• • •
The Green Sovereign watched the feed from the probe that one of his ships had managed to attack to one of the ships in the invasion. Once the ship, arrived the probe dropped off and moved away to scan the fleet. He waited and saw the giant fleet disappear. Three seconds after the huge fleet vanished, the Orange Ships in the rear of the fleet’s formations disappeared. He turned to his son, “Why did the Orange Ships delay jumping?”
“Give me a moment.” The Son moved the probe to the former location of the Orange Ships and made several readings, “They did not jump on the same path as the other ships.”
“Where did they go?”
“I can’t tell. It faded too much to see but it’s clear he did not follow the other ships.”
“What is he doing?”
The Son looked at the screen and said, “I don’t really know.”
“He’s up to something.” The Son nodded and watched his display.
• • •
Ian waited and heard Moe say, “The Scanners show fifty thousand different jump tracks. They’re going after the Main Planets.”
“Attention all ships, the Invader has launched on the Kilper Main Planets. You are released to your assignments. Make them pay.”
Moe immediately said, “Two hundred Main Planets do not have ships in their systems.”
“Reassign those ships sent there.”
“They are being ordered to stay until we determine where they’re needed.”
Ian nodded and focused on the scans being sent to his terminal. Violet said, “We have massive explosions on large numbers of planets.”
Ian heard her but focused on his display.
• • •
Kregen watched the Invader Ships arrive and move in on the former Kilper Main Planet. The two thousand ships fanned out and came in at the planet from multiple tracks. The orbiting platforms began firing on the incoming ships and they began exploding. The Invader ships moved to avoid the platforms but they moved out of their orbits and went after the largest concentration of invading ships. That left open lanes to the planet and the Invaders took advantage of the openings and began firing nuclear missiles and beams at the planet’s surface. All of the planet’s reactors were shut down as soon as the invading fleet appeared and did not offer a target to the Invader’s scanners. The blasts on the surface were horrific.
Hundreds of the invading ships at each planet were hit by the platforms and exploded in giant fireballs. After ten minutes, the Invaders began teaming up on the platforms and they began to die.
“Rissa?”
“Not yet. There are still eight hundred platforms functioning. Let’s get full benefit of what they can do.”
Kregen nodded and focused on the pattern of the enemy ships. There were a hundred groups of ships and they were down to six hundred survivors. He locked in their locations and followed K’s analysis of their trajectories. He noticed that they were going to combine into fifty groups. Twenty of them were already above the planet firing at the surface.
Marissa said, “Lissa, do you have it?”
“I’ve got the paths to get into the middle of those formations.”
“Send them to the ships and send ours to K.”
“Done.”
“Now, Kre, now!”
Kregen and three ships emerged into normal space and rushed at their assigned group of Invader ships. The four ships flew into their formation, dropped the Skinner Field and fired at the closest ships to their location. Only six hundred Invader Ships survived the platforms and there were only twelve ships in each of the fifty groups. The Union ships that had moved in among them began firing at point blank range.
Kregen moved the ship between four ships and Marissa hit all four with the upper and lower turret. They exploded as K flew directly toward another ship and Marissa fired the bow Boson Blaster and hit it in the front section just behind the bow and blew out the bridge. K moved the ship around and turned toward another group of Invaders. Two of the groups had managed to combine at the last moment and killed three Union Ships. K flew into the middle of their formation and Marissa hit eight ships in less than a second. They exploded and the eighty surviving Invaders jumped away. K shouted, “Follow them.” Forty three more ships were destroyed before the others jumped away from the galaxy.
• • •
Daniel and David watched the Invading Ships ignore the planet and attack the platforms. They were killing the platforms at a prodigious rate and as other platforms moved in on them, their combined fire was more than they could handle. The number of Invaders was not being reduced enough. “I hope you don’t mind if we join this dance.”
Daniel looked at his display and saw two hundred more Union Ships arrive. “Give them a target, Dan.”
“Done.”
Daniel smiled and said, “Let’s go save some platforms. Make sure your transponders are on.” The four hundred ships flew into the eight hundred Invader Ships and more than three hundred were destroyed in the first pass. The second pass saw another three hundred and forty six blasted apart. Only ten Union Ships were killed. The third pass found no invaders remaining and the planet had only been hit by eighty nuclear missiles. Those eighty missiles made the planet uninhabitable due to radioactive clouds but most of the planet was not damaged by nuclear explosions.
• • •
Dee watched the invading ships at her assigned planet and began inputting tracks to the two hundred ships assigned to their task force. She didn’t know where the tracks were coming from but they felt right. Doc saw his track appear on his board and after ten minutes saw the green light illuminate on his board. He accelerated on the assigned trajectory and after the first pass only six invader ships remained. Doc shook his head in admiration. Dee was a miracle. The planet had been hit with hundreds of nuclear missiles and beams but only four invaders managed to survive the attack.
• • •
Thirty minutes into the attack Ian said, “Moe, did you get the ships reassigned?”
“Actually, we only needed to use half of them. The others aren’t needed at the moment.”
Ian was stunned by the statement. Moe said, “A number of their ships are escaping to their original location. I think we should send the extra ships there to await the Invader’s arrival.”
“Send them.”
Ian heard, “Attention all ships. If you have completed your assignment, jump to the following coordinates and attack any Invader Ship that arrives.”
Ian changed his scanner and saw thousands of Union Ships emerging into normal space at the former location of the Invader Fleet. The numbers grew to hundreds of thousands in less than two minutes. Invader Ships would appear and be blasted. Very few managed to jump away in time.
Ian looked at Violet with a smile and saw her talking on her communicator. He saw something in her expression and immediately knew something bad had happened. She looked up with tears in her eyes and said, “Gary and Abbey were killed. They flew in and saved ten ships but were hit by hundreds of Invader Beams.” Violet started weeping and Ian rushed over and took her in his arms. He saw their faces in his mind and wondered who was going to be next. First Drey and Andi; now Gary and Abbey; this price was just too high. The Union had lost its best pilot. Ian held Violet and forgot what was happening. The victory was proving to be too costly.
Doc called in and said, “We won, Ian.” Doc paused and said, “Ian?”
Moe said, “Ian is not taking messages; Gary and Abbey were killed.”
Doc stared at the speaker and knew the magnitude of the loss. Now two thirds of the original teams that began the defense of the Union were gone. Only Ian and Violet remained. Doc thought about how he’d feel if he lost Ian and Violet. Dee watched him and saw his sorrow. Doc stared at his display for four minutes and Dee came over and put her arms around him. She knew something had gone wrong. Doc took a deep breath and said, “Drey.”
“Yes, Doc.”
“You will change your name to Doc.”
“Done; what will I call you?”
“My name is Drey.”
Dee saw something in Doc and knew that something had changed. He looked at her, “From the beginning I’ve refused to accept who I am. That is over.”
Dee smiled and said, “I’ve known who you are from the beginning.”
Drey had a small smile, “Now we both know, my love.”
Ian was told by E that Doc was now using Drey as his name. Ian felt his mood change. All of his friends were not gone…yet.
T
he conference was a big one. All the leaders of the planets that had sent ships to the spiral galaxy were on the channel along with most of those that didn’t. The Leader of the Pental had sent the largest number of ships so he directed the communication. “It appears that forty five million of our ships were destroyed in the invasion attempt. There is obviously a highly advanced civilization located there that represents a real threat to us.”
“They haven’t come here?”
“Not yet but do you think they’ll just allow this to go without reprisal?” The Relisn Emperor didn’t answer the question. “We must go back and remove this threat.”
“I’m not convinced they will attack here. They’ll be at a disadvantage coming here with all of our ships available.”
“I agree that we will prevail but there will be the loss of planets. Are we willing to accept that?”
Another leader said, “Before we answer that issue, I want to know what happened to the Invasion Leader and his ships. None of his ships were seen after the attack.”
The Pental Leader said, “I received a communication from him before the attack that he suspected that his ships would be primary targets of the Aliens. It appears he was right.”
“The odds were still good that at least one ship would escape.”
“Well, none did. We have to decide what to do.”
• • •
The Son of the Sovereign looked at the Grey Leader on his display and saw he was remaining silent. He didn’t feel good about being ordered to withhold the information that the aliens said they were not aggressive or the suspicions about the Orange Leader. His father wanted many of the stronger civilizations weakened and the aliens could make that happen. He still didn’t like the deception. Then the Pental Leader said, “I feel that you and the Grey Civilization should join us in the next attack.”
The Son saw the Grey Leader remain silent, leaving the response to him, “Many of you may not know but the Greys and us have recently concluded a treaty of mutual defense and have removed the borders between our territories. We are currently resolving all of our issues and will not be available for any attacks against anyone not violating our space. That includes any aliens as well as any others.”
Huge numbers of those on the call were stunned by the agreement. Two of the most powerful civilizations in the galaxy had combined and the product was going to be formidable. Many present were worried because of the ships they had lost in the invasion. The Pental Ruler saw it and said, “I understand your reluctance. We will end this conference for the moment and continue it in ten days. I want all of you to decide whether or not you’re going to take action against the aliens and be prepared to discuss it.” Thousands on the channel began dropping off.
The Advanced Scanner sent the intercepted communications back to the Union.
• • •
Drey, Ian, and Cole listened to the conference and Ian said, “The Green and Grey Civilizations are not our friends.”
Drey nodded and Cole said, “Why do you say that?”
“We told them that we only attack in self-defense. They chose not to share that information with the others. They want them to attack again.”
Cole thought a moment and said, “Then they will offer not to attack anyone that participates in the next invasion.”
Ian smiled, “Now you see it. They want us to do their dirty work and leave them in control of that galaxy. If they make that offer, we are going to notify them that they are no longer considered off limits to what follows.”
Drey raised his eyebrows, “Are you sure about that?”
“I am. There are consequences to not doing the right thing. They need to know it.”
“That might bring them into the conflict.”
“So be it. Cole, how far are you from resolving the collapse of the Higgs Force Field?”
Cole slowly shook his head, “We think all we need to do is switch the field to reflectors before it collapses and it will regenerate itself almost instantly. The problem we’re having is that it collapses so fast that we don’t have a switch that can make the change in time.” We’ve also learned that the switch back must be done even faster because the reflectors can’t handle large numbers of high energy beam strikes.”
Drey looked at Cole and thought for a moment. He looked at Ian and saw he was also thinking about what to do. Drey shook his head and said, “It would be good if you didn’t have to use a switch.”
Cole looked at him and furrowed his brow, “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know; if the switch is the problem, it would be nice if it wasn’t needed.”
Suddenly, Cole had a thousand yard stare. Ian and Drey looked at each other and wondered what he was thinking. Something Drey said sent him deep into his mind. Ian started to speak and Drey shook his head and held up his hand. They waited and after six minutes Cole shook his head and said, “You’re right.”
Drey did a double take and said, “I am?”
“Yes, you are.”
Drey looked at Ian and then turned to Cole, “What exactly am I right about?”
“It’s not a question of switching; it’s a question of timing.”
Drey shook his head, “You’ve lost me, Cole.”
“Why wait until the Higgs Field fails? Have it turned on and off every hundredth of a second and it will regenerate at full power. Anything that hits the ship during that brief moment will be reflected until the field regenerates. The two fields will share the load.”
“Is it possible to do that?”
“I need to go see. If you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.”
Cole rushed out and Drey said, “Do we have the final tally from the invasion?”
“They lost eighty percent of their ships. The orbital platforms accounted for fifty six percent of those losses.”