Nowhere to Hide

by Saxon Andrew

  “That assumption works as well as any others we’ve discussed. You’re assuming they think like us. We just really don’t know.”

  “I suppose you’re right; I was just guessing. I looked at it in human terms. We really don’t know how they think.”

  “Why don’t you meet me on the planet and have a beer.”

  “Name the place.”

  “Shorty’s.”

  “I’ll see you there. Doc, let me know if anything changes.”

  “Will do.”

  ***

  Newly promoted Captain Lilly Lambert looked at Lt. Stan West, “I trust I don’t have to tell you what to do?”

  “No Sir; that first trial taught me all I need to know. Even green space was affected by the blast. I’ll release it and get out like a burglar meeting a Doberman.”

  “That’s not fast enough.”

  “Have you seen a Doberman?”

  Lilly tried not to smile but gave up, “I don’t want to lose you, Stan. I need you here to lead your wing.”

  “I don’t either. Trust me, the first one was close enough.”

  Lilly nodded, “We’ve added two seconds to the time before it emerges into normal space, so you should have more time.”

  “Don’t worry, Sir. I’ve synchronized my drive board to the release switch; they’ll activate together.”

  Lilly nodded, “I think that’s wise.”

  “You have no idea. I have seen a Doberman up close and this new bomb is a lot scarier.”

  “Don’t let them see you coming in.”

  “I’ve shaped my field to make a minimum wave. With all of the ships arriving, it should be almost impossible to see me.”

  “Just be careful.”

  “How long is it until I have to do this?”

  Lilly shook her head, “Not long”

  ***

  The Advisor sat in is command chair and watched his ships arriving by the thousands. He was glad to be away from the contentious Father that had questioned his every suggestion. He smiled and knew his suggestions were really orders and found pleasure in the Father’s discomfort at losing status. He turned an eyestalk and looked at his second-in-command, “How much longer?”

  “The last should arrive in ten days.”

  The eyestalk moved and he looked at his navigator, “Son, have you selected the coordinates for our arrival?”

  “I have several selected but I need to know what you want to do when we arrive.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want to organize here before we leave with targets already selected for our fleets or do you want to organize after we do a scan?”

  “Isn’t most of that galaxy already mapped?”

  “Yes, Father.”

  “Then why would we organize there?”

  “The last two small attacks have run into trouble. We don’t have any probes to tell us how the enemy is currently organized or where the majority of their ships are located; that might be an important piece of information to have.”

  The Advisor started to feel anxiety about going in first. He thought about it and wondered if the Father had set him up to do this but immediately rejected the thought. He had fought too hard to be the one leading the initial attack. Still…perhaps caution was called for in this situation. “Assign a million ships sectors of that galaxy to scan and have them jump directly to those locations as we move the main body of ships to just outside the galaxy. Have them send their findings to you immediately. We’ll make our assignments based on what they find.”

  “Yes, Father.”

  His Second said, “How do you want the ships organized?”

  “Have them organize around the Senior Fathers.”

  “That would be ten thousand sub-fleets of a thousand ships each.”

  “We’ll need ten thousand targets, Son.”

  “I’ll prioritize them and get them out as soon as I receive the results of the scans.”

  “That would be good. Second, have a hundred thousand battleships form a perimeter around our formations to fight off any attackers that might arrive.”

  “I’ll send them their instructions, Father.”

  The Advisor leaned back in his chair but couldn’t shake his anxiety.

  ***

  Drey leaned back in his chair and tried to relax but just couldn’t do it. He saw Ian’s concern as well, “This waiting is driving me crazy.”

  Ian nodded, “I really enjoy having a beer with you but after a month it gets somewhat stale.”

  “Oh, you think I’m not a good conversationalist.”

  “Not you; the beer.”

  “Oh, I misunderstood you.”

  Ian blew out a breath, “We should be thankful for this time; it has allowed us to really add ships to our inventory.”

  “I know…and it also gives us time to go see our wives.”

  Ian stared at his glass of beer and after a moment of silence, he looked up at Drey, “But we need to see if we have a chance against these creatures. We have to make plans.”

  “I see you’ve been talking to Moe.”

  Ian looked surprised, “You know about it?”

  “It only makes sense. Once the invaders leave the current galaxy they’re attacking, that would be the perfect galaxy to send our colonies. They won’t come back for thousands of years, if ever.”

  Ian nodded, “And all the local competition would have been eliminated. There’s no chance of running into another Black Civilization.”

  “Moe tells me that is where he’s going to send the low technology planets.”

  “There’s room enough for all of us.”

  Drey stared at Ian, “You’re going to send Violet out with the first colonists.”

  “I am. I’m just not comfortable that the Invaders won’t send the next invasion our way. They are close to finishing up on three other galaxies and one of them could come to the Milky Way. I want my child to have a future.”

  “I’ve discussed it with Dee but she’s reluctant to go.”

  “Oh; why?”

  “She thinks she’s needed here to help in the fight. Has Violet agreed to go?”

  “I haven’t told her yet.” Drey stared at Ian and then started laughing. “What’s so funny?”

  “So you think you’ll just tell her she’s leaving?”

  Ian looked at Drey for a long moment, rolled his eyes and said, “What was I thinking?” Drey laughed harder and Ian slowly shook his head, “She would have hit me in the mouth.” Drey doubled over and couldn’t breathe.

  ***

  The probe watched the huge ship gathering and saw that no new ships had arrived for two days. It saw a giant swarm of small ships coming out of the galaxy toward the huge formation and saw them scatter and start moving to individual ships. It brought the view in closer and saw the small ships were shuttles. It began detecting an increase in the electronic field around individual ships and then all of them began giving off increased electronic emissions. The probe began intercepting ship to ship communications and it sent a priority message to Fleet Control on Earth and Eldorado. The invaders were coming in fifty hours.

  ***

  Drey finally caught his breath and said, “I’m glad you thought this through,” just as his wrist unit emitted a high pitched signal. Drey and Ian looked at their wrist unit along with every other sailor in the bar. Drey jumped up and barely beat Ian out of the front door. Shuttles were roaring in from overhead to pick them up as the millions of pilots began leaving for their ships. The wait was over; the Invaders were coming.”

  Ian arrived on his ship, “Ian, your task force has been notified to jump to the assembly coordinates.”

  “Thanks, E. Do you have an idea on when they’re coming?”

  “Forty nine hours from now they’ll be jumping.”

  Ian furrowed his brow, “Just how did we learn that?”

  “We now know their language; a probe intercepted a message from the leader of the invasion.”

&nb
sp; “Did it get their jump coordinates?”

  “Remarkably enough, it did.”

  Ian stopped looking at his control panel and looked up, “That was incredibly stupid to broadcast that information.”

  “It appears they don’t encrypt their transmissions.”

  “What?”

  “Their language is so complicated that it’s taken all of our computing resources to learn it. It took Moe and the Hub working together to finally get it completed.”

  “Do you have it?”

  “All of our ships now have it downloaded into their communication devices.”

  “What about Drey’s taskforce?”

  “He has them scattered around the black hole waiting for reports of any Invaders arriving in the galaxy proper. He should be able to respond quickly if they send in scouts. The Negotiator has his system tied in with Moe and he’ll take the scans and assign ships as soon as they’re detected.”

  ***

  Ian saw Violet appear on his display, “Be careful, Ian.”

  “Careful is my middle name.”

  “Make it your first name; I want our baby to know his father.”

  Ian smiled at her, “I love you, Violet.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Ian punched his communication panel and began receiving reports. “Get us to the assembly coordinates, E.” The Green Ship disappeared and Ian listened to the civilizations in M87 respond to the War Warning that was being issued. The magnitude of the coming fight was beyond anything ever witnessed. More than a billion ships moved to their assigned positions and waited for what they knew was coming.

  ***

  Violet looked at Dee, “WHAT DO YOU SEE!”

  Dee’s eyes were closed but Violet heard her say, “The odds in this attack favor us. It will be the main invasion force that will be overwhelming.”

  “Can we win?” Violet only heard silence. It was the first time that the voice that spoke while Dee focused on events had not answered. That, more than anything else, frightened her. She continued to wait and finally Dee opened he eyes, “What do you see?”

  Dee looked at Violet and slowly shook her head, “We need to leave to the galaxy they’re currently attacking when their ships leave.” Violets eyes grew wide. “If we prevail against the first invading force, two others will join them and we will be attacked in our own galaxy as well. There’s not much time.”

  Violet hit her communicator and the King appeared on her display, “Your Majesty, I have bad news.” The King’s face grew serious and Violet told him what was coming. The King contacted the First Councilor and although he was skeptical he knew the King was not one given to being deceived about things.

  “What do we do?”

  The King had a tight grimace and said, “We have to start moving our populations to the galaxy they’re leaving.”

  “How will our people survive?”

  “Our probes have scanned millions of planets the Invaders attacked and most of them still have their entire infrastructure intact. There is some damage on some of them from nuclear blasts set off by the defenders but most were basically unharmed. The Invaders didn’t use weapons that would kill the native populations; they defeated their defenses and then stunned the inhabitants and removed them afterwards.”

  The First looked at his Admiral, “We’ve done this once, First; we can do it again.”

  “But this is on an entirely different scale.”

  “Yes, but we aren’t being attacked while we’re doing it this time. If our forces can buy us time in M87, we can accomplish a great deal in what time we have.”

  The King of the Union nodded, “I need your assistance in helping us organize our exodus.”

  The First nodded, “I’ll get you the people you need to get it started.”

  “We don’t have as many planets as you do. I’ll get our information on what planets are available to the Hub Computer and it can coordinate with our Obelisk in making the assignments.”

  The First shook his head, “Let’s hope we have enough time to do this.”

  The Admiral nodded, “We need to make good use of the time our brave warriors give us.” The First and the King both nodded.

  Chapter Seven

  The Advisor looked at his panel and saw the Senior Father, “I wish you success on your mission.”

  “Thank you; we should have things ready for your arrival. When are you coming?”

  “I’ll start the main invasion in three days.”

  The Advisor smiled and said, “Make it four days.”

  The Senior Father was furious; the idiot still challenged him on everything, “It will be delayed by one day.”

  The Advisor smiled and knew the frustration the Father must have been feeling but he hid his emotions well. “I’ll let you know if we need you sooner.”

  “That would be good.”

  The panel went dark and the Advisor looked at his Son, “You will launch the scouts to their assignments as soon as the main body of ships leaves.”

  “Yes, Father.”

  He looked around the bridge and saw all the crew at their stations waiting for the command. He smiled, “Jump in two minutes.”

  The probe saw the giant mass of ships all activate their force fields and sensed their star drives being activated. It sent the warning out as the millions of Invader ships disappeared.

  ***

  Lieutenant West sat in his ship and waited for the message to come in. “Glen, are all systems active?”

  “You’ve asked me that four times and for the fourth time, they are.”

  “I know; I’m just a little nervous about this.”

  “Aren’t we all?”

  “Computers don’t feel fear.”

  “Speak for yourself; I was at the first trial with you.”

  “Just make sure they’re all in normal space before we jump.”

  “You don’t have to worry about that.”

  ***

  Millions of ships appeared in normal space outside M87 and began forming up into units. The Advisor looked at his Second and heard him say, “Ten minutes until all units are organized.” The Advisor nodded and watched his display. He looked for enemy ships to start attacking but none appeared. He turned an eyestalk to his left and the nephew at the scanning station shook his body. This was not what he expected; they had to know his fleet was here.

  ***

  A million Invader Ships jumped into M87 and began collecting data on the main civilizations. Their initial arrival went unchallenged, but not for long.

  ***

  Lilly received her target’s coordinates and relayed them to her wing. Seven attack craft jumped and came roaring in on the giant almond colored ship. “Spread out and launch! Get out if you take fire from their main lasers.”

  Lilly watched her wing spread out and the first three launched two boson missiles each at the giant ship. They began hitting the huge ship’s force field and it looked like it was covered in a massive wave of fire. The Invader fired at the three attack craft and two of them exploded when they were hit by multiple beams. “Damn, those beams are too strong.” Lilly rolled her ship toward the giant and saw beams start reaching out for her. She turned parallel to it and accelerated away from the beams sweeping toward her. Just before they hit she dropped out of normal space and micro-jumped to the other side and launched two missiles. She jumped again as three massive beams swept toward her new location. “Jack, this doesn’t look good.”

  Her computer immediately said, “I’ve notified the others to jump before they’re hit. My readings indicate the enemy’s force field is weakened considerably after two hits but it recovers faster than anything I’ve ever seen.”

  ***

  The Ship’s Father felt his vessel rock with the arrival of the first two boson missiles. Every time one hit, he had to hold on to his command chair to remain steady. “Weapons, eliminate those ships!”

  “They’re incredibly fast, Father. We’ve managed to kill half of
them. I’m launching missiles.” The Father nodded as four huge missiles erupted from his ship and lanced out at the remaining four small ships. One missile and three beams hit one of the small ships and it exploded.

  ***

  “Lilly, I have four missiles leaving the enemy’s force field and one of them is locked on us. I’m going to three quarters speed to evade the one tracking us.”

  Lilly turned her ship away from the Invader battleship and ran around it with a large missile locked in on her thrusters. It came roaring in and Lilly quickly locked the three missiles in her launch tubes on the huge ship, launched all three simultaneously, and jumped just before two more beams hit her ship. Suddenly, the giant ship exploded with a massive blast that sent huge pieces of debris flying out from the center of the explosion. Jack sensed the blast’s shock wave rushing out at them and jumped away with the other two survivors.

  “Lilly! What did you do!?!”

  Lily stared at her display in shock, “I have no idea.” She replayed the destruction on her display, “I was running from the missile chasing me and saw two beams sweeping in on my ship. I launched all three of the missiles in my tubes and got out.” Lilly watched the expanding blast of the giant enemy ship and looked at her display, “Jack, what happened?”

  “You won’t believe it.”

  “Try me!”

  “You were running parallel to the ship and you launched a boson missile from the two side launchers and bow missile launcher. I only had time to lock in one location on that ship and all three hit that location.”

  “We’ve been doing that for the last twenty minutes.”

  “Yes, but we were firing as we came at them head on.”

  “What difference does that make?”

  “The bow missile would hit first and their screen would recover before the two from the sides arrived. When you fired running parallel, the side closest to the invader hit first but the bow missile hit less than a tenth of a second behind it. The missile fired by the launcher on the side away from the invader hit immediately behind the first two hits and made it through the force field. That last missile had to come around us to hit that ship, which caused its slight delay. That delay is what made it work. The first two blew a hole that the third went through.”