Pray for the Prey

by Saxon Andrew

  The Moet raised his eyestalks and said, “Safe travel my friends.”

  George said, “Will you fill in Bender?” The Moet moved his eye stalks forward and left the room. George watched him leave and said, “Be careful.”

  Chris nodded and ended the transmission. “Dolly, make the jump.”

  “Attention all hands; jump warning in thirty seconds. Remain in your ships until all clear is sounded.”

  • • •

  Eight hundred and fifty pilots activated their Needles and Attack Craft and waited. The first steps toward vengeance were being taken and they were honored to be present. They waited and double checked their systems.

  The mile long Jukebox hung in space over Sierra-Garcia and then instantly disappeared. The new jump drives no longer had a delay in operating. This new ship was something that would be feared by many predators but for the moment, it was on a voyage to learn what it was capable of doing.

  • • •

  The large creature sat in its dwelling and read the message. This was ridiculous. It slowly raised its twenty appendages and said, “Come.” The tech moved into the creature’s quarters and waited at the entrance. “I’ve had eight Majors say that we should investigate that other galaxy to see if the builders of the small ship were destroyed. They think they may be a danger to us, which is ridiculous. I refuse to send any of my ships to do it, so go to the bugs and have them make the determination. I would have thought that after a full revolution this issue would be dismissed. Tell them I want the information quickly.”

  • • •

  The Hive Controller watched the Major Battleship disappear and leaned back in his chair. He pushed his console and the Fleet Controller appeared on his display, “We are required to scout that galaxy and determine if any of the white ship’s builders are still present. The Horde has been warned against an attack during our search and we’ve been given less than four measures to complete the search. Get the scouts and our defense line ships out and do it now! Do not waste any time and you don’t have much time to make this happen! If any of your ships stop to attack I will hold you responsible for the delay.”

  • • •

  The probe at the edge of the Milky Way detected the fifty million ships and sent a warning to the Command Center and every planet still in the Milky Way. George ran into the Command Center and stared at the incoming video stream. He saw Bender looking at the huge wall display showing the millions of ships forming up around the galaxy’s edge. As Meisa and the Moet Admiral ran in he said, “What are they doing?”

  George looked at the display and said, “They’re coming to see if we survived.”

  Meisa said, “How do you know that?”

  “There are just as many scouts as Battleships. If this were an attack, the scouts wouldn’t be here. Notify all the planets to act normal and just ignore their presence. Tell them to keep all of their ships out of Sierra Space until this fleet departs.”

  Meisa stared at the display and said, “It appears you were right about moving the colonies.”

  “We aren’t ready to take these ships head on yet, so I hope I’m right about them just coming to scout. I think that’s what they’re doing, but it’s just a guess.”

  “What are they doing?”

  George looked at the display and saw half of the giant fleet disappear. Suddenly an alarm from a probe on the opposite side of the Milky Way started alarming. George watched and saw half of the giant fleet appear. “They have ten times as many ships scouting this time as the first. It appears they are going to start on opposite sides and meet in the middle. I think they are trying to do this as quickly as possible. It appears they aren’t wasting any time to do it.”

  They watched the split display and saw the giant fleets of ships disappear. They waited in the Command Center for three weeks and hoped that none of the member planets were attacked. Finally, the probe at the core alarmed and they saw the two fleets arrive opposite each other. There was a twenty minute delay before all the ships disappeared.

  George said, “Notify Zack and Izzy to prepare to make a trip in four weeks to gather information from a month ago forward. We need to see what’s going on in M-87.”

  “What has you concerned?”

  “How could the Violet Civilization take this many ships out of their lines to do this? Something is happening and I have no idea what it is.” Meisa replayed the recording and saw that George was right. What was going on? George looked at her and said, “Contact Chris and send him the recordings. See if he can get a big picture of that area of the galaxy without getting too close.”

  Meisa turned to her board and downloaded the recordings.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Hive Controller consolidated the data from the fleets and condensed it into a video that reported anything of interest. He noted that the species that had come and warned him of the White Ship builders was scattered around the galaxy but he didn’t see any models of the ship that had come to his border. His staff went over the entire file and returned to his cell. “There is no evidence of any of the White Ships in that galaxy.”

  “Are you absolutely sure?”

  “We took a detailed scan of that ship’s hull and our scanners were set to alarm if that material was scanned. Even if the ships were on the ground and unpowered, we would have detected them. There are none of them in that galaxy.”

  “Could they be in another galaxy?”

  The most senior Controller said, “Which one? There are more than five thousand galaxies in this cluster and more than a million a long jump away. Which one would you suggest we examine?”

  The Hive Controller knew there was no way to start a search without some clue as to where to go look. He checked his board and saw the clock go to zero. The Major Battleship appeared on his panel, “Well, they are predictably punctual.”

  “Did you do as we ordered?”

  “I did and there is no White Ships remaining in that galaxy. I’m sending you the condensed file along with the entire record for you to examine. It does appear that civilization was destroyed.”

  “If we need any further action, we will contact you. You may resume your conflict with the Yellow Ships in one rotation of your planet.” The giant ship disappeared.

  “Are our ships back in the line?”

  “They are returning to their assigned positions as we speak. They will be ready before the time frame given by the Majors.”

  “Good.” The Hive Controller put his hand on the display control to turn off the probe’s signal from the destroyed planet, but just couldn’t force himself to do it. He stared at the planet in the top right corner of his bank of display panels and slowly pulled his hand back. The staff watched him and wondered what was going on. The Hive Controller dismissed them and continued to stare at the planet. Fear can make one do irrational things.

  • • •

  A month later George contacted the Jukebox, “Chris, have you got a moment?”

  “I do. The computer is currently analyzing our recent recordings and we’re waiting on the results.”

  “Have you seen anything of interest?”

  “We had to back out to sixty million years to get a full view of what’s happening in this galaxy. There has been constant war from that time forward so far. The civilizations in this galaxy are vicious and I’ve lost count of how many civilizations have rose and fell. Most of the heavy action has taken place around the core of the galaxy and has extended out toward the outer edges.”

  “We’ve discovered something of interest.”

  “What is that?”

  “Zack and Izzy did an emergency jump and recorded the time before and after the violet ships came and scouted.”

  “And?”

  “A huge purple ship that flashed green appeared and communicated to the Violet Civilization. It was only there for about an hour but after it jumped away the violet ships pulled all of their ships from the front lines and sent them to scout our galaxy.”

/>   “What did the Yellow Ships do?”

  “They remained in their lines and did not take any action until after the Violet Ships had returned and assumed their positions again.”

  Jillian said, “It appears that there is a species that commands obedience from those civilizations.”

  “That’s how I see it. That ship returned soon after the Violet Ships returned to their territory and remained for less than an hour. I need you to see if you can determine the relationship between those ships.”

  Chris nodded, “I’ll make it a point to look for them and see what I come up with. We’re still a while from getting close to the current time.”

  “I think I need you to make that discovery a priority. We’re planning a visit to our friends in the Violet Ships, but need to know what might fall out of that contact.”

  “How long will it be before you’re ready to do that?”

  “Probably three years.”

  “Then I will have that information in two. There’s so much more than I thought and this is going to take much longer than I anticipated. I’ll get it to you.”

  “Thanks, Chris. Be careful. You don’t know what their scanners can see.”

  “I will. Let me know if anything changes.”

  George nodded and ended the call.

  • • •

  Kenny and RV sat in a booth in the restaurant on the Transport Shang-hai and enjoyed their lunch. Kenny took a bite of a salad and said, “I’m surprised Cyanna didn’t come with you.”

  RV watched Kenny eat his salad and made a face, “No wonder you’re skinny; you only eat rabbit food.”

  “I weigh a hundred and ninety pounds, RV. I’m far from skinny.”

  “Trust me on this one; you’re almost anorexic.”

  Kenny almost spit his salad out laughing and after a moment RV joined him. “I miss our time on the old Havana chasing Blue Giant ships. Now that was fun.”

  RV sighed, “Yes it was. I guess I’m getting used to this position, but it’s not something I would want to do if given a choice.”

  “We need you right where you are. By the way, you should try this salad.”

  “No way; I’d be accused of being bulimic after it shot across the room and hit the back wall.” RV paused and said, “Why did you want to see me?”

  “You’re up to something and I wanted to know what it is.”

  RV mustered up an innocent expression and said, “Me…up to something…clutch the pearls, you must be mistaken.”

  Kenny laughed again and said, “I know you and I know your expressions; you’re expecting something and I just want you to tell your old pal what you’re up to.”

  RV sat there with a blank expression. Kenny watched him and said, “Now what are you doing?”

  “I’m being enigmatic.”

  “What?”

  “Hey, haven’t you heard; I’m an enigma.”

  Replace the en with a st and you’d be right.”

  “Oh that’s just too cute.”

  “Come on, RV; what’s going on?”

  RV sighed and said, “I honestly can’t tell you and before you get upset, you should know I’ve not told anyone including Cyanna.”

  Kenny stared at RV and narrowed his eyes, “But something is going on?”

  “Yes, but if I reveal it, there could be catastrophic danger to all of us; just know that it is not something we can do anything about until it happens.”

  “You’ve got it under control?”

  “I do that by not doing anything about it.”

  “OK, I’m going to have to trust you on this one. Will you tell me after it happens?”

  “I will.”

  “Good; now what are you having to eat?”

  “I have to wait until your main course arrives so I won’t finish too quickly. I’ve been forced to cut back from six burgers to two.” Kenny started laughing and after a moment couldn’t catch his breath. “Hey, it was that or eat that rabbit food.”

  Kenny continued to laugh and RV said, “She’ll know if I try to lie.” Kenny doubled over and tried to catch his breath. “I’m glad somebody finds this humorous.”

  Kenny was finally able to get out, “You should eat…enigma greens.” He held his ribs his laughing hurt so much.

  “Very funny; you’ll find some of them on the back wall.”

  Kenny stuttered, “Stop…stop…you’re killing me.”

  RV sighed and looked up at the waiter who brought out two one pound burgers with a huge pile of fries. “I’m going to starve to death.”

  Kenny fell out of his chair and RV just let him lay there.

  • • •

  Cyanna sat in her command chair on the Havana and saw her panel illuminate a green LED. “Yes.”

  “He only ate two.”

  “Thanks, I owe you.”

  “I also cut back on the fries.”

  “Do you think he noticed?”

  “Of course he noticed. He picked up the plate and felt its weight. He gave me a dirty look.”

  “I really do owe you for this. He’s lost thirty pounds.”

  “No you don’t. We all want the Admiral to be healthy.”

  Cyanna ended the communication and smiled, “He’s actually lost fifty pounds. I just hope he’ll keep his promise.” She looked at the fleet outside her view port and marveled at how big it had grown. The entire galaxy was on a war footing and production was enormous. The volunteers were being trained on Dundee and there were twice as many crews as ships. That ratio was going to remain constant to allow the sailors leave time to visit their families. Entire crews would go on leave and be replaced by another crew. This allowed the fleet to conduct continuous fleet exercises and drills to keep them trained to a higher level of proficiency. Another good idea from RV.

  She paused and wondered what he was up to. Something was going on and he wasn’t talking about it. She decided to wait for him to tell her. He had a reason for his secrecy and she was going to honor it. Still, she wondered what it was.

  • • •

  “Jillian, release the crew from general quarters.”

  “Done.”

  Chris extended the fields and watched as they collected light from M-87. An alarm sounded, “You hit the spot perfectly.”

  “I saved these coordinates from the first visit. How do you want to do this from this point?”

  “Dolly, are you able to see any star drives in this scan?”

  “Yes, there are more than sixty million in the total scan.”

  Chris and Jillian looked at each other shocked at the number. Chris said, “Are there any concentrations larger than the others?”

  “Actually, fifty million are located in the area next to the left side of the core.”

  “Focus our recorder on that area and see if you can get a close up.”

  Jillian said, “The new computer makes this study so much easier that what we had to do before. The delay will ultimately save us a huge amount of time.”

  “I know; let’s see what Dolly has found for us to see.”

  Jillian leaned back in her chair and stared at the main wall display and a view of a planet appeared with a space battle of epic proportions taking place around it, “Oh my God!”

  Chris stared at the tens of thousands of ships swarming around the planet and saw there were more than a hundred different types of starships engaged in the battle. The view moved further out and the display panel showed the number of ship types growing quickly. Chris said, “Dolly, how many fleets are involved in this?”

  “My initial scan shows more than two hundred different fleets taking part in this scan.”

  “How many ships?”

  “Millions; it will take a while to complete the analysis.”

  Chris stared at the display and then asked, “Have you been able to determine which ships are defending that planet?”

  “I’ve made that determination by scanning the planet’s surface. However, the planet’s ships that are involved in th
at battle are not staying at the planet to defend it. They are fighting in the fleet action throughout that part of space. It appears that none of them are firing on the planet’s surface.”

  “Just a moment; I’ve just recorded a planet being hit with a nuclear missile.”

  The wall display changed and they saw a long grey ship fire a missile at a planet’s surface. The explosion was massive and a large city on the surface was vaporized. Suddenly, every ship in the massive battle turned on the long grey ships and attacked them wherever they were located. After an hour, no grey ship remained. At that point, the fleet continued the battle among themselves. However, the ships that were from the nuked planet moved out of the battle and returned to orbit their world. They were ignored by all the other ships as they jumped away as the warring ships continued the fighting.

  “We need to see what happens with those ships at the planet that was attacked. Dolly, move us forward and keep that planet on the display.”

  The view fast forwarded and after two days, the ships began leaving orbit and jumped away. “Dolly, see if you can determine where those ships went.”

  “They’ve jumped to another planet closer to the core of the galaxy.”

  The view changed and they watched as the fleet arrived at a planet with a thousand long grey ships in orbit. The grey ships moved out but were outnumbered a thousand to one. They were quickly dispatched and the invading fleet rained nuclear destruction down on the planet and destroyed it.

  Dolly said, “It appears that attacking a planet is not allowed.”

  Chris looked at Jillian and said, “It makes sense, in a way. We had the Geneva Conventions which outlawed the use of poison gas on Earth and after the war ended, the ones that violated that convention were punished. It appears that similar rules are in effect here.”

  “But they leave here and destroy millions of worlds in other galaxies.”

  “They aren’t covered by these conventions. That ship going to the Violet Civilization was probably investigating the destruction of their main planet. They made sure that no civilization in their galaxy did it. If they had found any survivors of Earth in our galaxy, they may have sent every civilization to kill the offender.”