by Saxon Andrew
“But those ships were old.”
“Reactor technology is based on what you use to power them. If the power source doesn’t change, the output doesn’t either. I noticed that most of the radioactive material on the planets close to the black hole are nowhere close to what we find elsewhere. I suspect that giant gravity well causes those radioactive ores to degrade faster.”
“I hope you’re not thinking what I suspect you are.”
“Do you see another way?”
Violet said, “What are you two talking about?”
Andi said, “We’re going to have to take on one of those ships before we leave.”
Violet stared at Andi and then looked at Ian, “Tell me she’s kidding.”
Ian said, “Ask Drey.”
Violet looked at Drey and crossed her arms. Drey said, “It’s the logical thing to do and we must learn how we stack up to their defenses.”
“But there’s only two of us.”
“And just one of them.”
“Yeah, but you saw the one of them! It has more blasters on the bow than we do on the entire ship.” Drey shrugged.
Ian said, “You’re planning to do it alone.”
Drey looked at Andi quickly and she saw him do it, “Oh no you’re not! If you think for one minute you’re going to take on one of those ships without me you’re crazy.”
Drey sighed, “One ship has to record what happens and make it back.”
“And just which one of the three of us can go back to Euclid without being trapped for the rest of their lives?”
Drey looked at Andi and they saw he hadn’t considered that in his decision. “Well, I’m not going to allow the three of you to do it. You are all royalty.” Ian laughed. “What’s so funny?”
“Drey, you were going to be King when you were kidnapped. What does that make you?”
Drey stared at Ian, looked at Andi, saw Violet glaring at him, and said, “The Union would say good riddance if it were me.”
“The Nebula wouldn’t. They worship what you did for them.”
Drey looked at Andi and said, “Hey, don’t confuse the issue with facts. I’m the one that should do it.”
Andi put her hands on her hips and said, “Give me one good reason why.”
Drey thought a moment and said, “Have any of you fought a ship in combat?” The three looked at each other and Drey said, “I have. I possess the experience.”
Andi was fuming. “You won’t do it without me. You got that, mister.”
Drey shook his head and blew out a breath as Ian said, “You wouldn’t let her do it without you.”
Drey rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright, we’ll discuss this at the appropriate time. First we need to go take a look at the brightest star and see what’s on the planet there.”
Ian nodded and Drey heard Andi whisper, “Don’t think I’ll forget this.”
Drey sighed and muttered, “I’m sure you won’t.”
“I heard that!”
Drey rolled his eyes again and said, “Doc, get us out of here.”
Drey swore he heard the computer chuckle before announcing, “We’re jumping in close to that planet and remain below normal space.” The two ships arrived and the four humans were shocked beyond their wildest expectations.
• • •
Drey shook his head and said, “This reminds me of ancient Egypt.”
Andi couldn’t take her eyes off the display, “It does look like building a pyramid.”
“Without the pyramid.” Suddenly Drey saw Ian and Violet on his secondary display and said, “Doc, no communications. We could be detected.”
“I don’t think so. E and I have overlapped our jump fields and are sending audio and video by light pulses aimed at our optical scanners that are below the surface of normal space. The light we’re using is at a level that won’t scatter.”
Drey thought about it and said, “Ian, what are your thoughts?”
“There is no way that planet can feed itself. It’s just one monstrous sized city.”
“I suspect that’s what those hundreds of thousands of ships are doing. They must be delivering food.”
E said, “And metals for ship construction. It appears that is the main function of the planet.”
Drey leaned forward, “Doc, can you get a closer view of one of the places where those ships are landing.” The view of the planet moved in quickly and they saw a huge space port. “See if you can lock on a ship that’s just landing and record the activity around it as it is unloaded.”
“I’m on it.”
“E, find a different port and do the same thing.”
“I’ve locked on a ship that just landed.”
“E, did Cole put the language program in your software?”
“He did.”
“Start listening in on their communications and see if you can start learning their language.”
“I started that process out in deep space. I’ll continue it.”
Violet looked at Ian and said, “Who died and made him king?”
Ian looked at Violet and said, “Do you have a suggestion on what we should be doing?”
Violet stared at him and said, “You’re the Prince here.”
“You don’t like him.”
“I don’t. What he did when he was with the Nebula is unforgiveable.”
“He did what he was made to do. He discovered the treachery and is struggling to overcome what they made him. The ones you should hate are the ones that kidnapped him and twisted him. I’m thankful for him.”
“For God’s sake, why?”
“Tell me what you have to offer for us at this moment? What suggestion would you make for us to do?”
Violet stared at Ian and struggled with what to say. “I don’t know enough to do that. I’ve spent my life mining and running from the Union.”
“And this current situation we find ourselves in has nothing to do with those experiences.” Ian pointed at the display, “What happened to him in the Nebula has given him the experience we need to survive. You should be thankful he’s here. What would we be doing at this moment without him?” Violet listened to Drey giving instructions to the computers and saw Ian was right. “You need to cut him some slack, Violet.”
Violet stared at Drey, “I just feel so useless.”
“We all have our talents.”
Violet looked at Ian and smiled, “You’re right.”
• • •
“Doc, while E is working on the language, I need you to try to get a look at the rear thrusters on one of those giant ships.”
“Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“I need to get a diameter of the thrust tubes compared to the width of the ship.”
Ian said, “Why do you need that?”
Drey looked up and said, “That will tell me if the ships are built around jump technology alone. Larger thruster diameter ratio to the width of the ship will let us know if they can accelerate at high speeds. If the ratio is high, they use the Dark Matter Fields.”
“Drey, the ratio is one to fifty.”
“Good, they’re built around jump technology only.”
Violet said, “That means they jump ahead of a fleeing ship and fire those hundreds of blasters into the fleeing ship’s path to kill it.”
Drey moved his head back slightly, “Very good, Violet.”
Ian looked at her and Violet said, “Remember those blasters at the planet.” Ian smiled. “That’s their main defense against a FTL ship.”
“How would you avoid that trap, Violet?”
Violet looked at Drey on her display, “I would go high speed for two seconds only; then I would drop to ninety percent light speed and keep an eye on my scanner. I’d have enough warning to avoid that ship.”
Drey said, “That’s operational order number two.”
“Actually, if I were running in open space I would change my heading to sixty degrees after two seconds and continue two mo
re seconds at high speed.”
Andi said, “Why only sixty degrees?”
“Ninety degrees would allow them to cut the corner. Sixty would force them to find another track. By the time they did that you could slow and go any direction you choose. If what Drey says is accurate, they couldn’t chase you and they’d have to know your line to jump ahead of you.”
Drey said, “You’re absolutely right; however, what if they’re chasing you with ten thousand ships?”
“When one gets close, you jump and start the whole process over again. It will take them some time to follow. Time is something they can’t afford with a FTL ship.”
Drey said, “Doc, add that last part to operational order number two.”
Violet looked at Ian. “You’re right, we need him.”
Drey said, “How long have you recorded those two sites?”
“An hour.”
“Record two different ones.”
“We’re on it.”
Drey looked up and said, “Violet.”
“Yes, Drey.”
“Did you by chance take a close look at those blasters on the moons?”
“I did.”
“Do you have a good memory of them where you would recognize similar ones?”
“I think so.”
“E, try to get a close up of that giant ship’s blasters that run the length of its hull and show Violet a close up of one of them.”
Drey went back to looking at his display and after a few minutes heard Violet say, “They look just like the blaster on those moons.”
“Good.”
Violet waited and finally said, “Why is that good?”
“Violet, I want you to stop everything and focus on what you saw when Tad was hit. See if there’s anything that stands out.” Violet looked at Ian and he nodded. She closed her eyes and pulled the memories out that she had tried to bury for so many years.
“Ian, see if you can get a warship count on the planet’s surface.”
“I’m on it.”
“What about me?”
“Andi, there is a huge turnover of ships at that space facility. See if you can get a reading on the relative strength of the force fields as they turn them on. It would also help if you could get a time on how long it takes them to activate a jump screen.”
“I’ll need Doc’s help on the last one.”
“I’ll feed the video to your board.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
Drey continued to issue instructions for the rest of the day. Finally he said, “It’s time to move out and see what we have. We need to jump in as close to the event horizon as possible and then jump directly above the galaxy two hundred light years out. From there we’ll go to max FTL speed just as Violet suggested and make a four minute run. Doc, you should follow E.”
“We’re jumping in three, two, one, and now.”
Chapter Fourteen
They arrived more than a thousand light years above the Milky Way and waited. After an hour, Drey sent a transmission, “I want us to go over all the information we’ve recorded and try to make a determination of how we want to handle our first contact with this civilization.”
Ian said, “What do you mean?”
“We either attempt to communicate or we go in firing. By the way; E, how are you doing with the language?”
“I’ve recorded enough of their transmissions to have it deciphered in another day. I’ll start giving you anything that’s interesting at that point.”
Andi sat down at her board, “How do you want to start this?”
“I want each of us to take one of the space ports that were recorded and see what we can determine. Doc, send one of the recordings to each of our control boards.” Drey looked down and saw the video start.
• • •
An hour later Violet said, “We go in firing.”
The other three stared at her and Drey said, “Tell the others why you say that.”
Violet looked at Drey on her display and said, “You already knew this didn’t you?”
“I suspected it and hoped I was wrong.”
Andi listened to the back and forth, “What did you see, Violet?”
“The port I examined is used to bring in new slaves.”
“What!”
“Ian, I watched hundreds being led out of the ship toward large transports.”
“Were they in shackles or restraints?”
“No, but it was clear they had lost all hope in the way they walked off that ship. I saw one of the locals holding a unit and watching the slaves as they exited. One of the slaves bolted and the local pressed a control on the box and the slave fell to the ground in obvious agony. The local let him lie there, enduring severe tremors for a minute and then released him. The slave stood and staggered toward the transport.”
Andi shook her head, “That’s awful.”
“There’s more. Once the slave regained his balance, he turned and rushed the one holding the unit and was burned to ashes in an instant. The only thing left was a small bracelet.”
Drey said, “Were the slaves different species?”
“No, they were all the same but they were not the species we saw at the dead planet.”
Ian said, “I notice that the locals look a lot like us.”
Andi said, “I also noticed that and it leads me to some conclusions.” She saw the others turn their attention to her and she said, “I suspect that if we take some of the local’s DNA we would see a very similar pattern to our own. It leads me to believe that this area of the galaxy had organic life in the meteors and comets just like the section the Union is located in. Their evolutionary development would be similar to our own and probably happened at a very close time in the galaxy’s history.”
Violet said, “Are you saying they’re human?”
“No, they’re radically different in some ways, but their basic shape is very much like ours and their brains are not that different. However, make no mistake; they are a different species from us.” Andi looked at Drey, “Is that the way you see this?”
“You should ask Ian that question.”
Ian smiled, “I suspected when Violet and I went to that planet that the two ships we found there were not that much more advanced than our own. I believe they’re not that much older than humanity.”
Andi looked at Drey, “Why did you say ask Ian?”
“That is not my area of expertise. However, their technology is ahead of us in some areas and behind us in others. The jump drive is one example.” Drey looked at the others and said, “I don’t know how many intelligent species are on this side of the black hole but the local species here is conquering all they encounter.” Ian nodded for him to continue. “The star chart shows at least a hundred stars that glowed just about as bright as the one we investigated. That tells me that they must also be covered by one large city taking up all the land space available. There is no way those planets could survive without massive shipments of food. I’m reasonably certain that those slaves you saw are used to transport those shipments out to the planet.”
Ian said, “It also means that entire planets are needed to produce the necessary foods to feed them.” Drey tilted his head and nodded. Andi said, “And they will not tolerate competition.”
“Drey.”
“Yes, E.”
“I’m far enough along in the language to be able to read the lips of the one that killed that slave.”
“What did it say?”
“After the slave was burned, it looked at the long line of slaves walking by and said, “You will domesticate or die.”
“E, did you or Doc record any other alien species on the planet?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.”
Violet said, “Why is that?”
“The entire planet’s surface is covered with that city and everything is under a building. We would have to get much closer to scan what’s under them. The only open space on the surface is the space po
rts.”
Andi said, “There are several others.”
E said, “How did you see that when we missed it?”
“I used the energy receivers to examine the ships flying above the planet. The infrared and spectrometer measured different frequencies emanating from the glass on those vehicles. I saw four different readings.”
Drey shook his head and Andi said, “What?”
“You are without doubt the best I have ever seen with energy analysis. You are unbelievable.”
Andi’s face turned red, “Like E said, we all have different talents.”
“And that means you are not going to like what happens next.”
Andi lowered her eyebrows and Ian said, “I don’t want to agree but you’re probably right.”
Violet looked at the three and said, “Ok, you two have lost me. What is she not going to like?”
“Drey is going to take on one of those giant ships and Andi won’t be on board.”
“The hell I won’t.”
Drey looked at her and said, “You won’t, because you’re not stupid enough to pass the opportunity to learn.” Andi glared at him and Drey said, “Ian you need to explain it to her. She’ll take it better coming from you.”
“I took a close look at the giant space facility and Drey is right. That ship’s weapons are not as powerful as they appear. It’s the ships that came to the dead planet that pose the real problem. We need to take on one of the giants to determine everything we can about their technological level. We must have you making the scans of what happens during that confrontation. Violet and I would not do as good a job.”
“I could do it from Doc.”
Drey shook his head, “No, you couldn’t and get a good scan. I’ll be jumping and flying such that all you’ll be able to do is strap in and hope you don’t lose your lunch.”
“He’s right, Andi. And if you see something really dangerous, we can warn him and allow him to escape. We couldn’t do that if you’re on the ship with him.”
Andi was furious and Drey saw her glare and shrugged which made her angrier, “You know that ship has more danger than we’ve seen. We haven’t even done an active scan yet.”