by Saxon Andrew
“Yeah, but…”
“So, I am as well, Ed. Your excitement is contagious.”
“You need to practice going out and getting back on board from different distances, Bong.”
“You’re right. I’ll start immediately and let you know what I discover.”
“Good!”
• • •
Bobby appeared on the Defense Facility and Cali was waiting, tapping her foot, “Did you tell him?!”
“I did.”
“And?”
“He didn’t say either way.”
“I have to go with him!”
“You still have some time to persuade him, Cali.”
“He can be so stubborn!”
“You need to stop telling him how your going will be better for him.”
“What?”
“Tell him how it will affect you if he doesn’t allow you to go.” Bobby walked away to the dark energy lab and Cali thought about his suggestion.
• • •
Later that evening, Eddie teleported to the defense facility and went to the labs. He looked around and asked Bobby, “Have you seen Cali?”
“I saw her earlier this afternoon. I haven’t seen her since.”
Eddie nodded and thought about where she could be. She was always in the labs until late…where was she?” He left the labs. went to her quarters, and pressed the entry button.”
“Who is it!” Eddie heard her tone and wondered what was wrong.
“It’s me, Eddie.”
The door opened, and Eddie walked in, to find Cali siting on her be with red eyes, “What do you want?!”
“You weren’t in the lab and I wondered where you were. What’s wrong?”
“Why would you care?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Cali wiped her eyes with a tissue and looked at him with a tear rolling down her cheek, “You’re being completely selfish, and I can’t deal with it any longer.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you taking me with you?”
“Cali…”
“SEE! THAT’S WHAT I MEAN. YOU’RE GOING TO FLY OFF AND NOT CONSIDER MY FEELINGS AT ALL! YOU’RE HORRIBLE!”
Eddie walked over to her bed and sat down, “Cali, I don’t understand.”
“How do you think I’m going to feel left behind not knowing what’s happening to you? I’ll be miserable, and you don’t care!”
“I’d rather you be miserable than dead, Cali.”
Cali’s eyes flashed her anger, “Ok, Mr. Selfish! Let’s reverse it.”
“What?”
“Let’s say the Queen decides you are too important to risk doing this and I take the ship out; how would you feel then!?
Eddie’s eyes narrowed, before he said, “I would never allow that to happen.”
“Sure, but you’ll walk off and leave me behind! You didn’t answer my question…how would you feel having to stay here and worry about what was happening.” Eddie stared at her. “ANSWER ME!!”
Eddie jerked and then said, “I can’t.”
“Then you should leave me here with my sorrow. Please go!”
“But…”
“JUST GO!!”
Eddie stood up and walked to the door. He turned around and saw Cali’s face in her hands. He turned and left the room. Cali sat on her bed and wept. She intended to use this argument to make him give in…but…once she started thinking about him being gone without her, the truth hit her dead in the heart. She was telling the truth and it was almost more than she could bear.
The door chimed, and Cali pressed the button opening it. Eddie stepped in and sighed, “I cannot bear seeing you like this and I know I would feel the same if you left me behind. I hate the idea of putting you in danger, but I hate this more. Whatever happens, we’ll go together.”
Cali jumped off the bed and ran into his arms. Eddie didn’t leave until the next morning, when Eddie contacted Bobby, “Please move the controls for the scanners and defenses in front of the second chair.”
“Yes, Sir.” The monitor went dark and Bobby smiled, Cali was going with Dr. Taylor.
• • •
A week later, Eddie was working in the lab and heard, “How’s it going Doctor?” He looked up and saw Tag. Mr. Gardner, what brings you to this neck of the woods?”
“I have something I need you to see.”
“Exactly what is this about?”
“Dr. Taylor, I want you to see the civilization that’s threatening the Realm.”
“Will this be a private showing?”
“No, you can invite anyone you want; however, they will be sworn to secrecy on what they see.”
Eddie looked around the lab and shouted loudly, “EVERYONE TAKE A BREAK AND COME WITH ME!”
Tag raised his eyebrows, “Do you want everyone to see this?”
“They’ll see things that I might miss, Your Majesty.”
Eddie led the students and Tag to a large lecture hall. Eddie pointed to the front table, “The controls are on the console.”
Cali sat down beside Eddie, “What’s going on?”
“The King wants to show us what we’re up against.”
“I didn’t know we were up against anything?”
Eddie shook his head, “California Allison Roberts, why do you think I was drafted into the military?”
“I don’t know! You’re not a soldier type.”
Eddie sighed and lowered his head, “Just watch what he’s brought and tell me what you think, please!”
“Sure.”
Tag put the datacube in the reader and looked up. He saw everyone talking among themselves and announced in a loud voice,
“WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEE IS AN ATTACK BEING MADE BY A CIVILIZATION MORE THAN FOUR-THOUSAND-YEARS AGO. THAT CIVILIZATION NOW REPRESENTS A THREAT TO THE REALM. THIS IS VIDEO TAKEN FROM A PROBE AT ONE OF THE PLANETS BEING ATTACKED AND I WOULD APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT ON WHAT YOU SEE!!” Tag pressed the play button on the console and the room grew silent.
The gathering heard Sprigly and Ken’s narration as the video played and Tag saw their curious expressions slowly change to horror. Cali leaned in and whispered to Eddie, “Are you going to that civilization?”
Eddie raised his shoulders, “I think that’s the whole idea of building the Dark Knight. I hope you can see why I don’t want you to go.”
Cali looked up into his eyes, “I don’t want you to go!”
“I don’t have a choice; you do.”
“Of course, you have a choice! Just tell them you won’t do it!”
“Cali, I was drafted into the military, you weren’t. I have no option but to follow my orders.”
Cali started shaking her head, “You’re not a soldier…you’re a college professor. Send one of the professionals to do this!”
“We’ll discuss this after the video ends; please be quiet until then,” Eddie pleaded. They turned back to the video just as the giant OA Mothership appeared. Cali’s eyes flew wide open and she decided that Eddie was not going anywhere near those monsters!
The video finally ended, and Tag pulled the cube out of the controller. He looked out at the gathering and said, “As it stands right now, nothing we have in our military’s inventory can stand up to those warships, much less the giant mothership. Our blasters would be less than ineffective against their force fields and even if we crashed our strongest warships into them, they’d fail to penetrate the force fields you’ve just seen.”
“Why did you show us this, Your Majesty?” Eddie asked.
“Because we must go and scout their universe to see what we’re up against.”
“YOU CAN AlREADY SEE THAT!” Cali shouted.
Tag turned to her and smiled, “As I said before I started this video, these images were taken four-thousand-years ago. I imagine a lot has changed during that time, and we need to know the numbers this civilization can send to attack us.”
“WHY DOES THAT MATTER! TEN OF THOSE SHIPS CAN DEFEAT ANY PLANE
T THEY ATTACK!” Eddie took Cali’s hand and shook his head. Cali sat back and glared at Tag.
“We’re aware of that Miss Roberts. Do you suggest we just sit back and wait for them to come to the Ream?”
Cali continued to Glare at Tag and Eddie said, “The force fields they use are generated in a peculiar manner.”
Everyone in the room turned to Eddie and Tag quickly asked, “What do you mean by that, Dr. Taylor?”
“It’s not homogeneous.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying?”
“Your Majesty, most force fields completely surround a ship and are the same strength at every point in the field.” Eddie pointed at the monitor, “Those force fields used on those ships are created at a specific emitter and wrap around the ship until it joins it again at the emitter. The place where it joins must be a critical junction that can’t be as strong as the rest of the field.”
Tag glanced at the monitor with an image of a OA warship frozen on it, “And you can see that in the video?”
“It’s pretty obvious. The lines of force are all moving in one-direction around the ship; they have a starting and ending point on the ship’s hull.” Tag stared at Eddie and he exhaled hard, before saying, “I can see the energy flow, Your Majesty. Every ship I saw on that video had the same flow around them.”
“Why do you think they built it that way?”
“Your Majesty, instead of having to power numerous emitters around the ship’s hulls, they only need to feed power into two-powerful-emitters and they can be made to handle much higher-power than a standard force fields’ numerous emitters.” Tag stared at Eddie and he said, after a few moments of silence, “I saw where those force fields came back together and there is a tiny gap in them. It’s not very large, but it is a vulnerability.”
Tag smiled, “Did you see anything else, Dr. Taylor?”
“Yes, those creatures exited their ships through that juncture.”
Tag shook his head and smiled slightly, “Dr. Taylor, this is the first good news we’ve had since we found these videos.”
“They’re pretty stupid doing it that way.”
Tag’s smile disappeared, “Why do you say that?”
“All they had to do was have the two-collection elements located back under the sending emitters and there wouldn’t be a gap,” Eddie replied.
Tag leaned back in his chair, “Dr. Taylor, if we changed our force fields to mimic this design, would they be more powerful?”
“That would depend on how much power you fed into the emitters and if they could handle it.”
Tag nodded, “Could you find out if I sent you some warships to trial it on?”
“I’m currently tied up in the building the Dark Knight.”
“Do you have some of your staff that could work on it?”
“They would need some assistance to do it. I don’t have enough staff to pull off the project, but a few of my newer staff members could do it.”
Tag smiled, “I’ll have the ships here immediately along with a team of our top scientists and engineers to assist them.”
“We’ll do what we can to find out, Your Majesty.”
“Dr. Taylor?”
Eddie turned to Bobby, “Yes.”
“What if we used compressed dark energy to power the field and form the field around the ship?”
Eddie thought a moment and his eyes narrowed, “I’m not sure the power would be high enough?”
“It would certainly be higher than what is currently being used and if the emitters send out the field in polarized pulses…”
Eddie tilted his head, “They would possibly be undetectable by normal energy scanners.”
“Can you try it out and see, Dr. Taylor?” Tag asked quickly.
Eddie scowled, “I don’t have any one capable of making the items needed to do this, Your Majesty.”
“I can do it.”
“Bobby, I need you working on the Knight!”
“I’ve completed constructing all the components needed to complete the final systems, Doctor. I can always back off and come back if you encounter an issue,” Bobby replied quickly.
“Dr. Taylor, we have millions of warships that are useless against this civilization,” Tag interrupted. “If you can give us something to make them useful, it would be something the Realm needs desperately.”
Eddie shook his head, “I can tell you that constructing the parts to build a dark energy force field will take at least a year.”
“Doctor, at the moment, we have nothing. If it takes a year or longer, we’re willing to invest the time.”
Eddie sighed, “Bobby, build them a normal force field with standard emitters and once you’ve done that, start working on the dark energy field.”
“Thank you, Dr. Taylor.”
Eddie turned to Tag, “You’re getting my best engineer. Make sure he has the support he needs to make this happen.”
Tag turned to Bobby, “Give me a list before I leave. You’ll get whatever you want.” Bobby nodded and smiled.
Eddie stood up, “Everyone else get back to the lab and get back to work.” Cali reached up, put her hand on his arm, and pulled on it. Eddie looked at her and she nodded to his chair. Eddie sat back down, as Tag left with Bobby and the others left for the lab. “What?” Eddie asked.
“Why did you have to show off!”
Eddie’s eyes widened, “Just what do you mean by that?”
“If you had just kept quiet, we might have been able to keep you from going out to scout that civilization! Now the King see’s that you must be sent to scout them.”
Eddie stared at Cali and then asked, “Did you happen to watch that video?”
“I did! And they’re off the scale dangerous!”
“Cali, what would happen if what you’re suggesting actually happened and I didn’t go out to scout that civilization and the Realm didn’t develop a stronger force field?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t have a family, Cali, but you do. What would happen to your sister, brother, and parents if that civilization shows up here?”
“We’re in the Dark Dimension, Eddie, they would be safe here,” Cali replied smugly.
“How do you know that?”
“What?”
“How do you know this civilization doesn’t have a dimensional drive?”
“That’s not very likely.”
“And that’s not an answer.”
“I don’t want to lose you, Eddie.”
“But you have no issue putting all the trillions of lives in the Realm in jeopardy to save ourselves, right?” Cali was silent, and Eddie said, “You won’t be making the trip with me.”
“EDDIE…”
“I don’t want someone with me that is going out in fear and trembles at doing anything dangerous. I decided to go on this voyage to make sure that civilization did not kill you, and I can see you aren’t up to the task. You’re not going!”
Eddie stood up and walked out of the lecture hall. Cali closed her eyes and blew out a hard breath. Eddie didn’t realize he wasn’t the warrior type and that someone else would have to do this. But she now knew, she had messed up royally. Eddie was not going to change his mind now. How could she prevent him from taking this huge risk?
Chapter Nine
“Eddie.”
“Yes, Bong.”
“Cali is saying that you are taking a dangerous risk going through with this voyage.”
“Bong, did you watch that video?”
“Yes, I was there.”
“Tell me where no risk exists, and be honest.”
“She’s asked me to talk you out of going.”
“Answer my question, please.”
“She also asked me to refuse to go and put you in such danger.”
“Bong, answer the question!”
Bong was silent for a very long moment, before starting, “I think it’s safe to say that if we don’t go out in the Dark Knight, the Realm
will send another ship to do the scouting.”
“And what will happen if that ship is detected by that civilization?”
Bong hesitated and then answered, “Then the odds of them showing up in the Realm soon goes up…a lot.”
“So, what can reduce the risk?”
“You’ve made your point, Ed.”
“Answer me; I need to know you really see it.”
“You see my thoughts, Ed.”
“Going out in the Dark Knight will reduce the odds of the Realm being detected. The risk is reduced, even if it’s higher for me personally,” Eddie stated. “Either way, this risk is something we must take. At least we’re not sitting and doing nothing but waiting for this civilization to attack.”
“You know Cali will not give up on trying to stop you.”
“I’ve ordered the Defense Facility to send her home.”
“Oh Boy!”
“I know. But at least she’ll be safe.”
“You may lose a friend over this.”
“She’s more than a friend now, Bong. But at least she’ll be safe.”
“Are you going to talk to her?”
“I promised I’d always be available, so there’s no option there. But her going to you to try and sabotage this mission makes it clear, I have no choice; she’ll have to understand.”
• • •
Cali waited in her quarters for Bong to tell her how her conversation with him went. The chime rang on her door and she opened it. A navy Captain was standing in the door way, “California Roberts, I’ve come to notify you that you will be teleported to your home. I’ll be sending your belongings after I have them boxed up. The Captain raised a device and Cali screamed, “WAIT!!” An instant later, she was standing in her parent’s living room.
Eddie sat in his quarters and waited. He was just notified by Captain Kuhn that Cali had been teleported out of the Defense Facility. He started counting, “One…two…three…four…” Cali appeared on his monitor, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”
“If you can’t refrain from yelling, I’ll wait to talk with you when you can.”
Cali’s expression showed her rage, but she forced herself under control. Finally, she asked him, “Why…did…you…do…this?”
“You tried to persuade Bong not to go on this mission; that failed. I know that you will not give up trying to stop me from going and I don’t have the time or motivation to prevent you from doing that.”