Tag, Mikado, Chen, and Dorg were sitting in the library at the castle on Ross discussing possible strategies on how to attack the plant ships at the new planet being harvested. Leila came in and said, “Please excuse me for interrupting your meeting but I have two scientists that want to speak with you about the Algean frequency ships.”
Tag looked at her and said, “Send them in.” He looked at Dorg and he just shrugged and nodded.
Gerald Nelson and Anita Lea entered the room and Anita said, “Please excuse the interruption and I apologize for Colonel McAllister not being able to come but we think we might have a way to get around the Plant’s dampening frequency.”
All four of Humanity’s military leaders sat straighter in their chairs and Dorg said, “Please tell us what you have.”
Anita turned to the old scientist with her and said, “This is Gerald Nelson who is one of our top scientists on jump mechanics. He has made a discovery that you might find very interesting.” She sat down and looked at the scientist.
“Gentlemen, I had a meeting with the Director, Misty Nicole, who wanted a way to get around the Plant dampening frequency and quite frankly, I had no answers for her. I had to explain in basic language how our star drives operate and she posed a question that took me by surprise. She asked me what the frequency was for null space that our ships go thru to jump.”
The four officers looked at each other and all of them immediately could see where the conversation was headed. Tag said, “Tell me you found out.”
Gerald smiled and said, “We did. I find it totally remarkable that no one had ever asked that question before and it took someone that really knew nothing about jump mechanics to ask the simple question that took our knowledge to an entirely new level. We discovered that null space has no frequency.”
Mikado looked puzzled, “How does that help us?”
Gerald turned and opened his display and looked at them with a smile and said, “Because the Plant dampening frequency prevents a star drive from resonating. To jump into null space all you have to do is set the screen of the ship to not resonate at any frequency; that ship will then jump into null space and stay there. Since the Plant dampening field is designed to prevent resonating of a Star Drive screen, it should actually make it easier to make a screen resonate at no frequency.”
Dorg looked grim and said, “Have you confirmed that it is the size of an atom and if you have, what happens to the ship that goes in there?”
“Yes, Admiral, it is the size of an atom and it rejects rather forcefully whatever goes in instantaneously.” Dorg raised his shoulders and Gerald continued, “The no frequency screen of the ship is immediately stripped upon emergence into null space and the resonance of the screen surrounding an object inside the null screen is where the object will jump.”
Tag looked puzzled and said, “Why don’t you explain how you think we can use this.”
“We have to use two screens on our ships. The outer screen will instantly go to no frequency at the same moment that the inner screen will be set to resonate at whatever point of emergence the ship needs to appear. They must be set with no less than one tenth of a second between the settings. The no frequency screen must energize first which will throw the ship into null space. It takes about two tenths of a second to fully leave normal space and that is when the second screen will be activated inside the outer screen so that when the first screen is stripped in null space the ship will then appear at the coordinates of the second screen.
Chen cocked his head and asked, “What happens if the second screen isn’t activated?”
Anita looked at the group and shook her head. “The object in null space with no screen when the first is stripped will be destroyed totally; normal atoms cannot exist in null space. The best we have been able to determine is that all the atoms of the object will be totally stripped, broken apart, and equally distributed thru out the universe which may account for the random atoms scattered throughout space. The only thing that prevents it from happening normally is a resonating screen. Without a frequency for normal space to send the object, well, you don’t want to be on a ship that finds itself in that predicament.”
“Have you tried your idea on a real ship?” Tag asked.
“Yes we have and it works. We have not tried it inside a jump limit with an Algean dampening field operating but we would like for you to allow us to send a ship to see. All of our estimates point to it being able to jump in and out of that environment.”
Chen said, “I will take my ship in.” The other three started to object and Chen said, “Gentlemen, you all out rank me and are much more valuable to the war effort. You know it only makes sense for me to do it.”
There was silence and Tag said, “Maybe, but we’re going to do this so that whoever goes in stands a chance to escape if anything goes wrong and also try to get the Plants to strengthen their position in hopes that it does work. We will attack the Plant Fleet at the new planet just outside the jump limit on the planet side of the sun. That should draw their ships to our location. I’m sure the frequency ships will be broadcasting and the Plant ships on the sun side should jump around to our side to support their main fleet. Once we see them arrive, that is when we will jump in to the sun side away from the planet and try the new screens.”
Dorg looked at Tag and said, “How many ships will you use in the attack?”
Tag thought a moment, “How many Megas do we have?”
Dorg pressed a button on his com and said, “We have about 45,000.”
“That’s how many we will jump in. I also want them all slaved to my ship so that when all of the Plant ships jump in from the other side of the planet and God knows from where else, we can jump to another location to keep from being surrounded. At that point the Admirals will take command of their ships for coordinated attacks. If we are successful in our fleet action then I suspect the Algeans will build up their numbers at this planet so that if this new screen technology works we can deal a huge blow to their numbers. We will only fight long enough for Mr. Nelson to make his trial and then we all jump away.”
Dorg looked at Chen and said, “You make a good argument about how valuable we are, however, the same thing holds for you. You command half our fleet and we need you available for the fleet action. We will send Captain Tresk in his ship Short Sword to make the jump with the new screen.”
Chen started to protest but Tag held up his hand nodding, “I agree with Admiral Dorg. Tresk will make the jump. You need to lead your fleet.” Chen sat back down and looked at Mikado who was also nodding.
Chen leaned back and picked up his bag of popcorn and said, “It’s probably going to be more fun with the fleet anyway.”
Everyone laughed and Tag said, “How long before you can have the ship ready Mr. Nelson?”
“Ten days, Mr. Gardner.”
Tag looked at Dorg and said, “Better get your ships moving; we have a party to attend. Let’s send out invitations for four months from now so our Admirals here can get their fleet maneuvers sorted out and the new weapons installed on the ships. I want every ship to know their part in the upcoming mission.”
Dorg smiled and said, “I’m sure it will be a blast.”
Tag and Danielle were sitting in their bedroom on a couch cuddled up under a blanket. The bedroom was more than fifty yards wide and had a huge fireplace in front of the couch. It was primarily for visual effect because the temperature was controlled by Coronado Solar Panels. Danielle liked to keep the room cool so a fire would be just right. Tag held her close and thought to her, “Danielle, Rose heard my thoughts in another galaxy without my directing them at her.”
Danielle sat up and looked at Tag. “What did you think that she heard?”
“I was thinking that I missed you and her very much. She immediately thought back to me that she missed me, too.”
Danielle thought a moment, “Do you remember that you told me you could sense anytime someone was looking at you when you very young?”
“I can still sense it.”
“Well perhaps our daughter can sense anytime someone thinks about her. It’s not a far cry different from what you can do and if I’m right, she’s listening in right now since we’re discussing her, right Rose?” Danielle thought.
There was a pause then a very contrite Rose thought back, “Yes Mommy. I don’t mean to listen but I hear anything you say about me.”
“Why don’t you come downstairs and join us, honey,” Danielle thought at her.
Tag could hear her running down the steps and suddenly she turned the corner and ran and jumped into her father’s arms. “I’m sorry Daddy.”
Tag looked at Rose with a smile, “Darling, you are what you are. It would be like being angry if a normal person were in a room and everyone was talking about them then getting angry because they were heard. You are blessed with talents that no one else has and I worry about where they might lead you.”
Danielle looked at him with a stern look on her face but Tag continued, “I once had someone tell me that I had the power to defeat anyone I fought. He went on to say that it was a good thing that I did not go looking to use my talents but only used them when absolutely necessary. Do you understand what I’m telling you Rose?”
Rose lowered her head looking into the fireplace and was silent. Danielle started to speak but a look from Tag silenced her. They sat there for what seemed to be a long time then Rose lifted her head and said, “You worry that I will use my talents to hurt others just because I can. I also know that my talents are like yours and Mommies only they are stronger and without really meaning to, I could hurt someone badly; just like you did to Eric in school.”
Tag was startled but then remembered that he had invited Rose to look at his memories when she was three. It was amazing that she remembered that particular memory. “Yes, Darling, I actually hurt Eric before I knew I had the talent for violence. Unlike me, you know you have those talents so you remove any excuse if someone is hurt. Do you remember what I did after I hurt Eric?”
“Yes, Daddy, you never won another fight. You refused to hurt your opponents.”
“Now tell me honestly, Rose; what do you think about what I’ve just said to you.”
Rose looked at her mother and Danielle could see trouble in her little girl’s eyes. “Daddy, you and Mommy have gentle loving hearts. You only hurt those who want to hurt you, Mommy, or me. I also have a loving heart. I have known nothing but love from you, Mommy, Leila, Tgon-Gee, Dorg, Kosiev and all the others I’ve had in my life. One thing I have that you did not have is enough talent and control to avoid a fight. I will only hurt those who try to hurt my family or my family of worlds.”
Danielle asked, “Your family of Worlds?”
“Yes Mommy, the Stars Realm’s enemy is my enemy.”
Tag looked at Danielle and said, “I have no doubt that she will follow you as Queen of the Stars Realm. It’s good she’s developing a protective attitude toward her future subjects.”
Danielle looked at Tag and said, “It’s too early to be so serious. She’s only five and she should enjoy her childhood.”
Tag looked at Rose and said, “Why don’t you ask her what she finds to be the most fun.”
Danielle looked at Rose and Rose smiled and said, “I love listening to you make decisions about how people will live in peace and harmony and then seeing everyone scramble to follow your wishes. I sometimes look at the worlds you rule and see how much the people love you. I hope someday they will love me as much. I also love playing with my teapot and bunnies.”
Danielle burst out laughing. “I guess you are enjoying your childhood. Do you also have my ability to see the truth in various situations?”
Rose hesitated then said, “Yeesssss.”
Danielle arched her eyebrows, “Why do you say it that way?”
“Well, do you remember the Yrwset representative that was in here three days ago asking for credits to build a dam on their northern continent?”
Danielle said, “Yes, I do remember.”
“Well, the dam is already built. They really want the money to build a town near the dam.”
Danielle looked at Rose and said, “How do you know that?”
“I looked at his planet when he was speaking to you and saw the dam. I did not look in his mind.”
Tag looked at Danielle and said, “Perhaps she could help you. Maybe she could let you know when she see’s deception. I suspect she listens in on you all day.”
Rose lowered her head and said, “I’ll stop if you want me to, Mommy; I just find it so much fun to watch all the things you do every day.”
Danielle laughed and said, “No honey, you keep right on watching and if you see anything that you think I should know; send me a thought.”
Rose jumped into her mother’s lap and said, “Oh goody, this is going to be so much fun.”
Tag looked at his wife and daughter and thought to them, “Both of you are born to rule; together you’ll be amazing.” Both of them curled up into Tags arms and he held them close as they sat and watched the fire.
Four months later Cade and Anita were on board the Megaship Short Sword talking with Commander Tresk and his jump officer. Cade pointed to the jump console and said, “The new system is not greatly different from the old one.” He then pointed to a switch in the middle of the console and said, “This switch determines which system you’ll use. Pushed forward, it operates just like you have always used it. Just enter the coordinates and you’ll jump to whatever location you’ve chosen once the star drive is engaged. However, if you pull the switch toward you, then the new system becomes active. You will still enter the coordinates you want to jump to but the system will automatically produce two screens with the first one taking you into null space and the second one turning on just before you leave normal space. Once you enter null space the outer screen will be stripped away and you will be ejected from null space to the coordinates you used for the inner screen. Do you understand?”
Tresk looked at the two engineers and said, “Why do you need to go to the Plants fleet to test this? Can’t you just do it right now?”
Anita shook her head and looked Tresk in the eyes, “Commander, the whole idea of developing this screen is to enable our ships to jump inside the jump limit while the Plants are using their frequency ships. The only way to truly test it is to do it while those ships are broadcasting.”
Tresk looked at the console and said, “What happens if it doesn’t?”
“Nothing,” Cade said. If it doesn’t work you can’t jump inside the jump limit or jump out. You’ll just stay where you are.”
The jump officer then asked, “What if it allows you to jump in but then won’t work coming out?”
Cade smiled, “That’s why you’re going to make two jumps; one just a short distance inside and back out of the jump limit and another all the way into the inner system and back out if the first one works.”
Tresk shook his head and said, “Well, I’ll be the first to let you know if it works.”
Anita laughed, “Commander, we’ll know as soon as you do, we’re going with you.”
Tresk just looked at the two scientists, “I guess that means you have outstanding confidence in the system. Well welcome aboard, we’ll be leaving as soon as Admiral Mikado and Admiral Chen get their fleets sorted out. Officer Nerha, please take these two and show them to their quarters.”
The Algean Leaders swayed in the gentle breeze on their home world looking up at the bright red sun. They had their feet solidly placed in the golden soil tasting the nutrients. One of the Algean scientists approached and stood beside the soil waiting for the leaders to notice. The Eldest Leader broke his attention from the sun and said, “Have you been able to determine how the Strangers have been able to find us?”
“No, Leader, we have not. Some of us think that perhaps they managed to place a device on the hull of one of our ships but close inspection has not turned up anything. We will continue to look but I think they must have some form of technology that we do not possess. One of our junior scientists postulates that they might be doing it with psychic skills but again we have no evidence to support that view.”
The Eldest Leader swayed and said, “Have any of our psychics ever been able to do what he is postulating?”
“No, Leader, we have not. I just think we have tried to come up with any idea because we just can’t explain how they keep finding our harvesting operations. Doing it psychically is just pure conjecture.”
“Thank you, you may go back to your group. Notify me if you find anything.” The old scientist bowed and shambled away from the grove of Algean Leaders.
The second oldest leader turned and said, “The Strangers have not returned since their last attack on the Harvesters. I’m concerned that they may be waiting for the next Harvesters to come out to the null band.”
The Eldest Leader leaned toward the Military Leader and said, “Have you made any plans to insure the Harvesters safety.”
“Yes, Leader, I have. We will bring the new fleet to the null band and place a missile shield around the space the Harvesters will jump from to our storage world. I am also having two full fleets on alert for immediate jump into the system if the Strangers show up again. I know they are our older model ships but they have been armed with the new power missile. We will follow them this time when they jump away. I will assign a ship to every ship they use to track their jumps.”
The Eldest Leader said nothing but looked back up at the bright red sun which told the Military Leader that his plan was acceptable. The golden soil continued to feed them and they relaxed enjoying the beautiful day.
Tag, Dorg, Chen, Mikado, and Ron-Dar sat around the conference table in the Gardner Castle Library planning the upcoming battle. Tag looked around the table and said, “I’m sure some of you are wondering why I’ve invited Ron-Dar to the meeting. His actions during our hit and run on the Algeans at the planet they are currently harvesting have convinced me that he has the talent to command more than just one ship, so I have sent the paperwork to promote him to Commodore effective with this meeting. He will continue to command my five ship flotilla and control the group jump mechanism that is being installed in all our ships. My group will not be involved in the fleet action but will stand off and observe what is taking place making sure our ships are not trapped during the battle. Welcome to the Fleet Command Circle, Ron-Dar.”
“Thank you very much, Mr. Gardner. I look forward to assisting this group any way I can.”
Dorg smiled and said, “It’s good to have a Glod on our team. I was getting weary of this constant Human perspective.” He looked around the room at the humans present and said, “Lighten-up, you know I’m just playing with you. Ron-Dar, I know Tgon-Gee and all your people are proud of you and we also look forward to working together.”
“Where are we in our plans right now?” Tag asked.
Dorg pressed a button on his console and pointed at the wall display, “We have discussed how we are going to prepare our ships for this engagement and what you said earlier troubled me.”
Tag leaned back in his chair and said, “How so?”
“I don’t think the plants will wait until after this battle to use massive numbers. We hit their harvesters at just the moment before they jumped and you know we hurt their food resources by doing so; I think they probably expect us to hit them again when the next harvesters attempt to make their exit from the system.”
Tag leaned back, closed his eyes for a minute and said, “We would do the same thing if it were us. I think you’re right. I suspect they have a plan in place to use additional support if we show up again; I’m just not certain about how much support that might be.”
Mikado leaned forward and added, “How many ships are we going to use? Why would they not make an overwhelming number available?”
“So what’s the Plan?” Tag asked.
“We are going to prepare two fleets differently,” Dorg said. “Mikado’s fleet will carry a weapon load and set their beams for the new ships the Algeans have developed. Admiral Chen will arm his ships with the weapons needed to handle the old style ships. Obviously, Chen’s penetrators will have to carry hornets where Mikado’s will be the new three stage penetrators. Mikado’s ships will also be programmed to fire the small primary beams that move seventy feet across the surface of the ship they hit. Chen’s will use the wide primary beams of our earlier battles.”
“Why can’t you arm the ships with both types of weapons?” Tag asked while looking at the wall display that had pictures of the various weapons to be used.
“Because it takes time to rotate the mix and in a space battle time is something that is in short supply. Not only would the Captains have to track what type of ship they’re tracking but then advise weapons to change the mix of weapons. This way, you avoid the ships you’re not armed to handle and attack those you are.” If none of the old ships show up, then Chen will stand off and fire two stage penetrators at the Algeans. We are including three volleys of the new hornets on Chen’s ships because the Algeans may fire some of those new anti-matter missiles at him. This would at least allow him to escape before being hit.”
“I think you’ve come up with a good plan, Admiral; while we’re fighting, Tresk will attempt to use the new jump system on the other side of the planet. We won’t have to stay long.” Tag looked around and said, “Is there anything else?”
No one said anything so everyone stood up to leave but Ron-Dar said, “I have one small concern.”
Everyone stopped and looked at him and he said, “If they bring in the number of ships you anticipate, won’t they have enough to assign every one of our ships several vessels to track our jump line? And since the battle takes place outside the jump limit, they will have immediate readings of our jumps.”
Everyone sat back down. Ron-Dar said, “If I might suggest to the group, why don’t we use some of the Plant tactics.”
Dorg looked at him and said, “Go on.”
“We know the route we’re going to use to jump from the system while making our escape; why not set up a globe of penetrators in five consecutive jumps. Our entire fleet jumps into the first coordinates in the middle of fifty thousand penetrators and immediately jumps out to the second globe of missiles, then to the third, and so forth. After we enter the fifth globe, we jump back to the first globe and finish off any ships left behind and then go thru the other four systems we left penetrators. When we get back to the fifth globe the second time, we jump our ships into the center of the globe facing out. I don’t think they will jump into the center again at that point. We will then destroy any ships that show up. We know that the jump tracks will disappear after 10 minutes so we’ll jump out to a sixth location and see if anything shows up. If nothing does, then the fleet will jump thru three other locations waiting 10 minutes each time to make sure they were not followed.”
Tag was smiling and he immediately noticed that Mikado and Chen were shaking their heads in admiration. Dorg stood and said, “Commodore, you are tasked with setting up the five jumps and getting the penetrators in place. Our fleets will be slaved to your ship, so take us on a ride that the Plants will not soon forget. We might get them to quit trying to follow us eventually if they keep losing ships.”
Ron-Dar stood and said, “Yes sir, I’ll have it set up in five rotations. I don’t want to take the penetrators from our ships stores so I’ll get Cade to transport the penetrators to the five systems selected in advance.”
Chen asked. “How long will it take to get the penetrators in place?”
Ron-Dar said, “I suspect it will take at least twenty more rotations. I think we have time because the harvesters at the planet have not started moving out yet.”
Tag stood and said, “This meeting is over, we will probably leave within three days after the penetrators are in place. The sensor probe we left behind in the system indicates that three of the harvesters have gathered away from the planet but it looks like forty more are still being loaded. I suspect that within thirty days they will start their exit and of course that is when we will make a grand entrance. Get your ships ready, we will form up at the jump point we will use to exit the system. We’ll start our attack from there.”
Everyone stood and left the room and Tag sat back down thinking about the upcoming conflict and then thought, “Atlas, did you listen in on our meeting?”
“Yes, I did,” Atlas replied.
“I don’t know why, but something doesn’t feel right about this upcoming battle.”
“Listen to your feelings. I would suggest that your departure plans from the harvesting system not be delayed if things get out of control.”
“Do you know anything?”
“No, but I’ve seen too many of your hunches to know that you should listen to them.”
“Ok, I hope it’s not something too bad, but I don’t feel right calling off the attack simply because of a bad feeling.”
“I think that’s the most important reason to call it off. Remember, your psychic skills will protect you. Don’t try to analyze them, just trust them.”
Tag sat a moment in silence, and then he thought to Atlas, “I’ll contact Sung Lea and see if she sees anything. Beyond that, I have to think about what we should do.” He stood to leave but the feeling of wrongness would not go away and followed him out of the room.
Rose was sitting in her play room with her toys on the day of the fleet’s departure and could sense the bad feeling her father was experiencing as he sat on his ship getting ready to travel to the weed galaxy. She got up and walked out of her room and went to the library where the map of galaxies was located. She sat down surrounded by the ten bunnies that had followed her into the room and looked at the maps. She took the band out of her hair, let her pony tail fall to her shoulders, and closed her eyes. The cursor began moving by itself on the map; it stopped on the galaxy of the Algeans. The galaxy grew larger and soon filled the whole room. She closed her eyes again and let her mind move from planet to planet until she found what she was looking for; two huge plant fleets holding position with all the ships in formation. She looked closer and saw that they were loaded with anti-matter missiles already charged and ready for launch. She listened in on the transmissions between those two fleets and the fleet at the planet being harvested. They were planning a trap. She thought about what she should do and decided that this was information she needed to share with her father but first she was going to ask her mother if that was misusing her talents. She walked into her mother’s office carrying her favorite bunny where Danielle was meeting with Leila and Eric about expanding the west wing of the castle. She stood there and waited for them to finish their work. Leila was saying, “I think we can complete the plans within two months and, oh, hi, Rose. Is there something you need?”
“I need to ask Mommy a question.” Rose said softly.
Danielle looked at Rose and started to tell her to wait until later but noticed that Rose had her big girl look on her face. “Leila, will you and Eric excuse me for just a moment?”
“Certainly, Your Majesty.”
Danielle walked over to Rose and took her hand and then walked out of the office into the reading room. “What question do you have, darling?”
Rose looked uncomfortable and looked at the floor and said, “You know how you and Daddy say I should not use my talents to take advantage of others?”
“Yes, darling, why do you ask?”
“Does that include taking advantage of the bad weeds too?”
Danielle straightened up and said quickly, “Rose, what do you know?”
“The weeds are planning a trap for Daddy and his friends.”
Danielle turned pale and said, “What kind of trap?”
“”Are you sure it’s ok to use my talent if it hurts the weeds?”
“Absolutely, Rose, especially if your Father in danger.”
Rose smiled and said, “I thought so but I wanted to make sure. The weeds have two very big groups of ships waiting to attack Daddy when he goes to help those people.”
“Tag,” Danielle thought, “I need you right now,”
Tag was sitting in his command chair on board the Retribution talking with Sung Lea again to see if she had seen any new visions of the upcoming attack and he did not want to be interrupted. “Can it wait, Darling?”
“Absolutely not; stop what you’re doing, pay attention and stop your planned jump immediately.” Danielle said in a stern tone.
Tag looked at his com and said, “Sung Lea, I apologize but I have an emergency call I need to take. I’ll contact you in a few moments.” Sung Lea nodded and disappeared off his screen. He then turned to Ron-Dar and said, “Put the countdown on hold until I order otherwise.” Ron-Dar looked startled but turned and issued the order over the general fleet channel. “Danielle, what’s going on,” he thought at his wife.
“Tag, Rose sees two huge Algean fleets preparing to jump in and attack your ships when you jump to the harvesting system.”
Tag sat straight up in his chair and thought, “Rose, what do you see?”
“May I show you my mind picture, Daddy?”
“Show your Mother and me, Rose.”
Suddenly Tag and Danielle could see the two huge Plant Fleets waiting in formation. Danielle said, “Oh my god. How many ships are there in those fleets, Tag?”
Tag said, “It looks like more than a million ships in each fleet. With close to half a million ships at the planet being harvested, they total close to two and half million.”
“Tag, you can’t lead our fleet into that trap,” Danielle thought.
“Rose, how did you see those fleets?”
Rose looked guilty and said, “I could feel you feeling bad about your trip for the last three days and I thought about why you should feel bad; I could sense that it had something to do with the weeds. So I took a look around their home stars and my attention was taken to those ships.”
“I was feeling bad about this attack, Danielle, and I couldn’t explain why. Now I know. If that many ships spread out and then jumped in on top of us and hit our screens with energy beams to stop us from jumping; we would have lost our fleet. I expected a big response from the Algeans but I planned to launch our weapons at the ships jumping in anyway and try to cut down on their reserves. With that many ships jumping in on us, if we had hesitated to jump away as soon as a star drive was detected, well, we would lose our fleet. Rose, if you see anything that you think is important about the Plants, please tell me as soon as you know,’
Rose smiled, “Ok, Daddy, I will.”
Danielle picked Rose up and hugged her tightly. “Next time don’t wait to be noticed either. Come straight to me and get my attention.”
“I will, Mommy.” Rose felt better and now knew she could exercise some of her talents against the weeds without worrying about doing anything wrong.
Tag pressed his command frequency and got Dorg, Mikado, and Chen on his display. “Change of plans, gentlemen.”
Dorg looked at Tag like he was crazy, “It’s too late to change our plans this late.”
“Admiral, the Plants are going to jump two million ships in on our fleet as soon as we emerge from null space.”
The three Stars Realm Officers looked stunned. Then Dorg said, “Ok, what do we do?”
Tag looked at the three and said, “We still need to try our new jump system and we should at least use the ships we’ve gathered. We will jump to the system going thru each of the five jumps we’ve left penetrators and drop off enough of our stores to supplement them so that there are 300,000 in each system. Then we will jump into the harvesting system and upon emergence fire every penetrator we have left. We will also fire all of our hornets at that shell of missiles around the bulge the harvesters will be attempting to jump from. We’ll time our jump with the harvesters getting close to the jump limit; as soon as we fire our weapons, we will immediately begin jumping thru the five exit systems as quickly as possible. Impress on your ship commanders that they will only have ten seconds to empty their magazines before Ron-Dar jumps us all away, so make it good. Tresk will time his jump into the system three seconds after we jump. Mikado, how long is it before those harvesters reach the bulge?”
“Forty five minutes sir.”
“Notify all ships we will be jumping to system five in one minute; also notify them to eject the appropriate number of penetrators. It won’t be a long party, gentlemen, but it should be a loud one.”
Chen and Mikado got on their coms and began issuing orders. Tag sat back in his chair and noticed that the bad feeling had disappeared. Thank God for my daughter, she’s the strongest weapon we have and she’s not even seven yet. He smiled and thought, “Love will find a way.”
Rose thought back to him, “And I love you, too, Daddy.”
Tag smiled and watched the countdown.
The Leader of the New Half Fleet watched as the harvesters approached the bulge of the power missiles. His sensor officer looked up and said, “There are no Stranger ships on my screen, leader.”
“Are the two whole fleets ready to jump as soon as we detect them?”
“Yes they are, Leader. Do you think the Strangers will come?”
“Oh, they’ll come. When they do all our ships in this system and the two whole fleets will jump in on top of them and hit them with beams so they can’t escape. We need to capture one of their ships to see how they are able to do the things we’ve seen.”
“Why don’t we have the two whole fleets here waiting on them?”
‘Because then they wouldn’t come. Somehow they are able to see us and I want to make sure they come.”
“Well, if they are coming, they should be arriving now; the harvesting ships are only moments from the jump limit.”
The Half Fleet Leader started to respond but his sensor tool said, “Thousands of ships breaking into normal space just outside the null band.”
“Order the two whole fleets to jump,” the Half fleet Leader ordered and then looked at the screen where he saw thousands of the Stranger’s ships break into normal space and fire millions of those energy missiles. Then as soon as they appeared they jumped away.”
Right behind the Strangers disappearance, the two whole fleets emerged from null space. “Order them to follow the jump tracks.”
“They all left on the same track, Leader.”
“All the better, maybe we can get them in a group, go after them now.”
Two hundred thousand ships read the jump track of the Stars Realm fleet and jumped after them. They broke into normal space and were immediately hit by thousands of penetrators waiting on them. The next jump track was read and the ships jumped to the new coordinates but not before losing more than 35,000 ships. The Plant fleet once more emerged into normal space and once more was barraged by 300,000 penetrators. These penetrators were programmed to hit with five per target and the Algean ships jumped right into the middle of them. The Ship Leader hurried his sensor tool to quickly read the jump track and follow but it took four seconds to read and then transmit it to the other ships. This time the number of ships chasing the Strangers was reduced another 50,000 ships. Once more they emerged into normal space in the middle of another 300,000 penetrators and again the fleet was reduced another 47,000 ships. This process was repeated a fourth time and the original 200,000 ships were down to 60,000 ships. The Ship leader ordered his surviving ships to jump back to the main fleet and discontinue the chase. He had no idea how many more traps were set but it was foolish to continue the loss of his fleet. He reported to the Half Fleet Leader and sent a video of what had happened. The Half Fleet Leader slammed his arm on his console breaking his new display screen. It was just not worth the price to pursue the Stranger’s ships. The Algeans were no closer to finding out where the Strangers were coming from.
The Stars Realm Ship Short Sword broke into normal space and Tresk looked at his jump officer and said, “Do you detect any Plant ships?”
“No Sir, the screen is clear.”
Tresk, looked over at Cade McAllister and said, “The ship is in your control.”
Cade set the two screens and announced, “We will be jumping 10,000 miles into the jump limit on my mark; ready, execute.” The short sword disappeared and broke back into normal space 10,000 miles inside the jump limit. “Jumping back out on my mark, execute.”
Short Sword emerged back outside the jump limit. Cade then said, “This time we are going to jump in system next to the planet closest to the sun and then jump out of the system to the Gamma Galaxy and begin our trip home. On my mark, execute.” Short sword broke into normal space next to the inner planet, released two stealth sensor buoys, and then jumped out of the system.
Tresk looked at Cade and asked, “Were the plants using their dampening frequency?”
“Yes they were and the system appears to have operated flawlessly. We need to look at our data but we’ll do that when we get back to our labs.
Tresk looked at his jump officer, “Ok, you know the drill. Jump thru four galaxies to erase any jump tracks. Let’s go home.”
At the jump limit, the four million penetrators that were launched by the Stars Realm fleet before jumping away began locking on Algean ships that were just inside the limit and those that were breaking out into normal space. Everywhere ships were being hit by the penetrators as they accelerated to full speed after acquiring a target. As the two fleets began maneuvering to avoid the penetrators, more than a million hornets homed in on the anti-matter missiles that were in the bulge that was formed for the harvesters to escape. As the hornets began hitting the missiles, a huge chain reaction of explosions began and the blast zone expanded instantly to more than 4,000 miles wide and engulfed the harvesters, which had not quite made it to the jump limit with 20,000 of the new Algean ships that were escorting them out of the system. There was nothing left of those ships after the blast wave passed them and the explosions continued as the hornets continued to chase and hit the missiles trying to escape the wave front. The Half fleet Leader watched as his ships were being destroyed by the thousands but even more serious than that was the loss of the second group of harvesters to the strangers. In hindsight, using the missiles was not a good decision and he worried that the loss would cost him his command.
On a moon circling the inner planet on the other side of the sun, an Algean Installation buried beneath the surface recorded the emergence of Short Sword as it entered normal space and then its jump back into null space. An Algean shuttle lifted and flew quickly to the jump point and attempted to read the jump track but came up with nothing. The pilot of the shuttle contacted the Half Fleet Leader and reported what had happened. The Half Fleet Leader watched the display showing the Stranger’s Ship as it jumped in and back out.
“Were you able to get a reading on their line of departure?” he asked the shuttle pilot.
“”No, Fleet Leader, I arrived too late and the track was gone. I recorded no reading at the jump point.”
The Half Fleet Leader pondered what he was seeing and then contacted the Elder Leaders on the home world. “Eldest Leader, it appears the strangers have found a way to defeat our dampening frequency. I believe that the attack at the null band on the harvesting ships was a diversion to test their new Star Drive. We have also lost the second group of harvesters from the food source.”
The Elders started swaying and the Eldest said, “Fleet Leader, what is your plan to protect the food source you are currently harvesting. It is unacceptable to continue to lose our harvest to the Strangers. How are you going to stop them?”
The Half Fleet Leader knew his future rested in the balance of his answer. “Eldest, we will station the two full fleets completely around the food source planet with spacing such that anything coming out of null space will have more than five ships firing power missiles at the emergence. The only place the Strangers can approach the system is outside the formation of our ships. We will use a third whole fleet to escort the harvesters to their jump. I recognize that they have tied up more than three whole fleets but this food source is worth it. Even with the loss of the first two groups of harvesters, we have not touched more than ninety five percent of the planets food. No other food source has as much to offer as this one. We will use what we have an advantage in, numbers. Even if they can jump into the system, they will have to do it outside our ships and we will have enough missiles on station around our formations to force them to stay away from us. We will also place our ships such that the heavy ships are on the outer edge. We will use their beams to destroy the weapons they might launch at us. We should have enough to completely cover any approach to our fleet.”
The Eldest stood still and then said, “Make sure your plan works, Fleet Leader.”
Tag was sitting in his office with Cade McAllister looking out over the rapidly growing city that has sprung up after Danielle had announced that Ross was to be the Stars Realm Capital. The population had grown swiftly and in the last five years had grown to more than a billion. Every race in the Ream had some of their citizens living there and the planet was becoming a model for the other members of the Realm to emulate. It was also the home of the Fleet Academy and it also became the center for weapon development since it was the academy that their use would be taught.
The fleet had arrived from the attack on the Algeans a week before and Tag had isolated himself from the military and had stayed in his study pondering the next action to be taken. He called Cade in an hour ago and he had promptly dropped what he was doing and went to Castle Gardner.
Tag looked at Cade and asked, “How did the new star drive work in the Plant system?”
“Both jumps worked perfectly, Mr. Gardner, they went off like clockwork.”
“I want to show you a video, Cade, that I received a day after we arrived home from the attack. I think you’ll find it interesting.” Tag then played the video from one of the stealth buoys that Tresk’s ship had dropped in the Plant harvesting system while making the two jumps. Cade saw Short Sword come out of a jump close to one of the inner planets of the system and then jump away. “Here’s the interesting part,” Tag said. Cade continued to watch and he saw a Plant Shuttle lift off one of the planets moons and fly quickly to the sight of the jump. Cade was shocked.
“Sir, our sensors did not show anything of Algean activity.”
“I know,” Tag said. “The Plants have an installation buried under the surface of that moon. With its high metal content, your sensors would not see it. It is now a certainty that the Plants know that we have found a way around their dampening field which leads me to believe that is why they changed their tactics after we left.”
“What changes did they make, Sir?”
“Take a look at the current feed we’re getting from our probe,” Tag said.
A picture of the system being harvested was on Tag’s display showing the planet that was being attacked surrounded by what looked like millions of ships evenly spaced around it out to 100,000 miles; outside the ships was a band of anti-matter missiles also evenly spaced encircling the plant ships. “Cade, there are more than a billion anti-matter missiles in that formation and the spacing between those ships means that any ship that jumps into their formation would be hit by five to ten anti-matter missiles as soon as it emerged from null space.”
Cade was speechless. “One more thing,” Tag said. “I’ve had a thought about your new star drive. Have you tried it in a small ship with a standard screen to see if it could jump inside the jump limit?”
“No Sir, why do you ask?”
“I have a feeling about the new drive that bothers me. What would happen if the Plants discovered the frequency of null space; could they then jump inside the jump limit from null space? Right now they can’t because they don’t have power cell technology. Would this new technique give them the means to jump inside the jump limit?”
Cade had a quick nightmare about that possibility. “I don’t know but I’ll find out quickly. Give me one day and I’ll let you know tomorrow.” Tag nodded and Cade left the room quickly.
The next day Cade was back in Tag’s study. “You were right, Mr. Gardner, using the null space resonance frequency allows any ship to be kicked out to whatever coordinates their second screen uses. Ships no longer have to use the larger power cells to reduce the effect of gravity to jump inside the jump limit. If the plants acquired this knowledge then they would be unstoppable.”
Tag looked at Cade for a long moment and then said, “I don’t think they know what we did when you jumped into that system. I timed how long it took that shuttle to get to your jump point and it was twelve minutes. If it read anything, it would read no resonance, which will cause them to think that we can now mask our star drive tracks or that they just arrived too late to get the reading. Our probe doesn’t show any of their ships being taken off line to change their drives so I think we’re safe at this point. However, we cannot use the new star drive system because we can’t run the risk of the Plants discovering it.”
“So we’re back where we started,” Cade said.
“Yes we are. I’ve asked our analysts how long it is going to take the Plants to harvest that planet and they say that it will probably take them five years.” Cade furrowed his brow and Tag said, “That planet has very small oceans and a huge amount of land mass; the amount of organic life is huge. They will have to keep a large number of their ships in the defensive formations and out of the harvesting activities. It would be suicide to try and attack that planet. Since we cannot jump into the system, we would have to fly 8 hours to get to their fleet. I’m sure that the plants would also jump a fleet in behind us. We are going to take the time they are harvesting the planet to work on our weapons. The Plants are also going to attack another planet after they finish the one they’re harvesting which means if we can keep them occupied with long range attacks we will probably have more than eight years before they move on to another planet. I want some long range weapons we can fire from the jump limit at their ships so I can remind them that we are still here and force them to keep all those ships in that system. You and your team have to find us the tools to win this fight, Cade.”
Cade looked at Tag and said, “We’ll do our best, Sir.”
Tag smiled, “That’s all I ask.”