The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) by D. J. Holmes
Authors: D. J. Holmes
Tags: Science-Fiction, Space Opera, Military, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Exploration, Space Exploration, Galactic Empire, Space Fleet, Space Marine, Colonization
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How close is the Void to British and Chinese space?”
Gupta smiled and reached over to the controls on her seat. After a second, two colored bands ran across the holo-display. Each band dissected the Void, splitting it into three.
James watched Gupta’s smile and wondered if she had caught onto what he was doing. After reviewing Gupta and Fisher’s data James had already decided what his next course of action was. This meeting was simply an opportunity to let the Sub Lieutenants flex their wits and decision making abilities in a real situation.
Sub Lieutenant Hansen had just asked the million dollar question. What would the Chinese do if they found out about the Void? Or maybe they had already discovered it! The red band on the display representing space that fell under Chinese influence covered roughly one tenth of the Void. Only two of the solar systems fell into the band, neither of which contained a habitable world. The blue band representing British controlled space covered about fifteen percent of the Void. However, twenty-three systems fell into the band two of which contained planets within the goldilocks zone.
When the two bands appeared on the holo-display Hanson nodded his head. “I’m not an expert in Chinese relations but the longer we take to report this to the UN’s Interplanetary Committee the more of an uproar the Chinese will make. If they even suspect we tried to keep this from them there’ll be trouble.”
Nodding, James stood up to take over the briefing. As he did so Fisher sat down. “He’s right, you all know there has been no love lost between us and the Chinese over the last few decades. Getting this information back to the Admiralty is of paramount importance. They can decide if and when they want to tell the UN but we should at least give them the opportunity to do so as soon as possible.”
Looking over at O’Rourke, James lifted his fingers in recognition. “Of course we want to be able to actually report some concrete findings to the Admiralty so here is what I purpose.”
Stepping over to the main control station James tapped a single command to upload the plan he had already formulated. “We will survey the four habitable planets and bring back a full report on each to the Admiralty. They’ll need that much data if they are going to register the planets with the UN. So we’ll start with V2 then jump to V17. Once we have finished there I propose we jump out to the predicted edge of the Void that is diametrically opposite the shift passage back to Cambridge. If the Void is a perfect sphere confirming its other end should be enough for the Admiralty for now. Then we’ll work our way back, surveying V31 and V48 before we head for home.”
James looked over to his second in command. “Lieutenant Gupta, do you have anything you think we should add?”
“Yes sir,” Gupta began. “I would suggest we enter each system under stealth. If the Chinese have already found a shift passage that leads to the Void there’re not likely to take kindly to visitors. Especially if they have neglected to inform anyone else about their discovery,” she responded.
“Agreed,” James replied, begrudgingly he had to acknowledge Gupta had a point. “You, Hanson and Thirlwall plot our next jumps and prepare the ship for stealth mode.” Thirlwall was scheduled to take over navigation from Hanson for the next watch. With long thick curly brown hair she always seemed to be attracting the stares of the male Sub Lieutenants. Yet their attention never seemed to register with her. Instead, like Fisher, she seemed to have a little too much interest in her commander – in James’ humble opinion at least.
“And I want tactical and defense fully manned until we are back in the shift passage heading for Cambridge.”
Strolling out of the tactical briefing room James made his way to his quarters. The capacitors would have another handful of minutes
Gupta smiled and reached over to the controls on her seat. After a second, two colored bands ran across the holo-display. Each band dissected the Void, splitting it into three.
James watched Gupta’s smile and wondered if she had caught onto what he was doing. After reviewing Gupta and Fisher’s data James had already decided what his next course of action was. This meeting was simply an opportunity to let the Sub Lieutenants flex their wits and decision making abilities in a real situation.
Sub Lieutenant Hansen had just asked the million dollar question. What would the Chinese do if they found out about the Void? Or maybe they had already discovered it! The red band on the display representing space that fell under Chinese influence covered roughly one tenth of the Void. Only two of the solar systems fell into the band, neither of which contained a habitable world. The blue band representing British controlled space covered about fifteen percent of the Void. However, twenty-three systems fell into the band two of which contained planets within the goldilocks zone.
When the two bands appeared on the holo-display Hanson nodded his head. “I’m not an expert in Chinese relations but the longer we take to report this to the UN’s Interplanetary Committee the more of an uproar the Chinese will make. If they even suspect we tried to keep this from them there’ll be trouble.”
Nodding, James stood up to take over the briefing. As he did so Fisher sat down. “He’s right, you all know there has been no love lost between us and the Chinese over the last few decades. Getting this information back to the Admiralty is of paramount importance. They can decide if and when they want to tell the UN but we should at least give them the opportunity to do so as soon as possible.”
Looking over at O’Rourke, James lifted his fingers in recognition. “Of course we want to be able to actually report some concrete findings to the Admiralty so here is what I purpose.”
Stepping over to the main control station James tapped a single command to upload the plan he had already formulated. “We will survey the four habitable planets and bring back a full report on each to the Admiralty. They’ll need that much data if they are going to register the planets with the UN. So we’ll start with V2 then jump to V17. Once we have finished there I propose we jump out to the predicted edge of the Void that is diametrically opposite the shift passage back to Cambridge. If the Void is a perfect sphere confirming its other end should be enough for the Admiralty for now. Then we’ll work our way back, surveying V31 and V48 before we head for home.”
James looked over to his second in command. “Lieutenant Gupta, do you have anything you think we should add?”
“Yes sir,” Gupta began. “I would suggest we enter each system under stealth. If the Chinese have already found a shift passage that leads to the Void there’re not likely to take kindly to visitors. Especially if they have neglected to inform anyone else about their discovery,” she responded.
“Agreed,” James replied, begrudgingly he had to acknowledge Gupta had a point. “You, Hanson and Thirlwall plot our next jumps and prepare the ship for stealth mode.” Thirlwall was scheduled to take over navigation from Hanson for the next watch. With long thick curly brown hair she always seemed to be attracting the stares of the male Sub Lieutenants. Yet their attention never seemed to register with her. Instead, like Fisher, she seemed to have a little too much interest in her commander – in James’ humble opinion at least.
“And I want tactical and defense fully manned until we are back in the shift passage heading for Cambridge.”
Strolling out of the tactical briefing room James made his way to his quarters. The capacitors would have another handful of minutes
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