by Saxon Andrew
“I need to speak with the Ant’s Mother.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No, I guess not.” Iggy snorted and thought, “Good. I have no desire to go anywhere near that mound.”
The trip took much longer than before. Iggy covered ground much faster than Slick could. However, he noticed after six hours that more ants began showing up and moving with him through the forest. He saw the forest begin to thin out and he knew he was getting close. If nothing else, there were at least a hundred thousand ants surrounding him and his escort. He saw the huge mound over the trees as he exited the forest and stood in the clearing surrounding the tall hill.
He waited for a moment and heard, “I see you’ve activated your telepathic ability.”
Slick jerked and thought, “I just discovered it. One of my children taught me.”
“What do you want?”
“I need to hatch more children.”
“Why?”
“We’re going to use them to completely cover the two small space ships at the shore.”
“Don’t you have enough to do that now?”
“Yes, but that wouldn’t leave any to use on the planet we’re planning to attack.”
Slick waited and then heard, “Have you discussed the dangers of overpopulation with your children?”
“I have, Mother. They know the danger it would cause to our home.”
“It pleases me to hear you call it your home.”
“I’ve thought about leaving here for another planet but I’ve grown to love it here. This planet is beautiful.”
“You’ve grown since our first meeting.”
“I still fear you and your children.”
“As well you should. However, you may hatch as many as you need. I’ll no longer limit you in the number needed to carry out your plans.”
Slick hesitated and shook his head side to side, “Mother, the reproductive urge is almost overwhelming. The thing that keeps it in check is our fear of you. I think it would be wiser for you to continue to monitor our growth.” Slick actually heard a laugh in his mind, “You have my permission to hatch enough of your children to total a hundred.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
“Why do you call me mother?”
“Because you treat our planet like one of your children. We need your wisdom to insure our survival.”
“You should know that I had a compulsion placed in me before I was brought here to kill you and the reptiles when a signal was broadcast through space.”
“WHAT?”
“It was removed by one of those that brought us here. You should know that most of those who brought us here do not have our best interests at heart. I still have the communicator they sent with me.”
“Does that include killing the two humans?”
“Especially them. I’m sure they are targeted for destruction.”
“Do they know?”
“I honestly don’t know but they are incredibly intelligent. You can’t speak of this around them because I’m sure they are being constantly monitored.”
“Will we be safe here?”
“That will depend on the humans. I think events are picking up speed and we should have an answer to that soon.”
Slick stared at the giant mound and said, “If the worst happens, we could take some of your eggs with us if we’re forced to escape.”
“Thank you, Child. I’ll have some near you at all times. Your offer is accepted.”
“We’re all in this together, Mother.”
“Let us hope we can survive.”
Slick bowed and turned around. He walked back toward the lagoon with his escort leading the way and thought about the portable communicator. He couldn’t discuss this with Iggy but he could tell his children. His anger was huge as he moved back toward his home.
• • •
He walked through the edge of the forest and Iggy was waiting for him, “How’d it go?”
“We can hatch a total of a hundred each. They will be used to defend the shuttles and attack the target planets. She needed reassurance that we knew the danger of overpopulation.”
Iggy rolled his eyes, “I know. Believe me I know. However, I won’t need a hundred if twenty of your children are going to remain on the shuttle to defend it. I’ll only hatch eighty for those that will go down to the surface.”
Slick rose on his legs with a smile, “I know you understand, Brother.”
Iggy smiled and turned back toward the lagoon. Slick was right; they were united in bonds of friendship and love for those that share a common heritage.
The ants heard the exchange and their Mother smiled in her nest.
• • •
Iggy had long mental conversations with his children as they developed their ability to mentally connect with each other. They kept the information to themselves but Tricky decided to take some precautionary steps. He found that he could connect to the youngest spiders even though they did not possess the ability. He spoke with two of them and gave them their instructions. They agreed and waited for the humans to return.
Chapter Thirteen
Whippet, Cinny and Grant sat on the Nemesis’ bridge and looked at the images of planets they had collected. Ana said, “I notice that one of your jumps did not have an image associated with it, Grant.”
Grant kept his voice steady, “The first jump I followed led me to a ship in open space that was waiting for the ship I followed to arrive. It wasn’t worth taking up data space to take an image.”
Cinny said, “We now have more than twenty Raider planets to attack. However, none of them are as developed as our next target.”
Grant nodded and Whippet said, “Should we go after the smaller ones first?”
Ana said, “You should do maximum damage and that target is worth the effort.”
Cinny looked at Grant and said, “I think Ana is right.”
“Let’s go back and see where the Animals are in their preparations.”
Grant leaned back in his command chair and activated a program on his console. Music began playing over the loudspeakers and Grant began using his fingers to beat out a rhythm on is panel. Whippet moved his head back, “What are you doing? I’ve heard you listening to these sounds in the past and you always hit your panel with your hands.”
“This song is an ancient song that was produced on Earth. Listen closely and you can hear an instrument in the background that keeps a rhythm. The instrument is called a set of drums. I’m trying to match it.”
“Well, you’re woefully inadequate. You’re nowhere close to what I’m hearing.”
“If you’re such an expert, see if you can do better.”
Whippet listened closely and began hitting his fingers on his console. Grant started laughing after a few minutes, “You have no reason to critique my method. You’re worse than I am.”
Whippet began beating harder and Grant joined him. Whippet would beat an awful rhythm and Grant would follow. Ana said, “Both of you are terrible.”
Grant looked up, “Oh yeah? Show us what you can do.”
The speakers began with a beat that fit perfectly with the Jackson Five’s song, ‘I want you back’.
Grant said, “Hold on, let me try again.”
The three beat out rhythms all the way to the Animals’ Planet. When they arrived Grant shook his head, “Ana, you are the grand rhythm master.”
“Thank you, Grant. Maybe we can do this again and I’ll teach you how to do it.”
Whippet shook his head, “There’s no way we can come close to your skill.”
Grant stood up and looked at Whippet who nodded. Ana wondered what that was about but finally decided that Grant had to agree that she was the best.
• • •
The Fleet Commander had his ship twenty thousand miles out from Bergold and he hoped he was wrong about what he suspected. He looked at his Navigator, “Is there any way to follow a ship through subspace?”
“No sire. Any ship that enters subspace is instantly sent to the coordinates in their jump drive. If there are no coordinates, the ship is instantly thrown back into normal space.”
The Commander had lost weight. He hadn’t been eating well since the destruction of his former home. He knew that the only way the humans could have found his former home was to have followed him there. The message about their advanced technology was true. However, he had to see if he was right. He hesitated for a moment and then pressed a button on his panel that he wanted to avoid. The Principal appeared and said, “WHAT?”
“Sire, I’m concerned about something.”
“Go on!”
“I’ve been trying to determine how the humans could have possibly found the planet they attacked.”
The Principal stared at him and lowered his brow, “What have you come up with, Commander.”
“My ship was the only one that wasn’t attacked at the last city we destroyed. I jumped from there to that planet. The only thing I could come up with was that they followed me through subspace.”
“That’s impossible.”
The Commander held up his hands and said, “I don’t disagree with you, Sire…but they found it.”
“What are you saying?”
“The former Defense Commander at that planet sent his family away after that small ship attacked.”
“Where did he send them?”
“Bergold, Sire.”
The Principal’s eyes went wide. “Where are you now?”
“Bergold, Sire.”
“You know this is impossible.”
“I know but I just can’t get the thought out of my mind. I want to stay here for a while and dismiss these thoughts as senseless.”
The Principal stared at him and knew the Commander was probably losing his mind due to the guilt of destroying his former home. He needed to find a good replacement but he decided that it might be a good idea where to find him, “You may remain there. Have any other attacks taken place.”
“No, Sire.”
“Do you have any idea on where to look for them to strike?”
“Other than this wild idea, I do not.”
“Then remain there and keep me informed.”
The display went dark and the Commander sighed.
• • •
The Principal looked at his servant, “Find me the former Defense Commander of the planet that was just destroyed.”
“Yes, Sire.”
The Principal stared at his display and decided that more munitions were going to be needed by the fleet attacking the Salerons. His servant entered and waited for the Principal to notice him. He finally looked up and said, “Yes.”
“Sire, the former Defense Commander cannot be located.”
“WHAT?”
“It appears he emptied his accounts, purchased a small ship with jump capability, and disappeared. We have no way of finding him.”
The Principal’s anger was instant, “I want him found. Get out the bounty and it will be your life held in the balance if he’s not discovered.” The Servant bowed and left the room. The Principal sneered. Sometimes your children needed to be shocked into realizing that their lives would always be in danger around him. His eldest son better find him or he would kill him personally. He thought about the disappearance, activated his communicator, and said, “I want a probe sent to Bergold.”
“Yes, Sire. It will be immediately launched.”
The Principal leaned back in his chair. Could this Commander be right? He stared at his display and scoffed, “There’s no way ships could be followed through subspace.” He went back to the munitions inventory and began issuing orders. He paused when he saw that Bergold had more than forty percent of the available munitions stored there. He felt a moment of fear and then shook his head. That Commander was infecting him with his paranoia.
• • •
The former Planetary Defense Commander looked up at the blue sky and marveled at its beauty. He took out the atomic cutter and fell another large tree. His oldest son came over and began cutting away the branches and then cut the tree into sections. The two then took their cutters and started cutting the tree into long boards. His youngest son arrived with the gravity sled and began stacking the boards on it.
His wife walked out of the small clearing next to where they were working and wiped her brow, “The seeds have hatched and the plants appear to be hardy.”
He looked at her and smiled. She had been raised in a farmer’s household and he was going to need her expertise to survive. The small ship was filled with food to get them through the next year but they were also going to have to grow their own. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “Are you sure we have to do this?”
“I heard over the news channels where we picked up our supplies that Gamrus was blasted into rubble by our fleet.” She looked at him and he saw her fear. “The Principal will be putting up a bounty to find us.”
“Is that why you jumped across the universe to this planet?”
He nodded and looked up at the sky, “I found this planet by accident on a trip to a meeting. It is not on any of our charts and if we stay here and build a life, we should survive.”
She hugged him and went back to the fields. She knew the danger of making a mistake was a death sentence for the one that did it as well as their family. She smiled as she pulled weeds out of the rows. He was showing her more love than he had since the day they were mated. She would be happy here.
• • •
The Raider Warriors entered the supply store and handed the proprietor a leaflet, “Have you seen this being? There is a large reward for information that leads to his capture.”
The proprietor stared at the image and recognized it as the Raider who had come in and purchased a large quantity of food and building supplies. He looked up at the arrogant warrior and shook his head, “No, I’ve not seen one of your species here.”
“Are you certain?”
He looked at the leaflet again and handed it back, “This is outside your Dominion and I have only seen one of you in a very long time.”
The warrior stared at him and then turned and exited the store. The proprietor still remembered the intoxicated Raider Warrior that had killed his pet and laughed at his distress years ago. That was something he would never forgive and he would never help them no matter what they paid.
Four months later, the Principal executed his oldest son. He gave the task to his brother and the search continued. After the second son was executed, the Principal turned the responsibility for finding the missing Commander over to the bounty hunters. When they came up empty handed, he decided to put his attention on other matters. He briefly wondered how the Commander had managed to disappear; he might need to do the same thing in the future. However, he was not available to question.
• • •
The Fleet Commander watched the search for the Planetary Commander unfold and smiled at the failure to find him. The PC was a close friend and he once discussed with him how to disappear. He knew his life would always be in jeopardy for making a bad decision. He also knew that if the creatures attacked Bergold, the Principal would take his anger out on someone and he was the best target. He knew from the beginning that life was precarious as a high leader in the Raider Navy. He was promoted as those above him were executed and he was not going to go quietly.
He decided early on to make plans for his family’s safety. He entered his oldest son in an agricultural school and his daughter was enrolled in an architectural institution, where she was at the top of her class.
If things went terribly wrong, he would send a message to his son who would leave his mother and go to the planet where the large commercial shuttle he had purchased years ago was stored. His son was now waiting at the planet outside the Dominion where the shuttle was stored. He sent him there immediately after speaking with the Principal. If the creatures attacked, his son would go to his sister-in-law’s home and pick up
his family and then jump to the stored coordinates. The huge shuttle was filled with everything they needed to survive in the wilderness. There was just one more thing to do and he contacted the fleet’s shipyard and found what he needed.
• • •
The Fleet Commander exited the shuttle he had picked up from his fleet’s inventory and said to the officer in the giant landing bay. “This one is pretty much stripped of its electronics. You can get it current in a few months.”
“Yes, Sire.”
The engineer watched the Commander exit the landing bay and attached the shuttle’s legs to the floor. He wondered why he would bring an incomplete shuttle on board but decided that greater minds than his couldn’t be understood. The Commander lifted his communicator and said, “Quartermaster.”
“Yes, Sire. “
“I just brought a large shuttle on board. It needs some work but I want you to load it with food supplies and metal panels. The Commander on the planet says he’s running low on both and his next shipment won’t arrive for another two weeks. I’ll have it taken down to him once you finish loading it.”
“We’ll start loading now, Sire.”
The Commander watched the shuttle being loaded and once it was completed, he ordered a practice War Stations exercise. The crew ran to their stations but the Commander wasn’t satisfied with their time. He made them do it six more times before he called a halt. No one remembered the shuttle being loaded afterwards. The only thing they remembered was the fatigue of the six exercises. It remained in the landing bay unnoticed among the other shuttles.
• • •
It had been five months since the last attack on the Raiders and Grant was on the ground as the Spiders and Crocs boarded the two shuttles prior to jumping to their next target planet. Slippy walked over to Grant and said, “Thank you for all you’ve done.” Grant nodded and put his hand on the Spider’s front leg. “We’ll let you know when to come pick us up.”
Grant nodded, “We’ll be there.”
Slippy went up and down once, “I know you will.”
Grant boarded the scooter and went to the Nemesis, “Get ready to jump to the target planet. I want everything recorded.”
