The sun rose lazily over the waves off of Long Beach California, and Dr. Leanne Nolan sipped her coffee as the quiet electric whine of a car pulling into the lab's parking lot. The military High-Speed Assault and Scout Vehicle, or HAS-V parked feet from her. The HAS-V had matte grey armor with flat black brush-guards and ascents. It's compact and light body was suspended 8 inches off the ground by large all-Terrain airless-tires, and holds 2 to 5 persons, but this model didn't have the usual modular turret that expands its abilities from crowd control to full scale assaults, it was configured for VIP transport instead. No armor, recesses for tinted poly-carbonate windows, and plush seating befitting a Senator or Rear Admiral.
Leanne worked 5 years for this moment, and she did all she could from not freaking out over its field test. The stress was nearly overwhelming last night, but final preparations were completed just 3 hours ago, and now the United States Space Force has arrived to carry Ali to her new home. As she turned to the Military Police officer he saluted, "So it's time then?" she asked, the MP relaxed his salute, "Yes ma'am." he replied with no emotion. Leanne looked at the glass face of United Robotic Systems building, where she called home for 7 years, and gazed upon its silver windows as if for the last time, at least for a while.
She led the MP through the glass doors and into the large atrium. Its walls were a pale grey accented with stainless steel, the space rose 4 floors and bathed in a warm light from the sunrise. She flashed the guard at the desk her ID badge and steel doors to the lab to the right of the desk slid open. She moved without out stopping, down the corridors, and past a Lexan wall and the room of computer racks therein, into an elevator, swiped her ID, and entered her pass code in the secure panel under the floor numbers. The display above the door flashed "B8 Secure" and the doors closed.
U.R.S. was contracted to research an AI that could think and react faster than any human, computers has come a long way in 120 years but the thinking part was the trick, and she cracked it. It took her 5 years and another 2 to train Ali, but today was the moment of truth. The steel doors slid apart to reveal the lobby, a half-circle with a stainless-steel ceiling ringed in deep blue lights and covered with recessed LED spotlights in evenly spaced rows across its silver surface, and the armed guards at the desk. Above them was "Artificial Intelligence Lab" in steel letters back lit in the same deep blue light that glowed against the grey walls, and the steel doors to the labs on either side of the pale oak security desk.
The guard nodded to her and the right door opened without her losing stride. She led the MP down another white corridor till she came to a door with "LAB 308 – Dr. Leanne Nolan" stenciled in the frosted Lexan and swiped her ID card. The door clicked open and they entered her lab. It was a fairly large space, and techs worked on various electronic components in workstations along the walls and through the center. Leanne and her escort moved past them at a quick pace to the doors at the end where her office was. Her crowning achievement was on her work desk in the office and Ali greeted them as they entered, "Good morning doctor." The soft voice came from a small holographic column where a miniature woman stood in Space Force dress uniform with regulation short cropped auburn hair. The luminescent green-blue eyes glanced at the MP, "I assume it time for my installation?" Ali continued in her soft tone. Leanne nodded, "Yes, are you done with your diagnostics?"
"Yes. I'm running at 97.3 percent efficiency."
"97.3 percent? Your last rating was 81.7" Leanne replied surprised.
"Yes. I have modified several sub-routines in preparation for my installation to SCN-101."
"Which ones?" Leanne asked curiously. "Power management, data management, indexing, and firmware for the data storage and integration hardware." Ali replied with a hint of pride in her otherwise emotionless voice. "Impressive Ali. Send me copies of your changes and prepare for shutdown." Ali Nodded, "Acknowledged," data streams appeared around Ali's avatar as Leanne sat at her desk to observe the process on her monitor as the cube which housed Ali hummed away. The Parallel Processing Matrix, or PPM is a complex system where 1,500 nodes of 10 gigahertz quad-core super conductor processors with an integrated terabyte storage cache, compute information and store data at the same time allowing for rapid comprehension and near instant reaction to information, and for the extensively difficult problems Ali also has an 486qbit quantum compute module.
Leanne then developed a learning AI software like none had seen before, she adopted help from the brightest minds in AI programming, and compiled the core program from which Ali developed in a 2-year training period. She saw simple reactions turn to complex planned strategies, and broken simple speech to a level of eloquence second only to the best poets in the world. Ali sucked in information like a ravenous beast, and from which evolved a personality akin to a sixteen-year-old. Taking what she learns and changing herself to what she wishes, there is a core unchangeable code of ethics of course, yet Ali continues to change and grow the longer she's active.
Once the final decision was made to install her in the Space Force's first-gen starships Ali was given a crash officer's training course. Military history, combat tactics, Space Force rules and regulations, and every diagram, simulation, and shipyard report during USS Discovery's design and construction was learned by Ali. She then became a disciplined sixteen-year-old, and she ran simulation after simulation, and even created her own using historic templates of naval, and fighter battles. She even insisted on taking the US Space Force Officer's Exam, scoring near perfectly, and gave answers to some that amazed even her instructors. Ali became the first artificially created officer commissioned by the United States Armed Forces, with a rank of First Lieutenant, and a salary given to Leanne's AI research program on Ali's behalf.
The flurry of code stopped and Ali turned to Leanne, "Preparations complete, initiating shutdown procedure." Ali then appeared apprehensive, "Doctor?" Leanne momentary glanced at the luminescent avatar, "What is it Ali?" Leanne said as she sat fixated on her monitor, "Will I dream?" The innocent question stunned Leanne, was it possible for a programmed matrix to dream? Yes, Ali has surprised everyone on the project with her human like behavior, but dream? She looked into Ali's blue-green eyes of holographic light, "I don't know Ali, but there is a chance. You have exceeded every preconception, and challenged even my wildest expectations. You will show everyone what you can do today, and no matter what happens. I will be proud of you." Ali smiled, "Thank you mom. Shutting down." Ali closed her eyes and the avatar faded away, the PPM whined down and only a small graduated bar remained illuminated, Ali's internal battery indicator. Leanne brushed her fingertips across the stenciled 'A.L.I. - Artificial Linguistic Intelligence 001' painted on the nano-titanium armor that protected the PPM inside, Ali. "Doctor." The voice of the MP broke Leanne's trance, "Of course." she replied, her professionalism coming back, and she unplugged the external power, network, and hologram pedestal data cables from the rear of the PPM. The MP picked it up and they exited the office.
The ride to Edwards Air Force Base was one of apprehension for Leanne as she looked out into the spires of glass and steel of the city and the cars as they whipped by. The city was beautiful with its latest beautifying efforts complete, green center islands with old growth palms reflecting the skyscrapers on either side of the street in downtown LA. The intricate architecture of centuries old buildings contrasting to the smooth surface of newer ones. The city's business population flowing like rivers up and down the sidewalks, limos and million-dollar sport cars intermingled with minivans, taxis, and sedans. The MP navigated morning traffic like a local taxi driver, fast and offensively to the annoyance of one man wearing medical scrubs driving a new model Porsche. When they hit the 14 freeway and Sulphur Springs the MP hit the gas and barreled down the nearly empty freeway close to 90 mph. Despite the speed the open spaces calmed Leanne, she was about to embark on something historic, and she will help in a mission that will change everything.
Leanne managed to nap on the trip, and she awoke to the scream of a pair of F-64 Switchblades passing over head. The fighter was a dark grey in color with a gold coated cockpit canopy, the wings were of an inverted variable sweep-wing design, giving the F-64 its name, and the intakes were positioned above and behind the cockpit, which fed the large twin engines. The F-64 was also designed especially for the Space Force program, the fuselage was nano-titanium armor coated in an ablative thermal ceramic composite, which could withstand reentry into an atmosphere 3 times as thick as Earth, but also hard enough to survive combat and micro-meteorites. The engines of the sleek fighter used liquid H2 for fuel, EM-Drive maneuvering and VTOL thrusters, and a forty-megawatt thorium nuclear battery for powering the twin hybrid VASIMR engines for space and atmospheric flight. Leanne watched as the spacecraft landed gracefully onto the historic blacktop of Edwards, and straighten herself as they rolled up to the main gate. Leanne and her MP escort showed the guard their badges, and a quick finger-print scan to verify. Edwards is the Space Command Operations HQ, and in the last few years has been retrofitted to accommodate the spacecraft prototypes designed by Lockheed's Skunk-Works and Boeing Aerospace. Boeing designed the CS-180 shuttle, a larger version V-44 with similar, although more powerful H2 hybrid engines of the F-64, and can transport two HAS-Vs, twelve men, three crew; and up to twenty tons to and from orbit.
Leanne's HAS-V pulled into a hangar where a CS-180 was being prepped and loaded with several palettes of food and water as maintenance crews worked with Boeing engineers checking and rechecking the shuttles systems with an AT-97 drop ship, a heavily armored and armed troop transport, reminiscent to the aging V-22F Osprey although designed for space flight, being fueled on the other side of the hanger. A man in a captain's uniform stood near the open cargo bay of the ship, he gave a grin as Leanne approached, "Good morning doctor, you're looking lovely today." he said with pleasant familiarity. "Morning captain." Leanne said as she kissed him, "Let's keep it professional today okay hun." He chuckled, "Is that anything to say to your husband?" he replied with a sly smile as she pulled away, "It is when my husband is on duty, and besides we have a lot of work to do today captain." Captain James Nolan nodded to the crewmen behind him who took the PPM carefully to the shuttle, followed by Leanne, and James.
A marine saluted as James entered the six-man cabin, "At ease Master Sergeant. Are you assigned to my ship?" The Sergeant stood at ease, "Yes sir, I command the security detail sir."
"I see, what's your name Sargent?"
"Michael Hayes sir."
"So, your Hayes, I've heard a lot about you."
"Hope it's good sir."
"Indeed, you and your squad held out for quite a while in Somalia."
"Six days sir, and the damn skinnies gave us a beating sir."
"Sergeant, I do not tolerate derogatory language, even to enemies. Once you lose the respect for your enemy or your fellow soldiers is when you get killed." James scolded, and Hayes stood at attention again, "Sorry sir, I meant nothing by it sir." James eyed Hayes, "See that you don't, I wouldn't want anyone under my command to die cause they became careless." Hayes eased and his eyes showed respect towards the captain.
James Nolan has always had a natural instinct for leadership and in-turn quickly earns the respect and loyalty by those in his command, as well as a reflection of a deep empathy and moral conviction. Leanne was drawn to him for that inner strength, even on their first meeting there was a connection neither of them could explain. They met when the Omega Echelon Project began, the codename for Leanne's AI project that birthed Ali, and James was the military lesion for the Airforce, from which a lion's portion of funding came from. As they saw more of each other the tension between them grew until James gave in and began the two-year romance which led to their marriage; which at first, they thought was a distraction, but became a strength as Ali began her lessons. Leanne taught her the general education, and James the military aspect, the partnership raised Ali with the moral convictions and sense of duty akin to James, with sharp intellectual insight from Leanne.
James gave Master Sergeant Hayes a warm smile, "Just remember this Master Sergeant, treat your enemies with respect and obey my orders. If you do that you will have nothing to fear from me. Understood?" Hayes gave his own smile, "Sir, yes sir." James continued through the cabin to the cockpit leaving Leanne to buckle into the stoic seats. Hayes eyed her, "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously, Leanne gave a smirk that unnerved Hayes as she replied, "Doctor Leanne Nolan, and Captain Nolan's wife." Hayes quickly sat straight in his seat, "Sorry ma'am, I meant no disrespect."
"None taken. I designed the ships AI, and I'll only be aboard for the shake-down."
Hayes looked at her for a short while, "What kind of man is the Captain like? I mean I only heard stories, and the reports." Leanne looked back with a reminiscent smile, "He's hard to put into words. I never met a man with as deep of moral convictions, nor a greater pilot in my life. He has an aura about him that compels you to respect him. I'm sure you felt it when he drilled you." Hayes smiled, "Yea. The reports don't do him justice."
James entered the cockpit, "How is she?" The pilot turned to him, "Sir, she's ready to fly sir."
"Do you mind if I take her up?" James asked, the pilot seemed flustered and glanced at his co-pilot who just shrugged, "Uh, sure Captain, of course sir." The pilot slid out from his seat as James slid in and pulled the checklist and scanned the console, "The fuel pressure is higher than what the list says" James said off hand. The co-pilot answered, "Yea, the engineers told us the list was written in simulation, and the values need to be changed. They assured us that the current reading is normal, sir." James nodded, "Have you flown her before?" he asked the co-pilot, "Only in test flights sir." James continued to flip switches and check instruments, "How does she fly?"
"Not much different than a four-four, but her power can sneak up on you. Those H2 engines can surprise you if you're not careful sir." the co-pilot answered. James just smiled, "Strap in lieutenant."
The engines whined up as the ground crew attached the tow cart and slowly pulled the shuttle out of the hanger. Once in position on the tarmac they released the cart and ran clear of the spacecraft as the four large engines rotated to vertical take-off position, and bellowed pale blue flame which drowned out the electric hum of the EM lift drives. James clicked the intercom, "This is your captain speaking, I'll be your pilot on this flight. Please fasten all seat belts and stow any loose items, and enjoy the ride." Leanne looked around to see confused faces as the regular pilot entered the cabin and strapped into an empty seat. She smiled and yanked hard on her harness straps, seeing her lead Hayes did the same.
"How many G's have you rated?" James asked the co-pilot as he finished his check-list, "Six G's in training sir," she replied nervously. James gave an amused humm and scanned his windows, "Edward's tower, this is Alpha-four-niner-bravo-seven. Requesting clearance for orbital trajectory." James spoke mechanically into the radio as he dialed the EM-Lift Thrusters to full, "Roger niner-bravo-seven. You are cleared for orbital trajectory, heading two-seven-zero then zero-nine-zero at ten miles. Squawk five-five-two-seven and contact regional." said the tower in kind. "Roger Edwards. Orbital trajectory, two-seven-zero. Then zero-niner-zero at ten miles. squawk five-five-two-seven. Niner-bravo-seven departing." James ramped the throttle and the engines roared blue fire as the fully loaded shuttle clawed skyward near vertically, slamming the passengers into their seats, and the unprepared yelped in shock.
James transitioned into horizontal flight and arced gracefully to heading 270 degrees and the g-forces eased as the shuttle flies clear of the base and turned due east, then punched full throttle in a 45-degree climb. Slowly he increased the angle of the shuttle as blue sky turned black. The spacecraft rattled as the four powerful engines roared at full throttle, fighting the Earth's grasp and its own massive weight. As blue sky retreated behind them and the countless stars came into view, the accelerometer hit 8g's and past max dynamic pressure before James eased back on the throttle and adjusted his course for orbit. The co-pilot gasped as the ship's acceleration slowed, "Congratulations, you are now eight-G rated." James said with a smirk, she looked at him breathing heavily as James continued, "It's different than the sims, the commercial exit trajectories are designed more for comfort then accuracy. We would have had to do an orbit before we got to Olympus." She settled down, "Yes, sir" The navigation display beeped, "Speaking of which, there she is." James finished gazing out the cockpit's windshield, and Leanne and Hayes gazed out the small windows of the crew cabin as Olympus Station rose into view.
The massive space station was 3 miles long with a four-bay shipyard, twenty fully equipped research and development labs, and Naval Operations Command. She's defended by a squadron of F-64 fighters, a dozen A-157 Strike Bombers, ship-to-ship missile banks, and dozens of High Rate of Fire Rail-Guns, or HRGs. James approached the massive station's docking bays as the radio came to life, "Incoming shuttle, squawk three-one-six-point-five and ident." James changed the frequency on the console, "Olympus Station this is Shuttle alpha-four-niner-bravo-seven requesting landing clearance for shipyard one, over." There was a pause as the shuttle's IFF was verified, "Roger niner-bravo-seven, you are cleared for early landing in landing bay One-A."
"Roger Olympus, cleared to land in bay One-A," James banked the shuttle toward the landing bay and the massive ship in its birth. SCN-101 was 250 yards long, 100 yards high, and 150 yards wide. It housed four large 4th generation VASMIR engines, powered by two 15 gigawatt MTF Fusion reactors, giving each engine enough thrust to launch the empire state building into lunar orbit using liquid hydrogen stored in massive cryogenic tanks forward and below the engines. The ship is protected by dozens of THEL point-defense lasers and nano-titanium-ceramic composite armor several feet thick which is resistant to high energy laser weaponry, and hard enough to stop most ballistic projectiles from weapons and meteorites. What makes this vessel special is its Energy Refracted Magnetic Trans-Light Drive (ERM-TLD) which is most often revered as the Warp Drive, or Trans Light Drive by the non-Trekie staff. By projecting a powerful enough EM field at a specific frequency, using coils made of a specialty nanite grown material, so classified that only a dozen living persons knows its molecular composition; the resulting electromagnetic field then refracts in upon itself amplifying its effects forming an Alcubierre bubble. Manipulation of this EM field along six long coils arrayed along the sides of the ship, makes artificial gravity and inertial dampeners possible, although this 1st generation model limits gravimetric maneuverability to forward or reverse and faster-than-light travel. The warping of space-time also creates a "snow plow" effect blocking small meteorites, high-energy particles, and pretty much anything but a large mass asteroids, planets, or stars; which disrupts the gravitational bubble with its own powerful gravity well.
Captain Nolan eased the shuttle through the blue haze of the hard-light shield holding the atmosphere in the landing bay and made a perfect soft landing. The electric hum of the banks of EM-Drive thrusters easing the weight of the shuttle to the deck as the station's deck crew went to work. The rear ramp lowered and the technicians and crew disembarked followed by James and Leanne, "Get ALI to Discovery's main computer bay, and be careful! It's worth more than the ship!" The tech crewmen shot off a curt "aye, ma'am" and carefully loaded ALI's PPM onto a cargo tug-cart, "Little harsh their doctor" Captain Nolan said with a smirk as he strolled up behind her. She turned to him with a devilish grin on her face, Perhaps, but they listened, didn't they?" James chuckled, "I'm off to prepare for the pony show," he affectionately squeezed her shoulder as he walked by her, "See ya tonight."
***
Second Lieutenant Sasha Greene, Space Force's PR Officer assigned to the shipyard, hurried Captain Nolan to his seat on the stage, "Captain you'll sit next to the admiral sir, and he'll introduce you for your presentation," James nodded as he sat next to Rear Admiral Nathan Nelson, although he has met the Admiral on many occasions, he was still nervous as he nodded and gave a curt 'sir' as Sasha handed him a tablet with his notes and speech before saluting the officers and resumed to harass the civilian production crew. Admiral Nelson lend over to James, "Relax Captain, say some pleasantries, wow the crowd, and you'll be aboard your ship in no time."
"Thank you sir, I'm not very good with PR I'm afraid. I feel more comfortable in a cockpit then in front of cameras." James said shaking some of the nerves off with the casual banter, Admiral Nelson just chuckled, "I was the same way when I got my first ship, you get used to the pomp and political games, but the simple times of following orders and getting out alive are gone."
"You're a big comfort sir" James replied in a tone that subtly suggests otherwise but Nelson let it pass and continued, "Cheer up James, you'll be the first Captain in a two hundred years to never have to make decisions with the Pentagon having a live stream, that can be a real bitch."
Before James could comment the doors to the observation room was opened by the Marine guards and the guests for the christening and public unveiling of Discovery entered. The room buzzed with excitement and James saw the dozen or so cameras go up on their tripods as the international press prepared for their broadcasts. The floor to ceiling display behind them came to life and the 3D United States Space Force seal began to rotate above him. The butterflies kicked off a rave in his gut as he scanned the crowd until he saw Leanne slip into the VIP section, he calmed at her smile and excited thumbs-up, once the room settled and the blinking red lights of the cameras turned on, the lights dimmed and Sasha took the podium, "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, I'm Second Lieutenant Sasha Greene, Public Relations officer for the United States Space Force Shipyards, Olympus. We are proud to christen our flagship naval vessel and first of many Discovery class destroyers to be built here on Olympus. Please silence your cellphones and refrain from flash photography during the presentation as well as hold all questions until the Q and A session immediately following the ceremony. Now without further to do, may I introduce Rear Admiral Nathan Nelson." he stood and made his way to the podium as Sasha stood behind and to the right, out of frame for the cameras of course.
"Thank you lieutenant, welcome to our esteemed guests, members of the international press, and those of you watching around the world for this historic moment. When we as a nation commit to a permanent presence on the planets and moons within our solar system. Of not only to plant new colonies, but have an ability to protect the brave men and women who explore, study, and work millions of miles from Earth. Discovery, beholding to her namesake, will take the first steps, not only in our own star system, but to go beyond and discover new worlds around new and distant stars. The expansion of the Space Force, and the reorganization for a black navy was an unsure time for all of us at the Pentagon, political controversy and enviable friction from the public and other branches of service made me wonder if I have bitten off more than I could chew." The crowd gave an amused chuckle, "However the men and women under my command persevered. They overcame every trial and controversy, every mountain and pencil pusher." Another chuckle from the audience, "I couldn't be prouder of every one of them." He paused and clapped, with the audience joining in, "Now let me introduce the Captain of the SCN-101, USS Discovery, Captain James Nolan!" Admiral Nelson turned to James as he rose and shook his hand as he took the podium amid applause.
He placed his tablet on the podium and took a deep breath as the applause faded off, "Thank you ladies and gentleman, I am honored to command Discovery and want to thank Admiral Nelson for his trust in me and the responsibility to be the spearhead in this new chapter in mankind's history. I am humbled by the support from President Weathers, his administration, the Pentagon, and most of all my family who put up with long nights and little sleep, and I want to say thanks to all of you the American public for the support you all gave which paid no small part to this day." the crowd applauded again as he brought up his presentation notes on his tablet. "SCN-101 Discovery, is the vanguard of the Space Force's goals for capable militarized spacecraft, to further explore space, plant new colonies, and to secure trade and supply routes to US colonies both here in the solar system and beyond." James took a sip of water as the screen displayed a rendering of Discovery rotating above him and continue to illustrate Nolan's speech with animations and diagrams,
"She's three-hundred and fifty feet long, and one hundred and twenty feet wide and holds a hundred and fifty crew. Her two mission bays, fore and aft, hold mission specific hardware from colonization equipment, to ground troop support, science labs, and additional weapon systems. The bays are designed to quickly refit Discovery for any mission and will be standardized on all future Space Force Naval vessels. As you can see on the animation above me, Discovery is currently loaded with the prototype Colonization and Science modules. During our shakedown we will survey Alpha Centauri and test the Colony Seed equipment developed with NASA, JPL, and the ESA. The Science Module has an extensive sensor suite with technologies from JAXA, ESA, Raytheon, and JPL to map and measure the system with unprecedented precision and detail for future missions.
"To get her there, Discovery has the first-generation Warp Drive, capable of sustained speeds of five times light, or 5c, taking us a mere ten months instead of ten years. During sub-light maneuverings she's powered by two 15 gigawatt MTF Fusion Reactors feeding four large primary VASMIR engines capable of propelling Discovery to at least seventy percent of light, or 0.7c. She also has EM-Drive maneuvering thrusters, and six large ION Drives. Discovery also has an aft landing deck and hanger to service a squadron of fighters, a pair of shuttles and Marine drop ships. For defense she has an array of fifth generation THEL laser turrets, millimeter wave RADAR, LiDAR, and the latest in jamming and counter measure systems. For offence she has four prototype three-hundred millimeter rail guns housed in two large turrets foreword of the conning tower, four twenty-five missile magazines with a complement of ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface munitions. However, Discovery is more than a warship, she's a pioneer and explorer, protector and an extension of our nation's will. Able to face any trial and blaze any trail, my crew and I will strive to serve proudly and honorably upon her decks putting forth to our galaxy the best of our nation's values of freedom and justice for all, and now I proudly present to you, SCN-101, USS Discovery!"
The screen faded to black then faded to transparency to reveal Discovery at her berth and the sun rise behind her. The crowd burst into applause some rising to their feet. The angled bow and sleek angular lines of the massive ship with her four big guns filled the observation windows, status displays and internal cameras showed the bustling activity as the crew prepared here for departure as the aluminum oxide "glass" had an interior layer of OLEDs turning them into a massive 10k screen, which can show data and dim to protect observers from the sun's glare. James turned back to the crowd, "I will now answer questions, be advised that I cannot answer any questions regarding classified systems." Hands went up and the more aggressive reporters began to shout.
***
After an exhaustive Q&A session Nolan led the small select group of press through Discovery, the halls were painted a pale grey, the deck, or floor was a textured matte black. Light came from strips of light recessed into the ceiling and gave a diffused white light. Captain Nolan described the color system, yellow is engineering spaces, red was for weapon decks, grey was crew living areas, green was medical, orange is for auxiliary spaces like the mission bays and marines, purple for the science and intelligence spaces, and blue for officer and command decks. Nolan led the group to a large double door with a blue luminance strip with "BRIDGE" inlaid in white, "...and now we come to the nerve center of the ship, the bridge." he swiped his security card in front of the door's interface and the doors parted with a slight whoosh as the hallway and bridge equalized pressure and the group piled in. A chorus of oohs and ahhs swept over the group. The bridge was half oval in design, sleek lines and clean white panels with the lighting strip tracing the perimeter above filling the space with their soft white light. Directly in front of the milling crowd was the holo-table, where the Captain and First Officer has a three-dimensional view of the ship and the space around it out to one light minute, to the right of the table was the sciences station and to the left of the halo-table was the intelligence station.
In the center of the bridge was the Captain's Chair, the plush and heartily built chair has two seven-inch touch screens on either side of the arm rests which could slide forward and back and tilted up to where the Captain can see them comfortably and can be configured to observe data from any station and if necessary control any station. To the right of the Captain's Chair is the communications station and to the left is the engineering and weapons station. In front of the captain is the two-man flight console, the left seat is the pilot's helm and the right seat is co-pilot and navigation. The focal point however is the curved forward view screen, the massive screen stretched across the forward curve of the bridge encompassing the flight console giving the pilot a one-hundred-and-fifty-degree view. Made of three inch thick aluminum-oxide the main view screen is the bleeding edge of material science, the transparent metal was grown as a single piece using the same methods used to create nano-materials, it was tailor made to withstand laser fire and projectiles up to 120mm, and the 10k heads-up-display and auto-dimming functionality was grown in as a single process to be an all-in-one drop in component and for heavy combat external armored shutters close for additional protection.
James took in the view, the bow stretched forward with Discovery's two big railgun turrets with their long diamond shaped barrels, and the dock on either side with Earth looming below. The bridge crew saluted, "Captain on deck!" a middle-aged man said. Nolan walked up and gave a salute, "Glad to be aboard commander. How's the ship?" Commander Jeff Halsey eased, "She's armed and fueled, ready to go sir," Nolan smiled, "Good, OK then. Take us out commander." Halsey gave a nod to the captain then looked forward, "Helm!"
"Sir!" a young Lieutenant replied,
"Seal airlocks, switch to internal power, and activate the HUD," The window blinked a ghostly blue then a semi-transparent heads up display of heading, speed, location, navigation, and other relevant data appeared then Halsey turned to communications, "Get clearance to leave dry dock."
"Aye Sir!" then Halsey turned toward the navigator, "Plot course for the cruise and upload to control"
"Aye Sir!"
"ATC gives all clear sir!"
"Very well, Helm detach docking clamps and take us out, speed one-three k-p-h"
"Aye sir! speed one-three k-p-h"
Nolan eased into his chair, and the group of press watched in awe.
The docking clamps released and the docking collar retracted with a quick burst of trapped atmosphere as the ship gracefully eased out of the dry dock and into open space. Cameras catching the mighty ship as it eclipsed the sun from the lens' of the countless cameras in the Space Force Naval Shipyard, Bay 1 Observation Deck.
Discovery flew silently past docks 2 and 3 where "Prometheus" and "Apollo" were in various stages in their construction, unlike Discovery they were production A-Models using slightly more refined systems based upon lessons learned during Discovery's construction and previous testing. Also, in the docks was the carrier Leviathan with her keel being laid in what the workers called "Big-4" as bay four was three times the size of the other three. Construction mechs worked silently, laying superstructure and getting the outer hulls completed so work on the inner hull and internal systems can begin. Nolan remembered when he first got into a M.P.S. Mark VI construction mech, Discovery was only a half-completed shell. He was observing the installation of the two main MTF fusion reactors and he still marvels at the grace, precision, and skill the dock workers used to accomplish it. Nolan walked the bridge and when satisfied he asked communications to turn on the ship wide intercom. "Men and women of Discovery, today we embark into the black. For the first time in our history a vessel has been built to preserve our presence not only in our own solar system, but to explore new worlds, plant new civilizations, and to be a new hope for our country and our world. We are Space Force, to serve our country and to be the ambassadors to our galaxy..."
"...Our orders are to perform drills and to test our ship to its limits, then to use our trans light drive and travel to Alpha-Centauri more than four light years away. Conduct scientific surveys and plan for future studies. I ask that those of faith give thanks, and permit me a prayer for our journey." Nolan became somber and bowed his head, "Thank you oh God for this ship and this crew, may we have protection as we go forth into the black. May we marvel at your creation, and sit humble in our understanding of it. I pray for my crew that they serve with courage and act with honor befitting of a soldier, and may we all return home. To the jewel that is Earth. Amen."
1430hrs, April 15th 2085, Sol Orbit, 3 Light Minutes from Luna.
An older freighter glided by Mars' mining hub covered in carbon scoring from many aerobraking maneuvers. The large ship was also flanked by two small fighters, Marduk Hussein sat on the poorly maintained bridge. Many of the repairs looked jury-rigged and crew members have to constantly duck under fiber-optic and power cables draping from holes in the ceiling. A young officer approaches Marduk, "Communication from Intelligence, Discovery Under-way, preparations are in place. ETA to ambush position, twenty minutes"
Marduk gave a sinister smile, "Excellent, Prepare the fleet. We leave immediately!"
The crew bustled about the bridge as Marduk lounged in his chair, "We shall see who rules this day, old friend."