Lens of Time: Book 05 - Star Rover-The Worst of Time (12 page)

“Actually, I’m not the one that commanded the system. Jillian Connor demonstrated during our simulations that she had the best grasp on how to use it. I placed her in command of our Wing during the attack.”

Jill saw her Mother turn her head toward her on the display. I bet that surprised her.

“Lt. Connor, how were you able to grasp the system so quickly?”

Jillian was now going to be forced to reveal Dat’s involvement and she wanted to avoid that at all costs. But she didn’t want to lie. She took a breath and it came to her, “The members of our Wing discussed what they saw and made suggestions on how to use it. I followed some of their suggestions and found that the system could determine where the enemy ships had their blasters pointed. Once I made that determination, I used the system to direct our ships to attack the enemy’s ships that couldn’t fire back. I wasn’t very good at it. We lost four of our Rovers to the enemy.”

Kat stared at Jillian and knew that using the system effectively without months of practice was next to impossible. She knew that she wasn’t getting the whole story but she didn’t know how to ask the right question to get to the bottom of what happened. Captain Anders interrupted her train of thought, “Admiral, it is my belief that we lost those Rovers because they attempted to attack other ships in their attack profile. If they had followed their profile, we might not have lost them.”

“Even so, you have been remarkably successful. In that Lt. Connor has shown the ability to use the system, she is being promoted to Commodore and will take command of the Wing. We will be sending replacements out shortly.”

“I don’t think that is a good idea, Admiral.”

Leigh Ann and Kat were both surprised by the comment. Kat said, “Why is that, Lt. Connor?”

“Throughout this mission, Captain Anders has made decisions that I had great reservations on but in hindsight I found he was completely right; he saw things I missed. I may be able to use the system better but he is the one that has kept this mission alive. Changing commanders in the middle of a mission is not what’s best for us. We trust Captain Anders and his ability to see the things we miss, which will enhance the Wing’s chances of surviving.”

Leigh Ann looked at Kat and was surprised. Her daughter would never pass up an opportunity to advance, she was just too career driven to do that. Kat stared at Leigh Ann a moment and turned back to the display, “What about the rest of you? Do you agree with Lt. Connor?”

Ben said, “I do, Admiral.”

Jordan said, “I do as well.”

Kat looked at the Rovers that survived and saw the others nodding. She turned back to Jon and said, “You will continue in command. You will report to me directly when your replacements arrive.”

“Yes sir. How long will it be before we’re replaced?”

“We’ll let you know.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

The Rovers disappeared from the display and Leigh Ann looked at Katherine, “Now that was surprising.”

“I know. Something’s not right.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s no way she could have made the determination on the placement of the enemy’s beams on her own.”

“Do you think Arvolo was involved in the attack?”

“No, he’s currently running for his life. But something just doesn’t feel right.”

“Is it possible she has some of Arvolo’s talents?”

Kat tilted her head and shook it slightly, “I don’t know. We can run her through some exercises when she returns to see but…I just don’t know.”

“You really expected all of them to die.”

“I guess I did. Does that bother you?”

Leigh Ann looked at Jillian’s picture on her desk, “No, I guess not. Keep me informed on what you find out.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Four days later, Gabriel Hilton received all of Admiral Hull’s recordings. The Admiral had ordered that any meeting she attended was to be recorded and transferred to her personal storage system. She insisted they be prioritized in accordance with significance of the subjects discussed. Gabriel saw the meeting with the Rovers and heard what was said. He thought about it and didn’t like what he was hearing. He copied the meeting and sent it out to Dat with a Prime Secret Designation. He then stored it in the Admiral’s system. Dat’s wing didn’t deserve this treatment. He needed to know what was going on. He used another communication officers initials on the report. He was retiring in a week and leaving for the colonies. He shook his head and hoped his friend would not be hung out.

• • •

The chase had finally evolved into Dat running a huge lap around the community. The widest street ran in a large circle with the community in the center. Dat knew that continuing to make turns would get him killed so he ran to simply stay ahead of the Master. He didn’t know how much longer he was going to be able to keep it up. The Master had cut the distance in half and moved closer with every lap. Although he didn’t have to carry his full weight because of the Dark Matter Field on his shoes, moving weightless limbs still required effort and fatigue was becoming a factor. He was going to lose soon.

The Master was in the happiest place it had ever been. The prolonged pursuit of the small creature was exhilarating. But he saw the distance closing and knew his joy would soon end. He hated it and he loved it. He was fully alive and lost in the moment.

• • •

The events in the community would have been comical except for the seriousness of the chase. The thousands of Masters would hang from the wall on one side of the community until the two rushed past and then they would sprint across the community to watch them pass again as they came around on the other side. The rush back and forth was amazing and the people on the roofs saw the black creature’s unrestrained excitement. They would bob up and down so hard on the walls as the runners flew past that they should have been injured. It appeared they didn’t notice and their bobs became even more frenetic as the distance closed between the two runners. The squeals and howls were unending. The people on the roofs had grown slowly quiet as they saw the distance between the two decreasing. They knew it was just a matter of time.

• • •

Dat saw that he wasn’t going to make another lap without being caught. He looked at the overhead and focused on the street in front of Gresha’s home. He focused on the street that intersected the street directly across and slightly to the right of her home and made his decision. He ran up the street and marshaled the energy he had remaining. He made the turn at her house and turned hard into the street across from her home. He jammed his heels into the pavement. He instantly stopped and he ducked low against the wall on the inside of the turn. The Master was shocked to see him turn off the street and squealed his excitement. He had it. It rushed around the turn using its two arms on the far wall and saw the small creature couching against the opposite wall. The prey suddenly bolted out of the street in the opposite direction and it tried to grab it with one of the two arms bracing it against the wall and failed as it rolled against the wall. It immediately spun and extended six of its arms into a single arm that shot out at the fleeing prey.

• • •

Dat saw the Master come barreling around the corner and he sprinted at his fastest speed yelling, “OPEN THE DOOR!!” He saw Gresha open the door and he dove for the entrance. He crossed the threshold and felt an incredible shock just before everything went black. He fell to the floor and didn’t move. The Master’s arm shot into the room over him and knocked a hole through the back wall. The Master used the arm to grip the sides of the hole and snatch him instantly into the doorway.

Gresha tried to close the door but Dat’s legs and the Master’s arm blocked it. She screamed for him to move them but Dat didn’t move. She left the door and grabbed his shirt as she pulled him into the room. He rolled over as she started to rush back to the door and she saw his face. She froze and fell to the floor next to Dat. She looked into his face and saw his dead, unseeing eyes. She pushed her head down to his chest and didn’t hear his heart beating. She wailed her grief. The Master arrived just as she lifted her head and was surprised by her scream. “What did you do to him!?! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? He made it inside. Oh Dat!” She fell on his body wailing her grief.

The Master stared at the unmoving prey on the floor and went through a fast series of emotions. He was enraged that the prey had escaped but he was stunned at what he saw. He extended three arms into the room forcibly moving Gresha off his prey’s body and then lifted the small creature’s chest off the floor. The head fell back and he used another arm to raise it. He stared at the dead eyes and recognized the expression he has seen hundreds of times before. The prey was dead. One in the crowd of Masters outside the door yelled, “You ran it to death.” The mass of Masters erupted in a tumultuous roar of approval. The Huge Master was lifted high above them by hundreds of black arms and he raised six of his arms into the sky. His stature among them had grown immensely. This was even better than killing the prey. He was overjoyed at his success. Gresha rushed back over and fell on Dat’s chest. She pulled him up into her arms and wept rocking him back and forth.

The Huge Master was finally lowered and he went to the door. He decided that he would consume the prey to give him the honor he deserved. He started to extend his arms and heard, “There’s been a major attack! We’re ordered out immediately!” The mass of Masters turned and rushed away.

The giant pulled his arms back and stared at the female holding the prey in its arms. “You will never repair that hole in the wall. It will remain to honor him for the joy he has given me.” The Master knew he did not have time to offer the full honor. He heard shuttles blasting off in the field and knew his crew was waiting; he dared not delay any longer. He turned and disappeared.

Gresha remained holding Dat rocking back and forth.

The last shuttle with the Huge Master lifted, blasted into orbit, and disappeared. Gresh rushed off the roof and found Gresha holding Dat. He tried to separate her arms from him but she screamed at him. He gave up and walked out closing the door behind him. He looked at the gathering community and said, “She needs some time.”

Gresha wept and held Dat’s head to her chest. She wept as she continued to rock back and forth. Then she heard, “This is nice.”

Gresha was startled and did a double take. She leaned back and saw Dat smiling next to her breasts. Her mouth flew open and she pulled his head up and kissed him hard. Dat thought about resisting but only for a microsecond. He got into the kiss and was swept away by Gresha’s embrace…until she leaned back and slapped him so hard he saw black and white dots fill his vision.

“You scared me out of ten years off my life.” She drew back to hit him again but he grabbed her arm and kissed her. She lowered her hand and put both arms around his neck. After a long moment, Gresha got up and locked the door.

• • •

Later Gresh was allowed in and he saw Dat sitting at the dining table eating a meal Gresha had prepared. He was shocked but managed to say, “So you’re not dead?”

“Not yet.” Gresh shook his head and Dat said, “I used some of my technology to fake it.”

“How did you manage that?”

“I set one of my rings to shock my brain the moment I entered your house.”

“That’s why you refused to come in earlier.”

“That’s right, Gresha. Once the ring passed the doorway, it was programmed to shock my system and reduce my vital signs. It shocked me back to consciousness when my other ring detected that all the Master’s shuttles had left.” Dat rubbed the back of his neck, “I hope I don’t ever have to do that again. It really hurt.”

Gresh said “What happens now?”

“I can leave without endangering your planet.”

Dat saw Gresha’s face as she jumped up and ran out the front door. He had never seen anyone with that much sorrow in their expression. He looked at Gresh and saw him slowly shake his head, “You should go quickly. She is not going to take this well.”

“But…”

“You should go.”

Dat looked at the floor and said, “Is it clear?”

“All of their ships have left.”

“Come get me, Stein.”

The Rover dropped out of the sky and hovered just outside Gresh’s house. Dat walked out and Gresh put his hand on his shoulder, “Thank you. Your bravery has given us strength.”

Dat nodded as he looked around for Gresha. He didn’t see her so he boarded his ship and it lifted. Gresha lay against the wall in the street across from her house and quietly wept as the ship disappeared into the night sky. Now she hated the night for two reasons.

D
at sat onboard and was having difficulty focusing. He knew he had hurt Gresha and that thought bothered him…a lot. He said, “Loree, contact Fleet.”

Admiral Hull appeared on his display and Dat said, “I have some rather lengthy recordings on the Black Creature’s behavior as well as the behaviors of the local population of one of the planets being held captive by them. They’re stored in the rings.”

“It looks like you managed to survive your run. I’m impressed.”

“It was a close thing and it’s my fault it happened.”

“I know; you exhibited poor judgment getting involved. However, our sociologists can use your information. Report back to Earth with your data and we’ll download them from the rings. I’ll see you here.”

“Yes Sir.”

“Dat, you outrank me.”

“Not until that rank is active.”

“Have it your way. We’ll see you when you arrive.”

Dat sat in his chair and sighed. He heard, “Dat.”

“Yes, Stein.”

“I think you need to see what happened when you were unconscious.”

“Why?” Dat’s display activated and he watched as Gresha forgot the door and her safety as she fell on his body. He was amazed that she had to be forced by the huge Master to release him to be examined. He watched as she rushed back when the Master removed his arms and held him tightly as she wept. He saw Gresh was unable to separate her from him and finally left them alone. He saw something being shown to him that he had never seen before. He replayed the recording again.