soldiers under his command had been enemies for years, and they’d been thrown together only by the threat of annihilation at the hands of the First Imperium. It had been a difficult situation even under the auspices of the Grand Pact, humanity’s alliance against the enemy. But now, lost in the depths of space, he knew it was only a matter of time before he faced dissent and challenges to his authority. His success in saving the fleet from certain destruction had bought him some time, but he knew enough about people to understand that wouldn’t last long. The threat of the enemy stifled dissent and solidified his power, but with each system they passed without pursuit, he knew the other voices would grow bolder…and more would listen to them.
“Admiral Compton, I have good news.” The sound of John Duke’s deep voice blasted from the bridge speakers.
“Well we could sure use some, John,” Compton replied. “So let’s hear it.”
Compton had sent Duke’s fast attack ships out to scout the systems around the fleet, looking for a gas giant with large tritium resources. It had been a matter of economy as well as caution to send the small ships out while the main force waited. The fleet was already dangerously low on fuel—stopping and looking for resupply hadn’t seemed a priority when the First Imperium forces were still on their tail. But now Compton’s ships had barely enough reserves for a last fight if one came upon them. He wasn’t about to burn that up dragging 226 ships all over uncharted space looking for a tritium source when Duke’s ships could do the job.
“The fifth planet in X18 looks like a great prospect. The probe readings were phenomenal for tritium concentrations…and there’s plenty of helium-3 too. And planet four looks like a paradise. I’d say it might be a place to check out for any potential foodstuffs.”
Compton nodded, more to himself than anything. We’ve got to come up with something better than numbering these new systems X-whatever. “That is good news, John. We need that tritium.” He paused then added, with somewhat lesser enthusiasm, “And we’ll check out planet four too. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
He wasn’t optimistic about finding naturally-occurring edibles in any significant quantity. When man had first burst out into space, he found that habitable worlds were far more common than anyone had expected. Many of these were teeming with plant life, and a fair percentage had a considerable range of animal species as well. But few of these proved viable as human food sources, and most colony worlds produced the bulk of their sustenance from transplanted Earth species. The fleet had the seed stores to plant over a large area, but that meant remaining in one place for a planet’s growing season, and that was out of the question right now.
“Transmitting probe data to Midway now, sir,” Duke said.
“That’s fine, John. Excellent job. Let’s wait until the rest of your scouts return. If they haven’t found anything more promising—and it seems unlikely they can top this—I want you to take your whole task force back to X18, along with enough support ships to start constructing a refinery to harvest that tritium. You can scout the system more closely while the engineering teams complete their work. Also, I want you to send scouts into X18’s warp gates. Make sure the neighboring systems are clear before I bring the rest of the fleet through.
“Yes, Admiral.”
“And once again, John, you did a tremendous job. Please pass my gratitude along to your people. Compton out.” He turned toward Cortez. “Commander, send a message to Commander Davies. Advise him we have found what appears to be a suitable tritium source. He is to be ready to move out with his team in two days.”
“Yes, sir,” Cortez answered.
“And let’s take the fleet off a battle footing, at least for a while. This system looks clear, and we’ve got scouts in the adjacent ones.”
“Admiral Compton, I have good news.” The sound of John Duke’s deep voice blasted from the bridge speakers.
“Well we could sure use some, John,” Compton replied. “So let’s hear it.”
Compton had sent Duke’s fast attack ships out to scout the systems around the fleet, looking for a gas giant with large tritium resources. It had been a matter of economy as well as caution to send the small ships out while the main force waited. The fleet was already dangerously low on fuel—stopping and looking for resupply hadn’t seemed a priority when the First Imperium forces were still on their tail. But now Compton’s ships had barely enough reserves for a last fight if one came upon them. He wasn’t about to burn that up dragging 226 ships all over uncharted space looking for a tritium source when Duke’s ships could do the job.
“The fifth planet in X18 looks like a great prospect. The probe readings were phenomenal for tritium concentrations…and there’s plenty of helium-3 too. And planet four looks like a paradise. I’d say it might be a place to check out for any potential foodstuffs.”
Compton nodded, more to himself than anything. We’ve got to come up with something better than numbering these new systems X-whatever. “That is good news, John. We need that tritium.” He paused then added, with somewhat lesser enthusiasm, “And we’ll check out planet four too. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
He wasn’t optimistic about finding naturally-occurring edibles in any significant quantity. When man had first burst out into space, he found that habitable worlds were far more common than anyone had expected. Many of these were teeming with plant life, and a fair percentage had a considerable range of animal species as well. But few of these proved viable as human food sources, and most colony worlds produced the bulk of their sustenance from transplanted Earth species. The fleet had the seed stores to plant over a large area, but that meant remaining in one place for a planet’s growing season, and that was out of the question right now.
“Transmitting probe data to Midway now, sir,” Duke said.
“That’s fine, John. Excellent job. Let’s wait until the rest of your scouts return. If they haven’t found anything more promising—and it seems unlikely they can top this—I want you to take your whole task force back to X18, along with enough support ships to start constructing a refinery to harvest that tritium. You can scout the system more closely while the engineering teams complete their work. Also, I want you to send scouts into X18’s warp gates. Make sure the neighboring systems are clear before I bring the rest of the fleet through.
“Yes, Admiral.”
“And once again, John, you did a tremendous job. Please pass my gratitude along to your people. Compton out.” He turned toward Cortez. “Commander, send a message to Commander Davies. Advise him we have found what appears to be a suitable tritium source. He is to be ready to move out with his team in two days.”
“Yes, sir,” Cortez answered.
“And let’s take the fleet off a battle footing, at least for a while. This system looks clear, and we’ve got scouts in the adjacent ones.”
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