Lens of Time: Book 05 - Star Rover-The Worst of Time (32 page)
Read Lens of Time: Book 05 - Star Rover-The Worst of Time Online
Authors: Saxon Andrew
Dat thought a moment and said, “Is this particular leader rather large?”
The messenger smiled, “I’ve not seen one larger and I’ve seen a lot of them.”
“Do you know what it wants?”
“No Sir; it wouldn’t discuss its reasons with us.”
Dat looked at Gresha and said, “I’ll go and meet with him in the morning. Please set up the location.”
“I’m going with you.”
“Gresha, I’m not sure that is a good idea.” Dat saw her expression and rolled his eyes, “Notify the creature that there will be two of us coming.”
“Yes Sir.”
Dat didn’t sleep well that night. The war with the Grillen had started and progress was being made against their fleets. They had attempted two attacks against the Milky Way but had been repulsed both times at a large price. The Grillen were no longer invading planets but they had taken more than a million before their invasions ended. Those planets were huge obstacles to winning the war. If the Union tried to remove the Grillen from the captured planets, the inhabitants would be killed in massive numbers. He worried about the Union’s survival if those planets began building warships.
• • •
Dat looked down on the beautiful planet and saw the giant herds of wild life roaming the surface. It was a beautiful sight. He looked at Gresha, “Are you ready?” Gresha nodded and Stein lowered the ship into the atmosphere. As they arrived above a beautiful meadow, he saw the giant Master sitting on the edge of a clearing. Stein landed and Gresha and Dat stepped out. Dat saw the former Master wave them forward with one of its arms. As they moved closer they heard, “Thank you for coming. I was worried you might not do it.”
Dat smiled, “You know I would.”
The huge black creature smiled, “I guess I did. Honor has a way of making us do things we wouldn’t ordinarily do.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“I’ve been talking with some of your liaisons here and they tell me that you are involved in another conflict.”
Dat showed his surprise and said, “Yes we are. We were fighting this enemy when we were also fighting you species.”
“How’s it going?”
“Why do you want to know?”
The huge creature looked out at the herds of grazing animals in the clearing and said, “I worry that you might not win.”
Gresha snorted, “I would think you would hope we did.”
The creature turned back to them and smiled, “You think that because you defeated us.” Gresha nodded. The creature paused for a moment and said, “Do you know why we conquered all those planets in our galaxy?” Dat and Gresha were surprised by the question and could only stare at the Master. “We were forced to do it to survive.”
Gresha shook her head, “I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s the truth. My home world was invaded more times than I can count. It seemed that every space faring civilization that ran into us decided that we were too dangerous to be allowed to live.”
Dat nodded, “I can understand their feeling that way.”
“I do admit that we are somewhat formidable, but we did not use advanced technology and were perfectly happy staying on our planet. However, my species was nearly eradicated more than thirty times by attacks from starships. We finally decided that the only way for us to survive was to go out and stop the attacks. We managed to sneak some of us on a shuttle that landed on our planet to confirm that we had all been killed and the ones on the shuttle took control of the ship in orbit. From that ship, we were able to capture many others.”
Dat thought a moment, “I remember seeing ships that were using the same weapons having a massive space battle long ago.”
The black creature showed his surprise, “Well, that was us taking control of our destiny. We removed all technology from our galaxy and made sure the captured planets didn’t have overpopulation issues.”
Gresha said, “You mean you ate them!”
“Not really. We didn’t consume the entire body of those we took. We only killed enough to prevent overpopulation. We did what we did to ensure our survival. We would have been perfectly happy to have just been left alone on our planet.”
“Why were you planning to expand to other galaxies?”
The creature looked at Dat, “Why were you searching the universe for possible threats to your civilization?”
Dat sighed, “Touché.” Dat looked at the creature and said, “What does this have to do with the current situation?”
The huge black creature looked out at the herds, “We love it here. We are finally getting our health back and our strength is improving. We have become a shell of what we once were on our home world. Living in starships and using technology had weakened us considerably. Sending us here was a gift that has allowed us to relearn the natural behaviors we were born to use for survival.” It looked at Dat and said, “But what happens to us if you lose this conflict you’re involved in?”
“I’m not sure what you mean?”
“What do you think the victors would think about us?” Dat and Gresha just stared at the giant saying nothing. “You know that we would be right back where we were in the beginning when my home world was constantly attacked.”
Dat took a deep breath and blew it out, “You’re probably right.”
“We have decided to make sure you don’t lose.”
Dat and Gresha’s shock was instant. Dat said, “What do you mean?”
“We love this planet and we don’t ever want to lose it. The only way to make sure that doesn’t happen is to make sure your civilization survives. We know that you will not kill us. You had the opportunity and didn’t take it. That is a debt we owe you. However, it is also in our best interests to do everything in our power to ensure your survival.”
“We will never give you warships.”
“We don’t want them! We’ve seen how living in ships is stifling to my species. However, I’ve listened to your scientists here and it appears you are faced with an enemy that has taken control of thousands of planets.”
Gresha said, “Actually, it’s millions of planets.”
Dat saw the creature bob and said, “What are you suggesting?”
“There is no species in creation that can match mine for our skill at removing undesirables off the surface of a planet.” The black creature smiled, “You may rule space but we rule the ground.”
Dat stared at the giant and said, “You would stand no chance against an enemy armed with hand blasters and heavy weapons.”
“Do you not think the planets we originally defeated didn’t have those devices?”
Dat shook his head, “I’m telling you that you would be blasted before you could get close to an armed warrior.”
The creature smiled, “Pick an animal.”
Dat did a double take, “What?”
“Pick an animal and let’s see if it can escape.”
Dat looked at Gresha and then looked out at the herd. He saw a magnificent impala standing watch at the edge of the feeding herd. It was well muscled and beautiful. The creature saw the animal Dat was staring at and said, “That is an excellent choice.”
Dat saw the impala was standing in open round and the huge creature couldn’t get close before it would be seen. Dat shrugged and said, “Then show us what you can do.”
The huge black creature stood and said, “Haven’t you ever wondered how we were able to suddenly appear in the path of a fleeting victim?” Gresha’s eyes narrowed and they watched the giant creature suddenly melt into the ground. One moment it was standing in front of them and the next it was gone. Dat ran over to the place it had been standing and saw nothing. Suddenly he heard a loud bleat and saw the Impala was wrapped up in four black bands that had wrapped up its legs. The creature rose out of the round holding the impala upside down. It lowered the frightened creature gently to the ground and allowed it to run away with the rest of the fleeting herd. It walked back over and said, “It’s hard to fire a blaster at something you can’t see.”
Dat shook his head, “These poor animals stand no chance against you. There’s no sport in it.”
“Oh yes there is; we have our rules. We are not allowed to melt into the ground and we must be seen at least twenty yards from our chosen prey. As fast as we’re developing our speed, the distance will be increased to forty yards soon. You know how much we love a chase. The prey must have a chance to win.”
Dat shook his head, “Why didn’t you kill that impala?”
“You must be kidding. That one is going to sire many strong calves. He is off limits to all of us.” Dat now knew these predators would do everything possible to make it an even match. The huge black creature looked at Dat, “I’ve learned that in your ancient history your species used vicious animals to assist them. I think you had what was called wolves and giant cats to assist you in your hunting. Just think of us as a trained animal.”
“You are still a very real danger to us.”
“Not really; my leaders have agreed that if you accept this offer, we will make an honorable promise to always treat you as a friend. You will never be in danger from us. We want to continue our existence here and your continued welfare is very important to us.”
Dat smiled, “You also want to go after other more challenging prey.”
The giant laughed out loud and bobbed four times before he could stop himself, “It’s a win-win for both of us. You need warriors to fight on the planets and prevent the local populations from being harmed. We really want to do it.”
“What if many of you die in the effort?”
The giant walked over and put an arm around Dat’s shoulder and leaned in close, “It will be the most glorious experience we could possibly have. Death would be worth the effort.” The giant paused and said, “I do think we’ll take more than we give.”
Gresha stood and went over to the creature and hugged it, “I’ve not thanked you for saving my parents. Thank you.”
The huge creature put another arm around Gresha and gave her a hug, “It is our intent to save a lot more of you.” Gresha no longer felt fear of being embraced by a Master. Dat put out a hand and after a moment, the creature shook it.
Dat smiled and looked around, “It is beautiful here.”
The giant smiled, “You have no idea how much we love this gift. We have our lives back.”
Star Chase Book Three
Nowhere to Hide
T
he ship that emerged into space above the planet was nearly as large as the capital city on the planet’s surface below it. It extended a force field more than a thousand miles wide above it as thousands of large troop carriers began leaving it and dropped toward the planet below. Twenty thousand warships jumped in and began firing on the giant intruder but all of their most powerful beams were easily shrugged off. The defenders were not so fortunate. The massive beams began hitting them and most of those hit were vaporized. Thousands of additional warships started jumping in and the thousands of beams being fired at the intruder started targeting small areas on the intruder’s force field. The intruder was forced to reduce the size of its huge force field to prevent its hull from being hit. But it didn’t have to maintain the force field much longer. The troop transports would be in atmosphere shortly.
The Nephew looked up and said, “Father, two small green ships have arrived and our beams are not getting through their force fields.”
“Target them with multiple beams.”
“We’re firing eighty at them now.”
The Father changed his display from the transports to the small green ships and saw them flickering four hundred miles out. They began moving in and he began to feel apprehension. “Target all beams at those ships; now!”
One of the small green ships was hit with a hundred beams and after twenty seconds exploded. The second continued forward at an incredible speed.
Five hundred beams began turning to fire on the small ship but never had the opportunity to lock on the small target. The Green Ship fired a fifty mile wide beam and the giant invader blew up in a massive blast. The defending warships fell on the transports after the giant force field disappeared with the huge ship’s explosion before they could make it into the planet’s atmosphere. The defender’s beams blew all of them into debris, which became brilliant meteorite shows on the planet below.
The Commander of the defenders looked for the Green Ship to offer thanks but it had disappeared. The planet was lucky to have survived. Three other planets that were targeted by the Families initial scouting mission weren’t. Millions of inhabitants were stunned and lifted off their planets to the giant ships hanging in orbit. They withdrew before they could be stopped. The survivors knew the invaders were coming back.
The Annihilation Series:
Ashes of the Realm:
Lens of Time:
Star Rover-the Worst of Time
Star Chase
No Where to Run
Nowhere to Hide
S
axon Andrew is the number one Bestselling author of the Annihilation Series. He is a former school teacher, coach, social worker, and business owner. He has written five science fiction series and all twenty books have been a top ten bestseller on Amazon. His stories are done in the style used by writers during the Golden Age of Science Fiction and can be read by any member of the family. Like most space operas, his stories take place on a stage as big as the universe and his characters are larger than life. Amazon has ranked him in the top ten science fiction authors in America. He lives in Tampa, Florida and spends his days dreaming of stories to satisfy his avid readers. He is currently writing the fifth book in the Lens of Time Series–The Worst of Time which will be out by May, 2013.