No Technology Is Invincible (The Death Prophecies-Book Four 4) (5 page)

“I’ve been fighting over this with Poul for the last two hours but there’s just too many coincidences lining up to make this happen. When something like this occurs, I think I’m being sent a message.” Steve looked up, “Poul, activate the new helmet and link Gabe to your systems. Once that’s done, go and get your weapons upgraded.”

“Yes, Admiral.”

Steve looked at Gabe, “For the foreseeable future, the Prophet’s Eyes will be your ship to use in the most effective manner you deem necessary.”

Gabe tilted his head forward in agreement; that was at least one good thing to come out of this. He looked up, “Poul, have maintenance install the Fleet Control Systems while they’re working on your armaments.”

“Will do. Now if you’ll take a seat in the chair and put on the helmet, we’ll start getting this done.” Steve sighed and stood up. Gabe took his place in the command chair and put the helmet on his head. He closed his eyes and smiled. There was so much he didn’t know about this vessel. Steve remembered the first time he linked with the Eyes and sighed. He missed going out into the universe to take on mankind’s enemies. Command was a cruel mistress.

• • •

“Janell.”

“Hello, Amy. How are things going?”

“I’ve just learned something and I felt you should know about it.”

“What is that?”

“It appears Admiral Connor has approved sending Gabe out to scout the galaxies that are in question.”

Janell’s eyes went wide, “HE CAN’T DO THAT! GABE IS TOO CRITICAL TO BE ALLOWED TO GO INTO THAT MUCH DANGER!”

“I told him as much but it appears that the Prophet’s Eyes main computer has determined that he’s the one that has to do it.”

“But…”

“Gabe has been given a helmet and is now the commander of the Eyes.” Janell stared at Amy and started shaking her head. Amy sighed, “I know that you’re thinking he’s doing this because of your breaking up with him, sort of like what Dillon did volunteering to go through the black hole.”

“Is getting the men I love killed going to be my destiny?”

“I think it’s more than that.”

“What?”

“Gabe isn’t like Dillon, Janell. He thinks things through and he agrees with the decision. There must be a good reason for him to be willing to go. I also know that Admiral Connor was against it but was persuaded to allow it to happen.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because his expression said as much. I challenged him on it and he told me I was preaching to the choir. However, in his opinion, it had to be done.”

Janell rolled her eyes, “Maybe I should contact Gabe about this.”

“Do you intend to get back together with him?” Amy stared at Janell on her display and said, “I can see you’re not. Contacting him would only be a distraction. You need to stay out of this and allow me and the other Admirals the opportunity to see why this has to take place.”

“I want to know what you find out.”

“I suspect all of us will learn at the same time. I’ve requested a meeting with Admiral Connor and he’s scheduled it for tomorrow afternoon at fourteen hundred hours.”

“I’ve not received any information about it.”

“Perhaps the Admiral agrees that you might be a distraction. I’ll record everything and share it with you.”

Janell nodded and took a deep breath. She suddenly lifted her wrist unit and looked at it, “I’ve just received the invite. I’ll see you there.” Amy smiled and ended the call.

• • •

Steve sat at the head of a horseshoe shaped table along with the Senior Admirals, the Major Fleet Admirals and their Support Staffs. He looked around the table and saw a lot of unhappy expressions. He wondered for a moment if he looked the same when he was arguing with Poul about doing this. Oh well. “Admiral Hart you requested this meeting. After due consideration, I deemed that everyone in a Major Command position should be here so I won’t have to keep repeating myself about this. Admiral Eagle is not present due to his getting his vessel ready for the coming mission. Admiral Hart, summarize your concerns?”

“Sir, you’re sending our best Commander out into danger and losing him would be very much like losing you. It would cripple us.”

“I agree.’

Amy stared at Steve and her mouth opened but she quickly closed it. She started shaking her head and looked around the table before saying, “Then why are you doing it?”

“Because Admiral Eagle and that stubborn ship computer on the Prophet’s Eyes convinced me it was the right thing to do.”

Admiral Malone leaned forward, “Please help us understand what compelling argument they used to convince you.”

Steve looked at Malone and shook his head, “Do you ever agree with any of my decisions?”

“I do but I like to hear your reasoning.”

“Really?” Malone nodded. Steve shrugged, “The first and most compelling reason the computer used to persuade me was that the Prophet’s Eyes was going to have to be the ship to go.”

Amy sat down and said, “Why? Can’t we just send scouts to do it?”

Steve shrugged, “Our fastest warships take about an hour to go from the Milky Way to Andromeda, right?” Amy nodded. “The Eyes can go there in a matter of seconds. Andromeda is about two and a half million light years from here. The galaxy that we’re going to have to scout is close to a billion light years from the Carand’s galaxy, which will be our starting point. It will take our scouts more than four weeks to arrive at that galaxy and more than four weeks to get back.” Steve paused, “I want you to think about that. That’s about two months before we’ll have any information to act on.” Steve looked around the table, “The Prophet’s Eyes can get there in less than a week.”

Amy stared at Steve as everyone considered the ramifications of that piece of information. “Well, it’s clear that the Eyes is the ship we need to send.”

Steve looked at her, “I agree, Admiral Hart. Now the question becomes, who is going to fly the Eyes there. Am I going to give the power of that ship to a scout?”

Amy saw the expressions of the other attendees and knew that idea was not something that would be done. The Prophet’s Eyes was the most powerful ship in the fleet. Steve saw her thinking about it and said, “The only ones that can fly the Prophet’s Eyes are me and my sister. She is not trained to know what to look for that would be of consequence to us. As a matter of fact, you’ve all seen the reports on how she takes risks, so we won’t be sending her. If we are unwilling to send her, should I go?”

Malone quickly said, “Absolutely not. I’d rather lose Admiral Eagle than you!”

Steve chuckled and looked at Amy, “Who among you would you feel uncomfortable giving the power of the Eyes to, Admiral Eagle? I think all of us trust him.”

Janell shook her head, “Just how does Admiral Eagle feel about doing this?”

Steve looked at her and shook his head. After a moment he looked around the table at the attendees, “It was a question he asked that finally convinced me to do it. He asked me if I were going to lead our fleets into war against the Builders, would I want to go and see what we’re up against. I have to admit that I would.”

The room was silent and Amy lowered her head, “Sir, I understand your position. I apologize for not trusting your judgement.”

Steve smiled, “You don’t need to apologize. I considered sending you instead.” Amy’s eyes went wide and Steve shrugged, “However, you have a family to consider.” Steve looked directly at Janell, “Admiral Eagle does not.”

Amy’s eyes narrowed, “That’s not fair to Admiral Dobson, Sir.”

Steve looked at Amy, “The universe isn’t fair, Admiral, and Admiral Eagle has convinced me that the best decisions have been made. I want to make sure that all of you understand that his reasons are based on sound logic and reasoning, not emotions. I must say that I do hope all of you have the opportunity one day to argue an issue with him and that damned computer so that you might understand my frustrations. I suspect you might understand why this decision was so difficult to make. This meeting is adjourned.”

Janell quickly said, “Is he going alone?”

Steve looked at her, “No, that stubborn computer is going with him along with the Academy Cadet that uncovered this danger. Sending her along is not something he wanted but the computer won that argument. I must admit that I agree with Gabe on this but it makes good sense to send her.”

Janell tilted her head, “Why is that?”

Steve smiled, “Because she saw things he missed. How often does that happen, Admiral?”

Janell stared at him and said, “Never.”

“Can’t say that any more. He missed that galaxy. The computer thinks between the two of them, they won’t miss much.”

The meeting broke up and Janell rushed over to Amy, “Who is this Cadet?”

Amy shook her head, “Gabrielle Bartoli is going to break Gabe’s academic records at the Academy.” Janell’s eyes narrowed and Amy smiled, “You don’t have anything to be jealous of, Janell. A moss covered rock is better looking.”

“Looks aren’t everything.”

“Take a look at her Academy records and get back to me on that.” Amy shot back. Janell pressed her wrist unit and pulled up the personnel profile on Cadet Gabrielle Bartoli. Her head went back and Amy laughed. Janell looked at her and shook her head in agreement.

• • •

The room cleared and Steve went to his console. He pressed a button and the Supreme Leader of the Darkness Civilization appeared, “Has anything changed?”

“No, either they sent a ship and it didn’t make it through the black hole’s jets or they haven’t sent one, yet.”

Steve nodded, “I’m sending a scout to take a look at that spiral galaxy in five more days.”

“It will take too long to get a ship there?”

“The ship we’re sending will make the voyage in about a week.”

“That’s not possible,” The Darkness Leader protested.

“We have one vessel capable of doing it. The one who met with you recently will be piloting it.”

“Are you certain about this ship’s capability?”

“I am. You need to tell me if anything changes before we launch.”

“I will. I also need to know what you uncover.”

Steve nodded, “You’ll have the information as soon as I receive it.”

“Have you devised a plan on what to do?”

“We’re stumbling around in the dark without information about that galaxy. Let us both hope we’re given enough time to collect the data we need to move forward.” The Supreme Leader nodded and Steve ended the contact and leaned back in his chair wishing he was the one going.

• • •

Gabby went into her last final and pulled up her scores from the previous four finals. She stared at them and looked at the test in front of her. She turned the pages quickly and then smiled. Piece of cake.

• • •

Dr. Hilo watched her and wondered what was going on; Cadet Bartoli never smiled. She must know that she was going to beat Admiral Eagle’s scores. He didn’t wish her ill will but he knew the better person was going to lose this time. He watched her start taking the examination and really had to give her the credit she was due. She was incredibly brilliant and her motivation was beyond question. He wondered why he wasn’t pulling for her. He looked at the other Cadets in the room and saw that none of them were sitting near Miss. Bartoli.

Then he saw it; Miss Bartoli did nothing to endear herself to those around her. She did everything alone and depended on no one but herself. That aloofness coupled with a lack of beauty was enough for all the other cadets to keep their distance from her. He lifted his head as Gabby closed her examination and walked it up to his desk. He wondered what she was doing, there was no way she could have answered the hundred questions in the time since the test started. She handed him the exam and smiled, “Let me know what you think, Doctor.”

Gabby turned and walked out of the room. Hilo opened the test and quickly went over the exam; she had only answered two questions along with two sub-questions on questions with multiple answers. He immediately scored the test and pulled up her cumulative score. He added them together and then pulled up Gabriel Eagle’s records. He stared at them and then looked out the window and saw Miss Bartoli sitting under a tree. He was wrong, the best person did win and it wasn’t Admiral Eagle.

G
abe was sitting in his command chair with his eyes closed. The engineers were installing four more blaster modules on the hull. “Poul, why did you only have two blasters?”

“It was too dangerous to work on my hull. It would have instantly killed anyone that touched it and the Bosrean decided to only activate the weapons that were originally built on the hull. Now that the surface has a neutral charge, the engineers can work on it safely.”

“What about these small missiles the Bosrean have manufactured for you?”

“You’re aware of the two large missiles that were used to take out the thruster launchers, right?”

“I am,” Gabe answered.

“These are a smaller version of that missile.”

“Help me understand why we’re going to need them on this mission?”

“The metal used to build them does not undergo the change. It will keep its positive charge in both universes.”

Gabe smiled, “The missile will be anti-matter in that universe.”

“It will and being made of a super-conductor metal, it should make it through the force field being used by the Builders.”

“What have we learned about their warships?”

“They’re really ahead of us technologically. They’re faster and more powerful than the ships in our fleets.”

Gabe looked through his eyebrows, “Are they faster than you?”

“If I had to depend on a normal stardrive, they would be.”

“But?”

“No, they can’t match my speed. However, their communications are extraordinary.”

“What do you mean?”

Gabe suddenly saw an image appear on his faceplate. It was the image taken by Admiral Kuhn of the Builder World hanging in space. Gabe stared at it and watched as a light blue energy field surrounded the image. “What is that?”

“An overlay of the physical image with one of the energies detected by Kuhn’s active scan. This blue field appears to be caused by a system that connects every Builder with each other. Notice how there are multiple blue streams that leave the world in different directions. One of the scans showed that blue field actually coming out of a Builder’s head. They have installed devices in their brains to control multiple things. This system actually connects them in such a way that they can be considered telepathic. They can receive and hear the thoughts of any other Builder.”