Soul of The Swords: Brotherhood is More Than Metal Read online

  “But he was falsely accused of deliberately sending my father to die.”

  “He felt that was a small price to pay to make sure your father was known as one of our greatest heroes. Like I said, he blamed himself for what happened.” She nodded and turned to go back to her post and Jek said, “One thing you said is true, Team Leader.” The woman stopped and looked at him. Jek smiled, “Like father, like son.”

  The woman stared at him for a very long moment, nodded, and said, “I’m withdrawing my transfer request.”

  “That would be good. You are very good at your job.” The woman turned and walked away.

  Chapter Two

  Captain Drenlin sat in his command chair and heard his Scanner Officer say loudly, “Captain, I have a giant blip on the edge of my scanning range moving toward us at high speed!”

  “How fast?”

  “It’s moving faster than we are capable of matching, Sir.”

  “How long before it arrives at our position?”

  “About two hours.”

  “Connect me with Fleet.” The Communications Officer pressed several buttons, looked up at him, and nodded. Drenlin said, “I’ve detected a fast moving vessel moving on the filament toward our intersection. It appears to be more than a hundred times the size of our largest warship and is moving faster than we can fly. It will arrive at my location in about two hours.”

  Sam saw the message come in to his console and he pressed his communicator’s button. “How fast did you say it’s moving?”

  “Just about double our fastest speed, Sir.”

  “What filament are you on, Captain?”

  “I’m on the filament that runs out toward the Zegar Sector.”

  “Estimated time it will arrive at our intersection?”

  There was a pause and the ship’s commander said, “At its current velocity, it will arrive at the filament in five hours.”

  “I want a recording of that ship as soon as it moves into range sent to me immediately.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  • • •

  A week had passed since Sam took command of the Fleet and this was the first instance in years of something out of the ordinary happening. He activated the ship’s intercom, “Attention all crewmembers. We have an unidentified vessel moving toward the intersection. It will arrive in five hours and we will be going to battle stations in four.” He pressed another button and announced, “Sub-fleets one and two will go to battle stations and move out on the Zegar Filament. Commander Jeles, you will take your fleet and spread out an hour away from the intersection in anticipation of intercepting a giant starship moving our way. The Second Sub-fleet will form up twenty minutes out from the intersection in the event this vessel is determined to be hostile. Get moving.”

  Sam turned to his Pilot, “I want you to go to maximum speed and join Commander Jeles’ fleet on the filament.”

  Rangel announced over the PA system, “Prepare for high acceleration! Full boost will begin in twenty seconds.” He pushed the booster handle slightly forward and after twenty seconds pushed it fully forward. The giant flagship, Delilah’s Sword, accelerated and passed through the intersection at high speed as it turned on the Zegar Filament.

  • • •

  The Flagship joined Commander Jeles’ Fleet just off the filament when an image came in on his monitor. He put it on the main wall monitor and everyone on the bridge stared at it. Sam looked at his panel and said, “That ship is more than a hundred times the size of our warships.”

  Jek nodded, “Sir, I believe that must be some sort of colony ship.”

  “Why?”

  “There’s no weapons on the hull and only a colony ship would be that large.”

  “Why are they moving so fast?”

  “I have no idea, Sir.”

  Sam looked at Rangel, “Start moving the ship toward that vessel. Jek, I want you to try and make mental contact with whomever is in command of it.”

  Delilah’s sword began accelerating at maximum speed and Sam waited until Jek said, “I can hear them.”

  “Rangel turn the ships around and accelerate back toward the intersection. I want to stay ahead of it and try to communicate with it before it passes us.”

  Delilah’s Sword turned and accelerated back on its former course. Sam looked at Jek and heard him say, “Who are you and what are your intentions?” There was a pause and Jek said out loud, “We are fleeing from the destruction of our planet. We are forced to move at this speed to stay ahead of our pursuer.”

  “We do not detect a pursuer.”

  “You will shortly.”

  Sam pressed his communicator, “Captain Drenlin, have you detected another vessel moving on the filament?”

  “Sir, one just appeared at the edge of our scanning range; it is also moving at a high velocity.”

  Jek thought to the other ship, “We’ve just detected the other ship. Why are they pursuing you?”

  “The Tronans do not allow anyone to survive their invasions. They will chase us to the end of the universe if necessary.”

  “How long have you been running?”

  “A little over a year.”

  Everyone on the bridge looked at each other as Jek thought, “That would mean you came here from outside our known universe at the speed you’re traveling.”

  “It’s been a very long flight but we will be running out of fuel in another eight weeks. If you have ships in the path of the Tronan Ship, I encourage you to move them away before they arrive.”

  “Why?”

  “They will open fire on any ship they encounter.”

  “We have more than fifteen hundred warships.”

  “I’ve scanned one of your ships and you’ll have fifteen hundred fewer if you try to impede that ship! If you confront it, it will blast your ships and continue after us. Once it destroys my vessel, it will come back to make you pay for your actions.”

  Sam looked at Jek and he thought to the other ship, “Are you in scanning range of that ship?”

  “No, we’ve managed to move slightly ahead of their scanning range a week ago when it slowed to destroy a ship in its path but if we slow down, they’ll see us quickly.”

  Sam looked at Jek and verbally said, “Do you sense any aggressive patterns in that being’s thoughts?”

  “No, Sir. I do not. Their pattern is very similar to your own. They will fight if needed but they are not a hostile species.”

  “Jek, relay my thoughts to him.”

  “Go ahead.”

  Sam began thinking, “I want you to take the filament to the bottom right at the next intersection that comes in at a thirty-degree angle from directly below. Once you make the turn, shut down all your systems and coast toward our planet on the inward flow of the filament. Perhaps that vessel will not see you make the turn and fly past the intersection.”

  “They know how much fuel we have and they will be coming back to find us. They will have to know that we shut down to deceive them and they’ll know that it had to be at the coming intersection. They were able to see us on the last filament intersection we passed.”

  “It will at least give you a chance to escape.”

  “No, once we slow down, it will take weeks to get up to our fastest speed again. If we turn to go to your planet to attempt to refuel, they will come back and find us there. I caution you against taking this risk.”

  Jek looked at Sam, “Are you sure you want to do this? We don’t know what we’re up against here.”

  “They are like us, Jek, and I can’t just turn my back on them. Tell them to make the turn.” Jek nodded and Sam pressed his communicator, “Captain Drenlin, drop some probes in the filament and allow them to string out so we can capture an image of that vessel as it passes. Once you’ve dropped five probes in the filament, get your ship off the filament, shutdown all your systems and move into normal space.” Sam changed the frequency, Attention all ships! Move back to the intersection and move onto our filament. Once you’re t
hirty minutes away from the intersection, all ships will move into normal space and shutdown all systems but environmental.” Sam looked at Shelly Stevens, the scanner Team Leader, “Deploy multiple probes in the filament. I want them spaced out in the flow so we can get a look at that pursuing vessel.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Rangel, once Team Leader Stevens has launched the last probe, I want you prepared to move the ship into normal space on my command.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Stevens, I want the feed from Captain Drenlin’s probes sent to my console along with the main wall monitor. I also want a feed from the probes you launch when that vessel arrives here.” She nodded and turned to her scanner team.

  Jek turned around and looked at Sam, “Sir, if that ship’s scanners are as good as the Commander of the Colony Ship says, they will probably see Captain Drenlin’s vessel in normal space as it passes.”

  “True, but if they’re determined enough to chase that ship for longer than a year, do you think it will stop to go after one ship after having lost it from their scanners a week ago?”

  Jek lifted his left shoulder and tilted his head toward it, “You are probably right. However, I learned a few things about the species on that ship while I was communicating with the Colony Ship Commander.”

  “What is that?”

  “They appear to use the populations they conquer as natural resources.”

  “What?”

  “They convert them into food they can consume and also covert them into the fuel used to operate the boosters on their warships. They’re not necessarily carnivores but they’re pretty close to it.”

  “That’s outrageous!”

  “I suppose. But in a large universe you will find all sorts of species that have evolved differently from us. They also do not allow anyone to survive their attacks to warn others about them. That’s why they will not give up this chase. They must have learned in the past that survivors can bring more powerful forces against them. If they determine that we know about them, they will do everything to remove us as witnesses.”

  “It’s just one ship, Jek.”

  “But there are massive fleets of them where this colony ship began their escape.”

  “How many colonists are on that ship?”

  “There were more than fifty-thousand when they started their flight but about a third of them have died during the voyage. They are running out of supplies and fuel and they won’t last much longer.”

  “I am not going to send thirty thousand innocent beings to their deaths, Jek.”

  “Would you prefer to place more than a billion at risk on Heaven to assist them?”

  The entire bridge was silent and Sam knew they were all waiting for his answer. Sam stared at Jek and after a long moment of silence, he said, “I have to put myself in their place. I will treat them just like I would the people on Heaven. When we start turning our backs on others just to save ourselves, we become like the invader that conquered us. It’s the principle of the thing.”

  “I do hope the Ruling Party agrees with your decision.”

  “There’s no time to ask. Even if it costs me my life, I will still do the same thing.”

  Jek shrugged, “Well, I would highly recommend that you mobilize the rest of the fleet in the event that pursuer manages to detect the turn the colony ship makes and heads towards Heaven.”

  Sam gave a start and then lifted his communicator, “Fleet Control!”

  “Yes, Fleet Commander

  “Mobilize all of our warships and have them start moving out toward the filament intersection. There is a possibility that a large warship may move in to attack a colony ship I’ve diverted to Heaven.”

  “Yes, Sir. I’m notifying the Party President about your order and you should expect him to contact you momentarily.”

  Sam ended the contact and sat back in his chair. Shelly stared at him from her post and realized he was more than she thought. This really could cost him his life. Was he making the same mistake her father made by acting before he thought things through?

  Sam watched the approaching Colony Ship on his monitor and saw it rotate and fire its giant boosters in front of it as it dove through the intersection and barely managed to enter the filament leading to Heaven. It actually entered the outward flow on the filament which allowed it to slow just enough to move across the filament to the inward flow. It disappeared toward the distant planet and continued firing its boosters to decelerate the giant vessel.

  • • •

  The Party President didn’t like what Sam had done but realized that the pursuing ship would see Captain Drenlin’s ship no matter what they did and would make sure it was destroyed before it returned to its origin. Drenlin was just too far away to make it back to the intersection to avoid being scanned. For the moment, Sam was left in command of the fleet.

  • • •

  The five probes Drenlin dropped were moving in the filament toward the intersection. They had about twenty minutes spacing between them and they should give a good image of the approaching warship. Suddenly, it appeared on the main monitor and Sam saw that it was a monster. It was five times the size of Delilah’s Sword and was moving at an incredible velocity. It slowed slightly as it neared Drenlin’s Ship but then accelerated back to its maximum speed and blew past it. Sam said calmly, “Record the images, Team Leader.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Sam saw a bright light emerge from the huge vessel and the image disappeared from the monitor. His eyes opened wide and he looked at Shelly, “Sir, that ship opened fire and took out the probe.”

  “It hit it moving at that speed!?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Start all the other probes recording at their maximum range; I want a reading of that beam they used.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The approaching vessel was still two hours out from the intersection and he pulled the image up and put it on the main wall monitor. “Jek, what do you see?”

  “That ship is covered with blasters. I don’t see a missile port but that could be because the image is not clear.”

  Shelly looked up and pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, “Sir, the second probe has been destroyed.”

  “Did you get a reading on the beam?”

  “I did, Sir. Our beams are rated force twenty. The beam used on the probes is a force thirty-five.”

  Sam shook his head, “That means they have almost double our power and probably double the range of our blasters.”

  “You will have to move inside the range of their blasters to attack them,” Jek said while staring at the image on the wall monitor. He turned to Sam, “And since they’re considerably faster than our ships, they can avoid our attacks and destroy our ships from long range.”

  Sam nodded and stared at the image. He watched as each of Drenlin’s probes were destroyed and he looked at the ship’s pilot, “Rangel, move us into normal space.”

  Delilah’s Sword emerged into normal space and the bright filament disappeared. Sam felt more at home in Under Space where the billions of filaments crisscrossed the universe. Every star had one or more filaments that moved through Under Space connecting it with other close by stars. One side of the filament moved away from the star and the opposite side moved toward the star. Both sides moved at superlight speed and allowed ships with a stardrive to travel them to distant locations. The massive black holes in the center of most galaxies had numerous massive filaments that moved out and connected to the black holes in distant galaxies. Those filaments moved at an incredible speed and were the superhighways in Under Space. If a ship fired its boosters while traveling a filament, its speed was increased tremendously making it possible to travel across the known universe. The approaching warship was moving faster than any vessel Sam had ever seen, other than the colony ship, and must have a highly advanced booster system. It had to of used the massive black hole filaments to arrive at its current position. It was clearly more advanced than his sh
ips and represented a real threat to his fleet. He prayed it would continue through the intersection. He looked at Shelly, “Team Leader, drop a probe here outside the filaments going into the intersection. I want to see if that vessel detects the colony ship moving toward Heaven.”

  “Yes, Sir. I’ve set it to passive mode and it will not be sending out a scanner beam. I’m hoping that approaching ship will not detect it.”

  “Has the Colony Ship shut down its power?”

  “Yes, Sir. They disappeared from my scanners forty minutes ago.”

  Sam nodded and stared at the wall monitor as the image of the approaching warship appeared and disappeared as it approached the probes and destroyed them. Jek watched the process and shrugged, “They would come back to attack us even if the colony ship continued fleeing. They have to know that we’ve scanned their ship and they will remove us for doing that.” Sam nodded absently. One more hour and the giant warship would arrive at the intersection.

  Sam sighed, “I wish I could have you in Under Space to hear the thoughts of that ship’s commander as it approaches but it’s too big of a risk.”

  Jek nodded, “I think we can figure out what it is thinking. It’s probably angry that he’s been forced to chase the Colony Ship for this long. He knows the end is in sight and he’s really irritated that now his ship has been scanned and his voyage home will be delayed to stop and remove the witnesses.”

  Sam nodded and the bridge crew discussed among themselves how they were going to deal with that monster ship. Some were starting to question Sam’s decision to try and save the colonists but Shelly forcefully asked them if they would want to serve under a commander that had no regard for life. The one’s that were surprised the most by her statement was her scanning team who know how much she hated the Commander. She saw them staring at her and she pursed her lips before saying, “Right is right. He’s doing the right thing.”

  • • •

  Sam stared at the filament on the main wall monitor. He heard Team Leader Stevens announce, “Thirty seconds.” Sam nodded and saw a bright light in the distance traveling at high speed on the filament. It grew larger and in an instant it blew past and through the intersection in an instant. The bright light grew smaller and in a few moments, it disappeared.”