Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror (28 page)

“That’s why Chris is in command.”

Stoney smiled and said, “That’s my boy!”

Jinks looked at Stoney and patted him on the back. He looked at Lukas, “What about our landing forces?”

“Eve is commanding them. She’s been given enough Barrier Pods for every warrior in her command. Each new pod will deliver three warriors. The Welken have moved out of their battleships and will be learning how to pilot the new pods.”

Stoney looked at Lukas, “Explain why we’re doing it this way? I’m not clear on why we made the change.”

Lukas shrugged, “We have to thank Eve for that. She took one of the new pods and actually brought it out of the barrier a hundred feet above Mars’ surface.”

“I though the drives wouldn’t work in a planet’s gravity.”

“A standard stardrive won’t but the barrier drive isn’t affected by gravity. We just didn’t know that the barrier exists pretty much everywhere, even in the atmosphere of a planet. Once she found that out, it didn’t make sense trying to drop our warriors on a planet from orbit or high atmosphere. They drop out of the barrier next to the target planet’s surface and start doing what they do best.”

“What possessed her to even try that?”

Lukas sighed, “She’s my daughter and wasn’t satisfied with putting her warriors in so much danger.”

“And you approved her doing it?”

Lukas looked at Jinks, “What do you think?”

“She did it without asking?” Lukas shrugged, “I thought Salud was going to kill her. But after the fact, it worked, so she couldn’t take it too far.”

“Eve is a loose cannon.” Lukas nodded. Stoney smiled, “But she’s doing what she loves.” Lukas snickered. Stoney raised his nose and looked down it at Lukas, “That’s your girl!”

“Indeed she is.”

• • •

“Chris.”

“Yeah?”

“I notice you’ve not included M-86 in your plans.”

“They aren’t at the point where they can be trusted.”

Allison’s head tilted, “Why not?”

“They are consumed by vengeance and hatred of M-87. They have been occupied by the Progen for so many years that they have nothing in common except their hatred of their occupiers. Without a common enemy, they would fall on each other very much like the Fellowship.”

“That’s a shame.”

“It is, but it is what it is. I suspect we will have to confront them in the future if we happen to be successful against the Legends in M-87.”

“And if we’re not?”

“I suspect the Legends’ retaliation will include them.”

Allison shook her head. “It all seems like such a waste.”

“The product of hatred is often more hatred. They are not telepathic and are trapped with their thoughts and emotions without the means of seeing themselves. If your existence is filled with hatred, then you end up hating everything around you as well.”

“What makes us different?”

“Lukas loved the Welken. It was his love of his former species that colored all of our early actions. He tried desperately to get them to learn to care about others and they eventually did. It was love that made me stop killing the Gorans.”

“I don’t understand?”

“It was your pointing out what example I was setting for Michael that stopped me. I loved him too much to allow his heart to be shaped by hate. You said the only thing that would make me stop and think.”

“I’m glad it worked.”

“You have no idea.”

Allison smiled, “I think I do.”

Chris looked and her and smiled, “I suspect you do.” Chris looked at his panel, “I’ve been asked by Piper to meet him in orbit above Eden. Alley, take us there.”

T
he pod broke into normal space and they saw Piper in orbit above Eden, “Hello, Piper. How’s it going?”

“Pretty good. I have some questions.”

“Fire away.”

“I’ve been chosen to be the War Leader of our forces. Before I can organize, I need to know what role you see us doing in the coming attack.”

“Congratulations, I see your forces being the tip of our spear against the Legends’ fleets.”

“I suspected that. How do you see us matching up with them?”

“I need to know how you match up with our new pods. You’ve never really shared how powerful you are.”

“We’ve added the barrier drive as well as the DE Beams. We considered including a force field but we honestly don’t see our hulls being penetrated.”

“Piper, we’ve coated our ships with that silver coating as well and Admiral Barber’s ship had a section of her hull melted by a beam that penetrated her force field.”

“I know. But how thick is the coating on your ships?”

Chris looked at Allison, who shrugged, and then said, “Gene, do you have an answer?”

“No, but I know who does.”

Chris looked at his panel and saw Blane appear on his panel, “Budge, do you know how thick the coating is on our ships?”

“Just a second.” Blaine looked away for a few moments and turned back to them, “It’s about ten molecules thick.”

“What?”

“The liquid won’t go on any thicker than that. It spreads out and that’s as thick as we can make it.”

“Thanks, Budge.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Chris turned back to Piper, “Did you hear that?”

“I did.”

“And?”

“Our hulls are made exclusively of that material. They’re three feet thick.”

“Wow! I’m really glad you were patient with us.”

“Me, too.”

Chris thought for a moment and said, “How difficult would it be to build a force field?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m concerned that the Legends might see how your hulls are so strong and go looking to find out how to duplicate it. If you have a force field that’s close to your hulls, it would be hard to determine if their shots are stopped by the field or your hulls.” Piper was silent and Chris said, “Piper?” He waited a few more moments and said, “If it’s going to cause a delay, you can just use your hulls.”

“You make good sense in your observation. I was just looking at my old systems and I still have an old force field we used early in our movement into our ships.”

Chris suddenly saw a bright field appear around Piper. He looked at his scanner, “Piper, that force field is as strong as the one on the New Pods.”

“I’m sure all of us still have it. We’ll just need to rewire it into our central module.”

“Piper, it only took you a minute to activate it.”

“Like I said, we have it, we just haven’t used it in thousands of years.”

Chris shook his head, “I’m going to assign the Legends’ fleets to you. I need you to keep them occupied so they won’t be able to hit our landing forces.”

“Why are you going to drop forces on their planet?”

“We’re going to need to remove the planetary disruptors and don’t even think about trying to take them out from orbit.”

“Why not?”

“Have you taken a look at them?”

“No.”

“Gene, send him the optical scan we took.”

Piper was silent for a few moments as he looked at the scan and said, “That’s an impressive weapon!”

“And it’s force field protected. It may be powerful enough to even penetrate your hulls.”

“I wonder about that but I don’t know if I want to find out.”

“Our drop forces will take them out on the surface. Once they’re removed, I’m bringing someone in that can kill the Legends.”

“Who?”

“A Sentinel.”

“Why doesn’t he just go and do it and save us all a lot of trouble?”

“Those disruptors can fry his nervous system. They have to go before he can do his magic.”

“Well, I see you have a plan. We’ll organize to take on their fleets. I’ll let you know what we decide.”

“How many ships do you intend to use?”

“I could use all of us but I don’ think that would be a good idea.”

“I agree, but why do you feel that way?”

“Whatever we do there will be transmitted to Legend Central, wherever that is, and it’s never a good idea to reveal everything.”

“That’s how I see it as well.”

“What about the ships you’re going to use to handle their tools?”

“I’m also only going to use the numbers needed to get the job done.”

“And the others?”

“They will be in the barrier waiting to take on any response from that Legend Central you mentioned.”

“So you’re only going to use the older models to fight the tools?”

“That’s how I see it at the moment. I’ll make changes if something goes wrong.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get with you once things get straightened out.”

“Thanks, Piper.”

“No, thank you. We’re finally a family again and we know we owe it to your species. I’ll discuss this with you later but for the first time in such a very long time, we are happy.”

Chris nodded and Piper skipped away. “I’m so proud of you!” Chris nodded and said, “Alley, I believe we were looking at a beach earlier.”

“The Beach Nebula it is.” The Pod skipped out and returned to open space outside Andromeda.

• • •

“This is ludicrous. Waiting on those idiot tools is delaying us getting our own galaxies.”

“Every day adds thousands of warships to our tools forces.”

“That may be true with the Progen but the imbecilic birds aren’t building anything. They are preventing us from completing our task.”

“Greatest, if we go and fail, the Lord will make us pay for it. This is not something we can rush into without being prepared.”

“We could use our old ships to go with the Progen.”

“That is an idea but we know the ships that have been attacking us know the location of our world.”

“How do we know that?”

“Because the Lord told us we were being watched when all of those probes began exploding.” The Greatest showed his displeasure. “I agree with you but I think you should do what you told the Lord.”

“And that is?”

“We use our tools for the dirty work and we clean up behind them if they fail.”

“We’re looking at years before those stupid birds are ready.”

“What’s a year to us? We’re going to live for hundreds of thousands of years. I caution patience, Greatest.”

The Greatest’s blue aura flashed his agreement.

• • •

“They’re waiting on the Green Civilization to complete the updating of their fleets.”

“Notify Averel.”

Chris received the message from Fleet Operations and looked at Allison, “I need to make a trip.”

“Where?”

“I need to speak with a certain Green Commander.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“Of course not. But I suspect something that I need to confirm.”

Allison stood up and went to her command chair. She donned her armor and Chris’s eyes narrowed. “The Legends are telepathic.”

Chris sighed and activated his armor. “Alley, take us above M-87 and stay in the barrier. See if you can find the commander of the Green Civilization’s Fleets.”

“Do you want that particular commander?”

“Why do you ask?”

“He may not be alive now. You know the life expectancy of tool leaders.”

“Just find the current leaders and I’ll recognize the pattern of the one I spoke with.”

Gene said, “You actually want Alley to take us above M-87 where the Green Civilization is located?”

Chris nodded, “Sorry, you’re right, Gene.”

The Pod disappeared from Andromeda.

• • •

The Leader of the Audons sat at his desk and looked at the latest building reports. He heard in is mind, “I see you’ve made some interesting choices.” He froze and his eyes went wide.

The Fleet Leader jumped out of his chair, “WHAT’S WRONG?!”

The Audon Leader raised his arm and shook it. The Fleet Leader slowly sat back down. “You told me there is always a choice.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m trying to determine if I need to finish what I started.”

“I really hope you don’t.”

“Tell me why I shouldn’t.”

“May I assume you’ve seen the new ships the Progen have built?”

“You may.”

“I’ve been ordered to update my fleets to match them. I’ve done all I can to delay that happening.”

“I can see that.”

“Once that is done, I’ll be ordered by the Legends to attack your galaxy.”

“And?”

“What choice do I have? Even with the updates, my ships will not stand up to the Legends’ fleets. They will start destroying my planets until I follow their orders.” The Fleet Admiral listened to the Leader speaking his thoughts and felt his fear start growing.

“What you say is true.”

“Then tell me what you would do in my place?”

“Will you do it?”

“We always have a choice.”

Chris laughed out loud, “Yes, we do. Continue delaying and refuse to join the Legends when they order an attack.”

“That’s the choice you would make.”

“Yes. I would refuse until they destroyed one planet, then I would comply.” The Audon Leader was silent and Chris said, “The civilization that attacked your planets has asked me to apologize for their actions. They admit they were heavy handed and made a mistake. You also have a choice on whether or not you will accept their apology.”

“Their apology is accepted. We brought that on ourselves.”

“You were ordered to do it.”

The Leader smiled, “There is always a choice.”

“You are wise. I’ll tell them.”

The Leader continued standing and no more thoughts entered his mind. He sat down and the Fleet Leader blew out a breath he had been holding, “What’s happening?”

The Leader looked at him, “I believe the Legends are going to be attacked.”

“Were you told that?”

“Not is so many words but the meaning behind them made it clear they are.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Speed up the construction of our ships but keep it hidden.”

“Why?”

“They may need our assistance. I want to be able to give it.” The Fleet Admiral nodded and wondered if his species was doomed.

• • •

Chris listened to the exchange and smiled. Add one to the list of Allies. Allison listened to the wall speaker as Alley converted the thoughts to electronic waves. “What about the Progen? Are you going to contact them?”