The Fleet Director linked minds with the messenger and sent the data. “I will deliver this. If anything happens that is out of the ordinary, send a ship back to report.”
“I will.”
The ship at the Star Drive Limit jumped out of the universe.
“Looks like they didn’t discover how we killed those ships.”
“Why do you say that, Jake?”
“The Fleet didn’t change what it was doing. I suspect they thought that it was my release that killed every Keeper. We’ll know shortly if they launch craft to collect stores from the surface.”
The Keepers Fleet was moving quickly forward when the Sensor Leader said, “There are thousands of craft fleeing in front of the fleet. They are in the air and flying faster than we are.
The Fleet Director looked at the scan and saw there was a huge cloud of aircraft a hundred miles in front of his ships. He thought a moment, then ordered, “
I want every odd numbered ship to accelerate ahead of our line and destroy those ships in front of us. Even number ships extend your beams to cover the space of the ships moving forward. We will slow down to make sure the beams stay at maximum efficiency until the ships return to our line.”
The Sensor Leader asked, “Do you not want to leave some of these creatures behind to later populate a farm?”
“No, they have fought too hard to stop us. They do not possess the right temperament to work a farm.”
“The ones in our home universe were domesticated.”
“And look what happened to our brothers there. No, we will eliminate them wherever we find them. Now that first planet would have made a good farm, and I regret disposing of them, but it’s too late now to change what happened.”
The Sensor Leader shrugged as 50,000 Keepers’ ships accelerated and closed on the fleeing craft in less than five seconds. As the beams hit the cloud of ships they began falling to the surface and exploding. Thousands scattered attempting to escape, but the Keepers overlapped their beams and there was nowhere to hide. Every ship crashed to the surface. The advanced Keepers’ ships stopped and waited for the rest of the fleet to join them, then they all moved forward.
Jake looked at the three thousand Brayent ships gathered in a group just outside the planet’s first moon and worried. “Junior, the Keepers may not launch their attack craft if the Brayent ships are still in system.”
“I was just thinking that, Jake, but how are we going to get them to move?”
“How far can you extend your jump screen? Is it possible to jump them all out of the system so I can communicate with them?”
Junior took a reading and said, “I’m sure I can make that happen. Stand by; I’ll jump in and take them.”
Mord was feeling rage and helplessness in equal measure. He was ready to order another attack but suddenly the planet disappeared and he found himself in empty space between galaxies. “What’s going on?” he asked his navigator.
“Communication coming in.”
“Put it on my console.”
“Please forgive me for taking you away from your planet, but we are going to attempt to attack that fleet and your presence may prevent us from using the only means of killing them.”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Jake Talant and I represent Valerie Gardner, the Queen of the Stars Realm. I have just arrived from the home universe of those creatures and I managed to kill one that was planning an ambush. We want to try and do the same thing to that fleet. I am truly sorry that we did not arrive in time to prevent their attack, but we need that fleet to stop and turn off their drives in order for us to hit them. Their normal pattern is to assemble in orbit and send landing craft to the surface. If you had remained, they would probably change that pattern.”
Mord thought a moment, “Do you think you can kill those ships?”
“If they stop and turn their drives off, we will kill them.”
“Will they launch landing craft before you can attack?”
“Probably. Why do you ask?”
“I want to handle the landers.”
Jake thought a moment and then said, “I will send a feed from our probe to your board; the frequency is on your com. If we attack you will see explosions from the rear of the brown ships. You may then return and we will allow you first crack at the Keepers’ forces on the planet.”
The Cainth Warriors were excited to have an opportunity to vent their rage on the creatures that killed their world.
The Collective absorbed the data from the messenger and presented it to the other Quadrants. “It appears that even if they are able to jump inside the drive band, their ships are ineffective against our hulls. It seems that nothing has prevented us from killing whenever we choose.”
Technology added, “I’m troubled by their ability to deceive our scanners. We scan huge populations and arrive to an empty planet. How can that possibly happen?”
The Collective turned its attention to Science who responded, “If they broadcast a huge signal on the frequency of the brains of the local population, it might be seen as a population.”
“But why would they do that?”
The Collective pondered that question and said, “What if our scans are not wrong? Is there a possibility of the population actually leaving the planet unobserved?”
Technology answered, “I know they can jump inside the drive band, but it takes enormous power for that to happen. There is no way individuals can jump from a planet’s surface.”
Production asked, “I’m also puzzled by the fuel that was in the system where we lost our fleet. If that blue wave killed them, why would the ships have lost fuel?”
The Collective paused and then ordered, “We will combine for two intervals and examine these questions in unity. We’ll discuss our findings after we complete the examination.”
All of the quadrants melded into the overall structure of the Collective, and the immense mind began taking all the collected data and processing it.
Twig looked at Sprig and said, “You’ve not said much since the rescue of the colonists.”
Sprig gave a mental sigh, “I made a mistake not believing Valerie Gardner’s vision.” Twig started shaking her branches and Sprig interrupted, “I know, I know; there was nothing to support it becoming reality. But you and I have seen the power of these human psychics. Even now I doubt Jake Talant will be able to overcome this threat.”
“Valerie has not said he will; she only says he is our only hope.” Twig paused a few moments and then said, “Do you remember when we were looking for a way to kill the Eight Leg Invaders and both of us were frustrated to the point of feeling that the war was lost?”
Sprig leaned forward.
“Well, that is where we are at this moment in time. I believe that there is a way to beat these creatures and it is right in front of us again, but we don’t see it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Matt Gardner, thousands of years ago, postulated that our Realm was created to bring balance back to creation. These creatures go against everything we’ve seen about the creative force. I believe he was right and a way will be found. I doubted it at first, but I am now certain that we not only must, but will, win this war or all creation will look like their universe. Jake is not here by accident and to quote a very famous queen, “There are few accidents.”
“Then you know what that means. The only way to stop them from coming here is to take the war to their turf. There will be monumental loss of life if we are forced to do that.”
“You worry that it is not in us to do what’s necessary?”
“Yes, I am.”
“That is why you should believe we will prevail.”
Sprig just looked at her puzzled.
“It’s why Jake was the perfect choice to lead us; he was raised on Gambia and knows what it means to struggle to survive. We may lack the courage to do what’s necessary, but do you doubt for a moment that he isn’t strong enough to make the hard decisions? The ones you should worry about are those creatures that had the stupidity to kill his home.”