“Admiral,” a voice called, “tachyon event, outer system.”

“Signature?” Tanner asked immediately.

“Terran transition.”

Tanner slumped a little more. There had been a time that those words would have brought him a certain lightening of his day. Now, however, there was just a little relief and a lot of apprehension. Officially he didn’t know where the Terran starship Enterprise had gone, but unofficially he knew that the ship had been sent out by Admiral Gracen to scout their homeworld and see just what had happened to it.

Rael had advised the admiral not to get her people’s hopes up, but in the end even he had a sharp-edged desire to know the fate of the Terrans.

“Inform me when they reach Ranquil orbit,” he said, standing up. “I’ll be back shortly.”

“Yes sir.”

Tanner went back to his office and keyed in a command.

“What do you need, Admiral?”

“Give me a line directly to the Forge,” he said. “Admiral Gracen’s comm.”

“One moment, Admiral.”

Captain Ethan Carrow was known as a by-the-book sort of officer. He didn’t take chances. He didn’t have to. And he didn’t fly by his gut. But he was solid and knew how to keep his cool in a clinch. That put him at the head of the list to command Earth’s first starship. Back in the day, the media had loved Eric Weston, however, and Carrow was bumped down a notch.

His day came when the NACS Enterprise was commissioned, however, and he was justly proud of his ship and crew, remaining so to this day. They’d been through hell, literally and figuratively, in the last month and they’d held it together. He couldn’t have asked for more.

Now they were almost down-well to Ranquil, and some much deserved and needed rest, while he had some intelligence to deliver. Ethan wasn’t surprised when he received a message an hour out from the planet that Admiral Gracen would be arriving to meet with him upon his arrival. In fact he was relieved and grateful.

The news he had to deliver would be better done face-to-face.

“Admiral on deck!”

The crew on the flight deck were lined up for presentation and they all snapped a salute as Gracen stepped down the stairs of the Priminae shuttle, her magnetic boots locking into place on the deck.

She paused, looking over the ranks of men and women who were holding their salute, then returned it crisply.

As her hand fell to her side, so did theirs, and Captain Carrow nodded to his first officer.

“Dismissed!”

The men and women broke ranks as Commander Briggs herded them out.

“Shore leave will be by the numbers. If you’re part of the first groups to the surface, meet at the shuttle in fifteen . . .”

Carrow dropped the commander out of his attention, focusing on the admiral as she approached. “Ma’am.”