“And neither is the Alliance or the Moet. We’ve passed that point and with the evacuation of the Moet’s heavy ships, we control the plain. We just won’t allow a predator to attack in the area we control.”
Dolly looked between George and Chris and said, “Chris, this is a policy decision that we can’t make. Our elected leaders will have to weigh in on this one. You and Jillian need to get on with your mission but I promise you we’ll handle this issue.”
Chris stared at Dolly and nodded, “We’ll be leaving tomorrow. Let me know what you decide.”
“I will.”
Jeff saw Dolly turn off her display, “You realize that I will resign my position in this government if we choose to follow the Nasty Disposition Doctrine.”
Dolly looked at him and knew his heart. She also knew they would lose Chris as well. Her screen beeped and she pushed the pad and saw George on the screen, “Sis, what do you think about that discussion?”
“George, I’m troubled.”
“We need to tell the President that we can’t follow a doctrine that causes us to lose our soul. We have no option but to get involved in defending the Moet if they’re attacked. We must also stop any Alliance aggression. I wouldn’t want to live in a world that is so heartless as to allow millions to die that I could have prevented.”
“We’ll make the call together, George. I could turn my back on anyone that endangers the ones I love but this is not that instance.”
Dolly looked over and saw Jeff smile as he heard, “Make the call, Sissy.”
“The two of you don’t need to call anyone.”
Dolly looked at Jeff as George said, “What do you mean?”
“You have been charged to lead our military forces during this threat. You already have a blank check to do whatever you think is necessary. It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
George smiled, “What would you do, Jeff?”
“I’m sending Admiral Anders out with the fleet to monitor the main Alliance Planets for anything that appears to be a major offensive against the Moet. We’ll decide what to do if that happens.”
Dolly reached over and squeezed Jeff’s hand, “George, we’ll take it from here. Get us some ships to help us.”
“I’ll have the first batch completed in four weeks. Let me know if you need any of them sooner.”
“I will, love.” Dolly ended the call and Jeff hugged her and went to talk with Admiral Anders.
* * *
Tenah sat with the other nine leaders of the Alliance and listened to the scout give his report. “The Moet are starting massive evacuations. Their Capital has sent their heavy ships to some other location and most of their main battleships went with them. They are also moving a huge portion of their population.”
Tenah looked over at Gri-sen, “How wide spread is this activity?”
“We have only had scouts in ten systems over the last cycle. They have all reported in that the evacuation is happening on all the planets being watched.”
“Why are they leaving?”
“We have no idea, your Excellency.”
“Is there going to be another invasion?”
Gri-sen hesitated, “They appear to think there is.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Our ancient records report this same behavior just before the last invasion by the Blue Ships.”
“How long after that evacuation did the invasion happen?”
“Five Cycles.”
Tenah leaned back in his chair and said, “Did they leave the planetary defenses behind?”
“They did but they did not leave any heavy ships to support them.”
Tenah looked down the long table at Admiral Jdah, “Is our escape planet still available?”
“It has not been discovered by any of the hostile civilizations.”
Tenah looked at the Sheera on the other end of the table, “How many ships have the new beams installed?”
“Pretty much all of them have been updated; we’ve not used them because of that giant Moet Ship. The Fleet is dispersed and is handling any problems that may arise among the various planets.”
“If an invasion is coming, problems with the populations are the least of our concerns. Most of them will be destroyed if the Blue Ships are returning.” Tenah thought a moment and smiled, “However, before we join the Moet in evacuating our leadership, we can make their return extremely difficult.”
Admiral Jdah frowned, “How can we do that?”
“We use our fleet to bombard their major planets into ash. We’ll use dirty nuclear bombs that will destroy their planets for thousands of years. They will have to find new planets for their populations, which will slow their return down. We might be able to find the planets they are evacuating to and possibly lead one of the more aggressive civilizations in that galaxy to them. That will cause them massive destruction and make them leave earlier than they planned. If they are forced to return with no planets, we can attack their colony ships and destroy most of their population. Now is a defining moment in our history. We can get the upper hand and possibly end them as a menace.”
“Most of our planets will be destroyed by the Blue Ships.”
“True, but we can rebuild from those we take with us. We’ll move five planets of subject populations and use them to provide us with the raw materials we need. As their populations increase we’ll move them to other planets and be back in business in less than fifty cycles after the Blue Ships leave.”
Lgend said, “We could also use the fleet to move more populations to save them from the coming invasion instead of taking the time to attack the Moet Planets.”
Tenah stared at the newest member of the Ten Leaders and showed his disgust, “Those planets are nothing to us. We will attack the Moets. If you don’t have the stomach for this, I suggest you leave and join those that will be left behind.”
Lgend sat back in his chair and shook his head, “No, I remove my suggestion.”
Tenah smiled, “Gather the fleets and prepare for the attack.”
Jdah bowed and left the room.
* * *
Isadore looked over and saw Arvolo as he came into the classroom to pick up his box of cigars he had left in his desk earlier that morning. He saw Isadore still at her board and frowned, “You’re working rather late.”
“I’m working on getting a feel for my board. Do you have a moment?”
Arvolo shrugged, “Just a moment; what do you need.”
“Would you mind taking a look at my board and see if you see anything that might be improved in its lay out?”
Arvolo walked over and looked at her board, “Your reactor and force field controls should be placed together instead of the eight inch separation.”
He turned to go and she said, “Did you see anything else?” Isadore allowed him to take several steps away before she asked her question and waited for him to come back and look at her board.
Arvolo smiled, “You’re responsible for firing the beams as well as launching fusion missiles. The manual control of the beams is located between the missile and beam firing mechanism. It should be below the beam so you can switch to manual without raising your hand. I would want to be able to palm that button to manual and still have my hand on the missile controls.”
“What about the reactor switching?”
“They got that right. They should be at the top of the board for fast access. It’s those other items that I’d want to change. The slave to the pilot’s board is exactly where you’d want it in the center in the event the pilot was taken out of action.”
Isadore was amazed; he had only glanced at her board and he knew it. “Why did you say it took you three seconds to memorize your board?”
Arvolo shrugged, “Saying it only took a second would have sounded like bragging. I’m a very modest individual.”
Isadore started laughing and couldn’t stop. He looked at her and said, “What?” which only made her laugh harder. Arvolo shook his head and left the room to the sound of loud laughter. Isadore managed to get her laughter under control and contacted Dr. Levin and requested an audience to request changes to her board. She thought about the Crazy Cuban and burst out laughing again.
Arvolo walked to his living quarters and came back out to smoke one of the cigars he had purchased during a recent visit to Tampa. Imagine a cigar company that had been in business a hundred and fifteen years. What was amazing was that Edwards still had some ancient Cuban Cigars that had been preserved for eighty years. They cost him most of his month’s pay but were worth the pleasure they brought him. He lit one up and started throwing peanuts to the squirrels that had come running when they saw him. They had become quite friendly and one would even climb up his back and take a nut from his hand. He had named that one Kenny because it had no patience. If he didn’t give it a nut quickly it would chitter at high volume until he did.
He missed Kenny. The back and forth and banter were what used to make his day. Now it was too quiet onboard his ship. He thought about Isadore and wondered if she was going to be a good partner. She was attractive, in a way. He thought it funny that she had tested him to see if he could remember her control board. He wasn’t going to tell her that he had seen the weapons control board when he went to Dr. Morrison’s lab.
He took a puff and leaned back on the bench. Kenny started fussing and Arvolo threw a nut. The grey squirrel ran after it and climbed the tree to store it. He looked up at the sky and saw the evening beginning to grow dark. He sat there and enjoyed his cigar until the stars were shining brightly overhead. He needed to get back out to them. He was feeling the urge to visit Cuba though he had never gone back after he left. There were just too many memories of the executions of the family he loved. He hoped they understood.
* * *
Captain Aman Forester watched as hundreds of ships arrived at the Alliance Capital and entered normal space. He was in Sierra Space hiding next to another star and wondered what was going on. He counted more than four hundred ships arrive and watched as they continued to appear. Suddenly the numbers escalated and more than a thousand came in and entered the Capital’s planetary system.
“Fleet, I have more than eighteen hundred Alliance Ships jumping in to the Capital and more are arriving. That number is now more than twenty five hundred and they’re continuing to arrive.”
“Keep us informed of the numbers, Captain. We’ll notify you of what to do next.”
“Yes Sir. The number is now over four thousand and still growing.”
* * *
“Admiral Connor, are you ready for departure?”
“Yes, we are Fleet.”
“We need you to make a stop before you leave for your mission.”
Chris looked at Jillian and she shook her head, “What do you need us to do?”
“We’re going to send you the coordinates of a place in the outer Alliance Capital’s system. We need you to take a look in normal space at the organization of the Alliance Fleet that is gathering. You will be beyond their scanner range in the outer system.”
“How far out will we be?”
“Approximately 670 million miles.”
“That’s a light hour.”
“You are correct. We are anticipating that they are going to attack some of the Moet Planets and we need to know how many are being targeted.”
Chris looked at Jillian again and shook his head, “Why do you want to know?”
“We need to determine how to apportion our fleet to stop them.”
Chris smiled and said, “We’ll be jumping in five minutes. Give em hell.”
Jeff smiled, “You know we will.”
* * *
Arvolo and Isadore were on the bridge of the Jukebox and heard the communication. Arvolo looked at Isadore and said to Chris, “Don’t you think we need to help them?”
Jillian answered, “Not this time, Captain. You’ll have your opportunity later.”
Everyone saw Arvolo’s disappointment. “Who’s leading the Fleet?”
Chris looked at his board and said, “Admiral Anders.”
“Darn it! He gets to have all the fun.”
“Go to your chairs; we’re jumping in three minutes.”
Isadore smiled, “Now you’re sorry we were selected over the other two crews for this mission aren’t you?”
Arvolo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, “I’ve got mixed emotions. It’s like seeing your worst enemy drive your new car over a cliff.”
Isadore laughed and buckled in for the jump.
* * *
The Jukebox broke into normal space and Chris extended the sensors. The alarm sounded immediately and he brought the focus closer to the Alliance Capital. Chris fed the scan to the main display so everyone could see and Arvolo whistled, “This is a major Alliance Fleet Action.”
Chris looked at Arvolo, “Can you determine anything from what you see?”
“Yes, they are organizing into three smaller fleets with the same mix of ships in each one. The middle fleet is going to have more ships than the other two.”
“How can you tell?”
“Admiral Connor, the flagship is only one row in from the outer ships. They will bring additional ships to place it more in the center of that formation. That fleet is going to attack the most dangerous target.”
“Jillian, are you sending this to fleet?”
“I am and they agree with Captain Arvolo. They are of the opinion that the center fleet will be attacking the Capital of the Moet Empire.”
Chris stared at the display and looked at Arvolo, “How long do you think it will be before they attack?”
Arvolo stared at the display and pointed, “There; the other ships have arrived.” Chris looked up and saw that more than three hundred more ships had joined the center formation. “Admiral, they are forming up quickly so they have already assigned the targets to the three fleets. They will be jumping within the next two hours.”
Chris said, “Fleet, Captain Arvolo is of the opinion that they will be leaving to attack within the next hour.”
Arvolo shook his head and held up two fingers. Chris nodded and held up his hand.
“Roger that Jukebox.”
“Fleet, we are going to follow the central fleet and assist our ships against it.”
There was a long pause and then Chris heard, “Fleet says you should start your mission.”
Jillian looked at Chris and showed her confusion. “Fleet, I am in overall command of our Military Forces. We will not be leaving until this attack is handled. You can tell Dolly to take it up with the President and get back to us after the battle. Is that understood?”