It had only been twenty four hours since Treecy had been rescued by the crew of the Nemo. If the Nemo's network had been linked to the game, then her Popski had gone from a three to a ten. Everyone in the squadron wanted to know her or at least talk with her since she was in their minds from the far distant future. Treecy found out that the way the Nemo's network functioned she could play a few interactive war games, a few ancient puzzle games that were much too easy for her, and a few ancient sports games that were again far too easy for her.

As for the crew of the Nemo, they just saw her as a superhero. She was faster, stronger, smarter, and ridiculously beautiful. No matter what game she tried, she was the best... Even the war games which were unknown to her before she tried them became easy with her reflexes and ability to think. She was a genetically perfect human. The result of thousands of years of science and engineering advances.

Colonel John and the other officers met in a conference room aboard the ship. "Zigs, have you thought up a way to override her presidential authority over the network?" Colonel John looked over at his chief engineer.

The man had black circles under his eyes, "Colonel, to be honest, I haven't got a clue as to what to do with that problem. Do you want us to push that one to be our highest priority? We have all we can handle with just the math on getting to a stargate."

Colonel John nodded and then looked at another officer, "Kumiko, you've been monitoring Miss de Santos, what can you tell us about her?"

"She's at the top of any chart we have, sir. Medically she is as fit as any human ever tested. Athletically she is beyond the greatest male athlete ever studied. IQ tested at 400. Her scores from gameplay are off the charts. If she was a soldier I would recommend her for command, special forces, and special duty... I would say she is perfect." Kumiko raised her hands in defeat.

Another officer nodded and said, "On top of all that, she's charming. Every man and woman that has interacted with her is showing signs of being in love with her."

Another female officer balled up her fists and said softly, "She's extremely dangerous. I advise that we restrict her freedoms even further."

Kumiko looked at the woman and asked, "Jealous Mo?" Raising an eyebrow and looking at the other woman with a hint of a smile on her face.

"Damn it Kumiko, I am not jealous, I am serious. She is very dangerous. She casually talks about how the military doesn't exist in the future and here we are trying to maintain Military Authority. We won't survive if the crew starts to question that authority." Mo frowned at Kumiko.

"I agree, so let's make it an order." Colonel John tapped his finger on the table. "I want access to Treecy de Santos limited to only the top brass. I know she outranks me according to the ship and squadron computers, so there is nothing we can do about limiting her access to the grid. I want her confined to quarters at all times. We'll allow her to dine with us in the officer's mess. Make sure that everyone knows to give her space in the game room."

Every officer around the table nodded in agreement. He pushed a button on the table and said out loud, "Computer, at time 16:27 pass this order to all vessels. Access to Treecy de Santos is limited to Captain and above. Colonel Donald G John, commanding." He turned to his chief engineer and asked, "Tell me about our other major disaster, do you have any more ideas?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

The man with black circles under his eyes nodded, "Yes sir, we have been using the long-range telescopes to look for any potential stargates we can get to with sublight speeds in this section of space and we think we might have found a system that looks promising. It's gonna take at least three years to reach, thanks to relativistic effects we'll just make it with our current supplies. The problem will only be if there is no gate in the system."

Colonel John nodded, "We don't have the luxury of playing it safe, we're committing to that system. If there isn't a gate there we'll start looking for a way to resupply or colonize. Did that girl's vessel have anything we could use to activate a gate?"

"Yes sir, that's the good news she had a working gate interface. We'll need her to activate it when the time comes. My guys are tying it into the Nemo as long as we slave the rest of the squadron to the Nemo we can bring the squadron through." The chief engineer smiled.

"Outstanding, Zigs! Ok, for now, let's get the squadron heading toward that system." Colonel John smiled confidently.

Once the order came down for Treecy to be off limits to all but the top brass for Treecy it was just like having her Popski go from a ten back down to a three. Instead of being surrounded at all times on the Nemo's virtual game deck, only an officer or two would watch her as she played. Without a crowd, the games became even less fun so Treecy found herself only separating a smaller portion of her attention to the virtual world. In the small cabin they had assigned to her she found a copy of the military rules so she spent her time memorizing the rules.

At the officer's mess during the next meal time, Treecy sat with the officers and asked something odd, "According to the rule book you left me, a college student can ask to be admitted to officer school, is that right?"

Colonel John smiled and nodded, "Yep, we all went to school, some officers went to a regular college but most of us went to various military schools. A military school is like a normal college only we are treated as soldiers and have to follow military structure and discipline."

Treecy smiled and nodded, "Then I would like to formally request to be allowed to join officer school."

Colonel John choked on his food for a moment, "Come again?"

Treecy smiled and then explained herself, "Well, you see we are currently outside of the known human territory, therefore my neurolink isn't connected to the network at large. My neurolink is connected to the local area network here aboard the Nemo. I have read the rule book and it said you have to be between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three to join. I am currently twenty years old which means I meet the age requirement. My home planet is also within the boundaries of the old Federation. So, it only makes sense for me to join the military as it appears that the rest of my life will be spent with you."

One of the officers chuckled and said, "Unless there is a stargate in that system you mean."

Treecy made a strange face, "Why would there be a stargate outside of known human territory?"

Colonel John held up his hand for silence, "Treecy, what were you taught about stargates?"

Treecy looked around at the different officers and then smiled, "Well, we were taught that during the great war Federation scientists built the first working stargate and then discovered long-distance communication by piggybacking the energy used by the stargate. The first versions of the network were built a few years after the war and that's how we ended all war."

Everyone around the table facepalmed and a couple of people said out loud, "Those idiots."

Colonel John raised his hand for silence once again, "Treecy, what caused the great war?"

Treecy blushed a little, "Um, I told you I am not an expert, but what we are taught is that the great war was fought over control of the galaxy, um, the origin of humanity. Oh, and resources."

Everyone around the table groaned and a few more facepalms with one woman angrily dropping her fork on her plate. "Seriously?" She shook her head.

Colonel John raised his hand for silence, "Treecy, we didn't build the stargates. We found them. That's what started the great war, control over the gates." He took a deep breath, "Back on Earth where humanity started, several groups left and formed colonies on other worlds. These colonies were separated by insurmountable distances. The first settlers that left from Earth were throwing away all ties to the Earth by leaving. After several thousands of years technology improved to the point the first colonies that had been established were able to contact each other again. Each of these colonies were worlds with billions of humans."

Treecy raised her hand and then asked, "Wait, if you didn't build the stargates, how are they in every system?"

"They were hidden in plain sight, Treecy. What the Federation scientists discovered and nearly all the individual colonies discovered was the signal that brought the stargate out of hiding." Colonel John sighed softly.