by Saxon Andrew
“They approached me and knew Thorpe had sent me.”
“How did they know; we’ve not been in direct contact with Earth for months?” Dean asked.
“Sir, I’ve been with Fleet since Admiral Mankin took command.”
“How did you survive the attack against the Brax Planet?”
“I’m the only survivor from my unit, Sir. For some reason, I’ve been incredibly lucky.”
Dean stared at Harry and shrugged, “Lieutenant, some of Thorpe’s agents weren’t given the opportunity to change their loyalty.”
Harry nodded, “The ones I spoke to were true believers, Sir. They wouldn’t change.”
“Let me know if we missed any.”
Harry nodded, “I’ll be sure to do that?”
Megan stepped up and said, “I was going to tell you about some that weren’t present but I heard you tell Harry they’ve been handled.”
“How long have you been working for the General?” Dean asked.
“I stopped working for him more than a year ago, after you transferred me.”
Dean’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”
“I came to hate the killing. Thorpe was holding my husband hostage and, quite frankly, it wouldn’t bother me if he did kill him. I saw on my communicator that it was done soon after I was assigned to the Carriers.”
“You never told me you were married.”
Megan shrugged, “I filed for divorce but it was denied so he could be used as a hostage. I didn’t really hate him but the magic died a long time ago, Sir.”
“What do you think about that, Lieutenant?” Dean asked.
“Now I don’t have to get a divorce to marry the man I love. He actually did me a favor.”
“Can you be trusted, Megan?”
“After seeing what Thorpe did to these sailors, I find it easy to hate everything he stands for. I prefer to live in the colonies. Earth is nothing more than a deathtrap now; my life is out here.”
Dean smiled, “Good luck, Megan.”
“Sir, you told me to find someone with the same heart.” Dean nodded. “Well, I found someone with a different heart and now mine is like his. You were right about what you said to me. Thanks for getting me to see it.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“I’ve noticed that you’ve also found someone.”
“No…that’s not true.”
“Then you need to tell her and spare her the disappointment later.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“I’ve seen how she looks at you. You should tell her.” Megan stared at Dean’s expression and smiled, “You don’t believe it, do you?”
“I’m sure she can do better, Megan.”
Megan shook her head and smiled. “You never have seen yourself accurately, Dean. That’s a shame, you should tell her if you’re not interested.” Megan turned and walked away.
Kuchen watched her leave and said, “Who is she talking about?”
“Captain Bennett.” Kuchen stared at Dean and he shrugged, “She’s doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”
Kuchen smiled, “If you want to drop her, I know a few others that are interested.”
Dean stared at Kuchen, “And are you one of them?”
“I’m seventeen years older than she is; she can do a lot better than me.” Kuchen stared at Dean, “I’m messing with you. But you are an idiot if you don’t jump on that train. You should hope she’s interested in you and count yourself lucky if she is. Just saying, Admiral. Good Day.”
Dean sat in the conference room and rolled his eyes. Kuchen and Megan were crazy. Besides, she was still his second in command. An hour later, Ginger and Megan rushed in the conference room and Meredith quickly asked, “What happened?”
“All of them are demanding pilot training. They want an opportunity to take a shot at Thorpe’s forces.”
Meredith’s smile was instant, “OUTSTANDING! I’ll see you later.”
Ginger sat down and Dean looked at her, “What about the other agents?”
“They’re no longer an issue.”
Dean looked away and nodded, “Good.”
He was silent and Ginger said after a minute passed, “What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
Ginger waited and then said, “Something has you bothered.”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“Then tell me what nothing it is.”
Dean hesitated and said, “A female Attack Sled Pilot told me I should tell you that I’m not interested in you to spare your feelings.”
Ginger stared at Dean in silence and after another long moment said, “Is she right?”
“About what?”
“You not being interested in me.”
“I guess so.”
Ginger shook her head, “Look, the question isn’t that hard. You know whether you’re interested or not; which is it?” Dean couldn’t bring himself to look at her. Ginger smiled, “I’ll take that as a yes, you are interested. You’ll need to let me know if it changes.” She stood up and walked out of the room. Dean watched her leave the room and rolled his eyes as he sighed heavily. She was so incredibly smart…and beautiful. He put his head in his hands and knew he couldn’t fight this much longer. He heard the door open and Ginger walked back down the aisle to the table. “I forgot to give you something.”
“What is that?” Ginger leaned down and kissed him hard on the kips. She broke the kiss and said as she walked away, “Something to help you decide.”
Dean stared at her and barely managed to catch her before she walked out the door. He grabbed her arm, turned her around, and returned the favor. Ginger reached out and locked the door without breaking the kiss.
• • •
Megan was sitting in her Command Attack Sled with the cockpit raised and she yelled, “The right engine is still five-percent less than the left.” She looked up and then jerked her head to the left, Ginger was at the top of the ladder staring at her, “OH! Excuse me, Sir! I didn’t know you were there!”
“How could you over the engine noise?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. What can I do for you?”
“I just wanted to stop by and thank you for giving Dean a nudge.”
Megan smiled, “He needs one at times. I trust it turned out well.”
Ginger smiled, “It did and I owe you one.”
Megan laughed, “No, I owe Dean a lot and you owe me nothing. I think you’re just what he needs. Good-luck to both of you.”
Ginger smiled, leaned in, and gave Megan a hug. She went down the ladder and Megan, though she didn’t want to, liked the Captain. No one should be that beautiful. But it was clear she was also a good person. She looked at her panel and yelled to the engine-crew, “It’s only two-percent down now!”
• • •
Rory was sitting on the bridge looking at his computer’s monitor showing the most recent update on the ship building complex. He said, “They’re really moving along, Meredith.”
“I can see that, Sir.”
Rory looked to the right and saw Ginger walk through the portal and enter the bridge. She walked over and went to attention in front of their chairs, “Sir, I have an issue that needs your attention.”
Rory said, “What’s wrong?!”
“Nothing is wrong, Sir, but I told you some time back that Admiral Hamlin and I are not an item. That has now changed and I think it’s important for you to know about the change.”
The bridge crew began cheering and Rory smiled, “Well it took long enough!”
Ginger smiled, “He doesn’t persuade easily, Sir. I just wanted to stop by and let you know.” Ginger turned to the bridge crew and did a curtesy and their cheers grew louder; Ginger was the most popular officer in the Fleet. She turned to Rory and Meredith, went to attention, and saluted. Rory returned her salute and she walked off the bridge to the cheers of the crew.
Rory shook his head, “Hamlin is crazy; it wouldn’t have taken me nearly as long.�
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Meredith had her back to Rory staring at her console as she said, “I don’t know about that.”
Rory heard her and said, “What?”
“The Attack Sled Plant is due to start production in four-weeks, Sir.”
Rory stared at the back of her head and said, “Good.” What was she talking about? Of course, he wouldn’t have taken as much time as Hamlin! His eyes narrowed and he leaned back in his chair. Or would he?
• • •
Eight weeks later, Lisa looked up from her panel and said, “Sir, I’ve just received a communication probe from one of the Scouts sent to the Corina-Sagittarius Spiral Arm that they have encountered a space battle taking place.”
“Put the data on my panel, Lieutenant!”
Rory’s panel suddenly illuminated and he saw the two-beings from the Red and Gold Ship appear, “I would stay away from there, if I were you.”
“Why?”
“The ships attacking the planet are from the civilization we intended to lead to you. The Paben are a ruthless species and that planet is about to be overwhelmed by forces impossible to resist. They’ve expanded into the Crux-Scutum Spiral Arm and will be focusing on it for a while.”
“Are you still planning to lead them here?”
“Not at the moment; we’re keeping an eye on what’s going on with your species.”
“Just how dangerous is this Paben Civilization?”
“Well, it depends on your point of view,” Lissell replied.
Meredith had walked around behind Rory to see who he was communicating with. She asked, “What is your point of view?”
Lissell smiled, “Hello, Meredith, I’ve been wondering if you were ever going to say hello. Anyway, in order of most dangerous to least; your species is the most dangerous, followed by the Brax, and then the Paben.”
“How did you come up with that wild idea?”
“Well, we look at the victims and not the attackers. Your species pretty much kills anything that moves. The Brax does the same thing but on a much smaller scale; your species has killed more intelligent beings in the last fifty-years than the Brax has in five-hundred years. The Paben do kill when they attack a planet but they don’t kill the survivors; they enslave them instead.”
Meredith stared at Lissell and shrugged, “I guess you can make a good argument about us being the worst of the lot. What kind of being are you? I think I can see through you?”
“We’re not exactly in real space. We’re a form of intelligence that comes from energy.”
“How do you know so much about different alien species?”
“We’ve been studying them for a while.”
“How long is a while?”
Lissell looked at Kerral and he said, “About two-million years or so.”
“Are you sure about that Kerry?”
“Well, the earliest entries in the Alien Culture Documents are that old. I suspect we just watched them initially before documenting them.”
Lissell nodded, “I know some of the earliest civilizations disappeared before we started documenting them. I think we started keeping a history because of how many no longer existed.”
Meredith and Rory stared at the monitor and Meredith said, “Oh my God! What have we managed to tick off here?”
Lissell laughed, “Oh, we’re not angry! We’re just taking steps to make sure you don’t bother us again.”
Rory looked at Meredith, “Thorpe threatened to find them and eradicate them wherever they try to hide.” Meredith rolled her eyes and Rory said, “Promising them we won’t bother them doesn’t mean Thorpe will abide by our promise. They lump all Humans into the same bucket…we’re all guilty of whatever one of us does.”
Kerry quickly replied, “How can you say you’re different? It was your ships that killed all the inhabitants on the planet you’ve now taken possession.”
Rory nodded, “You’re right. I followed my orders and found a way to rationalize irrational behavior. But that has ended now. We will not be doing that in the future.”
“And if the Maniac at Earth kills all of you, will that stop your wanton killing?”
Meredith sighed, “No, it will only get worse.”
Kerry shrugged, “It’s at least good to see your honesty. We only contacted you about the Paben because we can see you are making an honest effort to change your behaviors.”
“Kerry, we will eventually have to deal with the Paben, won’t we?” Rory asked.
“Probably, if you don’t kill yourselves first. But they’re going to expand in the spiral arm they’ve just started invading and it could take a thousand-years or more for them to take control of it.”
“Why do they enslave planets? What could they possibly do for the Paben?”
Lissell frowned, “They have them build facilities to manufacture their ships and weapons. They also use them as ground forces to subdue a planet.”
“Why would they ever assist their conquerors?”
“Well, after several hundred-years, a job in the military might be better than slaving in a factory. It will become their only existence and the Paben’s original invasion will be ancient history.”
Rory stared at the two-aliens and said, “A thousand-years from now, they’ll be far more powerful than they are now.”
Kerry nodded, “Of course.”
“Waiting until then is not a good strategy.”
“You have no idea if you’ll even been around then. You and Thorpe can kill every human in mutual self-destruction and it would be a moot point. Why worry about something that far in the future?
“Because we’re not beings made of energy and our lives are infinitesimal compared to your life-span. We don’t have the luxury to take a long view of things.”
“How do you know our life-span?” Lissell asked.
Rory tilted his head, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed.”
Lissell smiled, “Very good! But we’re still just kids. We still have a lot to learn.”
“Thanks for letting us know.”
“But you’re going to ignore our advice.”
“Isn’t the planet the Paben are attacking innocent of any wrong doing?”
“They are.”
“Then we should at least see if we can’t help them.”
“It will probably lead the Paben to you. They have the best scanners in the Galaxy that can see electronic-signatures two-light years and I don’t know if you can avoid their following you back to your space.”
“Thanks for that. They’ve probably already detected our scouts and recalling them will insure they find us,” Meredith replied.
Kerry shrugged, “Probably.”
The monitor went dark and Rory stared at Meredith. She shook her head, “What do we do?”
“Get Dean and Ginger here now.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Chapter Nineteen
Dean looked at the data on his panel’s monitor and said, “I’m going to drop you off and I want you to hold your position and do not reveal yourselves until I order it!”
Megan pressed her combat helmet, “Yes, Sir.” The twenty-two Attack Sleds left the Orion Spur and flew at maximum speed to the Corina-Sagittarius Spiral Arm. They flew a thousand-light-years outside the arm away from the center of the galaxy and then entered the huge spiral arm. The Wing turned and headed back the way they came. Four-light years away from the last reported position of the Scouts, Dean slowed his Attack Sled and moved in close to a giant gas planet at the outer edge of a star-system.
“Lt. Roth, move your wing inside the planet’s outer atmosphere and keep your Wing on the opposite side of the planet from our projected travel line. Be prepared to launch an attack on my orders.”
“Yes, Sir. Are you sure you don’t want to take some of us with you?”
“Your new Attack Sleds are easier to detect than the New Scout model. I want you ready in the event I can’t lose any pursuers. Make yourselves at home, this could take a while.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Dean went back into his drive-field and said, “I don’t know if I like this new model.”
Ginger nodded, “It does sacrifice some weapon capacity for stealth.”
“Stealth isn’t going to do us any good getting the old model scouts out safely.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
Dean sighed, “I could use a little help.”
“If you had the best scanners in the galaxy and you were going to trail someone, how would you do it?”
Dean thought a moment and said, “I’d send out scouts in layers. If what those aliens said is true and they can scan an electronic-signature for two-light years, I’d separate two waves of scouts by one and half -light years so they could keep each other in range. If the lead Scouts are eliminated, “I’d send the next wave at maximum speed to take up the chase.”
“That’s how I see it as well.”
“We have to put a gap in their coverage larger than two-light years.”
“Well, make your plans accordingly.”
“How many scouts do you think they’ll have in each layer?”
Ginger shrugged, “More than two is a waste. But these Paben have been doing this a lot longer than us and I suspect they might do things differently.”
“We’ll see. We’re inside communication range. Let’s get things started.” Dean pressed his communicator panel and then entered the coordinates of Megan’s Wing into a message. He pressed another button sending the prerecorded message at burst-speed. “I hope they’ve done a good job of collecting data on the Paben Warships.”
“I suspect the Paben have allowed them to collect as much as they want without interfering with them,” Ginger replied.
“Why would they do that?”
“The Scouts aren’t important but the civilization that sent them is. The Paben will want to follow them first. If they destroyed them they lose the big prize.”
“I suspect you’re absolutely right. Let’s hope they follow their orders exactly.”
“Roy is good, Dean. He’ll get them together before he makes a run.”
“We’ll know shortly. Getting all six of them moving together could get dicey.”
“You trained them; I believe they will follow their orders exactly.”
• • •