KETTY'S SUBDIVISION Wattys2017

Chapter 14-Part I

Buff Sergeant Colby was third in command, but he did most of the work on the Quantum Boat, which didn't bother him. It was second nature, a byproduct of coming up through the ranks and securing a command which rarely became available.

"Message from Sigon Six," said the XO. She was Lean, six foot, deadly. He knew because she had whipped his butt many times. The commanding officer's perfume was a bit strong, and unnecessary considering her disarming appearance and total authority. There were times when he found it hard to breath around her. That was before he met Georgiana. Georgiana was a bit distant, but real, and it irritated him she was on his mind constantly. He glanced at his wedding band, knowing full well he was separated, still he wore it for security, or was it to protect himself? The divorce would be finalized soon, but he was far from healthy and any fraternizing with his troops was suicide. Besides, none of that mattered during wartime.

He glanced around the bridge, making sure everyone had top security clearance and signaled the comm tech to transmit. The message came through stretched from time dilation.

"Mayday, Mayday. All ships return to the Barn for reassignment. We have alien sign within a light year of the capital."

Sigon Six laid at the heart of the Subdivision, an appropriate place for the capital of a society exceeding 70 trillion inhabitants. Most were humans, with the Gort to the North and Millerene to the Galactic West, but beyond that, towards the Galactic core, the Fault-line ended and exploration was a one way trip even for generational starships. Segregation of different species to their own Subdivision made sense because there was enough room for everyone, and war had gone the way of the dinosaur, extinct and unnecessary. That left the military weak and ill prepared for the emergency at hand.

"You have ten minutes to complete your mission," Said the XO to Buff Sergeant. "Set a course for the Barn, execute on my mark." She paused to glance at her watch as the helmsman waited intently. "Now." When she turned, Buff Sergeant was already gone, and she sat in the captain's chair with a smug grin on her face. Finally, they might see some real action.

When he arrived at the conning tower control room, he was relieved but not surprised to see Georgiana geared up and ready.

"Hello, Sergeant Colby, good to see you," said Purline, who sported body armor and a brace of sophisticated weapons, some of which he had never seen. "I was telling Miss Georgiana the mission schedule would be moved up, so we prepared a tad early."

His jaw opened and closed but no words came out. There wasn't time to question how Purline knew. He nodded to the tech who fiddled with a control panel and opened the canopy on a small cylinder just big enough for two people. There were slots for fins and a small nozzle where a fusion motor propelled the spaceship out the back. It was simple, with minimal controls and a neural interface for piloting. Georgiana sat in back with Purline between her legs. She felt the flight Artificial Intelligence, or AI computer bite into her brain as the canopy slid shut. Mechanical arms lifted the ship vertically into the launch tube, then her stomach went out from under her as the anti-gravity kicked in. The inertial dampers gave the ship perfect handling and acceleration under all conditions.

"Good luck," was all she heard before they were launched into darkness.

Back on the bridge, time had ran out. "Bring us to our new heading," whispered the XO without waiting to see if Sergeant Colby was successful. Why should she, he had never failed her in the past. There was only one feeling, relief. She was glad to get that creepy robot off her ship. The massive vessel turned down dimension and slid through time like a knife through butter. It wouldn't be long before they arrived, since time slowed as their speed increased, but the human mind could only struggle to understand what was really happening. If their destination was a fixed distance seven light years away, and it took them ten minutes to get there, they were travelling well above the speed of light squared. But there was no sensation, or points of light bending in the distance, only the cold assurance that time continued to march onward and Georgiana was left to fend for herself.

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