October 1st, 386 AF – Maria’s Private Residence, New Amazon.

Maria stood in her work room. Her hands were manipulating a hologram before her shifting and twisting it every which way. The hologram was two identical but mirrored half circle pylons. She heard the hiss of her workshop’s automatic sliding doors and then footsteps. She glanced at the source of the disturbance. It was her red-haired niece and the Chairwoman of the WTO board, Amee Jace. She quirked an eyebrow.

“Hi, Aunt Maria”

Amee’s eyes were on the hologram before her.

“Are you designing a dimensional portal?”

Maria waved her hand towards the hologram, and it vanished.

“Just musing if it is possible and how it would look.”

“Interesting.”

Maria looked at the pair expectantly.

“Why are you here?”

“Do I need a reason to visit my aunt?”

“Yes, you generally do Eyre. Is Mitena causing trouble again?”

“Always. But, no, I offered to introduce you to Amee. She’s working on something, and she needs help. And well, you’re the smartest person I know. Aunt Maria.”

Maria motioned to her computer console. Amee surprised her when she reached out her hand and touched it and seemed to link up directly with the system. Specifications started appearing in the holographic engineering display. Maria walked up to it, her right hand stroking her silver crucifix absently as her eyes scanned the equations. As she read her eyes grew wider and wider until she looked at Amee.

“Faster than light travel?”

“Yes. I have the math, what I do not have is the designs for the drive. They were corrupted.”

Maria started picking through the components that Amee had been able to recover from the data.

“I am in.”

Eyre looked at her Aunt and quirked her head to the side.

“Just like that?”

“With one request. I am on the first mission to another solar system.”

Amee looked at Maria and smiled.

“You’ll be in charge of it if I have my way. Which I usually do.”

Amee offered her hand and Maria took it and shook.

“Welcome aboard Captain Aurelius. You’re the new head of WTO R&D.”

“So, this comes with a military commission?”

“This is a very secret project. It is the only way the WTO board will let me bring in an outsider. You’ve already been approved. They think our military regs are the only thing that has enough teeth to make breaching confidentiality scary to a vampire.”

“I am still in.”

*****

August 20th, 401 AF - Project: Endeavor, Black Site

Maria had a hand scanner and her holo-tablet out. She was checking over components on their first FTL Prototype drive. Though the better term was dimensional shunt. An impatient Dr. Khan was tapping his foot behind her.

“I told you Captain, I already went over it.”

“Well with how expensive this was to build, another set of eyes will not hurt our budget. You already forced my hand by telling the board we were ready for unmanned trials. You are on thin ice.

Maria walked down the steps.

“We are, you were procrastinating.”

“I was worried because the simulations had variances. The unknown exhaust for one.”

“It is an exhaust, like carbon dioxide.”

“We have never activated a dimensional shunt before. We have no idea what kind of exotic matter exists in alternate dimensions. And thus, what kind of exhaust the device will give off.”

“You are being like those people who thought that particle accelerators were going to cause a black hole that would suck up the Earth or that a nuclear weapon would catch the atmosphere on fire.”

Maria tapped her tablet and entered. ‘Physically everything is in order, I still disagree with this test. More simulations are required.’

“Then what was the magnetic containment vessel for? The one you said we did not need, therefore got the time budget cancelled for it. I have logged my disagreement with your rush to proceed. By all means ignore the person who designed the FTL drive.”

“You are a child. You do not understand how research and development works. Progress takes risk. As head of this project, I believe the risk is worth it at this point.”

Maria’s hand went to her crucifix. She was growing weary of dealing with the arrogance of the sixty-year-old doctor who saw her face and made assumptions about her knowledge and age. She missed the days when she had faith in God to fall back on and ask for strength to deal with people like Dr. Khan. She looked up at him and spoke.

“For one of the smartest men in the world, you are an idiot. I have eight doctorates, you have one. To judge one on appearance when logically you know she is thousands of years your senior shows terrible judgment. This is going to fail spectacularly, and your career is going to be ruined. And unlike you, my years have experience have taught me to cover my behind. Yours is flapping in the wind.”

Maria turned around and walked up the catwalk to the control room and waited for Dr. Khan to join her. As the head of WTO Research and Development she could override him, but she had been ordered by the board to proceed so she would proceed. She got the order in writing and agreement from Amee that the board would be held responsible for any failures. Amee had backed her but in the end had been overruled by the board five to two. Amee and Eyre being the only two to disagree with proceeding. Dr. Khan joined Maria his face flushed as he glared down at her. Maria wrapped her pale hands around the railing that overlooked the drone pilot and science team that were monitoring telemetry. She leaned down.

“Launch when ready Lieutenant.”

“Aye, ma’am”

Maria watched the big monitor as the drone launched from the research station.

“We are at minimum safe distance indicated in sims ma’am.”

Maria turned to Dr. Khan.

“Go ahead Veer. You wanted this test, do the honors.”

Dr. Khan looked down at her and smiled that arrogant smile of his, Maria smiled back, but her hand was on her crucifix. Dr. Khan looked to the crew arrayed below them.

“Today is a momentous occasion. The human race will enter the realm of science fiction with our first successful FTL test. Set a course for Jupiter and engage.”

He pointed his fingers forward as if he had practiced for this moment for weeks. The FTL drone showed all green and the drive engaged but as the vortex formed it exploded with the force of a several kiloton nuclear explosion. Dr. Khan was staring at the screen slack jawed. Maria was already looking at the read outs coming in from drive activation to milliseconds before the explosion. She didn’t even look up at her colleague. It didn’t take her long to figure out what went wrong. Without sparing a glance at Dr. Khan she spoke.

“The magnetic containment vessel seems to have had a use; It was to contain the antimatter exhaust from the drive. I’ll be expecting your final report for the board and then your resignation, Dr. Khan.”

He blinked down at Maria then to the debris floating in space that had been their sixteen-billion credit prototype. He went to speak but he was in too much shock to form words. Maria was still looking at the readouts as she spoke.

“I will share a lesson I learned the hard way by losing my brother and sister to my own arrogance. You never have all the answers, even if you think you do.”

Maria looked down to the crew below that seemed subdued.

“Go home, get some rest. After the weekend we will start work on the second prototype. Good job everyone. This was not your fault.”

She glanced at Veer and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Learn from this Veer. I will do what I can for you.”

*****

September 15th, 401 AF – Classified WTO Board Meeting, Topic: Endeavor Prototype 1 failure. – New Amazon

“Captain, your report is comprehensive, and well detailed. You advised us against this test from the get-go, everything points to a failure of project leadership to heed the warnings of their own supervisor and their team. Why do you suggest we do not accept Dr. Khan’s resignation?”

Maria looked at the man speaking. It was Deacon Roshlev from the Eastern Trading Block.

“Because this was a failure of leadership, not scientific ability. I am suggesting you place me in charge of the project directly instead of just WTO R&D. He has extensive knowledge of the project and his knowledge will be invaluable at designing the modifications to allow us to contain the by product.”

She turned to the next person who began to speak. Besho Orangango from the African Trade Association.

“In his own report he accepts full responsibility for this failure. You have many vehement protests noted in project logs. I do not see how he can continue to be a supportive member of the team.”

Maria nodded then looked to each board member in turn.

“While this was a costly failure, that I admittedly was resistant to proceeding with, we were able to recover extremely valuable data. We would have spent another decade trying to determine what the by-product was. In fifteen seconds we were able to determine exactly what it was and we already knew how to handle it. Yes, I believe this test was rushed. However, we will have a second prototype fabricated in less then six months that will be successful, thanks to Dr. Khan pushing for this test. I agree that his leadership abilities are lacking, but his ability to see when the team is being too cautious is also valuable. Without his knowledge of the project and having to train up another team member the second prototype will likely take us nine months.”

Amee glanced at Eyre who nodded.

“Thank you, Captain Aurelius. We have been pleased with your management of R&D for WTO military applications and would be pleased if you could continue in that capacity in addition to leading this project. I believe that is all we had on the table for this meeting.”

The assembled board members nodded. Maria nodded and swiped her hand turning off the holographic boardroom and walking out to the team that were already busy fabricating the next iteration of the FTL drone sled. She motioned to Dr. Khan.

“Veer, I’d like you to stay on the project. The board agreed. You put over a decade in this I want to make sure you can see an FTL jump in your lifetime.”

“Truly?”

“Yes, I am the Project Manager now, your leadership was…questioned.”

He nodded his face falling. Maria patted him on the back.

“Learn from the mistakes of the past and let them go, its all you can do. We have a lot of work to do.”

*****

November 30th, 456 AF

Maria was in her dress uniform. She was a two-star admiral now. She stood in front of the assembled WTO board members in a rare in person event. She was to the right of Amee Jace. The raven-haired chairwoman of the WTO board. Amee was about to begin a speech.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the board. I am pleased you could make the trip to Pluto for this auspicious event. In some cases your grandparents were the ones who authorized the development of the original Project: Endeavor. The creation of humanity’s first faster than light star drive. Today is the 70th anniversary of the date that the original Project was greenlit. I present you the first FTL warship created by humanity, the Supercarrier Endeavor.”

The opaque viewing windows became clear and before them was a kilometer long behemoth brisling with the latest weapons developed by Maria’s team. The sleek silver carrier dwarfed everything around it. The board members gasped at the size of it.

“Admiral Aurelius will be taking her for an FTL trial to the edge of the system to proceed with full weapons tests on asteroids in the Kuiper belt. It will also be our first field tests of the new star fighters.”

As she finished her statement a wing of five sleek fighters blew past the viewing window. Causing a few board members to jump.

“These new space fighters are capable of trans atmospheric flight and are armed with our latest energy weapons and shields. Nothing in the system can rival the power of this ship, or her fighters. Once these trials are complete, we will proceed with our next stage, which is the exploration of Alpha Centauri. This is of course dependent on completion of a smaller assault carrier and her destroyer escort. To ensure we have ships in reserve should the system lose political stability.”

The board members one and all began to clap the Eastern Trading Block member motioned as if he wanted to speak.

“Are we sure Admiral Aurelius is the best person for this job? With all due respect, she is an engineer not a trained military commander. Also, she had been and continues to be an invaluable scientific and engineering resource for the WTO.”

“Admiral Aurelius has been commanding armies since Rome was a democracy. I suspect she is qualified to command a warship. Also, she is the primary designer of the Jace-Aurelius FTL Drive. Who better to have present during the short and long-term tests then the designer? In addition. She is a vampire. This means her life-support needs are minimal so if there is an issue with any of the systems, she can put the crew in stasis and get the ship back to base, even if it takes years.”

Amee frowned as Mitena’s head popped up behind Eyre’s and spoke out of turn.

“And what about the Anti-matter by-product how are you going to safely dispose of that? It makes radioactive waste look like cookie dough!”

Eyre spun and shushed her it was too late. The board was starting to discuss that now. Maria glanced to Amee and Amee nodded, Maria stepped forward.

“Currently in partnership with Aurelius corporation we are working on Anti-matter generators that will produce roughly one hundred times the power output of current fusion generators per cubic meter. Also, we have successfully deployed and tested Anti-matter bombs and missiles. We have quite a lot of uses for it, unfortunately our supply is still low.”

“Weapons?”

Mitena got the word out before Eyre’s security detail dragged her away. Eyre looked embarrassed. The board didn’t seem to care that anti-matter weapons were being developed, in fact they seemed more impressed.

“Part of our space trials in the Kuiper belt will be to test these new weapons at maximum yield on larger stellar objects. I have come to the conclusion that any risk of dangerous meteorites to any of the system’s settlements are going to be a thing of the past in short order. The yields of the anti-matter weapons are large enough that most dangerous objects will be atomized. We have videos of one percent yield weapon tests. They are quite impressive. After the main presentation my team will be happy to show you our test results and holocaptures.”

The board members started clapping again. Maria nodded to Amee and stepped back.