Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) (14 page)

“Yes, Leader.”

“As soon as any warships arrive, all ships will jump away.”

“Leader, why are we going if we’re just going to run?”

“I will remain behind to see if I can get the beings to communicate.”

“Leader…”

“You have your orders, carry them out.”

“Yes, Leader.”

• • •

Angel heard the Klaxons start blaring and she looked at Bret. He was reading his panel and said, “A hundred plus Alien Battleships have just jumped in on the Moet’s Capital.”

Angel pulled her Helmet on and said, “I want a hundred ships ready to jump.”

Bret stared at his panel and said, “Sir, the Alien Ships are not advancing on the planet. They’re holding station at the second moon.”

Angel’s brow furrowed and she saw the feed coming from the Moet’s system. She thought furiously and said, “Arve, Grest, Dizzy; prepare to follow me to the Moet System. We’ll be jumping out in fifteen seconds.”

Dizzy said, “I’m having a hundred ships locking in the planet’s coordinates to jump in to support us if needed.” Angel nodded and smiled. Dizzy was cool under stress. Angel saw the countdown reach zero and her ship disappeared from normal space.

• • •

The Wellington appeared above the Moet’s Capital and Angel saw the Haven, Melbourne, and Troy appear next to her ship. She looked at her helmet visor and saw the Alien Ships remained in formation and weren’t moving. She took the ship controls and began accelerating toward the invaders.

• • •

The Ship Leader looked at the Leader of the Scan Ship on his board, “Do you detect any probes?”

“No, I do not. Nothing is on my displays.”

“Do you think there are any present?”

The Scan Leader moved his head forward, “I have no way of knowing. However, I would have probes sent to follow any ships sent into my galaxy.”

The Ship Leader saw the four ships start moving toward his formation and knew he was out of time. He pressed his panel and said, “All ships will return to our point of departure. Leave now.” The hundred plus ships saw the four huge ships accelerating toward them and were reluctant to leave one of their own behind. However, they were well trained and followed their orders. They jumped away leaving the single battleship behind.

• • •

Angel watched her panel and saw the Alien Ships disappear. She activated her communicator, “Back off and slow down.” The four Jukeboxes slowed and approached the single blue battleship until they were a thousand miles away. Angel looked at Bret and he said, “It appears they want to talk again.”

“Why would they bring that many ships and then send them away?’

“I don’t know; why don’t you ask him?”

Angel snickered and said, “I’m curious as to why you sent the other ships away.”

The Ship Leader blew out some atmosphere and said, “I felt like they might get in the way.”

“Of what?”

“Getting you to reveal one of your probes.”

Angel’s surprise was instant, “Just why would we do that?”

“I really don’t want to say; just assume that it would go a long way towards helping us better understand you.”

“Stand by.” Angel looked at the Microphone and saw her father’s frequency, “Admiral, are you listening in on my conversation?”

“I am.”

“I need someone in authority to take it from this point.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“Why did you bring those ships into our galaxy? You could have just appeared outside and waited for us to come.”

The Ship Leader thought for a moment and said, “You told me you were going to blow my ship apart if I didn’t immediately leave. I didn’t know if that threat was still a reality. I brought the ships to get you to pause long enough to see that I didn’t come to attack you.”

“Why did you come to this planet?”

“One of your senior Military Leaders was directed to come here before we lost our probes. I hoped he might still be here and would communicate with me.”

Dat listened to the Alien and after a moment said, “You really don’t expect me to believe that, do you?”

“No, but you have to admit it makes a good story.”

Dat was surprised at the Alien’s remark and after a moment smiled, “You’re not the one I spoke with the last time.”

“No, that was one of our Leaders; I’m the commander of his ship.”

Dat lowered his head, “That means he didn’t come because you were planning something that would endanger him.”

The Ship Leader moved side to side in admiration. This being was smart. “We did originally plan to attack this planet to determine your strength. Then we just decided to come and allow you to attack us to make that determination.”

“Then why did you send your ships away?”

“Another issue took priority. We have a need to see one of the probes you use to watch us.”

Dat shook his head, “Let’s just for a moment assume that we have a probe that is watching you; why would we even consider revealing it to you?”

The Ship Leader thought about what to say and knew he wouldn’t reveal it, either. He knew deception was out of the question; this being was too smart for that. He decided the best thing was to be honest. “Revealing a probe could have a positive impact on the direction we are now moving in.”

Dat stared at the Blue Ship in his monitor and shook his head. He muted the microphone and looked at Gresha, “What do you think is going on?”

Gresha shook her head and thought furiously, “I’m not sure. However, what would be the impact of showing him a probe?”

“They’d know we have the ability to spy on them.”

“Do you not think they already know that? How else could we have knocked out all their probes here?” Gresha’s eyes went wide, “They’ve found probes there!”

“What?”

“That’s why he’s here. They’ve discovered probes in their galaxy and want confirmation that they’re ours.”

“But we haven’t launched the Rovers or probes yet.”

“When are they going?”

“The first are launching in ten minutes.”

“Stop them, Dat!”

“But this operation has taken months to get organized.”

“For God’s sake use your brain; think about this!!”

Dat looked at the Blue Ship in his monitor and pressed his panel, “General Robinson, put the launch of our scouts and probes on hold.”

“Admiral, we’re too far into it to stop.”

“General, this is a direct order that you can confirm with Admiral Hull, you will immediately put the launch on hold!”

Brad stared at Admiral Arvolo, “I’ll issue a hold until I can communicate with Admiral Hull.”

“That would be good, General.”

• • •

The Ship Leader waited for a response. He didn’t know if his ship was going to be attacked but he couldn’t leave until the being answered. He looked at his Second and saw him shrug. He spoke, “Are you still there?”

“Give me a moment; we’re discussing your request.”

• • •

“What do you mean put a hold on the launch!?!”

“Admiral, Gresha and I suspect the Aliens have detected probes in their galaxy.”

Katherine’s eyes narrowed, “What? We don’t have any probes there at the moment; we pulled all of them out.”

“So what if it’s still true?”

Katherine thought about it and said, “Someone else is there watching them.”

“They want to see one of our probes, Admiral.”

“They’re not brassy are they? They just fly in and say, ‘Show me your probe’ and expect us to do it. Are they that out of touch with reality?”

Gresha pressed her communicator, “Admiral, what if they’ve detected the probes watching them. Who do you think they believe it belongs to?” Gresha saw Kat’s expression on her display. “Showing them something they already know exists is not a significant danger.”

“They don’t have proof.”

“Do you think that will matter if they decide to attack? Would you refuse to believe they don’t have probes if all of ours were removed from their galaxy? Oh, they know we have probes.”

“Are you suggesting we reveal them?”

Gresha looked at Dat and after a moment said, “Yes, I guess I am.”

“And just what do you think they’ll do if we do?”

“I’m not sure…but if there are other probes in their galaxy, their attention will be taken off us.”

Katherine thought for a moment and looked at Dat, “What do you think?”

“Hold off on launching our scouts and show them a probe.”

“You really think that’s what we should do?”

“No, not really.” Kat’s head went back. “However, Gresha is sure and I’ve not seen her make a mistake. Remember, she sees things we don’t.”

Katherine looked off her screen and they knew she had looked at Brad. She said, “Are you sure?” They couldn’t hear the response but Katherine looked back at them and said, “Show them all the probes we have around them.”

Dat nodded and left the channel active. He unmuted his board and said, “Do you have your recording devices active?”

The Ship Leader was shocked by the question, “I do.”

“Well you have five seconds to record from now.”

The Ship Leader looked at his panel and saw fifty large devices surrounding his ship. The Scan Leader was stunned. He took recordings of the probes until they disappeared. He looked at the Ship Leader and moved his head forward and back. He couldn’t believe what he had just seen. The Ship Leader pressed his console, “I really didn’t expect you to do this. However, I thank you for your honesty.”

“Let us know if you need our help.”

The Ship Leader leaned back, “I’ll let my leaders know of your offer.”

Dat smiled, “Just keeping our promise.”

“Let us hope my Leaders believe you.” Dat watched the ship jump away.

Angel shook her head, “I almost brought a hundred Jukeboxes here, Admiral. That would have been a huge mistake.”

Dat looked at his daughter and smiled, “Why didn’t you?”

“I saw they weren’t advancing on the planet. It made me wonder what they were up to and I decided to find out.”

“You’re forgetting that the planet has the latest force field installed.”

Angel smiled, “No, that knowledge is what allowed me to delay. If the planet didn’t have a force field, I would have had to respond to prevent a bombardment.”

“You see things rather clearly, Admiral. You’re a lot like your mother.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“However, next time, if there is a next time, don’t hesitate. If they come again it will be war between us.”

“Why do you think they came this time?”

Dat’s head lowered slightly and he looked at Angel through his eyebrows, “I think they were planning an attack and something happened to change their mind.”

Angel nodded, “They detected a probe.”

Dat’s head went up in surprise. He shook his head, “And since we don’t currently have one in their galaxy…?”

“They were totally caught off base.” Dat nodded for her to continue. “If they can’t see our probes here, why would they be able to see them there? They came to confirm whether or not our probes are still invisible.”

“And when that ship confirmed ours were not detectable…”

“They are faced with a problem on just who is their first priority to remove.”

“Admiral, make contact with Fleet Operations and make sure you’re notified if any planet in the galaxy has blue battleships show up. Don’t wait for authorization to act. Your units will take on the initial invaders while the Senior Staff organizes the rest of the fleet for the follow up forces.”

“Yes Sir. I am moving my fleet above the plane of the galaxy with the edge toward the Alien’s Galaxy under us. We will continue our training while we wait for another incursion.”

“I’ll let Admiral Hull know about your location.”

“Are we going to launch the Rovers and Scouts?”

“That is under discussion at the moment. Do you have a recommendation?”

Angel looked at Bret and he whispered. “Right now, we’re not the main fear.”

Angel nodded, “I’d hold off. If they confirm another civilization has probes in their galaxy, that civilization is where I’d send the Rovers.”

“Why?”

“We really don’t know which represents the biggest danger to us. I would suspect that if those probes are monitoring their communications, they know about us. They haven’t come and asked if we would be an ally against the Blue Ships. That tells me they could be a possible danger to us as well. We already know the dispositions of the Aliens major planets. We know nothing about who sent these new probes.”

Dat tilted his head to the left, “That is exactly how I see it as well. I am going to notify the Rovers and Scouts to stand down and remain on standby.”

“We’ll be jumping above the Galaxy in two hours.”

“I’ll let you know what we decide, Admiral.”

Angel nodded and her panel went dark. Bret looked at her and slowly shook his head. Angel saw him and her eyes narrowed, “What’s wrong?”

“Have you thought about the possibility of that new agency joining up with the Blue Ships?” Angel’s eyes went wide and she shook her head. Bret looked at his display showing the four battleships. “It just entered my mind that the other agency may be investigating the Blue Ships to see if they could be a good ally.”

Angel pressed the button on her console and Dat appeared on her display, “Admiral, my XO just mentioned a possibility to me that I didn’t consider.”

“What is that?”

Angel told him and Dat’s expression turned hard, “Tell the Rovers to stay where they are. We can’t wait to be caught in the dark on this.”

The display went black and Angel looked at Bret. He held up his hands, “Hey, don’t get mad at me.”

Angel looked up and rolled her eyes, “Just when I thought things might be going our way.”

“They could still be…but we just don’t know.”

Angel nodded and looked out of the Wellington’s port, “Notify the units to prepare to move.” Bret turned to his panel and began sending instructions.

T
he Ship Leader stood behind his Master. He was surprised when he was moved up to the number three position at the table and he saw the three Military Masters were not happy about it. The Leader couldn’t remember when a Military Master did not occupy a position in the top three. Now their highest rank was five. The telltale light orange coloring around their eyes indicated they were quite upset about what happened. The Leader glanced at the Lead Master and saw he was aware of their unhappiness but didn’t really care.