by Saxon Andrew
“What about this HELL NO, I WON’T GO movement?”
“It appears a huge number of people are declining their selections. The computer has analyzed them and says that most of them are older than forty and don’t want to start over. They say they’ll take their chances on Earth.”
“That is not a good idea.”
Salud sighed, “This might well be Pat’s work.”
“I don’t want the job of selecting who goes and who stays. Even the local governments are having difficulty making it happen and Pat is probably the only being capable of making sure those that go should. I hope he is involved in the process.”
“He has been doing all he can to help us. By the way, have we come up with a name for this new planet?”
“The suggested list of names is rather long. Everything from Atlantis and Avalon in the A’s to Zander and Zonks in the Z’s. Do you have a preference?”
“I suggested Avalon so I’m prejudiced.”
“I’m not familiar with that name.”
“Avalon was a place in Celtic mythology that was an earthly paradise generally described as a land of plenty where eternal Spring, health, and harmony reigned. On this island of apple trees, food-producing plants were so abundant that no one ever needed to farm the land.”
“I seem to recall that this was similar to how the Garden of Eden was described.”
Salud tilted her head, “I believe you’re right. Is Eden on the list?”
Lukas looked at the list and shook his head, “No, it’s not.”
“Put it on. I like that.”
Lukas took a deep breath, “According to legend, that is where man first appeared on Earth and it was a gift from their creator.”
“Some believe it’s more than a legend Lukas.”
Lukas nodded, “It does sound like a beautiful place.” He looked up at Salud, “We’ll name it after we complete the migration. However, Pat tells me that there are some aggressive civilizations in Andromeda. I wonder if there is anywhere that’s really safe to live.”
“How does he know that?”
“The other Sentinels told him. They chose that planet because it’s in the middle of a huge nebula that’s birthing numerous stars. The planet and its sun are in a clear area in the middle of it.”
“It should be hard to find.”
“If one of those aggressive civilizations stumbles on it now, it has no defenses to protect it. We are going to have to decide whose fleets are going to be sent there to defend it and that decision has to be made quickly. This isn’t something we can put off.”
“”You’ve already decided, haven’t you?”
Lukas started shaking her head, “Am I that transparent to you?”
“”You’ve chosen Chad and Julie to go.”
Lukas looked up at the ceiling and raised his hands, “Just how could you know that?”
“Because Chad’s fleet is here now and you said it couldn’t be delayed. Julie should go because of her baby. I noticed her parents are already there and they can help her take care of her while she’s with her fleet.”
“Chad isn’t going to like this. Jinks agrees that it could be a problem.”
“Call him in with Julie.”
“I don’t know that she will make him change his mind.”
“Then you don’t know Julie. Call them in.”
Lukas shook his head and pressed his panel.
Chapter Two
“Sir, this is one of the worse decisions I’ve ever seen! You need my fleet to defend Earth! I belong in this fight. I cannot accept this assignment!”
Lukas knew this wasn’t going to be easy and Julie was staying quiet as she held their daughter. He looked at Salud and she said, “Julie, you will take your fleet to the new planet immediately and set up a defense around it.”
“No, if Chad stays, we stay.”
Chad looked at Julie, “She’s right, Julie. You should go.”
“Why?”
Chad’s eyebrows came together, “So you and Summer will be safe.”
“What makes you think we’ll be safe? According to the Sentinels, there are aggressive civilizations in Andromeda as well. It’s not safe anywhere.”
“But the odds are that Earth will be destroyed no matter what we do.”
Julie’s head went back, “So you’re telling me that even if you stay, we’ll still probably lose to the Invaders?”
“They outnumber us by millions. You know that.”
“So you want me and our daughter to leave and I’ll have to raise her without her father.”
“Julie, my place is here defending Earth.”
“No, your place is where you can do the most good in defending humanity. Earth doesn’t sound like the best place to make that happen.”
Lukas looked at Chad, “Who would you want to go to defend your daughter? Who could do a better job than you?”
“Windy, Jinks, Indra, Sarah, Loree, all of them are excellent Admirals.”
“Who is the best?”
“That’s not fair!”
Lukas shook his head, “It’s perfectly fair. That planet is the only chance for Mankind to survive. Should we not send our best?”
Chad stared at Lukas and then looked at Julie. His torment was clear and he turned back to Lukas, “Sir, how can I live if all of those I’ve fought with die and I’ve done nothing to save them?”
“Chad, your fleet is going with you.”
“I’m not talking about them. I’m referring to you, Salud, Jinks, Sarah and the others that have fought with me to protect Earth.”
“We need you to protect the ones that will one day avenge what happens here, Admiral.”
Chad stared at Lukas and said, “So you believe you should send the best one to insure that?”
Lukas nodded, “I do.”
“Then I’ll do as you order if you go as well.” Lukas’ eyebrows narrowed and Chad said, “Not so easy is it, Lukas. You are needed more than I am and you should know that. Are you going?”
Julie, Chad, and Salud all stared at Lukas. He saw they agreed with Chad. He shook his head and looked at Salud, “Talk some sense into him.”
“I happen to agree with him.”
“Salud!”
“If we’re going to avenge Earth, if it’s lost, we’re going to need you to make this new world all it should be. Answer his question.”
Lukas sighed. He stood up and walked over to the wall covered with star maps and stared at it. After a minute, he turned around and looked at Chad. “If Earth is discovered by the Invaders, I will immediately leave with Salud and go to the new planet.” Chad started to speak and Lukas held up his hand, “You will go with your fleet to the new planet now! That is non-negotiable. I will stay and try to delay Earth’s discovery as long as possible but our new home needs defending now! Is that clear, Admirals!”
Chad looked at Julie and she nodded. He turned to Lukas and shook his head before saying, “Yes Sir.”
“Notify the members of your fleets that they will contact their families and tell them to go to Barbados to be taken on the next flights. Your crew’s families will be housed around the space port. Now get moving and make this happen. I want your ships there as soon as they’re provisioned and armed.”
Julie stood up with Summer and saluted along with Chad. Lukas returned their salutes and they left the operations center. Lukas looked at Salud, “Are you happy now!?”
“Jinks and the other Admirals were trying to figure out a way to tie you up and force you to go before Earth is attacked. They all agree that fighting to defend Earth was worthless if you refused to go. I’m not the only one that will welcome this decision, Lukas. We need you there.” Salud paused and smiled, “Besides, the new planet is located in an area of Andromeda dubbed the Space Beach and you know how much you like beaches.”
Lukas tried not to smile but failed. He shook his head and Salud moved into his arms. He held her close and said, “I do like a good beach.”
; • • •
“Admiral.”
“Yes, Lance.”
We’re getting a signal from the probe closest to the conduit that runs from M-87 to M-86.”
“Put it on the monitor.”
Loree stared at the image being sent by the probe and she stood up. “Move the view in closer!” The end of the conduit outside M-87 grew until it filled the huge monitor and they saw it was disgorging Invader Warships at an incredible rate. As soon as the ships exited the conduit, they would turn and start moving directly toward the edge of M-87 closest to the Milky Way. The mass of ships exiting the conduit stunned the crew on the LaGrange’s bridge and Loree shook her head, “Contact Fleet Operations and send them a live feed on this. I’m issuing a War Warning to all of our fleets and tell Operations that it appears they will be coming through normal space; they have not started construction on another conduit.” Loree sat down as other probes began picking up the movement of the Invader’s fleets. Every monitor was filled with massive numbers of Orange Warships.
Lance shook his head, “Sir, we also have signals coming in from the probes watching the galaxy proper.”
Loree didn’t want to say it but forced herself to say, “Put it up on the tactical monitor.”
Images began flashing on the center monitor showing a massive migration of Orange Warships from inside the giant galaxy; they were all headed in the same direction. The first orange ships arrived outside the edge of M-87 and began forming up into giant formations.
• • •
Lukas saw Jinks rush into the Operations Center and he stopped beside Lukas who was staring at the bank of monitors on the wall. Jinks shook his head and Lukas quietly said, “Order all of our Attack Pods to leave for the new planet.” Lukas pointed at the monitor, “They stand no chance against that.”
Jinks shook his head, “If they’re coming without using a conduit, it is going to take them some time.” Lukas nodded. “I’m going to start seeding their path with the Dark Matter Balls.”
“It will slow them down a little but not much.”
Jinks nodded, “The only thing we can do is make this a war of attrition. When they hit the balls, we’ll attack the damaged ships in normal space.”
“Notify Joey that he needs to start the blackout practices in earnest. We will remove all traces of our facilities on the moon and we’ll fight them outside the Milky Way’s edge. If we attack them inside the galaxy, the Fellowship Civilizations may be attacked as well. I’ll notify the Welken and send them a recording of what’s coming. They probably need to speed up their migrations as well.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“Once they make it inside the galaxy, moving our fleets around Earth will only lead them to it. All of our ships that survive will skip out to open space between galaxies and wait to see if Earth is found. Make sure every ship is carrying a huge supply of food pellets.”
“But…”
“There is no but. We can’t stop them once their force enters the Milky Way. They won’t know who was attacking them and they’ll be focused on finding Pat. I hope they ignore everything else and then go home if they don’t find him.”
“Why would they?”
“Because it’s extremely difficult to provision a warship with enough food for the time it’s going to take them to arrive and find Pat. They’ll have to go back to provision their ships or send another huge fleet with the necessary provisions. We’ll attack those ships and hopefully shorten the time they can remain in the Milky Way. I am going to leave Loree’s Scout Fleet behind to attack any conduit they try to build. If we can destroy those targets, they’ll be forced to leave. If they don’t find Earth quickly, they may be forced to leave and come back later.”
“With that many ships coming, how can they not find Earth?”
Lukas smiled, “There are 300 billion stars in the Milky Way and it’s estimated that two thirds of them have planets. Even with that many ships, the search will take a lot of time and if they miss it the first time they fly by, they’ll have to start the search over. I’m praying the blackout will make them miss.” Lukas nodded toward the monitor, “The more of them we can destroy on the way here, the more difficult it will be for them to find Earth. We cannot have a ship anywhere near our Solar System and the probes are going to have to be moved before we leave.”
“How are our battleships going to take them on?”
“We’re going to have to hit them on the edges and run. We’ll find out what the real range of their missiles are during this phase of the battle.”
“The ships have been equipped with DM Pebbles. Their missiles will run into them at a speed that will send them through the drive field.”
Lukas sighed, “Jinks, each battleship would have to carry six battleships’ loads of them to make a difference and that’s not possible. We’ll fight until we can’t survive and then we’ll fight some more.”
“Are you going?”
“I don’t want to but once they find Earth, Willow, Salud, and I will skip to the new planet.”
“Good!”
“I need you, Jinks. Don’t go and do something stupid like getting yourself killed.”
“I’ll try to avoid that.”
“Don’t just try, do it!”
“You know me.”
“That’s why I said that. Stick and move and make sure you move fast.”
Jinks looked at the Monitor, “I’ll be leaving tomorrow and start getting the fleets organized. We’ll seed their path as soon as the Invaders show us which way they’re coming.”
“That’s pretty easy.”
“Oh?”
“They’ll be coming just outside the disruption the first conduit made. It’s the most direct path here. Start seeding there.”
Jinks nodded and put out his hand. Lukas shook it and Jinks left the Operations Center.
• • •
The Great Ones linked their minds and the Leader thought, “I don’t like doing it this way.”
“What choice do we have? We’ve seen that we’re unable to defend the passages. Once we arrive at that galaxy and remove all the warships that have been attacking us, we’ll start a new passage.”
“What happens if that fails?”
“We’ll have enough ships to make sure it isn’t attacked.”
“You better hope so. We won’t be there long if it’s not built.”
“Even if that happens, we’ll combine stores and leave enough ships to find that being.”
“If we don’t get the ships back to our conquered galaxy, we could lose ground.”
“You talk like it’s an option.”
“You’re right. Even if we have to start all over, we won’t be allowed to delay finding the Creature being sought.”
“I’m worried about sending the ships with fewer crewmembers on them.”
The Leader sneered, “That’s the least of our worries. There’s enough to fight the ships. Most of the time is going to be spent traveling through the void. We don’t need to feed crew members that will be sleeping most of the time. We need the extra space for the provisions needed to make the trip. Get the next passage builder powered up and it can start when the fleets are halfway there.”
• • •
Windy and Indra watched the massive gathering of Orange Warships just outside the edge of the giant ball galaxy and wondered when ships would stop arriving. Windy spoke over her combat helmet, “Indra, do we have an idea of how many ships are out there?”
“Not really. They’re packed so tight the probes can’t make a determination.”
“It seems like a real waste of a good time to just let them gather without letting them know we’re looking forward to their arrival.”
“What do you have in mind, Windy?”
“We’re a really long way out from them but I see my Magnometer is swinging back and forth along their lines. I think the DM shells would be attracted to them from this far out.”
“Ummmm, if se
veral hundred thousand shells arrived, I suspect they might try to break up that formation.”
“That wouldn’t be easy to do without hitting each other.”
“Do you think Fleet would approve of us firing now?”
“Fleet says our entire mission is to reduce their numbers. I don’t think Fleet cares where that happens.”
Indra stared at the monitor and shrugged, “We need to make sure every shell hits a ship. Let’s do this. Let’s line up our fleets into a long line and put some space between our ships. Each of our ships will fire a DM Shell directly at that line of Invader ships, wait five seconds, and then fire another round. We’ll watch what happens and if it works, we’ll do it again.”
“How much spacing?”
“I think twenty miles between our ships should do it, Windy. We still won’t be able to cover their entire line.”
Windy nodded, “You go right and I’ll go left. Our fleets will use our flagships as the anchor to line up on.” Windy looked at her communications officer, “Greg, send the orders. Indra and I will be twenty miles from each other and have my ships line up to my port side.”
Windy watched her fifty thousand battleships move quickly into a line and saw Indra’s fleet doing the same. Greg looked at Windy, “Admiral, the ships are in position and their cannons are loaded and live.”
Windy activated the general frequency, “All ships in both fleets will fire on my command, wait five seconds, and fire again. Ready…FIRE!!”
• • •
A hundred thousand DM Shells shot away from the ONE WORLD Fleets and headed toward the distant Invader formations. They were traveling at an incredible velocity but the attraction of the Invader magnetic fields doubled their speed by the time they arrived. Most of the Invaders wouldn’t have known they were under attack with twenty miles separating each ship that was hit. However, the DM Shells were traveling so fast that they blew through the bows of the ships they hit and exited out the stern, taking out two more ships behind the first one hit before they ran out of energy. It was the explosions of the three ships that warned the Invaders that they were being fired on. What followed was too crazy to follow.