Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror (8 page)

Stoney nodded and felt his tears. His son’s wife, his step-daughter was just murdered. He saw Kathy running down the dune toward him and as soon as she saw his eyes she stopped for a moment and grabbed her neck. Then she ran forward and threw her body on Stoney and Chris.

• • •

Four days later, Chris sat in a wheelchair staring out of a large picture window in the hospital’s hall. His arms and legs were tied down with leather restraints to prevent him from hurting himself. The view from the window showed a large orange field where workers were harvesting the heavily laden branches. Chris’s eyes just stared straight ahead without blinking. Lukas, Salud, Jinks and Sarah walked up and looked at Stoney. Salud said, “Has there been any change?” Stoney shook his head. Salud bent down and hugged Chris as she kissed him on his head.

Lukas shook his head, “I don’t want to do it but should we bring Michael to see if it brings him out of it?”

“I’ve never been in it.” Everyone jerked their heads toward Chris as he twisted his arms and broke restraints on his arm. He reached down and untied his leg restraints and tossed them to the hospital orderly standing close by, “Use this on someone that needs it.”

Kathy jumped up and ran over to hug Chris. “It’s OK Mom, I needed some time to say goodbye.”

Kathy leaned back, “Are you ok?”

Chris’s eyes narrowed, “What do you think?” He turned to Lukas, “How did they get through our defenses?”

Lukas heard Chris’s tone and didn’t recognize it. “Our investigation has determined that seven years ago when you killed those scouts and sent the sixth back with a message, they launched a special ship. It was little more than a thin non-ferrous hull with an engine and drive field. It had just enough room to carry a shielded nuclear bomb.”

“How did it get through our scans?”

“It skipped in outside the coverage of our void probes and continued the journey in normal space. The pilot appears to have the ability to go into a suspended animation state. It took more than six years for it to arrive here through normal space traveling close to the speed of light.”

Chris nodded slightly, “Our detection systems in normal space were inadequate to see it coming.” Lukas nodded. Chris looked at him, “Tell me again why the main force field was off.”

Stoney said, “It’s not his fault. You know the power to keep it running would be too high to make it effective when it might have to be used. You approved not keeping it on along with the rest of us.”

Chris winced and shook his head, “I think I forced myself to forget that little piece of information. So no one here is to blame for her death?”

Salud nodded, “No, it was a freak occurrence that the attack took place on just the day she went sailing.”

Chris snorted, “Sort of like it’s a part of my destiny.”

“I’M NOT SAYING THAT! ACCIDENTS HAPPEN!”

Chris looked at Salud with dead eyes, “This was no accident.”

Lukas sighed, “Chris, we can give you some time off…”

“The only time I’m going to need is to go and take my son back to that beach to tell his mother good-bye.”

Sarah said, “What are you going to do?”

Chris looked at her and then turned to Jinks, “I want the top 100 Pod Fleets assembled in orbit three days from now.”

Stoney looked at Chris, “Son, you should wait to do this. You need some time.”

Chris smiled for the first time and put his hand on Stoney’s shoulder, “Dad, I told them seven years ago that if they sent another ship here I was going to eradicate them. They didn’t wait a month before they launched that ship.” Chris looked at Lukas, “What good are consequences if you’re not willing to enforce them?” Lukas could only shake his head. Chris’s face turned grim, “They learned seven years ago that our leadership was on this island. I’ve spent the last four days thinking about what happened and I wanted to blame myself for what happened to Audrey. I shouldn’t have let her go so far out; but she had gone there many times. I should have stopped her from sailing; but I go out surfing more often and sometimes further out. I want to be able to blame myself but I know that is a wasted effort and she wouldn’t appreciate my hypocrisy if I did.” Chris looked at those gathered around him. “The only ones I can blame are the ones that launched that ship. I intend to do something about it.”

Chris stood up and Lukas tilted his head, “Tell us what you need to go and keep in mind that Earth and Eden need to be defended in your absence.”

Chris smiled, “Thank you, Lukas.”

Lukas nodded, “If I lost Salud under the same circumstances, I would want to tear whatever they use for a throat out.”

Chris looked at Jinks, “Will you request the Royal to send me one planetary drop fleet? I also want the First Drop Pod Fleet ready to go as well.”

“Why just one?”

Chris’s eyes narrowed, “I’m only going to drop on one of their planets.”

Sarah said, “Which one?”

Chris looked her in the eyes, “The one where the being that sent that ship here is located.” Everyone there saw something had changed in Chris and the menace in his words could almost be felt.

• • •

Chris stood on the beach holding Michael’s hand in his right hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other. Michael was also holding a smaller bouquet and they stood there saying nothing. But Chris was speaking to Michael through telepathy. He heard Michael think, “I really miss her so much.” Chris squeezed his hand lightly and Michael looked up at Chris and thought, “She told me many times how much she was proud of you.”

Chris fought back his tears and shook his head as he blew out a breath. “The last thing she told me before she went out was that you were at Junior’s playing. I heard in her thoughts how much she loved you and how she thought you were the greatest person ever. Her love was more than I can ever describe to you, son.”

“I know.” Chris’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve been hearing her thoughts for a while.” He looked up at Chris and said, “I want to be just like you when I grow up. I think that is how I can honor her best.”

Chris’s tears started and took he Michel down to the waves and tossed the flowers out on the waves. Michael threw his in and Chris bent down, “Son, I’m going to be gone for a while and you’re going to stay with Lukas and Salud.”

“Where are you going?”

Chris looked out at the waves, “To find the one that did this.”

Michael looked out at the waves with him as they both cried for the wife and mother they lost.

• • •

Salud picked up Michael and said, “We’ll take good care of him Chris.”

“I know you will.” He kissed Michael on the cheek as his son hugged his neck. “I’ll be back.”

Michael nodded and put his arms around Salud’s neck. Chris walked away and entered a ground car to go to the spaceport. His wrist communicator vibrated and he saw the Welken Royal on the display. He pressed the activate button and said, “Good morning, Great One.”

“I received a request from Admiral Jekins and I had a few questions about it. He said I should contact you.”

“What questions do you have?”

“You’ve only requested one fleet of Drop Ships. That leads to me to believe that you intend to only drop on one planet. Is that true.”

“It is.”

“What do you intend to do with the others?”

Chris stared at him with narrowed eyes, “I don’t intend to leave anything on them worth jumping on.”

“I thought as much. If that’s the case, you might think about using the new battleships to make that happen. It would take tens of thousands of beam strikes from your pods to accomplish what you want. The Battleships have sixty major disruptors and their beams are a thousand times wider than the pod’s beams. It will take entirely too long to do it with pods.”

Chris stared at the Royal, “What do you think about my intentions?”

“I’m Welken. What do you think I think about it? We can’t shy away from doing what needs to be done.”

“How many ships can you spare and still defend your planets.”

“I’ll send you a number equal to the number of Pods you’re taking.”

“A MILLION!?”

“I can spare more but that would mean having ships without pods to defend them. I suppose you’re planning to send a hundred pods to each of their planets?”

“That’s the idea.”

“Send ten battleships with them and you’ll finish your mission in one third of the time.”

“Thank you, Great One. Please send them to Earth for departure. How long will it take to provision them and get them here?”

“When do you plan to leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“They’ll be there tomorrow.”

The display went dark and Chris lifted his communicator. The organization for the fleets was going to have to be changed. Admiral Simmons appeared on his wrist unit and he said, “Change of plans.”

“Oh?”

“The Allies are sending a million battleships to join our efforts. Work on getting the formations changed to use them in the initial attack and the following cleanup.”

“Yes Sir!” The display went dark and he wondered if Allison ever smiled. She was the consummate commander and her demeanor told anyone around her that she would not tolerate incompetence or stupidity. She was twenty-three but an old twenty-three. He shook his head. There were none better than her at planning and implementing attack plans. He needed her in the coming fight.

• • •

“Barbie, are you ready to go?”

“Are we taking anyone else with us?”

“No, we’re going alone this time.”

“I’m so sorry, Chris.”

“Thanks. Take us out to the fleet and let’s get this over with.” The small pod lifted and accelerated out of Earth’s atmosphere. Chris didn’t need the scanner to see the gathering fleets. The one hundred fleets of pods had a thirty-mile separation between their tight formations. The battleships started arriving three hours earlier and they were flying in at high speed and forming up behind the long line of Pods. Chris pressed his communicator, “How long before we’re ready to go?”

He saw Allison’s face appear on his display, “The Pods are ready now. I’ve received confirmation that the last battleships will arrive in thirty minutes.”

“I didn’t expect them to get here that fast. Have you decided what formation we’re going to use when we arrive?”

“I have, Sir. I completed it last night and sent the coordinates for each fleet. I sent the battleship’s coordinates to them this morning.”

“How do you manage to do it so quickly?”

Barbie mumbled, “She has two computers on her Pod.”

Chris’s head went back and he said, “Do you have two computers?”

“I do, Sir. During battle, one handles flying and evading the enemy while the other operates the weapons. I discovered early on that it’s impossible to keep track of what the big picture is if I have to fly or fight my pod. Having two computers on board also allows me to use them to develop formations and get the information out in a timely fashion. I don’t have a bodyguard like you do, Sir. I had to find a way to do my job without one.’

“As soon as this mission is completed, you will select four ships to defend your pod while you’re directing our fleets.”

“Sir, I can handle it.”

“I’m not suggesting you can’t. But four of our pilots can learn a lot from watching you. We’ll select those that are fast tracked for promotion.”

Allison was silent for a moment and said, “You’re right. I learned so much from those years I worked with you and the other senior officers.”

“Such as?”

“Jinks and Stoney are incredible in coming up with fleet formations. They taught me most of what I know about it.”

Chris was slightly ticked. He didn’t want to but, when she remained silent, he asked. “What did you learn while commanding my bodyguards?”

Allison smiled, “I learned that you should never make a full scan unless you’re prepared to run.”

Chris actually laughed, “I remember that little episode. I learned something from it as well. Notify me when the fleet is ready.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

“Sir, the fleets are ready to skip out.”

Chris activated the main frequency on his communicator. “This is what you’ve trained to do for years. I know you’re ready for this and I expect the best you have in the coming fight. We will be skipping out to our arrival coordinates in a moment and once we’re there, we will assume the best formation to meet any forces sent out to stop us. Five seconds prior to our departure, everyone, and I do mean everyone, will activate their armor and keep it on for the duration of this mission. The species we’re going to be fighting are telepaths and your armor will prevent them from hearing your thoughts. Keep your armor on until I order otherwise. The Pod Drop Fleet will remain in formation around my ship behind the main fleet. We will be skipping out in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,” Chris activated his armor and it wrapped around him, “Four, three, two, one, Go!”

“The two million plus ships all disappeared at the same moment. Lukas watched the launch and shook his head, “Go with God, Chris.”

T
he massive fleet of warships flew for three days and emerged into normal space just outside the edge of the giant lenticular galaxy. Chris stared at the giant and decided that the astronomer that described it as two Russian dolls dancing around a bright pole was pretty accurate. The brilliant jets shooting out of the central black hole were amazing. They weren’t as impressive as the hundreds of light years long plumes shooting out of M-87’s core, but they were impressive. Chris looked at the fleets in their formations in front of his pod and said, “Barbie, do you detect any scouts?”

“There are quite a few of them around us.”

“Too many to go after?”

“They’ll be hard to find, so you’ll have to send several thousand ships to take them out.”

“That’s not worth the effort. Are they reporting our presence?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. I can’t understand what they’re saying, so many of them are yelling at the same time. Wait a moment!” Chris waited and watched the galaxy a hundred thousand miles away. “They’ve been ordered out. Their leaders don’t want them present when their warships arrive.”