by Saxon Andrew
“Then I’m delaying powering the other systems until you give the go ahead.”
“Standby and activate all systems on my mark.”
Dillon put his hand on the power switch, “If we make it out alive we should know a lot about these ships.”
“That’s true. Thirty seconds.”
Dillon kept his hand on the switch and saw two areas of the blue ships were highlighted on his tactical display. “Which one do you recommend?”
“They’re about the same. Fifteen seconds.”
Dillon stared at the two and decided to use the one furthest from the black hole. He hoped the aliens would expect him to make a run in that direction. “MARK!” Dillon threw the power switch and pushed the thruster handle forward. The stardrive and force field came on line and the small ship accelerated at an incredible speed and moved past thousands of the dark blue warships in an instant. But the others further out on his line were activating their stardrives and moving toward his line of escape. He veered slightly right and pushed the thruster handle slightly forward. The opening in front of his ship disappeared as thousands of ships rushed in and he turned violently in the direction they had left to move on his escape line. Thousands began reversing course as they realized they had left an opening behind them.
Dillon pushed the thruster handle to one third and roared by the cloud of warships on his previous line. “Trouble, Dillon.”
Dillon activated his combat program and saw one of the giant blue warships moving in on him from the port side. There was no avoiding it. He pushed the safety off the thruster handle and put his thumb on the red button on the end of the handle. He turned his head slightly toward the incoming ship and saw two crosshairs appear on his visor. They lined up with the incoming ship and he pressed the red button. Two brilliant beams flashed out and hit the incoming vessel in the amidships. He turned his head slightly right and the two beams raked the side of the giant ship. It went up in a massive blast but not before it managed to fire a huge beam and the fleeing ship.
As soon as the blur ship was targeted and the blasters locked on their target, Dillon moved the ship slightly vertical as he pressed the trigger. The beam fired by the ship they destroyed flashed by a hundred yards under his ship and he was rocked violently. Dillon saw a red flashing marker on his faceplate and he looked to the starboard side where another ship was coming in at high speed. Dillon pushed the thruster handle to two thirds and his small ship flashed through the remaining ships in its path and left the incoming attacker far behind before it could open fire.
Dillon said, “Status?”
“There are more than a thousand ships ahead of us moving this way.” Dillon turned the ship violently right and pushed the thruster handle fully forward. In an instant they had moved more than a thousand miles away from the alien ships. He whipped the ship hard left a second later and heard Chester say, “That’s a good move. Those ships that were moving toward us have contacted others and they’re moving toward your last line before you changed course. They didn’t detect your last turn. I can see them and they aren’t moving in our new direction. It appears our scanners are more advanced than theirs.”
“Chester, take us toward the black hole from a different direction. We need to go through before they start sending warships to surround it.”
“Fly around it to give me a moment to calculate the time to the singularity traveling at this speed.” Dillon waited and those five seconds seemed to take forever. “On my mark, turn toward the event horizon and maintain this speed.” Dillon shook his head. They were traveling at full speed and the black hole appeared to rotating below them. If they waited much longer, they would arrive at the location of the blue ships. “Mark!” Dillon turned the ship violently toward the center of the black hole and closed his eyes.
• • •
After a moment he opened his eyes and saw normal space around the ship, “Chester?”
“I’m here. I’m looking at our passage and it was a very close thing to have survived. The only thing that made it possible was the new switches that Fleet installed. We passed through the singularity’s field in less than a thousandth of a second.”
“The blasters are still firing.”
“Oh!”
Dillon watched the blasters firing around the ship’s hull shut down as Chester shutdown the system. He picked up his communicator, “Fleet Operations, this is Admiral Dillon McCagg. Please respond.”
“ADMIRAL. YOU’VE BEEN REPORTED DECEASED!”
“I almost was. Please notify Fleet Admiral Osborn that I’ve make it back. Also, if you’re planning to send another ship through the black hole, call it off.”
“Admiral Connor is now the Fleet Admiral. I’ll notify him immediately. Another ship is being prepared to go through the black hole but we’ll put a hold on the launch. Bring your ship to Fleet Headquarters and park it in front of the building.”
“On my way.” Dillon ended the contact and sighed, “Chester, I owe you my life.”
“Don’t give it a second thought Marshall Dillon.” Dillon laughed out loud and entered the location of Fleet Headquarters in his stardrive. He pushed the thruster handle forward and screamed his joy. He was alive against all odds.
• • •
Amy saw the red flashing light on her panel and saw that this was not a call she should block. This was a fleet emergency channel. She passed it through to Admiral Connor and wondered what was going on. Steve heard the gong on his panel and leaned quickly forward in his chair and punched the red flashing button, “What’s going on!?”
“Admiral, Dillon McCagg has just reported in. He’s on his way to Fleet Headquarters now!”
Steve’s expression was one of total shock, “Are you sure about this!?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Steve ended the call, whooped, leapt out of his chair and ran for the door. He burst through so quickly that both guards were hit by the swinging doors. He sprinted toward the elevator and saw Amy at her desk in Fleet Communications. He pressed the elevator button and yelled, “Give Carol your board and follow me!”
Amy looked at her assistant and said, “Take over. Tell anyone that calls that the Admiral is out of the office.” She looked at Steve holding the door and he was impatiently waving her forward. She ran and entered the elevator as Steve released the door and pressed the button for the lobby.
“What’s going on, Admiral?”
Steve forced himself to slow down and smiled, “How is your assistant working out?”
Amy’s eyebrows came together and she tilted her head, “She’s learning how to handle things. Anyone that gives her a rough time she refers to me. Is that why you’ve made me leave my desk?”
“Do you like working here, Commodore?”
“Admiral, what’s going on?”
“Just answer the question.”
Amy smiled, “The people here are the nicest I’ve ever known. They’ve made me feel at home and my sons love their new schools. Now what’s going on?”
The elevator came to a stop and Steve rushed out, “Follow me, Commodore.”
Amy stepped out quickly before the door closed and walked behind Steve but then had to start running to keep up. What in blue blazes was going on? She went out the front doors and saw a Fleet Warship landing outside the entrance on the tarmac. She ran up beside Steve and stared at the ship, “Sir, that ship has been hit by a blaster.”
Steve nodded. The bottom of the ship was dark where it was burned by a high energy beam. The port opened and Steve said, “Look, Commodore.”
Amy was asking Steve why the ship was attacked and who had done it when he grabbed her chin and turned her head toward the exit port. She looked at the port and saw Dillon walking down the ramp. She froze in place. He looked awful. His hair was long and he hadn’t shaved in weeks. He had also lost weight. A lot of weight. Steve ran forward and she remained where she was staring at Dillon. Her tears fought for release but she refused to allow it. She fought for contr
ol and managed to keep her face neutral. She saw Steve go out and shake Dillon’s hand and then point to her. Dillon looked at her and his expression was total surprise. He walked toward her and stopped in front of her. “Hello, Mrs. Hart.”
“I told you to call me Amy.”
“Hello, Amy.”
Amy stared at him and then reared back and punched him in the chest. He fell back slightly and said, “What is that for?!”
“You’ve caused my sons many sleepless nights.”
Dillon looked in her eyes, “What about you?”
Amy shook her head as she rushed forward, put her arms around him, hugged him tightly, and said, “Me, too.” She released him and stepped back.
“What are you doing in an officer’s uniform?”
“Long Story. Ask Admiral Connor.”
Dillon stared into her eyes as Steve walked forward, grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him toward the building, “It looks like you’ve been living in a space suit.”
“I have, Sir.”
“Who burned your hull?”
“A ship from a nasty civilization.”
“Have your computer send its recordings to Fleet Intelligence. You need to go and clean up and get some rest after you get something to eat.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“We’ll discuss what happened tomorrow.” Steve looked at Amy, “Commodore, clear my calendar tomorrow morning.”
Dillon looked at her as she said, “Yes, Sir.” Steve continued to drag him but he kept looking over his shoulder at Amy until they disappeared through the front entrance.
Amy watched them disappear through the doors and walked to the small park located a hundred yards to the left of the entrance. It was vacant and she sat down on a bench and put her hands over her face and wept. She finally looked up and said, “Thank you for answered prayers.” She fought for composure and finally pulled herself together. She shook her head and headed toward the entrance.
• • •
“Janell! Dillon just showed up at Fleet Headquarters!”
“WHAT!?!”
“The story is circulating throughout Fleet. His ship has blaster burns on the hull but he survived. He’s currently being held incommunicado. But I’ve heard it from four sources that he’s alive.”
Janell sat down in her command chair and started shaking her head, “I must see him!”
“Well pull yourself together. That’s not going to happen until Fleet Intelligence debriefs him. Contact Admiral Connor when things slow down and request a meeting.”
Janell wiped her tears and nodded. He was alive! He was alive!
• • •
Dillon went to the quarters that Admiral Connor assigned him and fell on the bed. A few moments later, three service personnel arrived with four trays full of food. He thanked them and began eating like a starving man. Finally, he couldn’t eat any more. He fell back on the bed and was asleep in an instant.
Steve watched the monitor and pressed a button, “Amy, notify the cleaning service to stay away from Admiral McCagg’s room. I’m going to allow him to sleep as long as possible. He’s obviously endured a lot.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Are you ok?”
“I am, Sir. It was really good to see he made it.”
Steve stared at her on his monitor and couldn’t read her expression. “I’ll let you know when he’s awake and ready to meet with Intelligence. I want you in that meeting taking notes.”
“Yes, Sir.” The monitor went dark and she took a deep breath. She forced a smile and looked at Carol, “I’m taking the rest of the afternoon off to pick up my boys from school. Call me if you have any problems.”
“Yes, Sir.” Amy stood and left the building.
• • •
The next morning at eleven hundred hours, Dillon walked into Admiral Connor’s conference room. He had cut his hair and shaved before he left for the meeting and almost looked normal, except for the weight he had lost. He started toward the central table and saw Amy sitting at a console next to it. He veered and walked over to her, “How’s John and Timmy?”
“They’re doing fine, Admiral. They never gave up hope and prayed for your safe return every night before going to bed.”
Dillon smiled, “Tell them I really appreciate it.”
“I will.”
“How are you doing, Amy?”
“Fine but I need to discuss an issue with you when you have a few moments.”
Dillon tilted his head, “What might that be?”
“It concerns some benefits I’ve been receiving.”
Dillion closed his eyes and when he opened them he looked at the ceiling. He shook his head and looked at her, “I should have contacted you about that.”
“That would have been the proper thing to do, Admiral.”
Dillon put his hands on her console and leaned down, “Amy…”
“Admiral McCagg, please take your chair.”
Dillon looked over his shoulder and saw Steve staring at him. He straightened up and walked over to the main table. Amy saw his distress but didn’t care. He owed her an apology. Dillon sat down at the table and Admiral Connor said, “We’re going to look at several things and focus on each one before moving to another. The first thing we’re going to examine is how Admiral McCagg was able to transit the black hole’s singularity. I’ve looked at the recordings made by your computer and it appears you were incapacitated for nine days. What happened?”
“Sir, my computer determined that our chances of making it through the singularity was nil if we attempted to do it at sub-light speed. Chester determined the distance from the event horizon to the singularity and put the blasters and gravity compensators on a timer. He was off a millionth of a second and I was exposed to the singularity’s gravity. If he had missed it by even the slightest bit more, I would have been crushed. As it was, all of my joints were jammed viciously into each other. It took nine days to be able to stand the pain.”
Admiral Malone leaned forward and asked, “And when you awoke you found those ships?”
Steve looked at Malone, “Before we start discussing them, we need to finish this topic.”
Malone looked at Steve, “Yes, Sir. Pardon me.”
Steve nodded and smiled, “Admiral McCagg, what about your second transit?”
“Chester has worked out the distances involved and had the time better calibrated. We transited the black hole in less than a tenth of a second on the second trip through.”
“This computer of yours sounds like it knows its stuff. But why did the two of you violate the original protocols we determined for the first trip. If you had failed, we would have determined those protocols wouldn’t work.”
“They won’t work, Sir. Anything traveling at or below the speed of light cannot escape the singularity. Chester was bothered by what he saw as an issue with the speed being used.”
Steve tilted his head, “I guess no harm, no foul. However, I expect any future changes in your orders will be discussed before you implement them.”
Steve nodded, “Yes, Sir.”
Admiral Rickman looked at Dillon, “How severe was the pain?”
“The worst I’ve ever experienced, Sir. I really wished I were dead at that moment. Chester activated my suits sleep circuit and put me out. It took nine days for the cartilage in my joints to expand where I could raise my head and stand up.”
Amy listened to Dillon and shook her head. She sighed and knew he shouldn’t have survived. But he did.
The Admirals questioned Dillon for another two hours before they were ready to move to another issue. Steve looked at Dillon, “Tell me about those ships.”
“Sir, I was out when they first started showing up. By the time I regained consciousness, there were more than ten thousand gathered around my ship. It appears they were able to detect my ship’s electrical emissions while I was in the other-space. I think watching the recordings will tell you more about the first nine days.”
Steve looked at Amy, “Start the recording.” Amy held up a remote and pointed it at the wall monitor. It illuminated and they saw a dark blue ship moving in the distance. They settled back and began watching as it moved toward the black hole. After an hour it suddenly veered directly toward them. The computer shut down power and the blue ship passed them. Steve looked at the attendees and said, “I’m going to speed up the recording so everyone can see how quickly things changed.” They turned back to the monitor and began seeing blue ships flashing in on their stardrives and start a search pattern. They were stunned at the numbers that were arriving and they continued to arrive for the entire recording. Steve looked at Dillon, “Admiral, I understand that you eventually shut down all your systems and lived inside your pressurized suit?”
“I had two days before my scheduled departure when I took that action. I hoped that when their search turned up empty they would leave. That didn’t happen and by the next day I knew I had made a mistake.”
“Why is that?”
“Up to that point, there were thirty thousand of those warships searching for me. Within twelve hours the numbers swelled to more than a hundred thousand warships. I knew that I would have to fight my way out and I was ordered to avoid combat. Within the next day the numbers exceeded two hundred thousand and I knew I was trapped. I decided to continue to wait them out.”
Malone shook his head, “Why?”
“Death Prophecy One, avoid confrontation until it is absolutely unavoidable. Up to that point, I had not been found.”
Malone tilted his head and nodded. Steve continued to watch the recording up to the point where Dillon powered his ship. He stopped the recording and looked at Dillon, “Why did you choose to fight your way out at that particular time?”
“Sir, I was more than three weeks overdue and I no longer had any doubt that those ships going away. I also know that you would be preparing another ship to attempt the transit and if they were successful, they would have arrived in the middle of those ships or they would have died attempting another method of getting through the black hole. I owed it to that pilot to make the attempt.”
“The information you had was more important than a single pilot.”
