by Saxon Andrew
Alexandra was impressed with Amy’s logic. She deserved her rank and Alex was learning from the way her mind worked. “Will we attack those ten Flashers if they do come back?”
“Only if the opportunity presents itself. If we don’t, we will go to the pieces of debris they were towing and blast them into vapor,” Amy answered.
Alex smiled, Amy had it covered. She looked at her Bosrean crewman and a thought entered her mind, “Sir, I’d really like to know if those ten Flashers are ordered back.”
“We’ll know when they arrive.”
“What about this, Sir. You could send the Bosrean on your Carrier out in an Attack Fighter to pace the ten Flashers and listen in on their thoughts. If they’re ordered back, the Attack Fighter can contact my Bosrean and let him know.”
Amy smiled, “That is an excellent idea, Admiral. I’ll send him now and he’ll stay at the edge of his telepathic range. Way to go, Alex.”
Alex smiled and said, “You could also order several additional Attack Fighters to go with the Bosrean to blast the debris if they leave it to come back here.”
Amy smiled, “I will do exactly that. Thank you, again.” Amy sat back and knew Timmy had chosen well. Her smile disappeared and she felt her fear return for her injured son.
• • •
Amy looked at Kayla, “Are the missiles programmed?”
“They are, Sir.”
“Launch in two minutes. I want two more missiles ready to follow if the first ones don’t do the job.”
“I already have them in the launch tubes, Sir.”
Amy nodded and stared at the tactical monitor. The DE Missiles’ dark energy force fields should prevent them from being detected by the two Flasher Warships. She looked up and thought.
The Bosrean on Alex’s bridge said, “Admiral Hart has ordered you to move your vessel away.”
Alex nodded, “Move the ship out another four thousand miles.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Amy thought about the attack and remembered the blast the derelict had made. Now there were two of those ships about to be hit. She looked at Kayla, “How long before the first missiles hit after they’re launched?”
“They’ll orient themselves first, then go to full speed; total time will be ten seconds.”
“Launch the second missiles three seconds after the first ones.”
“Sir?”
“I don’t want to be just a thousand miles away if two of those Flasher Warships go up.”
Kayla stared at Amy and then her eyes went wide, “Oh my Great Aunt’s Beard! You’re right. I’m going to do this, I’ll have the second two missiles hit behind the entry point of the first two.”
Amy smiled, “Did your great aunt have a beard.”
“She did when she was my uncle.” Kayla said as she smiled impishly.
Amy laughed and said, “I’ll leave it in your capable hands, Captain.” Kayla’s face turned red and she began issuing instructions into her panel. The countdown reached zero and Amy felt the vibration again as the first two missiles shot out of their launch tubes. Three seconds later, she felt the vibration again and the Homosassa immediately accelerated away. Amy counted in her mind as she stared at the main monitor. There was a brilliant flash and the monitors went dark; they came back on line four seconds later as George ordered, “MOVE THE SHIP!!”
The giant Carrier left normal space and accelerated another ten thousand miles away. The shockwave moving away from the distant black hole was enormous. Amy looked up, “Sally?”
“The first two missiles did the trick. The second two were just icing on the cake.”
Amy nodded and knew they had a potent weapon to use against the Flasher Warships.
• • •
The Data Grengen was watching the recording of the attack on the Human’s Home World and noticed something in the corner of his left eye. He paused the recording and looked at his panel. He scanned across it and didn’t see anything for a moment…and then he jerked his eyes to the far left…the two communication lights for the two ships left at the black hole were no longer illuminated. He began attempting to get them to communicate and received nothing but silence. He hit the general frequency being used by the Sector Grengen’s Fleets and after a minute heard, “Council Grengen, the Sector Grengen’s Fleets are still traversing the other universe.”
“WHO IS THIS?”
“I am the Shell Greng towing the debris back to our space, Council Grengen.”
“How many ships do you have under your command!?”
“Ten counting my own, Grengen.”
“Leave the debris, turn around, and go and investigate the two vessels left behind at the spiral galaxy’s black hole.”
“Are you referring to the galaxy where our fleets exited?”
“YES!!! NOW GET MOVING!!”
“Grengen, we were ordered not to return to that galaxy by the Sector Grengen.”
“YOU WILL DO AS I ORDER OR I WILL EXECUTE EVERYONE ON YOUR TEN SHIPS!!”
“We are releasing the towed debris and turning around, Great Council Grengen.”
• • •
“Admiral, the ten Flasher Warships have released the debris, turned around, and are moving your way,” the Bosrean on the Attack Fighter sent to Amy’s mind telepathically.
“Alex, move your Carrier back to a thousand miles above the black hole and load five DE Missiles. I will fire on the five to the starboard and you will fire on the five to the port side.”
“And if they arrive in a circle like they used to escape before.”
“Then we’ll have to rethink this. However, I suspect they will come in scanning everything first and they can’t do an effective job in that formation especially with all the debris moving around. We will fire on my command.” Alex began issuing orders to her crew.
Chapter Six
The Prophet’s Eyes arrived at the Ghost Colony in less than ten minutes and landed on the roof of the Sparky Sprint Memorial Hospital. The emergency team was waiting on the roof and they rushed into the port and ran to the hospital entrance with the gravity sled. Admiral Connor followed the sled out of the port and saw Essay and Erica standing at the bottom of the ramp, “What are the two of you doing here?”
“We heard that you called up the fleets and then told them to stand down; what’s going on, Dad?”
Steve watched the team disappear into the hospital and he turned back to them, “Earth has been attacked by a fleet of a hundred thousand Flasher Warships.” Erica’s hand went to her throat and Essay’s expression revealed his shock. “There were an additional two hundred thousand Flasher Warships formed up to move in and trap our fleets if we went in to defend Earth.”
Erica was shaking as she watched the gravity sled pass them, “What happened to Timmy?”
“I ordered the two Carriers to move in and record what happened and Timmy took an Attack Fighter, went in as the Flasher Fleet arrived, and pulled his mother and Scott out before the bombardment started. He managed to get away but his ship was hit by multiple blaster beams and heavily damaged. He was injured landing it on the Carriers.”
“What about his mother?” Erica asked.
“She and Scott survived the landing with aches and pains. I ordered her to take command of the Homosassa and sent each of the Carriers to destroy the two Flasher Derelicts we destroyed previously; the Flashers were planning to tow them back to their home space. Amy and Alexandra are planning an attack on two Flasher Warships left behind at Andromeda’s black hole at this moment.”
“Dad, we’re going back in the Eyes to see if we can assist them.”
Steve nodded, “You need to leave now. I’m going to make sure Timmy is being taken care of and plan an announcement to be delivered to the colonies. I’m going to offer my resignation.”
“Dad, that’s ludicrous. You couldn’t send the fleets in.”
“I still stood by and allowed Earth to be attacked. I hope the colonies accept it. I’m getting weary of this
.”
Essay hugged his father, “We need your wisdom. I’ll report in using the Other Space Communicator.”
Steve exhaled sharply, “I’m sorry your vacation was interrupted.”
“We were getting antsy, Dad. It’s good to be back at work.”
Steve nodded, “Get moving.”
Essay grabbed Erica’s hand and they sprinted up the ramp, which immediately retracted behind them. By the time they arrived on the Bridge, the Eyes was out of the planet’s upper atmosphere and powering up the stardrive. Essay ran to his chair as Erica’s chair rose out of the deck with her armor in place. “I see you were listening in,” Erica said as she strapped in to her chair.
Kamela nodded, “It’s good to have you back. We’ve missed both of you.”
Essay smiled, “It’s good to be home. Poul, status?”
“The two Carriers are going to attack the two Flashers and I feel reasonably certain they will be successful. The DE Major Missiles have proven to be a powerful weapon to use against the Flashers. I am concerned about how the Flasher Leadership will respond to their attack.”
“What do you mean?”
“Attacking two ships with one missile each is not a difficult thing to accomplish. If they send in high numbers of warships, we would be foolish to continue.”
“Why is that, Poul?”
“Essay, the two Carriers have fifty six DE Missiles on each of them. If high numbers of Flasher Warships respond, there’s no way to destroy all of them and they will learn about the missile and how we’re destroying their ships. That information needs to be kept secret until revealing it is unavoidable.”
Essay nodded, “How long until we arrive?”
“Twelve minutes.”
Essay looked at Erica, “Do you have the Flasher’s communication frequencies?”
“I do.”
Kamela looked up, “I want to go to Earth after this is done.” Essay nodded and didn’t know what he would find on Humanity’s Birth World. It couldn’t be good.
• • •
The Data Grengen shouted, “I WANT A COMPLETE AND THROUGH SCAN OF THE TWO VESSELS!!”
“Yes, Grengen.”
The Grengen changed frequencies and began sending out messages to the Sixth Sector Fleets coming back from the spiral galaxies but none of them had arrived from the Tiny Being’s Universe where they could receive him. The Data Grengen was frustrated to the point of rage. He contacted a warship and ordered it into the black hole to order the returning fleets back to the spiral galaxy.
• • •
“Hi, Guys. Is this a closed party?”
Amy smiled, “Essay, what you are doing here?”
“I thought we’d see if we can liven up things. I can see you have already handled two uninvited guests.”
Amy nodded, “They didn’t want to leave. They did have a blast while they were here, though.”
“Cute, very cute, Admiral.”
“Hello, Poul. Long time no hear,” Amy said.
“It has been a while, Admiral. It’s good to have you back.”
Amy sighed sadly, “That is due to Timmy going to Earth to save me. Do you know anything about his status?”
“No, they were moving him into the hospital as we lifted.”
“Well, we have ten Flasher Warships moving our way. They were towing large pieces of debris back to their home space and were ordered to come back here and investigate why the two ships stopped communicating. The Major Flasher Fleets have all transited the black hole and are currently moving toward the galaxy in the Builder’s Universe that empties into their space. It will still take five hours for them to start moving through. I suspect that they will be ordered back as soon as that happens.”
“How long before the ten Flashers arrive?” Essay asked
“Another two hours.”
“Perhaps we should go and meet those ships and listen in on their thoughts.”
“I have a Bosrean with an Attack Fighter there, who is already doing that. Once the ten Flashers leave, the Fighters I sent are going to vaporize the debris they were towing.”
Poul interrupted, “It appears there is still a tremendous amount of debris at the black hole for them to pick up.”
Amy raised her shoulders, “Oh well, what can I do? It will take more than eight months to go in and vaporize all of it floating around outside the black hole.”
“Then we’ll hang around here and watch what happens.”
Amy lowered her eyes, “I would highly recommend you move away more than ten thousand miles.”
Essay’s eyes widened, “Why?”
“These vessels go up in a rather dramatic fashion. If we manage to destroy ten of them quickly, you may need to move even further out.”
“You’re currently only a thousand miles out, Admiral.”
“With our stardrives on immediate activation and our thrusters at full power. Once we launch, we won’t be hanging around to watch the proceedings.”
Essay looked at Erica, who was shaking her head. She was against this idea. “Poul, how fast can you get us away?”
“Full speed in two tenths of a second, Essay.”
Essay nodded, “Admiral, Poul assures me he can get us away in two tenths of a second. We’re going to record the impacts and then get away.”
“I really wouldn’t recommend that, Essay.”
“Have you recorded an impact for our scientists and engineers to study?” Essay asked.
“We have but from long range.”
“Then this is worth doing, Admiral. We’ll take a high speed recording that can be slowed down for future examination. Poul will keep us safe.”
Amy sighed and shook her head, “The DE Missiles will hit ten seconds from launch.”
“Why so long?”
“They have to orient their scanners on the ship they’re assigned to attack. That takes a few seconds and then they’ll power up their thrusters.”
“We’ll move in between your two Carriers so you can move without running the risk of hitting us.”
“Be careful, Essay. I don’t want to lose you and the Eyes.”
“Careful is my middle name.” Amy smiled as the monitor went dark. “Poul, are you certain we can do this?” Essay asked.
“Any explosion in space takes a few moments to start expansion. We’re faster than the shockwave that will be created.”
Essay looked at Erica, “Will you be able to record all ten Flashers?”
“I’ll have the scanning system actively scanning each of them. We will lose them when Poul runs but we should have each of the impacts covered.”
Kamela’s eyes narrowed, “The Commander of the ten Flashers is really frightened for his safety.”
Essay looked at her, “You can hear his thoughts?”
“I can. He’s planning to move into a defensive formation and start firing his blasters as soon as they complete the initial scans, which will take…fifteen seconds.”
Essay shook his head, “Notify Admiral Hart what they’re planning and tell her she has no time to delay the launch.” Kamela nodded and closed her eyes.
• • •
Amy heard Kamela’s warning and nodded as she linked with Alexandra, “The Flashers are going to start firing their blasters fifteen seconds after they arrive. I’ve not been around to learn about the DE Missiles’ capabilities. Can the Flasher’s Blasters take them out?”
Alex tilted her head left and said, “The missiles have a force field and can take several hits. But Timmy’s Attack Fighter was severely damaged by five or six hits. The Flashers have thousands of blasters on their hulls and they will be overlapping each other.”
“We need to know if the missiles will make it through the beam coverage,” Amy thought out loud.”
Alex thought about it and said, “We should not risk the Flashers learning about the new missile this early in the conflict, Sir. I’m certain there will come a time where we won’t be able to continue to keep them hidden but n
ow is probably not that time. If one missile doesn’t hit, the Flasher will send a communication out about how were destroying their ships.”
Amy sighed, “You’re right. Is there a faster way to launch them?”
“Well…the most time used is taken for the missiles to orient their drives on the selected targets. If we were to open the ports on the launch tube and feed the data on the missile’s target directly into the ten missile’s computers while they are still in their tubes, it would immediately accelerate to its target.”
“Would the missile have to have a clear view of the target?”
“I don’t know, Sir.”
Amy’s lips twisted and then she said, “We’ll trial firing blind when we arrive back at the Colonies. However, you move to the left and I’ll move to the right of the debris field and turn our ships broadside to it. Feed the information to your five missiles the moment those ten ships arrive and make sure the missile tubes have a clear line of site to the arrival location of the Flashers. Once they stop, we will both fire.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
The Sector Grengen saw the galaxy growing on the monitor and was ready to get back to familiar space. Suddenly, the monitor on his control panel illuminated, “GRENGEN! THE TWO SHIPS LEFT IN THE SPIRAL GALAXY HAVE STOPPED COMMUNICATING! THE COUNCIL IS ORDERING YOU TO INVESTIGATE!”
The Grengen could not stop the disgust he felt from showing on his face, “Is this order from the full Council?”
“No, the Data Grengen has issued the order.”
“I will comply with his directives.” He began issuing orders and the massive wave of Warships gathered around his vessel began turning and heading back toward the former galaxy of the Tiny Beings. He knew this was going to happen but could do nothing to stop it. Two hours later, he remembered the Shell he had towing debris. He snatched up his communicator and yelled, “ARE MY SHIPS THE ONLY ONES GOING BACK TO THAT GALAXY!?!”