Planet Predators (23 page)

C
hris and Jillian walked on the Bridge and the Crew came to attention, “As you were. Admiral, we have given them a week. I’m about out of patience.”

“Yes Sir and I think it’s time we nudge them.”

“How would you go about doing that?”

“We jump in just outside the edge of Andromeda and send a new message giving them our coordinates.”

Chris stared at Arvolo for a long moment and said, “Do you think that’s wise?”

“Yes Sir. I think they will attack first and that will give them a nudge to talk with us if things don’t go their way.”

“Just how do you intend to make sure things don’t go their way?”

“We know we’re faster than they are in normal space. We will jump our ships and maintain a thousand mile separation between our squadron and the bulk of their ships. We’ll use the main guns to inflict maximum damage and use the attack craft and our beams to hold off any that come close. If things get dicey we jump back to this location and continue our attempt at initiating a dialogue. However, if we manage to destroy a large number of their ships we will break off and do the same thing.”

Chris looked at Jillian and saw her shrug, “Admiral, the ship is yours. Take us in and notify the other two ships.”

Arvolo activated his com and saw Kenny and Bob on the display, “We’re going in. Make sure your Jump Officers lock their boards on the Havana’s drive coordinates and transmit the new locations to any of their Needles that are engaged in combat operations.”

“They will get them as soon as we do but there may be a half second delay in getting them back to their main ships.”

“Kenny, just make sure they don’t get left behind.”

“We’ve practiced this enough times that they have learned jump discipline. Even if they are attempting a kill they will break off and jump. They know their duty.”

“Now we find out just how good they are.” RV looked at his board and entered the jump coordinates, “We’ll be jumping in three seconds from now.”

The three Jump Officers stared at their displays and when the countdown hit zero, they all pushed their drive pads. The three ships disappeared together.”

Chris stared at the huge Andromeda Galaxy on the central display and took a deep breath. He pushed the communication button and began speaking.

* * *

The Messenger entered the room and continued closer to the large table than it had ever dared approach. It stopped and leaned back asking forgiveness for the trespass. The First Leader saw how close it had come and knew something important demanded their attention. He went forward and said, “Why are you here?”

“Three small ships have appeared just outside the edge of our home and are broadcasting another message.”

The First grew angry and said, “Show me now!”

The First saw the three ships and heard, “I have been attempting to talk with your leadership and it occurred to me that you may not know where we are. I’ve come to a location outside your galaxy at the following coordinates. I request that you come and talk with us. We are not here to fight but to have a peaceful conversation. Please answer us.”

The First replayed the message to the other Leaders and they grew angry. At least all of them did but the newest Leader, “Why are you not angry?”

“I’m more curious about this than angry. I’m wondering what possessed those ships to come here; this has never happened in our history. I also wonder how they know our language. We have learned that they are capable of killing our ships so why do they want to communicate? I don’t see any possible reason for their actions. Do you?”

The First focused on the newest member and thought about what he said. “No, I don’t. They might be here to threaten us.”

“If that were the case they would have just come inside our home and started attacking. They appear to have only come closer because they thought we were not hearing them. They have also said their purpose was peaceful and have openly given us their location. I think they are here for something other than issuing threats. What that could possibly be; I have no idea.”

“Communicating with another species is a waste of time. We’ve learned that long ago and they have violated our space. They will be removed.”

“No one has ever attempted to communicate in our language in the past. In that they are unique.”

The First was also curious about how the strange ships were able to do that but his only responsibility was defending the Home. He thought a moment and said, “Even so, I’m issuing orders to attack their ships.” It turned to the Messenger, “How many ships do the Military think we need to send?”

“They suggest five hundred.”

“Send a thousand.”

The messenger leaned forward and smoothly backed out of the room. The First turned to the Leaders around the table and said, “I want the attack on the table. Clear a space and have it where we can all see what happens.”

The Third Leader thought, “Should we have sent our newest ships?”

“No, I don’t think we’ll need them. If we do, we’re in more danger than I’ve anticipated. There is no ship that can stand up to that many of our Battleships. Even our newest ships wouldn’t be able to withstand that assault.”

The Leaders cleared an area in the center of the table and saw the three ships hanging in space. The newest Leader wondered if this was a good idea but kept his thoughts to himself.

* * *

Chris looked at Arvolo and said, “It’s been two days.”

“Which indicates to me that it takes time to get to their leaders, Sir?”

“Do we continue to remain at General Quarters?”

“Yes Sir. The crew is taking meals and sleep close to their posts. Our first action, if they arrive, will be to jump away from the major point of their ships entry into normal space. That will give us time to go to get all systems up to speed and launch our Needles.”

Chris nodded and leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to catch up on sleep. Three hours later the alarms began sounding and the speakers blared, “All hands to Battle Stations.”

The three ships jumped and moved three thousand miles away from the massive fleet of Blue Giant Battleships that appeared in close to their former location. RV silenced the alarm and said, “Launch all Needles. Make us proud.”

The three Earth ships turned broadside to the Blue Ships and waited for them to make a move. The Needles waited surrounding their main ship and waited for orders. The first ten Blue Giant Battleships to emerge accelerated towards the Earth ships and fired their main beams. RV yelled over the military frequency, “Weapons Free. Initiate Combat protocols.”

The three Earth Battleships fired three of their Main Beams at the incoming ships and watched as the three pulses blew away the force fields surrounding the Giant Blue Ships allowing the two remaining pulses to hit the Blue Giants. All nine ships were blown through and started blowing up as their reactors started exploding. An Attack Needle accelerated and fired a Striker Missile at the tenth and watched as it punched through the force field and hit the sole remaining ship in the middle. The entire center of the ship was blown away and left a twenty mile hole blasted completely through the incoming Giant. The ship hung in space for three seconds and then exploded into a huge blast that sent debris hurtling out from the center of the explosion.

RV said, “Stay in formation,” as he accelerated away from the huge mass of Blue Giant ships that were racing toward them. The Earth ships continued to deliver a devastating barrage of Main Beams into the oncoming ships and hundreds of blasted, dead ships were left behind by the ships chasing them.

* * *

The Leaders watched the carnage on the table’s display and the First looked at the fifth, “How much energy is in those beams?”

“They are off the scale and our newest ships would not survive a hit.”

The First turned back to the table and continued to observe the battle.

* * *

RV saw that there were only five hundred and twenty three ships still chasing and he said, “Release the Attack Needles. Have them reform after their strikes.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“I intend to jump away after the Needles complete their runs.”

Chris looked at the display and said, “We can probably destroy all of those ships.”

“Yes, but then we take the role of an aggressor. Right now we are only defending ourselves. What role do you prefer if we can open communications?”

“Won’t killing more ships with the Needles do the same thing?”

“No, not really. They need to see that they stand no chance against us and killing them with the Needles is something they need to witness.”

Chris shrugged and said, “Carry on, Admiral.”

* * *

Cyanna and sixty more Attack Needles accelerated towards the incoming Blue Giants and selected their two targets. They flew inside five hundred miles and released their Strikers. They immediately turned and accelerated back to their mother ships and took up stations in the defensive pattern. The entire front of the incoming Giants exploded.

RV punched the com and said, “Jump in four seconds.” All of the Needles and three main ships saw the coordinates on their boards and they disappeared from normal space together. The four hundred surviving Blue Giant Battleships did not chase the ships. They knew that to do so was sure death. The Military Leader in charge of the attack felt fear for his Home.

* * *

The Leaders stood around the table and were silent. The Seventh Leader said, “I have opened the frequency that those ships have been using to contact us. Do you want to hear what they are saying?”

The other Leaders looked at the Seventh and the First said, “Yes.”

* * *

Chris waited for five minutes to see if they had been followed by the Blue Giant Survivors and looked at RV. RV shrugged and said, “Now would be a good time, Sir.”

Chris activated his board and said, “I apologize for the destruction of your fleet. It was not our intention to come here and kill any of your ships. I simply want to have a peaceful conversation.”

The First Leader looked around the table and said, “Seventh, you will speak with them and we will listen.” The Seventh leaned back in shock and the First said, “You wanted us to communicate and we chose not to follow your advice. You are best suited for this conversation.”

The Seventh leaned forward and activated the frequency, “If you did not desire to kill our ships, you could have jumped away and avoided the attack.”

Chris jumped up in his chair and saw the entire Bridge Crew was startled at the response. He said, “If we had done that, would you have then communicated with me?”

The Seventh leaned back and said, “Probably not. I suppose this battle was necessary to get our attention.”

“It’s a shame that it always ends up with ships being destroyed before any progress can be made.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that. Killing the ships of other species is how progress is measured. If they have ships, they must be destroyed.”

“I suppose you do that to defend yourself?”

“That is exactly the reason. If a species has star ships, they will ultimately end up attacking others.”

“Have you ever encountered another species that didn’t end up attacking?”

The Seventh looked at the other Leaders and saw their confusion, “That would be impossible to answer. None of the ones we encountered were given the opportunity to demonstrate that behavior.”

“So you kill them all and don’t have to worry about it?”

“Exactly, just as you would.”

“No, we wouldn’t do that.”

The Seventh was silent and looked at the others. What kind of remark was this being making?

Chris waited and said, “We do not attack another species unless it represents a clear and present danger to us.”

“If they have space travel, they are a clear danger.”

“Is that why you were invading our galaxy? You planned to destroy any civilization that had space travel?”

“We were actually going to destroy any industrialized civilization. They didn’t need to have space flight.”

“If that’s the way you operate, then our attempt to communicate must have really caused you some confusion.”

“Yes, it did. We assumed you were here to threaten us before you attacked. We are too busy to listen to threats.”

“Actually, I’m here to try and persuade you not to invade my galaxy.”

“Now that we’ve seen your ships, how could we possibly ignore the threat you represent?”

“Well, using your view, we would just come here and destroy you.”

“We’re confused about why you haven’t come to do just that.”

“Allow me to ask you a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“It may necessitate you to look at things differently from your normal view.”

“Go ahead.”

“If a species was going to attack my galaxy and then attack yours, what would be the most favorable action the two of us could take?”

The Leaders looked at each other and the Seventh finally said, “I guess we would wait for you to be destroyed and then meet the invader in your galaxy.”

Chris smiled, “I want you to really think about this. If that invader could destroy our ships, what chance would you have against them?”

“Probably none.”

“Now consider this, what if both of us joined together and fought the invader together?”

The Leaders looked at each other and didn’t know how to answer.

Chris waited and said, “Would our chances of survival be greater if we did that?”

The Seventh said, “Logic says they would.”

Chris said, “We have gathered evidence that our galaxy has been invaded more than thirty times over the last fifty million years by species from the large ball shaped galaxy in our quadrant of space. You have also invaded us twice during that time. I also suspect that four million years ago your galaxy was invaded and destroyed.”

The First spoke out, “How do you know that? Those ships came from your galaxy.”

“No they did not. They destroyed the most powerful civilization in our galaxy then left to conquer your galaxy after their conquest. The invaders did not come from our galaxy. Our history shows that the ships that came here were violet colored and used a common force field around their fleets.”