Chapter 4

Confrontation

The Secretary of Defense waited outside the Prime Minister's office for several hours before he was shown inside. As usual, two hand-picked guards were flanking the Prime Minister.

"Sit down." said the Prime Minister. "Wait a few moments; I'm almost done here."

After a minute, the Prime Minister looked up from his work and faced the Secretary of Defense. "You've done a great job in Defense," he said, "So I'm giving you a new assignment." He handed the Secretary of Defense a piece of paper and the Defense Secretary read, then scowled.

"Sir," said the Secretary of Defense, "You're assigning me to a revenue office out in Clarksdale? Why? What have I done?"

"Don't tell me you don't know." said the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of Defense just shook his head no. "I've known for some time that you and the Chairman of the Military Council, as well as the Director of Planetary Security, have been hatching a plan to 'retain' Athena Kerman and her starship in spite of my decision to send her back. I'm heading your plans off at the pass."

"Sir," said the Secretary of Defense, "We believe that sending her back to Talia would not be in the best interests of Rhodian security."

"Nevertheless," continued the Prime Minister, "My decision stands. Athena will go back home. I'm neutralizing your plans right now."

"What about the station crews? They won't take kindly to being pushed around."

"The station crews are no longer your concern. As for them, they have already been taken care of. They're sitting on ice for now until I can 'explain' it to them. For now, that piece of paper is all that you need to concern yourself with."

"Dismissed."

"Sir, I must protest!"

"Enough!" said the Prime Minister. Sighing, he continued. "Do you remember the old lamia in our history about the Kraken?" The Secretary of Defense nodded, and the Prime Minister continued. "What most people think is that the Kraken is a sea creature. It is not. It is a fear from our oldest times about bipedal creatures with pink skin who will one day come to eat our young." The Secretary of Defense eye's went wide.

"We've been able to trace the pink-skin legends back before our earliest ancestors entered the Kerbol system, back when we lived on the second planet called Eden. Later, when we moved from Eden to the next planet out, the legend grew even more intense."

"But the point is, somewhere in our history, we stood next to pink-skins, and they abused and rejected us out of fear. Some supposedly hunted us as well. Since then, we have strived to be better than the pink-skins who mistreated us. Now can you understand where I'm coming from?" The Secretary of Defense nodded.

"We must be better than those pink-skins, who by the legends, did many of the same things you have been planning. They took what they wanted, and we vowed we would not. This is why I've decided as I have, and why I'm acting in this manner."

"Now, get going."

The former Secretary of Defense sighed, stood up, and walked out.

KSPTT

Three days later, Athena was sitting in her quarters at the RSC Space Center wondering what had happened. She was told, courteously enough, that 'for her safety' she would only leave her quarters under the escort of RSC security, and then only for her meals. She was to stay in her quarters until the Director come to explain it to her.

So she waited.

Just after she had finished her midday meal, she returned to her quarters to find James Kerman waiting for her. Seeing her, he rushed up and lightly squeezed her shoulder.

"Sorry about the wait, Athena," he said, "But things have come to a head. The military was close to closing down your flight itiniary for good when the Prime Minister shut down their operations. We're taking you back to your ship so you can go home. Are you still willing to visit the F7 system we talked about earlier?"

"Yes," replied Athena, "But what do you mean by 'shut down their operations'?"

"The Prime Minister reassigned the higher-ranking personnel to alternate positions to remove them from the local field of operations. Come with me and we'll get you to the shuttle to transport you to the station where you can take back your ship. Here's all the information on the F7 system." He handed her a large envelope, very thick with data. "You can read that after you're away from Rhode. For now, just warp to the outskirts of the Tempus system, then you can read away to your hearts content."

Athena walked with him. "I understand. What about you? Will you get into any trouble over this."

"I have the blessings of the Prime Minister on this." He looked ahead. "We're almost there." Athena looked ahead, and she saw Alton Kerman, the Prime Minister of Rhode. Reaching him, Alton shook hands first with Jim, then with Athena.

"Well, sir," said Athena, "I guess this is goodbye."

"Almost." replied Alton. "Jim and I are going with you to see this through. Someone has to explain this to the military crew, you see, and who best than their C-in-C?" He winked at her, but she looked shocked.

"Are you sure you can make it, sir?" she asked. "Space travel isn't for the timid."

"I'm not frail," replied Alton, "And I just had my pre-flight physical. I passed with flying colors, if you'll pardon the pun, and I'm going. So, let's get going."

All three boarded the van leading to the shuttle to take them into orbit. Three hours later, they were docked with the space station. Alton Kerman led the way to the military crew quarters section, and walked in to see everyone's shocked faces.

"Don't look at us that way." said the Prime Minister.

"Sir." said the crew leader, a colonel, "We would've expected a formal visit from a member of the military council, or a lower-ranking member, but ..."

"Who else but your C-in-C to give you your formal marching orders? This is what is going to happen. In a few minutes, Jim and I will escort Athena to her ship where she will be allowed to depart for the trip home. All of you will, subsequently, board the shuttle we came in so you can return to the surface for eventual reassignment. Are we clear on this?"

"Sir," said the colonel, "What about the long-term study of the Alcubierre drive for our own development?"

"Suspended until further notice." replied the Prime Minister. "You'll just have to take what data you have and work from that." Many of the crew groaned at that.

"We will wait for formal interactions between the Talians and Rhode to commence before any real data can be obtained for our use." said the Prime Minister. "It will take several years for her to reach home, then maybe more for the interactional process to commence. In the meantime, like I said, use what data you have. Colonel, you have my permission to activate the video monitors so you can watch the departure of the Last Hope." The colonel nodded at that.

"Athena, Jim, let's go." All three moved to the airlock system set up for the Last Hope. Stopping at the ship's main hatch, Athena turned back to the others. Shaking the Prime Minister's hand, she then hugged her main proponent, then turned to Jim Kerman and did the same.

"Remember," said Jim, "Don't open the data on the F7 system until you are well away from Rhode. We don't want to take any chances that the military doesn't have an interdiction craft out there to stop you." Athena nodded at that, and turned into her ship and closed the hatch. Jim Kerman and the Prime Minister turned and moved the the crew quarters to watch the departure with the others.

KSPTT

Hours later, Athena exited warp to read the data on the F7 system. Being roughly four billion kilometers from the Tempus stars, they appeared from this distance to be two specks against the blackness of space.

Opening the folder, Athena read every page, and every word in the data extract. The F7 system was 19 light years from the Tempus system, Rhode standard. At 12 light years from Suthe, Rhode standard, that meant the travel time would be about three and a half years in duration, leaving her with a travel to Suthe of almost one and a half years. She realized that would still place her within the ten-year arrival time planned for back on Talia.

After reading everything known about the F7 system, Athena placed the folder away in her ship's safe, checked her systems, then entered warp.