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

  McGregor looked at his Communications Officer, “We’ve lost the transponders on eight thousand two hundred and six ships, Sir.”

  Amy took a deep breath and heard, “Sir, I have a large wave of linked enemy ships coming out of stardrive on my long range scanner!”

  Amy looked at her console’s display and saw thousands of lines of warships approaching. They were linked and they were moving in on her fleets. She toggled the helmet communicator, “Admiral Sole.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Take the line breakers out. I’m ordering the other fleets into evasive maneuvers.”

  “Breaking ranks now, Sir.”

  Amy watched the massive enemy formations moving toward her at high speed and she said, “Evasive maneuvers, Captain.” The Crystal River ignited its power thrusters and the giant ship moved vertically along with all the other remaining warships. The incoming formations turned to pursue but were unable to match their speed. “Don’t move too far ahead of them.”

  “Yes, Sir.” The chase was on as Scott led the Line Breakers toward the flanks of the incoming enemy ships. Now she would see if her plan would work. Heaven help them if it didn’t.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  George Wellington accelerated at maximum speed around the incoming lines of enemy warships. He was singing God Save the Queen and Jose Ortiz gritted his teeth and wished he could turn on the muting in his combat helmet. It wouldn’t be so bad if George had a halfway decent voice.

  Jose looked at the missile controls and began activating the launchers. He worried about how successful the new missiles would be against such large warships; they were one-tenth of the size of the normal missiles used in the Milky Way. But Fleet had determined that using the regular missiles would cause an explosion that could endanger the ships that fired them. He’d not worry about it and saw that the first missiles loaded into the launch tubes were all showing green on his panel. Show Time.

  • • •

  Three thousand warships bore down on the end of one of the long line of Grey Warships. George was in the lead and he flew into the three hundred yard gap between the beams of the end ship. The other warships following him were slightly staggered to the starboard behind him. George flew into the gap between the beams of the end Grey Ship and Jose saw they were quickly in missile range. He launched the first missile and George immediately broke left and fell in behind the last ship in the staggered line. The missile bore in on the Grey Ship at the end of the advancing line of Grey Warships and a massive explosion broke it in half. The next pilot in line flew around the explosion and lined up on exposed side of the next Grey Ship. It fired a missile and broke left. Another enemy ship exploded as the next ship in the staggered line blew past it and lined up in the gap on the next enemy ship in line.

  The ships located at the ends of the long line saw the ones next to them explode and tried to break out of the linked line and roll their ships to bring their beams to bear on whatever was firing at them from the flanks but weren’t able to do it. The Commander of the linked ships was the only one that could release the linkage once it was locked in and he wasn’t aware of the attacks happening at the two ends of his line. It was twenty minutes before the messages arrived and he learned that he had lost a third of his fleet. He watched his monitor and saw a ship on each end of his line explode and he slammed his fist down on his panel releasing the linkage. The surviving ships whipped around and turned on whatever was attacking from the flanks.

  • • •

  Gerald Blackwood was roaring in on the end of the long line of alien warships and suddenly saw the line break apart as the thousands of them turned and started rolling their hulls. He saw that he was trapped between two of them and in less than two seconds he was going to be hit by their massive beams.

  He punched his stardrive and pushed the thruster handle fully forward. In an instant, he was out of the battle as the two enemy beams crossed behind him. He pulled the thruster handle back and began turning to make it back to his squadron. He was violently shaking from the close call but saw that he was still in the middle of thousands of warring warships. He sighed and stopped his turn; there was no way for him to make it through the mayhem back to his unit. He turned and headed toward the gap in a Grey Ship’s beam. He toggled through the frequencies in his combat helmet until he found the one being used by the units around him. He joined them and continued fighting.

  • • •

  Amy watched her main monitor and saw that the fleets had become completely disorganized and that the battle had evolved into ship against ship. Organization was next to impossible and the outcome was going to be determined by the ability of the pilots. The Line Breakers had accomplished their goal of breaking the linked lines apart. Now the heavy work had to be done. She glanced at her tactical monitor and saw thousands of enemy warships were moving at high speed toward her flagship. “Captain McGregor, move the ship.”

  McGregor lifted his communicator, notifying the defense ships as the Hobbs turned the Crystal River hard right. It moved out into the battle as thousands of explosions surrounded the formation. Janell appeared on her monitor, “Admiral, I’m ordering the flagships back through the black hole. We’ve lost control and keeping them here is far too dangerous. I’ll keep the Dream Catcher here to attempt to direct the battle.”

  Amy’s expression turned hard, “Sir, you’re repeating the same mistake Admiral McCagg made. If we take our three flagships out of the battle, the enemy will focus all of their attention on your vessel. There’s no way you’ll survive if that happens.”

  Janell stared at her, blew out a breath, and realized she was right, “Keep moving. Don’t stay still long enough for them to gang up on you.”

  “Yes, Sir. You do the same.”

  Amy looked at her faceplate. The battle had been going on for two hours. They had to fight and survive another three.

  • • •

  Steve was pacing behind his desk shaking his head. He checked his computer and no messages had come in. This waiting was driving him crazy. He punched a button and a Captain in Fleet Communications appeared on the monitor, “Have you heard anything?”

  “Only that the fleets had entered the black hole. I sent you that message.”

  “Have there been any others?”

  “No, Sir.”

  “Let me know immediately if you do.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Steve shook his head and started pacing again. He saw the door to his office open and Lani walked through it. “You look nervous.”

  “This waiting is nerve wracking.”

  Lani walked up and hugged him. She kissed him on the cheek and leaned back, “Am I correct in assuming that you’ve not eaten anything?”

  Steve stared at her in amazement at how lucky he was to have her, “Just how do you know that?”

  “Because I’m your wife and know you better than you know yourself. Let’s go to the cafeteria and get a bite to eat.”

  “But?”

  “How long will our ships be gone?”

  Steve sighed, “About five hours.”

  “We have time. Let’s go.”

  Steve shook his head and pressed his wrist communicator, “I’ll be in the cafeteria. Contact me there if you hear anything.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Where are the kids?”

  Lani smiled, “They’re at home with my parents. They’re fine.” Steve sighed and walked out of his office with Lani. Stella joined them an hour later.

  • • •

  Gabriel sat in his command chair and saw there was a little less than three hours before the fleets returned. He looked at the gravity towers lined up beyond his fleets and slightly shook his head. Lt. McEvoy looked at him, “Is something wrong, Sir?”

  Gabriel jerked his head around and looked at her, “Am I that obvious?”

  Evelyn shrugged, “Yes, Sir; you are.”

  Gabriel looked at his console’s display again and then said, “Open the
frequency to the Darkness Leader.”

  “It’s open, Sir.”

  Gabriel looked up, rolled his eyes, and muttered, “Here it goes.” He pressed his communicator, “I want to speak with your Leader.”

  “He had placed me in charge of carrying out your orders.”

  “I still need to speak with him.”

  “Give me a moment.”

  Gabe waited and then heard, “What do you want?”

  “I need to ask you a question.”

  “What is it?”

  “Does your species understand honor?”

  “What kind of question is that? Of course we understand honor.”

  “Are you an honorable person?”

  “I wouldn’t hold my position if I weren’t. Are you trying to insult me?”

  “No, Leader, I’m struggling with a decision that I feel needs to be made.”

  “What is that?”

  “Before I ask you, are you also honorable to beings who are not your species?”

  “Are you referring to YOUR species?”

  “I am.”

  “That is difficult.”

  Gabe took a breath, “How would you define honor?”

  There was a pause and he heard, “That would mean doing the right thing when circumstances demand you don’t.”

  Gabe tilted his head, “That’s as good a definition as I could come up with.”

  “What is this all about?”

  “I have a plan that I am going to implement and I’ve not shared the ramifications of it with you. I’ve not shared it with you because it would involve my having to trust that you would do the honorable thing in making it happen.”

  “You’re saying that you don’t believe that I would do the right thing.”

  “I’ve come to the conclusion that if I don’t share it with you, you would know that I believe you wouldn’t. I’ve decided to trust you and put the fate of my civilization in your hands.” The Darkness Leader was silent and Gabe said, “I intend to block the black hole so that none of the enemy’s warships can come through it.”

  The Darkness Leader was silent for a few moments and then said, “If you can block the black hole, why did you send your warships through it?”

  “We have a belief that an unknown enemy can kill you. I am of the belief that we had to go and learn all we can about that unknown enemy.”

  “You went and scouted, what do you not know?”

  “You examined the data my scouts collected, didn’t you?”

  “I did.”

  “Tell me what you know about the beings called the Builders.” There was silence and Gabe quickly said, “Do we know how advanced they are? Do we know if they have warships that can defeat our forces? Do we know if their warships are capable of going through the black hole? How many warships do they have? We know they’re using a different species to do their dirty work, do you honestly think they would give that species their most advanced warships? We know that species they’re using to do their dirty work are frightened of them. That tells me that they are more powerful than their tools. We had to go back to see what we’re up against before we close the black hole.”

  “You are clearly logical in your thinking. Why didn’t you just share this with me?”

  “Because there is a possibility that some of their warships might make it through before I can shut it down.” Gabe paused and blew out a breath as he considered what he was going to say next. “If the black hole is shut down before our fleets can come through, my civilization will lose most of its naval forces which will put us in danger from the civilization beyond our own black hole. Would you keep it open long enough for my warriors to come back or immediately close it to prevent any harm coming to you? You don’t have to answer that question. I’m going to start the process to shut it down now. I’m trusting that you will do the honorable thing and delay closing it until my forces make it through.”

  “How can you possibly close it?”

  “You’ve had the power to do it from the beginning but just didn’t put the pieces together. Order all of your gravity towers to move out into the dust clouds and start pulling them in close to the black hole’s event horizon. Have two lanes of gravity towers on each side of the event horizon and have all the other towers funnel the dust into those two lanes. The gravity towers in the lanes will push them back until the appropriate time to release the dust into the black hole.”

  The Darkness Leader softly said, “You’re going to create two high energy jets.”

  “Yes, I am. And nothing can move through that radiation and survive.”

  “And what do you think will happen if any of those monster warships make it into my domain.”

  “We will be responsible for stopping them.”

  “Can you do it?”

  “I believe I can but you’re going to have to trust me on that.”

  The Darkness Leader looked across at his Military Leader, “Do you know how to do what this being is suggesting?”

  “I do.”

  “Then get moving and make it happen.”

  “Yes, Supreme Leader.”

  Gabe sat in his chair and watched the massive gravity towers move out of line and accelerate away from the black hole. Evelyn looked at him, “Do you really think he’ll delay?”

  “I’m praying he’ll do what he believes is honorable and not what he thinks is right.”

  “Sir?”

  “The right thing to do is protect his species first. But it wouldn’t be honorable.”

  Evelyn closed her eyes and shook her head, “I pray you’re right about this?”

  “So do I, Lieutenant.”

  • • •

  China punched her communicator, “Sir, we’ve detected another wave of enemy warships approaching on our long range scanners. We have to get out of here now!”

  Heinrik shook his head, “We will not leave until our Scout Wing reports in. Send a third of your ships out to meet them before they arrive and combine with the ships here.” China stared at him, nodded, and disappeared from his monitor. Heinrik pressed a button and saw Janell and Amy appear on his display, “We’ve detected another wave of enemy warships approaching on our long range scanners. I’ve dispatched one third of my surviving ships to go out and delay them in order to prevent them from combining with the forces here.”

  Janell nodded, “I’ll send a third of mine to assist your vessels, Admiral.”

  Amy looked at Heinrik on her display and said, “We detected them five minutes ago and I’ve sent half of my survivors to confront them.”

  Heinrik shook his head, “Half is too many!”

  “I’ve suffered the fewest losses of the three major fleets. I’ll still have as many ships as each of you. Have either of you heard from Admiral Kuhn?” Janell and Heinrik shook their heads. Amy inhaled and said, “We will have no choice but to leave in forty five minutes whether he shows up or not. We can’t risk the Darkness will shut down the black hole once they see what we’re planning.”

  Heinrik looked at his panel, “Kuhn’s scouts are starting to arrive. My communications officer tells me that he has found one of the Builder Planets and intends to do an active scan on it. He’s going to run here once the scan is completed.”

  Janell’s eyes went to slits, “We have to hold out until he arrives, even if it takes longer than five hours. We must have that information.” The two nodded and they went back to the fight. Those enemy reinforcements had to be slowed down.

  • • •

  The enemy reinforcements did not detect the tens of thousands of Earth and Bosrean Warships moving toward them at high speed. Every warship picked an enemy and flew in on the massive clouds of Grey Warships. The battle took on a frenzy as the remaining grey warships opened fire and the space mirrored the space outside the black hole. Massive explosions appeared everywhere and the battle continued at a fever pitch.

  • • •

  Admiral Kuhn had his ship ten thousand miles above a brilliant struct
ure hanging in space. It was as large as Mars but it wasn’t a planet. This thing had been built and placed in orbit around the star. The emissions being captured by the passive scanners were unlike anything ever seen. Kuhn looked at his panel and then looked up, “Ron, how long will it take to do a full active scan?”

  “Six seconds.”

  “Start the scan in ten seconds and then I’m leaving here at maximum speed. Gibbs, open fire on anything that moves our way.”

  “Sir, that thing has an incredible number of warships around it. I don’t think we’ll have six seconds before they’ll be on us.”

  “If I detect one of them start moving this way, I’ll run and just be satisfied with what we get.”

  “Active scan is starting.”

  • • •

  The Builder Leader was walking around the park considering whether or not he should send the fleet to assist the Carnivores. If he did, there was a risk this enemy would detect their line of approach and trace it back to the Home Settlements. This new attacker was an advanced civilization but they were no match to take on his fleet. He stopped walking and saw that the Carnivores were taking a beating. He should send in the fleets to remove this attacker and start the invasion. Suddenly, he heard an alarm go off in his mind and he touched his ear. SOMEONE WAS SCANNING THE HOME SETTLEMENT FROM CLOSE RANGE. He looked up and saw the warriors had heard the alarm and were riding up the tubes to their warships. He watched as thousands of them disappeared into the sky as their personal tubes transported them to their entry portals on the giant ships in orbit.

  “How did you allow that ship to get so close?”

  The Builder Leader heard the combined voice of the Elders in his mind, “It was not detected by our scanners.”

  “Why have you allowed this attacker to destroy two of our launchers?”

  “I’ve not allowed them to do anything. They were met by the Carnivores as soon as they passed through the singularity.”

  “Why have you not sent our warships to assist them?”