Lens of Time: Book 05 - Star Rover-The Worst of Time

by Saxon Andrew

  • • •

  The Fifty were screaming at each other. The First Speaker had been removed from the group and killed for its inability to defend the scouts. His replacement was nervous. The new First Speaker called for order. “We cannot just sit and take their attacks without response. We have to find where these ships are coming from.”

  “And just how do you suggest we do that?”

  “We use half our fleet to go out and start searching for them.” The room grew silent. “We only had ten million scouts. We’ll send out a hundred million of our main battleships to search.”

  “And in what direction will we send them?”

  “We will send them out on the side of our galaxy where they first appeared.”

  The Fifty thought about the idea and the new First Speaker said, “I’m sure that whoever is attacking us didn’t know we were here when they first found our galaxy. There was no reason for them to try and hide their location. We will move out in that direction and search every galaxy on that line.”

  “There are billions of galaxies.”

  “And we have millions of ships.”

  “How will we feed the crews?”

  “They will take enough for a month of searching and find other sources of food in the galaxies they search. Do any of you have a better idea?”

  “How long will it take us to scan a galaxy?”

  “Less than a week; it may take a while but we will find them and when we do, we’ll put an end to this.”

  “Are you saying we are only searching for those ships?”

  “We have their frequency. We’ll look for places to expand after we resolve this issue.”

  The Fifty looked at each other and after discussion, the orders were issued. The ships assigned to scout went out into the galaxy to gather the necessary food for their trips. Gresha’s community had three shuttles land in the fields to collect their provisions. One of the Masters went to Gresha’s home and shattered the door and saw Gresh and Kyley inside. It smiled as it moved forward.

  • • •

  Dat dropped off Rayz with the Builders and heard Loree say, “The Masters are collecting species for millions of their warships. One of them has sent shuttles to Gresha’s community.”

  “Is the probe still there!?!”

  “Yes.”

  “Show me!”

  Dat watched the Master shatter Gresh’s door and watched what happened. He took a deep breath and said, “Copy this to my rings. I’m going to see Gresha.” Stein skipped to Earth and took Dat down to the Academy.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Gresha was sitting in class going over the skip controls on a Rover when the door opened and Dat stepped in and spoke with her instructor. Her smile was instant and the instructor motioned her forward, “Please go with Admiral Arvolo.”

  Gresha walked quickly forward and followed Dat out the door. The door closed and she was in his arms instantly kissing him hard, “I’ve missed you so much!”

  Dat returned her kiss and after a moment said, “I have a recording I need you to see.” Gresha saw his expression and he said, “I have a monitor next door.” Dat pulled her chair out and sighed, “The Masters are sending hundreds of millions of their main battleships out to search for us. Those ships have collected inhabitants off millions of planets for their food stores. Your community was one of those that were chosen to invade.” Gresha’s hand went to her throat. Dat pushed the button and the recording started. She saw the Master go to her parents’ door and break it in. She saw the Master move forward and suddenly it was pulled out of the doorway at an incredible velocity. A huge Master had wrapped its arms around the smaller one and pulled it out. They heard the probe’s translation of what the huge Master said, “This planet is assigned to my ship and this place has been given honor. You will not dishonor that gift.”

  The smaller Master spun around in an instant and its arms rushed out toward the giant. The smaller Master suddenly saw the size of the one that had pulled it out and its arm froze and immediately retracted back into its body. “You will leave this place.” The Master decided that other places were easier than having to face off with the giant in front of him. The giant moved to the doorway and stood in front of it with four of its arms crossed on its body.

  Gresha looked at Dat and he said, “There’s more.” Gresha turned back to the recording and saw a group of Masters approaching the giant at the doorway. The one leading the group was another Master as large as the one at the door. “I understand that you stopped one of my crew from taking food from here.”

  “This place has been given honor by my ship and I will not see it dishonored.”

  The new Master looked at the one blocking the door and it was clear it was sizing him up. The ten Masters behind him were starting to bob up and down. They were anticipating a fight. The leader of the group said, “And if I decide to take those inside as my food?”

  “That would be a very bad decision.” The leader looked at the ten and saw their excitement. It made a decision and suddenly shot an arm out at the Master guarding the door.

  Dat stopped the recording and said, “I’ve had this slowed down so you can see what happened.” The huge Master guarding the door grabbed the incoming arm of the leader and pushed it aside. It then shot out one of its arms and hit the leader squarely in the center of its head and shattered it. The large black creature collapsed to the ground. The huge Master took a step forward and said, “Do any of you wish to dishonor this place?”

  The ten froze mid bob when their leader was killed so fast. They grabbed the leader’s body and carried it away. The giant resumed his place and waited. Soon the shuttles in the field lifted and the Master turned to Gresh and Kyley, “As long as this is my planet, this place will be honored. Once I’m moved, I will no longer be able to ensure it.” It turned and went to the field and left in its shuttle.

  Gresha’s eyes were moist and Dat said, “I told you I liked that monster. I know what it is and what it represents but I wanted you to see this. Even pure evil has good in it.”

  Gresha looked at Dat, “I need to be with you today.”

  “I’ll wait for you to finish classes. Things are getting out of hand and I’ll have to leave in the morning but tonight will be ours.” Gresha nodded and hugged him tightly. She dried her eyes and went back in class. Dat replayed the recording and blew out a breath. “Now I’m in your debt.” He shook his head and waited on Gresha.

  • • •

  Rayz sat with Belwen and listened as he argued with his lead engineer, “You said you had a field made that could handle the blowback from the beam.”

  “I thought we did, but when the necessary power was applied to power the beam, the field failed in a major way.”

  “So we have a weapon we can’t fire?”

  “That’s how it is for the moment. We’ll continue to work on it.”

  Belwen waved the Engineer away and leaned back in his chair. He looked at Rayz and said, “Where were we in our discussion before we were interrupted?”

  “I had asked you how you could build weapons for the humans. Your worlds are non-violent. How can you support violence?”

  Belwen smiled, “During the first centuries we would not assist any violent species. We continued that until one of them conquered all of us and began killing our populations unless we complied. It didn’t take long for us to start building their warships. It still didn’t stop the conqueror from periodically taking some of us to kill for their entertainment. They chose the ones that objected the loudest to their barbarism.”

  “You could have still refused.”

  “Sure, if we were willing to watch them dismember our children in front of our eyes. They were killed slowly and their screams were real life nightmares.”

  “So how did you free yourselves from your conqueror?”

  “We didn’t. The Humans came in and killed them. They removed the cancer in our galaxy and freed us from their slavery.”

  “Di
d they force you to then build weapons for them?”

  “No, they told us that they wished us happiness and left us alone to find our destiny. We approached them to see if they would agree to protect our worlds if we assisted them in building their weapons. We are very thankful they agreed.”

  “Why? They’re extremely violent.”

  “When you’ve been at the mercy of a sadistic conqueror for hundreds of years, you want someone just as violent to make sure you’re never placed in that position again. We need the Humans more than they need us.”

  Rayz stared at Belwen, “How do you know they’ll never turn on you?”

  Belwen laughed, “You really don’t know them, do you?” Rayz shook his head. “They have a sense of morals that would never allow them to do it. They don’t go out looking to harm anyone but they will attack an aggressor with a fury that is a dichotomy to their peaceful nature. They teach aggressors in a language they understand and the consequences of their aggression usually stops any future attacks.”

  Rayz shook his head, “I just don’t find that credible.”

  “Have your species ever been enslaved and killed?” Rayz stared at Belwen and finally nodded. “And what did you do to remove their killers and make sure it didn’t happen again?” Rayz just stared at Belwen and after a long moment Belwen said, “Are your people still being killed?”

  “They are; but to release the ultimate technology into the hands of violent beings is not acceptable.”

  “Acceptable to whom?”

  “Uhhh, to me.”

  “Would it be acceptable to your people?” Rayz could only stare at Belwen. Belwen shook his head and said, “I’m really thankful we’re stronger than you.” Belwen turned to leave and Rayz said, “The field you’re trying to build has to be built from the inside out.” Belwen stared at him and then turned and left the room. An assistant arrived a few moments later and took Rayz on a tour of the builder’s planets. Rayz was starting to tire of all the ones he encountered telling him he was everything from crazy to useless. He started having a nagging doubt they might be right.

  • • •

  Belwen heard his panel buzz, “Yes.”

  “He was right.”

  Belwen looked at his chief engineer, “What do you mean?”

  “The field has to be built layer on layer from the inside boundary. Once the layers are in place, it will hold together.”

  “You don’t sound very excited about this?”

  “It also has to be turned off from the outer layer to the inside. We’ve not found a way to do that.”

  Belwen shook his head, “Are you telling me that once the field is on that anyone inside it is unable to get out?”

  “That’s how it is for the moment.”

  “Well…at least this is progress.”

  “We’re a long way from delivering a new technology to the Union.”

  “Fortunately, they’re not in dire need of it at the moment. Keep me informed on what you discover.”

  “I will.”

  • • •

  Kat looked around the table and decided to start the meeting. “I’ve called you here to decide on what we’re going to do first. We are faced with two issues and we can only deal with one at a time. To attempt both would probably cause us to fail at both.” She paused and said, “The Grillen have started a massive ship building effort to face our perceived eighty million ships. That is going to take some time to accomplish but if we delay taking them on their numbers will get out of hand.”

  Dat said, “What’s the other choice?”

  “The Monsters.”

  Jill looked at Jon and turned to Kat, “We have some time on them as well, don’t we?”

  “It will take time for them to arrive here but they will arrive sooner than you think.”

  Jon said, “Do you have an estimate?”

  “One of our Rovers followed one of their warships and it only took it three days to fly through a galaxy and scan it for our ships. We estimated it would take double that time. If we extrapolate from that as a baseline, they will be here in less than two years.”

  All three Admirals were shocked at that statement. Dat said, “What’s the guess on the Grillen being ready to attack?”

  “They will also be ready to attack in two years.”

  Dat shook his head, “We’ll have to take them both on simultaneously.”

  “I don’t think either one of them will take a number and wait on the other.” Kat looked at the display showing the Monster’s progress and said, “At least the Colonies are not on the path the Monsters are taking to find us; however, Earth is.”

  Dat said, “Are you leaning toward one or the other?”

  “If pushed I would say the Monsters.”

  Jill leaned back, “Why? Aren’t they more dangerous than the Grillen?”

  “I don’t want to take on the stronger of the two last. We’ll be weakened and that’s not good tactics.” Kat paused and said, “There is also the consideration that the number of ships they have to respond to attacks is reduced by those sent to look for us. I’m sure if we’re successful, they’ll recall those ships but initially, we should have to face fewer of them.”

  Jon said, “If they recall those ships, things could get rather nasty.”

  Dat shrugged, “True, but they won’t be coming here. I agree that it should be the monsters first.”

  Kat looked at Jon and Jill, “What about the two of you?”

  Jill looked at Jon and said, “I think we should take on the monsters first as well. It is my hope that you can exert pressure through diplomatic channels to get the Grillen back in line.”

  Kat shook her head, “Don’t hold your breath. Their current King has significant ego issues. He wants more territory.” Kat looked at Dat, “How do you want to handle this?”

  “We have to do it Jill’s way. We have the Rovers operate independently and attack individual ships. It will have to be hit and run tactics until we can reduce their numbers. We’ll need the fleet computers to vector in hunter-killer groups on their larger formations but the scanners should provide us with most of our targets.”

  Kat looked at them, “Discuss when you’ll be ready to start. Don’t delay; they’re getting closer every day.” Kat stood and left the room.

  Jill looked at Dat and said “Congratulations on your marriage.”

  Dat looked at Jill and said, “How do you know about that?”

  “I called Gresha to check on her at the academy to see if there was anything I could do to help her and she told me.”

  “How do you know Gresha?”

  “She approached me when I first came back from the monster’s galaxy and told me that she would understand if I wanted to try and get you back.”

  “She what!?!”

  “She said that your happiness was the most important thing to her and that if you could be happier with me, she would understand.” Dat just stared at Jill. Jill smiled, “I determined at that moment that you could see her love and I stood no chance.”

  “I had no intention of causing you pain, Jill. But you’re right, she has my heart.”

  Jill looked at Jon and said, “And Jon has mine.” She looked back at Dat and said, “Everything worked out for the best.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I don’t want you to be uncomfortable working with me; we should work together to defend Earth and its allies.”

  Dat smiled, “Well, congratulations to the two of you as well. I am relieved that there is no need for tension in our dealings. What do the two of you think we should do?”

  Jon said, “We have to hit their biggest ships, Dat.”

  “That’s pretty much all they have.”

  “I’m talking about their planets. Those are their biggest ships.” Dat furrowed his brow. “They don’t keep enormous fleets around their planets. They send their ships out to feed on the planets they’ve conquered. If we start going after their planets, they’ll c
all those ships in to defend them.”

  Dat smiled, “I like the way you think, Jon. How are we going to take out a planet?”

  “You should remember your history lessons.”

  Dat thought a moment and said, “Will that still work?”

  “We just need to get the trigger close enough to make it happen.”

  Dat nodded, “I’ll get with Belwen. The two of you should start getting Fleet’s computers up to speed assigning targets and teaching the Rovers what they’ll need to know during this first encounter.”

  Jill looked at Jon, “I’ll handle the Rovers. You take Fleet.” Jon nodded.

  Dat said, “We will initiate our attacks on their planets in four weeks. Stay in touch with Admiral Hull and she will coordinate our efforts.”

  “Will do; good luck with Belwen.” Dat nodded and left for his ship.

  • • •

  Rayz finished his tour of the Builder’s main planet and saw a peaceful society that would never attack anyone. They left that to the Humans to handle. There was something about that that just didn’t seem to fit. He shook his head and saw that the Builders were just not able to fire a weapon at another life form. His species was the same way but one of the people had not only fired a weapon at him but had done it multiple times. How can that be? He had to ask. He looked up at the sky and focused on seeing Gresha’s energy. It took a few minutes but he finally found her on the planet where he had met that…what was she…oh yeah, Admiral. He looked around and disappeared.

  • • •

  Gresha heard a knock on her door and got up from the ship manuals she was studying. Who would be knocking this late? It was long after lights out in the Academy. She opened the door and saw Rayz, “How did you get in here?”

  “I jumped in. I need to speak with you.”

  Gresha stuck her head out and looked up and down the hall and motioned him in. “I really don’t think we have anything to discuss.”

  Rayz sighed, “Then just humor me for a few moments and I’ll leave you alone and go back where you found me.”