by Saxon Andrew
“I see the airlocks on millions of these vessels are open.”
“Mios, starvation is a cruel mistress. I imagine I would rather end it quickly toward the end. At least the explosive decompression of open space would end their suffering quickly.”
“Why aren’t there any bodies floating around?” Jodie waited for an answer, “Ping?”
“When people are starving, they’ll do things they would never do normally.”
Mios shuttered, “Cannibalism.”
“It only delayed the inevitable.”
“Ping, why are we here?” Ping didn’t say anything and Mios said, “You’re in the Admiral’s strike fleet. Surely, you were told something.”
“Mios, fleet believes that there is a civilization that is planning to attack the Realm. Two of our ships have been destroyed and the Algeans think the attacker must have had access to Realm technology to build ships to counter us. They believe that ships from this location were taken and studied.”
“I thought Searcher Class Ships would self-destruct before falling into an enemies’ possession?”
“Jodie, some of these ships have blaster burns on them. I suspect enough of them were damaged to allow them to be collected.”
“Who fired blasters at them?”
“I suspect that before the Searchers finally accepted their fate, there was some blame placed on those that trapped them here. There must have been a mini civil war during the initial discovery of what happened. I know I wouldn’t have taken this without some anger.”
“I do notice that there are gaps in the ranks among those with blaster burns.”
“Where do you see that, Mios?”
“I’ve just sent you the coordinates.”
Ping hit his communicator, “Captain Elliott, I wish to take two Searchers and examine some of the ships in this fleet.”
“Why?”
“One of my friends has spotted a gap in the ranks among the ships that have blaster burns. I’d like to take a closer look.”
“Send me your findings.”
“Yes Sir.” Ping activated Jodie and Mios’ frequency, “Come with me. We’re going to take a look.” The three ships left the ranks of the ships surrounding the giant fleet and moved into its ranks.
“Ping?”
“Yeah, Mios?”
“If what you say is true about another civilization building to attack the Realm, if they did take ships from here, don’t you think they might be watching these ships to make sure they’re not disturbed.”
Ping had been feeling a sense of danger the moment he arrived at the ghost fleet but had chalked it up to the depression of seeing the magnitude of death. He focused on the feeling and hit his communicator, “Sir, is there a possibility that we might be watched by those we suspect came here?”
“What do you mean, Kendel?”
“I suggest you order our ships into the ranks of these ships; we might be attacked if they are keeping watch.”
Captain Elliott saw the danger a moment before ten thousand of his ships exploded.
• • • • •
Ping saw the Grey Ships appear and start firing on the Searchers outside the millions of dead ships. He hit his teleport board to join the fighting and nothing happened. He activated his null jump drive and it was also not working. He hit his panel and Commodore Jenson appeared, “Sir, we are under attack by a fleet that is twice our number. A teleport and null drive suppression field has been activated and we are unable to jump away.”
Jenson’s expression showed his shock and he said, “Hold out, I’m sending help.”
Ping looked out at the battle and saw that the Realm’s Searchers were being chewed up. Whoever the enemy was, they had managed to get close enough to open fire before they were detected and their plan was extraordinarily good. Only ten thousand Searchers managed to make it into the ranks of the derelict ships and they were being pursued by more than ten enemy ships each.
“Mios, Jodie, move into the center of this fleet and use the Searchers to shield yourselves until help can arrive. Stay close to the area of the blasted ships.”
“Why there?”
“That’s where they’re getting the ships to study and they might be reluctant to fire indiscriminately. Now move!”
Ping watched the enemy dispatch fifty ships to kill him and his friends. They were coming fast but his ship was faster. He knew help would not arrive before they were attacked. His fear was palatable and his mind seemed to explode. He flew his ship into the center of the blasted ships and suddenly stopped next to a dead Searcher Vessel and turned off all his power. “Ping, where are you?”
“Mios, I want you and Jodie to flee from those ships and bring them toward the dead Searcher with the blaster burn that looks like a star. Do you see it?”
“I do; why!”
“I’m going to try something to slow them down and I need them moving in that direction.”
Ping activated his armor and it appeared around him. He energized the blaster and then deactivated it. He stripped off all his clothes and looked out of the hull with his eyes and saw the enemy ships bearing down on his position. He saw the ship’s coordinates in his mind and he teleported into the ship’s bridge and activated his armor.
• • • • •
The pilot of the enemy ship was shocked when the creature appeared on his ship. His shock grew as the creature was surrounded by a red glowing armor and raised a hand weapon at him. That was his last thought.
Ping rushed over and grabbed the controls out of the dead pilot’s hands and pulled a slide control on the panel bringing the ship to a stop. He looked out and saw a ship moving to line up a shot at Jodie and his armor disappeared and he vanished.
Jodie and Mios were totally defensive and were flying between the dead vessels at a velocity that was border line insane. Mios saw an enemy ship suddenly come in from the side lining up to hit him and it came to a stop. It had to be Ping’s doing. He whipped around another ship and was barely missed by two intensely bright beams. He dove under another dead Searcher as two more Grey Ships roared in on him from head on. Everywhere, enemy ships were coming to a stop and hanging in space.
• • • • •
“Director, twenty of our ships have stopped and are not responding.”
“What!”
“They’re just hanging in space and doing nothing, they’ve not responded to any of our messages.”
“We can’t allow the Realm access to those ships. Destroy them.”
“Director, their force fields are still active.”
“Move all our ships in and destroy those ships, NOW!!”
Mios saw the vast enemy fleet start moving in toward them, “This doesn’t look good.”
“Shut up and fly!”
• • • • •
The first to arrive at the site of the battle was a Searcher squadron. They saw the destroyed remains of thousands of their fellow Searchers. “Sir, we should wait for other ships to arrive; to go in would be suicide.”
“Where one is in need, pain, or harm…”
“What?”
“You may wait for the other ships to arrive. I’m not going to stand by and watch two of our own killed.” Eric Pederson hit his thrusters and accelerated toward the enemy ships. Later, there was a huge disagreement over how long it was before the other two hundred ships followed him. The best guess was less than half a second.
• • • • •
“Director, we are being attacked from open space.”
The Director saw explosions on his display and yelled, “The Realm has arrived; the suppression fields will be terminated in five, four, tree, two, one, and now JUMP AWAY!”
Ping shot the last pilot just before he pushed his jump button. He looked around the ship and saw that the enemy had jumped away from the derelict fleets. He teleported back to his ship and activated his systems. He saw the squadron of Realm Searchers at the edge of the fleet and said, “You arrived just in time.�
��
Eric heard the voice and smiled, “Are you named Ping?”
Ping looked at the ship that sent the message and smiled, “It’s a small universe, Sir.”
“Indeed it is.” At that moment, three hundred thousand Searchers emerged into normal space, “What’s going on here?”
Eric pushed his communicator, “The enemy removed their suppression fields and jumped away, Sir.”
Did any of our ships survive?”
Ping answered, “Three of us managed to avoid destruction, Sir.”
“Report to Fleet Admiral Kosiev’s office, immediately. I want all your records sent to me and the Admiral prior to your arrival.”
“Sir, there are thirty enemy ships that have been stopped. Before I leave, I need to go and deactivate their force fields.” Commodore Jenson was stunned at the remark. “How will you make that happen?”
Ping knew his cover was blown and there was no sense in denying it. “I’ll teleport in and turn them off, Sir.”
“How can you do that?”
“I’ll send you the records from my armor, Sir. That should explain it.”
• • • • •
Jensen watched as the thirty enemy ships’ force fields disappeared and the three Searchers teleported away. He fell back in his chair and heard Eric Pederson say over an open channel, “I knew there was something about him that was different.”
• • • • •
Ping sat on board his ship waiting for the Admiral to call him to his office. He pulled up the latest news reports from Ross and was amazed at the magnitude of the history that had been made on the planet. He moved to the next page and saw a photo of the Royal Family on the highest spire at Castle Gardner waving at a massive gathering celebrating the new tax code that had reduced the income taxes by one percent. He brought the picture in closer and saw Nicole. Unlike the other members of the Royal Family that were waving and smiling at the crowd, she was looking off into space with an expression that was difficult to explain. It was either melancholy or detachment. She wasn’t smiling…but she wasn’t frowning either. She was beautiful but it was clear she was not happy. He felt something in his chest and he quickly turned the page. He looked outside the hull of his ship at the Castle and sighed; he wished…but then his communicator activated, “Please report to the Admiral’s office.” Ping slowly shook his head and went to face the music.
• • • • •
Admiral Kosiev questioned Ping for more than an hour about how he was able to teleport through the enemy’s force fields. Ping explained that the Realm had discovered centuries earlier that a warrior could teleport through a force field if they were not wearing any clothes. He used that technique to jump inside the enemy’s ships and activated his armor as soon as he appeared and killed the pilots.
“Lt. Kendel, you weren’t carrying a force field with you. How were you able to teleport out from the first ship?”
Ping stared at the Admiral and said, “I was born with the ability to teleport just using my mind, Sir.”
Lex stared at the Searcher and showed his disbelief. Suddenly, Ping disappeared and reappeared across the room. Les was startled for an instant and then shook his head, “Why have you been hiding this ability?”
“I want to control my destiny, Sir. I choose to be a Searcher and I know there are others that have different plans for me.”
Les tilted his head, “Are you saying you’re the one the Cats have been seeking to find?”
“I believe I am.”
“And you choose not to do their bidding?”
“That is correct.”
Lex slowly shook his head, “You need to have a discussion with them.”
“I won’t change my mind, Sir.”
“You need to tell them that.” Ping sighed and Kosiev transmitted a set of coordinates to Ping’s wrist unit. “Report back to my office when you finish your conversation.” Ping nodded, looked at the coordinates, and disappeared.
Chapter Eight
The Elite Military Director stood in front of the four Pack Rulers and saw their anger. The Realm had captured twenty of their warships and they were furious. He stared at them feeling no fear and his teeth were bared, letting them know that he was not intimidated. He glanced at his Pack Leader and saw he respected his courage. The eldest of the four lifted a blaster and pointed it at the Director and still he showed no fear. “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t kill you on the spot?”
“Because you don’t have anyone else as good as I am at leading our forces.”
“You lost twenty of our warships to the Realm.”
“So…what of it. It won’t do them any good.”
“How can you say that!?!”
“Because we sent a signal to all of those ships that erased their computers; they won’t be able to find us and there’s nothing they can use against us even if they take those ships apart piece by piece.”
“They’ll see our weapons and develop a counter to them.”
“Not without building an entirely new ship that doesn’t use the basic technology the Realm has developed over thousands of years. They’ll have to start at ground level uncovering entirely new systems that use different frequencies. They won’t be able to do that for a very long time. This conflict will be over long before that happens.”
“They still outnumber us by the millions.”
“But they don’t know where we live and we’re continuing to build our numbers. Time is on our side in this and losing ships would have eventually happened anyway. They gained no advantage.”
“What about those Cats? Won’t they be able to see us?”
“If they could; they would have already shown up. It appears we are invisible to them.”
“Why is that?”
The Director shrugged, “I have no idea. However, they’ve not found our home worlds yet and, if they were able to see us, they would have come here after we destroyed the first Searcher.”
The Elder looked at the other three Pack Leaders and saw them staring at him with their eyes narrowed to slits. He knew they did not support his intent to kill the Director and he put the blaster away. He should have just shot him without opening a conversation and now he had lost the initiative. He stared at the Director as the Second Pack Leader said, “What are you going to do now?”
“We are going to attempt to reduce their numbers. I’m sending hunter killer teams out to ambush their ships wherever we find an opportunity. In the meantime, we’ll continue to build our inventory of warships.”
The Director’s Pack Leader smiled, “Let us know if we can do anything to support your efforts.”
“Just leave me alone and stop calling me in to meetings that serve no purpose. I have too much to do to take time away from our fleets.”
The Elder snarled and said, “If we call you in again, there won’t be much time wasted, Director.”
The other three Pack Leaders agreed; this disrespect would not be tolerated again.
The Director saw he had lost some support from the three Junior Leaders but he didn’t care. His species was known for its aggressive behaviors and he was one of the most dangerous. He bowed and walked out of the huge chamber.
The Elder looked at the other three, “Is he right that no one can replace him?”
“He is.”
The Elder shook his head, “If he acts that way again toward us, I don’t care if the replacement won’t be as effective. I’ll blast him.”
The other three could only look at him and nod.
• • • • •
Ping arrived in a clearing at night and saw a giant Northern Mountain Cat lounging under some trees staring at the night sky. He looked up and was stunned by the breathtaking grandeur of millions of stars that covered the sky from horizon to horizon. The beauty of the sky was incredible. “This planet was once a Regional Capital of the Old Stars Realm.” Ping looked at the Cat and heard its thoughts. “This is where my species developed and where the Zord f
irst made an alliance with your species.”
Ping stared thinking and the Cat said, “You will have to speak; I can’t hear your thoughts.”
Ping was surprised, “You can’t?”
“No, it appears you have developed the skills to avoid being seen by us. By the way, my name is Rider.”
Ping nodded to the Cat, “My name is Ping.”
“I know; we’ve learned a lot about you since your last battle. We’ve been looking for you a long time.”
“I know.”
The Cat was surprised by the response, “Why have you been avoiding us?”
“I will not submit to someone else determining my destiny. I will choose how I live my life.”
The giant Cat sat up on its haunches, “You are needed to defend our Creation.”
“I’ll do that by fighting for the Realm as a Searcher.”
“That was not the purpose of your development.”
“I don’t care what that purpose was; I will live my own life as I choose.”
“There is great danger if you don’t accept your role in the coming conflict.”
“Then someone else will have to handle it; I will not be your tool.”
“You must not resist your destiny!”
“I’m not; I’m just deciding what it will be.”
Rider stared at the small human and saw his stubbornness. This was not acceptable. He argued with Ping for two hours and at the end he sighed and went back to the ground, “You have no idea of the suffering you are going to cause by your selfishness.” Ping stared at the Cat and refused to argue any further. Rider shook his head and looked back up at the sky and ignored Ping. Ping’s eyes narrowed and he teleported away.
“He can’t do this!”
Rider looked at Tory, who had teleported to the clearing, and shook his head, “Unfortunately, we have been given free will and he can’t be forced to do as we want.”
“Is there another that can do it?”
“If there is, we’ve not seen any evidence of their existence.”
“Surely, he is not the only tool for this!”
Rider sighed, “Of that, we can only pray.”
