​Captain On The Bridge: Chronicle of Polyxxonia 1 : Science Fiction E-Book

Alfred Bekker

• Herausgeber: Alfredbooks
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 254

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

by Alfred Bekker In the 23rd century, Polyxxonia is a metal used in the construction of spaceships. POLYXXONIA is also the name of a spaceship. About thirty starships had gathered at the edge of the Tridor system and taken up a battle formation, as was customary with the units of the Space Army Corps. The light cruisers and destroyers formed the flanks, while the larger and more heavily armed heavy cruisers were on the inside of the formation. In the center, two Dreadnought-class battleships lined up their space guns. The fleet awaited their far superior enemy, a formation of over forty warships of the bird-like Qriid. A breakthrough by this space armada would have been a catastrophe for humanity. If the warlike aliens were victorious here, they would be able to penetrate deep into the core area of the Federation of Human Worlds. But the defenders could not count on reinforcements... The Qriid ships approached and immediately went on the attack. Several traser beams hit the first destroyer in the engine section. The spaceship turned into a ball of embers for seconds, which finally went out, leaving only a few pieces of radiation-contaminated debris behind...

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Alfred Bekker

​Captain On The Bridge: Chronicle of Polyxxonia 1 : Science Fiction

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​Captain On The Bridge: Chronicle of Polyxxonia 1 : Science Fiction

​Chronicle of the Star Warriors

Copyright

A CassiopeiaPress book: CASSIOPEIAPRESS, UKSAK E-Books, Alfred Bekker, Alfred Bekker presents, Casssiopeia-XXX-press, Alfredbooks, Uksak Special Edition, Cassiopeiapress Extra Edition, Cassiopeiapress/AlfredBooks and BEKKERpublishing are imprints of

Alfred Bekker

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© this issue 2024 by AlfredBekker/CassiopeiaPress, Lengerich/Westphalia

The fictional characters have nothing to do with actual living persons. Similarities between names are coincidental and not intentional.

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Captain On The Bridge: Chronicle of Polyxxonia 1 : Science Fiction

by Alfred Bekker

In the 23rd century, Polyxxonia is a metal used in the construction of spaceships. POLYXXONIA is also the name of a spaceship.

*

About thirty starships had gathered at the edge of the Tridor system and taken up a battle formation, as was customary with the units of the Space Army Corps. The light cruisers and destroyers formed the flanks, while the larger and more heavily armed heavy cruisers were on the inside of the formation. In the center, two Dreadnought-class battleships lined up their space guns. The fleet awaited their far superior enemy, a formation of over forty warships of the bird-like Qriid. A breakthrough by this space armada would have been a catastrophe for humanity. If the warlike aliens were victorious here, they would be able to penetrate deep into the core area of the Federation of Human Worlds.

But the defenders could not count on reinforcements... The Qriid ships approached and immediately went on the attack. Several traser beams hit the first destroyer in the engine section. The spaceship turned into a ball of embers for seconds, which finally went out, leaving only a few pieces of radiation-contaminated debris behind...

*

Commander Rena Sunfrost swallowed. The 32-year-old's tension was clearly visible. Her finely cut face, framed by short black hair, betrayed full concentration. Her eyes were fixed on the large panoramic screen, whose three-D effects provided an amazingly lifelike image of the spatial conditions.

The light of the red giant shimmered dully. A shadow painted itself on the edge of the glowing disk and slowly moved along the sun's equator. It was a gas giant with five times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting its central star in an extremely narrow orbit.

In the foreground, the space battle raged between the superior Qriid fleet and the units of the Space Army Corps of the Human World Alliance.

The bird-like spacecraft slowed down. The flare of the counter thrusters was clearly visible and made it easier to locate them visually. Due to their high speed on reaching the Tridor system, the Qriid ships would otherwise have raced towards their opponents at almost fifty percent of the speed of light. The probability of collisions was negligible. They would probably have simply raced past the Space Army Corps ships or even through their formation. However, this was more in line with the Space Army Corps' weaponry-based tactics, and the bird-like creatures would have been easy prey for the defenders' guns.

But the Qriid knew very well how to fight a space battle. They were shrewd tacticians and, from what was known about the history of the bird-like creatures, they had more experience in space warfare than almost any other species in the known universe. They did not seem to know anything like lasting peace.

In 2236, human spaceships encountered the Qriid for the first time and were immediately attacked.

A cruelly waged war had raged for the next three years and claimed countless victims on both sides.

Who would have thought that the Tridor system, of all places, would be the place of decision, Commander Rena Sunfrost thought as she watched the Qriid hurl concentrated traser fire at the Space Army Corps ships. This beam weapon made it possible to fire accurately from a distance. The Space Army Corps ships, on the other hand, had far greater firepower with their gauss cannons, but were at a distinct disadvantage in terms of accuracy. The tactics of the Qriid were therefore obvious. They kept the greatest possible distance to the enemy and to each other, which enabled them to avoid the continuous fire of the Space Army Corps spacecraft.

The battle was in full swing.

The spherical ships of the Qriid used their trasers with frightening accuracy. Another destroyer and a light cruiser were lost, while one of the two dreadnoughts at least lost its plasma screen when it came under concentrated continuous traser fire.

The situation is hopeless, Rena thought. No matter how you look at it, we don't stand a chance in the end.

Even the occasional successes of the Space Army Corps ships, which succeeded in firing continuously at a Qriid spacecraft, did nothing to change this.

Thousands of projectiles accelerated to half the speed of light then penetrated every conceivable type of armor.

Oxygen escaped in freezing fountains, the pressure drop was rapid depending on the number of hits, and if engines or energy systems were hit, an explosion occurred.

The Space Army Corps ships fought back bravely. In a broad battle formation, they approached the Qriid ships, which turned onto an evasive course. Their commanders knew full well that if they came too close to their opponents' continuous fire, it would be the death of them...

A buzzer sounded.

Rena casually flicked a switch and activated an intercom connection.

The face of Admiral Norman Fabri, Chief of Human Resources for the Space Army Corps, appeared on a secondary screen. "I would like to speak to you immediately, Commander."

Rena took an involuntary stance. "Yes, sir, come in."

"You will have to interrupt your simulation, Commander Sunfrost."

"It doesn't matter, sir."

"Whatever you say."

The next moment, the sliding door to her quarters slid aside and Admiral Fabri entered the room. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man with gray, short-cropped hair, through which the scalp shone.

Rena saluted.

"Stand comfortably, Commander," said the admiral, letting his gaze wander.

The battle action on the large panoramic screen was frozen. A Qriid ship had just detonated.

The admiral pointed to the dark disk of the gas giant, which stood out clearly as a dark, circular spot against the red background of its central star.

"The battle for the Tridor system on 11 September 2239," Fabri recognized immediately. "It was almost exactly eleven years ago that our fleet won a decisive victory against a numerically far superior armada of Qriid ships and inflicted such heavy losses on the vulture heads that they withdrew and were even prepared to call a truce."

"An undeclared truce, sir," added Rena Sunfrost.

That was a point that seemed more essential to her. The Qriid had never stated that they thought peace or even coexistence with humanity or any other spacefaring species was possible or desirable.

The only fact was that they had withdrawn after the battle in the Tridor system and had not continued their expansion so far.

The reasons for this were ultimately unknown, although there was a great deal of speculation on this point.

The admiral hung for a few moments at the battle simulation displayed on the large panoramic screen, then briefly skimmed the readouts on the various displays and control screens before finally turning his attention back to Rena.

"What interests you so much about the Tridor battle?" he asked.

"It was a turning point in the war against the Qriid," Rena explained. "A conflict that we must expect to flare up again at any time."

Fabri nodded. "I agree with that analysis, even if the Council is currently debating whether it wouldn't be better to cut the Space Army Corps' funding and put it into other areas - now that the Qriid haven't attacked for over a decade."

"I'm not of that opinion, sir," Rena confessed.

Fabri smiled. "That's probably hardly anyone who serves in the Corps." He pointed again at the frozen image in the simulation. "You have been visiting the Fleet Academy simulator quite frequently, replaying the battle for the Tridor system over and over again with minor variations. I repeat my question: what is the reason for this persistence, Sunfrost?"

"The fact that we shouldn't have won the battle back then, sir."

Fabri frowned. "How am I supposed to understand that? After all, we won the battle and chased the damn vulture heads back to their territory."

"Sir, I'm not sure it was really our fleet that caused the enemy to retreat. The Qriid could easily have called in reinforcements. According to the KAVANAUGH's logbook, at least fifty starships were detected during the transition to sublight flight. They could have rushed to the aid of their units, but instead they retreated just like all the other Qriid ships."

"An interesting consideration with military-historical implications of the highest order," the admiral conceded. "I know you got top marks in tactics and military history at the Academy, but perhaps you've missed something, Commander Sunfrost."

Rena raised her eyebrows. "I don't know what you're talking about, sir."

"I'm alluding to the tremendous losses that occurred among the Qriid ships at a certain stage of the battle."

"That was just a temporary phase, sir. I entered all the relevant parameters of the battle into the simulation program and ran it over and over again. And unlike the events we know from the history books, I ran it to the end. The result was always the same. The ships of the Space Army Corps could not withstand the Qriid units in the long run. Even if you tweak the already brilliant tactical behavior of our fleet at the time or..."

"...or let the program run under the assumption that we would have already had our current plasma screens back then, with which the effect of the trasers could at least...

is mitigated," added Admiral Fabri, while his gaze remained fixed on one of the displays. "An interesting variation you've entered there, I must admit." He turned around and looked Rena frankly in the eye. "Unfortunately, I'm here on official business and not to talk to you about battles of the past. As much as I enjoy this conversation. Were you even on active duty back then, Commander?"

"Yes, I had just become an ensign on the dreadnought NEW CALIFORNIA and was serving on Admiral Müller's tactical staff, whose fleet was supposed to support the units in the Tridor system. However, we only arrived there when everything was already over."

"And that gnaws at you to this day, doesn't it?"

"You wanted to discuss something with me, sir," Rena evaded comment.

The admiral nodded. "Your promotion to commander is now complete. Commodore Jackson should have already presented you with your certificate."

"Yes, sir."

"Now it's time to introduce you to your new command."

"The POLYXXONIA is still in orbital dock," Rena pointed out.

"That is correct. But traditionally, the handover of command is always carried out on board and not in some office room. To deviate from this would mean having the concentrated superstition of the fleet against you, as it is said to bring bad luck. Tomorrow morning at nine, a glider will pick you up from your apartment and take you to the New L.A. spaceport. I'll be there too. A shuttle will take us to Dock 13, where the POLYXXONIA is currently docked. Some of the crew - including all the officers in any case - will already be there at that time and will be waiting for you."

"I see."

"If you want, you can pack your personal belongings and move into your cabin right away," the admiral suggested. "You may not have any actual duties on board at the moment, but you'll get to know the crew members who are already on duty to set up the systems all the sooner. I don't think that can do any harm."

"I agree, sir."

"I'm not officially supposed to tell you about this yet, but I'm going to anyway. We will have an extremely prominent guest on board the POLYXXONIA tomorrow."

Sunfrost raised his eyebrows a little irritated. "A guest? Who would that be?"

"Admiral Gregor Raimondo."

Rena could hardly hide her astonishment. Raimondo was still a member of the Space Army Corps, but in the meantime he had made a political career as a member of the Human Council, where he was the leader of a group that had recently become very defensive, vehemently opposing cuts to the fleet budget and never tiring of warning of the Qriid threat lurking in the background.

"That really is a surprise," Rena admitted frankly.

"I have no idea why Admiral Raimondo insisted on attending the ceremony. If I were you, I would simply consider it an honor."

*

Orbital Shuttle 213-A left the stratosphere and reached near-Earth space.

Apart from the two-person pilot team in the control cabin, there were only three passengers on board. In addition to Admiral Norman Fabri and Commander Rena Sunfrost, Commodore Tim Bray Jackson was also sitting in the shuttle's lounge.

Jackson was Rena's direct superior as far as career management was concerned. His head was completely bald, even though he was not yet forty. She knew that this was not a fashionable extravagance, but the result of radiation poisoning he had suffered during the accident on the NEW

CALIFORNIA during the battle in the Tridor system - at that time still with the rank of lieutenant.

After devastating traser hits by the attacking Qriid ships, parts of the engine section had exploded and entire decks had been irradiated.

Jackson had been one of those who had been able to prevent the entire ship from exploding through their efforts in the contaminated area. Unable to maneuver, the NEW CALIFORNIA had drifted towards the gas giant Tridor I until the end of the battle, when other units of the fleet had finally managed to take the survivors on board.

Rena knew every detail of the Battle of Tridor that was recorded in the files due to her intensive study of the course of events.

For this reason alone, Commodore Tim Bray Jackson enjoyed the highest respect in her eyes. A respect so high that she always felt a little self-conscious in his presence. He had taken on responsibility in a very critical situation - regardless of his own life or health.

Serving in the Space Army Corps, many similar situations were conceivable, and since she knew of Jackson's role in the battle for the Tridor system, she wondered if she herself would be able to do so at the crucial moment.

Commodore Jackson had taken a seat in one of the bucket seats in the passenger area, crossed his legs and was reading an eBook on a handheld reader while Admiral Fabri enjoyed a syntho drink.

"Admiral Raimondo is coming to the POLYXXONIA with his own orbital shuttle," Fabri explained. "Rank has its privileges."

Jackson looked up. "Raimondo has had an amazing political career," said the Commodore.

"But I don't envy him at all," said Fabri. "He has a hard time in the Council. The longer the peace with the Qriid lasts, the more difficult it will be, especially for the representatives of the colonies, to make it plausible to their voters why humanity still needs the Space Army Corps in its current fleet strength."

"Of course! The Space Army Corps devours vast sums of money that are lacking for the urgently needed development of further colonies in space." Jackson nodded. "But I'm afraid we'll still desperately need an armed space fleet when the Qriid resume their expansionist efforts."

"You expect this?"

"Frankly, I'm surprised that the truce has lasted so long," the Commodore confirmed.

"I share your pessimism on that point."

"And when I think that we might have to face the Qriid with a greatly reduced fleet in the future..." Jackson shook his head vigorously. It was clear to see how much he disliked the very idea. "What's your opinion on this, Commander?" he asked Rena after a short pause.

Fabri sipped his syntho drink in the meantime and turned to Sunfrost, who was standing at one of the viewing windows and gazing out into space. The sight of the blue Earth disk was something special every time. It made you realize how small and insignificant humanity was in the context of the universe. A life form that until recently had eked out its existence on a cosmic speck of dust and had now managed to cling on to a few other specks of dust.

Rena turned her head. "Excuse me?"

Jackson's question had torn her from her thoughts, which at the moment were light years away from the subject of the two men's conversation.

"You shouldn't bother Commander Sunfrost with our talk, Commodore," said Admiral Fabri. "I suspect that she has completely different thoughts on her mind right now.

After all, it's her first command..."

Jackson frowned. Of course, he knew Rena's career much better than the admiral, so he immediately realized that his statement was not entirely accurate. "Sir, with respect, but you have already commanded a ship of the..."

"I meant your first faster-than-light command, of course. A spaceship with a Sandström aggregate," the admiral interrupted his interlocutor. He shrugged his shoulders. "Anything else is not real space travel... Or do you disagree, Commander Sunfrost?"

A mild, slightly embarrassed smile slid across Rena's somewhat tense-looking features. "No, sir."

"Go ahead and indulge your thoughts," the admiral added. "Today you have my official permission to be sentimental. As soon as the POLYXXONIA has left Spacedock 13, you won't have the opportunity to do so anyway..."

Jackson and Fabri resumed their discussion of the current debate in the High Council of the Human Worlds after a brief pause, taking turns to rant about the short-sightedness of many Council representatives.

In her opinion, this applied in particular to Julian Lang. The Chairman of the Council tended to view politics from an economic perspective.

He was less concerned about security issues than the two fleet officers would have liked.

Rena only listened to their conversation in passing and went to the drinks machine on board. A touchscreen took her to its menu, where she tried to find the command to pour a cup of coffee. This drink had gone out of fashion in the past centuries, but Rena was one of the minority who still remained loyal to it, even if the invigorating effect of some syntho drinks was proven to be much greater. Rena had become acquainted with coffee when she had spent a short time in the earthly sub-region of Austria. To this day, more than a dozen different preparation methods were common there. Of course, she couldn't expect the vending machine on an orbital shuttle to have specialties such as a "big brown" in its program, but had to be happy if she could quench her thirst for coffee at all.

At least what she got wasn't too thin. Perhaps the coffee had been spiced up with artificial flavor enhancers, but Rena didn't care about that at the moment. She took her cup, sipped it briefly and went back to the viewing window. The view of the universe was calming.

Nothing would have kept her in one of the bucket seats available for the shuttle passengers at that moment.

The window was slightly reflective. She saw the outline of her own finely cut face. The blue and anthracite Space Army Corps uniform fit her athletic figure perfectly.

Except for one little thing.

There was a small thickening about a hand's breadth below the larynx.

Rena touched it involuntarily with her left hand when she noticed the bulge in her reflection. A pensive, slightly melancholy smile slid across her face.

Something hard and irregularly shaped stood out from under the fabric of her uniform. A bent projectile that she wore on a chain around her neck and served as a lucky charm and talisman.

Remember that you are mortal!

That had become Rena's motto, and this strangely deformed piece of metal on her chest constantly reminded her of it. It reminded her of her own vulnerability and the limitations of human life and human cognition - ever since it had been cut out of her shoulder just above her heart.

As first officer of the SURVIVOR, she had not taken the lizard-like natives of the remote jungle world of Dambanor II seriously enough and had been shot with an ancient flintlock pistol.

Eight months of rehabilitation, a scar and the realization that she was anything but immortal had been the result. She has carried the projectile with her ever since.

Suddenly their attention was diverted by an object that appeared out in space behind the Earth's disk.

It had to be Spacedock 13. A large number of smaller and larger transport ferries were buzzing around this huge shipyard station. Two destroyers had also docked. The shuttle flights to the Moon, Mars and Venus also departed from here.

A rumbling noise caused the floor in the passenger compartment to tremble slightly. The pilot of the orbital shuttle had apparently already initiated the counter-thrust so that the spacecraft, which was designed for use in the inner area of the Sol system, did not hit the outer hull of the shipyard at tremendous speed, but docked gently.

The speed slowed down rapidly, but you didn't notice anything on board unless you looked out of the window.

More and more details of Spacedock 13 became visible. The pilot initiated a final maneuver to correct the course and steered the shuttle to the side of the station that had been facing away until then.

The POLYXXONIA was moored there.

The elongated, 110-metre-long oval shimmered in the light of the sun. Its outer shape resembled that of ancient submarines from the Earth's pre-space era. At its thickest point, the diameter of the hull was a good 35 meters.

So this is it - your future empire, Rena thought. Not exactly the most impressive unit in the fleet, but it is and remains an independent faster-than-light commando.

And that's what it's all about...

Sunfrost knew that the POLYXXONIA had undergone a comprehensive technical overhaul and modernization in Spacedock 13. At the end of her laytime, she would undoubtedly be at the cutting edge of human technology in the year 2250. The crew numbered 107. In addition, there were twenty marines for possible combat missions on the ground or special security tasks.

Now, for the introduction of the new captain, only the officers would be on board. The men and women on whose cooperation Rena was particularly dependent. She had taken a close look at the personnel file of each of them and prepared herself meticulously.

With the index finger of her left hand, she once again stroked the small bulge caused by the bent projectile of the flintlock pistol. Yes, I am mortal... But I won't let anyone scare me either! Not from anyone!

A voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"This is Captain Devittko, the pilot of orbital shuttle 213-A. We will reach Spacedock 13 in a few minutes. Please have your ID cards ready when you leave the ship. Passengers wishing to continue their journey to Earth's moon, Venus or Mars, please follow the signs."

*

The induction ceremony for the new captain of the POLYXXONIA was cool, businesslike and, above all, very quick.

Admiral Raimondo arrived at the very last minute with his special shuttle. He was dark-haired and, at 44, quite young for the high position he held. Rena Sunfrost met him for the first time and found him to be just as impressive in person as he had often appeared to her in the media as a spokesman on the High Council of the Human Worlds.

It was Commodore Jackson's turn to read out the official order appointing Commander Rena Sunfrost as the new captain of the light cruiser POLYXXONIA. A military salute, a handshake and everything was perfect.

It was then the first officer's job to welcome Rena.

He took a stance.

"Lieutenant Commander Wong," he introduced himself. "As first officer, I would like to welcome the new captain on board the POLYXXONIA. Happy voyage, ma'am."

"Thank you, I.O. I expect a good working relationship."

Rena knew from the files that Raphael Wong, whose Chinese ancestry was clearly visible, had had a meteoric rise in the Space Army Corps. The 29-year-old had spent no longer than two years on any rung of this ladder and his evaluations were full of superlatives. No doubt Wong had also speculated on getting the position after the sudden death of the previous captain - Commander Reilly. Wong would have been the youngest commander of a faster-than-light starship in the fleet, but being the youngest and still the best was nothing new in his career.

But this time they preferred someone with more experience, Rena thought, while the first officer dutifully shook her hand.

His face was completely still.

He doesn't let on, Rena realized, but was sensitive enough to sense the tension in her counterpart. He's three years younger than me.

Being three years ahead of someone in life experience didn't necessarily mean very much. But having served three years longer in the Space Army Corps could make the difference in experience that had probably made the difference in this case.

"With your permission, I will introduce you to the officers of the POLYXXONIA," Wong announced.

The inner reserve that the first officer felt towards his new commander could not be overlooked, even if he would certainly not allow himself an emotional slip.

The other officers had also adopted an attitude.

Together with the new captain, Wong went down their row and introduced them one by one.

Lieutenant John Taranos was the senior helm officer.

Like Rena, he had only recently been promoted. However, he was considered one of the most talented pilots in the fleet and was predicted to have a brilliant career. At 24, he was extremely young for his rank.

The weapons officer was Lieutenant Robert Ukasi, a tall man with almost black skin.

Then it was senior engineer Catherine White's turn. The plump 43-year-old seemed similarly reserved towards Sunfrost as Wong. However, the reason for this was not entirely clear to the commander. In this case, it could probably not be the failure to satisfy her own ambition.

Dr. Simone Nikolaidev was the ship's doctor, a reddish-blonde, rather petite person who immediately gave Rena the impression that she was open and honest with her.

"Lieutenant David Kronstein," Wong finally introduced the POLYXXONIA's tracking officer.

Blue eyes looked at her.

The corners of his mouth looked relaxed. The blond hair was actually a touch too long for the military dapper style of the Space Army Corps and sat on the collar of the uniform.

"Here's to good cooperation, Lieutenant Kronstein," Rena said a clear second too late.

"Likewise, ma'am," was his curt reply.

The sonorous sound of his voice triggered something in her that deeply disturbed her. A pleasant tingling sensation made itself felt in her stomach. A tingling that she had missed for a long time. Ever since Rena and her husband, the geneticist Toni Morton, who lived on Vega IV, had separated by mutual agreement years ago, her love life had been pretty bleak. She had to honestly admit that to herself.

It still works, said an ironic commentator in the back of her head, who was sometimes very difficult to silence. You see a man you're smitten with from the very first moment! When was the last time that happened to you, Rena? As a teenager?

Rena swallowed involuntarily.

For a brief moment, her gaze merged with the bright blue of Kronstein's eyes.

For two full seconds Rena Sunfrost allowed herself to indulge in this suddenly burgeoning feeling...

Then she had herself absolutely under control again. She knew very well that she had to banish the very thought of getting involved with someone like Kronstein from her mind. It was against regulations to have "intimate relations with members of the same chain of command". The Space Army Corps placed great importance on compliance with this order.

After Wong had introduced his captain to Sergeant Oliver Rolfson, the head of the platoon of marines belonging to the crew, he was followed by a man whose clothing showed that he was outside the military fleet hierarchy. He wore a gray tunic. Brown hair framed a face with attentive, very alert-looking brown eyes.

"Brother Guillermo of the Order of the Olvanors," Lieutenant Wong introduced the cowled man. "He is on board as an advisor and does not hold any rank in the fleet."

The Olvanors were a religious order whose members were surprisingly good at trying to understand the mentality and culture of other star races. They often traveled as explorers and founded small colonies here and there, usually on remote planets. The advice of an Olvanoran was sought after by anyone who was involved in faster-than-light space travel and was therefore likely to encounter members of other intelligent species.

"I'm pleased to meet you," said Brother Guillermo.

He only looked up briefly and then went back to staring at his feet. His uncertainty was clear to see.

I hope he at least dares to advise me, Rena thought. "Are you by any chance an expert on Qriid culture, Brother Guillermo?"

The Olvanorian looked up shyly. "I have studied their culture as intensively as is currently possible," he explained hesitantly. "I also spent a year living in the Olvanorian colony on Bannister V, where we were virtually in close contact with the Qriid. However, you probably won't find a real expert in all of humanity at the moment. What we know are only fragments that are very difficult to put together into a coherent picture." He looked at her sheepishly.

Rena smiled, hoping to take away his shyness.

"I can see we need to talk more intensively when we get the chance, Brother Guillermo." After a pause, she added in a hushed tone: "My interest in the Qriid is at least as great as yours, Brother Guillermo."

"Only a dead vulture's head is a good vulture's head - is that what it boils down to?" asked the Olvanor.

With anyone else, this would have sounded like a malicious tip.

Brother Guillermo managed the trick of making this remark sound shy and restrained so that Rena didn't feel offended in the slightest.

This young man has it thick as a fist, she thought. Or he really is that naive. If he hadn't joined his order, he might have been able to make a career in the diplomatic service. And the best thing is - he doesn't even seem to be aware of what he's doing!

"Personally, I have nothing against the Qriid," she affirmed - and it was the truth. "But I fear that the fragile truce between our peoples will not last forever."

"Maybe so, Captain."

"Have you ever looked into the battle for the Tridor system, Brother Guillermo?"

"I'm not a military historian, ma'am," he defended.

He stared at the floor again...

*

The ceremony was followed by a small champagne reception. Wong hardly left Rena's side. He seemed to see it as an obligation to be available to answer her questions or engage her in conversation with the other guests present.

However, Rena's inner detachment was still clearly noticeable.

For him, I'm a disruptive foreign body on board, she thought. Every time he has to take an order from me, it will remind him that he could be in my place.

The conditions for a collaboration may not have been the best, but Rena was determined that it should not fail because of her.

It might even be best to address the invisible problem hovering between them head-on in the near future.

"Are you going to stay on board, Captain?" Wong finally asked. "Some of the crew are already on duty here during the repair phase, for example setting up the new computer systems, calibrating the Sandström aggregates and so on..."

"Yes, I'll stay," said Rena. "Please have my luggage taken from the shuttle to my quarters. How many of the crew are already on board at the moment?"

"38 crew members."

"That's a lot, actually it's only usual for the captain and a few officers from the technical department to be on duty on board at this stage."

Raphael Wong raised his eyebrows. "The POLYXXONIA has priority in the dock. It seems that someone is interested in getting us ready to go as quickly as possible, ma'am."

"Do you know the reason?" asked Rena.

"No, ma'am. I only know that the POLYXXONIA was intended for a special mission, which is why the technical upgrade and optimization took place."

"Do you know anything about the objective of this special mission, I.O.?"

"No, Captain. Only your predecessor, Commander Reilly, was aware of that."

Rena took a deep breath.

Commander Willard J. Reilly, her predecessor as captain on the POLYXXONIA, was a chapter in his own right.

Rena was of course aware of the tragic way in which Commander Reilly had died. He had apparently personally supervised the repair work and readjustments to the Sandström aggregates. A minor explosion had occurred in the process, killing Reilly.

An accident to which I ultimately owe my career leap, Rena Sunfrost thought.

"Well, I'll just wait until they finally let me in on it," she replied to her first officer.

Suddenly Rena Sunfrost had the feeling that she was being stared at.

She turned to the side and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Admiral Raimondo was watching her. Fabri and Jackson were standing near him...

*

Later, Raphael Wong led the new captain to their cabin.

Space on board a light cruiser was limited. The captain's and officers' cabins were exactly sixteen square meters in size. Non-commissioned officers occupied such rooms in twos, crews in fours.

There was a relief in the wall in the shape of a Viking ship from the earthly pre-space era.

Rena involuntarily raised her hand to run it over the metal lining of the wall and trace the lines and elevations of the relief, which was about one meter long.

After two seconds, she literally flinched.

For the first time, she noticed Wong's face relax a little. A slightly amused expression played around the corners of his mouth.

I lost control in his presence, Rena thought. If only for a few seconds - it was hard to miss.

"You needn't be embarrassed, ma'am," he assured her. "Firstly, this relief practically forces you to touch the wall, and secondly, it's your cabin now."

Rena had regained her composure. "Did this come from my predecessor?"

"Yes, ma'am. He had official permission from the Admiralty to install this somewhat eccentric wall decoration. The removal is technically a bit involved, and I must admit I haven't gotten around to it yet, as I've had my hands full here lately."

"Leave it there for the time being."

"As you wish, ma'am." Wong nodded in confirmation.

"Do you have any more questions?"

"Not at the moment, I.O."