The Second Chance

The Fleet

The small ship moved through a strange place that back on earth they would have called hyperspace it was like a negative to what I would see as normal. The space was white "stars" and everything else was black, in this space the speed of light was standing still so all you could do was move faster than light. To make it stranger sometimes randomly you would "see" a flash like a picture but never quite understand what it was it was thought you would be crossing a ship in one of the many universes and for some reason you would connect with a being from there and see some of their thoughts.

A sound happened letting all know we were dropping out of hyperspace then you would feel like you were in two places at once then with all most a snap we were back in normal space once again. Sitting about a half light-year from a very dead star it was just above the temperature of absolute zero. This was a special place the King had known about and sent me to see what was there it did not show on any charts as we slowly began moving toward the star we received a notice to submit the code allowing entry. I gave the code to commutations and a moment later we were welcomed to continue in-ward and we did following the instructions given at this speed it would take a couple hours to get there so we relaxed.

Then with little warning there was light, a small station lit up as the docking information was sent to us surprisingly the pilot, that young wolf was flying by the book no shortcuts or anything everyone turned to look at her and she did a fast look around and said "What are all of you looking at?"with a few smiles everyone looked away someone mumbled "this was a historic day she was flying by the books" as we docked she grumbled she did not "always fly crazy" then some one asked her "when did she not fly that way" her answer as "Today" with a small growl. Then she locked down the ships controls and AI so the ship could not be moved.

As we made our way into the docking bay looking around we saw two small ships many years outdated the crew told me as we went to the doors ahead of us as we arrived a voice asked who we were and the kings code. As each gave their names and ID codes the crew members were lit up with a scan, then it was my turn I gave my name even though I had no ID code to give there was a delay then it again requested my ID and the Kings code I don't have a ID number though I have the numbers from the King and gave the code. There was a pause then the doors opened showing a very old person standing there who welcomed us and wanted us to follow so we did as he moved he continued talking non stop, it seemed everything he was thinking went right to voice no delay. Though one thing caught my attention "So the King wants his treasure, the fleets now, I see"

We entered a room filled with control panels and it was not a small room. He stated "here it is!" we all just stood there until I asked what "it" was. A voice answered saying "the code I had given let them know I was in place of the King and had his voice here" and this was the resting place of the royal fleet. A couple seconds later, I simply asked how big the fleet was and its condition the screen in front of us lit up showing the star and around it points of light "it stands at seven hundred and ninety thousand sire though many are support ships." I sat down stunned and asked "who knows about this depot?" "you and your crew and the King sire". For the next couple hours the AI described all the classes of the fleet and how many of each kind there were my head hurt from all the information my crew (the ones still awake that is) were just as glassy eyed as I was I cut off the AI and asked how long would it take to get the fleet operating? "Its ready now sire they just need a living crew in each, as no AI by law could fly its self". "How big a crew?" the answer was unexpected, only one living being per ship then he took us on a tour that took far more than a couple hours to finish. I would never have guessed that there were so many types of ships, ranging from the size and type the king had to single person ships, and all looked like they had never been used. With that in mind I asked why they all looked new he looked at me and with a smile said "because they were all new" he went on with after the fleet arrived to the system now called the Kingdom they took all the damaged ships and retired them approximately five hundred years ago the King set up a group to repair and anything else they could to make a larger and better fleet and so they did as ordered with a vengeance so now five hundred years later there were a large number of ships all in working order and never used. Then he surprised me more by saying "Do you wish to see the other fleets?" After a moment or two my brain started working again and I asked how many "fleets" there were. His answer was three though fleets two and three were larger at just under a million each and that did not include the original ships as they were models for the rest. I asked "Does the King know how many ships you have made? His answer was the last King did not know but I did, I asked him what he meant his answer was the ship you arrived on told us you were the King just not crowned yet. All I could say was "oh" he then offered me a data crystal with a bow saying it held all information on every ship and the codes to enter them. I excused all of us to go to sleep and we would be back later he said "rest well" and with a bow turned to leave then stopped and said Sire I forgot to mention the ships hulls were made from the dead stars material and so far they had found no weapon that could harm it then I asked how it had been mined and worked "with a grin he said from the star metal of course" then left.