by Saxon Andrew
“Why not!?”
“It’s headed away from our galaxy toward open space.”
“What’s in front of it?”
“Nothing but that distant spiral galaxy.”
“What speed was it traveling?”
“More than ten times our maximum speed.”
“Send the recording of your scan directly to me.”
“Yes Fleet Leader.”
• • •
Pam heard a gong and said, “Computer?”
“Our ship was scanned by a Traugh Warship as we left the moon.”
“Why didn’t we detect it?”
“I did when we emerged from the cave. It was holding position outside the edge of the planetary system we were in. Its stardrive wasn’t activated so the sonic scanners didn’t detect its presence.”
Pam looked at Sparky and he sighed as he rubbed his aching ribs, “We have to leave the galaxy a long way before we turn around. We’ll launch the message missile once we can no longer detect one of their ships.” Pam nodded and pushed the thruster handle fully forward.
Sparky saw the Traugh Warship disappear and he pressed the button that fired the message missile. It streaked out of the ship and thirty minutes later the computer announced, “The missile has broadcast the data.”
Sparky looked at Pam, “Stop the ship!”
“Why?”
“We need to see if there’s a message for us.”
Pam pulled the thruster handle back and the ship slowed. She used the forward thrusters to bring the ship to a stop. The sat in open space for an hour staring down at the Milky Way. Pam looked at Sparky, “I really would like to sit in your lap, but I don’t think your ribs could take it.”
Sparky blew out a heavy sigh, “I really wish you could.”
“Message coming in.”
“Decipher it and play it on the main monitor.”
They looked up and saw the Prophet smiling at them, “If you’re receiving this message then you have survived. You have no idea how much that pleases me. I recorded this message about five months after you entered Traugh Territory to replace the first one I sent. Our building schedule is running behind. Your mission has taken on a greater importance than when you originally accepted it and we desperately need you to continue keeping the Traugh’s attention on you. I know you only agreed to a year but we desperately need you to add another six months, if that is possible.” The Prophet paused and said, “The importance of your survival takes precedence over your intent to defend my home world. I am ordering you to not do anything to defend my planet if it comes under attack. The Traugh will be waiting and you will not prevent its destruction and will only place yourselves in jeopardy. Your species needs you to do as I ask and I beg you not to take the risk. I’m so proud of what you’re doing and all of us that sent you want you to know that you’ve exceeded all of our hopes and expectations to have lived for this long. Thank you for all that you’ve done and what you will do.”
• • •
Pam looked at Sparky, “What are we going to do?”
Sparky sighed and stared at the monitor with the Prophet’s face still on it. “Something’s going on back on Earth and I know the Prophet wouldn’t have asked us to do this without a really good reason.”
“How do you know that?”
“Would you ask that Earth be allowed to be destroyed without a good reason?” Pam stared at him and shook her head, “No, I guess I wouldn’t.”
“For me it boils down to how we can be most effective in carrying out our mission. Would defending a primitive planet from attack be better than destroying the facilities that provides them weapons to attack Earth?”
“I know you’re right but I hate it?”
“The Prophet’s right. We have to do what he requests and I know how much pain he has over asking us to do it.”
“So what do we do now?”
“The sonic scanners haven’t detected any Traugh Warships following us. I’d like to sit here and see if you can sit in my lap for a while.” Pam smiled and walked from her chair to Sparky’s. She slowly sat down on his legs and gingerly leaned back on his shoulder. He winced and she tried to stand up but he held her down. “Just give me a minute.” She leaned back and he put his arms around her and stared at the magnificent Galaxy spinning below them. It was worth fighting to defend.
• • •
The Supreme Council sat in silence waiting for the Ultimate Leader to arrive. Finally, Fang looked at Growler, “Do you know why we were called in?”
“No, I don’t.”
“I was told that I would be replaced if I didn’t come.”
Everyone in the room knew that the replacement would be chosen immediately after the current leader’s death. “Why would you not come?”
“My mate is having our first child. We’ve tried to have children for years and this is my first.”
“Did you tell the Great Leader?”
“I did and I just told you his response.”
The nine Supreme Leaders looked at each other. Something serious had happened. The UL entered the huge chamber from a door in the front wall and they all stood up and bowed their heads. The UL went to his seat and said, “Sit!” The nine leaders kept their heads down. Something had the Leader very upset.
He stared at them for a few moments and lifted a device off the table he turned around and pointed it at the giant monitor behind his chair. A small image appeared and the Traugh squinted to see what it was. The Leader turned around and said, “The video you’re about to see is of that ship we’ve been searching to find flying away from a moon in a planetary system that was thoroughly searched. The reason the image is small is that if I bring the view in closer you will miss the most important part of the recording.” He turned around and pressed a button on the device in his hand. The Traugh looked at the video and the small image shot off the screen almost faster than their eyes could follow. Growler started shaking his head and looked at the UL, “There is no possible way one of our ships could move at that speed even with overloaded reactors. How far away was the ship that recorded this?”
“Over a billion miles from that ship. It was outside the edge of that planetary system with its stardrive shut down.”
“Did it attempt to follow it?”
“For a short time it did but it was out of range of its scanners in less than four minutes.”
“Did our ship get a line on its course?”
The UL looked at the group and said, “It was headed out into interstellar space directly toward the large spiral galaxy that’s moving toward us. During the entire time our ship recorded that vessel, its trajectory didn’t change one degree.” The nine Traugh Leaders were silent. The UL waited and then said something that shocked them. “My scientists have determined that it would arrive at that galaxy in less than three days traveling at the speed that was observed.” The UL saw their shock and shook his head, “The prior Fleet Leader I had killed suggested that there was a real possibility that the being who stole the ship went to that galaxy when it fled our domain. I thought he was insane at the time but now I wish I had not killed him for failing to find that ship. I’m of the opinion that the being who took the ship originally, is no longer on board. That ship has been modified and has been sent here to scout our civilization.”
The UL looked at Growler, “Even if we broadcast that we’re going to destroy the home planet of the being that originally escaped with the ship, the current occupants could care less if we did.”
Grinning Death stood and said, “What do you think they’re doing coming here?”
“The being that stole the ship is telepathic. I’m reasonably certain it told the civilization it encountered in that other galaxy about our lust for conquest. They modified the ship and came here to confirm it. I’m reasonably certain they found the confirmation they needed.”
Growler emitted a low growl that he was famous for making when he was angry and stood, “They can’t be that far ahea
d of us technologically.” Everyone in the room looked at him including the Ultimate Leader. He saw them staring and said, “It fled every time it was confronted. I can see that the ship is faster and probably has a more powerful force field, which would account for that increased speed. But we’re not that far behind them.”
The UL’s eyes narrowed, “What are you suggesting?”
“Greatest Leader, we’ve done nothing to improve our warships for more than a hundred years. Our scientists need to start working on a more powerful fuel for our reactors and put their complete attention on building ships that can compete with that vessel.”
The assembled leaders stared at him and Growler shook his head. The UL saw him and said, “What are you not saying?”
“It might get me killed Great Leader.”
“The time for fearing to tell the truth is over. What?!”
“We have to stop building ships strictly for sale and start mass producing them. We must come together as a species to meet this threat.”
Fang snarled, “And just where are you going to find the pilots to fly these ships?”
Growler looked at Fang and knew he would not give up his wealth willingly. “One of the first things we need to do is stop using our warriors to fire the disintegrators. Everyone in this room knows we can use computers to do that job but have not done so because it gave us a way to keep our young warriors occupied until they could one day purchase a vessel. I suspect most of them have flown the ships they’re serving on at one time or another. I know I did when I was a disintegrator operator. Every ship in the fleet has eight crew members on board capable of flying a warship.”
The other Supreme Leaders started yelling at Growler and the UL saw that they weren’t capable of seeing the real danger facing them. He said, “SILENCE!” The room grew silent and he said, “All of you will go and develop a plan on what has to be done to meet this threat. You will come back here in ten days and present your plan to the Council!” The UL stood and left the room. The other Leaders glared at Growler as they exited the chamber. He stood up after they had left and went to his ship.
• • •
Pam flew the ship toward a hideout and heard a gong. “Computer?”
“I’m intercepting a conversation between the highest ranking leader of the Traugh and one of his subordinates. My protocols indicate you should be informed.”
Sparky said, “Out it on the wall speaker.”
• • •
“It appears the other Supreme Leaders are not forward looking at what this threat represents to us.”
“No Greatest Leader, they’re only concerned with maintaining their wealth.”
“All of them will be replaced before the next meeting with new leaders that can appreciate the danger that ship represents.”
• • •
Pam looked at Sparky and saw his eyes open wide.
• • •
“Are you convinced that the ship we’ve been chasing was actually modified in that other galaxy?”
“All the evidence points to it. The escape course they took was directly toward it and they’re probably there at this moment reporting what they discovered.”
“Is that why you’re communicating on an open frequency?”
“You’re right. We’ll have to find a way to encrypt our communications quickly. Do you really think we can improve our ships enough to take on that ship?”
“We just have to start modifying our existing ships to use computer directed disintegrators and find a way to increase the power of our reactors. If we can do that, our ships will be able to match that ship’s speed and also produce a stronger force field. Getting new ships mass produced is going to take some time but if we start now, we can make it happen quickly.”
“Be here for the next meeting with a plan to make it happen.”
“Does this mean I can take that planet back under my control?”
“Growler, I need you to get the new Council organized and the planets moving toward mass production of ships. I can use the help of your forces in making that happen. You can have it back along with many more once this issue is resolved.”
“Yes, Greatest Leader. I’ll send my Fleet Leader to start organizing our fleets.”
• • •
“Pam, move the ship above the galaxy and computer, put that conversation in a message missile’s storage. Earth has to know about this now.”
Pam turned the ship and pushed the thruster handle forward, “We messed up, didn’t we?”
“It does look that way. It wasn’t intentional but the end result is not a good thing. The Prophet has to be given this information now!”
The ship arrived high above the galaxy and Sparky said, “Query. Is the message missile ready to launch?”
“Insert in it that we’re going to stand by to hear what the Prophet wants us to do about this development.”
“Insertion done. Launching now.”
They felt the slight vibration of the missile leaving its tube and Pam shook her head, “This is terrible.”
“Wait until we hear from the Prophet. He’ll tell us what to do.”
• • •
Samantha Cole sat in her command chair and fought the boredom of waiting for a message that never came. The scouts had reported a few days earlier and she knew it would be months before they reported again. The boredom was mind numbing even with the Milky Way spinning below her. After a few months, it didn’t move her as much as it once did. She stood up and decided to take another shower. Anything to make the long hours pass.
“Incoming message!”
Sam’s eyes flew wide open and she jumped into her chair. “Translate and put it on the monitor wall speaker. She listened to the scout’s computer report a conversation between two high-ranking Traugh Leaders and then she heard it. Her heart started beating wildly and she said, “Insert that message into a missile and send it immediately to the Prophet and Admiral.”
“Message inserted. Missile launched.” Sam sat in her command chair and started shaking. She already missed the boredom and promised she would never complain about it again.
Chapter Eighteen
“Incoming message.”
“Put it on the monitor.” Pam and Sparky looked up at the monitor and saw the Prophet again.
“Both of you are looking well. How are your ribs, Sparky?”
Sparky’s mouth fell open and Pam said, “Is this a recording?”
The Prophet smiled, “No, I had the pilot of the ship that was receiving your transmissions move out in deep space between you and the Andromeda Galaxy. She’s relaying our conversation between her ship and ten others that are linking with her systems. If the Traugh are able to track the signal, they’ll see that your communications are being sent and received from the direction of Andromeda.”
“You’re trying to make them think the other galaxy hoax is real?”
“I am.”
“But they’re going to start modernizing their fleets and mass producing more powerful ships.”
“Let them. They’re going to have a difficult time finding a new reactor material that will do the job. Building inferior ships is not our worry. It’s the numbers they have to use against us now that has us losing sleep. Even inferior warships can overwhelm a planet if the numbers are great enough. At the moment, they don’t need more ships to destroy Earth and Bosrean.”
Sparky blew out a breath, “So we didn’t make a huge mistake?”
“No, you actually accomplished what we hoped we could do when we sent our ships to attack them. You’ve put their focus on Andromeda and we’re hoping it stays there for a long time.”
“But if they start mass producing warships, they will only be more powerful when Earth has to confront them.”
“That’s true, Pam. But if we can build enough ships to take the fight to their turf, we can work on knocking those numbers down. We’re dead if they come to Earth first. We’ve been anticipating that they might send scouts o
ut in our galaxy to find where your ship was modified. It’s caused us many sleepless nights praying that won’t happen.”
“How does this new situation change our mission?”
“There’s no further need for you to stay. They are of the opinion that your ship went to Andromeda so you’re free to come home if you want.”
“I thought you needed for them to see our ship destroyed?”
“We did, Sparky. But that was needed only as long as they believed your ship was one of theirs. That is no longer the case.”
“And what happens if they send scouts to Andromeda and don’t find our ship or a civilization capable of making the changes they saw?”
The Prophet’s eyes narrowed, “What are you saying?”
“Pam and I have found the locations of sixty-three ship manufacturing facilities above Traugh Planets. You still can’t allow them to see our new warships yet and we think we can help our cause the most by staying here and attacking those facilities.”
The Prophet shook his head, “I’m sorry. I thought from listening to your conversations that you are no longer driven to kill.”
Sparky and Pam looked at each other and Pam sighed, “We are no longer driven by those demons. You’re right in that belief. Seeing the Traugh has shown us what we could become and that scares us more than our need to kill others. However, I do have a burning desire to kill them. We’ve seen how they treat their conquered civilizations and detest everything they are.”
“What about you, Sparky?”
“It’s hard to want to kill when one learns how to love. I’m with Pam. We’re here for a reason and we’re the only ones that can start knocking down their numbers.”
“Those ship building stations have to be strongly defended.”
“They are.”
“That will get you killed.”
“Probably, but if I leave now, I’ll not sleep well knowing I could have done something to stop them or at least slow them down.”
The Prophet looked to the right for a moment and covered the microphone. He spoke to someone out of the camera’s view for a few minutes and then uncovered the microphone. “You’ve made a good point but the two of you have done more than anyone could expect. We’ve all felt bad about sending you out to die with no hope of surviving. I think all of us want you to come back home and be safe.”