“We’ll keep this as short and sweet as possible,” Major Storm said, looking around the table with a steely look on his face. “You and your crew have crossed into a new and different universe. You undoubtedly noticed nearly every facet of your ship’s construct has changed. Your ship, captain, is still your ship; however, its technology, even your uniforms and the metal comprising your ship’s hull are different—I think you will find the changes to your liking after doing a field test.”
“What is ‘The Union’?” the First Officer asked.
“The Union, Commander Smith,” Smith was shocked about Storm’s knowing who he was. Aaen reasoned Storm knew who they all were, although, somehow, he found he wasn’t too surprised at the fact. He wondered how, but kept to himself because he was more curious about what was to come. “is a democratic unity of more than two hundred Terran-inhabited colony planets, in-addition-to two hundred fifty known alien species—summarily inhabiting over five-hundred-million grid sectors of charted space.” this much information felt like an emotional 3am wake-up call to Aaen and his crew, “The Union’s home world—as you may have already guessed—is Earth, in the Terran solar system; aka: sol. Our solar system. Those numbers are continuing to grow as The Union expands its civilian and military outreach and builds respective civilian and military alliances with other extraterrestrial species we might encounter. You will find that are some notable societal similarities here to where you came from, although the way things generally function from day to day will take some getting used to. The Union utilizes both a civilian and military aerospace fleet that operate separately and distinctly.”
Aaen couldn’t help but ask, “Question: just how big, exactly, is The Union’s space fleet, Major?”
“I figured you’d ask, captain. The Union’s space fleet is bigger than you and your crew would probably be able to wrap your head around right now, especially given what you and your crew are used to hearing about where you and your crew came from. You will find out soon enough, and how powerful The Union’s space fleet is—but right now we have something very important to brief you and your crew about.”
The Operations officer raised her hand slightly.
Storm saw the gesture and paused briefly. “Lieutenant Connors?”
“What about our families and friends? Will we ever see them again?”
“Everyone you all know—family, and friends—are alive and well here. They’re the same people they’ve always been and that you know, but, like all of you, they’ll notice things have changed significantly. The military leadership, the technology, and interstellar maps and regions of populated space in this universe are different than where you were. In the foreseeable future, you and your crew will have lengthier and more detailed written materials made available to you that will go into greater depth than what we have time for in this setting. Rest assured: there is so much to come.”
“Can we go back to where we were if we wanted to?” the Sensors officer asked.
“Absolutely, Ensign Jones. We are the only ones who have the technology to accomplish that. When and how at this time is classified. We’ll go more in-depth on that later. For now, you should all know and be assured that we have been expecting you, Aaen, and your crew for many years. Right now, you all need to be briefed before you are returned to your ship for your next mission.”
Aaen and his crew sat upright in their seats and tuned in to the briefing. “Those ships that attacked us are controlled by an alien race that The Union has only become aware of a few years ago by way of an Intelligence report by an operative of one of The Union’s extraterrestrial allies. Very little is known about these aliens, much less their tactical strengths and weaknesses. They don’t seem to agree with the fact that humanity exists, and have made their opinion of humanity quite clear since one of our extraterrestrial allies discovered them. We’re still not quite sure how they came to know about us. They seem to be highly elusive, cunning, and extremely dangerous. Based on sensor analysis of the debris from those ships, we have been able to determine the ships we destroyed that they sent were drones. Our tactical analysis indicates they were most likely testing New Horizon and Odyssey’s tactical strengths. We need to know theirs.” Storm stood up and tapped a control panel in front of him on the table. The first button rapidly dimmed the lights in the room; the next button activated a 3D projector in the center of the table. “Captain, Command has ordered you and your crew to take Odyssey into this region of space, which, as you can see, is a few hundred light years well-outside of Union Space. An allied Intelligence operative has reported this area of space is controlled by the same aliens that launched those drone ships at us. Those drone ships, by the way, never stood a chance at seriously threatening this ship or Odyssey. . .” the projected revealed a large solar system with eight planets, all varying in size and color, and multiple moons, asteroids, meteors, comets, dust clouds, and multiple other interstellar phenomena Aaen and the rest of his crew didn’t recognize. Anxiety in the room was building. Aaen didn’t like not knowing, “You will launch from New Horizon and then travel at best speed to these coordinates,” a fine, broken blue line emerged from the edge of the projection to the center of the projection, stopping at a green dot indicating the coordinates which appeared to be on the outer-most edge of the solar system. “Your mission is to figure out a way to breach the solar system, infiltrate any artificial structures you encounter, and then report back for further orders. We know very little about what’s in this solar system, but our source indicates there is a high probability that the aliens who launched those drone ships are staging a likely-growing military presence there. We need to know what’s going on there, and assess any potential threat to The Union—and if there is a threat, neutralize it. Any questions?” Storm tapped the table command to shut off the projection, and then brought the lights back up as he looked around the room. All other personnel in the room looked at him with statue-like, determined faces. At the last second, Aaen raised his hand, “Have they responded to any hails from The Union government?”
“Only static,”
“Are we sure the aliens are even receiving the transmission?”
Storm sharply replied, “Absolutely, captain,”
“Captain, you and your crew will be brought up to speed on your ship’s tech. Training shouldn’t take long. Once your crew’s training is completed, you and your crew will be given the green-light to launch.” Storm turned his head and nodded at a male officer in his early 20’s who was standing at attention at one of the entrances to the room and appeared to have one stripe on his upper arm sleeve.
“RISE!” the yeoman called out. All other personnel in the room stood up and were at ease as they collected themselves, intellectually metabolizing what they had been told. The personnel who were sitting adjacent to Daniel briskly gathered their written materials and hastily left the room through twin doors behind Daniel.
“Escort them back to hangar bay one,” Daniel commanded the yeoman. The yeoman sharply turned left and then led Aaen and his crew back to their ship.
Aaen admired the sleeker, bolder appearance of the outer hull. The hull was a darker grayish-blue; the red delta marking was replaced by one he couldn’t make out very well, but something told him he would be able to see it clear soon enough once he got back to his chair on his bridge. Odyssey looked a little meaner than it had before—he liked it about as much as the prior shape and noticed the subtle comments the rest of his crew exchanged as they boarded and then hastily returned to the bridge. Aaen was glad to be back into his seat.
The training on the ship and her subsystems took about ten minutes—less than Aaen guessed it probably would take. Aaen had been given a binder-like secured manual with six or seven pages detailing his command codes, Odyssey’s technology, launch procedures, general protocol updates, and the new internal and external technical details of his ship. He was amazed at what he had read, and he looked forward to trying all of the new technology out in the field. The Union engineers on board the New Horizon had even taken a few extra liberties with improving Odyssey’s stealth system. . . He immediately decided he had to try that out. Something in the back of his mind told him that would be very useful in the coming hours. A yeoman collected the secured binder and then stood at the mouth of the hatch to off-board. “Captain, your crew’s training is complete. You may request permission to launch when ready. Good luck, sir.” he saluted sharply. Aaen returned the gesture and then dismissed the yeoman. The yeoman left the ship promptly and hastily.
“Lieutenant Hayes, contact New Horizon launch control. Let’s get permission to launch. Pilot, standby for rapid ascent, then once we’re clear, set course for the coordinates. Standby to engage translight drive.”
Both officers nodded and verbally acknowledged their respective orders. In seconds, Lieutenant Hayes had established a short-range Union Military Priority communication channel with launch control. In fifteen seconds, mission orders including written clearance to launch—signed by New Horizon’s commanding officer (apparently that officer wasn’t Daniel)—appeared on their screen. They closed the channel, turned and nodded at Aaen, “We have permission to launch.”
“Very well. Code: blue! Begin the launch procedure,”
“Aye, sir!” the pilot acknowledged. “Sensors, is docking bay clear of personnel?”
“Scanning. . Affirmative! Docking bay is clear of personnel!”
“Depressurizing docking bay,”
“Docking bay doors opening!” Sensor officer declared. The crew watched as the stars became visible from beneath the giant metal lip rising overhead.
“The main computer is online. The main reactor is online, power output is nominal,” Lieutenant Connors declared.
“Switch to internal power,”
“Aye!”
“Disengaging docking clamps!” Wilson declared. An alert sounded in both decks as a seeming distance mechanical groan filled the bridge for five seconds. “Maneuvering anti-gravity amplifier thrusters.”
“Take us out,” Aaen commanded. And with that, the pilot carried out Aaen’s order. Odyssey rose from the docking bay floor and a swift 40-degree ascent angle. Three seconds later, the only thing visible in the viewscreen was the twinkling glow of distant stars and planets and the black vacuum of space.
Another alert sounded. “New Horizon sent us a message. Message reads: ‘Good luck, Odyssey. Godspeed. We are looking forward to hearing from you when you reach your destination. Keep us updated on your mission status. END MESSAGE.’ Signed: Admiral West, Commander, New Horizon.” Lieutenant Hayes said.
“Coordinates laid-in, captain,” Lieutenant Commander Wilson declared. Aaen watched as the contacts in the viewscreen shifted out of sight in seconds, and then new celestial contacts became visible and still.
“How long will we be traveling if we use Translight drive, Ensign?” Aaen asked, eyeing the viewscreen.
She scanned for an estimated E-T-A, “. .About an hour,”
Aaen decided that would have to do. “Engage translight drive! Maximum factor.”
“Aye!”
—Aaen glared at the distance in the viewscreen and thought, We’re comin’ for you.
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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