Admiral Dorg Leaned back in his chair and saw Tresk looking at him. He had just finished the meeting with Captains Ren-Bir and Mikado. All three ships were at battle stations and were waiting for the order to jump. They were going to jump into three other galaxies before jumping to the coordinates that Thomas Gardner had provided for the Dremels system. The jumps would happen in quick succession and Dorg had made it clear that if the Plants were in the Dremels system then the three ships would jump out immediately to the last galaxy. If the Plants were not present then they would begin to attempt to contact the Dremel. Dorg had also made it clear that no one had permission to open fire on any ship that was not a Plant vessel. He thought again about the colonists that had been murdered due to his orders and hoped to try and make up for his mistake by saving the Dremel. “Captain Tresk, notify the other two ships we will be jumping in twenty sems and count it down, please.”
Tresk punched a button on his com and said, “Engage star drives in 5, 4,3,2,1, execute.”
All three ships disappeared then briefly appeared in three other galaxies before breaking out into normal space in a system with a medium size star. “Ships approaching firing weapons, sir,” Glensh the sensor officer reported.
The three megaships were surrounded by 50 ships that had jumped in on their location and were firing beams and nuclear missiles. “Status of our screen Lt. Glensh,” Tresk asked?
“Their weapons pose no danger, sir. They are actually adding power to our screens.”
“How many ships are attacking?” Dorg asked.
Fifty in the initial wave but ninety more have just jumped in and are joining in the attack. They still pose no threat.”
Dorg looked over at Klas whose race had contact with the Dremel before his planet was destroyed by the Algeans and said, “Would you please broadcast a request for a meeting with their leadership; communications broadcast it on the frequency those ships are using to communicate.”
Klas was a Pydres. His species was humanoid in appearance but were dark brown in color and had six fingers on each hand with two opposable thumbs. Their arms were shorter than Humans but had elbows that appeared to be able to rotate 360 degrees. Their black hair was sparse but covered most of their body. The head was large with a brow that had a ridge of raised skin that ran from their eyes to their ears which were small almost bat like. He raised the com to his mouth and began speaking to the attacking ships. The ships continued to attack and it appeared that his message was not getting thru until suddenly the 140 ships stopped firing and surrounded the three Stars Realm ships. A voice came over the communications console and Klas interpreted. “Why have you intruded into our system? We are the Dremel and we are expecting to be attacked by a huge invading fleet; you only endanger yourself if you stay.”
Klas raised the com and said, “We are aware of the enemy coming to your system. They have already devoured my world that you tried to help by warning us of them. We have come to try and help you in the coming conflict and would request a meeting with your leaders.”
There was silence for a few minutes and then the voice said, “My leaders request you come to the planet and they will meet with you there. Only send one ship, the other two will stay here with us.”
“Notify your leaders that we will arrive in five seconds,” Klas said after he heard Dorg tell Tresk to jump to the planet in ten seconds.
The Dremel stuttered, “No one can get there that fast.” Then he watched as one of the Ships his fleet had surrounded disappeared.
The Rossville broke back into normal space just above the main planet and waited for the Dremel to contact them. Klas looked at Dorg and said, “From this point on, I will translate what I hear and what you say. I think you need to speak directly to them.
“Message coming in, on speaker.” the communications officer said.
“…are the Dremel. I believe my fleet leader was planning to escort you to our planet. He’s concerned that we can’t get a ship here from the jump limit within ten hours which places us at your mercy.”
Dorg spoke and Klas translated, “You have nothing to fear from us. We did not retaliate when your ships attacked us; we are here to open a dialogue to see if we can help you in the coming conflict with the Plants. It’s our opinion that wasting ten hours to get here was not a good decision.”
“I suspect you’re right.” The Dremel said. “We expect them to enter our system soon and we assumed your ships were the initial scouts they send out. I’m sorry we attacked you so quickly but we have to try and destroy the initial contact by the monsters before they can communicate our position.”
Dorg gave a sigh of relief, “I’m glad to hear you say that, we don’t share our technology with aggressive races. After Klas told us about your warning his people about the coming invasion, we felt we should come and help you if we could.”
“We are a peaceful people but we had to build the ships that attacked you. Though we are peaceful by nature, we will not submit to destruction without putting up a fight. I have turned on a beacon with a laser designator pointed at your ship. If you will follow it down to the planet we will meet and talk with you about why you came to our world.”
“I’ve got it sir,” Lt. Glensh said. “I’ll send the coordinates to your shuttle.”
“Thank you Lieutenant. Klas if you’ll join me let’s go meet our new friends.”
Admiral Dorg sat in a room surrounded by the twenty Elders of the Dremel. He began speaking while Klas translated, “I am sorry for our sudden intrusion into your system but we have come to see if there is a way that we can help you in the upcoming conflict with the plant creatures. We have saved some of the Pydres from their planets destruction and they told us of your warning them. I came to investigate to see if your race could be helped by my government.”
“Just how do you think you can help us? Nothing can stand up against the monsters. We’re working hard to build transports to try and save some of our population but we just don’t have enough time or capacity to build enough ships in the time we have remaining. Some of our population has already left for a planet further out on the arm of this galaxy”
Dorg looked at the old Dremel and said, “Perhaps we can buy you enough time. I want to discuss the possibility of using your world as a base to be the center of our fight against the plants. We will do all in our power to protect your world in return for using it to be the center of our fleet operations against them. I recognize that our efforts against them will bring huge numbers against you, but if we don’t help, you will be destroyed and consumed. Perhaps we can buy you enough time to save your people.”
“Do you think you have any chance against those horrors?” the old Dremel asked.
“Honestly, I don’t know but that’s why I’m here; to begin the fight against them and see if we can stop your destruction. If you agree, we will not leave you to stand alone; we will fight them with you.”
The twenty Elders began talking among themselves. Dorg thought the Dremel looked like very thin Humans. They were about 6 feet tall and were bipedal like humans. Their hands had five digits just like the Humans but had no thumbs though it appeared that their fingers could bend in multiple directions. Their face was similar but had no hair and the nose was flat on its face. The lips were thin and the chin very pointed. Their skin was gold in color. They moved very smoothly with an economy of motion that made them look slow but it was difficult to maintain their pace when following them. Finally the speaker said, “Klas says that he was saved by your people and he has seen goodness in you. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We agree to start working together and we thank you for your help.”
Suddenly a Dremel in military uniform ran in and started talking quickly. The twenty Elders got up and began talking on their communication consoles. “What’s going on, Klas?”
“A plant scout ship had just jumped into the outer system on the other side of their sun. It can’t see their world yet, but it’s moving in system and will see the inhabited planet within ten hours. All of their ships are on this side of the sun. They were not prepared for the scout to enter the system from that direction.”
“And so it begins,” Dorg thought. “I hope we’re ready.