Neptune's Massif

by Ben Winston

  The crew, mostly people that had immigrated from Earth and wanted to see the galaxy, but didn't want their own ships, seemed to be getting along rather well. Of course, most of them had already gotten to know one another during their training, as well as having lived together here on the base.

  The two top candidates for both unfilled civilian positions would also be accompanying them for their first trips, and the two naval officers filling those positions would evaluate and train them. Once they were ready, they would give Jim their recommendations for each position, and dismiss the ones that either didn't mesh with the rest of the crew, or were simply beat out by the other candidates. The dismissed crewmen would not go away empty handed however. Jim was giving them the opportunity to finish their training, gain a bit of experience and if they worked out well, a letter recommending them to their next Captain.

  "May I have your attention, please?" Jim asked as he stood.

  The group quieted down and paid attention. Jim smiled and held up his soda. "Welcome to the crew, everyone!"

  The group accepted the toast and the Navigator/Astrogator asked. "When do we leave, Captain?"

  "Tomorrow morning. We are scheduled to depart for Bradbury Orbital at oh-seven hundred. We'll christen and commission the ship and take her out for a shakedown cruise out to Atlas and back. If everything checks out, we'll be loading up for our first trip," Jim replied. "Before you ask, I can't tell you where we're going yet. I'll explain why once we get loaded and depart. But for now, get to know each other and get ready to ship out in the morning. I look forward to working with all of you!"

  Raptor Poseidon

  Ju'nio Ha'ena Research Facility

  Hawaii, Planet Earth

  Sol System, Sol Sector

  After Alan finished speaking to Ian, things began happening pretty quickly. Neither the Raptor team nor the Marines really had anything to do in order to prepare to depart, other than do a final sweep of the base to make sure it was clear. By the time the Marines had finished that, the shuttle had arrived, unloaded the drones, and departed again. Andreya told Alan that the drones would not begin work until everyone had departed since some of the planned modifications to the base might be dangerous to humans.

  When the Marines returned from the sweep of the base, Alan gave the order, and the two small ships left the base to the drones. During the trip back to Hawaii, Alan got a chance to see the design for the new base. He had to admit that not much of the old base would remain once the drones finished with it. Indeed, the mines would be gone, and the base proper would be restructured and enlarged to support the mission it would be designed to accomplish.

  The one thing that really bothered Alan, however, was the fact that Andreya's AI core would be removed from the Raptor and installed in the base. To him, it felt like the move would mean she was no long part of his team. He'd grown quite attached to her as a friend and comrade and did not like having her removed from his ship; once the rest of the team found this out, they agreed with him.

  "I can't tell you guys how your reaction to this makes me feel, but I really do appreciate it. But, I think you might be misunderstanding the situation. I'm not leaving the team. In fact, I doubt any of you will even notice a difference after my core is moved. Don't think of this as me leaving the ship, but instead, think of it as us getting a much bigger ship," Andreya replied.

  "What will we be doing, Commander?" Officer Faran asked. He was one of the people Ty had tagged as a potential trainer for the Raptor teams. His area of expertise was demolitions and explosives. With the man's extensive knowledge of chemicals, he could make an explosive out of just about anything.

  "You're going to have a couple of jobs in the foreseeable future, Faran," Alan replied. "First, Colonel Anders has you listed as a specialty trainer for Raptor Training Command, so you might get called back there from time to time. But for the time being, I'm going to need your advice on shield and weapons platform placements. You know more about how much and what type of damage weapons can do. Your knowledge will help us to figure out where to put stuff to either protect the most people, or where to put weapons emplacements for the best effect.

  "Officer Jillant has also been listed as a specialty instructor for Raptor Command and may get called back as well. However, I will need everyone's help getting this plan hammered out into something that will work. I'll also be relying on each of you to handle survey missions and kit assembly. We might have gotten sent back to Hawaii for the time being, but none of us are going to be sitting around idle."

  "What about my knuckle-draggers?" Captain Housten asked. He was attending the meeting via the comms from the Marine Assault Shuttle 'Sand Shark'.

  "I know you guys did most of the 'heavy lifting' for us back at Neptune's Massif, I'd like to give you a little break," Alan replied. To which everyone else agreed. "But, in the same note, we're going to need your help now more than ever. Because to put it frankly, you're all the help we have. Maybe we can arrange a kind of rotation so your kids can get some time off."

  "So, how do you want to handle this, Commander?" Officer Kenal asked. He was the heavy weapons/assault specialist for the team.

  "Well, to begin with, you have some studying to do if you haven't done it already. I'd like you to brush up on ground based, anti-assault weaponry, including anything they might have come up with at Phoenix Base. If you have any trouble getting the information, let me know and I'll get you clearance.

  "The same goes for all of you; if you have any trouble getting the information you need to do the job, be sure to let me know immediately so I can fix it. This mission has a high priority. While it doesn't have a time limit, it needs to be completed as quickly as we can. This is a massive task, and for the time being, it's just us. We'll be getting more help as it becomes available to us, but for now, some of the stuff I'm going to ask of you might seem impossible or irrelevant. It isn't. Take the time and do whatever you need to do to get the tasks done.

  "Now, Faran, I want you to get with a Doctor Hans Schoffel of Phoenix Base. He'll be handling the custom shield designs we're going to need. You should also get with orbital command to get high resolution scans of every population center on the planet with a population of over... say a hundred thousand people. Then, work with Doctor Schoffel to figure out the shield placements. Get exact locations, number of kits needed, and hand it off to Glenus in a 'per city' package.

  "Glenus, it's gonna be your job to create the 'kits' for each installation and group them for each city. Bear in mind, you won’t be handling just the shields, either, you'll be coordinating the creation of the kits for the shields, defense bunkers, and weapons emplacements. Once you have a city finished, make sure all the parts of the kit gets stored together for ease of delivery, and let Andreya know the city is finished and where the kits are stored.

  "Kenal, you have the same job as Faran, only you'll be working with the weapons systems. I don't know who upstairs would be your best resource, and you might have to work with each individual scientist, but do what you can. Get the information compiled and give it to Glenus.

  "In addition to the defense of the population centers, we will need to plan for a minimum of four large fighter bases; one in each hemisphere. I'd prefer to have six, but we might not have time to implement something like that. However, we will need to find the best locations for these bases, work with the folks up at Phoenix Base to get them designed, have the drones needed to build it assembled and then programmed with the base designs, and then package them up for delivery. Once a base kit is finished, give it to Glenus for storage placement."

  "Excuse me, Sir, if we don't have a time limit, what did you mean by not having time to implement six bases?" Jillant asked.

  Alan nodded. "Each kit we assemble for each of the tasks at hand must be able to complete their installation within one week of activation. Command has decided that's the minimum amount of warning we'll get if someone sends a fleet to attack this place. So keep that in mind when you’re
building these kits. Make sure each kit has the drones needed to finish the project in under a week."

  Alan finished the briefing and assigning of tasks to his team just as Andreya brought them in for landing in Hawaii. After settling back into the small base, each of the team members picked four people from the Marines to help them. Captain Housten set up a rotation that let each of the Marines have a couple of days leave without leaving the team shorthanded. Captain Housten, himself, helped Alan to figure out how to build the kits for the rural bunkers, weapons emplacements, and potential troop deployments.

  Bradbury Orbital Facility

  High Orbit, Planet Mars

  Sol System, Sol Sector

  Luke and Lara Belden had come from the Planet Atlas to witness the commissioning and christening of the ship. In fact, Jim asked Lara to do the honors of smashing the champagne bottle. Lara pulled the trigger and the specially made bottle shot out of its launcher to smash into the hull of the big ship. Jim had wanted to choose a name to honor his friend Elias Johnson that died during the battle of Talos, but his wife, Laura Johnson asked him not to. She said that Elias would always be with them, no matter what, and the ship should be about Jim and his future. So Jim had chosen the name Horizon's Reach for the ship to signify the promise of new beginnings.

  As the bottle shattered against the hull, the big ship slowly slid free of the gantry. Guided by the first officer and the rest of the crew, the ship was docked at the passenger bay to receive her captain and the dignitaries that she would carry back to the Pleiades Station.

  Celebrations over, Jim and his friends boarded the ship to begin the trip out to Centauri. During this trip several engineers and technicians rode along to fix any malfunctions and make any needed repairs encountered. When they returned to Phoenix Base late that evening, Jim thanked the group of specialists for their work on his fine new ship.

  As he watched the group walk away, his Cargo Master approached him. "We're ready to begin loading, Sir."

  Jim grinned at the diminutive woman. "That we are Mister Dominic. Please, come with me."

  When Jim had accepted the cargo, he had also been given instructions on how to deal with it. Since the outbound cargo was military, he had not been allowed to tell his crew what it was or their destination. However, it was understood, that the Cargo Master would need to be told so she could plan out the loading and unloading process. When the ship had finished its acceptance trip, Jim was to let the Quarter Master on Phoenix Base know they were ready. It was to this office Jim led Cargo Master Corrine Dominic.

  "Our cargo for this trip is all military, which is why I couldn't tell you anything about it. We'll have two stops, the first is a free-space drop in orbit of the planet Benesia. A Benesian shuttle will meet us and accept the passengers that will be remaining to teach them how to use the device we are leaving in orbit there.

  "Our second stop is Antares Base, which is in the New Talos system. There we'll offload the remainder of our cargo and passengers. We'll take a short cruise to Elysium Starport on the planet New Talos where we'll pick up a self-contained passenger module and three hundred passengers for the trip back here. After we clear customs and unload here, we’ll have a second load already for return to Antares Base, and we'll be bringing a load of Hornet fighters back. So, that's the schedule for the next month or so. Think you can handle it?" Jim finished grinning.

  "Please! Sir, I thought you were going to give me something hard!" she teased back.

  "Just wait Corrine, you haven't seen the size of our cargo," Jim grinned as they entered the Phoenix Base Quarter Master's main office.

  Ten minutes later Corrine stood agape as the heavy cranes struggled to move the gigantic Defense Network Assembler Core into the hold of the ship. She had seen the graphic, of course; after all, she was the one who told the workers and drones where to put what, but it was still very astounding to watch. Jim chuckled at her reaction.

  "Corrine, just think, that isn't even the whole unit; it's just the core of it. Once it gets powered up, it'll build the rest of what it will need to accomplish its task."

  The woman nodded. "I've heard a little scuttlebutt about these, I just never thought I'd ever actually see one, nor that it was so damn big!" she paused and turned back to her captain. "How do you feel about sharing this kind of stuff with the other races?"

  Jim took a moment to answer her. "Honestly, I haven't really thought about it. But I think the Admiral might have the right of it. I mean, if we want the other races to help protect us, then shouldn't we do everything in our power to help them help us? How can we expect anyone else to protect us, if we are unwilling to return the favor?"

  Corrine nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much the way I see it, but I've heard a few folks complaining about giving our stuff away like this. They don’t have a problem sending it out, but they think we should be getting paid for it."

  Jim chuckled and nodded. "That's what happens when people don't have all the information about something. We are getting paid for it; just not in the usual way. We're getting paid in warships and experienced crews, and mutual protection treaties where the other party has a vested interest in making sure we are protected. We're getting paid with a stronger guarantee of our survival."

  "Oh, how so? I didn’t think the Benesians had any warships?" Corrine asked.

  Jim shook his head. "I don't think they do, but they do have a seat on the Alliance of Races Council, and are often called upon to negotiate disputes between members. That's a pretty powerful friend to have on our side, don't you think? The other one is going to New Talos because most of their fleet was destroyed in the civil uprising they just went through.

  "I imagine there will be more of these going out very soon to member worlds of the Alliance. I've already been approached about the possibility of delivering some of them for the Alliance. Since the Benesian delivery was worked out locally, we are only getting standard freight for the first part of this trip, however, the New Talos delivery will be at a fifty percent higher rate.

  "Any trips we make at the behest of the Alliance of Races council carry that fifty percent bonus on delivery. So we're all going to do pretty well for ourselves on any of these runs we can get," Jim finished.

  "What about our next trip back to New Talos?" Corrine asked.

  "Just normal rate for that I'm afraid, it’s part of the treaty between us and New Talos. ARC wasn't involved. Don’t worry though, I'm keeping an eye out for the good runs, although any more ARC runs are going to be much longer, as a lot of those worlds are a damn sight further away."

  Four hours later, the cargo bay was filled to capacity and the passengers had been settled into their cabins, Jim gave the order to begin the maiden voyage of the Horizon's Reach. An hour later, the first commercial Terran freighter made the jump for the planet Benesia.

  Admiral's Office

  TDF Star Dancer

  Pleiades One Orbital Shipyard

  Planet Atlas, Centauri System

  Sol Sector

  Ian had received a troubling message from Fleet Admiral H’joles of ARC Command, most of it was in the form of a public news article issued to all the worlds of the Alliance.

  "With the onset of hostilities within the Talosian faction of the Alliance of Races, all invading Imperial forces disengaged from battle and withdrew to their garrison worlds. Fighting on worlds taken by the Empire, but under attack by ARC forces, was quickly ended by the arrival of reinforcements from the front line units. However, our forces were not pursued after leaving those worlds.

  "At this time it is believed the events at New Talos are in no way connected to the withdrawl of Imperial forces, regardless of the timing of these events. The quick and timely intervention of allied forces in the New Talos uprising prevented it from becoming a coup that would have given that sector to the Empire. At present, civilian rule has been restored and the sector is, once again, secured.

  "Admiral Goya of Talosian Military Command has reported the death of an ad
mitted Imperial sympathizer on the High Council. It is believed many of the internal problems that led to their recent civil strife stem from the actions of this being. Further investigations have begun to locate and isolate any and all accomplices this being might have had.

  "Arrangements for the replacement of the Talosian military forces have been made and are currently being carried out. Restoration of their forces can be expected within the next two standard cycles. Although nothing has been reported on it, we can expect a greatly improved Talosian Fleet, both in equipment as well as personnel. The Alliance welcomes the return of our Talosian Allies, and with them, our dream of dislodging the invaders from our worlds comes closer to fruition."

  In itself, that article hadn't bothered Ian as much as the Admiral's message that had accompanied it.

  "Admiral Williams, first, on behalf of the High Council as well as High Command, we would like to thank you for your work on behalf of the Talosian peoples. It is our wish that your actions become the precedent for interspecies assistance and cooperation in the future. As per your request, we have taken steps to limit news of your existence and involvement. I have already signed the orders classifying knowledge of your location and activities.

  "That being said, this issue has created a problem. As you are aware, the races that make up our alliance have yet to attain the level of trust we truly need. As such, many feel that the Talosian faction of our Alliance is suspect. Admiral Goya did report the death of a High Council member that was, by his own admission, working with the Empire. They feel that if one so highly placed could be subverted, then who else in their leadership has been?

  "I, personally, feel this whole idea, while not completely baseless, is ludicrous. After all, the same could easily be said of any and all races that are members of this Alliance. Unfortunately, I fear the animosity that existed toward our Talosian allies may not have been put to rest with the restoration of the Talosian leadership.