Nowhere to Run

by Saxon Andrew

  “If the Black Civilization is invaded and the invaders see those scanners, they’ll know that someone else was watching them. They’ll also recognize it as one that was in their galaxy. That would not be a good thing.”

  “How do you know they wouldn’t just assume it was a scanner that was made by the Black Civilization?”

  “Because they wouldn’t have placed them so thickly around their own planets and they’re also made from materials that the Black Civilization doesn’t use.”

  Ian thought a moment and said, “Moe, what do you think?”

  “I’m a cautious sort of machine; I say destroy them all and depend on the Black Ships stopping at the edge of our Galaxy just like they did when they went to M87 to warn us they’re coming.”

  Ian looked at Violet and said, “Shut them down.” Violet nodded and began activating codes on her console. “I’ll start in their star cluster and move out from there.”

  Doc said, “Start with the ones on a line from M87 to their territory first.”

  Violet looked up at Doc on her display and nodded.

  • • •

  Two days later Dee opened her eyes widely and Doc rushed over to her. She looked at him and yelled, “SHUT DOWN THE SCANNERS!”

  Doc said, “We started the process two days ago. We’ll have them all destroyed in another day.”

  Dee fell back in her chair and her and said, “I’m glad you heard me.” Doc looked at her and she saw his confusion. “Doc, you are connected to me in ways we can’t know or feel. You must have heard what I was seeing.”

  Doc thought about what prompted him to have the scanners removed and shrugged, “I don’t know, Dee. I just know my mind took me to that conclusion.”

  “You heard me.”

  “If you say so; what’s bothering you?”

  Dee shook her head, “The place I go to focus has changed. I am now seeing things that I’ve not observed. I can see M87 in my mind and the civilizations there are starting to gather ships. They could only be doing that for one reason.”

  “What is that?”

  “They’re coming to Andromeda.”

  “That’s what I suspected.” Dee looked at him and Doc said, “Maybe I am hearing you. I just don’t sense I am.”

  “There’s more, Doc.”

  “Let me get Ian in on this.” Doc punched his board and Ian and Violet appeared. Violet was still entering codes into her console. “Ian, you need to hear this.”

  Dee looked at Ian on the main display and said, “I can see M87 in my mind. I’ve looked at the patterns and they all scream one thing at me.”

  “What is that?”

  “Ian, those civilizations have reached equilibrium. They have all staked out a territory and there is no possible way for them to expand outside their own borders. The Black Ship intrusion has started them thinking about expansion. If they can’t expand in their own galaxy, they’re going to expand in another. Andromeda will be their first effort.”

  “What makes you think they’ll move on us?”

  “M87 is more than three times larger than Andromeda and the Milky Way combined. They’ll need more than one galaxy.”

  “There are galaxies closer to them than us.”

  “Yes but moving their operations from Andromeda will be easier than starting from scratch. I also sense that none of them want galaxies close to them controlled by any of the civilizations located there. We will be the second target. I have little doubt about this conclusion.”

  Ian shook his head and blew out a breath, “From the frying pan…”

  Doc said, “…And into the fire.”

  Violet said, “Why do you not have any doubt, Dee?”

  “I’m not sure. I feel that we might delay them by taking the fight there but we stand no chance against their ships. Going there would be suicide.”

  Moe said, “Maybe not.”

  All four were struck silent by Moe’s comment. Dee finally said, “Why do you say that?”

  “You should talk to Cole. It appears he and a Kilper Scientist have come up with a new weapon system that looks promising.”

  Dee looked at Doc, “We need to go see him…now!”

  Doc looked at Ian and he nodded as he said, “Dee, how long before they arrive in Andromeda?”

  “You’ll see them before we can get back. I just hope you can destroy all the scanners in time.”

  Violet looked at them and doubled her efforts on her panel.

  • • •

  “We made a mistake going there.”

  “It does appear you’re right.”

  “How long will we have before they come?”

  “Not long enough.” The second being paused and said, “We’ve been detecting explosions taking place in the travel medium throughout our territory.”

  The first said, “That’s easy enough to understand. Whoever has been observing us is destroying the mechanisms used to do it.”

  “So you don’t think they came from the large galaxy?”

  “If they did, they wouldn’t be blowing up, which could only mean the ones that placed them must have seen what happened to our ships.”

  “That would lead me to believe it is the closest galaxy that did it.”

  “You’re probably right but that information won’t do us any good now. There’s no way we can do anything about it with the threat hanging over us.”

  The second paused, “It appears their destruction confirms that we will be attacked. What are we going to do?”

  “What can we do? We’ll face them and hope to survive. We made a mistake and now we’ll see if we survive the consequences.” The first speaker paused and said, “Order all our ships out to the edge of our galaxy closest to the large galaxy.”

  • • •

  The last scanner received the self-destruct signal just after it recorded millions of Black Ships moving out from the star cluster. It sent the information and blew apart.

  • • •

  Drey landed at the Science Center Space Port and Cole came running out with a Kilper female right behind him. The ramp came out and Dee ran down and met Cole, “What have you developed?”

  “Whoa, slow down. What’s going on?”

  Doc ran up and said, “The Black Civilization is going to be attacked by the civilizations in M87. We will be their second target. Their ships are more powerful than anything the Black Civilization possesses. We’re lost if we have to take them on. Moe tells us that you’re working on a new weapons system. What is it?”

  Cole’s expression showed his shock and the Kilper female said, “We’re working on a Higgs-Boson ship.”

  Cole gathered his wits and said, “This is Argel. She’s been working with me.”

  Dee said, “Does it work?”

  “The initial tests are positive. The only sticking point left is the Higgs Force Field. If we can get it ironed out, we’ll have a very dangerous weapon.”

  Dee said, “How far are you from making it happen?”

  Cole looked at Argel and said, “We should be able to build a working model in about two months.”

  Doc looked at Dee, “How long do we have?”

  Dee closed her eyes and said, “Between a year and a half to two years at the most.”

  Doc looked at Cole, “What are we going to need to build these ships?”

  Cole shook his head, “You’re way ahead of yourself. We need to determine that it will work first.”

  Dee said, “It’s going to work.”

  Cole looked at her and Doc said, “Assume it will work; what will you need?’

  “Raw materials to construct the ships and a fleet of ships to collect Boson Particles.”

  Doc looked at Cole and said, “Get moving, Cole. They’re coming.”

  Cole looked at Argel and said, “Call in your top engineers and I’ll get ours here as well. I’ll take the modification of the ships to collect the particles and you work on the new hull materials.”

  Argel nodded and turned an
d ran back toward the Science Center.

  Doc’s communicator buzzed and he pressed the button. Ian appeared and said, “It’s starting; all the scanners have been destroyed.”

  Doc nodded and then slowly lowered his head. Dee turned to follow Cole and Doc yelled, “Where are you going?”

  “To make sure they’re following the right path to our new ships. I’ll know if they’re moving in the wrong direction.”

  Doc nodded and knew that he wasn’t going to have much alone time with Dee.

  • • •

  The eight million Black Ships waited at the edge of Andromeda. Their systems were linked and they were organized to attack individual ships in groups. The blackness of open space was out in front of them and they could see the distant galaxies as small points of light. One of them was much larger than the others and that’s where they knew trouble was going to originate. Their scanners were operating at full power and so far nothing had appeared. They continued to wait and then all of their alarms went off. A massive wave was approaching from open space. The giant fleet energized their weapons and drives and just as the first hundred thousand invading ships appeared, the massive fleet fell on them and the battle began. Thousands of Black Ships exploded but the numbers were on the giant fleet’s side. The next wave of invading ships numbered two hundred thousand and emerged into normal space in the final moments of the first wave’s destruction. The battle took on a frenzy that was indescribable.

  What space warfare lacked in duration it more than made up for in destruction that happened every second. The millions of ships were enmeshed in a massive tangle where chaos ruled. Eight waves of invading ships arrived and were finally defeated by the Black Ships. Of the ten million Black Ships that started the fight, only three million remained but they had prevailed against the invader. The space outside Andromeda was littered with millions of blasted and burning warships. The Black Ships began celebrating their victory and the Black Civilization breathed a sigh of relief. It was at just that moment that their alarms went off again and the incoming wave dwarfed all the others they recorded. Four million invading ships of all different colors emerged into normal space and now the Black Ships no longer had the advantage of numbers. They fled into the galaxy and fought the invaders among the planets and stars between them and their home star cluster. The fight continued for three days and that’s when the home worlds of the Black Civilization began enduring what they had visited on all the other civilizations in Andromeda. A month later, the Black Civilization became a footnote in history.

  Then the struggle began among the invaders on how the newly conquered galaxy was going to be divided. None of them would attack each other due to repercussions that might arise back at their home worlds. Some of the invaders had left the fight early to claim the more valuable systems and it took a long time to persuade them that possession did not imply ownership. The struggle lasted more than two years before order was brought out of the chaos. It took another year for the various civilizations to move the needed building materials and technology necessary to colonize a planet.

  It was at that moment that the invaders began looking across space at the spiral galaxy a short distance away. Nothing feeds conquest like victory. A meeting was called and the rules for the next invasion were hammered out among the attendees. Three years, eleven months, and six days after the invasion of Andromeda began, ships began gathering.

  • • •

  The new scanner watched the ships gathering and sent the data back to the Union. Moe sent the data to the updated and highly modified Hub Computer and both civilizations went on a war alert.

  • • •

  The two hundred thousand planets of the Union were only able to build one ship each the first year after the fall of Andromeda. The second year they were able to manufacture ten ships each. By the end of the third year they were producing fifty a year.

  The Kilper Civilization was far ahead of the Union in ship building capacity but all of their facilities had to be modified to construct the new ships. That process took a year and a half but once they began the numbers built was impressive. Those hundred worlds were building a hundred ships a month the first year and five hundred ships a month by the end of the second year. The crews for the ships came from the planets of the Union, the Kilper Civilization, and the billions of former slaves that knew their survival was now tied to the two civilizations. The common enemy had removed the old wounds and now they became invested members of the new alliance and were represented in the governing bodies that made the decisions that directed their efforts.

  • • •

  The two civilizations had also taken steps to ensure their survival in the event the Milky Way fell to the invaders. Thousands of colony ships had moved to other galaxies and new worlds came into existence to exact revenge in the future. The Main Obelisk and Hub Computers were the main tools that make it possible to drive the massive changes. They organized the production of raw materials and distribution of all the things necessary to make an advanced civilization function optimally. The coming conflict was going to be monumental but now there was at least hope of survival. It all hinged on the new ships and their ability to face the invaders head on and fight them toe to toe. It wasn’t going to be long before that question was answered.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Ian looked at his display with the tactical arrangements of the million ships he was directing. They were divided into fifty fleets of twenty thousand ships and his group was going to go into M87 on a parallel track to the trajectory the Black Ships had followed. They were going in looking for trouble. He looked at Violet, “Have the Fleet Admirals reported in?”

  “They have.”

  “Have them standby.” Ian pressed his board and Doc appeared, “Are you ready to be rowdy?”

  “We’re systems ready and waiting for your Battle Group to lead the way.”

  “We are not going to hit their planets on this mission.”

  “Spoil sport.”

  “I’m serious, Doc. Our first effort is to force them to delay any operations against our galaxy. I’m hoping we can ultimately negotiate with them. Once we start destroying their worlds, all bets are off.”

  “I’ve issued those instructions to the fleets. I guess we’ll find out if this new technology actually works.”

  Ian shrugged, “If it doesn’t, then there’s nowhere to run.”

  “I hear you. Count it down.”

  Ian turned on the general frequency and said, “We will be jumping into M87 on my mark.”

  Suddenly Dee interrupted the countdown, “Ian, we can’t jump to M87.”

  Ian said, “Damn that woman!” He pressed the board and said, “The countdown is on hold. I repeat, the countdown is on hold.” Ian released the button and said, “For God’s sake, what is it this time?”

  “There aren’t any Green Ships in Andromeda.”

  “What!?!”

  “I’ve just looked at the scan sent us from the advanced scanner and there aren’t any Green Ships in Andromeda.”

  Ian looked at Violet and she shrugged, “So?”

  “Ian, that means that there are civilizations in M87 that didn’t participate in the invasion. They are not supporting the conquests. If we go into M87 and attack those that aren’t participating we will unite that galaxy against us.”

  “How do you know the Green Ships aren’t the only one that didn’t participate?”

  “I don’t know for certain.”

  Ian focused on the idea and after a moment said, “We can’t risk it.”

  “That’s how I see it.”

  Ian thought a moment and said, “Violet, do we have the location of the ships gathering in Andromeda?”

  “I do.”

  “Doc, are you hearing this?”

  “I am, Ian.”

  “We’re not going to waste a good opportunity. We’re all here, dressed, and have a ticket to an event. We need to use it. Moe, can you issues attack profiles to our s
hips to hit those ships in Andromeda?”

  “I’ll handle your fleet and the Hub Computer will issue the coordinates to Doc’s fleets.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “An hour and thirty minutes.”

  “Get on it.”

  • • •

  Doc looked at Dee, “Why didn’t you see this before now?”

  “Something has been bothering me but I couldn’t get my mind around it. I looked at our attack path into M87 and saw we would be taking on the Green Ships. I decided I wanted to have a good look at one of them and looked at the scan from Andromeda. Now I also see that the Grey Ships are also not among the invaders.”

  “Did you deliberately prevent yourself from seeing this before now?”

  “How would I know? I don’t have a clue how I do this. However, this feels right.”

  Doc waited for the new assignments to be sent and he thought about his new Theta Ship. The entire ship was now a hull built around a Higgs-Boson blaster. A Higgs field surrounded the new ship with only an atom’s thickness separating the force field from the hull of the ship. Any beam fired at the ship would be collapsed into Boson particles and funneled into the Boson Collectors. The enemy’s beams would actually be used to increase the power of the new Boson Blasters. The Boson Beam was only an inch wide but would cause a nuclear explosion in anything it hit. The small beam had a range of two hundred miles but was best aimed at less than fifty miles. The ships still had their prism shape and if the Higgs Force Field was weakened, the force one deflectors would take over. The ships performed in their trials but had not been hit with a beam possessing the power of the invader’s beams. This would determine if the new ship could stand up to the ships from M87. The two huge Battle Groups reoriented toward Andromeda and began receiving their assignments.

  Ian watched the data flow into his computer and saw that the two giant groups of ships would be coming in at the ship gathering in the shape of a sphere with the invader’s ships in the center. He thought about it and decided that this attack profile would allow his ships to fire head on at the enemy fleets and not have to worry about ships to their flanks. Doc’s ships would form another larger sphere around the inner globe facing outward and take on any of the enemy ships that managed to jump out.