The main bridge of the cruiser Liberty's Sword hummed with activity, the final preparations going on all around as they prepared to finally depart the planet Earth on a voyage to the homeland of the majority of it's crew. The primary stations were all manned, the people ready, only the last checks of main systems were remaining. Allison sat in the command chair, the brown haired woman crisp and neat dressed in her captain's uniform, trying to project a feeling of calm efficiently. She felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder and smiled up at her lover. "Thanks," she said to Jenna softly, wondering what was going through the princess' head. "You've learned quickly the past few days," Jenna said admiringly. Allison felt a faint blush color her pale cheeks. Her second, Commander Laurel D'ken had been drilling her on military tactics and shipboard systems for the past few days, trying to give her a good grounding in both. She still wasn't as familiar as she'd like to be with the capabilities of the ship that she was now the captain of, but it was slowly getting better. "The computers are good teachers," Allison answered. "The fact that you might have a talent for this has nothing to do with it, of course," Jenna gently teased her as she bent over the command chair. Allison felt it was better not to answer that. Just then the lift doors opened and Commander Laurel D'ken emerged, the blue haired woman's hair a bit messy. She strode towards the captain and saluted crisply, "Lucas reports that engineering is ready, shipboard repairs fully completed." "Understood," Allison nodded formally. Laurel sat down in the commander's position right beside the captain while Jenna settled into the seat on the other side that was normally reserved for mission specialists. "Status reports?" Laurel asked the bridge staff crisply. "Navigation is ready," Sharin said from her place at the front of the circular bridge. The blonde flashed a impish smile, "They've upgraded the control surfaces since I last piloted one of these cruisers, but I think I'll be fine." Amara spoke up next as she reported, "Tactical is a go." The black haired woman continued seriously, "I can have the main energy batteries and warp projectiles on standby within five seconds, targeting locks even faster." "Sensors are ready," Lieutenant Alex Keron said tentatively, but the black haired young man looked ready to do the job. "Communications are normal," Ensign Kayla Shen said crisply, the pink haired woman touching a delicate hand to her headset. "The sickbay is ready to go," Kat flashed her friend a grin as the acting medical officer continued, "and hopefully so am I." Allison looked to Kayla, "Set up a link with the Galactic Patrol cruiser." The front viewscreen showed a moment of static, then the small bridge of the GP cruiser appeared in front of them. Marilyn and Roma sat side by side, the blue haired officer and her android partner looking crisp and ready in their matching uniforms. "Ma'am," Marilyn saluted crisply, "we're ready to go." "May I thank the crew of the Liberty's Sword," Roma added with a grave smile, "they finished repairs in record time." "I'll pass that on,"Laurel said with a grin. Allison leaned forward, "Then let's get going as planned." Roma signed off, but not before looking towards Kat and smiling warmly. The bridge crew leaned over their controls, Laurel touching a small screen beside her as she said, "Lucas reports that engineering is ready." "Break orbit," Allison commanded, "best sublight to Pluto's orbital ring." As the two ships silently and stealthily left the Earth's orbit Allison contemplated the star drives that both ships carried. A smaller craft like the GP ship could warp into the solar system easily, but a much larger ship like the Liberty's Sword had difficulties. The powerful drive fields functioned unpredictably in a strong gravity well, randomizing transit and effectively getting the ship badly lost. Even worse, without the use of plotting computers and starcharts there was a good chance the ship might emerge from warp superimposed with another object. 'I saw a simulation of what would happen in one of the training manuals,' Allison remembered, 'it almost looked like a sun that was going nova.' Overall, it was not something that Allison wanted to experience first hand. "So how does it feel," Kat had moved forward from her station at the back of the bridge to ask, "being in one of those science fiction novels you like so much?" Allison looked away from the slowly changing image on the screen then up at the brown haired girl leaning over the back of her seat. "Odd," Allison answered Kat honestly, "I don't think I ever expected to be Honor Harrington." "You fill out the uniform good," Kat chuckled. She stood straight and saluted, "Permission to return to sickbay, ma'am?" "Permission granted," Allison responded automatically. She blinked, "You don't think there's going to be an emergency, do you?" "Nah," Kat casually said as she walked to the lift, "I'm going to take the opportunity to compose a really steamy love letter to Roma." With a smirk she stepped into the lift and was gone. "I think I like her," Laurel chuckled softly. "Allison's friends do grow on one," Jenna agreed from the other side. A few moments later Sharin smoothly brought the ship to a stop as she said, "We've passed the orbit of Pluto." "Thank you," Allison nodded. She activated the intership communications system and asked, "Engineering, status?" "Drives report ready ma'am," Lucas Anais replied smoothly and Allison remembered what the golden haired Magi looked like. Like all of her species she was rake thin, but according to recorded she accessed was possessed of senses far beyond most species. "We can slip-transit whenever you order," she finished. "GP cruiser reports heading locked in," Kayla relayed the report simply. Laurel gave Allison a sympathetic glance, tempted to step in and give the order for the other woman. 'No,' she concluded, 'I have to let her do this herself.; "Activate drive field," Allison commanded and Sharin did so, a rumble shaking the ship slightly as power was redirected. A faint sparkling appeared around both ships as energy built, a glow that seemed to tease the eyes and brains. Sharin calmly said, "Ready for transit." "Go," Allison ordered. From the exterior it looked like the ships simply disappeared, but instead their drives carried them forward into another realm, a strange, red tinted place shifting and swirling all around them. Accelerating far beyond the speed of light the ship raced through this other-realm, onward to their destination. Allison slowly unclamped her finders from the arms of her chair, feeling mildly foolish at her tension. Taking a breath she pressed a control on her arm rest, calling up a list of system updates and feeling comforted that they were all firmly in the green. "Very nice, love," Jenna smiled, squeezing Allison's arm gently. She rose, a simple bodysuit clinging to her bosomy form and moved towards the lift, "I'll go check on Milly, I want her to make a celebratory dinner for us once you're off shift." "She's right, good job," Laurel nodded to her young captain with a smile. "We can't do much while in transit, I would suggest some drills to get everyone used to working together ," she offered. "I'll be glad to have the practice," Allison admitted. To be continued.... Authors Note: Honor Harrington, as many of my readers already know, is the star of one of my favorite military SF series, written by David Weber. 'On Basilisk Station' is the first novel of the series and I'd strongly recommend it. If you like his stuff I'd also recommend reading 'In Death Ground' and 'The Shiva Option' co-written with Steve White, set in a different but interesting fictional universe.
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