Guardian Stone 1: Stone Genesis by Don Koch Read Free Book Online

and promised that not a word about the experience would be shared until Hank said OK. Those Marines that were married brought their wives as well. Barana appeared to be enjoying her role as coordinator of the event and dressing up those that wanted to dress up.
    Hank put on his Station dress uniform for the first time and liked its appearance, probably influenced by the fact that is was similar to his USMC dress blues. The service insignia was similar, the eagle and anchor were the same however the globe was replaced with a starburst. His rank was the same as that worn by Eisenhower, MacArthur, Bradley, and Nimitz and granted to eight others in US history, the ring of five stars. The uniform had no buttons and the seams were almost undetectable. The medals were all there as well.
    Then the time came to start. Fador asked for everyone's attention and opened the ceremony with, "Good day to all of you. My name is Fador. This station and I are from the planet Antor and that is about 3,150 light years from here. It is my distinct pleasure to welcome all of you to this Station for a most happy event, the marriage of Henry Stone and Samantha Reever. I have not seen a more appropriate pairing than that you are here to witness. Many of you will have many questions about this station and its presence here at this time. I wish to assure you it is not here to interfere in the activities in which the people of Earth are engaged and intends only good will to her people. For now, I ask that you keep this station's presence secret until its presence is announced. The reason for this will become quite clear and I will personally brief all of you who are interested following the reception. Also we wish to avoid the panic that frequently arises from the unknown. I promise that all of you will be provided with personal contact as events come about and I sincerely hope to see each of you back to visit the station."
    "At this point I would like to introduce the Supreme Commander of the Antoran fleet. I am assured he will have little to say because he is saving his words for someone else today. I give you the Commanding General of the Fleet of Antoran Stations, Henry P. Stone formerly of the United States Marine Corps. This brought about some "Oorah"s from the attending Marines and a startled look from Colonel Adams and the Reevers. At that point the processional music began and Hank took his place followed by Colonel Adams. They then took their positions for the wedding and the bridal procession filed out onto the chalet deck where the ceremony was to be performed with a clear view for all the attendees. The whole affair looked like something that had been months in the planning and preparation, not the less than two hours it actually took to execute.
    The wedding proceeded quickly and was very much a traditional wedding. Father Tom was clearly having a good time and threw in a bit of humor at the appropriate times. Plain gold wedding bands were produced and they were a perfect fit. This was some more of Barana's doing. Following the wedding ceremony, there were ten pairs of swords to pass under, the traditional arch of swords for the newly wedded couple. As the couple approached each pair of swords, the swords were slowly lowered to the horizontal and the Marines holding the swords would announce that the price of passage was that Hank kiss Sam. Hank and Sam enjoyed this little piece of Marine/Naval tradition but it took them ten kisses to progress through the gauntlet. They, of course, were not objecting.
    The reception was a joyous occasion as well. Hank and Sam had a chat with Colonel Adams and asked if they could meet the following week to discuss what this was all about. The Colonel agreed and said that he would get the rundown from Hanks parents while Hank and Sam were otherwise occupied. Similar discussions were made with others from his old outfit. After about three hours of the usual wedding reception events including the toast, the