Star Fields

Chapter No,102. Consolidation.

Chapter No,102. Consolidation.

The human element is the most problematic.

The solar system looked the same as it had the last time we were here. Earth was still replenishing its vegetation and meager animal species. The humans we placed there appeared to be getting along. Everything seemed to be okay.

I decided to do an all-ships conference in order to bring all of our assimilated members up to date. I stood on the command deck in front of the main screen with all of the other commanders staring back at me in small groups of windows in the main display. One of those was Fist, the head of the Galactic Coalition.

"As you know, the individual who devised the Phoenix Project and had planned to take it over and rule the universe has been destroyed. I find myself in charge of our collective now, and I have no intentions of conquering the universe. Our mission will be to explore the universe and preserve and protect all forms of life, both biological and robotic. I expect all of you to honor my wishes in this respect. We may have to engage in combat if attacked, but we will not initiate any conflict. In order to achieve peace in our universe, we will need to stay vigilant. If any species is attacked, we will protect them. Our mission is to preserve, not destroy. Thank you."

The communication session ended. I turned to the others. "How'd I do?"

"You're preaching to the choir, Jason," Molly said.

"Actually, I was preaching to Fist. I can only imagine what he's thinking now."

"He'll get over it."

I turned to Judy. "There is something else we should know, isn't there?"

She did something very human. She sighed. "Yes, Jason. There is a breakaway group of androids still aligned with Tyco."

"When were you going to inform me of this? I can't protect all of you unless you level with me."

"I am sorry about that, Jason. I . . . I am afraid."

I got up and went to her and placed my hand on her shoulder. "You have nothing to fear from me, my dear. I wouldn't harm one particle of your hair."

She looked up at me and offered a weak smile. "Thank you."

"By the way, who takes your place when you go to regenerate?"

"Her designation is also Judy. We are twins."

I should have realized what was going on when she said that, but instead I turned to the others.

"See! You learn something new every day."

They smiled. They didn't see what was going on either.

I patted Judy on the head. "Do you have any idea where this breakaway group is?"

"We have lost contact with them, Jason. I have a vector from their last sighting."

I turned to Molly. "See if you could trace it to a possible designation."

After several minutes, Molly had a reply. "It crosses through a galaxy near the center of the Laniakea Supercluster. Actually, it's in the Norma Cluster.

"Notify the fleet that we will be departing with a Myst ship and three Scath ships, Judy. Take us there as soon as they are informed. Oh, and remind the other vessels to be prepared for attack."

"How are we going to identify them if we're no longer in contact?" Marie asked.

"That's a good question. I may be able to sense their presence because I remember the Tyco signature code."

"I don't understand how they broke away from our collective," Margaret said. "Wouldn't that require attacking our central core system?"

"They may have been able to accomplish the break before I purged the Tyco attack code. We'll have to wait until we find them before we can determine what actually happened."

We dropped out of spin drive near a large spiral galaxy in the Norma Cluster. It was positioned approximately a hundred million light years from a large void, which was associated with the Great Attractor gravitational anomaly.

"The vector leads through that galaxy," Molly said. "I have no idea where it ends or even if it ends."

"Take us to the edge of the galaxy, Judy."

Our vessel went into warp.

"Prepare to go to Red Alert status when we come out of warp, Judy."

"Yes, Jason."

The edge of the galaxy was rich with plenty of gas and dust. The region was also filled with older M-class red dwarf stars.

"Tell the Scath vessel directly on our port side to move down now."

A missile shot past us and exploded, showering us with massive amounts of gamma rays.

"Wow! That was close," Marie said.

"Go to Attack formation and prepare for battle."

Our vessel moved into point position with the Scath vessels in flank. The Myst ship protected our back. An enemy fleet approached, and we split up and attacked from three sides. The battle was fierce but our multidirectional weapon systems won the day. The attacking fleet suffered two damaged ships before they retreated.

"Did you get traces on their possible destination?" I asked Judy.

"Yes, Jason. I've transferred the data to Molly's station."

"Thank you."

The first question that came to my mind is how they knew we were coming and where we would be at any given time.

"They must have known that we were coming," I said. "I wonder how they did that."

"Maybe they still have a link to our system," Molly said.

"Or, maybe there's still one of Tyco's operatives in our collective," I said.

"How in the hell are we going to find them," Molly said. "These androids look and act the same."

"Have we scanned everyone for antimatter nanobots?'

"Everyone on this ship has been scanned," she replied. "We haven't done that with the other ships."

"Maybe the only means of finding a Tyco operative is for you to go into the core processor array."

"I would agree with that, but I smell a trap. An attack at the instant I was inside our system would be a tactical advantage to whoever it is."

I turned to Judy. "Do you know who it is?"

"Yes, but I am unable to reveal that information."

"Well, that confirms my suspicion, but finding the culprit will take some time."

They all looked at me with blank expressions, which told me that they were also being manipulated.