Chapter 5

As the Beowulf continued its flight through hyperspace, Admiral Roberts was holding a videoconference on the bridge with the head of Space Fleet Command, Admiral Devin Wallace.

"Wow Andy, that's one helluva an occurrence, Wallace said after hearing Roberts story about the appearance of the portal and the arrival of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.

"Indeed sir. Personally I consider the sudden appearance of a portal on my ship a major security breach, but so far Bruce and Selina have been very good houseguest."

"I agree, and Are you keeping an eye on them?"

"Yes sir, but they haven't given me any reason to put them under marine escort."

"Though you should still give them some earpieces so they can contact you without having to constantly run up to the bridge."

"I will sir," Roberts replied then turned to Millen who was standing near the orange space map. "Captain, where are Bruce and Selina right now?"

"Bruce is still reading the files in the conference room and Selina is almost there with Captain Steinbeck and a few other pilots."

"Go get'em some earpieces please."

"Yes sir."

"What kind of files is he reading?" Wallace asked with a tone of concern in his voice.

"Every non-classified file about us and the affairs of our universe. He seems very interested in wanting to learn about us. Selina strikes me as a bit of an eccentric with wanting to be called cat and all. Now as for the portal, my bridge team has tried to come up with theories as to how it appeared. But they are just as stomped as I am."

"NASA is trying to find the answer to that question too. Continue on with your mission and make sure your guests stay safe. If we make a breakthrough on the portal investigation, we'll contact you."

"Understood sir," Roberts replied then Wallace terminated the connection on his end.

Conference room

Bruce sat at the head of the table still going through the files on the laptop Captain Millen provided him as the ships emblem shined brightly on the fifty inch flatscreen monitor behind him. There was an even larger flatscreen mounted on the wall directly ahead but it was currently off.

"Hey there, bookworm," Selina said as she waltzed into the room with Captain Steinbeck and three other pilots from his squadron.

"Hey Selina, I see you got yourself a little entourage."

"Well I was schooling Captain Steinbeck here on you and our not so lovely little city on our way down here, and these guys joined us along the way."

"It's an honor to meet you, Captain Steinbeck."

"Same here Mister Wayne and feel free to call me Erin. You also have my condolences about the loss of your parents. No child should have to go through something like that."

"Thank you," Bruce replied as he shook his hand then Steinbeck proceeded to introduce his fellow pilots

"This is my copilot, Commander Emerson. My squads number two, Commander Colbert and my number three, Lieutenant Booker. He was recently added to the squadron to fill in for Commander Flanagan who was reassigned to the Armstrong. When that ship enters service, he'll be in charge of their Space Hornet squadron."

"The Stingers. That's a very good name for a fighter squadron," Bruce commented.

"How many other Space Hornet squadrons are there besides the Spacekings and the Stingers? Selina asked.

Bruce opened the file on the laptop that contained the names of the other squadrons and the battlecruisers they were assigned to, then got up so Selina could have the chair.

Suddenly, Captain Millen ran into the room saying that he had some earpieces for Bruce and Selina.

"With these, you can contact us from anywhere on the ship. You can even call us up from the surface of a planet if you had to," Millen added.

"Thank you, Captain. And when you return to the bridge, can you please tell Admiral Roberts that I would like to tag along with the team that's heading down to the planet when we arrive?"

"Considering that our destination is an uncharted planet with only god knows what waiting on the surface, I'm not sure if Admiral Roberts will approve of your request. But I'll run it by him anyway."

"Thank you, sir," Bruce replied.

"What kind of name is Hebe?" Selina asked shortly after Millen left.

"Hebe is named after the Greek goddess of Youth, Cat. Does the name of their Space Hornet Squadron sound ok?" Steinbeck asked.

"Valkyrie sounds nice and what's with the ship named Selene?" Its name sounds slightly similar to mine."

"She was the Greek goddess of the moon and your name also means Moon goddess," Bruce said.

"Well since they both associated the same thing, why not just call it USS Selina? It sounds better."

"Well I don't get to name the ships, Cat. The Department of Space Fleet Acquisitions has a panel that submits name recommendations to the Chief of Naval Operations who then has the final say," Steinbeck commented.

Selina activated her earpiece and asked to speak to Admiral Roberts.

"Roberts here. What can I do for you, Cat?"

"I was going over the names of your ships and I noticed that one of them is called the Selene which sounds similar to my main name. Since they are both associated with the Greek goddess of the moon, would you mind passing on my recommendation to your Chief of Naval Operations to change the name to Selina? I just think it sounds better."

"I'll pass it on to my boss back home, but I'm not too sure if it will get anywhere. Once he decides on the name for a ship, that's pretty much the end of the discussion."

"Well whatever the outcome, you'll have my thanks for passing on my suggestion."

"Noted Cat, Roberts out."

As Selina turned her attention back to the laptop, Steinbeck struck up a conservation with Bruce about Gotham.

"On the way down here, Cat told me a great deal about you and your city. She also told me that despite its miserable state and rampant corruption, you believe that it can be saved."

"My father devoted himself to making life better for the people of Gotham in every way he could both inside and outside of Wayne Enterprises but unfortunately, he didn't get the chance to see his goals come to fruition. Deep down I believe that I was spared to continue his work and I will, no matter the cost."

"I can already tell that you're going to be a great man someday, Bruce. But the one thing I do question is not if you'll be the man Gotham needs, but if you'll be the one it deserves."

"That's a fair question, Captain Steinbeck. One that I've never taken the time to ask myself."

"If I was in your place Bruce, I would've just taken my wealth and those I cared about and went someplace else."

"Would you really do that if it meant allowing your family's legacy to be tarnished forever, Lieutenant Booker?"

Before he could reply, a spitting sound is heard and they turn to see some coffee on the table. Apparently Selina helped herself to the cup of coffee Bruce poured for himself and she didn't seem to like it.

"Well I just found the first thing on this ship that sucks."

"Our coffee?" Emerson asked.

"Yeah, how do you guys manage to drink this stuff and better yet, how did you manage to drink this Bruce without spitting it all over the place?"

"Perhaps I just have a natural tolerance for coffee," Bruce replied as Booker grabbed some paper towel form a nearby shelf to clean up the mess.

"It's some very powerful stuff, Cat. Some people can handle it and some can't," Steinbeck said.

"Whatever. Now that the mess is cleaned up, can we continue on to the hangar bay?"

"Certainly, Cat."

"Bruce, we're going to check out the fighters and you're coming with us."

"But I still have a lot more files to read."

"Not while I'm around, now let's go," Selina replied then grabbed Bruce by the arm and pulled him out of the room and the only thing Bruce could do was follow along.

AN. Think of this part as more of a deleted scene from this chapter. In addition to the Spacekings, Valkyries, and Stingers. These were the other Space Hornet squadron names Selina saw on the screen along with their assigned ships.

Talons. USS Athena.

Chimeras. USS Aegis.

Shockwaves. USS Ethon.

Leviathans. USS Poseidon.

Pulsars. USS Cronus.

Makhais. USS Enyo.

Juggernauts. USS Nemesis.

Warlords. USS Ares.

Thunderhawks. USS Phoenix.

Buccaneers. USS Iapetus.

Savages. USS Eris.

Hacksaws. USS Hermes.

Hellcats. USS Hades.

Conquerors. USS Nike.

Predators. USS Britomartis.

Darksiders. USS Erebus.

Mongooses. USS Selene.