by Saxon Andrew
“How long do we have?”
“Not as much time as we need.”
• • • • •
Lex was waiting and saw by Ping’s expression that the Cats had been unable to change his mind. He shook his head and said, “Report back to your unit, Lieutenant.”
Ping expected the Admiral to continue to argue with him and was surprised by the Admiral. He saluted and disappeared. Lex stared at the young Searcher’s former location and turned off the lights in his office and sat in the dark as he wondered where this was headed. He was certain that it wasn’t going to be a good thing.
• • • • •
Mios and Jodie teleported to their ships from their quarters on Earth. Six months had passed since the last battle with the new enemy and they had received an emergency call up. They powered up their systems and teleported to their units and moved their ships into the ranks of the Realm’s Third Fleet. The hundred thousand Searchers were on liberty and active standby. They formed up and Mios contacted Jodie, “I’ve just read the call up order; it appears a planet is being attacked by the Grey Ships and we’ve been activated to go to its defense.”
“How many ships are there?”
“A hundred thousand, Jodie; another fleet is being called up but it’s going to take some time for them to organize and teleport in.”
“Stay close to me, Mios.”
“You know I will, my Love.”
They heard over the general fleet frequency, “Teleporting in thirty seconds. Activate all weapon systems and we’ll be going in hot.” The hundred thousand Searchers disappeared as they teleported away.
• • • • •
Third Fleet arrived at the edge of the jump suppression field and Admiral Gibbs picked up his communicator, “All ships will go in at full speed and attack the Grey Ships at the planet. Work in teams and cover each other as much as possible, good hunting.” The Searchers went to full thrusters and roared in on the enemy fleet investing the planet’s defenses.
• • • • •
“Director, a fleet of Realm Ships has arrived and is moving in system.”
The Director looked at his display, “We knew there was a possibility of them showing up. Break off the attack on the planet and kill as many of them as possible.” The Grey Ships turned from the planet and moved out to meet the incoming Searchers. The dog fight that erupted was monumental and ships began dying.
• • • • •
Mios roared in on the rear of a Grey Ship as it moved to line up a shot at a Rover. He fired and hit the Grey Ship in the rear. The enemy’s force field held for a moment and then the ship exploded. Mios hit his bow thrusters and went to full power on his rear thrusters as he turned his ship ninety degrees and whipped hard to the right. Two beams barely missed hitting him as he shot away from two ships coming head on. One of the two ships exploded as Jodie hit it from the rear and then corkscrewed away from another Grey Ship lining up to take a shot. Mios whipped around and hit the second ship from the side and he watched it explode as he went vertical and hit another Grey Ship turning away from another Rover. He dove and came roaring in on a ship chasing Jodie. He hit it and both of them turned right and went after a group of four Grey Ships in front of them. Everywhere around the planet, red and grey ships were exploding.
• • • • •
Ping watched the fleet returning to their home world. They had launched an attack on another civilization and Kosiev’s Strike Fleet had been dispatched to stop the invasion. He shook his head at the stupidity of the planet as he suddenly heard over his wall speaker, “Third Fleet is fighting a Grey Ship Fleet. All ships form ranks and prepare to support them.” Ping stood and looked up across the vast galaxies at the location of the huge battle and focused in on the massive dog fight. Mios and Jodie were still alive and he felt a huge lump in his throat. He saw the thousands of ships exploding and he started squirming, yelling for the fleet to get organized. Suddenly, he felt a huge sense of dread and he looked up at the battle and saw something moving toward the warring ships. His heart went into his throat as he watched hundreds of giant Black Warships appear in normal space and start accelerating at the planet. The ships were huge but they appeared to be made of vapor. They had the shape of a warship but they looked like clouds moving through space. He watched them arrive at the site of the battle and open fire on the Searchers and Grey ships with a black beam that blew apart any ship it hit. He saw one of them moving in on Mios and Jodie’s location and he screamed, “GET OUT OF THERE!” He screamed but they couldn’t hear him. The giant Black Ship fired a black beam and swept it across twenty ships exploding all of them. Mios and Jodie were two of those destroyed. He fell to his knees and collapsed to the floor. His anguish was more than he could bear and he wept for the loss of the two people he loved more than anyone else. He kept seeing their ships explode and his sorrow was more than he could bear…but then he felt something on the heels of his anguish he had never felt before…overpowering RAGE! His moth turned into a snarl and he teleported away from the Strike Fleet to the site of the battle.
• • • • •
The Searchers and Grey Ships ignored each other and fled in front of the oncoming Black Ships. They had fired all their weapons at the giants and nothing affected them. Their beams just blew through the shimmering ships without damaging them. The Grey Ship that controlled the suppression field was one of the first ones hit and the second ship that controlled the suppression devices died a moment later. The Director knew there was no way to deactivate the suppression fields and jump away from the Black Ships that were faster than his fleet.
• • • • •
Ping arrived fifty miles in front of the oncoming line of Black Ships and he activated his armor and teleported out into open space in front of the giants. His rage consumed him and he appeared to be glowing with a green field that had blue sparks flashing in it. A Black Ship directly in front of him fired one of the deadly black beams at him and it rushed through him without doing any damage. Ping pulled back his arm and swung it at the Black Ship as it roared up on him and an intensely bright ball of green energy with blue sparks left his hand and hit the Black Ship. The giant ship had green sparks start at its bow and rush the entire length of its hull. The sparks blew out from the ship leaving nothing behind. Ping swung his arm at the two ships coming in beside the ship he destroyed and both of them exploded in massive sparks and disappeared. Ping teleported out in front of the line of Black Ships and started launching energy balls at them. He teleported across the front of the advancing black fleet and hundreds of them exploded in sparks. If a green ball hit a Black Ship, it died. He teleported so fast that he appeared to be flickering along the entire front of their advance.
A thousand Black Ships had entered normal space and in less than a minute, half of them were dead. Twenty seconds later, only four hundred of them were still moving. They turned and accelerated away from the demon killing them. Ping pursued them and fifteen seconds later only two hundred were still alive. They were rushing toward a bright orange energy field hanging in normal space where they had begun their advance. Fifty remained ten seconds later and then there was only one still fifty miles out from the orange field. Suddenly Ping heard a thought from the Black Ship, “We will be back!”
Ping’s face was a frozen mask of rage, “You won’t be one of them,” and he destroyed the final Black Ship before it could escape. He stopped in front of the orange field and sent five energy balls into it. It blew apart when the fifth ball hit in a massive explosion that sent a shock wave blowing by Ping. It did not affect him and he glared at the place where the giant ships had emerged hoping more would appear. When none did, he teleported back to his ship and collapsed to the floor in agony.
• • • • •
The Director stopped his fleet and ordered the survivors into formation once he saw the Black Ships turn and flee. His two hearts were beating at a rate that made it difficult for him to breathe. His ship had bare
ly missed being hit by one of the black beams and he knew he should have been dead. He forced himself to sit and calm down. He saw the surviving Searchers forming ranks two hundred miles away and he made a decision. He turned a dial on his panel to a known frequency and lifted his communicator, “I wish to communicate with the leader of the surviving Realm Ships.”
He waited for a minute and then heard, “I am Rear Admiral Gibbs and I am in command of the Realm’s Fleet.”
“Neither one of us has much of a fleet left; I want to call a ceasefire between our forces and I ask that you bring one of your leaders to discuss what we’re going to do about what just happened.”
“Why would I do that? You’ve been attacking our ships for three years.”
“Did you hear the final thought of that last Black Ship?”
“I did.”
“That’s why you should do it. Neither of us can stop them if they return. Your Realm is no longer my main concern about my continued survival.”
Admiral Gibbs wanted to attack the Grey Ships with every fiber of his being but knew he had to pass this up the channel. He pressed the Fleet Frequency, “Hold your positions. Do not attack until you are given the approval. Gibbs hit his panel and Admiral Kosiev appeared on his display, “Sir, there has been a major development.”
“What!” Gibbs’ recording of the battle came in on his display and he fell back in his chair when the Black Ships arrived and started killing every ship in sight.
“Sir, the Commander of the Grey Ships requests a ceasefire and an opportunity to discuss what we’re going to do.”
“Why would we do that, Admiral?”
“You couldn’t hear it on the recording but the last Black Ship sent a thought to everyone that they were coming back.”
Kosiev felt a chill run up his spine. “Tell the Grey Ship Commander that we will meet him in three days at his current location. Only send one ship and we will also send just one.”
“Yes Sir.”
Kosiev watched the single Warrior in armor destroy the Black Ships and he knew it had to be Lt. Kendel. He shook his head and wondered what had made him take that risk.
• • • • •
The Director flew out of the planetary system and contacted the four Pack Leaders. He sent them a recording of the fight and he saw their fear. “Let’s hope they’re scared enough to do the right thing.”
• • • • •
Ping remained on the floor of his ship, curled up in a fetal position weeping for the loss of Mios and Jodie. He had arrived too late to save them; he blamed himself. He remained curled up and he heard a female voice say, “Their death is due to your selfishness.” He opened his eyes and saw a young blonde woman standing on the bridge. She looked down at him and sneered, “You could have prevented those Black Ships from coming into our Creation but you put yourself ahead of everyone else. I hope you do the right thing and end your miserable existence.” The woman disappeared and Ping felt horror at the possibility she was right. He spiraled down into a state of depression from which he could not return.
“I’m usually not in the role of coming to the aid of others. I’m usually the one that causes problems…but…she doesn’t understand why you made your choices.”
Ping forced his eyes open and saw a middle aged man standing on his bridge. He said nothing but just stared at the stranger. “You have not been prepared for what was thrust on you and assuming that responsibility is not an easy thing to accept. Believe me; I know what you went through. The fear of not being able to live up to the expectations of others is often overwhelming.”
“Was she right?”
“She’s never wrong; but you’ve got to cut yourself some slack. The real issue is; are you going to do anything about it or are you going to make their deaths meaningless? That is the only question you should be asking yourself at this moment. Giving in to the pain is a coward’s way out.”
“But…” and he was gone. Ping closed his eyes and went back into his sorrow…but the man’s question burned in his mind. He wanted to just lie down and die but he couldn’t do it. He wept but his consciousness began the slow assent out of the despair of depression. When the Searchers finally arrived, carried him out of his ship, and teleported him to the hospital on Ross, Ping was feeling something replacing his sense of loss…revenge. The glow behind his eyes had grown. He woke on Ross and he was changed. No one knew how much.
• • • • •
“You should have stayed out of this.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever really disagreed with you. You need to look hard at why I do.”
“He should die.”
“He only did what I wanted to do many times and ultimately did. You also followed that path. You’re angry at him because you look at him and see yourself.” She stared at him saying nothing. “If you really look at this situation, you’ll see I’m right.”
Her eyes teared up and she rushed into his arms. He held her and felt her anguish. She knew the Searcher wasn’t the only one guilty of the sin of selfishness.
Chapter Nine
Ping sat in the hospital and stared at the wall. He managed to focus on it and decided the mint color was a good choice. There was a knock on the door and he ignored it, as he had ignored the others who had shown up to try and cheer him up. After a moment the door opened and he saw Eric Pederson. Ping sighed; this was not someone he could ignore; Mios would never forgive him if he did. “Who sent you here?”
Eric shook his head, “No one. I came because I’m worried about you.”
“Get in line.”
Eric walked over and sat down in a chair next to the window. He stared at Ping and then looked out the window. After a moment he said, “I’ve never told you why I made life miserable for Mios.” Ping turned and looked at Eric as he said, “I really hated him.”
“For God’s sake why; he was the nicest person I’ve ever known.”
“That’s just it; he was too perfect. He made top grades easily, he had a beautiful girlfriend, he was respected by all of his peers, and I could see he was going to go far in the service. I hated his perfection and that emotion drove me to make his life miserable.”
“Why?”
“Because my life was miserable, and as it goes without saying, misery loves company. I took it too far; it’s just…once it started, it snowballed and I lost control. I was going to graduate but I knew I’d never be much in the Navy. It got out of hand.”
“You were promoted to Captain rather quickly.”
“That’s due to your actions; not my own.”
Ping shook his head, “We had nothing to do with your promotion.”
“You and Mios had everything to do with it.” Ping’s eyes narrowed and Eric continued, “I was out of the Academy and I should have been tossed. It was your intervention that saved me.”
“That was Mios’ idea. I was against helping you at first.”
“He persuaded you, didn’t he?”
Ping sighed, “He did.”
“And once you decided to get on board, you took what he saw as the right thing to do and ran with it. I never thought you could do enough to save me; but you did.” Eric looked at Ping, “I learned something from that, Ping. I learned that if you set your mind to do the impossible; sometimes you can. And even if you fail, you’re better for the effort.”
Ping looked at Eric and slowly shook his head, “I understand that you came in alone to try and save us in the first battle.”
“Actually, I didn’t know it was you.” Ping’s eyes went wide. “I saw two ships being attacked by thousands and what I heard in my head was, ‘If one of us is in need, pain, or danger; then all of us are as well.’ My squadron chose to follow me in and I believe the enemy thought a major fleet had arrived.” Ping just stared at Eric and he looked back out the window, “One of my greatest regrets is that I never thanked Mios for his kindness. He made me see the world differently and I’m better for it. I came here to thank you. I’m not go
ing to live with the regret of never thanking you if something happened to you. Thank you, Ping. I really mean it.” Ping slowly shook his head. “What’s wrong?”
“You’ve just taught me a lesson as well.”
“What is that?”
“You’ve just made me see that it’s by helping others that one finds real joy. I’ve been so focused on my own plans that I’ve ignored everyone around me. I’ve been so blind.”
Eric stood and turned to go but stopped at the door and said, “Well, if it helps, I do have some news that I wanted to tell you before the announcement was made.”
“What is that?”
“I’ve been given a fleet. I’m one of the youngest non-royal officers to ever be promoted to Rear-Admiral. I owe it to you and Mios.”
Ping stood up and went over and gave Eric a bear hug, “Thank you for coming, Eric.”
“Just one more thing.” Ping looked Eric in the eyes, “What do you think Mios and his wife would be telling you to do right now if they were present?” Eric looked around the hospital room and shook his head, “I suspect they’d have something to say about your extended vacation here.” Eric stepped out and closed the door.
Ping was shocked at the remark but after a moment he knew Eric was right. He could just hear what Mios would say and Jodie would say it at twice the volume. He looked at the closet across the room, walked over, and opened the door. He saw his Searcher’s uniform. He took it out and, after staring at it for a minute, he put it on. He had to take care of an issue and he wouldn’t put it off any longer.
• • • • •
“Your Highness, I’m sorry to disturb you but we have someone at the entrance that insists on speaking with you. He refuses to leave until we notify you of his request.”
Nicole looked up from a book and arched her brows, “Who is it?”
“It’s a Searcher Lieutenant with the last name of Kendel.”
Nicole’s expression turned dark, “Tell him to leave and to not come back.”
The staff member turned to go but hesitated and looked back at her, “He said if you refused to see him that I should tell you something.” Nicole didn’t want to ask but she nodded for him to continue. “He said to tell you that Mios and Jodie would want you to do it.”