The Last Prophecy (The Death Prophecies Book 6)

by Saxon Andrew

  “How long until they arrive?”

  “Thirty minutes.”

  “Notify all ships to reverse course in twenty minutes. Order the first wave of Fighters to join in the attack on the Langloh Fleets.”

  The millions of Fighters that had gone vertical swept back at the Langloh Fleets attacking from the rear and fell on them like a birds-of-prey sweeping down on a meal. The Langloh Fleets didn’t have the support of reserve fleets and when the front two lines turned and roared into them, only three thousand Langloh Warships were able to flee and survive the massacre.

  The Spearan had more survivors but more warships were damaged or destroyed than survived. There would not be another confrontation in the near future and the agreement between the Langloh and Spearan underwent immediate changes as a result of the battle. The Spearan would have to take the greater risks in the future. By the time the survivors arrived back in their galaxies, they discovered that numerous planets were attacked by the two civilizations in the fifth galaxy. It was a huge defeat for the Spearan and Langloh Civilizations.

  • • •

  The new Military Council Grengen was given a hero’s welcome when the fleets returned. He smiled and accepted it but knew that today’s hero could be tomorrow’s execution. This would buy time for the ships to have the new force fields installed but it was only a matter of time until the confrontations began again and grew in ferocity and numbers. The Spearan and Langloh would rebuild quickly. The threats to the Council were growing faster than the means to defeat them.

  • • •

  “That was a pretty good plan of attack.”

  “I know, Poul. That Flasher Leader is good and he’s advanced rather fast.”

  Erica looked at Essay, “What are you going to do about him?”

  “He’s on our primary list of targets if hostilities break out between us. Poul, do you have any of the ships that attacked the Spearan Galaxy on your scanners?”

  “I did but they’ve moved beyond my scanner’s range.”

  “See if you can catch them and follow them back.” The Prophet’s Eyes accelerated and in a few moments they saw the small lights of starship thrusters appear on the tactical monitor. “Got Em.”

  “Let’s see where they’re headed.” They followed the ships from a distance and kept them just within range of the passive scanners.

  Erica looked at Essay, “I’m detecting probes ahead of us.”

  “Can we avoid them?”

  “No, I don’t think so. They’re placed on a wide pattern that extends several thousand light years above and below our current course.”

  “Poul, can you go over or under them and still keep those ships on your scanner?”

  “Give me a moment.” The Prophet’s Eyes went vertical to the pattern of distant probes and a moment later had the ships back on the tactical monitor.

  Erica shook her head, “That was fast.”

  “I told you, I’m faster than before.”

  “Why did you want to avoid those probes, Essay?”

  “No technology is invincible, Kamela. We can’t be certain they wouldn’t see us. I’d rather not take the risk.” Kamela nodded and turned back to the tactical monitor.

  “They’re headed toward a large formation of warships.” Erica paused and said, “They just flew past the formation.”

  “Poul.”

  “I know. I’m going over the formation and continue following them.” Essay smiled. The warships in the huge formation were different from the ships they were following. It appeared the two civilizations in the fifth galaxy were cooperating with each other. After twenty more minutes Poul said, “Erica, are you picking up the next probes?”

  “I am and there’s a lot more of them covering the entire approach to that galaxy ahead of us.”

  “Are you detecting the lines of electronic beams connecting them?” Poul asked.

  “I am. It appears there is a solid wall of electronic fields connected between that galaxy and our location.”

  “Essay, if I have to go around these probes, I’ll be required to back out and move around to the other side of this galaxy. I won’t be able to continue following those attackers.”

  “Erica, what can you tell me about that grid the probes are producing?”

  Erica raised her left shoulder slightly, “Not much. The frequency is odd but it is not dark matter or energy related. I would suggest we lower the power on the dark energy force field so that it is barely able to hide the Eyes. I don’t want it much stronger than normal Dark Energy levels.”

  “Poul, do it and try to go through the center of one of the grids.”

  “Essay, this might also be some kind of targeting system being used by this galaxy. That grid could also be a weapon.”

  “Then do this, Poul. Get a running start and go through it at high speed.”

  “I don’t like doing that with a weakened force field.”

  “Increase the power the moment you clear it.”

  Kamela looked at Essay with a frown, “Is this a good idea?”

  “We’re here to find out if this galaxy represents as a threat. This grid needs to be examined to see if it’s a danger to any warships we might have to send here.” Essay looked up, “Poul try to go through it at an angle and not directly through it.”

  “I’ll come at it from seventy-degrees above it and move below it at a corresponding angle.” Essay’s helmet came over his head as he went to full armor; Kamela and Erica followed his example a moment later. “Here we go!”

  The Prophet’s Eyes turned away from the massive space grid and picked up speed. It made a wide turn, lined up on one of the electronic squares, and flew through it at high speed. Essay stared at the front and rear view monitors and saw a brilliant flash on the rear monitor that was just a mile behind the fast moving ship. “ERICA?!”

  “Poul was right! That entire grid is fusion powered and will send all of its energy at anything that goes through it. We were fortunate Poul chose to go through it at a steep angle.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the system appears to activate the grid that’s interrupted by an object passing through it and fires a massive blast as the others around it start fire sequentially. We cleared the blast area before we could be hit.”

  “It appears we’ve drawn a crowd.”

  Essay looked at the Tactical Monitor and saw Poul was right. Thousands of light orange colored warships were emerging into normal space on both sides of the grid as Essay said, “Poul, stop us within the range of your telepathy module and see if they’ve detected our presence.”

  “The ships we were following are among those on this side of that grid,” Poul said.

  “Erica, are you getting a passive scan of those warships?”

  “I am. I’m not getting much through their force fields but I have determined that they are using fusion reactors to power their vessels. Their force fields are very similar in strength to the Spearan Warships I scanned.”

  “Poul, how was that electronic field able to detect us?”

  “I suspect it was because our DE Force Field was weaker and some dark energy leaked. We are inside their scanner range and we’re not being detected.”

  “But if they can’t detect us, how did that field do it?”

  “Essay, an electronic field is like a pane of glass. It is different from a scanning beam trying to bounce energy waves off an object. When something passes through a solid energy field, it is much more sensitive than a scanning beam. That field may have only detected the energy inside the square of the grid we went through and was slightly changed, which caused it to react. It could have been as little as a ripple in the energy field that set it off.”

  “But…”

  Erica interrupted, “Essay, Poul was using his thrusters and the pressure of the energy coming out of them might have set it off.”

  “So you’re saying you don’t know?”

  Erica smiled, “Pretty much. But I have to say that t
he system they’ve developed around this galaxy works rather well.”

  “Essay, Erica just made a very good point.”

  “What is that, Poul?”

  “You know that my thrusters have a huge push behind the ship.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, that push could have disturbed the energy grid. Matter of fact, I’m reasonably sure it did. I was moving at high speed and that would cause a disruption of the energy field’s shape.”

  “So how can we go through without being detected?”

  “I honestly don’t know if we can but one thing we’ll attempt next time is to go to high speed, shut down the thrusters, and coast through the field.”

  “Poul, are you capable of discussing this with us and listening to the thoughts of the beings in those ships?”

  “Of course I am, Erica. I’m recording them as we speak but they’re not really saying anything we don’t expect. They think it was a sensor error. Oops, I spoke too quickly.”

  The wall speaker came on and the three looked up at it.

  • • •

  “I HAVE CHECKED THE READING AND THERE WAS NOTHING THERE!” a voice yelled.

  “Don’t get defensive, I’m just trying to understand what happened here. Something caused the field to discharge. What do you know for certain?”

  The being calmed down and said, “It wasn’t anything physical, a meteor would have been burned and left traces. The same is true if were a concentration of dust. If something went through the grid, and I’m not convinced anything did, it had to be some form of energy.”

  The Doubter said, “Here’s my problem. The grid fires right after the warships we sent out to attack the Spearan forces pass through it. Some would say that’s a coincidence but I don’t believe in coincidences. If it fired before they went through, maybe I could accept it. But discharging that quickly after our ships went through makes me believe they were being followed by…something.”

  “Ok, Mr. Genius, what was it?”

  “I can tell you what it wasn’t. It wasn’t a Spearan or Langloh object.”

  “And just how do you know that?”

  “Because they don’t have the technology to send anything through our grid that it wouldn’t recognize. I doubt it was anything the Sovereigns built, for pretty much the same reason. That leaves another technology that we’ve not encountered in the past that’s followed our ships here to scout us.”

  “Now you’re really reaching!” the first voice replied.

  “Perhaps…and if I’m wrong, no harm. If I’m right, then there is an advanced vessel inside the grid scouting our territory.”

  “Where do you come up with an unknown enemy scouting us?”

  “Have you ever really taken a good look at the universe we live in? If you have, you should know that the numbers of possible aggressors are more than we can count. When was the last time the grid discharged in error?”

  The speaker was silent for a minute and then the crew of the Eyes heard, “Only once and that was immediately after it was built.”

  “That’s more than a hundred years ago and you know the computer controlling the grid learns with each detection. It knows if something that passes through it is benign or a threat. I trust the grid more than I do someone trying to explain away a discharge. The grid detected a possible enemy.”

  “Well if the grid detected it, none of our ships have!”

  “Come on, Zengar, you know the reason for that! Don’t act like I’m stupid. That’s why we built the field instead of depending on scanners.”

  “So what do we do about this…unknown enemy you’ve postulated?”

  “I know all the scientists on your ships have been listening to this conversation. Do any of you know of a way for a ship to avoid our scanners?”

  There was a long pause and a voice said, “I’ve hesitated to suggest this, but I’ve examined the Grid’s report and it appeared to sense a push against it.”

  “A push? What do you mean?”

  “There was pressure on all four sides of the grid field that fired and the probes around that grid detected a minute push on their surfaces. It couldn’t be from a vessels thrusters, they would only impact the probes around the grid. All four sensed a small push on them and the others around them detected nothing.”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “The only thing in the universe that repels is Dark Energy. ”

  “ARE YOU SUGGESTING A SHIP USING DARK ENERGY PASSED THROUGH THE GRID!?!”

  “Zengar, he’s simply giving us the evidence and a suggestion of what could have caused the discharge.”

  Another voice said, “If this vessel uses dark energy, how could we detect it?”

  The scientist replied, “We wouldn’t.”

  • • •

  Poul said, “I apologize, Erica. Reducing the power of the force field was a good idea but it does appear the field did repel the energy of the grid anyway. At full power, more than just the grid we went through would have detected us.” Erica nodded and continued to listen to the speaker.

  • • •

  “What do you mean, ‘we wouldn’t’.”

  “We do not have the technology to detect a specific clump of dark energy. And if it were dark energy that pushed the four probes, that means whoever is using it has been able to harness it in highly concentrated quantities. It would take about twenty cubic light years of dark energy compressed into a container to even slightly push the grid. If that grid was pushed by dark energy, then this vessel is far beyond our level of technology.”

  Zengar said, “At the start of this, I must confess that I thought this was little more than a sensor error. But all of you are successfully convincing me that there is a vessel inside the grid and it’s not one we know. Begrin, you’ve pushed this idea, what do we do about it?”

  “First let me ask our scientist a question,” Begrin replied.

  “Go ahead.”

  “For you to speculate it was Dark Energy that pushed the probes, you must be able to detect it?”

  “Of course, it’s pretty much everywhere around us. It’s constantly changing; increasing and decreasing in density. That’s why we can’t detect it in a specific place. It’s pretty much everywhere you look.”

  “Well, if like you say, this vessel must have a way to compress Dark Energy, couldn’t you develop a sensor to home in on a much higher than normal quantities of it?”

  The question was greeted with silence and the scientist said, “I…suppose…so. But it wouldn’t be able to get an exact location.”

  “How close?”

  “A hundred or two hundred miles.”

  • • •

  “Oh Boy!!”

  “What, Poul?”

  “We should have just stayed out of here. They’ve learned something about us and I don’t like what that leader is thinking.”

  • • •

  “How long would it take for you to develop a sensor to go on one of our Seek and Destroy Missiles?”

  “I could have it in a few days but like I said, it won’t be able to really home in on it.”

  “Perhaps not. But if we replicate the sensor and start launching millions of the modified missiles, all we have to do is look for an area where several of them have congregated and send in one of our fleets to investigate. I’ll notify the construction facilities to start the construction. I want the missiles started launching within a few days.”

  “Where do you want them launched?”

  “Start with the most critical places we wouldn’t want an enemy to see. All ships here will remain at this location until we can get some of the missiles to see if that ship is anywhere near us.”

  • • •

  Essay looked at Erica, “This is where the biggest threat lies.”

  “Do we want to stay and allow them to learn more about our capabilities?”

  Essay looked up, “Poul, what have you been able to learn about their temperament?”

  �
��They’re pretty much like us, Essay. They want to be left alone and the Spearan and Langloh keep pushing them to join them against the Flashers.”

  “Why are they resisting that? I mean, weren’t they slaves under the Flashers?”

  “Yes, but it appears they don’t have a lot of ill will about that. They simply want to make sure the others in this area of the universe respect their sovereignty and stay out of their galaxy.”

  “Poul, I want you to send my thoughts to them.”

  “What are you going to say?”

  Essay looked around the bridge and shrugged, “I’m going to suggest they save the effort; we’re leaving.”

  “Aren’t you giving away our unknown status if you do?”

  Essay nodded, “We gave that away by passing through that grid. They’ve come up with our use of Dark Energy, but that’s all they have. They should focus on their real enemies and not be distracted by our intrusion. Or do you disagree?”

  Kamela looked at Erica, who shrugged. She looked up, “Poul?”

  “They may not believe you.”

  “That’s on them, not us.”

  Kamela smiled, “Go ahead; I’m curious about how they’ll respond.”

  “If you’ll do the honors, Poul?”

  “I’m broadcasting now.”

  • • •

  “We’ve been listening to your conversation and have decided that it wouldn’t be right to allow you to waste your missiles and construction efforts to find us. You need them against those that are trying to force you to do their will. We’ve seen enough to determine that you do not represent a threat to us and we will not violate your territory further. Good luck and we wish you peace and long life.”

  “Poul, take us through the grid.”

  • • •

  The large gathering of warships suddenly saw the grid flash again but the discharge was made outside the grid. “Begrin, you were right!”

  “I really wish I could have convinced that ship to assist us against our enemies.”

  Zengar chuckled, “How do you know they aren’t? They followed our warships here to determine if we are like the Spearan and Langloh. I suspect they have not communicated with them.”

  Begrin thought for a moment and said, “I suspect they’re here because of the Sovereigns.”