Lens of Time: Book 06 - Star Rover-Running Out of Time (9 page)

“You will do your own work. We’re just trying to assist you in the effort. We are simply Servants.”

“Why are you doing this? You’ve never really told me why.”

“Do you not see the danger the Union represents? If they defeat you, we’ll be next. It’s in our best interests to make sure you survive. My species is called Servants because we try to protect those that are in danger.”

“What’s to prevent you from coming after my kingdom if we prevail?”

“We’ve promised not to do that.”

“I hope you understand my concern about that issue.”

“We do and don’t take offense at your doubts. We only wish to be left alone. We have no desire for new territory.”

“Why are you here now?”

The creature paused and the King sensed it was getting nervous, “I just came to see if there is anything else we can assist you with your ship construction.”

“Do you have any technology you’ve not given me to use on the Grey Ships?”

“No, no; you have our most advanced technology for building warships.”

“The probes were also a gracious gift. We appreciate them very much.”

The tall Creature lowered its huge head, “Well, I’ll leave since you don’t need me to answer any questions about how to operate the ships. If you think of anything else, contact us.”

“I will. Safe travel to your destination.”

“Thank you.” The creature turned and moved quickly out of the throne room. The King watched him leave and felt trepidation.

“Your Majesty, it had to have come here for some other reason.”

The King turned to his son, “Did his ship scan us?”

“It did, Father.”

“Did it focus on anything in particular?”

“It appeared to make an intense scan of the Grey Ships above the planet.”

“It’s checking to see if they’ve been changed or modified from the original design.”

“Why would they do that?”

The King thought for a long moment, “I want one of our Chief Scientists to take a good look at the production process to see if we’re missing something.”

“What do you suspect?”

“I’m wondering if they have a hidden self-destruct circuit on them.”

The Son paused, “There is a self-destruct circuit on all of them.”

“Yes, but it’s the one we installed. There must be another one we don’t see.”

“Father, if you don’t trust them, why are we working with them?”

“As you grow older you’ll learn that you should always take advantage of anything handed to you. We just have to make sure none of those ships are built on our planets.”

“What are you saying?”

“What if they could cause that strange material that’s used to build those ships to explode?”

“We have thousands of them in orbit above the planet.”

“I moved them here for our guest’s visit. Once he leaves, and you confirm he has jumped out of our galaxy, they will be moved to the outer system.”

The Son bowed, “I do have much to learn, Father.”

The King watched him leave and wondered what he was missing. There had to be something…

• • •

The Creature arrived on his ship and turned to the huge creature sitting in a room at the rear of the bridge, “Well…”

“They haven’t found the weakness.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.”

“They don’t appear to trust us.”

“How do you know that, Lord?”

“They’re scanning us as we speak. I suspect they’ll be looking for our jump track.”

“What do you want to do?”

“We’ll leave and wait to see what happens.”

The creature turned to the Navigator, “Jump us to the decoy galaxy.”

The ship shimmered and disappeared.

• • •

The commander of the small Grillen Scout Ship watched the ship jump away and followed it. It arrived at the coordinates of the jump track and was blown into dust just as it entered normal space. The huge creature leaned back, “I’ll tell them, if they ask, I thought it was an enemy invading our space.” He watched to see if another ship appeared on his scanners and then jumped to the second decoy.

• • •

“Gibbs, why are you so determined to use the Jukeboxes against the Grillen?”

“You saw how effective they were against the Masters. They can also hold their own in a pitched battle with the Grillen Standard Fleets. Now that they have a way to hold off the Grey Ships, they can make a huge difference in the upcoming liberation of the planets invaded in the Red Sector.”

Lydia sighed, “Are you certain this new gun will do all it’s advertised to do?”

“We’re going to go pick a fight with one of the prime planets when we drop the Madators.”

Lydia showed her shock, “I haven’t heard anything about that.”

“Admiral Arvolo just sent me the orders. I’m going to drop the Madators from the Jukebox and take a shot at the Grey Ships above the planet before the main fleet arrives. We won’t be there but a few moments.”

“I’m going with you.”

“Lydia!”

“Get over it, Gibbs. I won’t let you go without me.”

Uhhh…Dear…I outrank you. Just how would you go about stopping me?”

“I’ll refuse to see you until you use me in a battle.” Gibbs stared at Lydia and saw her stern expression and crossed arms. “Would you allow me to go into a fight without you?”

“That’s different.”

“Make me see how and I’ll not push this.” Gibbs’ mind worked on the issue and all he could do was remain silent. There wasn’t a good answer. Lydia gave him a smirk and then turned and left the bridge. He activated the ships internal video monitors and saw her packing a bag in their quarters. He shook his head and started to respond but she walked off the ship before he could think of what to say. This mission was too dangerous to risk losing her. He sat and struggled on what to do.

• • •

Katherine and Dat sat in her office with Blacky and looked at the data scrolling on the main wall display. Dat shook his head, “Blacky, there is no way they’ll not know you’re on the surface this time. We’re going to be dropping hundreds of your warriors on each of the Grillen Prime Planets. They’ll know the objects dropping into the atmosphere will be coming from our ships.”

“Let them; they still won’t be able to find us.”

Katherine shook her head, “I’m not so sure about that. They can use biological scanners to find you.”

“Only if there are no other biological forms around us.”

Dat leaned back, “And if they scan one of their buildings when no one is present, they will detect your presence.”

“We just won’t go in unless someone is there.”

Dat shook his head, “Blacky, you make this sound too easy.”

Blacky shrugged.

“I’m serious.”

“We’re a product of evolution that has prepared us for doing this. If we get on a planet’s surface, the only means of removing us is to blow up the planet.”

Katherine stared at Blacky while Dat discussed the coming drops with him and interrupted the conversation, “Why do you have no fear?”

Dat and Blacky looked at Kat and Dat looked back at Blacky. Blacky hesitated and after a long moment said, “I guess it’s just not a part of our psychology.” Kat started to speak but Blacky held up two arms stopping her, “Do you remember the final space battle between us?” Dat and Kat nodded. “We kept coming in to attack even though we saw it would have been wiser to retreat and avoid the loss of our fleets. Madators are driven to hunt. We lose ourselves when we’re going after prey. We will, of course, find the best possible means of making the kill without getting ourselves killed in the process, but we will always go after our prey.”

Dat sighed, “That is what allowed us to destroy your civilization. Sometimes you need to be able to back off to survive.”

“That’s where liking to play with our prey comes in.”

Dat looked at Blacky, turned to Kat, saw she was just as confused as he was, and turned back to Blacky, “You’ve lost me.”

“We enjoy evading traps set to catch us. Sometimes we’ll go through the traps and leave evidence we were successful, just to antagonize our target. We didn’t back off your fleet because we were ordered to attack and none of our leaders sent an order to stop. All of my warriors have been ordered to avoid getting themselves killed and, if the risk is real, they will choose another target. They all understand evasion is the watch word and they won’t take any stupid chances. Your forcing them to use their swords against armored enemy troops will probably save most of them…even though I’d really like to do it without technology. It’s a…I don’t know…a good challenge.”

Kat shook her head, “I find it amazing that you can sit here and carry on an intelligent conversation and not be tempted to go after us.”

Blacky smiled, “I’ve noticed a pet that some of your embassy personnel keep in their homes; I think it’s called a cat.” Kat nodded. “That creature is very much like us. When the owner comes home, the cat greets them, rubs up against them, and makes a sound showing its delight at being with the owner. However, let a small rodent or bug be spotted and the cat is on it in an instant. Once my species recognizes another species as a friend, they will never again be seen as prey. Quite frankly, if a species is not seen as a possible danger to us, we would leave them alone to concentrate on those that are. Belwen’s civilization would never be one of our targets. Not only are they an ally of ours, but they are just too gentle in spirit to ever be considered prey. They would pose no challenge and would be boring to go after.”

Dat smiled, “Which group are you going in with?”

“I’m dropping from Admiral Gibbs’ ship. That particular planet has really been cranking out Grey Ships and I’ve allotted two hundred warriors to make the drop.” Dat started shaking his head and Blacky quickly said, “We won’t be detected as quickly as you’re thinking.”

“Oh! Why not?”

“Belwen’s new coating will make a tremendous difference. Our first coating really burned rather brightly entering the planet’s atmosphere; however, the new coating will start expanding in size before it starts burning. It will start to swell as it gets hotter and a byproduct of that is it will offer resistance to the atmosphere and slow down the descent. Our previous drop globes actually broke the sound barrier as they fell toward the planet’s surface. We can manipulate the coating and use it to glide toward our assigned targets. It will eventually burn up and leave no residue once the temperature hits a critical point and we will use the second coat to drop lower. We’ll come out of it at an altitude we can breathe and start gliding to our targets.”

“They’ll still see the trails through the atmosphere; you can’t move that fast without leaving a particle trace.”

“I know; however, I believe Admiral Gibbs will have their undivided attention at that particular time.”

Dat stood up and held out his hand to Blacky, “I’ll be there as well.”

Blacky didn’t take Dat’s hand, “I thought there was only going to be one Jukebox there.”

“No, there’s going to be two and we’re going to have you dropped from four Rovers on the night side of the planet while we do our dance in daylight.”

Blacky looked at Katherine, “I don’t know that it’s a good idea to put him in this kind of danger; he’s too important to lose.”

Dat tilted his head, “Blacky, you’re the leader of your species and you’re jumping to the planet; how is this any different?”

Blacky stared at Dat for a long moment, “It just is.” Dat pushed his hand out again and Blacky reluctantly took it. “We’re both doing what has to be done. Just make sure you come back.”

“You do the same.”

“I will.”

• • •

“Lydia!”

“Yes.”

“I’m sorry. Your chair is waiting for you.”

“I could care less about my command chair.”

“I’m waiting for you!”

“Do you understand?”

“I don’t want to see you hurt. But I guess I know that if our roles were reversed and you died and I wasn’t there; I’d never forgive myself. I understand why you feel as you do.”

“No you don’t.”

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”

“If I lost you, I wouldn’t want to continue. We will survive together or we will die together. Either way, that’s the only way I’ll do it.”

“I understand. Please come back to me, now.”

Lydia smiled, “I’m on my way.”

• • •

Katherine looked at the assembly of ships gathered over the Madator’s planet and shook her head. The shuttles were going up into space and looked like a massive cloud of gnats as they reached orbit and began entering the landing bays of the million Rovers that were waiting on them. Ten weeks had passed as the ships taking part in the exercise were brought in from the colonies so the Grillen probes wouldn’t see them. She pulled the view in closer and saw the two Jukebox Battleships looked out of place in the huge ship gathering. She shook her head and didn’t like that two of the Union’s best Admirals were taking part in the massive undertaking.

She looked at her scanner reports and saw that millions of the Madator population were also being placed at risk, but they were all bobbing at a fast rate as they entered their shuttles. It appeared they were excited at the prospect. The skies over the space port were filled with millions of them gliding and screaming with joy for their fellow warriors. She wondered how many of them were going to survive.

After twenty hours, all ships reported in ready and Katherine activated her communicator, “You have a daunting task ahead of you and I wish all of you success in your efforts. Captains, do not linger at your targets. Make the drop and get out. Admirals Arvolo and Gibbs, take the shot and get out as well. Thirty seconds to jump. Make us proud; the Union is counting on you.”

The massive fleet oriented to their target lines and their jump drive fields energized as they counted down the time to jump. In an instant, all of them disappeared.

• • •

“Sire, I have massive numbers of Union ships moving in toward the Red Sector.”

“Where did they come from?”

“I don’t know; our probes didn’t see any movement in their galaxy. Those ships had to come from somewhere else.”

“WHERE ARE THEY GOING?”

“It appears they are headed toward the planets we invaded.”