Lens of Time

by Saxon Andrew

  • • •

  Melodie and Greg replayed the recording of the planet’s destruction and were shocked at what they saw. Melodie slowly shook her head and said, “There were billions of inhabitants on that world.”

  Greg looked at Melodie. He knew below her tough exterior was a gentle heart. This moment was critical. He stood and went in front of her chair, knelt, and took her hands, “Mel, I want you to think about what these civilizations are going to do to our planets if they find us. You need look no further than what happened to Earth. You understand the value of what you did today, don’t you?”

  Melanie looked into Greg’s eyes and saw the feelings he was trying to hide. She knew Asia would be blasted to rubble if these civilizations weren’t stopped. She also knew Europe, Greg’s home planet, would be destroyed as well. She gave a soft smile and said, “That’s several billion less to kill us.”

  Greg smiled and said, “That’s my girl.” He stood and went to his chair and said, “Sir, we lost the Madrid with all hands. We’ve also lost nine hundred and forty six small craft.”

  Melodie stared at him and said, “What did we get in return for those losses?”

  Greg saw she was back in control, “They lost thirty seven thousand main battleships and the major ship yard on the planet. There was another eighteen thousand ships on the ground when our light wave hit.”

  Melodie said, “Toranaga, pursuit status.”

  “We were not followed.”

  “What?”

  “We were not followed. It appears the loss of the planet left them stunned or leaderless. Either way, we can assemble and return home.”

  Melodie looked at Greg, “Issue the recall, Lieutenant.”

  Greg turned to his board and knew the next attack wouldn’t be so easy. He thought about what was going to happen when he heard Melodie say, “Lieutenant Landry.” He turned around and looked at her. “I have some things I would like to discuss with you in my personal quarters after we arrive home.”

  Greg looked in Melodie’s eyes and smiled, “It will be my pleasure, Sir.”

  Melodie shook her head, “No, I think it will be mine.”

  • • •

  RV jumped the Havana in with Captain Rajh Megem’s twenty ships. The jump had been timed to allow the ships at the Ramst Capital to begin their attack. There were still forty thousand advanced ships waiting at the Scanner Planet and they moved to confront the twenty ships. There was not much time for them to move all of their ships but Captain Megem’s ships were heavily outnumbered and the enemy had beams that could penetrate the ship’s force field. The difference was made by the two thousand new attack craft that blew the first six lines of ships in the center of the Ramst formation into rubble. The other small craft fanned out and hit the lines of ships closing in on the twenty battleships. RV watched and saw that there was not going to be a clear shot at the planet. RV was sitting in the pilot’s chair and he punched the communication panel. “Captain Megem, fire the light wave now.”

  Rajh wondered what good it would do, but he followed RV’s orders. RV flew the Havana in at high velocity and arrived behind the Mecca right after the light wave launched. “Dolly launch the first light wave, wait one second, and fire the second.”

  The first light wave hit the three lines of ships between them and the planet and blew them into massive bursts of energy. The second light wave hit the six thousand ships that moved in to fill the hole made by the first light wave and were blown into rubble. Most of the ships didn’t have a large part of their structure. The third light wave flew through the destroyed ships and hit the planet. RV shouted on the frequency, “Jump, jump, jump.”

  The survivors of the attack disappeared immediately after the planet blew into a giant fiery blast. The defenders watched the explosion and were shocked at the violence of the explosion. The Ramst Admiral finally gathered his senses and yelled, “Pursue those ships.”

  They had waited too long. There were no trails to follow and the attackers had moved out of visual range in null space. The Admiral stared at the burning planet and knew his civilization was now blinded along with the rest of the sector. He contacted the fleet at the Capital and let out a breath he had been holding. The attackers had been fought off but more than a hundred thousand ships had been lost. He ordered the ships to jump to the Capital and wondered where the White Ships were going to hit next. When he discovered that his civilization was the only one hit in the sector, he knew that it was done to blind them as to what was taking place in the Major’s territories.

  • • •

  The dark creature lay in his cabin on his ship and heard a chime. He opened the door and saw his aide, “Yes.”

  “The Capital has been destroyed.”

  “WHAT!”

  “The White Ships launched a surprise attack and the Capital is now a burning rock. Every member of the Government was killed.”

  The dark creature stared at his aide and said, “Not every member.”

  The aide jerked his head off the floor and stared at his master. “You’re right.”

  “Order the fleets to move to protect our ship yards. Get your nephew to move his fleet to Kilegain. Impress on him that his life depends on him making sure nothing happens to the planet.”

  The aide lowered to the floor and rushed toward the bridge. Halfway there he stopped. The Master knew about his nephew. His fear rose higher than he was capable of controlling. He started moving and was shivering when he arrived at the bridge. He issued the Master’s orders and waited for his execution. It was much later that he learned the Master had orchestrated the replacement of the egg. He had not given the Master credit for his ability to manipulate those around him. He had also made the plans available for him to steal. He knew he was not really in control and made the decision that it was a good thing that his civilization was now being protected by someone of the Master’s skills.

  The dark creature smiled at his aide’s shock. He really was too good to eliminate. Now he needed to decide what to do to take advantage of the new situation. He knew one thing; he was not going to attack those white ships again without being reinforced by an overwhelming fleet. He decided that his survival needed to be hidden initially. He ordered the nobles to start a long process of arguing over the successors. They complied, wondering what he was trying to accomplish.

  • • •

  RV sat on the Tampa and waited as the fleets began arriving from their attacks. Captain Able sat at Cyanna’s console and collected the data from the returning ships. RV smiled. The Moet watchers were perfect communication and scanner officers. Their ability to perform multiple tasks simultaneously was a huge advantage. The two brains also allowed them to handle both tasks efficiently. He wished he could pronounce the Moet’s name but that was a wasted wish. RV looked at him and said, “Captain, what have you been able to determine so far?”

  “We lost all of our ships at the Ramst Capital but we took out their Scanner Planet.”

  “How many did we lose?”

  “Twenty main battleships and all but nine thousand of their small craft.”

  “Distribute those ships to other battleships that lost small craft.”

  “I’ve already made the assignments. There are twenty thousand more to assign but I felt I should wait until all of our ships arrived.”

  “Carry on, Captain.”

  “Yes Sir.

  • • •

  Kate arrived at the assembly coordinates and hit her panel, “Captain Gibbons, are you back?”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “We took out the capital of the Krim but I lost ninety percent of my ships.”

  “I knew that nut was going to be hard; that’s one of the advanced civilizations.”

  “It wasn’t a nice welcome, Sir. The Belfast delivered the Light Wave. It was destroyed in the process. I lost six more ships in the pursuit.”

  “How many ships did you take out?”

  “I�
��m still having the computer work on it.”

  “What is the total currently?”

  “Eleven thousand, six hundred and counting.”

  “Check on your survivors and keep me informed.”

  • • •

  “Admiral Arvolo, I have an incoming message from Dot McFadden.”

  “Put it on the display.” RV saw Dolly’s face and knew something bad had happened.

  “Admiral, we’ve lost Admiral Owens.”

  RV lowered his head and knew there were going to be many others to follow Bob. But his loss was going to be felt and he forced himself to get a grip on his emotions. “Thank you for telling me.”

  Dolly saw RV’s sorrow and nodded.

  RV remembered all the battles he had fought with Bob and then pressed his console, “Admiral Diamond.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “We’ve lost Admiral Owens and I need you to issue a battlefield promotion to Admiral Gibbons to take Bob’s place. Do it on my authorization and get him over to the third fleet immediately. They need someone to help take their minds off their loss.”

  Kate slowly shook her head and then took a deep breath. She exhaled and said, “You’ve chosen a good man to follow him, Sir.”

  “I know; I’ve been watching him. Tell him he has my highest confidence in his ability.”

  Kate nodded and the display went dark.

  RV sat in his chair and thought about the coming horrors and then pressed his panel again. He waited for three minutes and then a face appeared on his display, “Yes Sir.”

  RV saw the Captain was only showing her face and realized she must have been out of uniform. “Captain Tulu, you have been promoted to Rear Admiral and you will immediately report to Admiral Diamond to take command of your sub-fleet.”

  RV saw the stunned expression on Melodie’s face and then she said, “Thank you, Sir. I won’t let you down.”

  RV smiled and said, “You can tell that Lieutenant with you that he’s promoted to Captain and will assume the command of the Hiroshima.”

  Melodie’s face turned bright red and she quickly said, “Yes Sir, I’ll notify him immediately.”

  RV smiled, “The two of you are a good team. Keep up the good work.”

  Even in his moment of sorrow RV had to smile at those that were finding happiness where they could in the mist of all the horrors taking place.

  • • •

  Melody said, “You are now a Captain and I’m an Admiral. Now we have about six minutes before we have to report to our new assignment. Let’s not waste it.”

  “Aye, aye, Sir.”

  • • •

  “Jillian, this looks like a good place.”

  “The nine habitable planets within ten light years is a blessing. I just wonder what kind of neighbors live close by. Do we have time to take a look?”

  “We’ll make time. We don’t want another M-87.”

  Chris extended the fields in Sierra Space and set them to search for high energy emissions. After twenty minutes coordinates began appearing on the screen. “It looks like there are some neighbors about half way across the galactic plane.”

  Jillian sent the readings through the processor and waited. Dolly said, “The power being used is not at our current level. It is being used on a wide scale in that part of the galaxy.”

  Chris read Dolly’s report and said, “Have you recorded anyone scanning us?”

  “No, there have been no scans.”

  Jillian said, “What are you thinking?”

  “I just can’t select this as our escape planets without knowing more about the closest civilizations. I see they aren’t at our power levels but that may just be on their planets. Their military may be operating at a much higher level.”

  “Do you want to go take a look?”

  “No, we can’t take any risks with the Jukebox. I’m going to send a new attack craft.”

  “Why?”

  “The force field is three times stronger than the Jukebox’s. It stands a better chance of survival than we do.”

  Captain Phillips said, “I’ll take it.”

  Jillian turned around and nodded, “Take one of the attack pilots with you.”

  “Actually, I’m going to take a weapons officer.”

  Jillian smiled, “You’re right. Stay in touch.”

  “You should be able to scan what’s going on.”

  “Not without getting close.”

  “Why can’t you set up the fields to capture the light twenty two minutes out?”

  Chris looked at Jillian and chuckled, “We’ll do just that.”

  Phil left the bridge and Jillian said, “Why haven’t we thought of that before?”

  “Sometimes the simplest answer eludes us. Move the Jukebox and I’ll start collecting the light before he arrives.”

  The Jukebox emerged into normal space and the reflected light from the planet was immediately captured. “Uh oh!”

  Jillian turned around, “What?”

  “There’s orbiting military satellites around that planet.”

  “How many?”

  “Ten.”

  “What about warships?”

  “I don’t see any and there’s something odd about those satellites.”

  “What is that?”

  “All the weapons are aimed at the planet.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jillian stared at Chris and immediately hit her board, “Phil, I’m patching what we’ve collected to your board.”

  Phil examined his display as a young woman entered the attack craft and started powering up her console. Phil thought about backing out and letting the Jukebox go in to the planet but then reconsidered that idea. The attack craft’s force field was stronger and it wasn’t good to reveal all your cards too early. He nodded toward the weapons officer and said to Jillian, “I think I need to make the trip anyway. We don’t want to reveal a main battleship before we determine what’s going on.”

  Jillian looked at Chris and he nodded. Jillian said, “We are powering up weapons and will come in to your defense if necessary. Just be careful.”

  “You should really rethink that Jillian. If they’re able to penetrate my force field before I could escape, you should not endanger the Jukebox. This mission is just too critical to jeopardize it to save me. You know I’m right.”

  “Then that leads me to just call this off and look elsewhere.”

  “Jillian, those ten planets are perfect for our needs. Taking risks is what our job is all about.” Phil thought a moment, “If it would make you feel better, have a squadron of Needles ready to launch. This is worth doing.”

  Chris stared at Jillian and said, “We’re moving in to three light seconds. The Needles will be standing by.”

  “You’ll probably be seen that close.” Phil looked at the planet he was going to examine and said, “Stay where you are and have the Needles jump in directly behind the second moon. I’ll be sending them a direct feed of what’s happening on their George Communicators.”

  Chris smiled, “Don’t take any stupid chances, Phil. We need you on the Ninja.”

  “I’ll do what I can taking into consideration the goals of this mission. I’ll be launching in ten minutes.” Phil looked up as the general quarters alarms started blaring. He turned the sound off and looked at his weapons officer, “Are you ready?”

  She smiled and said, “My board is active. Missiles and beam are online and drawing power.”

  Phil said, “I don’t believe I’ve seen you onboard.”

  “I arrived two weeks ago after completing the advanced time field training.”

  “I thought you were a weapons officer?”

  “I’m ranked number one in weapons in my class at the academy.”

  Phil tilted his head, “The Jukebox does get the best graduates.”

  “Thank you, Captain. I hope our second date goes a little easier than this one.”

  “Date?”

  “I’ve been planning to allow
you to ask me out to dinner but you’ve managed to avoid me rather effectively. It’s good to see you’re getting out more.”

  Phil saw she was smiling and didn’t know what to think about her comments. “And your name is?”

  “Lt. Anne Hardy.”

  Phil thought a moment and then said, “You’re Admiral Hardy’s sister.”

  The young woman smiled, “No, she is my sister.”

  Phil thought about her retort and knew that she wanted to be known for her own actions; not her sister’s. “Well, next time let me know you’re coming and I’ll bring you a rose.”

  “REALLY!?!”

  Phil smiled, “Really. Now get your scanner powered; we’re jumping in less than a minute.”

  “I’m on it, Sir.”

  Phil turned his attention back to his display and saw that Cyanna’s sister was just as beautiful as she was. It was hard to see with her armor and helmet on but her face was a younger version of Cyanna and he saw from her close fitting suit that she was slightly taller than Cyanna and identically proportioned. He forced himself to concentrate on his console.

  • • •

  Phil moved the attack craft away from the hull of the Jukebox and saw forty Needles holding formation three hundred yards away. “Who is commanding the Squadron?”

  “I am, Sir.”

  Phil smiled, “Joshua, the rescue call is Jericho.”

  The Lieutenant Laughed, “And the walls came tumbling down. I’ve entered the call into our drives. Good luck, Sir.”

  Phil looked at Anne and smiled, “Is this your first action?”

  “No Sir. I fought with the Havana at the Ramst System.”

  Phil tilted his head, “I am impressed. That was not an easy target.”

  Anne smiled, “Neither are you, Sir.”

  Phil turned to his board and hit the jump drive. This lady was quick. She had a quick wit.

  • • •

  Phil jumped in beyond the second moon’s orbit and began moving toward the planet. He had his scanners going and saw the forty Needles jump in behind the moon, land on its surface, and power off their systems. Anne saw them as well and was impressed that Captain Phillips had planned his route in making sure his support was ready before he was close to the weapon platforms circling the planet. They moved in at a faster pace and Anne said, “Two of the platforms are rotating and bringing their weapons to bear.”