by Saxon Andrew
Tommy listened in and said, “Unfortunately, I don’t want to have to deal with it until after we launch our attack. Cassandra, you’re going to have to fight that urge at this time and we’ll deal with it after the battle. We are going to teleport all of our converted megaships into the Captor’s system one second after the penetrators are launched and each ship fire on one Captor and teleport out immediately. I need you in full control of the Kosiev.”
“I’m fighting as hard as I can Tommy but if I sleep, I may be pulled into one of the nerve centers. The Attack has to happen quickly.”
Tommy thought for a moment and then said, “Sprig, we need all of those penetrators to launch simultaneously. If they go in waves the Captors will start moving and the targeting will not be accurate. We have to hit them while they are stationary.”
“They are all set to launch together, Prince Gardner. Just tell us when,” Twig said.
Tommy looked at Cassandra and could feel her pain. He punched his com and said, “Admiral Kosiev, I need you on the bridge immediately. Admiral Mikado, have all of the Megaships got their targets programmed?”
“Admiral Mikado appeared on the display on Tommy and Cassandra’s command chairs and said, “We are ready. Just give us the time to teleport.”
Kosiev entered the bridge and Tommy said, “Admiral, we have to move the attack up and go quickly. Cassandra is being drawn into the energy nerve centers and she can’t hold out much longer. Our ships and penetrators are ready to go and I can’t see any reason to delay any longer. Do you have anything that we’ve missed and need to consider before we launch?”
Kosiev looked at Tommy and then at Cassandra. He could see that Cassandra was pale and was shaking. “I have seen two huge Captor ships on our recordings. Have you targeted them?”
Sprig said, “Unfortunately, those two ships are moving around in the system. They are both surrounded by numerous Captors and we’ve not targeted them because we would have to hit a moving target. We felt like it would be a better us of the penetrators to actually hit one of their ships than waste them trying to guess their coordinates.”
Kosiev shrugged and said, “I guess we can’t have everything. I see no reason to delay. We need to make sure everyone is using identical time for the attack. Sprig, will you contact all of our ships and make sure we’re exact on our systems.”
“We’ve already done it, Admiral.”
Kosiev moved to his chair on the bridge and said, “Admiral Mikado, Make sure your ships are at stations and ready. Also reinforce that they will jump in fire and jump away immediately.”
“Yes Sir, I’ll tell them.”
Kosiev looked at Tommy and nodded. Tommy said, “We will launch exactly thirty minutes from my mark.”
“All ships are on the line, Prince Gardner,” Admiral Mikado said.
“Set your timers from right…now, mark.”
The Stars Realm fleet set their timers and the hundred and fifty thousand ships moved to battle stations and waited for the moment to attack. The time ticked down and finally twenty nine minutes and fifty nine seconds elapsed and the two million penetrators launched. One second later the megaships teleported to the Captor’s system.
The First Male had moved to the inner band of warriors to tidy up the spaces between them when the Old Watcher yelled, “Scatter, scatter, out warriors are targeted.”
The First Male looked out at the two outer bands of warriors and saw both bands exploding. Then he saw thousands of the strange ships appear and fire on the warriors in the inner band. He had no time to do anything. The ships appeared for less than two seconds and then they were gone. What remained was chaos. He saw that more than two million warriors were severely damaged or killed outright. His anger was monumental but there was no trace of where the ships had come from. The weapons that had hit the outer bands were traced back into the no space particle and ended there. He then had a terrifying thought. “First Mother, are you alright?”
“Yes I am. You need to get our warriors moving. It seems they targeted them because they were stationary; they had no time to move. Get them moving.”
The First Male sent out to all his warriors, “Scatter and keep moving around our system. Do not stay in one place and move at one half speed.”
The remaining Captor ships became red blurs as they flew around the gas giant. The First Male felt real fear. There was rage but for the first time in his long millions of years old life he feared for his race. There were less than two million of his species remaining and he did not know if they could defend themselves against the inexorable force they were facing.
The Kosiev broke back into normal space and there was jubilation. The recordings showed that the penetrators had killed millions of Captors. Tommy and Kosiev looked at each other and Tommy said, “Your plan was extraordinary. The odds are getting better.”
Kosiev smiled and then started to say something when suddenly Cassandra collapsed and fell from her command chair. Tommy jumped up and ran and took Cassandra in his arms and thought to her, “Cassandra, wake up. What’s wrong, Darling.”
Sprig thought to him, “The particle in energy space has ignited and exploded. We are monitoring the centers and there has been huge blasts erupting from them but it appears that the major explosion is going into a new universe. I think we are safe but we’ll continue to monitor what’s happening.
The Old Watcher sensed the sudden rise in temperature in the nexus and immediately jumped away just before a giant blast ripped through the space he had just occupied. “It’s a good thing I kept watch on the nexus. That was close.” The Old Watcher looked at all the nexus’ scattered throughout the universe and saw all of them erupting with giant blasts. “What has happened? Are we going to be blind after this? How will we find those strange ships?” The Old Watcher just sat in empty space and watched as the Nexus exploded.
Chapter 19
Cassandra was in a daze and was trying to wake up. She could hear a voice in the distance but couldn’t understand what it was saying. She appeared to be in the middle of a huge blast that was moving rapidly away from her in all directions. The brilliance of the explosion was blinding but she couldn’t close her eyes to shut it out. She seemed to remember pushing the blast away from her and it was expanding faster than the eye could follow. Something in her mind said, “It’s moving at the speed of light.” Then she understood, “I’ve ignited the particle in energy space.” As she looked around her she could see that the universe she was in was only as big as the size of the blast. “Thank the Creator, it didn’t blow into my universe.” With that thought she heard Tommy calling her name and she opened her eyes.
“She’s waking up,” Tommy shouted and he grabbed her and held her close. “Oh Cassie, I’ve been worried sick about you.”
Cassandra moved her head and saw both Algeans, Rose, Tag, and Kosiev gathered around her. “How long have I been out?”
Tommy just held her tight and Kosiev said, “Two days.”
“We’ve been hoping that you would be back but we just didn’t know if your mind was lost in the blast of the particle,” Rose said.
Cassandra struggled and sat up. She looked at Tommy and saw the toll of her being gone had taken on him. “I’m alright, Tommy. I’m alright.” Tommy just held her tight and was thankful that his prayers had been answered. “Was the attack a success?”
Kosiev said, “The Captors are more than two million fewer than they were before. Now we have to decide what we do about those that remain.”
Sprig leaned forward and asked, “Lady Gardner, could you see anything in the centers?”
“Yes, I did. The explosion is expanding at light speed and forming a new universe. I think it wanted to explode into our space but I pushed it away.” Cassandra’s brow furrowed and she said, “How, I have no idea.”
“Well it looks like the particle is no longer in any of the centers,” Twig interjected. “If that was the way the Captors tracked ships, then they will probably not be able to
use it again.”
Tag stepped away from Cassandra’s bed and said, “Welcome home, Cassie. It appears you have bought us some time. The Captors are still at their home system and not jumping away. Of course, they are also not stationary any longer and whatever we decide to do next will have to plan on hitting very fast moving targets.”
Rose looked at Tommy and said, “Let’s give Tommy and Cassie a little time alone. We’ll plan to discuss this at Castle Gardner in two days.”
Everyone stood and smiled at the couple and then left the room.
“Cassie, I was nearly crazy when you collapsed. I have been calling you non-stop since you fell from your chair.”
“I know. I could hear you in the distance but just couldn’t understand what you were saying. It was your voice that brought me back. I love you, Dearest.”
Tommy smiled and lightly kissed his wife. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him down on the bed with her. “It’s good to be back,” she whispered in his ear.
Kosiev and Tag sat on the bridge in the command chairs looking at Ross in the main display. The planet was beautiful and the cities on the night side of the planet glowed brightly. “This has changed tremendously since I’ve been gone,” Kosiev said.
“I know. It has been our home since the end of the Alliance and the population is now over five billion. Most of the people have moved here from other members of the Stars Realm.”
Kosiev took some popcorn and chewed a few pieces in silence and then said, “I think our bag of tricks is empty. It’s going to be ship to ship next time.”
Tag frowned and shook his head, “They still outnumber us more than eight to one. So far we’ve been very fortunate but you’re right; it will be ship to ship.”
“I was genuinely surprised when I came back and found that the Algeans are now our friends. It still amazes me that you were able to pull that off.”
“I didn’t. Rose is responsible for making that happen. Without her it would have been total extermination for them.” Tag paused and said, “Or us.”
Kosiev shook his head and said, “Those two young Algeans are really something special. If the rest of their species is as capable as them then I’m not certain we would have won.”
“They were deprived of the food they needed to develop; otherwise it would have been an entirely different outcome. As I think about it, if they had had the food they needed, they would have never attacked other worlds.”
“Being around your family has changed the way I see the universe, Tag. Every time it looks like we are going to have to totally destroy someone we have found a way around it. Is there no way to avoid killing the Captors?”
“I honestly don’t see any way around it, Alex. They are just too aggressive and do not have the capacity to control themselves from attacking.”
“Call that young male Algean in and let’s talk about this with him. He might have some ideas.”
Tag thought, “Sprig, have you got a moment to spare?”
“I do and I’ve been listening in on your conversation. You might want to call one other in with us.”
Tag looked at Kosiev and said, “Who?”
“Perhaps Atlas can add a different outlook.”
The speaker on Kosievs’ chair crackled and they heard a chuckle. “I thought I was the only one that eavesdropped on everyone’s conversations.”
“Well what do you two think about what we’ve been discussing?”
Sprig walked into the bridge and said, “You’re right, Tag. The Captors just cannot control their instinctive behaviors. It is engineered into them. Every one is a possible threat to their, I’m going to use a new word for them here, hive.”
“That is a good word, Sprig,” Atlas said. “I would like to think of them as evil but they are no more guilty than a ant biting anyone that steps on its nest. It isn’t done with malice.”
There was silence and then Atlas added, “My race is far more guilty than they are. We destroyed the Algeans millions of years ago for no good reason and my captured brothers would do the same with the races that currently live in our universe. The difference is that they would do it with forethought and enjoy it.”
“Well let’s hope they never get loose in our universe,” Kosiev said.
“That’s it,” Sprig said.
“What’s it,” Tag responded?
“The danger comes from both of us living in the same universe. If they could be moved to another universe, we would not be a threat and they would not be a threat to us.”
“Is that possible,” Kosiev asked?
“Well we know the Eight Legs jump from universe to universe so we know it’s possible.” Sprig was silent for a moment and then said, “Give me two days. I want to think about this and I’ll get back to you.”
Tag said, “Two days it is.”
Atlas said, “Sprig, do you mind if I join you?”
“Not at all, I think you can help us. Do you mind if Twig and I teleport on board; we need to make a short trip.”
“I’ll be waiting for you.”
Kosiev looked at Tag and said, “What did I say?”
Tag began laughing and said, “You’ve always made an impact. You should be used to it by now.”
Kosiev smiled and ate another hand of popcorn.
The conference room was full. The leaders of the Stars Realm were gathered to decide the next action to be taken against the Captors and there was a somber atmosphere that dominated the room. Rose looked around the room and said, “Our last attack exceeded our expectations but I can see that it won’t work again. The Captors are moving at half of light speed in their system so targeting them will be next to impossible. I believe that the next action will be ship against ship and they outnumber us almost eight to one. I’ve also noticed that where ever we jump into their system that we could be overwhelmed in seconds. I hope someone has a plan that has some probability of success.”
The room was silent and then Tommy said, “We have talked about it among ourselves prior to meeting here and unfortunately, we see it the same way you do.”
Rose shook her head and looked at Admiral Kosiev, “Admiral, do you see anything other than taking them on in a fleet action?”
Kosiev took a deep breath and said, “No, I don’t. However, the Algeans have surmised that they will not be able to see us now that the energy particle has ignited so we may have time to produce more ships. Of course we’re talking about years before we could approach manufacturing enough to make a difference.”
Tgon-Gee stood and said, “That also gives them time to go looking for us. They know the galaxy where two of our planets were located so they have narrowed it down as to which galaxy they need to focus their search in. I suspect that they will find us before we are ready to take them on.”
Rose looked around the room and said, “Speaking of the Algeans, where are they? I thought they would be here.”
Tag said, “They had an idea that excited them and they went to see if their idea had any merits.”
“What idea did they have,” Rose asked.
“Something about the problem is that we and the Captors are located in the same universe. They said that both cannot exist together.”
Admiral Mikado said, “Duh, we all know that.”
Suddenly there was a shimmering under the main display and Sprig appeared in the conference room. “I’m sorry to interrupt you but I need Cassandra to come with me.”
Rose frowned and said, “Sprig, this meeting is important and Lady Gardner is important to the proceedings.”
“I apologize, Your Majesty, but what we’re doing will have a direct impact on our next action against the Captors. Is it possible to delay the meeting two more days so that we can see if what we’re working on is feasible?”
“Would you like to share with the group what you’re working on?”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty but time is critical and it will take more time than we have to explain it. Please bear with us and give us
two days.”
Rose looked at Tommy and Tommy stood and said, “Rose, I’d do as he asks. He has shown remarkable ability at helping us.”
Rose smiled and said, “Lady Gardner, you may go with Sprig. We’ll adjourn until this time two days from now. Before you go Cassandra, I have an announcement that I was going to make at the end of this meeting but it seems the meeting is ending faster than I planned.”
Everyone looked at Rose and she said, “I have just found out yesterday that I am expecting a child.”
The entire room stood and started clapping and yelling. Tommy and Cassandra followed Tag and Danielle to Rose and began hugging her. Rose thought, “I will not lose this war. My child is going to have a safe place to live. The Realm has been at war too long.”
Sprig came over and said, “Congratulations, now Lady Gardner, if you will come with me.” Cassandra furrowed her brow and said, “Can’t this wait a few moments?”
“No, it can’t.”
Cassandra looked at Sprig and could sense the anxiety the young Algean was having. She turned to Rose and said, “I must go. I’m so happy for you and I’ll talk with you when I return.” She said this as Sprig was pulling her by the arm to a space away from the group. Sprig pressed his teleport device and they disappeared from the room.
Tommy looked at Tag and Kosiev and said, “I haven’t seen him that worked up since the day Wes was chasing him.”
Wes shouted from the end of the table, “You really didn’t have to go there.”
Tommy started chuckling and then laughed out loud. “It’s still hilarious, 3D.”
Wes took his head in his hands and said, “I suspect I’ll never outlive that event.”
Tommy looked at Tag and Kosiev again and said, “What are they working on?”
Tag looked at Kosiev and said, “I really don’t know but I suspect it will be something that will surprise us all.”