Star Dancer
Chapter 10
 
 
 
            Ian had a feeling that once he got back to the ship, he would be assaulted by demands on his time. He wasn’t disappointed. As soon as he stepped off the shuttle, Star began telling him of the number of requests awaiting him. However, once he stated looking at the list, he began to see a pattern in some of them.
            “Star, please schedule these three appointments at the same time.” Ian ordered. “Say, right after lunch?”
            “Yes sir.”
            “The rest of these, all want to plead their case to be immediately transferred to the new base, correct?” He asked.
            “Yes sir.” She said again.
            “Well, Dr. Punjab has accepted the position of administrator for the base. These should be passed on to him, but lets give him a day or two before we slam him. He’ll need time to get acquainted with just what he’s agreed to run. I’ll see those three I mentioned earlier, but tell the rest we are waiting on approval, after all that’s the truth.” Ian said.
            “Yes, sir.”
            “Now, I’m gonna get something to eat, kiss my wives and kids, and then I’ll be ready to see those people.” Ian said.
            “You might try a nap, and a change of clothes, too.” She said.
            “Gee, thanks!” Ian said sarcastically.
            “Think nothing of it.” She grinned at him.
            Ian turned and headed for his quarters. Since it was still early, he caught all the girls still in bed. He quietly set his bag at the foot of the big bed, stripped out of his ship suit, remembering what Star had told him, he smiled, and went into the shower.
            Ian had just stuck his head under the shower when he felt hands slid around his chest.
            “Welcome back, lover.” Beth said.
            “It’s really nice to be back.” Ian said, turning around and kissing her softly on the lips.
            She smiled sensuously as he pulled back slowly, and placed her arms around his neck.
            “I know what that look means;” Ian smiled back at her, “But it’ll have to wait until tonight. I’m bushed. I need a shower, and a nice couple hours sleep.”
             She made a pouty face at him. “Okay, but I’ll warn you, you’re gonna need a lot of energy tonight. The kids are starting to sleep through the night, and we’re getting lonely.”
            He picked up the soap, and started to wash her. “I bet you are. Is Jenny healed up enough for that though? For that matter; are the rest of you?” Ian asked.
            “Oh yes, we’ve been listening to Talena’s moans and screams long enough. Jenny’s fine, so are the rest of us and we’ll prove it to you tonight.” She said.
            She took the soap away from him, slapped him on the ass, and warned him; “You better go get some sleep, you’re gonna need it! I’ll tell the others to leave you alone this morning, so use the spare bedroom.”
            Ian smiled, turned and kissed her again quickly, then, getting out of the shower he grabbed a towel. After drying himself off, he went to the spare room, and fell immediately to sleep.
 
            Three hours later he was in his ready room, still sleepy, but feeling better. “Jenny, could you come in here for a minute?” He asked through the intercom.
            A moment later she walked through the open door. “Thanks. Sorry to trouble you with this, but since personnel is usually your domain, I thought you might want to have a go at this.” He explained. She smiled, cocked her head to one side, and raised one elegant eyebrow.
            “The new moon base needs a name. I thought it might be fun to let the kids have a contest to pick it. The winner and their parents get a tour of the new facility with Star and I. What do you think?” Ian asked.
            “I think that’s a wonderful idea. The kids’ll love it. Who gets to pick the winnner?” She asked.
            “Luke Belden, Dr. Punjab, and me.” Ian answered.
            She grinned, “Okay, how long to get entries in?”
            “Two weeks long enough?” he asked.
            “Should be, you know, of course, that the grownups are gonna be jealous.” She said, still grinning.
            “They’ll get over it.” Ian said, dismissively. “Besides, most of them seem to be trying to get transferred there already.”
            “I’ll get on it right away. I’m almost done with a report for you on my final analysis of the missing oil problem. Do you want it in person, or…” She waved to the computer.
            “That one I’d like in person, if you don’t mind. That way I can ask you questions. You should see the report I got from Dr. Benson on the armor, I don’t think I understood a tenth of it!” He chuckled. “She’s obviously excited about it though. I’ve got a meeting with her in a few minutes.”
            “Oh! That reminds me- Ivanova Shostokovitch would like a moment of your time later. She’s the stellar cartographist. She’d like to talk to you about probes for Alpha Prime.” Jenny said.
            “Shostokovitch?” Ian asked.
            “Yep, Mr. Chekov’s wife. She’s really excited too, and asked me to ask you for her.”
            “Hmm, how about after the meeting with Dr.Benson?” Ian asked.
            “Okay, I’ll tell her.” Jenny said, as she left.
            A few minutes later, the people for the meeting started to arrive. Dr. Benson, and Mrs. Punjab were the first to arrive. Next was Ensign Forte; he had been doing weapons research to improve the existing armaments. Kyle, and Tara were the last arrive. Once all five had sat down, Ian closed the door, and offered them drinks.
            “I guess you’re all wondering why I asked you here at the same time. It’s simple: I would like to see all of you team up. Kyle and Tara are working on a new fighter craft, Dr. Benson and Mrs. Punjab on a new style of armor, and Ensign Forte on new weapons systems. I have no idea if you would be willing to work together, but I thought I should introduce you.” Ian said.
            Everyone smiled and shook hands. Dr. Benson finally looked at Ian, “Sir, what about our transfer requests? I thought that was the reason you were asking us here.”
            “Actually, your requests are being considered, and you will be notified as soon as we make sure there are proper facilities for both you and your respective works. The new administrator has barely had time to review the floor plan; so please, wait a couple of days before you start to scream.” Ian said, grinning to take the sting from his words.
            Dr. Benson chuckled at him, “Okay, as long as we get considered. I bet you’ve gotten a lot of requests already.”
            “We’ve had a few. Now, see what kind of dreams you five can come up with.” Ian said, dismissing them.
            The five got up to leave, talking excitedly. Ian smiled; wondering just what they would come up with.
            A few minutes later the chime announced another visitor. “Come.” Ian said.
            A petite young woman entered and hesitantly smiled at Ian.
            “You must be Ivanova. Welcome. What can I do for you?” Ian said, smiling to put her at ease, and motioning her to a chair.
            “Well sir, I’d like permission to launch some probes to survey the Alpha Centari system. I would like to use five, class 2 probes. As you know sir, class 2’s are VR capable. It would be just like being there.” She said.
            “Yes it would. That’s a good choice. However class 2’s don’t have FTL drives. Think you could wait until we can get a shuttle built to haul them? On their own power it would take more then two years for them to get there. If you wait for us to build an extra shuttle to haul them, you could get answers much sooner.” Ian said.
            She appeared to think about that for a minute, then admitted, “I forgot to think about that, I just thought I would have to wait for them to get there. Yes, your way makes a lot more sense.”
            “It would also give you more time to think up anything extra you would like on those probes, and get it installed.” He suggested.
            “Good ideas.” She said, “Thank you, sir. Please inform me when a shuttle is available for this mission.” She rose, and held out her hand.
            Ian grinned at her, “I certainly will.” He shook her hand, she turned and left. Ian turned back to his reports.
            A few minutes later he received a note from Ty saying he had contacted his ‘friend’ and he was interested. Ty asked if Janet could come down for a visit and help with the briefing.
            Ian okayed it and forwarded the note to Janet Laskar, asking her to contact Ty directly to work it out.
            The door chimed a visitor, and Ian said “Come”.
            Jenny walked in, and asked, “Are you ready for that report? I think I’ve got everything finally put together.”
            “Sure, have a seat.” Ian said.
            “Okay, since discovering the Enemy hauling crude oil away, I’ve been trying to find out who knows about it and who approved it. Initial investigations failed to turn up any real answers; so, I set about collecting data. Each end of the pipeline has flow meters, so it should be easy to see just how much is actually taken from the pipeline. However, the computer tracking the meters shows the flow rate as normal, and actually lists the received amount as the same as the sent amount. The difference is only seen if you compare the readings at the receiving station with the ones at the sending station. The readings are different, but no one is getting upset. So I began checking to find out who maintains and adjusts the equipment. I found that the men who installed it are either dead or missing. However, there are four men listed who actually monitor and maintain the system. Background checks on them showed them to be false identities. Their birth certificates, the two that have them, are from babies that died at birth. The other two are reported as being born either at home, or someplace that a birth certificate wasn’t issued. The two missing birth certificates are not really unusual for the area. The two obviously fake identities were hard enough to crack that it is possible the company is not aware of the fact.
            I can’t prove involvement of any of the people in charge of the project, but it seems highly unlikely that they could remain ignorant of the missing crude. Investigations in the United States led me into a tangled mess of highly placed government officials, mostly in the intelligence community. Again, there is no direct connection, but the evidence is definitely purposely misleading. Once again, I’m unable to say who is actually responsible. As far as the evidence goes, no one is, and no one knows about it.” She finished.
            “And we can’t shut it down without dumping crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean, and tipping our hand to the Enemy.” He sighed. “Send a copy of the report, with your assumptions, to Ty at Talos. He has a friend that may be able to find some more answers.”
            “Yes Sir. Should I continue to dig on this?”.
            Ian thought for a moment. “No. Unless he requests more information, let’s let Ty’s friend have it. We need to get this ship ready to fight. I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”
 
            The next morning, Ian had a message from flight control requesting approval for the temporary transfer of Kyle, Stephanie, and Tara to the moon base. Ian smiled, and approved it. He also approved Ensign Forte’s temporary transfer from the armory. Dr. Punjab had sent Ian a note thanking him for his help, and to notify him he was accepting requests. Ian had Star forward all the requests to him.
            Dr. Punjab had also notified Ian that his wife would be acting as his assistant until a suitable replacement could be found.
            Ian in turn sent a request to Dr. Punjab for a special shuttle to be built for the Alpha Centari mission as soon as he had time. He included what specifications he thought would be needed, but mentioned that Ivanova Shostokovitch, of stellar cartography, would have final approval for the changes. He also pointed out that the shuttle would be unmanned.
            Star requested a moment of his time. He immediately granted it.
            “Sir, I am sorry to bother you. But a potential problem has arisen.”
            “What is it?’ Ian asked, almost panicking.
            “Nothing critical, Sir” She said, raising her hands to clam him. “I am the only  A.I. associate and I am beginning to get overloaded. Not that I mind all the work, but I was originally designed to handle only the ship. I am afraid that I might be slowed down too much.” She said. “I would recommend the installation of new A.I. units at Talos, as well as the Moon Facility.”
            Ian relaxed a little, “You think we need to install two?”
            “I have postulated the potential increase in future usage and two new units will be needed. In addition, I would also recommend plans for a third unit to be installed on the potential future colony world.”
            “Very well,” Ian said, and pushed a button on his console, “Captain to Computer Sciences; Chief Lasker?”
            “Lasker here Captain, what can I do for you?” Bill said.
            “Could you come to my ready room when you have a moment? I have a couple of new projects for you.” Ian said.
            “Sure! On my way.” Bill said, and signed off.
            A few minutes later Bill walked into Ian’s ready room. “What’s up Boss?” He said.
            “Star has recommended the creation of two new A.I. units to be installed at Talos and the moon base. You feel like earning your pay for once?” Ian smiled.
            “Are you serious? The A.I. units are the most advanced thing the Talosians had ever developed! I’d love too!” Bill said.
            “Good, I’d recommend getting the moon base set up first. I think they’ll need it the most.” Ian suggested.
            “It’ll take a week or more to set up the hardware for it, and at least another week to do the programming. I’ll clone Star’s base program system, and save a year or more of typing code. With your permission I’d like to bring Ensign Saunders back up for this; he has an understanding of hardware that I can only marvel at.” Bill said.
            “He’s in your department, so that’s up to you, but please loan someone to Talos while he’s up here. I think they’ve gotten attached to him.” Ian asked.
            “Okay, I’ll get the ball rolling. Thanks Captain, I’ve always wanted to set up one of these. Have I ever told you that Julie and Janet both consider Star our third wife? They tease me about it all the time.” He said, chuckling.
            “Yeah, but how does Star feel about it?’ Ian said grinning.
            “Flattered.” Star said from across the room.
            “Well, it looks like you’re gonna have two more children!” Ian quipped.
            Star grinned, and chuckled. “I never thought I would do that!”
            Bill and Ian both laughed, and Bill left to get started on his new project.
            Ian turned to his terminal to see what was next, and was surprised to see a newsletter entitled, “The New Talosian.” He opened it and browsed the stories. What a wonderful idea this had been. One piece caught his eye, “New Doctorial Program Proposed.” It seemed that the resident scientists of Talos and StarDancer had formed a committee to oversee the awarding of doctorates as well as other degrees. Since Talosian education was unorthodox by Terran standards, they felt the need to give merit to those who deserved it.
            He read on and found the announcement for the contest to name the moon base. ‘That was fast’, Ian thought to himself and read the details for the contest.
            He browsed through the bonding and birth announcements. He came to a section he hadn’t expected to see, a “New Arrival” section. It listed all the people new to the Talosian community, what they did, and where they would be living.
            Ian finished the newsletter, it had shown him just how big this had become.
            His comm beeped at him, “Recruitment to Captain.” Janet Laskar’s voice said.
            He thumbed the button, “Captain here, what’s up?”
            “Sir, can I have a moment of your time, something curious has come up.”
            “Sure, come on up.” Ian answered her.
            “Thanks, be there in a few minutes.” She said, and disconnected.
            Ian got himself a cup of cappuccino and a coffee for Janet, took them back to his desk, sat and waited for her to get there.
            She got there a few minutes later, and took a seat, nodding thanks for the coffee.
            “Something odd has been reported to me by my people in the field.” She said. “As you know, we ‘feel’ who would be good to approach about joining us. That’s how we’ve been able to keep our secret. Well, two of my people have reported that they have run into people that feel black, or empty, like there was no personality there at all. It gave them the creeps; they both described the experience as ‘evil’. Since then, one of them has reported that she is being followed by one of these people. Since she’s become aware of him, she has decided to take a ‘leisurely’ drive back to Talos. I have alerted the others to be on the look out for this, but no one has reported anything.” She said. “She’s pretty shaken up.”
            “Damn, I would be too. Find out where she is right now.” Ian turned to his comm as Janet lifted her wrist to her face.
“Ty, this is Ian.” He said.
Ty’s face appeared on his desk terminal. “What’s up?”
“We may have someone in trouble; I’ll need you to be able to recover her from the field, and possibly someone else as well. One of Janet’s people is being stalked, and it doesn’t sound like a sex thing. We’re locating her right now, and I want a small team ready to take off by tonight. Use a shuttle, and pick her up. If she can lead her follower into a position for you to capture him, then do so. Otherwise,…“ Ian took a deep breath, “He should have an accident.”
“You’re that sure he’s unfriendly?” Ty asked.
Ian nodded, “I’ve heard the report, and I really don’t want to take the chance. I’ve a hunch that you better be ready to kill.” He said, then as an afterthought, “And, Ty? Do a full med scan as soon as you can get close enough to him.”
“Will do, boss. I’ll get the team ready. Do you think this might be something we’ll need to do a lot of?”
“I don’t know, Ty. I hope not, but I suppose we should be ready, just in case.” Ian said to him.
Janet spoke up then, “Star, please patch Alicyn into Ty’s channel. Ty, this is Alicyn, she’s one of my recruiters. She’ll tell you everything you need to know. Go ahead Alicyn, you’ve met Ty.”
“Hi Alicyn, I understand you have a problem?” Ty said.
“Yes, I do. Thank you for helping so quickly. I’m currently just outside of Las Vegas.” She said.
“Good, here’s what I want you to do: set your communit to ‘beacon’ and just drive around the city for a bit. We’ll be leaving shortly; once we get into your area, we’ll watch over you. Then, around sunset, I want you to head out on I-75 towards Barstow. We’ll pick you up then, and possibly find out something about your follower as well.” He paused for a second. “Thanks Ian, Janet. We’ll take it from here. I’ll let you know when we’re done.”
“Good, Ty. Thanks.” Ian said, “Star, drop command from the channel.” When the channel died, he looked at Janet, “Is there no possibility he’s not just an overly curious fellow?”
She shook her head, “None. I knew telling you would most likely end in his death. So I’ve thought this one through. You’re doing the right thing.”
“I hope so, Janet, because if I’m not, I just ordered Ty to kill an innocent man.” Ian said.
 
Later that evening, Ian was waiting in his office. Jenny, Beth and Janet were with him.
“Star display a graphic of the southwest United States.” The image appeared on the big wall monitor. “Now, show us were everyone’s at.” Ian ordered.
The image zoomed in to show a closer image of southern Nevada, and Southwest California. Three dots appeared on the map.
“This telemetry is from the shuttle. The green dot is the shuttle, the yellow, Alicyn, and the red is her pursuer.” Star’s voice said.
“Thank you, now let’s hear what’s being said, please.” Ian asked.
“…still here Alicyn. Now it’s time to trap this person. There is a gravel road on your right about a mile up, turn onto it, and keep driving.” Ty said.
“Okay,” Pause, “I see the turn, here we go.” She said.
Ian and company watched the yellow dot move away from the highway. The green dot was right with it. Then the green dot moved in front of the yellow, “Okay, Alicyn. We’re picking you up, cut your lights, and drive right up the ramp. Pull all the way up.” Ty’s voice said.
“My light’s are off, I see you, here I come.” Alicyn said. She actually sounded a lot better then the last time Ian had heard her voice.
“Damn he’s in a hurry! Places everyone. Alicyn, hurry, get into the cabin, he might be armed.” Ty said.
“And….NOW!” Ty said after a few moments.
“Don’t move! Show me your hands! Now slowly get outta the car!” Ian heard a voice say.
“Watch his hands! Don’t try anything pal! Just stay real still.” another voice said.
“What the fuck? Get back! Everyone! Get away from him!” Ian heard laser weapons firing, then a loud thump.
“Everyone okay? Sound off people!” Ty ordered.
“Unit 1, clear.”
“Unit 2, clear, but throwing up.”
“Unit 3, clear. What the fuck was that boss?”
“I have no fuckin’ idea. Now, let’s clean up. Get that drone out here! Have it save the body for examination, someone search the car. Once your done, have the drone vaporize all evidence. Let’s move it people! I’m missing Star Trek!” Ty said.
“Captain?” Ty said.
Ian hit the switch, “Captain, go.” The visual on the screen was replaced by Ty’s image.
“This is one for the weird shit category. Alicyn’s safe. We got him out of the car, and started to scan him; that’s when I saw this glow on the back of his head. I pulled everyone back, and then his head exploded. Not much left to work with, but we’ll send it on to you, along with the info the scanner got.” Ty said.
“No one got hurt?” Ian asked.
“Not really, we’re all a bit grossed out, but other then that, we’re all okay.” Ty said.
“Good work. Head home when you’re finished, and I’ll tape Star Trek for you.” Ian said.
Ty chuckled, “Thanks Captain.” and broke the connection.
“It looks like you’ve a body to examine Doctor.” Ian said to Beth.
“We’ll check it out; we’ve a couple forensic people on staff now, so I’ll get them on it.” Beth said.
Ian looked up at the ceiling, “Star, please find out what episode of Star Trek was playing tonight, and make sure Ty gets a copy.”
“I did tell him I’d tape it for him.” Ian said.
 
The next morning, Ian received a request to come to the moon base. It seemed that Kyle had something he wanted him to see. Ian got into his flight suit, and flew a hornet down to the base.
The place was huge! He could park all the shuttles in here nose to tail, and still have room to land the frigates. In one hanger bay, Ian could see drones hard at work assembling a shuttle craft. He climbed out of the hornet, and set his helmet on the seat. He walked to where he could see Stephanie waiting for him. As he walked away from his fighter, a crane dropped down, picked it up, and lifted it to a launch tube.
“Wow,” he said when he got to her. “This place is pretty awesome.” Ian had seen the designs, but seeing it in person was a whole different matter.
“Yes it is, the rest of this place is pretty neat too. Welcome to the moon, Sir.” She said as she saluted.
Ian returned the salute, and she led him to an elevator. “Research Bay 3.” She said when they got in. Ian didn’t even feel the elevator move.
“I take it you like your new quarters then?” Ian said
“Yes, Sir! I liked the ship, but this is like no place I’ve ever lived before.” She said as the elevator arrived.
“Captain! Welcome!” Dr. Benson said, as Stephanie led him into the work area. It was a large room with a table in the center. The table was a holographic projector, and had some molecular models floating above it. Dr. Benson and another man had been studying it. She said something to the man, who smiled, nodded, and walked away.
“Kyle is really excited about our project. He wanted to show you what we’ve come up with,” She said. “He’s even managed to get Stephanie involved. Tom went to get him.”
“Yeah, he did, but I’ll feel better when one of the neuro-specialists takes a look at my idea.” Stephanie said, blushing.
“I’m sure they’ll approve, dear.” Dr. Benson said, placatingly.
Kyle walked quickly out of one of the side offices, followed by Ensign Forte. “Captain! Thanks for coming. I wanted to show you what we’ve hatched before we started building it.” Kyle said.
“Wait a minute, you mean to tell me you’ve all came up with a new design already? You haven’t even been here 24 hours!” Ian said.
Kyle grinned at Dr. Benson, and Ensign Forte. “Sir, when we left your office, we all started talking. It was like we all had the answers to each others questions. Once we sat down and compared notes, things just clicked together. Now, ‘computer, display shadow prototype’.” He said.
The image above the table vanished and was replaced by an image of a sleek, shiny space craft. It looked like it was coated in fluid chrome. Under the nose was a small turret holding two of what could only be described as Gatlin guns. Beside the tinted canopy, on each side of the fuselage were tiny upswept wings. Behind the canopy was an intake of some sort. At the rear of the craft were two down-swept wings, with two laser cannons mounted above the wing joints, and two below, next to what could only be small missile ports on each side of the engine cowling. The rear of the craft showed the exit ports of the dual thrusters. The overall look of the thing brought an image of a manta ray to mind.
“Whoa.” Ian said.
Kyle chuckled, “I’ll take that as an ’I like it Kyle’.”
“You can safely say that, yes. What’s her armament?” Ian asked.
Kyle looked to Ensign Forte. “We’ve mounted four medium pulse laser cannons, above and below, …” He said as Ian interrupted him.
“Excuse me, ‘Pulse’ laser cannon?” Ian asked.
“Yes, sir. We’ve seen that if we reconfigure the power and delivery system of the laser, we can improve overall efficiency by 49%. Which is to say, we can do more damage for less power. I’m drafting a retro-fit for the hornets now. We’ve also put two ‘six shooter’ missile launchers in the fuselage. These will only handle the standard IFF missiles, though. Lastly, we’ve mounted a new weapon I’d been working on. The nose turret holds dual rapid fire rail-guns. Each gun can fire 4000 rounds a minute. The projectiles are launched by magnetic inductance. The system is equipped with a small specialized replicator unit to produce the projectiles,” He handed a small ball to Ian; it was about half the size of a marble. “Each one moves at just below the speed of light. The projectile was created by Dr. Benson. I hadn’t asked for permission to develop the gun yet because I hadn’t figured out a way to use it inside an atmosphere. The computer models would melt shortly after being fired. The new projectiles are made of the same stuff as the armor.” He finished.
“You mean to tell me this thing will fire 4000 rounds a minute, at the speed of light, and is usable in the atmosphere?” Ian said.
“Essentially, yes. That’s what I’m telling you.” He said, grinning.
“Our goals were: first, a fighter craft that would be at least invisible to Terran tracking methods; second, it must be usable in atmosphere. We later expanded that to be almost any atmosphere. What we ended up with… we think… it a space craft that is fully stealth capable and can operate in all atmospheres that we know of. It is also capable of short FTL jumps.” Kyle said. “Thanks to the input of my beautiful sister, flying and fighting are going to become a lot easier. She has theorized a ‘thought assisted’ flight system. We are building it into the new ship, but it can operate independently of that system. She wants to have a neuro-specialist or two check it out first.”
“Okay, this thing has to have some drawbacks.” Ian said.
“Yes sir, it does. It has more mass than a hornet, which means it’s not quite as maneuverable. However, the addition of magnetic stability compensators has reduced that consideration somewhat. It also has two crew instead of one: one person to fly and fight, one person to operate all the systems and navigate. Finally, they have to either be stored in shielded darkness, or electrically grounded at all times.” Kyle said. “However, unlike the hornet, where you need either a launch tube or a long runway, this ship is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, or VTOL. No launch tubes are needed.”
“Okay, folks, I am impressed. Why don’t you build five of them, and we’ll see how they really work.” Ian said.
They all grinned. “Yes sir!” Kyle said.
“Now have you guys figured out a way to use the new armor on the rest of our craft?” Ian asked.
Dr. Benson answered. “I’m pretty sure we can use it on the shuttles and the frigates, but I’ll need to work on adapting the hornets to use it. StarDancer herself is going to take more time. One of the main problems is finding a way to disperse the energy created by the armor. Otherwise, the energy will continue to build up until the ship finally explodes. That’s why I didn’t want to continue the Hornet tests.” She said.
“I appreciate that.” Ian said wryly. “You’ve all done a wondrous job in a very short time here. You should be proud of yourselves. I’m certainly proud of you. Thank you.” Ian said to the whole room. “Now, I need to get back to my ship, Kyle, Dr. Benson, Ensign, thank you for asking me down here. Damn good work. I really had no idea you could put it all together this fast though.” Ian said.
“We need you for one more thing, sir.” Kyle said. “Computer, Transfer plans for Shadow prototype III to production facility. Begin assembly of five units. Authorization; Kyle Johnson, project lead.”
“Confirmed, proceed.” A soft voice said
“Authorization; Dr. Brittney Benson. Senior research scientist.” Dr. Benson said.
“Confirmed, Proceed.” The voice said again.
Kyle and Dr. Benson both looked at Ian.
“Authorization; Ian Williams, Captain, F.S.S. StarDancer.” Ian said.
“Authorization confirmed for assembly, Sequence initiated. Thank you.” The voice said.
“What was that all about?” Ian asked.
“A safeguard built into the computer system. Any craft that has a weapons system must have the authorization of a registered project lead, the senior researcher, and a command level officer. Also, none of the three can be the same person. For example, if you designed a ship with weapons, by yourself, and wanted it to be built in this facility, you would need two other people to agree with you: one of command grade, and one of the registered senior scientists. All three have to be physically present.” Kyle explained.
“Good idea, but I think I better get someone promoted to commander down here on the double.” Ian said. “Dr. Punjab seems the most likely person to give a commission to.”
Ian stopped because Dr. Benson was shaking her head. “Dr. Punjab, was a good choice to run this facility Ian, but to ask him to be responsible for the building of weapons would be an insult to him. His may not show it very often, but he is a man of strong faith. You should promote someone else. No, not me I don’t want it either.” She smiled.
“Very well,” He looked at Kyle and Ensign Forte. “You both have promotions coming out of this anyway. So I’ll make it official until we can have a ceremony. Ensign Forte, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant first class, effective immediately, for your efforts in the design and improvement of our weapons systems. Lieutenant Kyle Johnson, I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, for your efforts in the design of a completely new fighter craft. Congratulations to both of you. For the military people who assisted you, I will consider promotions as well, but for now, I will place a letter of commendation in each of your files. The same goes for all the civilians, thank you again for fine job.” Ian said, smiling. “Now, how do I get out of here?” He chuckled.
Kyle walked him over to the lift.
“Kyle, I should stop by and see Dr. Punjab before I go I’d like you to come with me.” Ian said.
“Sure, sir, let me tell the girls were I’m going.” He trotted off.
A 16 year old Lt. Commander? What was he thinking? Ian shook his head. He knew Kyle would do a fine job; after all, he was an 18 year old Captain.
Kyle came trotting back, and called for the lift. “Thank you for the promotion sir. I certainly didn’t expect this, and to Lt. Commander! I’ll do my best to justify your trust in me.” He said.
“I know you will Kyle, or I never would have considered it. There is a lot of responsabilty that goes with that, but I think you can handle it.”
The lift arrived and they got on. “Admin.” Kyle said.
“Just get the promotion requests to me as soon as you have time.” Ian said.
“Yes sir. Sir, can my folks come up for the ceremony?” Kyle asked.
Ian chuckled, “I think we can pull that off. Elias has always wanted to see the ship. I think we should bring Luke and Sara back up too.”
Kyle blushed, “Yeah, I was so nervous about them finding out about us. But Luke just took me aside, and asked if I loved his daughter. When I told him yes, he smiled, and told me to take real good care of her. I know he did the same with Steph, but I got the feeling it was just too weird for both of them.”
“I had it easy; the Laskars are brother and sister so they easily made the adjustment.” Ian said chuckling. “At least it all turned out for the best.”
They chatted until the lift arrived at the admin level. After getting out of the lift, Ian asked Kyle if there was a replicator nearby.
“Sure there’s a small commissary right there.” Kyle said, pointing. Ian led him into the commissary, and had the replicator make the rank insignia for a Lt.Commander. These he pinned on a grinning Kyle’s uniform.
“Just thought it would look better this way.” Ian said.
They continued down the hall to Dr. Punjab’s office. The door opened to a small waiting area. Dr. Punjab’s wife was seated behind a desk within, entering information into a terminal.
She looked up and smiled at them, “Captain! Kyle! How nice of you to stop by. I wish I could have been at the presentation, but I had so much work to do here, I just couldn’t get away.”
“We did miss you there, and the Captain has approved the production of five prototypes!” Kyle told her excitedly.
“Excellent! I must admit, I am excited to see this become real.” She said.
“Is Dr. Punjab free for a moment?” Ian asked.
“I am sure he is, let me tell him you are here.” She said. She cleared her throat, and tried to look official, touched a comm. button and spoke. “Doctor, Captain Ian Williams to see you.”
“The Captain is here? Please to send him right in.” Dr. Punjab’s excited voice said, with an Indian accent.
            She smiled, and waved towards the door that was already opening with Dr. Punjab stepping through it.
            “Captain Ian, it is so good of you to come here, I am very happy to be seeing you.” He said.
            “It’s nice to see you too, Doctor.” Ian said. Kyle just grinned.
            “Please, please, come into my office.” Dr. Punjab said. Once the door was closed, he asked, “To what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?”
             “Kyle had a new design to show me. Since I was here, I thought I would see how you are adjusting to your new post.” Ian said.
            “I am adjusting well. There is a lot that needs to be done, but it is coming together.” He said.
            “Dr. Punjab, while I was here, I approved the construction of five of Kyle’s prototypes. It came to my attention that it requires three separate people to authorize the actual construction process. I was originally going to give you the rank of Commander to fulfill the last of those requirements, but Dr. Benson though it might be offensive to you.” Ian said.
            “I thank you for that consideration Captain Ian. I can justify the administration of this facility, but I wouldn’t feel right about being responsible for the actual production of weapons. Even though I know that without them the earth stands very little chance of survival, I have been taught to believe that there is always another, peaceful way to resolve issues. I do not know, however, if they had the Enemy in mind.” He said. “It is an issue that I am still debating.”
            “Well, I promoted Kyle here, to the rank of Lt. Commander. He will meet the command rank requirement. I hope that is agreeable?” Ian asked.
            “Yes Captain, very agreeable. Though I have only recently met him, I believe him to be an intelligent and responsible young man. I hope that my beliefs will not cause too much of a problem.” Dr. Punjab said.
            “No, Doctor. Strong beliefs should never be apologized for. I would like you to let me know if I ask you to do something objectionable. I’ll find a way to resolve the issue without compromising your beliefs.” Ian said.
            “Thank you for that Captain, I should have told you about this before I accepted this posting. If you could also give to Lt. Commander Johnson charge of our defenses as well, that may resolve a potential future problem.” He said.
            “I’ll do that, thank you, Dr. Punjab.” Ian smiled, and looked at Kyle. “Well, it looks like you’ve got some studying to do.” he said.
            “Yes, sir. Thank you Dr. Punjab, for your confidence in my abilities. I’ll start studying tonight sir.” Kyle said, a little overwhelmed.
            “Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time, Doctor. I’ll head back to the ship now. Let me know if you need anything.” Ian said, and rose.
            “I will, Captain, and again thank you for understanding about my beliefs.” Dr. Punjab said as he extended his hand to Ian.
            Ian shook his hand, “I’ll see you later Doctor. Kyle? Please show me to my fighter.” Ian asked.
            After they left the office, Ian noticed Kyle was acting a little nervous. “What’s wrong, Kyle?” Ian asked.
            “Well sir, I trained as a fighter pilot. I’ve been promoted way faster then I thought I ever would be, and given responsibilities I have no idea how to fulfill. I hope I’m up to this.” He said.
            “Relax, before I became Captain, I was a high school student. I had my doubts as well. You’ll learn, and you’ll do a good job. If I didn’t think you would, I wouldn’t have promoted you.” Ian said. “Besides, you can always call me, or better yet, Ty at Talos, and ask us questions. We’ll help as much as we can.” Ian said.
            “Thank you for that, sir. I’ll probably be doing that quite a bit.” Kyle said as they arrived at the launch area.
            Ian and Kyle walked over to his fighter. “Feel free to call anytime, and ask anything you want. The same goes for Steph and Tara. You three are kinda an experiment in yourselves.” Ian said.
            “Thanks again, Ian, for being a friend too.” Kyle said.
Ian smiled and slapped him on the back. “Anytime, Kyle.” Ian said, and, grabbing his helmet, climbed into his fighter for the return flight back to Star Dancer.
 
He got back to the ship, and Jenny was waiting for him in his ready room. “The Centurion frigates you ordered built at Talos are ready, but the crews are still in training. I’m transferring three of our crews down to fly them until the new crews are ready it should be about another two weeks.” She said.
“Won’t that leave us short on crews?” Ian asked.
“Yes it will, but the patrols that are out now have been dropping sensor drones in the outer system. We’ll need more coverage on the far side of the sun.” She said.
Ian had to agree with her logic. So he agreed with her. “I also would like a permanent change in duty for Kyle Johnson and family. Also record his promotion to Lt. Commander, and assignment as head of security for the moon base.” Ian said.
“That must have been some new design!” she said.
“It was, but that’s not the reason for the promotion. The security protocols for development of weapons systems require a command level authorization. So I gave him a command level rank. When Dr. Punjab asked if we could also give him the duty of maintaining the base defenses, I agreed.” Ian said.
“He’s awfully young for that much responsibility isn’t he?” She asked.
“Yes he is, but he’s matured a lot. I think he’ll do just fine.” Ian said. “Now, I’m gonna take lunch down in the nursery, and play with my children for awhile.”
 
Beth and Cindy were both there when Ian arrived in the nursery. Each woman had a baby held to a breast. The other two children were sound asleep.
“Well, I guess I won’t be playing with them after all.” Ian said quietly.
“You wake them up, and you’ll have to stay here and get them to sleep again!” Cindy hissed quietly.
Ian held up his hands. “Don’t worry, some tasks aren’t meant for mere warriors.” Ian chuckled softly.
“Get out of here ya bum.” Beth said jokingly, kissing him softly on the lips, “We’ll see you later tonight.”
Ian kissed Cindy as well, and quietly left.
 
He got back his ready room, and walked out to the bridge. Jenny was sitting in his chair quietly scanning the instruments. The navigator was apparently at lunch.
“Hey beautiful, want some company for lunch?” Ian asked.
“Ian! Shit! You startled me. I thought you were down in the nursery with our kids?” She said.
“I was, but Beth and Cindy had just fed them, and put them down for a nap. So, I came back here before I got into trouble.” He chuckled.
“I don’t know what possessed us all to get pregnant at the same time. All four babies are starting to teethe, and are usually pretty fussy. As for your earlier question, yes, I would love some company.” She said.
“Good, what would you like, and I’ll go get it.” Ian asked her.
“You know, I’ve been craving General Tso’s Chicken lately. I’ll have some of that.” She said.
Ian chuckled at her choice, but it sounded good to him. He went back to his ready room, and ordered for two.
They ate lunch on the bridge and chatted about the new additions to the crew, and boring stuff that goes into the care and feeding of a ship like Star Dancer.
“So, what are you gonna do tomorrow for your day off?” Ian asked.
“I don’t know. I thought I might go down and visit Stephanie and Tara. Your trip this morning reminded me that they had invited Talena and I to see their new quarters. So I might do that for a couple of hours, then I thought I would come back and pull some nursery duty for Beth.” She said.
“Well, have fun, and relax. That’s what days off are for.” Ian said.
They finished their lunch, and Ian returned to the pile of reports and requests.
Later that night, Jenny and Ian were in bed alone. The girls had taken to having ‘one night stands’ with him. 
“Star,” Ian said, as Jenny snuggled against him. “Could you project a hologram of that night you first met me? Earlier in the evening though, with the moon still up? And a little warmer, please.” Ian said.
In the dim light of the room they could see features shifting and moving. Soon they were lying in bed under a canopy of stars, the crescent moon was the only source of light.
“This is the night it all started, my love. I was at a party, wishing I had the courage to ask you out. I had decided, albeit later that evening, that I was going to ask you. I had no idea how, but I was gonna do it. I was terrified I would ruin our friendship though.” Ian said to her.
“Gods, this is beautiful. Now I wish I had been with you. I always thought those parties where all drinking beer and sex. I never realized that there were other things out there as well.” She said, looking up at the stars.
Ian chuckled, and caressed her bare shoulder and side. “My love, they were all about getting drunk and having sex. When everybody else would start getting into each other, I would wander off to look at the stars and wish you were with me.”
“I’m with you now, Ian, and I’m never going to leave you.” She seemed to melt into him.
Ian looked down into her eyes, and saw the starlight reflected there. He moved forward a bit, and kissed her softly on the lips. She answered his lips with her whole body.
 
The next morning Ian had just gotten to the bridge when he got a call from Janet Laskar.
“Ian, do you have a moment?” she said.
She sounded almost as worried as she had before when Alicyn was in trouble. “Sure Janet, come to the bridge. It’s Jenny’s day off.” Ian said to her.
“I know, and thank you, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” She said, and clicked off.
Ian wondered who could be in trouble now. He found out five minutes later when Janet and Julie arrived on the bridge. Janet was very distraught, and wringing her hands. Julie was trying to comfort her and keep her calm.
“Ensign Andres, take over for a few minutes will you? I’ll be in my ready room.” Ian said. The Ensign nodded quickly, his concern clear on his face.
Ian led the two women into his ready room. “What’s wrong Janet? I’ve never seen you this upset before.” Ian said.
“Ian, something’s coming. Something very big, and it’s going to destroy this ship!” She said almost in tears.
Ian felt a chill run down his spine. He knew her visions to be accurate. “Janet, did you see the ship?” Ian asked her.
She nodded.
“Star, display Enemy Capital Ships.” Ian ordered.
An image of an Enemy capital ship appeared on the big screen. Janet looked at it and shook her head. A new image appeared, and again she shook her head. This was repeated several times, finally Janet just stared at the screen, her eyes wide in fright. She looked at Ian, tears flowing freely down her cheeks and nodded.
Ian looked back to the screen and felt his stomach twist. “Janet, do you know where it will be?” Ian asked her quietly.
“Near Venus, with the sun between us.” She said, shaking.
“Thank you Janet, this was very important. I will do my best to make damn sure this vision is wrong.” Ian assured her. He turned to his comm, “Medical team to the Captain’s ready room.”
He got a cup of warm tea from the replicator and gave it to her. Julie helped her to sip it, while she talked softly in her ear.
The medical team arrived, gave her a sedative, then laid her on a stretcher and took her to medbay.
Ian sat back down and stared at the screen on the wall. The image was one to be feared. Ian instructed Star to give him every scrap of data she could find on the immense ship. His terminal came to life and the title page made the hair on the back of his neck stand up:
 
Caldarian SuperNova Capital Ship
 
Length: 5.994 miles
Width: 1.024 miles
Height: .897 miles
Crew: 19,000
 
Ian began reading the file; it was not a very extensive description. According to the Talosian Database, it was of a new design and not much information was known about it. However, the little information listed didn’t serve to reassure Ian. The file informed him that, by last report, Star Dancer was outgunned by 100 to 1. The final note in the file was added by Captain Zeus; this class of ship had been reported to be of the type attacking Talos in the last battle.
That told Ian it was capable of destroying a star. He closed his eyes and laid his head in his hands. How could they possibly win against this? Sighing, he stood and resumed his duty on the bridge.
Ian sat, and thought. Why was this ship coming here, now? The freighters they had tracked leaving the planet had headed on a coarse roughly solar north, until they left scanner range. The database said they had no FTL drives. Did that mean there could possibly be another Capital ship in the area? If so, why hadn’t they any other evidence to support it? They had been monitoring the system for over a year, Star had been monitoring it even longer, and not once had a power source of the size required to power a ship that size been detected. Perhaps it was too far out to detect? If that was the case then the Enemy couldn’t detect Star Dancer either. Maybe the Enemy had done some modifications in the last 2500 years.
“Ensign, how long ago did the last Enemy freighter take off from Earth?” Ian asked.
The ensign typed a command into his terminal. “Two weeks 4 days, sir.”
“Do we have a centurion close enough to shadow it for awhile?” Ian asked.
The ensign again typed commands into his terminal. “Sir the Challenger is three days away at top speed.”
“Star, get me a channel to the Challenger.” He hit his comm. “Flight, this is the Captain.”
“Flight Control.” A young voice said.
“I’m changing Challenger’s mission. They are to tail the outbound enemy freighter. I’m calling them now.” Ian said.
“Affirmative, Command.” The voice said.
“Challenger, here.”  A voice said from the speakers.
“Challenger, this is the Captain. I’m giving you another mission. Do you have the outbound enemy freighter on your scanners?” Ian said.
“Affirmative, Captain he’s still plugging along.” The voice said.
“Good, I want you to shadow it. I need to know where it’s going, but I don’t want you to be seen. Understand?” Ian asked.
“Orders understood, Captain. We’ll find where it’s going.”
“If you get into a fight, run for the barn, and scream the whole way.” Ian said.
“Roger, Captain.” A laughing voice said.
“Okay, see you when you get back. Captain out.” Ian said. We should have thought of this already, he said to himself. Those tankers obviously have reported seeing Talosian ships, that’s why the SuperNova was coming. However, they hadn’t been flying for that long, the timing didn’t seem right.
Ian my boy, quit worrying about the ‘why’ and get to work on the ‘how’. How do you destroy an enemy that outnumbers you 100 to 1? Ian felt something in his mind as it clicked and started answering his questions.
            Not easily.
 
An enemy whom you have no current information on?
 
            But that means they have no current information on you either.
 
An enemy that will attack and destroy you on sight?
 
            Don’t be seen.
 
An enemy that expects you to attack them on sight?
 
            Don’t attack directly.
 
An enemy that will know he can beat you because he outnumbers you?
 
            Don’t let him count correctly.
 
An enemy ship strong enough to withstand any attack you throw at it?
 
            Throw more than one attack.
 
Smoke and mirrors: we know he’s coming, but he doesn’t know we’re here, or if he does, in what numbers. Create drones capable of mimicking Star Dancer in every way. Use the gravimetric missiles to deliver nuclear payloads, via hyperspace, inside the Enemy ship. Use the new fighters to ambush the enemy carriers. Ideas blossomed into Ian’s mind. So quickly he started typing them into his terminal so he wouldn’t loose any of them. Ian didn’t know exactly how much time they had, but he knew it wasn’t much; Venus was already on the far side of the sun.
“Captain to Lt. Commander Johnson.” Ian said into his comm.
“Johnson here,”
“Kyle, how fast is the first prototype going to be finished?” Ian asked.
“It should be done later tonight, and flight ready by morning. Why?”
“We’ve run out of time. Get it tested as fast as you can. While Jenny’s down there
authorize an additional five to be built. Use nine bays instead of one. I need them ready to fight in three days.”
“Sir, we’ve no crews for them.” Kyle objected.
“You’ll have pilots by the end of the day. If they need any extra training, come up with a simulator, but get them ready as fast as you can.” Ian ordered.
“Yes, sir, I’ll do my best.” Kyle said.
“Once you’ve got that going, please ask Jenny to cut her visit short; I’m calling an emergency staff meeting for this afternoon, and I’ll want her there.” Ian said.
“I’ll pass that on to her.” He said.
“Thanks, Kyle. Captain out.”
“Talos Flight Control, this is Captain Williams.”
“Talos here.” A female voice said.
“I am ordering all available hornet pilots to the moon base for reassignment, effective immediately. I want them on a shuttle ten minutes ago.” Ian ordered.
“Roger, Command. Initiating the alert.”
“Talos, once the centurion crews have settled in, I want them to launch for a far side patrol. One of them is to be near Venus at all times.” Ian ordered.
“Roger, Command. They’ll be launching in 15 minutes, right after the shuttle’s clear.” She said.
“Thank you, Talos. Command out.” Ian said. “Star, please call a staff meeting for 1300 hours, in the command conference room.”
Ian sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. Now all they needed was a little luck and a little more time.
Ian briefed the department heads and issued orders for the implementation of his ideas. No discussion or objection was raised. They simply left to carry out their orders.
Engineering requested permission to launch the modified drones by the end of the second day. The Armory reported readiness shortly after that. Flight control had grounded all hornet patrols, and issued orders for the frigates to cloak.
Kyle Johnson and his team pulled off the impossible. The first Shadow fighter lifted off late the following morning. It performed above expectations, but several bugs needed to be worked out of the system. The team fixed the defects and the second test flight was a success. The revisions were incorporated into the assembly of the rest of the craft, and all ten heavy fighters and their crews were flight ready by noon of the third day.
“Command, this is Challenger, That freighter just de-cloaked and jumped into hyperspace!”
Ian heard the call from his ready room and jogged out on to the bridge. “So, it does look like the Enemy has learned some new tricks.” He said. “Call them back and tell them good work.”
Jenny relayed the message, and looked back to Ian. “At least we know they weren’t docking with another Capital ship.” She said.
 
Ian hoped all the work his people had done would be enough. The end of the third day came and went. But finally, like the stroke of bell, the message Ian had dreaded finally arrived:
“Command this is Columbia! Urgent!” An excited voice crackled though the bridge speakers.
“Command here, go ahead.” Ian said.
“Command we have a Hyperspace event forming. A really big one. 5 million kilometers out. Please advise.” The excited man said.
“Columbia, if you’re not cloaked, I would recommend doing so.” Ian said, trying to remain calm.
“Roger Command. It’s coming through! My god, it’s huge! Command, warbook confirms,one SuperNova class capital ship. Command, this tub looks brand new.” The man said.
Ian closed his eyes, and swallowed the bile threatening to come up. “Has it spotted you Columbia?”
“I don’t think so, sir. I don’t think you’d be asking me that if it had.” The scared man said.
“Try to stay on the far side of Venus from her Columbia. No sense taking any chances.” Ian said.
“Roger Command. Wait Command, she’s launching her carriers: 10, 15, 20, Command we count 25 Carriers launched.” Columbia reported.
“Damn, that was fast.” Ian said, he took a deep breath. “Attention, all stations, this is the Captain. Red Alert! I repeat, Red Alert!”
 
“Preator, we have arrived.” The helmsman said.
“Begin scanning for Talosian craft. There will be no contact with the planet. Launch the carriers to scan the rest of the system. They are to cloak themselves after launch.” It said. “They are to report anything unusual immediately.”
It rose and made its way back to its office. The High Counsel be damned! What if a Talosian ship was in the system? Its orders, as written, forbade it to take any action whatsoever, other then to report its presence. Well, no puny human would attack any of Its ships and live to tell the tale!