No Technology Is Invincible (The Death Prophecies-Book Four 4) (24 page)

Ali looked at the tactical wall monitor next to the main monitor and saw that, like a rock thrown into a pond, the ripple of warships coming to a stop spread out from them as the millions of warring starships in range of their scanners stopped firing their blasters and stopped moving.

Gabby looked at Gabe, “It appears you were right.” Ali wanted to scream a question asking what he was right about but held his silence as Gabe stared at the main monitor.

“Commodore, do you have the long range scanners on the main monitor?”

“Yes, Sir.” Gabe nodded and sat back. Ali looked through the Eye’s viewport and saw thousands of warships surrounding them. How could the two of them be so calm?!

“I’m seeing something moving our way, Admiral.”

Gabe shook his head, “Gabby, I’m constantly amazed at how much better your vision is than mine.”

“The process to correct it did a really good job.”

“Gabby, you still saw things better when you wore glasses. I see it now.” Gabe paused and said, “That’s somewhat bigger than I expected.”

Gabby tilted her head, “It’s about twice the size of the Black Motherships and if my reading is right, the radiation decay hitting their force field indicates its force field is the strongest of any ever scanned by an Earth Warship.”

Gabe looked at her, “Stronger than the field at the Builder’s Worlds?”

Gabby pursed her mouth, looked at her panel and then tilted her head as she looked up at Gabe, “Much stronger.”

Ali was staring at the main monitor and still didn’t see anything. He squinted and then saw something moving in the distance. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, “Am I right in saying the ships around that thing are moving out of the way?”

Gabe nodded, “You are.”

“That thing is huge!” Gabe shrugged. Ali looked at him, “Admiral, was it your intent to contact that vessel?”

Gabe looked at Ali, “It is. “Why do you think I want to do that?”

Ali looked at him and glanced at the Plaque on the front wall, “Only knowledge can save you?” Gabe smiled and nodded. “But how did you know these millions of warships wouldn’t attack you as soon as you revealed yourself?”

“I actually didn’t know for sure.” Ali’s head went back and Gabe lifted his left shoulder, “I was hoping they wouldn’t.”

Ali started shaking his head and Gabby said, “The evidence seems to indicate they wouldn’t harm us.”

“What evidence?”

“Ali, you saw the recording and Perval’s comments.” Ali nodded. “Well, these ships fighting each other are doing it to earn the right to reproduce.” Ali looked at her and then nodded. “That would indicate that these four species have found a way to live in peace without destroying each other. It’s not a stretch to believe that they wouldn’t attack a ship without provocation.”

Ali looked between the two and said, “Has it occurred to either of you that this might be a very important thing that’s going on here and stepping into the middle of it may be considered provocative.”

Gabby looked at him and then turned to Gabe, “I didn’t consider that, did you?”

Gabe smiled, “No, it didn’t enter my mind.”

Ali’s head fell back as he looked up at the ceiling and rolled his eyes. He looked back at Gabe, “Why didn’t you consider that, Admiral?”

“I knew from the scans we took the first time we came here that our force field was stronger than the ships fighting around us. If any of them opened fire on us, I would have ordered Poul to run.”

“And when they didn’t fire on us?”

“When they all stopped fighting, I knew that they did it so as not to injure us. That let me know that I should stay in place and wait for the ones to come that are responsible for this.”

Ali looked at the main monitor and his eyes grew large, “Well, I think you got your wish!”

Gabe looked at the monitor and said, “Poul, drop the force field.”

“Are you sure about that, Admiral?”

“I am. It wouldn’t protect us even if it were active.”

Gabe glanced at his panel and saw the force field was no longer active. “Admiral, I’ve just received a bulk message with this species’ language. I have it downloaded and I will translate any message you choose to send.”

“Thanks, Poul. Send this: I apologize for interrupting what’s happening here.”

The wall speaker immediately announced, “We are wondering how you managed to get this far inside the Annual Ritual without being seen.”

“My ship just exited the black hole.”

There was a moment of silence and then the voice said, “You came through the black hole once before, didn’t you?”

“I did.”

“We detected your vessel but then it disappeared. We actually thought it crossed the event horizon and was trapped. Are you saying that you’re capable of traveling through a black hole?”

“I am.”

“Then you’re from another universe.”

“Actually, I’m not. I’m from this universe.”

This time there was several minutes of silence and Gabby looked at Gabe to speak. He held up his hand and shook his head telling her to remain silent. Finally, the voice said, “If what you say is true, then you entered the universe on the other side of this black hole somewhere else.”

“I did.”

“Why did you come here to go back through? Is your civilization close?”

“No, it’s actually ten billion light years away.”

“Please explain.”

“There are two aggressive civilizations in the universe on the other side of the black hole and one of them has Black Hole Technology. They are attempting to invade this universe and attack my civilization.”

“Why would they do that?”

“As I mentioned earlier, they are an aggressive civilization. They are also attempting to flee from a space faring species that invades galaxies and destroys all life. It strips planets of their natural resources and converts animal and plant life into food.”

“That still doesn’t tell me why you came through this black hole.”

“We’re closing all the black holes in this universe close to our domain to prevent these two species from entering close to my civilization.”

“So the only black hole left for you to exit is this one?”

“Yes.”

“And how far from this black hole are the two aggressive species you mentioned.”

“The Space Species is completing the destruction of the galaxy on the other side of this black hole. They do not; however, possess Black Hole Technology.”

“And the species that does is how far from this black hole?”

“It’s the closest galaxy to them?”

“Did either of those species see you enter the black hole?”

“They did not.”

“The first time you were here, you were not visible to normal scanners. Why did you allow yourself to be seen this time?”

Gabe hesitated and then said, “Because I felt that you deserved to know what was happening on the other side of the black hole so you wouldn’t be attacked without warning.”

Ali listened to the conversation and looked out of the overhead viewport. The gigantic silver ship was flashing blue every two seconds and he knew that vessel was far beyond their current technology. Suddenly the bridge was illuminated by a bright blue light. Poul announced, “We’ve just been scanned by a powerful beam. It copied all of my databases.”

Gabe nodded and heard, “Move your vessel under our ship and follow us out of the Holy Ritual.” Gabe grabbed the thrusters and pushed them slightly forward. He moved under the giant ship and the thousands of warships surround them moved away. They picked up speed and an hour later they were above the galaxy. The giant vessel came to a stop and they heard over the wall speaker, “Children, all of you will move back to your initial entry locations. Once everyone is in place, you will start the ritual again. We will not allow any of you to gain an advantage by this interruption and we’ll allow two additional days for you to make up for the time you lost.”

Gabby looked at Gabe, “The warships that were fighting when we arrived are separating into the four different species and moving to four locations equidistant from each other at the edge of this galaxy.”

Gabe nodded and watched the monitor. Two hours later, he heard, “You may start, now.” The four giant groups of warships accelerated across the galaxy and the war began anew. Gabe held the ship in place and waited. “We’re examining the records we scanned in your vessel. While that is happening, I want to applaud your restraint in not firing on the ships around your vessel when you entered this galaxy.”

Gabby asked, “What would have happened if we did?”

“We would have immediately destroyed your vessel for the sacrilege you committed.”

“You were a very long way from us when we exited the black hole.”

“Not as far as you think.”

Gabe looked up, “We’ve answered your questions; will you answer some of ours?”

“Certainly.”

“Why did you choose this method to control your populations?”

“How did you know we do this to control our populations?”

“The first time we came here, one of those on my vessel was telepathic and heard some of those involved in the fight thinking about it.”

“You are right about doing this to control our populations.”

“How often does this happen?”

“Every year.”

“WHAT?” Gabe was shocked by the revelation.

“All of the children that are born in a year will fight against each other for the right to have a family.”

Gabby shook her head, “You mean all of your children have to fight to live?”

“Of course not. Only those that choose to have a family must participate in the Ritual. Most of them choose to live without having children.”

Gabe thought about the billions of warships that filled the galaxy attacking each other and he shook his head. “How many are allowed to mate?”

“Only a thousand of each species will complete the Ritual.”

Gabe’s eyes flew open, “Are you saying that a thousand of each species have enough children to supply the millions that fight here!?”

“They actually supply more than four times that number. Remember that most of their offspring will choose to not have families. They will live their lives as a productive member of their societies until they die.”

“How many times do those that survive the ritual have children?”

“Once.” Gabe could only shake his head.

“So what happens when one of the species fighting in the ritual is down to a thousand remaining fighters?”

“They are immediately pulled from the Ritual and sent home to be celebrated by their society. The remaining three species will continue to fight until they are down to a thousand survivors.”

“And what happens if one of them is left with more than a thousand?”

“The thousand with the highest number of kills will win the ritual. We do not allow the children to attack the members of their society.”

“So what happens to the ones that aren’t in the top thousand?”

“They are allowed to compete in the next ritual.”

Gabe looked up, “They have to do it again?”

“That’s right.”

“Have any of them managed to survive more than one ritual?”

“It happens all the time.”

“How is that possible?”

“Some of them become very good at hiding and avoiding the fighting.”

Gabe nodded, “That’s why you take the ones with the most kills.”

“It is.”

Ali looked up, “Do any of the participants in the Ritual have the option to leave and not finish.”

“That’s a good insight. Yes, all of the participants’ ships have a button to illuminate a blue light. Once the light is activated, their ships will not be attacked.”

“So if a pilot sees it has no chance of escape, it can use that button to save itself,” Ali confirmed?

“Yes and we tell them during their preparations for the Ritual that they shouldn’t hesitate to use it. However, sometimes a participant refuses to believe there’s no escape and they end up being killed.”

“WE HAVE COMPLETED THE EXAMINATION OF YOUR DATA.”

Gabe looked up, “And?”

“Your species is interesting. You would have probably self-destructed except for the being you call the Prophet.” Gabe remained silent. “It does appear that you have learned how to live with each other and those that inhabit the universe with you. We are lowering our force field and invite you to scan this vessel.”

Gabe jumped up in his command chair and looked at Gabby, “DO IT!” Gabby saw the blinking blue field around the giant vessel disappear and she activated her active scanners. She scanned the giant vessel from the bow to the stern and back to the bow. She turned off the scanner and blinking force field returned. Gabe looked up, “I thank you for your gift.”

“We have determined that we will probably never see you again. Your civilization is distant and that is the great separator. You are going to need to resolve the issue with that civilization that betrayed you. We do hope you are even handed with them. Their behavior is understandable.”

Gabe nodded, “It was the right thing to do but not the honorable thing.”

“We agree. You are free to leave and we wish you good fortune.”

“Thank you. Poul, take us home.”

The Prophet’s Eyes disappeared away from the galaxy in an instant. Gabby smiled, “I’m going to contact Fleet and let them know we’re on the way home.”

Gabe jerked his head around, “DO NOT CONTACT, FLEET!!”

Gabby yanked her fingers away from her panel, “Why not?”

“We’ve given the Darkness our communication system. They’ll hear us and know that we’re coming from a very long distance. That would arouse their suspicions and I don’t choose to do that.”

Gabby leaned back in her chair, “It’s just that we’ve been gone a long time and if I’m right about Poul’s current top speed, it’s going to take sixty two days for us to make it home. I’m sure there are those that are worried about you and Ali.”

Ali tilted his head, “Nope! I’m good.” Gabe and Gabby looked at him. “My family disowned me for joining Fleet and not taking over the family business. I’m a loner so I’m sure no one is sitting around weeping for me.”

Gabby looked at Gabe, “You know there are a lot of people worried about you.”

“I guess. They’ll just have to wait and get on with their lives.”