The Fight for Britannia V-Home Coming

by Saxon Andrew

  “Also tell him that we’re sending seeds for the additional robots to start planting now.”

  Taffy nodded and pressed her console’s communicator.

  “Britt says that twenty of the cities are ready for habitation, right?” RJ asked.

  “That’s what he said,” Grady agreed.

  “Then we should start moving the population now along with the food supplies. The farmers on New Britannia will be the first to go and they can start crops growing now.”

  Grady thought about it and nodded, “You’re right. I’m going to need the fleet to escort the freighters, RJ.”

  “I’ll move a few warships out between the Milky Way and Andromeda with telepaths on board to keep track of their movements. All the rest are yours to use in the exodus.” Grady nodded and pushed the thruster handle forward.

  • • •

  The small warship arrived on Grady’s roof and Sweets turned to Cami, “Contact Phil and ask him to meet me in the restaurant. I want you to come with me.” Cami nodded and they rushed to a shuttle.

  • • •

  Sweets found Phil and Martha waiting for them as Sweets and Cami entered the restaurant. They ordered a meal and Phil smiled, “To what do I owe this visit?”

  “I need your help.”

  “I’ll do anything I can.”

  “I don’t know if you’ve learned but we’re evacuating New Britannia and moving the population to another planet.”

  Phil shrugged, “I’ve heard rumblings about it.”

  “Well, the civilization planning to attack us has developed a nuclear missile that we have no way of stopping. I’m going to need every telepath to lead the ships carrying our population to the new planet so that they won’t be seen by any scouts those aliens send.”

  Phil nodded, “Go on.”

  “I’m going to put a telepath on every one of our warships and they will lead the convoys of freighters to the new planet.”

  “That won’t leave many ships to defend the planet.”

  Sweets shrugged, “It can’t be helped. We can’t allow them to see where we’re moving.”

  Phil thought a moment and asked, “Don’t you have a lot of long-range shuttles in the military?”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Well, I suspect that the freighters aren’t faster than your military shuttles. Why not use them to escort the ships and it will only take one telepath per shuttle. The object is to avoid confrontation and I suspect some telepaths will have the urge to use their weapons; some of them are really looking forward to attacking the aliens. That won’t happen if they’re flying shuttles.”

  Sweets turned to Cami, “Contact Grady and tell him what Phil just suggested.”

  Cami looked up and after a few moments said, “He thinks it’s a great idea. He wants to know how we’re going to train them to fly the shuttles in time.”

  “Tell him I’ll handle it.”

  “He says to do it.”

  Sweets turned to Phil, “Can you get every telepath here quickly?”

  Phil smiled, “They’re on the way.”

  Sweets turned to Cami, “Can all of them learn as quickly as you do?”

  Cami smiled, “We’re about to find out. They’ve been trained on operating the warship’s weapon console, so I suspect many of them learned how to fly the ship as well.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Sweets commented.

  • • •

  The restaurant was filled to standing room only and Sweets turned to Cami, “Please send my thoughts to everyone.” Cami nodded and Sweets began, “I know it hasn’t been officially announced yet, but New Britannia is being evacuated. All of the planet’s population is being moved to another planet located far from here.” Cami held up her hand as the telepaths suddenly began directing questions at her.

  Sweets heard Cami say over the loud roar of thoughts, “HOLD YOUR QUESTIONS UNTIL THE END!” The roar died down and Cami nodded to Sweets.

  She was amazed that the room was deathly silent but was filled with the telepath’s thoughts. “An alien civilization in Andromeda has allied with two civilizations on the other side of the central black hole and they’re launching a nuclear missile attack on New Melbourne and New Britannia. The missiles they’re launching are stealth missiles and we won’t be able to detect them, much less stop them from hitting our planet.” Sweets paused and then continued, “We need all of you to lead the colony ships to our new home and make sure they aren’t detected by scouts sent by those alien civilizations. You will lead them in military shuttles and we’re depending on you to make sure none of the colony ships are seen. Admiral Henricks is sending enough shuttles to the spaceport to assign each of you a ship to command. It’s my understanding that many of you already know how to fly our warships and I’m counting on you to train the telepaths that don’t know how to fly the shuttles the proper way to operate them. The first colonists are leaving tomorrow afternoon and the rest of the planet will start leaving behind them. This is going to be hard work that is going to wear you out, but we need you to make this happen. You’ll lead colony ships to the new planet and then turn around and come back with them to New Britannia to do it again until everyone is moved. Two hundred of you will be going to New Melbourne to assist moving their populations and you’ll join us here when that is done. New Melbourne started moving their population a month ago; they have far more ships to make it happen quickly; they’re being assisted by the other five Colonies in making the move. Once they complete their evacuation, they’ll send their ships to assist us.”

  Sweets paused and then continued, “I know some of you are wondering why we’ve waited to start our move. You might even believe that we should move to one of the Colonies. However, New Britannia will not give up its independence and it’s taken time to prepare the planet we’re moving to. That process is proceeding rapidly, and the Admiralty believes we’ll be able to complete the exodus in time. I’ll be setting up the schedule for you and the first telepaths will leave tomorrow afternoon. One at a time, do you have any questions?”

  A telepath raised her hand, and Sweets nodded to her, “Why can’t we be used to detect the missiles and have our fleet take them out.”

  Sweets heard another telepath reply, “Jen, those missiles don’t have pilots for us to hear, and if they’re stealth missiles, they won’t be detectable.”

  Jen blew out a breath, “It was a stupid question; I’m shook up that my home is going to be destroyed.”

  Sweets nodded, “We all are and there won’t be anything to come back to; we’re destroying everything we’re leaving behind so they can’t use it. Our scientists believe that if the aliens launch a huge missile barrage, the planet could be burned down to bedrock and lose its atmosphere.”

  “What can you tell us about the new planet?”

  “It’s the planet Admiral Henricks left to originally go to Melbourne. The planet’s name is Britannia and it’s located out from the galaxy’s central core.”

  “Didn’t you say there were two civilizations on the other side of the core attacking us?” another telepath asked.

  “All of the living facilities and construction facilities are being built underground. They are being shielded by a stealth coating and shouldn’t be detected by those civilizations. Once this war is over, we’ll move to the planet’s surface.” The room was silent, and Sweets asked, “How many of you are able to fly the warships you trained on?” Hundreds of hands were raised. She shook her head, “Let’s try it this way, how many of you can’t fly a warship, please step forward.” Four hundred and twenty-six telepaths stepped forward and the crowd moved back. “Get with one of the others and have them transfer the knowledge to you. Now, I need two hundred volunteers to go and assist New Melbourne.” No one raised their hands and Sweets sighed, “We’re going to need them to send their vessels to transport our population to Britannia and by going to assist them, it will insure they keep their word on sending their ships.”

&n
bsp; The telepaths looked at each other and then hands began going up. Finally, the two hundred were found and Sweets said, “Plan to leave tomorrow morning and report to Admiral Maranda Connor when you arrive at New Melbourne. Thank all of you for your assistance in making this happen. I’ll see the rest of you at the spaceport in the morning.”

  • • •

  Sweets and Cami went back to Phil’s table and he immediately asked, “When do you expect this attack to happen?”

  “In less than a year.”

  “I have a suggestion.”

  “What is that?”

  “I’ll go with the telepaths to New Melbourne.”

  “Who is going to help me get them organized?”

  “Charlotte is respected by everyone and qualified to make it happen efficiently. I’ve asked her and she’s agreed to head up the project.”

  “Why are you doing this Phil?”

  “My price for doing it is to have my family on one of those first ships leaving tomorrow. Martha will stay here and go to this new planet with them. I will not take a chance that those aliens launch before you anticipate it; I’m doing this for my family.”

  Sweets blew out a breath, “You are promoted to Senior Captain and will command the telepaths going to New Melbourne. I’ll announce your promotion in the morning.”

  “Do it now! They need time for it to soak in.”

  Sweets turned to Cami and she was silent for a moment and then nodded. Suddenly, they heard a cheer from the telepaths going to New Melbourne. Phil smiled, “It appears they think highly of me as well.”

  “Everyone does Phil; I’m sending our best to New Melbourne.”

  “I’m also going to see if I can’t find telepaths still hiding there; we need them.”

  “I’ll give you Maranda’s contact frequency and you can set that up with her.”

  Sweets stood up, “We need to go and make sure the shuttles will arrive on time.”

  “I’ll see you when I get back.”

  “Thank you Phil.”

  They walked away and Cami looked up at Sweets, “He’s really smart.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “He knows that the first colonists to leave will be taken to the first completed cities. He also knows that those cities will be the most important and most heavily defended. His family will be safer in one of them.”

  Sweets shook her head, “He’s right. All of them are located next to our major military sites and they will be protected by our quick response fleets.” Sweets paused and said, “Cami, ask Charlotte to meet me in my quarters at 16 hundred hours.”

  “Done.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Mr. President, I’m concerned about moving all of New Britannia’s population in time.”

  “We’ll be fine Grady.”

  “But at the current rate, more than fifty million will still be on the planet after the anticipated date of the Stealth Civilization’s attack.”

  Mike shrugged, “Grady, not all of New Britannia’s population is going to Britannia.” Grady’s head went back as Mike added, “About a quarter of New Britannia’s population has requested to be moved to one of the Colonies.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “When it became known that the living quarters on Britannia are underground, many decided they didn’t want to live that way and requested asylum in the Colonies. The Prime Minister accepted their request and they’ll start moving them in two weeks.”

  “Don’t they know that the Stealth Civilization is searching for the Colonies and they don’t know about Britannia?”

  “Well, I tried to tell them in veiled phrases, but it didn’t seem to matter.”

  “Why didn’t you just tell them outright?”

  “That would have required saying quite negative things about going to the Colonies. You know that would have gotten back to the Prime Minister and cause an issue in our current alliance. Keep in mind that New Britannia is less than thirty years old and many of those wanting to go to the Colonies once lived on Melbourne as children. They look at that time fondly and think going to the Colonies will be better than living underground. I’m forced to not disagree with them.”

  Grady shook his head, “I don’t understand their short-sightedness. New Britannia has more freedoms than the Colonies and is economically stronger.”

  Mike shrugged, “Unfortunately, the threat of New Britannia’s coming destruction doesn’t allow for rational thought. People react without really taking the time to examine their choices. However, this allows us to complete the evacuation in time and have enough places for those moving to Britannia to live. It also makes it easier to keep them fed.”

  Grady sighed, “I suppose.”

  Mike smiled, “Grady, if we’re able to win this war, I believe many of them will see that living in the Colonies isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and request to move to Britannia. For the moment, this is a gift and comes at a perfect time.”

  “Is there going to be room for them in the Colonies?”

  DeChirico nodded, “Keep in mind that Melbourne settled five Colonies before it was destroyed. Its population was distributed to four planets and there’s plenty of room for additional population on all of them. Also keep in mind that the Colonies also have their own robots to build what is needed. Housing them won’t be an issue,” President DeChirico answered.

  “Thanks for sharing this with me. It appears we’ll be able to move everyone in time.”

  “If the Stealth Civilization keeps their date to attack, it won’t be an issue. I’m shooting to have everyone off New Britannia in less than six months.”

  “That’s five months ahead of the projected date for the attack,” Grady replied.

  “I’m not taking a chance they may launch their attack early.”

  “That’s an excellent plan, Mr. President.”

  “Contact me if you need me.”

  “I will Sir.”

  • • •

  Grady ended the contact and Taffy said that evening, “I still can’t believe anyone would choose the Colonies over Britannia.”

  Grady shrugged, “You and I are prejudiced on that subject.”

  “Even so, it’s not a good decision; they’d be safer on Britannia.” Grady shrugged.

  Taffy smiled, “Candy had her baby.”

  “What?”

  “She had a beautiful baby boy and named him Henrick Rory Dunhan.” Grady’s smile was huge, and Taffy smiled with him, “They’re going to call him Rick.”

  “That’s wonderful news.”

  “Candy is glad he waited to come until they were on Britannia. He’s the first native born citizen on our new home.”

  “Taffy, there are thousands of survivors from Britannia coming from New Britannia that were born on Britannia; that includes us.”

  “But none of them are as beautiful as he is.” Grady chuckled and took her in his arms.

  • • •

  Later that evening, Taffy turned to Grady, “So, all the nuclear devices have been placed on New Britannia?”

  “Yes.”

  “When are they going to be detonated?”

  “When the alien’s missile bombardment begins.” Taffy nodded slightly and frowned. “What’s bothering you?”

  “How are they going to be detonated?”

  “A ship will send a frequency setting them off.”

  “You know they can detect our ships Grady. What happens if some of their warships arrive ahead of the missile attack? They’ll see the planet is no longer inhabited and remove our ships preventing them from sending the signal to the devices. They may call off the missile attack and take the planet intact to start building the new hardened hulls.”

  Grady’s eyes widened, “I didn’t think of that?” Grady paused and said, “I don’t believe they’ll send in warships first…”

  “Why not?”

  “Their ships would be in danger of being hit by the missiles. However, they could be following u
p the missile bombardment with their fleets; they’ll detect the ships escaping that set off the nuclear weapons on the surface of New Britannia.”

  “Which would lead to a lot of questions we don’t want them asking.”

  Grady nodded, “Exactly.”

  “There’s only one ship the aliens can’t detect,” Taffy replied. “Earth’s scout ships don’t use gravity drives.”

  “I’ll get Martov to send me three scouts to carry out this mission.”

  “Who’s going to fly them?” Grady was silent and Taffy added, “Only Funny Man and Charlotte have flown one of them.”

  “Charlotte would be the best choice.”

  “Sweets would shoot you with a blaster if you even mentioned using Charlotte. She’s critical to getting New Britannia’s population moved.”

  “I don’t like using Funny Man,” Grady retorted.

  “Do you have a choice?” Taffy asked. “Someone will have to train the other two pilots how to fly the scouts. Besides, of the two, Funny Man is more expendable.”

  Grady sighed and nodded.

  • • •

  Five months later, Sweets was exhausted and went to her quarters to get some sleep. Getting all the people on New Britannia on their assigned ships was trying at best and impossible at worst. Thank God for Charlotte; it couldn’t have been done without her. She took a shower and lay down on her bed. She looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. She hadn’t been able to meet her new baby brother and she hated it. She shook her head and sighed. She thought about this mission ending soon and a thought entered her mind; she’d turn twenty in another month and she wondered where the time had flown. Then…she remembered Charlie. She had been so busy she hadn’t even had time to think about him. She blew out a breath and wondered if he still felt something for her. She focused on the time they spent together and smiled slightly; he was a good man. She knew the exodus wouldn’t go on much longer and then she could think about her future…but for now, there was only the exodus.

  • • •

  Grady activated his monitor and saw Admiral Grinstead, “Yes Admiral.”