Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 9: Battle Stations

   Spaz grabbed the rail behind the Captains chair "What the hell was that?
Report, Crewman Frost."

   A young crewman stood gripping the tactical display attempting to
maintain her balance.  "Sir, We have multiple contacts, three, no four..."

   Riu dashed to the tactical display catching her balance as the bridge
shook once more and began to manipulate the controls.  "Sir, there are four
Morgalon fighter craft, one is engaging us, one is engaging the Riu and two
engaging the Lanvy.  We have taken two direct hits, the the Riu has taken
several, and the Lanvy is getting pounded, raising shields."

   As Spaz reached the Tactical display the ship once again took a hit. 
"How the hell did they get this close without anyone seeing them? 
Morgalons are not supposed to have..."

   Spaz was interrupted by the voice of the Excalibur over the com system.

   "Multiple Morgalon contacts, all personnel to battle stations, all
Remote Interface Units activated, Remote pilots to alert craft, prepare to
launch alert craft, all available personnel to the gun batteries."

   "Excalibur what are you doing?" Spaz yelled.

   Riu placed her hand on his to get his attention.  "Spaz it is standard
procedure for the AI to take command of the Remote Interface Units in the
event of a tactical situation on a vessel that is under manned.  The Remote
Units will take over all unmanned positions and attempt to alleviate the
threat."

   "Sir!" Yelled Crewman Frost.  "Three more Morgalon fighters have come on
sensors from the other side of the moon."

   "Shit!" Yelled Spaz "How the hell are we not seeing them, don't we have
long range sensors."

   "Yes sir," Frost replied, "however in order to conserve power all
systems are at minimum capacity."

   "Sensors to full, all systems to full now!!" shouted Spaz.  "God damn
it, I have been spending too much time on this damn recruitment and have
not been paying attention to what was going on on my own ship."

   "Sir!  Alert fighters have launched, The Riu and Lanvy are already
launching fighters.  Gun batteries will be online in a few minutes.  The
Morgalon fighters are retreating."

   The door to the bridge lift opened and David, Colonel Jimenez and Dr. 
Jones entered the bridge, followed by a very frightened looking Erilic and
a calm Josh.

   Spaz ignored the new arrivals as he took his seat in the Captain's chair
"Pursuit course Crewman McEntire."

   "Yes sir, pursuit course," replied the crewman manning the main
navigation console.

   "Lt.  Cole, put the enemy vessels on screen."

   The main view screen changed to display several small space craft.  The
craft appeared to be a collection of vessels put together haphazardly. 
Their construction belied their maneuverability as they moved to avoid the
smaller Kreg'ar fighter craft and the gun batteries once they came online.

   "Sir, the Riu has joined in the pursuit, however the Lanvy appears to be
listing badly.  They are reporting severe damage to engineering and
weapons," reported Crewman Frost.

   The doors to the upper desk opened and several crewmen took up vacant
positions.  Spaz did not recognize most of them, but a few could have been
Captain Emtoo's twin sisters.  Riu leaned in to Spaz and whispered. 
"Remote Interface Units, manning all vacant positions."

   "Sir, damage control is reporting in.  Shuttle bay two and the port
gunnery batteries are offline.  Starboard crew decks have taken direct hits
and opened to space.  Engineering has taken some damage but should be back
online shortly.  Hyper drive is disabled until further notice." Announced
one of the units on the upper deck.

   David took a seat to Spaz's left "Captain Walker what is going on?"

   Spaz looked down towards David with a frown.  "Sir, we got caught by
surprise by up to seven Morgalon fighters.  We are currently in pursuit and
the ships Remote Interface Units have been activated and are manning all
vacant positions, and the alert fighters.  The Riu has joined in on the
pursuit but the Lanvy has taken heavy damage."

   "Sir" Crewman Frost exclaimed.  "Enemy contact exiting Saturn's rings,
its profile matches that of a Morgalon destroyer.  The RIU has broken off
pursuit of the fighters and is engaging the destroyer."

   Spaz looked shocked and a little scared.  "How many enemy fighters
remain?" He asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

   "Three sir." Replied Captain Emtoo, "fifteen of our fighters are in
pursuit, however the Morgalon craft are changing course towards the
destroyer."

   "Sir incoming torpedoes!" Exclaimed one of the Interface Units on the
upper deck.

   Spaz tapped the ship wide intercom with his left hand.  "All hands brace
for impact." Then he flipped the switch and looked towards the navigation
con.  "Evasive action."

   "Aye, aye sir."

   The Excalibur lurched to the left suddenly as the ship began to make
evasive maneuvers and bolts of energy shot from the defensive batteries
destroying all but one of the incoming torpedoes.  Spaz held tightly to the
captain's chair as the ships inertial dampeners attempted to compensate for
the sudden movements.  David flew forward into the tactical controls as Dr.
Jones, Josh and Eleric gripped onto the rail behind Spaz.

   The shipped rocked more violently as the torpedo slammed into the
Excalibur and exploded.  Crewman Frost flew back from the tactical control
station and slammed into the rear wall of the bridge, crumbling to the
floor.  One of the male Interface units fell from the upper desk, his face
crashing against the tactical display, blood splattered across the control
and covered Spaz and Riu.

   Spaz wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve as Dr.  Jones headed
to check on Crewman Frost, who was starting to stand and waving him off. 
Dr Jones turned and knelt to check on the fallen Interface Unit and simply
shook his head.  "Damage report!" Spaz yelled as he stood up and lurched
towards the tactical controls.

   "Sir, direct hit to the starboard flight deck, damage control is on the
way.  All other systems still operational, shields at twenty percent and
falling."

   Spaz looked towards Captain Emtoo who simply shook her head.  "All
batteries target that destroyer and fire at will." Spaz commanded

   "Sir, The Riu has taken several direct hits.  Her shields are gone and
she is listing badly," reported another Interface Unit.  "One enemy fighter
managed to dock with the destroyer and she is in full retreat.  All of our
remaining fighters are engaging the destroyer."

   The Excalibur sped towards the Morgalon destroyer, its forward and port
batteries blasting into the Destroyers shields, and the seven remaining
fighters swarming around it firing into the destroyer.  The Morglalon
destroyer turned away from the oncoming craft on a course to take it out of
the solar system.  More blasts laced out of the Excalibur, and several
torpedoes shot from the forward bays, one got through the shields into the
rear of the craft.  After several more direct hits from both the forward
batteries and torpedoes, the Destroyer began to slow and then exploded. 
Everyone on the bridge cheered as the Destroyer exploded, everyone that is
except the Interface units who remained typically emotionless, and Spaz who
shook his head as he sat in the Captains chair with an audible sigh.  He
looked around at the battle damaged bridge and shook his head.  "Sir I
think we need to talk, Dr.  Jones, Colonel Jimenez, Captain Emtoo can you
please accompany me and David to my ready room?" He asked as he rose from
his chair.  "Crewman Frost, please keep an eye on our guests, you have the
con."

   "Yes sir." She replied as she sat in the Captain's chair.

   Spaz entered his ready room and took a seat behind the desk as the rest
followed.  David and Captain Emtoo took the two seats in front of the desk
while the rest sat in the two couches that lined either wall.  "Captain
Walker what is this all about?" David asked as he took his seat.

   Spaz leaned forward over his desk and laid his hands on his forehead. 
He sat there for a few seconds before looking up at his friends.  "David,
we are making a huge mistake and this fight just proved it."

   David looked at Spaz and then at Captain Emtoo.  "What mistake are you
talking about?"

   "Sir, we have been taking things too lightly, we have been acting as if
we had all the time in the world and we have put people in positions that
they do not deserve simply because they were here first." Spaz said as he
looked around and then leaned back in his chair.  "You gave me command of
the Excalibur and Colonel Jimenez command of the Riu.  But neither of us
have any tactical experience or training.  Until a few months ago, Colonel
Jimenez was a civilian nurse and I have always been a pilot.  Yes I have
flown missions in the gulf and other areas but never in this scale.  I have
no experience commanding a ship.  However we do have people on board who do
have experience, retired naval Officers who we simply delegated to
commanding repair crews.  They are the ones who need to be in command of
these ships, not me and Colonel Jimenez.  No offence intended towards
Colonel Jimenez."

   "None taken Captain." Colonel Jimenez responded.  "Actually after seeing
what just happened I agree with you.  If I had been on the Riu when all
this happened I would not have done any better."

   "Captain Walker, I gave you the command of this ship..." David started.

   "Sir I am sorry to interrupt you but I should not have command of this
ship.  I was originally given command until a more suitable commander was
available.  I feel more suitable candidates have been found and we are not
using them.  In the last few months I have been giving introduction
briefings, and monitoring repairs on the Excalibur.  I should have been
learning everything about this ship.  As the ship's Captain I should know
every aspect of this ship, ever system and their operations.  I did not
even know that our sensors were at minimum power or the vulnerability that
left us in." Spaz interrupted as he stood from his chair and leaned over
the desk.  "Sir, a ships captain's duty is to his ship, not to all the
other stuff we have been doing.  Colonel Jimenez should have been on the
Riu, as its commander that was her place, but we have been doing everything
but commanding our ships.  It is time we got someone in charge of the
Excalibur and Riu who knew how to run a ship, how to organize her crew and
what he needs to know about her systems.  Sir we have a retired British
Admiral with command experience and a medically retired French Naval
Captain who commanded a carrier in the French Navy.  They should have
command not the two of us.  Let me and Colonel Jimenez return to getting
the recruits organized and training our fighter pilots and let command of
the ships fall on the people who know what they are doing."

   David looked around at his command crew, seeing the nods of agreements
he nodded his head and stood up.  "You make sense Captain Walker, we are
all learning new things, and this has definitely been a learning
experience. Excalibur, are Colonel Young and Colonel Benoit still on
board?"

   "Yes sir,"

   David nodded, "very well, please have them come to the captains ready
room."

   A few minutes later two men in new EDF uniforms entered the ready room,
one had an obvious limp.  Both came to attention in front of Captain
Walker's desk and saluted, the older of the two spoke in a thick British
Accent.  "Colonel Young and Colonel Benoit reporting as ordered."

   Spaz returned their salutes as David rose from his chair and they
exchanged places.  "Gentleman it has come to my attention that the two of
you have experience commanding a ship."

   "Yes sir." The two responded together.

   "Well, due to recent enemy activity it has come to my attention that we
have need of Captains with command experience.  I am herby promoting the
two of you to the rank of Captain in the EDF Space Force.  Captain Young,
you now have command of the EDFS Riu, Captain Benoit, you have command of
the EDFS Excalibur.  Colonel Jimenez will take over your duties as
commander of the repair crews on all three ships.  Colonel Walker will have
command of the fighter squadrons with orders to recruit and train pilots.
This is effective immediately, congratulations Captains," David said as he
extended his hand to the two new ship commanders.

   The two new Captains shook David's hand "Thank you sir, you will not be
disappointed," stated Captain Benoit.

   David nodded.  "The two of you have a lot of work to do.  I will leave
it to you to determine the priorities for recruiting and training on your
respective ships.  As you probably know we just survived an attack by the
skin of our teeth, so I leave it up to you two to ensure we are ready the
next time the Morgalons show up.  Dismissed."

   "Yes Sir!!" The two captains said together as they came to attention and
saluted.

   David returned their salutes and then took the seat behind the desk and
picked up the pad in front of him.  "Colonel Walker I am authorizing you to
institute your recruitment protocol, both Dr.  Debbin and Dr.  Jones have
assured me that they are fully capable and have enough medical staff to
cover just about any injury that has been experience by any disabled vet
you recruit, both physical and mental.  Captain Riu please cease Operation
Search and Rescue, by our numbers we should have enough raw recruits either
trained and deployed, in training or awaiting training to cover the current
needs of the repair crews.  Colonel Jimenez, see to your crews, priority is
power, life-support and then weapons and shields." He said as the two new
Captains exited his ready room to see to their new commands.  "I want an
update on the damage sustained in this fire fight and exactly how many
craft were lost by 1300.  Thank you you're dismissed."

   The rest of the command staff quickly saluted and exited to carry out
their orders.  David turned to look out the window behind him and stared at
the space-scape as the ship slowly made its way back to earth.  "What am I
going to do?  We are not ready for this; I dont think we will ever be
ready. My crew has no actual space combat experience and I am not sure we
can pull this off." He whispered to the stars.

   David continued to stare out the window at the spacescape beyond, he
could see wreckage floating by, parts of the destroyed or damaged fighters
and ships, both Earth and Morgelon.  "Such a waste of life." He thought as
the ship started moving slowly into the wreckage.

   His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door chime.  "Enter."

   The door hissed open behind him.  "Sir we have detected life signs in
the wreckage of the Morgalon ship.  It appears that some of the crew
managed to get to escape pods prior to the ships destruction.  There are
also several distress beacons." A voice stated behind him.

   David turned around and leaned against the desk; he looked up and shook
his head.  "What do you recommend Captain Benoit?" He asked.

   "Sir, according to Captain Emtoo there are no Morgalons detected among
the survivors.  Sir, I recommend transporting the survivors to the ship and
placing them in empty stasis pods until we can interrogate them and
determine why they were serving on a Morgalon ship.  Once that is complete
we destroy all the sources of the beacons." Captain Benoit replied as he
stood at parade rest in the doorway.

   "Sounds good to me Captain, if Captain Emtoo has no objections then
proceed." David said as he came around the front of the desk towards the
door.  "Follow me Captain."

   David and Captain Benoit exited the ready room onto the bridge.  David
took a quick glance of the surroundings.  Elric and John were still on the
upper platform with two crewmembers next to them monitoring their activity.
Several repair crews were working on damaged sections of the bridge and
Colonial Walker, Major Jimenez and Captain Emtoo were talking at the
tactical console.  Spaz appeared to be agitated about something.

   "No, we need to leave the area immediately.  Those beacons are going to
draw more Morgalon ships here and we are in no condition to fight anyone.
Luck was the only thing that saved us this time." Spaz exclaimed as he
gestured aggressively towards the tactical display.

   Captain Emtoo shook her head slightly her arms held behind her back and
in a calm voice replied.  "Colonial Walker, I appreciate your input,
however I have to disagree.  Morgalon's unlike other sentient races do not
have a history of running to the aid of their lost ships.  According to the
historical records once a ship was lost it was normally abandoned." She
said as she walked around the tactical display and leaned forward with her
hands against the edge of the console, staring at the display.  "We have an
opportunity here to investigate a Morgalon ship in friendly territory. 
This has not happened in over a hundred years.  The fact that we are
detecting life forms that are not Morgalon is a curiosity.  Never in the
past have we detected anything but Morgalons and Scabs."

   Spaz shook his head as he turned to stare at the display, his right hand
coming up to run through his hair.  "Never before have you had the
opportunity to investigate wreckage, so in the past hundred years, you may
have left non-Morgalon's behind in your haste to escape."

   "Which is exactly why we need to rescue and question those people, they
have intel on the Morgalon's that we do not." David said as he walked down
to the tactical display.  "Captain Emtoo, until the Lanvy is up and running
I am placing you and Doctor Jones in charge of the rescue and salvage
operations.  Until we get indications that more ships are coming we need to
gather anything we can.  Get those people on the ship and into stasis, then
get those beacons turned off, and finally salvage anything usable from the
wreckage.  You are our expert on the Morgalon's no one here other than the
AI has any experience, so until further notice all decisions regarding
non-Combat interactions are under you." David then turned to Colonial
Walker, "Captain Walker, you are in charge of all small craft, get me
pilots that are not Remote Interface Units.  Major Jimenez, you are in
command of recruitment.  We need volunteers and professional military
personnel.  The rescue protocols are fine for repair crews, but we need
professional military personnel for key command positions and to fill our
Officer and Non-Commissioned Officer Corps, we also need a lot of medical
and security personnel, the highest priority right now however is trained
interrogators, four should do for now, also professional adjudication and
investigation officers, people who can weed out anyone untrustworthy in our
ranks."

   Captain Walker and Major Jimenez both appeared to want to argue for a
second then both nodded.  "Yes sir."

   "Dismissed." David stated as he turned towards the tactical display.  He
hated being so blunt with his friends, but he was beginning to understand
the need for it.  "Captain Emtoo, Benoit, what is the plan concerning the
survivors?"

   "Sir, we would like to send out Remote Interface Units in the stingrays
and have them do a more through scan of the wreckage, scan for life signs
and now fore salvageable materials.  The stingrays scanners should be able
to pick up more detailed information than the ships scanners, allowing us
to pinpoint exact locations and detect life signs that are too week or too
few for the Excalibur to detect.  Catain Emtoo replied.

   ...

   Spaz watched as David discussed the rescue and salvage operations with
Captain Emtoo and Benoit.  He smiled as David took charge, he had been
waiting for this moment, when David would finally come into his own and
realize that he was in command.  Spaz did not resent his abrupt dismissal,
as a former Major in the U.S.  Air Force he was used to it and well aware
of the necessity.  Once a leader made a decision, it was final and no
further discussion was required.  For such a young man David was a natural
at being a leader and making the hard choices.  As his friend Spaz knew how
much those choices hurt David, but Spaz trusted him to make them when
necessary.  He nodded to Major Jimenez and exited the bridge.

   ...

   Major Jimenez frowned at David, how he could just dismiss her like that.
One moment she was a major player and decision maker and now she was
dismissed and regulated to recruitment duty.  It hurt a lot; she looked
over towards Colonial Walker her superior officer for support.  He simply
smiled at her and nodded at he turned and left the bridge.  He did not
appear to be upset, which was not normal for Spaz.  The man normally held
his emotions on his sleeve, but now he seemed calm and sure of his course
of action.  She shook her head and with a quick shrug of her shoulders and
a final glance at David she too exited the bridge.

   Major Jimenez was not sure exactly where she was going until she stood
in front of the now familiar door.  The sign on the side of the door read
Crewman Karen Jennings/Crewman Ella Frost.  She had spent quite a bit of
time in this room, probably more than was appropriate for someone of her
rank, but rank be damned Karen Jennings was the closest thing to a friend
she had on this ship and the two of them had been colleges for almost three
years before all this craziness happened.

   She rang the chime and waited for the usual response, "Come in." Came a
voice from the other side of the door.

   Jennifer Jimenez walked into her friend's quarters with a forced smile.
"How ya doin' girl." She asked as she looked around at the small sparsely
decorated room.  "You ok, I have not heard from ya in a few days?"

   Karen looked up from the tablet she was reading as she lay on her bunk.
"I'm fine, is everything ok that was some scary shit going on out there?"

   "Yeah, we got in a tussle with some of those demon lookin' dudes, but we
kicked some ass.  Colonial Walker and I got demoted and I am now in charge
of recruitment."

   Karen sat up on her bunk and set the tablet down.  "Demoted, what the
hell, why did you get demoted?"

   Jennifer shrugged as she rolled her eyes and turned to look out the
window.  Bits of wreckage floated by and a shiver ran down her spine. 
"Colonial Walker and I asked for it actually.  I was so outa my league
here, girl, I did not have the first idea what to do.  All that command
training they gave me, it helped, but when the shit started, girl, I almost
pissed myself.  It made a busy night in the ER look easy." She replied as
she continued to stare out the window.  "You know, looking at this shit, I
can't help but ask myself, if any of it was from the RIU.  She was my
responsibility, the people on he were my responsibility and I was here,
playing at bein' a military officer.  But girl, I had not a clue what I was
doing.  People died over in the RIU, shit people died here and I just stood
there and watched.  Someone else was running the ship I was supposed to be
in charge of.  I have no Idea who, but it wasn't me.  I think I understand
now why you turned down His offer to be one of his officers, took a job as
a crewman in charge of shuttle maintenance."

   Karen stood from the bunk.  "I did not turn down the offer because of
any of that, I turned it down because of him." She replied as she walked up
beside her friend.  "I love him, and it scares me.  I barely know the man
yet every time he walks in the room a feel like a schoolgirl.  He does not
need that right now, and I would just get in the way.

   "Girl that's just crazy talk.  If there is anything that man needs right
now it is a good woman to ground him.  His head is way too big for his
britches and he definitely could use someone keeping his mind from
wondering, someone to toss his crazy ideas at before he gives them to us."
Jennifer replied as she sat in one of the small desk chairs.

   "If you think he is so crazy, why do you all listen to him?" Karen asked
as she continued to look out the window.

   Jennifer scratched her head and took a deep breath.  "Honestly, I don't
know.  There have been so many times in the last few months I have wanted
to tell him to go fuck himself, like I used to do to Dr.  Jones.  Tell him
he was off his rocker, or anything else.  The day he gave me the RIU was
the worst, I wanted to punch him in the face.  The last thing in the world
I wanted was command of a ship.  But I couldn't, no matter how much I tried
all I could do is say was, yes sir.

   As the two women stared out the viewport, the EDFS Excalibur began to
slowly head out of the debris field and onto a course for earth.

   ...

   David Jenkins stood in the dark conference room of the Earth Defense
Force Ship Excalibur looking out the window at the view of the Earth below
him.  He stood there staring at the planet thinking about the seven plus
billion people that he was responsible for.  Here he was a twenty four year
old man, barley graduated from college and he was responsible for
protecting the entire population of a planet.  A population that for the
most part did not know they were in danger or that he and the EDF were even
up here watching over them.  He let out a heavy sigh.

   His thoughts were interrupted as the doors to the room opened and Riu
Emtoo walked in, Captain of the EDFS Lanvy, and one of his closest
confidants and friend.  "Sir here you are, everyone has been looking for
you?" She said as she came to stand next to him in front of the large
window.

   "I deactivated my locator beacon, I did not want to be disturbed." He
said as he looked from the window towards the Captain.  "I need to think,
and everyone asking me questions and wanting my opinion on things was
getting to be too much."

   Riu smiled at David as she gently rested one of her small delicate
fingers on his arm.  "They trust in your judgment Sir.  You're our
Commander-in-Chief, they look to you for leadership..." She started to say.

   "They need to look to themselves more often," David interrupted as he
looked away from the young woman.  "I put them in charge of their
respective ships and sections for a reason, I can not make every decision.
They need to lead on their own."

   "Sir they are leading, however they do not want to make important
decisions without consulting you." She replied.

   David looked down at his friend and smiled.  She was a unique
individual. She had the body of a fourteen year old human teen and the mind
of a super computer, even after being activated for almost a year she still
has a tendency to be analytical in her thoughts, though she has begun to
rely on her emotions and intuition more.  Of all of the people under him,
she would have the best incite on having to deal with people much older
than her who must work under her.  "That is what is bothering me.  I have
very little command experience, until nine months ago I was working for the
human resources department of a large corporation, about as low as you can
go on the corporate latter, one step above intern and now I have former
military officers obeying my orders and seeking my advice as if I was a
hardened battle trained General.  They should be relying on their own
intuition and making their own decisions, not hanging on my every order.  I
have made so many mistakes and bad decisions in the last nine months I am
surprised we are all still alive." David replied as he began to pace in
front of the window.

   Riu watched David with a slight sigh.  "Sir, it's because of your
Kreg'ar half.  The Kreg'ar had a very structured society, every Kreg'ar
knew his or her place and who was in charge.  When two Kreg'ar met for the
first time they assessed each other on every level, the one that came out
on top during this assessment would then influence and command the others,
both with pheromones and mental abilities.  The Excalibur has detected
command pheromones coming from you and I have seen evidence of you
instinctually influencing the people around you, especially when you felt
it was important."

   David stopped pacing and stared at Riu.  "Pheromones and mental
influence, you mean I am forcing them to obey me against their will?"

   Riu shook her head, no sir more of a push, they obey you because they
feel it is the right thing to do, the pheromones and mental abilities
simply ensure they do so when it is important.  I asked the Excalibur to
assess the pheromones you are giving off, they are of Imperial caliber. 
You sir are no longer acting as commander-in-chief of the military, you are
acting as the Emperor of the Kreg'ar Empire.

   David looked back out at the space scape and the planet below.  "Great
more responsibility for me to deal with.  Well I guess worrying over it
won't help, so what was so important you needed to find me?"

   Riu nodded as she pulled a tablet from her hip pack.  "Your highness
here are the current reports on the repairs of the EDFS RIU and EDFS
Lanvy." She said as she began briefing David on the day's activities.

   David listened carefully to her morning briefing still feeling
overwhelmed but committed to his goals, after all the health of an Empire
depended on him.  As she spoke, more of the ships officers filed into the
room.  David turned to look at them, some were new to the EDF, and others
have been here since the beginning.  Major Jimenez's recruitment program
was working out well.  Riu stopped her morning briefing as he raised his
right hand in a motion of silence.  "Thank you Riu, I appreciate the
report." He said as he glanced at the assembled crowd.  "You will all have
to start making your own decisions from now on, and relying on your own
experiences." He turned to look at the Captian of the EDF Lanvy.  "You are
now in charge of the fleet Admiral Emtoo, see to the things we have
discussed." Looking back at the assembled officers.  "I am leaving.  I need
to learn more about what is going on and I cannot do that here."

   "Where are you going, sir?" Asked Colonial Walker.

   "Good question, Colonial Walker get a stingray ready, you, Dr.  Debbin,
and Crewman Jennings and I are going to the Kreg'ar home world."

   End Book One