confusion. Then his face cleared. “Oh, I didn’t notice the time.” He said.
“You are doing it again. You need sleep.”
“Okay, in a minute. Just let me finish up with this.” Tomas said.
“What are you working on?” Seo-yun asked as she stopped behind Tomas. She put her hands on his shoulders and then leaned down to look at the text floating above the table.
“It’s Lanai Sumia’s proposal for a trade and defense agreement between Nuva and Sanctuary. The people on Nuva have decided that since their government abandoned them, they are free to govern themselves. And we are now their only chance to survive against the Sowir.” Tomas said. He raised his right hand to his shoulder covering Seo-yun’s hand.
“Are you going to accept?” Seo-yun asked.
Tomas sighed. “I don’t know. You remember what I said last year? That we are going to help them, but that I won’t put Sanctuary in danger because of them.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that is a lot harder to do when you meet the people in question.” Tomas said.
“It usually is.”
“I can’t accept this.” Tomas said slowly, “At least not until Adrian sends word from Nelus. I doubt that Nelus would appreciate us having an agreement with Nuva.”
Seo-yun remained quiet, letting him sort through it on his own.
“No, I need to wait. If things at Nelus go ahead, then I might add a condition concerning Nuva, making sure that it is protected. But not now.” Tomas said with conviction. He then turned his head upwards looking at Seo-yun.
“Thank you.” He said with a smile on his face.
“I didn’t do anything.” She responded.
“Of course you didn’t.” He said, grinning, and then reached up pulling her head down to his, until their lips met.
***
Unknown system – OWS Monarch
Fleet Commander Johanna Stern sat in the command chair on the Monarch’s CC. Everyone around her was busy, doing their delegated tasks as they moved deeper into the system. The Second Fleet was now 134 light-years away from Sanctuary, 466 from Earth. They still had about another ten months until they arrived in Sol. They haven’t until now encountered a trans-lane that was longer than 15 light-years, the one that will take them from this system was the first. It being 40 light-years long, with travel time of around a week. The passages through trans-lanes were short, a few days at the most, compared to the hyperspace travel that took months if not years. It was the travel between the trans-stations that was taking up most of their time. Usually they needed to pass through an entire system, or a big chunk of it in order to reach the outgoing station. Their trans-capable ships were scanning for other trans-stations in each system, and to date have detected another seven. Three outgoing and four incoming, spread through six system’s they passed through. All of their locations have been recorded and sent back to Sanctuary, for the scout ships that will soon start mapping out and exploring the immediate neighborhood around Sanctuary.
But the system they just entered was also important because of another thing. The Union ship that passed through this system on its way to Earth all those years ago, recorded a dawning intelligent civilization on the fourth planet from the sun. Planet they were now approaching.
“There is still no sign of any space capable intelligence in the system, Fleet Commander.” Sensor Handler reported.
“Still nothing from the planet?” Johanna asked.
“No signs of radio, laser, or any other kind of noise one would expect from an inhabited planet.”
“Any signs of cities?” Johanna asked.
“No.”
“It could be that they simply haven’t advanced enough to form communities.” Ship Master Andros Venter commented.
“They had more than fifteen thousand years…” Johanna said.
“The Union ship didn’t record their level of their civilization. For all we know they were just entering the stone age when the Union ship passed
“You are doing it again. You need sleep.”
“Okay, in a minute. Just let me finish up with this.” Tomas said.
“What are you working on?” Seo-yun asked as she stopped behind Tomas. She put her hands on his shoulders and then leaned down to look at the text floating above the table.
“It’s Lanai Sumia’s proposal for a trade and defense agreement between Nuva and Sanctuary. The people on Nuva have decided that since their government abandoned them, they are free to govern themselves. And we are now their only chance to survive against the Sowir.” Tomas said. He raised his right hand to his shoulder covering Seo-yun’s hand.
“Are you going to accept?” Seo-yun asked.
Tomas sighed. “I don’t know. You remember what I said last year? That we are going to help them, but that I won’t put Sanctuary in danger because of them.”
“Yes.”
“Well, that is a lot harder to do when you meet the people in question.” Tomas said.
“It usually is.”
“I can’t accept this.” Tomas said slowly, “At least not until Adrian sends word from Nelus. I doubt that Nelus would appreciate us having an agreement with Nuva.”
Seo-yun remained quiet, letting him sort through it on his own.
“No, I need to wait. If things at Nelus go ahead, then I might add a condition concerning Nuva, making sure that it is protected. But not now.” Tomas said with conviction. He then turned his head upwards looking at Seo-yun.
“Thank you.” He said with a smile on his face.
“I didn’t do anything.” She responded.
“Of course you didn’t.” He said, grinning, and then reached up pulling her head down to his, until their lips met.
***
Unknown system – OWS Monarch
Fleet Commander Johanna Stern sat in the command chair on the Monarch’s CC. Everyone around her was busy, doing their delegated tasks as they moved deeper into the system. The Second Fleet was now 134 light-years away from Sanctuary, 466 from Earth. They still had about another ten months until they arrived in Sol. They haven’t until now encountered a trans-lane that was longer than 15 light-years, the one that will take them from this system was the first. It being 40 light-years long, with travel time of around a week. The passages through trans-lanes were short, a few days at the most, compared to the hyperspace travel that took months if not years. It was the travel between the trans-stations that was taking up most of their time. Usually they needed to pass through an entire system, or a big chunk of it in order to reach the outgoing station. Their trans-capable ships were scanning for other trans-stations in each system, and to date have detected another seven. Three outgoing and four incoming, spread through six system’s they passed through. All of their locations have been recorded and sent back to Sanctuary, for the scout ships that will soon start mapping out and exploring the immediate neighborhood around Sanctuary.
But the system they just entered was also important because of another thing. The Union ship that passed through this system on its way to Earth all those years ago, recorded a dawning intelligent civilization on the fourth planet from the sun. Planet they were now approaching.
“There is still no sign of any space capable intelligence in the system, Fleet Commander.” Sensor Handler reported.
“Still nothing from the planet?” Johanna asked.
“No signs of radio, laser, or any other kind of noise one would expect from an inhabited planet.”
“Any signs of cities?” Johanna asked.
“No.”
“It could be that they simply haven’t advanced enough to form communities.” Ship Master Andros Venter commented.
“They had more than fifteen thousand years…” Johanna said.
“The Union ship didn’t record their level of their civilization. For all we know they were just entering the stone age when the Union ship passed
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