“Using them won’t work again. They know about them now.”
Ian tilted his head, “But they don’t know those platforms can jump to any location. Trying to hit planets from a distance won’t work.” Drey pushed his lips together and nodded. “We lost most of them but we still have more than four million and we’re building new ones at an incredible rate. They’re easier to construct than a warship. If they give us time, we may have a chance.”
“Well, we know we have ten days.”
“We need more than that.”
“Maybe.”
“What are you saying?”
Drey leaned back in his chair, “Cole is on task and I suspect that will make the biggest difference if he can come up with a solution.”
“Even if he does, we have eight million ships to convert.”
Drey though a moment, “How long will it take us to replace the two million we lost?”
“It’s the crews that worry me more than the ships.”
“One thing at a time, Ian; one thing at a time.”
• • •
“Cole, this looks good.”
“We need to see what will happen if large numbers of beams are fired at it.”
“How do you want to do it?”
Cole thought a moment and said, “Argel, can you contact the Kilper Admiral and see if they still have one of the Ship Destroyers that still have the needles?”
Argel stared at Cole, “Do you think this will withstand multiple needle hits?”
“I really don’t know but those are our most powerful energy beams. If they can’t handle them, we need to start over.”
Argel stared at Cole and activated her Communicator.
• • •
The Kilper Commander looked at the small ship twenty miles away, “Why is it flickering?”
Cole said, “It’s changing force fields.”
The Commander tilted his head and looked over his shoulder, “Do you have it targeted?” The Weapons Master nodded. The Commander looked at Cole and saw his nod. The Commander said, “Fire one Needle.” The brilliant beam lanced out and hit the small ship.
Cole looked at his computer and said, “Hit it with two.”
The Commander was surprised. The small ship remained in space flickering. He held up two fingers and two Needles lanced out again. Argel looked over Cole’s shoulder and said, “Nothing.”
Cole looked up and said, “Hit it with everything you’ve got.”
The Commander turned and said, “Target all hundred needles and fire.” The hundred beams looked like one giant beam as they stabbed out and hit the small ship and continued to hit it for ten seconds. The beams faded and the small ship remained in space flickering at a brighter color. Argel smiled, “The collectors captured the Boson’s created by the beams. The force field is stronger.”
Cole nodded and smiled. A force field had been found.
• • •
The next conference had every civilization in M87 present. The Pental Ruler was impressed at the attendance. The new alliance between the Green and Grey Civilizations had them all concerned and everyone wanted to know what was going on. He looked at his panel and saw the Green and Grey representatives. He looked at them and said, “You have caused an issue among us.”
The Sovereign’s Son said, “What is that?”
“We are reluctant to punish that galaxy with the existence of your new agreements. No one feels comfortable sending ships knowing the power your new alliance; all of us are concerned about your power.”
The son didn’t want to say it but knew he had to follow his orders, “You have nothing to worry about from us.”
“You expect us to believe that?”
“We will promise not to attack any civilization that takes part in the invasion. We won’t participate but we feel it would be wrong to take advantage of those of you who are representing our galaxy against an outside force.”
The Conference Leader was surprised at the statement, “How do we know you’ll keep your promise?”
“We’ll send it in writing to the Negotiators.”
Everyone was shocked at that statement. The Negotiators were an independent group of beings that were used to solve issues between civilizations. No one would violate an agreement made with them. Violators would be attacked by all the other civilizations. “How long would this agreement be in effect for?”
“Twenty years.”
The Pental Ruler smiled. Now many of the civilizations that had not taken part in the invasion would join to avoid being attacked by the Green and Greys. We will accept your offer and commend you for your consideration. When will you send this agreement over to the Negotiator?”
“It has already been delivered.”
The Pental bowed and said, “We may now move forward with our plans.” The rush of civilizations to join the invasion was immediate and overwhelming.
• • •
Two invisible scanners recorded the meeting. One sent the information to the Galactic Union and the other sent the information to a distant galaxy.
• • •
The small green ship appeared at the former border of the Green Civilization. It hung in space and flickered at an incredible rate. The three Green Ships that appeared were immediately joined by six huge Grey Warships. The Ship Controller on the Green Ship saw that it was one of the ships from the invaded galaxy. This time it had its force field activated. Why had it done that? He nodded to his officer and lifted his communicator, “Is there a reason for your return?”
“I have a recording I’d like to play for you.”
“Go ahead.”
The Ship Controller saw the Conference and heard the Sovereign’s Son promise not to attack anyone taking part in the coming invasion. He was stunned at the revelation. The Grey Ship’s Commander was also shocked. They heard over their frequencies, “It appears that as a result of your offer, more than a thousand more civilizations have decided to join the coming invasion against us. They would not have done so but for your offer.”
The Controller said under his breath, “Damn politicians.” He pressed his communicator, “You are here to tell us something.”
“We are. You are no longer exempt from our reprisals. Even though you are not taking part in the invasion, you have deliberately endangered us with your actions. We don’t break our agreements and we felt we should let you know that our former promise has been voided by this treachery. Please inform your leaders.”
The Grey Commander shook his head. They’re polite even to their enemies.
The Ship Controller said, “You must have known that I will be forced to fire on you as a result of this.”
“We do.”
“Please understand that this is not something I like doing.”
“We are also not happy with this situation.”
The Ship Controller shook his shoulders and said, “Fire on them.”
A brilliant beam shot out and hit the small ship dead center. It glanced away and the Controller was shocked. “Fire all weapons.” The Green and Grey Ships opened fire with their entire inventory of blasters. The area surrounding the small ship looked like space had erupted into flames. After a minute, the ships stopped firing. The small ship remained flickering in space and they heard, “We will not destroy your ships. Not because we can’t, but because if we did you wouldn’t be able to take our message to your leaders. Our disappointment in you cannot be expressed in words.” The small ship disappeared.
The Grey Commander said, “This is not good.”
The Ship Controller shook his shoulders, “No, it isn’t. We better hope our galaxy doesn’t win the next invasion.”
The Grey Commander remembered their promise to come and attack the planets of the ones that invaded. He now wished his civilization had not joined the Green Ships. They were the ones that broke the trust.
• • •
Drey said, “Doc, that was a good job.”
“I didn’t do anything but turn it on.”
“Let’s see if anything comes out of this.”
Dee shook her head, “They are now frozen. They are incapable of abrogating their agreement and they know we can kill their ships. They will do nothing but wait in fear.”
Drey shook his head, “Part of this is our fault.”
“Why?”
“We promised not to attack if they didn’t invade us. They weren’t asked to work against the invasion.”
Dee stared at Drey and lowered her chin, “You’re right; they only did what came natural to them.”
“Maybe we can negotiate with them if we survive the next invasion.”
“Drey, I just hope we do. Attacking anyone else is not what keeps me up at night.”
Drey nodded and energized the jump field. The Skinner Field dissipated and Doc disappeared from normal space.
• • •
The Sovereign looked at his son, “It appears we have made an error.”
“The Greys are not happy with what we did. They say we have endangered them in our maneuvering to remove our enemies.”
“They’re right.”
“That ship withstood the beams of our most powerful ships. If it can withstand those beams and fire that beam that destroyed the planet, none of us are safe. We have caused a more powerful enemy than anyone here in our galaxy to target us. I told you this was not the right thing to do.”
“And I should have listened. Do you see anything we can do?”
“Hope the coming invasion fails completely.”
“Why would I hope for that?”
“They said their surviving ships would come to destroy worlds. If they win, they’ll possibly stay in their galaxy.”
The Sovereign stared at his son and said, “I am resigning and you will take my place.”
“Why would you do that?”
“The Greys know you were against this. It’s the only way to salvage our new alliance. It must be done.”
The son shook his shoulders, “This is not something I want to do.”
The Sovereign smiled, “It’s not a question of want; it’s what you must do.”
The son stared at his father and after a moment nodded.
• • •
Moe saw the giant ship appear on one of the advanced scanners and dispatched the closest ship to confront it. Rizzo and Jennie arrived at the former main planet of the Kilper and saw the huge vessel hanging in space forty thousand miles out from the still burning planet. The orbiting platforms had been sent messages to hold their positions in orbit. Rizzo looked at the green ship and shook his head. Jennie looked up and said, “Their force field is down and their blaster ports are covered.”
“Is that ship one of the ships that was in the invasion?”
“No, Sir. That ship type doesn’t appear in the database.”
Rizzo stared at the ship for a moment and said, “Contact fleet and tell them what we’ve found.”
Sixty more Union Warships arrived but Rizzo ordered them to hold their fire and move no closer. He heard a voice on his speaker, “By what authority are you issuing these orders?”
“I am fleet Admiral Rizzo and you better watch your mouth. You should know that the first ship on a scene directs any actions. State your name sailor!”
“Captain Johanson, Sir. I apologize for my stupidity.”
Rizzo smiled and said, “At least you recognize it.”
Jennie looked at her panel and said, “The Prince and Admiral Montgomery are coming.” Rizzo tilted his head and looked back as his panel. This must be something serious. “Jennie, back away from them and hold position four hundred miles out.”
“Aye, Sir.”
• • •
“Drey, a green ship has appeared at one of the Kilper Main Planets.”
“Send me the coordinates.”
Dee looked up, “Moe just sent them.”
“Well get us there!”
Dee smiled, “You control the jump drive.”
Drey shook his head, “Oh yeah, I forgot.”
• • •
E and Drey arrived within two seconds of each other and they immediately saw that the ship was from the Green Civilization. Ian looked at Violet, “Activate their frequency.” Violet nodded and Ian said, “Is there a reason you’ve violated our space.”
“You sound remarkably like us; but to answer your question, there is.”
Dee recognized the voice, “You’re the Sovereign’s son.”
“I am but he is no longer our Sovereign.”
Ian looked at Violet and said, “He isn’t?”
“No, I am now.”
Ian and Drey knew that the bravery being shown by the new Sovereign was remarkable. Ian said, “You’ve placed yourself in a dangerous situation coming here unescorted.”
“If I had come with a hundred thousand warships, what would you have done?”
Drey said, “We would promptly remove them.”
“That’s how we saw it. This was the best way to try and communicate with you.”
Ian stared at the ship and after a moment said, “We really don’t have anything to discuss.”
“I know you feel betrayed. I counseled my Father that he was making a mistake to try and use you to remove old enemies. He refused to listen. I was forced to follow his orders and as a result, we have caused you harm. He has abdicated his throne and I have taken his place. I want to make an offer and see if we can’t repair some of the damage.”
“Offer away.”
“We can’t stop the invasion and I’m not certain we could have persuaded the others not to come even if we told them you were not an aggressive species. Coming from me, they wouldn’t have believed it. There is too much suspicion in my galaxy and they would think I was deceiving them for ulterior motives.”
Drey said, “Imagine.”
Ian ignored Drey’s response, “Even so, you increased the numbers attacking us.”
“You’re right. We see in hindsight that it was a mistake and most of our military detest what we did. They feel, rightly, that we betrayed you. They came up with a suggestion to try and minimize the damage.”
Ian looked at Drey on his display and saw he was curious. “What can you do?”
“We’re going to release ninety percent of our ships to go out into our galaxy and fly through all the civilizations taking part in the invasion. The Grey Ships are also joining us in this effort.”
Dee said, “Isn’t that a violation of your agreements concerning borders?”
“There is a fine line in what we’re attempting. Since we have a nonaggression agreement, we can’t be viewed as an enemy. Since we can’t be viewed as an enemy, we will not technically be violating their domains.”
Drey started chuckling. Ian said, “What do you find amusing?”
“Ian, how many ships would you send away if you had enemy ships flying around your territory?”