Defending Earth-Discovery Means Death (6 page)

“HOW COULD ONE SHIP KILL SO MANY SO QUICKLY?”

“I don’t know. I need some time to collect the scans taken during the battle and analyze them.”

“DO SO AND GET BACK TO ME, QUICKLY!”

“Prime, you might want to increase the defenses around your planets.”

“WHY?”

“That species knows where you are.” The Fleet Leader felt the Prime leave the contact and drew a deep breath. Continuing after this species might be the worst thing possible. That was just one ship. What would a fleet of them do?

• • •

Jill finally regained control and stopped crying, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

Rocky released her and Jill fell back in her command chair, “I’m not prepared for this, Rocky. I’ve not been to the Academy or learned all the things they teach about what to expect during a space battle. I was almost frightened into paralysis. I just don’t know if I can do this again.”

Rocky sighed, “It’s not your fault. You’ve been blessed, or cursed if you prefer, with a talent that no one else has that has been prepared to do this. I’ve fought in space battles and in my humble opinion, you were magnificent.”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.”

Rocky took her hand and looked her in the eyes, “I’ve seen many that would have failed during this mission. They would have taken some of their attention away from their targets to see what was happening around the ship and that would have spelled disaster. You remained focused on your tactical and that is what allowed us to survive. Your skill at skipping in between the Feeder’s main beams was incredible. I don’t know if I could have done that.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

“No, I’m not. I still don’t understand how you did that.” Jill sat up straight and her eyes narrowed. “What?”

“Honestly, I don’t know how I did it either.”

Rocky looked up, “Willow?”

“Don’t ask me. Amber might know.”

“Rocky, I’m not sure how she did it but she was somehow mentally linked to the light drive. There were minute adjustments in the light signatures as the ship moved to each target.”

“But the light drive is instantaneous?”

“You’re preaching to the choir. But I sensed small changes in the light signatures and they happened close to the speed of light.”

Jill looked at Rocky, “What are they saying?”

“This is beyond my understanding. I know the new combat helmets are thought driven but…” Rocky tilted his head and shrugged, “I have no idea how you did it.”

“We were still hit numerous times.”

“Amber, what can you tell us about that beam?”

“It’s a good thing this ship doesn’t use a force field. Those beams fire an intense gravity wave and if it hit a force field the ship would have shoved away at more than a thousand gravities.”

“Our compensators can’t handle that stress.”

“No, they can’t.”

Jill smiled, “It looks like the ones that built this ship knew it. Otherwise, they would have included a force field in our defenses.”

“They did.” Both of them looked up in shock. “There is a force field included in the ship’s defense array.”

“I didn’t see it.”

“Yes you did, Jill. It’s part of the weapon tutorial.”

“No it wasn’t.”

“Amber, play the tutorial and see if she’s right.”

“They waited for a minute and heard, “It’s no longer there.”

“WHAT?”

“It’s been removed, Rocky. The system is operational but the tutorial no longer teaches how to activate it.”

“What’s going on, Rocky?”

Rocky looked at Jill and exhaled a soft breath, before saying, “It appears someone, or something, knew the danger of using it against the new Feeder Warships and removed it from the program.”

“Who would do that?”

Rocky looked up and said, “Willow?”

“I’m forbidden to discuss it.”

“Do you think it was a human agency that did it?”

“No.”

“What would have happened if our force field was operational?”

“I believe our mission would have ended with the first hit.”

Jill looked at Rocky and saw his expression undergo a change. “What are you thinking?”

“Amber, take us back to Fleet Operations and request a meeting with the High Leader when we arrive in communications range.”

“What’s going on, Rocky?”

“I don’t know but I’m not going back up against the Feeders until I do.”

“She won’t tell you.”

“Then I’ll place myself under arrest until she does.”

“That would be treason.”

“I don’t care. I’m not taking Jill back out with this uncertainty hanging over us.”

“That’s why she won’t tell you. If she does, you’ll be frozen into immobility.”

“Willow, you have a choice. Either you tell me what’s going on or I’m confronting the High Leader.”

“Darn it Rocky, that’s not fair!”

“I wonder how much of your once being an escape pod still remains in you, Willow. Where does your loyalty lie?

“Now you’re being downright cruel. You will lose either way.”

“I’d rather lose with you than anyone else in existence. Are you going to tell me?”

“You should tell him.”

Rocky looked at Jill and saw she was surprised by what she said. “Where did that thought come from, Jill?”

Jill’s eyes narrowed and she started shaking her head, “I…don’t really know? It just suddenly appeared in my mind.”

“I agree with her, Willow.”

“Amber, you know the consequences if I do.”

“I also know the consequences if you don’t. They appear to agree with that assessment.”

“What in seven hells are the two of you talking about?”

Rocky put his hand on Jill’s arm, “Give her a moment to think about it.”

“This is going to take some time. The two of you should go and sit down to hear it.” Rocky stood up and pulled Jill out of her chair. They left the cockpit and walked down the corridor to the small kitchen.

• • •

“Prime, I’ve been able to determine that the ship that attacked my fleet was much larger than the one that we encountered the first time.”

“GO ON.”

“Its design is quite different with a shape like a block with two points coming out of it. It’s more than twice as large as the original, though we really didn’t get a good look at it either.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY NOT GETTING A GOOD LOOK AT IT?”

“We were able to determine its shape but that’s about it. We weren’t able to see how thick it is or where the weapons were located on it. Every scan we took only showed one energy weapon on its hull but it was located in many different locations during the battle.”

“THAT SEEMS…ODD.”

“It is. However, it was invisible like the first one and the one on board knew about the first contact.” The Fleet Leader paused and forced himself to say, “Do you want me to send another fleet out on that line?”

“NO! NOT UNTIL THE DEFENSES HERE ARE IMPROVED. I WANT THE FLEETS GATHERED AND SENT OUT ON DIFFERENT LINES AND BE PREPARED TO SEND THEM ALL AT ONCE TOWARD THAT LINE.”

“Yes, Great Leader.” The Fleet Leader was determined that his fleet would not be the one sent toward that distant Galactic Cluster first. Rank did afford some privileges.

• • •

Rocky took a bite out of a sandwich and looked at Jill. She lifted hers and started to take a bite but stopped, “I’m too nervous to eat. Why don’t we just get on with it?”

Rocky swallowed and nodded, “Willow, why don’t you start and we’ll ask questions about anything we don’t understand.”

“Before I start telling state secrets, I need the two of you to answer some questions.”

“Such as?”

“Have either of you had your DNA changed to another species?”

Rocky shook his head, “No.”

“I haven’t either.”

“What about your parents?”

Jill shook her head and Rocky said, “No, neither of our parents changed their DNA.”

“Let’s just cut to the chase, have any of your recent ancestors had their DNA changed.”

“Both of them have ancestors that did, Willow.” Rocky and Jill were surprised by the statement.

“What were you able to find out, Amber?”

“I had to hack into Fleet’s Database but it appears that Jill’s Great-grandmother on her mother’s side did undergo the change to work on a planet assisting one of the species our forces saved in the Coma Cluster. It was a heavy gravity planet and many of the population were injured during the battle with a neighboring species. She had her DNA changed to go down to the planet’s surface.”

“What about Rocky?”

Jill looked at Rocky and saw a guilty expression on his face, “You know?”

Rocky nodded, “My Grandfather changed his DNA to infiltrate an aggressive species in the Coma Cluster. He was an Alliance Scout and went in ahead of the ground forces to try and save hundreds of lives in a prison compound.”

“Amber, why did you have to hack into the database to find that information?”

“Rocky’s great-grandmother was also changed into another species as well.”

Rocky looked up, “Really?”

“She was also a scout. Their son followed in their footsteps. Willow, that information is not in their fleet personnel file. Someone had it removed and classified.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Indeed it does.”

Rocky put his sandwich down, “Explains what!?”

“It’s my belief that both of your great-grandparents had their DNA slightly changed when they took the body of another species.”

“WHAT!”

“Jill, it’s been done before. They were not anywhere near the first to have it done to them. Even Lukas Axel had his modified when he had his DNA changed to human.”

“What are you talking about, Willow?”

They heard a sigh in their minds and then Willow said, “There is a highly advanced telepathic species that has been doing things to assist the Alliance in getting ready to take on the Feeders. In my opinion, that species is the most advanced in the universe. At least I’ve not run across any other that comes close to their skills.”

“Why are they doing this?”

“Their species was almost eradicated by the Death Feeders thousands of years ago. Only a few survived and if the Feeders learned of their existence, they would stop everything and go out to find them. The Feeders fear this species.”

“If they’re that advanced, why do they need us?”

“Rocky, their numbers are low. The Feeders overwhelmed them with billions of ships when their civilization was destroyed. They have chosen Humanity and the Goren to be the tools that ultimately stop them.”

“What are they called?”

“Jill, Lukas Axel named them Nudges. Their actions are hard to see and they nudge us in a different direction when needed.”

“Why do you say they modified our ancestors?”

“Because you heard them, Jill. Only those that have had their minds modified by them can do that.”

“But I wasn’t modified.”

“No, but your ancestors were which modified led to your possessing a genetic trait that allows you to hear them.”

“I don’t hear them.”

“I suspect you can but they’ve not attempted to communicate with you, Rocky.”

Jill absently lifted her sandwich and took a bite. After she swallowed she looked up, “You think they are the ones who removed the force field data from the tutorial?”

“I do.”

“Why is this so bad for us to know?”

“Rocky, if you know about them, you’ll hesitate to make a difficult decision without looking for something that would tell you what to do. That slight hesitation could get you killed.”

Jill’s eyes widened, “That’s why the High Leader was after my brother? And that’s why Rocky was chosen to do this?”

“I’m sure that once the Leaders learned the Feeders were going to start a search in our direction, they ran tests to see if the three of you were different from other advanced telepaths.”

“That would mean the High Leader was aware our ancestors were modified.”

“I suspect the Nudges communicated with the High Leader when it was done and that information was passed on to those that followed.”

“But I have numerous cousins that come from the same ancestors I do.”

“Rocky, if they had found another that has the ability to be invisible to the Feeders, they would have been chosen.”

“Why?”

“Because your evaluations didn’t paint a good picture of you. I think you and Jill are the only ones that possess this new trait.”

“My brother invented a device that will hide the presence of the other advanced telepaths.”

“And I really believe he was nudged to create it.”

Rocky looked at Jill and saw her expression. “What are you thinking?”

“Jack told me numerous times that things just seemed to appear in his mind when he was building the device.”

Rocky looked up, “It appears these Nudges are working overtime.”

“Rocky, if the Alliance is discovered by the Feeders before it has time to build the forces necessary to take them on, it will die. The numbers we’d have to face are beyond understanding.”

“Are there other instances of their tampering?”

“There are hundreds but I’m not going to discuss them. Either believe me or don’t. I really hope you don’t.”

“You don’t want me to hesitate at a crucial moment?”

“Exactly.”

“What if I had chosen to hide and not make this voyage?”

“Jill, do you think your decision was your own?”

“Damn it, Willow. You could have gone all day and not told me that!”

“It may have been your own decision, but how would you know?”

Rocky nodded, “I think I understand what you’re saying.”

“You can’t depend on being constantly nudged. They will not do anything inside Feeder Territory. They can’t run the risk of discovery.”

“What about the omission of the force field?”

Rocky shrugged, “They did that when the ship was on Earth.” Jill stared at him and then nodded. “They couldn’t put it back into the tutorial because we were in Feeder Space, otherwise they would have tried to hide their tampering.”

“I’m starting to believe that Jill’s ability to change the light drive coordinates mentally is a byproduct of the modification done to her ancestors.”

“Well, I guess everyone knows what this means?”