Chapter 4

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?Release docking clamps,? Lt. Cmdr. Herman-Dubroux ordered as she stepped off the elevator tube.

?Aye, Captain,? The Chief Navigations Officer replied, ?Releasing docking clamps.?

The long orange tubes that linked the R.R.G.S. Augusta to the fleet yards facility released, as they curled away from the starship. The vessel?s navigating lights activated, as they flashed at strategic locations: the top of the ship, the bottom, in front, and in the aft sections of the ship. Inside the fleet yards, officers looked at the Royal Guard starship, as it prepared for its departure. Some of the Royal Guardsmen?s wives and husbands waved, girlfriends and boyfriends too shared in the new experience of waving a loved one off. They were sharing in a tradition that had been created ever since the first ship set sail into the ocean.

?Aft thrusters at 5 kilometer per second, forward thrusters at station keeping,? The Executive officer ordered.

?All hands, CONN. We?ve cleared Potsdam Fleet successfully.?

?About face, helm. 180-degrees turn, nice and easy,? The Executive Officer stood up as he ritually did and walked over to the Navigations Officer, resting his hand on the chair, ?Just let her take you.?

?No problem, sir.?

The ship?s forward engines took over as the aft thrusters were shut off, having backed the ship up far enough. The ship?s nose swung around, as the impulse engines? louder hum filled the ship with a rhythmic tune that would serve as a good bass to any song. The engines? lights shone brighter as more energy was fed into it. She was leaving behind her home, and also the security of all the other starships that remained dock or in orbit of the facilities that had lodged her for a few weeks. The stay had been nice while it lasted, but the time had come for work.

?Ahead full, stand by for vortex jump,? The Captain ordered as she looked intently on all of her officers working? she tapped a button on the interlink that linked her directly to Weapons, ?Weapons, CONN. Ensign Navar: report status of division.?

?CONN, Weapons. Reporting weapons ready at full efficiency, sir.?

?CONN, Engineering,? The voice of the Chief Engineer chimed into the intercom channels, ?All systems are go. Vortex I and Vortex II at nominal.?

?Affirmative Engineering, we?ll give you your engines a nice warm up. CONN out.?

?All systems reporting ready, sir? The Navigations officer had turned back, already knowing what the next question from her Captain would be.

?Very well,? The Captain looked at the view screen, seeing the motionless stars that would soon become nothing more than a streak across a canvas of darkness, ?Take us into vortex jump.?

The entire ship was engulfed inside a ball that spun the ship ever faster. As the ship?s vortex engines reacted positively to successful creation of the vortex field, the entire ship was slowly being given more standstill speed. Vortex: it worked like a catapult of sorts, with a ship being given more speed due to the spin. Within seconds, the ball collapsed, leaving only a flash of light. The Augusta had disappeared before the ball collapsed, already reaching vortex speeds of more than five million kilometers per second.

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