Pray for the Prey (14 page)

George looked at Meisa and Arvolo and raised his hands, “What do we do about this?”

RV said, “I want you to notice that they did not ask for the ships to use themselves.”

George dropped his hands into his lap like they had hundred pound weights on them. He looked at Tom on the display and said, “Is that true?”

Tom shrugged and said, “They don’t want ships for themselves. I determined that before I could take that conversation any further. I told them that one of you would have to come and determine what’s going on. They are currently holding station at the moons obit.”

George looked at RV and he said, “Actually, Chris and Jillian should make this trip before they leave to look at M-87’s history again.”

“Why is that?”

“Chris was the one that insisted their former masters be removed and that all the planets be freed before we destroyed the Fatal’s home world.”

George thought about the suggestion and said, “Captain Browne, I’ll get back to you in a moment.” Tom nodded and disappeared from George’s display. He pressed a button and Jillian appeared on his screen, “Jillian, I need to speak with you and Chris about an issue.”

“Give me a moment.”

Jillian moved out of the display and George looked over at RV, “What is your inclination on this?”

“There are more than a hundred thousand planets that we freed from that abusive species. I know from looking at the fleet reports that most of them are highly industrialized and forced to produce for their masters. Quite frankly, I’m not certain what to do; however, I do know that those planets could build huge number of ships very quickly.”

“You sound like you have a problem with it.”

“Who is going to fly them?”

Chris and Jillian appeared on the display and listened in on George and RV’s conversation. George said, “What are you saying?”

“What if each of those planets built just ten ships for us?”

George said, “We’d have a million ships.”

“Right; now where do we get the crews?”

George saw it. “Each ship has 400 crewmembers. We’d need four hundred million sailors to man them and that doesn’t include the Needles and Attack Craft.”

Jillian said, “I don’t know where you’re going to get a million ships but I know where you can find the crews.”

George and RV jerked their heads toward the display and RV said, “Where?”

“The Alliance and Moet have contacted Chris and have asked if they can assist us in defending our galaxy against invaders. Their leaders know we don’t trust them, but they want us to know that they’ll be working hard to earn our trust and are willing to assist us any way they can. There are more than eight thousand planets in the Moet Realm and the Alliance. The Alliance planets have huge populations. Where are you going to get a million ships?”

“The planets we freed in M-49 have offered to build ships for us if we will agree to defend them against any invaders from another galaxy.”

“Do we want to give them our technology?”

George shrugged, “They say they don’t want it. It appears they will build the ships and hand them over to us.” George paused and said, “I don’t know, Chris. RV seems to think that you and Jillian should meet with their leaders and determine our best course of action. I think that’s a good plan because you learned their language. Can you do that before you leave for M-87?”

“We’ve been delayed several times, so I guess one more delay won’t make a difference. We only started the initial investigation, so we’ll need to start over anyway. If you’ll send me the coordinates, we’ll go and see what they have to say.”

George pushed a button and said, “You have them on your panel. Let me know what you determine.”

“Will do.”

George looked at RV and said, “What do you think about Jillian’s remark about the Moet and Alliance?”

“You need to call Sasha and ask her.”

“Why?”

“She’s been on many of their planets setting up the treaties and trade agreements. She knows more about them than you or me.”

George looked over at Meisa and said, “Would you ask her to come and meet with us?”

Meisa turned to her panel and George said, “This puts a whole new spin on things.”

RV shrugged.

“Don’t want to say what you’re thinking?”

“It’s not that; all of this is conjecture at this point. However, the use of Alliance and Moet sailors has me intrigued.”

“You’re leaning toward using them?”

“Think about it, George; the only planets in both of their societies that had anywhere near a good life were the ruling planets. All the others were pretty much living at poverty level, building the ships and weapons they needed to war on each other. Now that they’ve been freed of that burden, their economies are booming and the planets are now learning what a good lifestyle really is. The vast majority of the populations do not think like their leaders.”

George thought about that and looked up recent messages sent from the two former enemies. He continued to read them until Sasha arrived.

“Good morning, it’s good to see you again.”

Meisa got up and hugged Sasha and George invited her to sit down at the conference table. “Sasha, Jillian just told us that the Moet and Alliance want to assist us in defending our galaxy. You’ve been on a large number of their worlds; what do you think about the suggestion?”

“You worry that they can’t be trusted.”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’ve been meaning to come and talk with you about this very issue, but have been tied up with the death of my husband.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, Sasha. He is the one that has truly allowed us to survive. We all miss him.”

“Thank you George but Dolly is the one we’ll all miss the most. She is what held us together. Are you going to accept the leadership position for our planets?”

George sighed, “I’ve been asked by the colonies to accept but I’m just not sure I’m the right one.”

Sasha stared at George for a long moment and finally said, “You’re asking the wrong question, George.” George looked at her and she continued, “You should ask what Dolly would tell you to do.” George looked at Sasha and said nothing.

RV said, “You owe it to her to continue her efforts to protect us.”

George looked at RV and sighed. He looked over at Meisa and she was nodding, “You do understand the burden this will put on us?”

Meisa smiled, “I do. If we didn’t have someone as capable as our Admiral here to handle the Fleets, I might feel differently; however, our colonies need to be united and there is no one that can do that better than you.”

George looked at her and after a moment said, “Send them an answer.” Meisa turned and started composing a message on her board. George looked at Sasha and said, “What do you mean by you were going to discuss this issue with us?”

“The planets of the Alliance and the Moet are now enjoying the best time of their existence. Their leaders couldn’t force them to fight each other again if they tried; their economies are now bound inextricably together. However, they will eventually become a very powerful independent force if left alone. We need to include them in our quest and see that all of us are tied together in defending our galaxy against possible invaders. By bringing them into our fight, they become more united with us.”

“I’m concerned that they will take control of our efforts.”

“That won’t happen.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’ve seen that it was us that forced them to stop warring against each other and enforced that peace. The Alliance and the Moet planets will not trust their leaders to lead them forward. They’ve seen where that led. They need us and will insist that we direct their future direction. The populations would never allow their leaders to have power again, except for day to day planetary issues.”

RV leaned forward, “Are you sure about that?”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked by the people on the planets I’ve visited; what are we waiting on to start the process of bringing us together?”

“Hemon hated the Alliance.”

“Yes, but that hate was misplaced. He learned that the death of his family was due to his theft of the gravity guns. He told me that he would have done the same thing if he had been in their place. He told me before I left to work on the trade agreements that he hoped we could all come together eventually.”

RV looked at George, “Tenah was preparing his fleet to defend the Moets against their Royal Family’s attack. Those two civilizations are growing closer.”

George looked at the two of them and then turned to his panel and scrolled to a frequency. He pushed the activate button and Tenah and the Moet Baron appeared on his display. They looked at each other and George could tell they were nervous. The Moet’s lighter shade confirmed it. George said, “I hope in the future that any time I contact you that you will not be worried about why.”

Tenah said, “That’s a good idea. I hope you understand our reasons for being nervous.”

“I do, but I want to see if we can change that. I’m considering bringing your two civilizations into our efforts to defend our galaxy. That would require the three of us to be able to work together and be able to trust each other to hold up their end of whatever agreement we reach. Are you interested in the idea?”

The Moet quickly said, “Yes, we are!”

Tenah followed with, “We are as well.”

“Then here’s what I want you to do; discuss this idea with your planet’s leaders and tell me what that entity would look like. How would the three of us function and what would be the necessary requirements for us have in place to make it work? Can you do that?”

“We will start immediately and contact you when we have a suggestion.”

“Thank you; I do hope we can come together on this common cause we share.”

George ended the connection and said, “Well, let’s see what they come up with.”

RV smiled, “Why didn’t you tell them what they had to do?”

George chuckled, “You know the reason and are baiting me.”

RV laughed out loud and Sasha asked, “Tell me why. I’m not sure I see it.”

George nodded at RV and he said, “Whatever plan they come up with will be very similar to whatever we would propose. However, they are more likely to follow something they developed than something we forced on them.”

Sasha smiled, “You’re exactly right. They will also get input from their planets and learn rather quickly that the current leadership of their civilizations will not be allowed to be in a leadership position over this new alliance.”

RV doffed an imaginary hat and sat back in his chair. He looked around and said, “I wonder how things are going with Chris and Jillian.”

Sasha looked at him, “What’s going on with them?”

RV smiled, “Ask our new President here.”

Sasha looked at George and he nodded. Then he told her.

Chapter Ten

T
he Jukebox entered normal space next to the Hong Kong and Captain Browne sent a recording of the conversations that had taken place. While Chris was listening to them, Jillian looked down at the planet below and was struck by its beauty. The six new colonies had named their new worlds after the continents on Earth. The first was Europe and the others were named Asia, South America, North America, and Australia. The sixth refused to adopt the name Antarctica because of its cold desolate environment. The debate over a new name continued until after Earth was destroyed. The planet voted a hundred percent to name their new word Sierra-Garcia to honor Dolly and Jeff.

Though it was the last planet settled, it would became the Capital of the six colonies and the other five felt that it was appropriate for it to assume that role. The legend had begun and Dolly and Jeff became mythic beings in the history that was being written. They all knew that she had not allowed the fleet to defend Earth in order to protect the newly settled worlds. Jillian smiled and then heard Chris activate his communicator. She moved to the frequency and listened in on the conversation.

“I understand that you have come here with a request. I’ve been sent to discuss what you are asking us to do.”

“I am Boden and I’ve been selected by the worlds that your fleet freed from the Fatal Empire to make a proposal. We learned on our last visit that you are currently being attacked by another civilization from a different galaxy and that is why you moved here. We have also been attacked in the past and it was the Fatal that prevented those forces from destroying us.”

Chris was shocked at the revelation. “When did that happen?”

“The last invasion was over six thousand years ago. The invader retreated and the Fatal did not chase them and remove them as a threat. We know they are still out there and without the Fatal, we would be helpless against them.”

“You could build your own ships and defend yourselves if you choose.”

“I wish that were possible, but there isn’t much hope that we could ever do that.”

“Why not?”

“We have been under the crushing rule of the Fatal for more than four hundred thousand years. The ones they picked to sacrifice on their planets were anyone that showed even the slightest aggressive tendency. They have systematically forced us into populations that have no ability or will to fight. The idea of attacking anyone is abhorrent to us and though we know it has to be done, we just can’t bring ourselves to do it. Perhaps over time our worlds will eventually overcome this inbred quality, but that will be far in the future. For the moment, we are quite helpless against any one that attacks us.”

“Don’t you worry about telling us this?”

“Of course, but you would discover our weakness as soon as you made any contact with us. The initial contact with your ship’s commander caused us to wonder if you were possibly someone we could trust with our welfare. The truth of this situation is that we need you more than you need us. It’s just a matter of time until we are invaded again.”

Chris looked at Jillian and then said, “You should know that we would come to your defense whether you assisted us or not. We do not allow aggressive civilizations to attack innocent planets without responding. The invaders would also be a threat to our colonies.”