CHAPTER 22: NEWPORT

CHAPTER 22: NEWPORT

We entered the outmost orbit of the Dover System ten hours before the deadline. Har-Hi who stood next to me sighed. "I wished it would have taken longer. This is what I am born for, to be aboard a ship and roam the stars'". I felt the same way and agreed with him, saying. "Me too." The doors opened and Wetmouth stepped through, taking her seat behind the small science station at the rear of the bridge. I observed Har Hi who acted as the OPS officer of our little crew dedicating sensors from tactical to her console. Mao gave her a short sensor report and she acknowledged. Her bank of screens lit up, one showed an image of the local sun while another listed the current artificial sensor contacts within range. A third screen correlated the contacts with known Union transponder data. Elfi was running a logarithm on all communication chatter, scanning it for relevant key phrases. Krabbel plotted a waypoint course through the local system, while keeping a prepared escape course at ready in case of any trouble. Shaka slowed us down responding to a hand sign of mine. My friends worked like a well tuned machine as if they had done this sort of thing for all their lives and the pride I felt to have friends and a crew like that could not be expressed in words. Entering a system this way was not really necessary. We could have dropped out of Quasi-space much closer to the third orbit of this system and approach Dover planet directly, but I intended to follow Captain K'Tngnk example and heed his advice, he had given me when he allowed me to pilot the Madrid. Dover System was deep in Union space, had a large Navy base on the sixth planet and Thebes, the throne world of the Saran Empire and thus one of the most important worlds of the Union was only 70 light years away, Elfi was basically home, the Saran Empire stretched over many thousands of solar systems from here on out. I said."Elfi do you want to call home?" "Already did this morning from my GalNet terminal. Mother sends her greetings to all of you." I really dreaded it, that our time aboard the Barracuda was about to end and said. "No sense of delaying it; Elfi hail Newport and give me a channel." She made the necessary moves over her terminal, added the necessary codes and identified the correct channels, and then she said. "You're on Eric." "This is Devastator Auxiliary destroyer USS Porter under command of Midshipman Eric Olafson calling Newport Control and request landing instructions. We are here for the Contest." "This is Newport Control. Get of the channel Midshipman and let me talk to your Commanding officer. We like to do things proper around here." "Sir I am the Commanding officer of this ship and I followed the proper procedures.I am recording your response to our log and will file an official complaint." "Transmit your authorization codes and verification data. I never heard of a Midshipman commanding a Destroyer." I nodded to Elfi and she pushed our new Order chip in the transmit reader and I keyed my Command codes. The channel was still open and we heard the voice on the other end say. "Only that crazy Captain Harris could have thought of that. There is a Midshipman out there in command of a Destroyer. The codes and orders have been authenticated." Port control switched to visuals, the Newport logo was replaced by a life feed and we could see a human cadet sitting behind a Communications console, another also human officer stood behind him and looked at us with his disapproval still coloring his voice. "This is Commander Becker, Midshipman Olafson you are to land your ship near the Academy. Newport lacks a full spaceport as all big ship traffic is usually handled by Dover Six. Our only landing field is already filled to capacity, with the transports of other contestants. We were not expecting to accommodate a full sized Destroyer. However since you are here, landing permission is granted and you may touch down next to the landing field. May we ask you put your destroyer down gently and don't bruise the grass to much?" I responded."Aye Sir, we will try to land this eleven thousand ton Destroyer as gentle as possible." He cut the transmission and Elfi said. "We received their landing instructions, manual coordinates; there is no external Port control coming on as it seems. I am transferring the coordinates to you, Shaka." I made a waving hand gesture. "You heard the man, Shaka. Take her down and don't bruise the grass too much if you can." Shaka nodded without turning. He steered our ship down without going into orbit and through the layers of the atmosphere. The battle shields took on the most aerodynamic shape possible and we slid through the atmospheric layers like a razor blade, still the shields glowed white hot. Shaka kept us in a steep dive aiming at the largest continent surrounded by a deep blue ocean that made me hope I would find time for an extended dive. I checked my own readouts displayed on a bank of screens above my seat, Shaka kept us only a minute fraction under the speed limit of fleet regulations for planetary landings on an occupied world and a ship of this size, but he maintained this speed all the way down, neutralized our fast descent virtually at the last possible moment. The landing field was just a large Duro-crete field in the middle of park-like surroundings. I counted eleven D12 shuttles, three D30ties as well as a larger Leyland Transport. Indeed there was little room. Shaka set us down at the outer edge, all our landing gear still on the Duro-Crete and with less than maybe twenty centimeters to spare between the Destroyer and the hull of the Leyland transport. He made an elegant move with his hand, pushing engine controls to zero and said "Landing maneuver complete. I found us a spot and there is no bruised grass." I smirked at him. "I think you caused a few hearts to miss a beat. Whoever watched our descent expected to see a fireball next." Shaka shrugged. "It was a perfectly legal maneuver. Besides you didn't say a word so I assumed you were okay with it." He had a hard time to keep a stern face. Technically he was right, it was my responsibility and I let him do it. I tried to give him a similar  stern look. "I hope you remember me if they demote me and send me Visi-Cards once in a while." Har-Hi pointed at the main screen. "Looks like we will find out soon enough, we got company." There was an open ground skimmer floating across the grass and speeding towards us. I got up closed the clasps of my uniform jacket and said. "Everyone grab your gear and let's meet them on the ground outside. Circuit shut her down and lock her up." We stomped down the boarding ramp, carrying our gear bags. Circuit was last and said to me. "All systems in rest mode. Lock down level three commencing on your word." I said. "USS Porter, recognize Olafson, Eric. Complete lock down." A contour hugging, purple film like force field engulfed the hull right after the ramp retracted and the access port had closed. The ship was now inside a Paradim force field and secure from any unauthorized access. The Ground Effect Skimmer stopped a few feet away from us and the human Commander who had spoken to us before we landed, a Saran Lieutenant Commander and a Cadet, all of them wearing deep green uniforms debarked. A fourth man remained behind the controls of the skimmer. I instantly recognized the Cadet. It was Wintsun and he also recognized me. For a brief moment it looked like as if he could not believe his eyes and I could have sworn I saw an expression of hatred flashing over his face, but I was certain I had misinterpreted whatever I thought I had seen. Wintsun was my friend after all. I made my friends stand at attention and snapped myself into the required pose and saluted the approaching Commander. "Midshipman Olafson and team reporting to Newport Academy, Sir." Commander Becker inspected us silently, starting with Krabbel and looking at each of my friends and then he stopped before me, his hand behind his back. His face was without a trace of emotion, but his eyes managed to convey his displeasure. Then he looked at my ribbon panel and his expression changed to surprise and he took the rigid position of parade stance and saluted me." Medal of Honor recipient, present." The Lt. Commander I suspected to be Saran due to the traditional helmet like styled, black hair followed suit and so did Wintsun and the operator of the skimmer. After the appropriate moment of silence, Becker relaxed his stance and said. "At ease." He pointed at my ribbon display, after we had changed our postures and said. "I do not approve of the theatrics you have just displayed. Landing your ship this way made me put half the planets emergency responders on alert." "Sir we never exceeded the speed limitations and were at no point endangering us or anywhere else." "There is a difference between recommended speed limits and keeping your descent at only zero point five percent under the maximum legal speed, Mr. Olafson, However it is always an honor to meet a man so highly decorated." He kept looking at my ribbon display. "I have not seen many officers even after a lifetime of service so highly decorated. It appears to me you managed to collect almost every medal and commendation we have on the books before even becoming a commissioned officer." Wintsun stepped behind him and handed him a PDD in clipboard mode. "Sir, here is the personal file on Cadet Olafson." Becker took the device and glanced over it. "It appears most of it is classified." Wintsun responded by saying:"Commander Becker Sir, I know this man, I am sure he earned each of them." Becker turned."I have no reason to doubt the Assembly, the Speaker of the Assembly or any fellow officer who recommended these rewards for valor and excellence; I was merely surprised to see a cadet in his third year so decorated. You have met Mr. Olafson before, Cadet Wintsun?" "Yes Sir, Cadet Olafson and I went through basic together and he is a friend of mine." Becker nodded and turned back to us. "We do not use the term Midshipman here. You are called Cadets. I know you are used to be Midshipmen while serving on a ship, but this is not a ship. Mr. Wintsun is one of the finest Cadets that ever came to Newport and I value his opinion. Maybe Captain Harris sent us a group this time that manages to get second place." In my ears he sounded just like Lt. Clusen, despite the fact that he was not a Thauran. He said to Wintsun. "See to it, that they accommodated and situated." "Yes Sir!" The Commander was returning to the skimmer. The Saran Officer bowed before Elfi. "Your Majesty. What an honor. Is this an incognito visit?" Elfi said. "I am just a Cadet like anyone else, Sir." Becker stopped in his tracks turned and barked annoyed. "Lt Commanders do not bow before Cadets." The Saran said." Sir they do, if in presence of our Majesty's daughter Princess Elfiatra. I must not remind you sir, we are not just in union space we are also inside the Saran Empire, and her Mother is the Queen herself." Becker was now clearly angry; I could see the muscles of his jaws move as he was grinding his teeth. Technically Elfi's social status made no difference in the Navy and we where all the same. But as the Lt Commander just said, she was the daughter of one of the most powerful persons in the Galaxy. Queen Cleotrix ruled over the Saran Empire. The Sarans were the ones that gave Earth Faster than light technology and the Saran Empire was one of the founding members of the Union. Almost a third of the fleet was maintained by Saran contribution. Elfi's mother was the undisputed absolute ruler of that Empire. Elfi's heritage elevated her to levels of importance I still could not comprehend, even after meeting her mother. Elfi suddenly radiated authority that was almost physically detectable and she said. "Your recognition and devotion pleases her who is the Princess. I command you however to disregard this aspect of her person. She who is the princess is a Cadet in this navy and you will act upon me as if she was any other Cadet." The Saran Officer did not salute but bowed deeply."My life has gained meaning, your highness. Fortunate to gaze upon your likeness so closely and learn that she who is the Most Precious has chosen to serve the Union in such fashion makes me proud beyond comprehension. Hail to Sekhet Nefertiti Elfiatra the Precious, Princess to the Saran Empire, second daughter to her Majesty the Queen Cleotrix the second." After saying all this he stopped bowing. "It will be as you wish, Cadet Elfiatra." Our princess was suddenly Elfi again and she smiled disarmingly."Thank you, Sir." The Commander kept grinding his teeth but he too bowed. "It is an honor to meet you, your Majesty." He then boarded his flier, barked at the Lt. Commander to follow suit and the skimmer left accelerating fast. My green skinned friend had been left behind and he turned and Wintsun slung his arms around me. "It is so good to see you again! I was so sure I would never see you again damn Viking-Pirate, after what happened at Camp Idyllic." I returned the embrace. "I missed you too, Chlorophyll-face." He seemed genuinely happy to see me and until now I should have feel the same way, but I could not shake the feeling that there was something odd about his behavior. Did Olia not tell him, or Limbur his best friend? They knew the truth and tried everything in their power to save me. Wintsun slapped my shoulder."You know Galmy is here too and Limbur!" "That is awesome." I responded. His news only deepened that strange notion of mine. If they were here, they surely had told him that I had been exonerated, especially Limbur who was his friend even before he joined the Fleet. He still smiled and added. "Galmy and Limbur came yesterday with their team from the USS Avalon." He pointed with his finger at an area beyond the landing field. "We don't have a real space port here and usually everyone comes in small craft, but the Battle Ship landed over there and everyone was certain no one could top that, but then you show up in your own Destroyer. Landing it like a maniac." I tried to suppress my suspicion and sought of myself as a fool for even having such thoughts about a friend and said. "Alsher let me introduce you to my friends." I had just finished introducing my friends to Alsher Wintsun as the skimmer returned. The pilot,a male cadet said. "Lt. Commander Apep sends you this Skimmer with his personal regards." Wintsun said. "It appears we don't have to walk the seven Klicks to the Academy Compound after all." So we loaded our gear and the skimmers Arti-grav protested with a high pitched hum as Hans stepped aboard, but adjusted and off we went. The surroundings reminded me of the forests of North America, I had visited during a Virtu Class Excursion back in Basic school. Wintsun explained. "We have all kinds of climates and conditions here; there are deserts and mountains as well as Jungles and permanent ice areas. All used for Cadet training. Here on the main continent is the main installation of the Academy and Newport City, with stores, shops and the like." He went on telling us about the planet and the academy and how hard they trained and how high the standards were of succeeding in tests and training exercises. While he was talking the academy complex came into view. It was a collection of buildings inside an almost sterile looking park, with lawns, manicured trees and bushes. The buildings were completely different from what I had seen on Arsenal II, where most of the facilities had been underground. The buildings were made of brickwork, had slanted roofs covered with dark red tile and small windows. They reminded me of Nilfeheim and not a modern naval school. None of the buildings was taller than three stories. Flights of Duro-Crete stairs led up from paved roads to wooden doors. The flags of the Union, the fleet and the school fluttered on flag poles before what I assumed to be the main building. There were no robots anywhere, no slide ways and nothing else that would suggest this was an installation of a Tech Level eight society. We stopped at one of the long buildings and Wintsun said. "That is block C and your dorm will be on the second floor." He waited till we had grabbed our gear and then he showed us the way. The doors were indeed made of wood and did not slide away as we apporached but had to be opened manually. The floors inside were made of polished stone tiles and the walls paneled with wood. A peculiar scent stung my nose, a smell I had not noticed anywhere since I had left Nilfeheim, it was the distinct odor of floor wax. He led us up a flight of stairs and down an identical corridor as the one below with many doors on each side He opened one of them into a simple furnished room, with bunk beds, metal lockers, a wooden desk and a number of chairs. There were no auto beds, no door that led to a hygiene cell. Wintsun made an inviting gesture. "This will be your dorm for the time you are here." Circuit didn't sound happy as he said. "This place is so retro, dare I say primitive. These beds are made for humanoids, what are Non humanoids like Krabbel to do? Not to mention these beds will never hold a Saturnian." "Everything here is supposedly very traditional and designed to instill self reliance into us. There are hardly ever any Non Humanoid cadets as regulars here. I guess those who are non-human have to cope and find a way." Circuit said with a sharp tone in his voice. "So Non humanoid cadets are not considered to be elite material for this hallowed academy?" "It would be prohibited barring any union member cadet to study here. All I am saying is I have not seen many non humanoid Cadets come here." I didn't like what was said between the lines."It will do, we will make it work and we find a way to make this place as comfortable to my non humanoid friends as to the rest." Wintsun did not respond to that and changed the subject. "You ended up on the Devastator, I should have known. I expected you to end up here with me." Now I was sure he was lying, just at the landing field he claimed surprised to see me still alive. He went on, not missing a beat. "You would not have liked it here though; Cadets spend a lot of time waxing floors, tending lawns between training classes. Not exactly environment where you could show your special talents." "What talents do you think as special?" "Oh, being independent, finding your own solutions to things and all that. These are traits they do not like here at all." Har Hi gave me a questioning look as he sensed the edge in my voice, but he then asked Wintsun. "So you are competing in this Contest?" "I won't personally compete, I and my team are in the Admin staff and Commander Becker picked me as one of his assistants, but the Newport team is primed and ready and they are expected to win of course." Wetmouth usually not know to make sarcastic remarks said with a snappish tone. "It always helps believing your own propaganda, I guess." Wintsun either did not get it or did not choose to respond. He took a step back. "Look at those uniforms. And you got the Ace batch. Sometimes I wish they would have sent me to a ship instead, but is an honor to be here and leads always to command. The Admiral who runs this place would not like to see me being friendly to you. He disapproves of the training methods of other academies and is of the opinion it should be him who decides on the training curriculum of the entire Cadet training program and not the Ult of Arsenal II. At least that is what he tells us." Mao snorted. "That sounds indeed just like Stahl described him." "You met the Immortal himself?" Har Hi crossed his arms. "Admiral Stahl gave Eric command over the Devastator for a while and that is no joke. He even fought a space battle commanding her against a whole Dai Clan." Wintsun seemed impressed and said. "That sounds like Eric alright." Wintsun went to the door. "Got yourself the Princess of the Saran Empire no less, you are sure moving up in the galaxy, coming from Nilfeheim and all. Well I got to go and tend to other new arrivals." He waved from the door. "Good luck all of you and it was sure good to see you Eric. We will have time to catch up after the challenge, the competing teams are always allowed to stay and celebrate with us after Newport wins." He left. Elfi came real close."Got yourself a Princess, eh?" "Hey those where his words not mine. I haven't talked to him since I left Basic." She kissed me on the cheek. "Oh don't be so shy, this princess could fare much worse. I know mother would not mind." Har-Hi still looked at the open door. "He seems nice." I was certain he didn't mean what he said. "I can't help myself to think he lied to me the entire time, but maybe it is this place that made him that way. He is the same and yet he is different. I guess we both grew up." Mao stemmed his ham fists into his hips and said. "Now what? What are we supposed to do? I am hungry." I said. "Let's make this hole livable. Circuit you see if you can organize extra mattresses so we can make Hans a bed. Liberate them from wherever you can. Those bunk beds never hold his weight and take Krabbel with you. Mao you go snooping, Intel mission if you will; keep your eyes and ears open and report back in an hour. Wetmouth see if you can find a local library or something like that and reference past competitions. Let's see what they are exactly demand from us." "I am way ahead of you on that one, Eric." She said."  I did that already. She then added. "But you are right it wouldn't hurt to check the local sources." I looked at each of them and said. "Second place is no longer an option friends; I begin to understand how Captain Harris feels and without sounding vane or too self assured, I think we can." They all agreed.

Interlude: Admiral Dent's Office

The commandant of the Newport Academy stood on the open balcony of his office, his hands wrapped around the railing. As it was his habit at this time of day he watched his Cadets run in cadence at the exercise yard. It was an exceptional well trained bunch this time and they would only need a little of his special brand of help to win the trophy this year. He was a short man, especially to Venusian standards, since natives of this Sol system planet tended to grow taller than the average Terran human, due to the slight difference in gravitation. It wasn't much of a difference but over the millennia, Venusians grew to an average of two meters and twenty centimeters. Admiral Hiro Dent was only 165 centimeters tall, and that included the special insoles he wore. He blamed his parents for not doing anything about it. Of course there were surgical options open to make him much taller, but now his pride did not allow that and he promised vengeance to anyone noticing his size or even dare to mention it. He strongly believed that his shortness was the very reason that made him try to excel in everything. It was a long road for him to get his first star and to be given command over this the most prestigious academy of them all; he had kissed every behind there was to kiss, even used bribery once to get past the psycho evaluation and sold his soul to the devil. Not the real devil of course, but in order to get here he had accepted the help of the Worm and they owned him ever since. Sometimes he wished his academy buddy Swybar had not introduced him to these people, but without them he would most likely still be a Commodore at Academy headquarters, constantly overlooked when a new posting as Academy Commandant became available. He was so sure they would pick him as the next Academy commandant, but no they overlooked him again, promoted that stinking fish-maw from Ulta who was younger and had fewer years in the service. They always promoted Non humans over humans when they had the choice. He hated Webb Stokes, the cursed Ult with a burning passion. It should have been him. Dent's hands pressed so tight around the steel rail, they turned white with strain even now as he thought about it. The Worm was burrowed deep into the fleet and they offered to assist him in obtaining an equally prestigious posting, complete with a promotion to Admiral. He accepted of course. Admiral Connors, the Commandant of the Newport Academy had a sporting accident the very next week. The accomplished alpinist loved to climb around in the rugged mountains of Newport North and somehow lost his footing. This accident and a set of completely new evaluations turning up in his personal file finally opened the doors and he was picked as replacement and arrived here almost exactly twenty years ago. He immediately put his own brand of leadership on this place. He made sure that most of the Non human cadets, no matter how good they supposed to be, failed or left. He carefully selected his staff and made sure they were loyal to him and didn't mind to bend the rules here and there, to assure his cadets would excel above all others. Of course he was not completely his own master and had to accept the guidance of the Worm. His position was a perfect platform for them to place officers who were connected to this organization in leading positions all over this huge fleet. His scheme had almost been discovered by a Cadet almost right at the beginning. A Cadet excelling in almost every field was sent to him, by the Immortal Admiral Mc Elligott. Yet that cadet was too nosy for his own good and could not be persuaded no matter what he tried to see the light. He made the life of that Cadet a living hell and thought this was the end of it after he dismissed him as not suitable from his Academy. That this misfit John Harris somehow managed a stellar career and made Captain of the Devastator was a burning thorn in his side ever since. Especially since the Worm blamed him, missing a prime chance to get a man of this Organization at the helm of the most powerful starship in the known Universe. He leaned over the railing that had been made lower especially for him and smiled to himself; Harris was captain of the Devastator now for almost ten years and sent him his finest midshipmen to compete and never managed to take home the coveted trophy. That no other team really had a chance against his Cadets because he made sure they would win was unimportant. It was then when he noticed a shooting star; something broke through the cover of the clouds and descended way too fast to be a shuttle. It was also much bigger than the ships that usually landed here. His mind raced, was it an orbital attack? Did the Nul or someone manage to penetrate this deep into Union space? Of course Newport would be on top of their lists of targets. Whatever it was had disappeared in the distance and behind the South Forest, exactly where the Landing field was. No explosion, no fireball and no rising mushroom cloud. He ran inside his office and yelled at the GalNet terminal. "Get me Command and Control!" He was instantly connected to the Academy control center located just a level below his office and he looked at Commander Becker's face and said with a demanding tone."What just happened?" "Sir, what exactly are you referring too?" "Are you blind? Something just crashed on our landing field." "No, Sir. A Barracuda Destroyer just landed." Becker was clearly trying not to tell Dent everything he knew, most likely fearing the reaction of his superior. "What in the Devils name is a Destroyer doing here and why did it come down like an orbital bomb? Was it not enough that we had to grant landing permission to a fish-stinking Ult captain and his Battle ship just yesterday?" "Sir, it is Newport tradition that we grant landing permission to competing teams. We could not refuse the Ult captain as we never refused anyone before, and we could not refuse the Barracuda as it brings the team of the Devastator. Their landing maneuver as reckless as it appeared was executed within the rules and it was done manually by a very talented Helmsman." "Remind me to find a reason to change this tradition or this cursed Captain Harris decides one day to land his flying continent." "Yes Sir." "So Cadet Suppor and his team has arrived as I was told he would. Make sure the Captain of that Barracuda is reprimanded for any damage he did to our lawns and welcome Cadet Suppor right and have him brought to me." Becker looked astounded."Sir I do not know where you got this information from, but the name of the Cadet Team leader from the Devastator is Olafson and he is the captain of that Barracuda. I double checked but all command codes and orders check out, Captain Harris has made this Cadet, acting Captain over a full destroyer and they arrived alone. I also must add they managed to land on the Duro-Crete and did not damage the lawns at all." Dent was known by his staff for his choleric outbreaks; so Commander Becker braced himself for what was to come as he noticed the Admirals face turn red. Dent's voice rasped with anger. "Are you telling me that this cursed upstart Harris allowed a team of green nosed cadets to fly a Destroyer all by themselves? How could they have possibly landed on the Duro-Crete, the field is full!" "Yes Sir, this is exactly what I am telling you. They also found room on the landing field, right between the Leyland and two of the D40ties, there isn't enough room to squeeze a Spindlar in the space between those ships, but they did it. As I said, whoever steered that destroyer is one hell of a helmsman, especially doing it at this speed." Dent wanted to say something else, but he noticed the flashing symbol on his screen, alerting him to a call on a special secure and private channel, so he said instead." Deal with them and then I want to know everything there is to know about these Cadets." He switched before Becker could acknowledge. The other call was from his associates of the Worm. As usual the screen remained blank and the voice as human as it sounded was certainly artificially created said. "Good afternoon Admiral. I hope all is well on Newport." Dent wiped the spittle of the corners of his mouth, brushed over his short brown hair he wore combed straight back to calm his nerves and responded. "Yes everything is as it should be. The cadet team of the Devastator has just arrived." The voice sounded pleased. "Splendid news indeed, you are aware that we want the Suppor team to win, so your team has to take second place, but you will of course request that team to remain on Newport for the rest of their third year. Has the Narth arrived yet?" "I was informed just now, that the arriving team is lead by a Cadet named Olafson, not Suppor and Fleet command has denied my request for the Narth Cadet, now for the sixth time." There was silence and then the artificial voice didn't sound artificial at all, there was clear anger and even something like confusion in it. "Olafson, are you certain the name is Olafson? There must be a mistake or perhaps a second one. This cursed man and his three times cursed team is supposed to be dead and rotting on Quagmire Bog." The voice fell silent and Dent felt as if he just received information that was actually not meant for him. He already thought the connection was lost, despite the still active channel indicator, when the voice came back on. "We were assured that you could request any Cadet you deem worthy, why have they denied your request?" "I cannot say, no real explanation was given, but my requests were denied by Fleet Command and stamped with the seal of the Admiral of the Fleet." He thought it was a good time to explain the reason for his own frustration. "Maybe it is the fact that I was overlooked for promotion. I should have received my second star long ago and that could have added some weight to my requests." "Don't overestimate your value, Dent. You can be replaced as easily as we put you there. Gather all information on the team of the Devastator and come back to us as soon as possible." Now the channel indicator went dark, the connection was terminated. Dent was in no mood to receive any other calls, but the GalCom unit signaled that his aide urgently tried to reach him and so he acknowledged and said to the officer. "You better have a very good reason for disturbing me now." "Sir I do, the Admiral of the Fleet is calling and waiting for over ten minutes on priority channel. I am running out of excuses, but your terminal was busy, even for priority." Admiral Dent knew it was not a good idea, to make the Old Man of the Fleet himself wait and so he straightened himself and accepted the call. Admiral Mc Elligott clearly wasn't pleased."Mr. Dent, what does it take to get through to you? Are you too busy to take my call?" "No Sir, I was otherwise disposed and not near the terminal." "Your terminal was busy when I tried it directly, that is why I called your assistant." The Admiral of the Fleet basically called him a liar and Dent had to take a deep breath to keep calm."Sir, what is it I can do for you?" McElligott switched from being displeased to an almost overfriendly tone. "I am calling you in regards of this year's challenge. Since you are so successful we decided it is time we observe more closely. This year I and a delegation of Academy Commanders will come to your academy to take a very detailed look. Frankly there have been voices that demanded a more independent panel of judges. I must admit I paid little attention over the past years to a seemingly unimportant inter-fleet contest, but I was told it has become a very prestigious affair and that it is your teams that carry away the trophy consistently. Now after checking into this matter more closely I came to the conclusion that you either do something much better than all the others and if so it must be recognized and rewarded, or the evaluation process that awards the success might not be as unbiased and technical sound as it could be." Dent's face color turned pale. "Sir, with all due respect, it was me who turned this school in what it is today and it was me who made a previously obscure inter-fleet competition to the fierce and highly coveted event it is now. I resent any notion of unfairness, most likely raised by those who lost against my cadets. Newport is an Elite school and I handpicked every cadet serving here. These are already excellent cadets that excel and became noticed above the rest. I simply fine tune them and give them an environment they can truly raise above the norm. This is the very purpose for this Academy to exist for almost a thousand years now." "But it has only recently; let's say in the last twenty years really taking this concept to new heights." The Old Admiral said. "Don't get me wrong Mr. Dent, if all is as you say it is, then your promotion is long overdue and we must find a way to implement your expertise over the entire Officer education process, with you at the helm of course." Dent calmed down and if he managed things carefully he just might get Stoke's chair after all. He would be very important and could assist his special friends in ways not even they had dreamt of. "It will of course be an honor to welcome you personally here on Newport and show you and my esteemed colleagues how I manage this consistent level of excellence." "I am glad you say so, Mr. Dent. We are only a day out and will arrive shortly."

NEWPORT CAMPUS

While we re-arranged the furniture and tried to make things more acceptable for Hans and Krabbel, more and more Cadets from other ships and installations filled the hallways outside our dorm. Krabbel and Circuit managed to get additional mattresses and scavenged even a dozen Duranium steel beams to built Hans a make shift bed. I was not sure if I should ask them where they got the metal beams from, and then decided not to, because I was actually a little afraid of the answer. Mao came back from his reconnaissance mission and gave us a short report about the other teams that had already arrived and of those still expected to be here. He knew that this time every academy branch had sent a team as well as several large ships that had third year midshipmen teams and more than 185 teams were expected to compete. He also found a mess hall with Serv-Matics on the ground level of this building. Wetmouth also returned right after Mao and said she had some data she still needed to evaluate. So after being situated I noticed it was almost 2000 hours and still no one had shown up to tell us what would happen next or where and when to go for dinner. There was really nothing to else to do in the boring dorm room so I said, "Let's have dinner. Mao found a mess hall with serve-matics." Har-Hi who had just finished helping Circuit to weld the steel beam supports underneath Hans bed said." Good idea, I am actually quite hungry." Circuit put his tools away. "I wish I could have that Simu-Eat upgrade done as soon as possible. I always want to share our dinner and not just sit there." I turned to him as I straightened my uniform and checked my shave."What is that?" "You know I don't eat. I can't even pretend to eat as I have no throat, no stomach and no tongue, but I am a machine and there are Upgrades offered, not officially sanctioned by Mother Machine though, but one of them is called the Simu-Eat Upgrade and it would give me the ability to pretend to eat. It's just so prohibitive expensive." "I can give you the money. I have lots and have yet found no real use for it." "Ah yes I remember you got almost as much cash as Mr. Schwartz." He then looked to the floor."I also remember I haven't paid you back the money I borrowed when we first met." "Forget about it already, we are friends. I really don't need it and I am glad I can do something for you. Consider it a birthday present or something like that." Elfi said."Do X101's have birthdays?" Circuit nodded. "Yes we celebrate the day we are switched on. We call it Click-to-light anniversary, and it is celebrated much like a human birthday. We give and receive presents and everyone carries a little light around their necks." We continued our conversation about birthday traditions while we made our way to the mess hall, Mao had discovered. No one was in the mess hall, so we prepared a table. Mao and Krabbel went to the Serv Matics and piled a four course meal on our table. I made a short speech raised the glass and we started our dinner. A group of Cadets came in and watched us eat. One of them asked. "Why are you eating? We didn't hear any orders or mess calls." I shrugged. "We didn't hear any mess calls either." Just then a Lieutenant in dark green Uniform walked in, looked at our table and went to the Serv-matics. He returned with a dinner plate and silverware and asked. "May I join you? Your table is nicely laid out." I stood and the others followed my example. "Please do. It would be an honor. Please join our table, Sir" He sat down and we resumed our meal. The Cadet who had asked us about dinner was still standing there and sounded agitated." Sir, we did not hear any mess calls and wonder when there is dinner?" "Cadet, you are a senior, this is not basic training. The mess hall and serve matics are here for exactly this purpose so you may eat when you find time outside of scheduled training periods." The Cadet made a consternated face but told his friends and they went to the Serv-matics as well. The Lieutenant on our table was humanoid, but had distinctive non humanoid features as well. To me he looked like a cross between Human and Shiss. He looked us over. "Why so formal with silverware and table cloth and you all wearing dress uniform?" I explained. "Sir, it is sort of a tradition for us. We try to have one meal together and when possible we do it the Navy way." He plotted his mouth with a napkin, reached for his glass and after he drank he nodded and said. "I see you are from the Devastator so it must have been you who landed that Barracuda Destroyer in that, let's say heart stopping way?" Shaka felt addressed so he answered. "It was not my intend to stop any hearts Sir, but Planet control requested we do not damage the grass and so I squeezed her in the only free spot on the Tarmac." He forked a morsel of food inside his mouth and after he had eaten it he said. "Expertly executed landing indeed." Shaka declined his head and said. "Thank you Sir." After he had eaten another bite the officer turned to look at me and said. "I went over your personal files and I must say I am impressed with your records. The flagship of the first fleet seems to have sent a capable team this time." He made some more small talk and while he seemed friendly and jovial, I had the unexplainable feeling he had ulterior motives for his meal with us. It was nothing but a feeling, nothing he did or say suggested anything. I considered that I was maybe a little too suspicious, lately. We ended our meal a little later. He got up thanked us and left. After we had cleared the tables we also went back to our dorm. The building was busy now with cadets from all over the Union and each group displayed their ship or academy branch badges and decals with pride. There was a busy din of conversations in the hallways, groups had formed  and had conversations with other groups, but not all were friendly we witnessed a few heated discussions too. But when we were noticed, the conversations stopped or were replaced by whispers. I credited much of that to the towering presence of Hans and of course Krabbel was quite an impressive sight, even for a society used to all kinds of alien life forms. Just as we reached the second floor I spotted Olia and Limbur and both of them recognized me at the same time. Olia gave me a running hug only to be followed by Limbur, who appeared to have grown even a little bigger and stronger since I had seen him last. Olia was as pretty as ever, but I had to admit she was no match for Elfi's exquisite beauty, at least in my eyes. Both sported patches of the USS Avalon and I learned it was an  battle ship of the new Wedge class under an Ult captain they both deeply respected. I thanked Olia and Limbur for their support and what they had done to help me. I told them what I could and what Elligott told me. Finally I found time to introduce them to the others and Limbur looked up to Hans and offered his hand. "That is just my luck. I thought I would at least gain points in physical combat but now that there is a Saturnian competing..." Hans smiled at him and took Limbur's hand."For the most part I am just a good eater and besides physical strength has very little to do with excellence in physical combat." Limbur nodded I know. We both have a friend who attacks anything regardless of size, when he gets angry." Limbur gave me a wide grin as he said that and earned a round of laughter from my friends. Har Hi elbowed me into the side."Yes it appears he knows you well." Hans said to Limbur."I am strong yes, but I would not want to face Har-Hi our Dai if he would fight for real. Physically I am far superior but I would still end up dead faster than you blink an eye." Limbur looked at Har-Hi with respect."I heard of the fighting skills of the Dai and hearing that from a Saturnian, that is some compliment! I am sure glad you are on our side then." Olia then told me how the Avalon fought a battle against Nul-Nul ships and got damaged. Her girlish face suddenly changed and had a grown up, almost old expression when she told me how she helped to save dozens of plasma burned crew members, piled up in a smoke filled corridor while everyone else fought against a Nul boarding party. Only now I noticed, she was a Medical specialist and her ribbon read out displayed the Silver Star and the Combat Medic ribbon in gold, a rarely awarded decoration and given to acknowledge exceptional heroism and dedication saving lives. Olia had lost much of her girlish ways and it became apparent to me while she was talking. She was no longer the fashion crazed, colored hair girl she had been when I first met her at Camp Idyllic. She had grown up, not just physically but inside as well. She told me that Az-Az and Naxwax re-entered the Academy and were now in second year at Arsenal II and she kept contact with both of them and extended their greetings. Galmy had chosen the legal career and was at Fleet Legal School on Pluribus. I had to promise Olia to call them all as soon as I could. Limbur rolled up the sleeve of his uniform and showed me his right arm. The skin was pasty white. "Look at my brand new arm. It's as good as the old one and they tell me the color will change in time as well." He grinned, but it was a hard smile as he added. "I tell you those Nul have sharp teeth. One of them made off with my old one." Olia looked up to Limbur and pride glittered in her eyes. "Limbur held an access corridor all by himself and prevented the Nul from taking engineering. We are all very proud of him." Just like Olia, Limbur appeared to be the same old on the surface but he too had lost much of his youthful innocence he displayed when I meet him first. His ribbon display showed the Purple Heart and the Silver Star and he had a row of ribbons giving attest to his marksman ship and fighting abilities. He shrugged. "I don't really give a hoot about this contest. It doesn't seem all that important to me or to our Captain.But I will do my best, for the ship's honor." Olia agreed with him and said."I too hope it is over soon so we can return to the Avalon. Limbur and I are going to stay after we graduate, Captain Wonn said so." I said. "Wintsun is here too." They both looked at each other and then at me. Olia hugged me again and whispered in my ear."Yes, we know. We haven't told him anything about you because somehow he has changed. Limbur thought we should be careful around him." Limbur said nothing but I felt he was troubled about something in regards to Wintsun. So we shook hands and wished each other luck and they both returned to their group. Back in our dorm Hans said." Now those two were real and I am certain they are going to be real fine officers." Har-Hi nodded. "I think they already are." Wetmouth sat down at the table and pulled her PDD. "Was it just me or did you think that Lieutenant who ate with us had something else in mind?"I was surprised I wasn't the only one who had that feeling and nodded. "I did think so too." She checked the readout of her PDD. "I scanned him under the table. He has both human and Shiss DNA and he also had an active transmitter of some kind on his body. Whatever we said was transmitted to somewhere else." I put my finger on my lips and took the PDD from her and typed on it: "Let's check the dorm and our stuff for listening devices and perhaps ourselves as well." She nodded and showed the text to the others. We started to discus Ice cream flavors with Krabbel while Wetmouth and Circuit scanned the room and us. Circuit held his hand up displaying four fingers. He then took a small device from his belt and worked fast. After about ten minutes he said. "The listening devices are neutralized." I was certain now Admiral Stahl's feeling about this place was spot on. "Let us record everything from now on, for later reference." Mao sat down on one of the chairs and shrugged. "Maybe it is just part of a test and we are to find the bugs and do something about it? Security and Counter Intelligence are part of our training after all." I had to agree. "You are right that is of course an explanation and a likely one at that, but my gut tells me otherwise." "Well whoever was listening might need a new set of ears. I sent a hyper frequency sound pulse, and disabled the filters in the listening devices that would take out such noises. The pulse also destroyed the bugs" The thought of someone getting a set of bleeding ears after listening to us felt strangely satisfying and I said."We got to keep on our toes and I think we should even keep watch trough the night." We were interrupted in our conversation as we all heard a heated discussion just outside our dorm. We went to investigate and were met by a small crowd of Cadets and a Lieutenant in dark green uniform. A group of nine Cadets argued that they were assigned to the dorm we occupied while the Lieutenant tried to explain to them and said. "We have more teams this year than usual and we are out of Dorm space. You can sleep outside and we issue you tents or stay in your shuttle. Just be here at 0600 every day during the challenge." The leader of that cadet team was not satisfied with that and said. "We were dropped off, we don't have a shuttle. Is that how you try to eliminate us even before the contest, by not providing rest and hygiene facilities to some?" The Lieutenant hissed. "Watch your language, Cadet." That however did not intimidate that Cadet, who was an Attikan and his team included two Petharians, four humans and three Blues and he responded."I am watching it alright. I will lodge a formal complaint with Fleet Command and protest this unfair treatment.I am also a Union citizen and my rep will take this to the Assembly. Others get dorms and we have to fend for ourselves outside." I interrupted their conversation. "Lieutenant, Sir, these Cadets can use this dorm. Since you mentioned that it is possible to sleep outside or in a shuttle, we got our own ship and we can stay there." It was obvious that the Lieutenant didn't like to make such a decision on his own, but he could not back track on his own words so he nodded."That will be an acceptable solution to this problem." The other cadet team, I learned was from a new branch of the Academy and came all the way from across the bridge, accepted this as well. So we vacated the dorm and returned to the Barracuda and all our mood drastically improved the moment we were aboard. Here we were certain no one could listen in on our conversations and we had all the creature comforts one could ask for. Especially Hans was glad to have a Vari-matic bed that accommodated his enormous body adequately. Krabbel who could find a comfortable resting place just about anywhere by hanging from a thread also preferred an actual bed he could adjust to low gravity.

INTERLUDE: ADMIRAL DENT

The short Admiral leaned back in the high backed chair that had an extra thick seat cushion so he looked as tall as the others sitting there; that his feet did not reach the floor was something no one dared to notice. He stapled his fingers and nodded to Commander Becker his second in command." All teams have arrived I gather?" "Yes Sir, they are all here now. We have confirmation that the USS Shetland will also arrive later today." Dent was still calm."We will show those self important meddlers that we earned the right to be the elite, of course. You had time to go over the files of the teams?" "Yes, Sir, there are a few that might pose more than a challenge for us this year, but we are working on a few ideas to ensure our victory despite external supervision." "I like to hear more about these ideas later. The short Admiral looked over the conference table at what he called his inner staff. Three women and eight men he had handpicked over the last two decades and all but two were former Cadets at Newport. He had promoted them and gave them special privileges. That each of them had almost failed the Psych evaluation at the Academy entry exam with a warning note of the psychological examiner was exactly why they were here. Actually he had developed a little search logarithm that was looking for exactly those character traits in all the Academy applicants and it was those that got an invitation to Newport. On his right sat Lt. Belinda Morgan, she was a genuine Terran from Earth region Northern Europe. Her Psych profile classified her as obsessive with ambition, a general hatred for men, a high level of easily evoked envy at anyone having success greater than hers and an inflated self image. She was accepted with only one Psych Evaluation point above the dismissal threshold and the note that her character development should be closely monitored by academy staff. She was a perfect fit for Dent, as he saw those traits not as a handicap, especially since his Psych evaluator back then had made similar observations only he would have failed the exam if his friend Swybar had not introduced him to a bribable records clerk who altered his exam notes. These traits made them malleable to his ideas and ways of doing things, none of them were stupid and had the necessary level of intelligence to pass the Academy intellect requirements and they were well aware that the things they did for Dent over the years were not just against Fleet regulations but some activities were nothing less than treason or would be classified as capital crimes and doing these things tied them even closer to Dent. None of his staff had the snug and confident faces they usually had during staff meetings, they all looked worried today. The news that the USS Shetland was only hours away bringing the Admiral of the Fleet in person for a close inspection had traveled fast. Belinda had spent all night, erasing and doctoring files that could not stand up to closer scrutiny. He sipped at his cup of Venus Sun tea, grown in the first terra formed gardens of his home world. It was an acquired taste as almost everything that grew in the soil of Venus still had a distinctive smell and taste of sulfur. It was almost a ritual, no one talked while sipped his tea, and he put down the cup in a measured move and gave Lt. Morgan a sign to give her report. The woman had despite all the options available, an overweight problem. Of course she did not even consider any of those options as she found nothing wrong with herself and considered the fitness standards of the fleet oppressive and solely designed to discriminate against her. She had made the decision to join the Fleet because her class mates had made fun of her and told her she would never be accepted. Belinda filled out her uniform, stretching it to its limits. Usually she loved to give her report and sound important and efficient, but not today. Her eyes shifted back and forth between her notes and the Admiral. "I have done what you asked me to, our main data bank now shows a malfunction and all the internal files have either been lost or adjusted." Dent played with his cup and looked at her. "Well if that is the case why do I get the distinct impression you are not telling me everything?" A red shade flushed over her round cheeks."While doing that I noticed someone had been in the Archive section of our Cadet library and downloaded a considerable portion of these files." Dent's facial color changed too and he paled visibly. "How can that be? Those files should not even be accessible from the library and they are encrypted are they not?" She said. "Whoever accessed the system at the library ran a very sophisticated and customized search program. All computronics are connected, Sir." Dent inhaled slowly. "Sophisticated and customized, does that mean a spy perhaps of NAVINT or CID tried to gain access?" She shrugged her round shoulders. "Our Chief Computronic Analyst is of the opinion that this someone had made up that program on the fly and tailored it exactly to our system parameters. He also reports that this individual broke into our encrypted files in less than five minutes. According to him that should have been almost impossible." Dent's blood pressure was rising. "Do we know who did that?" "There were only six Cadets at the library at the time this happened. There were two of ours and four of the visiting teams." She looked to Lt. Gorham, the security chief. "David checked the files of all four." Dent simply gestured to the tall man of Glen Planet and he responded." All four are the science specialists of their teams and all four have considerable computronic skills, but only one of them has a Level 12 intellect, holds four PhDs in computronic related fields and declined an invitation to join the Mastermind society of the Science Corps in order to become a regular Union fleet science officer." Dent waved his hand with disbelieve in his face. "Nonsense, you checked the wrong files. There never has been a cadet in the Fleet with a Level 12 intellect, they are immediately snatched up by the Science Corps and no one would decline an invitation to the Hive of Minds. Four PhDs those are young cadets they would have had no time for that." The security chief of Glen Planet looked insulted. "I triple checked. The Cadet in question has nine PhD titles and works on her tenth right now. It does not take years if you go straight for the dissertation and it is accepted by the scientific peer. Cadet Wetmouth, the Sojonit of the Olafson Gang declined that invitation three times already." "You telling me that Sin4 whore that somehow managed to become a Fleet cadet is that smart broke into our encrypted files and made copies?" Lt. Gorham spread his arms. "I am saying that this is the information I got from her personal files. I triple checked with Fleet Personnel Central and they confirmed that every time. I am not saying she did break in our files, because whoever did it left no evidence but she is the most likely one." The Admiral leaned forward."What exactly did those files contain she might have accessed?" Belinda answered. "Your search logarithm that preselects possible candidates, your notes of previous challenges you wanted us to keep. The altered accident reports from the past twenty years and the personal files of all Newport staff." Dent asked. "Why has this all been kept in the first place?" The head technician of the Academy, Lt. Caro felt addressed and answered." Sir our main computronic is directly linked to Fleet Command and to Nelson, the machines base programming cannot be altered by us without Fleet Command knowing. Since we had to alter files and personal records, the only work around was to create a second set of files and isolate the real files in an encrypted location. The altered files were sent to Fleet Command while the real ones were kept, but no official records can be erased without rising alarm bells." Dent cursed silently and then said. "So how did you get rid of those files then, Belinda? Did you not report to me they are gone?" "We did the only thing possible and physically destroyed the memory bank of our system. This too will cause Fleet Command to investigate and they will send technicians, but in the light of the upcoming visit of the Admiral of the Fleet we had no other choice and we came up with a way to explain the damage." The Academy communication officer, an unusual silent man in his position said. "I just received Fleet news and the Devastator is on her way as well. She will arrive during the final challenge. That also means Admiral Stahl will most certainly come for a visit as well." Commander Becker was the only one who somehow still believed he was a good Fleet Officer, but the news that McElligott was coming for an inspection had him wake up to the reality of things. "Maybe we should simply come clean and give ourselves up. I prefer McElligott and fair court martial proceedings over what Stahl might do when he comes and finds anything suspicious. The Admiral of the Fleet we might be able to fool, but I am not at all confident we can do the same to Stahl." Everyone looked at him as if he had lost his mind and Dent hissed. "Don't worry about Stahl, worry about what I will do to you if you don't shut up." Even though he tried to appear confident he actually contemplated the very same thing after he had talked again to his special friends. All their contacts aboard the Devastator had fallen silent. They did not know why Cadet Suppor did not show up as planned or how Olafson and his gang managed to escape what they thought was a certain death trap. Dent then said. "We have nothing to fear, we just have to be careful. This is Newport, we know this planet and the training facilities better than anyone and we will utilize our knowledge and out skills to ensure that our team wins. As long as we don't give them an obvious excuse to investigate, we are fine. Those Immortals stick to the rules and as long as they don't have evidence of anything there won't be any problems. The Sojonit will have an accident and that will solve the problem with the copied files as well."

NEWPORT ACADEMY

We all had a good night's sleep and used one of our own Cargo skimmers that was part of the Destroyers equipment to fly back instead of walking and were told to join all the other cadets in a large assembly hall with flags of the Union hanging from the ceiling where I estimated perhaps 600 senior Cadets had gathered. There were no chairs, everyone was standing. At one end of the assembly hall was a raised platform and a lectern with the Newport Academy logo. I saw an Admiral coming in. I assumed it was Dent, the Commandant of this Academy and he immediately approached the lectern. He was human and while he was not exactly a dwarf he appeared quite short. Admiral Dent climbed on something behind the lectern. I also saw Admiral Webb Stokes; he was standing on the side with a dozen other high ranking officers. Everyone had been called to attention course as he entered the hall. Music began to play and we all sung the Union Anthem followed by the Fleet song. After that the Admiral nodded to Becker who was standing behind him. The Commander now had us switch to parade stand and Dent began his speech: "Welcome to Newport. I am Admiral Dent and I am the Commandant of this Naval Academy. You are all here to compete for the Reagan trophy which is the most prestigious Unit awards in our Fleet. Every four years the finest senior cadets converge here, display their skills and knowledge competing and thus help to revaluate training procedures of our Academies. For over twenty years, since I was chosen to be the leader of this, dare I say Elite school, our Cadets won this contest. While it is no forgone conclusion that Newport will win this year, it is nevertheless almost certain. So to all you who visit us and compete let me say that your very efforts are noted and respected and there is no dishonor in coming in second. "Now I have the privilege to give the word to none other than to the Admiral of the fleet himself,  who is joining us for the first time to observe you all." Commander Becker stepped forward and said with a magnified voice. "Everyone, attention!" Dent stepped down from the lectern and the Admiral of the Fleet walked in from the side, almost tripped over something behind the lectern and with a surpressed curse pushed a steeping stool aside. Even though we were all in attention, there were a few suppressed giggles. Dent's face turned visible red. McElligott raised his hand and said. "At ease Midshipmen, Cadets and fellow officers, at ease!" He waited a brief and then continued. "Like you, I have listened to the opening words of Admiral Dent. His address heavily laden with pride and confidence in his Newport Academy and past results, we all applaud his dedication and look forward to experience these extraordinary results first hand. "I am here to wish you all the best of luck, each and every one of you have earned my personal admiration and it lifts my heart to see teams from Ships, Fleet installations and Academies from all corners of our Union compete with each other in this traditional friendly competition. Each of you has shown to be on top of your peer and I am convinced you all will become fine Commissioned officers we can all be proud off. May the best team win, regardless of where it may come from." I had watched Dent while Elligott delivered his address. When the Fleet Admiral mentioned that he wanted to supervise, I noticed Dents eyes twitch and I knew he was not at all pleased about that. McElligott concluded. "This year will be marked as the first, were an independent commission of Academy Commanders and Command level Officers assist Admiral Dent and his staff in the daunting task to evaluate and test you all to quench any notion of bias and prejudice and assure everyone these are fair and forthright proceedings." Dent smiled coldly as he thanked the Admiral of the Fleet for his speech. "Even though we managed all these years I welcome my esteemed colleagues and of course you Admiral Mc Elligott. We are thankful for your valued advice and assistance." Har-Hi whispered next to me. "In other words, this short-step is pissed beyond words that they meddle with his plans." I agreed with his observation with a nod.

The following eight days passed and it was actually nothing special. I expected it to be much more challenging. We did everything we did before: weapons, knowledge testing, science and technical challenges. Tests and field exercises, simulated battles and the usual evaluations of personal skills and fitness; the only difference was that there where at least four high ranking officers watching everything we did while holding PDDs and recording our results. As the eight day drew to a close all that was left was the final challenge and no one knew what it would be. We all received twelve hours to relax and mentally prepare for the final challenge which would commence the next day So we returned to the Barracuda and sealed the ship behind us. I was certain no one could listen to us now, but Circuit and Wetmouth checked the ship never the less for any devices or signs of intrusion but found none. I relaxed and put my feet up on the conference table. "I sure would like to know the current score, but I think with Hans winning the marksman challenge today, we should be among the first five or six groups." Har Hi agreed. "Yes Hans outdid himself today. I never saw anything like it even among Dai. He probably broke a fleet record." Wetmouth crossed her legs and added to the conversation. "I don't think the scores so far accumulated mean all that much. I am almost certain it will all be decided tomorrow at the final challenge."