Chapter 14

I woke in a dimly lit room, lying on a rather comfortable mattress. My entire body ached, and I could feel a small pain on my left arm. I lifted my arm and looked, I saw a saline drip.

I wondered why I would ever need a saline drip, when the memories came rushing back.

“He’s awake,” I heard someone say softly.

“Hi Adam. How are you feeling?” Val asked.

“Not great. I can’t feel my power anymore. I think they broke me,” I said.

A familiar face stepped into my view, “Sorry buddy, but they only broke you, the rest of Us is just fine.”

“That’s a relief. I was worried about that.”

“It’s not good news for the crew either. The secret Federation weapon disconnected everyone from their collective.”

“Oh God,” I said stricken, “Like Edge?”

“No,” I assured myself. “They didn’t feel any pain, just were suddenly and seemingly irrevocably disconnected. For you it was worse. They’ve severed your connection to your power, and to the rest of your selves. I’m afraid that you are back to being just human again.”

I grabbed and held tightly onto Val’s hand, “We have a plan for this,” I said.

“I remember. I’ve discussed it with the rest of the crew. They’ve agreed to the plan.”

Just as I conjured back to Lakenar I could hear the stern voice of Val the Tigress. “He will return in a moment administrator, please remain seated,” Tigress warned the tall grey alien.

“I’m back!” I shouted, causing Mbrackle to jump.

“Where did you go?”

“I jumped myself and the commander to the flagship about to depart for Rivernar.”

“You can’t jump in a gravity well!” he said, sounding distressed.

“I do it all the time. It’s why this station will soon be bustling with trade.”

“Really? How is that possible?”

I conjured an FTL communications link, and dropped the fifty kilo brick onto the table with a thud, making him jump again. “This uses a tiny version of a much larger technology. We will be connecting up all the hubs, and all the planets with communicators so everyone can have real time communications.

“Cargo will soon only be transferred from ship to a station in orbit in each inhabited system. From there, imagine a network of matter transmitters sending beings and their goods around the galaxy.”

“No cargo ships?” he asked, aghast.

“There will still be cargo ships, but small cargo, and beings will all come via transmitters.”

“But cargo ships, and manufacturing and repairing cargo spacecraft is the primary job of the hubs!”

“Like I said that won’t change. Hubs will connect up to each other to transfer cargo between them so the bulk haulers won’t need to cycle between the hubs. They can do a better job moving between worlds and hubs.”

“But the cargo ships are built to travel long distances. The more massive they are, the less energy it takes to jump them farther.”

I filed that piece of information into my further understanding of the jump drive. I wondered if that was why the Federation Battleships were so large, and so massively armored.

“The tech I’m using doesn’t have those limitations. Are you pretty knowledgeable about ship design?” I asked him.

“Of course. The Lakenar Hub is the premier starship design hub in the galaxy. Hub administrators are only selected from the top ship design academy graduates.”

“Forgive my ignorance, please tell me more about this academy, and the construction of ships.”

“Certainly, the large cargo ships that move goods between galaxies and hubs are built here. Though we haven’t built an exogalactic cargo ship for a few centuries.”

As he continued expounding on the intricacies of jump drives, distance limitations, mass limits, and energy requirements, I listened fascinated.

Robert stood proudly next to the shuttered coal plant. I was wrapped in a big jacket, but held the microphone easily.

“With the installation of this generator, the coal plant behind me, with forty seven safety violations, eighteen air quality violations, and a slew of lawsuits involving the irradiation of everyone within a hundred miles will never open again!”

It had been a careful deal. Purchasing everything but the plant, as it was involved in some serious legal issues, but still qualified for a generator. The paperwork we had signed days before, purchasing the power company but not the plant, gave ZZ America the rights to any economic aid, foreign or domestic, that the local power company might be entitled to.

“As president of ZZ America I’m happy to declare this generator fully operational!” I finished to applause from the gathered crowd. It had been operational for weeks, but we hadn’t held a party. Parties were happening everywhere.

The country was buoyant. Power prices were expected to fall, Guardian had wiped out covid-19 Earthwide during his clean the Earth day event, and everyone was going back to work, visiting family, and hugging. I looked over at the cheering crowd and waved to my daughter. She just cheered louder, attracting the attention of the younger men standing near her.

I moved my way to her, and she ran from the crowd and leapt into my arms in a large hug. I released her, taking her arm, and introduced her to the local power company employees. The three men who consisted of the president, vice president, and chief of operations all warmly greeted her, their eyes staying a little too long on her massive chest for my taste.

With the birth of Sofia Rose, Lucy had been included in the eruption of caring and protectiveness I now felt as a father. Something that Em teased me about mercilessly when I admitted it. I pulled her back, before she went into big hug mode. The gentlemen invited us to join them, as we headed back to the hotel banquet room for an early dinner party. I excused us, to take the vehicle driven by hired security guards.

“This is so great dad! First the private plane, then the big hotel room, now a big party. Thank you for letting me come!”

“You’re welcome. Your school year was already so screwed up, it’s not like missing a couple more days would have kept you out of summer school.”