by Saxon Andrew
“Why?”
“You’re going to visit your sister.”
“I am not!”
“If you don’t do as I tell you, I will personally blast you into dust when I arrive home. I can’t replace my children easily but you can be replaced before the day is over.”
His Mate’s face turned white and she knew that she had made a mistake. She lowered her head, “I will have everything ready quickly. How will I transport our things?”
The Commander smiled; he really cared about his mate but she could be so stubborn. “I’ll send a commercial ship over to pick you up in three hours. Contact Gelt and Sendra to meet you there. Take our two young children with you. Be ready!” His Mate bowed and he ended the contact. His Scanning Leader appeared in his open door and he motioned him in.
“Sire, there is something unusual in the scans I’ve made.”
“What is that?”
“Immediately after the battleships opened fire on the ocean, twelve underwater disturbances radiated out from the blasts.” The Commander tilted his head, “The water was moving close to a hundred miles an hour but nothing appeared to be making them.”
“Could they have been caused by the pressure of the blasts?”
“I have no way of knowing. However, sixty miles out from the origination point, they disappeared.”
“Move eight more battleships over the ocean and I want it scanned down to the planet’s bedrock.” The Leader bowed and left the room. He thought about what the Leader said and looked at an aerial map of the ocean. He picked up his communicator and a face appeared on his monitor, “I want every attack ship in our inventory to go to the site of the disturbance in the ocean and form up five hundred miles out from the center of it. Have them close in and report anything out of the ordinary.”
“Yes Sire.”
The Commander sat back in his chair and waited. He made another contact and the commercial pilot arrived at his home in two hours instead of three. His mate was ready and she boarded the ship with her three children and lifted off the planet. The ship was allowed clearance through the warships surrounding the planet and it jumped away.
• • •
Cinny jumped and was immediately surrounded by fifty warships. She jumped again and was surrounded by eighty. The blasts hit the Nemesis’ force field and the small ship was rocked. Whippet yelled, “Get out of here?”
“Just six more seconds.”
Ana announced, “There are three battleships over the site where Grant jumped in. Delaying any longer serves no purpose.”
Cinny’s eyes went to slits and she hit the primary jump circuit. The Nemesis disappeared and remained in subspace a hundred thousand miles away. “Anything on what’s happening to Grant!?!”
“The warships are hitting the ocean with their main blasters.”
“Did you detect a jump signature?”
“I have not.”
Cinny put her face in her hands and Whippet came over and put his hand on her shoulder, “We wouldn’t be able to detect one from this far out with the disturbance being made by those blasters.”
“I need to go see if he’s safe.”
Whippet shook his head, “We should stay with the plan. If he’s safe, he’ll be waiting on us.”
“And if he’s not?”
“Then I hope you can see the benefit of staying with the plan.” Cinny looked in Whippet’s eyes and then nodded.
• • •
Biggy was cruising close to the ocean’s floor when he saw motion in the distance. He adjusted the membrane over his eyes and saw a long line of small craft moving through the water toward him. He said, “It appears you were right.”
Tricky jerked, “Hey! Not so loud!”
“Oops, I’m sorry. Using my vocal chords without opening my mouth is something I’m not accustomed to doing.”
“I don’t think they’ll see us.”
“It doesn’t appear they do at the moment.”
The line of ships moved closer and Tricky said, “We really don’t know much about your abilities, do we?”
“No, we don’t.”
“Let’s do this; can you match their speed?”
The Croc chuckled and Tricky flinched at the nose. “Sorry. They’re moving at fifty miles an hour. I could move that fast with no effort.”
“Are any of them behind the others?”
“Three are lagging.”
“When they pass, see if you can sneak up behind one and take a bit out of it. We need an idea about how powerful your jaws are.”
“You should come out of my mouth and cling to my head.”
“Good idea, open up.”
Tricky went to a foot long and climbed out of Biggy’s mouth. He went to a spot between his eyes and anchored his legs to the Croc’s hide. Biggy began rising toward the surface miles above him. He arrived a mile below the surface as the long line of small ships passed overhead. He rose into the turbulence produced by their engines and began accelerating toward one of them that was a hundred yards behind the others.
• • •
“Janruk, get your ship in line!”
“Sire, this sack of bulge should be used to make trashcans. I’m doing the best I can.”
Janruk hit his control panel with his hand and yelled, “COME ON!” He looked at his scanner but all he could see was the turbulence from the line of ships he was following. He shook his head and looked out of his cockpit to the right. He thought he saw something. He put his face closer to the glass and saw a huge…eye. His mouth flew open and then all he saw was teeth.
• • •
Biggy saw the pilot of the small vessel look at him and he decided he shouldn’t wait any longer. He turned and rushed toward the nose of the craft and bit into it. The front of the eight foot long craft disappeared. The back of the ship lost control and began whipping around in circles as it fell toward the ocean floor far below. Biggy accelerated away from the site of the attack and chewed on the large piece of metal in his mouth. It tasted…excellent. Tricky waited for Biggy to spit the metal out of his mouth and was surprised when he didn’t. He guessed you learned something new every day.
• • •
The Commander of the Attack Craft kept his eyes on his scanner and suddenly saw something appear behind his line of ships. He twisted the scanner’s controls and brought the object into focus and saw it was one of his ships that was spinning out of control toward the ocean floor far below. “STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” The line came to a halt and he brought the view in closer. It was hard to see but the front of the ship was missing. He contacted the Defense Commander, “Sire, one of my ships has been destroyed.”
The Commander stood up from is chair, “HOW!”
“I don’t know. The pilot was complaining about how his ship was not operating properly and a few moments later, I saw it spiraling out of control toward the ocean floor. It appears the front of it was missing.”
The Commander sat back down. “Did you detect an explosion?”
“No, Sire.”
The Commander thought for a few moments and almost ignored the event as equipment failure but then said, “I want the remains of that ship examined.”
“Sire, it’s approaching the ocean floor which is twenty miles below us.”
“I don’t care. I want it brought up and examined.”
“It will take some time to get the necessary ships here.”
“If I have to repeat myself, you won’t be the one doing it. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Sire.” The Leader shook his head and knew he should have sent the ship out for repairs. He pressed his communicator and sent the coordinates of the lost attack craft to his Support Leader and started the line moving again. They finally arrived at the original site of the disturbance and nothing had shown up on his search. He dismissed the ships and took his ship out of the water and flew back to the site where he had lost Janruk. This was not going to be easy. However, he was not going back to his base until it was don
e. He knew what awaited him if he did.
• • •
“Cinny, I have an unarmed commercial vessel leaving the planet.”
“What?”
“The warships are notifying each other that it has clearance to leave.”
Cinny looked at Whippet, “What do you think?”
“This is highly unusual. Commercial ships are normally grounded during combat operations and are not allowed to interfere with military activities.”
Cinny nodded, “Then there must be something important on that vessel.”
Whippet shrugged, “Something or someone.” Whippet watched the ship on the display, “I have to believe that it is going to another Raider planet.”
Cinny moved the Nemesis into subspace and waited. The small jump track appeared and she pressed the thruster control and followed it away from the planet they had just attacked. It arrived at another planet and Cinny edged into normal space. The planet’s surface had a massive city that covered most of the landmasses. She went back into subspace and locked he coordinates into the data banks. She hit the jump button and prayed Grant was waiting for her.
• • •
Grant waited in space and knew the plan but had no idea if the Nemesis and Cinny had survived the attack. Three hours passed and they felt like an eternity. The shuttle’s computer was down and the jump drive along with it. He thought about attempting a repair but knew if he failed he would die of starvation if something happened to the Nemesis. The seconds seem to drag and he forced himself to lay back in his chair, close his eyes, and focus on all that had happened. After an hour he opened his eyes. Something wasn’t right. He thought about what he had remembered and began looking at other events to see if there was anything to corroborate the thought. He closed his eyes and remembered the meeting with the High Priest when they had retrieved the key. That’s where he found it. Things were not as they appeared to be and he had to discuss this with Cinny…alone. Suddenly, he heard, “It’s good to see you made it.”
“CINNY!”
“Are you alright?”
“The shuttle is damaged. The computer and jump drive are down and there is extensive heat damage to the interior.”
“Is it worth saving? We have two others?”
“We should bring it on board and check it out. You never know when you might need three. How did your plan work out?”
“We found a major Raider planet. It’s inhabited by billions and most of the surface is just one giant metropolis.”
“That’s great. The thrusters still work; I’ll bring the shuttle on board and Whippet can take a look at the systems.”
“It’s good to see you’re safe, Grant.”
“I feel the same, Cinnykins.”
Cinny’s eyes teared up. Grant hadn’t called her that since they were twelve years old. Thank the Creator he was alive.
Chapter Nine
The Planetary Commander looked at the Fleet Commander on his wall monitor, “Have you discovered anything since the attack?”
“One of my attack ships was lost during the search of the area around the disturbance in the ocean.”
“Oh, I didn’t hear anything about that.”
“It took four weeks to recover it off the ocean floor. It was twenty miles down and wasn’t easy to get at.”
“What did you find out?”
“It appears that it was bitten in half.”
“Say what?”
“I know; I find it hard to believe as well but the evidence is clear. Some kind of creature bit the front of the attack craft off. We’ve not been able to find it in any subsequent scans.”
“Are you saying a creature big enough to bite off the end of an attack craft exists in your ocean?”
“It didn’t before the incident. I’m forced to believe that the humans brought it here. We’ve brought in some of our best ships to scan the oceans but nothing has turned up. Whatever did it is not showing on our scanners.”
“How big was it?”
“At least forty feet long. The thing that bothers me is that the ship that jumped away from the site wasn’t much longer than that. I don’t see how it could have transported it.”
“And nothing else has happened since?”
“No. However, one of my scanners told me during the attack that twelve streams of turbulent water moved away from the site immediately after we started firing our major beams into the water.”
“Are you suggesting twelve of those creatures were delivered by a ship barely longer than forty feet?”
“I know it sounds ridiculous but I don’t have any other answers.”
The Fleet Commander stared at the display and said, “We know the Humans were advanced in Genetic manipulation of life forms. This might be one of their creations.”
“What could a life form do to harm us?”
“Don’t assume anything. If that’s what it is, you can be certain it’s deadly. Keep me informed about what happens.”
“I will.”
“By the way, did you send your family away?”
“I sent them away right after the attack.”
The Fleet Commander stared at the Planetary Commander and shook his head, “I don’t know if that was a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“If we can assume they followed me to your planet, and we know that ship was there…” The Planetary Commander turned white. “You might want to send them somewhere else…and quickly.”
The Fleet Commander’s display went dark and he knew what the other Commander was doing. He looked at the images of the destroyed attack craft and saw that whatever had destroyed it had jaws that were massive. He looked over his shoulder at his Science Leader, “How hard is the hull of an attack fighter?”
The Leader punched some buttons on his panel and said, “They’re as hard as the hull of a major battleship, Sire.” The Commander shook his head and wondered what was going to happen. He decided to move his family to another location far from the galaxy where the attack had taken place.
• • •
“Sire, the Planetary Commander on the planet that was attacked has asked for an extended leave.”
The Principal looked up from his console and said, “Why?”
“He says he’s been on active duty for ten years and he’s having problems with his children.”
The Principal snorted, “I can understand that. My eldest wants to kill me and take my place. I was considering demoting him for the loss of the ships in his fleet. This makes it easier. Tell him he is now in our reserves and can take all the time he needs. When he requests to return to his post, refuse him.”
“Yes, Sire.”
• • •
The Planetary Commander looked at his new orders and saw that his replacement would arrive in two days. He was to bring him up to speed on the current situation and would then be in the reserves. He thought about the attack craft that had been recovered and brought undercover to a small building where it was inspected by a team of six scientists. He met with them and discovered that a life form had destroyed it. He thanked the scientists before pulling out his blaster and vaporizing all six of them. He used the blaster to burn the exposed front of the attack craft and then called for a demolition team to come and pick it up for recycling. He knew that the Fleet Commander and he were the only ones that knew about the biological attack and he was certain the other Commander would say nothing about leading the humans to his planet. It would be death if he did. If the Commander was right and the Humans followed his family to Bergold… He needed to disappear quickly before things started happening.
• • •
Three days later, he took a commercial vessel and gathered his family. He purchased a small ship and fled to a planet outside the Raider Dominion. The new Planetary Defense Commander wondered why the previous Commander was in such a hurry to leave but didn’t think much about it. Later, he understood why.
• • •
Eight months passed and the
crew of the Nemesis spent their time on board. One of them would go to purchase supplies occasionally but for the most part, they stayed on board and used the computer to look at the detailed history of their former home planet. Whippet left for four months to visit his family and it didn’t seem the same without him.
• • •
Cinny took off her helmet and looked at Grant, “When are the children going to start playing?”
“It shouldn’t be too much longer. The Crocs needed time to grow and Iggy told me that if there’s a good food source for them, they should be close to full size in about nine months.”
“They can grow that fast?” Grant shrugged. “Maybe we should go check up on Iggy and Slick.”
Grant smiled and said, “This boredom is getting to you, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
Grant looked up, “Ana, we’re taking the scooters to check up on Iggy.”
“I can take you there.”
“No, save the fuel. We’ll stay in touch and call if we need you.”
“Be careful.”
“You know us.”
“That’s why I said it.”
• • •
They arrived at the lagoon and were welcomed by Slick, Iggy, and their new hatchlings and spent time catching up and telling them that a new planet had been found to attack but the success of the first hatchlings had to be determined before any more were dropped. The youngsters were highly disappointed but understood.
Grant looked at Cinny, “Let’s go swimming.”
“Is it safe?”
Grant looked at Iggy, “Are there any dangerous life forms inside the force field?”
“No, I removed the bulk of them and my children have taken care of the rest. Why do you ask?”
“Cinny and I are going to take a swim.”
“I didn’t know you were amphibious.”
“Actually, we’re not. We can’t live underwater but we can swim.”
“Have a good time.”
Grant stood up and started taking off his armor. “What are you doing?”