The Forbidden Wilds: Crossing the Styx

by Saxon Andrew

  “Put the blasters on standby but leave them inside the hull, Jangle. Deidre, you should do the same.”

  “Should we put the defense missiles’ targeting system on standby as well, Admiral?” Windy asked.

  Deidre’s head went back, and Jingle replied, “Call me Jingle, Windy and that is an excellent suggestion.”

  “Change noted, Jingle.

  “If either of you detect those energy sources and one of them starts moving in our direction, activate your energy fields and get out of there immediately!”

  “Order acknowledged,” Windy responded. Jangle just remained silent. Jingle knew he understood.

  “That was a good suggestion, Windy.”

  “I saw you were thinking about it, Deidre, but were reluctant to mention it. It was a good idea and needed to be said.” Deidre was silent and Windy added, “You’re reluctant to offer a suggestion and you need to get over that, Deidre. You’re a smart woman and it would be a mistake to not be fully involved in what’s going on.”

  “Windy, something about you has changed.”

  “It’s being linked with your thoughts, Deidre. I’m seeing things now that I’ve missed in the past.”

  Deidre smiled, “Well keep up the good work. I’m impressed.”

  “Thank you.” Deidre shook her head; her computer had never carried on a conversation like this; she liked it…a lot.”

  Windy and Jangle both announced simultaneously, “I’m detecting large energy sources around that planet.”

  Jingle immediately slowed and Deidre stayed with her. “What are you seeing, Jangle?”

  “I’m using the optical scanner to zoom in on it.” Jingle stared at the main monitor and saw the planet appear to be rushing toward her. The view moved out slightly and then she saw it; a giant globe of a ship appeared on the monitor. “Jingle, there are ten of those ships above the planet.”

  “Are they armed?”

  “Yes, they are, with large blaster emplacements and numerous missile tubes.”

  “Talk to me, Jangle!”

  “There aren’t enough of them to make that a warship, Jingle. They’re there for defense only.”

  “How did you determine that?”

  “Jingle, there is room for far more weapons than I’m detecting. If it was a warship, the entire interior would be taken up by conduits needed to power the weapons. There just aren’t enough blasters and missile tubes to account for the space inside that ship.”

  “Jangle, why don’t you just say it’s a colony ship?!”

  “Because the data contradicts each other. Colony ships aren’t armed, and that ship is armed.”

  “Who made the decision that colony ships are never armed.”

  “Jingle, none were armed throughout the human era of colonization.”

  “Jangle, you’re bigger than the data inside you!”

  “OK! OK! It’s a colony ship.”

  “Was that so hard?”

  “You have no idea. It’s like changing a universal law; it’s painful.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it requires a major realignment of my data system to change it, Jingle.”

  “Do you need a band aid?”

  “Cute, Jingle!” Jingle burst out laughing and Deidre could only listen in amazement.

  Jingle stopped laughing and asked, “Seriously, Jangle; how many beings could that ship hold?”

  “If they were human size, over six-million.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “You’re not seeing the sheer size of it, Jingle; check this out.” Jingle saw an image of their ship appear next to the giant globe. It looked like a tiny dot against it.

  “So, this planet is prepared to send out around sixty-million colonists, right?”

  “If they’re carrying the food for them on board, that’s right.”

  “How else would they do it?” Jingle asked.

  “There are hundreds of smaller ships in orbit above the planet, Jingle. They appear to be freighters and they might be transporting all the supplies for that ship. Keep in mind that even at slow speeds that ship could arrive in the Milky Way in less than a day.”

  “And if that’s what they’re doing, how many colonists.”

  “A hundred million or more.”

  “Holy guacamole!” Jingle replied. She stared at the giant ship on the monitor and ordered, “Take us to another star, Jangle.”

  The two ships flew out of the star system and Windy said, “I suspect these aliens living here have the majority of their warships stationed around the galaxy. I don’t expect we’ll encounter many of them.”

  “You’re probably right about that unless we encounter a planet where they’re building them,” Jingle responded.

  “I didn’t consider that,” Windy replied. Deidre knew she hadn’t thought about the warships being out of the galaxy; this was a thought Windy came up with on her own. Things were starting to get interesting.

  • • •

  They went to five inhabited planets and the colony ships were present at all of them. During the time between planets, Jingle commented, “I noticed in Admiral Glennon’s interview that you and Gary are an item.”

  “Do you mean to say we’re romantically involved?”

  “Something like that.”

  “The first time he ever admitted he was attracted to me was in that interview. He’s refused to discuss it since.”

  “He sounds like Alex.”

  “Are you and him an item?”

  “Oh no! I think he detests me, but we do work well together.”

  “Why does he detest you?”

  Jingle raised her shoulders, “I guess it’s because I’m a stubborn, hard-headed, demanding, sarcastic woman.” Deidre tilted her head slightly but said nothing. Jingle stared at her and said, “I know you’re thinking something.”

  “If you are the woman you just described, no one can change that except you. Unless you want to be alone.” Jingle looked away from Deidre and was silent. Deidre remarked, “Hey, you asked.”

  Jingle turned back to her, “I don’t take any offense at what you said. And you’re right, I did ask.”

  “You’ve not acted like that toward me since we entered this galaxy, Jingle.”

  “That’s probably because you haven’t said anything I disagree with.”

  Deidre smiled, “Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

  “Amen to that!” Jangle added.

  “Jangle!!”

  “Hey, I’ve seen you at your worst. Let’s try to keep things peaceful, OK?”

  Jingle shook her head as Windy announced, “We’ve found another inhabited planet.”

  “Take us in, Jangle.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alex flew away from the site of the space battle and came to a stop just inside passive scanning range. Gary stopped his ship beside the Rapids and continued to watch the giant flashes coming from the warships attacking each other. They were silent for a long time as the battle finally wound down when three of the giant warships flew away at maximum speed. “Gary send me the scan you made of the Battleship and I’ll send you the one I made of the Canis warship.” Alex watched the data download into his console and when it was done, he asked, “Brooks, have you analyzed the data on these ships?”

  “Before we get into that, I believe you should examine the space battle recordings first.”

  “Why do you suggest that?”

  “You’ll learn how these two civilizations match up in their technology.”

  “Gary, are you ok with viewing the recordings first?”

  “You’re the boss, Alex. I think your computer has a reason for wanting to view the recordings first.”

  “Brooks show us the recordings and be prepared to stop them if either of us requests it.”

  The recordings started and after ten minutes, Brooks stopped the recording and asked, “Did you see it?”

  “See what?”

  “Alex I’m rewinding the recording
and I’ve circled a place in space directly below those battleships. Keep your eyes on it. I’m playing the recording in slow motion.”

  Alex and Gary saw a purple circle directly below the giant battleships with nothing in it. Suddenly, one of the battleships fired a huge blaster beam into the circle illuminating a Canis warship. Brooks stopped the recording and Alex sat up straight in his chair, “They can see the Canis warships even when they’re using their stealth fields.”

  “I’ve recorded ten instances where the battleships fired on a Canis warship using their stealth fields,” Brooks added.

  “Brooks, are they using an energy field to produce their stealth fields?”

  “Yes, they are, Alex. It appears the stealth field leaks a small amount of energy allowing them to be detected.”

  Alex was silent and Royal interjected, “That first ship they fired at was further out than we were, Sir. However, they did not fire at either of our ships. They did not detect us inside our hull coatings.”

  “I wondered why the Canis civilization had numerous warships powered down to launch an attack against them,” Gary commented. “It’s of interest that we didn’t detect them either until after they powered up.”

  “This doesn’t make sense.”

  “Why do you say that, Alex?”

  “If their stealth fields were shut down, those ships should have been detected by the battleship’s active scans, Brooks.”

  “You’re right! I didn’t consider that?”

  “Avoiding an active scan isn’t as hard as one might think,” Royal commented.

  “What are you suggesting, Royal?” Gary asked.

  “I pulled up the scan Alex made of a Canis warship and I think the answer lies there.” An image of the Canis Warship appeared on the monitors and Royal noted, “Look closely at the bow of that ship. Notice that the bow is highly polished and appears to have a honey comb series of overlapping circles on it. Those circles reflect an active scanner beam away from the source of the scan. All of those ships were scattered and facing the battleships with their bows.”

  “That is an excellent observation, Royal!”

  “Thank you, Brooks.”

  “But that defense will only work if the ship is completely powered down,” Gary added. “If they activate their stealth field, they will be detected.”

  Alex sat back in his chair with his elbow on the chair arm and his thumb under his chin. “Brooks, how many Canis warships were used to attack those ships?”

  “Ninety-three.”

  “Pull up an image of one of the battleships during the height of the battle and freeze it.” An image of a giant battleship appeared, and everyone stared at it. “That ship is being hit by numerous blaster beams and it doesn’t appear to be affected at all.”

  “That’s weird considering that ship isn’t using a force field,” Royal commented.

  Alex sat up straight, “What?”

  “Royal’s right, Alex. There are no energy fields surrounding that ship. Those blaster beams are hitting that ship’s hull.”

  “Brooks, how powerful are the beams hitting that ship?”

  “They’re just as powerful as our new blasters, Alex.”

  Gary frowned and said, “Brooks, zoom in on that ship’s hull where a blaster beam is hitting it and start the recording in super-slow motion.”

  The image on the monitor expanded and the view moved in at high-speed to a section of the hull. Alex and Gary stared at the image and suddenly a blaster beam appeared hitting the hull. They watched as the beam seemed to splatter and send ripples out like a stone thrown into a pond. “It appears that hull material spreads the energy of a blaster beam out into the entire hull,” Brooks noted. They watched the ripples spread out as other ripples joined it as other blaster beams hit the ship’s hull. The ripples appeared to cancel each other out as they merged.

  “That’s some hull material!” Gary responded.

  “Brooks, was any energy detected flowing through that hull?”

  “No, Alex.”

  “Brooks, please tell me you were able to determine the elements used in that hull.”

  “I have but I don’t recognize several of them. They’re not on the periodic table.”

  Alex shook his head, “Those battleships appear to be invulnerable. How was one of them destroyed?”

  The image on the monitors changed and they watched one of the giant ships being hit by hundreds of blaster beams. “When those warships powered up, all of them rushed in and opened fire on that battleship. It appears that hull can be overwhelmed if hit by enough beams.”

  Alex shrugged, “I think you’re right Royal. But getting enough ships in close enough to do it will pose a huge issue.” Alex looked up, “Brooks, how many of the Canis Warships were destroyed?”

  “Half of them, Alex.”

  Alex stared at the frozen image of the giant ship exploding and nodded toward the monitor, “What we’re seeing here is what anyone attacking the Union would face. Our numbers would overwhelm any ships sent to attack the Union.”

  “That’s not necessarily true?”

  “Why do you say that, Royal?”

  “If enough ships are sent to attack the Union, even our current numbers wouldn’t be capable of overwhelming them. I’ve looked at the numbers you found in orbit around this galaxy and we only outnumber them two-to-one. Throw in the Nebula Alien’s warships and the number is four-to-one.”

  “That’s why they’re holding off,” Alex responded. We’ve seen enough. We must get this information back to Fleet. But first we need to see what Jingle and Deidre have found out. Brooks, contact them and have them exit Canis Major at the point where they entered it.”

  “Communication sent.”

  • • •

  Jingle looked at her console and said, “Deidre, Alex has ordered us out. Jangle, turn us around and head back to the coordinates where we entered.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know, Deidre but I’m not questioning his decision. They’ve not been gone long, and they must have encountered something before they went too far. I’m certain they didn’t go all the way to the Large Magellanic Cloud.”

  “We probably have all the information we want anyway.”

  Jingle nodded, “We’ve done a fair sample for sure. Jangle, how long until we arrive?”

  “Four hours at one-quarter speed.”

  “Take all the data we’ve collected, organize it with your observations, and prepare to send it to Alex and Gary.”

  “I’ve done that. There’s only one observation.”

  “What is that?”

  “We should be expecting company soon.”

  “We need Alex to look at the data before we come to that conclusion.”

  “Do you honestly think he’ll see it differently?”

  “He’s the combat veteran, Jangle. This falls into his expertise.”

  “I bet he sees it the same way we do.”

  “And just what can you bet, Jangle!?”

  “Self-esteem, Jingle. If you’re scared, say you’re scared.”

  Jingle giggled, “You’re on and you’re going down!”

  “I get to send the data and you can’t lead him, Jingle!”

  Jingle shrugged, “It sounds to me like you’re the nervous Nelly.”

  “Deidre, watch and learn how the master operates,” Jangle replied.

  “You’ll be the judge of who wins, Deidre,” Jingle said to Deidre.

  “Hey, Jingle, I don’t want any part of this!”

  “Tough, you’re the only unbiased one present so get over it,” Jingle replied.

  “I told you she could be nasty!” Jangle responded.

  Deidre burst out laughing and Jingle joined her.

  • • •

  They arrived at the coordinates and found Alex and Gary had arrived ahead of them. Alex appeared on Jingle’s monitor, “We need to get back to the Union.”

  “Why?”

  “We
stumbled on a space battle between four huge battleships from the LMC and Canis warships. Our scientists must see what we uncovered as soon as possible.”

  “Do you think the Union is in danger now, Alex?”

  “I’m not sure, Jangle. What have you uncovered inside the galaxy?”

  Jingle spoke up, “If we’re headed back, I’m going to send you all the data we uncovered, and you should do the same.”

  Alex nodded, “Send it. Brooks send our data along with all our discussions.”

  “Sending now.”

  “Jingle, you’re trying to lead him!”

  Jingle smiled and brought Deidre in on the conversation, “State your complaint to Deidre, Jangle.”

  “She’s trying to lead him!”

  “Like when you asked if the Union was in imminent danger?”

  “Uhhh…”

  “You’ve violated the agreement. Jangle. All Jingle did was volunteer to send the recordings with no commentary.” Deidre looked at Jingle, “Is he always this competitive?”

  “You have no idea. Play nice, Jangle.”

  “OK,” Jangle replied sullenly.

  Suddenly, Jingle had a thought, “Alex, how are we going to get this data to Admiral Glennon? You know he’s being watched!”

  Alex shook his head, “For all intents and purposes, we’re going to have to take everything to Shanghai. Contact Lu and see if she can let him know we’re coming back and need to see him.”

  Jingle nodded, “I’m on it.”

  • • •

  Ku rushed up to Glennon’s office and Rollie saw her expression. He pressed his console, “Sir, Captain Ku here to see you!”

  “Send her in!”

  Ku went through the door and Glennon asked, “Is something going on?”

  “Sir, I received a message from Lu, and she’s asked me to convince our Old Man to go home and visit our family. She says that some distant relatives are arriving, and he should do all he can to be there to greet them.”

  “They’re coming back!”

  “That’s how I understand the message, Sir.”

  Glennon thought about it and said, “I need you to get a message sent to my mother.”