by Saxon Andrew
“Yes Sir, I do.”
“Go tell him what you just suggested.”
“I think we should also have power to the engines controlled by a slide instead of a knob so we can use our palm instead of our fingers.”
“Tell Dr. Morrison.” Arvolo stood and left the classroom.
Isadore looked at her board and knew she didn’t know her board as well as Arvolo knew his. Well that just would not do; he was not going to do a better job than her. She knew there were fifty controls on her board and she stayed after class teaching herself how to find them blindfolded. She decided that she had made a mistake putting the Crazy Cuban into a category of egotistical bombasts that loved to hear himself talk. She was going to check out whether he was truthful about learning that board in three seconds and then she would know for sure.
Chapter Six
“Chris.”
“Yeah.”
“I took another look at that Alliance disc and found a section of data on it that we haven’t seen before.”
“What did you find?”
“Do you remember that Moet planet with the strange symbol behind it that led us to looking at its history?”
“Sure; if I remember the symbol meant destroyed.”
“There was another symbol in the Alliance Map records that didn’t appear on any planet in the list.”
Chris turned from his Command Panel and looked at Jillian, “What did the symbol mean?”
“Basically it translates to avoid at all costs.”
Chris stared at Jillian and finally said, “You’re going somewhere with this.”
“That second section on the disc has a list of planets and every one of them is followed by that symbol. I suspect the Alliance didn’t want their coordinates anywhere near their normal lists. I found six of them with three of those symbols after the planet’s coordinates. It’s got to mean something really dangerous is located there.”
“Do you think they might be Jenze planets?”
“I can’t think of anything more dangerous than the Moet but the Jenze. The planets listed at Moet all have just one of those symbols after their coordinates.”
“Well, we don’t have any clue where to start looking so we might as well pick the best candidate of those six that would allow us the best view of the light that reflected millions of years ago.”
“You’re assuming the Jenze aren’t alive now.”
“You’re right. However, we need to take a look at the light before we go anywhere near those locations.”
Jillian stared at the six locations on her panel and turned to Chris, “We haven’t heard much out of the Alliance since we’ve been preoccupied with the Moet and Blue Giants. I wonder what they’re up to.”
Chris said, “Contact Dolly Garcia.”
Dolly appeared on the main display and smiled, “Hello all, what’s up?”
“Dolly, Jillian just asked me what the Alliance is up to these days. We haven’t run across any of their ships while we’ve been tracking the Blue Giants and I know they were extremely active when we first ventured out of our Solar System. With the bulk of the Moet heavy ships being evacuated, the Moets left behind will be easy prey for them. I guess I’m wondering if we want to do anything about it if they’re attacking the Moets now.”
Dolly took a deep breath and looked off the screen and shook her head. She turned back and said, “What would you want to do if they were?”
“Can you get George in on this conversation?”
“Sure, stand by.”
“What are you thinking, Chris?”
“I’m thinking about a nasty attitude and wondering if that is where I want to go.”
George’s face appeared on the display beside Dolly’s and he smiled, “So you think we should intervene?”
“Why do you say that?”
“If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have made the call to Dolly.”
“I need you to tell me what you meant by Humans having to develop a nasty attitude. Does that mean we watch planets attacked and destroyed while we celebrate the removal of a possible attacker?”
“Yes, it does. You know the Moet are one of our enemies and they will be coming back to attack us.”
“Are the ones left behind to be sacrificed our enemies as well?”
“A Moet is a Moet.”
“Then why don’t you just order the fleet to go and destroy those Moets?”
George stared at Chris and didn’t respond.
“George, did you hear me?”
“Chris, that’s not a fair question.”
“Yes it is, Dolly. We have ships that we know the Moet and the Alliance cannot stand up to in battle. Just have George order all the Attack Craft and Jukebox Class ships to go out and burn every Moet and Alliance Planet. Then we’ll have several trillion enemies eliminated. Isn’t that what a nasty attitude is all about?”
“I see where you’re going with this. If we allow them to be killed when we could prevent it, we have ethically killed them ourselves.”
“Why wait? If allowing it to happen is the same thing as doing it ourselves, just order our fleet to go and do it.”
George continued to stare at Chris and said, “What’s up your pants leg? Something is causing you to push this issue. What is it?”
“I remember that Alliance Ship Commander that went and nuked several innocent cities on a planet to gather stores for his ship. They did it with cold blooded efficiency and had no feelings or concerns for those they killed. If developing a nasty attitude means becoming like them, then we’ll all be Hitler when this is over and revel in the suffering we cause. When we run out of enemies, we’ll turn on each other. I don’t want to live that way.”
“That is the way the universe operates. You’re either prey or predator and I don’t choose to be prey.”
“George, is the rhino prey?”
“Well, only if the predator is stupid.”
“What would happen if a lion attacked a gazelle on the plain where a rhino lived?”
“I suspect that lion would have a close encounter with two thousand pounds of charging rhino.”
“Would the rhino attack a gazelle?”
“Where are you going with this? Of course the Rhino wouldn’t attack a gazelle; they aren’t a threat.”
“And neither is the Alliance or the Moet. We’ve passed that point and with the evacuation of the Moet’s heavy ships, we control the plain. We just won’t allow a predator to attack in the area we control.”
Dolly looked between George and Chris and said, “Chris, this is a policy decision that we can’t make. Our elected leaders will have to weigh in on this one. You and Jillian need to get on with your mission but I promise you we’ll handle this issue.”
Chris stared at Dolly and nodded, “We’ll be leaving tomorrow. Let me know what you decide.”
“I will.”
Jeff saw Dolly turn off her display, “You realize that I will resign my position in this government if we choose to follow the Nasty Disposition Doctrine.”
Dolly looked at him and knew his heart. She also knew they would lose Chris as well. Her screen beeped and she pushed the pad and saw George on the screen, “Sis, what do you think about that discussion?”
“George, I’m troubled.”
“We need to tell the President that we can’t follow a doctrine that causes us to lose our soul. We have no option but to get involved in defending the Moet if they’re attacked. We must also stop any Alliance aggression. I wouldn’t want to live in a world that is so heartless as to allow millions to die that I could have prevented.”
“We’ll make the call together, George. I could turn my back on anyone that endangers the ones I love but this is not that instance.”
Dolly looked over and saw Jeff smile as he heard, “Make the call, Sissy.”
“The two of you don’t need to call anyone.”
Dolly looked at Jeff as George said, “What do you mean?”
“You have been cha
rged to lead our military forces during this threat. You already have a blank check to do whatever you think is necessary. It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
George smiled, “What would you do, Jeff?”
“I’m sending Admiral Anders out with the fleet to monitor the main Alliance Planets for anything that appears to be a major offensive against the Moet. We’ll decide what to do if that happens.”
Dolly reached over and squeezed Jeff’s hand, “George, we’ll take it from here. Get us some ships to help us.”
“I’ll have the first batch completed in four weeks. Let me know if you need any of them sooner.”
“I will, love.” Dolly ended the call and Jeff hugged her and went to talk with Admiral Anders.
* * *
Tenah sat with the other nine leaders of the Alliance and listened to the scout give his report. “The Moet are starting massive evacuations. Their Capital has sent their heavy ships to some other location and most of their main battleships went with them. They are also moving a huge portion of their population.”
Tenah looked over at Gri-sen, “How wide spread is this activity?”
“We have only had scouts in ten systems over the last cycle. They have all reported in that the evacuation is happening on all the planets being watched.”
“Why are they leaving?”
“We have no idea, your Excellency.”
“Is there going to be another invasion?”
Gri-sen hesitated, “They appear to think there is.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Our ancient records report this same behavior just before the last invasion by the Blue Ships.”
“How long after that evacuation did the invasion happen?”
“Five Cycles.”
Tenah leaned back in his chair and said, “Did they leave the planetary defenses behind?”
“They did but they did not leave any heavy ships to support them.”
Tenah looked down the long table at Admiral Jdah, “Is our escape planet still available?”
“It has not been discovered by any of the hostile civilizations.”
Tenah looked at the Sheera on the other end of the table, “How many ships have the new beams installed?”
“Pretty much all of them have been updated; we’ve not used them because of that giant Moet Ship. The Fleet is dispersed and is handling any problems that may arise among the various planets.”
“If an invasion is coming, problems with the populations are the least of our concerns. Most of them will be destroyed if the Blue Ships are returning.” Tenah thought a moment and smiled, “However, before we join the Moet in evacuating our leadership, we can make their return extremely difficult.”
Admiral Jdah frowned, “How can we do that?”
“We use our fleet to bombard their major planets into ash. We’ll use dirty nuclear bombs that will destroy their planets for thousands of years. They will have to find new planets for their populations, which will slow their return down. We might be able to find the planets they are evacuating to and possibly lead one of the more aggressive civilizations in that galaxy to them. That will cause them massive destruction and make them leave earlier than they planned. If they are forced to return with no planets, we can attack their colony ships and destroy most of their population. Now is a defining moment in our history. We can get the upper hand and possibly end them as a menace.”
“Most of our planets will be destroyed by the Blue Ships.”
“True, but we can rebuild from those we take with us. We’ll move five planets of subject populations and use them to provide us with the raw materials we need. As their populations increase we’ll move them to other planets and be back in business in less than fifty cycles after the Blue Ships leave.”
Lgend said, “We could also use the fleet to move more populations to save them from the coming invasion instead of taking the time to attack the Moet Planets.”
Tenah stared at the newest member of the Ten Leaders and showed his disgust, “Those planets are nothing to us. We will attack the Moets. If you don’t have the stomach for this, I suggest you leave and join those that will be left behind.”
Lgend sat back in his chair and shook his head, “No, I remove my suggestion.”
Tenah smiled, “Gather the fleets and prepare for the attack.”
Jdah bowed and left the room.
* * *
Isadore looked over and saw Arvolo as he came into the classroom to pick up his box of cigars he had left in his desk earlier that morning. He saw Isadore still at her board and frowned, “You’re working rather late.”
“I’m working on getting a feel for my board. Do you have a moment?”
Arvolo shrugged, “Just a moment; what do you need.”
“Would you mind taking a look at my board and see if you see anything that might be improved in its lay out?”
Arvolo walked over and looked at her board, “Your reactor and force field controls should be placed together instead of the eight inch separation.”
He turned to go and she said, “Did you see anything else?” Isadore allowed him to take several steps away before she asked her question and waited for him to come back and look at her board.
Arvolo smiled, “You’re responsible for firing the beams as well as launching fusion missiles. The manual control of the beams is located between the missile and beam firing mechanism. It should be below the beam so you can switch to manual without raising your hand. I would want to be able to palm that button to manual and still have my hand on the missile controls.”
“What about the reactor switching?”
“They got that right. They should be at the top of the board for fast access. It’s those other items that I’d want to change. The slave to the pilot’s board is exactly where you’d want it in the center in the event the pilot was taken out of action.”
Isadore was amazed; he had only glanced at her board and he knew it. “Why did you say it took you three seconds to memorize your board?”
Arvolo shrugged, “Saying it only took a second would have sounded like bragging. I’m a very modest individual.”
Isadore started laughing and couldn’t stop. He looked at her and said, “What?” which only made her laugh harder. Arvolo shook his head and left the room to the sound of loud laughter. Isadore managed to get her laughter under control and contacted Dr. Levin and requested an audience to request changes to her board. She thought about the Crazy Cuban and burst out laughing again.
Arvolo walked to his living quarters and came back out to smoke one of the cigars he had purchased during a recent visit to Tampa. Imagine a cigar company that had been in business a hundred and fifteen years. What was amazing was that Edwards still had some ancient Cuban Cigars that had been preserved for eighty years. They cost him most of his month’s pay but were worth the pleasure they brought him. He lit one up and started throwing peanuts to the squirrels that had come running when they saw him. They had become quite friendly and one would even climb up his back and take a nut from his hand. He had named that one Kenny because it had no patience. If he didn’t give it a nut quickly it would chitter at high volume until he did.
He missed Kenny. The back and forth and banter were what used to make his day. Now it was too quiet onboard his ship. He thought about Isadore and wondered if she was going to be a good partner. She was attractive, in a way. He thought it funny that she had tested him to see if he could remember her control board. He wasn’t going to tell her that he had seen the weapons control board when he went to Dr. Morrison’s lab.
He took a puff and leaned back on the bench. Kenny started fussing and Arvolo threw a nut. The grey squirrel ran after it and climbed the tree to store it. He looked up at the sky and saw the evening beginning to grow dark. He sat there and enjoyed his cigar until the stars were shining brightly overhead. He needed to get back out to them. He was feeling the urge to visit Cuba though he had never gone back after he left. There
were just too many memories of the executions of the family he loved. He hoped they understood.
* * *
Captain Aman Forester watched as hundreds of ships arrived at the Alliance Capital and entered normal space. He was in Sierra Space hiding next to another star and wondered what was going on. He counted more than four hundred ships arrive and watched as they continued to appear. Suddenly the numbers escalated and more than a thousand came in and entered the Capital’s planetary system.
“Fleet, I have more than eighteen hundred Alliance Ships jumping in to the Capital and more are arriving. That number is now more than twenty five hundred and they’re continuing to arrive.”
“Keep us informed of the numbers, Captain. We’ll notify you of what to do next.”
“Yes Sir. The number is now over four thousand and still growing.”
* * *
“Admiral Connor, are you ready for departure?”
“Yes, we are Fleet.”
“We need you to make a stop before you leave for your mission.”
Chris looked at Jillian and she shook her head, “What do you need us to do?”
“We’re going to send you the coordinates of a place in the outer Alliance Capital’s system. We need you to take a look in normal space at the organization of the Alliance Fleet that is gathering. You will be beyond their scanner range in the outer system.”
“How far out will we be?”
“Approximately 670 million miles.”
“That’s a light hour.”
“You are correct. We are anticipating that they are going to attack some of the Moet Planets and we need to know how many are being targeted.”
Chris looked at Jillian again and shook his head, “Why do you want to know?”
“We need to determine how to apportion our fleet to stop them.”
Chris smiled and said, “We’ll be jumping in five minutes. Give em hell.”
Jeff smiled, “You know we will.”
* * *
Arvolo and Isadore were on the bridge of the Jukebox and heard the communication. Arvolo looked at Isadore and said to Chris, “Don’t you think we need to help them?”