Author: Saxon Andrew
Date: 2015-07-04T18:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Science Fiction & Fantasy; Science Fiction; Alien Invasion; First Contact; Galactic Empire; Genetic Engineering; Hard Science Fiction; Military; Space Fleet; Space Marine; Teen & Young Adult
Description: From the Bestselling author Saxon Andrew comes the final book in the Escape to Earth Series, Living Legends. The Legends are building new super Warships to attack Earth and its Allies and to remove the Sentinels as a threat. The Goran Scouts have intercepted their plans and the location of their new warship. A quick scan of the Legends' new main battleship shows its a monster. The galaxies controlled by the Legends are gathering their fleets and soon, Earth will be attacked again by a larger and more powerful enemy. A new First Commander must be chosen quickly to lead the three allied galaxies
Publisher: Saxon Andrew Publishing LLC
Rights: All Rights Reserved

Escape to Earth

Living Legends

Contents

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Epilogue

Books by Saxon Andrew

Introduction

“We must do something about those High Energy Beings.”

“By all means, go right ahead!”

“You know I can’t do it alone.”

“You didn’t join us when we attacked them?”

“That’s just it, you didn’t attack them; you fled so fast you nearly overloaded your reactors.”

The two beings were in different galaxies and appeared to be two light blue colored mists that flashed as they sent their thoughts across the vast distances between, “Easy for you to sit in judgment. You weren’t there listening to millions of them taunting us to keep coming. There were only twenty of us.”

“I understand why you fled but you could have left your newest ships with your tools to take them on?”

“And what would we have to defend us at our planets if they were all destroyed? You know if they were, those monsters would be coming after us. The ships protecting the Adolescents were all eliminated and they had a million of the newest models.”

“If those beings hadn’t killed them, I would have done it myself.”

“Why!?”

“Those idiots only screamed their fear. They told us nothing about the ships that attacked them or how many they were facing. They gave us nothing on what we might be facing. How are your tools coming along?”

“As you might expect. Even after twenty years we’re hundreds of years from them reproducing enough to build up the numbers we lost. We’re fortunate those beings haven’t attacked us since. I’ve needed the twenty years to try and build up my forces. The number of tools I currently have is less than pitiful. I’m forced to send my personal ships out to handle the rebellions that have sprung up.”

“The ones you took didn’t even fire on their attackers. They were wasted.”

The Legend Elder sighed, “That was our fault. We fled without ordering them to attack. They felt our fear and ran. After the fact, we should have at least began the attack and waited to see what would come of it.”

“I didn’t want to point that out; I’m glad you see it. I agree that all of us are glad they’ve not moved on us. We’re all building up our defenses.”

“We won’t be much help if you choose to launch another attack against that giant galaxy.”

“You could send your advanced ships to support it.”

“There are thousands of us close by that still have all their ships and their tools. It’s my opinion that it is now their turn to take on that enemy. We’ve paid our dues in attacking first.”

“Do we know where those High Energy Beings came from?”

“No!”

“Didn’t the Adolescents say one of them was in the Spiral Galaxy?”

“Yes. They said there was only one of them there.”

“Just one?”

“They insisted they searched the entire galaxy and only found a single being there. They wrongly insisted they killed it. It was that being that killed them.”

“Then the others came from somewhere else.”

“You’re stating the obvious. Before I’d go anywhere near the large galaxy again, I’d find out where they came from.”

“Unfortunately, that is where we’ll have to start the search. I listened to the Adolescents’ broadcasts during the attack of their planet and it appears that all of their ground based disruptors were taken out before that single being went down to their residence and killed them. That has to mean our disruptor beams can kill them.”

“Does it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Perhaps that being sat out and watched its tools do the dirty work and lost its patience and went in. That is how we often do it.”

“Ummmm. You could be right. But why did it wait so long?”

“I suggest you go and ask it.”

“Don’t get cute.”

“I apologize Elder. It’s like you said earlier, the Adolescents didn’t tell us what we needed to know. The only way to find out is to go back and see if our disruptors will kill them and you must be aware the disruptors on our ships are not as powerful as the ground based ones.”

“I have to believe taking out the disruptors first was significant. Why would it waste those ships if it could have gone in and done it? Those beings must be afraid of our disruptors. And you’re right about the disruptors, they weren’t as powerful in the past.”

“What?”

“I’ve had my scientists working on that issue and the newest model’s disruptors are as powerful as our planet based disruptors.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“The new ship is nearly as large as my personal vessel. I’m not going to start building them until my newest personal vessel is more powerful than that new model.”

“You better make sure it’s a lot more powerful!”

“I know. Rebellion is not something we can allow. I’ll send you the plans and perhaps you will have suggestions for improving my new design.”

“Just make sure your Emotion Broadcaster is operating at full power. Any of your tools considering a revolt will be scared out of it.”

“I’m not going to depend on that alone. My vessel will be beyond anything the new model could do.”

“It sounds like you won’t be leading an attack anytime soon.”

“It might not be as long as you think. I’ve got my new ship moving along. I’ll keep you informed on how it’s progressing.”

“Send me the plans!”

“You’ll have them later today.”

“Good!”

• • •

“Fleet!”

“Go ahead, Scout.”

“I’m sending you a copy of a conversation I just intercepted. You need to pass it on to Fleet Operations.”

Averel received the mental message and shook her head, “It appears the stalemate is ending.”

“That Elder is the one that will push them.”

“I’ll pass the message on. What’s the chance of your going to that Elder’s location and taking a look around?”

“I suspect his fleets are as thick as flies on a corpse.”

“Now, Hengel; you’re starting to use human metaphors.”

“Some of them are just so appropriate, Averel. How much longer are you going to keep your job?”

“I really like it here and I started when I was just a child. Earth feels more like home than Goran.”

“You were not a child!”

“I wasn’t an adult.”

“Well, ok. But it’s time you went back and started a family.”

“Are you available?”

“Uhhhh…”

“See. You don’t want to leave the excitement either.”

“I’m just shocked you suggested it. I’m nowhere near your lofty status.”

“Operations have ranked you the number one scout.”

“Get out here!”

“There you go again with a human phrase. I’ve been watching you for a while. I think we’d make a good couple. Think about it.”

“I’m really flattered, Averel. But I’m not ready to retire. I guess you’re right about missing all the excitement working with the Humans. Besides, you’re way out of my league.”

“Why would you retire? We can formalize our union and continue what we’re doing right here. It would be a win-win for both of us.”

Hengel smiled, “Now who’s using a human term? Are you serious?”

“Do you think I’d joke about something like this? I’m serious about your being the one I want to spend my life with.”

Hengel smiled, “I’ll go take a look at the Legends’ planet and then contact the High Leader and see if he’ll approve it.”

“Approve what?”

“Our union?”

“What union? You haven’t asked me?”

Hengel closed his eyes and shook his head. He took a breath, blew it out, and looked up, “Averel, will you accept me in a formal union of our families?”

“I thought you would never ask! Of course I will accept you.”

Hengel paused, “How did you know I’ve been admiring you?”

“Oh…a female knows these things. Don’t do anything stupid when you go there; it’s already taken long enough for you to say something.”

“I’ll see what I can do. Thank you so much for accepting my offer.”

“I was losing my patience. I guess you needed a little nudge.”

“Consider me nudged. I’ll contact you later.”

“Make plans to report here. We’ll ask the High Leader together when he comes here for the meeting.”

“Meeting?”

“I’ve just listened in to Fleet Operations discussing the conversation you sent with Luke Axel. He’s calling a major planning meeting and the High Leader should be present.”

• • •

Hengel smiled and focused on the Elder Legends’ location. He went into the barrier and skipped across eight hundred million light years. He thought about the amazing female who was attracted to him. Averel was originally sent to the Humans because of the power and strength of her mind. She was right about being little more than a child. And now, she was going to be his mate. He didn’t deserve her but his heart beat faster as he thought about her.

On Earth, Averel heard his thoughts and felt her heart beat faster as well. It wouldn’t do to tell Hengel that his mind was stronger than hers. She smiled, their children would be magnificent.

Chapter One

“Michael.”

Michael came down the face of the twenty-foot tall wave and flew through the tube of water faster than twenty miles an hour. He reached out and touched the wall of water behind him to keep track of how far out he was flying. The rainbows being created in the crashing mist were beautiful and he felt more alive than any other experience he did. He saw the giant wave cresting ahead of him as it turned back on itself and knew he would hit the crest if he didn’t get out of the tube quickly. He turned slightly away from the wall of water and picked up speed. He passed the tube and made a radical turn across the front of the onrushing wall of water moving toward him at high speed. He saw the rope hanging a foot in front of him and he reached up and grabbed the handle. He held on tight as he was lifted over the tumultuous crash of the wave breaking in on itself. He laughed and screamed his joy. This was incredible.

“Michael.”

Angelo carried him back over the waves moving ashore and he landed in the water and sat down on his surfboard. “Sorry, I was busy.”

“Surfing again?”

“Uhhhh…yeah.”

“Where?”

“What do you want, Averel?”

“You’re back on the north shore of Hawaii.”

“Averel, you’re not supposed to look in my mind.”

“Not for personal reasons but when you don’t answer a call from Operations, I’ve been directed to find you whatever it takes. Didn’t the team tell you that surfing those waves is too dangerous and ordered you not to do it?”

“They actually suggested it was too dangerous. I’ve not actually been issued orders not to do it. You won’t tell them, will, you?”

“Oh Michael, you’re just like your father. I’ll keep it to myself if you get here fast enough so that I’m not asked where you are.”

“Tell them I’m on my way. Tell them I’m putting my uniform on. Just tell them whatever will divert their attention.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Angelo came down to the ocean and Chris climbed in the cockpit. He pulled his surfboard in behind him and Angelo snapped the cockpit shut and took off at an incredible speed. Chris barely had time to wash the salt water off in a quick shower and pull his uniform on. He saw the giant Fleet Operations building a hundred feet away and he climbed out of Angelo, “Keep things warm.”

“Mum’s the word. Luke is asking Averel where you are.”

Michael lifted his wrist unit quickly and punched a button, “Luke, why did you call me in on my day off?”

Luke lifted his wrist unit and saw Michael. He looked at Averel and shook his head, “Never mind.” He punched his unit and said, “There’s been a development. I’ll tell you about it when you get here.”

“On my way to the elevator.”’

Luke looked at Averel who had deliberately looked away and was pressing buttons on her panel. He hesitated and then walked away. Averel smiled and shook her head. Michael was running out of his nine lives. If the Team saw the wave he was riding…she shook her head at the feeling she felt in his mind when she called him. She understood his love of surfing. She would occasionally enter his mind and ride waves with him without him knowing. It was almost like being there. If she ever did retire, she was going to learn how to surf. The thrill was almost addictive.

• • •

Michael walked into the huge conference room and saw he wasn’t the last to arrive. Thank God for that! He went to his chair at the front of the table next to Luke. Luke looked at him, “Surfing again, huh?

“Yeah, I caught a few waves. What’s going on?”

“Michael, if you ever injure yourself, I’m going to…”

“Don’t worry, Luke. You’re just jealous you’re not as good.”

Luke looked down his nose and raised his eyebrows, “You can’t be serious!”

“Just say where and when.”

“I will if we ever resolve our issues with the Legends.”

“Something’s happened?”

“Hengel intercepted one of the transmissions from a Legend Elder.” Michael’s eyes narrowed and Luke saw Audrey walk in. He stood up and went to greet his half-sister. Michael smiled. He wondered why Allison had insisted her first child be named after his mother. Chris was against the idea but she told him he could name the boys but that the girls were hers. If he didn’t like it, he could just shove it.

Michael shook his head and saw Audrey look at him. He nodded and she smiled. She was eight years younger but she looked fabulous. She had her mother’s eyes and Chris’s blonde hair. Stoney Jr. walked in with Josh right behind her. Josh was Allison’s second child and his half-brother but he was a full brother with Audrey. He had his mother’s red hair and Chris’ blue eyes. Both of them had the Welken-Human hybrid brain and were telepathic. All of the new team members were not allowed to manipulate their DNA to age faster than their normal rate. Chris and Eve were the last ones to do that.

Speaking of that, where was Laney? Eve and Nudge’s daughter was never late. She was always the first to arrive. He saw the elevator door open and Laney walked out with the Welken Royal and his Fleet Leader. The Johan and Myot rulers were right behind them along with their Senior Commanders. Something big must be happening. When the door opened again and the First Leader of the Green Civilization and the High Leader of the Goran emerged, he knew it was big. Laney must have been asked to meet them at the spaceport and bring them to the meeting. The old Fleet Operations building had grown too big to be next to the spaceport’s landing area. The new building was built about a mile inland twelve years ago. He was glad the officer’s quarters remained next to the beach.

• • •

Luke stood up and smiled, “Thank all of you for coming on such short notice.”

The Welken Royal nodded, “Have you decided what to do about this?”

Luke looked around the room and said, “Some of those present haven’t seen what we’ve collected. Please allow me to bring them up to speed and we’ll discuss our plans after that.” Luke pressed a button in front of his chair and the attendees heard the conversation between the two Legends. It ended and Luke looked around, “Hengel has just sent in the images he collected. I want all of us to see them before we start discussing what they mean.”

Luke pressed another button and the gigantic wall monitor came on. A small light appeared in the center of the monitor and then grew larger as the ship scanning it moved toward it. The small light quickly resolved itself into a planet and it continued to increase in size. The planet finally filled the monitor and everyone was stunned. Luke looked at Michael and saw him sit back in his chair and blow out a breath. Michael saw Luke staring at him and he shrugged and leaned over and whispered as the recording continued, “You know they were going to eventually do something like this?”

“Why?”

“It’s exactly what we’ve done over the last twenty years.”

“Nothing like that?”

“My mom said that size is not always the determining factor of what makes a warship dangerous.”

Luke saw the video had ended and looked at the assembly, who were all staring at him. He stood up and pointed at the frozen image of a gigantic warship, “The vessel that the Legend is having built is as large as a small moon or large asteroid. Hengel couldn’t move in any closer to record a better scan. I think the Legends are starting to detect energy in the barrier.” He heard the gasps from the Alliance Leaders.

The Johan said, “How did he determine that?”

“He skipped in closer initially and started recording but a fleet of Black Ships began moving toward him. He backed out and after ten minutes, they turned around. They evidently detected something but didn’t know what it was.” The Welken Royal shook his head. Luke continued, “The images he managed to take aren’t as good as we would like but we can see that the disruptor emplacements on that ship are actually larger than the ones we faced on the Legends’ Planet in M-87.”

The Goran Leader thought, “Can we stand up to it?”

Luke changed the image and the assembly saw another ship that was nearly half the size of the monster. “I don’t know if we can and the ship on the monitor now has to be the new warship model that the Legend Elder mentioned. Once he completes building the monster, he intends to build thousands of the other model.”

Michael shook his head, “They don’t build things in the thousands. He’ll be building millions.”

Luke shrugged, “A million starts with a few thousands.”

Michael smiled, “Touché.”

The Green High Leader shook his head and ruffled his feathers, “We don’t have anything large enough to take that thing on. It would be like attacking a small planet.”

Michael nodded, “That’s intentional.”

Everyone looked at him and the Myot Ruler said, “Educate me. Why do you say that?”

Michael looked at Luke to answer him but Luke sat down and turned to him. Michael’s head went back slightly and then he turned to the Myot Ruler. “We can build ships that big if we wanted. However, we determined early on that the barrier is not large enough for even our former battleships to enter. We would give up our speed advantage as well as our ability to hide in the barrier if we built larger ships. That’s why the new ships are so much longer than they are tall. The ability to enter the barrier to avoid an enemy’s firepower is more important than building something like that. Our current Battle Pod is as large as we can build and still use the barrier.”

“Can our new ships withstand a salvo of those disruptors?”

Michael looked at Audrey, “I don’t know. That’s something that will have to be determined before we face them in a major fleet action.”

Luke said, “What would you do about this, Michael?”

Michael looked at him and chuckled, “That’s pretty obvious.”

“Illuminate me.”

Michael looked at Luke shaking his head, “Come on, Luke! We’re going to have to go and blow that ship apart before it’s completed. The Legend won’t start building the other huge ships until that one is completed. He said as much.”

Luke stood up and looked around the room, “Do you see why I made the suggestion?”

Michael’s head went back and saw many in the room nodding. “What suggestion? You didn’t tell me anything about a suggestion.”

“It had to do with you.” Michael’s eyes narrowed and Luke looked back at the gathering and said, “Is there any disagreement?”

Kyel shook his head, “I think he’s right; and it’s obvious. All of us see it has to be destroyed before it’s completed.”

Luke smiled, “How would you go about destroying that ship, Kyel?”

Kyel looked around and said, “I’d send enough Battle Pods to get the job done.”

Luke pulled the image of the giant black ship back up on the monitor, moved the view in closer, and pointed at the solid wall of black ships surrounding it. “So you would fight your way through those ships to hit it?”

Kyel looked at the massive numbers surrounding the giant ship and took a deep breath, “I don’t see another way of doing it.”

“And if the Legends can detect our ships in the barrier?”

Kyel nodded, “They will be at battle stations before we arrive. However, we don’t know for certain they can detect us.”

Michael shook his head, “Yes we do.” Kyel looked at him. Michael looked at Luke, “Do you have a recording of the ships moving toward our scout?” Luke pressed buttons on his panel and they saw thousands of Black Ships move away from the planet. They watched them accelerate directly toward the scanner recording the image and Michael said, “There was nothing else in that area of space they’re moving toward except our scout. They lost the signal when it moved further away and they probably ruled it out as a sensor error. But they did detect something.”

Luke looked at Michael, “How would you do it?”

“First, I want to know about that suggestion you mentioned.”

“Answer the question Admiral Stone!”

Michael’s face grew angry. Luke had never pulled rank on him before. “Yes sir.” Michael looked at the assembled leaders. “I would have a Sentinel go into normal space out from that planet and broadcast his presence. Matter of fact, I’d probably send ten of them. Once the Legend Elder sees them, he’ll order his fleets to place themselves between him and them. Once the ships move out, we move in and hit the monster.”

Kyel looked at Michael and shook his head, “You are so much like your father.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Kyel sat back in his chair, “My objection is removed.”

Michael looked at Luke, “What objection!”

Luke looked at Michael, “The Leadership have chosen you to command our efforts against the Legends. You will turn your fleet over to your second-in-command and assume the position of First Commander.”

“I’ll do no such thing! I’m not old enough.”

“You’re older than most of us?”

“Then I’m not as experienced as Kyel and the other Leaders that fought in the first war.”

The Welken Royal stood up, “It’s not experience that makes the difference. It’s being able to see the things that everyone else misses.”

Luke smiled, “Trust me on this, he doesn’t miss much.”

Michael’s eyebrows came together in anger, “You should call Dad out of retirement and have him take the position.”

Audrey stood up and said, “We asked; he didn’t say no; he said hell no! And then he suggested you for the position.”

Michael looked at his sister, “Audrey, you know I’m not up to this!”

Audrey slowly shook her head, “Michael, you were in Dad’s mind long before any of us. You are the only one of his children to see his thoughts during the last fight with the Legends. You saw how his mind functioned and how he developed his strategies. We weren’t there then and by the time we came along, he didn’t think about it anymore. It brought back too many dark memories of what he did. You think like him. What you just suggested is exactly how he would plan to take on this new Legend Warship.” Laney listened to Audrey and looked at Stoney and Josh; both nodded. They agreed with Audrey.

Michael looked at Luke shaking his head, “You outrank me. You should be the one to do it!”

Luke closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them. He turned his head slightly and looked Michael in the eyes, “Why didn’t my father accept command instead of your father?” Michael stared at Luke and saw his sadness. Michael couldn’t think of a reason and he shook his head. Luke took a deep breath and blew it out, “He didn’t do it because he knew he didn’t have it in him to make the really hard decisions. He knew he might hesitate at a critical moment and that could prove fatal. He was an excellent planner and tactician. I am my father’s child…just like you are. My father was a great leader but your father was a great warrior. What all of us need at this moment in time is a warrior to lead us. I’ve seen a warrior’s spirit in you for as long as I’ve known you. This is something you must do.”

Michael lowered his head and forcefully blew out a breath, “Do you not remember what my father did to the Goran?”

The Goran Leader said, “We forgave him and we are safer now for it having happened.”

Michael looked at the High Leader and said in a soft voice, “But he never forgave himself.”

The Goran Leader smiled, “That knowledge will serve you well in your new position. I think I have the right to say that we need someone that can do to our enemies what was done to us. I know that you will do what’s necessary and do it with compassion.”

Michael lowered his head and Luke said, “When do we do this First Commander?”

The room was silent and waited as Michael struggled with his emotions. He finally looked up, “We wait until they start installing the reactors. There’s no reason to do it now. We should allow them to waste as much time as possible building it.”

The room began cheering. Michael took a deep breath and wished to be a child again building a sand fort with his mother. He stood up, forced a smile, and then lifted his arms. The room exploded even louder.

• • •

The room broke up into small groups with all of them congratulating Michael. Hengel and Averel walked up to the Goran High Leader and waited for him to finish speaking with the First Leader of the Birds. He finally turned around and Averel nudged Hengel. “High Leader, will you approve…”

“I bless your union and will officiate the ceremony before I leave.” Hengel looked at him in bewilderment. The High Leader smiled, “I’ve been watching the two of you for quite a while and you belong together. You should have seen this long before now.”

Averel nodded, “I told him.”

“It wasn’t his fault, Averel; he almost worships you. He couldn’t get up the nerve.”

Averel glanced at Hengel as she spoke to the High Leader, “I want to eliminate the word ‘almost’.”

Hengel said, “Hey, hey, I’m standing here!”

Averel gave him a big hug and said, “We know.” Hengel shook his head.

Michael walked up and said, “Am I interrupting something?”

“Hengel and I are going to be united.”

Michael smiled, “It’s about time.”

Hengel shook his head, “Am I the only one that missed this!?” Averel looked at him and nodded.

The High Leader said, “What do you need, First Commander?”

“I would like to meet with all the designated Fleet leaders from each civilization. Who is leading your forces?”

“We’ve chosen Talel.”

Michael tilted his head, “Where have I heard that name before?”

“He was the baby your father allowed to live along with the rest of our leaders.”

Michael’s soft smile was instant, “I look forward to meeting him.”

“I happen to know he is looking forward to it as well.”

• • •

Chris sat on a beach on Eden holding Allison’s hand. She looked up and said, “Audrey just contacted me and said Michael reluctantly accepted the position.”

“Good boy!”

“Chris, he doesn’t want it. He’s being forced to do it.”

“I didn’t want it, either.”

“But…”

“Allison, he is the best one to do it. You have to know that.”

Allison sighed, “I guess.” She looked at him and said, “You’re hiding something.”

Chris jerked his head around, “Are you finally telepathic?”

“No, I just know you. I’ve seen it since you were asked to be the First Commander again. Is there a reason you turned the position down that I don’t know?”

Chris sighed, “I’ve never discussed it with you.”

“Why?”

“Because we’re surrounded by telepaths. It was all I could do to keep it hidden from them.”

“Not anymore; you do everything possible to avoid them.”

“That’s the reason.”

Allison saw his expression and finally said, “Are you going to tell me?”

“I need to tell someone. I keep going around in circles wondering if I’m right.”

“Tell me, Chris!”

Chris looked out at the ocean for a few moments and then looked at her, “Do you remember when we went on a scouting mission to look at M-86 and M-87.” Allison nodded. “We saw the Progen’s new ships actually firing their weapons. Remember?”

“I do.”

“Then that Giant Legend Warship came into the galaxy and we learned about the existence of other galaxies that the Legends controlled.” Allison stared at him wondering where this was headed. “Then we learned that they could not detect us in the void.”

“I remember.”

“Do you remember saying that the scouting mission accomplished everything we needed in just one trip and that it was almost too good to be true.”

Allison nodded and saw Chris staring at her in silence. Her eyes narrowed as she remembered and then they went wide open, “It was too good to be true!”

Chris blew out a loud breath, “Just like all the coincidences that happened to Lukas when he escaped to Earth, the odds of them all happening randomly were astronomical.”

“You believe there’s something else operating and exerting control over events.”

“I’ve tried to find evidence to prove me wrong.”

Allison waited for him to continue speaking but he remained silent, “But you only found more to show you were right?”

Chris nodded, “Why did Lukas send the Sentinels to the Legends’ Planet in M-87? Their presence is what turned their massive attack fleet around.”

Allison lowered her head and then looked at him, “I have no idea.”

“I asked him.”

“And?”

“He didn’t really know, Allison. He just said the thought occurred to him and he did it.” Allison continued to stare at him and Chris sighed, “Do you remember Lukas saying he thought Pat stopped him from killing me before I was born?” Allison nodded. “Lukas told me later that Pat didn’t do it. He said Lukas did that on his own.” Chris sighed, “Lukas’s mind at that time was primarily that of a Welken Warrior. He should have done it. It was the strategically right thing to do.” Chris took a breath and looked out at the ocean, “Salud said I was saved because I had a destiny to save all of us. I thought she was out of her mind…but now I wonder.”

“Could one of the Sentinels be doing it?”

“Pat told Lukas he didn’t stop him and I know that Pat would have seen another Sentinel if it were operating near him. I hate to say this, but I think the Sentinels are probably being controlled as well. Pat could have been pushed to do all the things he chose to do.” Lukas paused and said, “There’s one other thing.” Allison held her breath. “You know about the Stalkers that were trying to find Lukas on Earth?”

“Yes.”

“They always changed their DNA to that of the intelligent species on every planet they went to find a prey. They had been doing it for thousands of years.”

“What are you saying, Chris?”

“Over thousands of years, none of them ever lost their Stalker intellect…ever.”

Allison saw it, “But Lukas’s brain was fused with the Human Brain and he became a hybrid of both species.”

Chris nodded, “And his children inherited that brain along with telepathy. His DNA after he was changed into a human was dominant…just like Eve’s…just like mine…and just like our children. Something changed his DNA as Willow changed him to human form.”

“Then why didn’t you accept the position to lead us?”

“Because now I know and if I’m right…”

Allison sighed, “The ones doing it will know you know.”

“They probably already do. I suspect they’re listening to us now. That’s why I had to decline the position. I can’t make decisions with the idea that there is something operating as a safety net. It might not be there and my decisions could lead to disaster.”

Allison shook her head and they sat in silence for a long time. She finally said, “There are other things that support your belief.”

“I know.”

“We can’t let anyone know about this.”

“I know; that’s why I’ve never told you.”

“Why are you telling me now?”

“Because all of our children are grown and have learned that listening to others thoughts without permission is beyond being impolite. I had to wait until they learned it and reflexively lived it. They will not invade your privacy.”

“I remember your expression that day. I saw something bothered you but you changed the subject.”

Chris smiled, “You’ve always been the one that sees things in me that others miss. I’m glad of that now.” Allison stared at him for a very long moment and then shook her head and looked back out at the ocean. “You can’t bring yourself to ask, can you?” Allison took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and then shook her head. “I’ve thought about that question every day since then.”

“And?”

“Audrey was not the one chosen for me.”

Allison lowered her head and closed her eyes, “You can’t be sure about that?”

“Oh I believe she and I were intended to have a son. But she had to die so I would attack the Goran so viciously. I also believe that you were nudged to stop it. Why did you do it?”

“I just saw that it would destroy you if you continued.”

Chris took her chin and stared into her eyes, “Where did that thought come from?”

Allison stared at him and he saw her struggling with the question, “I could see it happening to you in my mind.” She continued to stare at him and finally said, “I was nudged.”

“You were chosen to be with me. Audrey couldn’t have done the things you did after you were ordered aboard my ship. It was you that allowed us to survive and learn what we needed to know to defeat the Legends in M-87. Things just happened…”

Allison interrupted him, “That would have never happened without something operating to cause it.” Chris nodded. Both of them turned, looked back out at the ocean, and without making an agreement, they didn’t mention it again. After two hours, Allison said, “We can’t go back to Earth.” Chris nodded. “Averel will see it.”

Chris took her hand, “Not in me but you won’t be able to hide it. We’ll set up a residence here on Eden and convince our children to come see us here. We have to avoid the Goran.” Allison nodded and continued to stare at the waves.

Chapter Two

Michael walked through Fleet Operations carrying a box filled with items he took from his former office. This was the last box and he was glad to be done with moving. Luke asked him why he just didn’t order some junior officers to move his things. “Luke, there are some very valuable things that I’d never get over if they were damaged. Besides, I threw away more than I moved. I don’t mind doing it.” One thing that he didn’t know if he liked was the size of his new office. It was actually larger than Luke’s with a brace of huge wall monitors. Oh well.

He walked through the main communications center and Averel thought, “Michael.” He stopped and looked at her. “Admiral Greenwall has requested you contact her about the maneuver schedule.”

“Don’t you have the schedule, Averel?”

“I offered to send it but she insisted she would have some questions that only you could answer.”

“Have Audrey send it to her and answer any questions she might have.” Averel started laughing and Michael shook his head. “Averel.”

Averel straightened up and said, “Yes, First Commander.”

“Until further notice, you will do all you can to prevent my having to communicate directly with Admiral Greenwall. I am holding you responsible for making that happen. Do you understand?”

“She can’t be that bad, Michael?”

“Do you understand!?”

“I will do my absolute best, Sir, but she is absolutely the most diabolical human I’ve ever met at getting her way.”

“If she gets through you…”

“I know, I know.”

Michael turned and walked toward his office. Admiral Katy Greenwall! She had decided during the second year of their Advanced Studies that Michael was going to be hers and telling her no only made her more determined. She threatened and intimidated all the other girls in his class into avoiding any contact with him. He was shy at that age and thought they resented him because of who his father was. He learned to live with it. It took Audrey to tell him what was going on.

Audrey was several classes behind him but she was telepathic and had no problem listening to the thoughts of those around her. She was the most obstinate of Chris’ children about respecting other people’s privacy. She finally got the message when Josh started repeating out loud what she was thinking where everyone around her could hear. She was furious and Josh finally managed to get her to see that what she was doing was no different. However, she told Michael what Katy was doing. He broke a long-standing principle and listened to her one day. He confronted her and told her what he thought about her and told her she would never…ever…hold his interest.

He shook his head. If she had just been nice, she might have gotten him to notice her. She was really beautiful and had a steel-trap mind. Her scores rivaled his and she didn’t have the benefit of telepathy. But she was remorseless. He remembered her telling him that he would change his mind. He knew a human would fly like the Green Birds before that happened. She prevented him from having a relationship with a girl before he graduated and went to the Fleet Academy. Now he really wanted to thank her. He didn’t have the time, or the inclination, to be involved in a relationship; he had too much to do. But thanking her would lead to requests to allow her to come visit and he grew weary of dreaming up reasons why she couldn’t. One time he had told her that he no desire to be around her. She replied that if he would he’d want to do it more. He wasn’t looking at her thoughts but could actually see her winking in his mind. He broke the connection. Now, he would see if she could get through Averel.

He walked in his office and set the box down. He saw the light on his desk unit illuminate and he glanced at the identity of the caller and saw it was Admiral Greenwall. “AVEREL!!!”

“SHE BYPASSED MY PANEL AND WENT THROUGH PERSONNEL!”

Michael shook his head. After a moment, he thought, “Audrey.”

“Yeah, Michael.”

“One of your Admirals is going around the chain-of-command and calling me directly.”

“Katy at it again?”

“I don’t want to shut out all the others just to stop her. She reports to you, can you do anything?”

“Maybe you should give her a chance.”

“Maybe you should kiss an eel!”

Audrey laughed out loud. “I’ll call her in to my office and make it clear that she hasn’t learned proper protocol. I’ll tell her that all of her inquires will go through my desk first and that if she contacts one of my superiors without going through me, it had better be because I’m not available and someone is about to die.”

“Do you think that will do it?”

“She is ingenious.”

“Give it a shot. Let me know if you have any problems.”

“I’ve about had my fill of her. I should have battered her ears in when we were in school.”

“She’s pretty good in hand-to-hand.”

“Does she have our father’s reflexes?”

“No, but she will resort to dirty tactics.”

Audrey smiled, “I wrote the book on that. Besides, in her case, I will look at her mind.”

“If it comes to that, kick her…”

“Be nice.”

“Thanks, Sis.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Michael didn’t receive any more calls from Katy. She wondered how Audrey did it. He found out when Averel sent him a thought recording of the personal one-on-one hand-to-hand training Audrey ordered Katy to go through to ensure she was up to fleet standards. He watched the recording and winced several times. Now he understood.

• • •

“Hengel, it’s good to see you. Are you here to relieve me?”

“I am.”

“Congratulations on your union. Was the time off fun?”

“You better believe it. I’ve struck it lucky with my mate. How are things going here?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Hengel looked at the distant speck of light and furrowed his brow, “Why are you so far out from the planet?”

“If I moved any closer their ships would start moving toward me.”

“Have they improved their detection of the barrier this much in my absence?”

“If we move in five miles, they’ll start moving toward us.”

Hengel shook his head, focused on the Legends’ Planet, and then turned his attention to the monster ship being built. He listened closely and shouted, “They’re already installed the bulk of the reactors!!”

“But…how! I’ve not heard any orders to start the installation!”

“Jeeren, focus on workers complaining about working too hard.”

“They all complain.”

“Look for the ones complaining about having to work in heavy suits!”

Jeeren focused and a moment later said, “You’re right. There’s only ten reactors left to install. How did I miss this!?”

Hengel thought, “AVEREL!! THE GIANT SHIP HAS MOST OF ITS REACTORS INSTALLED!!”

“WHAT!?”

“Jeeren missed it. Notify Michael immediately. If he doesn’t take it out quickly, it will be fully operational in six days!”

• • •

The klaxons were blaring at full blast in fleet operations as Michael ran into the building, “Averel, where are we?”

“All of the wings that have been practicing for the assault are being assembled as we speak. The six Heavies are being armed with their rounds and should be ready to go within four hours.”

“What about the Sentinels?” Michael focused and thought, “Pat!”

“I’ve contacted nine of my brothers and they are being taken there on Silver Ships. Piper is coming to pick me up and we’ll be ready to go before the Heavies are loaded.”

“Thanks Pat. Averel, how did we miss this?”

“It’s not Jeeren’s fault, Commander. He did everything by the book but the Legend did not issue any orders to install the reactors. The builders just followed a blue print without being issued orders.”

“Then how did we find out about this?”

Averel sighed mentally, “Hengel showed up to relieve him and none of us are as good as he is at seeing things. He ignored the Legend and focused on the ones building that ship. He listened for complaints about having to work in heavy, bulky radiation suits. He found them and learned they’re going to complete the installation in six days. The ship will then be fully operational.”

“Hengel will not be scouting anymore!”

“But Commander! He didn’t make this mistake.”

“He will come here and teach scouts how to do what he does! We can’t depend on him to do it all. He has to teach others what he knows.”

“Did you say come here?”

“I did.”

“Oh, by all means he should be made a teacher.”

“Averel, are you being selfish?”

“I already miss him. Having him here will be a dream come true.”

“Who’s in command of the assault ships?”

“Audrey has selected the top pilots from her fleets to participate. Laney will be in direct command of the assault.”

“Then I know they’ll be up to the task. I’m skipping out to take a look at what’s going on.”

“I’ll notify Admiral Stone of your departure.”

“Have she and Laney contact me when everyone is ready to go.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Michael took the elevator to the top of the building and saw Angelo hovering three feet of the landing pad. He sprinted into the open port and it slammed shut behind him. He ran to the bridge and went to the command chair, “Get us to that planet!” The Two hundred yard long Battle Pod shot off the top of the building and moved through the atmosphere at slightly less than the speed of sound. It went into the barrier while still in the atmosphere and the sound of air rushing into the place it disappeared from caused a massive thunderclap. Michael looked at the monitor and saw the Virgo Cluster pass in an instant. In another twenty seconds, the glowing ship slowed and stopped half a million miles from the Legends’ Planet where the monster ship was being built. “Show me what you’ve got, Angelo.”

An image of the planet appeared on the tactical monitor and it was still too far away to see details…but…it was easy to see the millions of Black ships around the planet even from that distance. “Do you have the status of the assault force?”

“The ships are completing their formations now. We still have a few hours before the Heavies are armed.”

“Michael!”

“Yes Luke.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m at the Legends’ Planet.”

“Alone?”

“The others will arrive in a few hours.”

“I can’t order you to do anything now but I am going to insist that you assign a bodyguard to your ship before any other attack. I’m asking you to do this because I love you.” Michael sighed. “Your father didn’t want one either but you know accepting one turned out to be one of the best things he did. Please do this for me.”

“I’ll talk with you about it when I get back.”

“But…”

“I’m not saying no. I just want to discuss it, ok?”

“Plan to see me as quick as you get back.”

“Luke, there’ll be some things I have to do after the smoke clears on this operation but I promise I’ll meet with you before I go out again.”

“That’s good enough.”

“Commander.”

“Fleet Admiral, are your warships ready to launch?”

“They are. The Heavies are having their cannons loaded and will be ready to go shortly.”

“Audrey, we have got to develop a faster way to get them ready!”

“The only safe place to do it is out in open space beyond the Solar System. Those rounds are temperamental and it’s a slow process getting them into the barrels.”

“I know, but if we intend to use them, we need to have them ready.”

“Perhaps we should just assign he ships to the munitions center and keep some of them loaded. We can always skip the crews in.”

Michael thought about it and sighed, “Then we’d have to leave a heavy guard to prevent them being taken by an invader. Have we not developed another round that would do the trick?”

“Not yet. There’s also something I’ve just been told by Hengel that causes me some concern.”

“What is that?”

“He’s heard some of the Black Ship commanders talking about the portable force field that’s been placed around that ship. He’s of the opinion that if one of the heavy rounds doesn’t penetrate the force field, the ship may not be harmed because of the blast the heavy round will cause around it.”

Michael didn’t like hearing that. “That means the heavies will have to have a clear shot at it.”

“It does.”

“So six groups with one heavy in each group will attack the ship?”

“Yes Sir.”

“I really hope that Legend sends the bulk of its fleets out to the Sentinels.”

“I agree. Otherwise, we’ll have to fight our way in close.”

“Does Laney know about the force field?”

“She does and she’ll be informing the assault fleets that they must get a clear shot in from at least one of the heavies.”

“If they fire and the round hits a Black Ship…”

“The blast from it will prevent the other rounds from making it to the ship.”

“We shouldn’t have waited. They didn’t have that force field earlier.”

“It is what it is, Commander. We have a good team going in.”

“I hope you’re right.”

• • •

“Sir, the six assault fleets along with their heavies are skipping in and will be waiting in the barrier for the Sentinels to make an appearance.”

Michael thought, “Pat, the fleets will be here in a minute. Are you ready?”

“Piper is in contact with Admiral Blaine and will wait on her to tell us when to go.”

“Thanks, Pat. Put on a good show.”

“We’ll make a face at him.”

“If you had a tongue I’d tell you to stick it out at him.”

“Oh, I think we can get his attention.”

“I imagine you can!”

• • •

Michael looked at his tactical monitor and said, “Angelo, I want to hear any orders issued by the Elder.”

“I’ll send them to you. I’ll skip in closer once the attack begins so you will have a better view of what happens.”

“That would be good.”

“Laney has just sent the order to the Sentinels, they’re on their way in.”

Michael listened and discovered he didn’t need Angelo to send the thoughts; he could hear them. The ten Silver Ships came out of the barrier on the opposite side of the planet from the giant black warship and the Sentinels moved out of them. Pat yelled, “Hey, are you planning a party for my arrival!”

The other Sentinels added their thoughts and he heard the Legend Elder scream, “ALL FLEETS MEET THOSE BEINGS AND FIRE ON THEM!!”

Angelo skipped in closer but stayed in the barrier. Michael saw millions of Black Ships move toward the Sentinels’ location at their fastest speed. He ignored them and stayed focused on the giant black ship in orbit above the planet. Most of the ships around it flashed away but the inner wall stayed in place. He shook his head. Those ships must have been given standing orders to go nowhere without a direct order from the Elder and he was too frightened to issue any orders except to go and kill the Sentinels. They stayed in place. The Battle Pods were going to have to fight their way through their ranks. The explosions started immediately.

Michael had seen everything in his father’s mind during the battles that raged in the Virgo Cluster and the Local Group. He saw the first invasion in Chris’s memory along with the destruction of all human life on Earth. He actually saw the videos of the battles his father participated in and he never lost one. The attack on the Goran scared his father in a way that he would never forget. The destruction of the Legends’ Planet in M-87 was actually anti-climactic to that attack. He saw what his father saw and during his years in the Fleet Academy, he pulled the files and recordings of all the fleet actions and knew most of them from memory. Luke was right about one thing, he was a warrior at heart and he always tried to find a better way to have fought those initial battles.

But now, he could only standby and watch the Alliance Forces move in and attack. There wasn’t going to be anything subtle about it. The use of the Sentinels was the one subterfuge and it failed to get all the fleets surrounding the Elder’s vessel to leave it undefended. He tried to follow the action around the giant ship but the swarming fleets of ships were impossible to follow. One thing he knew for certain, if the giant ship wasn’t destroyed quickly, it probably wouldn’t be destroyed at all. The ships that went out after the Sentinels would arrive and find them gone. They would immediately return to defend the huge warship. He knew the six fleets would attack simultaneously from six different directions. Four would move in from the four sides of the giant while the other two would come in from above and below. So far, the heavies had not fired their massive rounds.

• • •

Watching a space battle from a distance was simultaneously beautiful and agonizing. The brilliant explosions as warships died was beautiful, if you could divorce yourself from the loss of life each blast represented. In a battle this large, it looked like the finale of a giant fireworks show that never seemed to end. The brilliant reds, blues, whites, and yellows produced by the various systems used by a warship when it died were incredible to see. The flashes around the giant Legend vessel were too numerous to count.

Suddenly, the Alliance Battle Pods disappeared an instant before a giant explosion erupted above the planet. The blast was one of the largest he had ever seen, if not the largest. None of those he remembered studying in the Academy matched the gigantic flash. The blast ripped into the Black Ships still around the giant vessel, blew through the planet’s atmosphere, and hit the surface. The Fleet’s attack was successful; the giant black vessel was vaporized by the heavy’s round. He yelled, “Get us out of here!!” He saw some of the Black Ships that had gone out after the Sentinels were fleeing from the shockwave the giant explosion created and were moving in his direction. He was out of the Legends’ galaxy in an instant and headed back to Earth.

• • •

“Pat, it appears every defensive structure on that continent where the Legend is located has been obliterated. The Legends’ residence is still intact but the ground disruptors are gone.”

“The force field around the residence is incredible to withstand that blast, Piper.”

“I don’t see anything near the planet to stop you from going in.”

Pat slid out of Piper’s hull and took a quick look at the planet below them. Piper was right. “I’ll be gone for just a few moments; I’ll contact you for pickup shortly.” Pat moved down to the planet’s surface in an instant. He went through the force field and arrived inside the Elder’s main chamber a second later. He saw the Legend Elder at his control boards and smiled, “Hey, take a break!”

The Elder screamed as Pat extended his field and shocked it. The Elder collapsed to the floor. The Elder’s fear was paralyzing and Pat thought to it, “Will you shut up with the screaming. I’m not going to kill you if you shut the hell up!” The Legends’ screams abruptly ended. It lay on the floor quivering. Pat decided killing him wasn’t worth it. This Elder’s mind was frozen by its fear. He mentally shrugged and thought, “It has been brought to my attention that you have been planning to come to my domain without permission. I came here to let you know that is not something you, or any of those like you, should do. I’ll let you live this time but next time I will kill you. If I see you building another ship to invade, it will be the last thing you do.” The Legend continued to shake on the floor and Pat left the giant chamber and called in Piper. Piper flashed in and Pat moved inside the silver ship’s hull as it flashed back into the barrier and disappeared.

“Did you kill it?”

“No, killing it would waste him. I believe his fear will do more benefit than just ending its life.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Pat, if you have an enemy by the throat, you should remove it. Especially a species like this one.”

“If this doesn’t work out, I’ll kill the next one.”

• • •

Michael pressed a button on his console, “Averel.”

“Yes Sir.”

“I want the recordings of this battle collected and have Fleet Intelligence prepared to deliver a presentation of what happened in my office in the morning. Ask Luke if he’ll lead the presentation.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Do we have an estimate of casualties?”

“We lost a little more than six thousand ships, Sir.”

Michael shook his head, “That many?”

“Sir, we were outnumbered twenty to one. Most of the losses happened at the point of each fleet’s attack. Blowing a path through that many ships proved to be much more difficult than we anticipated. Unfortunately, all of our damaged ships that weren’t able to escape into the barrier were destroyed when the target went up.”

“What about enemy ship losses?”

“Twenty thousand in the fight to break through and another half of a million when the target exploded. The blast killed far more of the Legend’s warships than our ships.”

“I want the Senior Admirals there in the morning to view the presentation.”

“Yes Sir. I’ll notify them now.”

“Where to Michael?”

“Angelo, take me to my quarters. I need some down time.” He thought about Hawaii but knew he should stay near Operations in the event Intelligence needed him. He sighed and shook his head at the loss of freedom with his new position. The waves would have to wait for this to war to end before he could feel the freedom of riding a really large wave.

Chapter Three

Rear Admiral Jenkins finished his presentation the next morning and the Admirals gathered in the room were silent. Michael knew they were all thinking about the ramifications of the attack and he decided to use a technique to get them to share what they were thinking. “I want all of you to pair up and discuss with each other what you learned from watching this recording. Be prepared to share your findings with the group. Feel free to have more than three in a group but I want your findings collected as quickly as possible.”

Michael knew the Senior Admirals had no problem expressing their thoughts but many of the new Admirals were less likely to speak out. Getting them to discuss their observations with another officer made it easier to get out what they thought. Having another support your findings removed a lot of their reluctance.

After forty minutes, Michael said, “All of you on the left side of the room, compare what you’ve determined and make a list of the things all of you have in common. I also want a second list of items that no other group listed. The right side of the room will do the same.”

The two groups circled their chairs and though the initial discussion began slowly, it quickly picked up speed as they saw that many of them agreed on most of their findings. Luke looked at Michael, “This is a clever idea. Where did you come up with it?”

“It was a process that was once used on Earth in adult education.”

“That doesn’t answer my question?”

“I looked up everything I could find in our databases on leadership and this process was included in an instructional module produced by an organization that was located in Seattle, Washington before Earth’s destruction. I liked the idea and wondered if it would work with this many flag officers in one meeting. It would take a week for all of them to speak and this will shorten the time needed to see what findings they have in common.”

“Do you want to lead the meeting now?”

“No, just call time and ask them to read out their lists. Have the list put on the main monitor so everyone could see it as they read their lists.”

Luke nodded and started collecting the findings as one group read an item off their list followed by the second group. Michael smiled; this was a good way to insure both members of a group felt their opinions were of equal value. The first twenty findings were on all the group’s lists. He looked out at the assembled admirals and saw Katy staring at him. He kept his expression neutral and continued looking past her but saw her smile. He needed to get out of the meeting before Luke ended it. Having her rush up to talk with him was not something he was interested in.

The list was finally complete and Luke looked at the monitor, “I think I can summarize by saying that we are in agreement that we need to send a larger attack force next time.” He looked out at the assembly and saw most of them nod. “We should also plan for the Legends to leave a major fleet of their newest battleships around the vessel under construction.” He looked around the room and said, “I’ll forward this list to all of the Alliance Fleet Leaders as well as the planetary leadership.”

Michael looked at the secondary list of items that were created only by the original twosomes and were not on another’s list. He said, “One of you said that the findings on this battle will probably not apply to the next attack we have to make. Which of you made that statement?” Talel and Admiral Geeron stood up. Michael smiled. The difference between the Goran and Bird was striking. The Audon was a foot taller than the Goran and its green plumage was beautiful as it changed color as the lights hit it. It was obvious the Audon evolved from a bird-of-prey. Its hooked beak and claws were clear evidence of that, “Why do you feel this way?”

Geeron’s tail went up and he said, “Talel suggested the idea and after a few questions, I found I had to agree with his assessment.”

Michael looked at Talel, “Share with us what you’re thinking.”

Talel nodded and began broadcasting his thoughts, “I remained at the planet after all of our ships left and waited to see what was going to happen. I didn’t see in the recording where the Sentinel went down to the planet and confronted the Elder Legend.”

Michael held up his hand for Talel to wait and he looked at Admiral Jekins, “What about that, Jinks?”

“Sir, I don’t have any information about that happening.”

Michael looked up, “Pat? Do you know about this?”

“I was the one that went down to the planet.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Piper pointed out before we skipped out that all of the defense installations on the continent where the Legends’ Residence was located were destroyed in the blast of the ship. He said there wasn’t anything to prevent me from going down to the planet. I took a look around and saw he was right. So, I went and paid him a visit.”

The Admirals began speaking among themselves and Luke said, “Silence, please.”

The room grew silent and Michael said, “What happened?”

“I confronted the Elder and he nearly died from his panic. He screamed and I shocked him slightly to shut him up.”

“You didn’t kill him?”

“No, it would have been a waste of energy. He was so petrified with fear that I thought allowing him to live might give the others pause before they undertook another attack. I warned him that if any of his species planned to come to my domain without permission, I would come and kill them.”

Michael looked at Luke and saw him shrug. Michael blew out a breath and knew something else must have happened. He turned to Talel, “I guess you saw something that has caused you some concern.”

Talel smiled, “You are very astute, First Commander. I stayed until another Elder contacted the one that Pat shocked and it determined that Pat was right, that particular Elder would never do anything to confront us again. Its fear ruled its emotions. I sensed that it had probably gone insane from the contact with Pat.”

“But?”

“The Legend that attempted to communicate with it contacted other Elders and they were all frightened by what had happened to it. Their fear led them to all agree that the danger we represented would have to be eliminated.”

“Is this why you say what we learned in this attack won’t serve us in the next one?”

“It is. They all agreed that the new warships will no longer be built near one of their planets. They intend to select a distant location to build those ships and the ships will be delivered to them all at one time before they commence the construction of the new Black Ships that will replace the current ships defending their planets.”

“Were you able to find out the location where they’re going to build them?”

“All of them agreed that the location would be a secret and that the one chosen to build them will leave immediately and tell no one where it’s going.”

“I should have just killed it.”

Michael shook his head and then nodded, “Talel, do you think Pat’s visit is what prompted them to come up with this plan?”

“They were frightened beyond anyone I’ve ever seen. It was the way Pat treated the Elder with a callous disregard for its life. However, even if he didn’t go down to the planet, I suspect they would have eventually devised this plan. After we destroyed another one of those monster vessels, they would have done this. In this instance, we’ve lost the delay the construction of another ship and its destruction would have given us.” Michael nodded and Geeron and Talel sat down.

Audrey said, “We’re going to need to find that location.”

Michael shook his head, “Fleet Admiral, please remember that they said the ships would be built at a distant location. Do you have any idea what that might mean?”

Audrey stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. Michael looked at Talel who shrugged and said, “I got the feeling that distance meant a very long way from their location.”

Michael looked at Audrey, “The galaxy we attacked is more than a billion light years from here. If they go at least that far to build those ships, there will be more than a two hundred million galaxies within a billion light years from them. If they go two billion light years away, which is what I expect them to do, the number swells to more than a billion.”

Audrey looked at Talel, “Your species is telepathic; shouldn’t you be able to find them?”

Talel shook his head and started to speak but Michael interrupted, “Admiral. It appears they are only sending a single Legend out to build those ships and I’m reasonably certain that he has been instructed to not communicate with those that sent him. If he doesn’t broadcast his thoughts, finding a single legend in a galaxy is impossible.”

Audrey stared at Michael and then looked at Talel, who nodded. “So it looks like war is coming soon.”

Michael stared at the gathering and saw even Katy was no longer smiling. “I see two possibilities, Admiral. The first is that the one sent away will build the initial vessels for the living Legends, which means at least twenty five thousand vessels.”

Luke said, “What’s the other possibility?”

“The one sent away decides to take the whole pie for himself and builds the monster vessels along with the giant black battleships. He then comes back and conquers his species. Once that’s done, he comes after us.”

Josh looked at Michael, “I would think they would be extremely careful selecting the one they send out. I know if we were in their place, we would be.”

Michael smiled, “You’ve never heard their thoughts, Admiral. The one thing every one of them has in common is a major case of paranoia. Their fear of dying is what drives their every decision. And this particular Legend is going out with no one to control him or see what he’s doing. There is a good possibility that he could do both.”

Laney shook her head, “Just how would he do that?”

“He builds his personal fleet entirely of Monster Vessels.” The entire room was struck silent by the comment. Michael looked around at the Senior Admirals and saw their doubts written on their faces. “I know what some of you are thinking. You think that a Legend would never allow their tools to have a vessel that could put them in danger.” Michael continued to look at them and saw the Admirals look at each other and nod. Michael smiled, “However, you need to remember that the technology used by the Legends to control the emotions of those around it can be used for more things than just generating fear. It could also be used to cause adoration among its tools.”

Laney’s eyes went wide, “You’re right!”

Luke shook his head, “How would we handle a fleet of a million of those monsters?”

“We’re going to have to build a special ship designed to take on those vessels.”

“But we don’t have a ship that can do that?”

“I seem to recall we just killed one of those ships with a single shot.”

Josh said, “The heavies!”

Michael nodded, “It can’t be done with a small number. The crossfire those monsters could generate is beyond anything we’ve ever faced in the past. I will entertain other suggestions but I don’t see another way to confront huge numbers of them except to have a ship that can take them out. By the way, who was the one that killed the monster above that planet?”

Jinks stood up, “Sir, it actually wasn’t the heavy that made that ship’s destruction possible. The mission would have failed except for the bravery of one of our pilots. My staff is unanimous in recommending that pilot for our highest award for bravery.”

“Do you have a recording of what happened?”

“I do.” Jinks pointed his monitor control unit at the giant screen and every one present stared at the images on it. They saw the heavy moving in toward the giant black vessel with a clear lane between it and its target. Suddenly, four huge black battleships rushed into the heavy’s path. They heard on the speaker, “JOSEY, DON’T DO IT!!” The four black battleships began showing massive explosions on their hulls and, in less than ten seconds, all of them were vaporized in four massive explosions.

All of the attendees looked away from the monitor at Admiral Jekins. He tilted his head and said, “The problem with dark energy beams is that they’re not visible. The only way my staff was able to find this footage was by hearing that voice just before those enemy ships were destroyed. We went through all of our personnel files on those that participated in the attack and we found a pilot named Josephine Bartolo. We set our computers to find that pilot’s ship frequency and we followed her from the beginning of the attack until those four ships were destroyed. I’m going to replay what just happened but I’m going to bring the view in much closer between the black warships.”

The monitor’s view changed and the gathering saw the four battleships rush at them until they disappeared. “Keep your eyes on the front middle of the monitor.” The view moved in closer and they suddenly saw a Battle Pod appear out of the barrier with all of its disruptors firing. The only way the disruptor’s beams could be seen was when they blew through the Pod’s force field. The Pod was appearing and disappearing at an incredible speed. The Pod moved through the four ships’ positions and it was clear the enemy’s disruptors were continuously hitting it.

“How many times was it hit, Admiral?”

Jinks paused the recording and looked at Luke, “At least fifty times. However, that pilot managed to never be hit by more than two beams at a time before she move her pod in and then out of the barrier. That pilot seemed to possess a second sense about when to avoid being hit by enough disruptor beams to destroy her ship. It was the destruction of those four enemy battleships that cleared a path for the heavy to fire on the target. It was that heavy’s round that destroyed that giant vessel. The only way we were able to see her do it was by following her ship from the start of the battle to the moment she skipped in among those battleships.”

Michael looked out at the assembly and said, “Does everyone agree that this pilot deserves to be recognized for her actions?” The entire assembly stood up and cheered. The only one that remained seated was Admiral Katy Greenwall. She was using her wrist unit to look up the pilot in question and she didn’t like what she found. But no one noticed her as a time and place was chosen to award her the Alliance Crescent.

• • •

The meeting was adjourned and Michael thought, “Talel, would you stop by a moment.”

“On my way.”

Michael shook a young Admiral’s hand and said, “I know you’re going to do a great job with our fleet. Congratulations on your promotion, you deserved it.” Talel walked up and Michael said, “Excuse me just a moment.” He turned from the gathering and walked toward the balcony. Talel followed him and Michael said, “Let’s do this telepathically.”

“By all means, Commander.”

“Why did you stay after everyone left?”

Talel smiled, “If you had to guess, tell me what you would say?”

Michael smiled, “It’s good to have someone that’s not intimidated by me.”

“Your father saved me and my mother. I look at that as being almost related. I will show you the respect your position deserves but I will speak openly and honest with you.”

“You were planning something.”

Talel shook his head, “How did you arrive at that decision?”

“I suspect I would have done the same thing. You were going to do something to that Legend.”

Talel smiled, “That’s why I couldn’t be angry at what the Sentinel did. The heavy sent with my fleet didn’t get a clear shot so it still had its DM Round. I intended to fire it on the Legends’ Residence after everyone had left. The Sentinel beat me to the punch.”

“Do you think the round would have penetrated the Residence’s force field?”

“I honestly don’t know. That’s why I wanted to do it.”

“That would be good information to have.” Talel nodded. “What do you think about what I said in the meeting?”

“Do you mean about the selected Legend?” Michael nodded. “I believe you’re pretty accurate in your view of what could possibly happen.”

“What about finding where they’re building their new ships?”

“That’s troubling.”

“How so?”

Talel smiled, “You know why.”

“Yes, but I’d like to hear you say it.”

“If they’re going to build those ships, they’re going to need the materials to do it. Where will they get them?”

Michael nodded, “If they have to take them from the galaxies we know, we just have to have enough scouts out to follow the materials to where they’re delivered.”

“I’m surprised no one pointed that out.”

“I suspect Laney will arrive at that realization and contact me after the meeting. She probably realized I didn’t want that piece of information brought out.”

“I could see it in your expression.”

“That’s surprising. However, my concern is what if materials are not being sent from the galaxies in that cluster?”

“Then the Legends are more extensive than we’ve thought.”

“And if this chosen one goes to another Legends’ location…”

“He won’t have the freedom to do as he chooses. He’ll have to build them the way he was ordered.”

“And?”

“The distant Legends will have the diagrams to continue building those ships after he completes his mission.”

“That is what I believe is actually happening.”

Talel shrugged, “The Legends know themselves well enough to never allow one of them to acquire that much power. Why did you propose another view?”

“Because we are going to have to build the ships to confront those ships. This view makes the danger more immediate.”

“Good luck.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you really taken a good look at the heavies?”

“I’ve looked at their building diagrams. What problem do you see?”

“You should go out with one of them in your fleet. There’s a reason they’re loaded in open space. A really hard shove might ignite that round taking out everything around it.”

“I thought that once the round was loaded in the containment barrel it was safe from exploding?”

“Have you looked at the simulator program on how to pilot a heavy?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You should. The pilots are trained to line up their target and move directly toward it without major course changes.”

Michael stared at him and after a moment, he frowned, “The developers haven’t been completely honest with us.”

“I don’t know if you can accuse them of that. They have given very specific instructions on how they are to be flown. I’m sure if their pilots follow those instructions, they are safe.”

“But I’m looking at using them in a space battle.”

“I’d be very reluctant to try that with a heavy.”

“We’ve got to have another weapon.”

“That’s how I see it.” Michael looked out from the balcony toward the distant spaceport and thought about the issue. Talel said, “You’ve thought of something?”

“It’s only a wild theory.”

“But the barrier has provided evidence you’re on the right track.”

“Do you see what I’m thinking?”

“I do but it makes no sense to me. How can space not exist?”

“There have been those that have proof it doesn’t. The barrier is the first real evidence to support their conclusions.”

Talel smiled, “I actually considered that I should be in your position instead of you. I think my pride and arrogance is totally misplaced.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the first real view I’ve had of your mind. Something has made you different from everyone else I’ve ever encountered. I’m serious when I say I see your thoughts and they are beyond my understanding. If there’s anything I can do to support you, just let me know.”

“Thanks, Talel. I may just take you up on that.”

“Whatever and whenever, I’ll do what you need. Thanks for sharing this moment with me.”

“Thank you, but I really don’t see myself as all that special.”

“I needed to see that to rein in my arrogance. Being from a telepathic species tends to give us a superiority complex. I can see now that it’s entirely misplaced. You’ve made me a better person for allowing me to see myself in comparison.”

Michael nodded and extended his hand. Talel shook it and went back in to the conference room. Michael shook his head. What did he see? He stared out at the spaceport again and then looked up at the stars. Could it be there was no separation from them and where he was standing?

He finally stopped worrying about the concepts that troubled him and went back inside. He was surprised that Katy Greenwall had left. Now that was a pleasant surprise. He stayed and socialized with the attendees much longer than he would have normally done. Perhaps the woman was finally growing up.

Chapter Four

“Hey, Bartolo! You’re wanted in the front conference room!”

“Who wants me?”

“An Admiral so you better shut your yap and get moving!”

Josey looked at Jan, “I wonder what this is about. I’ll catch you later.”

Joey reached for her tray and Jan said, “I’ll get it; you get moving.”

“Thanks, Jan.” Josey left the cafeteria running. She caught the elevator to the fifth floor of Eighth Fleets’ Headquarters Building and slowed as she arrived at the conference room. She took a breath, squared her shoulders, and pressed the chime. The speaker beside the door said, ‘Enter’.

She walked in the room and saw a young woman dressed in an Admiral’s uniform. She went to attention and saluted as the Admiral continued to stare out of the conference room’s window at the thousands of Battle Pods parked on the giant runway. Josey remained at attention for five minutes and the Admiral ignored her. What was going on?

Finally the Admiral turned around and Josey saw her name above her right pocket: Greenwall. The Admiral stared at her for a long moment before returning her salute. Josey lowered her arm and remained at attention. Had she done something wrong? The Admiral stared at her with malice on her face and Josey was starting to go back and forth between fear and anger. What was going on?

The Admiral sat down and continued to stare at her in silence. She didn’t tell Josey she could stand at ease so she remained at attention. After four more minutes, Josey was no longer afraid, she was angry. The Admiral said, “You are going to be awarded a medal for your actions during the battle to take out the Legend Warship. I am here to instruct you on proper behavior when you receive that award.”

“I’m not aware…”

“Did I tell you to speak!?” Josey closed her mouth and stared at the Admiral. She smiled and said, “Lieutenant, the First Commander will be presenting the award and you will stare straight ahead, salute him, and say ‘Thank you, Sir,’ when he hangs it around your neck. He will step back and you’ll salute him again and keep your eyes to the front! You got that!” Joey stared at her in silence and Katy said, “I asked you a question!”

“You haven’t given me permission to speak.”

“Answer me!”

“I understand your instructions.”

“They’re not instructions, they’re orders.”

“And I will gladly follow them when my commanding officer issues them. Is Admiral Rickman not capable of instructing those under his command, Sir?”

Katy was up in an instant and put her nose an inch from Josey’s, “You are making a mistake with your smart mouth, Lieutenant. You will do as I order or you’ll be cleaning latrines for the rest of your career!” Josey’s eyes narrowed and Katy smiled, “I have a very long reach. You’re dismissed.”

Josey saluted her and Katy continued to smile as she returned it. Josey did an about face and walked out of the conference room. Katy watched her go and knew she was doing the right thing. This Lieutenant was breathtakingly beautiful. She couldn’t allow her to smile at Michael. No, that just wouldn’t do.

The next day Katy received a call from Admiral Rickman, “Sir, why did you come and meet with one of my sailors?”

“I wanted to personally thank her for saving my warriors in the battle we just concluded.”

Jerry stared at her and started to challenge her on what happened in the meeting but then he would have to put Bartolo’s words over an Admiral’s. “In the future, I want a heads up if you intend to meet with any member of my command.”

“Certainly, Admiral. I didn’t see offering congratulations would be such an issue.”

Jerry stared at her and ended the call. Katy smiled and was thankful she was senior to Jerry. He wouldn’t push her. If he did, he’d pay for it. Katy smiled and thought about Michael.

• • •

Josey stood outside the public arena on Eden and stood still while Jan straightened her collar, “You are always a mess, Josey.”

“Yeah, but you’re there to keep me straight.”

“What are you going to do?”

Josey pretended to fan herself with an imaginary fan, “Whatever do you mean?”

“I know you! You’re up to something.”

“That twit kept me standing at attention for thirty minutes. If she had simply said she wanted to help me understand the etiquette of receiving a medal and congratulated me on it, I would have done exactly what she said.”

“But?”

“She didn’t.”

“Josey, she’s an Admiral.”

Josey smiled, “But she’s not my Admiral. I’m not only doing this for me.”

“Doing what?”

Josey winked at Jan, “Just keep an eye on the monitor. I’ll see you after the ceremony.” Jan sighed and shook her head as Josey walked toward the huge arena.

• • •

Josey reported to Admiral Jekins and he escorted her up to the stage. There were four other pilots receiving awards and they were going to be recognized first. No one had told her what award she was receiving and she wondered how her attack on the four battleships had been seen. In the mayhem of all the combat happening around her, she wasn’t able to see anything but enemy warships. She looked around the edge of the curtain and saw the arena was standing room only and she began thinking she might need to forget what she was planning; but then she saw the Admiral’s smug smile and her anger rekindled.

Finally, it was her turn and she marched across the stage and came to attention on the large X painted in the middle of the stage. She went to attention and listened as Admiral Jekins read what she had done during the battle. The huge monitor over her head came on and she wished she could turn around and watch it, she hadn’t seen anything on what had happened. She stared out at the reporters and attendees and saw them go silent. What were they seeing? Then the First Commander was standing in front of her and he said, “It is with a profoundly grateful heart that I award Josephine Bartolo the Alliance’s highest medal for bravery. Her actions are what allowed us to win this battle and she deserves the Alliance Crescent.” The room exploded into cheers as Michael took the Medal and placed it around Josey’s neck. He stuck out his hand and said, “Congratulations, Lieutenant. The Alliance is proud of you!”

Josey took his hand, shook it, released it, and then reached up and put both hands on his cheeks and kissed him on the mouth. Michael was stunned and stood there a moment before Josey broke the kiss and went to attention. She saluted him and he returned the salute with a smile. He looked out at the assembly who were all laughing out loud and said, “Well, let’s hear it for enthusiasm.” The crowd roared and Michael said, “I present to you the brave warriors who fought with courage and determination.” He started clapping and the room joined him. He glanced at Josey standing next to him and said quietly out of the corner of his mouth, “What was that about?”

Josey smiled and waved at the assembly and said without moving her lips, “Just a message.”

Michael looked out at the arena as he waved and said, “It wasn’t being sent to an Admiral, was it?” Josey’s head came around and Michael saw her surprise. “You know she is probably really ticked off at you right now?”

Josey looked back out at the crowd waving as the applause grew and said out of the corner of her mouth, “She’s not my Admiral, Sir.”

Michael lowered his hand and looked at the award recipients and said, “She is absolutely the most tenacious person I’ve ever seen. Be careful!” Josey’s smile slowly disappeared and she said, “Do I have anything to worry about?”

Michael walked over beside her and put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a hug. Josey’s eyes narrowed as he smiled and said, “That’s a message from me telling her to stay out of places she doesn’t belong.”

“Do you think she’ll listen?”

“She never has in the past but, just like you, I enjoyed sending it.”

Michael left the stage and the reporters flooded around the medal recipients. Josey began answering questions but had a nagging fear she should have listened to Jan.

• • •

“Averel.”

“Yes Sir.”

“I want a watch put on Lt. Bartolo’s personnel file. If anything changes in it, I want to be notified immediately.”

“Greenwall, Sir?”

“Count on it. She’s probably banging her head against the wall right now but she will try something. I want to know what it is.”

“Yes Sir.” Averel didn’t bother with putting a watch on Josey’s personnel folder, she simply looked at Katy’s mind and watched what she was planning. That Admiral was cunning beyond belief.

• • •

Katy stopped pounding her head on the wall after she saw stars. She was past rage as she tore off her clothes and put on a workout uniform. She arrived in the gym and yelled, “EVERYBODY OUT!!” The gym emptied faster than a wino’s bottle. She put on the sparring gloves and began hitting the heavy bag. It swung back six feet and she stopped it with her left hand. An hour later, exhausted, her mind was clear enough for her to think clearly. She hung on the bag and after twenty minutes, she smiled.

• • •

Admiral Rickman saw Admiral Greenwall on his monitor, “What can I do for you, Admiral?”

“I must say that your pilot that was awarded the Crescent has really impressed me.”

“She’s impressed all of us.”

“I was wondering if I might be able to work a transfer to move her to my fleet.”

Rickman smiled, “Do I look that stupid? I can use her to train my new recruits. Forget it!”

“But you haven’t asked what you would get in return.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would you want to use her to train your new pilots? She’s never placed in the top eight hundred pilots in fleet maneuvers.” Rickman’s eyes narrowed and Katy said, “I’m willing to trade Johnson and Benning for her.” Rickman was shocked by the offer. What was going on here? “As you well know, they placed third in the last competition and would be much better at training new pilots.”

“Why do you want Lt. Bartolo so much?”

“That’s not something you should concern yourself with. Do you want to make a trade or not?” Rickman knew he shouldn’t do it but he was getting the best of this deal. Katy smiled and said, “I do ask that you send her best friend with her to make the transfer less traumatic. They can support each other.”

Rickman thought about it and decided that the Admiral must not have bad intentions or she wouldn’t have asked for Jan to go with Josey. He was going to get Johnson and Benning out of this deal, who should have won the competition this year. They lost by a freak accident. They would help bring him to the attention of the Senior Admirals. “I will not trade them back!”

“I don’t expect you to do that, Admiral. Do we have a deal?”

“Send me the forms.”

Katy tried not to smile as she said, “I’m sending them to you now. I’ve already signed them and if you’ll sign and send them to Fleet Personnel, I’ll send Johnson and Benning right over.”

Rickman forgot about Josey and Jan and rushed to the printer to retrieve the forms. He signed them and sent them out immediately.

• • •

Josey and Jan arrived back at her unit’s quarters and was surrounded by her fellow pilots congratulating her. She smiled and insisted she didn’t deserve it until Captain Coronado came in the door and yelled, “Bartolo, Keller, pack your bags!”

Josey looked at him with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, “Sir, what’s going on?”

Captain Coronado looked at her and shook his head, “You’ve been transferred to Fifth Fleet.”

Josey stared at him and said, “Sir, you know the Admiral in Fifth has it in for me.”

Joe shook his head, “She offered Johnson and Benning for the two of you.”

Josey’s eyes went wide and she saw Jan shaking her head, “Why does she want Jan?”

“I gave up trying to understand how Admirals think years ago. If you two would have put up a better effort in the competitions, you’d probably not be going and don’t even try to say you gave it your best. I know better.”

“How long do we have before we have to report?”

“You’re expected to report to Admiral Greenwall’s office in thirty minutes. I suggest you don’t keep her waiting.”

Josey and Jan packed their duffle bags and Jay said, “I’ll send the rest of your things. Get moving.”

They looked at Jay, who had been listening in and Jan said, “Thanks.” Jay nodded and they sprinted out toward their Battle Pods.

Captain Coronado looked at Jay, “You know I’m right.”

Jay shrugged, “There are worse things than being transferred.”

Coronado smiled and tilted his head, “Say that after Admiral Greenwall finishes with her.” Jay looked at the two women sprinting out the door and hoped the Captain was wrong.

• • •

They arrived at Fifth Fleets location and left their pods on the concrete as they ran toward the Headquarters building. A warrant officer met them, “I’ll deliver your bags; get moving.” They dropped their bags and the officer shouted, “We’re proud of you, Bartolo!”

Josey yelled, “Thanks!” over her shoulder and entered the entrance to Fifth Fleet’s Headquarters building. They ran to the elevator and found a Sergeant waiting on their arrival. He closed the door and ran with them to the Admiral’s office. He gave them a moment to straighten up their uniforms and then pressed the door speaker, “Sir, Lt. Bartolo and Keller are here.”

“Have them stand at attention and wait!”

The Sergeant looked at them and shrugged, “You heard her.”

Josey looked at Jan and went to attention. Jan followed her lead and they stood outside the door and waited. Three hours later, both of them were starting to feel their legs lock up but still they were forced to wait.

• • •

“How much longer are you going to allow this to continue?”

Michael looked at Averel sitting in front of his desk and blew out a breath, “I really don’t want to deprive the Lieutenant of seeing what’s coming.” Averel’s mouth turned into a frown and he said, “I won’t wait much longer.”

• • •

“Enter!”

Josey looked at Jan and helped her take a step. They pushed the door button and the door rose into the ceiling. They walked in and went to attention again in front of the Katy’s desk. She looked at Jan and said, “You may step outside and wait until you’re called.” Jan saluted, did an about face, and walked stiffly out of the room. Katy waited until the door closed and then turned to Josey, “You will start your new assignment as soon as you leave this room. The bathrooms you’re going to clean start on the end of this hall. Your tools to do your cleaning are in the corner.” Josey looked and saw a toothbrush and a small bucket. She turned back to Katy and kept her expression neutral. “Did you honestly think you could get away with ignoring me?!” Josey remained silent. “I asked you a question, Lieutenant!”

“Sir, I never thought anyone as shallow as you would ever achieve your level of command. I am surprised that I was wrong about that.”

Katy’s rage was instant and she stood up just as the wall monitor illuminated showing Admiral Stone. Katy pulled herself together and said, “Wait in the hall!”

Audrey said, “Lt. Bartolo, belay that order. I’ve been looking for you and just found out that you’ve been transferred.”

“Yes Sir. I now report to Fifth Fleet.”

“No you don’t.”

Katy said, “Yes she does, Sir.”

Audrey looked at Katy and said, “Admiral Greenwall, since when are you in the position of telling a superior officer that they are wrong?”

“But she has been transferred to my command, Sir.”

“Orders for her to report to Fleet Operations for special assignment were approved by the First Commander immediately after her medal presentation. When were her transfer orders to your fleet signed?”

Kate knew she was trapped. A sailor could not be moved until they served six months after a transfer. “They were signed at ten hundred hours this morning.”

“It appears you’re ten hours late.” Audrey looked at Josey, “You will pack your things and report to Fleet Operations immediately. Your initial commander will be Commodore Averel.” Josey stared at the screen and Audrey said, “Get moving.”

The screen went dark and Josey went to attention and saluted Admiral Greenwall. Katy’s anger was clear to see but then her anger turned into the sweetest smile she had ever seen. Before she returned Josey’s salute, she pressed a button on her desk and said while looking directly into Josey’s eyes, “Lt. Keller. Get back in here to receive your orders.”

Josey knew why this venomous bitch had transferred Jan. Katy returned Josey’s salute and looked at Jan as she entered. Her expression was almost pure evil. She looked at Josey and said, “I’ll make sure to take good care of your friend.” Josey shook her head and Katy said, “Get out of my office!!”

• • •

Josey left and knew there was nothing that could be done to save Jan. She was certain that no orders had been written for her and now she was stuck for at least six months and probably longer. This cast-iron Admiral would never allow her to leave as along as her vengeance wasn’t done.

Josey arrived at Fleet Operations and was taken directly to Ship Development where she was introduced to Budge Blaine. She had to get to the First Commander but she wouldn’t see him now. She cried herself to sleep that night knowing what Jan was going through because of her actions.

• • •

Three weeks later, Michael showed up in the ship lab and saw Josey working on a simulator. He walked over behind her and saw the score in the top right corner of her monitor. He looked at Budge, who nodded. “She’s incredible, Sir.”

“I won’t interrupt her. I just wanted to check and make sure she was ok.” Michael turned to go as Josey looked at her monitor and saw his reflection just as the screen went dark. She whipped around and said, “SIR!”

Michael stopped and smiled, “Hello, Lieutenant. I didn’t want to interrupt your training. I’m glad I was able to save you from cleaning bathrooms.”

“But you didn’t help me at all!” Michael’s eyes narrowed and Josey said, “Admiral Greenwall transferred my best friend along with me and she’s punishing her for what I did.” Michael starting slowly shaking his head and stopped when Josey said, “You gave the medal to the wrong person.”

“What?”

“You didn’t really look at what happened; it wasn’t me that won the battle; it was Jan! And she’s living in torment because of that crazy Admiral.” Michael’s expression hardened and Josey said, “You think I’m lying to save her. Look behind the heavy. Just take a look!”

Michael looked at Budge who shrugged, “She’s never been dishonest about anything, Sir.” Michael stared at Josey and left the room.

Josey put her head in her hands and started crying, “He doesn’t believe me!”

Budge put his hand on Josey’s shoulder, “Trust me on this, he is going to look.” She lowered her hands and looked at him through her tears. Budge looked at Michael walking out of the lab, “His anger is not toward you.” Josey looked at Michael as he disappeared through the door and prayed Budge was right.

• • •

“Jinks.”

“Yes Sir.”

“I need you to bring the entire recording of the battle at the Legends’ Vessel to my office.”

“When?”

“Immediately!”

“Give me an hour to collect all of it into one data-block.”

“See you in an hour.” Michael sat at his desk and thought about what Lt. Bartolo said. By the time Jinks arrived, he was all business. Jinks inserted the data-block into the reader and Michael said, “I want you to follow the ship frequencies of Lt. Josephine Bartolo.”

“Sir, you’ve already seen that.”

“And Lt. Janice Keller.” Jinks turned to his panel and began entering codes. “I also want you to see if there is any other ship frequency that’s near them on a consistent basis during the attack.”

Jinks entered the instructions and pressed the enable button. They watched the monitor and after fifteen minutes Jinks said, “How did you know about this?” Michael remained silent and Jinks watched the recording and knew his department was woefully unprepared to fully understand the newest battles the Alliance was fighting.

Michael pressed his panel, “Audrey, report to my office.”

“Sir, may I…”

“YOU MAY NOT! REPORT HERE IMMEDIATELY!

Audrey saw Michael’s expression and said, “Yes Sir, I’m on my way.” Audrey arrived and found Michael and Jinks staring at the wall monitor. Michael motioned her to a chair and she sat down and looked at the monitor. She immediately recognized the gigantic black vessel in the distance and knew this had to be a recording of the battle. She looked at Michael who was intently staring at the monitor. She turned back to it and started getting into the rhythm of the battle. Then her eyes began getting wider and then wide open. The monitor finally went dark and she looked at Michael and Jinks. Michael looked at her and said, “I want four armored guards called in and all of Fifth Fleet’s communications blacked out until further notice.”

Audrey nodded and lifted her wrist. Jinks shook his head, “I’m sorry, Sir. We just…”

“No need to apologize, Jinks. I know the current technology isn’t up to doing what you need.”

Jinks nodded and stood up, “Thank you for understanding, Sir.” Michael nodded and Jinks walked out of the room as four armored warriors walked in.

Michael pressed his panel and said, “Lt. Bartolo, report to my office immediately!”

• • •

Katy pressed her wrist unit and nothing responded. She stepped out of her office and saw Commander King running up the hall, “What’s going on?”

“Sir, all communications have been ordered blacked out and all ships grounded.”

“Who made that order!?”

“It came from Fleet, Sir.”

Katy heard a bump on the ceiling and looked at Commander King, “What was that?”

“I have no way of knowing, Sir.”

Katy turned as she heard metallic sounds coming down the steps from the landing port on top of the building. She grabbed her neck as she saw Fleet Admiral Stone followed by four armored warriors. Audrey walked up to her and said, “Admiral, you are confined to your office until further notice.” Katy looked in Audrey’s eyes and shut her mouth quickly. She turned and walked toward her office and two of the armored warriors followed her inside. She heard Admiral Stone say to the other two armored warriors, “Find her!” Katy stopped at the door and a warrior pushed her inside.”

“I’ll have you court-martialed for this!”

“File the charges but do as you’ve been ordered, Sir.” Katy went to her desk and sat down as the two warriors stood on each side of the door. She looked at her panel and all the systems were dead. What was happening? She looked up and saw Lt. Bartolo walk in followed by Michael. She looked in his eyes and for the first time in her life felt fear grip her heart and squeeze it. A moment later, Lt. Keller was ushered into the office by the two armored warriors sent to find her. Fleet Admiral Stone stepped in behind them and closed the door.

Chapter Five

Michael looked at Katy and said, “You will keep your mouth shut until I tell you to open it!! Nod if you understand!!” Katy nodded. Michael raised his wrist unit, “Stop the black out and send the recording I’m about to play in Admiral Greenwall’s office to every monitor on this base.”

Audrey walked around to stand beside Katy and inserted a data-cube in her desk reader. Katy looked at her with her eyebrows raised and Audrey shook her head. Audrey pressed the play button and a recording began with Admiral Jekins narrating it.

Katy looked at the monitor and heard Jekins say that the recording followed the two of them from the start of the battle to the conclusion. Katy watched and, after a few moments, was stunned by what she was seeing. The two ships flew through the enemy’s formations destroying black battleships in incredible numbers. They deliberately flew into the thickest enemy formations and blasted their way out. Katy looked at Bartolo and saw her looking at Jan shaking her head. She didn’t want what happened known and it appeared neither did Keller.

The recording finally ended with Josey destroying the four battleships blocking the heavy from getting off a shot. The recording then moved from the four destroyed battleships, past the heavy, to six black battleships moving in behind the heavy and preparing to fire. Jekins said, “The heavy would have been destroyed except for Lt. Janice Keller’s attack. She attacked and destroyed all six enemy ships before they could open fire on the heavy. Fleet Intelligence has confirmed twenty thousand enemy battleships destroyed by our ships participating in the attack. Lieutenants Bartolo and Keller accounted for three thousand of those. The next closest number killed by another pilot in the rest of our fleets was four ships. It was their actions that won this battle.”

• • •

Michael looked at Katy and she saw he was close to rage. “I’ve watched you abuse your authority over the years and I’ve refrained from taking action because you’ve done a good job building Fifth Fleet into a good fighting force. But now I find out that you went to another fleet and told a medal recipient how to act when she received her medal. You threatened her with cleaning latrines if she didn’t follow your instructions.

“I saved her from your insane behavior and then I learn that you have a warrior that killed more than a thousand enemy ships cleaning bathrooms in Bartolo’s place.” Michael leaned across the desk and snarled into Katy’s face, “Admiral Greenwall, you are under arrest for abusing your authority and behavior unbecoming of an Alliance Officer. You will be put in the brig in Fleet Operations until a Court-marshal can be convened to remove you from your position and imprison you for your actions!” Michael reached across the desk and ripped Katy’s two stars off her collar. He looked at two of the armored warriors, “Get this piece of crap out of my sight!”

Katy was scared speechless. She was frozen and couldn’t move. All she had ever worked to accomplish was gone. The two warriors lifted her out of her chair and walked her out of her office. Josey saw Katy’s shock and fear. Josey looked at Jan and she shook her head. This is not what they wanted. Then they were shocked into silence. “Guards, take these two and put them in the brig beside the Admiral.”

Josey started shaking her head, “What have we done to deserve this?”

Michaels face was still red from his anger, “It is what you didn’t do! Get them out of here!” Josey and Jan were taken by the arm and escorted out of the Admiral’s office. Michael looked at Audrey, “Find a replacement!” He turned and walked out of the office.

Audrey sighed and shook her head. She went behind the desk and scrolled through Katy’s contact list. She pressed a button and said, “Commodore Moony, you will be in command until a replacement for Admiral Greenwall is chosen.”

“What’s going on, Admiral?”

“That’s not your concern now. You will be notified of the charges facing Greenwall at the time of her court-marshal.” Audrey ended the call and looked around before she left the office. So much damage, so much harm, so much pain in such a short time. She walked out and knew Katy had gone too far. She expected her to eventually do it but it still bothered her that she was that stupid.

• • •

Katy arrived at Fleet Operations first and was taken to a room where she was ordered to remove her uniform and don the lime green one-piece coveralls that prisoners wore. She was led to a cell and locked in. She moved to a corner and sat against the wall holding her knees and rocking back and forth. She had lost everything! She was so stupid! She put her head down on her knees and felt her tears. Thirty minutes later, she looked up and saw Josey and Jan wearing prisoner uniforms as they walked into cells across from her. She looked at them and saw Josey yell at the guard as he walked out, “We haven’t done anything!!”

Jan looked at Josey and shook her head, “Yes we have and you know it!” Josey looked at her and threw herself on her cot. Katy walked up to the bars and said, “If it’s my fault you are arrested, I am sorry. I never intended to do anything to harm your careers.”

Josey looked up at her and snarled, “Just what did you think would happen to our so called careers with your treatment of us? What did either of us ever do to you!?”

Katy blew out a breath and looked at the floor as she shook her head. Jan looked at her, “Why did you do it?”

Katy looked at them and said, “I’ve been in love with the First Commander since our primary grades. I’ve done everything to try and get him to notice me and show me some attention but he’s rejected me at every turn.” Katy looked at Josey, “When I saw your picture and knew he was going to present your medal, I guess my paranoia about his finding someone else took me. I had to make sure no connection was made when he saw you.”

“Why would there be a connection?”

“Because, if you haven’t noticed, you are drop dead beautiful. I just let my insecurities get the better of me. When you ignored my instructions, my anger got the better of me. Now I’ve lost everything and I really have no one to blame but myself. I’m sorry for what I’ve done to you and I will testify in your defense.”

Josey fell back on her cot and Jan said, “I don’t think you’ll be able to help us.”

“Why? Why are you here?”

“Jan, don’t tell her!”

Jan looked at Josey and shook her head, “They have figured it out.” Jan looked at Katy and said, “Once the Admiral gets her legs back under her, she’ll see it as well.”

Katy’s eyebrows came together and she tilted her head, “Figure what out?”

Jan sighed, “You did watch that video?”

Katy looked at her and then started nodding, “What the two of you did isn’t possible.”

Jan looked at Josey, “See! I told you.”

“How could the two of you do those things? You’ve never done well in any of the Fleet Competitions.”

Jan sighed, “That was intentional.”

“What?”

“We made a pact that we would only do enough to not be noticed.”

“Why would you do that?”

“We did not want to be promoted to command other pilots. We agreed to do what was needed to simply remain pilots. Our efforts worked and we haven’t been noticed until Josey was caught clearing the way for that heavy.”

Katy stared at them and laughed. She fell back on her cot and had to hold her ribs. Josey looked at Jan and they shook their heads. Josey said, “What’s so funny!”

Katy fought to catch her breath and finally sat up, “Every one told me I was insane to trade Johnson and Benning for the two of you. And now you tell me you are better than they are.”

“We didn’t say that.”

“Are you better?”

Jan smiled, “We could kick their backsides six light years across space.”

Josey shook her head, “More like ten.”

Katy blew out a breath and said, “I’ve always considered myself lucky and if I hadn’t been so stupid I would have had the two best pilots in the fleet. Now, I guess my luck has run out.” Katy looked at them, “Have either of you ever been in love?” They looked at each other and then nodded. “Well, I think you know how love can make you do some pretty ridiculous things. I apologize for what I’ve done to you; you really didn’t deserve it. I was acting insane.”

“From what I saw, you lost all your chances to ever get the First Commander’s attention.”

Katy looked at Jan and nodded, “I don’t want it anymore.”

Josey’s head went back, “What? Why not?”

“He just scared me enough that I don’t want to be anywhere near him ever again. I saw his eyes and whatever I felt for him is gone. I think I finally pushed him too far.”

Josey looked at Katy, “What have you done?”

“For starters, I intimidated every girl in our classes to stay away from him all the way through graduation.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?”

“It gets worse.” The three relived all the things Katy had done along with all the mistakes Josey and Jan made growing up. When they finally went to sleep, they knew each other in a personal way that is extremely difficult to achieve. Josey and Jan agreed that they now understood why Fifth Fleet loved their Commander. She was more than either of them thought.

• • •

Ten days later, Michael and Audrey entered the brig and Michael stared at Katy, “I have gathered the Senior Officers necessary to conduct your Court-marshal. You should choose an officer to defend you.”

Katy saw Michael was still angry. Audrey looked at her and then turned to Michael, “Sir, Fleet has received a petition from every sailor in Fifth Fleet asking that Admiral Greenwall be returned to command them.”

Michael looked at Audrey, “They don’t like how I’m treating their Admiral?” Audrey shook her head. Michael’s rage was immediate, “Notify Fleet Personnel to issue dismissal orders to everyone in that fleet. I want all of them washed out of the service.”

Katy fell to her knees in front of him, “PLEASE DON’T DO THAT!! I’LL PLEAD GUILTY TO ANYTHING YOU WANT. THEY DON’T DESERVE YOUR ANGER, IT’S MY FAULT!”

Michael looked at Katy on her knees and sneered. Audrey said, “Can you think of another time and place where someone’s rage caused them to do things they later regretted?”

Michael snapped his head up and Audrey just stared him in the eyes. Josey and Jan remained silent behind them and wished they were somewhere else. Michael finally said, “What makes you think this piece of trash is worth saving?”

Audrey looked at Jan and Josey, “Do either of you want to be transferred back to your former fleet?”

Michael turned around and looked at them. Jan looked at Josey and then turned to Audrey, “No Sir. I prefer to stay with Fifth Fleet.”

Michael was shocked. “After all she’s done to you?!”

Jan looked at Katy still on her knees and said, “It was a misunderstanding, Sir. We’ve worked it out.”

Michael looked at Katy still shaking her head. He looked at Audrey and rolled his eyes as he threw his arms up. He looked at Katy still begging him not to punish her sailors and turned to Audrey. He shook his head and said, “Fifth Fleet are your children now. Make them behave.”

Audrey nodded, “And Admiral Greenwall?”

Michael looked at Katy, shook his head, and said, “She’s part of Fifth.” He turned and walked out.

Katy looked up and then turned to Audrey, “Sir, what does this mean?”

“Admiral, you have your command back. I do hope you never do anything to draw my brother’s attention your way again.”

“Sir, I no longer want to be anywhere near your brother.”

“Stand at attention.” Katy stood up and Audrey reached in her front pocket and took out the two stars Michael had torn from her collar. She handed them to Katy and said, “Don’t disappoint me, Admiral.” Katy nodded and saluted. Audrey returned her salute and Katy looked at Jan and Josey, “When will I get my pilots back?”

Audrey shook her head, “I don’t know that you will.”

“May I keep them on my fleet rolls to use them in Fleet Competitions?”

Audrey smiled, “I suspect they won’t give you their best, Admiral.”

Katy looked at them and said, “Sir, I believe they will and I believe they are worth everything I gave up to get them.”

Audrey looked at the two Lieutenants and saw them staring at Katy. She didn’t know how Katy did it, but it was clear these two would give their all for their new Admiral. “I’ll see what I can do. However, the First Commander wishes to have a discussion with your pilots in the morning.”

Katy walked out of the cell and looked at them. She stuck her hand through the bars and shook both of their hands, “I will always have a place in my fleet for either of you. Good luck and keep me posted on what’s going on.”

Josey smiled, “Yes Sir, we will.”

Audrey walked Katy out and went with her to change out of her prison uniform. Katy stepped out of the room in an Admiral’s uniform and looked at Audrey, “You don’t have to worry about me chasing your brother. He frightens me more than I can say. I nearly lost it all and I’ve seen how he sees me now.”

“Some lessons come hard, Admiral. Go and make Fifth Fleet the best fleet in the service.”

“That I will, Sir. I know you didn’t have to do it but thank you for coming to my defense. I will never forget your kindness.” Audrey nodded and Katy walked out of Fleet Operations.

• • •

The next morning, Jan and Josey were in uniform when they were led into Michael’s office. Audrey, Josh, Jinks, and Laney were sitting along the wall in silence. They came to attention and saluted. Michael returned their salutes and said, “Sit down.” They sat down in two chairs in front of Michael’s desk and he stared at them, “Initially, I thought that Lt. Bartolo was just an extremely lucky pilot who exhibited extraordinary bravery in attacking those four battleships. After examining the recording of your two actions, there was nothing brave about it.” Michael stared at them and neither of them denied what he was saying. “As a matter of fact, both of you attacked much larger groups of enemy vessels prior to the final attack that cleared the way for the heavy to fire. Now, I want to know what you’ve done to your ships to allow you to do those things and an explanation as to why you did not share this information with us. Six thousand pilots lost their lives in that battle that might still be alive today if you had been open about what you’ve developed.”

Josey looked at Jan and nodded. Jan turned to Michael and said, “Sir, we are extremely reluctant to discuss this.”

“You’re worried that the third member of your team will kill himself if I bring him in and question him.”

Jan and Josey’s eyes went wide and Michael nodded slowly, “Both of you should understand that I’ve watched everything you did in that battle and it didn’t take long to see that there were three of you working together, not just two. I’ve not gone after the third member because I have it on good authority that he is hanging on by a thread and might do something stupid if I brought him in.”

“He would, Sir.”

Michael stared at them for a moment and said, “That’s why you haven’t shared what you used or did anything to stand out?” Both of them nodded. “What is it you’ve developed?”

Jan looked at Josey and she sighed. Josey turned to Michael, “We’ve moved one of our computers from controlling the top disruptors to controlling the barrier control and the scanners during combat operations.”

“Surely there’s more than that? Budge tells me that he tried every possible combination of computers when he designed the new systems.”

“I suspect he didn’t develop them to handle deliberate suicide runs.”

“What?”

“The system works best when used inside large groups of enemy ships. The larger the better.”

“How is that?”

“The enemy ships won’t fire through their own ships. Our computer looks for hits to our force field and hull and automatically goes into the barrier when two quick hits are recorded. I don’t have to think about avoiding beams or missiles when flying my pod. I just look for a route through them so that my weapons can hit them.”

“What about the disruptors on top that are no longer computer controlled?”

“I set the front disruptor to fire ahead of my ship at a forty degree angle; the middle disruptor to fire directly overhead; and the rear disruptor to fire at forty degrees above the rear of the ship. “When one disruptor fires, all the top ones open fire and continue to fire until the barrier control is activated. I can also start them firing with a button on my steering wheel.”

Josh looked at Josey and said, “Why does this work best inside a heavy concentration of enemy ships?”

“Because if you’re out in the open, large numbers of them have a clear shot at you and a large number of disruptor beams and missiles could hit simultaneously. As small as our Battle Pods are, inside an enemy formation, only the closest two ships can fire. It’s much safer to fight that way.”

Jan looked at Josey and then turned to Michael, “However, it won’t do any good to share this.”

Michael looked at her, “Why not?”

“Because our fleets’ computers are programmed to avoid going into large concentrations of enemy ships. They resist doing it and that resistance can get you killed.”

“How did you get your computer to do it?”

Jan tilted her head, “We linked it with a computer that didn’t really have a problem with getting its pilot killed. That link broke through our computer’s prohibitions and allowed us to attack large concentrations of enemy warships.”

Michael stared at her, “And without that link?”

Jan nodded, “The entire system falls apart.” Michael stared at her and Jan said, “And if you approach the pilot that is linked to that computer…”

“He might kill himself.”

“Or worse.”

“What’s worse than that?”

“Killing you for violating his privacy.”

Michael stared at them and leaned back in his chair. “He obviously has a relationship with the two of you.”

Josey nodded, “I think we’re the only reason he’s still alive.”

“Then the two of you will bring him here to have a conversation with me tomorrow.” Both of them shook their heads at once. Michael leaned back in his chair, “I’ve done some research on him and I’m not going to tiptoe around him if he’s as unstable as you say. Tell him I have a message from Eric.”

Jan shook her head hard, “Sir, you can’t even joke about that!”

“I knew him. Tell him that.”

They looked at each other and Josey said, “We need to go talk to him.” Michael nodded as they left the conference room.

• • •

Jay looked at Josey and shook his head, “No, I am not going to meet with this First Commander.”

“Jay, please don’t do this. We need you and this is something he’s asked nicely for you to do.”

“Just how is he being nice?”

“He could have come here and drug you away in irons.”

“I wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.”

Jan shook her head, “And how many would die with you if you resisted?”

“Does it matter?”

Josey looked at Jan and then sighed. Jay said, “What?”

“He said he has a message to you from Eric.” Jay’s eyes narrowed instantly and his rage was incredible. Jan quickly said, “He told us he knew Eric!”

Jay’s head whipped around and he glared at both of them in an expression that had both of them worried about what he might do. Jay stared at them and said, “Yomo, tell these two that the freaking Commander is a liar!”

“Actually, he may not be lying.” All three of them looked at the computer console. “The First Commander is Michael Stone. He and Eric attended Fleet Academy together and according to my data, they both had ten advanced classes together.”

“That’s not possible!”

“Why not?”

“The Fleet Commander has to be much older than Eric. They wouldn’t be in the same classes.”

“Actually, the Fleet Commander was four years younger than Eric and was allowed to skip several years of formal education due to his test scores.”

“How could he have a message for me from Eric?”

“That is something that you’ll have to ask him.”

“Is it possible he’s telling the truth, Yomo?”

“Someone went into Fleet’s files recently and pulled all the information they have on you. I have watched this particular Commander for a while and everything I’ve seen does not lead me to believe that he would say something he knew was untrue.”

“But why would Eric leave a message for me with him?”

“That is something…”

“That I’ll have to ask him.”

“Well, it is.”

“If I go to his office, I’ll lose the means of taking my life.”

“Get real. You know more than forty ways to do it on your own without the aid of an outside agency.”

Jay stared at the location of his main computer and blew out a breath. Jan said, “What if he’s right about the message?”

Jay looked at her and shook his head, “ALL RIGHT! I’ll go! Now get out of here and leave me alone!” Josey and Jan left his ship and both of them knew their friend was probably going to die the next day.

Chapter Six

Michael sat in his office and waited for his guest to arrive. “Michael, Jan and Josey are taking him to your office. He’s told them they will not go in with him.”

“Is he planning something stupid, Averel?”

“If you’ve lied to him, he is planning something very stupid.”

Michael shook his head and leaned back in his chair. Two minutes later, the chime to his door rang and he pressed the speaker button, “Enter!” A tall young man came through the door and Michael wondered if it were possible for anyone to be that tall and skinny and still be able to walk around. This man had to be deliberately starving himself. The man walked up to his desk and stood a little straighter but it was far from being at attention. He raised his hand to his head in a mock salute. Michael didn’t return it, “Take a seat.”

Jay pulled a chair out from the desk and sat down. He extended his legs and slumped in the chair as he put his right arm over the back. Michael stared at him in silence and Jay finally said, “I believe you have a message for me.”

Michael leaned back and said, “How long did it take you to push the memory of Eric out of your mind?” Jay’s eyes narrowed and his arm came off the back of the chair. Michael said, “I knew him and you are nothing more than an embarrassment to his memory. Where were the three dots?” Jay’s anger almost overcame him but the question made him pause. He stared at Michael trying to remember and his mouth came open. He started to speak and then his mouth closed. Michael said, “The three dots were his three nieces that were all named Dorothy. Each of them were named after his mother. He loved those babies so much. Tell me he never told you about them?”

Jay stared at Michael and his eyes went down to his lap. “Who was Lappy?” Jay looked up and his eyes were moist. “You don’t remember. You’ve forced everything good you knew out and left nothing but anger and pain in its place.”

Jay blew out a breath and looked at Michael, “Who was Lappy?”

“His younger sister who loved sitting on his lap and listen to him sing to her.” Jay lowered his head again and Michael said, “But I bet you do know who Fred was!”

Jay’s eyes narrowed again and he sneered, “The Father who disowned him.”

“You remember everything bad that ever happened to Eric and nothing good. You’ve erased the true essence of his being and left nothing but a dark hole in its place. Let me show you who Eric really was and how I remember him.”

Michael pushed a button on his console and the wall monitor came on. Jay turned around to see it. He saw Eric standing in a small park at Fleet Academy and smiling, “Will you hurry up and get that camera going.”

“Hey, give me a minute. You know how I am with machinery.” Jay recognized Michael’s voice. “Ok, are you ready?”

Eric looked at the camera and started laughing, “Give me a minute. You look ridiculous.” Eric bent over and laughed and after a minute he took a breath and said, “Let’s get this done.”

“Hey, you have to record me next. Don’t wear yourself out.” There was a pause and Michael said, “Recording….now. Mr. Yomogura, why have you chosen to be a warrior fighting for our survival?”

Eric smiled and said, “Because I will defend those I love and humanity against those that threaten it.”

“But why?”

“Love is reason enough. Love is what drives all of us to be bigger and better than we can be alone. It is those that have given so much to us as we grow up that deserve all we have for their efforts. What I’ve chosen to do is worth doing and I’m excited at the prospect of making a difference.”

“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

Eric shook his head and paused as he looked directly at the camera, “Everyone is afraid of dying and death deserves our respect. No one wants to die and I feel that way as well. But we will all die one day, there’s no avoiding it. I just hope and pray that I can make my life, and death, mean something.”

“What message do you want your classmates to hear?”

Eric looked at the camera and smiled. “Make your life count! Never accept giving less than your best effort at whatever you do. If you live this way, then at the end, you’ll die in peace.”

Jay sat in his chair and wept. “I miss him so much!”

Michael stared at Jay, “He was the only family you ever had.” Jay nodded. Michael sighed, “We were assigned to make that recording by our sociology teacher. Eric chose me to work with him because he liked my enthusiasm.”

Jay looked at him, “May I see what he recorded?”

“You want to hear his voice again?” Jay nodded. “I didn’t record a video. When the professor asked me to present mine, I told him that what Eric said was what I believed and I wouldn’t diminish the message by saying it differently. Ten other cadets threw their recordings away and agreed with me that Eric had really said it all. His video was chosen as the best in our class.”

Jay sat in his chair and managed to stop his tears. Michael said, “Eric told me about you.” Jay’s head snapped up. “He said that he had found someone that was incredibly brilliant and whose spirit brightened his day. He insisted that you were the example of how he wanted to live.” Jay continued to stare at Michael and then heard, “Now look at what you’ve made yourself? You’ve destroyed the very things Eric loved in you and you diminish his memory. What do you think he feels about what you’ve become?”

“I’M THE ONE THAT SHOULD HAVE DIED NOT HIM!!! HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE IN JUDGEMENT OF ME FOR MY LOSS WHEN YOU’VE NEVER EXPERIENCED IT!!?”

“But he died, not you. What would you have wanted him to do if you had died? Would you want him to become the creature you’ve made yourself?” Michael stood up, “You should have done your homework before you came here and I suspect that if Eric were in your place he would have.”

“What do you mean!?”

“When I was seven years old, the Goran launched a nuclear missile at the city where I lived on Earth. My mother was out sailing that day and she was outside the force field when the missile exploded. She was vaporized and I never saw her again. You wallow in your self-pity thinking you’re the only one that ever lost someone they loved. The difference between you and me is that I chose to make myself someone my mother would be proud of. You’ve chosen to become something that Eric would have abhorred.” Michael stood up and walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?”

Michael stopped and looked at Jay, “I brought you here because I really did have a message from Eric that you should hear. You are free to go and kill yourself. I know that’s what you’ve been trying to do since Eric died in the car wreck. I just ask that you don’t take anyone with you when you do it. You can stay here and watch the message alone. I can’t abide seeing what you’ve done to yourself.” Michael left the room.

After ten minutes, Jay stood up and walked behind the huge desk. He glanced at it and immediately understood every button on it. He pressed three buttons and then started the recording of Eric playing on a loop. He moved the chair to just in front of the monitor and stared at it without moving.

• • •

Michael kept checking in with Averel and she kept telling him that Jay was still fixated on the video. Finally, Michael had enough. He went to his office and said, “You can take a copy of the recording with you; however, I need my office.”

Jay stood up, went to Michael’s desk, pressed four buttons, and removed a data-stick. He took it out of the reader and said, “I’ve already recorded it.”

“Then why are you still here?”

“Your monitor is a lot better than mine.”

Michael nodded and said, “Be well, Lieutenant.”

Jay looked at Michael, “Why did you call me in here?”

“To see Eric’s recording.”

“Why did you want me to see it?”

“That’s really none of your business.”

“But it is. You had an ulterior motive. What was it?”

“I wanted to see if you were everything Jan and Josey say you are.”

“And if I am?”

“I thought you might remember Eric and turn around. However, I gave up on that notion pretty quickly.”

“You think I’m a hopeless case?”

“Aren’t you?”

Jay blew out a breath, “Honestly, I came here prepared to kill you if you lied to me.”

“That was never going to happen.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“You were scanned, you didn’t bring a weapon.”

“What makes you think I’d need a weapon?” Quicker than Jay could see, Michael was behind him with his head in a choke hold. Jay started to black out but faster than Jay could think, he was back behind his desk. Jay shook his head and tilted his head, “Perhaps I was somewhat hasty in my statement.”

“Perhaps you were.”

“How did you do that?”

“I’m the product of a Welken-Human father.”

“I’ve heard about that but didn’t really believe it. So you really had no fear at my coming here.”

No, I didn’t.”

“So you did this for me?”

Michael stared at him and shook his head, “No, I did it for Eric.”

Jay started nodding slowly and then said, “That’s why I’m your man.”

“What?”

“That’s what I needed to hear. I’ll help you any way I can but you should understand that I will not shy away from situations that are inherently dangerous. I long to join Eric.” Michael stared at Jay and he started nodding again, “But before that happens, I need to be someone he would be proud of.”

Michael continued to stare at him and then sighed, “I need to know you’re serious about this, Jay?”

“I never lie or deceive anyone. I’ll do what I can to help you.”

“Can you change our current ships to be like the ones you and your team are using?”

“I can. I’ll have my computer provide a download that will remove the ship’s main computer’s resistance from going into dangerous situations. You’ll have to get your engineers to change the disruptors on the top of the pods.”

“How did you three do it?”

“Manually.”

“That must have been interesting.”

“We did it when everyone was focused on the fleet competitions. We lost out early so we could make the changes while no one was around to see us do it.”

“You sound different.”

“You were right. That message was for me. He did it knowing something like this might happen.” Michael shook his head and Jay smiled, “There was love in that message. Eric was also brilliant and when you asked him about fearing to die, he thought of me and what would happen if he died first. I’ve stared at that recording a hundred times and he’s not looking at you. He was looking at my heart. To ignore what he said would be disrespectful to him and all that he was.”

Michael started nodding and said, “I am going to give you and the other two a special assignment.”

“What is that?”

“The Alliance Leaders have been insisting I have a bodyguard. I’m going to assign the three of you that task.”

“What about the next fleet action?”

“I’ll try to stay far enough away to allow the three of you to go and have fun.”

Jay stuck out his hand, “You’ve got a deal!”

Michael shook his hand and said, “You need to start eating.”

Jay shook his head, “I’ll do what I can.” Jay went to attention and snapped a perfect salute. Michael returned it and Jay dropped his arm and said, “You brought him to life again for me today. I’ll never forget your gift. Thank you, Sir.” Jay did an about face and walked out of the room. Michael raised the door and saw Jan and Josey sitting on a bench directly out from his office and he left the door open as they jumped up, ran across the wide hallway, and hugged Jay. Michael watched them and a word came to mind…family. He smiled and closed the door so their moment would be private. He thought a moment and said, “Averel.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Send the three Lieutenants back to Fifth Fleet and start converting their ships. Have Budge get enough engineers there to make the disruptor conversions.”

“Yes Sir. Should I tell the three where they’re to report?”

“Please.”

“Yes Sir.” Michael thought about an entire fleet signing a petition to return their Admiral. As much as he detested Katy Greenwall, Audrey was right. It would be a terrible error to lose her fleet and her along with it. He was thankful she stopped him from giving in to his anger. Let’s see if she’s learned anything.

• • •

Jeeren had his ship in the middle of the giant cluster of galaxies and listened to the Legends issuing orders to their tools. Most of it was standard fare directing them to increase their production of warships. Some of their orders were made just to keep the tools on their toes and aware of who was in charge. He had his eyes closed and letting the thoughts flow through his mind without really focusing on any one thought. Then he sat straight up and opened his eyes. “Is this the first one to be delivered?”

“Yes Elder. The Builder wants you to check it out to see if it meets the Senior Elder’s approval before continuing their construction.” Jeeren focused on the place the thoughts were originating and moved into the barrier. He moved quickly toward the source of the thoughts and arrived above a galaxy that was the furthest from the Virgo Cluster. It had to be one of the first galaxies the Legends invaded in this cluster. The thoughts ended before he could localize them to a planet and he focused on the Legend controlling that galaxy. The Legend wasn’t broadcasting. “Hengel!”

“Yes, Jeeren.”

“I need your help finding the Legend in this galaxy.”

“What’s going on?”

“I believe I heard the thoughts of someone delivering a new ship.”

“Where are you?”

Jeeren waited and thirty minutes later, Hengel arrived. “The Legend quit broadcasting before I could localize the planet it’s on.”

Hengel closed his eyes and let his mind roam searching for a key word. Finally, he found what he was looking for. “I believe the planet is located out in the second spiral arm on the other side of the galaxy.”

“How did you find it? I just can’t get over how much better you are than me.”

“I stopped listening for the Legend and listened for anyone that was thinking about their Master, Lord, or God. It appears the tools call this one their Director.”

“How could they have built a ship this fast?”

Hengel thought about it and began to feel a suspicion arise. “They may be baiting a trap.”

“What?”

“You know they were able to detect our presence in the barrier at the last attack. They may be setting up an ambush if we arrive after their communication.”

“What do we do?”

“We wait!”

“What?”

“If they’re expecting us to hear them, they’ll wait and see if we show up. If we don’t, they’ll communicate again. If they do that, they’re confident they can detect our presence.”

“How are we going to scout them if they can?”

“First things first. Settle in and try to find someone around that Legend so that you can see what they’re doing. We have an idea of where they are, we need to look at the thoughts of their tools and try to see what they see and then we need to move out of the barrier and just leave an antenna.”

“Why? I hate to keep asking that question.”

“If they’ve discovered the barrier, they may have a device in it listening for us. I don’t want to run that risk until we know what’s going on.” Both scouts leaned back in their chairs and closed their eyes.

Twelve hours later, they heard, “This ship is everything we could ask for!”

Hengel smiled, “Got one.”

“Me, too!” The two scouts turned on their thought recorders and listened.

• • •

The tool looked at the other scientist, “What have you detected?”

“There is a rhythmic pulse that keeps repeating itself over and over.”

“How far away is it?”

“I have no idea.”

“Why not? Can’t you triangulate and find it?”

“We only have this one ship and the three antennas we have in this place all point in the same direction but are basically a straight line. It’s too far away without having three antennas separated by great distances to get a location.”

“Can we get a ship in the place?”

“We tried and it was kicked out into normal space. Evidently that place is extremely small.”

“How small?”

“I have no way of knowing, Commander, without getting in it and measuring.”

“This must be the way those ships disappeared when the Elder was attacked.”

“If it is, it’s not very large.”

“Their ships aren’t big.”

• • •

Hengel thought, “Averel!”

“Yes.”

“The Legends have discovered the barrier. That pulse beacon outside M-87 has to be turned off now!”

“I’m on it.”

• • •

“Perhaps we need to build a small ship with this drive on it.”

“Commander, the pulse has stopped.”

“What?”

“It’s no longer broadcasting.”

“We need to tell the Director!”

“We’ve been ordered not to break communication silence. However, what if that pulse was caused by a pulsar in normal space and wasn’t artificial?”

“Could that happen?”

“This strange place is between the void and normal space. It could possibly have random energy enter it. We don’t know enough about it to know.”

“How did the pulses match up with normal pulsars?”

“It was close to that given off by a very old pulsar.”

“Why did it stop?”

“How would I know? Maybe the energy only gets through randomly.”

“Before we tell the Director it was artificial, we need more information.”

“You know how he gets when given faulty information.”

“I’m glad you thought this through. Keep listening.”

• • •

Jeeren opened his eyes, “Ambush.”

“How would they ambush us in the barrier?”

“You know an energy beam will cause an instant disruption.”

Hengel looked at Jeeren, “Now you know something I don’t. How big of a disruption will it cause?”

“According to Amanda Ambrose, ‘quite extensive’.”

“That could prevent us from using the barrier during an attack.”

“I was in the mind of a battleship sensor operator and his display shows more than a hundred thousand ships scattered in the void and normal space close to that ship with the antenna in the barrier. Do you want to do anything about this current situation?”

“I want to go and blow that ship with the antenna into pieces but I suspect they’re planned for that by surrounding it with those battleships. It’s probably better to ignore it and leave them wondering about our telepathic ability.”

“So you agree that there’s probably not a ship at that planet?”

Hengel thought about the idea for a long moment and then said, “I’m going to call in a hundred more scouts and we’re going to surround this galaxy and wait to see if one of those ships leaves.”

“Why would it leave? Darn it, there I go again.”

“Let’s assume the one that brought the ship wasn’t aware of the ambush and was honest when he said it was brought here for the Senior Elders to inspect to make sure it was what they wanted. If they recommend something to be changed, what will happen?”

“They’ll take the ship back where it came from.”

“And that might show us where they are being built. By not falling for this ambush, they’ll probably think they’re in the clear and we don’t know it was brought here.”

“I’m glad I lost track of that Legend and called you in.”

“Tell me about it. Let’s move out into open space and wait for the other scouts to arrive.”

Chapter Seven

Jay, Josey, and Jan were sitting in Fifth Fleet’s cafeteria when Jay raised his wrist unit. “When did he tell you?” Jay listened and looked at them, “The First Commander is on his way here. He wants us to wait on him here.”

“What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, Jan. His computer contacted Yomo.”

Jan looked at Josey, “Something’s up.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Look around you.” Josey and Jay looked around the crowded cafeteria and saw many of those sitting near them were raising their wrist units and then standing up to leave. Many had not finished their meals. Jan’s eyes narrowed and she said, “He’s here.”

Josey shook her head, “And you know that by…?”

“I can hear sailors up the hall shouting attention.”

Josey and Jay listened carefully and shook their heads. Suddenly, Michael came through the door and Jay said, “You and your supernatural senses never cease to amaze me.”

Jan waved a hand at him as Michael walked over and sat down, “Tell me how far along you are in getting Fifth’s ships modified?”

Jay shrugged, “They’re all pretty much done, Sir.”

“How many aren’t done?”

“About a thousand and that’s because they discovered they needed repairs when the engineers opened them to modify their disruptors. What’s going on, Sir?”

“Two of our scouts have discovered that the Legends have found the barrier.”

Josey said, “OH CRAP!”

Michael nodded, “Oh crap is right. They are in the rudimentary stage of exploring it and they still don’t have any idea of how large it is or the speed it produces, but the scouts think they can attack a ship in the barrier.”

“This changes everything, Sir.”

“It certainly changes a lot and we need to see how much. They also heard a communication that one of the new Monster Battleships may have been delivered for inspection. They’re not certain about that but they’ve set up a picket line to detect it if it leaves that galaxy.”

Jan tilted her head, “Why are they uncertain Sir?”

“The scouts uncovered an ambush set up for them in the event they showed up where the Legend communicated about the ship. It appears the Legends are learning a lot about what we are capable of doing.”

Jan nodded, “We’ve certainly provided them enough information to make good guesses about our technology.”

Josey looked at her, “When did we do that?”

“Do you not think they can record a battle just as effectively as we can? They had to see our ships disappearing and reappearing. They had to see that we weren’t going into normal space. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that something else must exist that they’ve been missing.”

Michael listened to Jan and really took a good look at her for the first time. It was hard to notice her with Josey close by. Josey was stunningly beautiful and Jan looked…plain. But he watched Jay and Josey’s reactions to her comments and he quickly saw that Jan was the brains of the outfit. Oh, Jay was smarter about all things technological and Josey was a great tactician…but they turned to Jan when they needed guidance.

Jan saw Michael staring at her and she said, “What?”

“You’re right. We’ve been surprised they haven’t discovered it before now. By the way, all three of you have been promoted to Captains.”

Jay shook his head, “Now wait a minute!!”

“I thought you wanted to take part in any attacks?”

Jay tilted his head, “We do.”

“You need the rank to stop others from ordering you around. Matter of fact, I’m promoting the three of you to Commodores. You won’t be given any subordinates, you’ll report directly to me.”

Jan smiled, “Admiral Greenwall has requested me to ask you if we can remain on her fleet roles.”

“Why?”

“She wants us to represent Fifth in the next Fleet Competition.”

Michael shook his head, “She never stops thinking.”

“Does it meet your approval, Sir?”

Michael nodded and then looked at Josey and Jay, “Give us a few minutes.” Michael saw Josey and Jay look at Jan. She nodded and they stood up to leave. Michael said, “When the fleet is called out, come to my ship. We’ll be leaving ahead of the fleet.”

Jay and Josey said, “Yes Sir!”

They walked away and Michael watched them leave. Every male sailor, and most of the female ones as well, stared at Josey as she left the room. Jan said, “She is impressive, Sir.”

“That must be why you hide your appearance.”

“Sir?”

“Come on, Jan. You tie your hair back so tight I’m surprised your head doesn’t cry out for help. You wear uniforms two sizes too big to make you look fluffy, and…”

“FLUFFY?”

Michael smiled, “I’ve learned to never use the word fat and female in the same sentence. Fluffy works just as well as fat. You also color your hair that mousey brown and wear contacts to hide the real color of your eyes.”

Jan stared at him and started shaking her head, “Just how do you know I dye my hair?”

“I only noticed it a few moments ago when I really looked at you, and you’re right; Josey does tend to keep ones attention away from you. Answering your question: most people who dye their hair blonde have dark roots with the blonde hair.”

“My hair isn’t blonde.”

“Yes it is; your hair is the opposite of what normally happens. Your roots are blonde and the rest that hideous brown. Knowing your hair is actually blonde, and your skin color very fair, your eyes would not be brown.” Michael saw Jan was extremely nervous. “Look, I don’t know why you do it, and I’m not suggesting you stop hiding behind Josey, I just find it curious. However, I’ve digressed from the issue. Why would you want to stay in Fifth Fleet after what the Admiral did to you?” Jan’s eyes narrowed and Michael said, “I’ve inquired about why your immediate Superior Officer did nothing about what the Admiral was making you do. He told my investigator that he did check in on you numerous times asking if you needed him to represent you and you told him no. He said several times he checked up on you he found you cleaning with a pair of headphones on singing. That just doesn’t sound right to me.”

Jan shrugged, “Sir, when was the last time you went in a fleet bathroom?”

“Just a few minutes ago, why do you ask?”

“How did you find it?” Michael thought a moment and Jan said, “How do you find any bathroom on Fleet Properties?”

“I guess they’re all pretty clean.”

“Sir, even without cleaning them, one could almost eat off the counters and floors. Cleaning them was the simplest thing I’ve ever done. I spent most of my days wasting time with that toothbrush trying to find some dirt to remove.” Michael’s eyes narrowed and Jan said, “How often do the pilots have to clean the hulls on their ships?”

“After each flight.”

“And though the main cleaning is done by machines, the pilots are required to completely inspect their hulls to make sure there is no damage.” Michael nodded. “Sir, it’s ninety-six degrees outside. I asked Admiral Greenwall for permission leave my task to wash my ship to comply with Fleet Regulations and she refused to allow it. She assigned my ship to my Commanding Officer to clean.” Michael started shaking his head as Jan said, “That’s right, Sir. It’s a cool seventy-two in those bathrooms. I would have been happy to continue doing it.”

“What about the headphones?”

“Since there wasn’t much thought required to work a toothbrush, I checked out history recordings from the Fleet’s database and listened to them while I worked. I even checked out music to listen to and I think I actually improved my dancing ability.”

Michael was almost laughing, “Did you learn anything?”

“I was amazed by a notion I found from the creators of the Cosmos series.”

“What is that?”

“The idea that space actually doesn’t exist but is a creation by our minds.”

Michael’s smile vanished. He quickly recovered his composure and smiled, “You must have found that idea absurd?”

“Actually, I think there’s a lot of evidence to support it.”

Michael stood up, “Go and get your ship ready to go. We’ll be leaving after I meet with Admiral Greenwall.”

Jan smiled, “That should be an interesting meeting.”

“I genuinely hope it isn’t.” Michael walked away and Jan wondered what she said that upset him so much. Then she thought about what he said about her appearance and sighed. She shook her head and picked up her tray. No one noticed as she walked out of the cafeteria.

• • •

Michael entered Katy’s conference room and found her Squadron Commanders in attendance. She yelled, “Attennnnshuuunnn!”

Everyone came to attention and Katy saluted him. He returned her salute and said, “As you were.” Everyone sat back down and Michael noticed that Katy refused to look directly at him. He brought them up to date on what the scouts had discovered and answered their questions. Katy didn’t have any questions.

Finally, Michael looked at Katy, “Your fleet is the only one that has had the modifications done. There is a real possibility that the use of the barrier might be removed during our next fight with the Legends. I am ordering you to take Fifth Fleet out where the scouts have set up their skirmish line and wait to see if one of the new Monster Battleships actually did make an appearance. You will not attack it as it leaves that galaxy, if it’s there. The scouts will attempt to follow it back to where it was built and then I’ll make a determination about what must be done.”

Katy nodded and said, “Sir, if I take the entire fleet into that cluster, there is a remote possibility we’ll be seen. Perhaps I should take the fleet above the cluster so we can move in any direction. The chances of being detected that far out would be less. I also think we should not stay in the barrier if they have a way to listen.”

Michael smiled, “You are absolutely right in your diagnosis, Admiral. Do it that way. I’m taking the three Amigos with me and I want you ready to launch at a moment’s notice if I need you to come and support the scouts and me.”

“We will keep the ships at battle stations, Sir.”

Michael stood up and everyone came to attention again. Katy saluted, Michael returned it and left the conference room. Mooney looked at Katy, “Hey, that wasn’t so bad.”

Katy shook her head, “Easy for you to say. Now get out of here and get your units moving. I expect the first twenty off dirt in twenty minutes.” The squadron commanders ran out of the conference room and Katy shivered. She couldn’t get the memory of Michael’s rage out of her mind. She went to the top of the Headquarters Building and boarded her Flagship. This vessel was twice the length of a normal Battle Pod and had an extensive array of defensive, offensive, and scouting systems. A staff of eight along with ten computers operated the vessel and it was capable of tracking more than half a million ships. She hoped the systems weren’t called upon to do it.

• • •

Katy’s fifty thousand Battle Pods were divided into one hundred units with five hundred ships in each. Twenty units made up a Squadron and they were each commanded by a Commodore. Her Senior Officers were some of the best in the Alliance. They trained constantly at working together and they had been working hard to learn the new method of attacking large groups of enemy warships. She hoped they were ready.

• • •

Michael left Eden and entered the barrier immediately. The three ships protecting him moved into the barrier and followed him as they flew across the universe toward a distant galactic cluster. Josey picked up her communicator, “How are we going to do this, Jay?”

“I’m not really certain. Lining up our ships can cover each other’s rear won’t work here. We have to stay around him. Jan, what would you suggest?”

“The barrier is too small to place our ships above or below him. Josey will take the starboard side and I’ll take the port side. Jay, you will cover the rear of our formation and move to whichever side you’re needed.” The three ships moved instantly into the formation and Jay heard in his mind, “That is extraordinary planning.”

Jay’s head went back and he said, “Who said that?”

“I’m the Commander’s Ship. I’ve been given telepathic technology.”

“No way!”

“Way!”

“How do I get that?”

“Ask the Commander. Do you think you need it?”

“If our computers can link telepathically, we won’t have to use electronic systems that can be tracked.”

“Hold on.” Jay waited and after a few minutes he heard, “The Commander has authorized me to download the system into your vessels. When we arrive at our location, you’ll need to come over and dock with me and he will give you the insert you need to put into the console of the computer you choose to have it. Please be aware that there is a learning curve and you may want to delay using it until you have time for your computers to adjust to it.”

“Would he rather wait to give it to us until after this mission?”

Jay suddenly heard Michael, “No, I think we’re going to be waiting for a while. Just make sure your computers don’t broadcast on a general level. Focus their thoughts directly at the one they want to communicate with.”

“Commander, are you telepathic?”

“I am.” Michael paused and said, “I do not listen to other’s thoughts unless it’s a matter of life and death. I did not look in your mind when you came to my office.”

“I guess it didn’t take a mind reader to figure out what I was thinking?”

“No, I really didn’t need to look into your mind; your expressions pretty much communicated what you were thinking.”

Josey said, “I can vouch that he doesn’t do it.”

Jan said, “How?”

“When I kissed him on the stage, he asked me why I did it. He could have looked at my thoughts and known.”

Michael smiled, “It’s a hard lesson for telepaths to learn about honoring others privacy. But we do learn it. I expect each of you to do the same and not use your computers to look at others private thoughts.”

Jay lips turned down and he nodded, “I didn’t even think about that.”

“You probably wouldn’t but your computers will know it.” Michael paused and said, “A telepath will know if you’re listening to their thoughts so be aware of that. We’re going out to meet more than a hundred Goran Scouts and they are all telepaths.”

Jan smiled, “Thanks for letting us know, Sir.”

“You’ll get used to it eventually. By the way, part of the technology allows your computers to convert thoughts to electrical impulses where you can hear them over your wall speakers.”

“OUTSTANDING!!”

Josey laughed, “Jay gets really excited with new technology.”

Michael thought a moment and sighed, “Jay.”

“Yes Sir?”

“I have a Goran that reports to me at Fleet Operations and she hasn’t learned to respect anyone’s privacy. She told me something about you that I probably should share with you.”

“What is that?”

“She says that you and your computer are basically the same person.”

“WHAT?”

“She insists that you think like a computer and your computer thinks like you. I inquired and found out that after Eric died, you moved into his ship.”

Jay paused and said, “I did.”

“And I suspect that you spent every available moment linked to that computer because it was the last thing you had that Eric made.” Everyone was silent and, after a very long moment, Michael said, “Am I right?”

“Yes Sir.”

“The reason I’m telling you this now is that I think that if your computer is telepathic, you might be as well because of how closely the two of you are linked. I didn’t want you suddenly hearing thoughts and not knowing what might be happening to you.”

“Thank you for telling me, Sir. I appreciate your kindness.”

“You deserve it. I’m sorry about my nosey Admin invading your privacy but she pretty much does that with everyone.”

“I understand, Sir.”

“Then, thank you for that, Jay. I promise that I will not invade your privacy or Jan and Josey’s either.”

The four ships came out of the barrier and they saw the giant galaxy spinning around its central black hole off in the distance. Michael said, “Jay why don’t you dock first and I’ll set up your computer with the transfer.”

Jan’s eyes went wide and she looked around. Oh no! She left all her make up behind. She knew there was no avoiding the Commander and she threw herself back in her command chair. Why did she have to take a look before she skipped out? She put her head in her hands and shook it. Ships never docked in enemy space and now she was trapped.

• • •

Jay and Josey docked with Michael’s ship and Jan moved her ship slowly until the seal was made. She stood up and walked to the port and saw the green light illuminate. She closed her eyes and pressed the panel opening her portal door. Michael stepped into her ship smiling and stopped dead in his tracks. He stared at her with his mouth open. Jan sighed, “Do I look that ridiculous?”

Michael couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He tried to speak and Jan sighed and closed her eyes. “Jan, I understand why you hide.”

Jan shook her head, “I really don’t think you do.”

“You hide because if anyone saw just how beautiful you are, they would be stunned senseless.” Jan had on a uniform that fit and her long blonde hair hung in a long braid down her back. Her blue eyes were mesmerizing.

“You’re not being honest, Sir.”

“Jan, I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful and that includes Josey and everyone else I’ve ever met. You are absolutely perfect.” Michael shook his head and said, “Let’s go do this, shall we?”

Jan led the way through the ship to the bridge and Michael sat down in the command chair, “Is this panel connected to the computer you want set up?”

“Yes Sir.”

Michael said, “What is your name?”

“Langley, Commander.”

“I’m going to insert this data-block into your panel and start the download. If you have any questions while it’s downloading, let me know.” Michael inserted the block and the lights on the panel began flashing. After a few minutes they heard, “I can hear the scouts you mentioned earlier.”

“Do you see the way to shut down your receiver?”

“I do.”

“The important part of your telepathic module is the broadcast shut down mechanism.”

“I see it. Why is it important?”

“Because the Legends, and I suspect some of their tools, are telepathic. You can shut down your broadcast mechanism and listen in without your thoughts being heard.”

“Cool.”

“The third circuit allows you to transmit thoughts you hear electronically so Jan or anyone you want to send them to can hear them over a loud speaker.”

“Just a moment.” They waited and suddenly heard multiple voices coming out of the wall speaker.

Michael said, “As you become familiar with the system, you can focus on just one thought stream and eliminate the others.” Suddenly, one voice was heard over the speaker. Michael looked at Jan, “I’ve never seen a computer adapt this fast to the transfer.”

“Langley is a pretty special computer, Sir.”

Michael stood up and turned toward the port. He smiled and said, “Just like his pilot.” Michael walked off the bridge and left Jan with her mouth open. Jan caught up with him before he exited her ship and said, “Sir, I didn’t think anyone would see me like this.” Michael looked at her in silence. “It’s just after you said you saw I was hiding, it occurred to me that I really didn’t remember what I looked like. I took all the dye and contacts off and then put on a uniform that fit. I don’t remember looking like this.”

Michael smiled, “The butterfly has emerged from the cocoon. How do you see yourself?”

“I see a stranger in the mirror, Sir. I didn’t have time to change back before we were ordered to launch.”

Michael smiled, “Jay became something he wasn’t while he suffered from Eric’s death. I don’t know what drove you into hiding but the world is less beautiful because you do. I apologize for putting you in this position and I won’t reveal your secret to anyone.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Michael walked through the port and Jan closed it. She saw her reflection in the stainless steel covering over the port and stared at it. She shook her head. What had she become? She was less than plain when she dyed her hair and put on the oversize uniforms six years earlier. What she saw looking back at her was…was…someone else. She reached around to untie her braid and stopped. She was a living, breathing, walking lie. She could see the Commander’s expression when he saw her and he was amazed. Heck, she didn’t even have any makeup on. She released her braid and sighed. Should she come out of her cocoon slowly? She continued to stare at the reflection and she turned around and looked at her back. Oh my! She had curves she didn’t remember either. She took a deep breath and said, “Today is the first day of freedom. I will hide no more.”

She went to the bridge and activated her monitor. She often turned it off when flying with Jay and Josey so she could do it wearing little or nothing. They were used to it. Jay appeared on her monitor and said, “This new system is…”

Jan saw him staring at her and she said, “Issssss?”

“Who are you?”

“Come on, Jay. It’s me.”

“Josey you need to see this!”

“See what?”

“Link with me.”

Jan saw Josey appear beside Jay on her monitor and Josey’s mouth fell open. “Who are you?”

Jan blew out a breath, “IT’S ME!”

Josey stared at her and said, “Oh…my…God!”

“WHAT?!?”

Jay said, “Jan, I never suspected you were this gorgeous. But I should have known.”

Jan softly said, “Why?”

“Because someone with the gentle and beautiful spirit you possess would have to be beautiful.” Josey sighed, “There’s goes my attentive audiences.”

“Josey, you know you’re prettier than me.”

“Oh, if that were only true. However, I am so proud of who and what you are. Why did you…”

“Come out of my disguise?”

“Yeah.”

“The Commander pointed out to me that he saw I was hiding. I wanted to see what I looked like. When I started hiding, I didn’t look anything like this.”

“What did you look like?”

“You know the too large uniforms I’ve been wearing?”

“Yes.”

“They were a snug fit. My hair was frizzy and wouldn’t hold any kind of shape. My eyes were constantly red from allergies. I guess I…I don’t know…changed.”

Jay laughed out loud, “Boy, have you ever! I’m going to personally thank the Commander for pointing it out to you.”

“Why?”

“Do you have any idea how much jealousy Josey causes from hanging out with me? Now with you, I’ll be insufferable.”

Jan laughed out loud. Josey smiled, “I’ll tie a rope to you at the next dance and throw you out on the dance floor. I’ll grab those that fall off.” The three went back and forth and laughed for an hour. Jan was indeed free.

Chapter Eight

Michael listened to the scouts reporting in to Hengel and so far nothing out of the ordinary had happened. A conversation was intercepted between two scientists and Michael focused on it. “It appears that the new space is too small for any of the Director’s ships to enter.”

“Fifty feet is not much room to work with.”

“The new probe with its disruptor beam barely fits. So far, we have not detected anything near our galaxy.”

“Do you think that the attackers use this space?”

“We’ve been given the recordings of the last battle and the ships the enemy used were only forty five feet in diameter. They could fit inside it.”

“But the least little wobble and they would be thrown out.”

“Then where do they go?”

“I have no idea. Could there be another space we don’t know about. Some kind of no space of something?”

“Your imagination is running wild. No space would be no distance. If there’s no space, there isn’t anything.”

“I know. This new space we’ve found must be what they use to disappear.”

“If that’s the case, firing a disruptor in it will cause a major disruption of it.”

“How major?”

“About a third of a light year.”

“Would it affect the void or normal space?”

“No, at least it hasn’t in the experiments we’ve done.”

“So if they attack again, we fire a disruptor in that space and they can’t use it to avoid our weapons.”

“That’s how I see it.”

“We need to contact the Director and see if he wants us to start building those probes.”

“Has the Director approved building a small ship to go into that space?”

“He has not! He doesn’t see any benefit a small ship would give him.”

“Those small ships that attacked were pretty deadly.”

“I know, I know! But the Director is of the opinion that they were only successful because they could use that space to avoid our weapons. If that space is removed, the enemy’s ships won’t stand up against our larger battleships.”

• • •

“Angelo, send a transcript of that conversation to Amanda and Trevor’s attention. I want a copy also sent to Budge asking if he knows of any way to prevent the Barrier from being disrupted.”

• • •

Jan listened to the two Scientists and shook her head. The only way their attacks were successful was due to their being able to go into the barrier when too many beams or missiles hit them. And this new Monster had planet-sized disruptors. Langley had linked the conversation to Josey and Jay and they were just as concerned as Jan. “Does this end our previous tactics?”

Jay slowly nodded, “We can’t avoid being hit. The barrier allows us to control the number of times we’re hit before we are damaged.”

They looked at Jan and saw her resting her head on her hand. Jay said, “What are you thinking?”

“The real issue is time.”

“What do you mean?”

“We skip in among the enemy formations and open fire with our DE Beams and missiles. While we’re firing at them, they fire back at us, right?”

“Your observation is impeccable.”

Jan looked at Jay, “Don’t get cute. I was just thinking that one of the things our new ships can do, well, even the old ones could do it too, is fly faster than the speed of light in normal space.”

“How do you fire a weapon at a target moving that fast? I’m good but I don’t have near the reflexes to pull that off.”

“Why would you have to fire?”

“Excuse me? But WHAT?”

“What would happen if you locked the disruptors down to constant fire and flew through their formations at light speed?”

Jay stared at Jan on the monitor and then he looked at Josey who could only shake her head. “Jan, I don’t know if something like that is possible.”

“I don’t, either.”

“Then why in a drunken barmaid’s apron would you suggest it!?”

“I was just thinking that if most of the reactor’s power was sent to the disruptors, and the rest to the thrusters, we would blow by them too fast to be targeted. If the DE Beams are at close to full power, they should slice a ship in half as we passed. If all three of us were stacked on top of each other…”

“If a DE Beam can be fired with any focus at that speed, you might have something. But trust me on this, avoiding anything in your direct path might be a problem.”

“I keep thinking about a little fact that was in Boy’s Life fifty years ago.”

“Boy’s what?”

“It was a magazine that was written for Boy Scouts.”

“Where in seven hells would you see a magazine written for Boy Scouts that is fifty years old?”

“I had a lot of time to look at things in the Fleet’s data banks while cleaning bathrooms, Josey.”

“What was the fact, Jan?”

“A weather announcer on a TV station showed a photograph after a hurricane of broom straws that were blown through a telephone pole and into the wall behind it.”

Jay looked at Josey and then at Jan, “Maybe I’m just dense; how does that relate to what we’re discussing?”

“The straws went through the telephone pole without leaving a hole.”

“Say what?”

“The pole was right up against the wall and the broom straws were sticking directly out of the bricks in the wall. The only way they could have come in at that angle was to have come through the telephone pole. The pole had no holes in in and x-rays showed that there weren’t any, even small ones.” Jay and Josey stared at Jan and she shrugged, “If something is moving fast enough, it will go through an object without leaving a hole.”

Jay’s eyes narrowed and he began doing some mental calculations. “I guess the molecules just pass through each other without making contact.”

“I’ve also read in Astronomy Today, May issue 2015, that the space between an atom’s nucleus and its electrons is actually, relatively speaking, greater than the distance between the sun and its planets.”

Jay stared at Jan and leaned back in his chair, “I’ve often looked at finding a novel way to end my life and now I know I should have come to you for suggestions. This is crazy!”

“Jay, what happens to a physical object that is moving at or close to the speed of light?”

“It becomes little more than an energy wave.”

“And energy waves can pass through…”

Jay rolled his eyes, “Pretty much everything. But this would be an energy wave with more than a hundred tons of mass.”

“What will the gravity compensators do?”

Jay rolled his eyes again and said, “I saw a bug on the ceiling.”

Jan giggled and Jay said, “You need to give me some time to think about this.”

• • •

“Commander!”

“Go ahead, Hengel.”

“I’ve just intercepted a communication from a ship’s pilot that he was moving out of orbit and headed out of the galaxy.”

“Notify every scout to keep an eye and mind out for that ship.”

“Are you going to attempt to intercept it?”

“No, I want it followed.”

“They can detect us in the barrier.”

“We’re staying out of the barrier and following it in the void.”

“Sir, a ship that large can carry a sensor array as large as those used on a planet.”

“Just give me the line it takes and I’ll get ahead of it.”

“What if there are ships waiting for it to defend it against discovery.”

“What are you suggesting Hengel?”

“I didn’t hear a direct thought but I sensed the pilot was moving to meet something or someone.”

“Hengel, what would you do if you were moving that ship?”

“Sir, if it were me, I’d have one of those ships that launches barrier probes and I’d have one disrupting the barrier all the way to its destination. I would also have ships hidden behind a black cloud in the void along its path.”

Michael shook his head, “I suspect it will change course at some point before moving toward its final destination. Its initial line of departure will be a decoy.”

“I was going to say that. The course change wouldn’t happen until I was absolutely certain no one was following me.”

“Hengel, scatter the scouts. Get them away from here before we can no longer use the barrier.”

“Where do I send them?”

“As far away as possible where they can still detect a thought.”

“Angelo, do you have anything?”

“No.”

“It makes me wonder why we were able to hear that pilot and nothing else.”

“Do you think they’ve developed a thought blocker?”

“THAT HAS TO BE WHAT’S HAPPENING!”

“If that’s true…”

“The first line is set up to be an ambush.”

“Commander, I’ve determined the line of departure is 270 degrees from the galaxy’s central core.”

“Get all of your scouts off that line. The reason we’re not hearing them is that they must have developed a thought blocker.”

Hengel thought, “GET OUT OF HERE NOW!”

Michael wondered if one of the giant warships was actually present in this galaxy. All of this may be a subterfuge to ambush his ships, “Put a chart of that galaxy on the display, Angelo, showing the stated line of departure.” Michael looked at the map and saw the line was directly away from the Virgo Cluster. He pressed a button and saw his three guards appear on his display, “Here’s the situation. I still don’t know if one of those new warships is in this galaxy but I am convinced that the Legends have developed a thought blocker. They’re only communicating what they want us to hear.”

Jay tilted his head, “Are you sure about that?”

“Jay, no Legend I’ve ever encountered has ever remained silent this long. They constantly communicate.”

“This one could be doing it deliberately to prevent us knowing exactly what it is doing.”

Michael nodded, “But if it suspects we are out here, there is no way it would allow others to direct its fleets.”

Jan looked at the map and said, “If it is present, it has already moved to the edge of the galaxy and is waiting for the decoy to make its way out. It will leave before the decoy arrives at the edge of the galaxy.”

“Angelo, get an antenna in the barrier and see if you detect anything on the opposite side from the stated line of departure.”

“I have a small energy signature at the edge of that galaxy directly across the galaxy from where the scouts were located.”

“All three of you go to full thrusters and stay out of the barrier. Spread out ahead of that disturbance and we’ll triangulate it as it moves away from that galaxy. Angelo, how far away can you detect that disturbance?”

“About a million light years.”

“Alright, you have your limitation on distance, move out now!” The four ships went in four different directions from above the giant galaxy and staked out the void on a ninety-degree heading. “Do we use the Dark Matter Screen?”

“No, just turn down all your systems to their lowest settings and use minimal thrusters to keep it inside your detection range.”

Jan said, “You know they will have ships out looking for anything suspicious.”

Michael smiled, “They are just learning about the barrier and I suspect they have no idea how far we can detect their antenna. No scanner is capable of seeing a ship a thousand light years distant, much less a million. Only move enough to keep it inside our detection range.”

“I want all communications ended and use your computers to send quick thoughts if absolutely necessary. Turn off your computer’s thought broadcasters and only use them if absolutely necessary. Computers, scan the area of space we’ll be watching to see if you detect any thoughts ahead of that ship.”

Jan looked up, “Langley?”

“I’ve removed the power from the broadcaster.”

“Do you have that energy source plotted?”

“It’s stationary at the moment but yes, I do have it.”

“Good.”

“Jan.”

“Yes.”

“I was just thinking that perhaps the Legends aren’t as bright as we think.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think they use thought blockers on those that are telepathic. I don’t think it occurred to them that beings that are not telepathic can still be heard.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I can hear thousands of thoughts close to where that energy source is located.”

“We need to tell the others.”

“I’ve detected a telepath who is not broadcasting but I can feel its thoughts looking for us.”

“Does it know we’re here?”

“It just went active in its search a moment ago after the Commander issued his instructions. There’s no way we can tell them without it hearing us.”

“Do you think the others hear them?”

“Their movements don’t indicate they do.”

Jan sighed, “We’ll have to follow it even if the others lose it.”

“I suspect that will happen shortly.”

“Why?”

“You know I said the thoughts were close to the electronic signal in the barrier?”

“Yes.”

“The ship with those thoughts have left the ship with the antenna in the barrier behind. It’s moving away from the area we staked out and the ship making the disturbance is moving in a different direction.”

“Langley, how can you hear those thoughts and the others can’t?”

“I guess I’m different from the others. However, you need to get into your armor and activate your thought blocker. I suspect that telepath may hear you if we move any closer.”

Jan pressed the silver button on her chair and her armor wrapped around her. She activated the thought blocker and Langley said, “That telepath thought it heard something. He’s stopped the ship.” Jan shook her head and waited. Thirty minutes later Langley said, “It’s moving again.”

“Langley, if they’ve gone to this much planning, how are we going to follow it? They might detect your thrusters.”

“It’s not using its thrusters, Jan. It fired them briefly and is now coasting through the void. I will use the compressed air canisters to provide enough thrust to keep up.”

“Will they provide enough thrust to do that?”

“The coating on our hull makes us much faster than that ship. I’ve had to use the bow thruster to slow down to avoid out running it.”

Jan looked at her monitor and saw the electronic signal moving away from them and then it disappeared from her monitor. The others didn’t know what was happening and were following that signal. There was no way for her to tell them. She turned off her scanner and dialed back every electronic system. The Battle Pod coasted through the void as Langley followed the ship away from the galaxy it had left far behind.

• • •

Jan felt her panel vibrate and she put her armored glove on it.

“I’m going to communicate with you through vibrations. Your armor’s computer can turn the vibration into words. I am sensing that the ship, or whatever it is, is moving through a vast field of sensor probes. If I use our electronic communication equipment, they might detect us.”

Jan put her faceplate on the console and said, Can you understand me?

“I can.”

“How far away are we from that vessel?”

“More than eight million light years.”

“And they have probes scattered across that much space?”

“Almost. The closest one is a hundred thousand light years away.”

“Has it changed course?”

“Not yet. However, I’m starting to hear more thoughts ahead of that ship.”

“Can you keep that ship targeted?”

“Yes, that telepath is easy to follow. I think there are other ships waiting for it.”

• • •

Time passed and she felt the console vibrate again. She put her glove on the panel and heard, “We’re past the probe field. The number of thoughts has increased dramatically. I sense there are more than sixty thousand ships ahead of it.” Jan waited and kept her glove on the panel. “I’ve managed to find a being on one of those ships that is looking out of the ships main viewport.” Jan was silent and heard, “The ship we’re following is one of the Monster Battleships. I can see it in that being’s thoughts.”

“Are you sure that telepath can’t sense your presence?”

“With the volume of thoughts taking place, I’d be surprise if he can hear his own thoughts.” Jan looked at the clock and saw twelve hours had passed. She put her faceplate on the console and said, “I’m so tired. I’m going to close my eyes for a while and lay on the console. Vibrate if you need me.”

“I will.” Jan leaned over and put her head down on the console. She was asleep in less than thirty seconds.

• • •

Michael followed the electronic disturbance for hours and it didn’t change course. It followed the same course without varying one degree. He shook his head and knew something wasn’t right. “Angelo, call the others in. I’m going to go get a better look at that signal.” A few moments passed and Jay and Josey came flying in at high speed. They waited and Jan didn’t show up. After ten minutes, Michael said, “Contact her directly!” Angelo sent the transmission and after a minute Michael looked at Jay and Josey on his display, “Something has happened to Jan.”

“But we’ve not detected any discharge of weapons.”

Michael looked at Jay and said, “Activate your weapon systems!” Michael grabbed the steering wheel and headed directly toward the disturbance. In ten minutes they arrived a hundred thousand miles out and found a small ship moving through the void with an antenna in the void. He quickly scanned it and saw it was unmanned. He slammed his fist on his chair arm and said, “We’ve been tricked.”

“But where is Jan?”

“Josey, she must have found out and is following the real ship.”

“We need to contact her!”

“How?”

“Telepathically, electronically. We should be able to reach her anywhere in the void.”

“Not if she’s shut down her communicator as well as her computer’s thought broadcaster. If she’s done that, then there must be a danger for her to try and reach us telepathically. She would have done it if she could. Do either of you see it differently?” Michael saw their anguish and Jay said, “She must have seen through their subterfuge. Nothing gets by her.”

“If we start trying to reach her telepathically, we may alert the ones she’s following to her presence. We are skipping out to Fifth Fleet and waiting for her to contact us.”

“Commander, we can’t lose her!”

“Don’t get worried just yet. She still has her barrier drive and can run faster than they can chase. I have to believe she’s doing this for a good reason and we can’t do anything to put her in danger. If we broadcast a general thought, it may be heard by the Legends. Stay strong and we’ll go get her if it comes to that.”

“Is there no way to back track and find her?”

“No, Josey. I suspect the route of that ship is covered in traps. And there’s no way for us to determine what direction the ship broke away from this decoy. They’ve probably changed course several times, which will make it impossible to find where they are. We’ll keep the channels open and be ready to go get her. Follow me to Admiral Greenwall’s fleet and pray Jan isn’t caught in one of their traps.”

“And what happens if she dies in one of their traps?”

Michael looked at Jay and sighed, “Then we will mourn for our loss and try to make our lives something she would be proud of. I know I’m incredibly proud of what she’s doing now.”

Jay lowered his head and shook it. He looked up and said, “Lead the way, Sir.”

Chapter Nine

The console vibrated so hard Jan’s head bounced on it. She shook her head and heard, “They’re changing course and none of the Legend Ships are going to be allowed to go with them.”

“Why did you shake the panel so hard?”

“You wouldn’t wake up; I had to get your attention.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Thirteen hours.”

Jan shook her head to get rid of the cobwebs, “What’s the problem?”

“The Telepath has ordered all of the Legend Ships to skip away before it leaves its current location. I suspect that once everything is clear, that ship is going to full speed. I won’t be able to keep up with it just using compressed air in the thrusters.”

“Have you been able to see one of those ships that puts an antenna in the barrier?”

“I’ve gone through at least three hundred of the beings on those ships that are looking at scanners or out viewports and I’ve only seen one. If that ship leaves with the others, we may be able to slip into the barrier and use compressed air to keep up.”

“And if the giant ship has the capability to put an antenna in the barrier, what then?”

“Jan, I’ve been thinking about that while you’ve been sleeping. I really don’t think they’ll be able to detect us in the barrier if we keep all our systems shut down and continue to use compressed air to move. In the barrier, just a little push will blow us past that monster no matter how fast it’s traveling in the void.”

“What makes you think they won’t detect us?”

“The ship the scouts originally heard didn’t detect them or millions of our ships that travel in the barrier every day. I believe the drive field blocks a ship from being detected. Where it would be seen is if it communicates electronically, uses its scanners, or activates its force field. The Barrier Drive matches the frequency of the space it’s in and whatever is inside that field becomes just another part of the barrier. At least that’s what the evidence seems to suggest.”

“So how do we activate the barrier drive and not be detected?”

“We allow that ship to go to full speed and wait until it’s at least a hundred thousand light years away. We activate the barrier drive on one side of our vessel and slide in the barrier until all of the ship is out of normal space.”

“Langley, do what has to be done. If you’re right, this should take a lot of the pressure off us about being detected.”

“The Legend Fleet is skipping out. I’ll keep us here until the Monster enters the void and skips away.”

Jan sat in her chair and thought about what Langley had postulated. Why did the Legend Ships during the last attack detect the ships in the barrier? What were they doing? She thought about it and remembered that a scan of the Legend Fleets around the planet was being sent to Fleet and all the ships participating in the attack. But the Scouts didn’t use a scanner? She worried about that piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit and then she saw it. Langley had shut down his thought broadcaster so that telepath in the huge battleship wouldn’t hear his thoughts. She was using the thought blocker, which also prevented it from seeing her mind. The Scouts didn’t do that. The telepaths in the Legends’ Fleets must be able to hear the scouts’ thoughts if they moved too close. She put her faceplate on the panel and said, “I’ve thought what you said over and I think you’re right. You have my full approval of doing this.”

“Thanks, Jan. Stand by, he’s about to leave.” A moment later Langley said, “Boy, that ships is fast to be that big. Going into the barrier…now!” The Battle Pod entered the barrier and Langley pushed a hundred pounds of air pressure through the rear thrusters. The pod accelerated at an incredible speed and Janet felt the console vibrate. She put her glove on it and heard, “That vessel has changed course again and is headed due galactic west from Pandora’s cluster where the Legend Galaxies are located. I’ve analyzed how the pilot is moving the ship and I’ve found a pattern. That ship is going to turn shortly and head toward the Bullet Cluster.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“The pattern is clear and I’ve seen an image of that cluster in one of the bridge crew on that ship. That must be where the new ships are being built.”

“How far away is that Cluster?”

“From Earth, about three point seven billion light years.”

Jan actually shook her head while keeping it on the console, “It’s going to take us months to get there!”

“Actually, about five months, twelve days, and sixteen hours give or take thirty minutes.” Jan sighed and Langley said, “I’m going to leave that ship and go directly there.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

“Jan, I wouldn’t even consider this if there was any possibility I was. I’ve correctly predicted the last ten course changes that ship has made. It’s going to the Bullet Cluster.”

“Well, that Legend did say they were going to have their ships built a long distance from their location and that cluster certainly qualifies as a long distance. How will we find them if they’re there?”

“I suspect that is where the Legends originally evolved but that isn’t based on anything other than the Commander saying that the Pandora Legends would never send one of their own out with that much freedom to increase its own power. That made sense and if there are Legends in that Cluster, I will hear them.”

“Will we be able to communicate with Jay and Josey?”

“That telepath will be between us and them and there is a possibility it will hear us if we try. I don’t have any hard data on what its capabilities are but I do know our Goran Scouts would hear us.”

Jan sighed, “I know they’re worried sick about us.”

“Yes, I’m sure they are. But I think they’ve worked out that we’re following that ship.”

Jan thought for a moment and nodded, “If they didn’t, they would be broadcasting thoughts on a general broadcast and that being you’ve been monitoring would have heard them and know that he was possibly being followed.”

“Exactly right.”

“Is it going to be possible to turn on the environmental systems?”

“Once we’ve put a billion light years between us and that telepath, you can remove your armor. There are too many thoughts moving through the universe for it to hear you among that background noise.”

“Then let’s do it; I need a bath!”

“Changing course and applying full thrust with the air cylinders. I’ll use the standard thrusters once we’re far enough away.”

• • •

“Commander, what’s going on?”

“Admiral, we set up a screen to follow the ship that left the Legends’ Cluster. Three of us were decoyed by a probe that had an antenna in the barrier. One of my team disappeared from our pattern and we believe that she is following the Monster Battleship back to where it originally launched. We’re going to wait here until we hear from her and then go to her defense.”

Katy shook her head, “If anyone could pull this off, Jan is the one that could do it.”

Michael smiled, “You must have gotten to know her?”

“I did and I’ve got to say I’m impressed. Her mind is very methodical and she doesn’t miss much.”

“I don’t know how long we’re going to be here, Admiral. Are your ships provisioned for a long wait?”

“No Sir, they are not. But I’ll order a colony ship to bring what we need and I’ll send my squadrons one by one to stock up on what they’ll need for a long mission.”

“I could have another fleet come and relieve you if the time wait becomes too long.”

“Sir, that is one of my sailors out there and we’ll wait until hell freezes over if we need to.”

Michael nodded and ended the contact. Now he knew why her fleet worshiped her. He was once again thankful Audrey had intervened. He remembered his father being thankful for his mother stopping him from killing all of the Goran. He almost made a similar mistake. He knew one thing for certain; Jay and Josey would still be waiting even if hell froze over. It was clear both of them were more afraid of losing her than each other. Jan was the glue that made them whole.

• • •

“Langley.”

“Yes, Jan.”

“I’ve been thinking about what would happen if we are killed before we can get all we’ve learned out. Would it be possible to launch a barrier message probe from this far out with all we know?”

Jan felt the ship decelerate and come to a stop. “That is an excellent idea. It shouldn’t be detected this far away from the Legends and it will help the Commander to decide what to do.” I’m downloading everything now. Give me a moment.” Jan ran the towel through her hair and shook it. Ten minutes later, Langley said, “It’s ready to launch.”

“There’s something you need to include in the download.”

“What is that?”

“There is something different about you, Langley. You were the only one that could hear the thoughts on that ship.”

“I’ve wondered about that as well.”

“Tell them that I suggest they go back to the last time your processors were serviced and to look for anything that might account for how this happened.”

“Standby.” Jan waited and a few moments later she heard, “I’ve included a diagnostic of my systems in the download along with your suggestion. Can you think of anything else?”

“Yes, make sure you tell Jay and Josey I love them very much.”

“Already done.” Jan felt a slight bump in the ships structure. “The probe is launched.”

Jan felt the ship start accelerating again and leaned back in her chair. “Langley, did you record the Commander when he came on board to install the telepathy module?”

“I record everything, Jan. You know that.”

“Please put that recording on my panel.” Jan sat back and watched Michel come through the port. She froze his expression when he saw her. She stared at that image until they arrived just outside the Bullet Cluster.

• • •

Michael activated his communicator, “SHE’S OK!!’ Jay and Josey looked at him from his display and he said, “They’ve sent a barrier message probe and we were right; she’s been following that Monster Battleship; it was in that galaxy!”

Josey blew out a loud breath and said, “Thank God!!”

Jay took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, “Where is she?”

“She’s moving toward a distant cluster of galaxies named the Bullet Cluster. We’re going to skip there in an hour after Greenwall’s last squadron is provisioned from the colony ship. We’re not going to join her unless she calls for help. She is of the opinion that is where the new Legend Battleships are being build. She also says, and her computer agrees, that cluster may be where the Legends originated.”

Josey smiled, “That’s our Jan.”

“Standby, I have some orders to issue and then I’ll transmit you a copy of what she sent.”

Jay smiled, “Thank you, Sir!”

Michael nodded and activated the general fleet frequency. “Attention all ships and personnel in Fifth Fleet. We will be skipping out to a distant galaxy cluster in an hour and there will be new rules while we’re in that space. All ships will remain in the barrier with all systems that emit signals outside the hulls of your ships shut down. All personnel will have their armor on and their thought blockers activated at full power for the duration of the mission. Make sure your armor’s pellet dispenser and water tanks are full before arrival. All pilots will use compressed air in their thrusters to move around in the barrier once we arrive. All external systems on your ship’s hulls will be shut down and that includes your disruptors and missile ports!”

Michael paused and allowed his instructions to sink in. “We are going to be out in open space and one of the Legends’ new battleships will be moving toward the cluster while we are on station. It is commanded by a being that is telepathic and it will hear your thoughts if they aren’t blocked. I know this poses a hardship but this mission is too critical to the Alliance to allow a simple mistake to allow the enemy to know about our presence. Any medical emergency will be handled under a thought blocker field before anyone is removed from their armor. I thank all of you in advance for your following these instructions and be aware that until otherwise notified, the fleet will be under communications silence. Thank you.”

Michael contacted Jay and Josey, “It appears that Jan’s computer could hear the thoughts of that ship when we couldn’t. That ship must be using some kind of thought blocker that Langley was not affected by. Jan sent a full diagnostic of Langley’s systems and we’ve compared it to his last Fleet servicing. The only difference Nudge, Budge, Amanda, and Trevor could find was his processors must have suffered a small electrical surge that slightly changed the frequency his processors use to communicate. I noticed that Langley’s voice was louder than normal when I was on her ship and I believe that frequency change is what caused it. I am sending both of you the current frequency that Langley is using and I want you to have your computers duplicate it. You will deactivate your computer’s thought broadcasting system for the duration of the mission or until I order otherwise. Any questions so far.”

“No Sir.”

“One more thing Jay. Have you noticed whether or not you have become telepathic?”

“I am hearing random thoughts, Sir.”

“That will probably get more regular over time but it is critically important that you and I stay in our armor. That telepath will hear us if we don’t.”

“Yes Sir.”

“I’ve sent you a copy of the download Jan sent to Fleet Operations. If you have any questions, you need to ask them before we skip out.”

Michael’s image disappeared from Jay and Josey’s displays and Josey said, “Now that is an organized brain!”

Jay nodded, “I must say that I really didn’t think much of the Commander before I went to see him but he has changed that. I’m really glad he’s in charge.”

“Why?”

“Because you and I would have gone charging out to find Jan and screamed bloody murder at the top of our voices. He did the right thing.”

Josey nodded, “I sensed he wanted to go out screaming with us but managed to keep his cool.”

“You’re right. His thoughts were the random ones I heard and he was worried sick about her.”

“Do you think there’s something there?”

“I don’t know. I really think he would feel the same about us. This is different from what I’ve grown accustomed to, Josey.”

“What do you mean?”

“I really do want to protect him now. You know the download Jan sent is top secret and he didn’t keep it from us. I’m willing to bet that Admiral Greenwall hasn’t seen it. He’s including us in his decision-making. I don’t deserve it but I respect him for doing it.”

Josey smiled, “Ditto. Let’s take a look at the download and see if there’s anything we need to worry about.” Jay nodded and ended the call.

• • •

“Budge.”

“Yeah.”

“You know that Piper says his hull is three feet thick and all of it is the white coating.”

“I’ve heard that, Nudge, but nothing I’ve tried has made that material coat our hulls thicker than a few molecules.”

“I’ve been thinking about that lately and with the new Legend Battleships having disruptors the size of those used on their planets, I’m concerned about our ships surviving more than one or two hits.”

“Piper can take a lot more than that.”

“I’ve been wondering how they do it.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“There must be something that would attract that stuff.”

“I’ve not found anything.”

“Well, consider this. That liquid is only found on planets that are almost inside the event horizon of a black hole, right?”

“Yes, go on.”

“But I never saw waves on that planet where we coated our ships. Why is that?” Budge stared at him and after a moment, he shook his head. “I’ve looked at the recording of that planet and that liquid doesn’t even have low or high tides in the strongest known gravity in the universe. Matter of fact, the surface is flatter than a…”

“Don’t say it!”

“Why?”

“I know what you’re thinking and half the women in here will slap you silly if you do.”

“But it’s true. The gravity from the black hole should have some effect on it.”

“What are you thinking, Nudge?”

“Have we ever measured the depth of that liquid?”

“There’s no way we could do it. That liquid can’t be penetrated by any scanner that we have.”

“What if there isn’t a planet under it?”

“What?”

“What if there’s nothing there but the liquid.”

Budge started shaking his head, “It wouldn’t hold together without something for it to float on.” Budge stared at Nudge and lowered his eyes, “What are you thinking?”

“Budge, for every positive atom, science says there should be an antimatter atom to balance it in the universe. What if that principle works on more than just positive and negative atoms?” Budge started shaking his head and Nudge held up his hand, “Before you go all scientific on me, consider this. What if that liquid is repelled by high gravity? The gravity from the black hole pulls it but it resists the pull and becomes a denser liquid. That’s why there’s no waves. It is pulled in tight by the heavy g-forces acting on it from the black hole.”

Budge closed his mouth and looked out of the window. Nudge recognized that expression, Budge was thinking hard. “If what you’re saying has any truth to it that would account for why there are no waves. The liquid would push against the gravity and it would flatten it.”

Nudge nodded and said, “So what would that mean if you wanted the liquid to adhere to itself?”

Budge continued to stare out the window and said, “Instead of using gravity to pull it, you use gravity to push against it.”

“Which would…”

“Make it move toward the push.” Budge looked at his twin, “It just can’t be that simple, Nudge.”

“It would be easy to confirm. Just take a ship out and reverse the polarity on the gravity compensator. Instead of just reducing gravity, have it go to a positive condition pushing against the inside of the hull. The gravity field would extend beyond the hull pushing against that liquid if the ship was submerged in it.”

“How do you control how much would cover the hull?”

“Raise or lower the power of the push.”

Budge thought again and shook his head, “What will happen when you shut down the gravity compensator?”

“You know that liquid instantly hardens once it’s removed from the surface. It should stay on the hull.”

Budge stared at him. Then he said, “I have a ship.”

“You need to install another compensator.”

“Why.”

“Because once you leave the liquid…” Nudge stopped. He saw Budge smiling and he said, “The black hole will push it away, not pull it in.” Budge nodded. “The only reason the ships would be pulled in without the compensator is because the coating is so thin there’s not enough of it to overcome the attraction of the rest of the ship to the black hole.” Nudge said, “Are you agreeing with me?”

“Your theory explains a lot. I want to see if you’re right.”

“Well, lead the way and let’s go.”

Budge looked at his assistant, “I’m going to be gone for several days. Take care of the shop.”

“But SIR!”

Budge was already walking toward the door and he looked at Nudge, “I thought you retired?”

Nudge sighed, “I have but sometimes I just…”

“Go crazy doing nothing.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s why I’m still here. I don’t have someone like Eve to fill the day.”

“You need to find someone.”

“I’ve failed miserably at that. I’ve decided that I’m going to have to wait for someone to find me like Eve found you.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Somehow, I think you’re right.”

Chapter Ten

Michael saw Fifth Fleet’s last squadron move into place and pushed the fleet’s general frequency on his panel, “We’ll be skipping out in five minutes. Once we arrive, I want all ships to spread with at least a light year separation between all ships. Be prepared to skip into combat formation instantly if we’re needed. I know all of you have worked hard preparing for this and I know you’ll do an outstanding job.”

He ended the call and saw Josey appear on his display, “Sir, I’ve been meaning to apologize for a while and have just never done it.”

“Apologize for what?”

“For kissing you on the stage. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Josey and for your information that was my very first kiss.”

“WHAT!?”

“Remember, Admiral Greenwall kept every female away from me as I was growing up. So thank you; it’s another item checked off the list.”

“I know you’d have preferred it to be under different circumstances.”

“What’s wrong with a beautiful woman kissing me? You just surprised me and that’s why my face was so red. By the way, you’re a pretty good kisser.”

Josey smiled and then laughed, “Thank you, Sir.”

“I want the two of you to stay close. We’ll skip in a long way behind the fleet and listen for that Monster Battleship that’s moving toward the Bullet Cluster. I’m hoping Jan finishes scouting before it arrives but if it detects any of us, I suspect we’ll have to take it out, if we can.”

“I’ll let Jay know and we’ll be ready.”

“Alright. Lock your skip drives to Angelo’s panel and we’ll skip out together.”

Michael watched the countdown and didn’t verbally count it off. He smiled when all fifty thousand ships in Fifth Fleet disappeared together. Katy really had done an excellent job of training her pilots. He hit the skip button and the three ships disappeared together.

• • •

“Langley, just what are we going to do?”

“I think we should skip in to the middle of the cluster in intergalactic space and see if I can hear anything telepathically.”

“According to my data on the Bullet Cluster, there were two galaxies that were merging three billion years ago. That merger should be complete now. Try to move so that giant galaxy is closer than the others.”

“You think that’s where the Legends are located?”

“If they weren’t originally, they should have moved to that merged galaxy. Let’s try that one first.”

“I’m shutting down all external systems as well as lowering the power on the reactor. I’ll be using compressed air to move us around.”

“I’ve already moved into my armor and turned the environmental system off. If we’re detected, get out fast.”

“We do need to see how they’ve set up their defenses before we leave.”

“We’ll see how it goes but I don’t think we can stand up to one of those monsters if they open fire with those disruptors.”

“You’re the boss. Here we go.” Jan left the main viewport’s armor down and watched the distant specks of light grow larger instantly. She got the impression that there was no distance between them and the giant galactic cluster.

• • •

Jan looked at the giant galaxy and saw a massive fifty thousand light year trail of stars that swung out from the galaxy at a thirty-degree angle. The tidal forces from the merger of the two giants swung more than a hundred millions stars out beyond the galaxy’s edge. It was incredibly beautiful. Jan put her faceplate on the console, “Langley?”

“You were right.”

“About what?”

“You know how in the Pandora Cluster every Legend pretty much has their own galaxy to rule?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not the case here. I am hearing the thoughts of millions of Legends and that is quite overwhelming. There are thousands of galaxies in this cluster but I can’t hear any of the others with the commotion coming out of that giant one.”

“WHO ARE YOU?”

Jan hear the loud thought and then heard Langley say, “We are travelers who have come to see what happens when two galaxies merge.”

“This is forbidden space. You will leave immediately!”

“Forgive us for intruding on your domain. I must say that your galaxy is one of the most beautiful we have ever seen. I know you must be proud of it.”

“I am. You may take pictures but then you must leave and not return!”

“Thank you for your gift.” Langley ran a quick scan and then got out fast. They headed directly away from the line they came in on and Langley stopped at the distant edge of the bullet cluster. Jan kept her head on the console, “What in two hells was that?”

“I don’t really know how to describe it, Jan. That…entity…thing…whatever it is…”

“Isn’t one being?”

“You heard that?”

“I heard the trillions of thoughts that made it.”

“That thing is something that is created by all the Legends’ personas in that galaxy. It saw us, even in the barrier. I suspect it will see any of us that approach it from now on.”

“Do you think that thing could harm us?”

“Can a Sentinel harm us? It’s something very much like them only…larger.”

“Langley, I heard it through my thought blocker.”

“With as much power as it used to broadcast, you could have heard it through the hull. The problem with that galaxy being infested with so many Legends, there’s no way for me to nail down where the Monster Ships are being built; the mental background noise overwhelms everything.”

Jan shook her head and sighed, “There’s only one way to do it.”

“I’m afraid you’re right.”

“How much longer before it arrives here?”

“At least eight or nine weeks. However, as I think about it, we probably won’t be able to use it.”

“Why not?”

“If we try to move into the cluster with that ship, that thing will detect us long before that Monster Ship moves into the cluster. It was nice the first time but I suspect that if it sees us again…”

“It will not be so forgiving.”

“Exactly.”

“Then we have to find that ship before it arrives.”

“What?”

“We have to find it and you are going to have to find the mind of the navigator and take the coordinates out of it of the galaxy that ship is headed toward.”

“And if it’s that giant galaxy?”

Jan shook her head, “Let’s cross that road if we have to. Do you think you can find it?”

“There’s an awfully huge volume of space it could be in. I don’t know?”

“Well, think about it for a moment. Once that ship turns and heads this way, it won’t be changing course anymore, will it?”

“That would be a waste of time. Any ship following it would see where it was headed.”

“So, once it starts this way, it’s going to be pretty much taking a direct path here. Didn’t you say you had figured out the pattern that ship was flying?”

“Yes, I did.”

“And you determined that it was going to come here. Where was it going to make that course change to do that?”

“Give me a few moments. I need to look back at what I stored.” Jan lifted her faceplate off the console and put her glove in its place. She looked out of the viewport and could still see the bright light millions of light years away. There was no way to determine where that ship was headed from this far out.”

She felt the panel vibrate and she put her faceplate down, “I’ve got the general line of approach. I will move to the middle of the possible courses it could be taking and listen for it.”

“Let’s try to meet it when it’s still about six weeks out.”

“There will be a problem with this.”

“What is that?”

“Focusing on one individual on that ship may allow that telepath to detect it. Just listening to the thoughts as a whole is different.”

“If you find the right one, it might be a good thing to be seen.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the navigator will have to look at their panel and release the ship from autopilot. It will have to see the coordinates of its destination.”

“You’re assuming they build their panels like ours.”

“All the way back to jet airliners on Earth to our most modern warships, the computer always has the coordinates entered. They will have those coordinates visible if for no other reason than a safety precaution.”

“I hope you’re right. If that ship detects us, it will attack.”

“We can always run.”

“Not before we have those coordinates. That will give them time to get in the range of those huge disruptors.”

“Can you think of another way to do this?”

“No.”

“Then we’ll stick to the plan as long as possible. I’ll focus on the force field if that ship starts our way and if it starts failing, I’ll skip out.”

“And if that ship has a device that disrupts the barrier?”

“Then it will get very, very interesting, my friend.”

“I wish you hadn’t said it like that?”

“Why?”

“That’s what you said just before we attacked those six Legend Battleships in the last battle. We were hit at least fifty times.”

Jan sighed, “Oh Langley, if we’re hit half that number this time we won’t know it.”

“Because we’ll be a vapor cloud.”

“But a very pretty cloud.”

“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

“I still think we can outrun it in the void.”

“I’m not completely certain about that, Jan.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t think it has gone to full speed once.”

“Well, I believe it will be making the last leg at full speed. We’ll know about its capabilities when we find it.”

“If we find it.”

“Ok, if we find it.”

“I really wish Jay and Josey were here.”

“I suspect they are. You know our messenger told them where we were headed. I suspect they’re quite close.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“The Commander wouldn’t leave us out here without doing something to help us.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

“He’s really remarkable, Langley. However, if he’s interested in anyone, it would be Josey.”

“Why?”

“For obvious reasons. She kissed him.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Jan. He didn’t kiss her.”

Jan’s head did a bob and she smiled, “No, I guess he didn’t.”

• • •

“Jan, I think we missed it.”

“Why?”

“We’ve been here ten days and nothing. Let’s assume that ship is faster than we thought. We could have skipped past it coming here. It may have been closer than six weeks out.”

Jan blew out a breath and shook her head, “Langley, go to full speed in the barrier and weave back and forth as you’re moving forward. You’re probably right and once that thing gets inside two weeks, we can’t chase it any further.” Jan felt the ship accelerate and she buckled in. God she had made a mistake. She should have said four weeks. And if that ship had already passed them, it was faster than either of them thought. Where was it?”

A week passed and Jan knew they had failed. She shook her head and leaned back in her chair and saw the console shaking. She jammed her faceplate on the console and head, “WHOA!”

“WHAT’S GOING ON?”

“I ALMOST RAN OVER IT!”

“Back off.”

“Too late. I’m stopping and letting it come to me. Set the controls to R-U-N!”

Jan laughed and set the force field system to standby, moved the reactor control to override and set the level to a hundred percent, and enabled the disruptor enable control. She manually filled the thrusters with fuel and set the igniters to activate with the reactor. “Done!”

“Now leave me alone and keep your glove on the panel. I’m going to start listening for the navigator.”

Jan put her right glove on the panel on top of the reactor’s control and the other glove on the force field and disruptors switches. She moved the thrusters’ throttle fully forward and listened for Langley. Her heart was racing and she was taking long slow breaths to slow it. This Monster Battleship was operational, unlike the one they destroyed. Jan didn’t want to think it but couldn’t keep the thought out of her mind that it was faster than she imagined. She was trembling and fought to slow her heart. It was a losing fight because she heard through her glove, “RUN!!” Jan hit every control simultaneously and the ship came alive in an instant, but not before she felt the Battle Pod jerk violently and get thrown out of the barrier. It accelerated away from the giant Black Warship as it turned to give chase. The ship jerked hard left as two huge disruptor beams hit it on the starboard side. She jerked the steering wheel back to the right as four giant disruptor beams flashed through the space they had just occupied. The pod opened some space between it and the Monster as it completed its turn.

She checked the force field dial and saw it was building back to seventy percent as the ship was rocked again by another huge disruptor beam. It immediately dropped to thirty percent. She weaved the ship and went to full speed but the Black Warship was not falling behind. She could vaguely hear Langley broadcasting his thoughts but couldn’t take the moment to listen. Giant disruptor beams blew past her on all sides and the force field was only able to stay at twenty five percent. Two simultaneous hits would blow it away. She was wrong, another direct hit by a massive disruptor beam blew the force field away. Jan closed her eyes as she whipped the steering wheel side-to-side. “JAN!” She opened her eyes and looked at her display. The disruptor beams flashing around the ship had stopped and the giant Black Ship was surrounded by thousands of battle pods. Michael had arrived with Fifth Fleet.

“Langley?”

“I’ve got it.”

“Did you…”

“I got that, too. Let’s get out of here and discuss it later.”

“The ship is yours.” Jan fell back in her chair and knew the war had taken on a new turn with this new Legend Monster Ship.

• • •

The giant black colored warship stopped its pursuit of the single small ship and opened fire on the thousands of small warships rushing in on it. It exploded another device into the void and thousands more of the enemy ships suddenly appeared around it. It stopped to stay inside the zone of disruption in the barrier to prevent the ships attacking from moving into the barrier. Then the thousands of disruptors on its hull began illuminating and firing massive barrages at the Battle Pods moving in on it. Pods were exploding on all sides of the Monster Ship and still the massive disruptor’s beams filled space around the ship in a deadly crossfire.

• • •

“Granny, show me an image of that ship firing its disruptors.” Omny looked at the image and saw Battle Pods exploding around the Monster. “Slow it down to one hundredth speed.” Omny watched the recording from twenty thousand miles out and shook his head. “Speed it up slightly.” There! “Granny, I see a pattern in the lines of disruptors. It looks like they are arranged in groups of twenty.”

“I see what you’re saying. The first one follows and then the next one and so on down the line of all twenty. They then start over at the first disruptor.”

“Quickly look and see if there is any instance where a disruptor behind the sequence fires.”

“I don’t see it happening on this side of the ship. The lines go one through twenty and then recycle.”

“How long between each cycle?”

“About two seconds.”

“Would I be right in saying that each disruptor in the line have a target already locked in before it fires?”

“It does look that way. What are you thinking, Omny?”

“Well, I think a ship that is not already targeted by a line may be able to fly in without being hit.”

“But there are hundreds of lines all firing at different times. They overlap.”

“It’s time we earned our keep, Granny. Here’s what we’re going to do. I’ve designated two lines of disruptors on that ship’s hull. We’re going to fly in at an angle to them such that we keep a horizon beyond our line of approach. We’re going in at full speed just as the first line fires the tenth disruptor. We’ll arrive at the second line as the fifth disruptor is firing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Granny, we’re going to fly with all our disruptors firing ahead of us. We may be hit by a beam, possibly two, but we’ll be moving so fast that’s about all that can hit us. I intend to use the DE Beams to punch through that ship’s force field and move in about twenty feet above the ship’s hull. We will pour on the brakes and I’ll fly along that ship’s hull until we slow down enough.”

“Are you out of your mind? You can’t fly between those; your reactions aren’t good enough.”

“The lines are not placed in staggered positions. There is a clear path between them. If you can get us slowed fast enough, I will have time to dodge the next row at the end of the line.”

“Omny, that will be the end of the line. This is impossible.”

“That’s a word that I am not familiar with. Would you rather fly around that thing and get blown into a cloud of vapor or do something that might make a difference?” Omny waited and said, “Granny?”

“I’m looking at the path you want to take. At least that ship has stopped so I don’t have to do it on the fly.”

“Granny, I didn’t think computers felt fear.”

“I don’t; I’m programmed to stop you from making outrageous choices.”

“And you don’t think this is outrageous?”

“It’s better than going in and flying around that beast. Are you ready?”

“Get the timing right on the disruptors.”

“This is like an impossible game of Red Rover. Once I hit the thrusters, you have the steering.”

“Let’s do it!”

The Battle Pod hit full thrusters and it covered the distance between it and the giant black warship in less than two seconds. As it rushed up on the giant ship, more than a hundred disruptor beams reached out toward it but missed behind it. Even computer-guided weapons had reaction times and the disruptors they controlled could only move so fast. One beam managed to graze the top of the Pod as it flew in at incredible speed and Omny didn’t have time to curse as he whipped the steering wheel left at the Pod blew through the force field and shot down at the ship’s hull. Omney heard the massive gravity compensator whining so loud he thought it was going to explode as Granny poured on the power to the front thrusters. Omny held the ship between two lines of disruptor towers and saw the one directly ahead of him moving at incredible speed toward the bow. The ship continued to slow and all he had time to do was turn the wheel slightly right and then straighten it up. The pod’s outer wind tip slightly grazed the tower but the silver coating held up and he was able to keep the ship between the next lines of disruptors.

The Battle Pod came to a stop six feet above the giant ship’s hull and Omny looked out of the front viewport at the disruptor towers all around him firing blasts overhead. He waited for one of the disruptors to turn and direct its barrel toward him as Granny said, “There are safety constraints that prevent them from being able to fire at the hull. It appears they can’t reach us here.”

“Well, we paid admission to get here. We might as well visit the park.”

“How do you want to do this?”

“We don’t need a force field if they can’t hit us and we certainly don’t need to fly very fast. I’m directing ninety eight percent of our reactor into the disruptors. Angle the bottom-rear disruptor to about thirty degrees behind the stern so it can cut through the hull as we move over the surface. Have the side and top disruptors fire constantly to each side. I’m flying just fast enough to cut through the bases of the disruptor towers as we pass.”

“Are we going all the way around the ship?”

“No, I intend to cut a swath and then turn and cut another one next to the first. I’m hoping I can remove enough of them in one area of the ship to provide an opening for Fleet.”

• • •

“COMMANDER!”

“What, Josey?”

“A large section of disruptors on that ship’s hull are going up like a giant string of firecrackers.”

“Angelo, show me what’s happening.”

Michael looked at the image of the Monster as it suddenly grew and then moved in impossibly fast. It stopped at the leading edge of the disruptor towers that were exploding and he saw a Battle Pod flying along the giant’s hull cutting down the disruptor towers as it passed.

“Katy, do you have a Heavy!?”

“I do.”

“Call off your fleet and have the heavy ready to go in toward the section of that ship’s hull that is being destroyed by one of your ships!” Michael looked at the small ship and knew it was going to die if it stayed next to the hull when the heavy fired its massive round. The destruction on the giant warship’s hull was growing by the second. That Monster was going to flee quickly if the heavy didn’t get in fast. “Attention, whoever is on that ship’s hull, we are bringing in a heavy. You must get out of there.”

• • •

“Omny, did you hear that?”

“I did, Granny; but it would be suicide to try and move away this close to the towers around us. We have to wait until it fires, Granny. Continue knocking them out.” Omny continued to fly among the tower’s cutting them down.

• • •

The Monster’s commander was beyond rage, “I DON’T CARE WHAT IT TAKES, FIRE ON THAT SHIP NOW!!!”

“Excellency, we can’t override the safety protocols. A disruptor fired from that close to the hull will penetrate the entire ship.”

“Then fire one that can hit it at an angle to the hull!”

“I’ve sent a crew to manually take control of a disruptor. They’ll be there in a moment.”

• • •

The thing about a moment in space battles is that it can pass incredibly fast or seem to last forever. The latter appears to be what happened in this case. The Heavy flashed in and fired its devastating heavy Dark Matter explosive round, Omny blasted off the ship’s hull just as the entire section he had cut down exploded under him, and the manual disruptor blew up with the crew attempting to aim at the small ship next to the hull. The Heavy’s round then hit and blew into the center of the moon-sized ship and exploded taking all the reactors with it.

The blast from the hull under Omny blew away Omny’s force field and scorched the silver coating on his pod, but the ship survived. He flew the pod out just ahead of the blast and then moved back into formation from the rear with the rest of Fifth Fleet as they watched the Monster go up in a massive explosion; no one noticed his return into ranks. “Are you all right, Granny?”

“I need my coating replaced but all systems are operational.”

“Good. It appears no one noticed what we did.”

“I’m not receiving any messages telling us what heroes we are or that you’re a leader of warriors and conqueror of big, bad warships.”

“Let’s leave it that way.”

“Why? You deserve to be honored for what you did.”

“It would ruin my reputation. Let’s just keep it between the two of us.”

“Omny, you don’t deserve the ridicule you endure.”

“If I didn’t get it, I’d not feel at home. Just let it go, ok?”

“You’re the boss.”

“Send our flight recorder’s data without your signature frequency on it.”

Granny sighed, “Done.”

• • •

“Hey, you don’t like working with us anymore?”

“Oh, Jay, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

“That was close pumpkin.”

“Too close!”

“Let’s get back and we’ll talk about what’s going on. I’m so glad you’re ok.” Jan’s display went dark and she closed her eyes and fell immediately asleep. Langley told Michael she hadn’t slept much in twenty days and he allowed her to remain asleep uninterrupted until Langley arrived at Earth.

• • •

Omny heard the pilots in his wing celebrating the Monster’s destruction. They were also somber about those that were lost in the battle. Close friends would not be with them and some were already missing their brothers and sisters-in-arms. He heard the order to skip out to Eden and he leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and remembered Emily’s smile. His favorite memory was of her holding two-year-old Cherish in her arms while five year old Sanders held on to her leg. Why did he ever name his son Sanders; even if it was Emily’s maiden name. No little boy should have to endure that outrage.

He left them standing outside his front door to go to Eden to work on a problem they were having with the construction converters. He promised to come right back and take them with him. He was so stupid. He should have sent them on a colony ship at the first moment but he was working on the food converters in the Sudan and they didn’t want to go without him. His stay at Eden was extended and then he heard the order that all Colony Ships were ordered away from Earth to insure it was hidden.

He was out in the field with the converters when he heard that Earth had been found and all human life was exterminated. He spent a year in a facility for the mentally insane and he really didn’t remember a minute of it. All he could see was Emily’s smile and his children waving goodbye. He was twenty-five at the time of their deaths and he went back to work on building the cities on Eden. He worked for nineteen years and helped build the planet into something really special. On the twentieth anniversary of their deaths, he joined the navy. He was almost laughed out of the recruiter’s office but they relented and allowed him to take the aptitude tests. Their laughter quickly ended and he was put on a simulator immediately. He was sworn in the next day.

He remembered after graduation his ship’s computer asking him what name he was going to use to address it and he said, “Granny.”

“My name is supposed to have a special significance to you.”

Omny sighed, “My first day at the academy one of the new recruits looked at me and said, ‘Hey, Old Man’. I replied with, “It’s a new year.” He laughed and said, ‘Old Man, New Year’. He looked around and said, ‘His name is Omny!’ Everyone in the barracks laughed and that’s what I’ve been called since. I no longer have a family. I expect you will be the only one that doesn’t make fun of my age.”

“Granny it is, Omny. Like the t-shirt says, I’ve never seen an old fool.”

Omny decided early on to just maintain a low profile. He did his job and hoped he could make his life count for something before he joined Emily and his children. He decided that today was a start on that wish. They arrived on Eden and Omny contacted the Service Engineers to come and take his Pod for repair. An engineer arrived and whistled, “Boy! You really got close to the fire!”

“I think a lot of us did, Captain. Please take good care of her.”

“I’m probably going to have to transfer your computer into a new ship. There’s pieces of shrapnel that penetrated the rear of your pod.”

“Thank you, Sir.” Omny walked away as the pilot assigned the space next to his landing spot landed next to his ship and watched it being loaded on a gravity float.

Chapter Eleven

Jan sat in the conference room waiting for the meeting to start with all of the Alliance’s Senior Admirals. She wondered why Michael had not chosen to attend. Katy walked across the room and stopped in front of Jan, “I was so worried about Josey but I can see that you were the one I should have been worried about.”

Jan’s face turned red, “No Sir. She is far more beautiful that me.”

Katy glanced at Josey who was smiling and said, “Not from where I stand. I’m really proud of what you’ve done. I consider it an honor to have you in my fleet.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Luke stood up and the meeting began. Jay and Josey felt so bad for Jan. Every question was directed at her and after two days, she could barely speak. But the Fleet Leaders learned everything that happened. At the end, Jan said in a whisper, “Why wasn’t the Commander here?”

Jay shook his head, “He’s trying to find the pilot that landed on that ship’s hull.”

“Don’t they know who did it?”

“It appears they don’t and the pilot isn’t stepping forward. It makes me wonder if he died with that monster ship. However, his flight recordings were sent in after the Monster was destroyed so he must be keeping a low profile.”

“Why is it so important to find him?”

Jay shook his head, “Since the Monster ships are being built in that monster galaxy, we’re not going to be able to go and destroy the manufacturing facilities. That means we are going to have to find a way to take them on. We lost eight hundred Battle Pods in the battle and the only one that ended it was the pilot that managed to get next to the hull.”

“Shouldn’t that have been enough?”

“The data was too scrambled until he arrived at the ship. Evidently, he was traveling too fast for his recorders to show how he did it. We need to find him, or her, to see if what he did is something we can teach others to do.”

• • •

Shelia walked into Eighth Squadron’s male barracks and looked around. It was two in the afternoon and free time for the pilots. She stepped by three pilots who smiled, “Hey, Shelia, want to join us for a trip to the city?”

“No, but thank you for asking.” The three watched her walk away and shook their heads in admiration.

Shelia saw him as soon as she passed the three pilots. She walked back to the furthest bunk from the entrance, the place of least respect, and saw Omny laying down staring at the bunk above him. “Why are you back here? I would think with your seniority you could move closer to the door.”

Omny looked at her and smiled, “It’s very quiet back here.”

Shelia looked around, “Let’s take a walk.”

Omny’s eyes narrowed, “Why?”

“I like to discuss things in private and everyone in here is staring at us.”

“Why would you want to take a walk with me? I’m old enough to be…”

“No you’re not, so don’t use that drivel with me. Come on!” She turned and headed toward the door and Omny almost ignored her request but she stopped at door and waited for him to come. He blew out a breath, got up, and moved toward the entrance. Several of the pilots said as he passed, “Look at the old man!” He ignored them and followed Shelia out the door. She started walking toward the cafeteria and was silent.

“Is there a reason you interrupted my nap?”

“You weren’t napping. You were staring at the overhead bunk.”

“I can sleep with my eyes open.”

Omni smiled but Shelia didn’t. “I guess you’ve been hearing the requests for the pilot that landed on the Monster’s hull to please report to the Admiral.” Omny stopped dead in his tracks. Shelia moved two steps past him and looked back, “You shouldn’t let a Lady get ahead of you.”

Omny started walking and Shelia said, “How long do you intend to keep this up?” Omny stared straight ahead in silence. Shelia stopped and he stopped with her and stared into her eyes. She shook her head, “For your information, I’m twenty eight. My mother was that age when she married my father who was fifty. They’re still married and happier than they have a right to be so don’t look at me as a wet behind the ears girl. I know what happened and I’m wondering when you’re going to come forward.”

“You’re going to have a long wait.”

Shelia stared into Omny’s eyes for a long moment and then smiled, “I have my answer. I know pride when I see it. Good luck living with it.” She turned and walked away.

Omny shook his head. How did she know? She must be pulling his chain over something else. His ship had been replaced in record time and when the investigators showed up they questioned him about whether or not he had taken part in the battle. His ship didn’t have a mark on it. He told them, “Of course I was there!” They stared at him and made a note to tell his commanding officer that he had a coward in his ranks. It didn’t take long before the other members of the Squadron picked up on it and gave him even more grief than normal. He walked back in the barracks and a pilot walking out sneered, “How did you get up enough nerve to walk out in the sunlight?” Omny ignored him and went to his bunk.

• • •

Ten days later an announcement went out over every pilot in Fifth Fleets wrist units. “All pilots will report to their barracks immediately! All pilots report to their barracks immediately!” It was nine in the evening and most of the pilots were already dressed, or undressed for bed. Now everyone was talking to each other wondering what was going on. At nine thirty, the wall speakers in every barracks came on. “This is First Commander Stone. I don’t like that I have to do this but I feel compelled to do something I would not normally do. I know that Admiral Greenwall has made Fifth Fleet into something for every fleet in the Alliance to aspire to become. I’m counting on the fact that all of you share in making that image. I am issuing a direct order for the pilot that landed on the hull of that Legend Battleship during the last battle to report to Admiral Greenwall immediately! If she’d done the job I think she has, I expect you to comply with this order. You have thirty minutes to report.”

Everyone in the barracks started looking at each other and questioned why the pilot had not come forward. The volume grew louder as twenty minutes passed without anyone stepping forward. Suddenly, the front door flew open and Shelia stormed into the barracks. Many of the pilots weren’t dressed for female company and all of them scrambled to throw something around them. Shelia was wearing a revealing pair of pajamas and she pushed her way through the pilots gathered between the rows of bunks until she arrived at the last one. Omny was sitting on the bunk with his head down.

Shelia yelled, “This goes beyond your silly pride! This involves all of us and what we’ve tried to stand for!” Omny took a deep breath and turned around. “You’re not dressed appropriately, Captain.”

“OMNY!”

Everyone in the barracks was silent as they watched Omny stand up, look at the clock, and lift his wrist unit. He looked at Shelia and then pressed a button. Admiral Greenwall appeared on his unit’s display and he said, “Sir, I’m the one you’re looking for.”

“Report to my office immediately!”

Everyone saw Omny was dressed in his flight uniform. He lowered his arm and glanced at Shelia as he walked past her. He lowered his head and everyone moved out of his way as he exited the barracks. The pilots all watched him leave and then turned to Shelia. She looked at them with an expression of rage. “I landed next to his ship after we arrived from the battle! His ship was being put on a gravity sled to be hauled away and I saw the silver coating on his hull was melted and hundreds of pieces of shrapnel sticking out of the rear of his ship. Do any of you morons happen to know how a ship can get shrapnel blown through its force field hard enough to embed in the silver coated hull? Let me help you. It would have to have been extremely close to a massive explosion. His ship had to be scrapped and his computer moved to a new vessel. The investigators accused him of cowardice and you bunch of worthless human beings only added to the torment you’ve given him since the first day he showed up on the job. He saved most of your worthless hides by what he did and look at you. You’re disgusting!” Shelia stormed out of the building and everyone scrambled to get out of her way. The Pilots all looked at each other and finally the silence was broken by one saying, “We’re actually worse than what she said.”

• • •

Omny reported to Katy’s office and came to attention. Katy stared at him and said, “Lieutenant, I’m profoundly sorry that we couldn’t get your family off Earth in time. I know what heartache you’ve endured for that. I understand why you didn’t come forward?”

Omny looked at her and said, “DO YOU, SIR!”

“You didn’t do it for yourself or us. You did it for them.” Omny tried to fight his tears but was unsuccessful. He stood at attention as Katy came around the desk and took him in her arms. She hugged him tightly and cried with him, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my sailors. Thousands more would have died but for you.” She held him tight until his tears stopped.

• • •

Michael arrived at Katy’s office and the door wouldn’t open. He pressed the chime again and almost contacted her on his wrist unit. He stared at the door and thought, “Averel, what’s going on?”

“You need to give them some time, Michael.”

Michael felt a vibration as Omny’s personnel file appeared on his wrist unit. He walked up to hall to a bench and started reading. He remembered the day he lost his mother and lowered his head into his hands. So many had scars from this war that never seemed to end.

• • •

Omni walked through the door to the barracks and saw it was empty. Thank God for that! He walked to his bunk and saw the orderlies had packed all of his belongings and he lifted the duffle bag, threw it over his shoulder and then picked up his satchel. He looked at his bunk and sighed. “Take care of the next one!” He walked up to the front of the long barracks and looked back. He took a deep breath and went through the door.

“ATTTEEENNNSHUN!!”

Omny saw every Pilot in Eighth Squadron was formed up in ranks in their dress uniforms. The Commander stepped forward and saluted Omny. He returned the salute without thinking and the Commander said, “One of the pilots would like to speak.”

Omny almost walked away but Lilly Southerland stepped out of ranks and he stopped. Lilly smiled, “I was chosen to speak because most of us are of the opinion that you wouldn’t walk away from someone that has always treated you with respect.” Omny stared at her and, after a long moment, he put his bags down. “We all know that asking you to forgive us for all that has been said and done to you just isn’t possible. We’ve done far too much to ever expect forgiveness. However, all of us here are less than we thought we were before you saved us. We are here to honor you for saving our lives. We were called away from the battle, while you remained on that Legend Ship and fought to save us. Your bravery is beyond the word hero and every pilot here wants you to know that you are the image they intend to use to be considered courageous. We will be less in your absence and we will always remember you as Scott Jacobs instead of the Omny we used instead. We all pray your life will be better than how we made it here.”

The Commander shouted, “PREEEESEENNNT ARMS!” Every pilot in the ranks lifted a heavy blaster and the Commander saluted. Suddenly he heard a band start playing the Alliance Anthem and he saw the First Squadron in Fifth Fleet parade pass by and give ‘EYES RIGHT’ as they passed. Admiral Greenwall and her Senior Staff led them. All hundred squadrons passed in review and the pilots in formation in front of him kept their heavy blasters at ‘present arms’ the entire time.”

Finally, the last squadron passed and Fifth Fleet formed up behind Eighth Squadron and Katy walked forward. She saluted Scott and he returned it. Katy yelled where all could hear, “ORRRRDERRR ARMS!” Eighth Squadron finally lowered the heavy blasters and Scott knew the effort it had taken to hold them at present arms that long. Scott looked at Katy and said, “Sir!”

“Yes, Lieutenant!”

“I wish to make two requests.”

“What are they?!”

“My first request is that you call me by the name I earned, Omny.”

Katy smiled, “Consider it done.”

“Second, I wish to withdraw my request for transfer from Firth Fleet. This is home.”

Katy’s eyes turned moist and she yelled, “Done!!”

Eight Squadron was the first to reach him and they were followed by the rest of Fifth Fleet. He was lifted on their shoulders and carried off into the swarming cheering thousands. Katy watched him disappear and Michael walked up, “You really go to a lot of effort to prevent losing one of your pilots. When you said you wanted to honor him before he left, I had no idea you meant this.”

Katy looked at Michael for the first time in a long time without fear, “Every one of them is important to me, Commander. I did this for what he did for us.”

Michael nodded and smiled, “Thank you, Admiral. He belongs here.”

• • •

It was a very long day and, finally around eleven that evening, Omny was allowed to sit down. He waited on his bunk and quietly got up and left the barracks. He walked out to the landing field and went to his ship, “It’s about time!”

“I’m sorry, Granny. I couldn’t break away.”

“I was talking about you getting the respect you deserve.”

Omny sighed and leaned back in his chair and heard, “Do you mind if I come in?”

Omny looked at the port and saw Shelia looking in at him. Granny said, “Come on in.”

Shelia walked in and shook her head, “I’m so sorry for violating your privacy.”

“How long have you been waiting out there?”

“I knew you would come to the ship that fought with you. I didn’t want to wait to offer an apology.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Shelia. I had already gotten dressed; I was going to tell the Admiral it was me.”

“You mean I came in half naked and didn’t need to do it!”

Omny smiled, “That was the only thing that made it worth doing.”

Shelia’s face turned red and she smiled, “You deserve the honor you received today. I’m really proud of you, Scott.”

“Shelia, call me Omny. Scott died with his family. What was left behind wasn’t worth much. It’s taken this long to find myself again.” Shelia nodded and turned to go. “Uhhh, Shelia.”

“Yes.”

“I struggled with what to do this morning.”

“You mean about transferring to another fleet or staying?”

“Yes. It finally dawned on me that seeing you in those pajamas is what made the difference. I just wanted to let you know.”

Shelia’s smile was huge as she ran across the bridge and lept into his lap. She kissed him hard and he wrapped her up in his arms. She broke the kiss and she said, “I’ve been watching you for so long hoping you would speak to me when we landed our ships.”

Omny smiled, “You no longer have to worry about that.” Shelia jumped up and headed toward the port. “Hey, where are you going?”

Shelia turned and smiled before she disappeared, “I need to get some PJs.”

Omny smiled and shook his head as he heard. “Should I be blushing?”

“You’re not capable of doing it, Granny. I think I can do it enough for both of us.”

• • •

Averel rolled over and woke Hengel up. She knew she shouldn’t be so nosey but she liked this pilot and his ship. She also liked the woman that had cared about him from a distance for so long; she had never told him. She wrapped her arms around Hengel and he said, “What?” That was the last word he was able to say for a while.

• • •

Omny sat in the conference room at Fleet Operations on Earth. This was the first time he had returned to Earth since his family was killed by the invaders. Shelia sat beside him holding his hand. He requested that she be allowed to go with him and Admiral Greenwall approved it.

“Omny, are you all right?”

“I guess. It seems like centuries ago…I lost most of the memory that year I spent in the hospital.”

“That had to be tough on you.”

Omny shrugged, “Actually, what the pilots did wasn’t anywhere near what I endured in that place. However, I don’t remember most of it. My mind was gone.”

“What brought you back?”

“One day I was sitting outside and heard a construction converter operating outside the walls. I’ve always been a builder and that sound led me out of the fog. Within a few weeks, I was normal enough to go to work.” He looked at Shelia, “But I was not the same person that went in. I’m serious when I say that Scott died with his family. This life I’m living now started after the insane asylum.”

Shelia slowly nodded and softly said, “I’m thankful you’ve let me be a part of it.”

“Shelia, I really don’t deserve you. I mean look at you! You’re so beautiful and…young.”

“Omny, beauty is highly overrated. At best it’s transient and age robs everyone of it eventually. It’s what’s inside the person that makes them worth being with. You are more than I could ever hope for, Omny.”

Omny nodded as Michael and the Leadership Team entered the conference room. Omny and Shelia came to attention and Michael said, “AS YOU WERE! We want to keep this meeting informal as possible so sit down and relax.” Omny and Shelia sat down and Michael said, “I think you already know Luke Axel, Earth’s chosen leader and Admiral Greenwall. This is Admiral Audrey Stone, my half-sister, and Admiral Joshua Stone, my half-brother. I believe you also know Laney.”

“Sir, I think we know about everyone in this room. All of Earth’s Warriors know about your team.”

Michael smiled, “Well, the three you see sitting at the end of the table are my personal escorts and bodyguards. The handsome one is Jay Martin and the two lovely ladies with him are Josey Bartolo and Jan Keller.”

Omny looked at Jan, “You’re the one the Monster was chasing?” Jan smiled and nodded.

Michael pointed to the left and said, “The two sitting next to Laney are…”

Shelia said, “The Blaine Twins.” Michael smiled and saw the twins were surprised that she knew them. “All of us owe them so much for the things they’ve developed to defend us. It’s a real pleasure to finally meet you.”

Nudge nudged Budge and he stood up, “Thank you. It’s good to hear we’re appreciated.”

Omny nodded, “Oh you’re much more than appreciated. The Legends are not the only Living Legends.”

Budge turned red and Nudge laughed, “Now that’s creative, Lieutenant.”

Michael sat down and said, “The reason we’re here is to determine what we’re going to do about this new ship the Legends are using. We’ve seen that it is faster than anything they’ve ever built and to say it’s more powerful would be an understatement. We actually only have two options. The first is to go to the galaxy where they are being manufactured and blow the living hell out of the ships as well as their facilities.” Michael paused and looked at Jan, “Why don’t you tell us what we’d run in to if we chose that option?”

“What caused that giant warship to see us and give chase was that my ship had to find the mind of that ship’s navigator and see the coordinates of the galaxy that it was headed toward.”

Omny’s eyes narrowed, “What do you mean, look at the navigator’s mind?”

Michael said, “All of our ships are telepathic. There is a module that the Silver Ships gave my father that would enable it to hear and broadcast telepathically.”

Omny and Shelia shook their heads as Michael looked at Jan and nodded. “The Monster was commanded by a being that was also telepathic and it detected Langley focusing on their crew member. The Monster sent a device into the barrier and it ignited an explosion that disrupted the barrier and my ship was thrown out of it. I immediately went to full speed in the void but that ship was just as fast.”

Omny tilted his head, “What did you find out?”

“Before that happened, about two weeks earlier, Langley, my computer, was able to determine that the Monster was headed toward the Bullet Cluster. We decided to ditch following it and went directly there. You did see that giant galaxy off in the distance, didn’t you?” Omny and Shelia nodded. “We stayed in the barrier out in intergalactic space and Langley was overwhelmed with the massive volume of thoughts he heard emanating from there. All of the thoughts were being made by Legends.”

Omny looked from Jan to Michael and he nodded, “It appears only the Legends in the Pandora Cluster live in isolation with one per galaxy.”

Jan nodded and said, “Before Langley had time to try and focus on the thoughts, we heard a thought that almost mentally deafened us. It was so powerful I heard it through my thought blocker and I’m not telepathic. It demanded to know who we were.”

Omny’s eyes narrowed, “And you were in the barrier?”

“We were. It saw us at an extreme distance from that galaxy. Langley told it that we were scientists that wanted to see what two galaxies looked like that had merged. The being actually allowed us to take a scan of the galaxy and told us to leave and not return.”

Michael looked at Averel, “Tell them what we think that being is.”

The Goran looked at them and smiled, “Let me say that I really like the two of you, especially together.” Omny and Shelia smiled. Michael shook his head. Everyone liked Averel. She was just so unpretentious and direct. She was the nosiest being he ever met but somehow she pulled it off without generating resentment. “My species is telepathic. We will occasionally all link our minds to determine important decisions that affect all of us. When we chose Michael’s father to lead us, all of us were linked to make the decision.” Averel paused and said, “This is difficult to describe to someone that is not telepathic so stop me if I lose you.” She paused and then said, “Imagine your brain and how it works. It’s made from millions of cells that are all interconnected and that structure produces thoughts. Can you see that?” Everyone nodded. “Now each individual brain cell doesn’t produce a thought on its own. You as an individual are a product of all of them working together.”

Averel looked around and said, “Now imagine millions, no, billions of telepaths that are all linked mentally together. They all hear the same thing, see the same thing, and during that linkage, the entire species takes on the aspects of a single intelligent organism. Unlike your brain, each of the telepaths do actually produce their own thoughts. However, that overall entity that is made by the linkage operates independently of all the individuals. It’s like a single living life form.”

Omny nodded, “You’re of the opinion that the one that saw Commodore Keller was that type of entity. It was created by all the Legends’ minds in that galaxy?”

Averel nodded, “Very good Commodore.”

“Uhhh, I’m not a Commodore.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Michael chuckled and said, “So if we choose option one and go after those ships in that galaxy, which rivals M-87 in size, we will be seen long before we arrive and we won’t just be facing the ones building those ships but every ship those billions of Legends possess.”

Omny looked at Shelia and she said, “Option one sounds like suicide.”

Michael looked at her, “Why do you say that?”

“At the current level of technology we’re using, we’re only able to prevail against the Legends’ Main Warships by using the barrier. It appears that is no longer an option. We’d also have to fight our way through God knows how many warships of unknown technology to find where those ships are being built.”

Audrey nodded, “It’s a lot worse than that.”

Omny looked at her, “How could it be worse?”

“Averel and her leaders are of the opinion that the being that saw Jan is capable of attacking ships and killing the crews.”

“How is that possible?”

“You’re aware the Sentinels are capable of doing it, aren’t you?” Both nodded. “This being would have similar capabilities. We’d have to fight our way through it as well.”

Omny stared at Audrey and then clapped his hands, “Well alright. Let’s hear it for option number two!” The depressing silence was immediately broken by laughter. Michael shook his head and smiled, “You catch on pretty quick.”

“Hey, it doesn’t take a genius to see that’s a nut we can’t crack…yet.”

Michael’s head tilted, “What do you mean, ‘yet’?”

“Forty years ago, we were planet bound and didn’t even have a colony outside of Earth. Now look at where we’ve come. I think with scientists like the Blaines and Ambroses, we’ll work on that issue like a giant worry stone and keep rubbing it until we find an answer to it. By-the-way, what’s option two?”

Luke said, “We come up with a way to take on those Monster Ships.”

Omny looked at him and sighed, “That’s why I’m here?”

Luke nodded, “It is.”

Chapter Twelve

Jan leaned back in her chair and watched the back and forth in the meeting and saw Josey staring at Michael. She knew that look. Josey was going after him and Josey never missed anyone she set her sights on. She looked at Omny and was impressed. He had a quick mind and a humorous way of defusing pressure situations. She always saw herself as an observer watching events around her and learning from them. That was part of the reason for her previous appearance. No one noticed her doing it. She saw that she had lost that camouflage. Pretty much everyone in the meeting would look at her often enough that she had to be careful focusing too closely on any one of them. In the past, Josey commanded that attention and she could fly under the radar. She thought about dyeing her hair again and going back undercover. She saw Omny move toward the giant monitor on the wall with an electronic pointer and she put those thoughts aside and focused on him.

Omny looked at Admiral Jekins and said, “Sir, can you bring the view of that ship in closer where the lines of disruptors can be seen.”

Michael said, “We are dispensing with military honorifics for the remainder of this meeting and feel free to use first names.”

Omny looked at him and smiled, “Sir…Uhhh… that has been almost bludgeoned in us from day one. I’ll try but forgive me if I fail.” He turned to the monitor and saw the hull of the giant black warship was filling the screen. “I noticed something about this ship’s disruptors while making a turn to move back in. I think we can all see that there are two lines of forty disruptors moving along the hull parallel to each other. There’s about three hundred yards between the two lines, which is plenty of room for a Battle Pod to fly in. I want you to also notice that at the end of the two lines, the next two lines of disruptors are slightly staggered so that they begin in the middle of the first two lines.”

“They overlap.”

Omny looked at Katy and smiled, “Yes Sir. Uhhh, yes they do.”

“Come on Omny, call me Katy.”

“Yes…Katy.” Omny turned back to the monitor and said, Admiral, Jekins…”

“Call me Jinks.”

Omny smiled, “Just like your father. Ok, Jinks, orient the view of the ship so we’re looking down a row of disruptors so that the horizon beyond the ship is in the view.” The view changed and the gathering saw the tall disruptor towers running across the hull with empty space beyond them as the ship’s hull disappeared below the horizon.

“Jinks, do you have a recording of the disruptors being fired from this angle that can be played in slow motion.” The image on the monitor changed and they saw the disruptors start firing and everyone shook their heads at the massive beams. “Just a little bit faster so that there’s about half a second between each shot.”

“What are we looking for, Omny?”

“Katy, I saw a pattern to how they were firing. Wait until the first disruptor fires and then watch what happens.” Everyone suddenly saw the first of the forty disruptors in the line fire and was immediately followed by the second, then the third, the fourth and all the way down to half way down the line before it repeated. “Now, look at the second twenty in the line and notice that when the first one is firing, the tenth one in the second twenty disruptors is firing.”

Jinks nodded, “They are programmed to fire in sequence.”

“That’s what I saw. When the twentieth disruptor fires, the first disruptor in the second twenty fires.”

Jay said, “What did you do with this information?”

“I determined that that sequence didn’t change. I had Granny, my ship’s computer.” That comment bought laughter from the group and Omny smiled. “The name sort of goes with Old Man. Anyway, she analyzed the pattern and at no time did a disruptor fire behind the others until its time in the sequence. I decided that I might be able to fly in at high speed while firing all disruptors ahead of me to break through the force field and fly in between the two lines and move down them as the disruptors fired just ahead of me.”

Josh shook his head, “One or more of those disruptors could have targeted your ship as you moved in.”

“I just didn’t see that happening. I believe each of those disruptors was already assigned a target as the sequence started. Remember, this is playing in slow motion. I only had a second to arrive and move down to the hull. When the sequence began again, I probably could have been targeted. But if I could get down between those two lines just as the sequence started, only the disruptors in front of them could target me and I was hoping my ship would be moving so fast that only one or two might hit me.”

Jinks looked at Omny and then looked at Luke, “He saw this pattern in the middle of a space battle and we haven’t seen this yet?” Jinks looked at Omni, “Would you be interested in a job in Intelligence?”

Omny smiled, “Thank you but no. I belong in a ship. Part of my background was being a building engineer. I see patterns naturally.”

Jay said, “Omny, just how did you intend to stop once you arrived? That distance at the speed you must have been traveling looks impossible.”

Omny shrugged, “Granny and I decided that the risk of stopping was less than attacking that ship from a distance. I steered the ship and Granny hit our bow thrusters with ninety percent of our reactor’s energy.”

Jay smiled, “I see it worked.”

“Wellll, not really.”

Everyone stared at him for a moment and Michael said, “What do you mean by that?”

“I did hit the disruptor tower at the end of the two lines with the tip of my left wing. But the silver coating held up and I was able to maintain control enough to stop the ship before the end of the next two lines of disruptors.”

Shelia listened to Omny and felt her heart beat faster. She knew he was brave but now she understood just how brave he was and her pride of being with him grew leaps and bounds.

Laney smiled, “What did you do then?”

“Well, I took about a minute to check and see if I messed up my uniform.” The gathering laughed out loud. “Hey, I’m not kidding!”

That only made everyone laugh harder and Omny waited until Michael managed to say, “I think we can understand.”

“Granny and I decided that we were on an enemy warship with a perfectly good Battle Pod and we decided to do some urban renewal.” There were some more chuckles and Omny continued, “We angled the bottom disruptors thirty, or was it forty…I don’t remember. But anyway, they were angled to cut into the hull of the Monster as we flew above it. We angled all the side and upper disruptors to the sides of the ship and turned off the force field and directed ninety eight percent of the reactor into them. I then started flying between the lines of disruptors cutting them down as we passed. I worked on cutting out a giant square on the hull so that the other Battle Pods could move in and attack without being fired on by so many beams. I really lost sense of how long we continued firing but I heard…Michael’s command to get out. I had to wait until the heavy actually fired before I could make a run. I was too close to the lines of disruptors that were still operational to leave before then.”

Michael stared at Omny and was amazed at the bravery and intelligence he had displayed in the heat of combat. He said, “You probably think it was the heavy that destroyed that ship.”

Omny looked at him, “It was, wasn’t it?”

Michael nodded to Jinks and said, “I want you to watch this closely.” The image on the monitor changed and it showed the heavy moving in at high speed. It fired its heavy round and just as it penetrated the hull, a giant section of the Monster’s hull went up in a massive blast. Michael said, “The round didn’t have time to penetrate into the center of the ship before that blast went off.”

Omny’s eyes narrowed and Jinks said, “You showed us something else, Omny. It appears large numbers of their disruptors share cooling conduits. It appears the beams you were firing into the Monster’s hull were cutting them as you flew above the hull. That blast came from disruptors that were still operational along with many of those you cut down. We’ve examined the blast pattern and we now know where those cooling conduits are located.”

Omny went to his chair and sat down. He was shaking his head and finally managed to say, “That’s how my ship was hit by shrapnel?” Michael and Jinks nodded. “We were lucky!”

Katy clapped, “Indeed you were. But you’ve given us information that we’d never have without your actions.”

Michael nodded and Omny shook his head, “How can this be used? I should have died on the approach. I can see so many things that could have, and probably should have, gone wrong.”

Budge smiled, “You were right earlier.”

Omny looked at him, “About what?”

“Our current level of technology being inadequate.” Omny nodded. “However, in order to use this technique, what would you need?”

Omny laughed, “That’s easy. A ship that could withstand those giant disruptors.”

Nudge said, “How would that help?”

“A pilot wouldn’t have to make an almost suicidal flight to get down to the Monster’s hull.”

Jan saw Michael smiling and she suddenly knew. Her insight was then proven when Michael said, “I want everyone to go with me out to the spaceport. We’re going to Hanger X.” Omny and Shelia stood up but the others knew that hanger was Trevor and Amanda’s personal laboratory. They stood and quickly followed Michael out of the conference room.

• • •

The large Fleet Surface Transport arrived at the hanger and the group walked up to the giant hanger door. There were ten armored warriors standing guard and they would not allow them to pass without proper identification. Jan was shocked by their unwillingness to accept that the man in front of them was Michael Stone. It was clear there were no exceptions to their security protocols. The guards stepped back and the giant hanger door began going up. It moved to head level and Jan saw two ships just inside the entrance that only remotely looked like a Battle Pod. It was larger, obviously larger. Budge said, “I know what you’re thinking and yes, it will still fit in the barrier.”

Katy looked at him, “What is it?”

“It’s not complete, yet. The disruptors aren’t installed or any of the other systems that we use on our ships. However, what you’re looking at is a ship with a six foot thick silver coated hull.”

Audrey looked at Budge with her eyes wide, “The Silver Ships’ hull is only three feet thick.”

Budge smiled, “We have given them the technology we used to build this vessel and they are modifying their vessels as we speak.”

Katy looked puzzled, “What does this extra thickness do?”

Budge looked at her, “We’re not certain about how much it can handle but we’ve simultaneously fired more than a thousand Dark Energy Beams at it without breaking through the hull.”

Omny looked at Michael, “This ship can withstand the Monster’s disruptors long enough to get down to the hull.”

Michael smiled and looked at Luke, “Am I right, or what?” Luke handed Michael a twenty credit. Michael accepted it and looked at Omny, “You attacked that warship when it was stationary. Using that technique with a moving ship would be…”

Omny said, “Impossible.”

Michael nodded, “You showed us how to kill it. This is what we’ll use to do it.” Omny smiled and pulled Shelia under his arm. He looked at Michael, “Will I be given one?”

Michael looked at Averel and she sighed out loud, “I know, I know, I need to keep my big mouth shut.”

Omny looked at the Goran and Michael said, “We are going to have to build an entirely new class of warship and we won’t have large numbers before the Legends in the Pandora Cluster start receiving their ships. We are going to build them as quickly as possible and the first commander of the initial squadron will be a Commodore until we have enough to constitute a fleet.”

Omny looked at Michael and nodded as he stared at the warship. Then Shelia elbowed him in the ribs and he looked at her. Then he remembered Averel had called him Commodore. He snapped his head around and saw Michael smiling, “I expect you to make your squadron something special Commodore.”

“BUT…”

“Who among us is better qualified to train the pilots that will be flying this ship? Your squadron will remain with Fifth Fleet until the numbers justify making it an independent fleet.”

Omny slowly shook his head and Michael said, “You do have to make two decisions immediately. Omny stared at him and Michael said, “First, you have to select your Second-in-Command and second, what squadron will be used to learn how to fly these new ships.”

Omny stared at Michael still in shock and Michael said, “These ships will require two pilots. The systems are designed so that one will have to fly and the other operate the weapon systems to prioritize targets.”

Omny shook his head and said, “You need look no further than who is under my left arm for my Second.” Michael nodded and Averel handed him some papers. He handed Omny a stack and Shelia another, “I need both of you to sign these to make the promotions official.”

Averel walked forward and handed each of them a pen, “Just sign the bottom line on the last page. Initial each page before it on the bottom right corner.”

Shelia looked at Michael, “Does this mean we will be flying together?” Michael nodded and Shelia signed quickly. She elbowed Omny again and he began signing.

Michael waited and then Omny handed him the forms and said, “I think Eighth Squadron had demonstrated their strength and determination by holding those heavy blasters at Present Arms for hours.” He looked at Katy, “If that meets with your approval, Sir.”

Katy’s smile was huge and she knew the healing was complete, “I agree with your selection. They have something to prove to their new C.O.”

Omny looked at Michael, “When do we start?”

Michael looked at Budge, who said, “You will start simulator training at the conclusion of this meeting. I’ll send someone to pick up your pods so we can move your computers into your new ship.”

Michael looked at Omny, “One more thing, Commodore; all of the new ships will be telepathic so they can link during combat. You’re going to have to work on perfecting using that system during your initial field training.” Omny smiled as the Admirals gathered around him and congratulated him.

• • •

Jay, Josey, and Jan walked over to Michael and he smiled, “Yes, we will be using the new ship and no, I’ve not decided who will be flying together. However, you will start working on the simulators after this meeting as well.”

Josey smiled, “Will you be joining us in the training?”

“No, I helped the twins design the training and I’ve already completed it. Do well!”

Michael turned and went over to Audrey. Josey looked at them and raised her eyebrows. Jay said, “The Commander is not so easy to understand.”

Josey nodded, “I thought that decision would be a no brainer.”

She looked at Jan, who shrugged. Jay smiled, “Perhaps he wants to fly with a real pilot.” Both Josey and Jan punched him on the arm. Jay faked severe pain as the three laughed and ran toward the training center. Jan sprinted ahead of them and wondered why the Commander had not told them who would be with him. They arrived at the center and Josey and Jay bent over and grabbed their knees. Jay said, “I think I’m going to barf.” He looked at Jan who wasn’t even sweating, “How do you do that?”

Jan smiled brightly, “Clean and cheerful living. You two ought to try it.”

Josey fought for breath and shook her head, “I’d slap you if I could stand up!”

Jan smiled, “I find it odd that you two overachievers are bent over just outside the door that has air conditioning inside it.”

Jay started shaking his head, “I’ll hold her; you tickle her.”

“Deal!”

“On no!”

Jan rushed in the door as Jay said, “Maybe a little later. I think we need to start running in the evenings.”

“You think?” They finally caught their breath and went inside to find Jan sitting at a terminal with a pair of headphones on as three instructors were offering her their assistance. Josey looked at Jay, “Oh, she is so going to be tickled.”

Jay nodded, “We’ll start with her feet and save the ribs for last.”

Michael listened to them telepathically without violating their private thoughts. It was pretty clear which of the three overachievers was ‘The Overachiever. He thought about it and asked Averel to send him Jan’s personnel file. He received it immediately and he thought, “You must have had it already loaded for download?”

“I knew it was just a matter of time. Enjoy!”

Michael’s head went back and he wondered what she meant. He started reading and knew what she was saying.”

• • •

Hengel sat in the barrier in interstellar space outside the Legends’ planetary system that ordered the ships to be built in another galaxy and was getting frustrated. The Legends had obviously built a communications system that blocked telepathy. He wondered how that could happen. If they were using telepathy, he should be able to hear it. He thought about the issue and then said, “Computer, use your passive scanners to see if you can detect any electronic emissions originating at the Legends’ Planet.”

“Working.”

Hengel thought about why the Goran Scouts didn’t want their computers to be as advanced as the ones used by the humans. He reflected on the issue and finally decided that the Goran didn’t want another being having access to their thoughts. Privacy was impossible with a telepathic species and sitting alone in open space without another’s thoughts was sheer bliss. However, there were some decisions that should be examined in greater detail before making them. He thought about it more and then a thought entered his mind. The pilot of that Monster Ship that came here and left had a telepath on board. He ignited the thrusters and fled away from the planet at an incredible speed that only the barrier provided. He heard the computer say, “The barrier at our former location has just been disrupted.”

“All Scouts, get out of this cluster! Flee immediately!” Hengel listened and heard the scouts questioning his order but two of them didn’t respond. Averel was going to kill him for this. Keeping tabs on the Legends just ended.

The Computer announced, “There is a frequency in the void that originates at that planet. The communications are encrypted.”

“Can you break the encryption?”

“I am not advanced enough to do that.”

“Send a copy of the transmission you intercepted to Averel and request her to see if Fleet Operations can break the encryption.”

Hengel waited and thirty minutes later Averel said, “You were lucky! What possessed you to run?”

“I don’t know. I just had a thought about that telepath that took the Monster to the Bullet Cluster and from the meeting you fed to me, I realized it was pretty adept. It had to be as good as we are. Once I saw that, I realized that my thoughts aren’t being blocked. If there was one of them, there could be more. I decided to run.”

“That transmission you sent us gave Intelligence fits but they managed to decrypt it. The transmission was directing more than a hundred ships in on your location.”

“Averel, two scouts didn’t respond.”

“It appears they planned to attack all of you simultaneously. Hengel, where did that warning thought come from?”

“If it wasn’t my own, I don’t know. I didn’t feel any outside presence. Why couldn’t it have been my own thought?”

“The timing.”

“I’m coming to Earth to pick up a Battle Pod with the Telepathy Module. I’m going to order all scouts to start wearing a thought blocker and use the ship’s computers to listen.”

“I know where there are more than five hundred Battle Pods that are available.”

“Where!?”

“I’ll contact Admiral Greenwall under Michael’s signature and order her to make them available to you and the other scouts. Bring them to Earth and Budge will install the Telepathy Modules.”

“You know I won’t be able to communicate with you if I’m wearing a thought blocker.”

“You’re not getting out of it that easy. If I need you, I’ll send a thought to your new computer.”

Hengel smiled, “You are so amazingly brilliant.”

“Not enough to anticipate the attack on you and the other scouts. One of us should have seen it coming.”

“Are you going to tell Michael?”

“No, I’m going to contact someone that can help me understand what’s going on.”

“Who is that?”

“His father.”

“Is it your thought to do that?”

Averel paused and said, “Now you’re making me paranoid. I can see what you’re saying; perhaps I’ll have an answer after I speak with him.”

• • •

“What do you mean you only killed two of them!?”

“The one that warned them away is incredibly slippery. It somehow determined he was in danger and ordered the others to flee. I’ve got that one’s pattern and I will kill it.”

“You sound pretty certain about that?”

“I can prevent it from hearing me. The same cannot be said about it. I will remove it from existence.”

“When are the ships arriving?”

“Be patient. It takes time to build a small planet.”

“I do trust the next ones will be better than the one your brother had blown out from under him.”

“The ships are being modified. The disrupter patterns have been changed and they are now able to fire at angles at any vessel stupid enough to try that maneuver again. That is why they’re being delayed. Those changes will take time to implement.”

“If you’re successful, we will give you your own galaxy to rule.”

“I look forward to it. What galaxy have you chosen?”

“It’s a large spiral galaxy a long distance from here. It’s inhabited by thousands of intelligent civilizations.”

“I’ll enjoy consuming them. The smarter the better.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Chris.”

“Averel, you will not invade my privacy, is that clear! If you can’t do that, then leave!”

Averel paused and then thought, “I’ve wondered why you isolated yourself. You’ve been hiding the existence of someone who is inserting thoughts into our minds.”

“What’s happened?”

“Hengel was nearly killed by an ambush set up by a telepathic being in the Legends’ Cluster. He had a thought and managed to barely save himself and the other scouts. Two of them didn’t make it.” Chris was silent and Averel said, “I was going to take this to Michael and I suddenly had the thought to contact you instead. Is this a mistake?”

“Averel, look in my mind at what I see and you tell me.”

“But you said…”

“Shut up and look. You know you are anyway you old busybody!”

“Hey, I’m not old.” Averel looked at Chris’s mind and after a few moments she recoiled out of it. “Chris, this is…I don’t have the word for what it is.”

“Somewhere between catastrophic and wonderful.”

“You know that if my contacting you is not my own thought, we’re being listened to.”

Chris sighed, “I know.” Allison walked up and Chris mouthed, Averel. Allison grabbed her neck.

“So Allison knows about this, too?”

“She does.”

“Chris, help me understand this. What should I do?”

“That’s just it, Averel, you can’t do anything. Think about what would happen if this got out. No one would make a move until they had a thought on what to do. They’d be frozen into immobility. Can you see that?”

• • •

Averel sighed mentally, “Yes and then who, or what, ever is doing this will have to make direct instructions.”

“Or stop communicating with us.” Averel was silent and Chris said, “Averel, that’s why I’ve avoided you like the plague. I didn’t want you to have this information and not be able to hide it. You know, at the very least, Hengel will see it. I knew you wouldn’t just take my word and not pry open the cover of this box.”

Averel sighed, “You’re right. Do you know if whoever is doing this has good intentions?”

“It appears they’ve been good so far but that’s like falling off a fifty story building and falling twenty floors; you can honestly say, ‘So far; so good’.”

“Chris, it’s strange you used a box metaphor.”

“Why?”

“Because Goran’s do have the ability to hide some thoughts from other telepaths. We mentally create a, for lack of a better term, box and place all the thoughts we don’t want known inside it. We’re extremely reluctant to do it because any telepath I communicate with would see that I was hiding something.”

“Averel, you work in the most sensitive job in the Alliance. If anyone questions you about hiding something, simply say, ‘Duh, do you know where I work? There are some things I’m given direct orders to keep secret’.”

Averel was silent and said, “Was that your thought, Chris?”

“Now you see why I had to go into exile. You’ll start to question everything you do from now on.”

“Chris, I can’t live that way.”

“Yes you can.”

“How?”

“Hengel is alive and by all rights, he should be dead, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then thank whoever saved him and assume these things don’t happen normally. I wouldn’t be given a thought about a box and you wouldn’t be directed mentally to lock that information away. If you look at all that’s happened, they just don’t do it unless it’s absolutely critical.”

“So Hengel is critical?”

“It appears he is.”

“Thanks, Chris. I’ll not reveal this to anyone. Especially anyone in a leadership position.”

“You would freeze them if you did.”

“Chris, I never told you this, but I love you. You are really special and I’ve never told either of you how wonderful the two of you are.”

“Thanks, Averel. You already know how we feel about you.”

“Would it be alright for me to contact you occasionally?”

“Now that the cat is out of the box…there’s that metaphor again. Sure.”

Averel ended the contact and immediately contacted Michael, “Have you decided who you’ll be flying with?”

“No and don’t you look to see!”

“Ooops, too late. I’ll keep the information hidden.”

“Can you do that?”

“If you give me a direct order to do it.”

“Then consider yourself ordered.”

“Talk to you later.”

• • •

“Hengel.”

“Yes, Love.”

“There wasn’t anything to it.”

“Why are you hiding something?”

“I’ve been ordered to by Michael.”

Hengel saw the last conversation Averel had with Michael and smiled, “I don’t want to know. I want it to be a surprise.”

“It will be. Hurry back with your ship. I can use some alone time with you.”

“I’ll hurry.”

Suddenly, Averel felt a warm feeling permeate her body. She smiled and looked at the list of things that needed completion. Chris was right.

• • •

“Michael.”

“Hello Audrey. What’s going on?”

“You ordered me to send some scouts back to where that ship was destroyed and they waited until the ships sent from that galaxy to investigate left the scene.”

“I don’t like your tone of voice. What did they find?”

“There was a huge portion of the ship that wasn’t totally destroyed and they went inside it and took a look around.”

“And?”

“They found numerous pressurized boxes with dead bodies in them.”

“What?”

“The scout that found them used a bio-scanner on some of them and the readings were abnormal.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“We had enough dead bodies floating around inside it to compare to those in the containers. It appears that something killed those bodies inside the containers by removing every nerve tissue in their brains. Their bodies died from not having neural impulses being able to go from the brain to their vital organs. Everything just stopped working.”

“How many containers were there?”

“Two hundred.” Michael was silent and Audrey said, “Michael?”

“Audrey, that ship wouldn’t transport dead bodies. You know how valuable space is on a warship.”

“This ship had that space built specifically for those bodies.”

“Then something consumed them during the voyage; that is the only possible answer.”

“We’ve not seen any evidence of the Legends doing this. There was no trace of a dead body in the Residence in M-87.”

“Then it has to be that telepath that commanded that ship. It wasn’t a Legend and I’ve been wondering why that ship was taken to the Pandora Cluster by a different being. It must feed on the minds of intelligent beings.”

“Why not animals as well.”

“Because if it could feed on animals, some would have been present in containers. That doesn’t rule out the ability to do it, it just means the preferred meal has to be creatures with larger brains.”

“Hengel says that the being giving orders to attack the scouts was telepathic.”

“Audrey, if what we suspect is true, it begs the question of whether or not the one eating those brains has to be in physical contact to do it.” He thought a moment and said, “Audrey, find out the ship frequencies of the two scouts that didn’t report in and have their self-destruct signals sent out.”

“What are you thinking?”

“If they were killed from a distance, they could still be in their ships with a mind that doesn’t work. The Legends will want to see our technology.”

“I’ll get on it.”

• • •

The engineers had almost managed to cut through the silver hull. It had been a monumental struggle to even dent it but soon the hole would be big enough for one of them to slip inside the ship. They made the final cut and one of them slithered inside the ship’s hull. It arrived at the bridge and saw the unmoving body of the pilot. It smiled and then heard, “Three, two, one…” It ran at full speed toward the control panel and arrived just in time to be blown into atomic ash as the massive reactor went critical.

• • •

The dark green colored being sat in a ship and felt it shudder as the massive shockwave blew past it. The twenty small ships gathered around the small silver colored ship were vaporized in the blast. It focused on the other ship and did not hear the thoughts of the ones that were attempting to force their way inside. It appeared to be calm but inside it was seething. How did they know? It closed its single large eye and focused. There was no being anywhere near the ship. It didn’t like being faced with an unknown. Its arrogance was off the scale but it was tempered with something it was not familiar with: fear.

• • •

Averel listened to Michael’s conversation with Audrey and went to the center of Fleet Operations. She went to Major Anez’s desk and thought, “Did you send the signal?”

“I did and received a confirmation that both self-destruct circuits were still operational and activated.”

“Thanks, Susan.”

“No problem.”

Averel went back to her desk and thought of a very old song sung by Jimmy Jones on Earth around 1960. What was the title…oh yeah, Good Timing. She loved music the humans used to make and especially what they called the oldies. How did it go…’But we had timing, a ticka, ticka, ticka timing, a tocka, tocka, tocka, yeah timing is the thing that’s true. Yeah timing brought me to you’. She stopped singing and wondered if that was true. Were she and Hengel…? She stopped the thought and started singing again. She took the thought about her and her mate and put it in the box. She felt the baby growing inside her and wondered what it was going to be capable of doing. She stopped singing again and saw one thing she began to understand, timing was everything. She remembered the human warships above her planet preparing to bombard the surface, when they were suddenly recalled. She took the thought and put it in the box. She realized that the things Chris saw were not the only instances of stretched coincidences. She smiled and started singing again. She didn’t know who Queen Isabella and the Moors were but the lyric was really catchy.

• • •

Chris looked at Allison, “Do you think she can pull it off?”

“Chris, I suspect they probably want her to know.”

Chris was silent and then his eyes opened wider, “Averel is pregnant.”

“WHAT?”

“I saw it in her thoughts. She and Hengel are the two strongest Goran telepaths in existence.”

“Do you honestly think they have that much control?”

Chris looked at her and smiled, “You’re here.” Allison smiled and moved to join him on his beach chair. They both felt the warm feeling but didn’t know if it came from them or…

• • •

Jan stood up and stretched. Budge came over and looked at her scores. “My, my! You’ve got a perfect score on the weapons simulation.”

“Nudge said the same thing about my piloting scores.”

Budge looked at her, “You’ve completed both programs?”

Jan saw his expression and she said, “Is something wrong?”

“No one else has completed one simulation.”

“Is that bad?”

“Your scores say it isn’t. Do you remember all of it?”

“I think I do.”

“Where is the Disruptor override slide?”

“Top right corner of the panel.”

“The barrier button?”

“Just above your right index finger on the steering wheel.”

“Force field power slide?”

“Above your left index finger on the steering wheel.”

“Full thruster switch.”

Jan smiled, “There isn’t one. Thrusters are controlled by the right foot pedal.”

“Auto pilot?”

“Orange button in the center of the steering wheel’s hub.”

“Full power to the disruptors?”

“Red button on the steering hub.”

“Have you always possessed this memory?”

Jan sighed, “I guess. It’s like your feet. You sense them if you focus on them but otherwise you just walk on them without thinking. My memory is like that. I just seem to have a knack for remembering things.”

“Come with me.” Budge walked with her across the classroom and pointed to the chair in front of the training control panel. Jan smiled and waited for him to call out a control. “Not so fast.” Budge pulled a blindfold out of his jacket pocket and put it over Jan’s eyes. “Ok…”

“Give me just a moment to get the picture in my mind.” Budge waited and after a minute Jan said, “Go.”

Budge called out the various controls and Jan instantly put her hand, finger, or foot on it. He mixed the controls up often calling two or three out together and Jan went to them unerringly. Finally Budge reached and removed the blindfold, “Jan, I have to agree that you are blessed with amazing gifts.”

“What should I do now?”

“I suggest you go out to Hanger X and watch your ship being built.” Jan’s smile was huge and she jumped and took a step. She stopped and turned around and hugged Budge’s neck and then ran out of the building. Josey and Jay watched her go and Jay yelled, “Where is she going?”

“She’s completed both programs. She’s going out to the hanger.”

Jay looked at Josey, “Our girl is a show off.”

Josey sighed and shook her head, “You know that’s not true. There’s not a shred of ego in her.”

Jay smiled, “I know.”

Josey looked back at the simulator’s screen and said, “I’ve got dib’s on her.”

“No you don’t.”

“I called it first.”

“You’ll take whoever the Commander puts you with.”

Josey leaned her head back, “I forgot about that.”

“Shut up and keep picking that cotton.” Josey laughed and started the next module.

• • •

Jan’s credentials were checked by the Guard and he handed her a badge, “I suspect you’ll be coming here regularly. Wear the badge and we’ll do a simple retina scan to confirm you from now on.”

Jan smiled and the door next to the huge vertical door opened as she looked into the eyepiece next to it. She went inside and saw more than a hundred of the new ships being worked on by hundreds of engineers and technicians. She ran over to Trevor and said, “Do you know which one has my computer.”

Trevor saw her bright eyes and barely restrained excitement and he pointed to the furthest one on the right in the front row. She ran to the ship and saw the port was open. She slowed down and looked in before she entered. There were six technicians running control wires and she yelled from the port, “Can I come aboard?”

A technician looked up from the control panel and saw her. He did a double take and he waved her in. Jan ran to the command chair and sat down. She pressed the computer button and said, “Langley?”

“Hey, Jan. I thought you were still in class?”

“I’ve completed the program. How are things looking?”

“I just received the downloads yesterday. This ship is incredibly similar but also very different.”

“You’re right. The controls are the same yet the controls on them are completely different.”

“I assume you’ve got them down.”

“I do. What’s the biggest difference you’ve seen?”

“The disruptors have the ability to be moved inside the hull.”

“What? I didn’t see that in the simulations.”

The technician looked up from the conduit he was wiring and smiled, I’m the one that suggested the change.”

Jan looked at him, “Why are we doing it that way?”

“This ship can handle an unbelievable amount of punishment but the disruptors can’t. If the pilot chooses to fly through a murderous barrage, they’ll come through it with working disruptors.”

Jan thought about the issue and after a moment she started nodding, “There’s no way to have the disruptor barrels exposed without putting them in harm’s way if the hull is being hit by the giant disruptors on the Monster.”

“Exactly right. However, I think they could handle a number of hits and be ok. The barrels have been coated by the white material so they’ll hold up far better than the old barrels. As long as the force field is operational, there’s no need to retract them.”

“What can the ship use for defense if the disruptors are retracted?”

“A new missile has been developed to be fired out of a bow and rear tube. The tubes are made entirely of the silver coating so they won’t suffer any damage if they’re hit while they’re open.”

“Do they stay open?”

“No, they fire the missile and the cover immediately closes over the tube.”

“Where is the firing mechanism for the missiles?”

“Just under your pinky finger on your right hand.”

“And what happens if your hand slips?”

The technician smiled, “Usually, nothing. You’ve got to be at full Battlestations before the button is activated. To fire the missile you have to pull the control back to the stop and then pull through it.”

Jan turned around and looked at the steering wheel. “May I try it?”

“It’s not connected yet and there certainly aren’t any missiles on board. Give it a pull.”

Jan gripped the steering wheel and moved her little finger down to the switch as she turned the wheel. Jan sighed and the technician said, “What?”

“If I’m having to make a hard left turn, getting to that control isn’t going to be easy.” Jan stood up, “Sit down and try it.”

The technician sat down and turned the wheel hard left as he reached for the missile control. He tried it several time and shook his head, “You’re right.” He looked at her, “Where would you put it?”

“Are the missiles guided?”

“They are.”

“How do you determine whether you’re firing the front or rear tube?”

The technician smiled, “By sliding the switch up or down before you pull it. That makes this even more difficult.”

The technician stood up and Jan sat down. She closed her eyes and moved the wheel left and right. She imagined an enemy ship pursuing her and she turned the wheel hard left and then right. After a moment she opened her eyes, “The index fingers on both hands are currently used for other controls. But the thumbs are free. Would it be possible for a sort of horseshoe shaped switch to come out of the steering wheel when all weapons are activated?” The thumb would be placed inside the U and the switch could be pushed up or down by the thumb. If pushed up, the front tube would be activated. To fire the missile, just grip the switch depressing it into the wheel. Push down to fire the rear tube.”

The technician sat down in the chair and put his hands on the wheel and moved his thumbs up and down. He started nodding and said, “A U shape isn’t necessary. All you need would be a raised switch with a rough surface. Push it up and press it.”

Jan thought a moment and said, “Let me see?” She sat down and turned the wheel violently left and right while moving her thumb. She thought about it and said, “What about a switch under each thumb. Right is bow, left is rear. And only have to push them up. Pulling them down isn’t easy.”

The technician raised his wrist unit, “Hold all work on the missile controls. There is a redesign of the steering wheel.”

Amanda came running on board and yelled, “What do you mean there’s a redesign!?”

Jan smiled, “Hi, Amanda. Sit down please.” Amanda sat down and continued yelling about it being too late to make changes. “Amanda, turn the steering wheel hard left and use your little finger to press the missile launch button.” Amanda continued yelling at the technician and then immediately went silent.

She tried it again and stood up, “Do you have a solution?”

“We do.”

“I am authorizing it. Get it done.”

The technician nodded, “Yes Sir.”

Over the next five days, Jan had more than fifteen changes made to the control system. The last change was the addition of a button that turned immediate control of the ship over to the computer. Trevor and Amanda had been spending their time on Jan’s ship and Trevor said, “Why do you want that?”

“What happens if a Sentinel type of creature takes out the pilot?”

“Do you think that might happen?”

“We’ve found just that kind of being. This button would allow the ship to take evasive maneuvers and possibly save the pilot.”

Trevor looked at Amanda, “Where would we put it?”

Jan said, “Put it in the Pilot’s helmet.”

Amanda nodded, “No new modification other than a software change.”

Trevor nodded, “We’ll have it done in two days.”

The technicians working on the ship came away impressed by this young woman, who knew more about the ships than even the builders. As the changes were made, the simulators were updated and the new controls had to be learned. Jay asked Budge when Jan was coming back to take the updates and he smiled, “She’s the one that’s suggested the changes.”

Jay rolled his eyes, “That’s our Jan.”

Chapter Fourteen

Hengel sat in his command chair and thought about the two scouts that were killed before they could escape. He looked at his display and continued reading the Fleet Report on the condition of their ships at the moment they self-destructed; both of them had small breaches in their hulls. He looked up when he saw they weren’t done explosively. The Legends were trying to break in and take control of the two ships. One line of the report mentioned that a life-form was on board when the ship blew up. It was fortuitous that the ship had been destroyed when it was. He thought about that and then turned back to the report.

Two scouts dead. Ummmm. Did they die at the same moment? He pressed the reader control and pulled up the report written by Audrey on the dead bodies found in the rubble of the Monster. He looked at the readings made by the body scanner and thought about how a being’s brain could have every nerve missing. He leaned forward and read the report in small detail looking for a place on the bodies that indicated there was some kind of physical contact as they died. If a being’s brain was losing all of its nerves, it would have to be struggling, wouldn’t it? But none of the bodies showed any indication of physical restraint.

He leaned back in his chair. Why weren’t any of the other scouts killed? He leaned back and pondered how only two died and how they could have been killed without any damage to their ships. The breaches had to be done after they were dead or they would have reported in. If they knew they were under attack, they would have also reported. They had to be killed quickly before they could get out a warning.

He pulled up the interview that the Alliance Leaders had with Jan and he saw that her ship had detected a telepath commanding the Monster. It became clear that the telepath did not detect it was being followed. All of her ship’s electronic systems were shut down and she communicated with her computer through direct contact with her armor and the control panel. The telepath could not detect the computer.

Jan kept her thought blocker active throughout the chase. He turned off the reports and thought about a being that could kill telepathically. That had to be how the two scouts died. Both of them were unable to get out a warning before their minds where overwhelmed. Surely the being that did it would have to be close to kill them. If it could kill over extreme distances, no one would be safe. And only two scouts died. He immediately understood how it happened. The two scouts were killed separately. That had to be now it happened. Once the scouts’ ships were left hanging in space, the telepath that did it had to attack the others to remove them from the cluster so it could break into the two Pods and steal their technology. It took finding the dead bodies in the Monster to cause suspicions that the ships might not have self-destructed and still be intact. The delay between the scouts’ deaths and their destruction wasn’t long enough for the Legends to break through the Silver Coating.

How did that creature get close enough to kill the scouts? He rejected the notion that any telepath could kill from a really long distance. If that were the case, the Legends would already be conquered by a species that could pull that off. He chuckled, along with every other species in the universe.

The ship’s computer said, “That’s pretty easy.”

Hengel looked up, “Why do you say that?”

“What was the first thing you did when you went to a galaxy to scout it?”

Hengel’s eyes narrowed and he said, “Well, I’d come out of the barrier because it’s easier to hear thoughts in normal space.”

“And then?”

Hengel’s eyes jerked wide open, “I’d shut down most of my external systems to avoid detection.”

“And your scanners would be inoperable.”

“You’re right. The Legends have the dark cloud technology and a ship could move in and never be seen.”

“The scanners would have detected it but since they were turned off, the two were sitting ducks for the species you’re describing.”

Hengel pressed his panel, “Averel.”

“Yes.”

“Look up in the communications log when the last contacts were made with the two scouts that were killed.”

“Hold on.” Hengel waited and saw how the computer was absolutely right. Gorans used their telepathy first and technology second. His species had a sense of indestructability when dealing with other species. They could hear their thoughts and react before they could be put in danger. With that revelation, he realized that the ship used to kill the scouts had to only have one being on board…that telepath. “Hengel, Keral’s last communication took place a week before the attack on the other scouts. Yebbel’s last communication was two days prior to the attack.”

“Thank you, Love.”

“Hengel, please tell me you are not going to do what I see in your thoughts!”

“Hold on.” Hengel activated his armor and the thought blocker immediately activated. He left it on for a few moments and then turned the armor off, “HENGEL! TALK TO ME! HENGEL…”

“Relax Averel. I just turned on my armor. If you can’t hear me, I’m reasonably certain that telepath couldn’t as well.”

“I’M GOING TO KNOCK YOU INTO NEXT WEEK!!”

“Averel, this being, if what I suspect is true, is a real danger to all of us. What’s to prevent it from coming into our galaxies and start killing? You have to also ask yourself, how did it know all the locations of the other scouts? How did the Legends know where to attack?”

Averel mentally sighed, “It had to get the information from the two scouts.”

“What if this being gets close to Michael?”

“Don’t even think that!”

“Contact Fleet Intelligence. I need to speak with them.”

Averel saw what Hengel was thinking and sighed, “I’ve sent Jinks’ direct com code to your panel.”

“Thanks, Love. I’ll be in after I have a discussion with the High Leader.”

• • •

Hengel arrived and thought, “I’m here. I’ll report in hourly to let you know how it’s going.”

“Please be careful.”

“You know I will.”

“We still don’t know how we lost two scouts. I’m worried.”

“Don’t be. I’ll run at the first sign of trouble.”

• • •

“He’s back!” The small vessel lifted off the planet and aligned with the direction the thought had originated. It notified his fleet to lift and wait for his order to advance. An hour later it heard, “Nothing new. Situation normal.” It hit the thrusters and began moving through the void at a slow pace toward the general direction the thought had originated. It continued to move slowly forward and waited until it heard another thought; it made minor corrections to its course and speed. Soon it was hearing the inner thoughts of its chosen prey. It made the final correction and headed toward the being’s location. It owed this one for foiling its earlier attack.

It waited in the void surrounded by a dark matter cloud and listened for the next report. There was no need to rush, it had all the time it needed. It finally heard, “Nothing new.” In an instant it was directly under the target’s ship in the void and it prepared its assault. It shut down the star drive and emerged in normal space directly in front of the small Battle Pod, where it sent a devastating mental attack at the mind of the being less than a mile in front of it.

• • •

Hengel waited at Eden until the device was delivered by Nudge. He was impressed that it looked remarkably like a Battle Pod, “Now this is more than I expected.”

Nudge smiled on his display, “We used a BP’s hull to contain it. We figured it had to look similar to the real thing to avoid its being seen for what it is.”

“You did install a self-destruct?”

“Certainly, the telepathy module is too important to allow it to fall into the wrong hands, tentacles, pods, or whatever.”

“How do I get it to the location?”

“Tow it in the barrier and release it where you want it. Once it moves out of your drive field, it will enter normal space and start broadcasting.”

“Thanks Nudge and thank Budge for me as well. The hardest part of this entire process was sitting in a room for twenty four hours and having my thoughts recorded without thinking about what I was planning.”

“Do you think it will find you that quickly?”

“If it doesn’t, the recording will loop and continue without the initial two minutes. I suspect whoever that being is, it knows my thought pattern and will home in on it.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Then we’re wrong about how the scouts died and have to start at ground zero looking for another answer. I’m skipping out as soon as the cable is attached. Hopefully, I can tell you if it worked.”

“I don’t like that word hopefully. Just don’t get too close.”

“I will be at my maximum effective range. It that’s still too close, that is something we need to know.”

“I’ll see you when you come back.”

Hengel smiled, “You got it.” Hengel felt the small tug on his ship and extended the barrier drive. He skipped away pulling the device behind his vessel. He didn’t tell Nudge but he was going to make sure he was found. He was moving into interstellar space just outside the Elder Legends’ planet. If it didn’t find him there…it wasn’t the danger he suspected.

• • •

The Telepath discovered four things instantly; the inner thoughts of the being it was attacking didn’t change, the next moment an invisible beam shot out and sliced off the rear third of his ship, the ship in front of him extended a powerful thought blocker field around his ship, and he heard, “I’ve been expecting you.” The Telepath continued to send his mental assault until it heard, “You’re wasting energy doing that. I suggest you save it to say your final remarks to whatever deity you worship.”

“I WORSHIP NOTHING!!”

“Somehow, I don’t find that surprising.”

It searched around its ship but saw nothing but the ship in front of it. It had carefully emerged well within the lethal range of its mind but it still heard the inner thoughts of the being in the ship in front of it. Suddenly, they stopped. “Let me turn that off so you won’t be distracted.” The Telepath felt its fear go to a level that threatened to overwhelm it. “Hey, hey, I need you to be rational. Take a deep breath or whatever you do to maintain calm!”

The Telepath’s emotions went from fear to rage in an instant, “I WILL EAT YOUR MIND!”

“If you could do it, you would have already done it. So stop the silly posturing and pay attention.”

“How did you do this?”

“I really should let you die wondering but I’m a giving sort of person. The thoughts you heard were mechanically generated and I don’t think your mental assault will affect electric wires. I’m communicating with you now through my Computer and have my thoughts blocked. I didn’t want to kill you before I told you that the two scouts you killed were good beings and they deserve having you killed after you know the reason. This is being done for your actions.”

• • •

“Hengel, it’s activating a probe to launch.”

“Can you hit it before it moves out of the blocker field?” Hengel saw the thrusters of the probe as it left the damaged vessel and there was a blast less than a mile from the ship’s hull. “Now that wasn’t nice. If I detect you attempting to launch another probe, I will end our conversation.”

“Hengel, it’s activating ten probes.”

Hengel shook his head and pressed the trigger on the forward disruptor. The damaged ship blew up in a massive blast. “Damn. I thought it was enjoying my brilliant conversation.”

“Ships are moving away from the planet.” Hengel hooked up to the decoy, moved into the barrier, and skipped away. “Hengel, I heard that nasty being’s thoughts.”

“I was hoping to give you more time to collect them. Did you see anything of interest?”

“The Legends have promised the Spiral Galaxy of the Humans to that being if it helps them overcome their attackers.”

“That isn’t nice.”

“There’s more. That being has communicated to its leaders that a highly telepathic species is there. It apparently thinks that your species comes from that galaxy instead of the one you inhabit. Its species lives to consume highly telepathic species. It also consumes other species but the number one item on their menu is a telepath.”

“Did you get an idea of how extensive that species is?”

“Only a flicker when it knew it was going to die.”

“And?”

“They’re more extensive than the Legends. They are also using the Legends to expand their domain.”

“Why don’t they go after the Legends; they’re telepathic.”

“It appears that evil detests the taste of evil. One of them killed a Legend early on and according to that being’s thoughts, it took years to get the taste out of their minds.”

“Ummmm, they should have tried it on a cracker. This is not good news, Shanghai.”

“Why do you call me that?”

“You were built on Earth. It’s appropriate for you to have a name from there. Besides, I like the sound of that city. It sounds remarkably like our term for Hope.”

“Thank you, Hengel. Are you coming around to believing a computer can help you?”

“This wouldn’t have been possible without you. Are there any more of them in that cluster?”

“No, but more are coming soon.”

“I suspect the next ones will be somewhat more cautious as a result of this.”

“I have no doubt about that. That being was already nervous that something was amiss when the scout’s ships self-destructed. But it didn’t have anything to base its fears on so it put them aside. It really wanted to punish you for foiling its attack.”

“It knew it was me here?”

“It did.”

“That is not good news either. It must be able to see individual thought patterns.”

“According to the decoy’s computer, the attack it sent was precisely tuned to your pattern.”

“That’s how it got into the scout’s minds. They didn’t detect a foreign presence and continued to operate normally. It must have listened to them for a while before killing them.”

“I didn’t hear anything about that. However, it does make sense. By the way, you’ve been off the air for an hour and twenty minutes.”

“OH MY ACHING BACK! Hengel removed his armor and thought, “I’m on the way home, Averel!” Hengel winced and grabbed his head as Averel screamed at him. “LOVE, LOVE, I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF AN ASSAULT!” Averel grew silent and Hengel said, “I killed it. I’ve also collected some valuable information I need you to get to Michael.”

There was a long moment of silence and Averel sighed, “Send me what you have.”

I’m sorry about keeping you waiting. I’m shocked that you aren’t still angry.”

“I’m mated to a warrior and I need to understand that. My constant insistence that you check in could get you killed. Send me what you have.”

“Shanghai, send it.” Hengel leaned back in his chair and wondered at the brilliant mate he had in his life. He was just so lucky.

“Thank you, Hengel.” Hengel shook his head and remembered the thought blocker was off. This in and out of his armor was going to take some getting used to. But Shanghai was right, he needed the computer’s help and assistance against this new species.

“Thank you, Hengel.” Hengel laughed, “You’re welcome, Shanghai.”

• • •

“Hengel, I’ve just detected something in the barrier near that cluster the Legends are in.”

“Go to full speed and drop the decoy off in Earth orbit.” The Battle Pod came out of the barrier and the cable to the decoy was released, “Nudge, it worked like a charm. I’m leaving it in orbit and I’ll give you the details later. Something has happened in the barrier in the Legends’ Cluster.”

“You’re right. We’ve lost every barrier probe we have there.”

Hengel ended the call, “Turn around and take us back! Averel, Shanghai has detected something happening in the barrier in the Pandora Cluster. I’m turning around to go check it out.”

“Please…let me know what’s going on. I have the information and I’m assuming Shanghai is the name of your computer.”

“It is. I’ll check in shortly.” Hengel took the ship in the barrier and skipped across the universe toward the Pandora Cluster. He arrived far outside the cluster and his Battle Pod was thrown out of the barrier. “What’s going on Shanghai?”

“It appears the Legends have exploded a massive device in the barrier disrupting it inside their cluster.”

Hengel saw the galaxies in the Pandora Cluster were little more than small specks of light. Being able to sneak in undetected had now been taken away. Killing that telepath appeared to have some consequences. The telepath had probably asked the Legends not to disrupt the barrier so it could hunt intruders. Now that it was dead, the Legends decided to remove the barrier. He wondered if going after it was worth the price.

He could have just kept his thoughts blocked and used Shanghai to listen for it. But the scouts deserved their vengeance. He shook his head and turned around. He moved away from Pandora until the barrier was clear and he skipped back to Earth. The advantage had shifted back to the Legends. Now the Alliance had lost the means of traveling at super-light speed in that cluster and the Legends’ new warships were just as fast as the Battle Pods.

Now battles would be fought like the old sailing vessels on Earth. Move close and fire massive broadsides and the Legends had the Monster that could deliver far more than anything the Alliance possessed. Hengel sat straight up in his chair. If they could disrupt the barrier in their cluster…He arrived at Earth and heard the emergency frequency activate, “All ships, all ships, the barrier has been disrupted. I repeat, the barrier has been disrupted. All movement will be done in the void.” Hengel shook his head. The Legends would be coming as soon as they had their new ships.

Chapter Fifteen

The giant conference room was full. The meeting was being held on the Welken Royal Planet because the Royal had the largest facility available in the Alliance. On this one occasion, the Royal had taken his seat with the rest of the Leaders of the Alliance at the head of the giant table and notified Luke that he would lead the meeting. Luke immediately transferred it to Michael. Michael protested but Luke told him, “What am I going to say about what’s happened? This meeting is to determine what our military is going to do to respond to this new threat. That’s your domain.” Michael stared at him and then nodded.

Every officer above the rank of Commodore was seated in rows by planet on the left side of the giant room. The lead scientists and engineers were seated to the right. Along the wall behind the huge front table were specially invited guests. Jay, Josey, and Jan sat against the wall and felt very small. Jay stared at the row after row of flag officers and shook his head, “I didn’t know there was this much brass in the universe.”

Josey snickered, “I didn’t either. I knew we had a massive number of fleets but seeing that many Admirals really brings it home.” Josey looked at Jan, “You’re being quiet.”

“I wish there were more of them.” Josey and Jay looked at each other and Jay nodded. Trust Jan to see the bigger picture. They still didn’t come close to the numbers they were going to have to face.

Michael walked in followed by Lukas and Salud. The entire room stood and began applauding them. Lukas nodded and Salud smiled at everyone. This was the first time many in the room had seen the former leader of Earth. His reputation was known throughout the four galaxies and the Leaders from the former Fellowship felt better with his being present. Luke was good but he was not his father.

The two had aged but still possessed a youthful exuberance. Michael sat down and Lukas remained standing as the applause continued. He raised his arms and motioned everyone to their seats but they continued to cheer. He shook his head, looked at Salud and waited. Finally, everyone sat down and he said, “Thank you. That is more than I deserve.” Some started clapping again and he quickly said, “Ok, maybe not.” The attendee’s laughed and Lukas said, “I think we all know why we’re here. We need to discuss how we’re going to respond to these new developments. Michael has asked me to handle this part of the meeting and I’m going to turn the floor over to each Leader to tell us what they think about these dangers facing us. We’ll start with the newest member to our Alliance and after the Audon Leader speaks, the Goran will follow.” Lukas sat down and the Audon Leader stood up.

“It took twenty hours to arrive here for this meeting where it only took a few seconds two weeks ago. Our advantage in speed has been removed as well as our ability to hide in the barrier from the Legends’ forces. Now it is going to take fifty days to arrive at the Legends’ Cluster with our fastest Warship; we are going to have to deal with a universe that just got a lot larger.”

Budge pressed the panel in front of him and Lukas said, “I have an attendee who asks to clarify something you said, High Leader.” The Audon looked at Lukas and nodded. Lukas pressed the glowing button on is panel and Budge saw his panel’s light turn green. He stood up and said, “It won’t take us fifty days to arrive. Meaning no disrespect, High Leader, but only the barrier inside our cluster has been disrupted. We can move outside the cluster in less than two days and then use the undisturbed barrier in intergalactic space to skip to the Legends’ cluster. Of course, travel inside the Legends’ cluster will be slowed to our top speed in the void but they will not be able to move any faster than our ships.”

Budge sat down and Josey stared at him. It took some real moxie to stand up and correct one of the Alliance Leaders. She stared at him as he leaned over and spoke to Nudge. Those two were something different than most of humanity. The Audon started speaking and she looked away.

“I stand corrected and I understand the need to keep all of our facts straight. But the fact is we’ve been slowed down by the barrier disruption. I think the ability to hide in the barrier will be missed more than the speed it offered.”

The Audon finally took his seat and the Goran High Leader stood, “I will not repeat anything my esteemed friend and ally has said. I can see everything he’s said is on the side monitor and I’m going to assume everything we discuss will be recorded and a copy sent to all of us.” Lukas smiled and nodded. “My concern is about that predatory telepath that managed to kill two of my scout warriors. My thanks and respect are offered to our greatest scout warrior.” The Goran Leader turned and looked at Hengel and Averel sitting in the row behind the front table. Hengel lowered his head and the Leader continued. “He uncovered that the telepath is a member of a species that is more extensive than the Legends. They are currently under the mistaken idea that my species is located in this galaxy. The Legends have promised this galaxy to them if they’re successful in defeating our forces and I suspect after M-87, this galaxy will be next. This creature is a form of what human legend says is a vampire. It feeds on the minds of their prey and learns all the prey has in its mind. It’s not going to take them long to find out that my species is not here. That means both our galaxies will be attacked. We need to decide how we’re going to confront this new menace.”

The Goran Leader sat down and the Myot Ruler stood, “My fear is that those new Legend Warships are going to be too much to handle. Thank you.”

He sat down and the room burst out laughing. Lukas laughed and after a moment said, “Very well succinctly said, Your Supremacy.”

The Johan stood and said, “I don’t have anything to add to what’s been said. My concern revolves around what we’re going to do about them.”

He sat down and the Welken Royal looked around the room and then turned to Lukas, “The Goran Leader said that he believes M-87 will be the first target. Is this the consensus of our military leaders?” Lukas nodded. “Why, if they know our galaxy is responsible for the deaths of the Legends in M-87.”

Lukas looked at Michael. He looked at the Welken, “It’s our belief that they don’t know our galaxy is responsible.” There was an intake of air by everyone present and Michael said, “Please remember that the only ships present at the Legend Planet when it was destroyed were the Silver Ships. The Legends on the planet had never seen them before that moment and we believe they thought those ships belonged to the Sentinels that came there at the end. My father kept our ships away from that attack and I’m pretty certain the Legends in Pandora have no records of the Silver Ships.”

The Welken Royal looked down the table and saw the other leaders digesting the information. He looked out at his Fleet Leader and saw Kyel shrug and then nod. “So them coming here after M-87 would be to consume the Goran?”

Michael nodded, “That’s how we see it.”

The Royal leaned back in his chair and stared at Michael, “So what do we do about it?”

Michael looked at Lukas, who said, “It’s your show now.”

Michael sat down and said, “Computer, summarize all statements.” The wall monitor with everything that had been discussed suddenly changed and a short list appeared. Michael read, “The Mental Vampires, matching up with the new warships, coming up with a way to fly faster; have I left anything out?”

The Welken smiled, “I think that would be more than I expect if you have a way to get around just those three.”

Michael nodded, “I’ll start with the first.” He looked at the rows of fleet officers and said, “Starting immediately, no one in the Alliance Forces will be onboard their ships without wearing a thought blocker and that holds doubly for the Goran. We have developed a new band that can be worn without having to activate their armor but make sure that anyone who violates this order will be subject to execution. It is imperative that those telepaths do not learn our technology, our plans, or anything about the location of our species.” Michael looked at the flag officers and said, “Is that understood?”

The entire group yelled, “YES SIR!”

Michael turned to the Leaders and scientists, “Hengel has developed a method of setting an ambush for those telepaths and he is going to train ten thousand scouts on how to use it. How this is done will be included in the handout you receive after the meeting is over. The decoys will be built at the Goran Capital Planet and the scouts will leave as soon as enough are ready.”

Michael looked at the Welken Royal, “I sent a message out to our Leaders a while back letting you know that we’ve found a way to increase the thickness of the silver coating on our ships.”

The Royal nodded, “I remember reading it. How much thicker can you make it now?”

Michael turned around and looked at Nudge and Budge, “The Blaine Twins discovered the process and the Alliance owes them more than we can ever repay for all of their inventions.” The Twins smiled and both had red faces. Michael turned back to the Royal, “The newest warship we’ve developed has a silver hull six feet thick.” Silence slammed down on the room and even the Royal was stunned by the remark. Michael smiled, “We’ve added three heavy round tubes on the bottom of the new ships that should be able to penetrate the Monster Warship’s hull and blow the living hell out of it. This new round is stable and can be used during a space battle. We’re uncertain about how long these new ships can withstand a full volley of the giant disruptors but we believe it will be long enough to get close enough to take a shot at them.”

The Goran thought, “How many of these new ships do we have?”

“That’s the fly in this ointment. It takes time to build the electronic systems that can be extended through the hull. The conduits for them are already in place before the coating is applied but you can imagine the difficulty at making that happen. The first ships will come on line starting tomorrow and I along with my personal bodyguards will take ownership of the first two. We’ve been training more than five hundred pilots on how to fly them and they will also start flight training the same day.”

The Myot shook his head, “Only five hundred ships?”

Michael tilted his head, “It takes two to fly these ships. The first squadron will start with two hundred and eight ships.” The room was silent and then Michael said, “As with most things, getting something started is the most difficult thing to accomplish. All of the mistakes in this ship’s development have been ironed out and, whereas it’s taken us six months to build two hundred and sixty of these ships, we expect to start producing about a thousand a week from this point forward.” A cheer erupted from the room but Michael saw the Welken’s expression. He held up his hands and the room grew silent. “I know you are aware that we are going to have to face millions of the smaller Monster Battleships and tens of thousands of the larger model. I understand your concern.” The Royal nodded. “You have to factor in that there are more than a billion Silver Ships and they are also going through the process of growing their hulls. It doesn’t take them more than a day to complete that process.” The Welken’s expression changed to a smile. He had forgotten about their ally because they were not in the room.

The Audon said, “You’ve answered the first two, what about the third?”

“You’re talking about our loss of speed?”

“Yes.” Michael leaned back in his chair and put his hand on his chin. He was silent for a long moment and the Audon Leader said, “You’ve not come up with a way around that obstacle?”

Lukas, Luke, Salud, and Jinks all looked at Michael shaking their heads. The Welken Royal saw them and said, “Why are they trying to prevent you from saying something?”

Michael looked at him and sighed, “They’re afraid if I do that everyone in this room, with one exception, will think I’m either crazy of insane.” The Alliance Leaders stared at Michael and he said, “It’s better I remain silent.”

“I don’t think so. The thing about you humans that has given me comfort in our dealings is that you have always been open and honest with us. Now is not the time to start hiding things.”

Talel stood up among the Admirals and said, “Does this have something to do with what we discussed?” Michael nodded. Talel shook his head, “There’s no way anyone here will understand what you’ve come up with.”

The Welken looked at Talel, “Who are you to make that decision?”

The Goran Leader looked down the table at the Welken, “Talel is the most brilliant military leader in our species. If he could not understand it, I suspect I wouldn’t as well. Are you challenging his intelligence?”

The Welken stared at the Goran and looked at Lukas, “Do you understand it?”

Lukas shook his head, “Not even close.” The Welken looked at Salud who had been a professor at MIT studying high-energy fields. She saw him look at her and shook her head. The Welken turned back to the Goran, “Please accept my apology. It’s obvious I didn’t have all the facts.” The Goran nodded. The Welken turned back to Michael and said, “However that does not remove my objection to things being hidden. Even if we don’t understand, I want to hear it. Nothing you can say will shock me!”

Jan knew what was coming. She remembered Michael’s expression and she shook her head. Michael looked out at the gathering and said in a matter of fact tone, “Space does not exist.”

The room was shocked silent and then erupted as many shouted disagreements. Michael stared at the Welken Royal and saw him shake his head and lean back. He started laughing and soon everyone stopped yelling and stared at him. He laughed harder and soon many joined in. Michael tilted his head and shrugged. The Royal laughed even harder but the humans at the table didn’t join in. They knew what was coming and they braced for the blowback.

Michael sat in his chair in silence even after the room grew silent. The Royal stared at Michael for a long time and finally said, “The next time I say you can’t say anything that would shock me, you have my permission to hit me with a metal pole.” Michael nodded. The Welken waited and the silence grew uncomfortable. Finally, the Johan Royal said, “For the love of space, are you going to tell us what you mean?”

Michael sighed, “I’ve tried to discuss this with the other humans at this table and they are all convinced I’m out of my mind.”

The Johan said, “Are you?”

Michael smiled, “No. But it’s similar to describing any color other than black to someone that’s blind.”

The Johan smiled, “They just can’t see it.”

“That pretty much describes it.”

Averel stared at Michael and wondered where his thoughts had come from. She saw the box still closed in her mind and thought where everyone could hear, “You face what one of your revered scientists once faced.” Michael looked at her. “Einstein was ridiculed when he developed his theory of relativity. You don’t sound so different now.”

Michael smiled at her and nodded. The Welken Royal said, “Let’s do this. Just tell us what you think and we’ll stop you when we’re completely over our heads or lost.”

Michael looked at Lukas and he shrugged. He really wished his father was present but he decided to give it another try. He looked out at the room and started. “I think when I’ve tried to convey what I’m seeing to others, I jumped into the nuts and bolts without setting up what makes me believe what I’m seeing.” Michael lifted a small microphone, “Computer please put the module on the layers of space on the main monitor.” The main monitor suddenly showed an image of what looked like a multi-layered golf ball. There was a huge black inner core with a small pink layer around it. Above the pink layer was another layer with multiple colors.

Michael looked at the image and said, “This image is what we use to teach our new pilots about the various places they can fly their ships.” Michael looked out at the assembly, “Does everyone recognize this image?” Most nodded but many said, “Yes.”

Michael smiled and said, “I want you to look at this image and tell me which of those spaces came first.” The room was silent as they thought about what Michael asked.

After ten minutes, Salud said where everyone could hear, “OH MY GOD!” Michael looked at her. She was shaking her head and looked at him, “You have to be right!”

Lukas’ eyes were narrow as she looked at him, “What’s the order? Which came first, then second, and finally third?” Lukas looked back up at the image and Salud said, “And how do they differ?” Lukas’s eyes went wide and Salud smiled, “You got it?”

“I do.”

The Welken Royal commanded, “Will one of you tell me what’s going on?!”

Michael used an electronic pointer and moved it to the black inner layer, “Do any of you think the other two spaces existed before the void?”

A Goran Fleet Commander thought, “Why do you think the void was first?”

Michael did a quick shrug, “Possibly because the other two are above it.” The Goran nodded sheepishly. Michael waited and no one else responded to his question. “If the void came first, what came second?”

The Royal said, “It must be the barrier to separate normal space from the void.”

Michael nodded, “Now what do we know about the void and the barrier. How are they alike and how are they different?”

The Audon said, “You can move faster than light in both of them.”

Michael nodded, “And the main difference is?”

“You can move much faster in the barrier than you can in the void.”

Michael looked out at the room and said slowly and deliberately, “So in the first space, you can travel faster than the speed of light. In the second space you can travel much faster than you can in the void.” He paused and said, “If that pattern holds true…what would that mean for normal space?” Michael expected the largest resistance to the concept to come from the Leaders and military but he immediately heard an uproar come from the scientists. “This is Hog wash!” “Impossible.” “You are out of your mind!” “You can’t travel faster than light in normal space!” He waited and looked at the Welken Royal. He stared at Michael and it was clear he understood what Michael was saying. Michael smiled and listened to the shouting scientists.

Lukas sounded a tone and the room slowly grew silent. He looked at Michael and said, “You have a reason to believe this?” Michael nodded. “Share your reasoning with us.”

Michael smiled, “I’m going to ask someone else to do that.” Lukas’s head went back and Michael turned around, “Jan, please step forward and tell us what you know about this.” Jan looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She started shaking her head and Michael said, “Relax, I know you’ve read a lot of information on things that relate to this discussion. You don’t have to say if you believe them or not. Just share what you’ve read.”

Michael stood up and took the microphone out of its holder and took it to her. He held it out to her and she closed her eyes and blew out a slow breath. She opened her eyes and Michael lowered his eyes. She shook her head and took the microphone. She walked out in front of the huge table and shook her head again. Michael looked around the room and leaned over Salud’s shoulder and said into her microphone, “Hold your comments until she finishes and I’ll entertain any questions.” Michael went to his chair and nodded to Jan. Josey and Jay looked at each other and grew angry. If any one said anything disparaging to Jan…

Jan bit her upper lip slightly and then turned to the scientists, “One of you yelled that it’s impossible for anything to move faster than the speed of light in normal space. You know that’s not true and I’m surprised you said it.” The scientist that shouted the remark had to force herself to be silent. Jan looked around the room and said, “There have been experiments that have been done in the early twentieth century on my home world that showed things can happen in normal space faster than the speed of light. It has been proven that if an energy wave is divided into two identical waves that then move away from each other at the speed of light, if something happens to one of them that changes it, the other wave instantly undergoes the same change even if they’re separated by light years. The same thing happens with objects made of matter. If a piece of matter is split into two identical pieces, if one of them undergoes a change, its twin will instantly change to match it.” The scientist that shouted moved back in their chair and tried to look small.

The Myot Ruler shouted, “That’s a bunch of rubbish!”

A Myot Scientist sitting in the second row stood up, “Great Leader, what she’s saying is true. It has been proven that it happens.”

The Myot Ruler looked at his scientist and was thankful he had interrupted to prevent him from being embarrassed further. Michael leaned over and said into Lukas’s microphone, “Please hold your comments.” He looked at Jan, “Please continue.”

Jan looked out at the assembly and said, “I thought that this was an absurd idea and that the ones conducting the experiments had to have made a mistake. But the more I read about their findings, I realized I couldn’t argue with the results. So, I looked for information on how the effect was explained. There were two schools of thought and one postulated that somehow, the objects were never really separated but were somehow still in contact with each other. Einstein’s Theory of Relativity did not match up with this position; after all, he originally postulated that nothing can happen faster than the speed of light. He took the position that the original energy wave or piece of matter had a predetermined shape that it would take and both twins took that shape at the appropriate moment.” She waited and watched the assembly digest that bit of information. “In other words, everything in the universe has a predetermined outcome.”

The Audon was waving his arm and moving up and down in his chair. Jan saw him and looked at Michael, “I think he should be allowed to speak.”

Michael leaned over and said, “Go ahead.”

“Are you trying to tell me that everything is predetermined?”

“That’s how Einstein explained this.”

“Yes, but are you saying that free will doesn’t exist?”

“If you can prove it does, Einstein’s explanation falls apart.”

“But…OK, let’s say I have a multi-surfaced ball with many behaviors on it. I roll it and it comes up ‘lay on the floor’.”

“Einstein would say it was predetermined that it would come up that way.”

“And if I ignore the first roll, roll it again and it says jump up twice.”

“Einstein would say it was predetermined you would roll it twice.”

“That’s absolutely asinine!”

Michael watched Jan interacting with the Audon and was amazed that the Leader was not at all angered by her. She seemed to disarm him with her smile and gentle delivery.

Jan looked at the scientists sitting in front of her and said, “It really isn’t. Many here today believe exactly that and they possess more information than many of us here.” Many of the scientists nodded.

The Audon snorted, “That’s a circular argument. No matter what happens, you can always say it was predetermined.”

Jan shrugged, “If you can prove free will, the argument falls apart. But so far, no one has come up with an experiment to prove free will.”

Michael smiled and said, “Thank you, Commodore.” Jan nodded, walked around the table, and handed Michael the microphone. He watched her go back to her seat and heard Josey say, “Jan, you make my head hurt!”

Jay kept his eyes on Michael and heard Josey. He saw something in Michael’s eyes as Michael looked at him. Jay closed his eyes and nodded slightly. He opened them and saw Michael smiling. He knew he had a new brother. Michael turned around as Jan said, “If you would just read the material, you’d get it.”

“Forget it; you’re the reader.” Jay winced and knew Michael was listening. Oh well.

The Welken looked at Michael with his head cocked to the side, “What does all this mean, First Commander?”

Michael smiled. The Welken was with him. “I intend to conduct an experiment that will prove we have free will.”

Everyone in the room, and especially the scientists, were surprised by the comment.

“And exactly how do you intend to do that?”

“We’re going to prove that it’s possible to move in normal space faster than in the barrier.”

“Now that I would like to see.”

Michael turned around and looked at Jan, “Which school do you belong to?”

Jan turned from Josey and said, “I don’t believe everything is predestined. I believe those waves and objects are still in some kind of contact.”

“With your permission, I’d like to do something.”

“What is that?”

Michael looked at the Goran High Leader, “I want you to take her thoughts on this subject and share them with all of the scientists in the room. Especially Amanda, Trevor, Budge and Nudge.”

Amanda said, “Hey, I agree with Einstein.”

“Then you won’t mind seeing a different point of view.” Michael looked at Jan and saw her uneasiness. Michael smiled, “Come on, Jan. Averel has invaded your privacy more times than you can count and she’s never revealed what she sees. The High Leader will only share information that relates to the topic you just discussed.”

“Are you certain about that?”

The Goran Leader stood up, “You may be assured that is all that will be shared.”

Jan sighed and tilted her head, “Let’s get this over with.” The Goran stood up and stared at Jan. Every scientist and engineer in the huge room closed their eyes as the information was linked to their minds.

It took longer than Michael expected and at the end the Goran said, “There was a great deal she didn’t mention.”

Jan shrugged, “I didn’t want to sound crazy.”

Michael looked at Nudge and Budge and saw their eyes were looking off in the distance. Many of the scientists had that expression and Amanda said, “OH MY HARD HEAD!”

Trevor smiled, “Looks like old Einstein took the simple route.” Amanda nodded and Michael said, “I’m going to adjourn this meeting for now. The Leaders of the Alliance Members please plan to meet with me tomorrow morning.”

The meeting ended and the attendees rushed up to the front table. Michael listened to those around him but kept his eyes on Jay. Josey started to walk past him and he grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear. Her eyebrows came together and Jay whispered in her ear again. Her eyes widened and she turned and looked at Michael who was staring at her. Josey saw his expression and after a moment, nodded. Michael softly smiled at her and she returned it. She started walking away and Jay took her arm again, “Are you all right?”

“I am. I think I realized when he started discussing relativity that I was out of my league. However, there is one person that I’ve given a lot of thought to and it’s time I did something about it.” Jay’s head went back as she walked down the row on the back wall and stopped in front of Budge, “I have a question I need your help answering.”

Budge smiled, “What is that, Josey?”

“What does it take for a girl to get a man’s attention?”

Budge’s head went back, “Are you talking about yourself?”

“Who else?”

“Well that’s easy; just walk in the room.”

“Then why have you ignored me?” Budge’s mouth fell open and Josey said, “Come on, we’ll discuss it over dinner.” Budge closed his mouth and rushed to catch up with her. She took his hand as they left the room.

Nudge walked up next to Jay, put his arm on his shoulder, and watched them leave. “Now that’s something I didn’t expect.” Jay nodded. “Do you think he’s up to the task?”

Jay started laughing, “Probably not but we won’t tell him.” Nudge laughed and they shook hands.

Michael listened to the exchange and smiled. He looked at Jan, who was surrounded by scientists. She glanced his way and saw him staring at her. She saw something in his eyes and, after a moment, she smiled. She didn’t need telepathy to see what Michael was feeling. She turned back to the scientists and didn’t care if this was predestined or not. Life had just changed.

Chapter Sixteen

Michael looked at Jan sitting at the weapon’s console on their new Attackship and saw she was nervous. “Hey.”

Jan replied in a shaky voice, “Hey.”

Michael stared at her and took a breath. He looked at the floor and then looked up at her, “I need you to try and understand something.”

“Such as?”

Michael blew out the breath he was holding. “I’m certain that you’re aware that I’m attracted to you?” Jan stared at him and then nodded. “The thing is, I’ve never been in a relationship with a woman. I was deprived of that in school and I’m moving through uncharted space here. I don’t know how to act, what to say, or any of the other things a man would do with someone he was attracted toward. If you are frightened of me, we will never look at what this could possibly become. We’ll be stuck in place without moving forward. That frightens me more than I can say. I’m out of my depth here.”

Jan stared at him and saw the trouble behind his eyes. She relaxed and stood up. She walked across the bridge and put a hand on each of his command chair arms. She leaned in and kissed him gently. She backed up and he pulled her in and kissed her again. The kiss lasted much longer and when Michael broke the kiss he saw her huge smile. “What? Did I do it wrong?”

Jan stood up and smiled, “Josey got to kiss you first but you just gave me your first kiss. I think that means something.” She walked across the bridge and sat down in her chair. She looked at him and lowered her eyes, “And for your information, there is no such thing as a bad kiss between two people who care about each other.”

Michael smiled, “Are you telling me you’re attracted to me, too?” Jan smiled and nodded. Michael continued to smile as he turned to his console, “Why don’t we see what this ship can do?”

“Lead the way, Sir.”

Michael turned around, “You can use my first name, Jan.”

“Not in professional situations. You are in command and it’s vitally important that you and I know that. If I hesitate to follow your orders, we could die. We should both follow standard protocols that rank dictates.”

Michael thought about her comment and nodded, “I do hope we find times where we’re not in professional situations.”

“I’ll make sure we do, Sir.”

“Angelo, have you and Langley decided on the division of responsibilities?”

“We have. I will work with you and Langley will work with Commodore Keller. Langley will be responsible for detecting thoughts from outside the ship. He has demonstrated a remarkable ability of seeing those telepaths.”

“Everyone should understand that my order to wear thought blockers also applies to this ship. I expect your thought broadcasting modules to be inactive.”

“Already done, Sir.”

Michael put the band around his head and winced. “Are you all right, Sir?”

Michael looked at Jan and saw her concern, “It’s a minor shock for a telepath to lose the ability. I’ll be ok once I get used to it.”

Jan smiled, “Does that mean you can’t hear my thoughts? now” Michael nodded. “Good!”

“Why is that?”

“A lady’s thoughts should not be seen. It might cause her embarrassment.”

Michael smiled, “I’m taking the ship into orbit.”

Jan turned her chair around and began activating her systems, “Where are we going, Sir?”

“I’m going after the Legend Ships that detonated the explosive in our cluster.”

Jan’s expression showed her surprise, “How are you going to be able to find them?”

“Simple geometry, Jan. The ones that did it are not flying the newer model. I know where the device was detonated. Draw a straight line from that point toward the Pandora Cluster and we should run up on them.”

“But that was more than a week ago?”

“There’s an added benefit to these new hulls that Budge just told me about.” Jan tilted her head. “You know the Silver Ships have explored a lot of the Universe?” Jan nodded. “Their speed is far beyond what our lightly coated ships could do. Now that our hulls are larger than theirs, our speed has been greatly increased; we will make the attempt. Contact Jay and Josey and tell them to stay close.”

“Yes Sir.”

Jan sent the message and heard Jay say, “ALLLLL RIIIGHHT!” Jan smiled. Everything was back to normal.

Michael looked out of the main viewport and saw M-87 moving quickly toward them. “Angelo, how does our speed match up with the Battle Pods?”

“I find it hard to fathom how this substance our hull is made of can cause such a wide variance. We’re going to be out of the cluster in about another hour.” Michael shook his head.

Langley’s voice came over the loud speaker, “I’ve given some thought about that.”

Michael looked at the speaker, “And?”

“I believe this substance shouldn’t exist in normal space. I genuinely think it is a substance that should be in the void.”

Jan’s eyebrows went up, “Why do you say that?”

“Because you only find it near a giant black hole. We know that the void is inside a black hole, that’s how we discovered it. I think the really giant black holes suck this material out of the void and it collects in a close orbit around the black hole.”

Michael nodded, “The fact that ships coated with it can fly faster than the speed of light in normal space pretty much tells us that it isn’t restricted by the normal laws of physics.” Michael paused and his eyes narrowed, “Langley, do you know if any of the substance has been found circling the black hole in M-87?”

“I suspect that if there is, we will not be able to use it.”

“Why is that?”

“You know how difficult it was to go in close to the black hole in Andromeda. Imagine getting close to the monster lurking at the center of M-87. Scientists are convinced that it might be the largest black hole in the universe. At our current level of technology, I don’t think we can build a gravity compensator that would allow ships to get close to search for it.” Langley paused and said, “Jay is attempting to communicate with you.”

“Put him on the wall speaker.”

“Uhhh, First Commander, Josey and I have been talking about what we’re doing and we thought we should mention a possible concern.”

Michael looked at Jan and saw her smiling. “What is it Jay?”

“Well, you know, uhhhh.”

“Come on, Jay!”

“Well, you know the battle your father directed to defeat the Legends in M-87 is required reading at the Academy.”

“Yes.”

“Well, the Alliance Leaders made it clear to him that they did not want him participating in combat operations because of his importance. We were kinda wondering if that restriction also applied to you…Sir?” Michael was silent and Jay quickly said, “Josey and I can go in after the ships we’re chasing and you can stay out of it.”

“Jay, before we get into that, you need to understand that I have to depend on all of you to make sure I see everything that might concern you. Do not hesitate to bring any concern to my attention; I need you to be open and honest with me.”

“Ok, then, why are we chasing those ships instead of you sending others to do it?”

Michael looked at Jan and saw she wondered the same thing. “There are several reasons, Jay. My father had fought in numerous battles before he was chosen to be the Alliance’s designated conqueror. He knew the capabilities of the ships used by our forces and what their limitations and strengths were. That knowledge, in large part, is what allowed him to assign the right fleets to the right targets in that final battle. He fought in those ships and it prepared him for command responsibility. I have not done the same. The battle with the Monster Warship outside the Bullet Cluster was the first combat I’ve been involved in and I must say that I am much better prepared to use the Battle Pods in fleet actions. But I need to fight this new ship or I’m going to be guessing about its strengths and limitations. I also need to fight this ship and experience what our pilots are going to face.”

“And what happens if you don’t survive the fight?”

“Then they’ll make Talel the new First Commander and continue without missing a beat.”

Jan said, “Talel?”

“Jan, he is incredibly talented. I’ve seen his mind at work and he can do the job.”

Jan shrugged, “Maybe so, but he’s not you!”

Michael smiled, “Does that answer your concern, Jay?”

“It does. So how do you want to handle it, if we manage to find them?”

“I’ll take the lead and you’ll cover my stern.”

“And if my stern happens to become an issue?”

“We will do a scissor move and turn it on your pursuers.”

“You know about that maneuver?”

“I’ve done a little flying.”

“We’ll keep your stern clear, Sir.”

Angelo announced, “Twenty minutes to clear the disruption.”

“Commander?”

“Yes, Josey?”

“Are you planning to use the heavy rounds in this mission?”

“If I find myself in a situation that calls for it, I am. Why do you ask?”

“I just think that we’re going to have to face millions of those new Legend Warships and I wonder if we’re going to be able to build enough in time. I’m reluctant to waste them.”

Michael looked at Jan and she shook her head. “Josey, we need to see how launching one of those rounds affects our ship’s ability to maneuver. Let our manufacturers worry about having enough rounds when we need them. If a heavy round is indicated, fire it. Remember, this is the initial field trial for this class of ship and we need to put it through its paces and use every system if we can.”

“I didn’t think about that, Sir. Thank you for clearing this up.”

“Once we clear the disruption, we’re going into the barrier and skip directly to the Pandora Cluster. Once we arrive at the disruption in that cluster, we will turn around and move back toward our cluster and try to find those ships moving towards us.”

“We’re locked in on your drive field, Sir. We’ll release our ships once you call for battle stations.”

Michael turned his chair around and activated his armor. Jan activated hers and did a quick diagnostic check on her weapon console. The barrier sensor turned blue and Michael activated the barrier field and skipped directly toward the Pandora Cluster.

Ten seconds before they arrived Langley said, “You can stop. We just passed them.” Michael applied the brakes and turned the ship in a wide turn and then moved back on the course it had flown from the Virgo Cluster. He kept the speed down to avoid overrunning the Legend Ships.

“Langley, you heard them while we were moving at full speed?”

“Yes, Jan. There are a lot of them to hear.”

Michael jerked his head around, “What do you mean, ‘a lot’?”

“There are at least fifty warships in that group.”

Michael said into his helmet’s interface, “Shutting down all external systems. Reduce power on the reactor.” Jay heard the orders and began shutting down the systems. “Langley, we’re going to try to get close enough for you to hear them. I need to know how that many ships could make it into the middle of our cluster without being detected before I initiate an attack.”

“Would it make a difference if I told you one of those telepaths is on board one of those ships?”

“Langley, let’s do this like we did the first time. We’ll put our gloves on our console and you can tell us what’s going on.”

“Slow down, we’re getting closer.” Michael put his armored glove on his console and Langley played the thoughts he considered important.

“These idiots aren’t worth living. I should just eat them and good riddance.” There was a pause and they heard another thought, “My ship could have detonated the weapon. We didn’t need this mind reader to do something this simple.”

“Watch your thoughts, Commander! I had to match the thought pattern of more than fifty of their sentries and blind them to my presence going in and going out.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t eat them!”

“You will be my next meal if you don’t start showing the proper respect. I wanted to consume them but I had to get away before the device was exploded. I will consume them next time!”

Michael looked at Jan and nodded. He knew the other warships waited outside the Virgo Cluster for the telepath to return. If it encountered trouble, they would skip in to save it. The small Legend Fleet passed below them and Michael said, “On my command, we will activate all systems and move out of the barrier directly behind those two lines of ships. Jay, hold position next to my ship and we’ll fire at the two lines as we pass between them. That Telepath is flying directly in the middle of the two lines and I want both of us to designate a forward disruptor on that ship as soon as we enter the void. Fire as soon as it moves into range. Jan, I’ll operate the forward disruptors, you have the others.”

“Commander.”

“Yes Jay.”

“The odds of hitting all of them in one pass is remote. They’re going to scatter alike a rack of pools balls as soon as we open fire.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“We come out of the barrier directly behind that Telepath and take it out first while our partners are firing at the ships on either side. We’ll continue down the line and turn to come back at those we missed.”

“Thanks, Jay. That’s an excellent suggestion. Are you ready to do this?”

“I’ll come out of the barrier in sync with your ship and break the connection as soon as we move on that Telepath.”

“On my mark. Three, two, one, MARK!”

Michael roared in on the enemy formation and saw the forward disruptor’s aiming point on his helmet’s heads up display move on top of the ship flying in the middle of the formation. He pulled the trigger on his steering wheel and saw the small ship cut into three pieces as two disruptor dark energy beams hit it. He ignored the other ships as he flew at high speed toward the front of the enemy formation. Twelve ships in each line of the Enemy formation were cut through the middle as the two Attackships blew past them. Michael flew out beyond the front of the formation and whipped the ship around as the twenty-four Legend Warships in the rear of the formation opened fire. Michael poured on the speed and moved to the side of the formation as the surviving enemy ships began to scatter.

Michael saw in his visor that Jay was flying slightly to the right and slightly behind the rear of his ship. He flashed back in on the formation and saw the forward disruptor had another ship in its sights. He pulled the trigger and pulled it again as the disruptor immediately locked on another target. They blew past the formation and Michael pulled back on the steering wheel and went vertical over the remaining ships. Of the twenty-four that survived the initial attack, only six remained. He wondered how his two ships had killed so many so quickly but he put the thought out of his mind. Two of the six survivors tried to move in behind the two Attackships and Jan killed one with a rear disruptor and Josey bagged the other.

“Break off and chase the survivors.”

Jay broke away and flashed by an enemy battleship and it was hit by four disruptor beams as he passed. He dove and took out another ship as it ran away at maximum speed.

Michael saw the two ships to his side of the formation had moved in opposite directions. “I’m going after the one on the right. Target a missile on the other.” Michael saw on his visor’s tactical display that the missile left almost before he had finished giving the order. Jan was good! He blew the ship he was chasing into a huge disruption in the void as the dark energy beam hit the huge ship’s reactors and exploded them.

“I heard the Commander of that small fleet calling for help. It appears that help is moving out here at a remarkable speed.”

“What are you saying, Langley?”

“They aren’t the Monster but they are larger than any Legend Warship I’ve seen in my databanks.”

“Can you see how many?”

“Four hundred.”

“Commander, if those ships are the newer model being built for the Legends, we should be careful attempting to take that many on with just two ships.”

“Back in the barrier before they disrupt it and skip out. Angelo, drop a mini-probe.”

The two ships disappeared from the void and flashed away in the barrier before the oncoming fleet arrived and disrupted it.

“Stop here! Angelo, put the probe’s feed on my tactical.” Michael watched his visor’s display and saw the Legend Ships come in at incredible speed. They were the new model of battleship he decided to name Mini-monsters. “Langley, can you hear them?”

“No, Commander. It appears those ships have a rather strong thought blocker.”

“Is there anything you can detect?”

“The void drive is using a different frequency than their standard ships.”

“I thought stardrives didn’t give off a frequency?”

“Those ships do. I can see it from here. I would have to be right on top of their older models to detect them.”

“Is our field detectable?”

“We’ll need to check that out on the way back to Virgo. Hold on just a moment! I’m hearing one side of a conversation. Evidently those Telepaths don’t think we can hear them.”

“Put it on the speaker.”

“…no evidence that my Dram allowed your ships to be detected.” There was a pause and they heard, “I don’t care if three of them are ashes. That is due to your stupidity.” They waited and then heard, “I will take it up with the Elder. What are you going to do now? Run around in circles.” Another pause, “Don’t tempt me, Commander.”

“Angelo, have the probe do a full scan on those ships. Once we have the information, activate its self-destruct and get out of here.”

Jan watched her visor and saw the results of the scan collected into the databanks. She pressed a button on her panel and the two ships skipped away an instant before a hundred Legend Mini-monsters arrived at their former location. Langley activated the wall speaker, “That is one angry Commander. The Telepath is really giving it to him for allowing his ships to be scanned.”

Michael smiled and said, “Are they giving chase?”

“No.”

Michael turned the steering wheel and the Attackship made a hundred and eighty degree turn. “What are you doing, Commander?”

“We haven’t fired a heavy round…yet.”

“Commander!”

“Jay, we’re going to come over the top of the ships that followed the probe’s transmission. We’re going to come out of the barrier and fly between their ships and fire two heavy rounds each. Get in the barrier instantly afterwards and hit full thrusters.”

“Yes Sir.”

Michael looked at Jan, “He doesn’t sound excited.”

“I can understand why.”

“Are you against this?”

“Sir, this falls into your province. They should have disrupted the barrier but they didn’t. They have provided you an opening and if you choose to exploit it, then I’m here to support you.”

“Would you do it?”

Jan tilted her head and after a moment smiled, “I believe I would, Sir.”

“Jay, on my mark, three, two, one, Mark!”

Jay hit the thrusters and said, “I guess I was wrong.”

Josey looked at him, “About what?”

“I wondered if Michael had the guts to be a leader.”

Josey saw the giant Black Warships appear around their ship and she pressed two buttons simultaneously as Jay went back into the barrier. Josey saw the barrier form around their ship as hundreds of huge disruptor beams fired and missed them. The remaining ninety-six Mini-monsters were kicked out of the void into normal space as four of them exploded into massive void disruptions. “Is it possible he might possess more than he needs?”

Jay shook his head, “I suspect the Alliance Leaders will take that position when they view the recordings of what just happened.”

“You didn’t tell me what you think.”

“Michael is just like his father. He’s exactly what we need at this moment in time.”

“Jan is really lucky.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it.”

“What?”

“Come on, Josey. Who else would be a match for his intelligence and strong will? She’s perfect and he waited to make sure. I think she knows it, too.” Josey thought about it and after they arrived back at the Virgo Cluster and started the flight back to Earth, she knew Jay was right. She wondered why Jan’s ship was so quiet on the way back.

Chapter Seventeen

Michael sat in his office with Jan as they waited for Luke to arrive; finally, Luke entered with Averel. Michael looked at Averel and she shrugged. Luke said, “Averel is going to connect us with the other leaders of our Allies.”

Michael nodded and Luke looked at Jan, “You may leave.”

Jan stood up and Michael said, “She will stay here!” Luke’s eyes narrowed and Michael said, “She is my co-pilot and she needs to hear whatever is decided today.” Jan sat back down and tried to appear small.

Luke saw Michael wasn’t smiling and appeared to be defiant. He decided to wait for the other Leaders to link in before he started the conversation. Suddenly, Jan saw the Alliance Leaders in her mind sitting in their chairs. She was stunned and looked at Averel who shrugged and smiled. The Welken Royal leaned forward, “I’ve been given a copy of the recent engagement you had with some Legend Warships.”

“Was it enjoyable viewing, Your Highness?”

The Welken’s frown slowly disappeared and he shook his head as he started smiling, “I must say it was, Commander. However, we’re meeting today to discuss preventing a recurrence.”

Michael’s voice growled as he looked at Luke, “Then you can accept my resignation and you can choose another to replace me.” Luke’s mouth fell open and the other Leaders were also stunned. “I’ve been charged to lead our forces against ships I know nothing about with ships I also have no idea of their capabilities. The only way I can make decisions that will not place our forces in unnecessary danger is to know what our ships can do and what they can’t do in combat. I have a learning curve to fully understand how we should attack the new Legend Warships. That necessitates me doing exactly what I did yesterday! And if I need to do it again, I will.”

The Audon High Leader looked at Michael in the link and lowered its face, “And what happens if you get killed in the process?”

“Then perhaps the information I’ve collected will help the next First Commander to effectively meet and defeat the enemy fleets.”

Luke scowled, “Who could take your place and do a good job.”

“Talel possesses more talent than any of you suspect. He has a talent for using his ships in combat and from what I’ve seen in his mind, he and I think alike.”

The Leaders all looked at the Goran High Leader. He shook his head and smiled, “I agree with you, High Commander. He is the best we have.”

The Welken quickly responded, “Is he as good as the current First Commander?”

“In his own way, yes. I’ve discussed with him why he wasn’t chosen initially and he was angry that he was passed over. However, he and Michael met and he told me that the Alliance had chosen the right person for the position.” The Goran looked at Michael, “He was also highly impressed with what he saw in your mind.”

“He could do the job and I am going to put him in command of the new Attackships. That will remove a lot of my worry about their being used effectively. If something happens to me, he can step right in and replace me.” Michael saw the Leaders looking at each other and he quickly said, “All of you need to understand that I am not going to act foolishly. What I do will be thought out and risk versus reward will be considered carefully.” Michael looked at Luke, “Did the information we collected help our new pilots?” Luke sighed and then nodded. “If it means anything to you, I’m hoping I can convince my co-pilot to become a permanent part of my life and I will not endanger her without a very good reason to do so.”

Jan’s eyes went wide and her mouth fell open. The Leaders nodded and the Welken said, “You were chosen to command. We’ll stop getting in your way. Thank you for discussing this with us.”

Michael sighed, “I know as our preparations move further along, I will have to forego putting myself in danger. I will, like my father before me, have to take a true leadership role.”

The Leaders nodded and the link disappeared. Luke looked at Michael and Jan, “I’m sorry you were forced to make that admission before you were ready.”

Michael looked at Jan and then at Luke, “I had to weigh the benefit versus the consequences. I had to reassure all of you that I wasn’t going to do anything stupid.” Luke nodded, looked at Jan, then turned and left the room with a smiling Averel. Michael looked at Jan, “I’m sorry.”

Jan stared at Michael, “How can you be certain I’m the one you think I am?”

“I’ve watched you since the day you mentioned the Entanglement theory when I talked to you about staying in Fifth Fleets ranks. I’ve seen your total lack of an oversized ego and your love for Jay and Josey. That told me more about your heart than anything else. You are brilliant and we think about things on a very similar level.” Jan stared at him and Michael shrugged, “You are also the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“You had me going until you said that.”

“Jan, ask Jay and Josey. Don’t just take my word for it because you’re right to think that I might be prejudiced.”

“How do I know you’re right for me?”

“That’s why I said I am going to try and convince you. I don’t assume you will choose me.”

Jan smiled and said, “We have time to see, Michael. No one else has caught my attention and you know you have it. Let’s see where this goes without putting pressure on us.”

“Do you have some time off to go with me to work on a project?”

“You decide when I have time off. I report to you.”

“Good. Go change into a swimsuit and meet me at the beach near the officer’s quarters.”

“Why?”

“Where’s your sense of adventure? Meet me there in an hour.”

Jan smiled and stood up, “I’ll see you there.”

• • •

Jan left her quarters and walked toward the beach. She hadn’t gone far before she started seeing every male she passed stop and stare at her. It actually became disconcerting. She arrived at the beach and found Michael standing about thirty yards from the beach chairs. She walked up and saw sand toys scattered around him. Michael pointed at lines in the sand that formed a huge square. “What is this, Michael?”

Michael smiled, “After my mother died, my father would bring me down here and I would build sand forts. I was really good at it and it helped me deal with the sense of loss and sorrow at never seeing my mother again. It kept my mind off her loss. One day, my father brought Allison and she got up and helped me build a sand fort.” Jan saw Michael’s joy as he talked about what happened. “The fort the two of us built was incredible and I made her promise to come back and build a bigger one.” Michael paused and looked at her, “Jan, that fort drew a huge crowd. It was beyond anything I ever expected I could do.” Jan looked around and Michael said, “It was building those forts with me that allowed my father to see that he loved Allison. Today, you and I are going to build a bigger fort than Allison and I built.”

Jan stared at him as Michael picked up a small shovel and started packing a form with sand. He put it one foot outside the line he drew in the sand and began filling the form again. “Are you serious?” Michael remained silent and filled the form again. “It’s over ninety degrees out here!” Jan shook her head and started to leave but she couldn’t force herself to do it. She sighed and picked up a shovel and a form.

After six hours, Jan finished the inner sand city and looked at Michael who was working on the wall around the city. Michael looked at her and said, “Are you ready to quit?”

Jan looked at the beautiful city she built and said, “Not on your life.” They began building the wall and soon, officers began walking down to the beach and several offered to help. Jan looked at them and said, “NO! This is ours. Build your own.”

They would take short breaks and eat sandwiches Michael had brought down and drink copious amounts of water. The sun was setting in the west as they worked on the last section of the west wall. “Allison and I finished before the sun completely set.” Jan began filling the forms with a passion and handed them to Michael, who ran them to the wall. The last form was put in place just as the sun disappeared. Jan fell to her knees breathing heavily and Michael fell beside her. “Look at what we’ve done, Jan.” Jan raised her eyes and saw the huge crowd start cheering. The fort was beautiful and she shook her head. Michael looked at her and smiled, “This is like our lives, Jan. Out of nothing but loose sand, we build something beautiful.”

“It will be gone with the tide by morning, Michael.”

Michael took her chin and turned her face to him, “But the memory of this will be with you for the rest of your life. You’ll know that we did this together and neither of us gave up or quit. That should tell you something about me and it tells me volumes about you.”

Jan sighed and nodded, “If I hadn’t wasted so much time at the start, we wouldn’t have had to rush so hard at the end.”

Michael looked at her with a twinkle in his eyes, nodded, and then smiled. Jan replayed what she said and suddenly understood; she shook her head and wondered why she was waiting, “I love you, Michael.”

He took her in his arms and said, “Only love would allow us to do this together and not quit. My father saw it in Allison and I see it in you. I’ve loved you from the moment you charmed the meeting with your speech. I knew at that moment that there would never be anyone else for me.” Jan hugged him tightly and felt her tears start. He was right. She would have left if she didn’t love him enough to build that fort. Her tears began in earnest when he said, “Perhaps, one day, our children will help us build a bigger one.”

• • •

Word spread through Fleet Headquarters that Michael and Jan were building a huge sand fort and many went to the beach to watch them. Averel arrived and watched Michael and Jan working hard to beat the sun and she thought, “Chris, I have something that you and Allison should see.”

“What is that?”

Suddenly, Chris and Allison saw Michael and Jan building the sand fort. Allison’s eyes went wide, “That one’s bigger than the one we built!” They watched the images Averel was sending them and both of them began crying when they finished and Michael spoke to Jan.

Chris sighed heavily, “Thank you, Averel. You have no idea how much this means to us.”

“I think I do. Michael has chosen a remarkable woman and I know you’ll be proud of her.”

Averel broke the connection and wiped her eyes. She was going to teach her child, when it was old enough, how to build sand forts. This was a lesson that would send it out into the universe with the hard lessons the effort would teach. The next day the fort was washed away by high tide but the cement trench Averel had placed at the fort’s wall that night would be a reminder for the next ones, what the challenge would be to build one bigger than two lovers.

• • •

The Leadership Team was gathered in the Fleet Operations Conference Room and Michael looked at Talel and said, “Welcome to our team Fleet Leader.”

“Thank you for inviting me. I’m excited about our new ships and look forward to seeing them in action.”

Laney smiled, “It’s good to have you here. Michael has told us a lot about you and I really look forward to working with you.” She turned to Michael, “I’m confused by the Legends going ahead with building the smaller Monster. I thought they wouldn’t put their tools in a ship more powerful than their own.”

Michael nodded, “That does go against their former pattern.”

Jan looked around and said, “They wouldn’t have done it without those telepaths.”

Everyone looked at her. Audrey smiled, “I’m not completely clear on what you mean?”

Jan shrugged, “The reason they wouldn’t do it in the past was the fear that the tools might rise up in revolt against them, right?”

Everyone looked at each other and Luke said, “That’s been their position.”

“The telepaths will see if any of their tools are thinking about a revolution and consume the offender. This allows them to start building the Mini-monsters.”

Audrey smiled, “Mini-monster?”

Jan smiled, “That’s what Michael calls them.”

Audrey nodded, “That’s a good name for them and I think you’re right. This removes their fear of revolution.” She looked at Michael, “Does this change our plans?”

“Not really.”

Luke tilted his head, “Why? Won’t they launch an attack before they get the real Monster Ships?”

Michael looked at the group, “Remember, those Mini-monsters’ primary purpose is to defend the Legends wherever they go. They will remain at the Legends’ Planets until the real Monsters arrives and the Legends go on board. They will then be used to attack us. They disrupted the barrier in their cluster because of what we did to that Legend who tried to build the first Monster. They’re concerned that we might attack them before they have the really dangerous ships. They’ll keep them around their planets until those ships arrive.”

Katy shook her head, “They didn’t hesitate to send four hundred of them after you.”

“I think that was done to posture with the Telepaths. We killed the one with that small fleet and they sent those ships to show them that they took the death of one of them seriously. Also remember that the Telepath that came with them threatened the commander of those ships.”

Talel thought, “Are we going to sit here and wait on them to attack us.”

Michael looked at Talel, “What would you do?” Talel’s eyes narrowed and he started to speak but then hesitated. Michael nodded, “Now you see it.” Talel nodded.

Luke watched the exchange and shook his head, “See what?”

Talel turned to Luke, “If we launch attacks on them with the new ships, their paranoia may cause them to combine all their forces and send them against us before the Monster Warships arrive. Our numbers of Attackships are woefully few to take on those ships.”

Jinks’ eyes narrowed, “Are you saying that our Battle Pods aren’t strong enough to take on those new ships?”

Talel shook his head, “No, but if they come here to attack, there’s no way we can put a thought blocker on every person on every planet and the telepaths will learn everything we know about the Sentinels, the Goran, the members of the Alliance, as well as this new ship we’re building. They will also learn about Eden and the Sentinels in Andromeda. They’ll see that if they hesitate to attack once the Monsters arrive, they might lose the advantage in numbers.”

“You’ve left out something.”

Talel looked at Michael, “If these psychic feeders come here in large numbers, they could decimate the entire population on this planet.”

Silence slammed down on the meeting. Luke began shaking his head and Michael quickly replied, “We’re working on building a system that is incorporated into the planet’s force field to act as a thought blocker. Trevor and Budge have taken on the assignment and their initial finding is that the system should operate.”

Luke sighed, “That’s good news.”

Michael shook his head, “It is, and it isn’t.” Luke’s head went back slightly. “The main planets of the Alliance are having force fields built around them and we’ll incorporate the thought blocker once it’s developed. However, there is no way to build a force field around every planet; there’s millions of them and Earth’s leadership role in this fight against them is known on most of them. If they find that out, they will ignore all the others and come here, and if they learn about it, and Eden. This attack will make the first two invasions look like a small ship excursion. The force field is strong, but none of our scientists are certain that it could withstand a bombardment from thousands of the Monster Warship, much less the millions of Mini-monsters coming with them.”

Katy shook her head at the vision and looked at Michael, “That’s why you went back and fired those heavy rounds.”

Michael smiled, “Very good, Admiral. You’re the first one to see the necessity of doing that.”

Everyone turned to Katy and she shrugged, “We had to see if they would take out the Mini. Now that we know they can, I suspect we might start building satellite missile launchers that will be in orbit just inside the force field to fire at them.”

Michael shook his head, “Again, very astute. The first one will be launched in two months. The heavy rounds used on them will be force field protected to give them a chance to get through the Legends’ disruptors.”

“Why don’t we put those rounds on our ships and avoid having to fight our way down to the Monster’s hulls?”

Michael looked at Katy, “Do you want to answer Audrey’s question?”

“I’m not sure if I’m right but I’m going to assume that this new force field protected heavy round is probably too large for our ships to carry.”

Michael nodded, “It’s about one third the size of the new Attackship.”

Luke shook his head, “We don’t have the building capacity to build defense satellites large enough to hold enough of those rounds you’re describing to make a difference.”

“We’re not.”

“What?”

“Piper’s family on the Grey Planet are building them and will transport them here as they’re completed. A third of Eden’s manufacturing facilities are building the rounds and shipping them to the Greys so the satellites will be armed before they are brought here.”

“Are the missiles the only weapon they’ll have?”

Michael shook his head and looked at Josh, “No, they’ll have a full complement of Heavy Dark Energy Disruptors.”

Talel nodded, “That’s more reasons why we would be foolish to start this conflict now.”

Michael nodded, “Exactly right. You still saw it without all the information.”

Jan looked at Michael, “So, what does this mean?”

“About how long before the party begins?” Jan nodded. “I suspect there will be a few years or maybe as many as ten before it kicks off.”

“Why so long?”

Talel thought, “Now the Legends aren’t limited to just one Monster per Legend. They’ll build quite a few more.”

Jan’s head tilted and Michael sighed, “He’s right. You said it yourself, the Vampire Telepaths will command the Monsters along with the Legend. They now form a sort of weird symbiosis where the Vampires will keep the Legends in power and the Legends will give them conquered species to consume.”

Jan shook her head, “There’s no way we can match their building capacity.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Jan.”

“OH! Did you see the size of that galaxy in the bullet cluster where they’re being built?”

“Have you taken a good look at the size of M-87, M-84, Andromeda, and our own Milky Way? If given time, I suspect we can hold our own.”

Jan tilted her head and smiled, “Now that is a good point. Touché.”

Michael bowed and looked around the room, “We have more than we can do and we’re behind at the moment. However, time is on our side. For the immediate future, we’ll work on defense satellites, ship building facilities in all four galaxies, expanding our simulators to all four galaxies, force fields and thought blockers around as many planets as possible and finally having a wedding.”

Jan jerked her head up and Michael smiled, “If that is agreeable with you?” Jan was out of her chair and in his arms in an instant. He took a ring out of his pocket and held it out, “This is an exact duplicate of Allison’s ring. Salud gave it to me when I told her what I was going to do.” He lifted her chin and looked in Jan’s eyes, “Will you marry me?” Jan couldn’t speak but she could nod. Michael slipped the ring on her finger and pulled her tight. The meeting ended with the others crowding around the two lovers congratulating them.

Katy took Jan’s hand and stared at her ring, “It’s really beautiful.”

“Katy, I’m sorry things didn’t work out for…”

Katy put a finger on Jan’s lips, “Don’t be. I learned the hard way that I’m not up to dealing with our First Commander. It took him scaring the living crap out me to see it. I no longer want that. I see that you have what it takes to meet him on a level playing field and that is what both of you need. I really am happy for both of you.”

Jan smiled and hugged Katy tightly, “You will always be my First Admiral, Katy. I love you.” Katy smiled and hugged her.

Audrey went over to Michael and watched Katy and Jan hugging. “I assume you discussed this with Mom and Dad?”

“I did.”

“Are they coming to the wedding?”

Michael’s eye’s narrowed, “Now that I think about it, they didn’t say.”

“Why are they avoiding us, Michael?” Michael stared at his half-sister and his eyes narrowed and he shook his head. “I think you need to find out.” Michael looked at Jan and nodded, “I will.”

• • •

“Chris.”

“Yes, Averel.”

“I’m about to take leave to have my baby but I thought you should know that Michael is coming to visit.”

“WHY!”

“Audrey has brought up the point that you appear to be avoiding them. They intend to find out why.”

“OH CRAP!”

“Chris, you have the answer.”

“What answer are you talking about and do you always meddle in everything?!”

“Of course. That’s who I am. However, what orders did Chris give to all of the Alliance’s Forces and said there will be no exceptions?”

Chris looked at Allison who was listening in and saw her smile. She walked over to the front office and brought a small box back with her. Averel saw her in Chris’s mind and smiled, “It’s about time you open your mail.”

Allison took out a small knife and began cutting through the packing tape, “What is that?”

Allison smiled, “We received this after Michael issued those orders.” She opened the box and took out two thin black headbands.

Chris looked at them, started smiling and shaking his head, “Averel, you are a genius!”

“Wear them well.”

“Someday, somebody is going to force you to keep one of these on all the time.”

Averel laughed, “Probably, but not today.”

Allison put the black band on and looked at Chris, “How do I look?”

“As beautiful as ever.”

“Then contact Michael and tell him we’re coming to meet his new fiancé.” Chris smiled and pressed his wrist unit.

Chapter Eighteen

Michael looked at the wall monitor and leaned back in his chair. Seven years had passed too quickly. It really seemed like the meeting had taken place just a few moments earlier but the Alliance had changed dramatically over the years. The first change was the most dramatic and he remembered when Budge, Nudge, Amanda, and Trevor had asked him to come see them in Hanger X.

“Hi, guys, what’s going on?”

Amanda looked at him and said, “We want you to take a look at a ship we’ve been working on.”

“Sure.” They led him across the gigantic hanger and they entered an Attackship. Budge went to the controls and the others took a seat in chairs that had been installed. One of them was empty, so Michael took a seat. “What’s going on?”

“Do you remember a place in M-87 that holds a special place in your heart?”

Michael looked at Amanda and smiled, “The destruction to the Legends’ Planet by my Father will always be a special place for me.”

Michael saw Budge turn around and activate a display above the panel. A gigantic list of codes began scrolling down at high speed and suddenly stop with one of the codes highlighted. Budge put his hand over a button on the console and turned around, “It’s always good to visit places you miss.” Michael’s head tilted as Budge pushed the button behind him.

Michael didn’t feel anything but saw light coming through the main viewport. He looked and saw the Legends’ Planet below the ship. His eyes went wide and his mouth fell open, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

Amanda smiled, “We found out how everything in the universe is connected. You and Jan were right. Space is an abstraction that doesn’t disconnect matter. Everything solid is still in touch.” Michael stood up and walked over to the viewport and stared at the planet below the ship. He started shaking his head and Amanda said, “Light is key.” Michael turned around. “Everything that is made of matter reflects it and that light has the unique properties of the object it reflects off. Once you have that object’s light frequency, you can travel that beam to it instantly. Light is the rails that take you to your destination.”

Michael was shaking his head, “But you couldn’t see the light from this planet? And you were inside a building that had to be blocking it.”

Amanda smiled, “Once you activate the drive, the ship it surrounds leaves on any light wave as it searches for the light with the proper frequency.”

Trevor nodded as he took Amanda under his arm, “And since all matter is still in touch with each other, the search takes no time at all.”

“But…there are galaxies more than ten billion light years away.”

“And we still see that light with our space telescopes. That light is here and everywhere else around that galaxy. We travel that light to the matter that reflected it or sent it out into the universe. You and Jan were also right that space, for all intents and purposes, does not exist when you want to travel to anything made of matter.”

Michael stared out of the viewport and shook his head, “How long will it take you to return to where you started?” In an instant, Michael saw the interior of the giant hanger outside the viewport. He shook his head and looked at them, “This is…is…I don’t have the words.”

Nudge smiled, “We’re still in the discovery phase of this drive but we’re working on making it usable by our ships. That’s going to take some extremely delicate maneuvering to keep the ship far enough away from the object it’s traveling toward without a collision.”

“How will you do that in a space battle?”

Amanda looked at the display and said, “Where are space battles fought?”

Michael shrugged, “Mostly in normal space.”

“And every object in normal space is reflecting light even if the light isn’t much more than a wave. The light waves traveling through space from distant galaxies, nebulas, stars, or anything else that gives off light will be hitting any ship in normal space as they pass. We can detect the light that reflects off an enemy ship and lock it in our sensor library.”

Michael nodded, “So, the pilot can then use this new drive to move in on that target?”

Amanda nodded, “However, we’re not at the point where we have the control to do that. Yet.”

“Even if you don’t get there, this is more than we could hope for, Amanda. Our ships have a way to escape if they’re being overwhelmed by the Legends’ disruptors.”

“They can instantly return to the place they launched their attack.”

• • •

Michael smiled at the memory and the fine control that was required was eventually developed and the drive was now installed in every new ship that came off the assembly lines. All of the older ships were being modified and most of them were done.

The first ship to have the new Light Drive installed was his. Angelo and Langley were amazed and Jan was overwhelmed at what the new drive could do. Jay and Josey got the second drive and Josey hugged her husband at what he had helped accomplish. She and Budge were married a year after he and Jan tied the knot.

Michael thought about his wedding and smiled. It was originally planned to take place in a small church that had been built in the ruins of Boston. The city was coming back but the engineers insisted that they be allowed to build a small church at the site of the old North Church. Lukas and Salud cried at their choice and Chris told him that they couldn’t have chosen a better place for the ceremony. However, things got out of hand quickly. The ones asking to attend from around the Alliance quickly overwhelmed any capacity of the small church. It was finally decided that only Michael and Jan’s immediate families along with the Rulers of the galaxies that were members in the Alliance would be allowed inside to directly witness the ceremony. Jan refused to move it to a larger venue and Michael supported her in the decision. However, that didn’t prevent anyone else that wanted to be present from showing up and watching it on giant monitors outside. Things almost came unhinged when Allison insisted the surviving members of the family that took her from Earth to Eden be included. Lukas defused the situation when he pointed out that without their actions, half of Michael’s family wouldn’t exist. The whole thing blew over like a small speed bump and the ceremony went off as planned.

Michael leaned back in his chair and thought about how a man’s new bride at his wedding is always the most beautiful image he’ll ever see. He knew Jan was beautiful but that day, she took his breath away. It was all he could do to say his lines and not mess them up. He still held that memory etched into his mind in a way he’d never forget. Their daughter, who was born eighteen months later had her mother’s beauty. Their son looked like him and his grandfather. Lukas and Stoney doted over him constantly.

Everyone was present. Jinks and Sarah got in due to his former Rank. Salud and Lukas along with Eve and her family were present. Budge got in because Michael insisted that wherever he went, his bodyguards went with him. Josey insisted on an escort and since Jay insisted on going alone, it was allowed. Stoney had to hold Kathy the entire ceremony as she cried the entire time. The thousands that skipped in to be present covered an immense area around the Church and more monitors were hastily brought in at the last minute.

But for Michael, there was only Jan.

• • •

Michael thought about his father. He was hiding something. He confronted him about it and remembered the conversation.

“What are you hiding, Dad.”

“What makes you think I am?”

“You won’t take off that thought blocker.”

“Oh, so you want to violate my privacy.”

“No, it’s just…you wouldn’t wear it unless there was a reason. I know you’re not telling me something.”

Chris stared at his son and sighed, “How much do I love you?”

“I know how much you love me, don’t question me on that!”

“Then if I were hiding something, do you not trust that I’d be doing it because of that love?”

He remembered staring at his father for a very long moment and Chris didn’t break eye contact. “Is it that important?”

“It is.”

Michael nodded and shook his head slightly, “If there comes a time where you can tell me, will you?”

“You can count on it son.”

“Then I’m not going to press you, or Allison, about this.”

“Thank you, Michael.”

• • •

Michael kept his promise. But he knew Averel knew what it was. She had a block in her mind and that wasn’t like her. He didn’t promise not to pressure her but he might as well have been trying to stop a tsunami as to get it out of her. She finally told him to get his father’s permission and she’d tell him. That put an end to that. He still had nagging doubts about what it was. He sighed and put it aside. The Monster Warships were arriving in the Pandora Cluster and it was time to move forward. The final confrontation was going to commence and he turned his thoughts on how to fight the war. He looked up and saw Jan walk in. He smiled and stood to greet her, “Keep your seat!” Michael was surprised at her tone. They never argued and this wasn’t like her. He slowly sat down and Jan walked forward and put both hands on his desk and leaned in, “So! I hear you’ve started interviewing candidates to fly with you!”

Michael’s expression showed his discomfort as he thought, “Uh oh.” He was silent for a moment as she leaned in closer. Michael moved one shoulder and said, “I thought you would want to stay with the children?”

“You can stay and I’ll take the ship out.”

“Now you know that’s not possible; I’m commanding the attack.”

“You can do it remotely from home.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Neither is you going without me!”

“Jan, if this doesn’t turn out well…”

“Then our children will be raised by the most loving grandparents on the planet and they will not be less for it. Where thou go, I will follow. Or do your vows mean so little to you.”

“I wondered why you had that one added.”

Jan tried to remain angry but she smiled mischievously, “That was good planning, wasn’t it?” Her frown returned, “You will not go without me!”

“Ok.”

Jan stared at him and her head went back. “That simple, huh?” Michael shrugged. “So you don’t care if I’m put in danger?!”

“Jan, we’ve never argued in the past and you must know I don’t like the possibility of our children losing both parents or I wouldn’t have considered going with another pilot. However, I know you and, now that I understand that insertion in our vows, there’s no sense in arguing. You knew this moment would come and you planned accordingly.”

Jan smiled, leaned forward quickly and kissed him, “I did.”

“Well sit down and let’s discuss how we go about winning this thing.”

Jan came around the huge desk and sat on his lap. Michael shook his head, “How am I supposed to work the controls.”

“I’ll do it. What do you want to look at first?”

Michael laughed and said, “Let’s look at what assets we have to use against them.”

Jan pressed the controls and the huge screen showed the fleets each galaxy had along with the ship types in each. Jan turned and kissed Michael before looking at the monitor. Michael looked at the back of her head and said, “I want to see what we believe the Legends have to use against us.” Jan changed the screen, turned and kissed him again. “Now show me the defenses around our main planets.”

Jan reached for the controls and stopped. She turned and saw Michael smiling, “You haven’t had time to look at this one.” Michael continued smiling and Jan sighed, “Maybe I should sit in another chair.” Michael wrapped her up in his arms and spun the chair. They got back to the monitor later.

• • •

The Legend looked at the telepath on his display and decided that he just didn’t like it. He knew the being could hear his thoughts but didn’t care. “You shouldn’t worry about liking my species; no one does.”

“Other than your own.”

The purple colored telepath laughed, “No, we don’t even like each other either but we know necessity forces us to work together.”

“Then how does your species ever procreate?”

“Raging hormones will make one do things they would never do otherwise.”

“I imagine that process would be interesting.”

“You have no idea. No one walks away without an injury.”

The Legend felt his disgust and looked away from the screen, “Why have you contacted me?”

“I’ve been asked by my leaders to inquire how much longer you’re going to delay your invasion.”

“You know we’re been building up our fleets to take on the enemy.”

“You can do that for the rest of eternity. At what point do you think you’ll be ready? Your fleets are almost more than you can support now. Do you plan to overwhelm your ability to provide them resources? How many is too many?”

“What are you insinuating?”

“You passed the point of being ready two years ago. Now you’re working to collapse your capability to feed your ships.”

“Why are you telling me this? I’m just one of many.”

“You’re the Senior Elder. I think all the others are waiting for you to make the decision.”

The Legend knew it was right. It remembered the Legend that went insane and his fear of that happening to him still held a high level of fear. “That won’t happen to you. You have enough warships to defend you. The other one didn’t.”

“I will not send my ships away and be left undefended.”

“Go with them and stay out of the battle. It’s time to make your move.”

“And you’re certain none of my tools will turn on me once I’m away from my planet?”

“My kind will kill any of them that even think about rebellion the moment the idea enters their mind. I can continue to bring more of my species in to command your largest warships but I don’t know how many of your tools you want to die to feed us. The daily toll now is quite high.”

The Legend felt disgust again but knew bargains with a demon carried a price. “I’ll notify the others to start provisioning their ships and be prepared to launch within twenty days.”

“Thank you, Great One.”

“You don’t mean it!”

“What?”

“Calling me ‘Great One.”

“Of course I do. I await your instructions.” The Legend wished he could see into that creatures mind but he didn’t have to do it to know it had just lied.

• • •

Hengel sat in his scout hiding behind a dark matter cloud and saw his computer logging the light reflecting out of the giant galaxy he was hanging above. He saw a message appearing on his monitor. He looked at the thoughts the young female scout intercepted and smiled, “Good work, Angalee.” He pressed a button on his panel and instantly appeared above Earth, “Michael.”

“Yes, Hengel.”

“They Legends are starting to form their fleets up to invade.”

“Do you know where they’re going?”

“Not yet. I should have that information by tomorrow.”

“Thanks, I’m issuing a war warning immediately. I need that information before I can make final plans.”

“You aren’t going to meet them in their cluster?”

“I may but I prefer to catch them away from their planets if I can make it happen.”

“I’ll go back and see if I can get you that piece of information.”

“Thanks, Hengel. By the way, I really miss Averel.”

“Our child is more than anyone else can handle. She’s forced to stay with him until he matures a little.”

“I know you’re proud of him.”

“I am but he can be a real pill to deal with. See you later.”

Michael shook his head. The Goran High Leader had told him that Goran children were never as problematic as Hengel and Averel’s baby. He wondered why but had too much to do to get ready for what was coming to really give time to think about it.

Hensel smiled. He wasn’t that bad. “Hensel! Stay out of the Commander’s mind!”

“Yes, Mother! You might want to contact him and tell him that the Legends are going to M-87.”

Averel sighed and knew that her baby was the payback for all of her previous sins. She looked at her seven year old, “Are you sure about that?”

“I am, Mother.”

“And you weren’t seen?”

“No, Mother.”

Averel blew out a breath and lifted her wrist unit. Michael always wore a thought blocker these days. Michael appeared and Averel said, “The Legends are going to M-87.” Michael’s eyes went wide and Averel said, “Contact Hengel and tell him Hensel saw it.”

“MOM!”

“You should have followed his instructions, son.”

“Thanks, Averel. I’ll let him know.”

Hengel received the message and sighed. What was it going to take? He decided to withdraw all the scouts from the Legends’ Cluster. There was no need to run the risk of their taking a scout and learning they were being watched. He had no doubt his son was right. He was just like his mother and could not restrain himself from looking at any and everything that captured his interest. He shook his head and decided that it was senseless to continue fighting this battle. He issued the recall orders and rode the light wave to Earth. They still lived there in the hope that Averel could return to work. It was time they knew when it was a lost cause. He took off his thought blocker and thought, “Love.”

“YES!”

“Calm down!”

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SON HAS DONE?!”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“WHAT!!”

“We’re done fighting it.” There was a long moment of silence and Hengel said, “Could I have prevented you from looking at everyone’s mind around you?”

“Well…”

“Be honest.”

Averel sighed, “Probably not.”

“You know the ‘probably’ doesn’t belong in that answer. I hated it for a long time but I realized something about the time our son was born.”

“What is that?”

“How much good came out of your nosiness as well as how much happiness you gave to others. You were wise in what you revealed. I stood no chance in changing that part of you and our son has inherited that trait from you. I know he’s a good person and we need to allow him to grow naturally. We need to let him be who he is.”

“Father.”

“Yes, Hensel.”

“I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you and mother. I try not to look but I can’t do it. Even with a thought blocker, I still see other’s thoughts.”

Averel jerked her head around toward her son who was sitting in the corner, “You’ve never told us that!”

“I didn’t think it was important.”

“Hengel, can the vampires hear his thoughts and come here?”

“No, Mom, they can’t hear me.”

Both Hengel and Averel were silent. Hengel thought, “Are you sure about that?”

“I am.”

“I mean are you really sure!”

“Yes, Father, I’m certain!”

Hengel thought for a moment and said, “Hensel, I want you to take a look at that Legend that is leading the invasion and see if there’s something I should know.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I’m sure.”

“Hengel, what are you doing?”

“Be patient with me, Averel!”

Hensel shrugged, “The only thing I didn’t mention was that he’s sending some of his ships to the planet where they first detected a Sentinel.”

“WHAT?!”

‘”Hey, all the Commander wanted to know is where they’re going to attack. That Legend is going to personally take a good look at the planet where the first one was seen.”

Hengel fought for patience and said calmly, “Averel, please inform Michael that they are sending a fleet to where the first Sentinel was detected.”

“Uhhh, Dad, they’re sending five hundred fleets to that planet.”

Hengel fought to not scream and said, “Please tell the Commander, Dear.”

Hengel broke the connection and Hensel looked at his mother. “Is there something important about where the first Sentinel was seen?”

Averel looked at her seven year old and decided he needed a wakeup call. “Earth is where they saw the first Sentinel, Dear.”

Hensel stared at his mother for a long moment. “They didn’t see it the first time at a planet in M-87.” Averel shook her head. Hensel’s bronze colored brow furrowed and he said, “That means they are coming here and you will be put in danger.”

“Along with your father and you, Hensel.” Averel saw her son blink and in that instant, she saw something come alive behind his eyes. What was it? Hensel stood up and left the room. Averel stared at the door he walked through and refused to believe a seven year old’s eyes could show that much danger. Averel sighed and lifted her wrist unit.

• • •

“Talel, we’re going to have to split our forces.”

“What?”

“The bulk of the Legend Fleets will be going to M-87 and I believe they’ll be going after the Audons that refused to follow the former Legends’ orders. Five hundred of their fleets will be coming to Earth.”

“Why would they go there?!”

“It appears the Head Honcho Legend has some questions about why only one Sentinel was seen here when they know there are many others. It may be of the opinion that they are here hiding from them. Whatever the reason, we’re going to have to defend two galaxies.”

“That means Andromeda and your galaxy will have to take on those coming to Earth and my species will have to join with our forces in M-87.”

“That’s what the geography demands. I’ll be sending some of my forces to join you.”

“You shouldn’t do that, Commander. Your planet is going to be attacked.”

“I have five hundred of their fleets coming here. More than nineteen hundred fleets will be going to M-87. They’ll all be bringing their tools and you can’t handle that many ships without our support.”

“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but losing Earth will be a much bigger loss than M-87 to our Alliance.”

“I’m aware of that. However, I’m not willing to allow any member to not be defended properly.”

“You should allow the membership to vote on that.”

“There will be no vote. If you are successful against them, then get your backside here. We’ll do the same but we will divide our forces in proportion to the threat facing the members.”

“You are the one in Command and I will follow your orders. Who is going to command the forces in your galaxy?”

“That will fall to me.”

“You should allow your Fleet Commanders to do that, Leader.”

“I will as much as possible. Admiral Greenwall will be in command of the new Attackships and Admiral Stone will command the defenses above the planet.”

“What about the Battle Pods?”

“I’m calling in some help.”

“Who?”

“Admiral Jekins.”

“He’s in intelligence. He hasn’t commanded a fleet.”

“No, but his father has.”

Talel smiled, “I’ll not worry about what’s happening there. I can see you will do what has to be done.”

“You’ll have more than you can handle on your end. I’m sending Josh with the ships I’m sending to you. He’ll command them however you need them.”

“Thank you, Commander. I’ll keep you up to date on our strategy.”

“Give ’em hell, Talel.”

The display went dark and Jan said, “I wasn’t around to see the last war. How many ships will be coming here?”

Michael pressed a button on his panel and an image of the first ships that came in the very first invasion appeared. Jan’s eye went wide. “About four times that number.” Jan looked at him and couldn’t speak. Michael looked at the image and he smiled a wicked grin, “This time we have more than ten thousand times the number of ships we had then.”

“But you’ll still be outnumbered by more than a hundred to one.”

Michael looked at her, “It’s not the quantity that counts, it’s the quality of the ships we now have.”

“So, you think we’ll win?”

“That’s something that we’ll just have to see when it’s over. But they will regret coming to our Holy Ground again.”

“Would it be inappropriate to send our Children to Eden?”

“That is something you should do now.”

Jan left the room and knew there was reason to fear what was coming. The outcome was not a certainty either way.

Chapter Nineteen

“Commander?”

“Who is this?”

“I’m sorry for interrupting your planning for the coming fight but I thought I should tell you something.”

“Who…is…this?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Hensel.”

“You’re Averel’s son.”

“Yes, Commander, I am.”

“How are you able to communicate with me telepathically when I’m wearing a thought blocker?”

“Those don’t work with me.”

“Well I really hope you aren’t as nosey as your mother.”

“Actually, I’m probably worse than she is. Both of my parents have tried their hardest to stop my prying into others thoughts and haven’t been successful. I try not to do it but it’s just so hard.”

“Why have you contacted me?”

“There is something I think you should know and I don’t want to have to tell my Mother and upset her again.”

Michael felt the young Goran’s sorrow at disappointing his mother and smiled, “I won’t tell her.”

“Thank you so much, Commander.”

“What is it?”

“The ones that are coming here are not bringing what they call tools.”

“WHAT?”

“Their uhhhh, tools can’t move through the void fast enough to keep up with them. They’re sending them to M-87 with the other fleets. They’re only bringing the black colored ships with them here.” Michael went to his chair from the monitor he was staring at and sat down. “The tools for all those bad creatures were sent out more than eight days ago so they will arrive at the same time as the black ships.”

“Hensel.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“If you see anything else that you think I might need to know, do not hesitate to contact me in the future.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I insist on it.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“I’ll keep this just between the two of us.”

“That will help a lot.”

The contact ended and Michael picked up his communicator. “Katy, I want all of our Battle Pods skipped out to M-87 immediately.”

“WHAT?”

“The Legends are not bringing their tools here. Order them out now and notify Josh that they will be joining his fleets immediately.”

“Yes Sir?”

Michael heard the concern in her voice but he ignored it and contacted Talel. He told him what was happening and ordered him to send every ship he had to go out and meet the tools that were moving toward M-87.

“Piper.”

“Hello, Michael.”

“The Legends have already launched their tools toward M-87 ten days ago. I’ve ordered Talel to send every ship he has to meet them before they arrive and try to remove them from the coming battle. Can you contact Talel and get your forces moving with his.”

“I’ll make the contact now.”

• • •

The Audon High Leader looked at Talel on his monitor, “What do you mean you’re sending all our ships out. What will remain to defend us?”

“We have information that the Legends have sent all of their tools ahead of them so they’ll arrive together. We’re going to attack the tools before the Legends can arrive.”

“How good was the source of this information?”

“It was a seven year old Goran child.”

“You must be crazy!”

“High Leader, we’ve sent the scouts out and they’ve confirmed the incoming wave of ships. The information is accurate.”

“How many are there?”

“Too many to count. If we can stop them before they arrive, thousands of planets in your galaxy won’t be attacked.”

“Do what you have to do but get back here before the Legends arrive.”

“That’s the plan, High Leader.” The Audon put his communicator down and hoped Talel stuck to it. With space battles, one could never know what would happen.

• • •

Talel looked at the images coming in from the scouts and tried not to be overwhelmed but wasn’t very successful. The void was packed with warships beyond the range of his most powerful scanners. “Piper, do you have any suggestions?”

“This is your show, Talel. Call it.”

Talel shook his head and lifted his communicator, “All Alliance Warships from the Audon Galaxy will form up in ranks in front of the oncoming enemy ships. The Alliance ships from my galaxy will form up on the right flank of the enemy formation and the ships from Earth’s galaxy will take the left flank. On my command, we will attack and fight our way through their formations. This enemy formation does not contain the really dangerous warships but keep in mind that one sting will hurt you but a thousand will kill you. Fire and break away from any crossfire you may be caught in. This is not something we can do quickly. The more of these ships we kill out here in the void, the fewer there will be to be sent out to destroy our planets. If the Legends show up before we can finish this operation, leave immediately and return to your preassigned positions. Commence the attack…NOW!”

• • •

The barrier wasn’t disrupted out in the vast void between the Pandora and Virgo Clusters and the massive Alliance fleets were hidden from the oncoming Legend fleets. They erupted out of the barrier and the void exploded in massive disruptions. The scope of the attack was beyond any possibility of tracking and Talel watched the incredible destruction taking place every second. The blackness of the void framed the deaths of thousands of warships that blew up in blasts that strobed the darkness with brilliant flashes of multi-colored light. The void looked like a drug induced nightmare of riotous colors washing across the vast Legend formations. Talel shook his head at what was moving toward M-87. He would often go into the pitch-black void to think without being interrupted by the thoughts of others. The vast emptiness soothed his mind and allowed him to focus. Now there were so many warships at war that there was little darkness to see. The disruptions in the void were growing at an incredible speed.

Josh watched the Battle Pods and older Barrier Pods rip into the right flank of the enemy warships. The last time a fleet this large attacked M-87, they ran without firing a shot. That wasn’t happening this time. The tools didn’t have Dark Energy beams that could be fired in the void but they did have void missiles and billions of them were launched at the Alliance Warships.

• • •

Sam Shepard twisted his ship hard left and flew between two giant grey ships that fired six more missiles at him to join the twenty that were chasing him through the maze of enemy ships. He twisted hard left around the stern of another huge warship and none of the missiles could make the turn with him. They lost lock and went after another Alliance Warship. Sam came over the top of the warship he used to lose the missiles and used his top disruptors to blow the ship under him apart as his front disruptors fired on the missiles now chasing another Pod. The disruptors swept across the missiles leaving another large disruption in the void. Sam dove under a ship coming at him head on as eight more missiles locked on his tail.

He killed six more ships as he blew through the ships ahead of him; one of them blew up when the missiles chasing him couldn’t turn fast enough and hit the huge warship’s hull. The warship went up in a massive blast and another disruption filled the void. He turned toward another ship and saw a hundred missiles bearing down on him from straight ahead. He ducked into the barrier for an instant and they blew past him. He came out of the barrier and turned between six brown colored ships and his six disruptors locked on one each and cut them in half.

A missile hit his force field from the rear and he cursed as he entered the barrier. He shook his head and was thankful it was only one missile. He fought to slow his heart rate and then came out of the barrier behind an Attack Pod and shot the ten missiles into dust that were about to hit it from the rear. The disruptors swiveled at high speed and killed four more warships and Sam shook his head seeing on his tactical visor that the Alliance Fleets had barely worked their way inside the edge of the giant Legend formation. He winced as a Battle Pod exploded a mile to his left when fifty missiles managed to hit it. He whipped his ship around and went after the Legend ships that had killed the pod and saw a hundred missiles fail to make the turn with him. This was insane. There was no way to track everything. “Wolfie, start firing every disruptor around the ship. Keep them firing and aim for missiles first, ships second.”

“If the disruptors are fired continuously, there won’t be any aiming.”

“I don’t care. Start firing!” Sam saw the disruptors start swiveling and firing. He forgot about missiles and just flew his ship into the giant enemy formation and enemy ships began exploding on every side as he twisted and dodged among them. Soon, others saw him and began following his example. The destruction took on an unbelievable intensity and soon, the void disruption was so large, a huge section of the battle was forced out of the void and into normal space.

• • •

Talel watched massive numbers of Legend Tools being forced out of the void and he spoke calmly into his communicator, “All even numbered fleets will enter normal space and destroy enemy ships. Odd numbered ships will continue the attack in the void.”

Talel looked at the action taking place inside the giant enemy formation and saw Sam’s ship moving through the enemy ships continuously firing his disruptors. They shot down the missiles moving in on him and cut the ships apart along his path. Talel shook his head and said, “All ships in the void will move out of the enemy formation and reform.” The Alliance Ships entered the barrier and moved back into formation outside edges of the enemy formation. “All ships will continuously fire their forward disruptors as you move forward together. Use your rear disruptors to fire at any ships or missiles that move in behind you. Talel gave the fleets time for individual ships to move apart so that there were no gaps in their disruptor’s coverage but still slightly overlapped. The tight ranks of the oncoming enemy formation was now surrounded by a huge globe composed of billions of evenly spaced Alliance Warships. Talel stared at the formation and said, “Commence attack now!”

The huge sphere of Alliance Warships began moving forward and the destruction was incredible. Soon, there was no way for the Alliance Warships to get through the massive void disruption that surround the enemy ships in front of them. The massive disruption extended beyond scanner range and it completely enclosed the Legends’ Tools. The surviving enemy ships were trapped inside a massive disruption in the void and had no way to break out of it. They were completely surrounded and no matter which direction they tried to escape, the disruption threw them back into the center. Even turning off their stardrives would force their ships into the walls of the disruption and the ships would explode.

Talel shook his head. He quickly yelled, “All ships still in the void, move into normal space and attack any enemy ships you encounter!”

The Tools that were thrown out of the void by the massive disruptions in it couldn’t use their stardrives. The void under them was too disrupted for them to operate. They were trapped in normal space and now massive numbers of enemy ships came roaring out of the void and began attacking. The battle could have gone on for weeks but Talel saw a massive wave of silver colored ships moving toward him along a massive front. More than a billion Silver Ships rushed into the surviving enemy warships and washed over them. After it passed, there was nothing left behind it but a massive debris field.

“That was an incredible idea to lock those ships up inside a void disruption.”

“Actually, that was something that I didn’t anticipate, Piper. Besides, the disruption will eventually fade and they’ll be free.”

There was a long pause and Talel heard Piper say, “You don’t know very much about void disruptions, do you?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“With the power of the explosions that formed it, that disruption will be there six years from now. The crews on those ships will resort to cannibalism long before that disruption fades.”

“That’s a terrible way to die.”

“I don’t disagree and there’s nothing we can do about it now. They are beyond our help. I suspect that most of them will just crash their ships into the walls of the disruption eventually.”

Talel shook his head, “No warrior should have to face that.”

“You can’t blame yourself. How many ships did you lose before you walled them in?”

“More than a hundred thousand.”

“You saved more than ten times that number by doing it. Be thankful and move on.”

Talel lifted his communicator, “All ships return to their assigned positions. All ships return to their assigned positions.” Talel watched the massive number of fleets start disappearing as they skipped out. He remained just outside the giant disruption and said a prayer for the doomed sailors. They were forced to follow the will of their masters, who weren’t there to defend them when they needed it most. He looked at the disruption and shook his head, “May you find peace.” He activated the light drive and arrived at the Goran’s Capital an instant later. He went to the High Leader and begged for forgiveness for what he had inadvertently done to his enemies.

“You will carry this weight and know that it had to be done, Warrior. You saved your own and for that, you need not ask for forgiveness. It gladdens my heart to know that yours is not hard.”

Talel lowered his head and the High Leader blessed him.

• • •

Katy’s fleets came skipping in and she was finally able to relax. She had lost more than ten thousand ships but the attack had to be seen as a victory. She worked for a week getting the numbers rebalanced and sent them to be rearmed and provisioned. The next order left her speechless.

“You want me to do what?”

“Take your fleets into the void and I want it disrupted around our Solar System.”

“That will make it unusable for a years.”

“Katy, we no longer need it; we have the Light Drive.”

“But…”

“Katy, we have to meet them out from the planet and kill as many as possible. Where are our weapons most effective? Besides, you know we’ll disrupt it anyway fighting them as they approach. This will allow us to delay their arrival.”

Katy nodded and knew Michael was right. “I’ll send the Attackships into the void and detonate nuclear missiles.”

“Get it done quickly. The Legends will arrive shortly.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Jinks and Stoney entered Michael’s office and Michael rose to greet them, “It’s really good to see both of you; I can use your help.”

Jinks smiled and shook Michael’s hand, “You look so much like your father, Michael. How’s he doing?”

“He’s on a beach somewhere in Andromeda.”

Jinks’ brow furrowed, “He would be a much better choice to do this than me. I only followed his orders when I served.”

Stoney slapped him on the shoulder, “Now, who’s blowing smoke? You did much more than that and you know it.”

Jinks tilted his head, “Stoney, you’ve always been my best friend and you’ve picked me up when I needed it. But you know it was Chris that made the difference. Without him, we would have failed.” Stoney stared at Jinks and after a moment, sighed, and then nodded. Jinks looked at Michael, “How do you want to handle this?”

“I’m placing you in command of the Battle Pods. I originally thought you would have to take on the tools that the Legends were bringing with them but we’ve already met them and eliminated them.”

Jinks’ eyes widened, “How many?”

“About double or triple the size of the one you faced twenty years ago.” Jinks looked at Stoney and both of them shook their heads. “I discovered that the Legends coming here weren’t bringing their tools; they decided the trip was too long to have to wait on them. So your ships will be facing off against the Monster and Mini-monster warships.”

“I’ve heard about them. Do you have any footage on them?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Michael pressed his wrist unit and the monitor on the wall illuminated with the image of the giant black warship that was destroyed outside the Bullet Cluster.

“I don’t get a sense of how big it is just hanging in open space.”

Michael pressed a button on his WU and the view moved in closer and closer until Jinks saw a small ship on the hull. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes, it’s a Battle Pod.”

Jinks started shaking his head, “That ship is as large as a…”

Stoney said, “Moon.” Jinks nodded.

“And it’s just as fast as a Battle Pod in the void.”

Jinks looked at Michael, “Is that why you had the void disrupted around our Solar System?”

“That’s part of the reason. I want them to have to come at us at a much slower speed so we have time to reduce their numbers before they arrive at the planet.”

Jinks turned back to the monitor, “A Battle Pod won’t survive very long attacking that thing.”

“That’s not your target.” Michael changed the image and another black warship appeared on the monitor. “This is what we call the Mini-monster. It’s thirty miles long and uses the same disruptors as the Monster.”

Jinks stared at the image and moved closer to look closely at it. “There are gaps in the coverage.”

“Very good, Fleet Admiral. Your fleets of Battle Pods have been practicing moving through the gaps in the disruptor coverage to get close enough to the hull to launch a heavy round.”

Jinks looked at Michael, “And a heavy round is…?”

“A large explosive device with a dark energy ball on its nose to penetrate force fields and the thickest hulls. Once the dark energy burns out, the explosive inside it detonates.”

“Will a disruptor beam stop it?”

Michael shrugged, “Unfortunately, it will. They have to be fired extremely close to the target to maximize the chance that it will make it through to the hull.”

Jinks looked back at the image, “We’re going to lose a lot of good pilots doing this.” Michael sighed and nodded. “I realize the pilots have been working on hitting the gaps in that ship’s disruptor coverage, but those ships aren’t going to cooperate and simply fly a straight course for our target practice. Hitting those gaps with a madly gyrating warship is impossible at worse and difficult at best.”

“My scouts have sent images of the fleets coming here and it appears they are organized with a thousand of the Mini-monsters surrounding each Monster. There’s good and bad news with this formation.”

Jinks nodded, “They won’t be able to use radical maneuvers in a formation like that but it is going to be next to impossible to get at the Monster.”

Michael nodded, “That’s how I see it, too.” Michael turned to Stoney, “I’m sending you to assist Audrey in organizing the planet’s defenses. We now have a hundred and twenty eight defense satellites above the planet. We’ve place two of them in the Northern Hemisphere and two on the Southern Hemisphere on top of every longitude.”

“I’ve been looking at their armaments on my way here. I’ll see if I can do something to help her.”

Michael walked over to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out two black headbands, “Both of you will need to start wearing these pretty much twenty four hours a day until this is over.”

Jinks looked at the band Michael was holding out to him, “Why?”

Michel shrugged, “This band will block your thoughts and any outside thoughts from entering your brains. The Legends are bringing a telepathic species with them that can suck your brain out faster than you can imagine. We have a thought blocker pattern built into the force field that we believe will protect the people on the surface but you are going to be outside the force field.” Michael held it out and Jinks took it. He handed the other to Stoney, “You’re probably going to be safe inside the force field but you’re going to be much closer to that species than the populations on the surface. We don’t want to take any chances.” Stoney took it and immediately put it on his head.”

Jinks saw him do it and shook his head as he put his on his head, “Always the over achiever.” Stoney shrugged and smiled. “When do I see my fleets?”

“They’re at Eden getting ready for the battle. You can go and meet them there.”

Jinks shook his head, “How? The barrier and the void are disrupted.”

“I’ve had your old pod brought in and Jester is being transferred into one of our Attackships. All Flag Officers will be in them during the coming conflict. We can’t afford losing any of you. All of our warships have been fitted with the new Light Drive.”

“I know nothing about flying that new ship!”

“Jester will handle that and the Weapons Computer will fight the ship. You will have a simulator on board that you can work on during whatever spare time you have but trust your computers to keep you out of trouble. Your job is to lead them from a safe distance.”

“What about you?”

“I have to do the same.”

They heard the door to Michael’s office open and they saw Jinks Junior walk in, “Hey, Dad, it’s good to have you around.” Jinks hugged his son and smiled, “I’m shipping out to Eden. You’re looking good, Son.”

“Thanks, I come from good stock.”

“I’m proud of you, Son.” JJ nodded and Jinks looked at Michael, “I’ll contact you as soon as I arrive at Eden.” Michael nodded and watched the three leave his office.

Michael went to his chair, thought about the team his father had during the last war and knew they were really something special. He sighed and thought, “Hensel.”

“Uhhh, hello Commander.”

“Are you busy?”

“I’m helping Mom wash clothes. I think she really misses going to work.”

“Are you able to see where the Legend forces are?”

“I can’t actually see their ships but I can locate their thoughts.”

“How long will it be before they arrive?”

“They’ll arrive here first; they left early because they had a longer trip. They should be here in three days. The ships going to M-87 will arrive a day later.”

“Will the ships going to M-87 run across the debris of their tools before the ships arrive here?”

“I’m not sure. It will be close to the same time.”

“Hensel, can you hear the thoughts of the Legend Ships trapped in the disruption?”

“I can but I’ve blocked them. Their suffering is too much to bear.”

“Thanks, Hensel.”

“Glad to help.”

The contact ended and Michael was surprised at how much older he sounded. How did that happen?

Hensel smiled. His parents had removed their objection to his looking around and he had learned so much in a short period and he continued to absorb tremendous amounts of information from the greatest minds on the planet. He started folding clothes as he looked in Audrey Stone’s mind. Now here was a treasure trove! He looked at his mother and didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was going to have a daughter; he could already hear her. She’d find out soon enough. He focused on Audrey and smiled.

• • •

“Katy, Jinks, Audrey, the Legends will be here in three days! Start moving your fleets into position. Wrap up your training and follow the plan.” Michael pressed his panel and Talel appeared, “The Legends will arrive in about three or four days. You should start getting your forces in position.”

“Let me know if you need me to send your forces back to aid your defense.”

“I will.”

Michael leaned back and pressed another button. Jan appeared on his display, “You should get moving. We’re expecting company in three days.”

“I’ll say goodbye to the children and see you in the morning.”

“That would be good.”

• • •

The Senior Legend saw the distant speck of light shining dimly in the void. The voyage was too long and it was impatient to get it done. He had chosen to go to this galaxy to avoid the battle at the ball galaxy. He was not going to take a risk if he could avoid it. The other Legends knew he was showing his cowardice but they respected his resourcefulness in coming up with the plausible escape.

He would waste time in the Spiral Galaxy until conditions became clear at the giant galaxy. The distant light grew larger and he ordered his fleet into normal space just outside the galaxy’s edge. He looked at the map the deceased Legends sent before they died and saw the planet he was looking for was on the opposite side of the galaxy from his line of approach. Can’t anything ever be easy?! He moved his fleet back into the void and skipped over the top of the galaxy and emerged into normal space above the planet’s location. He saw the flashing blue light on the map and looked at the spiral arm below him. He thought, “Lock in the coordinates of the star flashing on my panel and send it to all ships.”

“It is done, Great Leader.”

“On my command, we will jump in to that star and arrive half a million miles out from the third planet. JUMP!” The giant fleet of midnight black warships disappeared from normal space, jumped toward the distant star and were slammed out of the void into normal space just outside the edge of the star’s planets. “WHAT’S GOING ON!?”

“Great Leader, the void around this star has been disrupted. The only way to go to the third planet is to go through normal space.”

He stared at the tiny speck of light in the distance, “How long will it take us to arrive at our fastest speed?”

“Five days.”

“What?”

“Great Leader, it will take a tremendous push in normal space to get our ships up to one quarter of light speed and then we will have to slow. Our large mass works against us in normal space.”

The Legend decided that there was no way he was going to move in without a means of making a fast escape. He started to order the fleet to the ball galaxy when he heard, “ELDER, ALL OF OUR TOOLS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!!”

“WHAT!! NOT ALL OF THEM?”

“Yes, Elder. The vast majority are locked up in a giant disruption. But there is a debris field in normal space that extends for more than a million light years.”

“Those idiots must have allowed themselves to get surrounded! Continue with the attack.”

“Will you be coming here to join us?”

“No, I’m going to attack this planet.”

“Yes Elder.”

The Elder Legend did not like this at all. He could choose his poison and going after one planet seemed to be the less dangerous of the two options. One thing was certain, the forces in that ball galaxy were strong enough to destroy the billions of tools. “How many Warships do you see in this system?”

“None.”

“That’s very odd.”

“There is a force field around the third planet and there appears to be some kind of objects in orbit above the planet.”

The Elder nodded and heard the Telepath say, “You were right. There is a presence here.”

The Elder felt his instant fear threaten to take him, “Do you sense those white high energy beings?”

“No, but I can hear thoughts dimly from the planet and according to your records, you destroyed that planet. It appears it wasn’t killed like you thought.”

“You will take the fleets in and attack that planet.”

“WHAT?”

“You heard me!”

“What are you going to do?”

“I will remain at the edge of this disruption with my personal bodyguard.”

“Your ships might be needed!”

“You’re the one that insisted we had built far more than would be needed and you lobbied for your species to command them. You also suggested I stay out of the fighting and observe what happens. I gave you what you wanted, so go and carry out my orders!”

The Telepath almost consumed the Legend but remembered the member of his species that had begged to die after consuming a Legend. Its suffering could be felt by all and the Legends refused to kill it. They waited for them to come and end its pain. It knew it had no choice. He ordered the massive fleet to go to maximum speed and the ships headed toward the distant star. The Elder waited with his three hundred Monsters and their escorts at the edge of the solar system.

Chapter Twenty

Jinks watched his visor and saw the huge Legend Fleet start forward. He still had time before he would attack. His responsibility was to reduce the number of Mini’s so the Attackships could get at the Monsters. The probes surrounding the giant Legends’ Fleet’s route into the Solar System began recording their light reflections and sending them out to the Battle Pods. The Battle Pods received the probe’s transmissions and locked in three codes each and waited in formation outside the edge of the Galaxy, where they had skipped to from Eden. This is where the Pods would escape to if they were in serious danger. Jinks looked out as the massive number of Battle Pods formed up in ranks according to their planets. The Welken, Myot, and Johan were side by side to the right. He glanced to the left and saw the ships from Earth and Eden in formation to the left. The Silver Ships were with Katy and the Attackships. They would go in when the Legends arrived at the planet. He shook his head and hoped the Battle Pod’s initial strike was going to work. Once it was done, things would get…difficult.

• • •

Ten thousand Monsters moved forward as a thousand Min-monsters formed up around each of them. The giant circular formation was more than three million miles in diameter. The giant warships flew inside their escorts and the millions of ships were tightly packed. The escorts around the central core of Monsters were formed up in five layers above each Monster; getting at the center of the formation through the Mini-monsters was impossible. The Mini’s would have to be removed first.

• • •

The Legend Fleet moved close to the orbit of Jupiter and Jinks lifted his communicator, “Pay attention, this is important. All of you have been given the light codes for three ships each as your primary targets along with two additional ships. You will skip in and fire on three ships and skip out. Notice I said three! They will start reacting after two and will be firing as you attack your third. Three ships only!” Jinks hoped the pilots listened. Many of the young pilots felt ten feet tall and indestructible. That could get them killed. “On my mark…three, two, one, MARK!” The eight hundred thousand Battle Pods disappeared in an instant. Jinks started counting off the seconds.

• • •

Chuck Bear pressed the blue button on his steering wheel and immediately pressed the orange button. He felt his pod jerk slightly and he pressed the blue button again, pressed the orange button, felt the jerk and pressed the blue button again and saw the ship under him start firing its huge disruptors as he pressed the orange button. He immediately squeezed the trigger under his right little finger and his ship disappeared as three disruptor beams flashed through the space he just occupied. One of them managed to graze his force field for a tenth of a second just before he disappeared and he looked at his force field status as he appeared outside the edge of the galaxy. It was down thirty percent.

• • •

Jeanette Burns killed her third ship and was so excited she pressed the blue button and not the pinky trigger. She pressed the orange button and pulled the pinky trigger as five huge disruptor beams hit her ship. She emerged outside the galaxy but the silver coating on her pod was melted and scorched. Her Squadron Commander yelled at her and she said, “I messed up and pushed the wrong button.”

“YOU’RE OUT OF THIS! Standby until given further instructions.”

“I’m sorry, Sir.”

“We need you and now you’re no help.”

• • •

Jinks looked at his visor and pulled up the long view. There was a giant debris field behind the advancing Legend Ships and the entire outer layer of Mini-monsters around was gone. The remaining Mini-monsters were firing randomly into the space around the advancing formation and, after an hour, ceased firing. He said, “Tactical.” The view on his visor changed and he saw the ships that the probes had light coded in the enemy formation. “Prioritize the outer layer.” He watched the codes turn from red to green. All the ships in the outer layer were targeted.” He said, “Ship loss?”

He read the columns and saw that thirty two thousand ships were either destroyed or too damaged to continue the fight. He was highly impressed with the heavy rounds. If they hit an enemy ship, it died. He toggled his communicator, “You have your next target, on my mark, you will attack that target only! Three, two, one, MARK!”

• • •

Chuck learned something during the first attack. The button that fired the heavy rounds was slower than the light drive. He decided to try an experiment. He placed his index finger on the blue button, his middle finger on the orange button, and pressed them simultaneously. He immediately pulled the pinky trigger. He pulled up the code of the ship he attacked and saw it was missing from the list. Holy… He pressed his communicator and said, “SIR!”

“What is it fuzzy?”

“I just tried something and it worked.”

“What is that?”

Chuck told him and his commander linked him in to Jinks. Jinks listened to the pilot and said, “Standby and tell your brothers and sisters what you just learned.” Jinks linked Chuck into the main frequency and he told the surviving pilots what he did.

“Do you mean you pulled the escape trigger immediately after you pressed the two buttons?”

“Yes.”

Jinks broke in and said, “We’re going to get creative this time. I’m reasonably certain that the outer layer of ships will not stop firing their disruptors after what just happened. The probes have detected there’s about a mile between the layers of Mini’s; I’m having the probes send you the light code of the ships in the layer just inside the outer layer. I don’t think they will open fire with their own ships above them so I’m giving each of you two codes. I suggest you follow Captain Bear’s advice but press the two buttons simultaneously twice followed by a faster trigger pull on the second push. Stand by for your codes.” Jinks watched the Ship Status screen on his visor and saw the all the red codes turn green. “One more time; on my mark, three, two, one, MARK!”

He switched his visor to tactical and the images from the probes were fed directly to his visor. The massive explosion that ripped out of the Legends’ formation was really something to see in full color. Hundreds of ships in the outer layer around the Monsters were hit by the massive debris of the exploded ships in the third layer as the formation flew past them. Jinks said, “Ship Loss.” He looked at the column and saw that another four thousand ships had been lost. But more than a million Legend Warships were destroyed. Bear’s pattern worked.

• • •

Jinks thought about what the Commander of the Legend Fleet must be thinking after the last attack. He smiled and issued orders to the probes. It took more than an hour to gather the light codes but finally, every ship had one glowing on their panel.

Jinks smiled and said, “Now this is going to be tricky. I don’t know how the computer prioritizes your inputs but I’m going to assume that the escape button won’t function as long as you’re at the place where it would take you. You now all have a code of a ship in the innermost layer. On my mark, you will push the blue button and pull the escape trigger at the exact same moment. Forget the orange button. Forget about everything except those two buttons, if you take the time to fire, you’re dead.”

• • •

The Telepath was in a rage, “WHERE ARE THOSE SHIPS COMING FROM?”

“Commander, we’ve detonated explosions in the narrow band above the void and the void is disrupted. There is no possible way for them to be doing this!”

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD STEP OUT THERE AND TELL THEM!”

The Weapons Controller said, “Commander.” The telepath looked at him with a snarl showing his fangs. “Those ships just jumped between two layers of our ships. What if they can jump inside the inner layer?”

The Telepath’s eyes flew wide open and he yelled, “RELEASE THE DISRUPTORS!”

The navigator said, “But our ships…”

The Telepath consumed his brain in an instant. The Navigator fell out of its chair and the Telepath looked at the Second-Navigator, “NEVER QUESTION MY ORDERS!!” The Navigator lowered its head and focused on its monitor.

• • •

“Michael, what is Admiral Jekins doing?”

Michael smiled, “He’s a genius. Watch this.”

• • •

“On my mark, remember, simultaneously; three, two, one, MARK!”

Jinks watched the hundreds of thousands of Battle Pods all disappear and suddenly reappear. It happened so fast, it was difficult to see they had skipped. It was little more than a flicker. But the computers that directed the giant disruptors on the Monsters could detect that flicker and they opened fire with hundreds of thousands of massive barrages into the ranks of the Mini-monsters flying in formation around them. The core of the giant Legend formation continued moving toward the third planet but the millions of ships around that core were decimated. Less than seven thousand Mini’s survived the barrage and half of them suffered sufficient damage to be useless.

• • •

The Elder Legend screamed, “YOU IMBECILE. YOU JUST DESTROYED ALL YOUR ESCORTS!”

“Those enemy ships skipped inside the inner layer. Would you rather I allow them to destroy our major ships?” The Elder Legend realized he was not safe from those ships. He turned and fled with his personal fleet of ships. The Telepath sneered at the image of the fleeting Elder. How could his species ever allow themselves to be allied to these sniveling cowards? What to do now? He was inside the orbit of the fourth planet and the third was less than ten hours away. He had no doubt that he could turn and run and endure the continued attacks of those small ships if he continuously fired the disruptors. But then he would have wasted the millions of Mini’s. “Order all disruptors to fire continuously and continue toward the planet.”

“Yes, Commander.”

• • •

“Admiral Jekins.”

“Yes Sir.”

“You’ve completed your mission. Your ships aren’t going to be able to stand up to the Monsters. Take your ships and report in to Talel in M-87 and offer your assistance.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Jinks.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s been my pleasure, Michael.” The hundreds of thousands of Battle Pods remained in place briefly and then disappeared.

Michael looked at his visor and said, “Katy, it’s ShowTime.”

“Waiting on Audrey’s command to launch, Sir.”

Jan looked at Michael, “Why are they letting them get so close to Earth?”

“That’s how I’d do it. They can’t run if they’re penned in between the planet and the fleets. This time there will be no quarter.”

“And there was before?”

“Well, maybe you’re right.”

• • •

The ten thousand Monsters roared toward Earth and just as they arrived in orbit above the force field, a hundred of them exploded. The Telepath looked at his scanner, “How were those ships killed?”

“A different ship moved in close to their hulls and fired some kind of missile!”

“Order all ships to start firing across each other. I want every disruptor fired to create a crossfire covering every ship from anything moving toward them.”

• • •

Admiral Jacobs looked at the devastating crossfire and pressed his communicator, “Admiral Greenwall, we’ve got to do something to break up the crossfire to get my ships in.”

Katy said, “Stand by!” Katy pressed her panel, “Admiral, we need to do something to break up the crossfire. Admiral Jacob’s ships can’t get through it to their hulls.”

“Give us a few more minutes. Have him hold off until we open fire.”

Katy sighed and saw the ten thousand Monsters form up above Earth and prepare to open fire.

Audrey looked at Stoney, “We can’t wait!”

“Give it a minute. We can’t let this opportunity get away. The other fifty satellites will be in position in thirty seconds.”

Audrey pressed her panel, “Katy, rush them and break away!”

The ten thousand Monsters prepared to fire on the planet but were suddenly distracted by more than a million silver colored warships that flashed in, fired, and withdrew. The Commander felt fear when they appeared but after a few moments saw their beams weren’t making it through his disruptor’s beams. He turned back to order his ships to fire on the planet under the force field and saw huge numbers of giant satellites that weren’t there a moment earlier.

• • •

Stoney nodded and Audrey pressed the red button on her console. Each defense satellite was a giant more than three miles long. All of them had loaded their missile tubes with the Heavy Missiles and the huge weapons rested on their magnetic rails. When Audrey pressed the button on her panel, every missile accelerated out of its tube at an incredible velocity. Every Monster was targeted with a missile and as the missiles left their tubes, another one rolled off the rack, into the tube, and launched less than a second later. The disruptors on the Monsters facing the planet were not firing. The sensors detected the incoming missiles and the giant disruptors swiveled to fire but the missiles were too close. The satellites were only two miles away from the Monsters and the missiles hit before the disruptors could swivel to target them.

Audrey looked at Stoney, “I hope this force field is as good as it’s been advertised.” Stoney didn’t have time to respond before the force field went dark from the violent blast just outside it. It started to brighten but then another blast darkened it to pitch black.

• • •

Katy watched the blast as the shockwave rolled out at her ships. “SKIP OUT!” The massive fleet of Attackships disappeared and Katy watched the event on her visor as the probes recorded the shockwave rolling toward them until they melted and their feeds ended. Katy switched her visor to a probe above the planet and saw the shockwave was going to be blocked by the curvature of the force field. The atomic fire above Earth was too brilliant to look at directly and the probe’s filters had to darken to allow the explosions to be seen. Katy looked at the shockwave moving away from Earth and said, “What have we here? Omny, do you see that?”

“I’m on it, Sir.”

• • •

The Telepath saw the hundred satellites under his ships and knew he had been led into an ambush. He hit his panel instantly and the huge ship blasted out of formation at full power. It began accelerating at a prodigious pace and was fifty miles away when the first explosion went up. It was now fleeing just ahead of the shockwave and picking up speed. In a matter of moments, it was leaving the destructive wave behind as it accelerated at its highest speed.

Omny skipped out to the Asteroid Belt with five ships and waited for the Monster to arrive where he could scan it with his light scanner. He watched it on his visor and saw a code appear in the top right corner. He sent the code and said, “Captain Anderson, will you do the honors?”

“Yes Sir.” Ken looked at the code and locked it into his Light Drive. The Light Scanners used by the Attackships focused on the disruptor towers and locked in the frequency of only one tower. Ken pressed the blue button and the drive waited until the targeted disruptor stopped firing to recharge. In an instant, the attack ship was just above the top of the disruptor and ten feet inside it. Ken dropped the ship as the disruptor swiveled and fired where it had been a moment before. Ken pressed the orange button and pulled the escape trigger.

• • •

The Telepath saw the silver colored ship on his monitor and started to order it fired on but saw it was a waste of time as the small silver colored ship disappeared. It felt the giant warship shudder as the heavy round blew through the hull and it shook its head. It knew his species had finally encountered a civilization that represented a real danger. It closed its eyes as the world around it went up in flames.

• • •

Katy saw the Monster explode and shook her head, “Well that wasn’t very much fun. All these years of training for this?”

“Admiral Greenwall. Be careful what you ask for; take your fleet and report to Talel in M-87. He needs your help now!”

“Yes Sir.”

Michael watched the huge fleet of Attackships hanging in space a moment and then it was gone. Jan walked across the bridge and sat on his lap, “Please don’t tell me you expected it to be this easy.”

“I didn’t. I expected it to be much worse.”

“But this was easy. Our losses were nowhere near as bad as I thought they would be.”

“It wasn’t easy because of our technology, Jan.”

“Sure it was.”

Michael shook his head, “Think about it. What if our ships didn’t discover they could move between the layers of the Mini-monsters? What would have happened? And what if Stoney hadn’t forced Audrey to wait until all the satellites were in place?” Jan stared at him and Michael shook his head, “It was people who did this. The technologies weren’t that different. Jinks and Stoney made the difference along with that pattern one of our pilots discovered.”

Michael looked at Earth and saw the atomic fire above the planet was still burning the debris field. He sighed and tilted his head, “My father had a team around him who were incredible people. They’ve proven it again today. I suspect Jinks is proving it again in M87 as we speak.”

“You’re the one that put the plan together and chose the ones to lead it.”

“I know and this time I’ll be given all the praise and admiration. But make no doubt about it, it was those two old timers that won this. How many times did I have to intervene?” Jan stared at him and blinked. “It always comes down to the right person in the right place at the right time. That’s what won the day.”

“Are we going to M-87?”

“In a few minutes. I want Talel to do this without me.”

“Why?”

“You know why. Ready to go?”

Jan kissed him, stood up and went to her chair, “Lead the way. You know I’ll always be there with you.” Michael smiled and said, “Jay, are you ready to go?”

“That was some show! Lead the way, Commander.” Michael pressed the blue button.

Chapter Twenty-One

Michael arrived beside Talel’s ship, “Have I missed much?”

“I can use your help!”

“What’s going on?”

“We didn’t have the option of disrupting space around most of the important Audon Planets and the Legends have access to the void.”

“Why not?”

“Most of the ships here weren’t converted to Light Drives. If we disrupted space, I’d lose being able to use those ships in other places where they’re needed.”

“That’s something we’ll have to rectify later on.”

“I agree. Your Admiral Jekins divided his fleets up and sent them to the worse places and they are making a huge difference with the Mini’s.”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Talel. You had four times the number of warships come here. How are the Silver Ships doing against them?”

“I’ve not used them.”

“What are you waiting for!?”

Talel sighed, “I’m waiting for them to get us right where we want them.”

Michael looked at his visor and started paging through the tactical screens at each of the ten planets that were under attack. It didn’t look good.

• • •

Katy had Fifth and Eight Fleets in the fight around an Audon Planet and they were barely holding on. The thousands of Monsters were fighting their way in closer to the planet and she was directing her squadrons on specific fronts. Suddenly, a giant Monster emerged out of the void and opened fire from five miles away. Katy’s Attackship withstood the fire of a hundred disruptors but a hundred more fired an instant later and her Attackship blew up.

“WE’VE LOST ADMIRAL GREENWALL!”

Michael toggled his helmet’s communicator, “Admiral Jacobs, you are now in command of Fifth and Eighth Fleets.”

Scott Skipped in and took in what was happening. Admiral Greenwall’s death energized Fifth Fleet like nothing else possible. The pilots disregarded their own safety and tore into the Giant Legend Warships. They began exploding in massive numbers and the attack on the planet fell apart as the Monsters fled to another planet with Fifth and Eighth Fleets in hot pursuit. None of the Monsters made it out of the void to their next target. All of them left massive void disruptions where they died and the survivors of Fifth and Eighth Fleets joined First and Tenth Fleets at the Audon’s major ship building planet. Katy’s death passed through the fleets of Attack Ships and the killing took on a frenzy that was uncontrollable. Orders were issued but were ignored by the Attackships as they tore into the Monsters. Talel and Michael watched the battle and soon all the Monsters in M-87 came roaring in to join in the attack. Every Attackship arrived right behind them as the Monsters fought to get to the planet.

Talel toggled his communicator and said “NOW! All Attackships, skip out to your point of origin. Skip out now.”

None of them were listening. Michael toggled his communicator, “THIS IS FIRST COMMANDER STONE! YOU WILL FOLLOW YOUR ORDERS! SKIP OUT NOW!! DON’T DISHONOR KATY THIS WAY!”

The fighting continued for a few moments and then every Attackship disappeared. The millions of Monsters saw all the enemy ships around them disappear and wondered what was happening. They only wondered for a moment as a billion Silver Ships blew into their formations. The Monsters fought hard but the Silver Ships were so fast they could fly between the disruptor beams without being hit. Their thicker hulls allowed them to withstand a hundred simultaneous hits and most of them weren’t being hit more than five times.

Michael smiled, “I guess they got you right where you wanted them.”

Talel nodded and said, “Thank you.”

“They’ll listen next time, Talel.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“If you say so. Would you mind if I issue an order to the Attackships.”

Talel’s head tilted, “Go right ahead.”

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to do this but it appears the opportunity has presented itself.” Michael toggled his communicator, “Attention all Attackships. You were all given a coordinate in the Pandora Cluster before the battle and you will skip to those locations and await the arrival of the Legends that are fleeing. Let them know we don’t appreciate their coming here uninvited. Organize into formations when you arrive at your assigned coordinate.”

Talel looked at Michael on his panel, “Where are they going?”

“I’ve assigned a fleet to each of their planets.”

Talel smiled, “I guess this is your way of getting them right where you want them?”

“Something like that and I’m hoping they stay true to their character. The closest ten Legends’ Galaxies have three fleets assigned to them.”

Talel thought about it and started laughing.

• • •

The first six Legends to arrive in their galaxies died screaming that enemy ships were waiting at their planets. The Senior Elder arrived ahead of the others and was the first to die. The other Legends panicked, turned their fleets, and fled out of the Pandora Cluster toward their home galaxy in the Bullet Cluster. Twenty five hundred galaxies in the Pandora Cluster found that they were now free of the Legends and civil war erupted in many of them. But others rejoiced and came together to make a civilization that would embrace peace. They vowed to never be slaves again.

• • •

The Alliance celebrated the victory and the heroes of the war. The Fleet Academy was named Greenwall Academy and a statue of Katy standing and looking up at the stars was erected in the park at the Academy’s entrance. A plaque on it read, “Beloved Admiral, Who Set the Example of Whom We Should All Strive to Be!”

Jan stared at the statue as it was uncovered during the ceremony honoring her and cried, “She never found her true love.”

Michael smiled, “Yes she did.” Jan’s tears flowed as she looked at him. “She loved Fifth Fleet and they loved her more than any one man could ever do.” Jan went into his arms and wept.

• • •

Three months later, all the Alliance Leaders met in the Goran High Chamber and Michael stood up to address them. The mood was festive and for the first time in decades the Alliance was at peace. The room was full of all the Fleet Leaders, the scientists who had made the victory possible and special guests that played a special role in the victory. Lukas and Salud were present and the only ones missing were Chris and Allison.

The room grew silent and Michael smiled, “We’re here to celebrate the fruits of our hard work as well as the sacrifice of too many to count. However, before we start, there are some things that must be done.” Everyone stared at him and the mood suddenly changed. What was going on? “Effective today, I am resigning my Command and recommend that you select Talel to replace me.” The uproar was immediate and Talel was the one objecting the most. Michael looked at Jan and saw her smile and nod. He waited until the room grew silent and several of the Alliance Leaders were standing to be recognized. Michael looked at them, “Hear me out and then you may say what’s on your minds.” The leaders looked at each other and then slowly sat down.

Michal smiled again and said, “This victory is not the end game. The Legends may not be the threat they once were but there is a species of telepaths that was working with them that is actually more extensive than the Legends. They know about us now and I have no doubt that we will see them again in the future. That may be in the distant future but I know they are coming. What normally happens after a long period of peace is a civilization stops planning for war. No matter how hard the leaders try, after many years of peace their civilizations lose the zeal for fighting. They embrace peace and start to enjoy their existence. All of us need look no further than our histories for you to know I’m right. The first thing we’ll do is stop wearing our thought blockers and soon the force field will fall into disrepair. New technology and warships will also fall by the wayside. We have to have leadership that will not allow that to happen.”

Michael looked at the Goran High Leader, “When the Telepaths come back, what species will be their first and primary target?” Every Leader in the room looked at the Goran and he nodded, “They will attack my planets first.”

“Does that frighten you?”

“More than you know.”

“That’s why your species must lead us into the future. You cannot allow us to forget that fear! Fear is what will prevent us from losing what allowed us to survive. That’s why Talel must take command and drive us to be what will be needed against them. I have no doubt that this species has others like the Legends they use to attack their targets. I suspect they may be worse than the Legends.”

Michael looked at the Leaders, “If you knew your species was going to be the first target, you would insist that the others listen to your fears. You should recognize that and see that I’m right.”

The Welken Royal shook his head, “But it’s been your species that has made this victory possible.”

“Talel won in M-87 against a force four times larger than I faced at Earth. It’s time we recognized that we are a family and humans will not stop supporting this effort. My bodyguards will now protect Talel just as they defended me and I truly think that over time our societies will become closer. All of us have a part to play in defending us and the Goran will not lose the drive to keep moving us forward. I can promise you that humans will not let the Goran down.”

Talel said, “I am not capable of doing this.”

The Goran High Leader said where all could hear, “YES YOU ARE!” Talel looked at him and the High Leader smiled, “You are the best of us. If not you, then who?” Talel stared at him and then lowered his head.

Michael looked at the Leaders, “You know I’m right. You can feel it in your gut. Do you still want to protest this?” The Leaders looked at each other and after a moment they leaned back in their chairs. “Good. Congratulations, Talel. If you need advice, I’ll be glad to suggest that you do what your heart tells you. But for the rest of the day, we are going to celebrate.” The room erupted in cheers and Jan rushed up into Michael’s arms. Talel looked at Michael and, after a moment, nodded. Michael smiled and nodded back.

Jan hugged him and said, “What now?”

“There’s still one issue.” Jan looked up at him and sighed. She nodded and hugged him tighter.

• • •

The beach was incredibly beautiful and Chris heard, “Do you mind if we join you?”

Chris and Allison jerked their heads around and Chris’s mouth fell open, “How did you find us!? We’re wearing thought blockers.”

“I know a certain telepath that pretty much ignores thought blockers.”

“You shouldn’t be here, Michael.”

Michael pulled up two chairs and sighed, “I’m no longer the First Commander; I resigned a week ago.”

“Why for God’s sake? The Alliance needs you.”

“They could have used you recently but you didn’t show up. You’ve been hiding something from me and now is time for us to clear the air.” Chris’s mouth turned grim and Michael smiled gently, “If after you tell me it requires me to avoid everyone, then so be it. However, Mom is gone and you’re the only Father I have. I will not live the rest of my life without you and Allison in it.”

Chris stared at his son and looked at Allison, who blew out a breath and nodded. “Pull up some chairs.” Michael pulled up two chairs and turned to face his father. “I came to a realization during the first war in M-87 that things were happening that were impossible.”

“What do you mean by impossible?”

“The timing was impossible.” Michael and Jan listened to Chris and Allison for an hour and began adding other events to their list. After another hour, they understood.

Jan said, “This is scary stuff.” Chris nodded. “If these pushers were doing this to make sure we defeated the Legends, shouldn’t it be ok for you to stop hiding?”

“We call them Nudges. And that’s what we thought but the closest thing we had to a direct order from them happened when we talked about going back to the Alliance. We were both overwhelmed with fear at the same moment when Allison suggested it.”

Michael sighed and said, “Hensel, please tell me you’re not listening to this.”

“How did you know?”

“You’re right about being worse than your mother.”

“The ones you’re talking about are listening to you.”

“You can see them?”

“I can.”

Chris looked up, “Is that a good thing?”

“They know there’s nothing they can do about it. I’m a product of their nudges.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed and Chris said, “I remember everyone telling your parents when they asked the High Leader if they could be mated saying they should have done it sooner.”

“My parents are the two most powerful telepaths in Goran Society. I’m a logical product of their union. The Nudges knew that I would be able to see them but needed me to be created. They’re also happy about my sister.”

Michael’s eyes opened wide, “Sister?”

“Mom doesn’t know it yet but she’s expecting another child. I can hear her.”

“So why are these beings…nudging us?”

“It’s the Vampires.” Everyone looked at each other and Hensel said, “Their species was almost exterminated by them thousands of years ago. Only a few managed to escape and remain hidden. If the Vampires learned some of them survived, they would bring all their forces to bear to find them. They have to remain behind the scenes to avoid being eradicated. The Vampires fear them.”

Michael shrugged, “Then, I guess we will all have to remain in hiding.”

“I can help you with that if you’re willing to allow me to erase some of your memories.”

“What?”

“Gorans can hide their thoughts by putting them inside a mental box and keeping it shut. I can’t put your memories in a box because your minds don’t have that capability, but I can remove them completely. That’s why I was invited to this meeting.”

Allison looked up, “You were invited?”

“I was.”

Allison shook her head, “What would you erase?”

“All the connections you made connecting the dots of the events that led you to learn you were being…nudged. I will also prevent you from being able to connect those dots later.”

“What about your mother?”

“I’ve removed the box and she didn’t notice it was gone.”

Chris looked at Allison, “This beach is beautiful but it’s not the one where I fell in love with you.”

Allison smiled and moved over to Chris’s chair. Michael looked up and said, “Hensel, will you make sure things move forward?”

“That’s why my sister and I exist. Your time is now done and they feel bad for the suffering your family has endured for keeping them secret.”

Michael smiled, “We’re going to take our ships to Earth and go to the beach. That would be a good place to start our lives moving forward.”

“I’ll be awaiting your arrival.”

The four stood up and hugged each other. The first two First Commanders were going home.

Epilogue

Hengel sat on his scout ship and looked at the distant Bullet Cluster and listened to the thoughts Shanghai intercepted. He needed to retire and stay home with Averel. He should turn this assignment over to the youngsters and spend the rest of his life with his mate and children. Suddenly, his eyes turned glassy as he reached and pulled a switch on his panel shutting down his computer.

“Ahhhhh, that’s good! It took some time to break the frequency of that thought blocking device you’re wearing. You shouldn’t have remained in one place so long.” Hengel was frozen and he could feel the Telepath freezing the nerves in his brain. He could do nothing to stop it.

“I should just consume you but you deserve a long slow death for all the trouble you’ve caused. I’m going to slowly rob you of all the things you love the most. The first thing I’m going to take is everything you remember about your mate. Sit back and enjoy your death!”

Suddenly, the Telepath grabbed both sides of his head and jumped out of his chair. The crew on the small ship looked at him and felt fear at his erratic behavior. The Telepath rushed across the bridge and tripped over a console and fell to the floor still holding his head. Hengel could see it all in his mind but no longer felt the cold in his brain. The Telepath fought his way to its feet and rushed to the armored wall and start pounding its head against it. A crewmember ran over to pull it away and the Telepath swept its arm across the crewman’s neck and its claws severed the head from the crewman’s body.

The Telepath began a long wailing scream as it heard, “I’m not going to be as generous. You will die now.” The Telepath emitted a long howling scream and smashed its head on the edge of a console at it threw its body to the floor. The head snapped back and its neck made a loud popping sound. The body hit the floor with the head resting on its back looking up at the ceiling with a grimace frozen on its face.

“WHO ARE YOU?!”

“I’m here to have a conversation between two rational beings but I needed to take care of a small issue first.”

“YOU WILL LEAVE NOW!”

“We need to talk first.” The entity sent a powerful devastating thought at the intruder and heard it laugh. This wasn’t possible. “Are you finished?”

“What do you want?”

“That’s a better tone. I simply want to have a rational discussion between two rational beings. Once we finish, I will leave.”

“What do you want to discuss?”

“I want to ask you a hypothetical question. If you discovered a species in a distant galaxy was building weapons of war to come and attack your species here, what would you do?”

“Ignore them. They would not represent a danger to me.”

“Since this is a hypothetical question, assume they could harm you. What would you do?”

There was a long pause and the Entity said, “It would require sending forces to remove the threat.”

“Are you sure?”

“That is the only logical answer given the conditions you stated in the question.”

“Some of your species are currently in your galaxy building warships and weapons to attack my galaxy. What should we do about this situation? Should we do as you just stated and come here and remove the threat?”

“Do you think you could do it?”

“They’re here!” The Entity was silent and then it heard, “The members of your species that are not taking part in their actions will be put in great danger due to their reckless behavior. I just thought you might want to think about that. You seem like a rational being.”

“They will be stopped and will not be allowed to leave.”

“Thank you. I was hoping the two of us could work out our differences without resorting to a show of force.”

“Are you the ones that forced them to come back?”

“Yes.”

“They will not come back to cause you problems.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what about that species of Telepaths that was assisting them?”

“They have been asked to leave. The one you just killed decided to kill one more time before it departed. It showed poor judgment and should have left.”

“You think? Anyway, thank you again and we will also respect your privacy and not send another ship here.”

“I suspect you don’t need them to see us.”

“Why thank you again for the compliment. Listen to me gushing thanks. Long life and health to you and your species.” There was a pause and the Entity heard, “I will know if they don’t keep the bargain we’ve made.”

The Entity felt the being disappear and felt huge fear. It knew the being was just a child. What was it going to be like as an adult? It ordered the ones that came back to be executed. It couldn’t risk their doing something really stupid.

• • •

“Dad, I’m sorry I interrupted.”

“Don’t be. You saved my life.”

“That’s why I did it.”

“I’m coming home Hensel. It’s time I gave your mother the time and love she deserves.”

“I’m not going to tell her. You should be the one that brings this joyous news.”

“I appreciate it.” Hengel activated the computer and pressed the blue button. The episode with the vampire was erased from his memory and he only remembered a routine scouting mission. He didn’t realize that it was Hensel who made him shutdown the computer. It was also unaware of what happened and no record existed.

Hensel heard his sister agree that shutting down the computer was an excellent idea. She was the one that sensed that Vampire stalking their Dad. She was going to be more talented than he. Oh well, he was used to being bossed around by his mother. He should be used to two doing it by the time she was born. She was already telling him he had better not let their mother know about their father coming home. He sighed and continued folding clothes.

The End

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

Prequel-Psychic Beginnings

Searching for a Hero

Dahlia’s Deception

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

Star Rover-The Worst of Time

Star Rover-Running Out of Time

Lens of Time-Chosen To Die

The Fight for Creation

Life Warrior

Scout Warrior

Ultimate Warrior

Star Chase

The Lost Prince

Nowhere to Run

Nowhere to Hide

Probe Predators

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

Exinction

Escape to Earth

Running From Fate

Fighting for Space

Defending Holy Ground

The Legacy of a Conqueror

Living Legends

Coming Soon

The Sequel Series to Escape to Earth
Defending Earth
Searching for Death Feeders

Also an audiobook at Audible.com

Love Conquers All

The Power of a Queen

A Rose Grows in weeds

Tommy’s Tale

Searcher

Demon’s Sacrifice

Finding Keepers

The Lost Prince

Copyright © 2015 by Saxon Andrew. All rights reserved. Screen Writers Guild no. VQEA3E380432.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.

First Electronic Edition: June 2015