by Saxon Andrew
Danielle nodded, “You’re right. That has to mean it is made up of energy and not physical atoms.” She turned to Eyes, “What makes you think our ships can’t stand up to it?”
Another vision suddenly appeared in their minds and they saw a giant fleet of warships holding position above a blue and green planet. Another Cat thought, “Those ships have force fields that are just as powerful as the ones on the Primes.” They watched and suddenly saw thousands of warships suddenly falling out of ranks and drifting in orbit. Katchal thought to them, “That thing went through their defenses like they didn’t exist.”
Tag’s expression was grim and he turned to the giant cat, “Eyes, would our masking field keep our ships hidden from them?”
Eyes sighed heavily, “I don’t think so, Tag. These are energy beings and I believe they can see energy in all its forms. The masking field is still energy and would probably not work against them.”
“Then how can the Black Ships stand up against them?!”
Katchal thought, “This lifeform doesn’t use force fields.”
Danielle saw it, “They would be teleported through the Black Ships’ hulls without touching them. Are these things intelligent?”
“We don’t know,” Katchal answered. “We’ve not moved in close enough to see. We have to keep them from learning of our existence.”
“Why did you ask that, Danielle?” Eyes inquired.
“If they’re intelligent, they will find a way to defeat the Black Warships.” She responded as she turned to Eyes, “What can we do about this?”
“At the moment, nothing. You have two-years to come up with something to defeat them. If you can’t develop a defense…”
“We’ll have to remain hidden in the Dark Dimension,” Danielle finished. She looked back at the monitor and sighed, “It may be that we’ll be exiled there from now on.”
Eyes nodded. “This must remain a secret. We can’t allow any warships to go near the current location of those creatures. And if information about these creatures leaks out, our warriors will fall into a state of despair. We’ve got to have a defense before we tell our forces about what’s coming.”
“I see that. We need to go back and figure out what can be done.”
“Thank you for coming, Your Majesty.”
Danielle looked up, “Alex, we’re ready!” They disappeared and Eyes knew the Realm and all intelligent life in it were in great danger. Those creatures were coming and it was only a matter of time until the Realm ceased to exist.
• • •
Danielle was shaking her head feeling hopeless until Tag said, “Those creatures are vulnerable!”
“How can you sit there and say that!?”
“Look at the Cat’s last vision of that fleet again.” Danielle pulled up the vision and Tag said, “Grace focus the monitor on the right side of that fleet and Danielle, keep a close eye on what happens.” Danielle stared at the ships and suddenly saw six of them fire blaster beams. A huge flash of white light appeared before the ships were attacked from the rear. “They killed one of them.”
“Blasters can kill them?” Danielle asked.
“Yes, but getting them in position to hit them will be a huge issue. The one that attacked from the rear was incredibly fast in reacting to their attack. Their reaction times are lightning fast, but they are mortal.”
Danielle lowered her head and felt immense sorrow for those that were going to die. “It makes sense, if you think about it, Tag.”
“Why is that?”
“If the Black Ships can stand up to them, their major weapon is their blasters.”
Tag shrugged, “That’s true but those things are going to be almost impossible to target. But with the Black Ship’s teleportation hulls, they’ll at least have time to work on a way to take them out.”
• • •
A month after Jimmy and Lola’s wedding, Sprigly, Newton, Tag, Danielle, Jimmy, and Lola sat on the Kosiev’s bridge and discussed what was coming. Danielle had them swear to keep the information secret and there was a cloud of despair that seemed to fill the room. After a lengthy discussion, it was clear that if the new threat defeated the Black Ships, they would be forced to stay in the dark dimension and watch as the Realm and millions of other civilizations died.
Tag had stood up and walked over to the front viewport and was staring at the Defense Facility as the group struggled to find an answer to the creatures. When the group grew silent he lowered his head while still staring out of the viewport, “I long for the days when our technology actually worked against our enemies.”
Danielle snorted, “Just when was that?”
“Well, we defeated the Alliance and Algeans when we were heavily outnumbered but our technology was more advanced.”
Danielle smiled, “Those early warships did make a huge difference.”
Jimmy added, “The Megaship on display in Florida is huge. It’s almost as big as the Kosiev.”
“And the only weapon they had were the Coronado Power Cells on their hulls,” Lola added. “Later, they added the penetrators but that was after the war with the Algeans ended.”
The room grew silent again until a few moments later, when Sprigly looked at Tag and asked, “That was before my time, Tag. What was a Coronado Power Cell?”
Tag turned and looked at Sprigly, “They were actually invented by Atlas’ species, the Alfont, and any civilization that found one of their inventions had a death sentence imposed by the Alliance on it. It was my touching Atlas on Earth’s Moon that led to Earth being attacked by the Alliance. Power Cells can absorb incredible amounts of power and then releasing it in controlled bursts. They were used to surround our warships with a field of extremely high nuclear heat. The cells could also focus the power into hot blaster beams as well.”
“So, were they a form of force field?” Newton asked.
Tag shrugged, “Well, yes and no. They burned anything out of existence before it could hit our ship’s hulls but they weren’t an electronic field like we use today. It was like flying into the Sun’s corona, it would burn anything out of existence.”
Danielle’s eyes flew wide open, “Tag! Those ancient ships were basically surrounded by a blaster beam!”
Tag considered her statement and said, “Yeah, so?”
“This new threat can be killed by a blaster.”
Jimmy looked at Tag, “Could this creature penetrate the power cell’s coverage?”
Tag looked up, “Grace, what was the power of the blaster that killed one of those creatures in the video?”
“I estimate it to be a force two.”
“And what was the force rating of the old Corornado Force Field?”
“Just a moment.”
“I can answer that,” Alex interrupted. “It was a force four.”
Danielle looked up, “Alex! The original Kosiev was originally built with a hull coated with Coronado Power Cells. Do you have any records of that time in your memory banks?”
“I do.”
The main monitor illuminated showing the two-mile long Kosiev surrounded by a brilliant white field. Suddenly, hundreds of beams erupted from the ship’s hull hitting Algean Warships moving in to attack. The Warships were vaporized or exploded in massive blasts.”
“Alex, why did we stop using them?”
“Eventually, we developed force fields that were stronger and blasters that were more powerful. The power cells became outdated and not up to new weapon technology.”
“I’m not sure I understand, Alex.”
“Sprigly, the protective field created by the power cells burned anything into atoms that was fired at the ship they coated. However, later advanced missiles had force fields and were capable of punching through the field. Penetrator technology eventually spelled the end of the use of power cell technology.”
“These beings don’t use missiles,” Lola announced.
Danielle smiled, “No, they don’t, Lola.” She thought, “BC! Do you have any Coronado Power Cells
in your history warehouse?”
“Give me a moment.” They waited in silence and then they heard, “I’m sorry, Danielle, I don’t.” Danielle sagged in her chair but then heard, “However, the process of making them is in my memory banks.”
Jimmy looked at the group and announced, “We have all the power cells we’ll need to examine on the hull of that Megaship in Florida.”
“BC, if we bring you some samples, can you produce them?!” Danielle asked.
“Given the proper raw materials, I can.”
“What are you thinking, Danielle?”
Danielle looked at the Spider, “Newton, we’re going to coat our ships with those power cells.”
“That could take forever?”
“Then we’ll coat what we can in the time remaining! BC, get things moving to start manufacturing them immediately.”
“Most of the raw materials are not in this Dark Dimension. They’re in our universe, Danielle.”
“What about in this galaxy, BC? The planets here come from our universe.”
“You’re right; I didn’t consider that. There should be enough materials for our needs in the Bristone Galaxy.”
“Well, get our largest commercial vessels moving and start collecting what you need. Sprigly, you and Newton move some of the ships back into our universe to speed up this collection process and make this happen!!” Everyone stared at Danielle and she continued, “Just like using null drives instead of teleportation; sometimes ancient technology can make the difference. Let’s get this project moving.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
“Sprigly, even if it doesn’t, it offers something we were missing a few minutes ago.”
“What is that?”
“Hope.”
Chapter Twenty
Lola looked up at the wall monitor and pressed a blue button on her console. The klaxons began wailing and orange strobe lights began flashing. Kogo, Dela, and Jimmy were teleported to the bridge and Lola shut off the klaxons as they looked up at the main monitor. They saw a hundred-Black Warships moving through space. Jimmy shook his head as Kogo said, “We knew it was coming.”
Lola looked at her panel and then looked up, “The crew are at their stations.” The new blasters developed by Sprigly had been installed on the Grang and the trained crews to man them were brought on board. The Psychic Blasters were still operational but the new blasters were just as powerful. The Grang was approaching the deadliness of the Alexander Kosiev. Lola shut off the klaxons and strobe lights but left the ambient lighting at orange to let the crew know that danger was still present. Kogo was glaring at the monitor and Lola asked, “What are you thinking?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand how the Cats could know these ships would be appearing at this very moment three years ago.”
“Actually, it’ll be three-years in another three-months.”
“Same thing. It’ll take three-months to lead them to the Realm’s Universe.”
“They’re still four universes from our universe,” Dela said as she turned back to her monitor. “I still have a lot of concern at allowing them to enter the Realm’s Universe, much less leading them there. A lot of worlds are going to die because of our actions. I’m surprised that they stopped looking for us in the direction we originally baited them and then began moving this way.”
“It’s not that hard to understand, Dela.”
“Why is that, Grang?”
“They figured that no one would lead them toward their home world. They wouldn’t do it so they determined after searching for a long time that they had been decoyed. They had already investigated numerous universes on this line, so they just resumed the search.”
“I still don’t like allowing them to enter our space.”
“It’s either do that and take on the DE Creatures alone or try to make the Black Ships do it for us,” the computer replied.
“I know, I know! It’s just, so many will die. It’s like allowing a carnivore into your house so that your pet can kill it; damage will happen quickly.”
“If we don’t do this, every civilization will die. We still don’t have a way to handle those Dark Energy lifeforms.”
Dela turned to Kogo, “I guess. I just wish there was another way to do this.”
Kogo looked at Jimmy, “Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“Then let them know they’re on the right course.”
“Grang, teleport twenty-miles out from those Black Ships and open fire with our normal blasters. Only target about twenty of them and then jump away on the universal drive.”
“You don’t think they’ll chase us, Jimmy?” the Grang asked.
“No, they’ll wait for reinforcements to arrive. They’ll see they’re on the right track and take their time.”
“How do you know this is the time to attack?” Kogo inquired.
“I’ve looked at not attacking and sense the danger is much higher.”
“You’re sounding like the Gardners.”
Jimmy nodded slightly, “Our psychic talents are increasing. I don’t understand why this is happening but Lola and I know our talents are getting stronger.”
Kogo smiled, “Perhaps Creation has made another tool.” Jimmy and Lola stared at him and Kogo smiled, “We need all the help we can get.”
Dela muttered, “Amen to that.” Jimmy and Lola just looked at each other and wondered if he was right.
• • •
The Senior Elder stood alone in the Holy Grove. The other Elders had moved away from him and he knew that he was paying a price for his actions. Suddenly, a thought was heard by every Algean scattered across their galaxy, “It’s time!”
“Time for what?” The Elder asked.
“The first invader will arrive in three-months. This attacker can kill you but does not represent the true danger to our universe. The second attacker will be arriving on the heels of the first. This second attacker thrives on consuming intelligent species and if you want to survive, you must not allow any of your species to use telepathy. Keep your thoughts to yourselves and only communicate through direct contact.”
The thought faded and the Senior Elder thought, “We will start being silent starting from this moment.”
“How long will we be forced to do this?”
The Senior looked at the Second Elder, “Until this danger passes. If it takes a year or a thousand years, we will do what must be done to survive!”
The other Elders stared at him and realized that what the Senior had been predicting was true. They began moving and soon gathered closely around the Senior. “Perhaps we’ve not been fair.”
“No, I deserve what you’ve done. Pray that we live through this.”
“What about the nine-warships?”
“Teleport them to the asteroid and move them underground. The Pilots will be brought back in a Keeman shuttle and then it will return to its place of origin.”
“Do they know what’s happening?”
“No.”
“That’s wise.”
“I can only pray that some of them survive.”
• • •
“Teleporting now!” The Grang suddenly appeared twenty-miles from the gathering of Black Ships and opened fire. Twenty of the giant Black Vessels exploded as brilliant white beams hit them. A moment later, the Grang jumped away on its universal drive. It arrived in the next universe and teleported away from the entry point. They waited and nothing appeared for the next three-weeks. “It appears you were right about them not giving chase, Jimmy.”
“They’re coming. I’m going to need you to run from them as long as possible before you jump to the next universe.”
“Just how long am I going to run from them?”
Lola smiled, “About three-months, Grang.”
“Duh! I should have figured that out on my own.”
“HERE THEY COME!” Dela shouted as she pointed at the wall monitor. Thousands of Black Ship were appearing every
second and the numbers grew at an incredible rate.
“When they call for reinforcements, they don’t mess around!”
“Shut-up and run, Grang!” the giant Psychic Ship teleported away with thousands of Black Warships in pursuit. The Grang ejected a probe and it disappeared in an instant. It arrived in the Dark Dimension and BC announced, “It’s begun. The Grang is being pursued.”
Danielle looked at Tag, “Are you ready?”
“There’s still a few months.”
“I know but are you ready?”
“If you’re asking if I’m stressed, you need not worry. This is frightening.”
“Alex, do you have the new sensor filter installed.”
“Sprigly will finish it in another four-weeks.”
Danielle’s brow furrowed and Tag took her hand, “Keep it together.” Danielle nodded and squeezed his hand tightly.
Newton handed Sprigly a welder and asked, “Do you know if this is going to work?”
“It does on paper.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“We’ll find out.”
“But that might be too late!”
“Newton, we don’t have anything else. This is the only tool we have that might be able to see them and Danielle refused to allow me to go and trial it. It can see Dark Energy in motion. I’ve been able to determine that much.”
“But what if we’re wrong about those creatures being made of dark energy?”
“Then it will be a huge failure. But this is all I can do; now hand me the spanner.” Newton handed it to Sprigly and worried that the Gardners might die in what they planned.
• • •
The Grang rocked as ten-blaster beams hit its force field. It immediately teleported away as the thousands of Black Warships moved in. “Good job, Jimmy. You made it appear those beams were really causing some damage.”
“Have to keep them invested in the chase, Kogo.”
“Well, tomorrow marks three-months and we’re going to end the chase and jump to our universe.”
“I hate to suggest this but we need to make them think they can defeat the Psychic Ships.”
“What is your suggestion, Grang?” Dela asked.
“I think we should allow them to destroy us.”