by Saxon Andrew
“I didn’t want to risk this attacker being able to track them back to us.”
“It appears you failed in preventing that.”
The Lead Builder felt immediate fear and then he felt nothing. The device in his head located next to his brain released a small explosion. There was no mess, his body collapsed to the ground in an instant. It would take a majority vote by the Elders to kill him but that was not an issue this time. The vote was unanimous. The computer linking their minds took a half a second to determine which of them would replace the deceased leader. The new leader activated his link to the warships, “DO NOT ALLOW THAT SHIP TO ESCAPE!”
Kuhn kept his eyes on the monitor and Gibbs yelled, “Sir, those warships are unmanned. The active scan shows the crews going up some kind of clear tube to board their vessels. We have time to complete the scan!”
Kuhn felt his heart hammering in his chest and then heard, “Scan complete.” He shoved the thrusters fully forward and the glowing construction hanging in space disappeared in an instant. He heard Gibbs shout, “They’re coming after us, Sir. You need to go to full speed.”
“I’M AT FULL SPEED!”
Gibbs stared at his monitor, “They’re gaining on us.” Kuhn shook his head and picked up his communicator.
• • •
Amy saw Kuhn appear on her panel, “Sir, I’m fleeing from a fleet of Builder Warships. I’m at full speed and they are closing the distance. One of them fired some kind of beam weapon at me from extreme range and it rocked my ship.”
“Start sending me what you’ve collected, Admiral! I’ll hold my fleet here to clear a path through the Grey Ships.”
“Sir, at the rate they’re gaining on me, I might not make it.”
“Keep a tone on your frequency. I need to know if you’re still alive.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Amy looked at her communications officer, who said, “I’m receiving his data. But there’s no way I’ll receive all of it in the time we have remaining.”
Amy heard the tone and shook her head, “Come on, Kunny! Get back here!”
• • •
A Builder Warship fired another beam and Kuhn felt the ship shake violently, “I’m starting evasive maneuvers, Gibbs. Tighten up your seatbelts.”
Gibbs shook his head, “How can they see us to fire so accurately!? They didn’t detect us at their planet.”
“That thing is not a planet, Gibbs.”
“Now is not the time for lectures, Sir.” Gibbs shook his head and saw another beam miss them to the left. Kuhn veered right and a beam missed them to the left. “Sir, I don’t think they can see us but they appear to be able to see the course we’re taking.” Gibbs paused and his eyes went wide, “Sir, they must be able to see us moving through the dark matter around us.”
Kuhn gripped the steering wheel and said through gritted teeth, “It won’t matter in a moment. More than one of them will be in range to add their fire to the one leading the pack.”
Gibbs shook his head and thought furiously. He saw they were using their power thrusters. The air thrusters would never move them fast enough to escape. His eyes opened wide, “Sir, what would happen if you opened the air thrusters and added them to our thrust?”
Kuhn’s eyes went wide and he shook his head, “The air would cause an explosion in the thruster tubes.”
“Would it be strong enough to cause damage?”
Kuhn was shaking his head as he veered slightly vertical and then dove the ship, “I don’t know! I can’t think clearly at the moment.”
Gibbs saw two more Builder Warships open fire and he said, “What do we have to lose?”
Kuhn looked at him and saw his expression. He reached for the air thruster controls and said, “It’s been a pleasure, Gibbs.” Gibbs nodded as Kuhn hit the button opening the air thruster valves in the thruster tubes. Both of them were slammed back in their chairs as the ship accelerated at an impossible speed toward the black hole. The Builder Fleet was left far behind and the Builder Fleet Leader was stunned by what he saw. He picked up his communicator to order the Carnivores’ Warships fighting at the black hole to stop it. He started to speak and then slowly put the communicator down. How could they stop something they couldn’t see? It would take far too long for them to link and form a barrier. The former Leader had made a mistake giving the Carnivores a warship that would not represent a threat to him. A price was going to be paid for his stupidity.
• • •
Gibbs yelled at Kuhn, “SHUT IT DOWN, SIR! We have enough of a lead.”
“Why?”
“Because if we enter the black hole at this speed we’re dead.”
What Gibbs was saying broke through Kuhn’s conscience and he shut off the air thrusters. He turned off the tone and said, “Sir, I’ll be arriving at the black hole in ten minutes.”
Amy nodded and pressed a button, “Admiral, Heinrik, Admiral Kuhn will be here in ten minutes. Order all of your ships around that other launcher to leave immediately. I’ll hold here until he arrives.”
Amy saw Janell appear on her panel, “Amy, we’re at five hours and one minute now!”
“Get your fleets moving out now, Admiral! I’ll hold until the last moment. We have to have Kuhn’s data.”
Janell shook her head and then blew out a hard breath, “ALL SHIPS, ENTER THE BLACK HOLE NOW! DO NOT DELAY! FALL BACK INTO THE BLACK HOLE!”
All of the ships around the launcher on the other side of the black hole from where Kuhn was approaching broke contact with the enemy and disappeared into the event horizon. The Builder Fleet Leader saw it and picked up his communicator, “You will take your ships and follow that attacker through the black hole.”
The Carnivore Commander violently shook his head, “But sixty percent of my invasion fleet has been destroyed.”
“The other forty percent will follow them momentarily if you don’t follow my orders.”
The Carnivore’s eyes drew into slits but he knew he had no choice. “All ships, line up at the launcher clear of the attackers and start the invasion now!”
• • •
“Sir, the last ship through at the other launcher reported that the Grey Warships are moving into position to start their invasion. We have to get our ships back before they start.”
Amy looked at Captain McGregor and knew he was right. “All ships not in the flagship’s defense weave will exit now! This is a direct order, exit now!”
The massive space battle suddenly stopped. The massive explosions ended and the Grey Warships found themselves without any one to attack. Then they saw the single large warship surrounded by small ships on their scanners. They all turned in unison but heard, “All warships will report to the launchers and start the invasion.”
“But one of them is still present!”
“Ignore it and start the invasion. The Builders will remove it.”
Amy saw the giant tsunami of Grey Warships moving toward her and then they suddenly turned and activated their stardrives as they moved toward the distant launcher. She yelled, “Admiral Kuhn, the path is clear to the black hole. I’m withdrawing my fleet.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m three minutes out.”
Amy looked at McGregor and he said over his combat helmet’s communicator, “ALL SHIPS, EXIT NOW!” The Crystal River and all of her defense forces disappeared into the black hole.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Gabe watched the Darkness’ gravity towers moving dust from the distant dust clouds to the black hole. The major dust clouds were more than fifteen light years away and he wondered how they were going to move enough in the time allotted. He knew he could get dust from the closest dust clouds with a limited number of gravity towers but there would be no control over how much would enter the black hole. He had to admit, the Darkness had control.
The giant towers would move out into the giant dust clouds and extend their stardrive fields out thousands of miles. They would then activate the gravity field and pull all the
dust inside the drive field back to the two large funnels being created by fifty thousand gravity towers on each side of the black hole. The two funnels created a gravity field more than a billion miles wide and the towers bringing in the dust deposited it inside the fields created by the funnels. As time drew closer to the return of the fleets, the gravity towers dragging the dust in deposited it and joined the towers in the two funnels. The field expanded more than two billion miles and still dust was being deposited into them. Gabe shook his head in amazement. That much dust would cause quite a show.
Then the time was up. Five hours had passed and still no ships appeared out of the black hole. “I’ve held off for the time I promised.”
“They’ll be here! You have to give them more time.”
The Darkness Leader stared at Gabe on his panel and shook his head. Suddenly, his Military Leader said loudly, “We have ships exiting the black hole.”
The Leader looked at Gabe and nodded. Gabe closed his eyes and exhaled the breath he had been holding; the Darkness Leader was going to delay. He heard on his communicator, “This is Admiral Dobson. We’ve been delayed getting the last scout out. He’ll be here in five minutes.”
“Admiral, move your ships to my ship’s location to reinforce them against any enemy ships transiting the black hole.”
Janell looked at her main monitor “Admiral Eagle, the two mobile launchers were destroyed.”
Gabe muttered, “Thank goodness for that. Send them to the two wings located at ninety and two hundred and seventy degrees around the black hole.”
“Issuing orders now.”
Gabe looked at Evelyn, “Order our ships at the other two locations to move to the ones that have an active launcher.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Warships were pouring out of the black hole in the thousands. The steam rapidly became a raging river and too many surviving warships to count were passing the defenders at an incredible rate. They were then ordered to move to the two defensive positions and began forming a long line out from the black hole. If any enemy vessels transited the black hole, they would be moving at incredible speed and the returning fleets were forming up to meet them. Finally the numbers slowed and stopped, “Gabe, Amy is waiting for Admiral Kuhn to arrive with his data. He found a Builder planet and actively scanned it and their warships.”
Gabe looked at the Darkness Leader on his display, “Did you hear that?”
“I did.”
“Will you delay a little longer? Both of us need that data.”
“I’ll delay until one of those Grey Warships appears.”
Gabe held his breath and suddenly heard Admiral Hart, “Admiral Kuhn is three minutes behind me. His path is clear.”
“ENEMY WARSHIP TRANSITING THE BLACK HOLE. OPEN FIRE, ALL SHIPS OPEN FIRE!”
Gabe heard Admiral Heinrik and looked at the Darkness Leader on his panel. They looked into each other’s eyes as they both heard, “WE HAVE GREY WARSHIPS EXITING AT BOTH DEFENSE LOCATIONS! WEAPONS ARE FREE! HIT THEM WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!”
They continued to stare at each other until they heard, “I’m through. This is Admiral Kuhn, I’m through the black hole. The Darkness Leader smiled and said, “Release the dust and accelerate it into the black hole.”
• • •
The two funnels stopped pushing the dust away from the black hole’s gravity and gave it a push as it passed through the two funnels’ openings. The dust accelerated across the event horizon and began spiraling into the jaws of the monster. The dust was accelerated to half the speed of light and a brilliant flash appeared that lit up the black hole like an enormous explosion. Suddenly, the towers released a massive cloud of dust and it poured into the black hole as a brilliant beam shot out of both sides of the singularity. The radiation was off the scale as the two jets that formed and the two funnels slowed the dust to a trickle that was just enough to maintain the two high energy jets shooting out of the black hole.
Gabe let his head fall and listened to his subordinates say, “No more enemy ships are coming through.” He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He continued to breathe as his bridge crew watched him in silence. Ten minutes later he heard, “It looks like your plan worked, Admiral Eagle.”
“Gabe, you did it?”
Gabe looked up and saw Stella and Admiral Connor on his display. “Actually, it was the Darkness that set up the gravity towers.”
Stella’s eyes narrowed. She looked at the wall monitor and then at Gabe, “How did you get them to move so many out of their defensive line?”
“I told them what we were doing.”
“WHAT?!”
“I didn’t feel it was the right thing to do to deceive them. I told them three hours ago what we were planning.”
“Are you crazy? They could have shut us out of returning.”
Steve looked at Gabriel, “You were afraid of what might happen.” Stella looked at Steve and couldn’t believe he was so calm. He should be arresting Gabriel for endangering all of their ships.
“Yes, Sir. It was the honorable thing to do.”
“I agree that it was. I just didn’t have the courage to do it. I know it wasn’t easy for you to do it.”
Gabe nodded and then they both heard, “You really should turn off your communications if you want a private conversation.” Gabe’s eyes flew open and he saw that the frequency to the Darkness Leader was still open. “I also didn’t have the strength to trust you. It was this one’s faith in us that gave me the chance to see that you are worthy of trust.” The Darkness Supreme Leader looked at Gabe, “What possessed you to do it?”
“If we weren’t honest with you, then there would be no hope of our civilizations ever being able to work together again. Someone had to have faith in the other before that would happen. I decided that it was my species that was being dishonest. It was incumbent on us to tell you the truth and trust you to do the honorable thing.”
The Darkness Leader nodded, “It wasn’t easy to delay when those Grey Warships started entering my galaxy. However, I saw in your eyes what you were feeling and I chose to honor our relationship. I believe that we can now work together without all the suspicions and fear. I know you will be honest and that is critical to us being allies.”
The Darkness Leader looked at Stella on his display and she said, “I’m really sorry but I couldn’t have done it. I couldn’t have trusted you.”
“Don’t feel bad. I would not have trusted you either.” The Darkness Leader looked at Gabe on his monitor, “It took someone to give trust before it could be returned. I saw that this one was acting…honorably. It is now up to the rest of us to do the same.” The Darkness Leader looked at Steve, “Are you the Leader?”
“I am.”
“So what do we do next?”
Steve looked at Gabe, “That’s a good question. Admiral Eagle, what do we do next?”
Gabe tilted his head and saw everyone staring at him. He quickly said, “We all take a look at the data Admiral Kuhn collected and see what we’re up against with the builders. If we’re no match for them, we keep the two jets firing out of the black hole until we develop technology to meet them. I do recommend that sometime in the near future that we stop the dust and send some scouts through to see what’s going on. We’ll start the jets again until we schedule their return. Once they report in, we’ll start the jets again.”
The Darkness Leader shrugged and then nodded. Stella smiled, “I don’t think I ever saw you shrug.”
“I never trusted what you were telling me enough to do it.”
Steve asked the Leader, “What are you going to do about the Halo Civilizations?”
“They are an issue aren’t they?” Steve shrugged. The Leader laughed and smiled, “We’ll contact them and tell them that they can return to the planets we forced them to leave as long as they live in peace. I’ll make sure they know that we will enforce the peace.”
“That is a good solution. You might want to include them in tryi
ng to develop new technologies that would help our efforts.”
“They’re not nearly as advanced as our civilizations. What could they offer?”
“Thousands of civilizations all working together might develop something that would surprise both of us.”
“I guess. We’ll see how well they adapt to their new planets. It’ll be interesting to see if any of them want to come back.”
Gabe smiled, “I think you might be surprised at how many of them really long for peace.”
The Darkness Leader chuckled, “No, I don’t think anything would surprise me at this point.”
Steve nodded, “We’re going to start sharing our technology with you. The first thing we’re going to give you is our communications system. We should be able to communicate without having to come here to do it.”
“Let’s set a time for us to get together to discuss what we learn from your scout’s data and we’ll move forward from there.”
“What about seven days from now?”
“I’ll be expecting you.”
Steve nodded and ended the call. Gabe made sure his panel was off as well this time. He leaned back in his command chair and put his hands behind his head. He wondered if he was going to be in trouble when he arrived on back on Earth. Oh well. Even if he was, this was worth it. He leaned forward and stared at his long distance scanners to see if any other Grey Ships made it through the black hole. He saw the two jets firing out of the black hole grow in intensity. But he needed not to worry. The Carnivores were launching their warships as quickly as possible and their arrival only made the two jets in Andromeda burn more brightly as they added their mass to the fire.
• • •
Steve stood on the raised dais in the huge conference room and saw that the gathering was considerably smaller than the last meeting. So many had died in the fight but those that survived were different.
They had been bloodied by the Grey Warships and had survived the fire. They were veterans and were no longer afraid of what they might have to face in the future. Steve smiled with pride at them, “We are extremely proud of what you’ve done. You fought an enemy that outnumbered you and managed to kill more than double the number than you lost. Now we are going to need you to take on another threat to mankind on the other side of our own black hole. The Senior Staff and I have decided that Admiral Gabriel Eagle will be the Senior Admiral to lead this fight and we have every confidence that you will win this fight too. To you and all of your fallen friends we offer you the heartfelt gratitude of all mankind.”