Crystal Deception Read Free Page A

eighty
percent of the world’s population. While it’s the first functional world
government, its formation was motivated by self-preservation and fear of
extinction by a powerful invader. And, by the way, it’s the Union who’s funding
the construction of this ship.”
    She knew they weren’t here for a history lesson; they were
here to play. The sooner she let that happen, the sooner they’d be gone. “Feel
free to look around. But be careful what you touch.”
    She let them take turns sitting in the captain’s chair and
at the various operations benches. After they each had a turn, she signaled an
ensign to take the group and complete the tour.
    “Good-bye, everyone,” she called to the students as they followed
the ensign off the bridge. “Perhaps we’ll see you one day in Fleet service.”
She hoped the admiral got word of her supportive farewell comment.
    With the bridge now quiet, Cheryl surveyed the room where she
would command her ship. The space was efficiently used and larger than she had envisioned
it would be. The command bridge included four well-padded chairs positioned in
a semicircle. They looked comfortable, and she wasn’t disappointed when she sat
in one. She and members of her command team would be sitting in these chairs for
many hours over the weeks and months of a mission, and she was glad that Fleet
had paid attention to this important detail.
    There were also four operations benches fitted against the
walls, which held the displays and controls for navigation, engineering,
security, and communications. She sat back in her chair and basked in the clean
visual lines and new-ship smell. She smiled, thrilled at the thought of being given
her own command, and on a flagship cruiser!
    She drifted off for a few seconds, thinking about her personal
journey to this point. She’d worked hard at every step in her career, taking
the pressure from those above and giving solid direction to those in her
command. She judged herself to be capable, independent, and strong. This new assignment
would test her at every level, and she was ready for the challenge.
    Her private moment was interrupted when two technicians
bustled in, sat on the floor next to one of the benches, and opened an access cover
to work on something hidden inside.
    She watched for a few moments, then said, “You seem to be in
quite a hurry.”
    “Oh!” yipped one of the techs, clearly startled. “Sorry,
ma’am, we didn’t know anyone was in here.”
    “What’s going on?” She rose from her chair and walked in
their direction.
    One of the men, holding a piece of equipment in his hands,
stood up, while the other continued working under the bench.
    “We’re preparing for a possible upgrade.” He examined the device
as he spoke, then bent down and showed his partner. “Watch this connector when
you slide it in, and please, be gentle.”
    He stood back up and looked at Cheryl. “The ship uses nine three-gen
crystals to run all the subsystems. We’re configuring it for a possible upgrade
to the new four-gen crystal.”
    “What does that entail?” She was baffled. This wasn’t the
kind of news she expected to learn from a civilian tech working a refit.
    “The work order says to keep the current housings in place so
the ship can still run as built if the upgrade’s not a go. We’re installing a
parallel assembly so it can run with a single four-gen crystal if this change gets
approved.”
    “Who gave the orders for this?” Even though they were
civilians, she used her “annoyed commanding officer” tone. She stood right in
front of him, and when he started to squirm, she took a half step back and
relaxed her shoulders. Annoyed was not her style. The long hours were catching
up with her.
    “Gosh, ma’am, we work for Crystal Fab, and I got these
orders from my boss. Political issues are way above my pay grade.” He looked at
her for a long moment. “I’ll send you the com record. I’ll bet there’s someone
up the