by Saxon Andrew
“I suppose so. But I certainly wouldn’t advise you to send your Eldest Hatchling in your place. He suggested that to prevent the Council from questioning your Father’s judgement.”
“He was obeying an order from the Council! Sending a lower ranking Greng to do this would certainly cause him to be censured if the mission fails. The circumstances forced him to do this.”
“Your father has more than a hundred Shell Grengs in his command.”
“Yes, but none of them have my standing in the chain-of-command.”
“I wouldn’t be so forgiving.”
“Have you considered the outcome of doing this if we’re successful?” The Shell Greng asked with a sly tone.
There was a moment of silence and the Computer responded, “At the very least, you could be promoted to Grengen Fleet status.”
“That’s how I see it; great risk leads to great rewards. But first, we have to survive this mission to reap the benefits. Black Hole in ten minutes, have you aligned the systems?”
“I did that before we arrived at the edge of this galaxy. I do find it interesting that your father’s computer was patterned after his brain. It is little more than a reflection of his psyche.”
“Just as you are a reflection of mine. Don’t take it beyond that.”
“Just saying.”
“Well, don’t.”
“I still say you’re too forgiving. You need to view your father as a threat, not an ally. You will be used to prevent any danger to him.” The Shell Greng was silent but knew the computer was right. If this new enemy was a real danger, his life would be placed in danger again.
• • •
Levi was struggling to get his planets organized after the Builders fled from Andromeda and he was close to being overwhelmed. The Builders had ordered all of the gravity towers that were used to defend against anything coming out of the black hole to be gathered in a distant central location and shut down. He was just now getting the crews back to them and powering up the giant structures was taking longer than he anticipated. His panel was overloaded with messages and he ignored them as he worked on more pressing matters.
Suddenly, alarms went off at full blast and he jerked his head toward the giant monitor on the Central Control Room’s wall. Something gigantic flashed out of the event horizon at incredible speed and disappeared above the black hole headed toward open space high above the galaxy. “WHAT IN SEVEN MOONS OF DRACOW WAS THAT?!”
His Senior Military Advisor yelled from across the room, “It was ten giant vessels that came through together at high speed. Each of them are larger than a Black Mothership!!”
Levi fell back in his chair and knew this had to be the civilization the Builders were fleeing. He slowed the scan of the giants down to the slowest speed possible and his eyes grew wide. Now he knew why the Builders had fled. He stared at the monitor for ten minutes and lifted his communicator, “Order all warships to start picking up scientists and engineers from our planets and take them to the galaxies we’ve chosen to colonize. Get the transports organized to move the resources they need to start building.” Levi knew that the Humans and the Builders were right. Living in one place was a death sentence for any species. He pressed his communicator and yelled, “GET THE TOWERS MOVING TOWARD THE BLACK HOLE, NOW!” He sat there staring at the monitor and then looked at the Other Space Communicator button on his console. He thought about it and then loaded the recording into his panel and sent it into Other Space. The Humans should know about this, even if they were no longer defending his civilization.
• • •
Admiral Tim Hart listened to the alarm klaxons going off and saw Admiral Gabriel Eagle appear on his monitor, “We’ve received a message from the Darkness that ten Flashers have come out of Andromeda’s black hole and disappeared above the galaxy.”
“They’re coming to investigate the two ships we destroyed.”
“That’s how we see it, Tim. We’re still discussing whether or not we should respond to this but unless we send warships now, the issue will be answered before we decide. You are ordered to take the Homosassa and Alexandria to the location of the destroyed Flasher just outside the Milky Way. You still might not arrive in time but if they delay, you could make it. Do you have your modified wings on board?”
“Three of the four have been modified. I’ll just have to leave the fourth behind. What about the Alexandria’s Wings?”
“The Carrier has completed modification but none of the wings are done. You may need to use your three to support both vessels.”
“Sir, ten of those warships may be more than we can handle.”
“That’s being discussed by the Senior Admirals at this moment. We’ll send the Eyes to let you know what our consensus is.”
Tim activated his armor and keyed the two carrier’s general frequency, “Move the ships out of orbit and set course for the dwarf galaxy where the Flasher was destroyed.” He lifted the hand microphone and said over the intraship communication system, “We’re going to stardrive in ten seconds. This is not a drill and blaster crews prepare to scrape a full load of Dark Energy into each reactor before our arrival at our destination.” Tim toggled another frequency, “Alexandra, are you on the way?”
“Powering up the stardrive now. I’ll be right behind you, Admiral.”
Tim stared at the main wall monitor and saw the stars outside the giant ten mile long warship turn into long streaks of light as the Homosassa left normal space and lept forward at its maximum speed. Tim wondered why Admiral Holiday had scheduled the two carriers under his command for the first modifications. He would have thought that the Admiral would have wanted to have his Carrier done first. But…Tim sighed. The Admiral used his Carrier to direct the others during combat. The ones doing the fighting needed to be done first. His command was chosen because Holiday felt he was the one that was best suited to fight the new vessels.
He thought about it and looked up, “Sally, will we arrive in time?”
“I’ve been doing some computations and according to the data I have in my processors that I used to estimate the Flasher’s top speed, if they stop to take a full scan of the destroyed ship in Andromeda, we should make it to the second ship before they do.”
Tim knew his ship’s computer was good. But was it right? He looked out of the viewport and saw the stars were streaks flashing by them as the two giant warships flew at maximum speed toward the Large Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy just outside the Milky Way. He looked at the Homosassa’s Ship Commander and was once again impressed by him. Commodore George Luge Jr. was just as brilliant as his father, who was humanity’s lead scientist. He handled every detail in getting the Homosassa ready for war. That allowed him to focus on the big picture and not worry about the giant vessel being ready.
• • •
The Greng saw that the giant gravity weapons were not around the black hole as his Shell exited the event horizon and was thankful for the blessing. He was somewhat certain that situation would be shortly corrected. The ten Flashing Warships changed course high above the huge spiral galaxy and turned toward the last reported location of the scout.
He pulled up the information the scout had previously transmitted and smiled. The beautiful spiral galaxy below his vessel was incredible and it had millions of habitable planets. This would be a perfect place for his species to come and grow without the normal limitations on birth rates. This galaxy was desperately needed to relieve the population pressures.
Twenty minutes later, the Scanner Greng looked up, “We have the scout on our long range scanner. It is not currently moving nor is it showing any power.”
The Shell Greng moved his ears indicating he heard and stared at the monitor. They would be arriving shortly. He saw the image growing larger and touched his panel, “Each of you have your area assigned to scan on the scout we’re approaching. Spread out and start actively scanning the Scout the moment we move in range. Do not reduce your velocity.”
The ten gian
t flashing warships moved smoothly into a circle formation and centered the fast approaching scout in the center of the circle. The formation blew past the scout with it centered in the middle of the circle formation. The Greng stared at the image on his panel; the horrific destruction was beyond belief. The scans from the other nine ships began pouring in and he waited for the results as he ordered, “Change course to take us to the next reported location.” The ships in the circle moved back into a formation with four ships on each side of the Command Vessel and one directly in front of it leading the way.
He heard the computer say, “I’ve completed the analysis.”
“Put it on my panel and send a copy to the other ships.” The Greng stared at his panel as the images collected of the destroyed warship flashed on his display. The incinerated bodies that filled the dead vessel made him feel sick. The holes blasted through the vessel’s hull and the burned out forward section of the giant warship told of a battle that was vicious and quick. “What did this?”
“There’s not enough data to say. It was obviously some kind of nuclear weapon as indicated by the extreme radiation burns that killed the majority of the crew inside the scout but there are no burn marks on the hull.”
“How is that possible?”
“It’s not possible. Nuclear blasts or blaster beams burn what they hit but there are no burn marks on that scout.”
“Continue to analyze the data and see if you can’t come up with something that could cause this.”
The ten ships moved out of Andromeda and headed toward a small light just outside the spiral galaxy in the distance. He sat in his chair and watched it grow larger. His panel illuminated and he saw one of his Ship Greng’s on the display, “Shell Greng, I think I know how the Scout was not able to get out a message.”
“Tell me what you see.”
“If you look at the destruction on the Scout’s hull, there is no destruction around the location of the Control Center but it is blasted into rubble. I believe that the Control Center was hit first and then the rest of the attack took place. If it was destroyed first, there would be no way to get a message out to the Council Communicators.”
The Shell Greng pulled up the image and saw his Greng was right. The entire front of the giant ship was blasted into rubble but the damage stopped miles from the Control Center. The location of the Control Center was now little more than a giant hole in the hull. He looked at the Greng and his nose widened showing his approval, “I think you’re right. I will mention you in my report.” The Ship Greng’s nose widened and the image disappeared.
He thought about that idea as he saw the galaxy growing larger on the monitor and didn’t like what he was seeing. He touched his panel, “Stop all ships.” The ten giant vessels came to a stop in intergalactic space and the Shell Greng said over the communicator, “I want all ships to form the circle again but this time I want the Control Centers of each ship facing in toward the center of the circle. We will widen the circle until we can fire all of our blasters into the center of that circle without hitting the ships opposite your location as well as outside the circle. We will stop firing into the center of the formation as we pass the scout and you will scan it just as we did the last one. You will not stop firing outside the circle and once clear, we will open fire again into the center of our formation. Once we complete our scan, we will then turn toward the location of our home worlds. We will not be going through another black hole to go there. We will make the trip through subspace.”
The Computer quickly said in his ear receiver, “That will take a long time!”
“Yes it will but the Council will receive the data they sent us here to collect. I will not put my Shell in jeopardy of the Civilization that did this to our scouts.” He touched his panel as his ships finished forming the formation. “Accelerate to maximum speed and start firing your blasters when we arrive ten light years from the Scout’s last location.” The ten ships ignited their giant thrusters and the formation accelerated to maximum velocity.
• • •
Timmy sat in his command chair and heard the sonic scanners roaring with a deep bass sound. He recognized it as belonging to the stardrives used by the giant Flashing Warships. He was still a long way from the destroyed Flasher Ship and he estimated his two carriers would arrive at close to the same moment as the ten Flashers. He stared at the tactical monitor and after thirty minutes saw a large blip appear on the edge of the scanning range. Over the next ten minutes it resolved itself into ten blips in a huge circle formation. “Sally?”
“We’re going to arrive just behind them, Sir.”
Timmy nodded and toggled a switch in his combat helmet, “Alexandra, I’m slowing slightly to allow you to move alongside my ship.”
“Moving now.”
He continued to stare at the tactical monitor and then looked at the visual monitor. His eyes narrowed as he squinted to see, “What are they doing?”
The Ship’s Computer replied, “Sir, they have rotated their ships such that the bridge of each ship is inside the circle formation they’ve formed and they are firing all of their blaster into the middle of the circle and around their formation.”
Timmy stared at the giant ships and heard mentally, “Admiral Hart!”
Timmy answered, “Yes, Kamela.”
“The Senior Admirals have authorized you to attack those ships but only if you are convinced that you can destroy them and prevent their getting a communication out.”
Timmy stared at the incoming giants and started shaking his head, “Alexandra, abort the attack. Continue moving toward them and start actively scanning those ships.”
“Sir?”
“Do you think we can destroy all ten of those ships without them getting a message out?”
Alexandra was furious. She wanted to kill those vessels but she knew Timmy was right. “Aborting Attack, Sir. Initiating active scan now.”
Timmy looked up and thought, “Kamela, what possessed them to use that formation?”
The Kindred Telepath responded, “They have figured out from the scanning data from the first ship you destroyed that the bridge was hit first. This formation they’re in now makes it impossible for your two carriers, even if you used the Attack Fighters, to hit all ten bridges simultaneously. Whoever is in command of those ships is one smart cookie.”
Timmy said over the command circuit, “I want all of those ships actively scanned down to the central core. They’ll have to drop their force fields to scan that vessel we destroyed and I want to see everything on those ships in fine detail. If they have fillings in their teeth, I want to see them.” George Luge nodded and turned to his scanning team.
He heard the Lieutenant commanding the scanner team shout to his subordinates to initiate their scans the moment the Flasher’s force fields dropped. Timmy watched the ten Flashers rush in on the destroyed ship, shut off the blasters firing into the center of the circle along with their force fields, pass it at high speed, and then start firing their blasters again. He heard Alexandra say, “I don’t like that they were able to scan those two ships.”
“George Senior is of the opinion that they won’t be able to figure out how they were destroyed. That’s what led the Senior Admirals to make the decision they did, Alex.”
“They’ve learned that we took out the bridge first and I don’t like giving that away. Remaining unknown just got harder.” Timmy shrugged and sat back in his command chair as Alexandra continued, “I guess if they recorded us attacking them, they would have learned much more that would be detrimental to us.”
Timmy nodded and watched the ten giant warships disappear in the distance. “You win…this time.”
• • •
“How much longer are you going to continue firing the blasters?”
“Until they run low on power!”
“You don’t have to be so testy.”
“Did you see those two Scouts? The second one didn’t even have time to launch their Fliers. The firs
t one only launched a hundredth of its Fliers and all of them died in the attack. Whatever did this is a real threat to us and I’m taking no chances. Once we’re a million light years away from this galaxy, send the data we’ve collected to the Council.”
“You don’t want to do it now?”
“They might order us back if we do it now. They will be less likely to do that if we’re a million light years away.”
“You make a very good point.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t see that as well. After all, you are a computer.”
“You’re better at predicting behavior than I am.”
“I wish I could let my father know we made it out but he’s still in that other universe.”
“Like I said earlier, you are just too forgiving.” There was a pause and the Computer said, “You should be aware that as our formation approached the second scout and we shut down our blaster beams and force fields to do the scan, we were scanned by multiple beams that rivals our own in power.”
“What?”
“I could not determine the origin of the scans but whoever did it now knows everything there is to know about our main warships. That beam penetrated all the way into the center of our ships.”
“That could get me executed.”
“I didn’t record anything. The only ones that know it happened are you and me. The other ships had all of their scanners turned on the second Scout and didn’t detect it.”
“How were you able to see it?”
“I expected it and kept one of the scanners focused outside the formation. The other ships wouldn’t violate your orders by not using all their scanners on the Scout.”
“I feel it’s my duty to report this.”
“Sure, go ahead, if you want to die. They’ll also dispose of me as well when a new Shell Greng takes your place.” The Shell Greng was silent and the Computer said, “You should learn from your father.”
“What is that?”
“Take care of yourself first.” The Greng was silent again and then heard, “One more thing.”
“Yes.”