The aging admiral leaned back into his command chair. He was not as old as he looked. At fifty-six, he is considered young for an admiral in command of a full strike force. He still had his mane of black hair, although it was starting to thin out a bit. Not being overly handsome, John Anderson always had a look about him that made everyone feel that he was one step ahead of the game. It might have been the way that his dark brown eyes always surveyed the situation, or the how he always stayed calm and in control no matter how bad the situation looked. Whatever the reasons, it made him admiral at the age of fifty-three.

The last sentence of my command log entry was a futile hope, he thought. When it comes to war, there are always casualties. It is unavoidable. This war could extract a very high toll on the empire and my family.

All three of my children were involved with the military, the admiral reflected. Mark, the oldest and the athlete, placed high in his class upon graduating into the Marines. He now serves as Company Commander in the 7th Assault Division aboard one of the newest assault transports in the fleet. John Jr., the theorist, is a top scientist at one of the many weapons research stations scattered across the empire. Marie, the most caring and youngest of the family, graduated at the top of her class in medical school. She now serves aboard the sister ship to this battleship as one of the finest doctors in the galaxy. And last, but by no means least, my beautiful wife is a commander serving as an admiral's aide back at headquarters.

I just hope and pray that they all make it through this ordeal. I know that war is coming, I can feel it in my soul. After you've been through one war, you can always tell.

Admiral Anderson stood up. He reminded himself that too much pondering about the possible outcomes of war is not helpful. And with that thought, he decided to take a stroll down to engineering before turning in for the night.

This is a mighty fine ship, he thought as he left the turbolift. It has a good crew and is new enough to be an impact on the battlefield, but old enough to have most of the kinks worked out. A mighty fine ship indeed.

As he walked into engineering, he felt that the hum from the engines could almost change his pulse. Even in idle, these new engines created a tremendous amount of power. The Chief Engineer had just noticed the admiral's presence and briskly walked over to him.

"Hello Admiral, how are you today, sir?", he asked.

"Just fine, Steven. I thought I'd stop by before turning in for the night. How do we look?"

"No major problems, sir. We are currently running at 96% efficiency.", replied the Chief Engineer.

Admiral Anderson said "Good, good" as he nodded his head. He knew that Commander Sanchez has been serving as the Chief Engineer since the commissioning of this vessel. He has learned to listen to his commander's advice and expertise since coming aboard this ship. And since they are both about the same age, it was not that difficult to do.

"Have you heard anything, Admiral?", Commander Sanchez nervously asked.

Even though there are over 2,300 men and women on this ship, word travels fast, he thought. "No. No news yet. But I'm sure it won't be too long.", he replied.

"We'll be ready, Admiral.", he reassuredly said.

"I know we will, Steven. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir."

Admiral Anderson journeyed back to his quarters and fell soundly asleep not long afterwards. Then a light came on that brought him back to reality from the depths of sleep.

"Sorry to bother you, sir, but Listening Post Omega-14 reports a large group of warships heading towards the border.", a voice came over the communications system. He recognized it as his Tactical Officer on the bridge. The listening post was on the border and a large group of warships could only mean trouble, he thought.

"Lay in course, Lieutenant Commander. Place the fleet on yellow alert. Start warming up the weapons systems. I'll be on the bridge shortly. Anderson out.", the admiral ordered.

He climbed out of bed and put on a clean uniform. Looking into the mirror, he said quietly, "It looks like this is it. I hope we make it through tomorrow."