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Rick was sitting on the stage next to Hobbs in an auditorium in the administration building. It was usually used for formal events. Rick had only ever seen it once. He recognized it as the place where Hobbs had given his acceptance speech as the new CEO. The place looked bigger in person than it did on the news feed.
Rick watched as a large number of military personal filed in to watch the event. In the Front row center sat Jennings. The man of the hour. Rick was glad to see his friend. Glad to see that he was alive and respected the courage it took to battle that alien ship.
Jennings ship was so badly damaged that it was decided to be scrapped. Sort of. It was brought back to Anteagen and is in permanent dock at Space Station One as a war memorial. A reminder that with courage anything can be overcome. The public saw it as a ship that battled the Rossom Corporation. The military knew different. To them it was a reminder of things to come.
Rick’s mind took him to the alien ship. Before the dust settled Hobbs had the fleet send out drones to sift through the wreckage. They wanted to see if there was any tech that they could use or reverse engineer. They left that in Justin’s hands.
Justin was now in charge of his own lab outside the city. It was owned and run by the military. Hobbs made it clear that Justin would get whatever he needed. The administrators complained about how much money Justin was spending but Hobbs just turned a deaf ear to the whole thing. Justin was making advances that would save humanity.
Justin worked closely with Admiral Hornsby on the recovery of the alien ship. As it turned out there was not the conflict that Rick thought there might be between the two of them. Ted lightened up around Justin and Justin showed more respect.
Because of the battle of Braxis Admiral Hornsby was promoted to Fleet Admiral. He now reported directly to Hobbs. Ted had earned that position. If anyone said that it was because of his friendship with Rick, Rick would slap down that statement hard. The Admiral deserved the respect. When Rick asked Hobbs about it the CEO simply said, “It’s time for new blood.”
Plans were being made for the Braxis expedition. They needed whatever was there in preparation for the alien threat that they knew now was very real.
Hobbs went to the Langley Corporation and meet with CEO Davis. Hobbs felt that he had to explain why Langley lost two battleships in the defense of Mosley. While Wilson did nothing. Hobbs briefed Davis on the alien ship and its capabilities. And finally, that the alien ship was destroyed over Braxis. Hobbs promised to share any tech recovered from the alien ship. As a corporation Langley had always been on good terms with Wilson, so the offer was accepted, and Davis pledged to assist Hobbs any way he could. There was also an agreement made to retake Mosley and make Rossom pay for their crimes.
It still needed to be ratified by the Board, but if any one of the Board members gave Hobbs any trouble Rick had his club. He would not hesitate to use it. But that was a fight for another day. Today Jennings would get his medal. The Corporate Cluster with Honors. This was the highest citation the Wilson corporation could give out. It was only given out in war time and there had only been seven men to ever receive it. Jennings would be number eight.
Hobbs stood and everyman in the room came to attention. It was a sign of respect for the new CEO. Hobbs made it to the podium and said, “At ease and sit down.” Once they did, Hobbs continued. “We are here today to pay honor to a man for his courage, his wisdom and daring. Everyone in this room was at the battle of Braxis, so you know I mean it when I say that many of you would not be here if it were not for Captain Jennings.” Cheers and applause went up from around the room. “Captain Jennings please join me on the stage.” Cheers went up again as Jennings made his way to the stage. He waved at people as he went by. In full dress uniform he looked stiff, but Rick thought that might just be military protocol. Jennings came up and shook Hobbs hand. Hobbs turned back to the microphone. He pulled a case out of his front pocket and said, “For courage and valor above and beyond the call of duty.” Hobbs pulled the medal out of the case and pinned it on Jennings chest as he said the next words, “I present you with The Corporate Cluster with Honors that you may be a beacon of inspiration for your brothers in arms.”
The room went wild clapping, stamping, and whistling could all be heard above the cheers. Hobbs was smiling as he too clapped. Then he gestured to the microphone.
Jennings saluted Hobbs and stepped up to the podium. “Thank you Mr. CEO. I am both humbled and gratified to receive this honor. I hope to be worthy of it for the rest of my life.” He stepped back away from the podium and saluted the crowd. He left the stage and the crowd started to break up.
Rick and Hobbs went down and escorted Jennings to the reception room and had the first toast with him. “To Captain Jennings, the man of the hour,” said Hobbs.
Jennings mood seemed to be a little down. “What’s wrong?” said Rick.
“Having fought them I know we can outthink, and out fight them, but that was just one ship. What will happen when we have to fight a whole fleet?”
“We are working on that. That’s what the mission to Braxis is all about.” Hobbs sounded confident, but Rick knew him well enough to see the doubt in his eyes.
“When do you think that fleet will arrive?”
“I honestly don’t know,” said Hobbs.
Rick put in, “Then we better get ready as soon as we can.”
“Yes,” said Hobbs. “We will work on that tomorrow, but today is your day Captain. Enjoy it. That’s an order,” said Hobbs with a smile. “Now if you will forgive me, I have things to attend to. Job well done Captain.” Hobbs shook his hand and left the party.
Rick mingled with Jennings for a while then he too made his regrets. As he left the party, Rick thought that this would be the last party he would see for a long while. He looked ahead of him, and the abyss seemed to be growing.
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To be continued
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