Pray for the Prey

by Saxon Andrew

  “Is there nothing we can do to save ourselves?”

  “I think the hostages you tied to poles and shot capsules into asked you the same question. What was your response?”

  The Earth ships that had destroyed the Grey Ships remained at the planets they had freed and relayed the conversation into every electronic device on every planet. Since most of the planets had been forced to use the language of the King, they understood what Chris was saying. Soon large crowds began moving toward the buildings where the Governor and the governor’s lackeys were located on each planet.

  “What have we done to you? You have no right to do this.”

  “I could ask you the same thing about all those you murdered during your festival, but that really isn’t the issue. Incidentally, you have three minutes remaining. The issue is that your soul is black and you are past redemption. Make the best of what time you have remaining. You have murdered your last hostage.”

  Chris watched the clock and then it reached all zeros, he pushed the button on the weapons panel and felt the vibration of the launch. A Heavy Striker shot out of its launch tube and it blew into the atmosphere at nine tenths light speed. The gravity device returned its full twenty thousand pound of mass just before it entered the planet’s atmosphere and it blew the atmosphere away from it at twenty thousand miles per hour. The Striker hit the surface and blew a ten thousand mile wide crater more than two hundred miles deep into the planets crust. Two other strikers hit the planet simultaneously on two other sides of the doomed world. The planet blew outward and broke apart into giant chunks of land that flew away from the surface faster than the speed of sound. The video of the planets destruction was sent to all the captive worlds and the celebrations immediately began and continued for weeks.

  Arvolo said, “I think just one heavy striker would have done the trick. Three was massive overkill.”

  Chris watched the planet’s destruction and said, “Are you sure just one would be enough?”

  George said, “Chris, the wind blowing away from the impact would have scoured the planet’s surface clean. My analysis shows that the winds would have gone completely to the other side of the planet at eight hundred miles an hour. The following earthquakes would have finished everything else. Arvolo’s right, one would do it.”

  “Perhaps the two of you could assist me in completing a task I am behind on.”

  “What is that?”

  “I need you and Admiral Arvolo to scan for uninhabited planets for our colonists. I’ve found one planet but I need five more rather quickly.”

  “We’ll be glad to help; just give me a few minutes to send the fleet back to the Space Docks.”

  “You’re not sending them to Earth?”

  “No, we’re going to continue to operate outside our galaxy as a precaution. We’re pretty much accustomed to it now.”

  “I’ll go ahead and start searching for viable planets.”

  “Thanks Admiral. I’ll have Jillian send you the coordinates of the planets we’ve determined are close to Earth in frequency.”

  George said, “I’ll notify the first colony ship to come to the first planet you found and Meisa and I will assist them in getting established. Admiral, please contact me if anything happens while I’m here.”

  “Yes Sir, you’ll be the first to know.”

  Jillian sent the information and came over and hugged Chris, “Are you alright?”

  “Yes, I can still see the posts in the center of every major city. I’m glad I looked; now my conscience doesn’t bother me.”

  “Good.”

  “Let’s go find another planet.”

  “Are we going to wait on Meisa?”

  “No, I think she’ll be staying with George at the first planet. If she wants to come back she can catch up to us later in a shuttle.”

  Jillian went and selected a planet from the list and announced, “Jump in thirty seconds. Stand down from General Quarters. Jump in twenty five seconds.”

  The Jukebox hung in orbit above a shattered, burning world for a few moments and then it disappeared.

  Chapter Six

  The First Master was waiting for the prince and Fleet Master when they arrived at her quarters. They both saw her dark grey color and raised eye stalks and knew she was past anger and approaching rage, “What happened to our ships!?!”

  The Fleet Master kept his eye stalks down and said, “The White Ships blew through our ships like they were trees in a hurricane. We were defenseless against even their smallest ship. Twenty of their ships destroyed more than twenty five percent of our fleet in less than four small measures.”

  The High Master already knew about the attack; she had seen the recording of what happened. “What are we going to do about it!?!”

  The prince also kept his eye stalks pointed toward the floor and said, “I see nothing we can do. We are no match for their ships. Even if we sent every ship we possess, they would all be destroyed faster than can be imagined.”

  The Fleet Master saw her getting angrier and said, “One of my Ship Masters contacted one of his relatives on the Capital and was told that the White Ships destroyed a Violet Ship fleet that was attacking the Blue Ships and that’s why they have agreed to no longer invade our galaxy.”

  The First Master’s color started growing lighter in color, “Do you know if the Violet Ships know they did it?”

  “According to what my Ship Master was told, they think it was the Blue Ships that did it.”

  The First Master’s eye stalks went straight up and she said, “We might be able to use this information to help us.”

  The prince glanced at the Fleet Master and saw he was also wondering what she was suggesting. The prince said, “I’m sorry, Mother, how can we use this?”

  “Do we have a Watcher that knows the Violet Creature’s language?”

  “We have more than a hundred that have learned it over the cycles we’ve been coming here.”

  “What if we go to the Violet Creatures and tell them where the ships that destroyed their fleet are located? We know where their home world is located.”

  The prince felt shock at this revelation and didn’t like the idea of giving those merciless killers information about his home galaxy. The Fleet Master asked, “How do you think they will respond? Will they not then kill every planet in our galaxy?”

  “We’ll negotiate with them to see if they’ll agree not to do so.”

  The prince and Fleet Master thought about the idea and the prince said, “The White Beings are located on just one planet.”

  She said, “And they must have limited numbers of ships at this moment. If they are given time they will expand into the galaxy and will never be stopped.”

  “How should we handle this detail?”

  “Jump a ship outside their territory and broadcast a message that we wish to help them find the ones that destroyed their fleet. Have the message continuously repeated.”

  “What if they come and destroy that ship?”

  The High Master looked at them and said, “That is something you don’t want to happen, since the two of you will be on that ship doing the negotiation.”

  The prince and Fleet Master felt their fear and the High Master saw their color get lighter. She smiled knowing that these two must prove themselves before she would trust them with another assignment. If they were killed it would serve them right for their failure in the attack. “Take a Watcher and go make this happen.”

  The two Moets backed out of the room and their color continued to lighten. The High Master laughed after they had exited her quarters.

  • • •

  The prince sat in his chair on the Dreadnaught as he listened to the Fleet Commander say to the watcher, “Is the recording being broadcast?”

  “Yes, it is, Fleet Master.”

  The Fleet Master looked at the Drive Master and nodded. The Drive Master said, “We will jump in two mico-measures.”

  The prince and Fleet Master watched their
display as the giant galaxy appeared on their displays. The prince said, “This shouldn’t take long.”

  “I’m afraid you’re right.”

  “Scanner Controller, we have a small ship that just appeared just outside our border broadcasting a message in our language.”

  “What are they saying?”

  The Scanner listened and said, “They are offering to help up find the ones that destroyed our fleet.”

  “Send ten ships out but don’t destroy that ship.”

  The Scanner nodded and issued the orders.

  • • •

  The prince and Fleet Master suddenly saw ten ships emerge into normal space surrounding their ship. The Fleet Master said, “If we’re going to be killed it will happen now.” They waited and the ten ships remained around them not doing anything. “Maybe this might work.” The prince just sat there turning bright white in his fear.

  • • •

  The Fleet Controller said, “What are they broadcasting?”

  “They are saying that they can help us find the ones that destroyed our fleet.”

  The Fleet Controller looked at his Communication Controller and said, “Contact the Hive Controller and inform him of what’s happening.”

  The Hive Master had just finished a meal and saw his console illuminate. He went over and read what was on the screen and immediately punched a button, “What is this?”

  “A ship has appeared outside our border, broadcasting a message in our language saying they know who destroyed our fleet in the other galaxy.”

  “Contact them and keep me in the circuit.”

  The Fleet Master linked to one of the ships at the strange ships’ location and said, “What are you trying to say to us?”

  The Fleet Master looked at the Watcher and said, “Stop the broadcast and tell them the following…”

  “We have received information that one of your fleets was destroyed at the Blue Ships’ Galaxy. We know that it was not the Blue Ships that destroyed your fleet but another species that assisted them.”

  The Hive Controller said, “This information matches up with what our Science Controller suggested.”

  The Fleet Controller said, “Why have you come here to tell us this?”

  “The species that destroyed your fleet is also a danger to us. We were hoping you would remove them.”

  “I think you want more than just removing them.”

  “We would also like you to agree to only remove them and leave the rest of our galaxy alone. If you agree to this, we will inform you of any other civilization in our galaxy that might become a threat to your civilization.”

  The Hive Controller said, “We could agree and still destroy them.”

  The Fleet Controller said, “You know that we couldn’t do that for a very long time. If these creatures are willing to assist us, we should allow them to do that until we can take action. It will save us time if they become our eyes in their galaxy.”

  “Have you scanned their ship?”

  “We have and even our smallest commercial ships could destroy it. They are millions of years away from becoming a threat.”

  “What would you do if the decision were yours?”

  “I need more information before I can answer that question.”

  “Well, get what information you need.”

  “How many planets does this species currently inhabit?”

  “At this moment, they are only located on one planet and their ship numbers are small. However, if they are not dealt with, they will expand and their numbers will grow quickly.”

  The Fleet Controller said, “If what this creature is saying is true, I would agree to their terms.”

  “Why?”

  “We won’t have to remove a million ships to rid ourselves of the ones that are the real threat. The Blue Ships could not defeat our fleet and really don’t represent a threat to us at this time. We won’t have to run the risk of removing massive numbers from our lines of defense to handle this problem.”

  “You don’t think the galaxy this creature is referring to poses a problem?”

  “I suspect that this creature’s ship is the strongest one remaining in that galaxy; otherwise they would be offering more locations for us to attack.”

  The Hive Controller thought about it and said, “If that is truly the case, it would be a waste of time to attack there.”

  “And if these creatures continue to inform us of any new threat to them…”

  “Our task becomes much easier.”

  “That’s how I interpret this, Hive Controller.”

  “Tell them we agree.”

  “Our Ruler has agreed to your terms. However, if we discover any future problems originating from your galaxy, we will come and destroy every civilization in it. Do you understand?”

  “We will make sure you are informed of any threat as soon as we uncover it.”

  “Are you absolutely certain they are only located on one planet?”

  “Yes we are. They destroyed the ships we sent to attack them and they told us that they had only recently developed a star drive. We were skeptical, but we have confirmed that information with several other sources.”

  “Send us that planet’s location and you are free to go.”

  The Fleet Controller said, “Watcher, send the coordinates.”

  The Watcher was horrified at the agreement but had no choice. He entered Earth’s location and pressed the send button.

  “You may leave in peace.”

  The Moet Dreadnaught disappeared and the Fleet Controller was surprised at the location. It was in the outer arm of the first galaxy and was missed when it was scouted earlier. He turned to his Communication Controller and said, “Pull ten thousand ships from the back of our inner line and have them go and destroy this planet.”

  The Controller raised his vestigial wings slightly in anticipation of killing those that had destroyed their fleet. He began issuing the orders. This had to be done without alerting the Horde, so the ships would have to be moved in small numbers. The Fleet Controller watched his plan and nodded. It would take some time, but it was the safest way to make this attack. He contacted the Hive Controller to explain what was being done and he agreed to the strategy. It was always good to keep the Hive Controller informed. The last Fleet Controller ended up as a meal.

  • • •

  George and Meisa watched as the sixth colony ship arrived with the support vessels containing the materials and construction equipment to start building the housing and manufacturing facilities needed to support the new colony. Meisa said, “We’ve really got this down to a science.”

  “This planet will be up and running within six months. The first one took almost a year to just get the agriculture performing at a high enough level to feed the colonists.”

  Meisa looked at the wall display and said, “I’m a little worried about Earth. More than two thirds of the population has immigrated to the new planets.”

  “I know. And most of them are the ones that are highly trained in making an economy work. Many of those left behind are the former rebels that fought against the world government. Dolly tells me that they are biding their time to attempt a coup.”

  “She has enough Alphas to keep them in check.”

  “Actually, most of the Alphas have become pilots of our new attack craft. There are plenty of soldiers to maintain peace, but some of those rebels are armed with modern weapons. You would think that with all of the vacant space to settle, there wouldn’t be a need for insurrection. Sometimes I think we are our own worst enemy.”

  “Earth still has the largest manufacturing capability.”

  George tilted his head, “I’m not so sure about that. Dundee passed them in ship production. However, Earth still has a decided edge in building the new attack craft. We have more than a thousand at New York’s space port waiting for pilots trained to fly them.”

  Meisa sighed and said, “I’m sure Dolly and Jeff will keep things under con
trol. By the way, when are we going back?”

  “I suspect that we can wrap things up here in about three months. We’ll just need to check on the other five colonies and then we can leave.”

  “Where have Chris and Jillian taken off to?”

  He’s left to start capturing the light from M-87 and getting a history of what’s happening there. I suspect that is going to take a while.”

  “Why?”

  “That galaxy is more than five hundred thousand light years across and is a ball galaxy. There is ten times the number of stars in M-87 compared to the Milky Way. He has determined that most of the ancient civilizations are located on the planes that are perpendicular to the black hole in the center.”

  “Why is that?”

  “That black hole erupts with a massive gamma ray blast periodically and the radiation would kill any life near the eruption. It appears the eruptions come out of the top and the bottom of that monster.”

  “That black hole is gigantic.”

  “Most of our specialists believe it might be the largest in our universe. The safest place to be is as far away as you can get from it. That’s why most of the ancient civilizations are in the core beside it and not in line of the blasts that erupt from it.”

  “Let’s hope those Violet Creatures are kept there by the ones attacking them.”

  George smiled, “We can only hope, my love.”

  • • •

  The Fleet Controller had the Controller of the task force on his communication panel, “You will be jumping directly from the Hive to that planet. We will not allow them to have a warning of your attack.”

  “I understand, Fleet Controller.”

  “I have also looked at the scout’s report on that planet and there were no star drives detected on his pass. That means that they keep their ships away or they have them on the planet with all their power shut off. If they are truly just one planet, I expect them to be on the surface. When you arrive, scan for those ships first and hit them immediately. You don’t want any of them getting off the surface.”

  “I have informed all of my ships.”

  “Once you remove that threat, I want the planet destroyed. We will make an example of that world. Do you understand?”