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.“Solomon’s beamings are within a foot of ‘on target’ in 99.3% of transits.You were fine.Besides, we needed to do it.”“We did,” Calvin agreed.“But next time, how about telling me, so that I at least have a say in whether or not I kill myself?” Calvin asked.* * * * *Chapter FourBridge, TSS Vella Gulf, Earth Orbit, December 13, 2020“Hey Skipper,” Calvin said.“What’s going on? I just heard that we’re not leaving on time.”“That’s true,” said Captain James Sheppard, the commanding officer of the Vella Gulf.Recently promoted to captain, he had also been named the ship’s permanent commanding officer.Sheppard had returned from the last mission as the ship’s acting commanding officer, a position he assumed when all of the officers senior to him left to take command of the newly acquired, larger ships.“We were just starting our final checks when we got word from Fleet Command that we needed to wait for the shuttle that’s coming up.They also said that we would need to take on additional fuel, but neither message said where it was coming from, nor where we were supposed to put it, since our bunkers are already full.I guess we’ll find out when the shuttle gets here.”“I wasn’t aware there was a shuttle coming,” Calvin replied.As the squadron commander for the ship’s space fighters and shuttles, normally he was aware of all of the flights into or out of the Vella Gulf.He mentally checked the daily flight schedule again.Nope, not there.“The flight isn’t on the flight schedule.When is it due in? Where’s it coming from?”“I don’t know where it’s coming from,” Captain Sheppard replied.“I wasn’t told.But it should be here soon.”“Solomon,” Calvin said, “can you tell me the point of origin for the shuttle that is coming?”“My sensors show that it left from the area of Alice Springs, Australia,” replied the AI, “however my records do not show a facility of any kind in that area.”“Hmmm.,” said Captain Sheppard.“I’ve heard rumors about–”“The shuttle is here,” advised Solomon, before Captain Sheppard could say anything else.He looked over to see a faraway look in Calvin’s eyes as he communicated with someone via implant.“The shuttle only had one person on it,” reported Calvin.“The squadron said the lieutenant’s name is Peter Finn.Apparently, he’s some kind of special combat systems engineer that brought something up for us.The lieutenant has asked if the senior officers would meet him in your conference room for some sort of presentation.”CO’s Conference Room, TSS Vella Gulf, Earth Orbit, December 13, 2020Calvin and Captain Sheppard walked into the conference room to find the lieutenant already there, which was surprising because he had about four times the distance to travel.As the lieutenant turned around, Calvin could only think of one word.Nerd.He was medium height with dark hair slightly longer than regulations permitted, and he had thick-rimmed glasses that would probably have worked better at birth control than condoms.If he had seen the Sun in the last decade or so, it wasn’t apparent from the pallor of his skin.He also looked like he was about 16 years old, far too young to be in uniform, much less a lieutenant.Before either could say anything, the lieutenant walked over and stuck out his hand to Calvin.His walk was weird, Calvin noted, almost like he was dragging his right foot.“Good afternoon, Lieutenant Commander Hobbs,” he said, his speech faster than normal.“It is such a pleasure to meet you.I have read all of your reports.Very exciting.Did you really kill the god Quetzalcoatl with a spear? Of course you did.It was in the report.You have always had access to the best and newest equipment, so it was really surprising that you used a spear to kill him.I wish that I could have been with you when you first met the aliens.It must have been really cool to be the first person to get to use alien technology.”“Who’s the new guy?” asked army captain Paul ‘Night’ Train, walking into the room.Night was the XO of the special forces platoon that Calvin commanded, in addition to his job of being the Gulf’s squadron commander.“I don’t know,” said Calvin.“He hasn’t stopped talking long enough for us to find out anything about him.”“Oh! Of course! We need to introduce everyone so that I can get on with my work,” said Lieutenant Finn [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]