Annihilation: The Power of a Queen
Page 26
Kosiev grunted and said, “The second, what about the first? Just how big is it? It seems that Sten won’t tell anyone and it has been a well kept secret.”
Tag smiled and said, “You’ll know is about ten seconds.”
The giant ship lifted from the ground and Kosiev gasped. There was no flame or any other evidence that the ship was being lifted. Tag said, “Sten discovered that with Coronado Cells that big, the ship is basically weightless. When the screens are at full power and pulled in next to the hull, gravity no longer affects the ship.”
Kosiev heard him but was amazed at the new ships size. It was five thousand feet long and had the sleek lines of the Ultras. Tag heard him mumble, “I’ve gotta get me one of those.”
Tag smiled at him and said, “The first ships name is “Moscow” and she is the new flag ship of our fleet. She’ll be waiting for you in orbit.”
Kosiev hollered like a little boy finding a new toy and ran from the room leaving his popcorn behind. Tag watched his long time friend leave and walked over and picked up the bag of popcorn he left and began munching on it. Tag thought as he watched the ship rise into orbit, “Sten says that within another four months his world would be building fifty of those monsters a month; within a year, a hundred. All of our facilities are being converted to begin building these monsters. “
He thought about his wife and how wonderfully lucky he was to have found her. He and she would talk to their baby as it grew; it could hear them without needing a link. He and she were amazed at the strength of their child’s mind. He leaned back in his chair and reached into his back pocket and pulled out an old worn red covered booklet. “Who would have thought how you would have caused so much change just by my taking you,” he thought as he held it. “It’s from little things that great things emerge.” He put it slowly back in his pocket and thought, “It won’t be long until we go to do some weed whacking. We now have the tools to do it.”
Excerpt from Annihilation, Book III—A Rose Grows in Weeds
“Get Mikado and Ren-Bir on the com,” Dorg ordered. The two ship captains appeared on his display and Dorg said, “We have a Plant scout that just jumped into the system on the other side of the sun. I am sending you the coordinates of the ship and I am planning to jump in and surround that ship with our three ships and fire immediately on emergence from null space. The Dremel are going to detonate a nuclear weapon on an asteroid close to the scout and we will all jump one sem before it goes off. Have your jump officers synchronize their systems with Rossville and use your primary beam and two needles. We’ll begin the operation as soon as the plant ship crosses the jump limit by 15 minutes, any questions?”
“No sir,” they both said and broke connection to ready their ships.
Lt. Glensh looked up from her display and said, Sir, the scout has crossed the jump limit and is 15 minutes inside it.
“Klas, tell the Dremel to launch the missiles on my mark, we will jump at 14 sems after launch. Ready, mark; please count down the launch for us.”
“Ten sems, nine, eight, seven….two, one, fire.”
“Mark 14 sems and jump; ready weapons,” Dorg ordered.
The time counted down and Glensh said, “Jumping now.”
The three megaships jumped and broke back into normal space surrounding the Algean Scout just as the nuclear explosion detonated. “Fire now,” Dorg yelled!
The scout was hit by three 5,000 foot wide primary beams and six needles. The 6,400 foot long scout disappeared in an explosion that didn’t even leave rubble. Nothing remained of the huge ship bigger than dust motes.
Annihilation Trilogy
Book One: Love Conquers All
Book Two: The Power of a Queen
Book Three: A Rose Grows in Weeds
About Saxon Andrew
Saxon Andrew has a BA and Masters Degree from Mercer University in Psychology and Education. He is a former social worker, high school teacher and coach, manager of several sales organizations, and business owner. He has loved science fiction since he first learned to read and his stories are the product of being exposed to the universes created by the great authors of the genre.
Saxon lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two dogs and he smiles at what the universe sends our way. The dogs smile when they get a treat or rubbed behind the ears. Dogs always get the best end of the deal.
Copyright © 2009 by Saxon Andrew. All rights reserved. Screen Writers Guild no. VQEA3E380432.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
First Electronic Edition: February 2011
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Epilogue: Six months later
Excerpt from Annihilation, Book III: A Rose Grows in Weeds
Annihilation Trilogy
About Saxon Andrew