She takes a few deep breaths and then looks at me. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

  I snort and both of us ugh. Girls can be weird about the oddest things. I thought it was fun, kind of like an amusement park ride. A few moments ter, the pilot cuts off the engine and we’re in free fall. I smile as Athena giggles at a passenger who had unbuckled their seatbelt, and is now scrambling as they attempt to return to their seat.

  “Having fun,” I ask with a smile.

  She winks at me, making my heart skip a bit, and smiles as she chirps, “Definitely!”

  A crewmember makes her way over - I’d love to know how she kept her skirt from riding up and exposing anything - and helps the man back into his seat.

  Soon, Dad announces over the speakers, “Ladies and Gentlemen, if I may have your attention for a moment. We’re making our way to Ford Station and will arrive in approximately 30 minutes. We will dock directly with the USS Avalon. Once there, you will be directed to the main lounge for a briefing. Thank you.”

  With the announcement ended, Athena leans across me, which pushes her modest breast into my shoulder, to look out the small window. She mutters, “It’s magnificent.”

  I look out along with her and have to agree, it’s amazingly beautiful. We have this exquisite pnet, which is perfect for humanity, and here we are killing each other along with the pnet. For what? Profit? Religious beliefs? Resources? At the same time, most of the people still down there want nothing more than be left alone to live their lives peacefully, but no, there are always the ones who think they have the right to push their agenda onto others. I can’t help but feel bad for those people down there who are going to be suffering horribly in a few days as the agent spreads across the globe.

  The pne turns around to begin braking to dock with the Avalon, which brings it into our view. We stare at it, and it’s my turn to murmur, “Wow.”

  Wow is right. I’ve seen many fleet ships on TV, read all about them, and know most of their specs by heart, but… this ship is the rgest by far and shaped like a fttened oval. Size and distance are hard to judge in space without any frames of reference, but comparing it against Ford Station, the Avalon has to be 700 or 800 meters in length and probably half of that in circumference. It’s a massive ship. It’s rge enough that it even dwarfs Ford Station and it’s nothing to sneeze at itself.

  Ford is Earth’s newest space station, although it’s not truly a space station since it’s a dedicated shipyard, its sole purpose is to provide a base of operations for the shipbuilders to work in retive safety. If you remember the ring orbital stations that spun in old Sci-Fi movies, then you have a decent idea of its rough shape. That’s the base form, but Ford Station’s central spine branches out at the ends into several docking arms. The Avalon is docked at one of the upper arms of the station, while the Discovery is docked on the opposite side of it.

  We close in on the Avalon, and a huge door opens to the docking bay for the Avalon which is located near the rear of the ship. Athena grabs my hand tightly again as we pass through the outer doors because I suppose she’s afraid that we’ll crash. We slowly make our way over to another enclosed port, whose doors are opening for us as we approach. There are many enclosed docking ports like this in the bay. We come to a stop just outside the bay, and I see and hear the slight thump as the docking arms cmp onto the ship, and then I feel a small nudge sideways as they pull us into our docking port and settle us into pce.

  Athena then asks, “Are we down yet?”

  “Yep. Now we simply have to wait for them to pressurize the docking port, and then we can exit,” I reply while I watch the doors quickly close. A few minutes ter, several men come into the bay and begin securing the pne in pce as another person guides a stairway over to the door of the pne.

  Once we’re off of the pne, I gather Athena, her parents, my sisters, and Mom, then we walk out into a hallway and pause to wait for my dad. Athena’s mother says she has to report to the bridge and will see them ter. Then she hugs them both and heads off.

  The hallway stretches from one end of the ship to the other, only broken up here and there by emergency pressure doors. It’s filled with passengers slowly making their way to the main lounge and crewmen transferring cargo out of other bays.

  A few minutes ter, Dad walks out with another officer, the two of them chatting as they walk toward us. They seem to be rather familiar with each other, but that’s not surprising since they’re assigned to the same ship.

  Once Dad notices us waiting for him, he tells him, “Report to the bridge. I’ll be there shortly.” Turning to us, he states, “Welcome to the Avalon. What do you think of my ship?” He grins proudly and then he gestures for us to follow him down the hallway.

  I speak up to reply, “It’s impressive. It’s far rger than I ever imagined.”

  “It’s the rgest ship ever built by the USSF. We have 10 decks, 5 of them for passenger cabins, 5 dining halls, recreation areas, etc… The main deck houses the bridge and crew cabins. Right below the bridge is an observation lounge. 2 decks are dedicated to the cryo pods and their support equipment. The remainder are engineering decks. No one is allowed on the main deck or in Engineering without being a crew member. It’s dangerous there, so I suggest you heed the restriction. The Avalon and Discovery are the first and only ships of the line to incorporate hyperspace drives, too.

  “You saw the docking bay, and we have almost 1.6 million cubic meters of cargo space just in front of that. I’m sure you saw the huge doors at the front of the docking bay that lead to the cargo area. You’ll hear all this in the briefing we’re giving the passengers.”

  He stops and looks at me and my sisters. “Listen, I know this is a bit unfair, but I’m going to have to ask that you three set an example for the other children since you are the Captain’s children. Discipline is going to be tight, and we can’t have you acting up, clear?”

  The three of us say, “Yes, Sir.”

  “Thank you. This is sudden, scary, and tragic, but we have to present a united front to everyone and demonstrate how we expect them to behave. I trust you three to do that.” The three of us nod. “Good. Thanks. I hate to have to ask this of you, but everyone, crew and passenger alike will have to pull together as one if we’re to get through this.”

  He leads us over to an elevator. Believe me, it’s not something a normal USSF ship would have, other than a cargo elevator. He gestures for us to enter and presses a button.

  When Athena sees the button he pushed, she asks, “I thought we were going to join the others?”

  “We will, but first, I thought I’d show you the bridge, and allow you to watch as we disconnect from the station and head out,” he says with a grin.

  Hell yeah, I want to see the bridge! I’ve always wanted to check out the Space Force’s ships in person!

  As upsetting as the reason we’re here is, I can’t say that I’m not excited to be here. Athena and my sisters feel the same way since they’re smiling broadly. The adults probably feel the same way, but adults being adults, they’re just being all stoic and not smiling.

  The elevator stops and the doors open to another hallway. Dad leads the way to a door at the end of it, and then he says, “You’ll have to stay near the door and remain quiet so that the crew can concentrate on their jobs.” We all agree, and he opens the door and leads the way inside, where someone loudly announces, “Captain on the bridge,” and everyone quickly stands and turns to face Dad at attention.

  Dad quickly says, “At ease, people. Return to your duties.”

  This bridge is far rger than the ones they’ve shown on TV. The ones they showed in the documentary were small, cramped, and dark pces. It also has far more crewmembers and stations than the other ships they showed. In the center rear of the bridge are two chairs, which I assume to be the Captain’s and First Officer’s chairs. At the front of the bridge are three rge stations, and in front of them are 3 huge dispys. Several other stations are here and there across the bridge, and windows wrap around the sides of the bridge and give a great view of the outside.

  I see Athena’s mother at the helm located in the middle of the three stations. Her station is smaller than the others on the bridge. She only has one monitor before her, showing what should be the ship’s course, speed, engine power, etc… You’d think after all the Sci-fi shows that the controls would be much different, but they aren’t. It’s basically a small keypad and joystick attached to the arms of her chair with the dispy in front of her.

  To the left of her sits the tactical officer based on the dispys in front of him, and on the right of her sits what I assume to be the astrogator.

  Dad’s and the First Officer’s chairs sit in the middle of rge U-shaped stations with dispys showing everything concerning the ship. In front of them on the left is the Engineer’s station, next to him is communications and finally, next to communications sits damage control.

  Slightly behind them are two unmanned stations. I get Dad’s attention, point at them, and look askance at him. He tells me, “Those are science stations. They won’t be needed until we reach Kepler 22.” I nod in response, and he returns to their preparations.

  Dad looks at the First Officer. “Mr. Devons, how are we doing?”

  “All cargo is secure, and all passengers have boarded. The ship is ready for departure at your command, Sir.”

  “Excellent,” Dad said, grinning. He taps an icon on the dispy in front of him. A long whistle sounds, then he states. “Everyone, welcome aboard the USS Avalon. I wish the circumstances weren’t what they are, but we can’t change things. We, and the Discovery, are the st hope for mankind. Many of you were gathered up with little or no expnation and bundled off in the dead of the night. For those who don’t know what’s happening, I’ll expin it all shortly. All passengers should secure themselves for departure. Crew members should be at departure stations. We’ll be undocking momentarily. Captain, out.” He taps the icon again. “Ms. Evans, set condition blue for departure.”

  She replies, “Aye, aye, Sir,” taps a couple of icons on her communications console, announces, “Condition Blue is now in effect,” and the lighting changes to blue.

  Athena leans close and whispers, “What’s condition blue?”

  I quietly tell her, “It’s to let everyone know that we’re getting ready to depart.”

  She nods and returns to watching everyone do their jobs.

  “Ms. Evans, please inform Ford Station that we’re ready to depart. Ask for clearance and to release all moorings.”

  “Aye, Sir,” she replies and then begins quietly speaking into her headset. A few moments ter, she says, “Ford station says we’re clear to depart at our leisure.” Several soft thumps reverberate through the hull. I assume the noise is from the moorings being released. “Sir, Ford has released moorings.”

  “Very well. Mr. Klein, do we have any traffic near us?” Dad asks the tactical officer.

  “No, Sir. We’re clear.”

  “Okay, then, Mrs. Mayes, if you please, take us out. Thrusters only.”

  Between the artificial gravity and inertial dampeners, you can’t even feel the slight sideways thrust that moves us away from the station. The only way you can tell that we’re moving is the ever-increasing distance between us and Ford Station.

  Once we’re a few kilometers away from the station, Dad calls, “All Stop. Hold position. You may set condition green.”

  Ms. Evans announces, “Condition green,” and the lighting returns to its normal white.

  The Discovery begins moving away from the station, and 10 minutes ter, comes up alongside us. Dad slips on a headset and taps a button on his console. Then he quietly starts talking to someone. A few minutes ter, he finishes his conversation. Taking off his headset, he says, “Mrs. Mayes, all head full, and take us above the pne of the ecliptic. Mr. Gerald, double-check our course for Kepler-22, please.”

  Both reply, “Aye, Sir.”

  “Mr. Klein, keep a close eye on the neighborhood. I fully expect the Harbingers of the End to try something before we can leave the system.”

  “Aye, Sir.”

  “Mr. Devons, you have the bridge. I’m heading down to brief the passengers.”

  “Aye, Sir, I have the bridge.”

  Dad walks over to us and says, “Let’s go. We’ll get the briefing done, and afterward, we’ll get settled into our cabin.”