She arrived at the landing field and the transport’s crew was looking at a list and assigning cabins for the arriving students. Everyone asked the transporter’s crew what was going on. The response was always the same, “I don’t have the clearance to know.” Linda Kay approached the crewman and said, “Linda Kay Johns reporting as ordered.”
The crewman looked at his list and said, “Your cabin is number 623; deck six, turn left, sixth one the right. Remain in your cabin until you receive further orders.”
Linda Kay saluted the ensign and walked up the ramp into the transport. She found her cabin and dropped her bag and took Wes’ picture out and felt the realization that he meant more to her than she ever realized. The thought of not seeing him for years terrified her. She continued to stare at his picture and wonder what he was doing at that moment.
Wes sat in his cabin on the Kosiev and stared at Linda Kay’s picture. “Please let me contact her,” he prayed. “I must tell her that I love her. Please, please give me the chance.” He continued to stare at her picture.
Captain Dodd and the remainder of the bridge crew were the last to leave Dorg-Ross. She boarded the shuttle and headed toward the Alexander Kosiev. She didn’t even look back at her former ship; she only had eyes for the huge white ship in front of their shuttle. The ultimate weapon and she was going to be its Captain. She felt something move inside her and though she didn’t understand how, somehow she could feel the ship. She closed her eyes and saw every energy weapon, penetrator magazine, needle gun, and several things she did not recognize. Before she stepped foot on the ship she knew its layout; every corridor, every room, every engine. The ship was calling out to her in a voice only she could hear. Cassandra Dodd knew what she was feeling; she was going home and her heart sang its joy.
The selected students were all on board the Transport and sitting in their room when a familiar voice was heard over the ships intercom. It was Admiral Mikado, Fleet Commander of the Stars Realm armed services. “Welcome aboard. I know everyone of you has questions about what is taking place and unfortunately, I have not been informed about what is happening. However, I can tell you this; this assignment has been classified as “Safety of the State” secret and all of you are prohibited from discussing anything about it with anyone outside of those selected to take part. That includes me or anyone else. You will be given one call and one call only to your immediate family only to inform them that you are being assigned and that you will not be able to communicate with them for the foreseeable future. That is all you can tell them. We will allow you to make that call from your quarters immediately after I finish discussing this with you because quite simply, you don’t know anything at this point that you could tell them. You will be allowed to leave your quarters after you complete that call and have free access to the ship’s services. You will be stopping for more personnel to join you in eighteen hours and then you will be taken to your final destination that, once again, I have not been informed of its location. I can tell you this; each or you have been selected because of your superior performance and the belief that you will continue it in your new assignment. I wish all of you Godspeed and good luck.”
Linda Kay looked at the com in her room and wanted with all her heart to call Wes but he was not her immediate family. She cried for a few minutes and then called her parents to tell them not to worry.”
Eighteen hours later, the transport broke out of null space in a system that was deserted. It waited for two hours and then six transports jumped in all within ten minutes. Shuttles started leaving the other ships and more than five hundred new crewmen boarded the Alonso Singh. These new arrivals were not students; they were crew and officers that were currently serving in the Stars Realm Navy. They boarded and began questioning the students to see what was going on, only to learn that no one knew. Linda Kay saw Edward Jones walking down the hall and stopped him. “Lieutenant Jones, I don’t know if you remember me but I was in the room with you when you came to thank Tommy and Wes at the school in Central City.”
Edward stopped and furrowed his brow and then recognized her, “Boy, you’ve grown up since then.”
She smiled at him and said, “My name is Linda Kay Johns and I was wondering what you know about this assignment.”
“I remember you Linda Kay. I’ll never forget what happened that day. To answer your question, I really don’t know. I can tell you this; the fleet has been robbed of its highest rated sailors. My captain screamed at losing the core of his command but he was told to shut his mouth or face a court marshal. He complied immediately. It appears that he thought we were going to another ship in the fleet and he resented developing us and then losing us to another commander. Everyone in the fleet is wondering what is going on and I heard before I left that fleet maneuvers have been scheduled at triple the norm. There is talk that there may be another war on the way.”
Linda Kay looked somberly at Edward and what he was saying made sense. “Lt. Jones, if we needed our fleet at the best level of readiness, why have all the best personnel been taken? They have also taken the top fifty students in each class at the academy.”
Edward looked at Linda Kay and said, “Whatever it is; it is going to be something that is very dangerous. I think our conversation has given me a starting point to think about. You don’t take students just two months from graduation unless something is very wrong. Thank you, Linda for discussing this with me. By the way, is that boy friend of yours on board?”
Edward immediately saw Linda Kay’s face cloud up, “No, and I don’t know if I’m going to be allowed to communicate with him.”
Edward smiled at her and said, “Linda, that boyfriend is full of surprises, believe me I know. He’ll find you.”
Linda Kay smiled and said, “I hope so, Lt. Jones. I really do.”
Chapter 7
The planet circled a white dwarf in a system that was incredibly old. The planet was a gas giant that was a wannabe star but lacked the mass to ignite the fusion reaction at its core. It did, however have a core that was incredibly hot and gigantic electrical storms filled its atmosphere. The planet was surrounded by a construct that was right above the atmosphere. The construct looked like a huge golf ball cover with indentations completely covering its surface. Each one of those indentations had a huge ship in it drawing power from the electrical storms below. The structure also had energy tubes extending down into the planet’s core drawing additional energy for each ship. The lightning did not come close to providing the needed power for the ships but it tasted wonderful. Some of the ships nestled on the construct were more than two hundred million years old and had grown to a size that rivaled some moons. The older members of this race were often more than two thousand miles in diameter. The beings that lived in the ships were no longer made of organic material but were basically electrical energy. They had evolved to the point where physical bodies were useless and they ultimately became a form of energy. The ship that housed them became their body and the energy that fed them was their life blood that animated the ship. This race had forgotten more about the universe’s energy than most races would ever know.
The watcher was stationed outside the construct in an area that was a nexus for energy space. There was a place that was very similar to null space in that it was very small, (the size of an atom) and had contact with all the energy in the universe. The watcher sat on this energy nexus and had his millions of energy legs extended into the space surrounding the spot. It was like a spider on its web feeling the vibrations of anything that contacted it. The first male looked up from his bed on the construct and noticed that the watcher was nervous. There was an occasional vibration of his energy field. He asked, “What bothers you, watcher?”