Dahlia's Deception (The Annihilation Series) (10 page)

Tess looked at Dahlia, “Is he right?”

“Yes, I’m afraid he is. It doesn’t matter what we do, they are going to carry out their plans.”

Tess sat down and looked at Ping, “Then why should we continue to attack them? We won’t make a real difference in their numbers.”

“We won’t if we continue in the tactics we’ve been using. We’re going about this the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?”

Ping sat down and Dean joined him, “The ship I originally landed here is located in one of your hangers, right?”

“You told us to put it away. When that plant creature went back through the portal both of you used, it closed.”

“The beams on the Mites are designed to only kill their ships. The beams on my Searcher are powerful enough to blow a planet apart.”

Dean leaned back in his chair, “How is it that those beams won’t destroy their ships as well?”

“My friend Sprigly could explain it better, but the way I understand it, the Searcher’s beams are canceled out by the frequency used by the Five’s force fields. The Mite’s beams use an entirely different frequency and make it through.”

Dean shook his head, “I just find it difficult to believe a beam that could destroy a planet won’t blow through their fields.”

“The Five are not the first civilization that our beams were useless against; that’s the way science works. However, planets don’t have force fields; at least not here.”

“You’ve put force fields around planets?”

“We did long ago.”

“Is the Mite’s beam powerful enough to destroy a planet?”

Ping turned to Tess, “No, it’s more of a pulse than a beam and actually uses less power. It could cause massive damage to the surface of a planet but it doesn’t have the penetration power of the Searcher’s beams.” Ping paused and said, “The way it causes a planet to explode is that the beam is narrowed to its smallest diameter and it punches into the planet’s core, where it super heats it. The temperature escalates faster than you can imagine, causing the core to expand and blow the planet apart from the inside.”

Dahlia said, “What are you thinking.”

“Sprigly told me that the reactor on the Mites is more powerful than the one on the Searchers. If that’s true, they would be powerful enough to fire a more powerful beam than the Searcher’s beam and cause the process to happen even faster. The main issue that is forcing the Gardners to act is the sure knowledge that the Realm can’t build ships fast enough to keep up with the Five. If we leave their ships alone and go after their ship building facilities, we’ll make a much larger impact on the balance of forces between them.”

Dahlia nodded, “And it would delay the Five from going to the Realm and possibly allow the Gardners to see that whatever they’re planning isn’t needed.”

Ping nodded, “And they would have to use their ships to defend all of their production planets. I really think they wouldn’t have enough left over to launch an invasion.”

Tess scowled, “Do you have any idea how many planets they use to construct their fleets?”

“No, but do you know how to eat a space ship?” Tess’ eyes narrowed, Ping smiled, “One bite at a time. We should also understand that with each planet we destroy, we’ll be destroying tens of thousands of ships on their surface instead of just one at a time. The end result would be that we’ll reduce the number of ships coming into their fleets by the millions over time.” Ping tuned to Dean, “What’s the count of Mites we still have here?”

“Twenty thousand.”

“Dean, we need to stop building the giant ships and start constructing Mites.” Tess and Dean just stared at Ping in silence and he knew they didn’t trust him. Ping turned his head left and said, “Gee Ping, why would we do that?” Ping turned his head to the right and said, “I’m glad you asked. You can build a hundred Mites for every large ship you build.” Ping turned back to Tess, “We will never be able to match their ship numbers and just one of their beams will destroy our largest ship. I believe they will eventually find a way to detect our vessels and we need as many as possible when that time comes.”

Dean smiled, “The Mites also have a smaller electronic and thruster signature.”

Ping nodded, “I’ve wondered why they haven’t seen the thruster fuel we use.”

Dahlia said, “I’ve ordered the fleets to use their teleport drives to approach enemy ships.”

Ping smiled, “That would account for it. However, before we go any further, do you agree with going after their planets?”

“Before I agree to anything with you, I need to know why you stayed.”

Ping looked Tess in the eye, “I love your sister.”

Dean jerked his head back and Dahlia said, “Hey! I’ve had more than a year to make a good decision. Yell at me when you take that much time to be sure.”

Dean blew out a breath, “I guess my comment about you never being in love wasn’t called for.”

“Actually, it was. Seeing you and Victoria together broke most of the barriers I was keeping in place to stop me from loving Ping. I revealed my deception because of it. I’ve committed myself to him.”

Tess looked Dahlia in the eye, “Is this true?”

Dahlia’s smile was a thing of beauty. Tess and Dean had not seen it since the Black Ships invaded, “It is and I know we can trust him. He made the decision and it was us he chose.”

Tess started slowly nodding, “I’ve read the history of your Realm. I believe that first Queen said that love conquers all.”

“She did, but she’s forgotten the lesson.”

“Dahlia, are you sure about this? You’re only twenty years old and inexperienced. Perhaps you should give this some time.” Dahlia stared at Tess in silence and Tess sighed. “Welcome to our family, Ping.”

“Thanks, Tess.”

Tess looked at Dean, “Get the engineers down to the Searcher and see if we can duplicate its beams. I suspect fitting them will be an issue.”

“I’ll get it rolling.” Dean jumped up and ran out of the room.

Tess and Dahlia watched him go. Tess shook her head, “He’s really hurting.”

Ping stared at Dean as he left and said, “You don’t know the woman that loves him. She will find a way to come to him.” Dahlia looked at Ping with her eyebrows raised. Ping looked up at the ceiling, “She already told us.”

“When?”

Ping lowered his gaze, “She told her father that if he wouldn’t allow her to come back with us…”

Dahlia smiled, “She would resign her title.”

“She meant it! I imagine things are a bit uncomfortable for the Gardners at this particular moment.” Dahlia laughed out loud.

• • •

Scott looked at Victoria and held his hands up in front of him, “Will you please stop shouting. I don’t know why the portal closed. Someone activated the emergency alarms causing it to be evacuated. A few minutes later the hill collapsed on it.”

“YOU DID THIS TO PREVENT ME FROM BEING WITH DEAN!! WHY DON’T YOU ADMIT IT!!!”

Scott took Victoria’s hands and forced her to look at him, “I give you my word that I had nothing to do with that portal’s closing.”

Victoria stared at her father and knew he was telling the truth. It was not in his nature to lie. She sat down on the throne next to his and started crying, “I have to go to him.”

“Victoria, it’s just too dangerous.”

Victoria looked up at her father with her tears falling, “Do you remember Nicole when Ping rejected her initially?” Scott took a deep breath, and after a moment, nodded. “That is going to be what I’m damned to endure if I can’t be with him. There has to be a way for me to go there.”

“You’d give up your crown?”

“It would be meaningless without him.”

Scott released her hands and after a minute, he walked to his throne. He pressed a button and Admiral Kosiev appeared on his screen, “Admiral, Is there a way for me to send a ship to the other Creation if I deemed it necessary?”

Lex nodded, “I understand Prince Kendel was on the other side of the portal when it collapsed. We can temporally open a portal and send a ship through to get him.”

Scott said, “I want you to…”

Suddenly, two people appeared in the throne room and the intruder alarms went off at full blast, “YOUR MAJESTY, YOU MUST NOT DO THAT!!” Guards rushed in with their armor activated and blasters raised.

“Hold your fire!” Scott stared at the two and thought they looked familiar. He stared at them and raised his view slightly and saw a huge picture of them on the wall directly above them. He fell back on his throne as the female said, “Please don’t make this mistake!”

Scott gathered his wits and looked at the guards, “Get out!” The guards hesitated, “You will notify your commanding officer that I want you replaced immediately with warriors that will obey their King!” The guards rushed out of the throne room. The two were bowing and Scott said, “You’ve aged.”

The two straightened up and the male said, “We added years when we had children.”

“You’ve done a remarkable job of staying hidden.”

Tag smiled, “It was necessary.”

Victoria suddenly knew who they were and she was shocked. What were they doing here now?

“How were you able to get around our defenses to come here?”

“Our ship was able to make that happen.”

Scott nodded, “How is Alex doing?”

“He’s grown wiser as time has passed.”

Scott was silent for a moment and said, “Something serious must be happening to snatch you out of hiding and just what mistake are you talking about.”

“You mustn’t open a portal into that Creation.”

“There is a Prince of the Realm trapped there and I will not abandon him.”

Tag looked at Danielle and she said, “We offered to bring him back and he chose to stay.”

Victoria instantly stood up, “You destroyed the portal!”

Danielle shook her head, “No, we tried to prevent it but arrived too late. The humans there blew it up.”

Scott’s eyes narrowed, “Why did they do that?” Danielle looked at Tag and he nodded. Scott got angry, “I see the two of you are trying to decide what to tell me. Do your oaths to the Stars Realm still hold?”

Tag said, “They do, Your Majesty?”

“Then you will not withhold any information! Do I make myself clear!?!”

Danielle said, “It’s the Realm’s safety that has brought us here and has directed everything we’ve done.”

Victoria said, “What exactly have you done?”

Scott looked at her and heard Tag say, “Your Majesty, may we conduct this conversation in private?”

Scott jerked his head back at them, “Victoria is the next in line for the throne. Are you saying you want to deceive her about what’s going on?”

Danielle looked at Tag, “It is what it is.” She turned back to Scott and began telling him of the danger the Realm was facing. She discussed the conversation with Ping and what happened afterwards.

Scott and Victoria listened to them for an hour and Scott stopped Victoria from interrupting several times. When the Gardners finished, Scott said, “Are you certain about all this?” Victoria leaned forward to speak and Scott reached over and put his arm on her.

“We are, Your Majesty. If the other Creation invades, the Realm and all its citizens will be destroyed.”

“And you think you have something that will prevent that happening?”

“We do.”

“What is it?”

“We won’t reveal that, Your Majesty.” Scott’s eyes narrowed and Tag said, “There are more civilizations than just the Stars Realm working on this project and they insist that it be kept secret so they will never be endangered by it. We gave our promise to them that we would never reveal it.”

Scott thought about the issue and knew the means of making it happen wasn’t the real issue, “And you sincerely believe this project of yours will succeed?”

“We do.”

Scott stared at the Gardners and knew the history standing in front of his throne. They were the ones that sat on the first throne. “So you were going to use the humans in that Creation as a tool to delay the evil civilizations and then place a device there that would kill them?”

“We don’t have to do it, Your Majesty. Just say no and we’ll allow them to come and kill everything here. We had to make a choice and now it’s yours. Tell us what to do?”

Scott was torn inside. He shook his head and turned to Victoria with dread in his eyes, She looked at him and softly smiled, “What are you sworn to do?”

“But it will cause…”

“What are you sworn to do?”

Scott saw in Victoria’s eyes what he needed, “You will continue with your plan.”

Victoria said, “Just how were you able to go there without a portal?”

“The Kosiev has a psychic drive that allows us to go without a portal.”

Victoria turned to her Father, “Order them to take me there.”

“Victoria!”

“I’d rather have a moment with him than a lifetime without him. Please do this.”

Scott stared at his daughter and couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. He shook his head and then pushed a button on his console, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You will come to my throne room immediately.”

“I’ll need a path through the defenses.”

Scott pushed a button, “Send a direct path to my chamber on the frequency I’ve activated on my panel.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. It’s sent and is now active.”

Tag looked at Danielle and wondered what was going on. She shrugged and looked back at the King. A minute later an Algean appeared in the chamber, saw the Gardners, and ten of his leaves fell off. Scott said, “Sprigly, this is Thomas and Danielle Gardner.” Sprigly couldn’t move. He just stood there motionless. “SPRIGLY!!”

Sprigly shook his branches and said, “I guess Dahlia was right about me meeting the Gardners.”

Danielle said, “What did you just say?”

“I just remembered that the one Ping has been with told me that I would meet you.”

Danielle looked at Tag and saw his amazement. Scott looked at them, “What’s going on?”

Danielle looked at Sprigly, “Are you sure she said you would meet us or that you might meet us?”

“No, she was quite definite about it.”

“We need to look at this.”

Scott said “LOOK AT WHAT!?!”

Tag turned to the King, “We haven’t really considered that the female is a product of her Creation. We’ve been operating on the belief that she was really nothing special.”