by Don DeBon
"What? Are you sure?"
Minerva nodded. "Yes I can no longer detect it from the probe."
Miles' camera focused on Deven. "I must concur. The backup system is no longer responding to the probe. Based on what we saw, and the timing of the disappearance, I would suggest the Lytherians destroyed it."
Galina folded her arms and sat back in her chair. "You wanted to know if they were still hostile. I think we proved it."
Otis blinked as he ran the video several times. "No kidding. Now the question is, what are we going to do about them?"
Leon examined the image of the Lytherians on his screen. "Do we even know what their capabilities are?"
Galina snorted. "I think that video is bloody obvious what they can do!"
Miles camera shifted to Galina. "I think Leon meant—"
"I know what he meant!"
Deven raised his hand palm outstretched. "Galina, calm down. We beat the Mechands when no one thought it was possible. We can take care of these Lytherians."
"Yeah? How? That is one firestorm of ships out there. And that is not even all of them yet."
"But we have the advantage. They don't know we are aware of them. They are taking their time. It gives us time to prepare."
Galina waved her arms. "With what? What can the Defiant do against all of that?"
Minerva smiled. "But the Defiant is not alone. I also have a carrier. It is old, but in good working order"
Galina spat. "Well excuuuuuse me, okay two against an armada of that size?"
"But we did fight the Mechands and win," Deven said.
"Sure we did, but the Mechands weren't swarming in from space trying to take over everything in sight all at once. It gave us time, and we could use guerrilla tactics. Those methods won't work here. Most of the world will get destroyed before we can even blink."
Otis sat forward in his seat. "A thought occurs to me. What did the founders find out about them? They knew we would face the Lytherians one day. So what was their plan?"
Galina rolled her eyes. "Face them with a huge army of Mechands, that was their plan!"
Deven turned his attention to the Mechand standing in the corner. Her face was pale and unmoving. "Minerva? What was the founders plan?"
Her eyes drifted down. "Galina is correct, their plan was to have a large army of Mechands capable of dealing with the invasion. One I was given charge of, and failed."
"Let's not focus on the past, but what we can do now. What do we know about those ships?"
"They are a bit different from the scout ship that landed years ago. While the overall size is smaller, these have a weapon in the nose section which seems quite formidable."
Galina snorted. "So we noticed. Anything else?"
"They have shields, but not as strong as ours."
Leon nodded. "Good to know. What about their larger capital ships. At least I assume that is why they are waiting out there?"
Minerva nodded. "Yes that is my assumption as well. While the data on their capital ships is limited, I know they are very large, powerful, and able to repair any of their ships at a rapid pace. Or create new ones, if given enough raw materials. They were referred to as 'Makers'."
Deven sighed. "Great, shoot one down they can make three more."
"While true in theory, it is limited to the amount of raw materials they have available. But, their storage capacity inside these ships is also quite vast. And I must point out a Maker could mine the asteroids and other planets of this solar system for materials if needed."
"So even if we manage to fend them off, they don't have to leave to replenish their supplies?"
"Correct."
Galina rolled her eyes. "This just keeps getting better and better."
Leon watched the ship data flowing past his screen. "Any weaknesses?"
"As I said, their shields on the smaller ships are lacking. After several direct shots, they will collapse. However, in these numbers it is not helpful."
Deven stood up and walked over to the large window gazing out at the sky. He turned around. "What do we know about the Lytherians themselves?"
"They are a reptile race. While they do have advanced technology and intelligence, their minds tend to be focused on one thing at a time. They do not deal well with multiple situations requiring attention simultaneously."
Leon rubbed his chin. "No multitasking? That is a definite advantage."
"Correct, but it is mitigated by the social structure of the Lytherians. They give out assignments to each member, which they specialize in giving all they have. Imagine every one of those ships contains an expert fighter pilot, the equivalent of the best Earth has to offer. And you can see it is a very small advantage."
Leon chewed his lip. "Meaning if you swat one, the whole hive of experts come at you with a vengeance."
Minerva nodded. "Yes."
Deven folded his arms. "What about their other capital ships? I assume they have more than the Makers?"
Minerva turned to face him, the glow of her hover systems apparent beneath her feet. "They do. I do know of one command carrier type that is much larger, although I don't have the specific size. It is reasonable to assume they are five to ten the size of a Maker."
Otis whistled. "Wow, that is one large ship. Considering a Maker must be huge to begin with to build all of these ships with ease. Not to mention store a sizable amount of raw materials to do it."
Minerva turned nodded. "That is a reasonable assumption."
Miles camera turned towards her. "Minerva, do you have any more details you can give us on their technology or the Lytherians themselves? It occurs to me, with the amount of time given, much more information must have been retrieved from the crashed ship?"
"It is possible, but I cannot tell you at the moment."
Otis' eyebrow went up. "Why not?"
"Because I am not whole. I left a great deal of myself, or data if you will, in my central core in the bunker. This body could not accommodate everything, even with my modifications."
"That's an easy fix. We head for the bunker and get you reunited with your core."
Galina stood up. "Sounds like a trap to me."
Minerva shook her screen back and forth. "Negative. I am not able to connect to anything in the bunker at the moment, I could not set up a 'trap' as you called it."
"Galina, sit down please and plot the course," Deven said.
"Where?"
Minerva closed her eyes, accessed the Defiant's Auto Nav system, and a map appeared with a route to a large mountain. "I have taken the liberty of laying a possible course. It is now displayed on your main screen."
"If I wanted your help I would have asked for it," Galina said out of the corner of her mouth.
"Very well." The map disappeared.
Galina put her fingers on the keys and stopped. "Where exactly is it?"
"I tried to show—"
"Oh the heck with it. Put the map back up with the course plotted. Miles, you're watching her right?"
His camera focused on her. "Of course. Minerva does not do anything I do not specifically allow."
"Good." She toggled the intercom. "Everyone hold on to something, we are jumping into overdrive."
Deven smiled. "Hit it."
They were shoved back into their seats as the overdrive kicked in. Deven managed to stay standing by holding on to one of the nearby bulkheads. Minerva did the same by grasping the console in front of her.
Galina's fingers flew over her console. "We will be there in about fifty minutes. And Minerva before you ask, yes I am using a different course than the one you suggested. While a little longer, this one takes us around most of the skyways."
Deven walked towards the hatch. "Since we have a few minutes, I'm going to contact the World Council."
Aleshia's mouth dropped. "What good is that going to do? They can't have any sort of fighting force assembled yet."
"No, they don't. But that doesn't mean I should keep them in the dark either."
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"Okay, I'm coming too then."
He smiled and gestured to the open door. "I know better than to try to keep you from going."
She smiled. "You're learning."
Chapter 9
Deven sat behind his desk as his data tab connected. A few minutes later Chairman Lavine's eyes stared back at him, his long red and blue robe with large sleeves hung from his medium-sized frame. "Deven! To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
"Chairman Lavine, it's good to see you."
"Please, Scott is fine. I was never big on titles."
"Thanks Scott. We have a situation I think you should be made aware of."
"Oh? What is that?"
"Well, first one question. Last I heard there were plans to replace the Mechands in areas of security and policing. How is that progressing?"
Lavine shrugged his shoulders causing the robe to ripple. "As good as can be expected I guess. While we can repurpose some weaponry, but most of it was Mechand specific as you know."
"And the people themselves?"
"Recruits you mean? We do have people stepping up, but it is slow. Even with the Mechands all offline, it has been difficult for many to see the need. Some feel the Mechands could be fixed. Others believe as the council and all should be destroyed. We're trying to convince the general public to take up the jobs. But again it is slow since it hasn't been needed for several generations. It's a real mess, but we are keeping the details out of public view as not to create a panic. I am sure we will get there. Why?"
"Are you sitting down?"
The image changed as Lavine sat down and propped his data tab up in a holder. "I am now. This can't be good."
"It isn't. We have found the Nexus did not die when her carrier exploded."
"What! What evidence do you have?"
"More than you could imagine. But the reason for this call is not about her, but something else."
"What in the world could be more important than finding out the Nexus survived?" Lavine said raising a cup to his lips.
"That a large alien presence is assembling a large strike force and is currently sitting on the edge of our solar system."
Lavine choked and spit the synth drink all over his data tab. "What?" He grabbed a wad of loose sleeve with his other hand and wiped it off before the liquid could seep inside. "You can't be serious!"
"I am."
"What evidence do you have?"
"A probe left by the founders on the edge of the solar system, watching for them."
Lavine's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying they knew about these hostile aliens? Way back then?"
Deven nodded. "They did."
"And how did you come to find this probe?"
"Miles found it first but was unable to access it due to the distance and security system it used."
"Who is Miles?"
"Our disembodied Mechand."
"What? You are trusting a Mechand?"
"Well this one I do. He saved us several times, and gave his life to do so. Well his body. At the time he didn't know if he could transfer his mind to the Defiant's central computer core in the time he had or not."
Scott rubbed his forehead. "So, this, Miles, found a supposedly ancient probe left by the founders on the edge of our solar system so many years ago to watch for an alien race? How did he access it to find out what it was designed for? You said he was blocked due to its security."
Deven nodded. "That is true. However, we encountered the Nexus in a Mechand body and—"
"Wait a second! The Nexus is not only alive but is now a Mechand?"
"Well, yes. And she told us what the probe was for, accessed it and showed us the large force of Lytherians."
"Lytherians?"
"That is what they are called."
"Let me get this straight, you have heard of aliens from the Nexus who didn't die and is telling you this out of the goodness of her heart?" Lavine paused a minute to spit. "Are you out of your mind?"
Off to the side, out of the data tab's view, Aleshia sat on the bed with her legs crossed under her. She rolled her eyes and moved a bit causing the bed to squeak.
Deven leaned forward. "I know it sounds a little on the impossible side."
"A little? Me growing wings and flying to your location, which since I don't know where you are, increasing the impossibility factor, is more plausible than this."
"Miles has confirmed all the information she has retrieved from the probe."
Lavine leaned close. "And how can you be sure he is not under the Nexus' control?"
Deven sat back in his chair. "I told you he has saved us several—"
"Yes I know, but do you honestly think it is not some sort of trap? The Nexus survives but finds out we are destroying her legions of Mechands and decides to invent an alien threat to give us a reason to stop and give her control?"
"The idea of a trap has occurred to me as well, and I'm proceeding with caution."
"Are you? Sounds to me like you have opened your mouth larger than the Defiant's main landing bay and swallowed this whole thing."
"Anything but. Miles is monitoring everything she does, and Leon is watching them both. He knows more about Mechands than most."
"Good, glad you have a human watching those tin cans."
"More than one. Otis knows code, between the two of them, if ether Nexus or Miles are trying to pull something, we will know."
"Glad you haven't totally lost your mind. I still think you have a bit though to let them get this far. What's your next move?"
"The Nexus was revived in a bunker. We are heading there now."
"A bunker? Whose?"
"Apparently the founders planned for this contingency."
"The more I hear, the more the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I still think it is a setup."
"But what if it's true?"
Lavine sat back in his chair and shifted his weight "It can't be. And I think you know that."
"For the sake of argument, say it is. What would you suggest we do?"
"Approach them peacefully."
"We tried."
Lavine's eyes went wide. "And?"
"About ten to twenty ships opened fire on the probe relay we had set up. They destroyed it a second later."
"Like I said, I can't imagine all of this being true. But if it is we're in real trouble. We are years away from replacing what the Mechands gave us with regards to a strong security force. Perhaps decades. You and your ship is about what we have available."
The intercom crackled. "Deven, we are approaching the coordinates," Miles said.
Deven clicked the intercom. "We will be right there." He turned back to his data tab. "Scott, I have to go. We are almost to the bunker."
"Very well. Keep us in the loop. And keep your head on straight. Let me know when you have more."
"I will." Lavine's face vanished from the data tab.
Aleshia's eyebrows met. "That went well." She coughed.
"I didn't expect him to be so closed minded to the prospect. Some yes, but not that much."
"Well, you did hit him over the head with a lot. Nexus is alive, aliens exist, and more importantly, they want our planet."
Deven smiled and stood up. "And I didn't even get to that part."
Aleshia laughed. "I think that was for the best."
Chapter 10
A few minutes later Aleshia and Deven appeared on the bridge. "Status?" Deven said.
"We are about to drop out of overdrive. Grab on to something," Galina said.
Leon smiled. "The way you drive, they might want to strap in as well."
"Ha-ha next time I won't tell you."
"Yes you will."
Galina smiled. "You just watch me." She toggled the intercom. "Okay everyone grab on to something. We are dropping out of overdrive in 3 … 2 … 1 … now." They felt the lurch forward as the overdrive disengaged and they returned to normal speed.
