Dahlia's Deception (The Annihilation Series) (11 page)

“And now?”

“There’s something going on that we’ve missed. We need to look at this to determine what it means.”

Scott turned to Sprigly, “I need you to find a means of killing the ships of the civilizations that has attacked us without losing ships to their beams.”

Sprigly leaned back, “Your Majesty, I’ve worked on this every moment since their attack and nothing I’ve come up with functions in the other Creation.”

“Then you will go and work on it there.”

“I’m sorry; there is no way to go there now.”

“Do you have a working lab in a small Algean Ship?”

“I have one in my personal ship, Your Majesty.”

Scott turned to Tag and Danielle, “I am not going to give up on coming up with a way to defeat them. You will continue your project but I’m sending Sprigly to see if he can develop what we need to meet their numbers. Perhaps we can go and stop them there if he’s successful.”

Scott turned to Sprigly, “You will give me your best effort.” Sprigly leaned forward, indicating he would. “You will also keep watch over Victoria, who is going with you.” Victoria jumped up and rushed over and threw herself into Scott’s arms. Scott held her tight and looked at Danielle, “You will notify me before you launch this project of yours so I can have her brought back here.”

Victoria leaned back, “I won’t leave him father.”

“Then you will teleport both of them to your ship and bring them back.” He looked at Victoria, “I’ll ask his forgiveness afterwards.” Victoria started to say something and Scott put a finger on her lips, “This is the only way I’ll agree to letting you go.”

Victoria saw he wasn’t going to bend any more. She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

Tag sighed, “I don’t know that they are going to welcome us back.”

Scott shrugged, “If I were in their place, I wouldn’t. However, Ping is there and I’m sure level minds will prevail. Besides, could they do any damage to your ship?” Tag shook his head. “Then take them and let me know what happens.”

Victoria smiled, “I need to pack a couple of bags.”

“Just a couple?”

“Dean will provide what I need.”

Tag looked at Sprigly, “We’ll take you to pick up your ship.”

Sprigly leaned forward, “May I please ask you some questions until we arrive?”

Danielle started laughing, “I know what several questions mean when dealing with an Algean. I’ll give you an hour.”

“That is a gift beyond my wildest dreams, Your Highness.” Danielle smiled and turned back to the discussion taking place between Tag and the King. After a few minutes, Scott excused himself and left to talk with Victoria before she left. He also wanted her mother to know what was going on. Remarkably, she supported the decision.

• • •

Danielle directed her thoughts so Sprigly couldn’t hear her, “Tag, what do you think about Sprigly’s comment?”

“You’ve pretty much convinced me that Creation’s Forces weren’t operating and we would have to take matters into our own hands.”

“Well, something had to be done. We were the ones that contacted the Cats and put the thought into their mind to search for the one sent to save them. Who would have thought they would find someone to fill the bill?” Danielle paused, “After the fact, we should have been suspicious when Ping showed up with psychic abilities.”

Tag shook his head, “No, not really. There are many scattered around the Realm with psychic skills. His weren’t that developed early on.”

“Yes, but you felt the wave when Nicole released him.”

Tag nodded, “I guess that should have been something to get our attention.”

“But the others weren’t convinced that really meant anything.”

“They’ve been wrong before.” Danielle shrugged.

Tag thought for a moment, “You put the thought in Ping’s mind that the one to lead the fight was located in the other Creation. The humans there would have never been found without that instruction.”

“I know; I was surprised when he found that woman. However, we needed the Realm’s military to go and see just how powerful the forces against them were.” Danielle stared at Tag, “What are the odds of Ping stumbling on to someone with predictive powers?”

They were silent for a moment and Tag looked at Danielle, “Is it possible we are tools of a plan and didn’t know it?”

“If there was any sort of plan, I would think the Cats would have heard about it first.”

“They’ve said they’ve been having difficulty communicating with those forces.” Tag paused, “And we are the first ones created. Is it possible the plans we’ve been working on are not our own?”

Danielle slowly shook her head, “We could spin ourselves into a circle and end up paralyzed, unable to make any decisions if we allow ourselves to follow this rationale. We will continue with our plan; we’ll see after it’s all over whether or not we were right.”

Tag tilted his head and shrugged. Danielle turned and said, “Sprigly, why don’t we start our conversation now.” Sprigly sprouted blooms and came rushing over to them. Vicky arrived an hour later and both Tag and Danielle had enjoyed the time with Sprigly so much, they had lost track of time.

T
he alarms went off in the control room and the staff rushed to their battle stations. Tess and Dean ran in just after Ping and Dahlia teleported in from the ship construction facilities. “The Blue Ship has returned, Your Highness. Do you want us to open fire?”

Dahlia yelled, “Hold your fire until given the order!” Tess looked at her with narrowed eyes, “They didn’t come to attack us.”

Tess’ eyes softened and she knew Dahlia was seldom wrong. “Open a channel.”

Dean looked at his panel, “It’s open.”

“Would you mind telling me why you’re returned to my planet?”

“We came for two reasons.”

“And they are?”

“We have been instructed by the King of the Stars Realm to make a delivery of two packages and we request the opportunity to speak with the Prince and his companion.”

Ping looked at Dahlia and she lifted a communicator, “Deliver the packages first.”

Dean stared at the display and wondered what kind of packages were being delivered. He brought the view in closer and said, “Their landing bay is opening and a ship is moving out of it.”

Ping moved forward and leaned in to see the display when Dahlia said, “Use your vision.” Ping hit his forehead with his palm and looked up.

“That is an Algean ship moving out of the landing bay.”

“Hello, Ping.”

“SPRIGLY, what are you doing here?”

“The King has ordered me to come here and assist you in whatever way I can against your enemies.”

Tess, Dean, and Dahlia looked at Ping and he said, “He can help us with the packaging of the Mites. He’s the best scientist in the Realm.”

Suddenly there was a shimmer, and Victoria appeared in the control room. Dean saw her and rushed at her so fast, Ping thought he was going to knock her down. Dean wrapped his arms around her and she leaned in and kissed him hard. They stayed locked in the kiss until Tess said, “Aaaahemmm.”

Dean broke the kiss and turned to Tess, “Victoria, this is my older sister Tess who runs the show around here. Tess this is Victoria, who I believe I’ve already told you about.”

Tess stared at Victoria and was impressed with her devastating beauty. Her black hair and bright blue eyes were amazing, “I can see why my brother was impressed with you.”

Victoria curtsied, “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Tess smiled, “You’re welcome; what exactly are you doing here?”

“I’ve come to be with Dean.”

Dahlia said, “And he allowed you to come here?”

“Not without some restrictions.”

“And they are?”

“The Gardners will come and pull me out before they take any action.” Dahlia looked at Ping and saw his brow furrowed. Victoria turned to Dean, “They have also been ordered to take you as well, whether or not you want to go.”

Dean’s eyebrows went down instantly, “Is that so?”

“It’s the only way he would allow me to come to you. I thought about not telling you but having secrets is not a good way to start a relationship.” She turned to Tess, “I was hoping that you would understand that saving him was worth doing. I told my father that I would not leave without him. This decision about taking Dean with me was something I couldn’t make him change his mind about.”

Tess stared at Victoria and knew where her heart was. This admission made it clear she could be trusted to be honest. Tess turned to Dean, “If it comes down to it, you will go with her.”

“I will not.”

“Do you want her to stay and die?” The question shocked Dean. He looked at Victoria and turned back to Tess not knowing what to say. “You will go with her to save her life. I believe her when she says she won’t go without you.”

Dean looked into Victoria’s eyes and saw her pain from forcing this on him. He took a breath and his shoulders came down as he forced himself to relax, “I have to make the same commitment to you that Ping made to my sister.”

Victoria’s head tilted, “What is that?”

“That I will defend you against all those that wish to do you harm. If having to run is demanded, then we will run…together.”

Victoria rushed back into his arms and Tess said, “Hey, hey, hey, we’re at battle stations here. Take a seat young lady and Dean get back to your duties.” The specialist sitting next to Dean stood up and offered his chair to Victoria. She went and sat down. Tess turned to Ping, “Are you going to talk with them?”

Ping turned to Dahlia, “What do you see?”

“They’re not here to force you to go back; if that were the case, they would have never brought Victoria and Sprigly. I think they’ve started thinking again and need us to clear some things up.”

Ping shrugged, “Let them know we’re willing to talk.”

Suddenly they disappeared and Tess sighed, “I guess they were listening in.”

• • •

Ping and Dahlia arrived on the Kosiev and saw Tag and Danielle sitting in their command chairs. There were two other chairs in front of theirs and Danielle smiled and said, “Why don’t you take a seat?”

Ping looked at Dahlia and she nodded. Tag said, “You take your cues from her.”

Ping smiled, “I do.”

Tag looked at Danielle and shrugged, “I pretty much do the same thing with my wife,”

“Not all the time.”

“I do when it really matters.”

“Come on, Tag; you know your opinion is the one that counts.” Dahlia burst out laughing. Danielle looked at her, “What do you find funny?”

“That is exactly how Ping and I work together. I tell him what I see and he decides what to do about it. I can stop him if I see him about to do something that would cause trouble; but that is basically how we do it.”

Tag said, “Ping, can you sense trouble coming?” Ping nodded. Tag turned to Danielle and tilted his head left before turning it back, “Tell them what we’ve done.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“I sense more danger if we don’t.”

Danielle looked at Dahlia, “That is when I listen to Tag. He weighs the danger of our actions and he sees what needs to be done. I hope you do that before either of you take any action.” Dahlia looked at Ping with concern on her face and he thought for a moment. Danielle said, “You’re planning something?”

Ping looked at them, “We’re modifying the Mites to fire the beams used on a Searcher.”

Tag said, “You’re going after their production planets.”

Dahlia was stunned, “You could see it with just that piece of information?”

Danielle smiled, “We’ve been doing this for thousands of years; it comes natural now.”

Ping looked at Tag, “Tell me what you see.”

“I’m more interested in what you see. I need to know if you’re really psychic.”

Ping stared at Tag and said, “I sense danger to our ships. However, I sense more danger not to do it.”

Tag looked at Danielle, “He nailed it.”

Ping said, “Do you know what the danger might be?”

“Yes.” Dahlia and Ping were surprised at his answer. “You know the Searcher’s beam takes some time to penetrate to the planet’s core and heat it.”

Ping slowly shook his head, “No, I didn’t. I’ve never seen the beam used to destroy a planet.”

“You would have found out as soon as you started trialing it.” Tag saw their expressions and shook his head, “You weren’t going to trial it?”

Ping shook his head, “No, Dahlia and I were going to destroy one of their planets and then determine the best way to make it work.”

Danielle saw Tag’s expression, “Don’t act like that, love. It’s just inexperience.”

Dahlia looked at the couple and was rapidly developing respect for them. “What would you do, Mr. Gardner?”

“Call me Tag. The danger to your ships will happen immediately after you kill the first planet.”

Ping thought for a moment, “They will have recorded the attack and notify all their forces to immediately fire on anything firing a beam at their planets.”

Tag nodded, “Very good. And even if they can’t see your ships, they can detect and fire on the place the beam is being fired in less time than the beam needs to heat the planet’s core. You’ll do massive damage at the site of the beam’s impact but the planet won’t be destroyed.”

Ping looked at Tag, “How would you do it?”

“First of all, I would never attack just one planet and give them warning of what to expect.”

Ping nodded, “Go on.”

“I believe your first attack has the best possibility to succeed. I would send every ship in my inventory to one of their production planets and synchronize their attacks to happen together. After that, your ships will have to wait for a good opportunity to take a shot.”

Danielle looked at Dahlia, “How many ships do you have?”

“Twenty thousand.”

Danielle looked at Tag, “There are some that are still in the Realm.”

Dahlia snorted, “A lot of good they’ll do us here.”

Danielle said, “If we ferried seventy thousand of them here, do you have the pilots to fly them?”

Dahlia did a double take, “We have three shifts for each of our Mites. That’s sixty thousand Pilots already trained.”

“That means you would have to train another thirty thousand.”