Senior Captain Wright – you are ordered to proceed to New Sierra Platform at maximum sustainable speed. No contact is to be made with Fleet personnel in the Juwel System unless emergency technical assistance is required. –CENTCOM Routing Office.

The message was properly formatted, if terse. While the Fleet com section wasn’t known for its eloquence when dispatching orders, the next part of the message cleared things up a bit more.

Wright … get your ass back here immediately. The data you sent has leadership concerned, to put it mildly. You are ordered to talk to NO ONE about your mission. –Marcum

“OPS, does the Icarus have enough consumables aboard to make it directly to the DeLonges System?” Celesta asked, rubbing at her temples.

“Yes, ma’am,” Accari said after a moment. “We’re well within our operational envelope to make it all the way back with air, water, food, and propellant to spare.”

“Fantastic,” Celesta said, her voice completely flat. “Nav, set a course for the DeLonges jump point and clear it with Juwel’s flight control. Helm, you’re clear to execute new course when you receive it, all ahead full. We need to be through this system as quickly as possible.”

“Our com drone made it through?” Barrett asked.

“I have to assume so looking at the message Admiral Marcum sent,” Celesta said. “What I can’t tell is what sort of welcome we’ll receive when we step off the gangway.”

“Well … at least we have the long flight back home to think it over,” Barrett said sourly.

“That’s the spirit, Commander,” Celesta said.

Chapter 24

“Welcome aboard the Pontiac, Admiral.”

“Director,” Marcum said with a nod as he took Jackson Wolfe’s proffered hand.

“I’ll admit to some surprise that you’re here personally,” Jackson said carefully. “Was there something in particular you’re wanting from Prometheus?”

Marcum just smiled at Jackson in a way that made his stomach drop. The Chief of Staff held his hand out and his too-young aide put a tile in it.

“Jackson Wolfe,” Marcum said, reading off the tile, “you are hereby relieved as Director of Project Prometheus. You will forfeit all pay and privileges associated with your assimilated rank and are terminated from civil service, effective immediately.”

“I suppose I should have expected this,” Jackson said. “You must really be taking some perverse pleasure in this seeing as how you’ve flown here personally to fire me.”

“I’m not done,” Marcum said, flicking his finger over the tile to bring up another document. “Jackson Wolfe, under the war powers authority vested in the President of the United Terran Federation, you are hereby recalled to active military service. Your last-held rank of Senior Captain is reinstated and you will report immediately to CENTCOM HQ, New Sierra Platform, for assignment and orders. There’s some other technical stuff in here about bringing you back into the fold, but you get the point … Captain.”