The Wages of War

by Saxon Andrew

  “Why wouldn’t you tell us?” Charlie asked.

  Cami shrugged, “And take away the joy and surprise at finding out, Charlie? I just couldn’t make myself do it.”

  “Well, if I’m only a month, we should still be able to go on this mission and I’ll be back in time.”

  Before RJ and Candy could respond Robert said loudly, “You must not do that!”

  Charlie and Sweets and Cami turned to him, “Why not?” Sweets replied.

  RJ and Candy sat back in their chairs and waited to hear what Robert had to say. “Your baby is in close touch with you telepathically. It senses your feelings like they’re its own. You go out on a dangerous mission and feel threatened and frightened; your baby will feel it as well and it can’t do anything to protect it and you. It could very well start screaming telepathically, and trust me when I say this, your baby is going to have a huge telepathic talent. Any beings close to your vessel will hear it! Subjecting your baby to that level of fear is the worse thing you can do during its development.” Charlie stared into Sweets eyes and turned to Robert. Robert shook his head, “And don’t think that frees you up to go Admiral Grinstead.”

  “Why not?”

  “Your baby has already made a connection with you being its father. She feels the love Sweets has for you and it knows you are important in its life. A long separation would also cause the baby some trauma if you aren’t there.”

  Cami sat back and wondered if what Robert was saying was true. Hell, the baby was only about four-weeks-old. Its brain wasn’t close to being developed at that point. Then she remembered the report of the psychologist that tested her as a child saying that her brain was much further advanced than her age would indicate. Perhaps he was right.

  Charlie looked at Sweets and RJ said, “You are assigned to command the Ready Forces around Britannia, Admiral Grinstead.”

  Sweets turned to Charlie and squealed, “WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!” Charlie took her in his arms as the women in the room got their cue. Taffy, Candy, Abby, and Cami rushed over and started hugging and congratulating them. RJ walked over and pushed them aside as he picked up his daughter and hugged her. His eyes were moist, as Sweets said, “You’re going to be a grandpa.”

  Grady looked around the room and smiled, “To summarize. The Griffin will remain here until that civilization is scouted.”

  Sylvia said, “Sir, I think it would be a good idea for the Griffin to be stationed half-way between the Milky Way and Andromeda in the event our scout needs support.”

  Grady thought a moment and then replied, “That is an excellent idea. Joshua, see if you can come up with another method for our ships to communicate so they won’t be detected.”

  “I think going back to the Robots would solve that issue Grady. They don’t have the same range, but they’ve never been detected.”

  Grady nodded and turned to Robert, “You and Cami will take a scout out to take a close look at that civilization. I’m depending on you to keep her safe.”

  “I will Sir.”

  Grady paused and said, “What you endured is tough to imagine. But you did the right thing staying with your family. I’m proud of you for doing that Robert.”

  “Thank you Sir.”

  “Joshua tells me he’s preparing a new ship for the mission; get with him and go over the changes to the ship he’s constructing.”

  “He’s mentioned it to me Sir. He requested I assist him building it, even if I wasn’t chosen for the mission.”

  Grady nodded and walked over to congratulate his granddaughter.

  Chapter Six

  Cami went with Robert to discuss the mission after the meeting ended. They went to the cafeteria in Fleet Operations and Cami asked as she picked up a tray, “Why are we going on this mission in a Britannia Scout instead of our Garrion?”

  “Your father asked Joshua to make sure the ship we’re sent out on is truly invisible and that includes the gravity drives. Joshua is installing a new stardrive that will keep the gravity drive’s fields inside it. The Britannia Scout also carries more missiles than the Garrion.”

  “Does he think we’ll need them?”

  “He didn’t say…but I’m pretty certain he wants every possible advantage to escape if it’s called for.” Robert paused and said, “This new scout is the next evolution of our current warship and they will come online in about a year. Admiral Henricks doesn’t want to wait that long for us to have one for this mission.”

  Cami walked over to an empty table and Robert sat down with her. She looked at him and said, “You know what I’m going to ask you.”

  “You want to know how I’ve developed my telepathic talent.” Cami nodded. Robert took a bite out of a sandwich and chewed it for a moment before saying, “Calling telepathy a talent is truer than most people know; breathing, eating, sleeping, and other physical processes aren’t considered a talent. But telepathy is a talent.”

  “Tell me what you mean by that?” Cami requested.

  “You know that your telepathy has gotten stronger as you’ve aged?” Cami nodded. “Well, using telepathy is like running; the more you do it, the faster you get and the greater distance you can cover in shorter times. Any talent has to be used and developed for it to grow stronger. While I was stuck at home, I would spend hours in my room seeing what I could do with my talent.”

  Cami shook her head, “I’m not following you.”

  “Well, you know there’s no way to stop from hearing the thoughts of people around you, right.”

  “It kept me up when I was younger until I was able to just ignore it. But you’re right, it was always there.”

  “When I was fourteen, I learned how to stop the roar.”

  “What?!”

  “It was an accidental discovery. One of my neighbors was crying and their thoughts overwhelmed me. I closed my eyes, put my head inside a large metal pot, and tried everything I could think of to stop it. Then I focused on their thoughts and wished I couldn’t hear them. Well, the thoughts disappeared.”

  Cami was shaking her head, “I’ve tried that numerous times and it never worked.”

  “That’s because you actually thought it as a statement. I thought it and didn’t focus on it.” Robert paused, and then added, “It was like watching an accident about to happen and you’re focused on what you’re seeing but you say without paying attention, ‘Boy! Somebody is going to get hurt’, in the back of your mind.”

  Cami was shaking her head, “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “But it works,” Robert replied. “It took me about a year to perfect the process. I learned how to block out any thoughts near me and eventually, all thoughts inside my telepathic range.”

  Cami stared at him and said, “Go on.”

  “Once I learned how to do that, I started looking for the most distant thoughts I could hear to see if I could block them out. You’d be surprised how far you can hear when you’re not being overwhelmed by millions of thoughts barraging your mind. I suspect you don’t even try to hear when you’re hearing the roar of thousands.”

  “I don’t.”

  “And that’s why my range is so much longer than yours. Eliminate the roar and it’s easy to hear things far out beyond your normal hearing.” Cami nodded slightly with her head down. Robert watched her and added, “There are other talents you can develop but they all hinge on you being able to block other’s thoughts.”

  “I’m going to work on doing this.”

  “You should learn how to do it a lot quicker than I did.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because I had no idea it could be done. You know it can and that will make a huge difference. Let me know how it goes.”

  Cami nodded and asked Robert about his childhood. Robert told her and they sat and enjoyed their meal.

  • • •

  That evening, Cami took off her helmet and heard the large roar of thoughts wash over her. She focused on them and thought, “I don’t want to hear
you!” Nothing changed. She struggled for hours until she finally gave up and put the helmet back on. Maybe Robert had something she didn’t.

  The next morning, she took the helmet off, heard the roar and walked into the kitchen. Taffy looked at her, “What do you want for breakfast?”

  “The usual Mom.” Taffy began asking her questions about Robert and she sighed and reached for her helmet, “I wish I didn’t hear this.” Suddenly, the roar vanished.

  Taffy saw her expression, “What’s wrong?”

  Cami smiled, “Nothing. I’m hungry.”

  Taffy nodded and continued cooking. But Cami found she couldn’t bring the roar back; she had to find Robert.

  • • •

  She knew Robert was working with Uncle Joshua and she left her room and went out into the large corridor outside her underground home. There were thousands of people walking around and she didn’t hear them. She headed toward the carts to take her out to the construction facility and thought, “I wish I could hear them,” as she watched a family walking past her. Suddenly, their thoughts instantly appeared in her mind. Her head went back, and she focused on them. ‘It would be nice to hear everyone,” she thought as she listened to them and suddenly, she grabbed her head with both hands. The silence of receiving no thoughts had made the normal roar sound much louder. She blew out a breath and let it wash over her. After a few moments, she could deal with it. She smiled and wondered if it was just this easy. Why hadn’t she discovered this in the past? She thought about it and thought as she reflected on it, “I wish it was quieter.” The roar disappeared again. Now she knew. She had always focused on the roar and thought about how to remove it. It never dawned on her to request it while focusing on it. This was a tricky way to make this happen and she struggled to control it. She decided that before she went to see Robert, she was going to have to…practice doing this. She blew out a breath and started walking down the corridors of the underground city trying to control this new talent.

  • • •

  A week later, Cami decided it was time to go and see Robert. He was right about the only way to develop a talent was to use it. The almost subconscious requests had become almost second nature to her; she had spent all her waking hours working on it. But he did things out in Andromeda that she just couldn’t do. She took a cart out to the Construction Facility and showed the guards her ID. She found Joshua and Robert working on a ship that was different from the current warship being used by Britannia. It was slightly larger than the current model and the corridor was wider. She boarded and found them working on a wiring harness on the bridge. Robert looked up and Cami smiled, “I can do it.”

  “Do what?” Joshua asked.

  “Good morning, Uncle Joshua. I learned how to do something Robert taught me.”

  Robert wiped his hands on a towel and asked, “Can you bring the roar back?”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “Are you able to find a specific person in the roar?”

  “What?”

  Robert smiled, “Have you been able to find a specific person you want to find in the roar?”

  “I didn’t know that’s possible.”

  “You use the same process to make it disappear and come back. Focus on the roar and search for the one you want to hear.”

  “But how can I hear them over the roar?”

  Robert hesitated and his eyes narrowed, “You have to get everything in the roar to go away except for the person you’re trying to find.”

  “Oh! Is that all?” Cami replied.

  “It’s not easy, but it can be done. Congratulations on developing your skills. When you’re able to find someone, come back and we’ll discuss what’s next.”

  “But…”

  “Cami, we’re really busy at the moment!” Joshua said to her. Cami sighed and walked off the ship. She blew out a breath and decided that she would work on the process and get with Robert after he called it a day working on the ship. She focused on finding Justin, but the roar just overwhelmed her. She tried everything she could think of, but nothing worked. If she blocked the roar, then the thoughts of the person she was seeking to find were blocked with it. She quickly discovered that finding a specific person had to be done with the roar present.

  After four hours, she blocked the roar and thought about it. This had to be done almost subconsciously and it involved two things to be done simultaneously; shut down the roar but leave the person’s thoughts she was seeking unblocked. Ummm…she had to do it as a sort of aside thought.

  She unblocked the roar and tried to find Sweets, which turned out to be another dismal failure. She looked at her communicator and saw it was getting late. Taffy was going to worry about her! She lifted the communicator and thought, “I wish I could hear my mother,” as she started to press Taffy’s number.

  Suddenly she heard, “Cami?”

  The roar was gone, and she quickly pulled herself together, “Mom, I’m still at the construction facility and I’ll be late getting home.”

  “Let me know when you’ll arrive, and I’ll have supper ready.”

  “Thanks Mom, I love you.”

  Cami sat back in the chair and thought about what just happened. It made sense. But she discovered it by not being focused on finding Taffy. She distracted herself and that allowed her subconscious to carry out her wish. Ummm… she turned the roar back on and lifted her communicator. She pulled up Sweets number and suddenly heard, “What’s up Cami?”

  Cami smiled, “Have you decided on a name for your baby?”

  “Since the surprise of having a baby has been taken away, we’re not going to find out what sex it is. And don’t tell me if you know!”

  “I won’t. Have a great evening.”

  “You too Cams.”

  After another two hours, she could do it without the communicator. At that point, Robert and Joshua came out of the ship and Robert walked over to her, “Boy, you are one driven individual.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I could hear you on the ship. But you nailed it. It took me a lot longer to perfect the process.”

  “What are you going to do now?”

  Robert shrugged, “I’m headed to the cafeteria for dinner.”

  “Why don’t you come home and eat with me. I want to discuss what’s going on.”

  “I don’t want to cause an issue.”

  Cami smiled and said, “Mom, do you mind if Robert comes with me for dinner?”

  “I look forward to it! How long before you arrive?”

  “About thirty minutes.”

  “See you then.”

  Robert tilted his head, “You did that pretty fast.”

  “It’s easier when you’re contacting someone you know well. But I suspect you know that, right?” Robert smiled and nodded. Cami stood up, “Let’s go grab a cart.” They exited the facility and went to the tubes connecting the city with the construction facility.

  • • •

  Taffy and Grady were at the table waiting for their arrival and the dinner was a lot of fun. Robert told them about the new warship being built and Cami had numerous questions. Finally Robert shook his head, “Cami, I’m the engineer on this project. You’re going to have to ask Joshua about the science of it.”

  “Don’t you understand the science of it?”

  Robert chuckled, “I’ve just been explaining it to you for the last hour and I’m not getting through.” Robert paused and then said, “Contact Joshua and ask him your questions.”

  Grady looked at Robert, “Can she do that? There’s thousands of people between us and his location.”

  Robert shrugged, “We’ve been working on her being able to do it. Give it a go Cami.”

  Cami’s brow furrowed and she tried to get through to Joshua but failed. She finally shook her head and turned to Robert, “I’m not able to do it.”

  “Try this Cami; focus on your questions not Joshua.”

  Cami thought about her questions and said absently, “I
wish I could ask him.”

  “Cami?”

  Cami smiled and opened her mind to broadcast the conversation, “Uncle Joshua, Robert has been trying to explain the changes in the new ship you’re building and I’m having difficulty understanding the changes. Do you have a minute to help me?”

  “Go ahead.”

  “He says we won’t need our reactors to power our ship when we’re in Andromeda. How is that possible?”

  “The new ship has a new way to turn the impellers in the generators and won’t require the reactors to turn them except in combat conditions.”

  “Then what’s turning them?”

  “We’ve removed the tanks used for the air thrusters and replaced them with new tanks and collectors.”

  “What will they be collecting?”

  “They’ll be collecting dark matter,” Joshua replied.

  Grady’s head went back as Cami said, “Say what?!”

  “The collectors on the front of the new ship will channel dark matter into the storage tanks and compress it to an extraordinary level. The dark matter can be released by the thruster nozzles to fly the ship and as long as you’re inside Andromeda, there will be an abundant supply of dark matter to keep the tanks filled. The tanks will also be connected to the generators and the compressed dark matter will spin the impellers.”

  “But I thought dark matter didn’t react or make contact with normal matter.”

  “It doesn’t Cami. But we’ve managed to coat the impellers on the outer edge of their blades with a coating of dark matter. That coating does react with the high pressure coming from the holding tanks. The inner side of the impellers will be spun by the reactors as they normally function.”

  “Will the ship be as fast using dark matter to thrust it?”

  “No, it will only fly at half the maximum speed of the reactors. But that is still faster than our old warship and as long as there is a supply of dark matter around you, you won’t run out of fuel. If you had them during your first mission to Andromeda, you could have shut down all your systems and slipped away undetected.”

  Grady said, “Cami, patch me in the conversation.” Cami nodded and Grady thought, “What about the power of the blasters when using dark matter to power the generators?”