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  On the bridge of the Lexington, crewmembers were moving about, making sure the ship’s passage through space was uneventful. The watch had just been changed and everyone had settled in.

  In his position at the navigator’s console, Lieutenant Hadaie noted a change in their position and turned to make his report. "We have now entered into Beta quadrant section 10," he said almost matter-of-factly. Hadaie had reported aboard the ship only eight months before, but had quickly become a very valued member of the crew. Always friendly, he used his skills to become a team player and always add a little something to the ship’s efforts.

  First Officer James Thompson looked up from the report he was reading to acknowledge Hadaie’s announcement. A native of Bristol, in the United Kingdom, he had worked his way up the ranks to become the second in command of the Lexington. A good natured man who played by the book, he was still amazed at the variety of people from different planets serving on this Earth ship. Thompson was still a little uneasy around Hadaie. The young man’s pale greenish skin and straight black hair reminded him of the old stories of little green men visiting Earth centuries before. At the same time, he also felt sorry for the man. Hadaie had been on a scholarship to Earth continuing his education when his planet had been destroyed by an asteroid some ten years before. As far as anyone knew, he was the only survivor of the race. Thompson couldn’t imagine how it felt losing everyone else like himself in the universe. Yet, Hadaie seemed to embrace what he was doing and tackle his tasks enthusiastically. He smiled back at Hadaie. "Very well, slow to sub light and begin long range scans," he said in his English brogue.

  It had taken the Lexington a month at stage five speed to get to this section of space. Because of all the activities from the Adarians, the Sonah, the Ronellans and the Doloites, not to mention lesser groups like the Fespi, the Earth Fleet had been unable to return to this section of space since its first exploration over 100 years ago. The Lexington was to explore and survey the section again and renew acquaintances, as necessary. There were several worlds that had been discovered in the past visit and they were anxious to see what progress had been made.

  One of the crewmen at the science station reported. "All sensors are on line sir. Beginning sweeps."

  Commander Jessica Tosh was sitting next to Thompson and sensed the excitement in the ship. Only twenty seven, she had been recruited because of her documented extra-sensory perception. Once the gift had been proven in the late 21st Century, people with the gift were brought into the Space Fleet to help both in detecting and settling disputes, but also to interact with new civilizations. The talent was particularly acute in women. Commanders quickly found out that people with ESP translated thoughts almost immediately. It didn’t make any difference what language was being spoken; the people with ESP could read their thoughts and rapidly translate intentions and wishes. It had saved lives and relationships on many occasions.

  Tosh’s dark eyes flashed with the feelings around her. One of the problems with having ESP was that she could sometimes be overwhelmed by the many feeling around them. In her case, she had been able to overcome the problems of multiple images and ideas and instead concentrate on the body as a whole, when needed. She thought she would voice some of what she felt. "It's kind of exciting going into a place where the fleet has not been for a while. Especially for this time of year," she said.

  Thompson grinned at her. "I've been looking forward to this for some time. By the way, have the celebration plans finally settled out?"

  "The concert will go on as scheduled even if we are in orbit somewhere," she said. It had actually been a pleasure for the captain to ask her to be in charge of the celebrations this year. "The captain wants this season to be as free from interruption as possible," she continued. "The children's parties are all set."

  Hadaie, as always, followed the conversation with interest. He turned in his seat. "Am I still scheduled to sing some solo parts in the concert?" he asked. Angelans had been known for their ability to sing.

  Tosh nodded. "Most definitely, Mister Hadaie. It should be a lot of fun."

  "Great," Thompson exclaimed. "Well, I better let the Captain know we have reached our destination. Mister Jordan, you have the bridge," he said as he stood, straightened his uniform and began moving toward the captain's ready room door.

  Inside the captain's ready room Captain Fred Dickson was having his own conversation with the University Dean and Professor Harris. Someone from the university routinely reported the status of students aboard the ship to the captain so that he could act as a surrogate university counselor and faculty member as necessary. He was also informed of any requirements which might interfere or enhance a ship's operation. Scheduling was everything to both the ship and the university. In this case, a field trip for environmental studies was required and it fortunately coincided with a planned planetary visit in a few days. There was additional information that brought the captain distinct pleasure, something that did not happen as often as Dickson would wish. Both he, the Dean and the Professor were wearing big grins as the conversation ended.

  "I appreciate the information, Professor, and I will pass along your final requirements," Dickson said. "And I will hold your secret until graduation day with the greatest pleasure."

  "Thank you captain," said the Dean. "It's not often we get to announce something like this and we want it to be special," he said through the communications link.

  "I may even arrange a little something here as well. Such things need rewarding," Dickson announced.

  "I wish I could be there myself," said the professor. "Thank you again, captain. I will contact you immediately after we get the final grades," he said.

  "I'm looking forward to it. Dickson out."

  The screen went back to the Space Fleet emblem and indicated that the transmission had ended. Dickson sat back and smiled. Remarkable, he thought. A veteran of twenty eight years in the fleet, Dickson was ever the educator. From ship handling to student studies, Dickson placed the education of the crew and families onboard at the very top of his priorities. It was rare he had to discipline a crewman. Instead, he used the situations to emphasize what could be learned by a situation and encouraged all of his crew to explore both the space around them and their own potential. As a result, his crews were tighter and interacted well, making space exploration very enjoyable indeed. His thoughts were interrupted by the buzzer from his door.

  "Come," Dickson said.

  The voice activated door opened and Thompson stepped into the room. Thompson saw the smile on Dickson's face and matched it with his own. Throughout this entire month long transit, the captain had gradually grown more ill at ease. There was a lot hanging on their actions over the next few months and he could tell Dickson was anxious to get to work on it. At least he hasn’t taken his stress out on the crew. This will bring him some good news, Thompson thought. "We just entered section ten, sir," he said. "Long range scans are underway."

  Dickson eased back in his chair. Finally, he thought, we can get this duty started.

  "Very good, Number One," Dickson said with a grin. "It will be interesting to see what progress some of these civilizations have made in the hundred years since the Yorktown made her historic exploration of this sector."

  Thompson certainly agreed with him. With all that had been going on in Earth Fleet, there just hadn't been the ships or the time to maintain contacts in this sector. Even other ships in the loose alliance of space traveling planets rarely ventured out this far – as far as anyone knew. They would be lucky to find anyone that even remembered the Yorktown's visit.

  "From what I saw of the mission reports, we may have the chance to invite about four or five new worlds into the Alliance as members," he said. "I expect that many may have branched out into space exploration."

  "A good possibility. But it will be some time before we explore that deep into this sector to see them. The first world to look at should be Thera. It's only a few days off," said Dickson more serio
usly.

  "I read up on that. They are just starting their industrial revolution, about the equivalent of Earth's late 1700s. By now she should be in about the stage of the old wild west," Thompson said. Then his face changed into a playful grin. "I'd love to be in on an exploration team for that."

  Dickson's imagination joined into the fun. For an instant, he saw Thompson packing a set of six-shooters and walking down the main street of an old western town. He could even see himself as his trusty deputy, ready to back him up. Dickson almost laughed out loud with the mental image. He looked at Thompson and said, "And so you shall Number One. I always knew there was a little cowboy in you."

  There was a beep from the communications pad on his desk. Dickson reached over and pressed the transmit button.

  "Dickson here."

  Lieutenant Jordan, the watch officer appeared on the screen. He had a very serious look on his face.

  "Captain, I think you need to come to the bridge. We’ve discovered something a little strange out here. Long range scans are finding some unexpected readings around Thera," he said quickly.

  Dickson looked at Thompson. Jordan was a newly qualified watch officer and had been doing an admirable job. Many would hesitate to call their captain to the bridge for most things, but not Jordan. If he wanted the captain, it was serious.

  "We're on our way," Dickson said as he stood up from his desk. "I hope this is not a foreboding of things to come," he said to Thompson as they left the room.

  The door opened and both Dickson and Thompson stepped quickly onto the bridge toward Lieutenant Jordan. "What seems to be the problem?" he asked.

  Jordan was at the monitoring stations looking at the long range scans with another watch officer. He beckoned the captain and Thompson to join them. "Sir, take a look at these scans of Thera. I was told she was in our equivalent of the late 1800's but I'm picking up these…" he said pointing to the displays.

  Thompson saw the problems immediately. "High levels of fluorocarbons, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and...," he paused unable almost to believe what the sensors were telling him, “Is that alpha and beta radiation?" he asked.

  "Yes sir," said Jordan. "According to this, there have already been at least two fission explosions on the planet. And look here," he said excitedly pointing to another display.

  Dickson almost jumped with alarm. "That is a ship in orbit," he said looking at the other three.

  Thompson broke the momentary silence. "I don't like it," he said sternly.

  "Neither do I, Number One," Dickson said. Then he turned and shouted, “Red alert."

  The alarms began sounding immediately and the interior lights dimmed automatically while flashing red ones visually announced the decision to take the great ship into action. At the same time, Dickson and Thompson strode to their bridge seats and began watching the readiness for battle reports coming from all different parts of the ship.

  "Bring all weapons systems on line," Dickson said. Then he turned to the helmsman, "Helmsman, set a course for Thera, scale six. Engage."

  The series of commands were entered on the console and in engineering the engines increased their power sending the ship surging ahead while turning to the captain's command. Nearly everywhere people were reporting to their battle stations and wondering what had happened to send them to this increased readiness. But it really didn't matter. They knew the captain wouldn't call them to action but for good reason. And that was enough. Within five minutes, battle stations were completely manned.

  "Time to orbit?" the captain asked on the bridge.

  "10 minutes at this speed sir," Hadaie reported.

  Dickson was thinking fast. Surprise was the key to any tactical situation if it could be done. "I don't want that ship to know we are here if I can help it," he said to no one in general.

  "Can we use the planet to mask our arrival?" Thompson asked out loud, making a suggestion in an informal way.

  Lieutenant Jordan was standing behind them still looking at the sensors.

  "Yes sir. The ship is in a stationary orbit," he said. "If we make a wide arc, the planet’s moon should effectively mask us if they don't have highly sophisticated sensors."

  Thompson nodded and looked at Dickson. "None of the planets in this sector has that capability."

  "Agreed. Make it so helmsman," Dickson said making up his own mind.

  "Aye sir," Hadaie responded, already making the calculations and laying in the new course. The ship turned slightly to begin its approach.

  Another watch officer beside Lieutenant Jordan looked up. "Sir, I'm picking up some electromagnetic signals from the planet."

  "What type?" Thompson asked.

  The officer looked slightly puzzled and then announced, “Sir, you won't believe it, but it looks like old style radio and television analog sir. The images are in a raster scan."

  Thompson turned to look at Dickson. "That's way above their anticipated level," he said.

  "Can you put it on screen?" the captain asked. His curiosity was piqued.

  "Yes sir," the young officer said making the adjustments. "I'm boosting the receiver signal and translating."

  The view screen was suddenly filled with horizontal black and gray lines from old style television. With some adjustments, a picture came into focus of a man sitting in front of a desk holding some papers in his hand. Behind him was some writing on a wall that spelled out something they couldn't read. The man was talking straight into the camera lens.

  "This is Tarwel Trecikon with the evening news. The state of Oreupe announced the explosion of their second atomic projectile today in the waters off their eastern coast. Sources tell us that the explosion was the equivalent of 100,000 tons of our strongest high explosive and is spreading fallout over a vast area of the Capcifi Ocean. Oreupe President San Rapheli proclaimed it as a major step in preserving the peace over recent Naceriam advances," he droned on. When he stopped, the picture changed to an official looking man standing on some steps in front of a building.

  "Our nation is maintaining its technology leads to preserve the peace. We stand ready to negotiate with our neighbors on any level, but we will also be ready to fight if necessary. With this new weapon and our rocket forces, we can and will defend our interests," the man said.

  "Naceriam's King Raterc had this reaction," the announcer said over the video of another man behind a large desk.

  "We congratulate the Oreupean's on their latest advance and continue to invite them to sit with us and discuss our differences and similarities so that we can maintain a just and honorable peace between us," he said.

  Then the picture returned to the studio as the announcer continued, “If our sources are correct, this weapon would be five times more powerful than the ones in current inventory. We will keep you informed of these advancements as we get them," he said finishing the story. Then his expression changed as he led into the next piece of interest. "In other news, cotton prices rose sharply today in anticipation of huge government buys. Large stockpiles of cotton and other raw materials are being shipped by steamboat up the rivers to processing plants for conversion to textile products. Farmers and plantation owners have been bringing in bumper crops this year to ensure plenty of products for consumers. We'll be back after this," he said closing the segment. The screen then changed to a commercial for new automobiles. It showed a woman in scant clothing posing beside what looked like something out of Earth's early 1950's.

  Thompson sat staring at the screen incredulously. "I don't believe this," he said. "I have never heard of a civilization having such a disparity between technologies. These people are still using plantations and farming cotton while driving cars and exploding atomic weapons," he said, his voice getting a little excited.

  Dickson was just as confused. "I agree. Something is definitely wrong. Are there any indications of conflict on the planet?"

  "None sir. No military movements or explosive discharges on the surface," Jordan said.

  "Are there
any indications from the other ship that we have been detected?" Dickson asked.

  "No sir," the other officer said. "There seems to be a small shuttle going between the ship and the surface and occasional radio traffic. Nothing on transpace and no streaming signals. Nothing has changed since we detected them sir," he said.

  That meant that the other ship was, more than likely, both unaware of their presence and not as technologically advanced as they might have been. This was good news for Dickson.

  "Very well, cancel red alert. Helmsman, enter a stationary orbit exactly opposite the other ship. I don't want her to know we are here," he said. Then he turned to Thompson and said in a softer voice, "I think we need to investigate this discreetly. Number One, make up some away teams to study the planet and figure out what is responsible for this. Then have Commander Tosh, Lieutenant Hadaie and Commander Pike to meet with me in my ready room. We may have to pay our friend in the ship a visit," he said. A plan was already forming and it would only take a moment to make it final.

  Mike Wilkes’ general quarters station, like all other family members, was in his family’s small set of quarters on deck five. His parents were officers on the ship. His father was a geologist and known as somewhat of a task master. It seemed nothing was ever good enough and he had driven Michael hard from the time he was five. It also seemed that his father’s time was always taken up in his job on the ship. He didn’t really spend much time with Mike and his mother.

  Mike’s mother, on the other hand, was always there for him. She was the one to encourage him, share his troubles, soothe the hurts or just be there when he needed someone. Although he had never seen his mother and father quarrel, he knew that sometimes their relationship was not the best. Those thoughts only made his loneliness deepen. Looking around he realized that for the first time in a long time, he actually had nothing to do. Placing out of his exams meant he didn’t have to study, and his assignments were already completed except for a report on an environmental study coming up.