Nowhere to Hide

by Saxon Andrew

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ian held his new baby boy and Drey could see the love in his eyes. Dee seemed to be getting larger by the moment and soon they would have their child as well. Dee stood next to Ian admiring the new born. Drey smiled, “It looks like we have a new little prince.”

  Ian shook his head but didn’t take his eyes off his child, “No, I’m not a Prince anymore.” Drey snickered and Ian looked up, “What’s so funny?”

  “You.”

  “What about me?”

  “Ian, the only reason Albert is King is because you have declined to accept the throne. The conditions that existed then still take precedence now. If you announced today that you would accept the throne, Albert would be forced to step down and give you the Crown. Trust me on this, you are still a Prince and the Union sees you as one.”

  Ian’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Violet. She shrugged and sighed, “He’s right.”

  Ian looked back at Drey and smiled. He looked at his baby, “Well, I guess you are royalty, little one.”

  Ian handed Junior to Violet and turned to Drey, “I guess the real trouble starts now.”

  “Yes it does.”

  “Have you thought about our next plan of action?”

  Drey shrugged, “Finish moving our populations to the other galaxy and try to delay the next invasion as long as possible.” Drey looked at Violet, “Have the Invaders sent any ships back to the galaxy we’re moving to?”

  “No, and we’re keeping communications to a minimum. All communications on the colonized planets are being done by microwave. Moe is handling communications between the planets with the telepaths from Santa Rosa. There’s no reason for them to come back to a galaxy they’ve attacked.”

  “Have you encountered any survivors?”

  “We have and they are quite happy, for the most part, we’re moving in. Most of them were in a sad state of affairs before we arrived and we’re including them in our civilization. No matter what the outcome is in the Milky Way and M87, our survival is ensured by the exodus.”

  Ian turned from Violet and said, “We’ve lost a lot of ships, Drey.”

  “Yes we have; fortunately, our building efforts are just now getting into high gear. We’ll have all those lost replaced in less than two months. Most of the new ships are being built here but the new galaxy is starting to really kick in with their share. In half a year they will be producing the Lion’s share of all our new ships.”

  “What about pilots? There’s no way we can train the new ones in time.”

  “Actually, most of the new pilots won’t need as much training as the others.” Ian tilted his head, doubting Drey’s statement.

  Dee looked up from the baby, “We learned a lot in the last fight. Our new pilots will follow a neutron missile into the invader ranks and fire at the ship it hits and break away. That won’t require much training at all. Of course they will continue working on the advanced attack patterns whenever they can but they will be effective as soon as they complete their flight training.”

  Violet looked at Dee, “Are we getting enough qualified recruits to fly?”

  Dee nodded, “We actually have to turn many away. Remember, the Kilper Civilization and the Union had more than three quarters of a million civilized planets before the exodus. There are a huge number of citizens in the pool to fill the military’s ranks.”

  Ian sat down beside Violet and stared at his baby. Drey looked at Dee and she nodded. Drey said, “Ian, we’re of the belief that we’re going to have to slow them down in order to build up the forces we’ll need to face them.”

  Ian looked up, “What do you mean; slow them down?”

  “We feel we need to hit any fleet that begins organizing outside the galaxies they’re currently invading with a Neutron Mine.”

  Ian looked at Dee, “I thought you said that wasn’t a good idea?”

  “It wasn’t…then. But now we know they’ll be coming with multiple fleets so there is no reason not to hit them as hard and as often as possible.”

  Violet nodded, “We shouldn’t allow them to choose when and where to hit us. We should take the initiative; so far we’ve just been reacting.”

  Ian stared at his wife and turned back to Drey, “Can you set it up?”

  “I can.”

  “You know I don’t like to kill huge numbers if it can be avoided.”

  Drey said, “But….?

  “Blast them back to the hell they came out of.”

  ***

  Chip sat with the Green Fleet Controller onboard his flagship and stared at the information on his screen. “Our Neutron Warheads were quite effective.”

  Chip nodded, “I hate we had to use so many. We’re really going to need them in the next round.”

  The Fleet Controller moved back and forth with his laughter, “We didn’t waste any.”

  “I know you used them wisely but the next fight will dwarf the last invasion.”

  “What I’m trying to tell you is that none of our warheads were destroyed.”

  Chip jerked his head around and looked at the Controller, “What?”

  “The substance of a neutron star is indestructible. It hit the Invader’s force field and transferred all of its kinetic energy into it violently pushing the ship. The warhead was not destroyed by the impact; it just stopped and remained where it hit. We’ve been collecting them since the last battles and putting them into new missiles.”

  Chip shook his head and smiled, “How many will you have for the next attack?”

  “Not enough; however, we’ve learned a lot. We’re going to have weapon transports come in after each attack we win, collect the warheads, and reload them immediately. They’ll then take them to rearm our ships where they’re needed. Of course we’re continuing to build new missiles, but it’s my understanding that half a trillion ships may come in the next invasion.”

  “You may be right. However, we can only do what we can to survive. The reason I’m here is to ask if you can give me four hundred thousand of your ships that use that missile.”

  “What are you going to do with them?”

  “I’m assigning one of my ships to one of yours and they will work together to take out an Invader Battleship.”

  The Controller thought a moment and looked at Chip, “You don’t want massive waves of missiles fired, do you?”

  “No, we need to use them in precision strikes. My idea is to have your ship fire a neutron missile and one of my ships will follow it in. Even if the missile is burned, the warhead will continue. It will shield my ship from the full intensity of the Invader’s beams until it hits and that’s when my ship will fire on the target.”

  “Have you trialed this?”

  “I’ve had two ships follow each other to a target. The ship following the first one was able to stay close behind it. Your missiles are not faster than my ships, so I believe we can do it.”

  “Why don’t we run a trial? I’ll fire a missile at an asteroid and have one of your ships follow it in.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “You might want to make sure your ship isn’t too close to the missile when it hits.”

  “Oh?”

  “Check with your computer for the appropriate distance.”

  Chip nodded but thought the Controller was being too careful. He looked at his chronometer, “Let’s do this in ten hours from now.” The Controller nodded and Chip went back to his ship. “Salud, do you have any recordings of a neutron missile strike?”

  “I do.”

  “Please put one on my display and tell me what you can determine about the blast.” Chip watched the huge missile moving in at high speed toward an Invader Battleship. He glanced at the top of his panel and saw the recording was at one hundred thousandth speed. He was stunned. The blast that blew out from the hit was enormous and the giant Invader ship was shoved violently away from the place the warhead hit. Chip stopped the recording, “Salud, how far from that ship does the blast extend?”<
br />
  “Ten miles.”

  “What?”

  “Ten miles but it does dissipate rather quickly.”

  “Could one of our ships survive inside that blast?”

  “Well…yes.”

  “Why do you say it like that?”

  “If the blast has not reached the limit of expansion, our ship will be shoved just as hard as the Invader ship it hit.”

  Chip stared at the frozen image on his screen. After a moment he said, “So our ship will have to enter the blast at the edge of its widest expansion to stay on course.”

  “Yes.”

  “How far away would our ship have to be moving at an identical speed as the missile to do that?”

  “Chip, you might want to do this another way.”

  “What way would you suggest?”

  “I think we’ve not thought through the new Boson Combo’s capabilities. Our ships have been running in trying to get close to fire on the Invader’s ships. Why do we do it that way?”

  “So the beam will be strong enough to either severely weaken their force fields or knock them down for the three missiles to complete the job.”

  “What happens to a high energy beam when it hits a boson beam?”

  Chip did a double take, “I have no idea.”

  “The boson beam will strip the Higgs field from the excited particles that make up the beam and they will lose all their mass. What do you think would happen if a highly excited particle hit you that had no mass?”

  Chip thought hard but couldn’t put it together. He finally said, “I guess the same thing if a bowling ball with no mass hit you; it would stop and probably be deflected.”

  “It’s mass that gives energy beams their power.”

  “So if our ships fired a boson beam on their approach, you’re saying the beams fired at them would not get through to our force field.”

  “We won’t know unless we try it but that’s what logically should happen.”

  “Will it defeat their force field?’

  “I just don’t know; however, it should allow our ships to get close.”

  Chip thought a moment, “The Invader’s beam will cancel the boson beam.”

  “It will.”

  “And our three missile package is not strong enough to break through their force field alone.”

  “That is also true…but the neutron missile coming in behind the ship should break through.”

  Chip stared at the image on his screen for a long moment and looked up, “We have a lot of work to do.”

  ***

  Fifteen hours later, the issues were resolved. The Fleet Controller called in and said, “It appears the best strategy is for your ships to follow my missiles to their target.”

  “Yes it does. With so many explosions taking place in a small area, the following missiles could be knocked off course and miss the Invader Battleship we hit with our beams.”

  “That’s an accurate assessment. If your ships are following the missiles, it will just follow it until it hits another target. The Invader formations are so tightly packed it should hit another ship if it misses the first. You also don’t need an equal number of my ships.”

  “No, I don’t. Your ships can fire a spread of eight missiles and eight of my ships can follow them in. Fifty thousand should be enough for my four strike groups.”

  “Are you going to use this tactic with your other fleets?”

  “We are and I need you to coordinate with our Obelisk Computer to get the assignments done. We will, of course, designate most of your ships to defend the Grey and your Civilization.”

  “We will still be able to contribute a large number to defend other planets.”

  “Get with our computer and work it out.”

  The display went dark and Chip stared at the recordings of asteroids that had been hit. His ships were going to have to stay back twenty miles to be able to go over or around the missile’s neutron blast. They weren’t going to be able to go through the neutron blast without being shoved off course. It was also learned that the blast would burn the three missiles before they could hit the target. He thought about it and decided to contact Drey about how to do a realistic trial. Drey gave him one that was beyond realistic; it was real. He had forgotten one of his oldest strategies, be careful what you ask for. He called in his four Rear Admirals to let them know what was coming.

  ***

  The High Council was in disarray. The Senior Grandfather finally sounded the tone for silence and the room slowly quieted. He turned to the Grandfather of the Senior Father who had adopted the survivors and stared at him for a long moment. Finally, he said, “So you think we should abandon our attempt at gathering that galaxy?”

  “There are billions of galaxies that don’t pose anything approaching the danger of that galaxy. Why should we continue to suffer losses by continuing to invade?”

  “Do you think they will ignore our previous efforts?”

  “I would think they would also not want to suffer losses.”

  “And if they decide to come after us for our attacks, what do you think will happen?”

  “Then we take them on away from their lines of support.”

  “I am not willing to give them time to build their forces to a level that would endanger our families.” The Leader looked at the other Grandfathers, “You know what happened last time we turned away.” No one spoke in the silence as the Senior Grandfather said, “This will be much worse than what happened the first time. We have to end this threat now.”

  The second in seniority on the Council leaned forward, “Just how do we accomplish that task?”

  “We send in four Families to destroy them.”

  Another Grandfather shouted, “And what four families are you going to send!”

  The Senior stared at the gathering and pointed to the Grandfather who had adopted the survivors of the last invasion and was also objecting to the invasion, “He will go and the three others that are closest to completion of their gatherings.”

  “My family is nowhere close to completing our gathering.”

  “Even so, your family started this and you will take part in ending it.”

  The Grandfather knew it was coming. The Senior was going to make him pay for saving the survivors from his wrath. It didn’t matter that the former Grandfather was dead after his suicide. He waited as the Council voted and the Senior Grandfather cast the deciding vote. He looked at the other three Grandfathers assigned to the invasion and decided there was no avoiding it, “We have already planned our organization for an invasion. I’ll send each of you a copy of our plan and, when you’ve organized your fleets, we’ll join you. We are going to continue our gathering until the last minute; we need the stores.”

  The Senior looked at the three Grandfathers and they grudgingly nodded. “You will start getting your fleets ready in two months. That will give you time to go over the plans and get your forces prepared. Notify the Council when you’re ready.” The Senior looked around at the Grandfathers, “Are there any questions?” No one spoke, “This meeting is concluded.” He turned and left the chamber.

  ***

  “Son, we have been ordered to participate in the coming invasion.”

  “Were you able to delay our organization?”

  “I was. What good do you think it will do?”

  “I’m not sure; but the Senior Father we adopted seems to think the creatures in that galaxy will do something prior to our attack. I’m leaning toward caution and, if nothing happens, we’ll join the other fleets and invade.”

  “And if it does?”

  “We’ll jump that distance when the time comes.”

  “Son, I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “He made a good point, Grandfather. How did those creatures kill ten million ships that were gathered outside their galaxy? It hasn’t happened again, but that doesn’t mean it won’t.”

  “Do you expect the other three Families will be attacked?”

/>   “I don’t expect anything; but the Father thinks that galaxy won’t just sit by and do nothing. Attacking us if we’re scattered inside a galaxy will not be as easy as hitting the other three out in open space.”

  “Are you going to warn them?”

  “Of what? I’ll just sound crazy if I tell them not to organize. The Council already thinks we’re paranoid about that galaxy. I’m tired of having the Senior overrule us on every issue. I think it’s clear he has made it a goal to have us eliminated. If nothing happens, then no harm is done.”

  “And if it does?”

  “You keep asking me that question; we’ll have to wait and see.”

  “I’ll be joining you.”

  “You are welcome to come to my ship, Grandfather.”

  “I’ll see you in two months.”

  ***

  The micro-probe that had followed the first fleet intercepted the transmission and sent it to the Obelisk. Moe sent the translated message to the Alliance’s Admirals.

  ***

  “Admiral Robinson, you have two months to get your four Strike Fleets prepared.”

  Chip read the translation and looked at Drey on his display, “They know we’re coming.”

  “That first fleet knows but they’re not telling the others. We will continue our plans as they stand.”

  “Are we going to go after that fleet that sent this message?”

  “That would be next to impossible; their ships are scattered in the galaxy they’re currently invading and we don’t have the necessary numbers to go after them.”

  “Should we wait until they move out and join the other fleets?”

  “No, Moe is of the opinion that, as those other fleets complete their organization, they’ll send the ships away from the main group. When I pressed him for the likelihood of that happening, he said there was a fifty percent chance either way. I’m not going to risk missing an opportunity that may not present itself again.”

  Chip nodded, “I understand. We’ll be ready in time, Sir.”

  “See that you are. We’re at the end of the beginning. Now the end game starts.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kregen Looked at Ryan, Annie, and Marissa, “The Thetas have found a way into the Invader formations.” The three looked at each other and Annie said, “How are they doing it, Sir?”