Lens of Time: Book 06 - Star Rover-Running Out of Time (24 page)

Blacky smiled, “I’ve always been impressed by your intelligence. You’re right. If we can kill one of them and consume it, we will grow in our abilities. You saw how fast that creature was and I’ve seen the recordings of how strong they are. My species will be greatly improved by preying on them. That is why we respect them so much. They will make us even stronger than we are now.”

“You are somewhat like the Servants looking for a highly intelligent species.”

Blacky turned to Gresha, “Yes, I guess we are. However, there is one difference.”

“What is that?”

“You and your allies are not on our list of prey.” Blacky turned and left to board his shuttle.

Gresha looked at Dat, “We are on the Servants’ list.”

Dat nodded as he watched his friend disappear into a shuttle. “There will be some historians that disagree with me about this decision but that difference is everything that matters. One species’ villain is another species’ savior.”

“Not really.” Dat looked at Gresha and saw her staring at the enormous field covered with Madators, “There really aren’t any saviors or villains here. The Matadors and Servants aren’t evil; they’re simply being what creation has made them. It’s like a tornado that’s moving toward you. You’ll attempt to get out of its way if you can. Failing that, if you have a way to stop it; you’ll do it. The tornado isn’t good or evil…it’s simply a natural development in nature. The Servants are our tornado and we are in their path. We will use whatever means we have to stop them from hitting us.” Gresha paused, “I am glad of one thing.”

“What is that?”

“I’m thankful it’s Servants and not the Madators we have to face.”

Dat shook his head, “There is that.”

Gresha moved under his arm and wrapped her arms around Dat. Her midsection was large and she knew the babies would be coming soon. She dreamed about what a difference they would make in the Union. Dat pulled her tighter and wondered what was going to emerge from this encounter between two highly dangerous species. He shook his head and turned to walk back to his ship with Gresha.

• • •

Blacky boarded the shuttle and it lifted into space and entered the landing bay of a large violet colored ship. The bay pressurized and the four hundred Madators rolled out of the shuttle and went to their full size. The Hive crewmembers were surprised at how large the black creatures were; especially after rolling out of the shuttle as a small ball. Blacky watched his team members check out the Hive crew and knew they were determining what kind of prey they would be. They were in no danger due to their alliance with the Union but Blacky knew that his species would always look at another species as a prey first and then open communication. It was as natural to them as breathing was to a human. He saw in the first moment that the wasp-like hive creatures were nowhere near as powerful as the Servants and he immediately lost interest in them. He saw that the other Madators were responding the same way.

One of the Hive crew yelled, “Who is in command?”

Blacky stood, “I am.”

“We are going to drop your team as soon as we emerge into normal space. We aren’t taking any risks given that the satellites might have defenses to use against our ship.”

Blacky immediately liked the creature. They were willing to give their lives to deliver them safely to their destination. “Thank you for your consideration. Your species is now recognized as a friend to us.”

“We share a common friend, Commander. That is what binds us.”

Blacky put a long arm on the creatures shoulder and smiled, “You are very wise. How long do we have before you jump to the planet?”

“All ten thousand ships are jumping simultaneously, so if any warning is sent by our enemy, all of you will be on your way to your planets before a response could be launched. My Captain tells me that it is going to take another three hours before all of you are on board our ships.”

“We will enter our drop globes thirty minutes before we jump. If you would be so kind as to tell us when that happens, we will greatly appreciate it.”

“I will notify you personally.”

“Thank you.”

“I do request that you have your team place their globes close to the landing bay door prior to jump. As soon as we enter normal space, we’re slamming the door up to allow explosive decompression to send you out toward the planet.”

“That is an excellent idea; we will gather at the door.”

Blacky started hooting and the Madators listened to the plan. They began going to their drop globes and started rolling them toward the landing bay doors. It wasn’t going to be much longer and the Madators became silent as they focused on their coming encounter with a very dangerous species. Blacky looked over at Ringie and saw here staring at him. She was going to be his partner. He began thinking about making her his mate…but now wasn’t the time. He put the thoughts out of his mind and thought about the Servants powerful body, stinger, and jaws. These items would dominate his consciousness until they attempted a kill.

• • •

“Jump in thirty minutes!”

Blacky looked at the 400 Madators, “I don’t have to tell you what to do. You’re a product of evolution that has brought you to this moment in time. You are going to have to put your personal desire for glory aside at this moment and focus on achieving our goal. You are paired up with a partner and I expect you to work together. I know our long history has been built around one-on-one kills. But we can learn from what we’ve seen from watching other predators operate. Lions work together in prides; jackals and wolves hunt in packs. You’ve seen how effective they are when they work together. You and your partner are given the holy responsibility of making us more than we are today. Don’t waste it looking for glory. Link to your partner’s globe and we will start making kills seven days from the moment we leave the ship. Take that time and learn your prey; you’re going to need it to survive.”

Blacky moved toward his drop globe and saw Ringie was already in hers waiting for him. He reached over and lightly stroked her arm as he closed his globe. The link moved out of Blacky’s drop globe’s outer shell and bonded with Ringie’s globe. The two of them would fall together. Ringie could still feel Blacky’s touch and she smiled. They waited and focused on their coming confrontation. They were surprised when the landing bay door shot into the hull of the violet ship and they were blown out of the landing bay toward the planet below. Ringie thought the time would have moved slower…she was wrong. She saw the planet below and then jumped as the four satellites circling the planet exploded. She looked up for the violet colored ship but it had jumped away. She turned and focused on the planet below and waited for the globes to release them.

• • •

The Supreme Lord’s Senior Advisor rushed into the Lord’s chamber and bowed, “Yes, what is it?”

“Ten thousand of our planets have been attacked and the control satellites above them have been destroyed.”

“Who did this?”

“We had a warship at ten of the attacked planets; they pursued and destroyed the ships that attacked. All the others jumped away before we could respond.” The Supreme Lord stared at his advisor saying nothing and the Advisor continued, “The wreckage of the ten ships we killed are being examined; we’ve determined quickly that they are no match for even our smallest warships.”

“What about the crew on those ships?”

“They were flown by two different species; we have no record of them in any of our databanks. We have no idea where they came from, Lord.”

The Lord tilted his huge triangular head, “Did they attack the planets?”

“No, they did not. The planets report massive debris falling into the atmosphere from the control satellites but there was no trace of weapons or warriors being dropped.”

“Why would they jump in to only destroy the control satellites?”

The Advisor turned his head left and right, “It really doesn’t make sense. However, I’ve dispatched our ships to the planets to investigate.”

“Were our ships able to get a reading on their jump tracks?”

“Sire, only ten of the planets had a warship present and they destroyed the intruders quickly. The jump tracks in all the other systems faded before we could get a ship to them. The ten we destroyed jumped to open space attempting to escape. They were destroyed before they moved toward any galaxy.”

“So we have no idea where they originated from?”

“No Sire, we do not.”

“Have the Senior Lords dispatch ships to their planets and hold station until I order otherwise?”

The advisor left the Chamber and sent the orders. The Major Lords were not happy sending some of their fleets away from their major planets but they knew they would not dare disobey the Supreme Lord. After five days, nothing was detected to keep them at the ten thousand planets. They were recalled to their major planets.

• • •

Blacky and Ringie were in the soil in one of the huge farms on the planet’s surface. They watched the Servants and focused on their behaviors for four days. Many times they watched a Servant move at an incredible speed across the large fields to confront one of the local inhabitants who had collapsed from fatigue. The Servant would arrived at the inhabitant and inspect it. Most of the time it would raise the hand blaster it carried and burn a hole through the inhabitant’s chest. It would then use its terrible jaws to tear the dead body apart and scatter the remains into the field to fertilize the soil.

“Have you noticed that it puts the blaster down to tear the body apart?” Blacky hooted quietly that he had noticed it. “That is when we are going to have to strike.” Blacky clicked twice and the two Madators moved through the soil quickly until they were out of the giant field.

• • •

That night Blacky said, “This is going to be impossible to time.”

“Not really.”

“Why do you say that?”

“I’ve been watching the inhabitants as they enter the field and I’ve been able to pick the ones that would collapse. Some of them are in bad shape before they enter the field; it won’t be hard to move close to one of those that are weak.”

“You may pick the wrong one.”

“It’s only a matter of time until we’re close to one that falters.”

Blacky thought about it and said, “We will do this together the first time.”

“I was expecting you to say that. We have to get control of its hind legs first.”

“You’re right. It could probably drag both of us across the field if those legs are free. However, getting the legs will still leave the stinger free.”

Ringie thought a moment, “When the creature bends down to use its jaws on the dead body, it raises its abdomen for balance; that exposes the hind legs. One of us could wrap the legs up against the stinger and hold on as tightly as possible.”

Blacky nodded, “The other could wrap the creature’s neck up and lift it off the ground. We could then pull it onto our beaks and kill it.”

Ringie stared at Blacky, “This will have to happen in less than a second.”

“I know.”

“Are we capable of doing that?”

“If we can get it off the ground where it can’t find leverage to resist us, it’s possible.”

Ringie nodded, “We need to come at it from the side. We’ll be next to each other and we can both pull it into our beaks.”

“I’ll take the legs and stinger.”

Ringie shook her arm at him, “We are going to have to lift this creature instantly. Whoever has the neck and upper body is going to have to do the bulk of the lifting.” Ringie’s head rolled up her body, “Who is the stronger?”

Blacky stared at Ringie and after a moment rolled his head completely around his body, “I don’t like having you near that stinger.”

“I feel the same…but if this is going to work, you’re going to have provide the bulk of the strength needed to lift it.”

“I’ll use four of my arms and use another to shove the blaster out of its reach.”

“Use six to lift it. We’ll stay on the ground and use the rest of our arms to dig in the soil and anchor us. We’ll lift it and slam it into the ground where we’ll be waiting.”

“We still have three days before we start our attacks. Tomorrow, you and I will observe the inhabitants and pick three that we think will collapse. We’ll prioritize them; which one is most likely to fall followed by the other choices. Let’s see if we can make a good selection.”

• • •

Two days later, Blacky waited on Ringie to arrive in the tree line next to the giant field the next day after sunset and was thinking about the inhabitants the Servants had killed that day. Ringie arrived and as she emerged from the soil, Blacky saw her expression. “I had no idea we could be this accurate.”

“It is somewhat disconcerting, isn’t it?”

“They all died in the order we predicted. This violates all the rules of predictability. The odds of being right every time are astronomical.”

Blacky rolled his head around his body, “That means something else is operating here.”

Ringie’s head rolled down her chest, “Such as?”

“Ringie, we’re predators. Our species is a culmination of millions of years of development. I believe that we are genetically able to see the weakest in any group we encounter. The main function of a predator, in nature, is to remove the sick and weak from the herd so that the herd is strengthened. We possess a natural ability to see the weakest and it’s as natural as stretching our arms.”

Ringie thought about Blacky’s comment and her head went to the top of her body showing her agreement. “Tomorrow’s the day.”

Blacky sighed, “Yes, it is. We’ll pick the inhabitant that is going to die and move in close to it.”

“When do we strike?”

“We’ll move the moment the Servant bends down to tear it apart. Wait for it to put the blaster on the ground; that’s the moment we’ll move.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“What?”

“We’ll not move until the blaster is dropped and the Servant has sunk its jaws into its victim.” Blacky thought about Ringie’s suggestion, “You’re right; its eyes are covered with a membrane to protect them when it bites. I’m really lucky to have our greatest hunter as my partner. I missed that little detail. Get some rest; we’re going to need all our strength.”