“Unknown,” Kalar answered. “We feel that, at a minimum, there must be at least some type of automated defensive system. We would hope the system is capable of recognizing the difference between our ships and the Sharis’.”
Tureen looked across the table at Admiral Tolsen. “Working with some of our scientists we have come up with a friendship message we would like to start beaming toward the Dyson Sphere.”
“What’s in the message?” asked Race curiously.
“It tells who we are, where we came from, the danger the Simulins pose to our galaxy as well as to the Dyson Sphere, and a list of our accomplishments. We’re also including some art and music.”
“Art and music?”
“Yes,” said Admiral Baasil, nodding his head. “Some of our scientists believe the Originators had a great appreciation of art. We have included images of some of the finest artworks from Earth as well as from the City of Light on Astral.”
Race was silent for several long moments as he thought this suggestion over. “It sounds like a good idea if there is anyone still alive in the sphere. However, if it’s only automated systems we’re dealing with, the message may be meaningless to them.”
“We are aware of that, Admiral,” Tureen responded. “But I still believe we should make the attempt.”
“How soon can you have the message ready to broadcast?”
“Within the hour,” Kalar answered. “We will set it up to repeat automatically and we’ll beam it to different sections of the Dyson Sphere.”
“Very well,” Race said. “Let’s do it, but take precautions to ensure the Shari don’t pick it up.”
-
The meeting lasted for several more hours. Once the meeting was over, Race and Massie went to his quarters to talk.
“How long do you think we’ll stay here at the Dyson Sphere?” Massie was growing concerned it would be a long time before they got back home to their parents.
Race let out a deep breath and leaned back trying to relax. “We have enough supplies to last over a year if necessary.”
“A year,” mumbled Massie. She knew a lot could happen in a year. She looked around Race’s quarters and a slight smile crossed her face. “Your quarters are a lot more comfortable than mine.”
“You could have better quarters if you would transfer your flag to a battleship,” he reminded her.
“I know,” she replied. “But I like my battlecarrier and I can command the flight wings better from the Hera’s Command Center. Besides, not everyone was given a battle dreadnought like the Altons gave you. How does it feel to command the most powerful ship in the galaxy?”
Race grinned. “I was just as surprised as everyone else when the Altons chose me for this.”
“I’m sure Ambassador Tureen and former Fleet Admiral Streth had a lot to do with it,” Massie said. She got up and went over to the small kitchen in Race’s quarters and poured glasses of tea for both of them.
Returning to her chair, she handed Race one and then took a sip. A look of pleased surprise crossed her face. “This tastes just like Mom’s!”
Race smiled at his sister. “Of course. That was one thing I insisted on. I have Mom’s tea recipe and I follow it to the letter. She always makes the best iced tea when I’m home on leave.” Before he could say another word, the Condition One alarms began sounding and red lights began flashing.
“Not again,” moaned Massie, her eyes widening. It seemed as if every time she had an opportunity to talk to her brother they were interrupted.
“All hands, go to Condition One, this is not a drill. I repeat go to Condition One. Imminent combat is likely. Admiral Tolsen, please report to the Command Center.”
Race activated his minicomm, which instantly placed him in contact with Colonel Cowel. Race knew that Commander Arnett was off duty. “What’s happening, Colonel?”
“I have bad news, Admiral,” Cowel began. “We’ve detected a Simulin task group that has just jumped into the system.”
“Simulins,” repeated Race, his heart beginning to pound. “I’ll be in the Command Center shortly.”
Massie looked over at Race with deep concern on her face. “So, they finally found us.”
“Looks that way,” answered Race. “You better get back to the Hera.”
Massie nodded. “We’ll talk later.”
-
Entering the Command Center, Race saw a group of flashing red threat icons on one of the large holographic tactical displays. “How many and how far out are they?”
“Forty ships and they’re about four hundred million kilometers out from the Dyson Sphere,” answered Colonel Cowel.
Commander Arnett came bursting through the hatch to the Command Center, taking quick stock of the situation as her eyes focused on the tactical display. “Are they moving closer?”
“No,” Captain Davis answered. “They’re holding their current position, but they are actively scanning us and the Dyson Sphere.”
“Shit’s hit the fan now,” muttered Colonel Cowel. “It was bad enough we had the Shari to worry about, now we have the Simulins as well.”
“What are the Shari doing?” asked Race as he sat down in his Command Chair.
“Nothing yet,” Captain Davis responded. “They seem to be watching the Simulin vessels just as we are.”
“I am picking up heightened communications traffic between the Shari vessels,” reported Captain Travers.
“What are the Simulin ship types?” asked Commander Arnett as she stepped in front of her command console.
Davis spent a few seconds studying the data coming across one of his screens before replying. “Six battlecruisers and thirty-four escort cruisers.”
Race knew the battlecruisers were seventeen hundred meters long and the escorts would be eleven hundred meters. All extremely dangerous. Race felt a cold chill run down his back. Now that the Simulins had discovered the Dyson Sphere, the strategic situation had changed. The Simulins had weapons more on a par with the Altons and the Humans. With a deep sigh, he knew he needed to send a message back to the Federation informing them of the Simulins. There was a good chance when he did, the Shari would detect it and destroy the line of communication buoys. There were two lines and this message would end up leaving only one intact.
“Send a message to the Federation informing Fleet Admiral Nagumo of the presence of the Simulins. Download all the data on the Shari ships as well as the Simulin fleet and send it.” Race glanced at the big viewscreen. Time was running out, someway they needed to either contact the exploration team or find another way in.
-
Simulin High Commander Hark Brasht gazed in satisfaction at the viewscreen. In its center was the elusive Great Sphere they had been searching for.
“There are several fleets of organics in the system,” the sensor operator reported.
“Inconsequential,” Brasht said dismissively. “We will send a message back to the Grand Council informing them of our discovery. In time, we will have the ships to drive these organics away. The Great Sphere will be ours and we can begin the conquest of this galaxy.”
“Scans are complete,” the sensor operator reported.
“Take us back into hyperspace,” Brasht ordered. “When we return these organics will face their deaths.”
A few moments later swirling spatial vortexes formed in front of the Simulin ships and they vanished into them, leaving the system of the Great Sphere. They had completed their mission, now it would be up to the Simulin Grand Council to take the next action. Brasht knew the Grand Council would order the other Great Spheres within range of this galaxy to be used to send more ships.
-
Inside the Dyson Sphere, Reesa Jast lay upon her bed in her survival hut. She had already decided that if there was no response from the city within two weeks, she would take matters into her own hands and broadcast a signal. Reaching beneath her pillow, she took out the Originator key she always kept at her side and gazed thoughtfully at it. Reesa h
ad already decided on her message. In two weeks time, she expected to be walking down the streets of the Originator city.
Chapter Five
Jeremy was standing in the Command Center of the Avenger gazing at one of the viewscreens. It showed the blue-giant nebula, which looked the same as it always did. The nebula filled the screen with its myriad of stars and ionized gas clouds. The nebula even seemed to glow from the intense amount of ionized hydrogen. However, he knew at its heart a raging furnace of destruction was radiating outward. After speaking more to Andram, he had decided to come along on the mission bringing the Avenger and a squadron of the new Gaia class battlecruisers.
“Looks the same as before,” commented Kevin from his sensor console. “It doesn’t appear as if the whole nebula is going to blow up anytime soon.”
“We can’t see far enough,” Jeremy responded as he looked over at his friend and fellow officer. “Remember, the nebula is thirteen hundred light years across and the nova is nearly seven hundred light years away from our current position.”
“The Star Seeker is requesting we enter the nebula and proceed to the proximity of the nova,” Lieutenant Shayla Lantz said from communications.
“I was expecting that,” Jeremy replied. The Star Seeker was the Alton science ship accompanying the fleet. It was also strange for Angela not to be at her customary spot. However, Angela had asked to remain behind due to health reasons. Jeremy had asked her if it was something serious and she told him it wasn’t. Kelsey didn’t seem to be too concerned about Angela’s illness so Jeremy hadn’t let it worry him.
“Kelsey, plot a course to just outside the dark matter nebula, keep us at least a full light year away,” Jeremy ordered. It was strange to have both Kelsey and Katie on board, but they had insisted on going on the mission.
“I’ve already plotted the course,” Kelsey answered with a smile. She had known Jeremy would be asking for it. “We’ll need to exit hyperspace ten times to safely reach the target area.”
“Send the first jump coordinates to the rest of the fleet,” Jeremy said.
Commander Kyla Malen turned toward Jeremy. “Are you expecting us to encounter any Simulins? They may still have some bases and ships in the nebula.”
“I doubt it. With the destruction of the Dyson Sphere, there’s nothing left here for them.”
“Jeremy’s correct,” Ariel added. She was standing behind Jeremy with her arms folded across her chest. “I don’t believe the Simulins will be wasting any resources here in the nebula. They lost a lot of ships and are probably in the process of reconsolidating their forces.”
Commander Malen nodded and then turned toward the Helm. “Prepare to enter hyperspace, all ships to maintain standard spacing and form up on the Avenger and the Star Seeker when we reach the first set of coordinates.”
A few moments later, a blue-white spatial vortex formed in front of the battleship and it quickly accelerated into its center. Around it, other similar vortexes were being entered by the rest of the ships of the fleet.
-
Grayseth watched the main viewscreen in the Command Center of his flagship, the Warrior’s Pride. He had ten Carethian battlecruisers with him as well as twenty of the small Carethian medium cruisers. There were also twelve of the massive fifteen-hundred-meter AI spheres serving as escorts.
“All ships except us have entered hyperspace,” reported Ganlon, Grayseth’s second in command.
“Take us in,” Grayseth ordered as he folded his powerful arms across his chest. “We must ensure our clan brother remains safe.” Grayseth placed the safety of Jeremy and the Avenger as his top priority.
The Warrior’s Pride entered the vortex and made the transition. Grayseth merely grunted as he felt the momentary disorientation associated with entering hyperspace.
-
Ten jumps later, the Avenger burst out of its spatial vortex less than a light year away from what was once the dark matter nebula. Almost immediately, alarms began sounding and concerned voices began swearing over the ship-to-ship minicomm.
“Radiation warning,” Ariel reported as she hurriedly forced the ship’s powerful energy shield to snap into being. Giving it precedence over everything else.
The Avenger shook violently and even the lights flickered.
“What happened?” demanded Jeremy, turning toward Ariel who was standing slightly behind him on his left side with a look of deep concern on her youthful face.
“We jumped into a region of intense radiation,” the beautiful black-haired AI answered. “This should have been a clear area. Something’s wrong.”
Commander Malen turned toward Jeremy. “Energy shield is at maximum and all systems are working at optimum levels. Radiation has dropped to an acceptable level.”
“Jeremy, the viewscreens,” said Kevin, his eyes widening. “Where are we?”
Shifting his attention to the viewscreens all Jeremy could see was a sea of white light.
“I don’t like this,” muttered Kevin worriedly. “What’s going on?”
“Ariel?” Jeremy asked as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
“It’s radiation and ionized hydrogen,” Ariel reported as she quickly checked the ship’s sensors. She was surprised to see the radiation was already having an effect on the ship’s energy screen. “We can’t stay here too long before our energy shield begins to fail.”
Jeremy took a deep breath before asking the next question. “Our other ships?”
“Okay,” she answered. “Some of the crews may need to be treated for radiation exposure, but the energy shields are protecting us now.”
Jeremy shook his head and looked over at Kelsey. He couldn’t imagine her making such a navigation error as to put the fleet in the middle of a radiation field. “Kelsey, why did we emerge in the middle of this radiation?”
Kelsey looked confused. “We shouldn’t have. This should have been a clear area.”
“Are we at the right coordinates?”
“Yes,” she answered promptly. “I’ve already checked the calculations, and we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
“Well, something’s not right.”
“I have Andram on the comm,” reported Lieutenant Lantz. “He’s suggesting we make a short jump of one-half of a light-year farther out from the location of the nova. He believes that will put us outside the radiation field.”
“Calculate it, Kelsey, and then transmit the new coordinates to all of the ships.” Jeremy looked at the viewscreens with a deep frown. “I don’t want to stay here any longer than we need to.”
-
Moments later, the fleet jumped once more. This time when the ships exited hyperspace they were in normal space. The radiation alarms stayed silent.
-
“Jump complete and all ships are moving into their support positions,” reported Commander Malen. “The Warrior’s Pride is off our starboard bow.”
Jeremy smiled. He knew Grayseth would be close by. The large Bear took his responsibility of keeping the Avenger and the fleet safe very seriously.
“Radiation is normal for this area,” Ariel added.
“No unknown contacts,” reported Kevin. “Sensors are clear.”
Jeremy turned toward Communications. “Lieutenant Lantz, get Andram on the comm. I want to know what the hell we jumped into back there.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Shayla responded.
Looking at the viewscreens, Jeremy saw they were now showing normal views of space, if being inside a nebula with over two hundred blue-giants could be called normal.
“Admiral,” Lieutenant Lantz said. “Andram and Shilum want to come over to the Avenger and speak with you personally.”
“Well, that’s not good news,” muttered Kevin. He knew only something of significance would bring the two Altons to the Avenger.
Jeremy glanced over at Kevin but didn’t reply. Instead, he addressed Lieutenant Lantz. “Inform Andram I’ll be waiting for them.” He then looked over at Arie
l. “Any idea about what might be going on?”
“No,” Ariel replied, her dark eyes looking slightly confused. “However, I’m certain it relates to the radiation field we found ourselves in earlier.”
Jeremy gazed at one of the viewscreens on the front wall. It was showing a nearby blue-giant star. The screen had been adjusted to show the colors and the star seemed so majestic just sitting there on the screen. He had a bad feeling he wasn’t going to like what he was about to hear from Andram.
-
Jeremy, Commander Malen, and Ariel were in the briefing room along with Andram and Shilum.
“I am sorry to call this meeting,” began Andram, running his right hand through his thick white hair. “But I fear we may have made a huge mistake in destroying the Dyson Sphere.”
“What?” said Jeremy, aghast at hearing Andram say those words. “Why?” Destroying the Dyson Sphere had helped secure the safety of the home galaxy as well as seriously weakened the Simulin presence in this one.
“It’s the radiation field we jumped into earlier,” explained Shilum. Shilum was an expert in the field of hyperspace. “That region of space should have been nearly radiation free. Instead, we found ourselves in such a powerful area of radiation it would have overwhelmed our energy shields if we had stayed there much longer.”
“What does the radiation field have to do with the Dyson Sphere?” Jeremy still didn’t understand what the two Altons were trying to say. The radiation field they had encountered was too far away from the nova to be associated with it.
“It’s because the radiation is from the nova the Distant Horizon created,” Andram said with worry in his eyes. “The radiation front from the nova is moving through space at nearly three times the speed of light.”
“That’s impossible,” said Commander Malen, looking confused. “Nothing can move faster than the speed of light in normal space; that’s why we use hyperspace to achieve speeds which allow interstellar travel.”
Shilum shook her head. “I wish that were true in this case. The problem is the dark matter that surrounded the Dyson Sphere as well as the material the megastructure was composed of. From the readings we were able to take of the radiation field, the area of hyperspace in the vicinity of the Dyson Sphere has been radically changed. It’s not quite a rupture but hyperspace has been strained to the point that it’s allowing the radiation field to access the lower bands and travel at an increased speed in what appears to be normal space.”
The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel Page 8
