by Saxon Andrew
Leb looked at Tommy as he said, “I will have to shut-down the static field to go to full speed.”
“THEN SHUT IT DOWN!!”
Leb nodded and saw the fifty-thousand scouts cross from the reverse flow and form up in front of them. Tommy said, “Commander, my scouts can assist you in…”
The Tronan interrupted him, “MY MISSION IS TO GET ALL OF YOUR FORCES ON THE SHORT-CUT. NOT SOME OF THEM, ALL OF THEM!! ONCE I’VE CARRIED OUT MY ORDERS, I WILL TURN AND TAKE ON THE FORCES ATTACKING YOU FROM THE SAND PLANET.”
Tommy’s eyes narrowed, “Commander, you need to watch how you speak to a superior officer!”
The Tronan Commodore actually rolled his eyes and said with forced patience, “Sir, if you wish to change my orders you will get the changes authorized by Senior Fleet Admiral Oliver first. Until you do that, you will follow his orders and comply with my instructions!”
The monitor went dark and Leb said, “Now that is a Tronan on a mission.”
Tommy looked at him, “Shut down the static field and go to full speed behind that Tronan formation. Order the rear lines to get here and start landing operations.” Tommy pressed his collar, “Netty, the rear lines are coming aboard, get then put away in their berths so we can move to maximum speed.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Tommy leaned back and sighed, “It’s how the Tronan are made, Leb. If a senior Tronan Leader gives instructions, no leader who is junior to him can change his orders. Sam told me they are willing to die to complete their assignments.”
“But conditions can change.”
“I realize that but Sam would have to authorize any changes. I believe they are able to adapt to changing conditions but will not veer from their goal.”
Leb lowered his massive head, “What about those Tronan Fleets that fled from Admiral Mooney’s attack outside the filament.”
“I suspect they were possibly going to move into the reverse flow and move around to the rear of Admiral Mooney’s units. That’s an example of how they adapt to changing conditions. The first fleet to enter the filament did just that. They were prevented from moving behind Mooney once the other fleets moved into the filament and began fleeing. They were forced to abandon that plan and join the fleeing fleets. But they would have returned if their senior leader had ordered it. We were fortunate he was taken out before he could.”
Leb stared at Tommy and smiled, “Admit it, he still ticked you off royally.”
Tommy sighed, “Admirals get used to being all powerful, especially in the forces they command; I’ve been spoiled. I have to say that I’m glad to see the Tronan Scouts are so highly motivated to win this fight.”
Leb shrugged, “I wonder what the push is to get us there so quickly; the Tronan are not fleeing on this filament. And just fifty-thousand scouts are going to have a tough time against the nearly two-million Tronan Warships chasing us.”
“I agree, something else is going on.”
“I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”
Tommy nodded, “I suppose. I’m going to the landing bay; call me if you need me.” Leb nodded and Tommy left the bridge.
• • •
Three-weeks later, Tommy and Netty sat on the Dragon Maw’s bridge and saw the short-cut filament getting closer. They also saw the solid white blips filling the filament moving toward the short-cut. Tommy looked at Leb and he said, “We’ve determined we’ll make it six-hours before the fleeting Tronan Forces arrive at the filament.”
Tommy nodded and continued to stare at the monitor.
• • •
The Dragon’s Maw arrived at the short-cut filament and the fifty-thousand Tronan Scouts moved slightly past it and held position in the filament’s flow. The giant transport moved on the filament and suddenly saw thousands of scouts blowing out of the filament and moving into the filament’s flow toward the Tronan Fleets pursuing them. Tommy shook his head. Now he understood. The monitor came on and they saw Jek appear, “Glad you made it in time, Admiral.”
“I wondered what the rush to get here was all about.”
“I couldn’t form my fleets into Ronco Formations until you were out of the filament. However, due to your late arrival, you will have to leave the filament at the Children’s Planet, by-they-way, they’ve named it New Heaven, and remain there until all the fleeing Tronan have passed the short-cut. It will be removed once you arrive at the planet. That could take a few months, so make yourself comfortable.”
The monitor went dark and they watched the long-stream of scouts roaring past them at incredible speed. They arrived at the orbit of the Children’s Planet and the filament began disappearing as they left it. Netty sighed, “I really don’t know what to do with myself without a battle to fight.”
Tommy glanced at her and said softly, “Trust me, I’ll come up with something.”
Netty started laughing and said, I imagine you will.”
• • •
Jek’s two-hundred and fifty-thousand scouts moved into the filament and formed Ronco formations at an incredible speed. Jek shook his head at their ability to fly the scouts and knew their reflexes rivaled his own. The fifty-thousand scouts holding formation at the short-cut fell in behind his scouts and joined the Ronco’s roaring toward the pursuing Sand Planet Forces. They hit them head on and two-months later formed the Large Ronco formation and continued to destroy them on the Death Filament. Once they were all removed, they crossed over to the reverse flow and waited for the fleeting Tronan Forces to arrive. The probes made it past the Combined Planets forces but they would not arrive for many more months. Not a single Tronan Warship survived the ensuing battle.
• • •
Walter and Tasha sat on Randy’s command scout just above the filament and watched the returning, victorious scout fleets passing them. Walter smiled, “This was accomplished a lot faster than I thought possible.”
Randy nodded, “Admiral Oliver pulled up his pants and made it happen.”
Tasha shrugged, “He did throw out the plan.”
Emily was staring at her monitor and looked up, “I wonder what happened to the surviving fleets from your attack in normal space?” Everyone looked at her and she shrugged, “They’ve not been accounted for and Admiral Cranton says they never arrived at their position.”
Randy’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Walt, “Do you have any ideas?”
Walt shrugged, “What do we normally do when we want to avoid being seen by an approaching superior enemy force?”
Tasha said, “Are you talking about moving out of the filament beyond the range of their scanners?” Walt nodded.
Randy shook his head and looked at the monitor showing the filament, “They would have to leave the filament leading to the Death Filament; the Dragon’s Maw was on it at the time they were anticipated to arrive.” He looked at Walt and he nodded. “They would have moved beyond what they believe our scanning range would be.”
Walt sighed, “They could have left the filament anywhere over a hundred-million light years.”
Randy shook his head, “That is too large of an area to search normal space. It could take centuries.”
“What are we going to do about it?” Emily asked.
“We’d have to leave tens of thousands of our scouts behind to wait for them to show up,” Walt responded. He looked at Randy, “Are we willing to do that?”
“Not really; they have enough provisions on board to wait longer than a year. But I just hate allowing them to go home.”
Walt chuckled and Tasha said, “I know that laugh; you’re thinking of something.”
Randy looked at Walt and he smiled, “Let’s send them home with a mental-virus.”
“A what?”
Walt looked up, “Computer, do you have all recordings of all the contacts that happened between Admiral Oliver and the Children he placed on Heaven?”
“I do.”
“What about all the interactions between Admiral Oliver and the survivors from the fi
ve Tronan Fleets in the second-invasion?”
“I have those as well.”
“What are you thinking about, Walt?” Randy asked.
“Sir, we’ll send out a communication burst with those recordings and not encrypt them. We’ll also send it out on their main frequency. I wonder what effect it will have on them when they learn about the Great Lie?”
The corner of Randy’s mouth went up slightly and then it turned into a smile, “That should make it difficult for them to go home unaffected. And they’ll have a lot of time while they’re waiting to digest the information.”
Randy looked at Emily, “Send the burst. And give them a little message to kick it off.”
Emily smiled as she put the message together and included the videos from the computer’s databanks. She pressed a button and said, “It’s on the way.”
Randy smiled, “You need to get back to your ship, Walt. It’s time to go home.”
Walt smiled and stood up with Tasha.
• • •
The burst arrived at the Tronan survivor’s location three-weeks later and began playing on every monitor on every ship. The Fleet Director saw a strange looking alien appear on the giant wall monitor as well as the monitor on his console. He looked around the bridge and saw it playing on every monitor. The being said in his language, “You’ve been pretty cagey. We know you left the filament to hide and you need not worry about us searching for you. You know as well as we do that it could take a lot longer to find you than we’re willing to invest.”
“However, I’m sending you some recordings to entertain you and your fleets while you’re waiting to see if I’m being honest. They include what we’ve done with the ships we’ve captured from your earlier invasions and what your fellow warriors now think about your civilization. I think you’ll find them very interesting and possibly show you what a real piece of trash your civilization really is.”
A recording started playing showing a single Tronan Warship confronted by a silver-colored ship. The Fleet Dircctor watched until the conversation started and he started to order all communications shut down but knew if he did, he’d have no way to communicate with his fleets. After twelve-hours, he wished he had at least shutdown the ones on his ship. The moment the videos ended, his ship was barraged by thousands of ship-to-ship messages.
• • •
Four months later, the Fleet Director sent a single warship back to the filament and it moved toward the Empire for a week before turning around and returning, “Fleet Director, there have been no enemy forces inside my scanning range.”
“Move out of the filament and wait for us there,”
The thirty-five surviving fleets arrived at the filament and stopped; it was easy to find. A long line of destroyed Tronan Vessels stretched out as far as they could see in both directions from his fleets. The Fleet Director said, “If any of you go back and reveal what we have learned, everyone on every ship will be executed.” The Fleet Director paused and allowed that information to sink in. “We are also victims of this Great Lie. I want every warrior on every ship to copy the message sent to us and keep it hidden. Only share it with those you trust with your life.
The only reason we are going back is to try and make a difference in the Empire. I sorely want to join our fellow warriors, who are now fighting against the Empire, but this information must get out. We will probably all die as a result of trying to make this happen. If any of you think we should not do this, now is the time for you to speak. The communication channel was silent and the Fleet Director said, “I will be forced to go to the Prime Director and make my report. I will be excluding from my report that there are some of our warriors are now fighting with this new civilization against him. I will be ordering all ships in my fleets to return to their homes and take some time off. I would recommend you try to avoid being captured and destroy the recording if the Security Forces come searching for you. The code word to let you know if you encounter another who know the truth is G.L. Use it and see if they answer, ‘Must be Stopped’.”
“Fleet Director, we are conditioned to do as we’re ordered.”
The Fleet Director smiled, “Do you still feel the conditioning?” His question was greeted with silence. “Neither do I. We are now, for the first time in our lives, free. Make that freedom count for something.”
The Fleet Director’s Warship entered the filament and, within six-months, they passed the probes on the way back to the Tronan Empire.
• • •
The Fleet Director stood in front of the Prime Director and listened to him scream about his cowardice. His arms were held by his sides by two armored guards and he stood there with his head lowered feeling at peace. The Prime Director was infuriated by his calm demeanor and yelled, “BEFORE I HAVE YOU EXECUTED, JUSTIFY YOUR COWARDLY BEHAVIOR!!”
The Fleet Director looked up at the Prime Director as the Senior Military Staff gathered in the room glared at him. “Prime Director, my forces were the first and only ones to meet this new enemy in normal space. I also managed to record their attacks in the filaments along with all the Senior’s instructions on how to attack them. I quickly saw that the Senior was an idiot and that none of our forces were going to survive.” The room was deathly silent as he continued, “I knew that if I didn’t take decisive action, the Empire would learn nothing about how our forces were destroyed. Sixty-five of my hundred fleets were destroyed in less than two hours in the initial confrontation! My surviving ships numbered less than the warships you sent to communicate back with you. I decided that getting this information back to the Empire was the most important thing I could do. You now have the data to view and I have accomplished my goal. I will die in peace knowing I did the right thing.”
The Senior Director of all Tronan Military said, “Prime Director, I believe he made a good decision.”
The Prime Director was still frustrated as he said, “The Probes would have brought it back!”
The Fleet Director replied, “When I made the decision to do this, all of our probes were being blocked by enemy ships and none were getting through. You need only view the data to confirm it. I did what I believed was the most important thing for the Empire to survive.”
The Prime Director glanced at his Senior Science Director and saw him nod. The Prime Director was furious but saw the Senior Directors in the room were no longer glaring at this coward and did not agree with him about his behavior. How could he punish this coward?
Then he saw it. “I will not allow you or any of your crews to fight for the Empire again. All of you have exhibited cowardly behavior and if you did it once, you’ll do it again. You may keep your lives for bringing this information back but all of you will be removed from the Empire’s Military Forces. You will continue to rule your possessions, Senior Fleet Leader, but your province is where I will come first to take provisions for the next invasion.”
The Fleet Director lowered his head and did everything in his power to prevent showing a smile. His crews would be sent back to their home planets and the word would spread. He was taken out of the room by the two-guards, who saluted him when they released him. They knew injustice when they saw it.
Chapter Twenty
Kelly Green looked at Cassie and said, “I’ve been asked to accept a position over a new type scout-ship being developed.”
“Over just one ship?”
“No, Cassidy, over a fleet of them.”
“What is the title of this position they’re asking you to take?”
Kelly paused and said, “I will be a one-star admiral.”
“Why are you telling me this.”
“Because I want you to go with me.”
Cassidy stared at him and shook her head, “I just can’t do that, Kelly.”
“Why not?”
“There are rules against fraternizing with superior officers.”
“That didn’t stop you when you outranked me.”
“That’s different.”
�
��No, it’s not! It’s the same thing.”
Cassie shook her head, “Why do you have to be so freaking intelligent. We had a great thing going on our scout! Now you’ve gone and ruined it!”
Kelly sighed, “I think it was my intellect that attracted you. It was your vibrant personality that drew me to you. I don’t want it to end.”
“You mean my being crazy.”
“Call it what you will, I love that part of you.”
“I can’t do this, Kelly. I just can’t…I won’t.”
“Then, we won’t.”
“What do you mean by we?”
“I told Fleet Admiral Oliver that I would not accept the position unless you remained my pilot.”
“WELL, NOW THAT IS JUST GREAT! FLEET ADMIRAL OLIVER IS GOING TO BLAME ME FOR THIS!”
Kelly was adamant, “We go together or we don’t go at all. That’s how it’s going to be!”
“Kelly, I can’t let you do this. Besides, what would people say about an Ensign kissing an Admiral?”
“You wouldn’t be an Ensign.”
“What?”
“I told Admiral Oliver that you would have to be the pilot of any ship I was on and he said that the highest rank for a pilot is Senior Captain. That’s the rank you’d have.”
Cassie hit him on the arm and Kelly winced, “Well, why didn’t you say so! I’d only be kissing one rank higher.”
“What difference does that make, Cassie?” Kelly said while rubbing his arm.
Cassie smiled, “That’s just a difference of one rank, like it was between us on our scout. It won’t be frowned on as much.”
“Cassie, Admiral Oliver and his wife often are working together on his ship. Think about Leonidas and Desiree, Gregor and Kaylee, Gem and Ana, Jek and Jel; there are many examples of couples fighting together…Will you do it?”
Cassie pushed her index finger in her cheek and said, “Ummm, let me think about it.” Two seconds later she went into Kelly’s arms, “Of course, I’ll do it.”
“That didn’t take long!”
“I wanted to do it before but just couldn’t make myself pull the trigger. This smaller difference in rank makes the difference.”