"Of course, Captain," Tanaka said with a slight bow. "I meant no disrespect. My point is that even from the very beginning we knew we were not alone. In our arrogance we allowed the myth that the miracle of faster than light travel was a human invention and that we were the masters of all we surveyed. I believe the Universe just gave us a costly lesson in humility."
"That's as elegant a way to say it as I've heard yet," Jackson said. "As much as I've enjoyed the tour and the history lesson, Doctor, I have to believe there's another reason I've been brought to an ultra-secret Tsuyo testing facility."
"We're almost there, Captain," Tanaka said, gesturing up ahead where the corridor changed from alloy bulkheads to a transparent tunnel.
As they crossed the point where Jackson could gaze out of the acrylic tunnel he let out a gasp. Lying below him in a sealed-off, pressurized bay was the hull of a starship, but unlike any he had ever seen. Human ships all seemed to follow generally the same design methodology in that they were long, tubular, and bristling with antennas, weapons, and engines.
This ship, however, was sleek. She was also much wider than she was tall, her lines roughly arrowhead shaped in the front, tapering in at the middle, and flaring out again at the stern. Two enormous main engine nacelles were mounted on pylons that were tucked in much closer to the hull than any other ship he'd seen.
"Impressive, is she not?"
"Beautiful," Jackson breathed. "This is a real starship? Not just a mockup?
"Fully operational, the first of her kind," Tanaka nodded. "We began laying the hull as soon as we were alerted to the threat on the frontier. All of the technology that Tsuyo has been developing here has culminated in her design."
"She isn't as big as my old ship," Jackson observed.
"Yet she is still a destroyer, not a light cruiser or a frigate," Tanaka said. "Your Raptor-class vessel was in service for nearly half a century. This ship is half the tonnage yet three times as fast and boasting nearly ten times the firepower."
"What have you called her?"
"She'll be the first of a new generation of human starships," Tanaka said as he looked down upon the sleek vessel. "Built for one purpose: War. While this ship hasn't been named yet, in honor of your victory in the opening battle we've named this line of destroyers the Starwolf-class. Fast, deadly, and overpowering in a pack. The reason we asked you here, Captain, was to show you this so that you know steps are already being taken. We will be ready when the enemy returns."
"I truly hope so, Dr. Tanaka," Jackson said as he looked down at the warship. Even with all its advancements, he knew they were in for a long, hard fight with no guarantee of victory. If they were to win, it would take more than new gadgets and flashy technology. Did humanity even have the will to fight anymore, even if it was for their own survival? Only time would tell.
Thank you for reading Warship.
If you enjoyed the book the story will continue with:
Call to Arms, Book Two of the Black Fleet Trilogy.
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From the author:
Some of you likely bought this book after reading my other science fiction series: Omega Force. For those of you who haven't, thank you for taking a chance on a new author and welcome aboard. I thought it would be useful to give a little bit of background on this story as it is a bit of a departure from what I've done up to this point.
This trilogy is actually based on a story I wrote in my early 20's while living in the dorms at Ellsworth AFB. That original novel was extremely long, convoluted, and not as cohesive a story as I would have liked. Black Fleet is a series of three books that distills that original story down to its bare essence and refines the scope and focus of the tale. The result is, I hope, a hard military scifi story that has a bit more grit than Omega Force without being "dark."
The technology represented in this book is based on research, and in many cases existing prototypes, of tech that we have today. Borrowing heavily from the work of Miguel Alcubierre and his "warp" drive, the VASIMR engines developed by Ad Astra Rocket, and a host of technologies we have available now I wanted to keep this story free of any fantastical elements. I also stripped down a lot of existing military traditions and rank structure to create what I envisioned a fleet of the future would use. It's not supposed to be an exact copy of the U.S. Navy, but I wanted the similarities to be there. So ... thank you again for reading and I hope you'll continue on to the next Black Fleet story. For those of you wondering about the future of the Omega Force Series, I'm writing book seven even as this book is being released.
Cheers!
Josh
Black Fleet Trilogy 1: Warship Page 26
