The Black

3 months later-

“God fucking dammit!!” Mac spat as the simulation wound down.

Clint stepped out of the other sim in the Grarzia house. “You are improving, but I know your impulsiveness too well, brother.”

“I’m going to be Commodore of First Fleet. I need to be able to, at least, beat you.” Mac stated, rubbing his temples, “Fleet combat is just so different from fighter combat…”

“You will get there.” Clint reassured as an enthusiastic Bryton tugged at his pant leg.

“Uh!!! Uh!!!” The little one begged as Clint smiled and picked up the boy, “And how are we doing, my dude.” He chuckled with a wince as Bry got a fist full of the half inch long beard that Clint had grown since his arrival.

“Uh oh, he’s got the initial advantage. What’s your opening move?” Lyrian walked in from where she and Frie were sunbathing. She wore a string bikini and had two water bottles in her hands as she handed them to the boys. “You two need to start the grill soon. I just got a message from Gwen, Clint and Greg, they’ve just departed Port Royal.” She gave her husband a nip/peck and returned to the balcony with a smile.

“I’m not going to get used to that.” Mac shifted uncomfortably to adjust. “She bore me twins less than a year ago, and she’s still as stunning as the day we met.”

“Yea, their idea of being a tease can be….” Clint chuckled.

The two of them walked out to be with the girls, started up the grill, and began to talk training once again. Mac was soon to become a commodore and placed in command of the First Fleet. His promotion was soon to come after Gregory was promoted to Rear Admiral to take on his new duties as overall commander of the L-QRF. To everyone’s surprise, Margarette had crushed the qualifications to make the transfer to Legion as a flag officer. Mac suspected some… personal... tutoring in that respect, but he didn’t pry. The Captain of the Olympus Mons was up to take over the 4th fleet, and Gregory had requested Marg to be her captain. Her blooding in the desperate artillery duel between Lucid Traveler and the VR barge, combined with scores in training made the confirmation interview but a formality.

In fact. Greg was returning from Port Royal with Marg she had just returned from a 2-week shake-down on the S.O.L. Olympus, her final stage of learning her new command. They had not seen each other in over 2 months and were absolutely welcome.

The original two aging carrier-based battle groups from Admiral Gwen and Commodore Gregory were to remain in Delmar’s home system. They had been put under Delmar Defense fleet command, and blended crews were quickly being trained to learn the intricacies of different species requirements in one warship. Now Admiral Folmuri, had chosen Hathcock as his flag. It was unorthodox but not unheard of. A few of Terra’s greatest flag officers had commanded from an Eros, including Mac’s uncle; Admiral Martin Trenton.

“Real talk, brother… am I ready. I’m used to taking my own life in my hands… you were of the same mind, and Lyrian flat refuses to let me protect her at times, but…. Ordering hundreds, maybe thousands to their deaths... even to save thousands more… I don’t know if I’m built for that.” Mac and Clint stayed silent... staring into the coals slowly coming to temperature.

“No one ever is…. I wasn’t happy when Gwen gave me Third fleet…. Life was simpler when it was just our asses on the line…..” Clint said somberly as he unpackaged the meat course for tonight. It was a special occasion. A large portion of what had become their extended family were coming.

Clint had just finished laying out the authentic bovine ribeyes when a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his chest. “We’re going in to start the sides,” Frie purred into Clint’s ear before nipping an earlobe with one of her fangs and almost dodging an ass slap from Clint as she darted for the kitchen.

“Fuck me…” Clint whispered before cracking a pair of beers and handing one to Mac

“Pass, but I’m pretty sure she will.” Mac smirked as his timing paid off and Clint sputtered into his beer bottle.

“*cough, hack* FUCK YOU!” Clint managed finally.

“Hands off, that’s my job!” Came the amused voice of Lyrian through the open kitchen window.

——————————————————————

The console beeped, rousing Maximar from his chemical slumber. His species had lost its ability to regulate its own sleep cycles in the pursuit of intellectual perfection many generations before the cataclysm.

‘Ah, it paid off’ he thought as the data began to pour in. Humanity and the Delmar had caught on to his more traditional satellite insertion techniques, but the survival of the VR barge that had fallen from subspace under complete system’s failure had proved an idea that Maximar had been toying with. The first of his modified spy satellites had been dropped in time for the ING investigation team to arrive in system. It had coasted through the system over the course of several weeks before transmitting and self-destructing outside the system. He didn’t bother crushing the survetor this time, a leg had snapped, and the once being had crumpled to the floor pumping its life fluids through the cracks turned gaps in its shell from the fall’s impact.

The data poured into his ever more worried soul as he watched the armada of human ships arrive… his eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at. Maximar quickly ran an algorithm based on ship design and date/time matrix…

He watched in horror as one of those ships that had arrived from Humanity dropped out of FTL in the Drowrl system and obliterated two of the most powerful class of ships the Unity had to offer. Surprise had been a factor, but this Human ship had broken through the shields of the second Frigate with ease.

Hey keyed up his messages. He was still under a short leash since his last failed operation. They would not be happy to hear from him.

“Meeting requested: Subject, Humanity. New development.” Was all he wrote before sending. He sent his findings along with the message. ‘They will return to me… if they do not ignore the message outright.’ He thought before triggering another injection, returning him to his status slumber.

——————————————————————

Captain Bjorn Johansson sat in the lab’s observation chair. This was going to be the make-or-break test of a new navigational program. He had caught something that Mackenzie had said during one of his messages. “Jumping requires two coordinates” he had stated before explaining the beacon system that the USN had ultimately adopted.

The first expedition fleets had returned save for the two in the Sonir system. They had seeded the galactic sectors between Sol and Unity space with a secure network of beacons in Sol’s control. There were still gaps. Some measuring centuries if traversed in sub-light terms. Others measured millennia of travel, even by probe at near relativistic speeds. This is what this test was trying to confirm.

Bjorn immediately thought about triangulation the moment he heard Mackenzie’s first transmissions to Terra. The transmission containing the Tetrarchy ship’s interference in the Delmar system had given him the proof to secure funding. This was his baby, but he was running out of funding with little in the way of results to secure more.

His first tests were attempted inside of pandora. It took three tests to figure out that the testing area was too small, even at minimum jump speeds. This test would be different. The USN had seeded the Sol system with encrypted beacons for military use, but only to the essential locations and orbits. There was no beacon near the once planet named Pluto. Johansson would be using 5 USN beacons to triangulate a jump coordinate for a near Pluto jump followed by an orbital insertion of a beacon before a jump back to Pandora.

“Captain, board is green, the probe has reached jump velocity.” A young ensign, no more than 19, reported. Poor kid still hadn’t had that fresh boot smell knocked off of him.

“What’s your name ensign.” Bjorn smiled gently at the boy.

“Saresh, Raj Saresh Captain.” The young man calmed slightly.

“Well, mister Saresh. A pleasure to meet you. Commence the test. You may Call the ball, if you please.”

“Aye Captain!” The young man’s eyes sparkled as his commander gave him the honors of starting this test. “Commence test in 10….. mark!” He barked, doing his best to imitate the voice of command.

“Smartly done, take your station.” Bjorn stated as the young man saluted and returned to his chair. The clock counted down as the data streams and command computers synced. The former ICBM turned test drone started trailing whips of plasma as the slip drive spooled up dragging the drone out of real space.

2 minutes went by before the station monitoring the Pandora array spoke “I’m receiving telemetry from the beacon. It’s near Pluto.”

The drone returned to pandora MOA and began a programmed decel burn.

“Captain! Beacon is on a stable orbit!! Mission success!!” A cheer erupted from. The control room. Captain Johansson let it die down naturally.

“Send the nav computer to analysis. I need a research vessel out there to inspect the beacon yesterday.” Bjorn ordered. ‘If this worked, it changes…. Everything.’

——————————————————————

“Captain Johansson, Welcome!” Chancellor Franklin welcomed a very stiff USN officer into his office, “Captain, please, take a seat. I was surprised by your rather… forceful request to see me, but I am not a man want to discipline without reason.”

Captain Bjorn Johansson calmed a little bit his serious demeanor remained, “Chancellor, I promise that this is urgent. You are aware of my testing of advanced navigation through slip-space?” He waited for the Chancellor to respond.

“In broad strokes, sadly putting together the exploration and colonization efforts have taken too much of my time to know much more of your project.”

“Sir, to put it simply. We are working off a hunch that we do need a destination beacon to jump, merely a destination coordinate… our fourth test was today…. It was a success.” Bjorn said flatly.

“Pardon my interruption, but why don’t you sound excited about it?” The chancellor asked, somewhat cautiously.

“Because, as we were doing the tests…. I realized something, chancellor…. This is why I locked down my department, and Gag ordered my team….” Bjorn voice was haunted. “Sir, were you there… at the second center point?”

“I was not…” Franklin admitted.

“Chancellor, imagine if we could create another second center point… from anywhere in the galaxy… to anywhere in the galaxy…. That’s what I have created” Bjorn stated softly, “the beacon we dropped off at Pluto… it’s the size and weight of the Planet Buster that detonated at 2nd CenterPoint… it took 2min to get to Pluto…”

It was very quiet in the office for a long time.

Finally Chancellor spoke, “How easy is this type of weapon to build”

“Too easy, anything that can be guided and can power a slip drive is now an intergalactic weapon…. Any location we can calculate, we can hit with any amount of ordinance we choose…” Bjorn stated.

“The Oppenheimer effect is not one to be rushed mentally.” Franklin said gently, “Take some time Captain. Yes, you have created an unprecedented technology for destruction, you have also unlocked the Universe for us far more quickly than otherwise thought.”

“Thank you, chancellor, but I have one more thing.” Bjorn handed a data stick to the Chancellor, “This needs to get to Delmar yesterday. The beauty of this discovery… is that it is a simple software upgrade. Every vessel currently in Delmar space, human or otherwise, should be able to make use of these algorithms immediately, no hardware upgrades needed, and for either drive system.”

“I see, I will add it to next week’s transmission myself,” Franklin assured the man.

“I’ve transmitted it to the normal channels, but this can’t wait, not after the information in the last message.” Bjorn said before saluting “Permission to depart?”

“Granted Captain, get some rest.” Franklin returned the salute. He didn’t need to; he was a civil leader. Nonetheless, sometimes you just saluted back.

He sat down and inserted the data chip, sending its contents in his personal allotment directly to Ambassador Gwen. It was too late to get it in the official transmission, but it needed to get to Delmar yesterday.

“Oppenheimer, you have company.” Franklin mumbled to himself, chuckling darkly as he poured a glass of whiskey and reflected in today’s repercussions.

————————————————-

“Ok, how are you supposed to tell the rest of the Unity that humans are omnivores when you can cook meat like this… hell I WANT to be a carnivore after this!!” Ivar was out at the grill with the men, all of them had either a brew of Delmar or Human vintage as the steaks were fastidiously attended to. Each man had a small cut of meat that Mac and Clint called “chefs’ samplers.” Ostensibly they were checking the meat for quality. Most would almost believe them.

“I’m taking notes Mackenzie. The Traveler’s crew are going to be living large this season.” Martin laughed from somewhere in the gaggle which included Greg, Ivar, Clint, Mac, Tristen, and Doc Icario.

“Easy, Martin. Try not to give too many of them obesity.” Doc chuckled.

“Oh, challenge accepted old man.” Martin shot back to a good round of laughter. “Besides, after the magic of the grill was shown to me, no veggie is safe either!”

“Looks like everything is about ready, I’ll get the platters” Mac headed for the door.

“Mac wait up!” Ivar jogged up, “I’ll help” he grinned before saying more softly, “I need to pick your brain...”

Everyone filed into an equally aromatic kitchen and dining area as the women all bustled around with the ovens and stovetops. Mac raised an eyebrow as he saw Martina in the kitchen crowd.

“Mac,” Ivar followed him out to pull the steaks in. “I need some advice.. on Human women…”

“So, you and Chika finally getting serious?” Mac smiled, “I’ve known her practically our entire adult life. I’ve only seen her in the kitchen one other time… she’s serious about you.”

“I know, but I’m not sure where to go from here.” Ivar asked

“Well, McLovin, where exactly is here? Have you two..” Mac asked with a smirk.

“No… not yet. I think Martina calls it ‘second base’.” Ivar said, “is that… good?”

“Considering the differences in your cultures. I would call that a start.” Mac said, “Alright, McLovin; I’m not going to give you the birds and the bees, but the plumbing is about the same. Humanity doesn’t have a claiming, so our view towards.. home plate.. can be a bit different depending on the person. You need to have this conversation with her, my friend.”

“Why, I know that Human males hunt their mates, not the other way around” Ivar questioned only to have Mac dissolve into laughter.

“Ivar, you are being hunted, trust me.” Mac said, “She is into you… BIG into you. Just remember that your relationship will be different and decide if you want to make the leap.” Mac then clamped the taller Man on the shoulder, “Good Hunting.”

The two of them walked back in each carrying a massive platter of beef ribeye to the serving table.

“Problem?” Lyrian whispered to Mac as he sat down.

“Not really, Ivar needed advice... on Chika” he whispered back.

“Oh? Should I talk to her?” Lyrian asked

“Best not, she is trying to play by Delmar rules. Otherwise, Ivar wouldn’t have had to ask about…. Plumbing” Mac chuckled

“Oh, they haven’t?” Lyri’s eyes widened.

“Nope, it’s theirs to figure out” Mac chuckled, recognizing her surprise, and gave her a hug.

The party was a traditional Delmar serve-yourself semi-potluck. Marg and Tili had brought a fruit-based dessert of some kind and Martin had brought a massive Delmar version of a potato salad.

The twins had been allowed to hang out for dinner but were soon put down to bed as the festivities progressed. Commander Silu stopped by a little later in the evening by Air car, and Ami had phoned in briefly. Something had come up at her Home-World and she had been forced to miss the festivities. It felt good to be around family again, and Lyrian was quickly scooped up into a conspiratorial cluster as the Twin’s Birthday party was planned. Martina and Ivar were getting cuddly before leaving and Mac gave a confused Icario a wink.

The night wound down with everyone in good spirits. The Freighters were soon to return and It would be a big family reunion. Mac was secretly looking forward to seeing what the Human contingent would think of the homecoming party.

__________________________________________________

“Alright, Maximar, you have our attention” it was Mystrius speaking. She was unimpressed but listening.

“I believe the Human threat has increased; I trust that you have seen my report?” Maximar kept his tone cool. They were speaking over subspace relay from their respective positions across Terminstrius’ deep lost history.

“We have seen, what we want; is for you to explain why you called us here. You very nearly brought us over the brink of War, last time.” Airicastum was unimpressed, having portions of “his” military hidden and usurped did not sit well with him. It had forced Maximar to slowly rebuild his, “pirate fleets”. He had also been forced to do so considerably more conservatively than was his want.

“We need to figure out what to do with YOUR new Head of the Navy… He is headed toward the Signus system to pressure the Delmar.. into what I do not know”

“What makes you so sure of that?” Legaticar asked diplomatically.

“The timing, the nature of the communications... other factors as well.” Maximar stopped short of naming all of his sources.

“I see, fortunately for you, that is not what the Admiral is there to do. He is there to… Negotiate, and Guage the measure of Humanity. He is… Trusted, with our secret.” Aiericastum stated flatly, “I warn you Maximar, you may be among the last of us, but any interferrance on your part will be met with the possibility of extermination. Do I make myself clear... There are other… factors… at play…”

“Oh?” Maximar asked.

“Not for this conversation” Mystrius stated, “We are concluded.”

The session ended and Maximar leaned back in his control seat, initiating a search of all non-Human files he had been filtering to his “later” pile…

5 min later, Humanity held little concern.

________________________________________________________________

“Mac and Lyrian put on the best parties” Martina yawned as she and Ivar walked the last of the distance to Her shoreside apartment. She had been taking on more of the Fighter training of the Recently stood up Delmar defense and interceptor squadrons. She was growing to like Ivar, but she didn’t want to screw anything up. He was Delmar, they were not as casual with their intimacy as Humans could be. Ivar was curious, and they had fooled around a couple of times, but He was a gentleman of the old school, ending it as soon as it started getting serious. He was holding her arm and seemed a bit absent-minded.

“I’m going to need to get some of those steaks, I hear you make a mean Fajita” He smiled down at her.

“I’m not sure if my family recipe would be suicidal for you to try. We Latina’s can be dangerous” She quipped. They got to her door.

“How dangerous,” He asked.

She shrugged, “Depends on how serious you want to be.” She unlocked the door and turned to bump into him standing behind her.

Martina was not a large woman. In this Gravity she weighted about as much as a Delmar Female in a much more compact 5.4 frame. She squeaked as Ivar did the most aggressive thing he had done in their relationship. He scooped her up and slammed the door behind them, kissing her lips, then her neck fiercely.

“Show me” was all he said.