by Saxon Andrew
“I’m hearing the thoughts of beings in warships that are passing through the conduit.”
“What are you hearing, Barbie?”
“They’re being recalled to participate in the invasion.”
They continued to sit in silence and Audrey finally broke the silence, “It seems a shame that we can’t slow them down.” Chris looked at her and then back at the brightly glowing conduit on his display. He reached forward and activated a passive scan of the void around the conduit. Audrey watched him and her eyebrows went up, “What are you thinking?”
Chris looked at the readout and said, “This conduit doesn’t appear to be heavily defended as the ones that we destroyed.”
“Why would it be? It doesn’t represent a threat to the Milky Way.”
“But it does! Ships are moving through it to attack our galaxy.”
“Are you thinking about calling in some ships to take it out?”
“No, I’m considering doing it with just our ship.”
“Do you think we can do it?”
“It only took one DM Round to take out the last one. The battle to get close enough to launch it cost us thousands of ships but this conduit isn’t defended like that one. I’m just thinking about whether or not it would help or hurt our efforts.”
“How could it hurt?”
“The ones in charge might call in the Orange Ships to participate.”
“I didn’t think about that.”
“I don’t think that will happen.”
Chris’ head went back, “Why not, Barbie?”
“I’ve been listening to the thoughts of those beings and it appears the species calling for the invasion are very unhappy with the Orange Beings. They want the other civilization to show them how it’s done. If they call in the Orange Fleets, they will lose face and I don’t think their arrogance would allow it.”
“How do you know they’re arrogant?”
“I’ve listened to them send instructions telepathically to the Green Civilization. Trust me on this, they are extremely arrogant.”
“Chris, can we hit that conduit and escape the blast?”
Chris looked at Audrey and said, “Barbie, do you have the recordings of the first conduit we destroyed?”
“I do.”
“How fast did the disruption blow out?”
“It was incredibly fast but nowhere close to our cruising speed.”
“So you’re pretty certain you can outrun the disruption?”
“I am.”
Chris stared at the display and after a moment began slowly nodding. “Are we going to do it?”
“I believe we are. Even if they don’t call in the Orange Beings, we’ll still have to face them later. We have the Fellowship’s Fleets to assist us this time, so the risk is probably worth it. It might give us more time to prepare.”
“Have you noticed that it’s the Orange Ships that are defending the conduit? It appears they’ve not been replaced yet. The Conduit’s destruction might anger the Leaders even more at their incompetence.”
Chris pressed a red button on his panel and he heard the disruptors on the ship’s hull start swiveling as they went through their system check. “Barbie, switch the disruptors to Dark Energy.”
“Done, is there a reason you want to use them instead of a DM Round?”
“I’ve loaded the Cannon with a round. I want to see if the new beam can do it.”
Audrey buckled in tightly and said, “Barbie, turn us around and swivel the disruptors toward the rear. As soon as we fire, get us out of here.”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“We can always come back.”
Chris nodded, “She’s right, Barbie. Let’s do it that way.”
I’m leaving normal space and moving in on the conduit.”
“Move in slowly and keep the Dark Cloud around us.”
“We’ll lose it if we leave at high speed.”
“I don’t care about that. I want to move in without being seen.”
“Those Orange Ships can detect a Dark Cloud.”
“But they won’t know if it’s not one of their ships.” Chris and Audrey watched the distant galaxies disappear from the viewport to be replaced by the blackness of the void. They stared at the conduit as it grew larger in the display. The small B-Pod moved in slowly until it was fifty miles out.
Barbie said, “We’re being hailed by the closest Orange Ship. Should I respond?”
Chris watched as Barbie turned around until the rear of the ship was facing the Conduit. Chris smiled and said, “Tell them we hope they enjoy the show.” Audrey laughed as Chris put his hand on the disruptor stalk and put his index finger on the trigger.
“They’re moving our way.”
“On three, Barbie, one, two, three!!” Chris pulled the trigger and Barbie accelerated away at an incredible speed as the void went from blackness to a bright flash. Chris was pushed back in his chair by the explosive acceleration. He heard the gravity compensators whining but he kept his eyes on the display. The entire conduit went up in a massive explosion. The white wave of the disruption rushed out at them but did not gain ground. The B-Pod raced ahead of it then began putting it further behind.
“Do you think they enjoyed the show?”
Chris burst out laughing and Audrey joined him. They continued to run away from the expanding disruption and Chris wondered what the ramifications of his actions would be.
• • •
“GREAT TALON, THE PASSAGE HAS BEEN DESTROYED!!”
“WHAT?!”
“THE ENTIRE PASSAGE HAS GONE UP IN A MASSIVE DISRUPTION!”
“How many ships were in it?”
“Only a few hundred but the disruption has destroyed more than ten thousand preparing to enter it.”
“How did this happen?”
“The Orange Ships were defending it! It appears every defender was destroyed by the disruption!”
“How many ships?”
“More than a hundred thousand.”
The Combined Fleet Leader suspected the Orange Ships may have done it but even they wouldn’t do something that would kill that many of their ships. He knew this had to have been done by forces from the Spiral Galaxy. He fell back in his chair and immediately knew the loss of the conduit was devastating. Now the ships in the other galaxy were trapped and it would be impossible to move them in time to participate in the invasion. It was also impossible to send reinforcements to the other galaxy if they were needed. With the removal of more than six hundred thousand ships to participate in the invasion, the ones left behind would not be able to withstand the forces fighting them. The other Galaxy was lost! He wondered if the Legends realized it. He heard the thoughts of the Legends a moment later and saw that they did know. He felt bad for being thankful that his ships were not defending the passage. He should survive the fallout. He didn’t know about the Orange Leaders.
• • •
“Oooooo. We opened a hornet’s nest with this.”
“What’s going on, Barbie.”
“The Big Shots are beyond rage. They’re screaming at the two civilizations trying to find someone to blame. Hey, I’ve been able to locate the star where those leaders are located.”
“Mark that system on your star maps!”
“I’ve already done it.”
“What are they going to do?”
“They’re too mad to make a reasonable decision at the moment. I’ll continue to listen in and I’ll let you know what they decide.”
Audrey listened to the exchange and looked at the giant ball galaxy, “What are we going to do now?”
“We’re going to stay out here and wait for things to settle down.” Chris smiled, “The worst time to go near a disturbed hornet’s nest is when they’re going after anything in sight.”
Audrey smiled and leaned over. She kissed Chris and his eyes remained closed after she broke the kiss, “Have I told you that I love the way you kiss.” She leaned over and kissed h
im again; it lasted much longer. After a few moments, she broke the kiss and stood up. She took his hand and pulled him out of his chair, “Barbie, let us know if you need us.” She pulled Chris out of the cockpit toward their sleeping quarters. They didn’t return to the cockpit for a long time.
• • •
The Greatest Leader was frightened. The Leader of the Legends was screaming at him and he knew he was going to die. The Legend finally stopped yelling and the Greatest said, “Great One, I only did what you instructed.”
“WHAT!”
“Before we invaded I asked you if I should send more ships to defend the passage to the other galaxy; you told me I was stupid to even consider sending ships to defend it. They were needed elsewhere.”
The Legend was silent for a moment and said, “I didn’t tell you that!”
“One of you did, Great One. Ask the others. I insist on following your commands to the letter without question!”
The thoughts disappeared and the cowering Orange Leaders remained in their tubs trembling. The Eighth said, “It’s good they told you to do that.”
“They didn’t.”
“WHAT!? THEY’LL KILL US ALL FOR YOUR LIE!”
“First of all, they were going to kill us if I didn’t lie. Could you not see that in the Legend’s thoughts?”
“You’ve only delayed our deaths.”
“I’m not sure about that. First of all, one of them will have to confess to giving us that order and I’m not so certain anyone will own up to it.”
“But no one gave you the order.”
“Which will cause the Great Leader to question whether I’m lying or one of his subordinates is not telling the truth. Since we’ve always followed his orders, he may decide one of them is not telling the truth.”
The Orange leaders stayed in their tubs shaking for two days and nothing happened. Finally, the Second said, “We are very fortunate to have you leading us. Your quick thinking appears to have saved us.”
“It has for the moment. We must act contrite and do whatever we’re told to the letter without complaint.”
It was hard not to complain when the Legends contacted them. “You will send your ships to the other galaxy and take control of the situation there.”
“Yes, Greatest.”
The thoughts disappeared and the Greatest slammed an appendage on the edge of his tub. The Third said, “It’s going to be impossible to update our ships if they’re all in that galaxy.”
The greatest moved in acknowledgement of the statement and said, “And we have to send our slowest ships to avoid revealing our new technology. It will take six months for our ships to arrive and the crong’s nest awaiting them is not going to be good.”
“We have no choice about this.”
“I know, Eighth. We will continue to update the ships here but our timetable has been upset by this development.” The Greatest sighed and looked at the Fourth, “Get the orders out and start moving the fleets immediately. Send enough transports with provisions to support those going.”
“That will reduce the provisions we’ll have to use if we’re called on to invade the Spiral Galaxy again.”
“Just be thankful we’ll still be alive to work around those issues.”
• • •
Barbie listened to the thoughts of the gathering Orange Fleets and found it humorous that one simple thing could cause so much disruption. The Green Civilization was being ordered to send every warship in M-87 to invade the spiral galaxy. None were going to be left behind and the Green Civilization would be left defenseless. The Orange Beings were being forced to send millions of their warships to retake M-86 and they couldn’t be updated with their new technology. All in all, it was a good day. She contacted Piper and had him link her with Fleet Operations. She updated them on what was happening and Lukas said, “Put Chris on the channel. I want to congratulate him on his actions.”
“Uhhh, he and Audrey are resting and if you want, I’ll wake them.”
Lukas paused and smiled, “No, I’ll tell him later. He needs to be as rested as possible. Tell them I said excellent job.”
“I will.”
• • •
The Combined Fleet Leader was disgusted. The Orange Ships should have been ordered to replace the ships in the other galaxy that wouldn’t be able to participate in the invasion. All of the worlds would now be undefended and open to any outside aggression. The Legends wanted to have their cake and eat it too. Their arrogance was incredible and they were assuming his fleets could handle the other galaxy. This was crazy!
• • •
The small creature sat on his small ship and listened to what was happening. He was telepathic and felt joy at what was going on. He relayed a thought to his controller and felt her happiness at what he was seeing. The crime screamed for justice and it appeared the opportunity to make the criminals pay would soon be available. He moved slightly further out from the giant galaxy and continued smiling.
• • •
“Chris, you need to get up here!”
“Give me a minute!”
Chris arrived in the cockpit and was pulling on his armored jacket, “What’s going on?”
“I’ve detected the thoughts of a being who isn’t from either of the two civilizations here.”
“What was it saying?”
“It was too far away to understand. All I got was the pattern and I’ve not seen that pattern before.”
Audrey arrived as Barbie was speaking and she looked at Chris, who shrugged. “Could it have been one of the species in the Green side of M-87?”
“I don’t know. It’s just…”
“What, Barbie?”
“It felt like it was very happy at what is happening.”
“Could you determine where it’s located?”
“No. Like I said, it’s too far away.”
“Have you heard it before?”
“No, this is something entirely new.”
Audrey’s eyes narrowed, “It isn’t from this galaxy.” Chris looked at her and his eyes narrowed. “Chris, both sides are extremely unhappy about what’s just happened. If this being’s thoughts are happy, it has to be from a different civilization.”
“Could it be a ship from M-86 scouting here?”
There was a pause and Barbie said, “I guess it could be.”
“Who else could it be?”
“I have no idea. It’s just…I can’t describe what I sensed. However, would a scout from M-86 be happy at learning the Orange Ships were being sent there?”
Chris shook his head, “No, that doesn’t make sense, either.” He looked at Audrey, “Who could it be?” Audrey shook her head. “If you heard it, do you think the Leaders…”
“They’re called the Legends, Chris.”
“Ok, could the Legends have heard it?”
“I doubt it.”
“Why?”
“The Legends are telepathic but they don’t use their telepathy to keep track of the civilizations here. They only communicate to deliver instructions or orders. I suspect that is to prevent their location from being determined. Remember that it was Pat’s thoughts that led them to our galaxy. I think they instinctively avoid broadcasting their thoughts unless absolutely necessary.”
“This is not something we can ignore.”
“I don’t know if we have a choice?”
“Why not?”
“Because there was just the short burst of thoughts. Whoever communicated is apparently staying concealed and, like the Legends, doesn’t communicate unless absolutely necessary. If it is a scout, it is not going to do anything to reveal itself.”
Audrey sighed, “Chris, we have more than we can do. Barbie will listen for another communication and we need to focus on seeing what’s going on.”
Chris nodded and slowly shook his head, “I sense this being is important but…you’re right. Barbie, have things settled down enough for us to move closer to where the ships are gathering to inv
ade?”
“I’ll go over the top of the galaxy and move in from there.”
• • •
“Hey Budge.”
“Yeah.”
“Congratulations on your promotion.”
“Same to you.”
“I’m a little concerned.”
“Get in line. I know, we don’t have much combat experience to be placed in command of an Attack Fleet.”
“I’m afraid of making a huge mistake and causing my pilots to get killed.”
“Nudge, the only reason I accepted this command was because Lukas and Amanda insist that I have the most extensive knowledge of what the new pods are capable of doing.”
“Same here and Jinks insists that our actions against the advanced Invader Warships proved that we can think quickly and do the right things. Have you thought about how we should use our ships in an attack?”
“I have. That’s why I insisted that the Attack Fleets have both models of the new pods. I intend to use the A-Pods to break up the Invader formations and the B-Pods will stand off and blast them as they attempt to escape.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to hit them with the B’s and send the A’s in to clean up?”
“What if they don’t break formation to attack the B’s?”
“They’ll be hit by thousands of DE beams. It will be hard for them to remain in formation to absorb that punishment. Would you?”
Budge hesitated and said, “You’re probably right about that. I think we should try it your way first.”
“Why thanks, Brother. I take that as a real compliment.”
“There’s another thing that I’ve thought about.”
“What is that?”
“If the invaders come in masses like they did before, we might be well served to use one fleet to break them up and a second fleet to hit them from the opposite side.”
Nudge smiled, “Are you thinking we should practice working together?”
“I suspect that’s why we were both promoted. We should at least look at it.”
“Let’s do this. Work on getting our fleets familiar with attacking and then start them working together.”
“That’s another good suggestion. Are you worried about dying?”