Probe Predators (21 page)

Mac smiled, “No, I like you just the way you are.”

“Good. I’ve received a message that you are needed to report to the main hangar.”

“What for?”

“I don’t know, but you should get moving. The request came from the Group Commander.”

Mac jumped up and ran off his ship toward the main hanger across the landing field. He was thankful he had cleaned up after the Admiral visited and wondered what was going on. He looked up at the night sky above New Haven and thought the stars were beautiful. He couldn’t remember the last time he had that thought. Vicky was back. Thank God, Vicky was back. He ran up to the main hangar’s entrance and found two security guards who demanded his identity card. He presented it to them and they said, “Please follow us, Sir.”

Mac fell in behind them and wondered what he had done. Then he noticed the Security officer was a Colonel. He was a Captain. Something wasn’t right. They went through the secondary doors and Mac was blinded by lights being shined at them as they moved into the main hangar. He put his hand up to block the bright lights but couldn’t see anything. Suddenly the lights went off and Mac saw thousands of Union Pilots standing in ranks in front of him saluting. He looked around and saw on the balcony above him the Queen of the Union. He immediately went to attention and saluted with the other pilots. It was just his luck to be late to a gathering to honor the Queen. He thought for a moment and realized the Queen never left Euclid. The Queen Smiled and said, “Captain Chancellor, I believe you should return our pilot’s salute.”

Mac turned around and saw the pilots were all staring at him and not the Queen. He saluted and the thousands lowered their arms. He turned as he heard the Queen say, “These pilots asked to have a moment to thank you for what you did in the last fight with the Threshers. They have seen your actions and they know you did not expect to survive; but you went in anyway. You saved most of those gathered here and they wanted to show their appreciation. When I learned of their request, I also wanted to thank you. This is the first time a sitting Ruler of the Union has ever left Euclid. I can’t think of a better reason to do it. You have earned the Union’s highest award for your bravery and, though Admiral Montgomery says you don’t feel you deserve it, all of us in this room know you do.”

Angela walked down from the second level and arrived in front of Mac. He went to one knee and she said, “Please rise, I should be the one bowing today.” Mac stood and the Queen pinned the Gold Galaxy on his uniform. She looked at the pilots and said, “You may now thank Admiral Chancellor for what he did.”

The pilots rushed forward and lifted Mac on their shoulders. He was carried around the room and he saw their gratitude. It was thirty minutes later before it sunk in that the Queen had called him Admiral. It was two days later that he took leave time to go to Vicky.

• • •

Cole stood on the second level with his arm around Andi. Andi sighed, “Cole, I was going to take my personal Space Group in a moment before he killed those ships. I owe him my life as well.”

Cole pulled her tighter. “He’s shown us how to attack them, Andi. Next time, things will be different.”

Andi turned to Cole, “Are you so sure about that? This was only five ships. They’ll arrive in millions.”

“That may be true but he discovered their only apparent weakness. We’ll still lose ships but it won’t take as many to take them out. And we’ll get better at it. They can’t have a ship on every side of a formation. Some of them will have to be on the outside edges and that’s where we’ll work our way in. The survivors will be better and we’ll make each of them count.”

Andi exhaled, “I hope you’re right. I really do.”

Cole nodded and prayed for the same thing.

• • •

The Command Claw was enraged. Two ships had been destroyed and none of the recordings revealed how it had been done. It had happened in the middle of the ships and whatever destroyed his two ships was blocked from being seen by the other three. The recordings made by the two ships died with them. He waited on the Major Claw to contact him and expected the worst. Fortunately, the surviving three ships had collected enough stores to get them through several months. He now knew that, even if the Family didn’t show up, this galaxy was going to be visited by a major Thresher Fleet; destruction of a Thresher Warship would not be tolerated. At least the Major Claw had ordered that all future provisions would be sent to the ships watching for the Family to arrive. His ships would not be placed in danger by going back into that galaxy. He was wrong; he just didn’t know it.

T
he Sovereign looked at the twenty displays on his communications room’s wall and listened to the Gowen Ambassador discuss the recording of the Union’s attack. “…they weren’t much better than we were.”

The Petrok sneered, “Are you watching the same recording I am?” The Gowen looked at the Petrok as he said, “I seem to remember that we lost two thousand ships and all we did was knock the force field down over a third of their vessel. The Union attacked five of those monsters, who had a devastating crossfire to defend them, and killed two of their ships.”

“They lost as many ships as we did.”

“How many do you think we would have lost if we had attacked those five ships?”

The Petrok stared at the Gowen and deflated, “You’re right.”

The Neuon Leader said, “We should also remember that we lost the ships that delivered the penetrators that damaged it. We’re unable to get close enough to one ship to kill it. What’s going to happen if millions of them arrive? Is our survival going to depend on that Union to save us?”

The Sovereign said, “Yes.” The other nineteen on the channel heard his comment and grew silent. They were the ones that saved us against the first Family’s invasion and it will be them that have to carry the heavy lifting this time as well. Do any of you see it any differently?”

The Sovereign glanced to the right of the nineteen displays and saw the Pental Ruler leaning back in his chair watching the conference. He was not allowed to speak; he had lost his right to participate in any of the Galaxy’s decisions. The Sovereign was curious; the Pental had actually put one of his hands over his face to hide his amusement at his last remark. He reached forward and activated the Pental’s frequency, “What do you find so amusing? Is our danger so funny to you!?!”

The Pental jerked upright in his chair, “No, no; I wasn’t smiling at your…our dilemma. I just find it amusing that all of you have missed how to get close to those monsters.”

“Do tell.”

“The Union Ship that killed those two Thresher Warships went in FTL and fired before they could react. Our ships also have FTL capability; we just need something that will make it through their force fields.”

“The Union is not going to share their technology with us this time.”

“Sovereign, they really didn’t share it with us last time.” The Sovereign’s face turned angry and the Pental held up his arms, “They did give us the FTL drive and the heavy penetrators; I’m not denying that. But did they give us that bomb that blew up a Family Fleet? Did they give us the dark matter blasters that penetrated the Family’s force fields? No, they kept the most advanced weapons to themselves and I guess history has shown they were wise to do so.”

The Neuon Leader sneered, “That was your doing.”

The Pental blew out a breath and nodded, “My species had done some pretty stupid things to the Union and planning to attack them is probably the dumbest move ever. However, they still have advanced weapons beyond anything we possess. They could take control of our galaxy any time they choose and we wouldn’t be able to stop them. That was the source of my nightmares. If they were really our allies, they wouldn’t have kept their weapons from us.”

The Sovereign said, “That’s past us now.”

“If you say so; I’ll go back to my corner and remain silent.”

The Sovereign looked over at his Fleet Admiral sitting next to him and muted his panel, “I notice you jerked when he mentioned FTL.”

“Sire, if we built a FTL penetrator with a neutronium warhead from that exploded neutron star we discovered, it would hit with a massive impact.”

“How massive?”

“I don’t think I can calculate the value; it’s going to take one of our scientists to figure that out. However, if that super dense warhead had a needle point on it…”

“Do you think it would penetrate?”

“I really don’t know without trialing it. It was only recently that we found a way to cut the casing used to house the neutronium; we might need to take a look at just what it could do. The penetrators given to us by the Union during the first Family Invasion would be far weaker than one of these if we built it. The mass of that shaped warhead would be incredible.”

The Sovereign immediately remembered that it was the Pental that had invented the fusion blade that would cut neutronium. He unmuted his panel and looked at the Pental, “Have you built a new type of neutronium penetrator?” The Pental’s shock was evident to everyone. The Sovereign smiled, “I’ll be sending a ship to pick up one of your devices. I trust there won’t be any issues in collecting it from you?”

The Pental fell back in his chair, “No…I’ll send one to you; you don’t have to come here to get it.”

The other nineteen attendees saw the exchange and wondered what was going on. The Sovereign stared at the Pental and turned to the other representatives, “I am recommending the Pental be reinstated to the Council with full membership rights.”

The Gowen shook his head, “Why would we do that after the stupidity he displayed in attacking the Union.”

“Was he wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Could they come and defeat us at any time they chose?” Silence greeted the question. “I also shared that fear when we made our plans to attack them; I just happen to believe now that they would never do it. It’s just not in their nature to be a conqueror. However, he had a legitimate reason to fear them. We just couldn’t believe that they were that different from us.” The Sovereign looked at the Pental King, “Do you see it now?”

The Pental King sighed, “Yes. If they were as evil as I thought, they would have never chosen to assist us in this fight. I was tremendously shocked when they volunteered to do it. I never would have done it if I were in their place.”

The Sovereign looked back at his wall of monitors. “We are the Ruling Council during this emergency. We should bring him into our Council and use him and his forces to defend all of us. Does anyone oppose this motion?” The nineteen representatives looked at each other and no one spoke. The Sovereign looked at the Pental King, “I do require you to invest yourself fully in this effort.”

“I will; and I apologize for my prior stupidity.”

“Is there anything you would like to suggest to us?”

“Yes, I want the Union to give us the coordinates of where the last Thresher Ship to arrive came from. We don’t need to wait on them to come to us.”

“We’ll make that request when we have a few of the new penetrators built.”

“I’ve produced two million of them. If they work, we can start full manufacturing production of them. I suspect if one doesn’t do the trick, two will.”

The Gowen’s eyes narrowed, “Why did you manufacture so many?”

“I originally thought I’d need them against the Union. Then I realized I might need them to defend my worlds against your council. Finally, I just thought it might be a good idea to have them when our galaxy was invaded by the Threshers or the Family.”

The Neuon said, “Sovereign, are you going to tell the Union about this new weapon?”

“Do you think they won’t see it the first time we use it; remember, it’s their probes watching the Thresher Warships. I suspect telling them in advance might be the best thing to start rebuilding our relationship with them.”

The Neuon looked at the Pental King, “Have you come up with a way to launch this new weapon?”

“Not really; I agree with the Sovereign; we should tell the Union and let them tell us how to use it.”

The Neuon smiled, “Welcome back to the Council.”

• • •

Drey stared at the device on his monitor and shook his head, “Moe, exactly what do they want to do?”

“They want to trial this new penetrator they’ve developed against a Thresher Warship. They indicate they might go to the Thresher’s home fleets to do it. They’ve requested the coordinates of where they might be located.”

“Do we have the coordinates?”

“We’ve got one coordinate and it was recorded by accident.”

“Oh?”

“A replacement ship jumped in for the one damaged during the first fight and one of our probes had attached a stalker to the hull of the damaged ship. It jumped away and it has sent us the coordinates of where it went.”

“Did it send any data?”

“No, the stalkers are strictly designed to find locations. It dropped off the ship when it arrived at its destination and sent the coordinates. It immediately self-destructed after that information was sent.”

“I assume it determined it was at one of their major centers before it dropped off?”

“It did, Dee. The location had to meet a number of critical criteria before it would complete its mission.”

“Well, we’re not going to go to that location anytime soon.”

“I agree, Drey; that would probably precipitate a general invasion.”

Drey looked back at the monitor with the new penetrator on it, “They gave you the blue prints for this thing?”

“They did.”

Dee looked away from the monitor, “What can you tell us about it?”

“That thing will actually outperform the Pegs.”

“WHAT!?!”

“It’s fifty times their size and equal in speed. They have also found a way to cut the material from that exploded neutron star and sharpen the warhead. Their ability to cut the material also allows them to manufacture larger warheads as well.”

“I didn’t think neutronium could be cut by anything.”

“A fission nuclear blast wouldn’t faze it but a triple fusion arc could cut it. Remember, it was the core of that exploded star that remained solid. Most of the star’s outer crust was in fluid form and was impossible to use safely. The neutrons at the core were under so much pressure that they bonded into subatomic cube structures. That is the material we’ve used in the Pegs.”