by Saxon Andrew
“You mean the tools they have to do their bidding?”
“Their warships are formidable.”
“So you’re going to sit here and wait for them to come and open the festivities.”
“That’s the plan.”
“Why us?”
“Because if you lose and I’m killed, they’ll go away for a while and allow the rest of the galaxy to prepare for them. I couldn’t lead them to the Fellowship, there are more than a thousand civilizations there that would be eradicated. This is just one planet.”
Julie said quietly, “Just ONE WORLD standing between them and galactic conquest?”
Pat looked at her and smiled, “I’ve always liked you.” Pat turned back to Lukas, “They won’t detect me unless they enter your gravity limit. They detected me because I expanded my mind into their domain. If you want to delay them, just don’t allow them to get close.” Pat smiled, “However, I don’t know how you’re going to avoid that, one of their ships saw the skip trace at the conduit.”
Lukas stared at Pat and it was clear that if he had the means, the invaders wouldn’t have to kill this particular Sentinel. Pat was unaffected by it and continued smiling. Amanda said, “Trevor and I have developed a weapon that might keep them away from the planet.”
Everyone in the room turned to her and Salud hit her forehead with her hand, “Oh Lukas! I forgot to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Amanda said, “We need to trial it on one of those ships, but we have a couple of new guns that can hit them in the void or normal space, we think.”
Pat looked at Amanda and said, “Do tell.”
Chapter Fifteen
The Welken Ruling Royal arrived back at his palace and felt small. His civilization was now the most powerful in the Fellowship with the destruction of the Myot fleets. He thought about what the two Leaders of that Primitive planet said to him and he knew they were right about the Myot planets he now possessed. They were going to require massive forces to maintain stability and a large number of his warships were going to be tied up enforcing his rule. He took a deep breath and called in the Fleet Royal, “I want you to open a channel to every Myot Planet. Tell them I will address them in three hours about their fate.” The Fleet Royal looked at the Ruling Royal and bowed.
Three hours later, the entire Myot Species were watching any monitor they could get to. This was going to be a nightmare and they anticipated the worst. The Ruling Royal appeared on every monitor on every Myot planet and he looked at them and said, “I currently have official possession of all Myot planets and everything on them including their populations. Normally, I would be landing my forces and taking control of your civilization. However, that is not what is going to happen. My fleets will defend your planets until such time that you can rebuild your fleets so you can defend yourselves. At that time, I will turn possession back over to whomever you choose to be your leader. I will not be taking any of your natural resources or dictating to you how to run your civilization. My fleets will assist you in any way possible to speed up the time it takes for you to be ready to take your place in the Fellowship again. It is my fervent hope that you will be able to regain the respect you had before this last devastating loss of your fleets. Your leaders should feel free to contact my staff with any of your requests and we will do all we can to meet your needs. I wish you prosperity and long lives.”
The monitors went dark and the Myot citizens stared at each other. This just wasn’t possible. This was not the way a new Ruler behaved. They didn’t believe it at first, but they soon discovered that the Welken was being true to his word. The Johan joined him in sending ships to defend their planets and the rebuilding started in earnest. Eight months later, the newly chosen Ruler of the Myot contacted the Royal and told him that his people would have a friend and ally who would always look at him as the real Ruler of his people. If he needed anything, they would give their lives to see he received it. The Welken saw what was happening and decided to make another trip to visit the two beings that had dismissed him.
• • •
Lukas looked at Amanda, “Why don’t you tell us what you’re talking about.”
Amanda nodded, “It all depends on whether or not their force fields are active when they are surrounded by the dark matter cloud.”
“Why?”
“Because Dark Matter is attracted to a strong magnetic field. We have built a cannon that will fire a Dark Matter projectile into the void. If there’s a strong magnetic field anywhere close, the projectile will home in on it at a speed faster than light.”
“What about normal space?”
Amanda looked at Chad, “We have also made shells that are fired through a Gatling Machine Gun. They will also home in on a magnetic field if fired close enough.”
“How close?”
Amanda shrugged, “We won’t know until we trial it.”
Pat looked at Lukas, “You can forget breaking through their force fields with any type of energy weapon.”
Lukas looked at him, “Why is that?”
“It’s made from the same energy they use to build the conduits. It is absolutely impervious to any type of laser, disruptor, nuclear blast…”
“What about a dark matter projectile?”
Pat looked at Trevor, “I have no idea. I really didn’t know you could make a solid object out of dark matter.”
“We don’t.”
Pat stared at Amanda and said, “If you don’t, then who does?”
Lukas looked at the Sentinel, “I thought you said you know everything?”
Pat waved a hand, “Obviously, that’s not entirely true. I didn’t know that you were on to my manipulating events here.” He turned back to Amanda, “How do you make dark matter solid?”
“We collect it from the magnetic field surrounding a Magnetar.” Pat stared at Amanda in silence. Trevor said, “No, she’s right. It’s has the strength of steel there where the magnetic field compresses it.”
“How do you manage to get close enough without being sucked into the Neutron Star?”
“We route three reactors to the gravity compensators.”
“And they create enough power to keep you out?”
Lukas looked at Pat, “Surely you know about the dark matter linings we’ve installed in our containment vessels?”
Pat looked at Lukas, “I’ve been busy lately keeping the other Sentinels from seeing what’s going on here.” Pat turned back to Amanda, “Your reactors provide enough power to prevent your ship from being sucked into the star?”
“They do.”
“Well, maybe your disruptors will penetrate their force fields.”
Salud looked at Lukas, “In order to find out, we’re going to have to attack one, or both, of those ships. If we do that, and I hope to God it works, I suspect that might prompt an invasion and the targets will be the Welken and Myot civilizations.”
Stoney said, “Better them than us.”
Pat looked at Stoney, “You’re talking about more than six thousand heavily populated planets. More than two hundred thousand intelligent beings will die for every person on Earth.”
Stoney stared at Pat, “If we’re the best chance of eventually defeating those new invaders, then it would be best over the long haul for us to survive.”
“Tell that to the ones that are going to die.”
Lukas looked at Pat, “So you’re saying that we’re being set up because it would be the least damaging of all the other options available.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Not really but your logic does make sense.”
Everyone looked at Lukas and he saw their expressions. “Look, when you see things from outside your own selfish wants, desires, and needs, the universe looks different. Pat is looking out for the welfare of every intelligent being in our galaxy, not just us. If someone is going to have to die, would you sent several trillion instead of five or six billion to lose their lives? He’s right about Earth
having the smallest population. Would any of you give up your life to save New York City? That’s the same principle of what he’s doing.” Lukas looked at Pat, “You did at least start getting us ready to defend ourselves.”
Pat shrugged, “I did what I could but you are still far behind them in technology.”
“Maybe not as far as you think. If these dark matter projectiles work, we might have a chance.”
Pat shook his head, “The ones coming here have conquered multiple galaxies. You have no concept of the numbers they have to throw at you.”
“Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t. However, facing overwhelming numbers is what we’ve done since you started training us.”
Pat shrugged, “Point taken.”
Jinks shook his head, “Lukas, surely you don’t agree with what he’s doing?”
“Jinks, a city on Earth is going to be hit with a nuclear missile and it can’t be avoided Pick one, New York, Tokyo, London, Rio De Janerio, or Billings, Montana.” Jinks was silent and Lukas said, “One will be hit. Pick one!”
“Of course it would be Billings! It doesn’t have a million people living there.”
“That’s exactly what Pat has done. He’s made the best choice available to him. I don’t feel as angry about it now.” Lukas turned to Pat, “But I do not intend to go down without a fight!!”
“That’s part of the reason this planet was selected. This civilization is beautiful but it is capable of savagery beyond anything the Fellowship could do.”
Stoney said, “I don’t know whether to be proud of that or feel insulted.”
The gathering laughed and Salud said, “A little of both, I think.”
Chad blew out a breath, “Well, if we’re trying to save lives here at the expense of our own, how are we going to go after those ships in Myot and Welken Space?”
Amanda said, “Uhhh, excuse me!” Everyone looked at her and she said, “There is another development we discovered.”
Pat looked at Lukas and said, “This should be interesting.”
Lukas smiled and said, “What is that Amanda?”
“If we had gone to the conduit in one of our new ships, we wouldn’t have left a skip trail.” Everyone in the room became silent.
Trevor said, “While we were trialing the new guns, we decided to experiment with using multiple reactors with different systems. The new reactors burn its fuel at a much higher temperature so there is very little residue. When we used three reactors to power the force field, our ship did not leave a visible skip trace. Now I’m sure a tiny trace is being made but…”
The room exploded in loud cheering and Trevor stopped talking. Amanda stood up and yelled, “HEY, EVERYBODY SHUT UP!!” Lukas shook his head at Amanda’s audacity but knew it was her being herself. The room grew quiet. “What Trevor was trying to say before he was interrupted was that we don’t have to attack them in the Fellowship Civilizations. We just wait on them to go back to the conduit and hit them before they arrive. We know where they’re coming from. We set up an ambush.”
There was a brief silent pause and then the room exploded in cheers again. Amanda looked around in confusion and Lukas went over and put his arm over her shoulder. He shouted where she could hear, “You just don’t know the full extent of what you’ve done.” Lukas pointed around the room, “They do!”
Amanda looked at the cheering leaders and after a moment smiled, “Yeah, I guess they do.”
Pat watched Lukas put his arm around the headstrong human female and saw her respect for him. He heard, “You chose well when you selected that Welken.”
Pat smiled, “He’s no longer a Welken. He’s truly one of them now.” Pat watched the celebration and then disappeared. He had been working on getting Earth ready for more than a thousand years since he first saw the conduit between galaxies. He deliberately allowed himself to be seen when they started building the conduit toward the Milky Way. That had prevented an immediate invasion once the conduit was complete. His plans were finally coming to fruition but he still didn’t believe it would be enough. He was giving up his life to buy time for the other civilizations to prepare. But for humans, odds didn’t carry as much weight as with other species. He had to do something to ensure the species didn’t become extinct. They were a rare jewel in the dirt of the universe.
Construction of ships continued while the plan to attack on of the Invader ships was being made. “Lukas, the Probe has detected a single skip trail headed toward Earth.”
“Does the probe have any matches on it?”
“It matches up very closely to the Welken Ruler’s Flagship.”
Lukas nodded and called Jinks and Salud to his conference room. “It appears the Welken Royal is coming back.”
“Do you want us to go out and meet him?”
“I do Jinks but I want you to escort him back here in a lifeboat. He and I need to talk.” Salud looked at Lukas and he saw her instant anxiety. “Don’t worry, if I even look like I’m going to leave with him, you have my permission to lock the doors until I come to my senses.”
“Doors won’t stop you!”
“They will if you’re blocking them.” Lukas smiled, “Ask him to bring my brother with him.”
Salud looked at Jinks and he nodded. They left for the Silos and Lukas wondered why the Royal was returning.
• • •
The giant Welken Flagship broke into normal space and the Royal saw a small ship was present five hundred miles from his vessel. He shook his head and looked at his Fleet Royal, “It appears they have a very good warning system.”
“It does indeed, Great One.”
“Why have you returned?”
“I wish to speak further with you.”
“You will enter a lifeboat and follow us.”
“What?”
“Your former subject wishes to speak with you. If this is something you want to do, you will follow our directives.”
The Royal looked at his Fleet Royal, “You have command until I return.”
“I don’t like you doing this.”
“We also request you bring your subject’s brother with you.”
The Royal looked at the Fleet Royal, “Brother?”
The Fleet Leader shook his head, “The Welken is my brother, Great One.”
“Why haven’t you told me?”
“My loyalty lies with you, not him.”
The Ruler stared at his Fleet Royal and said, “You will come with me and we’ll discuss this when we return.” The Fleet Royal nodded and followed the Ruler to the sled.
• • •
The lifeboat exited the huge landing bay and moved out toward the small ship, which turned and headed toward the planet. The Fleet Royal said, “They are headed inside the Gravity Limit.” He looked at the Royal, “You shouldn’t run this risk! Your ship will not be able to get to you in time to defend you if you’re attacked.”
The Royal smiled, “I wondered if you were being honest about your loyalty. You have now removed that doubt. However, do you honestly think my ship could destroy one of their ships?” The Fleet Royal stared at him for a moment and then shook his head. “Neither do I. Now the important question; do you think your brother will attack us with you on board?” The Royal shook his head again. “That’s good enough for me.”
• • •
“Jinks, I don’t like this one bit!”
“Calm down. I won’t allow him to leave.”
“How can you stop him?”
“I’ll kill the Royal if it comes down to it.”
“WHAT?”
“His power over Lukas will end with him. I know Lukas is too fast for me to stop him but I don’t think the Royal is.”
Salud stared at Jinks, “You’d actually do it!”
“I would and I will.” Salud sighed and watched the lifeboat behind them and wondered what was going to happen.
• • •
Jinks and Salud led the two Welken to Lukas’ conference room. Lukas stood up as
they entered and he walked forward and embraced the Fleet Royal, “I thought you had died, Kyel?”
“I almost did. But I survived my injuries. You look…different.”
Lukas smiled, “This is my new body and you might want to try one on. I really think you’d like it more than yours. My name is now Lukas, by the way.”
“That’s not your name to me.”
Lukas smiled softly and said, “Perhaps, but it is to me.” Lukas turned to the Welken Ruler, “Thank you for coming, Great One. Why are you here?”
“I wanted to tell the two you sent to meet me the first time that I did not take possession of the Myot Planets. I allowed them their freedom and assisted them in rebuilding their ships. They are now independent and ruling themselves again.”
Lukas pointed at some chairs and said, “Please sit down.” Everyone sat down and Lukas said, “What possessed you to do that? You’ve been wanting to rule those planets for as long as I served in your fleet.”
The Royal looked at Jinks and Salud, “They pointed out that taking possession was fraught with more problems than owning them was worth. It appears that I now have an ally that is bound to me by more than anything I could ever force on them.” The Royal paused, “Our two species are now friends in the truest sense of the word.” The Royal paused, “I came here hoping that we could also become allies.”
Lukas stared at the Royal and, after a moment, looked at Salud, “You can stop worrying. You were right.” The Royal saw the tension in the human female fall away. Lukas turned to him and shook his head, “I’m sorry, but we can’t allow that to happen.”
“Why not?”
“You don’t understand. If we become allies, your civilization will be destroyed.”
The Royal stared at Lukas in silence and the Fleet Royal said, “What are you talking about?”
Lukas looked at Jinks and Salud, “I’m going to tell him.”
Jinks tilted his head, “Is that a good idea? He might do something stupid.”
The Fleet Royal stood up and the Ruler put his hand on his arm, “They have the right to say it, I have been doing stupid things for a very long time.” The Royal stared at Jinks for a long moment and then sat down.