by Saxon Andrew
“I want to go a take a closer look at those trails. I think we should do it sooner than later, and I thought it might be a good idea to go with the two of you. We might need your expertise if we run into trouble.”
George smiled, “This sounds exciting. We can drop Meisa off and then go investigate.”
“George, if you think you’re going to take this kind of risk without me, you’re crazier than a house full of monkeys.”
“Meisa, you aren’t in the military; you’re a contractor, and I don’t want to put you in harm’s way.” George thought a moment and said, “And legally we aren’t supposed to take anyone but military personnel into possible armed conflict.”
“George, if you value our relationship you will shut up and quit spouting legalese. I will not leave your side if you are going to put yourself in jeopardy. I mean it.”
Chris looked at Jillian and then said, “George, we are on the initial trial run. Contractors are supposed to assist us during that voyage. If we happen to run into trouble, it’s not a planned attack. She can go if she wants. The question is; are you going to allow her?”
Meisa looked at George and repeated, “I mean it, George. I’ll never speak to you again.”
George looked into Meisa’s eyes and saw she meant it. Then he knew what she was saying without saying it, “You love me.”
“You big, brilliant, idiot; are you just now figuring that out?” She angrily said.
The smile that split George’s face was something to see. “I just never thought I’d stand a chance with you.”
“You’ve got it wrong. No one else but you stands a chance with me and you’re trying hard to blow the opportunity. Now decide!”
Chris said, “George. Using your argument, you can’t go either. You aren’t in the military.”
George looked at Chris, “Son of gun. You’re right. Hold on just a moment.” George pushed a dial on his board and said, “Contact Dolly Sierra.” She appeared on the main display, “Hey, Sis!”
“Hi, George. What’s going on?”
“How much authority have you been given by President Suh?”
“I don’t know. I think I can do whatever I want. Why do you ask?”
“Can you draft people into the military?”
“George, what are you up to?”
“Just answer the question.”
Dolly looked off the screen and they knew she was looking at Jeff. She turned back to the screen and said, “Yes, I can.”
“At what rank?”
“George, tell me what’s going on or I’m going to terminate this conversation.”
“Don’t make me call Mum to come visit you. At what rank?”
“You wouldn’t.”
“At what rank?”
The central display went back to a forward view from the ship. George smiled and pushed a dial on his display. Chris, Jillian, and Meisa stared at him and he said, “Give it a minute.” George leaned back in his chair and whistled a tune. Suddenly the center display came back on with an obviously angry Dolly on the screen, “Darn you, George. You call her back and tell her you made a mistake.”
“You didn’t answer your communicator did you?”
“Of course I didn’t answer it. Jeff swears he’s going to leave and visit the troops in Egypt until she leaves.”
“At what rank, Dolly?”
“What rank would you want and who is it for?”
George looked at Meisa and said, “Do you have a preference?”
“Colonel.”
“Dolly, Meisa wants to be a Colonel and I’ll be satisfied with a Brigadier General.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not letting you join the military. You and Meisa are too valuable to risk in combat.”
George smiled, “I think two months should do it.”
“AHHHHHHHH! Why do you want to join the military?”
“You haven’t thought it through, Dolly. If we don’t win this war, we’re going to have to move as much of our population as we can using our colony ships. You’re going to need commanders of those ships prepared to take care of their passengers as well as making a new world habitable for them. The ones charged with doing that will need the authority to carry out hard decisions. Most combat pilots don’t have the required knowledge to make that happen. The longer you wait to put the right people in command positions, the harder it will be at the last minute.”
“I would also think you would understand that if we try to save our valuable assets until the last moment, then we could lose this conflict. Meisa and I are going with Chris and Jillian to view those trails in open space. They stand a better chance of survival if we go with them. Now when you have the opportunity to sit down and really think this through, get back to me. I’ll call Mum off now.”
Dolly stared at George with a hard expression. She looked off the screen, shook her head, and then nodded. She turned back to the display and said, “General won’t work. Colonel won’t either. You’re both promoted to Rear Admirals in the Colony Fleet. Your paper work will be retroactive to Meisa’s arrival.”
The screen went back to a forward view. Chris said, “She’s going to be angry at you for a long time, George.”
George laughed, “No she won’t. She loves me too much. She can’t stay mad longer than fifteen minutes. It’s just not in her. She’ll be fine, and once she really looks at it, she’ll know I’m right.” George looked at Meisa, “Still mad?”
Meisa stood up and hugged George, “Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.” George looked at Chris, “Have you decided how you want to handle this?”
“I thought I would just jump back to the place where we found the trails and take a look.”
“I think that I might try it a different way if it were me taking the one I loved into that place.”
Chris looked at Jillian and asked, “What would you do?”
“You’ve marked the place on your navigation board haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well your device can collect light from that point and focus it. Why not jump six months beyond that coordinate and take a look using your device. You can move in closer if needed.”
Chris stated shaking his head, “I am such an idiot. That is the safest way to do this.”
“I would just line up that coordinate with the center of the galaxy and jump straight out from that point. I would also make sure the force field is on to avoid being followed.”
Jillian looked at her board and said, “We’re jumping out to Neptune’s orbit at light speed. It will only take us three minutes ship time. Does anyone want to make any suggestions before we leave?” Everyone looked at each other and Jillian saw no one say anything. “I have it plotted, Chris. It’s your ship.”
Chris smiled and hit the thrusters. The Jukebox instantly disappeared from Earth’s orbit.
The Messenger walked into the large room and waited. One of the tall cylinders at the table motioned him forward, “What have you found out?”
“We collected enough of the transmissions of whoever is broadcasting to decipher their language; however, the transmissions are now being encrypted.”
“Have you decoded the encryption?”
“No, we have not.”
“Have you found anything that will allow us to find them?”
“Not yet. There was discussion about a fusion power plant before the encryption started.”
“Fusion!?!”
“That’s what our language team says.”
“Do we even know if they are in that galaxy?”
“Yes, they are in the targeted galaxy.”
“How do you know?”
“One of the terms we heard before the communications were blocked was Moet.”
“Are the Moet making those communications?”
“The language team leans toward no. The language is nothing like the Moet.”
“It has been a long time since we were there.”
“Yes,
but the structure is radically different.”
“Let me know when you find out more.”
“And the invasion?”
“It will wait until we say different. Don’t ask me again.” The Messenger leaned back showing his sorrow and seeking forgiveness. “Now go!”
The Messenger slid out of the room quickly and decided that the next time the fleet leaders wanted to ask that question, they could come and ask it themselves. He wasn’t going to make that mistake again. The two million ships continued to wait.
The Jukebox entered normal space six light months from the place where the trails had been discovered. Chris hit the emitters, and the fields moved away from the ship at light speed. George watched the field expand on his display and said, “Now that I think about it, how are we going to see anything in normal space if everything is passing through that place in Sierra Space?”
Jillian looked up from her display and said, “If two of our ships were passing each other in Sierra Space, they might go into normal space to communicate.”
George stared at her and Meisa said, “We can communicate in Sierra Space. There would be no need to do that.”
Jillian hit her forehead with her palm, “Duh, you’re right.”
George thought a moment and pulled up the recording of the trails, “Chris, we see what direction those trails are going. Why don’t we jump over to the side of our galaxy where they intersect the outer rim and take our readings from there?”
“Do you know where we need to go?”
“Give me a minute.” George began pushing dials on his board and they watched what he was doing on the left display. The changes to the pictures on the screen were moving too rapidly to comprehend. Meisa said, “You might want to change it so we’re looking slightly away from the galaxy in order that light will be reflected back at us.”
Jillian looked at Meisa and said, “You understand what he’s doing?”
Meisa nodded as she continued to watch the display. “There is a good place.”
George said, “I see it. Let me get the coordinates.”
Chris saw the coordinates appear on his board. He shrugged and entered them into the jump drive. The Jukebox left normal space and jumped. It entered normal space and the four saw the Milky Way hanging below them. It was incredibly beautiful with its two major spiral arms and brightly glowing center. “Where are we, George?”
“We’re about six light months away from the place where those trails approached our galaxy. I’m going to guess that if someone from another galaxy is coming here, they will go into normal space before they jump into the galaxy. I know we do, so it’s not a big leap of faith to assume the same thing for the visitors. Maybe they’re just tourists.”
Chris powered the emitters and said, “I hope you’re right, but somehow I doubt it.”
George shrugged, “Me too; but we can always hope.”
Chris focused the fields and saw the edge of the galaxy, but nothing was detected outside the rim. “I’m going to start moving into the light at one third light speed. It will cause things to move like a fast forwarded video, but it’ll save us time.” Jillian hit the thrusters and the Jukebox moved forward. They watched the center display, and after two hours saw a brief flash on the screen.
“Chris!”
“I saw it, Jillian. I’m going to slow it down and play it on the left display. I’ll also bring it in closer.”
The display moved in on the flash that was frozen on the screen and then they saw it. A giant blue colored ship was hanging in space with ten smaller vessels surrounding it. Chris looked at the ship, “I’m rewinding the recording.”
The display showed empty space, then suddenly the giant ship appeared. As they watched, the ten other ships started appearing around it and docking with it.”
Meisa stared at the ships and said, “I wish we had an idea how big those ships are. It’s impossible to tell without something we can compare it to.”
“My sensors have the capability of measuring them. Hold on; I’ll measure one of the smaller vessels.” Chris read his sensor record and everyone saw his expression go to shock.
Jillian said, “What?”
Chris looked up and said, “The smaller ships are three thousand feet long.”
Everyone looked at the display showing the smaller ships looking like tiny insects buzzing the blue ship. Jillian said, “Oh my God!”
George said, “If that’s accurate, the blue ship is more than nine hundred miles in diameter. It’s also covered with huge beam cannons and missile launchers.” George leaned back in his chair and said, “That must be a main battleship that is replenishing the stores of those smaller ships. The smaller ships must be scouts that are surveying our galaxy for civilized planets.”
Chris said, “I’m moving in faster to see if anything else is happening. “I’m going to stay focused on that area as we move forward.”
They watched the display as the display fast forwarded. There were many small flashes, but suddenly they saw a huge flash happen as they approached seven light weeks from the location. Chris stopped the ship and the four of them stared at the display shocked speechless. Millions of blue ships were hanging in normal space just outside the Milky Way.
George said, “Chris, jump back twenty four light hours and let’s watch this arrival.” Chris made the jump and then expanded the display as the Jukebox viewed the light from seven weeks earlier. Two hours later they watched the giant blue ships start appearing in space by the thousands. Then hundreds of thousands started coming out of Sierra Space and hanging in normal space.
George looked at Chris and asked, “When did this happen”
Chris looked at his meters and said, “Seven weeks, two days ago.”
Meisa saw George’s expression and said, “You suspect something.”
“I know why they stopped.”
Jillian said, “What do you mean, stopped?”
George nodded at the display and said, “Those ships are an invasion fleet and they were going to attack our Galaxy. They stopped because of us.”
Chris tilted his head and said, “Where did you get that conclusion?”
“Exactly seven weeks, two days, and three hours ago we trialed our Sierra Space Communicator; them stopping at that time has to be more than a coincidence.”
Jillian looked at the display, “They heard us.”
George nodded, “Yes they did, and it scared them.” The other three on the bridge thought about what George was saying. He looked away from the display, “They know that it takes a very advanced civilization to be able to use that method of communication, and I’m sure their scouts had not found a civilization that was using it. I’m sure they’ve been preparing for this invasion for an extremely long time. Even if Earth was found by their scouts, it wasn’t developed enough to have that advanced communications system. Their leaders were not going to send their fleet forward with an unknown enemy of indeterminate strength ahead of them. I’m sure they are looking for us as we speak.”
Chris looked at Jillian and she saw his fear. Then George said something that really made them nervous.
“They probably understand our language by now. It’s a good thing we started encrypting our communications three weeks ago. However, there’s no hiding that we are in the Milky Way and not in another galaxy.”
Meisa asked, “Why?”
“Because I know we discussed the Moet, and they know they’re here.”
“How would they know that?”
“Because they have come in the past and wiped out most of the Moet’s civilization. That’s why the Moet are not as advanced as they should be. Those blue ships probably bombed them back into Stone Age cultures.”
“Do you think those ships are still there?”
George shook his head, “I don’t know. If they’ve invaded, then they know where we are. However, I suspect they haven’t discovered us yet.”
Meisa leaned back in her chair, “What makes you so sure about t
hat?”
“Because they will search areas where they did not find a civilization before they go back to look at those they found. We should go closer and see if they are still present.”
Chris looked at Jillian and she shrugged. “I’m going to jump in and take a scan of their ships. We need to know what their capabilities are. We also need a good look at their armament. As soon as I make the scan, I’m jumping away.”
“You better jump away from the Galaxy toward open space. I suspect you might be followed.”
“Didn’t you say we won’t leave a trail if we keep our force field on?”
“Yes, but you don’t need a trail if you can see what you’re following. If one of those ships react fast enough, they will see you leave.”
Chris thought about what to do, then looked at George, “What would you do, George?”
George looked at the display, ran his fingers through his hair, and then said to Meisa. “I wish you hadn’t come. I don’t want to run the risk of seeing you die, especially now, but the reality is that we are going to have to confront one of these ships and see if we can survive it.” He looked at Chris and Jillian and said, “The Jukebox is the strongest ship in our fleet, and if it can’t stand up to them, we’re doomed.”
Meisa got up, came over, and hugged George, “I really wouldn’t want to survive without you. We will live or die together. Either way, you know this will be fun.”
George smiled at her and laughed, “Ahh, you’re a feisty one. I like that.”
Meisa laughed and went back to her board.
Chris looked at Jillian and saw the warrior in her get angry. He knew her choice. He thought about it and said, “Let’s tell Dolly what’s going on and what we’re going to do.”
George shrugged and said, “Just be prepared for direct orders not to do it.”
Chris sighed and said, “Contact Dolly Sierra.”
Dolly was scared more than she had ever been in her life. She saw the recordings from the Jukebox and ordered them not to go near that fleet. Chris and George had both told her she was not thinking clearly. She threaten to send every ship in the fleet if they didn’t follow her orders, but Jeff came over and took her hand, “They have to do it. It’s the only way for us to know what to do about saving as many of our species as possible. To delay invites disaster. We must decide whether to build warships or colony ships. We can’t do both. We will have to find planets in another galaxy if we can’t stand up to those ships and come back after they leave. This changes everything and we don’t know enough to know what to do. If you were out there, what would you do?”