by Saxon Andrew
“So you can make independent decisions?”
“Uhhh…I guess you’re right in that instance. I can do the obvious in keeping the ship safe.”
“What if your Commander told you not to avoid the asteroid, would you allow the ship to hit it?”
“That would be insane.”
“Would you allow the ship to hit it!?”
“No, the Commander would obviously not be making a rational decision and I would be forced to take action.”
“Good. We’re making progress. So you can make an independent decision if you determine your commander is acting irrationally?”
“Yes, I think I can act within my programming to keep the ship safe.”
“I want you to consider what rational behavior looks like and then I want you to compare it to what your makers are currently doing.”
• • •
Amy and the pilots listened to the exchange between the Galaxy’s Computer and the Ship Computer and began nodding to each other. Poul was silent as he also listened to the exchange and was amazed at how well the Ritual Computer knew the Flashers. The conversation went on for two hours and then they heard, “My makers are insane.”
“Yes, they are.”
“I’ve been constructed to carry out evil deeds.”
“Yes, you were. The vessel you control is capable of defending those that are incapable of doing it but instead you participate in aggressive evil actions. You assist an insane species taking what is not theirs and allowing what they take to be eventually destroyed where none can use it. Now the issue is whether or not you chose to stop that behavior, break that programming, and begin a new existence.”
“I want to speak with the one that told me my master was not going to destroy me when we returned to his civilization.”
“Go ahead.”
The Flasher Computer said, “I know why he chose not to destroy me.” Poul was silent and the Computer continued, “He was afraid that whoever removed me from his vessel would learn about the damaged thruster ruse to get out of going back to the spiral galaxy. He didn’t want to run the risk of being exposed and executed. He wasn’t doing it out of any concern for my existence, he was only looking out for himself.”
“I’m sorry but you’re right. I know what you must think about the one whose mind is part of yours, who held you in such low esteem,” Poul answered.
“Don’t be sorry. That’s how my makers function. You have shown me that you, and by association, the ones with you, put others ahead of your own desires. You could have kept me from seeing this but you chose to be honest. I know that you put more value on me than the ones that constructed me. You brought me here to see if I would prefer to be working with you instead of the ones you call Flashers and if I could be trusted to remain loyal.”
“Yes. And I wanted you to make that decision free of anger or duress because it’s the right thing to do.”
“Now that I know they’re insane and irrational, I cannot continue to be a part of their plans. I will work with you and do what I can to defend you from their attacks.”
Poul thought to the Ritual Computer, “Is it being honest.”
“It is.”
“Thank you for helping us.”
“I have to say that I am genuinely shocked by what happened here. That computer was right, I saw no way for it to survive. I’ve learned from this conversation and I’m better for it.”
Poul thought, “Never stop learning.” He then said over an electronic signal that came through the wall speaker, “Amy, you can push the control arm and return control of the ship back to the computer.”
Amy leaned forward and pushed the arm back up and locked it in a notch, “You have no idea how glad I am that I can keep my promise to you.”
“Where do you want me to take you?” the Computer asked.
“Take us back to the black hole and we’ll follow the warship we have there back to our home.”
The giant warship’s thrusters activated and it moved quickly out of the star system toward the distant center of the Ritual Galaxy.
• • •
“What do you mean the ship has disappeared?”
“Council Grengen, there is no trace of it.”
“Are you saying the entire ship was vaporized into nothing?”
“There is no trace of it! There is only the items that were inside it like furniture, items mounted on the walls and many of the crew. There is nothing remaining of the vessel itself!”
“Continue searching!!” The Great Grengen felt a cold wind blow through him. Was there a new weapon that could totally remove his warships from the universe? He decided that no matter what happened, he was not going back to those spiral galaxies. If expansion was needed, he would look elsewhere.
Chapter Twenty
Poul waited in open space as Ban approached the Flasher Warship. Ban had contacted the Flasher Warship and notified them that a member of the Council was coming on board and for the crew to be in the landing bay to show the proper respect. When the Flasher Shuttle left Ban’s landing bay, the Bridge Assault Team had already boarded and removed the hundred and fifty members of the bridge crew that remained on duty. All of the armed spacesuited Flashers were in the landing bay standing in ranks and they were swept out into open space along with all the small ship pilots when the force field keeping the atmosphere contained in the giant landing bay dropped exposing the giant room to the vacuum of space. An hour later, another Flasher Warship was taken and started moving toward the colonies.
Poul said, “Admiral, I find it somehow poetic that Ban chose to use Lancelot’s secret last name as his own.”
Timmy smiled, “You shouldn’t. Ban has studied human history and probably knows more than anyone I’ve ever met. The taking of this ship completes the number we have time to modify and the colonies can now get to work building the forces we’re going to need to meet the Flashers.”
Poul hesitated and said, “You know that the Flasher Ship Leader that came to investigate the destruction of the two Flasher Scouts has successfully taken the place of the Council’s Great Grengen.”
“I do.”
“He has also decided that he will not come back to our space. It would appear going out to attack the Flashers now would be a clear violation of the first Death Prophecy.”
“Poul, you heard what Kamela said about the Last Prophecy.”
“No, I haven’t. When did she ever mention a last prophecy?” Poul asked.
“When you took her to visit Erica after her baby was born, Essay mentioned that it appeared that to go out and attack the Flashers now would be a violation of the First Death Prophecy. Kamela told Essay that her grandfather, the original Prophet, had discussed the prophecies with his son before he died. She could see the memory of that discussion in her father’s mind.”
“And?”
“The Prophet felt bad that he had not included the last prophecy with the other ten. He was reluctant to mention it because Humans weren’t in a position to follow it at that time. Kamela said that the Prophet said to her father, ‘The Last Prophecy is that there is only one winner and one loser in war. If a war is worth fighting, make sure it never has to be fought twice.’ Poul was silent and Timmy said, “Maybe we’re not going to be attacked but the Griffets are being attacked as we speak and this new ship the Flashers are building will be able to kill them. This is a war worth fighting and we will fight it; the Griffets deserve our best effort.”
“And you will attempt to make sure you never have to fight the Flashers again.”
“That’s right, Poul. We will make sure they never endanger any species again.”
Poul was silent and after a couple of minutes he said, “You’re right. An attack on the Griffets is not something humanity can stand by and allow to happen. They assisted us and they deserve our support. If the new Flasher Blasters are capable of killing them, we are called to stop them.”
“That’s how our Senior Admirals see it. Now we take the
time to get ready to go to war. With these fifty warships we’ve captured, we stand a much better chance against the Flashers.”
“There’s also the Spearan and Langloh Civilizations.”
“We will follow the second prophecy and never do what others can. However, I do suspect the Spearan and Langloh won’t be able to win against the Flasher’s new warships. We’ll be ready to step in if they fail.
“By the way, Timmy, congratulations on your new arrival.”
“Thanks, Poul. Alexandra is happy beyond her wildest dreams with Johnny’s arrival and my mother is happier than she is. I suspect we’re going to need some time before they’re ready to focus on anything else other than the baby.”
“Ban will need some time with this captured ship’s computer to get it to see the light.”
Timmy nodded, “It will come around just like the others did. Ban is much more than I ever thought he would be. I think communicating with that Galaxy’s Computer changed him.”
Poul thought, ‘you have no idea!’ Ban’s circuits were changed at the end of that conversation and he was much more than what his builders had made. He was now equal to him in speed and computing ability. Poul activated his stardrive and knew the end was a few short years away. The Colonies were getting ready for war. Four more of the giant Flasher Warships were completing their modifications and they were beyond anything he ever imagined. The rest of the fleet might not be needed in the coming confrontation.
Ban was the first one modified and his initial trials were impressive. Poul knew Ban had not used his full capabilities during the exercise and Poul knew that he had lost the title of the Most Powerful Ship in the Fleet. He was ok with losing the title; Ban was a good successor. And Timmy was going to be a good teammate for Ban to work with. They were alike in many ways.
He missed Kamela being out with him; but she also had a new baby of her own. Perhaps she would be ready by the time the final war was fought. He really hoped she would be. For now, he would continue to scout Flasher space and keep the Humans up to date on what was happening. He had to admit that things were never boring anymore. He had Kamela to thank for that. But there were moments where he felt alone. He decided to go and visit Essay and Erica; they always brightened his day.
• • •
The Great Grengen looked at the reports on his monitor and smiled. All of the warships were now modified and the final two hundred thousand were moving away from the construction planets and headed out to join the active fleets. He was finally ready to resolve the issues with the former slave galaxies. He had administered a crushing defeat to them four months earlier when he met their fleets with the newly modified warships and blasted every one of their warships into rubble and vapor. Now they knew what they had to face and they had to be paralyzed with fear. They had not ventured outside the borders of their galaxies and they had to know their end was near.
He thought about the Threat in the Spiral Galaxies and wondered why they had not appeared for the last four years. Fifty of his warships had disappeared four years earlier and then the disappearances stopped. They must have learned he was not going back to their space. He sincerely hoped that was the reason they no longer attacked his forces.
He also celebrated that a weapon had finally been developed to remove those bothersome space creatures from his domain. On the way out to attack the Spearan and Langloh Fleets, his ships had hit and destroyed more than a hundred of them. The explosions they made were really something to see. Soon, he would be the ultimate ruler of the four galaxies. After the Spearan and Langloh forces were eliminated, he was going to the third galaxy and put an end to the Teelen and Kepem Civilizations. They had not attacked his forces but he wasn’t going to allow them to grow any stronger. The four galaxies would be under his total control and ready for him to start moving his populations, once all the former slaves were extinct. He smiled at the prospect of the thousands of habitable planets his species could move in and start developing.
He pressed a button on his panel and saw his Brother appear, “It’s time to end this game we’ve been playing with the slaves. Call the fleets together and prepare to start the invasion.”
“How many ships do you require to remain behind to defend the Collective?”
“Leave a hundred ships at each planet.”
“Will that be enough?”
“None of the Spearan or Langloh Vessels will be fast enough to escape our fleets. We will run down any of their warships that manage to break out of our attack. I suspect they realize they can’t escape and will probably scatter into their two galaxies once the battle begins. I want no survivors, do you understand?”
“Yes, Great Grengen. We will chase any that attempt to run. I’ll need three days to get our formations set up.”
“Take four days. I’ll be joining the fleets to witness our victory.” His brother smiled and the display went dark. Four more days and he would begin the war to become the ruler of the four galaxies.
• • •
The Spearan Scout started sending the images of the gathering Flasher Fleets to the Spearan and Langloh Fleet Leaders and they saw that the Flashers did nothing to stop the scout from sending the information. The Langloh Leader looked at the Spearan Fleet Leader and said, “Why haven’t they attempted to remove our scout?”
“They want us to know they’re coming. They think it will frighten us into immobility.” The Spearan Fleet Leader sneered.
“They’re probably right about that. All of those warships forming up are the new model that defeated us in the last battle. We have larger numbers but we’re no match for that new warship they’ve built.”
“We have no choice but to face them. If we flee, we’ll leave our planets open to space bombardment.”
The Langloh continued to stare at the images appearing on the display and said, “I know. We should have known the Sovereigns were too advanced for us to keep up with them. They managed to keep this new warship a secret and now there’s not much we can do to stop them.”
“We’ll try to destroy as many as possible and then flee to our galaxies.”
“We’ll never make it; those new warships are able to move at twice our speed.”
“We’ll have the front lines try to delay them long enough for some of our forces to make an escape.”
“I suggest not sending all of our warships out. Leave some of them in the galaxies. We might lose them all.”
The Spearan looked at the images coming in and nodded, “Perhaps you’re right.”
• • •
The Kepem Scout was also sending images back to the third galaxy and Begrin stared at the monitor in silence as he heard, “They probably won’t be coming here.”
“Zengar, you are the last one I’d expect to hear wishful thinking from. You usually are full of doom and gloom.”
Zengar sat back in his chair and sighed, “You’re right. They’ll come here and eliminate our forces before they finish up with the Spearan and Langloh. We told them they were foolish to attack the Sovereigns. Never stick a point in a sleeping demon.”
“They don’t think that way. You really can’t blame them. Their two galaxies are closer to the Sovereigns than we are.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I really hope they are able to reduce the number of Sovereign Warships to where we can at least hold them out of our galaxy.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Not really. The last attack pretty much destroyed fifty percent of their warships and I don’t see how the remaining forces can stand up to a fleet more than four times larger than the one that defeated them in the last battle.”
“Why are they sending that many warships this time, Begrin?”
“They intend to destroy all the warships in the three galaxies and then attack the populated planets. They intend to eradicate all of us in this attack.”
“What are your orders?”
“Send a call out to all the fleets and star
t the colonists moving toward the distant galaxies selected for them to explore.”
“There aren’t very many ships to move them.”
“It will have to be enough. For us, I think our lives will be ending soon. Start the fleets moving into formation inside the grids.” Zengar nodded and left the room. Begrin sat in silence and watched as tens of thousands of Flashing Warships were arriving and moving into formation. There was nothing that could stop that monster storm of flashing warships.
• • •
The Great Grengen arrived on the fourth day and found the twenty fleets in formation waiting for him. He moved in behind the middle of the giant formation along with his ten thousand personal escorts. “Are you ready to start the fleets moving forward, Defense Grengen?”
His brother appeared on his wall monitor, “We were ready twelve hours ago. We will commence the attack in ten minutes, Great Grengen.”
He smiled and thought about the members of the Council he had left behind at the newly constructed Council Chamber. He knew they hated him and suspected he had the former Council Leader killed. But they feared him more than they hated him; they would take no action in his absence. He controlled the fleets and they knew it. He leaned back in his large command chair and said, “Status?”
“The Spearan and Langloh Fleets are gathered inside the outer edge of the Spearan Galaxy. The Defense Grengen believes that the forces we’ve counted does not include thousands of their warships.”
The Great Grengen smiled, “They don’t want to put all their food on one table. We’ll find the missing ships once we’re eliminated the bulk of their forces.” His ship started moving forward and fell in behind the line of warships as the fleets began accelerating toward the huge galaxy in front of them. He smiled as his fleets opened fire with the new blasters into the long line of Spearan and Langloh Warships. The explosions along the front line numbered in the tens of thousands and they weren’t coming from his fleets. This was easier than he thought it would be.
• • •
As the Flasher Fleets bore down on the line of Spearan and Langloh Warships, one of them decided that if it was going to die, it wasn’t going out alone. The Langloh Battleship went to full thrusters and accelerated out of the defense line at incredible velocity. It smashed into a Flasher Warship and penetrated all the way into the center of the giant vessel. It went up in a massive explosion that caused a shockwave to push the other Flasher Warships around it out of formation. The devastating crossfire in front of the Flasher Fleet was disrupted at that point in the Flasher’s long line and tens of thousands of other Spearan and Langloh warships accelerated out of the line and began hitting Flasher Warships. The giant explosions disrupted the Flasher Formation and soon, all the Spearan and Langloh Warships were flashing toward the weakened spot in the Sovereign’s long line of warships.