by Saxon Andrew
Grady sighed, “Taffy, our own species attacked each other on Britannia when the Coalition attacked the Union. Even on ancient Earth, the colony ships fled from a nuclear war just before they left. It appears that the only safe thing to do in this galaxy is to remain hidden and even then, the inhabitants of a planet could still attack each other.”
“Why does it have to be that way, Grady? Is death and killing unavoidable?”
Grady swiveled his chair and opened his arms wide. Taffy walked over and sat on his lap, “What has you bothered, Taffy.”
“You know that if we even think about saving the people on America it will lead to an all-out war with these Fagan. I believe if we were to manage to move them to Melbourne like we did with the survivors on Britannia, those aliens will start an all-out search for where they went. They will eventually cross to the Perseus Arm and Melbourne will be attacked. I hate to suggest we leave, but perhaps it might be the best thing to do.”
“You’re right.”
Taffy jumped up straight in his arms, “I’m what?!”
“You’re right.”
“How can you turn your back on the humans suffering on America?!”
Grady’s head went back, “For the reasons you just enumerated, Taffy.”
“I expected you to disagree and show me where I’m wrong!”
“But everything you said is true.” Taffy glared at Grady and he sighed, as he pulled her back into his arms, “Look, the humans on America aren’t going anywhere and they are not in imminent danger. Melbourne is currently threatened by Earth and possibly the alien civilization that destroyed Britannia. Taking on three enemies simultaneously is not good judgment. You have to also consider that Melbourne is in the middle of building the new carriers and warships needed to take on Earth should it defeat the aliens confronting it.”
Taffy had her head on Grady’s chest and she said softly, “Too much too fast.”
“Exactly, my love. Small steps first.”
“What are we going to do, Grady?”
“We’re going to go and take a good look at this Fagan civilization and see what danger it represents. Once we make that determination, we’ll decide what comes next.”
Taffy sighed, “You’re right again, as usual.” Grady chuckled, and Taffy asked, “What’s so funny.”
“You had already come to this conclusion and you just wanted to make sure I saw it as well.”
Taffy giggled, “You know me too well.” Grady hugged her tighter and turned back to the monitor showing the Fagan freighter.
• • •
A couple of hours after the freighter arrived, Louisa left the bridge and Kendal immediately moved up beside Maranda. Maranda smiled and had a chair come out of the floor for her. Kendal sat down and watched the monitor with wide eyes. Louisa arrived on the bridge and said harshly, “KENDAL!”
Maranda turned around and held up a hand, “Louisa, I enjoy her company and she is not bothering me at all. She’s extremely curious and I hope you’ll allow her to stay here with me.”
Louisa’s brow was furrowed as she asked, “Are you sure?”
Maranda smiled, “Absolutely. I’ll send her back to her chair if needed.”
Louisa looked at Des and he shrugged. She turned back to Maranda and said to Kendal, “Behave, Kendal!”
“I will, Mommy.” Louisa sat down and watched the monitor with the others. Des looked at the young girl and saw she looked very much like her mother. Long black hair to the middle of her back, dainty facial features, startling blue eyes, and a trim athletic body. Working in the fields would burn off any excess fat. He wondered why Maranda was so attached to the little girl. He guessed she didn’t represent a threat to her career plans. He sat back in his chair and watched the transports going and coming from the huge ship above America.
• • •
Three days later, Kendal said, “They are leaving shortly.”
Everyone jerked their attention to the optical monitor and saw numerous people leaving the collection building and moving back into the fields. Des pressed the communicator, “Grady, they are wrapping up the collection and will be leaving shortly.”
Grady sat up straight and asked, “How do you know that, Des?”
“The people are starting to move out of the collection building and back into the fields.”
Grady jerked his attention to the Rex’s optical monitor and saw Des was right. “All right. Here’s how we’re going to handle this. We’re going to wait for the freighter to leave and we’ll follow it at the edge of our scanning range. If it leads us to one of their major planets, we will look for ships leaving for other locations and will follow them to where they’re going. We will continue this process for the foreseeable future until we get an idea of the extent of this civilization. Do not, I repeat, do not allow the Fagan to detect your ships. Stay away from any of their ships and don’t get into trouble. Everyone understand?”
“Yes, Sir!” Abby replied.
“I do as well, Sir.” Desmond added.
Grady sat back in his chair and Taffy announced, “I think this is the last of the transports moving up from the planet, Grady. All of the transports that flew into the freighter have not flown out.”
“Allow the freighter to move out to the far edge of our scanning range.” Taffy nodded and watched the last ten transports enter the giant Fagan vessel. Taffy thought for a moment and asked, “Computer, do you detect any defenses on that freighter?”
“No, I do not.” Grady looked at her and wondered why he hadn’t asked that question. Taffy looked at Grady and shook her head, “It appears the Fagan have nothing to fear inside their territory.”
Grady nodded, “Indeed it does.” Grady watched the freighter pick up speed and twenty minutes later ordered, “Spread out and maintain this distance from the freighter. Notify me if you detect anything around us.” The three Super Rabbits accelerated and moved out on a wide front behind the freighter.
• • •
It took the freighter four days to arrive at another planet. Grady stopped the forward movement of the three rabbits and focused on the planet the freighter was approaching. More than a hundred freighters were in orbit above the planet and the number of transports moving to and from the planet numbered in the thousands. Grady stared at the image and turned to Taffy, “What are they doing? Why would they transport all the crops from one planet to another like this?”
Taffy stared at the monitor shaking her head, “It’s obvious, Grady.”
“Oh! Please enlighten me.”
“You know how we take food and convert it into the condensed balls we eat on long missions?” Grady nodded. “They’re converting the collected crops into a form of food their species can consume. Think about it. We couldn’t eat the plants from other worlds because we evolved on a planet with a specific type of plants humans learned to digest. They are obviously herbivores and they’ve developed the means to convert plant life from different planets to a form they can eat. Look at the giant buildings they’re transporting the contents of the freighters into. The transports leaving those buildings are moving the converted foods back into orbit to the freighters that have sent all the stores down to the planet.”
Grady stared at the monitor and nodded, “You’re right. I wondered how the Fagan could eat the crops grown on America. It appears they can’t. This planet is a strategic problem for them. Remove it and they’ll have some real issues.”
“We don’t know how many of these planets they have, Grady. This does tell us one thing.”
“What is that, Taffy?”
“America is not the only planet enslaved by this civilization.” Grady stared at the vast fleets of freighters above the planet and knew she was right. But this was a weak link in the alien’s structure? Taffy stared at the monitor and said softly, “I wonder if the Fagan grow their own food anywhere.”
Grady glanced at her and turned back to the monitor, “That will depend on how many planets they’ve inhabi
ted. You’re right that there could be more planet’s like this one scattered out here in this spiral arm.”
“Grady, I have a large warship moving out of orbit from the planet.”
Grady saw the image appear on the main monitor and he ordered, “Computer, analyze that ship for defenses.”
“Working.”
“Abby, there is a warship moving out of orbit from the planet. You and Rory follow it and see where it’s headed,” Grady ordered.
“We’re on it, Grady. I’ll let you know what we find out.”
Taffy asked, “Computer, have you been recording Fagan communications?”
“I have, Captain. They apparently don’t encrypt their communications and I’ve been collecting their transmissions from the moment we started detecting them.”
“Have you been able to translate their language?”
“Not yet. But I’m making progress. I’ve analyzed the visible weapons on that warship and they appear to be nothing but large blasters on the hull. No missile ports are visible, and it appears they only depend on blasters for defense.”
Grady’s eyes narrowed, and Taffy asked, “How do those blasters compare to the blasters on the derelicts above America?”
“They appear to be the same size, but that ship is slightly larger than the derelicts above America.”
“How much larger?” Grady asked.
“About ten-percent larger with ten-percent more blasters on the hull.”
“How many blasters total, computer?”
“Thirty.”
“Can you determine how powerful they are?”
“Not with certainty, Commander.”
“Make an educated guess.”
“From the number of photons emanating from their reactors, I would guess they’re less than half the power of the blasters on the rabbits. But that’s assuming the reactors on that ship are operating at full power. That may not be the case.”
“Why haven’t their ships improved since they attacked America?” Taffy asked.
“Taffy, America was attacked about eighty years ago and the Fagan won that fight. It appears they’re not being challenged by any other civilization, so they aren’t compelled to develop more advanced warships. Nothing causes weapon development like war.”
Taffy turned to Grady, “So, you’re saying the new rabbits can take them on and win?”
“It looks like that on the surface.” Grady responded. “However, the number of warships they have to use could make a huge difference. America lost because the Fagan sent larger and larger fleets to attack them until all their warships were destroyed. Even a more powerful ship could be destroyed if it’s faced with overwhelming numbers.”
“Commander, I’ve intercepted a message from a ship leaving the planet and from what I can translate, it appears the occupant has been ordered to attend a meeting…get together…or some sort of gathering. The term being used isn’t clear,” the computer announced.
“Taffy?!”
“I’ve got it, Grady!”
“Desmond, we’re going to follow a ship from this planet. Remain here until another warship or different vessel from the freighters arrives,” Grady ordered.
“Yes Sir.”
Maranda watched the Rex Rabbit disappear as it followed a small ship leaving the planet. That was fine with her; these freighters weren’t armed and represented no danger to the Brer Rabbit. She settled in to her chair and waved Kendal forward to join her. Desmond sighed and felt like his ship was second string to the other two rabbits. Well…they had been working together for several years. It was two days later that Desmond knew Grady should have stuck around. What showed up shocked him.
• • •
“WHAT IS THAT?” Maranda asked loudly.
Desmond stared at the monster on the monitor and shook his head, “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a supply ship for a war fleet. A very large war fleet! The only reason for it to come here is to pick up food supplies.” The giant vessel approached the planet at high speed and moved smoothly into orbit. It was three times the size of the freighters and they weren’t small. Its hull was covered with blasters and it was clearly armored.
Maranda stared at the humongous ship and shook her head. Des had to be right about it. That ship was here to pick up food supplies for a fleet of warships. “We’re not going to follow that thing, are we?”
Des looked at her anxious expression and his eyes lowered, “Yes, we are.”
“We should have one or both of the other rabbits to go with us.”
“We’re not here to fight, Maranda. Just make sure you keep us far out from any Fagan warships we may encounter. Finding out the strength and numbers of warships is one of the main goals of this mission.”
“The mission was to find America and we’ve done that,” Maranda responded.
“The mission changed the moment we found America enslaved, Maranda. You’re allowing fear to rule you and that’s something you’re going to have to put aside if you intend to command a fleet of warships.”
“I’M NOT AFRAID!”
“Then why are you suggesting we not follow that ship?” Des countered.
“We’re taking Kendal and Louisa into unnecessary danger.”
Des glanced at Louisa sitting in her chair and turned back to Maranda, “Unfortunately, that’s a risk we’re going to have to take.”
Louisa spoke up, “I understand. Anything you can do to defeat the Fagan is fine with me.”
Des shook his head and activated his communicator. Grady appeared on the monitor and Des sent an image of the giant ship, “Sir, this just showed up and I believe it’s a food ship for a fleet of warships.”
“Don’t lose it, Des. Follow it and see where it’s going.”
“Yes Sir.”
Maranda knew the issue of following it was no longer an issue. Grady had ordered them to do it and there was no changing that. She might have convinced Des to stay far out from any danger because of Louisa but that wouldn’t work now. She was so stupid to accept this mission. But…she really didn’t have a choice. She stared at the giant vessel and could only wonder at how many warships it would supply…the number had to be huge.
• • •
Rory kept his eyes on the single warship on the monitor and saw it was headed toward the edge of the Sagittarius-Carina Spiral Arm. Abby was taking a break napping in the bedroom and he wondered why the ship was headed in that direction. “Computer, are you any closer to translating their language?”
“I’m getting closer. I do have numerous terms translated but I’m having some difficulty with the verbs used in their language. I’m continuing to intercept their transmissions and it won’t be much longer before I can start translating the basic meanings of their sentences. I am detecting a huge number of transmissions directly ahead of us.”
Rory jerked his head up to the monitor and slowed the Roo down. After thirty minutes, numerous red blips began appearing on the long-range passive scanner. The numbers grew by the moment and Rory backed off on the thrusters as he moved closer to the edge of the Fagan Warships. He turned the Roo and began running parallel to the ships ahead of him and saw that their ranks extended far into the distance in front of his course. “Abby, get up and come to the bridge!”
A few moments later, Abby entered the bridge and glanced at the monitor. Her eyes widened, and she turned to Rory, “What’s going on?”
“It appears the Fagan are gathering their ships close to the outer edge of the spiral arm.”
Abby went to the weapon’s console and took control of the scanners. “We need to get a better look at what’s going on. Move the ship above the arm and let’s take a look at it from overhead.” Rory nodded and turned the Roo Rabbit vertical. An hour later, he leveled off and moved out over the spiral arm. Abby stared at the main monitor and started shaking her head, “Rory, why would they be gathering all their fleets at the edge of the spiral arm?”
“I can only think of two reasons, Abby. One,
they’ve encountered an enemy or, two, they are intending to cross to the other spiral arm and start scouting it.”
Abby turned to Rory, “That’s close to where Melbourne is located.”
Rory nodded, “I know. Send this information to Grady and let him know what’s happening.” Abby nodded and turned to her console.
• • •
“Grady, Abby just sent me a recording of a massive gathering of Fagan Warships taking place at the outer edge of the spiral arm closest to the Perseus Arm. Rory thinks they must be planning an invasion of the Perseus Arm.”
Grady jerked his head to the display on his panel and he quickly asked, “How many warships?”
“They’ve scanned tens of thousands and haven’t finished their scans,” Taffy replied.
“This is not good!”
“They’re asking what you want them to do?”
“Continue scouting and get an idea of the numbers that are gathering.”
“Grady, if they move across to the Perseus Arm, they won’t be far from Melbourne.”
“I know!” Grady said harshly. Then he said softly, “I know.”
“What can we do?”
“Well, it appears the Fagan are a larger threat than Earth and the aliens near Britannia are. We have to decide if we can do anything to delay their launching across the void to the Perseus Arm.”
An alarm went off and Taffy turned to her console, “The ship we’ve been following is slowing down.”
Grady backed off on the thrusters and turned to his console’s display, as Taffy announced, “It’s approaching a star system ahead of us. I’m starting to see blips of warships holding station at the edge of the system.”
“I’m taking Rex over the top of this system to see what’s at the center. Keep an eye out for Fagan warships above the system.” Taffy nodded and turned to her console.
The computer announced, “Commander, the ship you’ve been following is receiving a message from the direction of the star in this system. I’m able to decipher most of it.”
“What does it say, computer?”
“The ship is being told that the others from eighty, I believe the term is either major or capital, planets have arrived, and they are waiting for their arrival. It appears the ship is being chastised for being late.”