Star Rover-Chosen to Die (Lens of Time) (13 page)

Jolam looked up and saw the small white Union Ship dropping from high altitude, “I want you to stay here for a meeting.”

Leon looked up and saw the Rover, “Who is coming?”

“Dat Arvolo.”

Leon smiled, “I’ve been looking forward to meeting him.”

“You met him when you were a baby.”

“Yeah, I remember but I was too young to be interested in anything but play. You and he go back a long way.”

“He’s the reason we’re alive. He chose not to destroy our last surviving planet.”

Leon nodded as he watched the Rover land and two humans step out. “They’re younger than I thought.”

Jolam’s head rolled quickly to his chest, “Don’t say that to them!”

“Why not?”

“When we modified them to be able to have children, we also modified their DNA.”

Leon stared at his father, “You extended their life expectancy?”

“Not only theirs but their children as well.”

“How long?”

“We don’t know. We just turned off the clock that governed their aging process.”

Leon’s head rolled down to his chest and back to the top of his body, “As the humans would say, mum’s the word.” Jolam laughed out loud.

Dat and Gresha exited their ship and saw their old friend standing with another Matador that was even larger than him. The two Matadors came to meet them and Jolam put two arms around Dat and another two around Gresha as he gave each of them a small squeeze, “How are my favorite Human and Haven?”

Dat smiled, “I’ve missed you. I understand I can’t call you Blacky anymore.”

Jolam’s head rolled down to his chest and he put a hand on Dat’s mouth, “Shhhh…the Elders are rather sensitive about that. I think it’s stupid but they are set in their ways. I’m not allowed to be addressed by anything but my title now.”

“You title is Jolam?”

“No, that’s just one of the sounds in it. It’s pronounced like Jum. They aren’t so stupid as to think that a human’s vocal apparatus could say the entire word. After eight weeks of negotiation, the two agreed on Jolam.”

Gresha hugged Jolam and smiled, “They really are serious about this.”

Jolam shrugged four of his arms, “I’m the first one chosen in ten thousand years to be the Ruler and Religious Leader. They do take it quite seriously. By the way, this is my eldest child, Leon.”

Leon smiled, “I’m very pleased to meet you. I’m looking forward to working with you on the coming scouting missions.”

Dat’s mouth fell open, “He sounds just like you, Bla…I mean Jolam.”

Jolam smiled, “His physical attributes are the closest to mine of all my children.”

Gresha looked at Leon, “Have you taken on one of the Cape Buffalo?”

Leon smiled, “Yes, I have. Why do you ask?”

“They were somewhat difficult to handle last time we saw your parents.”

Jolam smiled, “The additional strength we acquired from the Servants made the difference.”

Gresha shook her head, “I still remember the night your father caught me outside my home on Haven.”

Jolam shook his head, “Now Gresha, that was a long time ago and a different time.”

“I know; but your child is stronger than you were then, I must say I am really impressed with you, Leon.”

“Thank you. Of course no one is stronger than my father.”

Dat and Gresha looked at Jolam and they saw his pride in his child. Dat said, “I’ve spoken with Belwen and he says your assault force has mastered the new belts.”

Leon’s head rolled down his chest to eye level, “It’s not been easy. I’ve come to realize that the skills the belts provide would make Humans just as good as we are at scouting.”

Dat’s eyes narrowed, “How is that?”

“They allow the wearer to be invisible; the gravity controller allows flight; the language translator in the ear plugs allows the wearer to listen in to conversations a mile away. The only things we have beyond that is our strength, speed and ability to melt into the soil. I can actually fly faster with more control using the belt.”

Gresha looked at Dat, “We need to get our children trained on them now.”

“Why?”

“What if their ship is damaged? They could use the belt to escape and not be seen.” Gresha turned to Leon, “What about providing atmosphere?”

“The belts actually pull it from a facility through subspace. There is no longer a limit on how long one could breathe in space.”

Dat smiled, “Or underwater.”

Leon looked at Dat and his head went on top of his body, “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“You could operate in a lake or pond close to the place you want to scout.”

Jolam sighed, “God, I miss being in the middle of the action.”

Dat put his arm on his old friend’s shoulder; he had to reach up to do it, “Part of the price of growing old.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“Huh, what do you mean?”

“Nothing, I just don’t think I’m that old.”

Dat nodded and said, “Let’s go inside and talk about the coming drops on the Alien’s planets.” The four turned and walked toward Jolam’s palace. Leon knew his father was miserable but there was nothing that could be done about it. He was thankful he was going to be spared the misery of leading his species.

T
he Tenth replayed the conversation with the being in the spiral galaxy and the Second looked around the table, “What conclusions can we make from this?”

The Fourth, who was the Military Master, said, “Not much. Sending the same three ships causes more questions than answers. We must get inside that Galaxy and see what we’re up against.”

The Sixth’s head moved forward, “It wouldn’t do us much good now.”

The Leader looked at the Sixth, “Why?”

“My Seeker Leader has been jumping probes in and making immediate scans. They are usually destroyed within thirty seconds.”

“Is that enough time to see what’s going on?”

“If they could get close to their major planets, they would. However, it appears that civilization has disrupted space around their capital and military planets. The probes are too far out to make a good scan. By the time the scan can be read, the probes are destroyed.”

The Leader didn’t like what he was hearing, “Do any of you think they have come here and scanned our space?”

The Second’s head went forward and back, “There is no way to know. They insist they’ve kept their promise but I don’t know if we can believe them.”

The Leader thought about it and said, “Disrupt space around our major planets as well.”

The Second leaned forward, “Why would you want that done?”

“If they kept their promise up to now, I don’t expect them to honor it anymore.”

The Fourth spoke into his panel and looked up, “The disruption will be done in a day.”

The Ninth said, “What are we going to do?”

The Leader looked at the Masters and said, “I’m not going to wait on them to attack; however, I am not going to risk our fleets taking them on in their galaxy without knowing what we’re facing.” He turned to the Sixth, “I want a planet chosen in that galaxy that hasn’t had space around it disrupted. Send a Quadzen of Battleships to attack it and we’ll see how they respond.”

The Fourth leaned back, “Do you want space disrupted around the planet?”

“What do you think?”

“We won’t be able to escape if our ships are heavily outnumbered. However, it might allow us to kill the planet before they could arrive to save it.”

The Leader stared at the Military Master and said, “Our goal is to see how they respond to our attack. I could care less if the planet is hit. We’ve seen what can happen if our ships are trapped in disrupted space without a means of escape. I think it would be better to go in without disrupting space. If you feel differently, tell me why.”

The Tenth almost remained silent but felt he had to say what he thought, “We could extradite ourselves from the current situation if we don’t go too far. Up to this point, we’ve only killed nine of their old battleships. If we destroy a planet, we will cross a point of no return.”

The Leader stared at the Tenth for a long moment before saying, “Do you not think we’re past that point anyway?”

“I keep thinking about what that being said.”

“What is that?”

“He said we’re mentally ill and are unable to believe that there are civilizations that are not a danger to us. I wonder if he might be right.”

“There’s something else; what is it?”

“They chose to destroy all our probes. Why did they feel they could do that without being destroyed? Why did they do it at this particular moment? Is it possible they are more powerful than we believe? I did not sense any fear in the being I talked to. That bothers me.”

The Leader stared at the Tenth and looked around the table, “Do any of you have anything to add to what the Tenth just said?” The other Masters remained silent. The Leader looked at the Tenth, “What would you do if this were your decision?”

“I would jump our ships in far enough away from the planet to allow that civilization to respond. If they didn’t respond, I would recall our ships without firing on the planet.”

The Fourth said, “If they don’t respond, we would not have anything to worry about. Destroying the planet will let them know they need to stay at home and defend their galaxy.”

The Tenth lowered himself slightly on his middle leg in submission to the higher rank of the fourth and said, “We could always attack another planet. We can’t give life back to one we destroy. We don’t know enough yet to take actions that would start an interstellar war.”

The Fourth leaned forward and said in a tone that was almost a sneer, “We’ve already committed ourselves to war.”

The Leader watched the exchange and the Second could see his thoughts. He and the Leader knew each other from the time they were cubs. He said, “You will jump in two million miles from the planet and move forward at half speed. If you arrive within firing range of the planet, you will jump away.”

The Fourth was shocked. This was never done. He looked at the Leader who was standing motionless and saw he was not going to overrule the Second. His anger was great but he leaned back. The Leader said, “You will go with the ships.” The Fourth was shocked again. “You should see firsthand what that civilization is capable of doing. Report back to us after your mission is complete.”

“But Master…” The Second rose up on his two outer legs and the Fourth knew he had gone too far. He stood and leaned back. The Leader moved his head slightly back and the Fourth turned and left the chamber.

• • •

The Sixth said, “My Seekers have managed to find several of their probes in our galaxy.”

The Leader jerked his attention to the Sixth, “Have you been able to damage one for examination?”

“No, they disappear when we move a ship or probe in on them.”

“So they were lying about spying on us?” The Sixth’s head went up slightly.

The Tenth was reluctant to say anything but knew he had to do it, “Master.” The Master tuned to him. “How is it that all of our probes we had in that galaxy, as well as the ones I launched when I was there, were unable to see their probes? But now we are able to see them here?”

The Master stared at the Tenth and looked at the Second and Third who were also confused by the observation. The Master turned back to the Tenth and said, “What does this say to you?”

“Either you are right and they are spying on us…or…the probes we’re seeing come from somewhere else.”

The Master immediately rose on his outer two legs and his shock was clear. He looked around the room and said, “How do we confirm this?”

The other Masters were in a state of confusion and began talking over each other. The Second brought them to order and said, “Third, “I want your opinion first.” The Leader listened to each member of the Table Council and saw they had no clue as to how to find out. The Second finally asked the Tenth and he said, “I would recall the Fourth from leading the ships to attack one of their planets.”

The Second leaned forward, “Why would you do that?”

“He’s more prone to do something aggressive than most of us.” The Leader moved his head back.

The Second saw the Leader’s agreement and turned back to the Tenth, “Are you saying we don’t send the ships?”

“No, just place my Ship Leader in command of them and charge him with finding out. We need to make sure those ships have our most sophisticated scanning ship with them.”

“Why?”

“If we launch a hundred main battleships at one on their planets, do you not think they would send probes to watch us? Oh there will be probes present; and if we can’t detect them…”

The Leader said, “Then the probes we are detecting don’t belong to them.”

The Leader stared at the Tenth and saw a rare talent. He leaned back and said after a moment, “Would you still go through the appearance of attacking a planet?”

The Tenth looked at the other two Masters associated with the Military and knew he was causing a high level of animosity by speaking against their plans. The Leader saw him look and knew the next moment would define for him if the Tenth was all he appeared to be. The Tenth said, “I would not advance on the planet. I would jump in and wait for them to respond.”

The Leader smiled and said, “The Tenth is now promoted to number Three.”

The Masters in the room looked at the Leader but none of them showed any hostility. They had witnessed the Tenth’s actions and knew that he deserved his new status. “Master, I am not as experienced as the others at the Table.”

The Leader said, “That might be a good thing. We’re missing things that need to be seen.” The Leader turned and the Second pressed the table. He recalled the former Fourth and ordered the Scan Ship to join the ships leaving for the spiral galaxy. The New Third contacted his Ship Leader and told him what he needed done. The Ship Leader was not happy. Just how was he going to find out about the probes without being attacked? He moved his battleship to the formation above the Alien’s Capital. “Leader, our ships are ready and waiting for your orders.”

The Leader saw the planet chosen to attack was the Capital of a species called Moet. He rose on is outer two legs and said, “Set the entry point in normal space even with the Planet’s second moon. If we are fired on, all ships will jump back here. Is that clear.”