The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness Read online

  “What type of anomaly is Andram investigating?” asked Commander Malen, looking over at Ariel.

  “Clarissa says it’s at the heart of the cluster of blue giants and is giving off more energy than the entire cluster combined.”

  “What can possibly do that?” asked Kevin, arching his eyebrow. “Is there a black hole in the center?”

  “Dark energy,” answered Ariel, her eyes narrowing as she ran several simulations to take into account the energy variation the Distant Horizon was reporting. “Dark energy comprises about seventy percent of the known universe and dark matter about twenty-six percent. Dark energy is a property of space and is what’s making the universe expand at an ever-increasing rate. It’s explained by Einstein’s cosmological constant.”

  “Knew I shouldn’t have skipped that course at the academy,” muttered Kevin.

  “Dark energy and dark matter still aren’t understood very well,” Commander Malen commented. “The Altons may have a better understanding since they’ve made many more observations along those lines than we have.”

  “I just wonder why it’s here,” said Jeremy not liking where his thoughts were going.

  “What if the Simulins have found a way to harness dark energy?” asked Commander Malen with concern in her voice. “It would be a very powerful energy source.”

  “One that could possibly power an intergalactic network of spatial vortexes,” Ariel said as she calculated the energy the Simulins might be able to draw. “Such power would allow them to make regular transits between galaxies; much more so than what the blue giants provide.”

  “Or send an invasion fleet,” responded Jeremy worriedly. He looked up at a viewscreen, which was focused on the Distant Horizon. He wondered just what Andram was studying. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like it.

  -

  Katie was standing next to Kelsey as they listened to Andram and Shilum arguing over what Astrometrics was reporting. Mikow had helped run some computer simulations, which involved some higher math that was way above anything Katie was familiar with. Even Clarissa was confused by what the Altons were discussing.

  “I don’t like this,” Katie said nervously. “Every time we find something new, it’s always bad.” She wished Kevin were here, but he was on the Avenger with Jeremy and Angela.

  “We’re safe for now,” Kelsey answered reassuringly. “I already have the next two sets of jump coordinates programmed into navigation.”

  Katie nodded. The main viewscreen was showing a simulation from Astrometrics of what was in the center of the blue giant star cluster. It was an area of nothingness. No light, no radiation, nothing, just a dead area. She felt a cold shiver spread across her shoulders. That area of darkness frightened her. She had a feeling something terrifying was going to happen there, which would affect her for the rest of her life.

  -

  “Dark energy?” Shilum said, running her slim right hand through her white hair. “I don’t believe the Simulins are advanced enough to harness it as a power source. Even our own scientists are years away from such a venture.”

  “But we’re not on a war footing like the Simulins are,” countered Andram. “Most of our people are pacifists and while there is a thirst for knowledge, it’s not driven as it may be with the Simulins.”

  Shilum looked down at her computer screen and the region of nothingness it displayed. “That area’s nearly three light-years across. It’s full of both dark energy and dark matter.”

  Andram nodded his head. “It can’t be a natural occurrence.”

  “But how?” demanded Shilum. “It would take a tremendous power source to even attempt to tap dark energy. Even with our Fusion Five reactors we couldn’t come close to the power needed.”

  “They have the power source,” pointed out Andram, gesturing toward the main viewscreen showing some of the blue giant stars. Most were hidden by clouds of hydrogen gas.

  “The energy collectors we found around the blue giant star,” uttered Shilum as she considered the ramifications. “You think they have such a system set up around all of them?”

  “I do,” Andram replied.

  Shilum spent a long minute gazing at the screen before shifting her gaze back to Andram. “We need to find out what’s there. If they’re using dark energy as a power source, they could travel anywhere they want in the nearer galaxies. It would also imply their technology is on a level with ours, if not slightly higher.” Alton science was supreme in the home galaxy, but it was becoming rapidly apparent it might not be supreme in this one.

  Andram nodded in agreement. “This may be our only chance. I’ll speak to Rear Admiral Barnes and see if we can divert the Distant Horizon for a little side trip.”

  -

  “They want to do what?” exploded Jeremy, staring in disbelief at Ariel.

  Ariel looked unabashed at Jeremy. “The Altons on board the Distant Horizon want to take the ship to the center of the blue giant cluster to investigate an area of dark energy and dark matter the Simulins might be using to power an intergalactic spatial vortex system.”

  “We can’t let them do it,” said Commander Malen, shaking her head in denial. “The Simulins are already looking for us, and it would be too dangerous to travel deeper into the cluster. Hell, we may have a hard enough time just escaping from the nebula.”

  Kevin looked over at Jeremy. “We’ve already lost the Nemesis; we could lose the entire task group if we do this.”

  “Not the entire task group,” Ariel said softly. “Only the Distant Horizon. The exploration dreadnought is the only ship that might be able to reach the center of the cluster and get out without being detected. The ship’s also powerful enough to defend herself if necessary.”

  Jeremy leaned back in his command chair and let out a deep breath. He closed his eyes briefly as he thought over the dangers of sending the Distant Horizon on this mission alone. He tried to keep his personal feelings out of it since Kelsey and Katie were aboard the ship. Opening his eyes, he realized he didn’t have a choice. If this area of dark energy was where the Simulins were conducting their intergalactic operations, he needed to find out.

  “You’re going to do it, aren’t you?” Kevin said, his eyes narrowing accusingly. “Katie and Kelsey are aboard that ship!”

  “I know,” replied Jeremy, with an ache in his heart. “If we send more ships it will only endanger the mission.”

  “I have Rear Admiral Barnes on the comm,” Angela reported.

  Jeremy activated his mini-comm, having reached a decision. He felt the lonely weight of command on his shoulders. He was going to approve the mission even though he was putting his wife and Katie in jeopardy. There would be a number of sleepless nights waiting for the exploration dreadnought to return.

  “Admiral Barnes, I understand you have a request you want to make,” Jeremy began with a deep sigh. He didn’t look over at Kevin, knowing his best friend was deeply concerned for the danger his wife was about to be placed in. Jeremy just hoped he was making the right decision sending the Distant Horizon. If something were to happen to the ship he would never forgive himself, and it would also probably cost him his best friend.

  Chapter Nine

  The Distant Horizon came out of its sixth hyperspace jump on the outskirts of a blue giant system. It was the closest star to the area of dark matter and dark energy the ship had detected earlier. The rest of the task group was waiting at the T Tauri star for the ship’s return once its clandestine mission was completed.

  “Get me a status report,” ordered Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes as the ship’s system began coming online. The brief hesitation in the ship’s systems due to exiting the vortex always made her feel uneasy. “The ship will stay at Condition One until further notice.”

  She saw on her command console that the stealth shield had activated and was functioning normally. They’d come out far enough so the shield and the ship’s thick armor would protect them from the intense radiation from the star.

&nbs
p; “This system is relatively free of hydrogen,” commented Commander Grissim as she gazed at some of the screens on her command console. Data was scrolling over them from the short-range sensors. “Our scans should be able to cover the entire system.”

  “What about our long-range sensors?”

  “Still blocked by the dark matter,” Andram answered as he turned around from his science station. “We don’t have anything that can penetrate it.”

  “What will happen if we try to enter the area using our hyperdrive?”

  “That’s unknown,” Shilum responded, her forehead creasing in a frown. “We have no experience using hyperdrives under such conditions.”

  “There may be a way to find out,” commented Clarissa. She’d been doing some calculations and had come up with several interesting facts. “The Simulin energy collecting stations probably use a spatial vortex to transmit the energy they’ve gathered to this area of space. If they have a way to safely use hyperspace to transmit energy, we should be able to use the same method for the Distant Horizon.”

  “I have the results of our first scans,” reported Captain Reynolds. “There are ten Simulin energy collection stations around the star. I’m also detecting what appear to be two Simulin warships in the same orbit as the stations.”

  “They may have sent ships to all the blue giant systems to protect the stations after detecting our presence,” added Colonel Leon. “I’m sure the Simulins are concerned about our being here in the blue giant cluster.”

  “Unfortunately they might be able to detect us if they noticed the energy surge when our exit vortex formed,” Kathryn said worriedly. “Helm, turn us 180 degrees starboard, three-quarters sublight. I want to put some additional distance between us and the Simulins.”

  “Admiral, we need to continue to observe this system,” Andram said. “If Clarissa is correct, and I believe she is, all we need to do is wait for these stations to activate a vortex and see if we can detect its end point.”

  Kathryn looked over at the nearby tactical display showing the system. No planets or asteroids were visible. All the display was displaying were twelve glowing red threat icons. Two had triangles around them designating Simulin warships. So far there had been no obvious reaction to their entering the system. There was a possibility that due to how near the star the Simulin ships were their sensors might be affected by the intense radiation and they hadn’t detected the appearance of the hyperspace vortex.

  “Continue on course,” ordered Kathryn. As long as the Simulins gave no signs of having detected the Distant Horizon, she was willing to risk staying in the outskirts of the system.

  “We are able to scan fifty percent of the area around the dark matter,” Clarissa reported. “Our scans can’t penetrate even the outer regions but if a spatial vortex forms in close proximity to the area we should be able to detect it.”

  “So what now?” asked Colonel Leon, shifting her gaze from the tactical display to the admiral.

  “We wait,” replied Kathryn, folding her arms over her chest. “We’ll stay at Condition One for another hour. If there’s no response from the Simulins we’ll go down to Condition Three. Clarissa, if we’re at Condition Three and the Simulins attack, you have control of the ship.” She knew the AI could go from Condition Three to Condition One in an instant, whereas it would take the crew several minutes to get to their combat stations.

  Clarissa nodded. It pleased her immensely that the admiral was trusting her so much.

  -

  “I can’t believe we’re separated from Kevin and Jeremy again,” complained Katie to Kelsey over their private comm channel. Clarissa kept a secure channel between the three of them open at all times.

  “I know,” Kelsey replied. “I’m sure Jeremy wasn’t pleased about us being on this mission.”

  “No special treatment,” Clarissa reminded the two of them. “That was one of the conditions both of you agreed to in order to stay on the Distant Horizon.” What Clarissa didn’t mention was that she would give preferential treatment to the two women anytime she felt it was necessary, even if it meant going against Rear Admiral Barnes’ orders. Ariel would do the same for Jeremy, Kevin, and Angela.

  “We know,” answered Katie, with a sigh. “We just didn’t expect to be going on a mission like this one.”

  “I’ll protect you,” Clarissa declared. “You have nothing to fear.”

  “We know you’ll keep us safe,” Katie said. Every day Clarissa sounded more and more like the old Clarissa. There’d been a time after her memory crystal had been damaged when Katie doubted that would ever happen.

  -

  Kelsey looked in front of her at the massive viewscreen, which covered the front wall of the Command Center. It was currently focused on the dark matter nebula and all it showed was an area of emptiness where there should be stars.

  “It’s frightening to look at, isn’t it?” commented Andram, glancing over at Kelsey.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it before,” Kelsey replied. “In all of my studies at the academy and my time with the fleet, we’ve never encountered dark matter or dark energy that might be dangerous. We know it’s there; it’s everywhere. But it’s so spread out that it has no effects on hyperspace travel.”

  “That we’re aware of,” Andram reminded her. “Shilum believes dark matter may play a limiting role in how fast our ships can travel in hyperspace.”

  Kelsey looked over at Andram in confusion. There were some very complicated mathematical formulas used to compute hyperspace jumps. “Do you mean to tell me the hyperspace formulas take into account the affects of dark matter?”

  “You know the swirling deep purple colors we see while we’re in hyperspace?”

  “Yes,” Kelsey answered. “They’re comforting in some ways since we can’t be attacked. They’re also frightening because no one really knows what causes them.”

  “Shilum believes it’s the interaction of hyperspace upon dark matter at faster than light speeds which causes the colors. I’m sure you’ve noticed that when the Distant Horizon is traveling at top speed the colors seem more turbulent.”

  Kelsey nodded; she had noticed that. “What about dark energy; what does it do?”

  Andram hesitated. “We’re not sure. Dark energy is a property of space; as the universe continues to expand more dark energy comes into existence. The spatial vortexes we create tear a hole in space and pushes the dark energy away. That’s one reason why vortexes collapse so rapidly once we quit applying energy; dark energy rushes back in and fills the void we briefly created.”

  Kelsey’s eyes returned to the viewscreen. “What does it mean if the Simulins have learned how to harness dark matter or dark energy?”

  “We could be in serious trouble,” Andram said, hid face taking on a troubled look. “My own people are years away from such a feat. If the Simulins are indeed that advanced, they’re using a power we can only dimly grasp.”

  Kelsey leaned back in her chair, lost in thought. If Andram was right, then it would be wise for them to return to Gaia and never venture forth into the Triangulum Galaxy again. In their early battles with the Simulins, they had been fortunate to survive. By now, the Simulins would have a basic understanding of the capabilities of the Lost Fleets’ ships even though there had been changes. She was aware there were even some new ship designs being planned. When they returned to Gaia, she intended to have a long talk with Jeremy. She wanted to know exactly how safe he thought they were in the nebula.

  -

  Rear Admiral Barnes was in Engineering speaking to Betrem Jalat, the Assistant Chief Engineer. Jalat was Alton and very knowledgeable about the ship’s hyperdrive as well as the Fusion Five reactors. He’d helped in the design of the new hyperdrive.

  “So you don’t believe the Simulins are opening up a vortex in the center of the area of dark matter?” Kathryn asked. The two had been discussing the mysterious area of space at the heart of the blue giant cluster for several minutes.


  Betrem slowly shook his head. He was slightly taller than Kathryn and could be considered short for an Alton. Most Altons were easily over six feet tall. “I don’t think it’s possible,” he answered. “It would take a tremendous amount of energy. I can’t even estimate how much without getting into some serious hyperspace mathematics.”

  Kathryn was growing more confused. She was beginning to believe this mission was a serious mistake. If you couldn’t travel in hyperspace through the dark matter, then how could the Simulins be using it to power a network of intergalactic portals?

  “Then the Simulins can’t be opening up vortexes inside the dark matter area,” she said, trying to understand what Betrem was telling her.

  “Not regular spatial vortexes,” Betrem replied, his eyes narrowing. “You misunderstand. An intergalactic vortex uses a higher band of hyperspace for travel. It’s how we can get such tremendous speeds to make a transit seem almost instantaneous. The higher bands take a vast amount of energy to access and the dark matter will have a smaller effect. With enough power to open up a spatial vortex to travel at the higher levels, it would be possible to travel through hydrogen nebulas, even densely packed ones such as what we have here in NGC 604.”

  Kathryn nodded. She vaguely understood what Betrem was telling her. She would ask Andram or Shilum for more details later. For now she was satisfied the mission needed to continue. Whatever was at the center of the area of dark matter, the Distant Horizon and its crew had to find it.

  “Admiral Barnes, please report to the Command Center,” Commander Grissim spoke over the ship’s comm system. “We have detected a spatial vortex in the system.”

  Kathryn flipped her mini-comm on and replied. “On my way.” It had been two days since they’d arrived at this blue giant system. Kathryn had begun to wonder just how long it would be before the energy collectors in the system activated. They couldn’t hang around forever. Every hour they stayed increased the risk of detection.