by Saxon Andrew
Essay looked at Kamela, turned, and sprinted up the corridor toward the bridge. He arrived on the bridge a moment before Kamela and Erica and jumped in his chair and stared at the long range monitor. “There’s something in front of the Flasher Line.”
Kamela said, “It appears to be…”
“Another line of warships.”
“I think you’re right, Poul. Can we go above these two lines and take a look at that other formation?”
The view on the monitor changed and they moved vertical to the Advancing Flasher line and then swung around far above the two formations. Kamela yelled, “BACK OFF! BACK OFF!” The Prophet’s Eyes jerked it bow vertical and went to high speed.
“What’s wrong, Kamela?”
“That second group of warships has some telepaths with them and they would have detected my presence in a few more seconds.”
Essay shook his head hard and then leaned forward and pulled a square device out of a compartment in front of his console as he pressed the on button and pulled the red colored slide on the side down. He took it to Kamela, “Keep this next to you.”
“What is it?”
“This is a Bosrean thought recorder and broadcaster. It can also be used to block telepathy when the red slide is in the down position. We’re going to move back toward those new ships and if you start to hear the other telepaths, we’ll back away. I do want to get a good image of those ships.” Kamela nodded and Essay looked up, “Poul, take us in slowly. Kamela let us know if we move too close.” She nodded and Essay stared at the long range monitor and glanced at Kamela every few seconds.
• • •
The Flasher Fleet Grengen lifted his communicator, “All ships stop and hold position. Move into cross fire formations.” The long line of Flasher Warships stopped and every other warship in the line moved below the ship next to them. He looked at his Scanner Greng, “Details?”
“They’ve moved twenty light years beyond the former line we imposed on them.”
“Prepare to attack.”
The Grengen stared at the monitor and hoped the giant formation in front of his fleet would back off. The Spearan Civilization was becoming more aggressive and it was only a matter of time until all-out war broke out again. He hoped this was not going to be the time. “Number comparison?”
“Grengen, we outnumber them by a thousand warships.”
“Launch small ships.” The long line of Flasher Warships immediately started launching hundreds of thousands of small yellow warships out of their hulls at incredible speed. The small ships rapidly moved into defensive formation above and below the Flasher line.
• • •
Essay stared at the two lines and said, “The new line is going to back off.”
“How do you know?”
“Erica, this new enemy is not launching small ships. They are outnumbered by the Flasher Warships and if they want to pick a fight, this is not the optimum conditions to do it.” They continued to watch the monitor and Essay said, “Are you ok, Kamela.”
“Don’t move any closer.”
Essay nodded and turned back to the monitor. In the short moment he looked away, the line of warships in front of the Flasher Line had turned and fled. “Poul did you get a good scan of those new warships?”
“I obviously didn’t use the active scanners but I did get a good passive scan of them.”
“We need to take what we have and go back. We’re not going to get any closer to those new warships than we are now. Our scientists should be able to make a determination about the danger they represent with the scans we have. We also need to get a more powerful Bosrean thought blocker for Kamela before we attempt to move closer to those new warships.” Essay looked at Erica and Kamela, both of them nodded. “Poul, take us back.”
• • •
Erica was having nightmares and awoke with a Flasher Warship firing at point blank range at a small speeder she was flying in open space. She jerked upright and took a moment to realize it was all a bad dream. She wiped the sweat off her brow and looked at Essay who was sound asleep. She turned and put her feet on the floor and stood up. She had a dry mouth and needed something to drink. She walked down to the small dining space and heard Kamela think to her, “Are you ok, Erica.”
“Just having a bad dream. I’m going to get something to drink.”
“Ok, good-night.”
Erica poured a glass of water and sat down at the small table. She took a few sips and felt her heart rate slowing down. That dream seemed so real. They had decided to take the trip back avoiding the black holes after all the recorded information was sent to the Admiralty. This was the first night and she was almost ready to ask to use the shorter route.
She took another sip and glanced out of the small viewport in the dining space and saw the pitch black nothingness of intergalactic space outside the ship’s hull. She stared at it and once again realized that the universe was deceptive in how it presented itself. Flying toward the Milky Way, or Andromeda, or any galaxy for that matter, made it look like the galaxy was filled with stars pressed tightly together. Distance is what caused that illusion. Even Andromeda with its trillion plus stars had vast distances between them. Except for tightly packed star clusters, where some stars were less than a light year from each other, most stars in any galaxy were separated by an average of seven light years or more. Between them was the great black void with nothing in it but invisible dark matter and energy. Less than four percent of the universe was visible matter; the rest was seemingly unending darkness. A darkness that could lead to insanity if one was exposed to if for too long. But…the speed that modern starships could fly reduced the exposure to the dark and made traveling the vast distances between stars and galaxies bearable.
She finished the water and put the glass away in the sterilizer. She walked out of the dining space and started to turn back to her sleeping quarters and paused. She looked down the corridor toward the bay and decided to go and take a look at the creature Essay had captured and placed in the force field container. It was incredibly beautiful and she wanted to see it again; maybe its color had changed again. She entered the bay and looked at the light blue glow surrounding the container and her eyes went wide. She didn’t see the creature inside the container. She quickly said, “Lights!” The landing bay lights came on and she inched into the bay looking left and right. She immediately heard a small knocking noise the moment the lights went on but she didn’t see anything. She moved a little deeper into the bay and tried to locate where the knocking sound was coming from. She moved next to the container and heard the sound coming from behind her. She turned and saw the copper colored, flat disk in the right front corner of the room. She looked closely and saw the disk was slightly above the deck and it was clearly shaking, which was obviously causing the knocking sound, which was coming from the deck where it was hitting it with its edges. She could see it was frightened.
She took a step toward it and the disk tried to climb the wall but fell back to the deck. After several attempts, it remained in the corner shaking. She softly said, “Don’t be afraid; I’m not going to harm you.” The disk continued to make the knocking sound but it decreased slightly in volume. Erica continued to move slowly toward it as she cooed, “You’re safe and no one is going to hurt you. You’re so beautiful. Calm down. Take it easy.” She arrived next to the disk and it started vibrating again and the knocking sound increased in volume. She quickly sat down next to it and continued to talk softly to it. After three or four minutes, the creature became still.
Erica reached over and the knocking started again as she gently stroked the surface of the disk with her fingers. She felt a minute shock as she said, “Don’t be afraid. You’re safe now.” She continued to rub the surface of the disk and the disk stopped vibrating. She softly ran her fingers around the edge of the two foot wide disk and she heard a small humming sound. Suddenly, the disk flipped over and she saw six…legs…protuberances…something that served the pur
pose of legs on the bottom of the disk and she started rubbing between the six thick appendages. The disk started vibrating again but Erica could clearly see that this creature was in ecstasy. She lifted her hand and the small flat dick flipped over and moved next to her leg where it flipped over again. She smiled and started rubbing it between the legs and five of the legs started moving with the rear sixth leg moving twice as fast as the others.
Erica continued to rub the disk and smiled. It was a baby whatever it was. She stood up and the knocking noise started again and Erica sat back down. The creature moved up against her leg again and flipped over. Erica sighed. She stood up and as the creature started vibrating again she pointed at it and said, “Wait there!” The disk went still and Erica went to one of the lockers and took out two heat blankets. The floor of the bay was cold and the poor thing was probably freezing. She stopped a few feet from it and rolled he eyes; this creature lived in the vacuum of space. The deck was certainly nowhere near as cold as open space. She folded a blanket and put it on the floor beside the disk. The disk stayed where it was and Erica pointed at the blanket, “Get on it.” The disk hesitated and then scrambled into the middle of the blanket. Erica turned to see if she could get out now but when she turned to go, the disk scrambled across the deck to follow her.
She sighed and spread out the second blanket leaving a small roll at one end. She pointed at the first blanket and the disk scrambled over to it without her having to tell it. She looked closely at the disk and saw a small copper colored ball on the top edge closest to her. She bent down and laid down on the second blanket. She stretched out and the creature moved over against her legs and settled down. She turned on her side and lightly rubbed the disk and, in a few minutes, closed her eyes, and fell into a deep sleep. The nightmares didn’t return.
• • •
Essay woke the next morning and rolled over. He reached for Erica and came up empty handed; he didn’t notice when she had left the bed. He stood up and scratched under his chin and pulled on his grey under armor suit. He yawned and scratched his right cheek, he needed to shave. He walked out of his quarters and went to the bridge. Ummm…no Erica. He walked down the corridor to the dining space and looked in…still no Erica. Where is she? Then he remembered the creature he had brought on board and he ran to the bay. The first thing he noticed was the empty force field container and his heart went into his throat. He opened a wall cabinet and snatched out a hand blaster as he moved into the center of the landing bay. He heard breathing and he spun around with the blaster extended out in front of him in both hands. He immediately saw Erica laying on the deck with that creature right up against her legs. He looked closely at the creature and saw a small copper ball on the front edge move closest to him. He heard Erica breathing deep regular breaths and he moved slowly toward her. The ball on the front edge moved around the edge and followed him as he moved slowly behind his sleeping wife. He bent down with the blaster pointed at the creature and tapped Erica on the shoulder. She shook his hand off and he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away from the creature. The flat disk followed her and remained against her leg. “Let me go! What are you doing!?”
Erica opened her eyes and saw Essay pointing at the floor beside her. She saw a blaster in his hand and she turned and saw the Disk watching them. The small ball moved from her to Essay and back again. Erica reached up and put her hand on the blaster, “Put that away.”
“But…”
“Don’t scare it.”
Erica reached over and rubbed the top of the Disk softly. It flipped over and she started rubbing it around the six legs on the bottom. Essay could hear a soft humming noise coming from the creature. He quietly murmured, “Why did you let it out of the container?”
“I didn’t. I couldn’t sleep, came in here and found it trying to hide in the corner.”
Essay stared at the copper colored disk and looked up, “Poul, why didn’t you warn us that this creature was out of the force field container?”
“You must think that I can see that thing with my scanners.”
“Can’t you?”
“No, the only way we saw them around us was through the viewports. Erica was looking at the same scans I was seeing and she had to notice that those creatures didn’t appear on our passive scanners.”
Essay looked at Erica and she tried to remember, “I didn’t look at the scanners. Remember that you shut down the power and went outside. The scanners weren’t operational when you did that and Kamela and I watched you through the viewport when you went out and collected it. We went to the bay before the systems reactivated and Poul was scanning the two fleets when we arrived on the bridge.”
Essay rolled his eyes and looked up again, “What about the cameras?”
“Duh, if you haven’t noticed, you turned off the lights in the bay.”
Essay stared at the copper colored disk staring at him and said, “Erica, put it back in the container.”
“Why?”
“Just do it!” Erica picked up the disk and lifted it easily. The disk flattened around her chest and clung to her pajama top. She walked it over to the container, turned off the force field, put it inside, and then turned the force field back on. “Now go back to the wall and sit down on the heat blanket.” Erica did as Essay asked and stared at him. Kamela came rushing in to the bay and said, “I’ve been following your thoughts. That animal now has some mental activity taking place.”
Essay laughed, “No kidding?” All three of them looked at the disk as it flattened out and bumped against the force field as it starting moving toward Erica. It stopped when it hit the field and the little coper colored ball on top of it focused on Erica. It sat in the container bobbing slightly up and down. After a few moments, Essay said, “Call it.”
“What are you trying to do, Essay?”
“See how it got out of the container with an active force field, call it!”
Erica looked at the little disk moving up and down and then smiled and pointed at the blanket beside her, “Come here, Little One.” The copper colored disk stopped bobbing and walked through the force field and rushed across the bay and settled on the blanket beside Erica. Erica’s eyes went wide as she said, “By the hair on my bald uncle, how did it do that?”
Essay stared at the disk pressing against Erica’s leg and looked up, “Poul?”
“This is beyond me. According to the force field’s settings, it did not show any changes as it exited.”
Essay stared at the disk and sighed, “We have to take it back.”
“WHY?”
“Because this little creature is a baby and it has parents that are probably looking for it now.”
“The Flasher Warships killed all of them,” Erica responded as she rubbed the small creature.
Essay lowered his eyes, “They also hit this little guy and we thought it was dead as well.”
Erica stared at him and then sighed, “You’re right.” She looked at the disk and said, “Penny, we’re taking you home.”
Kamela’s head went back, “Penny?”
Erica nodded, “It’s the same basic shape as a copper colored coin that was once used on Earth. It’s a lot larger but it does remind me of the penny I was given as a child by my grandfather.”
Essay nodded, “I can see what you’re talking about. Poul, turn us around and take this baby back to where we found it.”
“Oh great! It’s going to take us forever to get back to the colonies.”
“No, we’ll use the black holes going back.”
“Now that’s what I’m talking about! Reversing course.”
Essay saw Erica stroking the surface of the disk and smiled, “You will have to release it when we get back there. I don’t think it will follow anyone else’s instructions.”
Erica nodded and stood up, “I’ll go put my armor on. She walked out of the bay and the little disk followed her.
Essay looked at Kamela with his eye brows raised. Kamela shrugged, “Hey, I’m
just like Poul, I have no idea what that thing is; I can barely hear the mental processes of that creature and I certainly can’t understand what it is thinking.” Essay nodded and left the bay for the bridge.
• • •
Sixteen hours later, Poul shut the power down and Erica picked up Penny and rubbed her before pushing her out of the bay’s exit port, “Go and find your family, Penny.” The disk moved away from the hull and stopped a hundred yards away; Erica could see the small ball on the edge closest to her in the amplified vision of her visor. She sighed and closed the port. The Prophet’s Eyes activated its power systems along with the stardrive and disappeared.
Erica pressurized the bay and walked to the bridge. She looked at the monitor and saw the small disk hanging in space as the Eyes moved away. In another moment, it disappeared.
• • •
Erica watched the Eyes move through the first black hole without an event and the second one was also uneventful. Essay looked at her and said, “What’s wrong?”
Erica sighed, “I don’t know. I guess Penny was like a dog; it really was attached to me. I guess I was sort of attracted to it as well.”
“I’m sorry, Erica. We did the right thing.” Kamela looked at them and nodded as she took a sip of water.
“I just wish she was here with me.” Suddenly, Kamela sprayed a large spray of water out of her mouth. She almost choked and Essay said, “Are you all right?”
Kamela coughed loudly and pointed at the floor beside Erica. They turned and saw Penny rubbing up against Erica’s boot.”
Essay’s eyes went wide in shock and they heard Poul say, “OH HELL NO! THIS ISN’T POSSIBLE!!”
Erica stared at Penny, reached down, and rubbed her surface. She flipped over and offered her six legs to Erica. Erica looked at Essay, “I had to touch her to make sure she’s real.”
Essay could only stare at the creature and shake his head hard, “It must have attached itself to the hull before we left.”