by Saxon Andrew
“I’ve thought about that coming here and we can’t do it.”
Kat frowned, “Why not?”
“Because we have won the war and there are no longer any Servant Warships in that galaxy. They do not represent a threat to us and if we go back with our fleets, what does that tell that civilization about us?”
“Surely they can see the suffering of the slaves.”
“They can also see the suffering of the Servants still there after their civilization was destroyed by us.”
Shane said, “He’s right; we can’t go back.”
Gibbs shook his head, “Surely they understand the evils of slavery?”
Lydia said, “Are you willing to bet our civilization’s existence on that? The Servants are using other life forms to feed themselves. How do we know that civilization doesn’t do that as well?”
Gibbs stared at his wife for a long moment and then shook his head, “No, I guess I’m not sure.” Gibbs looked at Dat, “Do you think we could take them?”
Dat tilted his head, “I truly hope we never have to find out.”
“Why is that?”
“Gibbs, we fought the Servants in their galaxy for three years trying to even the odds so we could take them head on. Just how big a force do you think the Servants sent to invade that galaxy? That ship told us they would wait and kick off their hostilities the day we attacked them with our major ships and allies. A week later they said they were wondering how long we were going to stay at the edge of the Servant Galaxy. Their war was over and no Servant Ship escaped that galaxy to come back to the one we fought in. It took them less than a week to defeat them.”
The room was utterly still. Gresha shook her head, “I hate to leave those slaves in bondage.”
Dat blew out a breath, “That’s the part you aren’t going to like.”
Katherine turned to Dat, “What do you mean by that?”
“The Madators that went to fight in that galaxy have told me that they’re not coming back.”
Katherine shook her head, “Oh yes they are!”
Dat rolled his eyes and Shane said, “Let me see if I understand this. We’re going to go back with our ships and force the Madators to leave the planets they fought on to buy us time to build the ships we needed to win this war. Now assuming we could even find them if they decided to not show up where we could get our chains around them, what would that galaxy then think about our behavior?”
Katherine’s head fell back and she shook it, “Dat, when did you know they weren’t coming back?”
Shane looked at Dat and wondered if he was going to tell the truth. “Admiral, I knew about it before they left.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You would have said no and we would have lost the war.”
Katherine rolled her eyes, “Well, thanks for keeping me in the dark.”
“No problem…do you also not want to know about me sending more of them to free the planets the slaves are still being held on?”
“Yes, would you mind keeping that to yourself as well?”
“That’s not a problem.”
Kat looked out the window and said, “What am I supposed to not know about how you’re going to get them there?”
“We’re giving them unarmed shuttles and drop globes to make the trip.”
Gem said, “So they will leave the shuttles in orbit and drop to the planet?”
Kat shook her head, “No, the globes are there so we can believe that’s what happened.”
Gem stared at the Admiral and then turned to Dat, “Will they leave them in orbit?”
Dat smiled, “Would you?”
“Will they?”
“I hope so; why don’t you ask them?”
Gem looked at Katherine, “Boy, I don’t want your job.”
Dat said, “Get in line; I don’t either.”
The Admirals started laughing and the crews were notified that their liberty had been extended.
Kelli smiled, “I’m glad you were there, Admiral Arvolo. I think you saved us again.”
“It was all of us working together that did it, Kelli.”
“Whatever.”
“I’m being serious.”
“OK, if you say so.” Kelli turned to Admiral Hull, “You are going to give him a medal, aren’t you?”
“Yes, it will match the one he received while fighting the Masters.”
“I don’t want another medal.”
Kat looked at Kelli, “He hates getting them.”
Kelli laughed, “That’s why you do it.”
“Absolutely; it’s the only way for me to pay him back.”
“Hey you two, I’m still in the room.”
Gresha walked up and grabbed his arm, “No you aren’t; we have some children to go and see.” Dat smiled and they left the room. Kelli watched them leave and had a wistful expression. Matt came up behind her and whispered, “You know, if you would marry me, we could have children of our own.”
Kelli almost lost it but managed to keep staring at the Arvolos as they left, “Perhaps I’ll be asked someday.”
Matt started laughing and went down on a knee, “Kelli Carpenter, will you marry me?”
Kelli looked up at the ceiling, “Let me think about it.” Matt’s face showed his disappointment. Kelli smiled, “Ok, that’s enough thought, I’ll marry you.” Matt shook his head slowly and had a small smile as he started standing up. Kelli saw the smile and quickly ran and kept the conference table between them.
“Kelli, I just want a kiss.”
“No you don’t; you want to tickle me.”
“No, no; I’d never do that.”
Kat laughed out loud as the couple ran around the huge conference table. The other Admirals were laughing out of control when Matt finally ran Kelli down and tickled her until she couldn’t breathe…then he got his kiss.
Epilogue
Dat sighed and Blacky said, “What’s wrong?”
“It seems that every time I come here, millions of your people are leaving.”
“There will be about six million of us left behind after the current colonists leave.”
Dat tilted his head up and looked up at a hundred shuttles lifting into the bright afternoon sky, “I guess you’re right, they really should be called colonists.”
Blacky smiled, “If we called them that during the invasion of the Servant Galaxy, do you think we would have been allowed to go?”
“No, and even now there is a real reluctance to it; however, the horse is out of the barn and is too fast to be caught. A few million more won’t really change things now.”
Ringie walked up, “And they will free the slaves in the Servant Galaxy?”
Dat looked at her, “Will they really be free? Will your people not prey on them?”
“It will probably turn out that way but not because we start it.”
Dat stared at Ringie, “I’m not sure what you mean by that. Are you saying you would not prey on the inhabitants?”
“That’s really not our style, Dat. If a species is intelligent, we generally leave them alone. However, there are always those that want to try their hand to see if they can bag the planet’s most dangerous animal…that would be us. The one going after us is killed rather easily and there is a hue and cry from them about how dangerous we are. They will have forgotten that we removed the Servants from over them and then it turns nasty.”
Dat shook his head, “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
Blacky shook his head, “It’s always like that.”
“Have you ever talked with the intelligent species you share the planet with?”
Blacky shrugged, “They really don’t have much we want to hear…they are usually quite different from us.”
“So they may not know you’re an intelligent species after enough time has passed.”
Ringie looked at Blacky and then to Dat, “I guess they could miss that little piece of information.”
“Then, if you
would open a dialogue with them and tell them your expectations after you free them, I suspect they will leave you alone.” Blacky just stared at Dat. Dat said, “You really want them to come after you; that’s why you don’t communicate with them.”
“We do enjoy the hunt, Dat.”
“You’ll have Servants to play with. We’re not sending you there to just free the slaves and then turn around and enslave them again.” Blacky did not look comfortable with the conversation. Dat thought a moment and then said, “Why don’t you do this; go to the locals and tell them that you will have an annual hunting festival. Tell them that any of them that are able to escape you for twenty four hours will be rewarded. That way you would have the locals training and attempting to develop techniques that will allow them to escape you. Over time as your two species learn each other, the hunts will become even more challenging.”
Blacky’s head rolled around his body and he looked at Ringie, “This idea has merit.”
“It does sound interesting; at least we would be chasing, or running from, the best their population could offer.”
Blacky nodded, “Notify the planets about this idea and see if they can implement it as soon as the Servants are brought under control.”
Dat said, “You can call it the Freedom Festival to celebrate their liberation.”
Blacky rolled his head up and down and looked at Ringie, “Do you need to write this down?”
“Absolutely not. However, I am going to send a message out to all the Union Planets that once a year we will have this festival here and all those that are able to escape us will be rewarded with their weight in precious metals.”
Dat shook his head, “You might open a box of brouhaha if you do that, you may have millions come to compete.”
“Then we’ll have the Union hold competitions to find the best of them.”
“Can you deliver the precious metals?”
Blacky laughed, “Dat, we move through the soil and can absorb anything we choose. That will be the easiest thing to do.”
“And if your festival is successful, your colonists might want to follow your lead.”
Blacky looked at Ringie, “Send the message.”
Dat smiled and knew that if the Madators communicated with the former slaves on the planets they went to free, they would be given a wide berth. And if they held festivals pitting their best against the Madators, that berth would grow in size. He thought about his race with Blacky and remembered his excitement. He knew the Madators were immensely faster and stronger now; no one could probably escape them with their new strength and speed. However, it would be fun and keep the Madators occupied doing something they enjoyed.
• • •
Six months later the First Freedom Festival was held on the Madator’s Planet and a hundred thousand candidates arrived to try their hand against them. More than a thousand of them managed to avoid being caught during the twenty four hours and Dat along with the Madators were stunned at the success of the field. They vowed it wouldn’t happen again. Only it did…over and over again. Sometimes, cunning trumped strength and speed. Those that won had a lifetime exemption from having to qualify. It wasn’t long after the third festival that the colonies began celebrating their own festivals. Blacky and Ringie watched the proceedings and decided that Life was good.
• • •
Katherine’s life settled down and her biggest worry was the civilizations in M87; however, they seemed to be starting to stabilize their government. She married Brad and life became somewhat boring but happy. Two years after the war ended, Brad came in and she saw his expression, “What’s wrong?”
“You know we’ve developed a new probe that is beyond anything we’ve ever produced.”
“Yes.”
“Well, it is able to see in wavelengths that have been impossible up to now.” Kat nodded. “We’ve found strange probes scattered around the Milky Way.”
Kat sat back and stared at Brad, “Do we know where they came from?”
Brad sighed, “We’ve been able to get a line on their transmissions and they appear to be directed at that galaxy the Servants invaded.”
“Have they been able to detect our new probes?”
“They’ve made no move to avoid them when we moved them in close.”
“I want you to launch some into their galaxy.”
“Why?”
“I need to see if there is a buildup in their military forces. As long as things look normal, we’ll just keep tabs on them.”
“That’s probably what they’re doing here.”
“Possibly, but I’m not betting the farm on it. Launch the probes.”
“Yes Sir.”
Kat decided that Dat didn’t need to know about this; at least not at this particular moment. She hoped she would never have to tell him.
• • •
The next year, Dat was approached by Grest and was asked if he would approach Blacky about something they wanted them to do. Dat asked Blacky and he snorted at the idea until Ringie got him to see just how important the request could be to repair relations with their former captives. Blacky reluctantly agreed and Dat set the date. The two of them arrived on Gresha’s home world and found hundreds of thousands of the Farmers cheering their arrival. Blacky was amazed at the showing and he stared at Dat. “Blacky, these people have marked the day we had our run as their day of independence. They know about all you’ve done to defend the civilization that freed them and by your agreeing to reenact our run, they will come to respect your species instead of fearing you.”
Blacky and Ringie watched the thousands cheering and he chased Dat around the community that night to the thunderous ovation by the community. He knew Dat couldn’t escape this time but he had no desire to catch him. He ran and saw at last what history had been created by his chase to catch a human that ultimately freed the Farmers and his species. Gresha opened the door again as Dat dove through it. Blacky saw the hole in the back wall and Gresha said, “This house is a national monument and that hole will never be changed.” Blacky was overwhelmed at the comment and Ringie took him in her arms and held him.
The next year, thousands of Madators came with Blacky and the annual chase became the largest festival on the planet. At the completion of their run, the Farmers asked the visiting Madators to chase them. The Madators did not catch a single Farmer and they reveled in participating in the event that had led them to a new life. Dat and Blacky watched the thousands running around the community and Blacky put an arm on Dat’s shoulder, “Who would have thought?”
Dat smiled, “Some of the simplest things we do lead to the largest changes. I count you as my best friend, Blacky. You gave me my family and showed me that trust is something I will never give up on.”
Blacky smiled, “How long are we going to do this, Dat?”
“I’m going to do this until I can no longer run. What about you?”
Blacky smiled, “Even if you’re pushing a wheelchair, I’ll be pushing one right behind you…and I still won’t catch you then.”
Dat smiled and turned back to the screaming Farmers as they ran from the hooting Madators. The Legend of Dat and Blacky’s run was taught to all young Madators to teach them the meaning of honor. And Blacky was right…Dat was running at light speed as the legend grew with each telling.
The End
Books by Saxon Andrew
The Annihilation Series:
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in Weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Searcher
Demon’s Sacrifice
Finding Keepers
Prequel-Psychic Beginnings
Searching for a Hero
Coming Soon
Dahlia’s Deception
Ashes of the Realm:
Juliette’s Dream
Greyson’s Revenge
Death of an Empire
The Return of the Realm
Lens
of Time:
The Pyramid Builders
Planet Predators
Pray for the Prey
The End of Time
Star Rover-The Worst of Time
Running Out of Time
The Fight for Creation
Life Warrior
Scout Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
Star Chase
The Lost Prince
No Where to Run
Also an audiobook at Audible.com
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
About Saxon Andrew
Saxon Andrew is the number one Bestselling author of the Annihilation Series. He is a former school teacher, coach, social worker, and business owner. He has written five science fiction series and all twenty books have been a top ten bestseller on Amazon. His stories are done in the style used by writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction and can be read by any member of the family. Like most space operas, his stories take place on a stage as big as the universe and his characters are larger than life. Amazon has ranked him in the top ten science fiction authors in America. He lives in Tampa, Florida and spends his days dreaming of stories to satisfy his avid readers.
Copyright © 2013 by Saxon Andrew. All rights reserved. Screen Writers Guild no. VQEA3E380432.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
First Electronic Edition: October 2013
