Lens of Time - The End of Time (Lens of Time (Book four))

by Saxon Andrew

  One envoy stood, “They don’t know we’re meeting here.”

  “They know where this planet is located and have attacked it previously. Do you want to risk your lives on that assumption? We don’t know how they learn what’s going on but they do. I’ll not have my planet a target of those ships. Leave immediately.”

  Most of the delegates didn’t have to be told twice. Many of them started rushing for the exits as soon as the announcement was made. The others watched the exodus and rushed for the doors as well. The fleets left the Capital and rushed back to their territories.

  The King sat on his throne and thought about the damage that had been done to the Majors. “The next meeting will be easier to control. They should be able to see the danger now.”

  • • •

  RV was ready to launch the fleet when his sensor officer said, “The fleets are leaving the Ramst Capital. It appears the delegates are fleeing the scene.”

  Crap, we just couldn’t get organized in time. RV pressed his board and said, “The attack has been canceled. Get with your fleets and map out your next targets in the Major sector. I don’t want to reveal we’re keeping tabs on the other sector just yet.”

  RV looked at his display and said, “Get the Fleet Admirals on the channel.”

  Kenny, Kate, and Gibbs appeared on the display and RV said, “I want you to integrate the Hive and Horde ships into your attacks. I suspect the best use would be to set up ambushes for the pursuers until they start sending massive numbers. Keep me informed of what’s going on.”

  The three nodded and disappeared from the display. Something had to be done to slow the Majors down. They were starting to combine effectively and the pursuit was coordinated. He sat and thought about what to do. He thought about the gravity of the situation and then had another thought. He contacted Chris and was transferred to Captain Phillips. Phil appeared on RV’s display and said, “How may I be of assistance, Admiral?”

  RV told him and Phil’s face showed surprise. After thirty minutes, Phil said, “I’ll investigate the possibility and get back to you as soon as I have a definitive answer.”

  “Thank you, Captain.”

  • • •

  Phil looked at Anne and said, “I need you to bring three remote controlled attack craft with you and meet me at the following coordinates.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “We’re going to take a look at a deep hole.”

  Anne showed her confusion but left to get the needed ships.

  • • •

  Six months passed and the Allies were attacking the Majors with larger and larger numbers of ships. The small attacks were overwhelming and had hundreds of ships pursuing every ship after an attack. A new tactic was devised and Mikal’s fleet was selected to make the first effort.

  Mikal’s fleet jumped away from the Moget industrial planet with more than a hundred thousand ships in pursuit. Amal Gerji, the Captain of the Rome, looked up from his display, “They jumped in before we could even start an attack on the planet. They have more than a million ships stationed at all their important planets as well as massive numbers waiting to jump in pursuit. They’re really getting their act together.”

  “I expect more ships will be joining them in the chase. How many more jumps?”

  “Five, Sir.”

  “Notify the spider.”

  “He’s counting it down already. They’ll be waiting.”

  The 8th Fleet jumped all forty thousand ships a fifth time and immediately went weightless and accelerated away from the emergence coordinates into the ranks of the Horde’s 1st Fleet. The million white ships waited and after a short delay, two hundred thousand ships emerged into normal space to find millions of beams and penetrators fired at their ships. In less than five seconds, a hundred and fifty thousand were damaged or destroyed. The remaining ships were lucky enough to be behind the outer layer of their formation and were able to return fire. Ten thousand white ships were damaged and another six thousand destroyed. The survivors of the pursuit were blown away when the small craft roared in with their main penetrators and hit each survivor more than sixty times.”

  The Horde Fleet Leader said, “Get a tow for the damaged ships that can be repaired and evacuate the ships that can’t. Start destroying them as soon as the crews are out.” Ships move out from the fleet’s ranks and began putting a tractor beam on the damaged ships and then jumped away. Escape pods and shuttles began entering other ships as the fleet moved to save as many crews as possible.

  Mikal appeared on the Fleet Leader’s board and said, “The probe shows a giant mass moving through Sierra Space this way. There’s no time.”

  “Jump, jump, jump.” The Horde Leader made the announcement and the ship’s drives automatically jumped every ship away at the command. The Fleet Leader sent the self-destruct signal and the six thousand ships that were damaged beyond repair exploded in massive blasts as the five reactors on board went critical and exploded. The Fleet Leader jumped away just before a million ships arrived at the site. Two million more arrived six minutes later. The sensor probe recorded the Major’s frustration and heard the plans to start using five million ships in any future pursuit. Attacking the Majors had become increasingly dangerous.

  RV watched the video and knew that small attacks were going to be next to impossible. He knew that if he was not able to attack them in their sector, they would combine, jump away, and destroy the Hive and Horde planets. Before he could allow that to happen he would have to force a major fleet action against their combined fleets. That could lead to the loss of all his ships. He sat and thought about what to do next. His options were running out. He pressed the communication frequency and said, “Operation Black Widow is now in force. Make your runs according to the data you’ve been given.”

  • • •

  Ten sub-fleets were running from the millions of ships pursuing them. They had all jumped in to attack a secondary capital when the conference had been targeted and had been forced to flee before they could attack. Melodie listened to the other admirals and said, “We will jump into the spider’s web in exactly ten seconds from my mark. Ready, Mark.” Melodie looked at Greg and he said, “All ships are locked in on our position and have gone weightless.”

  “Move them away at maximum speed on emergence.”

  The ten sub-fleets emerged into normal space and every ship hit their thrusters and moved laterally away from their point of entry. The eight million ships in pursuit roared in and emerged into normal space to find themselves inside the event horizon of the largest black hole in the observable universe. The monster in the middle of M-87 had no peers and the Major ships immediately saw their error.

  Melodie Watched as the million plus Major Ships that has chased her fleet were sucked into the black hole faster than she could see. The Spider had caught them in its massive gravity well and their jump drives wouldn’t function in that environment. The ten sub-fleets were weightless and unaffected by the massive gravity surrounding them. Greg looked up and said, “I’m really thankful Captain Phillips made the determination of how far we could move into the event horizon.”

  Melodie sighed and said, “Get us out of her and back to port.” She knew this escape tactic would only work once and the Majors would not jump in this close to the coordinates of the black hole. At least this was an escape of last resort. Once they crossed the horizon, they couldn’t jump out so the Majors could just keep them trapped. It wouldn’t be good to be forced to come back to the giant black spider’s web.

  • • •

  RV sat in the command chair and looked at the clock. It was three in the morning ship time and he was depressed at all the magnificent ships and crews that had been lost. He also knew he wasn’t all that he was cracked up to be. He was lost on what to do next. A supply transport arrived and began unloading in the landing bay. He sighed and leaned back in his chair and thought about his wedding. He closed his eyes and heard, “I hope you’re not sleeping on t
he job.”

  RV eyes flew open and he saw Cyanna standing before him. He jumped up and hugged her tightly. She held him and felt his sadness. “It’s alright; we’ll find a way.”

  RV leaned back and said, “You shouldn’t be here. Leigh Ann needs you.”

  “I know; but I need you.”

  RV pulled her close again and slowly rocked back and forth. After a few minutes he asked, “Where’s Leigh Ann?”

  “Chris and Jillian are taking care of her until we come back.”

  “I can’t leave her an orphan, Cy.”

  “And neither can I. You know there’s no one better than me working at your side and the best chance I have of getting you back is to come and make sure you have the best chance of returning to us.” RV started to say something but Cyanna put a finger on his lips, “If I stayed and you died, Leigh Anne would have a mother lost in her sorrow. Chris and Jillian will take care of her and I don’t know anyone better to raise her to be the wonderful woman I know she’ll become. We both go home or we’ll be together whatever happens. I won’t leave your side again.”

  “You know how that scares me.”

  “RV, I’m a warrior. You’ve know that from the beginning. It’s what I chose to be and I’m dying a slow death away from you. This is my place.”

  RV sighed and then slowly nodded, “I couldn’t do it either.” RV sat down and Cyanna sat in his lap. After an hour of just holding her and stroking her hair RV said, “I’m lost. I don’t know how to continue attacking them in this sector without losing every ship in the attacks. They are jumping five million ships to pursue us and they still have a million ships at every important planet.”

  Cyanna said quietly, “I’ve been busy while you’ve been gone. How would you like to give those fleets chasing your fleets a surprise party?”

  RV lifted his head, “What kind of surprise?”

  “I’ve had Boden make me some new toys and I believe in sharing them with others. Sharing is something I want Leigh Anne to learn as she grows up.”

  “What kind of toys?”

  Cyanna talked with RV for the next three hours and then they went to bed. RV fell asleep with a smile on his face.

  • • •

  “Attention all fleets. I am sending you your next missions and you will follow your instructions to the letter. All ships in our combined fleets will download the following frequency and coordinates into their drive systems and activate them before jumping to your assignments. You will also be given the first coordinate to use when you jump away. Notify the Havana when you have complied.”

  Kenny contacted Kate, “What’s he doing?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve just looked at the attack profile for the ships I’ll be taking and we are to fire at any ships that move our way and then jump to a specific coordinate.”

  “I also notice that we are ordered not to jump away but to run in normal space from the pursuers. It even dictates the direction we are to flee.”

  “This is highly unusual.”

  “He has to come up with something better than this. We can’t continue to lose ships at the rate we’ve been enduring.”

  “I notice he only has fifty of our fleets involved in the next attack.”

  Kenny ran his hand through his short hair, “He doesn’t want to lose all our ships. This accounts for half of those we have remaining. Uh oh, the countdown is starting. We’re all jumping in an hour. I’ve got to make sure everyone follows his orders. If we’re confused, I know everyone else is as well.”

  Kate sighed, “I hope he knows what he’s doing.”

  Just before Kenny ended the call he said, “The assignments were made by Cyanna. She’s back on board the Havana.”

  Kate was surprised and looked to confirm Kenny was right. He was. She didn’t know if this was a good thing or not.

  • • •

  Loree and Mikal looked at their assignments and wondered what was going on. “Mikal, if we survive this, I need you.”

  “I’ll come to you, my love. Be careful.”

  “Come back to me!”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  • • •

  The fifty fleets entered their attack coordinates and then the escape coordinates into their jump drives. The drive officers then activated the automatic frequency. The fifty rear-admirals watched the countdown and then every fleet jumped to their targets.

  Melodie said, “They’ve seen us and are jumping in. Jump us out; NOW!” Melodie’s fleet jumped and emerged in normal space close to a star. Greg looked at her as Melodie said over the general fleet frequency. Go weightless and accelerate until we’re twenty thousand miles from here. Lock you ships to the Hiroshima and stay in formation.”

  “What are we doing, Sir?”

  “The fleet directives order us to flee through normal space at one tenth light speed.”

  “Sir, the pursuit will be able to close on us at that speed.”

  “Follow your orders, Captain.” Melodie watched as the five million Major Ships emerged into normal space and gave chase. She watched as they began closing the distance and wondered what the Admiral was doing. It wasn’t going to take long for her fleet to be reeled in.

  “Should I move further out from the star?”

  “No, our path has been set. Maintain this course.”

  Greg looked at his board, “Sir, the star we’re running close to is unstable.”

  Melodie looked at her board and frowned. What was going on?

  • • •

  The Major Fleet Commander saw the fleeing ships and ordered full speed ahead. The distance started closing and his second in command looked up from his sensor panel, “Should we jump some ships in front of them?”

  The commander thought about it and said, “No; I don’t want two groups of ships moving toward each other at their next jump. It will slow our pursuit and I think they are expecting us to do that. Have you detected any other ships in this system?”

  “No, I have not.”

  “Continue the chase; be ready to follow their next jump.”

  • • •

  On the opposite side of the star from the two giant fleets, ten huge transports opened their massive doors. A huge object inside the hangers moved forward and the blast doors went up behind it. “We’re clear for launch.”

  The Captain waited and after two minutes, all ten lights glowed green. He keyed his board and said, “Launch in ten seconds from my mark. Frequency broadcast in nine seconds.” He paused and said, “Mark.”

  The sensor buoy on the side of the sun where the Allies Fleet was fleeting the Majors received the signal from the other side of the sun and then broadcast a broadband frequency to the fleeing Union Ships. One moment thirty thousand white ships were fleeing from the Majors and the next, all had disappeared. The Major Commander yelled, “Get us to their exit point.” A moment later he died in a blast that burned his ship to vapor. The other five million Major Ships died with him.

  The ten thousand foot long Light Wave Penetrators launched from the giant weapon transports and hit the star at light speed. The explosion at the core of the star instantly ignited the slowly dying furnace and exploded it out toward the stars surface that had almost become too heavy for the core to hold. The result was a super nova that blew out from the star at half the speed of light. The Major Fleet had less than one ninety thousandth of a second to escape, but no being could move in that short moment. In less than ten minutes, fifty new novae appeared in M87.

  • • •

  The Dark Creature looked at the Magest King and felt his frustration. He tried one more time, “You must call off the pursuit of the white ships!”

  “We’ve already discussed this. We will not call off the pursuit. We will destroy large numbers of their ships this time.”

  “Why can’t you see that they want us to chase them? None of their fleets fired a shot; they jumped in and jumped away as soon as our fleets arrived. They’re baiting us to pursue them.”


  “Our fleets respond so quickly now that there is no time for them to fire at anything. Now give it up. We’re going to chase and kill their ships.”

  The Dark Creature looked at his display and saw that hundreds of the other civilizations on the call were starting to wonder what was going on. He leaned back on his pad and cursed under his breath. His alarm sounded and he saw his aide outside his door. He raised it and the aide came in shaking, “What’s wrong?”

  “All of our fleets pursuing the white ships have been destroyed.”

  The Dark Creature was stunned and he looked quickly at his display and saw someone on the screen with the Magest King whispering in his ear. He looked back at the aide, “How?”

  “They exploded the stars where our fleets were pursuing the white ships. All of them were burned in the blasts. It appears no one in the fleets noticed that they were chasing the white ships close to an unstable star.”

  The Dark Creature smiled. He was the only one that had called for the pursuit to be called off. He knew the current civilizations leading the war against the White Ships were going to be challenged. This could help him. The aide said, “We lost fifty percent of our ships today.” He nodded and waved the aide away. He wasn’t completely sure he wanted to be in a leadership role. He closed his door and listened to the uproar on the display.

  • • •

  Melodie’s fleet appeared in open space. She looked at Greg and he said, “Ten more fleets have just jumped in; make that thirty fleets now.”

  Melodie looked at her display as all fifty fleets jumped in and remained in formation. Then she heard Admiral Arvolo say…

  “I want to thank all of you for following your orders. The ships that were in pursuit of your fleets have all been destroyed.” Melodie looked at Greg and he shrugged. “The stars that we had your fleets jump to were very unstable and would have eventually gone nova; we assisted them in doing it now. The Major Fleets were unable to jump away before they were caught in the blast. We have reduced the Major’s ship count by two hundred and fifty million ships. Their numbers are now reduced by half. This buys us time to continue our efforts to wear them down. Thank you again and Admirals, you may jump your fleets back to your support facilities.”