Captain Evans was up from his bunk in an instant as the gravity
shut down all around him.  It was the night watch of his ship, but
he knew that an attack or a space pirate ambush would need every
experienced commanding officer to be on the Bridge to help.  If he
could get to his destination.  He floated right up off the floor and
bounced from the ceiling.  The gravity vectoring systems must
have been damaged.

    “Computer, geevees!”

    GVS are malfunctioning on all decks.  Attempts to restore
power have failed.

    Evans hit the deck on all fours, trying his best to absorb the
impact so he wouldn’t float away again and be helpless.  But it
didn’t work.

    “It’s high time for me to remember my Academy classes,”
Evans said to himself.  He knew he had to deflect himself on a
different angle in order to get where he wanted to go.  He managed
to shift to the right just as he had begun to rebound.  This sent him
toward the wall of his quarters a whole lot faster than he had
anticipated.  But, as all Spacer ships went, they were built for
people to be able to use them even when major systems weren’t
working properly.  Thus, there were hand holds recessed into the
wall, waiting to be grasped.  With an expert twist of his waist, he
set himself spinning.  Evans returned to the long gone days of his
youth, when he took Academy classes on movement in space
without gravity.

    He snagged the handholds on the wall and held tight.  Despite
arthritis, his hands held strong onto those holds.  Then he deftly
righted himself so his feet pointed back at the floor.  Then Evans
pulled his uniform off of the hanger and pointed himself at the
door that led to the Bridge.  His knees hurt, but his legs still bent
well, and he was on his way across the room toward the door at
once.

    Memories of how to do things reminded him of his Astrobatics
instructor, Mrs. Onida Smith, who taught him how to do all these
maneuvers.  She was giving him pointers on how to bend this
limb, or lift that leg and propel himself even when he was in the
center of the room with no handholds.  Evans bent his head down
toward his chest and let loose a breath of air from pursed lips. 
That had the same effect as a small rocket, and it propelled him
toward the door fast enough for him to get there in a timely
fashion.  At the handholds of the door, he had already changed out
of his nightrobe and was almost fully in uniform as the door slid
aside to allow him passage onto the Bridge.

    “Captain on the Bridge,” the nightwatch Captain said.  It
brought a quick end to Captain Evans’ reverie.  Officers were
counting on him now, and not the night Captain.

    “All officers report,” Evans said, quickly slipping into the
mindset of a Captain aboard a besieged vessel.  This was no time
to think of being a victim, it was time to start busting out the
heavy gear.

    “We’ve been duped, Captain,” Commander Welles reported. 
“We’re surrounded by space pirates.”

    “On a milk run like this?” Evans asked.

    “They used a torpedo that must have simulated KobalThi
bioplasm, sir,” the night Captain answered.

    “How the hell?” Evans was surprised.

    “I don’t know,” Welles answered.  “Ensign Kay is working on
that right now.”

    “No idea, sir,” the Owlasi Ensign answered the question even
before Captain Evans asked it.

    “How many of the convoy got stuck with us?”

    “Ten.  And their Captains want to talk with us.”

    “As the convoy leader, we shouldn’t have left hyperspace.  They
have a darn good reason to demand the truth, because it looks too
much like we betrayed them to those pirates out there.  Arm our weapons
and tell the other ships to do the same.  Mister Halloway, tell these
green excuses for space pirate marauders that our anti-K shipment
is getting to NeoTerra even if it has to roll right over their ships to
do it!”  One could almost see the heat of the Captain’s rage at
being off duty to miss what must have been an obvious hoax of a
KobalThi bioplasm attack.  In fact, if he’d been there, this would
have certainly turned out different.

    “Right away, sir,” Ensign Halloway snapped to attention.

    “Weapons at full power.  Shields coming up to maximum
power,” Welles reported as he took control of the vacant Tactical
station, which was shut off because nobody had expected any
attacks on a “milk run” while on the night watch.

    “Those ships out there are Spacers!” Kay said.  Suddenly all
attention was on her.  “Look, they’re all AGN registered, and
without null codes.”

    “Who the hell?”

    “Somebody’s jamming all our communications signals!”

    “Go to ansibolic Mister Halloway, now!  And tell our convoy
that they ought to be on condition red by now.  And tell the person
who’s jamming our hyperband radio that they’d better tell us who
they are before we start asking questions with our fists instead of
our mouths.”

    Halloway quoted this as he demanded identification from the
Spacer vessels surrounding the convoy being led by Captain Evans
and the Arachne.  Then the holographic projector in the front of
the Bridge turned on.  It showed a face, with prominent
Tal’adaar’aan-like ridges along the temples.  But the face was a
round one, and the uniform was clearly a NeoTerran fleet uniform. 
Evans watched the woman draw herself up to her full height in the
holo projector.  She was wearing an altered uniform so that her
most prominent Ghirond features were visible.  Both her wings
and her tail could be seen as she stood up.

    Immediately, Evans recognized her.

    “Admiral T’San,” he recoiled at the sight of a superior officer,
“How?”

    “We’re here to take your cargo to NeoTerra,” T’San said with a
sharp edge to her voice, “so lower your shield and power down
those weapons before I blow you out of the sky.”

    “That’s no way to greet a fellow officer, Admiral,” Evans said.

    “I’ll address you however I see fit, Captain,” T’San said.

    “When you attempt to hoax KobalThi bioplasm attacks, you’ll
answer to me as per AGN regulations.  I’m on a standard milk run
on a standard trade route with the standard number of ships in my
convoy.  Now tell me why you were conducting military exercises
in this trade route and I’ll kindly lower my shields.”

    “Captain--” T’San started.  Her voice was soaked in anger.

    “As God is my witness,” Evans said, “I’ll chew you up one side
and down the other with the Spacer Codes, Admiral T’San, if you
decide that you are above rules and regulations.”  Just then, there
was a clear chime that signalled the Bridge crew that Halloway
had turned on the ansible.  Evans gave Halloway a hand sign, and
the Ensign pressed another key on his console.

    “All other ships are receiving this,” Evans said aloud.  But
T’San was already talking and was in the middle of a tirade.

    “Admiral!” Evans raised his voice.  She quit talking.

    “My ansible is active, and all of my convoy is listening.  Tell
them why you were conducting military maneuvers on an open
trade route.”

    “Like I was saying before, Captain,” T’San showed extreme
restraint to keep her anger from showing at Evans for his
insubordinate attitude.  “We were preparing to close this route
because we thought the KobalThi were here.”

    “And tell me why you still haven’t disarmed.”

    “The KobalThi are still in this sector.  We just don’t know
where.”

    “Turn your weapons off, Admiral,” Evans said.  “I and my
convoy are shipping anti-K ammunition and you are wasting your
time if you don’t have any.  And if you keep that live ammo
trained on me and my convoy, you are liable to blow us all up if
you come in range.  That’s a high risk to run.”

    “Then give us the cargo and be on your way.”

    “You don’t have the authority to sign for this cargo.  Fleet
Admiral’s orders say that I need a Five-Star Admiral to sign off the
papers.”

    “Give me the cargo, or I may just fire on you,” T’San said.

    “Take yourselves with us,” Evans said.  “Mister Welles, arm
every anti-K warhead on this ship, including the cargo.  Tell the
convoy to do the same.”

    Halloway hesitated where he once may have went straight to
work.  “Sir, that’s an awful high risk.”

    “It is,” Welles said.  While making motions at the tactical
console as if to arm the anti-K ammunition, he reported that he
had turned on every warhead.  Halloway saw this but T’San could
not have seen it because Halloway turned up the focus on the
holographic camera trained on Captain Evans.  It enlarged his face
to dominate the holographic view aboard Admiral T’San’s ship so
that nothing else could be seen.  Then Halloway grinned as he
conveyed the fake message to the other ships by ansible, carefully
keying in the command code that prevented any other ansibles
from listening in.  The ansible computer chimed again when the
message had been relayed and answered by the other Captains of
the convoy.
 

    “May the Lord give rest to these souls who risked their lives to
reach NeoTerra and protect those innocent people from the
KobalThi,” the minister prayed.  Tears slipped down from his
cheeks as he worded this final line of prayer.

    “Amen,” a chorus of voices answered, testifying “so shall it be.”

    The minister stepped away from the podium and the people of
the assembly were dismissed.  Captain Astrid stayed seated and
tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.

    “There was no way for Captain Evans to guess what was about
to happen,” MacHaley said.

    “No.  No there wasn’t,” Astrid said, “But it didn’t have to
happen.”  And Astrid was right.  Admiral T’San did not have to
use torpedos to blow away the ships in Captain Evans’ convoy. 
And NeoTerra did not have to blow up its supply of anti-K
ammunition just so the Union could be set up to take the fall for it. 
Admiral Pon would never be the one to say “I told you so,” to the
new Captain.  But he would explain that the accusations the
NeoTerrans were leveling at the Union were false and that they
would be followed by NeoTerran propaganda saying that the
Union wasn’t protecting NeoTerra and that NeoTerra should
secede from the Union so it could protect itself from the KobalThi. 
MacHaley and the other officers who were assigned to serve
aboard Koronis’ Berkeshire waited for Astrid to stand before they
felt like they were dismissed.

    Kairago Micheta stayed behind with MacHaley and Astrid,
along with Hiram Lothair and Lura’aknul.

    “We need to have a talk with Admiral Pon,” Astrid said.  “The
ship is being brought into service a bit early.”

    “You mean they’re sending us out there with an unfinished and
untested ship?” Micheta was the one who had asked that question.

    “She’s been put through more of her paces than before,” Astrid
said, “but, I agree, the ship isn’t complete.  We’ll just have to
make do with what we have.

    Admiral Pon looked much more friendly than before.  Astrid
was somewhat happy that he was not angry, but the circumstances
of his change in mood were not pleasant to her or to anyone else in
the room.

    “The truth, I am afraid, has come out,” Pon said.  “Terra and
NeoTerra are attempting to make the Union look as if we are not
supplying them with their fair share of anti-K ammunition.  But
Captain Evans died to bring them their share, and they destroyed it
themselves in an attempt to damage our reputation.”

    “I hear there’s discussion of NeoTerra seceding from the
Union,” MacHaley said.

    “At this very moment, NeoTerra is convening a council to
make that very decision.  Now, more than ever, the Union needs
to prove that we are not wasting their time by building your ship.”

    “You said that the NeoTerrans have been taking over Union
shipworks in their system,” Micheta said.  Lingñalli almost never
asked questions that sounded like questions.

    “I did,” Pon answered, “They have some of the shipworks which
were helping to build KB.  At this moment, they are sitting on a
Hedefrium cluster which was built to be the heart of the ansible
aboard Berkeshire.  The Union has done some work on the ansible
principles themselves, and we’ve devised a way to use the ansible
as an observatory also.  They claim that it is theirs, but the Union
has proof that we contracted them to build it for us.  We also have
proof that the design of the ansible observatory was first developed
in the Union.”

    “They’re trying to steal it.  But what would they use it for?”
Astrid asked.

    “They may have a ship of their own.  Or perhaps they want to
delay the launch of Berkeshire just that much longer.  Whatever
their reason is, it is not why I brought you here.  I brought you here
to discuss the recovery of that Hedefrium cluster.”

    “You want us to just fly in?”

    “No.  I had intentions of having KB fly in on a different course,
to distract them away from you, Astrid,” Pon said, “I want you,
Lura’aknul, and MacHaley to take one of Berkeshire’s shuttles. 
You may invite along a few Marines if you like.”

    “Will KB have her own contingent of Marines, Admiral,” Astrid
asked.

    “Yes.  They’ve already moved in aboard the ship.  You’ll find
the Marine Deck on level twenty five.  I would suggest that you
take the Dragonfly shuttle, Captain.”

    “I’ll consider it.”

    Pon laughed.  “The other shuttles haven’t been delivered to the
shipworks yet.  Even so, I’d still suggest the Dragonfly.  She has
an innovated design which might help the NeoTerrans understand
that the Union’s efforts are not misdirected.

    “You’ll take the Dragonfly into the NeoTerran system,
hopefully undetected, and find the Union ansible shipworks.  Once
you get there, you should be able to use the Dragonfly’s ansible to
commandeer the tugs that keep the shipworks in position.  If you
have to, you should be able to tow the entire platform with a
tractor beam.  The idea is to get it installed aboard Berkeshire
before the NeoTerrans send ships to go looking for it.”

    “I feel like I’m stealing,” Astrid said.

    “They want you to feel guilty.  But they are telling lies by saying
the ansible is theirs.  We’ve spent five years making that thing
work, and it’s worthless if there isn’t a ship it can fit aboard.  It’s
tailor-made to fit inside Berkeshire, not any other ship.”

    “No, I meant I feel like I’m violating their space.”

    “They are trying to break away from the Union, Captain,” Pon
said, “at this time, we need them more than they know it, and they
need us more than they are willing to admit.  If you encounter any
resistance, please try your best to be diplomatic.  And remember,
Berkeshire will be on her way shortly after you.”

    “What about refugees,” Tucker said.  “I hear there’s a group of
Union ambassadors who want out of NeoTerra if things get ugly.”

    “We have made arrangements for them to take a tour of a
certain shipworks platform,” Pon said.  “Astrid, when you take the
ansible, be certain to contact those people and ask them whether or
not they’ve decided to leave.”

    “I’ll make sure to do that.”

    “Good.  If everyone is familiar with their role in this operation,
then you may be dismissed.”  People stood up and Pon answered a
few more questions before Astrid and her officers left.  Pon
handed her a written document of her assignment, as well as four
keycards.

    “These are to get aboard the ship.  There’s a lot of people who’d
like to take a look at our ‘ugly duckling’ of a ship.  But she still
has work to be done.  Through some string pulling, I’ve managed
to get the decks fixed and most of the engine parts are on site at
this moment, though they aren't installed yet.”

    “Thank you, sir,” Astrid said.

    “You’re welcome, Captain,” Pon said.  “Now, not everything is
up to full working order, but that ought to be resolved within the
next twelve hours.  As for you and the Dragonfly, you may leave
at your own discretion.  Don’t ask for clearance from the
Spaceport, you will be given right of way through the base and out
onto the high spaces.  Good luck, and Godspeed.”

    “Thank you again, sir.”  Astrid shook Pon’s hand and walked
out into the corridor outside Pon’s office.  The others had waited a
moment for her.

    “Let’s go.  We’ve got a lot of business to tend to,” Astrid said. 
She strode briskly down the corridor, handing out keycards as she
went toward the nearest lift.  Her officers stepped up to get their
cards.

    “These are your access keycards to get aboard Koronis’
Berkeshire.  I know you and I trust you, but protocol demands that
I say this:  ‘Make sure not to lose the cards or let any unauthorized
personnel aboard.’  I am aware of at least one unfounded rumor of
an attempted sabotage, and at least three founded rumors of
attempted sabotage.  I can tell you now that I do not want my crew
to get killed before the ship’s first official mission begins.”

    She stopped at the doors to the lift, and the doors slid open.  She
and her officers stepped in, bound for their first mission in space. 
She prayed that they would hold up to the real situation like they
had held up to the test.  With her trust firmly placed in God’s
hands, she instructed the lift to take her and her crew to the
starship awaiting them in the dock.