Annihilation: A Rose Grows In Weeds (14 page)

“Ok, shoot. I’ll keep an open mind.”

“I fell for Leila one night in the second level when I could see her in my mind looking at my picture in our school annual. I just assumed that it was part of my psychic gift that I could see her because she was thinking about me. She was more than two miles away from me at that moment. I’ve done a lot of thinking about this and quite frankly, I’ve not seen anyone else that far away thinking about me.”

Danielle furrowed her brow and said, “Maybe those circumstances haven’t happened again.”

“Danielle, think about it. I’ve been out in my front yard hundreds of times and my mother was inside with my pictures scattered all around the house. Do you believe that she never once looked at my picture and thought about me? I only got a reading when she actually looked where I was. That’s the way my talent has always worked; I know when someone is looking at me.”

“So what are you saying, Tag?”

“With the information you have, your answer is the only solution to explain all the coincidences that brought us together. Let me give you something else to think about. Did the Special Forces Group tell you when they first sensed my psychic gift?”

Danielle thought hard and tried to remember, “They asked us to find you two years after you went missing. They said they had seen your aura and how your psychic powers were strong. I think I assumed that is when they saw you.”

“What if it wasn’t?”

Danielle sat and played with that thought and after a minute her face suddenly showed understanding about where he was going. “Do you really think they did that?”

“Which makes more sense?”

Danielle pressed a button on her bracelet and Leila came in, “Leila would you please request Sung Lea to com me at her earliest possible convenience for a private call.”

Leila went out and Tag and Danielle looked at Rose and made funny faces at her. It’s time to give her a bottle, would you like to do the honors?”

“Absolutely, hand it here.”

Tag fed Rose and by the time the baby had finished half of the bottle Leila announced that Sung Lea was on a channel. Danielle’s wall display came on and not only was Sung Lea on the display but the other five members of their team. “Good day Sung Lea, you didn’t need to have everyone present.”

“I believe I did; hello Mr. Gardner.”

“Hello Sung Lea, I guess you know why we called.”

“I have seen a number of possibilities. Maybe you should tell me why you called.”

Tag looked at the display and said, “I understand that it was one of your members that sensed my psychic skills which led to you asking the Enforcement Committee to find me.”

Sung Lea simply nodded.

“When did you discover my psychic skills?”

Sung Lea looked at Danielle and knew she would know immediately if she did not tell the truth. “Why do you ask, Mr. Gardner?”

“Just answer the question, please,” Tag said.

“You were two days old,” Sung Lea said.

Even Tag was shocked; neither he nor Danielle could speak. The Special Forces Team just sat by and waited for them to gather their wits. Finally Tag said, “It was one of you that allowed me to see Leila looking at my picture in second level.”

One of the SFT members raised their hand and nodded.

“So you had decided that she was the best possible mate for me even at that age.”

Sung Lea said, “She is a remarkably talented and smart woman.”

“Did you also arrange for her parents to have that fight which led to me taking her test booklet?”

Another member said, “We felt that once she found out what you did for her that it would start the relationship between you.”

“Then the attack on me going home was a surprise to you.”

“I never saw it in any of my visions. It was one of those events that exist outside of predictability,” Sung Lea said. “After it happened, we worked to maintain damage control so that you would not be caught.”

Tag looked at Danielle and said, “Up until that moment, you had planned for Leila and me to eventually marry. However, once you saw Danielle and her psychic aura, you changed your plans.”

“We never would have seen her unless that attack had happened. Once one of us saw her, we knew she was the one.”

Danielle looked up sharply and said, “What do you mean “the one?””

“You were the compliment of Mr. Gardner’s psychic gifts. The two of you would produce a child with psychic skills so far ahead of us that we would effectively become obsolete.”

Tag and Danielle looked at Rose and then at each other. Then Danielle said, “Did you manipulate Tag into a relationship with me?”

“We didn’t have to; once you shook his hand in the lunch room when you met him, your auras touched each other and you and he were bound. It just took a while longer for your consciousness to realize it. It was that contact, incidentally that caused us to see Danielle. I’m sure both of you felt a small shock but we could see the blast of the aura on the other side of the planet. We immediately sent one of us to investigate and we discovered the happy news.”

“What do you mean happy news?” Tag asked.

The leader of the SFT said, “Mr. Gardner, we tried to find the best mate possible for you so that your gifts could be passed on to your children. You actually found the perfect mate on your own. Once you touched Danielle, all of our plans were for nothing. Quite frankly, I thought we were out of the woods and things were going to work out well but then you were attacked again. Danielle’s psychic gifts had also been improved as a result of your contact. Her aura was getting stronger every day but your contact accelerated the development. When you ran away after the last attack, we could no longer see you. If you are thinking that you have to hide, your talents make you invisible to us. That’s why we enlisted the aid of the Enforcement committee to find you. You might also be interested to know that the man you chose to live with has a psychic talent at being invisible to psychics. He’s the reason we never saw the attacks in any of Sung Lea’s visions.”

Danielle looked at Tag and said, “Do you still think my original answer is not true?”

Tag thought hard and said, “Do you still think it’s true after all you’ve just heard?”

“Did a force invisible to the SFT cause the circumstances that brought us together? Did it happen at just the moment that you were going to be bonded to Leila? Did it send you into safety once you were discovered to be the superman we were searching for? Finally, what got you in the crater where you landed?”

Sung Lea asked, “What does that crater have to do with what happened?”

Tag looked at Danielle and said, “Love will find a way. It couldn’t allow me to leave you for another planet and it had to make sure I wasn’t hurt in stopping my escape. The subsequent fall of the Alliance was simply a byproduct of it making sure we were safely together. Love conquers all.”

Tag and Danielle looked at Rose again and wondered at just what their child was going to become. Danielle said, “Thank you for your honesty. My husband and I have some things to discuss.”

The six members of SFT bowed and the display went blank. Danielle pressed the button on her bracelet and said, “Leila, would you mind coming in for a moment?”

Leila came in with a notebook in hand and Danielle could see she was trying to maintain a neutral face. “What do you think about what the SFT just said?” Leila turned bright red and Danielle said, “I know you listen in on my calls to make sure that you can protect me or help me thru difficult times. I trust you with my life; now I need to know what you’re thinking.”

Leila sat down and hung her head. “I must confess that I have terribly mixed emotions about it. I see the two of you and I can’t help but picture myself as Queen.” Leila paused and then said, “But I would never want to be manipulated into any relationship and that is what they were doing. I also love Eric with all my heart. Danielle, I think everything turned out exactly the way it should have. Eric and I can go anywhere we choose and enjoy ourselves; you can’t. You’re the most recognized face in the universe. No disrespect, Tag, but I’m glad you ended up with Danielle.”

“None taken, Leila; I also know how much Eric loves you. I think that all of us have happier lives just the way things are.”

Suddenly, they felt the warmest feeling of happiness and then Rose’s pacifier lifted from the table and floated over to her mouth. Leila, Tag, and Danielle watched it and Leila said, “I think the best thing about the two of you getting together has just been demonstrated. Life is going to get very interesting and I’m glad I’m going to be around to watch it.”

Mikado sat with Kosiev and Dorg and munched on a bag of popcorn while they watched the recordings of the fleet action against the plants. “Lin,” Kosiev said, “you did an outstanding job and before you talk about the loss of 2,000 ships, anyone else would have lost many more than that. Your plan was very well done. My concern is that it takes too many weapons to kill those ships. Our penetrators are the best tool in our box; I would hate to think about what a ship to ship action would cost us. However, we used more than 15 million penetrators to kill 120,000 ships. We can’t carry enough of them to take on the fleet that arrived when you jumped out.”

Dorg sat and listened then said, “The problem is that their screen can handle anything we can hit it with on the initial hit, right?”

Mikado and Kosiev nodded. They thought about it then Mikado said, “Would the two of you mind if I ask one of my officers to join us?”

“Who,” Kosiev asked?

“I’ve just promoted one of my sensor offices from Commodores Smiths flagship to captain and he will be commanding one of the Megaships we’ll receive shortly. He has quick mind and see’s things about the use of weapons faster than anyone I’ve seen. Commodore Smith says a large part of our success was due to his seeing the best use of our weapons. He’s waiting downstairs for you to sign his paperwork and receive his new commission.”

Dorg turned and then commed his adjutant to bring Lt. Chen to the meeting. Lt Chen came in and came to attention and saluted the three officers. “At ease, Lieutenant,” Mikado said. “I need your insight into something we’re trying to get our hands around.” Dorg then told him about what he saw as the problem.

Lt. Chen thought a moment and said, “So we’re wasting 50% of our penetrators just to soften up their screen along with all the hornets inside them and if the second hit is delayed then both penetrators are wasted?”

“Exactly,” Kosiev said.

“Have you thought about making a two stage penetrator?”

Mikado said, “What do you mean two stages?”

“Well, what if the penetrators were made in two parts but launched as a single pulse. The front part of the penetrator is an energized power cell with a tremendous energy charge that would separate from the rear section and speed a half second ahead to impact the screen of the ship it designates. The second stage would contain all the hornets and it would hit the exact spot the first stage impacted; its guidance system would be looking for that point of impact. The first energy pulse weakens the screen and the follow up breaks thru with the load of hornets.”

Mikado said, “Get Cade McAllister on a com and ask if what he’s suggesting is possible.”

Three minutes passed and Chen was given a bag of popcorn to eat. The wall display lit up and McAllister was on the screen. Chen quickly explained his idea and Cade listened and took notes. “Actually, it would be very easy to build what you’re suggesting,” Cade said. The reason the penetrators don’t make it thru their screen is that we can’t make the energy shell around the hornets too hot or the hornets will degrade or explode inside of it. They can only handle a medium amount of energy. If the first stage is just an energy pulse activated when launched with no hornets it can be much hotter with three times the penetrating power in the warhead. The unit will be guided by the system in the hornets but the pulse will be programmed to follow the Coronado screens designated beam that locks on any ship without a Coronado screen. It should also only be about 5 feet longer than the current penetrator so it won’t require tremendous modification of our magazines or ports.”

“How long will it take to make them and how long until a mass quantity will be available,” Mikado asked? “There are troops that will need relief and we can’t wait too long.”

“We can actually modify the existing penetrators to accept the front stage; we will just need to put a shield between the two stages to protect the hornets from the high energy of the front stage. I would think that if the Queen approves the change and authorizes changing all of the manufacturing facilities on all the planets, we should have them ready in less than 5 weeks.”

Dorg looked at Kosiev and then called his adjutant in, “Please get Queen Danielle on a com and let her know it’s an emergency.”

Right away sir.”

“Admiral Mikado,” Kosiev said, “Admiral Dorg and I have made a number of decisions. First, you are hereby promoted to Vice Admiral responsible for the ongoing fleet action at the Pydres planet. Commodore Smith is promoted to Rear Admiral and will command one of the Megaship squadrons under your command. Captain Kelly is also promoted to Rear Admiral to command one of your squadrons. Lt. Chen, your promotion is denied.”