Alutia Rising, Anniversary Edition (Alutia Rising Series, Book 1) (23 page)

“Response received and logged.”

It was done, and whatever the repercussions,
she would deal with them, having no regrets. She turned back to
Lia'Sil, knowing speed was now of the essence.

“Dictate a message to Knight Admiral Bhool.
Have her prepare to change course for the Alutia Duchy, and ask her
what other battle groups we have available. Instruct her to have
them meet us wherever the knight admiral deems appropriate,” she
ignored the dazed look she received in return, turning her
attention to Tiana.

“I have about 160 messages from nobles
supporting Sir Simwa and Duke Zehman. Go over each and every one
and research if any have relation to Knight Captain Quinn or the
old Earl of Tl'Doom, or anything else that may help us figure out
what exactly is going on so we won’t be going in blind,” Tiana’s
expression went dubious, about to complain, but Sasha headed her
off. “Use the Program to help, it should be able to provide you
with additional insight on the relevant local political and court
landscapes,” Tiana puckered her lip, then nodded, content with
Sasha's response, but the look in her eye told she had added yet
another “favor” to the list.

“I need to contact Duke Zehman and inform him
of the discovery of Sir Simwa’s lies, and have him remove his
fleet, without question, to his own duchy...as well as write Knight
Captain Quinn and have him place Sir Simwa under official arrest in
the name of NHA. I also need to let my father know about what is
going on, as well as my suspicions, and apologize for missing my
official transfer ceremony...” As she trailed off, unable to
continue voicing her racing thoughts, the sight of her catillian
sitting on the table, swatting at the Program’s floating sphere,
caught her eye, the sign that her torment had finally come to an
end.

“And someone bring me some clothes!”

A barely perceptible vibration crept through
Daniel’s bones as he browsed mindlessly through the millions of
texts available in the shuttle’s database. He glanced past
Lieutenant Cody, who still slept peacefully at his side, towards
the projected viewport just beyond. As expected, the image within
was fuzzy, like the PDU responsible for the projection had
malfunctioned, though he knew the phenomenon was actually caused by
something else.

“I hate these damn things,” he muttered,
referring to the correction gate in which the shuttle now passed,
and the reason for the peculiar sensation that felt like a tiny
orchestra was playing a symphony within his stomach.

Though as much as he hated them, he knew the
gates were a necessary evil, since they made the minute corrections
to the unpowered shuttle’s trajectory to compensate for the latent
gravitational and solar forces. If not for the gates, it was
entirely possible the shuttle could drift off course to never be
seen or heard from again. When the viewport finally cleared, and
the vibration ceased, he caught a glimpse of a twinkle in the
distant darkness.

“We’re almost there,” Daniel whispered,
having learned after a previous voyage that the twinkling effect
was caused by the faded sunlight reflecting off the billions of
metallic and icy inhabitants of the Earth star systems inner
asteroid belt.

He returned his attention to the tiny list of
topics being projected by the armrest PDU a few centimeters before
his right hand. He scrolled through with purpose, deciding to
actually read one of the texts instead of just the topics, stopping
on a subject he was already familiar; the
TSB Fleet and Base
Information Guide for New Recruits
. Tapping the appropriate
icon, thinking a little nostalgia trip might calm his nerves, made
the list morph, then expand into a two-dimensional display just
before his eyes. He selected section one,
TSB Fleet Base, An
Introduction
, and started to skim through the text and images
that scrolled in the air before him.

The first chapter spoke of the TSB Fleet
Base’s history, mainly focusing on its design and placement. It
stated that the NHA designers had decided to think to the future,
knowing Earth’s society might eventually develop technology that
would allow them to detect anomalies throughout the star system.
This made it necessary for any freely visible artificial object,
such as the TSB Fleet Base, to be built a substantial distance from
Earth, as well as being integrated into the already existing
natural environment.

The original location chosen to house the
fleet base was just outside the “official” star system, in what the
Earthlings referred to as the Kuiper Belt. But this was found to be
too inefficient due to the transit time to Earth, over a day’s
journey at max acceptable in system travel speeds, and the multiple
undetected intrusions by unknown nobles that jeopardized the TSB's
mission to protect Earth from outside influence. So the original
fleet base was converted into a transit station, while a new fleet
base was constructed in a more ideal location; the inner asteroid
belt.

A small planetoid, which the Earthlings had
appropriately named Ceres, was chosen and the new fleet base was
constructed within. During the construction phase the surrounding
space had to be cleared of all debris, including any asteroids that
may accidently collide with the new fleet base before proper
protections could be implemented. But this created another
problem.

Removing such a large number of asteroids
formed a noticeable gap that any keen eyed observer could detect
from Earth. So to simulate the proper appearance of an asteroid
belt, a unique spacecraft was designed, called the automated
protection ship, or APS for short, which looked similar to an
asteroid. These specialized automated starships were able to not
only protect the TSB Fleet Base from any wandering asteroids or
debris, but were also able to maneuver into custom flight lanes for
emergency access by TSB starships, no matter which direction they
approached.

Inside the fleet base were all the standard
required fleet facilities, along with the TSB Command, Officer, and
General Training Schools. It had originally been built to house all
20,000 or so TSB personnel required to man the fleet. But according
to the text, this idea was scrapped before inauguration based on
issues with logistics and the problems with nobility utilizing the
supply ships to sneak
past
the TSB
defenses. Daniel found the reasoning provided suspect, since the
TSB supply ships were manned by TSB personnel.

He pondered for a moment what the ruling
nobility of the time may have been thinking, realizing it was more
likely a politically motivated decision, since it would have been
simple to build a food production facility within the fleet base
itself and avoid the weekly supply ship deliveries all together.
But as he'd learned during his years in the TSB, logic rarely
swayed the decisions of the ruling nobility, and trying to
understand why anyone would think it was safer to house the TSB
personnel on Earth instead of on the fleet base, was a useless
exercise.

A retrofit and automated starship
construction facility was also integrated into the TSB Fleet Base
design. This was required since when new technology was developed
and rolled out by the NHA Starship Design and Research Group, or
SDRG, the TSB was also required to upgrade or construct ships of
the same designs. This was due to an Emperor’s Mandate passed
during the early years of the NHA that stated all starships had to
follow a strict guideline for construction, meaning any
customization, beyond minor changes to personal shuttles, were
illegal.

The unintended result, as all TSB officers
were taught, was the stagnation of starship design and technology.
This was mainly due to the fact that less than a hundred nobles
were allowed to join the SDRG, which made membership highly
coveted, leading to nobles, with more connections then brains,
filling the majority of the positions available. It wasn't until
the war with the ASU, and the destruction of over 50 million NHA
starships, that the emperor of the time finally realized a need for
major change. This led to a significant realignment of the SDRG,
doubling its size and adding common members based on intelligence.
The results were noticed immediately, with rapid releases of new
starship technology, designs, and updates on a biyearly basis.

Someday,
Daniel sighed, wishing
wistfully that he could be one of these carefree and powerful
nobles, before returning his attention to the floating text. The
next few sections
were
too dull for his
tastes, so he skipped ahead to the fleet information section,
finding that it had been updated since he last read the manual, 13
years earlier.

The first section covered standard operation
and fleet assignments. The TSB kept 20 specialized Electronic
Warfare, or EW frigates, 52 specialized scout frigates, and two TSB
battle groups on active duty at all times, with eight TSB battle
groups and 87 EW frigates in reserve. These forces were regularly
rotated to allow all personnel a chance to be on active duty for at
least two months every year.

Daniel knew this was barely sufficient in
space training time, but the specialized TSB battle groups, which
were organized differently from standard NHA battle groups, could
not be operated indefinitely for, again, reasons Daniel could only
assume to be the work of noble logic. Luckily, the smaller TSB
battle groups did not have the same formation and tactical
requirements as the larger NHA battle groups, which required almost
constant training to receive a proficient rating. This was mainly
due to the vastly different configurations.

A standard NHA battle group consisted of one
super-capital ship, two capital ships, four dreadnaughts, four
battleships, six cruisers, twelve corvettes, twenty frigates, and
usually around ten supply ships, responsible for general resupply
and food cultivation. While the TSB battle groups consisted of only
two battleships, four cruisers, four corvettes, and ten frigates,
specialized for stealth and high-speed interception.

A violent vibration pulled his gaze from the
text as the shuttle entered one of the standard starship lanes
which were strategically placed throughout the dense asteroid belt.
He stared out the projected viewport, finding the sight of the
automated protection ships speeding past only a few kilometers
away, disconcerting.

He tapped Cody's shoulder, causing her to
stir, glancing drowsily in his direction. He nodded towards the
viewport. She turned, still half asleep, and flinched at the sight
of APSs. He hid a devious smirk as she looked back to him, nodding
her thanks. Just as he was about to turn back to the text, a tone
sounded, informing the passengers that a BAP terminal was now
active. Daniel deactivated the PDU, connecting to the BAP with his
BC node, hoping for updated orders.

“All personnel, report immediately to your
starships upon arrival,” The new orders were short and to the
point, and almost identical to the one he received prior to
departure. He froze as his seat enveloped him, the shuttle
preparing for arrival at the TSB Fleet Base.

As the deceleration gates took hold, Daniel
could only clench his teeth. He always found the pressure felt
worse when they decelerated, since instead of being pushed back
into the seat, he was being pulled forward, into the anti-grav gel.
The process was, thankfully, much shorter than the launch, due to
speed burn off from when they passed through the correction gates
littered along the shuttle's flight path.

After what felt like an eternity, the shuttle
shuddered, having been successfully caught by the fleet base’s
docking arm. Slowly, the shuttle was towed into the docking bay. He
turned towards the viewport as the anti-grav gel receded and
watched as the dark grey walls of the hanger bay closed in around
them.

The moment the shuttle fully pressurized,
they were able to remove the restrictive oxygen helmets. Before
Daniel had his fully removed, the excited conversations of those
who’d been forced to repress their curiosity for over seven hours
attacked his ears. By their flavor, most seemed convinced this was
definitely a training exercise. While the tightlipped officers, who
shook off any queries from their juniors, were noticeably
uncertain.

“What do you think?” asked Cody, unable to
resist the curiosity in the air.

“Well,” he paused, wanting to lie, but the
memories of the previous evening, and her rather enthusiastic
lovemaking, made him think truth, and the future encounters it may
allow, would be the better option. He leaned in close, careful so
they wouldn't be overheard. “This is definitely not a drill,” he
started to whisper. “Something major occurred a few days ago. Have
you heard the rumors being spread by the spy’s noble friends about
the commander and vice-commander?” he asked, using the common
nickname for the NHA Liaison, Sir Simwa. She nodded, her rigid
facade unable to mask the unease in her eyes. “I'm almost positive
someone has decided to intervene on his behalf.” Her expression
went dark, the unease spreading.

“You think we'll be going up against a full
NHA battle group?” she asked hesitantly. He thought for a second,
then nodded.

“Possibly more...if whoever is intervening on
Sir Simwa's behalf has decided to remove the Knight Ca-,” Daniel
froze, suddenly becoming aware of the silence around him, his
whispered words carrying farther then he intended. He turned,
finding the surrounding faces staring at him in disbelief as his
comments registered. Then the whispering began anew, now with
noticeable fear and concern rippling through the passenger
compartment. Daniel started to stand, but a strong hand pinched his
shoulder, keeping him seated.

Who dares touch me?
His mind screamed,
preparing to shout his displeasure. But he held his tongue when he
caught sight of a captain's insignia on the collar of the man
leaning over his seatback.