by Saxon Andrew
Jill wanted to know what he suggested to Commodore Nelson but had to activate her light signature system. She began pressing her controls as she simultaneously activated her armor and brought up the tactical display on her visor. She barely made the changes before they skipped and forgot about Rocky’s suggestion as the ship disappeared from above Eden and entered the blackness of intergalactic space.
A moment after arriving, Rocky said, “Amber, send the transport our light signature.” Ten seconds later, the giant vessel appeared beside them in the barrier. “Amber, skip us out to the Feeder Search Fleets. Willow, get a tactical on their positions.”
“Will do.” The light ship disappeared again and reappeared at the edge of the galaxy they had recently left. The feed Willow began sending to their tactical left them stunned. It was still filling up with Feeder Warships and the numbers were incomprehensible. “There appears to be more than ten major Feeder Attack Fleets holding formation at the edge of this galaxy.”
“How many were there when we skipped out?”
“Six. It is also significant that of these ten, only two of them were here when we left.”
“What happened to the other four?”
“I suspect they were recalled to the Central Planet to add to its defenses. These were sent here from other galaxies after our attack, Jill.”
“Rocky, this is frightening.”
“Take a good look at them. If they find the Alliance, this is what our forces will have to face.”
“How do we go about attacking them? We can’t make a dent in those numbers.”
“Willow, have you been able to hear any of their transmissions?”
“I have. It appears they are ordered to remain here until the Entity feels the Central Planets are adequately defended.”
“Have any of them mentioned a timeframe?”
“Give me a few minutes. I’m looking for that Fleet Leader.”
“While you’re doing that, Amber, skip the ship close enough to those fleets for Jill to gather light signatures.”
“How many do you want gathered?”
“Jill, how many can your system hold.”
“I don’t really know. Amber do you?”
“You can probably store all of them but it would take quite a while to gather them.”
“How long will it take to collect a million from each fleet?”
Jill shook her head, “Amber?”
“About three hours for each fleet.”
“Then skip out to the closest and start the process.”
“What are you thinking about, Rocky?”
“Jill, we can’t just attack one fleet at a time. We are going to have to skip to one after the other and launch attacks. If they suspect only one ship is attacking them, they’ll know they’re being deceived. Amber, make the first skip and Jill, start collecting signatures. Let us know when you have a million.”
Jill shrugged and saw the giant Feeder Fleet appear in front of the ship. Thank God the ship was invisible to them. She started the scanning system gathering signatures and sat back in her chair. This was unnerving.
• • •
Rocky pulled up the probe’s recording from the Feeder Planet and said, “Amber, at the first sign of trouble skip us to the missile transport.”
“Coordinates are entered and I will skip if I detect anything out of the ordinary.”
Rocky started the recording and watched it on his visor. He fast-forwarded it to the point where he had dropped the inhabitant and entered the port. He slowed it to normal speed and looked down on the giant predators rushing between the buildings in the community toward the river. Those giant blobs were incredibly nimble for their size and he shook his head as he watched two of them jump over the top of a house. They rushed up on the water and went twenty feet out into the current before stopping. Two of them managed to snatch an inhabitant out of the water but the others were left with nothing. The water was full of the community’s population swimming toward the other shore. Mothers were floating on their backs with their children being carried on their chests.
Rocky shook his head. The inhabitants were tall and looked to be quite solid. But, all of them floated on the river with little effort. Their bones must have been hollow, which made sense if one thought about it. They had evolved on the planet beside the giant predators and swimming was a requirement to escape them. The predators roared their rage at the inhabitants and Rocky knew the noise must have been incredible. The ten giant beasts ran up and down the river’s edge for more than an hour but then all stopped and looked toward the fire that was burning outside the community. They roared and then slowly turned and started running toward the north. A few minutes later, the first Feeder Transporters arrived. Rocky suspected the approaching Feeders sent the predators away. He turned up the volume and listened to the Feeder’s communication.
• • •
“What is going on?”
“Leader, it appears a fire forced a large number of predators into this community.”
“The one here should have been able to keep them away.”
“It took four of us linked to drive them away from the river. The one here could have kept three away but ten was more than he could handle.”
“Where is he?”
“It appears the scream we heard was him being eaten by one of the monsters.”
“I’ll be there momentarily. Investigate and tell me what you find when I arrive.”
“Yes, Leader.”
• • •
Rocky backed the view out and saw hundreds of Feeder Transports moving toward the community. They landed on the cleared streets in the community and spread out among the houses. A larger transport came in at high speed and landed at an open space in the center of the community’s central square. Rocky zoomed the recording in and saw a Feeder wearing a green and purple robe. This had to be the planet’s leader.
• • •
“What have you determined?”
“The one that owned this community was killed here.” The Leader looked at the ground and saw a large wet area in the dirt. He took out a device and scanned it. It was the blood of one of his species. The Leader looked around, “Where are the meals?”
The Feeder holding a device pointed toward the river, “They panicked and ran into the river. My scanner shows they scattered into the forest on the other side.”
The Leader was angry and the other Feeders kept their distance. This Leader must be one high up in the Feeder hierarchy. The Feeder walked toward the river and pointed his device at the far side. After a moment he shook his head and thought, “Does anyone want to claim these meals?” His question was greeted with silence. “Answer me!”
The Feeder with the device in his hand thought, “Great Leader, it would take a long time to gather the meals and get them back across the river. My transport will only carry three on each trip and the predators would come and kill them before I could start moving them. Is there another among us that needs a community to rule?”
The Leader rocked his head back, “No, all of you are aware that all of our surplus population was taken to another planet. I have more than I can take care of. What about the rest of you?”
“All of us have more meals than we need, Leader.”
The Leader shook his body, “This species has an incredible birth rate.”
“Can the Fleet bring one here to replace the one that died?”
“No, they are tied up so tightly that they’ve ceased communicating with the conquered planets. For the near future, we are on our own.”
Rocky leaned forward in his chair. This was incredibly important news. “What do you want done, Leader?”
The Leader looked across the river and heard the distant roar of a giant predator. “Leave them to the beasts. Without one of us to keep them away, they’ll be killed quickly. Have you scanned what caused the fire?”
“It had to be a lightning strike, Leader. There was a front moving in when it happened.
The fire drove too many predators out of the forest for this one to handle.”
“The lesson from this is that the land around our communities must be cleared to prevent this happening again. Have your meals start cutting down the forests.” The Leader looked around and scowled with the small opening in his face, “Get back to your meals. We can’t leave them too long without trouble erupting!”
Rocky watched the Feeders run to their transports, lift above the community, and fly away at high speed. The Leader was the last to leave. It looked around and Rocky heard its thoughts. “Was this more than just an accident?” It looked around and listened to the thoughts of several inhabitants across the river. No, they confirmed the suddenness of the predator’s attack. He went to his transport and moved over the burning forest. He scanned the ground but it was still too hot to reveal what started the fire. He turned his transport and flew away.
Rocky fast forwarded the recording and saw the inhabitants swimming back across the river two days later and many of them were carrying a plant with them that was red in color. Soon the entire community was bringing the red plants while others dug holes and planted them in a long line around the community’s perimeter. He fast forwarded at a higher speed and slowed down when he saw a huge predator walking out of the forest over the burnt land. It ran up on the community as the inhabitants fled toward the river but slid to a stop fifty yards from the row of red plants. It shook its head and roared as it wiped its nose and eyes with a foot. It turned and ran away at its fastest speed. Rocky smiled. The one he had saved was the one that led the gathering and planting of the red bushes. He ended the recording and knew this community was going to survive. Without a spaceship above the planet, the other Feeders would not learn of it without making a trip to check it out.
“Amber, take us to the next fleet.”
Rocky looked up and was shocked that three hours had passed. He lost track of time and activated his tactical display. He leaned back and stared at the enemy confronting him. He decided that the Feeders were on the defensive. The conquered planets were left to fend for themselves and none of them had a warship to assist them. He hoped something could be done about that. But first, gather the signatures.
• • •
“Rocky?”
“Yes, Willow.”
“The Feeder Fleet Leader is going to start the fleets moving in five days.”
Rocky sighed. He knew it was coming. “Amber, skip us back to Earth.”
“Why are we going back?”
“Jill, I want you to download all of the signatures you’ve collected to Commodore Nelson; Fleet can use them to attack later if we don’t survive. While we’re there, Willow, I want that conversation the Feeder Leader had with the other Feeders on that planet sent to Fleet Intelligence. Their conquered planets are left to fend for themselves and Fleet has to have something that they can use to take advantage of that situation.”
“Skip in three, two, one, now!”
Rocky lifted his communicator, “Jill, go and see your brother.”
“But we should leave right away.”
“Jill, the download of those signatures is going to take at least twelve hours. Go and see Jack.”
“Thank you, Rocky.” Rocky nodded and turned back to his panel. He hoped Commodore Nelson was able to make progress on his recommendations.
• • •
“Jack, where are you?”
“I’m at the manufacturing facility on Cuba.”
“Do you have enough time for me to visit?”
“YES! I’LL ALWAYS HAVE TIME TO SEE YOU!”
“I’m taking a shuttle. I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”
“I am really look forward to seeing you.”
• • •
Jill sat down on the seat and took the small shuttle out of the light ship’s port. It wasn’t much larger than one of the old Harley Davidson’s that were used centuries earlier. However, it was much faster. It left the huge construction facility just outside Boston and arrived in Cuba in twenty minutes. She had to use the shuttles force field to fly above the lower atmosphere to avoid a sonic boom but it didn’t slow her down much. She came speeding into the lower atmosphere and realized she didn’t have the location of the factory where Jack was located. She saw the huge island below her and smiled. She could see the giant building from the edge of space. It was located at a site called Guantanamo. She slowed to avoid a sonic boom and headed toward the giant facility. It was even larger than Fleet’s main construction site outside Boston.
She landed the shuttle outside the main entrance and found Jack waiting on her in a ground transport. She turned off the shuttle’s systems and Jack shouted, “Get in!”
Jill opened the door and sat down as Jack leaned over and gave her a hug, “Where are we going?”
“To the beach.”
“Great!” Jack pulled off and lifted above the trees. He sped toward the shore and Jill smiled, “Boy they built this fast!”
“It was already started when we went to collect the data from that Feeder. How’s Rocky doing?”
“He’s fine. I convinced him to go and see his sister and it really helped.”
“That’s great.”
“Why didn’t Olivia join us?” Jack’s expression changed and Jill said, “What’s wrong?”
“She’s a little nervous about seeing you.”
“Why? I’ve not moved in on Rocky. We’re only friends.”
“That’s not the reason.”
“Then what is?” Jack shook his head and Jill’s mouth fell open. “The two of you are…”
Jack sighed, “Yes, we are!”
“Isn’t she a little…uhhh.”
“Too old for me?”
“Something like that.”
Jack lowered the transport to the sand and got out of the car. He opened the back and pulled out two beach chairs and a cooler. He handed them to Jill as he took out a large beach umbrella. They walked to the shoreline and Jack put the umbrella into the ground and extended it. Jill placed the two chairs in the shade and put the cooler between them. “What happened?”
Jack shrugged, “Genève came and asked me to take her back.”
Jill stared at Jack, “Really?”
“Really. She surprised me and I still don’t understand why Fleet allowed her to come to a top-secret location. I guess they looked her up and found she had clearances from when she initially worked with me. She convinced them she was my fiancé. Anyway, Olivia was with me when I sent her packing.”
Jill nodded, “I guess that told her that it was over between Rocky and her more than anything else that could happen.”
“It did. We went back to work and I could see her sorrow. I told her she would be fine, just give it some time. She asked me how I got over Genève so quickly.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I said that finding someone else really speeds up the process.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“And?”
“She nodded and we continued working.”
“And?”
“Later that night, about three in the morning, she buzzed my communicator. She wanted to know what I meant by finding someone else. I told her she should open her eyes and she would know the answer. Then, I disconnected the call.”
“What happened then?”
“Fifteen minutes later, she knocked on my door.”
Jill smiled, “She broke the code.”
“She did.”
“Why is she nervous about seeing me?”
“She thinks you have a very low opinion of her and would disapprove of our being together.”
“Do you trust her?”
“I have to say I do.”
Jill leaned over and hugged Jack. “What about her made you fall for her?”
“Jill, she’s incredibly intelligent, brave, witty, and I know she would die to defend me. She’s doesn’t have an oversized ego and doesn’t really realiz
e just how beautiful she is. She grew on me.”
“What about the age difference?”
“She’ll be fifty nine when I’m fifty three. That’s not so much.”
“I guess when you look at it that way, it isn’t.”
Jack stared at Jill, “How do you feel about this?”
“I think you’ve made a good choice. However, it’s how you feel about this, not what I think.”
“Your opinion is extremely important to me.”
“If I told you to break it off, would you?”
Jack stared at her and, after a moment, shook his head, “No, I wouldn’t.”
Jill’s smile was instant, “You have my blessings.”
Jack lifted his communicator, “We’re at the beach, bring a chair.”
Jill and Jack talked about all that had happened and Jill told him about what happened at the community where he killed the Feeder. They were talking when they heard behind them, “Ahem.”
Jill turned and saw Olivia standing with a beach chair. She looked extremely nervous. Jill leapt out of her chair and ran to Olivia. She hugged her tightly and smiled, “Both of you so deserve each other. I know you’ll be happy.”
Olivia hugged Jill and smiled, “I was so worried you wouldn’t like me loving your brother.”
Jill took the chair and placed it beside hers, “Have you learned a lesson?”
“You know I have. Whatever we do, we’ll do it together.”
“Good, when is the wedding.”
Olivia looked at Jack, “We haven’t even thought about a wedding.”
Jill looked at Jack, “You haven’t asked her?”
“Jill, things shouldn’t be rushed.”
“Are you holding out for a better offer?”
“Jiiilllllll!”
“I’m just saying.”
“I don’t know if she’s willing to marry me.”
“Ask her and see.”
Jack shook his head in frustration and looked at Olivia, “Would you?”
“Would I what?”
Jack blew out a huge breath and knelt in front of Olivia, “Will you marry me?”