Starship Vengeance

Chapter 14

I watched as the last of the transports lifted off and headed towards the Unity. It had taken almost a full day to transport the crew and supplies. At last all crew were accounted for and we had enough supplies to last us several months. The only personnel who weren't on board were those assigned to protect Lisa. My thoughts turned to what had happened the last time I saw her. She had been inaccessible since she kissed me, and I was confused. I returned my focus to the present and waited until the cargo ships were out of sight. I would be the last one to board the ship.

I walked over to the waiting shuttle and strapped myself in. After a quick pre-flight check I was in the air. I stopped at ten thousand feet and took a minute to absorb the view. Much of the planet was still wild. It bore a close resemblance to Earth, which brought a host of conflicting emotions. The ship was virtually silent as it hung in there air. The experience was refreshing and I found a growing resolve in myself. No matter what happened, I wouldn't rest until every last Zrynt had been hunted down and destroyed. Almost reverently, I took the controls and forced the ship to continue its journey.

Five minutes later the Unity filled the view screen. Outwardly, nothing had changed. Most of the changes were internal, or too small to been seen from afar. The Unity was crawling with nanites now. With the technological advances we had made, we were able to free up significant amounts of space. With the ability to create atmospherics and water on demand, the amount of space needed for storage was a fraction of what was originally planned. Ammunition could be created rapidly as well, so storage for that was virtually non-existent. We put the newly freed space to good use. The original jump drive was gone. It was replaced by a much larger, more efficient drive. In addition to the main drive, we also had a smaller drive that could be charged much more rapidly. This drive would only be used in combat. It took the stress off of our main drive and allowed us to keep the flexibility we enjoyed. The rail guns had been replaced by the rail arrays that had so effectively shredded the last Zrynt fleet we encountered. The changes were too numerous to count. Also on board were a few experimental technologies that Dr. Thompson and his cohorts had cooked up.

It felt good to walk the familiar corridors. I stopped by my office to drop off my personal effects, and it felt like I was coming home. As nice as it was to be on firm ground, this was where I was mean to be. I dropped my bags off, not even bothering to unpack and headed for the bridge. The bridge had largely remained unchanged. The most noticeable difference was the missing holotable. Projectors similar to the ones Sarah designed were imbedded around the room. I had taken some liberties with my chair and added a few features to make it more useable.

I sat down and started checking on each station. Lt. Edwards approached and said, "Admiral, the engine room reports that both jump drives are fully operational and have passed all tests. The main drive is primed. We're standing by for orders."

"My compliments to you all" I said out loud. "Give the order to jump to Narrisal." Yellow warning lights blinked, giving warning of the impending jump. We had received enough complaints about the lack of notice that we incorporated the warning lights into every room. Thirty seconds later we appeared above Narrisal. The moment we appeared, we were hailed.

"Display message on the main screen" I commanded. Shahae appeared, looking radiant.

"Shahae, it is good to see you."

"It's good to see you as well Admiral Ryan. We received notice of your pending departure, but the purpose of the mission still remains a mystery to us."

"I would like to meet with you and Queen Shaniir to discuss the purpose."

"We will arrive shortly then" she said and the transmission ended.

"Lt. Foster, send word to have docking space and a conference room prepared." I left the bridge in the capable hands of my crew, and left so I could meet our guests.