Planet Predators

by Saxon Andrew

  Chris and Jillian stopped arguing in midsentence and looked at him.

  “I took some readings of the recordings you took of the Jenze Fleet attacking the Moet Planet and determined from the destruction done on the surface that their beams are not that much different from ours.”

  “Then why are we trying to take one of their reactors?”

  Arvolo looked at Izzy, “Because if we combine our nuclear fuel with theirs we’ll have a power supply that may be a hundred times stronger.”

  “And if they get our power supply theirs will be a hundred times more powerful.”

  “There is that. If that happens I imagine the Jenze will still be around in our galaxy in this universe we’re visiting.”

  Chris stared at Arvolo and then looked at Jillian. “Find a Jenze solar system and come back. We’ll look at its history and try to find a damaged ship we can go after.”

  “If that’s all you want to do, the Ninja should make the first trip.”

  “Why do you say that, Captain?”

  “Because it’s so much smaller and won’t be easily detected in Sierra Space with its force field on. We’ll use the Jukebox on the second trip.”

  Chris turned to Jillian and she reluctantly nodded.

  “I think I also know a way to avoid being detected by the Moet and Jenze that are currently on Earth.”

  “How would you do that, Arvolo?”

  “I’ll go into Sierra Space the moment we go through the time field. If I time it right, we’d only be in normal space less than a second. You would need to get the field right up against the place the Jenze emerged into normal space.”

  Chris looked at his display, “I have that locked in on my board.”

  “Then, let’s do this. There is also one thing we have this time that we didn’t before; you should be able to communicate with us.”

  Chris furrowed his brow and said, “How would I be able to do that?”

  “Send one of the new probes through behind us and leave the trailing cable connected. The probe has so little metal in it that it shouldn’t be seen by the Moet or Jenze at the planet. You can use its George Box to talk with us and get a feed on anything we’re doing.”

  Izzy looked at her board and then said, “What if the Jenze don’t leave trails through Sierra Space? Their force fields must be as strong as ours and we no longer leave a trail.”

  Jillian said, “I’ve recorded the frequency of the Jenze ship that was destroyed on Earth. The Ninja has the same scanners as the Jukebox so you should be able to scan for that frequency. Just look for a system with a large number of Jenze Ships and record the frequency of that solar system.”

  Arvolo looked around and smiled, “Well, alrighty then. Let’s get this show on the road.” Arvolo offered Izzy his hand and she left her seat on the bridge and followed him out of the bridge to board the Ninja. Chris watched them go and looked at Jillian, “Captain Arvolo is able to see things no one else can. He might be more important than both of us.”

  “I was just thinking the same thing, Love; however, he is a warrior and not a scientist. He would never be happy working with our engineers.”

  “Even so, we need to make sure he doesn’t take severe risks until we can sit down and determine what he knows about time travel.” Jillian nodded and started the time fields warming up.

  * * *

  “Lt. Rosillo, please activate your board and be prepared for possible attack.”

  “RV, when we’re going to go fighting, call me Izzy. Don’t go all professional on me.”

  Arvolo turned in his chair and shook his head, “Look, I don’t know what’s going on in your head but I need you at your best. Can you do that for me?” Izzy nodded. “Now I suspect we are about to enter a very dangerous time in our galaxy’s history. We know in our time the Jenze are gone, the Moet were knocked back into primitive cultures, and the Alliance suffered a similar fate. There is a force operating in the past that is dangerous and we’re in the dark as to what we’re dealing with. I know Earth thinks we have this great technology but the Jenze were equal to us millions of years ago and it didn’t save them. We need to be able to count on each other.”

  “I’ll hold up my end. However, are you sure that if I blast a ship there that it won’t affect our time in the future?”

  “Well, not really, so we should avoid doing that if at all possible, but you must act as if that were not a consideration. If you hesitate and think about it we could be dead and you’re much too pretty to end up as debris.”

  Izzy was startled by Arvolo’s remark and saw him setting up his board. She didn’t even think he had noticed her. She turned to her board and tried to hide her embarrassment. He was right, if it came down to it, she would act first and worry later.

  “Captain Arvolo, the field is in place and you can launch.”

  “Thank you, Admiral. The bay doors are open and we’re lining up for departure.” RV lifted the Ninja and exited the Jukebox and flew away from the screen. He turned the ship a hundred miles from the screen and accelerated at high velocity toward the flickering field in front of the Ninja. Just before crossing the field he hit the jump control and the Ninja was covered with the jump field just after it went through the field.

  Chris looked at Jillian and shook his head, “I don’t think any of the Ninja appeared in normal space after it passed the field. That Cuban’s timing is just not believable.”

  “I’m launching the probe, Chris, to see if the Moet saw it.” The forty foot long probe went through the time field trailing a plastic, light pulse cable. Jillian activated the passive scanners and looked at Earth where the Asteroid had just struck. The two Moet Battleships were still behind the moon and were not moving their way. “It looks like we’re ok. Captain Arvolo, can you hear me?”

  “Loud and clear, Sir, and it appears the Jenze did leave a small trail. I thought it would in that its force field is nowhere near the strength of a battleship. However, before I go chasing this trail I’m going to scan for the Jenze frequency and see what comes up. I’ll feed the results to your board.” Arvolo hit the scanner and saw millions of returns. Chris and Jillian stared at the display and were shocked. “It appears that if I had followed the trail it would have taken me near a group of a hundred ships. I wonder what they’re doing.”

  “I don’t want you to investigate. I would rather look at the light in our time and not risk your ship in the past.”

  “I agree, Sir. I do see a huge number at a solar system more than two hundred light years from our current location.”

  “Can you get a scan of that system’s frequency?”

  “I can but I’m concerned that if I do I may attract a crowd. Let me recommend this just to be on the safe side. You leave the time field where it is but move the Jukebox back a thousand miles from our breakout point and we’ll run to your location when we exit the field.”

  “What are you thinking, Captain?”

  “If you’re right on top of our emergence and we’re being chased, you could get a Jenze Battleship coming through the screen with us. The scan will take ten seconds which will give them time to investigate if they detect it. I don’t want to fight a battleship to acquire its reactor. I’d also feel better if we don’t remove that large a ship from this time in the past.”

  “We’ll discuss that concern when you get back. We are backing out and will await your return.”

  “Izzy, I’m sending the drive control to your board. If one of the Jenze comes at us, don’t wait until it’s too late. Get us out of here.”

  “I have the drive.”

  “I’m powering the emitters and extending the field. The scan will take ten seconds, I’ve locked in that system, and will start the scan in 3, 2, 1, and now.”

  Izzy focused on her board and didn’t see anything happening for the first five seconds but then she saw ten huge blips start coming at the Ninja at an incredible velocity. She wished RV had the board because their arrival was going to be incredibly clo
se with the completion of the scan. “RV, tell me when you have it!”

  Izzy had her hand on the activate button and watched the incoming ships. “Got it!” Izzy hit the button just as the ships came roaring up and the Ninja emerged into normal space as RV hit the weightless control and accelerated at the Jukebox’s field. Right behind them ten huge ships emerged into normal space and gave chase but were too late. The Ninja screamed through the time field and Chris shut it down just before the ten giant ships arrived.

  “Chris, those weren’t Jenze ships!”

  “I know. Captain, dock the Ninja and send the frequency of that solar system to my board.”

  “You have it now.”

  Chris saw the frequency and set the drive to move into Sierra Space. The Ninja settled into the landing bay and Arvolo locked it down to the deck. Chris hit the drive and set his emitters to search for the frequency of the solar system Arvolo had scanned. “I’ve found it. I’m moving the ship around the outer edge of the Galaxy to get a line on that frequency. We are far enough out so we should be able to see what’s happening at that system when we emerge in normal space. Jillian, are you still getting that frequency?”

  “Yes I am and it’s growing stronger.”

  “See if you can put it in the star map and lock it in on the display.”

  “Done; it’s a Class G star in the Omega Centauri Super Cluster. We should be able to focus in on it once we get a return on Earth’s light.” Chris looked up and saw Arvolo and Isadore enter the bridge. He nodded toward their chairs and continued to triangulate the location. He moved a light week further out and emerged into normal space. “Search for the Milky Way’s frequency.”

  “Got it.”

  “Overlap the star map and move it back to,” Chris looked at his board, “Sixty four million years, eight months, ten days.” The display rotated the star map and then chimed. “I’m extending the emitters and powering the fields.” The fields expanded at the speed of light and after an hour an alarm sounded.

  “Chris, I’m orienting the star map to the reflection.”

  Arvolo watched in wonder as the huge galaxy on the display moved and the star map on top of it lined up. “Jillian, you can remove the map.” The map disappeared and they were looking at an image of the Milky Way as it was sixty four million years ago on the display. “Mark the target.”

  A red dot appeared on the display and Chris began focusing the image. The red dot zoomed closer as millions of stars flashed by. Then the dot became a planetary system and the fourth planet out from the sun came into view and was in the middle of a gigantic space battle. Chris took the view in closer and saw a force field surrounded the planet and thousands of silver ships were firing on it. Thousands of Jenze ships were attacking the invading fleet and were giving as much as they received but they were heavily outnumbered. Ships were burning all the way out to the next planet and the destruction was far from over.

  Arvolo watched the destruction and wished he were there fighting a ship. That battle was glorious and he smiled as he watched. Izzy looked at his expression and saw the face of a warrior. She could feel his emotions.

  “It looks like the silver ships are going to win.”

  “How do you know that, Chris?”

  “Those silver ships are the ones that chased the Ninja. If they lost, it would have been the Jenze that emerged. Can you rewind the view and move it out close to the fifth planet?” Chris looked at Arvolo and wondered what he saw. He backed the focus up and moved it to the fifth planet that was aligned with the fourth planet in the system. “Now move it over to the closest moon and rewind it about three minutes.”

  The view changed and they watched a Jenze Battleship attack one of the huge silver ships and blow through its force field. Just as it killed the silver ship it was hit with beams from two silver ships and had its bridge destroyed. The ship turned and slowly crashed on the moon as the silver ship it had destroyed hit the surface a mile away. The two silver ships that killed the Jenze Battleship turned and moved back into the fight.

  Arvolo said, “The lights are still on in the Jenze ship. Keep an eye on it.” They watched and after an hour the lights started to go out. “They’re turning the reactors off to avoid an explosion.”

  Chris looked at Jillian and she smiled, “If the silver ships win this battle that ship will be left behind.”

  “As well as that silver ship.”

  “You’re right, Izzy.”

  “I’m moving forward a week to see what’s happening then.” Chris hit the drive and emerged back into normal space. The battle was still happening at the planet but the Jenze Fleet had been destroyed. The huge silver ships were firing on the force field around the planet and it was starting to grow dimmer. “I’m jumping another week.” This time the view was radically different. The planet was in ruins and the attackers were no longer present. Chris moved the focus to the moon and the two ships were still on the surface.

  Arvolo said, “You need to back up and watch the Jenze Battleship.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it there aren’t more than a billion of those silver ships, the Jenze will be coming here soon to check out the damage and they may destroy that ship to prevent any of its technology being taken by those invaders. The silver ship won’t give us anything useful so we can ignore it.”

  Jillian shook her head, “Why do you say that?”

  “The Alliance uses that Jenze Force Field to protect their planets. I’ve looked at the feed from the Fleet that went to the Alliance Capital and one of our Jukebox Class ships would be able to penetrate it with a fusion missile. It took thousands of those silver ships to wear it down and it took more than a week. They’re huge but their energy is not that powerful. They won because of numbers at this planet. I suspect the Jenze will survive this invasion if they have more than a hundred worlds. This was probably the main attack force of the Invaders and they weren’t as successful at the other Jenze Planets.”

  “Why do you want to go back?”

  “I want to see if any lifeboats leave the crashed Jenze Ship taking the survivors away. I don’t want to go into a Jenze Battleship with the crew still present. Someone had to turn the reactors off and that tells me that there were survivors. That could prove fatal.”

  “Captain, you are now in charge of this mission. What would you do if you were me?”

  “I would first go back and see if the crew leaves.”

  Chris nodded and jumped back to the crash of the ship. He accelerated into the light and saw things happening at high speed. They saw the destruction of the Jenze Planet and the silver ships jumping away. After a day passed Chris slowed the Jukebox and they watched ten small white ships come out of the crashed battleship and jump away. He accelerated again and after two days twenty Jenze Battleships arrived and landed on the moon. They went in the silver ship and examined it for three days. Then they lifted and fired their main beams into both ships destroying them.

  Arvolo smiled and said, “Good.” Jillian looked at him. “Notice that they didn’t send anyone over to their damaged ship. That means all the survivors left. We have a two day window to get our reactor. The silver ships won this battle but I’m reasonably certain that the Jenze kicked them out of the Milky Way.”

  “So you think they invaded from another galaxy?”

  “Yes, they did. This was a surprise attack and any force with that many ships in our galaxy would have been confronted by the Jenze long before this attack. The Jenze won or there wouldn’t have been twenty ships available to send here. Notice they explored the silver ship to see if it represented a danger to them and left without taking anything major out of it. The invaders won this battle but lost the war to the Jenze. We are going to possibly change what happened here though.”

  “How?”

  “The landing bay on that crashed battleship is under it. We’re going to have to cut through the hull to get at the reactors. The Jenze will see that and will not react the same way next time
they appear. This universe will have a Jenze that goes to work developing a stronger power source if they suspect an enemy has one of their reactors.”

  Chris smiled, “Or they will go and attack this invader at their home to make sure they don’t have time to use it. I suspect they would do that anyway so it might not be so different.”

  Arvolo nodded, “That’s something I’d rather not find out. However, I would really like to know what happened to the Jenze. They’re no longer here so either they were destroyed or moved.”

  “If they moved they could be a real danger in our present time.”

  “We should make the effort to find out, Admiral. But that can be done after we get a reactor and take it home.”

  Chris nodded, “That will be a task you’ll handle. You can use the Ninja to find out.”

  Arvolo looked at Izzy, “Are you up to the trip?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, but first the reactor.”

  Chapter Ten

  Chris was onboard the Ninja and had the moon with the two damaged ships on his display. “I’m extending the time field to when the Lifeboats jump away; they should be leaving within ten minutes. Are you ready to go scavenger hunting?”

  Jillian said, “We have our armor on and the tools we think we’ll need. We’ll leave our passive scanners on just to make sure nothing shows up but I don’t expect anyone to come.”

  “They didn’t before. Just get this done and get out of there.”

  “Yes Sir, Admiral.”

  “I’m serious, Jillian. Don’t get injured taking it out.”

  “I know, Love. We’ll work as safely and quickly as possible.”

  “Alright, here they come. There should be ten.” Chris counted as ten ships emerged and jumped away. “I’m extending the time field. It’s now powered and ready for you to pass through.”

  Arvolo looked at the shimmering field and took the Jukebox through. He accelerated to the moon’s surface and scanned the crashed Jenze Ship. “The reactors are in the rear behind the cargo bay. I’m landing next to the ship and powering a shuttle to go over to the Jenze. Please board now and I’ll meet you as soon as the ship is landed.”