by Saxon Andrew
“That’s easy for you to say.”
Cassandra looked at Juliette and said, “William Dodd and James are also on Bristone.”
Juliette looked at her mother and said, “If Jon dies, I hope they die screaming.”
• • •
William Dodd looked at the massive movement of military forces around the castle and said, “I should have stayed away.”
“Thanks for dragging me here with you.”
William looked at his grandchild and said, “You are my meal ticket. I’m not going to let you die.”
James looked at the wall display showing the massive size of the incoming grey cloud and said, “That’s something you may not have any control over.”
William looked at the display and felt his fear bloom and grow until he was paralyzed with it. James went and hid in a closet. He could at least still move.
Chapter Twenty
The Senior Spirit brought his fleet into contact with normal space and waited for the Junior Spirit to arrive. He looked at the target in his station and saw an extraordinary number of small moons circling the planet. He examined them closely and decided that they had to be artificially placed. They were too evenly spaced to have happened naturally. He focused on the moons and saw hundreds of life forms inside them. He thought, “Umm, I wonder what purpose they serve? They must be there for orbital defense. Just more food for the fleets.”
The second fleet broke into normal space and the Junior Spirit said, “Are you ready to attack?”
“What do you make of the moons circling the planet?”
The Junior Spirit focused and said, “I have no idea. I do see life forms on them.”
“They look like orbital defense stations I’ve seen on some of the planets I’ve visited.”
“I’ve never seen an orbital station that large and I don’t see any surface installations on them. They might be for some sort of commercial use for the organics.”
“Designate an appropriate number to eliminate them. The ones selected can join us after they’ve finished.”
The Junior was disappointed, but realized that until he had achieved a higher rank, he was going to be given the undesirable duties. “I’ll make the appropriate assignments.”
The Senior said, “I don’t sense anything in the psychic trace.”
“I don’t, either which is very unusual. Did the First say anything about that?”
“No, he didn’t. This appears to be a standard invasion, but the absence of the trace bothers me. I suspect the Supreme Spirit would have killed the First if he had said anything.”
The Junior said, “That is an issue that will have to be resolved after this is over. Has any determination about how the children were killed been made?”
The Senior said, “Blasters were used. You know the children could not have made any modifications to their attack. We know how to deal with blasters. However, the fleet that died was not aware of any danger or they would not have moved against the planet. The Fleet Leaders would have never moved the children into a dangerous environment. The absence of a trace here makes me wonder what we’re facing.”
“We need to warn our forces about possible blasters.”
The Senior said, “I’ve already notified my fleet. You should do the same.”
“I’ll send the information on the way in to the target. Are you ready to commence the attack?”
“You may begin the advance. We’ll be right behind you.”
The Junior took the instructions without comment. Rank did have its benefits. Someday he would be issuing the orders. He was wrong about that and several other things that he was about to discover.
• • •
Sprigly watched the grey mass come in at high speed and thought to his fort commanders, “According to Admiral Robbins, the transports will stop about eight hundred miles above Bristone’s atmosphere and once they’re stationary, their Warriors will launch. I will activate the force field immediately after the last Dremor Ship stops moving. You will be weapons free as soon as the field activates. Take out as many of the transports as quickly as possible. Stay alert; they’re moving into position.”
• • •
The gigantic grey mass moved in around Bristone and spread around the planet until it was englobed by a grey cloud. Sprigly watched the mass and had his scanners set to detect any movement and he watched as the scanner moved rapidly from place to place in the Grey mass. The giant cloud moved closer to Bristone, and after fifteen minutes it stopped. Sprigly pushed the toggle activating the forts weapons and the force field sprang into place around the planet just as a gigantic grey cloud rushed in on the planet. The mass was moving at an incredible velocity and was unable to stop before it struck the brightly glowing field. The bright white force field looked like a billion lightning bolts were hitting it. A moment later, thousands of brilliant beams lanced out from the twenty asteroids blowing through the Dremor warriors trapped at the force field and began striking the huge grey shapes that remained behind the charging grey mass. They began exploding into bright sparks.
• • •
The Senior Spirit watched as his forces were released from his fleet and flew down at the planet. Suddenly he saw a bright field form around the planet and millions of his Warriors screamed as they struck it and died. He yelled, “Recall the Warriors. Get them back to their ships.”
The Superior Communication Spirit said, “There’s not much for them to come back to, Spirit. Most of our ships have been hit and destroyed.”
The Senior had placed his ship well away from the fleets to observe what happened during the attack. He manually pressed his station and moved his ship much further out and was thankful he had acted. The former location was barraged by more than sixty bright beams immediately after he moved the ship. He watched as thousands of the surviving Warriors zigzagged their way away from the planet. The destruction was far from over. He watched the Junior Spirit’s ship retreating from the planet when it was hit by four beams and sparked out of existence. His anger was monumental. They had been ordered into a death trap by the Supreme Spirit and there was no escape. Normally his forces would have used their psychic ability to follow a safe path in or out but the psychic trace was not present for them to use.
The massive grey cloud that had surrounded the planet was a pale ghost of what it was. Small grey tendrils moved away from the planet at high speed and most of them were being erased by the massive beams being fired by the forts. In less than ten minutes, the fight was over as the surviving Dremor finally moved out of range of the fort’s beams.
Billions of Dremor attacked but less than three million managed to make it back to the eighty surviving transports. Fifty thousand Dremor ships had been blasted and the Senior Spirit felt his anguish and sorrow over the loss of so many. The loss of the Junior Spirit bothered him the most. He was one of his children and now he was gone. He felt his sorrow turn to rage. He gathered the survivors and exited normal space.
• • •
Sprigly yelled, “Cease firing. Move ten forts to be recharged. Get the engineers in to install the force fields on those that are still in orbit. We don’t have much time to complete the modifications. Get moving.”
Jon heard the Algean issuing orders and breathed a sigh of relief. Molly looked at him, “What’s bothering you?”
“Molly, we know the Dremor have worked with the Megat against the Spiders. Modern warships can take out the forts and though those beams used by the forts look devastating, they won’t penetrate a modern force field. Next time the Dremor will come with help to eliminate our forts before they move on the planet. That’s when the real fight will happen. Thankfully, the Algeans are going to put a modern force field around the forts, but they won’t be able to withstand a major fleet attacking them for very long.”
“Can’t we use our ships to take out the Megat Fleet?”
“The Dremor will escort the Megat into Bristone and kill any ship that approaches their fleet.
I don’t have an answer to that problem.”
Molly stared at Jon and said, “We need to move the population before they attack.”
“That process has already been started but finding places for the billions on Bristone and Ross is not going to be easily done.”
“Ross?”
“They will go after both planets next time. We’ve got to find a way to stop them.”
“Can’t we put power cells on our ships to protect them from the Dremor?”
Jon shook his head, “How long do you think it would take to modify the hull of a mile long main battle ship? There’s not enough time to pull it off.”
“Can our ships teleport in, attack, and teleport out before the Dremor can enter them?”
“That would be a possibility if the same numbers of Dremor show up next time; I suspect the invading warships will be completely inside a cloud of Dremor. Any of our ships that ventured inside that cloud would die before they could fire. They aren’t stupid and they’ll be coming for revenge.”
“Do you think the Megat will work with them?”
“They’ll work with them or die. However, I don’t think they’ll need persuasion to take part. The Realm has killed millions of Megat warriors and ships; I have no doubt they want us killed.”
Molly looked at Jon not knowing what to say and after a moment he teleported away. The Realm needed ships that had power cells around them to protect them from the Dremor. There was no other answer to the problem facing them and time was running out.
• • •
Jon arrived in the throne room immediately after the other officers and Grainger said, “You’ve done an excellent job. What happens next?”
Everyone looked at Jon and he said, “Admiral, do we have any ships with power cells on their hull?”
Mandel shook his head, “The Algeans are looking through the ships stored at the Captors’ former planet. If there are any, they are woefully unarmed.”
Grainger said, “What do you mean?”
Jon looked at the king and said, “The reason the Realm moved away from power cell technology is that modern beam weapons will blow right through their force fields. They stand no chance against modern battleships.”
“So you think the Dremor will be coming back in modern battleships?”
“No, they’ll be escorting Megat Fleets back here to take out the forts which will open Bristone to a Dremor attack. Any of our ships that come to attack the Megat Fleets will be killed by the Dremor before they can fire on the Megat.”
Grainger looked at Sprigly, “Have the Algeans come up with any solution to this?”
Sprigly leaned back showing his concern, “No, we have not. We have a number of old ships in inventory that used power cell technology, but they would be destroyed by the Megat ships as soon as they jumped into normal space.”
“Couldn’t they just fly through the Dremor and kill them, removing the Megat’s protection.”
“Your Majesty, I’m reasonably certain that the Megat Fleets will come in formations that are tightly packed. A power cell ship would never emerge into normal space long enough to sweep anything before it was hit by the Megat and destroyed.”
Grainger stared at the officers, “So you’re saying we have no defense?”
Jon looked at the others and said, “It’s back to square one if the Dremor and Megat combine to attack. We weren’t able to stop the Dremor before and it appears that is the situation again.”
“Then why haven’t they attacked here before now?”
“Because they knew that they would lose Warriors if they did. There are enough blasters on the planet to kill millions of them. The Dremor had trillions of planets where none of them would be killed. They have always selected planets that were safe to attack.”
Grainger thought a moment and Mandel said, “If you think there is a possibility that they will now stay away because we’re dangerous, that won’t happen.”
Grainger said, “Why not?”
“Because now they know that we have learned how to kill them. If they ignore us they know we’ll become a huge danger to their long term survival. They’ll attack for that reason alone. The destruction of their fleets is just an additional reason that is secondary.”
Grainger stared at the Senior Officers and said, “And if we run from here, all the planets of the Realm will be the new targets of the Dremor-Megat Alliance.”
Jon nodded, “They will find you wherever you run. They’re psychic and unless one of my brothers or I am with you at all times, they’ll be able to see you.”
“So we stop them here of face the destruction of the Realm?” No one said anything and Grainger smiled, “Well, you’ve got your work cut out for you. I expect you to win.”
Jon stared at Grainger and then looked at the other officers. None of them knew how to do that.
• • •
William and James Dodd entered their shuttle and took their seats. William said, “Get us out of here, Captain.” He looked at James and said, “I understand that this planet and Ross will be destroyed shortly by the Dremor. Your rise to King looks better and better every day.”
“What will there be to rule if the Dremor start attacking the Realm?”
“We’ll find a way to negotiate with them. If the Megat can do it; so can we.”
“Does that mean we would have to assist them in attacking planets?”
“Probably, but that’s not something to worry about. We’ll do what’s necessary.”
James shrugged, “As long as it’s not us they’re attacking, I’m fine with it.” The shuttle lifted and once it cleared atmosphere, it teleported away.
• • •
The New Supreme Spirit looked at his First Communications Spirit. The former Supreme Spirit had fought valiantly but had not won the contest. The former First had been elevated to Ruler of the Dremor. He thought back to the confrontation when the Fifty Superior Spirits had come and confronted the Supreme Spirit.
“You sent out fleets into a death trap.”
“Have any of you looked at the other planet and the danger it has in the psychic trace?”
“We have.”
“That danger level is higher than any I’ve ever seen. The target appeared to be a better choice.”
The fifty challengers were slowed down by the Supreme Spirit’s argument. One of them looked at the First and said, “Was there any other indications that the target was a bad choice?”
The Supreme Spirit looked the First and expected him to betray him. He was surprised when the First said, “I will not second guess the Supreme Spirit. He made the best choice he could make.”
The Supreme Spirit didn’t know what to think about the First’s comment. He would have sworn that he would take the opportunity to have him removed from power. If the attempt failed, he would have killed the First.
The member of the fifty paused and said, “Don’t second guess him; what would you have done if the decision was yours?”
The First said, “I would have attacked the other planet.”
The Supreme Spirit felt his anger growing.
“Why?”
The First said, “The Fleet of children was killed attacking a planet. They would have never attacked if the psychic trace showed any danger to them. We know the target planets carried out that attack, so one has to ask how they did it. They must have a way to suppress the psychic trace and if they do, then the chosen target was by far the most dangerous choice.”
The Supreme Spirit screamed, “But the other planet also had a high danger level.”
The First looked at him and said, “That’s true; but it did have a psychic trace that we could have used to escape if things got out of hand. Your selection did not.”
That was all the fifty needed to hear. They focused their energy on the Supreme Leader and after a prolonged struggle, the Supreme Leader was killed. The Fifty turned to the First and said, “You are now our Supreme Spirit. What should be done?”
“I see two choices. We can leave this area of Creation and go far away from this dangerous civilization.”
“Or?”
“We can eliminate them.” He paused and said, “If we choose to eliminate them, there will be losses we’ll have to endure.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I would choose to kill them. If we leave them and allow them to build on the knowledge of how to destroy us over time, they will confront us again in the future. I don’t feel good for our children’s future if we fly away now. However, this is a decision that all of us must agree on. You should go to your families and decide what path they choose.”
“Are you trying to avoid responsibility for a bad decision?”
“No, I’m saying that when a psychic trace is not available for me to use in making decisions, I need your combined wisdom to help guide me.”
The Fifty Superiors talked among themselves and said, “We’ll notify you of what we determine.”
“That would be good.
• • •
The New Supreme Spirit said to his First Communicator, “Send one of our fleets to the Megat and tell them I want them to send a spokesman to me.”
The First manipulated his station and the Supreme Spirit smiled. The member of the fifty was right. If things didn’t work out they could not come to him with blame. He neglected to tell them that the danger level at the second planet had gone up more than eight times after the failed attack.
• • •
Pride was lying in the clearing on El Prado with the eight hundred Elder Cats. Victoria was sitting up against the giant cat and listened to their conversation. One of the older Cats said, “Is there no way we can destroy the Megat Ships that’ll be used in the Dremor attack?”
“Not unless you’ve discovered a way for us to teleport through their force fields.”
“The White Warriors can do it. What’s stopping us?”
“I tried to do it long ago and all I got for my effort was scorched hair.”
“You never told us about that.”
“Like you, I thought it would be a great way to take part in fleet operations. I went to the Algeans and they set up a very weak force field for me to penetrate. I wish they had made it weaker.”