he adventures of the Star Traveler Andromeda that started in Among the Stars, Beyond the Farthest Planet, and So Far From Home, continues in the final chapter The Voyage Home.
CHAPTER 2 A
After many bone rattling hours inside the Kuiper Belt, Andromeda encountered one final jolt and entered the first quiet area in over twelve hours. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief to be out of the belt.
Engineers and repair crews crawled all over Andromeda repairing any damage caused by the constant barrage of ice and debris. Stingers and shuttles were out to protect Andromeda while the shields and sensors were down.
Kate knelt by the opening in the console where Kacey was marking the wires to be replaced. She explained what needed to be replaced to the techs that gathered around them when she push out from under the console.
"I bypassed the damaged wires and spliced the ends. What I want you to do is replace every wire under both the sensor and navigational monitors."
"Even those without any damage? That would be a waste of time Colonel."
"Do you have a hot date tonight?"
"Uh no ma'am, but isn't..."
"If the jolt was strong enough to fry three of the wires, there is no way of knowing if the rest were damaged in any way. Just because the insulation is not damaged, does not mean the fibers inside are whole. Replace them all." Kacey ordered angrily.
Kate place a hand on her shoulder. "Ensign replace all the wires. Every single one of them. We will need the scanner, sensors and Navigation monitors now more than ever." Kate stated.
"Yes ma'am. My apologies Colonel."
"It has been a hell of a day ." Kacey responded. "And probably an even longer night."
"We will replace the wires."
"I will be in the Hanger if you have any questions."
"Belay that. She will be in her quarters" Kate interrupted. Kacey started to protest. "You said it your self. It has been one hell of a day. Time to at least kick back for a short time."
"Fine call me if you have any questions or run into any problems." Kacey stated as Kate pulled her into the lift."
"Damn it Kate I should be out with my pilots. I have work that needs to be done."
"Not tonight. You have been on duty for the past fifteen hours. They can call you if needed. Otherwise you are off duty." Kacey sighed in frustration. "Suck it up cupcake. You have done enough for one day."
Kacey laughed. "Cupcake? Are you making this an order?"
"I will if I have to, however, I hope you are mature enough to not force me to do that."
"Have it your way, buttercup."
It was Kate's turn to laugh as they headed down the corridor to their quarters.
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On the Bridge, the Ensign waited for the lift doors to close before he shook his head. "No fucking way am I going to change all these wires if they don't need it." He pulled a wire tester off his belt and checked all the wires. "Just like I thought. There is nothing wrong with most of these and I am not wasting my time changing perfectly good wires ." He thought and went to work changing only the spliced wires. He took his time to stretch the job out as long as possible. " No sense hurrying, they would just find me something else to do."
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All the repairs were finished and after ten hours of station keeping, Andromeda was once again streaming through the stars. Kate returned to the Bridge late in Gamma shift to give the Bridge crew their orders. It was still three hours before she had to get up for the Alpha shift when she received the page.
"Captain on the Bridge."
The crew stood at attention as Kate stepped off the lift.
"As you were." She stated. "Report."
"We have received reports from all departments that the repairs have been completed."
"Excellent Ensign Maher. Do your preflight."
"Yes ma'am"
"Who is in charge of the stingers?"
The Lieutenant checked the roster. "Lieutenant Chen, ma'am."
"Andromeda to Lieutenant Chen."
"Lieutenant Chen here Captain."
"Lieutenant, the repairs have been completed. We will be resuming our journey in ten minutes."
"Understand Captain we will get out of the way." Lieutenant Chen stated. "All craft move away from the bow. We will be resuming our journey."
The Stingers moved away from the bow and took their positions along the sides of the big ship. Kate watched them in the view screen as they changed their positions.
"Pre flight completed, Captain."
"Bridge to engine room."
"Go ahead Bridge."
"Start engines."
The large engines came to life. The vibrations were felt through the ship. "Coordinates?"
"Four one seven two point three three Captain."
"Send them to the helm. Ensign lock in the coordinates and go to full impulse for five minutes the increase speed to warp six."
"Understand ma'am."
The ship started to move. The stars in the view screen passed slowly by. "Lieutenant keep us on this heading. The Bridge is yours. I will be in my quarters."
"Yes Captain. Enjoy the rest of your night."
Kate left the Bridge and headed back to her quarters. She quickly stripped down and got back into bed. Anya turned without waking up and pulled Kate close. She sighed in contentment. Kate closed her eyes as sleep overtook her.
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Kacey walked out of her quarters and met Kate at the lift.
"Good morning." Kate stated with a yawn.
"Good morning, Kate. Did you have a late night?"
"It did not start out that way, but the repairs were finished about three hundred hours and the Bridge called me."
"So you went to the Bridge." Kate nodded as another yawn stopped any speech.
"Of course your could not just give them their orders over the communicator."
"Correct. Any way we are back under way." they entered the lift. "Bridge" "Hanger" They said together.
"I could tell that by the way the stars were whizzing by this morning. Why not take the day off?"
"Monthly reports are due."
"Thanks for the reminder."
"You have a hundred to do, I have over four hundred."
"The joys of being the Captain." Kacey joked.
"Paper work is one thing I will not miss after this journey."
Kacey laughed as the lift opened. She stepped off and Kate continued to the bridge. "Report."
"We are currently three point five million kilometers from the Kuiper Belt. All systems are working well. The sensors are quiet."
"That is good to hear. We have nine to ten months left to go. I hope the most exciting thing we see is a comet."
"It is hard to believe that it is almost done Captain." Lieutenant Minor said. "Do you have any plans for after we land?"
"A few, but everything depends on how long the debriefings will take. How about you?"
"I think I will see about another long mission after I take a few weeks vacation."
"We heard your mother wants to open a restaurant."
"That is what is planned right now. But those plans can change many times between now and then."
"If she does open a restaurant, I would definitely go. She is a great cook."
"You will get no argument there." Kate stated.
"What are the chances the other ships have someone of her caliber in the kitchen?"
"I am sure they have adequate cooks on the other ships."
She laughed and the crew now more relaxed joined in.
CHAPTER 2 B
Kacey scanned the stars around her. Even though they were still a long way from home, the crew considered themselves to be in their home territory. They were still on a slightly different course in hopes of being able to upgrade the final towers that they missed on their way out. Ceres was far from their course before and now unless their timing was perfect they would have to go planet hunting to finish the upgrades.
Kacey kept a close eye on her distance from Andromeda. The sensors were quiet for now. Four Stingers flew near her with eight more around Andromeda. The chances of them being attack were less now that they were past the Kuiper Belt, but not out of the question. The Megarans from their first year was one race they all hoped had moved onto another sector.
The area they travelled had several astral phenomena they hoped to study. On the schedule for later today was a giant gas cloud they could see in the distance. The drones would be sent into the heart of the cloud to take readings.
With her music playing softly and she let her mind drift. Her restless spirit quiet and at peace. No little annoying voices, that could also be called her conscience, were badgering her. Life was good for the time being. They were all healthy and no one, meaning Kate and herself, were arguing.
"Andromeda to Shamrock."
"Go ahead Andromeda."
"How do things looks out there?"
"Very quiet. I had several shooting stars go past a few minutes ago but other than that nothing. When are we supposed to arrive at that gas cloud?"
"At our present speed, in five hours."
"The drones are ready to go."
"How much longer will you be out?"
"About thirty minutes. Why?"
"No particular reason. I was just wondering."
The sensor started beeping. "Hang on a minute, my sensors just went off." Kacey checked the readout. "Andromeda are you picking up something funky off starboard?"
"Funky?" Anya asked. "I am not sure if it enters the realm of funky but there are several masses showing up. They are on a parallel course five hundred thousand kilometers away."
"I am getting the same. They are not showing up as vessels?"
"No, they are just showing up as masses. What ever those masses are they are not getting any closer."
"Should we go investigate?" Kacey asked.
"That detour would take us away from the gas cloud." Kate stated.
"We have no way of knowing what we will find if we detour. Those masses could just be rocks or they could be ships."
"We could always wait to see if they come any closer." Anya suggested.
"That is what we will do. Keep an eye on the distance. If they veer towards us let me know immediately."
"So we are not going to check them out?" Kacey asked.
"We are not."
"We could send a few stingers to check..."
"Negative Kacey. You are talking five hundred thousand kilometers away. That is not going to happen."
They all heard her sigh. "Is that your final decision Kate?"
"Kacey?"
"I suppose we should leave something for others to check out."
"I am glad you agree."
"Agree? No, I do not, but you are the Captain. Shamrock out."
"That was different Katie. I expected some sort of dust up or at the very least a discussion. She gave up without a fight." Liam stated.
"That she did."
"Is there something ye are wanting to tell me?"
"We just came to an understanding, dad."
"Will ye be telling me just what this understanding is?" He asked softly.
"It was just certain rules she had to follow."
"Or what would be happening?"
"I would not be able to keep insubordination out of the official record."
"Ahh, ye lasted a lot longer than I thought ye would. How did you manage to get her to agree?"
"I had to play dirty and told her she either agreed or she would not be flying."
"Ye do what ye have to be doing. With your sister, ye can not always be playing fair."
"You are not mad at me?"
"Now why would I be doing that?"
"Shamrock to Andromeda."
"Go ahead shamrock."
"Have those masses changed course?"
"Negative, they are still running parallel to us and still around five hundred thousand kilometers."
"Oh well guess the next Star Traveler will have to do the investigating. Shamrock out." She checked her time. "Alpha squad pull in and prepare to land as soon as the next squad launches."
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Kacey parked her shuttle and walked to her office. There were still four hours before the drones were launched to take readings and hopefully collect samples from the gas cloud. The fact that they were not investigating the masses bothered her. She had the feeling the masses were not what they appeared, but until there was an overt act they had no reason to check things out. Kate would not change her mind just because Kacey had a strange feeling.
Andromeda would go to station keeping while the drones were inside the cloud. Kacey would keep an eye on those masses. With everything they have experienced, they could not afford to take anything at face value. " True they have not come any closer, but they are keeping pace with us." She thought. "We are months away from the Limari and the Space Pirates. Would they be crazy enough to follow in the hope of catching us off guard, or go for an even larger prize, Earth? Could it be something else or just an innocent space mass? "I am getting paranoid." She said out loud. Maybe it is time to take a long hard look at what this journey has taught me. She thought. Do I really want to continue putting my life on the line every time I leave Andromeda? Or even after we return to Earth?" Kacey shrugged off the thoughts and started her computer.
She worked steadily for the next three hours without interruptions. Now that they were inside the Kuiper Belt, video conferences with the Joint Chiefs would start up again, so all the reports had to be up to date.
"Colonel Anderson to Colonel O'Malley."
"Go ahead Mike."
"We will be launching the drones in fifteen minutes."
"Thank you Mike. I will be there shortly. Have you notified the Bridge?"
"Not yet."
"I will take care of that." Kacey stated. "Colonel O'Malley to the Bridge."
"Go ahead Kacey."
"The drones will be launched in less that fifteen minutes."
"We are almost into position. I will advise you when we go to station keeping. Kacey I would like you on the Bridge after the drones are launched."
"Roger." Kacey locked her computer and went into the Hanger. Two of the drones were in position in front of the launch doors with two shuttles and twenty stingers. The shuttles would follow the drones as closely as possible while the stingers would run patrol around Andromeda while the drones were in the cloud.
"Who do you have in the shuttles?" Kacey asked.
"Jere and Dan with Lieutenant Mathews in charge of the stingers."
"Good. Mike I need you to keep a close eye on the drones and on those masses. Have Beta squad on stand by in the event they come any closer."
"Do you still think those masses are not what they seem?"
"It is just a feeling, Mike. We have seen too many strange and dangerous civilizations to let our guard down."
"That is true. The drones will run tests and collect vapor samples while in the cloud."
"Are the Whiz Kids running the collectors?"
"They designed them. Each is on one of the shuttles with engineers."
"Bridge to Colonel O'Malley. We are in position to launch."
"Roger, Bridge. Close air lock doors." They both stepped back to allow the large doors to close. They could hear the hiss of air as the atmosphere was lowered before the launch doors opened. The craft took off. They watched until the launch doors opened. "I will be on the Bridge if you need me." Kacey stated and walked to the lift.