Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror

by Saxon Andrew

  Allison watched Chris as he spoke and she felt something change inside her. She knew Chris was only eighteen years old chronologically and that she was six years older. She sometimes thought of him as a young boy who was very smart. She realized she was wrong. He possessed the wisdom of someone much older and she was amazed at what he saw and the heart he had to say it. She looked down and shook her head. This took a lot for him to admit it.

  Lukas stared at Chris and looked at Salud. He saw the moisture in her eyes and he looked at the others gathered at the table. “Pat, would you do it differently if you had the chance?”

  “Lukas, I’ve said that my species is far from perfect. What has happened here has only proved it. I’ve told you to never allow us to become a part of your civilization, we would only mess things up. I’ve been acting superior and better than them but it’s clear to me that I’m really no different. Even in offering my self-sacrifice to save the Fellowship, I messed things up. I should have done all I could to hide Earth and prevent it being found. Instead, I led the Invader Warship to your planet. After the fact, I would change many things I did.”

  “I am going to call on you to make that sacrifice before all of this is over.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You told me that you could kill the Legends if you could get at them without being killed by their beams.”

  “That is true.”

  “We’re going to get you close to them and I expect you to kill them or die trying.”

  “I will do what you ask. Earth deserves my best effort.”

  Lukas looked at Chris, “We will not use another galaxy or species as a shield to protect us. I’m done with deliberately allowing intelligent beings to die without putting up a fight to the end. We will fight them head on and we’ll worry about the consequences when we have to.”

  “So you’re going to delay going out to find the other Legends?”

  “I am; at least until we’ve built up our numbers of Barrier Pods.”

  Amanda shrugged, “You don’t have to go out looking for them to determine if they can see us in the barrier.” Everyone in the room looked at her and she shrugged, “Just send a ship in the barrier above their planet in M-87 and see if they respond to it.”

  Chris looked at Amanda and shook his head, “You have always amazed me at what you see that everyone else misses. You are exactly right.”

  Amanda smiled brightly, “Thank you.”

  Lukas nodded, “He’s right, Amanda. You and Trevor are a godsend to us. We’ll send a ship once our number of new ships are higher. If they don’t detect the pod in the barrier, we’ll send out scouts to try and find out what we’re up against if we attack.”

  Chris walked over to his chair and sat down as the discussion changed to the status of the simulators and ships completed. Allison put her hand on his arm and whispered, “That took some courage to say. I’m proud of you.”

  Chris looked at her and nodded, “That means a lot. Thank you.”

  • • •

  “Greatest, one of our probes in the conquered galaxy has detected a small silver ship at the ship building planet.”

  “Show me.” The Greatest Leader saw the small silver ship appear in the void beside a giant black warship. “That ship didn’t skip in.”

  “No, it did not, Greatest.”

  “Where was it before our probe detected it?”

  “It must have been in normal space.”

  “Was it seen by one of the probes we placed in normal space?”

  “We didn’t have one close to that location.”

  “How did it manage to move through their space and enter normal space without being detected?”

  “We have no evidence of its moving through the void to that location.”

  The Greatest looked at the third, “Doesn’t that prove the use of a Dark Matter Mist?”

  “It does.”

  “And one wasn’t detected?”

  “No, it just suddenly appeared beside that warship.”

  “Was the probe able to intercept any of their transmissions?”

  “That’s also strange, Greatest Leader? None were detected from the Silver Ship?”

  “What about the Black Warships?”

  “We heard their leader order all their ships to stand down and return to their positions. That was all.”

  The Greatest’s body slowly flowed left and right, “Something is going on here and we need to find out what it is. A ship appears out of nowhere and communications can be heard. Order all our ships to be on the alert for one of those small ships. If one is seen, I want to be notified immediately.” The Third bowed and the Greatest flowed across the floor and went into his tub. The nutrients he started consuming made him relax and he thought about what had happened for a long time. He played the recording of the small ship’s appearance over and over at slow and fast speeds. Something was different.

  • • •

  The meeting ended and Lukas walked over to Chris, “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “For helping me see the reality of all that has happened and will happen. What are you going to do now?”

  Chris looked at Allison and turned back Lukas, “We were headed toward M-87 to take a look at the Progen’s latest technological developments.” He looked at Allison again and said, “However, Michael will never forgive me if I don’t stop by and spend some time with him.” Allison nodded. “I’d also like to maybe take a day or so and go through the simulators Dad and Jinks have developed. We might learn something we’ve missed.”

  “You should also talk to Amanda about picking up one of the new beacons to drop in the barrier near M-87.”

  “What is the beacon?”

  “You know that the barrier occupies a very small layer separating the void from normal space?” Chris nodded. “Well, Amanda built a beacon that pulses out a frequency every three seconds. It can be heard in the barrier pretty much wherever you are.”

  “Certainly there’s a limit to it?”

  “She started one in the barrier and skipped out in progressively larger skips. It was still coming in loud and clear more than six billion light years away. Trevor measured the signal for attenuation and didn’t find any even at that distance.”

  “You want to drop it near M-87 so that if another species in the universe uses a barrier drive it will lead them there?”

  Lukas looked at Allison, “Have I ever told you how smart I think he is.”

  “I think you just did, Sir.”

  Lukas smiled, “That’s exactly why. However, if we ever go out to find out if other Legends exist, we’ll have the scouts looking for them dropping beacons using a different frequency near their locations.” Lukas paused, “I also think you should take a look at the simulators. You might not learn anything new but you might see something that needs to be included in their programming.”

  “We’ll do that tomorrow. I’ll also forward my conversation with that being in M-86 to your desk.”

  Lukas smiled, “Tell Michael to come see us. Luke loves playing with him.”

  “I will. Thanks for being patient with me, Lukas.”

  “It is I that appreciate your patience. I could see you weren’t happy.”

  “No, I guess I wasn’t.”

  Lukas smiled, “See you later.”

  They watched him walk over to the Admirals waiting to meet with him and Allison sighed, “He’s really something.”

  “Yes he is.” Chris turned to Allison, “Are you ready to build that sand fort?”

  “Not really.”

  Chris’s disappointment was clear, “Why not?”

  “Because that fort is going to take most of a day and we don’t have enough time to do it today. I’ll take a raincheck and do it when we have more time.”

  “Where are you going now?”

  “I’m going to have Trevor check out the ship and see if there’s been any changes while we’ve been gone.”

  “Always t
he perfectionist.”

  “When it comes to living or dying…”

  Chris laughed, “Let me know what you find out.”

  “I’ll see you at the simulators tomorrow and let you know.” Allison turned and walked out of the huge conference room. Chris saw she hadn’t pinned up her hair and he was surprised at how long it was. It hung past her shoulders and looked like a brilliant light surrounding her head. He blew out a breath and turned to talk with Stoney about scheduling a simulator for him and Allison. He finally left and looked forward to seeing Michael. He immediately asked about Allison and showed his disappointment at her not coming. He finally smiled when Chris said, “Maybe next time. Today I start teaching you how to surf.”

  • • •

  The sessions on the simulators eventually ended and Stoney shook his head, “I’m glad you came. I didn’t know about flying the ships manually. We need to set up an advanced program to bring the pilots back in after they’ve mastered flying it normally.”

  “Don’t mention it, Dad.” Chris hugged him, “We’re shipping out in the morning. Keep an eye on Michael.”

  “We love doing it.”

  “I’ve started him skim boarding so he can learn how to surf and he may pester you to take him.”

  “I’ll let Kathy take care of that.”

  Chris nodded as Stoney walked away to assist some students still on the simulators. Chris looked at Allison, “How about a meal before I run over to see Michael?”

  “Sure.”

  They ordered a meal and enjoyed it immensely. Weeks of eating food pellets made the normal food taste extraordinary. Allison brought him up to speed on the new developments and he questioned her at length. Finally, after a few moments of silence Chris said, “Allison.”

  She looked at him, “Yes.”

  “I know about your family.” Allison’s smile disappeared. “I’ve wondered why you never leave the ship whenever we have leave. So, I contacted Fleet Personnel and asked about your background.”

  Allison’s eyes narrowed and she stared at him in silence. Chris waited for her to respond and she eventually said, “I was about to tell you that it was none of your business but I guess anything known about those under your command is your business.”

  “You don’t like that I looked?”

  “No, I don’t. That’s something that’s personal.”

  “All I wanted to say is that I would love to have you be with my family as much as possible. I could possibly be the brother you never had.” Allison stared at Chris and then stood up and picked up her tray. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  Allison turned and he saw something in her eyes that made him lean back. “You will never be my brother!” She turned and walked away and said over her shoulder, “Never!” Chris watched her go and knew he had made a terrible mistake. He went and picked up Michael and that evening when he put him to bed he punched her number on his wrist unit, “Allison, I’m sorry. I didn’t intend to hurt you.”

  Allison stared at him and then sighed, “Forget it. Let’s just forget it happened and go back to being normal.”

  Chris nodded, “I’d really like that. Thank you for accepting my apology.”

  “No problem.” The call ended and Allison sat on her bed for a long time staring at her wrist unit. She finally took it off and got ready for bed.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chris looked at the fleet of large Orange Ships going through maneuvers above the planet where they were being built. Allison’s demeanor was normal and it appeared she had forgotten what happened. He watched the ships and shook his head, “I think the ships in M-86 would stand no chance against these ships, even with the fusion reactor and new disruptors.”

  “I hate to agree with you but you’re right. I do think the M-86 ships will be slightly faster.”

  “I agree but the speed of the Orange Ships has gone up considerably. I don’t know how strong their beams are; they’re using training beams in these maneuvers.”

  Allison looked at her panel and then looked at Chris, “There are ten of the Orange Ships moving in normal space toward a large asteroid. They might be taking target practice.”

  “Send me the coordinates.” Chris saw them appear on his drive board and he skipped the ship through the barrier toward the asteroid. They arrived twenty miles from it in the barrier as the ten Progen Warships moved in. The ten ships stopped thirty miles away from the giant rock and the disruptors on one of them started glowing. “Record this!”

  “I’m on it.” Chris watched the Progen Battleship fire a brilliant beam at the end of the asteroid. A large piece of it was cut off. Chris’s eyes narrowed as Allison said, “A large ship is being towed in the void below us.”

  Chris looked at his monitor and saw a large black ship being towed by a large shuttle. The shuttle dropped the line to it and the Black Ship’s force field came on. “Allison, is that one of the ships we saw in M-86?”

  “It looks like it but without doing a full scan, I won’t be able to tell for certain.” Allison paused and smiled, “And you know about making a scan without proper preparation.”

  Chris laughed, “Indeed I do. What do you think they’re doing?”

  “What we do. They’re checking out the weapons on two newly built warships.”

  “We couldn’t have asked for something this good.”

  “I know.” Chris looked at the monitor tracking what was happening in normal space and saw the ships move out to forty miles. Once again the asteroid was hit on the end and another piece was sheared off. “They’re launching a missile!”

  Chris tore his eyes from the monitor and looked at the monitor showing the void. A missile leapt out from one of the ten orange warships that had dropped into the void. The missile closed the gap between the two ships so fast he had to replay the recording of what happened in slow motion. The missile hit the Black Ship, blew through its force field, and burned a huge hole through the center of it. “This is not good!”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  Chris looked at Allison, “Oh?”

  “The new ships can handle the beam.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because we also practice with our weapons on asteroids. By comparing how long it took for the piece to shear off with our own beams, they aren’t powerful enough to penetrate the force field or the silver coating on our new ships.”

  “What about ten of them?”

  Allison looked at her panel and shrugged, “That may be a different story.”

  “What about the missile?”

  “They fired it from twenty miles. The new ships can easily avoid them by going into the barrier and allowing them to fly right by. They’re traveling so fast that, if they miss their target, they’ll run out of fuel before they could turn and come back.” Chris raised his eyebrows. “I had Alley do an analysis of it. It appears a force field generator has taken up space for fuel. Only a fifth of it is used for fuel.”

  “They built it with our former ships in mind.” Allison nodded. “A ship that can’t go into the barrier will be in real trouble.”

  “Our old pods and battleships can handle a few of them but a salvo of thousands would take out those that are hit by eight or more.”

  “We won’t be able to face off against them like we did in our battle in M-84.”

  “No, their beams would start hitting us from fifty miles out and the missiles from even further.”

  “And they still outnumber us by the millions.” Allison shrugged. “We have to develop new tactics if we’re going to use the pods and battleships.”

  “This will require some rethinking about how to attack them.”

  “CHRIS!”

  “Go ahead, Loree!”

  “Something has entered M-87and is destroying all of our probes ahead of it on a line from the edge of the galaxy directly toward the Legends’ planet. The probes have not seen what is killing them.”

  Chris’s eyes went wide, “If you have any o
f your scouts near that line, get them out!”

  “Already done but we have no way to know what’s doing it.”

  “I’m going into the barrier and see if we can find out.” Chris looked up, “Barbie, do you have the line the probes are being taken out?”

  “I do.”

  “Give me the coordinates in the path of whatever is doing it. Do not pick a location close to the Legends’ Planet.” Chris saw the numbers appear on his panel and he turned the steering wheel and pressed the right pedal. He saw Allison buckle in and activate her armor. He pressed a button on his chair and his armor immediately surrounded him. The Barrier Pod skipped across the giant galaxy in an instant and came to a stop at the coordinates on his panel. “Estimate on how far out it is?”

  Allison looked at her panel, “It will be here in less than ten seconds. Chris keep your foot on the pedal and be ready to get out here!”

  Chris stared at the void monitor as he said, “Why?”

  “This may be more Legends.”

  Chris’s eyes widened and he started to run but it was too late. They stared at the void monitor and saw a ship coming at them that was beyond their worst nightmares. It flew past them in an instant and Chris held his breath. He waited for it to turn and come back toward them but it continued toward the Legends’ Planet. Allison was shaking and she looked at him, “Why didn’t you run!?”

  “It was on us before I could. I was too stunned to react.”

  Allison blew out quick breaths and fought to gather control of her breathing.

  “I guess that answers one question.”

  Chris exhaled, “What is that Barbie?”

  “They can’t see us in the barrier.”

  Allison shook her head, “That’s a helluva way to find out!”

  Chris thought for a long moment and looked up, “Barbie, disable the telepathic broadcast portion of you module.”

  “Done.”

  Allison shook her head, “Chris, what are you thinking about?”

  “Allison, they didn’t detect us.”

  “They might have been traveling too fast.”

  “I’m shutting down all non-essential systems and I’m going to move toward the Legends’ Planet until we can optically see what’s going on.”