by Saxon Andrew
Nicole shut her mouth. She thought for a moment and looked up, “I don’t feel any different?”
“Nicole, Chris and Michael determined that when Lukas went through his DNA change, the process was different from all the others that changed after him.”
“What do you mean?”
“His primary brain was Welken and he should have killed the child he and Kathy produced to hide his presence. He didn’t do it; so something had to happen during that process. There were other examples of behavior to support their belief but they decided that some outside force modified him during the change. If it was the Nudges that did it, it could well be that they also modified your mind during your change to human DNA.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Why would they endanger themselves to protect Kyle? It appears the two of you play a vital role in their plans.”
Kyle and Nicole looked at each other and Kyle shook his head, “It may be that you need to be our First Commander.”
Nicole shook her head, “If that were the case, the Nudges would have told Hensel to choose me.” Kyle’s eyes narrowed and Nicole held up a hand, “I know, I know. I wasn’t ready to do it then but there’s another reason I’m not the one to do that.”
“What is it?”
“You and I are being forced to stay together on this ship. Would you follow me around if I were the First Commander?” Kyle stared at her and, after a moment, sighed and shook his head. Nicole smiled, “However, I am willing to follow you around. I find very interesting things happen around you. Besides, the Alliance would never accept a person from a new alien species to be the First Commander and, before you disagree, you need look no further than the reason you were chosen.” Kyle’s eyes narrowed and he thought about the comment and after a moment his eyes went wide. Nicole saw his expression and said, “What are you thinking?”
Kyle shook his head, “This is not something I’ll discuss. And please don’t press me on it.”
Nicole slowly shook her head, “Touché.”
Kyle looked up, “Amber, send me the scout’s light signature and I’ll lock it in my panel. Nicole, be ready to blast that scout into dust if we’re forced to skip in.”
“Will do.” Nicole activated her armor and pulled up the tactical display on her visor. She entered the scout’s signature and set the disruptors to all fire on it the instant it was detected. She turned off her armor and leaned back in her chair. Willow played the thoughts she intercepted over the loud speaker and the two of them listened. The Feeder Fleet entered normal space and the Red Alien Warships began dying by the thousands. Nicole started shaking her head, “WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR PLANS!”
Kyle whipped his chair around, “What?”
“Kyle, everything feeds through the Fleet Leader. In order for the infection to spread, the Fleet Leader must focus on that scout! Only then will all the other ships be infected. We have to go after the Fleet Leader’s vessel if it doesn’t work!”
Kyle stared at her and heard Willow say, “She’s right. The Fleet Leader’s mind is the only one operating as a control on all the others.”
“Amber, send me the Fleet Leader’s light signature. Nicole, change your targeting.” Nicole activated her armor again and Kyle saw the new light signature appear on his panel. He locked it in and shook his head, “I should have seen this.”
Nicole nodded, “You would have. You’re preoccupied with the attack taking place on the Red Aliens.”
Kyle blew out a breath and shook his head, “Where’s the tequila when you need it?” Nicole turned around to hide her smile.
• • •
The Feeder Fleet emerged into normal space fully linked and the Fleet Leader smiled as he focused on the thousands of formations of Red Ships in orbit above the planet. He swept the massive might of the combined Feeder’s minds across the front lines of the Red Alien Fleets and the entire front that was advancing on his fleet stopped and started drifting off course.
The Red Fleet Commander was shocked by what he saw happening. His ships were twenty miles from the enemy ships and thousands of his ships started blowing up in self-destructive blasts. “RUN! ALL SHIPS, RUN!!” The Red Fleet Commander suddenly felt something in his mind and a moment later, he collapsed twitching spasmodically to the bridge floor along with the rest of the crew. The Red Alien fleets gathered above the planet began a massive wave of self-destruction starting on the right end of the formations and ran across toward the left end. Only a thousand ships on the left end managed to escape into the void and the Feeder Fleet Leader dispatched ten thousand ships to chase them down.
• • •
The Fleet Leader smiled and waited for the massive blasts to stop. The nuclear reactors exploded and they fed on each other causing a massive atomic fire high above the planet. He kept the fleet Linked and waited to finish destroying the planet. Not a ship lost and he could shortly return to finish off the planet of Telepaths. He savored the minds of the dead aliens along with every other Feeder in the Fleet. He felt renewed and ready to take on the universe.
• • •
“Eric!”
“Hold on, Kelly. They’re waiting to attack the planet. Once they launch that attack, we’ll have to go in. Have the probes assigned all the light signatures?”
“We still have a hundred thousand unassigned.”
“Get it done!!”
“Yes Sir.”
Eric glanced at his tactical monitor and saw the signature codes flashing on the screen at an incredible speed but there were still eighty thousand unassigned. He prayed the Feeders would continue delaying their attack. He looked back up at the monitor, fifty thousand to go. Come on, come on!
• • •
The Fleet Leader made a critical mistake. It had been a very long time since his fleet had killed so many in such a short period of time and the meal was almost more pleasure than he could handle. His fleets remained in formation without moving as they fed and it made the probes’ task of collecting light signatures much easier than having to track ships that were moving. Finally, the Fleet Leader was ready. “Leader, the scout has returned.”
“What scout?”
“The one sent to examine the distant cluster.”
“Why?”
“I have no idea.”
The Fleet Leader focused on the Scout for a moment and then turned his focus on the planet below him and launched a massive psychic wave toward the surface.
• • •
The Red Alien Leader sat in his chair and trembled in fear. His fleet was destroyed and burning pieces were falling out of orbit setting massive fires in the main city. He hid in his deep bunker and felt the impacts on the surface far above him. His walls held and he began to hope he might survive. But then he heard, “Oh no, you will go with all the others. Wait, what are these two ships that warned you?”
• • •
“NOW KYLE!”
Kyle hit the light drive and the small ship instantly appeared alongside the Fleet Leader’s ship. The eight disruptors swiveled instantly and fired at point blank range into the giant vessel. The small Light Ship disappeared before the Fleet Leader could focus on it and a half-second later, the Fleet Leader died as the Alliance Fleet roared in on the Feeder Fleet. It took a minute before another Feeder assumed command of the Feeder Fleet. More than three quarters of the Feeder Warships exploded in the first ten seconds of contact with the Alliance Fleet.
Poncho appeared next to a Feeder Warship only to have it disappear into the void before he could fire. Damn these creatures reacted at inhuman speed. He hit his second signature and it also disappeared as he arrived. He swore and entered the void and followed one back into normal space and fired before it detected his presence. The ships blew up as he flashed away and he was rewarded by ten Feeder lasers hitting his force field. He flashed away just as it failed and his brain felt a shock at the minute contact with the Feeder Link. It took him an hour to get control of his arms and legs.
&nb
sp; The Feeders were heavily outnumbered after the initial assault and they began combining against the Light Ships flashing in. The battle raged and covered more than a half million cubic miles of space. Then…the Feeder Warships began slowing and the link that held them together began fading. The species serving the Feeders on their ships saw their masters stop giving orders and start staring at the bulkhead walls.
• • •
“Kyle, the infection is spreading through the Feeder Ships.”
“Notify all ships to keep their force fields at full power. Their hulls won’t protect them from that telepathic infection.”
Eric watched what was happening and yelled, “Assign all the surviving Feeder Warships to our fleets. Attack upon receipt of the signature.”
• • •
Nicole reset her targeting program and looked at Kyle, “We should go and end that scout’s misery.”
“He deserved it, Nicole.” Nicole shook her head and Kyle entered the scout’s light signature into his light drive. “Are you ready?” Nicole nodded.
• • •
The Feeder Scout sat in his chair and screamed at the fish swimming through his mind. He felt them eating his brain and internal organs. It was a manifestation of his mind but it felt real. Then they were gone to be replaced with joyful blackness as his ship exploded.
• • •
Kyle looked at his tactical screen on his visor and saw Feeder Warships disappearing into the void. He activated the general frequency and listened as Eric dispatched Attack Wings to chase them along with a major fleet to go after the ten thousand Feeder Ships that left to chase the Red Aliens. He sat back in his command chair and took a deep breath.
“Kyle, there are more than eight hundred pilots that had their force fields knocked out and are infected by the telepathic fish.”
“Is there anything we can do for them?”
“No. However, their minds are stronger than the Feeders’ brains and they will have to win the fight against the infection.”
“Eric.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Contact the lead computers on the Light Ships with infected pilots. Order them to ignore any orders from their pilots and cut them out of every system.”
“Is there nothing we can do to save them?”
“No, they’ll have to overcome the mind infection on their own. Have all their ships gather in one place and assign a fleet to stand by to render aid to those that survive.”
“I’m having their ships skip back to Fleet Headquarters.”
“You will do nothing of the kind! What if that infection gets out of their ships?”
“You’re right, Sir. I didn’t think it through.”
“Authorize their computers to end their suffering if their pilots aren’t able to overcome it. No one should endure that much suffering.”
Eric shook his head and nodded. He looked at Kelly and she began issuing the instructions. Eric smiled, “I’d be lost without you, Kelly.” Kelly smiled and continued contacting the Light Ships with infected pilots.
• • •
Kyle sighed, “Willow?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get the location of the planet with those fish from the scout?”
“It was all he could think about, Kyle.”
“Designate that planet on all Alliance maps as quarantined space and get it out to Fleet Operations immediately. Make sure the designation forbids any ship from entering that planetary system.” Kyle looked at his panel and pressed a frequency. After a moment he saw his sister appear on his monitor. “Kyley, I have a job for Amelee’s ground forces.”
“Thank you for your help, Kyle. It made a huge difference in our losses.”
“Thanks, Sis. There are two hundred planets that were conquered by the Red Aliens that still have their forces on the surface forcing the locals into slavery. We need to hit them before they have an opportunity to reorganize a defense. You might want Eric to send out a sub-fleet with each of her units to remove any of their warships in orbit.”
“I’ll take care of it. What are you going to do now?”
“I’m skipping out to the planet the Feeders were attacking and remove the small force they left behind.”
“That planet isn’t out of the woods yet.”
“I know. Feeder Central knows about it but at least the link to our cluster was removed with the destruction of this Feeder Fleet.”
“Are you certain about that?”
“As much as I can be. However, my next project is to make certain we know if they intend to start moving our way. But first things first. Please notify Eric to assign a small Fleet to me for a short time.”
“You could just order it.”
“Kyley, too many commanders just gets in the way. Who do you follow? Whose orders do you ignore if there’s a conflict? And another hundred conflicts. I’m going through you in the future to get things done. This has taught me that it’s just not fair to our senior officers to put them in the middle.”
“Kyle, you sound like you don’t intend to resume command.”
“I’m not.”
“KYLE!!”
“Kyley, I’ve determined that the Nudges have other plans for Nicole and me. You need to take control and do what you were born to do. You know you can do it. Worrying about being replaced only makes you tentative and that will never work. I’ll let Grendel know later but you must do this!”
Kyley sighed, “I suspected you were going to do this.”
Kyle smiled, “You know me better than anyone. Now please don’t fight me on this and start doing the things you’ve put off expecting me to take your place.”
Kyley stared at him on her monitor and smiled, “The door will still be open if you change your mind.”
“I won’t; count on it. Please contact Eric and get that fleet moving to my coordinates. Oh yeah; Poncho and Cisco should be promoted to command a fleet. They’ve earned it in spades during this confrontation.”
“I’ll take care of it. Keep in touch, Kyle.”
“I’ll be calling on you for support later on. Please let me know how Amelee’ ground troops perform.”
“Will do.”
The monitor went dark and Kyle looked at Nicole, “Is there anything I missed?”
Nicole closed her eyes and after a moment shook her head, “There’s something in the back of my mind that I can’t pull out but maybe I’ll think of it later.” Kyle nodded and started to turn around to his console when Nicole said, “You know why the Nudges want us together, don’t you?”
Kyle stopped and turned back to her. He stared at her for a very long moment in silence and then blew out a breath, “I think I do. But I’m not prepared to discuss it.”
“Not prepared or not ready?”
“Do you know the reason?”
Nicole closed her eyes and slowly shook her head, “No, I don’t.”
“Give me some time to confirm my suspicions. When I’m certain, I’ll share it with you.”
“Fair enough.”
“Kyle, Third Fleet from Alpha Task Force is arriving. Admiral Toland is requesting to speak with you.”
“Thanks, Amber. John, how’s it going?”
“Like a run-a-way fully loaded wheel barrow. All you can do is hold on and pray not to hit a bump. By the way, I’m really glad Dawkins got his.”
“It’s a shame it had to happen. It’s been a long time since the Academy.”
“Not long enough. There are sometimes I wish we were back acting stupid again.”
“Well, this isn’t one of them. We’re going back to the planet the Feeder Fleet was attacking and remove the unit they left behind to mind the store.”
“Do you know if they collect taxes on purchases?”
“They’ll try but I’m pretty certain they can be persuaded out of collecting any. Your ships should be receiving the light signatures from the probes we left behind right about now.”
John looked away from the display f
or a moment and turned back, “They’re coming in. How do you want to do this?”
“Assign three Light Ships to each Feeder Vessel and have all of them skip in simultaneously. Those ships aren’t linked and, even if they were, there’s not enough of them to really pose a danger.”
“I’ll let you know when the assignments are done.”
“Thanks, John. It’s good to see you again.”
Kyle ended the contact and Nicole said over his shoulder, “That’s the most I’ve seen you smile since I met you.”
Kyle turned and looked at her, “It was a different time and place when John and I were roommates at the Academy.” Nicole nodded and turned around. Kyle saw her expression and said, “What?”
Nicole turned around and shrugged, “It was a time before you experienced a loss.”
Kyle stared at her and, after a moment, nodded. “I also wish sometimes that I could go back to that time in my life. There was so much laughter about crazy things we did as cadets.”
“It’s good to have memories that make you smile. Those are the ones you cherish for a lifetime.”
Nicole started to turn around and Kyle said, “Have you had any happy moments since you arrived on Earth?”
Nicole looked up and smiled, “Drinking tequila with you and Bart at the bar on Miami Beach just after I arrived. After your promotion, you turned into a very serious stuffed shirt. You take everything so seriously.”
“Stuffed shirt, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Nicole, I have a Kerit by the name of Barrett wishing to speak with you.”
“Put it on the wall speaker, Willow.”
“Nicole, now that this fight is over, when are you going back to Earth? I’d really like to see you.”
“We’re not done with the fighting yet. I’ll contact you when I get back.”
“Good enough. It’s really good to hear your voice.”
“Thanks. Talk to you later.”
“Who is he, Nicole.”
“A friend, Willow.”
“He sounded like more than a friend.”
Nicole’s expression changed and she pursed her lips, “He’s just a friend, Willow?”