Lens of Time: Book 06 - Star Rover-Running Out of Time (26 page)

Blacky stared at the shuttle, “Do you think that shuttle has jump capability?”

“Ours do. I would think they would use them to travel between their planets without using a warship.”

“They have a guard posted.”

“I see that.” Ringie paused, “We can’t attempt an entrance until nightfall.”

“That’s when they’ll be expecting it.”

“Daylight would be suicide.”

“Probably.”

“What are you thinking?”

“That shuttle has not left for four days. Whoever arrived in it is taking us seriously and is coordinating the ground and Space forces.”

“So?”

“The crew has to eat.”

Ringie thought about what she had seen and realized that nothing had been taken to the shuttle. “It’s just a matter of time until the stores will need replacing.”

Both of them turned to look at the large building at the far end of the huge complex. Ringie turned to Blacky, “Perhaps we should go there.”

“Perhaps you’re right; but first I need to leave a present for our friends.” The two Madators disappeared into the ground.

• • •

The Servant Baron stared at the displays on the wall and was starting to get frustrated. The killings had diminished but had not completely stopped and the attacks were unpredictable. One of the creatures had to be captured to make a scanner capable of finding them. Fifty had been killed but they immediately blew up in self-destructive blasts. He saw his communicator illuminate and beep; he saw the pilot of his shuttle on the display, “Lord, we are running low on provisions. Should we lift and pickup what we need from our ship?”

The Planet’s Minor Ruler swiveled his head, “We have a whole planet full of provisions.”

The Baron didn’t want the shuttle to leave; he might need it to escape. “Collect what you need from the local staff.”

“Yes, Sire.” The pilot ended the call and turned to his Second and smiled, “The Baron has ordered us to replace our stores from the locals’ storage.”

The Second’s excitement was clear, “That means we’ll have access to the freshest harvest.”

“Yes it does. Go with the local leader and make sure you choose only the best foods. This opportunity doesn’t happen very often; let’s take advantage of it.”

The Second stood and opened the port to the Shuttle. He was greeted by three Servants riding in a collection vehicle. “Come with us.”

Mumbles saw the shuttle’s door open and the Second exit the ship; he flew high in the air and screamed at a high frequency. Blacky heard him and said, “Alright, it’s time.” Blacky and Ringie were in the storage facility and they flowed along the wall and moved into two baskets of dark, black, balls of harvested crops. They learned, while observing the Searchers initially, that those black balls were the favorite food of the guards in the fields. The two containers they flowed into had been harvested the day before. The two Madators assumed their smallest shape, which was close to the size of the balls in the containers.

• • •

The vehicle arrived and the driver scanned the interior of the huge building and stared at the results. “Nothing.”

The Second stepped out of the vehicle and saw the fresh, wonderful food that filled the entire structure. The driver saw his expression and smiled, “Choose whatever you want.”

“Which crops are the freshest?”

The Driver pointed to his right and said, “These were brought in two days ago.” Blacky and Ringie were disappointed. They were in the containers in the opposite direction. The driver saw the Second’s expression and said, “But these were brought in last night.” The group of Servants turned and stared at the containers where Blacky and Ringie were hiding. Blacky had nearly flowed out of the basket to move to the other side of the storage facility and was thankful he had waited.

The Second hit the driver on the back with one of his legs and laughed, “You’re teasing me.”

“I know what you’re forced to eat on your ship. I served in the Lord’s Navy and know what it’s like. Choose whatever you want and, if I were you, I’d make sure it doesn’t leave your shuttle when you go back to your ship.”

“Oh, we’ll keep it to ourselves.” The Second walked over and pointed to ten containers of the black balls, “Take these first.” Two Servants went over and lifted the containers into the vehicle’s bed. Blacky and Ringie were the fifth and eight container moved. An hour later, the bed was full and the vehicle backed out of the building and moved toward the shuttle. Fifteen guards moved in and surrounded the Shuttle; they faced out toward the fields as the four Servants began moving the containers inside the shuttle’s landing bay. The containers were all moved into the shuttle an hour later and the driver looked at the Second, “Do you need us to help put them away?”

“No, we’re required to do that. Thanks for offering.”

Mumbles had flown off the mountain and was high overhead mimicking the flight of the planet’s largest bird. He waited until the vehicle was empty outside the shuttle and he screamed a word at his highest frequency. Across the giant field from the shuttle, a dot left by Blacky detonated and killed four Servants conducting a search close by. The Second felt the explosion before he heard it. The blast roared across the field, blowing crops flat and the Second pushed the driver out the landing bay door and slammed it shut. The three crew members on the shuttle went to their action stations and activated the shuttle’s force field. Blacky and Ringie flowed out of their containers and moved into the vents in the ceiling. They molded themselves to the walls and waited.

• • •

Mumbles flew into a cloud high above the Servant base and saw fifty attack ships come roaring down to the planet and start crisscrossing the field searching for what had set off the blast. Mumbles joined a flock of the giant birds that were frightened by the incoming warships and arrived back at the mountain. That was close. He looked back and saw the attack craft had started firing on any bird that flew over the huge base. He wondered why and then he realized that one of their scanners must have heard his high frequency scream. He took in a deep breath and knew communicating had just become more difficult. He sent out a warning at an extremely low frequency and waited to see if it generated a response. He waited at the small opening in the cliff wall for an attack craft to come roaring in. When nothing happened, he knew he still had one channel to use. He listened to the low frequency and looked off at the ocean beyond the base. He smiled; it appeared that there was a sea creature that used that frequency to communicate with its species. That creature’s bellows would mask the Madators’ communications.

• • •

Katherine looked at Dat and shook her head, “What do you mean the Madators are not going to send the second wave?”

Dat sighed, “Sir, I’ve been told by their leaders that no other wave will go until one of the first wave returns.”

“Why!?!”

“I don’t know.”

“Well find out!”

“Sir, they are not forthcoming with an answer. They are waiting and I guess we’ll have to wait with them.”

Katherine shook her head, “Sometimes I find myself going batty trying to understand them.”

“Get in line, Sir.”

“Have we detected any further intrusions by the Servants?”

“No Sir.”

“Well, we have more than we can do at the moment. Let me know if anything changes.”

“Yes Sir.”

• • •

Ringie had chosen the vent over the bridge to enter and hide. She had learned to pilot a Grillen Grey Ship and was more qualified to learn the shuttle’s operation. She watched the crew go through their system checks five times over the next week and saw that the shuttle was only slightly different from the Grey Ships the Servants had given to the Grillen. The jump drive had a different entry device for the desired coordinates and she deciphered it after three more days. On the eighth day she heard the Pilot say, “The Baron has been called to the Lord’s chamber to report his findings.”

“Uh oh.”

“I agree. He’s planning to leave in three hours; prepare the ship.”

The Second stood up and went to the landing bay, “The Baron will be returning in three hours. Get the landing bay cleaned up and ready.” The Servant swiveled his head and began moving things around.

Ringie extended one of her arms and moved it through the ductwork to the vent where Blacky was hiding. She felt one of Blacky’s arms meet hers halfway and they communicated through their arms.

“How do you want to do this? Should we wait for the ship to jump?”

“No, it would arrive in a system with a huge number of warships. We have to take control before the jump drive is activated.”

“Blacky, there are three crewmembers and the Baron. How are we going to take them out?”

“We’re going to have to assume we’re strong enough to make it happen. I’ll take the Baron and the Servant in the landing bay. You’ll have to handle the two in the control room.”

“How would you recommend doing it?”

“Go after their necks and squeeze with all your strength. The nerve messages to their bodies travel through the nerves in their necks. We have to hope we can pull it off.”

“You saw the blasters on the wall?”

“I did…but you know, if a blaster discharged, it would be seen on the warships scanners overhead. There would also be the risk of damaging the shuttle. We have to do it this way.”

“They’ll be on us like dark at night.”

“I’ve traced the electrical system and I’ve located the conduit that controls the shuttle’s lighting. I’m cutting the wire as I drop into the landing bay. The emergency lighting will take about a second to activate. That’s how long you’ll have to take them out.”

Ringie squeezed Blacky’s arm, “They may be bad during the day but we rule the night.”

“I have no doubt about that, my love.”

Ringie heard his endearment and smiled.

• • •

The Baron walked out of the Planetary Commander’s office promising a swift return as he turned and moved toward his shuttle. The Commander exited the building and fell to the floor. He had been nervous the entire time the Baron had been present. Thankfully, he was leaving; even if it was for a short time. It was at least a time where he wouldn’t be executed.

• • •

The Baron moved over to his shuttle and tried to think of excuses why he had not removed the creatures that were killing his warriors. He hadn’t come up with a good one by the time he arrived at the shuttle and stepped inside the landing bay. The Third welcomed him back and suddenly the lights went out. The two Servants looked at each other and a moment later the emergency lights illuminated.

• • •

Ringie fell out of the ceiling vent behind the two Servants’ chairs when the bridge’s lights went out. The Pilot was leaning forward waiting for the emergency lighting to activate so he could run a diagnostic check; she whipped six of her arms at them. She wrapped three of them around each Servant’s neck and squeezed with all her strength. The room was suddenly illuminated by the emergency lights a moment later and she found herself holding two headless Servants. She leaned back in surprise as Blacky rushed in from the landing bay. Ringie turned and smiled, “I guess I’m stronger than I thought.”

Blacky laughed and yelled, “Lift the ship. I’m reconnecting the wire I cut.”

Blacky disappeared and Ringie threw the dead Servants to the back of the bridge and energized the shuttle’s thrusters. The small vessel lifted and turned north as it rose from the ground. The main lights came back on as the ship went vertical and Blacky was in the Second’s chair before they were ten miles above the planet. Ringie looked at the coordinates in the jump drive and changed the last four digits. Blacky watched her and smiled, “That’s nicely played.”

“Thank you. Stand by for jump.” The shuttle cleared the upper atmosphere and the two Madators saw more than a thousand warships in orbit directly above the planet. As they moved further from the planet, they saw thousands more scattered around the horizon from their location. Ringie looked at Blacky and he shrugged, “I guess they’re taking this seriously.”

Ringie activated the jump drive and said, “I guess.”

• • •

A navigator on a Servant Warship in orbit said, “That’s odd.”

The ship’s Commander turned and looked at him, “What’s odd?”

“The jump coordinates are directly toward our Lord’s planet but they’ll emerge outside the Lord’s planetary system.”

The Commander thought a moment and smiled, “I guess the Baron wants to take some time to get his story straight before he faces the Lord.”

The Navigator swiveled his head, “If he hadn’t got it straight by now…”

The Commander laughed out loud. A week later, both of them denied seeing the jump coordinates, when a security team questioned them. Apparently, none of the thousands of ships in orbit were in the least bit curious about the Baron’s jump track. They all claimed to be focused on the planet’s surface scanning for the creatures killing their warriors. The security team knew they were lying but weren’t going to endanger brave warriors for the Baron’s stupidity.

• • •

Ringie watched the shuttle’s scanners in a distant galaxy from the Servant’s location. The ship was hanging in green space and she watched for anything moving their way. She had jumped the shuttle a hundred times and waited at their current location for a week while Blacky went through the ship’s wiring searching for a location beacon. Blacky came into the control room and Ringie looked at him expectantly. Blacky’s head rolled around his body showing his disappointment, “I found it.”

“And?”

“If we enter normal space it will activate. It’s also in an armored location that I can’t break into without detonating the self-destruct module. The Servants thought this through before they installed it.”

“What can we do?”

“We can’t enter normal space; that’s for certain.” Blacky thought a moment and looked at Ringie, “Do you still have the communicator you were given by the Union before our first mission?”

Ringie reached over her round body and pulled it out of her hide. She handed it to Blacky, “What are you going to do with it?”