by Saxon Andrew
“So, now it boils down to a waiting game.”
“No, not really.”
“Oh?”
“Before the alien commander sends for orders, we need to remind them why they aren’t attacking the planet. I’m taking Rex to a star and power up his systems. Then we’re coming back and knock out a couple of their warships. We’ll run and hide and hopefully leave the alien commander wondering what in this universe is going on.”
Taffy smiled, “Sounds like a plan. Are we going to allow them to hit us with a blaster?”
“No, but they might get lucky,” Grady replied. Grady turned the Rabbit and activated the FTL drive. Six-hours later, they attacked and destroyed two-alien warships searching for strange looking warships.
• • •
The Alien Commander sat on her chair and fumed. A strange warship had been destroyed moving toward the attacked planet and it was clear it did not originate from the planet. It didn’t match any of the vessels recorded by the scouts and it was larger than the warships the planet had used in the fight against her fleet. And to make matters worse, that damnable small ship had rushed in and exploded two of her warships searching for more of that strange warship. She honestly thought the small ship had left but it came back and kicked that idea in the head; it was still staying around the planet.
She thought about going ahead and attacking the planet, but that small ship’s latest attack stopped her. She was the one that insisted to the Board of Leaders that the small ship was far more important than the planet. If she attacked the planet, she would be going against her suggestion and that might get her executed. And the frustrating thing about the whole thing was that she had to reveal the hidden ships to search for more of the strange warships. That small ship now knew about the additional ships and the plan to ambush it was over. She was frozen. She absorbed some of the ship’s atmosphere through her skin and decided that this decision was not one she could make. She dispatched a ship and waited for instructions.
• • •
Grady saw the alien ship leave and followed it out of Britannia’s system before destroying it. The alien commander would wait for instructions that weren’t coming. At least Earth wouldn’t kill every survivor and it would take time before Earth could move the forces necessary to round them up. The survivors would have a little longer to live if Earth won this war. Grady whipped the Rabbit around and went to maximum speed as he flew it toward the Earth Fleet. He passed the fleet outside the range of their scanners and stopped the ship a thousand light years between the fleet and Earth’s location. Taffy looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “I want to see what’s coming from Earth,” Grady replied.
“What do you expect, Grady?”
Grady raised a shoulder and released a long slow breath, before answering, “If Earth sends one or two warships, they’re recalling the fleet.”
“And if they don’t?” Taffy pressed.
Grady turned his head slightly to the left and shook it, “Then what’s coming is going to shock both of us.”
“You think they’re going to send four or five thousand warships, don’t you?”
“No! Grady replied.
“Then what?”
Grady turned to her, “They sent twelve hundred warships when we told the Commodore there were six-hundred alien warships attacking Britannia.” Taffy’s eyebrows came down and she looked at him with a confused expression. Suddenly, her eyebrows went up and her eyes flew wide open. Grady said in a quiet voice, “You see it now, don’t you?” Taffy nodded and turned to stare at the monitor. It wouldn’t be long before they’d find out what was coming.
Chapter Twelve
Taffy looked at Grady and asked, “We haven’t started using the processed balls yet. Shouldn’t we be using some of them and saving the food in the freezers.”
Grady nodded, “I guess.”
“You don’t sound very excited about it.”
“They’re tasteless and meals are little more than just swallowing them like pills.”
“Let’s give it a try. I’d like to see what eating them is like for myself.”
Grady shrugged, “We can only eat two of them at a time. I’d suggest you select a vegetable and protein ball. Later, we’ll swallow a carbohydrate and mineral ball.”
“I think I might want to skip the carbs, Grady; I don’t want to start gaining weight.”
“You won’t.”
Taffy’s expression turned serious, “Grady, it’s carbohydrates that get converted into fat. Trust me, I know about them putting weight on me. I’m not able to exercise like I need and have to watch what I eat.”
Grady turned his chair and faced her, “Taffy, the carb-balls are processed such that they cannot be stored as fat. Whatever you don’t burn goes out as waste. Those balls will give you everything you need for a day.”
Taffy stared at him for a long moment, before asking, “You’re serious?” Grady nodded. “So, you’re telling me that I can consume carbohydrates and I won’t gain weight?”
“That’s what I’ve been told by the scientists that developed them. The Navy didn’t want its crews getting out of shape and gaining weight. The four balls will provide all the nourishment a person needs for a day and anything not used, won’t be stored as fat.”
“GRADY, HOW LONG HAVE THESE BALLS BEEN AROUND!!”
“Hey, what’s got you worked up? They’ve been used by the military for decades.” Taffy’s head fell, and Grady’s eyes narrowed, “What’s the problem?”
Taffy looked up and huffed out a breath, “So, if I had these balls when I was fifty-pounds overweight, I could have taken them for a few months and lost that weight!”
“Not if you kept eating taffy.”
“IT WASN’T ONLY THE TAFFY, GRADY!!” Grady stared at her and wondered what had her so worked up. “Do you know how many diets I tried to lose weight?” Grady shrugged. “More than I can count! If I had these balls, I could have lost it before I ran away. The diet industry on Britannia was a multi-billion solar industry. These balls would have made someone more solars than they could ever spend!”
Grady’s head straightened, and he remembered seeing all the ads on the entertainment monitor pushing diets to lose weight. He chuckled, “The balls were a military secret; the Union didn’t want the Coalition to have access to them. But you’re right, the balls would be a great way to maintain or lose weight. Of course, anyone using them would be forced to eat tasteless food.”
“Grady, the foods used in most diets are horrid! Tasteless would be a selling point.”
Grady thought about it and said absently, “Eating the balls would provide enough nourishment to maintain your weight. However, if you cut them in half, you would lose weight.”
“Or just take two of them a day,” Taffy countered.
Grady nodded, “That would do it. Each of the balls would fill you up and if you take two of them every day, you wouldn’t be hungry.”
“Oh, I wish I had known about this as a child.”
“If you did, you wouldn’t have ended up here with me,” Grady replied. Taffy’s eyes narrowed. “Didn’t you say the way people looked at you during your father’s meetings is one of the main reasons you left your parents? If you didn’t leave, you wouldn’t be here.” Grady hesitated and added, “I think your life would have been incredible being Phillip Boshran’s daughter.”
Taffy considered what he was saying and sighed, before replying, “You’re worth all the bad times I went through to find you. If not having you would be the result of losing weight, I’d rather have stayed overweight.”
Grady’s smile was tender, “I love you so much, Taffy.” Taffy kissed him on the cheek and went to the kitchen to get some of the processed balls.
She came back with five-balls. Grady looked at her with a confused expression. She smiled, “I’m only going to have two a day for a while. You should have four.”
“Why?”
“I’ve gained six pounds since we left Britan
nia and I’m only going to eat two balls a day until I lose that weight; I’ll start eating four once it’s gone.”
“I don’t see a difference,” Grady said staring at her.
“Trust me, it’s there.”
Grady shrugged and turned back to the monitor after swallowing two balls. He suddenly jerked erect in his chair and pulled his helmet on. He pushed the thruster handle slightly forward and turned the Rabbit vertical. Taffy looked at the monitor and saw a huge white wave moving toward them in the distance. Grady increased speed and turned the Rabbit back toward Britannia as he asked, “Computer, estimate the number of ships in the formation moving toward Britannia?”
“Approximately eleven thousand.”
Grady shook his head and Taffy said, as she put her helmet on, “Where are we going?”
“Do you want to miss this?”
Taffy’s eyes and smile showed she didn’t. She said as she kept her eyes on the monitor, “You were right about the level of Earth’s response, too. What do you expect the aliens to do?”
Grady chuckled, “Run!”
Taffy shrugged, “That will at least move them away from Britannia.” Grady nodded and pushed the thruster handle forward.
• • •
Admiral Martov moved his fleet forward and fell into the front ranks of the oncoming fleet. He saw Fleet Admiral Jennings appear on his monitor, “Your fleet will remain in the center of the front ranks.”
“Yes, Sir.” The monitor went dark and Martov knew he was now a small fish in a very large pond. However, if things went well, he’d have a much larger fish afterwards. He was like Captain Yolie, he wanted a promotion!
• • •
The Rex Rabbit arrived hours ahead of the giant fleet from Earth and he activated the optical scanner. The aliens had stopped their search and had formed up with the six-hundred ships that arrived earlier. It was a giant formation, but tiny compared to what was coming. Grady stared at the monitor and saw the alien ships start turning around, “They’ve detected the fleet moving toward them,” Grady noted. Taffy nodded.
Grady paced the alien fleet and kept the incoming fleet from Earth on the monitor. Suddenly, the giant fleet fell apart and formed up ten-long lines with twelve-hundred warships in each line. The outer edges of the long lines moved slightly ahead of the center of each line. The speed the giant fleet moved into the new formation revealed that this was a fleet of seasoned veterans. “What are they doing, Grady?”
“They know they’re slightly faster than the alien warships, Taffy. They’re going to fly into the alien formations where the outer edges of their lines can catch the aliens in a crossfire while the center of their lines will fire a devastating blaster and missile barrage ahead of them.”
• • •
Admiral Martov’s scanner showed an alien ship out from the planet and knew that the aliens now knew they were going to be attacked. Admiral Jennings ordered over the fleet frequency, “All ships form up into attack formation!” Martov moved his fleet to the center of one of the ten lines being formed and waited for the outer edges of his line to move ahead of the center. Once they were in place, his fleet accelerated ahead at full-speed toward the planet. They arrived at the planet and Martov saw the alien ships moving away at their best speed on his monitor. The alien scout that saw the fleet approaching had already been overrun and destroyed but it had allowed the aliens to get a head start. The giant fleet blew past the planet and ignored it as it flew at maximum speed to catch the fleeing aliens.
• • •
The Alien Fleet Commander was frustrated; what was taking the Board Leaders so long to respond to her request. She turned and suddenly heard, “COMMANDER, THE SCOUT HAS JUST DETECTED A GIANT FLEET OF STRANGE WARSHIPS MOVING TOWARD US AT HIGH-SPEED?”
“HOW MANY?”
The scanner operator looked up, “About twelve-thousand warships that match the strange warship we destroyed.”
She punched her console, “ALL SHIPS, ALL SHIPS, TURN ABOUT AND GO TO MAXIMUM SPEED!” She pushed another switch and said, “You will take your ship back to the Empire and tell them what’s happening. If you have to burn out your thrusters, you will do it! Get moving now!”
The Commander saw one of the ships closest to the front of her formations suddenly leap out of formation and the glow of its thrusters were brilliant. It could waste fuel, it didn’t need to save any for combat operations. She prayed it made it back to the edge of the Empire.
• • •
“Should we take out that alien ship, Grady?” Grady shook his head. “Why not?!” Taffy asked.
“The aliens need to know about Earth’s fleets. If they destroy all the alien’s warships they’re pursuing, then Earth’s fleet will turn and go back to Britannia. I intended to start a war here and both sides need to have their strength reduced.” Taffy nodded and continued to stare at the monitor. One thing was certain, Britannia was left far behind the fleeing aliens. Grady paused and asked, “Computer, how far is Britannia from Earth’s location?”
“Approximately sixteen-thousand light years.”
“So, the original estimate of it being twenty-thousand light years was inaccurate.”
“The distance was inaccurate due to the unknown speed the original colony ship was moving.”
“Then how far is Britannia from the central black hole?”
Twelve-thousand light years.”
“Estimate how long it will take for the Earth Fleet to catch the alien fleet?”
“Two-days. It will take six-thousand light years before it happens.”
• • •
The Ship Commander of the alien warship running back to warn the Empire saw that his thrusters weren’t going to make it. He looked at his scanner officer, “Prepare six-high-speed messengers and download all the data on that attacking fleet. Launch them immediately!” The Commander felt the slight bumps as the messengers accelerated out of their tubes. He watched them accelerate at an incredible speed on the monitor and then disappear in the distance. A moment later, his warship blew up in a bright explosion as the thrusters overloaded.
• • •
Martov ordered the ships in his fleet to standby-Battlestations. He wanted them to get sleep but knew that probably wasn’t going to happen, all of them were too wired to do it. When the formation moved inside six hours until contact with the alien fleet, he ordered his ships to Battlestations. They would be inside firing range in another four-hours.
• • •
The alien Fleet Commander announced over the general frequency, “All ships in the rear formations will commence launching missiles when that fleet pursuing us moves inside four-hours. Start firing blasters when it moves into range.” She sat back in her chair and stared at the monitor. She was going to start losing ships soon. Where was the Empire’s response?!”
• • •
Admiral Jennings detected a massive wave of missiles moving toward his fleet at an incredible closing speed. “Commence blaster fire; take out those missiles.”
The entire front of the Earth formation exploded into a giant wave of interlocked blaster beams and Grady could only shake his head at the size of it. The alien missiles began exploding and it appeared that less than twenty missiles made it through the barrage. Twenty warships fell behind the Earth fleet and were left to fend for themselves. Most were damaged and only two warships were destroyed. The damaged ships turned and headed back toward Earth as they fought fires. Another ship exploded but the others went to their stardrives and disappeared.
• • •
The Earth Fleet slowed slightly when it opened fire on the missiles and the alien commander saw it. She immediately ordered, “ALL SHIPS, STAGGER YOUR FORMATIONS AND ALL SHIPS LAUNCH MISSILES!” The alien warships opened some space in their ranks and began launching missiles. The wave of missiles was gigantic but very few made it through the Earth Fleet’s blaster barrage. Contact between the two fleets was delayed, but only by an hour.
• •
•
The Earth Fleet moved just inside blaster range and began hitting the rear warships in the alien formation. Jennings considered launching missiles but decided it would be a waste of armaments. The closing speed of the missiles would be too slow, and the alien blasters would have no difficulty picking them off. He smiled as hundreds of alien warships were hit and slowed. They were then vaporized as his giant fleet passed them.
The alien commander was furious; there was nothing she could do to stop her fleet from being destroyed. She slammed an appendage on the arm of her chair and suddenly heard, “Continue your present course.” She jerked all six-eyes at the monitor and saw the War Leader. “Move past my formation and fall in behind the rear ranks.”
• • •
“ADMIRAL, I’M DETECTING A GIANT FORMATION ON THE EDGE OF SCANNING RANGE MOVING DIRECTLY TOWARD US?”
Jennings jerked his head to the huge wall-monitor and saw a huge red wave appearing. “How many ships, Lieutenant?”
“At least fifteen…make that twenty-thousand, Admiral!”
Jennings’ eyes narrowed, and he ordered over the fleet frequency, “All ships will stop and move into war-formation immediately!” He turned back to the scanning officer, “How long until contact?”
“Three-hours, Admiral.”
Jennings smiled. Superior numbers were not something that worried him; he had dealt with that many times in the past.
• • •
Grady was using the Rabbits scanners to track what was happening. A single scanner far out in space wouldn’t cause either of the two fleets to investigate. Taffy stared at the monitor and said softly, “You wanted a war; it looks like you got one. Earth’s fleet should be the ones running now.”
“They’re not running, Taffy.”
Taffy jerked her head back to the monitor, “What are they doing?” Grady shook his head as he kept his eyes on the monitor; he didn’t know.
• • •
The ten, long, curved lines of warships stopped and immediately began maneuvering into new positions. In thirty-minutes, a huge cube formation appeared. All six sides of the cube had eight-rows of two hundred and fifty warships in each line. Grady shook his head and Taffy heard him say, “The range of the Earth warship’s blasters is longer than the aliens’.” Grady turned to Taffy, “They’ve done this before.”