Lens of Time (25 page)

“It’s either all of us or none of us. I think all of us need to watch the destruction of the Major’s fleets again and see what lies in our future.” The King paused and then said, “Go to your Capitals and decide what you want to see happen. We will meet on this frequency again in seven days at this same time.”

• • •

The White Civilization sent a copy of the meeting to George.

• • •

“Well, what do you think they’ll do?”

RV sighed, “They’ll send a massive fleet and destroy the planets of the Hive and Horde as well as any other Minors in the area. Then they’ll start a search for our galaxy.”

“You don’t think you can make them fight the main battle in the Major’s Sector?”

“Think about it George. They can leave a hundred million ships in that sector and still take seven hundred million to eradicate the Minors. We’ll have to face them at the home worlds of our allies.”

“Can we slow them down by attacking their sector?”

“Only if we’re willing to allow the Majors to then go and destroy our allies; we don’t have enough ships to counter that magnitude of forces in two different sectors.”

George stared at RV and said, “So what do we do?”

“What we’ve known was going to happen all along. We fight by our allies until it’s hopeless and try to save as many ships as possible at the end.” RV paused, “But there is a difference this time.”

“What is that?”

“Our planets and the Federation’s planets are now safe in our new home. This was once a war to the death; now it’s just a battle, albeit the largest this universe has ever seen. They will not find us now.”

“Should we even stay and fight?” RV slowly shook his head. George said, “I know. If we run we lose our souls.”

“That event would mark the start of the fall of our civilization. If you can’t fight for principles, you’re doomed.”

“So what’s the plan, Admiral?”

“We need to tell the Nexu that we understand if they join the others in the attack.”

“I thought about that. They’ll die with the Minors if they don’t participate.”

“I’ll contact Jeff and let him know.”

“I appreciate that.”

• • •

RV looked at Jeff on his display and said, “I’m going to let you in on some information that we’ve just acquired.”

“What is that?”

“The Sector next to yours is close to agreeing to come to the defense of the Majors.”

“THEY’RE WHAT!?!”

“They plan to send about seven hundred million ships to support the Majors in exterminating the rebelling planets and then they plan to find our home galaxy and destroy it.”

“When did this happen?”

“Yesterday; they still have to vote on it but I’m reasonably certain the resolution will pass. It appears we’ve done a good job of scaring the crap of them.” Jeff stared at RV and remained silent. RV continued, “If your civilization doesn’t agree to participate in the combined fleet, I’m sure they will come to your planets first and remove you as a possible threat. My Leader has asked me to inform you that we are releasing you from your promise to ally with us. We understand that you must participate and we know you have to do it.”

Jeff continued to stare at RV and then he slowly shook his head, “We planned to join your forces in the final battle but you’re right. There’s no way we could survive that number of ships.”

“Good luck, my friend. We do wish you long life.”

“Thank you.”

Jeff’s display went dark and he contacted the Council. They were shocked at the news but also didn’t see any way out of the box they found themselves trapped in.

• • •

Greg looked at Melodie and said, “I wish we could have had a formal wedding and honeymoon.”

“Difficult times lead to difficult measures. At least we have each other for what time remains.”

“You think we’re going to lose this war?”

Melodie looked at him for a long moment and said, “RV told me that the other sector is going to send six hundred million ships to support the Majors.” Greg sat down and stared at her. He was too stunned to speak. “All the ships we’ve lost to reduce the Major’s Fleets have been spent to no avail. We’re back at square one and we have fewer ships.”

Greg stood up and pulled Melodie into his arms, “We have this moment. But I want you to promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“That we will have that honeymoon when this is over.”

Melodie smiled, “You always give me courage. When I’m at my weakest, you give me strength to continue. We will have that honeymoon and I hope you can survive my attentions.”

“I look forward to it.”

• • •

“Loree, have you heard?”

“I have.”

“I don’t want to wait.”

“Admiral Arvolo can do the honors. I’ll meet you on the Havana in two hours. I’ll contact the Admiral and have him do the proceedings.”

“I love you, Loree.”

“And I love you.”

• • •

RV sat in his command chair with Cyanna on his lap. They looked out of the open viewport at the billions of stars shining in the distance. RV said, “We’ve had more than a million weddings in the last three days.”

“I know.”

“It’s a shame they have to be done under these circumstances.”

“You make love where you find it. These ceremonies reflect the emotions and feelings of wonderful sailors that know how important every moment is when the next could be your last.” Cyanna lifted her head and said, “How are the Hive and Horde evacuations progressing?”

“They have moved seventy percent of their populations. The time we’ve given them attacking the Majors has made all the difference. Once they started moving things accelerated.”

Cyanna put her head back on RV’s chest, “Good. How much do you weigh now?”

RV chuckled, “I’m down to 190 pounds.”

“Dieting?”

“No, not having you here.”

Cyanna smiled, “Well you can gain nine pounds but I want you to stay under two hundred.”

“Until we can get off ship, there’s not much chance of that happening. The food on this ship is just too healthy.”

“You mean green.”

“Exactly.”

Cyanna laughed and continued to look out of the viewport.

RV said, “I was hoping for a son.”

Cyanna smiled, “We’ll let tomorrow take care of tomorrow.”

• • •

The Dark Creature looked at his bank of displays and saw all the leaders from the Major Civilizations. He was now leading the war against the rebellion. He smiled and said, “I have a new development that we need to discuss. It will probably change anything we were planning to do and I think it will end this conflict.” He watched as the leaders stared at him on their displays and after a long pause he said, “The other sector has volunteered to send their ships to assist us in eliminating those that are in rebellion and to find and destroy the galaxy that has supplied the Minors with those white ships.”

Pandemonium broke out. Everyone started yelling at once and he waited for it to subside. Eventually it did. He stared at the leaders and said, “You really sicken me. Do you think I would allow anything like this to happen if it placed any of you in danger? You’re so locked into your total distrust of everyone that you don’t see what a gift this is for all of us, especially after the number of ships we’ve lost.”

The Jongen Duke said, “They’ll just destroy us afterwards. You know they’ve been wanting to take our territories for centuries.”

“That’s true, but they have also had to come to an accommodation with the civilizations in their sector to make this work. Our options are really easy to understand. If we don’t join them in the effort to eliminate our enemies, they will bring their combined fleets here first and remove us as a potential problem. Their seven hundred million ships would accomplish that rather easily and they’ll destroy our rebellious Minors afterwards. They prefer to have us work with them to make sure there are no surprises when they attack.”

The Burgen King said, “What’s to prevent them from destroying us afterwards?”

“They have all agreed to not attack each other for a hundred years after our enemies are eliminated. They have agreed to combine and attack any civilization that attacks another once that agreement takes effect. We will have to agree to join that combined fleet to enforce the peace. If one of them attacks any of our civilizations, they have agreed to destroy the attacker. We, of course, would join them in the attack against the aggressor.” The Dark Creature paused and said, “There are many of them that voted against this proposal but the mast majority support it and they are being forced to fall in line with the others.”

“Do you think they’ll stand by their agreement?”

“If one of us is attacked by one of their civilizations, our combined fleet would destroy the attacker even if they don’t join us. Just like destroying a planet without an announcement, they would have to allow it to happen. I really see that they all know the consequences of violating this agreement.”

“We really have no choice.”

The Dark Creature smiled, “No we don’t, but they think they need our fleets to do this and I’m not telling them they’re wrong. Think about it; we’ll have a hundred years to rebuild. We will recover from our losses and we will all agree to combine and attack any of them that attempt to take any of our territories. We can make that agreement right now.”

“They could combine against us after that period.”

“They could do that now but you know why they won’t. The civilizations that were weakened by the attack would be gobbled up by the others. None of them are willing to risk it.” The Dark Creature waited and after an hour he said, “This really is a no-brainer. Send a yes or no vote to my board now.”

He watched and after a few minutes the votes began coming in. He waited until the last arrived and saw that all of the leaders were still on the frequency waiting for the results of the vote. He said, “I see that the Nexu has voted no. Is there a reason for that?”

“Yes there is. We do not get involved in disputes between other civilizations. We only defend our territory against trespassers. We do not choose to take part in this attack.”

“It’s really not a choice. If we agree; we will all participate.”

“Then take a bit of information to the other sector and see if it will allow us to stay out of this stupidity.”

“What information is that?”

“We know where the galaxy of the white ship builders is located.”

Silence slammed down on the conference. Even the Dark Creature was stunned at the comment. The Nexu Leader continued, “If we are forced to fight we will remove that location from our databanks.”

“We could combine against you and force you to tell us.”

“And just how many more ships do you think you’ll lose if you try that? We don’t like being told what to do and we think this piece of information might be valuable to the other sector. You might even be able to use it to ensure you’re not attacked afterwards.”

“But you will be left stronger that any of the rest of us if you don’t take part in the fight?”

“Why would you care? When have we ever attacked any of you and why would that change? Your combined fleet could still destroy us if we did attack any of you and the other sector would help you do it.”

“Where did you get that information?”

“We were attacked by their ships and you know we’re telepathic. We were able to see the thoughts of one of the survivors before it died and its home galaxy in its mind. We’ve done a search and have found a galaxy that matches what was in that being’s thoughts. We know where they live.”

The Dark Creature saw the value of that information and how he could use it to gain status with the other sector; but how could he persuade the others to make them go along with the Nexu suggestion. Then he had it. “I think the Nexu have a good proposal. Here’s how we’ll handle this. Send in your vote now. If you agree with them; vote yes. If you don’t; vote no.” He paused and said, “Those who vote no will be allowed to go and pry that information from them.”

He noticed there were fifteen no votes that immediately disappeared from his panel when he made the last comment. He waited and after ten minutes the yes votes started coming in. He smiled and said, “It appears you have received agreement on your proposal. How do you suggest we handle this?”

“We will give you the coordinates of that galaxy and you will not mention our non-participation to the other sector. They will not be able to determine our absence when all of our ships combine. The numbers will just be too massive to know who’s there and who isn’t. We also want everyone’s agreement to attack any civilizations that trespasses into our territory.”

The Dark Creature looked at the Nexu and said, “They have voted to support your proposal. I can say for all of us that if anyone violates our agreement we will combine against them.”

The Nexu bowed his head, “No one is in danger of us. We just want to live in our territory and be left alone.”

“I promise you will have your wish.”

“The Coordinates are on your board. We have erased them from our data banks and you are the only one with possession of them now.”

The Dark Creature downloaded the data to his personal recorder and said, “I will notify the other Sector of our agreement to accept their conditions and start the preparations to end this problem with the Minors.” The Leaders terminated their connections and the Dark Creature slithered into his quarters and thought about how to use the information to his advantage.

• • •

The Hive Controller looked at the Horde Master, “Well, it looks like the battle will be fought here.”

“There’s still some time remaining. The vast majorities of our planets will be saved, which is a blessing.”

“I know, but there are other Minor Civilizations that have not moved their populations. They will be destroyed and there’s nothing we can do to prevent it.”

“You can only do what you can.”

“Still, I really hate to see them die due to our actions.”

“The cold hard truth is that most of them were living on borrowed time anyway. The continuous wars we’ve been forced to fight would have eventually destroyed them. We were lucky to find out what was going on in time to save our people.”