Civil War Read online

  The Fight for Britannia

  Civil War

  Saxon Andrew

  Copyright © 2019 Saxon Andrew

  All rights reserved.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, organisations, or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please go to any online ebook store and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter One • Chapter Two • Chapter Three • Chapter Four • Chapter Five • Chapter Six • Chapter Seven • Chapter Eight • Chapter Nine • Chapter Ten • Chapter Eleven • Chapter Twelve • Chapter Thirteen • Chapter Fourteen • Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Books by Saxon Andrew

  About Saxon Andrew

  Introduction

  Eight years have passed since the advanced civilization in Andromeda spawned and moved into the Triangulum Galaxy. The Colonies were petrified at the possibility of the civilization from Andromeda moving into the Milky Way and they continued to build up their forces against that possibility. The initial scouts they sent to Andromeda were destroyed before they could get close to the dangerous civilization and the Colonies forgot about any issues they had with Britannia. However, they eventually learned to stay out of the Farmer’s territory, and they began learning about the giant ships that were used by the Farmers. After seven years, the Colonies discovered their warships were more powerful. Now they put their fear aside about Andromeda and started turning their attention to their home galaxy. Their attention was directed toward Earth and Britannia and their fear of how powerful their navies were. The Prime Minister ordered spies out to determine the strength of both planets and waited to receive the results. The Colonies paranoia of being attacked by other civilizations didn’t only extend to alien civilizations but also included the two other civilizations inhabited by humans. With their increased military might, the Prime Minister decided to use his power to take control of the only two human governments still not members of the Colonies. Once again as throughout history, the most dangerous species to humanity was itself.

  Britannia and Earth saw the changes in the Colonies behaviour and knew that the inevitable confrontation was coming toward them at high speed and tried to figure out ways to delay or stop it. But the Prime Minister still prevented contact between the Colonies and them; it’s hard to impact events when no communication takes place. Earth has given the lead to Britannia and will follow it in whatever happens. However, Earth and Britannia are heavily outnumbered by the Colonies’ Navy and it’s appearing that Civil War is imminent.

  Chapter One

  Cami took a call on her communicator and saw Justin smile, “It appears our Colony friends are starting to send more scouts out to see what we have.”

  “How many have they sent?”

  “There’s fifteen of them snooping around Britannia trying to get a ship count.”

  “I trust you have not allowed any of our ships to acknowledge their presence?”

  “All the crews know to keep their ships’ communications blocked and that’s especially true of the ships with telepaths on board,” Justin replied. “I think they’re still operating on the assumption that we can’t see their ships through their stealth systems.”

  “And it must remain that way, Justin!”

  “I know, I know. The only ships near Britannia are the old warships and that’s all the Colony scouts will be allowed to see. I have four of the new warships that are keeping track of their movements and they aren’t getting close to their positions.”

  “Have you run into any issues at the Britannia Colony Planet about sending our advanced warships to their location?”

  “No. Matter of fact, they’re welcoming them and are continuing building their ships. We’ve shared our technology with them, and they’re building new warships at a high rate.”

  “Have any of the Colony scouts moved anywhere near the core?”

  “No, they haven’t, Sir. It appears the message Admiral Tyers sent to them has them convinced we destroyed the Grang and DoRen civilizations. They knew those civilizations represented no threat to them and are allotting all of their resources to scouting Britannia.”

  “I wonder if they know about the civilization from Triangulum that’s settled in the core?” Cami mused.

  “I doubt it. They must believe we stopped them from coming to the Milky Way and they were brought under the Farmers’ control when they swarmed to Triangulum.” Justin paused and added, “But if they send a scout out to the core, they’ll learn about what’s going on out there.”

  Cami thought about it and then asked, “Do you know the current location of those scouts?”

  “I do; why do you ask?”

  “I want you to send one of our best telepaths out close to one of them and have them open a conversation with another ship.”

  “Do you want that conversation heard?”

  “I do. I want them to talk about the destruction of the Grang and DoRen and talk about not ever having to worry about them again. They might even suggest that if the threat from the Farmers ever goes away, we would have numerous habitable planets to settle in the distant future. They need to sound authentic, Justin.”

  “I’ll send Charlotte and Sharon out to make it happen.”

  “You need to do it now!” Cami ordered.

  “I’ll brief them immediately and get them out.”

  “Let me know how it goes.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  The call ended and Cami’s brow instantly furrowed. She felt a small pain in her mind for a slight instant and then it was gone. She had been feeling those quick pricks of pain for more than two weeks; she frowned and wondered what was causing them. She shook her head and went back to her computer’s ready reports.

  • • •

  Charlotte flew the old warship out and met Sharon close to the Colony scout. Charlotte activated her communicator and said, “Captain, I’m relieving you. You’re free to go get some time off for rest and relaxation.”

  “Thank you; I can use the rest. I don’t know why we have to stay out here, do you?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Who’s going to come here? The Grang and DoRen civilizations near the core have been destroyed and unless the Farmers show up, there’s nothing out here that threatens us.”

  “They weren’t really a threat anyway. But neutralizing them was necessary after their attacks on New Melbourne and New Britannia,” Charlotte replied. “Maybe someday after this issue with Andromeda has been resolved we’ll be free to settle some of the old Core Alien’s planets.”

  “That’s not going to happen for a very long time.”

  “I know, Sharon. But old habits die hard and keeping ships around the planet is what we’ve always done in the past. Enjoy your time off; I’m shutting down my communications.”

  Sharon laughed, “Try not to die of boredom.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  • • •

  The Colony scout intercepted the communication and smiled. The rumors were right about the two Core Civilizations being eliminated. Britannia was the only obstacle to insuring peace in the Galaxy. Well, Earth was also an issue, but it was not in his province to scout. He copied the communication and sent it out on a tight telepathic beam to the ship collecting the information he discovered. The Admiral on board the Collection Ship forwarded it to the Colonies Central Command and said, “There’s no need to send any scouts out to the other side of the black hole; the two civilizations there have been destroyed.”

  “Admiral, are you sure about that?”

  “Listen to the communication one of my scouts intercepted and you’ll see I’m right. We need to focus our efforts here at Britannia.”

  “I’ll notify the Prime Minister I’m changing our scouting plans. What have you been able to determine so far about their warships?”

  “You ordered me to not make an active scan of their warships, but they match up exactly with the warships they had when communications between the Colonies and Britannia were stopped. I can confirm they are unable to detect our Garrions.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes Sir. One of my scouts moved to within a mile of one of their warships and it did not respond to its presence. They also cannot detect the frequency from our Stealth Scanners either.”

  “Have you gotten a ship count on how many warships they have?”

  “We’re still working on that Sir. Not all of their ships are above the planet and we’re having to keep a running total.”

  “Do you have an idea of how many we’re looking at?!”

  “If I had to estimate I would say between fifty and seventy thousand Sir.”

  “That’s not as many as I expected them to have.”

  “Sir, it’s like what those pilots said in their communication; they don’t see any threat to them, and they aren’t compelled to keep building high numbers of warships.”

  “If that’s the case, Earth is a bigger threat than Britannia.”

>   “Why is that Sir?”

  “Earth has more than two hundred thousand of those giant defense platforms surrounding their planet.”

  “We can handle them Sir.”

  “They’re still extremely dangerous.”

  “But we can see them, and they can’t see us. We can set up to attack all of them simultaneously and remove most of them if it came down to a war.”

  “Let us hope that doesn’t happen. Let me know if you find out anything else important.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  • • •

  The small advanced Britannia Warship was positioned directly between the Colony Collection Ship and the Colony Fleet’s Central Command Planet. The computer on board the small ship copied the transmission and sent it to Justin’s ship. He immediately contacted Cami and said, “They were planning to send scouts out to the other side of the black hole but have called it off and are focusing on Britannia, Cami.”

  “This is just a temporary band-aid. They will probably send a scout out anyway before they initiate any hostile actions.”

  “I doubt it.”

  Cami’s brow furrowed, “Why do you say that?”

  “From the communications we’ve intercepted, the Prime Minister has required all the experienced Fleet Admirals in the Colony Fleets to retire and has replaced them with officers that are loyal to him. Those new officers are not experienced and are only good for following orders and making sure they don’t do anything to anger the Prime Minister.”

  “They still have Admiral Tarangelo in overall command and he’s quite good.”

  “It appears the Prime Minister doesn’t trust him; he’s been soiled by his contact with Britannia and his suggestions are pretty much ignored,” Justin commented.

  Cami nodded slightly and said, “I wonder if Richard still takes defending the Colonies seriously. If he does, he will send scouts out to the other side of the core.”

  “If he insists, I suspect the Prime Minister will demote him for his poor decision making. I think Richard is smart enough to see what’s going on and I have to believe he’s against it.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  Cami ended the contact and felt that small prick of pain again. It disappeared and she shook her head. She needed to go see a doctor to see if she had something physically wrong happening to her brain.

  • • •

  Two days later, she went to Taffy’s house for a lunch with the family. She didn’t have time to do this, but she wasn’t going to be a no show; it would hurt her parents if she didn’t come. She arrived and found everyone present waiting for her arrival. Coco came running up as she entered and jumped into her arms, “How’s my favorite aunt?” Coco screamed.

  Cami swung her around and laughed, “You’re getting so big! I can barely lift you now.”

  Coco squealed her laughter and Cami put her down as the others came over to welcome her. Coco quickly said, “You promised Aunt Cami!”

  Cami sighed, “We’ll see.”

  “But you promised!”

  Sweets arrived and hugged Cami, “What have you promised?”

  “I told Coco that we would go out and spend the day together next time I saw her,” Cami replied.

  “Then you should keep your promise, Cami.”

  Cami shook her head slightly and then nodded, “We’ll go out and take a look at the city after lunch.” Coco’s smile was huge as Taffy rushed up and hugged Cami.

  • • •

  The gathering lasted for several hours and finally Cami stood and smiled, “I’m taking Coco out for a walk in the city.” Taffy and Grady protested but Cami insisted she had promised Coco to spend some time with her the next time they were together. Everyone hugged them and Cami took Coco to her shuttle and arrived at the Fleet Operations Building. They took the elevator down to the first floor and Cami held Coco’s hand as they exited the building and started walking up the street looking at the stores and restaurants on each side of the thoroughfare. “It’s really grown a lot, Aunt Cami.”

  Cami smiled, “Yes it has and it’s still growing. It’s really good to see you Coco. I’m sorry I’ve been too busy to visit.”

  “That’s ok. You’ve kept your promise.”

  They were passing a restaurant when Cami felt the pain in her head. She frowned and said, “Let’s sit down for a moment.” She led Coco to a bench next to the street and sat down.

  She rubbed her head and Coco looked up at her, “He’s not being nice.”

  Cami felt the pain disappear and asked, “Who’s not being nice?”

  “The man who’s trying to look at your thoughts.”

  Cami’s eyes instantly narrowed, “What?”

  “The man who keeps trying to look at your thoughts is causing you some pain. He’s not being nice,” Coco replied.

  Cami forced a smile and hugged Coco before asking, “Is he close to us?”

  “Yes.”

  Cami looked out across the street and said, “Can you find him without being seen?” Coco smiled and nodded. “Why don’t you go and ask him to come and talk with me?” Coco stared at her and Cami said, “Stand up and go into the restaurant. When you see me stand up and stretch, leave the restaurant and go ask him to come talk with me.” Coco nodded, stood up, and went into the restaurant. After a few moments, Cami stood up and stretched before sitting back down. She gazed out at the traffic in the street and the passing pedestrians.

  • • •

  The man was staring into the front glass of a sporting goods store. He glanced further down the glass and saw the reflection of the woman who was his target sit down on a bench with a little girl. He looked around and saw no one was paying attention to him. He looked back at the woman and saw the young girl stand up and go into a restaurant behind the woman. The man sighed and thought, nature must be calling. He watched the woman and saw her lift her communicator and start talking. He had watched the woman on numerous occasions while following her and was constantly amazed at how someone so young could be leading this planet. She wasn’t beautiful; truth be told, even pretty would be a stretch. But she had a sense of presence that made her stand out in any group. It was easy to see this young woman was something special.

  He kept his eyes on the reflection and suddenly felt a tug on his pants leg. He looked down and saw the little girl staring up at him, “My aunt has requested you to come and talk with her.” The man’s heart was hammering in his chest. He instantly looked up at the roofs for the barrel of a laser rifle pointed at him. The little girl said, “It wouldn’t be polite to refuse.” She took his hand and smiled, “I need you to help me across the street. My mom would have a fit if she knew I crossed the street alone.” She pulled him toward the street and he initially refused to move but then decided the safest place for him if a laser rifle was pointed at him was beside the little girl. She pulled him to the edge of the street and looked up at him. He checked traffic moving from both directions and walked with her out to the island in the middle of the street as he looked at the roof-tops again. He waited for a break in traffic and led the little girl to the other side of the street as his mind was working furiously. It made no sense that the woman would send a child related to her to bring him to her if she knew who he was. It might be possible that the woman saw him, was impressed by his looks, and wanted to get to know him; many women had come on to him on numerous occasions. He forced himself to relax and smile. The little girl led him to the bench and skipped along beside him. She looked up at him and giggled, “I love to skip when I’m out walking.” They arrived at the bench and the man heard the young girl say telepathically, “Here he is, Aunt Cami.” The little girl released his hand, ran to the bench, and sat down beside the woman.

  Cami looked up at the man and saw he was about six-foot tall and had jet black hair with eyes so blue they looked very much like Justin’s eyes. For a moment Cami realized, once again, that she had been born with many talents, but beauty wasn’t one of them. This man was nice on the eyes. She smiled and said, “Please, sit down.” The man sat down on the bench beside the little girl and began to relax. He smiled and it immediately disappeared when Cami said, “I didn’t think the Colonies would be sending spies to Britannia now.” The man glared at Cami but couldn’t stop himself from looking at the roof-tops again for the barrel of a laser rifle. Cami saw him and said, “You are in no danger. All I want is to have an open and honest conversation with you.” The man turned back to her and Cami said, “I’ve just discovered that the pain I’ve been experiencing in my mind has been coming from you attempting to look at my thoughts. Coco is the one that actually saw it was you causing me the pain and just pointed it out to me.”