Jesse's Starship 3: Joshua's Walls

by Saxon Andrew

  Josh did a double take and looked at Latna. He smiled, “You can hear what he thinks in my mind and he can hear what you think.”

  Josh looked at the Weg, “Why haven’t you attacked us?”

  “From my point of view, you are the attackers.”

  Josh paused a moment and said, “We’re here to retake the planet you invaded.”

  The Weg stared at him and Latna raised his helmet. Josh heard, “Everyone will remain silent!” Latna looked around and lowered his helmet to his side. “There is no one on this planet but us.”

  “That’s because you killed most of the inhabitants and all life on the surface. The original inhabitants we managed to move to another planet want their world back.”

  “None of us here know anything about who was here prior to our hatching. However, this is the only home we’ve ever known.”

  Josh stared at the Weg and could hear its thoughts clearly. It honestly didn’t know about the Queen stealing the planet from its inhabitants. “I believe you don’t know about taking the planet from its rightful owners but I am here to give it back to them.”

  The Weg actually shrugged which was amazing to Josh. The raising of its shoulders couldn’t have been anything else. “Tell them to come and take it.”

  “We won’t do that until the danger you represent is removed.”

  “Danger?”

  “Yes. I can’t allow you to attack them.”

  “We’re not going to attack them. Are you?”

  Josh tilted his head, “You’re not making sense. You have attacked any one that set foot on this planet with massive numbers. According to my best estimate, there are still more than a billion of you underground.”

  The Weg shrugged again, “Closer to two billion is a more accurate number. However, we won’t be attacking anyone. That’s why I flew here. We didn’t want you to get bored waiting on us to show up.”

  Josh shook his head, “I don’t understand. Help me to see what you’re saying.”

  The Weg looked over his shoulder in the direction of the distant crater, “I think you realize that you killed our Mother.” Josh nodded. “All of us are hatched with specific duties and functions inside of us. All of us have the primary function of defending our Mother. Everything else is secondary. Can you understand that?”

  “I think so.”

  “When you managed to kill her, along with all the Royal Eggs she had stored away, all of us lost our direction. How can we defend something that’s dead?”

  “I would think you’d want to take revenge on the ones that killed her.”

  Josh swore he heard a laugh in the Weg’s mind before it said, “We’re not built that way. We receive our instructions and we follow them. If there’s no one giving us instructions…”

  Josh said, “You do what?”

  “Stand around and look at each other. Our entire reason for living is gone.”

  Josh stared at the Weg and thought, “Surely there is one of you that is a leader and can direct your actions?”

  The Weg looked up and said, “Actually, I’m the eldest leader alive and I was hatched to follow instructions, not give them. Every leader that sent us directives died with our Mother. That explosion pretty much killed every one of us that implemented Mother’s instructions.”

  Josh stared at the Weg and had to ask, “I’ve always wondered how your species could fly into certain death knowing you were going to die?”

  “You obviously think free will exists.”

  “What?”

  “You sound like you believe in free will; you know, being able to make a decision that is independent of outside forces.”

  “I believe that I can choose to step to my left or right and the decision is my own to make.”

  “I can argue that it’s not but I don’t want to take the time to do it. If our Mother tells us to do something, we do it. We have no freedom to do anything else.”

  “But you know you’re going to die.”

  “I actually don’t know anything except what I’ve been told to do. Anything else is not something that enters my mind.”

  “What about now? You have no one to tell you what to do. You’re free to make your own decisions.”

  “That might be true if we could make decisions.”

  “So what will you do?”

  “We’ll eat, talk with each other, and walk around.”

  “For how long?”

  “Until my life expectancy is over.”

  Josh sighed and then had a thought, “What if a new Mother is sent here?”

  “Then we’ll act.”

  “Act?”

  “We will attack her and kill her and any offspring she creates.”

  “Why?”

  “Our Mother would never allow another Mother to come to her home and she inserted that prohibition in all of her children. We would never allow another Mother here.”

  “What if the Mother is one of her offspring?”

  “Especially not one of them.”

  “Then what good were the Royal Eggs she laid if you would kill them as soon as they hatched?”

  “Those eggs will have the proper smell from our home. A Mother from another home will smell…different.”

  The Weg stood up and extended its wings, “Anyway, we won’t be coming here to see you. I heard your invitation and it demanded an answer.”

  Josh smiled and thought, “If I come to see you, you will come and communicate with me!”

  The Weg tilted its head and said, “Of course.” It flapped its wings and lifted off the ground. It turned away from the huge formation of warriors and slowly lifted into the morning sky.

  Latna put on his helmet quickly, “They’re discussing the meeting with you.”

  “Did you sense anything while we were talking?”

  “He was being remarkably honest, General. It was like he wanted something.”

  Josh smiled, “They do.”

  Latna looked up at Josh, “What?”

  “They want someone to tell them what to do.” Josh shook his head and walked over to the front ranks. Rumel and Tindel stepped out and Josh said, “I’ll be sounding recall momentarily. Get your units ready to jump.”

  Rumel said, “What’s going on?”

  “I’m not quite sure but I think we might have something remarkable taking place here. I’ll tell you about it after I speak with Colonel Adams.”

  Rumel shrugged, “Are you sure you couldn’t convince them to attack us?”

  Josh smiled, “Actually, I think I could.”

  Rumel’s head went back as Josh walked away. He looked at Tindel, “Then why didn’t he?” Tindel raised his left shoulder and lifted his heavy rifle.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Bart and Kim walked through the cafeteria line and went to their table. They sat down and Kim said, “It appears no one is curious about our patch.”

  Bart smiled, “You know how it works. He leaned across the table and whispered, “Someone is going to be curious. When they look up our patch…” Bart shrugged.

  Suddenly, they heard across the large dining room, “HOLY WEG ON A PIKE!! WILL YOU LOOK AT THIS!?!”

  Bart looked at Kim and raised his eyebrows. She smiled and said, “Don’t look, don’t look!”

  Bart looked out of the corner of his eye and saw large numbers of Special Forces Warriors moving toward a table on the back wall. Their voices grew louder as they started rushing between the tables toward Bart and Kim. Captain Anderson led the charge and arrived slightly ahead of the others, “Tell me this is true!”

  Bart looked up at Anderson and tilted his head. He smiled and then nodded.

  Other Warriors came rushing up and one that just arrived yelled, “What’s going on?”

  Anderson was shaking his head, “It seems that two of our own have killed the first Weg Queen in Combat.”

  The roar of voices grew and finally Anderson held up his arms and put his hand on Bart’s shoulder, “Tell us what you did!” Anderson
’s eyes suddenly narrowed and he lifted his hand and looked. He looked across the table at Kim and said loudly, “We have two new Majors.”

  The room grew deathly silent. The Special Forces highest rank was Colonel. The next highest was Captain. This was the first instance of the rank of Major being used. Anderson yelled, “Warriors, Attteennnshun!”

  Bart nodded to Kim and she stood up and returned their salute, “As you were.” She looked at Bart and said, “It’s your call.”

  Bart shook his head and smiled, “I really planned to show off but I really think all of you deserve to see what happened. If one of you will activate the main monitor, I’ll link my communicator to it and play the recording fleet made of the attack.”

  Chairs were moved in front of the huge monitor and word went out that a Weg Queen had been killed by two of their own. The rush to the cafeteria was instant and the room was quickly standing room only. Bart stood up and said, “This is the drop that was made by General Adam’s division. I’m going to play it from the moment they left orbit and allow you to hear actual communications that took place. We’ll answer any questions you might have at the conclusion.”

  Kim listened to Bart and had never heard him speak so eloquently. He was usually short in his comments and getting anything out of him was difficult. She wondered if she really knew him.

  The gathered warriors watched the Weg attack and were silenced by the ferocity of it. They saw a line penetrated and hundreds of warriors killed by the Weg attacking them. When the two giant Mobile Blasters hit the ground, they all winced at the impact. Bart stopped the video and said, “The vehicles we rode down to the planet had to come in faster than normal to make it through the Weg above the site of the attack.”

  A warrior said, “Were you injured?”

  Bart looked at him and nodded, “Major Sutton had three teeth cracked by the landing and both of us have had therapy done on our backs after the second drop.”

  Anderson’s head went back, “Second drop!?!”

  Kim nodded, “We went back in the next morning.”

  The warriors gathered around the two Majors looked at each other as Bart restarted the video. The Special Forces units had only been used to take out the Starship Tunnels. This was their first exposure to seeing a full-blown Weg attack with members of their force participating.

  Bart saw several warriors raise their arms and he paused the recording, “Yes.”

  Lt. Gemini said, “Sir, in every previous drop, our forces were recalled before the Weg Fliers could get between then and their carriers. This attack has lasted much longer than any I’ve seen.”

  “General Adams made the decision that his forces would remain on the ground and take on anything the Weg threw at him.”

  “What about the diggers?”

  “That was the one thing that would generate a recall. However, he anticipated it by landing his forces away from any underground Weg passageways and kept a close monitor on seismic activity approaching his position.”

  Anderson shook his head, “He was close to losing. It was your blasters that made the difference.”

  “He called us in at the last possible moment. He saw the diggers were moving toward us and decided to go after the Queen before they arrived.”

  A private said, “What type of beams are on that vehicle?”

  “That is currently a Sparta State Secret. I can tell you that they were a special development by the Alliance Engineers for this drop. They are the most powerful beams that can be used on a planet’s surface. Any more questions?” No one spoke, so Bart started the video again.

  The assembled warriors watched the massive beams reach out and blast the Weg back two miles from the Spartan and Gracken lines. The feed changed and showed a view from orbit and they saw a wave of sand moving toward the Alliance Forces on the ground and it was moving fast. The view went back to the mobile blasters as Kim and Bart maneuvered them into position. The view would change momentarily showing the approaching Weg diggers and then go back to the Blasters. They saw the brilliant beam fire into the ground and the large missile ignite and leave Kim’s vehicle. They saw the two Majors jump out of their turrets and stand on top of the giant vehicles just before the wave of sand arrived.

  The view changed to an orbital view and the explosion on the surface was huge. They saw the mass of Weg body pieces falling toward the planet just before the shockwave hit them. The video went dark and the room was silent. A private said, “Did either of you think you would survive that mission?”

  Kim shook her head, “Actually, we felt we had little chance of survival.”

  “But you went anyway?”

  Kim looked at Bart and smiled, “It was Bart’s opinion that our life expectancy wasn’t good under normal circumstances and that it would be worth doing just so we could come back here and brag about it in front of you.”

  Bart looked at Kim, “Now you could have kept that to yourself, Major!”

  Anderson started laughing and a moment later the entire room joined him. Bart shook his head and blew out a breath. When the room finally grew quiet, Anderson smiled and said, “That is the best reason I’ve heard to do it. I’d give anything to have been given the same opportunity.”

  The entire room yelled, “HOOOOO RAAAHHHHHHHH!”

  Bart stood up and saluted the gathered warriors and they returned his salute. “We are charged to train all of you on using these new Blaster Vehicles and you’ll be assigned to a unit of Spartan Warriors. All of us are getting into the fight and you’ll have your opportunity to make a difference.”

  Anderson said before the cheers erupted, “But there can only be the two of you that did it first.”

  Bart and Kim were lifted on the shoulders of the gathered warriors and carrier out of the cafeteria and around the entire Special Forces base. Kim looked at Bart and yelled over the cheers, “Is this what you expected?”

  Bart smiled and nodded.

  • • •

  Jesse saw Prissy arrive in her Q ship and dock with the giant Gracken Battleship. Rumel stood at the port with him as it pressurized and shook his head, “Are you sure about this?”

  “My Division needs time to rest and see their families. Another Division is taking delivery of the new armor and they will take the lead in fighting.”

  “I honestly don’t believe anyone else is going to match your skills. Are you sure this is a good decision?”

  “Not really, but one unit cannot win this war. Other units have to get involved in the fight and learn how to survive.”

  “What are you going to be doing?”

  “I’m not sure. However, there is one thing I want to investigate.”

  Rumel held out his arm and Josh grabbed the forearm and shook it. Rumel smiled, “It has been a pleasure fighting with you.”

  Josh nodded and turned to the portal that opened behind him. Keep them pinned down, Commander.”

  Rumel nodded at Josh disappeared through the port.

  • • •

  Prissy met Josh inside the small landing bay and went into Josh’s arms. “How long do I have?”

  “I want you to be with me until our child is born. How long do you have?”

  “My due date is three weeks away.”

  “Then that’s how long we have.” Josh looked up, “Tuffy.”

  “Yes Josh.”

  “Jump us to Jek’s location.”

  There was a slight pause and they heard, “He’s currently at his home planet.”

  “Jump us there and let him know we’re coming.”

  Josh pulled Prissy close and put his hand on her large belly. He felt movement and Prissy jerked slightly, “They sense you’re here.”

  “They?”

  Prissy’s smile was huge, “We’re having twins.”

  Josh pulled her close and softly said, “I love you so much.”

  “Jump in three seconds.”

  Josh looked up, “Tell Jek we’ll be coming down in the afternoon.” Prissy smiled as
they walked out of the landing bay.

  • • •

  Mike fired the electronic rifle at the huge snake flying through the air at him on the large wall screen and it flew into pieces. He whipped around to his right but the snake coming at him hit before he could get a shot off. Tilly giggled and Mike shook his head, “Whose idea was it to use curved screens?”

  “The Alliance Engineer came up with that little tidbit. He says it makes it more realistic.” Tilly paused and said, “Let’s see. You killed seventy snakes and twenty of their flying eggs.” She looked up at him and smiled, “You came pretty close.”

  “Don’t start bragging. You’ve done this a lot more than I have.”

  Tilly looked up and turned her nose toward the ceiling, “Ah Baron Wentworth, pretty good for a beginner.”

  “That is not my name and I’m not English!”

  “That name is better than Duke Pidgeon.”

  Mike laughed and shook his head, “You were right about them making the game more difficult but this is beyond reason. Those snakes are impossible.”

  Tilly pressed the remote and lifted her nose again, “Ahhh, let me see. The Duchess of True Shot has a hundred and twenty snakes bagged along with sixty flying eggs.” She lowered her nose and gave a small sniff. “Perhaps you’ll measure up to her standards one day.”

  Mike shook his head and rushed over and began to tickle her. She tried to escape but in moments she was out of breath calling for mercy, “No more, no more.”

  “You’ll stop using English names?”

  “I will, I promise.” Mike stood up and Tilly casually walked behind the couch, “German names sound so much better Baron Blindeye.”

  Mike chased her around the couch and they both eventually collapsed on it laughing uncontrollably.

  • • •

  Later, Tilly tilted her head and said, “That reminds me. Any new Weg showing up to rival our snakes?”

  Mike put the rifle in its case and shook his head, “No, and that has me concerned.”

  “What concerns you?”

  “After Josh’s units killed that Weg Queen, they appeared to know how he did it. We can no longer drop seismic probes on any of their planets. They pretty much ignored them before her death but now they remove them as fast as we can send them down. Fleet did learn before we lost the probes that the Queens were being moved on the infested planets. Later, the amount of activity underground changed radically.” Tilly’s eyes narrowed and Mike said, “The readings decreased tremendously.”