by Saxon Andrew
Trevor whispered, “Keep an eye on the conduit.”
“What am I looking for?”
“I think it changes color slightly when it activates.”
The two ships remained close to each other for an hour and Amanda was starting to feel cold. She knew Trevor was also feeling it as well. Finally, the ship moved toward the mouth of the conduit and entered. The orange color darkened slightly to a burnt orange color. Two seconds later, it returned to its normal color. The ship outside it waited and they saw the conduit change color again. Another ship appeared and stopped beside the new arrival. They remained still for ten minutes and then they began moving away from the conduit in different directions. The black cloud began emerging from them and they skipped away at an incredible velocity.
Willow said, “Let’s give them some time to move away and we’ll go and collect some samples.”
“Willow, do you know where that second ship was headed?”
“It was oriented toward the Welken Confederacy, Trevor.”
“Willow, don’t go near that thing.”
“Why? I thought you were impatient to go there?”
“Run the video back to just after the two ships skipped out.”
The video moved back and just as the two ships were surrounded by their black clouds, Amanda said, “Freeze it!”
The video stopped and Trevor said, “What do you see?”
“Willow start the video running at slow speed and keep focused on where the two clouds came together for a moment.”
The two clouds slowly emerged from the two ships and the edge of the two clouds briefly came together at the stern of the first ship. The cloud suddenly spun in a small whirlwind and then dissipated. Willow said, “They’ve placed a probe.” Amanda nodded. “How did you see that?”
Trevor was shaking his head, “She doesn’t miss much.”
Amanda said, “How are we going to get out of here without being seen?” Her remark was greeted with silence. “I thought as much. If we energize our skip drive, that probe will see us.”
Trevor stared at the conduit and said, “I’m glad we dropped the probe when we arrived.” Amanda looked at him and shook her head. Trevor stared at the screen and said, “Willow, can you detect a gravity compensator in operation?”
“Not if it’s at low power. Why do you ask? It would take us months to move far enough away to get away.”
“Notice that the probe is located at the front of the conduit so it can scan anything moving toward it from the galaxy. I’m going to assume that it can’t scan through the energy that the conduit is made of. We can use the compensator to move toward the conduit until it’s between us and the probe.”
“It might see our skip trace.”
“Not if we skip away as close to the conduit as possible. We’ll move a hundred light years away before we change direction.”
“How do you know that conduit won’t detect our trace?”
“If it could, they wouldn’t need to place a probe.”
Willow began moving toward the conduit away from the probe’s location. The progress was slow compared to using their thrusters but speed in the void was relative. They were moving six light years an hour and in ten minutes, they moved under the conduit. “It appears we’ve not been seen yet. Hang on!” Willow turned on her thrusters at minimum power and flew away at high speed. After thirty minutes, she increased the power and the conduit was screaming past just outside their viewport.
Trevor sighed, “I wonder if we could actively scan it this close and not be seen.”
“It would be like a flash bulb, the flash would be seen over it. Besides, we don’t need to collect samples.”
Trevor looked at Amanda and tilted his head, “Excuse me?”
“Trevor, you saw that their system uses highly magnetized neutrinos.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Where in the universe would you find something that would magnetize a neutrino?”
Trevor stared at her and then his eyes widened, “A Magnetar.”
“That’s right. Willow, where is the closest one?”
“The closest one to Earth is SGR-0418. It’s about 6,500 light years from Earth.”
“We’re out here to do a job. Let’s stay focused and do it. Send Lukas a message updating him on the Welken being watched and we’ll go take a look at the neutron star.”
Willow turned away from the conduit and accelerated away at maximum speed keeping the conduit between the probe and their location. Ten thousand light years later, she turned and headed back toward the Milky Way.
• • •
“Jinks, the Welken are getting their own personal guest.”
“What?”
“Willow just sent a message that two ships have arrived and the new one is on a course toward the Welken Confederacy.”
“Does that change our plans?”
“No. I don’t think those beings know every civilization in the Fellowship. They shouldn’t know our origin if we choose to attack.”
“You don’t think they would follow us?”
“The one at the Myot has not left and the Myot have launched numerous fleets. I suspect they are looking for something specific and will stay in place.”
“Lukas, how do you really feel about attacking your former home?”
“Mixed emotions, Jinks. It’s like seeing your worst enemy go over a cliff in your new BMW.” Jinks chuckled and Lukas shook his head, “I don’t see how the Welken, Myot, or any other Fellowship Civilization learning how to live in peace with their neighbors.”
“What about the Johan?”
“They would attack if they thought they would get away with it. They’re treating us well, at the moment. But they were willing to break their agreement with us to save themselves.”
“We’d do the same thing.”
“Would we?”
“We’d put up a fight but I think we’d look out for ourselves if it came down to it.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Jinks. I think we’d lose most of our pilots if we betrayed a friend.”
Jinks nodded slowly and shrugged, “I guess I’ve seen enough double dealing to not put it past mankind.”
“Both of us have been contaminated by our experiences. Perhaps we’ll learn to overcome our biases. How are the modifications going?”
“On schedule. Amanda contacted me and requested that one reactor not be fueled.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea and she didn’t stay on the frequency long enough for me to quiz her. However, I’m going to do as she requested.”
“Don’t you mean ordered?”
“Same thing with Amanda.” Lukas laughed and slapped Jinks on the back.
Chapter Twelve
The first three hundred modified Attack Pods were taken by their pilots and taken out from the moon to undergo space trials. Willow skipped in and Lukas met Amanda and Trevor at the base of Willow’s landing tube, “What’s going on?”
Amanda began talking and Lukas said, “Slow down.”
Amanda took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “We’ve found out how that civilization collects the black matter they use to hide their ships. We’ve also found a way to strengthen our reactor containers.”
“Do tell.”
Trevor nodded, “Black matter isn’t dense enough to be detected. Its atoms are spread out over a large area and its main property is repulsive. It appears it is an opposite of gravity that attracts atoms.”
“How does that help us if it’s so scattered that it can’t be collected?”
Amanda smiled, “No normal force in the universe affects it but it is attracted to a high enough magnetic field.” Lukas stared at her and after a moment he said, “How high?”
“Beyond anything we can artificially create. However, we found out that around a certain type of neutron star, dark matter is as dense as steel.”
“How were you able to get close to a neutron star? It will suck anything close into
it like a black hole.”
“We used the gravity compensators at full power and went to the edge of the star’s magnetic field. That’s where we collected dark matter. The Magnetar six thousand light years from here is full of it.”
Lukas stared at Amanda, “What are you going to do with what you collected?”
“Well, the first thing is Willow flushed his matter containment tank and used his scoops to fill it with dark matter.”
Lukas’ eyes narrowed, “I thought the thrusters had to have normal matter to operate?”
Trevor shook his head, “They’ll burn anything fed to them. Dark matter is excited to a much higher level than hydrogen or helium and produces a much stronger push. Those black ships skipped away from the conduit at a speed we couldn’t match. It’s because they use dark matter as thruster fuel.”
“What about the reactor?”
Amanda smiled, “We had Willow jettison the reactor fuel in the number four reactor. Once it cooled enough, Trevor went to the jettison port and put my open helmet over it with the visor open. Willow then flew at high speed through the dark matter field and it went into the reactor under high pressure. The walls were still hot enough to fuse the dark matter to the outer layer of the reactor containment vessel. We came back to have a much higher load of radioactive material put in it. We’ll ignite it when we leave and start raising the power to see if it can handle a higher power load.”
“I’m not so sure I want to run the risk of losing you if something goes wrong.”
Amanda shook her head, “Willow will monitor the heat and if things look dicey, he’ll jettison the load. We did drop a hammer in the reactor and it hung in the middle of the vessel without coming close to the walls around it. I really think we can go to a much more powerful core.”
“Why don’t you use dark matter to power it?”
Trevor shrugged, “We determined that dark matter doesn’t yield as much power as normal matter.”
Lukas nodded and started walking toward Fleet Operations, “What about the black cloud around their ships?”
Trevor smiled, “That’s the easiest thing.” Lukas’ eyebrows went up and Trevor continued, “All they do is release some dark matter from the fuel reservoir and the magnetism in the hull keeps it around the ship.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Willow’s hull is now magnetized from entering the Magnetar’s magnetic field and dark matter followed us as we moved away. We didn’t want to leave a broad trail of it back to Earth so we experimented with how to stop it. We discovered that if Willow energized the force field, it broke the magnetism from the hull and the dark matter stopped following us.”
Amanda nodded, “The good thing about that black cloud around a ship is that it erases the skip trail it leaves in the void. That’s why the new invader doesn’t leave a skip trace.”
Lukas thought for a moment in silence and Trevor said, “Willow said that the black cloud around those ships began disappearing when the orange force field was on at the conduit’s entrance.”
“So they don’t have an active force field when they’re surrounded by it?”
“That seems to be the case.”
Lukas stopped walking, “You need to take Willow out and confirm whether or not the power goes up.”
Amanda nodded and turned around and sprinted toward the cave housing the nuclear fuel. Trevor and Lukas watched her disappear and Lukas said, “She doesn’t appear to have an off switch.”
Trevor nodded as he turned to follow her, “No, she doesn’t.”
• • •
Twelve hours later, the mobile converters were reprogramed to leave three of the four reactors unfueled. The new Attack Pods then went out to the Magnetar and collected dark matter. They returned and fueled the three reactors, went back to the Magnetar and coated the fourth reactor, and then fueled the final reactor. The process was streamlined by having the newly modified pods towed directly from the moon with scoops attached to their reactor’s jettison ports. They were brought back, refueled, and released to start space trials. Chad’s fleet was done in four weeks and John’s began the process as Chad started working on tactics to use the new technology.
Lukas remembered an old Chinese Proverb. Disturb the dragon in his lair before the scholar in his books. Earth went from being primitive to passing the Fellowship in technology. The advancements were stolen from those that took, in some cases, thousands of years to develop. Earth had changed dramatically and Lukas knew it wasn’t logical. Even stealing it would have required much longer than what was happening. He sighed and wondered if he should resist the tsunami or ride the wave. So far, nothing had happened to cause concern or fear…but…who was in control? Where was this taking them and absolute power was never a good thing…was it? He shook his head and went to find Salud. He needed some time on the beach. If Earth attacked, could further attacks be prevented? Once victory was achieved, it became almost addictive and that was the road to conquest. What was he going to do?
• • •
The Attack Fleets were completed and the Defense Pods began being brought up to the new technology. Jinks called for a meeting and everyone arrived on the beach enthusiastic and excited about going out to teach the Welken and Myot a lesson or two about attacking Earth. After an hour of mixing and greeting each other, Jinks called the meeting to order. Everyone pulled up a beach chair with something to drink and settled in. Jinks looked around the gathering and smiled. He looked at Lukas and saw something was wrong. He wondered what it was. He looked at the group and said, “I think we’re ready to go and visit the Welken and Myot.”
The gathering cheered and John yelled, “About time! We owe them!”
Jinks smiled and said, “We will start forming up our fleets tomorrow and skip out to the Welken Home World. Chad’s fleet will be the point on our spear.” Everyone cheered and many patted Chad on the back. We’ll send you your assignments tonight and I expect all of you to get a good night’s sleep.” John looked at Lukas and smiled, “Do you have anything to add, Lukas?”
Lukas looked at Salud and she nodded. He stood up and looked around the gathering. “Effective tomorrow, I am resigning my position in ONE WORLD will no longer participate in any decisions being made.”
Salud stood up and said, “I am also resigning and will go with Lukas.”
Silence slammed down on the gathering. Jinks stared at Lukas and managed to say, “If you prefer we not attack the Welken, we won’t.”
Lukas shook his head, “That’s not the issue.”
Chad said, “Then what is?”
Lukas looked at them and after a moment said, “What was the reason I stayed here instead of escaping with Willow? Does anyone remember?”
Joey quietly said, “You told us the night we started this project that you stayed to make sure Earth wasn’t invaded and its people enslaved.” Lukas smiled at Joey and he said, “I am also resigning.”
Jinks started shaking his head, “You can’t do that. We need you too much.”
Salud shook her head, “No you don’t. You are fully capable of defending Earth now, you no longer need us.”
Jinks sat down and said, “Lukas, you owe us an explanation for this. Please don’t leave without telling us why.”
Lukas sighed and shook his head, “How do you think the first Fellowship Civilization that attacked and defeated another species felt after the victory?” No one spoke. “They felt pretty much like you do now. That victory led to more attacks and now look at where the Fellowship is with everyone in fear of each other and looking for a way to defeat all the others. Nothing feeds conquest like victory. You’re about to taste that sweet taste and if you remove the Welken and Myot, the other Fellowship Civilizations will fear you and gang up to remove you. Then you’ll be forced to defend yourselves and then you will be the rulers of them.”
Jinks stared at Lukas, “You think that would be a bad thing?”
“You need look no further than Iraq, Jinks.” Jinks flinch
ed. “I’ve said from the beginning that this project was started to defend Earth and nothing else. You now feel that if a civilization is planning to attack, you should go out and destroy them before they can.”
Julie said, “That only makes sense!”
Lukas looked at her, “Said by one of our first recruits who believed that ONE WORLD was better than the selfish way nations treated each other. You said that working together was the best way to forge a better place to live. Do you think going out and attacking those that threaten us will make them more or less willing to share ONE GALAXY with us?” Lukas paused and said, “Do you remember when I told the others that being a member of our vision wasn’t what was in your mind but was in your heart. Julie, have you lost your heart?”
Lukas looked back at the group as Julie’s tears started. “You don’t need me. You know that if we’re attacked, we can handle whatever they throw at us now. You want to do this to be able to fire the new toys you’ve been given. I have done what I promised and my guilt at bringing destruction on our planet has been removed. You can protect yourselves.”
Julie had her head in her hands and said, “I’ve lost my way! You’re right Lukas. I will not go out and attack other civilizations.” She looked up as her tears ran down her face, “I resign my commission.” Chad jumped out of his chair and knelt in front of Julie, “Don’t do this!?”
Julie wiped her tears with her sleeve and shook her head, “You weren’t here at the beginning, Chad. You’ve come in later and have been a warrior, probably our best. You don’t understand the real ideal of bringing the world together into one community. You never will. I will not stay and give up the ideals that made me want to be a part of this vision.”
John stood up, “You’re right, Julie; I was there as well. We’ve lost our way in the fighting.” John looked at Jinks, “I’m sorry, Sir. I resign my commission.”
Silence ruled the moment and Jinks sat in his chair in silence. Sergy said, “Jinks, are you alright?”