by Saxon Andrew
The Royal smiled, “You and he are related.”
Lukas was surprised by the Welken’s remark and he sighed, “He is my son.”
The Welken smiled, “That also makes him related to me. I will accept your suggestions and will do all I can to make them a reality.”
The Johan leaned forward, “I will also accept them.”
The Myot smiled, “I trust the Welken with my people’s lives. If this Conqueror is related to the Royal, I will also accept him.”
“Before you speak too quickly, you should know that he intends to clip the claws of the other Fellowship Civilizations.”
The Johan smiled, “That is where he should start. They would interfere if given the chance.”
Lukas looked at the Welken, “How do you feel about that?”
“I don’t like it but I will swear that my forces will follow his orders. I can live with doing what he directs us to do. I will not second guess him.”
“Good. I want the three of you to take a shuttle up to the battleship we’ve sent to your planets and go with them.”
“Where are they going?”
Lukas smiled, “To handle the Fellowship. You should bear witness to what happens.”
“Will you be going?”
“I will arrive in a fourth battleship within an hour.”
“May we take the Leader of our forces with us?”
“I would suggest you do. They should also see what’s going to happen.”
The three looked at each other and the Johan smiled, “Come on! You both know you want to see this.”
The Welken and Myot Rulers smiled and said, “We will be on board by the time you arrive.”
• • •
Jinks walked into Lukas’s office as the conference with the three rulers ended. It was fed to every monitor in the One World Military. Lukas saw Jinks’ expression and waited for him to speak. “I know you had to worry about how I was going to receive this promotion of your son.”
“The thought has entered my mind.”
“You shouldn’t worry about it Lukas. He proved to me during the last battle that he’s better for the job. It grates my nerves that I did come to the right answer but not fast enough.”
“That’s not why I chose him over you.”
“It’s not? Then why?”
“Because he’s telepathic and can hear the thoughts of our enemies during battle. The time saved by having him make immediate decisions instead of communicating what he’s learned to you could be the difference between life and death.”
Jinks nodded slowly, “That makes sense. I would have thought that you would take the position.”
“I’d choose you over me, Jinks. If something happens to Chris, you will replace him.”
Jinks tilted his head, “How am I a better choice than you?”
“Because the Welken Royal liked you from the first moment he met you. That is something that is worth much more than you know. Where he goes, the other two will follow. It almost made me pick you over Chris but his telepathic gift is the trump card.”
Jinks smiled, “I can see you still see the big picture better than anyone else. I’m glad we had this conversation.”
“Jinks, are you going to be ok following Chris’s orders without question?”
“He’s your son, Lukas. I’ll do as he orders and I’ll ask questions afterwards. However, I do suspect that what happens afterwards will probably clarify any issues I might have.”
“Jinks, I need you to get the warriors being chosen to drop on enemy planets organized and trained.”
“Actually, Stoney is perfect for that assignment. He was an incredible assault trainer.”
Lukas smiled, “You’re right; I should have seen that.”
“I’m going to get the children organized into a fighting force so they can step into our fleets as soon as they reach the age of maturity.”
“Have we decided what age they’ll be allowed to join our fleets?”
“We’ll start moving the sixteen year olds into our fleets as soon as we have enough to constitute their own units.”
“You aren’t going to mix them in with the veteran pilots?”
“Lukas, you need to see those kids fly. I believe they would be reluctant to use all of their skills due to the respect they feel for their elders. They need to be free to use their natural abilities and that will only happen if they are in their own units.”
“Are you going to allow them to wear our Drop Armor?”
“No. That will be the job for older more experienced warriors. I don’t want the children to have to be forced to kill thousands of civilians if it come to that.”
“Do you think our veterans can do it?”
“They will be protecting our children. That is what will allow them to do it.”
Lukas smiled, “You are really special, Jinks. I depend on you so much.”
“Thanks, Lukas. Don’t worry about me. My ego can handle this change.” Lukas nodded and Jinks left his office.
• • •
Lukas left Fleet Operations and took a ground car to the Montana. He exited the car and walked toward the stairs outside the landing bay. An Engineering Lieutenant saluted him as he entered and said, “The Admiral is waiting for you on the bridge.”
Lukas returned his salute and smiled, “Lead the way.” He arrived on the bridge and the crew jumped to attention, “At ease! Return to your stations.”
Loree lowered her salute and smiled, “It’s an honor to have you on board, Sir.”
“I assume you listened to the conference I just had with our allies?”
“I did, Sir. Does that mean I will not be commanding the battleships?”
“I am going to request that the first fifty built be given to you to go out and start scouting the three galaxies. You know your heart is in being a scout.”
Loree’s smile was huge, “It’s what I’m best at, Sir.”
“Let’s get underway.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to the Welken Royal Planet. We’ll leave with the Royal’s ship.”
Loree looked at Hawk and he smiled. He turned to his control panel and began using the steering thrusters to lift the huge ship. Loree watched him play his keyboard and felt her affection for him. Audrey was right. They had become close during their time together on the Montana. The Montana lifted and moved higher into the night sky. It arrived at the edge of the upper atmosphere and blasted away at top speed.
• • •
Chris looked at his display and said, “I’m not sure I want a bodyguard, Sir.”
“This is not something I will yield on, Chris. Four special Pods are assigned to your protection and they will go wherever you go. Your life is too important to risk.”
“Who will be flying those pods?”
“Four of our best sixteen year olds.”
“LUKAS, YOU CAN’T SEND CHILDREN TO PROTECT ME!”
“Why not?”
“I’ll be going into very dangerous situations!”
“And you don’t want to risk their lives?”
“Exactly.”
“Then their presence might prevent you from doing something stupid. Your request is denied. The leader of the four is named Allison. I expect you to do a good job of training them. They will each be given a fleet of Pods once they’ve built enough pods for them.”
Chris looked at Audrey and shook his head. Audrey pressed her communicator, “Lukas, why did you choose these particular teenagers?”
“They participated in the last fleet maneuvers and they decimated the competition.”
Audrey smiled, “Just checking.” She looked at Chris, “Maybe they can teach us something.”
Chris pulled up the recordings of the last fleet maneuvers and watched the four teenagers in action. After fifteen minutes he started shaking his head, “A pod can’t do what they did in those maneuvers.”
“Lukas sent the best we have to protect you. If older pilo
ts had won the competition, they would have been here instead of them.”
Chris nodded and blew out a breath, “What do you think about this, Barbie?”
“I want the updates their ships have.”
Chris smiled, “I’ll see about getting them once we complete this mission.”
“How do you feel about going to confront the Fellowship with the four Rulers?”
“It makes me nervous.”
“I can understand why. Here come your bodyguards.”
Chris looked at his display and saw a small silver object on his long distance scanner. “It looks like there’s only one of them.”
“Look again.”
Chris looked at the display and saw the object approaching at an incredible speed and in a moment he saw four pods flying so close together that they looked like one vessel. He shook his head at the skill needed to maintain that formation. In another moment he heard, “Sir, Ensign Simmons reporting for duty with my wing.”
“Has your wing been given a name?”
“We call ourselves the Falcons but we’ve not been given an official designation by Fleet, Sir.”
Chris activated his general frequency and said, “Fleet Control.”
“Yes 1-C.”
“What does 1-C mean?”
“You’ve been designated as First Commander, Sir.”
“That’s nice. What does it really mean?”
“Uhhh, Sir?”
“I know you fleet types make designations that have double meanings. What’s the real meaning?”
There was a pause and he heard, “First Conqueror, Sir.”
Chris knew the officer expected to be reprimanded for his remark but Chris was impressed with his honesty. “Fleet, the four pods assigned to me will be designated as Falcon One. Please repeat.”
“Ensign Simmons unit is now designated as Falcon One, Sir.”
“Thank you, Fleet. Keep up the good work.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Chris changed the frequency, “I just looked at your victory in the last fleet maneuvers. I must say that you’ve impressed me.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
“How long have the four of you been flying together?”
“We started when we were thirteen, Sir.”
Chris shook his head, “I am going to ignore you for the most part. I expect you to decide what to do in any situation we are in. If I decide to issue orders, I will. However, most of the time I’ll be focused on other things and I expect you to do your jobs.”
“Yes Sir.”
Chris heard the young girl’s nervousness but he expected her to relax over time. He was surprised when the four pods moved in and assumed a formation around Barbie. They were all less than ten feet from his pod’s hull. “Uhhh, we might need to train with you before we can keep this formation.”
“That’s not necessary, Sir. Our ships will have direct contact with the flight instructions your computer uses. We’ll respond to them in plenty of time.”
Chris looked at Audrey and she shrugged. Chris said, “Barbie, we’re going to meet the battleships outside the Droken system.”
Barbie was actually hesitant, “On our way.” Barbie went to full thrusters and made multiple turns on the way to their destination. Chris and Audrey watched the four ships maintain their positions around them without a single waver. Chris knew of no pilot that could have pulled that off. He smiled and looked forward to getting to know these four superb pilots. He pressed his communicator and saw Lukas appear on his display, “How are our allies doing?”
“They and the leaders of their militaries are currently being taken on a tour of the new battleships. I’ve been told that they’re really impressed with what they’re seeing.”
“Have the Droken been contacted about our arrival?”
“They have and it appears many of the other civilizations are sending ships to their system.”
“The more the merrier.”
“Chris, this is your show.”
“I know.”
“What do you intend to do?”
“They have to understand their place in this galaxy. I understand that a large number of primitive planets have been discovered since the war with the Invaders started.”
“More than six hundred.”
“Do we know if any of them have been approached by a Fellowship Civilization?”
“Quite a few of them, as a matter of fact.”
“Does fleet have the location of those planets?”
“They do.”
“Is that how we know they’ve been approached?”
“Yes. One of them has been invaded by the Cosregs. It appears they no longer abide by the rules that the Sentinels established.”
“Do you know if the Cosregs have sent ships to the Droken?”
“They have.”
“I think we should wait a while for any others to arrive before we begin our soiree.”
“Make the announcement.”
Chris looked at Audrey and shrugged. He looked at the feed coming from the probe at the Droken Planetary System and saw more than two hundred thousand warships gathering above the planet. He set his board to the assigned frequency of the new battleships and pressed the activate button, “I am going to delay our arrival for a while to allow any latecomers to arrive. I want as many as possible to be present to hear what we have to say.”
Barbie said, “The four ships have acknowledged your request. We’ll be arriving at their location momentarily.” Chris watched his tactical and saw the distant ships hanging motionless in the void. They were growing larger by the second and he came flying in, along with his escorts at an incredible speed. He assumed a position in the middle of them and continued to watch the feed from the probe.
Chapter Four
The Welken Royal looked at his Fleet Commander, “Kyel, there are a lot of warships above that planet.”
“It does appear you are right, Great One.”
“You don’t sound worried.”
“Did you hear what we were told about this ships defensive capabilities, Sire?”
“I guess I was thinking about what was going to happen here.”
“Then, I’m thankful you invited me to come with you. We can escape anything they throw at us, if it comes to that.”
“Do you think it will?”
“You know the Droken Ruler. He desires to rule the Fellowship. You’ve stood in his way for a long time and I think he’ll act rashly.”
“But we are no longer a part of the Fellowship.”
“Which makes it even more important that he learns that he cannot act with a free hand without fear of consequences.”
“You’re starting to sound like the humans.”
“Thank you, Sire.”
The Royal smiled and chuckled, “You’re welcome.”
They turned and heard an announcement come in over the wall speaker, “Admiral Barber.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Link the firing systems on your four ships prior to skipping in on the planet.”
“Yes Sir.”
“You will not open fire unless you are attacked.”
“Order received and understood, Sir.”
The Royal looked at Kyel, “They appear to be quite disciplined and organized.”
“War will teach that, Sire. They’ve been bearing the heavy lifting in the fighting and I’m glad that we’re getting involved now. It’s time we did.”
The Royal nodded and looked at the huge tactical monitor above the large forward viewport. A large red X on the screen was designating all of the warships above the planet. Each X had a number one through four beside it. He looked at Kyel and he said, “The number beside each X designates which of our four ships has targeted it.”
The Royal shook his head, “We can target that many ships?”
“It appears we can, Sire.” The Royal turned back to the monitor. This was impossible.
The wall speaker said, “It appears all
the attendees are present. We will skip in to the gravity limit in five, four, three, two, one, and NOW!”
• • •
The brilliantly glowing Silver Warships came out of the Void into normal space with a half a mile between them. Chris’s group of Pods were a mile above them and he pressed his communicator, “I didn’t know you were throwing a party for us. You really shouldn’t have.”
The Droken Ruler sneered, “Humor is not called for at this particular time.”
“Speak for yourself. I’ve brought the four Rulers of the Earth, Welken, Myot, and Johan Civilizations to tell you how things will be done in the future.”
The Droken’s face showed his anger, “Do you think you can dictate anything to us with those five ships!?”
“Actually, there are nine ships here. You need to take a closer look at the smallest vessel and you should see that there are five ships, not just one.”
The Droken looked away from the display briefly and then turned back, “Who do you think you are coming here issuing orders to us? Five or nine, you’ll need to bring more than that!”
“Actually, I’m not planning to get involved in any rough play that might happen. My friends here insist that I shouldn’t take part if anything nasty happens and I’m going to comply with their request. However, I will remove any ships that move toward me.” Chris paused, “But let’s hope that we can have an adult discussion without fighting among us. You should be familiar with someone ordering you around and telling you what to do.”
“I recognize you. You’re the one that was put on trial for your cowardice.”
Chris raised his index finger and shook it, “Now, now. Insulting me is not a good way to start our conversation.”
“Why are you talking and not the Welken Ruler? And just how do you say I’m accustomed to being ordered around?”
“I’ve been placed in command of all the Military forces of our four civilizations. They have given me the latitude to make the decisions concerning any civilization that is a threat to us. The Sentinels have ordered all of the members of the Fellowship around as long as you’ve existed. Being told what to do shouldn’t be something you’re unfamiliar with.”
“You’re not the Sentinels!!”
“Quite true. But you should understand that I’m not in the least bit concerned at how you treat each other like they were.” Chris muted the communicator, “Barbie, is this conversation being sent to the Rulers of the Fellowship?”