She kissed him passionately he could feel her warmth surround him and fill him. He felt that surge of hormones and returned her passion in kind. She smelt good and she was heavenly warm. He loved it, he fed on it, and it had been far too long since he felt her touch this way. Then they were on the floor kissing, the taste of strawberries, and enjoying each other’s energy. She peeled the shirt off of his well-muscled body. He stared into hers eyes, they were so beautiful and he was so in love.
“Sleep cycle ended. Time to wake. Time to wake.” A voice said and it pulled him back to reality.
No, he didn’t want to wake, he wanted to stay but the voice repeated. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling as the veil lifted from around the bed. He could still taste Kara on his lips. He missed her desperately at that moment. Guilt filled him when he remembered Rena lying next to him. She had shared a deeply passionate side of herself last night and he would never forget it. For the first time in a long time he felt like he might have something meaningful with someone. He sat up and shook his head in his hands trying to shake Kara’s encroachment from his mind.
“Is everything okay?” Rena asked him touching his back.
“Yes. Too much Gavander,” he lied. “I have a meeting with the president this morning. Can I see you again?”
“You know where to find me and I’ll give you my comcode. I enjoyed last night.”
“So did I,” he told her looking deep into her eyes. “And I look forward to doing it again soon.”
He walked across the master suite to the bathroom. He needed a shower.
“Shower on. Forty-three degrees,” he told the automatic shower as he stepped inside the enclosure.
This would be an interesting day.
***
He sat quietly in the office as he waited for President Eliron Maedar to arrive. After breakfast two of the presidential guard came to escort him here. The room was well appointed with exquisitely carved mahogany furniture. Sunlight shined through the open curtains and glinted off the well-polished desk. There were various paintings on the walls of important events in Union history including the signing of the Interstellar Union Agreement by the leaders of both races. The president was running late. Just as boredom was setting in a well-dressed man came through the door carrying a tablet. He told the guards to wait outside as he came in and closed the door.
“Good afternoon captain,” he said as Connor stood to greet him. They shook hands and he motioned for the captain to sit down and took a seat behind the desk himself.
Most Bvaltari appeared oddly thin and short compared to average humans and they had features that were reminiscent of felines but nothing you could put your finger on. This gentleman was a tall, broad and well-groomed Bvaltari. He would have been a giant among his kind. He was imposing even for a human. Sean imagined the gentleman attacking him, using the tablet as some sort of weapon and how he would disarm and kill him with minimal effort. It was something he did to everyone, old habits.
“The president regrets he could not make this meeting himself. My name is Jennings and I am one of the president’s advisors. I’m sure you are wondering why you here,” he said peering up from his tablet at him as if over glasses. “We have asked around and everyone we ask gives us your name. They tell us you are the best of the best and you are the man for the job. So we read your file, Master of Engineering degree from the academy in only four years, Chief Engineer, Razor, Raptor pilot, XO, Captain. It’s an impressive career you have had and I would have to agree with your commanding officers. We know about your injuries and why you are no longer a Razor. I don’t see why they pulled you, your medical records declared you fit for duty and you obviously recovered well.”
He paused for a breath. Seeing Connors uninterested look he continued.
“To the point, we need someone with your experience and dedication for a mission. Before I can give you the details I need you to accept the assignment. It’s your decision, you don’t have to accept out of a sense of duty. If you refuse you will be reassigned to command another ship probably patrolling in the middle of nowhere until you retire. If you accept you will depart immediately to an undisclosed location where you will be briefed on the mission. I need you to be sure about it.”
Jennings stood up and walked around the other side of the desk. He reached in a drawer, removed a box and opened it. He procured what appeared to be a cigarette from the box and reached in his pocket to produce a lighter. He lit the cigarette and took a drag. An odor of smoke Sean had never encounter filled his nostrils.
“I understand that human tobacco causes cancer in your species. It does not affect my race as such and I do so enjoy it,” Jennings said as he sat down in his chair.
Connor considered the offer as Jennings smoked. Smoking had become a thing of past so it was kind of odd to watch someone smoke. The president was offering him an assignment, something exciting for a change he hoped. Sean thought of Rena and his promise to see her again soon. It was the only internal struggle he had making the decision. In the end he decided it wouldn’t be forever, he could still keep in touch and see how things played out. And patrolling the DMZ for the rest of his career did not sound appealing at all.
“I accept Mr. Jennings.”
“Just Jennings. Very well then,” he said as he stood and crushed out his cigarette, “Follow me.”
Sean got up to follow him to the door. After Jennings opened the door he whispered something to the guard and they escorted them hurriedly through the facility. They turned and walked down an empty hallway at the end was a set of doors to a maglift. The doors opened everyone entered, one of the guards placed his hand on the control panel and tapped in a code and the maglift started down. Sean watched the counter count down, they were going underground into sublevels. The counter stopped at sublevel three but the maglift continued downward. It came to stop moments later. The doors opened up and they exited the maglift. Before them lay a natural cavernous area dominated by a huge structure of concentric rings about four meters in diameter. They were spaced evenly, attached by long support members. It had hundreds of cables running along its surface and across the floor to a large row of processing units. It glowed and hummed with a high frequency. He surmised it was some sort of jumpgate because it resembled the Dream Gate in orbit. He couldn’t understand one being constructed on a planet, the gravity wake was disastrous in close proximity.
“Yes Captain Connor, it is what it appears to be,” Jennings said noticing the puzzled look on his face. “We have them on most of the home worlds, all of your questions will be answered once we reach our destination.”
In front of the device was what appeared to be a small skiff. They walked over to the craft and Jennings proceeded to climb in. It was a two seater, flat in design with a single control panel in the console and the hatch lifted up to allow occupants to enter. After Sean was seated they strapped in while the hatch lowered into place. He could hear the cabin pressurize as a countdown was enabled on the main screen in the center console. It was counting down from twenty seconds.
“This is a hellishly freaky ride, I never get used to it,” Jennings said excited. “Sit back and enjoy the ride.”
Sean relaxed as the gate in front of them pulsed with light faster and faster. He could see something undulating as it formed in the space towards the back of the gate. Enjoy the ride he thought to himself, what had Jennings meant by that, a jump was instantaneous? Maybe Jennings was easily impressed. Before he finished his train of thought the counter reached zero and the craft was propelled forward down through the rings into the distortion that had formed. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He felt as if his body turned inside out, like he pulled negative G’s and was being crushed all at once. That feeling was immediately followed by weightlessness and outside it appeared as though they were travelling in a tube of undulating stars. A wormhole? Maybe? How could that be? It twisted and turned as space was distorted in front of them. Jennings was right, hellishl
y freaky ride. In what felt like less than a minute the ride ended as they approached a bright light at the end of the tunnel. As the ship contacted the light, that same wonderful feeling at the beginning of the trip repeated itself and he fought the nausea successfully and forced his stomach back down with a hard swallow. The craft stopped in a brightly lit room. Between the trip and the lights it was acutely disorienting but he gathered his bearings quickly and shook off the strange feeling.
“Was that a wormhole?” Connor asked.
“Yes.”
“But how—”
Jennings cut Connor off before he could finish.
“All of your questions will be answered shortly.”
They unstrapped and exited the strange little craft that was now covered in snow? Strange Sean thought, his curiosity was definitely peaked now. He had been involved in testing wormholes devices on Solaria. All of them failed because of the enormous power required, nothing could generate the power. So how could they now? As they walked his mind wondered with questions and possibilities for how they accomplished such a feat.
It was a large facility apparently carved into rock with metal support structures. Conduits lined the hallways and people bustled about as they walked to their destination. Jennings escorted him through the facility to a room with an authorization panel similar to those found on starships, the hand panel on one side and type the code on the other. Jennings placed his hand on the panel and typed his code and the door opened.
Inside was what appeared to be a conference room with a large table and many chairs. Jennings motion for him to have a seat, he chose one on the end at the head of the table and Jennings chose the corner chair next to his.
“Where do I start,” Jennings pondered glancing around the room. “You are personally familiar with the Telarian ship that is assailing ships near the border.” It was a statement in fact not a question Sean noticed. “It is attacking colonies as well. Paradisus, a colony on Balin Tor V was destroyed. Fortunately it was just a seedling colony, two hundred thirteen people lost, they scorched the entire planet. Every living thing incinerated. A similar attack on a homeworld could cost billions of lives.
Because of the treaty we just signed with the Telarian Sovereignty a retributive strike is not feasible without compromising the treaty. We have worked too hard for peace to throw it away because of one rogue Telarian ship. We have given the Telarians the opportunity to handle the situation and they consider it an internal matter even though we are the ones being attacked. They claim to have dispatched a ship to intercept and intervene, obviously with no results. We have exhausted all available diplomatic options. That’s where you come in. We need you to stop this ship.
We are assigning you to the Relentless, the most advanced warship the Union has ever created. The ship itself is top secret and has been designed and built totally under the table with slush funds. This entire facility doesn’t exist.” He held his hands up gesturing to their surroundings which Sean just noticed was devoid of the Union logo. “You will have full authority to accomplish the mission anyway you see fit. With that freedom comes a price, the Union will deny any knowledge of your mission should the Telarians become aware of you. No one else besides the president knows what we are doing here and even he is sheltered from certain aspects so he can retain deniability. This is beyond clandestine. Your true mission never leaves this room, it’s between you and me. The only thing on the record is we are placing you in command of the Relentless, our newest and most advanced warship for testing and deployment. It seemed a waste she would never see battle but that may soon change.
The Relentless will be one of your most important assets in completing this mission. You will be allowed to pick your crew with few exceptions. All of your technical questions will be answered soon by Galloway, he has overseen the construction and would be a fine choice for chief engineer.” He glanced at his watch. “Any questions or thoughts before I go?”
Sean’s mind raced with possibilities. The task would seem simple at first but the reality of finding a ship that doesn’t want to be found in deep space was a daunting task. He was going to enjoy getting some payback for what happened to Voltari. He smiled.
“So let me make sure I understand your directive. You want me to find the ship that attacked the Voltari, destroy it and I have complete autonomy to ensure the mission is successful?”
“Yes”
“There will be no further orders from you and no one else knows of this mission?”
“That is correct.”
“Am I to report to you once the mission is accomplished?”
“Yes. After which you will be assigned regular duties as captain of the Relentless.”
“Do I have funding for equipment and other things I might need to ensure mission success?”
“That is correct. This is not a diplomatic mission, use any means at your disposal to destroy that ship. Galloway will be your go to guy for equipment, anything you need. And the ships SI will have some further direction, I forgot to mention it is also aware of your directives. It has access to the account with funding for the project. I suggest seeing the avatar as soon as possible and inspecting your new ship. If all goes well the Relentless will be yours to continue to command.
This room will be your command center while you are here. You also have full access to all of our current defensive and offensive program currently in development, many of which are ready for deployment. Galloway will show you around. If there is nothing else.” Jennings pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “It was a pleasure meeting you and I’m confident in your ability to accomplish this mission. Galloway will be along shortly.”
As Jennings spoke those final words he extended his hand. Sean stood as well and grasped his hand in a firm shake.
“Thank you Mr. Jennings, I will carry out your orders to the best of my ability,” Connor said.
Jennings nodded, “Just Jennings. I’m sure you will,” and turned to leave.
The automated doors opened and closed behind him as he walked away leaving Sean alone in a completely foreign place.
Sean felt that uncomfortable loneliness like he had his first night alone after his parents died. He walked around the room observing all of the details and he thought about what had just transpired and believed he may have reacted too quickly in accepting this assignment. There were no exits from this room he noted. Jennings was a fast talker and in retrospect he said a lot of key things Sean now felt sure were targeted to elicit his complicity. The lonely feeling passed quickly and he told himself he was just doubting himself and maybe regretting not staying for Rena. He exuded a great deal of confidence he didn’t feel most of the time. He knew it never went well when the person in charge couldn’t hold it together and he had always been good at that.
Sean became so lost in his search for information he didn’t notice it had been two hours since Jennings left. Galloway had still not arrived. He was oblivious to that fact. He had unrestricted access to the Union mainframe. He had discovered their location, a system far away from Telarian space on the other side of Union space. The facility was on a moon orbiting a dead planet and the stardock was in orbit around the moon. The ship itself was docked in the stardock undergoing the final adjustments to its systems.
He spent most of his time pouring over information on the wormhole that had brought him here. They solved the energy problem that had plagued the wormhole since it was first conceived, power. They had developed a device that drew large amounts of power from the fabric of the universe itself. It was amazing, they actually managed to make zero point energy a reality. It had been theorized just as long as wormholes but no one had been able to make a quantum vacuum device that drew a reasonable amount of power and the devices were generally too large to be realistic for such small gains. This one drew its power from an alternate dimension, one of the many postulated by string theory. The two devices were married together in the wormhole device. He studied the information and crunch
ed all the numbers and it all added up. Wow he thought to himself, they did it. He wondered who made the discoveries but that information was curiously absent. He was becoming aware of the time and started to wonder where Galloway was.
Chapter Three
Avatar
Avatar, (chiefly Hinduism, A manifestation of a deity or released soul in bodily form on earth; an incarnate divine teacher. An incarnation, embodiment, or manifestation of a person or idea.)
“Try it again!” Galloway yelled.
The hydro coupling aboard the Relentless was defective and had started leaking during the charging procedure. The technician noticed the problem too late. By the time he shut down the pumps the valves in the line were frozen open. Several kilotons of water floated in a frozen vapor cloud in the stardock. They had been at it for an hour and the options were running out. Galloway had come up with the idea to reverse the pumps long enough to decouple the hoses and maybe cap off the connectors. The problem was these pumps didn’t come with reverse, he had to make it.
“It’s working!” someone called back over the commlink in his ear.
A drone was transmitting video of the coupling, Galloway had been observing the leak from his monitor in the pumping station. It had stopped. Finally.
“Get those hoses uncoupled and get those lines capped then shut down the pump before we burn it out!” Galloway shouted into the radio over the whine of the pump.
“Yes Sir!”
He was late for his meeting. He hated being late.
***
Galloway entered the conference room with urgency in step.
“Captain?” Galloway stated as much of a question as a determination.
Sean nodded and stood. Galloway approached and extended his hand which Connor took and shook firmly.
Galloway was a tall thin man. His dark hair, brooding eyes and hollow cheeks made him stand out from everyone else. He was a contrary man and most found him insufferable to be around for long. He was introverted and he found extroverts tiresome and needy. It was his personal belief that an extrovert’s indigence stemmed directly from being less intelligent and therefore dependent on others to survive, safety in numbers as it were. He looked the captain up and down with those indignant colored glasses on. He hoped the captain was someone who could appreciate his many talents and the autonomy he had become accustomed too when it came to engineering matters. Or judging from his brawn and haircut, he was a Jarhead. Well then.
Relentless: Book One of the Union Warship Saga Page 6
