by Saxon Andrew
Dillon shook his head and Chester said, “It had to be changed by the field surrounding the singularity. That field changed it so it could exit normal space and go into other space in both universes.”
Dillon shook his head, “If that’s the case, the Prophet’s Eyes would also be able to go into other space in that other universe.”
Steve’s eyes went wide, “You must be right.”
“Perhaps we can check that out once we send enough ships through the singularity to protect it in the event it doesn’t have that capability.”
“I’ll contact Poul and discuss it with him.”
The display went dark and Dillon sighed, “Ok, I’m taking off. I’ll be back four days before the completion date.” Dillon stood up and left the bridge. He walked off the ship and decided to go back to Florida. He sent a request to Fleet and a shuttle was sent to the construction yard.
• • •
It had been eight days since Amy had seen Dillon. She looked at her panel and saw the request he had sent for a shuttle. She had set her system to notify her of any communication he made and she sighed. She looked at Carol and she said, “What?”
“I was wondering if you might do me a favor.”
“What is that?”
Amy told her and Carol smiled.
• • •
Dillon walked out of his room just after daybreak and saw that Scott had already moved the boat around to the dock. He stepped in and lifted the cooler into the boat and went to the controls. He pressed a button and the boat motor started humming as the prop was lowered into the water. He looked to the right at the compressor and saw two diving masks. His eyes narrowed and his eyebrows came together. “I was hoping you might want some company.”
Dillon’s head jerked around and he saw Amy standing at the bow. She had on a bathing suit and she looked stunning. Dillon looked around and said, “Where are the boys?”
“They’re staying with a friend of mine at Fleet Operations.”
Dillon sat down on the seat behind the steering wheel and Amy saw his troubled expression. She stepped into the boat, walked over, and sat down beside him. Dillon sighed, “Amy, I’ve not been honest with you.” Amy stared into his eyes in silence. “I know I said that I’m ok with us not having a relationship but that’s not true.” Amy continued to stare into his eyes and nodded slightly. “I’ve fallen for you and I just can’t bear keeping a distance between us. It’s too painful.”
“So you don’t want me here?”
Dillon lowered his head and sighed, “That’s not it at all. I just can’t describe the mixed emotions I feel when I see you.”
“Dillon, I promised John that I would love him until death parted us. I will always love him but my heart hasn’t stopped beating. I’m still here and I’ve finally realized that I don’t want a life without you in it.”
Dillon stared into her eyes and she put her arm on his shoulder, leaned up, and kissed him gently. She broke the kiss and moved back. For the first time, she saw Dillon’s eyes moisten. “Do you want me to go?”
“I want you to never leave, Amy.” Amy smiled and Dillon leaned down and kissed her softly. The kiss lasted a long time and then Amy leaned back, “Let’s go visit our friends and we can discuss how we’re going to make this work.”
“What changed your mind?”
“I’ve been tracking your communications since I returned to my job and you’ve not tried to contact Captain Dobson once.” Dillon’s eyes widened. “That told me that she was not in your heart. I had to be sure of that before I would take a risk and put my heart on the line.” Amy paused, “I also realize that I could lose you at any time. That’s the nature of caring about a Navy Warrior. I want all the time I can get to be with you. If I lose you, so be it. My heart will break again but fear of that pain is not a good enough reason to not enjoy the time we can share. You have brought me more happiness than you know and the most since John died. I know he’d like you and would approve of my choice.”
Dillon pulled her into his arms and held her close, “Do you think John and Timmy will be ok with us being together?”
“They saw it before I did. I know they’ll approve of this and be excited by the prospect.”
Dillon untied the boat and backed away from the dock. By the end of the day he realized that Admiral Connor was right in their initial conversation. He really didn’t know the joy of having a family. Now he was starting to see it.
• • •
On Friday afternoon, a Fleet Shuttle brought the boys to the resort and Dillon and Amy waited for them to exit. They stepped out with their bags and Amy went to them and hugged them. They stared at her and she blew out a breath, “There’s something I need to tell you.” Amy looked at Dillon and turned back to them, “Dillon and I are…”
She hesitated and John smiled, “Going together!”
Amy smiled, “I guess that’s as good a description as any.”
Timmy dropped his bag, “YAAAYYYYYY!” He ran over to Dillon and lept into his arms. Dillon hugged him and spun him in a circle.
John walked over and Dillon scooped him up with Timmy and hugged them both, “Are you ok with this?”
John smiled, “I am.”
Timmy yelled, “ME, TOO!”
“Why don’t we take you to your room and get you changed so we can go out.”
Dillon took Amy and Timmy’s hands. Amy held John’s hand and they walked to the resort to change into their swimming gear. Amy looked into Dillon’s eyes and felt her heart swell with happiness. The rest of the weekend was a dream.
• • •
The Carand Scientist stared at the Council of Scientists and began to feel frustrated. They refused to accept his conclusions. The Council Leader was the most adamant about not accepting his findings, “You have not presented anything to support that beam was anti-matter.”
Janek shook his head, “The color of the force field when it went down was unlike anything ever detected.”
Another scientist on the council sneered, “And just how do you know what color an anti-matter beam would cause?”
“What else could it be? No other substance has ever been destroyed and emitted that particular color.”
“That doesn’t make it anti-matter.”
“Then what is it?”
“It could be a substance we’ve not yet discovered.”
Janek rolled his eyes, “That can be made into a blaster beam? It has to be some form of energy and all the others have been ruled out.”
“Are you suggesting that one of our enemies has discovered how to produce anti-matter?”
“Either they have or a previously undiscovered civilization did it.”
“There are no undiscovered civilizations.”
Janek looked at the Scientist that challenged him earlier, “That is just as likely as your assumption that it’s an undiscovered substance.” The scientist paused and looked at the other ten scientists, “Look, it wasn’t an undiscovered substance that flashed that color, it was one of our force fields. It was an energy beam that hit it. So the issue comes down to what kind of energy would cause that force field to flash that color. I’ve looked at every possible energy on the electromagnetic spectrum and nothing could cause that color. That has to mean it doesn’t appear on the spectrum and the only energy not on the spectrum is anti-matter.” The scientists stared at him and he leaned back in his chair, “We’ve not even discussed how a vessel managed to be invisible to our scanners. Or how that ship flew away at more than ten times our maximum velocity. We’re sitting here trying to make what happened fit within our known enemies’ capabilities and it doesn’t.”
The Council Head leaned forward, “What are you suggesting?”
“Whoever did this is not one of the usual suspects. It has to be a civilization we’ve never encountered. If it were one of our enemies, we would have seen at least one of these capabilities before now, not all of them at once.”
The Head Scientist stared
at him and said, “Let’s for the moment assume that there are no unknown advanced civilizations in our galaxy. What would that mean?”
“That the ship that destroyed our vessel came from anther galaxy or out of the black hole.”
Silence descended on the room as the scientists thought about the evidence. The Head said, “And which of those two possibilities do you think is more probable?”
The Scientist knew he was in trouble. He desperately wanted to say it came out of the black hole because that was where it was discovered but he knew he would lose credibility if he suggested it. “From another galaxy is more believable.”
A scientist sneered, “And just how did it travel through all the forces in our galaxy to arrive at the location where it was found?”
“It was invisible and our scanners are superior to most of our enemy’s scanners. I’m guessing here but the only other option is to consider it came out of the black hole. Do any of you have another theory?”
The Head Scientist looked around the room, “We are forced to consider any option based on the evidence. You can only prove it was anti-matter by excluding all other possibilities. That’s not positive proof.” The scientist opened his mouth to protest but the Head Scientist held up his clawed hand, “We will report that we can’t conclusively prove what it was. We can’t rule out anti-matter. We will also suggest that this ship’s capabilities, taken as a whole, represents a level of technology that none of our enemies have demonstrated. We can’t rule out that it came from another galaxy. Does anyone here want to include the possibility it came out of the black hole?”
The scientist stared at the Head Scientist and said, “I would like it included.”
“It will go in the report with your name on it. I will say that Scientist Janek feels the strange warship came out of the black hole to attack the Empire.”
Janek blew out a breath and nodded. The others in the room were thankful they were spared having to make such an outlandish statement. But they all silently wondered the same; the supporting evidence was clearly pointing toward his view.
• • •
“Trusk.”
“Yes.”
“The Council of Scientists have issued their findings.”
“And?”
“They can’t rule out anti-matter but they can’t prove it either.”
“Was there anything else?”
“They’re suggesting the ship may have come from another galaxy in that its technology is far ahead of any civilization in our galaxy.” The Commander paused and said, “Janek suggested it may have come out of the black hole.”
“How do you know he suggested it?”
“They attached his name to the statement.”
“So they didn’t agree with him?”
“Or they were too afraid to say it themselves.”
“What do you think about the findings?”
“I’m forced to agree that the ship didn’t come from our galaxy.”
“Why?”
Trusk shook his head, “If one of our enemies had this technology, they would have already attacked the others. It had to come from somewhere else.”
“But the closest galaxy is billions of light years away!”
“You saw how fast that ship moved. It’s possible it could make the trip.”
The Ship Commander stared at him, “But not likely. Do you prefer the black hole alternative?”
“It was found just outside the event horizon.”
“That’s not an answer.”
There was a long moment of silence and Trusk finally said, “I’ve been studying everything we know about black holes.”
“And?”
“There is evidence that a singularity could be connected to another universe. It’s not based on any observed evidence, but there are some physicists that suggest it is a possibility. I honestly don’t know what to think.”
“I have difficulty believing that if it came from another galaxy, it would have been detected by our border defenses if it attempted to pass them. Just one of our ships detected its electrical emissions and I just can’t believe it would have made it through all of the forces scattered around our galaxy. I also believe it had to shut down its power systems to avoid being found once we started searching for it. Once it fled, we were able to clearly detect it. It would have never made it this far with those electrical emissions.”
“If it came out of the black hole, why did it come here?”
“We’ll have to ask them if they come back. But if they have the technology to transit a black hole…”
Trusk nodded, “We have a lot to worry about. At least we can rule out our enemies.”
“Nothing is certain. This may be the only ship that was built and they were trialing it. We really have more questions than clear answers.”
“I agree, Commander. I’m going to leave some of my ships scattered around the black hole just in case.”
“I’ll send some to join them…just in case we’re not as crazy as I think we are.”
• • •
“Admiral, McCagg, your ships will be ready in four days.”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll report back tomorrow.”
Dillon held Amy tight and whispered, “You are my life.”
“Please be careful.”
“I will. We’re going better prepared this time and we’re going to avoid combat.”
“Wasn’t that also true the last time?”
“Yes, it was. But this time I’m hoping our new stealth systems will keep us hidden.”
Amy snuggled into his arms, “I really pray you’re right.” She looked up at him, “Dillon.”
“Yes.’
“Please remember that you are very important and you shouldn’t take chances with your life. Fleet is going to need you to lead our ships.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“I do.”
She snuggled back in his arms and wondered if he truly did.
Chapter Nine
“It’s good to see you, Frenchy.”
“Thank you, Sir. All systems check out and the air tanks are at maximum capacity.”
“What about the other two ships?”
“They’ve reported and ready to go.”
“Chester, have you downloaded the time tables on transiting the black hole to the other two ships?”
“I have and the trial programs have worked successfully. You need to decide if we all go through together or one at a time.”
“This time we’ll do it one at a time. We’ll go first and I want you to plot a different course to go through the event horizon. I don’t want to emerge at the same place we did on our first transit.”
“I’ve chosen the one we came back on.”
“That would be good. Notify the other two ships to prepare to leave Earth orbit in ten minutes.”
“Starting countdown now.”
“Frenchy, what do you think about the new blaster controls?”
“They’re pretty remarkable, Sir. If our three ships link up in a triangle formation, each ship can use all their blasters to defend the area around their ships. Do you want the blasters active when we transit?”
“No! Once we’re through the singularity, I want them shut down so there won’t be any electronic emissions that could be detected. Make sure everyone is aware of this before transiting.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Chester, did you get the location of the Carand Home Planet?”
“I did.”
“That’s where we’re headed if we can get through the singularity undetected.”
“I think we should check if our new insulation works before we enter that system, Dillon.”
“And just how would we do that?”
“We go looking for one of their ships and see how close we can get to it without being detected.”
“Then it might be better to take the first route.”
“I think we can use the second and move around the
black hole to that location. We should be able to find some of their ships taking that route.”
“We’ll do it that way.” Dillon looked at the countdown and lifted his communicator, “All ships; use your air tanks to fly to the black hole’s event horizon. We need to confirm our top speed using them instead of our thrusters.” Dillon waited and pushed the thruster handle fully forward when the countdown hit zero. He watched as the distant glow of Sagittarius A began growing larger. “Speed Chester?”
“Seventy percent of maximum thruster speed.”
“That’s still pretty good.”
“It’s faster than the top speed of those Blue Ships that were pursuing us.”
“That’s a very good thing.” Dillon sat back and watched the massive black hole in the middle of the Milky Way grow larger. They arrived outside the event horizon in thirty minutes and the three ships stopped and formed up in a line. “I’ll go through first. Wait ten minutes, and then Captain Dobson will transit followed a minute later by Captain Mueller. Form up on my ship as soon as you arrive and make sure your blasters are inactive before you pass out of the event horizon in the other universe. Transiting in three, two, one…”
Janell watched the large flagship suddenly disappear. “Mark ten minutes.”
“Countdown started.”
Janell looked at Gabriel who was squirming in his chair, “Are you excited, Ensign?”
“Oh yes, Sir. This is what I’ve dreamed about during my years at the Academy.”
“Make sure you deactivate the blasters.”
“That will have to be done by Chess. We’ll only be in there for half a second.”
“Chess.”
“I’ve got it handled, Sir.”
“Good. This should be interesting.”
“It’ll be over before you know it. Seven minutes.”
“Sir, why did the Admiral make us wait for ten minutes?”
“If there’s trouble on the other side, he’ll be coming back through to warn us.”
“Oh.” There was a moment of silence and Gabe said, “What kind of trouble?”
“Those Blue Ships he encountered on the first transit have a beam weapon that can destroy our ships even when we’re in no space.”