Death Prophecies 3: The Unknown Enemy Will Kill You Read online

  “Do you think you can control that many ships?”

  “I want Captain Muller to command half of my forces.”

  “What about the other half?”

  “I suspect that would be a good place to put one of the inexperienced Admirals.”

  “So you would be a Senior Admiral commanding them.”

  Janell shrugged, “Or you could pick the best Commodore.” Steve leaned back in his chair and put his chin on his right hand. Janell thought for a moment and said, “What about Commodore Hart?”

  “Who?”

  “Your assistant.”

  Steve scoffed, “She’s never attended the Academy. She knows nothing about flying or commanding a warship. She’s little more than a civilian. Why on Earth would you suggest her?”

  “Sir, how long will it take for my ship to be completed?”

  “About a year.”

  “You know that our simulators would have her up to speed in no time on the operation and capabilities of our warships. The advanced command simulators would teach her what she needs to command large numbers of them.”

  “You didn’t answer me. Why would you want her? I need her here.”

  “Sir, she’s trained a replacement that does an excellent job.”

  Steve gritted his teeth and shook his head, “Why do you want her?”

  “Because I need someone with the temperament to get the best out of those they command. She possesses that temperament.”

  “Do you have any idea what a hullabaloo this will cause if I promote her ahead of other officers?”

  “You won’t promote her, she’s already a Commodore, Sir.”

  Steve stood up and walked around his console and shook his head, “She’d never leave her sons to do this.”

  “Then allow me to convince her.”

  Steve stopped walking, “Do you honestly think you can do that?”

  “I’d like to try.”

  Steve shook his head, “And there’s no one else in Fleet that you’d rather have?”

  “No, Sir. Not on this next mission.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because no one else has the motivation to make them pay like she and I do.”

  Steve blew out a breath. He walked around to his chair and sat down. After a moment, he looked at her, “Vengeance can get a lot of people killed.”

  “It will also provide the motivation to see the mission through completion, Sir.”

  “You have my permission to discuss this with her.”

  “Where is she?”

  “She’s staying at her home in Homosassa, Florida. You can get the address from Carol.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Admiral, I really think you’re wasting your time.”

  “We’ll see, Sir.”

  “You’re dismissed.”

  Janell stood up, did an about face, and left the room. She went to the roof of the building and took possession of one of the shuttles parked there. Steve thought for a few minutes, lifted his communicator, and called Amy.

  Chapter Eleven

  The new Royal caught up with his former scientist at the Empire’s Science Building. He looked at Janek and heard him say, “Yes Sire, how may I be of service?”

  “I have been charged by the Supreme Royal with stopping any future attacks on the Empire. I must confess that I’m at a loss as to just how I’m going to accomplish that. You appear to be the only one that even remotely understands the technology we’re up against and I need your council to try and understand what I’m up against.”

  Janek shook his head, “You’re not going to stop them from attacking.”

  The Royal lowered his eyes, “Why not?”

  “Because they are far beyond our current technology and we’ve made it clear we are a danger to them.”

  The Royal stared at the scientist, “Sit down and explain to me what you know?”

  “I really don’t know much. Most of it is just speculation.”

  “Then tell me what you believe.”

  “The ship we managed to destroy was made entirely of anti-matter.”

  The Royal stared at him, “Are you absolutely certain about that?”

  “I am, Sire. The blast and shockwave of its destruction was far beyond anything ever recorded and, if it had been destroyed closer to the planet, it would have also been devastated. I suspect that the reason it’s invisible is its composition.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It must not be located inside our normal space. It lies somewhere between subspace and normal space. Positive matter is alien to this universe.”

  “Then how do we detect its emissions?”

  “That gives testament to just how good our scanners really are. However, this second ship was much more difficult to detect than the first ship that escaped. I suspect if they return, we’ll not detect them at all.”

  “You believe it was a different ship this last time?”

  “Look at the recordings. It’s clear the second ship is much larger than the first one.”

  “Is that why you say I won’t stop future attacks?”

  The Scientist nodded as he said, “They came back. If they came twice, there’s no reason to think they won’t come again.”

  “Where do you think they’re from?” The scientist just stared at him as the Royal said, “Tell me the truth; I won’t hold you in jeopardy.”

  “I thought they might have come out of the black hole originally but didn’t really have any evidence to support it. The anti-matter has convinced me that I was right.” The Royal Leader shook his head and Janek shrugged again, “You asked me to be honest.”

  “Tell me how that proves you’re right.”

  “It’s believed that when the universe first started from the initial explosion that just as much anti-matter as normal matter was created. However, we’ve never been able to ever uncover any except when a massive star explodes and that is always in small amounts. I’m of the opinion that whatever lies beyond the black hole is made up entirely of anti-matter.”

  “Then that begs the question as to why they would come here? If they touched anything in our universe, they would explode.”

  “It’s clear that’s not happening, Sire. There must be a component of this process that we don’t understand.”

  “Why would they come here? Surely you have an idea?” The scientist just stared at him again. The Royal raised his head, “You know something!”

  The scientist blew out a breath. “I was bothered by that exact question so I went into the databanks and removed all the restrictions on the age of data stored. While I was ostracized by the other scientists on the Council, I searched for anything that had black hole, singularity, or any other term that related to the black hole in it.”

  “And?”

  “More than ten thousand years ago, three of our warships pursued a warship of a civilization we were at war with. That ship flew into the black hole to escape.”

  “Are you saying that ship made it through?” The scientist shrugged. “But that ship would be made of anti-matter in that universe if it somehow managed to get through if your theory is correct.”

  “If my suspicions are right, you would be correct.”

  “But flying through a black hole is impossible!”

  “I agree, Sire.”

  The two stared at each other in silence for two minutes. And then the Royal said, “Let’s just for the sake of enlightenment assume it did make it through. What would that mean to us?”

  The scientist smiled slightly, “It’s often hard to really see one’s self from another’s point of view. How do you think that ship that was being pursued sees our civilization?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Just try to put yourself in that ship commander’s place and tell me how you think he would view us.”

  The Royal thought for a moment and said, “You said that the ship is from a civilization that no longer exists.”

  “It doesn
’t. We destroyed it.” The Royal stared at the scientist as he said, “And the moment we detected their first vessel, we called in our fleets to find it and destroy it.” The Royal continued to stare at the scientist in silence. “We made no effort to communicate with it. We attacked with every ship we could bring in.”

  “It didn’t attempt to communicate with us!”

  “No, Sire; it didn’t. Every time we detected it we had hundreds of warships move toward it. You saw on the recordings that it was located in the middle of our fleets. What do you think would have happened if they opened a frequency?”

  The Royal shook his head, “We would have attacked.” The Scientist nodded. “So you think that ship came here to determine if we’re a threat to its civilization?”

  “Put yourself in their place and it’s really not that hard to see how they view us. We’ve only confirmed their suspicions.”

  “But that second ship was moving toward our main planet.”

  “And we detected it long before we attacked. We could have made an effort to talk to them and ask why they’re here.”

  The Royal shrugged, “I don’t think it would have made a difference. We’d have still destroyed it.”

  “That’s why you won’t be able to prevent a future attack.”

  The Royal stared at the scientist again and finally said, “But this is all just pure speculation; nothing can fly through a black hole.”

  “You’re absolutely right, Sire. It probably came from another galaxy or one of our enemies has developed a way to manufacture anti-matter.”

  The Royal was angry. He stood up and began pacing as he said, “Ten thousand years ago every civilization was at war. We fought to protect ourselves.” Janek nodded and listened to him in silence. “We’re no different than any of the others.” Janek shrugged, which frustrated the Royal, “Tell me what you’re thinking!”

  Janek tilted his head to the right, “We didn’t communicate back then, either. Now see what that has caused our galaxy to become. We’re surrounded by advanced enemies and still not safe. I suspect the others will be in jeopardy after this civilization finishes with us.”

  The Royal stopped pacing, “We can get them to join us against them.” Janek burst out laughing. “What’s so funny!?”

  “They’ll watch us die and celebrate the death of their most powerful enemy. Only then will they come together. And do you think for a moment they’ll believe this civilization uses invisible warships made entirely of anti-matter? You see what happened to me when I suggested it. Besides, they’ll never believe we would do anything to help them and no one can blame them.”

  The Royal looked around at the large number of workers filling containers, “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m moving my family and the new Council of Scientists to a secret asteroid that was constructed centuries ago into a large underground city. It was originally intended to be an escape facility for the Royal Family if things went bad. I’m having a modern science laboratory installed there as we speak. There we will study means of creating anti-matter without putting a planet in danger as well as possible defenses against an anti-matter beam.”

  The Royal stared into the scientist’s eyes, “Are you really going to do that?”

  “I am, Sire.” The Royal stared at him and sighed. Janek said, “Sire, if you wish to send your family there…”

  “I’ve never connected with anyone.”

  Janek nodded, “That’s good. No one should ever live to see their loved ones die before them. I’ve lost both of my sons defending the borders of the Empire. I only have a daughter left along with my Connected.” The Royal started to speak but Janek interrupted, “When the battle starts, I will shut down power to all systems except the environmental systems in the center of the asteroid. We will attempt to hide and possibly start our species over once the conflict ends. The location of my asteroid is not in any Empire database and I intend to keep it hidden.”

  “You think we will lose.”

  “Do you doubt it? One ship destroyed how many of our warships? I suspect next time there will be quite a few more than just one ship showing up.” Janek smiled, “But this is all foolishness and pure conjecture. I’m sure we’ll all be fine. Nothing can come through a black hole.”

  “So you weren’t serious about the asteroid?”

  “Oh we’re going there tomorrow. We have to make sure the Royal Planet isn’t harmed by our studies. It was the blast of that large anti-matter ship so close to the Royal Family that persuaded them that my experiments with anti-matter had to be done elsewhere.””

  The Royal stared at him and said, “I want the coordinates of that asteroid.”

  “I’ll send them to you. I do ask you to be judicious in going there and make sure you’re not followed.”

  The Royal sighed, “Thank you for your honesty. I know some would accuse you of treason but I know you’re speaking the truth. The truth is never treasonous. I may need to speak to you again.”

  “I’ll include my personal frequency when I send you the coordinates.”

  “I will approve your move to the asteroid should you encounter any resistance.”

  Janek smiled, “That’s not necessary, the Highest Royal signed the order for us to take possession of the asteroid.” Janek shook his head slightly, “You remind me so much of my younger son. Good luck in your effort to save us.” The Royal nodded and left the room. The scientist watched him leave and knew he would be dead if the civilization attacked again. That was the price of being Royalty. Failure was death.

  • • •

  Janell selected a small one-man shuttle and she arrived in Florida in less than twenty minutes. The computer located the address she had entered into the system and began spiraling down from high altitude. She looked at the small house on her monitor and saw Amy standing in the front yard looking up at the sky. She was expecting her. Damn that Admiral! He called and warned her about what she wanted. She noticed that her two sons were standing beside her in bathing suits and swimwear. This wasn’t going to be easy.

  She landed and exited the small port. Amy walked forward and embraced her, “It’s good to see you.”

  “Connor called you, didn’t he?”

  “Of course. He didn’t want to make me angry about not keeping me informed about decisions being made concerning me.”

  “I would have preferred to discuss it before you could form an opinion.”

  “I can see that. How much time do you have?”

  “All day.”

  “Good. We’re going out to visit some friends and we want you to come with us. We’ll not discuss this until we return and I want your promise on that.”

  “Who are the friends?”

  “You’ll see.”

  “You have on a bathing suit.”

  “You can find one where we’re going that will fit you. Come on, the boys are anxious to leave.” Janell looked up and rolled her eyes. Amy started walking toward her old car and said, “Are you coming?” Janell pointed her wrist unit at the shuttle and closed the entry port and shut it down. She got in the front seat and Amy pulled away from the house.

  The boys asked her questions the entire way to the marina. Amy smiled and listened in silence to Janell answer them. She noticed that Janell kept looking out at the scenery along the route. “How do you like the view?”

  Janell shook her head, “It’s beautiful. I had no idea this place existed.”

  They arrived at the marina and the boys ran down to the pontoon boat as Amy led Janell into the entrance. Scott looked up, saw them, and his mouth fell open. Amy smiled, “Close your mouth, Scott. Drool is not a pleasant sight.”

  Scott’s mouth closed instantly and he smiled, “It’s not often Miss. America walks in here.”

  Janell laughed, “Why, thank you.”

  “Scott, we need to find her some swimwear. Can you take care of that while I get the boat set up? I also need another mask.”

  “Sure. If you’ll fol
low me.” Janell fell in behind Scott and looked back at Amy shaking her hand with her mouth in a small O. Amy smiled, Scott was pretty nice to look at. Twenty minutes later, Scott led Janell out to the boat and assisted her into it. He untied the moorings and pushed it away from the dock, “Have a great time and tell Jimmy hello.”

  Amy smiled and moved the boat out into the channel. “Amy, he is really something.”

  “Tell me about it. He’s former Navy.”

  “Why is he here?”

  “His mother was sick. He left the service to take care of her.”

  “You say was.”

  “She died about two years ago. He started working here and has stayed.”

  Janell looked out at the river as they passed the resort, “Where are we going?”

  Timmy laughed, “You’ll see!” Janell looked at him and Amy laughed.

  • • •

  They came back at sunset and Janell was silent. Amy saw her and knew the wheels were turning in her mind. Scott tied off the boat and offered his hand to Janell. She took it and he easily lifted her out of the boat. He then looked at Amy, “I’ll take care of putting everything away. You go and enjoy your company.” Amy nodded and Scott lifted her out of the boat.

  She embraced Scott and smiled, “You’ve been such a remarkable friend. Thank you.”

  “Dillon would have done the same for me, Amy.” Janell heard them and her eyes moistened.

  Amy stopped at the Dairy Queen on the way home and looked at Amy, “This is sort of a tradition we do every time we come here. We can stop somewhere else afterwards if you want.”

  “No, this is fine.”

  • • •

  They arrived back at the house and Amy sat down in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch. She nodded toward the other for Janell. She looked at her sons, “Both of you need to go and start working on your assignments.” Amy looked at Janell, “Their schools have sent their class work to their tablets.” John and Timmy stood at the door staring at her and Amy said, “Go! You have work to do.”

  John said in a very steady voice, “You know we overheard your conversation with Admiral Connor. I think we should be allowed to listen to what’s going on. It does affect us.”