Jack slithered on his belly through the crawl-space under the flight deck. He eyed a red cable with a sticker that read: Warning, High Voltage. Jack rolled his eyes and crawled over the cable. “I’m high voltage too, maybe I need a sticker.” He found the cable duct and called out. “Okay, I found it.” “It’s coming,” shouted Chief’s muffled voice from somewhere three decks below, perhaps in the engine room? Jack wasn’t certain, only that Chief had needed someone small enough to get into the space between the decks and pull up the new cable for the co-pilot controls. He wiggled his fingers until he felt the cable that was being pushed up. “Got it, keep pushing.” Jack got a grip on the cable and pulled it with him as he slithered backward. “You there yet,” shouted Chief. “Yeah, where do I plug it in?” “The J3 receptacle, it’s the only one it’ll fit into.” Jack searched for where the plug went, then shoved it in and twisted until it locked in place… and a bright blue arc of electricity shot out of the red cable and struck him in the side. Jack giggled, it tickled. “It’s plugged in, but the red cable has a short,” shouted Jack. “Get away from it, that’s 120 mw, it’ll kill you instantly,” shouted Chief with a new urgency in his voice. Jack screwed his face into a lopsided grin and rolled his eyes. He turned onto his side and put his finger on the arcing electricity and looped it into a knot. The electricity knot was boring, so he gathered it into a little ball and bounced it up and down off the deck, but that was just as boring. Next he formed the electricity into a small unicorn and had it prance back and forth along the red cable; he’d forgotten how much fun it was to play with an electric current. “What’s going on up there? I’m getting strange readings down here.” The electric unicorn sprouted wings and flew into the air to circle around in the small space. “I’m fixing it,” Jack shouted back. Jack was a Gate Keeper and electricity was a toy to be played with… maybe not the older ‘mature’ Gate Keepers, but the younger boys often created elaborate scenes of marching electric soldiers when the instructors had to step away from the classroom. “Jack! Don’t touch that wire, it’s very dangerous.” Jack shooed the little Pegasus-Unicorn away while he fused and wrapped the red wire where the armor piercing round had nicked it. “Are you okay in there?” asked Chief, sticking his head through the access hatch. He had run up from the lower deck concerned that Jack would hurt himself. “Yeah, all fixed, pull me out,” replied Jack. Chief Massus grabbed Jack by the ankles and pulled him out through the access hatch. Chief launched into a lecture about the dangers of electricity, then his eyes narrowed and he broke off from the intended lecture. The little Pegasus-Unicorn had followed Jack out of the crawl space and was now flying around Jack’s head. Jack tried to swat the creature away, but it landed on Jack’s shoulder and began grazing on pretend grass. Jack flicked the tiny electric creature with a finger and the Pegasus-Unicorn exploded in a tiny shower of sparks. Chief Massus frowned. “It’s time for the conference, are you ready?” “I’m ready,” said Jack. “Sorry I scared you, electricity is kind of my special talent.” “Just let me know if you have any other special talents,” said Chief. “I don’t like surprises.” “Tan used to say that all the time,” replied Jack. “I shouldn’t wonder why,” said Chief with a droll expression. The CIC on the deck below had the necessary monitor screens to accommodate the conference. Jack liked the CIC, he thought it looked like the inside of a submarine. Chief switched the monitors on and the image of each ship captain came into focus. Chief looked at Jack, expecting him to start the meeting, but Jack had an odd 'fish out of water' expression on his face. Chief stepped up next to Jack. “We’re going to begin now,” said Chief. “First, I’d like to mention that Lt. Commander Tom, our fighter pilot, and with Captain Dodd gone, the Senior Officer, will be taking the Command Pilot position, with Lieutenant Bret remaining as Co-pilot. Lt. Commander, would you like to begin?” Commander Tom had his helmet off and Jack could see he was in his late 30’s or early 40’s. The man had a mature face, but with playful eyes you knew never missed a single detail. Commander Tom pushed his helmet to the side to float in the weightlessness of his fighter’s cockpit. “Standard Survival Procedures are to find a planet capable of supporting life and establishing a base camp. But first, our immediate need is to conserve fuel. We can dock the fighter ship in the Command Ship’s Cargo Bay and keep it in reserve for an emergency. We’ll also need an alternate pilot for the Command Ship in the event I need to take the Fighter out.” “I have experience with large ships,” replied Commander Sala’je of the Survey Ship. “I can fill in as the alternate Command Pilot.” “Thank you, Commander,” said Tom. “Are you playing music over there?” Lt. Commander Talek leaned into the camera’s view. “That’s me, I’ll turn it off.” Tom shook his head. “You don’t’ have to, I’m rather enjoying it. I don’t have much in the way of luxuries inside this fighter cockpit. What kind of music is that?” “My great-grandfather was on the Survey Teams,” replied Talek. “He was sent to explore a human world once and brought several recordings of their music back. This music is called the June Taylor Dancers Bumble Boogie.” “I like the beat, it gets the blood moving,” said Tom. “I do believe the music is employing swing notes in groups of three to get that beat,” explained Talek. “The first eighth note is slightly shorter than the last two, so what ends up occurring is a rhythmic feel that has a short-long sequence, I’ve got more recordings of various music I brought with me, I’ll put them on a data disk for you. Okay, I think Commander Sala’je has some notes she wants to go over next.” “Dr. Lanthu, what are you drinking, that’s your third cup?” asked Commander Sala’je. “Sun Brew from the RS-9,” replied the Doctor holding his cup up. “Do you have any extra?” asked Sala’je. The Doctor smiled and tipped his head. “The coffee comes in small tins. I’ll trade you a tin for a half-dozen of those muffins you’ve been munching on.” “Deal,” declared Commander Sala’je as she flipped through a notebook she was holding. “Gentleman, the Eroden will be searching for us, but we’re in a good hide position right now, we should stay here for a week while we prepare a Landing Plan on one of the three planets we are going to search for the anti-matter device.” Lt. Commander Tom nodded. “I agree, let’s exercise caution. Commander Sala’je, I believe you have the most experience exploring new planets. You should prepare our Landing Plan.” “I can have it ready in a few days,” said Sala’je. “That’s all I have for now. Commander Talbot of the Aeden Gate ship has a few things to add. But first I want to express my gratitude to Commander Talbot for his quick and decisive actions during the battle. You saved the lives of everyone here.” “House Jathon is honored by the praise from the Commander,” said Commander Talbot. “I also agree that we should exercise caution, but there is also value in being prepared to move quickly. There was no reasonable expectation to think the Eroden were already in this Sector of The Fringe, but now that we know, I would suggest we spend part of this week conducting drills. We must have a well-rehearsed battle plan.” Lt. Commander Tom was writing notes and looked up at the camera. “Sir, I read the pre-launch brief. Your experience in forward Gate Operations as well as your combat field experience is well documented. Would you be so kind as to lead us in drilling for battle?” “I would be honored,” replied Commander Talbot. “Do you wish the drills to be announced, or un-announced?” Chief, standing next to Jack replied. “Battle does not announce itself, they need to be unannounced.” “Very good, Master Chief,” replied the Aeden Commander. “They will be unannounced.” “Thank you, Commander,” said Chief. “Dr. Lanthu, do you have anything to add?” Dr. Lanthu stood and leaned across the table to adjust his camera. His daughter jumped up and was out of view of the camera for a moment until she pushed an antique chalkboard into view. The chalkboard had an elaborate diagram of the Pyramid World, navigation lines, and a solar system with sixteen planets plotted out. The entire drawing was surrounded by a chaos of equations. “Will there be a test after the lecture, Doctor?” asked Lt. Commander Tom with a grin. “I didn’t study.” Dr. Lanthu smiled that patient smile professors used on unruly students in their classrooms. “Only if you’re seeking a degree in astrophysics.” “How many degrees do you have, Doctor?” asked Tom. “The pre-launch brief didn’t have anything about you in it.” “That’s because my daughter and I only woke from our slow-sleep cycle last month, and you know how it is, even my credit cards haven’t been reactivated yet. Anyway, I have a degree in xenoarchaeology, xenolinguistics, astrophysics, quantum physics, and I hold a professorship at the University of Science and Technology.” “Impressive,” said Tom. “I got a smiley sticker on a spelling test once.” Sala’je gave the Lt. Commander a wry grin. “You are such a fibber, Thomas darling. I read the pre-launch briefing also, and you have a degree in aerospace engineering, and astronavigation.” Tom grinned and blew Sala’je a kiss. “And I got a smiley sticker on both of them.” Jack rolled his eyes. Sala’je was his old boss from Deck Zero, and she tended to flirt with everyone, and to his horror, even himself several times. “Jack darling, I saw you roll your eyes,” said Sala’je. “Are you of age yet?” Jack turned bright red. Chief leaned forward and glared into the camera. Sala’je laughed. “Oh my, Jacky dearest, you’ve got yourself a big ol’ grumpy Papa Bear to protect your virtue. Take care of him, Chief, he is the most valuable of treasures, and don’t underestimate him. I did on several occasions. He will always surprise you when you least expect it.” Chief’s eyes flicked to Dr. Lanthu. “Continue, Doctor.” “We must jump immediately back, but not to the Pyramid World, which by the way is Planet C773, but for simplicity sake, we will call it Planet 1.” The Doctor paused to see if anyone had any questions, but everyone remained silent. “Planet 1 is orbiting the second sun of a binary system. Planet 2, 3, and 4 are orbiting the larger of the two suns. I doubt that any indigenous civilizations developed on any of the planets, being that a binary system is unstable.” “There were signs of civilization on Planet 1,” said Chief. “I think it was a colony, and I think the detonation of the anti-matter device an accident. I’ve reviewed scans of the planet over the last hour. There have been secondary explosions, and signs that there is a large fire burning that matches with a natural gas fire. I think the colony landed on Planet 1 because it was the most stable, and perhaps that planet was their furthest reach. They then drilled for natural gas, and the drilling struck the anti-matter device.” “The Aedens were the only possible colonists 200,000 years ago,” said Tom. “Commander Talbot, was there an Aeden colony on Planet 1?” “I found no record of one,” replied Commander Talbot. “However, we did build the pyramid and dropped Gates on all four worlds. It is possible we realized too late that seeding the four worlds would not work, and changed from an observation post, to a mining colony.” “So, why do we need to jump right now?” asked Commander Sala’je. Dr. Lanthu tapped the chalkboard. “This is a diagram of the current position of all the planets of the solar system.” The Doctor paused and turned back to the camera. “Let me back up and explain the Eroden first. The two squadrons of Erodens did not have a Command ship with them, so their Fleet can’t be much further than two light years away from Planet 1, but it’s only been an hour, so they aren’t there, yet, but they will be there within the day. Once they arrive, they will have the equipment to scan deep space and easily find us. They will also find the other three Aeden Gates, and we will be trapped.” “Do you have a plan, Doctor?” asked Tom. “Yes, if we jump in the next 13 minutes to Planet 4, our wormhole will intersect the radiation cloud from the nuke we dropped before we jumped here, and that will mask our arrival back in the solar system. We then land on Planet 4, take the Aeden Gate, and destroy the control room beneath it. We will then fly to Planet 3, and do the same, and again on Planet 2.” “But if they have a fleet coming, they’ll find us on Planet 2,” noted Tom. “I studied the time-period of the Great Re-Build,” said Doctor Lanthu. “All the RS ships were on the ground, we left nobody in orbit on guard. What we did was build an underground moon base on the second moon of Planet 2. It is well hidden, shielded, and most likely has a cache of weapons, fuel, food, and water.” Commander Sala’je nodded. “That would match with our standard procedure of leaving caches behind for emergencies.” “If those supplies are there, even if they do find us, we could survive a siege for years,” continued the Doctor. “Doctor, how much time do we have to recover the Aeden Gates?” asked Chief. “No more than 24 hours.” Chief glanced to Commander Talbot. “Sir, can those Gates be disassembled in 24 hours?” “Yes they can, but it will also remove any possibility of receiving a rescue mission.” “One hurtle at a time,” said Chief. “I agree with Doctor Lanthu’s plan.” “I would suggest deploying a nuclear device when we jump from here to mask our position,” added Talbot. Lt. Commander Tom grabbed his helmet and put it on. “The blast will tell them we were here.” “Yes,” replied Commander Talbot. “They will waste a week coming here to look, and may give us more time.” “I’ll prepare the nuke,” said Chief. “Order of jump will be, Tom, Sala’je, Talbot, Lanthu, and then us. Everyone get ready to jump, we go as soon as the Gate is deployed.” “I am deploying a Gate now,” said Commander Talbot. “Light the candle and keep your feet out of the water,” shouted Lt. Commander Tom. “Hey, Captain Jack, great meeting.” Lt. Commander Tom’s screen went blank. Jack turned his head to the external ship’s camera and saw the fighter ship roaring towards the event horizon. Jack turned back to Chief. “Great meeting? I never said a word.” Chief glanced at Jack from the CIC weapons console. “That’s what he’s praising you for. You had already told them you needed options, and then were wise enough to keep your mouth shut while they worked the problem. That’s an important lesson for a Captain. Let your people do their jobs. Everyone here was selected personally by Captain Dagas. The officers and enlisted on this expedition are the best of the best, even Dr. Lanthu was selected personally by Captain Dagas.” Jack nodded. “That’s true, Uncle Margus… I mean Captain Dagas told me to go get him, but… umm… I wasn’t silent because I was being wise… I… umm…” “I know, Jack, you were intimidated by their experiences and accomplishments. Captain Dagas has been shielding you, as he should, but now you suddenly found yourself on the big kids’ playground. Captain Dagas knew if you were to grow as a person, he was going to have to let go of your hand.” “Does it ever get easier?” asked Jack. “It does, but being somewhere between a boy and a man is difficult, and doubly so because you have all this raw power you were born with, but you really don’t know what to do with it yet.” Chief pushed the ship intercom to the flight deck. “Lieutenant, did you listen to the meeting?” “Aye, Chief. I understand the plan. I’m following Doctor Lanthu to the Gate now.” “Don’t dawdle, I’ve already dropped the nuke on a one minute countdown.” Chief looked back to Jack. “You have a few minutes before we’ll need you on the ground. Go check on the Nav Officer in sick bay, and then sit down and write a letter to Captain Dodd’s family. There’s a possibility a rescue team might already be on the planet waiting. If they are, we’ll evacuate our dead and injured back home, along with that letter.” “Who’s writing the letter to the other fighter pilot’s family?” “Lt. Commander Tom will, it’s his responsibility, and they were friends since flight school.” “You’ll read my letter before you send it, just to make sure I did it right?” asked Jack. “I will, but if you write it from the heart, it will be right.”