by Saxon Andrew
“Won’t they be able to see you take the ship to Earth?”
“I’m going to hit our thrusters and arrive at Earth in less than seven minutes. I believe we’ll be traveling too fast to be seen as anything more than a light wave. We’ll come to an immediate stop when we arrive under the planet. I need you to use the gravity gun to make sure that ship stays pushed away from us when we stop.”
Jillian grabbed the arms of her chair and nodded. “Chris pushed the jump control and the Cheops emerged into normal space. They looked at their display and Chris saw Earth off to the right of the sun. “We’re home.”
Jillian jumped up and came into his arms and hugged him tight. He held her and felt her adrenaline causing her to shake. “You and your wonderful invention. You should be the Nobel Winner.”
“I did ok, Jill. I ended up being with you. That’s a much bigger prize.”
Jillian smiled and kissed him. The PA system started blaring, “Hey, you two! What are you doing back?”
Jillian smiled and yelled, “We brought you a present to work on. We need a facility big enough to hold it on the Southern Hemisphere.”
“What is it?”
Chris smiled, “Well, Dolly. We have a ship that was damaged in a battle against a Moet ship. I don’t know how many ships were involved in the fight, but the Moet was destroyed. The ship is 2,800 feet long.
“Stand by.” Chris waited and Dolly came back on, “Bring it to the space port in Sydney. There’s a military building on the north side of the port. We’ll have the lid open for you.”
“You’re probably going to need something to pull it down.”
“Already handled, you just get it over the opening. And welcome back, I was worried about you. I’m immediately moving the command team to Sydney to start work on that ship. We’ll meet you there on your arrival.
“We need to see you as quickly as possible, and you might want to bring Arnold with you.” Dolly looked out of her monitor saying nothing. “I know how they’re going to hit us, Dolly.”
Her eyes narrowed and she said, “We’ll meet you in Sydney.”
“She’s looking a lot more serious than I remember, Chris.”
“I know she’s taking her work seriously, and time is getting short. I hope she’s up to handling the pressure.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I’ll explain later. Help me get the ship moving toward Earth. Go to the rear and keep that ship from hitting us when we stop.”
Jillian smiled, “You need not worry. I’m a scientist.”
Chris smiled at Jillian for a moment and then started shaking his head, “You are so right. Hold on, we’re going home.” Chris grabbed the steering wheel and turned the thrusters up to ten percent. The Earth was getting visibly larger and in less than nine minutes they were flying over Australia. Chris turned the nose toward the ground and slowly entered the upper levels of the atmosphere. The ship dropped slowly, and after two hours it was a mile above the Sydney Spaceport. “Jillian, you might want to go put some slack in the cable once the ship is taken down.”
Jillian’s eyes got wide and she jumped up running from the bridge. Chris watched a strange looking craft emerge from the huge building below them and move to the top of the captured ship. It extended four legs that attached to the ship’s hull, then it began pushing the ship down. Chris didn’t see any kind of thrusters on it, but it moved smoothly and had the ship in the facility quickly. Chris noticed that Jillian had released the cable. It fell with the ship. Chris hit the communications board, “Sydney Control Tower, we need a place to put down.”
“Roger that Cheops, you may put down next to the facility you are currently hovering over. You will be contacted shortly. Welcome home.”
“Thanks, it’s good to be back.” Chris moved the ship over using the horizontal thrusters, and then lowered it to the ground as he added weight. The four landing gears lowered, and the Cheops settled down. Chris shut down the engines, leaned back in his chair, took a deep breath, and smiled, “I got you back.”
Jillian ran and jumped in his lap, “Yes, you did! Here’s how I say thank you.” They were still kissing when Dolly arrived later.
Chapter Eight
The Moet Watcher completed the data download and saw that the cruiser had been punctured multiple times by energy beams that were incredibly hot. As it analyzed the data, the secondary brain broke away and looked at the video of the ships involved in the fight. It saw that two of them were killed. It also saw the cruiser was floating in three parts. It stopped a moment and sent a message to the primary brain, “What is going to happen to our ship that was destroyed? Are we going to just leave it there?”
The Watcher’s primary brain heard the question and considered it. Then it felt fear. One of their ships was available to be studied by the enemy. The Watcher hit the alarm on his panel and directed eight ships to the site of the battle. He waited, hoping for the best. It would not be a good thing to have their technology available for the enemy to study. He should have thought about this when the follow-up ships arrived but he didn’t have any experience to guide him. No Moet ship had ever been destroyed during his long lifetime. Both brains merged and the Watcher stared at his display. He knew he could lose his life over this incident. Finally the display activated and he saw the three pieces of the dead ship were still there. But where was the larger of the two destroyed enemies? One of the enemies’ ships was missing.
“Scan for the missing ship. Look for a trail.”
“Watcher, the space has been greatly disturbed.”
“Then go completely around the disturbance and find a trail leaving it.”
“That could take an extended time.”
“You will do it until you are needed elsewhere.”
“I will do as you direct.”
The Watcher thought about why someone would take an enemy ship and not one of the sections of their destroyed ship. The missing ship was actually larger than any of the three sections. Something wasn’t right. He checked his board and called in eight more ships to scan for a trail. He also directed them to destroy the three sections before they started their search. He reluctantly went back to his boards, but he kept his secondary brain focused on the site. He remembered the last time he felt this nervous and it wasn’t a good memory.
The five people sitting around the conference table were silent. Chris and Jillian had filled them in on all that had happened and Dolly, Jeff, and Arnold were digesting what they heard. Finally Arnold said, “So you were followed.”
Chris nodded, “That’s the only thing that makes sense. There must be continuous war between the Moet and the group the Sheera is a part of. Not only were we followed, but that Moet was also followed and attacked. Without that intervention, the Moet would have followed our trail to our location. We were lucky.”
“Do you think they will follow you here?”
“No, Father. We discovered that if we fire a beam of positive gravity behind the ship, it collapses the trail left in Sierra Space.”
Dolly looked up, “Sierra Space?”
Jillian and Chris smiled, “We decided to name it after someone famous.”
Jeff smiled and said, “Do tell.”
Dolly hit him on the arm and said, “Hey, a little respect for your boss.”
Jeff saluted and started snickering. Chris couldn’t stop himself and joined in. Dolly leaned back and said, “Well, thank you. I’m curious about the man that appears to be the one that built the Great Pyramid still being alive.”
Dolly turned to Jeff, “Do you think you can assign a team of Alpha’s to find him? We have a picture that might help.” Jeff nodded and left the room. Dolly watched him leave and said, “Whoever it is, they’re as good as caught. Those Alphas are tenacious.”
Chris looked at Dolly, “What’s got you bothered?”
Dolly sighed and shook her head, “I haven’t come up with a good weapon to use against the participants in this war.”
“Why do you say participants?”
“Why are the Moet attacking us? It’s because they see us as allies of the Jenze initially and the Sheera later. Besides, do we really know what the purpose of the Great Pyramid really was? Until we make that determination, we need to stay out of this conflict if we can, but it’s not easy to do that when you’re standing in the middle of a gunfight and all you’re holding is a small stick.” Dolly looked at her computer pad and said, “They just found the asteroid coming our way.” Everyone sat up straighter and looked at each other. “Hemon was right.”
Arnold asked, “Who’s Hemon?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Hemon is the Greek name for Hemiunu. He said they were going to destroy the planet this time, and it looks like he had it right. The asteroid coming our way is a three hundred mile wide rock traveling at 90,000 miles per hour. If it hits, it will probably break the planet apart. Even if the planet survives the impact, nothing bigger than bacteria will be left alive.”
“How long until it arrives?”
“If its approach speed doesn’t change, it should hit in two years, six months, Jillian.”
“Why don’t we go out and divert it with the Cheops?”
“Chris, put yourself in the place of the Moet. They are watching this projectile with a scanner. If we go out and attempt to stop it, they will immediately jump in ships to stop us. They will then accelerate the comet and follow it in. Before we go making the attempt, I would like to have some form of defensive and offensive weapons to use against them. Right now we have nothing.”
Chris tilted his head and nodded at the display on the wall, “We have a ship that took part in killing one of their ships.”
“How many ships did it take?” Chris shrugged and shook his head. “If it was a hundred ships to just kill one of theirs, we aren’t even close to being in the ballgame.” Dolly looked at the display and said, “But you’re right. We know that the weapons on that ship are effective. If we can make them a hundred times stronger, then we only need one ship.”
Arnold looked at her, “Can we do that?”
“I don’t know. We’re just beginning to open the technology of that ship and it will tell us how far behind we are in this game. We’ll set a deadline of two years before we go and intercept that asteroid. What are you two going to do?”
Jillian looked up at the display and turned back, “We are going to Puma Punku to see if the builder there tried to leave a message. Then we are going to go and see the Jenze ship that was destroyed on our planet.”
Dolly stared at Jillian and then looked at Chris, “That’s more than 65 million years ago. You’ll have to leave our galaxy to find that light.”
Chris looked at Jillian and shrugged.
Dolly looked at Jillian and stared at her. “So you’re going to try it?”
Jillian jerked in surprise and looked quickly at Chris. She looked back at Dolly and nodded.
Chris looked at Jillian, then at Dolly, “Try what?”
Dolly stared at Jillian for a moment, then turned to Chris, “She intends to go and bring us back one of the Jenze ships or weapons.”
“What?!?”
“Chris, I think she can do it. Whether she should is another issue all together. Didn’t you read her paper that won her the Nobel Prize?”
Chris was staring at Jillian and saw her guilty expression, “Yes, but I didn’t really understand what she was saying.”
Dolly saw Jillian’s expression and said, “He should know what you’re doing. He’s risking his life and he has the right to know. If you aren’t going to tell him, I am.” Dolly looked at Chris and said, “Your device needed a stardrive in order for it to work. Jillian’s invention needed your invention in order for it to work”
Chris looked at Jillian and said, “What does your invention do?”
Jillian sighed and said, “It will allow the Ninja to travel back in time.”
Chris was silent, “So the pyramid wasn’t what you were looking for. You were looking for the site of the Jenze ship?”
Jillian took a deep breath and nodded.
Chris leaned back and said, “Jillian, the Jenze are not going to allow you to just walk up, knock on their door, and take their ship. I’m certain that ship has defenses that will prevent you from getting close. There is also the problem of an asteroid hitting that ship and destroying it along with every animal on the planet larger than forty pounds. I’m going to make a guess here and suggest that maybe the Jenze were unable to move it for some unknown reason, but you’ll be going into an area that is going to be obliterated. You are also looking at a time when there was T-Rex in abundance along with a variety of carnivores that were the deadliest animals in our planet’s history. You can’t do this!”
Jillian looked at Chris and said, “I won’t if you come up with a weapon to defend ourselves before that comet hits. Can you do that?”
Chris stared at her and shook his head.
“I have to do this, Chris. If you won’t go, I’ll do it alone.”
Chris started shaking his head, “You know you could never find what you need without my help. That threat holds no water.”
Jillian came over, knelt beside his chair, and looked into his deep set green eyes, “Chris, if we don’t exhaust every possible means of defending our planet, all of the Tutors, the children in the center, and every other life form are going to die. We have to try.”
Chris knew he couldn’t stop her. She would make the effort without him if he forced the issue. She stared at him and saw that he knew her desperation. “Have you considered the possible effects of going back and changing what happens in our current timeline? If you take that Jenze ship causing that energy signature to not be left behind for those Sheera to discover….”
“I know, I know. Everything changes.”
“Jillian, our world as we know it will cease to exist. We may not even be in it. This is something that is too dangerous to even consider.”
“I know I can’t take the ship, but I may be able to steal something that would help us. If we don’t see a way to do it safely, we won’t try. But we must go and see.”
Dolly looked at them shaking her head, “I don’t like the idea, but nothing near that ship will have any impact on future events. Everything around it for three thousand miles is going to be burned. That comet strike caused the extinction of the dinosaurs, and it was only nine miles wide. The current comet is three hundred miles wide and traveling nearly twice as fast. It’s still your call, but I felt you should know.”
Chris looked at Jillian, “When were you planning to tell me?”
Jillian looked at the floor, “At the last moment. I know you would try to stop me from doing anything dangerous.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because you love me.” Chris took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. Jillian took his hands and said, “And I love you, too.”
Chris looked up at the ceiling, sighed heavily, and stared at Jillian. Finally he said, “Then I have no choice but to go with you. It’s the only way I can do everything possible to make sure you survive the attempt.” Jillian leaned forward and hugged his neck and she felt her relief.
Dolly looked at them and felt sorrow. Their chances weren’t good. Love chooses such funny times to find life.
L’grae sat in front of the Leaders of the Alliance. They had viewed his recording of the action and were talking among themselves. Tenah looked over at L’grae and said, “How many ships have we been able to arm with this new beam?”
“We have fifteen ready.”
“We need to make sure it’s effective. We need to hit them again.”
Pject leaned forward and said, “I’m sure some of their ships are still at the site of the attack.”
Tenah looked at Lgrae and waited. L’grae said, “We had six-to-one odds, and still lost two ships. If they have more than three ships, we may not be successful.”
Pject asked, “How far away were you when you opened f
ire?”
L’grae was nervous, but answered truthfully, “Twenty five kens.”
“So if you rushed in to five kens, your beams could be focused much hotter.”
L’grae could do nothing but nod.
Tenah looked at L’grae, then at the other leaders who were nodding, “Take those ships and set up an ambush. I want confirmation these new beams will work.”
L’grae stood, bowed to the ten beings, and left the room. This was not good. Surprise was on his side before, but this time the Moet would be ready. He shook his head; this was not good.
Tenah looked at Pject, “Keep me informed of what happens here.”
Pject lowered his head, “I will.”
Hemon stepped out of his home and started walking up the street. He saw Sasha working in her yard next door and nodded to her. She smiled at him and waved as he moved further up the street. She was so beautiful and had the most wonderful smile. He shook his head and thought about having to move again. Sasha was starting make moves to become a part of his life and he knew he had to avoid any possible relationships. She was just such a nice person….and beautiful.
He looked up at the clear sky and decided that today he was not going to give in to worry. He needed some bread and it was a beautiful day in Giza. He thought about all the places he had chosen to live over the centuries but had always returned to the place of his birth. So many things had changed over the thousands of years and some days he missed the ancient way of life. But not today, He looked up at the sky again and wondered how many days were left. Ooops, There I go worrying again.
He stopped at a street vendor and noticed someone behind him ducking behind a building. His internal alarms went off. He talked with the vendor and casually looked around. After five thousand years his senses were tuned to anything out of the ordinary, and he immediately noticed that there weren’t as many people in the market as there normally were at this time of day. Something was happening. He turned to look around for an escape route and Jeff shot him with a stunner. Hemon hit the pavement and Jeff stepped out of the booth. His dark skin helped him fool Hemon into thinking he was a local. He realized that Hemon had sensed he was being followed. Now, let’s get him to Sydney and have him meet Dolly. Jeff looked down at Hemon and wondered at all he had seen. He looked forward to meeting him. He looked up and saw the carrier coming down as two Alphas grabbed Hemon, lifted him, and moved him toward the carrier. Jeff started to join them but saw a pretty Egyptian woman charging the two Alphas holding Hemon.