Trapped in Time-Extinction (18 page)

“I can feel the difference.” Andy turned his head to Melody and she gave a weak shrug, “I can’t explain it, but they feel different in my mind. I’ll have no trouble telling the difference.”

“Are you saying they are like you and Harmony were?”

“I don’t have any idea what it means. But I know the difference.”

A priest came in and picked up Linnae to take her to get a dry diaper. Both babies began immediately wailing. The priest looked at Melody and she said, “You better take both of them.” Another priest walked up and picked up Harmony and they stopped crying. Melody looked at Andy and sighed, “It does appear they are connected in some way.”

Andy watched the two babies as the priests took them out and nodded, “Yes it does.”

A
ndy held his two daughters and smiled at Melody, “I can’t get over how much they look alike.”

“They do look exactly like each other.”

“And you still think you can tell the difference between them?”

“You’re holding Linnae in your left arm.”

“How can you tell!? I’ve got to be able to tell the difference and I’ve gotta tell you, I can’t tell the difference.”

“There is one thing that might help you.”

“What is that?”

“When you talk to Linnae, her eyebrows go down. Harmony’s go up. Try it.”

Andy looked at the baby in his left arm and said quietly in her ear, “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Andy saw the baby’s eyebrows go down. He looked at Harmony and smiled, “I was just kidding her; you’re the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen.” Harmony immediately smiled and her eyebrows went up.” Andy shook his head and looked at Melody, “Does it always happen like this?”

“So far.”

“But you can tell the difference anyway.”

“Andy, Linnae feels different from Harmony in my mind. I can’t explain how that is but I know their feel.”

Andy stared at Melody and after a moment, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the baby in his left arm. He opened his eyes as the infant squeezed the finger of his hand. He thought about the baby in his right arm, and she suddenly smiled. He turned to Melody and shook his head, “It seems that Harmony is much quicker to smile.”

“She is, Andy. It feels like Linnae is exploring the world around her a lot more than her sister.”

Any nodded, “I can sense that.”

“You’ll have no trouble telling them apart. When are you leaving?”

“I’m going to the Flagship in an hour and we’re going to set sail. The six camouflaged ships lifted anchor and sailed about three hours ago.”

“I’m nervous about all of you being on the same set of music during this attack. A lot of things are going to have to overlap and none of the parties are going to be able to communicate with each other. Are you sure everyone is ready?”

Andy shrugged, “I guess you can never be sure about anything except for my love for you, Melody. However, there will be definite clues that will indicate everyone’s time to go into action has arrived.”

“What about Tyler?”

“I have to say that I’ve been impressed with the way he modified his plans multiple times and still had all his warriors trained on making the final version a success. It’s his command that has the most difficult challenges to handle. I’m going to get things started and that will put the ball in motion. We’ll just have to adapt on the fly.”

“What happens if things don’t work out the way you’ve planned?”

“Then we’ll have to go about killing everyone in the city…including the infants.”

Melody shook her head, “I really hope that doesn’t happen.”

Andy shook his head slowly, “If any one part of the plan gets thrown off schedule, that’s probably what is going to happen.” Andy went over to Melody’s bed and handed the twins to her. He leaned down and kissed Melody tenderly on the lips, “I’ll see you in a couple of months.”

Melody grabbed his arm before he could pull away and said, “Andy, if it means putting your life in jeopardy to save the infants, don’t do it!” Andy stared in Melody’s eyes and she said, “I mean it!” Andy stared at her and she squeezed his arm hard, “Promise me, you won’t.”

“I thought this was extremely important to you.”

“It is important, but not as important as you are to me…and our Community. We’re going to have to face a space traveling species and we must have you to lead us through it.” Melody paused, “I guess what I’m telling you is…your place is not on the front line.” Andy’s eyes narrowed and both babies immediately started crying. He was startled for an instant and then took a deep breath, “I’ll stay out of trouble, Melody.”

“Promise me!”

Andy shook his head but knew he had to do it. “I promise.”

Melody fell back on her pillows and the babies grew silent. “Thank you, Andy.”

Andy nodded and kissed all three of them before he left the cave. He shook his head as he walked toward the pier to board the Storm Chaser. Steve was commanding the stealth ships on this voyage and Zeck commanded the Community’s Fleet. The ship was still camouflaged on the front and rear and Andy was planning to be close enough to watch the fliers as they attacked the cannons guarding the harbor. Now…he was going to have to remain out of range of the cannons. He didn’t like it but he knew if he went in close, Melody would find out. Andy knew she would question Zeck when he returned to see if Andy kept his promise. Andy didn’t like it, but he gave his word; he was going to keep it. He arrived at the end of the pier and walked up the ramp to the ship. He was the last one to board and the ship quickly cast off its mooring lines and the ship moved out toward the hundred and forty tall sailing ships waiting on the Storm Chaser to take the lead. Andy walked back to the stern and walked up the steps, “How are things going?”

Zeck smiled, “All of our forces are on their assigned ships and settling in for the voyage. Rory’s ships are on the north and south points of our advance. They’ll let us know when they are close to their launch points.”

“I’m nervous about taking out those harbor guns.”

“What? Do you think we’ve missed something?”

“It doesn’t make sense to me to only have the gun crews at them. I have to believe there’s more there than what we’ve seen.”

Zeck stared at the sea as he listened to Andy and after he moved around a ship to the port side as he said, “Perhaps we should take a closer look before we commit the fleet.”

Andy nodded, “Can we do that and keep our schedule?” Zeck nodded. “Make it happen, Admiral.” Zeck nodded again and moved the ship clear of the fleet’s main body and moved out in front of the armada. The other ships went to their full sails and the fleet quickly moved out to sea headed east toward the Destroyer City following in the wake of the Storm Chaser.

• • •

Rory arrived below decks and went to his command team, “There’s been a change of plans.”

Johnathan stood up, “It’s a little late to be doing that!”

“Andy is of the opinion that we missed something at the harbor cannons.”

Mindy tilted her head, “John, didn’t you take a good look at them?”

John looked at Mindy and thought for a few minutes as he remembered his flight over the harbor. Rory watched his expression and said, “What are you thinking?”

“Rory, I flew over the harbor and looked at the harbor batteries from inside the harbor. I didn’t fly over them to see if there were anything on the other sides of the cliffs they were on.”

Rory shook his head, “I would imagine that if there was anything of importance, it would be on the harbor side of the cliffs.” Mindy sniffed and Rory said, “What?”

“Where are our forces on our own cliffs?”

“What are you saying?”

“Rory, the rooms that houses the relief forces for our cannons are on the front of the cliff so they can see out over the sea in the event an enemy is approaching our shores. Where on the harbor cliffs is the view of the open sea?”

Rory stared at her and tilted his head, “That would be the wall away from the harbor.”

“And if they have relief forces in rooms cut out in those cliffs…”

“Our plan will fail.”

Johnathan nodded, “I suspect we only need to go and look at one of them. If there’s a problem with one, the other is probably the same way.”

Rory nodded and looked at Mindy, “How much time have you spent on the powered gliders?”

“Enough.”

“Answer the question, Mindy!”

“About twenty days.”

Rory’s head went back, “Just when did you do that?”

“Gordon and I went up in them quite a few times while you were on the scouting trip. I personally don’t like them very much but they are what you have to have to fly against the wind.”

Johnathan shook his head, “Why don’t one of us go and check it out?”

“John, she’s more than a hundred fifty pounds lighter than me and at least fifty pounds lighter than you.”

Mindy said under her breath, “More like seventy five pounds.” Johnathan heard her but didn’t respond to her quip. He knew he weighed two hundred pounds and Mindy had to be less than a hundred and twenty five pounds. Rory looked at them and said, “The Admiral wants to send a scout three days before our fleet arrives at the picket ships to take a look. The scout will then turn around and use the electric motors to meet the fleet.”

“Will it have enough of a charge to get back?”

Rory nodded, “As long as the flyer’s weight is low, two sets of batteries can be installed on the glider. The scout will arrive, take a look, and then turn around and head back toward the fleet. At that point, the fleet will be sailing with the wind and should only be two days from the scout. The scout will arrive at the fleet when it’s still a day out from the Picket Ships.” Rory looked at Mindy, “Do you want to do this?”

Mindy smiled, “It’s really not a question of what I want. I’m best suited to do it. I’ve determined with my weight that a battery will last more than sixteen hours. It would only last twelve with Gordon. I could cover sixty more miles than Gordon with one battery.”

Johnathan sat down, “Two batteries should get her back.”

Rory nodded and looked at Mindy, “You’ll take off from the bow launch floor into the wind. It won’t be as high as the prevailing easterly wind but you can use it to get enough height to move up into the air stream.”

“How do I find the harbor?”

Rory sighed, “I’ll talk to Zeck about that. He’ll give you a magnetic pointer and the proper course to hold.” Mindy nodded and sighed. Rory’s eyes narrowed, “Now what?”

“I was planning to really eat my fill on this trip. It looks like I’ll have to watch my diet.”

“I didn’t know you were on a diet.”

“Every woman is on a diet; how do you think I’ve been able to keep my shape?”

Rory shook his head and sat down. Tamara was always complaining about watching what she ate, as well. Truth be told, he had to watch it too. Many of the older flyers still called him Fats. Mindy moved above decks and sat down on the flat floor that had been built at the bow of the ship. It was level with the rails and offered a much larger space to launch, or land, a glider. She looked out at the waves moving toward the ship and wondered what Gordon was doing.

• • •

The Destroyer Commander was back at the home where the two slaves disappeared. The Master was with him as he inspected the two slave quarters again, “What are you looking for?”

“Something that would have allowed one of the slaves to get out.”

The Master shook his head, “Then you need to focus on Gren’s room.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because if Olivia managed to get out, she would have never opened Gren’s door. She detested him and he had threatened to do some pretty horrific things to her if he ever got his hands on her.”

The Commander nodded and moved to the room on the left. He pushed on every square inch of the room and nothing budged. He shook his head and put his hand under his nose, “This room stinks!”

“I know. I’ve had it cleaned four times and it still isn’t right.”

The Commander looked at the Master, “Did it always smell like this?”

“I don’t know how long it’s smelled so bad. I usually unlock the door and move back. I think he had been stealing some of the orange pods and hiding them in his clothes.”

“Why do you think that?”

“When your warriors first inspected the room there was an orange powder on the walls and floor. The smell is probably coming from the rotting orange pods we’ve been harvesting.”

“Can you show me some of the powder?”

“No, I’ve had the room washed out several times and the residue is no longer inside.”

The Commander nodded slowly and walked over and picked one of the orange pods growing in a close row of plants. He smelled it and it didn’t smell bad, “Do you mind if I take this?”

“No, feel free to take as many as you want.”

The Commander picked four more and put them in a pouch. “Thank you for your time.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The Commander took the pouch and tied it to his belt. He threw it outside his house when he arrived home and then left for the Government Building. He promptly forgot about it as he ran into a problem with the new spitter guns. It was twelve hours later when he arrived back home; he ate his evening meal and went directly to sleep. No one noticed the pouch that had landed under a bush in his back yard.

• • •

Mindy saw land on the horizon before the sun appeared. The lanterns running along the shore seemed to grow each moment she flew east. She turned into the easterly wind and used it to spiral higher. She kept her eyes on the horizon and the lights from the Destroyer City grew in number and intensity.

She shook her head at the size of the city and looked to the south. She could see the huge indentation into the shoreline where the harbor was located and she saw the second row of picket ships below as she flew over them. The view was incredibly beautiful in spite of the evil represented by the civilization she was seeing. She adjusted her course slightly and began flying toward the southern edge of the huge harbor. That is where the big cannons were located. She took her time moving in. She circled a number of times and waited for the sun to start making an appearance. She turned and moved quickly toward the cliff as the first light on the distant horizon began to appear. She came flying in over the southern battery of cannons just before daylight broke and dove to get a good look at the huge cannons. She turned back into the wind as she passed over them and she saw the cannons were larger than she imagined. There were ten of them lined up pointing their barrels out to sea and every one of them were more than double the size of the cannons carried on the ships. She noticed the Destroyers surrounding the guns began stirring and it surprised her that there were only ten Destroyer Warriors on the top of the cliff. That was nowhere near the number needed to fire the cannons. She continued to circle above the cannons as daybreak lit up the harbor.