hour in the Fresher, and donned my dress-whites.
Lost in my thoughts, the shuttle flight seemed to take only minutes. As I exited, a tall, immaculately dressed commander waited.
"Welcome aboard, Captain Reese. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to Admiral Zann. She's waiting for you in her office.” As we walked, he gave me an overview of the Harpy, which was on its maiden voyage. Basically, the same design but with improved electronics, battle steel shielding, ECM, and missiles. I wondered how good those new missiles would be against the Mnemosyne.
"Thank you, Garrett. Nadya, I'm afraid to have dinner with you. You seem to attract killers like the stars attract us." She gave me a hug and waved me to a chair. "Fortunately, you have nine lives. We used the information you gave us, and I think we've identified the man, actually an organization, who bribed the sailors. We could prosecute the man but that would put the organization on alert and we'd lose them. So…"
"So, they will continue to try to destroy the Treaty, but SAS security has promised they will stop it before it starts." I couldn't stop a snort as Thalia sent me an image of a large cat with a shirt with SAS Security written on it chasing a hundred little rats. The problem was the cat wasn't catching anything. When I told Zann, she laughed.
"My feelings too. Changing subjects, I understand the Riss cruiser will be called Mnemosyne. I'd love to see it when it's finished."
"You’re in luck. A certain Admiral will be given a special tour tomorrow. Her hull is finished and work will now begin on the inside."
* * *
I stood inside the third, upper tier, of the Mnemosyne frozen in awe. The third tier was a two-story open space of two hundred thousand square meters, filled with trees, boulders, water, grass, and windows in the ceiling.
Thalia's sigh of pleasure felt warm and comforting.
"It's like being outdoors!" Oana Ja'Dalle said, her head swiveling from right, to ceiling, to the left, and back.
"Sa'Arkadi, you've taken my dreams and turned them into reality. It's beautiful."
"But if it's breached, the entire area will be open to space."
"It won't matter during a battle, because everyone will be at their stations. In combat, this tier acts as a buffer to the second tier where the Bridge, and other critical functions reside. Normally, it's a rest area for the Riss, who have lived their entire life outdoors under the stars."
"Danu and I are impressed, Nadya. It's truly a Riss cruiser. I can't wait to see it functional. When?"
I looked to Da'Maass. He stood looking at the ceiling for a minute, then smiled.
"It depends on our dybbuk. We've been working on the internal components for six months. If they meet… Captain Reese's approval, we may be able to have it ready for a trial run in six to eight months. Many of the components are already in production."
"Nadya, I want you to keep me informed. We may delay the next replacement run for a month or two if you expect to have a prototype ready. Admiral Plimson deserves to be the first to see a Riss cruiser. He's put a lot on the line letting you build it."
We descended to the second tier, which was composed of three rings. The rings weren't configured yet, but I explained the outer ring would eventually hold engines, weapons, sensors, missile and laser banks, workout areas, and maintenance bays. The next inner ring was reserved for the medical facilities, supplies, parts, missiles, and dining areas. The innermost ring would hold the Bridge and system computers.
When we finished the tour of the lower ring, Byer and Seng approached Zann and me.
"Captain Reese, excuse us, but Seng and I were wondering if you plan on having humans on board? We see areas designated for fighters and humans on tiers one and two but understand this is still a draft," Byer said. Zann turned her gaze on me, as if I had the answer.
"Partly it will depend upon the SAS and whether they will allow pilots and Scorpions to be
Lost in my thoughts, the shuttle flight seemed to take only minutes. As I exited, a tall, immaculately dressed commander waited.
"Welcome aboard, Captain Reese. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to Admiral Zann. She's waiting for you in her office.” As we walked, he gave me an overview of the Harpy, which was on its maiden voyage. Basically, the same design but with improved electronics, battle steel shielding, ECM, and missiles. I wondered how good those new missiles would be against the Mnemosyne.
"Thank you, Garrett. Nadya, I'm afraid to have dinner with you. You seem to attract killers like the stars attract us." She gave me a hug and waved me to a chair. "Fortunately, you have nine lives. We used the information you gave us, and I think we've identified the man, actually an organization, who bribed the sailors. We could prosecute the man but that would put the organization on alert and we'd lose them. So…"
"So, they will continue to try to destroy the Treaty, but SAS security has promised they will stop it before it starts." I couldn't stop a snort as Thalia sent me an image of a large cat with a shirt with SAS Security written on it chasing a hundred little rats. The problem was the cat wasn't catching anything. When I told Zann, she laughed.
"My feelings too. Changing subjects, I understand the Riss cruiser will be called Mnemosyne. I'd love to see it when it's finished."
"You’re in luck. A certain Admiral will be given a special tour tomorrow. Her hull is finished and work will now begin on the inside."
* * *
I stood inside the third, upper tier, of the Mnemosyne frozen in awe. The third tier was a two-story open space of two hundred thousand square meters, filled with trees, boulders, water, grass, and windows in the ceiling.
Thalia's sigh of pleasure felt warm and comforting.
"It's like being outdoors!" Oana Ja'Dalle said, her head swiveling from right, to ceiling, to the left, and back.
"Sa'Arkadi, you've taken my dreams and turned them into reality. It's beautiful."
"But if it's breached, the entire area will be open to space."
"It won't matter during a battle, because everyone will be at their stations. In combat, this tier acts as a buffer to the second tier where the Bridge, and other critical functions reside. Normally, it's a rest area for the Riss, who have lived their entire life outdoors under the stars."
"Danu and I are impressed, Nadya. It's truly a Riss cruiser. I can't wait to see it functional. When?"
I looked to Da'Maass. He stood looking at the ceiling for a minute, then smiled.
"It depends on our dybbuk. We've been working on the internal components for six months. If they meet… Captain Reese's approval, we may be able to have it ready for a trial run in six to eight months. Many of the components are already in production."
"Nadya, I want you to keep me informed. We may delay the next replacement run for a month or two if you expect to have a prototype ready. Admiral Plimson deserves to be the first to see a Riss cruiser. He's put a lot on the line letting you build it."
We descended to the second tier, which was composed of three rings. The rings weren't configured yet, but I explained the outer ring would eventually hold engines, weapons, sensors, missile and laser banks, workout areas, and maintenance bays. The next inner ring was reserved for the medical facilities, supplies, parts, missiles, and dining areas. The innermost ring would hold the Bridge and system computers.
When we finished the tour of the lower ring, Byer and Seng approached Zann and me.
"Captain Reese, excuse us, but Seng and I were wondering if you plan on having humans on board? We see areas designated for fighters and humans on tiers one and two but understand this is still a draft," Byer said. Zann turned her gaze on me, as if I had the answer.
"Partly it will depend upon the SAS and whether they will allow pilots and Scorpions to be
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