Nemesis: The Search for Orion

by Saxon Andrew

  “Telah, can you see through the eyes of the Invaders.”

  “I guess if I focus on one of them I could. What do you have in mind?”

  “How many crewmembers are on each of those scouts?”

  “Three; the pilot, the jump drive operator, and the scanner.”

  “If you can find a jump operator and watch through his eyes, you should be able to see the coordinates he enters to jump away.”

  Telah bobbed, “Then we wouldn’t have to follow them.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Give me a minute to see if I can find the command ship.” Cinny waited and after ten minutes Telah bobbed twice, “I’ve found it. They’re going to remain here for two days.”

  “Well, settle in and make yourself comfortable.”

  “Cinny, Gayla’s and Tricky’s eggs have hatched.”

  “That’s wonderful. When are you planning to have a family?”

  “Slippy and I have decided to join and start a family at the first opportunity.”

  “Slippy?”

  “Yes, he’s really impressed me.”

  “He’s impressed all of us. Please contact Grant and tell him what’s going on.”

  “I’ll let Gayla know.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Watcher listened to the scout’s Seeker and didn’t like what he was hearing; not a trace of anything in subspace. Two days had passed and nothing. He had reported in to Chelag and was told to send the scouts to the fleet preparing to invade. He didn’t like doing that as the fleet was currently located at the munitions planet. But he had no choice, disobeying this order would get him killed. “Join the Fleet at Kyaamga.”

  “We’ll be jumping in a few moments, Watcher.”

  • • •

  “Get ready, Cinny, they’ve been ordered to jump.” Cinny sat in her command chair and stared at Telah. She began calling out numbers and then said, “They’re gone.”

  “Ana, did you get it?”

  “I have.”

  “Where are those coordinates located?”

  “They’re in a distant galaxy.”

  “Is it on our maps?”

  “Yes and no.”

  I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

  “That particular galaxy was named long ago but it isn’t on our maps.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “The galaxy was photographed by an ancient satellite called Hubble. It was named Hoag’s Galaxy.”

  “What is distinctive about it?”

  The wall monitor illuminated and Cinny and Telah saw a galaxy with a bright center along with a band of stars far out from the center. It appeared everything inside the ring had been removed. It looked like a giant wheel without spokes. “What happened to the center of that galaxy?”

  “No one has ever come up with a good hypothesis. Please notice that in the distance there is another galaxy just like it thousands of light years away.”

  Cinny felt butterflies in her stomach, “Is it possible the center of the galaxy was destroyed by those beings?”

  “Let us hope that is not the case. The power needed to do that much destruction is beyond belief.”

  “We have to go and take a look. Ana, jump us to the coordinates we’ve just acquired but don’t jump us too close.”

  Telah moved and allowed Cinny to take the controls. The Cruiser arrived and slowly entered normal space. Cinny saw an inhabited planet off in the distance and squinted at the monitor, “Ana, can you give me a better view.”

  The view changed and Cinny said, “OH MY GOD!” The space above the planet was filled with giant warships. These ships made the warships that invaded Hegoth look tiny. Cinny shook her head and Telah said, “They detected our emergence into normal space. We should get out of here!”

  Cinny activated the jump drive and the small warship disappeared. A moment later, one of the giant ships entered normal space close to their previous position. The huge ship read the jump signature and disappeared from normal space.

  Telah said, “Don’t enter normal space. Stay in subspace and wait.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “Cinny, one of those monster vessels is chasing us.”

  “Where is it?”

  “It’s not far from us at the moment and it’s scanning to find us.”

  “Tell me if they detect our location!”

  “I will, you just keep the jump drive hot.” Telah paused and yelled, “Jump us out of here!”

  Cinny jumped away and the chase was on. Twenty jumps later the monster was gaining on them. “Ana.”

  “Yes.”

  “Program one of the scooters to leave the landing bay and jump away as soon as we initiate another jump. Set it to self-destruct as soon as it enters normal space.”

  “It’s at the door, Cinny.”

  Cinny jumped the Dream away and yelled, “NOW ANA!” The scooter shot out of the landing bay and immediately jumped away. Cinny stared at Telah and said, “Telah!?”

  “They took the bait. They followed the scooter; jump us away from here.”

  Cinny jumped the Dream four times and then went into subspace and remained there. Cinny felt her fear and after a moment said, “Ana, put the image of that planet on the monitor.” The monitor illuminated and Cinny shook her head. She looked at Telah, “Do you sense them?”

  “No, I don’t; not yet. However, I would delay using the jump drive.”

  Cinny nodded and stared at the monitor. “Ana, how many warships are gathered above the planet?”

  “More than a hundred thousand.”

  “What are those structures above the planet?”

  The view moved in closer to the planet and Cinny started shaking her head. One of the giant structures was almost as large as a small moon. The feature that dominated it was a giant barrel of blaster. “Cinny, I can’t see any other use for that structure than to destroy a planet.” Cinny remained silent. The structure’s thrusters are far too small in relationship to its size to allow it to pursue other vessels. If it can’t go after enemy warships, it must have another purpose.”

  Cinny nodded, “It has to be a planet killer.”

  “Cinny, do you see that small glare in the distance.”

  Cinny stared at the image and saw what looked like a shiny cloud far out in the planet’s system, “What is that?”

  The image suddenly grew larger and Cinny fell back in her chair. There were tens of thousands of the Planet Killers parked in neat rows. She shook her head, “Why do they have one of those vessels with the ships above that planet?”

  Telah bobbed, “You know why, Cinny. Those ships have to be preparing to attack the civilized planets and that ship is going with them to remove any planet that presents a problem.”

  Cinny nodded, “That’s why they want Earth’s location. Telah, do you hear anything?”

  “No.”

  “I’m jumping us a long way from here. We’ve got to get this information back to Grant.” Telah bobbed and Cinny pressed the jump drive.”

  • • •

  “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST IT!?!”

  “Watcher, whatever it was jumped away and then self-destructed.”

  “That was not one of our ships. How did it find Kyaamga?”

  “I don’t know.”

  The Watcher slammed his console with a fist and pressed the button linking him to the Council’s location. A female appeared and the Watcher said, “I humbly request to speak with the Senior Councilor.”

  “What is this about?”

  “The Empire’s location may be compromised.”

  The monitor went black and a moment later Chelag appeared, “What is this?”

  “A ship of some kind jumped in to Kyaamga’s location.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “One of our Major Battleships gave chase and it says the vessel self-destructed as it moved in on it.”

  “Did it detect any transmissions?”

  “No, Great Leader, it d
id not.”

  Chelag stared at the Watcher and after a long moment said, “It appears you were right. We should not have allowed those scouts to return.” He thought a few more moments and shook his head, “I can’t run the risk that the ship didn’t communicate with its civilization. The invasion fleet will remain at Kyaamga until we can bring in another fleet. The planet is too important to us to risk.”

  “I agree Great Leader.”

  “You will not send any more ships until we’re ready to invade!”

  The Watcher lowered his head and nodded as the screen went dark. This was not good. No civilization they attacked in the past had ever found the location of their home worlds. Now their forces would have to be distributed to both defend their planets and attack the new target. He began to wonder about the level of technology this new enemy possessed.

  The location of the civilization that made the Red Ships had to be uncovered. But how could it be found if he could no longer send scouts? He wondered if having the ear of the Great Leader was a good thing. Perhaps it would be much safer to just command a fleet and keep his head down. He stared at the display showing the explosion from the small vessel’s self-destructive blast and knew it had to be an extremely small ship. He decided that from that point on, he would follow orders and stay out of making larger decisions. The Empire was in danger…or was it? Either way, his chances of survival were decreasing by the moment. He leaned back in his chair and waited for instructions from the council.

  • • •

  Blake stared at the image on his monitor and shook his head, “That ship is twice the tonnage of our battleships. If it is proportionally as strong as the last warship they sent, we will not be able to do any damage no matter how many ships we use to fire at it.”

  “It does appear your ships will not be able to survive a battle with a fleet of them.”

  Blake looked at Grant and Cinny on his monitor and shook his head, “We are far behind them technologically. Are the two of you willing to assist us until we can catch up?”

  Cinny’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Grant as she said, “I’m not sure what you’re asking.”

  “We’ve developed a weapon that we think will penetrate their force field. However, it is going to take a long time to convert our battleships to use this weapon. We are able to convert our cruisers quickly, but they stand no chance against those monster ships. I’ve seen that your ships are undetectable, unlike ours.”

  Grant said, “Go on.”

  “If you can attack them at home, it will delay their invasion plans.”

  Cinny shook her head, “Are you suggesting that you’ll convert our ships?”

  “No, I’m offering to provide you with as many cruisers with the new weapon as you can handle.”

  “They can still track our jumps.”

  “One of the modifications on the new ships is the stealth drive they had on their scouts. We collected some of the rubble from the scouts we killed and our scientists have been able to piece together how that drive operates.”

  Grant stared at Blake, “You would be giving us a weapon that would make us invisible to Earth’s ships?”

  “You’re invisible in normal space now. Giving you this won’t be a dramatic change from the current status.”

  “Why would you do this?”

  “Because I’m fairly certain you’re not going to share with us how you’re able to make your ships invisible; am I wrong?”

  “Even if we did, you couldn’t use it. But you’re right, that’s not something we’ll give to Earth.”

  “I thought as much.”

  Grant shrugged, “Admiral, I trust your heart is in the right place but I do not trust your leadership. If it comes right down to it, Earth will take care of itself first and leave everyone else out to die.”

  “We could have just withdrawn our forces and worked on coming up with weapons needed to defeat this new civilization.”

  Cinny smiled, “Yes, that’s true. But what would prevent us from jumping to Earth’s location and revealing it to this new enemy?”

  Blake stared at Cinny, “You would do that?”

  “If I thought you were the evil you’ve shown yourselves to be in the past, I wouldn’t hesitate.”

  Cleve said, “Admiral, I’d do the same thing if I were in their place.”

  Blake jerked his head toward Cleve and he shrugged, “I’m just saying that it’s understandable from their perspective.”

  Blake stared at Cleve and then turned to Grant and Cinny on his monitor, “I came to you and offered to assist you in stopping Earth from its conquests.” Grant stared at the Admiral and, after a moment, nodded. “I’m asking you now to help me stop this new Invader from killing and enslaving all of the known intelligent civilizations. You can decide on what to do about Earth as time passes. You’ll have to determine whether or not we can be trusted based on our future behavior.”

  “Exactly what do you think we can do?”

  “If you can move in close to those warships, we think we have a projectile that will penetrate their force field and their hulls. If you can hit a critical target on those ships, it will be destroyed. I would also hope you can get some of the creatures that fought in the last battle on their planets to sow destruction.”

  Cinny stared at Blake and shook her head, “You’re not asking much are you?”

  “I know what I’m asking. I place my life and every crewman on this ship on the line to stop what Earth was doing. I did it voluntarily and knew that I’d probably die from the effort. Are you unwilling to do the same to save the innocent planets? Or are you just sprouting morality as empty platitudes and aren’t willing to pay a price for them?”

  Grant and Cinny heard Cleve say in the background, “Admiral, your bedside manner leaves something to be desired.” Grant tried not to laugh but couldn’t help himself. A moment later, Cinny joined him. Blake stared at Cleve with anger all over his face but heard Grant and Cinny laughing. He fought to maintain his anger but failed. Cleve was looking at the ceiling and said, “We need to get the roof cleaned.”

  Blake shook his head and looked at Grant and Cinny again, “I need your help or planets are going to start dying quickly.”

  Grant blew out a breath and looked at Cinny. She tilted her head and Grant looked back at Blake, “We can’t make this decision alone. I’ll discuss it with our friends and get back to you.”

  “Please don’t take too long.”

  “We’ll let you know either way, Admiral.”

  The display went dark and Blake fell back in his chair. After a moment he said, “Thank you, Cleve. I kind of lost it.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “Do you think they’ll help us?”

  “I wouldn’t, but I think they’re different from me.”

  “In what way?”

  “They’re not as cynical.”

  Bobbi said, “No one is, Cleve.”

  “Now there you go complimenting me again.”

  Bobbi shook her head and Blake said, “I sincerely hope you’re right.”

  • • •

  “Grant, before we go home, we should go by the Monastery.”

  “I don’t know if we can spare the time to do that.”

  “If we don’t go now, I suspect we won’t go for a very long time later.”

  Grant sighed and said, “I’m joining you and Telah on the Dream. Ana, please fly the Nemesis back to the Animals’ Planet and tell them we’re making a side trip before we come home. Also fill them in on what Admiral Blake is asking us to do.”

  “Grant, don’t you think we should do that?”

  “Cinny, Ana will simply state the facts where you and I might slant the presentation. They need to make this decision based on what’s in their best interests.”

  “Ok, we’ll do it your way; however, this new civilization really worries me.”

  “Get in line, they’re a real danger. However, I don’t know if they represent the same danger to the
Animals as Earth does…or did.” Grant climbed on the scooter and raised the landing bay’s door. He flew out toward Cinny’s cruiser and the Nemesis vanished.

  • • •

  Grant entered the Dream’s landing bay and walked to the bridge. He was surprised when Cinny hadn’t met him in the landing bay. He found her on the bridge sitting in her command chair with her legs curled up under her, “What’s wrong?”

  “Grant, how do you feel about destroying Earth, now?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “Just answer the question.”

  “Why has this got you so worked up?”

  “Will you just answer the question!?”

  Grant sat down on the second chair and stared at Cinny for a long moment. “I guess I have no love for Earth. I don’t think I would care if it were blasted out of existence. Why is it so important that you know that?”

  “Because Earth is the only planet left that is inhabited by Humans. It looks like they were just as angry as we were when they discovered what happened to Avalon. You have no feelings for the average human living on the planet?”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “Let’s imagine we were part of a family and our father went out and killed another man. Does that mean the family of the man he killed should also kill us even though we didn’t have anything to do with the murder?” Grant said nothing and Cinny continued, “Or should they punish the one that committed the crime?” Grant continued to stare at Cinnamon. “You’ve seen Admiral Blake’s thoughts and the thoughts of his crew. Should they be killed for what Earth did to Avalon?”

  “No, they were working against Earth once they learned what happened.”

  “Did you not see the millions on Earth that rose up and overthrew their government when they learned what they did to Avalon? They are like Blake and his crew. Now you don’t think they deserve to be protected.”

  “Earth killed Avalon.”

  “No, the Government of Earth killed Avalon and hid it from the people because they knew the danger of revealing it. You’re lumping all humans into the same bucket the Prime Minister and his minions are in. Are you that hard hearted?”

  “Cinny, I know that if it came down to a choice of saving themselves and letting all the other civilizations hang, they’d save themselves.”