by Saxon Andrew
“Me, too, Eric.”
• • •
Two months later, Captains Kelly Connor and Eric Norden were promoted to Commodore for their actions in stopping the attack which, Fleet announced, were in keeping with the highest standards of the Alliance. From that moment forward, the search for dangers to the Alliance morphed into a peacekeeping mission as well.
• • •
Kyle approached the port with Legune and saw Amelee walking across the landing bay. He stopped and waited on her to arrive; he noticed that Legune wasn’t smiling. “Sorry, Commander, I was visiting a former crewman who serviced my ship on Eden.”
Kyle smiled, “It’s always good to see old friends. Has Grengel told you why you’re here?”
“He has. I have some concern about allowing the Feeders to discover us before we’re ready.”
“I do as well but we have to know what we’re up against. You’ll take the chair next to my station.”
Amelee’s eyes widened and then narrowed. She looked at Legune and saw her staring at her. “Yes Sir.”
Kyle looked at the Lieutenant standing next to the port, “Have you completed your services?”
“The reactors are full and the food dispensers are also full. We’ve run a diagnostic on all the weapons and they checked out, Sir.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant.” Kyle turned and entered the port. Amelee waited for Legune to follow Kyle through the port, entered and pressed the button to close it. They arrived on the bridge and they went to their chairs. Amelee looked at the secondary panel and said, “Is there anything you want me to monitor?”
“I want you to keep a close watch on the tactical monitor. Both of us will keep Legune’s mind in the forefront of our thoughts and look for the presence of any Feeder Ship. There is a telepathic module that directly connects to her helmet via a cable. We’ll be able to see the part of her brain that senses them.” Kyle looked at them and took his thought blocker out of his console, “We will start wearing these from this moment forward until we return. Do not take them off, even to shower. Is that clear?”
Both of them said, “Yes Sir.”
Legune said, “I’ve decided to do what most humans do and start using a first name.” Kyle and Amelee turned around and looked at her. “Legune is my last name. To make communication easier with my species, all of us are going to choose a first name to go with our last names.”
“What is the name you’ve chosen?”
Legune looked at Kyle, “Nicole.”
Kyle nodded and smiled, “Nicole it is. You should activate your panel along with your weapons panel.” Amelee stared at Nicole and saw her panel begin illuminating as she pressed the buttons on it. In less time than she thought, it was fully activated.
“I’m impressed.”
Kyle looked at Amelee, “She really knows the systems.” He lifted the Light Ship off the landing bay’s deck and moved it through the weak force field preventing the bay’s atmosphere from escaping. He moved the ship above the huge colony ship and turned to his panel. He looked at the current coordinates of the micro-probe. “I’m skipping to within forty light years of our probe. Amelee, keep an eye on the scanners.”
“Yes Sir.”
Nicole began to worry that she had made a bad decision. Amelee and Kyle had their back to her and they were sitting very close together. She shook her head and saw the giant ship below them disappear to be replaced by open space. She felt her level of tension go up slightly. Was this her mind saying Feeders were close by? She pressed a red button on her chair and was immediately inside her armor. She activated her combat helmet and linked it to her panel’s systems. She said, “There are two ships attacking a planet. One of them is the one that came to my planet.” Kyle and Amelee turned around and saw her in armor. Kyle shook his head and pressed the red button on his panel. Amelee pressed hers a moment later and both of them were instantly inside their armor and linked to their panels. Kyle shook his head as he looked at Amelee, “We’ve depended on our telepathic abilities too much, especially now that we’re using thought blockers. Nicole is right, we need to stay in our armor until this is over.”
Nicole smiled and thought, “Score one for me.”
“Sir, the probe has picked up the signature of another ship approaching the system.”
Nicole shook her head, score one for her. Suddenly, she felt her tension level rising. “Sir, I’m starting to feel very nervous. What do you see in my mind?”
Kyle nodded, “That ship moving into the system appears to be some kind of giant troop carrier. There must be a large number of the Feeders on board.” Kyle turned and looked at her, “Are you able to function with this tension?”
Nicole almost said “no” but knew the long range implications if she did, “I am. I think I can control it now that I know what it is.” Kyle smiled and turned around.
“Amber, can you hear them?”
“I can. I have my telepathic broadcast module shut down but the receiver is still active. Should I shut it down as well?”
“Have any of them indicated they detected you?”
“As long as I don’t actively focus on anything, I believe they can’t detect me.”
“Let us know the moment that changes.”
“I will, Kyle.”
“What are you hearing?”
“Quite a bit. It appears the Death Feeders have worked out a means of ensuring the loyalty of the ones they use to fly their ships and invade planets.”
“How did they manage that?”
“They have agreed to not consume the ones fighting with them except in the event of rebellion or disloyalty. They do consume the ones on their home worlds that aren’t in their military and the ones on their ships appear to be ok with it.”
Nicole said, “As long as it’s not them being eaten.”
“Something exactly like that, Nicole.”
“That’s why the Mas…uhh, Feeder in my village didn’t consume me or my father. We were tools it used to carry out its orders.”
Amelee looked at her, “Did your people resent that?”
“They’re the ones that chose him. They felt he would do what he could to minimize the damage wherever possible.”
Kyle shrugged, “You were not consumed because it would have disrupted your father’s loyalty.”
“I guess. But it did intend to force me to choose a mate and have children, who would not be immune from its attention.”
“That’s awful!”
Nicole looked at Amelee, “That’s what caused me to agree to go with you.”
Amelee stared at Nicole and sighed, “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to help you when Admiral Dawkins began moving against you.”
Kyle shook his head, “You had no choice. If you had tried, you would have been put in prison and stripped of your rank. We understand why.”
Nicole looked at Kyle, “What about your sister? Couldn’t she have brought what was happening to the Alliance Leadership?”
“She was given a direct order to contact no one about what was happening and he put one of his stooges on her ship to make sure his orders were followed.”
Amelee nodded, “He also sent her out of the cluster to scout a distant galaxy. She almost did it anyway but it would have been useless with the Alliance Leadership in disarray over Hensel’s death.”
Nicole stared at Amelee and sighed, “You don’t need to apologize. I’ve blamed the two of you for not doing anything to help us. I’m the one that owes you an apology.”
Amelee smiled, “I wondered what was bothering you. I really don’t blame you and I can’t tell you how much sleep I’ve lost over what happened.”
Nicole nodded and looked at Kyle, “There’s something I don’t understand.”
“What is that?”
“Why were you chosen to lead your civilization? You weren’t even in the military.”
Kyle looked at Amelee and she shrugged. “I think I was chosen because of my genetics.”
“What?”
Amelee nodded, “That’s why Admiral Dawkins feared Kyle would be promoted over him.”
“I don’t understand.”
Kyle looked at the tactical monitor and saw the huge ship was still hours away from the planet. He turned around and shook his head. The two Goran on Earth were the most powerful telepaths in the Goran society.”
“I know that. Hensel was their son.”
“Yes but after having four Goran offspring, they converted their DNA to Human so they could spend the rest of their lives on the planet where they had lived most of their lives.”
“I suspect the Goran didn’t like that.”
“Their children almost disowned them. However, they had four sets of twins after they changed to human form.” Nicole stared at Kyle. “My great-great-grandfather was one of the first two that were born. He married a granddaughter of Chris and Allison.” Nicole shook her head. The child of that union possessed the powerful brain of Hensel and the other Goran Children of Hensel and Averel. “Their daughter married Michael and Jan’s son.”
“That’s quite an ancestry.”
“It gets more convoluted. The daughter of that union married the son of Jerald Ambrose. Jerald Ambrose was a direct descendent of Nudge and Eve Blaine. He was also a direct descendant of Trevor and Amanda Ambrose.”
Nicole stared at Kyle. “Your ancestry includes every member of Earth’s first Leadership Team.” Kyle’s head went back. “Hey, I had time to study your history.”
“Well, Kyley and I are Jerald’s and Audrey’s twins.”
“What about that made them choose you?”
“You know that Hensel and Averel’s children possessed a mind far beyond any know telepath at that time?” Nicole nodded. “The Goran’s believe that it could happen again.”
Nicole stared at him and shook her head, “They think you could possibly have children that would bring an even more powerful telepath into existence?”
“Me or someone with similar genetics. The Goran insist that my family tree makes me a prime candidate for making it happen.”
“What about your twin sister?”
“She’s also a candidate.”
“How do you feel about that?”
Kyle shrugged, “Hensel was of the belief that he was also a product of genetic manipulation that was done by an advanced species we call the Nudges. If that were the case, genetics alone won’t make it happen. However, some Goran do not agree with Hensel on that issue.”
“Why?”
“No one else has ever been in contact with them. Some even doubt their existence. I have to admit that I was one of them.” Nicole started to tell them about the ones she heard telling her about using the thought blockers but felt a sudden fear at revealing it. She shook her head and Kyle said, “Are you ok?”
“I am. I understand now.” She glanced at her helmet’s visor, “The Feeders will be at the planet, shortly.” Kyle and Amelee looked at their visors and turned around. Nicole wondered why she felt the sudden fear. She shook her head and began targeting all three ships with her weapons. You just never knew when trouble might rear its ugly head. She locked in the light signatures being sent from the probe and leaned back in her chair. Now they were ready if Kyle moved the ship into that planet’s system.
Chapter Eight
“Kyle, I think the Feeders are about to be surprised by one of the warships defending the planet.”
“What’s going on?”
“The defenders have learned that the Feeder Warships’ plan is to fight their way in close to their ships where the Feeder will consume them. They’ve learned to stay out of the Feeder’s psychic range.”
“Do you know how far that is?”
“About five miles.”
“So what’s going to happen?”
“Look at your monitor, it’s about to happen.”
Kyle turned to his panel and looked at the monitor.
• • •
“Everyone get out now!” Rangor felt the warship jerk multiple times as the escape shuttles blasted out of the large landing bay. He watched one of the huge enemy warships turn in his direction and he started pressing buttons on his panel activating every laser, missile and bomb on board his ship. He turned his ship nose on to the oncoming enemy ship and set the auto-pilot to lock on the oncoming monster. He hit the thruster controls and jumped out of his chair and ran off the bridge toward the rear of the large ship. He sprinted at his fastest speed and heard the vacuum ports slamming behind him as he ran through them. He smiled as he felt his mind being invaded by a powerful telepath. Then, he stopped and turned back toward the bridge. But each of the ports would have to be opened manually and there was no way that would be done in time to stop what was happening.
The Feeder jumped up out of his chair, “EVADE THAT SHIP!! IT’S GOING TO RAM US!!!” The Feeder hit the stardrive control and waited for it to surround the ship. The large green warship came flashing in at incredible speed and all the Feeder Warship could do was to turn broadside to the oncoming ship coming at it. The stardrive finally activated just after the defender’s warship hit the giant dead center. The explosion ripped out and the shockwave blew into the giant transport that was passing the exploded Feeder Ship. It penetrated the transport’s force field and blew into the transports landing bay, exploding every lander and all the weapons on board them. The transport went up like a giant firecracker. The surviving Feeder Warship disappeared as two of the defender ships flashed in on it.
• • •
“Should we follow that Feeder Warship?”
“No, Amber. More will be arriving momentarily.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Kyle looked at Nicole, “They will not take the destruction of those two warships very well. I think they were going to invade that planet and make it like your home world; now I’m not sure they will.”
Amelee looked at Kyle, “Why do you think that?”
“This planet has found a way to kill their ships. That’s not something they want to get out. I suspect they will not allow any survivors to spread that information.”
“Their force fields aren’t very strong.” Kyle and Amelee looked at Nicole. “Our ship would have survived that shockwave and the ship that rammed their warship would not have penetrated our force field either; it would have just pushed us out of the way.”
Kyle thought about the observation for a long moment and then said, “I’m moving the ship further away.”
“Why?”
“How will they stop the defenders from ramming the ships they bring in?” Amelee stared at Kyle and then looked at Nicole, who shrugged. “The only way they can stop them is to prevent them from locking on close enough to make their ships a missile.”
Nicole nodded, “You think they will link their minds and extend the range of their psychic power?”
“I do. I don’t want to be close enough for them to be able to sense us.” Kyle looked up, “Amber, move the probe into the barrier and I only want a passive antenna extended into normal space.”
“Moving it now.”
Kyle skipped the ship another ten light years away and extended an antenna into the barrier to receive the Micro-probe’s data stream. Ten hours later, no Feeder Warships had come into the planet’s system. Kyle leaned back in his chair and said, “Use your armor’s sleep circuitry and go to sleep. Amber, wake us up if anything happens.”
“Will do.” The three reclined their chairs and activated their armor’s sleep circuitry. A few moments later, they fell into a deep sleep. Their brains were forced into beta waves and their sleep was restorative and relaxing.
“Kyle, you should wake up.”
Kyle’s armor deactivated the sleep controls and he eyes opened instantly, “What’s going on?”
“Look at Nicole.”
Kyle turned around and saw her moving from side-to-side in her chair. “Wake them up, Amber.” Kyle looked at the monitor and saw there were still no Feeders in the planetary sy
stem they were monitoring.
Nicole opened her eyes and stretched. She saw Kyle staring at her, “What?”
“Your brain is sensing the presence of Feeders. Do you feel anything?”
Nicole’s eyes narrowed and then they opened wide, “I’m feeling a sense of dread and it’s growing by the moment.”
“I’m going to see if I can reduce your emotional responses to what you’re sensing. Let me know if you sense a change.”
Nicole nodded and lowered her eyes. After a moment, she looked up, “The feeling is not entirely gone but it’s not growing like it was.”
Amelee said, “OH MY GOD!”
Kyle jerked his chair around and looked at the monitor. More than three hundred thousand Feeder Warships were moving in on the planet and all of the defender’s warships were turning, accelerating to full speed, and crashing into one of the cities on the planet’s surface. “They’ve linked their minds, Kyle! They’ve taken control of the planet’s fleet.”
“Do you sense a single entity, Amber?”
“No, just the Leader’s mind of that Feeder Fleet is controlling everything. He’s using the other Feeder’s to expand the range of his telepathic power.”
Kyle watched the monitor and saw the Feeder Warships arriving in low orbit and start spreading out above the planet. He deactivated his armor and Amelee shook her head, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Kyle looked at her and said, “I’m programming the light drive to take us more than a hundred light years away from here. I’m removing my thought blocker and start counting from one to a thousand. If I delay between any numbers, hit the light drive.”
“Why are doing this?”
“We have to know if the Feeders can sense us. I’m going to move slowly toward them and if there is any change in the cadence of my counting, get us out of here!” Amelee shook her head but Kyle started counting and removed the thought blocker. He moved the ship toward the distant planet that was being attacked and continued to count. Amelee kept her index finger on the light drive button and stared at Kyle. Nicole didn’t like this but knew there was a good reason to do it.
Kyle kept counting and Nicole looked up, “Amber, can you hear his thoughts?”