Probe Predators (30 page)

“They wouldn’t let me go with them.”

Jinx’s eyes flew open and he turned around and saw Katy standing behind him. He dropped his crutch and held up his arms. Katy rushed forward and pulled herself against him. “I just thought I had lost you.”

Katy had her head on his chest and she sighed, “Just before we boarded our ships my Zombies gathered and informed me that their last official act was to mutiny. They informed me that I no longer met the requirements to be a Zombie. They knew I wanted to live. They all agreed that I should do just that. Jim said that the only gift they had they could give me to show how much I meant to them was…”

Jinx looked into her eyes, “What?”

“Life.” Katy looked at the display and said, “Look at them. They’re finally getting what they’ve all yearned for and they’re making it count.”

Jinx looked at the display and saw the Orange Ships in the gap were being destroyed. Some of them died when Zombies crashed their ships into them. Some of them died when a Zombie went right up to their force fields to fire into their thrusters. A lot of them died when four heavy penetrators were launched from the incoming battleships to clear a path to the planet. The following four heavy penetrators hit the planet and blew it apart so fast that the Union Fleets were barely able to escape. They were only able to do so because they were warned that the penetrators had been launched. The Surviving Thresher Warships didn’t have that warning and the blast from the planet ripped through them. Force fields can handle many things but a twenty mile long rock moving 767 miles an hour wasn’t one of them. Jinx knew all the Zombies were close to the planet when it blew up and that none of them survived.

“I’m so sorry, Katy.”

“Don’t be, Jinx. Were you afraid of dying when you attacked that planet?” Jinx shook his head. “Neither were they. They have peace now and I’m left behind to tell of their glory.” Katy paused, “I’m also here for another reason.”

“What is that?”

“To love you until the day I die.” Jinx smiled and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. After a moment he broke the kiss and winced, “I need to sit down.”

Katy helped him to a chair and knelt beside him. Jinx looked at her and stared into her eyes. “Katy, I will never, ever, leave you.”

Katy smiled, “I know.”

“Do you; really know?”

“I knew that the first time I saw you after I was a fool. I saw you for who you really are and knew I had been so stupid.” Katy paused, “You need to do me a favor.”

“What is that?”

“I will not take another fleet and be away from you. I want to be your second-in-command.”

“I should be your second.”

“No, you’re much better than I am. The reason the Zombies followed me was because they saw themselves in me. Your Second Fleets follow you because they can see who you are.”

“Will you marry me?”

Katy looked in to Jinx’s eyes and said, “I did that in my heart when I lost you. I decided I would never have anyone else.”

The corner of Jinx’s mouth went up, “Well…do you have a problem with making it official?”

Katy laughed, “Of course, I’ll marry you.” Jinx pulled her into his lap and held her tight as they watched the wreckage of the Thresher’s Home World expand out into the planetary system.

• • •

The Sovereign looked at Angela and said, “A Thresher Warship has arrived outside out galaxy and is broadcasting on multiple frequencies.”

“What are they saying?”

“The new Ruler of the Threshers requests a meeting with our leaders.”

“That doesn’t sound like their normal method of doing things.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I really don’t know; I was hoping you would have a suggestion.”

Angela watched the lights in the Obelisk and nodded, “It never hurts to talk.”

“Who do you think should go and have a conversation?”

“It’s your galaxy that is under attack; you would be the best one to meet with them.”

The Sovereign stared at Angela, “We both know who the power is in this conflict. I wouldn’t feel empowered to make any real decisions without running them through you first.”

“Then see what they have to say and tell them you’ll get back to them after you discuss it with your allies.”

“Wouldn’t you really want someone there?”

“I don’t know that we would make the best decision as to what would be best for you. I suspect we would be looking out for our self-interests and that may not be the best course.”

“I’ll let you know what they want.”

“That would be good.”

• • •

The new Major Claw waited for the leaders of the ball galaxy to arrive and hoped he could maneuver them into a solution. He suspected he wouldn’t succeed but he knew he had to try. The former Major Claw was too addicted to the taste of the Families to make any decision that didn’t include the arrival of the Family. Many of his supporters were also addicted and he knew he was going to be restricted in his options. He sat in the command chair and waited. Suddenly, a large Green Warship appeared and he heard, “What is it you want to discuss?”

“I’m hoping we can end these hostilities between our civilizations before there is any more loss of life.”

“We didn’t start this; you came here.”

“We didn’t come to attack you; we were waiting on the Family to arrive.”

“Yes, but you attacked our planets to feed yourselves while you were waiting. Did you seriously think we would just stand by and do nothing?”

“Actually, my predecessor thought you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it; he was obviously wrong.”

“Why should we trust you?”

“You shouldn’t after what we’ve done but the reality of the current situation is that both of our civilizations will endure massive destruction if we continue this. I’m hoping we can find a way around this.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I will agree to never come here again and endanger you if you will also agree to stay out of our domain.”

The Sovereign was surprised at the Claw’s statement. “Why do you want to do this? It’s our understanding that you will attack any civilization that is a threat to you. How do you know we will honor this agreement if we agree?”

“Unfortunately, there is no real way either of us can know if either side will honor it; however, to continue on our current course is not something either of us would want.”

“You’ve never faced anyone capable of meeting you on an equal footing?”

“No, we haven’t and it’s clear to me that the price to remove you would be more than we can afford to pay.” Then, Claw paused and said, “There is one way to ensure we would not bother you for a very long time.”

“What is that?”

“We will honor our agreement if you will allow us to send unarmed ships here to follow the survivors of the coming Family’s attack on your galaxy. We will not enter your borders and will only follow them back to where they originated. We would also request that you allow some of our unarmed commercial ships to come and remove the wreckage of their ships once you have beaten them.” The Sovereign stared at the creature on his monitor and said nothing. The Major Claw decided to be honest, “There is a large segment of our leadership that is addicted to the taste of the Families and the only way I will be supported in making this happen is to have a way to go after the Family. I’m hoping you will allow this without having to fight you for the opportunity.”

The Sovereign thought about the offer and knew the Union would never agree to it. However, they were not being attacked. “So you think we will defeat the Family when it comes?”

“If you can destroy my warships, you will not have an issue with theirs. I’m hoping that if they don’t see us here, they will return to the place they came from to attack you.”

“Will you be able to track them without them seeing you do it?”

“I’ll have some probes follow them.” The Claw watched the Sovereign and said, “I do not plan to attack the Families until we locate several of their fleets. Attacking them will take several centuries to defeat their numbers and we will not be interested in your galaxy while that is happening. The universe is big enough to avoid fighting a civilization that is a danger to us. You will not be bothered again if you will not attack us.”

“Are you able to make this agreement?”

“I am; if you will allow us to take the ships you destroy.”

The Sovereign decided, “I’ll make it easy for you. We will transport all the ships we destroy outside of our galaxy and you can come and take them with you. Do not send a warship to take them. We will also send you the jump tracks they use to escape to make it easier for you to send probes after them. You’ll need to give me a frequency so that we can transmit those tracks as they happen.”

“I will set up our probes to receive your transmissions and immediately follow their ships. If you do as you say, I will promise you that we will never come to this cluster of galaxies again.”

“Give me a frequency to contact you; I’ll confirm this with my allies and let you know within two days.”

“That would be good. Will you agree with me to declare a ceasefire while you are making this decision?”

“I will.”

The Major Claw looked to his right and said, “The frequency is being sent to you now. I look forward to working with you on this.”

“I’ll contact you shortly.”

• • •

The panel went dark and the Major Claw leaned back in his command chair. Now he had the time he needed to move to new planets in another galaxy and also have the coming Family for a meal. He knew the huge galaxy could defeat the Family’s ships…but…they had planets to defend. His civilization never had that issue when they attacked the Families. The Ball Galaxy would have been wise to allow him to assist them against the Family. Oh well, they’d see. He looked at his navigator, “Take us back.”

• • •

Angela looked at the Senior Staff and knew they weren’t going to be happy. She sighed and saw Moe agreed with her; that’s why she made the big decisions. She looked at the gathered Admirals and said, “The New Thresher Ruler had contacted M87 and asked for a truce. He says they will not come into our section of the universe again.”

Drey’s eyes narrowed, “We can’t do this!”

“Yes we can…M87 has agreed to do it.”

“But you’re allowing the Threshers and M87 to reorganize and develop new technology to use against us.”

“It’s in our best interests to do this.”

“How can you say that?”

“Drey, have you had a running space battle with any of the Thresher ships?”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Every time we’ve attacked them, they have either been defending a planet or hanging in space with their force fields down. Will you admit their ships are at least as fast as ours?” Drey nodded. “What do you think it would be like if millions of their ships jumped into M87, or our galaxy, and simply flew away from us and hit planets with their missiles, which they would not have to slow down to fire.”

“What are you talking about; Missiles?”

“The Sovereign asked the new Ruler what those large tubes on his ship were used for.”

“And he answered?”

“The Sovereign told him if he didn’t, he would not agree to a truce.” Angela paused, “Those tubes are used to fire a nuclear chain reaction missile at a planet. The Ruler says one of them would burn a continent down to bed rock. Can you imagine chasing those ships as they jumped from planet to planet firing those missiles? No, we’re not ready to take them on yet. They still outnumber us. I also suspect they know about us.”

Kragon’s eyes narrowed, “How do you know?”

“The Sovereign gave me a copy of their conversation after he told me he had accepted their offer. The new Thresher Ruler said he would not bring his ships into our Galactic Cluster. Notice he didn’t limit it to just M87. He knows we’re here. He also knows we are the biggest threat to him.”

“But M87 has at least as many ships as the Threshers.”

“Yes, but they’re not fast enough to give chase. We need some time to prepare for the final confrontation which I’m sure will come one day…but not today or anytime soon.”

Drey said, “They’ll use the time to build a force field strong enough to stop the Pegs.”

Angela shook her head, “The Renegade Grandfather took a look at our scans of their ships and says they are using the same force field they did thousands of years ago. Force field technology requires a technological breakthrough to build a stronger one. Our fields are as strong as we can make them. Just ordering a stronger field won’t make it happen.”

Drey stared at the Queen and Dee said, “She’s right; time is on our side.”

Drey turned and looked at Dee, “How can you say that?”

“The next battle will be fought with the current ships we’re both using. The Thresher’s have about a thousand planets that do nothing more than build warships. The Union has more than two hundred thousand planets building for us and the ships we’re building are tiny compared to the ones they use. How long do you think it’s going to take to pass them in ship numbers?”

Drey started nodding slowly, “Not very long. We also have to catch up to M87 in numbers. I am not going to allow them to get off without paying for their actions.”

Dee nodded, “We started building late in this game; we need to catch up.” Dee looked at the Queen, “They had to give them something.”

Angela shrugged, “They asked if they could come and attack the Family when it arrived. M87 told them no; they knew I would not allow their warships in our cluster of galaxies.” Angela watched Drey carefully and then said, “They did agree to allow unarmed commercial ships to come and remove the wreckage of the Family’s fleet after M87 destroyed them; which is another reason for the truce. If M87 didn’t agree they would have just waited and attacked them with the Family.”

Kragon shook his head, “We could have continued attacking their planets and removed them as a threat.”

“At what cost?”

“I’m not sure I understand your question.”

“If they do know our location; what would they have done?”

Dee sighed, “They would have sent millions of their ships to our galaxy to attack our planets.”