“It sounds a lot better than good at this point, Admiral. Thank you, sir.”
“Very nice job … all of you. Patterson out.”
“We should move things along quickly before something else happens to change his mind,” Reynolds said with a furrowed brow.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Prescott chuckled. “Dubashi, clear an arrival point for us and transfer to the Helm console please. Let’s get things buttoned up and head home.”
“Aye, sir,” she replied, then paused and turned around in her chair. “Sir, our Guardian apparently just came back online and immediately asked to speak with you. It says that it’s urgent.”
“Ugh, what now?” he groaned, wondering why Tahiri couldn’t have commanded the system to remain offline until they arrived back in the Sol system. Prescott sat silently for a moment, delaying his response while considering whether he might get away with simply ignoring the request. “I have a feeling I’ll probably regret this, but put it on-screen, please.”
“Captain,” the GCS began without preamble the second his avatar appeared on the bridge view screen, “it is of the utmost importance that I be returned to Earth immediately.”
“We’re preparing to depart now. Is there a problem I can help you with?”
“I’m afraid there is no time to discuss the particulars at the moment. Suffice it to say that another civilization has chosen this moment to make contact with your own — undoubtedly taking advantage of my absence in order to do so. I should not have to tell you at this point that all such arrivals should be considered hostile until proven otherwise.”
“Agreed. Fisher, do we have a cleared arrival point?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Execute your C-Jump.”
“Aye, sir. C-Jumping in 3 … 2 … 1 …”
Epilogue
Earth, TFC Yucca Mountain Shipyard Facility
Not surprisingly, the unexpected arrival of an alien spacecraft outside the Yucca Mountain Shipyard’s massive blast doors had caused a great deal of consternation among local Fleet personnel — progressing immediately thereafter to members of both the Admiralty and the Leadership Council. For better or worse, however, there had been little time for debate regarding how best to respond. The circular — perhaps more accurately described as “disk-shaped” — ship hovered silently outside the facility for just under one minute before a four-hundred-meter by four-hundred-meter section of the mountainside sank below the surrounding surface then slowly began to open along its centerline.
Over three hundred years earlier, a smaller but remarkably similar-looking vessel had crash-landed near the Roswell Army Air Field. After a botched press release revealed the presence of the mostly intact spacecraft, it had been quickly relocated to the Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field — better known to this day by a variety of other names including “Area 51” or simply the “Groom Lake Facility.” There, just seventy kilometers from the Yucca Mountain Shipyard, it had been painstakingly studied in relative secrecy for the better part of three centuries until the arrival of the Pelaran Guardian spacecraft and the subsequent formation of Terran Fleet Command.
Now, without seeking to establish communication of any sort, let alone permission to enter one of the most secure facilities on Earth, the ship simply proceeded through the blast doors into the long, sloping cavern. Once clear of the entrance and on its way down the two-kilometer-long tunnel to the shipyard proper, the huge doors began to close once again behind it, seemingly of their own accord.
Although apparently no longer in command of the facility’s access control systems, TFC personnel did at least still control the lighting throughout the entrance cavern, all of which had been switched on at maximum intensity. Onlookers crowded the large control room windows to one side of the cavern, each of them determined to catch a glimpse of the ship that was somehow so strangely familiar that it was difficult to think of it as an intruder.
The ultimate intent of the ship’s occupants was unclear as were their reasons for choosing to make such a dramatic entry into one of TFC’s primary shipbuilding facilities (although the facility’s AI had already assessed a less than ten percent probability that they were overtly hostile). For the moment, there was nothing to be done other than simply waiting to see what they would do next. What everyone present did know beyond a shadow of doubt, however, was precisely the same piece of information that had caused the Guardian spacecraft such alarm. At long last, the enigmatic “Greys” had returned to Earth.
_________________________________
End of Book 4
THANK YOU!
I’d like to express my sincerest thanks for reading TFS Fugitive. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far and will be interested in the next installment of The Terran Fleet Command Saga.
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OTHER BOOKS BY TORI L. HARRIS
The Terran Fleet Command Saga
TFS Ingenuity
TFS Theseus
TFS Navajo
TFS Fugitive
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in 1969, four months before the first Apollo moon landing, Tori Harris grew up during the era of the original Star Wars movies and is a lifelong science fiction fan. During his early professional career, he was fortunate enough to briefly have the opportunity to fly jets in the U.S. Air Force, and is still a private pilot who loves to fly. Tori has always loved to read and now combines his love of classic naval fiction with military Sci-Fi when writing his own books. His favorite authors include Patrick O’Brian and Tom Clancy as well as more recent self-published authors like Michael Hicks, Ryk Brown, and Joshua Dalzelle. Tori lives in Tennessee with his beautiful wife, two beautiful daughters, and Bizkit, the best dog ever.
Terran Fleet Command Saga 4: TFS Fugitive Page 30
