“Battle stations,” Frank immediately ordered, on seeing four of the red Tags were Garoden Star Destroyers.
“My sensor grid confirms, they are noncombatant. Dead.” Andromeda informed him.
Frank looked again and could see that there was nothing out here now, that presented any risk to the Andromeda.
“Frank, I have just been scanned… But not from space, from Earth itself,” Andromeda told him.
One of the red contact warning tags on Frank’s tactical screen, then turned green as two AIs confirmed each other’s authentication code.
Then, Captain Patterson of the Illustrious came over on the ship-to-ship link.
“Not a pretty sight is it, Frank. However, I’ve been in contact with Navy HQ. It seems that the Solverons arrived just in time to prevent the total destruction of Earth.”
Frank, was amazed to hear this about the Solverons and relieved that they had, after all, come good on their promises.
“So, no space assets left around Earth at all?”
“Seems so, Frank,” Derrick confirmed. “Earth itself is unscathed, and there’s no risk of any Garoden attack. So, if I were you, I’d get down there and see Susanna, smartish.”
Frank, having looked at the devastation outside, felt depressed, as Derrick closed the contact.
“What planetary defense units do we have out there that you can recognize, Andromeda?”
“Well, I’ve got some info from HQ’s comms. It seems that our first asset to be hit was a new Navy Battleship, called the Roosevelt. Then, a cruiser called the Vanguard. After that, the Garoden took out our Planetary shield, and the two space station assets.”
“What about the wrecks that are in a decaying orbit,” Frank then asked.
“Apparently, three space tugs are coming from the Mars complex, to deal with them. They should arrive in two days.
In the meantime, there isn’t any risk of the wreckage reaching Earth.” Andromeda informed Frank.
“Well, that’s nice, to know,” Frank replied, then sat back in his command chair, weighing up the situation.
So, no Planetary defense system, at all. Then Frank thought about the personnel who had been operating the system. This left him feeling depressed by the number of men and women killed by the Garodens.
Frank, sat there feeling glum, not noticing that his brain had been itching for a few seconds. Then he realized that Susanna had just scanned him.
Damn, he thought, panicking. Then mentally searched for Susanna’s mind.
Sues, he directed his thought at her.
Frank, Susanna sent back. With her thought, seeming bright and warming to Frank.
Sorry to be four years late Sues. But I had no option.
We are all desperate to have you home Frank, Susanna excitedly sent back. Then came a pause.
Oh, by the way, I see you couldn’t help screwing Charlotte, Susanna added.
It wasn’t like that Sues. She convinced me you were dead, Frank told finally told her, trying to justify his actions.
I could kill you for that, and for giving her children, Frank, Susanna replied.
But, I won’t, Susanna added. But only because I understand that your mind believed at the time, that what Charlotte told you was true.
Frank didn’t reply. He had sensed something else in her mind. The need for another child to keep Alex company.
Then he realized that Susanna must have mentally sensed his uncontrolled feelings as both he and Charlotte came, at the same time. He knew that the sensations he’d felt at the time would have been too vivid and enjoyable, for Susanna not to have sensed them in his mind.
Frank, cursed himself for having caused Susanna pain. Then, thinking on decided that, maybe Susanna’s wanting another baby was her way of coping.
Just hurry up and come home, Frank, Susanna urged.
I will, as soon as I’ve checked in and we’ve decided what to do with Andromeda.
Then, Susanna sent him a mental image of the first thing she wanted him to do to her. And, he blushed. Bloody hell, he thought and knew for certain that this was going to be the start of their new lives together.
Epilogue
The long range, stealth monitoring devices that had been left behind by the Tri-Axis fleets, never detected any Garoden ships in their vicinity. Nor did any of the other Monitoring devices that had since been strategically located far enough from Earth, Crilla and Solvera to give early warning if the Garodens ever returned.
If the devices picked up any signals in the future. This system would enable any of the three races to receive quick military response. And aid from the other races, in the event they were ever threatened.
Over the years, as the Tri-Axis slowly rebuilt itself and moved towards even closer ties with each other. Pavonis’s DPv4 had been set up as a general meeting and conference location.
The Garoden fleets had remained in their own sphere of influence. But would eventually regain their standing once again, without the need for their companion brains.
However, the Tri-Axis hierarchy believed that the Garodens feared the Humans, thinking the Humans had mental powers. And, this fear, had ultimately led to the Garoden’s defeat at the hands of the three races.
Delta Supervisor Javon had finally been recalled early from Delta’s forward base.
After a brain scan had revealed that he had not informed the Delta Chamber that Operator Charlotte had mentally manipulated one of their Timeships pilot’s, to assist her in acquiring a Crillon experimental ship.
And, that Javon’s lack of action, might have jeopardized Delta, and the human race’s future.
The only good thing to have come out of all this, for Javon. Was that the Tri-fleets had done what Plato’s team had predicted, and had stopped the Garoden’s expansion.
But, even then, it had only been with the help of Frank Richardson.
Javon had been devastated when Platos had shown him, his teams forward predictions, that the Human’s timeline now had a major deviation in its Up-Time.
In fact, the human’s timeline wouldn’t exist beyond 2773.
Javon had wondered if it had been his fault. That, him not reporting Charlotte, had ultimately caused the timeline to end.
Even so, this hadn’t seemed plausible. So, the only thing Javon had been able to think of then, was that Operator Charlotte herself must be the cause of something that would happen in the far future.
However, he had been sure that the Delta Chamber would have already been trying to correct the change, whatever it was. After all, the humans were Delta’s ancestors, and each affected the other.
Nevertheless, Javon had thought at the time that there had been nothing he would be able to do. He would be dead and gone by then.
At the time, Charlotte had instructed her Crillon pilot to take her to ‘Cradle. She had named the planet as her new home, and it was one of the five planets orbiting a red dwarf star called Kepler 186, some 493 light-years from Earth.
The planet had originally been discovered by the Varon species. Who had been searching for a new homeworld for many years, having fled their own planet because their star was unstable and on its way to becoming a Super-Nova.
Although this planet hadn’t been much to write home about in ecological terms, it did have a safe, breathable atmosphere. And, even though its dwarf star cast a reddish colored light over it during the day. It nevertheless had a relatively large land mass and adequate amounts of sea water.
So, Charlotte had concluded, as the Varons had, that it was terra formable and would become home to her, and her children.
Charlotte had decided to set up home where the Varons had started to build their new homes, before being terminated by the Crillons, many years earlier.
In the meantime, Charlotte had stayed on the Crillon cruiser that was in orbit around the planet. While its crew had used the ship’s shuttle to ferry everything down to the surface that had been needed for them to then build a dwelling for her.
By
the time, Charlotte’s pregnancy was full term, she had provided reading material to the Crillon droids, on how to assist in the birth, and then how to rear human babies.
With Charlotte’s aim being for the droids to care for her and her two children.
Later, the twins, one boy and one girl as predicted by Andromeda, were born.
Charlotte had become used to sitting outside her dwelling most evenings, once her children were asleep, watching the dwarf star casting a deepening reddish colored light over everything as it slowly sunk below the horizon, and thinking about her time with Frank.
Each day, Charlotte had gone over events in her mind. Wishing that things had been different and that Frank could have been here with her.
Charlotte had wondered if maybe she had handled him totally wrong. But, each time she had realized again, there was nothing she could have done, to correct events.
Over the ensuing years, as the children grew towards adulthood. Charlotte had concentrated on enhancing their mental ability. She had known that they wouldn’t be able to stay with her forever.
However, Charlotte’s children had become increasingly impatient. They had wanted to try out their mental powers and had continually sought to read Charlotte’s mind.
Then, one day, they managed to over-ride her mental block and had finally been able to enter her mind.
It had been then, that Charlotte had realized her children’s minds were dark and sadistic.
Charlotte had cringed. These were not the minds she had longed for.
What have I created? Charlotte had wondered.
In contrast, Frank Richardson and Susanna’s dream had come true. They had twins nine months to the day after Frank’s return, both children being female.
Uncle Jack and his wife Georgina were both devoted to all three children, and, had taken some of the upbringing pressure off Susanna and Frank. That had then enabled them both to continue working with the Earth Federation.
Frank, had eventually let Susanna rummage through his mind to see the things Charlotte had done, and what Charlotte hoped her children might be capable of in the future.
Afterward, both he and Susanna had agreed to use the Delta’s brain enhancing injection on all three children, but just one time.
Both knowing that Andromeda would have the use of more enhancers than Charlotte if they were ever needed in the future.
The Navy had presented Andromeda to Frank for his contribution in the war against the Garodens.
At the time, Frank had thought that it was probably more likely to be because the Navy hadn’t been able to decide what to do with her. After all, Andromeda had certainly been a one off, and would never have fitted in as a military asset.
Nevertheless, over the years, the Richardson family and their friends had used Andromeda well. Taking the chance to visit DPav4, Crilla, and Solvera to meet up with old friends. And, occasionally, traveling to the other three planets on Earth Federation business.
END
If you enjoyed reading my 7th book
The Garoden War, Part 2.
Please help me by reviewing it on Amazon.
Other SpaceFed books by this Author
About the Author
I started writing my first book, many years ago, but fate then conspired to point me in a different direction.
Although my career in electronic design was both exciting and fulfilling, especially with the fast-moving pace of the technology employed. I never lost my love of space. Or, of the possibility of man one-day traveling in space and colonizing planets.
It wasn’t until 2013 that I had time to continue writing my book. Then I kept writing until finally, I had completed my SpaceFed-Starships trilogy. I was then drawn to write a fourth book, Death of Time. Followed by my fifth book, Acarea A Triumph or Disaster.
Then, in my sixth book, The Garoden War, Part1 - Into the Fire. We saw the build up to the first real Military action, as the Garoden Fleet engaged the Earth’s new Space Navy and the Crillon’s Fleet 5.
Now, in my seventh and final book of the series, The Garoden War, Part 2 - Military Gamble. The conflict has become a full-blown, all-out war. Which sees the Military, and the temporal players in turmoil. As battle after battle relentlessly pushes all of them closer to extinction.
Gerry A. Saunders
Dedication
I would like to thank my wife for her support in helping me complete this book. I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed writing it.
Table of Contents
SpaceFed StarShips Series
Other Books by this Author
Acknowledgements
Content
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Epilogue
About the Author
Dedication
The Garoden War. (SpaceFed StarShips Series) Book 7. An exciting, action-packed SpaceFed Series finale that also concludes the Garoden War.: ‘Military Gamble.’ Page 19