Lens of Time (12 page)

RV’s mouth fell open. He fell back in his chair and couldn’t move. George had his back to the door and wondered what was going on. He turned around and saw his sister standing behind him. His mind froze, but then he came out of his chair pushing it half way across the room and rushed forward to hug Dolly like she was life itself. He cried and Dolly said, “I’m back, George. Everything is going to be all right.”

Jeff walked in the room behind Dolly and said, “It’s good to see you two old mongrels again.” Kenny and Bob were too shocked to say anything but jumped up and rushed forward and wrapped their arms around Jeff. Kate stared at the couple and knew who they were. How could this have happened? Then she saw Chris and Jillian peeking into the room and knew that they were responsible. RV and Cyanna came forward and embraced Dolly. RV then went to Jeff and gave him a hug, “Welcome back, Sir.”

“Sorry, RV; you’re in charge now.”

“It doesn’t matter, Sir. You’ll always outrank me. I don’t care what they say.”

Jeff smiled and hugged him again. Suddenly he heard, “Why you old dog. You married Cyanna. She’s far too good for you.”

RV looked at Dolly as she held on to George and said, “There you go again; always shouting the truth.” RV looked around and said, “Let’s take a break and give the Sierras a moment.” The group walked out with Jeff talking with Kenny and Bob.

• • •

George leaned back and said, “How did this happen?”

“Chris, Jillian, and a Captain Phillips came back and saved us.”

George paused and said, “How’s Arnold?”

Dolly’s smile disappeared and she said, “They could only pull two of us out without killing everyone. I’ll let them explain. They forcibly dragged me into the car. I didn’t want to leave them behind.”

“Well I’m so thankful they did. I’ve needed you.”

“I’ve caught up a little on what’s happened and you have done a remarkable job without me, George. I’m so proud of you.”

“You need to take my position.”

Dolly shook her head, “Before you make that decision, I need to ask you a question.” George stared at Dolly, “How are you going to explain my reappearance?”

George just continued to stare at her, “What do you mean?”

“How many know that we can go back in time and change things?”

RV said, “Probably, only the ones that were in this room.”

“And what do you think will happen if that gets out to our allies?”

George thought a moment and said, “You’re right. Dolly, you obviously thought about this before you arrived. What have you come up with?”

“I’m going to die my hair red and use my given name.”

“You’ve hated Dorothy all your life.”

“So call me Dot. The point is; Jeff and I will have to reenter the world as different people. The universe will turn against us if they knew we could change their past. No one would feel safe.”

George hugged Dolly again, “My life was fractured when you were no longer a part of it. I feel whole again.”

“Chris and Jillian should be given credit for this. They also confirmed that our timeline has not been affected by saving us.”

George took a deep breath and let it out, “That is very good to know.”

“That’s why they did it without telling anyone. They assumed no one would want to take that risk. I really understand why.”

George pressed the communication panel and called everyone back to the conference room. “Doctor Connor, please join us as well.”

Everyone came in and went back to their places. Jeff and Dolly sat next to George. “Dolly has brought up something that I’m going to allow her to explain.”

Dolly stood and told them her fears of reappearing. She ended with saying she and Jeff would have to take another identity.

George stared at Dolly and then turned to RV, “Can we create a different identity for them?”

“That’s easier than you think. With the loss of Earth, most families can’t be traced. The question is what do you intend to do with them?”

“What do you mean?’

“I hope you’re intending to use them.”

“Without a doubt.”

“In what capacity?”

Dolly said, “There is no way I can take your place, George. Not without revealing who I am and you know it. You are the one that’s trusted and that is going to be your destiny. However, I’ll help you. I’ll be your administrative assistant and handle many of your administrative problems using your authority.”

George turned to Jeff and he said, “I’ll be responsible for the ships defending our planets.”

RV said, “I can make that happen. Jeff will be a captain of a ship and we’ll quickly promote him to the position over our home fleets.” RV looked at Jeff, “Does that work for you?”

“Absolutely.”

Dolly said, “Hey, that may not work for me. How am I going to see you?”

Jeff smiled, “You get off work when George does. Just take a shuttle up to my ship and stay with me until the next morning. Once I command a squadron, I can do it from an office on the ground.”

Dolly slowly shook her head and then said, “Oh, alright.”

Jillian said, “I’ll go get some hair dye from the commissary. We’ll take care of that item before we leave this room.” Jillian exited the room.

George looked around the room and said, “You will not discuss what happened here with anyone. Is that clear?”

Everyone said, “Yes Sir.”

Cyanna said, “Are you going to tell Meisa?”

George stared at Cyanna and then tilted his head to the right, “No. We’ll see if she can find out on her own. It will be a good test to see how good an actress my sister is.”

Dolly said in a southern drawl, “Well bust my buttons, I just hope y’all understand I’m faintin’ at the moment.”

Everyone burst out laughing and Chris took out a pair of brown rim glasses, “Use these.”

“I don’t need corrective vision, darlin.”

“They’re clear glass. I use them to look like a professor.”

Dolly took the glasses and put them on and jerked her head back, “You don’t need these for that, honey.”

Kate smiled and began to see what Dolly was bringing to the table. If she was as smart as George and RV, she was going to be a huge asset. After she and Jillian came back from dying her hair, she couldn’t believe it was the same person. She even carried herself differently. RV watched them enter and said, “What do we call you, whoever you are?”

“Jeff, what was your mother’s maiden name?”

Jeff smiled, “McFadden.”

Everyone looked at Jeff and waited for him to tell the truth. Even Dolly lowered her head and stared at him. “Hey, I take after my father. That’s where my dark skin comes from. My mother was Scottish.”

Dolly stared at him, “So that was the M in her name.”

“Yes.”

Dolly took a quick breath and said, “I’m Dot McFadden.”

Jeff smiled and said, “I’m Jeff McFadden.”

Dolly shook her head, “You should change your first name.”

“I’m not the famous one; you have that crown. Everyone call me Mac. Trust me, no one will notice.”

“Why is that?”

“I’ll shave my head. That’s enough to do it.”

Bob looked at Jeff and said, “You’re probably right. This way you won’t have to be on guard about answering to your first name.”

Jeff nodded, “You’re right. I don’t have the steel trap mind of my wife. She can assume the new identity flawlessly. I’m the one that needs to be careful.”

Kenny said, “Don’t sell yourself short. I’ve seen your mind in action. You’ll be fine.”

RV said, “I’m sending you to the academy. You need to be updated on our technology. After six months I’ll give you a ship.”

Dolly looked at RV and said, “Just where is this academy?”

“It’s on Sierra-Garcia.”

Dolly didn’t flinch but Jeff did. Dolly continued to stare at RV and said, “Perhaps I should attend these classes as well. There appears to be thing’s my little mind doesn’t know.”

RV tried not to laugh but couldn’t help it, “You can report there from here. Just pay attention during the history class.”

Dolly fanned herself with an imaginary fan, “Oh, schoolin has always been difficult for me. I do hope I can pass.”

George laughed and said, “Let’s continue our meeting. I think that will bring our two new attendee’s up to speed. RV, tell everyone what you’ve learned about the Major’s ship count.”

RV started and Dolly looked over at Jeff. He winked at her and she felt better. This was a whole new world and she worried about him finding his place in it. She thought about it and relaxed. He was a man of action and principle. Men like that always found their place. She listened to RV and a thought started going through her mind. They really didn’t have all the facts. But that could wait. Mistakes were being made but before she brought them to light she needed to make sure.

Chapter Nine

S
ix months passed and the Hive Controller looked at the Horde Leader, “Are you sure about your sources?”

“I am.”

“Even if they only send ten ships per planet, that will be twenty million ships and a third of them will be the advanced ships.”

“I’m hoping we can possibly defeat that fleet. It’s what follows that has me worried.”

“I know. The next attack will be beyond our imagination.”

“Are you doing anything to insure the survival of your species?”

“I’ve sent colony ships to a galaxy a long distance from here. I would hope you’ll do the same.”

“I’ve sent ten colonies out as well. They are thriving with the assistance of the Union.”

“Mine are as well. Should we take on the main attack?”

“The question is do we do it to weaken the possibility of them going out and searching for our friends and our new colonies. If we can kill enough of their ships, it will be a long time before they’re able to start that search.”

“We will lose all of our planets here.”

“I know.”

The Horde Leader remained silent for a long time as both of them thought about the consequences of their actions. Finally he said, “We owe it to those billions that have died needlessly over the millennia. If our war against each other had continued, one of us would have perished and the winner would have probably died as well. We’re fighting for the survival of our colonies now. As far away as we’ve moved them, I don’t think they’ll be found. I think that weakening the Majors is worth the price.”

“There is one thing you can do to minimize the destruction.”

“What is that?”

“Make sure you have ships on standby to take the scientists, engineers, and the other critical members of your society to the colonies once the battle begins.”

“Do you think they can escape?”

“They will if we tell them we’re going to go and attack their home worlds. If our fleet jumps away after we deliver that piece of information, they will not remain in our territory to kill planets and the battle will be on their turf. That would allow our citizens to make an escape. It will be extremely important that the fleeing ship make sure they aren’t followed.”

The Horde Leader thought about the suggestion and said, “Will the Commonwealth Union agree to this idea?”

“I think they’ll understand the merits of doing it. I’ll discuss it with them.”

“Let me know what they say.”

The Hive Controller thought a moment and said, “You know, this might be a good strategy. The Major’s really don’t know how many ships we have. If we can avoid using all of them in the next battle, they will have to jump back to their worlds, find our fleet, and then make their attack. They will not be organized like they would in jumping here.”

The Horde Leader smiled, “I can see your point. The real danger is leaving our worlds undefended.”

“If we were attacking the Union like we did in the past and they told us they were going to destroy our planets. Would you remain to destroy theirs?”

“No, I would immediately leave.”

“So will the Majors. Mainly because they’ve been conditioned over millions of years to kill ships first and planets last.”

“Make the contact. I want to listen in.”

The Hive Controller reached for his board.

• • •

RV looked at George on his display and listened to the Hive Controller’s suggestion. George asked questions but finally said, “RV, is this a good plan?”

“Only if the Majors don’t initiate the fight until all of their fleets arrive.”

“What do you mean?”

“What if they attack when half of their ships are here? They’ll just let the half still in their sector handle our fleets.”

The Hive Controller said, “I didn’t think of that.”

“That doesn’t mean it won’t work.”

George said, “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“We’ll know when they’re going to attack and I suspect their fleets will just jump to the Minor’s domain directly from their home systems with their assigned locations already in their jump drives. Once we determine they are initiating an attack, we jump into their sector before they jump.”

The Horde Leader said, “That will freeze them and in order to respond to our invasion, they will have to jump to us without any organization.”

“That will be when you move your critical populations. It will allow you to make multiple jumps so that more can be saved if the battle can be done over an extended time.”

The two allies looked at each other on their displays and the Hive Controller said, “You will be in command of the next attack. I hope we don’t have to use all of our ships so we can have the element of surprise when they combine against us.”

RV shook his head, “That is not the right decision we should make.” The Hive Controller didn’t say anything and RV continued, “We need to show them every ship we have so they won’t leave any behind. We need to destroy the next attack and leave no survivors. They are going to combine either way. If we barely defeat them, they won’t send all their ships and going to their worlds won’t keep them there. They’ll still jump ships here if we don’t use all of our ships and reveal our numbers.”

George thought a moment, “That will also buy us more time.”

The Horde Leader said, “Why is that?”

“They’ll take the time to organize and train the fleets being sent against us. Trust me on this; organizing millions of ships just doesn’t happen with the wave of a hand.”