Survival is Never Free (The Death Prophecies Book 5) Read online

  Gabby nodded, “Gravity attracts and Dark Energy repels. That’s how things work. It’s a good thing that gravity is much stronger than the force of Dark Energy so our galaxy won’t change as the others move away from us.” Ali’s eyes narrowed as he sat back in his chair and put his hand on his chin. “What are you thinking about, Ali?”

  “Oh, nothing.”

  “Come on, Ali. When you sit back and put your hand on your chin, you’re always thinking about something.”

  Ali looked at her, “Where do the Dark Energy particles come from?” Gabby stared at him and slowly shook her head. “They’re not coming from the universe.” Gabby nodded and Ali continued, “If they’re not coming from the universe, where are they coming from and where do they go when they disappear?”

  “Ali, scientists have been asking that since Universal Expansion was discovered.” Ali nodded and remained silent. “Ali, your lips are there for communicating with others. What are you thinking?”

  Ali smiled, “Perhaps we need to find out.”

  “And just how are we going to do that?”

  Ali stood up and walked into the weapon’s lab and started talking with one of the lead scientists. Gabby saw Ali talking and after a few moments the scientist started nodding. What was going on?

  • • •

  Gabe stared at the Mothership moving through space and saw the danger it represented. The Essays had destroyed five of them but had to do it with multiple ships. So far, no Essay had been able to take out a Mothership alone and that had to happen before Earth could be protected. The Motherships outnumbered them by too many to attack them with multiple ships. They would link up and then it would be suicide to attack them.

  • • •

  He looked at his panel and saw Commodore John Hart appear on his display, “Sir, we’re in position to launch our attack.”

  “Call it off, Commodore.”

  “Why, Sir.”

  “We’ve got to find a way to take them out with a single Essay and that’s not going to happen.”

  “Why does it have to be with a single ship, Sir?”

  “The Essays were built to do just that and it appears they are not able to perform as expected. We’ve lost more than a hundred in our attacks and there’s not a good reason to continue this.”

  “Why does it have to be with one ship?”

  “Because we’re outnumbered more than five to one and they can link up and defeat any combination we send at them.”

  “That’s not what I mean, Sir. Why can’t we use the Attack Fighters to distract the Mothership and attack while that’s happening?”

  “The Mothership’s defense fighters will go after the Attack Fighters.”

  “Then use the Hawks to keep the Black Fighters off our Attack ships while the Essay hits them in the landing bay.”

  Gabe stared at John and said, “How many Attack Fighters do you want?”

  “Twenty thousand and an equal number of Hawks.”

  Gabe stared at John and then said, “I’ll send them to you. This is the last attack. Break it off if it gets too dangerous.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  • • •

  “Amy, I don’t know if this is the right thing but John says he wants to give it a go. I’ll call it off you think it’s too big of a risk.”

  Amy sighed, “Would you call it off if it was another ship?”

  Gabe stared at her and then slowly shook his head,” No, I probably wouldn’t.”

  “I also think it’s too much of a risk, Gabe and John talked with me before he contacted you. He has always been stubborn and he believes in the Essay Class Battleships. I wasn’t able to change his mind and I appreciate your contacting me. However, we need to determine if the Essays can stand up to those Motherships. No one else is stepping forward and you have to allow him to try.”

  “Amy, if something happens to John, I don’t know if I can live with it.”

  “Gabe, we have to live with every ship we lose in combat and we’ve both lost some to the Motherships. They all deserve the same consideration as you’re giving John.”

  Gabe sighed and looked Amy in the eyes, “I’m going to have enough support to try and get him out if things go bad.”

  Amy smiled slightly, “I know.” The display went dark and Amy felt a deep wave of fear for her oldest son.

  • • •

  John looked at his pilot, “Once the Fighters engage the Mothership’s small vessels, wait sixty seconds and jump in to five miles from the landing bay doors.” John looked at his Weapons Officer, “I want the major beam to have two lines of reactors set up to feed the beam. Switch to the second line the moment the beam shows any loss of power.”

  “That will remove the reactors supporting the front starboard and port batteries, Sir.”

  “We won’t be there long enough to need them. Once the major beam starts losing power again, we’re jumping away.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  John leaned back in his chair and ran a calculation of how much penetrating power the major beam had compared to the ten thousand major missiles. The answer was close.

  An Essay Class Battleships most powerful weapon was the major blaster located on the bow of the ship. It was ten times the size of the main blasters lining its hull and was able to pivot more than ninety degrees. It could fire a beam ten miles wide from a distance of five miles and it would expand to a hundred miles wide at fifty miles.

  No force field ever encountered could withstand the major beam’s power. Well, maybe that monster Admiral Eagle encountered in the Galaxy of Warring Spaceships could, that that ship wasn’t here. Heck, even the main beams could penetrate the Mothership’s force field. They just didn’t have the penetrating power of the major beam. This had to work. The Essays had to prove their design would be effective against that giant ship.

  “Sir, the Attack Fighters and Hawks are going in four minutes.”

  Gabe looked at his pilot, “Lock in the coordinates and prepare to jump.”

  “Yes, Sir. Coordinates are locked in.”

  John leaned forward and stared at the main wall monitor until the Fighters rushed in and swarmed the Mothership. He looked at the chronometer and wondered if the countdown would ever end. It finally hit zero and the Crystal River exited normal space and jumped.

  • • •

  Gabe looked at his Scanning Officer, “Are you receiving the feed from Admiral Hart?”

  “Yes, Sir. He’s pulled the reactors offline from the forward blaster batteries and is feeding it to the major blaster.”

  “WHAT?”

  “He says that they will kick in automatically when the major beam starts to lose power.”

  Gabe stood up and yelled, “STOP HIM!”

  “It’s too late, Sir. He’s already jumped.”

  Gabe stared at the situation monitor and prayed he was wrong. The Crystal River appeared five miles out from the giant Mothership and, even with the monitor attenuated, the brilliant major beam from the Essay Battleship was too bright to see anything else. The beam hit the landing bay doors on the Mothership and blew through them instantly. A moment later, fifty of the Motherships small Fighters rammed the Crystal River in the bow and the Mothership and the Essay Battleship went up in a massive explosion that darkened the monitor. Gabe slowly sat down and put his head in his hands. John had not mentioned in his plans that he was going to use two lines of reactors. The data showed he only needed one. He said, “Order all ships to gather at the black hole for transit.” Gabe stood up and headed toward his conference room, “Commodore, you have the ship.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  • • •

  Timmy sat in his conference room and allowed his tears the release they demanded. He had his head in his hands and heard his console beep. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked up. He started to block the call but saw that the sender was Admiral John Hart. He punched the button and saw John smiling on the display, “Hi, Tims. I guess if you’re seeing t
his then I didn’t make it. I recorded this message earlier and sent it to be delivered after my attack. I planned to delete it if I was successful. I guess this means I wasn’t.”

  John’s smile disappeared, “Don’t feel bad, Tim. This was something I had to do and I violated protocol making the attack. I took some reactors off line from my defenses to ensure the Mothership received a full blast from the Major. You left the Essays and I understand why you did it. I hold no ill will or animosity about your decision. But the Essays are important and I have to prove they can live up to their design. I pray that happened but have no way of knowing. Please don’t let Mom blame herself, she tried really hard to talk me out of it. I love her so much and I love you like…my brother. This was worth doing. At the very least it will show that we can’t send in the Essays alone against the Motherships and that will save thousands of sailors’ lives in the long run.”

  John smiled again, “Tell Mom that I will be waiting with Dad to see her. I’ll be watching both of you and will love you until the end of time. I’m so proud of you, Tims. I’m so sorry I’ve caused you sorrow; you’ve always been the better warrior.”

  The message ended and Tim wept. He remained in his conference room even when the Homosassa went through Andromeda’s Black Hole and returned to the Ghost Colony. He refused to leave until Amy arrived and shared his anguish.

  • • •

  Gabe went home to Janell and he was inconsolable. Janell tried but nothing worked. After two days, Timmy and Amy showed up at his home and Janell showed them in. They went to the back porch and found Gabe sitting in a rocking chair staring at the ocean. Amy went over and put her arms around his neck and said, “You’re wasting time, Gabe.”

  Gabe groaned in sorrow, “I’m done, Amy. I’m not going back.”

  Amy put her hand on his shoulder, “It’s not your fault.”

  Gabe turned and looked at Amy with red-rimmed eyes, “I sent him in. I knew he would probably die.”

  “No you didn’t. He died because he did what he always did and pushed the envelope.”

  “But…”

  “It was so important to him that the Essays be proven that he put himself and his crew at a risk that was not called for. He would be alive except for his taking the line of blasters away from his defenses. They would have blown those attackers away if they were online. He knew what he was doing and it was important enough to him to go through with it. He knew you would have never approved the mission if he told you about it in advance. He didn’t tell you, did he?”

  Gabe slowly exhaled, “No he didn’t.”

  “But his sacrifice showed us that the Essay’s Major Beam can destroy a Mothership if fired from inside five miles. He accomplished what he set out to do.”

  “Why did he pull that line of blasters, Amy?”

  “Because if the initial blast didn’t do it, he hoped the second would. Adding more reactors is an easy modification to the Essays and they are being modified at this moment so no blasters will need to be pulled offline in the future.”

  Gabe’s tears started, “How can you accept this, Amy?”

  Amy’s eyes moistened and she softly said, “Because I know my son. I know how reckless he could be. If he didn’t die doing this, it was only a matter of time before he took one giant risk too many and it would have happened. He died doing what was important to him and he succeeded. Gabe, you, me, and Timmy owe it to John to make sure his sacrifice means something.”

  Gabe looked at Timmy and he nodded. Gabe inhaled and stood up. He walked over to Janell and pulled her into his arms. Janell softly said, “We need you leading us, my love.”

  Gabe nodded as he squeezed her a little tighter and then turned to Amy and Tim, and said, “Let’s go.”

  • • •

  They arrived at the Admiralty Building and found Steve meeting with Essay, Erica, and Kamela. Steve looked up and saw them enter his office and said, “OH THANK, GOD! I need you.”

  Gabe saw the concern on Steve’s face, “What’s going on?”

  “I’m going to let Kamela explain what she just told me.”

  Gabe, Amy, and Timmy pulled up a chair and Kamela looked at them, “I don’t know if you’re aware of it but we destroyed a damaged Builder Launcher when we entered their galaxy.”

  Gabe nodded, “I saw that launcher when we scouted their galaxy.”

  “I’m surprised that it was left behind by the Builders and I really think it was an oversight on their part. However, the Azura will find nothing in the Builders’ former galaxy that would allow them to learn anything about black hole technology.”

  Amy tilted her head, “They’ll learn about it soon enough when they observe the Builders escaping through the Carand’s Black Hole.”

  Steve snorted, “That’s what we’re discussing. If we can prevent the Azura from observing the Builders going through the black hole, the likelihood is great that they won’t develop the technology to transit a black hole.”

  The three Admirals were silent and Erica said, “The only reason humanity sent a ship into a black hole is because Poul showed us it could be done. Without that knowledge, we would have never made the effort.”

  Gabe’s eyes narrowed, “What are you suggesting?”

  Kamela smiled, “Admiral Eagle, if you were commanding the Builders, how would you approach moving into the Carand Galaxy?”

  Gabe’s eyes narrowed and he thought about the question. He looked at Essay and said, “What would you do?”

  Essay was startled by the remark and said, “Uhhh…I guess I’d send out scouts to see what I’m going to face moving into the Carand Galaxy. I’d quickly see a massive number of warships preparing for my arrival. I’d also note that they are not as advanced as my forces.”

  Gabe nodded, “We agree so far. Go on.”

  Essay looked at Kamela and she nodded for him to continue. He turned back to Gabe and said, “Well, I could go one of two ways at this point. I could send out my vessels to remove those massed enemy ships before I transit the black hole.”

  Gabe smiled, “OR?”

  “I could gather my forces and fight my way to the black hole and go through it.”

  Gabe nodded and looked at Steve, “If the Azura Families aren’t close enough to detect that passage, they will have no idea where they went.”

  Timmy said, “But what happens if the civilizations in the Carand Galaxy tell the Families the Builders flew into the black hole?”

  Kamela looked at him, “Would you believe them?”

  Timmy’s brow furrowed and he moved his head slightly left, “If the Builders were nowhere around, and I could not account for their disappearance, I might.”

  Kamela smiled and challenged Timmy’s remark, “If the Builders could transit a black hole, why didn’t they do it in their own galaxy instead of fleeing to a galaxy close to a billion light years away? The Azura will see that there isn’t much difference between the two black holes.”

  Timmy started nodding, “They will be forced to believe the Carand Civilizations are trying to get them to send their ships to their doom in the black hole.”

  Kamela clapped, “Very good, Admiral Hart.”

  Gabe looked at Steve, “The Azura are four weeks behind the Builders. Their scanners are capable of seeing the Carand Galaxy three weeks out. That gives the Builders one week to fight their way to the black hole and go through.”

  Steve nodded, “Do you think they can do it?”

  Gabe thought hard and finally shook his head, “Probably not.”

  “So what do we do?”

  Gabe shrugged, “Sir, whatever it is we have to do it fast. We’ve been fighting in the Builder’s Galaxy for ten days. The Builders will arrive in the Carand Galaxy in eleven days and we have to be back through the black hole before then. The Azura Fleets are four weeks behind the Builders so we need to do something to delay them and allow the Builders more time to move out of the Carand Galaxy.”

  Steve nodded, “How do you intend to d
o that?”

  Gabe looked at Amy, “John Hart gave us the way to do it, Sir.”

  Steve quickly looked at Amy and then turned to Gabe, “Make it happen, Admiral.”

  Gabe stood up and ran out of the room. Amy looked at Tim and then ran after him with Tim close behind her. Steve looked at Kamela, “Where are you off to this time?”

  Kamela shrugged, “I don’t think I want to miss this. We’re headed toward the black hole.”

  Steve rolled his eyes, “I don’t find myself surprised by that.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Amy caught up with Gabe on the roof and put her hand on his shoulder stopping him, “What are you going to do?”

  “Call your fleet in and get them ready to launch, Amy!”

  Tim looked at Gabe, “I’m going with Mom.”

  Gabe stopped before boarding a shuttle and turned around, “No, you’re not!”

  “I deserve to go if this involves John’s sacrifice.”

  “Admiral Hart, you will remain in the Milky Way and make sure the Builders don’t stop and endanger Earth. There is a real possibility that our Fleets of Essays might not make it back through the black hole before the Builders start transiting it. The Carriers are going to have to be a line of defense protecting Earth, Bosrean, and the Kindred Planet. Your duty is here and you need to get your ship moving with the Carriers out to the black hole.”

  Timmy took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, “Yes…Sir.”

  “I’m sending orders to Admiral Holiday to rearm the carriers and get them moving immediately. You need to get back to your ship and assure your crew you’re ready to command them.”

  Timmy’s face turned red but Amy nodded, “They haven’t seen you since John’s death. He’s right.” Amy hugged Timmy and ran up the ramp to the fleet shuttle with Gabe. Tim watched it blast off for space and he looked at the Ship Coordinator, “Give me a shuttle to take me to the Homosassa.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  • • •