Leon’s head rolled under his body, “This is my fault.” Jolam’s head rolled in agreement.
Dat said, “We ordered you in to the planet, Leon.”
“I know; but I didn’t think it through. It never dawned on me to suspect the local inhabitants would be able to smell me. I should have stayed inside the stealth field and not eaten. This is my fault.”
Jolam’s head rolled back and forth on top of his body, “All of us would have made the same mistake. We’re often blinded by our superior skills. However, self-blame won’t change what happened.” Jolam looked at Dat, “What do you think we should do?”
“Get the hell out of here. You should board transports and have them take you back to the galaxy you were in originally. I’m sure there’s a planet there that will support you until you can find one on the other end of the universe. I’ll contact Haven and have them find one for you.”
“We could stay here and fight with you.”
Leon said, “You’ll never get the opportunity. I suspect they will blast any planet they find our genetic pattern into rubble.”
Ringie put an arm around Jolam, “Fortunately, we travel light.”
Dat lifted his wrist, “Admiral, we need transports to move the Matadors off this planet.”
“Where are they going?”
“Back to Haven. They’ll stay there until they can find another planet several billion light years away from this part of the universe.”
“Do you think Haven will provide a planet?”
“Get Gresha to make the call. However, in the mean time you need to get the transports moving.”
“You’re right; they’ll do whatever Gresha asks of them. The first transports will arrive in two days. Make sure they’re ready to leave.”
“They’ll be ready.”
Jolam looked out at the vast plain with the herds of animals dotting it and his head rolled down his body, “What is going to happen to them?”
Dat shook his head, “I suspect they will die. I’ll try to get as many as possible transported after your population has been moved. I hope we can spare the transports but we may be moving our own populations and they will have priority over the animals.”
“Thank you, my friend.”
Dat smiled softly, “Good luck. I don’t believe we are going to be able to move the Matadors in the Servant’s Galaxy.”
Jolam’s frown was an indication of his sorrow for what was coming.
• • •
A week later, Dat and Gresha stood at the temple and looked out at the giant transports scattered around the wide plain. A giant transport would complete loading and it would ignite its thrusters and move up into the atmosphere. The plain looked like giant hot air balloons were rising as others descended. Gresha stared at one of the closer transports and saw a large group of Matadors carrying something on the vessel, “What are they doing, Dat?”
“They are taking thirty of every species of animal on board with them. They’ve stunned the strongest of the prey animals and they’re not going to risk that we’ll be able to take them later.”
“That’s a wise decision.”
“Truth be told, we couldn’t handle the task even if we wanted. The herds of impala are too fast to capture and there’s no way we could insure we selected the best animals to take. With the thousands of transports coming in, they should have enough to have a good breeding stock for their new home.”
Gresha watched a hundred transports lift and move rapidly into the sky. The view was incredible to behold. “It looks like they have a good chance to survive.”
“I wish we could say the same.”
Gresha nodded, “The Colonial Government has ordered all the scientists and specialists to leave and go to the colonies.”
“I know. Most of the planets in the Union are shipping huge numbers of their populations out as well. The process will stop when the enemy probes are searching close by galaxies.”
“Have they been to the Servant’s Galaxy?”
Dat shook his head, “No, it appears they are going to search it when they arrive at it within their normal search pattern.”
They stood at the temple and watched as the Matador’s Planet emptied of intelligent life. The millions of Matadors gliding into the transports were awe inspiring and still they arrived from over the horizon. Most of them were juveniles, the species was prolific in the numbers they produced but the youngsters could fly with the agility of the adults. Dat sighed and felt the full impact of the bitter-sweet moment. The future looked dark but he was there with the love of his life and he just couldn’t force himself not to glory in having her close.
Gresha shook her head, “It’s so hard to believe that just one being caused all of this.”
Dat heard her but didn’t say anything. Suddenly his mind gripped her comment and he turned and looked at her, “What did you just say?”
Gresha looked at him, “I said it’s amazing that that original being, I think they call him the chosen, could cause all of this.”
Dat’s eyes narrowed and he lifted his communicator, “Admiral Young!”
After a moment they heard, “Yes Sir?”
“Report to the Matador’s planet immediately. Meet me on the planet’s surface with an officer in your fleet that you trust implicitly.”
“Uhhh, Yes Sir.”
Gresha stared at Dat, “What’s going on?”
“I’m going to create a fail-safe device.” Gresha shook her head in confusion. Dat looked out at the transports and his face was grim, “Perhaps we can be the nemesis of this civilization coming to destroy us.”
An hour later a Rover moved out of high atmosphere and landed at the temple. Bret and Jillian stepped out and walked over to Dat, where they came to attention and saluted. Dat returned their salute and said, “I am giving you an assignment and you will keep this information as a State Secret Priority. Is that clear?”
Bret said, “Yes Sir.”
“I am removing you from your current assignments and you will not take part in any combat operations from this time forward.”
“But Sir, I have a fleet to command.”
“Angel will have to find another. You will do as I order!!”
Bret took a deep breath, looked at Jillian and said, “Yes Sir.”
Dat started talking and after a few moments, Gresha, Bret, and Jillian sat down. Bret started shaking his head and Dat said, “You will do this, Admiral.”
Bret blew out a breath, “Do you honestly think it will come that?”
Gresha said, “I can answer that; it will.”
Bret stared at Gresha and said “You should know that I love your daughter.”
Dat smiled, “Get in line. This may be the only way to save her.”
Bret sighed and Dat said, “Einstein.”
“Yes.”
“Open file CCJCendtimetrumpet.”
“Are you sure about that, Admiral?”
“Yes I am. You will also accept Admiral Young as your new commander until I notify you otherwise and transfer the contents of that file to him and Commodore Connor.”
“Sir, meaning no disrespect, Loree and I feel we need to be with you in light of where the current situation is headed.”
“I understand; however, this is a direct order and you will maintain communication silence until I order otherwise. This is a Fleet Priority Protocol and you will not go over my head for confirmation or answer any message. You may use the code JENZE, JENZE, JENZE for confirmation.”
“Code accepted, Sir.”
Bret said, “Sir, what if I have to contact you?”
“You won’t be able to do it. You are going to have to do this on your own.” Bret’s face showed his concern and Dat put his hand on Bret’s shoulder, “I’ve chosen you because I know your abilities and because you love my daughter. Now take Einstein and follow the directions in the file. I’m sending six thousand advanced probes with you for you to record what you need to make this happen.”
“It will if he does it right.” Gresha sighed and watched the Rover disappear high above them. Dat pressed his wrist unit and saw Angel appear on the small display, “Admiral Arvolo.”
“Yes Sir.”
“I have reassigned two of your officers for the duration of the coming conflict. Admiral Young and Commodore Connor have been given a priority assignment and will not be part of your unit after this moment.”
Angel’s face showed her shock and then he saw her anger. “Admiral, I need them to command one of my Task Forces.”
“Admiral, you will find replacements for them and you will not mention this assignment to anyone; is that clear!?!”
Angel stared at her father and knew that he had just removed any possibility of her going over his head. Gresha pulled Dat’s wrist unit over and looked at Angel. Angel was shocked to see her mother. “Angel, you are going to have to trust us that we are making the right choices. You must do as we ask!”
Angel stared at Gresha and said, “You know how I feel about him?”
“That’s why he’s been put on this assignment.”
Angel took a deep breath and blew it out, “I’ll do as you order.”
Dat moved his wrist unit back and said, “I never doubted you wouldn’t. If I might offer a suggestion, there is a Rover Pilot by the name of Mitch Mitchells that would be an excellent choice to replace Commodore Connor.”
Angel nodded and the display went dark.
Chapter Seventeen
The Senior Fleet Admirals sat at the table and waited on Grand Admiral Hull to arrive. Shane looked at Gibbs and shook his head, “Has anyone developed a plan on how to handle the coming invasion?”
Gibbs shook his head, “Not really. Their tactics are pretty simple; they pick a spot and send millions of ships through it.”
Matt looked at them and said, “It appears to me that if we’re at the place they’re coming through, we should be able to provide a heck of a welcome for them.”
Gem’s eyes narrowed, “Have they shown any consistency in where they choose to enter?”
Kune looked at his computer and said, “I’ve just checked the locations at fifteen planets and they jumped in at the jump point closest to the planet’s location.”
Gibbs looked at Kune and said, “Get Fleet to check the others and see if that is the manner in all the others.” Kune nodded and raised his wrist unit.
Dat looked at the Admirals, “The problem will be when they learn we’re waiting on them at that point and change the entry point.”
“Is there any way to prevent them finding out?” Everyone looked at Kelli and she said, “If we can kill them as fast as they emerge, they shouldn’t be able to get a message out.”
Gem shook her head, “You know they’ll have probes observing the attack.”
Gresha said, “I expect them to come after Earth first and then move on the other planets. We can have every advanced probe in our inventory matched up with one of their probes to take it out the moment the first ship appears.”
Dat leaned back in his chair, “Gresha, they have millions of probes.”
“That’s true, but will they send millions here? I’m sure they don’t want them damaged by random beams or missiles. They’ll also be continuing their search for the Matadors so I really think the vast majority of their probes will still be searching for them.”
The Admirals thought about the idea as Katherine entered the room. Gibbs stood to call everyone to attention but she said, “As you were; continue what you were discussing.”
Dat nodded at Katherine and said, “It bothers me that we will run out of penetrators rather quickly with the numbers coming at us.”
“I’m trying to help with that issue.” General Robinson activated the monitor and a transport appeared; the transport looked like it was covered with holes in its hull. “We’re modifying transports as quickly as possible by installing penetrator launch tubes and high speed belts to feed them. These ships will hold more than four million penetrators each.”
Shane stared at the image and shook his head, “How do you intend to use them?”
Brad smiled, “I was hoping you would come up with a plan on how they would be most effective.”
Everyone looked at each other and no one spoke. After a minute Katherine looked at Dat, “How would you use them?”
“I’d place them behind our ranks and have them fired at any warship that made it past our ships.” Dat paused and said, “I’d also have a huge number of them gathered in one area to jump to any other site of a breakout. We’ll have about two seconds warning of an impending jump into normal space. The transports could be there launching before any ships could enter normal space.”
Angel listened to the Senior Admirals and said, “My Strike Fleet is smaller than your fleets. We could be stationed with the transports and jump with them to the site and begin the initial barrages. With the transports, we might be able to hold until you could send ships to reinforce my fleet.”
Everyone thought about the idea and some were nodding at the suggestion. Matt said, “We could also have the Rovers with your fleet to add their fire to your fleet.” Angel smiled and nodded.”
Katherine said, “And what happens if they break through our ranks?”
Dat said, “We explode a nuclear device in green space kicking every Rust Ship that hasn’t entered normal space out beyond our solar system. They’ll have to come in the old fashioned way and I’ve not seen their ships attain any velocity close to light speed. It will buy us time to reform and hit them as they move in.”
Shane nodded, “We’ll have to do that quickly before enough of them break through and overwhelm us.”
Katherine nodded, “We’ll handle the detonation of the device. All of you should be focused on combat.”
Kune tilted his head to the left, “You know if we detonate that device that none of our ships will be able to escape.”
Dat shook his head, “That’s not entirely true. The Rovers will all have the Stealth Field and can slip away without being seen. The Jukeboxes will be able to skip out on the barrier as long as they are outside the orbit of Jupiter.”
“What are you saying, Admiral?”
“If it becomes clear we will lose every ship if we continue the fight, we should consider sending them away to fight the enemy at other planets.”
Gibbs shook his head, “We can’t leave Earth defenseless.” He looked at Katherine, “Isn’t that right, Admiral?”
“We won’t be entirely defenseless.”
Gibbs leaned back, “Oh?”
“We’ve been receiving massive shipments of penetrators from the colonies and we’ve been loading them on commercial platforms. We have more than a billion heavy commercial haulers on the planet and we’re modifying them to accept a large load of penetrators.”
Kelli’s eyebrows came together, “How can a commercial hauler stand up to a single penetrator launch?”
“The Penetrators will have their gravity units set to push them off the haulers. Once they’re a mile above them, they’ll activate their normal systems and select a target to hit.”
Gresha smiled, “That should be quite a show; at what point do you intend to use them?”
Katherine’s lips came together and she looked around the table. “We’ll use them after we disrupt green space. Once the Rust Ships arrive at Earth and start their bombardment of the force field, we’ll lift the haulers and start launching.”
Gibbs looked around the table and shook his head, “I don’t see how any civilization could survive that many penetrators.”
Katherine looked at Gibbs, “I sincerely hope you’re right.”
Dat looked at Brad, “How much longer do we have before their
probes arrive?”
“We estimate we have about sixty days. The exact time will depend on whether or not they stop to remove the colonies of Matadors in the Servant’s Galaxy.”
Dat nodded, “And if they don’t?”
“Sixty days. We’ll have longer if they pause to attack.”
“They’ll stop to destroy them.” Everyone turned and looked at Gresha. She raised her shoulders and held her hands up, “What if someone went into your church and desecrated it. Would you pass up the opportunity to let them know how much you disapproved of their actions?” Gresha saw everyone still staring at her, “They won’t either.”
Katherine looked at Dat, “I’ve been notified by the colonies that all shipments will be stopped today. They can’t run the risk of a ship being followed back to their location.”
Gibbs said, “If we disrupt space, there’ll be no way to resupply Earth.”
Katherine stared at Gibbs and shook her head, “If we have to be resupplied, I suspect we’ll no longer be here.”
Gem lifted her hand, “Admiral, have the essential personnel been transported out?” Katherine nodded, “Why do you ask?”
“My parents were scheduled to leave in the last ship.”
“They left two days ago. They’re fine.”
“Thank you.”
Katherine stood up, “I’m going to leave it up to Admiral Arvolo to set up the plan for Earth’s defense. Brad and I need to get the commercial haulers ready; I know all of you will make us proud.” The Admirals rose from their chairs and came to attention until Katherine left the room. Dat said, “Take a seat.” He looked at Admiral Kune, “Make sure the Rovers know their initial assignment is to destroy every enemy probe the moment they launch their attack and to kill any others that appear once combat operations begin. I suspect that once their leaders find they’re not receiving any information, they’ll start launching high numbers of probes to see what’s going on. At some point it will become fruitless to continue to destroy them; they’ll send enough that we don’t have enough ships to kill them all.” Dat turned to Admiral Matthews, “Shane, I want your fleet with Angel’s strike fleet and be prepared to jump to any other breakout point that appears. Your fleet is the best we have at jumping in formation. Gem will join you as quickly as possible.”
Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) Page 23