by Saxon Andrew
“It would have more weight if you did it.”
“I’m not so sure about that, Hope. They expect me to be the aggressive one of the bunch. You’d probably get more traction doing it yourself.”
“Will all of you do it if I get approval?”
Rachel shrugged, “I’m not inclined to go but if all of you are, I’ll not send you out without me.”
“It won’t work.” Everyone looked at John. “Why not?”
“Hope, I’ve had a dream and the Mercenary Transports are not going to one place to launch. They’re all going to different coordinates to launch their White Ships. They’re also going to have their transports surrounded by a cloud of White Ships as they come out of their stardrives. Getting through them is not going to be easy.”
Hope fell back in the easy chair and crossed her arms as Rachel said, “I’m against this if that’s true.”
“WHY!” Hope pouted.
“Because we would have to split up and we’d not be able to defend each other. We work together or not at all.”
Spring looked at Rachel, “Do you think Dad has had John’s dream?”
Rachel tilted her head and straightened it, “I suspect that’s why he’s not included us in his plans.” Rachel looked at Hope, “You can go and ask him but going after those transports is not a good idea under these circumstances.”
Spring said softly, “I’ve had another dream as well.” Everyone looked at her as she handed sleeping AA back to Rachel. “I saw Dad and some kind of small alien with a huge head standing beside him. They were looking at a group of seven huge Aliens with multiple, massive arms and bodies. One of them was asking Dad about using invisible ships.”
“Spring, is this dream happening soon?”
“I don’t think so, Rachel. But it appears using our talent is going to cause a big problem.”
“Not if we don’t use it.” Rachel looked at Hope, “And we’re not going to use it against the transports.”
Hope uncrossed her arms and leaned forward, “Was anyone else in this dream?”
Spring sighed, “Little Ayet and his Father were there and someone else I don’t know.”
Rachel looked at her brother and sisters, “We’re out of this fight.”
• • •
The scouts had all returned to Earth and were preparing for the coming fight. The thirty Mercenary Transports leaving Andromeda weren’t seen as they entered the void and went to high-speed toward the Milky Way. They were ten hours behind the first forty-transports.
• • •
The Junior Guild Master looked at his Journeyman Communicator, “Order all ships to move to their assigned positions. We will all launch together.” He sat back and saw the thirty-nine transports move out of formation. Let’s see how this uppity civilization handled what was coming. One more day and launch operations would begin. It was the second-launch that was going to destroy them.
Chapter Seventeen
Ed was in his Striker at the top of a giant formation containing all the Fleet’s Strikers. He stared out of his viewport and saw his old friends; the stars appeared to be worried. He couldn’t blame them, eighty-thousand White Ships were coming. The construction facilities on Earth had stopped Striker production to modify the Hitters and only seventeen-thousand Strikers remained; he didn’t know if it would be enough. The Hitters had close to double that number but even with them…they would be heavily outnumbered. “They are beautiful, aren’t they?” Ed heard over his helmet’s radio.
“Are you talking about the stars, Jillian?”
“Yes. I grew to love them sitting in our Strikers back when you were training me.”
“I’ve always thought of them as my old friends.”
“What are they saying to you?”
“They’re worried.”
“So am I.”
“WE HAVE MULTIPLE LAUNCHES OUTSIDE THE MOON’S ORBIT! THEY’RE HEADED TOWARD YOUR POSITION, COMMODORE!”
Ed stared at the tactical display on his helmet’s face plate and saw a massive river of White Ships suddenly erupt and start moving together. They formed a wide front and began accelerating toward his formation. “ALL RIGHT! FIRE UP THE BOILERS AND STAY IN FORMATION BEHIND ME!” Ed turned his striker and went to full power on the drive-units. The giant formation of Strikers turned with him and accelerated away from the incoming mass of White Ships. He led the formation away from Earth and toward the Moon; the White Ships turned with him and fell in behind him giving chase. The wave broke into two parts with one moving to get between the Moon and Earth to prevent the strikers from escaping toward the planet. He watched the Moon getting larger by the moment and then, he suddenly turned away from it in a high-G left turn. The giant formation of White Ships turned inside the left turn close to the Moon to cut him off and that’s when the Hitters came over the top of the Moon and hit them in the center of their giant formation.
Ed turned hard right and swept back around toward the White Ships between his formation and Earth, “Break up and go after targets of opportunity. Stay out of the Hitters kill zone.”
• • •
Leit’s Hitters hit the center of the Mercenary formation and blew a giant swath through the middle of it. The White Ships were shocked. These ships looked like theirs but they turned at an impossible speed. Getting a shot at them was next to impossible.
Reddy turned his hitter in a forty-G turn and fired a quick burst with his bow guns and then flipped the tail around and fired at a White Ship moving in on his stern. Both ships blew apart into fragments. He then rolled the ship and dove on two White Ships trying to get on a hitter’s rear. Reddy smiled, they shouldn’t have flown side-by-side. He fired his bow cannon and the large round punched through both White Ships exploding them. Another White Ship was on his tail and he quick fired the tail gun and twisted away. He was through the huge wave of White Ships and heard Leit order his unit to break-right.
The large Hitter formation split and turned with half of them turning left and the other half turning right. The Strikers moved well outside the carnage the hitters were making and flew into the large White Ship formation between them and Earth. Ed had a White Ship slide in behind his Striker and he fired has rear gun and turned slightly to fire at another enemy ship crossing his bow. He hit both and saw six-White Ships moving in on Jillian’s striker far below him; he knew there was no possible way to support her in time. Suddenly, two Hitters appeared out of nowhere, did an impossible turn, and left the six ships burning. Jillian turned hard left and Ed flew in behind her. “STAY OUT OF THEIR KILL ZONE!!”
“Their Zone is getting too large to stay out, Ed! They’re now entering our zone!”
“Then back off and follow me further out!” Ed whipped his striker to the left and Jillian fell in behind him.
Jim Nance whipped his ship around and finally moved behind a White Ship he had been dueling with for ten-minutes. He lined up the shot and a Hitter rushed in and exploded the White Ship before he could fire, “DAMN IT!! WHY AM I EVEN HERE!!”
Ed wondered the same thing. The Strikers became little more than spectators.
• • •
Nine hours later, the surviving White Ships had been herded into a giant globe, with them packed in so tight they were almost touching each other. The Hitters were flying around them at an incredible velocity and moving too fast to be targeted by the White Ship’s beams. Whenever a White Ship attempted to escape, it was immediately destroyed.
Ed shook his head and said to Jillian over his radio, “It looks like a giant atom. The White Ships in center look like a nucleus and the Hitters look like thousands of electrons spinning around it.”
“You’re right. It would be nice if we could take a little credit for this. It appears they rounded them up for us to kill. I don’t feel good about this, Ed.”
The Strikers formed up outside the Hitters and englobed the giant mass of White Ships with their bow Rail-Weapons pointed toward the trapped White Ships; Ed heard Leit say, “
Would you like to do the honors?”
Ed started to reply but suddenly heard, “A GIANT GREY STARFIELD HAS COME AROUND FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SUN AND IS MOVING IN ON EARTH!!”
Ed shook his head. There was no way to get there in time and if they left, the thousands of trapped White Ships would escape and join the attack at the planet.”
“Reddy, Gitle, Amai, keep these ships trapped until we can get back!!”
“We will keep them pinned down, Hitter Leader.”
“Ed, I’m taking the rest of my Hitters and head toward our home! You can’t fly fast enough to get there in time!”
“GO, GO, GO!!”
Twenty thousand Hitters exploded away from the trapped White Ships as six-thousand Hitters continued their incredible weave around the trapped Mercenary Vessels.
Leit stared at the satellite feed coming in from the Control Center and Kee said, “We’re not going to get there in time, are we?” Leit shook his head and continued to accelerate at sixty-Gs.
• • •
Jimmy arrived in the launch cave a moment after his children. They were boarding their Strikers and he yelled, “STAY TOGETHER!” They nodded and activated their drive-units. They exploded out of the cave and flew over the top of Earth and headed toward the giant grey field. They accelerated at thirty-Gs and saw the first White Ships launching from their transports. They flew in over the front wave and began firing their Rail-Weapons on full auto. White Ships began exploding and the Scanner Operator yelled, “Guild Master, our fighters are being attacked by ships that are not appearing on my scanners!”
“SHOW ME!” The scan appeared on his panel and his eyes narrowed.
The five Carpenters turned for another run and suddenly saw thousands of White Ships launching out of the transports suddenly slow and then stop less than a mile from the launch doors. In an instant, there was a huge mass of them blocking the White Ships launching behind them.
• • •
“WHAT’S GOING ON!?!”
“Guild Master, I’ve just been able to look inside one of our fighters and the pilot is dead.”
“WHAT!?”
“He’s slumped over his controls. Something has blown his head off! All of our fighters are being killed as they launch!”
ALL SHIPS, FLEE! ESCAPE NOW!!”
The launch doors on the thirty-transports slammed down and many of the huge doors were hit by launching White Ships causing massive explosions in the launch bays. The transports disappeared a moment later.
The Senior Guild Master punched a button and screamed, “ALL TRANSPORTS IN THE FIRST WAVE, DO NOT GO BACK IN!”
“But Senior Guild Master, our fighters are still out!”
“THEY’RE ONLY PILOTS! THEY’RE PROBABLY ALL DEAD NOW! TURN AND RUN!!”
• • •
Alex recorded the communications and sent them to Ed’s Striker.
• • •
Leit and his ships came roaring in expecting the planet to be under attack and found masses of White Ships starting to drift apart. Jimmy’s Striker suddenly appeared and a moment later, his children came into view, “What happened Leit?”
“Give me a moment.” Leit flew in and came to a hard stop just outside one of the masses of unmoving ships. He moved in front of a White Ship and stared in the viewport. He hit his side thruster and moved over in front of another White Ship. “Senior Master, all of the pilots in these ships are dead.”
“How did that happen?!”
“I don’t know. I saw two pilots’ bodies slumped over their control panels without a head. Something killed all of them and pulled their drive controls back. Director, I have to go back.”
“Go!”
Leit turned and accelerated away at an impossible speed. His twenty-thousand Hitters turned and followed close behind.
• • •
Jimmy stared at the thousands of White Ships floating in space and heard, “Uhhh…Dad.”
“Yes, Rachel.”
“We need to discuss something with you.”
“What is that, Honey?”
“Spring, why don’t you tell him.” Jimmy listened and started shaking his head after a few moments. Rushing out with his children to attack the transports may not have been a very good idea.
• • •
Leit was moving at his best speed and wondered what had happened to the pilots that died a short distance from their homes. Whatever killed the pilots had also pulled the drive-lever back to stop them. Did the Senior Director or his Master have a weapon they kept hidden? He came over Earth and saw bright flashes out toward the Moon; the fight was still going on; White Ships were trying to escape. He shook his head, did they? He knew his brain wasn’t good enough to answer this one…but…if they had such an unstoppable weapon, why did they need him to fight for them? It didn’t make sense. The Senior Master’s expression was just as shocked as his…or he’s a gifted actor. This had to be a new outside agency getting involved in the fight. Who could it be? Why would they do it? He put it out of his mind, he had to focus on his pilots.
• • •
The thousands of pilots trapped in a small space began talking to each other. Many of them wanted to make a huge rush to break out but no one would volunteer to start it. They were arguing among themselves and getting angrier by the moment. Then one said, “You wasted time. Look what’s coming.” They looked at their panels and saw the massive fleet of Hitters roaring in at high speed from the direction of the planet. One of the pilots said loudly, “WHY YOU KILL US?! YOU ONE OF US.”
Reddy heard the pilot and said, “We’re defending our home.”
“I see no home.”
“The planet is our home.”
“How?”
Reddy ignored the pilot and another said, “Yes, how?” Soon, hundreds were asking.
Leit arrived and heard them over his panel but Ed interrupted the transmissions. “Leit, I want you to hear this.”
Ed played the intercepted Mercenary transmissions and Leit’s eyes closed. “They’re only pilots’, hit him like a stunner. He took a breath and said, “All Hitters, stop and surround those fighters from forty-miles out.” The incoming wave of Hitters roared through the ranks of Strikers and moved into formation surrounding the trapped White Ships. He heard them asking questions and he activated his broadcast unit, “You be silent!” He had to keep this simple. “You ask why we kill you. You are attacking home.”
“Why you on planet?”
“Masters left us to die. No food.”
“Many of us have been left.”
“Listen to your Master!” Leit played the recording.
“What is, only pilots?”
“You have no value to him. Your Master has left you to die.”
“Why?”
“His life more important than all of you.”
There was a long silence and Leit waited. “Why planet home?”
“They gave us food.”
“Why?”
“They value us more than masters.”
“Why?”
“They are good.”
“What kind of food?”
“The best.”
“Best?”
“Best ever tasted.” Another long silence followed the exchange and Leit said, “We traded our ships for food.”
“You in them now.”
“My new Master allowed us to use them.”
“For what?”
“To prevent you harming our home.”
“Where do you sleep, if no ship?”
“We no longer sleep alone.”
“Where you sleep?”
“We all sleep in huge buildings.”
“Why?”
“My Master gave us gift.”
“Gift?”
“He gave us freedom.”
“What is Freedom?”
“Going where you want when you want.” Leit paused and said, “Just like your masters.”
“You sound different.”
“Is the food good?”
“Yes.”
“I want this freedom. Will you be master?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Not my power.”
“Who has power?”
“My Master.”
• • •
Ed hit his panel, “Sir, are you hearing this?”
“I am,” Jimmy answered.
“I’m open to suggestions here!”
“When you led Leit and his pilots to Earth, you said it was the right thing to do. Is killing them now the right thing to do?”
Ed rolled his eyes, “No, it isn’t.”
“Talk to them.”
• • •
Ed changed to the Mercenary frequency and heard, “Ask Master to give freedom.”
“You will have to trade.”
“Our small home?”
“Yes.”
“Leit, I’ll take it from here.”
Leit said, “Yes, Master,” and silence slammed down on the giant formation of White Ships. This was the new Master!
Ed pressed two buttons on his helmet connecting him to the conversation and he said, “I will give you freedom. I will give you large home. I will give you food…”
A voice interrupted him, “Is food good?”
Ed smiled and said, “You’ve had none better. You will trade for my gifts?”
“Our small home.”
“Yes.” Ed paused and said, “If you want freedom, follow me.” Ed pressed a button on his panel and said, “Jillian, get the Strikers away and Leit move your hitters from around them. I need to see if they’ll take advantage of the situation and continue their attack.”
The Strikers accelerate away from the giant formation and the Hitters just seemed to disappear, they moved so fast. Ed’s Striker was the only one that remained and he turned slowly and began moving away.
Later, he decided that the Pilots weren’t stupid. They were just uneducated and given a limited vocabulary to interact with the universe around them. The Mercenary Pilots knew they were stranded. They also knew the Urriks flying the fast ships could wipe them out easily. It wasn’t really a huge surprise when all of them moved together and followed Ed’s Striker.