by Saxon Andrew
The leaders all looked at each other and waited for someone to respond but no one did. Finally the Welken Royal said, “I really don’t know, High Leader.”
“I want all of you to think about that question while we’re discussing our own ship building efforts. Are any of you aware that we have about two hundred million light ships put in storage?”
The Myot Ruler’s eyes narrowed as he said, “All of us have warships in storage due to there being a shortage of qualified pilots.”
“Are all of you limiting your production due to that shortage?”
The Leaders looked at each other and the Audon Leader said, “I can speak for all of us. We are all operating at a slower capacity than we’re capable of. It makes no sense to build ships that no one is available to fly.” The Welken Royal looked at the Audon and nodded. It was obvious that he was saying, “Here it comes.”
Rose saw the exchange and leaned back in her chair, “What are the necessary elements for a pilot to be qualified to fly one of our warships?”
The Johan Leader shrugged, “They have to be trained to fly them along with being an advanced telepath from the Goran or Human species.”
“Why do they have to be telepathic?”
The Welken Royal leaned forward, “They have to be one of the advanced telepaths to prevent the Feeders from detecting their presence and finding out about our existence. Everyone knows that.”
Rose looked at the Welken and said, “If you do not support me, you should remove me from my position now.”
The Goran Leader looked at Rose and stood up, “What’s going on?”
“The Welken, Myot, Johan, and Audon have decided that I cannot be trusted to lead the Alliance forward against the Feeders.”
The Goran looked at the Welken, “Is this true?”
“She’s planning to use pilots to fly our warships that aren’t telepathic.” Rose looked at the military leaders behind their rulers and saw their immediate interest. She continued to lean back in her chair and waited.
The Goran turned to Rose, “Is this true?”
“It is.”
“And you think this plan will work?”
“I have two hundred million reasons to believe it should be done.”
The Welken stood and said, “I call for a vote of confidence. I vote to remove the High Leader from her position.”
The Myot and Johan Rulers hesitated but stood and voted with the Welken. Rose looked at the Audon and he was shaking his head and ruffling his feathers. “Why do you think this will work?”
“You should cast your vote, Great Leader. It appears my reasons carry no weight with the other leaders.”
“I need to hear your reasons, High Leader.”
Rose smiled and stood up, “I resign my position as High Leader. I will not lead the Alliance if every time I make a decision you are going to second guess me. No one can command under those circumstances.”
The Goran shook his head, “You can’t do this!”
Rose looked at him and lowered her eyes, “It’s done.” She stood up and started walking toward the double door. She stopped as the Leaders all stared at her and said, “The answer to the question I asked you at the start of the meeting is that the Feeders have all their ships built in three galaxies. The Alliance has four galaxies and we’re capable of building at ten times the Feeder’s capacity.”
The Welken shook his head, “Which does us no good when there aren’t enough warriors to fly them.”
Rose lifted her wrist unit and pointed it back at her desk. The huge monitor on the wall illuminated and Rose smiled, “The first recording you’re going to see is of a regiment of non-telepathic local defense forces dropping on two planets that have been conquered by the Feeders. The second recording is of a battle that took place an hour ago with twenty-five light ships. Those twenty-five ships were all piloted by Welken instructors that teach at the Academy on Eden. I think you should find the recordings entertaining. Ta Ta.” Rose walked out of the room.
The Leaders looked up at the monitor and watched the videos. When the video showing the space battle ended, the Goran looked at the other Leaders, “You are all incredibly conceited and insufferable. You’re too frightened to get in the fight and you’ve just dismissed the best one available to lead us. I’m sick of you.” The Goran turned and walked out of the conference room behind Rose. The room was silent as he exited and slammed the doors behind him.
The Goran looked at the Armored Warrior standing outside the door, “Where did she go?”
“She told me to tell you she’d be in the cafeteria.”
The Goran stared at the warrior and then started laughing. He walked around the corner and took the elevator down to the cafeteria. He found Rose sitting at a table eating a bowl of soup and she motioned him over. She smiled and said, “Take a seat.”
“Why did you do that?”
Rose shrugged, “We can do this without them if forced to it. However, I’m not going to play their games and have them running for the deepest hole every time I issue orders. They’ve lost their spirit over the centuries they’ve been out of the fight.”
“What do you think they’re doing now?”
“I’m hoping the real warriors in the room are beating some sense into them.”
“And if they fail?”
“Don’t sell them short, Great Leader. The Welken who participated in the battle should be showing up about now.”
The Goran smiled, “I’ve read about the first High Leaders and I can see we’ve been wrong to exclude your species from the position.”
“We weren’t ready and the previous Goran High Leaders knew it. The Goran and Human species also need to develop a spine. Why don’t you pick up a meal and let’s wait to see what happens.”
“What if they invite you back?”
“I’ll refuse.”
“Why?”
“They’re going to have to beg me right here in the cafeteria before I choose to go back. They’re going to have to prove their remorse before I accept the position again.”
“That could take a while.”
Rose smiled, “We’ll see.”
• • •
Twenty minutes later, the Audon Leader walked into the cafeteria and looked around. He saw Rose and the Goran and came rushing over, “High Leader, the Assembly wishes to speak with you.”
“I’m no longer the High Leader and I have nothing to say to them. If they want to speak with me, they can come here.”
“But…” Rose turned away from the Audon and lifted her sandwich. She took a bite and ignored him. He shook his head, turned, and left the cafeteria.
The Goran watched the Audon leave, “They’re too sanctimonious to come here.”
“Probably.”
“They won’t do it!”
“Have you tried the Cuban Sandwich? They’re fabulous.”
The Goran sighed and walked to the cafeteria line. He asked for a Cuban and walked back to the table. He opened it and took a bite. His eyes widened, “Now this is good!”
“I told you.”
Rose waited and smiled, “It’s time I put some pressure on them.”
“What? How?”
“Rose stood up and the Goran rose with her. She hugged him and said, “They have to believe I mean it. Right now someone is contacting them telling them I’ve stood up to leave.”
“Do you honestly believe that…”
Rose said into his ear, “Look over your shoulder.” The Goran turned around and saw the Leaders of the Alliance rushing into the cafeteria. Rose smiled and the Goran sent her a private thought, “Please make sure you and I are on the same page. I don’t want to be on your bad list.”
Rose thought, “It’ll never happen. You have a spine.” She looked at the Alliance Leaders and eventually allowed them to persuade her to stay. Now she could start getting things moving. But not too fast. The civilizations needed time to build up their confidence.
• • •
&n
bsp; Rose entered the room and silence greeted her. Twenty-four hours earlier the Alliance Leaders were loudly applauding her. This time they kept their seats and stared at her. Rose smiled and sat down. She stared at them for a moment and looked at the Welken Royal, “You don’t like that only a unanimous vote can remove me?”
“It does place an inordinate degree of power in your hands. We are forced to follow your dictates.”
“I realize that and hate that it had to come to this. However, I will not be dictatorially forcing my decisions on you. I will discuss them with you before implementing them.”
“And if we disagree?”
“Why don’t we wait until that happens before we worry about it?” Rose pressed a button on her panel and looked at the assembly. The ones that flew the ships in the most recent battle were sitting in chairs along the left wall wondering why they were present. Rose ignored them and focused on the Alliance Leaders. “What prevents us from taking on the Death Feeders now?”
The Johan Ruler chuckled, “About ten billion advanced warships.”
Rose looked at him and laughed, “Very well said, Your Highness. That’s exactly the situation we’re facing. How will we ever be ready to take them on?”
The Audon quickly said, “When we have enough warships to make the challenge.”
Rose nodded and looked at the Welken, “Are you satisfied that we do not have to depend on telepaths to fight our ships?”
The Welken looked over his shoulder at his Fleet Leader, turned around, and nodded, “It does appear the Welken that took part in the recent attack were not detected by the Feeder Warships.”
Rose looked at the other leaders, “Will all of you agree that your species can fly the light ships without detection?”
The Myot quickly said, “How is this screening device capable of blocking the thought patterns of different species?”
“Actually, it doesn’t block the patterns of the one wearing it. It blocks the Feeders mind from penetrating to the wearer’s mind. It is designed to stop them and will work with anyone using it.”
“What if the Feeder’s link? Will a huge number of them be able to get through the device?”
Rose tilted her head, “We haven’t used it in the Death Feeders’ central planetary system where billions of them are linked, so that issue has not yet been answered. However, it has withstood other Feeder links at planets we’ve freed from their rule.”
The Goran thought so all could hear, “Do we not need to make that determination before we start moving forward?”
“Not really.”
“Why not?”
“By the time we find ourselves having to confront their central planets, we’ll have to eliminate all of their fleets defending them. Once that’s done, we’ll have enough telepaths to complete the final task of attacking their home worlds.”
The Welken stared at Rose and asked the question all of them were wondering, “Do you intend to start attacking their fleets now?”
“No, I don’t.” Rose saw the Leaders relief and she tried not to smile. They just weren’t ready yet.
“Then what is it you intend to do?”
Rose sent a report to each of their terminals, “What you have on your individual displays is, what I hope to be, an accurate count of the warships at our disposal. It includes the ones in storage on your planets and those in the manufacturing pipeline at the moment. Please notice that we have nearly as many in storage as we do in service.”
The Leaders stared at their displays and the Audon shook its head as it ruffled its green feathers, “I heard you say this yesterday and I found it hard to believe. This really is a waste.”
Rose nodded, “I agree and all of you are currently at one quarter of your actual production capability. That is going to change.”
The Audon looked up from his panel, “How?”
“All of you are going to start producing warships at maximum capacity and you will be charged with providing pilots to fly them.” Every leader jerked their head up from their display. “The Gorans and Humans will provide the screening devices for your warriors along with the simulators to teach them how to fly the new light ship.”
“But who is going to organize them?”
Rose smiled and looked at the fifty that fought against the Feeder Fleet, “These fifty warriors will go to your civilizations and take command of your fleets. They will be promoted to Fleet Admirals at the conclusion of this meeting and they will lead your efforts at getting your forces organized and up to speed on how to attack the Feeders.”
The Audon shook its head, “You mean a different species will be leading my forces?”
“Your own warriors will command the smaller fleets as they come online but, yes, you are correct. One of these warriors will guide them and coordinate them into the overall Alliance Fleet. We are going to have to learn how to fight our ships in formations that will boggle the imagination. Do you have a problem following a different species, Great Leader?”
The Audon looked at the Welken and then back to Rose. He was trapped. “No, my forces will cooperate with the Fleet’s Leaders.”
Rose smiled. None of the Leaders present were willing to say the Welken weren’t qualified. His status among them was too high to be challenged.
Sam sat in his chair among the warriors and smiled. He wondered why Rose had chosen the Welken Instructors to take part in the attack. Now it became clear why. With the Welken taking a major role in leading the Fleets, the Royal would be more likely to support the effort. He shook his head and murmured, “That was brilliant.” Ethan sitting next to him, heard him and nodded.
The Welken looked at Rose and said, “Who is going to be the overall commander of our fleets?”
Rose smiled, “The same one that commanded the attack against the Feeder Fleet, Admiral Matt Coronado.”
Mat looked up and rolled his eyes. God don’t let this be true! He looked at Rose and saw her smiling at him. He mouthed the word ‘No!”’ to her and she laughed. He lowered his head and shook it. Eddy sitting next to him chuckled, “It’s been nice knowing you.”
Matt felt his wrist unit vibrate and he looked at it. A copy of his promotion papers appeared on the small display and he scrolled down them. They continued and he read what followed his forms. He chuckled and moved his wrist over and put it in front of Eddy’s face. She moved it back and focused on the screen. She read a few lines and jerked her head to him, and whispered forcefully, “THIS IS INSANE! I JUST GRADUATED!”
Rose stopped talking and looked at Eddy, “Is there a problem, Admiral?”
Eddy looked at Rose and lowered her head, “No, High Leader.”
Rose smiled at her, “Good.”
Eddy didn’t hear anything after the exchange. This was impossible.
Rose paused and watched the leaders discussing the orders they were given with their staffs. She leaned back in her chair and smiled as she thought, “I can see you’re still nudging things.”
“How did you find out about her?”
“Matt is number two on your watch list. I wondered why a newly minted cadet would be assigned to be his weapon’s officer. I took a look at her records and found them missing. I went back to her birthplace and found her birth certificate at the hospital. It appears I am not the only one that is a product of Jack and Jill’s ancestry.”
“It appears we weren’t through.”
“It makes sense that you would have a fall back in the event I was removed from the game.”
“That’s true but you’ve surprised us by seeing it. You are more than we imagined.”
“Thank you…I think.”
“Oh, it’s a compliment.”
Rose smiled and looked at Admiral Mandel, who was sitting with the Warriors. She motioned him to her desk and also pointed to Sam and motioned him to join them. They walked up to her and Rose said, “Sam, you’re much too talented to go through life carrying out the whims of a High Leader. You will go with the others and get our new fleets
ready to take on the Feeders.”
“I rather enjoy carrying out your wishes, High Leader.”
“And I enjoy having you do it but you are needed elsewhere.”
Sam nodded and Rose looked at Mandel, “I want that captain that hacked into the Leader’s computers promoted and assigned as my new Executive Officer.”
Mandel’s expression showed his feelings, “But High Leader, he’s the best I have.”
“Then train another to do the job. He can take your place when you retire. But for now, I want him working directly with me.”
“Yes, High Leader.”
Rose saw Sam’s expression and she smiled, “You don’t have to worry, Sam. You and I will have our time together one day.”
Sam stared at her and, after a moment, smiled. He turned and went back to his chair. He didn’t realize she knew how he felt. He had been following her career for years. Many of his fellow pilots didn’t understand why he applied to be the last High Leader’s Military Liaison. He was on a fast track to high command when he did it but he knew that the current High Leader was not going to remain in place much longer.
He knew Rose had to be up for the position. Taking the post was the only way to get close to her. Now he was leaving and it saddened him greatly, but she knew. Thank God she knew and was interested in him. It gave him hope. But for now, the civilizations had to be taught to be warriors again. He looked at Rose and listened to her as she told the Alliance Leaders that they were the warriors that were needed to win this war. They listened and he could see, they believed her. She finally ended the meeting and stood up. She looked at him and he saw a twinkle in her eyes as she smiled, then turned, and left the room. He nodded slightly and took a deep breath. There was a war to win and it couldn’t take forever. He had a future to claim. He heard Matt speaking and he turned to hear him. He didn’t know why Rose had chosen Matt to be in command but he didn’t question her decision. He was the right one for the job, even if he didn’t know it…yet.
Chapter Eighteen