by Saxon Andrew
George said, “Just when I was looking forward to our honeymoon.”
Meisa smiled, “Shut up. You wouldn’t miss this for anything, honeymoon included.
Sasha said, “I’m so glad we got ours out of the way. The moons of Saturn were just beautiful.”
Chris said under his breath, “I hope we don’t have to use them to escape.”
Hemon said, “It’s a great place to escape to.”
Jillian held up an imaginary cigar, shook it, and said, “Easy for you to say. We’re going to have a real blast.”
Dolly looked at her, “You’ve been around him too much.”
Chris said, “What?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
Chris put his arm around Jillian, held up and imaginary cigar, and smiled, “Well, if you believe in the hereafter, you know what I’m here after.” Dolly started shaking her head and left the room. Chris looked at Jillian, “Was it something I said?”
Jillian chuckled, “It always is, love. Now let’s go drop the Moet like a bad transmission.”
Chris looked at Jillian, “Dolly was right.”
“About what?”
“I’ve rubbed off on you.”
Jillian smiled, “I know.”
“Now stop that!”
“Never! Now let’s go play.”
“Now, you know you don’t play well with others.”
“For them, I’ll make an exception.”
“Works for me.”
George watched them leave and smiled, “Are we like that?”
“Well, you’ve kinda rubbed off on me.”
“How?”
“If I have to explain it, it’s no fun.”
“Explain what? I don’t get it.”
Meisa smiled, “Yes, you did.” They left the building and George burst out laughing halfway to their ship.
The Moet Prince looked into his display at the information in the database about the system to which he was taking his fleet. One of his nephews had showed him the video of a small ship destroying a battleship, and he immediately intervened, “You are not going there with one dreadnaught.”
“Why not?”
The Prince stared at the young Moet and sighed, “How many ships did the Alliance have to use to destroy a battleship?”
The young Master thought a moment and said, “Usually two hundred were involved in the attack.”
“Very good. Now how many ships were used to kill the battleship in the system you’re going to attack?”
The young Moet saw it, “One.”
“That doesn’t bother you?”
“You’re right.”
The Prince called together his personal fleet and took command of the exercise. He was probably overreacting but as he read the data, something didn’t seem right. The High Master had forbid him to take part in combat, and he promised to follow her command at a distance. He wasn’t worried; the fifteen dreadnaughts should make short work of the planet…but….something just didn’t feel right. The destruction of the probe had to be deliberate. How could this primitive system have advanced so quickly? The ship that killed the battleship didn’t match up with any Alliance ship in his records. Yet they used Alliance to communicate. He looked at his board and pressed a button. The Watcher appeared on his screen, “You’re the one that has been covering this planet?”
The Watcher was immediately nervous, “Yes, I am, Lord.”
“How do you account for the rapid development of this system?”
“I don’t have an answer. Four rotations ago they did not have a ship with interstellar capability. The scans showed no warships anywhere in the system.”
“So what happened?”
“I don’t know. We know that no Alliance Ships have come into this system for five cycles.”
“Something has happened.”
“I know.”
“I want you to stay on the channel until this is over.”
“I will, Lord.”
Dolly looked at the twenty eight ships gathered at the orbit of Mars. Each of the four main ships had six smaller ships in support. Dolly hit the open frequency and said, “I am turning the command of this exercise over to Admiral Connor. He has the most experience fighting his ship. Admiral, how do you want to handle this?”
“I am going to attack the first Moet ship that moves in-system. I’m going to do it alone.”
Dolly looked at Jeff and said, “I understand why, but would you like to tell the others your reasons?”
“The only way to stop this is to convince the Moet that they stand no chance against us. If we attack with our fleet, they won’t get the message. I believe they will be coming with that huge ship that defeated the Alliance Fleet.”
Hemon said, “That’s all the more reason to use the entire fleet.”
“Not really. You saw what the Jukebox did to the blue ship, which is easily ten times the size of the Moet ship. With the additional reactors and missiles, I think we can prevail against their ships. It’s important that we make that determination now and make sure the Moet know it. Dolly, if we fail, attack with the entire fleet; but don’t do it unless we are not successful.”
“Dolly sighed, “Just don’t wait until it’s too late. I mean it. Send us a feed on your defense systems status so we can see how your systems are holding up.”
“That’s a good idea. Jillian will set it up now.”
Chris looked at his scanners and said, “We shouldn’t have to wait long.”
The Moet Prince saw the disruption in no space ahead of his fleet and ordered a stop. The sixteen giant dreadnaughts hung in no space. He keyed his board, “How large would a blast have to be to cause this much disruption to no space?”
The Watcher consulted his board and said, “We don’t have any record of this large an area being disrupted. It would have had to be a force eight blast according to my board.”
“Force eight?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Our beams are force twenty. We should have an advantage wouldn’t you say?”
“I don’t have enough information. They may not have used their strongest beam. There’s just no way to know.”
The Prince looked at the disruption and keyed a channel, “Fleet Master, how you choose to make this attack?”
“We will have twelve ships in the forward line with three ships holding station around your ship. You will follow us in after we clear everything in front of our line.”
The Prince was still uneasy, but said, “Begin your attack.”
The Fleet Master punched his board, “We will go to normal space in three dias.”
The Earth Fleet watched their scanners, knowing what was coming. Suddenly, all their alarms sounded, “Ships entering normal space,” Chris announced, and accelerated toward the point of emergence.
The Moet fleet emerged into normal space and the Prince saw a single small white ship accelerating toward his fleet. He saw his communication board activated with a voice speaking Alliance, “We do not desire to attack your ships. We humbly ask that you remove your ships from our home.”
The Prince nodded at his communications Master, “You should know that we won’t do as you ask.”
“Why not?”
The Prince thought a moment and said, “Because we don’t.”
“That doesn’t tell me why. Do you kill and attack any civilization you encounter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“That really isn’t important. I don’t need to answer you. You’ll be gone momentarily.”
“You might want to rethink that answer.”
The Prince saw the ship was going to arrive in about fifty dias, “Why should I do that?”
“Because after I destroy the ships you brought with you, I’ll probably follow your example and destroy your ship as well.”
The Prince didn’t like that response. The obvious conceit of the small ship angered him, “The Alliance is an ancient enemy of ours and con
stantly attacks our ships. We are sworn to destroy any member of the Alliance.”
“We’re not a member of the Alliance.”
“You speak their language.”
“They tried to enslave us thousands of years ago and one of your ships prevented them from doing it. We were given a record of their language and learned it. You also speak it. Are you a member of the Alliance?”
The Moet Prince shrugged at that response, “You have been contaminated by their contact. You must be removed.”
“If we had never come into contact with them, would you still try to destroy us?”
“Probably, you represent a threat to the Monarchy.”
“Does every civilized species represent a threat?”
“Primitive societies do not. I don’t know how you could persuade the Alliance you would not join them.”
“We killed one of their battleships to make sure they understand that we will not tolerate their interference with our lives. We will never allow them to force us to their will.”
The Prince saw the ship was getting closer. Then he heard, “We’ll discuss this after I handle your ships. Excuse me for a moment.”
Jillian looked at Chris, “Do you think you can do all that stuff you just said?”
Chris shrugged, “It makes for good Hollywood movies. Are you ready?”
“I’ve targeted four missiles on the ships in the middle of their line. The two ships in the middle I’m going to hit with beams as we fly thorough. One beam will be targeted at the tall tower, and another will be aimed at the long body. The two on either side of them will get the missiles. According to my scans, those ship’s force fields are nowhere near the power of the Blue Ships. George must be right about their stunted development. We might as well let them know they are no longer in the game.”
“We’ll be in range in five seconds.”
The white ship screamed in on the Moet line, then slowed for the attack. Two hundred beams lashed out at the small incoming ship.
“How is the force field holding up?”
Jillian looked at her dials, “We’d be in big trouble if all their ships could fire on us at once. Our force field is down to eighty five percent but it is holding at that level. Fortunately for us, they would hit each other if they all fired. Take us down the middle of the two center ships.”
The Jukebox turned slightly, and flew between two giant grey ships that dwarfed it. Just before moving among the giant grey vessels, four large missiles left the small ship and four huge white beams shot out and struck the two center dreadnaughts. The beams were four miles wide and they blew through the force fields of the two giant ships like they didn’t exist. The two giant ship’s tall towers were cut completely away from the body of the grey ships as another beam sliced down on the long body of the ships cutting the hundred mile long ships in half. The two ships hung in space for a long moment, then exploded.
Simultaneously with the destruction of the two center ships, the four remaining ships in the center of the line saw four the large missiles turn toward them and accelerate. Just before impacting, a brilliant red beam shot out from the missile’s warhead and hit the force fields of the grey ships blowing a hole in them. The four missiles flew through the hole in the force field, slammed into the hull of their intended target, and exploded with a massive explosion. The dreadnaughts’ force fields contained the blast for a brief moment, but then blew away as the giant ships were vaporized.
The Watcher saw the attack and was stunned by what he had witnessed. Six of their largest and most powerful ships ever created were destroyed in one sweeping attack by the small ship. The white ship flew by the Prince’s ship as it made a turn back toward the remaining eight ships in the front line. The three ships protecting the Prince fired on the ships as it passed, but were blown apart by whatever killed the four vaporized ships. The Prince felt his ship shutter and vibrate through its force field. He heard, “Do I need to destroy the rest of your ships, or are you now willing to talk?”
The Prince was stunned. Seven ships were gone faster than he could comprehend. He saw the ship complete a sweeping turn and accelerate toward the remaining ships in the forward line that were now turning to come to his defense. His nephew commanded one of those ships. His sister would never forgive him if he died. He hit his board and yelled, “I’ll talk with you! Call off your attack!”
Dolly and Jeff watched the attack and were stunned at the power of Chris’ ship. Jeff said, “I’m not so sure we can’t win this thing. George is right; they aren’t as advanced as they should be.”
“You’re right, Jeff; but those blue ships are. We were lucky against them and I suspect just one of them could handle all of us if it made it into normal space.”
“Luck is a good thing.”
“You can’t depend on it; it has a way of balancing out and not always in your favor.”
Chris was completing his turn to attack the remaining Moet ships when he heard the Prince, “Abort, Jilly.”
Jillian snatched her hand back from the board just before she launched four more missiles. Chris brought the ship around and stopped directly in front of the surviving dreadnaughts. They came to a halt.
It was almost humorous. A tiny white ship confronting six ships that were all more than a hundred times its size. The Prince looked at that ship and saw twenty seven more holding formation six thousand miles in front of his remaining fleet. He said, “It appears you aren’t as conceited as I first thought. What do you want to discuss?”
“I want you to agree to leave us in peace. We will not attack your ships or endanger any of your people.”
“We have lived millions of years and have had many species promise exactly that same thing, but they always end up breaking it. How can I possibly believe you? You know that winning this battle does not win the war. We’ll just attack with enough ships next time to make sure we finish the job.”
Chris sighed, “Are you a leader with influence among your people?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve seen what we are capable of today. What price do you think you’ll pay to attack us? We are not an enemy of yours. If we weaken you enough, the Alliance will take advantage of your weakness. I don’t know how many of these large ships you have, but we will leave you with thousands less than you started. You will have to fight your way into this system from the outer planets and you will lose your ships at a rate that will make you regret ever having attacked us.”
The Prince thought about what was being said, but then the being talking with him said something that brought paralyzing fear.
“Besides, we and the Alliance are not the enemy you should be worried about. The two million Blue Ships coming to invade our galaxy are what you should be focusing on.”
The Watcher felt fear unimaginable course through him. Were they were coming again?
Chris waited and there was silence. “Did you hear me?”
“What do you mean by Blue Ships?”
“We found a fleet of more than two million of them just outside our galaxy. We had to destroy one of them to escape.”
The Prince and the other Moet Masters couldn’t believe what they heard. “You’re not being truthful.”
Chris heard the fear in the Moet’s voice. He pushed a private channel and said, “Dolly, I’m giving him what we have.”
“It’s the right thing to do. I’ll support your action.”
Chris pushed his communicator, “I’m going to send you what we recorded less than thirty days ago. Are you ready to receive it?”
The Prince said, “Watcher, are you ready?”
“I am, Lord.”
“Send it.”
The Watcher saw the huge fleets gathered and saw the chase of the small white ship. He also saw that the ship being pursued was not as powerful as the one in front of the fleet appeared to be.
“We believe the Blue Ships have not begun their invasion because they have heard our communications in no space and are worried about
facing an advanced civilization. The destruction of their ship has confirmed they have something to fear. We’ve looked and the fleet is now gone, but we know they are searching for us. Once they find us they will invade our galaxy. Do you know these ships?”
The Prince didn’t answer the question, “We will not attack you before I come back and communicate with you. If what you say is true, you are the least of our worries.”
“Go look for yourselves. Their energy trails are still there.”
“I will come back to discuss this with you further. I must communicate with my leadership.”
“Only come in one ship.”
“I am forced to come with at least three. My status requires it.”
“Then don’t enter our solar system. Stay out here at the edge and we’ll come to you.”
“I will comply with your request.”
The nine huge grey ships turned, moved away, and then disappeared.
“Well, I hope you don’t hog all the fun in the future.”
Jillian smiled, “Now that you’ve seen how it’s done, you can have the honors next time.”
“Nooooo, I think I’ll pass. But I know Hemon would like a go at them.”
“Dolly, you’re full of…”
“Hemon!”
“…advice. Does that make you happy Sasha?”
“Remember: you’re a gentleman.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
“What?!?”
“You’re right, it’s a gentleman I am. Dolly, you’re a troublemaker.”
“She can’t help it, Hemon. If the world were a pot, she’d be a spoon. She keeps things stirred up.”
“Jeff, now how can you say that about me?”
“Duh! Because it’s true!”
Chris and Jillian looked at each other and smiled. “Never a dull moment.”
“I think from this point forward, until we build more ships we will need to keep our fleet near the planet.”
“Why do you say that, George?”
“Dolly, now that they know we’re stronger than they are, they will come from multiple locations. They know if they can hit Earth that the war will be over. We’ll send the right number of ships to handle whatever they send but we may not have enough. We know we’re faster, so we should be able to hit them outside the orbit of Mars. I’m concerned about the colonies on Saturn’s moons. We’ll need to station one of our newer ships there along with a colony ship to move them. We can protect Mars from Earth. We need to increase the production of fusion missiles. If we have enough of them, we don’t have to worry how many ships they send. The Moet are not an issue.”
