by Saxon Andrew
Dat stared at Gresh, “There’s more to it than that.”
Gresh looked at Kyley and turned back to Dat, “We have been forbidden from discussing our ancestors with any outsider. It is a taboo that no one would ever violate.” Gresh looked at Gresha, “Have you discussed this with him?”
“No Father; I have not. I’ve only mentioned the legends.”
Dat looked at Gresha and she took a deep breath, “This is part of our religion and faith prevents me from talking about it with anyone outside my people.”
“And that includes me?”
“Dat, you could choose to just walk away and leave me here. I honestly don’t expect you to do that but I cannot violate the trust of my people. Only those who are members of our society may know our history and even then it is never discussed openly.”
“Then how am I going to find out how to get it activated?”
Gresha sighed, “You probably won’t find out. I’m the one that will have to search for the key.”
Dat stared at Gresha and slowly shook his head, “Gresha, you know I would never walk away from you.”
Gresha stared at Dat, “In my heart, I believe you.”
Gresh said, “But she is still bound by the oath and faith she agreed to follow as a child.”
Dat stared at them and after a long moment of silence he said, “You know there is advanced technology hidden on this planet.” The three gave no indication he was right. “And these beliefs are in place to prevent it ever being discovered by anyone outside of your species.”
Kyley said, “Well, I don’t know that species is correct. It may not be revealed to anyone outside our families.”
Dat looked at Gresha and said, “Then tell me what I need to do to help you.”
“At the moment, you should be patient and allow me to see if I can find the means of activating the ship. If I can do that, I’ll see if the ship will allow me to communicate with you about it.”
Gresh said, “That’s enough, Child. You’ve said too much.”
“Father, he needs to know that he may not be given an answer.”
“Even so, that’s enough.”
Dat saw that this taboo was a powerful compulsion among Gresha’s people. He looked at Gresha and she saw his small smile, “I will honor your beliefs and not push you for answers. If I can assist you, I will. I will never ask you to violate your faith; I love you too much for that.”
Gresha leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Dat’s neck and said, “Thank you; I know how difficult this is for you to step back.”
Gresh slowly nodded, “You are more than I thought.”
Dat looked at Gresh, “I love your daughter. She makes everyone she encounters better than they were.”
• • •
Kune contacted Gibbons, “It’s really getting bad.”
Gibbons sighed, “There is a lot of hatred between them. It’s been festering for three hundred years.”
“Could we have stopped this killing?”
“In a perfect world, yes; but this is not a perfect world and it’s populated by imperfect beings that are driven by their emotions. Those feelings have been screaming for release and this is what falls out when they’re vented.”
“We could step in and force a ceasefire.”
Gibbs stared at Kune on his display and shook his head, “Have you ever tried to break up a fight between two people that really hate each other?”
“Not that I remember; why do you ask?”
“Well, I have. You don’t want to do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because both of them turned on me and beat me silly; then they returned to their fight. If we stepped in, all of them would turn on us and remove us for preventing them from doing what they are driven to do. We can’t take on all of them.”
Kune sighed, “I guess you’re right. It’s just so hard to stand by and watch the billions of innocent civilians being killed.”
“You need to check your scanners. Most of the civilians are cheering on their military. The hatred is pandemic and this disease must run its course before this galaxy can return to normalcy. Perhaps we might step in and help them rebuild.”
Kune sighed, “We won’t do that.”
“Oh; why not?”
“Because if we step in and assist anyone without assisting them all, the ones omitted will hate us for aiding their enemies. I suspect we will try to remain neutral and try to get this galaxy to see that we are not going to ever be involved in their activities again.”
“Back to isolationism?”
“Yes, but we’ll make sure they know we still have a very large stick with which to beat them if they intrude on us.”
“Kune, I guess you’re right. If I had just told those two hotheads that I would not stand by and watch their foolishness and just walked away, they would have at least respected me afterwards. As it was, they didn’t like me and I lost two close friends.”
Kune laughed, “You would have to make sure you never invited both of them to a soiree.”
Gibbs laughed, “There is that.”
“Did they ever forgive you?”
“Well…no. I married the woman they were fighting over. They became good friends afterward agreeing on what a I bum I was.” Kune started laughing and Gibbs said, “Hey, she liked that I was brave enough to step in.”
“Don’t you mean stupid?”
“Same thing.” Kune continued to laugh and Gibbs sighed and watched the reports coming in.
• • •
Six weeks had passed and Dat spent most of the days following Gresh around the community helping out wherever he could. He saw Gresha’s frustration growing and knew she was not making progress. He tried to comfort her at night but he saw she was beginning to give up. One night she turned to him and said, “I can’t find it.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Gresha shook her head, “There’s nothing that even remotely resembles a trace; NOTHING!”
Dat pulled her into his arms and said, “You have to know that whatever it might be; it has been hidden by advanced intellects. It will not be easily recognized.”
“I don’t think it exists anymore. It may have in the distant past, but time and the Masters have erased it. I’m telling you that it is not here.”
“Shhhhh, just relax. I know you’ve searched to the best of your ability. You can’t blame yourself.”
Gresha snuggled in under his arm, “Thank God you’re here to help me deal with this stress.” She looked up at him, “What do we do if I can’t find it?”
Dat tilted his head and straightened it back up, “We’ll go home. We can’t excavate for that ship without the Masters seeing it.”
“Give me another week and if it doesn’t turn up, we’ll leave.” Dat pulled her close and she closed her eyes.
• • •
Dat sat on the wall looking out at the field and knew an undetectable starship was just under the surface. He finally came to terms with the prospect that it may remain there. He thought about Gresha’s remark about the possibility that he could just walk away. He looked at the ground at the base of the fence and realized that he had made no promises to her. He thought about it and looked up at the couples working together in the fields. He swung his legs back over the wall and walked up the hill to Gresha’s house. He went in and found Gresh home having lunch.
“Gresh, I want to ask your permission to marry, Gresha.”
“Do what?”
“I want to marry her.”
“What is marry?”
“It’s where two people choose to officially join in a union for the rest of their lives.”
“Oh, you mean you want to have her.”
“Do what?”
“Have her; you want her to be yours.”
“She’s not a piece of property, Gresh.”
“No but she will be your mate. You will have her. Have you asked her?”
“In my society, it is traditional
to ask the Father’s permission first.”
“What do I have to do with it? You need to ask her.”
“Could you stop me from…having her?”
“Of course.” Dat’s brow furrowed and Gresh said, “But I would never stop it. Having a daughter in the house angry about a father’s interference is more than any sane man would ever want.”
Gresha walked in and saw Dat and Gresh suddenly turn and stare at her, “What are you two up to?”
Gresh said, “Dat was asking my permission to have you and I told him he needed to ask you.”
Dat jerked his head back around at Gresh and he said, “What?”
“I would have preferred to tell her myself.”
“Then why haven’t you?” Dat looked up and rolled his eyes. Gresha’s expression showed her shock. Dat said, “I actually asked him if it was alright with him if I asked you to marry me.”
“We don’t marry, Dat.”
Dat stared at Gresha and went down on one knee, “Then will you agree for me to have you?”
Gresha smiled, “Are you sure about this, Dat? I can never give you children.”
“As long as I have you; that would be more than I could ever want.”
Gresha said, “I agree to be yours, Dat Arvolo.” Dat stood and took her in his arms. Gresha held him tight and looked over his shoulder, “Father, will you ask the Elders to perform the ceremony?”
“I will.”
Dat looked into her eyes and saw something that amazed him. He saw into her soul and knew how much she loved him. He kissed her and her Father said, “Hey, hey, save it for after the ceremony.”
Dat smiled and Gresha said, “We can leave afterwards.”
Dat looked at her and sighed, “Nothing?”
Gresha shook her head, “Nothing; but I’m not going to allow that to take away from this happy time. I love you so much, Dat.” Dat pulled her close and hugged her tightly.
“Hey, Romeo.”
Gresha leaned back and Dat said, “Yes, Stein.”
“Loree and I were wondering if you were going to include us.”
“I will leave the rings active so you can be there with us.”
Loree said, “I think I’m going to cry.”
Dat shook his head, “Computers don’t cry.”
Dat waited for a response and after a moment Stein said, “You’ve hurt her feelings.” Dat looked around and could only manage to shake his head and roll his eyes.
Gresha said, “I’d love to have both of you there.”
“Thank you, Miss Gresha. One could only hope our Commander would show as much class.”
Dat started laughing and Stein said, “He knows; so you should can the hurt routine.”
“Hey, who says I’m not hurt.”
“Come on, Loree. We’re not made that way.”
“Speak for yourself.”
Dat laughed. Better Stein than him.
• • •
Jill was watching the recording of the Wing that was destroyed by the Black Ships. She stared at the speed of the blasters that locked on the Rovers and fired at an incredible speed. Her screen beeped and she pressed the enable button, “What are you up to, Admiral?”
Jill smiled broadly, “Hi, Jon. I’m going over the recording of the Wing that was killed.”
Jon’s smile vanished and he took a deep breath, “It appears we have a real problem confronting them now.”
“Yes…and no.”
Jon tilted his head, “Tell me what you see.”
“We’re going to have to change the Command System.”
“In what way?”
“I don’t think we can fight them in coordinated units. Do you have a few minutes where I can run my thoughts by you?”
“Fire away, no pun intended.”
Jill smiled, “It is a good one though. I’m sending you some stills I’ve taken from the recording. Let me know when you have them.”
Jon looked to his left and said, “I have them on my panel.”
“I want you to look closely at one of their major battleships. Notice that there are three lines that run down the ship’s entire length where there are no beam emplacements.”
Jon looked and said, “That’s the lines where their thrusters are located. In order to change direction, the thrusters have to be spaced evenly along their hulls. It takes three lines to be able to move a starship on multiple vectors.”
“That’s right; two would only move it from side to side. It takes a minimum of three to move in all directions. Six would be better.”
“Probably, but the loss of hull space wouldn’t be optimal for the slight maneuvering gains from the additional three. That space would be better served with weapon emplacements.”
“That shows they are good designers, but there is a problem in using three lines.”
“What is that?”
“I asked Bucket to do an analysis of the beams above and below those thruster lines. That ship is so large that none of the beams above and below the thruster line can be depressed to hit a ship located just above the thrusters.”
“Jill, a ship can’t get that close to the thrusters. The force field will keep them far enough out to where they could be targeted.”
“That is what will kill them, Jon. Pull up a recording of the last battle and measure how far their force fields are from their hulls.”
Jon typed on his keyboard and looked at the battle with the huge Black Creature’s Fleet. He watched Mary do the measure and he was shocked, “It’s only ten feet off their hull.”
“I know that one would expect it to be much further out but it’s not. Do you remember the first images Dat received of similar ships attacking each other in that galaxy a hundred years ago?” Jon nodded. “We know that the more area a force field has to cover, its strength is reduced with the square of distance. I suspect the force field has to be that small to provide the strength necessary to stop those beams they used in that galaxy. They haven’t changed the distance in any subsequent designs. Why would they deliberately build a force field that was weaker?”
“So how do we exploit this, Jill?”
“We go back to what our Rovers are best at; they attack individual ships. They find the thruster line, skip in over it, fire a dark matter beam, and skip away.”
Jon thought about the idea and said, “Ok, let me throw some questions to help clarify my thoughts.”
“Fling away.”
“Can’t the ships roll to fire at the Rover?”
“No, they can’t. A beam directly connected to a scanner can barely target and fire before a Rover skips out. A beam operator couldn’t do it in time. That has to be done by a computer. And getting the instructions to the thruster controls to roll is, at best, a much slower process.”
“We can do it as fast.”
“Yes, but our ships have the thrusters in the bows and tails and are much smaller and easier to roll. Getting the mass of a ship that size to start moving is difficult.”
“What’s to prevent them from placing ships next to each other covering each other’s thruster lines?”
“No matter how hard you try, there will always be a ship on the edge of any formation they use. Those ships will be in jeopardy. Once they’re hit, the next ones inside that layer become vulnerable. And besides, you know that trying to fight a space battle in a fixed formation is a good way to get your ships destroyed. If they chose to do it, the numbers that could actually fire on our Rovers would be greatly reduced.”
Jon thought a moment and said, “How do we get our fleets ready to do this?”
“Every Rover gets a helmet and the Command System with the protocols Dat gave me. The system will look for those thruster lines and point out any lines that are vulnerable. The speed of the system will allow the Rovers to skip in and hit their ships without being targeted by their beams.” Jill saw Jon thinking and said, “Jon, you’ve seen how hard it is to get pilots that have always worked alone to follow the discipline of fighti
ng in coordinated units. This will allow them to do what they do best; take them on ship to ship.”
Jon looked at Jill and said, “Plan to meet me at Admiral Hull’s office tomorrow afternoon. I’ll set it up. Have all your documentation in order and we’ll see if we can’t persuade her to let us do it.” Jill stared at Jon not saying anything and Jon furrowed his brow. He was missing something. He looked at his computer and then smiled. He looked up and said, “After the meeting, I wonder if you might consider an evening out with a good meal and dancing.”
Jill smiled, “Would I be doing this alone?”
“Jill Connor, will you go out with me tomorrow evening?”
“Why, of course; I look forward to it.”
Jon shook his head and ended the call.
Jill began thinking about what she was going to wear.
Chapter Thirteen
Dat stood beside Gresh in the community’s Meeting Hall. Gresha had made the outfit he wore personally as all new mates were required. It fit him perfectly and was remarkably comfortable. He saw the Elders standing at the front of the room and noticed they didn’t look very happy. Dat looked at Gresh and he whispered, “They did not approve of Gresha leaving with you. They also oppose this union.”
“Because I’m an outsider?”
“No, because you are taking away the heart of our community; everyone loves Gresha.”
Dat looked at Gresh, “Not as much as I do.”
“That is why I forced them to do it.”
“Thank you.”
“Just make her happy, Dat. There’s been so much horror and sorrow in her life. She deserves her happiness.”
Dat nodded and saw the doors open and Gresha was led in on Kyley’s arm. Dat almost lost his breath. Gresha was one of the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. Now her beauty was stunning. The pale green and white wedding dress made her almost too beautiful to see. All of those gathered were amazed at her beauty and her smile was radiant. Gresh pulled his arm and he forced himself to face the Elders. He immediately saw them staring at Gresha and her smile must have melted their resistance. They looked at each other and the Elder slowly shook his head and smiled. He nodded and the others nodded with him. Gresha had made a difference again.
Dat continued to stare at the Elders until he felt Gresha arrive at his side and take his arm. He looked at her and she saw the love in his eyes. She tried not to cry but her tears would not be denied.