“Do you understand this?” Jessica asked coldly.
“Yes. Quite clearly, in fact.”
“Good. Cuz the next time I catch you putting this ship or any member of this crew at risk, I will kill you.”
Jalea said nothing in response, only staring over the top of the weapon into Jessica’s eyes. She doubted she could disarm her without injury. And even if she could, she would have to kill her-and that would be difficult to explain.
After what seemed like an eternity, Jessica finally lowered her sidearm and replaced it into her holster in one smooth and quick motion, thumbing the safety back on as she did so. A second later it was back in its holster with the safety strap snapped back over it.
“We’re done here,” Jessica stated as she reached up and lightly double tapped the side of Jalea’s cheek with her open hand. “There’s another briefing in thirty minutes, princess,” she added on her way out. “Don’t be late.”
Jalea stood still for several minutes after Jessica left. She heard the young woman’s every foot step as she walked down the corridor away from her cabin. It had taken every ounce of self-control to keep from exploding and screaming out in sheer anger and frustration at the arrogance of the security officer. The woman had probably fought in less than a handful of battles-had witnessed only a few deaths of others. She had not suffered. She had not lost or felt the loss of loved ones. She had not witnessed the execution of hundreds or thousands of innocent lives. She had not walked the surface of planets that had been glassed from orbit by men in fancy uniforms sipping tea and eating pastries. And she would not prevent her from achieving retribution for the countless lives lost- especially for three of them.
CHAPTER 3
“You’re going to have to tell me eventually,” Cameron insisted. “I am your XO, remember?”
“I promise, I’ll fill you in later,” Nathan told her as they entered the command briefing room. Nathan stopped at the doorway, letting Cameron, Jessica, and Abby enter first, Jessica casting a knowing glance at him as she passed.
Tug and Jalea were already sitting on one side of the conference table. Tug had his usual confident yet approachable expression. Jalea’s expression, although as nondescript as usual, hinted at something more. Nathan attributed it to the events in the brig an hour ago.
“Thank you all for coming,” he stated as they made their way around the table. Nathan took his usual place at the head of the table, with Cameron, Jessica, and Abby on his right, Tug and Jalea on his left. Nathan first addressed Tug. “I understand that you and Doctor Sorenson managed to translate your star charts into English and upload them into our navigation system?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Tug said.
“It was a bit complicated at first,” Abby began. “You see, we use a coordinate system with Sol as a zero reference point. The Ta’Akar use their own star as the reference point for their star charts. But most other worlds outside of the Pentaurus cluster use a system that utilizes the galactic center as a reference point.”
“It does sound complicated,” Nathan admitted.
“It might be better to use the more universal of the three,” Cameron added. “Which would be the galactic- centered version.”
“We came to the same conclusion. We got a copy of the galactic charts from the shuttle. But it appears that each chart has at least some information on them the other charts are missing. So we are attempting to use conversion algorithms that will merge the data from all 3 charts into one that is based on the galactic-centered version.”
“Doesn’t that mean we’ll have to relearn our own navigation points?” Cameron asked, not looking forward to the task.
“Well, since we’re new to this region of space, it shouldn’t be that difficult. Besides, it will be more accurate.”
“How so?” Nathan asked. Although he was a trained navigator, it had never been his strongest skill.
“Coordinate systems that use a moving object as a reference point must constantly be recalculated to accommodate the reference point’s movement through space, as it travels out from the galactic center.”
“Stellar drift?”
“Yes. The galactic center does not move, at least not within its own domain. So it provides a relatively fixed point in space from which to calculate the positions of all objects.”
“How long will this take?” Nathan wondered.
“Days, perhaps weeks. Much of our core is still inoperable.”
“We can’t wait that long.”
“Of course not. That’s why we tested the idea by converting only the Pentaurus cluster for now. We now have a galactic-centered star chart for the cluster that is loaded into our navigation system. And thanks to the information contained in the charts from Mister Tugwell’s ship, we also have planetary movements and even common shipping and patrol routes. We can navigate the cluster at will.”
“That’s great,” Nathan exclaimed. He had not liked relying on Jalea’s advice when deciding where to go.
“I am also working on providing details of each system and the worlds within them,” Tug added. “So that you have a basic understanding of the socio-economic and political structures that you might encounter.”
“That will also be very useful,” Nathan said.
“It was at the request of your security chief,” Tug said, tipping his head toward Jessica in acknowledgment.
“Once the conversions are completed, how big an area will it cover?” Nathan asked Abby.
“An area of approximately one hundred light years, Captain. With the Pentaurus cluster roughly at the center.”
“Not quite enough to link up with any of our own navigational charts, though,” Nathan thought aloud, “not even the ones found in the Data Ark.”
“No,” she admitted. “But we are hoping that once the conversion is complete, we might find at least a few stars common on the fringe of both sets, ours and the galactic-centered charts, that will provide us a navigable route home.”
“Then there is hope.”
“Yes. I believe there is.”
Nathan leaned forward in his chair, leaning on the table and clasping his hands together. “So, then. Any ideas where we should go next?”
“If I may,” Cameron asked. Sensing no objections, she pulled out a small drawer built into the table to access controls for the tabletop holographic display system. The room darkened slightly as a three-dimensional holographic representation of the entire Pentaurus cluster, as well as several of the other nearby systems, appeared floating in the air above the table. “Forgive the graphics, as there wasn’t much time to program a proper display. We just used existing elements to represent the objects for now. But at least it gives us a better understanding of the general layout of this region of space.”
“This is the Pentaurus cluster,” she continued, waving her right hand in a circle around the display. There are five stars in the cluster.” Cameron reached up and pointed at a five centimeter, glowing yellow orb floating in the middle of the display. “This is Takar-a G-type star, about three times the size of Sol. It’s planetary system is somewhat similar to our own, with rocky inner planets and a few gas giants farther out. It does, however, have eighteen planets. Seven of them are rocky inner worlds, three of which are hospitable. The rest are a collection of mostly gas giants, as well as a few frozen rocky worlds farther out. Including all the various moons, there are over three hundred objects in the system.”
“Many of the moons orbiting the gas giants are reformed worlds,” Tug added. “I believe at last count there were a total of fifteen bodies in the system that can sustain human life.”
“Impressive,” Nathan admitted.
“Anyway, there are two binary systems nearby. Melbourne, about two light years away, and Taroa about
