by Saxon Andrew
Tag smiled, “It’s actually a good color for a warship. It makes it more difficult to find in the darkness of open space. Alex, do you have anything in your databanks that look like that vessel?”
“I have hundreds of similar vessels but none of them are an exact match.”
“How large is that ship?”
“It’s slightly smaller than I am.”
“That makes it about a little less than two-miles long?”
“Close, Tag.”
Tag stared at the monitor, “It has wings and twin-tail rudders. That vessel looks like it was built to enter a planet’s atmosphere.”
“It also had four-large-bubble shaped places on the bottom hull. Those might be where landing-supports are located,” Alex replied.
“That eliminates the space that would normally be used for landing craft. They won’t need them if the ship can land on a planet,” Danielle said absently.
Tag looked closer at the monitor and mused, “I wonder if those landing modules might be a weak place on that warship’s hull.”
“Tag, if those ships can land on a planet, the numbers we detected may be way off.”
Tag nodded, “You’re right Alex; we’re only seeing the ships in space. There could be huge numbers of them on planets’ surfaces we can’t see.”
“I don’t see a force field, Tag.”
Tag moved the monitor controls and swept the view across a large concentration of the black ships. “None of the others appear to have a force field either.”
Danielle sighed, “We’re going to have to wait and see if Sprigly comes up with more information.”
“We have visitors moving in where we jumped out to this dimension.”
Everyone on the bridge stared at the monitor that had gone live and saw twenty of the black ships gathering around the place they jumped away.”
“ALEX…”
“I’m ready to move, Tag. The dimensional-drive does not leave a pattern residue to follow like the universal drive. We need to know if they can move between dimensions.”
Danielle asked loudly, “Please tell me you were not moving toward our universe when you left that universe they’re attacking!”
“I know better than to do that.”
They watched the ships holding position in open space and Tag said, “You are recording this?”
“I am.”
Ten minutes later, another black vessel appeared and Kogo said, “That must be the boss.” Danielle looked back at him and nodded.
“What are you looking for, Alex?”
“Tag, if they have a dimensional-drive, they’ll instantly disappear without causing a flicker of light when they activate it. It should also be noted that I did not use our teleportation-system at any time during our escape.”
“Do you think they have teleportation ability?”
“If they don’t, I suspect they wouldn’t cause the rise of Creation Forces. They also tracked us rather quickly, which means they arrived where we scanned them almost instantly. That would lend credence to their having teleportation.”
After another twenty-minutes, the twenty-one-ships disappeared, “Everyone relax; they’re using universal-drives. I’m getting us back by going through several dimensions.”
Chapter Six
Kogo sat with Sprigly and Seedel on his ship and listened as they analyzed the data from the scans of the Black Ships. “Do you think they saw our ship?” Seedel asked.
“It’s really hard to say. I should have had Alex delay the scan for a tenth of a second to make sure. They both happened so close together…it’s hard to tell.”
“I don’t think they saw Alex.” Sprigly and Seedel turned quickly to Kogo. “I don’t know much about science but we were a thousand-light-years from them. The only way they could see us was to have some way to detect our emergence into that universe. Aren’t you able to detect a ship emerging into our universe without actually seeing it, Sprigly?”
“Yes, but they started turning toward us immediately.”
“Then they must have detected the, what did you call it…flicker, yeah, the flicker and begin moving toward it?”
Sprigly was still for a moment and then leaned over, “You may be right. Just like my scanner operates in the boundary between normal space and subspace, they must be able to track a break through the energy barrier that keeps the universes separated.”
“I also don’t understand how Alex is getting us back to our universe through dimensions. How does that work?”
Sprigly leaned across his work table and picked up a book. He held it up and said, “You understand how the pages are individual universes separated from each other by an energy barrier?”
“I do, I think.”
“Ok, well the cover of the book, or the binding if you prefer, surrounds the pages and that is where the dimensions are located. That cover represents the dimensions that surround the structure of the universes. Alex can enter a dimension and move around the dimensions until he arrives at our universe where he will enter it from there.”
“Then there’s an easy way to see if they detected the ship,” Kogo suggested.
“How is that?”
“Just go back to that universe where the black ships are and enter it through a dimension. If they react to the entry, they can see the ship. If they don’t, then they detected the universal drive.”
Sprigly shook his head and thought, “Tag!”
“Yes, Sprigly.”
“Are we back in our universe?”
“Not yet. Alex is moving through several dimensions before we go back.”
“Kogo has brought up an interesting observation and I want to see if he’s right.”
“What is that?”
“I want Alex to turn around and go back to the universe where those black ships are located.”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“To determine if they can actually detect our ship. Kogo thinks that they detected the flicker from our universal drive and didn’t see us. I want Alex to enter that universe from a dimension and see if they react to our presence. If they don’t, then we can collect a lot more data than what we have now.”
Tag looked up, “Alex?”
“Sprigly makes a good point, Tag. If my masking field can prevent us from being seen, then we have the first defense against them. If it doesn’t, then that’s something we need to know.”
Tag thought about it and Seedel entered the discussion, “I noticed that there are some areas in that universe that have not been attacked. This would be a good time to see how they operate when they move into those areas. That is assuming we wouldn’t be detected by them.”
Tag looked at Danielle and she asked, “What do you sense?”
“Nothing. I’m not seeing any difference in the level of danger going back or not.”
“Then we should go and see. Alex, what is your escape plan if they do detect you?”
“I’ll go through the universes I used before and disappear into a dimension at the same place.”
Danielle looked at Tag, “Let’s try it.”
“I’m headed back,” Alex replied.
Sprigly looked at Kogo, “Thanks for that insight.”
“No problem. It just entered my mind from somewhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know; the thought seemed to come out of nowhere.”
Sprigly nodded and thought to them, “We need to go to the bridge so I can set up the long-range scanner.”
Kogo went to his chair and Dela looked at him, “You had an idea that led us to do this?”
“Don’t act so shocked. I sometimes have a good idea.”
“Not about things technological.”
Kogo shrugged, “I don’t know where the idea came from. I mentioned it to Sprigly and he ran with it.” Dela grinned and looked at the main wall monitor. Tag was right about the dimensions not being heavily populated. The galaxies were small and separated by long distances
between them. She saw Alex move through them quickly and all of them appeared to be the same; dark and dismal.
An hour later, Alex announced, “I’m at the barrier to the universe where we found them. Do you have any suggestions before I enter?”
Everyone was silent and Kogo said, “You might as well go for broke.”
Tag looked at him, “What do you mean?”
“You mentioned that when you went to Earth that Alex was there and the Algean Warships didn’t see him. Enter as close to those ships as you were to the Algeans. You’re going to have to see how close you can get to them and now is as good a time as any to make that determination.”
Dela was staring at Kogo shaking her head. Something was going on with him that was not normal. She had no idea what it was.
Danielle stared at Kogo and said, “Do it like he says, Alex. Just be ready to run.”
“You know I was only fifty-miles from the Algean Warships at Earth. Are you sure you want to get that close?”
Danielle glanced at Tag and saw him shrug, telling her he had no premonitions. “Go in fifty-miles from those ships. You might want to activate your weapon array just in case.”
The lights on the bridge lowered to a deep-crimson color and Alex said, “Going in…now!”
Everyone on the bridge except for Tag, he was standing up, gripped the arms on their chairs tightly. The monitor changed and they saw hundreds of Black Warships in the distance. There was a long moment of silence and Alex said, “They aren’t moving toward us.”
Everyone released a breath at the same moment. Sprigly stared at his console and said, “The scanners they’re using are on a frequency in the normal spectrum. I am going to make a quick scan to see if they detect it and Alex, you need to be prepared to run if they react.”
“Universal-Drive is active, Sprigly.”
Sprigly hesitated and said, “Ok, here goes.” He pressed a button on his console and the monitor changed giving a close-up view of the black warships. “No response.”
Everyone on the bridge turned and looked at Kogo. He saw them and said, “What?”
“How did you come up with that suggestion?” Danielle asked.
Kogo looked around and saw Dela was glaring at him. “What?”
“Kogo, something is going on with you! You’re talking about things I know you know nothing about!”
Kogo looked around the room, shook his head, and shrugged, “I don’t know. I just…just…seem to hear these ideas in my mind.”
“I can’t hear them.”
Kogo turned to Sprigly, “What?”
“Since you made the suggestion on my ship, I’ve been keeping an eye on your thoughts. I’ve not heard those thoughts you just mentioned happening.”
Kogo began to get angry, “You’ve been reading my mind?!”
Tag said, “Get over it. Telepaths don’t have a choice; they hear what all of us are thinking. However, Sprigly doesn’t hear the things you described. Something is going on.”
Danielle smiled, “Everyone calm down. I believe the source of Kogo’s ideas are not his own.”
Dela turned to Danielle, “If they’re not his, whose, are they?”
Danielle looked at Kogo, “I believe you are in direct contact with Creation. Those forces are what you hear.”
Everyone stared at Danielle and she smiled, “Sprigly, the Cats can hear those forces but you can’t, right?”
“That’s true.”
“It appears those forces have chosen Kogo as a conduit.”
Are you sure about that?” Tag asked.
“That’s why you had no premonitions about his suggestions. You can’t hear them either.”
“But, Danielle, we’re not in our universe; how can the Creation Forces be operating out here?”
“How does the Forces know about these Black Ships coming. It can see other creations around it, Sprigly.”
“But that doesn’t mean it can communicate with someone outside our universe.”
“We’re certainly not in our universe. You might say that we are a scout sent out to explore what’s happening. I suspect that Kogo has a piece of Creation Forces inside him that is the equivalent of sending out a scout. It’s using him to see what’s happening.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Kogo protested.
Danielle looked at Kogo, “Ok, you explain it. You’re hearing thoughts that a telepath can’t hear. Your suggestions have been spot on and you don’t know where they’re coming from. Further, the one who loves you the most sees that something has changed in you. Suggest something else it could be.”
Tag looked at Danielle, “Do you see the truth in what you just said?”
Danielle smiled, “I see the truth in Kogo. The Cats told us they had to be here to play a role in what’s coming and they got that from the Creation Forces. It all adds up to Kogo being a conduit.”
“Do we want to go scout another area?”
Kogo suddenly shouted, “NO! DON’T MOVE!!”
The room was silent until a few moments later Danielle asked, “Why not, Kogo?” Kogo’s eyes were wide and he was shaking his head. Dela took two of his hands and said, “What did you hear?”
Kogo took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully before saying, “Alex said that these ships must be using teleportation. Is it possible that they could detect the use of it if Alex moves away?”
Danielle looked at Sprigly and he tilted left, “There were no other thoughts in his mind before he said that, Danielle.”
“Could they detect the use of a teleporter?”
Sprigly nodded, “Yes, they possibly could. I know my species can detect the use of one.”
“But they didn’t detect it when Alex used his on Earth and when we picked up Seedel,” Tag interjected.
“That doesn’t mean they couldn’t, Tag.”
Danielle sighed, “It appears from Kogo’s reaction that they can detect us.”
“So, what do we do to get out of here?” Seedel asked.
Danielle kept her eyes on Kogo and saw him shake his head again. “What are you thinking, Kogo?”
“I don’t understand what it means.”
“Just tell us what you heard.”
Kogo looked up at Danielle and said, “What is a null-drive?”
Danielle instantly smiled and said, “Alex?”
“Yes, I do still have one that’s operational. It’s not connected to my processors because I never use it.”
“Does the drive you use have the flash inhibitors?”
“It does.”
Dela said, “Flash inhibitors?”
“Null-drives were the very first stardrives used to move faster than light. They made a bright blue flash when they erupted into normal space and that gave a warning to any ships that were present. The development of a flash inhibitor later stopped that flash. Alex, does the null-drive leave anything that could be detected?”
“It once left a brief residue that another ship could follow, if it arrived fast enough to analyze it before it faded. That was also removed by the inhibitor.”
Tag went to his command chair, “Alex, get the null drive hooked up and Sprigly, since we know they can’t detect your scanner, find a place where these ships are involved in an attack. Give Alex the coordinates and we’ll go take a look.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“What are you asking, Sprigly?”
“I mean the null drive compared to teleportation is like comparing a nuclear reactor to a battery.”
“This civilization may be so advanced that they wouldn’t even have their scanners set up to detect that ancient form of energy. I’m not sure about this but it appears that wherever Kogo is getting his ideas is sure. I’m going to go with it. Besides, teleportation over long distances isn’t that much faster than a null-drive. The only real advantage of teleportation is that things can be moved over short distances. Like from a planet to a ship in orbit or to another place on the planet. Over universal distances, telepo
rtation isn’t that superior to the ancient null-drives.”
“How do you want to handle this?” Tag looked at Sprigly with his head tilted. “I mean, do you want to record and analyze it or make recordings and look at them later.”
Tag nodded, “I see what you’re saying. Let’s do it this way; you choose several different places that shows promise and we’ll jump quickly between them and take scans. We’ll exit this universe after we collect enough data. We shouldn’t stick around too long; the risk of being detected goes up the longer we stay.”
Tag and Sprigly both looked at Kogo and he raised his four-arms, “I’m not hearing anything.”
Tag smiled, “You’re going to get this a lot from now on, Kogo. You need to get used to it.”
Kogo sighed and Dela squeezed his arm. He looked at her and saw her smiling, “What?”
“I’m really proud of you. You’ve been chosen.” Kogo sighed and Dela leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled and his face darkened slightly. She had never done that before.
• • •
“I’ve received word from one of my sources in the Bristone Empire that they’ve started a massive shipbuilding campaign.”
“What are they building?” Thele asked Merele.
“It appears they’re building up their fleets.”
“Why would they do that?”
“My source doesn’t know but the King appears to be frightened about something and it isn’t us.” Thele stared at Merele as he said, “He’s quite adamant that it isn’t us that caused this new construction.”
“If not us, then who?” Thele inquired.
Merele shrugged, “I honestly don’t know.”
“Do the Algeans know anything about this?”
“No, they appear to be focused on finding a missing Adolescent.”
“What’s going on with that?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you know where the Gardners are?”
