by Saxon Andrew
“You really expected all of them to die.”
“I guess I did. Does that bother you?”
Leigh Ann looked at Jillian’s picture on her desk, “No, I guess not. Keep me informed on what you find out.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
Four days later, Gabriel Hilton received all of Admiral Hull’s recordings. The Admiral had ordered that any meeting she attended was to be recorded and transferred to her personal storage system. She insisted they be prioritized in accordance with significance of the subjects discussed. Gabriel saw the meeting with the Rovers and heard what was said. He thought about it and didn’t like what he was hearing. He copied the meeting and sent it out to Dat with a Prime Secret Designation. He then stored it in the Admiral’s system. Dat’s wing didn’t deserve this treatment. He needed to know what was going on. He used another communication officers initials on the report. He was retiring in a week and leaving for the colonies. He shook his head and hoped his friend would not be hung out.
• • •
The chase had finally evolved into Dat running a huge lap around the community. The widest street ran in a large circle with the community in the center. Dat knew that continuing to make turns would get him killed so he ran to simply stay ahead of the Master. He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to keep it up. The Master had cut the distance in half and moved closer with every lap. Although he didn’t have to carry his full weight because of the Dark Matter Field on his shoes, moving weightless limbs still required effort and fatigue was becoming a factor. He was going to lose soon.
The Master was in the happiest place it had ever been. The prolonged pursuit of the small creature was exhilarating. But he saw the distance closing and knew his joy would soon end. He hated it and he loved it. He was fully alive and lost in the moment.
• • •
The events in the community would have been comical except for the seriousness of the chase. The thousands of Masters would hang from the wall on one side of the community until the two rushed past and then they would sprint across the community to watch them pass again as they came around on the other side. The rush back and forth was amazing and the people on the roofs saw the black creature’s unrestrained excitement. They would bob up and down so hard on the walls as the runners flew past that they should have been injured. It appeared they didn’t notice and their bobs became even more frenetic as the distance closed between the two runners. The squeals and howls were unending. The people on the roofs had grown slowly quiet as they saw the distance between the two decreasing. They knew it was just a matter of time.
• • •
Dat saw that he wasn’t going to make another lap without being caught. He looked at the overhead and focused on the street in front of Gresha’s home. He focused on the street that intersected the street directly across and slightly to the right of her home and made his decision. He ran up the street and marshaled the energy he had remaining. He made the turn at her house and turned hard into the street across from her home. He jammed his heels into the pavement. He instantly stopped and he ducked low against the wall on the inside of the turn. The Master was shocked to see him turn off the street and squealed his excitement. He had it. It rushed around the turn using its two arms on the far wall and saw the small creature couching against the opposite wall. The prey suddenly bolted out of the street in the opposite direction and it tried to grab it with one of the two arms bracing it against the wall and failed as it rolled against the wall. It immediately spun and extended six of its arms into a single arm that shot out at the fleeing prey.
• • •
Dat saw the Master come barreling around the corner and he sprinted at his fastest speed yelling, “OPEN THE DOOR!!” He saw Gresha open the door and he dove for the entrance. He crossed the threshold and felt an incredible shock just before everything went black. He fell to the floor and didn’t move. The Master’s arm shot into the room over him and knocked a hole through the back wall. The Master used the arm to grip the sides of the hole and snatch him instantly into the doorway.
Gresha tried to close the door but Dat’s legs and the Master’s arm blocked it. She screamed for him to move them but Dat didn’t move. She left the door and grabbed his shirt as she pulled him into the room. He rolled over as she started to rush back to the door and she saw his face. She froze and fell to the floor next to Dat. She looked into his face and saw his dead, unseeing eyes. She pushed her head down to his chest and didn’t hear his heart beating. She wailed her grief. The Master arrived just as she lifted her head and was surprised by her scream. “What did you do to him!?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? He made it inside. Oh Dat!” She fell on his body wailing her grief.
The Master stared at the unmoving prey on the floor and went through a fast series of emotions. He was enraged that the prey had escaped but he was stunned at what he saw. He extended three arms into the room forcibly moving Gresha off his prey’s body and then lifted the small creature’s chest off the floor. The head fell back and he used another arm to raise it. He stared at the dead eyes and recognized the expression he has seen hundreds of times before. The prey was dead. One in the crowd of Masters outside the door yelled, “You ran it to death.” The mass of Masters erupted in a tumultuous roar of approval. The Huge Master was lifted high above them by hundreds of black arms and he raised six of his arms into the sky. His stature among them had grown immensely. This was even better than killing the prey. He was overjoyed at his success. Gresha rushed back over and fell on Dat’s chest. She pulled him up into her arms and wept rocking him back and forth.
The Huge Master was finally lowered and he went to the door. He decided that he would consume the prey to give him the honor he deserved. He started to extend his arms and heard, “There’s been a major attack! We’re ordered out immediately!” The mass of Masters turned and rushed away.
The giant pulled his arms back and stared at the female holding the prey in its arms. “You will never repair that hole in the wall. It will remain to honor him for the joy he has given me.” The Master knew he did not have time to offer the full honor. He heard shuttles blasting off in the field and knew his crew was waiting; he dared not delay any longer. He turned and disappeared.
Gresha remained holding Dat rocking back and forth.
The last shuttle with the Huge Master lifted, blasted into orbit, and disappeared. Gresh rushed off the roof and found Gresha holding Dat. He tried to separate her arms from him but she screamed at him. He gave up and walked out closing the door behind him. He looked at the gathering community and said, “She needs some time.”
Gresha wept and held Dat’s head to her chest. She wept as she continued to rock back and forth. Then she heard, “This is nice.”
Gresha was startled and did a double take. She leaned back and saw Dat smiling next to her breasts. Her mouth flew open and she pulled his head up and kissed him hard. Dat thought about resisting but only for a microsecond. He got into the kiss and was swept away by Gresha’s embrace…until she leaned back and slapped him so hard he saw black and white dots fill his vision.
“You scared me out of ten years off my life.” She drew back to hit him again but he grabbed her arm and kissed her. She lowered her hand and put both arms around his neck. After a long moment, Gresha got up and locked the door.
• • •
Later Gresh was allowed in and he saw Dat sitting at the dining table eating a meal Gresha had prepared. He was shocked but managed to say, “So you’re not dead?”
“Not yet.” Gresh shook his head and Dat said, “I used some of my technology to fake it.”
“How did you manage that?”
“I set one of my rings to shock my brain the moment I entered your house.”
“That’s why you refused to come in earlier.”
“That’s right, Gresha. Once the ring passed the doorway, it was programmed to shock my system and reduce my vital signs. It shocked me back to conscio
usness when my other ring detected that all the Master’s shuttles had left.” Dat rubbed the back of his neck, “I hope I don’t ever have to do that again. It really hurt.”
Gresh said “What happens now?”
“I can leave without endangering your planet.”
Dat saw Gresha’s face as she jumped up and ran out the front door. He had never seen anyone with that much sorrow in their expression. He looked at Gresh and saw him slowly shake his head, “You should go quickly. She is not going to take this well.”
“But…”
“You should go.”
Dat looked at the floor and said, “Is it clear?”
“All of their ships have left.”
“Come get me, Stein.”
The Rover dropped out of the sky and hovered just outside Gresh’s house. Dat walked out and Gresh put his hand on his shoulder, “Thank you. Your bravery has given us strength.”
Dat nodded as he looked around for Gresha. He didn’t see her so he boarded his ship and it lifted. Gresha lay against the wall in the street across from her house and quietly wept as the ship disappeared into the night sky. Now she hated the night for two reasons.
Chapter Nine
Dat sat onboard and was having difficulty focusing. He knew he had hurt Gresha and that thought bothered him…a lot. He said, “Loree, contact Fleet.”
Admiral Hull appeared on his display and Dat said, “I have some rather lengthy recordings on the Black Creature’s behavior as well as the behaviors of the local population of one of the planets being held captive by them. They’re stored in the rings.”
“It looks like you managed to survive your run. I’m impressed.”
“It was a close thing and it’s my fault it happened.”
“I know; you exhibited poor judgment getting involved. However, our sociologists can use your information. Report back to Earth with your data and we’ll download them from the rings. I’ll see you here.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Dat, you outrank me.”
“Not until that rank is active.”
“Have it your way. We’ll see you when you arrive.”
Dat sat in his chair and sighed. He heard, “Dat.”
“Yes, Stein.”
“I think you need to see what happened when you were unconscious.”
“Why?” Dat’s display activated and he watched as Gresha forgot the door and her safety as she fell on his body. He was amazed that she had to be forced by the huge Master to release him to be examined. He watched as she rushed back when the Master removed his arms and held him tightly as she wept. He saw Gresh was unable to separate her from him and finally left them alone. He saw something being shown to him that he had never seen before. He replayed the recording again.
“Stein.”
“Yes.”
“Take us back down.”
“I was really hoping you would say that.”
• • •
Gresha was lifted off the ground by Gresh and he held his daughter in his arms and rocked her gently back and forth, “I’m sorry my darling. I’m so sorry.”
Gresha kept her eyes closed and shook her head. She felt the wind pick up and said, “I know this had to happen. I know we’re different. I mean, I knew he was going to leave, but it still hurts so much.”
“It might hurt less if you will come and go with me.”
Gresha’s head shot up and she saw Dat standing outside the small ship. Gresha looked up at Gresh with a huge smile and he nodded. She ran and leaped into Dat’s arms and held him tight. Gresh looked at Dat, “You will take care of her!”
Dat smiled as he looked into Gresha’s eyes, “I’ve done that from the beginning.” Gresh nodded and Dat carried Gresha inside the small ship. Gresh watched the ship lift and knew Gresha had found what she had been waiting for her entire life. The Elders moved forward and Gresh sighed. Oh well. They should know what happened.
• • •
Gresha sat in Dat’s lap in the command chair and smiled, “What happens now?”
“I have no idea. I just know whatever happens, we’ll do it together.”
“That’s really all I want.”
“I suspect my commanders may have an issue with this.”
“We’ll find a way around them.”
Dat shook his head, “You always look for the best to happen.”
“It usually does. Just look at us.”
Dat smiled and knew trouble waited for him on Earth. He put it out of his thoughts as Gresha took his full attention.
• • •
“Jill.”
“Yes Jack.”
“I’ve just learned from Fleet that Dat is going back to Earth.”
“Oh good; he survived.”
“Yessss.”
Jill heard something in the computer’s tone, “What’s going on Jack?”
“He’s bringing one of the females from that planet back with him.”
“WHAT!”
“I heard that Fleet has a serious issue with it but he told them in a very nice way to go pound sand.”
“Why would he bring an alien back?”
“I have a picture of her.”
“Show me.” Jill looked at her display and saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. “Please don’t tell me that woman is human.”
“She’s not, Jill. But….”
“I’ve got to talk with him.”
Bucket said, “Something happened on that planet. He wouldn’t do this under normal circumstances.”
“Maybe he’s bringing her to prevent her from being harmed.”
“Then he’d have to bring the whole population. No, it appears there is a connection between them. I really wondered why he put himself in so much jeopardy by staying and running from that monster. It appears she had something to do with it.”
Jill sat and fumed and hoped that Fleet would knock some sense into Dat. This was impossible. He couldn’t possibly love an alien…could he? She kept looking at the beautiful alien on her display and grew angrier by the moment.
• • •
Dat sat in Admiral Hull’s office with Gresha beside him and saw her stare at Gresha. She looked at Dat and said, “Captain, this is highly irregular.”
“I know.”
“You have to take her back.”
“She’s not a puppy, Admiral and I’m not going to do that.”
Gresha said, “Why does he need to take me back?”
“Well, for one thing, no civilian is allowed on Naval Ships. He is a Rover and will be gone for long periods of time and we will not be responsible for you. You know nothing about how to survive in our society.”
“Then I’ll just have to join this Navy of yours.”
Dat and Kat both looked at Gresha and she shrugged, “I do want to follow your rules. It seems like the easiest way to do that would be to join your military.”
Dat shook his head, “Gresha, you don’t know anything about technology and our civilization is highly advanced. You come from a primitive society.”
“I’m a fast learner.”
“Even so; that is too much to expect from anyone.”
“I’ve learned enough while coming here on your ship to see that the particles you use to surround your ship are at too low a power to get the most out of them.”
Dat’s mouth opened but he didn’t know what to say. Kat said, “What do you mean!”
“I saw the field outside the viewport and I asked that nice computer named Loree to explain what it was and how it operated. She showed me the pattern they made. I can see there are holes in the pattern that possibly wouldn’t be there if more particles were used.”
Kat looked at Dat with her confusion showing and saw he was just as lost as she was, “Can you show me what you mean?”
“Do you have up a recording of the field?”
Kat went to her terminal and started pressing keys at an unbelievable speed. After a moment she pulled up an image, “This is what th
e field looks like from the inside.”
Gresha stood and walked around Kat’s desk and looked at the image, “Can you put it in motion?” Kat hit a button and the image grew solid. “Slow it down.” The image began slowing incrementally and after a minute Gresha said, “Stop it there! Now back it up just a little.”
Kat hit a button and looked at the image, “I don’t see anything.”
Gresha pointed at a small area of the force on the monitor and said, “Bring this area in closer.” Kat moved the view in closer to the area she had indicated. Dat had moved around the Admiral’s desk and was looking over their shoulders. Suddenly, they saw it. There was a small amount of light coming in from outside the image. There was a small hole in the field. Dat and Kat were stunned. Gresha said, “It’s only there for a very short time but the field is weaker around that hole. If the field is hit by the enemy’s bright light, it would make it through.”
Kat turned to Dat, “Why haven’t we seen this before?”
“I have no idea.”
Kat turned to Gresha, “How did you see this?”
“My eyes are attuned to light differently from yours. I could see sparks in the image Loree showed me and when I asked her about it, she couldn’t see it either.”
Kat and Dat looked at each other and heard Gresha say, “Loree tells me that this field, I think that’s what she called it, is made up of particles that whirl around the ship creating a barrier.”
Dat said, “It’s called a force field.”
“Ok, force field. It’s obvious that you don’t have enough particles in the…force field to completely close it.”
Kat stared at Gresha and wondered what Dat had brought back with him. President Connor came storming in and yelled, “Are you out of your ever loving Rover mind. Take this female back to where you found her!” Leigh Ann saw the expressions on Kat’s and Dat’s faces and stopped midsentence, “What?”
“She’s found holes in our dark matter field.”
“What!”
Kat began explaining what happened as Dat and Gresha moved back to the chairs in front of Admiral Hull’s desk. After ten minutes of animated discussion, President Connor turned and looked at Gresha who had the most innocent smile she had ever seen. Leigh Ann looked at Kat and saw her astonishment. She looked back at Gresha and said, “Is there anything else you’ve seen?”