The lost fleet box set, p.3
The Lost Fleet Box Set, page 3
part #1 of The Lost Fleet Series
“Is the crew ready for this mission?” asked Kathryn, glancing over at Colonel Leon.
“Yes,” Petra replied. “We’re all volunteers and dedicated to bringing the Fourth Fleet back home.”
“If they’re still alive,” mentioned Kathryn.
“Don’t say that around Kelsey or Katie,” cautioned Petra, her eyes narrowing. “They’re both positive their husbands are trapped in another galaxy, awaiting rescue.”
“Let’s just hope they are,” Kathryn responded.
-
Kelsey was standing next to Katie, both girls watching as Mikow Lall, the Alton computer specialist, ran another diagnostic on the ship’s mainframe computer. The tall, slender white-haired Alton woman was very efficient at her job.
Kelsey smiled as she noted Katie’s light green eyes studying everything Mikow was doing. The Altons’ computer technology was far more advanced than the Federation’s, with the exception of Clarissa; but she didn’t really count, since she was AI. For the last four years, Katie had taken a crash course in that advanced technology, learning everything she possibly could. Kelsey was proud of her.
“I understand Rear Admiral Barnes has arrived on board,” spoke Katie.
“Yes, about ten minutes ago,” replied Kelsey, with a deep sigh.
The last four years had been hard on both her and Katie. They’d watched from the StarStrike as the Avenger, then the Fourth Fleet and, shortly after that, also Grayseth’s fleet had vanished into the swirling white monstrosity created when the Hypertranslation Station had been destroyed. Their husbands and most of their trusted friends had gone into the white light, never to be heard from again.
Kelsey was firmly convinced that Rear Admiral Susan Marks wouldn’t have put the rest of the Fourth Fleet in peril, if she hadn’t detected something. Rear Admiral Marks had been the closest to the vortex, which had swallowed the Avenger and Jeremy’s portion of the Fourth Fleet. Kelsey was certain that Marks or Grayseth must have realized the Avenger and the other missing Fourth Fleet ships had been sent somewhere. Also in Grayseth’s fleet had been four Alton science cruisers. There was a remote chance that the Altons had informed Grayseth and Rear Admiral Marks that the spatial vortex was safe to transit, though there were no records of any such transmission. However, the EMP blast had made long-range communications difficult for a few minutes immediately after the Hypertranslation Station had been destroyed. The messages could have been lost in the EMP and the fluctuating energy bursts from the vortex. Kelsey was also convinced that Ariel would have done everything in her power to keep the Avenger safe.
“We’re finally going,” Katie said, her eyes glistening.
Kelsey and Katie had put in many sleepless nights working on this ship and ensuring it had everything necessary for this voyage. Ambassador Tureen and Governor Barnes had also been instrumental in getting the Distant Horizon built. This ship represented their final hope for finding their missing husbands and the lost fleets.
“She’s arrived,” quipped Clarissa, as she popped into existence next to the two girls. “We’re finally going to rescue Ariel and the rest.”
Neither of the girls was startled, as they were used to the AI’s antics.
“It will be a while yet,” predicted Kelsey, taking a deep breath. “The admiral will want to take the ship on a thorough shakedown cruise, before we set out for the galactic center.”
“I miss Ariel,” continued Clarissa in a more subdued voice. “It’s like a part of me is gone.”
Kelsey nodded, recognizing just how the AI felt.
“We know,” replied Katie. “Kelsey and I feel the same way about Jeremy and Kevin.”
“I spoke to Brace yesterday,” Kelsey added. “He’s excited to finally be getting under way.” Marine Captain Brace Caulder was Angela DeSota’s fiancé. Angela was the fifth member of the Special Five.
“Ariel will have kept them all safe,” Clarissa said, confidently. “She’s just waiting for us to come and rescue them.”
The main hatch to the Command Center swung open. All three girls turned to watch Colonel Leon and Rear Admiral Barnes step inside.
-
Kathryn’s first view of the Command Center caused her to stare in amazement. The entire front wall was one massive Alton viewscreen, which revealed the space environment directly in front of the Distant Horizon. The main difference between a Federation viewscreen and an Alton viewscreen was the latter made it feel as if you could step right into space. The view was breathtaking and held Kathryn’s attention for several long seconds. Three workstations sat directly in front of the screen. The Navigation, Helm, and Hyperspace consoles were all manned by highly experienced fleet officers.
“Admiral on deck!” called out Major Weir from Tactical, who saw Kathryn enter the Command Center.
Kathryn knew of his background. Major Weir had been the Tactical officer on the StarStrike and hadn’t hesitated to volunteer for this mission. Former Fleet Admiral Streth would have approved of his decision.
Instantly everyone snapped to attention, standing up and turning to face the admiral.
“As you were,” Kathryn said with a slight nod of acknowledgment.
“Let the records show that, as of this date, Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes formally takes over command of the Distant Horizon,” spoke Commander Anne Grissim. Gesturing toward one of the two chairs on the command dais, she continued. “Admiral, the ship is yours.”
“Thank you, Commander,” responded Kathryn. “Let the records show, as of this date, I accept command of the Distant Horizon.”
Kathryn walked over to stand next to Commander Grissim. “This is a big ship!”
“Yes, it is,” replied Anne, with a pleased smile. “It has to be for where we’re going.”
Looking around the Command Center, Kathryn saw that consoles for Communications and Main Sensors were just to her right. Damage Control and the Main Computer station were to her left. In front of the command dais and slightly to each side were two large tactical holographic displays.
The biggest station was Tactical, which was directly behind the command dais on an upraised platform. It was manned by eight officers, who controlled the ship’s weapons and the Distant Horizon’s powerful energy shield. Other stations were located on a second level, which ran alongside and directly above the Tactical station.
“Stand by to get underway,” ordered Kathryn, satisfied that everything was in order. “Set a course out of the system and stand by to activate the subspace drive at one-third power.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Commander Grissim responded, as she quickly passed on the orders to the necessary departments. The ship had already been taken out on test voyages by a skeleton crew and had performed admirably.
Kathryn then stepped over to where Kelsey, Katie, and Clarissa were standing. She looked at the three for a moment before speaking. “Kelsey and Katie, effective immediately, you are once more Federation fleet officers with the rank of lieutenant.”
Kelsey and Katie nodded.
Kathryn knew they had resigned their commissions immediately after the memorial ceremony at the Fleet Academy. She had later found out that they’d gone to Ceres and, with the backing of then Governor Malleck and Ambassador Tureen, had proceeded to the Alton home world to drum up support for a rescue mission for the missing fleets. The Distant Horizon was the result of their efforts.
“Ready to get underway, Admiral,” Commander Grissim reported. “Alton Space Authority has given its approval for our departure. We may enter hyperspace once we have cleared one hundred million kilometers from the planet.” The ship was currently ten million kilometers from the massive Alton shipyard that had constructed the exploration dreadnought.
Clarissa quickly scanned the ship’s many intricate systems and reported, “All systems are functioning normally.”
She was thrilled to control such a massive and powerful ship. Thanks to Alton technology the ship almost seemed alive when she accessed its systems.
Kathryn nodded, then returned to the command dais, and sat down. “Engage the sublight drive, and let’s begin our trials.”
The Helm officer ran his fingers over the touch screen on his console, and the ship quickly accelerated and began putting more distance between it and the massive shipyard in orbit around the Altons’ home world. On one of the many periphery viewscreens, the station could be seen rapidly growing smaller.
Kathryn allowed her gaze to roam across the different duty stations, noting with satisfaction that everyone seemed to be doing their jobs properly. All personnel in this crew had volunteered for this mission. A number had come from fleet flagships such as the StarStrike and the WarStorm. It was a well-experienced crew, who just needed to get used to working with one another.
“Main Sensors,” spoke Kathryn, glancing over at Captain Reynolds, formerly of the battleship StarStrike. “Put up the system on the tactical display to my right.”
Instantly the large tactical display lit up with various icons. Kathryn had thought that the New Tellus and the Sol Systems were heavily fortified, but nothing had prepared her for this. The Altons’ home planet was surrounded by hundreds of Indomitable Class battlestations; there were also six large shipyards in orbit.
“They had centuries to prepare for the AIs,” explained Commander Grissim, pointing at the viewscreen. “Every one of their inhabited planets sits inside a ring of those battlestations, and they’re all automated with only minimal crews.”
There were also hundreds of friendly green icons, representing Alton ships of various types, everything from powerful warships to cargo ships traveling from world to world. The Altons had a thriving interstellar civilization and unmatched technology. Kathryn was just glad they were on the Federation’s side.
The Distant Horizon continued to accelerate and soon passed the one-hundred-million-kilometer mark. There were no reported problems, and the ship was ready to make the transit into hyperspace.
“Prepare to jump,” ordered Kathryn. “Set a course for New Tellus. We’ll spend two weeks testing this ship before traveling to the Sol System.”
“Course set,” replied the Navigation officer.
“Initiate jump,” spoke Kathryn, looking at Commander Grissim.
“Jump!” Grissim ordered.
On the massive viewscreen, a swirling blue-white spatial vortex came into being. The Helm officer expertly maneuvered the exploration dreadnought into its center, and the ship made the transition into hyperspace.
Kathryn felt a momentary twinge in her stomach, and then the deep purple colors of hyperspace appeared on the main viewscreen. Seen from this perspective in an Alton-built ship, the view was almost frightening. She would have to get used to it or order the screen shut off. For now she decided to leave it on. She settled back in her command chair, pleased with the ship. In another few weeks, they would set out for the galactic center and maybe finally learn what happened to the missing fleets.
-
Kelsey and Katie were in the officers’ mess, eating lunch and discussing the upcoming mission. Clarissa had joined them and was sitting next to Katie.
“We reach Earth tomorrow,” Clarissa informed them.
For the last two weeks, the Distant Horizon had been jumping around the New Human Federation of Worlds in mock attacks and practicing numerous battle drills. The crew never knew when Rear Admiral Barnes would set off the Condition One alarms, and many had resorted to sleeping in their uniforms to be prepared.
“I want to visit the Fleet Academy,” Katie said in a soft voice. “I would like to see the monument.”
“Are you sure, Katie?” asked Kelsey.
They’d never visited the monument after the memorial ceremony; it would have been too painful.
This monument was the one that overlooked the Fleet Academy. Originally it had been built to honor Katie’s father and Jeremy’s dad. The two had been instrumental in forming the New Human Federation of Worlds so many years ago. After the battle at the galactic center, it had been modified to honor all the dead from the Great War. It was the most widely visited monument in the Federation.
“Yes,” answered Katie, nodding her head. “I need to before we leave.”
Katie looked down at her plate. She was having a Caesar salad, while Kelsey was eating baked salmon. She missed watching Kevin eat his daily allotment of hamburgers and fries, while the rest of them cracked jokes about his food choices. If she were ever lucky enough to watch Kevin eat a hamburger again, she wouldn’t complain. She suspected none of them would.
“I can’t visit the monument,” Clarissa said regretfully. “I have seen pictures and videos of it. It’s very awe inspiring.”
“Memorial Sunday is an official day of mourning for the entire Federation,” Kelsey said with sadness in her eyes. “The monument is now dedicated to everyone who died in the war.”
Clarissa nodded her head.
Katie knew even the AI understood how devastating the great battle had been. So many people had been killed at the galactic center; even Fleet Admiral Karla Johnson had met her fate there, along with so many others. Karla had been Katie’s distant relative. Seventy percent of the Federation fleets had been destroyed, and it had taken several years for the Federation to recover from the loss of so many valuable ships and personnel.
“If we can find and bring back the Fourth Fleet, along with Grayseth’s fleet, it would mean a lot to so many Federation and Carethian families who had loved ones in those fleets,” Katie said, laying down her fork, no longer hungry.
“If we can locate where they went and take the Distant Horizon to where they are,” added Kelsey, her deep blue eyes looking across the table at Katie and Clarissa, “I just hope they’re still okay.”
“They’ll be excited to see us,” Clarissa predicted. “I have so much to tell Ariel! And I must transmit to her the special file I created of everything I have done since my friend was lost.”
“We’ll all have a lot to talk about,” said Katie, picking up her fork and taking another bite of her salad.
She didn’t want to say it aloud, but she was deeply concerned about Jeremy, Kevin, and Angela, three of the Special Five who remained lost. After all, it had been over four years since the battle at the galactic center, and so much could have happened to the fleets during that time.
-
The next day, the Distant Horizon was in orbit above Earth’s moon. The entire crew was given forty-eight-hours’ leave before their planned trip to the galactic center.
“The shipyard above the Moon seems to be getting larger every time I see it,” commented Commander Anne Grissim from where she was standing in front of the large viewscreen in the Command Center. The shipyard seemed to fill the screen with its magnified view.
“It was the first shipyard built, if we don’t count those inside Ceres,” responded Kathryn, coming to stand next to Anne. Only a small crew remained in the Command Center, as most were being shuttled down to either the Moon or Earth for leave. A few had taken shuttles to the asteroid Ceres where their families lived.
“The New Horizon mission left here on Earth’s first interstellar journey,” spoke Commander Grissim, recalling her history. “That was a long time ago.”
“You do realize Katie and Kelsey were on that mission, don’t you?” asked Kathryn, looking inquisitively over at Anne. The two girls as well as the other three members of the Special Five had spent years in cryosleep after the disastrous mission.
“I tend to forget sometimes,” the commander answered, folding her arms across her chest. “All of the Special Five were on that mission.”
“They’re part of our history,” Kathryn responded. “Admiral Telleck used to tell me just how important they were to the morale of the Federation and what they represented. He summed it up for me one day in one simple word. Hope. It took me a while to fully understand just what he meant.”
-
Katie and Kelsey had walked up the long row of steps which led to the ridgetop and the large granite memorial obelisk overlooking the Fleet Academy. The obelisk towered nearly ten meters above them. Its face depicted two men, Admiral Jason Strong and Greg Johnson.
A short inscription read From this site, men from the planet Earth first gazed upon the Avenger. This discovery sent the Human race to the stars. A set of wide stairs had been cut into the slope to give easier access to the obelisk. Every student at the academy was required to make the trip here at least once each semester. It was part of their history.
Below the inscription, the names of Admiral Jeremy Strong, Lieutenant Kevin Walters, and Lieutenant Angela DeSota had been added. Next to it, on each side, two additional massive black memorial walls had been erected. On the walls were the names of everyone who had died in the Great War. It was a wall of heroes and would always be remembered as such.
Kelsey and Katie stood for quite some time just looking at the monument, knowing what it signified. Kelsey reached out, touched Jeremy’s name, and then turned to Katie. “Do you think they’re still alive?”
“We have to think they are,” answered Katie, knowing Kelsey had just voiced their greatest fear.
“I believe they’re alive,” spoke a voice from behind them.
Startled, the two women turned around to see Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes.
“If I didn’t believe they were alive, I never would have volunteered for this mission. Admiral Telleck was a firm believer in Jeremy and his abilities to command. If anyone could keep his fleet intact, after transiting that spatial vortex, it would be him.”
“I thought there would be more people up here,” Katie commented. She knew large passenger liners arrived daily, bringing people from across the Federation to see the monument.
“Sometimes it amazes me how the five of you never realized just how important you were to the Federation,” Kathryn said, shaking her head. “I notified the commandant of the Fleet Academy yesterday that we would be arriving and how both of you would be visiting the monument. So it has been closed to everyone for the entire day to allow the two of you to pay your respects.”
