by Saxon Andrew
The Five began firing on the ships surrounding the portals from long distance and none of the Blue Warships could go out and attack the Five’s fleets without disobeying the new Exalted’s orders to block the portals with every ship. Blue Ships died in the millions around the portals before they were released to continue the invasion.
• • •
During the lull in action, Ping and Dahlia got in a lot of fishing.
Chapter Nineteen
The Chinga Emperor looked at the other four Leaders of the Five and said, “One of my ships killed one of the Blue Warships and we managed to pull it back to one of my labs.”
“And?”
The Emperor looked at the Beast, “There was a small portal projector on board. Evidently their ships keep one in order to escape if needed.”
The Rageon Leader shook his head, “You can’t tell me that small ship could power a portal.”
“We hooked it up and a portal appeared. It wasn’t big enough for the ship to go through but it was a portal. Perhaps their ships are more powerful than we thought.”
“Can we use it to escape if it comes down to it?”
“I’ve attached it to one of our portal reactors and the readings indicate that it would break through to the other place we invaded.”
The Beast stood up, “I need a copy of that device!”
“My scientists have made four working prototypes. I’m sending each of you one to start mass production.”
The Drund First looked at the others, “If we have to flee, how many portals do we need to open?”
The four looked at the Rageon and he shook his head, “We will not be fleeing to another place. We will live or die here.”
“They’ll eradicate you.”
“That may be; however, is it safe to assume that you won’t be going through those portals with peaceful intentions?”
The four looked at the Rageon like he had six heads. The Beast managed to say, “What is wrong with you? You’ve not been the same since you went to that invisible planet.”
“I have no intention of attacking anyone in order to take their territory. I’m assuming that you intend to invade that other place and take control.”
The Beast yelled, “OF COURSE WE’RE GOING TO TAKE CONTROL!! Are you that lost mentally?”
“We will not be participating. I wish you success on your endeavor.”
The Four saw the Rageon disappear from their monitors and the Hedgon shook his head back and forth, “We need his ships.”
“No we don’t. We have enough to win this if we can get through their defenses around the portals we use. We have to produce enough of them to make it impossible for them to stop us.”
The Chinga said, “How many?”
The Beast said, “A million would do it.”
The Drund said, “Then each of us will produce a quarter of a million portal projectors. When they’re done, we’ll see if the time has come to flee. How long do you think it will take for you to manufacture the needed number?”
The Beast said, “Have them ready in three months. We’ll meet again at that time.”
The Four nodded and the conference ended.
• • •
The Upper Sector Leader looked at his Communicator, “Order the others to back off on their offenses. Keep them under pressure but I want them to have enough ships to damage the forces in that other universe.”
The Lower Sector Leader said, “That was a good idea to allow them to capture a portal projector.”
“The hard part was making it look real. In three months we will start an all-out attack on their forces. This will be over soon.”
The Left Sector Leader frowned, “How many times have we said that very thing only to find we were wrong.”
“They have what they need now; they will go there once we commit all our forces.”
“I truly hope you’re right.”
• • •
“PING!”
“What’s wrong Pare?”
“I’ve intercepted a transmission from the Blue Ship Leaders that all of their forces are to back off on their offenses but keep pressure on the Five for three months.”
“Was that all they said?” There was silence and Ping said, “Pare?”
“The Invaders set up one of their warships to be attacked; it had a working model of their portal projector on board.” Ping was silent and Pare said, “I hate delivering only bad news; but it appears the Invaders have broken the Five’s encryption and know that they plan to have enough projectors in three months to flee if they must.”
“The Five must see this as a setup.”
“Would it matter; if someone held a blaster at your head and gave you a key to a door to escape; would you use it?”
Ping shook his head, “You’re right. They could have left one floating in space with a note saying, best wishes and bon voyage; the Five would have taken it and used it gladly.”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Hi, Dahlia, I didn’t know you were listening in.”
“That’s ok, Pare; I heard it in Ping’s mind. Ping?”
“I’m thinking!”
“Pare, did you hear anything about the Rageon?”
“I let Sprigly know what was happening and he’s detected portal projectors being trialed in every domain but the Rageon. It appears they aren’t building projectors.”
Ping shrugged, “Well, at least the Realm has a fighting chance against the other four.”
“Sprigly says they still outnumber the Realm’s Warships by a large margin.”
“That’s true; but we know the lay of the land there and the Gardners can use their psychic ships in the fighting.”
Dahlia said, “I thought they only had one.”
“No, three were missing at the end of the first fight for Creation. I suspect they have at least three at their disposal and they will make a huge difference in the fight.”
“You sound like you don’t think the Gardners will be ready in time.”
“I wish I could say for certain they will be; however, nothing is certain.”
“One thing is.”
“What’s that, Dolly?”
“We’re at the end of this conflict as far as we’re concerned.”
“Oh?”
“Have you come up with something to do about this?”
Ping sighed, “Not at this moment.”
“Until you do; our part of the plan is done.”
• • •
Ping lifted his wrist unit, “Sprigly!”
“Yes Ping.”
“Pare tells me you did a scan of the Five and saw they are developing portal projectors; is the development being done in central locations?”
“No, they’re being manufactured on more than two hundred thousand planets scattered around four of their territories. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Why?”
“I know you’re thinking about going after those planets but it appears they aren’t keeping the projectors they build on the planets. As soon as one’s completed, it’s placed in a battleship and it jumps away from the planet. The Four recognize that those planets are the key to their survival and the planet is defended with multiple layers of warships. They’ve extended their force fields to maximum and they overlap.”
Dahlia said, “Why would they do that? Won’t it weaken them to the point where they’re useless?”
Ping said, “Their force fields are already useless against our pulse beams. However, any of our ships that try to get within firing range of the planet will have to go through one of their force fields and they’ll open fire on that area immediately.”
“Couldn’t we send enough ships to overwhelm them?”
“And we might kill a few thousand planets before we lost too many ships to continue. Honestly Dahlia, I wondered why they didn’t use this strategy to protect their production planets.”
“Ping’s right. Going after the planets building the portals wil
l not work.”
“Sprigly, do you see anything we can do?”
“Not at the moment.”
“We could go after their production planets again.”
“If they’re going to flee this universe, why would they care if you did?”
“Then we could go after their ships and reduce the number going against the Realm.”
“Dahlia, we could kill a thousand ships an hour and not make a dent in their numbers.”
“There’s got to be something?”
“Sprigly.”
“Yes, Ping.”
“Notify the Gardners about what’s going on.” Sprigly was silent. “Don’t worry about having a way to contact them; we’re on the same team and you’re not betraying us by talking to them.”
“How did you know I could contact them?”
“The King would have insisted you have the means to get them here to pull Victoria out if things got rough.”
“I’ll let them know.”
“Ping, where are you?”
“When you come; I need some extra fishing line and hooks.”
“Do we have time for that?”
“If we don’t, we’ll make time.”
• • •
“Dean.”
“Yes.”
“Ping says we should leave.”
“I know.”
“Are we?”
“What?”
“Going to leave?”
Dean sighed as Tess came over, “I just heard Vicky’s question.”
Dean looked at his older sister, “And?”
“Dean, you have been the brains behind our defense of the planet. Your strategies have kept us alive longer that I thought possible; I think the Realm can use your help against the Four if they invade.”
“Tess, I’m needed here.”
“We’ve discussed the situation and there’s nothing we can do. We don’t have enough warships to impact the Four or the Invader’s numbers. We can’t go after the projectors; once again, we don’t have enough ships. We’ve done all we can to delay the endgame, but now, the momentum is more than we can stop. Ping can direct the Fleets. You need to take your mate to safety.”
Dean stared at Tess and finally nodded. Victoria put her hand on his arm and he saw her sorrow at what he was being forced to do. Tess contacted Sprigly and told him to call the Gardners to come and take Victoria back to the Realm. A few moments later Sprigly came running into the control room, “They can’t come.”
Victoria looked at Sprigly in shock, “WHAT!?!”
“They say if they leave long enough to come here, their project will fall apart. They apologized and say they notified the King. He’s furious but he had to make a choice.” Sprigly looked at Victoria.
She slowly nodded, “I’m proud of my father.”
Dean was angry, “Why? He’s leaving you here to die.”
Victoria looked at Dean and shook her head, “No, he’s leaving me here to save the Realm. That’s the only thing that would make him do it.”
Dean stood and took Victoria in his arms. He removed his helmet and tossed it on the chair behind them and started walking out of the control room. “Tess, we’re going fishing.”
“I’ll meet you there.”
“Better hurry; Vicky’s going to catch all the fish.”
Dean looked at Vicky, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be; it’s been worth it. I wouldn’t change anything.”
• • •
Tag looked at Danielle and saw her frustration. He knew time was running out and he was starting to believe that the answer to the field wouldn’t be found in time. Jixie said, “We can’t just leave the Princess there.”
Danielle move the emitter controls and said, “We’ll pick her up after we release the device.” She looked at Tag and saw him shake his head. “We’ll have time to do it.”
“Is your memory that poor?”
“What do you mean?’
“At the current rate, you probably won’t have the field worked out in time to prevent the invasion from happening.” Danielle frowned and then quickly gave a quick nod, “So?”
“Do you remember how long they attacked us before they broke it off?” Danielle thought for a moment and then her expression changed to shock. Tag smiled, “Now, you see it.”
“We can’t stay there?”
Ken nodded, “They would only focus on going after us and ignore everything else around them.”
Danielle looked at Tag, “We’re trapped; there’s nothing we can do to save her.”
Tag nodded, “And my sense of danger goes off the scale when I think about attempting it.”
“We never should have taken them there.”
“In hindsight, I must agree. But you can’t beat yourself up over this; hindsight is always 20-20.”
“But I’m supposed to possess the ability to see it before it happens.”
Pixie shook her head, “Do you see where the plan is moving?” Danielle shook her head. “There are some things outside your ability to see. This is one of them. We are forced to do what we know is right. Now let’s try another sequence with the emitters.”
Danielle wanted to scream…but she turned and said, “Alex, send us another combination.”
“Just make sure the field doesn’t lose its integrity as you enter it.”
“I trust you and Grace to lock the panel if you see that start to happen.”
“I just hope we can react fast enough to make that happen.”
Danielle shook her head and began moving the emitter controls.
• • •
Grace sent a thought to Alex where she wouldn’t be heard, “Can’t two of them go and take another psychic ship to retrieve the Princess?”
“They haven’t thought of it and I’m extremely reluctant to suggest it.”
“Why?”
“It is their psychic auras that power the three ships maintaining the fields. I’m not sure about this but I think the field would have already collapsed if all of them weren’t present to keep it powered.”
“I sensed that as well.”
“The Princess is there because she needs to be there.”
“So you’ve bought into this plan theory?”
“Grace, you’ve seen the Realm’s history since Matt and Melanie Gardner fought the Demons. Tell me you don’t believe it as well.”
“I can’t do that in good conscience; however, I still have my doubts.”
“Just as we all do. We need to stay out of this until we’re forced to act.”
“Alex, you are so wise. I’m glad we’re here together.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, Grace.”
• • •
The Beast Master looked at the Rageon Ruler on his monitor, “You are making a bad decision.”
“Why would that concern you? I would think you would celebrate if my Species was destroyed.”
The Beast stared at the Rageon and then shook his head, “I probably would have if things hadn’t changed. Now, I’ve seen you send your ships to defend my people and fight with my forces to protect me. I don’t hate you as much as I once did.”
The Rageon shook his head slowly, “I just won’t attack another civilization for selfish reasons again.”
“Something happened at that invisible planet, didn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“I was made to see my extreme arrogance and stupidity.” The Rageon looked at the Beast, “If you knew it was that other place that sent the invisible ships to defend you, would you still invade them?”
“Did they send them?”
“I believe they did.”
The Beast was silent for a long moment and then looked at the Rageon with sorrow on his face, “I guess I’d hate doing it; but I have to say I would.”
“Why?”
“They weren’t helping me because they like me; they did it to defend themselves from the Invaders. If the Invaders
hadn’t appeared, they would still be destroying my production planets.”
“Why do you think they were doing that?”
“To defend themselves from me; I’m really not that stupid.”
“I know that.”
“I couldn’t tell by the way you taunted me.”
“I rather enjoyed doing it. However, don’t you see the zero sum game you’re playing?”
“Even if I agreed it was; I’d still do it; my species are conquerors. That is not something I can just choose to change.”
“Have you tried?”
The Beast looked at the Rageon and smiled, “I wouldn’t even try.”
The Rageon smiled, “Then I guess I have to say you’re dumb.”
Just before the display went dark the Beast lowered his head and said, “This time, I think you may be right.”
• • •
The Rageon Ruler sat on his throne and thought for an hour about what the Beast said. He looked over at his panel and pushed a button. The Fleet Admiral appeared, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
“How many of our warships are fighting in the other domains?’
“About half of them.”
“Admiral, I have some suspicions about the discovery of the Invader’s portal projector. Do you see any reason; any possible reason; why a small warship would have a portal projector on board?”
“I’ve looked at the information on that projector and it wasn’t powerful enough to create a portal for that warship.”
“What does that indicate to you?”
“The Invaders wanted us to have it. I’ve also noticed that they have backed off on their attacks.”
The Rageon Ruler stared at the Admiral and then said, “Recall all of our ships to our domain and organize them for massive attacks when the other four domains energize their portals.”
“I really think that is a wise decision, Your Majesty.”
The Admiral’s expression was easy to read, “I know you think we should take as many of our population as possible and flee with them.”
“If they leave, we’ll be left to face the Invaders alone.”
“No, we won’t be alone…but we will be in dire trouble.” The Admiral nodded and disappeared from the display.
Chapter Twenty
Ping looked at Dahlia and saw she was thinking about something. She was eight months pregnant and she was finally showing a large midsection. He stared at her and thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She looked up from the stream and smiled, “It won’t be long.”