Lens of Time: Book 05 - Star Rover-The Worst of Time (4 page)

“Why are you giving it to me?”

“You are on Fleet’s shortlist for future promotion. I trust you will use it wisely and make good use of it if you’re attacked.”

“Why aren’t you using it?”

“I won’t be here. Stand by and I’ll explain.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Stein, have you downloaded the links?”

“The other Rovers now have them. Captain Anders will have to activate them from his ship.”

“Good; link in the Wing now.” Dat saw the ten Rovers on his display, “We have been ordered to find out everything we can about this galaxy. I have been authorized to use the tools I’ve been given and I intend to start that process momentarily.”

Jill said, “What tools are you referring to, Sir?”

“I have downloaded an advanced command circuit into Captain Anders’ computer and the links to your computers. They will be linked in such a way that you will be fighting in a coordinated fashion that will enhance your chances of survival if you’re attacked. I am leaving Captain Anders in command.”

Ben said, “Where are you going?”

“I am going to a conquered planet that has a species that looks human. I will infiltrate their population and see what I can learn from them about the species that has defeated them. We need to know what structure the conquerors use to control their planets.”

Tom said, “Shouldn’t one of us go? You’re the mission Commander.”

“You don’t have the necessary tools to pull it off.”

Tim said, “What tools, Sir?”

“I have the two rings.” Silence slammed down on the channel.

Jon said, “The rings are the tightest controlled technology the Union possesses. It is my understanding that no one may be given the rings below Flag Rank.”

Dat stared at the ten and said, “I hold the rank of Vice Admiral in Earth’s Fleet. This is a Prime Secret and I expect all of you to maintain that secrecy. You will continue to address me as Captain.”

Jill was shocked speechless. How could this have possibly happened? This was just not possible. No one this young was ever an Admiral, much less the overall commander of the Union Fleets. But if he had the two rings, he had to have a Flag Rank. Dat saw her expression and said, “I don’t care whether you believe me or not. However, to infiltrate a planet, the rings are a necessity.” Dat held up his hands and touched the ring finger on each hand and two rings appeared. “Captain Anders, I’ve left you your orders and I expect you to carry them out. Are there any questions?”

Jon said, “Yes Sir. When should I expect your return?”

“I hope it won’t take longer than two months; however, if I’m not back in three months and I’ve not contacted you, you will take command of the Wing and inform Fleet that I’ve been lost.”

“Yes Sir.”

The ten Rovers saw Dat disappear from their panels and his ship disappeared a moment later. Ben said, “This is a surprise.”

Jon smiled, “The universe is full of them Lieutenant. I’m assigning you all the microprobes in the first sector. Have your computer start analyzing what they record. The rest of us will have other sectors to monitor. Feed anything you deem important to my board. I am activating the combat links to your ships. Make sure your scanning computers keep a watch for any movement in green space toward our location.”

“Loran, I want you to jump out and extend your Connor Fields and collect light from that galaxy. According to Dat’s first collection site, the war was going on at that point in time. Collect as much as you can in five minutes and then skip away. Keep watch on green space for anything approaching your position. Make sure you drop a microprobe to follow you in the event you have to skip away. I’d like to see if they can detect those fields.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Jack linked with the combat circuit and said, “The Link is active, Jill.”

Bucket said, “You never anticipated this, did you?”

Jill shook her head, “No, I didn’t.” She thought back to the time when Dat was smitten with her and thought about just how arrogant she was back then. Her mother was President and she was promoted quickly after graduation from the academy. She remembered Dat’s expression when she told him he wasn’t worthy of her attention. Now she saw that same expression on his face just before he skipped away. She could still see the hurt in his eyes. He never knew the nights she couldn’t sleep seeing his face in her dreams. Now it appeared it wouldn’t matter if he did know. She sighed and said, “Jack, start looking at the data from our assigned probes.”

Neither of the two computers corrected her. Bucket would handle the data. Both of them were strangely silent and Jill didn’t notice.

• • •

“Good day.”

“And to you Madam President; how may we assist you?”

“We have encountered an Apex Galaxy.”

The Horde Ruler looked at her and said, “What is an Apex Galaxy?”

“It is a galaxy with a highly advanced civilization that represents a threat to us.” The two leaders looked at each other and Leigh said, “We’ve determined that one species has conquered a galaxy as large as M87 and is planning to expand to other galaxies. We’ve also determined that our ships are vulnerable to their weapons.”

The Hive Master said, “I find that very difficult to believe.”

“Believe it; I have a Wing of Rovers there scouting but we may be drawn into conflict with that galaxy and if that happens, do you know what will happen in the Alliance?”

The Hive Master nodded, “War.”

“That’s how we see it. I have been advised by our military that the civilizations will choose sides and the war will spread if we aren’t around to prevent it.”

“Will you have to use all your ships in that galaxy?”

“Horde Leader, they outnumber us more than five to one. If we are forced into conflict, it will take every ship we have and even then the outcome is not a certainty.”

“Why are you telling us this?”

“We have refused to share our Dark Matter technology with any other civilization. If it got out, then war would sweep over the Alliance and our civilization would also be in harm’s way. I’m of the opinion that we have only been able to delay it up to now. If it can’t be avoided, then we feel compelled to defend those that we trust. We may not be able to defend your planets, so I am giving your civilizations Dark Matter technology.”

The two leaders looked at each other and the Hive Master said, “I don’t know that we should have it, Madam President.”

Leigh Ann smiled, “That proves to me you should. If we get tied down in that galaxy, we won’t be able to come to your defense if you’re attacked and we can’t allow that to happen. I want you to send a team of your best engineers to Earth and we’ll send them to our builders to get what they need to start ship construction. You should get on it immediately.”

The Horde Leader stared at Leigh Ann for a moment, “We will start construction and you may consider our fleets as part of your own. Our promises will never be broken.”

Leigh Ann smiled, “Nor ours to you. Please make this happen quickly.”

“The engineers will arrive in six of your hours.”

“Thank you.”

D
at skipped away from the ten Rovers and activated his panel for data retrieval. He studied the chosen planet and said, “Stein has the microprobe at the designated planet been able to intercept any transmissions?”

“Unfortunately, it has not. There is no electronic traffic on the planet to intercept.”

“Move the probe down to the planet’s surface and record their verbal conversations.”

“That will remove our ability to see incoming warships.”

“We’ll drop another one when we arrive. I need their language to make this work. I’m going to assume you’ve ordered the appropriate clothing from fleet.”

“It will arrive in a jump package tomorrow. I have the coordinates on where you need to go to retrieve it.”

“Get the probe down to the surface in one of their communities. Learning their language is the primary goal for the moment. I can’t do anything until that is done.”

“It will release most of its power and go passive. It should be undetectable.”

“Could you see it?”

“Probably.”

“Then so can they; we’ve already seen how good their sensors are.”

“You can’t have it both ways, Dat. Either you are not going to know when a warship arrives or you’re not going to hear the inhabitants speaking. You can’t do both.”

“Stein, isn’t the probe’s antenna always in green space?”

“Well, yes.”

“Then even if it’s on the planet, won’t that antenna be able to sense an approaching ship in subspace?”

“Yes but only just before it arrives.”

“They set it to dump all its energy at that moment. It can recharge using its solar accumulators after the ship leaves.”

“If it has no power, how will it know when to recharge?”

“Will we know if it shuts down?”

“Yes.”

“Then that will be reason for you and Loree to come and check things out. Once the ship leaves, reactivate the probe.”

“I assume you’re talking about when you’re on the planet.”

“I am.”

“Do you want us to attempt a rescue if you’re discovered?”

“That goes without saying.”

“Don’t lose your rings.”

“You can count on that. If they’re removed or I die they will self-destruct.”

“I’m going to send all the recordings of the black creatures to your panel.”

“Why?”

“You need to see what you’re up against.”

Dat shrugged, “Send them.” An hour later, Dat wished he hadn’t asked to see them. The black creatures had to come straight out of hell. They looked like a walking amoeba with ten arms that appeared to be stronger than steel. The arms had hands on them and could also provide locomotion as legs. They could also be extended more than fifteen feet. They were flexible and didn’t appear to have any solid structure or bones in them. The head of the creature was able to move to whatever part of its body that was the highest above ground but the incredible beak was always in the central mass of the creature. It would wrap its victim in its arms and pull them close. The beak would then savagely shoot into the captive’s body and the long tongue would devour everything in its path. Death happened quickly. The most remarkable thing about these creatures was that their arms could be on one side and remain there when their entire body spun around. It was almost as if they floated on the being’s surface.

The creature’s head was basically round but would often change shape. It had three huge eyes that constantly changed location but the mouth and ears appeared to remain in the same location. Dat stared at the creature and decided that the large eyes forced the creature to be nocturnal. The eyes never blinked. The creatures were quick and deadly. “They’re quick but not fast.”

Dat looked up, “What?”

Loree said, “They can change direction incredibly fast but they aren’t good sprinters.”

“They don’t have to be with arms that extend that far.”

“That’s probably why their evolution didn’t make them fast.”

“Loree, what are you saying?”

“If you get caught out in the open; run.”

Dat stared at the creature and decided that he was extending his training time on the treadmill to work on his endurance until the language was deciphered. He put his arms on the padded arms of his command chair and looked out the viewport at open space. He saw the distant specks of light that were distant galaxies and heard the slow throb of the dark matter reactor. He felt infinitesimally small against the backdrop of creation but that throb reassured him that he had a place in time. Just a few feet away was the hard vacuum of space but it was held at bay by the walls of his small ship. He wondered about intelligent life that had infinity to fill but gravitated to destroy other intelligent life. It just seemed so meaningless in such a vast universe.

• • •

Leigh Ann looked at the Leader of the Alliance on her display. The giant snake was frightening to view but was a good soul. “Madam, you are right about things falling apart. One would think the lessons from the past wouldn’t fade this quickly but it appears that millions of years of history also don’t fade easily either.”

“What have you determined?”

“Peace has a way of causing issues. There are no more attacks on each other but attacks can take many different forms. Economic attacks are just as devastating as being hit by warships. Many of the members have been victimized by the richer civilizations in their dealings and as a result mistrust and anger has been growing over the centuries. Now old allies are starting to plan to end the economic rule of the galaxy’s richest planets. It would have already happened but for the power of your ships.”

“Can you enforce the peace without us?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

“We are going to have to take on an advanced civilization that is just as powerful as we are and outnumbers us. None of the civilizations in the Galactic Assembly can survive them so would be no help against them. We believe that if we don’t resolve the issue, your members will eventually be a target of their expansion.”

“Can you prove they exist? That might slow the more aggressive species down.”

“We should be able to provide that information but our sociologists think that once they learn we are going to be tied up, they won’t wait to attack. It will only cause the civil war to start now.”

“You’re probably right. I suspect this is not a good time for my galaxy.”

Leigh Ann thought a moment and decided that being less than honest was not what was needed. “Do you recognize that your species is one of those that are hated by the majority of your civilizations?”

The Snake stared at Leigh Ann and released a long hiss, “Yes, I know.” Leigh Ann remained silent and the Snake finally said, “My original ancestor did not want the leadership position that was thrust on him. He vacated the position as quickly as possible but the civilizations here had developed a huge respect for his species. We have been elected repeatedly since his abdication. This position has placed my civilization in a position to prosper. We do not take advantage economically but even so, wealth follows leadership. My assembly had seen the inertia toward civil war building over the years and I have recommended that the Central Government elect a new leader, but I think that course would cause things to fall apart even faster. There is now a general distrust of any wealthy civilization no matter how that wealth was acquired. I think if you would recommend a change in leadership, it might happen.”