Chapter 1

Rear Admiral John Kelly sat in his office, sulking about the big come down in his career. Six months before he had been the commanding authority for the entire Pegasus sector. Now he was just the commanding officer of a small supply base on Cyrus three. The only function of this base was to fill requisitions and supply security to a small lab, next door. He sat in his office thinking back to the cause of him being posted here.

Six months prior, things had been going great! He'd had total control of his sector, and the space station where he was posted. He had thought he was on 'Easy Street'! Everything just seemed to be falling into place. Soon he would have his third star, and enough time in, for retirement. He and his wife could buy a nice place on a warm planet, or he could just relax and enjoy life.

Everything was just great, except one thing: a Commander Daniel McLain and his crew of misfits. He had tried every trick he knew to make McLain and his crew look bad. He had been segregating them from the rest of the station and denied them parts and supplies, figuring that if he could make their next mission fail, some of the power that they seemed to hold would be gone. However, somehow ... he suspected through massive theft and larceny ... they not only had their ship ready, but had improved it, enabling them to not only take the mission, but accomplish it with ease.

Somehow, everything, he had done had gotten back to Imperial headquarters! He had received orders to report in front of an imperial military review board. He could remember it as if it had happened just yesterday. He had stood at attention in front of his immediate commander Vice Admiral Jackson and had gotten a full dressing down.

"Just what the hell did you think you were trying to pull? Commander McLain and his crew are part of the Imperial guard! They're not Navy! As Imperial Guards, they answer directly to the Emperor! Even I have no command over them, except as pertains to basic orders. Our job, basically, is just supporting them! Your career would be over now if not for some of your friends in the Admiralty! Since it's obvious you are not capable of running a sector, I have a nice cushy little assignment for you. There's a new base opening on Cyrus three. This base is basically there just to support a top-secret civilian lab with supplies and security. I am posting you there as their commanding officer. You should be able to just coast your way to retirement. You can forget about that third star, but if you do a good job, you might still keep your pension. Screw this up, and I don't care who you know in the Admiralty. Your ass is gone!"

-- Now he sat in his office, trying to think of ways to salvage his career. This Base was new. Everything was still one big cluster fuck. He thought the best way to make himself look good was to make this base one of the smoothest running bases that there ever was. He'd change things so that everything was running the Navy way: by the book.

The next day Admiral Kelly decided he would inspect his new command. Since this was a supply base, he thought the first place to inspect would be a supply depot calling for his adjutant to join him.

Walking in he asked to see a senior supply officer. After being introduced to Commander Helen Smith, they started the tour of the depot. The Admiral was very surprised at what they found. It seemed that the depot was filled with an incredible variety of stock, with no really apparent reason for having the different items. There was a vast supply of ordnance, which was surprising since this was not a fleet supply base. There was everything here from Medical Auto-Doc's, Fem-Bots, spaceship parts, to various ordnance, including mines, torpedoes, lasers and other weapons.

Turning to supply officer he said. "Commander Smith what the hell is this? You have a little of everything here, and it doesn't make any sense to have such a smorgasbord of different items. Would you care to explain why you carry such a variety?"

"The lady in the lab next door just tells us what we need to order for her, and we order it."

"Does she say why she needs each item? Or what she's going to do with them?"

"No, Mrs. O'Connor just says what she needs. Then we fill out the proper requisition to get what she asked for. And when it comes in we deliver it."

"What? That's not the proper way things are done in this Navy. She needs to fill out the proper requisitions and have them approved as to their use. That's the way it will be done henceforth. Strictly 'by the book'!"

"The O'Connor's aren't going like that!"

"We'll just see about that!" He had said stomping off.

The Admiral was in a foul mood as he continued his inspection of his command. After inspecting the mess hall, barracks, and base motor pool. They began inspecting the rest of the base. The base bordered the land where the lab was built. The lab consisted of a nice house and a large building with a small landing field. Next to it was what was obviously a large junkyard, with a twenty-foot wide pathway between them. He noticed guards patrolling down the pathway and around the area that the lab sat on.

Turning to his adjutant he asked. "Why are there no guards inside the fence line? And why is that junkyard sitting there?"

"Sir, that junkyard belongs to Mrs. O Connor and her brother. The O'Connor's will not let any naval personnel on their land, unless making a delivery. They say that they don't need all the security and just want to be left alone."