Tag looked at Danielle and said, I will not allow her to go where she would be in danger, Tgon-Gee. Have the asteroids been put into service?
They are in position now and the system will be on line in two rotations. They were fully charged before their arrival and she will be safe on the planet.
How many dreadnaughts have been converted to power cell technology?
We have fifty around the planet and expect fifteen more within five rotations.
Why is it so important for her to come now? Tag asked.
Our people are amazed at what our Guidance Peers have told them and a large number are skeptical of what they are being told. It is important in a warrior race such as mine that they see the ruler they are pledged to follow. Some of them are having difficulty grasping that an alien is being made ruler of our people. Her visit would help assure them of our choice.
Danielle put her hand on Tags arm and said, We will be there in six rotations of your planet. We will jump in as close as possible to the planet and I will make myself available for whatever you choose to schedule. Tag started to protest but she looked at him and said, These are dangerous times my darling. We must do what is right by our Allies and to delay would only show fear. In his culture, fear is not respected.
Tgon-Gee was once again amazed at her insight. Youre right. There are some that insist you wont come out of fear.
Tag looked long and hard at Tgon-Gee and then at Danielle and closed his eyes and said, There are some of your warriors that actively oppose her selection. Will they be a danger?
Tgon-Gee was startled by his statement and wondered, How can he possibly know that? Then he said, That is why she must come quickly to head off any growth of their views. We are at a threshold of major change and the timing is critical.
Danielle interrupted them and said, We will be there in two rotations when your forts are active. Tag looked at her sharply and she said, These people are depending on us to be the symbol of their belief structure. We cannot let them down.
Tag looked at her for a long moment and then said to Tong-Gee, We will be there tomorrow before the forts are activated. We will be coming with 600 ships so let your defenses know. I also will be at her side where ever she goes during the visit. My people will take it seriously if anything happens to harm her.
Tgon-Gee said, I need some time to prepare for her arrival.
Danielle smiled and said, Prince Tgon-Gee, you have one rotation. It will also limit any time the opposition has to plan anything.
Tgon-Gee bowed his head and said, As you wish my Queen.
Kosiev looked at Tag and said, Are you out of your mind? Their world is in the middle of Alliance territory. There are Alliance diplomats on their planet. There is no way this can be kept secret. You not only place yourself in danger but you also endanger their planet.
Tag shrugged his shoulders and said, We have agreed by treaty with our Allies that she is our ruler. Do you think you can change her mind?
Kosiev looked at Danielle and started to speak then stopped. Ok if this has to happen, we need to make sure we can get her out if the groad hits the reactor.
I told them we would be bringing 600 ships to escort her. We cant take more because it would tip our hand to the Alliance that we have more than 640 ships.
Kosiev thought about the trip and said, We will be bringing 100 of our new battleships then. Well keep them inside the ranks of our ships to prevent too close an inspection.
I didnt think we had that many ready yet, Tag said.
We actually have close to 500 in the ranks. Even the Cainth havent seen one yet. They will be hard to hide at 1,400 feet in length.
Tag whistled. Im still amazed that those nine foot power cells could be charged on a mobile platform like a ship. Have they lost any speed?
Kosiev smiled and said, They are 50% faster than anything we have. Weve also discovered another benefit of their screen; they can jump in closer to stars that we ever thought possible. Gravity doesnt seem to affect them as much because a screen at that power reduces the effect of gravity when it is pulled in to 100 feet from the hull.
How did you find that out without killing someone?
Our engineers noticed a measurable change in gravity when the screen around the planet was operating. In moving the asteroids out to the Cainth system one of our engineers stopped at a solar system in transit and jumped one of the rocks into the system close to an inner planet.
Ill bet he was chewed up and spit out over that.
Not really. It wouldnt complete the jump if it was too close to the sun and gravity interfered with the emergence. If it was too close it would just continue in non-space to the other side of the system until it was in a space that would allow it to work. He discovered that with screens as strong as those asteroids, they could jump almost to the stars outer corona.
Atlas, is that how youre able to jump into a system? Tag thought at Atlas.
No. I use a different process but this was one of the steps that led to discovering the process I use. Thats also why they are so much faster; gravity and inertia has less of an effect on the ships mass.
Kosiev had continued talking, With that discovery, we started to wonder about whether a ship could do the same thing. Our standard ships were just too small to put those eighty one square foot power cells on, they will only bend so far, so we took an old dreadnaught and covered it and flew it to the sun for a week while its power cells charged and then went to Earth Orbit and jumped out of the system. The screens on these new ships are another order of magnitude stronger than the one they replace. Theyre twenty feet thick and can be expanded to forty miles and not lose their integrity. The leakage for our sensors extends almost a light week from our ships. These ships dont even have to be in a system to see whats going on. Kosiev thought for a minute and said, I dont know if 200 dreadnaughts could crack its screen.
Could ten of them ramming the ship injure it? Tag asked.
Kosiev looked startled at the question and said, You know the screens will stop things like missiles and other objects of similar size and energy weapons just wont come close to getting thru. Im not sure about that much mass hitting. Ill get the engineers to investigate how much the screen can handle.
Weve seen that they will suicide if all else fails. I suspect that we would do the same if our backs were to the wall. How close can we jump into the Glod Home World?
Since their sun is much larger than ours and their world occupies an orbit further out, we should be able to jump in right to their planets orbit.
Tag thought for a long time and then said, Then her ship will jump directly to the planet. The others will come in the old fashioned way. Their process toward their planet should keep the Glod on their toes. Are you moving your flag to one of the new ships?
Its already been done. The Washington is going to be part of your remote controlled fleet. She whispered to me that she wanted to make sure you were taken care of. You dont think I would let you go without me being there. You heard the Director; Im responsible for her safety. If you are planning to leave in the morning, Im going to transfer to the Atlas immediately.
Tag and Danielle looked at each other and Danielle said, What is your new ships name?
Kosiev looked at them and said, Shes named Atlas.
Danielle said, Could you do me a favor and call it the Zeus.
Kosiev looked at them and said, Why.
Lets just say its my intuition that it will be a lucky name for her that way.
Is that an order?
Yes Admiral it is, Tag said. I never question her intuition. Would you?