an ancientnding field in the long-abandoned Zeos Three, the only habitable in the Zeos System.

    Of course, there were no running electronics and other systems in the abandoned spaceport. It had remained unmaintained and unused for several thousand millennia, after all, as were the rest of the structures on the. In fact, the structures on the only survived because of the unvarying weather and nearly-constant below-32 degree Fahrenheit temperature of the  an effect of its near-circr orbit around its primary and its tidal locked synchronous rotation, and the absolute absence of any volcanic or tectonic activity. For the Federation, the was a useless and inhospitable, and remained abandoned and untouched after the giant Colossus station wasmissioned.

    DSC Mikasa, the Fifth Fleets newest ship, boasted the most advanced electronic systems amongst all the seven Fifth Fleet Earth ships. She had thereforended at the edge of the ancientnding field and was used as a temporary spaceport tower, beacon and ILS system. She was actually the first ship to ever enter thes atmosphere and actuallynd in a very, very long time.

    DSC Kirov, the one that was designated as the Fifth Fleets de-facto cargo ship, carried the least number of shuttles and fighters in order to maximize deck space. Like the Mikasa, she alsonded, and was used to provide temporary facilities where an authentic Elyran, Dixx, Arachnian, Earther and Telcontari wee meal would be served.

    The crews of both ships had spread out and, using portable heaters, started melting the excess ice off the tarmac to prepare for the arrival of twelve more ships. They had to do it slowly so that they wouldnt have explosive melting or crack the tarmac. Their tiny efforts didnt melt the permafrost under the ground, but that was good since all they needed was to just clear the surface.

    The five Elyran and Dixx cruisers, escorted by the Fourth Fleets cruisers Gibraltar and Windsor, finally entered Colossus area of responsibility. It was met by several traffic control shuttles from Colossus traffic control instead of the big Dravidian warships that met the Shepherd Moon. But that was fine. As soon as the ships entered Colossus traffic pattern and after a fly-over inspection of the shuttles, the Shepherd Moon, Constetion, Hermes, the Bismark and the Victoria met them and escorted them to Zeos Three. Those onboard Colossus that couldnt get to the monitors crowded around all the avable transparent ports so that they could see the ships as they passed. As the Federation ships passed near Colossus, many could see that they had gone through a lot:rge areas of their hull were reced with new ting, and there were lots of dinged and scorched sections. Manymented that what happened in Earth System probably was as bad as was reported.

    -----

    After all the ships hadnded on the de-icednding field, there was yet another ceremony on the ground, what the Earthers called formal guard mounts, but much modified and abbreviated in consideration of the ambient temperature and the unfamiliarity of their Federationrades with Earth protocols.

    There were a few guests that had asked if they might attend, and these were the Telcontari, Kembels, Daemons, people from Star 453-A, and some others. Most surprisingly, people from the Erocii Mission had also asked toe. With the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnians, their visitors represented the most powerful and influential races in the Federation, with the exception of the Dravidians.

    Subtle questions circted, but Mia had briefed her people really well so she was fairly confident that no one wouldmit any gaffes. In the end, everyone to enjoy the wee dinner.

    Mia had required all of her senior staff to circte, and make sure everyone got to have some face time with the leaders of the Fifth Fleet. That included Reena and Areeya  themanders of her two Elyran crews, and Tr, Rexx and Er from her three Dixx crews. Mia was pleasantly surprised that the first thing her alienmanders did uponnding was to report to her. The esprit-de-corps was at an all-time high.

    At the end of the day, when everyone had returned to Colossus (except for several curious Telcontari), her twelvemanders reported to her, Daxx, Tasha and the First Ambassador. She told them how pleased she was, and had brought up the idea that perhaps Daxx and Tashas people could already be tired of thepany of provincial Earthers. Everyone smiled but Captain Trughed out loud. Reena inconspicuously hit the tall Dixx captain in her side with her elbow, and Tr let out a small, aristocratic ooof!

    I apologize, My Lady, Reena said. What the Captain meant was that we are far from being tired of our Eartherrades. Rather we are very pleased to be in thepany of the doughty and gant warriors of Earth. But we shallply if Admiral Steele would rather terminate our affiliation with the Fifth Fleet, with the concurrence of Lady Tasha, of course.

    Mia smiled in delight, approached Reena and put her hands on her shoulder. No, my dear, she said. I would not.

    Reena blushed at the touch and at her words. She felt oddly proud and humbled at the same time. I will follow the Lady Amelia to Hell and back she thought.

    It is settled, then, Tasha said. The Talon and zing Star shall remain with the Fifth Fleet until further notice. Admiral Daxx?

    Indeed, Daxx replied. The Flying Cloud, Crimson Sun and The Protector will likewise remain with the Fifth Fleet with the concurrence of the Ambassador and Lady Amelia, of course.

    But what would your homeworlds say? Mia said.

    We have full authority to do this, My Lady, Daxx said. Worry not.

    Indeed, the First Ambassador said. In fact, I have gotten instructions from the homeworld

    How did you get word from

    The little Arachnian shrugged his upper shoulders at the Dixx admiral. As usual, it was ryed to us by the Shepherd Moon

    So what did they say?

    The hive masters were dismayed to find out that both of the ships that Arachnia sent perished in the Battle of Pluto. Our people have been so incensed that they petitioned our leaders that we Arachnians must participate more fully. Our leaders havemanded that one of our two cruisers presently assigned to the Colossus squadron be transferred to the Fifth Fleet as well. I have been instructed to inform Colossus Command of this, and that we convey this request to the Secretary-General, to Admiral Silverman to Admiral Daxx, and to Lady Amelia.

    We believe we can offer a distinct advantage to the Fifth Fleet, in that our ships move more quickly than other Federation vessels. Our Arachnian constitutions are more resistant to the effects of eleration and deceleration so Arachnian cruisers are ship-maneuverable at higher velocities, and can fly faster and are more maneuverable in-system than any other vessels in the Federation.

    There is no need to wait, Ambassador, Mia said. EarthForce epts your offer, with thanks.

    All the other captains murmured their thanks and congrattions as well.

    Captain Tr bowed. Your countrymen will be truly wee, Ambassador.

    The Arachnian bowed as well. My thanks, Captain Tr.

    I hope you dont mind, Ambassador, Captain Dupont said, what is the name of the ship?

    The Arachnian made the gesture for apology. I am afraid we are not as lucky as you. Arachnian ships are like Erocii ships in that we do not give our ships poetic, meaningful names. Our ships are just referred to by a number. We have been assigned Arachnian cruiser one hundred forty-three, but in Base-10, that would be Cruiser ny-nine. (Transposing the number was unnecessary because of the trantor, but he still did it, out of an unconscious impulse. Most people seemed to do that, it seems.)

    Well, Okonkwo said,  ny-nine. Admiral? Is there another ship designated ny-nine?

    None yet, Mia answered. Ill tell Admiral Silverman. In fact, perhaps the other ships should be given their own hull numbers. What do you think?

    The group had responded positively to this. Before they departed for their individual ships, they made arrangements for the departure of the Fifth Fleet for Elyra. Cruiser 99 would join the fleet shortly, as soon as it had topped up its supplies.

    -----

    Acquiring consumables from suppliers based in Colossus was a worry for Cruiser 99. She had been on duty around Colossus for a time already, and her supplies were already half gone. And knowing that they would need to top up supplies, they were fairly sure that the suppliers would be gouging them in terms of price. Not that the Arachnians wouldnt be able to afford it, but it would definitely eat into the Arachnian Missions funds.

    Kapitan Tereshkova made a suggestion, however  that they be the ones to resupply Cruiser 99, as well as all the other Fifth Fleet ships instead.

    So, with the help of the Kirov and Mikasas equipment, the Earthers were able to use water sourced from the surface snow and ice of Zeos Three, purify it to get pure water as well as electrolyze it to get hydrogen and oxygen, and topped up Cruiser 99. And since there was hydrogen, oxygen and water to spare, they decided to top up everyones supplies. As for carbohydrate, yeast and protein supplies - using minerals and water, as well as salvaged tankages from the ancient equipment on thes surface, Kirovs crew were able to force-produce enough to supply all the ships with organic consumables as well - even though Earths allies werent used to wheat-based cellulose or soy-based vegetable protein, they were close enough to what they were familiar with and could make do. And with yeast, carbohydrate and protein bases, they could synthesize most of their basic foodstuffs. The food might not be fancy, but the supplies could allow their crews tost for a long, long while.

    These efforts of the Kirov and Mikasa therefore allowed the new 13-ship fleet to bepletely resupplied without spending one cent (or crown, rather).

    Their Telcontari visitors, curious like children, were running around looking at what everyone was doing. The cold didnt seem to bother them much, which reinforced the impression of little pr bear cubs, and they were looking into everything that the Earthers were doing.

    They were very polite, however, asking permission first before approaching and observing, and they werent touching anything, or overly buttonholing people or actually getting in the way. They were curious, though, to know if all the ships from Earth were as well equipped.

    Chief Engineer Amazova of the Kirov didnt understand the question though, since they were just using p-dash makeshift equipment.

    The Telcontari looked at each other, squeaking and growling at each other in surprise and consternation. One of them asked if they were taking apprentices, but the chief, chuckling, had to say no  the Fifth Fleet was a military fleet, after all, and were on their way to war.

    The Telcontari also asked about the so-called Earth Alliance, but the chief exined that no such alliance had officially been dered. It was just that Earth, Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia had grown close, and found it convenient to work with each other.

    They asked a little bit about themerce and trade alliances that the friends had made, but the chief said that they werent really alliances so much as conveniences that their governments had arranged to keep red tape at a minimum. (She then had to exin what she meant by red tape.)

    The little Telcontari who asked, apologized for the question, and moved on to watch another group of Earthers who were loading Arachnian pressure containers onto some tractors. They had just finished filling up the containers with pure liquid H2O and were about to move it over to Cruiser 99.

    The other Telcontari had asked the same sort of things, and the officers,manders and leaders said much the same things, although the rest of their crew practically confirmed the alliance. To the Telcontari, this only confirmed the view of the Federation  that the alliance that most expected and some feared was a de-facto reality, even if it wasnt official.

    They had also asked about the technology that the alliance was using, and they found that most of the Earther technologies were known in the Federation, though the Earthers approach seemed more refined and advanced. For example, they made more use of very expensive integrated circuits, microprocessors and helium-bubble systems, and it was a generally epted thing that Earther equipment were generally the best. However, it was very frustrating that they werent able to get any kind of information about Phase-Wave and the other magical technology that everyone had heard about.

    Eventually, the Telcontari said thanks and made their farewells (they were thest of the Federation visitors to depart), and everyone watched their rocket st off into outer space.

    On the thirty-minute trip back to Colossus, the Telcontari twittered, squeaked, chirped and growled to each other as theypared notes.

    They were disappointed that they were unable to unearth any information about Phase-Wave, but they did establish that the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians were actually clueless about Phase-Wave, too. But besides Phase-Wave and a handful of other things, the Earthers had no fundamental advantage in technology in that what they knew and had were technologies that the Federation was familiar with. What made Earther technology better was that they''d pushed them to unprecedented levels of miniaturization, production and excellence. But though the Federation could produce the same, the cost and resources required would be enormous. The Earthers must have ess to unheard of resources and a level of industrialization that perhaps equaled the Dravidians.

    -----

    Among all the Federation, it was only the Telcontari that had the cheek to ask  how did the Earthers be so fluent in Elyran, and so knowledgeable with the Federation and itsws and customs? Though they kept seeing the in-ear devices and the little electronic buttons pinned to their cors that tranted for them, many seemed fluent enough to converse freely in Elyran without electronic aids. However, the Telcontari was as unsessful and the Earthers never really answered the questions.

    It wasnt that they were avoiding answering them. They just thought that the question was not exactly a big deal. The Earther crews said that they were just well briefed and trained.

    The Earthers had high esprit de corps, and said they had full confidence in Admiral Steele to steer them in the right direction. As for the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnian crews, they assumed that the Earthers were just quick studies. They werergely basing their opinions on the interactions they had with the few Earther crewmembers that they had the good fortune of interacting with, and how fast they picked up on things. But mostly, they based this opinion on their perception of the Lady Amelia, and just assumed that all the Earthers were as capable.

    The only thing that the Telcontari could conclude was that the Earthers were unprecedented linguists and sociologists. And that their leader, Lady Amelia, was a very capable leader.

    Those that they''d talked with felt that the Lady Amelia was very gracious, very friendly, verypetent and very, very smart, and she was held in high esteem. But for the Elyrans, their feelings were more than that - it amounted to something akin to hero worship bordering on fanaticism.

    The simrities between Elyrans and Earthers were such that their ideas of aesthetics and beauty seemed almost parallel. The Earthers thought of the Elyrans as universally physically attractive, but to the Elyrans, the Earthers were something that they had not seen the like of before. Most of them were physically very attractive to the Elyrans as well, but they also exuded a kind of telempathic aura that made them extremely sexually attractive.

    The Telcontari had surmised that this had something to do with the so-called Elyran bridge effect that they had heard rumors of. And if to the Earthers, the Lady Amelia was physically beautiful, to the Elyrans, she was more like a goddess.

    The Telcontari wondered how it would be if they got to work with her onboard the Shepherd Moon, and chittered happily at the prospect.

    <strong>Blind Spot </strong>

    After the Telcontari had left, and while the top-up operations were ongoing, Mia took the opportunity to go back to her quarters on the Shepherd Moon and have a rest. The work would probably take about twenty more hours, and then maybe a shift to rest, so that would give her thirty to forty-eight hours to rest and recuperate a bit. She nodded to the two Marines outside the door, and told them to take the night off. No one would be bothering her tonight so she said it was okay.

    Going inside and closing the door, she sighed, took off her belt with the sidearm and sword, and then took off her dress uniform. She had two dress uniforms, and she had given both of them a workout these past days. Maybe she needed a couple more. She made a mental note to contact the quartermasterster.

    Underneath, she had worn her skintight blue pressure suit, which was great for protecting against the zero-degree centigrade temperatures outside. She unzipped it and ran it through the suit cleaning unit. It was a very fast process since it just involved dunking the suit in a cleaning solvent solution, rinsing it quickly in water and then drying it. The process wouldnt have worked with other clothes since it would have dissolved thempletely. It was only meant for pressure suits.

    In a minute, it was clean and dry. Mia hung it in her clothes closet and then stepped into the shower. For the past week, she had been wearing the suit under her uniform almost twenty-four/seven. Many of her people had followed her lead and did the same. It was a reflection of the Earthers uneasiness at not being in Earther territory, but more because they knew some of the Federation representatives were not exactly friendly to them and their cause.

    Since the ships water supply was being topped off, Mia decided it was okay to take a long water shower and spent almost half an hour luxuriating in the hot water.

    Stepping out of the bath, she rubbed her now-tinum-blonde locks dry.

    The doctors in Bethesda had warned her that the bnce of eumninandpheomnin in her cloned hair follicles might not be perfect and might yield lighter-colored hair, especially as it grew out and was exposed to more light in time, but she didnt mind that. What she did mind, though, was that her hair was now down to the middle of her back. She hadnt gone to the ship-board barbers shop yet (it was a unisex service) since she left Bethesda. She still felt a little shy about it, but she noticed the ends of her hair were looking a little frayed. What a time to worry about split ends, she thought and giggled. To her, such worries felt very girl-like, and she kidded herself that she was adjusting well to her new gender.

    But she was a little worried that her behavior might still be too much like the old her, and the others might be getting the wrong cues. She had thought that she had adjusted her behavior sufficiently, but maybe she needed to change her behavior even more. She had already tried to tone down her physical expressions of emotion, especially with the men, since she knew they might misconstrue such physicality. If he was still the old Bill, and if a girl behaved to the old Bill the way she did now, the old Bill might think she was being a bitch or, worse, being flirty. One of her theories was, since females were supposed to be more expressive, she was free to be more expressive now, but apparently her physical behavior was still too masculine. It was not to say that she didnt walk, move or make gestures more femininely and speak with more feminine inflexions (she had taken to heart the lessons the people at Bethesda had given her), but she would revert to her old ways during high emotions. She was doing her best, but she was afraid this might the best she would ever be. She sighed.

    She looked at herself in the mirror and shook her head. If only my brain matched the rest of me, she thought. At least she was used to her new physical self now. Although she still got a little bit of a thing for the girl in the mirror, at least it wasnt as bad as before.

    She sighed again. She felt lonely. She knew that being inmand would always be a little lonely since she had to maintain some distance with those shemanded. But she didnt anticipate the pressure of having to be the one to always be responsible, and the one to make the decisions all the time. She supposed people like Allie Romarkin and Admiral Silverman felt these things, too, but the main difference was that they were on Earth, the Admiral had Allison and Tara, Allie was surrounded by friends, and they didnt need to contend with any change as fundamental as the one she went through. Out here, all the friends she had were also people that she was responsible for, and she couldnt really be close to them.

    At the moment, the ones that she felt closest to that she wasnt responsible for were aliens. In fact, if asked, she would probably say that her best friend now was the First Ambassador, her first Arachnian friend. And if she was being brutally honest with herself, she had a growing infatuation with Tasha. She was one of the most incredible-looking woman she had ever seen, and was the crown princess of the Elyran Empire as well. That wasnt a bad thing, of course. She wasnt a racist (she had tough at how appropriate that word was), but she needed to be close to a human. Maybe it was a gic thing. What was bad, though, was that Tasha was married already, and even if she wasnt, she was a goddamned princess! If ever Mia made a move, it might cause an interster incident. Mia thought that she might be cursed, always falling in love with unreachable, married women.

    And Mia was still carrying a torch for Miriam, but that rtionship was clearly an impossibility. First, Miriam was married to Marc, one of Mias best friends (though Mia wasnt sure how Marc felt about her now that she wasnt Bill anymore). And also, Miriam had told her on the day Mia said goodbye that she waspletely heterosexual.

    Mia could have argued that inside she was still the old William Steele, but she decided that it was best to let her go no matter that her heart felt like it was breaking.

    And then there was Sahsha.

    Mia and Sahsha (when Mia was still Bill) had a kind of love that was every bit as strong as Bill and Miriams, but it was as doomed to fail, too, although instead of an unresolvable love triangle, what was between Mia and Sahsha was more a conflict of careers, or perhaps a conflict in priorities. Sahsha was bent on following her career while Mia had a saviorplex that was bent on saving the Human Race from the hordes of giant alien amazons and lizardsing their way.

    But if both of them ignored these, and if ever anything really developed between them, it wouldnt go well for Sahshas career. Mia knew her career was important to her. And if it really did be serious between them, it couldnt be anything but a long-distance rtionship. Mia wouldnt expect Sahsha to abandon her career and put herself at risk by apanying Mia (if that was even possible), and Mia wouldnt want Sahsha to wait for her to finish her tour of duty with EarthForce, whenever that would be  at the molment, it didn''t look like that would be anytime soon. No - despite their mutual attraction, Mia knew it couldnt go further than it currently has.

    But it had suddenly beplicated when Sahsha ended up getting assigned to the Shepherd.

    Mia told her at the beginning of the journey that they needed to keep their distance. Sahsha agreed but she seemed to have been offended given how she had pointedly ignored Mia from then on.

    Mia couldnt help but wonder if Sahsha really understood, if it was wounded pride, or if it was her gender change that was affecting her.

    She''d said she understood, so she should be a little more friendly. And almost everyone nowadays didnt think twice about same-sex rtionships. Mut maybe Sahsha was exclusively hetero.

    If so, Mia thought that she was so extraordinarily unlucky to have fallen for two of the few remaining exclusively-heterosexual people in the system. I mean, it has to be that, she thought. Has to be. How else can Sahsha possibly resist this? she joked to herself and giggled as she primped in front of the mirror, posing, vamping and showing off her spectacr curves.

    The sound of her doorbell interrupted her and she hurriedly put on a bathrobe and bath slippers. Open! she called, and her door unlocked.

    Hi, Mia, Sahsha called as she opened Mias cabin door. It was Sahsha!

    Oh, hey, Mia responded, trying to be nonchnt. Whats up?

    Can Ie in?

    Mia gestured her toe in, and pointed to a chair. Of course. Have a seat. Coffee? Tea?

    She shook her head. No, nothing. I just wanted to apologize.

    Mia went to her other guest chair in front of her desk, and sat across from Sahsha.

    Well. No chit-chat? No how are you?

    Sahsha smiled wanly. Im sorry, Mia. I guess this has been on my mind for a while.

    Well, okay. But apologize for what?

    I guess for not being too you know. For being distant. And for for

    For being cold? For ignoring me?

    Mia, dont be like that. You did say we had to be discreet. That our rtionship might make it difficult for you and your job, and me and mine.

    Mia looked away. I didnt mean for you not to return my calls, of for you to ignore me.

    I made sure it didnt affect my work, though.

    Yes, you did, she sighed. But you said you understood.

    I did. Its just that

    In that case, why all this passive-aggressive crap?

    I was mad! What else did you expect!

    But I exined! And you said you understood!

    Oh, shut up! Sahsha said and started to cry.

    Mia didnt know what to do? Should shee over andfort her? She was torn.

    Is it because Im a girl now? she asked in a whisper. She was scared of the answer, and she cringed.

    In response, Sahsha cannonballed into her, and gave her a kiss like no other.

    Sahsha

    The little administrator reached down, undid the belt of Mias bathrobe, and slipped her hand inside. She caressed Mias sides and waist, and Mia shuddered.

    Oh, Sahsha

    Be quiet, my love, Sahsha said. She pulled off Mias robe and pulled her to Mias bed.

    Mia found herself lying t on her back, nude, with Sahsha straddling her and pulling off her blouse.

    After Sahsha divested herself of her shoes, top and bra, she leaned down and started giving Mia butterfly kisses on her face, lips, shoulders, chest and breasts. She started massaging Mias breasts while giving her a French kiss. Mias heart felt like it was about to pound itself out of her chest.

    But Sahsha was just getting started. She resumed kissing Mias body, slowly working her way down but keeping her hands active on her breasts.

    Mia wanted to reciprocate but Sahsha wasnt giving her the chance. Soon, Sahsha reached Mias waist and started caressing her vulva. Eventually, she zeroed in on Mias most sensitive parts and started licking around her clitoris, just underneath her clitoral hood and around her outer vaginal lips. Mia thought Sahsha was teasing her because she wasnt touching her clitoris itself, but then when she did, Mia exploded.

    Sahsha was relentless and kept her grip on Mias thighs as Mia bucked and writhed. Mia moaned and cried out as her orgasm raced through her while Sahsha used her tongue and lips to suck on her clitoris, relentlessly vibrating and licking, and keeping Mia vibrating on the edge of a precipice.

    For Mia, the orgasms were unlike any other she''d had. Sure, she''d yed around in the shower, and shed had lovers before when she was still a man, but this was different, and so much better by several orders of magnitude.

    It didnt necessarilyst longer, nor did shee harder, but it was more satisfying. Sahsha knew how to keep her on a knife edge instead of just taking her directly to the summit and then just letting it fade away. And though the intensity wasnt as strong as when she was still a he, it was so much better, so much more all-enveloping.

    Mia continued to buck and Sahsha went through it with her. And as Mias main orgasm subsided, her contractions continued to make her buck. But that eventually faded, too, and Sahsha stopped her ministrations. She knew that Mia was about to reach that point of over-sensitivity, and didnt want to make her ufortable.

    When Mia had calmed down, Sahsha climbed back up, kissed Mia and hugged her like she would never go.

    As one of the best doctors in the world, Mia knew that her hypothmus was just releasing oxytocin into her bloodstream, the so-called cuddle hormone, but she didnt care. She felt such love for Sahsha, and just hugged her.

    Sahsha felt her pants were in the way, and despite Mias protests, Sahsha giggled, fended her off and took off her trousers and panties. She then hurried back to the bed. She sighed as she let Mia cuddle her from behind, spoon style, and settled in for the night, with a smile flitting around her lips.

    Later on in the night, she found herself gently awakened by Mia. Mias hands were all over her, and all over her breasts. She didnt know if being turned into a girl has upped Mias game, but she couldntin. She tried to reach back to reciprocate but her position wasnt ideal. Mia, however, was all over her. Mias hands were gently kneading her breasts and gently pinching her nipples while she nuzzled her neck.

    Mia Mia Oh! Clearly, Mia hadnt forgotten about the sensitive parts of her neck, and she knew just where to kiss her. She had tried to rub her thighs together, but Mia had one of hers in between them. She was about to moan in frustration but then Mia started to move her thigh back and forth, rubbing her pubic bone and gently rubbing her clitoral hood over her magic button, and Sahsha hovered on the edge. She had her hands over Mias restless ones and her thighs involuntarily mped hard on Mias thigh, but Mia persisted and Sahsha trembled on the edge for what felt like a long time.

    Oh, Mia! Sahsha moaned. I cant stand it anymore! Do it, Mia, do it!

    And Mia responded by raising her leg a little bit more, making the contact stronger and harder, and, like a Roman candle, Sahshas brain exploded in fireworks. She shuddered as her orgasm raced through her, and Mia just kept piling it on and on, and Sahsha felt like the top of her head was about to fly off.

    As Sahsha starteding off her orgasm, her thighs unmped and Mia stopped. Sahsha turned around and gave her a hug. But she was so tired, she fell asleep almost immediately.

    Mia giggled. She thought only men fell asleep after sex.

    -----

    That night, Mia and Sahsha did it several more times, and Sahsha introduced her to other sexual positions that Mia didnt know about. Mia gamely tried them all, under Sahshas loving tutorship, and she had definitively put to bed the question if whether her sex change had affected Sahshas feelings for her or not.

    Mia and Sahsha programmed their electronic concierges on their CCs to screen out all the unimportant calls, and they spent the rest of the day in Mias quarters, raiding Mias emergency supplies instead of going to the officers mess when they got hungry. Sahsha remotely activated the do not disturb light on her own cabin door to not give others any ideas of where she really was, and no one bothered them until thirteen hundred hours the following day.

    Until then, they got caught up with each other, with Sahsha talking about her little day-to-day struggles, and Mia talked about her struggles to adjust to being a girl. Sahsha said she thought Mia was doing well as a girl, but did say that she was a little too flirty with the women.

    Sahsha expertly trimmed the frayed ends of Mias hair with a pair of scissors she found in Mias beauty kit, as they chatted and hugged, and rxed in each otherspany.

    Mia said she thought she wasnt flirty with women, but Sahsha said she was, and gave her a few examples. Mia tried to understand why she was doing so, and she was open to suggestions, but Sahsha couldnt pinpoint it. And besides, Sahsha said, its who she was now. Sahsha said she just had to stop being jealous of the girls that were fawning all over Mia. And the boys, too, she giggled.

    Dont you mean that the other way around? Mia said.

    Youd think so, huh? Sahsha giggled.

    Mia turned over and put her arm over Sahshas waist. I didnt mean to make you jealous, Mia said. Im sorry.

    Sahsha lifted Mias hand, and kissed her palm Elyran fashion. I know, my love, she said. But what else is new? Even as Bill, you were like that, as well. I guess I just have to keep my jealousy in check. The thing is, before, I was just inpetition with the girls. Now I have to deal with the boys, too. She giggled again.

    You have nothing to worry about, Mia said.

    Really? Sahsha said humorously. Not even Her Royal Highness, Princess Tasha of Elyra?

    Mia cleared her throat. I dont know what you mean, she said.

    Oh,e on. Its so obvious. Except maybe to you, Tasha and Ren. I dont know what it is about you royals. Youre all so clueless.

    What do you mean, you royals?

    Sahsha giggled. Oh, nothing, Lady Amelia.

    Why you Upon which, Mia tickled her mercilessly until she begged for mercy. And that devolved to another bout of lovemaking.

    -----

    Mias CC pinged, and since her unimportant calls were being screened, she knew this one was important. She put on her robe and made sure Sahsha wasnt in range of the camera before turning it on.

    Yes, Lieutenant?

    Sorry to disturb you during your rest period, sir, the duty officer on the bridge responded. We just had a priority call from the Fleet Admirals office. His secretary said hed be calling in fifteen minutes, and hell want to speak to you and the rest of the Fifth Fleetmanders.

    All right, Lieutenant. Ill be there shortly. Please page all themanders, and tell them well be in conference call with the Admiral. Also, page the First Ambassador, Admiral Daxx, and Princess Tasha and Prince Ren as well. If theyre on board, ask them to meet me on the bridge.

    Acknowledged, sir. And he signed off.

    Mia turned to Sahsha. Looks like its back to the old grind for me.

    Thats okay. I should get used to things like this. The woman I love is the boss, after all. She reached for Mia and gave her a kiss. You get ready and get a shower. Ill sneak away to my cabin.

    See youter, then.

    -----

    Mia was on the bridge in less than fifteen minutes, in uniform and carrying her pressure suit in a fabric bag. She handed it to Nick to put away, and faced the main screen. OConnell came over and saluted, and Mia nodded. In a bit, Ren, Tasha, Daxx and the First Ambassador also entered the bridge, and Mia smiled and nodded in their direction.

    Last toe in was Sahsha.

    Hey, Sahsha, Mia said a little nervously. What are you doing here?

    Sahsha gave her a merry, slightly mischievous smile. Oh, the Admirals secretary called and asked me to attend, to represent the Secretary-General.

    Mia sighed in relief.

    On the screen were Captain Mklele Okonkwo of the Hermes, Capitaine in Dupont of the Constetion, Capitan Perdita Alvarez y Zaragoza of the Victoria, Kapitan Anna Valeriya Tershkova of the Kirov, Kapitan Marlena Koch of the Bismarck, Captain Masako Nobunaga of the Mikasa, Captain Tr of the Dixx battle gship Protector, Lady Reena, Ships Pilot and Mistress of the Elyran gship Talon, Lady Areeya, Ships Pilot and Mistress of the Elyran cruiser zing Star, Captain Rexx of the Dixx battleship Flying Cloud, Captain Er of the Dixx battleship Crimson Sun, and the Second Cruiser Commander of Arachnia for Cruiser 99.

    Good afternoon, everyone. Im sorry to bring you all here on your rest day. Admiral Silverman has called us all in. But before the Admiral calls, Id like to formally wee Arachnias Second Cruiser Commander, the Captain of Cruiser 99.

    The Arachnian bowed in the Elyran manner, and everyone murmured their wee.

    You know, pretty soon, were going to need a bigger screen, Mia said, and everyoneughed.

    In a short while, the Fleet Admiral logged on.

    Good evening everyone, Admiral Silverman said as he came online.

    Good evening, sir, Mia said, saluting.

    Hello, Lady Amelia, Silverman said. I will cut to the chase. We have spotted another of those smudges approaching the Zeos system.

    The Second Commander cut in. Excuse me, Admiral. What is a ''smudge?

    Lady Reena, can you summarize for themander?

    Reena bowed. The admiral is referring to the Phase-Wave footprint that the EM-suppression field generated by the Empires so-called curtain of light leaves in Phase-Wave scans. This means that there is one or more Empire ships approaching Colossus hiding within that smudge.

    Exactly. Thank you, Lady Reena. In any case, at its rate of approach, it should be within the Colossus area of responsibility in about seventy-two Earth hours. We will be transmitting all the information we have shortly. Lady Amelia, I would like for the Fifth Fleet to intercept this iing enemy force. You have carte nche in repelling the enemy. If you need more reinforcements, the Windsor and the Gibraltar from the Fourth Fleet have been put under your temporarymand. They have currently been ordered to remain in close proximity to Colossus, to act as a secondary line of defense. Where is Ms. Delyer?

    Here, Admiral, Sahsha said, raising her hand.

    Miss Delyer, the Secretary-General has asked me to ask you to take care of raising the rm with the Federation. She has given you the authority to do whatever is necessary in order to aplish this. Do it, and do it quickly. And coordinate with Lady Amelia.

    Of course, sir. But why is the Secretary-General not online with you?

    She apologizes, but she is busy. We are all busy, actually. Thats because we have detected another of those smudges approaching the Sr System. Its about a hundred hours from Saturn, so we are starting to mobilize. I cannot give you much detail about it since we have just found out. Well send you information as we get it.

    Furthermore  Lady Amelia: we have detected simr smudges approaching Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia but they are still months away, and are sporadic in nature. We are still gathering data but are transmitting all information we currently have to you. Where is Nick?

    Sir!

    Lieutenant, take care of warning the ships en route to Elyra, Arachnia and Dixx, as well as the government on the threes. Coordinate with the Admiral and Ms. Delyer.

    How about the other Federations, sir?

    There are no other smudges near, or approaching, any Federation colony or, other than the five I have told you about. If ever there is a change, we will contact you.

    He turned to Mia.Lady Amelia? Are we clear?

    Aye, aye. We wont let you down, sir. Good luck.

    Good luck to us all, Lady Amelia. Silverman out.

    When Silverman tuned out of the conference, Mia turned to Sahsha and Nick.

    Okay, you guys. Do what you need to do. Use my office if you need to. Now go send out the word. Okay?

    Aye, aye, sir.

    Sahsha approached Ren and, after a few exchanges of words, Sahsha, Ren and the First Ambassador left together.

    As for the rest, they started discussing strategy.

    -----

    The iing enemy was approaching Colossus from the other side of Zeos Systems sun, and they had no ships over there.

    None of the other Federation people wanted to believe them, especially Cor, who used the Earthers of rabble rousing.

    Cruiser 99 was the fastest Federation ship the Fifth Fleet had with the best optical systems, so Mia dispatched it to visually assess the situation. Using the little round ships array of optical telescopes, they had to track back from the coordinates that were given them since the coordinates were real-time. Eventually, Cruiser 99 was able to spot them visually, knowing that the images were several hours behind the data from Earth. Based on Cruiser 99s images, they found out that it was a squadron of twenty-two ships, with two of them fuel carriers. The invaders had simr numbers to the one that was sent to Earth, except these were all Detterex ships.

    Cruiser 99 hung back to avoid the effects of the field and ry more data.

    The pictures that Cruiser 99 sent back convinced the Federation representatives, and they started deploying their ships. Per protocol, they needed to send an emissary first to give the invaders a chance to reconsider their actions, or perhaps rify their purpose ining to Colossus. But the fact that the enemy wasing from the far side of the sun showed that their motives were less than straightforward. The only reason to approach Colossus that way was to hide their approach.

    Sahsha warned them of the EM suppression field, but the Federation people said they couldnt detect anything.

    Of course, you cant detect anything, you OConnell thought.

    Colossus fastest courier ship sped towards the twenty-two Detterex cruisers, while a fourth of the Colossus squadron, more than thirty ships from several different races, was deployed. With a numeric advantage over the enemy, Federation strategists assumed that was more than enough to beat the enemy back if necessary.

    Mia had informed them of the Fifth Fleets n, which was to hide their ships behind the sun and wait until the veryst moment before attacking. The Erocii squadron leader scoffed at their very cowardly strategy and left them to it while they proceeded to the enemy. Following the flight n of Cruiser 99, the thirty ships moved around the sun and started to directly make for the Detterex ships. Cruiser 99 asked for instructions, and Mia told them to move to a higher orbit and stand by for the rest of the Fifth Fleet.

    Mia had exined about the Curtain of Light, but the Dravidians said that they werent worried. They''d just have to search for the appropriate frequencies that were not affected by the EM disruption. Mia said that was very unlikely, but the Dravidians ignored her.

    By the time the courier was near the lead ships of the enemy, the enemy was already down to ship-maneuverable speeds. Telemetry andmunications from the courier disappeared, which meant that it had crossed the fields radio boundary, and when that happened, the lead Detterex ships opened fire with their missiles, and the courier exploded.

    It was clear what that meant, and the fact that they lostmunications meant that the EM suppression field was in effect. Themunications people on the two Dravidian ships started beaming EM probes to get clues about the field but the beams all seemed to just disappear.

    The Detterex made adjustments to their course to intercept the Federation ships directly.

    Mia radioed that the radio boundary of the field was about to close over them, but the Erociimander said not to transmit again as they were disrupting theirmunications. It was like a p, so Mia just switched off before she said anything shed regretter.

    With the Detterex fleet moving towards the Federation ships, and the Federation ships moving towards the Detterex fleet, the distance between them disappeared very rapidly.

    Several of the lead Detterex ships deployed what looked like shuttles, and with their thrusters on full burn, they rapidly elerated towards the other group of ships, but after a few thousand kilometers, they decelerated rapidly and just cruised at the same pace of their fleet. The Federation cruisers started firing at the iing shuttles but their energy weapons just fizzled out when they hit the EM field. Given the information that the Earther ships had been constantly transmitting about the location of the field boundary, the Dravidians calcted that the shuttles were riding the very edge of the field. The Dravidians used every sensor they had but nothing they used seemed to do anything. As ast resort, they radioed the Earthers and asked for advice. Mia responded and told them to pull back.

    Laboriously, the two extremelyrge Dravidian cruisers pulled up. They couldnt reverse immediately if they wanted to  as far as Mia knew, only Earther ships could  so they changed their so-called angle of attack, and started angling out and away. The slow and ponderous movements of the Dravidians just confirmed what Mia had thought  the Dravidians had traded their ships maneuverability and eleration for solidity and strength.

    Everyone! Spread out! Move away from each other! The Detterex are closing in! If you dont, the enemy will be able to get you in one shot. Come on,e on!

    Earther, an electronic-sounding voice came on. It was the Erociimanders trantor. I have told you before. Get off this frequency. You have been warned.

    But, Commander! You have to spread your squadron. Youre making it easy for the enemy to target your ships.

    I know strategy better than you, Earther. You should be quiet and pay attention to how your elders do it.

    Like with the Dravidians, a few did listen to Mia and, following the Dravidians lead, started to move out of formation. This angered the Erocii and he sentmands to his fleet not to break formation.

    By that time, the six enemy shuttles that were leading the Detterex fleet suddenly elerated. They started making for the Federation squadron, which triggered the Federationmanders to react. Since the shuttles were out of the EM field, that meant that they were now vulnerable to energy weapons. However, the surprise at the sudden maneuver didnt help the Federation ships with their targeting so the shuttles were able to get through. The six streaked through and in between their ships, and when they were well within the squadron and spread out, they detonated simultaneously.

    The shuttles were nuclear suicide bombs.

    In that one shot, the Detterex took out twenty-two of the Federation ships. Only the outermost ships, which included the Erociimanders cruiser in the lead and the trailing ships at the rear escaped the atomic explosions.

    As for the Dravidians, they were well away from the st and were just oveing their inertia and moving up and over to return to the fight. In the future, Federation pilots would call such maneuvers Earther tactics, or, moremonly, mentally deranged Earther tactics, but one thing they had to agree about  if executed properly, Earther tactics are the most useful whenrge battle cruisers go toe-to-toe against each other.

    But for this particr situation, the tactic didnt help much since the Dravidians were incredibly massive and incredibly slow.

    Once their kamikaze shuttles hadpleted their deadly mission, the Detterex turned the EM suppression field, or their curtain of light to maximum effect, rendering the entire Federation fleet, as well as Colossus, deaf and dumb. It was only then that the Federation crews realized everything that the Earthers said was true. At least Colossus wasnt as dependent on non-wiredmunications as the Earthers, so theyd probablyst longer.

    The Phase-Wave suppression also went into full effect, affectig the Earther ships and rendering them deaf and dumb as well.

    In this deadlyms silence, the Detterex streaked by the remnants of the Federation squadron, and continued on and started to round the sun. The sr winds and waves never wavered so it seemed the EM suppression field didnt affect the sun, which was not unexpected.

    What was unexpected by the Detterex were the Earthers lying in wait.

    As the Detterex ships started their run around the sun, they ran into a virtual curtain of missiles that were fired by the Earthers seconds earlier. Three of the leading ships, and another three plus one of the tanker ships immediately behind them were hit. No doubt they were wondering where the ships thatunched them were, but they werent around. The EM field was working against them in this instance because they had no sensors to look for the Earth fleet. The trailing Detterex ships made adjustments to avoid the suddenly-crippled ones. Those that were hit had lost most of their angr thrust since their engines seemed to have beenpromised, and they stopped going around the sun and, instead, just continued in a straight escape trajectory away from the sun.

    As for the remaining ships that were undamaged, they continued on in their journey around the sun. Again, not expecting it, they walked into yet another curtain of missiles. Another seven of the ships were hit. Like the first group, five of them couldnt maintain their course and drifted away, with one of them having aplete power systems failure. The remaining ships continued on, but this time they tried to retaliate, firing blindly, but since there were no ships to hit, it was all in vain. As their missiles flew away ineffectively, the twelve Fifth Fleet ships came up into view. The three Earther cruisers in front  the Kirov, Hermes and the Bismarck - fired their rail guns while the zing Star, the Flying Cloud and the Crimson Sun fired yet another brace of missiles. Another six ships were hit, and two of them couldnt stay on course as well. Only seven of the enemy battle cruisers, and the one tanker, remained on course for Colossus, and they roared past the Fifth Fleet without firing an additional missile.

    I guess we need to activate our n now, Admiral, OConnell said to Mia.

    Yes, Captain, but before that, we need to send out a shuttle past the EM field and transmit a copy of our logs and telemetry records back to EarthForce via Phase-Wave.

    What? Now, Admiral?

    Yes, Captain. Now. The enemy back home is nearing striking distance of Saturn. If they pull the same gimmick they just pulled here

    Youre right. She turned to themunications officer. Lieutenant. Get on that. Send out a shuttle quickly. And tell the pilot to stay out there and wait for a response.

    Aye, Captain.

    Having done that, they turned back to their current predicament.

    Per their n, the Hermes, Bismarck, Kirov, Mikasa, Talon, and Flying Cloud went into full eleration and shed around the sun. Midway around the sun, on the side opposite to Colossus the six would start maximum braking and, if they timed it right, theyd get to Colossus before the Detterex. The rest of the Fifth Fleet made for the runaway enemy ships  the Constetion and zing Star made for the closest ones while the Victoria, Crimson Sun and the Protector made for the next ones, and the Shepherd Moon would rendezvous with Cruiser 99 for thest group.

    OConnell left the others to their own missions and concentrated on her own. Maximum eleration please, and bring us to thest location of the first breakaway group, Lieutenant, she said to the Shepherds pilot.

    Aye, sir, he responded. Haveputed for theirst location using dead reckoning. Setting course.

    Execute.

    He activated the ships engines, went to maximum, and in a minute, they were there. He had to use maximum to reach the appropriate velocity for the inertia converters to work. At the appropriate time, he blipped the converters and they came to a virtual standstill.

    Okay, find Cruiser 99 and the enemy. Theyve probably moved already.

    In a few moments, a tactical disy was put on the main screen, and they found Cruiser 99 already engaging the enemy ships several hundred thousand kilometers away. Apparently the enemy had already recovered and were now harassing Cruiser 99, and she was valiantly turning away missile volley after missile volley with her anti-missile defenses, but a seven-to-one ratio meant that it was just a matter of time. She was in desperate need of help.

    All right, OConnell said, get us fifty kilometers to the rear of Cruiser 99.

    Wait! Mia called. She tapped thems officer. Get the chief engineer on the inte.

    Engineering here, the chief engineer said.

    Chief, this is the admiral. I have a question?

    Yes, Admiral.

    Can you modify the output of the inertia converters into coherent beams?

    Lasers? But, Admiral  I thought the whole point of the converters was to disperse converted energy in unfocused visible EM light waves

    I know. Just answer my question.

    Sure. It can be done. Theyre pulse emitter turrets, after all. In fact, I can do it from here, provided that we can power them up properly.

    If we can, can you change them into weapons-typesers?

    Admiral, current energy shields makesers obsolete, and even without shields, the structural integrity fields would render such coherent light emission weapons as effective as shlights.

    They would?

    Yes, except if you pump the wattage up by a whole hell of a lot. Wait The chief engineer paused, thinking. Aye, sir! Ill have them ready in a minute. Well need to charge them, though.

    Mia grinned. Were on it, Chief. She turned to OConnell. Captain, you now have one more distance weapon.

    OConnell grinned. Aye, sir. Lieutenant, lock the energy converter turrets onto the enemy, and keep it locked in.

    Which ship, sir?

    Any of them. The one closest to Cruiser 99.

    Aye. Standing by.

    Execute.

    The Shepherd went to maximum again to reach point-5 C, and then came to a virtual stop at a point about fifty kilometers off the rear of Cruiser 99.

    Chief! OConnell called. How are we on the energy converters?

    The capacitors are at two hundred and ten percent, Skipper. Need to get rid of the all that power now or we may be in trouble.

    Lieutenant, are the turrets still on target?

    Aye, Captain.

    Okay, full discharge. Execute!

    The Shepherds navigator pressed the button that would normally discharge the energy converters, but instead of a sh of light from the sixteen converted turrets, four bright fingers of light came out of the top-most turret - one sapphire blue, one ruby, one emerald green and one pure white  and they speared out into space and directly into one of the Detterex ship. Each beam had about three petawatts of power behind it, and they punched through the ship like a bullet through tissue paper.

    Whatever they hit caused several explosions and the ship shuddered as it broke apart. Arge set of explosions on the lower starboard hull caused it to spin counterclockwise, and the other ships had to scatter. Not that they were bumper-to-bumper, but even with clearances of at least five kilometers between them, they werent taking chances. This gave Cruiser 99 a chance to break away and escape the barrage.

    The Shepherd started maneuvering, picked the closest Detterex cruiser and started bombarding it with her forward rail guns. Aside from that, she deployed herplement of Shrike fighters and they made for Cruiser 99 to give her cover long enough for her tounch her own fighters.

    Since the Arachnian fighters didnt havemunications they took their cue from the Earther fighters and backed them up in shooting down missiles.

    -----

    The arrival of the Shepherd was totally unexpected, catching the Detterex unawares. Theser attack and the follow-up rail gun bombardmentted the Shepherd two more kills.

    As for the remaining ships, OConnell tried the lure-and-attack gambit that worked before, but though the enemy had recovered a little bit from the original missile attack, the enemy ships werent capable of following. Because of the EM suppression field, the Shepherd had very few advantages over the enemy at the moment, and since they were in open space, OConnell waspletely out of any crazy Earth maneuvers. It would be a war of attrition, and the one whosted longest would win. And with a five-to-two ratio, it wasnt looking good, even though one of them was a tanker.

    That gave OConnell an idea.

    Is thatserm receiver on Cruiser 99 working?

    I believe so, sir.

    Okay. Send themander a message and tell them we will try to maneuver the enemys tanker closer to the other ships. Tell them to target the tanker as soon as were away. Wait for an acknowledgement.

    Aye, sir. Theyve acknowledged.

    Okay, then. She turned to the pilot. Lieutenant, pull away from the bulk of the enemies and maneuver us nearer the tanker.

    Aye.

    Using her flywheels, the Shepherd pivoted thirty degrees and fired her anti-gravs. She was then moving around the somewhat-clustered Detterex but still out of the range of their anti-ship weapons. Her rail guns were enough to turn away any missiles fired at her, and she was soon able to approach the tanker ship unscathed, which was flying several thousand kilometers away from the Detterex warships.

    As the Shepherd got nearer, the tanker crew started to panic. They fired arge wave of missiles at Shepherd and started moving their tanker closer to the other Detterex ships looking for cover. But the other Detterex cruisers didnt want the tanker to get closer to them and opened fire. Ironically, Shepherd found herself protecting the tanker, and used her rail guns to knock out the missiles aimed at it.

    But the Shepherds approach was relentless and the tanker was pushed closer and closer to its sister ships. The Detterex ships shifted their target to the Shepherd, which made her turn away.

    At that point, Cruiser 99 came into the fray, traveling faster than the Shepherd could manage at sublight, and started firing her missiles at the tanker. The sheer volume of missiles, and the fact that the Detterex ships focus was on the Shepherd, allowed Cruiser 99s missiles to hit the mark, and the tankers liquid oxygen and hydrogen mixed together in an explosive manner. Though a lot of the explosion was towards empty space, most of it was towards the other Detterex ships. Three of the ships were caught like moths in a me, and they were taken out of the fight. And with only two left in the fight, it became more of an even match.

    By that time, the Federation ships that had escaped the nuclear sts were now within weapons range. OConnell made the decision to leave the disabled Detterex and started to recover their Shrikes, preparatory to moving on and helping the rest of the Fifth Fleet. She sent aser message to Cruiser 99, and theirmander said they would do likewise.

    In under ten minutes, they had recovered their fighters and made for the other ships. After a sufficient run-up, the Shepherd was able to keep up with Cruiser 99 and was soon inserm range of the Victoria. OConnell asked for a sitrep. It seemed their targeted five ships were more damaged than expected and the Victoria, the Crimson Sun and the Protector had quickly taken away their remaining ability to fight. OConnell congratted them and ordered them to leave the enemy to the Federation, and to proceed to the vicinity of the Constetion and zing Star.

    Once they were near enough to the Constetion, they found the situation much the same, and OConnell ordered them to join their convoy flying back to Colossus and the rest of the Detterex ships.

    Since it would be over eight hours before they would be in range of the still-intact Detterex ships, OConnell initiated a full inspection of all systems. She then had Mia paged via the inte.

    Mia sighed. Having to use the inte was starting to get tedious.

    Steele here, Mia replied.

    Admiral, OConnell said, I have initiated a fleet-wide inspection. Initial reports show that we are mostly unscathed.

    Excellent Captain. Please extend mypliments to themanders, and get me their status as well. How about the enemy?

    OConnell then gave her a report. Aside from those en route to Colossus, the enemy was dead, drifting in space.

    Good work, Mia said. I concour leaving the remains to the Federation ships. Right now, the intact ones are our bigger concern.

    Aye, sir. Thank you. Pardon me for asking, Admiral, but where are you?

    I am in the rear starboard hold, Captain. Im assembling that package we brought over from the PRC.

    Ive been wondering about that, actually. What is it?

    Its Dr. Running-Streams prototype of the Curtain of Light.

    What! We have our own EM suppression field?

    Yes. Can you arrange for this to be moved down to Engineering?

    Aye, sir. OConnell gestured and thems officer started to make the arrangements. But why would we need one now?

    Im worried that the Detterex might pull the same trick they did before. A couple of nuclear bombs right on top of Colossus could finish off the Federation as a cohesive entity, and then wed all be up the creek without a paddle. With our own field, we can prevent any nuclear explosions.

    Got it.

    Ill take care of this. Take care of the ship, Captain. Ill join you on the bridge as soon as Im done here.

    Aye, sir.

    -----

    After several hours had passed and they had rounded the sun, they now had a clear view of the enemy. And the other half of their fleet.

    The rest of the Federations ships had also been deployed and had arranged themselves as a picket line. After the enemy had emerged from around the sun, the Federation ships divvied themselves up, with about eight ships assigned to each Detterex cruiser. The numbers were so lopsided that the Detterex were guaranteed to lose in a straight-up fight. There was also the Fifth Fleet convoy on their tails approaching from the other side.

    It was an impending ughter, and the Detterex surely knew that. But, like the Defiant back on the moon and the strategies she implemented, the Detterex went for broke. They stopped their deceleration, started speeding up again andmitted themselves.

    Like arrowheads, they made for Colossus and flew through the ships trying to interpose themselves between them and Colossus. Several of them were hit by missiles but they just powered through. They knew no ship would deliberately sacrifice themselves by literally blocking them, so the Detterex just knifed through, trusting in their velocity to avoid significant missile damage. But if they did sustain any crippling damage, well, with the losses that they have incurred, the nature of their mission had changed now  their mission was now simply to destroy Colossus at any cost.

    As each Detterex cruiser speared through their own individual cloud of ships, they deployed several shuttles and fighter ships, as well as a brace of anti-ship missiles.

    One of the ships, as soon as it reached its cloud of intercepting Federation ships, gigs and cutters, detonated itself, catching most of its pursuers in its fireball.

    Soon, the enemys tactic became apparent. The Detterex ships sustained extreme damage but they still flew straight and true, elerating directly towards Colossus like seven arrowheads trailing me and debris, with the intention of mming into Colossus with disastrous effect.

    Mia made the decision and ordered her ships to go to full eleration and target one Detterex ship apiece.

    Constetion and Victoria got hersered message and went to full eleration. The Hermes, Kirov, Mikasa and Bismarck didnt get the message, but saw them and went into full eleration as well. The Federation ships observing them didnt understand the tactic and just watched as the Earthers quickly went past ship-maneuverable.

    The Earthers had onest trick up their sleeves.

    As soon as the Shepherd, Constetion and Victoria were near their targeted ships, they blipped their inertia converters just enough and maneuvered to match their chosen enemy ships trajectory.

    Shepherd Moon, Constetion and Victoria slowly closed in on their chosen ship inch by inch, and used theirplement of rail guns to target their enemys weapons. When the Captains of the Earther ships were fairly sure that their enemy ship was more-or-less fully disarmed, they then inched slowly towards the Detterex cruisers.

    Each then used her thrusters to solidly push herself against the enemy ship, and once it was in physical contact with the enemys hull, it then fired its inertia converters to maximum discharge.

    This had the effect of bringing both ships to a virtual standstill. And as soon as they were, the Earthers used their thrusters and flywheels to peel out and away from the enemy, giving them enough distance to start firing, even while the enemy started moving backwards.

    Mia had seen the deployment of her enemy ships shuttles so she had Engineer Haskell activate the Shepherds EM suppression field generator. So, even if the enemy switched off their own EM suppression field, Mias would make any nuclear weapons the enemy deployed to remain inert.

    Seeing the Shepherds tactic, the Hermes, Kirov, Mikasa and Bismark did the same thing  made sure that the enemy couldnt fire back at them, get in solid physical contact with the enemy long enough to be able to get rid of its inertia, and then pull back.

    In less than fifteen minutes, the seven Earther ships had rendered the enemy ships dead in the water.

    Whatever fight the Detterex had left was quashed. Some of them still had enough capacity to release their fighters and shuttles, so the Earthers deployed their own Shrike and Eagle fighters. Equipped with rail guns topensate for the loss of their energy weapons, andserms (limited though they were) topensate for the loss of Phase-Wave and radio, they had their advantage back. As before, during the battle of Pluto, they dominated the Detterex fighters once again, and were able to win the day. The enemy fought more furiously than ever since they had no option to retreat, but like before, none of the Earther fighters were shot down.

    The farthest ship  the one that the Hermes had targeted - had also deployed fighters, but not as many. It could be assumed that it was more heavily damaged and therefore had less fighters to deploy. Hermes deployed its own Eagle fighters, and as the fighter-to-fighter showdown started to go into its peak, the Hermes underside  the side closest to the Detterex cruiser, exploded.

    Later examination of the footage from Hermes and long-distance video from the Talon, zing Star and the Protector showed that the Hermes was hit with a barrage of anti-missiles. In the Talons video, one could see the Hermes actually bend a little, and buckle horizontally amidships.

    After which, another escape ship, just like the Defiant, emerged from the scarred and battered Detterex cruiser, and it made a run for it.

    The Gibraltar, one of the Earth cruisers from the Fourth Fleet, which was still hanging around Colossus, went into full drive and chased the escaping ship down. Before it could engage its FTL drive, Gibraltar was upon it and fired her entireplement of missiles, even as both were elerating well above ship-maneuverable and bordering light speed.

    Some kind of rtivistic effect simultaneously detonated all of the Gibraltars missiles so she fired her converters immediately, escaping any damage from the explosions.

    As the explosions faded away, they found that the escaping Detterex ship had disappeared.

 Chapter 25: Surprise!

    Chapter 25: Surprise!

    <strong>Foot-In-Mouth Disease </strong>

    The Federation ships that had escaped the nuclear bombs and then went on to clean up the dregs that the Fifth Fleet ships had left had stories to tell as well, but their odyssey paled inparison with what the Earthers went through. And the Earthers seemed to have yet another magical device that had been able to stop the enemy in its tracks. It was what had saved Colossus from harm.

    And even though all the enemy ships had all been captured, the EM field was still there. But Mia wasnt letting on that it was the Shepherd Moons EM field generator that was running.

    The reason for this was the presence of the enemy shuttles.

    The Gibraltar made a sweep of all the areas where there were Earth and Federation personnel, and deployed shuttles to tow away some of the derelict Detterex ships.

    When the Gibraltar signaled the Shepherd Moon with a sh from its inertia converters, Mia ordered her EM field generator turned off.

    It was a good thing that the enemy shuttles were moved because, between ten minutes and an hour from that point, several of these shuttles exploded in nuclear fire. There were no Federation or Earth personnel around them so there were no further casualties.

    As a precaution, though, Cruiser 99 and her smallships took care of all the rest of the derelict shuttles and fighters, towing them to a single location far enough from everyone that no one would be in danger if any of them were to explode.

    As this was being done, to decide on the fate of the surviving Detterex, and the conduct of the cleanup and recovery, a session was called. All representatives attended, and although they were probationary members, the Earthers were invited, as well.

    As the most junior members, the Earthers were given a ce at the highest tier in Aonta. They found themselves beside the Telcontari and other junior members, but the Earthers didnt mind. And the sessionmenced as soon as all race representatives hade in.

    The Dravidians tried to make up for their perceived cowardice by volunteering to collect the surviving Detterex in theirrge ships. But the question came up of where to house them. A call went out and the two Dravidian dreadnoughts that were involved in the battle were dispatched to perform this activity.

    Given the distrust of the Detterex, especially after their trick with the bombs, no one wanted to imprison them onboard Colossus. But that was academic, though, since the Colossus brig was far too small to contain what ended up to be 1,132 Detterex survivors, (or 602 in Base-10). An Erocii suggested summary execution, but he was shouted down.

    The decision was made to imprison them down on the surface of Zeos Three until they could be repatriated to the Detterex Empire, and they looked for volunteers to construct temporary living quarters. Still trying to save face, the Dravidians volunteered to provide all the necessary supplies and equipment while the Telcontari, saying that they were the most resistant to cold, volunteered to do the construction. It was argued that they might not have the expertise and numbers, and perhaps someone else should help the Telcontari.

    Captain OConnell, stood and waited to be acknowledged by a senior race. She was briefed on the protocol, and knew that she was not entitled to ping her bell.

    As the discussion raced up and down the debate hall, the Daemon representative noticed OConnell, and pinged.

    My Lords, Ladies and fellow representatives, he said after the Assembly quieted down. It seems we have reached a impasse in the discussion. I would like to call our friends from Earth to speak. Perhaps they may have a suggestion to progress our session.

    OConnell bowed, as per protocol. My Lord, my name is Elizabeth OConnell, captain of the Fifth Fleet gship Shepherd Moon. I would like to volunteer my people to assist our esteemed colleagues from Telcontar in the construction of the temporary habitats on Zeos Three. We have had training in doing suchbor, and our present crew are professional explorers, who we call breakers, and are especially trained to break trail and explore. These are the kinds of activities that are part of their training.

    Thank you, Captain. In behalf of this Assembly, I ept your generous offer.

    We are honored, My Lord.

    OConnell let out a sigh as she sat down. It was hard to keep to these rituals and protocols, she thought.

    The session continued and the cleanup was discussed. It was suggested that each of the races would recover their own ships but the Dravidians offered to do the cleanup and salvage. The Dravidians magnanimously offered to recover all of the derelicts for hauling back to Colossus salvage yard, located at the L1 Lagrange point of Zeos Three and the star. They even said theyd do it for the Detterex and Earth derelicts.

    This time, the first officer of the Hermes stood, and waited to be noticed, but the Dravidian speaking pretended not to notice her and continued to speak, but at a break in his speech, Tasha pinged.

    I would like to invite our Earther colleagues to speak.

    Commander Iyanda bowed. Thank you, Lady Tasha. My name is Commander Ndidi Iyanda, first officer of the EarthForce battleship Hermes. I speak in behalf of my valiant crew, and of my captain, Captain Mklele Okonkwo, since, as many know, he, along with about forty of myrades, perished in the just-concluded battle.

    Tasha bowed. I and the peoples of the Federation share your sorrow, Commander Iyanda. You and your valiant crew fought so bravely for us. I have met Captain Okonkwo and, although we had not had the opportunity to truly get to know each other, I knew him to be an honorable and gracious being. I am sad to know that he is not among us anymore. We are in your debt. How may we be of service, Commander?

    Themander bowed again. I thank you for your kind words, My Princess. I beg leave to the Federation to dere that the Hermes is not a derelict ship. She may be grievously damaged but she survives still. She started to cry silently.

    My dear, take heart. You honor their memory by speaking for your friends andrades. Please continue.

    My Princess, she continued, fighting against tears, The Hermes has not been abandoned. More than sixty of my shipmates are still there, performing repairs. We apologize but, with great respect, we serve notice that we will repel all boarders. No unauthorized personnel will be permitted to set foot on her until we have her back in fighting condition.

    My dear, your point is eloquently made. The Federation takes note of your deration, and the Hermes will not be included in recovery and salvage.

    The Dravidian pinged. Themander is mistaken. The Earther ship is not functional and is a menace to navigation. It must be towed away and scrapped.

    Then what do you intend to do with seventy-four Earthers still onboard? (Sixty in Earth Base-10.)

    The Dravidian nervously looked away. We will assist by transporting them to safer environs prior to our plundering, I mean towing of their ship.

    Commander Iyanda bowed again, and Tasha noticed.

    I see. Commander Iyanda? How would you respond to this kindness?

    My Princess, I apologize to Councilor Cor if I offend. Though it may be imed to be a kindness, if we are forced off our ship, we will, with utmost regret, repel these boarders and the Councilor must know this. If Hermes is to be towed, the Fifth Fleet will perform the towing. I apologize that the Councilor and hisrades will have to wait another day to have a chance at examining our technology.

    Someone else pinged  arge and spindly creature that the Earthers did not recognize.

    I apud Commander Iyanda, the creature said. I and my people will be on hand to enforce the rights of the crew of the Hermes, and assist in repelling any boarders. I believe that we owe the Hermes and all the members of the Fifth Fleet anything they might ask, for they have helped to fend off the Detterex, in a manner that none in the Federation can duplicate. I also make an official motion of censure on the Dravidian Mission for putting their desire formercial advancement ahead of the welfare of Federation citizens.

    I second! several delegates called and pinged, and, shortly, the motion was passed overwhelmingly, requiring the Dravidian Mission to pay reparations. The maximum penalty of one million crowns (or 262,144 in Base-10) was levied on the Dravidians.

    After that was concluded, another motion was made to offer the crew of the Hermes a berth in the Colossus shipyards so that they might repair their ship.

    The Lord Chambein (who was a Dravidian) stood to regretfully say that there were no avable berths at the shipyards.

    Commander Iyanda stood again. This time, it was the Telcontari who gave them leave to speak. Themander said that was all right since they preferred tond on Zeos Three instead, and make repairs-side. They could do their repairs by themselves. All that they asked was permission. She said they would need about one square kilometer of t space.

    A motion was made to give the Earthers permission tond and upy any area of their choosing on Zeos Three, with a space up to about twenty-five Earth square kilometers, for them to use in any manner they wished for as long as they wanted (Zeos Three was considered an unusable wastnd anyway, so no one questioned giving the Earthers so much). The Lord Chambein, however, made a point of order, and said that such permits require specificity.

    It seemed small of the Chambein and his motivations were questioned. But it couldnt be denied that the rules did specify it.

    In the end, after several incredibly-long and tedious hours, with the Chambeins constant kibitzing, the wording of the motion was parsed down to a very specific list: the area, of the Earthers choosing, would be exactly 21.4212416121 square kilometers (as tranted to Base-10 metric), and should be used for facilities for repair of EarthForce and Federation spacecraft, facilities for producing fuel for these spacecraft, facilities to produce food and other consumable supplies, facilities for defense, living space and an embassy. They would also be given a twenty thousand-year leasehold (or 8,192 in base-10) for the amount of one crown, the leasehold to be granted immediately with all requirements and documentation to be aplishedter, provided that it be aplished within one Zeos Year.

    Again, the Lord Chambein said that it was required that a specific individual be named as the one responsible for the leasehold. Several beings pinged, one of them being Councilor Cor, but the First Ambassador was the first to speak. He said that it should be held in trust for the Earth, and administered, by the Lady Amelia.

    The motion was passed in acmation.

    Now that the housekeeping items were concluded, a motion was made to have the Lord Chambein immediately execute the motions just passed.

    The Lord Chambein bowed. Much to his chagrin, his Telcontari assistants pinged and promised to have it done by end-of-day.

    Next to be discussed were the actions of the Detterex.

    The facts were: that the Detterex had opened fire first on their courier ship; that the Detterex used subterfuge in order to detonate several nuclear devices, which was ouwed by the Zeos Convention; that the Detterex deliberately detonated these devices in order to bring harm to Federation citizens and destroy Federation property.

    Each action was more than a sufficient justification to dere war on the Detterex, so there was no question. Even the party-pooper Dravidians didnt even question it. The motion was passed unanimously and the First Ambassador, known to be the best in the current Assembly at creating such documents, was drafted to write the deration.

    The next item was the question whether it was allowable that they should also dere war on the Tirosians. There were many in the assembly that were not in favor of this, that even if the circumstances clearly indicate that the Detterex and Tirosians were in coboration, there was no objective proof of this  that it was all circumstantial. Even if they got the Detterex prisoners to corroborate their suspicions, this would not be considered definitive proof, ording to current Federation jurisprudence. But as pointed out by the Daemon representative, it might not actually be necessary to do so since they already had sent ships to Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia, where attacking fleets were identified to be en route to.

    By a narrow margin, the motion to dere war on the Tirosians was defeated.

    A new motion was raised, to ask the Earthers to provide warning if any other worlds were in danger of invasion or attack. It was further amended to ask the Earthers to provide a service to sendmuniqus to the homeworlds when needed, and to rymuniqus from the homeworlds to Colossus. The Erocii representative pinged and asked if it was necessary to even ask  that, as Federation citizens, were they not required to assist?

    No one deigned to respond to that. He was ignored and the discussion continued. (A respectful little Telcontari from the Office of Protocol discretely went to the Erocii, and exined in whispers that none could bepelled to do anything unless the matter was in connection with a need for immediate emergency transport, with the need for emergency evacuation of people, or with an immediate impending use of weapons.)

    If the Erocii could blush in embarrassment, he would have. He angrily waved the Telcontari away and turned his attention back to the debate.

    -----

    Regarding the question raised, OConnell answered for the Earthers saying that they agreed. However the particrs of the service, as rting to the administrativeponent, would have to be ironed outter.

    A Daemon, one of those who had messages sent to their homeworlds, said that the fees that they were charged before were very reasonable, and asked if that was what they could expect.

    Everyoneughed gently at the hirsute aliens friendly little jibe.

    OConnell smiled and bowed to the Daemon.

    Indeed, My Lord, OConnell replied. Perhaps we can even offer discounts for frequent customers.

    The rest of the assemblyughed and a lot of quips about volume discounts or special pricing for holidays and such should also be arranged.

    As the mirth died down, Councilor Cor pinged.

    I would ask the Captain why she is speaking instead of Lady Amelia, Cor said. I cannot help but be offended. Why is it that Lady Amelia did not see fit to appear before the assembly?

    OConnell bowed.

    If I may respond, Councilor, OConnell replied, Lady Amelia is assisting with the recovery and repair of our warship, the Hermes, and is conducting the memorial ceremonies for our deadrades.

    After a long, awkward silence, Cor cleared his throat (or rather did the Dravidian equivalent of an Earther clearing her throat).

    If that is true, Cor said, I feel it is insulting that we were not invited to the ceremony. I feel that we should have the opportunity to pay our respects to your braverades who gave their lives in our behalf.

    OConnell bowed. Thank you, Councilor, but we had indeed sent a hand-written invitation, as per the custom onboard Colossus, but your executive assistant refused to ept our letter.

    Cor looked a little uneasy. Then I have to ask why the other representatives were not invited.

    OConnell bowed again. Per custom, we had sent all the delegates letters, and everyone had epted our invitations except for the Dravidian and Erocii Missions. Representatives from the other missions are currently attending the memorial ceremony.

    Ummm, well, I think the Captain might be mistaken as all the Federation representatives are here in Aonta.

    OConnell bowed yet again. All the missions have expressed regret that the heads of their missions could not attend because of todays session, but they have said that they would send other representatives.

    Cor tried to cast around for another topic. I wish to file aint, he said. It is unfair that the Erocii have been singled out because they are our friends.

    OConnell sighed, and then bowed again.

    Councilor, she said, when the messenger approached the Erocii Ambassador with our invitation, he asked if the Dravidians would be attending. The messenger then exined that the Dravidians hadn''t epted the invitation, whereupon the Erocii Ambassador rejected their invitation as well.

    Cor scoffed. That is an outright lie! You are mistaken, Earther! It is not in the Erocii ambassadors character to do such a thing!

    OConnell again bowed. The message was delivered in the Ambassadors Lounge, and there were several witnesses. I am sure the appropriate surveince videos can be essed.

    The rest of the assembly was about to break down inughter by then, and then Cor pinged again.

    It is an insult that such important correspondence was delivered in such a ce! I am making a motion, in behalf of the Erocii, for the Earthers to be censured for ignoring protocol!

    At that point, the entire Assembly did break out inughter.

    The motion was passed, however, although it was agreed the censure would be in the minutes, it will not be recorded in the archives (making it unofficial), and that the penalty was the payment of reparations amounting to one crown, which was to be donated to the revolving fund of the Office of Protocol.

    Another motion was passed as well, to censure Councilor Cor (not the mission but Cor himself) for willful nder of a fellow sophont, and to require him to pay the maximum allowed for reparations, which was one million Crowns (262,144 in Base-10), and that Cor be expelled from Colossus.

    <strong>Gibraltar Base </strong>

    After that session, the news of the defeat of the invading forces back on Earth started making the rounds in Colossus, care of the transmissions received by the Fifth Fleet (Lady Reena and Lady Areeya had mistakenly leaked the tranted transmission as well as terabytes of video).

    It seemed that the invaders, this time exclusively made up of Tiros forces, were easier to defeat despite their fleet being four times the size of the one that attacked Colossus. In fact, the size of the invading force was one of thergest ever seen so far from the Empire. It was made up of 170 capital ships and support craft (or 120 in Base-10), many of them just constructed.

    Having been warned of the tactic of the Detterex of using the EM suppression field and Trojan shuttles with nuclear weapons, EarthForce took out all of the smallships first, and then, almost leisurely, took out the capital ships.

    The strategy that the Tiros forces intended to implement was standard, which was to say, attack with overwhelming force and win by ousting the enemy. It was to be a war of attrition again, but the thing that they did not anticipate was the Earthers had a virtually unlimited amount of ammunition. Only missiles and simr weapons were found to work in the EM suppression field, so the invaders only had a finite number, whereas the Earthers had rail guns aplenty, with ammunition just lying around to be picked up. The Earthers were literally firing rocks at the enemy, but at enormous velocities. The kic energy of each of their rail gun projectiles more than equaled the explosive power of the missiles that were being fired at them. And the Tirosians secret weapon  the Trojan horse of nuclear bombs hidden in smallships  only worked if the enemy didnt know about it.

    In this war of attrition, the Earthers easily won. In fact, with the brilliant and judicious use of Earths FTL ships by Silverman, none of the enemys forces were able to get past the orbit of Jupiter. Silverman had used his pre-FTL ships as his main rail gun tforms and used the FTLs as the equivalent of corvettes and aircraft carriers  luring, steering and pushing the enemy closer to the pre-FTLs and harassing and shooting down the enemys smallships with the FTLs Eagle fighters. The pre-FTLs then just opened fire with a never-ending hail of rail gun projectiles that was like rain in their density. There was, however, some damage on the EarthForce ships from what was called friendly fire, but they had coordinated their rail gun volleys sufficiently that this was minimized.

    When there was no more resistance, Jupiters and Saturns massive freight ships supplemented the EarthForce warships to tow all the enemy derelicts, especially the shuttles and smallships, to the L4 and L5 Lagrange points of Jupiter. At that point, the lunar EM field generator was switched off, and there were multiple nuclear detonations within these Tirosian junkyards. These detonations happened between fifteen minutes and four hours from the time the EM suppression field was deactivated. Ultimately, the booby traps were useless.

    There were very few Tirosians that were rescued since most hadmitted suicide when their defeat was inevitable and even the few that were rescued found ingenious means for suicide.

    In the end, there were no Tirosian survivors.

    -----

    Several Dravidian cargo shipsnded in the area selected for the Detterex Prisoner-of-War camp, bringing with them the materials needed for its construction. The ships disgorged the supplies and took off. Construction started immediately.

    To protect them from the extreme weather, all of the Earthers from DSC Gibraltar that were assigned to construction work were required to wear their pressure suits underneath their regr duty clothes. The suits were not noticed, and everyone madements about the Earthers endurance and ability to weather the extreme cold. And with the standard gravity of Zeos, the work wasnt as bad as expected. As for the Telcontari, they needed no special protection against the cold.

    Prior to construction, the Earther-Telcontari crew melted the snow downpletely until the bare ground could be seen, and from there sunk foundations made from rebar-reinforced concrete, and from there,id down arge, t, concrete tform from which they would build the one-story structures on.

    The materials the Dravidians provided were very basic  massive sheets of aluminum and steel, sheets of instion,rge tanks of various chemicals, resins and liquid polymers,rge drums of silicon and quartz, and ingots of various metals. So the Earthers had to use their ingenuity to fashion what was necessary. The little foundry, nt and the various machine shops that the Gibraltars crew had erected went into full use, and there was no shortage of material to create the required neen hermetically sealed barracks and the required facilities for each. One could say that the Dravidians didnt really think of what was needed and just got what was avable from their shipyard construction supplies and dropped it down on the. The Earthers had to fabricate practically everything, even making up their own cement. But with the perpetual sunlight, there was power to spare for any equipment they might need to use, and there was no shortage of manpower, or rather Telcontari-power.

    The Telcontari were helpful as trainedbor - although they were technically capable, the training that the Earthers had for building such kinds of structures made them better at it. The Telcontari were capable assistants, however, and in less than a week, the prisoner camp waspleted, just in time for the arrival of the Detterex prisoners. They were moved into their new homes immediately, with thirty-two to a barrack.

    From that point on, personnel from the Colossus police force took charge.

    The neen one-floor barracks were spread out on arge, featureless concrete expanse surrounded by a tall, smooth, temperature-variance-proof, impact-proof, pressure-proof and totally transparent ss dodecagon wall. Outside, it was surrounded by a series of moats alternately filled with ss-smooth frozen water and razor-sharp broken boron-silicate ceramic shards.

    At each of the twelve corners of the dodecagon wall were extremely tall watchtowers topped by pulse and rocket emcements.

    It was the most extraordinary, innovative structure the Federation people, as well as the Detterex, had ever seen. Although the barracks themselves seemed conventional, that was where the conventionality ended. Though the Dravidians scoffed (typical of them) at the structure, saying there were no new innovations, the others just ignored them and marveled at the use of materials in this manner. They asked the Earthers that were packing to leave to exin the logic behind the structure.

    They exined that the ss walls were transparent so that there were no ces for any escaping Detterex prisoners to hide (they didnt have the supplies for Crystalline metal, so it was just in old ss).

    The sss vitreous surface and inteced molecr crystalline structure would prevent anyone from climbing it or busting through it, and even if they could, the ice in the moats outside was so hard and smooth, they wouldn''t be able to get traction, and the ceramic shards were so sharp, just bumping into them would cause cuts.

    As for anyone attempting to tunnel down, the camp was built on top of solid granite.

    There was also a full EM detection web care of a disposable Earther GPS-type satellite that was in a geosynchronous orbit overhead. The detection web extended to a thousand kilometers in all directions to prevent any vessel from approaching the camp undetected.

    There was a lot of leftover material, however, and the Earthers radioed the Dravidians, saying that the material could be picked up any time, but the Dravidians replied saying there was no need to return the excess supplies  they were theirs now, and they could do whatever they wanted with them. OConnell replied for the Earthers and thanked them. Sarcastically, the Dravidians said, youre wee.

    The Gibraltar transported all this leftover material to their new selected site. The supplies would allow them to get a jump on the construction.

    The site, which wouldter be called New Gibraltar Base (because the people working the site were from the Gibraltar), was arge, t teau that the Fifth Fleetmanders had picked  Lady Reena, Lady Areeya, Captain Tr, Captain Rexx, Captain Er and the Second Cruiser Commander had highly rmended the location. It was a t granite teau of over fifteen square kilometers that was raised about a thousand kilometers above the ins below by ancient volcanic action, with sheer granite escarpments surrounding it. Their leasehold also included the six square kilometers around it, as well as all approaches to the teau. The six had gotten together and researched the entire surface, and knew that this was the best location for the Earthers new base: It was geologically stable, raised above the surface providing clear approaches for ships, totally unapproachable from the ground and provided the most gorgeous view of Zeos Threes snowscape. (Mia didnt tell them, however, that the undered five square kilometers still remaining on their leasehold would be at another location, and she wasnt telling them where.)

    The Hermes was still not there, but construction had already started. The Fifth Fleet ships had taken turns tond dirtside so that they could repair whatever damage they had incurred during the battle, which was mostly minor. The most significant damage was when they nudged the Detterex cruisers away, and this only required a bit of hammering and a bit of spit-and-polish, and they were okay. They had quickly vacated the facilities, such as they were, allowing the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian Fifth Fleet ships their turn.

    The Earther FTLs were resupplied except that they had missile holds that were now about one-fourth empty. They had no stockpiles anywhere in the Zeos system so there was no opportunity to top up their missile supplies. As apromise, they filled the empty holds with ammunition for their rail guns, manufactured from the supplies left over from the camp construction.

    As for their other non-Earth ships, the Elyrans, Dixx and Arachnians did have their own depots on Colossus, and were able to restock and resupply their ships with the ordnance they needed.

    After Cruiser 99 lifted off, this left Gibraltar Base vacant, awaiting the arrival of Hermes.

    Later on in the day, the Hermes had arrived in orbit, towed by the Windsor. The Shepherd Moon and Constetion took over the towing, and Windsor turned away to go into a synchronous orbit above Gibraltar Base.

    Thankfully, some of Hermes anti-gravs were still functional, and Constetion and Shepherd therefore had no difficulty towing her. The four dozen or so cables that each ship had tethered to the Hermes were more than enough for the job.

    The Federation observers that had been tracking them were dumbfounded  to tow ships using actual, physical cables was unheard of. How primitive, they thought, but then, when they thought of the effects of tractor fields and how they could affect the seriouslypromised structure of the Hermes, they thought it was a simple and ingenious solution to a very tricky andplicated problem. They quickly made a one hundred-eighty-degree turn in their opinion, and they avidly observed how the Earthers would manage getting Hermes down to the surface.

    First, the Hermes was surrounded by her sister ships, all of which had extended their gravity fields around her. As they entered the atmosphere, the surrounding wind and ambient air was not to big a factor. They entered Zeos Threes atmosphere slowly, and descended at a very, very slow twenty meters a second.

    -----

    The trip down was excruciatingly slow, but it was free of incidents. The damaged Hermes creaked ominously all the way down, but she didnt break, and in about an hour, they were setting her down on Gibraltar Bases new shipyard intact. At the moment, though, it could hardly be called a shipyard  it was more an empty piece of extremely hard granite.

    As the dozen or so spotters dered Hermes secure, all the towing cables were released and the Shepherd Moon and Constetion pulled up and away.

    On the ground, seven Marines fired grenadeunchers into the space above Hermes, with the grenades exploding directly above her. They did this three times. The grenades were not dangerous  they were training grenades, with more sh than actual explosive bang.

    Subtly, and with respect, the Daemon representative leaned over to the Earther beside him and asked what that signified.

    The Marine exined that it was called a Three-Volley Salute, which signified respect for the dead that had been put to rest, and that everyone could now move on.

    A most appropriate tradition, the alien said. My condolences to you and yourrades, warrior.

    Thank you, My Lord.

    Earlier, Mia and a small contingent of marines had also attended a simr ceremony onboard Colossus for the crews that perished in the nuclear suicide bombs of the Detterex. She made a point of being visible, and was courteous to everyone, including the Dravidians and Erocii. The Erocii contingent was noticeably isted since many med the Erociimander for the disaster. The Earth party would have been dly included in their little groups as they chatted, but the Dravidians made a point of saying the Earthers were not full-fledged members of the Federation yet, and were not entitled to much, except for actually being present.

    Nevertheless, the Earthers invited everyone to their own memorial ceremony including the Dravidians and Erocii, even though it turned out those two didnt want to attend.

    At that point, the Mud Turtle shuttle that everyone knew as the Admirals Barge came andnded near the Hermes.

    Mia stepped out and acknowledged the salute of the officers that met her. She went to the remaining crew of the Hermes that were standing at attention and in parade formation.

    Mia acknowledged the salute of her Hermes First Officer, Commander Iyanda. Mia embraced her and continued down the line. She had a few words with each, and at the end of the line, she saluted the gathered assembly.

    With Nick and Commander Iyanda, Mia then went to the gathered observers and gave the representatives a bow. Those that knew about it extended their right arms and shook hands with the Admiral Earther-style. After a few pleasantries with each delegate that was there, she took her leave. She asked the two little protocol Telcontari officers to be summoned.

    Mumu and Pinpin, the two officers from the Office of Protocol ran over and stood in front of the Admiral. They saluted in the manner that they saw the Earthers did. Mia chuckled, but seriously returned the salute.

    Dear friends, she said to the two diminutive Telcontari, I and my crew take leave of you and the wonderful people of Colossus. As you know, EarthForces Fifth Fleet has been drafted to participate in the defense of Elyra. In order to rendezvous with the Federation squadron now en route to Elyra, the Fifth Fleet must leave now.

    I therefore leave the responsibilities of our diplomatic office and all diplomatic matters to my right-hand man and adjutant. Nick stepped forward and bowed.

    In matters of defense and military matters, I leave that with Commander Ndidi Iyanda, actingmander of the Hermes. Ndidi bowed as well.

    Know that my friends are fully empowered and are ready to represent the people of the Earth, and shall have full authority to act as my representatives.

    As for Earths contribution to the defense of Colossus, I leave EarthForce battle cruisers Windsor, Gibraltar and Hermes, and they all shall be reporting to Commander Iyanda. Commander Iyanda and her crews will do their utmost to defend Colossus and her people.

    I ammunicating this to you now in your capacity as representatives of the Office of Protocol. Please take this as my formal notice.

    The two bowed, and Mia turned to leave.

    As she, Nick and Ndidi started walking to the Admirals Barge, Mia felt a tug on her sleeve. She stopped and turned to see Pinpin. Herpanion, Mumu, was trying to stop her and was pulling her back.

    Mia stopped and gestured for the other two to continue on.

    Hey, Pinpin, Mia said. Whats going on?

    The two knelt on one knee, with heads bowed.

    My Lady, Mumu said, forgive my partner for her impertinent behavior. I will chastise her immediately

    Hush, Mumu. Pinpin, what is it?

    Mistress, I apologize. After all of the service your people have given us, the sacrifices you made, and the insults you have had to endure, I am ashamed. As apology, I would like to offer the services of my people, and, in particr, of myself and my partner. I am so desperate to show you that you are loved, that you are honored, that you are respected. Mistress, you must not leave thinking otherwise. Please let use with you and help you. We will not disappoint. We will do our best to be a credit to you. Please, Mistress!

    Stand up, my dears. Please.

    The two of them stood and looked up at her. She is crying, Mumu said to Pinpin in an awed whisper.

    She went to the two and embraced the little Telcontari.

    My dears, you have touched my heart. I am full to bursting. Bless you two. To have found friends in a ce where we didnt expect to is like a drink in the desert. I am so honored and humbled She let them go.

    I am so happy, Mistress.

    But, dearest child, do not be hurt when I say that I cannot ept your service.

    The two looked at each other and hugged. They keened like crying little children.

    My dears, my dears, listen to me. Do not forsake your current task. It is important and necessary. You must continue on. If you are not there, then those that would seek to enrich themselves at the expense of the people will have free reign. You, my dears, are the gatekeepers. You must be there and protect. And other than that the reason I cannot ept your service is because we do not want to put others in harms way. It is how we Earthers are. Know that it is our honor to protect you.

    If you wish to be of service, please assist Nick and Ndidi. Help them navigate the morass that is Colossus and the Federation. We are mere babes to the Federation, and we need a mentor and a teacher to guide us. Promise me.

    We are honored, Mistress, Pinpin said. We promise.

    Mia hugged the two again, leaned down and gave each a kiss on the cheek.

    The two held hands as they watched Mia climb aboard the shuttle they called the Admirals Barge and take off.

    We promise, Mistress, Pinpin whispered. Hurry back.

 - an intermission -

- an intermission -

    There will be a slight dy in the posting of the finalchapters.Expect the next chapter in 36- 48hours.

    (click the link below for a small videomercial)

    <em><strong>Shepherd Moon - The Final Installment</strong></em>

 Chapter 26: Surprise! II

    Chapter 26: Surprise! II

    <strong>Peek-a-Boo, I See You </strong>

    As the five Elyran cruisers from the Colossus squadron and Mias Fifth Fleet ofbined Earther, Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian cruisers (minus the Hermes) started to fall into formation prior to their departure for Elyra Prime, rms red onboard Colossus. Early-warning buoys had detected a fast-moving unidentified object.

    The warning was extremely dyed because none of the Federation and Earther detection systems were able to pick it up. Only the buoys that used visual tracking were able to detect it.

    They all thought that it was some celestial body, like a captured asteroid or something, but analysis of the pictures indicated it was the escape craft that had disabled Hermes. Everyone thought that it had been taken out by Gibraltar, but apparently they were wrong. In Mias mind, she could imagine the Detterexmander going, peek-a-boo!

    Mikasa used her Phase-Wave equipment and found that the ship masquerading as an asteroid had an EM suppression field around it. But the field was very small, and the fact that it was flickering showed that their systems werent functioning properly. Gibraltar had obviously done a lot of damage.

    None of the Federation cruisers were ready except for those that were already deployed, and they were scattered all over. The Elyrans and the Fifth Fleet were the only ones that had a chance of intercepting the enemy, so they dyed their original ns and took off after the intruder.

    As before, it was moving around the sun, at incredibly dangerous velocities. It was very near ship-maneuverable speeds, just slow enough that no significant rtivistic effects would affect it. They could only assume that the ship had no working FTL drive anymore, and this was the fastest it could travel without an FTL field.

    OConnell had her peoplepute some turnaround times and it seemed that the Federation ships could only do one quick pass while the Earth ships could actually use their FTL and inertia converters to do stops-and-starts several times, and theyd get close enough to the enemy, but by doing it so many times so close together may damage their FTL systems.

    At least there was full FTLmunications, and they had organized their ships ording to their eleration profiles, each to make a pass and firing a volley of missiles. Before starting, however, Mia and several squads from all the ships left for Colossus using their shuttles.

    The first of the Fifth Fleet shisp to take a turn was the lone Arachnian ship, followed by the Shepherd, then the five Earther ships. After them were the seven Elyrans, and then the three Dixx cruisers.

    As each ship zoomed past the Detterex intruder, they fired off a brace of missiles with proximity fuses, but what they had learned was that if a ship was traveling sufficiently fast, missiles were useless. Even if the missile detonation was timed properly, the ship would have already passed for the explosion to have any substantial effect. They could see the fireballs and explosions but the enemy ship would just sh right through them.

    Mia had little hope that the missile attacks would have finished off the enemy, but they still had to try. But even if they were sessful, the giant station would still have to avoid being hit by the wreckage. Now that she knew that the ship was still iing, andpletely intact, she had to either evacuate everyone, or find a way to move the entire station out of the way, but the enemy might just correct their course to adjust to any movements of Colossus.

    Then she had a brainstorm.

    She brought out her CC. This is Admiral Steele to the Shepherd Moon,e in. Cmon, Beth! Pick up!

    This is OConnell, came the response. Sorry, Admiral. No joy. Our missiles didnt even slow it down.

    We saw, Beth. But I have an idea. This is what I want you to do: maneuver the Shepherd to a position thats at an angle to the trajectory of the Detterex. Use FTL to maneuver, and then use the inertia converterssers.

    After a while, OConnell responded. You mean

    Yes, Captain. Now, do it! Execute now!

    Aye, aye!

    Using her barges systems, she had her pilot keep close track of the Shepherds progress. At that time, the Earther ships hadnt used their converters since it would have been pointless, so they had been decelerating in the conventional way so as not to tip the other ships off about their converters.

    Mia lost the Shepherds image there for a second because of her sudden braking, and Mia had to track back to find her again. Mia wasnt able to pick up the Shepherds deceleration, and she saw her maneuver so that she was now pointing her nose one hundred thirty-five degrees from her previous trajectory. She turned the turrets of her energy converter away from Colossus so that shed hide the sh, and then blipped her converters.

    She then saw the ship power up to full eleration and was now moving in her new trajectory.

    OConnell sent her the coordinates where the Shepherd would be braking again, and Mia hurriedly adjusted her equipment to point at those coordinates. In moments she was looking at an area of empty space. On a second screen, she focused on the fast-moving Detterex ship, and she waited.

    In a few minutes, she saw the Shepherd slide in, and then stop on a proverbial dime. It actually looked like the Shepherd appeared out of nowhere. A few secondster, it fired the top two turrets of its energy converters. Eight incandescent beams speared out: a sapphire blue, a ruby, an emerald green, a neon yellow, an orange, a violet and two beams in pure-white. At the same moment, Mia saw in the other screen a brief sh of color. It was too fast to register in the eye except as a sh. There also seemed to be no effect, but after ten or fifteen seconds, a series of explosions wracked both the port and starboard sides of the ship, and, after the explosions had died down Mia noted that all her running lights, and all the lights in all her ports, windows and engines disappeared.

    Shes dead in the water, Mia whispered to herself. Good work, Beth. But the enemy ship was still coasting at high sublight: her inertia still carried her forward in a high-speed fall towards Colossus.

    Mia did some fastputations using her CC and was dismayed to find that the enemy lost her ability to maneuver after she had herself pointed directly at Colossus. If she lost power a little earlier, the enemy ship might actually miss Colossus. But now, the incapacitated ship was on a direct collision course.

    Mia turned back to the task at hand, and organized a proper debarkation of her little shuttles personnel onto Colossus.

    -----

    On Mias CC, a slowed-down yback of the video video showed that the Shepherds beams had punched through the enemy cleanly, and had caused her to lose all power. Phase-Wave had confirmed that the EM suppression field had also disappeared, and further sensor sweeps showed that the ship was indeed dead.

    There was no hope of stopping the ship, however, so, to paraphrase Earths fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, if you have eliminated the impossible things that cannot be done, whats left, however improbable and difficult, are what you have to do. So that meant that Colossus had to be moved.

    Per her calction, the Detterex ship would impact Colossus three-fourths down its length towards the south side. Mia therefore deployed her crew and the crew of the other Earther shuttles to all the ces where they thought people would be concentrated and instruct the residents to move to the North side of the station. Mia knew she would need help, but she didnt know anyone. She went to a wall console and tried to decipher the controls, and was eventually able to connect to the Office of Protocol.

    Office of Protocol, a friendly-sounding Telcontari answered her call in Elyran, how may I assist you today?

    Good day, Mia replied hesitantly. I am Lady Amelia Catherine Steele of the

    Mia couldnt continue as the Telcontari started to squeal and squeak in excitement. In a bit, Mia could see the little thing wave to more of her friends, and more of them crowded around the video screen.

    My friends, my friends, please! Mia interrupted.

    The furry little aliens quieted down.

    I have a serious matter to discuss. I need to speak with either Pinpin or Mumu. Are they there?

    Those behind the operator rushed away, and in moments they had the two dragged in front of the screen.

    Damnation! Let go of me, Mumu shrieked. I was doing something! Stop it! Oh Mumu had seen Mia on the screen.

    Mistress! Pinpin eximed in Elyran, but she calmed herself. Together, Pinpin and Mumu bowed, Elyran style.

    It is wonderful to see you again, she said. We had been following the developments of your cruisers chase of the rogue Detterex ship. We have been wondering how it has been going

    My dear, my dear! Please stop! I have something of great urgency to discuss. Its a matter of life and death.

    Pinpin stopped, and bowed in apology. I apologize, Mistress. Please continue.

    The Fifth Fleet has been sessful in disabling the enemy ship The Telcontari cheered. But! The unpowered ship is still flying towards Colossus at an unstoppable speed. We are still trying to see if we can take it out, but I am not too hopeful. So, what I need you to do is to help me find a way to move the station out of the path of the enemy. Do you understand?

    The Telcontari squeaked and chirped at each other.

    We understand the dilemma, Mistress, Pinpin said. What you want is easily done. Colossus can be moved by using the stations rockets.

    Then do it. Now, my dear, now!

    As my Mistressmands, Pinpin bowed and rushed away.

    I need more help, however.

    I am at your service, Mistress, Mumu said.

    Just in case, we need to have as many of the people moved to the northernmost sections of the station, and be ready to secure all airtight bulkheads. We still have some time but I fear it will not be enough. We need to execute now.

    Mumu was on the verge of crying in panic.

    Mumu. Mumu! Look at me!

    Mumu looked up at her.

    We have no time for that now, my dear. You must dig deep and find your courage. People need you now. I believe in you. Do you?

    My Mistress

    You have the heart of a warrior, Mumu. I know it. Remember what you and Pinpin told me earlier back on Zeos. Were those things true?

    Mumu took a deep breath. They were true, my Mistress.

    You are my rock, dear child. Go, then. The Federation needs you.

    Mumu bowed deeply, and ran out of video range.

    Mia sighed in relief, and faced the others in the screen.

    All, right, then, children, she said. Who among you is in charge?

    Im sorry, My Lady, the operator said. Those were Mumu and Pinpin. They are the directors of the Office of Protocol.

    Mia was extremely surprised. Theyre the directors? Youre kidding.

    Yes, they are, and I am not joking. But the office is answerable directly to the Lord Chambein of Colossus, as are all the officers, administrators and personnel of Colossus.

    I see Then who among you are the deputy or assistant directors?

    An even more diminutive Telcontari moved forward.

    I am their apprentice, My Lady.

    What is your name, my dear?

    I am Chi-Chi, My Lady.

    I am d to meet you, Chi-Chi. I am Mia.

    The gathered Telcontari giggled.

    Chi-Chi smiled. I am pleased to meet you as well, Lady Mia.

    I apologize for my abrupt manner, and for taking your directors away. The matter was extremely urgent.

    No apologies are necessary, Lady Mia.

    Have Ipromised the operation of the Office of Protocol?

    Not at all, My Lady.

    I am relieved. I must take my leave as I have much to take care of.

    Please do not let us keep you.

    Before I do, I have another mission for you, Chi-Chi, and I need you and your staff to take care of it.

    We are just the Office of Protocol, My Lady. We have no real authority to

    I understand that, child. If you need to pass this on to others, please do. Just know the urgency.

    Chi-Chi sighed. All right, My Lady. I understand. What is it you require?

    I need you tomunicate the situation to everyone, Chi-Chi. Call the necessary people and exin what is happening. Get us the necessary permission. Tell them that, regardless, we will proceed to do what is necessary so that we all survive this crisis.

    I understand. Authority to move the station, and relocate the citizenry to the northern sections.

    Good child. Now, is there a way for me to be able to reach you, as well as Mumu and Pinpin without the need of these consoles? Something portable?

    Please take the portablemunicator clipped to the side of the console, My Lady, and bring it with you. All of the public consoles have them. We are programming Keys One, Two and Three of the one there with you for Pinpin, Mumu and this office. Just press the necessary key to contact us.

    Many thanks, Chi-Chi.

    Just call us anytime if you need assistance, Chi-Chi replied.

    Mia switched off and took the portablemunicator. It wasnt that portable since it was as big as a loaf of bread. She did notice that it had a built-in strap tucked in the back so she used that to sling the device over her shoulder. She walked down the hall in a direction she hoped was towards Aonta, brought out her CC and contacted her people. She started coordinating her peoples efforts to move the passengers.

    With the assistance of Mumu and his staff, the people of the Federation finally started moving. To help them, Mia coordinated with Nick and Sahsha over at the Earths office on the south side of the station to fire regr Phase-Wave pulse sweeps through the station and pinpoint stragglers for Mumu. Mia joined her people and helped them move, as well. Slowly, the south side was starting to empty out.

    As she finished up with one of the inner decks, she heard someone running. She looked and it was Pinpin.

    Mistress! the little Telcontari called in distress. She cannoned into Mia and hugged her around the waist.

    What is it, my dear? Mia said as she petted the furry little alien and tried to calm her down.

    I have just discovered that the reaction jets of the station arent working, as are the main attitude control jets.

    What does that mean?

    I means Colossus cannot be moved, Mistress!

    Is it some kind of fault in the engines or some kind of equipment failure? I can have my people go over and check them out.

    The Telcontari shook her head.

    There is no defect, Mistress. The problem is that there is no more fuel!"

    What!

    I do not know why, Mistress, but all the tanks are empty.

    All right. Take this. She handed thergemunicator to Pinpin. I will ask Sahsha and Nick to coordinate with you so that you can evacuate this side of the station. Can you do this?

    Pinpin took a deep breath. I can, Mistress.

    Good child. Mia gave the little furry alien a hug. Now go!

    The Telcontari ran down the hall and contacted her office.

    Mia brought out her CC and called Sahsha and Nick to ry their sensor data to Pinpin instead, and then she called OConnell, exining the problem with the engines.

    Any ideas, Beth? Mia asked.

    Essentially we need to strap thrusters onto the stations surface. Are there any ships out there that you can use like boosters?

    Lots, Beth, but by the time I can get them, Colossus would be gone.

    You cant say that we should be the ones

    Im justying out the facts.

    We cant send a missile because we dont have time to reprogram

    Yes. How about a shuttle?

    Can you get the barge out, or the other shuttles you brought?

    Theyve been parked way down inside Colossus hangar bay. Itll take half an hour to get them out. No, it has to be one of yours.

    Admiral, in order to get there ahead of the intruder, we have to max out the shuttles eleration and then decelerate on max as well. No one will survive that.

    How about remote control, Beth?

    Thats an idea. But how do we moor it to the station?

    Harpoon missiles on tether cables. Fire them into the hull.

    All right. You have to find out where were supposed to fire them at, though.

    Leave that to me. Now, get on it, Captain.

    Aye, sir!

    Mia then contacted Chi-Chi, and asked for assistance again.

    Chi-Chi, I need you to find the strongest structural areas on the station where mooring cables can be attached to.

    My Lady, I do not understand

    Mia exined what they needed, and Chi-Chi said she finally understood.

    All right, child. Time is of the essence. Get me the information as quickly as you can. I am currently near the Earther embassy.

    As My Ladymands.

    Mia hurried to the Earthers quarters to get a pressure helmet and tanks because she had a suspicion that she was going to need it.

    Nick, and Sahsha were in pressures suits too. She had Nick begin evacuation of the Earth offices as well, and after a desperatest kiss with Sahsha, Mia ran out to rendezvous with Chi-Chi.

    They met in the main passageway somewhere in between the Earth offices and Chi-Chis offices.

    My Lady, Chi-Chi said. She and several other Telcontari, followed by Pinpin, all in pressure suits as well, bowed.

    Are those the ns? Mia pointed at several rolled up sheets of paper under Chi-Chis arm.

    Chi-Chi nodded. She knelt on the passageway floors and spread the topmost sheet. Herpanions held the corners down.

    These, she pointed at several concentric circles running through the station, are load-bearing rings mounted to several spines that run through the station horizontally. The engineer I talked with said that the best ce to attach your cable is at the point where a ring actually attaches to a spine. Any of these rings, Chi-Chi pointed, are essentially on the same level as the hull tes so there is reasonably low coriolis forces acting on them, and they have SIF conduits running through them as well, providing maximum structural integrity.

    I see.

    Chi-Chi then gave her a small piece of paper with some Telcontari writing and Elyran mathematical script and symbols. Mia puzzled it out. She looked at the blueprints and then at the piece of paper, trying to figure it out.

    So if we attach here, she mumbled, we would need about 343,000 newton-meters, which trantes to roughly 35,000 kilopond, and that will allow a movement of about twenty kilometers per minute from the topmost part of Colossus, and the structure of the station will remain intact. Now a Mud Turtle or a Cobra shuttle is rated at

    What are you saying, My Lady?

    Sorry, Chi-Chi. I was just doing some calctions. Which ring is the closest to where we are now?

    The Telcontari pointed.

    Okay. Where is that ring?

    She looked around for a bit and pointed down the hall. Theres the ring. And the rib is there. She pointed again.

    Mia brought out her CC. Captain OConnell?

    OConnell here. The shuttle is on its way, Admiral. Its on final deceleration and should be there in ten minutes.

    Well need the Mud Turtle to go on full thrust once moored to the station.

    We sent a Cobra, sir, from the Kirov.

    Even better. Cobras have more legs to them. Okay. Track my CC. When I say go, the CC will be your target.

    Aye, sir.

    Mia turned back to Chi-Chi. Dear, if I were on the hull, how could I tell where the ribs and the rings are?

    The engineer told me they are marked on the hull with diagonal white stripes. There are handholds bracketing the markings.

    Good. Now all of you get behind those bulkhead doors and close them. Im going to cut into the hull here, so prepare for depressurization. Pinpin,e here.

    Pinpin approached. Mia gave her a hug and a kiss on top of her head. Get your people to safety.

    Mistress

    I will be all right. Now, go. Protect your people.

    Pinpin bowed and motioned all of them to move back. At the end of the passageway, Pinpin tripped the emergency locks and the pressure doors came down.

    When Mia could see the safety lights winking, she took her uniform off, leaving her in her pressure suit. She donned her helmet, slipped on the little rebreather pack she got from the office, attached its hoses and cables to the helmet, and turned the pack on.

    Waving to the little Telcontari that peeked through the pressure door portholes, Mia turned on her dress sword to full.

    With a modified Passata Sotto, Mia lunged at the wall with her sword, and it went through the wall like a hot knife through butter. As soon as she did, the passage depressurized rapidly.

    Mia braced herself against the wind, and as soon as all the air had escaped, she used her sword to make arge human-sized hole. She slid her sword back into its scabbard, peeked outside and looked for the handholds. Seeing several nearby, Mia, an experienced spacer, calcted her jump, and then leaped into space. She reached out and was able to grab a handhold at the veryst moment.

    Mia had to hold on very strongly because the centrifugal effect was threatening to throw her off into space. But she persevered. It was one of the times when her less-massive body was an advantage since her muscles were still her old ones. She started making her way to where the marks indicated that the rib and the ring intersected. Looking back to the hole she had just jumped through, she saw the Telcontari looking through it, and at her. Mia waved to them, and proceeded.

    She thought it wasnt too far away, but it seemed farther and farther away as she got more and more tired. But eventually, she made it. She hooked her right arm through one of the rungs and paused to rest. She looked down, and past her feet. The sunlight glinted off something, and she knew that was the approaching Cobra shuttle.

    With superhuman effort, she pulled herself up and hooked her feet into the rungs.

    Quickly, she then slipped her left hand in her suits utility pouch and brought out her CC. Looking down, she noticed that the Cobra was rapidlying closer and closer. Dammit, she muttered.

    She looked at the hulls surface and found no way of mounting her CC on it.

    Admiral! OConnell warned. We have a proximity warning here! Turn on your CC now, Admiral. Please!

    Mia didnt know what to do anymore, so she stretched her left arm as far as she could. And after a deep breath and a short prayer, she pressed the GPS transmit button on her CC, and looked away.

    The remotely-controlled Cobra shuttlesputer started beeping away, warning of an impending crash, but there was no one in her cockpit to hear it.

    When Beth and her crew received Mias signal, they triggered the Cobras harpoon missile. It flew off and zeroed in on Mias CC. The targeting was a little off so, instead of hitting the CC squarely, the harpoon sank into Mias left forearm.

    Mia screamed in pain. A one-inch diameter metal pole punched through her suit and arm and into the hull. The barbs on the end deployed and locked the spear solidly into the hull.

    Mias suits repair systems were triggered and more than half a liter of fast-forming foam sent sealed the rip and prevented her suits air from bleeding away. The suit also chemically cauterized the massively traumatic wound, preventing total blood loss. Mia knew this would happen, but her mind was filled with so much pain, she couldnt think or do anything but scream into space.

    The Cobra shuttle shed past her and the station, and the massive tow cable connected to the harpoon grew taut. Mia could feel the vibration in her arm.

    The ships engine power spooled up until Mia was silhouetted in the electric-blue light of the Cobras engine, and the shuttle started making some progress in oveing the inertia of the station.

    Mias right hand hade unhooked from the handhold, and she pounded it into the hull. She couldnt help it because of the unbearable pain in her left arm.

    The harpoon bent, but it, and the cable, held, and, inch by inch, the massive station started to turn.

    The shuttle continued to run its engines and the inches turned to feet, and in a while the stations movements could be felt.

    The cable started to change direction as the stations spin started to affect it. In another fifteen minutes, it would start wrapping around the hull, but by then the enemy ship would have hit the station.

    Admiral! OConnell called. Admiral! Whats happening! She had a sneaking suspicion what had happened, but it was toote by then.

    Mia couldnt hear her through the cloud of pain, but OConnell continued on. She needed to let her know that the n was working, and justify this.

    Admiral! Admiral! Its working! Mia, its working! T-plus five meters. T-plus ten. Fifteen, twenty, twenty-five, fifty! Mia its now over fifty meters! Were fine! The Stations saved! Mia!

    But by then, Mia had fallen into unconsciousness.

    -----

    Over thirty hourster, Mia found herself waking up in the Earth Offices clinic. It took her a few moments to collect her thoughts and recognize where she was. She looked at her left arm; arge, tubr device covered it. She recognized it as a force-growth tank. She had remembered having such devices attached all over her during her gender change at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Bethesda oh, so long ago. This one wasnt as fancy andplicated  just the standard tank used in most trauma centers now. She sighed. At least her arms damage wasnt so bad that it couldnt be fixed and regrown.

    She felt no pain in her arm. She actually couldnt feel anything in her arm.

    She sighed again. Looking around the little clinic, she saw Beth, Ren, Tasha and Sahsha, all sleeping quietly. She didnt know that Elyrans also practiced the habit of Earthers watching over loved ones. She giggled.

    But then she noticed little furry puppies surrounding her bed. She shook the meds and sleepiness from her head, and focused better.

    There were three Telcontari around her, with their heads on her bed, also sleeping. She looked closer and recognized Mumu, Pinpin and Chi-Chi. Mia smiled, and sighed. My little children, she thought.

    A medic came in.

    Good morning, Admiral, the nurse said. We noticed that you were awake already, and we wanted to check on you. How are you feeling?

    A little thirsty

    No problem. Here you go. She held a ss full of water to her lips, and Mia took some sips.

    That felt good, Mia said. Any chance of pancakes or something?

    Easily done. Ill buzz the doctor, and then Ill bring you some breakfast.

    Breakfast? How long has it been?

    Since the Detterex ship narrowly missed us? About thirty-six hours.

    Oh Has the Fifth Fleet left for Elyra already?

    No, actually. Captain OConnell has ordered the fleet to stay until she could consult with you. Or so she said.

    She shouldnt have done that.

    Mia reached down with her right hand and petted Pinpin. That woke the Telcontari up.

    Mistress, the little bear chirped and smiled. It is so good to see you well and awake.

    You shouldnt have worried, my dear.

    Pinpin held Mias hand in her soft paws, and affectionately rubbed it on her cheek.

    Can you wake the others?

    Pinpin nodded. She gently shook the other two Telcontari awake, and proceeded to gently and respectfully wake the others.

    Sahsha was first toe over. She awkwardly hugged Mia, and gave her a gentle kiss on her cheek.

    Hello, my love, she whispered.

    Hey, Sahsha.

    Youre one crazy bitch, you know? She giggled.

    Miaughed. Oh, certainly. Ive always known I was crazy.

    Admiral, OConnell said. d that youre okay.

    Hello, Beth.

    In a while, everyone was milling around her bed.

    Ladies and gentlemen! the nurse cried. This will not do! My patient needs room and rest! Out! Now!

    The non-Earthers looked around worriedly, fearing that they had broken some kind of rule, but seeing Sahshas and Beths reactions, they sighed in relief. Still, under the less-than-gentle insistence of the nurse, and after a final kiss between Mia and Sahsha, everyone left.

    Beth, hang around a while. Okay?

    Aye, sir. And both waited for everyone to leave.

    Please brief me on whats happened since yesterday.

    OConnell nodded, and while the nurse fed Mia breakfast, OConnell told her everything that had happened.

    Mias instructions had been very clear and the CC signal was at the right spot. The harpoon missile hit where it needed to. OConnel also said, incredibly, they were even able to recover her CC. She handed it over and Mia looked at her little CC.

    The remotely-controlled Cobra shuttle was able to start the station moving in time, and about fifteen minutester, the Detterex ship whispered by and narrowly missed the station with only a few hundred meters of clearance. Pinpin and Chi-Chi thenboriously mbered to where she was and cut her from the harpoon with her own sword. They then brought her in and waited for Sahsha and the others toe and help her.

    As the Fifth Fleets fastest, OConnell had Cruiser 99 chase after the unstoppable runaway, and when they were in close enough proximity and had matched velocities, they bombarded the Detterex ship and broke her up into extremely small pieces of rubble. In its present state, any ship with a deflector field, or even just a structural integrity field, wouldnt be hurt by it anymore.

    Cruiser 99 was now on a return course, but because of the distance they had traveled, she wouldnt be back for another four hours. That was actually the official reason OConnell had dyed departure (or so she said).

    As for the station, there was no damage, except for what they had to break in order to get it tethered and moved.

    By the time Cruiser 99 was able to chase down the intruder, various shuttles from the Federation had been able to coax the station back into its former position, and the little damage it sustained had been repaired. The pedantic Dravidians had insisted that the Earthers be required to repair the damage they had caused, and this was met with much derision from the Assembly. But, instead of dragging it all out, a small Earther crew was dispatched, and with help from the Telcontari custodial and repair crews, the damage was fixed in short order.

    A short investigation was conducted regarding the missing fuel, and it was discovered that the Dravidians and Erocii had been siphoning off the stations liquid hydrogen and oxygen supplies for decades now, and using it to fuel their ships. No one had noticed since its engines had not been used for centuries, and the Erocii had been adjusting the stations distribution of mass so that the stations movement and orientation wasnt affected even as the slow consumption of the fuel changed its distribution of mass.

    Checking the fuel levels was not considered a critical activity, and inspection of the tanks was never done. This made it easy for them to cover up the theft.

    A loud furor had broken out then, and the beginnings of a move to impeach the Lord Chambein and have all Dravidians and Erocii removed from all Federation boards, councils and ministries started to circte. The Lord Chambein tried to use the fact that the fuel was not needed since the engines hadnt been used for centuries, and actually posed arge danger  the fuel was quite vtile, after all, and he was just doing his duty to protect the stations citizens. He said there was even a motion several decades back to drain the tanks, remove the engines and use the space for more living areas. This didnt help put the controversy to bed because the Office of Protocol was able to unearth the fact that this motion to reallocate the space was actually sponsored by the Dravidians. Furthermore, the Office of Lodging and Habitation showed documents that the Dravidians had reserved the areas of the engine and tankage sections of the station for future Dravidian living space.

    Normally, such reservations were ignored since there was no way to im them. But with the new information unearthed, this indicated a conspiracy. Adding fuel to the fire, the Office of Protocol also showed records that the motion to convert the stations engine space into living space was again on the Assemblys calendar in several months time, with the Dravidians sponsoring it again. There were also new questions raised about where the fuel that the Dravidians had siphoned off went. Questions also started to circte about the fuel that Dravidians regrly gave to any who found themselves short of fuel or consumables. It was general knowledge that the Dravidians were easy marks in this area, and would dly provide hydrogen or oxygen in exchange for small seemingly-inconsequential favors, such as voting for or against certain legition, shifting transport schedules, moving meeting schedules or adjusting the Assemblys calendar. Such things were patently illegal if it could be proven that these were done under surreptitious circumstances. These suspicions would, however, require further investigation to substantiate.

    Needless to say, the position of the Dravidians started to be precarious. Many delegates reserved time in Colossus huge library in order to research any precedents that were in the books so that they could remove the Dravidians from Federation office, and had ordered the Office of Protocol to conduct the investigation.

    However, this was all unimportant,pared to the fact that the station was still stuck in ce. So Commander Iyanda of the still-grounded Hermes volunteered to electrolyze oxygen and hydrogen for the station. To prevent the appearance of any impropriety, the Earthers had quickly disclosed that this was being done in payment for processing and other administrative matters required for their leaseholds documentation. Such arrangements were actually an epted mode of transacting business in the Federation  a barter-trade mechanism that was the fallback mode ofmerce for economies without a currency epted on Federation worlds. The Office of Supply and Logistics had thankfully epted the deal, with the added proviso that the Earthers also check out the long-unused engines as well. However, though the engines seemed familiar, the stations tanks were veryrge, so they might take months to fill them up.

    The Office of Supply and Logistics said, however, that the cost of the fuel would be more than the paltry cost of the Earthers administrative paperwork.

    The delegates therefore fixed the cost of the fuel to their current market price, and demanded the Dravidian Mission to reimburse Colossus. For its part, Colossus will pay the Earthers for the fuel they will provide, and the work that they would be doing for them.

    It was noted, of course, that the raw material which the Earthers would use was from Zeos, so they said that the price should be substantially reduced. The Earthers were magnanimous and said they would leave it to them to fix the price.

    After some time, the Office of Protocol came back with some precedents. The upshot of it all was that the Earthers were entitled to charge Colossus for the fuel at seventy-five percent of the current market price.

    This would set a new precedent, and any products that Gibraltar Base would produce from then on, the Earthers could sell at seventy-five percent of the going rate.

    OConnell said she never realized that even such things like these were part of the work of the Council. This made it feel just like the U.N. back home, she joked.

    After that bit of retail-rted matter, the discussion switched back to more important matters.

    There was a bit of bad news at Earths new base: Apparently Hermes couldnt be repaired and it therefore wouldnt be rmissioned and runched. Sure, the ship could be re-assembled with newponents, but theyd have to wait for spares from New Copernicus, and it would still be tricky refitting her this far away from home port. The decision was therefore made that they would not even try.

    Theponents from the Hermes would, however, make excellentponents for Gibraltar Base - her turrets and rail guns could be repurposed into excellent gun emcements, and the Hermesmand tower could be the bases control tower andmand center. And more importantly, her FTL engines would make for a great power station and and-based EM suppression field generator. The Hermesplement of Eagle fighters and Cobra shuttles could also be the Gibraltar Squadron as well.

    Mia asked if Commander Iyanda was informed of this, but OConnell actually said it was she who made the suggestion. Hearing that, Mia gave her concurrence.

    OConnell then broached a sensitive subject, which was, would Mia be going with them when they departed for Elyra, and Mia replied with an emphatic of course!

    OConnell sighed because Sahsha Delyer had given notice that, if Mia was going with the Fifth Fleet, she was going, too.

    Mia sighed. Guess we have no choice, then.

    So, its you and Sahsha, huh?

    Oh, Beth its not like that. Sahsha and I have known each other for years. There were just too manyplications. You know

    Well, there are definitely hearts breaking out there.

    Oh, shut up.

    We can, you know, strand her here.

    Mia chuckled. Yes, we could do that, she said, but can you imagine Sahsha on the warpath, which is what wed get if we do that.

    OConnellughed. Well, we wouldnt want that.

    Oh, Chief Haskell has also repaired your suit by grafting a pressure cuff above the elbow and then grafting a regr suit sleeve and glove to it. Hell make you a new one from scratch once you get rid of that. She gestured at the device on her arm.

    Before all of this is over, I might need several suits.

    Okay.

    That was a joke, Beth.

    Oh.

    Wait. What did the doctors say about me? Do I have to stay in bed or something, or can I go?

    Nothing new. Major damage to the brachioradials and flexors,pletely crushed radius but the ulna is mostly okay. Your brachial artery was totally shredded as well as most of the tendons and nerve clusters so theyre practically regrowing you a new arm. Will probably take two weeks.

    Thats it?

    You also lost almost two liters of blood. Thank God for your suit and your little Telcontari friends, or you might have bled out.

    Okay. So I can transfer out to the Shepherd?

    Aye, sir. As soon as youre ready. Today if you want. Just take it slow.

    -----

    You sure you wanna do this? Sahsha asked. She helped Mia shrug into her dress blues jacket. It was a little difficult to get the metal tank on her left arm through the sleeve.

    Yeah. And who had the idea of me wearing dress blues?

    That was me.

    Why, for Gods sake?

    Trust me. Youll understand. She helped her with her dress sword and belt, and then over the belt went the red sash.

    Okay, sexy. Youre all set. Lets go.

    Lets go, Mia agreed. But go slow. Us grannies need to take it easy. Can I lean on you while we walk to the barge?

    Lean on me all you like, Mia.

    With Sahshas help, Mia got up off the bed and they made their way to the lounge.

    As they were about to step out into the passageway, Sahsha switched on Mias dress sword. For effect, she said to Mia. And they stepped out.

    Outside, they couldnt help notice that the passageway was lined with people.

    I told you to keep my leaving quiet. Mia whispered to Sahsha.

    Its not my fault. I think it was your little friends, Mumu and Pinpin. They leaked the news.

    I should have known.

    Mia looked at the people lining the aisles and they all broke into apuse.

    Who taught them about pping? Mia whispered.

    Wanna guess?

    Mia sighed. She turned to them and bowed. It was more like a short bob but that was all she could manage, and the apuse and cheering doubled in volume.

    Mia and Sahsha walked their slow, frail way to the nearby airlock, and the people would bow as they passed, almost like a curtsey.

    Thats probably Rens handiwork, Sahsha whispered to Mia.

    They saw Ren and Tasha, both in spacesuits, but without the helmets.

    Mia smiled. What are you two doing here? Mia chuckled. Pray tell you are going with us?

    What else, Mia, Tasha said. You dont think youre getting rid of us that easily. The both of them gave her hugs.

    Well, for what its worth, Im actually d.

    Reena isnt too happy about it, Ren said.

    Why, for goodness sake?

    Well, it wont help her having the boss looking over her shoulder again, he nodded toward Tasha. Mia and Sahsha chuckled that Ren was learning new Earth terms and idioms.

    How about Daxx and the First Ambassador?

    You couldnt keep them away if you tried, Tasha nodded down the aisle to the two mismatched sophonts walking towards them. They were also in their suits.

    I am pleased to see you, my friend, Daxx said and bowed. Mia bowed as well.

    Admiral, the First Ambassador said, arms akimbo in what they knew was a gesture of happiness. I am so pleased to see you ambtory. He proffered an antenna and Mia touched the tip with her finger.

    All of us together again, eh?

    The Tirosians and Detterex better watch out, Daxx said, and they allughed.

    True.

    A Daemon approached the group.

    My Lords anddies, the Daemon said, and bowed.

    Sahsha couldnt help but be reminded again of lions from the Serengeti, and wanted to reach out to stroke the aliens silky-looking mane.

    My Lord, Mia said, and bowed.

    If I may express dismay at your injury, and that you incurred it in service to the Federation. I believe you have rescued our gctic alliance from shattering into pieces. You have aplished what none in the Federation could do, and here you are, again flying into harms way, in defense of our Federation citizens yet again. I do not wish to keep you from your appointed destiny, but I wanted to say something that will no doubt please you, and perhaps help you in your mission. I wish to say that I have received word from the homeworld, courtesy of the crew of the Shepherd Moon. With all the recent events, and the immeasurable debt we have to you, My Lady, and to the people of the Earth, all of the Daemon Territories dere their fullest support for your cause. In the next Assembly, I shall announce that we are dering war on the Tiros Empire. Our forces are yours tomand to end the dual threat of the Detterex and the Tirosians.

    The people that were crowding around them fell silent, and a quiet murmuring spread hearing the Daemons'' announcement.

    Mia bowed and extended her uninjured right hand.

    For the first time, an Earther and a Daemon shook hands.

    I am pleased, My Lord. Thank you.

    The Daemon grinned in satisfaction and stepped back to allow the little group to move on.

    Eventually, they reached the airlock at the end of the passage. Mias admirals barge was just outside, moored and waiting. Standing by the airlock waiting were the representative from Star 453-A, and Mumu and Pinpin.

    Mia and Sahsha paused and bowed.

    My Lord, Mia said. It is pleasant to see you.

    It is most pleasant to see you as well, Lady Amelia, the cyborg said.

    Mumu and Pinpin moved to the front and gave Mia hugs.

    Careful, my dears, Miaughed. Youre liable to tip me over.

    Sophonts, the tall robotic alien chided gently, and the two let go, a little chagrined, and stepped back.

    I know you all need to depart, but I have momentous news from the Council of Custodians that I am sure you would want to hear before you leave us.

    Mia bowed. We are listening, My Lord.

    He raised a robotic hand to the crowd, and they all quieted down to listen.

    Friends and fellow sophonts, the cyborg said in formal tones, I am deeply sorry to do this not in Assembly, but we had no choice. The Lady Amelia is on her way to again fly to the defense of Federation worlds, and we did not wish to dy her, hence this hastily-organized announcement.

    Upon consulting with my peers in the council, he announced to everyone present, and upon consulting with the Office of Protocol, we have judged the character of the people of the Earth by the example of the members of their race that have helped the Federation in such an immeasurable way. Their adeptness in navigating the maze of the Federations rules and principles speak well of their knowledge of Gctic culture, and their cleverness in adapting to them. Their unfailing politeness and considerateness in their interactions with the Federations representatives, as well as their sophistication in interpreting, appreciating and understandingplex issues of culture,merce and war have shown that these sophonts are more than ready to join the Gctic Federation of Free Races. And in consideration of this, after an unprecedentedly short sixteen sr days, the Council of Custodians therefore unanimously dere that Earths probationary period is now ended.

    A roar of approval and apuse greeted this. The cyborg raised his hand again.

    Know that we have already informed the Chamber of Migration and Peerage of this. This means that the Earth now has the full right of representation in the Assembly. They also have the full right to establish a full diplomatic mission on Colossus, and the right to request the establishment of embassies on any Federation world. The Chamber of Migration and Peerage shall therefore be reviewing our findings and rmendations shortly, and hopefully, before next Rotation, we shall be able to wee the Earth and her colonies as full and permanent members of the Federation. Dear gentlebeings, please express your congrattions to our Earther friends, and wee them into our ranks!

    In deference to Mias frail condition, the people kept their distance and satisfied themselves with Earther-style apuse. Others bowed while a few knelt.

    Mia, despite her condition, bowed to the crowd, Elyran style, bowing low with her fist on her heart. She bowed to the cyborg, and hugged the little Telcontari.

    We wish that you reconsider, Mistress, Pinpin said to her.

    Yes, Mistress, Mumu said. Please let use with you.

    My dears, no. You have work here. With everything that has happened, your role is even more vital.

    Chi-Chi is sufficiently in authority to take over for us, Mistress.

    Mia grunted a bit and knelt on one knee so that she would be eye-level with them.

    Pinpin. Mumu. There really is nothing to be done. If it were left to me, I would wee you to my crew with open arms. But Telcontari have arger role yet to y. Tell your fellows that fate has given you and your fellow Telcontari an important role. You are the gatekeepers of the Federation. You must make sure that none will abuse their power to the detriment of Federation citizens. You must make sure that the Federations rules areplied with, but more than that, that the spirit of the Federation charter is observed, cherished and celebrated. You did not ask for this responsibility but it is yours now. There are no others that can do it.

    Mistress, Pinpin cried and keened like a little child whose heart was breaking.

    Mia looked up at the tall cyborg.

    My Lord, Mia said, with eyes shining, I have no right to ask, but will you look after my little friends? They are but babes, thrown into the wilderness. Will you take them under your tutge and protection?

    The tall robotic alien approached her. He put his robotic hand on her shoulder and nodded. He knew the affectation and deliberately copied it.

    You may count on me, noble warrior, he whispered in his electronic-sounding voice. I am humbled by your example. Do not worry. We shall be there for them, and for all Telcontari.

    He gently pulled the two Telcontari away.

    Let go, children. Let your mistress go. She has ces to be.

    The two moved back and Mia stood.

    After a final wave, she and Sahsha stepped into the airlock, and then into the barge.

    In minutes, the modified shuttle pulled away slowly and gracefully spun. As soon as it was oriented properly, its engines fired up and emitted an electric blue glow. Everyone watched it move up and away to rendezvous with its mothership.

    -----

    The Fifth Fleet and five other Elyran cruisers started on their month-long trip to Elyra prime. They flew in close formation such that they could remain in contact with each other. Of course close formation is rtive  they maintained over a thousand kilometers of distance between each.

    Yes, they had over a month to travel to Elyra, but having worked with Reena during their weeks-long sublight trip from Saturn to Earth, the Earthers knew enough of Elyran systems now so they were able to fine-tune the Elyrans engines and improve their eleration and deceleration. As for Cruiser 99, the little round ship was an Arachnian ship. So the First Ambassador facilitated the transfer of information and the Earthers were able to do the same adjustments for them. After the tune-up waspleted, Cruiser 99s systems were improved by at least thirty percent. They also did the same to Daxxs three Dixx ships.

    The Fifth Fleet ships and the five Elyran cruisers were able to reduce their travel time to less than three weeks instead of a month. This was enough time, however, for the Fifth Fleet veterans to familiarize the other ships, including Cruiser 99, with how EarthForce did things. Also, during down-time, they were able to share Earth music and Earth TV, along with an eclectic mix of Dixx, Arachnian and Elyran entertainment with each other. Such things were part of how they were able to gel the crewmembers into a more cohesive and cooperative team. But what everyone wanted to hear about during breaks were stories about Earth and the Earthers. The First Ambassador, Ren, Ben and Sahsha took it upon themselves to talk about their time together on Earth, with Tasha, Admiral Daxx and Mia herself sitting in on a few of thesete-night talks. Mia couldnt do much while she was recovering, so it was a way for her to keep busy.

    Much of the Elyrans time was spent on drills. For the Earthers, it was an eye-opener dealing with seven whole Elyran crews all together. They learned how mission-focused the Elyrans could be and it upped the ante for them. The Earthers found themselves drilling and practicing more, lest their moreid-back attitude reflect badly on them.

    Given the hyped-up status of their people, OConnell and the other shipmanders decided to capitalize on the high esprit-de-corps and instituted simted joint formations and joint missions based on scenarios that Mia and the strategy teams formted, and before they arrived in Elyra, they became quite familiar with the capabilities of each squadron, their machines and their people.

    Meanwhile, Earth continued to send updates on the invading fleets. Their telemetry showed that the enemy was on-track to arriving in the Elyran system in about two months time, whereas the ones en route to Dixx and Arachnia would be arriving between six to eight months. This indicated that these ships came from one massive fleet that split up into three. Given Elyra was the outermost of the three targeteds and therefore the closest to the enemy, naturally, it would be the first toe under attack.

    Their turnover times meant Mia and crew would be arriving about a month ahead of the enemy. Which might give them sufficient time to regroup and strategize.

    All of these timing issues and things like improving engine efficiencies were a bit confusing to Sahsha so, during OConnells break periods, the captain tried to exin it: In normal space, Newton said for every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. Earths pre-FTL ships, as well as Federation and Empire ships, achieved motion by the ejection of some material, whether that be in the form of thebustion of hydrogen, ejection of ionized sma or whatever. This method was effective for elerations while below light speed. However, while in normal space, traveling faster than light was not possible because of ever-increasing mass, and infinite mass required infinite energy, which wasnt possible.

    What the FTL drives did was that they reduced the perceptible mass of an object traveling at the speed of light to its sublight dimensions, and therefore kept everything within their field in the same rtivistic ne as normal space.

    The thing about it was, this effect would not work below light speed. When the engines are engaged while in normal space, the ships rtivistic aspect is already at normal mass, so the drive, in effect, didn''t do anything.

    The FTL would only work at velocities when there were sufficient rtivistic effects. For the current technology, this was about sixty percent the speed of light, although the Earth version could work at somewhat lower velocities by virtue of more precise controls.

    Simrly, the Earther inertia converters also only worked within a certain velocity range or rtivistic mass.

    OConnell also exined that because FTL engines are ineffective below light speed, Federation ships use their conventional sublight systems: mostly they use variations of ion drives. Such engine technologies were the same used in the old J-ss cruisers (which was what the Shepherd Moon used to be before being upgraded) and the so-called Enterprise-ss fusion-ion ships. Federation and Empire ships therefore had two kinds of engines  the FTL for travel above light speed, and the ion engine for normal-space sublight velocities.

    On the other hand, Earth FTL ships actually used their FTL engines for sublight as well. During sublight, they generated artificial gravity simr to what gravity tes generate instead of the gravity fields that fold space. In fact, their smallships use this kind of propulsion too (and because of this, their pilots have erroneously called Eagle and Cobra engines FTL engines as well).

    Sahsha couldnt follow her at that point anymore, so she just raised her hands in surrender. Im more confused, she said. I give up!

    OConnellughed at that.

    -----

    While en route to Elyra, the Earthers got regr updates from the Telcontari about the goings-on in Colossus. Mumu and Pinpin asked Nick and Commander Iyanda to ry their messages up to the Shepherd Moon.

    Thetest news from Colossus showed that there were a lot of things happening over there, the likes of which no one had seen in a long time, the biggest piece of news having to do with the Dravidians.

    The move to impeach the Dravidians was starting to gather steam, and if it pushed through, it would be the first time for such a thing to happen in eons. Even the possibility of such a thing had the Dravidians in a panic, so, in a move never seen in the history of the Federation, the Dravidians had voluntarily resigned their custodianship of the Federation government. No race had ever voluntarily given up their custodianship, probably because it would be a long while before they got the chance to govern again  theyd have to wait for the raffle for the next rotation.

    But since the Dravidians were thest in line for the current rotation and had only ten more Earth years to go on their current tenure, it was a natural assumption that the timetable for the next raffle would just be moved up. However, the officers from the Chamber of Migration and Peerage said it was impractical to do so: after so many eons, the schedule for the raffle and subsequent rotation and turnover was already so intertwined in Federation life, it would be very disruptive if the schedule was changed. Nick told Pinpin it was sort of simr to someone trying to change the date for Christmas or something. Pinpin didnt understand it but she said that being around Nick allowed them to learn more about Earthers everyday. Miaughed at that.

    The representative from Star 453-A had a suggestion, which was met with very strong opposition by the Dravidians and Erocii. This was to allot the remainder of the Dravidians remaining time to the Telcontari. After all, they were already doing much of the work to administer the Federation government so it wouldnt change things much, and it was only for ten years.

    The Erocii representative said that there were no precedents for such a motion.

    The cyborg agreed, therefore, as per the rules, only a unanimous vote would do. He called the question and asked for a vote. After an impassioned speech by Nick (it was the first time for the Earthers to speak before the Federation in the capacity of a fellow delegate),uding the bravery,mitment and ability of the Telcontari, but mostly their impartiality andmitment to uphold gctic traditions andw, the result of the vote that followed was unanimous, although the Dravidians and Erocii were the final ones to vote.

    The Erocii representative then brought up the question of who would take over as apprentices since the Telcontari would vacate that position. Surely no race would want to assume so menial a role.

    The cyborg responded to that for now, perhaps it might be well to see if the Earthers would consent to take up the role. This would be beneficial in two ways  that the Earthers would have practical experience with Federation processes, methods, protocols and institutions, and would shortcut their period of limatization. And, besides, by tradition, the role falls to the newest Federation member, anyway.

    This time, the Telcontari Ambassador, Lulu, spoke up for the Earthers. He said that though the Earthers might feel the role to be beneath them, he agreed that this was the quickest opportunity to integrate their newest members into the Federation family. He went on to say that, as the interim administrators, he and his fellow Telcontari would be honored to be able to work side by side with the Earthers. He could only imagine the kind of heights that the Federation could reach with the Earthers as part of Colossus administration.

    The motion was again passed with an overwhelming majority, with only a dozen races abstaining. Not surprisingly, the Dravidians and Erocii were the final ones to vote again. After the vote, the Telcontari then asked the Earthers to speak.

    Nick stood and bowed deeply. He spoke eloquently, and expressed how humbled and proud he was for the support of the gathered assembly. He promised to contact Lady Amelia and Secretary-General Romarkin immediately, and would have their response for the Assembly shortly.

    As to the question of dering war on the Tirosians, many of the members were of the opinion that, insofar as all the events that had unfolded so far, no direct attacks had been made on any Federation world and they could not justify a deration of war. A few expressed the point of view that the Tirosians had essentially done this when they invaded the Earth System and opened fire on Elyran, Arachnian and Dixx spacecraft.

    The cyborg representative of Star 453-A asked if the Telcontari could hazard an opinion.

    The Erocii protested that the Telcontari were notpetent to hazard any opinions.

    The cyborg replied that, on the contrary, Pinpin and Mumu, the directors of the Office of Protocol, had shown their expert knowledge on Federation rules and conventions, and invited them to speak. Besides, he said, they represented the Office of Protocol.

    Mumu, the more junior of the two, stood and exined that, using the resolutions of the Assembly over the past one hundred Elyran years as precedents, the circumstances could be rationalized either way. Ultimately, it would be a personal decision of each individual representative, using her wisdom to divine the proper path for her people.

    The cyborg asked what his personal assessment was. Mumu deferred to the Telcontari ambassador and said that it was improper for him to preempt him. Lulu pinged to say that he was giving him leave to speak.

    Mumu bowed deeply in deference and gratitude. He then expressed his sorrow, but he would have to say that he was more inclined to defer the decision to dere war by the Federation. Such a motion would have wide-ranging repercussions. Unlike the decision to dere war on the Detterex, which was fairly straightforward, dering war on the Tirosians on the other hand was not too clear. Even the invasion of the Earth system could be argued that it happened before the Earthers became members, and the Federation might not be involved in the circumstances that precipitated the invasion.

    He did say, however, that he would rmend to his leadership that, like the Daemons, Telcontar should dere war on the Tirosians, based on the circumstantial evidence of collusion between them and the Detterex, but more to express solidarity with Dixx, Elyra, Arachnia, Earth, and Daemon.

    The entire Assembly apuded his short but very erudite speech, and a call to defer the matter was passed.

 Chapter 27: Elyra Prime

    Chapter 27: Elyra Prime

    <strong>The Death of Arvan </strong>

    Naturally, of course, the news was also received on Earth. And after in-depth consultation with the leadership, and a long consulting session with Mumu, Pinpin and the Telcontari ambassador (Mumu and Pinpin were beside themselves in excitement), Secretary-General Romarkin informed Nick, and Miater on, that the Earth had decided to ept the role. Nick was to announce this decision during the next Assembly.

    As of that time, the Elyra-bound ships had reached the end of their short, three-week journey.

    After a short forty-hour sublight trip, the fifteen ships arrived at Elyra Prime, the second of fifteen around their yellow primary. The system was unusually crowded but it only had one gas giant  the tenth from their sun (number eleven to fifteen could be considered dwarfs, per the Earthers ssification system, simr to their own Pluto, and crossed their equivalent of a very, very sparse asteroid belt regrly). But the one thing it didnt have much of were asteroids and other rocky flotsam, which was notmon to other systems.

    However, itss did have more than their normal share of moons. Elyra Prime itself had eight moons, and Star Harbor was based on the secondrgest of these moons.

    Star Harbor was Elyras main garrison and main port for their military, and as such, was the home of the singlergest fleet in the Federation. This was where Mias ships were escorted to. At the moment, a fourth of the Elyran fleet was moored in Star Harbor, plus the ships sent by the Federation. With all of the ships now on Elyra, it made everyone feel invincible.

    As for the Fifth Fleet, theyported themselves as a separate group. The seven Elyran crews took their instructions from Princess Tasha, but she usually deferred to Mia. Mia, knowing her need to maintain cohesiveness in the her little coalition squadron, made sure to course all her instructions through Tasha, the First Ambassador or Daxx, except when they directly asked for instructions.

    -----

    The first order of business was to brief all the leaders of Elyra Prime, so Mia asked all themanders to apany herside. Theary government had set aside thergest coliseum on the for a special summit, and they got there before the bulk of the attendees.

    All of themanders of all the ships and their first officers, plus Mia, Tasha, Ren, Daxx and the First Ambassador, met with the gatheredary military and civilian leaders. For the sake of time, many of the normal civilities that Elyrans were so fond of were dispensed with, though they did have the ceremonial drinking of krahnng, wine or their equivalents, and they began their briefing.

    Mia was asked to speak first so that she could brief the gathered leaders about the approaching enemy. Thank goodness the tank on her arm had been taken off already, otherwise, shed be deathly embarrassed.

    Because of the limitations caused by the Curtain of Light, Mia exined that they couldnt get much information about the enemy, but at least they could see the general proximity of the enemy to the system in real-time. Tasha then took the floor and briefed everyone about the enemys new tactic of using suicide shuttles with disguised nuclear weapons. Also, with the reports from EarthForce, Tasha reported that they seemed to have updated this tactic during the attack on Earth, that it wasnt just shuttles that could be made into a bomb but any kind of smallship, evenparatively tiny fighters.

    Admiral Daxx then took over and briefed everyone about the force that they had just brought over from Colossus: seventeen capital ships - seven Elyran, six Earther, three Dixx and one Arachnian. Together with the twenty-one Elyran capital ships (or twenty-five in base-8) already moored in Star Harbor and the twelve other assorted ships (or fourteen in base-8) that the other Federation nations had sent, Elyra Prime now had fifty capital ships at her beck and call (or sixty-two in base-8). It felt like Homing Month to most of the poption (or Fleet Week for the Earthers).

    The impending attack wasnt much talked about yet as they covered these items.

    After which, Princess Mara Dorian-Kerr briefed everyone of the state of affairs on the, outlining the defenses that they had at the ready, which included the firepower of all the capital ships avable, and all theary defenses they had set up.

    They then took a two-hour break for rest and a meal, and so that everyone could absorb all the information they had just been given.

    During the break, Tasha brought her friends over to Mias table, and introduced them to Mia and OConnell.

    Tasha was making a special effort at rapprochement with Princess Mara Dorian-Kerr, the leader of the Great Northern Kingdom, the second most powerful kingdom on the, so she introduced her first. She had then introduced Ambassador Fal of the First Colony and her husband, Micah. Though Fal wasnt a royal, she was Tashas best friend. Beside her was Princess an, the ruler of Everon, theirrgest and most powerful off-world colony. Princess Thssa of Harcon, the next most-powerful kingdom on the, also came over, with her mate and Princess Rahda of Petri in tow.

    Mia bowed Elyran-style but it seemed Tasha and Ren had briefed her Elyran friends. They all held out their hands for an Earther-style handshake. It became oddly quiet after that, and it made Mia nervous. Especially with Tasha on the side giggling.

    All right, Tash, she said, whats so funny? Mia paused, a little chagrined. She didnt mean to call her Tash. Mia didnt know if Tasha was offended. She just continued to giggle.

    Oh, Mia, she said, smiling. I will not tell. Mia humorously put her hands on her hips and huffed theatrically. The gathered leaders did not miss the byy.

    If I may, My Lords and Ladies, Mia said, taking her turn, I would like to introduce Elizabeth OConnell, captain of the Shepherd Moon and my second-inmand.

    Greetings, Captain, Mara said and shook hands with her. Would it be allowable to ask, if you are mated to the Lady Amelia?

    No, My Lady, OConnell replied nervously. But she is mymander, and also my friend.

    Mara looked slightly confused.

    Ben moved forward. If I may, My Lady, Ren interjected, and waited for permission.

    Mara nodded.

    My Lady, unlike us, in Earth military organizations, it is actually not an epted practice for subordinates to be married or partnered with their superior. He then bowed towards OConnell. Pardon our question, Captain. In our culture, married couples are partners in almost all things. So, in military hierarchies, it is extremelymon that leaders would have their partners reporting to them. It is actually extremely unusual for leaders not to have their partners with them.

    I see. Thank you, My Lord.

    Ren bowed.

    Mia then introduced the rest of hermand staff, and as they exchanged pleasantries and shared wine and krahnng, Sahsha came over. Mia leaned down and Sahsha whispered to her.

    My Lords anddies, Mia said, theyre ready to begin again, and she followed Sahsha back to their area.

    So Mara quietly said to OConnell, and gestured to the Mia and Sahsha. Are they She left it hanging.

    Ummm, yes, OConnell said, but they arent really spreading that around?

    It is a secret?

    Well, no Its just something that theyre not telling people as a matter of course.

    Is it because the little one reports to the Lady Amelia?

    OConnell chuckled. Oh, no. Sahshas a civilian. She reports to the Secretary-General, not to the Admiral.

    Mara nodded. Is it because they are both female?

    Not at all! Ummm are same-sex rtionships not epted in Elyran society?

    Mara looked at OConnell, not understanding the question. What do you mean? Why would that matter?

    But you were asking about

    I was just wondering. Because there will be no children from this union, I suppose? Does Lady Amelia not want heirs?

    OConnell shrugged. I think thats not something theyre worried about at this point. Right now, everyone is focused on the Detterex and Tirosian menace.

    Well spoken, Captain.

    But Im curious, My Lady: how did you know?

    She shrugged. I do not understand the question. Isnt it obvious?

    OConnell felt she wasnt understanding the situation. She was clearly out of her depth. At times like these, Nick would have been great to have around. She tried to change the subject.

    I guess I was wondering how an Elyran picked up on it Anyway, I think we need to get back. Its time to strategize. We have less than a month before the enemy arrives.

    True. It was indeed a pleasure to have met you, Captain. I am pleased to have a fellow warrior and sword maiden with us to help us guide the people to victory. She held out her hand and, when OConnell reached out as well, Mara didnt go for her hand in a handshake but rather gripped her forearm. OConnell did the same. After a little bit, Mara let go, and OConnell did likewise. She didnt know the significance, and just nodded to the alien and continued on to her seat, just as Mara went to hers.

    -----

    As nning for the impending invasion continued, there were many ideas thrown about. The main stumbling blocks were the EM suppression field and the use of atomics (as the Federation people called them).

    The first thing they decided to aplish was to establish the size of the enemy squadron. Capitaine Dupont exined that there is no way for Earth tech to determine that since the curtain of light disallowed radio and other detection. The only way to know was via optical inspection, which was not possible while above lightspeed, and when in sublight, one needed to get close enough. However, there were a handful of educated guesses they could make. One was that, since the apparent size of the EM suppression field was roughly the same size as the one that theyst saw on Colossus, it was reasonable to assume a squadron of the same size.

    Another was that since there was only one EM suppression field, the enemy would being in from one direction only.

    Capitaine Dupont, assisted by the First Ambassador, stood and used a long stick pointer to point at the image on therge screen where an animation of the Elyran system and the iing enemy was shown. Dupont would have preferred aser pointer but he managed with the stick.

    He exined that, given the trajectory, the enemy would be approaching in the direction of an empty part of the system that was in direct line to Elyra Prime. At this time of the year, there were nos or otherary bodies in that region of space where the enemy was going to go through. The nearestary body was about thirty million kilometers away. That meant another assumption could be made  that the enemy intended to fly straight to Elyra Prime instead of going around Elyras sun or some other strategies they''d seen the enemy use before.

    A fourth assumption could be made, though it was a bit of a stretch  that their target was Star Harbor. And, given they were attacking the heart of Elyra, one of the most powerful Federation races with thergest single fleet, a fifth assumption was that this was a suicide mission  the enemy was not expecting to get out of this. It was yet another suicide squadron. That gave everyone pause.

    Princess an, the ruler of the Everon Colony, then took the floor to say said that, regardless of the EM suppression, all of the enemys smallships need to be terminated on sight, so any strategy must be designed around that consideration.

    Princess Rahda took the floor this time, and brought up a very disturbing thought. She said that, since the enemy squadron was a suicide squadron, why couldnt they not use their cruisers themselves to deliver the atomics. This therefore meant that none of the enemy ships must be allowed to approach any poption center.

    Mara therefore dered that a perimeter must be established, and the enemy must not be allowed to breach that perimeter.

    Mia then brought up another unsettling idea  that they might need to use atomics themselves. An uproar greeted this idea.

    Ren called for order, and most of the Elyrans settled down. Tasha was a bit irritated since Ren caught the eye of many of the people in the crowd. It was amon thing, but Tasha had never really gotten adjusted to it. One of the words that Tasha had learned from the Earthers was hottie. Her beloved Ren was an incredible hottie and she just had to learn to ept it.

    After order was restored, Ren turned the floor over back to Mia.

    Mia had several ideas. They were all extremely unorthodox and everyone marveled at the genius of them. Mias audacity, and bold and imaginative approach to the problem were first greeted with suspicion but as they discussed them, they thought Mia brilliant, with an almost-instinctive grasp of space battle tactics and an almost encyclopedic knowledge of theirs and the enemys ships and technology. For the rest of the night and the following day, they documented their strategies and appointed and assigned roles. By the third day, they were ready to organize.

    They knew that they wouldn''t be able tomunicate through the EM suppression field, and none of the other ships except those from the Fifth Fleet hadserms. Mia had therefore made up a code using the six visible spectral colors  violet, blue, green, yellow, orange and red, plus white. It turned out the others could see other colors of the spectrum, but they remained within the Earthers spectral range. The n was they would signal each other using rocket res in these seven colors fired in specific patterns and towards specific directions. None of the aliens had thought of using such an archaic, some even said primitive, way ofmunicating, but they all thought it was brilliant.

    At the appointed time, Operation Messiah was put in effect and all of the ships flew off in their assigned directions - all except for the Talon and the Shepherd Moon, which remained.

    The Federation ships flew away, pregnant with missile ordnance they had requisitioned from Star Harbors stores. The Earther ships had to make do with the ordnance they were already carrying since they couldnt adapt Federation missiles to their systems.

    The Shepherd Moon and the Talon stayed in Star Harbors docks, to be coated with ayer of ck powder that stuck to the surface of the ships via a static field. At the same time, thergest number of rocket-powered orbital missile gunships the Elyrans could muster were brought up from thes surface. At the harbor, they were all coated with the t-ck paint-powder in the same way, and their rockets were reced with ion thrusters.

    It took several weeks for the work to be finished, and the Talon and the Shepherd Moon eventually took off from Star Harbor with thergest fleet of missile gunships the Elyrans had ever seen. They used Elyra Primes other moon to slingshot the gunships in a fast trajectory towards the enemy. The trip was interminably slow since Talon and the Shepherd Moon had to pace themselves so theyd be able to apany the gunships, but everything was so meticulously nned they got to their appointed ce in plenty of time.

    As soon as they arrived at the predetermined area, they all maintained station-keeping, arrayed themselves like an old-fashioned roadblock, and put themselves in the way of the enemy.

    In the meantime, Star Harbor, Elyra Prime and all the Elyran colony worlds had deployed theirary defenses and hunkered down for a siege.

    -----

    Eventually, the enemy arrived. Talon, the Shepherd Moon, and their fleet of repurposed orbital gunships were arranged in front of the enemy, blocking their path. Their color-absorbing t-ck color had camouged them from the enemy. Normally such a trick wouldnt have worked, but in the absence of sensors, the enemy was reduced to visual detection. And to the enemy, it was like Talon, Shepherd Moon and the gunships werent there.

    They opened fire as soon as the enemy was in range. As expected, in the lead were about half a dozen shuttles, the suicide nuclear bombs, so Talon, Shepherd and their gunships opened fire on them. As soon as they turned the static off, their coating fell away in patches, but the camouge had already fulfilled its purpose.

    What Mia didnt tell her allies was that the Shepherd activated her own EM suppression field as soon as the enemy came into range. The danger of the enemy using atomics against them was therefore removed. Of course, to everyone, the disappearance of their deflector fields andmunications was because the enemy just maxxed out their curtain of light.

    As soon as the shuttle-bombs were obliterated, Mia and Tashas gunship squadron shifted targets and opened fire on the cruisers. The sheer density of the missile attack was such that the enemy was forced to brake, which was possible by then since they had already decelerated sufficiently. They valiantly tried to protect themselves against the onught but the surprise attack and the volume of missiles got through their defenses, and they did terrible damage to the ships at the leading edge.

    But the enemy, which turned out to be a fleet of twelve Detterex and twelve Tirosian cruisers, plus one tanker ship, were eventually able to regroup. As soon as the first wave of missiles passed, they returned fire. Shepherd Moon used her rail guns to shoot down all the enemy missiles that she could while the rest continued their bombardment. The enemy was hard put to defend against the extremely dense waves of missiles.

    This impasse continued for several long minutes, with the Elyrans losing several gunships while the enemy sustained severe damage. By then Reenas people reported that they could see the other Federation-Earth ships approaching, as nned.

    As nned, these reinforcement ships approached the enemy in four directions: the enemy fleets port and starboard sides as well as below and overhead. Emting the intruder that attacked Colossus, they were traveling at their highest sublight velocities. As soon as the enemy was in range, they let fly the maximum number of missiles that they could deploy, in as many waves as they could, catching the enemy unawares as they zoomed past.

    The two-way pincers attack was totally new to the Empiremanders (and the Federationmanders as well, actually), and they could not defend against it. The Detterex and Tirosian ships did their best to shake off the new missiles but they werent able to fire their anti-missiles in time, and their ships reeled from the enormous attack. They were, however, able to fire missiles at the rapidly-escaping Federation and Fifth Fleet ships, but they were flying too fast. Just like the intruder that had attacked Colossus, the ships just cut through the exploding missiles mostly unscathed. The same effect also protected them from friendly fire, and they flew through Talons and Shepherds own missiles with the same indifference.

    At that point, most of the enemy ships started faltering, yet Talon, Shepherd and their gunships continued to pour it on. Seeing an opening at their rear, the one vector that had not been covered, the ships that were still capable of it, pirouetted one hundred eighty degrees. But thest group of Federation and Fifth Fleet ships had been approaching from that end.

    Not moving as fast as the other four groups, thisst one approached at more normal speeds. This was arger group, too  this one constituted a third of their fleet.

    They had let lose their own missile wave in yet another pincer attack with the Talon and Shepherds group. At the moment, the concern was to not get hit by friendly fire. But by arranging their ships in a predetermined pattern, and using pre-set firing patterns, they were able to continue their attack at full-throttle without hitting each other. The Shepherd fired colored signal res to signal which patterns to use, and they continued to decimate the enemy.

    Eventually, there was no more return fire and the Fifth Fleet and Federation ships deployed their fighters to administer the coup de grace.

    But from the middle of the now-derelict ships, two suddenly emerged from the broken sea of Detterex and Tirosian ships.

    Because of the suddenness, none of them were able to react, and by the time they were able to send most of their ships after them, the two surviving enemy ships were already elerating fast, and fast approaching transition out of ship-maneuverable, and also in an escape trajectory out of the system.

    Knowing Detterex and Tirosian physiologies, they knew that their crews were probably suffering, if not already dead. What they were doing was totally lost on Mia.

    The other enemy ships were non-reactive anymore, sitting there like real derelict ships, but Mia and the others werent taking chances. Earther Eagle fighters, along with dozens and dozens of Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian fighters flew over, around and through them looking for any more resistance, but there was nothing anymore. Mia felt it was safe enough to turn off her EM suppression field, and when they did, they found out that the enemy had also lost its own EM suppression field, too.

    Communications were suddenly restored, and deflectors started to work again.

    But, as the fighters were inspecting things, yet another ship burst through.

    This one, a Detterex corvette - small, maneuverable and lightly armed, roared through the Shepherds and Talons formation of gunships, and made straight for Elyra. With newly-activated deflectors, the cruiser just barreled through the gunships and ignored everything.

    Withmunications restored, the Shepherd used one of its disposable Phase-Wave transmitters and sent a message to Star Harbor that one enemy ship had survived and was on its way to Elyra Prime. Shepherd Moon and the Talon were about to give chase, but the Elyrans should prepare.

    The earlier two ships were clearly a red herring, meant to lure the bulk of the defenders ships away, which they did, and this allowed this new one to get through.

    The thing was, even with the enhanced engines of the Shepherd Moon, and with the Talons tuned-up systems, they had no hope of getting ahead of this one, which was traveling headlong in a suicidally fast trajectory towards Elyra. Patrol boats were therefore deployed from Elyra and all the lunar bases.

    Hourster, at the midpoint between Elyra and the remnants of the enemy fleet, Mia and her people were expecting the Detterex ship to start decelerating, but it continued to elerate.

    Mia discussed the situation with OConnell, Tasha, Ren, and Reena. OConnell reported the intruder was still continuing its eleration. It was like it was trying to transition to light speed, but if it didn''t adjust its trajectory, its just going to m into Elyra at incredibly speeds.

    Tasha asked what the implication of that was. Mia said that such an impact would definitely cause several geological and weather effects. It could definitely disrupt thes ecosystem that, in the long run, could cause incalcble damage to the biosphere. Whats more worrying is that, an impact with an object travelling at such speeds could conceivably cause a-ending catastrophe.

    She went into lecture mode and told her alien friends about what Earth scientists called the Chicxulub Impactor, and how it crashed into their homeworld about 66 million Earth years ago, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. That might happen to Elyra, too if the enemy ended up crashing into it. And with the higher velocities that it could reach, the cataclysm might end up being even worse.

    Ren was familiar with the theory of the effect of suchrgeary impactors on thriving biospheres, and wanted to hear more about it, as well as the dinosaurs. But Tasha told him to concentrate on the problem at hand.

    Truth be told, Tasha, Mia said, there is no way to prevent the impact, but we can prevent an extinction-level impact. What I need is your advice on how?

    What are you thinking, Mia? Ren asked.

    As I can see it, we need to break up the intruder into smaller fragments so that even if the fragments enter the Elyran atmosphere and impact the ground, the kic energy of the fragments would be so much less individually. However, my concern is that the total energy it has would still be transferred to the biosphere.

    I agree. But at least it it will not be a world-ending catastrophe. How do we do this?

    Well, we could use atomics

    No! Tasha said.

    But

    Mia, there are two reasons not to use atomics, Ren said, the least of which are the conventions against their use, and the firestorm of public outrage it would cause. The more important reason, however, is that the debris will be radioactive, and that may be as dangerous as your Chicxulub impactor.

    We have technology that can remove radiation contamination

    I know. Nevertheless, it may take time to bring it to the.

    Mia looked stubborn.

    Do you have other options, My Lady, Reena said.

    Well, we cant really bombard the enemy  its traveling too fast. The Colossus effect

    Colossus effect?

    The effect the Colossus intruder exhibited when it was traveling in high sublight  it was practically immune to missile attacks.

    So what can we do?

    We can put something in its way. Preferably several somethings of high density and mass.

    I suppose we can contact Star Harbor, and ask them to assist.

    All right. Mia then faced OConnell. Captain?

    Aye, Admiral.

    Get your people to crunch the numbers and pass it on to Tasha.

    Aye.

    -----

    Tasha, care of the Shepherd Moon, sent a message to Star Harbor, with all the information that Star Harbor needed. They also warned that another EM suppression field woulde on shortly. They needed the field to deactivate the enemys sensors and defense fields in order for the n to work.

    Because of the short time avable, the people of Star Harbor got to work right away. In the short time that they had, they were able to tow their entire supply of battleship-grade steel tes to the predetermined coordinates (it wasnt too far away from them, only a thousand miles, so it wasnt too difficult) and riveted them together into multiyered tes a half-square mile wide each. What took time was bolting them together, and creating as many half-mile square tes as they could make. They were then arranged like a stack of cards in a deck, with about twenty miles of space in between each. But they didnt have too many of the tes so, to supplement them, they towed the hulls of the four ships presently under construction in Star Harbor. As the hulls were being towed in ce, another crew used the remaining powder coating they had left over and painted the first of the tes in t ck.

    So, in the middle of empty space now floated four steel tes a half-mile square each, all in a row. At the end of the row floated four empty ships hulls, also arranged in a row. And they did all this work without the benefit of radiomunications.

    All of this had depleted Star Harbors stores so the storesmaster hoped this was all worth it.

    And, as soon as they were done, the Elyran crews vacated the area. They hoped the enemy would arrive soon because the tes and ship hulls had already started to drift, but they didnt need to worry.

    The intruder arrived and, as per the n, the intruder smashed into the first metal te with a detonation like a fairlyrge nuclear device. But that wasnt enough topletely stop the intruder.

    In quick session, the ship smashed into the other three tes, and eventually plowed into the four ships hulls, each time detonating as more of its kic energy was released by each collision. By the time it had smashed into the fourth hull, the ship had fragmented into small pieces of flotsam and jetsam already, and had lost a lot of its speed and inertial energy.

    Though a substantial amount of the rubble still flew towards Elyra, they didnt pose the same threat as before. The fragments were small, and their velocity was now less than a hundred kilometers per hour. After a month, they should provide very spectacr meteor showers. This was not a dinosaur killer situation anymore.

    As nned, Shepherd Moon switched off the EM field, and they could use their Phase-Wave sensors again.

    The Shepherds detection officer whooped and turned to her captain with a thumbs-up. Were free and clear, Skipper!

    OConnell sighed.

    Inform all the other ships, she said to herm officer. Tell them

    Skipper! the detection officer called again.

    OConnell turned. What is it?

    Im seeing something. I dont know what it is

    Call the admiral to the bridge, and give me a close-up of that thing, whatever it is.

    When Mia arrived on the bridge, she went straight to the detection area.

    So, lets see this mysterious thing, Mia said.

    OConnell stepped back to let Mia see the screen.

    That looks like a lifeboat or escape pod.

    Several lifeboats, actually, OConnell said.

    Show me a tactical projection.

    The detection officer pressed some buttons and it showed the clustered lifeboats moving towards Elyra, but instead of a direct course, it was on a curving path around the. It was a masterful piece of astrogation as it allowed thes gravity to capture it and its atmosphere to reduce its velocity.

    Change the resolution to ten minutes per frame, Mia instructed, and they watched the speeded-upputer animation show that the lifeboats would circle the several times but eventually woulde down.

    A close-up map showed that the lifeboats wouldnd somewhere in the middletitudes.

    Beth, Mia said. I think you should call the other ships, but the first one to call should be Talon.

    Aye.

    -----

    The Shepherd Moon and the Talon continued on to Elyra, the whole time tracking the progress of the enemy lifeboats. Several patrol boats were dispatched from Star Harbor and the surface to try and intercept them.

    No one could have survived the collision so everyone had assumed that the eight lifeboats were empty, and it was a malfunctioning ship that caused them to be ejected. But as the patrol boats got close, the lifeboats opened fire with pulse guns. When the first patrol boats were shot down, the others moved back.

    It was assumed that the proximity defenses of the lifeboats were damaged, so they gave them a wide berth and decided to take care of these tiny malfunctioning ships after re-entry, that is if they didnt crashnd or burn up by then.

    But the lifeboats executed a controlled re-entry, and they started to purposefully move in a specific direction. As best as they could tell, the boats were making for the Great ins Kingdom, maybe even the capital.

    The authorities were still not ready to give up on the idea that the lifeboats were empty, but OConnell sent a message saying they were receiving signals from each.

    -----

    Police and rescue craft were dispatched to where the boats had softnded, and everyone waited with bated breath for the officers to report, but after twenty minutes of silence, when the police vehicles started moving but there was still nomunication, it set off rms all over the entire region.

    A kind of high-speed chase ensued. However, the civilian police force was outssed. These were well-trained Detterex warriors and, even though the police were provided air support, the intruders were still able to weave through the capital city with impunity, causing casualties where they went, even while they were trying to shoot down their air pursuers.

    A call went out to the nearby military garrisons, and they sent out several squads to capture the enemy. It was especially urgent since the enemy seemed to be making for the Royal Pce.

    By that time, Talon and Shepherd Moon had arrived.

    Showing great skill, Reena was able to maneuver Talon into an orbit simr to the ones the lifeboats executed, and the ship zoomed around and around the as the centrifugal-centripetal effects of the orbit and her thrusters slowly bled off her velocity.

    As for Shepherd Moon, she didnt need to do any fancy maneuvers and just decelerated directly.

    By that time, Mia and OConnell, apanied by a squad of fully-armored Marines, left the Shepherd onboard the Admirals Barge. Tasha and a squadron of her fighters also roared out of the Talon and made for the pce.

    An overflight of the pce showed that it was in an uproar, and the enemy seemed to have been cornered in the southern tower given the people surrounding it. Mia, Tasha and their shipsnded in the middle courtyard, where the hijacked police vehicles were abandoned. Mia and OConnell ran down the barges ramp and towards where Tasha and some of her pilots were milling about and going through the police cruisers. Princess! Mia called, and ran up to Tasha. She saw her pained expression. What, Tash! What is it?

    Mia, she said, and held up several chrome tubes andponents. The Detterex have a nuclear weapon.

    Are you sure?

    These are the parts of a Tirosian atomic bomb. They assembled it right here and have probably brought it into the pce.

    If its a bomb, why not detonate it right away?

    I dont know, but Mia. But if theres even a possibility that they have atomics

    Mia nodded, dug into her armor and brought out her CC. Commander Kajima.

    This is Kajima. Yes, sir.

    Activate the EM field, Commander. A five hundred mile diameter field. Do it now.

    Admiral?

    No questions, Commander. Now!

    Aye!

    A few secondster, her CCsms cut out.

    Mia faced Tasha. An EM suppression field is in effect now, Princess. If they have a bomb, it wont work.

    Ive been meaning to ask about that. Earthers have the Curtain of Light?

    Yes. Just like the Elyrans have it.

    Tashaughed at that.

    Okay, Mia said, what do we do about the Detterex?

    They went to the South Tower. The Queen is usually there. It is my thought that they are after her.

    The Queen?

    Rens mother. The queen of all Elyra.

    Lets go, then.

    The Earther and Elyran warriors sprinted for the South Towers entrance.

    The milling Elyrans, many of them part of the royal court, moved aside to let them through, and they pounded up the stairway going to the upper chambers, passing several of the elite Elyran guards and some Detterex soldiers dead or dying. Clearly the fight had been fierce and brutal.

    At the top, they met with several of the guard who were stopping people from approaching or going through. An elder Elyran male was struggling with some of the guards.

    Warriors! Tasha called. What are you doing! Enough!

    The soldiers looked towards them and recognized Tasha.

    Lady Tasha!

    Warrior. Whats

    Its His Royal Majesty, Princess. Hes

    The old man turned and saw her.

    Tasha! the man called. Daughter, tell these soldiers to let me pass!

    Tasha re-sheathed her sword and ran to embrace him.

    Father.

    The Detterex have her, Tasha. I must go to her! I must

    I understand, Father. But you should not. You will only put her in danger.

    But

    She kissed him on the cheek. I will go and bring her back, My Lord. She turned to the guards. Are there any other Detterex in the pce?

    The lead guard shook her head. None, My Lady. Only the ones in there remain.

    How many?

    Two eights and two, My Lady. They are holding The Queen and herdy-in-waiting.

    Tasha nodded. Warriors, keep your liege safe. I will rescue The Queen.

    They bowed.

    That woman with you the king gestured to Mia.

    Tasha gestured towards Mia. My father, this is the Lady Amelia Catherine Steele of Earth. Shemands the Fifth Fleet of EarthForce; she is a friend of all Elyra, and my kinswoman.

    Mia knew this was an important moment, and that she had to make a good impression. She bowed in a stylized form that shed seen in an old movie. She knelt on her left knee, held the hilt of her sword in her left hand with tip of her glowing de on the floor, and bowed.

    Your Royal Highness, she said.

    The man ran to her.

    You are the Earther warrior, he said. Save my wife, My Lady. Please.

    She stood. Tasha and I will, Your Highness.

    Tasha and her pilots, and Mia and her Marines, split into two groups, and crept up on either side of the passageway. Eventually, they reached the doors at the end. Carefully and quietly, Mias soldiers hunkered down and slowly pulled away the bodies of the Detterex warriors and Elyran guards piled against it.

    Tasha then carefully pushed the door open with her sword de.

    Just as the door started to move, a very loud detonation reverberated down the hallway, and a three-foot wide hole in the massive wooden door appeared.

    This is Tasha, Royal Princess of Elyra! Tasha called. You have our mother. Give her up and we will let you live.

    A Elyran-sounding female voiceughed.

    So, its the little princess, the voice answered in Detterex. To Mia, Detterex was almost exactly like Elyran, except for a different cadence and ent. But neither Elyran nor Detterex would admit that.

    I am pleased you are here, the voice continued. I thought you would still be with the Earthers. How is your ship, Tasha? Thest time we met, your little rag-tag squadron was up in mes. Did you have to beg a ride?

    The Talon is quite fine. She is overhead, in fact. Unlike your fleet. Do you know, none of your ships survived the battle, as well as those you sent to Earth?

    That was greeted with silence.

    Speaking of which, the voice said, no doubt your very inventive strategies were courtesy of the Earthers. No Elyran could have managed. Tell me, is she here?

    Who are you referring to?

    You know who  the Earther captain. Is she with you?

    Mia signaled to Tasha and pointed to herself. Tasha nodded.

    Yes, Princess Arvan, Mia said. I am here. Please let the queen go. I promise we will be lenient.

    The Detterex princessughed in derision. Clearly, you do not know Detterex as well as you think you do, Earther.

    Mia made several gestures to her Marines and half of them quietly crept backwards and then presumably back down to the courtyard.

    You must know you cannot get away, Princess, Mia said. There is no escape. At the very least, allow us to help you survive this ordeal.

    Is this Lord Norgas idea, Princess? Tasha said. Such a despicable act can only be the idea of your husband. A Royal would never do this.

    Shut up, Elyran! Arvan grated. You dont know what youre talking about!

    You have no way out. Your weapons are useless, you have nomunications, and your bomb does not work.

    Ahhh. You have heard about my n. Mia and Tasha grimly nodded to each other. They didnt deny it. Mia signaled her people to don their helmets.

    What is this n? Tasha asked Arvan.

    Never mind. All that you need to know is that you will provide us with an FTL-capable craft, that you will allow us passage frm this, that you will do all of this, otherwise, say goodbye to the queen.

    Mia looked at her wrist, and nodded to Tasha.

    Another of Lord Norgas brilliant ideas, no doubt, Tasha said.

    You Elyran bitch!

    Now! Mia cried in English.

    Mia and her Marines rushed through the broken doors and winged the Detterex soldiers with their guns while the Marines that had scaled the walls of the tower fired through the windows. The Detterex were extremely surprised that the Earthers weapons were still working, so they were easy targets. Many of them were downed with capped knees while others suffered from near-fatal wounds to their vulnerable shoulders and arms (unlike the Earth Marines, their armor did not protect their legs, shoulders or arms).

    Weapons down! Mia yelled to the Detterex while Tasha and the others rushed through the doorway with swords out. Before the Detterex knew it, they were all disarmed and were now gathered in one corner of the room at gunpoint. The Detterex princess remained in the middle of the room holding the Elyran queen. Over on the far side by a window was Norga, holding the queensdy-in-waiting with the tip of a sword.

    I am sorry, My Mother, Tasha said.

    There is no need, my child. You have made me so proud, and I cannot love you any more than I do now. My Ren chose well.

    Quiet, Arvan growled.

    You be quiet, rebel, the queen said, referring to Arvan with the old ng word for Detterex. You cannot stop me from speaking, and you cannot stop my daughter. You will not live past today. Know that, and set your mind to that inevitability.

    Well, you will not survive the day, too, old hag, Arvan said and buried her sword in the queens belly.

    The queen screamed in agony.

    Arvan threw the queen at Tasha and jumped through one of the windows.

    Norga threw the queens assistant at Mia and did the same  he jumped through the window.

    Mia ran to the window Arvan leaped through. She looked below and saw the two standing already. Many of the guards had rushed to them and were now dueling it out with the two Detterex. Like all Detterex, the tall couple was about 2.2 meters tall while the Elyrans were just a trifle over 1.5 meters. With their reach, the Elyrans werent able to get close enough. Mia was only a little over 1.8 meters herself. If she had to go into a sword-fight with these two, shed be in a heap of trouble. At least the Elyrans seemed to be holding their own.

    She calcted things. If the Detterex standard gravity was 0.9 G while Elyra was 0.8 G, and if these two survived their jump, then shed probably survive. She jumped.

    -----

    Tasha cradled the queen and told her soldiers to fetch the medical people.

    Mother, she sobbed. Nooo...

    The old woman chuckled feebly. There you go, again, Tasha, she whispered hoarsely. Always jumping to conclusions. I am yet alive.

    Tasha touched her face. Quiet, Mother. Conserve your

    Oh, do be quiet child, and fetch my husband.

    It wasnt needed. The king had rushed through the doors and went directly to His Queen.

    My bag! he screamed and one of the guards handed him what an Earther would have called a doctors bag. He was a licensed healer, after all. In fact he was the dean of the Royal Institutes of Health and Medicine. And it was his standing order that someone will always have his bag close by at all times.

    You old woman, the king said fondly as he worked on her. You never could say quiet.

    You love it, she said, and chuckled weakly.

    I love you. Now be quiet.

    Father Tasha said.

    Hush, child. Keep her steady while I work.

    Please hurry.

    Oh, Tasha, the queen said, allow the man to work.

    All right, mother, she said, and continued to talk to distract her. Im sorry. Ren will no doubt be here soon. And the Lady Amelia is after the two Detterex. Shell get them. Mark my words. After all this, I want to introduce you to her. I think youd like her. Would you like that? Mother? Mother!

    The king put his hand on her arm. Tasha, Ive put her to sleep. Ive stopped the bleeding for now. Now, we need to get her to the hospital.

    A moment, Father. She gestured to one of the Marines. Warrior, she called. Come here!

    The soldier rushed to her. This one knew Elyran enough to understand.

    Yes, My Lady.

    Is there a way to contact the Shepherd Moon? We need to turn off the EM field now. Theres no danger anymore. She pointed to the abandoned nuclear weapon.

    The soldier saluted. Aye, My Lady. Ill go to the shuttle and have them transmit aserm. Can I bring that?

    Why?

    Were under orders to space the bomb, just in case its been booby trapped.

    Tasha struggled with the mixed Earther-Elyran speech. She was d Ren had been teaching her the Earther phrases and idioms he knew, and understood what spacing something was, and what a booby trap was.

    Go ahead, warrior, she said. But do it quickly.

    The soldier saluted. He pointed to a couple of other Marines and, together, they gingerly lifted the crate-sized bomb and walked out.

    Guard, she said, and pointed to one of the Royal Guards. Help your Eartherrades bring the bomb to their shuttle. Clear the way for them. Do it quickly. Do it well.

    As My Ladymands. She bowed and rushed after the Marines.

    Someone brought a gurney and they slowly walked to out the room with the queen.

    Marines, Tasha said to the Earthers. Who is the most senior?

    A sergeant raised her hand.

    You are in charge, then. Watch over the prisoners. Someone will be by to you, but for now, they are your responsibility. Is that clear?

    Crystal clear, My Lady, she saluted

    Tasha saluted the soldier Earth-style and rushed after her father-inw.

    -----

    Mianded with a dull thud, but she miscalcted. She would surely have broken her legs or her knees, but it was the ground that saved her from injury  it was extremely soft, porous and springy. She fell on her side, and worried that she''d damaged her sword.

    But she couldnt worry about that now, because Norga saw her and started running headlong towards her.

    She breathed a sigh of eptance, plugged the power cable into her sword and braced herself.

    Norga had a mace and arge broadsword. He swung the mace around over his head, and with a movement of his wrist, the mace started descending towards her. Mia rolled to her right and the spiked metal ball buried itself in the spongy ground where she''d just been.

    Mia stood, bringing her gun up. Norga struggled to pull his mace out of the sod but the mace was stuck like it was buried in soft y. He decided to leave it and, with a warriors scream, he charged Mia.

    Mia instinctively fired her gun and hit Norga squarely in the face.

    Nooo! Arvan screamed as she saw her husband fall. She swept the Elyrans harassing her with her sword; they all fell back, and she rushed to her husbands side, literally throwing Mia away.

    She grabbed Norga by the shoulders and shook him. Dont die! she screamed. Dont die! Bastard, dont die!

    But as she held him up, she felt the life leave him. Nooo!

    Mia looked at her in sympathy. I didnt mean to kill him, she thought, but this is war She didnt know how tofort this woman.

    Im sorry, Princess, she said.

    Kill me, Arvan grated.

    Theres nothing that can be done.

    Kill me! she said.

    Princess, dont say that.

    Kill me now. Before the madness begins!

    Madness? I dont

    If you dont kill me, she screamed, Ill make you! With a wild yell, she rushed Mia with her sword extended.

    Mia didnt have a choice. She raised her glowing sword, tried to parry the tall aliens sword only to cut the de off, and stabbed her through the abdomen as she fell headlong into Mia.

    Unnaturally, there was no gout of blood. Her swordsser cauterized most of the wound, but it was fatal nevertheless. Her thrust hit several organs, and severed the spine. Arvan fell over backward at the break and hit the ground.

    Mia rushed to her side. She was still alive, whereas an Earther wouldnt be.

    Im sorry, Princess, Mia said. What else could she say?

    Im not, she said, barely audible. You have freed me from bondage.

    Ill get you to the healers

    No need, she whispered. Its toote. But thank you.

    But I

    You killed that pig, my husband.

    Your husband

    You are a worthy adversary. Well met, Princess.

    I am not a

    I would ask a boon, Princess. After all of this, will you bring me home?

    Hold on. The healers will be here in moments.

    Arvan reached up and pulled her closer. With her hand on the back of Mias head, Arvan pulled her down and kissed her.

    Mias eyes flew open. She was surprised to say the least. But she didnt dare pull away. The woman was dying, after all.

    They were right, Arvan whispered. You are a very strong bridge, and quite attractive. If only I had met you before Norga She kissed Mia again. And as they were kissing, the Detterex princess passed away.

    Minutester that was how the healers found them, with the dead princess in Mias arms, and Mia quietly crying and holding her. The medics gave her space while they took Norga away, but eventually took the dead princess from her arms. A couple of Marines stood by and waited patiently. After a few moments, she shook herself and walked away.

    -----

    The medics were talking to each other as they drove away.

    So that was the Earther princess, the driver said to his partners.

    Indeed, one of the medics said. She was as impressive as Ive heard. One against two. And against the Detterex princess and her diator, no less. And the duel was quite short as well.

    It was?

    The other nodded. The witnesses said that itsted barely a few moments. And

    And?

    The Earther princess. She was holding the Detterex princess in her arms as she died. She was crying.

    They drove on in silence.

    The Earther was kind and merciful.

    The other nodded.

    <strong>Princess Amelia </strong>

    The entire system was in a party mood as they celebrated the unmitigated victory they just had over the Detterex and Tirosians. Only the Elyran leadership really worried about the fact that it wasnt over yet. But, for now, it was a time of rejoicing.

    The handful of Detterex soldiers that they were able to capture at the South Tower were the only survivors of the invasion. Over 6,000 had died on the enemys sidepared to about a hundred gunship pilots, and the fifty police, royal guards and citizens that perished trying to stop Arvan and her people after theynded.

    Included in the list of casualties were the Detterex Princess Arvan and her husband, the Lord Norga, at the direct hands of the Earther princess. Arvan and Norga were the heirs apparent to the Royal Detterex Family so, to the Elyrans, Mia was like a hero, even more than she was before, because it was at her hand that the queen- and king-to-be of the Detterex Empire were killed.

    But the details of thest moments of Arvan had circted as well. That Mia had shed tears for her enemy showed that the Earther didnt kill with impunity, and tried to preserve the dignity of her enemy. Rumor had been circting that she had actually killed the Detterex princess out of mercy: the pain of separation from her bridge could have actually driven the Detterex princess to madness, and ending her life was a kindness.

    They said that Mia knew she had to do it, but was reluctant. Her kindness to the enemy was therefore ording to the teachings of the Great Messiah, that it rang with the mythos of what it was to be Elyran.

    The peoples hearts had gone out to the Earther princess, and many came calling at the royal apartment that was allotted to her. The Marines at the door were forced to turn them all away, but they did ept the gifts they left in her behalf. Another apartment right beside hers had to be cleared and used as a storage area for all the gifts.

    Mia had locked herself in for the moment because she didnt know what else to do. She had made a mistake yet again, though she didnt exactly understand what it was. This was not the way to maintain a low profile.

    She was virtually trapped in her room now since she wouldnt be able to step outside without being mobbed, and she so wanted to see the sights of Elyra.

    Still, with Phase-Wave and the portablem system from the barge, she was still able to do her work.

    Earlier on, their people had taken the non-working bomb out into orbit. They had then ejected it towards open space, and then sent aserm sh towards the Shepherd. They sent a message back and said they''d wait until the bomb was far enough away to not be a danger to anyone. They sent their remainingplement of Mud Turtle shuttles out to establish a perimeter around the bomb and make sure no one crossed it. When it was judged far enough away, the shuttles were all recalled and the EM suppression field was turned off.

    And, as they feared, there was an electrical trigger in the bomb. Once the field was gone, the trigger switched on and the atomic bomb exploded.

    That was thest of the tricks that the Detterex had up their sleeves, and everything had started to return to normal. Tasha was praised for her quick thinking, and her EarthForce rank of Admiral was quite fortuitous as it allowed her to instruct the Earthers properly and on time. She, of course, said that it was really the Earthers that thought to bring the bomb out into space, but that didnt diminish the reputation she had started to gain.

    As for Mias part, she had to document the detonation asplete as possible, and to transmit it to the Federation ASAP.

    The fleet of fifty ships had returned to Star Harbor, and its stores were again strained to resupply all the ships. As for the Earth ships, all they requisitioned were billets of iron or steel, which they used to manufacture their own ammunition onboard. This, however, opened another surfeit of rumors. The storesmaster asked what all the steel would be used for, and researched what an electromaic projectileuncher waster.

    There were other things that needed to be done, but most of them were just the minutia ofmand. Mia missed Nick since he would normally take care of all of this. But he was currently back on Colossus acting as the Earths interim ambassador, so Mia had to do for herself. She had to find a new adjutant soon.

    As soon as Mia had some free time, she called Sahsha, asking if she could pass by. Mia asked Tasha to bring Ben along, too, if possible.

    Ten minutester, Sahsha and Ben were delivered to her doorstep via royal carriage. Mia marveled at the splendidly-appointed vehicle, and the fact that they were brought here in ten minutes. Mia supposed that this was normal for life in the pce, and weed the two in.

    She plied the two with what was avable in the little pantry her hosts had provided, and settled down.

    But Sahsha didnt beat around the bush and asked what was wrong.

    Apparently, Mia had been watching the Elyran news and wanted to understand what the entire thing with the Detterex was - what all the hubaloo was about the death of Arvan and Norga, and how it rted to her.

    Apparently, Ben and Sahsha had been getting along well and had been sharing insights and information because it was Sahsha who took it upon herself to exin.

    As Sahsha exined it, at the core of the situation was the idea of bridges. It seemed that Elyrans had a sense or an ability that Earthers didnt seem to have, and was ignorant of it at the moment.

    It was a kind of telempathic quality of Elyrans that they were able to sense in each other, and this had a direct rtion to their attractiveness to each other. The entire poption all had this quality to a certain extent, but it was usually very minimal. However, the telempathic quality of about a fourth of the poption was so strong that it was almost physically palpable. These individuals were called bridges, and partnerships or marriages (forck of a better word) with such individuals were highly sought. The Elyrans called this the bond.

    Naturally, bridges looked for matches with fellow bridges (although there were partnerships where only one was a bridge, these were extremely umon).

    In such partnerships, the bond was usually between a dominant bridge and a partner submissive bridge. Sahsha supposed that the dominant bridge was the more active or, actually, the one that preferred to dictate how the rtionship would be, whereas the submissive was the more passive one that sublimated her wants and needs and preferences under her partners. Sahsha said that, of course, the more powerful one was the bridge, and such partnerships were considered matches made in heaven.

    Ben corrected her, saying that the dominant bridge wasnt necessarily the one in control or the more powerful bridge, but Sahsha couldnt get the subtle nuances of the rtionship Ben was trying to exin.

    Ben exined that, yes, the one dictating the particrs of the rtionship would be the dominant bridge, but as Mia listened, Ben rified that a submissive bridge could actually be the one in control  after all, control would be with the one who had the stronger telempathic power, and a submissive with the stronger power could actually just be allowing the dominant to structure the rtionship ording to her preferences, and that doesnt mean shed given up control.

    Ben said there were no submissive-submissive rtionships but, as she thought about it, Mia realized a submissive-submissive bond could never happen. Even if the natural inclination of a bridge were to be a submissive, if she partnered with a less powerful fellow bridge, she would probably allow her partner to dictate things, and thereby making that other one the dominant, and thereby freeing her to be what she wanted to be  the submissive in the bond.

    But the negative side of powerful bonds was that a kind of emotional dependence develops between the pair. For those with very strong telempathic powers, losing ones partner was so extremely traumatic that the person would descend into a kind of violent madness. Death was much more preferred so that the person would be spared the loss of her mind, and the loss of her dignity. So, although bonds with powerful bridges were sought, they were also dangerous.

    So thats what Arvan meant Mia thought. That I was actually freeing her from madness

    Therefore, everyone viewed Mias execution of the Princess Arvan as a kindness - something that others might not have done for her given that she was Detterex. Mia had shamed Elyrans by her example, that she spared the Detterex princess the madness when the Elyrans might not have because of spite or prejudice.

    But Mia didnt really do that for her. Mia felt fresh tears roll down her eyes. If she only knew She could have avoided killing Norga. She wondered how many Detterex she and her fellow Earthers had caused to descend into madness already.

    Ben came over and hugged Mia. You did what you had to do, My Lady. And you spared her.

    But I killed Norga If I didnt

    This is war, My Lady. You did what you needed to do, but instead of leaving the princess to suffer her madness, you spared her. Others would leave Arvan to the madness, out of a sense of revenge perhaps, or as a way of venting their anger. You did not.

    I didnt really, Ben. I just didnt know

    Ben kissed her on the cheek. But you did, My Lady. Believe.

    Ben gestured to Sahsha, and she took over. She wrapped her arms around herdy love.

    Mia, Sahsha said. The Elyrans say youre a bridge. A dominant bridge, in fact. So you knew. You couldnt help knowing. You may have done what you did instinctively, but you knew.

    Sahsha

    Sahsha kissed her on the lips to stop her from speaking.

    Were all proud of you, Mia, Sahsha said. The Queen and King have even asked to meet you again. When you have the time, of course - theyre not pressuring you. In fact the entire would like to see you again.

    Is the queen all right?

    Shes still bedridden, but shes not in danger anymore.

    Mia hoarsely cleared her throat. Thats good. Maybe we should n on visiting her soon.

    Maybe, Sahsha smiled at her. But its your decision.

    Mia gave her a tight hug and a kiss.

    Thank you, Sahsha, she said. She reached for Ben and gave him a hug as well, including a kiss on the cheek.

    Thank you, Ben.

    Ben shrugged and tried to hide his reaction. It was of no consequence.

    I guess you have to go already. No doubt you have stuff to do.

    Ben nodded reluctantly. Yes, My Princess. But if you need me, call me anytime. I shall be here straight away.

    Oh, stop that, Ben, Mia said. I am no princess. I dont even know how that got started.

    Of course, My Princess, Ben said mischievously. Sahshaughed.

    Oh, shut up! Both of you!

    Giggling, Sahsha and Ben stepped out and closed her door. They made their way to their vehicle.

    Ben, Sahsha said, and put her hand on his arm. Im going back. Mia needs me. She didnt want to say it because she wanted to put up a brave front. But I dont care. She needs me.

    Ben looked at her. It had taken a while as it does with submissive bridges, but he finally saw. Sahsha was actually an incredibly powerful submissive bridge herself. It was highly unusual for a female to be a submissive but it wasnt unheard of.

    Realizing that, Ben just wanted to cuddle and kiss her. He knew he was a submissive himself (he was a male bridge, after all, as most submissives were), but it didnt matter. Ideally, it should be a dominant and a submissive together, but given their disparate levels, he and Sahsha could still be partners. Of course, despite both of them being submissives, Sahsha would probably be the dominant one in their rtionship given her stronger telempathic level (or maybe make him the dominant so she could remain the submissive), since she would be the one in control.

    Mia was right - control was with the one that had the greatest influence in the rtionship, and Ben was surprised that Mia, an alien, was able to understand the crucial difference between being dominant in a bond, and being in control.

    -----

    Ben gave her a hug. Of course, he said. Sahsha? Can I ask? Are you and her

    Sahsha gave him a nervous little smile. I dont know. I think so.

    Well, you watch out. She is an incredibly powerful dominant. You might not know what youre getting yourself into.

    She giggled. Oh, I think I do. But She became serious again. But maybe nothing like that this time. Mia needs support. Ill just hang around and be there if she needs help. I can say I just wanted to help with her paperwork or something. Can I call you if she needs help?

    Any time. You have mymunicator code?

    She nodded and went back to Mias apartment while Ben was driven away.

    -----

    The following day, Mia and Sahsha decided to go visit the queen at the hospital facility just outside the pce. Elyran castles werent surrounded by a moat or anything like that, so it was easy to go across to the hospital. What they did have inmon with Earth castles were tall, strong walls, spires, towers and arge gate.

    Mia had asked the First Ambassador and Daxx to join them but they had begged off  apparently, they had already made ns to do some sightseeing. Daxx hadnt been to Elyra before and the Ambassador had promised to tour her around the capital.

    So, it was just Mia and Sahsha this time.

    Since they were meeting the queen and king, Mia had worn her dress blues again, but wore the matching pleated white skirt instead of the white legging-style pants this time. She was informed that it was actually the summer season, so this wad the appropriatebination. Someone at the quartermasters might have goofed since she felt that the skirt was a little too short. She''d have to get a new one sometimeter.

    Because of the slightly-denser atmosphere, the Elyran sky was of a much lighter color than the sky on Earth. Instead of sky-blue, the Elyran sky was almost white but with a tinge of blue. She therefore had to wear her military-issue dark sses. Nick would have called them aviator sunsses, but Mia didnt care whatever they were called. All she wanted was to see better. As for Sahsha, she preferred her high-fashion round sunsses.

    So they stepped out for the short 20-minute walk to the hospital. Sahsha would have preferred to ride a car, but Mia insisted. She said it was a way to see more of the ce.

    As expected, there were several people who stopped to say hello. Most just bowed as they passed, as Elyrans usually did with royals. But some had seen the news videos and had learned about handshakes. It was a way to practice Earther customs and, for most, an excuse to touch the Earther princess.

    Elyran pce guards supplemented Mias Marines, and politely kept all but the most insistent well-wishers away. None persisted too much, however, especially with the tall Marines  the tall, armored Earthers intimidated simply with their mere presence.

    Nevertheless, Mia and Sahsha were very gracious and polite as they greeted the people.

    The news raced through the Elyran media channels that the tall, beautiful Lady Amelia of Earth had finallye out, and was walking to the medical facility where the queen was presently. Much attention was focused on herpanion, the shorter Earther female administrator, Sahsha Delyer. Per the information they were able to dig up, she was the liaison for the Earther ruler, Secretary-General Alexandra Romarkin, and was, shockingly, not a royal. Much was made about how freely Earther royals andmoners seemed to mingle, and this spected partnership between Mia and themoner Sahsha seemed to be the epitome of this liberal society.

    Though their rtionship didnt seem to be documented, the bystanders were able to confirm it, and the growing hordes of Earth-obsessed fans were very curious about the diminutive Earth bridge. She wasnt really diminutive  she was average by Elyran standards, but not when she was standing by Mia. She wasnt fluent in theirnguage, but her trantor more than made up for it. And she was very open and friendly.

    When they got to the hospital, they were quickly passed through and directed to the royal suite. Only a couple of Marines apanied her while the rest remained by the entrance.

    Mia! Ren said and rushed to give her a hug. Its good to see you out of that apartment.

    He pulled both of them to the king and queen, and made introductions.

    It is good to see you again, Lady Amelia, the king said and embraced her.

    Thank you, Your Highness, Mia said. All of her study of the Elyran rules of etiquette seemed useless since the queen and king didnt seem to want to observe the proprieties. She wondered if she should still bow.

    She was ushered to the side of the queen.

    Come here, child, she called.

    Mia was too tall, so she knelt by her bed.

    Your Majesty.

    Thank you for saving me.

    It was but my duty.

    Nevertheless. She pulled her down into a heartfelt embrace.

    -----

    The morning was mostly taken by pleasantries, and Mia and Sahsha got to know the royal family a little more. The queens husband constantly hovered around her, but she took it in good humor. With such excellent care, she joked, she knew that shed be up and about soon, and making life difficult for her court again. Everyoneughed.

    Mia and Sahsha were treated like family, but they tried not to be too familiar, and carefully referred to the queen and king as Your Majesties.

    Several callers came to wish the queen well, or to have a short visit, and met Mia and Sahsha. Later on, on the strength of those short introductions, some of them would im to know Mia quite well and were close friends with her. Later, this would be useful in bolstering their political standing on Elyra.

    Mia and Sahsha marveled at how basically simr things were between Elyran and Earther families. Or at least the royal ones, sheughed.

    It was a very pleasant morning, actually, but they had to cut it short because she and Tasha had a meeting.

    The five of them left the queen and king, and went down to the next city via surface vehicle for the new summit. Mia insisted. Besides, it was just an hours ride, and it was a way of seeing more of the, she said. Ben said that it was probably a mistake. News had probably already spread and theyd probably encounter a bunch of people wanting to get a peek at the Earther princess.

    Mia pshawed that away, not believing anyone would go through the bother of actually following them.

    But when they found their progress impeded by the crowds of well-wishers that lined the streets and roadways they went through, Mia finally believed it.

    She didnt want to disappoint the people who''d no doubt been waiting for a while for them to pass so she asked the windows tint to be taken out. She waved through the windows and the people cheered her and the others as they passed.

    She became silent as she waved. Such nice people, she mumbled.

    What are you thinking, Mia? Sahsha said.

    Oh, nothing much. Only that Elyrans and Earthers are basically the same. Our differences are really only skin deep.

    Tasha and Ren looked at her, and smiled gently.

    Only skin deep, Ren said, savoring the Earther idiom. I agree. He reached out to Mia to hug her, and Mia smiled, returning the sentiment.

    They arrived at the venuete. Mia extended their apologies to everyone, and they got into the swing of the meeting.

    -----

    The first thing that was discussed was the health of the Queen. Ren thanked everyone for their good wishes, and said that she was well on the way to a full recovery. Ren said that it was because of the quick thinking of his beloved wife and Elyras newest and greatest friend, the Lady Amelia, that she was rescued, and that the capital was saved from atomic destruction.

    This was greeted with a standing ovation.

    Mia and Tasha, the two best friends arms around each others shoulders (or rather, Mias arm around Tashas shoulders, and Tashas arm around Mias waist), stood and bowed to the gathered people.

    Next, Daxx gave a summary of the systems current status, the status of the fleet, and the status of the enemy. Essentially, everything was A-Okay, as the Earthers would have said, withparatively minor injuries and fatalities. All of their hopes were met, and were, in fact, exceeded.

    Inspection of the wreckage of the enemy ships did not reveal any surprises (they were obviously looking for traces of the EM suppression field technology but didnt find any, although they discovered several booby traps). The Elyrans ignored the big elephant in the room  the fact that the Earthers had the EM suppression technology. They decided to bide their time, and find out about itter. Besides, their scientists had already figured it out, more or less, and if the Dixx and the Arachnians werent asking about it

    With regards the wreckage of the enemy fleet, after inspecting and documenting everything, and after getting clearance from the various squadronmanders, Constetion deployed a nuclear weapon (the question of its use was bumped up all the way to the Admiral). They used a thermonuclear warhead instead of a run-of-the-mill atomic weapon, and it was able to get rid of all traces of the enemy fleet. (They did, however, preserve some of the wreckage for proof, and fully documented the operation.) Afterwards, they didnt need to worry about it anymore.

    Star Harbor was slowly recovering and its stores were being replenished as fast as Elyran industry could replenish them, but they still did have enough on-hand to re-stock the stores of all the ships.

    So, everything was mostly back to normal.

    And that brought them to the main point of the meeting  to discuss what to do next.

    Mara took the floor and said that the immediate danger had passed, so it was her opinion that the fleets sent by Earth and the Federation should be deployed to the next targetedary systems. The Elyrans must not monopolize the resources that their friends had shared with them, and allow them to go to those who need the most help. Furthermore, in fulfillment of theirmitments, they must provide their own share.

    This was met with great apuse, and the Elyrans decided that the five Elyran ships sent from Colossus would be supplemented by nine more, and that these fourteen cruisers would be assigned to the volunteer fleet. In total, the volunteer fleet was now twenty-six.

    As for the Fifth Fleet, Mia said that they would add their strength to the volunteer fleet as well, with only two provisos. One was that the Earth cruisers must remain on Elyra until relieved by EarthForce, and that Shepherd Moon must return to Colossus.

    Mia exined that the Federation required the regr business of Colossus to continue regardless, so EarthForce had ordered her return to fulfill the role that Earth had epted, which was to take over the role that the Telcontari would be vacating. Further, they intended to formally update the Federation on recent events and provide evidence of the involvement of the Tirosians, and that there was now sufficient cause to include them in the Federations deration of war.

    She did have a suggestion, which was to ensure one of the Earther cruisers to remain with the volunteer group of ships so that they could remain in touch (the Elyrans didnt push, but it was clear they really wanted to inquire after the Earthers instantaneousmunication technology). Other than those provisions, Mia said that EarthForce would follow the collective decision of the gatheredmanders for now.

    And the decision was for the amalgamated squadron to split into two groups, one to proceed to Dixx and the other to Arachnia.

    The Elyrans would have eleven of their cruisers remain in the system, which was judged adequate enough to protect the Elyra for the moment, while Shepherd Moon would return to Colossus.

    As they were firming up these ns, the pce issued an announcement. The queen and king had called a conve of all rulers and noble-borns of all the kingdoms, fiefdoms and colonies of Elyra, to discuss a matter vital to the race. Lady Amelia was invited as a famiriel, which is the Elyran word for a foreign ruler who will be orded all the rights and privileges given to members of the royal bloodline.

    Gathering all the rulers of the seven kingdoms of the was easily done, especially since Tasha was here already. For the sixteen colonies, eleven were represented by their rulers. For the remaining five, the royal family asked the assistance of the Earthers to contact them. (Perhaps that capability of theirs was one of the reasons why Mia was dered famiriel.)

    Responding to their queens summons, the rulers of thesest five colonies were now on the way.

    As for Mia, she looked for a reason to dy the trip back to Colossus so that she could attend the conve. Mia asked Ben its purpose, and he said that, though it wasnt officially being announced, it was the intention of the queen and king to step down from the throne.

    Mia wondered why it was even necessary, but based on the current statutes, this could only be effected by a joint act of the royal families. Sahsha exined that Elyra was a parliamentary monarchy, and part of the current statutes said that the heir apparent could not automatically assume the throne. Their history recorded many instances where political infighting between the royals almost tore their civilization apart. Now, before the one next in the line of session could assume the throne, all the rulers from the royal n must confirm her ascension. If not, a steward would be elected by acmation, and will act as the sovereign for a year, and then the next in the line of session would try for the throne, and so on. This rarely happened, however, since the next in line was almost always unanimously confirmed.

    Sahsha said that it was the closest to a real democratic monarchy that she had seen, as oxymoronic as that sounded, where the monarchs were not just figureheads, and the Elyrans had been making it work for countless millennia.

    Mia decided to dy the Shepherd Moons departure until the remaining rulers arrived and the conve was concluded. In the meantime, all Earther off-duty personnel were given an opportunity to see the sights.

    OConnell authorized the use of the shuttles to bring all the sight-seeing personnel to their appointed destinations. Everyone was, however, required to leave all their CCs and other Phase-Wave equipment onboard, but were temporarily given radio-basedmunicators as well as trantor buttons and lifesigns detectors. They were also given vouchers in case they wanted to buy something. None were allowed any sidearms, however, though they were allowed to carry their sword-arms or equivalents.

    The Earthers were instructed to be on their best behavior, and everyone would be directly answerable to the Admiral for any infraction  anything at all. This made everyone extremely polite and careful, especially after some of the crew from Engineering were caught being disrespectful of the spouses of some of the women they encountered. It was hardly necessary since the Elyran women took care of matters quite efficiently. Captain OConnell herself personally wentside to apologize for her people, and epted all penalties levied on them, which amounted to the miscreants spending the night locked up. The Elyrans just chalked it up to the Earthers not being able to hold their liquor. It was partially because of that incident that Earthers got their reputations as lightweights when it came to drinking.

    The Elyrans involved held no grudges, however, and were as cordial as ever. In fact, the crew that instigated the disturbance said that the Elyrans were acting quite friendly, in fact flirty, the whole time.

    The Admiral ordered the maximum allowable penalties for the offense, plus back-to-back shifts for a week, bread-and-water (not that the offenders were literally restricted to bread and water  it was just a term inherited from an older time), and being restricted to duty stations and quarters while in the Elyran system.

    Mias penalties could be considered excessive, but they were far from inhumane. Besides, everyone got fair warning. But that did the trick - no one wanted to lose the chance of seeing an alien so there were no further incidents.

    -----

    Mia, Sahsha, OConnell, Daxx, the First Ambassador and many of the Earther officers were asked to give interviews, and they obliged. The Earthers were very open and frank in their interviews but they were also up front about not being able to talk about certain topics. No one really minded except, perhaps, for Lady Mara and the other rulers.

    The Elyrans were very fascinated with their visitors, especially about Mia and Sahsha. The two tried to be as normal as they could, and went about their days as normally as possible until the conve.

    -----

    Ben said that the conve could be messy. The Lady Mara of the Northern Kingdom could end up blocking the proceedings, given the bad blood between her and Tasha. But it turned out to be much ado about nothing, as Earthers might say. In fact Mara was very subdued during most of the conve.

    At the conve, the queen and king had exined their reasons for stepping down  they feared that, due to age, they were not as in touch with the pulse of the people anymore and could not properly forward the peoples interests, and the queen feared that they did not have what it took anymore - her recent brush with death just emphasized this. It was time to pass the mantle.

    Princess Radha stood and expressed respectful disagreement, that her aunt and uncle were as close to the peoples heart as ever, and were as capable as Elyrans half their age. If it was truly their will, then she would respect it, but she did beg that they reconsider.

    Tasha and Ren were confirmed as the next heirs in acmation. Surprisingly, their fiercest advocate was the Princess Mara of the Northern Territory, and it was her support that swayed those that were not fully convinced of Tasha yet.

    In five years, then, per the tradition, the reigning queen and king would step down and the heirs-apparent, Princess Tasha and Prince Ren would ascend the throne.

    At the end of the conve, the queen and king made the official announcement, which was broadcast to all Elyran news outlets. As for the sixteen off-world colonies, Mia and her people used their disposable Phase-Wave transmitters to sendpressed messages to them announcing the conves oue.

    Though Ren and Tasha, by virtue of her marriage with Ren, were, by default, the next in the line of session, they could not dere themselves as the heirs apparent. But after the conve, they could now. It was just a title, but it was a harbinger of many things toe.

    By that time, Shepherd Moon was ready to depart. Talon was also also apanying her to Colossus. The Elyrans (namely Tasha and Ren) had decided to go and help the Earthers in providing evidence and witnesses to the Detterex-Tirosian invasion, and to install a new ambassador that will rece Tasha.

    -----

    The cruise back was old hat by now, and the short trip back to Colossus was totally uneventful.

    Mia and Tasha regrly kept in touch with their other ships, as well as with Daxx and the First Ambassador, while EarthForce continued to track the enemy. The most troubling were the two ships that had escaped Elyra, and they paid special attention to that. With their initial eleration, it was almost a hundred percent certain that the people onboard the ships were already dead. But that was suddenly in doubt because, sometime during their FTL flight, their FTL engines cut off, and they dropped into sublight  the nearer one first followed by the other one.

    Their direction of flight intersected several interster bodies, notably a couple of rogue asteroids. These asteroids were pretty near the paths of the two enemy fleets. When the ships hit these bodies with velocities just below light speed, they detonated with the power of several dozen or more nuclear weapons the size of the one that was left in the Elyran pce.

    That they both encountered asteroids was too much of a coincidence. The only thing they could have been were signals to the fleets ensconced in their warp fields traveling faster than light. Soon after these signals, the first group, and then the second seemed to decelerate to sublight. After which, they then changed their directions of flight. The two fleets seemed to be headed back home  one to Tiros, and the other to Detterex.

    This information wasmunicated to everyone. It seemed that a re-nning and a rethink was in order. Mias and Tashas return to Colossus seemed more appropriate now.

 Chapter 28: Endgame, One – Tiros

    Chapter 28: Endgame, One �C Tiros

    <strong>The Passing of Ren Tevann-Reshanii </strong>

    Mia and Sahsha disembarked via the Admirals Barge, and headed for their newly-ressed embassy.

    Nick met them halfway and they had a short confab in the hallway. It wasnt necessary to be briefed since they were updated so, instead, Nick insisted on visiting the Elyran Embassy so that he could personally greet the new heirs apparent.

    Mia and Sahsha were game so they decided to pass by the Embassy.

    It was the equivalent of midnight onboard Colossus, so the halls and passageways were practically deserted. Pretty soon, they were in Embassy Row, and they saw Ren and Tasha at the entrance of their embassy.

    There were hugs all around and it was a reunion of what had be fast friends. Tashas and Rens guards shrugged. They were used to this kind of thing now, especially when the Earther princess was around, so they just stepped back to allow the friends room.

    But Ren, being worried about the proprieties as usual, suggested that they continue inside the deserted embassy. He jogged on ahead, and started punching his numbers into the embassy s door lock.

    Immediately after he pressed the ept stud, the door lock exploded, knocking him across the passageway and against the wall. The explosion was so strong that many of the viewports on the floor started to crack, spiderwebs of stress fractures started to spread across many of them.

    Ren! Tasha screamed. Nooo! She rushed to his side only to discover that his neck was broken. He was already dead.

    Ren, my love, Tasha sobbed. You mustnt do this. No, no, no She held his face between her hands. Look at me, my love. Open your eyes. Look at me, dammit!

    Her guards approached her cautiously.

    My Lady one of them began.

    Tasha roared and, using the butt of her sword, hit the guard directly in the face.

    The others closed in and managed to pull her away and rip her sword and sidearm from her hands, but she just backhanded the soldiers and ran back to Ren.

    Nooo! she screamed as she held the lifeless body in her arms. You will not take my beloved from me! The soldiers backed away.

    Its the madness, one of them said. Its toote.

    But shes the crown princess now

    That doesnt matter. Prince Ren has died

    Shut your mouth! Tasha screamed. She had overheard. Ren is not dead! She leapt to them but the soldier nearest instinctively hit an emergency button and pressure bulkheads mmed down. This effectively isted Tasha from everyone. At least the station wouldn''t depressurize after the stressed hull and viewports inevitably exploded.

    The only other one that was trapped in there was Sahsha. She had jumped away from the descending bulkhead and now it was only her and Tasha in there.

    Sahsha looked at the princess, both in panic and sorrow. The Elyran was in hysterical grief. Its the madness, Sahsha thought.

    She was desperate to help the princess, but basing it on what she now knew, only death would be preferable. But could she even attempt to do what Mia did? Could she even contemte taking a life? She looked at the poor princess, and she was still screaming. There were tufts of hair in her hands, and her head was bleeding in ces. Sahsha was shocked  Tasha was literally tearing her hair out.

    Sahsha trembled. She had to try.

    Shaking, she walked slowly towards Tasha.

    My Lady, she said hoarsely. But the madwoman didnt hear.

    My Lady! Sahsha shrieked. Stop!

    Like a feral wolf, Tasha turned to her. Initially, Sahsha thought there was a glimmer of recognition in her eyes, but there was only madness.

    Tasha leaped at her, knocking her onto her back. Pain shot through Sahshas head as the back of her skull whapped against the floor.

    She shook the stars from her vision and saw the princess looking at her with feral eyes.

    Please, no, she whispered in mortal fear. And then Tasha tore Sahshas clothes away, leaving bloody prints on what was left.

    When Sahsha was mostly divested of her clothing, Tasha started to brutally caress her. The mad Elyran brutally and painfully squeezed her breasts and roughly caressed her sides. Sahsha started crying. The Elyran mashed her lips against Sahsha, but Sahsha resolutely kept her lips pursed and mouth closed. Still. The madness within Tasha was like tides washing over her. It was like acid or oil on fire. It seared Sahshas spirit, like her soul was being raped. And the thing was, she didnt know how to stop it.

    Please, Princess. Its me. Its Sahsha

    Tasha tore her panties away with one savage tug, and then roughly and brutally caressed her vulva. She started tough like a crazed creature, and lunged down to brutally kiss her again.

    It was rape. There was no other word for it. And Sahsha sobbed. No one would be able to rescue her.

    In the parts of her mind that were paying attention to the outside world, she saw the spiderwebs spreading in the viewports, and could hear the cracking of ss. At least it will end soon.

    If only someone could rescue me, she thought. Mia She tried to push Tasha away again but Tasha punched her across the jaw and knocked her out.

    At the far end of the sealed passageway, there was a minor explosion and the bulkhead there started to retreat upwards.

    It was Mia. She had used her glowing sword on the lock and was now pushing up the massive metal bulkhead.

    When it was raised high enough, Mia threw herself through the threshold and allowed the bulkhead to crash back down.

    She saw Tasha at the far end, and what she was doing to Sahsha. She was shocked. Tasha was caught in the madness. But Could she even do to Tasha what she did to Arvan?

    The sound of cracks were starting to be louder and louder, and the sound galvanized Mia into action.

    Mia sprinted towards the two. She reached down and grabbed Tasha by her cor and physically dragged both her and Sahsha to the Elyran embassy. Once through, she turned back to the door. The main lock was broken so Mia reached up and manually pulled the door closed. She then spun the manual pressure wheel lock until she felt the click. The damage to the passageway finally caused the violent rapid depressurization they were all fearing but she had locked the door in time.

    She called her people to say that the princess and Sahsha were secure.

    Then, something hit her on her back.

    She turned and found Tasha. She was attacking her, maybe for closing the door.

    Mia turned and gabbed Tasha by both her wrists and pinned her against the far wall.

    Tasha screamed and growled, and lunged at Mia with her head, mouth frothing and trying to bite her, but Mia had long arms and Tasha didnt evene close.

    Mia turned to look at Sahsha and found her lying in a heap. She was alive but unconscious. She turned back to Tasha.

    Seeing her this way broke Mias heart. The beautiful, confident and kind Tasha reduced to a cavewoman.

    Tasha, Mia said. Please. Listen to me. Listen to me.

    But she wasnt. Mia looked at her and was crying silently.

    Please, my love, Mia sobbed. Stop Stop

    In a way, she understood what Tasha was going through. A loss that was so devastating, soplete, with no way back. But there must be a way back.

    Mia could still see Ren in her minds eye  the gentle Ren. Always there helping. Always there with a kind word. Always there sharing. Always there

    The light that was Ren was extinguished, and there was no way to get him back.

    I know what you feel, Tash. Ren is gone. I loved him, too.

    Her words prated the madness. Tasha paused. And then she exploded again.

    How dare you! How dare you say you loved him! He was mine! Mine! With a force that Mia had not seen from Tasha before, she ripped her arms away from Mias grasp.

    With balled fists, she hit Mia in the abdomen.

    Mine! she cried.

    She then punched Mia again. He was mine!

    Mia just took it. There was nothing else that she could do for Tasha.

    Mine! Tasha cried and hit Mia with a punch on the jaw. Mine! She hit Mia on her jaw again, but from the other side.

    Mia was willing to endure this and more, if it meant that she took away her friends pain.

    As Tasha hit and hit and hit her, Mia enfolded the tiny Elyran in her arms.

    Nooo! Let me go! But Mia wouldnt, pinning her arms and stopping her form hitting her further.

    You alien monster! Your powers will not take Ren from me! Stop it! Let go! Let go!

    Mias tears were flowing now, and her heart was breaking for Tasha.

    Let me go! Let me let me go Tasha could feel Mias heart beating, so much slower than her own. In some magical way, it calmed her. Tashas pounding heart slowed, and started beating in counterpoint to Mias. Let me go

    Mia felt Tasha be calmer, and she hugged her closer. Shhh, my love. Shhh

    Hold me, Mia, Tasha whispered, and sobbed.

    Maybe twenty minutester, Tasha woke up in Mias arms.

    She felt the hole in her soul, raw and fresh, and could not bear to think of Ren. She felt lost and alone. Like a mother who had lost a child. Ren wasnt her child, but it was the closest she coulde to describing her feelings. She whimpered.

    Mia heard her and tightened her arms around her.

    I miss him, too, Tash, Mia whispered. And Tasha felt her tears flow again.

    Mias scent surrounded her and she feltforted. Through the fog of her depthless sorrow, she could sense Mias caring, and she felt grateful. And she felt the gates opening.

    She was familiar with this. It was like how it was with Ren. But it was different, too. When the gates opened, she saw into Mias soul, just as she knew she was bared open to Mia as well. And she felt powerful. Like she could do anything, be anything, survive anything. Everything seemed possible now, but only if she had Mia by her side.

    What a power Earthers had. It took Tashas breath away. Or maybe it was just Mia. Though she still felt sorrow, she feltfort in Mias arms. Tasha was a dominant bridge, but here was another dominant - a much more powerful one. Mias aura literally took her breath away. And she didnt mind sublimating herself under Mias need to control, but, nevertheless, Mia didnt exercise any kind of control. It was like she was allowing Tasha to do whatever she wanted. Something Tasha never thought was possible for a dominant bridge.

    Then she saw the empty stretcher beside them. They had taken Sahsha away.

    It dawned on her what she had done to Sahsha. Reluctant though she was, she disentangled herself from Mia and asked where Sahsha was. She saw her state and her mind cringed in shame.

    Where was the Lady Sahsha taken? she asked the medics.

    To the sickbay on the Shepherd, Maam.

    -----

    Sahsha woke up from the sedative. After a bit of confusion, she recognized one of the recovery rooms in Shepherd Moons sickbay. It was cramped to say the least. Space was always at a premium on ships.

    She looked around and saw Tasha sitting in a recliner beside her bed, sleeping. At first, she felt fear. But she guessed the sedatives and tranquilizers hadn''tpletely worn off. They helped to keep her fear and anger away, at least for now. But why was she here? How?

    Ben had told her that the madness was all-epassing, and those that sumbed to it were so violent that they were a danger to everyone.

    Sahsha had first experience of that now. But it only happened to people who had bridges for partners, and once they sumbed, it was irrecoverable. There was even proposed Elyran legition to have such unfortunates euthanized since the practice of isting and imprisoning them was considered barbaric and ultimately futile. But there were only a very few who actually expressed official support for this legition. Few Elyrans believed in taking the life of another, and even those few believed they should do so only as ast resort. Those that supported the legition said that it was actually thest resort for these people, but many didnt agree. Having gone through what she did, Sahsha would vote for the legition if she could, to spare the poor souls madness.

    She looked at Tasha and she saw her sleeping peacefully enough. Poor princess

    Sahsha was surprised that she wasnt more afraid of her, or angry. Perhaps it was the drugs, or maybe because she was sleeping

    As she was looking, Tasha yawned and stretched, and when she opened her eyes, Tasha saw her.

    She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and, like Ren had taught her, just after she woke up, shebed her hair first. Good evening, Sahsha, Tasha said quietly.

    And the fear was there. Sahsha moved to the edge of her bed, trying to get the most distance between her and Tasha.

    That broke Tashas heart a little.

    Im sorry, Sahsha. What I did to you  I am so sorry. I did not mean it.

    Sahshas eyes grewrge in surprise. Was her trantor working properly? What did you say? she asked.

    It was the madness, Sahsha. I could not stop myself. If I could have

    Is it gone? Are you back to being you?

    I believe so.

    But, how? I thought

    I do not know myself. I was at the edge of the precipice, but I was pulled back. I think it was Mia. Perhaps she knew there was still much to be done, and I was needed still. Perhaps

    Mia Sahsha sighed.

    I know Ren was your close friend. It gave me so much sorrow that I had hurt you. If I could take it back, I would.

    How? Sahsha asked. How is it that youre back? How did Mia

    I do not know, my dearest. All I know is that I would like to redeem myself in your eyes. I am so ashamed.

    Are you sure youre back?

    I am. She stood up and started approaching her.

    Stay back!

    I need for you to see. Please.

    But Sahsha remained skittish and wouldnt let her approach. In frustration, Tasha grabbed her gently by the shoulders. Sheid Sahsha back on her bed. The Earth girl pushed herself back into the mattress, trying to get away, but Tasha leaned over her, gently insistent but not really forcing her, and kissed her gently on the lips. It was the most gentle and most chaste of kisses, with their lips hardly touching, but something that Sahsha had never felt before passed from the Elyran princess to her.

    It wasnt a feeling, like the sense of touch or smell. It was more like an emotion, if emotion was a kind of sense. And through these emotions that cascaded down over her, Sahsha knew the shame that Tasha felt.

    And as she rifled through the emotions cascading over her, there was no trace of madness. Tasha was indeed free of that.

    As Sahsha shivered with the sheer strength of the emotional deluge, she also sensed Tashas capacity for love. It took her breath away. Somehow, Sahsha found herself opening up as well. Somehow, she knew how to do it as well.

    It was her turn to pour out her own feelings, her own emotions, straight from her heart and to Tashas. Tasha shivered as well, and, experimentally, she opened her mouth a little. Unexpectedly, Sahsha took advantage, and the kiss blossomed like a flower blooming. It was amazing and so exciting.

    It would have continued if Tasha allowed it, but her sorrow for Ren was still fresh. Sahsha seemed to sense it and didnt insist. She understood.

    And the fire that had zed like a brush fire slowly died down. Tentatively, Tasha pulled away and found Sahsha looking at her with a gentle smile. The Earther reached out and put her hand on Tashas cheek.

    Tasha smiled sadly, and burst into silent tears. Sahsha reached out and pulled her into a hug.

    Sahsha felt Tashas sadness, and yes, it felt like it was never-ending, but somehow, it wasnt iming her soul anymore. Tasha found a reservoir of strength that Sahsha knew wasnt there before. And she felt Mia. Whatever it was, Mia had rescued Tasha from a never-ending death.

    She sensed Tashas feelings for Mia, which were very close to what she felt for Mia herself. But it wasnt a selfish kind of thing. It actuallyforted her that they shared the same kind of love for the same woman.

    I will be here for you, my love, Sahsha said. The words seemed toe naturally. Always and forever, Tasha, I will be there for you.

    And I you, Tasha said. Always and forever.

    Sahsha would never have known, but the words she uttered were like the vows that Elyrans exchanged during their nuptials, and in a sense, they were married now.

    <strong>Spies in Colossus </strong>

    Courtesy of the Earthers, transmission was immediately sent back to Elyra, directly to the queen and king, and the death of Ren spread like wildfire. The royal couple was shocked that their beloved son had passed on. In their mourning, they couldnt help but think of Tasha, and wonder if she passed away mercifully and quickly. They hoped that the Earther princess helped end her torment. They sent back an inquiry, knowing that the Earthers would pick it up.

    -----

    All the Elyran rulers were still on the. Taking full advantage of the fact that all of them were still gathered together, They got a lot of business done that normally would have had to be done at ater time. Many thought that the invasion has turned into a kind of blessing.

    But the news of the tragedy had spread. The queen and king were beside themselves in grief, but for the sake of Elyra, they were organizing a new conve. As the next one in the order of ascension, the rumor was that the queen would have Princess Mara be dered the new heir-apparent.

    At this time, they received a new transmission. But it included a secret, embeddedpressed file.

    Good day, my beloved mother and father, Tasha began her secret, pre-recorded andpressed video message. In the video, she was sitting in Mias office facing the camera. Sitting beside her was Mia, and just standing over her shoulder on the opposite side was Sahsha.

    It is I, Tasha. I am so sad, sad beyond words that your son, my beloved Ren, has passed away. Please believe that I would have given my life for my beloved. But it is now toote. Impatiently, she swiped at her tears and continued.

    As you see, I am not in the grasp of the madness. My beloved Lady Amelia and my brave and gracious Lady Sahsha rescued me. Without them I would be lost to the world. It is yet another debt that I owe Mia and the Earthers.

    I beg your indulgence, Mother and Father, but I name these as my partners-in-life. As non-Elyrans, they know not what that means. I suppose I will need to exin to them, and give them time. Tashaughed a little at that.

    I wish to announce that Mia is to me as I was to Ren, and Sahsha is to me as Ren was. I know not what the future holds for myself, but I know that I shall face it together with my beloveds. I ask your blessing in this, my Mother and Father. And I care not if I would lose the throne because of this.

    The authorities on Colossus are continuing the investigation to fully ascertain who had sabotaged our embassy and caused the death of my beloved. Although we have already unearthed some very important facts, we are still investigating. I willmunicate with you immediately once it has beenpleted.

    My Mother, I will bring Ren home, perhaps in three months time. There is work yet here, but please let me know if you prefer other arrangements. Also, if I may ask for instructions from the homeworlds with regards the enemy, and the disposition of our forces.

    Tasha paused.

    Beloved Mother and Father, please do not worry for me. I am beyond the madness. I am She had to pause to collect herself. In the video, Sahsha put her hand on Tashas shoulder, and Mia moved her chair closer.

    Perhaps to others, it would look like just a normal kind of concern for a friend, but for Elyrans and Earthers, they knew it was more than just sympathy.

    Tasha cleared her throat. I am d to hear that a new conve is being convened. Whatever the family decides, I will follow. But, Your Majesties, the welfare of the people is paramount. It must take precedence to your love and concern for me. As I said, I will follow the will of the family, whatever that may be, and will be content.

    Mia and Sahsha will be attaching to this message several otherpressed files, which are copies of Federation security footage of Rens passing, and the events that were precipitated by his passing perhaps it will assist the conve in its deliberations.

    Mother and Father, please tell my aunts, uncles, cousins and peers that I wish everyone well, and I beg for your prayers that I may pull through this with mind and sanity intact. As always, my love to you.

    -----

    The news was a grievous blow, but though the Queen and King were on the edge of despair, they knew they had a duty to their people, and they put their grief aside for now until they could assure the continuation of the government and the royal line.

    In truth, the ruling Tevann-Reshanii family had been in decline for a while now, the personal holdings of the Reshanii not being the richest among the royal families anymore, and not having a female heiress to carry the name. For example, the holdings of the Great ins of the Liaran-Kerr n and the Northern Kingdom of the Dorian-Kerr wererger, and both with an heiress waiting in the wings.

    It was only because of the peoples love and sense of fealty to the queen and king that the other royal families had not demanded a conve and insisted on a change of rulership.

    The queen and king knew that the Tevann-Reshanii family name was at an end, but was pleased that Ren had formed a bond with Tasha, the heiress of the Great ins and the honorable Liaran-Kerr family, and even though their familys name may not continue, at least the future of Elyra was in good hands. It was also good that Tasha had be close to them, and that they found in her the daughter that they had always hoped for.

    They never had an opportunity to meet Tashas parents - they had been lost in a deep-space ident before she and Ren were bonded, and because of this, Tasha was never formally dered the heiress of the Liaran-Kerr line. And, because of this, Tasha would never be queen of the Great ins. It would be up to her child to assume that queenship.

    In that way, her union with Ren was also important to Tasha. It had forged their two kingdoms together and made the Great ins the most powerful in all of Elyra, and as their Heir Apparent, this would allow Tasha to be dered as Queen, not just of the Great ins but of all Elyra as well.

    But queen and king put these worries for the future aside for the moment, concentrated on the matter at hand and looked through the material Tasha had sent.

    -----

    Looking through the security footage took little time but, on the face of it, it was useless footage. But the perpetrator or perpetrators did not count on forensic scientists from Earth.

    Their analysis and enhancement of the video concluded that thest one to leave the embassy, a mid-level clerk, had done something highly suspicious. A digital close-up of the individuals hand as she punched her security number showed that, besides typing, she had attached a rectangr device to the side of the touchpads panel.

    Further enhancement of the picture showed that the device had Detterex printing on it. By the color reflection of the device, it indicated that the casing was made out of a magnesium alloy that would burn up in any resulting explosion at an extremely high thermal level. By going through Colossus library of recognition patterns, the device was identified as a Detterex military-issue detonator. And, though there was no secondary explosive, the detonator was enough to blow up the oxygen lines running beside the doorway.

    The resulting explosion would be extremely powerful and, given the timing, it was clearly intended to be triggered while no one else was in the Mission. The target was definitely Tasha and Ren.

    Tasha had asked for that particr clerk to be called, but she didnt respond. She then asked the stations security, now under Telcontari management, to locate and detain her. As the apprentices, the Earthers assisted them and quickly located the clerk. They found her attaching another device to one of the main conduits that went directly to one of the main distribution points of the stations power system. Damage there could conceivably cause a short, and that could cause most circuit breakers on the station to pop (at best) or actually cause the capacitor batteries to explode (at worst).

    In either case, Colossus could be put out ofmission for a lengthy amount of time.

    A long, epic chase ensued as the Earthers and Telcontari chased the Elyran throughout the living areas of the station, and several bystanders were injured. At the veryst moment, one of the Telcontari security people thought to short-circuit one of the emergency bulkhead doors and trap the Elyran. Sleeping gas wasnt avable so the Telcontari reduced the oxygen content in the closed-off section until the Elyran fell unconscious.

    The Telcontari then opened the istedpartment before any brain damage set in, and put restraints on the unconscious clerk. They then administered oxygen and the woman woke up.

    She was extremely tight-lipped and wasnt giving away any information.

    What was discovered, however, was that she wasnt Elyran: there were several antigens found in her blood that showed she spent a lot of time on Detterex, and her blood carriedponents unique to Detterex. This was a Detterex nt  a spy.

    Tasha talked it over with Mia. This individual was vouchsafed at the very highest levels. Princess Mara herself actually rmended her for the position. Furthermore, she had references from many senior Elyrans and royalty in the Northern Territory. What could this mean?

    Mia said that it was necessary to take things one step at a time. The first thing was to ascertain if there were other Detterex masquerading as Elyrans. Mia asked Commander Stevens, the Shepherds CMO, and Chief Haskell, the Shepherds assistant chief engineer, to work with Tashas master healer.

    There were certainponents in a Detterexs blood that were not present in Elyran blood, and this could be screened without the need for an actual blood sample. This involved utrasonics. There were also other ways  for instance, there were certain body ratios that were atypical for Elyrans but normal for Detterex. And their voices resonated in a slightly different way.

    This allowed the Earthers to create passive detectors. Chief Haskell, using the grease monkeys  the nickname for the Shepherds top-flight artificers and engineers  were able to machine-shop a detector assembly that was contained in a six-foot long metal tube. These were very unobtrusive and could be mounted anywhere they were needed. With an estimated 90% uracy, Tasha now had her Detterex detector.

    Captain OConnell requested the necessary raw materials, paid for them well above the guild standard, and had her people construct more.

    Mia asked Pinpin to help facilitate installing the tubes at main entrance points, such as the main entryways of Aonta and Shihayn, as well as the areas that Elyrans frequent  such as the Elyran and Earther embassies.

    The instation was done under the guise of repairs and, pretty soon, they were working. Tasha had also requested for several to be shuttled to the Talon, where she had them installed at many critical ess points.

    OConnell and Reena then proceeded to test all Elyrans onboard Colossus and Talon, and they were able to find five more. They didnt capture them immediately and just put them under surveince. Given enough time, they now knew the pattern of these spies and the ces they frequent. Additional detectors were then put in these locations. Tasha was confident that this conspiracy would soon be rooted out.

    Aside from being a hotshot cruiser pilot, Reena was also a trained interrogator, and under her instructions, they were able to find out these spiesmon contacts on Elyra Prime.

    What was shocking was that, apparently, Mara was a spy. Either she was Detterex masquerading as Mara and the real princess had been dead for a while, or Mara had always been a spy or a sympathizer. Either way, this spoke of espionage at the highest levels of Elyran society.

    The investigation continued.

    There were a bunch of housekeeping reports included, but Rens mother and father were tipped off that there was something extra in there because Tasha called the queen great mother, something only Ren ever did when he was making fun of her.

    The queen asked her most trustworthy people to go through thesepressed files and found one that waspressed using the queens secret cipher, known only to the immediate royal family. In secret, the queen and the king watched the decoded video, with Tashas and Mias suggestions.

    Immediately, the queen started making moves to shut Mara out of bing the next heir apparent. And she did it in ssic Ren fashion. She had Mias detectors duplicated and installed in many of the passageways in the castle. They were able to identify a handful of Detterex impostors, all of them from the Northern Kingdom.

    Through ndestine means, they were also able to have detectors installed in Seraphim, the royal castle of the Northern Kingdom, and were able to identify several more.

    -----

    In the new conve, The Queen dered Mia and Sahsha part of her royal family, and said that they had aplished what only legends said was possible  that they had redeemed an Elyran from the abyss. If just for that, they should be forever grateful. Also, she had Tasha dered aspetent, and therefore there was no reason for her to not be their heir apparent.

    Mara stood, bowed, and respectfully disagreed, saying that the princess must have a consort to hold the throne. No one had taken power in the history of all Elyra without a partner.

    The queen agreed, and said that the Lady Amelia and the Lady Sahsha were more than suited to be Tashas consorts. It would be a monarchy for the history books, she said: never had there been a trio of bridges on the throne except long ago, and that was shrouded in legend.

    Think on this, my dears, the queen said, Tasha was snatched from the edge of madness by the Warrior Queen of the Earthers and her bridge. They love my Tasha enough to open a bridge with her. Tasha is both the dominant and the submissive. Imagine it! She will be the most envied among the people.

    My dearest aunt, Mara said, that may all be true, but Tasha is not the dominant one of the three. It is the Earther, Lady Amelia. Do we submit to the rule of an offworlder?

    I have heard from Tasha. Mia and Sahsha know the ramifications of ascension to the throne. Mia and Sahsha would be willing to enter into a contract dering their intention not to seek the throne, binding until the end of time.

    This was received with silence.

    I believe these two, my dears. They are honorable women.

    There were a few that started to nod.

    Even their names are Elyran. Mia Sahsha Such wonderful, lyrical Elyran names. Do you know what Mia is in old Elyran? Emeleeyah  a light in the darkness. Sashalee  beloved of the world. It is a sign, my dears. I think we should affirm this union, and reaffirm that Tasha is our heir apparent.

    Your Highness, Mara said, what would stop the alien, (she had used the word alien deliberately anddescendingly) from enacting legition that will favor her own Earth rather than Elyra? Why would she want to help us?

    In the short time that we have known her, the queen replied, not once had she given us worry that she did not have the interests of the Elyran people as well as the peoples of the Earth in her thoughts. And it is because of her that we are even here talking, that Colossus is still intact. It is my opinion that the Earther queen will not betray us. And we have Tasha to tip the scale towards our favor if it bes necessary.

    She has not given us Phase-Wave, my queen, nor the Curtain of Light, nor their magical deceleration technology.

    Neither have we shared our own information on the Curtain of Light. I do not fault her for doing what she needs to do for Earth. Neither does she fault us for doing the same. She is a conscientious warrior.

    Mara shrugged. Contract or no, there is no stopping her from asserting her influence on our Tasha.

    We must trust Tasha to use her judgment and her heart to make the correct decisions.

    Mara shrugged. A brain-damaged bridge she muttered.

    Everyone gasped.

    The queen sighed and stood.

    I have let this farce go on long enough. I have been using our discussion to distract you, and while we talked, the pce guards have stormed the Seraphim, the Northern Territory s royal home, and captured yourrades. You! Whoever you are. You are not our Mara. You are an impostor!

    The others stood in shock.

    Whatever you and yourpatriots have done to our Mara, I will find out eventually. But you will not continue your role as an agent provocateur. You are hereby arrested, Detterex spy!

    People could see emotions y on Maras face, deciding on what to do next. She decided to pull out her sidearm and aimed it at the queen.

    As soon as she did so, sharpshooters at either end of the coliseum fired their ceremonial crossbows and hit the fake princess in the arm. She dropped her gun and decided to pull out her sword.

    Several of the royal guards who had been silently converging on her, grabbed and disarmed spy.

    The fake Mara sighed. How did you know? she asked the queen.

    The queen chuckled. I am not telling you. But know that many of yourpatriots are also being apprehended. Soon we will have you all rounded up and you will all join Arvans soldiers shortly.

    They watched the false princess marched out.

    If that was not Mara, My Queen, one of the others said, then who is she?

    I know not. All that could be ascertained was that she is Detterex.

    A Detterex

    Yes. It is our enviable condition as well as our unique peril that we and our mortal enemies are images of one another. Our information has uncovered about forty more of these posers. And we are still on the lookout for more. It pains me that there may be more of them, and it is impossible to unmask all of them. I will share with you our information shortly, as well as the information that Sasha sent that led us to the apprehension of these spies.

    I encourage all of you to investigate your own houses and to verify that there are no spies amongst your people. These are precarious times and all of us need to be vignt.

    My Queen, one of the others, this time, Fal, said, pardon me for speaking out of turn. I am not family

    Nonsense, Fal. You are family. Speak your mind, my dear.

    What of the Northern Territory?

    It shall be under the stewardship of the kingdoms high regent for now. But we must look for Mara. Even if all we do is ascertain that she has been put to death. We must find out.

    -----

    Tasha and Mia listened to the queens response to her. It was encrypted as well, but Tasha had given the decryption key to Mia.

    It seemed that she, Sahsha and Tasha were now jointly the heirs apparent to the throne of all Elyra.

    Well, Ill be Mia said. That was fast

    Rens mother has always been like that. The need to finish things quickly and decisively always seemed important, especially when she was around. Quite an irritating trait, actually, one that Ren shared with her

    Mia sensed the tears, and swept Tasha up in her arms. Learn to grieve for him, Tash, Mia said. Let it out. Sahsha and I will be with you. Let us take some of the load. Mia pulled her head towards her and gave her a gentle kiss. My love, she said.

    Tasha stayed in her arms for a while. Eventually she stirred. Mia

    What is it, Tash?

    When do we get married? Is that the right word? Married?

    Mia grinned. Whenever you want.

    Tasha grinned in delight. Ill go find Sahsha.

    Hmmm, Mia thought, and chuckled. That might be awkward. Good thing Tashas doing the asking.

    -----

    The information rocketed back to Earth, and the whole poption was goggle-eyed with the news. Earth was a little hazy with the circumstances on how it happened. All they knew was that an assassination attempt on Elyras heirs apparent had resulted in the death of Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii, prince and husband to the princess, Tasha Liaran-Kerr, and Mia and Sahsha had be co-heirs along with Tasha.

    At the very highest levels, this matter was discussed. Professor Jennifer Priestly was given a copy of the contract they were to sign, and she tried to exin it properly to Mias friends, Admiral Silverman and the Secretary-General, given she only knew a little bit about Elyran and Detterex bridges, but it seemed that Mia had managed to prevent a suicide situation with the princess, and because of this, the Elyrans had made her a co-heir.

    She tried to understand the draft of the contract that the two were about to sign. It essentially said that the three of them, acting in conjunction, would represent the Elyran race in all matters. The one that would be empowered would be Tasha, of course, though the others would also wield powers tomand and to legite, but any of their actions or pronouncements may, for any reason, be subject to censure or veto by Tasha. Also, unlike Tasha, their titles would not be hereditary, so, upon their deaths, their titles would not be passed on.

    As to a dynastic heir, Tasha had the option to find a father-donor to allow her to bear a child, or to adopt, but whatever she did, the child muste from within the current royal n, and the child must be an Elyran native. As for any children that Mia or Sahsha might bear  they would not have any royal powers, nor would they be able to inherit any kind of title. But while they were alive, they would have all the privileges of royalty without the power.

    It was very detailed and very Victorian, but the Earthers were notpetent to criticize. Besides, this was giving them a great opportunity and they did not want to look a gift horse in the mouth. They told Mia that they wholeheartedly approved.

    They also read the portion about concurrent titles and rule, and the contract allowed the royal spouses to hold other positions and titles separate from their royal titles and roles, and they would be absolved of any usations of conflicts of interest in advance  such concerns would be left to their own cognizance and conscience.

    Mia could therefore remain the Duchess of the Sciollian Isles and remain as the Admiral of the Fifth Fleet, and these would not be deemed in conflict with her Elyran titles or responsibilities, and the same went for Sahsha.

    In years toe, Mia and Sahsha would be judicious on the few asions that they wielded their powers as heirs apparent, or as rulers. History would show that all their actions as Elyran royals would progress the cause of peace among the Federation and the Elyrans, as well as the Earthers, Tirosians and Detterex in ways that no one had ever done or would ever do after. History would show that these were the beginnings of what would eventually be called the Elyran Republic  one of the best periods in Elyran history.

    But that was still years away. And in the meantime, there were other things that needed to be done.

    At the embassy, more and more things needed to be taken care of, so to facilitate things, Nicks temporary position as ambassador was made permanent. He would hold the office quitepetently, and would in time be considered one of the best ambassadors to hold the position.

    As for Commander Ndidi Iyanda of the Hermes, Mia gave her a brevet promotion to Captain, and thissted less than a day. Admiral Silverman confirmed her promotion immediately, and she was officially appointed themandant of New Gibraltar Base.

    More ships from the Fourth Fleet arrived and their entire store of spare parts and supplies was offloaded in Gibraltar. It wasnt something they were expecting, but Gibraltar Base needed the supplies. The ships storage holds were emptied out very rapidly.

    Their engineers, fresh from training at the PRC, were also shuttled down to help with the construction of Gibraltar. A four-berth dry dock facility was soonpleted, as well as full spaceport facilities. A special section was allotted for what would be called the Hermes Squadron. This squadron was made up by the Hermes'' navy pilots, and used Hermes four wings of Eagle fighters plus two wings of Cobra shuttles, repurposed for use by the base.

    Full conversion and manufacturing facilities were also put up, making Gibraltar fully self-sufficient. The fact that the base also boasted a full-function FTL nt from the Hermes meant that Gibraltar Base now had-side deflector fields - the only base located on as surface that had an honest-to-goodness deflector field.

    Furthermore, with the assistance of Dr. Running-Streams people from the PRC, they were able to repurpose Hermes inertia converters to convert almost all types of weapons energy to passive light energy. It was actually an easy conversion, and the new technigques developed added to Earths store of strategic tech not to be shared with the Federation.

    The effect of the new shield was that, when Gibraltar Base switched it on, she would be surrounded with what looked like a glowing crystal dome, withmbent ribbons of ruby light coruscating like light reflections on a soap bubble, but this soap bubble would absorb pulse weapon energy,ser beams or any other kind of energy weapon that was known.

    The base also boasted the most impressive firepower of any-based station, with several dozen repurposed pulse turrets, almost sixty missileunchers and four rapid-fire rail guns.

    And with the deflector shield on, and the massive missile and rocket defenses at her back and call, the base became the most impressive and impregnable fort in the Federation. Its nickname, the Rock of Gibraltar, or The Rock as the Fifth Fleet flyers preferred to call her, will eventually be synonymous with Earth power and strength.

    After the initial test runs, Mia had looked at the specs of the base deflectors. As usual, it gave Mia some new ideas, and she decided to improve the Shepherd Moons own systems as soon as she had some spare time.

    A new addition was also installed: Gibraltar Base now had its own EM Suppression Field generator (though no one in Colossus knew).

    Earth had Phase-Waved the ns for several all-purpose manufacturing nts, and the engineers started their construction. When they finished, Gibraltar Base would be one of Earths nexus bases for manufactured goods and systems. To make them a fully-independent manufacturing center, ns were put in ce to ship them a sealed, prefab semiconductor and electronics manufacturing nt. And when that nt arrived, the station would be one of the main profit centers of the government, and make Colossus and Zeos Three a mainmercial stop for races that needed specialty or high-performance electronics andputer systems.

    Also courtesy of the ns sent from Earth, the base now boasted the mostfortable Earth living quarters this side of the Milky Way, with Crystalline domes almost invisible because of their very low reflective-refractive index. They could now mimic night-time and shirt-sleeve weather at will.

    Captain Iyanda took her new assignment as basemander seriously. Once it waspletely operational, she initiated regr overflights of the as well as Colossus. She had also sent out regr shuttle patrols, not so much to really patrol, but to extend Federation presence out there in case of any emergency.

    The Captain also sent notice that Earths presence around the system would now be on a permanent basis, and that they will permanently assign a portion of their bases forces to patrol and defend Colossus. Mumu and Pinpin said that it was always a struggle to get Federations to volunteer ships and personnel, but with this, they felt these problems alleviated a little.

    Since the Dravidians had basically imed squatter rights to almost all avable berths in Colossusnding tforms, Shepherd Moon never even tried to ask for a spot, and just went directly to Gibraltar Base. The Dravidians thought that theck of parking space in Colossus would allow them to secure more favors and concessions from new arrivals, as usual, but things were far from usual anymore.

    Some new arrivals also had the same problem as Shepherd Moon. and asked if Gibraltar had extra berths avable. There were fifteen extra spots and the ten ships that needed a berth tond for minor repairs and resupply were easily amodated.

    Ndidi now had guests at her spaceport so she had to stay on her toes.

    In reaction to this minor crisis, Mumu and Pinpin issued a circr that no long-term reservations for spaceport berths will be allowed anymore, and after their expiration, any old reservations that were longer than an Elyran month will not be renewed. They vowed that this parking shortage will only be temporary.

    -----

    Mia did a quick inspection of Gibraltar Base, and confirmed it was fully operational. She instructed Captain Iyanda to send a message to Earth, Colossus Spaceport Control, Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia.

    Fellow Federation citizens, Ndidi said in her short message, New Gibraltar Base is now open for business.

    Not much, but it did the job. The news spread throughout Colossus like wildfire, and in time throughout the Federation as well.

    The production of hydrogen and oxygen for the Colossus tanks continued, and a regr shuttle schedule to transport the fuel up to Colossus was set up. And in a few weeks, Colossus tanks were one-fourth full.

    Aside from fuel production, as the Earths newest Phase-Wave base, their production of one-shot Phase-Wave transmitters was also in full swing.

    Anytime someone from Colossus needed to send a message, they would able to do so. Amodating such requests was a requirement of their lease. For a nominal fee, of course. Nick had a twentieth century term, which Mia found apropos. Gibraltar Base had be the gxys payphone.

    -----

    The business of the Federation continued. The Dravidians imed that it was refreshing that they need not take care of the picayune details of station management anymore, andported themselves as people who had been set free of an onerous task. But, in reality, they found many things that they used to take for granted a little more difficult now. Firstly, they found that they now had to pay for all the services they used to take for granted (the most painful thing for a Dravidian is parting with his money). And they found that many of the things they used to consider easy were actually hard, especially since they didnt have the Telcontari at their beck and call anymore.

    Most Federation personnel managed to continue with their day-to-day work by ignoring the blustering Dravidians and the supercilious Erocii. From being the most influential of the delegates onboard, in days, they suddenly found themselves made irrelevant. And whatever they were trying to do to be relevant again didnt seem to be working.

    Everyone was gearing up to prepare for discussion and debate matters touching Tirosian and Detterex aggression. The Dravidians wanted to participate but since they were one of the two major races to argue against a deration of war, the delegates just ignored their contributions in Aonta. Furthermore, with the absence of Counselor Cor, the Dravidian Mission Office was in disarray.

    The Dravidians started spreading rumors that they were thinking of taking their massive battleships from the Colossus volunteer fleet since they might be needed elsewhere, but the Telcontari said that was all right. Several corvettes from Telcontar were soon to arrive, not to mention more ships from EarthForces Fourth Fleet. Pinpin told her former masters thank you for their past service, and wished their crews good luck.

    The Dravidians were caught a bit tfooted. The pleading that they were expecting for them to stay never came. So to save face, they had to make good on their threat to depart. But with no destination really nned, they said that they would wait until the Federation hade to a decision on the tactics to be implemented with regards the Tirosians and the Detterex. After all, they did not want to deprive the Federation of their experience and advice, especially with the most pressing matter at the moment  the Tirosian-Detterex defense strategy.

    Commander OConnell was invited to speak in Aonta, and, by using a veryrge 3D projection using Earther tech, she was able to share her information quick and efficiently.

    First, they discussed the locations of each of the enemy fleets.

    OConnell exined that Earths long range telemetry showed gargantuan fleets were now already orbiting both Tiros Prime and Detterex Prime  over a hundred and fifty capital ships per system. Many said they didnt understand how they were able to amass such arge number of capital ships.

    OConnell then showed a list of Detterex and Tiross and systems, and the number of ships that were orbiting each. (In deference to the Federation delegates, the text was in both Elyran and English.) The list showed that there were now only one or two capital ships remaining per system. In some cases, there were none.

    So, apparently, what the enemy did was to strip all their systems of capital ships and move them all to Detterex and Tiros Prime.

    As to the fleets sent to invade Dixx and Arachnia, OConnell exined that they were now on the way to their homes.

    Originally, EM fields had surrounded these two groups of ships. On their approach to their homes, the fields were deactivated and they were now de-cloaked, probably so as not to disruptmunications on Tiros and Detterex. EarthForce now knew that these groups were of simrposition to those that were sent to Earth, Colossus and Elyra.

    They joined the cruisers already orbiting the two homes, thereby bolstering their numbers even further. The density of capital ships flying overhead must mean that anyone on the ground on Tiros Prime or Detterex would see at least two or more ships flying overhead at any given time.

    Tactically speaking, OConnell said there would be no safe approach to either now. The Daemon representative therefore asked what the tactical goal was now.

    OConnell bowed, acknowledging the question. The objective has remained the same, My Lord. upy their homes and remove the ability of the enemy to carry out any aggression on any with any of the peoples of the Federation, the Tiros Empire, and the Detterex Empire.

    Why include the people of the Tiros and Detterex empires, Captain? Are they not our enemies?

    My Lord, OConnell said, our Federation charter says that its goal is to share the benefits of civilization, cooperation and fellowship to all sophonts, so that all may have the opportunity to flourish, and to contribute to the Federation as well. Earth believes that if we are able to assure such peaceful coexistence, this must be made to apply to all sophonts.

    What of justice, Captain, and the application of penalties?

    We Earthers believe in justice, My Lord, however, as a famous man from Earths twentieth century said, punishment may make us obey the orders we are given, but at best it will only teach an obedience to authority, not a self-control which enhances our self-respect.

    Elyras Great Messiah said once that there are two kinds of power - onees from the fear of punishment and the otheres from acts of love. Power from love is thousands of times more effective and permanent than that derived from fear.

    Yes, we believe in justice, but we also believe in a more permanent solution that will benefit us all  not just to benefit our friends, but even our enemies. Would it not be the greatest thing if our enemy was not our enemy anymore but our friend?

    This was greeted with apuse, and the Telcontari looked upon OConnell with great pride. Did I not say, Mumu, Pinpin said to her partner, the Earthers are worthy of our loyalty and our service.

    Mumu nodded.

    The representative from Star 453-A that stood behind them nodded as well. Indeed, child, the cyborg said. These are but mortal creatures like us, who have faults and frailties like us. But they aspire for so much more. I wish them well. And I hope they seed.

    -----

    The original two volunteer Federation fleets headed for Dixx and Arachnia were contacted and diverted to Tiros Prime. The Elyran/Fifth Fleet fresh from Elyra supplemented this. But evenbined, they werent even a fifth of the fleet around Tiros.

    The Tiros System was simr to the Earths system in that there were a lot of asteroids and other leftover detritus from its building epoch. There were asteroids galore as well as other space junk, and that was just fine for the Earthers.

    The six Earth cruisers went ahead of thebined fleet, following a path that hid them from view of-based observers. They kept behind the systemsrge gas giant until the veryst moment. And when they were near what they designated C-57D - a veryrge rocky, irregrly-shaped asteroid with a mean diameter of around a thousand miles - they made a break for it andnded on the asteroids dark side.

    The Earther ships took out half of their rail guns and modified them so that theyd elerate metallic rocks about a hundred meters across at speeds of about eighteen to neen kilometers per second.

    Since their usual ammunition were four-inch by two-inch by two-inch metallic cuboids, this was not an easy retrofit, but by cannibalizing the rail guns of all six ships, they were able to make onerge rail gununcher.

    They made the ammunition they sted from the asteroid roughly bullet-shaped so they wouldnt break up too much in the Tirosian atmosphere, and expected about ny percent of each rock to remain intact before impacting the ground at around fifteen kilometers per second.

    In less than a week, they started bombardment of the Tirosian, hurling the projectiles at around 65,000 kilometers per hour. In the end, they would have fired more than 10,000 rocks at the, at the rate of about one every five minutes.

    Tasha said that 65,000 KPH sounded terribly fast, but Mia said that woulde down to around 52,000 when they hit the atmosphere, which was still fast - roughly fourteen times faster than the speed of a twentieth-century rifle bullet.

    The metallic objects would take about five months to reach their target 224 million kilometers away. Hopefully, the enemy wouldnt detect them until the man-made meteors were too close for anything to be done.

    In that intervening time, the Earthers reassembled their rail guns and the the rest of their small fleet of about forty ships started arriving. By the time they were all near the asteroid, it was only then that the enemy detected the wave of meteoric projectilesing their way. By that time, the asteroid had started to look like a big cookie thats been constantly nibbled at by mice.

    The Tirosians, of course, tracked the projectiles back to the asteroid, and they looked at photographs of the asteroid over the previous months. In the photos, they did find the Earth ships and realized that they''d been there for months already, and had been firing off the metallic rocks at a rate of about ten or more per hour.

    The Emperors staff looked for people to me and the astronomers were the ones that were picked on. Summary executions followed, and the royal court started making ns to repel the iing meteors. At that point, the Earthers activated an EM suppression field. That meant the Tirosians couldnt use energy weapons to cut the meteors up, nor have anymunications at all.

    Their problem was an enormous one. They were going to have to shoot down the meteors. Since each one has about fifteen megatons in kic energy, this was vital. They had the same problem as Elyra except that instead of worrying about just one massive impactor, they had about one small one every five to ten minutes.

    Just like in Elyra, they couldnt use atomics since, instead of in meteorites, theyd convert them to radioactive fallout. That is if they could use atomics at all. So they would need to use missiles and other explosive munitions to break them up into smaller fragments that, hopefully, would burn up in reentry.

    All of their capital ships, missile gunships and any tform that could fire missiles were pressed into service, and in the beginning, they had some coordination problems due to theck ofmunications. Nevertheless, their defense seemed to be effective. Each meteor required several dozen hits to convert them to gravel or deflect them enough but they had enough missiles to manage that.

    Into the second week, they had sort of found their rhythm and were mechanically shooting down the meteors in a regr manner. The problem was that their grace period to shoot down the killer rocks had started to narrow from day to day. They would lose ground of maybe a few thousand kilometers each day. And that meant they had less and less time to shoot them down.

    Tirosians would look at their night sky and marvel at the continuous meteor shower. But they knew what this really was about. They knew that the moment the meteor shower disappeared, a disaster would follow. The government started activating their emergency ns, and bomb shelters and other emergency facilities were opened. This wasnt done as rapidly or as efficiently as they liked, however, because they didnt havemunications.

    By the third week, the munitions of the ships overhead had started to run out, and they were starting to have problems resupplying their ships. The absence ofmunications was starting to hurt them in a very real way.

    But more than just supply problems, the itself was in turmoil. Inrge part because of theck ofmunications, the economic and social infrastructure of Tirosian society started to break down, and many portions of thesrge, disaffected and suppressed poption had started rioting. Food supplies were dwindling fast. Large portions of Tirosian society  the ve sses andbor sses  were also ready to revolt. Normally, the police and military would put down such seditious actions but the EM field had prevented them from properly mustering their forces  theck ofmunications and energy weapons were a real problem.

    Most of the Tirosian elite had retreated to the royal pce and barricaded themselves in. The emperor himself had retreated to the main level below ground and tried to conduct the business of the empire from his private apartments. The pce itself was fully wired and this allowed him to give instructions. Government was able to scrape by and was coping just well enough not to implode. At least for now.

    As for the situation out in orbit, some of the meteor projectiles were starting to get past the defense line, and several of the main settlements in the middletitudes were hit with fifteen to twenty megaton explosions. Civil services had trouble coping and the list of casualties and injured citizens had started to climb into the hundreds of thousands.

    The impact areas were not restricted to the middletitudes, however, though that was where the bulk of the impacts were. But even those at highertitudes were also hit. Those that thought to escape the bombardment knew that they werent safe there as well. The fleet of ships in orbit redoubled their efforts.

    It was then that the Federation forces started their run.

    Using the technique that people had started to call the Colossus Effect, their ships made repeated passes through the gathered ships, firing anti-ship missiles. The Tirosians could do nothing but take the hits, and they couldnt chase after them because they were continuing their defensive fire against the meteors. A significant number of their ships were being cut down.

    In the meantime, the deterioration of the homes civilization continued. To ascertain the situation, EarthForce shuttles did many overflights of thes poption centers with impunity. The enemy defenses could not shoot down the little Earther flyers. They could not cope withoutmunications and the other systems that they lost to the EM suppression field.

    Some of the Earthers dide close to being shot down once, when a few of the Tirosian citizens were able to fire off a few anti-aircraft missiles. But without automated tracking, the Earther ships were able to evade them.

    This spurred the defenders, and several aircraft took off and tried to chase the Earthers down, but Tirosian technology was justpletely outssed. Several tried to catch up and cut them off  a ssic airbat tactic - but the Earther ships were just too fast. One of the Tirosians used his ship like a guided suicide missile and rammed a Mud Turtle. The Earth shuttle didnt burst into me but was forced down. It crasnded in the outskirts of a mangrove forest almost 10,000 square kilometers in size, which, in a way saved the stranded crew  the Tirosians couldnt get to them right away.

    A couple of Cobras swooped down and rescued the crew of the downed shuttle. But when the crowds of Tirosians started to surface from the water ande out of the jungle, the Earthers had to st off in a hurry. They were able to escape unharmed and as soon as they were away, the shuttles bombed the crash area to prevent Earth tech from falling into enemy hands.

    As for the battle overhead, the Earth cruiser Victoria documented what had been happening, and sped out of range of the EM suppression field to beam a message to Colossus. Together with the reconnaissance information from the shuttles, Capitan Zaragoza was able to provide a reasonablyplete report to the Federation, which was now the subject of a debate in Colossus.

    In Colossus, after they''d listened to the report, the representative from Star 453-A spoke and argued for the cessation of the operation.

    My Lords and Ladies, the cyborg said, the mission has so far been breaking our way. Captain OConnells tactics have so far been very sessful, and we are days away from the fall of Tiros Prime. In one fell swoop, the Federation can im to have won the war with the Tirosians. But, My Lords and Ladies, we are also days away from bringing to extinction a culture that has been eons in the making. As a race, the Tirosians are as old as any in the Federation. If we are to do this, we will be causing the extinction of a culture and a civilization that the universe will never see again.

    The Daemon representative pinged. But, My Lord, the lion-like alien said, since its first encounter with the Federation, this race has been at war with us, with the goal of subjugating our peoples and annexing our territories. Should they not be eliminated?

    The cyborg paused. I hear what you are saying, My Lord, he said. My own family cell perished in an attack on my colony world some hundred years ago. I have more reason than most to see the predations of the Tirosians definitively halted. But my eyes have been opened. As our honored colleagues from Earth have said, and as Elyras Great Messiah has said, there are two kinds of power, and only one of them can makesting, permanent changes. I am in search of permanent change  a change that will redeem us all from the edge of ruin, not just from the Tirosians. What we do now will show if we are together on that same journey. In the silence of the great hall, the cyborg sat down, and like the murmuring of water coursing though a forest stream growing into a torrent falling from a great waterfall, the apuse rained down.

    -----

    It was within the ability of Federation forces to save the Tirosians from demise, but it was decided that they would only do so if they were able to get an unconditional surrender. So a n was hatched: a task force was to be sent to the Imperial Castle to locate the Emperor andy out their demands.

    A mix of warriors, mostly Earthers, Elyrans, Daemons and Dixx, with a pair of Arachnians acting as their pathfinders and breakers, was transported down by a pair of Cobra shuttles apanied by arge escort of Kembel and Axon fighters.

    In a ballistic flight path that had their little squadroning out from under the horizon, they were able to punch through the disorganized defensive line surrounding the castle. The two shuttles touched down on the castles enclosed roof deck courtyard. The rear ramps mmed down and the Federation soldiers jumped out. In less than five seconds, the shuttles took off again.

    Under the directions of their Arachnian breakers, the group made for the main entrance.

    The Earthers turned on themps in their helmets and lighted up the dim corridors. For the Dixx and the Earthers, the light was very useful, while the others didnt have any trouble with the dim, reddish light preferred by the Tirosians.

    The many turns and blind alleys made the castle almost like abyrinth, but the Arachnians were leading them unerringly. They were able to get through twenty of the below-ground levels and were able to reach the royal apartments fairly quickly, despite the fact that as they got down deeper and deeper into the structure of the castle, there were more and more Tirosians in their way.

    With the EM field, they were mostly reduced to using ded weapons. Among all the Federation warriors, the most effective with their ded weapons were the Elyrans, and they took the lead and cleared the path for them. The Earthers, the only ones among them with working sidearms, worked as the groups sharpshooters. It helped that the Tirosians werent the best sword-wielders but their numbers worked to their advantage. The small Federation group was hard pressed to hold their own.

    There was no option to retreat. The Federation task force really had nowhere else to go but forward. The Tirosians were fighting them with every bit of their skill and strength, and in thest few meters, there really was no moving forward. In thest passageway, the Earthers ordered everyone to hunker down and they threw grenades both up and down the tunnel. The detonations were enough to echo through the entire length of the tunnel and stun most of the defending Tirosians. Despite ringing ears, the Elyrans cut through the Tirosians and they all leapt past them, and prated further down the tunnel. A couple of the Earthers yed tail-end Charlie, and as soon as the enemy started to recover, they threw a couple more grenades. Before they detonated, the Earthers raced after theirrades and crossed the threshold into the royal apartments.

    None of the Tirosians followed them in  there seemed to be some rule that forbade them  and this allowed the Federation warriors to slow down, catch their breath and regroup.

    The passageway split into three, but at this point, the Arachnians couldnt point them to the right path. The Daemons among them suggested picking the center path, and thats where they went.

    The Elyrans pulled back the heavy ck curtains that obscured the center passage and this revealed the Emperor.

    He was sitting on hisrge, polished-wood throne. It was on a tall dais, with a ruby-red spotlight on it, and the Emperor sat there, looking at them with an unearthly calm. The green emerald rock, the Star, set within a gold cage, hung from around his neck. He turned towards them and sneered.

    So the vermin are here, he said. What is it that you want?

    The most senior among them, the lone Axon who was fluent in Tirosian, stepped forward and bowed.

    Your Royal Majesty, the tall alien said in fluent Tirosian. We are emissaries from the Gctic Federation of Free Races

    The Emperorughed sarcastically. Free races! he said. Such nonsense. You can only say that because you have yet to be subjugated by my Tirosians. Kneel, ves!

    The Axon just closed his eyes and kept calm. Your Royal Majesty, he said again. We bring word from distant Colossus. It is upon the will of the peoples of the Federation that we are here. We are here to demand that, as the leader of your people, you are to submit to our authority. That you surrender your forces and

    Surrender! he scoffed. Your arrogance is not to be believed, Axon. It is you that must submit. My fleet will ovee your forces in mere days, and once they do, we will march on Colossus and force your beloved Federation of ignorant races to submit to the power of the Tiros Star Empire!

    The Axon sighed. As Your Majesty must know, he said, Tiros Prime is mere weeks away from total copse. Your government is beset with multiple riots and revolts, and your is under constant threat of bombardment from space.

    The emperor waved that away. Details! Those are just details!

    Where is the Prime Minister?

    Prime Minister? the Emperor asked sarcastically. I know not who you refer to.

    My Lord, one of the Arachnians called. He pointed to a figure crumpled somewhere in the back of the throne room.

    It was the Prime Minister. The tall Detterex had a jeweled dagger buried in her chest, murdered, no doubt, by the Emperor.

    The Axon turned back to the Emperor. My condolences, Your Royal Highness. We have heard that the Prime Minister was an exceptional individual, and has

    Hah! The Prime Minister was a figurehead. If I did not need her to keep the Detterex in line, I would have done away with her years ago!

    The Axon was doing his best to control his anger. I see

    Now say your piece and begone!

    The Axon took a calming breath. As I said, Your Majesty, the copse of Tiros is inevitable. We can offer your people salvation, but we require your surrender.

    I will never surrender!

    It is your privilege, the Axon said. He nodded to hisrades and prepared to leave.

    Wait, the Emperor said. But they ignored him.

    Wait!

    They turned to leave his throne room, but the Emperor raised his scepter, pleading.

    Please!

    In a way, that one word was all that they wanted. The fact that there was no word in Tirosian for please, and that the Emperor had used the Elyran word, spoke volumes about the Emperors desperation.

    Tell me what needs to be done, he whispered. Tell me what must I do to save my people. I will do anything. Help me

    -----

    A re was fired from the castles roof. The magnesium-bright sh could be seen for hundreds of miles, and was easily seen from orbit as well. This was the signal that they wanted. The Emperor had capitted.

    With the signal re, the Earthers knew to turn off the EM field. Minutes after that, a radio message was transmitted from the Imperial Castle. It was the Emperor ordering the fleet to surrender to the Federation forces. Knowing that it was the only way for the and its people to survive, the Tirosian cruisers ceased firing at the Federation ships. Once it was apparent that the Tirosians werent firing at them anymore, the Federation cruisers used their now-avable energy weapons to cut up the meteors.

    But, apparently not being able to control themselves, close to half of the Tirosianmanders ordered their crews to open fire on the nearest Federation ships.

    That made the Federation ships retaliate.

    Such a situation was considered a possibility, and they nned for it. After a short exchange of fire, the Federation cruisers ended it quickly, pulled up and away and returned to their previous strategy. As they cruised away, the EM suppression field returned. This forced the Tiros cruisers to return to their old n.

    In that short skirmish, several dozen meteors had gotten past them, and they saw the rocks impact the. Massive explosions visible from space started blossoming on many of thend masses. However, there were a few miscalctions, and maybe a dozen of them impacted in Tiros Primes oceans.

    These triggered massive tsunamis, and many seaside cities were either washed out to sea, or sank under the waves.

    At that point, some of the ships opened fire on the Tirosian cruisers that fired on the Federation ships. But as that continued, more of the meteors got past them.

    The EM field was switched off again and many of the Federation ships turned back.

    This allowed the Tirosian defenders to use their energy weapons to start cutting up the meteors more rapidly than their missiles could break them up.

    The five Earth cruisers then approached. With a firing system more sophisticated than any of them had seen, each ship used their weapons and fired them in such rapid-fire pulses, it was like a massive searchlight beam instead of individual thread-sized pulses. Each ship was able to disintegrate a meteor in seconds.

    Many of the other Federation ships were shooting down the other meteors as well, but the others remained in the background, providing cover for the others.

    Minutes into the joint defense of Tiros, several of the Tiros cruisers started to turn, preparatory to firing at the Elyrans again. But as they did, Cruiser 99 and the Elyran ships started bombarding them with their missiles. Many of the other Tirosians saw the same thing, and fired on theirrades as well.

    These ships, under that kind ofbined attack, just copsed. And as everything settled back down, arge part of the Tiros fleet, more than half, just picked up and flew away. Inquiries were transmitted, and apparently these particr ships had justmitted mutiny.

    Emergency messages were sent to Colossus and Earth, and the orders were to let them go for the moment, and continue with the current operation to save the and turn away the meteors.

    <strong>upation Force </strong>

    Once the threat of the meteors was done, the remaining Tirosian ships were boarded. There was no resistance  after all, the Emperor had already spoken. One of the bigger problems that they had was that, although there was no active resistance and the Tirosians were actively cooperating, they found that many members of the various crews hadmitted suicide. In fact, some of the ships didnt have enough crew to muster for operation much less for battle.

    Suicide was the problem. Only five percent of the Tirosian crews were left, and their ships were practically inoperative because of this. But, in any case, they were able to move the ships into orbits around therge gas giant about two billion kilometers away. Once in secure orbits, they disabled all of them and abandoned them for the moment. Three Federation ships, plus DSC Mikasa were deployed to act as patrol for the big parking lot of ships.

    As for Tiros Prime, the upation forces did a thorough survey of the. Best estimates showed that more than forty percent of their industrial capacity was gone, andrge tracts ofnd and coastal areas wereid waste. Weather patterns were disrupted, and though there was no chance of anything like a nuclear winter, if weather control wasn''t applied properly over the next several months, hurricanes of unprecedented violence, drought in ces where there never was, and snowstorms and ice storms on a that had never seen snow and ice, would be in their future.

    Over a hundred million perished in the bombardment, or in coteral effects of the bombardment - such as the rioting and the civil disturbances, or were part of themunities that were washed out to sea. That was an incredible number. Earth historians would refer to this as a holocaust, a term that was adopted by the rest of the Federation. But what was even more incredible was that over six billion of the poptionmitted suicide.

    This was the great shame of the Federation. Many would contend that the mass suicide was not their fault. Others would say that if they hadn''t invaded, then that wouldnt have happened. But if they didnt then the Tirosians would havee for them. And the argument continued.

    Long after things had settled, the argument would continue. Many would say that the argument will never end, and those that said so would be proven right.

    Three hundred million survivors out an originalary poption of over six billion was incredible, and even more incredible was that these survivors would mostly be children  many of them not even fifteenary years old. The upation force would not exactly be an upation force but more a humanitarian mission (although when run through the trantor, the word humanitarian did not sound too racist).

    Actually, the problem was more because the non-Tirosian vebor force on the was itching to take over. Looting and rioting were the things that the Federation forces had to deal with, and though the Federation personnel understood, they would not stand for any violence of any form.

    Those that cooperated were given positions in the upation government, mostly clerical and administrative, and they had to admit that it was more preferable to work for these aliens than their former masters.

    A call went out to Colossus and all the Federations, and the member races pledged to send assistance. Over the next year, a constant stream of sophonts would arrive and the situation on the would be stabilized.

    Missionary schools would be set up to assist in the education of the youngsters, and government was running again. It would be decades before Tiros would be in a position where Federation assistance wouldnt be needed anymore, and, incredibly, by that time, the Tiros Star Empire would be offered a seat in the Gctic Federation Assembly.

    That was, of course, still in the future. For now, it was still the beginning of things.

    The reports were sent to Colossus, and, over the months, it would be discovered that the reports had leaked out to the rest of the Tiros colony worlds. How that happened, no one really knows. But what happened to theses was the same as what happened in the homeworld.

    Not having instantaneousmunications was working in their favor this time. But it was just a matter of time before the news got out, so a race was on to save these colonies, and the Federation members, except for a few, pledged one or two ships to the effort. The Dravidians and, of course, the Erocii as well, didnt.

    Records from the Tiros archives showed the location of theses, and with Phase-Wave telemetry and radio reception, they knew which needed assistance right away, and what kind of assistance would be needed.

    Jennifer Priestly, studying the events and the circumstances of what happened to the Tirosians, definitely knew something was wrong. This counter-survival behavior indicated a gic cause although a cultural reason couldnt bepletely ruled out. The automatic assumption was that inbreeding caused this, but this was just a shot-in-the-dark theory. They needed more information.

    It must be solved soon, otherwise, the Tirosians might be destined for extinction regardless of what they did to try and help them.

 Chapter 29: Endgame, Two – Detterex

    Chapter 29: Endgame, Two �C Detterex

    <strong>An Engineered Escape </strong>

    By the time the Tiros Emperor capitted, they had long since finished interrogation of all the captured Detterex spies onboard Colossus, all at the hands of the Earthers.

    By that time, all the information they would ever get from the spies they already had, and they discovered a few things: first was that the individuals they had captured were not really part of a coordinated espionage operation, that they were only employed by individuals that needed specific information from the Federation; second was that the individuals that they selected were not specially trained or anything like that  they were selected because they were throwbacks  that is to say, they had the look, the sound, and the height of regr Elyrans; third was that the Detterex had no organized way to extract these individuals  these spies were to use their own efforts to make their own way back home.

    Colossus security was a little disappointed, actually, since they didnt get much. These were basically run-of-the-mill Detterex citizens pressed into espionage work- useless as security resources.

    And these spies werent really great spies, really, since in all this time they hadn''t really collected much information: although they were able to gather information about the Battle of Pluto, the Battle of Saturn, the Attack on Colossus, the Invasion of Earth and the Invasion of Elyra  names of events that will go down in the Federations history books  they werent able to get much else.

    But even if they did, it didnt really matter, since they were yet to report in to their masters, and now it looks like they wouldn''t be able to anymore.

    The detectors initially designed by Mias team was much improved, and the individual Elyran governments had them secretly installed in all Elyrans, colonies and ships. In the following months, a few more spies were found, mostly in the poption centers and ships controlled by the Northern Kingdom, and eventually, the government felt confident enough to dere that all Detterex spies had been identified and captured. They did, however, maintain vignce to prevent more spies from infiltrating Elyran society.

    As usual, Mia had an idea on how to make use of these useless spies, and hopefully avert a tragedy simr to what befell the Tiros Empire.

    The first thing that they did was to give them full physicals prior to being sent to Elyra Prime for further interrogation (the prisoners overheard this from their keepers).

    What they didnt know was that, during the exam, a few of them were imnted with passive Phase-Wave transponders.

    Each was the size of an old-style penny, but were as thin and flexible as a piece of stic from a grocery bag. These were imnted into their chest wall, just over the ribs and below the muscle. After a year or so, these devices would dissolve.

    Second was that they were going to be transported to Elyra via an automated Telcontari mail courier ship, all under the eagle-eyed attention of supposedly ipetent Telcontari security.

    Courier ships were small, fast interster ships that had crews of only four or five, and all they were meant to do was to ship messages betweens.

    Along with the prisoners, a confidential packet, as well as a lot of standard mail destined for Elyra would be loaded onto the ship, and after the prisoners were transferred, they were sat in eleration couches, with manacled wrists.

    The spies patiently waited for the crew toe in, but after over half an hour of waiting, the Telcontari pilot finally got fed up. He unbuckled and stepped out of the ship in search of his crew.

    The prisoners waited for over an hour, and, eventually, they got the idea of escaping. Theyughed at the Telcontari for putting them in manacles but not securing the manacles to anything. That meant they could actually move around inside the ships cabin.

    They found it easy to close the main hatch, and, looking at the simplified controls, knew what to do to run the ship. They saw the breakaway safety gates in front of them, and started activating the ships sublight engines.

    The little courier ship sted through the breakaway gate and roared away from Colossus.

    The policeunches that were always patrolling the outside of the station took up the chase. But the prisoners had opened the courier ships engines to maximum. The police had no hope of catching them. Several ships started prepping to follow but, because it was a courier ship, it was able to transition quickly to FTL. And it was already flying too fast by the time other ships were ready to give chase.

    Back in Colossus, Pinpin, Mumu, Mia, OConnell and Tasha had a goodugh as the courier ships pilot recounted what had happened. It was Chi-Chi, the now-head of the Office of Protocol that masqueraded as the pilot.

    I was actually afraid that they were going to wait for me to return, he said. They stayed there for half an hour! How could they not take the opportunity to escape! Theyughed again.

    Well, Tasha said, we Elyrans are renowned for our patience, after all

    That triggered another bout ofughter.

    -----

    It was easy to track the former prisoners. Phase-Wave, as well as the transponders, worked beautifully, and the Earthers tracked them easily.

    Phase-Wave tracking also showed that the courier ship, after decelerating to ship-maneuverable speeds, rendezvoused with a Detterex cruiser. After that, the courier ship elerated back into FTL. A few dayster, an Elyran colonial outpost reported an explosion on one of thes in their system. Fragments of the courier ship were found and this was reported immediately to Elyra and Colossus care of a Phase-Wave ryed radio message.

    Collosus security thought it a little suspicious since the colony was only in the general direction of Elyra (as seen from Colossus); general meant a deviation of at least a couple of light years. They could actually be going away from Elyra.

    But Mia and her people, which included Pinpin, Mumu and Chi-Chi, thought that was actually fine. The transponders were working, and they were tracking their spies quite closely.

    Once they saw that their spies had reached a that the Federation knew as Detterex-1543, they knew that their nted information had finally been delivered.

    All the material in the mail was factual and real, even the reports about Detterex. What wasnt was the special sealed packet addressed to the queen.

    That special packet was supposedly a summary of EarthForces resources and strengths. In it, the packet of information said that the entire EarthForce fleet was made up of over a thousand capital ships plus various other support craft. That made their fleet almost the same size as thebined Federation fleet.

    It also said that Earth had thirty colony worlds, but mostly out in the unmapped portions of the Gctic Arm (naturally), withary defenses as powerful and sophisticated as the mothers.

    There was also a psychological profile of the Terran Race in the packet, and the profile spoke of their imcable resolve and their unforgiving nature, that their nature was basically violent, even though they try and control it.

    It spoke of their need to win at any cost. It sounded, curiously, like the profile of the Tirosians, except that they didnt have ves in their society because their violent natures precluded that.

    All in all, it painted a very terrifying picture.

    In the final part of the report, it spoke of the Earthers disappointment that the Tirosians did not put up a fight worthy of them, and that they were hoping that the Detterex would be a little different.

    Now, if that doesnt have the Detterex shaking in their boots, Mia was telling OConnell, I dont know what will.

    -----

    A few weekster, the information had started to make the rounds in Detterex Prime.

    In the halls of the Detterex Senate, the empires rulers, and the Prime Minister, the Senate President, the Minister of War and the Queen and King of All Detterex were meeting.

    They had discussed the various pieces of information that they retrieved from their spies, as well as the packets of mail that they got from the courier ship. Even without the profile, the rest of the information was very depressing, to say the least.

    For the Queen and King, it was actually devastating.

    It seemed that, because of the Earthers, their attacks on Earth, Colossus and Elyra were failures. They knew about Elyra already even before the spies arrived because of the signal that they''d received. It was actually the reason that the fleet had been recalled, and was now flying overhead.

    They were a little disappointed that Tiros had fallen despite the overwhelming resources their former allies had at their fingertips. But then again, they were just Tirosians.

    As for the Queen and King, they were devastated to hear that their two eldest daughters had perished. The prime minister of the Tiros Empire was actually their second-oldest daughter, and they couldnt help think about her death at the hands of that vile Tirosian emperor.

    As for Arvan, their oldest daughter and the heir apparent of the Empire, they were beyond tears to know that she and her husband perished at the hand of the Earther warrior princess. But from what they knew of the events, they thought that Arvan had died well - at the hand of a fellow royal and a worthy adversary. At least Arvan was able to engineer the death of the husband to Elyras heir apparent, and that meant that surely Tasha had perished by now. However, as they listened to the spies report, they learned that the Elyran princess was still alive, and, apparently, free of the madness.

    The spies said that they couldnt confirm it, but it was said that the Lady Tasha now had the Earther princess and her partner as her bridges.

    But the Earthers were aliens. They were neither Detterex nor Elyran. How could they be bridges? Either the spies information was faulty or Could they be the warriors of legend?

    But the data from their other informants seem to corroborate the report, and confirmed that Lady Tasha was still inmand of the Elyrans forces, and was still free of the madness.

    What could it all mean? As far as everyone knew, no one had been rescued from the madness except in legend, whether Detterex or Elyran. And there had been no triumvirates since the time of the Messiah.

    They called in their Minister of Information, and asked if the people they had just retrieved at great cost and effort were reliable.

    The minister gulped. She knew that she could only answer in one way.

    Yes, Your Royal Highness, she lied. They are reliable. Our sleeper agents are top agents, and have been highly trained in espionage techniques. As you see, they were able to capture a ship on their own and were able to escape before being deported to Elyra. Yes, Your Highness, you can rely on their information.

    I hope you are right, Minister, the queen said.

    The Minister of Information bowed and quickly retreated out of the room, lest she be asked other questions shed rather not answer.

    They looked at each other. It seemed they had no choice but to believe the information.

    And if it was true, whatever was happening there in Colossus and on Elyra, it was something near-miraculous.

    As to the information they found about the Earthers, it was so devastatingly overwhelming. The Earthers fleet was unmatched, and their profile was quite intimidating. What worried the queen was thest part of the report - that the Earthers were spoiling for a fight.

    They then listened to the report regarding the events that had happened on Tiros. The report was totally factual, after all, but the figures were mind-boggling. Again, the Earthers had yed a key part in the downfall of the Tirosians, and the death of over six billion. The one thing that was left out of the report was the fact that the casualties were mostly because of the mass suicide of the Tirosian race. By omitting that one fact, the deaths of the Tirosians were all due to the invasion of the Federation.

    The report also said the emperor was still alive. Having heard that, the Queenmanded the Prime Minister to have a ndestine force be sent to Tiros Prime and have the emperor assassinated.

    The remaining Tirosian fleet of about sixty capital ships were now orbiting the Tirosian gas giant, essentially abandoned, and they wondered about the mutiny fleet - where were these Tirosians now, and what was their ultimate objective?

    The Minister of War wondered if they should keep their options open with regards these Tirosian mutineers, because sometime in the future, it might be useful to have them on their side.

    The Senate President, Prime Minister and the King greeted this idea negatively. It seemed, in their minds, they were already thinking of the Earthers as the warriors of legend. The Queen agreed. So, whether they were correct or not, they werent throwing themselves with the rebel Tirosians.

    -----

    What was now being called the Mutiny Fleet - the forty or so ships of the Tirosians that abandoned Tiros Prime  was being tracked easily by Earths CETIwork, and no one was worrying about them for the moment.

    As for Detterex and its almost-two hundred-strong fleet, this was also being tracked.

    For the moment, it wasnt a big concern since they remained in orbit around Detterex Prime, but decisions had to be made.

    Shihayn was constantly in use at the moment  the Earthers had set up arge 3D disy on itsrge, spinning dais, which showed the location of the Mutiny Fleet and the space surrounding Detterex, Tiros and Colossus. People would regrlye in and take notes. It was the best tool to picture the situation properly.

    And, from time to time, when one of the delegates wanted to present a n or alternative to the current emergency, the disy would be removed and they could then present their proposal. There was at least one group presenting per day.

    As for Aonta, there were back-to-back sessions happening. The morning was taken up by Colossus normal calendar, while the afternoons were dedicated to debates about the current crisis.

    The Assembly was slowly zeroing in on a consensus, which currently was to refurbish the mothballed Tirosian fleet to supplement the force currently on its way back to Colossus for repairs and resupply. Once ready, they would then proceed to Detterex Prime in full force. If that was the decision, then theyd need the appropriate tactics given that the Detterex was totally different from the Tirosians, which presented different advantages and disadvantages. Unofficially, they were expecting Mia and the Earthers to take point on creating the strategy again.

    The Dravidians magnanimously offered to do the refurbishing of the Tirosian fleet, saying their price would be reasonably low, but they were shouted down. Instead, it was suggested that the Arachnians take over the refit of the ships. That was because the Arachnians were considered to be the best when it came to intricate projects like this. The First Ambassador requested assistance in contacting Arachnia Prime to arrange for engineers to be transported to Tiros, and the Earth contingent offered themunications needed.

    Jokingly, the Axons asked how much they would be charging, and everyoneughed. The First Ambassador pinwheeled his arms,ughing in his own way.

    The Dravidians then pinged, and asked, seriously, what they would be charging.

    A silence spread throughout the hall.

    Equally seriously, the First Ambassador bowed towards the Dravidians, and replied to say that, since this was a crisis, they believed that it would be very inappropriate to actually charge the Federation. After all, what they would be doing was for the benefit of all the member races, and not to make a profit.

    The Dravidians thanked the First Ambassador for their courteous answer and did not ask any further questions.

    At the end of the day, the Erocii representative approached the First Ambassador. As it approached him, Mumu and Pinpin rushed over, and listened in on the conversation. As the Lord Chambeins, it was their privilege to listen in to conversations between delegates that had to do with official Federation matters.

    Embarrassed, the Erocii apologized for their Dravidian friends and said that they would like to offer their assistance. It exined that their motivations might be suspect so they are not offering manpower assistance. They couldnt offer transportation assistance for the same reasons. So they decided to offer supplies and other materials that the Federation might need instead.

    The First Ambassador expressed his gratitude and said that they would indeed ept their assistance.

    The Erocii bowed and moved away.

    Mumu and Pinpin wondered why they waited for the end of the session before making their offer, and the First Ambassador said it was to reduce the possibility of embarrassment for both the Dravidians and the Erocii.

    But while that was all happening, someone, an Earther, rushed to Aonta looking for Nick. She eventually found him and handed him a long note as well as one of those four-by-four-by-four data cubes.

    Nick pocketed the cube, tuned to the English version of the note and read it. After he finished it, he pressed one of the big call buttons on the wall.

    Telcontari clerks came to Aonta and went to Nick, who was by then waving to them frantically.

    He demanded that an emergency session be called now. He understood the repercussions for him and the Earth Mission, but he was prepared to pay the penalty, or to ept any punitive action the Lord Chambeins might choose to apply.

    Mumu and Pinpin were paged, and they rushed over.

    Without saying anything, Nick handed to them the note, with the Elyran-tranted version disyed, and the two read with growing shock and surprise. Pinpin went to the wall inte and initiated the process of calling an emergency session in seventeen and a half minutes.

    While she was doing this, Nick called Mia and OConnell on his CC. He asked them to contact Jennifer over in CETI, and to get Tasha as well. Mia nodded and signed off.

    Nick nodded to Mumu and Pinpin, handed over the data cube to be plugged into the speaker system, took the note back and went to the ce assigned to the Earth Mission.

    The rest of the Assembly slowly filed in, in small dribs and drabs, and Nick waited patiently.

    Once the Assembly wasplete, Mimi and Pinpin spoke, apologizing to everyone for being recalled, but said that the matter was quite important. They then invited Nick to speak.

    Nick stood, and then bowed.

    My Lords, Ladies, and fellow delegates, he began, I would like to share with you a message that we received a little while ago. He nodded to the Telcontari standing by the public speaker controls. They activated the recording, and the entire Assembly was assaulted by static from the speakers.

    Nick had a serious case of dj vu. This felt just like that time when Mia was still Bill, and he had just announced Phase-Wave at the U.N., and then shared with the world the first audio recording of an extraterrestrial conversation. But this time, it was he who was doing the announcing.

    Soon, the static faded and was reced by a voice.

    <em>To the members of the Federation Council,</em> the voice said. <em>Tchahn.</em>

    <em>I am Sovann, Queen and Empress of the Detterex Empire. I have been apprised of the events that have transpired in Tiros Prime, and the fall of the Tiros civilization. I send my congrattions to the Federation for your victory over the vile Tirosians.</em>

    <em>I also extend to the people of the Earth my congrattions for bing the newest members of the Gctic Federation of Free Races. And also for their victories, both at home and at Colossus. I say well met to a worthy adversary.</em>

    <em>I also send my greetings to the new Lords Chambein of Colossus  a magnificent achievement for such a young people. I know how proud their Telcontari brethren must be. Congrattions to you.</em>

    <em>I also extend my congrattions to Crown Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr, and her peoples victory in her homeworld of Elyra. Though I could only wish the oue was otherwise, nevertheless I say well met, and extend the hand of reconciliation.</em>

    <em>I must also express my sorrow at the Princess loss. Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii-Kerr was a brilliant, resourceful, charming, and beautiful soul. I wish him well in his final journey.</em>

    <em>The past year has been a year of turmoil not just for the Federation but also for my Empire. The reason I send this message out is so that we may find a resolution and bring order once again to the Gctic Arm. In behalf of the Empire, I dere that the Detterex Empire surrenders to the Gctic Federation of Races, and would like to meet with representatives of the Federation to discuss terms of our surrender. In earnest of this, to show the seriousness of our resolve, a small floti of three disarmed capital cruisers, led by the Empires gship, the Predator, shall be leaving Detterex Prime within the week, and shall make their way to Crystal Shoals, the at the center of known civilization.</em>

    <em>Onboard the Predator shall be mydy-in-waiting. She shall be carrying with her the Queen Mothers Torch of Freedom, waiting to turn it over to a representative of the Federation. By turning over this precious symbol of peace, this precious relic of our civilization to the Federation, we show our sincerity and resolve.</em>

    <em>My people shall not be apanied by other ships. If they are, we ask your assistance in removing them for they shall not be from the Detterex Empire.</em>

    <em>Once the Federation has been assured of our intentions, we would request to meet with the Lords Chambein of Colossus, representatives from the Council of Custodians, representatives from the Chamber of Migration and Peerage, the Keeper of the Heritage and his apprentice, the Elyran heir to the throne, Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr and her Earther consorts, and representatives for the Earth Alliance.</em>

    <em>After which, be assured that I and my Royal Court shall be present, at a time and ce of your choosing, under any conditions you specify. Together, we shall be empowered tomit my Empire to an agreement for the surrender of all Detterex to the Federation and the legendary Warrior Race.</em>

    <em>I send this message to you that I may save my people and empire from needless death and ruin, that we may be judged by the Great Ones as worthy. I, however, ask the assistance of the people of the Earth in sending out this message to the rest of my subjects. Attached to this message is my Imperial Seal so that my subjects can be assured of its authenticity, and that the Detterex Empire can act as one and show the Great Ones and the Warrior Race that we are worthy of their trust and their patronage.</em>

    <em>Until we meet, farewell.</em>

 Epilogue

    Epilogue

    <strong>Epilogue</strong>

    <strong>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</strong>

    <strong>For All The Things We Hold Dear</strong>

    - with a nod to the masters of space opera: J. Michael Straczynski, Larry Niven, David Brin, E.E. (Doc) Smith, Iain M. Banks, and, of course, George Lucas.

    My thanks. And my apologies.

    <em>There is no real ending. Its just the ce where you stop the story.</em>

    - Frank Herbert, author,te 20th Century Earth

    -----

    So it was at the end of the twenty-fourth century (ording to the Earthers calendar) a kind of peace was realized in the Gctic Federation, as well as a long season of prosperity and growth.

    This would not have been possible if the treaty negotiations between the Federation and the Detterex were not sessful. The Detterex Queen Sovann would not even consent to negotiating except with Mia, and without her, even with all the good intentions on both sides, it would not have proceeded to its eventual sessful conclusion.

    The Queen and her court, or what the Earthers thought of as her cab, agreed to most of the conditions that were required by Mia and Tasha, and the negotiations cruised along. The only condition that the Queen asked was that they seriously be considered for membership to the Federation as full members in the near future.

    The rest of the Detterex Empire would actually have revolted if not for the Phase-Waved message. The royal Imperial Seal also helped in authenticating the message. It wasnt literally a seal but actually the equivalent to an authentication code that, if the colonies used their own authentication code, would generate a text in Elyran that would match thest sentence spoken by the Queen. And since the seal, as well as the colony codes, were newly generated every time, it was virtually impossible to fake.

    Also, with the stories racing through the empire, their fascination with Tasha, Mia and Sahsha was at an impossibly high level. They looked at Tasha in wonder, because she was the only known Elyran or Detterex that had every survived the madness, and they looked at Mia and Sahsha with almost wondrous awe  that these two were the ones that rescued Tasha. If just for that, Earthers werent considered an alien race anymore, at least by the Detterex. The pair was considered some of the most powerful bridges that the Detterex had ever seen, and were considered the most beautiful. Their animal eyes and their five-fingered hands just gave them an exotic aura that only enhanced their erotic appeal, especially to those that were more into physical beauty. Not surprisingly, like on Elyra, their names were considered ssic Detterex royal names, and only added to their appeal.

    And they all, Detterex and Elyran alike, looked at Tasha with envious or jealous eyes, because she was simultaneously a dominant as well as a submissive bridge. They could only dream of what she goes through in their bedchamber every night.

    And the Detterex had seen her in person, both at the Detterex pce, and when she and her consorts toured through the Detterex countryside. The almost-automatic suspicion and derision that Detterex feel for non-Detterex, but most especially for Elyrans, somehow did not apply to these three. They were greeted like royal celebrities wherever they went, and their Earther and Elyran guards were hard put to stop the citizens from reaching out and physically touching them. Mia exined to her Earther Marines what touch meant to Detterex and Elyrans, and they were told to act with care and restraint when holding back crowds.

    -----

    Even when the truth about the fall of the Tirosians eventually came out, and themuniqu that the Detterex spies brought to the Empire was revealed to be fake, the reputation of the Earthers as the legendary warrior race was already set in concrete, at least as far as the Detterex were concerned. And besides, the Detterex had already surrendered.

    The Detterex had disarmed themselves (mostly), and had cheerfully submitted to regr inspections (sort of), but only to Earther forces.

    Knowing that, Mumu and Pinpin requested for Admiral Silverman to assignpanies of EarthForce army infantry, preferably female infantry, to all Federation forces assigned to patrol or administer Detterex territories.

    But these were all just details.

    Speaking in broad strokes, even though the conditional surrender of Detterex and the fall of the Tiros Empire brought with them their own problems, life in Colossus had started to fall into a kind of normalcy, and the old housekeeping concerns of the Federation reasserted themselves.

    Still, theing of the Earthers and everything they brought with them had fundamentally changed Federation life. For example, previous races that had been sitting on the fence for millennia (some for thousands of millennia) finally decided to be members of the Gctic Federation. This wasrgely because of the reputation of the Earthers as the allies protectors and defenders. So that they might benefit from this and the technological wonders that the Earthers brought, many decided to take the plunge and be members. And these new members also proudly imed membership in what was unofficially called the Earth Alliance.

    Most Federation citizens held the Earthers in respect and high esteem, some even in almost religious awe. The Earthers reputation was well founded, given how they had been instrumental, some thought singlehandedly instrumental, in staving off the threat of the Empire and starting the process of rapprochement with the Detterex, and had acted as the unofficial peacekeepers for the Federation ever since. They had also helped discover five new sophont races since their arrival, though none of them were ready to be members (before, the Federation average was the discovery of one intelligent species every hundred thousand millennia), discovered at least one habitable every two months (except for those that they wanted for themselves, Earth regrly auctioned off the coordinates of habitables they didnt want, and this had made Earthers even richer than they previously were) and introduced an uncounted number of new innovations that had made daily life in the alliance so much morefortable (these still didnt include Phase-Wave, their FTL innovations and their inertia converters: Earth government still had these and other technloies on their proscribed list, and Federation science was still very far from discovering how they worked).

    But what captured the hearts of many, especially those on the smaller marginalized colony worlds off the beaten path of gcticmerce that got little benefit from the alliance, was the Earthers philosophy of equal treatment and live-and-let-live, unencumbered by the preconceived notions and prejudices that most Federation members had been trapped under for countless millennia. Such an attitude seemed like a godsend to those who desperately needed to be given a chance for something better.

    For these and many other worlds, a kind of philosophical revolution, a kind of religious turnabout, was happening, brought on by the Earthers, and aided and abetted by their Elyran, Arachnian, Telcontari and Dixx friends, plus their new cyborg friends from Star 453-A, promising sweeping changes for the better.

    The Earthers themselves did not quite believe their own press  an attitude they had acquired from their brush with near-extinction in what they called their third world war. This kind of humility was carefully nurtured and encouraged by Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Amelia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele of Elyra Prime and the Elyran Great ins, Duchess of the Sciollian Isles of Earth, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet of Earth and High Admiral of the Elyran Defense Force, Lord-Defender of Arachnia and the Daemon Territories, Friend of All Detterex, Lord and Master of New Gibraltar, Keeper of the Messiahs Torch, Director-General Emeritus of the CETI Council, and permanent ambassador of the United Nations of Earth to the Gctic Federation of Free Races. (Mia was always embarrassed by her long and illustrious title, but her spouses were quite proud of it and insisted it be used as often as possible.)

    Mia had confided to her Elyran spouse, Princess Tasha, that she did not want Earthers to degenerate into the self-indulgence and arrogance of humans of the past. An attitude of entitlement must not be allowed to grow, she said. She had therefore engineered things so that all monies and other material riches that the race umted from their association with the Federation were immediately plowed back into the gctic economy via outreach programs and other phnthropic projects, making the Earth government the first and most sessful phnthropic government in the Federation. Earther citizens therefore did not get any kind of advantage from this affluence, and therefore neverported themselves with the arrogance of, say, a Detterex royal among Detterex Empire citizens. After all, they never needed to: Earth System and Earth citizens did not want for anything. Not since the discovery of Phase-Wave, anyway.

    Even so, a few races and colony worlds still resented the Earthers supposed affluence, and this had sparked a few revolts. But, after Gctic Federation forces put such brushfires down, the Earthers would be one of the first to assist in the recovery, and minimize any punitive actions levied on them by the Federation government. And these worlds would find themselves quickly on the road to recovery and self-sufficiency. In time, these worlds would, in fact, be the staunchest supporters and defenders of the Federation.

    From the inside of the Federation government, the savvy Earther politico, Doctor Marcus Bidwell, and his crafty staff of Earthers, Elyrans, Dixx and Telcontari also did their part, and quietly instituted reforms and policies that advocated equal treatment of all sophonts, while the dynamic duo of the First Ambassador of Arachnia and the Erocii scientist, Autumn-Sun-Rising-in-the-East (who most just called Autumn) advocated an unbiased, holistic view of the Gctic Federation, and advocated education programs that highlighted this view.

    The education programs they created were adopted by most Federation worlds. After all, they were free (they were fully funded by the Earthers and, to a smaller extent, the Federation government) and they were the best around, churning out top-caliber scientists, engineers and experts in thousands of different disciplines, vocations and trades, and the most highly regarded artists among the knowns. The only thing that the Earthers and the Federation required in exchange was that their graduates must pay allegiance to what was called the Sophonts Oath  an oath advocating fair treatment of all sophonts, using ones gifts and talents to assist others in need or in distress, and helping make the universe a better one. They were also required to render the equivalent of four Earth years of service to what Earthers call the Gctic Peace Corps.

    Professor Tribin, a famous Telcontari teacher, once said that the Oath was familiar to all Telcontari and most Federation citizens. It had echoes in the Telcontaris Laws of Ethics, in the ancient writings of the Great Messiah of Elyra and Detterex, and in the so-called Golden Rule of the Earthers.

    As for Professor Jennifer Priestly, as the new apprentice to the Keeper of the Heritage, she was starting to learn about the origins of intelligent life in their part of the gxy, and was starting to get acquainted with the long-term n of the Keepers.

    A few cybeic improvements had already been imnted in her. Her new master had offered more enhancements but, for the moment, she was fine with what had already been given to her. She knew that as parts of her body failed in time, and were reced with artificialponents, her body would eventually be mostly artificial, just like the Keeper. She actually doubted if there was anything organic left in the Keeper anymore. But if that was the price of immortality, and the price to help keep the n in ce, so be it.

    She asked the Keeper if he felt differentpared to when he was still mostly organic, and he said that there really was no difference - he was still the same person, and he still had the same memories, drives, emotions and needs. His artificial body, in fact, boasted no special powers, senses or advantages from his original one  it worked and felt the same way. This allowed him to feel and experience the universe in the same way he always did. The only difference was that his memory was practically endless now, and sustaining himself was easier, and it was easier to... make repairs.

    Jennifer asked about something... delicate, and the Keeper smiled, understanding. He assured her that his emotions and, yes, his sexual drives, remained the same. But (he said sadly) since his species was tragically extinct now, he had toned those drives down to practically zero.

    However, he knew what Jennifer was really asking. He said that the previous Keeper enjoyed a happy and active sex life, and indulged her desires whenever her drives moved her, and freely associated with her friends as before, and Jennifer was free to do so as well. He did caution her, however, since she was now on the road to bing immortal and would live on while her friends would die and pass away  she must be prepared for that.

    Jennifer heard the sadness in the Keepers voice, since he was thest of his line, but felt relief upon hearing that he was still essentially the same as before.

    She reviewed her behavior, senses and emotions and she didnt detect anything different after her digestive and respiration systems were reced. Although her new parts allowed her to continue without the need for food or even air, and she could conceivably live on for months without any input, she still ate (and breathed) as she normally did. The one thing she did insist upon was that there be no visible signs of her... improvements so that she could still interact with her old friends and colleagues without them being any the wiser. Especially with Mia, Marc, Sahsha, and Princess Tasha.

    She wondered if these cybeic advances could have been shared with others but the Keeper sadly said that wasnt possible. The ancient machinery that created his spare parts and her new digestive tract, and allowed him to live a virtually immortal life, could not be duplicated  many former Keepers had tried and failed. The machinery was only designed to work for two beings. It was deliberately designed that way.

    That was the main reason why there was ever only one Keeper and one apprentice at any time. The Keeper said that the Earthers cybeic advances actually held more promise to help others than the Keepers machines.

    Who made the ancient machines and how, no one knew anymore. The only thing that the Keeper knew was that it was made specifically for the purpose of assisting him and his apprentice to continue the n.

    Jennifer took that all in, and was d she was the one the Keeper picked. All she could say about that was that she wasnt surprised the Keeper picked an Earther as his apprentice. The Keeper exined he knew Earthers would be ying arge part in the gxys affairs in the foreseeable future, and it was convenient if the new Keeper was also an Earther.

    Jennifer was determined to do her part in fulfilling the n. She was both excited and apprehensive that she could be around conceivably forever, and see how Earthers would fare in theing millennia, and see how the universe changed over the eons.

    As apprentice, she had to learn all that the Keeper knew. But there was no physical or mental link between her, the ancient machines and the current Keeper. Aside from her new, near-limitless memory, she was not given any special tools that would allow her to learn better or faster. So the only way she could learn everything was the old-fashioned way.

    Despite her new bottomless memory, she told the Keeper that this seemed so inefficient. Couldnt she be given some kind of cybeic link to the ancient machines memory or something? But the Keeper exined that the normal way was the only way to do it. To do it in any other way would change her so fundamentally that she wouldnt be herself anymore, and she must remain herself. Otherwise the n would not be able to continue.

    She didnt know what that meant but she shrugged it off. Shell find out eventually anyway.

    So her days were now filled with reading ancient texts, scrolls and books, and listening to hours of lectures from the Keeper and his staff. She had already learned a lot - a lot of mind-boggling stuff, and she was eager to learn more. But the Keeper did not insist on a cloistered, monk-like existence, so she still kept in touch with everyone from her previous life.

    She also had the freedom to go home, and to take as many breaks as she wanted, for as long as she wanted. The Keeper said that they had all the time they needed so there was no rush. But there was still too much to learn. She knew she wouldnt be taking breaks anytime soon.

    To the outside world, she was just the newest staff of the Keeper. Only the Keeper, his people and the Royal Family knew her status as the Apprentice. And the Keeper didnt seem worried about her spilling the beans: she was given free ess tomunication. She didnt understand why. But, nevertheless, she didnt spill any secrets even to Mia and the others. In her frequent Phase-Wave conversations with Mia, she freely told her about what she had learned, and what her new life was like, but she didnt talk about the main reason for the Keepers, her new, possibly immortal existence, and why the keepers were around. Maybe in time she would tell Mia. Then again, maybe not. It all depended on what happened next.

    And that was the big question.

    -----

    As for Mia, many things had changed in her life. After the three most momentous events to happen in the Federation in eons  the fall of Tiros Prime, the surrender of the Detterex Empire and what they called The Rescue of Colossus - Mia had be the most well-known and most popr citizen of the Federation, with Tasha and Sahsha being a distant second and third.

    Earth was proud of her most famous citizen, and wanted to reward her somehow. But that was problematic. She couldnt be promoted since the next post would have been Admiral Silvermans post, and he was not prepared to step aside. The Navy was actually prepared to create a new post just for her, but Mia didnt want that  she had a lifelong dislike of red tape and unnecessary bureaucracy, and this sounded too much like that.

    She did, however, want to resign, but given current attitudes in the Federation, she couldnt do that. To do so was a kind of cowardice. To fall on ones sword or to risk ones life for a belief or a cause was an honorable thing, but to retire when one was still capable was a kind of cop out, or kind of an act of cowardice. In Earther military terms, it was like desertion, and had about the same kind of stigma.

    So she was instructed to keep her post as themander of the Fifth Fleet, although Beth was the one who acted in her ce most of the time.

    However, her marriage to the new ruler of All of Elyra (or the closest to it) did put a different kind of twist on things.

    -----

    The Fifth Fleet was now abined fleet: Courtesy of the Great ins of Elyra and the Elyran colony of Harcon, eight Tiros Eclipse-ss cruisers were now assigned to the Fifth Fleet. These cruisers, however, werent the most cutting edge ships in the fleet  they were, after all, just recovered Tiros prize cruisers the Elyrans purchased from the Tirosians.

    EarthForce couldnt really turn down the gift of these ships lest they insult Princess Thssa and Princess Tasha, so they did the next best thing - the engineering crews of all of Mias five Earth cruisers were deployed, and one Earth ship full of spare parts was dispatched.

    Under direct orders from the princess, the eight ships took turns tond on Gibraltar Base, and their crews allowed the Earthers onboard. Within one Earth month, the eight cruisers were given a thorough overhaul, and were brought back close to original spec, and in fact were so improved they could now give any Arachnian cruiser a run for its money.

    Aside from these eight, the Shepherd Moon and Mias five remaining Type-Ones were further augmented by four other newlymissioned Type-Ones. These were specially outfitted for deep-space exploration, withrgernding decks and a muchrgerplement of Cobra shuttles each.

    Also, per the request of Admiral Steele, Earthship Two, plus Saturns three K-ss ships underwent refits and were converted to be full-fledged FTLs, and would be sent to Colossus to join up with the Fifth Fleet. Commodore Oshiro didnt raise a fuss when he lost his three mini-cruisers because, in exchange for the Yamato, Musashi and Shinano, he was promised twelve brand-new Type-Twos. More than a fair trade in his eyes.

    -----

    After their refits and shakedown, the four ships were then dispatched to Gibraltar Base to join up with the Fifth Fleet. Mia had requisitioned these ships because the three fast, small ships were ideal for interdiction missions whereas Earthship Two was a great tform for exploration missions.

    At the end of it, the Fifth Fleet was now made up of its g carrier (the J-One ss Shepherd Moon), nine Type-One cruisers, eight Tirosian Eclipse-ss cruisers, the three K-ss ships (now ressified as K-One clipper ss cruisers) and the newly-FTL-capable Earthship Two (the first of what would be the explorer ss ships). Upon special request by the Queen, Cruiser 99, Daxxs three Dixx cruisers, and Tashas own zing Star and Talon were now permanent parts of the fleet. Dixx and Arachnia had followed Elyras lead and were in negotiations to buy a few Tiros ships, to be assigned to the Fifth Fleet as well.

    With twenty-eight cruisers, Mias Fifth Fleet was now considered a more than respectably sized fleet instead of being the smallest among EarthForces five fleets.

    -----

    Eventually, Mia had decided to marry Tasha in the traditions of both Earth and of Elyra. And because Sahsha had entered into a prior bond with Tasha, Mia, in effect, was also married to Sahsha. It was the first marriage of this kind in a long time, for both Earth and Elyra, a distinction that brought them both notoriety (on Earth) and prestige (in Elyra). In time, their love was proven to be the most enduring, and provided the basis of a partnership between Earth and Elyra that eventually became more than symbiotic.

    Because they were Earthers, Mia and Sahsha did not feel the effects of Bridges, except with Tasha (and, through Tasha, with each other), but more than that, what they felt for Tasha, as well as for each other, included the old-fashioned Earther-type love, and Tasha would swoon from what she had with her spouses: the power of the Bridge amplified by the more fundamental and basic love that Earthers had. Tasha was truly smitten.

    She felt the love of both kinds of Bridges  both the dominant and the submissive kinds, and enhanced with the Earther love Mia and Sahsha were capable of. She felt like she was the most fulfilled woman in all of Elyra and was the object of envy among its citizens - the only other Elyran who was known to have experienced that dual kind of bonding was the Great Messiah. And because of Tashas marriage to Mia and Sahsha, Earthers were now considered the sexiest and most attractive beings by the Elyrans and the Detterex (Mia and Sahsha being the most attractive of them).

    In the fullness of time, the Queen Mother passed away before the five years prescribed in the conve were up, and after the required year of mourning, to maintain the continuity of Elyra, the new Kerr royal family, made up of Tasha, Mia and Sahsha, ascended the throne of All Elyra.

    Though there were some who wondered at the appropriateness of non-Elyrans bing part of the royal family, this was not a big issue given that the royals in question were the Earther diplomat who had rescued the Princess Tasha from certain death and the legendary Lady Amelia.

    Through their influence, and because of the different perspective Mia and Sahsha had as Earthers, the new Royal Family initiated sweeping changes throughout all Elyra and her colonies. For example: at that time, the Detterex Empire had started to decline, andmunications with their colonies and vassals started to break down. The Detterex Royal Family offered a new renegotiated contract of cooperation in exchange for assistance. The new First Family of Elyra and the Fifth Fleet of Earth initiated interster rescue and interdiction missions that became known as the First Wave.

    Through this First Wave, and subsequent follow-up missions, the breakdown of the Detterex Empire was halted, and, though, many on both sides resisted at first, the much-reduced Detterex Empire became a new member of the Gctic Federation, and that was the beginning of Elyran-Detterex integration.

    As for the Tirosians, after the fall of Tiros Prime, the all-important web ofmunications andmerce that kept the Empire thriving died. In thirty Earth years, the Tiros Empire was no more, and was reduced to several hundred small colony worlds that professed no allegiance to any empire. It became the Gctic Federations ongoing mission to somehow integrate these settlements into the Federation.

    It was not an exaggeration to say that Tasha, Sahsha and Miabined (but mostly Mia) were the closest that the Earth Alliance, the Gctic Federation, the Tiros Star Empire and the Detterex Empire had to a Queen or Empress, or perhaps, per Earth terminology, a Prime Minister, since almost all their governments just followed Mias, Tashas and Sahshas lead instead of just blindly or vishly obeying them.

    Over time, Earth and Elyra rivaled Colossus itself as centers of the Gctic Federations culture,merce and politics.

    A change in the lines of power was evident. Very few of the racesined about it, though, except for the precious few that were adversely affected.

    But even the leaders of this handful ofs conceded that the Federation, as a whole, was better off because of it, and none of them really wanted to shake things up, especially since the Earthers would not stand for it.

    The Dravidian Guild of Merchants was one of the exceptions, however.

    A few years after the surrender of the Detterex, they tried to simultaneously block the majormercialnding routes with their freight and cargo containers in order to gain concessions from the government. But that was foiled by the friendly offer of assistance by Federation garrison troop carriers, that just happened to show up. They towed the stranded Dravidian cargo containers out of the way ofmercial shipping before they caused trouble.

    Other more overt but minor acts of rebellion by other races were also put down quickly and quietly, mostly by the quick interdiction of the Earths Fourth and Fifth Fleets. In time, just the threat of an Earther show of force and their seemingly magical ability of being at the right ce at the right time was enough of a deterrent. The cultural, economic andmercialndscape of the entire Gctic Arm was fundamentally and irrevocably changed, and whether or not the Earthers were truly theing of the fabled Warrior Race, it had be immaterial now.

    It was a joke among the citizens that, to track the changes to life in the Gctic Arm since the arrival of the Earthers, one would just need go through the royal titles of the Elyran Royal Family. In fact most youngsters had memorized them. Much as an Earth child would recite her A-B-Cs, or recite her multiplication tables, Federation children would recite Tashas, Sahshas and Mias titles by heart, as follows:

    <em>Her Most Royal Highness, Queen Tasha the Forty-Third, by Grace of the Messiah, of the Kingdoms of Elyra and Her Dominions beyond the Rim, Grand Admiral of the Royal Armies of the Crown, Defender of the Faithful, Empress of All Elyrans and Friend of all Detterex, and permanent ambassador of the Elyran Peoples to the Gctic Federation of Free Races;</em>

    <em>Her Royal Highness, Lady Sahsha Liaran-Kerr-Delyer, Princess of Elyra Prime and the Sciollian Isles of Earth, Royal Concubine of the Queen, Duchess of the Lesser ins, Baroness of the Sapphire Moons of Harcon, Countess of the Hignds of Petri and the First Colony; </em>and, of course,

    <em>Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Amelia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele of Elyra Prime and the Elyran Great ins, Duchess of the Sciollian Isles of Earth, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet of Earth and High Admiral of the Elyran Defense Force, Lord-Defender of Arachnia and the Daemon Territories, Friend of All Detterex, Lord and Master of New Gibraltar, Keeper of the Messiahs Torch, Director-General Emeritus of the CETI Council, and permanent ambassador of the United Nations of Earth to the Gctic Federation of Free Races.</em>

    For better or worse, all the known races had hitched the future of all their worlds to the Earthers. None knew what the future held in store for them, except, perhaps, the Keeper and his new Apprentice. But they werent saying

    -----

    There was one good thing that happened because of all of this, Mia said to her doctor once, during one of her infrequent visits to Earth.

    And what is that? Doctor Isabe Puerrot asked her.

    At least I dont have problems about being a girl, now?

    Hmmm the doctor replied. How does that make you feel? She asked the question with some kind of mock German ent.

    Mia looked at her, shocked, and then she saw her smiling, and Mia broke downughing.

    Nicks given you some more movies again, huh? Mia asked.

    <strong> The End </strong>

 Stories from the Shepherd Moon #1: After the Storm

    Stories from the Shepherd Moon #1: After the Storm

    <strong>Stories from the Shepherd Moon: Interviews #1 -</strong><strong>After the Storm</strong>

    <strong>(this day-in-the-life filler story is to be inserted</strong><strong>after the Epilogue of Shepherd Moon)</strong>

    ---------------

    <em>Hello, Dear Reader.</em>

    <em>This particr story is part of the Stories from the Shepherd Moon, and is a fun and funny kind of vite about a royal event in Mias life, covered by </em><em>the famous Elyran TV personality, Jem Tevann-Losira.</em>

    <em>This is what is usually called apanion piece, to the story Shepherd Moon. Timeline-wise, this follows the epilogue/ending, but has no material contribution to that story. However, it does give answers to some questions you might have about Shepherd Moon tech.</em>

    <em>There may be some redundant information, so I hope you bear with me, and you enjoy this littlepanion piece.</em>

    ---------------

    <em>"To find a fault is easy; to do better may be difficult."</em>

    -Plutarch, Earth biographer, ambassador and magistrate, 1st Century Earth

    <em></em>

    <em>"Before we me we should first see whether we cannot excuse."</em>

    -Georg C. Lichtenberg, Earth scientist and writer, 18th Century Earth

    <em></em>

    <em>What do you know? Haven''t you heard of suspension of disbelief?"</em>

    -Ed Wood, Earth screenwriter, producer, author and actor, 20th Century Earth

    <em>"Tasha, I just got dressed!"</em>

    -Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii-Kerr, at the Great ins Pce, Elyra, GY 9994

    ---------------

    Following are some behind-the-scenes and excerpts from an interview by the Royal Elyran Broadcasting System, with Heir-Apparent Crown Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr, Crown Princess Amelia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele and Her Excellency, Duchess Sahsha Marie Liaran-Kerr-Delyer, conducted after the events of the Seeker/Shepherd Moon Missions, and just before the inauguration of the new Elyran Republic and the crowning of the Crown Princess.

    ---------------

    It had been a while since the events of that first Seeker/Shepherd Moon mission, and a lot had happened since. But Mia, Sahsha and Princess Tasha weren''t thinking of anything remotely rted to that. They were in one of the interview rooms (Mia would have called it a studio) in the Royal Elyran Communications Institute in Tasha''s home city, and they were currently standing around, waiting for the cameraman to do some color and light tests. The about-to-be-crowned-queen was insistent that the people would always see her new family at their best. For the first family of the new Elyran Republic, image was important.

    "Tasha, do I really need to wear this?" Mia asked as she fidgeted with the ornamental dress sword of her new royal squadronmander''s uniform. The uniform reminded her of a formal man''s morning coat, especially with the tails. Except for the royal blue color. And the blue waistcoat, ruffle cuffs and cor, and the tight-fitting white trousers...

    The princess herself wore a full set of a royal warrior''s armor, including a full breastte, vambraces, gauntlets, greaves and a short mail skirt. "Stop it, my love," Tasha said. "It is part of the uniform. Get used to it. Look at me." She gestured at her own sword.

    "The difference," Mia said, "is that it looks good on you." She leaned down and gave the princess a kiss. Before it could progress any further, Sahsha interrupted them.

    "Hey!" Sahsha eximed. She had taken to wearing her trantor everywhere nowadays, and by now, Mia and Tasha were used to the odd double-sound of Sahsha''s voice speaking simultaneously in English and Elyran. She was actually very fluent now, but still used the trantor out of fear being misunderstood ormitting a gaff.

    She went to Tasha, hands on hips and huffed irritatedly. Tasha smiled in delight and turned to Sahsha, took the Terran diplomat''s face in her hands and kissed her soundly on the lips.

    After a while, Sahsha broke the kiss and tried to get her bnce back. "Umm," Sahsha said, trying to catch her breath. "What was I saying?" Tasha and Miaughed.

    Tasha looked her up and down. "It''s too bad you didn''t choose to wear the clothes I selected for you. You would have looked beautiful. But your EarthForce uniform suits you. You look lovely... in an Earther sort of way."

    Sahsha smiled and reached for Tasha''s hand.

    "Excuse me,dies," the cameraman said, interrupting them.

    "Apologies,d," Tasha said. "Here she is." Tasha ushered Mia forward.

    The taller woman stepped forward. "What should I do?" Mia asked in fluent Elyran.

    "Just stand at ease, Your Highness," the cameraman said. "I just need to get some light readings."

    After Mia, the two others joined her and the cameraman continued calibrating his video equipment. Normally, he''d just adjust on the fly, but this was the crown princess and the Earther warrior. He didn''t mind the little unnecessary make-work chore, if it''ll put them at ease.

    Other people bustled around them, fixing up the stage and adjusting overhead lights. The three of them sat down and enjoyed a few sses of the tart-sweet Dixx wine that Mia and Sahsha loved called krahnng.

    Krahnng this fresh had almost zero alcohol content, and they treated it like orange juice from back home.

    When the cameraman signaled everything was ready, Jem, the''s most famous video celebrity, came in, dressed in an outfit that Sahsha''s mom might have said was a little too froufrou for a grown man. But here in Elyra, that was how most men dressed.

    Good morning,dies," Jem said.

    "T''chahn," the three of them responded. Sahsha had to give the guy props for trying to put Mia and her at ease by looking up some English phrases. The familiarity by which he addressed them showed that he, too, was of royal lineage.

    "So... have you seen the program before?"

    The three of them looked at each other and embarrassedly shook their heads no - a gesture Elyrans and most humans had inmon.

    Jem giggled. "That''s all right. Not too many like to watch interview shows. But now that we got you three here, I think they''ll watch this one!" He rubbed his hands together in excitement. "So let''s get started!"

    -----

    "You know," Jem said, halfway through the interview, making sure that the camera got his good side, "many Elyrans are quite impressed with Earth technology." He showed them his wrist. "Look at this! I picked this up at the emporium just the other day. It''s a genuine Earth timepiece called a Timex. Imagine - a clock on your wrist! And don''t ask me how many crowns I had to pay for it."

    Mia and Sahsha tried to stop themselves from smiling.

    "But what most would like to hear about, I am sure, are those wonderful, umm, cellphones I think they''re called. Too bad they aren''t avable for sale?" Jem''s question was obvious.

    "Umm, I''m sorry about that," Sahsha said through her trantor. "But Earth Government has prohibited the distribution of devices with certain technologies. One of these proscribed technologies is called Phase-Wave. It''s a bit like radio except it has unlimited range."

    "Unlimited, My Lady?"

    Well, I could ce a call to Earth if I want."

    "Goodness!"

    "Well," Mia said, "Humans didnt used to have Phase-wave. It''s a fairly new discovery."

    "What did you use before?"

    "Something called a Seren station."

    "Tell me about these Seren stations."

    "Well, just before Phase-Wave, there were five Seren stations in the Sr system, whereas now there are none - Phase-Wave made Seren transmitters obsolete, so they were retired. There was a sixth one being constructed near Saturn, but with the discovery of Phase-Wave, they abandoned the project. The Seren stations were on Venus, Phobos station on Mars, Neptune, Jupiter, and one for the Earth on Luna colony, of course.

    "A Seren transmitter is really a kind of wormhole generator, but of a kind that allows matter to pass through. Normally, wormholes don''t allow matter to pass through without copsing, but this kind allows light and electromaic waves to go through. Even so, it gets... pinched off in a matter of nanoseconds. At least the copse is predictable, and with no... unusual effects when it does. So Seren transmitterse in pairs - one on each end of the tunnel. Since the wormhole doesn''tst long, the pair of transmitters need to be synchronized to a ridiculously precise level so the extraction of light pulses or electromaic waves can be coordinated properly, extracting the bits that get through and then properly reassembling them, sort of, as well as re-opening the hole to transmit the next bit.

    "These transmitters allow near-instantaneousmunication between the major poption centers - Earth, the Moon, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Neptune. Saturn had no station then, so they had to limp along with dyedmunications.

    "Though the stations were hellishly expensive to run,merce knows no boundaries: even if each used about five hundred exajoules of energy per Earth year to run, each colony was able to keep theirs running, even if they used eighty percent of their totalary energy output. In the case of Earth, though, this was only twenty percent. And with Mars and its energy-poor ecosystem, they had to resort to extremelyrge and expensive sr farms, built specifically for that purpose; they didn''t want to be left out in the cold like Saturn."

    "Exajoule?" Jem asked.

    "It''s a scientific Earth unit of measure, for measuringrge masses or amounts of energy. A term not yet included in the trantor databases."

    "All right. I''ll look it upter. Please continue. This is interesting stuff!"

    "For the humans," Mia continued, "the good thing about the Seren transmitters was that, after their retirement, Humans suddenly found themselves with a mind-boggling surplus energy capacity of about three thousand exajoules. Imagine an energy surplus of more than six times the total yearly energy output of old twenty-first century Earth. And with a present human poption just fifteen percent the size of old Earth, I dare say, at the time of the Seeker Mission, we were probably the richest single race in the gxy. This practically-unlimited energy surplus was how EarthForce (the current ng for the United Earth Defense Force) was able to construct a big, new fleet in less than a year.

    "Anyway, even though Seren-basedmunications wasn''t really instantaneous, it was almost instantaneous, and it improved ourmunications by a matter of more than a thousand-fold. Let me illustrate - the distance between Earth and Neptune is between 4.3 and 4.7 billion kilometers, right?"

    Jem giggled. "I''ll take your word for it."

    Mia smiled at that. She should stop using Earth units of measure. "That means a radio signal would take more than four and a half hours to travel from Triton to Earth, and for a Seren signal, it would take about twelve seconds. A vast improvement over conventionalmunications, but still not as good as Phase-Wave, which was really instantaneous."

    "Those are human units of measure again. But don''t let that stop you - we''ll catch everyone up in post-production. Continue, please."

    Mia nodded. "The powers that be on Earth have decided not to share Phase-Wave with our neighbors, but at least Earth did provide the Federation with detailed ns on how to build Seren transceivers... Although I hear no one wants to actually construct them because of the enormous power it would take to run it..."

    -----

    "You mentioned the present size of the Earth''s poption. I had heard that it wasrger."

    Tasha took up the discussion. "The Earth poption? Yes, I heard. Ren''s team..." Tasha choked on the name. Sudden tears came unbidden to her eyes. Sahsha leaned over and held her hand.

    "Thank you, my love, I''m fine." Tasha shook herself of her momentary grief, and cleared her throat. "As I was saying, Ren''s science team estimated the Earther poption to be forty-five billion... I don''t know how much that is in Earther numbers. Mia?"

    "Let me think," Mia said. "Let''s see, that would be four point nine-six-six billion in Base-10, or 4,966,055,936 to be exact."

    "Thank you, dear. Can you believe my wife? She''s amazing. So, that means Ren was off by..."

    "Over four hundred sixty-nine percent off... or four hundred fifteen in Base-8."

    "Why was the prince so far off the mark?" Jem asked.

    "Well," Tasha said, "he had made the erroneous assumption that the rest of the humans were as densely popted as the mother world, which we now know they were not..."

    -----

    "... so you tookmand of the Seeker mission. I understand that, like in the Elyran navy, an Earthmander in charge of more than one ship would have a higher rank. I am told the appropriate rank for that would be a modore''..."

    "Truth be told, Jem, I was offered that," Mia answered, "but I declined. As a recently-drafted military man... I mean woman, I thought it would cause resentment. As it was, Beth had to be demoted, although temporarily, just so I could takemand of her ship."

    "Beth?"

    "Elizabeth O''Connell," Sahsha replied. "She was the Captain of the Seeker before Mia tookmand."

    "My reason for going on the mission," Mia said, "was so that I could be part of First Contact. Benjamin..."

    "That''s Admiral Benjamin Silverman," Sahsha rified again, stressing the Earther way of pronouncing the name so that no mistake would be made. "Hes the head of our armed forces."

    "That''s right. Admiral Silverman insisted that I takemand, and that would mean resentment from career military folks who would see me as an outsider butting in. The bestpromise I could get with the admiral was a temporary posting as Seeker''s captain, and an agreement with Captains Dupont and Okonkwo of the Constetion and the Hermes that Seeker would be the gship for the mission."

    "Temporary?"

    "Well, it was supposed to be temporary. Little did I know..."

    "How did Elizabeth O''Connell take it?"

    "She didn''t like it at first, but now she''s be quite a close friend, actually," Sahsha said.

    "Indeed," Tasha said. "In fact, she was our, what do you call it, Sahsha? She was the ''maid of honor'' in our nuptial ceremony."

    "''Wedding,'' honey."

    "Yes, ''wedding.''"

    -----

    "Since we''ve been talking about the Seeker," Jem said, "I mean, the Shepherd Moon, I''m sure a lot of people are curious about it. I''ve seen many pictures of her. I mean, who hasn''t? It''s the most famous spacecraft in the gxy. I have to ask, though - why does it look so different from the other Earth battleships?"

    Mia smiled. "Thank you for saying so, Jem. If ever they see this program, I''m sure Beth and the crew will appreciate it. Why is she different, you ask? Well, she''s over fifty Earth years old. One of the oldest, in fact, still flying. She came from a time when there were no deflector shields yet, nor skyhooks..."

    "Skyhooks?"

    Another word probably not in the trantion databases yet. That''s what we call geostationary orbital tethers. You have five of them here on Elyra."

    "Ahhh! The beanstalks!"

    Mia smiled. "Yes, the beanstalks. So since they didn''t have beanstalks then, all of their spaceships were designed to manage both flight in space and in Earth atmosphere, so resupply, cargo loading and maintenance could be done dirtside. But, all of that can be done in space, thanks to beanstalks. And when ships absolutely need to enter the atmosphere, like shuttles and other smaller ships need to, with deflectors to manage aerodynamic effects and more powerful engines, new Earth ships don''t need to be streamlined nor use the atmosphere to assist in lift. This makes their construction faster and cheaper. They''re just as functional, but a lot less good-looking."

    "Yes. To be frank, Earth ships are as good-looking as, well, Dravidian cruisers... if you know what I mean..."

    "Well, you''ll be pleased to know, the new ships currently on the drawing board will look a lot more aesthetically pleasing."

    "That''s good news. How about that thing, what Elyrans are calling Earth min-ku -"

    "Min-ku?"

    "That means ''lightning'' in Elyran," Sahsha exined to Mia.

    "How..." Jem was confused momentarily.

    Sahsha pointed at her ear. "My trantor," she said.

    "Ahhh!"

    "Lightning..." Mia said. "You mean the inertia converters?"

    "Is that what they are?"

    "Though I cannot give specifics, Im able to tell you that our generators are able to convert inertia to radiant energy. That''s the ''lightning,'' I suppose you''re referring to. There are enormous energies involved, but the conversion process limits the conversion to wavelengths in the visible spectrum. Otherwise, Earth ships would have the same effect as an x-ray pulsar, and would fry any object in the path of the generators'' beams. There are differences, though. The new ships like the Constetion keep the conversion nearer the red wavelengths whereas Seeker''s original converters are less precise so her ''lightning'' is white, but with the current modifications, we can actually select the wavelengths that are emitted."

    "You mentioned enormous energies?"

    "Well, our system is able to manage it. There would just be more... lightning if there''s more energy to convert, especially at the end of a long trip."

    -----

    "In the many engagements where Earthers were involved, we never saw them use atomics. Except that one time, of course. It seems odd."

    "Well," Mia said, "Earth people do not like nuclear weapons. It took Earth a long time to recover from its nuclear war, and a lot of people died in that war. The race was almost wiped out. It''s therefore not surprising that we don''t like atomics... And, although Earth warships all carry nuclear weapons, only a direct order from the fleet admiral can authorize their use. Actually, most of EarthForce wondered the same thing about the Federation and Empire ships..."

    "It''s no surprise, really, my love," Tasha said. "Creation of the raw fuel for such weapons, and managing that fuel safely, makes atomic weapons quite expensive, therefore our spacecraft only carry two or four low-yield missiles, of types that could be mounted on small ships if need be. Like in my own Talon."

    "Really," Mia said, looking at Tasha.

    "Really," Jem said. "Most Elyrans know that."

    - end -

 Stories from the Shepherd Moon #2: An Obsession With Royalty

    Stories from the Shepherd Moon #2: An Obsession With Royalty

    <strong>Stories from the Shepherd Moon: Interviews #2 - An Obsession With Royalty</strong>

    <strong>(this day-in-the-life filler story is to be inserted after the epilogue of Shepherd Moon)</strong>

    ---------------

    <em>Hello, Dear Reader. Heres a warning:</em>

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    <em>If you havent read the Shepherd Moon and dont want any spoilers, dont continue.</em>

    <em>This particr story is part of the Stories from the Shepherd Moon, and is a fun and funny kind of vite about a royal event in Mias life, covered by the fictitious BBC Sr videowork, and anchored by the fictitious TV personality Bryan Seacrest (wink wink), with news personalities Danni Sawyer and Kathy Courik (lol).</em>

    <em>This is what is usually called apanion piece, to the story, Shepherd Moon.</em>

    <em>Timeline-wise, it follows the epilogue/ending, and the first Stories from the Shepherd Moon chapter, but has no material contribution to that story. You might want to read parts 1 to 5, and the epilogue of Shepherd Moon first before reading this one.</em>

    <em>This story is also chock-full of pictures which, I hope, adds a bit of the fun element of Shepherd Moon.</em>

    <em>As usual, the pictures and coges are from publicly-essible pictures from the. No i.p. or copyright infringement is intended.</em>

    <em>So.</em>

    <em>If you wish to continue, feel free to scroll down, and I hope you enjoy this little story!</em>

    <em>(And please doment? Thanks!)</em>

    ---------------

    <strong></strong>

    <strong></strong>

    <strong>Announcer:</strong> To all our viewers on the, the colonies and territories of the United Nations of Earth, and, via gctic radio ry, to all our viewers in the Gctic Federation of Free Races  we wee you back to BBC Srs special Federation-wide coverage of the investiture of Princess Amelia Liaran-Kerr-Steele as the new ruler of the Elyran Kingdom of the Northern Territory.

    We now return you to BBC Srs Bryan Seacrest and the special news correspondent from the Royal Elyran Broadcasting System, Jem Tevann-Losira.

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Wee back, viewers. My names Bryan Seacrest, broadcasting from BBC Srs outside broadcasting van, or what we in the news business like to call the OB Van, here on the frontwn of the Royal Castle of the Northern Territory here on Elyra Prime. Im here with the famous Elyran presenter and TV personality, Jem Tevann-Losira.

    Jem spoke, but only Elyran could be heard.

    Jem! Jem! You have to make sure both buttons of your trantor are pressed down.

    Oh! Jem said, took the little trantor from his ear and pressed a button on it. Apologies, Bryan. Am I fine now?

    Yes, thanks.

    <em>Tchahn</em>, everyone, Jem said, and fitted the trantor back in his ear. Apologies to all the viewers.

    Jem and I have been covering the investiture ceremony of the Lady Amelia Liaran-Kerr-Steele as the new ruler of the Kingdom of the Northern Territory. Actually, the investiture rights have beenpleted a while ago, and we are just waiting for thest part of the ceremony, the official portrait of Lady Amelia to be properly framed and then hung in the castles Hall of Paintings. As you know, thises on the heels of

    Pardon me, Bryan, Jem interrupted. Thats not strictly correct. Princess Amelia isnt really the ruler of the Northern Territory. Officially, she is now the Steward of the Realm, until the family of Dorian-Kerr officially reims the throne.

    Thank you, Jem. Can you exin that to me, though? Why is Lady Mia a steward instead of the out-and-out ruler? And what is a steward, anyway?

    Good question, Bryan. A Steward or royal custodian is a person who is assigned to act as the caretaker or keeper of a country, state or territory, and to act in ce of the royal family until the rightful ruler can im her throne again. So, in effect she is like a proxy ruler.

    Stewards be necessary from time to time when there are no immediate heirs to a throne, as what has happened to the Northern Territory.

    Yes. As you all know, the Northern Territorys Royal Couple and Princess Mara Dorian-Kerr have been unmasked as Detterex spies. It happened prior to the surrender of Detterex, right?

    Thats right. But not just them  it also included several members of the family. As such, there are no valid heirs to the throne remaining. The Queen thereforemanded the House of Royal Peers to search for the next legitimate heir, and while the search progresses, the Peerage has appointed a Steward, and thats the Princess Amelia.

    Ahhh. Why did the Peers select the Lady Amelia, anyway? Why not the other members of the Royal n?

    Well, there are certain qualifications for a steward  the steward must keep the welfare of her charges her foremost priority, the steward must have no aspirations to establish herself as the permanent ruler, and the steward must be eptable to her charges and the Peerage. Princess Amelia met all the criteria, and was voted by acmation.

    But I also heard that there were many who protested her appointment because she wasnt an Elyran, much less a royal. There were a few rallies, in fact.

    Ahhh, yes. Thats true  there was one other criteria, which is that the steward has to be part of the Royal n. But with her marriage to the heir apparent to the Great ins and Royal Elyran Thrones, Princess Tasha, that made her a royal by marriage.

    But shes an Earther, not an Elyran.

    True. But, technically, there are no rules that specify that a requirement for a steward. It was a touchy issue. What tipped the scales in favor of Princess Amelia was the fact that the instigators of the protest movement, which wasnt too big, actually,  not even eight-eights of eight  the instigators were unmasked as Detterex spies! And the when the Keeper of the Heritage weighed in on the subject and endorsed the princess, well, from there, the tide of opinion of the few that were still against it was reversed.

    So it was clear sailing for the her investiture, then?

    Yes. But there is, however, a problem. After several months, it seems that there has been no trace of the real Princess Mara, and the other missing members of the Dorian-Kerr royal family could not be found as well. It is a general opinion among the Peerage that they have either been assassinated or are in hiding, and they will not be found, so there are rumors that the Peerage is considering establishing a new royal line for the Northern Territory, and you know how difficult that would be.

    Actually, no. What do you mean?

    Well, imagine if one of the other royal lines would, in effect, inherit the Northern Kingdom, which is, after all, the second most powerful among all Elyran kingdoms and colonies. The Royal Peerage would have to debate who among them could truly act in the interest of the Northern Kingdoms subjects, and renounce any ties or ims to their current lineages. Which could be an endless debate. And ultimately, whoever that person is, she and her new line would also need to be vetted by their subjects, too.

    Speaking as an Earther, I find this a little unusual. I would have assumed that the queen makes all the rules.

    Jemughed. Yes, I have heard Earthers say the same thing. I was told by Ben

    Ben? You know Dr. Ben Tevann-Areeya? Wow!

    Jem grinned. Yes. Anyway, Ben said that there are precedents even in your Earth. Theyre called constitutional monarchies, like your own Great Britain

    I doubt Queen Margaret is like the Princess Tasha

    Well, true, theyre not exactly the same, nor is the government of Great Britain exactly like Elyra.

    But, I imagine this thing, this appointment of a steward, has happened before. How was it handled in the past?

    Actually, it hasnt happened anytime in modern recorded history. Only in legend, I guess you could say.

    Oh.

    Indeed.

    Well. Anyway, in the meantime, lets get back to our coverage. Lets go back to our senior correspondent and Elyran bureau chief Danni Sawyer. Come in, Danni.

    Thank you, Bryan. Im Danni Sawyer, and Im back for the continuation of BBC Srs gxy-wide coverage of Lady Amelias investiture ceremony.

    Nestled among these beautiful, majestic snow-covered mountains of Elyra Primes Northern Kingdom is the <em>Alwahri Taryn Eloisha Seraphim, or the Burning Castle in the Sky,</em> the home of the Northern Kingdoms ruling family and the kingdoms seat of government.

    The Seraphim has been the seat of government of the Northern Kingdom for thousands of millennia, and has yed host to so many momentous events of the race. Today has been another one of them, where an alien - a Earther - actually ascends as steward to the throne of a great Elyran kingdom.

    The <em>investiture rites,</em> as it is called, has actually beenpleted, administered by the High Holy Bishop of the Church of Elyra, and everyone is just awaiting the final portion of the event, which is the ceremonial hanging of the official portrait of the investiture in what has been called the <em>Hall of Portraits.</em> We have Kathy Courik from our Elyran bureau standing by there. Come in, Kathy.

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Thank you, Danni, Kathy said as her camera went live. I am here in the castles Hall of Portraits, which contains portraits and pictures of all the major events that have happened in the Northern Kingdom and to her people. Its like the history of the documented in pictures. Its quite incredible, really. Its an enormous hall that, I am told has about 500 million square feet of space, containing over 900 million photographs and paintings. Some have said that there is at least one photograph or painting that documents at least one major event per year of Elyran recorded history. Unfortunately, many of them have, in fact, already sumbed to the ravages of time, and have had to be removed.

    My goodness, Kathy! Dannimented. That sounds like an incredible sight!

    Indeed it is, Danni, Kathymented. The daily line of visitors outside is long and seemingly never-ending.

    Have you had a chance to take a look around?

    Not really, Danni. But I did see the hallstest and most popr exhibit.

    Oh? What is it?

    It was just installed a few weeks ago, actually. Its the official portrait of the new Elyran Royal Family of the Elyran Race. Hold on and let me see if I can get a picture of it on screen. Here you go.

    That is a wonderful portrait of the new queen-to-be and her royal consorts.

    Yes, it is, isnt it? In the middle is, of course, Crown Princess Tasha Liaran-Kerr, who will ascend the throne of the Great ins Territory, and, simultaneously the Throne of All Elyra once the period of mourning for the queen is over. To her right, in her trademark Alice band or headband is the Lady Sahsha Liaran-Kerr-Delyer, the former Sahsha Delyer, a human, and the main liaison officer of the United Nations to Elyra, and the long-time girlfriend of Admiral Amelia Steele, who was also the former Dr. William Steele, the famous scientist who discovered Phase-Wave. Here, Lady Amelia is wearing a tiara which, as many of my Elyran friends say, is the current fashion among the royals in the Great ins kingdom.

    Hi, Kathy, this is Bryan. The threedies are married to each other, right? Can you borate on that?

    Hi, Bryan. Yes, the three are married to each other, which is unusual in Elyran society, but not unheard of. It seems that the three are what are known as bridges to each other, what that means is something I am not clear about. They became so because, I hear, the two Earth women were able to rescue Princess Tasha from suicide following the death of her husband, Prince Ren Tevann-Reshanii.

    However, because of prevailingws, the marriage isnt officially recognized on Earth. As far as Earthw is concerned, only the marriage between Lady Amelia and Lady Sahsha is official.

    Must make for aplicated kind of rtionship, huh?

    Kathy giggled. I wouldnt know, Bryan.

    So, Kathy, Danni said, any word yet on when the portrait will being.

    I am told that a floater has justnded on the castles roof deck. I think thats from theboratory assigned to print and mount the new portrait. If Im right we can expect the halls newest exhibit to be on disy within the next half hour.

    Thats good to know. Well be standing by. Unfortunately, its started to snow here. I think Ill get inside now, and turn it back over to the guys. Bryan?

    Thank you, Kathy and Danni, Bryan said. While we wait, perhaps we can talk to a few other people and find out how all this got started. Jem?

    Thank you, Bryan, Jem answered. On the line with us now is Lady Reena, Ships Mistress of the gship Talon. My Lady, are you there?

    Yes, Mr. Seacrest, Reena said. I hear you.

    Thank you for giving us a few minutes of your valuable time, and for going on the air.

    Not at all.

    Do you mind if we ask you where you are now, Lady Reena?

    Well, I am currently onboard the Great ins gship, the Talon. She is also part of EarthForces Fifth Fleet. It is my honor to be the mistress onboard the Talon. Currently, we are in orbit around Detterex Prime. The Talon is part of the blockade around the, to enforce the terms of the conditional surrender of the Detterex to the Gctic Federation. But our tour of duty will be done in a few days. We are not expected to be back here until our next rotation, which is in another six Earth months.

    I believe Lady Amelia is also your superior officer, am I right?

    Indeed. I and my crew are part of Earths Fifth Fleet, as well as part of Elyras Royal Space Force. Therefore, Princess Amelia is our superior officer since she is also themanding officer of the Fifth Fleet.

    While we wait, would it be all right if you help us recount how all of this began, My Lady?

    It shall be my honor.

    So. When did it all begin for you, My Lady.

    Well, for me, it all began a few years ago, when the entire Elyran system was nketed by that signal from Earth.

    Yes! I remember that. All the radio andmunications systems of all the Elyrans were switched off, and it took hours to restore them.

    As it was throughout the entire Federation, as well as the Tiros and Detterex empires.

    Indeed. So, tell us what happened.

    After that message from the then-unknown Human Race, meetings were held on Elyra and in Colossus, where the Elyran, Dixx and Arachnian nations decided on sending an expedition to Earth, to get ay of thend, as Earthers might say, and invite them to our mother worlds and to Colossus, and possibly enter into an alliance with them. So the Talon and several other ships from Elyra, Dixx and Arachnia were sent.

    However, at the time, the Detterex and Tirosians had the same n. The incredible coincidence of their arrival in Earth System at the same time as us seems exinable now. Obviously the Detterex spies  it might even have been the in-disguise Princess Mara  had leaked our ns to the enemy. In any case, after an incredible battle that ended with massive losses to both us and the enemy, we continued on to Earth.

    Was it an easy trip from then on?

    Well, it was a very long trip - over an Earth month, almost two. Apparently, the Earthers were bending over backwards to amodate the slow speed of our spacecraft. But we were quite busy during that time, so we werent bored. By using Earths Phase-Wave, we were able to do a lot of work. Treaties, agreements, contracts and all of the diplomatic work the Prince and the other leaders were expecting to do down on Earth were done onboard so that by the time we arrived, there would be a minimum of discussions and negotiations.

    Did it go well from then on?

    Well, no. The remaining Detterex and Tiros forces were making their ns to intercept us and stop us from makingfall on Earth. Captain OConnell and her crews decided to intercept them near Saturn. I was not there myself but it was indeed one of the more legendary of space battles. The tactics used by Princess Amelia and Captain OConnell during that battle engagement in fact inspired many of the new battle tactics that are now taught during academy training for pilots. That battle engagement is now referred to the Battle of Saturn by academy trainees.

    Jem, Bryan said, I think we have Captain Elizabeth OConnell on the other line. Perhaps we can talk with her about that.

    Okay, Bryan. Lady Reena, our thanks for your time.

    As the Earthers say, not a problem, Jem. Ive been watching your show, actually, and its a good show. Good luck.

    Jem grinned. Many thanks, My Lady.

    Okay, Bryan said. Lets now go to Captain Elizabeth OConnell onboard the EarthForce gship Shepherd Moon. Captain OConnell, are you there?

    Good afternoon, Mr. Seacrest. I can hear you.

    Good afternoon, Captain. Im just going to confirm  you are currently onboard the Shepherd Moon, right?

    Yes, I am.

    What exactly is the Shepherd Moon, and where is it now?

    The Shepherd Moon is DSC 05, the gship of EarthForces Fifth Fleet, and is Admiral Steeles g Carrier. We are actually in orbit above Elyra Prime now, waiting for the Admiral and her party. Well be bringing them to Colossus for a major conference thats been called by the new Dravidian ambassador.

    So you guys are ying taxi, huh? Everyoneughed. And Admiral Steele is?

    Yes, yes. Admiral Steele is actually Her Royal Highness, Princess Amelia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele, who is also Lady Amelia of the Sciollian Isles.

    Whoa! Pretty heavy.

    OConnellughed. Well, to me, shes just my boss. I call her Skipper.

    Everyone chuckled. Hope she doesnt see this program, then, and hear you talking like that. But, by the sound, you like the Admiral.

    OConnell nodded. Oh, yes. I consider her a good friend, but more than that  I respect her. But she is my boss, like I said. So I try not to be too familiar.

    I even heard that you acted as the maid of honor for their wedding.

    Yes, but under protest.

    Why?

    I didnt like the bridesmaid dresses.

    Everyoneughed.

    Well anyway, we wanted to ask about the Battle of Saturn. I hear that you had a major role in that.

    Oh, God, yes!

    Can you tell us about it?

    Well, after the initial engagement with the enemy in what everyone now calls the Battle of Pluto, we were on our way back to Earth. But several weeks into our return trip, we found that the enemy was on the way to intercept us. They had engaged a new technology that hid them from our detection systems, but we were able to detect them with Phase-Wave. They were going to barrel through the Saturn system so the Admiral decided to intercept.

    We yed a kind of cat-and-mouse game, hiding from them using Saturns rings. It was crazy. The Seeker was ying like it was a submarine, hiding under the rings, and thening out and rising like an old World War 2 boat to engage the enemy. I know that I wont be doing anything like that in my career again. But Im sure you can read the blow-by-blow of that battle in the <em>Shepherd Moon</em> chronicles.

    <em>(note to reader: For the Saturn encounter, see Chapter 15 in Part 4 of The Shepherd Moon  Bobbi-C)</em>

    So what happened afterwards?

    Well, apparently, we hadnt gotten all of the enemy, so there was yet another encounter over in Luna. There, we were able to get all of the enemy, and even captured the Detterex gship, the Defiant. Then we proceeded to Earth. Im sure youll want a blow-by-blow of the Moon encounter, but can you hold on? My people are calling me

    Thats all right, Captain. Im sure youre quite busy. Well let you go back to work.

    Anytime, Bryan. Thanks.

    So, who do we have next, Jem?

    Well, Bryan, Jem answered. We have, standing by, Ambassador Nick Andros from the Earth Mission to Colossus, and Professor Jennifer Priestly of the CETI institute, and now a member of the Keeper of the Heritage. Ambassador? Professor? Are you there?

    Good afternoon, Jem, Jennifer answered. How are you, today?

    Its a pleasure to be here today, although its pretty cold at the moment, Nick said with a chuckle.

    Nick! Jennifer Priestly eximed.

    What did I say?

    You might hurt someones feelings, she whispered.

    Jemughed, too. Well, youre in the Northern Kingdom, after all, he said. Be d its the summer season.

    You two are some of Lady Amelias closest friends, Im told, Bryan said.

    Nickughed. Sure. Weve known her when she was just in old Mia. Now, with this <em>investiture</em> thing, shes going to be more insufferable than usual.

    Jennifer shook her head. Ignore Nick, guys. He always does this.

    Does what? Jem asked.

    Embarrass people. Everyoneughed.

    Well, while we have you here, Bryan said, wed like to ask you a few questions. We were just talking to Captain Elizabeth OConnell, and she was talking about the arrival of the Federation expedition on Earth.

    Nick nodded. You mean, after the moon encounter? When the Lunar guys beached the Detterex ship, Defiant?

    Yes.

    Well, Im sure you remember. We escorted the five remaining Federation ships back to New York, and then to the United Nations. And the Secretary-General made that famous speech of hers

    And the events of those days set the tone for everything else that happened afterwards, Jennifer said. The treaties and everything else. But more than that, its started the integration of Humanity into the rest of the gxy.

    Speaking as an Elyran, Jem said, the changes since you Earthers came onto the scene have changed the gxy enormously. How has it changed things for you? Professor?

    As a sociologist, knowing for a fact that there are other people out in the universe changes a society fundamentally. And actually seeing them and interacting with them, even more so. And with the opening of the Federation embassies in the Sciollian Isles meant that there would be a constant presence of, pardon my choice of words, Jem, - a constant presence of aliens on the. We can only expect that we Earthpeople will change even more.

    After a moment of silence, Nick chuckled. Very deep Jenn, he said, trying to break the seriousness. This girl cant leave work at the office.

    After a short chuckle, Bryan continued the interview.

    Talking about the Federation embassies, Bryan said, I hear its a pretty borate ce, and very high tech.

    Well, yes, Nick said. It is. Though almost all the members of the Federation have the same kind of requirements we do, there are some specific needs that they have to take care of, hence all the high tech machinery.

    I''ve heard its a wonderful ce, too, Jem said. My cousin is part of the Elyran Mission to the United Nations, and he gets to spend a lot of time there in the Isles of Scilly. He said Jem paused when everyone started tough.

    Whats so funny?

    Oh, nothing, Jem, Nick said. We Earthers find the name Scilly funny.

    Well all right

    Ill exinter, Jem, Bryan said. Hey, heres something interesting. Im reading through my briefing memos and it says here that Lady Amelia owns the Isles of Scilly. What a coincidence!

    Nickughed. Hardly. The way I understood it from the queen

    The queen of Elyra? Jem asked.

    No, no! I mean Queen Margaret II, the queen of Ennd!

    Ahhh! I apologize. So what did Queen Margaret say?

    She said that Lady Amelia specifically donated the inds to the world government, specifically for use by the Federation. She said that the inds were not being used much anyway, and she said it was her way of helping.

    How does the queen know Lady Amelia?

    Well, Lady Amelia is the Duchess of the Isles of Scilly, and is a subject of the Queen. Thats why she has the title of Lady Amelia.

    Ahhh.

    By the way, Jennifer said, the Duchess prefers that her duchy be called the Sciollian Isles.

    Hmmm, Jem said. You really have to exin that thing about the name soon, Bryan.

    Never fear, my friend, Bryan said.

    Well, what <em>are</em> the Sciollian Isles, Nick?

    Its a small archipgo of about thirteen main inds plus about forty-five islets, located southwest of Cornwall, making the inds the southernmost part of the UK. Of the thirteen main inds, Lady Amelia has given the Federation a long-term lease on twelve of them, so that they can have a permanent presence on the for their embassies.

    Ahhh. What are the names of these inds?

    Theres Saint Marys, Tresco, Saint Martins, Saint Agnes, Saint Helens, Bryher, White Ind, Gugh, Gwael, Samson, A, Tean, and Great Ganilly. There are about forty-five islets, but theyre nothing but little rocks. Lady Amelia is leasing all the main inds to the Federation except for Saint Marys. Shes keeping that for herself. That gives the Federation a total of sixteen square kilometers, not counting the several dozen square kilometers of open sea surrounding them.

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Sounds charming.

    Havent been there myself, but Ive been told that the inds are very picturesque.

    Its good that the Federation has a permanent home on Earth, Jennifer said. Its the least we can do, after theyve given us Gibraltar Base.

    Isnt Gibraltar Base the Earths outpost on Colossus? Jem asked.

    Well, Nick said, not <em>on</em> Colossus, but on the nearby, Zeos Three.

    Ahhh.

    I believe the establishment of Gibraltar was immediately after that battle near Colossus, Bryan said, when the station was almost totaled by a near-miss of a runaway Detterex cruiser.

    Yes, Jem said. That was a story for the ages!

    Hold on, hold on, my dear co-host, Bryan said. Lets not get side-tracked. We still have other people to interview.

    Oops! Youre absolutely right, Bryan. Apologies.

    No worries. Thank you Ambassador, Professor. Lets move on to some other luminaries out there in the front gardens of the northern kingdoms castle. Who do we have on-line, Jem?

    Actually, Bryan, Danni was able to catch someone just outside of the castle grounds. Danni? Who did you see?

    Hi, Jem, this is Danni. Im just outside the castles main gate, and I bumped into Dr. Ben Tevann-Areeya. Hes here outside apparently waiting for a cab. Doctor? Good afternoon. Im Danni Sawyer, with the Earth press corps. Were covering the event for BBC Sr. Can I ask for a few words for our televiewers?

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Good afternoon, Ms Sawyer, Ben said. What can I do for you?

    What are you doing out here by the curb, sir? Are you leaving?

    Im afraid so. Im just waiting for the royal limousine.

    But, sir, the portrait hasnt arrived yet. Dont you want to see the portrait?

    I do, but I have been instructed by my liege to take care of some matters, to prepare for her meeting at Colossus.

    Ahhh. You were just appointed as Lady Amelias chief of staff, were you not?

    Just this morning, actually

    And youre already hard at work

    Ben giggled. Thats life with Princess Amelia. But its important work. Im honored to be relied upon by Princess Amelia in such important matters. Ahhh. Heres the car. If youll excuse me

    Of course, sir. Well, thats too bad, Jem. Just missed talking with Dr. Ben Tevann-Areeya. Hes a very busy man.

    Im not surprised, Danni. But thats all right. We have on the line someone else that our viewers will definitely recognize. Its Queen Margaret II of the United Kingdom of Earth, and her husband, Prince Stephen. Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness.

    Good afternoon, Jem, the queen replied. You really are as gorgeous as they say you are. Thepanion beside her moaned and covered his eyes.

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Oh, shut up, Stevie, she said, and elbowed herpanion. She leaned towards the camera. What use is it to bring along your husband if you dont get to embarrass him on TV, she mock-whispered conspiratorially, and giggled.

    So what can we do for you this fine, crisp and snowy day?

    Jem giggled. Your Royal Highness never fails to delight. Well, we just wondered how this will affect the duties of Princess Amelia in the Commonwealth, given that shes now the steward of the Northern Kingdom.

    The queen shrugged. Well, its not like well miss Mia in Westminster. She has not been attending to her duties in the House of Lords, but its understandable. Shes the busiest person I know. I believe she is on extended leave from the House, but shes promised me that shelle back if her peers ask her to, especially during the important votes.

    Thats unusual, isnt it? Bryan said.

    Mias an unusual girl, the queen said. But she is one of the few people who have the full support of the public. So they gave her special dispensation by way of a parliamentary act, so she can be away and send her votes in via Phase-Wave.

    So, how do you feel about one of your subjects wielding as much power as you, Your Majesty, Bryan said in a conspiratorial tone. Heheheheh.

    The queen giggled. Well, all I ask is that Im allowed to visit the castle grounds as often as I want. Her expression turned serious. But I guess what you are asking is if theres any kind of conflict of interest, whether shes representing the interests of Humanity, or of Elyra. It is a very tough dilemma. The Prime Minister and myself have been in discussions about it with Admiral Silverman and the Joint Chiefs as well as the Secretary-General and her chief-of-staff. But, you know? In typical Mia fashion, Mia anticipated this and has filed her resignation from the House, from EarthForce, from the Foreign Affairs Office and from CETI. And while she is waiting for that to push through, she simultaneously filed leaves from the House, from the Foreign Affairs Office, from EarthForce, and from CETI as well.

    She has even given myself, the Secretary-General and the Admiral a very heartfelt letter, exining that she was a loyal Terran citizen, but she needs to do this for our Elyran friends. This way, if she resigns, no one can use her of any conflict, and if need be, she can renounce her citizenship. She said she hoped that would not be necessary, but she is offering it just the same.

    Bryan and Jem were in shock.

    Your Majesty

    I am not joking, Bryan.

    This is breaking news!

    Perhaps it is, but let us not give undue attention to this alright? Not until after, all right? Mia deserves this, after what she has given all of us  its the least we can do. Hold off on any follow-ups until tonight. It is the only decent thing to do. All right?

    Bryan and Jem looked at each other.

    I dont Bryan said.

    Oh, Bryan, Jem said. Your journalistic ethics arent in question. Weve broken the news already. Her Majesty has given us the news and weve told the public. Lets not ruin this day for Princess Amelia. Just for this day.

    Bryan looked at Jem. Okay, Jem.

    Bryan turned to face the camera. Okay, folks. This is a major piece of news. Youve heard it here first. Lady Amelia has filed for resignation from the House of Peers in the British Parliament, the Foreign Service, from the CETI Institute and from EarthForce. Were not dropping this breaking news item, were just postponing the follow-up. Lets finish today, and welle back to this immediately after.

    Anyway, weve just heard from Kathy Courik that the portrait has arrived. Kathy? Whats happening over there?

    Thank you, Bryan, Kathy said to the camera. I am still here in the castles enormous Hall of Portraits. The officials from the castle havee and gone, and they have already hung the portrait of Princess Amelia of Earth, Steward of the Northern Kingdom, as it has beenbeled. Lets see if I can get through and get everyone a picture Excuse me, please. Pardon me. Pardon

    Ahhh, here you go. My goodness! Its enormous. And its so beautiful!

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Wow, Kathy! Bryan said. Thats so beautiful.

    Indeed, Jem said. You see Princess Amelia wearing a robe in the royal colors of the Northern Kingdom  royal blue, silver and white. In her hands, she carries the <em>Crystal Staff,</em> which symbolizes the power she wields as the kingdoms ruler or steward, showing that she is the highest authority in thend. Notice that she isnt wearing a crown. That symbolizes the fact that she is not the queen  that she is just the Steward of the Realm.

    You know, Bryan, I had the pleasure of meeting her, Princess Tasha and the Lady Sahsha a few years ago during an interview. Its like she hasnt aged, except her hair was quite shorter then.

    Whats that jewel that the Bishop is cing around her neck? Bryan asked.

    Thats the <em>Blue Heart,</em> a Type IIb diamond thats about four inches across, and symbolizes that she is the rightful ruler of thend. By putting the Blue Heart around her neck, the High Holy Bishop of the Church of Elyra is officially dering Lady Amelias new title, and invalidating all the ims of any imants to the Throne. Its quite a moving ritual.

    Lets break away from Danni for a moment. We have Ambassador Fal of the First Colony of Elyra, apanied by her husband Micah. Ambassador, are you there?

    <em></em>

    <em></em>

    Yes, Bryan, Im here, Ambassador Fal replied.

    Have you seen the portrait yet, Ambassador?

    Not yet. The crush of people

    Yes, Kathy had some trouble getting through herself. Anyway, Jem was telling me about the meaning of this investiture. Can you add some more information?

    Well, Bryan, she began. I am, myself, not part of the Peerage, so I know a little bit about this. I am not a Royal, but I was selected by my liege to represent the First Colony in council, and, on asion, at the Federation Assembly in Colossus. Simr to Princess Amelia, I had my own investiture. The difference is that Princess Amelia is royal by marriage.

    Being dered as a Steward means you have all the powers, duties, privileges and responsibilities of the queen, really. The only things you wont have are the power of granting royal warrants of appointment to the royal court, granting royal and noble ranks, bequeathing royal properties, monies and perquisites not part of the business of the throne, and, of course none of your forbears or assignees may inherit the stewardship without an investiture of their own. And, of course, if the legitimate heir to the throne has been identified by the Peerage, and has been dered as ready, you would need to relinquish your stewardship.

    So, Bryan, to me, that sounds like Lady Amelia is the princess or queen, except in name.

    Exactly correct, Bryan.

    So, what does that make her title now? She cannot im any royal title

    Aha! Jem said. Thats where youre wrong, Bryan. Princess Amelia was officially already a royal, even before the investiture, so by that, she should have been addressed like a royal princess regardless of her investiture.

    So, I shouldnt have been calling her Lady Amelia?

    Well

    Ambassador? What do you think?

    Jem is correct.

    Uh-oh So what is <em>Princess</em> Amelias official title, anyway?

    Hold on, Bryan, Jem said. Let me look at my notes. Lets see alright  the Princess official title is

    Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Amelia Catherine Liaran-Kerr-Steele of Elyra Prime and the Elyran Great ins, Steward of the Northern Kingdom, Duchess of the Sciollian Isles of Earth, Keeper of the Messiahs Torch, Admiral of the Fifth Fleet of Earth and High Admiral of the Elyran Defense Force, Lord-Defender of Arachnia and the Daemon Territories, Friend of All Detterex, Lord and Master of New Gibraltar, Director-General Emeritus of the CETI Institute, and permanent ambassador of the United Nations of Earth to the Gctic Federation of Free Races.

    Wow  thats a lot to remember!

    Well, for short, you just address her Your Highness, and informally call her Princess Amelia.

    As opposed to?

    Well, if youre part of EarthForce, I suppose you address her as Lord Admiral Steele, or perhaps just Admiral. I am not too familiar with Earther conventions. Or maybe just My Lady, if youre an Earther civilian.

    No problem.

    Bryan? The ambassador asked. Would it be all right if Micah and I leave you now? The guests are being paged for the reception at the Great Hall

    Apologies, Ambassador. Thank you for your time. Jem, do we have others standing by?

    Lets check in with Danni. Danni, are you there?

    Yes, Im here, Jem. Im here with Dame Antote Windsor. Shes part of the British royal family, and is a member of the House of Peers. Good afternoon, My Lady.

    Good afternoon.

    So, how did you find the unveiling of the portrait of the new steward?

    Truth be told, I havent seen it yet. There are just too many people.

    Too true. Do you mind me asking, My Lady, how you are rted to Princess Amelia? How do you know her?

    Again, truth be told, I only know of her by name and reputation. But I am quite proud to be here, and am quite happy for her.

    You are part of the royal Windsor family, are you not, and a member of the House of Peers?

    Yes, but only distantly. My father is the duke of Marlinspike Hall, in Marlinshire. I am like 562nd in line to the throne. Im sorry. My own little guilty pride, I guess. She giggled.

    What do you think of all of this pomp and pageantry?

    Well, I am bowled over. I have never attended a coronation, excuse me, I mean an investiture, before, and on a different, too.

    Yes?

    Well, I know that this is serious business, that the kingdom is currently leaderless, that this is something that they desperately need. I am just pleased to be a witness to it, and wish Lady Amelia well.

    Well, thank you for speaking with us.

    No problem.

    Danni, I see the delegation from Arachnia here on the monitor. Can you see if you can

    - end -

    Notice: T<em>he pictures and coges are from publicly-essible pictures inthe inte. The BBC logo is patterned after an old, unused and defunct logo of the BBC, and the BBC ssh page is from a BBC newscast from the UK. No i.p. or copyright infringement is intended.</em>

    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and

    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!