by Saxon Andrew
• • •
“They didn’t leave skip traces with those four force fields but some of their damaged ships did leave traces.”
“Follow them and see where they lead us. I want to hear what they’re saying.”
“We’ll catch them, I think.”
Audrey watched the void ahead of Willow and saw nothing in the blackness. She was forced to agree with Chris, he was definitely not a ten year old. His mind was more advanced than a child that age. How could that have happened? She continued to stare out of the viewport and suddenly thought that it was almost like his mind wasn’t human. She glanced at him and then she knew. The only non-human mind on the planet was Lukas. She knew he saved Chris’s mother from an attack by a street gang before he was born. She looked at Chris again and pulled up a picture of Lukas from ten years earlier. There just wasn’t any doubt. She started shaking her head and Chris said, “I guess you figured it out. Mom said you were one of the smartest officers in Fleet.”
“What?”
“I saw the picture you pulled up on your wrist unit. You’ve put it together, haven’t you?”
“Who knows about this?”
“It appears more and more are seeing it now that I’ve got an adult body. Both of my parents now know, along with Salud, Chad, and Julie. If I don’t do something to alter my appearance, pretty much everyone will know.”
“How does Salud feel about this?”
“She knew about me before she and Lukas became an item. The Sentinel told her in their first meeting. She’s come to terms with it.”
“So you’re pretty much an alien as well?”
“My mother is human. Lukas did not have a human parent, Willow altered his DNA when he fled to Earth from the Myot Warships.”
“Then you’re different.”
“I’m telepathic, Lukas isn’t.”
“Do you have his speed?”
“What do you mean?”
“You must have seen the recording of his taking on the pirates?”
Chris was silent for a moment and said, “Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve only had this body long enough to leave. That’s something I’ll have to see about when we get off the ship.”
“The attackers are ahead of us.”
Chris and Audrey turned to the monitor and saw the distant glowing stardrives. “Willow, can you hear their transmissions?”
“They aren’t telepathic so, yes I can hear them.”
“We don’t know their language, can you hear their thoughts and convert them to electronic form and play them on the wall speaker?”
“Yes, I need a moment to find the Leader of their fleet.”
“You’re doing that so I can hear.”
Chris nodded, “I must confess that I was really bothered that I was going to have to take you with me on this trip but you’ve been a real asset so far. You need to be included in the loop.”
“Can’t you just send what you’re hearing to my mind?”
“I can. I should have thought of that.”
“Willow, play it on the speaker and record it. We’re going to need to send this back to fleet to let them know what’s going on out here. This may be an invader in the making and we can’t allow them to grow unchecked.”
“I’ve found him.”
The wall speaker buzzed a moment and then they heard, “I lost more than five hundred ships, Excellency. Our ships are not a match for theirs.”
“Were you able to destroy any of theirs?”
“We killed about three hundred but it took more than ten of my ships firing on each of them to break through their force field.”
“Are you saying they are more advanced than we are?”
“The only way to defeat them will be to overwhelm them with numbers. Two thousand ships left their planet to join in the battle so I jumped the ships away.”
“Do you think they have more than that?”
“There’s no way to tell. Everything is hidden inside a force field around the planet. My scanners determined that it would take a massive barrage to break through that force field.”
“I was hoping we could take the planet for settlement but this is an enemy we must remove before it can take us on. Did the scouts find another planet where they settled on?”
“No! During the six months we watched them, no ships came in from another location and none of their ships left the planetary system except for brief jumps out to interstellar space. I don’t know what they were doing out there. They appeared to enter normal space and fly at their fastest speed for about an hour. Then they would jump back to their planet.”
“Perhaps their ships need to be run to operate efficiently?”
“Nothing else makes sense.”
“I have eight fleets that will complete their conquests within four months. We’ll hold them here to go back to that planet once they all arrive.”
“I will start repairs on my ships that were damaged, Excellency.”
• • •
“Willow, send this information back to Fleet along with everything you recorded.”
“I’m going to have to send it with a microprobe. Transmitting across the black hole will distort the video images.”
“Turn around and move far enough away for the probe to not be detected when you launch it.”
“What are you thinking about doing, Chris?”
“Tell me what you think our Leaders will do about this. You’re a combat tested officer, I’d like to know what you would do as well?”
Audrey’s lips tightened and the left corner of her mouth went up slightly, “This is a clear and present danger to Eden.”
“I see it that way as well. Go on.”
“We’re going to have to confront this civilization and pull its claws.”
“Willow, can we do that?”
“My readings on their ships indicate our DM Technology will penetrate their force fields. However, unlike the invaders, their ships do not have a powerful magnetic field around them.”
“They’re not using Dark Matter.”
“That’s correct, Audrey.”
“Can their beams break through our force fields?”
“If they get close enough they can. However, there is one disturbing issue.”
“What is that?”
“The Leader that the Fleet Leader reported in to has a different mind.”
Chris sat up straight in his chair, “What are you saying?”
“I don’t think it was located on the planet those attackers were moving in on. There is a possibility that more than one species is being used to attack other planets. If that’s true, we really don’t know the capability of the other ships they might use.”
“Include that information in what you’re sending and suggest to Fleet that they might want to send some of Admiral Barber’s scouts here to start taking a look at the other fleets as they arrive.” Audrey smiled. That was an adult decision. She realized that Chris should be in command of this mission. He wasn’t missing anything. What he said next really surprised her. “Willow, were those grey ships using any electronic communications?”
“Their scanners were sending information to the planet.”
“So they can receive electronic signals?”
“It appears they can.”
“I want you to send another microprobe back to that planet that was attacked with the same information we’ve just uncovered. Tell them I’ll be coming back to discuss it with them later.”
“Is that a good idea?”
“Audrey, they’re going to be attacked just like Earth was. It appears they aren’t conquerors or their attackers would have seen ships coming and going. They deserve our help.”
“And if you’re wrong about them?”
“We now know they go out into interstellar space to collect Dark Energy. We’re going to use the microprobe to tell us when one of their ships leaves to collect it. I intend to follow it and see how they do it.”
Audrey nodded an
d climbed between the seats to go into the sleeping quarters, “I’m going to take a nap.” Chris nodded and she left the cockpit.
“She’s something special, isn’t she?” Chris nodded. “Are you feeling anything?”
“What do you mean, Willow?”
“You’re a twenty year old human, she’s a beautiful woman, and don’t you feel the juices flowing?”
Chris blew out a breath, “Willow, that is something better left for after I’ve completed my destiny. I don’t have time for…romance or anything else.”
“Just checking.”
“Now you know. Besides, she sees me as a ten year old. You know how revolting that would be for a woman to even consider.”
“I think she’s past that, Chris.”
“Oh?”
“She’s come to the conclusion that with your hybrid brain, you are something different all together. She’s probably more intimidated than revolted by you.”
“Good. Let’s keep it that way.”
“Aren’t you sleepy?”
“I don’t need more than one or two hours of sleep a day. It’s been that way as long as I can remember. I can just close my eyes here in the chair and get what I need.”
“I’m launching the two probes. I’ll let you know if we hear back from Fleet.”
“Good, why don’t you head back toward that planet so we can follow their ships?”
“I’ll skip in above their planetary system so we can see one when it leaves.”
“That would be good.” Chris closed his eyes and kept them closed for three hours.
• • •
Jinks walked into Lukas’ office and said, “We’ve received a microprobe from Christopher.”
Lukas turned around in his chair, “What’s going on!?!”
“He’s found a war taking place between two civilizations and it appears one of them is a possible invader civilization in the making. The planet they’re attacking uses Dark Energy to power their force fields.”
“Dark Energy?”
“Yes, and they have a force field around their planet that is pretty powerful.”
“Now that is something we can use.”
“He doesn’t know if they’ll share it with us but he’s planning to follow one of their ships and see how they collect it. The new invaders are planning to attack that planet again in four months with nine fleets and attempt to overwhelm the defenders.”
“Send what you have to my console.”
Jinks handed Lukas a datacube, “It’s all on this. What do think we should do?”
“Let me take a look at this first. We’ll discuss it afterwards.” Jinks nodded and sat down.
• • •
Piper listened to the exchange and thought, “Elder, I think we need to get one of us out to the young human and keep track of what he’s doing.”
“Why do you think that?”
“He’s found a civilization using Dark Energy.”
“That is not good.”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“If they share what they discover with us, then we can trust them. We need to wait and see.”
“We’ve given you the authority to decide what we do about this species. I’m sending Cipher to watch him.”
• • •
“Chris.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve detected the presence of a Silver Ship.”
Chris sat up in his chair, “Where is it?”
“I can’t see it but I can sense its presence.”
“Is it Piper?”
“No, it feels different.”
Chris thought for a moment and thought, “Are you here to keep an eye on us?”
“Now just how did you know I was here!?”
“We can’t see you but we can feel your presence. Piper must have heard about what we found out here and suggested you come and take a look.”
“That’s exactly what happened.”
“I’m going to have my ship transmit everything we’ve found so far. If we discover anything else, I’ll send it to you.”
“Wait a moment.” Chris’s eyes narrowed and after a minute the Silver Ship thought, “Piper also just received a recording you sent back to your planet. Did you suggest that?”
“No but we promised to keep you informed on anything we might use to develop new weapons. So far we only have knowledge about this planet’s use of Dark Energy. We don’t know how to use it, yet. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Cipher.”
“I assume you know my name is Chris. My ship’s name is Willow and my friend here with us is Audrey.”
“Piper told me about your ship. I find that really extraordinary.”
“Thank you, Cipher.”
“I think I’m going to like this assignment. What are you planning to do?”
“We’re going to follow one of the ships from this planet and see if we can detect how they collect Dark Energy.”
“Do you mind if I tag along?”
“Would it matter if we did?”
“Not really, but it’s polite to ask.”
“Then do what you need to do. If you need to talk with us, feel free to do so.”
“I’ll try to stay out of your way.”
“That would be appreciated.”
• • •
Four hours later, Willow announced, “Thousands of ships have moved out of the planet’s force field and are accelerating toward the gravity limit. It appears they have deciphered what you sent them.”
“Why do you think that?”
“They must be sending their fleets to recharge their reactors in preparation for the coming attack. I’m moving into the void and deploying the cloud around us. Do not use your telepathy!”
“Which way are they headed?”
“Directly toward us.”
“Do they see us?”
“I don’t think so, this is the most direct route to open space.”
“Sound the buzzer and get Audrey up here.”
A minute later, Audrey climbed out of the sleeping quarters and said, “What’s going on?”
“The planet is sending ships out into open space. We’re following them.”
“They’re moving directly toward us.”
“But they’re not all converging this way. They’re taking the most direct route to interstellar space which is directly above Andromeda.” Audrey watched the glow of thousands of stardrives as they accelerated past them. Willow allowed them to get some distance and began following them. After two hours the ships entered normal space and Chris said, “Extend an antenna into normal space and use your passive scanner to watch them.”
“What are they doing, Willow?”
“The rear section on those ship’s hulls is moving out. It appears they are forming a scoop of some kind.”
“That must be how they collect Dark Energy.”
“I thought Dark Energy wasn’t in a form where it could be collected?”
Chris nodded and looked at Audrey, “Most scientists agree that between seventy eight and eighty six percent of the universe is composed of Dark Energy. All of the open space you see is made of Dark Energy.”
“But there’s nothing there! It’s just a vast emptiness.”
“Actually, it’s not. Open space would not exist if it was just nothing. If that were the case, every bit of matter would be pressed up against each other. It’s Dark Energy that is pushing those pieces of matter away from each other. That’s why the universe is still expanding. The particles that make up space are so small, they can’t be detected and they don’t do anything but exert a repulsive force on all the matter in the universe.”
“But…”
“Space is growing larger, Audrey. The galaxies are being pushed away from each other and the space between them is growing. That has to mean the particles that make Dark Energy are either growing or more are coming into existence all the time.”
“Chris, we’ve move
d through normal space millions of time and have never detected any particles.”
“But our speed of travel in normal space is limited to the speed of light. It’s those particles that must be slowing us down so that we can’t exceed it.”
“How do you come up with that?”
“Space must be like water but in a different form. The faster you move through water, what happens?”
“It almost becomes a solid.”
“Exactly. And at the speed of light, Dark Energy must also take on the properties of a solid, which prevents anything from going faster. That must be how they collect it. They accelerate close to the speed of light and collect the particles with their scoops.” Chris said, “Willow, can you tell what those scoops are made of?”
“It appears to be the same substance as the hulls of the Silver Ships.”
Chris stared at the monitor for a moment and said, “Get us out of here.”
Audrey shook her head, “Why? We don’t have an answer to what it’s made of.”
“We aren’t going to find the answer to that out here. We have to go back to the planet.”
“What’s going on, Chris?”
“These ships already have their scoops. We have to find a ship leaving the planet that isn’t headed out to interstellar space. We need to get back now!!”
Chapter Eleven
“I don’t understand.”
“Audrey, the substance coating those scoops is not out in interstellar space. It’s located inside the galaxy. If the grey ships are anticipating another attack, they must have stepped up their construction of ships. That means they will have to take the panels that make those scoops to wherever they get the coating. We must follow them to that source.”
Audrey shook her head as she saw the small glow from stars in normal space go by them at an incredible speed. “I have a large ship leaving the planet and skipping out.”
“Don’t lose it, Willow.”
“It’s headed toward the central black hole.”
“Stay on it. Use three reactors on the gravity drive!”
“Switching now. Chris, the black cloud around us is starting to be affected by the gravity forces around the black hole.”
“Audrey, go back into the storage bay and start putting more magnets on the wall. Get moving.” Audrey jumped up and went between the seats toward the rear of the pod. “Hold your position here, Willow. Can you keep track of where they’re headed?”