by Saxon Andrew
“You said that Admiral Frye also flew a ship mapping their space, right?” Candy nodded. “Did you find any planet killers behind his ship?”
“I don’t have the data collected from his ship. Do you know what’s going on, RJ?”
RJ shook his head, “The answer is obvious, Candy. There were no alien warships near the course your parents followed but they appeared after the ship moved far ahead of them.” Candy’s eyes widened, and RJ nodded, “Your parent’s ship was detected.”
“But the King Hares are undetectable!”
“This says they’re not! We’ve been building our warships based on the premise that they cannot be detected, and this shows that our fleets are in great danger if they enter alien space.”
“But their ship wasn’t found!”
“How long ago was this recording made?”
Candy thought a moment and said, “You were two-years old.”
“Do you not think that the technology used to detect your parent’s vessel hasn’t been improved during the time since then?” Candy started shaking her head and RJ said in a deadly tone, “You need to show this to your parents quickly!” Candy stared at him and RJ said, “I’ll go with you when you do it. They won’t put both of us in prison… at least I hope they won’t. But this must be done now!”
Candy nodded and activated her communicator. She got Taffy on the line and said, “Mom, I need to have a meeting with you and Dad as quickly as possible.”
“What’s going on, Candy.”
“The safety of New Britannia is involved, Mom. Please set up a meeting.”
Taffy disappeared from the communicator and Grady appeared a minute later, “What’s going on, Candy?”
“I can’t tell you over an open frequency, Dad.” Grady glared at her and said, “I’m ordering Fleet to send you to the planet. I’ll meet you as soon as you arrive.”
Candy nodded and waited. Ten minutes later, RJ looked up from his console, “We’ve been ordered back to New Britannia. Let us hope your parents are the understanding sort.”
“I suspect your parents will be at the meeting as well, RJ.”
RJ chuckled, “They may not be so understanding.”
Candy powered up the gravity drive, “I hope you’re wrong about that. My parents are going to be furious.”
“Oh well. We’ll face this together, Candy.”
“I’ve gotten you involved in this. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. This should be extremely interesting.” Candy sighed and pushed the thruster handle forward.
Chapter Five
Candy and RJ landed at the space port and they found Joshua waiting for them outside the Endeavor. “Grady asked me to bring you to a meeting. What’s going on Candy?”
“I’d like to wait until I can talk with my parent’s Joshua, if you don’t mind. Why did he ask you to take us?”
“Because the Science Center is closest to the spaceport, Candy.” Joshua turned to RJ, “It’s good to see you, RJ.”
“Like wise, Doctor Goldman.” Joshua led them to a transport and lifted from the spaceport. Joshua watched Candy and said, “It can’t be that bad.”
Candy shook her head, “You have no idea, Uncle.” Joshua glanced at RJ and saw him shrug. Perhaps he might ask to attend this meeting. Something was going on.
• • •
They arrived at Candy’s home and Joshua led them inside, “They’re waiting for us in the lower level conference room,” Candy said with a trembling voice.
Candy’s fear grew as they moved toward the elevator and RJ put a hand on her shoulder, “Just relax and tell the truth.” At that moment, Joshua decided he was going to be included in the meeting. They arrived in the conference room and Candy saw RJ was right; Abby and Rory were also present. Grady smiled and waved them forward. They went to the circular table and sat down. Grady smiled, “Congratulations! Fleet Operations has informed me that your ship won the maneuvers.”
Candy said softly, “Thank you.”
Grady saw her response and Taffy quickly asked, “What! No smile? What’s going on?”
RJ looked at Taffy and said, “Mrs. Henricks, you’ve always been tough on your daughter. Now is not the time for that; Candy needs your love and support here.”
Taffy jerked her head toward RJ with a frown and Candy said, “He’s right, Mom. I need you.”
Taffy’s frown disappeared, “I’ve always been tough because I love you, Candy.”
“I know.”
Grady watched the exchange and Joshua spoke up, “I would like to attend this meeting, if it meets your approval.”
Grady jerked his head to Joshua and Candy quickly spoke, “I would like him present, Dad. He needs to hear this.”
“Just what is it he needs to hear?” Rory asked.
Grady ignored Rory’s question and asked, “What have you done, Candy.”
Candy’s head was lowered, and she shrugged, “I’ve committed a Capital Crime, Dad.”
“What have you done?!” Taffy repeated.
“I hacked into Dad’s computer and copied the data collected when you scouted the Britannia Alien’s territory.”
The room was instantly silent, and Joshua asked, “What data is she talking about?”
“Save it, Joshua!” Grady turned to Candy, “How did you manage to do that!? That data is highly protected.”
“I used your password to get Bob to give me the information.”
Grady stood up and his face showed his anger, “AND JUST HOW DID YOU GET MY PASSWORD!?”
“When I was five years old, I would sit in your lap when you worked on your computer. One night I saw you enter your password and asked you about it.” Candy looked up at him, “Do you remember what you told me?” Grady glared at Candy and she said, “Your password was Adelle-Infinity-Candice.” Grady’s glare had softened, and Candy continued, “You told me that you would love Mom and me until the end of time. I never forgot it.”
Grady sat down, and the room was silent. Taffy asked softly, “Why are you telling us now, Candy?”
“I found something in the data that was troubling and after I showed it to RJ, he demanded we immediately tell you about it.”
Candy’s statement was greeted with silence and Joshua asked, “What did you discover?”
RJ turned to him, “There is strong evidence that the Britannia Aliens can detect the King Hares.”
“That isn’t possible!” Joshua said firmly.
Taffy went and sat down in the chair next to Candy, put an arm over her shoulder, and said, “Why don’t you show us what you found.”
Candy wrapped her arms around Taffy’s neck and hugged her tightly. RJ turned to Grady, “Pull up the data you recorded and start playing it when you went to the opposite side of the black hole, Sir.”
Grady looked around the room and logged in to his computer, “I guess the cat is out of the bag.” He jumped forward in the data and stopped when the Rex Hare was on the other side of the galaxy. “Alright, we’re on the other side of the black hole.”
“Pull up the data collected by the rear passive scanners, Sir.”
Grady pulled up the data and RJ said, “Run the video.” The video started, and Grady didn’t see anything. He continued to stare at the video and a few minutes later, a couple of distant specks of light appeared. “Freeze it there, Sir.” Grady froze the image and Candy said, “Zoom in on those specks of light.” Grady zoomed in on the specks and they resolved into Planet Killers. Grady’s eyes widened, and RJ said, “Start the video again and keep your eye out for those specks.” The video started and over the next hour, those specks constantly appeared far behind the ship.”
Taffy turned to Grady, “What does this mean?”
Joshua stood up and said sternly, “I’ll tell you what it means! The aliens are able to detect our ships!” Joshua turned to Grady, “How could you be so incredibly stupid as to keep this information hidden!?”
“Joshua, I had no idea this was on the record
ing.”
“Grady, you’re an idiot! You should have given us this data when you recorded it. When was it recorded?”
Grady tilted his head and Taffy answered, “About sixteen years ago, Joshua.”
Joshua closed his eyes and fell into his chair. “What are you thinking, Joshua?” Grady asked. “I thought our ships weren’t detectable.”
“WELL IT APPEARS I WAS WRONG!” Joshua roared.
“How are they able to detect our ships?” Rory asked.
RJ spoke up, “They can’t detect them electronically or visually. They must be using some kind of mass detector.”
Grady turned to Joshua, “Is that possible?”
Joshua pointed to the monitor, “There’s your answer!”
“But none of those ships came anywhere near our ship, Joshua.”
“They detected your ship when it passed, Grady. Who knows how much they’ve improved that technology over the last sixteen years?”
RJ interrupted, “We need to find out. Candy and I need to go and scout them.”
Grady started to tell them that wasn’t happening, but Taffy, Abby, and Rory beat him to it. RJ listened to them until they grew silent and RJ looked at them, “Candy and I just won Fleet maneuvers and there’s not a better crew to do this. Further, if you’re thinking about sending a Stealth Rabbit out to do this, think again. They are defenseless and would probably be destroyed before they could report anything. They can’t match the speed of the Hares and don’t have the detection capabilities of the larger warship.”
“Why does it have to be you?” Taffy asked.
“Well, I’ve just given you the most obvious reasons but if you send anyone else, this information will probably leak out to the fleets. You don’t want that to happen.”
“He’s right about that!” Joshua agreed.
Grady looked at Taffy and RJ lowered his gaze, “If you’re thinking about doing this yourself, you’d be making a bad decision.”
Grady turned to him, “Is that so?”
“Sir, you are the Supreme Leader of our military. Don’t you think it’s about time you started allowing those serving under you to do the job?”
Candy sighed softly and said, “We broke the law.”
“Thank heavens you did! Your father was a fool not to share this with us!” Joshua responded.
Grady winced and then turned to Rory, “What do you think about this?”
“We can go with you, if that’s what you decide.”
Taffy shook her head and Grady turned to her, “What’s wrong?”
“Grady, I won’t be able to go.”
“Why not?”
“May I assume this mission will take a while to complete?”
“To do it properly, it could take up to three months, Taffy.” Joshua announced.
Taffy turned back to Grady, “I’m a little over five months pregnant, Grady.”
That’s where the meeting broke up as everyone rushed to Taffy and Grady to congratulate them. Finally, Grady announced, “Joshua, Candy, RJ, and I will meet you in your office at ten in the morning to decide what do about this information.” Joshua nodded, hugged Taffy, and rushed out of the room.
• • •
Grady, Taffy, and Candy arrived a few minutes ahead of RJ and entered Joshua’s office together. They found Noel, Hessy, and Joshua sitting at a table staring at the wall monitor. Joshua stood up, “Please come in, take a seat, and join us.”
“What are you doing?” Grady asked.
“I had RJ’s ship moved into the construction hanger to make some modifications.”
“I haven’t approved them going on this mission!” Grady said in a hard tone.
Joshua waved his hand, “That’s because you’re thinking with your heart instead of your mind, Grady.” Grady’s expression turned angry and Joshua added, “Were you not listening yesterday? RJ is right, a Stealth Super Rabbit cannot carryout this mission successfully. Plus, if you send another crew, there is no way this information won’t leak out. Add to that RJ and Candy just won fleet maneuvers, the decision is obvious. Or do you know something I don’t?”
Grady glared at Joshua and Taffy asked, “Can’t we send two ships to do this? It’s always safer to do that.”
“Absolutely not!” Joshua replied.
“Why not?”
“You double the chances of the ships being detected, Taffy. We’re talking about mass detectors being used by the aliens and that makes this a completely new game. We have to assume they can detect our warships and we must do everything possible to prevent that happening. One ship is all that we can send to investigate.”
Grady glanced at Candy and RJ as Taffy said, “I don’t want to do this, Grady… but Joshua is right.”
Noel sat up in his chair, “If our crews learn that their vessels won’t be invisible, can you image what that will do to their morale? Everything they’ve been taught has been based on their being invisible. Before we start trying to adjust to this new information, we’ve got to see what we’re up against.”
“What has you so worried?” RJ asked.
Hessy looked at Grady and spoke up, “We’ve combined the forward and rear scanner scans that were made when you scouted alien territory. We tracked the planet killers that moved out far behind your ships and discovered that they were more than three times outside the range of your scanners when they started moving toward the course you were flying.”
Grady’s eyes widened as Noel added, “That means they can see our ships from an extreme distance.”
“How are they able to do that?” Taffy asked Joshua.
“We’ve come to the conclusion that they are able to see dark matter that is affected by the mass of a ship passing through it.”
“What?” Grady asked.
“Dark matter does not have any impact on physical objects, Grady, except for its gravity. Dark matter fills the Milky Way and holds it in place. You’re aware of that, right?”
“I am. But dark matter can’t be seen or detected, Joshua.”
“That’s true but the gravitational effects of dark matter can be seen. We believe that whatever technology the aliens are using must be able to detect dark matter swirls as your ship passed through it, that’s why they moved out so far behind you. I suspect the gravity drives played a role in their detection.”
“So, if our ship is moving fast enough, it won’t be seen by the aliens,” Candy announced.
“That was probably true sixteen years ago, Candy. But if they’ve evolved this technology, they may be able to detect the wake your ship leaves behind it. And the faster you fly, the larger the wake you leave for them to see.”
Taffy sighed, “They developed this technology to track the stealth scouts Earth was sending into their territory.”
“I don’t know if that’s true?” Hessy stated.
“Why?” Grady asked.
“Mostly because it was discovered on the other side of the galaxy and not on the side Earth is on,” Hessy answered. “One of the civilizations the Britannia Aliens are fighting on the other side of the galaxy must have stealth warships.”
The room was silent for a long moment and Taffy spoke up, “That’s why the aliens were using the red field on our side of the galaxy.”
Joshua nodded, “I suspect you’re right. However, if they’ve developed this technology, they’ve had plenty of time to incorporate it into their warships on this side of the galaxy.”
“Then this is entirely too dangerous to send a ship out to scout them!” Taffy said softly.
“Perhaps.” Joshua answered.
“What do you mean by that?” Grady responded.
Joshua shrugged, “That’s why we’re making some modifications to their ship.”
“What sort of changes?” Candy asked.
“We’ve depended on our passive scanners to detect enemy forces for a very long time. The aliens decided there had to be a better way and this dark matter detector they’ve developed is their answer to that
issue. There’s a better way to do it.” Everyone stared at Joshua in silence and he continued, “You know that the telescopes we use on the planet and in orbit can see galaxies more than ten-billion light years away, right.”
“Yes’ but those galaxies are huge, Joshua.”
“I know that, Grady. But what would one of those telescopes see on a planet a single light year away?” Grady’s brow furrowed, and Joshua pressed a button on his console. An image appeared showing a deep crater on a scarred surface of a moon. The detail of the crater was amazing, and Joshua turned to the gathering, “This image was taken by one of our orbiting telescopes of the smallest moon circling the outer most planet in our star system. Please notice the sharp detail it produced.
“What are you suggesting?” Taffy asked.
“We’re changing the optical scanner on their ship, Taffy. Warships reflect light and the new telescope being installed on their ship will be able to see and then zoom in on objects fifty times further than the passive scanners.”
“But they won’t be able to move in close enough to scout them, Joshua.”
Joshua looked at Hessy and she shook her head, “I’m not sure they’ll need to, Grady.”
“Why not?”
“We’re programming the targeting software on the King Hares to also use the optical system to lock in a heavy missile on a distant target.”
“How does that work?” RJ asked.
“Space combat has always been giant formations in close quarters combat in the past, RJ. War is evolving into long distance conflict and this new optical system will allow our ships to fire on enemy vessels from long range… very long range.”
“They’ll detect the missiles from that far out.”
“No, they won’t, Grady. We’ve been working on the heavy missiles since before Melbourne was attacked. They don’t use traditional thrusters anymore but gravity drives. The name heavy missile doesn’t really apply anymore but they are the largest missile we’ll be using so they’ll retain their name.”
“How can you designate a particular ship in an enemy formation?” RJ asked. “At a long distance, it could lose the ship I target.”
“The missiles currently can use an optical system to attack their target. Even the aliens use designations on their ships just like we use numbers on ours. The missile will have an optical image of the ship targeted along with the designation on its hull. It will be fired and start searching for the ship in its attack computer.”