by Saxon Andrew
“I can.”
“Do you think you will sense if a Feeder enters his mind?”
“I won’t know until it happens. However, I’ll shout a warning if I sense anything different happening.” Kyle continued counting and nodded.
The Light Ship moved through the barrier at high speed toward the doomed planet. The Feeder Warships assumed their attack positions above the planet and began launching nuclear missiles at the surface. Every population center was hit and went up in a nuclear explosion. Kyle continued counting, “Four hundred eight six, four hundred eighty seven, four hundred eighty eight…”
The Light Ship arrived inside the orbit of the closest moon to the planet and Amber activated the Light Drive. The Light Ship disappeared in an instant. Kyle’s eyes narrowed as he looked up, “Why did you skip out, Amber! Nothing was in my mind?”
Suddenly Kyle heard a loud thought that was broadcast on a broad front, “Why are you leaving so fast?”
Kyle pulled the thought blocker over his head and looked at Amelee. He thought for a moment and took it off; Amelee shook her head violently and Kyle thought as he said, “I detected the explosions at that planet and wondered what was going on. Since I wasn’t invited to your party, I decided to show good manners and leave.”
“Oh, please come back. You don’t need an invitation.”
“I also sensed your desire to eat my mind. I think I’m going to just continue my journey and leave this galaxy alone.”
“Don’t be so sensitive! I’ll behave.”
“No you won’t; your appetite is amazing. Enjoy yourself.”
Kyle pulled the thought blocker back over his head and turned the ship directly away from the direction of the Alliance. He hit full thrusters in the void and deliberately left a skip trail. He watched as the galaxy fell far behind him and he continued to move at full speed toward a distant quadrant of the universe. Nicole looked at him, “How long are you going to do this?”
“About a month.”
“WHAT?!”
“I have to make sure that Feeder thinks we took a route toward a distant home galaxy. If we go any less distance, he may think we went this way to throw him off our real location. I think he’ll come to the conclusion that no one would go as far as we’re going to travel to just deceive him. It will take them more than a year at their fastest speed to arrive at where we turn back toward the Alliance. I really believe they’ll turn back long before then.”
“How do you know what their top speed is?”
“Amber?”
“The Micro-probe recorded their approach to the planet through the void. I agree with Kyle that they were coming at their fastest speed. However, you need to consider something that may make them chase us no matter how long it takes.”
Kyle tilted his head, “What is that?”
“They love consuming telepaths and the stronger the telepath, the higher their hunger will be.”
Kyle sighed and turned around and looked at Nicole. He saw the sense of dread in her mind was diminishing. He looked at the monitor and saw a hundred Feeder Warships were leaving the planet and moving into the void. Kyle stopped the Light Ship and pressed a button on his control panel, “Fleet.”
“Yes, First Commander.”
“Do you have one of the old long range probes the Welken used during the war with the Legends?”
“Standby just a moment.”
“What are you doing?”
“Amelee, Amber is right. There’s no sense in our running for a month if it’s not going to be long enough to throw them off.”
“First Commander, we have more than a hundred of them in storage.”
“Load one on an old battleship and come to my location, immediately.”
“The old ships don’t have a light drive, Sir.”
“Have it come in the barrier. Make sure it remains in the barrier when it arrives.”
“Yes Sir.”
Amelee shook her head, “Why do you want a Welken Probe?”
Kyle smiled, “That old probe isn’t much smaller than our Light Ship. It also leaves a skip trail as it moves through the void.” Amelee smiled and nodded.
Nicole looked up the information stored in the ship’s databanks and started reading. “This says that probe uses a nuclear reactor for propulsion.”
Kyle nodded, “It does.”
“How far can it go before it runs out of fuel?”
“About a hundred years. We’re about two days ahead of the ships sent to chase us. That probe will be able to stay ahead of them for more than fifty years.”
“The Battleship has arrived.”
“Thanks, Amber. Tell the ship’s commander to drop the probe where our skip trail ends and activate it.”
The Light Ship moved into the barrier as the Welken Probe came out of the barrier and ignited its thrusters. It flew away at high speed and Kyle inspected the skip trail. There was a very small difference where the two trails came together but it should be missed by any ship moving at high speed. “Amber, tell the battleship to return to home.”
“Done.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Amelee, we are going to wait in the barrier for two days and make sure the pursuit doesn’t see the bump in the skip trail.”
Nicole reclined her chair and yawned, “If it’s all the same to you, I’m going back to sleep. Waiting two days will wear out my patience.” She activated her sleep circuit and closed her eyes. Kyle looked at Amelee and she shrugged and reclined her chair.
“Amber, wake us up a few hours before their arrival.”
“Good night.”
• • •
Two days later, all three of them opened their eyes together. “The Feeder pursuit will arrive in an hour. I really don’t think you need to worry about the skip trace.”
“Why not?”
“The small amount of degradation over two days had made it difficult to see.”
“Thanks, Amber. I’m moving away from the trace.” An hour later, the hundred Feeder Warships blew past the place where the Welken Probe was dropped. Kyle waited and looked up, “Amber, did you hear anything?”
“No, they didn’t detect the anomaly.”
Nicole looked at Kyle, “Where to now?”
“Back to that planet.”
Amelee tilted her head, “Why?”
“We still need to check out their ship’s defenses.”
Nicole lifted her left shoulder, “You’re still determined to attack one of them, aren’t you?” Kyle smiled and nodded. Amelee looked at Nicole and saw she was in her corner. This was not a good idea.
• • •
Kyle stopped the Light Ship a hundred light years from the planet the Feeders destroyed. He looked at the monitor and nothing was on it, “Amber, what happened to the probe?”
“I left instructions for it to follow a Feeder Warship that left the attack by itself. It won’t send data until I send the authorization code.”
“Send it.” Suddenly, a Feeder Warship appeared on the panel. It was moving through the void toward the edge of the galaxy. “What do we know about that ship?”
“Give me a moment to download the information the probe collected.”
Kyle leaned back in his chair and looked at Amelee and Nicole. “The two of you don’t like this, do you?”
“I can’t speak for Amelee but I don’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because there is no need to do it, we already know most of what we needed to learn about their ships.”
“We don’t know how close we can safely approach them?”
“Four miles.”
“But that’s only if they aren’t linked.”
“And that ship is not going to link with anyone that far from the rest of their fleets. You’re going to attack that ship and give away that a civilization technologically superior to them exists. I suspect that might make them look at their historical data and possibly chalk it up to us. You know their force fi
elds aren’t strong enough to stop our disruptors or missiles. Attacking that ship serves no useful purpose other than to stroke your ego. You’ve already allowed them to glimpse a powerful telepathic species exists.” Kyle’s expression turned hard and Nicole said, “I know, you threw them off the trail. But even that isn’t a certainty.”
“Why not?”
“Have you considered that there may be some of them out there on the line that Welken Probe is taking and they may cut it off?”
Kyle sat up straight in his chair. “No, I didn’t consider that.”
“What do you think the Feeders will think if they intercept that probe? Do you think they might think you’ve sent them away from your true location?”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before I did it?”
“Honestly, I just thought of it.”
Kyle looked up, “Amber, do you have the light signature of that probe?”
“I do.”
“Take us there now!” The light drive surrounded the small warship and it disappeared. They arrived in the barrier and saw the probe moving through the void. Kyle looked at Nicole’s mind and shook his head, “You’re sensing Feeders ahead of it! Shoot it down, Nicole! Do it now!”
Nicole looked at her visor and said, “Port disruptor.” The cross hairs on her visor moved over to cover the old probe and she said, “Fire.” The probe exploded causing a large disruption in the void. Kyle, I’m starting to get nervous.”
“What?”
“It’s growing at an incredible rate!”
Kyle hit the light drive and the ship disappeared out of the barrier and emerged into the void two hundred light years away. Kyle removed his head band and heard, “LINK NOW!” His mind was almost overwhelmed with the power of the thought that followed, “WHICH OF YOU DESTROYED THAT SHIP!?” He pulled the thought blocker back on and moved the ship another hundred light years away
“Amber, play on the wall speaker what you’re hearing.”
“…fired on that ship. It just blew up.”
“Fleet Leader, if the occupants detected our presence, they may have self-destructed to prevent their capture.”
“How could they detect us? All of the ships in the fleet remained more than a light year away before closing in?”
“They must have detected us. None of us fired on it.”
There was a long silence and then they heard, “This is a missed opportunity for a special meal. All ships return to your previous assignments.”
• • •
Kyle and Amelee turned and looked at Nicole. She saw them staring at her and shook her head, “What?”
Kyle continued to stare at her and, after a long moment, he said, “What made you think about there being Feeders on the probe’s path?”
“I don’t know, Kyle. But if you think about it, it makes sense.”
“How so?”
“We know they’re not located between that galaxy where they attacked that planet and our cluster. That would lead one to believe they were in the opposite direction and that’s where you send the probe.”
Kyle looked at Amelee, “Do you agree with her about not attacking one of their ships?”
“I do.”
Kyle blew out a breath and saw the single Feeder Ship on his monitor moving through the void. Nicole nodded toward the monitor, “Doesn’t it seem suspicious that they sent a single ship out into the void?”
Kyle turned around in his chair, “Are you suggesting that it might be a trap?”
“Move our ship ahead of it and keep us a long distance away; you can then see if I’m able to detect anything.”
Kyle looked at Amelee and turned around. He activated the light drive and arrived eighty light years away from the Feeder Warship and immediately hit the light drive again. Nicole’s eyes were wide and Amelee said, “They’re there.”
Nicole swallowed and nodded. Kyle shook his head, “She sensed massive numbers of them moving around that ship. We arrived inside their formations.”
“Do you think they detected our presence?”
Kyle shook his head, “They weren’t linked and none of their ships were within five miles of our location. We were lucky.”
“I think we should get out of here.”
Kyle looked at Nicole and nodded, “We’re going back to Earth and take a look at what we learned.” He hit the light drive and their ship disappeared.
Chapter Nine
“Fleet Operations, I’m entering Earth Orbit.”
“Sir, I’ve been asked to request that you take your ship to Fleet Service Facilities.”
“For what purpose?”
“The Leadership has made a decision that all active warships in our Fleets will undergo modifications.”
“What kind of modifications?”
“I’m sorry, Sir. I’m not allowed to discuss them.”
Kyle’s expression immediately hardened, “Do you know who I am?”
“Yes Sir, I do. And I specifically asked if I could tell you. The answer was no. If you have an issue with those instructions, please take them up with High Leader Grengel.”
Kyle’s anger vanished. Something serious was going on. He turned and looked at Nicole, “I’m taking my ship to maintenance and I’ll arrange transport for you to join your father to assist him with the transition of your people to our society.” He turned to Amelee, “You should return to your Headquarters Building and check up on your fleets. I’ll let you know when we’ll meet to discuss our flight.”
• • •
Kyle brought the ship in to the giant maintenance building and landed it just inside the front entrance. Two light shuttles were waiting outside the entrance and Kyle pointed to them, “Your rides are here. I’ll call you once I determine what’s going on.” Nicole looked at him and started to speak but stopped. She took a breath and walked out of the huge structure. Kyle watched her leave and wondered what she was about to say. He shook his head and heard behind him, “Welcome, First Commander.”
Kyle turned and saw the woman from the beach standing in front of him. She was wearing an Admiral’s uniform, “Who’s out of uniform now?”
“I’ve been promoted again, Sir.”
“That was rather fast. You weren’t a commodore for very long?”
“I know. I opened my big mouth during a meeting with the Alliance Leaders and they gave me new orders along with a higher rank to get them done.”
“What’s going on, Admiral?”
“I’m sure you’re bothered by my officer not telling you.”
“I am.”
“Come and sit down with me where I can bring you up to date on what’s happened while you were gone.”
“Lead the way.”
“You are wearing a thought blocker, Sir?”
“I am.” Kyle followed the Admiral to her office, which was located on the main floor of the facility. “I thought the Commander’s Office was on the top floor.”
“It was. I had it moved where I could keep a better eye on what was going on. Please come in.” The Admiral went to the chair in front of the huge desk; Kyle hesitated and then sat down in her chair behind the desk. Clarissa smiled, “I believe you read the report of two of our pilots stopping an invasion in the galaxy they were scouting?” Kyle nodded and was amazed at how different the woman looked in uniform. She was self-confident and carried herself professionally. “There have been more instances where our pilots inserted themselves into local wars and in some instances, they were forced to use force to stop excessive bloodshed.”
“What does that have to do with modifying our ships?”
“Sir, our current Light Ships require two crewmen to fight them. One to pilot the ship and the other to control the weapons.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“I mentioned to the Leaders of the Alliance in a meeting I attended with my Admiral that if it could be done with just one pilot, our numbers of ships could double.”
“That’s really not possible, Commo…
Admiral. The systems are too complicated for just one pilot to manage.”
“I suggested that the weapons could be controlled by a computer.”
“No way. The ship’s computer is used to gather light signatures to enable the ship to skip out of danger and to attack targets. That’s a task that doesn’t stop.”
“I was talking about a second computer. It was done in the past with the Attackships and with the Attack Pods.”
“It takes a special computer to do what you’re asking and not all of them develop the intelligence to do it.”
“It’s true that we’ve not determined what changes a computer to the one like you have in your ship. However, we do have a supply of computers that have made the leap from machine to intelligence.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed, “And just where did you uncover this supply?”
“All of the computers that were used during the war with M-87, as well as the subsequent fight against the Legends, were removed from their ships when they were scrapped and stored.”
“Was it your idea to use them?”
“It is.”
“And how did you know about them?”
“I would go and activate some of them to learn from their experiences. Their knowledge of what happened a hundred years ago is remarkable and much more accurate than what historians have recorded. I had an idea that if I used one of them in my personal Light Ship, I might have one to learn from. I asked the former maintenance Commander to install one in my vessel and he refused.”
“So what did you do?”
“I took one to Eden and had it done there. I used my rank and a top secret order to make it happen. My ship was being modified while I spent those weeks on the beach.”
“But there were no top secret orders.”
Clarissa shrugged, “The orders I gave them were secret.”
Kyle laughed, “That’s cutting things thin, Admiral.”
“It got me promoted again in record time.” Kyle’s smiled vanished. “Sir, I know I violated quite a few Fleet Protocols doing it but it was worth it.”
“Why?”
“My ship was used in a mock battle with thirty of our best pilots. My team decimated the other team. My ship accounted for ten of the kills.”