underway. I’m afraid we don’t have much for you to do.” “I won’t complain, Ronnie,” Maria said. “No, I suppose you wouldn’t, but I do have something available for you.” “Oh really?” Maria asked, half—heartedly. “Admiral Riddick is retiring this month and the Second Battle Group needs a new commander. It’s yours if you want it.” “Command of a battle group?” Maria’s ears perked up and the headache began to vanish. “Choose any flagship you want.” “You know, I served on the Excalibur when I was a Lieutenant—Commander,” Maria said and leaned back in her seat. “I remember that ship as being the best.” “She is a little older now. The cruiser Delphi is the latest off the line.” “It’s my command. I choose the ship I want.” “That it is. What do you say?” “When do I start?” “Right away. I relieved Admiral Riddick an hour ago.” “Thank—you, Sir,” Maria said. “I’ll check in on you later and see how you’re holding up.” Maria stood as did he and waited for him to leave the room. She then grabbed a briefcase and began to pack.
Lathiel stood on the bridge of his ship absent a captain’s chair. Ferine had always believed in a decentralized command for their organizational structure. If Lathiel needed to sit down, there was a couch available on either side of the round bridge. The command center’s walls glowed with a sea blue that was nearly organic in its texture. The front of the center was comprised of one large screen with an image of a tiny dying star at its center. “That’s the wormhole?” Lathiel inquired, turning his cat—like eyes to his cousin at a nearby station. Each of its panels looked like the surface of a cloud of intersecting amber bubbles. One of those surfaces changed to an image of incomprehensible data. Ranik looked back at Lathiel once he finished examining it. “Definitely. In the last twenty—two hours it has collapsed to that size.” “Could we send a probe through?” Lathiel asked. Ranik checked through the advanced sensor data. “We can do it.” “Then launch the probe.” Ranik turned back to Lathiel again. He knew he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear by the lowered eyebrow above Ranik’s slit yellow eyes. “Lathiel, I’m worried about what’s on the other side of that.” He motioned with his head to the glimmer of light on the view screen. “What do you mean?” “Have you ever thought of what or who might be out there?” Ranik asked. “A fin probe is small enough to be equipped with stealth.” Ranik’s eyes worked at the possibility. “Yes, yes! But we’re assuming whoever may be out there is not advanced enough to detect it.” “It’s worth the risk to find out what damage our weapon might have done. Let’s get started.”
“I can’t see this happening in time,” Madison said. “Why not?” Joshua demanded. “In three months? The engineering branch said three months Josh.” The large table Madison and Joshua were bent over was a bright island in a dim shadow of a room. Elliot half listened to the exchange while he watched the news on INN. With only a day to go, ten million people were still left in the red zone of the United States. “We don’t have six months to finish the particle warhead. The project has to start in a month,” Madison said. “Madi, I have talked to the Engineering Division three times. Two months is the absolute minimum to build a facility of that size.” “Maybe not,” Elliot said. He switched off the monitor and sat up on the leather couch.