Jan stared at him and saw the trouble behind his eyes. She relaxed and stood up. She walked across the bridge and put a hand on each of his command chair arms. She leaned in and kissed him gently. She backed up and he pulled her in and kissed her again. The kiss lasted much longer and when Michael broke the kiss he saw her huge smile. “What? Did I do it wrong?”
Jan stood up and smiled, “Josey got to kiss you first but you just gave me your first kiss. I think that means something.” She walked across the bridge and sat down in her chair. She looked at him and lowered her eyes, “And for your information, there is no such thing as a bad kiss between two people who care about each other.”
Michael smiled, “Are you telling me you’re attracted to me, too?” Jan smiled and nodded. Michael continued to smile as he turned to his console, “Why don’t we see what this ship can do?”
“Lead the way, Sir.”
Michael turned around, “You can use my first name, Jan.”
“Not in professional situations. You are in command and it’s vitally important that you and I know that. If I hesitate to follow your orders, we could die. We should both follow standard protocols that rank dictates.”
Michael thought about her comment and nodded, “I do hope we find times where we’re not in professional situations.”
“I’ll make sure we do, Sir.”
“Angelo, have you and Langley decided on the division of responsibilities?”
“We have. I will work with you and Langley will work with Commodore Keller. Langley will be responsible for detecting thoughts from outside the ship. He has demonstrated a remarkable ability of seeing those telepaths.”
“Everyone should understand that my order to wear thought blockers also applies to this ship. I expect your thought broadcasting modules to be inactive.”
“Already done, Sir.”
Michael put the band around his head and winced. “Are you all right, Sir?”
Michael looked at Jan and saw her concern, “It’s a minor shock for a telepath to lose the ability. I’ll be ok once I get used to it.”
Jan smiled, “Does that mean you can’t hear my thoughts? now” Michael nodded. “Good!”
“Why is that?”
“A lady’s thoughts should not be seen. It might cause her embarrassment.”
Michael smiled, “I’m taking the ship into orbit.”
Jan turned her chair around and began activating her systems, “Where are we going, Sir?”
“I’m going after the Legend Ships that detonated the explosive in our cluster.”
Jan’s expression showed her surprise, “How are you going to be able to find them?”
“Simple geometry, Jan. The ones that did it are not flying the newer model. I know where the device was detonated. Draw a straight line from that point toward the Pandora Cluster and we should run up on them.”
“But that was more than a week ago?”
“There’s an added benefit to these new hulls that Budge just told me about.” Jan tilted her head. “You know the Silver Ships have explored a lot of the Universe?” Jan nodded. “Their speed is far beyond what our lightly coated ships could do. Now that our hulls are larger than theirs, our speed has been greatly increased; we will make the attempt. Contact Jay and Josey and tell them to stay close.”
“Yes Sir.”
Jan sent the message and heard Jay say, “ALLLLL RIIIGHHT!” Jan smiled. Everything was back to normal.
Michael looked out of the main viewport and saw M-87 moving quickly toward them. “Angelo, how does our speed match up with the Battle Pods?”
“I find it hard to fathom how this substance our hull is made of can cause such a wide variance. We’re going to be out of the cluster in about another hour.” Michael shook his head.
Langley’s voice came over the loud speaker, “I’ve given some thought about that.”
Michael looked at the speaker, “And?”
“I believe this substance shouldn’t exist in normal space. I genuinely think it is a substance that should be in the void.”
Jan’s eyebrows went up, “Why do you say that?”
“Because you only find it near a giant black hole. We know that the void is inside a black hole, that’s how we discovered it. I think the really giant black holes suck this material out of the void and it collects in a close orbit around the black hole.”
Michael nodded, “The fact that ships coated with it can fly faster than the speed of light in normal space pretty much tells us that it isn’t restricted by the normal laws of physics.” Michael paused and his eyes narrowed, “Langley, do you know if any of the substance has been found circling the black hole in M-87?”
“I suspect that if there is, we will not be able to use it.”
“Why is that?”
“You know how difficult it was to go in close to the black hole in Andromeda. Imagine getting close to the monster lurking at the center of M-87. Scientists are convinced that it might be the largest black hole in the universe. At our current level of technology, I don’t think we can build a gravity compensator that would allow ships to get close to search for it.” Langley paused and said, “Jay is attempting to communicate with you.”
“Put him on the wall speaker.”
“Uhhh, First Commander, Josey and I have been talking about what we’re doing and we thought we should mention a possible concern.”
Michael looked at Jan and saw her smiling. “What is it Jay?”
“Well, you know, uhhhh.”
“Come on, Jay!”
“Well, you know the battle your father directed to defeat the Legends in M-87 is required reading at the Academy.”
“Yes.”
“Well, the Alliance Leaders made it clear to him that they did not want him participating in combat operations because of his importance. We were kinda wondering if that restriction also applied to you…Sir?” Michael was silent and Jay quickly said, “Josey and I can go in after the ships we’re chasing and you can stay out of it.”
“Jay, before we get into that, you need to understand that I have to depend on all of you to make sure I see everything that might concern you. Do not hesitate to bring any concern to my attention; I need you to be open and honest with me.”
“Ok, then, why are we chasing those ships instead of you sending others to do it?”
Michael looked at Jan and saw she wondered the same thing. “There are several reasons, Jay. My father had fought in numerous battles before he was chosen to be the Alliance’s designated conqueror. He knew the capabilities of the ships used by our forces and what their limitations and strengths were. That knowledge, in large part, is what allowed him to assign the right fleets to the right targets in that final battle. He fought in those ships and it prepared him for command responsibility. I have not done the same. The battle with the Monster Warship outside the Bullet Cluster was the first combat I’ve been involved in and I must say that I am much better prepared to use the Battle Pods in fleet actions. But I need to fight this new ship or I’m going to be guessing about its strengths and limitations. I also need to fight this ship and experience what our pilots are going to face.”
“And what happens if you don’t survive the fight?”
“Then they’ll make Talel the new First Commander and continue without missing a beat.”
Jan said, “Talel?”
“Jan, he is incredibly talented. I’ve seen his mind at work and he can do the job.”
Jan shrugged, “Maybe so, but he’s not you!”