The Wages of War

by Saxon Andrew

“They certainly have enough warships to defend the planet. They have them in layers all the way out to the edge of the star system.” Cami stared at the monitor and then closed her eyes. After a moment she opened them, “I just listened to the thoughts of one of the commanders on a warship and he wishes that his ship would be released from sentry duty to go out and conquer other planets. I believe that this civilization is aggressive.” Robert sat up straight in his chair with a concerned expression. “What?” Cami asked.

  “I just found one of the commanders on a freighter and he’s yelling that he needs to get underway to deliver the harvest.”

  “Why does that concern you?”

  “He’s saying the Farmers will not tolerate another late delivery.” Cami’s eyes widened. Robert shook his head, “It appears this aggressive civilization is being forced to send the plants they’re growing to this Farmers we’ve heard about.” Robert paused and added, “I thought that they could perhaps be sending the crops to another one of their planets and that was why they were being transported up to the freighters, but that doesn’t appear to be what’s happening. They are being forced to send them to the Farmers.”

  Cami nodded and replied, “And it appears they aren’t alone.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Remember the freighters we passed moving into Andromeda? They were all headed on the same course even though they came from different civilizations,” Cami answered. She paused and asked, “Does this civilization represent a threat to us?”

  “The computer has done an analysis of the positrons leaking from their reactors and estimates that their blasters can’t defeat our force fields. Maybe if they fired enough of them at a single ship it would possibly destroy it but that would be extremely difficult when you can’t detect the ship you’re firing at.”

  “I just saw in that warship commander’s thoughts that he laments the old days being gone when he could go out and conquer other civilizations. This world had conquered more than three hundred other civilizations before the Farmers arrived. They were at that first planet we approached preparing to add it to their empire but had to back off because of their fear of the Farmers intervening in their attack. It appears they are being prevented from further aggression.”

  “That would lead me to believe they may leave Andromeda to go out into Triangulum or possibly the Milky Way to expand their empire.”

  “You might be right about that Robert. Those ships are more advanced than the civilization in Triangulum.”

  Robert chuckled, “They’d get their hats handed to them if they chose to invade the Milky Way.”

  “How do we confirm our suspicions about the power of their warships?”

  “The easiest way would be to attack one of them.”

  “Didn’t they leave a couple of warships back at the first planet?” Robert’s eyes narrowed and he nodded. Cami raised her hands, “Well…”

  “It’s your call, Cami.”

  “We can’t take the risk of our ship being damaged or destroyed so we can’t allow them to fire at us.”

  “That’s true. We must get the information on the new Colony Scanner back to Britannia.”

  “But we could trial our weapons against them to see if you’re right in your assumption that their ships aren’t as powerful as we thought.” Cami thought for a moment and said, “I say we do it so we can put this civilization behind us as a threat.” Robert turned the ship and pushed the thruster handle forward.

  • • •

  The Heartbreaker was sitting in space between the two huge warships left behind at the first planet. Cami stared at them on the tactical monitor and slowly shook her head, “They’re a lot bigger than I thought.”

  Robert nodded, “Especially from this distance. How do you want to do this?”

  “Do you have a suggestion?”

  Robert blew out a breath and said, “Well, we need to see how our blasters and missiles do against them. I think we should fire a blaster at one of them and a missile at the other.”

  “Are you saying just one blaster and one missile?”

  “Yes Cami. If it takes more than that, then this civilization would represent a danger to us.”

  “But two or more would give us a better idea.”

  Robert shook his head, “We’ve not used either weapon, so we don’t really know how powerful they are. Joshua insists they’re more powerful than any we’ve ever developed and using more than one won’t answer just how much more powerful they are.”

  Cami thought about it and smiled, “Ok, a missile and a blaster. I’ll launch a missile at the ship on the starboard side and fire a blaster at the ship on the port side.”

  “Try to time the blaster with the missile’s strike.”

  “I’ve already set that up. You need to move the ship the moment they impact.”

  “I’m moving the ship vertical the moment we hit them. Computer, it either of those ships fire a blaster at us during this exercise I want it recorded and analyzed.”

  “Scanners operating Captain.”

  Robert turned to Cami, “Count it down.”

  “I’m launching the missile on ‘one’ and firing on zero.” Robert nodded and gripped the Gravity Thruster. “In five…four…three…two…one…zero!”

  Robert felt the Heartbreaker shudder slightly with the missile launch and saw a blinding white light appear outside the ship a moment later. He pulled the thruster handle up and the Heartbreaker moved out from between the two giant warships. Multiple blaster beams filled the space they occupied a moment earlier and then the ships disappeared in the distance.

  • • •

  Robert stopped the ship and looked up, “Computer did you record the missile and blaster hits?”

  “Putting them on the monitor now.”

  Robert and Cami saw two giant explosions rip into the two giant warships as they fired blaster beams in the direction the attack originated. Cami shook her head, “Those ships aren’t going anywhere.”

  Robert nodded slightly and stared at the two giant holes in the ships’ hulls and the fires that were burning unabated inside them. “Computer, what can you tell me about the beams they fired?”

  “They match up with our current warships but do not have the power to penetrate our hull or force field.”

  “Are you saying our hulls wouldn’t need the force field to survive?” Cami immediately asked.

  “Yes. The Britannia Hull is able to withstand five or more of those blaster beams.”

  Cami turned to Robert, “You were right; their ships aren’t more advanced than our current warships. Their scanning ability is more advanced but that’s about all.”

  Robert turned to his console, “Plot a course in the direction you saw those freighters moving. Computer, notify us immediately if you detect anything ahead of us.”

  Robert saw a red line appear on the tactical monitor and he moved the small warship on it. He pushed the thruster handle forward and the Heartbreaker went to full speed. He was nervous; this is the direction the real advanced civilization was located, and he worried about what they would find.

  • • •

  Sharon looked at Linda and asked, “Don’t you think we’ve waited long enough?” Linda shook her head. “But they’ve been gone for three days!”

  “If you were worried about the attack being scouted, how long would you wait before recalling all your scouts?”

  “I think you’re just being paranoid.”

  “Take a nap!” Sharon blew out a breath and closed her eyes. Linda was being ridiculous.

  Four hours later, Sharon was awakened by a thought, “Commander, nothing has shown up or been detected.”

  “What about the four scouts that just joined your forces?”

  “They reported finding nothing.”

  “Have you used the Stealth Scanner?”

  “I have sir.”

  “Ok, power up and catch up to the fleet.”

  Sharon sighed and Linda said, “We’
re not going anywhere.”

  “WHY NOT? THEY’RE LEAVING!”

  “Take nap!”

  “But Linda!”

  “I believe that scout was a set up to get us to move. You’ve got to learn to be patient…and suspicious.”

  • • •

  The next day, Linda was sleeping in her chair and heard, “Has anything shown up?”

  “No Sir.”

  “I’m probably just being paranoid about this. All scouts return to the Colonies.”

  Linda was awake and stared at the optical monitor. Five scouts powered up and moved away at high speed. Linda looked at Sharon with a raised eyebrow and Sharon shook her head, “There’s still one scout here.”

  “Tell me how you know.”

  “The site of the battle would require six scouts to surround it and only five left. That means one is still out there.”

  “Where would it be located?”

  Sharon shrugged, “It’s directly ahead of us.” Linda nodded. They settled back in their chairs and twelve hours later, the last Colony Scout powered up and left at high speed.

  “Ready to leave?” Sharon shook her head. “That’s my girl!”

  It took another two days but then three scouts powered up and flew away from the attack site. Linda stood up from her chair and reached under her console. She began turning a valve and the air tanks began emptying into the bow air-thrusters. She activated the stardrive field as the scout began backing away from the site of the battle. She waited until the air tanks were empty before shutting the valve. She turned off the stardrive and went to the atmospheric tanks. She opened the valve and pressurized the inside of the scout. She started taking off her space suit and Sharon joined her. “Do you think we’re outside their scanner range?”

  “I don’t know,” Linda answered. “I keep hearing them mention a Stealth Scanner and I know nothing about it. We’re going to hang here for a while.”

  • • •

  A day later, Linda had decided that it was probably safe to power the scout’s systems. Suddenly she heard, “Sir, we’ve surrounded the battle site, and nothing has appeared on our scanners. My scouts are starting to run low on provisions.” There was a moment of silence and they heard, “Sir, if there was a ship out here, we would have found it!”

  “Do another scan with the Stealth Scanners!!”

  “Scan complete Sir. Nothing on our monitors.”

  “Shut down your stealth scanners and leave them off on your return to the Colonies. Get moving!”

  Richard didn’t feel right about calling off the search…but was he just being paranoid? He just couldn’t believe Grady wouldn’t have a scout out watching the battle. But it appeared he didn’t and probably expected to receive a recording of the battle. The Prime Minister would never allow that. Richard considered that fact and sighed; he hoped there was a scout, but he now doubted there was. Funny how your mind plays tricks on you.

  • • •

  Linda looked at Sharon and she asked, “What do we do now?”

  “We wait until tomorrow and then power up our systems and fly directly through the site of the battle.”

  “And what if there is still a Colony Scout there?”

  “We’ll say hello and tell them we’re returning to the Milky Way for a deserved leave.” Sharon nodded and the next day they were not approached by a Colony Scout. The voyage back to Britannia was uneventful.

  • • •

  Robert was smiling slightly at his console and Cami asked, “What do you find amusing?”

  “You manipulated my subconscious to attack those ships, didn’t you?” Cami sighed and shook her head. “Come on Cami, be honest; you know you made me change my mind.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Then how many times have you manipulated me during this voyage?”

  “Robert I told you I wouldn’t do that. I’ve not done it once!” Cami lowered her eyes slightly and said, “I’m beginning to understand how you feel about me.”

  What do you mean?”

  “I know you don’t trust me because I didn’t tell the truth about your being able to detect me if I tried to enter your subconscious. I really thought you could but now you don’t trust me to be honest with you on critical issues. You would never know if I was manipulating you and if you changed your mind on anything, you would look at me for causing it. The not knowing would be hard to deal with.”

  “You haven’t made me change my mind?”

  “No, I have not.” Cami answered. Robert turned back to his console and Cami looked out of the viewport. She was silent for a few moments and then said, “Did I tell you I told my mother about my talent?”

  Robert turned to her with his brow furrowed, “How did that go?”

  “I told her I was worried sick that I had subconsciously gotten her and Grady to adopt me. I feared that I controlled the people around me without even being aware of it.” Robert was silent and Cami tilted her head slightly before adding, “Mom convinced me I had nothing to do with their adopting me.”

  “How did she do that?”

  “She asked me if I knew the family meeting was for the purpose of RJ and Candy asking if I would agree to their adopting me. I told her no; at that time I did not look at the thoughts of my friends.” Cami paused and said, “I did look at RJ and Candy’s thoughts and saw they were adopting me for their daughter. They thought Sweets and I would make great sisters.” Cami turned to Robert, “They weren’t adopting me for themselves. So I turned them down. It was at that point that Taffy asked if I would agree for her and Grady to adopt me. I saw in their thoughts that they were doing it because they wanted me in their lives. So I accepted. Mom got me to see that she and Grady had already asked the family to adopt me, but everyone felt that putting me with Sweets was the better choice. Mom was right; I didn’t influence them to adopt me.”

  “Did you tell her you influenced them to allow you to go on those scouting missions?” Cami nodded. “How did she respond to that?”

  “She shook it off. She said she and Grady would still be arguing about it if I hadn’t stepped in.” Robert stared at Cami and she took a breath before saying, “I told Mom that I was never going to use that talent again and that perhaps over time it would atrophy and disappear.”

  “And?” Robert asked.

  “Mom told me to not do that. She said that my talent had stopped the Grang Scout from reporting Britannia as a habitable planet and that humanity might need my talent in the future to be safe. She recognized my talent could be dangerous in the hands of someone driven by greed or lust for power. But she said that of all the people she’s ever known, she trusts me to use it properly. She really made me proud to be her daughter in that moment.” Cami turned to Robert, “I do understand your feelings about this. I’m really glad that you and I have worked so well on this mission.” Robert nodded and turned to his console. He decided that Cami had not influenced him during the mission. She was either hiding a dark side or she was as good as she appeared to be. Every member of her family loved her and that said more than anything else. The Henricks weren’t stupid; they were probably the smartest people on Britannia and nobody’s fool. He had to consider her and her talent as an asset on this mission. He blew out a slow breath as he flew into the interior of the Andromeda Galaxy. Cami heard him but continued to focus on the viewport as stars flashed by the Heartbreaker.

  • • •

  Grady, Taffy, RJ, and Charlie watched the recording of the battle and turned to Linda and Sharon, “I want to commend you on your patience at not being discovered by the Colony Scouts.”

  “Sir, what do you think they may have done if they detected my ship?” Linda asked. Grady was silent and Linda said, “They would have attacked us. Your silence tells me more than anything you could say.”

  Grady glanced at RJ and he nodded, “I suspect they would not have allowed you to report what you recorded on your mission.”

  “Are we at war with the Colonies, Sir?” S
haron asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “But you see it coming,” Linda interjected. “Their persistence in making sure their battle wasn’t recorded tells me they’re trying to hide the new technology they’ve developed from Britannia.”

  “Captain, this information must remain in this room. You cannot discuss this with anyone,” RJ ordered.

  “Yes Sir,” Linda replied.

  “Do you think the Colonies sent any scouts to intercept the scout sent to Andromeda,” Charlie asked.

  “They were the ones that ordered us to follow the Stealth Fleet and record the battle,” Sharon interjected.

  “They did what?” Grady asked.

  “They contacted us telepathically and issued orders for us to record the battle and get it back to you. They told us to make sure we weren’t detected doing it. We felt that was a weird order considering the Colonies are our allies, but we did take steps to make sure we weren’t discovered.”

  RJ looked at Charlie, “I think Robert and Cami have figured out the Colonies aren’t exactly the allies they propose to be.”

  Grady remarked, “I allowed one of our communication officers, a friend of Robert’s, to tell him about the Prime Minister stopping all communications. I’m sure he figured out to avoid any contact with their ships.”

  “I feel reasonably certain the Colonies sent scouts into Andromeda to see if they could scan our new scout,” RJ commented.

  “Sir, I doubt they managed to do that?”

  Grady turned to Linda, “Why do you say that?”

  “The Commander of the scouts was asked if his scouts had detected anything and he said no. The Commander then asked if the four scouts that joined his forces had detected anything. He replied that they had not. I thought they were talking about finding us but now I think those scouts came from Andromeda and didn’t see our scout there.”

  Charlie smiled, “Cami or Robert must have heard them setting up to scan their ship. Their telepathic range is incredible.”

  RJ looked at Grady, “I think they learned about the new Stealth Scanner and avoided them.”

  Charlie raised a shoulder, “Or they went to their new energy source and were not detectable.”