Southern Cross by Windstar

William Blake sighed and rubbed his face with both hands.
"Well, I'll see about trying to calm a few people down over here. How long do we have before
you folks will be ready to test that Shield of yours?"
"A month or so, if everything stays on schedule. It might be a bit more than that, but I hope not."
"Well, better than nothing. It's going to screw up our communications grid all to hell, and the
army's going to shit a brick. Not to mention the NSA, CIA and a few other black ops people."
"I'll see if we can do anything else Blake, but I don't know how much help I'll be able to give
you. We're going to hear about this from every nation with satellites in space. You're just the first
one in a stampede."
"Good luck First Guardian."
"Good luck Mr. President."
The screen went black and she leaned back in her chair once more, studying the gently curved
ceiling above her. Behind her, through the massive armor plated view ports, the planet mars
slowly revolved as North Star kept station in high orbit. She knew if she looked closely enough
she would spot the hundreds of skeletal space docks where ships were frantically taking shape.
It wasn't only the hundred and ten Guardian ships which were being finished off, but all of their
support ships. Each battle group, formed around the core Guardian ship, would comprise of a
dozen or so larger ships, not counting all of the fighters assigned to it. It was a staggering amount
of hulls to construct. Building went on twenty-four hours a day now, with convoys of automated
cargo shuttles hauling raw materials from Luna and the Asteroid belt.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ready room doors opening without the person on the other
side having asked for permission. The scowl she directed towards the interloper was completed
wasted though.
"You look like shit Emie."
Blue eyes glared at Nicholas, even as the first guardian collapsed into her chair and leaned
backwards. A glare which had reduced lesser beings to stuttering idiots who scrambled to do as
she ordered had little affect on the man sprawled out in a seat across from her. The light haired
small man shifted constantly, as if staying still for a moment was impossible for him.
The fact that she felt like crap at the moment didn't help her mood at all either, and she had to
consciously refrain from snarling at the other Guardian. Instead she amused herself with the
thought that Nicholas looked almost as tired as she had ever seen him before. Which of course
didn't stop him from fidgeting.
"Would you stop that!"