Lens of Time (26 page)

The Hive Controller leaned back, “It wasn’t luck. The Union is what allowed us to survive. We would be dead but for their actions.”

“I’ve had all my ships erase the coordinates of their new galaxy.”

“I have as well. Even if we lose this battle, time is on our side.”

“I have vowed to make those civilizations pay for their sins even if it takes to the end of time to make it happen.”

“We’ll be fighting there with you.”

The Horde Master smiled, “I never doubted you would.” The Hive Master felt the bond with his former enemy. He knew he would never have to face danger alone again.

Chapter Twenty

R
V watched his feed from the sensor buoy in the Major’s Sector. Ships had been jumping in and forming up for more than seven days and the numbers continued to rise. He glanced down at the scanner report and saw that close to five hundred million had arrived and still they continued to arrive in massive numbers. Whoever was in charge of the organization was pretty good. They weren’t mixing ships from different civilizations and were allowing the Fleet Commanders from each civilization to make sure the organizational orders were followed. It was still massively confused, but they had time to get organized before they came to visit.

“That’s an impossible fleet to control.”

“They’re not going to try to control it. They’re just going to start it moving and see if we can stop it.”

Cyanna shrugged, “It’s like a skier standing in front of an avalanche yelling stop. They’re just going to roll over us and surround us like an amoeba.”

“Then they’ll consume us.”

Cyanna turned around in her chair and said, “Is there anything we can do to stop that fleet?”

“Not really. We have enough Light Waves to knock a big hole in their formations but it would be suicide to go in it. We could attack around the edges but they would just roll over us.”

“So why are we here?”

RV thought about it and said, “To get their attention and make sure they just don’t walk in and do as they please.”

“That’s it!”

“Unless you’d like to add a few descriptive phrases, yes.”

Cyanna turned back around and said, “Mikal and Loree were really hot under the collar.”

“Too bad; they should see the need.”

“Melodie and Greg were also angry.”

RV turned around and looked at Cyanna, “I’m sending the best we have to defend our planets. I’m not going to waste them here.”

“You know our fleet is the best.”

RV shrugged.

“Got nothing to say?”

“What do you think would happen if I left?”

Cyanna smiled, “Just wanted to make sure you were doing this for the right reason.”

“I’ve also ordered the Horde and Hive to send their best sub-fleets to their new locations. They resisted but they understand.”

“Well, let’s put on a good performance.”

RV smiled, “You know we will.”

• • •

George looked at RV and said, “Don’t waste your ships. We’ll need those crews to train future ships.”

“I have no intention of doing that.”

“How many ships do you have to face them?”

“Six million; our numbers have been reduced in the attacks on the Majors. It will be enough so that they think all of our ships are here.”

“RV, I don’t care about them thinking they’ve killed all our ships. I’m giving you a direct order to save as many as you can if you are going to be overwhelmed.”

RV stared at George, “If they know many of us survive they will not stop looking for us.”

“I don’t care. We’ll handle that issue when it arises. I will not sanction the wasteful loss of our fine sailors.”

RV looked at Cyanna, saw her nod, and then said, “We’ll do it your way. However, we are going to kill as many as we can before we leave.”

“That’s fair. Just don’t overstay your welcome.”

RV nodded and ended the connection. Cyanna said, “It appears he knows you rather well.”

RV nodded, “It appears he doesn’t. I was planning to retreat.” Cyanna snorted and looked at him. “Hey, I was.”

“Yeah, that’s why you sent those fleets away.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” RV thought a moment and said, “It might be better if you sound the retreat. I might be too involved and lose track of what’s going on.”

“You are wise beyond your years.”

“Are you saying I’m old!?!”

“No, I’m saying you’ll be like a child at a circus that forgets to run when the tigers get loose.”

“Oh; well that’s ok.”

Cyanna glanced at her display and said, “Better get ready; they’re forming up to jump.”

RV looked at his panel and hit the fleet frequency, “Attention all ships. The enemy fleets will be jumping momentarily. Go to general quarters and hold your formations until I order the attack.” He looked at the massive cloud of enemy ships and wondered if anyone would survive.

• • •

The Dark Creature looked at the Ramst Fleet Commander and said, “You are now in charge. You may begin operations.”

“Attention all ships; we will begin our jumps in two minutes. You have your jump times. Don’t be late.”

• • •

Arvolo looked up at his display and saw the gathering ships. There were millions and more were arriving every second. He hit the general frequency, “It appears that both sectors of M-87 have now arrived and are coming to destroy our fleets. There is no possible way for us to fight in formation so once the battle is joined, all ships will be on their own to fight and survive as best they can. It is our intent to kill as many of the enemy as possible and lessen the possibility of them finding our new home. Small ships will fight until they run out of munitions and will then jump away. You will not waste your ships by ramming the enemy. We will need you in future combat operations. On my command, weapons are free and pick a group of those warships, introduce yourselves, and make sure they remember you; God speed and good luck.”

RV stood and moved to the pilot’s chair, “Dolly, can you handle the weapons?”

“I can.”

“Cyanna, take over control of the fleet and order retreat if we’re going to be overwhelmed.”

Cyanna moved to the command chair and watched the giant mass of warships as it continued to grow. She looked at RV, “If you don’t mind, I’ve never been the patient sort.”

RV smiled and said, “Go ahead.”

“Attention all ships; we will not wait for their attack. Launch all small ships immediately and prepare to hit those ships in five seconds, four, three, two, one, and go!”

The millions of white ships roared forward, hit the giant mass of warships in the center at one quarter light speed, and ships began dying.

• • •

The Havana hit the mass of ships and RV twisted the ship through the dense sea of ships. He was flying weightless and not even thinking about what was happening around him. The Millions of small craft hit the formation and began launching main penetrators and the massive explosions blinded many ships to what was immediately around them. Suddenly, RV jerked the Havana hard right and saw there were no enemy ships around him; only empty space with white ships moving through it. The millions of main battleships and small craft were left in space with no one to attack. RV looked at Cyanna and said, “What just happened!?! Where did they go?”

“They aren’t anywhere around here. Every ship in their fleet jumped simultaneously somewhere else.”

The Admirals began asking for directions and RV looked at Cyanna and said, “Sort this out. I need to make a call.”

Cyanna moved to her chair and RV went to the command chair. He punched a Nexu frequency and Jeff appeared on the display. “Every ship they sent to attack us has suddenly disappeared. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

RV saw Jeff was frightened. Jeff said, “Have you seen the sensor probes that are located along the edge of our galaxy?”

“I have.”

“Do you know why they were put there?”

“I assume it was to warn against another galaxy attacking you.”

“That’s partially true. They were put there to warn our sectors if any activity was detected in the Red Sector.”

“The what!?!”

“The Red Sector; surely you know that our two sectors only occupy a third of the galaxy out from the core.”

“Yeah, so what?”

“The Red Sector occupies half the galaxy across from our location. There is only one civilization there and they have invaded our sectors and destroyed all intelligent life six times over the last four hundred million years.”

RV stared at Jeff and couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “So what does that have to do with all the ships disappearing?”

“Every ship in both sectors has their drives connected to those sensors. If fleet activity is detected in the Red Sector, they are automatically jumped back to their home planets to defend them. Our probes have detected ships in the Red Sector starting to organize.”

RV stared at Jeff for a long minute and finally said, “You have got to be kidding me. This galaxy is one big freak house! You people live in a house of horrors. Is there no end to the nightmares in this place? Why on God’s green earth would you continue to stay in this monster of a galaxy?”

“Sometimes we ask ourselves that same question. Now we wish we had answered it before now. If the Red Sector is coming; no one is going to be left alive.”

RV thought a moment and tilted his head to the right, “That might not be such a bad thing.”

“Easy for you to say; you don’t live here.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Unfortunately, I do. I gave them the coordinates of the galaxy you left to throw them off but it appears that was a wasted effort. You are the last thing on their mind now.”

“I’ll talk with you later.” Jeff ended the connection. RV pressed another button and the Hive and Horde leaders appeared on his display, “What do you two know about the Red Sector?”

Both of them showed their shock. “Why would you ask that!?!”

“It appears the sensors in the other sectors have detected ships being organized into fleets in that sector.”

“Everyone is going to die!”

“Surely not everyone; most of your populations are safe.”

“Admiral, there are more than nine hundred thousand Minor Civilizations in this sector alone. Every one of them will be exterminated.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that but it appears the other two sectors will also be eliminated as well. That will solve our immediate problems.”

The Hive Controller looked at the Horde Master and he nodded, “We hoped that it wouldn’t happen but we were afraid that this was what would transpire after your latest tactics.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“When you exploded those fifty stars into novae, I’m sure the Red Sector saw it and knew something out of the ordinary was happening here that represented a danger to them. You are responsible for the coming deaths of everyone on this side of the galaxy.”

RV looked at Cyanna showing his incredulity and said, “This galaxy is a freak house! You open one box and a snake bites you. The next box a gator takes off your arm. The next box a rhino rams the hell out of you. Is there no end to these freaking boxes?” RV paused and said, “Get the rest of your populations out of here. We’ll have to process this information before we can even start to think about what to do next.”

The Horde and Hive leaders disappeared from the display. RV angrily punched another button and George appeared on the display and saw RV’s anger, “I have good news and bad news, George. You better be sitting down for the bad news.”

Cyanna turned to her board and began issuing commands to the fleets to reform their formations and to hold their positions. She lowered the armor from the viewport and looked out at the stars. They didn’t look so beautiful anymore.

• • •

The King of the Ramst and the Dark Creature’s communication panels were overloaded. Both of them ignored the incoming calls and sat alone fighting the fear that threatened to overwhelm them. Throughout the two sectors the news was spreading that the Red Sector was coming. Every planet came to a standstill as fear began paralyzing the trillions of beings looking up at skies that were no longer friendly. The Dark Creature now knew that all his efforts to ensure his eggs would survive were now a wasted effort. He had no idea what to do.

The probes at the edge of M-87 began sending intense warnings. The fleets were gathering and it wouldn’t be long before the Red Ships were ready.

Chapter Twenty-One

T
he Command Team was in George’s office, except for the Admirals that were listening in on their displays. The situation had been explained to the attendee’s and George had opened the floor for comments. Admiral Anders said, “I hate this is happening but I’m glad it caused those ships to leave. I must confess that this couldn’t happen to a more worthy group.”

RV sighed heavily and said, “I don’t want to agree with Kenny but I do.” Dolly looked hard at RV and he said, “However, it’s not just the Major Civilizations in those two sectors that will die. The Minor Civilizations outnumber the Majors by a hundred to one. They don’t deserve to die because of our stupidity.”

George shook his head, “No one told us about the Red Sector. If we had known we would have just met their fleets head on and escaped when forced.”

Dolly said, “I didn’t mean to hit the child when it walked out in front of my car. I didn’t see it.”

George moaned and said, “What can we do about this? I don’t see anything possible without getting involved with the civilizations that want us dead.”

Kate said, “You want us to defend predators?”

Dolly said, “Lions were an endangered species and they were protected.”

“Until one of those predators nuked them out of existence.”

Dolly stared at Gibbs and sat back in her chair. Gibbs said, “Are we willing to get dirty to protect the Minors?”

“Just how big of a menace are these Red Ships?”

RV shrugged, “We don’t have any information and the only way we can get it is to open a dialogue with the ones that were attacking us.”

George thought a moment and said, “Then open a conversation and see what’s happening. We can’t make any kind of decision without at least knowing what’s going on.”