“Perhaps we need to build a small ship with this drive on it.”
“Commander, the pulse has stopped.”
“What?”
“It’s no longer broadcasting.”
“We need to tell the Director!”
“We’ve been ordered not to break communication silence. However, what if that pulse was caused by a pulsar in normal space and wasn’t artificial?”
“Could that happen?”
“This strange place is between the void and normal space. It could possibly have random energy enter it. We don’t know enough about it to know.”
“How did the pulses match up with normal pulsars?”
“It was close to that given off by a very old pulsar.”
“Why did it stop?”
“How would I know? Maybe the energy only gets through randomly.”
“Before we tell the Director it was artificial, we need more information.”
“You know how he gets when given faulty information.”
“I’m glad you thought this through. Keep listening.”
Jeeren opened his eyes, “Ambush.”
“How would they ambush us in the barrier?”
“You know an energy beam will cause an instant disruption.”
Hengel looked at Jeeren, “Now you know something I don’t. How big of a disruption will it cause?”
“According to Amanda Ambrose, ‘quite extensive’.”
“That could prevent us from using the barrier during an attack.”
“I was in the mind of a battleship sensor operator and his display shows more than a hundred thousand ships scattered in the void and normal space close to that ship with the antenna in the barrier. Do you want to do anything about this current situation?”
“I want to go and blow that ship with the antenna into pieces but I suspect they’re planned for that by surrounding it with those battleships. It’s probably better to ignore it and leave them wondering about our telepathic ability.”
“So you agree that there’s probably not a ship at that planet?”
Hengel thought about the idea for a long moment and then said, “I’m going to call in a hundred more scouts and we’re going to surround this galaxy and wait to see if one of those ships leaves.”
“Why would it leave? Darn it, there I go again.”
“Let’s assume the one that brought the ship wasn’t aware of the ambush and was honest when he said it was brought here for the Senior Elders to inspect to make sure it was what they wanted. If they recommend something to be changed, what will happen?”
“They’ll take the ship back where it came from.”
“And that might show us where they are being built. By not falling for this ambush, they’ll probably think they’re in the clear and we don’t know it was brought here.”
“I’m glad I lost track of that Legend and called you in.”
“Tell me about it. Let’s move out into open space and wait for the other scouts to arrive.”
Chapter Seven
Jay, Josey, and Jan were sitting in Fifth Fleet’s cafeteria when Jay raised his wrist unit. “When did he tell you?” Jay listened and looked at them, “The First Commander is on his way here. He wants us to wait on him here.”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, Jan. His computer contacted Yomo.”
Jan looked at Josey, “Something’s up.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Look around you.” Josey and Jay looked around the crowded cafeteria and saw many of those sitting near them were raising their wrist units and then standing up to leave. Many had not finished their meals. Jan’s eyes narrowed and she said, “He’s here.”
Josey shook her head, “And you know that by…?”
“I can hear sailors up the hall shouting attention.”
Josey and Jay listened carefully and shook their heads. Suddenly, Michael came through the door and Jay said, “You and your supernatural senses never cease to amaze me.”
Jan waved a hand at him as Michael walked over and sat down, “Tell me how far along you are in getting Fifth’s ships modified?”
Jay shrugged, “They’re all pretty much done, Sir.”
“How many aren’t done?”
“About a thousand and that’s because they discovered they needed repairs when the engineers opened them to modify their disruptors. What’s going on, Sir?”
“Two of our scouts have discovered that the Legends have found the barrier.”
Josey said, “OH CRAP!”
Michael nodded, “Oh crap is right. They are in the rudimentary stage of exploring it and they still don’t have any idea of how large it is or the speed it produces, but the scouts think they can attack a ship in the barrier.”
“This changes everything, Sir.”
“It certainly changes a lot and we need to see how much. They also heard a communication that one of the new Monster Battleships may have been delivered for inspection. They’re not certain about that but they’ve set up a picket line to detect it if it leaves that galaxy.”
Jan tilted her head, “Why are they uncertain Sir?”
“The scouts uncovered an ambush set up for them in the event they showed up where the Legend communicated about the ship. It appears the Legends are learning a lot about what we are capable of doing.”
Jan nodded, “We’ve certainly provided them enough information to make good guesses about our technology.”
Josey looked at her, “When did we do that?”
“Do you not think they can record a battle just as effectively as we can? They had to see our ships disappearing and reappearing. They had to see that we weren’t going into normal space. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something else must exist that they’ve been missing.”
Michael listened to Jan and really took a good look at her for the first time. It was hard to notice her with Josey close by. Josey was stunningly beautiful and Jan looked…plain. But he watched Jay and Josey’s reactions to her comments and he quickly saw that Jan was the brains of the outfit. Oh, Jay was smarter about all things technological and Josey was a great tactician…but they turned to Jan when they needed guidance.
Jan saw Michael staring at her and she said, “What?”
“You’re right. We’ve been surprised they haven’t discovered it before now. By the way, all three of you have been promoted to Captains.”
Jay shook his head, “Now wait a minute!!”
“I thought you wanted to take part in any attacks?”
Jay tilted his head, “We do.”
“You need the rank to stop others from ordering you around. Matter of fact, I’m promoting the three of you to Commodores. You won’t be given any subordinates, you’ll report directly to me.”
Jan smiled, “Admiral Greenwall has requested me to ask you if we can remain on her fleet roles.”
“Why?”
“She wants us to represent Fifth in the next Fleet Competition.”
Michael shook his head, “She never stops thinking.”
“Does it meet your approval, Sir?”
Michael nodded and then looked at Josey and Jay, “Give us a few minutes.” Michael saw Josey and Jay look at Jan. She nodded and they stood up to leave. Michael said, “When the fleet is called out, come to my ship. We’ll be leaving ahead of the fleet.”
Jay and Josey said, “Yes Sir!”
They walked away and Michael watched them leave. Every male sailor, and most of the female ones as well, stared at Josey as she left the room. Jan said, “She is impressive, Sir.”
“That must be why you hide your appearance.”
“Sir?”
“Come on, Jan. You tie your hair back so tight I’m surprised your head doesn’t cry out for help. You wear uniforms two sizes too big to make you look fluffy, and…”
“FLUFFY?”
Michael smiled, “I’ve learned to never use the word fat and female in the same sentence. Fluffy works just as well as fat. You also color your hair that mousey brown and wear contacts to hide the real color of your eyes.”