Captain David C. Johnson stood atop a hill staring into the green prairie that extended as far as the eye could see save for rugged peaks far in the distance to the west. Above him, the sky was a piercing blue with not a cloud in sight. He threw his arms wide letting the afternoon breeze tousle his blond hair and billow his white tunic, cooling the patches beneath his arms as the thin sheen of perspiration from his climb evaporated. He inhaled, smelling rich earth and moisture. The wind rippled the foliage in waves, giving the landscape the appearance of a giant breathing beast. He heard a cry overhead Craning his neck, he saw a black bird circling overhead, its long wings reminding him of the Rojal birds that inhabited Sarcha's alpine forests.

"David?"

He looked down the hill toward a cluster of buildings. The sun reflecting off the corrugated metal roofs momentarily blinded him. As his eyes adjusted, he saw his mother, Esther, waving to him. "Coming, Mother!"

He started down, enjoy the brushing of the lush grasses against his legs. Could this be the same New Omaha that had been a lifeless polluted hell when he had left so few years ago?

"David!"

"I'll be right there," he called, quickening his pace. But Esther Johnson kept calling, her voice growing louder, more strident, the words losing their meaning as they became a steady beeping. Damn it, he thought, can't she see I'm...

Abruptly his dream swirled into nothingness as he opened his eyes and stirred, feeling satiny sheets against his naked body. The room was black but for a light that flashed bright red and reflected off the domed plasticrete ceiling. Grumbling, he reached out to rezz the chiming holo and answer the call.

"Captain Johnson?"

"Hmm?" David sat up with a start and squinted at a ghostly image hovering before him. His eyes focused on his caller's pointed ears, long black fur, and the tip of a long pink tongue that flicked across its nose, revealing hints of gleaming fangs beneath its jowls. "Fleet Admiral Lupercus! Forgive me, Sir. I uh -- was asleep."

"At ease, Captain," Lupercus said. His voice sounded like barks strung into words. "I regret recalling you from leave, but there is a problem that requires solving."

"Problem, Sir?" David asked, his still groggy mind showing him visions of rampaging Dimenoan crocodiles.

"Nevnana and Vuldicryx are warring again," Lupercus growled, his hackles raising. "Despite repeated warnings, their skirmishes continue spilling into our shipping lanes. Dawnstar sails in twelve hours to end these incursions once and for all."

"Aye, Sir," David said to the derezzing holo. He flopped back on the bed. Why Dawnstar, he wondered; any cruiser can handle this mission, and there must be at least a hundred Fleet Vessels in closer proximity to the Independent Sector. In the stillness, he heard breathing next to him and he reached out to caress Maradei's sleeping form, running his hand down her side and up the gentle curve of her hip. When she didn't wake, he took a deep breath, rose, and strode into the bathroom. He activated a glowglobe and leaned across the counter to peer at himself in the holoreflector, flexing his biceps and letting his thoughts drift back to New Omaha and the Eden it might become if Professor Bzzdukuzz's calculations were correct. Then he shook his head. "What am I thinking?" He said aloud as he started the shower and adjusted the temperature. "That overstuffed housefly is a pariah and I will be too if I think the Fleet will take returning to Earth seriously."

"What are you doing up already?" Maradei asked as she stepped into the shower, her long black curls quickly flattening against her as the warm spray hit them. "And where were you last night? I waited up for you."

David embraced her, delighting in the feeling of her firm breasts against his chest as he leaned down to kiss her. "You asked me that when I came in, Darling. Remember?"

She kissed his neck. "Tell me again?"

His smile faded. "I was in Arun-Cipactl'ii City meeting Professor Bzzdukuzz. He thinks I can return to Earth. I still can't believe it, but he seems sure."

"David, that's wonderful!" She beamed up at him for a moment, her own smile vanishing as she noticed his serious expression. "So what's wrong? Why are you bathing at this hour?"

"Orders." He slicked his hair back against his scalp with a free hand. "Dawnstar sails in twelve hours."

"But you still have a week-"

He placed a finger on her lips. "Not anymore."

She looked up at him, pouting. "Will we ever have time for us?"

He said nothing but kissed her again. Their tongues met. His arms wrapped around her. Her hand reached lower to caress and stroke his growing heat before guiding him into her depths. They rocked slowly, her eyes locked on his, their rhythm quickening as their passion waxed, her moans spurring him on until they both tensed in climax. Sated, they held each other under the cooling water.

"This Bzzdukuzz really thinks you can return to Earth?" She said a few minutes later as they dried off in the bedroom.

"Yes." David lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "The problem is, it will be nearly impossible to convince any Sentient to perform a peer review, much less agree with him. My benefactor has a rather dim reputation. Go ahead, say it: I should forget Earth. I don't stand a chance."

Maradei lay down beside him and ran her hand across his stomach. "Twenty thousand Sentients are alive today and their planet saved because you refused to accept defeat at Truvip IV. Why accept it now before the fight has even begun?"

He smiled as he and pulled her on top of him and kissed her. "I love you, Maradei Busumanii."

"I love you too, Captain David C. Johnson." She folded her arms across his chest and rested her head on her hands. Question: Assume a voyage to Earth is possible. Why bother?"

"Why bother?" David frowned. "You're joking, right? Think of the scientific possibilities." He exhaled. "Besides, I made a promise. If a return to Earth is possible, I don't have any choice but to go."

"Exactly! Now you need allies. Convince scientists from different disciplines and they'll convince the astrophysicists to look into it for you."

He shook his head. "No. They'll love the idea, provided it's possible, and return to their regular work. The astronomic disciplines must come first. If they pronounce the voyage feasible, the other scientists will push for its approval. Space! Just when I was getting used to the idea that I'd never return home, that insect dangles this before me. I can just see him laughing his Creator-damned antennae off!"

* * *

Eleven hours and three lovemaking sessions later, David was aboard a shuttle in Sarcha orbit. He leaned forward and rested his chin in his right hand as he gazed through the transteel viewport. His left hand drummed the tray in front of him. Clouds of spacecraft of all shapes and sizes plied the void enroute to their planetary, orbital, and more distant destinations. He could easily identify the Fleet Vessels by their bullet-shaped forward hulls with fin-like sensor sails swept back to necks that connected to aft hulls of varying shapes.

"All hands, prepare for arrival."

David checked his harness and turned back to the viewport as Sarcha Orbital Base Two hove into sight. The nearer side of this gigantic sphere was a black silhouette against the millions of stars, the far side a gleaming gray. Docking bays ringed its equator like skeletal fingers and conduits crossed its surface like giant veins. Even from this distance, Docking Bay Six was plainly visible: Thrice larger than its peers, it was the only berth large enough to accommodate Dawnstar. He looked down. Xenon City's lights twinkled up at him. Ahead, a glowing blue band drew ever nearer as the shuttle approached the terminator separating night from day on the planet below.

"I'll never forget the first time I saw this sight," he said aloud, remembering his dream.

"Excuse me, Sir?"

David looked up at the steward addressing him. "Just reminiscing, Starman. Five and a half Standard years and this sight still amazes me."

The steward looked bored. "Aye, Sir. Please retract your tray for arrival."

The shuttle docked minutes later. David stifled a yawn as he rose, retrieved his black Fleet duffel from an overhead storage locker, and proceeded through the airlock into the main concourse. This large open area contained ersatz stone buildings painted various muted colors with doors and windows that opened into offices and residences in the space station's upper levels. Trees, ivy, and lawns dotted with flower beds filled the space. A holo of an azure sky hide the ceiling. Plant smells and the din of hundreds of conversations amongst the Fleet and civilian Sentients passing to and fro filled the air. He paused near a conifer and ran his hand along the rough bark. Identical to those on Earth, he thought; what's the link? Am I missing something?

Arriving at an antechamber whose full-length viewports overlooked Docking Bay Six and Dawnstar, he leaned over the guardrail to examine his charge. Her sleek forward hull tapered back to a bulging protrusion housing the bridge and, further aft, his cabin. He looked upward along the shark-fin sensor sail, then aft to where the forward hull tapered into a rounded neck that led to the boxy aft hull containing Dawnstar's engineering section, reactors, hangar bays, Maneuvering and Jump engines, and the four gargantuan main cannon. No shielding could withstand a salvo from those weapons. Twelve pale blue plaz turrets, each the size of a light cruiser's main armament stood out against the white hull. Thirty smaller dual turrets and one hundred-forty-four quad-mounted anti-fighter turrets augmented missile batteries and forty-eight antimatter warheads in rotary bow launchers. Her orange squadron markings caught his eye as did the New Federation insignia, five maroon rectangles depicting the Sarcha system's sun and four planets.

"What Independent planet requires this much firepower?" He said aloud. "So far I've used this Fleet Vessel to save lives. But Dawnstar is a far cry from a Fang; can I use her to kill?"

David trembled as he recalled his last foray into the Independent Sector. Pirates had overrun a temporary new Federation garrison on the Independent planet Barod. Their triumph had been short-lived, their ill-gotten gains vanishing in a nuclear fireball delivered by his lone Fang fighter. For a moment he imagined Sentients vaporized, their lives snuffed out in an instant. They were the fortunate ones. Those further from the epicenter perished slowly, their eyeballs melting in the blast's brilliance, their skin boiling as the heat struck their bodies. He blotted cold sweat from his brow then squared his shoulders and marched down the gangway connecting Dawnstar to the Orbital Base.

At the quarterdeck, he stopped at the coaming, right-faced to salute the New Federation flag, then left-faced to salute the officer of the deck. "Permission to come aboard?"

The Mygarean Ensign snapped to attention, her black teardrop-shaped eyes wide in recognition. "Granted, Sir. Welcome aboard," she said, snapping him a crisp salute. "Commander Tamor is on the bridge. Shall I notify him you're aboard, Sir?"

"Affirmative." David set his duffel on the duralloy deck. "Have this taken to my cabin."

Moments later, David strode down Dawnstar's wide corridors, grated metal decking with ribbed bulkheads and bundles of pipes and runs of conduit that hid the overhead. Glowglobes in the ribs provided illumination. Crimson markings, black lettering, and tan accents punctuated the sterile white bulkheads and dark gray decking. He entered a lift that deposited him on Dawnstar's bridge minutes later. Two-deck tall viewports looked out over the docking bay and Orbital Base beyond.

"Ah, there you are, Sir. I was beginning to wonder."

"I wouldn't pass this up for anything," David quipped as he turned and shook hands with Commander Nesmuhaneru Tamor, Dawnstar's Executive Officer, an imposing humanoid with thick brown wrinkled skin and a round head with long black whiskers and two ivory tusks hanging from his upper jaw. "So what exactly are Nevnana and Vuldicryx, what are they up to, and why are they costing us a week's leave?"

"Two credit-a-dozen Independent planets." Tamor's whiskers drooped. "They are fighting over Dyrwuv II again, a gas giant. The New Federation attempted to broker treaties allowing both sides to end the fighting and share Dyrwuv's riches but they prefer to fight. Our only concern is their repeated incursions into New Federation space despite our repeated warnings. Anyway, the complete file is in your cabin."

"So Fleet Supreme Command figures that one glance at this particular Fleet Vessel will cause them to rethink their errant ways." David shook his head. "This is a dangerous precedent, my friend. If we fail, the New Federation will have to deploy a permanent task force to the Boundary in that area or destroy their navies. An easy enough task but a public relations nightmare. If we succeed, as I fear we will, Dawnstar will become the galaxy's wet nurse. Neither option bodes well for our operational tempo, or for finishing our holidays in peace."

"Did our Captain awaken on the wrong side of his bed?" Tamor's eyes twinkled.

"You have no idea," David replied with a forced laugh. He nodded up at the command station a half-deck above the main bridge level. "Take the conn for departure, Commander. I have a personal matter to attend to."

Tamor nodded and David left the bridge and headed aft, stopping before a hatch. He pressed his hand against a bulkhead-mounted sensor and the door hissed open, revealing his spacious apartment. His duffel sat on the wide bed in the sleeping chamber. As he unpacked, David opened the screens hiding the two viewports above the headboard that overlooked Dawnstar's neck and aft hull. He then went into his salon and eased himself into one of the two leather chairs facing another pair of viewports with an equally impressive vista. He poured himself a glass of Vegaxian liqueur from the bottle on the round transteel table between the chairs and rested his feet on the viewport sill as he rolled the thick orange-flavored liquid across his tongue.

He took a breath and picked up his comlink to access the shipboard computer. His fingers flew across the pads that authenticated his identity and opened the Fleet's vast central databanks where he began a detailed search. Several increasingly restrictive refinements later, he leaned back in his seat and examined the results: The names of four hundred and three astrophysicists, cosmologists, astronomers, and astrogators. His hands trembled; these were the scientists he would contact first seeking validation for Bzzdukuzz's theories. His fingers tapped the screen as he composed a letter and attached the files containing the data. Finished, he stared at his handiwork.

"Please don't laugh at me," he whispered as he pressed a contact to queue the message for transmission. He poured himself another drink and returned his gaze to the viewports as Dawnstar slipped her moorings and backed out of Docking Bay Six. Once clear of the Orbital Base, the two-kilometron long Fleet Vessel spun around and David watched Sarcha and Maradei fade into the distance. He sighed, feeling an ache he still didn't comprehend.

* * *

As with any other interstellar voyage, the journey to Dyrwuv II required a number of instantaneous hyperspace Jumps across wide stretches of space, interspersed with hours-long pauses for position checking and recalculation for the next Jump. To relieve some of the boredom, he joined in hand-to-hand combat training with Dawnstar's five-hundred Sentient Marine company. Major Maxqur, the Marine detachment's Officer in Charge, avoided him as much as possible. That was fine by David; there was bad blood between them after the events at Truvip IV and David had little desire to associate with him.

The voyage proceeded uneventfully. They arrived in the Dyrwuv system twelve Standard days after departing Sarcha.

* * *

"Communications," David said, "contact Nevnana and Vuldicryx. Tell them that a New Federation representative demands to meet emissaries from both governments upon arrival at Dyrwuv II. Warn them that I will attack any party taking aggressive action against this Fleet Vessel or engaging in other hostilities without further warning. Also, summon all Department Heads to Conference Room Two in ten minutes. Tamor?"

"Plaz barrel diplomacy, David?" Tamor said once he and David were alone on the lift.

David shrugged as he entered their destination on a keypad. "You said it yourself, Tamor: warnings have failed. Fleet Admiral Lupercus sent the most powerful weapon the New Federation has to deal with these squabble. What for, if not intimidation?"

They entered the conference room and took their seats. David tapped his fingers on the table of polished golden red janji wood and stared at the gold filigree rendition of Dawnstar etched in its center.

Tamor scratched a tusk with a claw. "Your plan, Sir?"

"I'm not sure."

"You not sure?" Tamor's eyes widened. "Tremendous! Since when?"

The comlink cut David's reply short. "Captain, from Communications, incoming personal message, Sir. Shall I patch it through?"

"Please do." The holo rezzed to show an older Mygarean female. Her pale bluish white skin hung in folds off long frail-looking limbs. Bags of wrinkled flesh obscured portions of her teardrop-shaped eyes. "To Captain David C. Johnson aboard Fleet Vessel Dawnstar: Few intelligent Sentients give Professor Bzzdukuzz credence. Were his conclusions valid, others would discover them independently. Message ends."

The holo derezzed, taking David's ego with it. Dawnstar's officers filed in and took their seats. David swallowed his disappointment and looked around the table: Commander Tamor, Commander Luciuq the Air Wing Chief, Commander Rujidu from Engineering, Commander Wahibra from Operations, Chief Medical Officer Quayb, Lieutenant Commander Wurlz from Communications and Cryptology, Lieutenant Commander Pulg from Deck Force, Lieutenant Dicz from Supply, Lieutenant Nyut from Astrogation, Lieutenant JG U'ops from Damage Control, and Major Maxqur.

David rose and cleared his throat. "Sentients, we are tasked with conclusively ending the Nevnanan and Vuldicryxian incursions. We must succeed where others have failed. Ideas?"

"Your ideas should make an excellent starting point, Sir," Maxqur said, an unctuous smile rippling across his scaled face.

David coughed to hide his amazement, wondering if this was the same Maxqur who had come perilously close to mutiny during the Truvip IV mission. Space, I detest that Sentient, he thought. Still, I wonder how far this branch will bend. "Thank you, Major. Let's examine this. New Federation warnings to date have been all talk and no action, hardly a viable deterrent."

"How do you propose to break this cycle, Sir?" Tamor said, his whiskers sticking straight out.

"An excellent question." David rose from his chair and paced the compartment, stopping periodically to look one or another of his officers in the eye. "Crossing borders under arms is an act of war. I think Dawnstar's firepower might be just the tool to demonstrate that this is no laughing serious matter and solve our problem."

"Unconventional, Sir," Maxqur replied hesitantly, "but your logic is sound."

David looked around the room, tongue in cheek. "Anyone else?"

"It is somewhat extreme," Wahibra piped up, "yet why not?"

All present nodded and mumbled their assent. Tamor guffawed. "You lot call yourselves a command staff? I served with Captain Johnson long before he earned his command and know what he is capable of. I-"

David's laugh interrupted him. "Sentients, is the lesson of Truvip IV completely lost on you? I'm in command and you must follow my orders, but I will never shun valid criticism. Disagreeing with me can be constructive. I need officers, not slaves. So: Shall we discuss things intelligently?"

* * *

Later, David wandered over to the Navigation station on the bridge. "Lieutenant Nyut, may I have your opinion on something?"

"My pleasure, Sir." Nyut accepted the proffered writeboard chip. "What's this?"

"A hypothetical astrogation problem. I'd tell you more, but I don't want to bias you."

Nyut looked down at the chip resting in his palm. "I'll do my best, Sir."

"Captain, from Communications, personal holo for you, Sir."

"I'll take it in my cabin," David said, as he turned to leave the bridge. Less than a minute later, he rezzed his cabin holo.

"From Gur, Professor Emeritus of Astrophysics on Kurn, to Captain Johnson, NFS Dawnstar: I reviewed your data at my spouse's insistence. Neither I nor my students could conclusively discern the feasibility of the proposed voyage, however the data we did review is consistent with accepted theory. We must therefore conclude that this proposed voyage is possible."

"Yes!" David shouted as his comlink chimed.

"It's Nyut, Sir. I reviewed your material. I can't decipher the theories but the nav computer will accept and act on the parameters contained within your equations."

David's smile was ear to ear. He thanked Nyut and poured himself a large Vegaxian liqueur, closing his eyes as he relaxed. It suddenly occurred to him that a family, his family, struggled for its very life in another corner of the Universe as he lounged in utter comfort. Six Earth years, just over five Standard years, had elapsed since his accidental salvation from the hell of post-Destruction Earth, six years of unspeakable suffering for his family. David finished his drink with a single gulp.

"I'm coming home, Mother," he said. "I don't how or when but I shall return."

Copyright © 2003 by Anthony Hernandez