The Forbidden Wilds III: An Inevitable War

by Saxon Andrew

  Belle nodded, “Yes Sir.” She then turned and walked out of the office. Thirty minutes later, she was in her bed trying to release the stress. She finally fell asleep at two in the morning.

  • • •

  Barry arrived in his quarters and sat on the bed for a long moment. Then he went to his computer and said, “Computer, I want you to run a search for a woman named Bell.”

  The computer started showing the results immediately and they were too numerous to count. He looked through many of them but nothing he saw related to Katherine. But he did notice that some of the searches showed the name spelled with an E. “Computer, rerun the search for a woman named Belle spelled with an E. Look for a woman associated in some way with the military or Academy.”

  Barry slowed the results down and after ten pages passed, he stopped it. On the front page of the Union Military Gazette, a headline read, “Admiral Alexander and Julia Berringer welcome their daughter Belle into their family.”

  Barry said, “Stop search!” He hesitated and said, “Show me the most recent picture of Belle Berringer.” A photo appeared on the screen with Alex and Jingle walking away from a ship with six-year-old Belle between them. Barry stared at the picture and blew out a soft breath; it was Katherine. He looked at the date of the photograph and saw that, if it was accurate, Katherine was barely fifteen years old; she entered the Academy when she was twelve or thirteen.

  He stood up and was furious, she had deliberately deceived him!! He sat down on his bed, lied down, and sighed, she hadn’t deceived him, she just hadn’t told him the truth. Now he understood why she had always rejected his advances; laws in the Union protected minors from adults and he would be arrested if she had taken him up on any of his offers. He was nineteen and she was not allowing him to make a mistake, even if he didn’t know he was making it.

  He sat up and decided that he needed to just forget her. He lay back down and blew out a breath, he just couldn’t do that. He looked up at the ceiling and a thought entered his mind; she wouldn’t always be a minor. He decided to wait for her. But he needed to make sure he was worthy of her when she turned eighteen. He thought about it and decided that he would focus on his studies and do the best he could. He would also not put anymore pressure on Belle to accept his advances; he would wait until the proper time.

  • • •

  Alex turned to Jingle, “Admiral Glennon just contacted me and said that a small stealth ship moved into the Milky Way and tried to attack New York.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “He says that Belle and Ringie managed to destroy the ship before it could launch its nuclear missiles. It was a very close thing.”

  Jangle immediately announced, “I’ve just received a message from Ringie that Belle has overridden the restrictions you put in place; she worked out the password.”

  “Order the fleets to form up, Alex! We’re going to attack those fleets!!”

  “Why?”

  “Alex, you know they had to be the ones that sent that ship!!” They did these maneuvers to distract us from finding it!”

  “Do you have proof they sent that ship?” Jingle glared at Alex and he said, “If you accuse them, they’ll say they don’t possess stealth technology and we have no way of proving they do.”

  “They must have managed to capture one of our stealth probes and learn how to use stealth technology.”

  “That’s probably exactly what happened,” Alex replied. “They also discovered that the stealth field will not surround a large warship. So they built some small scouts and went into the Milky Way to scout our forces. One of them found New York and they decided to take the risk to remove it. They launched that stealth warship first and then launched their fleets to distract us. It’s all clear now.”

  “Why would they do it?”

  Alex raised a shoulder, “They’re trying to get us to attack their fleets in open space. They’ll record the attack and show it to the other civilizations in the LMC and try to get them to join them in attacking us.”

  “I wondered why so many of those ships in their fleets are the old model warships. If we attack them, we’ll be doing exactly what they want.”

  “That’s how I see it Jingle.” Alex stared at her and saw Jingle’s expression, “What are you thinking?”

  Jingle smiled, “I think we should warn the Kraken that he might be attacked by small stealth ships.”

  “What?”

  Jingle looked up, “Jangle connect me with the Commander of those fleets.”

  “You’re on his frequency.”

  Jingle smiled when the alien Fleet Commander appeared on her monitor, “Connect me with the Kraken.”

  The Fleet Commander stared at her and then the Kraken appeared; only this time, it wasn’t the same alien she had spoken with before. This one was clearly more arrogant than the first Kraken the first time she spoke to him. He was clearly sneering, “Is there a reason for this contact?”

  Jingle smiled, “Yes there is. One of our planets has been attacked by a small warship possessing stealth technology. We believe it was a surviving warship from the civilization we destroyed in the small galaxy and there is a good possibility they may also attack your planets.” The Kraken stared at Jingle in silence and Jingle continued smiling, “I’ll let you know if another attack happens and please let me know if you are attacked. You know they will be going after both of our civilizations.”

  The Kraken asked in a diffident tone, “Was their attack successful?’

  “Of course not.” Jingle stopped smiling, “It’s unfortunate we had to destroy the ship but next time we’ll take the time to scan it and see who’s flying it. I’ll be sure to let you know what I find out.”

  The Kraken understood the veiled threat, “Perhaps it was just a single warship that survived.”

  “Perhaps,” Jingle replied. She started to reach forward and end the contact but paused, “Just so you know, you weren’t privy to my conversation with the last Kraken. You are fine where you are currently holding your maneuvers. However, if you move closer than another twenty thousand light years, you will be in violation of my territory.” Jingle ended the contact.

  • • •

  The Kraken saw the Fleet Commander appear on his display, “Kraken, that alien broadcast your conversation over a high-powered communication frequency that was strong enough to be heard by all the civilizations in our galaxy. Since she was speaking our language, they heard what you discussed.”

  The Kraken moved his triangular head from side to side. “So much for getting support from the others in our galaxy. That alien is treacherous.”

  “The former Kraken warned you about it before he killed himself for you to take his place.”

  “He promised not to attack them, and he had to go. I did not make that promise.”

  “I suspect that alien knows it.”

  The Kraken smiled, “I suspect it does. It won’t make a difference.”

  • • •

  “You know they’re going to start building their missiles with a stealth field around them?”

  “We already have a way to detect them, but it won’t do them much good.”

  “Why not?”

  “They won’t have targets to fire them on. The Warscouts can already detect the old stealth field in their scanners; we need to put that as a primary frequency in their systems. We’ll drop the one that was used to track the Nebula Alien’s disruptor field; it’s no longer needed. We’ll see them, they are unaware we can.” Jingle paused and asked, “When are you launching the new stealth probes?”

  Admiral Jenson took his terminator out and launched ten thousand five days ago.”

  “That many fit on one Terminator?!”

  “They’re about the size of a billiard ball. They contain a stardrive and gravity drive. If they’re touched by anything, they will self-destruct. We are currently unable to detect them.”

  “Who is going to be tracking the data they collect?”

  “Fl
eet operations.”

  “They can broadcast that far?”

  “No, there’s a collector located close to Canis Major that will receive their data and forward it to fleet operations. Incidentally, the Canis Aliens developed the new probe. They have made a huge difference in our technology since they moved to the Milky Way.”

  “What do you think about Belle going after that warship?”

  Alex sighed, “She did what she had to do. She found it when no one else did. Thankfully, she didn’t reveal who she was during the process.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Admiral Glennon told me when he contacted me about Belle stopping that ship.”

  “I want so much to go to New York to visit her, but Mab needs us on Bucket.”

  “I know. When do you intend to imprint Mab to a computer?”

  “When he starts asking questions; that will probably start in less than two years.”

  Alex nodded at the Monitor, “We need to stay here until those fleets leave.”

  Jingle stood up and sat down on Alex’s lap, “Then let’s make good use of the time.” Alex smiled and put his arms around her.

  • • •

  Belle saw Barry numerous times in the halls and classes after the incident, but he never approached her to strike up a conversation. She sighed and knew he had decided to give up on her. She couldn’t really blame him after the way she treated him.

  One night, Belle was sitting with her new roommate, Jinny Clarke, in the student center. Belle saw Barry enter the room and look around. He saw her and started walking toward her. Belle wondered what was going on. “Katherine, I’m having a lot of trouble with the new calculus problems we have for tonight’s homework. Do you have time to show me where I’m messing up?” Jinny looked up at Barry and Belle saw her immediate interest. Barry continued, “You really helped me in high school and you’re better at math than I am.”

  Belle smiled, “Sure, sit down and show me what you’re having difficulty with.” Barry sat down beside her and opened his math book. He turned to the problems and showed Belle the work he had done. Belle looked at them and linked with Ringie to help her. She went over the first five problems with Barry and he solved the remaining seven. He smiled and stood up, “Thank you so much, Katherine! This really rings the bell.”

  Belle stared at him and smiled, “Any time, Barry.” Barry walked away and Belle knew he knew who she was.

  Jinny turned to Belle, “Are the two of you…”

  “No, we’re not!” Belle interrupted.

  “Then you won’t mind if I try my luck with him, will you?”

  Jinny was beautiful and bragged that she always got every man she wanted. Belle forced a smile, “No, not at all.”

  “Good! He’s gorgeous.”

  Belle lay in bed and listened to Jinny searching her computer to find out what classes Barry was taking and where they were located. She pretended to be asleep and knew Jinny could be tenacious in her mission to land Barry.

  • • •

  Two weeks later, Jinny came in the room and Belle saw her expression, “What’s wrong?”

  “Well, I can no longer say I’ve gotten every man I’ve wanted.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Barry told me that he doesn’t have time for a relationship and that he’s sorry if he’s hurt my feelings.”

  “No kidding?”

  Jinny shook her head, “He’s such a wonderful person, Katherine. I’m not the only one that’s struck out with him.”

  “What did he tell you?”

  Jinny huffed out a breath and said, “He said that the best things in life are worth waiting for and that most people don’t have enough patience to find the reward.”

  Belle hugged Jinny and forced herself not to smile. Barry had sent her a message; he was waiting on her. Now she understood why he kept his distance. She was interested in him before Jinny told her what he said; now, she allowed her heart to feel something for him. But like he said…patience was required, and she hoped he didn’t fall in love with someone else.

  • • •

  Belle saw Barry numerous times over the next year and he was always being pursued by one or more female cadets. He was elected to the Student Advisory Committee his first year and had been reelected each year afterwards. He was extremely popular and Belle worried, but no one caught Barry’s eye. She kept her distance and watched him from afar. Barry would catch her staring at him and would always smile, then wink at her.

  And he was catching her in their class academic standings. She was number one, but he was close behind in third place at the end of their junior year. She was driven to graduate number one but if she had to lose, she wouldn’t be upset if it were to him.

  • • •

  Every cadet in the Academy left at the end of their junior year to go out and work on the Union’s construction planets for a year. By participating in the construction of Warships, it gave the cadets a better understanding of how to use them. Belle was sent to Bucket for her internship and Barry was sent to Shanghai. Alex invited Cadet Katherine Connor to stay at his home during the internship and no one recognized Belle. She started wearing black framed glasses and kept her hair tied up inside her hat. She loved it. She got to spend time with her baby brother and parents. Michael Alexander Berringer was a handful, but she loved every moment she spent with him. It was the happiest she had been since she entered the academy. Each night before she went to sleep she prayed Barry hadn’t forgotten her and found someone else. The time away from him only made her care about him more.

  The days were long building the Union’s warships, but the year passed quickly. She arrived at the Academy in September and looked around at all the new Seniors arriving in front of the academy. Their families were present along with many guests. Belle would be seventeen in a few weeks and she no longer had to wear padding and makeup to appear older; she was a knockout.

  Belle looked to her right and saw Barry hugging a young female cadet. He had her chin in his hand and was staring into her eyes as he spoke to her. Belle turned and rushed away. She forced herself to maintain her composure and sat down on a bench near the front entrance. She fought her feelings and took deep breaths.

  “Katherine, I want to introduce you to someone.” Belle looked up and Barry was standing there with the pretty woman he had been hugging. She fought hard and managed to keep her expression neutral as Barry said to the young woman with him, “Do you remember I told you about the girl that helped me with my studies in high school when I was injured?” The young woman nodded. “Well, this is her.” The young woman smiled, and Barry said, “Katherine, this is my younger sister Caroline; she’s entering the Academy.

  Belle’s eyes flew wide open and Caroline said, “I remember you coming over every night to help him. He gives you the credit for turning his life around.”

  Belle shook her head, “I don’t remember ever seeing you.”

  “He was an ass back then and a bully as well. I stayed out of his way and didn’t want to be anywhere near him.” Caroline hugged Barry, “He’s really become something special.”

  Belle looked up at Barry and said, “Indeed he has.”

  Barry’s smile was huge, as Caroline said, “He convinced me to join the Navy. Maybe you can spend some time with me and tell me what to expect?”

  “I’ll be more than happy to do that, but Barry knows as much as I do.”

  “Yeah, but he’s a guy; I’d rather hear it from a female.”

  “I’ll get with you after the first week; you’re going to be too busy to talk with anyone during the first week.”

  Caroline smiled, “Count on it.”

  Barry smiled and took Caroline’s hand, “I’m going to show Caroline around. Welcome back Katherine.”

  Belle smiled at him, “It’s good to be back, Barry.” Barry walked away and Belle knew that she had not trusted Barry. She now knew in her heart that he was hers if she wanted him and that she would n
ever have to worry about his faithfulness. It was her insecurities that caused her to expect the worst when she saw Barry with Caroline. She knew that suspecting someone you cared about of being unfaithful was worse than actually catching them doing it. The important word was faith and she no longer worried about Barry or herself. Some things were worth waiting for.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jingle sat on the Springs with Alex waiting for Admiral Glennon to contact them. She sighed and said, “We had a lot more room on the Terminator.”

  “I no longer have the Terminator. I don’t intend to use it in any future confrontations and sent it back to Fleet Operations to reassign a new crew.”

  “Then why don’t you name this new command ship the Rapids?”

  Alex shrugged, “I don’t know. Springs feels right for a ship this size; if you insist, I’ll make the change.”

  “No, Springs is fine.”

  “What’s bothering you?”

  Jingle shrugged, “I’ve looked at the recent data sent from the new probes in the LMC and they’re disconcerting. They’re really building up their fleets.”

  “Let them.”

  “How can you say that Alex?!”

  “You know they can’t match the industrial power of the Union. We’re also building up our number of warships and they can’t come close to matching us. We can build a hundred Warscouts in less time than it takes them to build one of those giant battleships. And we have thousands more planets building them than they have.”

  “I guess you’ve seen they’re installing force fields on their warships.”

  “And they’re quite powerful,” Alex added.

  “But…”

  “Jingle, they didn’t see our blasters in the last confrontation, so they don’t have a target to use in their construction. The blasters on their ships are only slightly more powerful and they can’t penetrate the Warscouts force fields.”

  “They can if enough of them are fired at the scouts.”

  “It’s hard to hit what you can’t see,” Alex replied. “But even if they could detect them, the Warscout’s force field can handle them. Our blasters are still capable of penetrating their force fields.”