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understanding what
the system looked like before that event. We have been to the comet shield
before, of course. The real purpose of this is to prove Rampart's ability to
operate away from support systems for extended periods of time. During this
period of cautious exploration, the next ship in Rampart's class, the Rook,
should be complete. The Admiralty feels that once there are at least two ships
with interstellar travel capability in commission, we'll be ready to begin
moving out of the Lashmere system itself.”
     “I understand, sir. Thank you.”
     “Of course, Commander. For now, I suggest you get your
cabin situated and then introduce yourself to your division. If there are no
other questions?” Stokes paused, and at Patho's negative response, said, “Very
well, then. Dismissed, Commander.”

Chapter 2
     Patho spent the next three weeks settling in. The
officers and crew, after a short period of surprise at having a Karn officer,
quickly became accustomed to his presence and mostly welcomed him into their
ranks. Only a very few demonstrated lingering concern or unease at his
presence. The Rampart departed space dock on time without incident. After a two
week series of exercises, the ship began live fire testing of the combat drone
system. As was usual for systems testing, the entire bridge crew of the Rampart
was assembled, along with Marli Simmons, the technical adviser from Naval
Research and Development.
     The thrum of launching drones rumbled through the deck
plates below Aden's feet. Sensor displays bloomed with fresh data as the drones
exited their launch bays and sorted themselves into flight patterns. "We
have a normal launch, Captain."
     "Very well, Mister Patho," Stokes replied.
"Engage exercise target at point alpha. Put the drone remote sensor data
on the main plot."
     "Aye, sir." Patho tapped a few controls,
causing the large central display on the bridge of the Rampart to shift its
focus from a broad overview of the Lashmere system to a much tighter view of
the tactical exercise area. The drone flight paths were light gray trails
following the bright blue dots of the drones themselves. "The drones are
on course to engage the target in seventy-five seconds, sir."
     "Acknowledged." Stokes turned his attention
to the display for a moment and then said, "Correct me if I am wrong,
Mister Patho, but it looks like they are holding their assigned vectors this
time."
     "Yes, sir. It appears we have worked out the
hiccup from the last test. I'm using the single pass pattern this time. Drones
are entering attack range now."
     Stokes watched as the drones entered attack range. The
drones sent back target damage assessments as they fired. The target lasted
less than ten seconds in engagement range. His voice took on an edge of tightly
restrained excitement. "Excellent. It looks like that target didn't stand
a chance."
     "No, sir," Aden said, trying to keep his
conflicting emotions in check and out of his voice. The drones had been
extremely challenging to troubleshoot and, worse still, they had been developed
exclusively by the Ebrim. He took a deep breath and controlled his voice. “It
looks like the out the worst of the bugs have been worked out of the system.
The drones kept the AI net up for the entire attack run. Outputting the error
correction data now, sir."
     The secondary plot blinked up a log of shared data
that had run between the drones during the attack run. Stokes looked over at
his executive officer. "Analysis, Miss Hanlon."
     Hanlon paused a few breaths as she visually inspected
the information. "Sir, this data looks like the simulation runs we made
before live fire exercise. At first glance, I can't see any anomalous readings
at all."
     "Excellent. Recall the drones and prepare to
maneuver to the next target area." Stokes leaned back in the command
chair, feeling relaxed for the first time in weeks. The Rampart was a brand new
ship, and her post-launch shakedown cruise had been