[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

> [quoted text omitted]

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 >>>>>>>

G'day guys,

Thank you to all for all the positive feedback, I was actually a little (well
a LOT) nervous about posting it, but I'm glad you liked it.

As for putting it on sites and CDs and stuff, feel welcome just stick my name
on it somewhere.

Thanks

Beth