Ian tilted his head, “Not very many.”
The Sovereign said, “And neither will they. We will continue this effort up to the moment of the launch of the invasion and then we’ll go back to our borders. I think this will reduce the number coming back to what it would have been had we not made the mistake.”
“Aren’t you taking a risk?”
“We are but those that challenge our behavior will have to take it to the negotiators and we’ll delay making any agreements as long as possible. I hope it will allow you to strengthen your forces.”
Dee said, “The fact of your presence will delay them as well. All the participating civilizations will have to reconsider how many ships they’re going to send. That means many of the ships that have arrived will be recalled and it will throw their organization back to square one.”
Ian thought about the offer and the bravery of the new ruler. “We will not seek retribution against your civilizations.”
The Sovereign said, “We are sorry for what we did. We have tried to tell the leaders of the invasion that we know you are not aggressive but they refuse to listen.”
Ian said, “We don’t want you to endanger your people. Do what you can but don’t risk your subjects.”
The Sovereign paused and said, “We will be open to a treaty of mutual defense after this is over. You have just proven to me that you can be trusted. I hope you can trust us in the future.”
Ian watched the huge ship disappear and Drey said, “Who would of thought it?”
Ian shook his head, “Don’t give them too much credit, Drey. They were unable to touch our ship with their strongest beams. Fear made this happen.”
Dee said, “Maybe, but this being was being honest. He really didn’t want to betray us.”
“But he did.”
“Ian, I think I’m rubbing off on you. You’re the one that’s supposed to keep me in check. Am I going to have to return the favor?”
Ian looked at Violet and said, “You just might have to do that.”
Ian pressed his communicator, “Admiral Rizzo.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Take your fleet to Azele and have their force fields modified.”
“Yes Sir.” Rizzo watched the two ships disappear and he turned to Jennie, “Modify our force fields?”
“I’ve heard rumors that the new one is impenetrable.”
“Get out of here.”
“It’s just rumor.”
“Well let’s go separate fact from fiction.”
“The coordinates for Azele are on your panel, Sir.”
“Jennie, how long are you going to stay angry at me?”
“Until you learn to remember the important things in life.”
Rizzo sighed. This was the last anniversary he would ever forget.
H
armony was born and the Kilper Admiral was right; she was beautiful. Her skin was a light bronze color and her face was slightly wider than her mother’s. Argel held her and Cole could only stare at the two most important people in his life. “She was late arriving.”
“She waited for us to solve the force field issue.”
“I love you so much, Argel.”
Argel leaned forward and kissed Cole and then handed him his daughter. For the moment, there was nothing else for Cole but sheer happiness.
• • •
The Kilper Admiral sat in a conference room on Euclid with the two couples. Ian said, “Admiral, I’m not really certain where the invasion is going to attack.”
“We need to know how to place our ships.”
Dee said, “The Main Planets are still their targets.” Everyone turned and looked at her, “Most of them weren’t really damaged in the invaders first attempt and most of the invaders weren’t able to do much other than escape. They did not scout anywhere else.”
The Admiral leaned back and said, “They aren’t coming in the same way.”
Dee smiled, “You’re right.”
Drey said, “Then how are they moving in?”
Dee looked at the Admiral, “Do you want to tell them?” The Admiral was startled by the question and he stared at Dee. “You’re like me; you can see things.”
“How do you know about that?”
“I can sense it and don’t act like you don’t see it in me as well.”
The Admiral shook his head and said, “They will attack a thousand planets at a time.” Dee smiled and nodded.
Ian said, “Why just a thousand?”
“Because to attack fewer would have their ships getting in the way of each other; only so many ships can fight in the space around a planet without total confusion.”
Ian stared at the Admiral and looked at Drey, “Do you have any suggestions?”
“As a matter of fact, I do. What’s stopping us from jumping every platform we have to those planets and allow them to get up close and personal with their ships?”
Ian started chuckling and saw the Admiral was also amused. “I guess we just need to determine which particular planets they’re going to hit.”
Drey leaned back in his chair, “That should be easy enough. Just look for the traffic cop directing traffic.”
Ian said, “Moe, may I assume you can send the appropriate coordinates to the platforms once their destinations are determined?”
“You may.”
The Admiral said, “Who’s Moe?”
Violet said, “The Master of Everything.”
The Admiral stared at her and Moe said, “She’s exaggerating. I only master those in this universe.”
The Admiral looked at Ian. Ian said, “He’s the computer in the Obelisk.”
“And he has a sense of humor?”
“Who’s being humorous?”
Violet looked at the Admiral and said, “Humor him.”
The Admiral didn’t know what to think.
• • •
The Admiral was finally brought in on who Moe was and he left to make plans for the Kilper Fleets. Dee said, “I think we had him going for a minute.”
Moe said, “I have a disturbing development, I think.”
The four looked at each other and Drey said, “What would disturb you?”
“When the meeting ended in M87, one of our advanced scanners sent me the data on what happened.”
“What’s disturbing about that, Moe?”
“Another transmission happened at the same moment and it wasn’t sent to us. It was also sent in a language that none of the Civilizations we’ve scanned in M87 use.”
Dee quickly said, “Did the scanner get a line on the transmission?”
“Yes, it was sent out in open space.”
Violet said, “Toward our galaxy?”
“No.”
Dee closed her eyes and said, “Have any other transmissions like that one been detected?”
“No.”
Ian, Violet, and Drey stared at Dee. Her eyes remained closed and she said, “Was our scanner capable of seeing the source of that transmission?”
“No, it didn’t and when it moved to the area where it was sent, our scanner went off line. I sent another one and it was unable to find anything and it was not damaged.”
Drey looked at Ian and said, “I don’t need Dee to tell me what’s happening.”
Ian stared at Drey and said, “M87 is being targeted.”
Violet slowly nodded her head, “How do we know they’re the only one being scouted?”
Drey shook his head, “We don’t.”
Ian looked at Dee and sat down. None of them were leaving before she opened her eyes.
Drey looked at Dee and knew this information changed things. He thought about it and said, “I’m almost certain that our new ships have not been seen by whoever placed that probe.”
Dee didn’t open her eyes but she said, “They haven’t.”
Everyone looked at her and she still had her eyes closed. Drey said, “Why not?”
“The biggest threat will be eliminated first. That is where most of the attention is placed.”
Violet said, “Are you Dee?”
“No, I’m a creation of hers.”
“A creation?”
“A tool would be a better description.”
“What have you determined?”
“She’ll tell you when the analysis is complete. I need to look around.”
Ian said, “Is there one of those probes in our galaxy?”
“Yes, it’s located above the Kilper Council’s planet.”
“Why is it there?”
“It appears to be intercepting any communications going to the Kilper Leadership.”
Doc said, “That means they saw the feed from our most recent battle.”
Ian nodded, “But they have not seen one of our new force fields.”
Violet said, “Do you have the coordinates?”
Dee started speaking and when she finished Ian said, “Moe, did you get that?”
“I did. It’s about a hundred thousand miles from the planet on the sun side.”
Drey said, “What are you thinking?”
“We can’t get at it in other space.”
Drey smiled, “We’ll just have to flush it out.”
Ian smiled, “We need to know if that is a good idea. Dee should be able to tell us once she comes back.” Drey nodded.
• • •
The Pental Ruler waved his pseudopods at the creature on his display, “You are failing in your responsibility! This is not acceptable!”
The lead Negotiator never changed color, “Chapter nine hundred, page 99, third paragraph from the bottom reads; only ships that represent no danger to a civilization may cross its borders. With the agreement recently made, the Green and Grey Civilizations are no longer a danger to those that are leaving to invade the other galaxy and are thus allowed to cross any borders unmolested by any civilizations covered by the agreement.”
“They made this agreement to scout our civilizations.”
“Did you accept the agreement?” The Ruler fumed; many of those that were sending ships for the invasion had backed off on the numbers being sent. The presence of the Green and Greys inside their borders worried them. “They will not be attacked.”
“Twenty Civilizations have backed out of the invasion just to keep them out of their borders. This was not the intent of the agreement.”
“You didn’t make it so you don’t really know what their intent was. They are conducting themselves to the letter of the law. Do you wish to void the agreement?”
The Ruler knew that if he did that, more than seven hundred civilizations would back out of their participation and he’d lose more ships than just those being reduced. He quivered in admiration of the subtlety of the Greens and Greys. He never saw this coming and knew they were collecting extremely valuable intelligence and would continue to do so for twenty years. He was going to have to void the agreement after the invasion. But first, he had to get the ships organized for the invasion.
The Negotiator saw his display go dark and was impressed with the box the Green Leaders had put the other civilizations in. Perhaps they wouldn’t be agreeing to other suggestions quite so quickly in the future. The Negotiator rolled back on his pad and relaxed. He immediately turned transparent and disappeared.
• • •
The giant red ship hung in space above a blue and green planet. On the surface occasional nuclear blasts erupted. The Ship’s Father watched and saw the inhabitants were resorting to desperation tactics. It would do them no good. His troops were systematically destroying the military and stunning everyone else. They would be picked up and processed later but first all opposition had to be eliminated.
“Father, I have a communication.”
He pressed his panel and saw one of the Senior Grandfathers, “Yes, Father.”
“We are close to finishing with this galaxy.”
“It has become difficult to find new sources.”
“We will have to move to another source soon and it has been decided to select a source large enough for us to remain for a long duration.”
“Are you leaning toward that giant ball shaped galaxy?”
“We have been reluctant to go there due to their armed civilizations but they are now involved in a war and their numbers may be reduced. That would make them the best choice.”
The Father knew that civilized planets had the largest populations. Those planets were hard to find but the Ball Galaxy had millions of them. “What is your desire?”
“We are going to start organizing our initial move to go there and you have been selected to lead one of the major groups.”
“Thank you for your confidence, Father.”
“Your instructions will arrive soon. Start getting your group organized.”
The screen went dark and the father realized he had not asked an important question. Who was fighting in the war? He pushed the thought aside and waited for the information to arrive. Once he had the opportunity to look at all the data, he wondered if they were going to the right galaxy. The Spiral Galaxy might need to be eliminated as a threat before the Ball Galaxy. He assumed the family would make the best decision. They were never wrong.
• • •
Dee opened her eyes and said, “We’re being watched.”
“We know.”
Dee looked at Drey, “How do you know that?”
“You told us while you were in la la land.” Dee looked confused and Violet said, “Apparently, that place you go to focus has a kind of intelligence that answers questions posed to it. You’re not hearing them, but your subconscious does answer our questions.” Violet hit the play button and Dee looked up at the main wall display and watched her being questioned.
“How does this happen?”
Ian said, “I thought Drey was an idiot when he suggested you are a step forward in human evolution. You are really not tremendously different from High Genetics. We are able to turn a problem over to our subconscious and have it work on it while we’re performing other tasks. We can actually watch the process if we choose. You take it to a whole new level. Evidently, your mind is able to see things throughout the universe and correlate the data into something understandable.”
Dee shook her head, “But I don’t see what’s happening. I only get a sense of it.”
“Even so, you are a giant leap forward.”
Dee looked away from the display as Violet turned it off, “There is a civilization that lives in giant ships that goes from galaxy to galaxy attacking every civilized planet.”
Ian’s brow furrowed, “Do you know why?”
“It’s their main source of food.”
Silence slammed down on them and after a long moment Drey said, “Why would they attack civilized planets. Couldn’t they gather protein from planets that had no intelligent life form?”
Dee said, “That process is not efficient enough to suit their needs.”