Pax Imperia (The Redemption Trilogy) by Smith Mike

Author:Smith, Mike [Smith, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-01-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The Relentless, Flagship of the Confederation 8th Fleet, Sirius System

From the darkened room, Jon watched the massive airships rise from the swirling clouds of the gas giant’s thick atmosphere. The 8th Fleet was currently in orbit around one of the many gas giants that orbited the Sirius A primary star. Its fainter twin Sirius B was clearly visible, standing out from the background of stars. Then his attention was drawn to the Helium-3 mining operation that was going on under the watchful eye of the fleet.

The atmosphere of this particular gas giant was the brightest azure-blue, caused by the composition of the upper atmosphere refracting the light from its star, or so Anna had explained several nights before. To his untrained eye it reminded him of an old holo-vid of a pair of hunchback whales rising from the depths of the ocean. However, these were no whales, but massive airships, kilometres in length, rising up by means of their massive envelopes, now full with Helium-3. He watched, enthralled, as the pair of airships docked with one of the massive bulk carriers, which would transport the Helium-3 to every corner of the Confederation. The bulk carrier was equally as impressive, easily dwarfing the Relentless, the largest ship in the fleet, in terms of both size and mass. The bulk carriers were the largest ships in the Confederation, over several kilometres in length. The only ship ever to match them in size and grandeur had been the Imperial Navy flagship the Imperial Star. Thoughts about that ship, which he had destroyed almost two years before, instinctively led to Marcus—and Sofia.

Turning his thoughts aside from that gaping wound, it occurred to him that he should consider instigating a fleet-wide reconstruction program to replace the navy warships that had been lost over the years. For the Confederation Senate had put an immediate halt to the work on any new warships under construction, wanting to reduce the size, and therefore influence, of the navy. As a result, the fleet was critically short of ships, so much so that the 12th Fleet, which had been led by the Imperial Star, had been disbanded entirely. Hearing footsteps behind him, Jon cast that thought out into the inky darkness, to be revisited again later, during the light of the day.

Accepting the glass of amber liquid with a nod of thanks to Anna, he observed over the rim of his glass her form-fitting dress, which accentuated her willowy figure.

“You like?” she smiled, pirouetting in front of him, causing the turquoise coloured evening dress to ride up to her thighs. “I’m not much of a fan of the Confederation Navy uniform. Too much black and red. It’s morose.” She scrunched her face up to indicate her disdain.

Jon laughed at her expression, tipping his glass in her direction. “It looks good on you. Really. I’ll issue a proclamation tomorrow, banning the fleet uniform for all women. I’m sure that it will do wonders for morale.” His lips upturned in a smile, as Anna jokingly punched him on the chest.

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