Annihilation: Book 05 - Searcher (3 page)

The alarm went off and he was brought back to the present. His ship had found a planet with intelligent life and has dropped out of star drive. It looked like the planet was the center of a huge space battle. Thousands of ships were attacking the planet and large numbers of the defender’s ships were being destroyed. Matt looked at his display and saw the attackers would prevail if things continued as they were going. He thought a moment and then he sent a thought, “This is the Stars Realm Searcher Aladdin. I am requesting all ships to stop their attacks immediately and hold their current position. I will stop any ship that does not follow my instructions.”

The fleet attacking the planet continued their attack and Matt said, “I have given you fair warning. You have ten seconds to disingage or I will destroy any attacking ship within the orbit of the planet’s closest moon.”

Matt heard a thought answer him, “Who are you? We cannot stop defending ourselves if the Gresh won’t stop firing at us.”

He thought back, “I’ll talk with you momentarily.” Matt then jumped Aladdin into the orbit of the moon and said, “This is your last warning. Cease your attack immediately.”

The attacking ships saw the tiny three hundred foot long red glowing ship that had jumped into the system and six of them turned and started firing on it. Their beams and missiles hit the small red ship but were stopped by the ship’s screen. Matt shook his head and then put his hand into an indentation on his chair arm and linked his mind to his ship’s weapons system; his weapon console lit up and linked to his mind. Twenty of the attacking ships were inside the orbit of the moon and the attacking fleet saw twenty red beams leap out from the small ship and disintegrate the twenty ships instantly. The attacking fleet was stunned at the small ships power. “I will destroy any ship that fires a weapon in this system.”

The attackers and defenders stopped immediately. Matt watched his sensors and then thought, “Who is in command of the fleet that is attacking this planet?”

He listened and heard a thought, “I am.”

“Why are you attacking this planet?”

“Who are you to ask?”

“I am a representative of a civilization that values life. We do not normally interfere in the disputes between other civilizations; however, we will do what we can to save life if possible.”

“You just took the lives on those ships you destroyed.”

“You ignored my request to stop until I could determine if you were justified in this attack. I asked everyone to hold their positions but you refused. More than the lives on those twenty ships would have died if you continued to ignore my request. Now I ask again, why are you attacking this planet?”

“Another thought joined the conversation, “We refused to surrender to them and give up our freedom.”

“You do not have the power to refuse,” the first voice answered. “Refusal means destruction.”

“Has the planet here in this system ever attacked your worlds,” Matt asked?

The commander of the attacking fleet answered, “Not yet; only someone very stupid would attack us now.”

“So you are here to force this planet to accept your will as to their destiny.”

“They will bend to our will.”

“You will hold your positions until I tell you otherwise,” Matt thought.

“And if we don’t?”

“I will destroy every one of your ships in this system and then go to your home world and remove their ability to wage war.” All the ships in the system remained stationary wondering if this small ship could carry out its threat. Matt hit his com and said, “I have intervened in a battle between an invading fleet and a planet. The aggressors are attempting to force their will on the planet and are not acting in self defense of their worlds. I am sending you my coordinates along with the recordings of the battle along with our conversations.”

Matt heard, “Stand by.”

He waited for three minutes and then heard, “We are coming.”

Matt looked out at the attacking ships and saw that they were all about two thousand feet in length, “Looks like we’re about to get their attention.”

Suddenly a huge red globe appeared next to Matt’s ship. It was three hundred miles in diameter and dwarfed the ships around it. “We’ll take it from here, Searcher.”

“Thank you, Fleet Command. I’ll continue my mission.”

“Good luck, Searcher.”

Matt placed his hand back in to the indentation on his chair and turned off his weapons console. He then pressed the white button and his ship disappeared from the planet and continued its sweep of the spiral arm. He wondered how fleet Command was going to handle the situation he had stumbled into but decided that they would do the right thing. They also had more experience in dealing with this situation.

“I hope they support my firing on those ships. Well, worrying about it won’t change what happened.” He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. He could feel his ship around him and marveled at the power such a small ship possessed. Then he thought about graduation from the academy and the day he was imprinted on his ship.

Matt stood at attention in the ranks of his graduating class. The day was beautiful and the high clouds against the light yellow sky of Ross made the moment memorable. The graduating officers all wore tight fitting, rose colored, uniforms with a blue sash of a Stars Realm Fleet Officer. Matt’s auburn colored hair stood out among those around him; he was well muscled, in great physical shape, about six feet tall, and he stood relaxed and at peace. His green eyes were closed as he watched the proceedings in his mind. He was trying to restrain his excitement; he was finally going to get his ship. His classmates knew him for his unselfish acts of kindness and the strength of his character. He was also an Alpha Commander; that gave him immeasurable respect from those cadets that had struggled to master ships without all of the advanced systems of an Alpha. His turn finally arrived and he walked across the stage and had the Academy Commanding Officer pin the small ship to his collar. His pin was different from most of his class mates in that his ship was surrounded by a red circle indicating that he was going to command an Alpha Ship. There were only two thousand of those ships serving in the fleet of five million Searchers. He thought that his classmates would resent him for commanding one of the Alphas but they recognized the talent one had to possess to be able to handle those ships effectively and respected those that flew the Alphas.

He saluted the Admiral and then left the stage and returned to his seat. “Congratulations, Magic.”

The thought startled him momentarily and then he smiled and thought, “Thanks, Angel. And congratulations to you.”

“You’re welcome. Are you looking forward to meeting your ship?”

“Absolutely, and I’m sure you are as well.”

“I can barely wait. Have you thought of a name?”

Matt paused a moment and said, “I’m going to name it Aladdin. And yours will be called?”

“Wings.”

They both laughed mentally and Matt thought, “It’s a perfect name for your Alpha.”

“As is yours; you will certainly be flying a magic carpet.”

Matt reflected a moment and said, “Angel, please stay in touch. I know we’ll be given different galaxies to search but I do want to keep in contact with you.”

“Magic Gardner, four years and now when we’re leaving you finally make a pass. Your timing is the worse I’ve ever seen.”

Matt got flustered and Angel thought to him, “Don’t get bothered. I know that with both of us getting Alphas it would send the wrong message if we were an item. I’ll make sure we don’t lose contact.”

“Thanks, Angel. I’m glad you understand.” Matt glanced up at the stage and saw Angel looking at him with a big smile. She was number one in her class and the truth was that he never thought he had a chance with her. He had actually made sure his grades were not so high that his fellow students would not feel threatened. Now he wished he had spent more time with the beautiful young woman looking at him from the stage. Then he heard, “Searchers, report to your ships”

The graduating class cheered and ran toward the landing field next to the graduating ceremony which was filled with ships for the thousand graduates; every one of the new Searchers knew where their ship was waiting for them. Matt ran to the last row of ships and there it was; it was just as he remembered it the day he raised it. Standing in front of each ship on the back row was a commander of an Alpha Ship waiting for each of them to enter. Matt stopped in front of his ship and the Commander reached out to shake his hand.

“Congratulations Captain Gardner, come with me and let’s get you ready for your ship.”

Matt had a huge smile on his face as he walked toward the entry port of the small, silver colored ship. As he approached the entry port Matt saw Angel entering the ship next to his and she smiled at him and disappeared into her ship.

“Searcher, we must do three things to prepare the ship for you. First, you need to place your hand in the indentation on one of the command chair arms.”

Matt sat down and placed his left hand into a hand sized depression on the left arm of the chair. His hand was immediately surrounded by an almost liquid material that shaped itself to the shape of his fingers and palm.

The Commander watched as the material shaped itself to Matt’s hand, “Now press the rose colored button on the other arm.” Matt reached over with his right hand and pressed the rose colored button and immediately felt a shock. “Don’t get excited, the ship is reading your neural pathways and is linking its systems to them.” The commander waited for five minutes and then said, “Now you must name your ship. I want you to say the ship’s name and think it simultaneously.”

Matt said and thought, “Aladdin.”

The lights on the control panel surrounding the command chair immediately illuminated and Matt could feel the ship around him. It was just like the instructors described in imprinting class.

“Searcher, I want you to take the next hour and just sit here and get a feel for your new friend. I’m sure you know but I’m going to tell you one last time about how your ship was built. The Stars Realm does not possess the technology to produce this kind of vessel. We can operate them because we possess psychic abilities that allow us to mentally link to the ships systems but the technology used to build them is not something we can produce. This small ship is actually one of the most powerful weapons in the universe. The Stars Realm Navy is built by the Algeans with the assistance of the two Alfont ships. The energy generator left by the captors when they left our universe combined with the power cell skin of the ancient Stars Realm Megaships from more than twelve hundred years ago created a weapons system that is truly formidable. The Alfont provided the technology that allows our pilots to link mentally to their ship’s computer and other systems. You ship’s computer is the most advanced technology we possess. It has all of the knowledge ever gained in the Realm for your use if you need it. The ship’s building facilities are located on planets that the Algeans had originally destroyed when they were at war with the Realm centuries ago. No home planet where the Algeans live has any trace of technology. Their main form of travel is through teleporting. Ships can only land briefly on their home worlds. They are doing this to make sure that when the Eight Legs do invade our universe that their worlds will appear to have no intelligent life, only plant life. They should be ignored once the invasion starts. The ship building facilities are on worlds that are barren with the main construction centers more than five miles under the surface. The Algeans have become the creators of our highest technology and we depend on them to provide the ships of our navy. During your initial training assignment you will be assigned an Algean Adolescent as an observer.” Matt flinched at that information. The Commander looked at an electronic clip board, “He will arrive within four weeks from now.” The Commander raised his eye brows and said, “It appears that your observer is a seed from the Leader of the Algeans.”

Matt looked at the Commander and asked, “What am I supposed to do with the Algean?”

“Why take him on your searches and answer any questions he might have.”

Matt thought about having one of the high powered Algeans on his ship and felt concerned about what would happen. He didn’t want a spectator if he made a mistake. Then the Commander said, “You are cleared for liftoff exactly fifty three minutes from now.

“Thank you, Commander.”

Matt settled into his seat and closed his eyes and felt the ship copying his brain patterns. He turned on his sensor array and immediately saw every ship in the solar system and even those on the other side of the sun. “Quite a view isn’t it, Magic.”

Matt flinched, “Hi, Angel, yes it is. When are you lifting off?”

“In fifty two minutes.”

“So am I. Would you like to take a trip together?”

“Where would you like to go?”

“I thought that Earth’s old solar system would be a good place to start. There is so much history that happened there. I want to see the star that Jupiter became in the Captor War.”