Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror (19 page)

“I
don’t care why you want to do it, it’s not the right thing to do and it won’t work.”

Lukas and Jinks looked at each other and Jinks said, “Chris, if we are going to continue this war against the Legends, we have to prevent them from connecting us to it.”

“First of all, you’re being foolish to go out looking for them now.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s downright foolish to give the others the opportunity discover us now. That would bring all of them into the fight before we can even build enough ships to beat the ones in M-87. You can’t risk that before we’ve built enough of the new Barrier Pods.” Jinks stared at Chris and then looked at Lukas who shrugged. Chris shook his head, “Second. The species in M-84 is telepathic. Every pilot we have assigned there will have to wear their armor a hundred percent of the time to prevent them from seeing what you’re planning to do. We’ve already lead one aggressive civilization to their galaxy and what do you think they’ll feel after they’ve been promised we’ll defend them? They’ll know they’re being set up again and if I were in their place I would fight you to the last. It’s unethical and I’m ashamed you’re even considering it.”

“But what choice do we have?”

Chris looked at Lukas, “It wouldn’t deceive the Legends. The whole idea is flawed.”

“Why?”

“They aren’t stupid. If they are led to believe that their attackers are in M-84 what will they find when they go there and look? None of the planets there have ships like ours and I’m going to guess that the Legends will be able to see that their species are not flying the ships that attacked M-87. They’ll search that galaxy for humans and, not finding them, they’ll come to the conclusion that the ships had to of come from our galaxy. The only way to prevent that is to have a planet in that galaxy with a large enough population of humans to make them believe it. Are you going to take half of Eden’s population and move them there? Are you willing to allow them to be the sacrificial lambs to save the rest of mankind? You should also know that the Legends currently in M-87 know that silver ships come from the Milky Way!”

Chad said, “We could paint the new pods a different color.”

Chris shook his head, “And the first time one of their beams broke through our force fields that paint would be burned off revealing the silver hulls underneath.” Chris looked around the group sitting around the table and lowered his eyes, “Don’t think for a minute that the Legends don’t have weapons powerful enough to break through our fields. The silver coating will help a ship escaped before it fails but they will see that the ship’s they’re attacking are actually silver in color.”

Sarah looked around and said, “Uhhh, exactly when did they see one of our Silver Ships?”

“Nudge and Budge attacked the advanced ships they sent to Earth. Are you going to count on them not having been seen them and the image being sent back?”

Jinks looked at Lukas and he tilted his head, “What about using M-86 instead of M-84?”

Chris shook his head, “I’ve just left there after establishing a good relationship with the being commanding their fleets. Now you’re considering using them as a target for our actions. Hell, the Virgo Cluster has 2000 galaxies, why pick one that we have promised to defend or will possibly work with us in attacking M-87? However, all of you should know that there is probably intelligent life in all those galaxies that are not enemies of ours. Are you this cold to even consider it?”

Lukas stared at Chris and said, “Pat?”

“Yes, Lukas.”

“He has raised some good points.”

“Yes, and he’s right about setting up a planet in another galaxy to make it appear humans live there.”

“What?”

“The Legends won’t believe it without a planet to prove that’s the galaxy attacking them.”

“You mean we have to send humans to another planet to be attacked by the Legend rescuers?”

“I thought that was clear.”

“No, it’s not and we will not do that.”

“Then they will know you’re in this galaxy.” Lukas shook his head and then Pat said, “There is one way to still make it work.”

Chris closed his eyes and shook his head as Lukas said, “How?”

“Build a force field around a planet in one of those two galaxies and use your ships to fight off the Legends when they attack. At the critical moment, recall your fleets and the Legends will move in and start bombarding that force field. When the bombardment is at its highest, remotely shut down the force field.”

Chris’s expression showed his disgust, “That way every being on the planet would be incinerated instantly and they wouldn’t be able to see that it wasn’t humans on it.” Everyone looked at Chris. “That is exactly what Pat did with Earth.”

Salud leaned forward in her chair, “But humanity survived?”

“If you say so.”

“What does that mean!?”

“Pat allowed the Invaders to find Earth before the other fleet arrived. They were hell bound to find Pat and they would ignore every other planet until he was found. With the blackouts, there was a good chance they would have had to leave and come back later.”

Lukas looked at Chris, “What are you saying?”

“Three billion stars would have to be searched to find Earth and I don’t care how many ships they had. At their maximum speed, it would possibly have taken years for them to find it. We had the silver coating and a pod that could handle their ships possibly before they could.”

Everyone was silent and Pat broke the silence, “You’re right. But how could I have planned for your discovery of the coating on your ships? It had to be done with the information I had at the time.”

“And five billion humans were killed because of your decision.”

Lukas’s expression showed his shock, “Pat, are you suggesting that he’s right about Earth surviving the two invader fleets?

“There was a chance they wouldn’t find Earth but they would have found the fellowship and probably destroyed them before they left.”

Chris shook his head, “If one of those ships deviated from their orders to find you, it would have been destroyed by one of the Legends’ Black Ships. Every Invader knew it and they wouldn’t have done anything but look for you in the time they were able to stay here. As long as the Fellowship did not attack them, they would have been ignored.” Chris paused, “I’ve been listening to the Legends’ thoughts in M-87 as they issued their orders and their arrogance is beyond any being I’ve ever encountered and that includes the Sentinels.”

Stoney looked at Chris, “You don’t know that Earth would have been missed?”

Chris looked at his father and sighed, “You’re right. I’m Monday morning quarterbacking here but the numbers indicate that it would have taken them a while to find us. They entered the Milky Way on the far side of the galaxy and all it would have taken is for them to miss once. Then they would have had to withdraw the bulk of their forces to go back for provisions. That’s two years to make the round trip.”

“But they would have left ships to continue looking.”

Chris looked at Chad, “We still had two small fleets that threw their lives away defending Earth. They could have been used to take on the invader ships left behind.”

Lukas stared at Chris, “How long have you known this?” Chris stared at him and lowered his head. “Chris? How long?”

Chris took a deep breath and blew it out. He managed to keep his composure and looked up at Lukas, “After I killed trillions in M-84, I took some time and looked at what I’d done. I thought about what I should have done and I felt more shame than any of you can imagine. After I examined what I did, I thought about what brought me to that point. It was the destruction of Earth along with Audrey’s death that allowed me reach the level of rage I experienced. I thought about Earth’s destruction and realized I was wrong. This became clear to me during the time I sat on the beach mourning those I killed and the loss of Audrey. I decided at that moment that I would never throw away lives needlessly and that includes allowing innocent beings to die so I can satisfy my anger or allow us to live. There has to be another way to survive that doesn’t include killing those that are not responsible for our choices.”

Allison watched Chris as he spoke and she felt something change inside her. She knew Chris was only eighteen years old chronologically and that she was six years older. She sometimes thought of him as a young boy who was very smart. She realized she was wrong. He possessed the wisdom of someone much older and she was amazed at what he saw and the heart he had to say it. She looked down and shook her head. This took a lot for him to admit it.

Lukas stared at Chris and looked at Salud. He saw the moisture in her eyes and he looked at the others gathered at the table. “Pat, would you do it differently if you had the chance?”

“Lukas, I’ve said that my species is far from perfect. What has happened here has only proved it. I’ve told you to never allow us to become a part of your civilization, we would only mess things up. I’ve been acting superior and better than them but it’s clear to me that I’m really no different. Even in offering my self-sacrifice to save the Fellowship, I messed things up. I should have done all I could to hide Earth and prevent it being found. Instead, I led the Invader Warship to your planet. After the fact, I would change many things I did.”

“I am going to call on you to make that sacrifice before all of this is over.”

“What do you mean?”

“You told me that you could kill the Legends if you could get at them without being killed by their beams.”

“That is true.”

“We’re going to get you close to them and I expect you to kill them or die trying.”

“I will do what you ask. Earth deserves my best effort.”

Lukas looked at Chris, “We will not use another galaxy or species as a shield to protect us. I’m done with deliberately allowing intelligent beings to die without putting up a fight to the end. We will fight them head on and we’ll worry about the consequences when we have to.”

“So you’re going to delay going out to find the other Legends?”

“I am; at least until we’ve built up our numbers of Barrier Pods.”

Amanda shrugged, “You don’t have to go out looking for them to determine if they can see us in the barrier.” Everyone in the room looked at her and she shrugged, “Just send a ship in the barrier above their planet in M-87 and see if they respond to it.”

Chris looked at Amanda and shook his head, “You have always amazed me at what you see that everyone else misses. You are exactly right.”

Amanda smiled brightly, “Thank you.”

Lukas nodded, “He’s right, Amanda. You and Trevor are a godsend to us. We’ll send a ship once our number of new ships are higher. If they don’t detect the pod in the barrier, we’ll send out scouts to try and find out what we’re up against if we attack.”

Chris walked over to his chair and sat down as the discussion changed to the status of the simulators and ships completed. Allison put her hand on his arm and whispered, “That took some courage to say. I’m proud of you.”

Chris looked at her and nodded, “That means a lot. Thank you.”

• • •

“Greatest, one of our probes in the conquered galaxy has detected a small silver ship at the ship building planet.”

“Show me.” The Greatest Leader saw the small silver ship appear in the void beside a giant black warship. “That ship didn’t skip in.”

“No, it did not, Greatest.”

“Where was it before our probe detected it?”

“It must have been in normal space.”

“Was it seen by one of the probes we placed in normal space?”

“We didn’t have one close to that location.”

“How did it manage to move through their space and enter normal space without being detected?”

“We have no evidence of its moving through the void to that location.”

The Greatest looked at the third, “Doesn’t that prove the use of a Dark Matter Mist?”

“It does.”

“And one wasn’t detected?”

“No, it just suddenly appeared beside that warship.”

“Was the probe able to intercept any of their transmissions?”

“That’s also strange, Greatest Leader? None were detected from the Silver Ship?”

“What about the Black Warships?”

“We heard their leader order all their ships to stand down and return to their positions. That was all.”

The Greatest’s body slowly flowed left and right, “Something is going on here and we need to find out what it is. A ship appears out of nowhere and communications can be heard. Order all our ships to be on the alert for one of those small ships. If one is seen, I want to be notified immediately.” The Third bowed and the Greatest flowed across the floor and went into his tub. The nutrients he started consuming made him relax and he thought about what had happened for a long time. He played the recording of the small ship’s appearance over and over at slow and fast speeds. Something was different.

• • •

The meeting ended and Lukas walked over to Chris, “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me see the reality of all that has happened and will happen. What are you going to do now?”

Chris looked at Allison and turned back Lukas, “We were headed toward M-87 to take a look at the Progen’s latest technological developments.” He looked at Allison again and said, “However, Michael will never forgive me if I don’t stop by and spend some time with him.” Allison nodded. “I’d also like to maybe take a day or so and go through the simulators Dad and Jinks have developed. We might learn something we’ve missed.”

“You should also talk to Amanda about picking up one of the new beacons to drop in the barrier near M-87.”

“What is the beacon?”

“You know that the barrier occupies a very small layer separating the void from normal space?” Chris nodded. “Well, Amanda built a beacon that pulses out a frequency every three seconds. It can be heard in the barrier pretty much wherever you are.”

“Certainly there’s a limit to it?”

“She started one in the barrier and skipped out in progressively larger skips. It was still coming in loud and clear more than six billion light years away. Trevor measured the signal for attenuation and didn’t find any even at that distance.”