The Birth of Iconia

Chapter 4

"Excellent. How is the rest of the facility?"

"Well, Harlan has shown us the original schematics and we are working on refitting the base to the original layout. Then we will start the new heavy duty lifting bots on expanding the facility.

"Great. Now let's go see the hanger."

Jack quietly commented to his sister, "I thought you were in charge here."

Sam laughed. "It's Harlan's place, but he'll let us remain in charge of our own people. And he's letting me show you around the shipyards."

As if in response to what Sam said, Harlan stopped in front of a large door. He beamed at the group. "And now, I'll let Dr. Carter take over. This is quite impressive, and they're in her purview."

Sam walked to the front of the group and pushed a button beside the door. The door slid open and they were looking down into a vast bay, almost two miles across. Massive ships sat cradled in even more massive gantries. The group walked forward onto a balcony. Fargo was intrigued with the ships being built. "They look like the Astraeus!"

"They're much bigger though," Grace commented.

Fargo looked around for a staircase. It was obvious that he wanted to get an up close look at the ships. He didn't see one, but as he started to ask Dr. Carter where it was he noticed that the ships seemed larger. He also was starting to feel a breeze on his face. The balcony was moving closer to the nearest of the ships, and picking up speed.

"These ships are the GD-305s," Sam said. "Five are in production now. The class will be called Astraeus."

Grace asked, "What are the ships names?"

"At the moment, they're unnamed. That will be up to Global Dynamics."

Jack took a deep breath and let it out. Then he said, "One should be called the Nathan Stark."

Henry looked at Jack with raised eyebrows. Then he saw Jacks face and the determination there. He nodded his approval and said, "I agree. That's a great idea."

Allison looked over at her husband with a grateful look on her face. "Thanks Jack," she said. "That's really sweet of you."

"Yeah... well... his ego would probably say that it wasn't enough to just name a ship after him."

Allison laughed. "You're probably right, Jack. But it's the thought that counts."

Jack, while not saying it, thought that nothing he ever did counted to Nathan.

He heard a laugh in his mind and realized that he had projected a thought to Sam unwittingly again. "But that's not true, Jack. You told me Nathan asked you to look after Ally when he died. Apparently he knew you could and would do that. That counted with him big time."

Jack nodded and thought about what Sam had said. It was true, he supposed. He was even looking after Stark's children as if they were his own.

The group had come close to the first of the ships and the platform was circling the ship. General Carter explained what had been done with the basic Astraeus design to turn it into the 305.

"Each ship is five times larger than one of our BC-304s. We have placed several weapons on each wingtip, facing fore and aft. We have installed an Asgard hyperdrive for now, but we would like Drs. Fargo and Deacon to review the design specifications and see if they have any ideas. I know Astraeus has a good engine that you were planning on using when you arrived at Titan. Perhaps a variation of that engine might work here." The platform now stopped at what was clearly an airlock. The door slid into a recess, and then to the right while the railing retracted into the floor of the platform. General Carter led the way into the ship.