Chapter 9

As the sun rose, Michael awoke feeling something big was about to happen. The bed began to shake as seven small children pounced on him, wanting him to have breakfast with them. Raising her head, Meghan looked over at Michael telling him to go, and take the monsters with him. Rolling out of bed, Michael said he did not know what was going on, but they needed to be in his office in ninety minutes. All six of his wives immediately sat up wanting to know what was so important, and why such a short time. Michaels reply was he did not know, but all would be revealed in due time. With that, he left to have French Toast with seven very gifted daughters.

Michael was sitting at his desk when Trina appeared in a side chair. She began by telling Michael that some archives had been discovered that the ULSS Ulster needed to be informed of soon, as the information would possibly alter their mission. The AI community could not release the information until he approved. A summary would be presented as soon as he requested it. Michael told Trina that as soon as his advisory council and the Security Force Commanders were assembled the presentation could begin.

Tressa knocked on Michael's door and came in with a puzzled look on her face. She said all of the Advisory Council and NUSF Division Commanders were in his conference room, but he had no meeting scheduled on his calendar. Michael apologized, as the AIs had called the meeting and he just found out about it himself, however he wanted her to sit in on the meeting and take notes on things he might miss. With that, he told the electronic system to record all proceedings in his conference room.

Michael and Tressa entered the conference room taking their seats as four video screens begin to lower. A voice started speaking a dialect of Gaelic that was hard for them to understand, so Michael asked Trina to stop the presentation. When the AI appeared, apologies were made while Trina asked everyone to close their eyes a moment so language adjustments could be made. All present could feel twinges in their minds, and the presentation commenced again.

"If you are viewing this message then I am no longer alive. Over the past several decades there has been a lot of unrest in my kingdom, as a small number of the people feel my son is not capable to succeed the throne. Ulaid is a bright young man, and has five of his six wives identified, with the sixth selected and is the daughter of the leader of the rebels. I hope to meet with him today and reach some common ground to resolve this situation. If not, this world will cease to exist.

Because of the unrest for the past one hundred years, I have sent five colony flights to other solar systems to find worlds to settle and start new lives. The directives provided each colony was that sometime in the future an Ard Rí would contact them and give them the chance to reunify with the home planet if they so desired. If they had formed a world they were happy with, they could remain and prosper, and protection would be granted as long as the home world existed.

Of the five colonies sent out, each was comprised of 20,000 men and women, not counting children of some of the couples. The first four had reported that they had found uninhabited worlds that would seem to support life and provide a peaceful place to raise families. The last colony ships had not found a planet the last that I have heard.

Three ships launched in the last few days were The Four Leaf Clover, The Shamrock and the Gabhail. I have just been notified that the Gabhail has been taken over by the rebels, and the original crew murdered. The Rebel leaders will be here soon, so this message will be hidden and protected by the AIs until a true Ard Rí is identified.

The star charts attached to this message will identify the locations of the colonies known at this time. The first colony ship settled on a moon of a planet in the Centaurus A Galaxy that appeared to be beautiful. The second colony ship found a home world in the Triangulum Galaxy, the third colony ship found a home world in the Mayall II Galaxy. The forth colony ship found a home world in the Milky Way Galaxy. The fifth colony ship was crewed by a race of beings that were different than the people that inhabited my planet. They called themselves Leprechauns, and seemed to have a magic way about themselves. They were very loyal to me, and wanted to destroy all of the dissidents but agreed that a diplomatic resolution should be sought first. There is a special signaling code contained in this message that the AIs can broadcast, and if any of this race of beings still exist they will respond. Do not broadcast this signal if a true Ard Rí is not present.

It is now time for me to meet with the dissidents, and if you are hearing this message our home planet will not have survived. May the Gods be with you and find the people and reunite our kingdom. May the Gods be with you and make you prosper".

Michael had Trina send a message to the NUSS Ulster to stop and hold position to await new orders.

Shamus, being the most familiar with reading star charts, begian looking at the location of the four last know location of the colonies. Shaking his head, he stated that the Shamrock had been less than a light year from two of the locations in his life time.

As the group sat around the table, there was silence as the impact of the message they heard from the Ard Rí of so many centuries ago. The first response was from Jacqui, when she said that the Ard Rí could be Michael's older brother. All of Michael's other wives agreed, as did many of the other people around the table.

Michael returned the meeting to the intended focus that Trina had brought them here for. He wanted to know if the NUSS Ulster was anywhere close to the planet Gilese 876. Trina and Shamus compared information and decided they were about 10 light years from the planet. Michael asked if a communications link through the Ulster could be set up, so that he could contact the people on the planet.

Trina assured him it could, but a better link could be established if the ship could travel at warp 5 for two days. Thinking, Michael decided that if the link was understandable, he would like to try it today. He would first like to send fifteen minutes of playing the National Anthem every hour. He would then try direct communications with the planet leadership.

Trina had data transfer with the AIs on the Ulster, and asked them to try to monitor the planet and then start the music. Within an hour, Trina interrupted the discussion about the other three planets, telling Michael that there was urgent pleading that whom ever was playing the Anthem please respond. Michael told Trina to open the link and let him know.

When Trina said now, Michael said "this is Michael Rorke Fearghas, leader of the planet Leti, responding to your urgent request for a response".

"This is Roland Fergus" came the reply "I am the leader of this planet that was colonized several thousand years ago by our Ard Rí. We have been trying to contact our home planet for many of our world's years. We have been attacked twice by a race of aliens that seem to want to farm us as food. So far we have able to fend them off, but the last time they were here they damaged many of our defensive systems. We believe that they will return before these systems can be repaired. Can you help us?"

Michael asked why Roland was staring at his monitor and then looking off to the side.

Roland replied that he was looking at a holograph of the Ard Rí that his forefathers had when they left the home planet, however, according to history the Ard Rí had died in a effort to destroy a rebel group trying to take over the monarchy. Roland wanted to know how he had escaped the destruction.

Michael stated that the Ard Rí had truly died, and as far as he knew he was a descendant of the Ard Rí, and was currently the Ard Rí of Leti. With that, Michael stood, turning then showing the Fearghas Crest on his back. Michael then said that the NUSS Ulster was a few days from their planet, and this link was being routed through the ship. Captain Flynn was given new orders to proceed at best possible speed to the planet Gilese 876, staying in the shadows to surprise any invaders and dispatch them as necessary.

Upon hearing this, Roland asked Captain Flynn how they could contact the ship if there were any changes in status.

Captain Flynn told him this channel would be monitored continually, and he would be available.

Roland then asked Michael if the planet's council could meet in two days for additional discussions.

Michael assured him that the two councils would meet as set out in the directives. After the link was down, Michael looked around the table, then started with Meghan, wanting their thoughts on the conversation with Roland.

Medically, Meghan had felt there was a nervousness in his voice, and had he wanted to say a lot more but the primary concern was for the safety of the planet.

All of the military leaders said they detected fear in his tone, and a desire for more than on planet protection.

Finally, Paps looked at Michael, telling him that the entire population would probably relocate to Leti. There is something wrong on that planet, and they are afraid. "There were several people in the room with him, one being fairly old. I felt my mind being probed so I probed back. I could not get a clear picture, but something is wrong."

Michael redirected the conversation to the other three colonies, and directed Trina to see if the AIs could contact AIs on those planets. They were not to alert the human population as to the inquiry, as there were not enough ships or manpower to send if help were needed.

Turning to Shae, Michael told her that her new design of an Infinite Improbability Drive was required sooner rather than later, especially if they had to protect planets far across the universe.

Shae thought that the drive was still several years away at the best, however she would hold a design review to see what could be done. Turning to Trisha, Shae asked if there was anything in the archives that could possible help. Before Michael could say anything, Trish replied that this research was all new ground, and had not even been thought about by the Ancients.

Realizing it had been a long day, Michael knew that dinner would be on the table soon, as Meg was never late. Michael reminded everyone that all information was classified and was not to be released to the public. With that, all departed for their homes and dinner.

Mean while on Gilese 876, the council was on the planet's communicator to which all citizens were connected. The first question on the agenda was the stability of the core of the planet. The geologist stated that the core was absolutely stable, and there was a 0.0009% chance of the planet disintegrating, however, because the Teutonic Plates floated on a sea of liquid lava, they were very unstable and would continually cause earthquakes. The suggestion was to leave the planet as soon as possible.

The second item on the agenda was the status of the colony space ships, and how many would be needed.

The newly formed space transport group said there were five operational ships with each able to support 20,000 men, women, and children. The current number of citizens on the planet was 112,781 people, which would mean 12,781 would be left behind. As for the spaceships themselves, they could depart within four days.

The final item on the agenda was to see if the populist would relocate to the planet Leti if they would accept them. There was a lot of questions, but few answers.

Finally there were two questions for the citizens.

Should 12,781 be left behind, and how should they be chosen.

Do you want to relocate to Leti?

The response was unanimous, no one was to be left behind, and the colony ships were to be modified to carry everyone. All voted to relocate to Leti if possible.

Roland and the council, along with the geologist, were to contact the leaders of Leti and the new Ard Rí to plead their case.

Michael was reviewing the nightly reports when Trina told Michael that Roland Fergus and the council requested a meeting with the Leti council at their earliest convenience. Michael asked Trina where the Ulster was, and how soon it would reach the planet. Trina said the Ulster was orbiting the planet now but was cloaked.

Michael told Trina to get all the Council and NUSF Command Officers together in one hour, and to set the link for that time. When the group was assembled, Michael requested a conference with Admiral Fitzgerald and Captain Flynn. When they were linked, Michael requested their observations of the planet. Fitz said there was a planet full of very frighten people. Captain Flynn said that the ships scanners were picking up continual earthquake activity, and there was no logical pattern to where the next quake would strike. "Your Majesty, I would say the people must be removed from that planet now." Fitz agreed, and asked if the number of people of the planet was known.

Michael said he did know the population, but they should stand by and listen. He had Trina open the link to Gilese. Michael asked if Roland was present.

The very relieved face of Roland appeared, wishing Michael a good day as he did not know the time. Roland launched into an opening describing the citizens of the planet. Then turning more serious, he said he would like to have the geologist describe the status of the planet.

A man that appeared to be in his mid twenties came on screen, and explained that several kilometers under the surface of the planet there was a layer of molten lava about 1.5 to 2 kilometers thick. This was causing the Teutonic Plates to shift, and many earthquakes. The projection was that in the near future many eruptions would occur, and the lava would cover the planet.

Roland reappeared addressing Michael, requesting assistance from the planet Leti, and if possible very soon. He went on to explain that they had five colony ships that could lift off soon, but 12,781 people would have to be left behind as the ships could accommodate everyone. Roland then made his request to have his citizens relocated to Leti.

Looking at Michael, Roland thought he had made a very big mistake, because the anger showing on Michael's face was evident. As Michael started to speak, both Meghan and Colleen reached over and patted his arms. He asked how they could even consider leaving 12,000 people behind. Ships could be modified to house more people, and room might not be as plentiful but they could survive. Michael asked how soon the colony ships could depart the planet?

Roland stated that the ships were being loaded now, and each would lift off as soon as all people assigned to each ship were on board. And the original 12,000 that volunteered to stay behind assigned to ships would be accommodated.

Michael asked Roland how the volunteers could be identified?

Roland said that they had gathered in a village to try to see if they could survive.

Michael asked Captain Flynn if he could locate the village where the 12,781 people were located, and as soon as he was sure that was the right group, to transport them aboard the NUSS Ulster.

Roland then said there would be fifteen people short, as he, his six wives, and their children, were to be leaving for the village as soon as the conference was over.

Michael's respect for Roland rose, as only a true leader would not leave a contingent of citizens to die by themselves. Michael told Roland and his family to remain where they were, and when ready the would be transported to the NUSS Ulster.

Captain Flynn entered the conversation, stating that there were two ships lifting off the planet and he was de-cloaking. Everyone could hear communications being established between the ships and the NUSS Ulster.

Roland broke in, asking the Captains of the Colony Ships why they had lifted off before permission was granted for them to leave. The reply was that they would have stayed, however when they heard that the village was to be transported to the NUSS Ulster, and a major earthquake was beginning to cause major damage, they felt that it was time to get out of town. With that, everyone on Leti, Gilese, and the NUSS Ulster roared with laughter, breaking the tension.

Captain Flynn said he detected two more ships lifting off.

Roland ordered the fifth ship to lift off, then requested if all the council could be transported to the NUSS Ulster, and later the members could be moved to the other ship to join their families.

Captain Flynn stated that all of the people from the village were now aboard the NUSS Ulster, and that the AIs would transport the council members to their assigned ships. As the six ships formed up with the NUSS Ulster leading the way, the planet could be seen to begin volcanic eruptions.

Michael ordered the NUSS Ulster to return to Leti at the best possible speed, and they would link up in eight hours Leti time with estimated time of their return.

At lunchtime, Shae used her telepathy to request that the NUSF Commanding officers, Michael, and his other five wives to meet her in her lab, and please use the external door, as she was not ready to release the information to the general public yet. The look between the ten receiving the request was of anticipation and awe.

When everyone was assembled, Shae started her slide show. The first picture was of the small shuttle she used to check R&D projects in the solar system around Leti. The next slide showed the control console, and immediately Shamus asked what the new panel in the center of the two pilot seats were. Shae brushed off the question and put up the next slide, asking if anyone recognized the planet. Meghan said that was Earth and that it was about 140 light years from Leti. Smiling, Shae said she was correct about the planet, but it was 267 light years from Leti. These pictures were taken four days ago between 9 and 10 AM. The following fifteen slides showed different places on the planet, with the last three focusing in on Ireland.

Michael started to speak, then changed his mind and requested that the NUSF Officers excuse themselves for ten minutes. As the door closed, Michael looked over his six wives, being careful to only look and not enter their minds. He then looked at Shae and asked her if she remembered his directive many years ago about allowing their Elven Star being put into harms way as a single point, and only the entire Star could be put in harms way.

With confidence, Shae assured him that she did. Shae also told him that she had devised a method of controlling her shuttle and never leaving her office, regardless of the shuttle's location. Looking around the room, he asked the other five if they knew of any of the events that taken place. All assured him they had no knowledge.

Thinking awhile, Michael finally asked if any spaceship could be fitted with this remote control device as a fall back system, without the knowledge of the crew. Shae assured him it could, as the top several levels were reserved for AIs, and a small space could be dedicated for the equipment. This would relieve the AIs of the responsibility of having to put the whole crew into a suspended state to take control of the ship, as was their current directive.

Michael then issued a directive that the remote control system was to be sealed, and only the senior AIs on Leti and the seven of them would know of the existence. All senior shipboard AIs would notify the senior Leti AI if the directives of the ship were not being followed. With that, Michael called for the NUSF Officers to return.

Shae continued with her presentation, letting those know that she had developed an Infinite Improbability Drive (IID), and it was ready for testing on the next spaceship built. If they desired, the ship presently undergoing operational trials could be retrofitted in a few months or less.

That raised a lot of discussion as to the condition of the other three colonies and their survival. Colleen recommended that the NUSS Ulaid, upon the return to Leti, was to be fitted with the new IID. Hopefully, as soon as the NUSS Ulster returned, a second drive would be ready for installation. Shae reminded everyone that both drives would have to be manufactured, as the one on her shuttle was not big enough for the large ships.

Shamus then asked how long the shuttle could sustain life for. Shae said for about one week, but wanted to know why. Shamus said if that were the case, why not send the shuttle to the solar systems where the colonies were, to find out their status. Not to make contact, but just observe, and if they were in trouble then the large ships could visit as soon as the IID was available for service,

Colleen knew that Michael would never allow Shae to do the missions, so she asked Shamus who he had in mind for a pilot. Shamus said that if the shuttle could support two people, a seasoned pilot and his new bride could spend a few days aboard the shuttle as a mini honeymoon, and maybe even gather information to bring home. The group laughed, thinking of their honeymoons, as there was not a lot of time for gathering information.

Michael looked at Shae to see if she would confirm the plan, but saw concern across her brow. Finally, she said that her shuttle was not fit for that type of mission as it was set up as a lab, and to remove the in progress experiments would take longer than to retrofit another shuttle with the IID. She was sure a shuttle could be retrofitted in a week, as the one in her shuttle used a lot of the shuttles' existing designs.

Michael wanted to interview the pilots to insure they understood the complexity of the mission and the dangers they could face. All knew that Michael would paint the worst case picture, and give them every chance to refuse the mission without loosing face.

Because the mission was to be kept quiet, Michael, his wives, the NUSF Command Staff and the two pilots ate breakfast together on the day of their departure. The pilots were young and ready to accomplish anything put to them. Upon completion of breakfast, Michael issued the mission directives. They were to proceed to the solar systems where the colony ships were to have settled, and observe them. They were to remain in stealth mode, and make no contact if at all possible. If the colonist were in good health and had a stable life they were to return home and receive the location of the next colony. They were to remain at the location no longer than fifty-six hours (two Leti days) before returning home. If a colony were in dire straits, they were to send a two word signal to Leti and return home immediately. With that, the pilots excused themselves and left for their shuttle.

Colleen, Rory O'Hara, and Shamus Lochlainn were in her office when her desk telephone set started to flash red. Pressing the speaker access, the voice of the Deiridh Aimiréal Sharon Gallagher requested a conference with the NUSF Command Staff for an urgent issue. Colleen told Sharon to proceed, as both Rory O'Hara and Shamus Lochlainn were present. Sharon proceeded to tell them that as they were approaching Leti they saw a small craft that appeared to have lifted off and then just disappeared. They used all their latest technology, and could find no trail, and even using space ripple scanners there was no evidence of where the craft went nor in which direction. At first they thought that it was a system glitch, but their AI assured them it was not.

Colleen requested the time of the sighting and the apparent track prior to its disappearance. Sharon stated the time and said it appeared to have lifted off close to the shuttle port for the maintenance dock.

Colleen told Sharon to log the event, and classify it to the Senior AI on Leti and report to Shamus when they returned to Leti, along with all those that had knowledge of the event. During the call, Colleen had a hard time to keep from laughing, and as soon as she was sure the connection was broken she laughed almost hysterically. Rory and Shamus had buried their heads in their arms to keep quit. The three finally gained control, with Rory stating that to have been the shuttle just disappear on Sharon Gallagher would drive her crazy until she had an explanation. Sharon was probably the most security aware person in the universe. On a serious note, Colleen called Shae to see how a ship with the IID drive could be detected and followed through space. Shae said she did not think the ship could be tracked, as when the IID was engaged the ship was everywhere yet nowhere. Colleen and the NUSF Senior Officers could see that this drive would have to be very controlled, as the potential as a weapon was huge. There would have to be guidelines established and checks instituted, monitored by the AIs to insure the drives could not be used against the Ard Rí or his kingdom.

The people at dinner that night were Michael and his wives, the NUSF Command Staff, and the Advisory Council. Rory O'Hara explained the situation of this morning when the shuttle departed on its mission to the second planet colonized from their original world. Shamus then picked up on the NUSS Ulaid seeing the shuttle, and then the apparent disappearance of the craft. Finally Colleen concluded with Sharon Gallagher's communication of seeing the craft's disappearance, and her inability to track or even detect a space ripple to indicate in which direction it took. The look on the faces of all in attendance said it all.

Shae picked up and filled in some of the gap. She explained that when spaceships activated the IID drive, that the ship was everywhere and yet nowhere. When a destination was selected, then the ship dropped out of IID and appeared in a new location. When she designed the IID, since she sent the ship to a location and remotely controlled it then returned it to the starting location, she did not pay attention to space ripple nor tearing. After the issue was brought to her attention this morning, she ran some experiments and was able to determine at this time there was no way to track a ship in IID drive.

Michael looked around the room, studying the faces of all present.

Paps spoke up asking if this new drive was easy to duplicate, and if a ship were captured could it be reverse engineered.

Shae said that the IID would be housed in the same areas as the AIs, and would take a two person coded activation, plus authorization of the Senior AI on Leti to activate. As far as reverse engineering, the only way that could happen would be to breach the AI area of the ship. They all knew that there were no entrances either internally or externally into that area. If that area was breached, the entire ship was destroyed as soon as the data was sent to Leti. This Advisory Council approved this destruct mode, and added the clause that once the destruct sequence started there would be no reversal.

Michael listened to the discussion as was his normal custom, but internally talking to the members of the Elven Star. The Star consensus was to leave the safety features in place, and to place IID on all ships, however not allow it to be placed on ships not built on Leti, nor to sell ships to other alien races.

As the discussion cooled, Michael spoke to the group, telling them that the IID would be installed in the AI area of all ships that were a part of the NUSS fleet. If Leti ever built ships for any alien races, the IID would never be spoken of nor offered to them. Finally the policy of the breach of an AI area on any spaceship will remain as in place today. He felt that if an AI area were breached, either the crew was dead or captured.

Because of the way Michael stated the issue there was no discussion, and personally all present agreed.

Two days later, Deiridh Aimiréal Sharon Gallagher walked into the NUSF Senior Command Headquarters confused and looking for answers. Colleen's Adjutant just pointed to the conference room. As Sharon entered, Rory asked her where the remainder of the people that were involved in the event were, and his eyes told her they had better be close. Sharon told him they would be here within five minutes. With that, he offered her coffee and pastries from Colleen's kitchen, which prompted her to asked if this was the last meal before execution.

Rory smiled and said no, but a lot was happening that would soon be explained and would affect her ship. About that time, ten officers and crew entered the conference room, and were offered refreshments as it may be a long morning.

Every one had just settled when Michael, Colleen, Shamus, Shae and Trina came in, taking seats at the front. Michael started with the security speech, reminding them all they were members of the NUSF and crew members of the NUSS Ulaid. They had all signed documents regarding the securities act of Leti, and in this area they would be strictly enforced. If any did not understand, or would like to resend those agreements, please let it be known now. Not a word was said, but Trina scanned each person to insure agreement and compliance.