Chapter 24

82 Geminorum System
GNSS Robert Crippen
02/27/42 NR 1130 Hours

Admiral Aaron Peters stood at the back of the repair ship’s bridge and watched the main plot as they approached the wormhole leading to the last star system on the alien starmap. Luisa stood with him, and he reflected over the events of the past two days.

The Geneva Naval Service had ceased to exist. Every warship had been destroyed, with the loss of most of their crews. Barely a hundred survivors had been rescued by the Crippen’s shuttles, who’d come boldly into the battle area. If a single Terran warship had transited, they would have been helpless targets.

The Terran corvette and one of its escorting scouts had survived the encounter with the remaining Genevan scouts, and had swooped down on the repair ships. The fabrication crews had been busy, and a salvo of thirty missiles had erupted from the supposedly defenseless vessels as the Terran warships came close. Their point defenses had been savaged in the battle, and both ships were destroyed with all hands before they could fire a shot.

Ku-aya stood beside Luisa, listening closely as Luisa spoke with her in halting Sumerian. The two women had been practically inseparable, and Ku-aya seemed to be adjusting well to her new circumstances. She was no stranger to spaceflight, and her knowledge of both ancient Earth and their mysterious benefactors was treasure beyond price.

Adam Thomas had secreted Ku-aya away in an apparent attempt to conceal her knowledge of the map. The investigation into his conduct was ongoing, but he had apparently been contacted by Michael Ozawa when the Terrans first invaded New Geneva. The defense minister wanted to plea bargain with the Terrans, while hiding the existence of the starmap. When Adam saw that Luisa was no longer a reliable conduit of information, he arranged to have her killed, again at Michael’s contingent orders. At some point, Adam had decided to pass the map to the Terrans, but he’d never gotten the opportunity. Kayla’s assassination attempt was a last ditch effort to conceal his own involvement in the plot.

All of that was for a later time, and Aaron grasped Luisa’s hand. Orders were passed around the bridge, and the repair ship’s engines flared at precisely the correct instant. An irregular disk of blackness appeared in her path, blotting out the stars behind it. The ship slid into the blackness, and Aaron closed his eyes as the familiar nausea came and went.

He opened his eyes and peered at the visual display. A single F2 star burned yellow-white at the center of the system. Six planets and a smattering of asteroids speckled the plot, but the second innermost planet’s icon drew his attention. It bore the blue icon showing a water bearing world, and Aaron’s heart turned over. But, was it habitable? The transports had entered the system almost a day earlier, and had immediately dispatched one of their number to survey the planet.

The Crippen’s captain stepped up in front of Aaron and Luisa. “Admiral, Commander, we have good news. The survey shuttles are reporting the planet is similar to New Geneva. We are gathering more information, but the preliminary reports show that it is habitable. Also, we did not detect any transits from the Cygni wormhole, so it appears we got away clean.”

Aaron nodded and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “Thank you, Captain. Please carry on.”

“Yes, Sir.” The captain smiled broadly and turned back to his duties.

“We made it, Aaron,” Luisa whispered.

Aaron turned to face her, and took her in his arms. “Thanks to you, we did.”