The Supremum Factor: Book 1: Birth of the Empire

Chapter 18 Phase Three

With the enemy on approach and only days away, Orion set his mind more on phase three. While doing inspections, he began assessing the needs for personnel shifts in order to push the project into full gear.
"How are things proceeding Glenn?" asked Orion, of one of the phase three section overseers.
"We are progressing as fast as we can, but there is so much to do yet," said Glenn.
"I'll be reassigning more people to you in the next few hours. We need things sped up fast by days end," said Orion.
"A bit sudden is it not?" remarked Glenn.
"Perhaps," added Orion, looking around. "But by the end of the week, I expect the whole project to be moved into orbit, hidden from view."
"Sir?!?" said Glenn a little shocked. "We are no where near ready for that."
"It's not a matter of being ready, it's a matter of needing it there," stated Orion.
"That will surely be a large undertaking," said Glenn.
"Yes it will be. Everyone will also be involved," said Orion.
"Everyone?" repeated Glenn, surprised.
"Yes," confirmed Orion. "By the end of the week, everyone will know what this project is."
"The extra help will indeed speed things up substantially, sir," remarked Glenn.
"Yes. I also hope to have phase three close to semi operational in two month's from now," said Orion.
Just then, Zoi arrived, having been summoned down below. "Sir, reporting as ordered."
"Zoi, you're being reassigned to this project, along with all the rest of the personnel. Glenn will assign you to wherever he requires you to be," said Orion.
"Sir?" Zoi questioned, looking at Glenn. "You aren't overseeing it yourself?"
"Glenn has his orders and I have to prepare for battle in two days," replied Orion.
"But if we are going into battle, shouldn't I be with you to prepare?" asked Zoi.
"No. Preparations need only myself and all of Earth's defense commanders," replied Orion. "As you know, the enemy is not returning to attack us here, but instead the Earth itself. You will be part of the battle, but not needed in the planning."
"Understood sir," said Zoi, looking at Glenn to issue her, her orders.
Turning to Glenn, Orion said, "I'll send the rest to report to you. I would like to see great results by tomorrow." Then he turned walked away, back up to the upper levels.
Within a few hours, Orion was deeply wrapped up in a conference communique, with Francis and many other military commanders. Talks went on for hours, discussing every possible move they could make when the enemy arrived.
"You're going to have to face them head on before they get here," said General Dowd of the United kingdom.
"Every time we face them, they are always stronger each time," said Orion.
"We can't afford to have them attack the Earth," began US, General Mason. "Last time it cost us many fighter jets globally. We don't have your advanced crafts."
"Nor do we want them planet side, in case the Sham rebels get their hands on them," added General Graves of the Australian army.
"I can only do my best. But it may not be enough. Until phase three is operational, we will just have to hold them at bay," said Orion.
"If you can't hold them at bay, try to draw them towards the Sham rebel homelands," suggested German, General Klassen.
"That isn't a very honorable thing to do," said Orion nodding in approval.
"Whether it is or not, they are continuously trying to seize power and eliminate the rest of us. They are also one of the ones who have not committed any resources to the lunar project," added Mason.
"I understand all your feelings about the infidels," began Orion. "Most of us do. But should the enemy happen to make their way closest to their homelands, I don't plan to sacrifice my people to defend them. But I will still attempt to cause as much damage to the enemy ship as possible."
"That is a much more honorable thing to do," stated Russian General Dazdraperma.
"Remember people, there are still innocents among the Sham rebels," stated Orion. "Ambassador Vladimir understood that, when I first proposed the lunar base."
"Indeed he has and has spoken very highly of you since then, in the Russian parliament," said Dazdraperma, having been impressed even more.
"When all this is over, there no longer will be Sham rebels, but a united people of the Earth. This alien invasion, will see to that and all innocents linked to the Sham rebels, will make them see the light of day. But until then, there will be some loss to come,"said Orion.
"Your words are very powerful indeed, General. I just hope you know what lies ahead for sure," said general Mason.
"The future lies in your hands general. Make us not regret this," said general Klassen.
"Thank you generals. I will depart with my ship within the hour to intercept them," said Orion, as he ended communications.
Within the hour, Orion had gathered Sam and Lynn. The two accompanied him into his ship.
"Sir, this is quite the ship you have," remarked Lynn.
"I would have to say bigger and fancier than the HAAT," said Sam
"Yes it certainly is," said Orion.
"Why are you taking us and not Zoi and Cliff?" asked Lynn.
"I need them on the phase three project. They can't be spared for this mission as you and Sam can be," replied Orion.
"Understood sir," said Lynn.
"What is our mission?" asked Sam.
"We have to attempt to stop the enemy ship's approach or slow it down, until phase three is ready," replied Orion.
"Sir, if I may ask, what is phase three?" asked Lynn.
"Phase three is going to be our first interstellar ship," replied Orion.
Lynn and Sam's eyes suddenly grew larger. They looked at each other then Sam said, "a ship of our own?"
"But how are you able to keep this from all the governments?" asked Lynn.
"All the top generals are aware of the project. Everyone has also been working on it as well, but not aware of what they are building. But in a few days, everyone should be aware of what we are constructing, when it begins to take shape," said Orion.
"How big will the ship be?" asked Sam.
"It will be a large bulky ship, with an ore processing plant and manufacturing facilities, to aid in the construction of other ships like it. It will have the best of all the technology we currently have, with research facilities on board replacing some of those on the base," explained Orion.
"Who will be assigned to the ship?" asked Lynn.
"A variety of the personnel, including all current research personnel," replied Orion, as he engaged the engines on the ship. "I assume both of you know how to operate your stations?"
"I believe so, sir," replied Sam, activating his console. "All systems booting up."
"Same here sir," added Lynn.
"Stand by for FTL speed," said Orion, engaging the engines to full power.
"How long till we get there?" asked Sam.
"If my calculations were correct, we should be on top of them within minutes," replied Orion. "Stand by all weapons. Lynn, when the time is up and we slow to sub-light speed, perform a full scan to ascertain our position to theirs."
When the countdown completed on the auto navigation system, the ship slowed down, still very far away. Immediate scans were initiated and within a minute, their position confirmed.
"Sir, enemy ship is at ten thirty-seven, at an elevation of negative twelve degrees, a distance of approximately one point eight million kilometers," shouted Lynn.
"I'm setting course. Sam, stand ready to fire," said Orion, engaging the engines once more, "in three, two, one, target and fire."
As the ship appeared in front of the enemy mother ship, Sam opened fire. After several rounds were fired, he managed to target one of the mother ship's main guns before it became active. In less than a minute, they crippled many more of the ship's weapons, causing significant damage, before they had to deal with fighters, that began to launch out of the ship.
"Sir, detecting fighter launches at seven- twenty elevation of positive thirty three," shouted Lynn.
"Sam, I'm coming back around. Take out all the fighters and the launch bay if possible," ordered Orion.
"Aye sir," replied Sam.
Within moments, he began firing, as enemy craft, after enemy craft, was crippled or destroyed as they attempted to launch. Their subsequent explosions, aided as well to cripple the launch pad from use.
On the opposite side of the ship, the second launch bay hurriedly launched all it's fighters. They grouped together, attempting to begin their assault on Orion's ship.
"Sir large fighter group on approach sir," said Lynn.
"Sam take out what you can," said Orion.
In a few moments many crafts were destroyed, but the incoming fire strained the shields. In another minute of exchanged fire, many more crafts were destroyed, but the shields of the ship began to fail.
"Sir, our shields are about to collapse," said Sam.
"I'm quite aware of that," replied Orion, moving the ship away from the enemy, engaging the FTL drives once again. "Lynn, perform a full systems check. Sam, notify me when shield capacitors are back to full."
Orion jumped the ship out of harms way. They waited at an extreme range, monitoring the enemy, till full ship's energy reserve power was restored over the next twenty minutes.
"Sir, shields now at ninety eight percent capacity," said Sam.
"Enemy crafts are holding position outside the mother ship, sir," added Lynn.
"Have you detected any defensive guns active at the moment, on the mother ship?" asked Orion.
"There seems to be a lot active power relays," replied Lynn.
"Which likely indicates they are fully battle ready, now," stated Orion.
"Do you still plan to engage them again, sir?" asked Sam.
"Affirmative," replied Orion. "Ready all weapons and stand by."
That said, Orion jumped the ship back. As soon as they were in range, Sam opened fire, striking all he could. In the few moments, they caused more damage to the mother ship and to many of it's fighters.
"Sir detecting massive energy spikes from...." began Lynn before she was interrupted by the impacting mother ship fire.
"Sam, shield status?" asked Orion as he attempted to evade the ship's fire.
"Shields are still fully active, but we have two generators registering faulty. I'm not sure how long they will remain active," replied Sam.
Just then another hit struck, penetrating the Starboard aft shields. Power surged from the affected area, resulting in the shield generator going down in that location. Knowing what happened Orion engaged the FTL drives and within moments they were out of range.
"Sir, system scan indicates we have lost one shield generator with two others surging. We need to disengage them," urged Lynn.
"Sam power them down," said Orion, as he disengaged the FTL drive system.
The ship, now a fair distance away form the enemy, began to drift in space. Orion left his post, rushing past Lynn and Sam.
"Sir, where are you going? asked Lynn.
"To inspect the damage that we suffered," replied Orion. "Stay at your post and monitor the enemy. Sam I may need your help."
"Yes sir," acknowledged Sam, jumping to his feet and following.
The two made their to the aft section of the ship, one level down, into the main engineering section. The aft starboard shield generator could be seen smoking. It had suffered too much strain, burning itself out.
"Looks like repairs are in order back at the base," said Orion shaking his head. "We can't do anything here at the moment."
"What about the enemy ship?" asked Sam.
"It will have to wait for the moment. We need to make repairs fast, then return to intercept them before they arrive," said Orion.
The two returned to the command deck, where Lynn had some news.
"Sir, the enemy has stopped their approach," said Lynn.
"Stopped?" said Orion in a little astonishment. "That is indeed good news for the moment. We are going to return to the base to make repairs then wait for them to advance again."
Within moments the FTL drive was engaged and soon they arrived back at the base. Over the next day the shield generator was repaired, along with other minor damage.
"Sir, now that repairs are completed, should we not go out and investigate the enemy's current status?" asked Lynn.
"Perhaps we should, but first, go and get some rest with Sam," said Orion.
"Sir," acknowledged Sam immediately as he proceeded to the ship's dormitory.
"Yes Sir, " said Lynn as she turned, also following Sam, until he went in the wrong direction and asked, "where are you going?"
"No point going to my quarters, when this ship has a small dormitory," replied Sam.
"I didn't even consider that," said Lynn pondering for a moment then followed him.
Down below, Orion ran a few more diagnostics, then stored away the extra parts for the shield generators. Soon afterwards, he launched the ship, not knowing the two were still aboard.
Orion returned near to the region where they had last seen the ship. He moved over to the monitoring station to scan the area. The ship was still there, at the edge of the scan, it's entire complement of fighters deployed in a defensive formation. At different intervals, a few at a time, some landed to refuel, then were redeployed.
"Funny how they are keeping a tight formation," Orion said to himself. "Did we cause so much damage that they can only land a few at a time?" he pondered.
Over the next few hours, Orion kept a close watch, while at the same time, working on the design of a new future project, eventually falling asleep.
As Orion fell asleep, Lynn finally awoke. She could no longer sleep and got up. She felt the gravity plating and immediately woke Sam up, shaking him. "Sam, Sam, wake up."
"Whaaaat?" said Sam groggily.
"Sam, something feels wrong. The gravity plating is active," said Lynn.
Sam opened his eyes, still somewhat tired. He looked at her, then began to feel his surroundings. He suddenly jumped up, looked at Lynn and said agreeingly, "you're right. I can also feel it now."
"We should go to the command deck and see what is going on," urged Lynn.
The two quickly made their way up to the command deck, where they found Orion fast asleep, with a strange design on the screen, that seemed unfinished with it's basic design. They looked at it, but could not tell what it was.
Whispering to Lynn, Sam said, "whatever it is he seems to have fallen asleep making this design."
"Indeed he has," agreed Lynn, suddenly looking over at the scanning monitor. "Ummm Sam, we are no longer at the base, but at the edge of the scanning range of the enemy ship."
"He was going to leave us behind," stated Sam. "It's lucky that we stayed aboard."
"Perhaps, but he may be cross at us for being here," said Lynn.
"Yes, but for now we will leave him sleep and keep monitoring till he wakes up," said Sam.
For a short time, they watched silently, then Sam said, "I'm feeling a bit famished. Would you care for anything from the food stores?"
After thinking a moment Lynn replied, "yes I could do with something."
Sam left, shortly returning with a tray full of a variety of items. They ate quietly, while periodically glancing over at the scanning monitor.
Suddenly Lynn dropped the tray she was holding, jumping up onto her feet. She quickly pressed a few switches. Meanwhile as the tray hit the floor, the loud noise it made startled Orion awake. He almost jumped out of his chair. Sam Looked up at Lynn wondering what she was doing and happened to glace at the scanner. He also jumped to his feet and to his station.
Orion groggily looked around seeing the two and said, "what's going on?"
Lynn replied, "Sir, we have incoming fighters."
Just then the impact of the enemy beam weapons could be heard and felt all over the ship.
"What's the ship's status?" asked Orion getting out of the chair, quickly moving to his chair at the helm.
"Sir, I just activated the shields," replied Lynn. "I almost didn't see their approach."
Orion immediately activated the ships propulsion systems. While they powered up, he looked back, noticing the tray of dropped food, and said, "the two of you ate while I slept?"
"Yes sir. Sorry sir. We saw you sleeping soundly and didn't want to disturb you," replied Sam.
"Speaking of which, I thought the two of you were supposed to get some rest?" queried Orion, as he activated the engines, moving away fast from the fighters.
"I saw no point leaving the ship, when there is a dormitory on board," replied Sam.
"I also thought the same after he mentioned where he was going, rather than disembarking from the ship," continued Lynn.
Orion looked at both of them then said, "well I guess it was good thinking, considering the circumstances at the moment. But you should have notified me of your decision."
"Sorry sir, I didn't think of doing so. We both wanted to get some rest quick to be available for you as soon as possible," said Sam.
"We didn't even know you had launched the ship, till I woke up and felt the gravity plating. Then we came up here and found you soundly asleep," said Lynn
"We felt it better to let you get your rest while you could," said Sam.
As Orion maneuvered back around he asked, "how long was I asleep?"
"Almost three hours we were up," replied Lynn, as she monitored all systems and the enemy movement.
"Sam, ready all weapons, we are coming back into range," said Orion.
"Weapons ready Sir," said Sam, as he fired.
"Sir, the enemy mother ship is on approach," reported Lynn.
"Understood," Orion acknowledged. "Sam take out as many fighters as you can, then we will take on the mother ship, after we lure the fighters further away."
For a short time, Orion maneuvered around, gradually moving further and further away from the mother ship, unbeknownst to the pilots. Then he moved off further away, turning about and egging the fighters to follow him. As they approached, he activated the FTL drive, proceeding back to the mother ship.
"Sam, get ready. You will only have a few chances to do as much damage as possible before they can track and strike us," said Orion.
"Aye sir, I am fully ready," replied Sam, readying his quick reflexes.
The strike against the mother ship proved very successful. It soon lost three of its main guns, with multiple turrets completely destroyed. By this time, the fighters had rejoined up, attempting to engage, but Orion withdrew, returning to the perimeter of the scan. The enemy ship, turned back, returning to the asteroid field in order to make repairs.
"Sir we seem to have lucked out again. They have turned around and are leaving," said Lynn.
"Then the mission was successful," said Orion taking a look at the scan. "Now we have a very good chance in completing phase three."
"Do you really think we will have time to complete phase three before they return once more?" asked Lynn.
"Phase three must be completed," replied Orion plotting the course back to the moon. "Each time we battle them, they become wiser to our strategy. They have lost many fighters this round, but are building many more all the time. I fear they will also soon have shielding for the mother ship."
"Sir, up till now there have been no signs of them even having the capability of any kind of shielding," said Lynn.
"Nor did we until we backwards engineered their technology, developing the shielding capability from it," explained Orion.
"Is that how we come to have it sir," spoke Sam in amazement. "I thought our teams developed it in their vast researches, or that you did."
"The base technology came from them. We merely adapted it to new applications. Before that, I had many teams attempting to resolve the theories of the technology," said Orion.
"Sir, if I may ask, how long has the design of phase three been in play?" asked Lynn.
"The design has been coming into play little by little since the moon base was brought fully operational," Orion began to explain. "Without complete technology, we could never fully design it. We merely designed much of the superstructure and did many test by implementing much of it."
"What kind of tests is involved in such, sir?" asked Sam.
"Tests involved in weight carrying, surface impacts, weight carrying impacts, movement stresses in all directions," replied Orion.
"That had to take a long time to accomplish all those tests," remarked Lynn.
"The setup of the tests is what took most of the time. Hooking up so many measuring devices to these tests was very time consuming in order to get the maximum data results," said Orion.
Arriving a short time later, Orion began to set the ship down in the hanger bay of the base, but instead aborted, proceeding to the whereabouts of the phase three ship in low orbit. On the screen they all looked at the partially assembled ship. It was beginning to take shape, with many anti gravitational platforms seen holding it up. The forward section, stood by itself, along with the aft section, assembly being done in between, attempting to join the multiple hull sections together.
"Sir, the ship looks like it will be massive," remarked Lynn.
"I wasn't expecting it to be as large as it is," added Sam.
"It's full length isn't shown yet. A large portion of the propulsion system will be added past what you see as the aft section," said Orion.
"If there is that much, why isn't anyone working on it's assembly?" asked Sam.
"In fact it is being assembled inside the base, in multiple sections. When each section is ready, it will be lifted up into orbit and carefully attached to the aft superstructure," said Orion.
"It seems you have everything properly organized in an efficient manner," said Lynn.
As they flew around the entire ship, they got a very close look of the ship and several more questions began to come to mind for both of them.
"Sir, what is the purpose of having such a bulky ship? Wouldn't something a lot sleaker be far better to have for maneuverability?" asked Sam.
"Indeed a ship like that would be, but this ship is meant to have a lot of raw power, along with a refinery for ore processing and factories to produce new ship parts for more ships to be built in the future," said Orion.
"Seems you are not just thinking for now, but also for the near future of things," said Lynn.
"Indeed," replied Orion flying the ship in between.
"What of this thing we saw on the screen, while you were asleep?" asked Lynn.
"That is phase six. I don't intend to implement it for sometime yet," replied Orion.
"Six, sir?" questioned Sam.
"Yes. Phase six is not meant to take effect till phase four and five are complete," replied Orion. "It will be fully funded by my corporation, when there is enough capitol available."
"What is phase four and five?" asked Lynn.
"Phases four and five, I can't tell you that. It would ruin the surprise," said Orion with a smile on his face.
"That's not exactly fair is it now sir," said Lynn with a look of dismay. "Are we not trustworthy enough?"
"To be truthful, those phases have not yet been fully discussed with the counsel of Generals. Until we finalize it, it can't really be discussed, as it is still under discussions," said Orion.
"Then how could you have a phase six if you don't know what phase four or five truly is?" asked Sam.
"Lets just say that phases four and five are the potential of many variants. Phase six is a definite," said Orion.
Confused, Sam and Lynn looked at each other but said nothing. Orion continued his slow inspection of the incomplete ship, carefully looking at the progress, then set course back to the base and landed.
As they disembarked, Caroline and Barry stood waiting for them. "Caroline, how unexpected to see you in here. What can I do for you?" asked Orion.
"General Zeenner, it's come to my attention, you have moved the timetable of the phase three project up and dispatched all the personnel to work on it. Will you allow us to report on this? Or do we have to wait?" said Caroline.
"Well since the project has been opened up to all the base personnel, I guess it would be fitting to allow you to report on it. But I can't allow you to take any video footage of it. We can't risk having the aliens intercept the broadcast and seeing what we are up to. You will just have to report on it without any visual of it," said Orion.
"But it won't make a good story without the visuals," said Caroline.
"I can't allow it, mainly for the security of the project," said Orion.
"Then will you allow me to interview you about it?" asked Caroline.
"You may," replied Orion.
Turning to Barry, Caroline said, "Lets do it now."
"Alright, let me get prepared," said Barry as he readied his camera. "In Three, two, one, you're on."
"This is Caroline Holt reporting once again from the lunar base. Just a short time ago, I was informed that all the base personnel have been transferred to a single project. A very large one at that. The first interstellar ship of our own. With me, is general Zeenner to shed a little more light on it," she said as Orion came into view. "Now general, why the sudden transfer of all personnel to it?"
"That's a very good question, Miss Holt. The reason I have transferred everyone to it, is that the alien ship is becoming too much to handle for our fleet of fighters. Every confrontation, they seem to become stronger and wiser to our tactics. Without this ship, I fear we would end up losing the battle eventually," replied Orion.
"This ship, I've been told was started some time ago," said Caroline.
"Yes. We have had some of the personnel working on it a long time, assembling portions of the important superstructure. But now it's time to assemble all the portions together and install all the viable technology it needs," said Orion.
"From the research that has been going on, I expect it would have some interesting systems aboard it. Could you tell our viewers about it?" said Caroline.
"Absolutely. One of the most important pieces of tech it will have is the newly developed energy barrier shield system. It's already proven somewhat effective for our fighters, as well as our two gun ships protecting them from enemy fighters. But the enemy mother ship can still pierce through it," said Orion.
"So this shielding will be better effective on the large ship currently under assembly?" asked Caroline.
"Very much so. The large shield generators that will be installed, have a far greater absorption rate," said Orion.
"Basically giving added protection for the size. But what else will it have?" asked Caroline.
"Anti gravity generators are another new tech. I'm sure many of your viewers understand what they are," said Orion.
"Yes, I'm sure they do," said Caroline.
"Another new tech is the FTL drives," said Orion.
"From my basic understanding, that means faster than light, does it not?" said Caroline.
"Quite right, miss Holt," said Orion.
"Could you tel us what this technology will do for the ship?" asked Caroline.
"First off, it will give our ship, the first of many, capability of traveling anywhere in our solar system in a short time, giving us the capability of intercepting the enemy very quickly wherever they go, as well as meeting up with an other further incursions into our solar. Moreover, it will allow us to also travel to neighboring star systems in just a few years time," said Orion.
"Do you actually have plans to leave our solar system, or to avenge the attacks onto their own system?" asked Caroline.
"At the current time we do not, but now that you have raised that question, we may proceed with a diplomatic mission, once we defeat our attackers," said Orion.
"Visiting another world populated by an alien race sounds quite intriguing," said Caroline, pondering her next question. "But what other new technology does this ship have?
"One that isn't very new, but has been redeveloped for use for it, is the advanced scanning systems. We also have artificial gravity systems. Another is our newly developed and enhanced energy weapons. The ship will be equipped with two solid mounts, that can deliver devastating blows, similar to what the enemy has. We will also have a large compliment of energy weapon turrets mounted in various places," replied Orion.
"Energy weapons, is that the only kind of weaponry the ship will have?" asked Caroline.
"At this stage yes. The newly enhanced weapons, are a cross between our tech and the alien tech, from which we salvaged numerous of their own. We managed to fuse both technologies successfully, creating a far more powerful one. We had been developing rail guns and missile systems, but we have found our new energy weapon to be far more efficient and less costly, than the other two," said Orion.
"Then you had plans originally for both?" asked Caroline.
"We did, but now they have been put on the shelf. I still have plans to redevelop the missile systems for long range attack. The energy weapons do have a limited range at which they become ineffective," said Orion.
"Are there any other new technologies in the ship?" asked Caroline.
"Nothing really new for say, but many enhanced technologies that we have had for a long time," replied Orion.
"This ship sounds like it will be quite a marvel when it is done. Will you be permitting me a tour once it is complete?" asked Caroline.
"I think we could arrange a tour at some point, but likely not until this war with our unknown enemy is over," said Orion.
"I look forward to it," said Caroline turning her attention more to the camera now. "Well there you have it folks, the first release of information on our first interstellar ship. I will bring you all up to date more at a later time when I myself have more information and hopefully get to show you footage of what it will look like. For now, this is Caroline Holt signing off for today."
"And were off," said Barry.
"Now that we are off the record, when do Barry and I get to see this ship?" asked Caroline.
"You're dying to see the progress again, aren't you," said Orion.
"Again? You mean you've seen it before?" questioned Barry.
"Sorry Barry, I did month's ago," replied Caroline.
Turning to Orion, Barry asked, "how is it she was allowed and I wasn't?"
"Miss Holt has a way of convincing me. But she was the only one not assigned to the project that got to see it. She also had to promise not to disclose what she saw to anyone. That meant all the staff here not working on it," replied Orion.
"How many knew and worked on it?" asked Barry.
"Possibly a hundred people," replied Orion.
"That's it? No more than that?" said Barry surprised.
"The project has been a secret one till now, when I need everyone to participate one way or another. If there is a sleeper terrorist among us, it won't matter. He or she won't be able to get to the ship without notice or be able to sabotage it at this point," said Orion.
"You think there could be one here?" asked Barry.
"That is irrelevant at this point. What is relevant, is that the project stayed safe," said Orion.