by Saxon Andrew
“It’s an eight hour trip from the jump limit, Your Grace. I plan to hit it two hours inside the limit which will give us eighteen hours minimum to complete our plan. We are going to jump them out using the null space frequency so no star drive residue will remain. If you want, we have a room set up for you to relax and have something to eat until the action starts.”
“That would be fine, Captain.” Matt thought to Melanie, “We’ll only make them nervous if we stay on the bridge. Let’s move so they can work without the added pressure of us looking over their shoulders.”
Melanie noticed the Glod sensor officer relax when Matt agreed to leave, “That’s a great idea; besides, I’m hungry.”
Matt paused then thought, “Stem, you should go with us.”
“Why?”
“This crew is already nervous about the attack; we need to give them some room to do their jobs. It’s a human thing, Stem.”
Stem raised his branches and thought, “I understand; I’ve been through it myself.”
The three turned and followed a yeoman off the bridge.
Leo watched them go and took a deep breath. “Alright, crew, let’s get this set up and I’ll throw anyone that messes up their assignment out the airlock.” He noticed every one turn back to their boards and focus on the upcoming action. “This is a good crew,” he thought. “I can’t tell them now because it would go to their heads; perhaps afterward; if we’re successful.”
Stem watched Matt and Melanie eat like they were starved. He looked out of the view port and said, “We know what the Eight Legs are.”
Matt and Melanie stopped and looked at him, “What?”
“My father has looked through all the data he has stored and found a creature that matches up almost identically with the Eight Legs we killed in the last attack. The information actually came from your home planets history.”
Matt flinched, “What did he find?”
“Before your planet’s last major war there were eight leg creatures called spiders. They were not insects but were called arachnids. One of them had the same hour glass shape on its abdomen as the Eight Legs and they also had the bristles on their legs. That particular spider was called a black widow. It was classified as a latrodectus. The reason humans no longer recognize them is due to the long nuclear winter that followed that war and the release of a toxin by one of the nations that was supposed to kill humans but ended up being toxic to quite a few of your insect population. Spiders were particularly susceptible to the toxin and none survived. However, your old encyclopedias suggest that spiders predate the dinosaurs.”
Melanie looked at Stem, “Are you suggesting that these creatures came from Earth?”
“There are just too many similarities between the two. We know there was intelligent space faring civilizations that long ago. One needs to look no further than the Captors or the race you met called the Reg. If one of their ships visited your planet and a spider was taken away by their ships, then it would explain some common ancestry. The spider from your planet was very small and Eight Legs are huge by comparison but environment could account for the difference.”
“Do you know anything else about these spiders?”
“They were killers extraordinaire. They also possessed some of the strongest venom of all animals. The black widow used a neurotoxin just like the Eight Legs and the venoms are identical to each other. If an Eight Leg bites; someone will die. There is not an antidote strong enough to overcome the massive amount of poison injected. Its main property is to paralyze its victim for later consumption. Another interesting tidbit is that the female spiders actually ate their mates thus the name black widow.”
Matt sat back in his chair and thought for a moment, “Why do they go after intelligent life?”
“I’m going to take a wild guess here, Matt. Perhaps one of those ancient spiders bit an alien and absorbed the alien’s intelligence. It would take a peculiar type of being for that to happen but it would give the spider immediate mental capacity to begin directing its development. If this trait was then passed on to the spider’s offspring then they would actually start hunting beings with intelligence.”
“Which ultimately led them to where they are now; they are ultimate evil.”
“I hate to disagree with you on that point particularly in light of your loss; however, they do not kill everything in their attacks. They are actually acting like farmers by harvesting their crops and leaving life behind to develop for the next harvest. My race was much worse than they are because we killed everything on a planet and consumed it. In their own way they are probably offended by the planet we moved for them to find. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t try to eliminate them; they are responsible for more death than any species ever created. I believe that the only way to stop them is to kill them down to the last one.”
“Do you think they have more than just one invasion fleet?”
Stem did not respond for a few moments and then thought to them, “I have discussed this in detail with my parents. They suggest that there are possibly as many universes as there are stars in a galaxy. If there was only one fleet, how long would it take them to harvest that many universes and return?” Matt and Melanie looked shocked. “I suspect they have hundreds or even thousands of those fleets. That’s the bad news.”
Melanie looked at Stem and said, “Is there any good news?”
Stem leaned back showing his smile and thought, “They all have to come through the same door.”
Matt said, “There is that. We’re just going to have to learn how to make them avoid opening it.”
Matt thought a moment and then asked, “Stem, do we have the toxin that killed all the spiders on Earth.”
“That’s the other good news; we found the formula in an ancient text that came from some nation that was once called Switzerland. It was a small nation but according to what we’ve uncovered it was bent on world domination. It must have been very warlike in its day.”
“They all were during that time of human history, Stem.”
“Your home planet must have been a tough place to stay alive, Matt.”
“That’s why we’re so consumed with peace today, Stem.”
“Matt, the transport has arrived at the jump limit.”
“Thanks, Fly Girl.”
“I was going to tell him.”
“Oh shut up, Al. It doesn’t matter who tells him as long as he gets the information.”
There was silence and then Fly Girl said, “Oh so now you’re pouting.”
“No I’m not.”
Yes you are.”
The three stood and walked out of the room toward the bridge smiling and shaking their heads.
The Transport Commander came out of null space and started moving toward the planet eight hours away. He looked at his Sensor Male and said, “Do you detect anything out of the ordinary?”
“After all that has happened, First Fang, I no longer know how ordinary would look.”
The Commander raised two legs and said, “Let’s get this over with; go to full speed.” The hundred miles long transport accelerated toward the distant planet.
Matt, Melanie, and Stem entered the bridge just as the combat lights illuminated and the klaxon started blaring, “Battle stations, this is not a drill, battle stations.”
They heard Captain Kosiev order, “Lt. Sen-Gen, determine where we need to be to arrive in firing position two hours inside the jump limit from that ship.”
“Already plotted and coordinates entered, Sir.”
“Plot that point for teleportation in two hours.”
“Aye, aye, Sir.”
Stem thought, “Why are you waiting, Captain?”
“Angel Dodd’s ship cast a shadow which allowed her to be seen by the ship that boarded her. I am not going to get between the star and that ship and run the risk of them seeing my shadow.”
Matt looked at Melanie and could tell that she was just as impressed as he was by the Captain’s fores
ight.
Leo looked at his board and commed weapons, “Lt. Hummel, are the backup penetrators loaded.”
“Yes sir. One is set for one quarter less speed and the other set at one third.”
Stem looked at the captain and he said, “I know that the engineers think that the bomb will be left behind if the penetrator goes through the ship but I’m not taking any chances. If I don’t see a blast come out of the entry hole then I’m firing the second and third penetrators simultaneously. One should do the job if the first one blows through. If the first doesn’t make it through then it’s back to the drawing boards.”
Melanie thought to Matt, “His famous ancestor would be proud of him.”
“I have no doubt about that.”
Leo looked at Sen-gen, “Make sure you take into account the speed of that ship and we want a side shot at the biggest profile that ship offers us.”
“Sir we are much faster than that ship. I have set it up so that we come out of our teleport flying parallel to his line of flight at optimum firing distance. I have it sight targeted to the nose of the transport which should make it hit amidships taking in the drift factor.”
“Pass that information on to weapons for the follow up penetrators.”
“Their board is slaved to mine so you should be able to fire the follow up from your console, Sir.”
“I want them to fire on my order; they need the experience.”
“I’ve made the corrections, sir. They now control the firing control for the follow ups.”
“Matt, he’s being wasted commanding just one ship. He naturally knows the importance of trusting your subordinates. Most Captains would not give up that much control.”
“You’re right Melanie. Perhaps we’ve found the one to command the Megaships.’
Five minutes prior to teleporting, Leo punched the ship’s com and said, “Alright crew, take a deep breath and try to relax. You’ve trained for this and I know you’re ready. This is the first step toward taking our universe back and I know you’ll make the Realm proud today. You have already made me proud of you. Four minutes to port.”
Leo leaned back and whispered to Matt, “Your Grace, I am going to launch the follow up penetrators even if I see a blast. We should find out if the slower speeds will also penetrate.”
“I think that is a wise decision, Captain. You also want to see if your crew is ready for real combat.”
Leo smiled and said, “Yes I do, Your Grace.”
Melanie just shook her head and Fly girl thought to her, “This is one sharp officer, Melanie.”
“Yes he is.”
“Sen-Gen announced, “Teleport in 5,4,3,2,1, Port.”
The Transport Commander was watching his display when the Sensor Male yelled, “Object fired at us; impact in one zel.” The ship rocked with the impact and then a huge blast engulfed them. Almost immediately the transport shook two more times and two blasts hit them again. They were left floating inside the transport along with the millions of warriors. The interior of the ship was blown away and burned out of existence along with all the systems that operated the vessel. The commander thought to the Sensor Male, “What happened?”
“I don’t know, First Fang. That object came out of nowhere. Whatever fired it was not on our scans.”
“We just have to wait for the Ship’s male to come free us. Whatever it was, it can’t harm us in our armor.” They waited and discovered that they were right about the blast but were wrong about the protection of their armor. Three large red boxes floating inside the ship suddenly exploded and thousands of small round balls shot out in all directions. The Ship’s Commander wondered, “What are these?” as ten of them bounced off his outer shell. The tenth ball sent him tumbling with the speed at which it hit him. The eleventh ball penetrated his shell and bounced around inside ten times before it was moving fast enough to punch back through his shell and start the process again. The Ship’s Commander never saw the exit as the third bounce inside his armor hit his central nervous system and killed him. Inside the transport the millions of warriors were being struck by the small balls and each time the balls flew away faster. Five minutes after they were released the balls were killing every Eight Leg they hit. They had reached equilibrium and were traveling fast enough to penetrate the armor of the warriors but not fast enough to puncture the mile thick hull of the vessel. The warriors still alive tried to open the doors to escape to the outside but the controls that would move the huge doors were burned away. The inside of the ship looked like an amusement ride gone mad. Millions of warriors were spinning in all directions in zero gravity and had no way to control what was happening. Those that managed to cling to the walls were no better off. When the balls hit the hull their speed was maximized by the unmoving surface. They punched through the warrior’s armor and knocked them off the wall to float out into the carnage taking place throughout the interior of the huge ship. It took two hours for the last warrior to die. He had somehow avoided being hit but then ten of the small balls hit him and blew his armor apart. What was left inside the armor didn’t look like anything remotely resembling an Eight Leg. Three hours after the last warrior died the last iron tree ball embedded in a floating carcass of an Eight Leg. Ten of the balls had actually gained enough speed to penetrate the mile thick hull of the ship and fly off into space.
“Sir, the first penetrator has penetrated and has exited the ship.”
“Fire follow-up penetrators now,” Leo ordered.
“Sir, one of the follow-ups has penetrated the ship and exited.”
“Launch shuttles to retrieve those shards now,” Leo ordered. “Do not lose them.” Leo looked at his display and watched the holes in the transport with a magnified view. Matt moved forward but Leo held up his hand letting him know not to interrupt him. He waited and then he saw it. “Star Drive team, carry out your assignment now. Stand by for jump instructions.’
Leo turned to Matt and said, “Please forgive me, your Grace. I was looking for the iron tree packages to detonate inside the ship and their blast was barely visible. I didn’t want to miss them.”
“Do not apologize, Captain. You handled your ship marvelously. What are you planning now?”
“I am going to jump that ship out of this system on the off chance that another ship might be following up on the transport ahead of schedule. The attack has only taken eight minutes so far and I may be paranoid but I am going to minimize our risk of discovery. I’m jumping the ship to a system and place it behind a star that is located between the current invader’s position and the transport.” Leo looked at his board and said, “The shuttles have recovered the two shards and are teleporting out of the system with them.” He looked at his board again and punched his com, “Are you ready?”
“The Drive is in place, Captain.”
“Jump as soon as you have the screen up, Lieutenant.” On the display the huge transport disappeared. Leo took a deep breath and sat back in his chair, “I was probably being overly cautious but I thought about what I would do if I were in their place.”
“Captain, we have another transport entering normal space at the jump limit.”
Leo looked at Matt, “Perhaps I’m not so paranoid after all.”
Matt shook his head and said, “Drop a screened probe and teleport out of here. We’ll watch from a distance.”
Leo looked at Sen-Gen and nodded. The Rossville disappeared.
The second transport’s commander looked at his display and turned to his Sensor Male, “Where are they?”
“They are not answering my communications and they are not on my scan.”
“Is it possible for them to be in this system and you not to be able to see them?”
“No, First Fang, it is not.”
“Leave immediately.” The second transport jumped away.
“Admiral, I would suggest you teleport that probe away from this system. I suspect things are going to get busy here shortly,” Matt said.
Leo looked at
Melanie and she said, “He was talking to you.”
Leo flinched and said, “You’re the only admiral on this ship, Sir.”
Melanie shrugged and said, “Not anymore, Admiral.”
Leo furrowed his brow as Matt moved toward his chair, “You have done an outstanding job of fighting your ship and planning for all possible contingencies. I am highly impressed with the skills you have displayed and I along with Admiral Grace agree that we need you in another position. You are hereby promoted to the Rank of Rear Admiral and will take command of the megaships that, after what I have seen today, will be playing a major role in the coming war with the invaders. This is a battlefield promotion and given that I have the authority to do as I please, you will be second in command to Admiral Grace. I congratulate you and your fine crew and can say without reservation that the Stars Realm is proud of the way you have carried out your duties today.”