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Authors: Evan Currie
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video feed off if you’re taking some ‘me time’.”
“Damn things used to be off by default,” Sorilla grumbled.
“That’s before they figured out how to record the data holographically,” Jen smirked. “It’d take you twenty years to fill your banks now.”
“Great,” Sorilla grumbled, unenthused.
“Now, now, don’t blame the doc for checking your vitals. I’m sure he was just doing his job.”
Sorilla shot her friend a dark look then rolled her eyes and snorted. “How long before he came out of the closet?”
Jennifer laughed openly. “After you scared the piss out of him? Almost two hours.”
“Good.”
Chapter Two
USF Offices
New Mexico tether counterweight, Earth orbit
“We’ve had sightings of the alien squadron near the Atlantis Colony,” Admiral Jason Sawyer said grimly as he dropped the bomb on the assembled group.
Their reactions didn’t disappoint, ranging from cries of shock to moans of what had to be despair from the representatives of the aquatic colony world.
The Atlantis Colony was a free-floating city on the surface of a world with effectively no landmasses to speak of. A few island chains were occasionally revealed by shifting tides, but they invariable vanished again as the cycle of the planet’s moons went on. The world’s distance from the system’s primary kept it cool, but above freezing temperatures, which meant that on the whole it was a relatively placid world by most measures, and while not comfortable for humans, it was livable. It also produced a great deal of valuable algae and algae byproducts, used for fuel, food, and oxygen production across Earth and the colony worlds. Valuable, but not as vital as the mining facilities at Hayden, Atlantis was similar to every other colony in that it really didn’t have any way to defend itself against the current threat.
“How close are they to the system?”
Sawyer glanced over at the representative of the Atlantis System and shook his head. “One jump out, picket spotted them at Draconis Minor. They were headed for the Beta Point.”
The men and women at the table winced, looking anywhere but at the representative for Atlantis. The Beta Point was the straight line to the Atlantis system.
“We sent word ahead. They may have time to evacuate the counterweight at least,” Sawyer offered bleakly.
“They struck the mining facilities on Ares after they took out the counterweight, didn’t they?” the representative asked with her eyes closed.
“Yes, ma’am” he confirmed. “Most of the survivors were in the underground facilities on Ares.”
“There are no underground facilities available on Atlantis. The entire population lives on the floating city.”
A long silence filled the room before the chairman tiredly spoke up, aiming his question to Sawyer.
“Admiral, how far out is Taskforce Valkyrie?”
Sawyer grimaced at the unofficial name that had been pinned to the Fleet squadron but checked the numbers without comment.
“Schedule puts them in Hayden, but they should be jumping back towards Earth Space shortly. If you want to get a message to them, best bet would be a courier ship to…” He frowned, checking the schedule briefly. “S9X Dash 53P. I’d advise sending them within the hour, however, in case TF5 is ahead of schedule.”
“Send them. Issue orders to Admiral Brookes to take Taskforce Five directly to Atlantis by the fastest route possible and provide all defense…or succor, she can.”
“Aye, sir.” Sawyer nodded as he stood, saluted briefly, and left the room.
*****
Fort Bragg
Carolina
Sorilla stood at attention in the small, well-lit office, eyes focused on the wall just above the head of the man sitting across the desk from her. He didn’t look up at her for a time, reading something with deliberate slowness. Finally, he set the pad aside and focused on her features.
“Read your report about what happened on Hayden,” he said, face impassive. “Bad bit of
“Damn things used to be off by default,” Sorilla grumbled.
“That’s before they figured out how to record the data holographically,” Jen smirked. “It’d take you twenty years to fill your banks now.”
“Great,” Sorilla grumbled, unenthused.
“Now, now, don’t blame the doc for checking your vitals. I’m sure he was just doing his job.”
Sorilla shot her friend a dark look then rolled her eyes and snorted. “How long before he came out of the closet?”
Jennifer laughed openly. “After you scared the piss out of him? Almost two hours.”
“Good.”
Chapter Two
USF Offices
New Mexico tether counterweight, Earth orbit
“We’ve had sightings of the alien squadron near the Atlantis Colony,” Admiral Jason Sawyer said grimly as he dropped the bomb on the assembled group.
Their reactions didn’t disappoint, ranging from cries of shock to moans of what had to be despair from the representatives of the aquatic colony world.
The Atlantis Colony was a free-floating city on the surface of a world with effectively no landmasses to speak of. A few island chains were occasionally revealed by shifting tides, but they invariable vanished again as the cycle of the planet’s moons went on. The world’s distance from the system’s primary kept it cool, but above freezing temperatures, which meant that on the whole it was a relatively placid world by most measures, and while not comfortable for humans, it was livable. It also produced a great deal of valuable algae and algae byproducts, used for fuel, food, and oxygen production across Earth and the colony worlds. Valuable, but not as vital as the mining facilities at Hayden, Atlantis was similar to every other colony in that it really didn’t have any way to defend itself against the current threat.
“How close are they to the system?”
Sawyer glanced over at the representative of the Atlantis System and shook his head. “One jump out, picket spotted them at Draconis Minor. They were headed for the Beta Point.”
The men and women at the table winced, looking anywhere but at the representative for Atlantis. The Beta Point was the straight line to the Atlantis system.
“We sent word ahead. They may have time to evacuate the counterweight at least,” Sawyer offered bleakly.
“They struck the mining facilities on Ares after they took out the counterweight, didn’t they?” the representative asked with her eyes closed.
“Yes, ma’am” he confirmed. “Most of the survivors were in the underground facilities on Ares.”
“There are no underground facilities available on Atlantis. The entire population lives on the floating city.”
A long silence filled the room before the chairman tiredly spoke up, aiming his question to Sawyer.
“Admiral, how far out is Taskforce Valkyrie?”
Sawyer grimaced at the unofficial name that had been pinned to the Fleet squadron but checked the numbers without comment.
“Schedule puts them in Hayden, but they should be jumping back towards Earth Space shortly. If you want to get a message to them, best bet would be a courier ship to…” He frowned, checking the schedule briefly. “S9X Dash 53P. I’d advise sending them within the hour, however, in case TF5 is ahead of schedule.”
“Send them. Issue orders to Admiral Brookes to take Taskforce Five directly to Atlantis by the fastest route possible and provide all defense…or succor, she can.”
“Aye, sir.” Sawyer nodded as he stood, saluted briefly, and left the room.
*****
Fort Bragg
Carolina
Sorilla stood at attention in the small, well-lit office, eyes focused on the wall just above the head of the man sitting across the desk from her. He didn’t look up at her for a time, reading something with deliberate slowness. Finally, he set the pad aside and focused on her features.
“Read your report about what happened on Hayden,” he said, face impassive. “Bad bit of
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