The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness

by Raymond L. Weil

  “Perhaps,” Andram responded, his eyes taking on a far a way look. “Most civilized cultures have beliefs in a superior being or some type of life after physical death. Even amongst my own people there is a belief that the consciousness will continue on after the physical form expires though there is no scientific evidence to support this.”

  “That’s a debate which will probably go on forever,” Colonel Leon said. “So what else did these Originators do?”

  “In our early days of exploration we found a few ancient satellites in orbit around some of their worlds,” Andram continued. “They were brought back to Astral but very little was learned from them. When the satellites were disassembled, it was discovered the insides were burned out. Some of our top scientists and engineers believed that once the satellites had served their purpose some type of self-destruct destroyed the advanced technology they contained.”

  “Admiral, my scans are picking up strange readings from several locations on the Dyson Sphere,” reported Captain Reynolds. “There are some very large energy spikes showing up on my sensors.”

  “Can we magnify those areas and put them up on the main screen?”

  “I’ll make the necessary adjustments,” Andram said, turning around and touching several icons on one of the screens on his science console.

  Instantly the dark area on the screen swelled until only a small section of that titanic construct was being displayed. In the center of the screen a swirling white vortex appeared.

  “It that what I think it is?” asked Kathryn as she studied the object.

  “It’s a spatial vortex,” Andram confirmed as he glanced down at some data coming across his console. “It’s also of intergalactic range.”

  “I’m picking up four such vortexes on the side of the sphere we can see,” Captain Reynolds reported. “There may be more on the other side.”

  “When did they first appear?” asked Kathryn.

  “I think they’ve been there all along,” Reynolds responded.

  “Where are they getting the power?” asked Commander Grissim. “Even the AIs couldn’t keep their vortex open for more than a few minutes.”

  “From the star inside the Dyson Sphere,” Shilum answered. “From my estimates the sphere would intercept 2,695 yottawatts of the star’s energy output.”

  “There’s the extra energy the Simulins are collecting from the two hundred or so blue giant stars in this cluster,” Andram added. “They may also be tapping into dark energy or even converting the dark matter into a power source.”

  “Lieutenant Styles, put us into orbit around the Dyson Sphere. I want to know how many operational vortexes there are.”

  Kathryn was growing worried about what the discovery of the active intergalactic vortexes might mean. It also concerned her that the Simulins had access to the Dyson Sphere and its advanced technologies. She would give anything if they could explore that massive technological wonder.

  -

  For the next fourteen hours, the Distant Horizon made a circular orbit around the Dyson Sphere, scanning its surface and the Simulin ships hovering about. In doing so, they found three more tunnels through the dark matter cloud, which connected to the blue giant cluster outside. During that time, the Simulins searched the area the ship had exited the vortex and then fanned out in a standard search pattern. As time passed, even more Simulin ships joined the search until over one hundred and twenty vessels were scanning the space around the Dyson Sphere.

  -

  “Twenty-seven possible vortex rings in the hull of the Dyson Sphere,” Andram reported as he studied all the data they had gathered. “It appears they only keep six or seven activated at all times, probably due to energy constraints.”

  “All of intergalactic scope?” asked Kathryn. If they were, then the Simulins were even more widespread than originally believed.

  “It appears that way,” answered Andram, with a crease on his wide forehead. “The bigger question is are all of those vortex rings connected to other Dyson Spheres?”

  “That would give them access to a tremendous amount of Originator technology,” Shilum pointed out. “There may be other intact Originator artifacts in those galaxies.”

  “We also detected four hundred and twelve Simulin warships around the Dyson Sphere,” added Commander Grissim.

  “Plus whatever ships may be inside,” pointed out Colonel Leon. “There could be thousands of ships inside the sphere.”

  “What’s the current status of the Simulin search?” asked Kathryn, looking over at Captain Reynolds.

  “Still no sign they’ve detected us,” he reported. “However, the Simulins are in the process of moving ships to block the four tunnels which lead out.”

  “They’re probably doing the same outside the dark matter cloud as well,” commented Commander Grissim, pursing her lips she worried about how they were going to escape their current predicament.

  -

  Kelsey was gazing at the viewscreen when she heard Katie’s voice over their private channel. “I wonder if one of those vortices connects to our galaxy?”

  It was something Kelsey hadn’t thought of. Was there a way home right here in front of them? “Possibly,” she replied after a moment. “But how would we ever access it? I don’t think it would be practical to bring the fleets here.”

  “There are Simulin energy cannons mounted around the vortex rings,” Clarissa informed them. “Any type of near approach with the fleets would result in catastrophic losses.”

  “With this Dyson Sphere the Simulins could easily mount an invasion of our galaxy,” Kelsey said as she began to fully realize the ramifications of what they’d discovered. Jeremy was going to be really upset when he heard about this.

  “At least we got the probe launched,” Katie said. “It will give them some warning of what might be coming their way.”

  “But will it do any good?” Kelsey asked poignantly. “The Federation and its allies have enough problems trying to acclimate all the worlds which were once Hocklyn slave planets. Where are they going to find the resources or the ships to hold back the Simulins?”

  Katie didn’t respond. She didn’t know the answer.

  “I’m sure Jeremy is going to be highly interested in our discovery,” Kelsey said. “The only problem is I don’t see anything we can do about it.”

  -

  “How do we get out?” asked Commander Grissim, looking back at the admiral. “Any way we go we’re going to encounter Simulin ships.”

  “They’ll detect us when we activate our hyperdrive,” Clarissa informed them. “They’ll have time to react to that.”

  “How much time?” Kathryn asked.

  “Approximately twenty-two seconds,” Clarissa replied. She closed her deep blue eyes briefly as if in deep concentration and then opened them. “I would recommend we creep up as close as we can to these three Simulin ships here.” On one of the tactical screens, three red icons began to blink. “We drop our stealth shield, activate our main energy screen, and fire our particle beam cannons and power beams at these Simulin ships. If we can take them by surprise, we just might be able to establish the vortex, fly into it, and jump into hyperspace before they can respond.”

  “That’s going to take some careful timing,” commented Colonel Leon. Petra knew the crew could do it, but just one slipup and it could mean disaster.

  Kathryn let out a deep breath. She knew what needed to be done. “Clarissa, if I turn control of the ship over to you, can you get us out?”

  A look of pleased surprise crossed the AI’s youthful face. “Yes, Admiral,” she responded. “However, there may be more Simulin ships waiting outside the dark matter cloud.”

  “We’ll deal with them when we get there,” declared Kathryn. She’d made up her mind, and it was time to go.

  -

  It took nearly two hours for Clarissa to maneuver the ship into the position she wanted. Carefully monitoring the ship’s stealth systems and seeing to it that energy emissi
ons and other system emissions were held to a minimum, the AI brought the ship to a halt within just a few thousand kilometers of the three ships she was going to target.

  The Command Center was unusually quiet as the large viewscreen was focused on the narrow tunnel, which was their escape route.

  “Damn, those ships are close!” spoke Commander Grissim worriedly as she gazed at the nearby tactical display. “They could detect us at any time.”

  “That’s why we’re not staying long,” declared Clarissa as she began powering up the ship’s weapon systems.

  -

  The three Simulin battlecruisers were part of a blockade force ensuring a ship could not flee down the energy corridor. There had been two unconfirmed reports of a single unscheduled vortex opening at the energy collection station outside the dark matter cloud and one inside the cloud near their present position. For hours the fleet had searched, but no trace had been picked up of an interloping vessel. The search would continue until every kilometer of space around the ancient artifact was pronounced clear.

  Alarms abruptly started sounding on all three Simulin battlecruisers as a glaring red contact suddenly appeared in the midst of the three patrolling ships. Weapon systems went hot as automatic targeting systems found and locked upon the nearby ship. The interloper had been found!

  -

  “Firing!” reported Clarissa as she fired the ship’s four bow power beams at the nearest Simulin vessel. “Activating hyperdrive.”

  The two bow particle beam cannons locked on and fired upon the one farthest away. At the same time, ten power beam turrets on the main hull of the exploration dreadnought fired upon the third enemy vessel. Space was full of deadly energy beams seeking to destroy their targets.

  The four power beams struck the Simulin energy shield, causing it to erupt in a fusillade of colors as it struggled against the sudden onslaught of energy. The shield shifted and wavered, then two beams flashed through the fluctuating shield, blasting deep holes in the ship’s hull. Moments later the other two beams penetrated and a massive explosion rocked the Simulin vessel. The ship’s engineering section was hit and it suddenly went dead in space as it lost its power. Detecting this sudden weakness, Clarissa launched two sublight Devastator Three missiles and the Simulin ship ceased to be as it was blown apart.

  -

  The two particle beams flashed through the targeted Simulin ship’s energy screen, blowing a huge section of the ship’s hull off into space. A moment later a Devastator Three missile arrived and, passing through the hole in the shield, turned the Simulin ship into a glowing fireball as the fifty-megaton warhead detonated.

  -

  The other Simulin ship rocked under the weaker attack of the Distant Horizon’s secondary power beams, but its shield managed to hold.

  “Vortex is opening,” reported Lieutenant Parker as a blue-white vortex formed in front of the Distant Horizon.

  “Accelerating into the vortex,” reported Clarissa. She winced as the unharmed Simulin vessel fired its powerful energy beams at the exploration dreadnought. The ship shook violently and several red lights appeared on the damage control board. Then they were in the vortex and on their way down the tunnel.

  Almost before the crew could relax the ship exited the end vortex, reappearing in normal space.

  “Contacts!” yelled Captain Reynolds as the ship rocked violently and alarms began to sound.

  “Multiple breaches along the forward hull, we’re venting atmosphere,” the damage control officer reported.

  “Firing full spread of Devastator Threes,” responded Clarissa as she turned the ship away from the approaching Simulin battlecruisers.

  “We have twelve Simulin battlecruisers bearing down on us,” reported Captain Reynolds as the glaring red threat icons appeared in the two tactical displays.

  “Energy shield is up,” reported Commander Grissim. “Damage repair crews are en route to the damaged areas.”

  On the large viewscreen space suddenly lit up as eight Devastator Three missiles detonated just short of the Simulin vessels.

  “The missiles detonated prematurely,” uttered Colonel Leon angrily.

  “No,” replied Clarissa as she rapidly accelerated the ship. “Stand by for hyperspace entry.”

  “At this speed?” said Commander Grissim with worry spreading across her face. “It’s impossible!”

  “Not for me,” Clarissa grated out as she activated the ship’s hyperdrive and hit the swirling vortex just as it was forming.

  Kathryn heard the ship scream in pain and the sound of grinding metal, and then the deep purple colors of hyperspace appeared on the big viewscreen.

  “Get me a ship status,” she ordered. Looking over at Clarissa, she could see the AI had a strained look upon her face.

  “You did well, Clarissa,” Kathryn said sympathetically. “No one else could have gotten us out of that mess.”

  Clarissa nodded. She’d just checked and sixteen crewmembers were missing from the forward sections where the Simulin energy beams had hit. It pained her to know she had been the cause of their deaths.

  “We have six compartments open to space,” reported Colonel Leon as she spoke to the damage control teams, which were responding to that section of the ship. Two power beam turrets are damaged and have ceased functioning as well as four energy beam turrets. There’s no way to tell how bad the damage is until we send someone out to inspect the actual hull.”

  Kathryn nodded. “Clarissa, do you have any cameras on the outer hull in that area that can show us the damage?” There was no way they could send someone out on an EVA while in hyperspace.

  “Checking now,” the AI replied as she checked the numerous cameras on the hull of the exploration dreadnought.

  Suddenly on the main viewscreen, the damaged area came into view. As the camera panned over it, Kathryn felt her heart stop. There was a massive, glowing hole easily twenty meters in diameter carved into the hull. Three smaller rips in the hull were nearby.

  “Damn,” Major Weir uttered as he looked at the damage. “That’s definitely an energy beam hit.”

  “We can only seal off the affected areas,” Commander Grissim said with a grimace. “It will take a fleet repair ship or the Clan Protector to repair that damage.”

  “There used to be a power beam turret there,” added Major Weir. “I believe the power cables to the other power beam turret and the energy turrets have been destroyed. They ran through the compartment directly beneath that energy beam strike.”

  “I’ll see if I can reroute the power,” Colonel Leon said as she moved over to a console. “I should be able to do it from here.”

  Kathryn nodded. “Do what you can; I’m not certain we’ve seen the last of the Simulins.”

  -

  Kelsey and Katie looked worriedly at one another. They were on their way back to Jeremy and Kevin, but were they leading the Simulins back to the task group as well? Neither said anything, they had been friends for so long they didn’t need to say any words. Both knew what the other was thinking.

  -

  Ariel was watching the sensors worriedly. At any time the Distant Horizon could be returning, and the task group would be going back to Gaia. Checking on Kevin, she saw his eyes were focused intently on the sensors as well. Her friend was deeply concerned about the danger the exploration dreadnought might be in. Ariel wished all five of her friends were on board the Avenger, but she knew Clarissa would do everything in her power to protect Kelsey and Katie.

  She was about to say something to Kevin when the ship’s sensors picked up a sudden energy spike.

  “Spatial vortex forming four million kilometers off our port side,” called out Kevin in an excited voice.

  Ariel watched intently as a ship exited the vortex. “It’s the Distant Horizon,” she announced happily. The ship had made it back and she was already establishing communications with Clarissa.

  “More vortexes forming!” warned Kevin, his eyes growing wide with fear
at the implications.

  “Simulin battlecruisers are emerging around the Distant Horizon,” Ariel reported as she began sounding the Condition One alarm.

  “Power up all weapons,” ordered Commander Malen as Jeremy came bursting into the Command Center. “All task group ships prepare to go to the Distant Horizon’s aid.”

  “Status!” barked Jeremy, seeing the single green icon surrounded by over a dozen red blips.

  “It’s the Distant Horizon,” reported Ariel, grimly. “A short time after they emerged from hyperspace, fourteen Simulin ships showed up. They emerged in a globe around the exploration dreadnought.”

  Jeremy took a deep breath and then sat down in his command chair. Activating his fleet wide mini-comm, he spoke to the ships of the task group. “All ships prepare to do a short hyperjump to the Distant Horizon’s location. Ariel will be transmitting the jump coordinates momentarily.” Jeremy looked over at Ariel with an intense look in his eyes.

  “Transmitting jump coordinates,” the AI replied. “Hyperdrives are powering up. We can jump in twenty seconds.”

  “Distant Horizon is under attack!” called out Commander Malen. On one of the main viewscreens energy beams became visible, targeting an object in the center of the Simulin formation.

  “Rear Admiral Barnes is reporting their hyperdrive has been disabled. It will take them ten to fifteen minutes to get it back online,” Angela reported with concern in her voice.

  “Standby to jump,” ordered Jeremy determined to rescue the exploration dreadnought.

  -

  The Distant Horizon shuddered as two Simulin antimatter missiles hit the energy screen, severely jarring the ship. The screen seemed to waver and then the flickering vanished as the screen returned to full power.

  “All weapons, fire!” ordered Kathryn as she tried to save her ship. The sudden appearance of the Simulin battlecruisers had stunned her.

  “Betrem reports ten to twelve minutes until the hyperdrive is functional,” Colonel Leon reported.