No Technology Is Invincible (The Death Prophecies-Book Four 4) (3 page)

“No, he has a great deal of pride in what he did.”

“Then why did he argue for me to go back to the Academy?”

Hilo looked at her, “Because he would never want anything handed to him. His pride comes from the effort he put forth to be number one. His allowing you to not have the opportunity to beat him would have diminished his self-worth.”

Gabby was silent and after a few minutes she sighed, “I guess he’s a better person than I am.”

Hilo smiled, “Indeed he is.”

• • •

Steve watched the two leave his office and he looked at Gabe, “What happened with Janell?”

Gabe sighed, “She thinks I’m just too smart for her. She feels dumb around me and just doesn’t think she would be happy in the long run. After thinking about it, I’m forced to admit she’s probably right. Every time we’re together I end up correcting her. Truth be told, I wouldn’t like that either. I was foolish to act that way with her.”

“You could tell her that you’re not going to do it again.”

“The damage is done, Admiral. She’d know I was holding back and that would be worse.”

Steve smiled, “The Cadet that was just here appears to be as brilliant as you are. She might be one you’d consider.” Gabe tilted his head and stared at Steve in silence. Steve returned his stare for a minute and then chuckled, “I’m just kidding.”

Gabe shook his head, “For a moment, I thought you were serious. I feel like I’ve just had a discussion with a computer. She appears to have all the emotions of a rock.”

“Now, she’s not that bad!”

Gabe’s eyebrows came together, “Sir, I know what it takes to be Number One at the Academy. She has taken on that goal like a Quest and nothing, and I do mean nothing, distracts her from doing it. I’ve just lost a beautiful woman who is vibrant, full of energy, possesses one of the most beautiful smiles I’ve ever known; she lights up a room when she enters. In comparison, she is that bad.”

“You can’t have it all, Gabe.”

“Whoever said that didn’t. I don’t have to settle for less.”

Steve smiled, “That’s what old bachelors say in their old age. However, I do wish you luck.”

“Just keep me busy so I don’t dwell on it.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

• • •

Admiral Amy Hart looked at her wrist unit and read the long message from Gabe. She then watched the video of the meeting with Dr. Hilo and the Cadet. After a few minutes, she sat down and shook her head. This was scary stuff. She looked at Scott and saw he was also finishing the video. Her unit vibrated and she saw Janell appear, “Amy!”

“Yes.”

“Are you reading this?”

“I am. This is terrifying.”

“Tell me about it. It looks like the invasion is off.”

“For the moment.”

“What?”

“If that closest galaxy to the Builders isn’t the Milky Way’s black hole, we can go ahead with our plans.”

Janell stared at her and then nodded, “You’re right. I didn’t think it through.”

“I understand you broke it off with Gabe.”

Janell eyes widened, “I guess bad news travels fast.”

“Are you ok?”

“Thank you for that?”

“What?”

“Not asking me why I’m crazy.”

Amy tilted her head and shook it, “I know you must have had a good reason and thought it through. How is Gabe taking it?”

“I honestly don’t know, Amy. I didn’t want to hurt him but I think I did.”

“How could you not; I know how much he loves you. However, he’s a big boy and he’ll survive, just like you will.”

Janell nodded, “I know you’ve been through a lot.”

“You have as well and I survived. It appears that Admiral Connor is going to send out some scouts to determine what we’re up against. That will give us time to work with our fleets to get them ready to take on the Builders and the Carand.”

“Do you think our ships can stand up to the Builder’s Warships?”

“Not at the moment. But we have our best scientists working on it. Let’s hope they have enough time to develop some tools we can use against them before they show up.

“Have you heard anything?”

“An extra reactor is being added to our ships along with a dual thruster system. They’re going to try and replicate the method Admiral Kuhn used to escape.”

“If you hear anything else, please let me know.”

“I will. Hang in there, Janell.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The call ended and Amy looked at Scott, “What do you think?”

Scott shook his head, “I was just starting to sleep good at night.”

“I was asking about Janell and Gabe breaking it off.”

Scott shrugged, “Love will find a way, Amy. They’re both rare individuals and they will find happiness.” Amy smiled and moved to him. Time was a gift. Better use it while you have it.

G
abe boarded the Prophet’s Eyes and looked up, “Have you been brought up to speed on the most recent developments, Poul?”

There was a moment of silence and the ship’s computer said, “I have and I’m surprised that it took a Cadet to see it.”

“Actually, you shouldn’t be.”

“Oh?”

“The Cadets are sheltered in an academic environment and aren’t distracted by things like preparing a fleet for invasion or all the other myriad things someone serving in the Navy has to deal with. Plus, Cadets look for things to impress their instructors. I’m really glad someone saw this now.”

“I saw that you lobbied for her to go back and graduate. You will lose your number one ranking at the Academy if she’s successful. That doesn’t bother you?”

“Of course it bothers me! However, it was the right thing to do. Death Prophecy Eight, never shy from doing the right thing.”

There was a pause in the conversation and then the computer asked, “Did you check on her scores?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“Did you?”

Gabe blew out a breath, “I’m beginning to think you’re telepathic, Poul. I did.”

“And?”

“If she aces her finals, she’ll be more than ninety points ahead of me.”

“Well, it isn’t over until it’s over.”

“Let’s not discuss this. I’m taking you to M-82 and we’re going to go through the black hole. Afterwards, we have an appointment to go and discuss our findings with the Darkness’ Supreme Leader.”

“I’m not certain that going through the black hole in M82 is a good idea.”

“We’re just going through and we will then immediately return. We need to get your hull changed so we can use you in both universes.”

“I wondered why they changed my power system to use dark matter.”

“Your former power system would detonate with the anti-matter particles in the other universe.”

“I still don’t see why Admiral Connor thinks this is necessary.”

Gabe leaned back in his chair, “Poul, the Bosrean built this ship for the Prophet to go wherever he chose. However, they did not build you. You are unique. You’re a product of your original builders and the advanced computers we connected to your core. We need your wisdom and I’ve seen that you have become somewhat cynical as of late. I think you need the challenge of getting involved in what’s going on.”

There was a moment of silence and Gabe heard, “I guess you’re right. I miss the Prophet. He was my first friend and there has been no one else like him. Also, being around Stella as much as I have has made me…”

“Crotchety?”

“Something like that. She defies all logic. But she somehow comes out winning. It’s enough to drive a computer crazy.”

Gabe laughed, “The Connors are like that. I suppose that’s why the Prophet chose their ancestor to be the one to lead Earth out of its Dark Age.”

“The original Connor would have thrown her out of an airlock.”

Gabe laughed out loud, “No he wouldn’t, the original Stella was just like the current one. Just as head strong and strong willed. Her father loved her very much and it was her that developed our most advanced scanning system.”

“I guess. I’ll need to make a run out to M82 at a slower speed to collect dark matter for my collection chamber.”

“Our appointment is in two days, Poul.”

“I’ll have it done in less than one. I’m leaving Earth’s orbit now.”

Gabe watched the solar system disappear quickly and he leaned back in his chair. He thought about the call that he received from Janell the previous day.

• • •

“Gabe.”

“Hello, Janell.”

“Are you ok?”

“I guess. I’ve thought about what you said and you’re right. I’ve been constantly correcting you when we were together and I know that had to be depressing. I was just too involved in getting the fleets ready for invasion to pay attention to the damage I was doing. I don’t hold any animosity over what happened. However, I do love you.”

“But…”

“I know. I love you enough to let you go and find your happiness.”

“Gabe, I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t be. I’m proud that you had the strength to do the right thing even though you knew you were going to hurt me.”

“I do love you, Gabe.” Gabe was silent and Janell said, “Gabe?”

“I know. It’s just…Go and find your life, Janell.” She nodded and the screen went dark. Gabe sat in his room and felt his sorrow almost overwhelm him. But the Death Prophecies assured him he was going to be alright. JUST STAY BUSY AND DON’T’ DWELL ON IT!!

• • •

He looked up over the central monitor and saw the Ten Death Prophecies on a bronze plaque.

1. Confrontation must be avoided until absolutely necessary.
   
2. Never do what others can.
   
3. The Unknown Enemy will kill you.
   
4. Never stop developing, no technology is invincible.
   
5. Revealing less is more.
   
6. Choose your best to lead.
   
7. Only knowledge can save you.
   
8. Never shy from doing the right thing.
   
9. Survival is never given free.
   
10. Only worry about things you can control.
    

He sighed. It was number five and ten that allowed him to move forward. He didn’t tell Janell how much he missed and needed her. It would have caused her too much pain and might have forced her to come back to a situation that just wasn’t going to work. He stared at number ten and knew he would have to focus on it to put his mind at rest. He had to get his mind off her. “Poul?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been struggling with how our ships are able to go through a singularity. Physics say that a singularity is infinitely dense and has no volume. How can we go through something that has no space?”

“Actually, I’ve looked at that question and I don’t think we pass directly through the singularity.”

Gabe sat up straight in his chair, “What?”

“The black holes in Andromeda and the Milky Way are spinning. The latest scientific view of the singularity in the center of spinning black holes is that they are moving on a curved line inside them. They’re basically going around in a circle, which physicists call the Ring. I think that we pass through that ring to arrive in the other universe. It is basically a wormhole. I also believe that it is inside that ring where the field which changes our ships and crews into neutral atoms is located.”

Gabe’s eyes narrowed and he leaned back in his chair and thought about what Poul had just said. It kept his mind occupied all the way to M82.

• • •

The Builder looked at the hologram in front of him and thought, “What’s the delay on getting the thrusters installed?”

The Construction Leader immediately answered, “The entire launcher is highly radioactive. We’ve had to wait for the level to go down before we could commence the construction.”

“We have warships on the other side of that black hole and we must know what’s happening.”

“We will have it completed in less than a week.”

The Builder Leader scowled and ended the contact as the hologram disappeared. The warships being used by the Carnivores were not advanced enough to defeat the civilization on the other side of the black hole. He must have the data necessary to make the next decision. He stood up and walked to the huge armored glass and looked out at the giant metropolis that disappeared over the horizon. They knew where he lived. He thought about it and touched his ear, “I want our ship building facilities brought back online.”

“Do you not think we possess enough warships to carry out your task? Those warships that attacked the Carnivores are no match for our warships.”

The Leader listened to the linked minds of the Elders and thought, “I do not have enough data to answer that question. I have no way of knowing if those warships that came through the black hole and attacked our launchers and fleets are the only type they have to use. That uncertainty calls for more strength, not less.”

There was a long pause and he heard, “We will restart the building facilities.”

“I also need crews trained on their use.”

“It will be done.”

The Leader ended the contact and stared out of the window in silence.

• • •

Gabe saw normal space appear and he looked at the chronometer on his panel, “We’re due in Andromeda in an hour.”

“Give me a moment.”

Gabe’s eyes narrowed, “What’s wrong?!”

“It appears my hull and systems are undergoing the change at an accelerate rate.”

“TELL ME WHAT THAT MEANS!”

“Evidently, having not gone back through a singularity for thousands of years allowed my hull the opportunity to solidify its anti-matter structure. It appears that is allowing the change to instantly take place. More than seventy percent of my structure has already been converted to neutral atoms.”

“Does that pose a danger?”

“If we didn’t have the dark matter to use, it would. However, I’ve started feeding black matter into the reactors and the fusion process has accepted it. I should be at full power in thirty minutes.”

“What about your weapons?”

“They’ll have to be modified when we return to Bosrean.”

“Why Bosrean and not Earth?”

“They’re more advanced with the superconductive materials.”

Gabe looked at the chronometer, “Will we be able to make the meeting on time?”

“It will only take a few moments for me to go to Andromeda.”

Gabe shook his head, “Poul, none of our ships are able to fly that fast. How are you able to do it?”