Defending Earth-Discovery Means Death (13 page)

“Mr. Blaine, I’ll just keep them with me.”

The Principal nodded, “Please have them write a paper on what they see to share with their classmates.”

Becky nodded, “I’ll be sure to do that.”

Rocky looked at the two children and saw they really looked like their mother. “Ready to go?”

“YES!” Rocky carried them on board and took them into his cockpit. Becky joined Jill in hers and the ship lifted into the atmosphere as more than three hundred children watched. They all wished they were with the Johanson Twins.

The trip lasted a little more than three hours as Willow and Amber told the children about all the things they saw on the planet. They were wide eyed the entire time and both of them sat in Rocky’s lap as he held them.

They finally went back down to the surface and flew to their home. Becky’s husband was waiting on their arrival and insisted that Rocky and Jill join them for the evening meal. Jill had never seen Rocky so happy.

The children were finally put to bed and Rocky told Becky he had to leave. “They’ll never forget today.”

“Thank you, Sis. Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“Are you going to see mom and dad?”

“I will when I come back.”

“I’ll let them know about everything.”

“I’d really appreciate that.”

Becky hugged Rocky and knew this might be the last time she saw him. She looked at Jill and said, “You will take care of him!”

“So far it’s been him taking care of me.”

Becky looked up at Rocky, “He’s like that. But now it’s your turn. Make sure he comes back to us.”

Jill remembered Rocky’s promise to keep Jack safe, “I’ll do it or die trying, Mrs. Johanson.”

“Call me Becky. You’re part of the family now.” Jill smiled and nodded.

I love you, Sis.”

“And I love you, Rock Head. Come back to us.” Rocky saw the port appear and knew Amber was holding the ship in the barrier to avoid waking the neighborhood.

John smiled, “It’s good to finally meet you. Becky has so many stories about growing up with you.”

Rocky extended his hand and John took it, “Take care of my sister.”

“You know I will.”

Rocky released his hand and walked toward the port. Jill turned to follow him and heard Becky said, “Bring him back to us.” Jill turned and looked at her. She nodded and entered the port behind Rocky.

Becky stared at the port until it disappeared. Becky went into her husband’s arms and wept. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re being sent on a suicide mission. I could see it in his eyes.”

John looked up at the night sky, “Don’t sell them short. Those two are much more than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“I pray you’re right, John.”

R
ocky walked straight to his cockpit and said as he sat down, “Amber, is everything ready for our departure?”

“It is. The new missile transport is awaiting the light signature you want it to skip to.”

“Jill, are the new magazines showing green?”

“They are.”

“Jill.”

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Jill smiled, “I’m glad you listened. You have a remarkable family.”

“I know. Do you have the feed from the probe that we left behind at the planet where your brother collected his data?”

“I do but we probably need to take a look at it later. We need to take a look at what’s facing us with the Feeders first.”

“You’re right. Amber, skip us out to intergalactic space outside the galaxy where the Feeders are gathering. Leave it in the barrier. I don’t want it discovered.”

“We could leave it further out.”

“I want it close just in case. Did you mention the thought I had to Commodore Nelson?”

“I did but he says it will take another two weeks to make the modification.”

“What idea did you have, Rocky?”

“We are going to have to persuade the Feeders that more than just our ship is attacking them. The numbers we’re facing are going to make that difficult, if not impossible. We have to come up with a way to attack them on a massive front and I asked Nelson to see if he could modify the missile transports to make that happen. I want you to start gathering light signatures as soon as we arrive and store them for future use. We’ll be skipping out in thirty seconds.”

Jill wanted to know what he suggested to Commodore Nelson but had to activate her light signature system. She began pressing her controls as she simultaneously activated her armor and brought up the tactical display on her visor. She barely made the changes before they skipped and forgot about Rocky’s suggestion as the ship disappeared from above Eden and entered the blackness of intergalactic space.

A moment after arriving, Rocky said, “Amber, send the transport our light signature.” Ten seconds later, the giant vessel appeared beside them in the barrier. “Amber, skip us out to the Feeder Search Fleets. Willow, get a tactical on their positions.”

“Will do.” The light ship disappeared again and reappeared at the edge of the galaxy they had recently left. The feed Willow began sending to their tactical left them stunned. It was still filling up with Feeder Warships and the numbers were incomprehensible. “There appears to be more than ten major Feeder Attack Fleets holding formation at the edge of this galaxy.”

“How many were there when we skipped out?”

“Six. It is also significant that of these ten, only two of them were here when we left.”

“What happened to the other four?”

“I suspect they were recalled to the Central Planet to add to its defenses. These were sent here from other galaxies after our attack, Jill.”

“Rocky, this is frightening.”

“Take a good look at them. If they find the Alliance, this is what our forces will have to face.”

“How do we go about attacking them? We can’t make a dent in those numbers.”

“Willow, have you been able to hear any of their transmissions?”

“I have. It appears they are ordered to remain here until the Entity feels the Central Planets are adequately defended.”

“Have any of them mentioned a timeframe?”

“Give me a few minutes. I’m looking for that Fleet Leader.”

“While you’re doing that, Amber, skip the ship close enough to those fleets for Jill to gather light signatures.”

“How many do you want gathered?”

“Jill, how many can your system hold.”

“I don’t really know. Amber do you?”

“You can probably store all of them but it would take quite a while to gather them.”

“How long will it take to collect a million from each fleet?”

Jill shook her head, “Amber?”

“About three hours for each fleet.”

“Then skip out to the closest and start the process.”

“What are you thinking about, Rocky?”

“Jill, we can’t just attack one fleet at a time. We are going to have to skip to one after the other and launch attacks. If they suspect only one ship is attacking them, they’ll know they’re being deceived. Amber, make the first skip and Jill, start collecting signatures. Let us know when you have a million.”

Jill shrugged and saw the giant Feeder Fleet appear in front of the ship. Thank God the ship was invisible to them. She started the scanning system gathering signatures and sat back in her chair. This was unnerving.

• • •

Rocky pulled up the probe’s recording from the Feeder Planet and said, “Amber, at the first sign of trouble skip us to the missile transport.”

“Coordinates are entered and I will skip if I detect anything out of the ordinary.”

Rocky started the recording and watched it on his visor. He fast-forwarded it to the point where he had dropped the inhabitant and entered the port. He slowed it to normal speed and looked down on the giant predators rushing between the buildings in the community toward the river. Those giant blobs were incredibly nimble for their size and he shook his head as he watched two of them jump over the top of a house. They rushed up on the water and went twenty feet out into the current before stopping. Two of them managed to snatch an inhabitant out of the water but the others were left with nothing. The water was full of the community’s population swimming toward the other shore. Mothers were floating on their backs with their children being carried on their chests.

Rocky shook his head. The inhabitants were tall and looked to be quite solid. But, all of them floated on the river with little effort. Their bones must have been hollow, which made sense if one thought about it. They had evolved on the planet beside the giant predators and swimming was a requirement to escape them. The predators roared their rage at the inhabitants and Rocky knew the noise must have been incredible. The ten giant beasts ran up and down the river’s edge for more than an hour but then all stopped and looked toward the fire that was burning outside the community. They roared and then slowly turned and started running toward the north. A few minutes later, the first Feeder Transporters arrived. Rocky suspected the approaching Feeders sent the predators away. He turned up the volume and listened to the Feeder’s communication.

• • •

“What is going on?”

“Leader, it appears a fire forced a large number of predators into this community.”

“The one here should have been able to keep them away.”

“It took four of us linked to drive them away from the river. The one here could have kept three away but ten was more than he could handle.”

“Where is he?”

“It appears the scream we heard was him being eaten by one of the monsters.”

“I’ll be there momentarily. Investigate and tell me what you find when I arrive.”

“Yes, Leader.”

• • •

Rocky backed the view out and saw hundreds of Feeder Transports moving toward the community. They landed on the cleared streets in the community and spread out among the houses. A larger transport came in at high speed and landed at an open space in the center of the community’s central square. Rocky zoomed the recording in and saw a Feeder wearing a green and purple robe. This had to be the planet’s leader.

• • •

“What have you determined?”

“The one that owned this community was killed here.” The Leader looked at the ground and saw a large wet area in the dirt. He took out a device and scanned it. It was the blood of one of his species. The Leader looked around, “Where are the meals?”

The Feeder holding a device pointed toward the river, “They panicked and ran into the river. My scanner shows they scattered into the forest on the other side.”

The Leader was angry and the other Feeders kept their distance. This Leader must be one high up in the Feeder hierarchy. The Feeder walked toward the river and pointed his device at the far side. After a moment he shook his head and thought, “Does anyone want to claim these meals?” His question was greeted with silence. “Answer me!”

The Feeder with the device in his hand thought, “Great Leader, it would take a long time to gather the meals and get them back across the river. My transport will only carry three on each trip and the predators would come and kill them before I could start moving them. Is there another among us that needs a community to rule?”

The Leader rocked his head back, “No, all of you are aware that all of our surplus population was taken to another planet. I have more than I can take care of. What about the rest of you?”

“All of us have more meals than we need, Leader.”

The Leader shook his body, “This species has an incredible birth rate.”

“Can the Fleet bring one here to replace the one that died?”

“No, they are tied up so tightly that they’ve ceased communicating with the conquered planets. For the near future, we are on our own.”

Rocky leaned forward in his chair. This was incredibly important news. “What do you want done, Leader?”

The Leader looked across the river and heard the distant roar of a giant predator. “Leave them to the beasts. Without one of us to keep them away, they’ll be killed quickly. Have you scanned what caused the fire?”

“It had to be a lightning strike, Leader. There was a front moving in when it happened. The fire drove too many predators out of the forest for this one to handle.”

“The lesson from this is that the land around our communities must be cleared to prevent this happening again. Have your meals start cutting down the forests.” The Leader looked around and scowled with the small opening in his face, “Get back to your meals. We can’t leave them too long without trouble erupting!”

Rocky watched the Feeders run to their transports, lift above the community, and fly away at high speed. The Leader was the last to leave. It looked around and Rocky heard its thoughts. “Was this more than just an accident?” It looked around and listened to the thoughts of several inhabitants across the river. No, they confirmed the suddenness of the predator’s attack. He went to his transport and moved over the burning forest. He scanned the ground but it was still too hot to reveal what started the fire. He turned his transport and flew away.

Rocky fast forwarded the recording and saw the inhabitants swimming back across the river two days later and many of them were carrying a plant with them that was red in color. Soon the entire community was bringing the red plants while others dug holes and planted them in a long line around the community’s perimeter. He fast forwarded at a higher speed and slowed down when he saw a huge predator walking out of the forest over the burnt land. It ran up on the community as the inhabitants fled toward the river but slid to a stop fifty yards from the row of red plants. It shook its head and roared as it wiped its nose and eyes with a foot. It turned and ran away at its fastest speed. Rocky smiled. The one he had saved was the one that led the gathering and planting of the red bushes. He ended the recording and knew this community was going to survive. Without a spaceship above the planet, the other Feeders would not learn of it without making a trip to check it out.

“Amber, take us to the next fleet.”

Rocky looked up and was shocked that three hours had passed. He lost track of time and activated his tactical display. He leaned back and stared at the enemy confronting him. He decided that the Feeders were on the defensive. The conquered planets were left to fend for themselves and none of them had a warship to assist them. He hoped something could be done about that. But first, gather the signatures.