Alpha One - Chris Burton [108]
When the moment had passed and the champagne was consumed, they booted up the stellar drive, set course and engaged the NAVCOM. The two lightly-intoxicated space journeymen then both fell asleep in their chairs.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The Tri-Star Battle
The Nexus ship was ready. The convoy closed to within ten thousand kilometers of the nearest of the two wormholes and The Odysseus project leader, Dr. James Cameron, ran through a final check list to ensure the first section of the three part ‘exercise’ was one hundred percent ready. He sat at his desk in the makeshift operations center aboard the Botanic.
This was what all the planning was about. For six months, the team scrutinized and again scrutinized millions of pages of data, compiled by Nexus and associate laboratory resources. This was the result. They were in a war zone, light years from home, facing two wormholes and the possibility of the creation of one of the most complex structures in the universe. The creation of this structure was, in astronomic terms, as big as the stellar drive theory. The potential for the structure was enormous, not only as a transport source to potentially another universe, but also because of the immense power it would bring. If man could harness the power, the possibilities were endless. His team only just began to realize the possibilities of the discovery of a blue wormhole.
Yet opposition to the task at hand was rife. He could not rationalize the potential threat arising from the blue wormhole. He viewed Alpha’s presence here as a hindrance, and he just wanted to get on with things.
His own involvement in the project was a relatively new thing. He was aware of the research and the plans to open the wormholes. He hadn’t realized how far the project had come and how vast it became. He could not begin to fathom how the funding for such a project was put together. He tried to find out as Project Leader; he felt he had the right to know. This time, he had pushed too far and had come up against a metaphorical brick wall. He came close to giving up and pulling out of his new venture, but turned around in the last minute by the persuasive arguments of his peers. He accepted he didn’t need to know how the project was financed; he told himself it was better this way. He was a scientist and about to do his work. This was the moment of truth.
“Dr. Cameron, we are nearing proximity point A. Shall I charge up the vector components?”
“Yes, please do.”
He addressed the Alpha Commander, “What is the status of the Sentinel and the Sect vessels? Do we have a clear path to the wormhole?”
“Yes, Dr. Cameron. The presence of the Alpha Fleet is preventing the Sect and the Sentinels from engaging us. The Sect has taken a step back.”
* * * *
The High Priestess resigned herself to the inevitable. The number of Alpha vessels expanded rapidly, and to engage in a full-scale battle with Alpha could be counterproductive. Her quest was to prevent the Kryl from entering the galaxy. She would do everything in her power to prevent it and this is what she needed to concentrate on.
The opening of the first wormhole was not, in any case, the issue. She knew the first wormhole would be opened. Humans needed to fuel their insatiable desire for growth and she could do little to stop this. She could not allow the second one to open. She prepared to pay the ultimate price to stop this from happening.
* * * *
Jonathan Hoskins watched the events unfold. The Alpha/Nexus vessels slowly closed toward the wormholes. They were surrounded by Shenke’s mini-fleet, of which the Halo 7 was a key component. The Sect Fleet stopped attacking and stood