Ashes of the Realm - Greyson's Revenge (22 page)

Jilico just stared at him.

Scotty said, “You cannot ever say anything on an open channel that the invader would hear to let them know what we’re doing. I’ll give you a com code where one of your ships can leave your system and contact us to schedule the attacks on your planet. Just give us the time and the details and we’ll make it happen.”

Jilico looked up at the giant ship on the display and said, “Then we will play this game.”

Rehoben looked at Scotty and said, “I think your first attack should be tomorrow at midday. I will send twenty freighters out to the jump limit that have been scheduled for decommissioning. You may destroy them all. They will be escorted by fifteen ships that will chase you away. I will then send ships to search for you that will send scheduled transmissions back to reinforce the strength of our attacker. Does that meet your needs?”

“Yes it does.”

“Admiral Hulent, I need you to get the right people in our Command Communications Center that you can depend on to make this look real.”

“I will be one of them. I’ll make sure we do our job.”

Jilico said, “It looks like Daulun dodged a bullet.”

“Daulun is dead. He’s been replaced by his brother. There will not be anymore forced shipments from his kingdom.”

Jilico’s eyes narrowed but then he looked up at the display and shrugged.

Scotty said, “Admiral, I’m leaving your fleet to your command and I thank you for your patience. King Borders, I will be taking you back to your Palace and leaving you there. Thank you for helping me to defend us against this coming menace.”

Rehoben looked at the blonde haired warrior and knew that he was not one that would tolerate deception. Olympos’s continued existence depended on not breaking their agreements. He just hoped Jilico understood.

Scotty looked at Virze, “Take them home.”

Jilico looked around and saw he was back in his personal office. He had been returned in less than three seconds. Rehoben was staring at the display on his desk and saw that no alarms had been tripped. Jilico saw it as well and sighed, “Ro, let’s go to war.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

N
iles took the Bristone out of the Defense Facility and looked at Toland, “I’m not sure I like this ship not using a force field. I feel almost naked.”

Toland looked up at the ceiling and then back at his display, “Well, that’s what trials are all about. You didn’t have to volunteer for this.”

“I know, but if we’re going to develop our ships from this model, I owe it to the Emperor to give it the best chance of success.”

“Even if you die in the testing?”

“Even if.”

“Well, our target is four hundred thousand miles ahead of us.”

“I thought we were its target.”

“Same thing.”

“Yeah, sure.”

Toland adjusted his scanner, “Emperor Robbins is out there with Grace watching what happens. Let’s make it count.”

“I just wish they weren’t using a Searcher fitted with the beams of a Zeta for our first effort.”

“If we can’t withstand that beam, then all this technology is going to be wasted. It’s been ten years and we can’t just start all over again. You know we can’t waste time.”

Well, let’s hope we survive this.” Niles took the controls and steered the ship on the correct heading and hit the teleport console. The Bristone appeared two hundred yards from the old Searcher and was immediately fired on by the unmanned ship. The huge white beam struck the Bristone and its entire hull turned bright white and then a beam erupted from its surface and struck the Searcher. The white ship vaporized into nothing but a cloud of gas.”

“Exercise over.”

Niles looked at the gas cloud and shook his head, “That’s it?”

“Yep.”

“Congratulations, Bristone. Your trial has been a success.”

Toland hit the com, “Thank you, Your Majesty. What do the scans reveal?”

“The beam that struck you was the strongest in our arsenal. The beam you fired back was ten times stronger than the one that struck your ship.”

“Actually, all I did was designate that ship with a cursor on my display.”

“That’s all it takes, Toland. Good work, you can take it back to port.”

Toland turned off his com and looked at Niles, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping there would be some kind of back and forth between our ships. After all the years of preparation, this was anticlimactic.”

“Say that when you’re facing one of those invaders.”

“It might be nice to invite them to a pub to discuss old times before we designate them with a cursor.”

“Think they would go with you?”

“After we’ve shot the pants off em they would probably order the first brew.”

“Ummmmmm. Make mine a beer.”

Niles smiled and turned the Bristone to teleport to the Defense Facility.

“Greyson, what are you doing?”

“I thought I would take a little time and get familiar with the new scanners I’ve been given.”

“Is that why we’re jumping around the edge of all these galaxies?”

“Yes, I want to see how far they will penetrate. It looks like my active scan can detect a ship more than ten light years out.”

“That’s good. That still doesn’t tell me why you’re looking at all these galaxies.”

“Timmy, this universe used to be filled with millions of planets that were members of the old Realm. I know that this sector has not been examined by King Borders, and Daulun just operated in his galaxy. I just think it might be a good idea to just take a quick look. We don’t have much to do, so now would be a good time to do a little scouting.”

“Then quit making excuses and teleport into the middle of them and make a scan.”

Greyson jumped and made a scan, “Timmy, there is a battle taking place at a planet eight light years from here.”

“Let’s go take a look.”

Greyson emerged in stealth mode and scanned the attacking ships. “Those ships were not made by the old Realm. I don’t have anything like them in my databanks. They must have been manufactured since the Realm left.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because they are using the beams and missiles of the old Realm but their ships do not have Power Cell hulls. They are also communicating in the language of the Realm.”

“What are they saying?”

“..You will stop firing or we will start destroying cities on the planet’s surface starting with the largest. Your fleet has been destroyed and you will not survive if you do not follow my instructions.”

“We’ve seen what survival looks like under the rule of the Neriff. We prefer to die than be forced to endure your brutality.”

“If that is your wish, I am more than happy to comply. I’ll start with your largest city.”

“Greyson?”

“I’m on it.”

A nuclear missile left the large ship and accelerated toward the planet. Just before it entered the atmosphere it exploded.

The invading fleet’s commander watched the missile explode and yelled, “Launch six more at their six largest cities.”

Six missiles erupted from the ship’s hull and started scattering as they targeted their targets. All six exploded halfway to the planet. The Commander watched his display and didn’t see what had stopped the missiles. He hit his com and ordered, “Land the transports and begin the looting.”

“You will exit this system and return from where you came. Any ship that moves toward the planet will be destroyed. You have been warned and I will not tolerate any failure to follow my instructions.”

The planet and the attacking fleet heard the transmission and silence ruled the frequency. “Where did that transmission originate.”

The Sensor Officer looked at his panel and started shaking his head, “I don’t register anything on my board.”

A voice came on the channel, “Who are you? We thank you for your help but want to know who you are.”

“Stand-by, we’ll communicate once this fleet has departed.”

The Fleet Commander now knew that it wasn’t the planet that had stopped his missiles. “Whoever you are, you are interfering in something that does not concern you. Our rulers will not take this interference kindly.”

“I don’t care how they take it. You will turn your fleet around and leave this system or I will start destroying your fleet starting with the closest ship to the planet and then start destroying every other ship one by one until you comply.”

The Commander looked at his Sensor Officer who shook his head. He looked at his board and saw that one of his largest battleships was eight thousand miles from the planet and had its force field at full power. Then he heard, “Times up.” The battleship was hit with a bright white beam that vaporized it. One moment it was hanging in space and the next there was nothing but an expanding vapor cloud.

“You now have one minute until the next ship is eliminated.”

“Get us out of here! Do it now!”

The invading fleet of six hundred ships turned and began accelerating toward the jump limit. The Fleet Commander saw one of his ships remaining behind and yelled, “Captain Delo, what are you doing?”

“I saw where those beams came from and I’m firing on it.”

The Commander knew that Delo was a nephew of one of the high rulers and was a hothead. He wanted command of the fleet and this was just another example of him disobeying orders. “Get your ship out of there!” He watched as Delo fired and saw the beams stop against…something. Then that terrible white beam hit and Delo and his ship were an expanding vapor ball.

The Commander looked at his Communications Officer and yelled, “You better have a recording of what just happened.”

“I do.”

“His father and Uncle are going to want blood for this.”

Then he heard, “We will gladly give it to them if they return to this planet.”

The Commander looked at his display and knew that whoever it was, they were able to scan through his screen. “Move to maximum speed.” The fleet arrived at the jump limit four hours later and disappeared.

“Thank you for your assistance. We are the Priven and we have been fighting the Neriff for more than ten years. They have enslaved three of our colonies and killed more than forty percent of their populations while forcing them to do slave labor. They would have defeated us if you had not intervened.”

“It was the right thing to do. We do not condone the killing of those that can’t defend themselves nor do we tolerate slavery in any form.”

“They will be back with a much larger fleet. You have only delayed the inevitable. Our ships have been destroyed and our installations above the planet have used up all of their ordinance holding them off. However, we do thank you for the additional time before they destroy us.”

“I notice that your planet is highly industrialized. Shouldn’t you be able to produce the ships necessary to hold them off?”

“They are just too numerous. They have worn us down over the long years of fighting and now there’s not enough time to replace the ships we’ve lost. They destroyed more than four hundred in the current battle.”

“Why didn’t you just take the war to them instead of just waiting to be conquered?”

“We do not attack anyone except in self-defense. To leave our system would violate our beliefs. We were forced to build the warships to defend ourselves but we cannot use them away from our world.”

“Even to defend your colonies?”

There was a long silence and then they heard, “Even to defend our colonies. We have suffered because of that decision but just couldn’t force ourselves to do it. By the time we decided to assist, they were overwhelmed and conquered. We waited until it was too late.”

“Timmy, that fleet’s jump tracks are still there.”

Timmy thought a moment and then commed, “I’ll be back. I need to persuade that fleet not to return.”

“They will not listen.”

“I really hope they don’t.”

Greyson came out of stealth mode and the planet saw the huge ship just before it disappeared.

Greyson teleported to the jump limit, “Do you think we should get permission before we get involved in this?”

“No, I do not.” Timmy concentrated and thought, “Virze, Nathan, James, are you available to assist me.”

“What do you need?”

“I just stopped a fleet from attacking a planet and nuking six of their cities. It appears that the attacker is in the business of slavery and I want to impress upon them that that behavior is not tolerated in this universe.”

“Stand-by.”

“What do you think he’s doing?”

“The same thing I would do.”

“Timmy, what are you up to?”

“I’m defending a planet that could not defend itself. I’m sending you the record of everything that happened, Your Majesty.” Timmy looked at his panel, “Send it, Greyson.”

“Timmy, I hope he understands. We have more than we can handle with the anticipated invasion.”

“Greyson, if we start to ignore our values because we’re too busy, then we really don’t believe in them. Even if he says no, we’re going.”

“Timmy, I’ve sworn to obey him.”

“With the exception that you will not be forced to watch an innocent planet being attacked. That’s why I’m here. To make sure we make a good decision.”

Timmy and Greyson waited and after an hour they heard, “Timmy, I’ve looked at your recording and I think you should return to Bristone and not get involved in this conflict.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but I must refuse to follow your order.”

“What are you doing, Timmy?!?”

“The right thing, Nathan.”

“Timmy, if you value your position as a Searcher, you will return to Bristone now.”

“I will as soon as I resolve this issue. Once I’ve done that I will submit myself for punishment.”

“I will be joining him, Your Majesty. I believe in him and I know this is not something to turn our backs on.”

“Virze, you will suffer the same punishment.”

“I know, Your Majesty. And I will submit to it willingly. This is something that I can’t ignore. Timmy, I’m joining you.”

There was a long pause and Scotty said, “You will accept my punishment without complaint?”

“Yes, Your Majesty, I will.”