The Forbidden Wilds III: An Inevitable War

by Saxon Andrew

  The frequency was deathly silent and then an alien appeared on Jingle’s wall monitor, “Why are you going to attack us?”

  “Well, it’s only a matter of time until aggressive civilizations like yours will send warships to violate my sovereign space. I figure I should just end the issue before it becomes one.”

  “We have no interest in violating your space.”

  Jingle stared at the alien and thought it looked like a huge white slug. It had multiple arms, but it really looked like a large slug. “You’ve shown me how good your promises are; you made a treaty with the Kraken and his fleets didn’t move away any distance before you launched an attack against him. I’m sorry, but I can’t accept that you’re being honest.”

  “That treaty was made under duress. The Kraken said he would attack us if we didn’t agree to it. The Kraken has been the bully in our galaxy, and we’ve agreed that given an opportunity, we would combine our forces and launch an attack. The opportunity presented itself and we took it.”

  “Do you expect me to believe that?” Jingle said with dripping sarcasm. “His fleet could return and destroy all of you.”

  “Not if it was weakened by the civilization he went to attack,” the Slug replied.

  Jingle smiled slightly, “You make a good point with that. However, I’m tired of aggressive civilizations interrupting my rest and I’m going to put an end to it.”

  “I don’t know what you’ve used to make you decide that we are aggressive civilizations.”

  “I need look no further than what you’re doing now.”

  “If you attack someone that’s an enemy of yours, does that make you an aggressive civilization?”

  Jingle’s eyes narrowed, this Slug was good, “No, but…”

  The Slug interrupted her, “There used to be five civilizations here and the Kraken attacked and defeated one of us. All of us were next and we felt compelled to act before he attacked us one at a time.”

  Jingle remembered the Kraken having to wrap up a war before he could turn his attention to Canis Major. “Why didn’t you just combine your forces and take him on?”

  “Because we would probably lose that fight; his warships far outnumbered the ones in our fleets. We waited and took this opportunity to launch our attack.”

  “How many times have your civilizations attacked each other?”

  “Never!”

  “Never? That’s a pretty broad statement.”

  “We once all lived in peace until a Kraken long ago decided to expand his food supply. We were forced to start building up fleets to defend ourselves.”

  Jingle leaned back in her chair, “So, you’re suggesting that once the Kraken’s civilization is eliminated, you will just lay down your weapons and be one big happy family?”

  “We will have our differences, but we’ll resolve them without violence. We’ll keep our fleets because one never knows when a would-be conqueror will raise its ugly head.”

  Jingle smiled, “I like you. You’re not showing any fear when you know I can destroy your species.”

  “You just don’t know how to read my physical movements; I’m plenty scared and I do know you can do what you’re saying.”

  “And just how do you know that?”

  “You’re here and the Kraken’s fleet isn’t. If you suffered huge losses, you wouldn’t have come here, and you certainly wouldn’t have revealed your presence. Oh I know too well you can carry out your threat!”

  Jingle stared at the Slug and then said, “If I don’t attack your civilizations, you know I’ll know the moment you start building up your fleets?”

  “Why would that bother us? We’re being honest about never violating your space and the truth never needs to worry about it being confirmed. You’re welcome to send observers to keep a watch and they will not be in any jeopardy.”

  “Exactly who are you in the scheme of things?” Jingle asked.

  “I am the elected Military Commander of the Four Brothers. I can make agreements for all four civilizations when it involves their safety.”

  Jingle looked at Alex and he nodded. She turned back to the monitor and smiled, “We will not be a threat to you.” Jingle saw the Slug appear to sag slightly and his color changed from white to silver; he really was frightened.

  “Thank you for that.”

  “I’m also going to send you a frequency and if your civilizations are ever in danger, broadcast a warning on that frequency and I will come and assist you,” Jingle added.

  The Slug straightened up, “Is it possible that our civilizations can open trade with you?”

  “We will not allow warships to…”

  “We would never send any!” the Slug interrupted.

  “I’ll get back to you on that,” Jingle replied. “Once we’ve taken a good look at how your civilizations conduct themselves, if everything looks good, I’ll send a group of Envoys to open discussions.”

  “That would be good.”

  Jingle leaned forward, “What do you intend to do now?”

  “We’re going to complete the destruction of the Kraken’s civilization and then move our fleets to the other end of our galaxy to remove them from that territory.”

  “Don’t worry about them; I’ll handle that issue.”

  “I greatly appreciate your assistance. It’s going to take some time for us to recover from the centuries of fear we’ve been facing from the Krakens, but we now have a new beginning.”

  Jingle nodded, “I’ll be in touch.” She ended the contact and Alex touched his helmet, “All ships, prepare to move around the LMC and remove the facilities and aliens that built the small stealth warships.”

  He looked up and Brooks announced, “I’ve sent the gathering coordinates to every ship in the fleet.”

  Alex ordered his fleets, “Launch now and we’ll meet at the coordinates you’ve just received.” Alex turned to Jingle, “Now that was a surprise.”

  “You need only remember back to when we met.”

  “Oh?”

  “The Union had the Wilds surrounded by warships to contain the threat; they’re not so different from us. The Kraken’s civilization was this galaxy’s Nebula Aliens.”

  Alex nodded and released a long breath, “You know we won’t be leaving any survivors.”

  Jingle nodded, “I know. They’d only emerge in the future as another threat to peace.”

  Alex looked up, “Contact Captain Lein and tell him to go to full speed and let’s see if we can beat the Warscouts to the gathering coordinates.”

  Jingle giggled, “Always the little boy.”

  Epilogue

  Jingle sat on the swing on her front porch and swung slowly back and forth. Alex should be home shortly, and she thought about all that had happened since that day she took a small warship and fled to the Forbidden Wilds. So much had changed.

  Mab had gone to the Academy when he was sixteen and requested that he be allowed to take all the final exams at one time. He was greeted with skepticism and allowed to do it because no one believed he could possibly pass them. Jingle chuckled. They didn’t know that the Academy’s entire curriculum had been downloaded into Tinker and Mab was fed the information from the time he was six. He immediately entered the Scout Service and was currently out in the Pin Wheel Galaxy with Barry and Belle scouting to see if any threats existed. She sighed; she missed her children so much. But she knew it would happen one day and they would all go out to live their own lives.

  The Slug had been right about the Four Brothers and there was a huge commercial market developed between them and the Union. She remembered back to that faithful day when she threatened them with destruction…but everything turned out for the best.

  Mike was furious when he learned Alex had disobeyed his direct orders and Alex promptly resigned from the Navy. Mike tried to talk him out of it, but Alex insisted that it was time for new leaders to take his place. Mike argued for weeks but finally resigned himself. Alex had convinced him, without intending t
o do so, that there would be a long period of peace and it was not a good time for a warrior to hang around. Jingle smiled; before Mike resigned, he gave Alex one of the new Super Terminators. Jingle still didn’t know how he pulled that off, but the President of the Union signed off on it. They were possibly the best armed family in the Union.

  Barrow still wouldn’t take their money. She loved visiting there and Barrow loved her coming to visit. The Wilds’ Government and the Union finally combined into one, and now humanity was fully reunited under one government again.

  Alex was shocked when he learned that Jingle had given Dolly all of her retirement fund and savings to invest in Clayton’s business when he arrived on Bucket. That fund was now worth millions and they would never have to worry about supporting themselves.

  She looked out at the huge city that had grown up next to the spaceport on Bucket and sighed; she missed the smallness of the community when she first arrived. Dolly and Joesen were gone most of the time; they left Gerald to manage the Watering Hole and went out to explore the Milky Way. Clayton and Gee had four children of their own and didn’t have much time to visit. Jingle missed them a lot. Alex landed the Warscout and she went to greet him, “Welcome home, honey.”

  Alex kissed her on the cheek and asked, “How’s your day been?” Jingle shrugged. Alex smiled, “I talked with Fleet Admiral Wozniak today and he asked if we’d be interested in helping him with a small issue.”

  “What is that?”

  “He wondered if we would be willing to take the Rapids out to Andromeda and look around.”

  Jingle’s head went back, and she smiled broadly; then her smile faded, “Alex, we can’t go that far away from the children. We’d never see them.”

  “They’re going with us.”

  “WHAT?!”

  “Wozniak knows we’d not go unless they went with us. Belle and Barry are due back here in a week and Michael Alexander will arrive the following week. After their Warscouts are serviced and provisioned, along with the Rapids, we’ll head out to Andromeda.”

  Jingle leapt into his arms and Alex held her tightly. After a moment he said, “Retirement for a warrior can be a very depressing time. I know you’ve never thought of yourself as a warrior, but I can honestly say I’ve never met one better than you.”

  “THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!!” They heard Jangle yell over Jingle’s communicator.

  “Let the good times roll!” Brooks replied over Alex’s communicator.

  Alex laughed, “We’re not the only ones that need to do this.”

  Jingle’s smile was huge, and she knew she needed it more than Alex. She was fleeing the Union again and it never felt as good as it did at that moment.

  The End

  Message me at Saxonandrew@msn.com and let me know your thoughts. I treasure your feedback.

  Books by Saxon Andrew

  The Annihilation Series:

  Love Conquers All

  The Power of a Queen

  A Rose Grows in Weeds

  Tommy’s Tale

  Searcher

  Demon’s Sacrifice

  Finding Keepers

  (The seven books above are also audio books at Audible.com)

  Prequel-Psychic Beginnings

  Searching for a Hero

  Dahlia’s Deception

  Annihilation-The Complete Series Box Set

  The Annihilation Saga:

  Lost Royalty

  The Warrior's Destiny

  No Way Out

  Fight... and They Will Come

  Ashes of the Realm:

  Juliette’s Dream

  Greyson’s Revenge

  Death of an Empire

  The Return of the Realm

  Lens of Time:

  The Pyramid Builders

  Planet Predators

  Pray for the Prey

  The End of Time

  Lens of Time - Star Rover:

  The Worst of Time

  Running Out of Time

  Chosen to Die

  The Fight for Creation:

  Life Warrior

  Scout Warrior

  Ultimate Warrior

  Star Chase:

  The Lost Prince

  (Also an audio book at Audible.com)

  Nowhere to Run

  Nowhere to Hide

  Probe Predators

  Jesse's:

  Jesse’s Starship

  Mike’s War

  Joshua’s Walls

  Nemesis:

  Revenge is Best Served Hot

  The Search for Orion

  Trapped in Time:

  The Time Takers

  Taming a Planet

  Extinction

  Escape to Earth:

  Running From Fate

  Fighting for Space

  Defending Holy Ground

  The Legacy of a Conqueror

  Living Legends

  The Sequel Series to Escape to Earth - Defending Earth:

  Searching for Death Feeders

  Discovery Means Death

  The Death Prophecies:

  The Coming of the Prophet

  The Prophet's Eyes

  The Unknown Enemy Will Kill You

  No Technology is Invincible

  Survival is Never Free

  The Last Prophecy

  Stories from the Filament Universe:

  Gregor’s Run

  A Pirate’s Tale

  Soul of the Swords

  The Death Filament

  Death Never Leaves a Calling Card

  Gregor’s Search

  Jimmy's Dreams Stories:

  Jimmy’s Dreams

  Jimmy’s Dreams II - A Recurring Nightmare

  The Assassins Guild:

  Earth Must be Stopped

  Defending the Colonies

  Rage of the Brotherhood

  The Last Man Standing

  Britannia series:

  The Fight for Britannia

  Saving America

  Fighting for Melbourne

  Fighting for Humanity

  Other:

  The War Against Earth

  The Book of Life

  (a short story)

  The Forbidden Wilds:

  Jingle’s Escape

  Crossing the Styx

  Inevitable War

  Coming Soon:

  Britannia Homecoming – A Small Omission

  About Saxon Andrew

  Saxon Andrew is a former social worker with a degree in Psychology and Education from Mercer University. He has taught school, managed several sales organizations and owned his own business.

  He has devoured science fiction since he first learned to read and his stories are the product of years of personal experience and exposure to the universes created by the genre’s great authors.

  He lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two dogs who still appreciate his sense of humor after all these years. "Dogs are always ready to smile."