by Saxon Andrew
Taffy hugged him tightly, “Hearing you say that tells me how much you love Cami. But you are the strongest man I’ve ever known, and I depend on that strength. You must make the decision.”
Grady stared into Taffy’s eyes and then sighed, “She will go on the mission.” Taffy hugged him as Cami came running out of her bedroom.
Taffy looked at her, “You said you wouldn’t listen to our thoughts!”
“I didn’t; a deaf man could hear you.” Grady picked her up and Cami hugged him tightly, “I’ll make sure we’re safe Daddy.” Taffy joined Grady in a group hug.
• • •
Grady waited until Cami went back to bed and he contacted RJ on the computer in his bedroom. RJ appeared on the monitor and Grady said, “I’m sending Cami.”
RJ’s eyes softened and he lowered his chin, “You really didn’t have a choice.”
“I know.”
“I’ll find a good crew to take her.”
“Thank you RJ.”
RJ ended the contact and stood up from the computer to find Candy standing behind him. Her eyes were little more than slits and she said forcefully, “Cami will be going without Sweets! I’m shocked they don’t think enough of her to refuse to send her!”
“It’s because they do love her that they’re doing it.”
“You’re ridiculous!”
“They’re putting mankind ahead of themselves Candy.”
“Then they’re being stupid! Family comes first! Sweets will not be going!”
Sweets stepped into their room from just outside the door, “You’re a liar and a hypocrite, Mom!”
Candy whipped around and shouted, “YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT! I’M PREVENTING YOUR DEATH!!”
“Just like when you chose to be with RJ during the final battle with the Core Aliens; you didn’t have a problem taking me into that fight before I was born! Family first!! You’re a liar and you know it!!” Sweets turned and walked out of their bedroom.
Candy’s tears started falling and RJ took her in his arms. “She just doesn’t understand,” Candy said through her tears. RJ was silent and Candy looked up into his eyes, “Does she?”
“Our daughter is one of the wisest people I know.”
Candy’s eyes narrowed, “I can’t believe you…”
RJ placed a finger on her lips silencing her, “Victoria knows that someone she loves very much is going into danger, just like you knew about me being in danger in that last battle. You wouldn’t take no for an answer and forced me to take you along. What would have happened if I hadn’t given in to you?” Candy stared into his eyes and RJ sighed before saying, “I would have lost you and you know it. You were pregnant with Sweets and your love for me was greater than anything else, even our baby. Now Sweets is in the same place but you’re telling her no. I suspect you will lose her if you insist on this.”
“Then you have to tell her no!”
“Candy, I am not willing to lose my only child by doing that.”
“Another is on the way.”
“And you need to keep that in mind. Our daughter has grown up and this new child may be a gift for what’s happening. But I know that we will lose our daughter if we don’t allow her to do what she knows is right.”
“Do you seriously believe this is right?”
“I know that Cami and Sweets love each other like sisters. If you were in Sweet’s place, you would go even if you were told no.”
Candy put her head on RJ’s chest and wept. RJ knew the decision was made; it would take Candy a little time to realize it.
The next morning, RJ was awakened by Sweet’s scream. He jumped out of bed and found Sweets hugging her mother. Candy turned to RJ, “I’ve told her she can go and made her promise to not take any foolish risks.” Candy turned to Sweets, “You know I’ll die if something happens to you.”
“Mom, I’ve got to do this and if it does, find peace in knowing that you were strong enough to let me determine my own destiny. I’ll be loving you wherever I am.”
Candy pulled her into her arms and hugged her tightly. Candy turned to RJ, “Let Grady know.” RJ nodded and went to the computer. After a moment, he said, “They’ll be leaving in a month.” Candy went into his arms and held him tight.
• • •
Charlie Grinstead sat in the pilot’s chair going over his console. He was somewhat angry about being assigned to this mission to scout the Andromeda Galaxy and didn’t like it one bit that his weapons officer had been removed from his ship. They were a team and his standings in Fleet were a direct result of Avery’s talent operating the weapons console. He also didn’t like that a telepath was going on the mission and would see how he felt about the situation. It wasn’t enough that he was going on a perilous mission shorthanded, he needed Avery there with him. But he was also told that an officer with a higher rank would be manning the weapons console. And the hell of it was he was given no option on accepting the mission, if he didn’t, he would be kicked out of the Navy. This was just marvelous! All the time and effort he spent getting the number one ranking in Fleet was wasted on this mission. He scowled and ran a check on the gravity drives. “Are you ready to launch, Captain?”
Charlie looked over his shoulder and saw a young woman with Senior Captain Bars on her collar. He stood up at attention and saw a young girl standing beside her, “Yes Sir, as soon as I complete a system diagnostic on my console.”
“Relax and take a seat,” the young woman responded. Charlie wondered how someone this young was already a senior captain. Charlie sat down and turned his chair around to face them. The young woman smiled, “My name is Victoria, and this is Cami.” Charlie’s eyes narrowed and she said, “Cami is the telepath we’ll be taking with us.”
“You’re rather young to be going on a dangerous mission, aren’t you?”
Cami smiled, “I’ve been chosen to go because of my talents, Sir.”
“Call me Charlie. Even so, I would think Fleet would have sent someone older.”
“None of the others have the telepathic range I possess. They tried to find someone else, but my range won out in the end.”
Charlie shook his head slightly, “I don’t know if winning is the correct term. We’re going into uncharted space and Fleet tells me there’s a dangerous civilization I’m assigned to scout.”
Cami shrugged, “The best one to do it should go, and that’s me.”
Charlie turned to Victoria with his eyebrows raised and she said, “Where she goes, I go.”
“Are you replacing my weapon’s officer?”
“I am.” Charlie shook his head and turned back to his panel. Sweets blew out a breath and said, “You don’t like this do you?”
Charlie turned around, “Permission to speak freely.”
“Speak freely any time you choose.”
“My weapons officer and I are ranked number one in fleet and he’s been removed from my crew. That weakens this ship and now I find out he’s been replaced by a babysitter.”
Sweets stared at Charlie and then said, “Do you honestly think you would be given a sub-par weapons officer for this mission?”
“Where are you ranked in Fleet standings?”
“I’m not.”
“Have you ever been on a Warship during combat?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.” Charlie’s lips pursed and he turned back to his panel. Sweets couldn’t blame him but was starting to get angry, “Captain, I’ve been on warships since before I was born. I think I know more about this warship than anyone other than Joshua Goldman.”
“Are you always prone to exaggeration?” Victoria’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t believe you’ve been on warships before you were born.”
“My mother was pregnant with me during the final battle against the core aliens. I was born after that battle ended.” Charlie turned around and stared at Sweets. After a moment, his eyes widened. Sweets smiled, “Looks like you figured it out.”
“Are you Victoria Dunhan?”
&nbs
p; “I am, but now that you know, you can call me Sweets.” Charlie turned to Cami and Sweets added, “Cami is the adopted daughter of Grady and Taffy Henricks.”
“This is just great! If anything happens to either of you, my career is toast.”
“If anything happens to us, I suspect we’ll all be toast,” Sweets replied. “You worry about flying the ship and I’ll handle the weapons console. For the duration of this mission, you will be in command due to your greater experience and number one ranking in Fleet. I’ll only overrule you if I deem Cami is in danger.”
“If that’s the case, you should start running a diagnostic on your console now so we can launch.” Charlie knew that it would take at least thirty minutes to powerup every system in diagnostic mode. He was shocked when Sweets went to the console and pressed two buttons, holding them down, and then pressed the power button. Her entire console lit up instantly and she began pressing a series of buttons. “How did you do that?”
“It’s a shortcut built into the system to run emergency checks on the system,” Sweets answered. “It will complete the check in ten minutes and, if there aren’t any issues, we’ll be ready to go.”
Charlie stared at her and knew Avery knew nothing about that trick. “Does my panel have a similar check?”
“Yes, I’ll show you how it works once we start our voyage to Andromeda.”
“Do you know how to pilot this ship?”
Sweets smiled, “I learned how to fly it before I was seven-years-old. I know your console better than you do, Captain.” Charlie stared at her and turned back to his console. The weapons console completed its diagnostic four minutes ahead of him. Maybe this woman did know how to operate her console. Before launching, he turned to Cami, “Are you listening to my thoughts?”
“I don’t do that, Charlie. Your thoughts will be private.”
Charlie nodded and said over the ship’s communicator, “Systems have been checked out and I’ll be launching on your clearance.”
“You are clear to launch, Captain. Good hunting and be safe.”
Charlie lifted the gravity control handle and the large warship moved slowly above the spaceport’s tarmac. It rose a thousand feet into the afternoon sky before Charlie lifted the bow and added speed. Cami sat in her chair between them and stared at the monitor showing the view from the ship’s stern. Then she looked out of the front viewport and saw the stars starting to appear. She kept her eyes on them and then Charlie pushed the gravity thruster handle forward. The ship accelerated away from New Britannia and Cami watched the planet disappear in the rear monitor. Charlie activated the stardrive and the ship flew away leaving the planetary system far behind. He looked at Sweets, “I’m taking the ship above the Milky Way before I start my run to Andromeda. We’ll discuss what’s ahead of us once we’re in intergalactic space.”
Sweets nodded and sat back in her chair. She reached over, took Cami’s hand, and squeezed it. Cami turned to her, “I’m fine.” Sweets nodded but continued to hold her hand; Cami wouldn’t always be honest when she was frightened.
• • •
The ship flew out of the Milky Way and changed course. Charlie continued at a high speed for four hours and then pushed the gravity thruster handle fully forward. Cami expected a sudden burst of acceleration but didn’t sense anything. Charlie was watching her and saw Cami’s eyes narrow, “In intergalactic space, we won’t be passing any stars to give us a frame of reference on how fast we’re moving. Inside the Milky Way we’d be seeing stars flashing by us but out here in the Big Black, we won’t see anything passing us.”
“Big Black?” Cami asked.
“That’s what intergalactic space is called. Some like to call it a void, but Big Black says it best.” Charlie paused and turned to Sweets, “We need to come up with a schedule on who pilots the ship. Since there’s two of us, I suggest we take a twelve-hour schedule of flying the ship while the other rests. It’s going to take us twelve days to arrive at Andromeda and we want to be fresh when we get there.”
“I can fly the ship.” Charlie and Sweets turned to Cami and she smiled, “Dad taught me how on several trips to New Melbourne.”
Charlie turned to Sweets and she shrugged, “Cami, are you sure about this?”
“The buttons Charlie needs to push for the emergency check on his panel are the Climate button and the tactical scanner button. As he holds them down, he’ll press the navigation button to start the check,” Cami replied.
Sweets tilted her head as Charlie turned to her, “She’s right. Cami do you know how to operate the weapons console.”
“Some. If you’ll allow me to look at your thoughts, I’ll learn how to do it.”
“Go ahead,” Sweets replied.
Six minutes later, Cami smiled, “I’ve got it.”
“Are you sure?” Sweets asked.
“I think it’s easier than piloting the ship. I’ve never heard anything about the system having automatic targeting with four cursors simultaneously.”
Sweets smiled, “That’s because Fleet wants that information kept hidden.”
“Why?”
“They want to make sure whatever is targeted should be targeted. That system should only be used when there are no friendly warships close by.”
“Oh.”
Charlie shook his head and turned to Cami, “How do you keep the ship on course?”
“I don’t have to; the navigation system does it automatically. If the system needs to be overridden, all that needs to be done is for the steering controls to be taken in hand.”
Charlie shrugged, “Ok, here’s how we’ll do it. Two of us will always be on duty. I’ll take the first eight-hour rest period, I was up all night getting ready for this mission and I can use the rest. After eight hours, “I’ll relieve Cami and then she will relieve you, Sweets. Is that satisfactory to everyone?”
Sweets nodded and Charlie left the bridge. Cami turned to Sweets, “He’s not so bad.”
“He doesn’t want to be here.”
“Neither do we, but here we are.” Sweets nodded and stared at the speck of light far ahead of them on the monitor. It was getting brighter.
• • •
Charlie relieved Cami and after she left the bridge, Sweets turned to Charlie, “What’s bugging you?”
“My Commanding Officer didn’t tell me that you were going to be on this mission.”
Did you ask him?”
“I did but he said that information wasn’t important and that I should focus on my orders. I see now why he refused to tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because I would have commiserated with others in my squadron about my bad luck in being chosen. It appears Fleet want’s this mission kept secret.” Sweets shrugged. “Why do they want this kept secret?”
“The people on New Britannia don’t know about the danger threatening them. The President is concerned that a panic might ensue if they did. This mission is critical to determine what we’re up against and hard decisions will have to be made when we come back with what we discover.”
“What sort of decisions?”
“Do we wait for them to attack or take the coming war to the Stealth Civilization? There’s also the issue of the two surviving civilizations on the other side of the galaxy’s core. They’ve been given stealth technology and will be attacking us as well.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Only the President and the Fleet Leaders know that bit of information. We have found out that New Britannia and New Melbourne are the prime targets of their initial attack.”
Charlie sat back in his chair, “They are the most powerful planets and removing them would be a crushing blow to humanity. My orders are to get in, find out what’s happening, and get out. How I choose to do that was left entirely to my discretion. I suspect you know more about this mission than I’ve been told.”
“Charlie, the Stealth Civilization has been scouting us for almost two decades and have managed to steal some
of our technology. We know they’ve stolen the stealth field we once used and have shared it with the two civilizations on the other side of the core. They also have stolen how to make the harden hulls used in the Colonies. They know that the super-hardened hulls being made on New Britannia can only be made there. Grady and my father believe they want to remove all traces of humanity and then come and start building hulls for their warships after New Britannia is destroyed; New Britannia is the real goal of their attack, but they realize that New Melbourne will have to be removed in order to make that happen.”
“Does anyone know when this attack will happen?”
Sweets shook her head, “No. And that’s why we’re going to Andromeda, to find out. We also need to determine if they’ve stolen any of our technology we don’t know about.”
Charlie stared at her for a moment and then asked, “Is there anything else I should know?”
“We will start wearing our combat helmets in six days and keep them on.”
“Why?”
“The Stealth Civilization is telepathic and can hear us from long distance whenever we speak. The helmets block them from being able to hear us.”
“If that’s the case, why is Cami here?”
“The helmets block outgoing brain waves. They allow any waves being perceived to be heard.”
“How does that work?”
Sweets shrugged, “It’s hard to explain.”
“Give it a try.”
“Well, when we verbally communicate, we use two different systems to do it. We hear with our ears what is being said and respond with another system in our brain that controls the words we use to respond. Can you see that?” Charlie nodded. “The combat helmets block the part of the brain used to control our speech; it doesn’t block the system that controls hearing. So Cami can hear the thoughts of the aliens, but they won’t be able to hear anything she or us are thinking.” Sweets paused and added, “They also won’t be able to hear anything we say if we’re wearing the helmets. You should also know that their telepathic range is longer than the range of our scanners.”
“And Cami?”
“Her telepathic range is much longer than the aliens’ range. The aliens can only hear what is spoken telepathically. Cami can hear all their thoughts; she’s a true telepath and the aliens aren’t.” Charlie’s eyes closed slightly, and Sweets asked, “What are you thinking?”