Shepherd pulled the initial cadre of operatives from United Star Systems Intelligence (USSI). But USSI was a civilian organization, who argued successfully they hadn’t signed up for duty on military starships. It didn’t deter Shepherd’s vision—he reorganized and reformed the Fleet Intelligence Bureau around the idea these operatives would serve aboard starships. Volunteers from the USSI crossed over and created an entirely new division of Intelligence within the United Fleet. United Star Systems Fleet—Bureau of Intelligence, a fledgling but competent organization.
The Intelligence officer returned, looking somber, as if he’d just buried his pet poodle.
Aaron’s knees felt weak.
“Just tell me, John. What happened to them?”
Higgins rested an arm on Aaron’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Aaron, I can’t believe they kept this from you. They must have been worried about your recovery and they didn’t want to add any further str—”
“John!”
“Aaron . . . Alvarez and Lee are listed KIA. I’m so sorry. I had to—”
His body went numb. He could no longer hear the captain’s voice. His friends—dead. The face of each man flashed before him. His deep love for space travel didn’t cure him of the need for friends. It could get quite lonely in the black. The solitude that threatened never seemed real once you had a good crew and great companions.
Now they were gone. And he’d killed them. He stumbled out of the office and into the corridor.
His personnel device beeped a reminder of his pending meeting with Shepherd. He ignored it. Who cared, what his lordship wanted now. He needed time. It had been nearly six weeks since the destruction of Trident. Now he faced the delayed reality. Why would they think it was a good idea to keep this from him? And why didn’t they tell him before that awkward kangaroo court session.
His handheld chimed again.
“Commander, I need you up here right away,” Shepherds voice boomed.
He still ignored it. The SC likely checked his location and could see he wasn’t moving. He was about to toss it.
“Commander—I have a feeling you will find what you’ve been looking for in my office.”
Aaron’s heart jumped. Shepherd must realize he was searching for his crew! He swallowed the lump in his throat.
His voice trembled. “I’m on my way, sir.”
****
Aaron rehearsed his argument on the way to Shepherd’s office.
Why can’t they just give him some time? They weren’t in some interstellar or galactic war for the survival of humanity. No sudden appearance of genocidal aliens threatened their existence. Surely, a wounded officer deserved this luxury.
On arrival in the Admiral’s command suite, before Aaron could fire off his rehearsed argument, Lieutenant Delaine almost shoved him into the Supreme Commander’s personal office and left.
Time . . . the most valuable and most wasted resource in the universe.
The Supreme Commander cleared his throat.
“I’m sure this is all strange to you,” he said. “Secret meetings with the Supreme Commander. The insensitive timing of our inquiry and cutting short your recovery. Firstly, Commander, your file didn’t mention resourcefulness. I didn’t think you could find out about Lee and Alvarez. They’re alive and well and assigned to my command as well. They’re on a covert mission under the authority of the USSF. My personal authority really. A completely off the books mission. Do you understand where this is leading?”
He tried to breathe—his chest tightened—it felt like someone was tightening a rope around it. He lowered his head, rubbed his stinging eyes. “I understand, sir. They’re alive. I’m sorry.”
The Supreme Commander motioned for him to sit. “For what? I know Trident weighs heavily on you. That, I’m afraid you will deal with on your own. With the support of your former shipmates of course. But we have to focus here and now. Shall we begin?”
He nodded and sat in the couch against the bulkhead.
“Good. This one is close to home for you. For some time now, Intel has been monitoring a separatist movement in the Atlas system. Atlas Prime and Atlas Secundas. These two worlds are the core strength of the Border Worlds Alliance, the epicenter of their economy, industry and military. Then there’s the Empire. Anything you thought you knew about them, their succession from the United Star Systems and the resulting interstellar war—is based on our tainted version of that event and a carefully manipulated history of the events leading up to it.
“Here’s a summary of the complete unaltered version, from our sealed records, which I am prepared to show you if you wish.” Shepherd clasped his hands in front of him and leaned forward. “As you’re aware, 105 years ago, just prior to joining the United Star Systems, the Border Worlds Alliance was already a powerful and influential independent Alliance of tech-5 star systems. Their membership greatly increased our own security and force projection along our frontier. Particularly during a volatile time when fifteen of our former worlds in neighboring sectors to Atlas Prime, had just declared independence from the United Star Systems and formed the Baridian Empire.
“The formation of the Empire led to twenty-five years of extreme tension between us and ultimately the first real interstellar war. The United Star Systems at the time mistakenly believed the Empire could not challenge us in any significant way. We were very wrong. The next ten years saw them drive us off our frontier. They moved deeper into our territory, taking many deposits of critical resources, valuable oceanic worlds and annexed several independent tech-5 worlds. These worlds at the time were in discussion to join us. The Empire was relentless. With limited options remaining, we threw everything we had into the war and halted them in the Nova system. While the fighting stalled them at Nova, two top-secret pieces of technology neared completion. The first truly stealth-capable warship capable of high warp-factors, which finally put the Imperial systems in striking range, without needing nearby staging areas.
“The Fleet sent everything against the Empire in the contested systems while five prototype warships warped behind enemy lines, destroyed swaths of Imperial shipyards, and struck their home system of Hosque over a six-months long campaign.
“The heavy losses sustained by the Imperial Navy, and the reduced capacity of the Empire to replace the ships they were losing, was a huge victory for us. We sent the Imperials a message that day. We had the ability to strike at will deep within their systems. The fighting for those final six months was also so intense and costly in lives and ships, that although they would never admit it, both sides in fact sued for peace.
“The past 70 years there has been an uneasy truce and much bitterness remains on both sides. A lot of powerful families, people, corporations and citizens within the United Star Systems took a hard slap in the face and tensions and skirmishes have fueled a constant hatred on both sides. Only back channel negotiations have kept us from engaging in another war.
“This past year, some of the internal rhetoric from high within the USS has given me cause for concern. Ships are disappearing along the border between the Empire and the United Star Systems. We blame the Empire, some blame the separatists on Atlas, and the Empire of course blames us. I’ve been ordered not to deploy Fleet assets to the Border Worlds on any kind of fact-finding mission. My only order was to assemble a response fleet to defend the Border Worlds and ensure the Fleet is ready for war.