by Saxon Andrew
She looked at the surface of the planet below again and saw the lights of the center she had been assigned off in the distance. The clouds were far below and she turned, flapped her edges, and entered them. She used the thermals to take her toward her target and began decreasing her size. She arrived five miles from the bright lights of the construction site and knew there was a force field surrounding the city. She flew over it and looked at the surface around the community. There was a military convoy moving toward the city fifteen miles out and she reduced her size to a small ball and began dropping quickly toward the road it was traveling on. She aimed for a stretch of the highway that had darkened with age and oil dropped on it from numerous vehicles that used it. She expanded her wings, flared them, and landed. She flattened herself on the road. She waited on the convoy to arrive. It finally came into sight and she waited as ten vehicles passed over her. She had to move four times to avoid being hit by the huge wheels but she lifted an arm and attached herself to the eleventh vehicle. She flattened out on the bottom of the armed troop carrier and waited to see what security precautions the convoy would have to go through to enter the city. It was possible she would have to drop off and that was why she chose not to attach to the first vehicles in line.
Ringie pressed her head tight to the armor and felt the vibrations of the Grillen talking inside the vehicle. All four of the Madators had been given a download of the Grillen language and she began hearing the warriors complaining.
“I wish those idiots could do this faster. My backside is numb from this patrol.”
“Get used to it. You know the drill.”
“Yes, but it’s senseless; when have they ever detected a problem?”
“Just open the bottom port and allow the gas to move through. It will kill all the parasites on your armor and you know how bad those are.”
“I guess; however, burning the exterior makes it almost unbearable in this tin can. You would think they would at least allow us to exit first.”
“Then we’d have to reenter and that would only make this whole exercise take that much longer.”
Ringie raised her head lightly and watched the dust being kicked up by the moving vehicles. It was blowing from the front toward the rear of the convoy. She slid forward and examined the port on the bottom of the vehicle and saw that it opened toward the front. The port was about six feet wide and four feet in depth. She moved toward the front of the troop carrier and waited until the vehicle in front of her stopped. She watched the vehicle just in front of her and saw the gas was grey in color and it was blown toward the rear of the Laser Track. Once it cleared the vehicle it was blown to the side by the vehicles turbofans. She decided it was worth the risk. She remained at the front of the vehicle and watched the port open and grey gas bellow out. The fans on the gassing unit kicked in and blew air into the troop carrier. The gas exited the vehicle under pressure and moved toward the rear of the carrier. She rushed forward and flattened herself on the port just before it closed. She moved off the port under the seats of the warriors that were in the carrier and then moved up into the bottom of a seat and flattened against the hard surface.
She worried that the blasters hitting the outside would raise the internal temperature too high but she saw that the carrier used oils to lubricate its moving parts. She could handle temperatures up to the boiling point of oil. It was hot, but it didn’t last very long. She saw the warriors had open places in their armor and their force fields weren’t turned on. She made a good assumption that, if they could endure the heat, she wouldn’t be hurt.
The troop carrier moved through the checkpoint and entered the force field around the city. The carrier turned left and moved toward a group of low buildings next to the manufacturing facility and she heard the vehicle commander order, “Alright, open it up and go get some sleep. We’re going back out tomorrow.”
The groans were loud as the rear ramp fell to the ground, the bottom port opened, and the turret’s hatches lifted. Ringie moved back to the lower port and looked at the surface. The vehicle was parked on a pavement but there was bare soil less than ten yards away. Ringie dropped off the port and in an instant was in the dirt. She moved two inches into it and began moving toward the manufacturing building. It took six hours to make it across the entire pavement surrounding to the side of the huge building where she found a small crack in the back of the building. She flowed through it and attached herself to the wall behind a large storage box. There she decided to rest and wait for an opportunity to go to the assembly line. She determined that the night shift was smaller than the day shift; many of the positions next to the long assembly line were unmanned. She remained absolutely still and listened to the guards that patrolled the building. She was glad she had waited.
“What’s wrong with camera four?”
“It appears to have shorted out.”
“Are they going to replace it?”
“I guess when they get around to it. The hundred others have everything pretty much covered and the motion detectors will keep track of everyone’s movement.”
“I hope we’ll eventually be assigned to the control room. That’s the life of luxury.”
“We’ll have to make it to the day shift first. See you in an hour.”
Ringie saw the two guards turn and move away from each other as they patrolled their assigned areas. An hour later she heard one of the guards say, “The night shift is going to leave two hours early tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“They’re going to recalibrate the motion detectors. It appears they’re having trouble with their sensitivity.”
“Oh?”
“They’re activating when the fans kick in. They’re reading the air currents as a possible intruder. They’ve been ignoring them but the commander saw them and raised almighty hell.”
“Well, that will at least allow us more sleep time.”
“No it won’t. The locals will leave but you and I will remain to help them do the adjustments. We’ll have to work until it’s done.”
“See you in an hour.”
• • •
Ringie looked across the huge building and saw a grey hull of a warship that had just been moved into the facility and anchored to the assembly line. It was about a hundred yards away and she knew she wouldn’t get another opportunity like the present one. She heard the huge fans in the ceiling kick in and heard the two guards moving quickly toward the grey hull. They stopped and she listened closely and heard one of them say, “No, the air is flowing off the rear stabilizers and causing the detector to read it. There’s nothing here.”
Ringie looked and saw numerous stations between her and the hull. She moved to the floor and changed her color to match it. She flowed slowly out of the huge box and moved to the next computer station. She made it to the edge of the huge hanger and there was now forty yards between her and the new hull. She moved under the assembly line rail and molded herself to the legs that held it up. She closed her eyes and went to sleep. She would make her move the next night.
• • •
Ringie watched the guards start issuing orders for the workers to leave. The bright lights were all illuminated and the crowd of workers cast shadows on the floor as they exited toward the door. Ringie listened and finally heard the huge fans in the ceiling activate and she moved quickly out into the open between the leg she had hidden on and the new grey hull. She moved as fast as possible, arrived directly under the ship, before extending an arm, pulling herself off the floor and onto the ship’s rear landing leg. The alarms went off the moment she left the cover of the leg and the two guards came rushing forward with extended scanners, “What’s going on?”
The Guards looked around and one of them went over to the rear stabilizer, which was only two feet from Ringie’s hiding place. “I think the alarm was activated by air passing over the rear stabilizer again. Did you see anything on the video?”
“I saw shadows from the door on the floor; nothing else.”<
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The guard shook his head, “Whatever alarm just went off needs to be replaced first.”
“We’re recalibrating them; not replacing them.”
“I’d make an exception on that one. It goes off twice as much as any of the others.”
“I’ll look into it. You’re probably right; we don’t need to keep this up. The Commander will go crazy if one goes off when he’s here.”
The guard reached out his arm to lean on the landing leg and Ringie moved away from where he was placing his hand. If the guard had been looking at the leg, he would have seen the movement…but he wasn’t. The guards left to make sure all the locals were out and Ringie moved up the landing leg and into the interior of the Grey Hull. She saw that most of the electronics had not been installed and she quickly moved to the bridge, flowed inside a vent in the ceiling, and flattened herself against the walls. The vent was located directly above the control panels.
“Blacky.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve managed to get on board one of their new ship hulls. I’ve worked my way into the bridge.”
Blacky smiled, “You’re the only one that’s been able to get inside their construction facilities. How did you do it?”
“There was a crack in the back wall.”
“Well, none of ours have one. You need to start recording whatever you can as they build that ship. We’re going to back off getting inside and start scouting the placement and magnitude of their forces.”
“I’ll send you the recordings during the shift changes. They have to decrease the sensitivity of their sensors when that happens.”
“I’d prefer you just record for a week before you send anything.”
Ringie thought a moment, “You’re right; I won’t have anything important until they start putting in the major systems. I’ll send the first recording when I have something worth seeing.”
“That would be good, Ringie.”
Blacky activated his transmitter, “It appears Ringie has succeeded where we have failed. I want you to start using your dots. Use them wisely and collect as much information on their defenses as possible. The Grey Ships are our primary targets.” Blacky heard two clicks and moved away from the wall of the ship building plant and looked at the lines of Grey Ships parked on the space port next to it. He looked across the massive field and saw Grey Ships landing for routine service. He moved into the soil and attached himself to the bottom of the nuclear fuel vehicle that was fueling the new ship’s reactors. He saw that thirty of them had already been fueled and he knew he had to make a special run to get to them…but first, all the others.
• • •
George had taken an hour to get over being sick. The long fall to the surface made him almost wish he had burned up. He waited next to the major highway and finally found a military vehicle moving toward the checkpoint. He was amazed at the colors on the vehicle’s front and wondered why anyone would decorate a military vehicle with bright colors. He flowed out onto the road a hundred yards from the gate and waited for the vehicle to arrive. It slowed and he reached up and pulled himself to the bottom. It was then that he saw the gas modules on the tanker next to the gate and he looked for a way to drop off without being seen. Just as he was about to fall to the road’s surface, he noticed the tanker wasn’t moving. He heard the guard say, “No, Sir. Everything has remained normal.” George couldn’t hear what the Grillen in the vehicle was saying but the Guard’s next remark caught his attention, “It’s always good to see you, Commandant. Welcome and I hope you enjoy your visit.”
George ejected a dot and put it on the bottom of the vehicle. He rubbed it into the surface and it melded with the metal. He waited for the vehicle to stop and listened for which door opened. He heard the right door activate and he moved a small section of his body out from under it. The shadow being cast by the vehicle made it impossible to see him. Someone stepped on him and he pressed a dot on their boot. He flowed back under the vehicle and attached himself to the bottom again. George saw a group of Grillen Officers approaching and he saw them saluting. The vehicle pulled away and moved over to a huge depot of armored vehicles. Before George moved toward the manufacturing facility, he strategically placed dots around the giant depot.
• • •
Dat examined the recordings being sent by the stealth probes and didn’t like what he was seeing. “Admiral, the Grillen are setting up their forces to defend a hundred planets. It appears they are doing nothing to defend the others.”
“I’ve seen that as well. What do you think they’re doing?”
“Those planets were among the first invaded and their construction facilities are now operating at full capacity. I suspect they will produce enough ships to defeat our fleets if we don’t do something about it.”
“We can’t get close without one of their major fleets arriving on our heels. We wouldn’t have time to do any damage if we attacked.”
“How long do you think we have before the numbers reach a critical level?”
Katherine looked at her display and shook her head, “About six months.”
Dat thought a moment and looked at the analysis of the Grillen’s strengths. “We should eliminate all the facilities on the other planets before we go after those main construction sites.”
“Why?”
“If they don’t send their ships to defend them, we’ll know what they’re planning. If we were somehow able to destroy those major facilities, they would move to the other planets and continue construction. We have to eliminate that possibility before we do anything else. How are the negotiations coming along?”
“Like you’d expect; they’re not looking for peace; they’re buying time to build their forces to attack us here.”
“Do you want to continue this charade or get down to what we know is coming.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know they outnumber us with their old ships. If we don’t start reducing their numbers, we won’t win this.”
“I’ve thought about just letting them have M87 on the condition they stay out of our territory. The Horde and Hive have moved to other galaxies and we really don’t owe them anything.”
Dat thought about it and then he had an idea, “Where did they come up with the technology for the new ship?”
“I’ve wondered about that myself.”
“Well, I don’t believe they did it alone. If they had it when the first war took place, they would have defeated the Red Sector. They must have developed it after that battle. What if an outside agency gave it to them?”
Katherine’s eyebrows came together, “The only way that would have happened is if someone wanted to make sure they became the most powerful force in this part of the universe.”
“And that means that agency wants us removed from the board.”
“How did you arrive at that conclusion?”
Dat sat back in a chair, “The Grillen are at least our equal in strength. There’s no reason to assist them against any civilization less powerful than they are. If the technology was given to them, it was done to eliminate us.”
“That means that agency doesn’t worry about controlling the Grillen after they removed us.”
“Yes it does.”
“Why would anyone want us removed?”
Dat smiled, “We do have a way of sticking our nose into a would be conqueror’s business.”
“That means they would have to be close to us.”
“We need to take a look at the light that left the Grillen home world and see if any alien species visited over the last two hundred years.”
“I’ll get a ship out on it. What do you think we should do about these negotiations?”
“We kick this thing off; but first I want to see if we can get any information from the Madator Team we dropped in on one of their construction planets.”
“Do they have a time frame to report?”
“Yes; they’re due to report in another four weeks.”
“What is that?”
“The colony planets have decided to send us half of their ships to use in the war.”
Dat’s eyes grew large, “How many ships will that add to our fleets?”
“Thirty million.”
“Why would they do that? I thought they had washed their hands of our galaxy.”
“They’ve been building ships for several hundred years and there’s no civilization that has shown up to put them in danger. Their Rovers are bored with peace and getting rusty. The new president thinks they need to be challenged.”
“Well, he should get his wish. Those additional ships will just about even things out.”
“The difference maker will be those Grey Ships they’re building.”
Dat took a deep breath, “Katherine, we’re going to have to go after them. I just hope the Madators can give us something that might work against those ships.”
“We’ll know soon.”
“Let us pray you’re right.”
Chapter Four
Blacky felt the transmitter vibrate and he moved out of the barracks he had just placed a dot in and moved under a huge armored blaster vehicle. He pushed the activate code and Ringie’s report began playing. He knew the report had been sent and received in less than a hundredth of a second but it took more than an hour to listen to all of it. Ringie had watched one of the Grey Ships being built from a ventilator in the ceiling and now she was capable of flying it if needed. She had deactivated the self-destruct explosive while leaving the circuit that tested it active. The Grillen could check it as many times as they wanted and it would appear operational. However, without the explosive material in it, it would not destroy the ship. Ringie’s ship had been space trialed and was now waiting for a crew to come and take it to join the ships guarding the planet.
