by Saxon Andrew
“It was there prior to going to the Builder’s Galaxy to attack the Motherships.”
Gabe sat back in his chair and focused on the issue. The Builders couldn’t have done it, they were gone before they went in to take on the Motherships. The Azura? He just couldn’t envision them having the technology to pull it off. They were an advanced technological civilization but they were way behind the Builders. They made up the deficit in technology by the sheer size of their vessels. And besides, why would they have erased the file? If they were that good, they could have just copied it. He thought about it and pressed a button on his console. “Yes, Admiral.”
“Amy, check your ship’s database and see if the file containing the recording of the galaxy with the billions of small warships fighting each other is still there.”
Amy started pressing buttons on her panel to check as she said, “Why would it not be there?”
“Just check for me, please.”
Amy nodded and Gabe watched her on his monitor. He saw her pause and her eyes narrowed. She looked toward him and said, “I’m sorry, Sir. I’m having some difficulty locating it. I’ll have the ship’s computer do a search.”
“Don’t bother, it’s no longer there.” Amy stared at him and tilting her head slightly in confusion. “We’ll discuss this after we get back.”
“But…”
“When we get back, Admiral.”
Amy saw something in Gabe’s expression and nodded, “Yes, Sir.” Gabe sat back and wondered how they did it. The bigger question was why they did it. He glanced at the monitor and saw the Azura Fleets moving closer and decided this would have to wait; first things first.
• • •
The Lead Controller stared at the monitor with the distant speck of light in the center of it. He began to think chasing the Small Beings was a waste of time. If they chose to run, there was no way he could match their speed. However, they would have to eventually stop to provision their ships…wouldn’t they? He thought about it and had no idea what they consumed. None of their worlds had ever been inspected and there wasn’t much known about them.
Suddenly he heard, “CONTROLLER, THOUSANDS OF WARSHIPS DROPPING INTO SUBSPACE AND MOVING TOWARD US AT INCREDIBLE VELOCITY!!”
“Fire on them!!!”
The Lead Controller jerked his head toward the giant wall monitor and saw hundreds of strange vessels disappear below his formations. A few moments later, more than a thousand of the Family Vessels in the front line blew up forcing the following vessels to evade in order to avoid a collision. The attackers continued their course and were quickly out of range. “STOP THE FORMATIONS.” He saw the massive destruction among the front line of vessels and he ordered the survivors of the attack to offer assistance and aid to the Families that had been hit. He looked at the distant speck of light where those strange attackers had fled toward and knew he was not calling off this chase. Someone was going to pay for what just happened. Those vessels must be a new development of the Small Beings. He would chase them to the end of the universe if necessary.
• • •
Gabe pressed a button on his panel and the two thousand Essay Class Battleships activated their reactors and, twenty seconds later, their stardrives. The long line of warships dropped out of normal space and accelerated at the Azura fleet flying directly ahead of them. The Essays began taking hits from the Motherships’ giant blasters but it was disorganized and ineffective. They dove under the advancing Azura formation and slowed to match speed with the Motherships in the front rank of the formation.
Each Essay had its major beam pointed directly above it and fired at point blank range into the Motherships’ landing bay doors for five seconds, at which point the blaster fire coming out of the Azura formation became too dangerous. The Essays went to full speed and moved away from the Azura Vessels that were scrambling to avoid collisions with the damaged Battleships in the front line. The attack took less than thirty seconds and left more than a thousand Motherships blasted and burning. Five hundred more were damaged to the point where they couldn’t continue the pursuit.
• • •
The Senior Controller of each family was screaming at the Lead Controller. He couldn’t get a word in and waited in silence until the noise abated. Finally he said, “Before you continue screaming at me for pursuing those miserable beings, would you like to call it off and have them make these surprise attacks on you from now on? None of us would ever be safe to build new vessels for our families!!! Are all of you so short sighted!?”
The channel grew silent and the Lead Controller said, “We will leave five vessels behind to assist survivors and repair those vessels that need it. Once all the weapons on those damaged ships are moved to the other vessels, we will continue our pursuit.” The Senior Controllers remained silent but knew that Family Covenants demanded that any enemy capable of endangering any family would require all families to cooperate in destroying it. The Lead Controller was right to point it out. However, numerous families began to regret coming to take part in this operation.
• • •
Gabe looked at Jock, “Damage report.”
“We lost two ships, Sir.”
“How did that happen!?”
“The two flew into an area where more than five hundred of the Motherships could cross-fire their blasters. The Essay’s force field is strong but it can’t withstand the focused fire of five hundred of those Motherships. The other Essays didn’t stop to fire once they determined the environment was too hostile.”
“Thank creation they were wise enough to do that. What about Azura losses?”
About a thousand of them were hit and damaged enough to either destroy or stop them. Long range scanners show the Azura formations have stopped to offer assistance to their damaged ships.”
Gabe pressed a button, “Amy, I’m changing your orders. You will join us and go through the black hole with the other fleets.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Jock looked at him, “Why are you doing that? What if we didn’t slow them down enough?”
“Commodore, I think we’ve determined that the Azura can detect our ships even if they can’t see them. They responded to our presence before we were in range to attack. If Amy stays and delays them, will they then see her ships go through the black hole?”
Jock nodded, “You’re right. I’m glad you’re in charge, I would have missed that.”
Gabe nodded and knew that was a good answer to Jock’s question…but not the real one. He needed to remove all of his fleets from the Builder’s Universe as quickly as possible. It was no longer safe for them to be there. He looked at the feed coming in from the stealth probe in the Carand Galaxy and saw there was barely enough time to arrive ahead of the Builders. He wondered if the Civilizations in that galaxy would meet them before they entered the galaxy or would hit them once they crossed the edge. Either way, his fleets should be able to sneak by unnoticed. At least he hoped they could. He needed to see that female Kindred. If what he suspected was true, he was going to need her assistance.
Chapter Fifteen
Steve sat in his conference room and stared at the video on the monitor with the giant warship passing overhead. He watched it pass and said, “Just how large is that thing?”
“About two times larger than the Azura Motherships.”
Steve jerked his head to Erica, “Are you sure about that?”
“I am.”
“And you say this thing came from the galaxy where we were given the technology to build our new warships?”
“It does but it is nothing like the ship we were allowed to scan, Admiral.”
Steve turned back to the monitor, “We’re being set up.” He looked at Kamela, “Were you able to confirm that?”
“I listened to their thoughts and they are here to observe the conflict with the four advanced civilizations currently taking place. Their scanners are beyond anything we currently have and they intend to wait until that conflict ends before t
aking any action.”
“What sort of action are they planning?”
“Expansion into our area of the universe.”
Steve turned back to the monitor, “If that ship is in the Builder’s Universe, it had to come through a black hole to get there.”
Essay nodded, “It came through the black hole closest to the Builder’s Galaxy.”
“We opened that door by going through and revealing it was possible to transit a black hole,” Steve thought out loud.
Kamela lifted her left shoulder and said, “It appears you did. I suspect that is why they allowed you to scan that older warship. They knew it would give us an upper hand against the other aggressive civilizations we’re facing.”
Erica added, “And once the war is concluded, the survivor shouldn’t pose a real threat to their plans to invade and conquer.”
“This changes everything.”
Kamela nodded, “Indeed it does Admiral Connor.”
“I don’t see blasters on that vessel’s hull.”
“I don’t think there are any.”
“Why, Kamela. It looks defenseless.”
“I heard millions of thoughts in that giant ship, Admiral. The vast majority of them were from beings that fly small warships. This thing is much like your Prophet Carriers. It’s only weapon is the small ships it launches to attack a given target.”
“But if we destroy that Carrier, we win.”
“I suspect the force field around that giant vessel is impenetrable to any of our current weapons. It will just sit inside the force field and watch what happens.”
Steve sat back in his chair and looked at Kamela in silence. Then he said, “If they have a ship in the Builder’s Galaxy, is it possible they have one here as well?”
Kamela’s eyes widened slightly and she jerked her heat toward Essay. He released a breath he was holding and turned to his father, “It’s always good strategy to have one in both universes. Three of the four advanced civilizations are in this universe. They learned from taking the Prophet’s Eyes databases that they can arrive here through the black hole in the Builder’s Galaxy.”
Steve sat up straight, “If they send a ship through the black hole in their Ritual Galaxy and then through the one in Andromeda, they’ll learn about the changes that take place from multiple black hole transits.”
Essay looked at Erica and then back to Steve, “Yes, they will and that will nullify our advantage in technology.”
“You can’t mention anything about your knowing they’re here, Admiral. They must believe they are unknown to us or they’ll act prematurely.”
“Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know why but I did sense they are afraid of us for some unknown reason.”
“Admiral Eagle told me that the location of the colonies was not in the database they took from the Eyes.”
“Then it’s imperative that the returning fleets do not return here.” Steve turned to Kamela, “Are they telepathic?”
“No, they are not.”
“You have to take the Prophet’s Eyes and stop the fleets outside the Milky Way. They do know about Earth and that would make sense to them.” Steve thought a moment and said, “Do you think they can hear our communications?”
“You have to assume they can.”
Steve punched a button on his panel, “Carol, get a message out to all the colonies that we are going to implement communication silence immediately until further notice. If something is critical, have them send a ship to deliver any messages!”
“Yes, Sir.”
Essay looked at Kamela and asked, “What is the range of your telepathy?”
“Not very far with a non-telepath.”
“What about with another telepath?”
“Normally, about four hundred light years.”
Steve’s eyes narrowed and Essay said, “What are you thinking?”
“Essay, take the Eyes ship out to Bosrean and ask the head of their Council to send us several thousand Bosreans to assist us in communicating with our ships. Ask if they can send them in small ships that can provide them the necessary atmosphere and food for an extended time. We’ll put one of those small ships on each of our warships and use them to communicate with each other. They can meet up with our fleets outside the Milky Way. You need to go and do that now. Our fleets will be coming back in twenty-four hours if they keep the planned schedule and you can go in the Prophet’s Eyes to Bosrean and still meet the fleets before I can get a ship to Bosrean.”
Essay stood up and headed toward the door. Kamela and Erica stood up and ran after him as Kamela thought, “We’ll need to get the fleets back to the colonies and keep them there until this situation clarifies itself.”
Steve thought, “Is that giant vessel as fast as our ships, Kamela?”
“I don’t know.”
“You need to find out!”
The presence of the Kindred’s mind disappeared and Steve sat down. This was not good!
• • •
The trip to Bosrean took less time than expected and Essay was amazed at how fast Kamela was able to explain what was happening with the new enemy and the need of Bosrean telepaths to assist the fleet in communications. The response time of the Bosrean was incredible. Four thousand small ships were taken from the giant colony ships and began launching toward the coordinates Erica had given to Kamela. The Bosreans would be waiting on the Human Fleets when they came through the black hole. Poul flew to the center of the Milky Way and waited for the Fleets to start transiting the black hole. “Erica, are you sure about the assembly coordinates?”
“I am, Essay.”
“Well, they’ve not arrived yet, thank the stars.”
“I’m concerned that Admiral Hart’s Fleet is supposed to remain behind.”
“One thing at a time, Kamela.”
They waited for twelve hours and then the five Prophet Class Carriers appeared on the scanner. Essay looked at Kamela and she thought to Admiral Holiday, “Admiral, you will move your ships to the following coordinates immediately.”
“On whose order?”
“Admiral Connor.”
“What’s going on?”
“We’ll explain later; please follow your orders. You will find a small gathering of Bosrean Ships and you should allow two of them into each of your vessel’s landing bays.”
Cam heard the Kindred’s instructions and knew something had gone wrong. He sent the coordinates to his Carriers and they disappeared as Admiral Heinrik’s Fleet arrived. They disappeared a few moments after Admiral Eagle’s Fleet arrived. Kamela sent him his orders and he thought, “I am going directly to the Admiralty. There is an issue that Admiral Conner must know about immediately!”
Kamela looked at Gabe’s thoughts and was surprised by what she saw, “Admiral, he’s already aware of the situation and you will follow your orders or you will put the colonies at risk.”
Gabe’s head went back and he thought, “They have a ship here?”
“We think they do. We saw one in the Builder’s Galaxy and it is highly probable they have one here as well. Follow your orders!”
Gabe began issuing orders and Admiral Hart’s Fleet appeared while he was speaking. He hesitated and then ordered her to follow his fleet to a new coordinate. Essay released a heavy sigh, “Thank Creation Admiral Hart didn’t stay behind.”
Kamela looked up, “Poul, power down again. Everyone seal their armor!!”
Essay’s armor appeared around him and he saw Erica was already in hers. He looked at his combat visor and saw a feed from the small passive antenna extended into subspace. He saw the Fleets moving away at high speed and then he saw another huge blip appear. They were here!
Essay watched the blip suddenly accelerate and pass them at high speed. He checked the speed it was traveling and was surprised a ship that big could move that fast. But it wasn’t as fast as the ships it was chasing. However, it must have heard the coordinates the Admirals had communicated to
their fleets. It was taking a direct course to the coordinate while the Fleets were moving around the edge of the galaxy. He waited and kept his eyes on Kamela and after thirty minutes she thought, “Poul, power up the ship.”
Poul said, “Kamela, they can hear our communications.”
Kamela nodded, “They can hear the subspace communicator but I don’t think they can hear the one we use in other space.”
Essay looked at Erica, “Do we still have that system on board?”
“We do and so do the other ships in the fleet; we need to get them to switch back to the old system.”
Kamela closed her eyes and smiled, “The Bosrean have notified the Admirals to use the Other Space Communication System for all sensitive communications.”
Essay turned back to Erica, “Is that system encrypted?”
“It wasn’t originally but it was modified when we built the new warships to be encrypted.”
Essay looked up, “Poul, do you think that giant was traveling at its fastest speed?”
“The passive power readings recorded by your visor show a massive energy glow around it. II believe it was moving at top speed.”
“Erica, was that glow characteristic of a dark energy reactor?”
“No, it was like the readings given off by a black matter reactor.”
Poul quickly said, “They must have taken that as well when they took my database. I wasn’t equipped with the dark energy reactor at that time.”
Essay looked at Kamela, “Why are you having us power down?”
“They were able to detect the Eyes both times it entered their galaxy.”
Essay looked up, “Poul, has the installation of the new dark energy reactors changed your ability to be undetectable?”
“It has. However, the warships don’t use the dark energy reactors for most of their main systems. They’re used to power the life support and electrical systems on our warships. Black Matter reactors power the force fields, blasters and missiles.”