The Death Filament: Some Places Should Be Avoided

by Saxon Andrew

  Gregor stepped back and sat down on the log. He lowered his sword and watched the two as they moved at incredible speed around the fire. Sam moved in on Jek and then backed out. He glanced at Gregor and held up his hand. Jek stopped and Gregor saw Sam staring at him. “What?”

  “Is there some reason you’ve cut that piece of metal in half?”

  Gregor looked down at his sword and said loudly, “CRAP!”

  “What’s wrong?” Jek asked.

  Gregor went to his knees and said, “This piece of metal has high sentimental value to me. How did this happen?”

  Gregor walked over and stared at the two pieces of metal, “What is that hole in the left piece?”

  “That’s where Elena’s arrow went through a force field and punctured it.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “We discovered by accident that the wood we used to make our arrows would not be stopped by a force field. Elena inserted a piece of Bellingham metal inside the arrow’s shaft and it punctured this slab of metal.”

  “What is that metal, Gregor?” Sam asked.

  Gregor shrugged, “Before my adopted father died, we collected it from a site where several Unity Battleships were destroyed. It was a piece of the armor used on one of the Unity ships.”

  “Why did you hit it?”

  “I didn’t, Sam. I just lowered my sword to watch the two of you stumbling around wondering where I could start giving you instruction.”

  Sam looked at the metal, “Gregor, you must have hit it with some force. Maybe you were wincing as you watched us.”

  Gregor shook his head, “I wasn’t wincing, I assure you. I find your efforts relaxing.” Gregor took his sword and put it on top of the piece of metal without the hole. He watched as the blade moved through the metal.” Sam tilted his head and Gregor said, “Hey, I’m not applying any force! It’s just sitting on top of the metal.”

  Jek pointed toward the end of the log, “What kind of metal is that?”

  Gregor looked where he was pointing and said, “That’s a piece of armor from a Tronan Warship.”

  Jek walked down to the large piece of metal and extended his sword until the blade rested on top. He held his sword with two fingers and the blade slowly moved through the metal until it was cut in half. Jek shook his head, “It appears you’re right. I didn’t apply any force.”

  “Well, I’ve had enough, guys. Jek has worn me out and Angel must have dinner ready.”

  “I’ll go with you, Sam.”

  Sam looked at Gregor, “Are you coming?”

  Gregor shook his head, “No, I’m going to stay here a little while longer.”

  The two walked away laughing about their sword play and Gregor sat down next to the Tronan armor. He finally stood up and took his sword out. He put the point against the armor and pushed. The sword flew through the armor and into the huge log behind it. The blade stopped when it hit the log; it had absorbed Bellingham Metal before it had been cut down. Gregor pulled his sword and tried to remember a story. An hour later, Kaylee found him sitting next to the armor smiling. “What’s going on, my love.”

  Gregor looked up at her and smiled, “I think I might have found a way for us to win this war.” Kaylee’s eyes widened and he said, “Sit down and let me tell you what I’m thinking.” She listened to him and before he was halfway done she was nodding and hugging him tightly.

  • • •

  Gregor landed on Romania the next day and Gregory rushed out to his ship, “Gregor, what are you doing here? I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “I want a personal ship and I was hoping you could build it for me.”

  Gregory frowned, “What kind of ship?”

  “I want you to build me a scout.”

  “That’s no problem.”

  “I do want a few modifications.”

  “Such as?”

  “First, I don’t want a force field.”

  Gregory stared at him and said, Ok, why not.”

  “I want to use the additional space in the hull for something else.”

  Gregory shrugged, “What else?”

  “I only want one blaster and you can mount it on the bow.”

  “Do you also want to dispense with the fins?”

  Gregor shook his head, “No. However,” Gregor pulled his sword out of the scabbard, “I want them to be the thickness of my sword’s blade.”

  “That’s less than a tenth the size of the normal fins!”

  “I know. And I want them to be slanted back thirty more degrees.” Gregory stared at him and Gregor shrugged, “That would make enough room for the blaster to fire through the fins.”

  “What else.”

  “I want the two chairs mounted side-by-side at the front of the scout.”

  “I don’t know if that’s possible.”

  “Why not?” Gregor asked.

  “The scanner systems take up too much room to put both chairs at the front.”

  “I want all the electronic systems to be installed in the pilot’s console.” Gregor paused, “Can you do that?”

  Gregory stared at Gregor and said, “I suppose so.”

  “Would that allow you to make room for the other chair at the front of the scout?”

  “What purpose would it serve?”

  “Let’s just leave that open for the moment, shall we. If you make those modifications, how much additional storage would that open?”

  Gregory pulled out his communicator, opened the calculator, and began entering numbers. Finally, he shrugged, “It should triple it. If we move all the electronics to the front of the ship, we could also open some space between the hull and the interior walls in the rear of the ship.”

  “Great. How long will it take you to build it?”

  “We have the assembly line in place. We should be able to complete it in two days.”

  Gregory turned and heard Gregor say, “There’s one more thing.”

  “What is that?”

  “I understand the outer hull on the scout is made from an exotic polymer. How much heat can it withstand?”

  “With the camouflage coating we apply…”

  Gregor interrupted him, “What can it handle without the camouflage coating?”

  “About eleven-hundred degrees. But it’s double that with the coating.”

  “Leave off the coating.”

  “Are you sure about that, Gregor. It makes the scout almost impossible to see.”

  “I’m sure. Do you mind if I wait for it?”

  “Not at all; you can stay with Heather and me.”

  “Thank you, Gregory.” Gregor lifted his communicator, “You can return to Bellingham. I’ll see you there.”

  Gregory watched Gregor’s silver coated ship rise and disappear into the sky. What was Gregor doing here? That night he stared at the design Gregor wanted and it just didn’t make practical sense to him. He shrugged and decided that he just didn’t understand a warrior’s mind.

  • • •

  Randy flew the scout into the Bellingham’s atmosphere and moved toward the continent on the southern hemisphere. Emily looked at him and said, “Are you sure you don’t know what’s going on?”

  “I don’t. Gregor McGregor has ordered me to land at coordinates on the other side of the planet from Bellingham’s space port. He also ordered me to complete communication silence.” Randy looked below and said, “We’ll soon know. The scanner has picked up another scout on the surface ahead of us.” Emily nodded and looked at her monitor.

  • • •

  They landed, exited the scout, and found Gregor waiting for them next to the scout. Randy stared at the scout and his eyes narrowed. This was not like any scout he had ever seen. The fins were incredibly small and there appeared to be a recessed blaster on the bow. Gregor smiled and said, “I’m glad you could make it, Admiral and Commodore.”

  “Yes, Sir. Why did you ask me to come?” Randy s
aid while staring at the new scout.

  “I have a new scout that I want you to take out and perform a field-trial.”

  Randy looked at the scout and suddenly noticed that the hull was not coated with camouflage; it shined brightly in the sun. Randy’s eyes narrowed and Gregor said, “Yes, it has been coated with Bellingham Steel.”

  Emily turned to Gregor and simply said, “Why?”

  “Because this ship may be the answer to defeating the Tronan.”

  Emily stared at Gregor and then said, “Are you serious or just putting us on?”

  Gregor smiled and said, Come with me.” They walked out of the small clearing and went into the tall trees. They moved into a small clearing and they saw a tall support structure with a piece of metal hanging from two Bellingham cables. Gregor pointed to the metal hanging from the cables and smiled, “What you have here is a three-foot wide piece of Tronan armor.” He lifted his communicator, “Bring it over, Kaylee.” Emily looked at Randy and he shook his head for her to be quiet. They heard a noise and saw the new scout moving above the clearing. It moved slowly to the ground and stopped directly in front of the hanging metal slab. It moved slowly until the left fin was directly in front of the Tronan armor. The ship settled on its landing legs and then rose to a level position.

  Gregor smiled and looked at Randy, “Are you familiar with the density of Tronan Armor?”

  “Not really.”

  “This three-foot piece weighs more than ten tons.” Randy’s eyes narrowed and Gregor said, “I’ve weighed it and I assure you it is incredibly dense. Come with me.” They walked over to the front of the scout and Gregor said, “Please notice that the slab of metal is centered on one of the fins. The fin is about twenty-feet long so it extends beyond the armor’s width.”

  Randy stared at the armor and then put his hands on it and pushed. It didn’t budge. Gregor laughed, “Good. Tell me what you notice about the fin in front of it.”

  Randy looked at it and said, “It’s about eight-inches wide and almost as thin as a…”

  Gregor said, “Sword blade?”

  Randy looked at him and nodded. Gregor walked forward and lifted a heavy cable off the ground and attached a hook to a connector that had been welded on the bottom of the armor. He cupped his hands and yelled, “TAKE IT UP!!” A Mobile Blaster fired up its engine and started moving forward. The slack in the cable under the armor was taken up quickly and the slab of metal moved away. Gregor turned and walked away. He looked at Randy and Emily and said, “You might want to move.”

  They looked at him and saw the armor moving higher and higher as it was pulled away by the mobile blaster. They turned and ran to where Gregor was standing. Randy looked at Gregor, “Are you going to release that armor?”

  “What do you think is going to happen, Admiral?”

  “You’re going to mess up a perfectly good scout, Sir.”

  The mobile blaster stopped and a man sitting on the back of it looked at Gregor. Gregor lifted his arms and dropped them. The man on the back of the mobile blaster lifted a large hammer and hit the clip holding the cable. Randy’s eyes were wide open as the Tronan Armor swung forward at incredible speed and hit the fin. A large piece of the armor fell and hit the ground. It slid under the scout barely missing the landing legs. The top of the slab swung past the scout and then swung back over it. The reduced weight raised it a foot higher and it missed hitting the fin as it swung by. Randy ran forward and looked at the fin. Emily grabbed him and pulled him back as the piece of armor swung by barely missing him. “Idiot, what are you doing?”

  Gregor stepped forward and drew his sword. He held it out in front of the metal slab with one arm as it swung back past them and a large piece of it fell off. Randy and Emily were stunned. He didn’t even swing and the blade didn’t move as it cut off half of the swinging armor. “There, it will miss hitting you now.”

  Randy rushed forward and said, “Emily, there’s not a mark on the fin. It’s not even bent.”

  She looked at the fin and then looked under the scout where the large piece of metal slid. She looked at Gregor and lowered her eyebrows. As Gregor said, “Tell me how you think we can use this.”

  Randy smiled, “If this coating can survive the Tronan Blasters, you’ve got the makings of a missile that can take out their warships.” Emily’s eyebrows went up and she nodded.

  Gregor smiled, “How long do you think it will be before they come back, Admiral?”

  “Before two years.”

  “And how many ships will they be bringing with them?”

  “You were at the meeting. The Fleet Admiral estimates at least six-million.”

  Gregor shrugged, “I think they’ll be coming with a lot more than that but let’s assume six-million is correct. How long do you think it will take to build a missile and get it coated in Bellingham’s metal?” Randy was silent as Gregor said, “Do you think the ships we use to launch them will be safe from the three-hundred Tronan Warships attacking each one. You should also remember that the missile must be big to make a large enough hole in the Tronan’s hulls to take them out. How many of these missiles could our ships carry? You also should remember that we’ve stopped building warships and we currently have about twenty-five thousand warships that could launch this missile you’re thinking about. I suspect that they could only carry ten of these missiles due to the necessity of them having to be large enough to do damage. That’s 250,000 missiles and that would leave the Tronan with five-million, seven-hundred, and fifty thousand warships remaining. I’m sorry, Admiral, but you don’t win the Kewpie Doll.” Gregor looked at Emily, “Want to give it a try?”

  Emily stared at Gregor and said with fear in her voice, “You’re going to use this ship to ram the Tronan Warships.”

  Randy looked at her and laughed, “That’s preposterous.”

  Gregor smiled and said, “Ding, ding, ding, ding; you win the prize.”

  Randy’s smile instantly vanished, “That’s absurd. A Tronan Warship has a lot more armor than that piece you just used.”

  “The principle is the same,” Gregor replied.

  “Who is going to be crazy enough to even see if this works? It’s outrageous!”

  Emily looked at Randy, “That’s why Gregor ordered us here. He intends for us to do it.”

  Randy jerked his head around and Gregor shook his head as Gregor said “Admiral, your First Officer is one smart cookie.”

  “We won’t do it!”

  Gregor smiled, “Ok, that’s fine. Please choose two of your officers and have them report to me immediately.”

  “I refuse to order any of my sailors to make this suicide mission.”

  Emily saw Gregor’s eyes narrow and she stepped between them, “Sir, he is not refusing to follow your orders. I believe we just don’t understand why this has to be done.” Emily looked in Randy’s eyes with clear anger and he closed his mouth.

  The corner of Gregor’s mouth went up and he said, “She just saved you from being busted back to a maintenance job, Admiral. Come with me.”

  Gregor walked over to a tree and sat down at a table under it. Randy and Emily sat down and Kaylee came out of the scout and joined them. She smiled at them and said, “Things look kind of tense.”

  Gregor nodded and looked at them. “Admiral, where have the two of you decided to settle down?”

  “Romania,” Emily answered.

  “Within twenty-years you will both be dead of forced to flee for your lives.” Randy stared at him and Gregor continued, “Don’t think for a minute that the next invasion force is all that the Tronan will send here. Once they discover the billions of intelligent civilizations, they’ll be sending most their forces here. The targets for them to attack in their own space is sparse. I suspect their Prime Leader, or whatever he’s called, will pick up and bring ninety-percent of his forces here and set up shop. Do you see it differently?” Randy stared at Gregor and shook his head. “I would suggest
to the two of you that you would be better served to settle down on Bellingham. At least the Tronan won’t be able to get here.”

  Emily smiled, “Thank you for the offer.”

  Kaylee put her hand on Emily’s arm, “You’ll love it here.”

  Gregor stood up and looked out at the forest, “As the situation stands, most of us are fleeing, millions of civilizations are going to be consumed by the Tronan, and we’ll be trapped on Bellingham. Do you know why that is, Admiral?”

  “We can’t defeat the numbers that are coming to attack us.”

  Gregor smiled at Randy, “Let’s assume we could produce enough missiles to make a difference. Do you see the problem with using missiles?”

  “I believe so, Sir. I’ve just been thinking about it and we’d still take a lot of time to move in range, launch, and then go to the next target. Missiles wouldn’t destroy them fast enough.”

  “Think about flying a ship through them, Admiral. You blow through the ship, turn and ram another; you then change course and blow through a third warship.”

  Randy looked at the scout with the Tronan armor still swinging over it and asked, “Do you honestly think that scout will penetrate all the way through a Tronan Warship’s two armored hulls.”

  “They won’t even slow it down.”

  Emily looked at Gregor, “Sir, why did you choose us to do this. You have any number of crews here that you could have used.”

  Gregor smiled and Kaylee laughed, “I told you they’d see it.”

  Gregor looked at Emily and said, “When I was developing the armor our landing forces were going to use, we finally had to live test it. I knew it would handle a Tronan Blaster bolt, but I didn’t know if it would have an effect on the warrior wearing the armor. To make good combat decisions, I had to know. I put the armor on and took a blaster hit. I learned that being hit in different places caused different levels of pain. As a result of that testing, the armor was changed and made better. Do you understand what I’m saying? The two of you should see what happens.”