by Saxon Andrew
“According to Poul, there are some nasty aggressive civilizations on the other side of the singularity.”
“Yes, it appears there are. And this falls under Death Prophecy Seven: only knowledge can save you. You are not being sent there to confront any possible enemy you may find there.”
“I thought I was going to go through and immediately returning.”
“No, if you make it through, you will take a look around to see what we’re up against. We’ll give you two weeks and look for you on the fourteenth day. If you don’t show up, we’ll look at sending another ship using a different method.” Dillon stared at him and Connor shrugged, “If what we suspect is true, your ship should be in that no-space between that universe’s void and normal space. You should be invisible and we need to collect as much information as possible at every opportunity.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Dillon, make it back.”
“I’ll do everything I can to make that happen, Sir.”
“Go to your ship and head out. I’ll see you two weeks from today.” Dillon stood up and saluted. Connor returned it and Dillon did an about face and left the office. Connor pressed a button on his console, “Do you think he’ll make it through, Poul?”
“I really don’t know. This is unknown territory for all of us and I guess we’ll find out in two weeks.”
“Have you communicated with his computer?”
“I have and I must say that it’s really remarkable. It asked questions that stumped me and it appears to have been working on this for a long time.”
“I’m really tempted to call this off and look for another volunteer. This admiral is needed alive.”
“All of them are, Steve. If anyone can do it, this one has put in the most time figuring out how to do it.”
“I know. Find out what you can about this woman he wants to support. He had to have met her during his time off. She must really have made an impression on him.”
“I’ll tap into Personnel’s database and see what I can find out.”
Connor leaned back in his chair and the communicator began buzzing. This was going to drive him crazy. He picked it up and said, “Admiral Connor.”
• • •
Dillion saw the black hole and shook his head, “I’ve been having dreams about this monster, Chester.”
“I suspect if I were capable of dreaming, I’d do the same.”
“Do you think this will work?”
“There’s only one way to find out?”
Dillon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He held it and blew it out slowly. “If the worst happens, I want you to know that I treasure your friendship. You are my only family.”
“Dillon, I’m just glad that we’re doing this together.”
“So am I.”
“Ready?” Dillon nodded and the ship accelerated at light speed into the awaiting monster.
• • •
Two weeks had passed and Janell and China had become very close. They both shared a common background of flying aboard one of Earth’s Warships and that commonality allowed them to see the world from the same reference. Janell looked at China, “I’ve had enough of this! Admiral Gomez has refused to meet with me.”
“You should relax and enjoy your vacation. I am.”
“I’ve got to speak with Dillon.”
“Dillon McCagg?”
Janell looked at China, “You know him?”
“Every female cadet at the Academy knew Dillon Dreamy McCagg. He’s absolutely beautiful and the most polite person I’ve ever known.”
“Did you make a pass at him?”
“We all did. However, he was completely focused on his education and didn’t have time for romance. How do you know him?”
“I was his weapon’s officer.” China stared at Janell and started shaking her head. “What?”
“You were on the same ship and you chose that Pig Toland? Are you freaking blind!?”
Janell shook her head, “I guess I was dumb and blind.”
“You obviously were.”
“I knew Dillon was attracted to me but I had promised my loyalty to Rowdy.”
“As well as stupid!”
“You’ve made your point, China. You don’t have to beat a dead horse.”
“This horse deserves it.”
“I’m going to call the Fleet Admiral.”
“I don’t know if I’d do that. Going outside normal channels is not a good thing, Janell.”
“I’ve been told to do it.”
“Oh?”
Janell punched in Dillon’s ship’s code and let China listen in to the recording. China shook her head, “I don’t know if that is a real invitation to call the Admiral.”
“I’ll apologize but it’s been two weeks. I have to try something.”
“Let me get in front of you so she won’t see me in your display.”
“Chicken!”
“Cluck, cluck. Wanna see me lay an egg?”
• • •
Steve sat at his desk and was beyond frustration. He had to come up with a plan to get his call under control. He hit the console with his hand and heard the communicator buzz. He looked at it and saw it was a Lieutenant was calling him directly. For heaven’s sake, A LIEUTENANT! He picked up the communicator and yelled, “Lieutenant, who authorized you to call my number!”
Janell winced and said, “I was attempting to contact Fleet Admiral Osborn, Sir.”
“Who authorized you to contact her directly!? You better have a valid reason or you’re out of the service!”
“Sir, I was told by my former ship to contact the Fleet Commander if I had any questions about Captain Dillon McCagg.”
Steve stared at his display and read the name under the caller’s face. He calmed down, “Who told you?”
“There was a recording that told me to call.”
“You’re his former weapon’s officer aren’t you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Shouldn’t you be making wedding plans instead of wasting my time?”
“Sir, the wedding is off. I need to talk with Dillon.” Steve started shaking his head and Janell said, “Is he alright?”
“Lieutenant, I have seen many people over the years with a bad sense of timing. I must say that yours is the worst I’ve ever seen. Admiral McCagg is not available for contact. Even I couldn’t contact him if I desired to do so.”
Janell grabbed her throat, “He’s gone into the black hole.”
Steve’s eyebrows came together, “Just how do you know that?”
“If he were in this universe, our communicators could reach him.” Janell shook her head, “He volunteered to go through, didn’t he?” Steve stared at her in silence. “Sir, he must have volunteered because of me.”
“Like I said, your timing is awful. If you mention what you know about his mission, I will have you court-marshaled.”
“Did he say anything about me before he left?”
Steve hesitated and then decided, “Yes, you were part of the reason. That idiot you were engaged to isn’t worth carrying his underwear. Not only is your timing awful but your taste in men is worse.”
The display went dark and Janell began crying. China rushed over and pulled her close, “You didn’t know. You didn’t know about Toland and you didn’t know Dillon had volunteered. This is not your fault!”
“Yes it is. And you know it. I was the only one he felt close to and I abandoned him. I’m so incredibly stupid.” China held her and knew there was nothing she could say. Janell was right.
• • •
Steve sat back and knew he had been rough with the Lieutenant. But Dillon was four days late. He hated doing it but notified Fleet Personnel to declare him deceased. What a terrible waste. He took a deep breath and blew it out. He should call and apologize but didn’t have it in him to do it. Fleet Science needed to start working on preparing another effort to get through the black hole. He stood up and threw his communicator agains
t the wall where it shattered. How many good sailors was this monster going to kill?
Chapter Four
Dillon groaned and tried to move. The pain was incredible. “Lie still.”
Dillon groaned, “Did we make it?”
“We did but it was a close thing.” Dillon tried to speak but could only groan. “I decided to go through a different way than what was originally planned. Dillon moved his head slightly and groaned again. “Don’t speak, I’ll talk, you listen. I really thought that going through the black hole at sub-light speed was too big a risk. Even with a faster switch, I didn’t believe it could function fast enough. I decided to set the switches on a timer and hit the black hole’s singularity at a specific time. I figured out that the event horizon was two million miles out from the singularity and that if I flew at four hundred times the speed of light, we would arrive in two tenths of a second. I set the switches to activate two tenths of a second after we crossed the event horizon. They activated precisely on time but I was off less than a millionth of a second. You were exposed to the singularity’s gravity for that small moment and what you’re feeling now is the result of it. It wasn’t long enough to collapse your atoms but it gave you a severe jolt. I’ve scanned you and think you’ll recover but it’s going to take some time.”
“I know you’re wondering why I changed everything at the last moment but it dawned on me that nothing can escape a singularity traveling slower than light speed. It was too big a risk to go in slow. I’ve struggled with this since Fleet installed the switches. The odds were more in our favor to spend as little time as possible in the black hole. We were in and out in less than one and a half a seconds.” Dillon groaned. “It won’t be so bad next time. I’ve got the timing down and you shouldn’t be harmed the next trip through. We’ve also arrived in that other space between this universe’s void and normal space. I’m holding my position outside the event horizon in this universe until you recover. I’m activating the sleep program in your suit. I’ll continue to scan you and will awake you when you’re able to function.” Dillon groaned again and then went silent. Chester moved a hundred thousand miles away from the giant black hole and ran scans on its energy. It was slightly weaker here. He settled in and began receiving data from the surrounding space. There was something moving in the distance. He went to passive scans and waited.
• • •
Dillon could feel his head. He slowly opened his eyes and quickly closed them. The light dimmed and he opened them again. “How do you feel?”
He lifted his arm and winced, “I’m sore but not as bad as last time.”
“If you stand up and start stretching, I think your soreness will diminish.” Dillon sat up and then quickly fell back into his chair as a wave of vertigo hit him. He shook his head and it went away. He slowly sat up and gripped the arms of his chair. He forced himself to his feet and sat back down as the vertigo returned. After three more tries, he managed to stand up. He moved slowly and raised his arms above his head and slowly bent until he could touch the deck. “How long have I been out?”
“Nine days.”
“We don’t have much time before we have to leave.”
“There’s a slight problem.”
“What is that?”
“When we emerged from the black hole, I think our exit was detected. An alien warship moved in our direction and changed course directly toward us. It can detect us even though we’re in the other space. I moved the ship away from it and lowered our power output. It lost us but has called in other ships to join it in the search.”
“How many ships?”
“Over ten thousand.”
“WHAT?”
“More are arriving as we speak. This is a highly advanced civilization and I’ve been monitoring their conversations. They’re convinced that a ship is close to the black hole and they’re not going to give up trying to find us.”
“Why haven’t you moved away from here?”
“I’m worried that if they continue to gather, we won’t have a path to go back through to our universe. I’m also concerned that if I activate our thrusters, they’ll detect it and pursue us.”
“Do you think they can match our speed?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t want to risk it without discussing it with you.”
“Chester, what have you learned about those ships?”
“Their mass is four times that of our ship but they are six times larger. They appear to be constructed of an alloy that is extremely light. They have twenty large weapon emplacements on their hulls and ten tubes that are probably missile launchers. I don’t know if the missiles can touch us in this space but those emplacements are pretty large.”
“You don’t think the energy would just move around us?”
“Again, I have no way of knowing.”
“Well, they know we’re here. Hiding that is no longer an issue.”
“I’m forced to agree. They wouldn’t have sent this many ships if there were any doubt.”
“What systems do you have operating?”
“At the moment, environmental and power to my processors.”
“Why so little?”
“That ship continued to pursue until I reduced our power to that level. We coasted away and it lost us. Any more and I think they’ll see us.”
“In our galaxy, any energy fired at the Prophet’s Eyes would just move around it.”
“I suspect this civilization is far more advanced than any in our galaxy. It was too big a risk to take the chance of taking on their firepower.”
“How close was that ship when it detected you at full power?”
“It was fifty miles away.”
“So outside that distance, we should be invisible?”
“Probably.”
“Why aren’t you sure?”
“I didn’t have our weapons charged, our stardrive engaged, or our force field operational. That would extend the range they could see us.”
“Well, we need to find out. We were sent here to scout what we’re up against and we should at least make that determination before we leave.”
“Dillon, we have to get back to make sure Fleet knows how to travel through the black hole. If they decide the method we used didn’t work…”
“They aren’t aware of how you changed the process we used to get through. We have to get that information to them before they attempt to send another ship through.”
“Exactly and sitting here won’t accomplish any of that. We’re going to have to make a break for it and see what happens.”
“We could just wait them out.”
“How many ships are out there now?”
“Eighteen thousand.”
“Dillon, I don’t think they’re going away no matter how long it takes and that will endanger any other ships that try to make it through the singularity.” Dillon paused, “How long will it take for you to go to full power on all systems?”
“About three seconds.”
“Are any of those ships closer than a hundred miles?”
“Not at the moment; however, using our thrusters might get their attention from further out.”
“The Fleet’s ships are going to have to be changed to the electrical system of thrusters used by the Prophet’s Eyes.”
“It does appear you’re right. It has never been considered that we would be detected in other space. We also need to insulate the hulls with material to block electrical emissions.”
“That’s for the future, if we survive this. For the moment, we have to use what we have. We’ll wait four more days and see if they call off the search. If they don’t, we’ll make a break for the black hole. In the meantime, I want you to shut down all systems including the power to your processors. I’ll activate my suit and use the air connectors to replenish my stores. I’ll hit the power switch if something happens that forces me to move us.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“You’re right about getting back with
information on how to make it through the singularity. That takes precedence over scouting this civilization.”
“Shutting down all power in ten seconds.” Dillon pressed the green button on his chair and his suit pressurized as the combat helmet hanging on the back of his chair swung up and over his head. It connected to the suit and a green light illuminated on the faceplate a moment later. Then the ship went dark. Dillon stood up and walked to the viewport. He could see the distant lights of ships traveling through space and he stood there and wondered at their refusal to leave.
After an hour he moved to his chair and blew out a breath. He looked at the ceiling above his console and he reached up and turned a knob on it. He reached inside and pulled out a cable. He took the connector and attached it to the left side of his helmet. He said, “Tactical, passive antenna.” Suddenly, his faceplate activated and he saw a view of space around him. He watched for any of the ships moving close and sat back in his chair. Three days later, he knew he had made a mistake. The number of dark Blue alien ships had increased to more than a hundred thousand. Attempting to flee now without a fight would be impossible. Suddenly, a giant Blue ship appeared ten miles away and moved toward him. It looked like it was going to collide but then moved less than a mile below him as it passed. The energy from his suit was too small for it to detect him. At least he now knew that whatever scanners those ships used were incapable of seeing his ship. It must have been scanning space around it and it didn’t change course. He got a good look at the alien warship as it passed and saw Chester was right; those beam emplacements on the hull were huge.
He was due to leave two days later but the alien ship count had now risen to two hundred thousand as more emerged from their stardrives every second. He had no choice but to wait and hope they gave up the search. He leaned back in his chair and dozed off. He should have made the break sooner.
• • •