“I had a lot of time to look at things in the Fleet’s data banks while cleaning bathrooms, Josey.”
“What was the fact, Jan?”
“A weather announcer on a TV station showed a photograph after a hurricane of broom straws that were blown through a telephone pole and into the wall behind it.”
Jay looked at Josey and then at Jan, “Maybe I’m just dense; how does that relate to what we’re discussing?”
“The straws went through the telephone pole without leaving a hole.”
“Say what?”
“The pole was right up against the wall and the broom straws were sticking directly out of the bricks in the wall. The only way they could have come in at that angle was to have come through the telephone pole. The pole had no holes in in and x-rays showed that there weren’t any, even small ones.” Jay and Josey stared at Jan and she shrugged, “If something is moving fast enough, it will go through an object without leaving a hole.”
Jay’s eyes narrowed and he began doing some mental calculations. “I guess the molecules just pass through each other without making contact.”
“I’ve also read in Astronomy Today, May issue 2015, that the space between an atom’s nucleus and its electrons is actually, relatively speaking, greater than the distance between the sun and its planets.”
Jay stared at Jan and leaned back in his chair, “I’ve often looked at finding a novel way to end my life and now I know I should have come to you for suggestions. This is crazy!”
“Jay, what happens to a physical object that is moving at or close to the speed of light?”
“It becomes little more than an energy wave.”
“And energy waves can pass through…”
Jay rolled his eyes, “Pretty much everything. But this would be an energy wave with more than a hundred tons of mass.”
“What will the gravity compensators do?”
Jay rolled his eyes again and said, “I saw a bug on the ceiling.”
Jan giggled and Jay said, “You need to give me some time to think about this.”
“Commander!”
“Go ahead, Hengel.”
“I’ve just intercepted a communication from a ship’s pilot that he was moving out of orbit and headed out of the galaxy.”
“Notify every scout to keep an eye and mind out for that ship.”
“Are you going to attempt to intercept it?”
“No, I want it followed.”
“They can detect us in the barrier.”
“We’re staying out of the barrier and following it in the void.”
“Sir, a ship that large can carry a sensor array as large as those used on a planet.”
“Just give me the line it takes and I’ll get ahead of it.”
“What if there are ships waiting for it to defend it against discovery.”
“What are you suggesting Hengel?”
“I didn’t hear a direct thought but I sensed the pilot was moving to meet something or someone.”
“Hengel, what would you do if you were moving that ship?”
“Sir, if it were me, I’d have one of those ships that launches barrier probes and I’d have one disrupting the barrier all the way to its destination. I would also have ships hidden behind a black cloud in the void along its path.”
Michael shook his head, “I suspect it will change course at some point before moving toward its final destination. Its initial line of departure will be a decoy.”
“I was going to say that. The course change wouldn’t happen until I was absolutely certain no one was following me.”
“Hengel, scatter the scouts. Get them away from here before we can no longer use the barrier.”
“Where do I send them?”
“As far away as possible where they can still detect a thought.”
“Angelo, do you have anything?”
“No.”
“It makes me wonder why we were able to hear that pilot and nothing else.”
“Do you think they’ve developed a thought blocker?”
“THAT HAS TO BE WHAT’S HAPPENING!”
“If that’s true…”
“The first line is set up to be an ambush.”
“Commander, I’ve determined the line of departure is 270 degrees from the galaxy’s central core.”
“Get all of your scouts off that line. The reason we’re not hearing them is that they must have developed a thought blocker.”
Hengel thought, “GET OUT OF HERE NOW!”
Michael wondered if one of the giant warships was actually present in this galaxy. All of this may be a subterfuge to ambush his ships, “Put a chart of that galaxy on the display, Angelo, showing the stated line of departure.” Michael looked at the map and saw the line was directly away from the Virgo Cluster. He pressed a button and saw his three guards appear on his display, “Here’s the situation. I still don’t know if one of those new warships is in this galaxy but I am convinced that the Legends have developed a thought blocker. They’re only communicating what they want us to hear.”
Jay tilted his head, “Are you sure about that?”
“Jay, no Legend I’ve ever encountered has ever remained silent this long. They constantly communicate.”
“This one could be doing it deliberately to prevent us knowing exactly what it is doing.”
Michael nodded, “But if it suspects we are out here, there is no way it would allow others to direct its fleets.”
Jan looked at the map and said, “If it is present, it has already moved to the edge of the galaxy and is waiting for the decoy to make its way out. It will leave before the decoy arrives at the edge of the galaxy.”
“Angelo, get an antenna in the barrier and see if you detect anything on the opposite side from the stated line of departure.”
“I have a small energy signature at the edge of that galaxy directly across the galaxy from where the scouts were located.”
“All three of you go to full thrusters and stay out of the barrier. Spread out ahead of that disturbance and we’ll triangulate it as it moves away from that galaxy. Angelo, how far away can you detect that disturbance?”
“About a million light years.”
“Alright, you have your limitation on distance, move out now!” The four ships went in four different directions from above the giant galaxy and staked out the void on a ninety-degree heading. “Do we use the Dark Matter Screen?”
“No, just turn down all your systems to their lowest settings and use minimal thrusters to keep it inside your detection range.”
Jan said, “You know they will have ships out looking for anything suspicious.”
Michael smiled, “They are just learning about the barrier and I suspect they have no idea how far we can detect their antenna. No scanner is capable of seeing a ship a thousand light years distant, much less a million. Only move enough to keep it inside our detection range.”
“I want all communications ended and use your computers to send quick thoughts if absolutely necessary. Turn off your computer’s thought broadcasters and only use them if absolutely necessary. Computers, scan the area of space we’ll be watching to see if you detect any thoughts ahead of that ship.”
Jan looked up, “Langley?”
“I’ve removed the power from the broadcaster.”
“Do you have that energy source plotted?”
“It’s stationary at the moment but yes, I do have it.”
“Good.”
“Jan.”
“Yes.”
“I was just thinking that perhaps the Legends aren’t as bright as we think.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think they use thought blockers on those that are telepathic. I don’t think it occurred to them that beings that are not telepathic can still be heard.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I can hear thousands of thoughts close to where that energy source is located.”