Dahlia's Deception (The Annihilation Series) (2 page)

The Rageon Ruler was at the end of his patience. He stared at the Master and lowered his head, “Will you allow me to take my ships there and conduct the search? I, too, will promise not to leave any of my ships there as well.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then why would I allow you to do it? Are you that egocentric?”

“We’ll keep our promise not to invade.”

“Just like you did the last time you invaded.”

The Beast Master knew the Rageon had scored with that comment and acting stupid would only reveal it was an act if he rejected it. He knew this was an issue that would not be resolved in any manner he was completely comfortable with. That came from dealing with an enemy with more powerful warships. Thank the stars he had more to even the odds. He decided to try another track, “Do you think this is worth doing?”

“I do.”

“Then how do you want to make it happen, if neither of us will allow the other to make the search alone? You would have to start from the beginning and we have already scanned the majority of the cluster.”

“Get real; you weren’t looking for an advanced civilization that might be hiding from your scans. You would have to start at the beginning as well.”

“That may be true but we know what planets could be eliminated.”

“Oh; and how would you do that?”

“We could eliminate all of those we landed on. They were searched very thoroughly.”

“And these attacks started after you left the cluster. What if the agency doing this went to one of those planets after you left?”

“Then tell me how we do this; you’ve rejected every offer I’ve made.”

“You have rejected mine as well.” The Rageon paused and then said, “We’ll pair up our ships and send them in to conduct the search.”

“I’ll need to send two of my ships for each of yours.”

The Rageon Ruler knew the huge creature was probably right; his ships were much more powerful than the Beast’s Black Ships. However, they weren’t twice as strong. “That won’t work either and you know it. You’re still trying to manipulate an advantage.” The Rageon Ruler thought for a moment and said, “What if we get one of the others to conduct the search?”

The Beast shook his huge head, “Are you crazy! Would you want them to have a blue print of that cluster to use later if they choose to invade?”

“They would have to come into the middle of our territories; we could certainly kick them out.”

“And what if one of us is so weakened in the future that we couldn’t offer a defense? No, if a search is going to be done, we need to do it.” The Beast thought for a moment, “We’ll do it with our scouts.”

“What!?!”

“Our scout vessels are evenly matched and neither side will have an advantage in strength. We’ll pair up our scouts and they will conduct the search.”

“What happens if the agency that has been killing our warships is actually located in that cluster and attacks our scouts?”

“Then we’ll lose some scouts. If they attack the entire fleet of them, then we know they’re located in that cluster. If they attack one or two, they’re probably trying to convince us they’re there when they’re located elsewhere. Losing a few scouts won’t be a huge loss to either of us and, if enough of them are destroyed, we’ll send a combined fleet to investigate.”

The Rageon Ruler didn’t like the compromise but didn’t have a better idea. The Beast wouldn’t be able to see anything his own scouts wouldn’t see… “We’ll do it your way. Where do you want to assemble the ships making the search?”

The Beast reached down and turned a dial. He looked at the coordinates of a probe outside the cluster and sent them to the Rageon Ruler, “That coordinate is located just outside the star cluster. We’ll send our ships there to pair up and start the search.”

“We’ll do it ten days from now.”

The Beast saw his monitor darken and shook his head. He decided that he would order his ships to stay away from the planet where the lethal virus    dangerous to his species was located. It would be best if that little bit of information wasn’t known; especially by a known enemy.

• • •

Dean looked at the main terminal in Hole One and listened to Tess delivering instructions to the main construction facilities under the North Polar Region. He leaned against the panel and an alarm started blaring. He jumped away from the panel and wondered how he had set off the alarm. He looked around and then looked up at his bank of displays. He silenced the alarm and saw everyone take their hands away from their ears, “We’ve got trouble!”

Tess came running over, “What’s going on?”

Dean stared at his panel, “It appears the Black Civilization and the Rageon are jumping in a huge number of their scouts just outside our star cluster.” Tess stared at the thousands of ships appearing in normal space and heard Dean say, “We knew this would eventually happen.” Dean looked up at Tess, “They’re looking for the location of the ships that have been attacking them.”

Ping and Dahlia teleported into the control room; both of them were holding their boots in their hands. Dean looked at them, “It looks like our cluster is going to be searched.”

Dahlia rushed up to a panel in front of the huge row of monitors, sat down in a chair, and started putting on her boots as she stared at the bank of displays. “They don’t trust each other enough to send warships.”

Tess pulled her eyes away from the display, “Why do you say that?”

“They each believe the other would use an investigation to take control of the cluster. Their warships are not equal in strength so they probably wouldn’t send their major battleships to work together. Scouts make the most sense, if they’re going to be forced to work together on this.”

Ping nodded and knew Dahlia was probably right; she saw the relationships between the two enemies instantly. This was more proof of her ability to see the truth.

He looked at Tess as she said, “Get the alarm out and move the planet to Operation Deception. Tell all the leaders that they need to be ready to move on an instant’s notice.”

Dean turned to his panel and Ping said, “Deception?”

“We’ve been constructing large holes under our major cities for the populations to move underground; we shipped enough supplies to support them for a month. The only ones remaining on the surface have been trained on their roles.”

“What roles?”

“We hope to convince the Black Ships that the virus they fear is still active and virulent. Those on the surface will put on a show of being sick. We’ve also put together some other sites to add to the deception.”

“What happens if they take longer than a month to conduct the search?”

“We won’t start moving them into the holes until their ships move close to our region in the cluster. The probes you gave us will notify us if anything changes and forces us to move earlier.”

Dahlia finished tying her boot strings and stood up stamping her feet, “I need to be out there in our ship keeping tabs on them.” Tess didn’t like hearing that and Dahlia saw it in her expression. “Sis, we’re going to have to shut down our scanners while they’re here. I need to see what they’re doing in order to make good decisions.”

Ping said, “She’s right…and I prefer to have her off the planet in the event of an attack.”

Tess looked back and forth between them and shook her head, “Are you certain about this? I suspect it’s much more dangerous out there than here.”

Dahlia slowly shook her head, “Tess…there aren’t any warships…only scouts. Our Mite could probably kill them all.”

Tess blew out a breath as she rolled her head and eyes, “Then get out of here. We’re closing down the entrance tubes to the military holes.”

Dahlia smiled, “That’s ok; we can teleport out any time we choose.”

Dean saw Tess’ frustration and smiled. His twin sister was becoming more assertive and, although her decisions were usually good ones, Tess didn’t like working around her. Tess just wasn’t accustomed to having anyone operate outside her direct control. She was just going to have to accept that Dahlia’s relationship with the Stars Realm’s Prince placed her in a special position. Dahlia looked at him and smiled. Dean knew she saw his expressions and knew what he was thinking.

Ping looked up at the ceiling and said, “We have two weeks before they arrive here.” Dahlia looked at Ping with raised eyebrows and he shrugged, “I know this is true.”

Dahlia turned to Tess, “Tell me what we can do to get things ready. We’ll leave three days before they arrive.”

Tess stared at Ping and then turned to Dahlia, “Do you actually trust what he’s saying?”

Dahlia looked at Ping with a small smile, “He doesn’t make many predictions, Tess…however, when he does, you can take them to the bank.”

Tess stared at them and said, “We’re still going to keep track of them with our probes. I can’t risk the planet on another’s guess.”

Ping shrugged again and Dahlia said, “It’s not a guess. However, we understand why you’re taking the precautions.” She glanced at Ping and saw him nod.

“The two of you need to make sure the Mites do not attack any of those scouts.”

Dean nodded, “I’ve already sent a message telling them to get out of the cluster and to stay away until they leave.” Dahlia looked at Ping and he lifted his left shoulder and tilted his head left. Good, he didn’t sense any danger from the decision.

She turned her head and looked back at Dean, “Make sure they keep their communicators active in the event we need to contact them.”

“They’ll go silent and only have them activated to receive.”

Tess nodded, “That would be good.” She turned and started speaking with the leaders that had called in wanting to know what was going on. They had to be ready when the time came to move.

Ping looked at Dahlia, “I’m going to our ship to see what’s going on elsewhere. I’m going to lock in your wrist unit and might teleport you on board if a situation calls for it.”

“I thought you said they won’t be here for two weeks?”

“They won’t; but how do you know the Black Civilization’s leader won’t decide to make a sneak attack to destroy this planet to prevent the Rageon from learning about the virus?”

Dahlia stared at Ping and he saw her mind working furiously, “He won’t do it.” Ping’s head lowered and she continued, “He had the opportunity before they sent their ships here. He missed it and now he wouldn’t dare send warships here now with the Rageon watching. He knows it would trigger a war.”

Ping thought for a moment and tilted his head, “You’re probably right; however, I’d feel more comfortable on the ship. I just can’t see the Beasts allowing them to see your planet.”

“Need some time to mope, do ya.” Ping rolled his eyes and disappeared. Dean shook his head and Dahlia said, “What?”

“When are you ever going to lighten up on him? He’s still grieving.”

Dahlia smiled, “Not until he comes back to the land of the living. He deserves my best effort.”

Dean stared at his sister and saw something in her eyes. She quickly looked away and he wasn’t sure what it was. But something was going on.

• • •

Ping sat on the Mite’s tiny bridge and wondered why he let Dahlia get under his skin so easily. She was sharp and didn’t miss an opportunity to needle him. She had to be extremely intelligent to do it so effectively. She was five feet two and a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet. Ping shook his head; a small body with a huge spirit…and big mouth to go with it. Dean had told him that Dahlia was a quiet person who stayed in the shadows never wanting to be noticed until he showed up. Dean must be lying about other things as well.

He blew out a breath and leaned back in his chair. He extended his vision out to the area the enemy scouts were located and saw thousands of them starting to form up as thousands more jumped in. He backed away from the view and looked out at the edge of the giant cluster that was directly in their path. He swept his vision from one side of the cluster to the other focusing on how many type-G stars were located in that sector of space. As his vision moved across the swath of space he thought he saw a flicker. He stopped his view and moved it back across the sector. Once again he saw a flicker.

He turned his attention to the area it seemed to be located and moved his view in closer. He moved his view back and forth numerous times and the flicker didn’t appear. He shrugged and backed his view out and swept it across the sector again. The flicker was back. What was going on? He slowly moved his view across the area the flicker appeared to be located and it appeared for an instant before he lost it. He stopped and moved his view even more slowly until the flicker appeared and he instantly locked his gaze on it. He stared at it for a moment and blinked. When his eyes opened, it was gone. He spent another three minutes finding it again, focusing on it, and then losing it when he blinked. He moved the view closer and the flicker disappeared completely. He knew he was looking at the place it was located but it wasn’t visible when he moved the view in closer. He saw a star with planets in his view and thought, “Computer, look at my thoughts and locate the star I’m focusing on.”

“The location is now plotted on the survey map.”

Ping looked at the map and saw that there were no stars beyond the one plotted that had planets. He shook his head, “Computer, are any of those planets habitable?”

“No.”

Ping looked away from the map and stared at the wall speaker. Something had changed. He thought long and hard to determine what it was and then said, “Computer, what can you determine about that system?”

“There was some kind of energy in that sector. I saw it in your thoughts when you viewed it.”

Ping now had the answer about what had changed. “Computer, you’re acting differently than you have in the past. Why is that?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“When you were first activated, your answers to my questions were much lengthier and filled with details I didn’t need. That’s changed; would you like to tell me why?”

“Not really.”

Now that answer surprised Ping. He stared at the wall speaker a moment and said, “Computer, is there a difference between you and the other computers installed in the Mites?” Ping waited and did not hear a response. “Computer, I asked you a question.”