Explorations- the Lost

by Raymond L. Weil

  Hailey frowned. “We can’t defend over two hundred Dyson spheres, the Federation, and the Altons at the same time. The Dyson spheres are spread over millions of light years of space. The Eternals could attack anywhere.”

  “It is a problem,” admitted Race. “That’s why you and Rear Admiral Cross are both commanding two very large war fleets. It’s very possible we’ll have to send both fleets out in response to the Eternals’ attack.”

  “Any idea when this attack might take place?”

  Race folded his arms across his chest and turning, looked back out the window. There were a lot of aircars out today. They seemed to be everywhere. “No, it could be tomorrow or it could be a year from now. I tend to believe it will be sooner rather than later.”

  Hailey let out a deep breath. “I’d better get back to the Victory.”

  “Just a moment,” said Race. “I want you and Rear Admiral Cross to pick out a juggernaut as your command vessels. If this Eternal attack is going to be as violent as I believe I want both of you in something larger than a dreadnaught.”

  “A juggernaut,” breathed Hailey. “Can I transfer some of my command crew?”

  Race nodded. “Transfer whomever you like. Same for Rear Admiral Cross.”

  Hailey had an excited look on her face. “I’ll let you know which ones we choose. I already have one in mind.”

  “Then you better go and get your new flagship fully operational.” Race watched as Hailey hurried from his office. It was very seldom he managed to surprise one of his flag officers. Looking back out the window, he noticed storm clouds were beginning to form in the distance. In another hour or two it would be raining.

  Race returned to his desk and sat down. He picked up several reports he still needed to go through. When he was made fleet admiral he never dreamed how much paperwork would be involved.

  -

  Admiral Grayseth was walking though one of the numerous large corridors on the Hunter. The ship had been specifically designed to handle the larger forms of Carethians. Currently there were over five thousand Carethians on board the ship. Nearly two thousand of those were well trained Marines. He also had over twelve hundred combat robots in the ship as well. If he had to fight hand-to-hand against the Creevak to rescue Jeremy he was prepared to do so.

  He reached a large open hatch and stepped inside. A number of AIs and Carethians were busy sitting up beds and a few common areas. This was one of the lager storage compartments on the ship and it was being set up to hold some of the survivors of the battlestation trapped in Creevak space.

  Spotting Clavule Dorn, he motioned for her to come over. Clavule was a female Carethian and in charge of this storage compartment.

  “Admiral,” she said respectfully. “What can I do for you?”

  “How soon will this compartment be ready?”

  “Another few hours,” answered Clavule. “We’re setting the beds up, a number of common areas and an emergency first aid station. When we’re done we can put nearly five thousand people inside this storage compartment. We have eleven other compartments being set up the same way.”

  Grayseth stood looking around. Everything seemed well organized. Normally this compartment would be full of supplies and spare equipment. A juggernaut was designed to be deployed for years at a time. However, this mission was supposed to last only a few weeks at the most.

  “How about food?”

  “They’ll have to enjoy MRIs while they’re here. It would be too difficult to run that many people through the cafeterias. I did pick out some of the better tasting meals. The MRIs we serve now are far different from the ones served in the past.”

  Grayseth was pleased with what he was seeing. If the other compartments were as ready as this one then the mission could proceed as soon as they reached the Makuul Galaxy.

  -

  Later Grayseth returned to the Command Center. He saw on the main tactical display all of his dreadnaughts had caught up with the Hunter and were now holding position in a globe formation around the juggernaut.

  “All ships are reporting normal operations,” First Officer Rastell informed Grayseth.

  Grayseth sat down. “We will continue to the Makuul Galaxy. Inform Rear Admiral Lance we are on our way and will arrive in a little over seven days. Request Rear Admiral Lance inform us when the Liberator enters the Creevak universe.”

  Grayseth felt a little apprehensive about the Liberator entering the Creevak universe by itself. That ship had some very important people on board. He reminded himself that Angela, Clarissa, and Colonel Wilde were on it. If anyone could keep the children safe, it was those three.

  -

  Rear Admiral Lance was in the Command Center of her battlestation. She gazed at the massive viewscreen always focused on the former site of the anomaly. The massive two-hundred-and-sixty-kilometer station was positioned two million kilometers from that location. Anastasia knew her battlestation was the most powerful one ever built by the Originators. The only structures more powerful were the Dyson spheres themselves.

  “We’re ready to send the probe through,” reported Commander Johnathan Boyles.

  Angela, Jason, and Clarissa were in the Command Center anxiously waiting for the probe to make the transit and return.

  “All telemetry is online,” added Allar Grall. “Probe is functioning properly. We can send the probe through at any time.”

  Anastasia looked over at Angela and Jason. “Is the Liberator ready?”

  Jason nodded. “We just need the probe’s data.” He could feel the tension in the Command Center. Sending the probe was the latest step in preparing to send the rescue mission.

  Taking a deep breath Anastasia nodded. “Send the probe through.”

  “Activating probe,” reported Allar Grall.

  On the main viewscreen, the thirty-meter probe turned and orientated itself toward the former anomaly site. Then, activating its gravity drive, it hurtled away from the battlestation and toward its target.

  “Activating intradimensional drive,” added Grall as he pressed several icons on the control console in front of him.

  Instantly on the screen, a white radiance covered the probe and then it vanished.

  “Probe is away,” reported Grall. “I’m showing the drive activated properly. The probe should be transiting to the Creevak universe.”

  Anastasia looked over at Angela, Jason, and Clarissa. “It’s time for the three of you to go to the Liberator.”

  “Yes, it is,” replied Angela. “We’ll be waiting for the probe data.”

  “Good luck,” said Anastasia. “We’ll all be waiting for your safe return.”

  The rear admiral watched as the three hurriedly left the Command Center. In many ways Anastasia wished she were going with them. They were embarking on a mission which had been over fourteen years in the making. Her eyes returned to the main viewscreen. It was now focused on an empty star field. Glancing at a counter on the bottom of the screen Anastasia watched as it slowly counted down. The probe was supposed to be gone for twenty minutes. It was going to be a very long twenty minutes.

  -

  In the Creevak universe, the probe appeared in a sudden burst of white light which quickly faded. The small probe activated its gravity drive and moved rapidly away from its point of entry. It had already activated all of its stealth fields. After several minutes the computer on the probe determined it had moved far enough away from its entry point to be safe. The probe came to a stop and began scanning its immediate vicinity. The first thing scanned for was the presence of any Creevak vessels. Almost immediately warnings messages began appearing. The probe focused more scans on the indicated area and detected numerous Creevak vessels. Analysis indicated two hundred and seven battleships and six hundred and twelve battlecruisers. The probe noted the Creevak ship locations and ship types. Satisfied it had completed one part of its programming, the probe began scanning the nearest black hole for any signs of the Originator battlestation.

  Senso
rs reached out toward the black hole. It wasn’t easy to scan the vicinity of the black hole due to the intense gravity and interference from the radiation being emitted by the event horizon. For long minutes the probe searched and finally found the battlestation. It was almost exactly where computer predictions had said it would be. The probe carefully scanned the station. A warning alarm sounded. Two Creevak battlecruisers were heading toward the point where the probe had transited. The probe surmised the Creevak had probably noticed the flash of light and sent the two ships to investigate. After checking its programming, the probe powered down everything except its stealth systems. It would wait until the Creevak vessels moved on before transiting back.

  -

  Rear Admiral Jones had just contacted Jeremy who was in the Command Center of the New Horizon along with Rear Admiral Barnes. “We detected a flash of white light close to where the probe appeared last time. Ariel and Camlin both believe another probe has transited. Ariel believes the probe is probably confirming the location of the Creevak ships as well as this battlestation.”

  “The rescue mission is getting ready to come through,” said Kathryn, her eyes widening. “The probe will return shortly and report what it’s found.”

  Jeremy nodded in agreement. “Let’s start getting everyone on board the New Horizon who’s going on this ship. We also need to start getting everyone else ready to evacuate.”

  “I’ll get everyone moving. I’m surprised the probe didn’t send us a detailed message of what’s going on.”

  “They don’t want the Creevak to detect the message,” explained Jeremy.

  “The Creevak are a strange race,” replied Kathryn. “We’ve been here for over four years and we still don’t know what they look like.”

  “If their ships are any indication they won’t be similar to anything we’ve encountered so far in our explorations.”

  “I’m going to call the entire crew to report to the New Horizon,” said Kathryn. “I want this ship to be completely ready when the rescue mission arrives. Kathryn hesitated and looked at Jeremy. “Will you be commanding from this ship or will you transfer your flag to this juggernaut vessel that’s coming?”

  Jeremy wasn’t sure what he was going to do yet. “I don’t know. I guess it depends on the amount of time we have and exactly what a juggernaut is.” Jeremy grinned. “I won’t get in your way of commanding your ship.”

  Kathryn laughed. “That’s the least of my worries.” With that she turned and left the Command Center.

  -

  The probe stayed in its position between the two black holes as the Creevak battlecruisers searched the area where it had transited. After finding nothing the Creevak vessels returned to their fleet and took their respective positions in the formation. The probe then powered up its systems and activated its intradimensional drive. With a flash of white light, the probe vanished.

  -

  In the Command Center of the battlestation, Rear Admiral Jones was notified of another occurrence of white light.

  “It’s exactly like the other,” reported one of the sensor officers.

  “It was definitely a probe,” stated Ariel. “I would guess the rescue attempt will be made sometime in the next few days.”

  “I concur,” said Camlin. “We should make our preparations to depart the station. I’ll inform all the AIs on board to be prepared to load their latest engrams when the rescue ship docks. Ariel and I will make sure the hard drive containing the engrams makes it to the New Horizon.”

  Rear Admiral Jones frowned. “If there’s any way possible I want as many AIs as possible to get aboard the rescue ship.”

  “We’ll load last,” replied Camlin. “If there’s time and room some of us will be saved. If not new bodies can be created for those left behind from the hard drives once we reach the hub.”

  Jones did not reply. He knew Jeremy wanted to save all the AIs. “I imagine Fleet Admiral Strong will be ordering everyone to the outer section of the battlestation shortly. We’ve already set up cafeterias and made sleeping arrangements. We have no idea how long we’ll have to wait for the rescue fleet to arrive.”

  Ariel looked at the tactical display. It was showing a large Creevak fleet in the slot. “If it is Grayseth leading the rescue, and I predict a 94 percent probability it will be, he will have to fight a major battle before he can attempt to rescue us.”

  “I wish we could help,” said Jones. “The firepower of this battlestation could make a huge difference.”

  Ariel did not respond. Due to the low orbit of the station over the event horizon, it was impossible to move the station. Also, due to time dilation, it would take an amazingly long time for the station to move away from the black hole even if it could.

  “I’m going to the New Horizon,” said Camlin. “I just received a recall order.”

  “Go ahead,” replied Ariel. “I’ll stay here.” Ariel was feeling more excited with every passing hour. Very soon she would be with Clarissa and the kids once more. It was something she had thought about every day since they had become stranded here.

  -

  Back in the Makuul Galaxy the probe reappeared.

  “Receiving probe data,” called out Allar Grall excitedly. “It has located the Creevak ships as well as the battlestation. There is currently no missile attack taking place.”

  Rear Admiral Lance nodded. This was what they had hoped for. “Send the information to the Liberator. Instruct Commander Strong to inform us as soon as they are ready to depart.”

  Anastasia leaned back in her command chair. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Her battlestation had been in this system for years hoping to someday rescue Fleet Admiral Strong and those stranded with him. Now it seemed that day had finally arrived.

  “Inform the mayor of the habitat we may have a large number of rescued fleet personnel arriving in the next week or so.”

  “Yes, Admiral,” replied Commander Boyles.

  Over the last several years a number of large apartment complexes had been built on one end of the thirty-two kilometer habitat to house the survivors of Fleet Admiral Strong’s command. Anastasia hoped they would need every single one.

  -

  Jason was in the Command Center of the Liberator when he heard the news the probe had returned.

  “Clair, analyze that data. We need to know exactly where those Creevak ships are in relation to the battlestation.”

  “Mitch, as soon as you have the data plot a course and a jump point for the intradimensional drive.”

  Several long minutes passed as the data was analyzed. During that time Angela came into the Command Center and took her seat.

  Jason was drumming the fingers of his right hand on the armrest of his chair as he waited impatiently for the data to be analyzed.

  “Calm down,” whispered Angela, leaning over toward Jason. “The data will be ready when it’s ready.”

  The minutes ticked by and Clair let out a deep sigh. “Got it.” On the main viewscreen appeared a fleet of Creevak warships. “It’s a large fleet and positioned directly above the battlestation in the safe zone between the two black holes. I’m sending the data to Mitch.”

  “Got it,” replied Mitch as he bent over his console studying the information.

  Angela looked over at Jason. “Did you get a good night’s sleep?”

  Jason’s face turned a light red and he nodded. “The best night of sleep in quite some time.”

  “Careful,” cautioned Clarissa as she gazed cryptically at Angela. “You can lecture both of them after the mission.”

  “Oh, they’re going to get a lecture all right,” answered Angela. She put a smile on her face and nodded. “That’s good to hear.” Angela had a neural implant put in a few years back though it wasn’t nearly as advanced as the ones the kids had.

  Clair had heard her mother’s question and wondered if she knew something. This morning had been very special when she woke up still in Jason’s arms. She had slipped out
of bed being careful not to wake him and hurried to her quarters making sure no one saw her.

  “Course plotted,” reported Mitch. “We’ll come out two hundred and eighty thousand kilometers above the station. That’s right on the edge of where the Creevak missiles can reach. We should be able to get close enough to the station and safety before any missiles can reach us.”

  “Take us out,” ordered Jason. “Braleseth, take the ship to Condition Two.”

  “We’re really going!” sent Clair excitedly.

  “Finally,” replied Jason. “Clair, do you think Angela knows about last night?” Jason hoped not.

  “Maybe,” replied Clair. “She hasn’t said anything to me if she does and Jason, I don’t regret it.”

  “Neither do I,” Jason replied.

  On the main viewscreen, the view changed to show what was ahead of the Liberator. The ship slowly moved out of the docking bay and into space. Once out of the bay the ship accelerated until it was well away from the large battlestation and its attending battlestations and warships.

  “Transit in ten seconds,” called out Mitch.

  “Activate stealth fields,” ordered Jason.

  “Fields activated,” answered Braleseth.

  Jason held his breath and then felt a sudden wrenching sensation in his stomach. They were on their way.

  Chapter Eleven

  Deep in the space between the galaxies an Eternal battlecruiser was searching for any signs of an Originator base. It had been searching for months and still its long-range sensors remained silent.

  Commander Kroll was sitting in his command chair deeply concerned about the morale of his crew. A number had already needed additional injections of nanites to control the boredom of their mission.

  “Commander, we’re picking up energy spikes on the long-range sensors,” reported the sensor officer. “I’ve never seen spikes like these before. They’re nearly off the scale.”