Escape to Earth-Living Legends (29 page)

“MOM!”

“You should have followed his instructions, son.”

“Thanks, Averel. I’ll let him know.”

Hengel received the message and sighed. What was it going to take? He decided to withdraw all the scouts from the Legends’ Cluster. There was no need to run the risk of their taking a scout and learning they were being watched. He had no doubt his son was right. He was just like his mother and could not restrain himself from looking at any and everything that captured his interest. He shook his head and decided that it was senseless to continue fighting this battle. He issued the recall orders and rode the light wave to Earth. They still lived there in the hope that Averel could return to work. It was time they knew when it was a lost cause. He took off his thought blocker and thought, “Love.”

“YES!”

“Calm down!”

“DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR SON HAS DONE?!”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“WHAT!!”

“We’re done fighting it.” There was a long moment of silence and Hengel said, “Could I have prevented you from looking at everyone’s mind around you?”

“Well…”

“Be honest.”

Averel sighed, “Probably not.”

“You know the ‘probably’ doesn’t belong in that answer. I hated it for a long time but I realized something about the time our son was born.”

“What is that?”

“How much good came out of your nosiness as well as how much happiness you gave to others. You were wise in what you revealed. I stood no chance in changing that part of you and our son has inherited that trait from you. I know he’s a good person and we need to allow him to grow naturally. We need to let him be who he is.”

“Father.”

“Yes, Hensel.”

“I’m sorry I’ve disappointed you and mother. I try not to look but I can’t do it. Even with a thought blocker, I still see other’s thoughts.”

Averel jerked her head around toward her son who was sitting in the corner, “You’ve never told us that!”

“I didn’t think it was important.”

“Hengel, can the vampires hear his thoughts and come here?”

“No, Mom, they can’t hear me.”

Both Hengel and Averel were silent. Hengel thought, “Are you sure about that?”

“I am.”

“I mean are you really sure!”

“Yes, Father, I’m certain!”

Hengel thought for a moment and said, “Hensel, I want you to take a look at that Legend that is leading the invasion and see if there’s something I should know.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I’m sure.”

“Hengel, what are you doing?”

“Be patient with me, Averel!”

Hensel shrugged, “The only thing I didn’t mention was that he’s sending some of his ships to the planet where they first detected a Sentinel.”

“WHAT?!”

‘”Hey, all the Commander wanted to know is where they’re going to attack. That Legend is going to personally take a good look at the planet where the first one was seen.”

Hengel fought for patience and said calmly, “Averel, please inform Michael that they are sending a fleet to where the first Sentinel was detected.”

“Uhhh, Dad, they’re sending five hundred fleets to that planet.”

Hengel fought to not scream and said, “Please tell the Commander, Dear.”

Hengel broke the connection and Hensel looked at his mother. “Is there something important about where the first Sentinel was seen?”

Averel looked at her seven year old and decided he needed a wakeup call. “Earth is where they saw the first Sentinel, Dear.”

Hensel stared at his mother for a long moment. “They didn’t see it the first time at a planet in M-87.” Averel shook her head. Hensel’s bronze colored brow furrowed and he said, “That means they are coming here and you will be put in danger.”

“Along with your father and you, Hensel.” Averel saw her son blink and in that instant, she saw something come alive behind his eyes. What was it? Hensel stood up and left the room. Averel stared at the door he walked through and refused to believe a seven year old’s eyes could show that much danger. Averel sighed and lifted her wrist unit.

• • •

“Talel, we’re going to have to split our forces.”

“What?”

“The bulk of the Legend Fleets will be going to M-87 and I believe they’ll be going after the Audons that refused to follow the former Legends’ orders. Five hundred of their fleets will be coming to Earth.”

“Why would they go there?!”

“It appears the Head Honcho Legend has some questions about why only one Sentinel was seen here when they know there are many others. It may be of the opinion that they are here hiding from them. Whatever the reason, we’re going to have to defend two galaxies.”

“That means Andromeda and your galaxy will have to take on those coming to Earth and my species will have to join with our forces in M-87.”

“That’s what the geography demands. I’ll be sending some of my forces to join you.”

“You shouldn’t do that, Commander. Your planet is going to be attacked.”

“I have five hundred of their fleets coming here. More than nineteen hundred fleets will be going to M-87. They’ll all be bringing their tools and you can’t handle that many ships without our support.”

“I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but losing Earth will be a much bigger loss than M-87 to our Alliance.”

“I’m aware of that. However, I’m not willing to allow any member to not be defended properly.”

“You should allow the membership to vote on that.”

“There will be no vote. If you are successful against them, then get your backside here. We’ll do the same but we will divide our forces in proportion to the threat facing the members.”

“You are the one in Command and I will follow your orders. Who is going to command the forces in your galaxy?”

“That will fall to me.”

“You should allow your Fleet Commanders to do that, Leader.”

“I will as much as possible. Admiral Greenwall will be in command of the new Attackships and Admiral Stone will command the defenses above the planet.”

“What about the Battle Pods?”

“I’m calling in some help.”

“Who?”

“Admiral Jekins.”

“He’s in intelligence. He hasn’t commanded a fleet.”

“No, but his father has.”

Talel smiled, “I’ll not worry about what’s happening there. I can see you will do what has to be done.”

“You’ll have more than you can handle on your end. I’m sending Josh with the ships I’m sending to you. He’ll command them however you need them.”

“Thank you, Commander. I’ll keep you up to date on our strategy.”

“Give ’em hell, Talel.”

The display went dark and Jan said, “I wasn’t around to see the last war. How many ships will be coming here?”

Michael pressed a button on his panel and an image of the first ships that came in the very first invasion appeared. Jan’s eye went wide. “About four times that number.” Jan looked at him and couldn’t speak. Michael looked at the image and he smiled a wicked grin, “This time we have more than ten thousand times the number of ships we had then.”

“But you’ll still be outnumbered by more than a hundred to one.”

Michael looked at her, “It’s not the quantity that counts, it’s the quality of the ships we now have.”

“So, you think we’ll win?”

“That’s something that we’ll just have to see when it’s over. But they will regret coming to our Holy Ground again.”

“Would it be inappropriate to send our Children to Eden?”

“That is something you should do now.”

Jan left the room and knew there was reason to fear what was coming. The outcome was not a certainty either way.

“C
ommander?”

“Who is this?”

“I’m sorry for interrupting your planning for the coming fight but I thought I should tell you something.”

“Who…is…this?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. My name is Hensel.”

“You’re Averel’s son.”

“Yes, Commander, I am.”

“How are you able to communicate with me telepathically when I’m wearing a thought blocker?”

“Those don’t work with me.”

“Well I really hope you aren’t as nosey as your mother.”

“Actually, I’m probably worse than she is. Both of my parents have tried their hardest to stop my prying into others thoughts and haven’t been successful. I try not to do it but it’s just so hard.”

“Why have you contacted me?”

“There is something I think you should know and I don’t want to have to tell my Mother and upset her again.”

Michael felt the young Goran’s sorrow at disappointing his mother and smiled, “I won’t tell her.”

“Thank you so much, Commander.”

“What is it?”

“The ones that are coming here are not bringing what they call tools.”

“WHAT?”

“Their uhhhh, tools can’t move through the void fast enough to keep up with them. They’re sending them to M-87 with the other fleets. They’re only bringing the black colored ships with them here.” Michael went to his chair from the monitor he was staring at and sat down. “The tools for all those bad creatures were sent out more than eight days ago so they will arrive at the same time as the black ships.”

“Hensel.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“If you see anything else that you think I might need to know, do not hesitate to contact me in the future.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I insist on it.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“I’ll keep this just between the two of us.”

“That will help a lot.”

The contact ended and Michael picked up his communicator. “Katy, I want all of our Battle Pods skipped out to M-87 immediately.”

“WHAT?”

“The Legends are not bringing their tools here. Order them out now and notify Josh that they will be joining his fleets immediately.”

“Yes Sir?”

Michael heard the concern in her voice but he ignored it and contacted Talel. He told him what was happening and ordered him to send every ship he had to go out and meet the tools that were moving toward M-87.

“Piper.”

“Hello, Michael.”

“The Legends have already launched their tools toward M-87 ten days ago. I’ve ordered Talel to send every ship he has to meet them before they arrive and try to remove them from the coming battle. Can you contact Talel and get your forces moving with his.”

“I’ll make the contact now.”

• • •

The Audon High Leader looked at Talel on his monitor, “What do you mean you’re sending all our ships out. What will remain to defend us?”

“We have information that the Legends have sent all of their tools ahead of them so they’ll arrive together. We’re going to attack the tools before the Legends can arrive.”

“How good was the source of this information?”

“It was a seven year old Goran child.”

“You must be crazy!”

“High Leader, we’ve sent the scouts out and they’ve confirmed the incoming wave of ships. The information is accurate.”

“How many are there?”

“Too many to count. If we can stop them before they arrive, thousands of planets in your galaxy won’t be attacked.”

“Do what you have to do but get back here before the Legends arrive.”

“That’s the plan, High Leader.” The Audon put his communicator down and hoped Talel stuck to it. With space battles, one could never know what would happen.

• • •

Talel looked at the images coming in from the scouts and tried not to be overwhelmed but wasn’t very successful. The void was packed with warships beyond the range of his most powerful scanners. “Piper, do you have any suggestions?”

“This is your show, Talel. Call it.”

Talel shook his head and lifted his communicator, “All Alliance Warships from the Audon Galaxy will form up in ranks in front of the oncoming enemy ships. The Alliance ships from my galaxy will form up on the right flank of the enemy formation and the ships from Earth’s galaxy will take the left flank. On my command, we will attack and fight our way through their formations. This enemy formation does not contain the really dangerous warships but keep in mind that one sting will hurt you but a thousand will kill you. Fire and break away from any crossfire you may be caught in. This is not something we can do quickly. The more of these ships we kill out here in the void, the fewer there will be to be sent out to destroy our planets. If the Legends show up before we can finish this operation, leave immediately and return to your preassigned positions. Commence the attack…NOW!”

• • •

The barrier wasn’t disrupted out in the vast void between the Pandora and Virgo Clusters and the massive Alliance fleets were hidden from the oncoming Legend fleets. They erupted out of the barrier and the void exploded in massive disruptions. The scope of the attack was beyond any possibility of tracking and Talel watched the incredible destruction taking place every second. The blackness of the void framed the deaths of thousands of warships that blew up in blasts that strobed the darkness with brilliant flashes of multi-colored light. The void looked like a drug induced nightmare of riotous colors washing across the vast Legend formations. Talel shook his head at what was moving toward M-87. He would often go into the pitch-black void to think without being interrupted by the thoughts of others. The vast emptiness soothed his mind and allowed him to focus. Now there were so many warships at war that there was little darkness to see. The disruptions in the void were growing at an incredible speed.

Josh watched the Battle Pods and older Barrier Pods rip into the right flank of the enemy warships. The last time a fleet this large attacked M-87, they ran without firing a shot. That wasn’t happening this time. The tools didn’t have Dark Energy beams that could be fired in the void but they did have void missiles and billions of them were launched at the Alliance Warships.

• • •

Sam Shepard twisted his ship hard left and flew between two giant grey ships that fired six more missiles at him to join the twenty that were chasing him through the maze of enemy ships. He twisted hard left around the stern of another huge warship and none of the missiles could make the turn with him. They lost lock and went after another Alliance Warship. Sam came over the top of the warship he used to lose the missiles and used his top disruptors to blow the ship under him apart as his front disruptors fired on the missiles now chasing another Pod. The disruptors swept across the missiles leaving another large disruption in the void. Sam dove under a ship coming at him head on as eight more missiles locked on his tail.