by Saxon Andrew
“Follow your orders Captain!”
Justin looked up, “Computer, maintain this course at our current speed.” He took his hands off the steering wheel. Charlotte stared at him and he said, “I can’t trust myself to not try and avoid those missiles. I can’t live with the possibility of you being harmed.”
Charlotte smiled and turned back to her console. “Here they come.”
• • •
RJ looked up and said, “Command Computer, are all those ships targeted?”
“Forty ships are targeting each one of them with their heavy blasters Admiral.”
Candy looked at RJ, “There is a ship lagging far behind that fleet.”
RJ looked up at the tactical monitor and ordered, “The ship far behind the others will not be targeted!”
“Order issued and new targets assigned Admiral,” the computer instantly replied.
“Issue the firing order the moment that small ship moves out of our firing pattern.”
“Firing will commence in three, two, one, now.” The computer replied.
• • •
The Drogan saw massive explosions ahead of his ship and knew that missiles couldn’t make that large of an explosion. Suddenly, the monitor was filled with a giant cloud of massive explosions and he shouted, “STOP THE SHIP!!” The explosions filled the space where his fleet was pursuing the small ship and his Scanner Operator shouted, “THE FLEET IS UNDER ATTACK!!”
The Drogan stared at the massive cloud with numerous explosions still going off inside it and turned to his Scanning Operator, “Did you get a line on that ship’s course?”
“It was headed on a direct course for the largest galaxy Drogan.”
“Turn the ship around.” The Drogan knew that if he had been with his fleet he would have died. Perhaps he was wrong about his not being there being the worst thing possible.
• • •
Grady appeared on RJ’s monitor, “Do you think they’ll take the bait?”
“I don’t see how they can’t,” RJ answered. “How can they send all their fleets to the Milky Way if there’s an advanced civilization scouting them with warships capable of destroying one of their fleets?”
“We need to make sure.”
“It will require leaving the two scouts behind. It will lengthen the time before they can return home.”
“I hate it, but it must be done.”
“I do as well Grady. But I’ll order them to one of our supply ships to be provisioned.”
“Why? They’ve barely touched their provisions.”
RJ smiled, “I’ll meet them there and see my daughter before I have to leave.”
Grady smiled and RJ heard Taffy say, “Now there’s a man who appreciates family!”
Grady shook his head, “We’ll meet you there.”
“Besides, it’s going to take the fleet a while to get back; they may beat us home,” RJ added
“Oh?”
“Yes, we’re taking a return route with the first leg of it being directly toward Andromeda, just in case. This new civilization may make their intentions known before we arrive at Britannia.”
Grady smiled as he moved his ship toward the supply freighters.
Epilogue
Charlie stared at the passive monitor and then turned to Cami, “Hear anything?” Cami shook her head. He contacted Justin, “Have you detected anything?”
“No, nothing.”
He sat back and continued to stare at the monitor. Seven weeks had passed since the alien fleet was destroyed and he was ready to get out of this ship. Sweets came out of the sleeping quarters with her eyebrows raised and looked at Charlie, “Nothing yet,” Charlie answered.
They sat in silence and Sweets finally sighed, “Maybe they’re not going to do anything.” Charlie shrugged. “They haven’t launched their invasion of the Milky Way,” Sweets added. “At least that’s a good thing.” Charlie nodded. “Do you have anything to add? You’re just sitting there silent like a stone.”
“I’m detecting the telepathic field used by the aliens,” the computer announced.
Charlie sat up straight, “Where is it?”
“Moving directly toward us.”
Charlie powered up the gravity drive and moved the ship above their current position. Cami spoke up, “I’m hearing it now.”
Charlie shut down the gravity drive and waited. Cami focused and looked at them, “I’m beginning to hear thoughts moving below us in the distance.”
Grady stared at the monitor and then saw numerous blips moving under them, “Computer, can you tell me what those blips are?”
“There are four hundred and six of the large scouts used by the aliens in the Milky Way inside Grang Territory.”
Cami shook her head, “They’re back to complaining.”
“Who is back to complaining?” Sweets asked.
“The same aliens that were receiving the data outside Grang space. And they’re really ticked off now.”
“Why?”
Cami smiled, “Take a listen.”
• • •
“…should have resigned! If you resigned we might not have been sent on this mission!!”
“I tried to resign and was told that I could accept the mission or a blaster. I had no choice but to agree to go!”
“We arrive back at home and are told to leave immediately! This isn’t fair!”
“Experienced, they say!” A thought said sarcastically. “We’re experienced and must go. They’ve wasted all the information we’ve sent them and called off the invasion; that galaxy will have to be scouted again. We may never get home. They should have done it anyway!”
“It will take us years to use up all the scouts. This is maddening!!”
“And we’re going to be scouting a much more dangerous civilization. We’ll be lucky to survive this mission!!”
They listened to the aliens complain until they moved out of Cami’s telepathic range. Charlie activated the gravity drive, “Let’s go and join Justin. If nothing appears at his location, we’ll head home.” Charlie pushed the thruster handle forward and the Sweet Tooth accelerated away.
Sweets watched the outer edge of the Triangulum Galaxy passing by in the viewport and turned to Charlie, “During all the stress of this mission, I’ve neglected to ask you a question.”
Charlie turned to her, “What is that?”
“Are you still interested in me?”
Charlie turned back to the viewport and, after a moment he replied, “No, I’m not interested in you.” Sweets’ expression turned to shock, and her hand went to her mouth. Charlie turned back to her and said, “I stopped being simply interested in you while I was out scouting Andromeda for the Stealth Civilization to launch their attack. I replayed the recording of our mission to Andromeda over and over just to see your face. I feel a lot more than simply interested in you. A lot more.”
Cami giggled, “He loves you too.”
Sweets came out of her chair, jumped on Charlie’s lap, and planted their first kiss squarely on his lips. She broke the kiss and Charlie nodded over his shoulder, “There are children present.”
Sweets laughed, “Then she needs to watch and learn!” Sweets kissed him again and Cami giggled loudly. They broke the kiss laughing, and Cami joined in.
• • •
They arrived at Justin’s ship and nothing had appeared on the Milky Way side of the Triangulum Galaxy. Charlie appeared on Justin’s monitor and smiled, “Time to go home; they’ve called off the invasion.”
The two small ships turned and went to full speed. They arrived six hours after the fleet.
The End
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Books by Saxon Andrew
The Annihilation Series:
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in Weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Searcher
Demon’s Sacrifice
Finding Keepers
(The seven books above are also audio books at Audible.com)
Prequel-Psychic Beginnings
Searching for a Hero
Dahlia’s Deception
Annihilation-The Complete Series Box Set
The Annihilation Saga:
Lost Royalty
The Warrior's Destiny
No Way Out
Fight... and They Will Come
Ashes of the Realm:
Juliette’s Dream
Greyson’s Revenge
Death of an Empire
The Return of the Realm
Lens of Time:
The Pyramid Builders
Planet Predators
Pray for the Prey
The End of Time
Lens of Time - Star Rover:
The Worst of Time
Running Out of Time
Chosen to Die
The Fight for Creation:
Life Warrior
Scout Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
Star Chase:
The Lost Prince
(Also an audio book at Audible.com)
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
Probe Predators
Jesse's:
Jesse’s Starship
Mike’s War
Joshua’s Walls
Nemesis:
Revenge is Best Served Hot
The Search for Orion
Trapped in Time:
The Time Takers
Taming a Planet
Extinction
Escape to Earth:
Running From Fate
Fighting for Space
Defending Holy Ground
The Legacy of a Conqueror
Living Legends
The Sequel Series to Escape to Earth - Defending Earth:
Searching for Death Feeders
Discovery Means Death
The Death Prophecies:
The Coming of the Prophet
The Prophet's Eyes
The Unknown Enemy Will Kill You
No Technology is Invincible
Survival is Never Free
The Last Prophecy
Stories from the Filament Universe:
Gregor’s Run
A Pirate’s Tale
Soul of the Swords
The Death Filament
Death Never Leaves a Calling Card
Gregor’s Search
Jimmy's Dreams Stories:
Jimmy’s Dreams
Jimmy’s Dreams II - A Recurring Nightmare
The Assassins Guild:
Earth Must be Stopped
Defending the Colonies
Rage of the Brotherhood
The Last Man Standing
Britannia series:
The Fight for Britannia
Saving America
Fighting for Melbourne
Fighting for Humanity
Home coming - A small Omission
Other:
The War Against Earth
The Book of Life
(a short story)
The Forbidden Wilds:
Jingle’s Escape
Crossing the Styx
Inevitable War
Coming Soon:
Britannia IV – The wages of war
About Saxon Andrew
Saxon Andrew is a former social worker with a degree in Psychology and Education from Mercer University. He has taught school, managed several sales organizations and owned his own business.
He has devoured science fiction since he first learned to read and his stories are the product of years of personal experience and exposure to the universes created by the genre’s great authors.
He lives in Tampa, Florida with his wife and two dogs who still appreciate his sense of humor after all these years. "Dogs are always ready to smile."
