by Saxon Andrew
“Have your forces stand by and I’ll be arriving shortly.”
“We’re going to have to burn the city to kill that Queen before it gets out of range of our blasters.”
“Tindel, it’s already out of range. Stand by and give me some time.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going after that Queen. Now stand down and give me some time to get things moving.”
Tindel stared at Josh on his display and finally said, “You have an hour.”
Josh lifted his communicator, “Mike, answer me!”
“Josh, I’m busy at the moment.”
“Are you sending in a Q ship to fire at the Queen?”
“I am.”
“I want to try something else before you burn the city. Do you have a transport that is stripped of the interior walls?” Mike shook his head and Josh yelled, “COME ON. MIKE. I NEED YOU TO GET IT TOGETHER!!”
Mike shook his head again and looked at his panel, “I have an agricultural transport that is essentially empty.”
Josh started typing on his keypad, “Sent it to these coordinates now!”
“What…why…”
“Mike if you want to save the Gracken’s Home World, just do it!”
Mike stared at Josh and lifted his communicator. Josh ended the call and thought to the Weg, “I want as many a ten thousand of the best diggers to come here and remain hidden under the soil.” The Weg stared at Josh and after a moment Josh said, “Did you hear me?”
“They’re waiting.” Josh’s eyes narrowed and the Weg said, “We can all hear you. You don’t need me to tell them.”
Josh looked up and heard the thunderclap of a sonic boom as the giant transport moved into the atmosphere. Josh looked at the Weg, “Join the others underground.”
Josh heard the loudspeaker at the rear of the sled, “General, we’ve been sent here by Assembly Leader Sanders.”
“Get your transport down on the ground now!”
“Sir, I may damage the lower deck if I attempt to land on the surface.”
“I don’t care if you crush them. Move that transport to the ground now!”
The Transport moved quickly to the surface of the planet and Josh watched the pilot gingerly ease the transport to the ground. There was a loud creaking noise but the ship settled and remained still. “Open the port side landing bay.”
The pilot activated the landing bay door and Josh motioned for Cheng to take the sled through the door. The sled flew into the cavernous bay and Josh said, “Take us up to the bridge.”
Cheng flew the sled up to the top level of the transport and stopped next to the guardrail outside it. “Come with me!” Cheng followed Josh over the rail and entered the large bridge. Josh looked at the pilot open the landing bay door on the starboard side.”
The Pilot pushed a button and said, “What’s going on, General?”
Josh turned up the volume on the helmet and said, “I want as many of you as possible to enter the doors of the ship parked on the surface of our home without harming each other. Do it quickly!”
The Co-Pilot was looking out of the viewport and saw a massive wave of Weg rush into the landing bay doors on each side of the Transport. He jumped out of his chair and pointed at the ground far below trying to give voice to his fear but was only able to point. The pilot looked out of the view port and reached for the thruster controls. Josh jammed a sliver handgun in his ear and said, “You will keep your hands off the controls and move to the rear of the bridge!” The pilots stared at Josh as Cheng grabbed them by the collars and pulled them out of their chairs. Josh sat down in the Pilot’s Chair and saw many Weg were standing outside the doors. Josh thought, “Is this as many as we can get on the ship?”
“You said not to injure each other. This is the most we can move in without injury.”
Josh pushed the landing bay switches and the two giant doors began closing. Josh activated the thrusters and the transport began lifting off the surface. It rose a hundred feet and began accelerating higher. Josh keyed the ship’s communicator, “Tuffy, follow us to the Gracken Home World.”
“On my way.”
In ten minutes, the transport left the atmosphere and jumped away.
• • •
Tindel looked at his First Division Commander as he said, “Commander, there is panic in the streets. We need to get down and organize the mobs.”
Tindel shook his head, “If we have to nuke the city, I won’t have your warriors endangered.”
Tindel shook his head and reached for his communicator to order the Q ships to start firing into the planet’s surface. “Commander, I have an Alliance Transport entering normal space. It’s being flown by General Adams.”
Tindel yelled, “CONNECT ME WITH THAT SHIP!!” Josh appeared on his main monitor and he said, “What’s going on? I can’t delay any longer.”
“Do you know where the Queen went underground?”
Tindel shook his head, “We’ve lost track of her.”
“So you’re going to be shooting blind trying to hit her?” Tindel stared at Josh for a moment and then nodded. “I am going to see if I can’t remove her. I need you to follow the orders I’m about to give you and make sure all the forces under your command follow them as well. Do you understand?”
“What are your orders?”
“No matter what you see come out of my ship, you will not open fire. Can you do that?”
“Why would I?”
“I don’t have time to discuss this with you or go through channels. Will you trust me and do as I ask?”
Tindel stared at Josh and lifted his communicator, “All Gracken Military Forces will hold their fire unless you receive a direct order from me. If you fail to follow my command, you will be executed.”
Josh looked at Tindel, “Hold on to your hat, my friend. And trust that I know what I’m doing.”
“What are you doing, Josh?” But the screen went dark.
• • •
“Josh.” Josh turned around and saw Cheng nod toward the open door at the rear of the bridge. Josh looked through it and saw the Flyer that he had communicated with was standing on the balcony. Josh motioned it into the bridge and the four crew Cheng was holding at gunpoint backed away from it.
Josh saw the Weg was trembling slightly, “What’s wrong?”
“I sense a Mother below us.”
“Why are you trembling?”
“I cannot allow another mother on the same planet I occupy.”
Josh flew the transported down to the city and looked at the Weg, “Where is she?” The Weg lifted a wing and extended it toward the left front of the bridge. Josh turned the transporter toward the direction the Weg was pointing and it moved its wing until it was pointing slightly ahead and below the giant transport. Josh flew the transport forward and the Weg’s wing moved slightly down, down some more, and then pointed directly below the huge ship. Josh thought, “Is she directly below us?”
“She is.”
Josh picked up his communicator, “Tuffy, the Weg queen is directly below the transport. I’m moving a mile to the west and I want you to fire your main beam and burn a hole into the ground at an angle to this location.”
“How deep?”
Josh looked at the Weg, “How far down is she.”
“Just get us underground, we’ll find her.”
Josh stared at the Weg and said, “A mile down, Tuffy.” Josh moved the transporter over a large park on the western edge of the giant Gracken city and saw Tuffy fire his Q beam for four seconds. Josh brought the Transporter screaming down to the surface and landed damaging the bottom three decks. He punched the landing bay doors open and the thousands of Weg rushed out and disappeared down the tunnel the Q beam created.”
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”
“Just remain calm and hold your fire, Tindel.”
“You’re released those monsters…”
“Just trust me and hold your fire.”
Tindel heard the calls from his forces to open fire and he had his hand on the blaster triggers at his command chair. He targeted the huge transport and then said, “Hold your fire!” He took his hands off the triggers and watched the giant transport on the surface of the Gracken Capital City. The thousands of Gracken Warships above the planet all targeted the transport with their main beams but waited for their Commander to take the first shot.
• • •
Thirty minutes later, Josh heard, “We have killed the Mother and all the eggs she laid.”
“Bring her head to the surface and return to the ship.”
Tindel watched the huge transport and then he stood up. The Weg that had rushed into the tunnel cut by the Q ship’s beam were pouring out of the ground and entering the transport. He looked at his Commanders on his Flagship and saw their shock. The mass exodus of Weg seemed to go on forever but actually lasted forty minutes. The last twenty Weg to exit the tunnel pulled a giant object out of the tunnel and left it on the ground behind them. Tindel moved his scan in closer and saw a giant head of…something. “Tindel, that is the head of the Queen that was under your city. The Weg I brought here with me have killed her and all the eggs she laid underground. I’ll be taking them back to their home planet in a moment. Thank you for trusting me and keeping the faith.”
“It was a mighty close thing, General.”
“I don’t know if I would have been able to do it.”
Tindel looked at Josh and lowered his head, “Rumel would have done it. How could I do less?”
Josh almost choked up but managed to nod and end the call.
The Flagship’s Communication Commander threw up his hands, “My board is overloaded, Commander.”
“Send a priority message over every main communication channel that the Weg Queen has been killed and the danger removed from our planet. Broadcast it and keep broadcasting until ordered otherwise.”
The Commander began pushing buttons and talking over his mic. The panic in the city was reaching dangerous levels until word began to spread that the Weg Queen had been killed by General Adams. Tindel was wise to use Josh as the Queen’s killer, the panicking civilians knew about the Spartan General and his kill of the first Weg Queen. They caught their breath and began listening to the all-clear sirens screaming out over the giant city. They sat down where they stood and slowly at first but then more loudly began cheering for the survival of their city and planet.
• • •
Josh looked at Cheng, “You can release the crew.”
The Pilot came over and said, “I can handle it from here, Sir. I apologize for what happened.”
Josh stood up and patted the Captain on is shoulder, “Don’t worry about it. It was a shock and I didn’t have time to explain.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
Josh walked off the bridge with Cheng and stood at the guardrail. The Flyer flew up and landed on the catwalk beside them. Josh looked at it and it thought, “This was better than just standing around. When are we going to do it again?”
Josh laughed and said, “Soon.”
• • •
Josh sat in a chair in the middle of a horseshoe shaped table facing Six Officers higher than the rank of Colonel. He had been ordered to Sparta after he left the transport along with the Weg on their planet.
Once he arrived, he was arrested and taken to a security center and stripped of his uniform. He was ordered to wear grey prison fatigues and left alone in his cell. Josh was not given a communicator and was left in solitary confinement for the next five days. He thought about why and after the second day he figured out why he was arrested. He had dropped thousands of the Gracken’s most feared enemies on their capital planet. The Gracken Council of Elders must have gone ballistic and called for him to be punished for putting their planet is danger. He hoped Tindel wasn’t going to be punished for supporting his actions.
Josh had time to slow down and reflect for the first time in six years. He thought about the Weg and the thoughts he heard when he used the telepathy helmet. They were the most unusual creatures he had ever encountered.
Their thought processes were incredibly complex but also simplistic. They were able to work through killing Queens on different planets but didn’t see a benefit to them for doing it. He chuckled at the Flyer wanting to do it again. He heard the Weg’s thoughts as they exited the transports and it was a pretty good bet all of them wanted to take part in the next mission. Josh sighed. If there ever was another mission. After the third day it dawned on him that his military career was probably over. He missed Prissy and the babies. He hoped she wasn’t worried sick about him. He knew she was not taking this lying down. He closed his eyes and decided that if he had to do it all over again, he would have done the same thing. Once he made that decision, he was at peace with whatever happened to him. He stood up and began doing stretching exercises and strength moves to tire his body to allow him to sleep.
On the seventh day, Prissy appeared at the cell and the guard opened the door and allowed her to enter. Josh jumped up and pulled her close but he sensed something was wrong. He stepped back from Prissy and saw her staring at him. “What’s going on?” Prissy stared at Josh and looked deeply into his eyes. Josh looked out of the cell and saw the guard had a sliver handgun raised and pointed at him. He stepped back from Prissy and shook his head, “I’m still the same person, Prissy.”
Prissy slowly shook her head and then rushed into his arms, “I’ve been so frightened, Josh.”
“For God’s sake why?”
“Jek took a reading on your brainwaves when you returned here and they’re completely different from before you put on that helmet.”
Josh stared at her, “How different?”
“They don’t appear to be human.”
Josh sat down and Prissy sat down beside him. He looked at her and said, “So I’ve been under observation for the last week to see if I’ve changed?” Prissy nodded. Josh lowered his head and thought hard for a minute and then lifted his head and said, “I honestly don’t sense any difference. My memories are intact. My love for you and the babies is actually stronger after being separated from you. My intent to win this war against the Weg has not changed.” Josh looked up at the ceiling, “What exactly are you worried about?”
Prissy looked in Josh’s eyes again and said, “There’s something different, Josh. I just can’t put my finger on it.”
Josh’s eyes narrowed and he closed his eyes. He pushed everything out of his consciousness and then he heard it. He focused on it and then opened his eyes, “I can still hear them, Prissy.”
“Hear what?”
“I can hear the background thoughts of the Weg on that planet where we killed the Queen. I think by using the helmet to communicate with them, I opened a channel in my mind for them to reach me.”
Alex, Mike, and Jek appeared at the cell door and Alex said, “Open the door and leave us.”
The two guards lowered their weapons, unlocked the cell door, and left the room. Alex walked in and stared at Josh, “I’ve been told that you have the brain waves of the Weg.”
Josh shrugged, “Actually, I think you’re detecting their attempt to contact me.”
“What?”
“The Flyer I’ve been communicating with told me that I was communicating on the thought pattern used by the Queen we killed. I think that by using the helmet to communicate with them, I opened a channel for them to contact me. Do you still have the brain scanners going?”
Alex looked at Jek and he nodded. “Give me a moment.” Josh closed his eyes and pushed all thoughts out of his mind. He heard the thought noise in the back of his mind and he thought, “You will stop trying to contact me until I call for your attention!” Josh waited and after a moment, the noise grew dimmer and then vanished. Josh looked up, “What does your scanner indicate now?”
Jek looked at a hand unit he was holding and started shaking his head. Alex watched him and said, “What?”
“
His brain waves are back to normal.”
The three looked at Josh and Mike shook his head, “What in six hells has been going on?”
Josh shrugged as Prissy rushed into his arms and threw her arms around his neck. Josh hugged her as she started crying and looked at them, “It appears the Weg on the planet where I picked them up are trying to contact me. It was their pattern you were detecting.”
Jek shook his head, “You’re saying you can hear them here?”
“I have to really focus, but yes, I believe I can.”
“Why did the pattern go away?”
“I told them to stop trying to contact me until I called them.”
Jek looked at Alex and Mike and shook his head, “This is beyond my understanding.”
Josh looked at Alex and he blew out a breath, “We’ve been afraid the Weg have taken over your mind and were in control of you.”
Josh snickered and Mike said, “What do you find funny?”
“Sir, I honestly believe that it is I who is in control of them.”
Mike smiled, “From what happened on the Gracken Capital, there is evidence to support that belief.”
Alex stuck out his hand, “It’s good to have you back, Josh.”
“I’ve never really left, Sir. What’s going on outside these walls while I’ve been on vacation?”
“The Gracken have threatened to come and blast you out of here if we don’t allow you to come to their planet and receive their thanks for what you did.”
“Sir, before I ever go back there, I am going to have to have a gravity compensator. That planet’s gravity makes you feel like you weigh five hundred pounds.”
Jek said, “Actually, it’s four hundred and twenty.”
Josh laughed and Prissy kissed him full on the mouth. Alex looked at Mike and Jek, “I think they need a few moments of privacy.” They walked out and discovered that they needed much longer than a few moments.
Chapter Fifteen
The conference room was full and Josh wondered why the Gracken had sent five of their Senior Elders to attend. An extra table had been brought in for the Alliance Science Team and he saw that Mike and Tilly were sitting at the center of the front table. Jesse and Elle were also present and most of Sparta’s Senior Military Officers were sitting in chairs along the wall. He looked at his name on the placard in front of him and wondered why he was the only officer sitting at the table. Well, other than Alex; he was sitting next to Mike and Tilly having a discussion. Hetzel was sitting with the Scientists and Engineers and he was having an animated discussion with Jek and Josh knew they were talking about him. They kept glancing at him as they talked. He looked over to the wall and saw Prissy staring at him. She caught his eye and nodded. Easy for her to tell him to relax. She wasn’t at the front table.
