“Not a pretty thought,” said Brett, guessing what Lisa was thinking. “An entire civilization wiped out only because they were in the way and living on a planet the Trellixians wanted for living space.”
“Why don’t they just control their population?” blurted out Brenda. “With their science, birth control should be simple.”
“They can’t,” Kia answered. “There’s something in their genes that prevents them from implementing any type of birth control. It’s in the archives the Jelnoids included in their database. The Jelnoids even offered to provide a simple birth control method for the Trellixians, hoping to end the war. There was never any response to their offer.”
“Uncontrolled breeding,” said Derek. “No wonder their worlds are overpopulated.”
Lisa glanced at Brett. “How can they sustain such a population? How do they feed everyone? At some point they won’t find worlds fast enough to handle their growing population.”
“Starvation,” answered Brett simply. “They’ll let worlds with too large of a population starve until the population stabilizes.”
“That’s gruesome,” replied Brenda, repulsed at the thought of wholesale starvation.
“But it makes sense,” replied Derek, glancing at Brenda. “It’s survival of the fittest. The weak will die, and the strong will go on.”
Lisa shivered at the thought of what starvation on a worldwide level would be like. “The Trellixians are a cold-blooded alien species. What sounds repulsive to us may not to them.”
“Enough talk about the lizard people,” said Derek. “Once our shift is over, let’s meet in the computer lab. I think I’ve made a breakthrough on the quantum computer, and I need all of you there so I can try it out.”
“The sky is purple. The rain is orange,” muttered Brett, referring to how a quantum computer was so inaccurate in its responses.
“Maybe not this time,” replied Derek with a mysterious smile, as if he knew something the others didn’t. “Maybe this time the sky will be blue.”
“I would like to further review this data from the planet. I want each of you tell me what you find and then we’ll compare notes,” said Lisa. She was curious as to what else she could learn from the scans she had taken. “Maybe we’ll learn something new about the Trellixians and how they colonize worlds.”
Derek nodded. “We can do that as well. If we can get the quantum computer to work, we can download the data from the scans and let the computer process it.”
“If we can trust its answers,” said Brett.
“If my new algorithms work, it should be over 99.98 percent accurate.”
Brett’s eyebrows rose. “That will be a remarkable accomplishment, if you can achieve such accuracy.”
“All right,” announced Lisa. “Two hours after we get off of our duty shift, we’ll meet in the computer lab.” That would give them time to rest and get something to eat.
-
After her shift ended, Lisa went straight to her quarters. Sitting down, she took out the diary she kept for Professor Wilkens and began to write. He would want to know all about her experiences on this expedition. Lisa strongly suspected, if the professor had been younger, he would be on board the ship. She wanted to write about the planet they had discovered and what the Trellixians had done to it. She had to get her comments down while they were still fresh in her mind.
After she was done, Lisa lay on her bed, thinking about the day’s events. Discovering another Trellixian world had been frightening. She wondered how many beings the Trellixians had killed in their unchecked desire to find more living space for their race. The number could be in the trillions.
In a few more days they would leave Trellixian space, at least where Captain Erickson believed it ended. Perhaps they would find an ally or even another world to settle. Either way Lisa knew it would be a while before she returned to Earth and Professor Wilkens.
-
In Earth orbit, Admiral Edwards watched the tactical display on board his flagship. A few moments earlier warning klaxons had sounded, indicating a possible contact.
“It’s confirmed,” reported Captain Nelson, turning toward the admiral. “It’s a Trellixian exploration cruiser. It jumped in just outside of Jupiter’s orbit and is taking long-range scans of the space around the Moon and Earth.”
Edwards let out a deep sigh. This had been expected eventually. “Well, they’ll know what happened to their fleet. Their scans will show part of our defensive grid as well as some of our ships.” The use of Jelnoid shielding technology would make it difficult for the exploration ship’s sensors to detect anything around Earth. If they wanted firmer readings, they had to move closer. If they did, Admiral Edwards would send out several battlecruisers to destroy the ship.
“Have the battlecruisers Sydney and Reliant on standby to engage the exploration cruiser,” Edwards ordered. “Let’s see if they come closer.”
Edwards’s gaze shifted to a viewscreen of one of the new battlestations in orbit. There were six of them, each eighty meters in diameter. They served as the Command Centers for the energy beam satellites and the missile platforms. “Place the battlestations on alert, just in case they’re needed.” Edwards doubted if they would be, as he had twenty-six battlecruisers currently in orbit around Earth. The rest had landed at several new spaceports that were being built.
-
The Trellixian commander of the exploration cruiser stared in confusion at the sensor readings coming from the third planet and its large moon. Battle Commander Alnod and his fleet of fourteen battlecruisers should be in orbit around the planet’s moon, but all the sensors had detected were a number of small debris fields.
“All indications are the fleet has been destroyed,” reported the sensor officer. “There are multiple debris impacts on sections of the planet’s satellite.”
“Impossible!” uttered the ship’s commander in disbelief. “This planet was nearly depopulated with a nuclear winter just ending. They had nothing which could harm one of our ships. From our records their primitive spacecraft could not even reach their moon.”
“From Battle Commander Balforr’s reports, Jelnoid technology had been detected on the planet.”
“Jelnoid technology,” muttered the ship’s commander as he dwelled on that implication. “We must assume the Humans used that technology to destroy our fleet. Are you detecting anything in orbit around the planet?”
The sensor operator frowned, baring his large meat-shredding teeth. “The readings are inconclusive. There may be ships in orbit, but I can’t get a definitive reading on them.”
The ship’s commander stood for several long moments, considering his options. More information was needed. “Send the information and scans to the High Command. Once that’s done, we’ll jump to the vicinity of the planet’s moon and scan the debris fields in more detail as well as the space around the planet. As soon as we emerge from hyperspace, we’ll raise our energy shield.” Even with Jelnoid technology he couldn’t fathom how Humans could have destroyed the Trellixian observation fleet.
“We’re not as heavily armed as a regular battlecruiser,” cautioned the tactical officer.
“We’re Trellixians, and we must find out if there is a threat to our Empire,” replied the ship’s commanding officer. “We’ll jump in, take a series of scans of the wreckage and the orbital space around the third planet, and then leave. I want a continuous transmission of our findings on a secure frequency to the High Command at all times.” This was a precaution in case the exploration cruiser were destroyed. “Stand by to jump.”
-
Admiral Edwards watched the tactical display when the Trellixian exploration cruiser vanished to immediately reappear on a set of special sensors which could detect ships in hyperspace.
“Trellixian battlecruiser is inbound toward the Moon and should exit hyperspace in eighteen seconds,” reported Lieutenant Williams.
“Sydney and Reliant, stand by to engage,” ordered Edwards, le
aning forward expectantly. “As soon as the enemy vessel emerges from hyperspace, you are weapons free.”
On the tactical display, the two ships moved into a higher orbit, ready to accelerate toward the Moon.
It was eerily quiet on the flagship as everyone waited for the Trellixian ship to make an appearance. Suddenly an alarm sounded on the sensor console, and a red light flashed.
“Enemy contact 14,000 kilometers above the Moon’s surface,” reported Lieutenant Williams. “The Sydney and Reliant are moving to engage.”
Admiral Edwards leaned back in his command chair, his attention focused on the primary tactical display to watch the engagement. If the Sydney and Reliant could close the range quickly enough, this Trellixian vessel would not be returning home.
-
The Trellixian ship commander stared at the tactical display with a stunned looked on his face. At this close range the wreckage around the planet’s moon was definitely that of destroyed Trellixian battlecruisers. It was a sight the ship commander had never seen before.
“Unknown contacts,” reported the sensor operator. “Twenty-six small spacecraft are in orbit of the planet as well as what appears to be a full-scale defensive grid. Two of the enemy contacts are on an intercept course.”
“How large are they?” The commander’s gaze shifted to a viewscreen revealing one of the small spacecraft. Where had these ships come from? No indications were in the reports on this planet of the Humans having the capability to build such ships.
“Three hundred meters.”
The commander felt a sense of relief. His own exploration cruiser was two thousand meters, and, though it wasn’t armed as heavily as a regular battlecruiser, it should be capable of destroying these two small ships.
“We will stay and engage the two approaching enemy vessels,” he ordered. “Continue scans during the battle. They will be useful to the High Command.”
“Energy shield is at full power, and weapons are ready to fire,” reported the tactical officer. “We will fire our energy cannons first and then missiles.” The exploration cruiser had the weaker twenty-kiloton warheads instead of the more powerful fifty-megaton ones.
The ship commander nodded his approval. “As soon as the two enemy ships have been destroyed, we will enter hyperspace.” The ship commander sat in his command chair, waiting for the battle to commence. He still didn’t understand how ships as small as these could have been a threat to Battle Commander Alnod and his fleet. He wondered if he might be missing something. He studied the tactical display for several long seconds, but he didn’t see anything that could have destroyed Alnod’s entire fleet.
-
The Sydney and the Reliant closed to four thousand kilometers when, from each, four sublight missiles erupted from their tubes. The missiles rapidly accelerated toward the waiting enemy vessel.
From the Trellixian exploration cruiser, defensive fire opened up as soon as the missiles were detected. However, the Jelnoid shielding on the Human missiles made them hard to lock on to. Even so, the Trellixian cruiser destroyed three of the Human missiles, leaving the other five to strike the enemy ship’s powerful defensive screen. The five forty-megaton warheads detonated against the energy screen, causing it to fluctuate and then go down.
Almost immediately the Sydney and the Reliant fired their primary Jelnoid energy cannons. The beams struck the Trellixian cruiser, tearing deep gashes into the hull. They drilled deep inside the ship, setting off numerous secondary explosions. The beams moved across the hull, ripping the ship open. In a tumultuous explosion, the vessel blew apart.
-
“Target destroyed,” reported Lieutenant Williams to Admiral Edwards.
“No other contacts,” added Captain Nelson. “They must have sent in one ship to find out what happened to their fleet.”
“I did detect a continuous FTL transmission from nearly the time the ship jumped into the system until it was destroyed,” added Lieutenant Simmins.
Admiral Edwards frowned upon hearing this. “So their High Command will know what happened to their fleet and their exploration cruiser. We can expect some response shortly.”
“We’re still putting up additional energy beam satellites and missile platforms every day,” said Captain Nelson. Two of the large underground facilities on Earth were tasked with nonstop production of the two key components for the defense grid.
“We need bigger ships,” replied Admiral Edwards, drawing in a deep breath. “Our small battlecruisers are powerful since they’re based on Jelnoid technology, but the ships of the Trellixians are two thousand meters in length. If we’re not careful, they’ll simply overwhelm us, and they can produce new warships far faster than we can.”
Edwards knew still more ships on Earth were nearing completion. However, once those were done, it would be over a year, perhaps two, before the next ones were ready. A lot could happen in that time. While Edwards was confident he could protect Earth for the immediate future, a long-term conflict in space would eventually wear down his forces. Their only real hope was that the Vengeance and the Constellation would find some powerful allies.
If they didn’t, then Earth would fall. Already plans were in the making to transform two of the large cargo ships into colony ships if necessary. Colony ships were being built, but they were two years from completion. Edwards wasn’t sure they would have that much time. He had already informed General Mitchell of his belief.
“Take the fleet back to Condition Three, and notify the battlestations the imminent threat is over,” ordered the admiral. “Have the Sydney and the Reliant return to their place in Earth orbit.”
Admiral Edwards had each ship currently in orbit responsible for defending a small area of space. When he had been in command of his aircraft carrier, he had learned to think three-dimensionally as he had to defend his command from attacks in the air, on the surface, and from below. It was the same in space, only much worse.
-
The next day Trellixian High Commander Kaldre met with the other members of the High Command. Over the last several days they had received some very disturbing news.
“It appears the Humans still survive,” reported High Commander Thatrex, his eyes narrowed to bare slits. “Battle Commander Alnod and his fleet have been lost as well as the exploration cruiser we sent to investigate.”
“Not only that but our commander in the Capal System reports detecting two Human ships,” added High Commander Olnarr.
Kaldre looked at the other High Commanders. “We must assume the Humans have developed the Jelnoid technology necessary to build a small war fleet. At least two of those ships have been sent out from their system. For what purpose we have no way of knowing. What is disturbing is, if they maintain the course we believe they are currently on, at some point they will encounter the Voltrex.”
“The Voltrex,” uttered High Commander Thatrex. “If the Voltrex gain access to Jelnoid technology, it could change the entire war. If they applied that technology to their fleet, we may never conquer them. It would halt our expansion into that sector of the galaxy. We can’t afford to lose that living space.”
“We must see to it that does not happen,” said High Commander Trammor. “We must order our fleets to find and destroy those two ships before they reach Voltrex space.”
High Commander Kaldre frowned at this suggestion but knew it might be necessary. “To do as you suggest will effectively stop our attacks on Voltrex space and the colony world of theirs we have discovered. We are talking about searching hundreds, perhaps several thousand, star systems to find these two Human ships.”
“It must be done,” replied High Commander Trammor as several others nodded their agreement. “Jelnoid technology cannot be allowed to spread into the galaxy. It’s bad enough the Humans have it.”
“Very well, I will send the order to our fleets operating in Voltrex space,” replied Kaldre. “What about the Humans?”
“Balforr should have destroyed them when he had
the opportunity,” growled High Commander Danaar. “We must send several fleets to assess the danger their system now represents. After what Balforr did to their planet, they cannot have a large surviving population base.”
Kaldre went silent for a long moment. “I would suggest we send sufficient ships to interdict their system.” The others nodded their approval.
“Do what is necessary,” replied High Commander Thatrex. “Our people on several of our worlds near starvation. We must continue to expand our Empire. The Humans cannot be allowed to share Jelnoid technology with the Voltrex or any other race.”
“I will send the necessary orders,” replied Kaldre.
-
Later, High Commander Kaldre stood in front of a large viewport, gazing at the planet below. What would happen if Jelnoid technology got loose in the galaxy? What if the Empire could no longer expand to new worlds? He steered his thoughts away from those disturbing subjects. He had sent out the messages to find the two Human ships and to interdict their home world. In a few more weeks the threat from the Humans would be over, and the Empire would continue as it always had.
Chapter Ten
The Vengeance and the Constellation stopped in two more star systems before arriving at their intended destination. The two interim systems had no signs of the Trellixians and no habitable planets. A few comets and several small asteroid fields were all the sensors revealed in the first. Reaching the next system, the two exploration ships dropped out of Fold Space and began routine scans. Once again no signs of Trellixian vessels were found. Detailed scans were made of both systems before the two human vessels moved on to their target destination.
-
Major Mark Dolan was reading in his quarters when the Condition One alert suddenly sounded. They had been in the new system for nearly six hours, and no threats had been detected. When Mark’s duty shift ended, he had retired to his quarters to get some rest before the next one started.
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