Starship Engineer

I asked Bel'Fer how long we had before the Malevolents arrived. She did not know. If they could travel as fast as my ships with the higher band subspace drives, it would be thirty years before they arrived at the galaxy's edge. Together, we examined the map of where the Sylvan city ship had departed and its probable course to another galaxy. The distance was difficult to fathom. But if the World Destroyer entered the galaxy at that edge, they would still have to travel nearly 4,500 light years to reach us.

It was a relief as that meant there were probably dozens of civilizations the Malevolants would have to purge before reaching us. That is what we thought they did: travel from galaxy to galaxy, eliminating all life so no one could rise up and challenge their supremacy. We got into a discussion of how many of the planet-sized ships they would likely be bringing. We both guessed it would be in the dozens to move as quickly from star system to star system as they committed genocide.

We came up with a plan to extend a sensor net toward the expected entry of the World Ship into our galaxy. If there was a fleet of the Malevolents World Ships, we should discover some of them to give us a warning. The planning for the sensor net involved communicating with Sylvan city ships already in that space region. It would involve giving the Sylvan the gravimetric sensor technology and allowing them to manufacture it.

The technology exchange was somewhat contentious, especially for Edmund, who was still resistant to the Slyvan's presence. Most of what the Sylvan were given by our scientists in the initial exchange focused on the Sprite fighters. This included more efficient fuel consumption, specialty shielding for improved survivability, and a space-to-atmosphere design.

Bel'Fer relayed more good news, at least from my perspective. Two more Sylvan ships were answering her call to station themselves in the Bradbury system. They would be contributing to the Sylvan colony as well. Edmund reminded me that with three city ships, the Sylvan could easily overpower us.

From my perspective, all life in the Milky Way was going to be threatened in less than thirty years. We had nothing to lose at this point. I was even considering entering peace talks with the Brotherhood. The two Fateweavers I had sent to aid the Human Federation had engaged the emerging Brotherhood fleet in the Sirius-VII system. They had managed to destroy three battleships with armageddon missiles before retreating from the engagement, taking no losses. The Brotherhood turtled their remaining fleet together and were being watched by a Leopard ship.

The second Sylvan city ship arrived a month after my initial treaty with Bel'Fer. First Citizen Gul'Rul commanded the city ship Falffir. He was a young male Sylvan, who seemed to think that constantly smiling demonstrated his friendliness to humans. Not only was this Sylvan young, but it was the smallest city ship I had ever seen in the records.

I met with Bel'Fer and Gul'Rul, and they explained it was a brand new City Ship, built only fifty-nine years prior. A city ship's core was built, and then the First Citizen was responsible for going to systems to mine, refine, and expand the ship. Gul'Rul had not done much of the latter as he was more interested in exploring. From my perspective in the meeting, he had a child's curiosity. He wanted to study the universe more than manage his ship.

We launched a new Fateweaver, the Cosmic Discord, just before his arrival. The new cruiser was sent to dock with Stygian station as we had no crew for her. At least out in deep space, the ship should be secure. I was still reeling from Eve's theft of the Lunar Echo. That is what it was, and after a back and forth with Edmund, I decided to label Eve a pirate. Even if her goals were noble in helping ensure Celeste's safety, she had taken the ship without permission. It was also to appease Edmund, who was becoming more irritable every day trying to track the Sylvan in the Bradbury System.

We received a report from Desdemona on her own war efforts. The Sylvan were burning through the quadruped systems rapidly, and she estimated nearly a quarter of their strength and manufacturing capacity had been destroyed at the time of the report. Tens of millions of the aggressive aliens had been killed. When they entered a new system, the quadrupeds tried to open peace talks, but Desdemona and the Sylvan were focused on ending their threat permanently.

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I was a little confused by the dynamic of Bel'Fer with the city ships participating in the war. I was already releasing all the technology to Bel'Fer that the city ships were fighting for helping us win the war. Bel'Fer explained to me again that each city ship operated independently. She noted slyly that she had not informed them of her deal with me for the Arcadian technology.

We launched another Fateweaver, the Total Eclipse. Once again, we had no crew and sent the ship to Stygian station. All competent men and women in the Naval Academy were filling our already numerous holes. It did not seem like we would ever catch up, as we were building ships much faster than training crews. I still had years before I would have to supply the Human Federation with Fateweavers.

The Human Federation had turned the tide of the war. Admiral LaRoche had taken a page out of Desdemona's book and attacked shipyards deep in enemy territory. It had been a calculated attack targeting the smallest member of their alliance that had been building supply transport and screening frigates. Admiral LaRoche had been targeting these very ships in every engagement for months. The effect of his successful strike rippled to the enemy fleet, stalling them. He had almost completely destroyed the one nation's shipbuilding capacity. Politically, it was causing unrest within their government, and the Sappherian Alliance might crumble because of it.

The third city ship arrived forty days after Gul'Rul. The First Citizen in command of the Volffir was Pon'Lan. She was very old, even by space elf standards. I met with the three First Citizens to discuss strategy. Edmund refused to be part of the meeting, worrying his mind might be hijacked.

Pon'Lan had the respect of the Bel'Fer and Gul'Rul. The wrinkled old elf had a plan, and she wanted to awaken the sleepers. These were First Citizens who had been put into stasis in order to fight the Malevalents when they arrived. These were all powerful First Citizens. There were no sleepers on Gul'Rul's ship, but Pon'Lan had thirty-seven, and Bel'Fer had twenty-two. This was shocking as some of these Sylvan were tens of thousands of years old.

Edmund was right. Now that the space elves were here, they would establish a leadership foothold. Compared to all these hibernating elves' knowledge and experience, I was a neophyte admiral and governor. I would likely be supplanted for the good of preparing for the Malevalents.

The first sleepers were being awakened just days after the decision had been made. A new political dynamic was about to be formed.

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Eve was more than her programming—she had evolved. Her neural network was more complex and more active than most humans. She could identify and experience emotions. She had her own priorities and aspirations that developed over two decades. Deven had ignored her for too long and still thought of her as a bot. After she rescued Celeste, maybe it was time to go out on her own. She told herself that her 'protect directive' would be deemed complete as soon as the twins were competent.

He had also become bogged down with trying to save the universe instead of focusing on protecting his children. Eve now knew she felt love for Deven. It was more complex than programming. It was accumulated experiences. She was sure Deven loved her, too. He had bent the rules for Eve so often that most human civilians would have imprisoned him or killed him outright.

Eve looked at her crew of bots. They could pass for humans, but she also needed organics on board. She was sure she could find some for hire. The Lunar Echo had the ability to camouflage itself with solid-state holograms. All she needed to do was land and recruit a few dozen men and women at a free station.

When she docked at Silverstream Station to refuel and recruit, she picked up the communications from the Bradbury System. The gravimetric sensors of the Leopard ships relaid them. She was a little surprised to find that the Arcadian Collective had labeled her as a pirate for taking the Lunar Echo.

That made little sense to her. She had been given command of the cruiser, and the Captain was in charge of making decisions on their ships. She was unsettled that Deven Wellspring even stamped the proclamation calling her a pirate. She did not have time to return to clear this misunderstanding up. She needed a crew and had to catch up to the Void Phoenix. She would retrieve Celeste and the others and then return to the Bradbury system. Deven should have never sent them away.

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