[AgentZero]

Glad to see my efforts are appreciated. ;-) Couple questions though. A: If anyone notices anything that seems to be in direct condtradiction to current military regulations, please let me know (unless I've already mentioned in the story that it's against regulations). B: I'd appreciate any help with military rank. Especially things like what rank an engineer would hold aboard a ship, and what rank the chief engineer would usually have. With that in mind, here is part two.


“What would happen if we took our hyperdrive modulator offline?”

Ramsey shook his head. “The instability is now part of our drive field. The only way to correct it would be for us to drop back into normal space and make repairs before continuing on.”

Kellet exhaled heavily, staring at the tactical plot in front of him. Their covert mission had taken them deep inside enemy territory, and even at full hyperdrive speed, it would still take three days to get clear. He keyed in a few commands, and the plot zoomed in on a single system: Odin’s Star. The system where, in one hour, Alpha Group would be wrenched from hyperspace and three battlecruisers would be destroyed, and nine thousand men and women would lose their lives. It was also a heavily populated enemy system and bound to b e crawling with hostile warships. Scrolling back out, he stared at the icons representing the eight star systems they would pass through before reaching Odin’s Star.

“The BC engineers are upgrading the inertial compensators and altering the modulation of the shields as we speak,” Ramsey continued. “So, in theory, when we-”

“Will it work?”

Ramsey and Kellet turned to look at Captain Aolo. He’d risen from his chair, and while outwardly composed, Kellet could sense the pain and turmoil writhing within his childhood friend. Ramsey’s shoulders slumped.

“No,” he admitted. “It won’t do a damn thing.”

Kellet nodded slowly, then thumbed a switch on his chair, opening a communications link with another section of the ship. “Have Commander Matthews report to the bridge,” he said quietly. Not quietly enough, he noticed, as several nearby crewmen shifted uncomfortably. A few moments later, the bridge doors ground open and Matthews strolled onto the bridge. Despite their best efforts, the male bridge staff were unable to keep themselves from staring. Commander Sarah Matthews was, by all accounts, stunningly beautiful. Her shimmering black hair reached down to her shoulders, noticeably longer than military regs permitted and her sparkling green eyes focused solely on Kellet as she strode towards the admiral’s chair, her slender body swaying sensuously as she approached. Kellet rose to return her salute, then waited as she snapped an equally crisp salute to Aolo, before nodding upwards at Ramsey. Matthews was a fair bit shorter than the Terran norm for females, though one would be hard pressed to find a man who would complain about it. As she turned back towards Kellet, a slight smile tugged at her lips.

You look terrible, her voice echoed in his head. Along with being the head of the 23rd Fleet’s Intelligence Division, Matthews was also a high-ranked member of the Psy Corp, meaning she possessed both powerful telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Kellet ran a series of numbers images and memories through his mind, a special code that would unblock the conditioning in Matthews mind for a short while, and allow her to receive his thoughts.

You’ve looked better yourself, he replied, letting his eyes wander over the freshly treated gash in her forehead. How’d you earn that, he inquired. Power overload?

No, she replied. McPherson’s coffee mug.

Kellet chuckled despite himself, drawing curious looks from Aolo and Ramsey, both of whom were completely oblivious to the exchange between the two. Kellet ignored them and had Ramsey explain the hyperdrive situation to Matthews. When he was done, Matthews turned back to Kellet.

“So, exactly what do you want me to do about it?” she asked bluntly. Members of the Psy Corp were not renowned for their subtlety.

“You know enemy space better than anyone,” said Kellet. “We need to find somewhere quiet where we can drop out of hyperspace and make repairs.”

“There,” Matthews replied instantly, pointing to a system on the tactical plot. “The Ootek’rey System. Uninhabited due to the lack of any hospitable worlds. Only two planets orbit it’s star, and both are completely barren, devoid of any resources or even atmosphere. If you want somewhere to hide, there’s your spot.”

“Ramsey?” Kellet inquired, noticing that the engineer was shaking his head.

“Ootek’rey is forty-eight minutes out, sir,” he said. “By then, the field imbalance have gotten to the stage where making transit would be fatal to our BCs.”

“Then they won’t make transit,” said Aolo. “The Ardent, Trafalgar and Renown will jump in-system, make repairs, then catch up with the rest of the fleet at the rendezvous point.”

Ramsey cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Problem is, sir, only the Renown and Ardent have functioning hyperdrive modulators. If we jump out, the BCs will be trapped in hyperspace, and have no way to manoeuvre, let alone jump back into normal space.”

“But the Trafalgar’s drive is working?” asked Aolo.

“Yes, sir. Perfectly,” Ramsey replied.

“Then the Ardent will jump alone,” Kellet informed them. “The rest of Alpha Group will carry on without us.”

“Without our screening ships we will be extremely vulnerable if discovered,” Aolo pointed out.

“Agreed,” nodded Kellet. “But unfortunately, we don’t seem to have much choice.”

Forty-five minutes later, a strange thing began to happen in a lonely patch of space in the Ootek’rey System. The very fabric of space began to twist and contort, pulling and straining, bucking and heaving until suddenly it split wide open and the vast energies of hyperspace spewed outwards for a brief moment, until they were blotted out by the Ardent as she thundered into normal space.