Pray for the Prey

by Saxon Andrew

  The Fleet Controller watched his screen as the ship went to the planet and then jumped away. “They waited long enough.” He expected them before but he suspected they didn’t want to take any chances of arriving before the planet’s destruction. He started to turn off his display but saw another ship at the planet. “What is that?”

  The Scanner Controller brought the view in closer and they saw a single small white ship appear above the planet. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “I believe it is, Fleet Controller. It appears one of their ships survived. It must have been away when we attacked.”

  “Where could it have been?”

  “I have no idea. It might have been with the Blue Ships and is just now returning home. No other ships have come so I suspect this is the only surviving ship.”

  “You’re probably right. Keep a record of what it does.”

  “I will, but I’m bothered by its size.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just find it hard to believe that a thousand ships like that could have destroyed our Fleet.”

  The Fleet Controller thought about the comment and said, “I’ll bring this up in my next meeting with the Main Controllers. It does seem impractical.”

  • • •

  Aman Forester and Gretchen Logan sat on board the Attack Craft Earth’s Fury and looked down on their destroyed home. Gretchen sighed, “My husband and daughter were in New York.”

  Aman took a deep breath, “All of my family was around London. They’re all gone now.”

  Gretchen continued to stare at the burned planet below them. After an hour she said, “Are you ready for this?”

  “I am.”

  “I’m actually looking forward to it.”

  Aman just smiled at her. She knew he felt it as well.

  They continued to watch the planet below them, waiting for their orders.

  • • •

  Aman and Gretchen had approached Arvolo several weeks earlier and requested a meeting. Arvolo invited them to the Havana and sat with them and Cyanna in the briefing room. Arvolo said, “What’s on your minds?”

  “We’ve heard that you’re going to send one of our Attack Ships to hit the Violet Ship’s home world.”

  Arvolo stared at them and Cyanna asked, “Where did you hear that?”

  Aman looked at Arvolo and said, “That’s not important; what is important is whether or not it’s true.”

  Arvolo sighed and said, “I am considering an attack on them by just one ship.”

  Cyanna jerked her hear around and said, “You’re what?”

  Arvolo tilted his head and brought it quickly back and said, “Do you really expect the Violet Ships to believe that the Attack Craft they hit on Earth were the ones that destroyed their fleets? We need to hit them with a specially prepared Attack Craft to convince them they really did destroy us and our ships.”

  “Who are you planning to use to pilot that ship?”

  “I was planning to do it myself.” Arvolo saw Cyanna’s expression and held up his hand motioning her to remain silent.

  Aman said, “With all due respect to your piloting skills, you are far too important to take that kind of risk. Attacking their home world with just one ship is tantamount to suicide.”

  “I realize that Captain, but I can’t order someone to take a mission that is suicidal.”

  “You won’t have to do that, Sir; Captain Logan and I respectfully ask to be allowed to fly that mission.”

  Arvolo remained silent just staring at them. They said nothing as well. Finally RV said, “You are two of our best ship commanders.”

  Gretchen said, “And that is why we should be allowed to fly the mission. If it can be done, we have the skills to make it happen.”

  Cyanna asked, “Why are you volunteering for this?”

  Aman looked and Gretchen and she nodded, “Our families were killed when Earth was destroyed. Everyone tells us that we’ll eventually get over it and can start over again. Quite frankly, Sir, I don’t want to start over again. What I want is an opportunity to kick the ever living crap out of the beings that killed my family.”

  Arvolo slowly shook his head, “Captain, I need someone with a cool head flying this mission. The ship we’ve built to go does not have any beams but has three reactors powering only the force field.”

  Aman looked at Gretchen and she was also confused. “Why wouldn’t you want weapons on the ship?”

  “Oh there will be weapons; it will be carrying four heavy strikers to fire at their home world, but the ship will have to make it through tens of thousands of defenders to be able to fire the strikers at the planet.”

  Aman looked at Gretchen and saw her smile for the first time since Earth’s destruction, “Then we are the ones to make that happen. May I assume that the reason for the additional power to the force field is to allow the ship to be able to fly through one of those energy pulses they use?”

  Arvolo looked surprised, “As a matter of fact it is.”

  “Sir, the top speed of those pulses is less than half light speed. The Attack Craft will be faster and more maneuverable.”

  “That’s true, but those energy pulses home in on their target. What happens when you have a million of them coming at you from all directions?”

  Aman said, “You pick the shortest route through them and fly the ship into the pulses.”

  “We aren’t really certain it will be able to survive if it’s forced to do that?”

  Gretchen said, “Then we need to find out. I’ll fly through a thousand of them for an opportunity to make those creatures pay for what they did. “ She stood, walked over to the table, and leaned over it looking into Arvolo’s eyes, “Sir, please let us do this.”

  Arvolo stared into her unflinching eyes and then looked at Aman, “You know you will probably not survive?”

  Aman smiled, “Who wants to live forever? This is something worth doing.”

  Arvolo took a deep breath and said, “Report to Wes and have him familiarize you with the ship. I’ll need you to make it look like your ship was the only survivor of the attack on Earth.”

  “Just tell us what to do.”

  Arvolo stood and said, “Report to your ship and good luck.”

  Aman and Gretchen stood, saluted, and rushed out the door.

  After they closed the door Cyanna said, “What do you mean you were going to fly that mission?”

  Arvolo sat down and slowly shook his head as he took a deep breath. Cyanna watched him and said, “What’s wrong?”

  Arvolo lowered his head and said, “Those two Captains have been instrumental in our success so far against those that would kill us. They are right about being the finest pilots in the fleet. However, neither of them has been able to deal with their grief and their commanders worry about their capability to be trusted in a fire fight. They were going to be grounded.”

  Cyanna said, “That would hurt them even more.”

  “I know. I put the word out in their wings about this mission. I knew they would demand to fly it.”

  Cyanna saw RV’s sorrow and said, “You cannot blame yourself for this. If I were in their place, I would demand the same thing.”

  “I don’t feel remorse for what I’m doing. I just know what they’re going through and I honestly wish I had been given an opportunity to strike out at the ones that murdered my family. I just hate they have to endure their suffering.”

  “When are they going to make the attempt?”

  “When we go after the Moet Royal Family; we hope they will be a distraction to the Violet Civilization.”

  Cyanna stared at RV and said, “You never cease to amaze me at how you put all these pieces together.”

  RV sighed and slowly stood, “Tell that to those fine sailors that are going on a suicide mission. Sometimes the pieces aren’t much fun to put together.” Arvolo left the briefing room and Cyanna felt his pain. War has a way of making people suffer. Aman and Gretchen’s suffering should
be ending soon.”

  Chapter Eight

  The Melbourne, Sydney, and Havana arrived in orbit above the Moet’s former Capital. The Baron appeared on Arvolo’s display and said, “Welcome to our world. What has prompted your visit?”

  Arvolo pushed a button and Tenah also appeared on the display. The Moet looked at him and wondered what was going on. Tenah said, “Don’t look at me; I was told to stand by for this call.”

  George appeared on the Moet’s display and said, “I am going to ask you for some information and you will give it to me.”

  “What information is that?”

  “I want the current coordinates of the Royal Family’s location.”

  The Moet immediately started turning lighter in color, “Why do you need that?”

  “I’m going to play you a recording. It was taken at our home world.”

  Tenah and the Moet watched the destruction of Earth by the Violet Ships. After it was over, they remained silent. George said nothing and waited. The Moet finally said, “You suspect the Royal Family of causing this?”

  George said, “You don’t believe they did it.”

  “I don’t.”

  George immediately sent the two recordings of the meeting with the Violet Ships and the dreadnaught going to check on Earth. He said nothing.

  The Moet felt his rage; how stupid could they be? Did they not know these beings had more than one planet? He paused and then he pulled up the original attack by the prince and saw that at that time there was only one planet. Then he knew that they were right. The High Master had made this happen. The beings in the White Ship continued to remain silent. Tenah said, “Baron, why do you think they did this?”

  “I really don’t understand why they would do it.”

  “If the White Ships were removed, what do you think would be the first thing the High Master would do?”

  Then the Moet understood. They wanted to come and teach the traitors a lesson. Now they could come with the Dreadnaughts and kill everyone they had left behind and the longer he delayed giving the information… He punched his board and said, “I’ve sent you the coordinates.”

  George said, “You will continue under our protection. If you had not agreed to help us we would have watched them destroy your worlds and then followed their fleet back to where it came from.”

  The Baron said, “What about all the other worlds our colonists were moved to?”

  “We know who did this. Unfortunately for them, they keep all the High Masters on one planet, with the lower ranking subordinates on all the others. I suspect the ones remaining may want to later open a dialogue with you. Make sure they understand who is in charge here on your worlds. We will not tolerate a new leader from one of those worlds.”

  “I don’t expect we will be accepting them into our family.”

  George said, “That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say.”

  Arvolo looked at his board and said, “A fleet shuttle has left the Moet’s planet and is moving toward us.”

  George looked puzzled and then he heard, “I request permission to come aboard.”

  Arvolo looked at George and said, “It’s Sasha.”

  George took a deep breath and said, “We are going into a very dangerous situation, Sasha. I assume your son is with you?”

  “He is and we want to go with you.”

  “Sasha, this is going to be a dangerous place for you to be.”

  “Why are you here then?”

  George took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and nodded at Arvolo. Arvolo said, “Open the landing bay and tie down the shuttle upon arrival. Assign the crew quarters and take Sasha and her son to my quarters where they will stay during our mission.”

  Kenny said, “Where are you going to stay?”

  “You know how easy it is for me to sleep in my chair. By the way, I meant to ask you; do I snore?”

  Even George burst out laughing. Kenny said, “Only after you’ve had more than ten beers.”

  Arvolo sighed in relief, “Good, that shouldn’t be a problem until after the mission.”

  Arvolo pushed his panel and said, “You have been cleared for landing in the port landing bay. Welcome aboard Sasha.”

  “Thank you, RV.”

  • • •

  The three huge ships disappeared and Tenah said, “I don’t think I would want to be where they’re going.”

  “The Royal Family was insane to do what they did.”

  “Have they ever acted sane?”

  The Baron thought about the question and said, “No, they have not.”

  “You’ll need to announce that you have accepted the position of High Master and see if anyone challenges you.”

  “I know. I’ve just been reluctant to take that step.”

  “Your reason not to will soon be gone. It’s time for you to move your Realm into a better future.”

  “I think you and I have already started that process and I thank you for your assistance. You have my loyalty and support.”

  Tenah smiled and knew that at least for the short term, great things were starting to happen.

  • • •

  George looked at Arvolo, Kenny and Bob in the briefing room of the Havana and said, “Are you ready?”

  Arvolo nodded and Kenny said, “We should destroy their fleet first.”

  George nodded, “I agree; however, I want one thing done while that is happening.”

  “What is that?”

  George told them and Arvolo smiled and nodded. He was starting to be amazed at the details that George was able to see that he missed. He decided at that moment to go over any future plans with Dolly’s brother.

  George said, “Notify the other ship.”

  Arvolo pushed a button on the communication panel and said, “Cyanna, send the go signal.”

  • • •

  Gretchen and Aman sat in their command chairs looking down at Earth through the view port and felt their grief. The thick layer of clouds still obscured most of the planet and the close ups they saw on their displays when land was occasionally seen were grotesque. Everything was burned in atomic fire and even the birds had died from the lethal radiation. Aman reached over and held her hand and she squeezed his. Aman’s panel chimed and he looked at his screen, “It’s show time.”

  Gretchen said, “I’m taking us out to the probe.”

  “How are you going to take us in?”

  “I’m coming in from above the planet.”

  Aman nodded, “I think that’s a good idea. Their fleet looks like most of it is concentrated in the southern hemisphere over their major space port.”

  “That’s where we’ll try to break through.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “After our little visit to the probe, what do you think they’ll do?”

  Aman smiled, “I suspect they’ll send out invitations to attend our little soiree.”

  “The more the better.”

  “I wish you hadn’t said that.”

  Gretchen smiled and turned Earth’s Fury toward the Violet Probe.

  • • •

  The Scanner Controller looked around his multiple panels and saw the small White Ship power up its force field. He sent the feed to the Fleet Controller and said, “That ship is preparing to move.”

  The Fleet Controller appeared on his panel and they watched the ship turn and move away from the destroyed planet, “Where is it going?”

  The Scanner said, “It is getting bigger so it must be moving toward our probe.”

  “Do you think they can see it?”

  They both watched the small ship getting larger on their screen as it accelerated toward the probe until it arrived a hundred yards away and stopped. “It appears they can, Fleet Controller. What is it doing?”

  The Fleet Controller said, “What if the roles were reversed and you came back to your home and found it destroyed and you were the only survivor. What would you do?”

  The Scanner thought about i
t and said, “I don’t know. That ship has remained in orbit for more than two measures.”

  “And what do you think the creatures on that ship have been feeling as they look down on their world?”

  “I would be getting angry. But why would they come to our probe?” The Fleet Controller remained silent and then the Scanner said, “They’re telling us that they’re coming here to make us pay.”

  “Order the Defense Fleets to action status. They’re telling us they’re coming and daring us to stop them. Do you still wonder if those ships killed our Fleet?”

  “It appears the beings on that small ship aren’t worried about us.”

  “Call in two more Squadrons. Do it now!”

  The Scanner started issuing instructions as he saw the small white ship disappear.

  The Fleet Controller ran to the bridge of his ship and yelled for the Scanner Controller to bring in a view of the area around the Home Hive. He sat down and watched his display until he heard the alarms go off, as the small White Ship appeared directly above the Home Hive about ten units out. He ordered the ships on that side of the Hive to jump between the incoming White Ship and the planet.

  The White Ship accelerated and he was stunned at the approach speed. He ordered more ships to take station above the planet between the defense lines and the Hive. He sent an attack warning to the Hive Controller and continued to watch his display. The Hive Controller appeared on his panel, “What are you doing?”

  “It appears a single small ship survived our attack on that planet we destroyed. It has been orbiting the planet for two measures but had just moved directly to our probe and stopped. Its force field was powered and then it jumped. I believe it is coming here to attempt to take retribution on our world.”

  “Why the massive call up? It’s just one small ship.”

  “That we know nothing about, Hive Controller. I’d rather overreact than make a mistake.”

  The Hive Controller looked back at his panel showing the small white ship and snorted, “Let me know when it’s been destroyed.”

  The Fleet Controller looked at the dark display and decided that he was glad he was on a ship and not on the planet. That small ship had deliberately communicated its intentions and that more than anything else made him worry. It could have just jumped away and attacked without warning but it had chosen to challenge them. Something just didn’t seem right.