“Welcome to your new home,” Titus said. “The panels are a lot simpler to operate than you might think. They only look complicated because they’re upgraded. We’ve skinned the interface to look a lot like what we’re used to. That was to minimize training. Eventually, we’ll upgrade because the new way of getting around is pretty slick.”
“I see.” Rhys nodded. “I’m… I’m impressed, Captain. This is incredible. Even if it’s just aesthetic, it looks a lot different. And those consoles…” He gestured to the helm. “What’s that all about?”
“Efficiency,” Titus explained. “This setup also minimizes the danger of some catastrophic event killing the operator. The panel can surge out, but it wouldn’t blow up. And that tube is strong enough to withstand insane temperatures. Ultimately, besides streamlining, it’s a safety issue. Injuries on Prytin ships from shorted consoles are minimal.
“Anyway, let me introduce you around.” Titus gestured to the pilot on the right side, a woman. “This is Lieutenant Jane Bennet.” She offered a quick salute before going back to her work. “Lieutenant Commander Ronin James.” He did the same. “Over there is Lieutenant Violet Cromwell on the technical station.”
“Welcome aboard, sir.” Violet stood, offering a crisp salute. “It’s an honor to serve with you again.”
Rhys felt like a jackass. He couldn’t remember her. “I’m sorry, Lieutenant.” He returned her salute. “I don’t remember the post?”
“I was an ensign on the Borgia. We did some brief work together when you lost contact with a ground unit.”
“Oh my God, yes!” Rhys nodded. “That was fantastic work, Lieutenant. I’m sorry I forgot.” He turned to Titus. “We were conducting a rescue operation on a mining facility and I lost contact with all personnel. Violet here found a way to tap into the network of the station then patched us through the PA system.”
“I gave them instructions on how to use the reactor there to boost their signal long enough to let us know they were okay. They set their rendezvous and we got them out of there. No casualties.”
“Fantastic.” Titus motioned to the chairs. “Violet, can you give Rhys a rundown on how everything works? After we depart.”
“Of course.” Violet nodded. “Let me know when you’re ready, sir.”
Rhys took his seat, sinking into the chair. The terminal immediately identified him, logging him into the station. Most of the interface did look familiar, but the way he accessed it took him by surprise. The touch screen somehow felt different. Smoother… as if touching the surface of a bubble.
He thought to ask why, but Titus spoke to the pilots. “Take us out, Ronin. Course set?”
“We’re ready to go,” Jane replied. “Estimated time of arrival, two hours, fifty six minutes. Rendezvous with the Brekka… three hours twenty minutes.”
“So about a half hour before we see them.” Titus nodded. “Excellent. Welcome to the Triton, Commander. I look forward to our tour together.”
“Thanks… me too.” Rhys turned back to the interface as the ship picked up speed. When the engines engaged, it seemed to be smoother than other vessels. The artificial gravity must’ve been dramatically better. He swore they were barely moving but the viewscreen showed they were rapidly approaching the top speed of any other ship.
Can this thing exceed basic operational levels? Rhys wouldn’t have doubted it. He felt as if anything might be possible aboard the Triton… and the most wondrous part of this assignment had not even happened yet. I’m going to meet aliens eventually. That blew his mind most of all.
***
Martin Tiller always thought he’d be assigned to a space station or some boring peacekeeping group. When he had received orders to report to a top secret starship on the edge of colonial space, he couldn’t believe his fortune. He and Wilson had been handpicked for the assignment… an honor he didn’t understand but gladly accepted.
As they walked down the hall, Vesper nudged him. “You seeing this?” She asked.
“What?” Tiller looked around. He didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. “What’s wrong?”
“Um…” Vesper gestured at a wall screen as they passed. “That?”
“Looks upgraded.” Tiller shrugged. “So?”
“So,” Corso said, “you’re about to enter a new world. When we’re done with the briefing, you’ll get a chance to spend a couple hours with some new weapons. I’m sorry it won’t be longer but we’ve been called up for a mission. Could mean a ground operation. We’re not sure yet.”
“Sorry, sir,” Vesper replied, “what do you mean a new world? What’s going on?”
“There’s a lot to cover and little time.” Corso stopped walking, turning to look at them both. “We’ve onboarded several new people over the last couple weeks. You two were our last additions. We thought you’d have at least seven days to acclimate. That’s not the case but suffice to say, we’ve made a lot of changes to this ship and our equipment as well.”
“What kind of changes?” Tiller asked. “And how?”
“You were picked because you’re young and supposedly open minded,” Corso replied. “So I’m going to give you a one word answer to that question. We’ll get into details later. Aliens. That’s how. Now, I need to get you to the Gunny so he can bring you up to speed on the equipment you’ll be using.”
“Aliens…” Tiller looked at Vesper as the lieutenant started moving again. “Like… legit other life? Sentient? That’s… I mean, I don’t want to say impossible but improbable. Right?”
“You should’ve taken astral philosophy,” Vesper said. “That course went into the possibility of other life and what it might mean to the human ego. How much it might change our entire culture… the way we think about religion, culture, civilization. Everything, honestly. We explored the good and the bad.”
“Which is why no one knows yet,” Corso added. “We haven’t made this public. And until we know more, it’ll remain a secret.
