Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy (The Slaver Wars)

  Moon Wreck

  Fleet Academy

  By

  Raymond L. Weil

  Books in the Moon Wreck Series

  Moon Wreck: First Contact

  Moon Wreck: Revelations

  Moon Wreck: Secrets of Ceres

  Moon Wreck: Fleet Academy

  Books in the Slaver War Series

  The Slaver Wars: Alien Contact

  The Slaver Wars: First Strike (October 2013)

  Website: http://raymondlweil.com/

  Copyright © July 2013 by the

  Author

  Cover Design by Bigstock

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter One

  Cadet Lieutenant Jeremy Strong was struggling to pay attention to the instructor in the front of the class. He stifled a yawn as he listened to the lecture. The older man in the dark blue fleet uniform was patiently explaining the basics of how a spaceship’s sublight drive functioned. Without thinking, Jeremy let his thoughts stray; he found the lecture extremely boring. The man was rehashing an earlier lecture that a number of students had questions about. Jeremy was dark headed with hazel eyes and twenty-two years of age. This was his final year in the Fleet Academy located on the Moon. After graduation, he and his fellow classmates would be assigned a tour of duty on one of the fleet’s four interplanetary exploration cruisers. Once the tour was complete, they would receive their official assignments and commissions.

  Jeremy closed his eyes and thought back to the military exercise the day before. His group had spent six hours in spacesuits practicing grueling battle drills on the surface of the Moon. The drills were designed to improve decision making under extreme stress. Jeremy still marveled at the new lightweight spacesuits that were prevalent now. They were nothing like the old cumbersome spacesuits his dad had worn when the New Beginnings lunar lander crash-landed on the Moon twenty-four years ago.

  His group of six won the final drill by taking advantage of the Moon’s light gravity to move rapidly across the surface, shielded from their opponents by a small plateau. They managed to attack from an unexpected direction, taking the rival squad entirely by surprise. The other squad leader had been extremely aggravated at losing the drill to Jeremy and hadn’t hesitated to voice his contempt at Jeremy’s victory. Jeremy had listened patiently, and then reminded the other squad leader that his own shortsighted tactics had led to his squad’s failure. Jeremy’s squad had been exhausted, but the victory over the opposing squad had made it all worthwhile.

  By winning the drill against the other squad, Jeremy’s group had been allowed to sit at the commandant’s table during the evening meal. Commandant Everson had spent part of the evening talking about the early days on the Moon before the academy had been built. Everson had described in detail what it had been like living on the crashed spaceship Avenger before the academy and the adjoining facilities had been constructed. He had gone on and described how the Avenger had been partially rebuilt to make it more habitable. They had spent months clearing wreckage and repairing what damage they could to the interstellar ship. Jeremy had heard Greg Johnson and his father speak of this a number of times, but it was interesting to hear someone else’s perspective of those early days.

  “Cadet Lieutenant Strong!” Instructor Branson’s voice echoed loudly across the room. “Do you find this lecture so boring that you can’t keep your eyes open?”

  Jeremy’s eyes snapped open, and he felt as if he should kick himself for losing his focus in class. This wouldn’t look good considering who his father was, and especially being so close to graduation. “No, sir,” responded Jeremy, trying to keep his voice level and respectful with his eyes focusing on the instructor.

  “Is that so,” Branson replied, doubtfully. His strict eyes cut into Jeremy like a knife as he thought about what he should do.

  Jeremy was one of his top students, but this mental lapse on his part could not be allowed to go unpunished. He wished he could spare the young man the humiliation he was about to be put through. However, because Jeremy’s father was Admiral Strong, he didn’t dare. It might look as if he were showing favoritism toward the admiral’s son.

  In a strict voice, he said. “Why don’t you come up here and describe to the class how the sublight drive core functions on our new ships. I want you to describe in detail the necessary core temperatures and the metal alloys used to contain the drive reaction.”

  Taking a deep breath, Jeremy stood up and walked to the front of the class. He knew that everyone’s eyes were focused on him. Turning around, he looked at his fellow classmates. There was almost an even mix of male and females. His eyes fell on fellow Cadet Lieutenant Matt Barr. Barr had a particularly pleased smirk on his face. It was Matt’s squad that Jeremy had beaten in the battle drill the previous day. The two had been constant competitors ever since they had started at the academy together four years ago. Jeremy also knew that the two of them would never be friends.

  “The sublight core is powered by a fusion reaction,” Jeremy began in an even tone.

  He smiled inwardly to himself. Because of who is father was, he spent a lot of extra time studying. He wasn’t near the top of the class for a lack of effort. He also spent a lot of extra time studying for another reason. Up above the Moon, docked to the recently completed spacedock, was the exploration cruiser New Horizon. It was the first ship to be equipped with an experimental FTL drive. Its full crew would be named in the coming month after academy graduation. The word being spread around campus was that part of the crew would be selected from this year’s graduates, and Jeremy planned to be on that ship. He was currently ranked number three in the standings of the eighty-seven seniors in his class. After final exams in two more weeks, he hoped to be number one!

  Instructor Branson kept a strict and disciplined look upon his face, but he felt relieved that Jeremy was obviously extremely familiar with the subject matter. The young man was doing an exceptional job of explaining the workings of the sublight drive in Earth’s spaceships. He felt pleased that it would not be necessary to give Jeremy any demerits for his brief lapse in class.

  After class, Jeremy was walking down a hallway in the main instruction building, preparing to take a connecting transit tube to the senior dorm. Jeremy still marveled at all the work that had been done in the crater where the Avenger had crashed so long ago. All the wreckage had been cleared, and a number of new buildings had been constructed. Underground transit tubes connected the buildings to one another for safety reasons. The primary and largest building in the crater was the large Fleet Academy, where the brightest students from Earth were brought for instruction. Each year, fifty thousand students were put through a strict interview process, with two hundred and fifty selected to attend the prestigious Fleet Academy on the Moon. If you wanted to be involved in the exploration of the solar system and possibly travel to other worlds someday, then the Fle
et Academy was where you wanted to be.

  “Jeremy,” a familiar female voice spoke from behind him.

  Coming to a stop and turning, Jeremy saw that Cadet Ensign Kelsey Grainger was the one who had called out to him. Kelsey was a cute blonde the same age he was and was studying astrogation. She was also currently ranked number two in the class. They had been friendly rivals and good friends for quite some time.

  “I was so worried when Instructor Branson reprimanded you,” she began, her deep blue eyes gazing at Jeremy. “I was afraid he might give you demerits for falling asleep in class. Jeremy, we’re so close to graduation. How could you do that?”

  “I wasn’t asleep,” Jeremy replied with a defensive smile. Kelsey was part of his squad and extremely easy to get along with. She was someone he had learned to depend on. “I have heard that lecture so many times that I can repeat it in my sleep. I guess I just let my thoughts stray for a moment.”

  “I’m glad you knew the information,” Kelsey continued with a nod. “You did a great job explaining the workings of the sublight drive. I don’t think Instructor Branson could have done any better. You need to be careful. We have finals and graduation coming up.”

  “Thanks, Kelsey,” responded Jeremy, feeling pleased with her praise. He wouldn’t let his thoughts stray like that again. Too much was at stake. “But I’m probably still going to hear about it from my dad when he finds out.”

  “Your father,” Kelsey said, her deep blue eyes growing wide.

  Sometimes she forgot who Jeremy’s dad was. Admiral Jason Strong had been in charge of the Avenger Project and the Fleet Academy since its inception. Kelsey had never been allowed on the Avenger; none of the cadets had. Only research scientists and dignitaries from Earth were ever allowed upon the ancient, crashed spacecraft. Even Jeremy’s access had been severely restricted since he had entered the academy.

  Jeremy paused for a moment. He was supposed to eat with his parents later on. Greg Johnson and his wife Elizabeth were coming up from Earth on today’s shuttle, and the two families and some close friends were going to get together. With a distasteful frown, Jeremy knew that meant the Johnson’s daughter Katie would also be coming. Greg still worked as a government consultant on the Avenger Project, and he and his family came up to the Moon several times a year to discuss the current conditions down on Earth.

  Katie was a royal pain and Jeremy wasn’t looking forward to spending any time with the aggravating fifteen-year-old. She was constantly under foot. When he was younger and had been attending school down on Earth, he had stayed with the Johnsons. Katie had always followed him around everywhere. Now that she was older, it was becoming even worse. Looking over at Kelsey, he had a sudden inspiration. “Kelsey, what are your plans for tonight?”

  Kelsey looked at Jeremy in surprise. She knew he didn’t date. Jeremy spent most of his time studying. “Nothing yet,” she replied cautiously. She didn’t want to get her hopes up too high. When they did get together after class, it was usually to study together. They had always had a very friendly relationship, and Kelsey had been careful not to push it, even though at times she had fantasized about dating Jeremy.

  “My parents have some friends coming up from Earth, and we’re having a family meal in the private dining room at the academy cafeteria. Afterwards, they’re going to go on a tour of the academy facilities. I’m allowed to bring a guest. Would you be interested in coming?”

  Kelsey didn’t want to sound too excited about Jeremy asking her out. “Sure,” she responded, smiling and feeling her face flush slightly. “I could use a good meal.” This didn’t sound like a real date, but it was close enough.

  -

  Jeremy was in his dorm room getting ready for the evening meal with his family. Walking over to the large, heavily reinforced window that looked out over the bleak lunar landscape, his eyes wandered upward. His dorm room was on the third floor of the five-story building. His eyes stopped on two bright points of light that were touching one another. It was where the New Horizon spacecraft was docked to the orbiting spacedock at the Moon’s Lagrange point. From here, all he could see were two bright dots in the night sky. He knew that the New Horizon was nearly 400 meters in length and was by far the largest spacecraft Earth had constructed up to this point. It had taken four years to build the large interstellar spaceship.

  Earth had four other spacecraft, all of which were smaller than the New Horizon. The others were used for exploration missions in the solar system, including supplying the small science colony on Mars. The exploration cruisers were all 200 meters in length and easily capable of making the roundtrip to Mars in less than a week.

  The New Horizon would be leaving on her first interstellar mission within another six months. Part of the crew were already on board familiarizing themselves with the ship’s intricate systems. The final crew would consist of two hundred and forty highly trained men and women and possibly ten cadets from this year’s class. The announcement of which cadets would get to go would be made immediately after graduation.

  Stepping over to the full-length mirror in his room, Jeremy checked his uniform one last time to make sure everything was perfect. If he were one of the ten cadets selected for the New Horizon mission, he didn’t want there to be any doubt that he deserved it.

  -

  On board the Avenger, Admiral Jason Strong stood in the Command Center with his long time friend Greg Johnson. They were talking to Ariel, and Greg was waiting patiently for the AI to send an FTL message to his son. His son was at New Tellus working on the large orbiting shipyard that had been constructed by the Federation survivors. Some of the top graduates from the academy occasionally were transferred to New Tellus or Ceres for additional and specialized training.

  “Hard to believe we can send a message across twenty-seven light years of space,” Greg commented as Ariel transmitted the message that Elizabeth and he had put together.

  “With the new technology developed on Ceres, it will only take the message twenty minutes to get there. But it’s still just a message. You and Elizabeth need to fly out to New Tellus to see Mathew,” Jason commented with a friendly smile, looking over at Greg. Greg hadn’t changed much over the years. He was a little heavier, and his hair was grayer. “It wouldn’t be that hard to arrange.”

  “Elizabeth would never agree to it,” responded Greg, shaking his head. “It scares her to death just to fly to the Moon. I can’t imagine how she would react flying into a spatial vortex and going into hyperspace. No, as long as we can send Mathew a message occasionally, that will be fine. He has two week’s leave coming in another four months and then will be coming home. Elizabeth’s already making big plans for his return.”

  “Mathew is doing fine on the shipyard,” Ariel spoke, her dark eyes seeming to sparkle as she gazed at Jason and Greg. She kept a very close watch on the children of these two men.

  She could well remember how these two had first entered the Avenger, made their way cautiously through the wrecked ship, and eventually into the Command Center. Since that time, much had changed. She had named Jason as commander of the Avenger, and later Fleet Admiral Streth had promoted him to admiral. Fleet Admiral Streth had long since returned to cryosleep. Someday the venerated Fleet Admiral would lead the humans of Earth and the Federation survivors of Ceres against the Hocklyns. However, that was still many years in the future.

  “How is progress coming on the New Horizon?” Greg asked curiously. He knew the ship should be nearing completion. “Everyone on Earth is talking about the first interstellar flight. It’s really big news.”

  “She’s ready to go,” spoke Jason, feeling pleased that the ship had been built by humans from Earth with just a small bit of help from Ceres.

  “Has the crew been selected?” Greg asked. He knew that ten cadets were going to be included to fly on the mission.

  “The majority of them,” Jason answered with a nod. It had been a long process picking the crew. There were so many qualified candidat
es to choose from, and everyone wanted to go. “The Earth’s brightest and best will be on the mission.”

  “What about the cadets, have they been chosen yet?”

  “Not until after graduation,” responded Jason, glancing around the Command Center and noticing that Ariel’s eyes were still focused on them. “Once the cadets are finished with finals and the standings are posted, we will make a decision.”

  “Will Jeremy make it?” asked Greg, knowing there had been some discussion between the higher ups in the academy about this. Some were deeply concerned about how it would look if Jason’s son went on the mission.

  “If he keeps his grades up,” Jason replied with a grin. He was very proud of what Jeremy had accomplished at the academy.

  “Has a destination been chosen?” asked Greg, knowing that the Federation survivors had already explored all the nearer stars.

  The Federation survivors had a robust exploration program and were constantly sending out exploratory missions. Greg knew there was another driving reason behind the numerous missions. The Federation survivors hoped to find other advanced civilizations that might be willing to help them in the future war against the Hocklyns.

  Greg understood it was now time for the humans of Earth to learn what was out there. That was one of the primary reasons for the New Horizon mission. The humans of Earth needed to take the necessary steps to be able to embrace all the new technology that was being introduced. Only a few people on Earth even knew about the Federation survivors and Ceres. Even fewer knew about the Hocklyns and the threat they represented to Earth’s future. These were closely guarded secrets. Everyone thought the new technology was coming from the computers on the Avenger and reverse engineering of some of the ship’s advanced technology. What very few knew was that the majority of the new technology was actually coming from Ceres.