Alpha One: The Kronan Read Online Free PDF

and reliability are questionable. There must be somebody else who can give me the confidence I need.”
    “You have your first fleet Jonathan. You can resource yours ships how you wish, but remember, a great deal of trust is bestowed on you. If you go on to greater things, how you command your first fleet, will be critically important to your future endeavors.”
    “I guess what you are saying is I am stuck with her.”
    “Make it work Jonathan.”

Chapter Eight
A Visit to the Tutor’s Office

    “I pity the commander, who has to take you on as a rookie, Mister Costello. You seem to go out of your way to get into trouble. Brilliant, but flawed.”
    “I am the way I am, Sir. I presume you asked to speak to me for a reason?”
    “Yes, I did. I wanted to check that everything was okay. Your studying is still behind and I’m concerned you will enter your finals without critical course work completed and the whole syllabus covered. You are taking the extra tuition I arranged for you?”
    “Yes. I have missed a few sessions because of Jump Ship Training. The TG final is only a week away and for obvious reasons both Jake and I are a little pre-occupied.”
    “Steve, for God’s sake. There is not much point winning the TG final, if you don’t graduate! Do not bring Enson Carter into the equation. Both he and Enson Stevenson have virtually caught up, although they did not have as far to go as you. I know how important the TG is to you, but you are already the best there is. You will not get another chance and it is critical that you get your work up to date. I don’t want to threaten you Steve but you know I can still ground you, if you don’t catch up...much more and I can even have you thrown out. You are quickly running out of chances. Don’t let yourself down. You can still graduate with and 8.5!”
    Steve Costello left the tutors office in a bad mood.
He knew the tutor was right but he had such a lot on his mind, so many things to cope with.
    It was late afternoon and the academic day ended. He was due to attend one of his extracurricular tutorials, but today he was in no mood for further study. He needed to get his head straight. He headed out of the campus towards Arthur’s bar.
After a few drinks, things would be much clearer.
    Three pints of Iruluem Ale later, Steve sat on his own at the bar, trying to take it all in
.
Far from resolving his problems, this latest binge session had compounded them.
    He was the hero. The person responsible for laying the charge that closed the blue wormhole. Everyone was quick to praise him for a task he did not complete. His moment of fame had passed and with it, his chance to stand out over and above the accolades of his Jump Ship father and grandfather. He wanted the honor, but he also wanted to surpass their success. In one crazy moment, he had achieved almost immortal Jump Ship status, only to have it all taken away...the wormhole never actually closed.
    Then there was Carla. She had praised him in the immediate aftermath of the wormhole closure and during the journey home from the Tri-star system. It seemed he and Carla were growing close again. Now and ever since they returned to the academy, Jake was there every time he wanted to try to get close to her again. She was the love of his life. Surely, Jake was just a temporary fascination and he and Carla’s longevity would come to the fore, now that he achieved his moment of fame.
    It wasn’t too late. Was it?
He glanced at his watch. Only 8:30 p.m.. He would have another couple of drinks...for Dutch courage. Then he would go to her and make her see.
    He was staring at her, but not because he felt like trying it on. She was sitting in the corner of the bar with two male friends. She was attractive, in an unassuming way, but he was not interested. Her thug of a friend saw it differently. One stare too many, he decided that was enough. Both the thug and Steve were drunk. The resultant clash was inevitable.
    Steve was not