Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror (25 page)

Chris shook his head and went to a knee and held up a ring, “Allison Delany Simmons, will you marry me?”

Allison looked up and pursed her lips while Michael kept repeating, Say yes!”

Allison burst out laughing, “I will.”

Michael yelled at the top of his voice, “YAAAAAAAY. Now all three of us can build forts.”

Chris put the ring on her left hand, stood up, and leaned over to kiss Allison. She went up on her tiptoes and returned his kiss. They broke the kiss and Chris smiled, “Indeed we can Michael.”

Allison looked at the ring and saw a diamond that was incredibly beautiful, “How did you get this ring so fast?”

“I told Lukas last night what I was considering and Salud came and gave it to me. The diamond is one that her father originally made for her to build her force field.” Allison stared at its beauty shaking her head. This was beyond value.

Michael looked at Allison, turned to Chris, and whispered, “She really loves you!”

“How do you know?”

“It’s in her mind.” Chris’s eyes went wide and his tears began. Allison looked at him, “What’s wrong?”

“Michael hasn’t shown any signs of being telepathic for a very long time.” Allison looked at Michael who said, “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

Chris took him out of Allison’s arms and smiled, “You have just made me happier than you can ever know. Look at my mind.” Michael squinted and smiled a huge grin. He hugged Chris as Allison went under his free arm.

• • •

Lukas and Salud were going over the building reports when Alice stuck her head in the door and said, “The First Commander wishes to speak to you.”

Lukas and Salud looked at each other and Lukas said, “Send him in.” Alice Gomez opened the door and stepped aside as Chris walked in with Allison in civilian clothes and Lukas said, “What’s going on?”

“I wanted to stop by and let you know that I’ve hired an engineer to fly on my ship.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I think they’re very qualified to do it.”

Salud smiled, “And just who is this engineer?”

Chris looked at Allison, “Engineer Simmons.”

Lukas started laughing and said, “Why doesn’t she just accept her commission?”

“Because I am her employer, not Fleet. She can’t be assigned elsewhere without my approval.”

“She couldn’t anyway.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, who has the authority to move her?”

“You do.”

“No I don’t. You’ve been chosen to lead all our forces. I only control Earth’s military. No one outranks you.” Chris’s eyes narrowed and he looked at Allison. Lukas said, “If you choose to assign her permanently to your staff, she would also be above the control of all the others in our Alliance.” Lukas paused and then sealed the deal, “The retirement pay of a fleet admiral is much higher than what an engineer would get.”

Allison blew out a breath, “Then swear me back in, Sir.”

“It’s not necessary. I never accepted your resignation. Is there something else you want to tell me?”

Allison looked at Chris and he said, “I’ve asked her to marry me and she accepted.”

Lukas smiled, “Now that is the smartest thing either of you have ever done.” Salud and Lukas stood up, came around the large desk, and hugged them. Lukas looked at Allison and said, “Welcome to the family.”

Allison’s tears were immediate and Salud leaned in and whispered, “Your ring really looks good on your hand.”

Allison smiled, “You shouldn’t have.”

“This is exactly what my father would have wanted.” Allison smiled and hugged her again.

Alice slipped out of the door and squealed. She ran to personnel to tell everyone. They celebrated a happy ending and beginning. The loudest squeals came out of a Barrier Pod right after Allison entered wearing her Admiral’s uniform. She felt her heart swell with the joy of all that had happened. She had a family and it was incredible. She knew it couldn’t get any better but Stoney and Kathy showed her it could.

L
ukas, Jinks, Chad and Stoney sat around the conference table and stared at the star map on the wall size monitor. They looked at it in silence and Jinks sighed, “Are the scouts pretty certain about this?” Lukas nodded. The Milky Way was centered on the map with the giant Virgo Cluster looking like a small ball to the northeast. There was one red light flashing in it. Spread out above the single red light were thousands of galaxies with flashing red lights. There were no red lights to the east, west, or south of the Milky Way.

Lukas stared at it and shrugged, “They are expanding in our direction.”

Stoney nodded, “That explains why there are so many of them in M-87.”

Lukas nodded, “Let’s designate that galaxy Monster One, and you’re right. Once they take total control of that giant galaxy, they will expand out into the cluster and conquer the surrounding galaxies. Each of the Legends will then build conduits and take control of the other galaxies.”

Chad exhaled softly, “Once they control that piece of our cluster, they’ll be coming this way toward us and Andromeda.”

Jinks slowly shook his head, “I think they would have, under normal circumstances, gone to Andromeda. It’s larger than the Milky Way.”

Lukas nodded, “Our attacks will probably put us ahead of it.”

Chad shook his head, “I’m not so sure about that.” The three looked away from the map at him. Lukas said, “Why not?”

“Is it possible they will scout the two galaxies before they invade?”

“I’m sure they’ll start that process before they finish with the Virgo Galaxies. Our Local Group will come next.”

“There are millions of Sentinels in Andromeda, aren’t there?”

Lukas’s expression showed his shock and he stood up shaking his head, “They’ll launch everything they have at Andromeda. There will be no way Eden can avoid discovery!”

Chad gave a quick nod, “They will leave no stone unturned.”

Lukas sat down, “They may even call in help from other galaxies if they see how many Sentinels are there.”

Jinks looked at Stoney shaking his head and blew out a hard breath, “This is beyond frustrating.” Everyone looked at him. “We lose Earth to their first invasion and then kick their backsides during the second invasion. Now we’re at a technological advantage and where we can finally go after them in Monster One and discover there’s more of them than we knew…a lot more. This Pandora’s box just keeps spilling out all kinds of monsters and demons.”

Lukas looked at Jinks and lifted his wrist unit, “Chris, I need you in the conference room in Fleet Operations.”

“Lukas, I’m on my honeymoon.”

“I really hate calling you in but we’ve discovered some things that you’re going to have to decide on how to confront.”

“Me?”

“You are the overall commander. This is really scary stuff and we can’t delay deciding what to do.”

Chris looked at Allison who was listening to the call on the wrist unit’s speaker. She nodded, “We’ll finish it in space.” Chris shook his head and Allison smiled, “Chris, there are some views out there that make this pale in comparison.”

Chris looked out at the sun setting on a beach in Tahiti and knew she was right. “We’ll be there within the hour.”

“Thanks, Chris.” Lukas looked at the war leaders and nodded toward the door, “Let’s get something to eat. I suspect we’re going to be busy for a long time.”

• • •

Chris and Allison met them in the cafeteria and picked up a tray before sitting down. The four Senior Members of the Leadership Team congratulated them on their union and asked questions about all that had happened to bring them together. Before they finished, Salud, Sarah, Julie, Kathy, and Joey joined them. After another hour, they all stood and left for the conference room.

Lukas led the presentation bringing everyone up to date on what had been discovered and what they expected to happen once the Legends sent out scouts to Andromeda and the Milky Way. Lukas saw the fear on all the women’s faces. He knew what they were feeling. At the end, Lukas looked at Chris, “We’re at a loss on what we have to do to meet this threat. There’s no way we can build the numbers we’ll need to meet what they can throw at us.”

Chris stared at the star map for a long time in silence. The group watched him waiting and after ten minutes he looked around the table, “You’re presented a rather scary nightmare here.”

Lukas nodded, “I’ve thought that maybe we should pack up and move everyone on Eden to a planet in a very distant galaxy to prepare against the day when we could face them.”

Chris smiled and pointed at the star map, “How many galaxies would we be facing if we did that? Our entire future existence would be packing up and running like gypsies. Perhaps finding a distant planet to start a small colony would be an insurance plan to continue the species should we fail but running away from this will only make it worse.”

Lukas nodded, “I’ve seen that as well. But staying assumes there’s a possibility of success.”

Chris smiled and said, “I heard you talking to your friend Jack at your wedding. I had only recently become telepathic and I was curious about everything and I had absolutely no problem invading everyone’s thoughts.” Chris looked around the table, “Don’t worry. I’ve stopped that now that I’ve matured.” He looked back at Lukas, “You told him that Earth was Holy Ground for our species and that we would never…ever…allow it to become the property of another species. You promised him he would be buried with Mary and that we would never give up until we were back.” Lukas lowered his head. Chris shook his head, “If we run, I can assure everyone here that Earth will be settled by the enemies that killed all of us that were still on it.” The room grew silent, “And Jack’s and Mary’s graves along with all the other graves, will be desecrated when the new conquering species move in and dig them up to build on the land they’re on.” Chris looked back at the star map, “There are some things that are worth dying for to prevent.”

Julie smiled, “So defending Holy Ground is something that will be our goal in what’s going to happen?”

Chris looked at her, “It is.”

Jinks listened to Chris and sighed, “All righty then. How do we do it?”

Chris looked at him and smiled, “Jinks, I’ve wanted to be like you from the first time I met you.”

“What?”

“There is no subterfuge in you. You see a goal and go after it and to hell with the consequences. That is what we’re going to need to have the courage to do this. I’ll tell you how we’re going to do this, we’re not going to do it alone.”

Salud leaned forward, “What do you mean?”

Chris looked at Salud and smiled, “Professor, I need you to come up with an instructional program.”

“Say what?”

“You are going to collect the recordings of everything that has happened to our species since Lukas arrived here on Willow up to the scouts that went out and found the galaxies the Legends control. You will narrate the final recording and describe how we have managed to develop our technology each time to confront our attackers. You will describe everything our ships were able to do in the past as well as what they’re capable of now. You will include what I did to M-84 and the horrible mistake I made.”

Salud shook her head, “That’s not a good idea. It gives the wrong impression.”

“You will not attempt to justify what we’ve done. You will simply explain what happened without explanation. The recording will not be propaganda.”

“What do you intend to do with this?”

“I am taking it to Piper and ask him to deliver it to the members of his species that are on the force field protected planet.” Everyone stared at Chris in silence.

Salud shook her head, “What do want to happen?”

Chris looked at the star map with the thousands of flashing lights and said, “I’ve really felt bad for things we caused that led to the deaths of others.” He turned and looked at the group, “I felt that we had caused the Invaders to come and attack our galaxy. But I was wrong. They are coming here no matter what we’ve done in the past or what we do in the future. The only issue that has to be resolved is whether or not we meet them united or fall individually. There’s really no other question.”

Salud nodded, “The recording of what you just said will end the documentary.”

Lukas nodded and said, “So what do we do now?”

“Is the force field active at Eden?”

Julie said, “Not yet.”

Chris looked at Lukas, “Make it happen, quickly.” He looked at Jinks, “Where are we with the simulators?”

“They’re really good. The new pilots are doing a great job when they get their ships.”

“What are you doing with the ships they left behind?”

“Nothing, at the moment.”

“You will find pilots from them. We are going to need every ship we have to meet them. I know our older models won’t match up to the Legends’ Black Ships, but the Legends won’t be coming alone. They’ll be bringing all the tools they have with them. Our older models are not something to ignore. They can still take on and destroy the new Orange and Green Civilization’s Ships. They’ll need to do that while our Barrier Pods take on the Legends’ fleets.”

Chad looked at Chris, “Do you honestly think this will make a difference?”

“Before I stopped prying in everyone’s mind, I took a look at Jason Goddard’s. He had a conversation with Piper when they first met and Piper told him there were more than a billion of his species scattered around the universe. If they agree to join us, what do you think?”

Chad shook his head in wonder and said, “But are they able to stand up to the Legends?”

“After we give them our Dark Energy and Barrier Drive, I suspect they’ll give a good accounting of themselves.”

Chad’s face became anxious, “Chris, they were going to force us to leave Andromeda. If we give them that technology, they could conquer Andromeda and the Milky Way!”

Chris smiled and shook his head. He looked at Lukas, “Do you think the same?”

Lukas stared at Chris and then looked at Chad, “The only way that would happen is if we put our technology in the hands of a conqueror. The Silver Ships could have conquered Andromeda long before we showed up but they didn’t. They chose to go out and see the universe instead. I would guess that conquering a galaxy would seem like picking up a grain of sand on the beach and acting like it was a grand accomplishment. Once you see the universe, conquest is silly. You could never…ever…get it all.”