given
this information himself. His culture generated less than a ten millionth of
the energy potential of the Donut from their two star based Dyson
Rings. It had taken the yearly production from one of the rings to provide the
antimatter needed for this mission. And the artifact could produce that much
energy in less than a second.
“I know the risks are
great,” he said, “but so are the rewards. Imagine if such a structure were in
our hands. Imagine if we controlled the power production of the Donut .
It was said to be the antimatter production center of the old Empire, the
empire of humanity that stretched across this Galaxy.
“And not just the
energy we could tap. This was the center of the Empire; coordinate zero, zero,
zero, with instantaneous links across the Galaxy, and maybe beyond. Imagine
the technology that awaits the conqueror of the Donut .”
There was still some
fright on faces among the assemblage. Admiral Gerasi noted who among the
officers and NCOs those were, so he could watch them in the future. But he
noted more greed and avarice. Good , he thought. He wanted them to be
motivated.
“And the best part of
all,” he said to those who offered their rapt attention, “is we have evidence
that the structure is almost deserted, with only a few sentients aboard at
most.”
The attitudes of
attention grew as they heard the last. Surely a task force as powerful as
theirs could take such a lightly defended structure.
“Admiral to the
bridge,” announced the intercom system. “Captain to the bridge.”
“Attention,” yelled one
of the officers standing near the front of the crew. The men and women snapped
to a rigid posture, the marines a step faster than the spaceship crew, as would
be expected.
“Dismissed,” called the
admiral.
He headed for the lift
as the captain fell in beside him.
“Bridge,” said Captain
Valaris Midas as the door closed behind them. The lift started to accelerate,
horizontally toward the middle section of the ship and the well protected
bridge.
“You have a question, Captain?”
said the admiral, looking his subordinate in the face. Midas had served as his
flag captain for years, and the admiral had grown to know the man well.
“Yes sir,” said the
captain, looking his superior straight in the eyes. “Why didn’t you tell them
the truth about what we faced?”
“No use scaring them so
many hours before contact,” said Admiral Gerasi. “Time enough to fill them in
later. When they need to know.”
“Need to know what?”
hissed the captain. “That we’re on a suicide mission? That there isn’t a
chance in hell we’ll be able to breach the automated defenses of that thing?”
“You forget yourself, Captain,”
said the admiral with ice in his voice. “I have my orders. As do you, and the
crew. This task force is expendable. The technology on the Donut is
that vital to our cause. And I might have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“When do I find out
about these tricks?”
“When you have a need
to know, captain. But believe me, I have a plan. I have no intention of
sticking my own head in a noose, either here or at home.”
“And you don’t believe
we have a destiny to take this, artifact?”
“Oh, I believe we have
a divine destiny. Our people, that is. But I don’t think we as individuals
are destined to succeed. The only assurance we have is we are on our own out
here. And we can fail, especially if we become complacent.”
The lift slid easily to
a halt, and the doors opened to the organized confusion of the ship’s command
and control center. The captain walked quickly to his command chair, as the Admiral
walked the steps to his private walk, overlooking all the details of the
bridge.
“Report,” he called out
as his eyes looked around at the many displays. Tactical showed the small
triangles of the dozen battleships, superimposed over a schematic of the
this information himself. His culture generated less than a ten millionth of
the energy potential of the Donut from their two star based Dyson
Rings. It had taken the yearly production from one of the rings to provide the
antimatter needed for this mission. And the artifact could produce that much
energy in less than a second.
“I know the risks are
great,” he said, “but so are the rewards. Imagine if such a structure were in
our hands. Imagine if we controlled the power production of the Donut .
It was said to be the antimatter production center of the old Empire, the
empire of humanity that stretched across this Galaxy.
“And not just the
energy we could tap. This was the center of the Empire; coordinate zero, zero,
zero, with instantaneous links across the Galaxy, and maybe beyond. Imagine
the technology that awaits the conqueror of the Donut .”
There was still some
fright on faces among the assemblage. Admiral Gerasi noted who among the
officers and NCOs those were, so he could watch them in the future. But he
noted more greed and avarice. Good , he thought. He wanted them to be
motivated.
“And the best part of
all,” he said to those who offered their rapt attention, “is we have evidence
that the structure is almost deserted, with only a few sentients aboard at
most.”
The attitudes of
attention grew as they heard the last. Surely a task force as powerful as
theirs could take such a lightly defended structure.
“Admiral to the
bridge,” announced the intercom system. “Captain to the bridge.”
“Attention,” yelled one
of the officers standing near the front of the crew. The men and women snapped
to a rigid posture, the marines a step faster than the spaceship crew, as would
be expected.
“Dismissed,” called the
admiral.
He headed for the lift
as the captain fell in beside him.
“Bridge,” said Captain
Valaris Midas as the door closed behind them. The lift started to accelerate,
horizontally toward the middle section of the ship and the well protected
bridge.
“You have a question, Captain?”
said the admiral, looking his subordinate in the face. Midas had served as his
flag captain for years, and the admiral had grown to know the man well.
“Yes sir,” said the
captain, looking his superior straight in the eyes. “Why didn’t you tell them
the truth about what we faced?”
“No use scaring them so
many hours before contact,” said Admiral Gerasi. “Time enough to fill them in
later. When they need to know.”
“Need to know what?”
hissed the captain. “That we’re on a suicide mission? That there isn’t a
chance in hell we’ll be able to breach the automated defenses of that thing?”
“You forget yourself, Captain,”
said the admiral with ice in his voice. “I have my orders. As do you, and the
crew. This task force is expendable. The technology on the Donut is
that vital to our cause. And I might have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
“When do I find out
about these tricks?”
“When you have a need
to know, captain. But believe me, I have a plan. I have no intention of
sticking my own head in a noose, either here or at home.”
“And you don’t believe
we have a destiny to take this, artifact?”
“Oh, I believe we have
a divine destiny. Our people, that is. But I don’t think we as individuals
are destined to succeed. The only assurance we have is we are on our own out
here. And we can fail, especially if we become complacent.”
The lift slid easily to
a halt, and the doors opened to the organized confusion of the ship’s command
and control center. The captain walked quickly to his command chair, as the Admiral
walked the steps to his private walk, overlooking all the details of the
bridge.
“Report,” he called out
as his eyes looked around at the many displays. Tactical showed the small
triangles of the dozen battleships, superimposed over a schematic of the
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