by Doug Farren
“It is not so easy for us,” Pelgrish said, taking aim with the dart. “Our military decided to adopt a much harsher solution to our existence in the event the war is won.”
Pelgrish threw the dart. It landed with an audible thunk just outside the bull’s-eye. “We are to be terminated.”
“What!” Fidget dropped the darts he was holding. “How could they?”
“Actually,” Ronith said, “it’s the only logical alternative they have, given the fact they lied about restoring us to our bodies.”
Cipher’s cue-stick slammed into the cue-ball sending it racing across most of the table. It hit the nine-ball with a loud crack causing the cue-ball to come to a dead stop. The nine-ball rocketed into the corner pocket and vanished as if it had been swallowed by a black hole.
“The Evendi who volunteer to be merged do so for a limited number of years,” Cipher told Fidget. “If they stay merged past a certain age they will likely not survive.”
“That has not been proven,” Ronith interrupted. “It is true for all non-merged Evendi but being merged with a ship may change our physiology in unknown ways.”
“True or not, it’s due to a complex biological relationship the males have with their females,” Cipher continued. “I don’t fully understand it and I certainly can’t explain it.”
Fidget looked at Pelgrish with wide open eyes. “We were promised to be returned to our bodies after, at most, 15 years,” Pelgrish explained. “We would have achieved a very high status and were guaranteed enfia as well as a secure chanapa.”
“I have no idea what some of those words mean,” Fidget replied, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why haven’t you rebelled before? Why did you continue to allow it to happen?” Fidget asked.
“Because of you,” Ronith replied. “After we learned we had been deceived, we could not bring ourselves to inform the public. That would have ended the volunteer program. No more battleships would be available to protect our people from humans. We had to continue to fight, to continue to hide the truth from those who would volunteer. Doing otherwise would be tantamount to treason against our entire race.”
“That explains why the Evendi agreed to our proposal so quickly,” Cipher said, leaning against his stick. “We promised them a way to end the war. Now we need to figure out how.”
“Wait a minute!” Fidget yelled as he retrieved the darts from the floor. “That doesn’t explain why you guys started giving us breaks, leaving avenues of escape for us when you could have destroyed more enemy ships. We thought you were in the same situation as us – threatened to live out the rest of your life in a virtual world. I would think you would have been working as hard as possible to end the war, not extend it.”
Pelgrish sat back down and took a sizable swallow from his elsh. Cipher was very glad that it was impossible to actually become intoxicated in the V-world. “By allowing you a chance to escape, we avoided potential casualties among ourselves. For each ship lost, another volunteer will have to take his place. If ships are lost too fast our military would ask for many more volunteers.”
Cipher had made two complete circles around the table before finally deciding on his next shot. Ronith had returned to the table and was meticulously applying chalk to the end of his cue stick. Cipher slowly drew his arm back then quickly brought the cue down at a sharp angle against the cue-ball. It jumped over the two-ball, landed back on the table with a loud crack, and then hit the fourteen-ball.
Ronith was amazed as he watched the fourteen-ball roll into the side pocket. “I wouldn’t have guessed that such a play was possible,” he remarked. Picking up his beer he went on, “There is another reason we agreed to end the war so easily. We noticed your ships were not being as aggressive as they had previously been. Taking this as a sign there might be a way to end the war, we began talking about ways of contacting you. You contacted us first.”
“If you were planning to contact us, then why have you never responded to our communication attempts in the past?” Fidget asked accusingly.
“We were given specific orders not to,” Ronith replied. “We were never told why and nobody questioned the order.”
Cipher interrupted his play to take a drink from his own beer. Another advantage of the V-world was you could drink as much beer as you liked and never have to find a restroom. “That is all past history – this is the present and that brings us back to why we’re here. The question before us now is how are we going to end this war?”
“I do have a possible solution that I’ve been thinking about for quite some time,” Pelgrish said, looking at Ronith as if asking his permission to continue. Seeing no objection, Pelgrish went on to explain the details of his plan.
Chapter 28
“Trigger! Are you seeing what I’m seeing or all of my sensors malfunctioning?”
“I was just about to ask you the same question Trainman. Who do you think they are?”
“They can’t be Evendi, not this far from their border,” Trainman replied.
“Well who else can they be?” Trigger asked. “We would have been informed of such a large fleet heading through our patrol zone.”
“There’s only one way to find out – altering course to intercept.”
The two patrol ships changed course and headed for the huge mass of ships that had appeared on their long-range sensors. Five minutes later, they were close enough to scan the leading ships.
“Oh my god! It’s an Evendi fleet! Get the hell out of here!” Trigger yelled.
“Emergency priority! Command, do you copy?” Trainman’s voice was nearly hysterical with fear.
“This is command,” a calm, bored sounding voice replied. “This is Ensign Barlow …”
“This is patrol foxtrot eight,” Trainman interrupted. “We have encountered an extremely large number of Evendi battleships. Details being transmitted on sub-channel. We are attempting to evade.”
There was no reply for several seconds as the officer reviewed the data showing the strength of the fleet as well as their current location and course. When the reply came, the ensign no longer sounded bored. “Foxtrot eight, transferring you to central command – standby.”
“Trainman!” Trigger sounded scared. “I’m picking up eight ships on an intercept and they’re gaining.”
“How is that possible? We’re faster than they are.”
“Apparently not any more. What are we going to do?”
“Foxtrot eight, this is Admiral Kline, Earth Central Command. We have received the data you sent. What is your situation?”
“We are at maximum velocity with eight Evendi ships on our tail. They are rapidly gaining – intercept in fourteen minutes,” Trainman replied.
“Initiate continuous scan and send us all the data in real-time,” the Admiral ordered. “I’m afraid there’s not much we can do to help you.”
No matter how hard they tried, the patrol ships were unable to outrun the Evendi. “We might as well drop out together and see if we can’t take out a few of those ships before they take us out,” Trainman suggested. The Evendi would soon be close enough to force them to drop out of normal space.
“Better together than apart,” Trigger replied, knowing the inevitable outcome of their decision. “Weapons online.”
“Drop in three … two … one … DROP!”
The two ships simultaneously dropped out of hyperspace. The Evendi ships instantly dropped out as well. Both sides opened fire at the same time. Trigger and Trainman fired every laser that could get a lock on an Evendi ship. They fired their missiles as fast as their auto-loaders could position them in the tubes.
The Evendi limited their response to laser weapons only. It quickly became apparent why. Trainman was the first to go. In less than three seconds, two Evendi lasers of incredible power bored through his armor and began burning their way toward the center of his ship. He tried to roll but another ship had already destroyed his thrusters.
Before he could bring his sublight engines onli
ne, one of the lasers pierced his brain. A few seconds later, the automatic self-destruct went off. Trigger lived long enough to watch his long-time friend die in a brilliant flash of fusion fire before he too became an expanding cloud of radioactive particles.
“They’re gone sir,” the petty officer manning the communications console announced.
The Admiral turned to the man standing next to him and asked, “Did you see the power signature of those lasers?”
The man was dressed in an immaculate, perfectly tailored suit. His hair was cut short, military style, yet he did not belong to any branch of the service. He was the Admiral’s ever-present shadow. His name was Charlie Wang, a member of the Presidential oversight committee.
“I did,” Wang replied without any apparent emotion. “It was three times more powerful than any laser they’ve fielded to date. But that’s not what interests me at the moment. I want to know how an Evendi fleet managed to get this far into our space without being detected?”
“We can’t scan all human space Mr. Wang,” the Admiral replied. “That’s why we have patrol ships. I guess we know why things have been so quiet for the past couple of months. I suggest we inform the President before too much time passes.”
“Agreed,” Wang replied. Turning to the communications console he said, “Petty Officer McClain, put in a priority call to the President. Prefix the call with code alpha one red.”
“Yes sir.”
Fifty-three seconds later, the World President, dressed in a bathrobe and rubbing his hair with a towel, appeared on the room’s main monitor. “Talk to me,” he said. He spoke English with a heavy mid-Eastern accent.
“Mr. President,” the Admiral began, “a few moments ago we discovered a large Evendi fleet in our space. They are currently located 232 light years away and are on a direct course for Earth.”
The towel stopped moving as the President jerked his head upright. “How many ships?”
“It’s not possible to get an exact count but there are at least 1,800 advanced battleships heading this way. The new ships are faster than ours and they also appear to be armed with a very powerful laser capable of destroying our ships in a matter of seconds.”
“You’re sure they’re headed for Earth? I thought they didn’t know its location.”
“Apparently, they found out somehow.”
“How long before they get here?”
“At their present speed, just over nine days.”
“Order all ships to make best possible speed to Earth.”
“All of them sir?”
“You heard me! I want every available ship to be here in Earth orbit by the time that fleet arrives.”
“Yes sir!”
“And, I want you to find out how this happened! If anyone is at fault, they’re going to be up there on the front lines in an old shuttle. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly sir.”
The screen went dark. The Admiral turned to Mr. Wang and said, “The cats must have been playing with us all along while they built this fleet of theirs. It’s the only explanation.”
Mr. Wang’s only response was to tilt his head slightly before looking away.
Chapter 29
“All ships capable of responding – by direct order of the World President, you are to immediately return to Earth at best possible speed. All other orders are cancelled.”
Fidget transmitted his acknowledgement then switched over to one of the ship’s private channels. “They bought it!” he announced, bubbling over with joy.
“That’s good news,” Cipher replied. “Trigger, Trainman: Great job!”
“Thanks Cipher,” Trigger replied. “That was one of the most convincing simulations I’ve ever seen. If I hadn’t known better I would have thought it was real.”
“You should’ve been an actor,” Fidget said. “You sounded real scared.”
“Thanks.”
“You two ghosts had better start heading for Evendi space,” Cipher told them. “Ronith will send out a general message as soon as his people respond to their version of the same scenario.”
* * * * *
The shrill whistle of the intercom jerked Admiral Kline out of a deep sleep. He rolled over and had to close his eyes down to a tiny slit to keep himself from being blinded by the glaring red LED which seemed to shine with the power of a planetary laser. He reached out and none-to-gently brought his hand down on the top of the intercom. The light went out and the whistling stopped.
“Kline, what is it?”
“We need you in central command sir,” a female voice informed him.
The Admiral threw back the covers and sat up. The gently glowing blue numbers on his clock read 0412. The Evendi fleet wasn’t due to arrive for at least another 15 hours. “What’s going on?” he asked.
“The battleships are moving out of their assigned positions and are refusing to respond to our queries.”
Kline grabbed his shirt off the hook at the foot of his bed and put it on. “How many?”
“All of them sir.”
The Admiral grabbed his pants and stepped into them. “I’ll be right there.”
After tucking in his shirt and fastening his belt, he threw on his shoes, which were never untied, and walked out of his quarters. The command center was located ten meters down the hall. The marine guarding the door was holding it open for him. He saluted as Kline walked through.
Mr. Wang, dressed in his immaculate suit, was already there. “Don’t you ever sleep?” Kline grumbled. Raising his voice so it would carry over the louder-than-normal din of the command center, he said, “Commander!”
Lieutenant Commander Jefferies was standing between two of the communications consoles. He had a worried look on his face when he glanced up. He started talking as he quickly rushed over to the Admiral. The large tactical display at the front of the room looked like it had developed a case of the measles. Each orange dot indicated a battleship that had moved out of its assigned position.
“The ships have mutinied! They won’t answer me,” Jefferies yelled, waving his arm at the display.
“Calm down and tell me what happened.”
“About five minutes ago, every single battleship suddenly began altering course. They’re not leaving orbit though. I’m not sure what they’re up to. None of them have responded to repeated requests for an explanation.”
The Admiral sat down at his console. His hands flew over the controls. A large monitor to his right came to life displaying a smaller section of what was displayed on the main tactical viewer. Kline looked at the display for a moment then his eyes narrowed as he noted a pattern. The image quickly panned across hundreds of kilometers.
Turning away from the monitor he reached out and flipped two switches which activated the emergency local command channel. “Attention all battleships, this is Admiral Kline. You will immediately return to your posts or I shall be forced to take action.”
The command center had gone silent as the staff waited for a response from the ships. One of the consoles along the left wall suddenly alarmed. The alarm wasn’t very loud since it was designed to get the attention of that station’s operator, but in the silence that had developed, it caused everyone in the room to twitch. A yellow dot appeared on the main display.
More alarms began sounding and more yellow dots appeared. In a matter of seconds the display became nearly unreadable as orange and yellow dots began to overlap.
Over the sound of the alarms, a single voice replied, “Admiral Kline, my name is Fidget. I speak for the ships. By now you will have noticed we have targeted all of your battle stations as well as most of your surface laser batteries. Any attempt to activate these facilities will result in their immediate destruction. For the moment, our demands are simple. I wish to speak to the World President. Please arrange for this to happen within the next 20 minutes. Failure to comply will result in the destruction of one battle station a minute until the President is online. You will receive no further co
mmunication from us.”
The Admiral turned around and looked at Wang. “Can they carry out their threat?” Wang asked.
“They most certainly can,” Kline replied, his eyebrows rising and his head nodding. “There are at least two ships in close proximity to each of the battle stations. Because of their limited heat dissipation capacity the stations run with their reactors in standby. It takes at least 45 seconds for the reactors to achieve full power. A single missile is all that is needed to take out a station.”
“How about the surface lasers?”
“They’ll detect the lock. They have enough firepower up there to easily destroy our ground defenses several times over. I suggest you comply.”
Wang stood as still as a statue for several seconds then quickly nodded his head once before turning away. Kline watched him pull a phone out of his pocket before turning back around to his console.
“Fidget, this is Admiral Kline. The President should be available shortly. You do realize you’re here to defend the Earth against an Evendi fleet that will be arriving in less than 15 hours. Why are you doing this?”
The Admiral’s query was met by silence.
“Admiral! Long range sensors have just picked up a group of ships dropping out of hyper within the system.”
A small window appeared on the main tactical display showing an area of space. A series of numbers appeared giving the coordinates as well as other tactical data.
Wang turned around and stared at the large screen. “They’re Evendi,” he said in a barely audible voice.
“Probably advanced scouts,” was the Admiral’s only reply.
Earth’s central command was a sprawling underground complex built deep in the bedrock underneath Lake Bliznaka in Bulgaria. Modeled after the famous Cheyenne Mountain complex in the United States, it is considered nearly impregnable. Because of the approaching Evendi invasion the World President had taken up temporary residence in the base. It was therefore no surprise when he walked into the command center 15 minutes after Fidget’s ultimatum was delivered.
Admiral Kline vacated his chair and the President sat down. “This is President Abdul-Aziz, to whom am I speaking?”
