Chapter 111

Pluto

Since the discovery of the Ancient's mining operation the material delivery vessels had been in constant use. Five of the vessels flew a seemingly never ending racetrack pattern between Arkos station and the mine. The staggering bevy of raw materials upon delivery to an unloading bay in the lowest section of the section were shifted to larger scale transporter booths making their way to the multi-level ship construction area. The remaining ore transport vessels, along with those constructed by the Tauri were making delivery runs of their own to a separate site.

When discovered the station contained nine Aurora class vessels in varying degrees of completion. Those nine sh.i.p.s under construction on the uppermost construction level represented a mere fraction of what Arkos could produce or house. Even while Borealis underwent repair on the lowest level reserved for city ship construction and refurbishment Tauri vessel production had continued. Fulfilling the original function of its design Arkos station contained the ability to produce many times the amount of vessels than had been asked for thus far.

The latest test of these constructive powers, while demanding, would be far from a challenge. The ever expanding Tauri fleet was embarking on its largest expansion to date. Thirty four vessels all told were under construction. On the top construction level twenty six bays were filled with activity as arachnid like construction robots created the future Athena fleet units. Using raw material conversion instead of energy matter creation the construction process was greatly accelerated.

One level below ship production was also taking place. Eight construction bays were filled not with the looming mass of an Athena, but instead the small and sleek outlines of the Daedalus class. To maintain a balanced fleet it had been decided to continue building the smaller vessels. Not all situations called for the brute power of the larger vessels, and the Daedalus class had more than proven its merits over the years since its introduction. Much had changed with the overall design since then, but these new vessels would incorporate all improvements to the overall design currently serving in the fleet.

Each of the thirty four vessels being built already bore a proud name from the nations that would crew them. Langley, Perseus, Hornet, Intrepid, Bunker Hill, Oriskany, Reprisal, Antietam, Atlas, Independence, Kitty Hawk, Constellation, Gettysburg, Shiloh, and Anzio made up the American flagged Athena's. The Daedalus class vessels Leonidas and Aeneas would also fly this flag.

The Athena class vessels Peter the Great and Mikhail Frunze along with the Daedalus class vessels Alexander Nevsky and Andrei Sakharov were destined for the Russian contingent of the fleet. Great Britain would soon add the Athena's Ark Royal and Agincourt, along with a Daedalus class named Scepter. A relatively late comer in the fleet the French were now adding numbers with the smaller Vauchamps and the much larger La Rochelle and Fontenoy. Not to be left out, China would soon added Athena's of her own in the Xun Zi, Yue Fei, and the Xiahou Ba, along with two 304's bearing the names Sun Ce and Zhang Sanfeng. After an impressive display Japan would add to her numbers the Athena class vessels Shoho and Tenryu.

In preparation for the assorted vessels completion production of several other key systems was taking place in isolated production bays elsewhere. Puddle jumpers and 302's were taking shape. Long before the vessels under construction were complete these separate craft would be finished. Within the bay housing the completed 302's Air Force personnel went through a myriad of systems readiness checks, making sure that the craft were ready for delivery.

Also housed in this bay and being prepared for their journey to Earth were three Destiny style shuttles, along with two much larger shuttles of similar design but with stark differences. These two shuttles were of a modified design. Taking the original Destiny shuttle as a template changes had started from there. Elongated by twenty meters these two shuttles lacked the rear access hatch of the original. Instead of the normal solid roof a seam was present. In orbit this seam would split apart and the roof of the shuttle would open much like NASA's recently retired space shuttle. These five craft would allow for NASA to return to manned space flight, and make possible the efficient and economical delivery of satellites to orbit.

Aboard Destiny recent major upgrade activity had recently finished. Matter stream converters had just been the start. With the assistance of a team of engineers from Vis Uban many of Destiny's systems had been significantly upgraded. Improvements to the FTL drive would allow for a much higher cruise speed. The already powerful sensors were also upgraded allowing for a level of performance several orders of magnitude beyond previous capabilities. Asgard transport beaming technology also found its way aboard. The ancient sh.i.p.s shield emitters also received upgrades allowing for a much more powerful protective energy screen around the vessel.

Around Arkos it was a widely known fact that Destiny would be returning to the Drone galaxy sooner rather than later to complete the mission for which she was launched so long ago. Seeing the amount of activity aboard the vessel it could only mean that with each passing day her departure drew that much nearer.