by Saxon Andrew
Rory shrugged, “They wouldn’t know if the Blue Warships all use the same disruptor, would they?”
“Probably not. But we need to see if they go back to that planet to do another scan or if they just go straight to attack the Blue Civilization. If they attack, then we’re probably safe.”
“Are you saying that both of you should go back or just one Scout, Captain?”
Dean looked at Meredith, “I think the only reason we made it back is because there were two of us covering each other’s backs.”
“I’d hate to lose both of you,” Rory replied.
“There’s less of a chance of that happening by sending us back than sending some else out that is completely unfamiliar with what’s out there.”
Meredith smiled, “Why do you suddenly feel Captain Bennett is so qualified. She was an Ensign when you stumbled up on her sighting?”
Dean looked at Meredith, “I suppose all of you think I’m beauty-blind and it’s easy to understand why. But Captain Bennett’s IQ is twenty points higher than mine and she proved herself in the last mission. Give me someone as smart as she is and I’ll consider taking them.”
Meredith chuckled, “I know you haven’t had time to look through Fleet Personnel records since you arrived but that won’t happen. Captain Bennet has the highest IQ in the Scouts and maybe the entire fleet. I just wanted to make sure your head was screwed on right, Captain.”
Dean smiled, “Like I said, she saved my life several times during the mission with high-quality suggestions.”
Meredith looked at Ginger, “Maybe we should consider promoting you to a higher position.”
“No thanks; I’m happy out flying a Scout. Besides, I need to get accustomed to my new rank before another is tossed at me. And I want it clear that IQ is not all it’s cracked up to be. I think I stand a better chance of surviving with someone who possesses wisdom. It was Captain Hamlin that made our plans.”
Rory smiled, “Sounds like a good team to me. Load up your ships with plenty of stores this time. You may be gone for a while.”
Dean nodded, “Yes, Sir.”
“Major Stanly, download the languages to their computers along with a learning program.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Does anyone have any questions?” No one spoke and Rory said, “Captain Hamlin, notify me when you’re ready to leave.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Chapter Ten
“What did you mean by ‘beauty blind’ during the meeting?”
“Ginger, you should know about that.”
‘Why?”
“I would hope by this point in your life that you know how beautiful you are.”
“Are you suggesting that you want me along because of my appearance?”
‘No! I was telling them that your looks played no part in my decision to have you go with me and that I wasn’t blinded by your beauty.”
“Do you think they were of the opinion that you were?”
“They ascribe to others what is in themselves. They felt an attraction to you and assumed I had one as well.”
“Do you?”
“Can’t allow it to happen.”
“Why?”
“Because it would get in the way of doing a good job. I suspect your former problems with your superiors evolved out of their being attracted to you and you rejecting their advances.”
“You may be right about some of that but I think they saw me as a competitor. They felt threatened in their positions.”
“I suspect that’s true and, now that you’ve been promoted over them, they’re probably nervous.”
“They’ll be saying I was promoted because of my looks.”
“They’ll say that but they’ll know the real reason.”
“I don’t know. If a man runs into a really intelligent woman, they leave so fast they don’t even leave skid marks.”
Dean laughed, “Well, I guess there is some truth in that. Some women can be really intimidating.”
“You don’t appear to be intimidated.”
“Please refer back to when I said that one day when I report to you that I hope you’ll remember I was your friend.”
“There’s no way I should ever be promoted ahead of you.”
Dean shook his head, “Ginger, I’m a doer; I go out and get things done. Those who have the brilliance to make the plans for us doers are needed in high positions in Fleet. I see that’s where you’ll eventually end up and that’s where you’ll make the biggest difference in this conflict.”
“So, you don’t want me to continue going out with you on dangerous missions?”
“Now there you go doing that woman thing and twisting what I’ve said. I haven’t said that at all and you know it! However, it would be a real waste of talent for you to die out here. There are many others that can replace me but not you.”
“Then why did you want me to go with you?”
“Because I don’t want to die. If you weren’t there when those Blue Warships came in behind me, I would be dead now.”
“Well, you should know that none of them in the meeting believed you when you said you were ‘beauty blind’.”
“What?”
“I watched their expressions and they were all thinking, ‘Yeah…right!’”
Dean snickered, “They should know that beauty is hidden under a combat helmet.”
Ginger smiled, “Not the kind that counts.”
Dean looked at the stars flashing by as they flew at maximum speed toward the Perseus Spiral Arm and wondered what she meant by that remark.
• • •
They arrived at the gap between the two-spiral arms and Dean said, “I’m going to move further down the arm and keep an eye on the couse from the Norma Arm to the Blue Civilization. You keep a scanner out for the course back to that planet we attacked.”
“We should both go to the course to the Blue Civilization.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you were fibbing again when you told them our disruptors were different from the Brax’s.” Dean was silent and Ginger smiled, “You don’t like being on shipboard; you prefer to be out here flying at maximum speed among the stars. You came up with that to get back out here and out of the ship.” Dean continued his silence and Ginger said, “Disruptor’s use either positive or negative particles. Shooting them out of different forms of blaster barrels doesn’t change the particles. You knew the Brax would believe that the Blue Civilization is the one that attacked that planet.”
“When you’re in command, please remember I’d prefer assignments away from the ship.”
Ginger laughed and said, “I might want to keep you around for entertainment.”
“Then go out with me. And you’re right. We should both go and scout the course to the Blue Civilization.”
“You don’t think they went out and found the Brax?”
“No, they remained at that planet they attacked and if they did send out scouts while we’ve been gone, they would have concentrated on the Perseus Arm. They’ve not had enough time to go and scout the Orion Spur or the Norma Arm. They’ll focus on the concentration of stars in the arm they live in.” Dean paused and said, “The Perseus arm is more than fifty-thousand light years long. They have a lot of area to cover.”
“You’re assuming they haven’t already done that.”
Dean was silent for a moment and then said, “What are you suggesting?”
“We have no idea how old that civilization is. They know, just like we do, that there are dangers out in the universe. We’ve been expanding out the Orion Spur and have not run into a really dangerous civilization. But the Spur is only ten-thousand-light years long. However, we have found numerous intelligent species and we’ve attacked more than a dozen of them. I suspect the number of advanced civilizations that would be a danger are located closer to the center of the galaxy, where the older stars are located. If I can figure that out, so could they. I don’t think we can assume the Blue Civilization won’t go an
d check out the two-spiral arms next to Perseus.”
Dean shrugged, “Under normal circumstances, I’d agree with you.”
Ginger said, “Buttttt…”
“The Brax came at them from the middle of the Perseus Arm and fled in the same direction. If they have investigated the Perseus arm in the past, they will probably assume that the Brax are a civilization that advanced since their last search. They’ll eliminate the Perseus for them first.”
“You sound pretty confident about that.”
“I guess.”
“Did you factor in that the Blue Civilization probably got a scan of our two-scouts?”
“Actually, I did.”
“And?”
“The Brax came roaring toward them and was not pursuing anything. We passed the location of the battle undetected outside the Perseus arm and came back toward it. The Blue Ships saw us moving in from the opposite direction of the Brax arrival and won’t associate us with them. If anything, that would make them believe we came from further out the Perseus Arm beyond their civilization and were looking to see what was going on. It may prompt them to go further out their spiral arm looking for our civilization as well as the Brax.”
“What do you think the Brax will do?”
Dean shrugged, “I have to assume they’re as smart as we are and won’t give away their location in the Coma Arm.”
“Is that why we’ve stopped directly opposite the locations of the Brax planets we found.”
“Yes, and we’re moving out into the gap between the Perseus and Norma arms to keep an eye out for them. We’ll find a star we can use to hide if we detect them moving our way.”
“Do we need to separate?”
“No, Ginger. You caught me on the fib about the disruptors. We’ll stay together as much as possible.”
“Good. I like having someone to talk with out here. It can get lonely pretty quick.”
Dean chuckled, “Not as long as you have the stars to keep you occupied. But you’re right; it’s always good to have company.”
“By-the-way, now that I have a Captain’s rank, I can look at Fleet Personnel Files. You fibbed about the difference in our IQ scores. I’m only eight-points higher, not twenty.”
“I try to keep that score a secret.”
“Well, I’m pretty certain that Captain Legion knows the truth.” Dean was silent and Ginger said, “She could have made it an issue but decided I was too distracting to keep around. She looked me in the eyes and I saw what she was thinking. I nodded to let her know I was ok with it and that’s why I’m here instead of stirring up trouble in Fleet.”
“Oh, you’re a trouble maker, are you?”
“Not intentionally. It just seems to follow me around.”
“The price beautiful people have to pay is soooo tough.”
“Don’t be cute. Don’t tell me you haven’t had women making your life miserable.”
Dean sighed and remembered Megan. Ginger was more right than she knew.
• • •
Dean was awoken by Ginger shouting over his helmet’s speaker, “WAKE UP!”
Dean shook his head, “What, what!”
“I’m picking up communications on the Brax Frequency. I haven’t seen them on my scanner but I’m hearing them.”
“Follow me!” Dean turned the scout and flew in toward a Class-G Star and pulled up beside a huge group of comets orbiting the distant star. He moved his Scout just inside the outer edge and powered down his systems. He kept the drive-field at low power so they could hear the Brax transmissions. He pressed a button and said, “Computer, translate anything you understand and feed anything important to me.”
“The only thing I’ve heard that is understandable is that they want to move across the gap as quickly as possible.”
“Did you get that, Ginger.”
“I did.”
“Leave your receiver on. The more of the Brax language it has the better it will be able to translate.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“No more communication until we see what’s coming,” Dean ordered. He wondered what was moving across the gap.
• • •
An hour later, he saw the distant blips on his passive scanner. They were moving fast and were passing his location in thirty-minutes. He was shocked by the size of the Armada but especially by six-giant vessels he had not seen before. They were twice the size of the Brax Warships. They disappeared toward the Perseus Arm and after their communication transmissions faded away, Ginger said, “WHAT WERE THOSE!?!”
“I suspect they were the Brax equivalent of our Carriers. I counted two-thousand plus warships and six-carriers. It’s a good thing we didn’t try to take them on. Power up and let’s get moving!”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re faster than they are and we’re going to fly in the gap at maximum speed toward that planet the Brax attacked.” We should get there first.” The two-Scouts lept out of the comets and went to maximum speed. Dean knew the Brax were wasting time moving toward the Perseus arm and he was taking a more direct route. They arrived outside the Perseus Arm and turned toward it at maximum-speed. They moved into the arm and Dean slowed down as he moved toward the star where the Blue Civilization was attacked. He arrived and saw a hundred-Blue Warships around the planet.
“They’re going to be devastated.” Dean nodded. “I wish there was some way to warn them.”
Dean thought about the suggestion and struggled with what to do. “Ginger, are you certain the Blue Civilization scanned us last time out?”
“You know they had their scanners at full-power; I don’t see any way they could have missed detecting us.”
“Are you able to keep a secret?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because of what I’m going to do.” Dean pressed a button, “Computer, do you know enough of the Blue Civilization’s language to say, “Giant Enemy Formation moving your way at high speed?”
“I can get the idea to them.”
“Send that at maximum power from the transmitter and then erase the information from your data-bank.”
“Transmitting and now erasing.”
“Do you think that was wise, Sir?”
“No, I don’t. You can report me if you want, Ginger.”
“Report what?”
“What I just did.”
“What did you do?”
Dean laughed and moved away from the planet. “Sir, I’m receiving numerous transmissions from the planet and the warships in orbit are powering up their engines.” Dean watched the optical monitor and a few minutes later, the Blue Warships activated their drive-fields and disappeared. “What are they doing?”
“They’re going out to confirm the message and attempt to slow the Brax down.”
Two-hours later, Ginger said, “I have three-areas of large transmissions moving at a tangent to that planet’s location toward the Brax line of approach.”
“Looks like they found them, Ginger.”
“Sir, there is a fourth slower moving area of transmissions moving in the same general direction.”
“Power up. We need to go see what that is.” The two-Scouts flew away at their best-speed.
“Sir, that fourth-area is coming from a direction that we did not detect last time we were here. And there’s another group moving toward the planet we did not detect.”
“Looks like this civilization is larger than we suspected.”
“It does appear so, Sir.”
“We’re moving inside our scanner-range.”
“Reduce power to the drive-field and let’s see if we can get a look at what it is.”
“Sir, I suspect if we can see them, they can probably see us as well.”
“What are you gonna do? They have bigger fish to fry than us. Just be ready to run; if they’re moving at their maximum speed, we should be able to get away.”
Dean activated his scanner-monitor and started shaking his head. Ginger said with a tre
mor in her voice, “The Brax don’t know what they’re in for.”
Dean could only nod. The six-hundred giant Blue Ships had to be some form of Carrier. “Back off and move outside the Arm. We’ll investigate after this confrontation is over.” Ginger flew in behind him as Dean went to full-power on the drive-field and left the Perseus Spiral Arm.
• • •
A week later, Ginger asked, “Sir?”
“Yes.”
“When are we going in?”
“I guess whatever happened has been resolved. I decided to wait until you lost patience.”
“Are you saying I have no patience?!”
“No, I’m saying you have more than I do. I would have gone in four-days ago, if left to my own devices.”
“Oh.” Ginger paused and asked, “Why did you decide to tell the Blues what was coming. You chose them over the Brax.”
Dean sighed, “We saw that the Blue Planets had multiple species living on them. I just felt they were different than the Brax and us.”
“You’re putting us in the same category as the Brax?”
“We are the same. We’ve eradicated primitive civilizations to steal their planets. I just…”
“Don’t like what we are.”
“Something like that. Let’s go see what happened.”
• • •
They flew back into the Perseus Arm and moved away from the Blue Planet until they began hearing transmissions on the Blue Warship’s frequency. Dean slowed and reduced the power on the drive-filed and began shutting down his systems. He shut down the drive field and coasted, as the power of the transmissions grew stronger. He came to a stop and raised the optical scope.
He was always amazed at how the tiny optical scope was as powerful as the old Hubble Space Telescope. Technology was a wonderful thing and the optical system was a marvelous invention. They were outside the range of their passive scanners but the optical system could see clearly where the battle had happened.
The aftermath of a space battle was always something that gave one pause to ever consider participating in one. Ginger moved closer and came into contact with his wing, “You look at the left-side and I’ll take the right.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Computer, tabulate what we find.” Dean saw the numbers start appearing on his helmet’s tactical display and he was stunned by the devastation. He said softly, “Stay in contact and we’re going to parallel the site. Maintain this distance from it.”