star, Sir e."
Acting on the tip from Ezra Brimstone, they had come to this remote planet to find Caleb Jordan, a man who reportedly could restore the disabled pulse cannons of their ship back to proper function. There was no doubt that this Jordan was up to the task; with only a handful of untrained men, he had been able to mount pulse beam projectors from a Succession War heavy cruiser on two run-of-the-mill cargo ships, converting them into formidable weapons. While there was no doubt that this Jordan fellow could do the job, what remained very much up in the air was whether or not he would perform the duties willingly.
The new crew of the Skorpios wasn't about to take no for an answer.
Chapter 13.
One Week Earlier...
UTFN Planetside Launch Facility, North American Continent, Old Earth, November 24, 2598.
Tamara Carlisle made it to the Naval Spaceport near Homestead in the legacy Florida region of Old Earth with only a half hour to spare. As she headed through the facility towards her gate, the knot of fear in her stomach beginning to dissipate as she realized she wasn't going to miss her connection, she thought how happy Lieutenant Ryan Harris would be for her when he found out about her new assignment.
"Ryan! Omigod!" she blurted out as she stopped so abruptly that the two sailors directly behind her almost ran her over. It suddenly hit her with a sickening flash that during the whirlwind of activities associated with finishing her Doctorate and taking on her new assignment, she hadn't written to the Lieutenant for two email cycles. She decided right then that she would write to him as soon as she got settled on the Asimov and send the email off as soon as she could. She was immediately subjected to another flash, as she remembered that she had been ordered not to communicate with anyone.
She continued to the gate for transport up to the Asimov , a little more subdued then she had been. As she boarded the shuttle that would take her into space and to the orbital facility where the destroyer Asimov waited, she pondered if there was any way possible to get some kind of message to him. After chewing the problem over in her mind for more than an hour she came to the disheartening conclusion that she wasn't going to be able contact him anytime soon.
Orders were orders.
She made it onto the Asimov with several hours to spare and was in her assigned quarters and squared away for transport when the destroyer broke orbit and headed out for the Sol System Whitney hyperlink point before translating out. Carlisle didn't have any official duties on board the Asimov for the next week as the ship and crew made their way between and through several additional Whitney jump points that marked the route between Old Earth and the Santana Nexus and she was able to set her own schedule.
Fortunately, the data chip that the Academy intelligence people had provided her with contained a wealth of information about the home planets of all the religious and political leaders she was likely to meet in the days after she arrived at the Nexus as well as biographical information on them and their families, if they had any. She also read up on the Meridian Ambassador. Carlisle had known that the father of the Ambassador's wife, Sondia, was the Meridian Prime Minister but she hadn't known that the Ambassador's father was a former general in the Meridian Army.
She also found out that the Ambassador himself had been a military leader of some note, having led a successful combined space naval and land-based attack on Fundamentalist forces holed up on a moon in the Meridian System. He had proved to be a capable leader but that particular action hadn't made him any friends in the very conservative branches of his government or his faith. An uneasy peace had been maintained for the last five years but the Fundamentalists remained a potent and growing force in the Meridian system.
She was to be the Federation liaison for the Ambassador
Acting on the tip from Ezra Brimstone, they had come to this remote planet to find Caleb Jordan, a man who reportedly could restore the disabled pulse cannons of their ship back to proper function. There was no doubt that this Jordan was up to the task; with only a handful of untrained men, he had been able to mount pulse beam projectors from a Succession War heavy cruiser on two run-of-the-mill cargo ships, converting them into formidable weapons. While there was no doubt that this Jordan fellow could do the job, what remained very much up in the air was whether or not he would perform the duties willingly.
The new crew of the Skorpios wasn't about to take no for an answer.
Chapter 13.
One Week Earlier...
UTFN Planetside Launch Facility, North American Continent, Old Earth, November 24, 2598.
Tamara Carlisle made it to the Naval Spaceport near Homestead in the legacy Florida region of Old Earth with only a half hour to spare. As she headed through the facility towards her gate, the knot of fear in her stomach beginning to dissipate as she realized she wasn't going to miss her connection, she thought how happy Lieutenant Ryan Harris would be for her when he found out about her new assignment.
"Ryan! Omigod!" she blurted out as she stopped so abruptly that the two sailors directly behind her almost ran her over. It suddenly hit her with a sickening flash that during the whirlwind of activities associated with finishing her Doctorate and taking on her new assignment, she hadn't written to the Lieutenant for two email cycles. She decided right then that she would write to him as soon as she got settled on the Asimov and send the email off as soon as she could. She was immediately subjected to another flash, as she remembered that she had been ordered not to communicate with anyone.
She continued to the gate for transport up to the Asimov , a little more subdued then she had been. As she boarded the shuttle that would take her into space and to the orbital facility where the destroyer Asimov waited, she pondered if there was any way possible to get some kind of message to him. After chewing the problem over in her mind for more than an hour she came to the disheartening conclusion that she wasn't going to be able contact him anytime soon.
Orders were orders.
She made it onto the Asimov with several hours to spare and was in her assigned quarters and squared away for transport when the destroyer broke orbit and headed out for the Sol System Whitney hyperlink point before translating out. Carlisle didn't have any official duties on board the Asimov for the next week as the ship and crew made their way between and through several additional Whitney jump points that marked the route between Old Earth and the Santana Nexus and she was able to set her own schedule.
Fortunately, the data chip that the Academy intelligence people had provided her with contained a wealth of information about the home planets of all the religious and political leaders she was likely to meet in the days after she arrived at the Nexus as well as biographical information on them and their families, if they had any. She also read up on the Meridian Ambassador. Carlisle had known that the father of the Ambassador's wife, Sondia, was the Meridian Prime Minister but she hadn't known that the Ambassador's father was a former general in the Meridian Army.
She also found out that the Ambassador himself had been a military leader of some note, having led a successful combined space naval and land-based attack on Fundamentalist forces holed up on a moon in the Meridian System. He had proved to be a capable leader but that particular action hadn't made him any friends in the very conservative branches of his government or his faith. An uneasy peace had been maintained for the last five years but the Fundamentalists remained a potent and growing force in the Meridian system.
She was to be the Federation liaison for the Ambassador
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