Bret said, “They probably suspect it anyway.”
Dat turned to look at Bret and smiled, “Knowing and suspecting are two entirely different things. They’ll want to believe we only have three.”
Bret shrugged and Angel said, “Assign at least a million old Jukeboxes to Earth’s defense. I am going to have Arve and Grest turn their ships over to their Second-in-Command and go with the new Jukeboxes to continue their training. We’ll jump them back when our probes show the Blue Ships preparing to jump.”
Dat nodded, “That is a good idea.”
Bret said, “Has General Robinson managed to have enough penetrators moved from the colonies to make the commercial haulers an effective tactic?”
“We had them delivered by eight thousand transports last week. We won’t be receiving any more until the probes have been eliminated.”
Angel nodded, “Then what we have is probably all they’re going to get. How many were delivered?”
Dat smiled, “About two billion.”
Angel started laughing, “I think that should do the trick.”
Dat said, “We’re not going to use them against the Blue Ships.”
Angel and Bret looked at Dat and knew they were going to be saved against the possibility of the Rust Warships attacking Earth. “That is a good idea, Sir.”
Dat smiled, “I thought you might like it.” Dat looked at Bret, “Transmit the orders and get the fleets moving. Angel, get us into Earth orbit.”
The Wellington, Melbourne, and Haven skipped away. Arve and Grest were on Rovers and they skipped away to the Strike Fleet’s location. The other new Jukebox fleets arrived right behind them. Training took on a new intensity as the Jukeboxes struggled to master the crab flight pattern. Flying sideways was starting to become second nature and the Arvolo brothers were thankful for the time to prepare.
• • •
Bret was on duty at night and Dat was sitting in the Command Chair. Angel was in her quarters trying to catch up on sleep. Bret blew out a breath and said, “How much longer do you think we have?”
“We’re not taking out their probes at a very high rate. We’re killing about ten thousand a day. As long as they can search our galaxy for our forces, I suspect they’ll wait.”
“That was a good idea; who came up with it?” Dat shrugged. Bret shook his head and smiled, “Sir, you and your children are incredible tacticians.”
Dat nodded, “Actually, my wife is the best at tactical planning in our family.”
“Really?”
Dat nodded, “Angel really gets most of her talents from her mother.”
Bret smiled, “Oh, I think you’ve contributed more than you give yourself credit for, Sir?”
Dat liked this Commodore. He looked at Bret and said, “So when are you and Angel going to get married.”
Bret was shocked by the comment. “Sir?”
“Oh, you haven’t PTQ yet?”
Bret’s eyebrows went up, “PTQ?”
“You know; popped the question.”
Bret smiled, “Sir, do I have your permission to PTQ to your daughter?”
Dat leaned back in his chair, “I’m surprised you haven’t already done it. You know she’s a great catch.”
Bret nodded, “I didn’t know if she would accept.”
Dat stared at Bret, “Now whose selling themselves short? You should be able to look in her eyes and know.”
Bret stared at Dat and after a few minutes smiled, “Thank you, Sir.”
“Don’t mention it…please.”
Bret started laughing and after a moment Dat joined him. “I’ll keep it between us, Sir.”
Bret went back to his station and after thirty minutes of silence on the bridge he said, “Sir, what do you think is going to happen?”
Dat sighed, “I don’t know. Even if we did the very same thing we did before, something will be different.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because Angel communicated with the first Chosen. That is the first difference. Killing the Blue Ship was second.”
“There’s been other things as well, Sir.”
“I know. The Mark and Jillian thing happened differently. I’m glad it worked out for them.” Bret nodded, “I think if we can conduct this war in our galaxy and not allow the Chosen’s probes to see us, we might avoid their attention and escape being attacked.”
Bret nodded, “I’ve been thinking that if they send all their ships to attack us the Chosen’s fleets will attack their home worlds and the Blue Ships will leave to defend their galaxy.”
Dat nodded, “Very good! It’s my hope that is exactly what happens.”
Bret nodded and said, “Have any of the Chosen’s probes shown up here?”
Dat shook his head, “General Robinson has not seen any probes here except the Pumgas Probes.”
“That is a good thing, Admiral.”
“Indeed it is.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Pumgas Masters were getting impatient. A month had passed and nothing new had been uncovered in the Spiral Galaxy. The Second said, “If they have more of those new ships, they aren’t in that galaxy.”
The Fourth raised his head slightly, “I’m forced to agree with you. The only ones we’ve found are at the Main Governing Planet.”
The Sixth said, “They could have them away from the galaxy in deep space.”
The Fourth leaned forward, “You could be right. Does that mean we call off our attack in fear they have more of those ships?”
The Second leaned forward, “Absolutely not. They are a real danger to us.”
The Leader said, “Especially after we sent six ships to attack their main planet.”
The Fourth knew the attack was his idea and he worried he was going to be punished for his actions. “What’s done cannot be undone. Do we wait for them to attack us or take the initiative and invade their galaxy?”
“Have you been able to capture one of their probes?” The Sixth leaned forward, “No, Master, we have not.”
The Lead Master stared at the large table and looked at the collected data. “We will launch our attack. Send a third of our ships to destroy the Main Governing Planet. If we can eliminate it, their leadership will be removed and we’ll have a decisive advantage.”
The other Masters gathered around the table leaned back in agreement and the Fourth picked up a communicator and began issuing instructions.
• • •
Brad picked up his communicator, “Attention all Union Forces; the Blue Fleets are forming up and powering up their weapons. We will be removing their probes in our galaxy momentarily and you will receive your assignments. Once we issue an All Clear, skip to your assigned coordinates and be prepared to be moved where you’re needed.”
Dat rushed in to the Wellington’s bridge as Angel took her chair. The alarms sounding general quarters were blaring as Bret rushed to his station and silenced the alarms. The bridge lights went to combat level as all the console’s displays and lights grew brighter while the ambient lights changed to orange and dimmed. Every one put on their combat helmets and activated their visors directly connecting them to the ship’s systems.
Dat looked at his visor and said, “Admiral Gibbs and Arvolo, I suspect we will have a rather large number of guests arriving shortly. Have your fleets prepared to skip in to Earth with weapons active and free. All ships will attack any target of opportunity. Make the Union proud.”
Dat looked at Angel, “Have Arve and Grest arrived?”
“Yes Sir, they have and are waiting for the All Clear to skip out to their fleets.”
Dat nodded and looked away from Bret to Angel, “How are you going to use the old model Jukeboxes here?”
“They are being formed up in a broadside formation and will launch barrages at any enemy ships moving in on Earth. If the enemy moves inside the effective range of their blasters, the old ships will jump away and attack them one-by-one.”
Dat smiled, “Wh
at about your ship?”
Angel smiled, “Bret and I are going to give our blaster and penetrator crews a lot of targets to introduce themselves to. We do want to be good hosts to our guests.”
Dat nodded and Bret said, “The rest of the Strike Fleet will arrive here…”
The wall speaker activated and they heard, “All Clear! The enemy probes have been eliminated. Skip to your assigned coordinates.”
Bret smiled and said, “Now!” The eighteen thousand new Jukeboxes in the Strike Fleet appeared in formation around Angel’s ship.
Angel smiled, “Now this feels like home.”
• • •
The Sixth shouted, “All of our probes have been destroyed.”
The Masters all turned to him. The Second said, “Why haven’t they destroyed them before now if they could have done it?”
The Leader said, “We gave them more time to prepare.”
The Third said, “Should we call off the attack?”
The Second leaned forward, “And do what? Wait for them to grow stronger?”
The Masters all turned to the Leader as he studied the table. “The attack stands. Have all our ships send a feed to our table. We’ll make decisions as the operation unfolds.”
The Masters looked at the feed coming from their fleets. After an hour, the giant gathering of ships began disappearing as they jumped away. The die was cast and there was no turning back. They discovered there were millions of the new ships but the numbers facing off were even. The Masters waited to see if their Leader was going to call off the attack but he remained stationary and watched the feeds from the fleets jumping in to the spiral galaxy.
• • •
The Strike Fleet moved out and jumped into the ranks of the incoming Blue Ships. Admiral Gibbs’ fleet arrived a moment later and his twenty million ships tore into the oncoming wave of Blue Battleships just before Gresha’s fleet came behind them and ripped into the rear of their formations. The battle decayed into a gigantic dog fight with millions of ships attacking each other. The force fields around the Union Planets came on and the Pumgas Fleets knew the white battleships would have to be removed before they could attack the planets.
• • •
The Wellington was blasting out barrages as fast as the pulse blasters could fire them. Angel flew the ship sideways toward two Blue Battleships and the three hundred blasters on the forward side of the vessel began hitting them before they moved into range of their own blasters. One of them exploded as another Blue Battleship was crippled as it came over the barrages going out from the rear of the ship. Before the second Blue Battleship could be destroyed, Bret jumped the ship to another location and Angel lined up another Blue Battleship.
Before she could move into range to fire, Bret fired the rear thrusters and the Wellington shot out to the right as ten Blue Battleships came roaring in from overhead. The penetrator teams managed to kill two of the ten attackers before Bret jumped the ship to another open area in the battle zone. Angel was getting frustrated. Bret jumped the Wellington four times before she could fire on a single enemy ship. Her brow furrowed and she heard her father say, “He’s keeping us alive, Angel. Hang in there. We’re losing a lot of ships that aren’t playing defense.”
Angel took a quick look at her battle status report and saw that she had lost more than six thousand ships in the Strike Fleet. She was shocked at the total; her ships were the best. She knew the old Jukeboxes must be getting mauled. Another Blue Battleship suddenly appeared in front of the Wellington and she whipped the ship around where a broadside could be fired. Three hundred beams hit the enemy warship blowing it into vapor before it could fire on the Wellington. The Wellington skipped ten miles to the right and the penetrator crews killed six blue Warships moving in behind the Melbourne. Bret rolled the ship a hundred and eighty degrees and Angel saw five Blue Ships roaring in straight at her from what had been the rear. She held the ship on course and kept waiting for Bret to skip away. Two of the five exploded as the Wellington’s beam crews ganged up on them and she knew it was too late to evade the other three. Four old Jukeboxes came in above the three surviving Blue Ships and blew them away with penetrators. She hadn’t seen them moving in and thanked God that Bret did. The Wellington disappeared as ten more Blue Warships rushed in from the rear.
• • •
Dat watched the general tactical display and saw the battle was about even. The Union had lost more than twenty eight million warships but had destroyed or damaged thirty three million Blue Battleships. He was surprised the old Jukeboxes were holding their own against the more powerful enemy battleships. He knew they were jumping out of trouble faster than the new Jukeboxes, which made the difference in their survival.
He saw that the ones commanding the enemy fleets were jumping in more and more ships. Fleet Operations were matching them and skipping in ships that were defending other Union Planets. Dat knew the war would be determined in Earth’s Solar System.
Matt and Kelli’s Fleets arrived and Dat saw they were at half strength. The more powerful Pumgas Battleships were starting to prevail over the old Jukeboxes. They were forming up and moving in toward Earth’s force field. The number of ships jumping in became too many to track. And still the battle continued. Suddenly, every Blue Ship jumped away from Earth and hastily organized into ranks just beyond the Moon’s orbit. Dat pulled the surviving Union Ships close to Earth’s orbit and ordered them to form a wall to launch penetrators and beams at the oncoming wave of Blue Ships. He knew the enemy was in a stronger position and would be able to protect each other with a devastating cross fire. He shook his head and saw the Blue Ships outnumbered his defenders. He heard Admiral Hull on the Fleet Frequency, “I’ve loaded up the commercial haulers with penetrators. When the Blue Ships move inside the range of their blasters, I want all Union Ships to jump away.”
Dat shook his head but said, “Yes Sir!”
• • •
The Union Battleships were pouring a wave of penetrators into the oncoming Blue Wave and thousands of them were exploding and falling out of the oncoming juggernaut. The front ranks of the Pumgas ships started continuously firing their blasters burning the penetrators out of existence before they could hit them. Dat yelled, “Cease firing penetrators. Don’t waste them.”
Dat saw the wave move closer and he lifted his communicator to order the fleets to skip out when he heard Bret yell, “ADMIRAL, I HAVE MILLONS OF SHIPS JUMPING IN BEHIND THE BLUE SHIPS AND OPENING FIRE ON THEM!!”
Angel whipped her head toward him, “WHAT COLOR ARE THEY!?!”
Bret looked at his panel and slowly looked up, “They’re rust colored, Sir.” Angel fell back in her chair and knew they had failed. They had lost too many ships against the Pumgas to take on the Chosen’s Herd. She looked at Dat and saw he knew it as well. “Sir…more ships are jumping in and they’re not rust colored.”
Dat looked at Bret, “What?”
Bret stared at his panel, “Some are grey, others white, and the ones appearing now are tinted green.”
Angel looked at Dat and saw he was also confused at what was happening. The oncoming wave of Blue Ships suddenly disappeared and Bret said, “I have a message coming in, Sir.”
“Put it on the monitor.”
A light brown colored being with a nose that looked like a trunk appeared. They knew it was the same creature as the Chosen, “I don’t know if you understand what I’m saying but I want to thank you for distracting the Evil Ones.”
Dat had the Chosen’s language transferred with the chip he assimilated, “I understand you.”
“I’m surprised you do; however, I want to thank you for distracting the Yellow Creatures long enough for us to destroy their home world. We thought they would recall their forces but it appears there is no one left in authority to do it. We decided that we should send half of our ships to support you against them.”
Dat said, “Half of your ships?”
“My Allies said that we should come
and help you.” The being paused and said, “I suspect when we attacked they attempted to contact their leaders and discovered we are destroying their planet.”
Dat looked at his visor and saw the millions of ships that had appeared to save them were jumping away, “What are you going to do now?”
“We’re jumping back to their galaxy to attempt to destroy their fleets.”
“Perhaps we can assist you in making that happen.”
The being’s nose went straight up and it smiled, “Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.”
“We’ll be there momentarily.” The display went dark and Dat looked at Angel and smiled. She smiled with him; something had radically changed. “All ships will form up on the Wellington and jump to the coordinate I just sent you on my mark. We will spread out and assist the ships that are currently attacking the Blue Battleships. Ready…MARK!” The millions of Jukebox Battleships disappeared.
• • •
The battle continued for ten days before the last Blue Warship was destroyed. The forces arrayed against them were more than they could handle. The Chosen’s Ships along with their Allies would distract the Pumgas Ships while the Jukeboxes would jump in and deliver the coup de gras. Within another three days, the Pumgas were just a foot note in history. The worlds they had conquered found they no longer needed the Yellow Beings for their prosperity and the celebrations started almost immediately after their liberation.
• • •
Dat sent the fleets back to the Union but held the Strike Fleet in the Pumgas Galaxy. Only eight thousand ships in the Strike Fleet had survived the fight. Union forces did not land on the conquered planets to remove the Pumgas; the Chosen’s Believers and their allies handled that by dropping millions of hunters on the conquered planets as their huge transports jumped in. Dat, Angel, and Bret noticed that the only ones being killed were the Pumgas and none of the inhabitants were being bullied into accepting the Chosen’s teachings.
Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) Page 30