by Saxon Andrew
Meredith sneered, “You didn’t get to be a Baron by being so flippant.”
Jeffery shrugged, “You’re right. I was one of the true-believers at first.”
“What happened?” Rory asked.
“I had the misfortune to be around him. I found out quickly that the Emperor is quite the consummate donkey and an egomaniac. Duke Haley managed to put me in command of the Boston and in the front-line of our forces. I think they Haley and Bowen saw me as a threat to them.”
Meredith shook her head, “And you did nothing to stop them?”
Jeffery looked at her, “Please tell me another option. You have no idea of the danger the true-believers represent. If I said anything derogatory about the Emperor, I’d be shot on the spot. I’m open to hearing any suggestion on how I could have gotten out without being executed.” Meredith just stared at him. “Captain, every ship was crewed by the Knights. They controlled the ship, not the commander.”
“So, you just waltz in here expecting us to accept you with open arms?” Megan said with biting sarcasm.
“No, I expect you to use me.”
“How?” Rory asked.
“I was one of them, Admiral. I know what the Knights are thinking and how they feel. I want to try and get them to see the truth and possibly save some of them. I assume that Earth will be your next target.”
“Do you think you can do it?” Dean asked.
Jeffery tilted his head and said, “Most of them are too far gone. They’ll die in the conflict. But some of them can be saved. I was.”
Meredith frowned, “If you could have come up with a way to get back to Earth without being executed, would you have done it.”
“Probably.” Meredith was startled by the response and Jeffery said, “Do you think coming here was any less of a danger?”
“Just tell me how you can make any difference what so ever and I might believe you.”
Jeffery told her. Meredith stared at him and Ginger said, “We heard about that from the Scouts at Earth.”
Meredith looked at Rory, “Do you think this is possible?”
“I don’t know.”
“I can tell you where they are,” Jeffery interrupted.
Rory stared at the young man and said, “It appears you will continue wearing your uniform.”
“As much as I detest doing it, I understand why.”
Rory looked at Kuchen, “What do you think?”
“I understand how new knowledge can change a person.” He looked at Meredith and said, “I think our young man here has knowledge that changed him.”
Meredith sighed and said, “You deserve an opportunity. I hope you’re right about this.”
“So do I, Captain.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Thorpe sat in his throne room with his trusted advisors and said, “Still no word from the Fleet?”
Haley shook his head, “No. I’ve sent out scouts but none of them have reported back, Your Majesty.”
“That means they’ve been stopped from reporting,” Thorpe replied. Haley nodded.
The Emperor sat in silence and finally said, “We would have received word by now if any of our ships survived.” Haley nodded again fearing to voice anything. Suddenly, the alarms went off and the wall speaker began blaring, “ENEMY WARSHIPS APPROACHING EARTH!! ENEMY WARSHIPS APPROACHING EARTH!!”
Thorpe jumped up and looked at the Commander of his personal bodyguard, “Move the Knights into the shuttle and prepare to lift off in ten-minutes.”
Thorpe ran out of the Throne Room toward the elevator to the top of the castle. The attendees looked at Haley as he turned to leave, “This has to be a prime target. I’d get out if I were you.” The thirty-seven Royals left the room for their shuttles instantly. The Defense Satellites would probably prevent an attack but the Duke was right; there was no need to take any chances.
• • •
Sherry stared at her monitor and waited. Suddenly, a blip appeared and she hit the communicator, “He’s on the move.”
Rory nodded and waited. Dean’s Zombies should be in position shortly.
• • •
Dean met with the Zombies in the Troy’s landing bay before they launched. He stared at them and saw their determination written on their faces. “We’re sending you between the Churchill and Stalin Defense Satellites. When they replaced the original Churchill, they placed it five miles out of position. You should be able to make it through undetected if you hit the gap precisely in the middle.” Dean shook his head slightly, “There is no need for you to throw your lives away and I hope you think about that on the way in. The eighty-four assigned to the first line have made it clear they will not be coming back and I will stand behind your decisions. For the rest of you, the Colonies need you to be there to defend it; Earth is not the only threat. However, you are here because of the loss of your loved ones and I will not stand here in judgement of your decisions. I’m proud of you and hope you find peace after this is over. Launch is in fifteen-minutes. Be careful and hit your marks.” Dean watched them go to their ships and he stopped Harry Barnes, “Captain.”
“Sir, I’m not throwing my life away. I have a special target and I intend to hit it. If I’m able to do that, then I’ll play it safe.”
“We depend on you, Captain.” Harry nodded and headed toward his Scout.
• • •
An hour later, Harry sat in his specially prepared Scout and sighed. Jenny had come to him before liftoff and begged him not to go. “I have to do this.”
“No, you don’t. There are plenty of others that can do it instead of you.”
Harry pulled her into his arms and said, “I owe it to Shelly. Don’t ask me to do this.”
“Then promise me you won’t throw your life away.”
Harry stared into her eyes, “I’ll do what I can.” Jenny hugged him tightly and then, he climbed into his scout. He thought about it and decided that he didn’t really want to die now. Jenny had added something that was missing before; but there was nothing that could change his mind about what he was going to do, even if it cost him his life. He looked out of the tiny windows in his Scout and saw the two-massive Defense Satellites seventy-miles out on both sides of his ship. He was the leader of a long line of specially modified Scouts moving through the ranks of the massive structures. He had no control over what might happen, at the moment…but if they made it through…that was another thing.
• • •
Harry’s line of Scouts cleared the Defense Satellites and dove for the edge of Earth’s upper atmosphere far below them. They scattered and moved around the planet at a moderate speed making sure not to leave any trails in the thin air below them.
Chief Bridges moved his Scout around behind a giant Defense Satellite, held position just above the thin air, and watched the countdown on his chronometer. This particular satellite had a new Colonel Commanding it and he had a debt to repay. Colonel Nesteal had killed his family and now it was his turn to die.
The Scouts on the dark side of Earth moved quickly into position but the Scouts on the dayside had to avoid casting shadows on the Defense Satellites as they moved into position. The countdown finally reached zero and Bridges sent out a static burst.
Two-minutes appeared on the chrono and he moved his Scout away from the planet toward the new Churchill Satellite. He moved slowly knowing he had plenty of time and he arrived two-miles out when the countdown reached ten-seconds. He smiled as it hit zero and he pressed the launch button on his console.
Thorpe was an idiot refusing to have any disruptors on the back of the giant satellites. He was too paranoid to allow anyone on them to have an opportunity to take a shot at him. He saw the giant satellite attempt to turn to bring a disruptor to bear but it was far too late. The three-nuclear missiles left his ship and fanned out as they flew in and hit the massive structure. He closed his eyes and saw his wife and children smiling at him and knew he would be with them shortly. His vision ended in a giant flash
.
• • •
All eighty-four Defense Satellites were hit at the same moment and went up in monstrous explosions. Since the blasts were behind them, most of the debris was ejected away from Earth, but there were still huge pieces that did fall on the planet. A ten-mile long piece landed in the center of San Francisco and blasted the entire bay region into rubble.
• • •
Harry launched his three-missiles from fifteen-miles out and immediately dove for the atmosphere. He made it five-miles into it when his missiles hit and he veered away as the giant shockwave blew into the atmosphere as he raced at high-speed ahead of the three-hundred-mile-per-hour winds. He hit his panel and stared at his monitor. His ship was shielded from the EMP wave and he saw the blip after a minute. Clever, that was a good plan. But not good enough.
Harry whipped his Scout down toward the South American Continent. His target just landed in the Andes Mountains between Ecuador and Peru.
• • •
Thorpe followed his Royal Bodyguards out of the shuttle and stopped as the nighttime sky was turned to into day as the Defense Satellites exploded high overhead in orbit. His mouth fell open and he could see the small ship moving toward the fort from the North in the bright light from the exploding Defense Satellites high overhead. He stood stock still and watched death approaching. The fort’s disruptor cannons started moving but he knew they wouldn’t move fast enough. All of his plans, all of his hopes, were over. He screamed as the small ship roared past overhead and the sonic boom deafened him and knocked him off his feet. The objects dropped by the vessel fell into the center of the fort and then there was nothing.
The five-nuclear power spikes hit in the open ground and Harry saw the Emperor staring up at him as he passed. The ensuing atomic blast vaporized the top of the mountain and a mushroom shaped cloud moved high into the thin air. Harry hit his communicator, “Scratch one Emperor!” The crews on the warships in the Colony Fleet cheered the message and began celebrating.
• • •
Forty of the Scouts that came through the Defense Satellites arrived at their assigned targets just as the Defense Satellites were hit. They dove through the atmosphere and launched three-small nuclear armed power spikes at their assigned targets. All thirty-eight huge structures on Earth’s surface went up in huge blasts along with the Knight Forts they were inside of. Two of them attacked the two-main ship building facilities. Earth’s production of warships came to an abrupt halt.
• • •
When the shockwaves blew out, the Carriers began launching their full complements of Attack Sleds to go after the planetary defenses. Four-hundred and sixty-six Zombies crashed their scouts into the nearest Scout Fort near where their families were killed. Dean listened to their last messages and hung his head in silence. There was just no saving them.
• • •
Five-Attack Sleds flew out of orbit and headed toward Japan with several shuttles behind them. Megan looked over her shoulder at her passenger and said, “I hope you’re right about this.”
“Me, too.”
“YOU MEAN YOU AREN’T SURE?!”
“We’ll know when we arrive.”
The five-Sleds flew in over the giant castle as four shuttles landed and a battalion of Marines disgorged from their landing bays. Megan kept her eyes on the disruptor cannons around the top of the castle’s walls but none of them appeared to be manned. Jeffery said, “I expected him to take his bodyguard with him and they normally operate the disruptors.”
Megan got the all clear message from Maywell and she landed the Attack Sled outside the main entrance. She raised the cockpit’s armored glass and Jeffery climbed out where a platoon of Marines was waiting and they rushed Jeffery inside. She lowered the glass and rose into the sky. Just never knew if a ship tried to attack. She doubted anyone would attack the Emperor’s palace but she felt safer off the ground.
Jeffery arrived in the throne room and began pushing buttons. He was connected to every fort on Earth and he lifted the microphone. He knew he was connected to every speaker in every fort, the Emperor insisted that everyone hear him.
He thought a moment and said, “This is Baron Nichols of the Glorious Emperor’s Knights. It is with a sad and heavy heart that I tell you that our great leader, Emperor George Thorpe the First is dead. He contacted me here in the palace and gave me a final command and I’m passing it on to you. It appears I am the last surviving Royal and I give you the order as it was given to me. All Knights will lay down their arms and assemble in the center of their forts.”
Jeffery hesitated and continued, “Every Knight knows how much the Emperor loves them and he said that he could not bear you throwing your lives away to protect him after he died. I am the highest ranking surviving Royal and I command you to follow his dying wish. If any of you refuse to do as I’m ordering you, shoot them now!! We will not defame the name of one we devoted our lives to follow by disobeying his dying order.”
Maywell looked at Jeffery, “Do you think they’ll do it?”
“Not all of them. The truly dedicated will want to fight on but the others now have a reason to stop them. Those that survive will be more amiable to hearing the truth.”
• • •
Harry moved in over a Knight Fort in Brazil and saw a massive battle taking place. Large numbers of blaster beams could be seen from high above the fort and in thirty minutes, they stopped. The survivors of the melee dropped their weapons and put their hands behind their heads. Harry said, “I need a shuttle in Brazil!” A shuttle holding station above the planet left orbit and screamed down to the planet’s surface and landed inside the fort. A squad of Marines moved out and began putting the survivors into handcuffs as Harry kept them covered with his swivel-disruptor. Harry flew away and moved to the next closest fort. There were bodies scattered in the center of the fort and it appeared there were no survivors. He dropped a small nuclear Spike Ball into the fort. The bad-side may have won and were hiding in ambush. If they were out in the open, he would have acted differently. He flew away as the fort went up behind him, taking the hundred-surviving Knights waiting in ambush with it.
• • •
The largest forts in China, Russia, and the United States had to be hit from orbit. The numerous disruptors protecting them weren’t worth the risk to attack and no one was in the central area with their hands up. Jeffery continued to scold the resistors and soon…the resistance ended.
• • •
The Knights were gathered up and transported to the Fleet in shuttles. They were strapped into straitjackets and fed by hand. They were kept together in their units and, once they arrived at the Construction Planet, they were moved out to holding facilities hundreds of miles in the desert. They were released and forced to view recordings of their attacks on unarmed civilians. Immediately after the video ended, another video the Emperor showed to the city where they happened was shown. This continued non-stop. Finally, a Knight would scream, “WHY ARE YOU SHOWING THIS?”
The Marines were ordered to wait for that question and when it came, they answered, “If what you were doing was so right, why did the Emperor feel he had to lie about your actions?” The Marine would then walk away and leave the Knights to figure it out.
Many Knights died in the process of figuring it out; some wouldn’t, or couldn’t, accept what they had done. For the others, there was despair and depression left for them to deal with. That was when Jeffery would come and tell them that they had to make up for their actions. Most jumped at the opportunity.
• • •
Four-months later, a large warship moved out of orbit and flew down toward the castle in Japan. The ship moved above the giant structure and thousands of people came running out carrying items with them. Rory watched them on the monitor and said, “I hope the looters didn’t damage the Throne Room.”
“They didn’t,” Jeffery replied. “I locked it behind me when I left and even a shoulder blaster wouldn’t penetrate its
armor.”
Meredith didn’t make the voyage, it was her due date in a week. Dean and Ginger, along with Harry and Jenny would go down with Rory and Jeffery to communicate with Earth’s population. Six-shuttles full of Marines arrived first and cleared the way to the Throne Room. Two-hundred Attack Sleds from the Babylon provided aircover as Rory and the others arrived at the entrance. Rory walked through the huge doors and looked around, “It appeared Thorpe didn’t spare any expense in building these digs.”
Jeffery shrugged, “He built it pretty much on the slave labor of his followers. No one was paid for the work to build it and anyone that complained was executed as a dissident.”
“How do you know that?”
“I was one of those that did the killing.” Rory stared at Jeffery and he sighed, “I also have a lot to account for, Admiral.”
“You’ll get your chance.”
“I pray you’re right.”
They arrived at the Throne Room and Jeffery turned the large dial on the door and after six-turns, the door opened. Rory looked at him, “What was the code?”
“The letters that spell out Thorpe.”
“Figures.” Rory walked to the large throne behind a huge console and Jeffery began pushing buttons. After a few minutes, he looked up, “I’ve taken over the communication satellites and you should be heard by the majority of people on Earth. Those that don’t hear, will be told about it on the News Channels later.”
“Good enough.” Jeffery lifted the microphone, pushed a slide on it, and handed it to Rory. “You’re live.”
Jeffery pointed at the camera sticking out of the opposite wall and stepped away. Rory stared at the camera and after a long moment of silence began. “Good-day, evening, or night wherever you might be located at the moment. I’m Admiral Rory Mankin and I’m the Commanding Officer of the Colonial Fleet. It was my ships that destroyed your Fleet along with the Defense Satellites. It was one of my pilots that took the life of your former Emperor, George Thorpe. I suspect most of you are wondering if I’ve returned to make you pay for what Earth has done to the people that were forced out to the Colonies. You should know that most of those people, who live in the Colonies, did not like their treatment but feel that it was the best thing to happen to them. They are living normal lives in freedom and have no fear of soldiers coming in the night to kill them. That can’t be said for the society you build here on Earth. Have no doubt that you deserved what happened to you. You welcomed a dictator to take power over you and celebrated him doing it. The tens of thousands that died at the hands of his Knights are on your hands. History should have taught every one of you that when you put a member of the military in power, no one will be safe.”
