Lens of Time - The End of Time (Lens of Time (Book four))
Page 20
Melodie looked at Greg, “What a clever idea. I wonder how he came up with it?”
Greg smiled, “It happened after his wife rejoined him on the Havana. I suspect she had a lot to do with what happened.”
Melodie thought a moment and said, “It’s unusual for a husband and wife to be on the same ship in command.”
Greg looked at his board and said, “It wouldn’t be that unusual if more officers tied the knot.”
Melodie jerked her head toward Greg and he continued to stare at his board. “You’re right about that.”
“You would think someone would start the process so more could follow.”
Melodie continued to stare at Greg until he spun his chair around and said, “Permission to start that process, Sir.”
Melodie smiled at Greg and said, “Permission granted, Captain.”
The bridge crew watched them and wondered if they were going to kiss or do something romantic but they remained at their stations continuing to direct the fleet. Until they arrived at port and then everyone was ordered off the bridge.
• • •
Three weeks later, two million ships jumped in and immediately jumped away from the unstable star. The white ships were not far from the star and they waited for the Major Fleet to move in on them. The Major Fleet Commander stared at the display and took a deep breath. His ship commander said, “What are you going to do?”
“Are you that dense? What options do I have?”
The ship commander looked at the Admiral and said nothing.
“If I jump our fleet in, they’ll explode the star and kill all of us. If I jump in a small group, those ships will destroy them.”
“You could chase them when they jump away.”
“Would you like to go to their exit and collect the coordinates?” The Ship’s Commander looked back and his display and was silent. They watched the white ships disappear and after a few moments returned to their home port. It was far too dangerous to risk his ships. His civilization was going to need every one of them to defend themselves later. He was not the only Fleet Commander to make that decision.
Chapter Nineteen
The Ramst King looked at the quiet leaders on the display and said, “Now are you ready to decide?”
No one spoke. They had all witnessed the destruction of the Major’s Fleets and knew that the enemy they were facing was a clear and present danger to all of their civilizations.
The King said, “Here is our decision. The Majors are now so weakened that we can go in and take their territories and then fight among ourselves as we’ve always done to eliminate any of us that are weakened in the effort to conquer them. That is how we’ve always operated in the past. We are now down to six hundred and twenty one civilizations where there were once more than a million. If we continue down this road, there will one day in the far future be only one survivor. I must say from a selfish point of view that I’ve not been really concerned about that path, because I know we have some of the most advanced ships in this sector. However, that view has changed now that the white ships have appeared. What will happen if we attack the Majors and all of us are weakened? They are growing in numbers by the moment and once the Majors are gone; who will stand between them and our citizens? We have never been able to come together to accomplish anything. I don’t trust any of you and it goes without saying that none of you trust me.”
The Prusem Ruler said, “What is the other choice?”
The King hesitated and said, “We go to the defense of the Majors and eliminate the ones that built those ships. We make an agreement that we will not attack each other for a hundred years and we all rebuild once the white ships are destroyed. We will all search for the galaxy of those beings and once we find them we terminate their existence. That will start the hundred years of peace and recovery.”
The Rhys Councilman said, “How can we trust everyone to comply with this?”
“We must all agree that anyone that attacks another during that time will be attacked by all the other members and we must keep that promise. None of us can stand up to our combined fleet.”
“What if the Majors turn on us?”
“They have lost so many ships that they will not be an issue once this is decided. We will all combine against them if they are foolish enough to even think about it. However, we must include them in our plans of non-aggression in order to get their agreement to work with us.”
The Hoyeis Representative said, “And if they don’t agree?”
“We combine our ships and go destroy them all. However, they still have more than two hundred million ships. I would rather have them working with us.”
The Lunje said, “Are you saying we send all of our ships into this war and leave none to defend our territories?”
“No, I am not. We will leave a hundred thousand ships at each of our territories. For those whose ships are not as strong as the advanced ships among us, they will leave an additional number of ships to balance the forces. The Chairman of Sensor Control knows the power of our ships. He has to have that information to use them to attack any force coming from outside our sector. He will dictate the numbers each of us will have to make sure all of us are of equal strength. Remember, we will not attack each other for a hundred years. That allows enough time for us to reach equilibrium again.”
The Prusem said, “Have you determined how many ships that we would be sending to the war?”
“I only have a rough estimate.”
“What is it?”
“Six hundred million ships give or take several million based on the Sensor Controller’s balancing.”
There was silence and the King waited. Finally he said, “I recognize that many of you will have to discuss this with your civilizations to make a decision. However, we need to decide if all of us must agree to this or a majority.”
The Negrant Representative said, “What happens if a majority votes to do this? Will those that vote no have to participate?”
“It’s either all of us or none of us. I think all of us need to watch the destruction of the Major’s fleets again and see what lies in our future.” The King paused and then said, “Go to your Capitals and decide what you want to see happen. We will meet on this frequency again in seven days at this same time.”
• • •
The White Civilization sent a copy of the meeting to George.
• • •
“Well, what do you think they’ll do?”
RV sighed, “They’ll send a massive fleet and destroy the planets of the Hive and Horde as well as any other Minors in the area. Then they’ll start a search for our galaxy.”
“You don’t think you can make them fight the main battle in the Major’s Sector?”
“Think about it George. They can leave a hundred million ships in that sector and still take seven hundred million to eradicate the Minors. We’ll have to face them at the home worlds of our allies.”
“Can we slow them down by attacking their sector?”
“Only if we’re willing to allow the Majors to then go and destroy our allies; we don’t have enough ships to counter that magnitude of forces in two different sectors.”
George stared at RV and said, “So what do we do?”
“What we’ve known was going to happen all along. We fight by our allies until it’s hopeless and try to save as many ships as possible at the end.” RV paused, “But there is a difference this time.”
“What is that?”
“Our planets and the Federation’s planets are now safe in our new home. This was once a war to the death; now it’s just a battle, albeit the largest this universe has ever seen. They will not find us now.”
“Should we even stay and fight?” RV slowly shook his head. George said, “I know. If we run we lose our souls.”
“That event would mark the start of the fall of our civilization. If you can’t fight for principles, you’re doomed.”
“So what’s the plan, Admiral?”
“I thought about that. They’ll die with the Minors if they don’t participate.”
“I’ll contact Jeff and let him know.”
“I appreciate that.”
• • •
RV looked at Jeff on his display and said, “I’m going to let you in on some information that we’ve just acquired.”
“What is that?”
“The Sector next to yours is close to agreeing to come to the defense of the Majors.”
“THEY’RE WHAT!?!”
“They plan to send about seven hundred million ships to support the Majors in exterminating the rebelling planets and then they plan to find our home galaxy and destroy it.”
“When did this happen?”
“Yesterday; they still have to vote on it but I’m reasonably certain the resolution will pass. It appears we’ve done a good job of scaring the crap of them.” Jeff stared at RV and remained silent. RV continued, “If your civilization doesn’t agree to participate in the combined fleet, I’m sure they will come to your planets first and remove you as a possible threat. My Leader has asked me to inform you that we are releasing you from your promise to ally with us. We understand that you must participate and we know you have to do it.”
Jeff continued to stare at RV and then he slowly shook his head, “We planned to join your forces in the final battle but you’re right. There’s no way we could survive that number of ships.”
“Good luck, my friend. We do wish you long life.”
“Thank you.”
Jeff’s display went dark and he contacted the Council. They were shocked at the news but also didn’t see any way out of the box they found themselves trapped in.
• • •
Greg looked at Melodie and said, “I wish we could have had a formal wedding and honeymoon.”
“Difficult times lead to difficult measures. At least we have each other for what time remains.”
“You think we’re going to lose this war?”
Melodie looked at him for a long moment and said, “RV told me that the other sector is going to send six hundred million ships to support the Majors.” Greg sat down and stared at her. He was too stunned to speak. “All the ships we’ve lost to reduce the Major’s Fleets have been spent to no avail. We’re back at square one and we have fewer ships.”
Greg stood up and pulled Melodie into his arms, “We have this moment. But I want you to promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“That we will have that honeymoon when this is over.”
Melodie smiled, “You always give me courage. When I’m at my weakest, you give me strength to continue. We will have that honeymoon and I hope you can survive my attentions.”
“I look forward to it.”
• • •
“Loree, have you heard?”
“I have.”
“I don’t want to wait.”
“Admiral Arvolo can do the honors. I’ll meet you on the Havana in two hours. I’ll contact the Admiral and have him do the proceedings.”
“I love you, Loree.”
“And I love you.”
• • •
RV sat in his command chair with Cyanna on his lap. They looked out of the open viewport at the billions of stars shining in the distance. RV said, “We’ve had more than a million weddings in the last three days.”
“I know.”
“It’s a shame they have to be done under these circumstances.”
“You make love where you find it. These ceremonies reflect the emotions and feelings of wonderful sailors that know how important every moment is when the next could be your last.” Cyanna lifted her head and said, “How are the Hive and Horde evacuations progressing?”
“They have moved seventy percent of their populations. The time we’ve given them attacking the Majors has made all the difference. Once they started moving things accelerated.”
Cyanna put her head back on RV’s chest, “Good. How much do you weigh now?”
RV chuckled, “I’m down to 190 pounds.”
“Dieting?”
“No, not having you here.”
Cyanna smiled, “Well you can gain nine pounds but I want you to stay under two hundred.”
“Until we can get off ship, there’s not much chance of that happening. The food on this ship is just too healthy.”
“You mean green.”
“Exactly.”
Cyanna laughed and continued to look out of the viewport.
RV said, “I was hoping for a son.”
Cyanna smiled, “We’ll let tomorrow take care of tomorrow.”
• • •
The Dark Creature looked at his bank of displays and saw all the leaders from the Major Civilizations. He was now leading the war against the rebellion. He smiled and said, “I have a new development that we need to discuss. It will probably change anything we were planning to do and I think it will end this conflict.” He watched as the leaders stared at him on their displays and after a long pause he said, “The other sector has volunteered to send their ships to assist us in eliminating those that are in rebellion and to find and destroy the galaxy that has supplied the Minors with those white ships.”
Pandemonium broke out. Everyone started yelling at once and he waited for it to subside. Eventually it did. He stared at the leaders and said, “You really sicken me. Do you think I would allow anything like this to happen if it placed any of you in danger? You’re so locked into your total distrust of everyone that you don’t see what a gift this is for all of us, especially after the number of ships we’ve lost.”
The Jongen Duke said, “They’ll just destroy us afterwards. You know they’ve been wanting to take our territories for centuries.”
“That’s true, but they have also had to come to an accommodation with the civilizations in their sector to make this work. Our options are really easy to understand. If we don’t join them in the effort to eliminate our enemies, they will bring their combined fleets here first and remove us as a potential problem. Their seven hundred million ships would accomplish that rather easily and they’ll destroy our rebellious Minors afterwards. They prefer to have us work with them to make sure there are no surprises when they attack.”
The Burgen King said, “What’s to prevent them from destroying us afterwards?”
“They have all agreed to not attack each other for a hundred years after our enemies are eliminated. They have agreed to combine and attack any civilization that attacks another once that agreement takes effect. We will have to agree to join that combined fleet to enforce the peace. If one of them attacks any of our civilizations, they have agreed to destroy the attacker. We, of course, would join them in the attack against the aggressor.” The Dark Creature paused and said, “There are many of them that voted against this proposal but the mast majority support it and they are being forced to fall in line with the others.”
“Do you think they’ll stand by their agreement?”
“If one of us is attacked by one of their civilizations, our combined fleet would destroy the attacker even if they don’t join us. Just like destroying a planet without an announcement, they would have to allow it to happen. I really see that they all know the consequences of violating this agreement.”
“We really have no choice.”
The Dark Creature smiled, “No we don’t, but they think they need our fleets to do this and I’m not telling them they’re wrong. Think about it; we’ll have a hundred years to rebuild. We will recover from our losses and we will all agree to combine and attack any of them that attempt to take any of our territories. We can make that agreement right now.”
“They could combine against us after that period.”
“They could do that now but you know why they won’t. The civilizations that were weakened by the attack would be gobbled up by the others. None of them are willing to risk it.” T
he Dark Creature waited and after an hour he said, “This really is a no-brainer. Send a yes or no vote to my board now.”
He watched and after a few minutes the votes began coming in. He waited until the last arrived and saw that all of the leaders were still on the frequency waiting for the results of the vote. He said, “I see that the Nexu has voted no. Is there a reason for that?”
“Yes there is. We do not get involved in disputes between other civilizations. We only defend our territory against trespassers. We do not choose to take part in this attack.”
“It’s really not a choice. If we agree; we will all participate.”
“Then take a bit of information to the other sector and see if it will allow us to stay out of this stupidity.”
“What information is that?”
“We know where the galaxy of the white ship builders is located.”
Silence slammed down on the conference. Even the Dark Creature was stunned at the comment. The Nexu Leader continued, “If we are forced to fight we will remove that location from our databanks.”
“We could combine against you and force you to tell us.”
“And just how many more ships do you think you’ll lose if you try that? We don’t like being told what to do and we think this piece of information might be valuable to the other sector. You might even be able to use it to ensure you’re not attacked afterwards.”
“But you will be left stronger that any of the rest of us if you don’t take part in the fight?”
“Why would you care? When have we ever attacked any of you and why would that change? Your combined fleet could still destroy us if we did attack any of you and the other sector would help you do it.”
“Where did you get that information?”
“We were attacked by their ships and you know we’re telepathic. We were able to see the thoughts of one of the survivors before it died and its home galaxy in its mind. We’ve done a search and have found a galaxy that matches what was in that being’s thoughts. We know where they live.”