by Saxon Andrew
“Fleet has confirmed that if we can hit their ships with four beams all within two seconds, the fifth will break through. That fifth beam will have to target one of three locations; the reactors, the force field generators, or the missile ports. A hit on any of those will take out the ship. If the force field goes down, the ship is open for a hit anywhere on its hull.”
“I wonder if there’s any way to increase the power of our beams.”
“There is one way.”
“What is that?”
“We fire from less than ten feet from the surface of the force field.”
“Just how are we going to make that happen?”
“I notice that your mother has an invisibility field. Do you also have one?”
“I do.”
“How large is it?”
“It’s grown since the cliffs. I can cover a mile by half a mile.”
“Think about this. It’s going to take three ships to take out one of theirs. If we go into their formations and you cover our squadron and three ships drop out as we pass their ships, you should be able to get twenty ships attacked in a very short period of time. You can jump back to the start and the first ships can go back under your field and you can retrieve the others on a fly back along the line you came in. We’ll then continue the process on the next twenty.”
“Ken, this timing is impossible.”
“Pixie, our pilots will be hearing the music. Once they have trained and learned the patterns until they’re second nature, they can do it without thinking. We’ll hold six ships in reserve to take the place of any that are destroyed and we’ll have a reserve of ships constantly training on the patterns.”
“You expect to lose ships.”
“I hope we don’t. I know one pattern that should always be followed. Hope for the best but plan for the worst.”
“Just how long will it take to drop our ships and retrieve them?”
“If the pattern I see is accurate, you’ll need to drop all of them in less than two seconds to be back at the first ship attacked to retrieve the others.”
“What happens if I’m late?”
“The pilots at the first ship will teleport to the next ship that was destroyed and join that group of three. They’ll continue to move to the next ship until you arrive. If this works there should be at least sixteen ships blowing up for them to get next to. I guess the critical element in making this work is can you fly by twenty ships in less than two seconds?”
Pixie thought about it and said, “Let’s go see.”
“How do you want to do this?”
“We’ll fly through the Realm Fleet above the Ross system and see if I can do it and if they can see me while it’s happening.”
“Are you going to notify them we’re coming?”
“What would be the fun in that?”
“I was afraid you were going to say that. Your ship or mine?”
“Since we’re doing this to check out my abilities, we should take mine.”
“This should prove interesting.”
“If you’re scared, say you’re scared.”
“I’m scared.”
Chapter Eighteen
The speaker arrived at the Beetle’s location and approached it. “What happens if we agree to continue to grow your crops and find it is not something we want?”
The Beetle raised its head and after a moment said, “Then tell us to leave.”
“And you’ll do it?”
“This place is no longer part of our domain. You control what happens here.”
“I just find it hard to believe it’s that simple.”
“We have seen that those that are afflicted by emotions use falsehoods in their dealings with each other. Deception is not something we do. It’s not logical.”
“We have decided to take you up on your offer to assist us to become independent.”
“I’ll notify my Supremacy and we’ll begin rebuilding momentarily.” The Beetle looked at the sky again and said, “He will arrive tomorrow to determine what you want done first.”
The speaker stared at the Beetle and hated it but began respecting it against his will. He turned and walked out in the field and told the newly elected leaders what was going to happen. Vremel contacted Fleet and they sent the message to Sam.
• • •
“Now that wasn’t so bad.”
“Easy for you to say; you’re accustomed to flying that close to ships that are on alert and don’t know you’re coming.”
“Well, they didn’t see us.”
“There is that. I clocked you at one and a half seconds on your best time and two point four on you worst.”
“Yeah but my worst time was my first. I got better each time.”
Ken nodded and Pixie heard, “Pixie, I need you and Ken to go to a planet tomorrow to meet with one of the Blue Ship Leaders.”
Pixie immediately felt her anger rise, “I am probably not the best one to send, mom. Those creatures killed Mitch.”
“That’s true but you facilitated Russell being able to communicate with them and something profound is taking place. We need to send someone there that can hear the music. Sam and I agree that Ken should be the one to go.”
Pixie remained silent and Jixie said, “Pixie, they’re freeing all the planets they’ve enslaved. It appears that they want to be able to hear the music again.”
Pixie still remained silent and Ken said, “We’ll be there, Your Highness. Please send us the coordinates.”
Pixie looked at Ken with rage on her face and said, “Who gave you the right to speak for me!?”
Ken stared at Pixie and saw a pattern. Pixie saw his expression and her rage vanished. Ken lowered his head and then looked her in the eyes, “If Mitch’s death leads to billions of slaves being freed, he will be remembered as the leader whose unit made it happen. His legacy deserves that recognition. Your own selfish anger at those creatures will prevent history from knowing how important he is in the history of the Realm. Contact your mother, please.”
Jixie said, “I’m still here.”
“I will not go there with Pixie. If you will go with me, I will try to open a dialogue with those creatures.”
“The two of you should work this out.”
“I’ve seen all I need to know, Your Highness. Please do as I request.”
“I’ll come and get you.”
Pixie looked at Ken and said, “What’s wrong?”
Ken turned, walked off the bridge and teleported to his ship. Pixie watched him go and wondered what she had done. “Mom, what did I do?”
“You showed him your true feelings.”
“What do you mean?”
“Who other than him has the right to speak for you? Mitch is not around to do it. You didn’t even trust his judgment as to why he wanted you to go. You demonstrated to him that Mitch’s ghost is more important than he is. I would have walked away too, Pixie.”
“But we’re going to have to work together. He should know he’s important to me.”
“What do you think Mitch would have done if you told him what you just said to me?” Jixie looked down at her console and said, “I have just received a transfer request from Ken.”
“I don’t understand!”
“Let me help you, Dear. I’m going to send you the image of you yelling at Ken and I want you to pay close attention to your expression.” Pixie watched the images and saw the rage and hatred on her face. “You just revealed your inner self to a man that can see patterns better than anyone I’ve ever seen. He looked into your soul Pixie and found you wanting. He loves you and what you just did hurt him more than you know. He has taken his ship to Fleet Headquarters. I am not going to lose him. I am going to assign him to my squadron.”
“Should I try to tell him I didn’t mean it that way?”
“He’ll know you’re lying.” Jixie paused and said, “I’ve never been ashamed of anything you’ve ever done.”
Pixie thought, “Until no
w.”
Jixie said, “Until now.”
• • •
Ken teleported in to Sam’s squadron and Jixie teleported to his ship. “Ken, try to understand…”
“Your Majesty, I do understand. I knew going in that she loved Mitch. She’s never once said she loves me. She said she missed me and was bored when I wasn’t there. She says she likes being around me. I don’t blame her; I really don’t. I’m just not able to compete with a ghost and the pain would be too much to see her now and know what is in her heart. I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
Jixie looked at Ken, “What about you?”
Ken slowly lowered his head and shook it, “I enlisted to be near her. But now I see the real danger these new enemies represent and I can’t turn my back on defending the Realm. I know my talents and the Realm needs them. I’ll be alright.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Don’t blame her. She is the most remarkable woman I’ve ever met. You do have a wonderful daughter. You should be proud.”
Pixie sat on her ship as she listened to Ken and felt her heart breaking. She was confused and felt lost. She said, “Mom, I’m going home.”
“I’ll meet you there after we meet with the Blue Leader.”
“I want to be left alone, Mom.”
“That’s when you should not be alone, my love.”
Ken looked at Jixie, “What?”
“Pixie is going home. She’s really in a fog mentally.”
Ken turned and looked out of the view port. “Let’s get this done, Your Highness. She’s not alone.”
• • •
The Supreme Beetle looked at the chosen speaker for the inhabitants and said, “What do you want us to do first?”
“We want our cities back and some farm machinery that will make the plantings and harvestings easier.”
“We will start work on your ten largest cities first. However, I’m afraid the machinery we use would not function for anyone without our mental abilities.”
“We can help with that issue.”
The Beetle and Speaker turned around and saw two strange beings standing behind them. The Beetle looked at them and said, “I was hoping you would find us again.”
Jixie thought, “We will send some farming equipment here and it can be paid for at a later date.”
The Speaker said, “How will we pay you?”
“With what you grow. Your productivity should go up tremendously and it will take fewer of you to tend your fields.”
“Who are you?”
The Beetle said, “They are the ones that taught us about the entity.”
Jixie looked at the inhabitants and thought where they could all hear, “Your hatred of this species is misplaced. They’re not evil. They just didn’t have all the facts. Once they learned the truth, they changed what they were doing.”
The Speaker said, “You haven’t lived under their control.”
Jixie said, “You don’t know what control really is. Allow me to show you what the really evil species do with planets they conquer.”
Jixie sent images of planets conquered by the Swarm, Demons, Black Ships, and many other truly evil civilizations. Even the Beetle was shocked at what he saw. He looked at Jixie and said, “Will we be excluded from hearing the music?”
Jixie smiled, “The very fact that you could hear it in one of our minds tells me that once you complete your growth, you’ll be allowed to hear her.”
“May I hear her now?”
Jixie looked at Ken and he sent the music to everyone gathered around the Supreme Beetle. Jixie thought to Ken, “Let them hear it for a while.”
Ken sat down and broadcast the music for an hour. Then he stopped. The Supreme Beetle continued to hear it for another thirty minutes and then it faded. Everyone present could see the immediate change in the Beetle’s posture. “Thank you.”
Ken said, “I haven’t sent the music to you for the last thirty minutes. You heard it on your own.”
“Really!”
Jixie said, “That tells me that you are moving in the right direction.”
The Speaker looked at the Beetle and said, “Now I understand.” All of the inhabitants nodded.
The Supreme Beetle looked around and said, “We just didn’t know about her.”
The Speaker smiled, “And now you do.” He looked around and said, “And we do as well.” He looked at the Beetle and said, “Let’s build something special here.”
The Beetle actually changed colors as it said, “That is exactly what we’re here to do.”
Jixie looked at the Beetle and said, “I need to know how to contact you.”
The Beetle sent a frequency to her mind and said, “Use it when you need us.”
Jixie smiled and said, “Thank you.”
Suddenly the Beetle looked around and heard the music all around him. He looked at Jixie and she said, “The inhabitants are able to hear the music. Any time you want to hear it come here.”
The Beetle shook, “You don’t know how much the Nest is going to fight over whom gets to come here to build.”
The Speaker smiled, “That is a very good thing for us.”
Ken and Jixie teleported away and Ken found himself in Pixie’s room in Castle Gardner. He started to get angry but heard Pixie softly crying on her bed. He looked at her with her eyes closed and tears falling and heard Jixie say in his mind, “I have prevented her from seeing you. If you want to leave, I’ll send you to your ship.”
Ken continued to stare at Pixie and then he went forward and put his hand on her shoulder and said, “I’ll come back and work with you, Pixie.”
Pixie’s eyes flew open and she saw him beside her. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck and wept. Ken stroked her hair, “Shhhhh, it’s going to be alright. I won’t walk away again.”
She leaned back and punched him on the arm and went back to hugging his neck, “You should know that I have demons inside me. You know what I went through when I lost Mitch. I can’t bear losing another man I love. I just can’t bear it.”
Ken looked at her and tilted his head, “What are you telling me?”
“It took this to make me see it. I don’t want to live without you. I can’t live without you.”
Ken pulled her close and saw the new pattern. Mitch’s ghost had left with Pixie’s rage. He held her tight and continued to stoke her hair until her tears stopped. “I’ll always be here.”
Pixie sniffled, “Just make sure you don’t forget it.”
Ken kissed her on the forehead and said, “I won’t. I have a good memory.”
Pixie wrapped her arms around ken’s neck and really kissed him for the first time. This was a moment Ken would always remember and the pattern fit him perfectly.
• • •
Sam, Jixie, Ken, and Pixie were in Sprigly’s office and Sprigly was analyzing Ken’s attack patterns. The four watched him and Sam said, “There must have been some thought put behind those patterns.”
Ken looked at Sam, “Why do you say that?”
“For an Algean to take this long is surprising.”
“The patterns do involve an enemy ship’s angle to the attack and the angle of the beams on its hull; the ship’s speed also plays a role in which pattern will work best.”
Sprigly thought, “Now that is interesting.”
Sam said, “How so?”
“If the correct pattern is chosen, the enemy is probably going to end up with a dead ship.”
Ken said, “But you have concerns about them.”
Sprigly looked at Ken and said, “How do you know that?”
“It’s clear in the way you move your branches.”
“You have got to be kidding me. Are you able to read my body language?”
“The minute color change when you completed your analysis also gives away your concern.”
Sprigly stared at Ken and said, “You might be the first human to ever be able to do that. However, w
hat do you think my conclusion is?”
“Humans won’t be able to make the proper decisions in time.”
Sprigly just stared at Ken. Sam said, “Sprigly, is he right?”
Sprigly shook himself and said, “I’m sorry; I was looking at Mr. Clarke’s mind and was lost in the intricacies. I don’t think we’ve ever seen a mind structured like yours.”
Pixie said, “What do you mean?”
“The power I see there is…different. You should possess massive psychic abilities but I don’t detect a psychic field around you.”
“I’m not psychic, Sprigly.”
“Well, you should be and you’re right, which is another shock. Humans will not be able to make decisions fast enough to make this work.”
Pixie said, “But Ken can do it.”
Sprigly raised a branch and said, “Ok, then bring me sixty other humans with a mind just like his and I’ll change my mind.”
Sam said, “I don’t think we have any others like him.”
Ken said, “You’re going to suggest we use Algeans to fly our ships.”
“Are you a freaking mind reader?”
“No, but the pattern is clear. What species in the Realm has the fastest reflexes, makes millions of computations a second, can stay mentally connected to the other crews?”
Sam said, “Only the Algeans.”
Ken said, “Are there any that would want to fly with us?”
Sprigly put a branch under his flowering head and said, “Let me see….we don’t have more than several billion at this moment.”
Ken started laughing and Sprigly said, “Tell me I fooled you that time.”
“You meant to say trillion.”
“Drat. You’re good.”
Jixie said, “Sam and I have looked at your plan and we think we’ve come up with a better solution.”
Ken looked at Jixie and said, “You’re planning to join us.”
Jixie leaned back and Sprigly said, “Welcome to shocksville, Your Highness.”
“That is exactly what we’re planning. How do you see us doing it?”
“I developed this plan around using Pixie to get into their ranks. The real danger is that she is delayed getting back to the first ships to allow them to hide in her invisibility field. If there are two invisibility fields, the first ships will go in and attack and the second field will pick them up as it moves into the enemy’s ranks. The second field will then move ahead into the next targets and deliver its ships and the ships from the first attack. The first field will wait for the second to pass and pick up the ships as they complete their assignments. The first will continue forward and drop the ships at new targets while the second waits for it to pass. This process could be used all the way across an enemy’s formation.”
