No Technology Is Invincible (The Death Prophecies-Book Four 4) (6 page)

“But it’s not telepathy.”

“No, it isn’t, Gabe, but for all intents and purposes, it operates the same way and it also speeds up their mental processes.” There was a pause and then Poul said, “Did you hear the conversation of the two beings on the warship that went to communicate with the first Launcher that detected our presence?”

“I did. Weren’t they complaining about how it was difficult to communicate with the Builders?”

“That’s the one I’m referring to, Gabe. They said the Builders were incapable of communicating in simple terms. That’s because they had to slow their minds down and speak in terms they never used. I suspect the Builders that controlled their allies had to go to special training just to be able to communicate with them.”

“If what you’re saying is true, they will be able to coordinate large numbers of warships easily.”

“They will all be connected and have access to the same tactical data. They will have a decided edge in combat operations.”

Gabe thought about that and didn’t like what he saw. How do you attack a fleet when it could coordinate with other fleets to surround and overwhelm their attackers? Gabe shook his head, “Poul, if their warships make it into our universe, we’re pretty much toast.”

“I don’t like agreeing with you but you’re right. They must be stopped before their warships make it through a black hole.”

“We need to go now, Poul!”

“We’ll be ready in two days. I suggest you get out and take a break.”

“I will. When will Cadet Bartoli arrive?”

“She’s no longer a cadet. She graduated two days ago and has been ordered to report here in two days.”

“What rank did she receive?”

“She graduated number one in her class, which would normally give her a Lieutenant’s rank instead of an Ensign. However, the Senior Staff have promoted her to a captain.”

Gabe chuckled, “She even entered at a higher rank than I did.”

“I think your fast success paved the way to put other high achievers on a fast track. The second and third ranking cadets were also made captains.”

Gabe stood up and refused to look at her scores. “I’ll check in with you in two days. Contact me if anything important happens.”

“Will do.” Gabe walked off the ship and headed toward the front of the giant hangar where the Prophet’s Eyes was being modified. He felt out of his league. How was he going to effectively lead the combined fleets to take on the Builders? He shook his head and checked a small warship out of Fleet’s inventory. He lifted the ship, flew out of Earth’s atmosphere, and headed toward Sagittarius A*. He always seemed to think better at the black hole.

He lounged in the command chair and stared at the giant clouds spinning around the event horizon in the distance and sighed. An hour later he decided that Death Prophecy Ten was what he should focus on; never worry about things you can’t control. He worried about his ability to be an effective leader and he didn’t have enough information to know what was required. He needed to worry about getting through the black hole as quickly as possible to gather intelligence about the Builder Civilization. He nodded to himself and activated the thrusters. He felt better. Now he had a direction and he was always good with accomplishing his goals.

• • •

Gabe walked back into the hangar and headed toward the Eyes. He approached the entry port and an engineer looked up and said, “Your Weapon’s Officer is on board.”

Gabe stopped and looked at him, “I don’t have a weapon’s officer.”

“Well, your Science Officer is on board then.”

Gabe’s eyes went to the port and he rolled them. This was just great! He was in no mood to be in the same space with Captain Bartoli. He lowered his head, sighed, and fought the urge to walk out of the hangar. The engineer watched him and said, “I think I’d want to leave as well, Sir.” Gabe looked at him with raised eyebrows and the engineer shrugged, “She has a way of ticking people off with the way she asks questions.”

“Then why are you still here instead of going somewhere else?”

“I have to finish this circuit before I can leave. Trust me, I’d be gone but for this.”

Gabe stared at him and realized that he had a job to do as well and avoiding this woman was not going to get it done. He turned and entered the port. He walked on the bridge and found Captain Bartoli already saluting and standing at attention. “At ease, Captain. As you were.”

Gabby sat down and turned to her panel as she said, “That Engineer doesn’t like me, does he?” Gabe looked at her and she looked up from her panel, “I’m working with the scanner system and I heard what he said.”

Gabe kept his face neutral as he said, “You’re not asking the real question you have in your mind.”

“You mean about whether or not you dislike me as well?”

“Yes, that one.”

“Well, do you?”

Gabe went to his chair and sat down. He turned it to face her and said, “Does anyone you know like you, Captain?” The question caused Gabby’s head to go back and her eyebrows came together. She stared at him in silence and Gabe said, “Answer the question.”

“I’m thinking about it.”

Gabe blew out a breath, “Well, until you can think of someone other than your parents and relatives that does, I’m going to assume the answer is no.”

Gabby’s lips pursed and she said, “Actually, my parents don’t like me, either.” Gabe stared at her for a moment and then burst out laughing. “What’s so funny?!” Gabe laughed harder and she sat back in her chair and waited for him to gather his composure.

He finally did and took a deep breath. Gabby looked at him with her right eyebrow raised. “I would have thought that you would take my question as a personal insult.”

“It was a question, Sir.”

“And you didn’t attach it to your sense of self-worth, did you?”

She looked at him with no emotion and said, “Why would I?”

“How many people do you know that no one likes to be around?”

“Other than me, none.”

“Do you take pride in people avoiding you?”

Gabby took her glasses off and put them back on, “Not really. It just…just…isn’t important.”

Gabe tilted his head, “What did you just do?”

“I answered your question.”

“No, I mean taking off your glasses.”

“I can think better without them.”

“And you came up with an answer that quickly?”

Gabby shrugged, “I think better without them.”

“Captain, does it really matter to you whether or not I like you?”

“I’ve been thinking about that since I was given my orders to report to this ship under your command. It seems to me that under normal circumstances, people who don’t like being around me or people I don’t like being around can solve that issue by just going somewhere else. I don’t think that is a viable option on a starship.”

“Then the question that needs to be asked is, do you like me?”

“I guess.”

Gabe looked up and rolled his eyes, “Just what does that mean?”

“I’ve been chasing your records at the Academy and I looked at what you did there numerous times to give myself the urge to do better. I must say that you were quite remarkable in some of your essays.”

“So you respect what I’ve done.”

“Yes.”

“Is there anyone else you happen to respect?”

“I have a great respect for the Prophet and his teachings.”

Gabe leaned forward in his chair, “You know that the Prophet didn’t put much stock in his Ten Death Prophecies and invited Essay Connor to add to the list.”

Gabby’s face turned serious, “I read that in the old records that Essay Connor left behind. However, I believe that the Prophecies came from something outside the Prophet and they were intended to guide us. The Prophet was more than he believed, Admiral.”

Gabe nodded, “I happen to agree with you, Captain. Tell me why no one likes you.” Gabby took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “You don’t have to answer this question if you don’t want to,” Gabe added.

Gabby shrugged and began saying, “Since I was old enough to start talking, I realized that I am socially inept. My conversations didn’t fit with what was being discussed and I said all the wrong things at all the right times. My mind has great difficulty getting in step with those around me. My parents took me to numerous therapists to help with the issue but nothing changed. I decided before I started going to school that if no one wanted to be around me, I was just going to have to accept that I will live alone. So, I decided to become an overachiever and put all my focus on being the smartest human on the planet.”

Gabe stared at her and saw himself as a child. He was also an outcast because of his high intellect. “Well you’ve accomplished that. You have the highest academic scores at the Academy.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

Gabe looked up, “What do you mean, Poul?”

“She does have the highest scores but she and you are tied for the record.”

Gabe shook his head, “That’s not possible.”

“Check it yourself.”

“Poul, one of my professors gave me an A++ score on an essay and using that grade on a subjective essay was outlawed by the academy. That score makes it impossible for anyone to tie my scores.”

Poul was silent and Gabe looked at Captain Bartoli. She had turned back to her panel and he saw her face was red. “Captain, what is the ship’s computer talking about?” Gabby continued staring at her panel and Gabe pulled up the Academy’s site on his wrist unit. He checked the historical standings and saw that Poul was right; he and Captain Bartoli were tied at the top. He looked at her and said, “How did you do this?” Gabe paused and said, “No, why did you do this?” Gabe waited and Gabby remained silent. “Captain, this is a direct order; why did you do this?”

Gabby sighed and turned from her console to him. I’m totally unprepared to discuss this but I’ll just limit myself to the facts.”

Gabe nodded, “That would be good.”

“After you convinced Admiral Connor to allow me to go back to the Academy and graduate with my class, I mentioned to Professor Hilo that I would have never done that if our roles were reversed. I suggested that you didn’t know my scores wouldn’t count if I left early. He said you knew that.”

Gabe nodded, “I did.”

“I told him that your accomplishments must not have meant very much to you and Professor Hilo said they meant a lot to you.” Gabe nodded. “I suggested to the Professor that you were a better person than I am.”

She was silent and Gabe said, “What did he say to that?”

“He said I was right.”

Gabe stared at her in silence and finally said, “Why did that bother you when nothing anyone else says does?”

“Because I also respect Professor Hilo. His comment cut me in a way I can’t explain. I knew that without your stepping in and stopping Admiral Connor, I would not have accomplished my goal of being ranked number one and you were giving me the opportunity to knock you out of the top spot. I decided that if our scores were tied, I would still be number one and since my last name is alphabetically ahead of yours, my name would appear at the top of the list.”

“But it’s impossible to tie my scores with that rogue grade in my transcripts.”

“Not really. All I had to do was ace the first four finals and answer two questions along with one question on a six-part question along with one question on a ten-part question. We aren’t tied six decimal points out but the Academy only uses four decimal points in computing grades. We ended up with the same raw score.”

“I’ll bet you really struggled with making this happen?”

Gabby smiled, “Not really. The fact that I was able to do it has every professor at the Academy scratching their heads. I also received a message from Professor Hilo telling me that the best person won. That message made it all worth it.”

Gabe stared at her and started slowly shaking his head, “Captain Bartoli.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“My sacrifice at allowing you to go back and graduate pales in comparison with what you did. If anyone asks you in the future if you know of anyone that likes you, give them my name.”

Gabby stared at him and he saw her eyes moisten. She nodded and turned back to her panel. Gabe turned to his console and knew he was little. He was so…little. There was more going on inside this young woman than he ever thought possible. He felt small.

• • •

Three hours later he received a message on his panel. He read it and looked at Gabby, “Captain, you need to go to the quartermaster and get fitted for armor.”

“Sir?”

“You have to be fitted for the armor you’re going to use on our mission.”

“Yes, Sir.” Gabby stood up and walked off the small bridge and Gabe wondered what was bothering her. He went back to looking at the stars around the Carand’s Galaxy on his panel and thirty minutes later he saw his message light illuminate again, “This is Admiral Eagle.”

“Sir, Captain Bartoli refuses to be fitted with armor.”

“What?”

“She refuses to be fitted.”

Gabe stood up, “I’ll be right there.” He left the Eyes and walked to the rear of the hangar and found Gabby sitting in a chair fuming. The Lieutenant in charge of fitting her was also red in the face, “What’s going on?”

“She refuses to be fitted, Sir.”

Gabe looked at Gabby, “What’s the problem, Captain?”

“I will not wear that uniform under my armor!”

Gabe looked at the single piece grey uniform on a hanger and looked back at her, “Why not?”

“It doesn’t fit.” Gabe looked at the Lieutenant and she rolled her eyes. “Doesn’t fit how?”

“It’s too small, Sir.”

Gabe fought his impulse to tell Gabby that she was being silly but forced himself to think it through. He looked at the Fleet Uniform she was wearing and saw that it was a size too large for her. He remembered that the Cadet Uniform she wore in their first encounter was also one size too big. He pulled up a chair beside Gabby and looked at the lieutenant, “Give us a minute.” The Lieutenant left the room and Gabe turned to Gabby, “Would you go out into space without a spacesuit?”

Gabby looked at him, “Of course not, but this is different.”

“What if the only way for you to put on a spacesuit is to wear a uniform under it that was tight fitting?”