by Saxon Andrew
The Nemesis landed in the giant landing bay and Cleve met Grant with a map data chip. Cleve looked at Grant and was surprised by the youth of the Genetic, “Welcome aboard, Commodore. Would you like me to install it for you?”
“I would greatly appreciate it.” Grant went back on board the Nemesis and Cleve followed him to the bridge. Grant smiled, “Are you the one that analyzed that we delivered the message?”
Cleve smiled, “I am. Why are you here so soon after meeting with the Admiral?”
“I’ve brought a way for us to communicate that can’t be traced.”
“Oh really? I find that hard to believe. Just how is that going to be possible?”
Suddenly Cleve heard in his mind, “I’m going to send your communications telepathically.” Cleve jerked as a clear colored being grew from the floor to six feet tall. “What are you?”
“My human friends call me a Spider.”
Cleve’s eyes narrowed, “You’re one of the animals that caused massive destruction on the Raider’s planets?”
“I didn’t participate in those activities but my brothers did cause quite a bit of damage.”
Cleve looked at Grant, “This being can destroy this ship, especially if it’s inside our force field.”
Cleve heard in his mind, “Friends don’t harm other friends, Commodore.”
Cleve smiled at the thought and said, “How am I going to hide you from being seen by the crew?”
The young spider suddenly shrunk to less than four inches across and Grant picked her up and placed her gently in Cleve’s hand, “She’s very effective at being invisible.”
“Commodore, my name is Telee.”
Cleve slowly shook his head, “This is how you managed to kill the Dragons and not get caught.” Grant nodded. Cleve smiled, “Well, let’s go up and meet the Admiral, Telee. My name is Cleve.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you and I’m looking forward to meeting the Admiral.”
Grant stuck out his hand and Cleve took it, “I’ll be leaving now and with her here, there shouldn’t be many instances where we’ll need to meet again. Good luck.”
Cleve shook his hand and smiled, “I’m glad we’re working on the same team.” Cleve left the Nemesis and it lifted and flew out of the giant landing bay. Cleve put the spider in his front pocket and left for the bridge.
Chapter Nine
Blake saw Cleve enter the bridge and raised his eyebrows. Cleve smiled, “He’s younger than I thought.” Blake nodded. “He brought a way for us to communicate without being overheard by fleet’s computers.”
“Is that so?”
Cleve put his fingers in his pocket and lifted Telee out. “Admiral, this is Telee. She will be using telepathy to contact the Genetics.”
Blake’s eyebrows came together and he heard in his mind, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Admiral.”
Blake tilted his head and said, “It’s also good to meet you. How do I use you to communicate?”
“Just think my name and tell me who you want to contact. Give it a try.”
Blake looked at the small spider and then at Cleve who shrugged. Blake thought, “Telee, I’d like to contact one of the two Genetics.”
“Good day, Admiral, I see you’ve got Telee on board now.”
Blake fell back in his chair and thought, “I can hear your thoughts clearly.”
“The two sisters are just sending them directly to each of us. You can also use her to check out any of your crew to determine if they’re loyal.”
“Can she see my thoughts at all times?”
Telee giggled, “I can, Admiral, but I won’t invade your privacy without permission. However, I will look at anyone’s mind you want me to examine.”
“Where should I put you on this ship?”
“Just allow me to find a good hiding place. I’ll stay out of your way.”
Blake looked at Cleve and he put the small spider on the floor. It ran up Blake’s console and sat on top of it. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to look around for a while. This ship is incredible.”
Blake smiled, “Go right ahead.”
Aubrey said, “Admiral, Fleet wants to know what ships you’re sending to the next conquest.” Blake sighed and pulled up his fleet status report. After a few minutes he noticed the spider was no longer on his console. He looked around the bridge and couldn’t see her. He smiled and went back to his reports. He heard in his mind, “If you need to know where I am, just ask.” Blake smiled and nodded slightly as he started at his computer console.
Bobbi looked at Cleve, “What was that all about?”
“They brought us a means of communicating with them.”
“Oh?”
“Yes…and it comes fully equipped with a force twelve blaster.”
“WHAT!?! Our strongest blaster is only a force nine.”
“Then you might want to talk to it about making it available for you.”
“It?”
“Do you remember the videos of the creatures that attacked the Raider’s planets?” Bobbi nodded. “One of them is now on board the Triton.”
Bobbi’s head twisted as she looked around the bridge, “Where is it?”
“Relax, Bobbi; I kinda like her.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, Cleve.” Bobbi also heard the thought and her head started twisting again. Cleve laughed and left the bridge.
Bobbi walked slowly to her command chair and heard, “He’s right, Captain. You have nothing to worry about.”
“I’ve seen what you’re capable of doing. How can I not be worried?”
“Just look at me as another weapon you can use to defend this ship.”
Bobbi thought for a moment and smiled, “What’s your name?”
“Telee.”
“My name is Bobbi and I’m pleased to meet you.”
“Call me if you need me, Bobbi.” Bobbi nodded and smiled. She liked the way this creature felt in her mind.
• • •
Admiral Hall leaned back in his chair and stared at General Montgomery. “Admiral, I’m not saying your Fleet Admiral is disloyal but he questioned my use of the Dragons to punish civilians.”
“He should have, your Colonel created the situation to use them.”
“But he didn’t know that.”
Hall shrugged, “What are you saying, General?”
“I question whether he has what it takes to maintain control over our conquests.”
“He didn’t achieve his rank by being a coward. He played a major role in the defeat of the Raiders.”
“That was then, this is now. He doesn’t appear to be trying hard to find that ambassador.”
“You better hope he isn’t found. Earth and his family don’t know about the assassination attempt by your troops.”
“You’re right of course. I’m just concerned he doesn’t have the guts to do the things necessary to bring our conquests into line.”
“You should worry about keeping your shop clean, General.”
“Yes Sir.”
Montgomery walked out of his office and Hall thought about what the General had said. He lifted his communicator and said, “I want a close eye kept on Admiral Blake.”
“I’ll start recording his communications, Sir.”
“Let me know if you see anything of interest.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
“Admiral.”
“Yes Ana.”
“The spy devices have been activated and the computer has been instructed to send a copy of all communications to fleet.”
“Do you have any idea why this is happening?”
“The computer intercepted a request from General Montgomery to meet with Admiral Hall.”
Blake nodded and looked at Cleve, who activated his console. “We need to start a program to make it look like we’re being aggressive with the conquered planets.”
“Why don’t you remove ships from some of the conquered Capitals and send in the sco
uts to see if anything happens. You could say you’re attempting to trap them into making an aggressive move.”
“What would the scouts be doing?”
“Delivering a few packages.”
Blake looked at Cleve, “I’ve sent a list of planets to your panel, Sir.”
“Telee.”
“Yes, Admiral.”
“Can you see this list in my mind?”
“I can.”
“I’m inputting some dates beside each one. Please send this to your sister.”
“I’ll send it as you input the dates.”
• • •
Admiral Hall was looking at the list of possible new conquests and his XO said over his intercom, “Sir, Admiral Blake requests to speak with you.”
Hall’s eyebrows went up and he said, “Put him through.” Blake appeared on his display and Hall said, “Yes, Admiral.”
“Sir, I’ve received some information that some of the conquered planets have not turned over all of their warships.”
“WHAT?”
“I don’t know the source of this information but I want to see if I can validate it.”
“Just how do you intend to do that?”
“I’m going to remove our warships from each Capital and see if any enemy ships show up. I’ll have a scout ship in subspace watching for anything approaching and I’ll have my ships ready to jump back at a moment’s notice. I’m not really certain if there’s any truth to this rumor but I don’t want to be surprised if there is.”
“Why is this important to you, Admiral?”
Blake lowered his eyes, “Sir, we’re planning more conquests shortly and we don’t have warships at most of the planets we’ve conquered. We have troops on the ground but we’re getting close to overextending ourselves in using our fleets. If I can take the warships at the Capitals and use them in the new attacks, we stand a better chance of success. If nothing happens at the Capitals, I can assign one group of ships to be on call to handle any issues that might arise.”
Hall started nodding. This was an excellent suggestion. It should be done even if the rumor about enemy warships was simply a ruse. General Montgomery was an idiot. This officer was a great asset, “Admiral, do it. This is a great idea. Let me know what happens.”
“Thank you, Sir.”
• • •
“Cinny.”
“Yes Telee.”
I’m sending Telah a list of planets that Admiral Blake is removing Earth’s Warships from and the dates they’ll be gone; if you intend to drop the Dragons and Spiders that would be the time to do it. The planets have been notified that a Scout Ship will be left behind to watch for trouble.”
“Thank the Admiral, Telee.”
“I will. I really like him, Cinny. He’s a good person.”
Grant looked at Telah, “When is the first date?”
“Six days from now.”
Cinny thought, “Grant, get Whippet and Slippy to meet us at the Animal’s Planet.”
“What’s going on?”
“Admiral Blake is removing warships from the conquered Capitals for a short period of time. He’s notified his Fleet Headquarters that he will be leaving a Scout behind to look for trouble. If we’re going to drop the Animals…”
“I understand, Cinny. I’m on my way.”
• • •
The meeting was getting louder by the moment. Iggy and Slick were of the opinion that their children should be dropped on a conquered planet and just go in and wipe the ground with Earth’s ground forces. Grant was shaking his head and having difficulty getting through to the two huge creatures. Finally Cinny shouted, “Everyone just be quiet!!!” The gathering around the fire grew silent. Cinny looked at Grant, “I’m not sure I understand your position on this, Grant. Why shouldn’t we just drop the Animals in and let them clean house?”
“There are three reasons.”
Slick went up on his legs, “Just give one good reason and I might listen to the others.”
“How are you going to prevent Admiral Blake from being exposed as one of us?” Slick stared at Grant and slowly lowered himself to the ground. “If we start dropping you on the planets where he removes Earth’s Warships, they’ll know he’s involved in doing it. They’ll also stop removing their ships from other planets immediately.”
Iggy raised his head, “Are you saying we can’t drop us while the ships are gone?”
“No, but we have to do it without being seen.”
Slick went back down, “And just how are we going to do that?”
Grant shrugged, “I really don’t know, however, we can’t put the Admiral in jeopardy.”
Cinny said, “What’s the second reason?”
“Earth is not the Raiders. Ana tells me that their Battleship’s main beam is capable of killing the Spiders and Dragons if they’re hit multiple times.”
Slick raised himself slowly off the ground, “Are you sure about that?”
“Ana is.”
Iggy said, “What’s the third reason?”
“If we simultaneously launch an attack on thousands of planets, Earth will hold the planet’s populations hostage against us turning ourselves over to them.”
Iggy shook his head, “Surely they wouldn’t destroy those planets?”
“You need look no further than what they did to the Raiders to see they’d do it without a second thought. If they have to destroy a hundred inhabited planets to force us to back off…”
Cinny finished, “They’d do it.”
Iggy looked at Slick and then back to Grant, “Then we’re not able to do anything.”
Grant slowly nodded, “We could make life miserable for them if we could get your children down to the surface without being seen. They could attack the ground troops and disappear before they’re caught.”
“What good would that do?”
Grant smiled, “You know we can destroy their battleships with a cruiser covered in Spiders. Once we get control of the land forces, we’ll start attacking their warships with our fleet of cruisers.” Grant paused and said, “But all of this is dependent on getting your children down to the planet without being detected.”
Iggy said, “Do you know anyway that can be done?” Grant shook his head.
“May I suggest something?”
Everyone around the fire turned and looked at Telah. Cinny smiled, “You’re welcome to speak at any time.”
“How many of us would you need to move to each planet?”
Grant’s eyes narrowed and he thought for a moment. He looked at Telah and said, “Probably twenty five Dragons and twenty five Spiders. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve been listening to your conversation and I can see in your mind that if one of our scouts enters normal space to drop us on the planet, we would be immediately detected by Earth’s satellites and ground installations.” Grant nodded. Telah went up on her legs, “I think we’ve determined that anything covered by our webs will not appear on Earth’s instruments, right?”
Slick nodded, “We took the humans and Ana’s key off their damaged ship and were not detected.”
“So the real question is how to get us into normal space without being detected.”
Grant nodded, “That’s about it.”
“Don’t the scooters have a subspace drive on them?” Grant nodded. “So if a scooter moves out of the landing bay of a cruiser and passes through its subspace drive field, what would happen?”
Cinny said, “It would immediately be thrown into normal space.”
Telah went down, “And if that scooter was covered by our web…”
Grant laughed, “It would not be detected.”
“And if we go to our smallest size, I suspect twenty five of each species would fit in the side bags on the scooter.”
Grant shook his head, “Telah, how did you come up with this idea?”
“My sisters and I have been listening to your conversations and the idea was there; it just had to be put together.”<
br />
“That is remarkable, Telah.”
“We also have another idea.”
Slick said, “What is that?”
“We now have more than eight hundred new sisters that have hatched. One of us should go with every group; that would allow us to coordinate our attacks.”
Grant looked at Slick, “How long will it take the newest females to be able to use telepathy?”
“They can do it immediately. It will take about four months to be able to defend themselves. Their ability to store and use energy takes more time to develop.”
Tricky said, “We’ll defend our sisters. We will keep them out of danger until they’re old enough to use their beams.”
Grant looked at Cinny and thought, “We need to make a trip to the Monastery.”
“That will have to wait, love. This opportunity won’t wait.”
Grant looked at Slick and Iggy, “We have five days to get everyone ready to drop on eight planets. According to the drop schedule Admiral Blake sent me, eight planets will have their warships removed on that date. We need to train fifty of your children how to fly the scooters. Cinny, Whippet, and I will help but we’re going to need your children to be able to operate the scooters in ten days.”
Iggy said, “What are you going to do with the scooters?”
Cinny stood up and shook her head at Grant, “We’re going to leave them on the planet with your children. That will provide them with a means of escape if necessary.”
“Cinny, that means eight hundred of them will have to be trained on how to fly the scooters.”
“It also means we’ll have to leave a cruiser in subspace at each of those planets.”
Grant looked at Slick, “Do eight hundred of your children know how to operate a cruiser?”
“Actually, we have fifteen hundred cruisers now and all of them have been assigned a pilot. I also have more than a thousand trained in flying the scooters.”
Grant shook his head, “Why did you train them to fly the warships?”
“Actually, it was our mother’s idea after you were killed. She and Tricky decided that we were going to need modern warships to defend ourselves against Earth’s fleets. We weren’t certain if you were going to regenerate, so we made plans in the event we had lost you.”
Grant nodded, “I understand. I would have done the same thing.” Grant looked at Cinny and then said, “We have to make sure we won’t be detected. Cinny and I will go to the first planet and make the first drop. The scooter will emerge into normal space and will remain there for ten minutes. If it’s not detected, it will go to the planet’s surface. If it is and warships are called in, we will go into normal space and escape with the scooter on board. That means we’ll have to find another way to get down to the planets. Are there any questions?”
