The Black

Admiral Gwen Trenton stepped into the foyer of the Sol Federation Chancellor’s office. Much had happened over the past several weeks, culminating in one more unmanned and one manned slip space test. Clint was officially her chief of staff now. He was still grousing a little at being even further removed from the ‘action’, but Gwen needed him where he was. The official report on her department’s findings would be ready later this week, but when the leader of the Sol system “requests” a meeting…

“Admiral Trenton, welcome. This way please,” a young woman in professional business attire met Gwen just inside the door and turned to be followed as they both started down the hallway, “The chancellor will see you in the conference room” she said as she stopped at a pair of ornate double doors.

“Ah, Admiral Trenton! Welcome to the Capital. Please sit.” Chancellor Franklin stood quickly, shaking Gwen’s hand before they both sat next to each other.

‘Good, he doesn’t like power plays.’ Gwen thought as Franklin refused to return to the head of the table and instead sat next to her.

“Thank you, Chancellor, it’s been a while. What can I do for you” she responded.

“First off,” Chancellor Franklin began “I have been following the progress reports of your department personally. To say that Sol owes you a debt equal to the one we owe your husband… would be more than fair.” He held up a hand to prevent a protest he suspected was coming, “This makes what I must do all the harder. I asked you here, to personally request your resignation from LEAP….” His voice was apologetic, but his eyes were serious.

“I assume you have a good reason for this?” Admiral Trenton’s eyes flashed. This was not at all what she was expecting. She had half a mind to refuse and make this man drag her out of what had become her second life’s work.

Franklin winced at her tone, but calmly responded, “I suspect that I know what this means to you… and you will not be removed should you refuse. I meant what I said, your work is invaluable. In truth, I do not want to remove you... However, I need you to hear me out with an open mind.” The Chancellor's tone was firm, and his eyes bored into hers.

Admiral Gwen Trenton took a moment to mentally calm herself. It took her decades of military professionalism to not walk out the door, “Very well, I’m listening.”

———————

Two and a half hours later, Franklin shut down the conference room screen. He simply waited. Admiral Gwen Trenton’s ice blues bored into the elected leader of the Sol system, “volunteer only” she said finally, “and I pick my command staff” she said simply.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way” Chancellor Franklin nodded.

“In that case, I accept.” Admiral Trenton rose, straightening her tunic as the Chancellor stood as well offering his hand,

“I will have the documentation and complete information packet forwarded to you by this afternoon. Good day, Admiral.” He stated as they shook hands.

“Good day, Chancellor.” Admiral Trenton nodded, releasing the handshake, and turned to be escorted back to the elevators.

————————————————————-

Mac and Lyrian, exited the simulators, both were breathing heavily. Lyrian was worse off than Mac, but both started chugging bottles of water from Mac’s Day bag.

They had gone four rounds. Mac had predictably won three of them on pure experience alone. The fourth showed how quickly Lyrian had been studying him on the last three merges. They had been more even in performance than Mac had expected. It was likely due to the fact that the Ranger fighter/interceptors were only capable of the upper edge of what a typical Delmar pilot could do. Lyri used this to great effect in keeping Mac honest in the 1 circle. She could pull just as hard as he could, and for almost as long before fatigue set in.

On the 4th fight. She had jumped the merge slightly, pulling vertically in a maximum G pull. He followed her up and they ascended quickly in a vertical rolling scissors until both planes began to falter as they reached the upper altitudes due to being in atmospheric configuration. This is where Fizz got her revenge. Just as both craft stalled out, she slammed her bird into hover mode and gunned the thrusters. Her Ranger slammed over inverted and regained control as she started to fall like an upside-down attack helicopter. Mac was attempting a differential thrust hammer head to get on target as she came racing past his port wing firing both laser and plasma as she went. She didn’t need to be accurate. She had passed within 50 meters of him when she raked him with her firepower. Alarms sounded as both of his drives blew and his left-wing disintegrated. He watched her slam back into normal flight mode. Pointing the nose at the ground finally and recovering to normal flight. Mac hit the ejection lever signaling the end of the sim.

He stepped out to a haggard but triumphant Fizz getting carried around like a conquering hero on the shoulders of the rest of the wing that had apparently been watching their simulated sparring matches.

She hopped down and ran over to him, “Finally gotcha!” She said with a grin.

“I had no idea that was a thing.” Mac said.

“Neither did I, I just remembered that hover can only be initiated below 220. When I saw my airspeed fall under it…” she shrugged.

“Well, it was a good kill, I'm going to have to advance your training a bit earlier than I was ready to. I'm proud of you.” He smiled.

“Those were the wildest fights I have witnessed in my career. We’ll have to send the recording off to get analyzed.” Wing Commander Himar walked up. “I just heard back from Helyon central command. We are approved as an experimental squadron. Many higher-ups aren’t happy to hear that generations of doctrine might be completely obsolete. We are to take 3 months to have you teach us, then participate in war games to test the efficacy of these new tactics.”

Mac chuckled, “I guess the more things change, the more things stay the same. I’ll have some required reading for both atmospheric and interstellar combat sent to you by the end of the day. I will be willing to give a lecture on the subject once a week. I'm no instructor, but I will explain to your pilots how I fight if that is acceptable.” He finished.

“If we can pick up even half of what you demonstrated today in tactics alone… you have just revolutionized fighter combat for Confederation. I look forward to the first lecture.” Commander Himar nodded. He was joined by the entire fighter core of the defense wing. “Now, how about drinks? First round on Ivar!” a cheer rose.

Ivar just chuckled in resignation, “I guess I deserved that.”

The group was headed for the door when Mac’s wrist chirped. “Oh boy, I’ll have to take a rain check. Darclemus is requesting us at the Hall ‘with all haste’.”

“Oh… shit, good luck. Maybe next time” Ivar mentioned. Everyone waved everyone farewell and Mac stole the driver seat from Lyri as they got into Vito. Soon they were soaring toward the hall a little faster than was technically reasonable.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Darclemus stood as Mac and Lyri stepped into his office, “I appreciate the promptness, but the two of you look like you ran a marathon. I could have waited a few more minutes.”

“We were at one of the defensive wings, Commander Himar’s batch, in the simulators. We didn’t have time to get home. It sounded important” Mac stated.

“So that’s what the request for ‘experimental training’ that came across my desk was from. Himar is a good man. If he put a rush on it, it's usually worth it.” Darclemus responded, kneading his chin with one hand. “Well, now that you are here, let’s get to business. We received a response from Sol that we must respond to immediately... I need your opinion on it. But first I must ask something of you.”

“Sounds ominous” Lyri mumbled and Mac nodded.

“What can we do for you” Mac voice went serious.

“I’m afraid that Lucid Traveler must departing without the two of you.” Darclemus stated firmly. He held up a hand to prevent interruption as Lyrian opened her mouth in shock, “It’s not an easy decision for me, but both of you are of exorbitant value to Tribe Helyon, and to the Confederacy. While we have won the Legal battles presiding over your fate, Mac; our contacts deep inside the UGN have been hearing a great many things... I feel that the Safest thing for Traveler, and the two of you, is to publicly promote you to some station on the home world. This would help take the target from the back of Traveler and provide you with the protection of the Defense forces. Captain Silu agree’s, though it pained him to admit it. He is very happy with the upgrades to his defensive arrays. You have left him better than he was when you arrived.”

Mac rubbed Lyrians back. She was profoundly upset, he could feel that; but she was also nodding in understanding. “I was afraid something like this would happen. What else do you require of us.” He stated formally.

“I need you to hear this message and tell me if I should accept, or reject the offer presented… I do not ask for the answer today. But I will need it from you in the morning. Sol wishes to… further explore their options in our part of space...”

Mac raised an eyebrow, “I guess I should see what Sol has to say.” he stated, turning toward the Viewer on the wall as one of Darclemus’s aids initiated the message.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Mac opened the door for Lryi as they arrived home well after dark. Today was a hell of a wild one, Lyri had been upset at losing her seat as senior Con for Traveler. She understood why, but it still hurt. They both took a quick shower before bed to clean the exertion and sweat from their simulator sparring match of earlier today. Mac was tired, but more mentally exhausted. He finished preparing for bed first and slid into their nest of a bed first. Delmar Beds were an interesting experience. first, they were circular. The second was that they were intentionally designed in a flight-concave fashion towards the middle. Apparently, it was a holdover from earlier times where whole family units would sleep together for during the cooler winter months. It had finally explained why Lyri was so drawn to his body heat. She had explained that Delmar don’t retain heat very well, so temperature changes affected them more aggressively because of it. Mac crawled into the center and flopped on his back, pulling one of the segmented radial sheets across his waist just in time for Lyri to come dragging in, clearly exhausted, to flop down and pull herself to her customary spot next to him with her head on his chest.

“HMMMMM warm.” she said, entwining his body hers, her tail wrapped around his left leg.

“What do you make of Sol’s message” He asked, his spike of worry got her attention and she shifted to look up at him.

“I think It’s a risk, one we must take... as a people.” Lyri whispered before settling back down, “The Unity murdered two-thirds of my people before the armistice. The only reason they stopped was because the Tetrarchy pulled on the leash of the Thermians. We were deemed to be too useful to the Galactic Economy.”

“Jesus, that’s why you hate the Unity so much, why you push your monopoly. I knew you wanted to be free. Until now I just assumed it was good old-fashioned yearning for freedom. Who is the Tetrarchy” Mac started stroking her mane, causing a slight shiver.

“They are the total rulers of the Unity. Three Giant Metal beings make up the Unity Tetrarchy... there is a 4th metal monstrosity that is the head of the Inquisitorum.” She said, fully settling in for the night.

“Artificial beings control the Unity?” he asked.

“We don’t know. There are always whispers. But the Tetrarchy only meets when absolutely necessary. I think they have only shown themselves once in the last 400 years, and only to walk to the Tower of the Unity where they meet, then leave again.” She whispered, already fading from consciousness.

Mac chuckled and kissed her on the top of the head as her breathing slowed and deepened. Her body melted slightly as the last conscious control fled to her being. “Sweet dreams” he whispered and reached over, turning out the lights. Soon, he followed her into slumber.

The Next morning, He sent a message to Darclemus as Lyrian finished breakfast. They did an abbreviated morning run at 1.5 times their normal weights, then launched in Concord headed for the research-turned-communications station. Mac had dubbed the orbiting laboratory “Alexander Station”. Doctor Quinn had approved when Mac had explained that it was the first name of the human that pioneered long-range voice communication.

Lyri had graduated to doing the walk around as Mac climbed in to do the front seat preflight. Lyri soon joined him, and they quickly began Howling for orbit. They were technically a civilian flight at the moment, so they had to follow the clearances. Mac chuckled as Ivar and a wingman, that were on a standard patrol, heard their radio calls and swung by to waggle wings in greeting before returning to their route.

The Transmission went smoothly, and They returned to the planet, having left Alexander Station with another surplus of power. Mac traded off to Lyri for the return trip, leaning back and relaxing in the back seat as Lyri bent Concord to her will as they screamed out of orbit.

“I was thinking, we have been doing a lot of bouncing around on Helyon business, but I haven’t really gotten to see your culture.” Mac mentioned as Lyri executed a flawless recovery from reentry and configured Concord for Atmo.

“It's because we don’t have much in the way of cultural events happening right now. The tribes have always been focused on the refits when the freighters are home. I’m going to be dragging you to all of it when we get the freighters Sent out for the season.” there was a little pain in her voice.

“I'm sorry you have to stay.” He offered.

“No, it's ok. I knew this was coming the second you were named ‘agent’, and there is no way I was going to leave you to go on Voyage. Delmar have a tradition. Newly bonded couples either go on voyage together or stay at home-world together until they produce offspring. The claiming makes it so that a female most likely cannot reproduce with someone else should her mate not come home. So, it is the way of things” she explained.

“We have some time this evening. Let’s swing by your father's Office, I have some questions for him. And a bottle of whiskey I believe he’s earned.” Mac chuckled from the back seat.

40 minutes later Concord's wheels chirped as Lyrian set her down. Losing Traveler was painful, but she had Concord. The dangerously beautiful warship she was piloting was more than compensation for losing the Con of a freighter. She also learned that Mac had recommended her as an instructor to teach in tandem with him. She was to teach Himar’s Wing the basic merges and foundational concepts that Mac was going to weave into more advanced strategy and complex Merge fighting techniques. Mac had tried to call it ‘dogfighting’ but such an animal simply didn’t exist on Delmar, and made no sense to anyone but him. So ‘Merge fights’ or ‘Merges’ it was. Mac had given her a basic level text explaining what he called “beyond visual range” combat. And she had been shocked at the distances that were commonplace for Humans to kill one another in the sky and the void. They quickly changed out of their G suits and hopped in Vito to head into town.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Doc Icario was just finishing up his last report when his door opened. His front desk clerk walked in with a worried face, “Uh, Doctor. We have a walk-in…”

“Can they come back? It's 5 minutes to close. Is it urgent?” he asked rubbing his eyes.

“They say it's urgent...” She was apologetic but there was something else.

Icario sighed, “alright, set them up in exam 2. I’ll be there in…” Icario was interrupted as His daughter bounded past the clerk and gave her old man a very human hug.

“It's Us Da!” She squealed as Mac walked in at a more sedate pace.

“I don’t think an exam room will be necessary, Thanks for the help” He nodded to the now smirking Clerk.

Icario chuckled and stood to hug his daughter back before raising an eyebrow as Mac pulled out a bottle of very expensive booze. “Do we need to be celebrating something?”

Mac snorted, “Not yet. Lyri finally told me about the testing she had you do, that’s a big thank you for... obvious reasons.” Mac and Icario shared a knowing uncomfortable look. “She told me you got some promising results, but we want to know everything.”

Icario took a deep breath, “well, first off. I need to know a bit about human embryonic development.” He started, slowly opening a drawer and pulling out three glasses, “and as much as I am a professional, I am not having this conversation sober.”

Mac barked a laugh and Lyrian blushed brightly as Mac produced a truly expensive bottle of Delmar vintage and began pouring.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Inquisitorious sat motionless in his massive office chambers. Maximar sat in his command chair, his skin was showing the strain of too little sleep and too much frustration. The Delmar Confederation, specifically the Helyon Tribe, had been upping their security. Floating Drones in with the garbage was no longer working, and there was no information worthy of more overt actions. Well, no information fit to become a public record anyway. The chime rang, and another one of those infernal insect-living drones walked in. This one’s torso was cracked, and its head languished to the side as it fumbled with the data chip. He put it out of its misery before pulling up the information. Another burst of energy headed for Humanity from Delmar. How they were generating, and storing the power to send data that far was beyond anything currently known, and he could not get any closer without triggering major repercussions throughout the Unity… at least not officially. He keyed up a message. This was a risk, but he needed data. Too much did not make sense. Humanity had only had just over 4 centuries of existence since the last transmission from the detachment sent to monitor the Sol system. It had been a risk, taken millennia before his time. The seeding, the buffer. The much later beginnings of the cataclysm of his race…

He shook his head, nothing made sense… he Sent the message and initiated a sleep cycle, a much-needed comatose state glazed over his unblinking eyes as he settled back onto the command chair that was now tilting to accommodate the rest period.

The sinking feeling in his digestive tract followed him into the haze.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Admiral Gwen stood on board the USN Tranquility, named after the brutal engagement on Luna that shared its name with the ancient first landing site. Tranquility was a Langley class Escort Carrier of Terran design. The admiral looked around, watching the controlled chaos of the bridge, noting that almost a third of the Bridge crew wore Martian Insignia. The United Sol Navy had compromised in its attire. The Uniforms were a smart blend of the two previously hostile navies, but you were allowed to wear the home flag of your nation next to the Sol Federation’s colors. Tensions had been slowly smoothing as both militaries had integrated, but the first Combined Designs were still in the shipyard.

Tranquility was an early war design, somehow a flying miracle that survived the extreme attrition of Total Interplanetary War. She carried a complement of F-43 Raptor II’s, and SAG-89 Aardvark Carrier based Anti-capital ship light bombers. These craft, while potent during the war, were being phased out, and therefore available to The Admiral and her Flag Commander. Tranquility was escorted by two Martian Tharsis class Destroyers and a Terran Eros Class Dreadnaught. The small fleet of ships was currently in orbit around Luna as the LEAP techs finished their final checks. Each Crewman was a volunteer, and each man or woman was given triple pay with two-thirds of it being paid directly to their families should they not live through their mission.

Each one had a reason for being here. Many saw this as their chance to escape the system that held so many horrific memories for them. Others had families suffering from the aftermath of near extinction. Still more were simply not ready to retire and were fleeing the shrinkage of both militaries to a peacetime footing. All had been thoroughly vetted. The escort ships of both Terran and Martian make were designed to be operated with a minimum crew. Roughly 1000 Humans made up the crews of those ships with another 700 on board the Carrier, which included flight crew and support personnel. The number should be closer to 1000 souls, but There were so few pilots left after the war. Fewer still considered combat-ready. Of the 24 Raptors and 10 Aardvarks, Tranquility had enough pilots to launch 13 Raptors and 3 Aardvarks. The remaining ships were backups.

“The board is green, ready for departure” a familiar voice spoke behind Admiral Gwen. Commodore Clint Stevens was the commander of the Fleet under her. She nodded to him and looked back out of the observation windows.

“Captain Willows! Initiate handshake protocols. Let’s sync the Drives and the Computers. Jump when ready.” Clint ordered.

Captain Peter Willows nodded and began barking orders as the 4 ships began to hum with power. Each ship was an older design for a reason. Each ship had been retrofitted with a 3rd generation slip drive and Engine Management and Navigational system to attempt fleet-level Slipspace jumps. Their destination was Neptune’s Beacon.

5 minutes went by.. “Handshake Green, All drives report green!. Jump in 10... mark!” Captain Willows barked, and the silent countdown began. All the ships were Data Linked to Tranquility who was providing the jump data. The jump data was being double, triple and quadruple checked by each of the other ships’ computer systems for safety and quality control.

There were a few gasps when the Black outside the observation windows started bleeding streaks of white and blue. Whisps of plasma contrails bled off the trailing edges of the Carrier and her Escorts.

Then, with a flash. It was over and the fleet appeared over Neptune.

“Jump complete. All systems read nominal” one of the bridge crew called out.

“Well done everyone. We will be having the LEAP crew do a full check of all 4 vessels. Have the fleet establish orbit over Neptune until that is completed.” Clint turned to Gwen and gave her a long-relieved look.

After all, they weren’t dead, yet.