Varlon still have weapons somewhat more powerful than that, but now that the Phoenix and several other ships in the sixth have been enhanced, we stand a better chance against them,” Sheppard said. He knew that the Alliance had to use three ships to one to fight a Varlon ship of similar class as a result of several technological differences. The only exception was the unusually large and extremely powerful Varlon heavy dreadnaught termed the H class, which required five Alliance dreadnaughts or similar starcraft to take it on.
“Sirs, we are approaching the rendezvous coordinates,” York said from his station, notifying Captain Wilder, who had moved over to hear what Commander O’Brien was saying.
“Lieutenant Pelori, set an intercept course for the Indefatigable,” Wilder ordered.
“Yes, Sir, sensors are locating the Indefatigable with our new, augmented long range,” replied Pelori with a smile. “Intercept course set for Legendary-class battlecruiser Indefatigable.” Pelori was an Azurian navigator with powder-blue skin and short white hair. She had eyes not much different from those of humans and had two small, antennae sense receptors coming from the crown of her head. The small antennae were rotating partially, likely reacting to information sent to her embedded interlink. Azurians were adaptable and could easily function in Earth-like environments.
“She is right; we will have them on our sensors before their nonoptimized sensors notice us,” Commander Andor added. Wilder nodded, acknowledging Andor’s comment, and then continued to listen to O’Brien’s statements.
“Even though the memory modules seemed to lack information about some of the final events at QB7 after the ship was blasted in sections by the Accad,” O’Brien said, “the backup reserve data crystals retained the information for the methods Commodore Helmslar was devising to align dual nova cannons for firing between different ships.”
Sheppard thought back briefly to that battle. Helmslar was a member of the feline-like civilization called the Kyz and one of the senior commodores in the sixth fleet. As a veteran in fighting the Varlon, she commanded the larger part of the assembled task force under Sheppard that went to directly fight the Varlon starships, distracting them from the planet. Meanwhile, Sheppard led the assault task group, which included a few brigades of space marines, to help QB7’s military defenses.
Onboard the Indefatigable, Commodore St. John of the third fleet was transporting a relatively new friend of his, one of the officers who accompanied him back from a major Talcon colony in the Magellanic Cloud galaxy. St. John had returned from a ten-year exploratory mission several months ago. The Talcon officers of the ship that escorted his two remaining vessels back acted as Talcon representatives. The Talcon officer would serve as a legate or ambassador on the Phoenix and hopefully help with his distant Talcon kin’s arrival in the great Star City.
“Sir, the Indefatigable is contacting us now,” Ares said. “I have established a secure channel, and Commodore St. John wants to speak with Commodore Sheppard.”
“Open the channel on the bridge,” Sheppard directed. The bridge had a communication interface that could create a projected image of the individual, and the interface imager gave the impression of bodily presence. Commodore St. John’s image that appeared on the bridge had a slight glow. St. John had some gray in his curly brown hair, and more regular duty had helped him get back into shape after the long mission he’d completed to the nearby Magellanic Cloud galaxy. As always, he appeared in good spirits. He was one of Sheppard’s former commanding officers.
“Robert, it’s good to see you,” said St. John, smiling. “Our ships are still several minutes from rendezvous point; I wanted to send a hello ahead.”
“Good to talk with you, too, David,” replied Sheppard. “If we were not in a rush to arrive at our objective, I would stay and confer with you; sadly, however, time is of the essence. We need to try to arrive before our enemies.”
St. John nodded and smiled. “I have the Talcon official and acting ambassador, Renjir, who was also a captain in their space navy’s reserve. He is now quite familiar with our common language and is ready to assist with your mission. The Talcon also use a point-to-point transmat chamber, and he is familiar with such transport, although he likes piloting even our small fighter craft for transport.”
“That’s good that he likes to pilot; I guess our starfighters are not as advanced as he might be used to,” Sheppard replied, also smiling.
“Renjir believes our ships make us think more. I have seen their starfighters, and they have an organic interface that is more conducive to piloting, with a fully connected interlink. It allows the pilot to be virtually interactive with their starfighter. It’s as if the starfighter is your body; it was fairly intense even when I got to test it with an adapter and my own interlink. Renjir says they even feel a jolt of pain if the starfighter is damaged.”
“That might be a wee bit too connected for even my taste,” O’Brien interjected. “I don’t think I would want to feel my components melting.” Sheppard looked over and smiled. O’Brien had also worked with St. John in the past.
“Well, maybe we will get the chance to see, someday,” Sheppard said.
“Take care of Renjir,” St. John said. “His crew mates and other Talcons from the Magellanic Clouds helped my exploratory task force out of some dangerous predicaments in the last three years while the remains of my task force returned to our galaxy, and he is fairly open-minded.”
“We will take care of him as though he were one of our own,” Sheppard said, as he looked over at Wilder.
“Aye, Sir,” Wilder said. “And we have his quarters prepared from the specifications you transmitted, Commodore St. John.”
“Well, like you, I have to get on to another mission,” St. John said. “We’re headed toward Rhyn Space to help with a Joint Alliance/Rhyn and Hegemony operation.”
“That’s interesting; the Hegemony is actually doing something other than observe,” Sherman said. He had moved from the Alcove command post.
“Yes, that’s why Vice Admiral Garfield is not with us; he is in Rhyn Space on Hegemony business,” Sheppard said. “In any case, David, I will eventually be joining you in Rhendal sector under Fleet Admiral Peregrine—after we make contact with Talcon while entering the Milky Way. Now, I think I should head down to greet Ambassador Renjir in the transmat chamber.” Sheppard smiled as his friend Commodore St. John gave him an Alliance salute, which he promptly returned before heading to one of the bridge’s lifts to receive the ambassador. Both Fleet Captain Sherman and Lieutenant Commander Ares joined him in the turbo-lift to head to the transmat to formally welcome Ambassador Renjir.
The transmat device was adapted from multiple technologies the Hegemony had passed along some time ago. It was probably one of the most advanced and energy-demanding pieces of equipment used by the Alliance of Worlds. Already waiting in the transmat chamber was the transmat engineer and those assigned to serve as assistants for the ambassador. The transmat actuator was energized, creating a protective barrier for the passengers and equipment, and then the wormhole created a jump pocket to hyperspace, which temporarily connected the two linking transmat locations. The power usage was enormous, but it did allow emergency transfer of supplies and equipment. The transmat had just activated, and some of Ambassador Renjir’s personal effects were sent ahead. The crew assigned by Sherman and Ares to assist him had stepped across the actuator rings encircling the base of the platform to retrieve the ambassador’s personal effects.
Normally, the actuator rings elevated and encircled those to be transported at ten-centimeter intervals between rings from chamber
