Defending Earth-Searching for Death Feeders (33 page)

Nicole smiled, “I knew I made a good choice in selecting you. This proves it.” Poncho sighed. “Admiral…”

“Call me Poncho, please.”

“Ok, Poncho, do you know why Kyle and I backed out of looking for the Feeder’s Leaders?”

“Willow said it was too dangerous.”

“She’s right. That’s the exact reason we called off the mission.”

“Then why are you sending Cisco and me.”

“And Brittany.”

Poncho tilted his head, “And Brittany.”

“Do you remember when Kyle contacted you and Cisco to congratulate you on your actions against the Feeder Fleet?” Poncho nodded. “He did it telepathically and he had me linked in with his thoughts. I listened to you and I noticed that your thoughts and Kyle’s felt almost identical.”

“What?”

“I don’t know your ancestry but I believe that you and Kyle share a lot of the same DNA. Do you know who your ancestors were?”

“Never really cared, Nicole.”

“What was your grandmother’s name?”

“Axel.”

“And your father’s grandmother?”

“Stone.”

“I suspected as much.”

“Why did you want to know if I’ve ever had my DNA changed to another species?”

“What I’m about to tell you is classified beyond Red Star. You can never repeat it?”

“Does Brittany know?”

“She’s the only one you can tell. I didn’t tell her. There is an advanced telepathic species that have been named the Nudges. They have been manipulating various beings in the Alliance trying to get us ready to take on the Feeders. Kyle and I had our DNA modified by them when we changes species.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Former Leaders of Earth had suspected they originally modified Lukas Axel’s DNA when he changed from a Welken to Human. We pretty much know they changed us as well.”

“Are you saying that they changed my DNA when I became a Goran?”

Nicole’s brow furrowed, “I don’t know for certain. But I do know that Brittany’s mind matches up with mine so closely as to be impossible. We are related, her mother and my mother were twins, but the similarities are too close to be normal. She came to me and told me she felt like she was being compelled to go on your mission. I did a quick look at your and Cisco’s personnel files and saw that he had never undergone a DNA change.”

“Then you knew the answer to your question before you asked it?”

“No, I didn’t. That part of your file was missing.”

“What?”

“Someone erased it.”

“Why would they do that?”

“To hide their tampering. Your admission of changing to a Goran confirms beyond any doubt that the Nudges had some sort of plan in place for you and Brittany.”

Poncho’s brow furrowed and he quickly took another bite of potatoes. After a moment Nicole saw his brow unfurrow and he said, “I do not like being manipulated!”

Nicole waved her hand, “No one does, Poncho. Kyle and I fought against their manipulations but found it was foolish.”

“Why? You could have prevented it.”

“Not if you love the one they’re pushing you toward. We were nudged off the mission because our destiny was to have children that will be the next level of telepaths.”

“Is that what you think Brittany and I are being set up to do?”

“No, I don’t.” Poncho’s head went back. “If that were the case, you and she would not be going on this mission.”

“Then what is their purpose?”

“I really don’t know. But you need to understand this; the Nudges have only done things that have helped mankind survive against all the enemies it’s had to face. You and Brittany coming together is to help us survive, Poncho. You would be making a mistake to fight against it.”

“But I don’t really have any feelings for her.”

“Do you have feelings for anyone else?”

“Well…no. I mean not a female. I love Cisco like a brother.”

“Do you like females?”

“Of course. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Hey, it’s a fair question. Why haven’t you ever had a steady relationship? I saw in your files you haven’t.”

“Why would that be in my files? That’s none of Fleet’s business.”

“Everything is Fleet’s business when it comes to their warriors. Why haven’t you?”

“Never found the right one, I suppose.”

Nicole smiled, “Perhaps, someone has found her for you.”

“Nicole, you can’t expect me to believe this?”

“I didn’t believe it, either.”

Poncho stared at her and said, “Buttttt…”

“They were right. All I want you to do is keep an open mind.”

“How does Brittany feel about this?”

“You should ask her.”

“Why don’t you tell me?”

“No, you should ask her.” Nicole looked at her wrist unit, “Oops, Kyle needs me. Good luck with your mission, Admiral. I know you and your crew will do us proud.” Nicole walked away and Poncho sat at the table and slowly ate his meal. This was not something that made him happy. What was he going to do?

P
oncho walked on the bridge and sensed the tension. Jose knew something was going on and Brittany refused to look at him. He sat in his chair and said, “Did you give the failsafe to Fleet?”

“We did, Poncho and they really appreciate it.”

“Good, Amber; skip us out to one of the safe points you set up for the failsafe.”

“I’ll go to the first one.”

“That would be good.” The Black Light Ship disappeared from the roof of Fleet Operations and appeared in open space outside the Milky Way. Poncho looked at the beautiful spiral galaxy and smiled. The others looked out of the view port as well and he sensed the tension level falling. He smiled and said, “It hard to be angry, fearful, or tense when looking at our home.” Cisco and Brittany looked at him and Poncho looked up, “Willow, do you know about the Nudges?”

“Uhhhhh…yes, I know some things.”

“Why don’t you tell everyone on board all you know?”

“But most of it is classified.”

“We have the clearances to hear it.”

“Are you sure about this, Commander?”

“Start from the beginning and bring us up to what you know currently.”

“Why do you want to do this?”

“I’m sure you know about them doing things with this crew, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Brittany and Cisco’s expressions showed their surprise at the remark.

“I’m not going out to explore Feeder Space without all of those on board feeling comfortable with each other. Cisco and Brittany know something is going on and it’s not knowing about it that will prevent us from working together. Tell us what you know.”

There was a long pause and Willow began telling them about the things that had happened in the past that could only have happened because of Humans being manipulated. Poncho sat back and listened with Cisco and Brittany. It took an hour but at the end, Cisco had a serious expression. He looked at Brittany and saw her nod. He turned to Poncho, “Willow is suggesting that Brittany came on this mission to be with you.”

Poncho looked at Brittany, “Is that true?”

Brittany looked at Cisco and then sighed, “Yes, Nicole convinced me that you were the reason I was being compelled to go.”

“She’s also convinced me as well.” Brittany’s eyes went wide and Poncho said, “I don’t know if what she’s saying is accurate or not. However, if what she says about the Nudges doing things to assist humanity is real, I feel I have to keep an open mind about this. I really think you and I should explore any avenue that might reveal their intentions.”

“I’ll move into the separate quarters.”

Poncho looked at Cisco, “You will not. Neither of us knows what’s going on and we’re not going to rush into anything until we do.” Poncho looked at Brittany and saw her smile and nod.

“Well drat.”

“What?”

Cisco looked at Poncho, “I was sort of setting my sites on Brittany.” He looked at her and said, “No offense.”

Brittany smiled, “None taken.”

“Willow, do you have anything to add to this?”

“Amber and I suspected the two of you were being put here for a reason. Our response was to just wait and see what happens.”

“That will be ours as well.” Poncho looked around and smiled, “Are we ready to work together now?”

Cisco nodded and Brittany smiled, “Thank you for clearing this up. I feel better now that everything is out in the open.”

“Good. Amber, skip us out to where we need to start our mission.”

“We have a general location of the Feeder’s Leaders but I’m not skipping too close. We need to go in slowly and carefully with our full array of stealth systems active.”

“You and Willow are our tour guides. We’re going into armor and activating all of our weapons and scanning systems. Make the skip.”

• • •

“We’ve not received any inhabitants from the planet of telepaths our Scout Fleet was attacking. They are far behind schedule.”

“They did report that the planet was heavily defended.”

“The Fleet Leader knew that if he were unable to take the planet he was to report to us so we could send a full fleet.”

“It does seem odd that we’ve heard nothing.”

There was a very long pause and then the Prime Leader said, “Contact another Scout Fleet in that sector and have them send a Half-Force to find out what’s going on.”

“Yes, Leader.”

• • •

Poncho listened to the exchange over the wall speaker and looked up, “Willow, those thoughts sound remarkably clear. Are we getting close to their main planets?”

“No, both of the thoughts are much stronger than what I’ve heard from normal feeders; however, I’m concerned about their sending a fleet to that planet?”

“Why?”

“Fleet has been using mechanical transports to move large schools of that telepathic fish to that planet.”

“When did that happen? How will the former occupants return if the Feeders are eventually handled?”

“They won’t. That planet has also been placed on the quarantine list with the planet those fish originated on. The new planet they’ve been moved to suits them and they agreed to Fleet using their former planet as a trap for the Feeders. The process of moving those fish is still underway.”

“Amber, activate the failsafe and move us out of this galaxy. We have to warn Fleet Operations the Feeders are sending a fleet.”

“We won’t be able to just skip back in to where we are. We’ll have to start all over again outside the galaxy.”

“We have no choice; activate the failsafe.”

The Light Ship appeared in normal space and Poncho activated his communicator. He sent a beep to Admiral Charles and, after a minute, she appeared on the wall display, “Good morning, Admiral Gonzalez. I didn’t expect to hear from you this soon.”

“Admiral, the Feeders are sending a fleet to investigate the former planet of the telepaths we moved to the Goran Galaxy.”

“WHEN?”

“The Leader of their species just ordered it. They should be on the way shortly.”

“Thank you for warning us. I have to stop the transports immediately.”

“Yes Sir, we’ll be headed back to Feeder Space momentarily.” The display went dark and Poncho leaned back, “Willow, tell me more about the power of those thoughts you intercepted.”

“They originated from much further into the core of that galaxy. Their power was impressive. Brittany, did you sense anything?”

“I felt that one of them was starting to sense our presence.”

Silence slammed down on the bridge as Poncho and Cisco stared at her. After a moment, Willow said, “Tell me what you mean.”

“I wish I could. I just sensed that a giant intellect was sending its mind out into the galaxy searching for something. It felt like it flashed by us several times.”

“Did you see it in your mind?”

“No, I didn’t. Each time I went to rotate my thought blocker to allow me to see it, I felt immense fear at doing it. Something in my brain doesn’t want me take the risk.”

Cisco shook his head, “Willow, do you know what that means?”

“I’m not sure. I do know the thoughts from those two Feeders were incredibly powerful and they were a long way from our location.”

Poncho looked at Brittany, “You said you sensed the intellect searching their galaxy flashed by us several times?”

“It did.”

“And it didn’t detect us?”

Brittany hesitated and closed her eyes. A few moments later she opened them, “I think it must have detected something but it did not see us during its search.”

“What makes you think it detected us?”

“It didn’t start searching until we arrived at our last location.”

Poncho hesitated and said, “Brittany, I need to look in your mind before we go back.”

“What do you mean, ‘look in my mind,’?”

“I need to take a look at the primitive part of your brain to see if there is any residual evidence of what you saw.”

“Is this really necessary?”

Poncho tilted his head and nodded, “It is. I also believe that you and I will eventually have to connect telepathically to see if there is anything that would allow us to understand why you and I are being nudged together. I will also open my mind for you to see my thoughts as well. It’s only fair if I’m asking you to be open to me.”

Brittany sighed, “You will keep what you see private?”

“I will unless it’s something Willow and Amber need to know about to keep us safe.”

Brittany shook her head, took off her thought blocker, and untied her long white hair and let it fall. “Go ahead.”

“Why did you let your hair down?”

“Poncho, it feels better and I don’t want to be distracted by having it tied up so tight.”

Cisco smiled, “You should keep it down.” Brittany looked at him. “It’s really quite beautiful.”

Brittany sighed and looked at Poncho, “I’ve been trying not to be distracting.” Poncho laughed. “What’s so funny?”

“That is impossible. I agree with Cisco, you are too beautiful not to be noticed. You should just be comfortable and not worry about it. Are you ready?” Brittany nodded and both of them sat back in their chairs and closed their eyes.

After forty five minutes passed, Cisco looked up, “Isn’t this taking too long, Willow?”

“Yes, it is. Something is going on.”

“Is this safe?”