Defending Earth-Discovery Means Death (30 page)

“I’ll send the information to you as soon as it comes in.”

Rose ended the call and looked up, “Did you know about this species?”

“No we did not. All of our attention was on the Feeders and the territory they occupied.”

“So you don’t have any advice as to what I should do about this?”

“We think you should back out and stay away until you determine the strength of their technology.”

Rose started shaking her head and lifted her communicator, “Admiral Ambrose, remove all of our probes and recall all of our forces from the four clusters and give the fleets some down time to enjoy liberty.”

“Yes, High Leader. I agree with you on this decision.”

Rose nodded and ended the call. She thought about recalling the pilot but decided against it. She had to know what the Alliance was up against. She contacted Intelligence and talked briefly with Admiral Mandel. He didn’t like his orders but he sent a coded message to Commodore Desoto.

• • •

Derek looked at his wrist unit and read the message. His eyes narrowed and Chase said, “What?”

Derek sighed, “The High Commander has ordered all Alliance Naval Forces out of the four clusters.”

Chase’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”

“It appears that this new species is located throughout this cluster and probably has planets in the other three. The cluster where you stumbled in on one of their planets appears to be the location of their home worlds.”

Chase stared at Derek and said, “There’s more you’ve not said.”

“Fleet has determined that this species’ civilization has been using high technology for at least sixteen thousand years.”

“You’ve got to be sh…”

“No, I’m not kidding you!” Derek lowered his head and slowly shook it. “I’ve also been given orders that pertain to our mission. I wasn’t ordered not to tell you but I think that’s what’s intended.”

“You have been ordered to destroy the ship if we’re discovered.”

“How did you know that?”

“It’s what I’d have done if I were in their place.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“I don’t like it one little bit. But, I’ve sworn to defend the Alliance and I won’t shirk my duty. If it comes down to it, I’ll do what has to be done.” Chase looked up, “Speedy, activate the self-destruct circuit and open the voice recognition phrase.”

“Are you sure about this, Chase?”

“Of course not but do it anyway.”

Derek looked at Chase, “What’s the phrase?”

Chase hesitated and said, “My girlfriend’s first name repeated three times followed by saying red twice.”

“Why red?”

“You should see her in a red dress. That’s the last thought I want before I die.”

Derek smiled slightly and said, “I’ll only use it if you aren’t able to do it. As long as you’re conscious, I will not override you.”

Chase nodded, “Thanks, Commodore.”

“Call me Derek. On this mission, we’re just two warship pilots taking a pleasure trip into the great unknown.”

Chase laughed, “Derek it is. What now?”

“Let’s give our navy some time to clear out. I have to believe that there is a good possibility that this new species has already seen our ships.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Derek.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Our stealth screen blocks electronic emissions and that appears to be how this new species tracks their prey. Our standing orders are to maintain communication silence except for telepathy and to remain in the barrier. We need to see if they can detect us inside the barrier and the stealth field.” Chase looked up, “Speedy, I need you to turn off your telepathic broadcasting module and listen for any thoughts that are different from the Feeders. Derek, you and I should also activate our thought blocking modules and only communicate through the ship’s systems. Speedy, if you hear anything, feed it directly to our combat helmets.”

“You think we need to stay in armor?”

“I do, Derek. The armor is a much better shield against stray thoughts than using the blocker alone. We must find the thought pattern this species uses.”

Derek thought a moment, “They may not be telepathic.”

“I don’t think they are but we still have to find that pattern.”

“Why?”

“We can’t see their ships when their purple fields are at full power. We could fly right into one not knowing it was present. The only way to prevent that is to be able to localize the thoughts of the beings on those ships.”

Derek shook his head, “I’ve been behind a desk too long. From this moment forward, you will command this mission. You know what we need to do and I can see you’re better prepared to make it happen.”

Chase nodded and yawned, “Derek, I didn’t sleep much last night. I’m going to activate my sleep circuit and force myself to catch up on the hours I missed. Wake me if anything happens.”

Derek smiled, “I think neither of us slept much last night. Speedy, I’m going to sleep as well. Wake me if a message comes in from Fleet Intelligence.”

“I’m skipping the ship away from this cluster. I don’t want to run the risk of a message being seen by one of those purple ships.”

“Excellent idea.” Both of them activated their armor and then activated the sleep circuit. They slept as millions of Alliance Warships skipped away at maximum speed from the four clusters.

• • •

The Feeder Scout moved through the void toward a faint signal. The transponder was on a warship that was assigned to the fleet that had failed to report in. The scout moved through the void and had most of its systems shut down. He was scared of what he was going to find but knew he had no choice but to find out what had happened to the fleet. He set his star drive to auto and saw the signal was growing in strength.

He moved slightly past it and stopped his tiny vessel. He backed tracked until the signal was at its highest strength and took a breath. He set his scanners to operate the moment he entered normal space and he broke out of the void into normal space. The devastation of the fleet shocked him to his core. He began shaking when he suddenly saw a giant purple colored ship materialize four miles in front of his ship. He hit the stardrive and disappeared from normal space. He went to maximum speed and saw the giant vessel enter the void far behind him and start accelerating toward him. He pressed the send button and all the data he had collected was sent as the giant pursuing him roared in and fired a lavender colored beam. An instant later, his tiny ship was gone.

• • •

“I told you that signal would draw them to this location.”

“Destroy the source of the signal. I find it surprising that it was detected by a vessel that far out. Its strength was miniscule.”

“That tells us this species is highly advanced.”

“We’ve already determined that. Activate the field and return to the location of the attack. Perhaps others will come to investigate.”

“I don’t like them coming this close to Aratamem.”

“They pose no danger to the planet. We just have to show them that they need to stay away.”

“What about those two communication sources we recently attacked. Do you think they were from this species?”

“There’s no way of knowing. They possess some way of hiding their devices but our sensors determined that whatever was receiving and sending those signals ceased operating the moment we opened fire. They also posed no threat.”

“If they can hide a ship…”

“We’ll detect it just like we did before. Tech says they were probably very tiny electronic communicating devices that were below the threshold of detection. They pose no threat.”

“I hope Tech is right.”

“Have they ever been wrong?”

“Not in my lifetime but one never knows.”

“I’ll go with what Tech says. Move the ship back to the attack coordinates.”

“Moving now.”

“Let’s hope others arrive to continue our entertainment.”

“C
ommodore.”

Derek opened his eyes and shook his head, “How long have we been out?”

“A little over ten hours.”

Derek shook his head, “Has something happened?”

“I’ve received a report from Fleet Intelligence. It came in three hours ago but I felt both of you needed the rest before we move into that galaxy.”

“Did you look at the report?”

“I did.”

Derek noticed Chase stirring and said, “Why don’t you tell me what it said.”

“The scientists have analyzed the data and have come up with some information about the beam that new Black Civilization uses.”

Chase raised his chair from the prone position and shook his head as he listened in on the conversation. “What did they determine?”

“It appears that beam is made up of a particle that has not been discovered by our physicists. It’s incredibly small but carries a huge molecular weight. When condensed into a tight pattern, it will split most elements that it hits.”

“I didn’t think any of the destroyed Feeder Ships were radioactive.”

“They weren’t. The scientists are of the opinion that this particle strips the electrons from the nucleus of normal atoms and replaces them with a small piece of it. The nucleus is balanced by the weight of this new particle and doesn’t fly apart. However, all the molecular bonds that hold the atoms together are broken and the structure they’re in just falls apart. It’s a kind of disintegration without the hazard of radiation.”

“What happens to the electrons?”

“This new particle doesn’t have a long life and it decays almost immediately after releasing the electrons.”

“There should be a high level of radiation when they’re released.”

“Most of them can be stopped by a sheet of paper. The vast majority simply fly off into space.”

Chase sat up straight, “What caused the heat that made the Feeder Warship explode and burn?”

“All of the shielding around their power conduits and reactors failed and released the energy into the interior of their ships. They burned from the inside out. They were carrying enough heavy weapons on board that blew up with the sudden rise in temperature from the release of all the energy being used to operate their ships.”

“I wonder what effect that beam would have on the silver coating that covers our hull.”

“The scientists do as well.”

Derek looked at Chase and he started shaking his head, “Hey, they destroyed Carmichael’s light ship.”

“Did he have his disruptor tubes open?”

Chase stared at Derek and shook his head, “Of course his tubes were open. He was in a combat zone and that’s standard procedure.”

“So we really don’t have an answer do we?”

“We don’t have to take a hit to find out?”

“Then how do you suggest we do it?”

“Fire a light missile at the ship and see if the beam knocks it out. The missiles are also coated with the silver coating.”

Derek pursed his lips and nodded, “That’s good thinking, very good thinking.”

“The scientists asked if you could find out if the coating would stand up to that beam.”

Chase started laughing and Derek stared at him. Speedy said, “I don’t find anything humorous about that request.”

“I wonder if they were here instead of sitting at their computer consoles, if they would make that request. I suspect they’d give it more thought.”

Derek shook his head, “I doubt it. They’re recommend sending someone into a cage with a Grondon to determine how powerful its jaws were.”

Chase laughed again and shook his head, “It’s just like real estate.”

“How is that?”

“Location, location, location.”

Derek shook his head and joined Chase laughing. Speedy actually sighed over the wall speaker, “I still don’t find it at all funny.”

“I wonder how they produce enough of those particles to make a beam.”

“You saw the emissions from that planetary system. They were incredibly high even from the edge of the planetary system. They must produce them on their planets.”

Chase nodded, “You’re probably right about that, Speedy.”

Derek managed to get his laughter under control and looked up, “Was there anything else in the message?”

“The Analysists in Fleet Intelligence are of the opinion that the rods they use to track electronic waves are not inside the purple field.”

“What?”

“They think the field would block their ability to scan.”

Chase looked at Derek, “They might be right about that. We had to extend an antenna outside our force fields to make scans when we used to keep our force fields active at all times.” Derek stared at him and Chase shrugged, “The stealth field allows electronic waves to pass through without allowing them to be reflected back out. We no longer have to extend antennas to receive them now.”

“But that warship went straight to your location.”

“They were able to see the probe’s data signal and simply used their rods to triangulate where they were being received. They probably didn’t see my ship.”

“Oh, so now you’re saying that they can’t see into the barrier?”

“Not really. It just explains how they located Carmichael and my ship. It does offer some evidence that you may be right about their not seeing into the barrier. By the way, did all the others in Intelligence agree with your assessment about their not being able to see into the barrier?” Derek said nothing. “Derek, did they agree with your assessment?”

Derek threw up his hands, “No they didn’t. They agreed with you that they could. That’s why I insisted on coming on this mission to show them I’m right.”

Chase stared at Derek and rolled his eyes as he looked up at the ceiling, “You have got to be…”

“No, I’m not. If they knew about the barrier, they would be using it. If you look at the time it took for that ship to go and destroy Carmichael’s Light Ship and then come back to destroy the probe and them skip to your location, you’d see that they are not using the barrier. It took too long.”

“Hell, Derek. The size of that ship precludes them using the barrier. The thing is too big to fit in it. But the necessities of being able to generate that beam may be the reason they don’t use it, not that they don’t know about it.”

Derek stared at Chase, stood up, threw his hands up, shook his head and then sat back down, “You’re right. I didn’t consider that.”