The Alliance

The Launch

USS Calistoga

“Choose. Quickly. Or I open fire.” The ultimatum was plain, and the Commander was frozen in space, staring at the faceless voice. The only indication that he was still alive was the fact that he was still standing upright and that one antenna was twitching. Jason wondered what the hell [...]

The Break

The Launch

USS Calistoga

Dwasina Roix was exhausted. Exhausted, angry, sore, and impatient. While she had put up with Darin Jaroo’s  verbal sparring for a time, her diplomatic veneer had faded to a cracked and tensely strung mask, like a chipped and faded porcelain ready to shatter at the slightest provocation. The [...]

The Choice

The Launch

USS Calistoga

There was an almost serene beauty in the vaporization of a silicate asteroid. Exploding in a shower of white dust that shimmered against the disruptor fire, if this wasn’t a life and death situation it would have been an inspiring bit of visual art. And yet the Calistoga danced through this [...]

The Secret

The Launch

USS Calistoga

Just keep moving and doing your duty. It was the second thing Ensign Jackson Smith learned about being a security officer. “Let me take you to the docking bay. We can get you on an evacuation ship and get you off this station.” Darin Jaroo’s voice was both gracious and cajoling. And at face [...]