Lens of Time: Book 05 - Star Rover-The Worst of Time (17 page)

“They have condensed their beams even more. They aren’t wider than our ships now and contain the power of the original wide beam. That new beam is able to punch through our Dark Matter force fields. They have also come up with a targeting system that allows them to fire on our ships the instant of their appearance in normal space.”

“That has to mean their beams are now scanner directed.”

“That doesn’t normally work, Dat.”

“It does if you have the frequency reading on the targets you’re trying to hit. Once the frequency appears the beam emplacements will automatically turn on it.”

“You think they have a frequency on us.”

“It’s the only way they could fire that fast. They now have the edge; we are now behind them technologically and totally defensive. Does Fleet know about the loss of the Wing?”

“They do but all of their resources are extended due to the current crisis and nothing can be done about these new developments for the near future. Admiral Hull says she’ll decide what to do later.”

Dat looked at his panel, “I really think we could hit them and skip away if we come in on the right approach, but it has become much more difficult. Was the enemy able to recover anything from our ships?”

“You know if our force fields are breached that a Rover will go off like a bomb. They didn’t have anything they could examine.”

“Stein, what has the microprobe picked up at Gresha’s home?”

“That giant Master has been true to his word and they have not returned since the run. I do think you should not spend too much time out in the open.”

“Why is that?”

“I’d really hate for that Master to come back and see you on his scanner. That would cause a real brouhaha.”

Gresha shook her head, “I’ll just cut his hair short. They really don’t see the differences in us. The only way we knew which Master was chasing Dat was because it was so much bigger. They all look alike to us as well. They won’t recognize him with shorter hair.”

Dat looked at Gresha, “Are you ready to go home?”

“First your hair; then I’m looking so forward to seeing my parents.” Dat smiled and hugged Gresha. She kissed him on the cheek and left for the medical closet to get a pair of scissors.

• • •

Jill arrived with her twenty thousand Rovers at the border between The Horde and Hive Civilizations. Her display illuminated and she said, “I’m Admiral Jillian Connor and I’ve been sent to assist in the defense of your planets.”

“We welcome you, Admiral. We’ve managed to fight off ten attacks but the numbers coming have been steadily increasing. We can use your help.”

“How many ships do you have to use against them?”

“We have ten thousand Rover ships between us and four million of our old ships.”

“Have you disrupted space around your planets?”

“No, we’re waiting for large numbers of our commercial ships to make it back from the galaxy proper.”

“Don’t wait any longer. Those ships will have to fly in to your worlds. Disrupt them now!”

The Hive Master looked at the leader of the Horde and nodded. Jill said, “I want to know if a large enemy force arrives at any of your planets. I have the coordinates of your capitals and that is where I believe they will strike first. Notify me if any show up.”

“We will Admiral. Thank you for your support.”

“Get your older ships out to the edge of the disruption around your planets. Your Rovers should be used to jump to any planet that’s under attack. Let’s try to make them back off.”

The two leaders disappeared from her display. Jill pressed the main frequency for her fleet, “The eight hundred ships that have been training with Captain Arvolo will come and link in their command systems to my ship. We are now in a state of war and I want to make sure you understand that if you deviate, even slightly, from the instructions I send you, you will be court-martialed and imprisoned. Is that clear!?!” Jill waited for the message to sink in and said, “You have your coordinates for the position you are to take around my ship; now get moving.”

Captain Cokerman appeared on her display, “What about the rest of us, Admiral?”

“I’m assigning you seven thousand Rovers and you need to use them the best way you can. They are accustomed to acting independently so I would highly recommend that you give them an objective and allow them to just do their thing. I’m going to go in first and try to soften up any large attack and you can follow up and do what damage you can. Captains Wilson and West, you will also take command of six thousand Rovers and do the same thing. Now get your units organized and be prepared to go where you’re needed.”

All three Senior Captains said, “Yes Sir.”

• • •

Captain Gibbons arrived at the capital planet of the Remist and spread out the three thousand Rovers into a long line. “Take out the warships around the planet.” His communication panel activated and he heard, “Why are you violating our space?”

“Your ships were destroyed attempting to sneak in on Earth. We’re here to make sure you don’t send any more.”

“Wait a moment; let’s talk about this.”

“Talk all you want, no one’s listening.”

The three thousand Rovers skipped in and thousands of warships began exploding. Ten thousand managed to jump away but the burning hulks left behind were a brutal message to anyone dumb enough to attack the human’s planet. Gibbons looked at his display and saw Captain Kune, “Have you completed your assignment?”

“I’ve destroyed the bulk of their ships at their capital.”

“I’ve done the same thing. I’ve just received a message from fleet that says they need us at two Moet planets that are located close to the edge of our galaxy. Ships are moving in from the edge of disrupted space and we need to go now if we’re going to catch them. I’ve put one of the coordinates on your panel.”

“I wonder if it was like this for our ancestors.”

“It was probably worse. This is what comes from being in a Navy family. Good luck, Gibbs.”

“You, too.”

The three thousand Rovers disappeared and twenty thousand warships that waited on them to leave jumped in right behind them to attack the now weakened planet. Billions were dying in M87. It was going to get worse…much worse.

• • •

Jill had dispatched ships forty times during the first six days of the civil war. Each time the invaders were repulsed. She fought her fleet while she struggled with the death of her mother. She learned the details and felt an equal measure of sorrow and shame. Leigh Ann had run to save herself. Somehow, she was not surprised. She forced herself to focus and put her grief away for another time. Now was not it. She read the messages being sent by fleet and knew that trouble was about to raise its head. The major players in the giant galaxy had started picking sides and were getting organized. Small disorganized attacks were ending and now would come the real danger. The most recent notification from Fleet said that two of the major players had decided to work together to eliminate the Hive and Horde. They weren’t willing to go after each other with such a strong force still active. She knew her twenty thousand ships were not going to be enough to stop a major attack.

“Are you having fun yet?”

“Jon!”

“I’ve seen the report from Fleet and I’ve brought a few party favors for any guests that might show up.”

“How many?”

“I have a million and a half Rovers in green space waiting for any major attack that might occur.”

“How do you want to handle this, Sir?”

“We intercepted a message that said the Hive would be targeted first. I suspect this planet will be their target. I want to make sure they commit to an attack so I am not going to use my Rovers until they move inside disrupted space. You need to keep their attention on your fleet and draw them inside the outer edge of the disruption perimeter.”

“I’ll hit them and withdraw. I’ll do it as many times as necessary.”

“Jill, I hate placing your fleet in this danger but if they see our numbers, they’ll withdraw and attack elsewhere. We need to cut down their numbers here.”

“It’s alright, Jon. We’ll do what’s needed.”

Jill saw the display go dark and heard, “Jill, I have a massive signature moving through green space toward us.”

“Thanks, Jack. Notify all ships to go to battle stations and to form up on us.”

The twenty thousand ships rushed in and formed four lines of five thousand ships in each line. Jill hit her communicator, “We will fire into the front ranks of the incoming ships and fall back. We’ll continue this process until ordered differently. Dress up your lines and God Speed.”

Captain Kune had arrived two hours earlier from fighting off an attack on a Moet Planet and watched the incoming feed from his scanners. He saw millions of ships emerge into normal space. He shook his head and knew this is what his ancestors had faced a thousand years earlier. They had survived and he was determined that he would as well. It was the most frightening and exhilarating experience he had ever had. The rush was incredible.

Jill saw the massive fleet appear in front of her ranks and yelled, “Open fire on my mark and start falling back with my ship.”

Jill stared at the massive fleet and Bucket said, “The scan shows that ships of our former allies in the First Galactic War are mingled in with the other ships.”

Jill felt a moment of sorrow. The White Civilization had now turned against them. Their ships were among the most powerful in M87. The giant fleet rushed forward and Jill yelled, “Mark! Open fire!”

The twenty thousand Rovers fired into the oncoming mass of ships and thousands began exploding. Millions of beams lanced out and began hitting the Rovers. Jill saw hundreds of her ships were overwhelmed by thousands of beams hitting them and exploded. She began moving away from the juggernaut and saw the numbers of enemy ships being killed was unbelievable. More than eight hundred thousand of the attackers had been destroyed but more than a million more were jumping in to join the battle. Jill continued to fire and slowly withdrew. She watched her ships paying a huge price as they fell back. Bucket announced, “We’ve passed the edge of disrupted space.” She picked up speed and saw the giant fleet stop at the edge of the disruption. Jill stopped withdrawing and fired into their ranks, continuing to destroy ships. The commander of the giant fleet must have made a decision as the giant fleet accelerated and rushed at the surviving Rovers. Jill ordered the survivors to turn and flee the oncoming mass of ships and the giant fleet surged forward at an even faster speed.

In twenty minutes the last ships crossed the edge of disrupted space and Jon said, “Take them, now.”

The million and half Rovers emerged into normal space and fell on the massive fleet from the rear like a pack of wolves attacking a grizzly. The Commander of the attackers saw his mistake and ordered a full retreat but the majority of his ships were twenty minutes inside disrupted space and none of his ships could match the speed and power of a Rover.

Jill saw Jon’s ships emerge and start attacking the enemy ships and she turned her ships around and released the Rovers to go after targets of opportunity. Ten million ships had come to attack the Hive. Less than six million survived the attempt. The message went out in M87. It was suicide to attack the Hive and Horde.

Jill watched the enemy ships jump away and Jon said, “I have to leave; we still have ships jumping into the Milky Way. Call me if you need me.”

“I thought you were supposed to call me for our next get together.”

Jon smiled, “Oh yeah; it slipped my mind.”

“Stay safe, Jon.”

“I’m leaving enough ships to replace those you’ve lost. Try to take care of our Allies.” Jill saw him smile and the display went dark.

“That’s one sharp officer.”

“I know, Jack.”

“Is there something we should know?”

“Don’t be silly; you already know everything I do.”

“Yeah, but you need to say it.”

“You’re right, Jack.”

“There, was that so hard?”

“Shut up and check on the Horde’s capital.”

“Nothing yet.”

“Jump the fleet there. I want to make sure they didn’t plan an attack while we are busy here.”

The twenty thousand ships jumped to the Horde capital in time to confront a million attackers that promptly jumped away when they arrived.

“You must be getting psycho or something.”

“It’s called psychic, Bucket.”

“Same thing.”

Jill laughed and began reading messages coming in from Fleet.

• • •

Kat looked at the casualty reports and sighed. Only three Union Planets had been hit and five cities were destroyed by nuclear blasts. More than fifty thousand Rovers had been killed when they faced odds that overwhelmed them. It could be worse. Normally this is where the President would call for peace and understanding, which would promptly be ignored. She thought about it and made a decision. She pressed her panel and said, “I am going to send a message to M87. Get all the scanners ready to broadcast it and then move them to another location.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

The two leaders of the failed attack on the Hive Civilization looked at each other on their communication panels. One said, “We have to go back and destroy them.”

“We lost ten percent of our ships in this last attack. Do you know how many ships they have to use against us?”

The leader struggled and said, “No, I don’t.” Suddenly their panels showed a human on their display.

“Up to this moment, we have not attacked anything but the ships of those that have attacked our galaxy and our allies. That policy ends now. Any of you idiots that send ships into our galaxy or against the Horde and Hive Civilizations will have your planets destroyed starting with the capitals of your civilizations. If you think you can stop us, send a ship our way. We will not participate in this foolishness you’ve started and we promise to leave you in peace if you stop your aggression against us. We promise to not join any of the ones involved in this war and will attack anyone that asks for our support. We are not a danger to anyone that leaves us alone. Those that don’t will be destroyed. We keep our promises. You should read your history to see what awaits those of you that don’t listen.”