Free On Silver Wings by Evan Currie Page B

academic route and studied for her command rank as a secondary priority.

    Most of the information in the folder in front of him was a fair bit over Jorgen’s head, but he suspected very little of it confused his Flag Captain. That was a good thing, since he understood enough of it to know that it had very serious implications.

    “Who’s seen this data?”

    “You, me, Liz, and the Commo who decoded it.” She replied instantly.

    He nodded, “Has Commander Shay compared it to the drive readings we’ve been pulling off the silhouettes we’ve been stalking?”

    “Aye Sir,” Kay replied, “They match... in theory.”

    He noted the qualifier, but didn’t respond to it. They weren’t at the point just yet when hard decisions had to be made, so she was just making certain that they kept an open mind and not trying to play ‘cover your ass’ with the Admiral.

    Since arriving in the system, Fleet Task Force Two had been hit with one unknown after another, so keeping an open mind was starting to feel more like having one’s mind blown open with copious amounts of high explosive. He sighed, looking back to the receding light of Hayden’s World before glancing back to Captain Richardson.

    “Captain, inform me when we’re clear to jump.”

    “Aye Sir,” Richardson said.

    “Leave the files, I’ll look them over while we’re heading outsystem.”

    She saluted, then let go of the rail and kicked off the wall, sailing toward the door. He watched her go for a moment, then thumbed open the folder again and began to read the long detailed explanations he’d only skimmed before.

    He was still reading the intricacies of multidimensional theory and their effect on gravitation when the general quarters alarm sounded, causing Jorgen to swing around and instinctively kick off the wall as he shot for the door. He caught a handgrip as the door swung open automatically, swung out and up, and pushed off again, heading for the Flag Deck.

    *****

    “Report!” Captain Kay Parker growled as she looped her arms into the five point restraints, slapping the catch shut over her chest even as she reached down between her legs for the crotch strap and snapped it into place as well.

    “Three Bogeys coming at us right out of the star! They must have been hiding around one of the inner giants, Ma’am.”

    Kay grimaced, shaking her head. The Hayden system wasn’t setup even remotely like Sol, the first three inner planets were gas giants, practically proto-stars in their own right. Part of the reason the colony even existed on Hayden was to observe their consumption by the local primary, or their eventual birth as newborn stellar furnaces.

    Scientifically, it was an invaluable process to observe. From a military aspect, the gravity fluctuations and increased radiation from those three planets in addition to the star itself made spotting anything as small as a ship a task worthy of Hercules himself. Coming out of the sun was a time honored tradition for fighter pilots, and it looked like it was working for these ships as well.

    “Give me a track!” She growled just as a light lit up on her right hand command screen. She flipped a switch open and turned to it, “Hello again, Admiral. We’ve picked up three unidentified craft approaching from the cover of the star.”

    Admiral Sweet nodded, “Understood Captain. Increase acceleration, I don’t believe getting caught would be in our best interests just now.”

    She nodded, though it was counter to previous orders. They’d been trying to get closer to these puppies for days, playing cat and mouse with them in the shadows of the Hayden Primary. Now that they had some real intel on board, of course it was the time the puppies would decide to play wolf.

    She opened a ship wide comm, “All hands, this is the Captain. Prepare for acceleration, One Gee. I say again, prepare for acceleration, One Gee.”

    “Helm, engage one gee acceleration in two minutes. Tactical,