Two weeks later, Sarah had traveled to Antares to speak before its parliament. For the past five days, she had been on tour, spoken to representatives of unions, of parties, of businesses and social institutions. It had been tiring, so much so that Sarah had fallen asleep while taking five minutes to relax while preparing for today's speech. Now, she stood behind the lectern and 900 members of parliament waited for her to begin. The parliament was a brightly lit auditorium with red chairs and white desks. The light fell into the hall through a large window in the ceiling, with additional light coming from windows behind the delegates' ranks.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaSifMR5xk
"Ladies and gentlemen, we will now hear Governor Sarah Tanas, visiting us from Ayonar and speaking on the matter of Imperial inter-cooperation," the parliament's president said, startling Sarah out of her daydreams. She cleared her throat and began:776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xsIDE7Ha3
"Thank you, Mr President. This morning, I was on Illuminon. This afternoon, now, I am on Antares. Modern space-travel and faster than light technology has made it possible. Centuries ago, travel took centuries and thusly was not undertaken. Humanity had conquered its home, Earth, and had reached for the stars but they proved elusive. It would take another 140 years for the first FTL tests. Only 20 years later, FTL-Drives had become commercially viable and widely used. Humanity spread out and soon met other beings among the stars. Communication and trade with the Orkrasin, the Krillthan and the Khal'Shelim enabled humanity's fast growth and expansion. Conflicts followed, not always was it peaceful, but we prevailed and we prospered. Then, humanity split and fought a civil war. The victor banded together with the Orkrasin and the Khal'Shelim, the other victor, as none was ready to accept defeat, became an empire and we are their descendants. We are not alone in the universe. Several species are suspected to live not too far from here and we might come in contact with them in the next 50 to 100 years. The war has brought suffering and illness. An illness that causes discontent, a lack of unity and resentment. I am here to administer the cure and so I will. I need your help for this. The help of the people of Antares and their representatives. Join me in my efforts and together we will work for and look forward to a new, better and united future. The empire is strong and its people must be strong again. Our enemies do not rest in chipping away at our country, so neither can we rest in rebuilding it. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSi7mz7ZsUB
The representatives burst into applause immediately after Sarah had finished speaking. Most stood up from their seats. Sarah was taken aback by the enthusiasm with which her speech had been received, so much in fact that she wondered whether someone had told them to be amazed. On none of the other planets had she received so much approval. Antares had always been defined by a hopeful and determined culture, so perhaps it was only logical. Sarah nodded to the crowd and left the lectern. Outside of the hall, Henry waited.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqON4NIDpkk
"Very impressive, ma'am. They seem to be rightly motivated," he said.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC3zAGYquEV
"Yes, we should use that in our favor. Please see if you can get the press to report extensively on any instances of approval of our efforts."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjuUMsoDiK
"Yes, ma'am."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCpcdjsvFbt
"What's next on the list?"776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsoaaylF1i6
"Nothing. We will return to Ayonar as soon as you're ready."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxbKfAQbXBT
"Oh, I thought there was something...oh well."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtqMh9Tw5n
"Most of us are back on the ship again and watched the speech from there. When there is nothing keeping you here anymore, I advise that we return to the ship, too. You have two important meetings with the President of the Ayonar Citizen's Police Union and with the Director of the Ayonar Shipbuilding Yard," said Henry.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfA3GTUHV8j
"Great," Sarah said flatly. "Well, I've spoken with the chancellor already before my speech, so let's leave."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzGkWTJgA89
Henry nodded and together, they went to their shuttle which was parked on a landing pad near the parliament. There were nine pads there to facilitate quick transportation for members of parliament and the likes. On their way to the shuttle, Sarah took a good look at the garden of the parliament. It was summer here and not only was the temperature high, there were also flowers abounds of all kinds of colors. It was a short joy, however, as the way to the shuttle was short and soon, they had left the atmosphere of Antares behind. Their ship, the Government Transport Ship Ulysses soon came into view. It was a government-owned light transport with no offensive weaponry installed. Its only defenses were particle and energy shields as well as some point-defense cannons and sensor-jamming equipment to confuse enemy missiles and attacking small craft like bombers or fighters. To provide protection, Admiral Laurent had assigned a Turban-class Light Frigate, which was of comparable size to the Ulysses but had a small fighter wing and offensive weapons like missile launchers and plasma turrets. The ships came into view and shortly after, Sarah and Henry had landed in the Ulysses' shuttlebay. Outside, Captain Konev and Ishaan were waiting. The captain stepped forward when Sarah exited the shuttle.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewJ6GaPhEF
"Welcome aboard, governor. We are ready to depart upon your orders. There has been an accident on a cargo ship in the system, and Antares Aerospace Control has routed us around it in case it's a relevant security threat."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8EO5Ib9pi
"I understand," said Sarah. "How would it be a threat?"776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdui81nlV9u
"They suggested pirate activity in connection with such incidents and I don't want us near that."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMYAFbdLOM
"I see. So in-system piracy is this bad?"776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsYrQpWNXv
"Star systems are a big place. Nevertheless, it should give you an idea about how safe or unsafe this region of Imperial space is."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHInMKhPWn
"It does, thank you. Depart when ready, captain."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLjp83l4hC
The captain saluted and went away. As Henry said he would be in his quarters, this left Sarah and Ishaan alone in the shuttlebay if one forgot the technicians and officers around.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9yihldwZA
Ishaan sighed. "It really sounds like this 'piracy problem' being more of a civil war in disguise if you ask me."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRyvdhh1csX
Sarah nodded. "Nobody seems to acknowledge it. They're all like 'That's just the way it is'."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9ewAVXFZj
"At least we can start the campaign now. Get the hunter-killer task force rolling and pull back the regular forces to protect the trade routes."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDYFHqoR5es
"Yes. I secured support, now I can implement some actual action."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcmFSJqcZLV
A colorful vortex appeared outside of the ship, showing that it had just entered FTL-Space. It shook a little.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEgnsxypn3
"We're on our way then. Finally," said Ishaan. "Come Sarah, let's relax for a while."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0BWLJHMo9v
Sarah nodded and they went to their quarters, where they fell on their bed. There was no time for relaxation, however, because Ishaan started to kiss Sarah. Sarah returned the kiss and enjoyed the quiet and intimate moment amidst the political turmoil.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRFVvhgYvdc
Then the loudspeaker sounded: "Attention. Governor Tanas to the bridge, please."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhKOCmLksY
Sarah groaned. What now? She stood up and sighed. "I'll be back asap."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7zUNshoj4k
Ishaan nodded slowly, then let himself fall back onto the bed. Sarah hurried through the corridors to the bridge and just when she arrived, Captain Konev was looking at the bridge door.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHwsiamcP2
"Ah, good you're here. Take a look, governor." The captain pointed at the long-range sensor station, operated by a sublieutenant. Sarah took a close look and saw two yellow dots only .4 light-years away. They weren't marked with any information. Just two dots, blinking.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqOtZMCgGs
"What is it?" she asked.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbaAsb67Ydp
"Unknown vessels, ma'am," the sensor operator said.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLY3Vvj4THu
"They appeared on sensors three minutes ago," said Captain Konev. "Our route requires of us to stop three times in order to adjust course."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsDZhaWLOg
Sarah raised an eyebrow.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRi1ONnbZh
"Our first stop is in two minutes," the captain said. "We're going on yellow alert."776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9b76a9Y7Np
As soon as the captain had said that, yellow alert sounded through the ship, prompting the crew to be aware and ready for unforeseen dangers and situations. Sarah stared at the screen. The two dots were coming closer. FTL-Space was one of two known subdimensions of realspace, the space in which all known matter existed. The other was subspace, which was used for realtime communication. Ships in FTL-Space were not safe from influences of realspace. As Sam Tanas, Sarah's mother, had once explained to her: Stuff that is underwater can be grabbed and brought to the surface with just one strong grip. It was no different here. By interrupting the FTL-Space field by directing a bundled negative energy burst at the target, it could be ripped out of FTL-Space and brought into realspace without prior warning. Almost all ships used the stabilized routes that had been installed between planets to travel because traveling outside of them could prolong travel by a factor of three or higher because lower speeds had to be used to travel safely. This made space travel routes predictable within a certain margin, but also allowed pirates to concentrate on them. Ships could only 'jump', as it was commonly called, in a straight line. All but the smallest crafts had to stop for course correction at least once during the travel. The technology needed to tear ships out of FTL-Space was not uncommon as it was used in every larger ship for protection against objects to large for the particle shields to handle. Pirates made ample use of it. Ships would experience a breakdown of their FTL-Field and drop out. Then, pirates would quickly jump on top of them and eat their prey. The only difficulty lay in knowing beforehand where the target would come from. Nobody could know where the Ulysses was coming from because their flight hadn't been publicized. As Sarah crunched the numbers in her head, the two dots came ever closer and the first course-correction stop was due now.776Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPpASxsAHc
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