Solbidyum Wars Saga 9: At What Price Read Free

the Black Hole Ship, because anything that goes up against it will vanish forever, as if they flew into a black hole.”
    “Well let’s hope they’re right because I want to face off with Ming and his cohorts in this ship and send them into the agony of a black hole!”
    “This may be your chance,” said Marranalis as we entered the GLOMAR ROSA ’s War Room.  “Maybe the intelligence in Wabussie’s report will tell you where we can find Ming.”
    The War Room’s on the carriers were a marvel in themselves.  The capacity of this technology was almost incomprehensible.  The computer that managed the space imaging system brought together data from every ship and satellite in the region, disseminated the information almost instantaneously to every commanding ship in the fleet and produced holographic images that, for all intents and purposes, displayed an image of any available area in space with uninterrupted immediate feedback.  The greater portion of the War Room was dedicated to the 3D holographic displays, which made it possible to walk right into the middle of a battle scene and see the action unfold in real time.  Even more amazing, a smaller block of space could be defined and scaled up within the scene to get a detailed look at a specific conflict; but what made the holographic system truly unique was its ability to link with the War Rooms of other ships and interact with their displays.  This feature not only made it easier to conduct meetings with the other admirals and ship captains when planning a campaign, but it also facilitated rapid exchange of information for decision-making purposes during a battle and prepared a virtually automated status report on demand.  It was one of A’Lappe’s greater accomplishments in terms of military equipment.  The War Room on the GLOMAR ROSA was larger than that on any warship in the Federation and, so far, it was untested; but I hoped that very soon I would have the pleasure of using it to see Ming destroyed.
    My office was positioned next to the War Room.  This functional but comfortable space was paneled with an elegant wood-grained material.  It may have been real wood or an artificial material so similar to natural wood that it was indistinguishable.  It may also have been wood produced by a synthesizer, as this technology was said to be able to reproduce any type of organic material.  Whatever the case, it looked and felt like real wood.  Some distance away from my desk was a floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall vid screen that displayed images so true that had I not known otherwise, I would assume it was merely a window that separated me from whatever scene it portrayed.  Like every vid display in the Federation the image was three-dimensional; but what set this one apart from all the others I’d ever seen was that the omni-directional view widened the closer one moved toward the screen.  When standing right up against the display to look at a live image of space, I would have sworn that I could’ve seen the exterior hull of the ship, had I been able to stick my head through the screen.  However, that was a complete illusion in more than one way, as my office was located in the middle of the ship and nowhere close to the hull.  Moreover, I knew what actually stood behind the screen was a dormant Cantolla Gate meant for my own personal escape, in the event such a drastic measure was ever required.
    I was the only military leader afforded the luxury of a private escape gate and only I knew the location of the receiving gate, which was located on a small, cloaked and unmanned patrol ship that sat alone within a region of space that was completely devoid of activity or visitors.  The design of my gate was modeled after two hidden evacuation gates located in the Capitol Station offices of the Federation Leaders.  If circumstances ever required me to use my evacuation route, I would need to destroy the 3D vid screen to get to the small compartment