by Saxon Andrew
“Increasing speed, Grengen.” Twenty minutes later he heard, “The other Scout has also been blown into pieces, Grengen. We were still an hour away when we detected the blast.”
The Grengen tried not to show his disgust but just couldn’t pull it off, “Go to the site of the explosion and see what you can uncover.”
“Yes, Grengen.”
• • •
The Sector Grengen brought his emotions under control and blew a gust of air out of his neck slits before he pressed the communicator button on his panel. The Data Grengen appeared and impatiently asked, “What do you want!?”
“We are not going to be able to bring the two Scouts back with us.”
“WHY NOT?!”
The Sector Grengen sent the recording of the explosion and waited for the Council Grengen to respond. The Data Grengen finished watching the recording and stared at the Sector Grengen in silence. The Grengen said, “If I had any doubts about the Humans doing this, they have now been removed.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because whoever destroyed the two Scouts was watching us attack the Human Home World and its absolutely clear they can intercept and understand our communications.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because both of the Scouts were blasted into pieces after you ordered me to bring them back. They had to hear you make that order and the destruction of both Scouts in less than an hour afterwards is beyond any possibility of coincidence.”
“I want some large pieces of the Scouts brought back.”
“Yes, Grengen.” The panel went dark and he wished he had asked the Council Grengen if he still wanted two ships left behind but he could tell the Council Leader was almost in a state of rage and he wasn’t going to push him. Hell, he wasn’t even going to nudge him. He will follow his orders and get out of this place as fast as possible. He lifted his communicator and saw one of his lower Grengs appear on his panel, “Take your Shell and gather ten of the largest pieces of debris and start towing them back to the Ruling Center. Make sure you stay in contact with the two ships I’m leaving at the other galaxy’s black hole but do not to their aid if you sense any problems.”
“Sector Grengen, one of the main thrusters on my ships is not operating properly. I’ve had my engineers working on it and it appears it is fouled.”
The Sector Grengen pressed another button and ordered another Shell Greng to start collecting debris in the other galaxy to tow back to the home worlds.”
“I will start immediately.”
“You will not go back to the defense of the two ships left behind!”
“Your orders will be followed Sector Grengen.”
The Grengen changed the frequency and announced, “The fleet will be moving to the other Galaxy’s black hole and start transiting it upon arrival.” The giant formation turned and accelerated away.”
• • •
Amy looked over her shoulder, “Take us to the Alexandria at maximum speed.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Amy felt her wrist unit vibrate and she saw Scott on the small display. She punched the button and held her breath, “Timmy is out of surgery and is going to be kept in a coma.”
“Is he alright!?”
“We won’t know until he’s taken out of the coma. He lost a lot of blood and some of it came from his brain. The Surgeon wants him to have every opportunity to recover.”
“Thanks, Scott.”
“I’ll stay with him, Amy.”
“I’ll come down as soon as this Flasher Fleet exits the black hole in Andromeda.” Scott nodded and the display went dark. Amy sat back in her chair and said, “How far ahead of the Flasher Fleet are we?”
“We’ll arrive at the Alexandria an hour ahead of them, Sir.”
Amy nodded and then stood up, “George, you have the ship. Contact me when we’re fifteen minutes out from the Alexandria.”
“Yes, Sir.” Amy stood up and George said, “Sir!” Amy stopped and looked at him. “Thank you, Sir.” Amy nodded and left the bridge.
Chapter Five
Amy was sitting next to Timmy’s hospital bed holding his hand with Scott by her side. Shortly, a nurse stepped in and said, “Excuse me, Admiral, but Admiral Connor wishes to speak with you.”
Amy stood up, leaned down, and kissed Timmy’s forehead. She then turned and hugged Scott. He held her close and smiled, “I’ll be here.” Amy kissed him tenderly and stepped back “I’d be lost without you.”
Scott nodded as she headed toward the door, “Go and do what has to be done.”
Amy sighed and left the room. She looked up and said, “Sally, send Admiral Connor to my wrist unit.”
“He would like to wait for you to arrive on the bridge.”
Amy nodded and started jogging toward the tubes. A lot of the soreness from the Attack Fighter’s landing had worn off and she was starting to move without the pain in her joints. She bent down to get in the tube cart and winced; all the pain wasn’t gone, yet.
She arrived on the bridge and sat in Command Chair before saying, “I’m on the bridge, Sir.”
She heard Steve in her mind as Kamela linked their minds with Alexandra’s, “The Flasher Fleets have started exiting the black hole in the center of Andromeda and have assigned ten of their warships to start towing large pieces of the destroyed Scout back to their territory. Although I really don’t think they’ll see anything since most of the Scout’s destruction was due to the explosion of the warheads on it, I still want you to see if there’s any way to stop that debris from getting back to their scientists. They are also leaving two of their Warships behind at the edge of Andromeda’s black hole’s event horizon. I’m open to suggestions on what to do about this. We might be better served to call it a day and go home.”
Amy thought, “I don’t think so, Sir. We should, at the very least, see if we can’t take out the two warships they leave behind.”
“Why is that, Amy?”
“Because we need to strike some fear into them.”
“Kamela tells me that the Leader that ordered the two to stay behind doesn’t think we’ll attack more than one ship at a time.”
“Then we need to prove it wrong, Sir.”
“How do you want to do it, Admiral?” Steve asked after thinking about it for a moment.
Amy looked at her Weapons Officer, “I’m sorry, what’s your name?”
“Captain Makala Thomson, Sir.”
“Can you fire a DE Major Missile accurately without a tracking beam? If you use one on a live Flasher Warship, they will detect the beam.”
Makala smiled, “Sir, I’ve taken the scan of the Flasher Warship we destroyed and had the computer overlay it with a grid. Every place on the Flasher’s hull has been assigned a specific coordinate and I can give the DE Missile a coordinate that its programming will send the missile to that exact spot. I will, of course, have to designate the Flasher Warship I want the missile to hit but that can be done simply by entering the target vessel’s coordinates into the missile’s guidance system.”
“What if the Flasher is moving?’
“Once the missile is launched, it will target the Flasher closest to the coordinates it is given, even if it is changing locations.”
“Can you target that area on the hull directly behind the bridge?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Amy smiled, “Admiral Connor, did you hear my conversation with my Weapon’s Commander?”
“I did. Alexandra, do you have the grid she mentioned?”
“I do. Timmy sent it to me after Captain Thomson developed it. There is one problem we need to consider.”
“What is that?”
“Both of those ships had their hulls weakened when the bridges were taken out. That will not be the case with the two ships at the black hole.”
Steve looked up, “Poul?”
“I don’t think that will be a problem, Admiral. Both of the DE Missiles penetrated well past the reactors as they e
xploded the damaged Flasher Warships. The channel that sends power to the Warship’s bridge is a perfect conduit for the missile into the interior of the ship.”
Lani quickly interrupted, “Will it take out the bridge when it hits, Poul?”
“I don’t know but it will cut all power to it. The end result is the same as destroying it; none of its systems will be functional.”
“If these missiles can destroy the Flasher Warships, why did we allow them to attack Earth?” Amy asked in a stern tone.
Steve sighed, “Amy, the Alexandria and the Homosassa have fifty six of those missiles on board, which represents all of the missiles currently in our inventory. We could have possibly destroyed a hundred and twelve of the hundred thousand Flasher Warships around Earth. It was only after destroying the Scouts that we learned about the power channel behind the Flasher’s bridge and if we fired them on the Fleet attacking Earth…”
Amy interrupted Admiral Connor, “They would have learned of their existence and come up with a way to stop them in the future. It’s also pretty certain the ships firing those missiles would have been destroyed in a cross fire giving them even more information about our capabilities.”
Steve stopped talking and then smiled, “Exactly. God, I’m glad you’re back Amy.”
“My retirement plans were cut shorter than I thought possible, Sir. I’m back in the game.”
“I am restoring your rank as Fleet Admiral, immediately. I have to leave and go check on Earth and determine what to do about it. I’m going to leave this in your hands.”
“Sir, you shouldn’t go back to Earth!” Amy quickly responded.
“Why not, Amy?”
“I’m reasonably certain the Flashers left probes to keep an eye on the planet.” Amy paused and started shaking her head, “Sir, when was the last time you visited Earth?”
“It’s been years. If I ever went back it would have caused some problems with the
Darkness. Why do you ask?”
Amy sighed heavily and said in a soft voice, “It’s not what it once was, Sir.”
“What do you mean?’
“Most of Earth’s youngest and brightest left the planet when the thirteen colonies were established. All of the high technology was taken with them and Earth was no longer involved in the effort to confront the enemies threatening it. Over the years, old behaviors began emerging.”
“Such as?”
“The murder rate rose from one per one million to one per ten thousand. Some religions began attacking non-believers again. Poverty began spreading when all the high paying technological jobs moved to the colonies. Scott and I were forced to kill six people who tried to rob the boat rental office at the resort. The resort was robbed five times before we came back to Earth and no one felt safe anymore. We discussed moving back to the colonies just before Timmy came and picked us up.”
Steve was shocked, “Couldn’t Admiral Osborn keep the crime under control?”
“Sir, some of our warriors were the most dangerous criminals, they were heavily armed.”
“That’s crazy!”
“Sir, did you leave our best warriors on Earth?” Steve was silent as Amy continued, “The ones left behind knew they had no future in the military. All of their commanders were promoted in the colonies and then moved to Earth. What was their motivation to do a good job? They lost their motivation to advance and soon after that, they lost the vision the Prophet brought to us along with the rest of Earth’s populations. If you’re considering moving survivors to the Colonies…well…I would think long and hard before I took that cancer and sowed it in the Colonies.”
“Surely the majority were not like the criminals?”
“You better have a telepath with you to screen those you choose to take. And what are you going to tell the family members if you don’t chose to take them all?”
Steve took a deep breath, “This is my fault.”
“Yes, Sir. It happened because we established the colonies. However, sending warships to Earth that the Flasher’s probes can’t see but will run the risk of seeing you moving some of the survivors, could give them information that we are the ones they’re looking for; they’ll come back and finish the job they started. You’ll only put the survivors in more danger by going there.”
Steve dropped his head as Lani said, “She’s right.” Steve looked up at his wife and she repeated, “She’s right, Steve! You have to stay away.”
Kamela stared at Steve and thought, “You couldn’t have done anything to stop what was happening on Earth.”
Steve turned to her, “How can you say that? I deserted them.”
“And the Darkness was keeping an eye on the planet at all times. If you showed up with an advanced Warship, then they would have come looking for the colonies and they knew what line you took from Earth with the colony ships; they would have found them. If there’s fault, it’s the nature of an oppressive universe filled with dangerous predators. It’s only been recently that the Darkness was brought under control and then you couldn’t go to Earth because of the Builders. They leave and the Flashers show up. When they go, who knows what will show up next. You did set up the structure of establishing Earth’s Colonies but if you hadn’t done that, you need look no further than where Earth is now to know what would have happened. Mankind would be extinct.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better, Kamela?”
“No. It’s just the truth and you should have enough wisdom by now to see it yourself. Blaming yourself for what happened there is a waste of energy.”
Amy sighed deeply, “She’s right, Sir. If you hadn’t taken the steps of sending out the colonists, humanity would be little more than a footnote in history. I guess I’ve just been angry at what Earth had become.”
Kamela thought, “Earth’s population controlled what it became. They chose a different path to follow and they have no one to blame but themselves for it. There are consequences for bad decisions. I suspect the survivors have a different perspective now that they’ve seen the dangers the universe can throw at them.”
Amy sighed again and nodded. Steve said, “I should go back to the Colonies and let them know what’s happened. Amy, do you want me to take Timmy with us. The best hospitals and doctors are there.”
Amy didn’t want to do it but finally thought, “Come and pick him up. I don’t want him on board if our attack goes wrong.”
“We’ll move into your landing bay momentarily.”
Amy nodded and looked at George, “You have the Ship.” George nodded and watched Amy leave the bridge. Everyone on the bridge heard the conversation and silence ruled the moment.
• • •
Amy kissed Timmy as the gravity stretcher was moved to the Prophet’s Eyes. Two doctors went with him and Amy saw Steve was standing outside the port; Amy went up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, “I owe you so much, Admiral. Please take care of my son. He’s all I have left.”
Steve returned her hug and nodded, “I will, Amy. I meant what I said, humanity needs you on the front lines defending it.”
Amy nodded and Scott said, “I’m going with Timmy. You have a good Ship Commander on board and we’d be better served for me to go with him.”
“I wish you would stay here and let me go.”
The corner of Scott’s mouth went up, “Amy, I am not you.” Amy hugged him tightly and went through the port on the Prophet’s Eyes. The small warship lifted and left the landing bay.
Amy watched it go and then lifted her wrist unit, “Commodore Luge.”
“Yes, Sir.”
‘Notify the Alexandria that we’re moving in to the black hole. Set a course and get the two Carriers moving.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Amy went to the tubes and boarded a cart. She started working out a plan to kill two of the ships that caused Timmy’s injuries. Her eyes were narrow as she entered the bridge.
• • •
The Sector Grengen sat on board his ship
surrounded by his escort of a thousand warships and said to the Senior Greng on one of the two warships being left behind, “Have your two vessels pointed toward the black hole. You need to be far enough out to accelerate to superlight speed before you cross the event horizon. If one of you is attacked, the other will flee immediately; understand!”
“Yes, Grengen,” He heard them both respond.
“You will continuously scan each other along with the space away from your vessels. If you’re attacked, run!”
“Yes, Grengen.”
The Sector Grengen saw the last of his Fleets entering the event horizon and ordered his ship and escorts to go through before the last ones left. They disappeared into the black hole and the Senior Greng on the two ships left behind said to the other vessel’s Greng, “The Grengen appears to believe one of us won’t survive.”
“Let us hope it is you.” The Senior Greng didn’t find the remark even slightly humorous.
• • •
The two Prophet Class Carriers were a thousand miles above the two Flasher Warships and Alexandra used her Bosrean representative to connect her to Amy’s mind, “How are we going to do this, Sir?”
“I am going to launch two missiles with one targeted to each ship.” Amy felt Alexandra’s immediate anguish at not taking part in the attack and Amy quickly said, “Alex, if we each fire a missile, we are going to have to time it perfectly. If one ship fires them, the timing is much easier.”
Alexandra sighed, “Yes, Sir. You’re right. When are you going to launch?”
“I’m going to wait for all of the Flasher Warships in this galaxy to enter the black hole. I’m then going to wait another two hours and allow the ten Flasher Warships towing pieces of the destroyed scout to put some distance between them and us.”
“Do you think they’ll come back?”
“That Grinch, or whatever they call their ship commander, ordered them not to do it.”
“Why don’t you wait longer than that?”
“Because I don’t want any of the Flashers that went into the black hole to go through the other black hole in their universe and be ordered back through. It will take the three hundred thousand warships ten hours to go from the Builder’s former galaxy to the one that opens into their territory. If we’re going to be confronted by more of their ships, I prefer the ten towing the debris than the three hundred thousand moving through the Builder’s Universe. Even though the Fleet Leader ordered the ten Flasher Warships not to come back, he might be overruled by that Leader back in their space.”