Angel nodded, “Let us pray it won’t have to.” Bret nodded and the Ninja accelerated away from the moon and then disappeared.
• • •
Dizzy sat in the command chair on the Wellington’s bridge and heard, “Commodore, I have a transmission coming in from Commodore Grest.”
“Put it on my panel.”
Dizzy looked at her panel and saw Angel’s brother. “I understand that a strange Jukebox Battleship arrived at your location.”
Dizzy was surprised that piece of information had made it back to Grest. “Yes, one did appear and Angel went to meet with the ship’s commander.”
“Where did my sister go, Commodore Banks?”
Dizzy struggled with how to handle the question but decided to play it coy. Dizzy smiled, “Are you accustomed to questioning the Admiral’s actions, Commodore? If we’re allowed to do that, I think I’m really going to enjoy working here. I didn’t know I would have that much authority.”
Grest’s expression underwent a series of changes. “No, I do not question the Admiral’s actions. I just heard the ship wasn’t like any ship in the fleet.”
“The Admiral didn’t tell me where she was going but perhaps that ship is a Union State Secret and she’s going to see its capabilities in the colonies. I think information about it should not be shared.”
Grest thought about it and nodded, “You’re right. I’ll issue orders that all information about it will be kept secret.”
Dizzy smiled, “I think that would be wise. I’ll issue the order on the Wellington.” Grest nodded and the display went dark. Dizzy stared at the display and shook her head. “I hope Angel knows what she’s doing.”
• • •
The Ninja arrived at the coordinates given them by the future Bret and oriented toward a distant galaxy. “I’m going to extend the fields to collect light. I wonder how they knew this was the correct place.”
“The sermon being sent on the Rust Civilizations Holy Planet always starts with the time that has passed since the original Chosen met with the Deity.”
Bret’s eyes narrowed, “I didn’t pay attention to that.” He looked at Angel, “How were they able to collect all the recordings of what happened?”
“I’m sure my father assigned a large number of advanced probes for them to use to follow what happened. Knowing you, I’m sure you assigned quite a few of them to follow me wherever I went.”
Bret smiled, “You know me too well.”
“I’m also sure Jillian also sent a large number to follow Mark.”
“What are you going to do about that?”
“I’ll handle it when we get back.”
They sat on the Ninja waiting for the light from the Chosen’s Galaxy to be found. Bret looked at Angel, “I’m amazed at this technology. Chris and Jillian Connor were so far ahead of Earth’s science when they invented this.”
Angel nodded, “It was a ship like this that went back in time and found the technology Earth had to have to survive the Moet’s attack. Now their invention is needed to try and save Earth again.”
“This is still dangerous technology.”
“I know. But where would we be if we don’t use it?”
Bret looked at Angel and shrugged as he said, “We’d be dead.”
Angel sighed, “We might still be dead at the hands of the Blue Civilization.”
Bret looked back out of the viewport, “Our chances are better against them.”
Angel nodded, “I hope you’re right.”
• • •
Two hours later they heard a ping. “We’re receiving the light that left the target a hundred and twenty six thousand, seven hundred and eight years ago.”
Angel watched the panel and saw a planet. “Focus us in on the surface.” The view of the planet moved in and they saw the central continent growing in size. “Move the view more to the left.”
“I know, give me a moment.” The view moved and after ten minutes they saw a small rose colored structure in the middle of a plain next to a huge forest. Bret said, “That’s it.”
Angel nodded, “We’ve arrived before the meeting actually happened so we’re going to have to accelerate into the light until we find what we want.”
Bret nodded and the Ninja started moving forward. The planet started rotating at an incredible speed and the computer received the images and began processing them.
“What if it happens when the building is on the other side of the planet?”
Angel looked at Bret and tilted her head left, “According to the sermon, the Chosen sat outside that structure for more than six weeks teaching the Herd. The computer has been programmed to search for that as well.”
“How long do you think this is going to take?”
Angel blew out a breath, “If the sermon is accurate, it shouldn’t take very long. It’s all automated so you might want to take a break and stretch your legs. Things will happen fast once we find what we’re looking for.”
Bret nodded and stood up. He stretched and raised his arms toward the ceiling. Angel stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him. He smiled and lowered his arms around her, “Now this is what I call a nice break.”
“Get used to it.” Angel raised her face and Bret tenderly kissed her.
• • •
Two days later they were in the small kitchen having breakfast when the alarms went off. Angel jumped up and beat Bret to the bridge, “It’s showtime.”
Bret jumped in his chair and stopped the Ninja. He rewound the computer’s recording six days and brought the rose colored building into focus. They stared at the monitor and saw a single light brown colored being walk up to the building and stop. A door opened and the being fell back two steps. It appeared to be listening to something and then it walked forward and entered the door. Bret said, “The sermon appears to be quite accurate. It also states that the Chosen stayed in the building for two weeks. We’re right where we need to be.”
“How long before he emerges?”
Bret looked at the panel and said, “Tomorrow.”
Angel smiled and said, “I’m going in, in the morning.” Bret nodded.
• • •
The next morning, Angel extended the field Jillian had invented and saw a green energy field form above the planet directly above the small building. “You have the controls.” Bret nodded and locked in the fields. He had to keep them stable for Angel to make it back. Angel stood up and said, “This planet doesn’t have space travel, yet. They’re still a primitive culture. You shouldn’t be worried while I’m on the planet.”
Bret nodded, “Just get it done and get back. I don’t want to have anything go wrong with this ancient technology.”
Angel nodded and ran to the landing bay. She belted a blaster holster around her waist and boarded the Rover. She exited the Ninja and flew through the green field. She flew at high speed through the atmosphere and landed a hundred yards from the structure and walked out of the port and sat down. She saw a large group of the local inhabitants more than two miles away and hoped they would stay away until this was over. She sat down in the grass and leaned back against the hull of the Rover. She stared at the rose colored building and waited. Two hours later, the light brown colored being came out and sat down on the ground. Angel stood up and walked toward the being who was the first Chosen.
• • •
The being watched Angel approaching and she saw his face was…something. As she moved up to him the being said, “Good day.”
Angel stared at him and said, “This is going to be your last day.”
The being’s expression didn’t change, “Why is that?”
“I’m going to blast you into atoms and rid the universe of your miserable existence.”
The being stared at her and said, “I’m not sure I understand.”
“Your followers are going to become the most dangerous civilization in the universe. Your teachings are going to cause them to kill billions of civilizati
ons and enslave billions more. They are going to destroy my home world along with all of my family.”
“How do you know this?”
“I watched it happen. The only good thing that happened was that my civilization was able to kill every planet your followers inhabited in ten galaxies along with more than ten billion of your warships. I’m ending it now before it can ever begin.”
“Are you saying you come from the future?”
“I am.”
“How far in the future?”
One hundred twenty six thousand six hundred years in the future.”
“You say my followers destroyed your home world.”
“They did.”
“You should not have been consuming other intelligent species. You know that is wrong.”
“We didn’t.”
The being’s serene expression changed for the first time. It looked troubled. “My followers would never attack a planet that did not feed on other intelligent civilizations.”
“Your followers attack any creature that consumes protein. They not only kill intelligent species but every animal that consumes meat. They killed all the predators on billions of worlds.”
The being started shaking his head, “That would be ludicrous; how would the populations of the other animals be controlled?”
Angel looked at the being and shook her head, “You should have thought about that when you were teaching your future murderers. Your followers go out in hunting teams and blast the other populations.”
Angel saw the being’s eyes close and his expression turned to anguish. “You must be wrong. The Deity has taught me that all life is precious. Living creatures are beautiful and when life was created it was given free will to become whatever it chose to be. The only evil that came into existence was those intelligent species that fed on other intelligent species. Animals do not know it is wrong but intelligence should allow one to see that you’re evil if you feed on others. The Deity has asked that I try to remove that evil carnivore from his creation.”
Angel stared at the being and shook her head, “Well, somewhere along the way your message was corrupted in a major fashion. Now your followers are killing all the universe’s carnivores. That stops now.” Angel raised her blaster and pointed it at the being.
“What is your name?”
Angel pushed the activate button on the blaster’s handle, “Why do you want to know?”
“I think anyone should know the name of the one that kills them.” Angel stared into the being’s open eyes and heard it say, “The Deity will have to choose another to deliver its message.”
“My name is Angel.” Angel saw the being’s face become serene and it smiled as it lowered its head. Angel’s finger tightened on the blaster’s trigger…but she couldn’t force herself to pull it. She lowered the blaster, took a deep breath, and raised it again. The being continued to wait with its head down and Angel couldn’t do it. She knew she had to kill him…but she couldn’t. She took a deep breath, holstered the baster, turned and walked to the Rover.
• • •
The being raised his head and watched the small ship lift and move into the bright sky. He was still staring at the sky when the first inhabitants arrived. They had seen the strange ship lift and saw him come out of the rose structure. They all wanted to know what was inside. The being looked back up at the sky and then told them.
• • •
Angel landed the Rover on the Ninja and Bret waited for her on the bridge. She entered and Bret stood up, “You have to go back and kill that creature!” Angel raised her face and looked at him. Bret saw her expression and sat back down. The pain on Angel’s face was clear.
Angel released a heavy sigh, “It wasn’t him that caused what happened. I don’t know what it was about him but…I just don’t know. I can’t do it.”
“Should I go?” Angel looked at Bret and shook her head.
Bret stood up and walked over to Angel and took her in his arms. She released her tears and wept for her lack of strength. He held her for a long time and then helped her sit in her chair. He turned off the time fields and then entered new jump coordinates into the panel; the Ninja jumped away.
• • •
Bret and Angel were back on board the Rover above the moon where they found the time ship. They had taken the Ninja back to its hiding place and reset the security systems. Bret entered the Wellington’s coordinates and Angel looked at him, “If we couldn’t change it then, we have to change it now.”
“What do you mean?”
“We have to prevent the Chosen’s followers from finding us.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“Why did they come to our galaxy, Bret?”
Bret closed his eyes for a moment remembering and said, “They were looking for the Matadors.”
Angel nodded, “And why were there Matadors on their planets?”
Bret stared at her for a moment and said, “Because we agreed to help the Pumgas.”
“That’s exactly why. We have to prevent my father from helping them.”
Bret tilted his head, “But the Pumgas were planning an attack against us before we agreed to assist them.”
“Who would you rather face, Bret?” Bret’s expression showed his answer. Angel nodded, “We have to provoke a war with them and stay out of their galaxy where the Chosen’s Probes can see us.”
“But they’re stronger than our fleet, Angel.”
“If everything is the same, if they attack us, their galaxy will be attacked by the Chosen and they’ll leave to go and defend their home.”
Bret tilted his head to the right and thought about that idea, “You may just have something here. How do we prevent losing most of our ships against them?”
Angel smiled, “We teach our ships to fly like a crab.”
Bret nodded and skipped the Rover back to the Wellington.
• • •
Angel entered her conference room with Bret and pressed a button on her console. Dat appeared and Angel said, “Admiral, I have a request to make and I want you to trust me in allowing it to happen.”
Dat stared at Angel and said, “What is that?”
“Commodore Young and I have developed a new maneuver that will increase the power of our Jukeboxes. It will, in our opinion, allow the old model to stand up against the Blue Warships.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am and we need to get the fleets trained on it immediately. Will you send all of our ships out and let us get started training them on it.”
“Angel, I don’t know about this?”
Angel stared at her father on the display and said, “Dad, I’ve got to ask you to trust me. Please, make this happen.”
Dat stared at Angel and saw she wasn’t telling him everything. He took a deep breath and said, “I’ll have the fleets sent in a week. I hope you’re right about this.”
Angel smiled and said, “Thank you.”
The display went dark and Bret said, “I’m surprised he agreed.”
“He did it because I broke our agreement.”
“What?”
“I agreed to never call him anything on fleet channels but Admiral. By calling him Dad he knew it was something important.”
Bret shook his head and Angel said, “Pull up the frequency of the Denver.” Bret did a double take but then smiled. Angel had already pulled up the frequency of the Academy’s commandant. He heard her say, Admiral, I need you to assign one of your current graduates to the Denver and have her report immediately.” Bret watched Angel and saw her smile as she listened, “Sir, I will get you the appropriate paperwork by tomorrow. Please send her now.” Angel listened and then ended the call, “You’ll take care of that I trust.”
“Done; the Denver’s frequency in on your panel.”
Angel pressed the frequency and saw Captain Mark Anderson appear. “Yes Admiral.”
“Captain, it is my understanding that you have been working on a maneuver
where a Jukebox Battleship is flown sideways in combat; is that true?”
Mark’s expression showed his shock. He hadn’t discussed that maneuver with anyone. “Uhh, yes Sir, it is.”
“It is my belief that the maneuver will function better with two pilots controlling the ship. One keeping track of tactical to initiate an escape if needed while the other fights the ship.” Mark nodded slowly and Angel said, “I am sending you a pilot from the academy who will arrive later today. That pilot is one of the best in the navy and you will take your ship and perfect that maneuver over the next week; you will then send the information on how to use it to all the ships in the fleet. You will be the authority on how to master it.”
“How do you know about it, Sir?”
“Come on, Captain; Admiral’s know everything.”
Angel ended the transmission and smiled at what Mark must be thinking. She wondered if the chemistry would be the same between him and Jillian but she knew she had at least given it a chance. That was all she could do for the woman forced to leave the one she loved and watch him die. She sacrificed so much to warn them. She looked at Bret and said, “We need to start training our fleets on the maneuver now. We’ll start with Arve, Grest, and Dizzy. I’ll go and talk with the blaster crews while you set up the training site.”
Bret nodded, took Angel in his arms, kissed her, and left the room. Angel put her fingers on her lips and decided that a wedding was in order. But first, get the fleets ready.
• • •
Five days later the Angel’s task forces were progressing at a high rate in using the new maneuver. She watched her monitor as they maneuvered in training exercises and smiled. They were really making progress. She looked over at Bret and said, “Get me Jillian Connor on a channel.” Bret’s eyebrows went up and Angel said, “You can listen in.” He nodded and turned to his board.
A few moments later Jillian appeared on her display, “Good morning, Admiral.”
“Good Morning, Lieutenant. I wanted to call and apologize for assigning you to a ship without offering you a choice. Your scores at the academy gave you the right to select a ship to serve on. I’m going to allow you to transfer to the Jukebox of your choice.”
Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) Page 28