Lens of Time Read online

  Cyanna stared at RV and finally said, “If we face them in battle it will be a war of attrition and the winner will probably be the one with the most ships.”

  “That depends on what Roman and Barber found out. If our attack craft can take them out, we stand a better chance of winning. Our task will be getting the attack craft close enough to do their magic.”

  “Do you think the new attack craft will work?”

  “Roman and Barber made it back. That tells me something.” RV looked at his board, “Where are they?”

  “They’re on the way.”

  “Send them to the conference room when they arrive.”

  Cyanna nodded and turned back to her console.

  • • •

  “Are you telling me you allowed the ship to escape?”

  The Operator said, “I allowed nothing. We think of ourselves as being impervious to any outside attack. This incident proves that mystique false. You’ve seen the data. What would you have done differently? If you doubt my competence, replace me.”

  There was a long pause and then the Operator heard, “I don’t see anything else you could have done other than sending all of our ships into the stream to give chase.”

  “And we lost ten major battleships chasing a ship less than a fifth their size. Thirteen lost if you include the three that managed to make it out of the stream. Do you think it’s worth losing seventy percent of our ships to attack a single small ship?”

  There was a long silence and then the Leader said, “You’re right. However, our territory has not been violated in millions of cycles. I’m angry at it happening.”

  “Anger won’t kill that ship. However, it does open a new problem for us.”

  “What is that?”

  “What would happen if several million of those small ships invade our borders? Our tactics must undergo a change to deal with this threat.”

  “You think they’ll be coming back?”

  “This was just a probe to see if the ship would be effective against us. I think you can count on a return visit in force.”

  “Did you collect any information we can use to handle this threat?”

  “At the current level of our technology, we cannot penetrate the force field of that small ship without hitting it at least eight times in less than a second. The scientists need to get to work and find a way to defeat this technology.” The Operator paused and said, “I am bothered by one thing.”

  “What is that?”

  “The ship had more of those missiles under its wings but didn’t fire on the second ship after it very well could have destroyed it. That just doesn’t fit with what happened. Why did it not destroy it? I’ve run every simulation through my system and they all come out with our ship being killed. Yet it didn’t do it. It also waited for the escape pods from the first ship to clear the force field. It could have also destroyed them by launching earlier. Can you think of a reason why it did that?”

  The Leader was silent and after a minute the Operator said, “That question is problematic. If it was here to test our defenses, it should have killed the second ship.”

  “But it didn’t.”

  “No, it did not and I think the reason behind that is significant. I don’t see what it could have been but we need to examine it and try to understand why.”

  “Continue keeping us safe. I will take this up with the Council.”

  “Please let me know if you come up with a reason. I can’t get this out of my mind.”

  “I’ll be sure to let you know.”

  Chapter Five

  RV looked at Mikal and smiled, “You did an outstanding job, Captain.”

  “We were lucky you were there waiting on us. I wasn’t able to shake those three ships.”

  “You at least managed to reduce the number chasing down to three.”

  “The fact three survived the pursuit through the radiation jet says a lot about their force field technology.”

  RV stopped smiling and said, “You’re right. Their ships are ahead of us technologically. We’re fortunate to have the ultrabeams.”

  “We will be successful against them but our allies will die if they confront that civilization.”

  RV had to agree. His own fleets would lose massive numbers if they had to fight that civilization. However, the new ultrabeams would allow them to at least give as good as they got. RV said, “We did not receive your feed from the attack. It appears it was blocked by the ships you attacked. I’ve examined the records and I notice you did not destroy the second ship you penetrated. Was there a reason for that, Captain Barber?”

  Loree remained silent and Mikal said, “I told her not to fire on it, Sir.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “Why?”

  “Have you viewed the most recent reports from the Hive and Horde about the attacks being done by the Majors?”

  “I have not. What does this have to do with your refusal to fire on that ship?”

  “I believe that we were being a predator in this situation and were wrong to attack them.”

  RV’s eyes narrowed and he lowered his chin to stare at Mikal. “Is that so?”

  “If you would take a look at the historical records the Hive Controller sent to us, you would see that the Nexu have not taken part in any of the subsequent attacks of civilizations after they’ve been weakened. They appear to stay in their territory and keep all trespassers out. Now we jump a ship in to attack them. They did not take part in the battle with the Majors but we choose to attack them because of their advanced technological level. Isn’t that the same thing the predators do? Find civilizations with advancing technology and attack them. Explain to me how we’re any different in what we just did? I realized after we killed the first ship that we were not right in doing what we did. Killing another ship served no purpose. We learned what we needed to know with the first.”

  RV stared at Mikal and then looked at Cyanna, “Ask for a meeting with President Sierra. Send our two Captains to meet with him to update him on what we’ve learned.”

  Mikal looked at Loree and she saw he was nervous. RV looked at him, “Tell the President why you didn’t fire on the other ship. Then report back to me and tell me what he says.”

  Mikal started to say something but RV interrupted, “That’s all, Captain. You may leave now.” Mikal quickly saluted and then left the conference room with Loree.

  Cyanna looked at RV and he said, “He’s right.”

  “What are we going to do about it?”

  “If you make a mistake, you should correct it. Let’s see what George has to say and then we’ll decide.”

  • • •

  A week later George sent a message to RV; he read it, and then went to the conference room and contacted George, “So you see it like I do?”

  George slowly nodded, “I do. I wish you had been here before we decided to do this. This could have possibly been avoided.”

  “I doubt it. I had the records Captain Roman used in my possession but have not taken the time to look them over.”

  George stared at RV not saying anything. RV waited and finally said, “You’re right. I would have had the computer look up all the information we had on this civilization. But I may not always be around, George. The basic premise of attacking an advanced civilization was good.”

  “The other civilization had participated in attacking other Majors. That’s the one we should have gone after.”

  “I know. Do I have your approval to make contact?”

  “You do.”

  “It may lead to the loss of our probe.”

  “That’s the price for not doing the right thing.”

  “I’ll keep you informed on what’s happening.” George nodded and ended the connection.

  Cyanna said, “What now?”

  “Bring Roman and Barber on board. They should at least be here when we contact the Nexu.”

  • • •

  The Operator was listenin
g to the ships communicating about things they were seeing in their areas of responsibility. One called in, “We’re going back to port. Our replacement has arrived.”

  “Transfer your records and you’re free to leave.”

  “Do you have a moment to have a conversation?”

  The Operator heard the question and looked for the source of it. It was not coming from one of his ships. He activated every sensor in the territory and waited. After ten minutes he said, “What do you wish to discuss?”

  “Before I start, will you complete our conversation before you destroy the mechanism being used to conduct it?”

  The Operator patched in the Leader that had expressed anger over the intrusion into their territory and asked, “What should I do?”

  “Ordinarily, I’d just destroy the probe they are obviously using to contact you but I still have that lingering question.”

  “Do I have your approval to open a conversation? I’ve been able to localize the location of the transmitter being used but not well enough to find it.”

  “I’m bringing in the Directors. Give me a moment.” The Operator waited and after another ten minutes he heard, “We’re listening in. If you determine the mechanism being used is a weapon, you will destroy it immediately.”

  “If I determine it is only a communication device, I will need you to determine when I take action to remove it.”

  “We will do that.”

  The Operator pushed his panel, “I agree to listen as long as I determine it is in the best interests of those I defend.”

  “I understand your caution. We deployed a communication device when one of our ships trespassed into your domain. We expect you to find it momentarily if we continue broadcasting.”

  The Operator looked at his board and said, “We’ve located your device. According to my readings, your device is remarkable. I should go ahead and remove it but you have revealed its existence for a reason.”

  “I have.”

  “What is that?”

  “I’ve contacted you to apologize for our inappropriate intrusion into your space and want you to know we will not do it again.”

  “Why did you do it the first time?”

  “We and our allies are currently under attack by many of the Major Civilizations. We don’t know how our ships match up to those we’ll have to face and we consider that information critical to our survival. We decided to probe the most advanced Major Civilization we could find and see where we stand.”

  “So you selected us to make that determination?”

  “We did, but after the fact, we determined we made a bad choice. This contact is to offer our apology and to assure you it will not happen again.”

  “That doesn’t help the ones you killed in one of our ships or the thirteen lost in pursuit of your vessel.”

  “We realize that. We decided that we should reveal our sensor buoy to you and allow you to remove it. We do regret the ships you lost.”

  “How do we know this is your only device? How do we know you are only saying this in an effort to save yourselves from our retribution?”

  “There is no way we can prove our intentions and I understand your doubt. However, we do believe if one makes a mistake they should accept the consequences of their actions and do everything possible to correct it. Your intention to attack us for our mistake is understandable and part of the consequences of what we’ve done.”

  The Operator was silent for a moment and said, “Why didn’t you destroy the second ship you penetrated?”

  “The Pilot of our ship had learned before he entered your domain that you have not participated in the attacks on other Major Civilizations that have been weakened and were not a part of the attack on us. He determined that we were making a mistake and he disobeyed orders and refused to kill the second ship. When we questioned him about his decision, we determined that he was right not to continue his attack. We were wrong to intrude into your territory and our actions are not defensible.”

  The Operator’s board was overridden by another signal, “You realize that you have demonstrated that you are a clear and present danger to us.”

  There was a long moment of silence and then they heard, “We do. Telling you now that we are not a danger to you is obviously something you will never believe. This is the consequence of doing the wrong thing.”

  “Then if you know we’ll be looking for you to remove you as a threat, why did you reveal your probe?”

  “It was the right thing to do.”

  “It appears that we should join any future attacks against you.”

  “That would be the obvious decision.”

  The Operator broke in and asked, “What’s the decision that’s not obvious?”

  “We will come to your defense if you are ever attacked. We owe it to you to balance our debt.”

  Silence ruled the frequency. No one could think of a response to the statement. After a few moments the voice continued, “We have turned off all scanners on the sensor buoy and you should be able to verify that with a scan. If you ever need us to assist you against an enemy, transmit the request on the frequency we’re using now and we will come and fight with you against your foe. I don’t expect you to believe us but my leaders have agreed to this and we will keep our commitment to you.”

  The Operator waited for the Directors to respond but nothing was being said. He said, “We will discuss your offer. However, we are fully capable of defending our citizens.”

  “Even if the rest of the Majors combine against you; you would probably lose if that happened and we would probably be destroyed with you but we will come anyway. If you doubt our promise, consider this; the Minors, as you call them, destroyed our home world because they were forced to attack other galaxies by the Majors. We are now fighting with them against the Majors that forced them to kill other civilizations. The information is there if you choose to look at it. We will keep our promise to you.”

  The Operator looked at his board and saw the frequency had disappeared. He thought about what he had heard and then reluctantly asked, “Do you order me to destroy the probe?” He knew the answer to the troubling question and he sensed something about the ones that had attacked. He knew if he was ordered to destroy the sensor, the direction his people were going to take was to destroy the attackers. He waited for ten minutes and then repeated, “Do you order…”

  “We will let you know. Keep a ship stationed at the buoy. If it makes one scan, destroy it.”

  The Operator smiled, “I will carry out your instructions.” He slowly moved his head up and down; this was the most interesting event he had taken part in the last thousand cycles. What if the being was being honest?

  • • •

  Mikal looked at RV and said, “That is a rather large risk you just took.”

  “Why is that?”

  “What if they are one of the predator civilizations? You told them who we are by letting them know we’re fighting with the Minors and we come from another galaxy.”

  “Do you believe you did the right thing not killing the second ship?” Roman nodded. “How did you know?”

  Loree said, “The crew on that ship had all moved to the far ends of their ship knowing they were about to be fired on by their own ships. They were willing to die to defend their worlds. It was the right thing to do to allow them to live. Predators don’t operate that way.”

  RV smiled, “Then this might not be the risk you think it is. They would still have to find us and that won’t be easy. However, the buoy has not been destroyed, yet. I think this is worth the risk.”

  “Did you mean what you said about coming to their defense?”

  “If they will allow us to make a scan of their domain to ensure they are actually fighting an enemy, we will come to their defense. President Sierra agrees with this decision.”

  Mikal smiled, “This is a good thing. I’m glad I could have a role in making it happen.”

  RV smiled, “Your role is not over, Admiral
.”

  Mikal’s expression turned serious, “I’m not sure what you mean and I’m a Captain.”

  “Not anymore; you’ve been promoted to Rear Admiral and will take command of the 8th sub-fleet. Captain Barber will be your executive officer until the new 9th sub-fleet is constituted and she will take command of it. Your two fleets will replace the 16th and 23rd fleets under my command. They will be moved to Admiral Anders and Diamond’s fleet holding station in M-87 while you remain here training your fleets. I expect you to have your fleets trained in the use of the new attack craft. Your fleets will be the first to receive them and you don’t have much time so get on it.”

  Mikal looked at Loree and smiled. He turned to RV and saluted, “Thank you, Sir. Permission to report to my ships.”

  RV returned his salute, “Permission granted, now go to work.”

  The two walked out and Cyanna saw Loree’s expression as she looked at Mikal. It brought back memories and she knew the two of them were going to work well together. Cyanna turned to RV, “How do you want those two new fleets organized?”

  “They will be the spearhead of the First Fleet making the initial attack on enemy ships. They will be used to provide a hole in enemy formations for us to exploit.”

  “Are they going to be equipped to do that?”

  “Their ships will have launch tubes for attack craft. They will not be carrying needles so they should be able to hit with an explosive force.”

  “What about ship protection? There won’t be any needles to protect them.”

  “Needles won’t do much good penetrating a wall of battleships. They’ll move forward firing their ultrabeams and launching attack craft. The rest of the fleet will follow them in.”

  “Kenny is going to need a new executive officer.”

  “Inform him and turn the volume down when you do.”

  Cyanna started laughing and made the call.

  • • •

  The Operator stood in front of the Select Council and waited for them to question him. Their thoughts were directed at each other and he could not hear what they were thinking. His species was telepathic but only heard thoughts that were directed. Finally he heard, “You interrupted our conversation.”