[FT] The Long Journey Home (AAR) Part 1/6

G'day guys,

Well I've finally given into Derek's harrassment and agreed to post a
piece
of my fiction to the list. I hope you enjoy it. Its a little long so I'm
going to break it over a few posts.

Beth

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

	Admiral Marie Collot gazed out the frosty viewport at the hull
plates as
they caught the first rays to reach them from Wolf-489. For maybe the
thousandth time she said a silent thanks to the person who had decided
that
the 3rd fleet of the L'Astromarine Des FSE would not fly into space in
dull
greys and insipid whites. Every time they entered a system and the
strengthening light began to play across the hull, picking up slivers of
blue, flashes of red and glowing tendrils of white, she was struck by
how
the colours lancing through the deep dark of the void reminded her of
the
great windows in the cathedral of Chatre. She shivered then. And despite
the fact that they were on alert with gravity and heating at minimal
levels, their precious energy diverted to weaponry and sensors, she
shivered not because she was cold, but because she had ceased to think
of
Earth as home. She had been in command of the VFE Richelieu, a Chirac
class
dreadnought, for the last five of the seventeen years since she made
Captain. Seventeen years of long patrols and alien vistas, countless
jumps,
harrowing isolation, and war. Seventeen years whose honorarium had been
the
knowledge that she had more in common with her adversaries in this
shadow
world than she did with those in whose name she toiled.
	Marie forced herself to turn from the window. There was no place
for such
thoughts today. She had a job to do and right now that was to make sure
that UNSC Intendant Henri Zidane made it back to Earth. She would
normally
have riled at such a lame assignment as conveying a dignitary back to
Earth, especially one who laboured under the belief humanity would
unite.
The First Intersentient War was not going well. The Kra'vak were
seemingly
ruthless and it was taking time for the human commanders to familiarise
and
anticipate the alien ways of their new opponents. The Sa'Vasku were an
arcanum, their motivations and intentions beyond human comprehension,
and
though their interventions had been helpful, it was felt they had not
been
completely forthcoming. As for the human alliance, they were opposing
sides
of an unresolved war and little had really changed. Each reversal, each
mistake saw the tensions rise, saw the blame laid and allegations fly,
opportunism and even blatant piracy was rife. Since the Caleb incident,
and
the consolidation of fleets by the major powers for the current
offensive
against the Ka'Vak, the UNSC had been frugal with its fleet deployment
information and had kept most commanders on short leashes and a need to
know basis. It did not engender particularly satisfying feelings amongst
those who had been working off personal initiative during much of the
later
stages of the Third Solar War. However, apparently the UNSC's actions
were
more than justified. The report Marie had read a week ago was
disturbing,
it was also the reason she had agreed to lead the convoy taking
Intendant
Zidane back to Earth. 

>>>>>> CONTINUED IN PART 2 >>>>>>>

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Elizabeth Fulton
c/o CSIRO Division of Marine Research
GPO Box 1538
HOBART 
TASMANIA 7001
AUSTRALIA
Phone (03) 6232 5018 International +61 3 6232 5018
Fax (03) 6232 5199 International +61 3 6232 5199

email: beth.fulton@marine.csiro.au