by Saxon Andrew
“Are you really certain about that?”
“I am.”
“I pray that you are right.” The Lead Enforcer extended a large pad and the Guild Master pressed his hand on it. “Will you please…”
“NO, I WILL NOT!!” The Lead Enforcer pressed one of his hands against the pad and a printer created the contract. The assistant took it to the Supreme Guild Master and he smiled, “I’ll talk to you after this is over.” The Lead Enforcer nodded and walked out of the room. The large Urrik watched him leave and remembered the pilot staring at him during the hearing. His eyes narrowed and he left the Law Center.
He arrived back at the Guild Building and said, “Recall all of our ships currently being used in defense contracts. Prepare the transports to launch and tell them not to come back unless the goal is accomplished! They will leave when the defense ships arrived here.”
His apprentice started to speak but stopped; it would be a waste of time. He went to his station and began sending out orders.
• • •
Ed sat in Jimmy’s office and was close to being kicked out of the service, “Sir…”
“You will follow your orders!”
Ed stared at Jimmy and said, “Jimmy, you can’t order me to do this.”
“Yes, I can and I have.”
“Why?”
Jimmy stared at Ed, “Because I need you.”
“My sailors need me more!” Ed stared at Jimmy and said, “What’s going on?”
Jimmy stared at him and said, “I need you to defend my family.”
“I’m doing that!!” Ed saw Jimmy’s expression and sat down, “Tell me why and I’ll do what you want.”
“Ayet has sent a message that the Mercenary Guild has paid the fee. You don’t think staying here to defend Earth is reason enough.”
“I can do a better job defending it out there.”
“Ed, I’ll agree to allow you to lead our fleets with one condition.”
“What is that?”
“That you will not be involved in combat.” Ed stared at Jimmy for a long moment before Jimmy said, “That’s the only way, Ed.”
Ed sighed and said, “I’ll stay out.”
“There’s one more thing I need you to do.”
“What is that?”
Jimmy told him and Ed lowered his head.
• • •
A week later, a Skeer appeared in Jimmy’s office, “Ayet asked me to tell you that the Mercenary Fleet is launching in a week.”
“Tell him I said thank you.” The Skeer nodded and Jimmy pressed a button on his panel, “Ed, the Mercenary Fleet is launching in a week. You need to get moving.”
“Yes, Sir.” Ed pressed his helmet and said, “Time to go. You know your arrival positions so get moving.”
Ed held Jillian in his arms and she was crying, “I should be going with you!”
Ed rubbed her big belly and smiled, “Angelica can’t handle the Gs.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be back. Just do what Jimmy tells you and he’ll keep you up to date on what’s happening.”
“ED, DON’T LEAVE ME!!”
“I’ll never do that, my Love.” He kissed her and climbed the ladder into his Striker. He looked back at her and closed the cockpit. A few moment later, Jillian watched him leave the launch cave and she broke down in earnest.
• • •
Ed flew into orbit above Earth at full speed where Leit was waiting for him. Leit moved in close to his left wing and Ed activated the stardrive. It surrounded both ships and they disappeared instantly. “Do you know what’s coming?”
“No. We’ll find out soon enough.”
“Jimmy ordered all the pilots with children to remain behind to defend the planet should any of them break through. Do you know anything about that?”
“Jillian’s there as well but I’m here.”
“That’s true.”
“Who better to defend Earth than parents.”
“That’s true as well.”
“Have all the teams been assigned?”
“They have and they’ve perfected their formation.”
“That’s good. Settle in, we have some ways to go.”
“Ed.”
“Yes.”
“I’m worried about what we might face.”
“Get in line, at least you can fight.”
Leit shrugged, “I’m sorry you’ve been ordered not to participate. I don’t know if I could do it.”
“I know. But Command has a price. I’m having to pay it.”
“Better you than me.”
“I’m considering holding you out as well.”
“What…what did you say? I have difficulty hearing some orders.”
“Selective hearing?”
“What?”
Ed laughed. It was his last laugh between Earth and Andromeda.
• • •
The giant Mercenary Fleet moved through the Andromeda Galaxy and began moving into attack formation when it arrived at the outer edge where starts were scarce. The Fleet Guild Master said over his shoulder, “Order full speed.” A moment later, the front of his formation exploded.
• • •
Ed watched the transports forming up and shook his head. Five-thousand transports were moving out of Andromeda. At 2,000 White Ships each, they were outnumbered fifty-to-one. He looked around his striker and saw the two-hundred-thousand ships formed up ready to go. He shook his head and knew the final conflict was beginning. He pressed his helmet and said, “On my countdown, activate your stardrives and start your attacks. Don’t allow yourselves to get caught up in large numbers of enemy vessels. Four…three…two…one…LAUNCH!!”
One-thousand groups of two-hundred ships in each disappeared instantly and Ed activated his stardrive to be able to see what was happening. His formations were two-light years away when they launched and without their stardrives activated, they were invisible to the oncoming Mercenaries. It took less than three-seconds for them to travel the two-light years and they opened fire on the front line of transports from inside their stardrives. The three seconds allowed the Mercenaries only enough time to come out of their stardrives and start launching White Ships.
Earth’s Fleets turned off their stardrives before attacking the second Mercenary Line of transports but they were on them before many of their White Ships could launch. Nothing launched from the first line and the second line was going up in massive blasts.
Ed shook his head. No one had ever fired a Rail-Cannon from inside a stardrive. It was assumed the round would exit and hit normally or if it hit a ship inside another stardrive it would just pass harmlessly through it. The three-seconds was planned so the Mercenary Transports would come out of their stardrives to launch White Ships. The assumption that the balls would hit normally was wrong, terribly wrong! The attacking formations were forced to slow down as they moved in on the transports to avoid overrunning them. They fired out of their stardrives at less than a mile away. Ed accelerated toward the battle and stopped a light-minute from the action. Thirty seconds later, he saw the initial contact on his monitor. The thousand Mercenary Transporters in their front line were obliterated. The cannon-balls that came out of the Pounder’s cannons hit the transporters and they vaporized. Ed shook his head at the velocity they must have hit with.
The second line of transports were hit normally but they didn’t have time to escape. Hundreds of them were burning and others drifting. Ed saw a giant wave of white come over the top of the second line and knew the back three lines were launching.
• • •
Leit yelled, “MOVE OVER THEM NOW AND SCATTER! DRAW THEM OUT FROM THE TRANSPORTS!” Leit’s unit went to maximum speed as they fired a solid wave of projectiles ahead of their path. White Ships rushing to cut them off disintegrated. The unit flew over the giant wave and moved out into space before turning and rushing back at the transports. They blew a path through the defenders and the Pounder hit the transport with
two rounds. It broke into three pieces and Leit led his unit on a wicked path through the attackers. They swerved at an impossible speed and the Pounder took out another transport before it was rammed by three White Ships. Leit said, “Break up and take out as many White Ships as possible. We’ve lost our transport killer. Move to other units if you can and attempt to assist them. Break now!”
The surviving hundred ships broke away from each other and fought to survive. A hundred had already been lost.
• • •
Ed watched his formations start firing their bow weapons and fly over the giant mass of White Ships. Thousands of them exploded but the others in the giant white wave turned and gave pursuit as the wave grew larger…and larger…and even larger.
• • •
Kee led her unit through hell and destroyed four-transports before her unit’s pounder was hit and destroyed. If felt like she had been fighting an eternity and only ten of her original two-hundred ships were still fighting. She saw a massive group of White Ships surround them and she pulled her trigger. Nothing happened. She was out of ammo and apparently, luck as well. She keyed her helmet radio to that of the attacking White Ships and said, “This is Kee. You will never be just pilots to me. I love you all.” She was rammed by two White Ships and hit by more than fifty-beams, her ship disintegrated.
• • •
Ed watched what was happening and wanted to look away but his sailors deserved his attention. Most battles would take on a certain rhythm or pattern, this one didn’t. It was just brutal killing that didn’t end.
Ed moved closer and stayed well outside the killing zone. There were more than three-thousand transports after the second line was hit and many of them were being hit by the Pounder-Teams. The two-hundred Strikers and Hitters would line up and fire ahead of their formation as they flew in at high speed toward the transports. Thousands of White Ships disintegrated in front of their attacks but thousands more would engage. Even if the transport was destroyed, not many in each attack formation survived. Most of them were rammed by White Ships blowing in from the sides.
Watching a space battle happen in the black void between galaxies was a new experience for Ed. The ships were illuminated by their drive-units and the weapons they were firing but it took on an eerie view. It almost looked beautiful, if not for what he knew was happening. It looked like a giant dance of fireflies on a pitch-black night. It was hard to really see what was happening even with his monitor. The battle was too huge to keep track of but he could tell from the communications that it wasn’t going well.
It was in the third hour that Kee stopped being heard. Two hours later, Leit stopped issuing orders. Ed’s eyes were wet and he saw that only eight-hundred transports remained. That’s when he heard, “Transports arriving at Andromeda’s edge!!”
Ed jerked his eyes to his monitor and saw a thousand more Mercenary Transports were launching their White Ships just outside the giant galaxy. He shook his head and pressed his helmet, “ATTENTION ALL SHIPS! ATTENTION ALL SHIPS. ACTIVATE YOUR STARDRIVES AND FORM UP ON MY VESSEL!!”
“BUT SIR??”
“YOU WILL FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS!!” Ed watched as Strikers, Hitters, and a very few Pounders moved away from the Mercenary Forces. The White Ships didn’t have stardrives and were unable to pursue. Less than four-thousand ships arrived and formed up on his Striker. Ed changed the frequency and said, “Notify Control that eighteen-hundred transports are still operational.”
“Yes, Sir!” The Messenger Scout far out toward the Milky Way went to maximum speed and left to warn Earth.
Ed said, “Activate your stardrives and follow me. Maintain your formation.”
Ed turned and moved away from the site of the massive confrontation. After a few minutes, a Striker Pilot said, “This is not the way to Earth.”
A Urrik Pilot said, “I thought we were moving away to go back in.”
Ed said, “For what purpose would we go back in?”
“To kill them!!”
“And how many do you think we would manage to kill?”
“Ten-thousand or more!!”
“Those transports that just arrived launched two-million white Ships.” Ed waited for a response and after a minute said, “Your lives are more valuable than just throwing them away.”
“Where are we going?”
“To make them worth something.”
• • •
The Senior Guild Master arrived with his fleet and saw the massive destruction of the transports sent ahead of him. He ordered, “REPORT!!”
“Guild Master, the Fleet Master was lost during the fight. I believe I am the most senior survivor.”
“You will board your fighters and prepare to follow me.”
“Guild Master, there is not enough room to take them all on board.”
“Take what you can.”
“What about the others?”
“They will remain here. If there is room after we attack the planet, we will pick some of them up.”
“But that could take weeks!”
“FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS!!”
The Senior Guild Masters Scanner Craftsman said, “The enemy survivors are leaving on a different course than toward the planet.”
“They’re attempting to draw us away. Ignore them.”
The Transports began moving four-hours later and more than a million White Ships were left behind. There was silence among them until one said, “We’re only pilots.”
“It’s like Kee said.”
“She died here.”
“Only her body.”
• • •
Ed sighed and said, “Who is the Senior Urrik?”
“I am.”
“REDDY!?!
“I should have died with Leit and Kee.”
“No one should die, Reddy.”
“I don’t understand why I didn’t. I should have died at least a hundred times in what happened. I don’t understand why I didn’t.”
“Don’t give up, Reddy. I need you.”
“Why? There is no hope.”
“There is always hope. Never forget that!”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jimmy was standing in the highest launch cave with his family and said, “It’s time for you to go.”
They stared at him and Jimmy knew he was facing his first real rebellion. They stared at him and Hope said, “I’m not going!”
“Hope, you need to get in your Striker and get out of here.”
“I’M AN ADULT AND I CAN MAKE MY OWN DECISIONS!!”
Jimmy looked at them and saw they weren’t moving. He looked at Summer and shook his head. Summer looked at her children and said softly, “Our entire life has been spent trying to stop mankind from disappearing from the universe. We’ve sacrificed and endured sorrow after sorrow as we watched our loved friends and family die in the effort. Ayet gave his life so that humans would live. Now that weight is being passed on to you. The Jumpers are lifting now with the ones that are needed to start a new life on another world and you must be there to lead them into the future. Are you going to throw your lives away after Ayet died so you can live?”
Hope started crying, “I won’t go without you.”
“My place is here with your father.”
They looked at Jimmy and he said, “What message will those that remain here to defend Earth get if I fly away? I’ll be telling them their lives mean nothing and their effort worthless. I chose to defend Earth when I was you age. I’ve dedicated my life to defend it; I will not turn my back on it now. I’ve tried to convince your mother to go but she asked me if I’d leave her behind and I have to answer honestly, I wouldn’t.”
“But…”
“Hope, your duty to mankind is what’s important. It will be you and your descendants that will keep humanity safe.”
“I don’t want this?”
Summer smiled softly, “Neither did we, Hope. But sometimes life forces you to be more than you think you are capable of being. This is th
at time for all of you.”
“We can stay and fight them!”
“And who will defend the Jumpers? All of our ships are gone.” They heard another huge Jumper’s drive units as it rose out of the valley. Jimmy looked at Rachel and Alex, “You understand this.”
Rachel tears were falling as she hugged AA and nodded. Hope looked at Rachel, “Do you agree with this?”
“If we let our parents down now, all they’ve done will have no value. We owe it to them…and Ayet to do what we can to protect our species. That has to be done somewhere else now. I can’t make what our parents have fought so hard for valueless.”
Another Jumper lifted in a scream of drive-units and Jimmy sighed, “All of you have made Summer and I more proud that I can ever express. I look at you and I see in all of you the love that Summer had taught us. I’m counting on you to make certain that all we’ve done has not been wasted. I’m counting on you to love the surviving humans as much as we have.”
Hope started crying and nodded. Jimmy went to her and embraced her, “It’s your warrior heart that I’m depending on most.” Another Jumper lifted among its screaming drive-units and Jimmy said, “Rachel, you are in command. I’ve prepared you to take my place from the moment you came into our life. You were here at the beginning and mankind needs your experience, I’m counting on you.”
Rachel started sobbing and nodded as John and Spring threw their arms around their parents. Jimmy hugged each of them and kissed them. Summer hugged them tightly and smiled as she kissed them for the last time. “It’s time.”
Alex looked at Rachel, “I’ve never learned to fly.”
Rachel handed him AA and climbed into a two-seat Pounder, “That is going to change.” She took the front seat and Alex handed AA to her as he climbed up into the rear seat.
Hope, John, and Spring climbed into their Strikers and Spring suddenly yelled, “WHAT ABOUT LITTLE AYET!!”
“Your grandfather took them to your new home this morning. He’s waiting on you there.” Spring started crying again and lowered her cockpit.
Hope looked down from the Pounder and said, “Why do I have two seats.”
“I’m going with you.” Hope turned and saw Jillian walking across the launch cave holding her belly. “I trust you’ll be gentle making turns.” Jimmy helped her climb into the Pounder’s cockpit and Hope said, “How long have you been there?”