in acknowledgment.
“Signal the fleet to prepare for reentry into normal space. I want all ships to clear the jump gate rapidly and move into defensive formation five.” The system they were approaching was supposed to be uninhabited but they were taking no chances. Kaydan keyed the comlink on the command console
“Commander, we are approaching the next jump point.”
A short while later, the quiet star studded blackness of space above a small icy and remote planetoid on the outskirts of the Proxima system was disrupted by the sudden appearance of a glowing blue hyperspace fissure which rapidly expanded into a massive swirling vortex out of which erupted the Zidian fleet. The Zidian ships remained in the special ovoid formation that allowed them to travel through a single hyperspace corridor together until they had completely cleared the jump gate. They then fanned out in a defensive formation, ready to meet any enemies that might have been there no matter how unlikely.
Commander Akdon entered the bridge and ascended to the command platform. Kaydan moved aside so that Akdon could survey all the readouts for himself.
“We’ve cleared the jump gate, Commander.”
“Excellent. Engage the Ansible, I want an immediate report from our scout ships on the outskirts of the Sol system.”
“Yes, sir.” Standard Zidian strategic doctrine required that a pair of scout ships always be one space-fold ahead of the main fleet.
Akdon activated the massive view screen and again brought up a detailed map of the Sol system.
“Commander Akdon, sir,” said a crewman below. “The first intelligence from our forward scouts has arrived by Ansible.”
“Transfer it onto the main screen.” The map filled up with new information. Akdon’s eyes grew wide at what he saw. “It seems our intelligence was somewhat incorrect,” said Akdon. “What do you make of this?”
“Well, sir, our scouts’ long-range scanners have picked up installations on and around many of the other planets, plus multiple other contacts that appear to be spacecraft. But this makes no sense. How could intelligence have been so mistaken as to their technological development? The data is no more than a few months old.”
Akdon’s already menacing face became hard and even more menacing.
“I don’t know Kaydan, but you can be assured that I will find out who is responsible for this outrage and when I do the responsible party will suffer a fate far worse than death. I have long questioned the competency of our military intelligence service, but I have no doubt that this was nothing short of deliberate misinformation on the part of one of my political rivals--an attempt to sabotage our mission in an effort to prevent my imminent promotion to Supreme Fleet Commander and membership in the Junta itself! I have my suspicions as to who. When I become Supreme Fleet Commander I will deal with him. In any event we will conquer this starsystem in despite this subterfuge.” He glared hard at the map on the view screen. “The Human ships and installations will have to be destroyed before we take their home world.”
“But commander, we aren't adequately equipped to engage an enemy fleet. Shall I contact fleet headquarters and ask for re-enforcements?”
“Absolutely not! I’ll not give whoever did this the satisfaction of seeing me ask for help and I will not be made to look weak in front of our superiors. We can handle it. The Humans’ technology can't be that high, otherwise they would have detected our scout ships. Alert the fleet of our latest intelligence. We'll rendezvous with our scouts right outside the frontier of the enemy star system.”
“Yes, Commander. We should be ready to make the final hyperspace-fold in a matter of hours.”
“Good. In the meantime, I want to test these Humans. What is the closest target to our scout ships of any significance?”
“Commander, our latest data indicates the enemy has a primitive mining colony on
“Signal the fleet to prepare for reentry into normal space. I want all ships to clear the jump gate rapidly and move into defensive formation five.” The system they were approaching was supposed to be uninhabited but they were taking no chances. Kaydan keyed the comlink on the command console
“Commander, we are approaching the next jump point.”
A short while later, the quiet star studded blackness of space above a small icy and remote planetoid on the outskirts of the Proxima system was disrupted by the sudden appearance of a glowing blue hyperspace fissure which rapidly expanded into a massive swirling vortex out of which erupted the Zidian fleet. The Zidian ships remained in the special ovoid formation that allowed them to travel through a single hyperspace corridor together until they had completely cleared the jump gate. They then fanned out in a defensive formation, ready to meet any enemies that might have been there no matter how unlikely.
Commander Akdon entered the bridge and ascended to the command platform. Kaydan moved aside so that Akdon could survey all the readouts for himself.
“We’ve cleared the jump gate, Commander.”
“Excellent. Engage the Ansible, I want an immediate report from our scout ships on the outskirts of the Sol system.”
“Yes, sir.” Standard Zidian strategic doctrine required that a pair of scout ships always be one space-fold ahead of the main fleet.
Akdon activated the massive view screen and again brought up a detailed map of the Sol system.
“Commander Akdon, sir,” said a crewman below. “The first intelligence from our forward scouts has arrived by Ansible.”
“Transfer it onto the main screen.” The map filled up with new information. Akdon’s eyes grew wide at what he saw. “It seems our intelligence was somewhat incorrect,” said Akdon. “What do you make of this?”
“Well, sir, our scouts’ long-range scanners have picked up installations on and around many of the other planets, plus multiple other contacts that appear to be spacecraft. But this makes no sense. How could intelligence have been so mistaken as to their technological development? The data is no more than a few months old.”
Akdon’s already menacing face became hard and even more menacing.
“I don’t know Kaydan, but you can be assured that I will find out who is responsible for this outrage and when I do the responsible party will suffer a fate far worse than death. I have long questioned the competency of our military intelligence service, but I have no doubt that this was nothing short of deliberate misinformation on the part of one of my political rivals--an attempt to sabotage our mission in an effort to prevent my imminent promotion to Supreme Fleet Commander and membership in the Junta itself! I have my suspicions as to who. When I become Supreme Fleet Commander I will deal with him. In any event we will conquer this starsystem in despite this subterfuge.” He glared hard at the map on the view screen. “The Human ships and installations will have to be destroyed before we take their home world.”
“But commander, we aren't adequately equipped to engage an enemy fleet. Shall I contact fleet headquarters and ask for re-enforcements?”
“Absolutely not! I’ll not give whoever did this the satisfaction of seeing me ask for help and I will not be made to look weak in front of our superiors. We can handle it. The Humans’ technology can't be that high, otherwise they would have detected our scout ships. Alert the fleet of our latest intelligence. We'll rendezvous with our scouts right outside the frontier of the enemy star system.”
“Yes, Commander. We should be ready to make the final hyperspace-fold in a matter of hours.”
“Good. In the meantime, I want to test these Humans. What is the closest target to our scout ships of any significance?”
“Commander, our latest data indicates the enemy has a primitive mining colony on
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