Defending Earth-Discovery Means Death (20 page)

“I’m making sure none of the missiles will be targeted at ships that are close to each other.”

“That’s a good idea. That should prevent their light drives from interfering with each other.”

“I’m also launching them in sequence from the transports. None of them should come close to each other during the launch phase.”

“Are all of the Feeder Warships of the two force field class?”

“The support vessels only have one but the warships all have the two fields.”

“Is the silver bullet targeted where you can capture the results?”

“Yes. I’ll be launching as the fleets approach one of the stealth probes. It’s been programmed to focus on the ship the silver bullet is targeted.”

Graylin looked up, “Edison, I want you to keep your attention on any communications that are sent from those fleets after the launch.”

“I’ve found the Feeder Fleet Leader in overall command of the fleets, Admiral.”

“Graylin, I’ll be launching in thirty seconds.”

“The ship is under your control.”

Graylin watched the count down and pulled up the probe that would be tracking the silver bullet. He hoped Intel was right about this. The countdown hit zero and he stared at the display on his console. The bullet wouldn’t be fired until the middle of the barrage. That would be in another five minutes. He glanced at the ten missile transports and saw tiny flashes of light as the missiles ejected from their tubes and activated their light drives. He looked back at his display and smiled. That Fleet Leader’s ship would receive the first missile. That should wake him up.

• • •

The Feeder Fleet Leader was lounging in his command chair when suddenly, his vessel was rocked by a huge explosion that almost threw him out of his chair. “WHAT’S HAPPENING!?!”

“LEADER, OUR SHIPS ARE UNDER A MASSIVE MISSILE ATTACK!!”

“GIVE ME THE STATUS OF OUR SHIPS BEING HIT!!”

The Fleet Leader waited and saw his navigator look up, “Our fields are holding up. We’ve not lost a ship to them!”

The Fleet Leader smiled. The initial explosion was huge but his vessel was unharmed. His fear of finding the enemy disappeared. Waiting until the fleets were upgraded was worth the wait. He could search for them without fear.”

“Leader, one of our ships has been destroyed.”

“What? Just one?”

“Yes, Leader.”

“Why was it hit?”

“I have no way of knowing. It might have had a faulty outer force field generator.”

The Fleet Leader stared at the Navigator and shrugged. With a billion warships, it was possible that one had a faulty system. He continued to watch the explosions in his fleets and lifted his communicator, “Prime, my fleet is undergoing a massive missile attack.”

“WHAT’S HAPPENING?!”

“Our new double force fields are stopping them. I’m not losing ships.”

“THAT’S EXCELLENT. FIND THIS ENEMY AND ELIMINATE THEM BEFORE THEY CAN BUILD WEAPONS TO DEFEAT OUR NEW TECHNOLOGY.”

“Yes, Prime.” The Navigator listened to the conversation and wondered why the Fleet Leader hadn’t mentioned the single ship that was destroyed. He was honest in saying that he was not losing ships but, why was that ship killed? He turned back to his console. This was not his province to worry about. He stared at his console and saw thousands of explosions continue in the fleet’s formations.

• • •

Edison fed the conversation to Graylin and he said, “Wrap it up, Cassidy. The ruse has worked.”

“I still have more than a hundred thousand missiles remaining.”

“Save them for landing operations. What do the probes say about those we launched?”

Cassidy looked at her panel, “They recorded an explosion for every missile we launched. I’ve terminated the launch and sent the transports back to Eden.”

“We’ll stand by here and listen for anything they might communicate.”

“Yes Sir.”

Graylin smiled. Using standard missiles instead of the silver coated ones had fooled the Feeders. Now they would continue their search and the Alliance could build for the day the real missiles would be used. The Feeders were still about six months from the four clusters but they had a huge volume of space ahead of them to search. He listened to the feed coming from Edison and leaned back in his chair. He was worried about this new Feeder Technology but they were still vulnerable. So many things could have gone wrong but they didn’t. Let’s pray that was true for future operations. Thank God the Silver Bullet punched through the two force fields.

Two days later, he skipped the ship back to Fleet Headquarters for debriefing. A year later he was promoted to overall command of the Alliance Navy.

• • •

“Sir, I have an issue that requires a superior officer to resolve.”

“What’s the problem, Sergent?”

“The community has come to the defense of the Feeder and are threatening to attack me if I attempt to harm it.”

“The Feeder must have them under its control. Shoot through them if necessary.”

“That doesn’t appear to be the situation, Sir. The Feeder is trying to get them to leave and not put themselves in danger. They are refusing to do so.”

“Standby, I’ll be there momentarily.”

Sgt. Anez watched the tableau developing around him and he thought to the inhabitants, “I have a superior coming to resolve this issue. Everyone remain calm until they arrive and determine what’s to be done.” Anez watched the locals come rushing in from the fields and form a barrier between him and the Death Feeder. This was ludicrous. He could hear the thoughts of the locals and they were not being controlled by the Feeder. He could also hear the Feeder yelling at them to leave and not confront the armored being in their mist. This was crazy.

Captain Hummel arrived in the flash of his armor’s light drive and Sgt. Anez sighed a breath of relief. This was beyond his understanding. Right behind the Captain, three Alliance Light Ships appeared above the community. The inhabitants saw the ships hovering above their community and they moved closer to the Feeder.

Captain Hummel saw the local’s behavior and shook his head. He thought, “Who is this village’s leader?”

A tall, thin amber colored being stepped out from the gathering around the Feeder and thought, “I am.”

“We are here to free this planet from the Death Feeders. Why are you preventing us from eliminating this creature?”

“This creature has a name, Pravel, and we will not allow you to harm him.”

“Are you insane? This species kills those it conquers and feeds on their minds.”

“This one doesn’t.”

Hummel’s expression showed his shock, “What!?”

“This one has not killed anyone and has saved most of us from sure death at the claws of the predators. He is a member of our community and is loved and valued by all of us.”

Hummel could hear the Feeder’s thoughts as it screamed at the locals to back off and not place themselves in danger. He shook his head and looked at Sgt. Anez, who could only shrug. He looked at the Feeder and said, “Come forward and speak with me!”

The local inhabitants moved in tighter around the Feeder and it thought to them, “Allow me to speak with this being.” They opened a path and the Feeder walked forward. “I know why you’re here.”

Hummel tilted his head, “And why am I here?”

“You’re here to remove my species from this planet.”

“How do you know that?”

“There have been rumors of other planets being cleansed of my species.”

“Why haven’t you tried to communicate with the others of your species on this planet?”

“I have no desire to prevent it. We should be removed.”

“Is what the leader said true?”

The Feeder looked around at the inhabitants and thought, “It is.”

“How have you managed to survive without consuming them?”

“I take my sustenance from the local predators that attempt to attack the community.” Hummel stared at the Feeder and it actually shrugged, “I decided when I took control of this community that I would not harm them.”

“What about the one before you?”

“She didn’t think like me.”

“What happened to her?”

“I killed her when she tried to consume a child.”

“Why were there two of you here?”

“She was my mother.”

“And she didn’t force you to consume them?”

“She tried hard enough but I refused to do it.”

“Are there any others like you on this planet?”

“There is a female that is currently hiding in the forest. You’ve probably detected her with your ships.”

Hummel activated his communicator, “Do you detect another Feeder close by?”

“We do, Sir. We’ve locked a disruptor on it and will fire once you resolve this situation.”

“Hold your fire until I order it.”

“Yes Sir.”

Hummel looked at the Feeder, “Call her in.”

“I will not place her in danger.”

“I can kill her with a word. Call her in.”

The Feeder stared at Hummel and his single eye closed for a moment and then opened. Hummel heard its thoughts as it called for the female to come out of the forest. Hummel waited and six minutes later the Female entered the community with a group of locals surrounding her. The Female moved to the male and took its clawed hand in hers. They stared at Hummel and he saw their fear. “You should do what you came to do.”

Hummel saw the locals tense up at the thought and he shook his head, “This is outside my experience. I’ve never heard of a Death Feeder that has any value of another’s life.”

The Feeder shrugged again, “It’s a big universe.”

Hummel laughed. He looked at Anez and saw he also found the answer amusing. “I am not going to kill either of you.” The locals erupted in a huge cheer at the announcement. He held up his arms and thought when the noise subsided, “However, I am going to have one of my leaders come and have a discussion with you, if that is acceptable.”

“Do I really have a choice?”

Hummel shrugged, “Not really. However, I will not make the decision. I can see that this community truly does value the two of you and it’s not our intention to kill those that don’t deserve it. Hummel looked at the female and saw a bulge in her midsection. “Is your mate expecting?”

The male Feeder stepped in front of her, “She is.”

Hummel smiled, “I wish good health to you and your family. We will be leaving and you should expect to have someone come to speak with you.” Hummel looked at Sgt. Anez and nodded. Anez instantly disappeared. A moment later, the three light ships disappeared as well. Hummel looked at the two Feeders and shook his head, “You’ll need to hide from the other inhabitants on this planet. They feel quite differently than those here.” The anxiety on the two Feeder’s faces was clear. A moment later, Hummel disappeared.

The male Feeder looked at his mate, “That went better than I hoped.”

She closed her eyes and hit him on the arm, “You and your humor!”

He rubbed his arm and looked up at the sky. They weren’t out of danger yet.

• • •

Three days later, another light ship appeared above the community and a being appeared in the center of the community. This one was not wearing armor. The Feeders stepped out of their residence as many of the locals rushed in to join them. The being smiled as they approached, “I really didn’t think this was possible but I guess I was wrong. My name is Melody Stone and I’ve been sent to resolve this situation.”

Pravel looked at her, “What exactly does the term resolve mean?”

“I’ve been ordered to either kill you or make sure you aren’t killed.”

“If given a choice, I prefer the latter of the two.”

Melody laughed, “I’m sure you do. Do you have some time to talk with me?”

Pravel sat down and his mate sat down beside him holding his clawed hand. “Well, let’s get it done.”

Melody sat down on the ground and looked at the locals as they sat down around them. “It does appear this community does value your presence. Why is that?”

“You’ve obviously seen the predators on this planet.” Melody nodded. “We prevent them from attacking our community. We consume them for our meals.”

“I can see where that would be a real asset. What stopped you from consuming the local inhabitants?”

“It felt wrong to do that. I just couldn’t force myself to kill them. They’re good people.”

“I understand from Captain Hummel that you killed your mother to prevent her killing one of them.”

“I did.”

“Wasn’t that hard?”

“Not really. My species really doesn’t like each other. If I had continued to refuse to feed on the inhabitants, she would have ultimately killed me.”

Melody looked at the female, “How did you get wrapped up in this?”

“I was sent to mate with him. My family thought that he was a good mate having the strength and courage to kill his own mother.”

Melody stared at her and said, “And?”

“He told me how he felt about his community and I initially thought he was insane, but after a week had passed I saw the goodness of what was happening here. I chose to stay here with him.”

“How long ago was that?”

“About five planetary revolutions.”

“Do you have any children?”

“No, this is our first.”

“Why have you waited?”

“We really thought the others of our species would come and kill us. However, I guess they were glad to be rid of us and didn’t care about coming here.”

“What would you have done if they did show up?”

Pravel thought, “We’d have done our best to kill them first. However, they never came.”

Melody listened to their thoughts and decided it was time to ask the question that would decide their fate. “You realize that the other inhabitants on this planet will eventually show up and they won’t hesitate to try and kill you.” Pravel nodded. “What are you going to do if that happens?”

“We’ll try to hide from them as long as we can.”

“And if you’re found?”

“We will not kill them.”

The Leader stood up, “We will if they try to harm you.”

Melody looked at the Leader and then looked at the two Feeders, “Your presence also endangers the ones that live here.”

Pravel’s huge eye blinked and he rocked his shoulders, “We can’t allow them to come to harm.”