“What?” Madison asked.
“How big would an installation
need to be in order to house and defend the particle warhead?”
“Massive,” Madison replied. She handed a detailed link
to Elliot.
“We’ve got something that big
in storage,” Elliot said to their bewildered expressions. “Earth and every
colony have base components available in case the need should arise. It’s not
common knowledge but they are there.”
“Where would they store it? It
would be way too big to store anywhere on Earth, even in pieces,” Madison asked.
“Well, you’re right,” he said
to their satisfied smiles. “It’s stored in orbit, in the shipyards to be exact.
We could have it up in about a month, maybe less.”
“That solves one problem. On
to the next one,” Joshua replied.
“Okay, if the plan is to leave
the Colonized Sphere, where do we put all those people? Naval Analysis has told
us that there is no way to take more than a few thousand civilians with us
onboard our battleships,” Madison
said.
“What about the other nine
hundred ships? They won’t have any weapons, but aren’t they still capable of
high FTL speeds?” Elliot asked.
“Would they do?” Madison asked Joshua.
“We were going to take a
wrecking ball to them. Let me see.” Joshua examined the pile of links on the
table in front of him. Eventually he found the required link and looked up with
a triumphant smile on his face. “It could work. The other nine hundred ships
could serve as civilian transports: they have the speed we want.”
“How many can they carry?”
Elliot inquired.
“I’ll send a request to the
Science Council. I’m betting that it’ll be a good number. Each of those ships
is almost two miles long.”
“What else do we need?” Madison asked and looked
at Elliot.
“A destination.”
“What has the brass
recommended?” Madison
asked.
“Not much more than pick a
star and go.”
“Can we get a little more
specific?” Joshua inquired.
“Let’s take a look at the star
charts and see what’s out there,” she replied.
They both bent to their tasks.
Elliot relaxed back onto his couch in the dark and turned the INN back on.
Lathiel impatiently waited for
some word of the probe they had dispatched hours ago. He found it difficult to
keep his mind from wandering as time passed. Lathiel fiddled a while with his
index fingers imbedded with thick nails, before giving in to his thoughts.
The remaining Ferine colonies
needed every last ship to defend their home world. Of all the other conquered
species in the Old League, only a few of their warships wandered here and there
looking for allies to retake their home worlds. None had bothered to look for
help within the Ferine’s borders. Perhaps now, after their unlikely attack,
they might come.
He heard a beep from his cousin’s
console. Lathiel jumped up from his couch.
“The probe’s arrived. It’s
transmitting data,” Ranik reported.
“I was starting to worry something
had happened.”
“I was beginning to think the
other end of the wormhole had collapsed.”
“So, what is it reporting?”
“The exit from the wormhole is
nearly ten thousand light years away.”
“That far? How could that have
happened?”
“A wormhole can go as far as
it wants to. I’d say we were lucky it didn't end on the other side of the
galaxy,” Ranik said.
“We’re lucky if it didn’t hit
anything.”
“You're right there,” Ranik
said. He lifted a slightly wrinkled index finger to his lips as he perused the
data. “There is one star system nearby. The beam exited the other end
approximately forty hours ago. The system is inhabited.”
“Can they detect the
“How big would an installation
need to be in order to house and defend the particle warhead?”
“Massive,” Madison replied. She handed a detailed link
to Elliot.
“We’ve got something that big
in storage,” Elliot said to their bewildered expressions. “Earth and every
colony have base components available in case the need should arise. It’s not
common knowledge but they are there.”
“Where would they store it? It
would be way too big to store anywhere on Earth, even in pieces,” Madison asked.
“Well, you’re right,” he said
to their satisfied smiles. “It’s stored in orbit, in the shipyards to be exact.
We could have it up in about a month, maybe less.”
“That solves one problem. On
to the next one,” Joshua replied.
“Okay, if the plan is to leave
the Colonized Sphere, where do we put all those people? Naval Analysis has told
us that there is no way to take more than a few thousand civilians with us
onboard our battleships,” Madison
said.
“What about the other nine
hundred ships? They won’t have any weapons, but aren’t they still capable of
high FTL speeds?” Elliot asked.
“Would they do?” Madison asked Joshua.
“We were going to take a
wrecking ball to them. Let me see.” Joshua examined the pile of links on the
table in front of him. Eventually he found the required link and looked up with
a triumphant smile on his face. “It could work. The other nine hundred ships
could serve as civilian transports: they have the speed we want.”
“How many can they carry?”
Elliot inquired.
“I’ll send a request to the
Science Council. I’m betting that it’ll be a good number. Each of those ships
is almost two miles long.”
“What else do we need?” Madison asked and looked
at Elliot.
“A destination.”
“What has the brass
recommended?” Madison
asked.
“Not much more than pick a
star and go.”
“Can we get a little more
specific?” Joshua inquired.
“Let’s take a look at the star
charts and see what’s out there,” she replied.
They both bent to their tasks.
Elliot relaxed back onto his couch in the dark and turned the INN back on.
Lathiel impatiently waited for
some word of the probe they had dispatched hours ago. He found it difficult to
keep his mind from wandering as time passed. Lathiel fiddled a while with his
index fingers imbedded with thick nails, before giving in to his thoughts.
The remaining Ferine colonies
needed every last ship to defend their home world. Of all the other conquered
species in the Old League, only a few of their warships wandered here and there
looking for allies to retake their home worlds. None had bothered to look for
help within the Ferine’s borders. Perhaps now, after their unlikely attack,
they might come.
He heard a beep from his cousin’s
console. Lathiel jumped up from his couch.
“The probe’s arrived. It’s
transmitting data,” Ranik reported.
“I was starting to worry something
had happened.”
“I was beginning to think the
other end of the wormhole had collapsed.”
“So, what is it reporting?”
“The exit from the wormhole is
nearly ten thousand light years away.”
“That far? How could that have
happened?”
“A wormhole can go as far as
it wants to. I’d say we were lucky it didn't end on the other side of the
galaxy,” Ranik said.
“We’re lucky if it didn’t hit
anything.”
“You're right there,” Ranik
said. He lifted a slightly wrinkled index finger to his lips as he perused the
data. “There is one star system nearby. The beam exited the other end
approximately forty hours ago. The system is inhabited.”
“Can they detect the
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