Chapter 11
Richard Newcastle, one of the most powerful men in the known universe jumped to his feet and did a little dance while chortling. His wife, Vonda looked at him as if he had lost his mind. This caused Richard to start laughing.
Richard Preston Newcastle, the heir to the empire, was feeding at his mothers breast. He cared for nothing except the nourishment he was getting. Vonda listened with that part of her mind that let her read minds. She listened to her son as he fed, and he was becoming content.
The war was dragging on, but Vonda got a sense of elation from Richard, which was strange. Just yesterday he had gotten bad news from the admiralty. The enemy had managed to do a hit and run, and the Battlesphere, Dragon Rising, had taken some damage.
"If you can stop dancing around like a drunk, perhaps you can tell me what has caused this change in you?" Vonda asked amusedly.
"Gladly! About 10 years ago, my scientists discovered how to create a wormhole artificially. Until now, only four known wormholes existed. Two are in the Terran Federation sphere of influence. One in the Caliphate, and the last is located in a little kingdom on the other side of the Terran Federation.
"Wormholes cut down travel time by connecting two separate points in space together. Well, we have been able to create these artificially now for ten years. Unfortunately, we have never been able to control what points in space these were connected to... until now!
"We have created and gotten the wormhole to connect to the same point in space 10 times in a row now! Do you realize what this means! Not only that, but we can now control exit points. That my dear wife and empress, is the death knell of the enemy! It is a huge leap in technology which only we will have! Basically, the war is over. No one knows it yet, but it is!
"We will be able to shorten shipping time to just about anywhere within a five hundred light year origination point. That's the only flaw. This wormhole seems to have a limit of five hundred light years from where you create it," Richard said with a sigh.
"Which science section is working on this? I don't seem to recall reading anything about this in my meetings," Vonda said with a frown, as she put the now sleeping baby in his bed. Vonda had taken to official work like a duck to water. She was on several committee's and over sight boards.
"Ah, well. I am funding this privately. It is a most carefully guarded secret. I have a research facility with everything needed. Believe me, no one knows this place exists," Richard told her emphatically.
"Considering how leaks come from both the Lords and the House, I can't fault you for keeping this secret. But from me?" Vonda asked with arched eyebrows.
Richard had the grace to look embarrassed. "I wasn't really trying to keep it secret from you dear. It's just nothing new had come from there for so long that I hadn't even thought of it for some time," Richard replied musingly.
Admiral Sethton was in conference with the commander of the repair ship which had been sent out to Lantree to repair the Dragon.
"Come now admiral Shilling. The AI informs me that only four percent of combat capabilities is compromised. I realize that the ship is big, but four months to repair?" Sethton asked with incredulity in his voice.
Rear Admiral Kevin Shilling, commander of the repair ship, Nexus, was nodding even before he spoke.
"Sir, the size of the area we need to repair is actually quite large. We have to fabricate new hull battle plating. Replace and repair sensors, and pull out the two affected missile launchers and replace them. We have to rebuild a missile magazine.
"We also have to begin with decontamination first. Then we have to actually remove more hull than you might think. This isn't just patching a hole, sir. Your ship has priority and your tying up an entire repair ship. Be happy," the admiral stated bitingly.
Sethton was a bit amused with this man. He wasn't afraid to tell his superiors off! It was a shame that Shilling was not a combat commander, instead of an engineer. This was what Sethton wanted in his commanders.
"Ever think of going for a combat command, Kevin?" Sethton asked curiously.
Shilling shuddered. "God forbid! I would be a horrible commander in a fight. I am always thinking stress and performance, and never combat techniques. No thanks. I will stick to putting ships back together. You just see to it that you don't break any more than you have too!" Shilling said, shaking his finger at Sethton.
Elias Sethton laughed. God. It had been ages since he ran across anyone who didn't fear or want something from him. This rear admiral before him was like a breath of fresh air.
Six more months, and the testing was done, and the refinements made on the wormhole technology. Richard was beside himself with glee. The wormhole generators could be installed in a ship. This meant that stations did not have to be built and maintained.
Richard decided that his empire would build stations though. He didn't want other's to get the idea that the generators for a wormhole were that small. Still, it took the entire output of two fusion reactors to generate a wormhole. He ordered that the new Battlesphere, Phoenix which was almost complete, have the generators for the wormhole installed.
An army of technicians was living and working in the new Battlesphere. More technicians were added as the exotic runs for the generators and the generators themselves were installed.
While all this was going on, ships trials were going on also. The Phoenix had already passed several of the trials and extended trials were about to begin. Huge quantities of materials were stored on board so that construction could continue as these trials were done.
This was a departure of what normally happened during trials. Usually everything was finished, and only yard reps and some techs were on hand to make adjustments. But for some reason, the emperor had ordered everything sped up. As a result, there was an inordinately large number of engineers, and construction personal. There was also a huge army of technicians stationed temporarily in the ship.
As the ship moved from one world to another, they took on various personnel and supplies. Fighters were diverted and loaded to give the ship one hundred strike fighters. Usually a brigade of marines was stationed on a Battlesphere, but this time the emperor ordered only one company of the elite, 1st Battalion, 1st Infantry division. This company had the personal battle armor that everyone wished that could wear in battle.
For normal ship operations, they were undermanned. Twenty thousand sailors is what it took to man and operate this ship in a normal manner. That was three operational shifts at eight hours a shift. Not this time. They only had half of the sailors they needed, but the emperor said there was no need to man every station at this time. All in all the captain of the Battlesphere Phoenix was a confused man. However when the emperor commanded, you did as instructed.
"Richard? Take me with you?" Vonda asked again.
"I already told you. I will only be gone for a short time, two weeks, tops. Someone from the Imperial family needs to stay behind and watch our child, and to run the place," Richard said with a smile.
"I know. But we have never been separated since our wedding. I'll miss you," Vonda said with a slight catch in her voice.
Richard smiled at his wife, and felt a lump form in his throat. He connected with her mentally and let her feel his feelings for her. They held hands in silent communications until it was time for Richard to leave. He was boarding the new Battlesphere: Phoenix. It was waiting for his arrival.
She watched as his air car carried him off to the shuttle port. She heard a slight whimper, and turned to gather up the baby. He was projecting irritability, but was sleepy and soon was fast asleep. Vonda held him a moment longer, looking at him with the wonder that a new baby could wring from people.
Battlesphere Phoenix left hyper and made station ready for Wormhole transition. They wanted to be away from any know shipping lane prior to creating the wormhole. It wouldn't do to advertise this ability.
"Alright gentleman, lets do this," Captain Carl Manson said.
"Fusion generators on line and synchronized," Responded power station.
"Computer has locked in the coordinates. Navigation is green."
"Generators spooling up. Two minutes to creation of wormhole."
Richard watched in silence from his station in the admiral's chair. He felt his symbiot doing something, but didn't know what it was.
<What's going on?> Richard asked.
[We are about to do what we are fated to do, ] the symbiot responded.
<Whats that supposed to mean> the emperor asked a bit confused.
[You will see, shortly, ] answered the symbiot.
"Thirty seconds to wormhole. Power flow is at optimum. Generators are approaching critical threshold," stated a voice over the ship's communications.
"Sir? I have a third fusion plant powering up on the circuit. It's a back up and it is increasing power to the wormhole generators. Trying to cut it out of the circuit now."
The battleship Hampton witnessed Battlesphere Phoenix create and enter the wormhole at exactly 16:32 local time. As escort, Hampton was recording all across the electronic spectrum, including communications. They heard something that gave everyone on the Hampton's bridge a chill.
"Mayday! Mayday! Phoenix is declaring an emergency. We..." and that
was the last message heard from Phoenix as it entered the wormhole.