by Saxon Andrew
“None of the Tronan Ships have shown any indication that we’ve been detected. I have found ten vessels on the outer edges of their formation that are using a more powerful scanner than the others.”
“How does their beams compare to the scanners on Heaven’s Gate?”
“They’re not as powerful. They’re about two-thirds the power of the Gate’s scanners but they have a fifty-percent longer range than the warships we’re familiar with.” Randy nodded and the computer said, “The fins are moving at a higher rate because there are more of them coming from different locations.”
“Let me know if anything changes.”
Emily stared at her panel and said to Randy, “Where do you think that fleet is headed?”
Randy shrugged, “There are two possibilities. The first one is they are headed back to their home port after completing an invasion. The second possibility is that they are going to invade a planet.”
Emily smiled slightly and looked up at Randy, “If you had to guess which one it is, what would you predict?”
“It’s an invasion fleet.”
Emily stared at him and shook her head, “I give up. How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
Randy smiled, “Look at your console’s electronic sensors. That fleet is maintaining communications black out. If they were leaving a successful invasion, do you think they’d be silent or congratulating each other on a successful campaign?”
Emily sighed, “I’d still be crowing about it if it were me. What’s the plan?”
Randy looked up, “Computer, can you determine if we are detected by those new scanners?”
“I suspect that if we are, they will send ships to check us out.”
“I don’t want that to happen. Can you detect any scanner beams that are reflected back at that fleet?”
“Probably not. However, I know the amplitude of the beams used by our fleet when we approached it and I can measure the power of the Tronan beams hitting us. When it reaches the level where the fleet detected us, then you can assume we are being detected by the Tronan.”
“I want to know before their beams are at that level!”
“I will let you know, Captain,” the Computer replied.
Randy looked at Emily, “To answer your question, we are going to follow this fleet to its destination and see if we can get a closer look at their ships.”
Randy entered the filament and followed the Tronan fleet for six hours. “What’s bothering you, Sir?” Emily asked.
Randy lifted his left shoulder, “What are the probabilities that we would run into a Tronan fleet in less than eight hours after arriving?” Emily stared at him and Randy took a deep breath, “The odds would be a million to one in a universe this large.” Emily remained silent and Randy looked at the wall monitor, “If there are a huge number of these fleets here, then the odds would be better.”
“You said this filament must be one of they use a lot.”
“I know, Emily. But even so.”
“Sir, we are approaching another intersection and I’m detecting a large gathering of Tronan Warships holding station just outside the filament. I’m also detecting another Tronan War Fleet approaching the intersection on another filament,” the Computer announced.
Randy tilted his head, “I’m leaving the filament and will wait to see what these fleets are going to do. Computer, are you able to determine the sizes of the ships in the two new fleets?”
“They are similar in size to the first fleet we encountered but the Tronan Fleet moving toward the intersection have a much higher number of those ships with the more powerful scanners.” Randy nodded and watched the wall monitor.
• • •
An hour later, the Computer announced, “Captain, I’ve done an analysis of the Tronan Scanner Beams and I’m reasonably certain that they will not detect us while we’re in the filament.”
“What?”
“The energy of the filament overwhelms the small electronic signature of this ship. The only reason the fleet could detect us was due to our approaching it in normal space. In a filament this powerful, the surrounding energy will send a louder signal to the Tronan Scanners than ours.”
“So how close can we approach those ships if we remain in the filament?” Emily asked.
“I’m of the belief that we could land on one of those ships and not be detected. However, their optical scanners would see us so that wouldn’t be a good idea. I think we are virtually invisible if we stay in the filament further than a mile from them.”
“What about outside the filament?” Randy asked.
“That’s a different story, Captain. With fifteen thousand Tronan Warships scanning the space around them, the sheer number of beams hitting us would cause a reflection from twenty miles away that they could detect.”
Randy thought about it and said, “I’m not getting any closer than fifty-miles just to be sure. How far are we from that intersection now, Computer?”
“About three minutes. That’s one AU distance from it.”
Randy nodded, “About the distance of the Earth from the Sun.”
“That’s correct, about ninety-four million miles.”
Emily looked up, “Computer, are you sure about this?”
“We use dark matter thrusters and the thrust is not detectable. The ferrous materials in this ship are less than the iron in a small meteorite. The polymer hull is not detectable so our signature is incredibly small. The fins cover the bulk of the metal inside the ship and will deflect most of the beams away from us, so I do think we’re ok to get closer.”
“What about your belief about the amplitude reaching a critical level?” Randy asked.
“The energy in the filament will be at a higher level than that amplitude, Captain. Inside the filament, detecting us is a remote possibility. In normal space, all bets are off.”
Randy looked at Emily, “If those fleets enter the filament, I’m going to move in and take a good look at their ships.”
“Just be ready to run!” Emily replied.
Randy smiled, “Count on it. I want you to set the blasters on standby.”
Emily’s eyes narrowed, “I thought we were ordered not to use our weapons.”
“Asking for forgiveness is easier than permission,” Randy said with a smile.
Emily laughed, “I’ve always liked the way you think, Sir.”
Randy leaned back in his chair and watched the three Tronan War Fleets assembling at the intersection.
• • •
Lt. Gloria Hashem discovered that the filament she chose to follow terminated in a single star system. There was a planet in the habitation zone around the star and she sighed, “Looks like this was a bad choice.”
First Officer Patricia Cabell said, “We might as well look at the planet while we’re here.”
Gloria nodded, exited the filament, and moved toward the planet. Pat stared at her monitor and they moved closer and said, “There are numerous large cities on the planet’s surface but I’m not receiving any indication that there is electronic activity coming from them.”
Gloria nodded and said, “Computer, do you detect any evidence of Tronan presence?”
“No, there is huge debris clouds above the planet but nothing active. This must be a planet the Tronan invaded and left.”
“I’m moving into orbit. Computer, be prepared to make an active scan of the planet’s surface.”
“Activating the scanners, Sir.”
Gloria moved the ship into low orbit above the planet and the Computer announced, “I’ve analyzed the debris clouds and it appears there was a large space battle.”
“Are there any Tronan Warships?”
“I’ve found two.”
“We’ll look at them after we scan the planet. Start your scan and feed it to the wall monitor.” Gloria started moving the micro-scout around the planet and stared at the wall monitor. The active scan revealed that t
he giant cities had been attacked. Many of the tall buildings were nothing more than huge piles of rubble and large numbers of the others had dark blaster scars burned into them. Every city they scanned showed immense damage. Five large craters showed the location of cities that had been blasted by nuclear explosions.
Patricia shook her head, “The Tronan killed them all.”
“There are a few survivors,” the Computer replied.
“Where are they?”
“Scattered around the planet in the wilderness, First Officer. There was a pause and the Computer said, “I’ve also detected many dead Tronan Warriors in the forests. I’ve not seen any in the cities.”
Pat’s eyes narrowed and Gloria said, “Finding their dead in the wilderness is not easily done like it would be in the cities. If they were fighting a running battle with the locals, getting to their losses would be next to impossible.” Gloria though for a moment and said, “Computer, were you able to see if any of the dead Tronan still had their armor?”
“Most of them are still in their armor, Lieutenant.”
“What are you thinking, Sir?” Pat asked.
“We need to see if we can collect some samples of that armor. We are developing weapons to use against their landing forces and having Tronan armor to see if they are effective is something our scientists can use. Computer, take us down to the best location to collect some of them.”
“Where are we going to put them, Sir?”
“Looks like you and I will be giving up our sleeping quarters until this mission is over.” Pat rolled her eyes and saw the planet begin to move closer on the wall monitor.
• • •
The scout landed in a small clearing and Gloria asked, “Computer, are any of the local survivors near this location?”
“No.”
“What about predators?”
“You should take blasters with you. I don’t think they’ll approach you but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Pat looked up, “What about the atmosphere?”
“It’s breathable. However, I would suggest you wear your armor?”
“Why?”
“I suspect the Tronan bodies inside the armor are in an advanced state of decay.”
Pat screwed up her face and Gloria chuckled, “We’ll just have to empty the contents. Let’s get moving.”
• • •
They exited the scout and Pat used her hand scanner to locate the closest Tronan. They walked about a hundred-yards and stumbled up on the dead Tronan. It was in the middle of high grass that had grown up around it. Pat turned the body over and saw a blaster burn on the Tronan’s face plate. “It looks like this helmet is not worth saving.”
“Let’s get this open and we’ll look for an undamaged helmet on the next one,” Gloria responded.
After a few minutes, Pat said, “It’s not as bad as I thought. The body is little more than a dried-out husk.”
Gloria shook her head, “For being such brutal conquerors, the Tronan aren’t very big. This one was shorter than five-feet tall and must have weighed around a hundred and sixty pounds.”
Pat nodded and pulled the armor away from the dead body. “Sir, this one still has a green light on the power supply. Do you think it might explode if we move it?”
“I wouldn’t think so. Glue a cable to the on-off switch and we’ll deactivate it from a distance.”
“I’m glad you thought about bringing the cable and glue, Sir.” Pat glued the cable to the switch and rolled the cable out as they moved behind a tree. Pat looked at Gloria, “Ready?” Gloria nodded and Pat pulled the cable and hit the dirt behind the tree. They waited thirty-minutes and nothing happened.
Gloria stood up and walked to the armor, “The light is off. Scan it and see if there is anything else that is active.” Pat raised her hand-scanner and scanned the armor. After a moment, she shook her head. “Let’s move this to the ship. I’ll take the upper armor and you take the lower section. Make sure the boots don’t fall off.”
“Yes, Sir.”
• • •
Six hours later, they had five complete sets of Tronan armor loaded into their sleeping quarters. Pat had to use her blaster on a large predator that looked like a cross between a lion and crocodile. It rushed up on them at an incredible speed but Pat shot it ten yards away. Gloria smiled, “All of that quick draw training just paid off.”
“Tell me about it. What now?”
“Let’s go look at the two Tronan derelicts above the planet.”
Pat nodded and Gloria activated the air-thrusters. Pat looked up, “Computer, do you think the survivors will make it?”
“I don’t know. They’ve been blasted back into a Stone Age society and the number of predators on this planet is huge. If they can manage to find each other, there is a remote possibility they will.”
Gloria shrugged, “It’s entirely possible the Tronan allowed some to survive.”
Pat looked at her, “Why would they do that?”
“This planet could be another meal for them in the distant future. By destroying everything, it is a certainty that it will take this civilization centuries to develop modern technology. I’m certain the Tronan will have a note in their come-up file to come back and check them out before they have time to become a threat.”
“What you’re saying has merit, Lieutenant. The survivors are all located on this continent,” the Computer announced.
Pat’s eyes narrowed, “We have to find a way to stop them.”
Gloria nodded and moved the scout into high orbit, “Let’s go take a look at those Tronan ships.”
• • •
The scout arrived at the first derelict and the Computer said, “This was one of their troop transports. Evidently, one of the defenders crashed their ship into it.”
“Why didn’t they destroy it before they left?’ Pat asked.
Gloria shrugged, “Who knows; I’m sure they had their reasons. Perhaps there’s no civilizations anywhere near this planet that might come and examine it. Computer run an active scan of this ship and put the coordinates of the next one on my console.”
“Scan complete.”
Gloria moved the scout away and flew around to the planet’s far side. As they moved in closer, the computer said quickly, “Don’t go any closer!”
Gloria stopped the scout instantly, “What’s going on?”
“That ship is highly radioactive. One of the defenders managed to crash into the ship’s reactors and caused a massive meltdown. It isn’t any different than the ships that destroyed Heaven.”
“That explains why they didn’t destroy it and adds substance to their deliberately allowing some inhabitants to survive,” Pat said softly. Gloria looked at her and Pat shrugged, “If they tried to destroy this ship, some of the radioactive debris would fall to the planet and possibly kill the survivors.”
Gloria nodded, “Scan this ship, Computer.”
“Scan complete.”
Gloria moved toward the filament and Pat saw the anger on Gloria’s face. Gloria looked at her and said, “You’re right. We have to find the means to stop them.” The scout entered the filament and flashed away.
Chapter Five
Tommy stared at the long-range monitor and sighed, “I’ve chosen a bad filament. There’s been zero traffic on it since we left the Death Filament. Perhaps we should turn around, go back, and select another filament.”
Roger shrugged, “I’m forced to agree with you. If there were any civilizations on this filament, surely there would have been some traffic moving toward the giant filament we exited.”
Tommy activated the dark matter thruster on the starboard side of the scout and watched the nose whip around toward the outward flow on the opposite side of the filament. The scout entered the outward flow and accelerated toward their starting point.
“Lieutenant, I have ten large ships approaching us on the inward side of the filament
.”
Tommy changed the four thrusters to reverse and the small scout stopped in the filament and maintained its position. “Computer, will they be able to detect us as they pass?”
“Move to the outer edge of the filament we’re currently on and turn the ship perpendicular to the flow. Turn the thrusters to starboard and use them to hold that position until they pass. We’ll be twenty-miles away and I don’t believe they will be able to see us.”
Tommy whipped the bow around so the fins were facing the inward flow of the filament and swiveled the thrusters to fire against the filament’s motion. He saw they were still moving slowly in the flow but holding their orientation to the incoming ships. “Roger, get a passive scan on those ships and let me know what they are as soon as you can.”
“I’ve already determined they are Tronan Warships, Sir.” Tommy sat up straight and Roger shrugged, “I have no explanation as to why they are traveling this filament.”
Tommy waited and thirty-minutes later, the ten giant warships roared past them. Tommy changed the direction of the thrusters and flew across the filament into the inward flow side. “I’m going to follow them and see where they’re going.”
Roger nodded and was thankful that every filament had two sides flowing in opposite directions. Every star had at least one filament flowing from it in Under Space that connected it with another star. The filament flows moved at superlight speed and allowed ships with a stardrive to enter them and travel vast distances in the universe at incredible speeds. It was the filaments that allowed faster than light travel and connected all the advanced civilizations. Larger stars had multiple filaments and the massive black holes in the center of most galaxies produced monster filaments like the one they had used to enter Tronan Territory. They usually connected with other black holes in the center of distant galaxies.
Tommy fell in far behind the ten Tronan Warships and paced them. He stared at the wall monitor and said, “You know, I find it odd that we’ve not encountered an intersection on this filament. We should have seen at least one.”
Roger nodded, “I suspect this filament must lead to a single star that is isolated. That’s the only way to explain no traffic on it.”