The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness

by Raymond L. Weil

  After taking several turbo lifts and walking through the short corridor to the Command Center, Kathryn stepped inside to find a much higher level of activity than when she’d left. “Report,” she ordered as she approached her command chair.

  “One of the energy collectors formed a spatial vortex twelve minutes ago,” replied Commander Grissim as she stepped over closer to the admiral. “It’s generating a tremendous amount of energy. Andram and Shilum feel all ten collecting stations are linked through hyperspace in some way. They haven’t been able to detect how, but the amount of energy being sent into the vortex seems to validate that belief.”

  “Where’s the energy going?” asked Kathryn. Perhaps now they could find a way into the dark matter region.

  “Here,” Captain Reynolds answered as he activated one of the tactical hologram displays. On one edge of the dark region, a red icon was flashing. “That’s the emergence point. It’s six point seven light-years distant from our current location.”

  Kathryn looked over at Kelsey. “Plot a jump for us, maximum hyperdrive speed. Commander Grissim, take the ship to Condition One. Let’s see if we’ve found a way into the dark matter region.”

  Commander Grissim nodded. Almost instantly alarms sounded and the Condition One announcement was made.

  The anxiety in the Command Center increased as the crew realized they were probably about to jump into close proximity to the Simulins. There was no way to know what might be waiting for them when they exited the vortex.

  “Hyperjump plotted and the course has been sent to the Helm,” Kelsey reported. “Due to the lower levels of gas in the area we can travel at one point two light-years every three minutes. It will take us seventeen minutes to reach our destination.”

  “Hyperdrive is charged and ready for activation,” reported Lieutenant Parker.

  “Let’s go find us some Simulins,” ordered Kathryn, feeling her pulse begin to race. “Lieutenant Parker, activate the hyperdrive. Lieutenant Styles take us into the vortex!”

  -

  The ship suddenly charged ahead as a swirling blue-white vortex formed. The Distant Horizon flashed up to the vortex and entered its center. Moments later, the vortex collapsed, leaving no sign of the ship.

  -

  Back in the T Tauri system, Kevin watched his sensors anxiously. So far the Simulins hadn’t located them and there was still no sign of the Distant Horizon.

  “It’ll be several days yet before they’re back,” Ariel said, seeing the stress on Kevin’s face. “Clarissa is with them, and she’ll keep Katie and Kelsey safe.”

  “I know she will,” answered Kevin, forcing a smile. “I just can’t help worrying about them.”

  Kevin’s biggest fear was the Simulins finding the task group before the Distant Horizon returned. If that happened then the exploration dreadnought would be on its own for the return trip to Gaia.

  “Rear Admiral Barnes is an excellent officer,” Commander Malen added. Malen had overheard the conversation between Kevin and Ariel. “She demonstrated that getting the Distant Horizon safely to us. I’m sure she can handle anything the Simulins might throw at them. If not, she can always run away. The exploration dreadnought is the fastest ship in our fleet.”

  Ariel placed her hand on her hips and nodded. “Jeremy would never have let them go if he thought any harm would come to the ship or its crew.”

  Kevin let out a deep sigh as his eyes stayed focused on his sensor screens. Nine green icons showed the disposition of the task group. The Avenger was in the center of a small globe of warships. His eyes were drawn to one of the icons, which was Grayseth’s flagship, the Warrior’s Pride. Jeremy had gone over to the ship to meet with Grayseth.

  -

  On the Warrior’s Pride Jeremy was in the midst of a long conversation with his friend and fellow clan member, Grayseth. They were discussing the ramifications of what would happen when the information they’d placed in the computer of the Alton probe reached the Federation.

  “My people will do everything in their power to try to come to our aid,” Grayseth boomed in his loud, rumbling voice. “Once Malrez discovers we’re still live he will throw all the might of Careth into mounting a rescue effort.”

  “But they don’t have the power to send a major fleet through,” pointed out Jeremy, shaking his head. “They have a single capacitor station and it’s too dangerous to send one or two ships at a time. The Simulins would pick them off as soon as they emerged from the vortex.”

  “My people will find a way,” Grayseth said, reaching out and putting one of his large hands upon Jeremy’s shoulder. “It is the way of the hunt and of the clans. My people will never abandon us.”

  “Nevertheless, when we return to Gaia there will be no more trips outside the nebula,” Jeremy said with determination in his voice. “We’ll keep a couple of stealthed AI ships in a gas giant nearby to monitor the Sigma System for any signs of a vortex. Other than that we won’t be sending any ships outside the nebula for the foreseeable future.” While Jeremy thought the odds of additional ships coming through the intergalactic vortex were low, it might be wise to continue to monitor the system in case the Federation sent its own message probe through.

  Grayseth was silent for a moment as the large Bear eyed his human friend. “It is a wise decision. I fear if we continue the hunt, our forces will gradually be reduced to the point where we might not be able to defend Gaia. It is a good world and our people will do well there. Someday, when we are stronger, we will return to the hunt and drive the Simulins from this galaxy.”

  “Someday,” Jeremy responded. If that day were to come, it would be far in the future. Jeremy doubted if he would live long enough to see it.

  -

  Kathryn felt a wrenching sensation in her stomach as the Distant Horizon dropped out of hyperspace. For a brief moment all the systems in the ship hesitated as the effects of exiting the spatial vortex spread through the exploration dreadnought. Then the systems came back online and the stealth energy shield snapped into existence, hiding the ship from detection.

  “Status!”

  “All systems are online and working at optimum levels,” Commander Grissim answered as she checked her command console and listened to the different departments report in over her mini-comm.

  “Sensors!”

  “Activated,” replied Captain Reynolds. “Contacts!”

  Kathryn’s eyes narrowed sharply. “What do we have?”

  “A massive structure at twelve million kilometers,” Reynolds answered. “The damn thing is over seven hundred kilometers in diameter!”

  “That’s bigger than the AIs’ Central Nexus!” Colonel Leon gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief.

  On the large viewscreen a highly magnified view of the construct appeared. It was a massive globe with giant energy collector dishes in a circle around its midsection. Large antennas and other constructions covered the other areas of its surface.

  “It’s heavily armed,” reported Clarissa as she analyzed the data coming in from the sensors. “There are hundreds of large energy cannons in six concentric rings around the station.”

  “With the power I suspect they have available, we don’t dare approach too close to those weapons,” added Andram as he looked at some of the data. “The energy beams could easily penetrate our main energy shield.”

  “Look at the screen!” said Commander Grissim excitedly.

  Everyone’s eyes shifted to the screen to see a small vortex open and a beam of energy shoot out to strike one of the large dish collectors. For a full minute, the vortex stayed open. Then the beam stopped and the vortex collapsed.

  “There’s a path through the dark matter cloud,” reported Captain Reynolds as he studied his sensor data. “It extends all the way to the center.”

  “Plot a jump,” ordered Kathryn, taking a deep breath. She might be putting the ship in danger, but the only way to find out what was in the dark matter cloud was to reach its center.

  �
��Clarissa, I’m going to need some help,” said Kelsey as she examined the data on her computer screen.

  The tunnel reached all the way to the center of the dark matter cloud. It was one point six light-years long and seemed to end in an open area free of dark matter. However, the tunnel was only twelve million kilometers in diameter. The ship would have to travel down the corridor. If it touched the walls of dark matter during its trip through hyperspace, the Distant Horizon could be violently thrown out of that higher dimension and be seriously damaged or even destroyed.

  Kelsey began setting up the necessary hyperspace equations, and with Clarissa’s help soon had a course plotted. Once she was satisfied they could safely travel through the tunnel, she turned toward Admiral Barnes. “The course is set, but I should warn you. If we encounter a Simulin vessel coming down the corridor, we could be thrown into the dark matter wall. Also, if that huge energy collection station activates a vortex and releases its energy into hyperspace through the corridor, the ship could be destroyed. I’ve plotted our course over to one side and perilously close to the dark matter wall to reduce the possibility of that happening.”

  “Any signs we’ve been detected?” Kathryn was concerned the Simulins might have detected the Distant Horizon when the ship exited the spatial vortex.

  “I’m detecting six Simulin battlecruisers and ten escort cruisers near the station,” reported Captain Reynolds, as he looked worriedly at the red threat icons that were now showing up on one of the tactical displays. “Four of them are breaking orbit from around the energy collecting station and seem to be heading in our direction.”

  “Probably detected our exit vortex,” Commander Grissim said as her eyes focused intently on the tactical display. They didn’t need to get in a battle with the Simulins if they could avoid it.

  “Take us into hyperspace,” ordered Kathryn. They were committed now.

  Instantly in front of the Distant Horizon a swirling blue-white vortex formed. Lieutenant Styles sent the ship hurtling rapidly toward its center with some unknowing aid from Clarissa. Their course had to be dead on when they hit the vortex and she was making sure it was.

  The trip down the corridor was harrowing for the crew in the Command Center; they knew at any moment they could encounter a Simulin ship coming from the opposite direction. If they did, the ship could be knocked out of hyperspace into the dark matter wall. Even if they survived, it would only be a matter of a few minutes before Simulin ships arrived in the area.

  A few moments after entering hyperspace, the Distant Horizon flew out of the exit vortex.

  “Full stop!” ordered Kathryn as the systems came online and warning alarms began to sound. Her eyes focused on the large viewscreen, but all it was showing was darkness. There was no light, no sign of other ships, just a vast empty nothingness.

  “Where are we?” asked Colonel Leon. Petra had never seen anything like this before. It was a frightening sensation not to be able to see any light.

  “Inside the dark matter cloud,” uttered Commander Grissim grimly.

  “I’m picking up numerous Simulin ships, hundreds of them!” warned Captain Reynolds as red threat icons began to appear on the tactical display.

  “Our stealth shield?” inquired Kathryn. With that many ships, the Simulins would detect them quickly if the shield wasn’t working.

  “It’s up,” Clarissa answered. “However, I would recommend moving away from our exit point as the Simulins might have detected the vortex.”

  “Move us away at two-thirds sublight,” Kathryn ordered as she tried to make sense of what the ship’s sensors were detecting.

  “I have something on the sensors, but it doesn’t make any sense,” Captain Reynolds said with a look of confusion on his face.

  “Why is that?” asked Kathryn, looking over at Reynolds.

  “It’s too big,” Reynolds said in a shaken voice. “Nothing can be that big!”

  “What are you talking about, Captain?” demanded Kathryn. The man sounded frightened.

  “I’m picking up an artificial object with a radius of one point two AU.”

  “Check your sensors again,” ordered Kathryn with a deep frown. “Clarissa, run a diagnostic, those numbers can’t be right.” Just what the hell had they stumbled into?

  “I’m afraid they are,” Andram said, turning to face Admiral Barnes. He’d been talking to Shilum about the sensor readings. He turned back to his science console and adjusted the viewscreen. Even in the darkness an area of even deeper blackness appeared. “What you’re detecting is a Dyson Sphere. It completely surrounds the star which Shilum and I suspect is at its heart.”

  “A Dyson Sphere?” repeated Kathryn in disbelief. She looked intently at the dark object on the viewscreen. “I thought those are impossible to build. Are you telling me the Simulins have the science to construct one?” If they did, then how could they ever be stopped? That would indicate their science was far in advance of the Federations’ and even the Altons’.

  “No, not impossible, just extremely difficult,” Andram replied with a deep sigh. “I’ve made a few additional scans. The Dyson Sphere is at least three million years old and the Simulins didn’t build it.”

  “Then who did?” Kathryn was growing even more confused.

  Andram looked over at Shilum, who nodded back. “The Originators,” he said in a soft voice. “The Originators built the Dyson Sphere.”

  “Originators?” Kathryn repeated, her eyes narrowing. “Who the hell are the Originators?”

  “That’s a long story,” Andram replied, his eyes focusing on the admiral. “We didn’t believe anything they built had survived.”

  Kathryn looked at the viewscreen and then back at Andram and Shilum. It was obvious they felt uncomfortable talking about these Originators. “I’m waiting.” She strongly suspected she was about to hear more news she wasn’t going to like.

  Chapter Ten

  “The Originators are an ancient race that predates ours by many millennia,” Andram began to explain. “There’s not a lot known about them.”

  “We have a number of Simulin vessels which have changed course and are heading to where we exited the vortex,” broke in Captain Reynolds as he studied his sensors. “They must have detected our exit vortex.”

  “How many?” demanded Kathryn.

  They were moving rapidly away from that area and the ship was in stealth mode. Kathryn knew if they could put sufficient distance between them and where the exit vortex had been they might be able to remain undetected. It was a gamble, but they had to learn more about the Dyson Sphere and what the Simulins were doing with it. This was the discovery of a lifetime; she only wished the circumstances were different.

  “Twenty-six,” Reynolds replied. “All of battlecruiser class.”

  “There’s no sign they’ve detected us,” Commander Grissim added.

  She was keeping a close watch on the ship’s tactical displays. A group of red threat icons was moving steadily closer. She had no desire to tangle with than many Simulin battlecruisers.

  “Keep me informed,” Kathryn ordered as her attention shifted back to Andram, wanting to hear more about these Originators. “Sorry for the interruption; you were saying these Originators are an ancient race?”

  “Yes, in our early explorations we found evidence of a very advanced culture which once flourished in our galaxy. On several planets we found abandoned cities that in their prime would have been larger than the City of Light on Astral. The cities were mostly buried beneath the ground and only their foundations remained. We did some excavating and found the building material to be far superior to anything we were using at the time.”

  “What about tools, scientific instruments, or anything that might give an insight into who these people were?”

  “We never found anything functional that would be of help,” Shilum said, taking over the conversation. “It was as if the cities had been carefully picked clean of any object or artifact that might give a clue to
the science or technology involved.”

  “How many planets did you find evidence of this civilization on?”

  Shilum looked over at Andram before replying. “Hundreds.”

  “Hundreds?” gasped Kathryn, her eyes widening. “That’s larger than the Federation and our allies combined.”

  “Yes,” Shilum replied with a slight nod of her head. “We estimated a population of three to four hundred billion.”

  “What makes you think this Dyson Sphere was made by these Originators?”

  “Our scans indicate the metal the sphere is made from contains several special alloys very similar to some we found on the planets,” Shilum answered. “No one knows what happened to them. Many of our leading archeologists believe they died out from a virulent disease that suddenly appeared amongst their population though there is no evidence to support that theory. The only thing we do know is they were very advanced, and the ruins on the planets are all about the same age.”

  “Why do you call them the Originators?” asked Kathryn. She glanced at the tactical displays seeing the Simulin ships were still inbound. On their present course, they would miss the Distant Horizon by several million kilometers. She could sense a heightened anxiety amongst the crew as the Simulins drew closer.

  Andram picked up the conversation, as he was more familiar with this part than Shilum was. “Up until the Originators appeared in our galaxy there were only a few space faring races at any one time, normally no more than half a dozen. While many planets teemed with life, the necessary step to bring about intelligent life seems to have been absent from most. We believe the Originators traveled to many of these worlds and used gene splicing and genetic manipulation to bring about the necessary changes to create species more inclined to develop a technological civilization.”

  “They played God, then,” Commander Grissim commented with a deep frown on her face. Anne was from Ceres and her parents were very religious. She also knew many people didn’t share her parents’ views. Over the years, the religious fervor had faded until only the most devout still believed.