No Technology Is Invincible (The Death Prophecies-Book Four 4) (28 page)

Gabby lowered her head, “You will. Everyone I’ve ever cared about disappears and leaves me disappointed.”

“I’m not everyone, Gabby. I’m the man who has fallen in love with you. What makes my heart tremble is that I know that when I came on board that you wanted Admiral Eagle.”

Gabby’s head jerked up, “How did you know that?”

“I could see it, Gabby. Now I’ve fallen in love with a woman who loves another man. Have I made a mistake?” Ali stared in her eyes and Gabby shook her head. “Are you sure?”

“He can’t dance like you.”

“You haven’t tried to teach him.”

Gabby smiled, “I know.”

“Gabby, I will never leave you. I will be there for you through the good and bad times.”

Gabby stared at him and went into his arms, “Please, please keep this promise, Ali!” Ali held her close and soon she felt her fears vanish. Ali raised his arm and Poul stared a slow Latin beat. Ali took her and moved around the bridge with her in his arms. By the time she left to get some sleep, she no longer worried about the future. She had found it on this ill-fated mission and she knew that no matter what happened, he would always be there for her.

• • •

Gabe sat and stared at his console. They were still eight days away from the Milky Way and he suddenly turned and looked at Gabby. She quickly jerked her eyes from Ali and looked at him. Gabe looked at her and then looked at Ali, “Ok, I’m about over this thing.”

Gabby raised her eyebrows, “What thing?”

“The two of you haven’t acted normally for more than two weeks. What’s going on?”

Gabby stared at Gabe and then looked at Ali. Ali chuckled and turned to Gabe, “I’ve fallen in love with Gabby and she has accepted my offer to court her.”

Gabe looked at Gabby and she nodded. Gabe started chuckling and Gabby said, “Do you find this funny?”

“Not at all. I think the two of you are made for each other. Both of you are brilliant beyond belief and Lord help the universe when you have children. They’ll be smarter than anyone ever born. Congratulations, the two of you deserve your happiness.”

Ali looked at Gabe, “What about you, Gabe?”

“What about me?”

“You deserve to be happy.”

Gabe turned his head slightly, “Well, perhaps I’ll eventually find someone.”

Gabby smiled, “It’ll happen when you least expect it.”

“Have the two of you thought about what you’re going to do when we get back?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Ali, you are an engineer and Gabby is a sensor officer on a Fleet Warship that will be gone…a lot.”

Gabby looked at Ali and he saw the fear in her eyes. “That’s something we’ll have to work out, Admiral. But trust me that we will work it out.” Gabby blew out a breath and fell back in her chair.

Gabe looked at both of them and then said, “Is there anyone on Earth that either of you need to see?”

Ali’s eyes narrowed, “Why do you ask that?”

“Because there’s a good possibility that we will not go back there for years.”

“WHAT!”

“Just answer the question.”

Ali shrugged, “I need to check up on my parents occasionally.”

“What will happen if you don’t?”

“They’ll disown me and leave everything to my brothers and sisters.”

“Does that bother you?”

Ali stared at Gabe for a long moment in silence and then turned to Gabby, “As long as I have Gabby, I’m ok with it.”

Gabe lowered his eyes, “Do you think they’ll approve of her to be your wife, if it comes to that?”

Ali’s eyes narrowed and he considered the question. He thought about his father and his dictatorial demeanor. After a minute he looked at Gabe, “I think I’ll be fine never going back.”

Gabby shook her head, “Ali, family is important.”

“Do you want to go and see yours?”

“That’s different.”

“No, it really isn’t. You are my family now. That’s all I really need.”

Gabe looked at Gabby, “What about you? You avoided answering Ali’s question.”

“My family will be glad to be rid of me. I don’t have anyone on Earth that would draw me back.”

“Good. I’ll see what I can do to keep the two of you working together.”

Gaby’s face beamed, “That would be wonderful!”

Ali lowered his eyes, “What are you planning, Admiral?”

“I’ll let you know when it happens.” Gabe looked up, “Poul, does the communication probe have atmosphere capability?”

“Do you mean can it land?”

“Yes.”

“I can program it to land but that’s about all it can do.”

“That’s all I need it to do.” Gabe lifted his communicator and began speaking. Ali and Gabby listened to him and after a few minutes began nodding.

• • •

Steve Connor sat at his desk and stared at the Darkness Towers gathered around the black hole on his monitor. He turned the image off and fought to control his anger. But there was nothing he could do about it. He looked up as a voice came over his wall speaker, “Admiral.”

“Go ahead.”

“Sir, we’ve just had a communication probe land on the roof.”

“What?”

“Yes, Sir. We’ve tracked the serial number on its hull and it was issued to the Prophet’s Eyes.”

“I’m coming up. Don’t disturb it until I get there.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Steve jumped out of his chair and ran toward the doors. He sprinted to the elevator and placed his hand over the panel. The elevator stopped and immediately rose to his floor at high speed. It opened and Steve said, “Everyone off, now!”

The occupants of the elevator stepped out with wobbly legs. The high speed had disoriented them. Steve went in and pressed the button for the roof. The elevator arrived and he was moving up and down, “Come on. Come on!” The doors opened and he rushed out and saw the black probe sitting in the middle of the roof. Five guards and three scientists were standing around it, “What’s going on?!” He shouted.

Dr. Emory looked at him, “Someone programmed this probe to land here, Admiral.”

“Why didn’t they just use it to communicate?”

Dr. Emory pointed at the hull, “It appears that all the antennae have been removed.”

“Why would someone remove the antennae?”

Dr. Emory shrugged, “The only reason I can think of is that they didn’t want us to activate the communication circuit.”

“Why?”

“Perhaps they didn’t want anyone to hear what this probe is carrying.”

Steve stared at the Lead Scientist and knew he was right, “Is there any way we can remove the information without broadcasting it?”

“There is a small port we can connect a cable to and download the contents.”

Steve looked at the probe and said, “Get it done!”

• • •

Steve sat in his conference room and looked at the Senior Admirals and the three War Admirals. He pressed a button on his panel and a blue field appeared around the participants. Everyone started talking and Steve said, “I’ve had a force field installed so that anything we discuss will not be heard by anyone outside this room. I suspect our friends at the black hole are keeping a constant eye on me so this might cause them to question what’s going on so we need to get this done quick. I’ve received a communication from Gabe and I’ve condensed it into a forty-minute tape. Watch it and hold your questions.”

“Is he alive, Sir?”

Steve looked at Janell, “He is, now shut-up!” Janell fell back in her chair and blew out a breath. The recording started and everyone watched it to its conclusion. Steve looked around the room, “Any questions?” Everyone shook their head. “Do you know what you need to do?” Everyone nodded in agreement. Steve pressed a button on his panel, “Destroy the recording and drop the force field.”

The blue field disappeared and Steve’s panel immediately started buzzing. He pressed a button and saw Levi, “It has come to my attention that you have blocked access to your office.”

“And?”

“Admiral, don’t make this an issue between us.”

“I’m not making anything an issue between us. Are you telling me that you are tracking my every move and I do not have the right to privacy?”

“I am when you could be plotting against my forces there.”

Steve smiled, “I wondered if you were going to challenge my doing this.”

“Why?”

“Just to determine how miserable you are. I blocked this room to determine if you were watching me. I think I have my answer.”

“You’d do the same if our roles were reversed.”

“That’s just it, our roles would have never been reversed because we honor our agreements, unlike you.”

“Do not block us again.”

“Or?”

“I’ll order the blockage removed.”

The screen went dark and Steve looked at the gathered Admirals, “It is just like I told you it would be. You can disband your forces and go home. We no longer control our destiny.”

“Sir, is there nothing we can do about this?”

Steve looked at Amy and knew she could have been an actress at the sincerity he heard in her voice, “No. They are too powerful for us to challenge and there’s no reason to keep our ships on station. Send them home.”

• • •

Levi watched the meeting and sighed. He looked at his Military Advisor, “Keep me informed on what’s going on.” The Darkness Commander scowled and turned away. “What? You don’t agree with my actions?”

“Sire, you have done the right thing but have been dishonorable in the treatment of the civilization that fought to protect us.”

“If you feel that way, resign.”

The Commander took the ornament on his collar off and threw it on Levi’s desk. The other ten Advisors removed theirs as well, threw them on the table, and followed the Commander out of the room. Levi watched them leave and knew he had done what must be done. He looked around the room and pulled up the rolls of high leaders capable of taking their places. It didn’t take long to see that he had lost the best ones available. He picked up the ornaments and threw them against the far wall. “Sire.”

Levi turned and pressed a button, “Yes.”

“Thousands of the human warships are leaving the ranks of their fleets and returning to their home world.”

“Inform me when they’ve all left.”

“Yes, Sire.”

Levi shook his head. What they were doing was stupid. What were they going to do if the Builders managed to get through their black hole? He thought about it and knew that they wouldn’t do anything to stop them from coming to his galaxy. He shook his head. Now he would have to divide his forces and send half of them to the other galaxy. He thought about destroying the human’s home world but knew that might cause a rebellion of his forces. Besides, they were no danger. He wished for a moment he could have done it differently but what was done was done.

• • •

Six months later he received a contact from the other galaxy, “Sire, it appears the Humans are launching colony ships.”

“WHAT?” An image appeared on his panel and he saw a giant ship lifting from the planet. He pressed his panel and Admiral Connor appeared, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to make sure that when you’re attacked that my species has a chance of survival. I’m sending out ships to colonize planets in distant galaxies.”

“But…”

“Are you telling me that you’re making us prisoners on our only planet? Your species exist on thousands of planets and you aren’t willing to allow us to try and survive.”

“How do I know you won’t attempt to come back and attack my civilization?”

“You can keep your galaxy and this one. If we never see you again it will be too soon.”

Levi started to stop them but his new Lead Advisor said, “I rather have them a billion light years away than this close. It will take centuries to colonize a planet and build a technological society. We’ll still be far advanced to anything they could build.”

Levi looked at the Advisor and saw the others nodding. He shrugged and looked at Steve on the monitor, “Good luck in finding new homes.” The screen went dark and Levi wondered if he was missing something. For the next six months he watched giant colony ships lifting and disappearing out of the spiral galaxy. What could the Humans be planning? He just couldn’t imagine anything they could do but what they said: run.

• • •

The warship moved in over the beautiful blue and green planet and moved into the atmosphere. The voyage from Earth had taken longer than expected and those on board were ready to leave the ship.

The vessel had gone through the change and it was invisible with its magnetic field shut off as it spiraled down toward the surface of the planet and landed on a hardened tarmac. Gabe waited and the port on the large Flagship opened and he saw Janell walk down the ramp. She saw him at the foot of the ramp and ran down it at full speed. Gabe’s eyes went wide open as he saw what she was doing and he put his right foot back to brace him. She arrived at the bottom of the ramp and leapt into his arms. She still almost bowled him over but he managed to somehow keep his feet under him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately. He was shocked and his eyes remained open until he thought about what was happening and he returned her kiss. After a very long moment she broke the kiss and leaned back to look at him. Gabe smiled, “A hello would have been ok.”

“I’ve been stupid, Gabe. I’ve been an idiot. I’ve been a moron. I’ve been…”

Gabe put his finger against her lips silencing her, “Yes, you have.”

“Is it too late? Have I lost you for good?”

Gabe looked into her eyes, “Why the sudden change of heart, Janell?”

“That’s just it, Gabe. My heart never changed. I’ve continued to love you and life without you is so much worse than the problems we had. I just needed some time without you to fully realize how much I need you.”

Gabe sighed, “It wasn’t all your fault, Janell. I knew what I was doing and didn’t do anything to stop it. I’ve also learned a little since I’ve been gone. The pain I’ve endured with you out of my life has been excruciating.”

“I’m so sorry, my love. I nearly died when I thought you were dead. I knew my life was over.”

“You didn’t try to find someone else?”

“There could never be anyone else. Only you can fill my heart. I was worried that you would fall in love with your Scanner Officer before I could tell you.”