by Saxon Andrew
“You did an excellent job of answering their concerns.”
The Servant looked at the huge Lord in his chamber on the bridge of his ship and bowed, “We knew they would eventually discover the weakness. I’ve had time to prepare for this moment.”
“Even so; it was well done.”
“I’m not certain that the Ruler of this civilization trusts us. I sense he’s suspicious of our motives.”
“Let him; once he defeats the Spiral Galaxy’s forces, he can suspect all he wants.”
The Servant thought a moment, “Have we picked the right one to back in this conflict?”
“You know the Spiral Galaxy would never allow us to insert our larvae into intelligent beings. My father also wants the Spiral Galaxy for reproduction.”
“I know; but if they defeated our current allies, we could just as easily remove them.”
“We studied both of them and it was determined that the Spiral would be much more difficult to deceive. All we had to do with the current tool was convince just one being. It helped that he was ambitious and desired to conquer all those around him. No, we made the right choice. If they can weaken each other enough, we can destroy both of them. Patience is our best asset.”
The Servant bowed and the Lord said, “You know what to do; start the jumps into the decoy galaxies.” The huge grey colored ship shimmered and disappeared. The Servant went to his quarters and put his robe in the closet. He turned and went back to the bridge where he would remain for the foreseeable future.
The King watched his console as the Grey Ship disappeared and smiled. Things were about to get very interesting.
• • •
The huge Grey Ship jumped from one galaxy to another for six days. Finally, it was determined that they had not been followed. The Lord ordered the ship to go to six planets that were currently being invaded to see what progress had been made and the Lord was extremely pleased. All of them had been neutralized and the local populations were being gathered up for insemination. The inhabitants had a Servant larvae injected into their bodies and were then released to fend for themselves. The larvae required an intelligent being in order for their mind’s to fully develop. After eight months, the Larvae would chew its way out of the infected being and emerge a fully functional Servant. It was much smaller than an adult, but it would feed on the carcass of its host and would start growing at an accelerated rate.
“Take me to the center.”
“Yes, Lord.”
The huge Grey Ship jumped to an enormous planet that had a population of billions on the surface. It was an industrial complex that was incredible in scope and size. Warships were being built at a rate that was staggering and the Lord was pleased at the ships that had been built for his use. He contacted the Supreme Lord and was told to plan to meet with him the next day. Thirteen days had passed since the ship had left the Grillen home world. The next morning, the Lord prepared to board a shuttle to go to the surface when the ship exploded in a blast that strobed the planet’s dark side with an intense light. Nothing remained of the ship but tiny pieces that burned up in the planet’s atmosphere as they fell toward the surface.
• • •
The deceased Lord’s Senior Son was called to the bridge of a major Servant Warship. He arrived on board and discovered that its parent had been killed in a massive ship explosion above the Supreme Lord’s planet.
“How was this done?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you not have all the records made at the new tool’s civilization?”
“I do; my Parent downloaded them when he visited three days ago. But I’m charged with keeping them safe. I’ve not been allowed to see them.”
“You will examine those records and find out how this was done. You will then report to the Supreme One once you determine how it happened.”
“I may need to go to the Tool and investigate.”
“Do whatever you deem necessary. That blast was at the main planet and the Supreme One is bothered greatly by it.”
“I will start my investigation immediately.”
“The Supreme One doesn’t wish to send another to do this but will do so if you fail. Send a copy of the former Lord’s records to the next in line.”
“I will send them immediately, Sire.” The display went dark and the new Lord called in his senior servants. He had them view all the recordings while he absorbed all the information into his mind. It only took a day to determine that the explosion was not caused by the tool. However, evidence would have to be gathered to support that position. “Prepare my personal ship to go to the Tool’s galaxy.”
“Lord, they have not seen one of our main battleships.”
“It’s time they did. My Parent has been killed and they need to know this will not be tolerated.”
“Yes, Lord.”
• • •
The Grillen King expected a response from the Servants two days earlier but nothing had happened. He sat on his throne and wondered if the device had detonated and decided that there was nothing he could do about it at this point. His son rushed into the throne room and deeply bowed, “What?”
“A Servant Ship has just appeared above our planet.”
“I was hoping they would come.”
“Father, the ship is not one we have seen in the past.”
The King activated his console and fell back into his throne. The ship in orbit above his planet was gigantic and its force fields were pulsing with power surges that were incredible. The beam and missile platforms on it numbered in the hundreds and it was not grey in color; it was bronze. “Have they communicated?”
“They are sending their envoy as we speak.”
The King stared at the monitor and wondered if he had made a terrible mistake in using the Union’s explosive device. “We’ll meet him in the main hall.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
• • •
The Union Probe recorded the giant ship as it entered the planet’s system and sent the recording to the Union just before the giant ship fired on it and blew it into fragments. The war had taken a new turn and it did not bode well for the Union.
• • •
Alarms went off in Fleet Headquarters and Katherine rushed to her office to find the General that commanded the Union’s Probes. “What’s going on?”
The General activated the display and the image of a giant ship appeared on it, “Admiral, it appears the source of the new Grillen technology has made an appearance. This was recorded and sent just before the probe stopped sending information.”
“Do you think they destroyed it?”
“Nothing else would account for the sudden cessation of its stream.”
Katherine stared at the giant ship and saw beam platforms similar to the ones on the Grillen Grey Ships. The missile launchers were something the Grillen weren’t using. “Get this information out to Dat Arvolo and Belwen. Do we have a passive probe in that system?”
“We do.”
“Activate it.” Katherine held her breath and saw a sudden image of the giant ship appear. A moment later the image disappeared.
“They’ve destroyed it as well.”
“Activate another passive probe but don’t have it transmit anything for three days. I suspect they can see our transmission frequencies.” The General nodded and Katherine felt a huge weight on her soul. This was not good. The General issued the instructions and talked into his communicator for ten minutes. “What are you doing?”
“I’m having the passive probe release follower trackers. If a ship exits that force field, we might be able to get one of them on it.”
“That’s good thinking, General.” Katherine stared at the image and wondered if she was seeing the doom of the Union on her monitor.
Dat came rushing into Katherine’s office, “What’s going on!”
Katherine pointed to the monitor and Dat was stunned by what he saw, “Is that what I think it is?”
“I
t’s got to be the ones who gave the Grillen the technology for the Grey Ships. It has the same beam platforms on it that the Grey Ships use.”
“Admiral, we were able to intercept the beginning of a transmission from that ship in the Grillen language. It appears one of their ships was destroyed by a blast similar to the one used to destroy their production planet. It was cut off at that moment but it appears the Grillen sabotaged one of their ships with one of our explosive devices.”
Kat looked at Dat and he shook his head, “They must have recovered a dot that didn’t detonate and used it.”
“Why would they do that?”
“I suspect they want their new friends to join them in the war against us.” Kat looked back up at the monitor and Dat said, “If they possess warships like that one, I wonder why they even used the Grillen to do their dirty work.”
“Maybe they don’t have a large number of those ships.”
Dat thought a moment and stared at the huge behemoth. “That ship doesn’t have the brittle hull of the Grey Ships and the force field is a different color. That would make me believe that it uses technology similar to standard ships. I see it has the beams of the Grey Ships but that’s all that’s similar. That would support the belief that once the weakness of the Grey Ship’s hulls is discovered; they are too much of a liability to use as the main weapon of war.” Dat continued to stare at the huge ship and then he understood, “Admiral, you can only build a small ship with that grey substance. It wouldn’t support all the weapons on it that you see on that monster. The hull would crack with the stresses of space combat.”
“But why not use the force field? Our standard weapons won’t penetrate it.”
“The force field stops metallic objects. The hull of the ship neutralizes any beam fired at the Grey Ships. Our beams would hit that ship if they used the grey material in the hull. They’re forced to use standard force fields.”
Katherine pushed a button on her console and Belwen appeared on the Monitor, “Belwen, have you been able to determine anything about that ship’s force field?”
“We’re still working on it. However, it is vulnerable to a close shot from a Rover. I’ll know more once I look at all the probe’s scanned information. It might take two quick hits to break through.”
“What about penetrators?”
“I won’t know about that until we actually fire one at it.”
“Please keep me informed.” Kat turned to Dat, “What do you think we should do?”
“Well, that ship is here and we know its location. We might as well take advantage of the situation and take a shot now and see what happens.”
“Is that a good idea, Dat?”
“Admiral, you’re looking at the real enemy against us. We need as much information as possible to develop the means to take them on. Since their major warships use standard technology, they chose to use the Grillen to soften us up before they attacked. Do you have a ship that can deliver a penetrator barrage?”
“I have a ship that is undergoing initial flight trials that could hold off the Grillen Grey Ships and launch one.”
“Who is the commander?”
“Shane Matthews.”
“I’d hate to lose him but we have to know. I’d issue the orders to send him in.”
Katherine stared at Dat for a long moment and then lifted her communicator.
• • •
Shane was watching the Rover’s go through maneuvers around the Saturn and had them jumping with the ship multiple times. His communication panel illuminated and he saw a message coming in from Fleet Control with a Red Flag Priority. He pulled it up on his display and felt an instant moment of fear. He stared at the massive ship on his display and then he reached forward and lifted the clear cover off a light blue button. He pressed it and the alarms started going off. “Battle Stations…all hands to Battle Stations.”
Kelli jerked her head away from her display where she had been watching the maneuvers and Shane shouted over the alarms, “Recall all the Rovers. Have them armed and ready for combat operations immediately.”
“What’s going on!?!”
“Commodore, you’re about to see your first taste of combat. Now get the crew moving and prepare the ship.”
Shane looked back at the giant bronze colored warship and said, “Cally, what are the coverage zones of the blasters on that ship’s hull?”
“My initial analysis is that they can pretty much cover any lane of approach.”
“Can they fire and completely cover the ship with their beams?”
“No; no ship can do that unless the entire hull is one giant blaster. They can hit any zone around it with directed fire.”
“Do we have any idea about their response time?”
“Any answer would strictly be a guess. We don’t know if they gave the Grillen blasters that are equal to their own.”
“What about the Grillen Blasters?”
“We’ve measured about three tenths of a second to lock on a new target.”
“What would you guess their range to be?”
“The size differential would indicate about ten times the range of the Grillen Grey Ships.”
“Fifty miles.”
“That would be my guess and I remind you it is strictly a guess.”
• • •
Shane had sent Kelli the message from Fleet Headquarters and she listened in to Shane’s running commentary with the ship’s computer as she read it. She tried to think what she would be doing if she was in command and she was at a loss. She was frozen and had no idea how she would have attacked that ship. She had her recorder on so she could look at Shane’s dialogue later. This was a different experience from being a tactical officer and she tried to control her emotions but her fear had a tight grip on her. Shane’s even tone and calm demeanor helped her and she wondered how he was able to control his emotions. For the first time, Kelli felt admiration for her commander. She looked at her panel and said, “All Rovers are back on board and are being armed, Sir.”
Shane nodded and listened to Cally’s analysis. After Cally finished, Shane leaned forward and stared at the image of the giant ship. He looked at Kelli and said, “Call the Wing Commanders in to the conference room.”
Kelli’s voice was shaky, “Do you have a plan, Sir?”
Shane looked at Kelli and smiled, “Kelli, I was the same way before my first combat mission. You just let me do all the talking and dismiss the Commanders at the end of the meeting. Don’t let them see your fear; you can do this.”
“Yes Sir.”
“You’ll hear the plan with the pilots.”
“Yes Sir.” Kelli forced herself to relax and remembered what Lydia had said when she first met Shane. She said I should see him fly. Kelli forced a smile and knew that was going to happen shortly.
Chapter Ten
The Grillen King saw the Servant enter the huge hall and felt fear grip his heart. Did they really believe the Union had destroyed their ship? He held his breath as the Servant arrived in front of his throne and bowed slightly. He let the breath out as the Servant said, “It appears your enemy was able to plant a destructive device on my predecessor’s ship. We really don’t know how it was done but I need your records from the destruction of the production facilities.”
“I will gladly provide them.” He nodded to his son, who left the room at a trot.
“We are curious about when you are going to open hostilities with the spiral galaxy?”
“I’ve been working hard to build enough of the Grey Ships to start that process. We hope to have enough completed within sixty days to open hostilities.”
The Servant stared at the King and, after a moment that seemed to last forever, it said, “That is faster than we thought possible. We wish you luck in your endeavor.” The King’s son arrived and handed the Servant a data module, “Thank you. We need this to confirm that it was the Spiral Galaxy that destroyed our ship.”
The King was reluctant but he couldn
’t stop himself from asking, “That is an impressive ship you have.”
“We are proud of it.” The Servant paused and seemed to be listening to something. It looked at the King, “It is currently under attack.” The King was stunned and looked at his panel. The giant Servant Ship looked like it was on fire from the hits on its force field. “This is just a momentary distraction. We should have this handled shortly.”
• • •
Shane entered the conference room and Kelli shouted, “Attenhut, Admiral on deck.”
The twenty wing commanders came to attention as Shane entered the room and walked up the center aisle. He pressed the display controller he was holding and an image of the giant Servant Ship appeared on the display. The commanders were shocked at the huge ship’s image. Shane moved behind the podium and looked at the pilots, “At ease; take a seat.” The twenty commanders sat down but their attention was on the display. “What you see here is a warship of a civilization that is providing the Grillen advanced technology. It has double the Saturn’s mass and three times the number of beams and missile launchers. We have been ordered to determine if penetrators can be effective against it. It is not my intention to destroy this ship. We are going to attack it to collect information on its capabilities. If it is destroyed, then I’ll celebrate with you; however, I am not taking chances with this ship or its crew. We’re going in to launch a penetrator barrage and get out. Is that clear?”
“Yes Sir!”
“Captain Gomez, you will divide your wings into two groups with two hundred Rovers in each. They will move into a formation with every ship less than two yards from each other. I want their formation to be the size of a Grillen Major Battleship. They will jump in on that ship seventy five miles above and below it and immediately spread out and fire their dark matter blasters at that ship. Once they fire, they will immediately jump away to the first assembly coordinates. I want your two groups to fan out and prepare for the Grillen Grey Ships that I’m certain will be following your jump tracks. When they arrive, you will then jump to the secondary assembly coordinates and form up on the Saturn, which I hope will be there waiting on you. If the Saturn is not there, jump away and report back to base. Do you have any questions?”