The Forbidden Wilds: Crossing the Styx Read online

  “I’ve continued to record their communications and I’m able to understand most of what’s being said. Personal names or titles are difficult, but I can understand most everything else.”

  “Use that term that Windy just intercepted when I address their leader.”

  “I’ve inserted the term into my data.”

  “Jingle, they are going to be able to track any communication you make! Move the moment you stop speaking!”

  “Jangle?”

  “I’ll handle it, Jingle.”

  Alex ordered, “Gary, Deidre, you have your assignments. Notify me when you’re in position. Jingle, once the three of us are in position, move in on that planet.” Jingle sat back and focused on how she was going to talk with an alien being. An hour later, Alex appeared on her monitor, “We’re in place. We’re going to listen in on your conversation, if there is one, and let us know if you need us to act.”

  “Will do, Alex. Jangle, move us in and make sure we don’t become a sitting target.”

  “You’ll need to limit your side of the conversation to about twenty seconds. Any longer than that, their ships will be able to home in on us.”

  “Got it. If I go longer, shut down the communication and move.”

  “I’ll let you know if I have to do that, Jingle.”

  “Activate the frequency they’re using, Jangle.” Jingle saw the green indicator on her communication panel illuminate. She took a deep breath, blew it out slowly, and said, “I wish to communicate with the leaders of the civilization.” Jingle paused and Jangle moved the Clapper to another position. Jingle waited and asked Jangle over their link, “Do you think they heard me?”

  “Jingle, the level of communications at that planet has just sky rocketed. They heard you alright.”

  Jingle waited and then continued, “I sense you’re reluctant to speak with me. I’ll give you a minute to start responding before I start taking action.” Jingle forced herself to relax and took another deep breath.

  After a minute had passed with no response, Jangle announced, “I have numerous energy sources moving in toward the planet from the outer planets.”

  “Alex, have you determined if the colony ships have any crews on them?”

  “I’ve scanned them, and they don’t have any life on board.”

  “I’ve also scanned them and the same is true for the ships I’m above,” Gary replied.

  “Ditto!” Deidre chimed in.

  Jingle suddenly felt calm. This was the right thing to do and if these aliens wouldn’t cooperate, the outcome would be on them. “I’m going to give you another minute to start communicating and if you refuse, I will start destroying one of your colony ships for each minute that passes. It doesn’t have to be this way and their losses will be your responsibility.” The Clapper moved as six alien warships rushed in on the position they just moved away from. A minute passed and Jingle ordered, “Destroy one a minute until they respond.”

  Alex targeted a huge colony ship hanging in orbit above an alien planet. He launched three-defense missiles and every blaster once the missiles hit the giant vessel. It went up in a horrific blast and the blasters vaporized the debris. “Target destroyed! Gary, you’re next in forty seconds.”

  • • •

  Ten minutes passed and Jingle didn’t say anything. “Jangle, what about their communication traffic?”

  “Too heavy to keep track of what’s being said, Jingle. Alex, Gary, and Deidre have destroyed ten of their colony ships at three different planets and there are numerous warships attempting to stop them but are failing miserably.”

  Jingle sighed and suddenly heard, “Call off your attacks!”

  “Are you ready to start communicating?”

  “For the moment, I am.”

  “Back off, guys!” Jingle sent over the stealth frequency. She then said, “I am not here to attack your planet. Order your warships to move to the planet to defend it.”

  “From what I’ve ascertained, that won’t prevent you from being able to attack.”

  “I can’t carry on a conversation if I have to keep moving every ten seconds to prevent your ships from finding me.” The warships didn’t stop searching and Jingle shook her head before ordering where the alien could hear, “Commence destroying their colony ships again.”

  “ALL RIGHT! I’LL CALL THEM OFF!!”

  “Delay your attacks until ordered otherwise,” Jingle ordered.

  “Their warships are headed toward the planet. Fifteen of them have shut down their systems hoping to trap us.”

  “Let me know if they start moving our way, Jangle.”

  “Will do.”

  Jingle lifted the microphone, “That includes the fifteen warships that just powered down.” The alien did not reply, and Jingle added, “I’m acting in good faith and will not endanger you or your planet. If you don’t remove those ships immediately, I’ll continue attacking your colony ships.”

  After a moment, Jangle announced, “They’re powering up and moving toward the planet.”

  “Let me know if you detect anything moving our way.”

  “You might tell him that we also see the two-hundred warships holding position behind us.”

  “If I detect any of those two-hundred warships holding position away from your planet start moving toward me, I’ll start the attacks again.” She looked up, “Jangle, keep them on your scanner.” Jingle lifted her microphone and said, “You really make it difficult to carry on a civil conversation.”

  “Who are you?”

  Jingle pressed a button on her panel and video began being transmitted with the verbal communications, “You know who I am. You’re hearing my conversation and know I’m using the language currently used by my species in the large galaxy close to you.”

  Suddenly, an image appeared on her monitor showing five alien beings sitting at a large table. The center one’s facial features moved, and Jingle saw he was the one speaking to her, “It appears we haven’t done as good of a job of not allowing you to detect us as we thought.”

  “No, we’ve known about you for a while.” The alien was silent, but she saw them looking at each other. They were communicating but she didn’t hear anything.

  “Why did you come here?”

  “To have a civil conversation between two neighbors. It’s your fault that I was forced to destroy some of your colony ships to get you to be polite and respond.”

  “That’s cute…and sarcastic.”

  Jingle smiled, “You know how it is? An alien civilization is planning to invade your home and destroy your civilization does require one to go out and ask why. However, we now understand that you’re under attack from another civilization from what we call the Large Magellanic Cloud and you feel you have no other option. Is that about right?”

  “How do you know about that?!”

  “We watched the last battle you had with four of their large battleships.” Jingle paused and added, “One of us that watched that battle says your military is not really savvy in the ways of war; your tactics were awful.” The five beings were silent, and Jingle continued, “I’m of the belief that your civilization is ancient, but he insists that your warships aren’t nearly as advanced as they should be if that is true. My superiors sent me here to see if we can resolve this little invasion issue between us.”

  “Nothing can be resolved between our species!”

  “Why is that?”

  “We’ve been observing your species for quite a long time and you’re aggressive and dangerous, not only to us but to yourselves!” the leader replied.

  “Just how long have you been observing us?”

  “From the time you came down out of the trees.”

  Jingle’s expression showed her shock, “That’s more than a million years!”

  “Actually, it’s not quite that long. We’ve seen you attack each other for resources and domination your entire existence. You are dangerous and cannot be trusted.”

  Jingle gathered
her wits and replied, “I will admit that we have been difficult to get along with, but we’ve made progress over the centuries.”

  “Less than four centuries ago, your species fought a major war for domination of your galaxy. This so-called progress you’re talking about doesn’t exist.”

  “More than eighty-five percent of the planets my species inhabit did not participate in that war and had been at peace for more than a thousand years before that war broke out. They still live in peace and now the planets involved in that war are living in peace with the Union.”

  “That’s only because those aliens in the nebula threatens you.”

  “Nothing unites a species like a common enemy. But now that my species is united again, the Union will enforce peace in my galaxy. You didn’t have to plan to invade and try to conquer us,” Jingle responded.

  “There’s nothing you can do to prevent it. It’s something we must do to survive.”

  “Well, you’re right, and you’re wrong.”

  “About what?!”

  “Your civilization is in danger, but you don’t have to invade to save yourselves,” Jingle answered. “You’re also wrong about our not being able to stop you.”

  “We know the power of your warships and they cannot stand up to my fleets.”

  “If that’s the case, why haven’t you been able to prevent the destruction of the colony ships we’ve destroyed?” The aliens were silent, and Jingle continued, “We can stop you and there’s nothing you can do to prevent it. You’d see that if you were wiser in the ways of war but apparently you’re not.”

  “And just how could you stop us?”

  “The same way I forced you to communicate. If you launch an invasion into my galaxy, the Union will send every warship into your space and destroy every colony ship you’ve built. Defeating the Union in my galaxy would do you no good if you can’t move your populations there.”

  “We can use our fleets to defend our colony ships!”

  “You really haven’t thought this through.” The five aliens stared at Jingle in silence and she smiled, “When we come to destroy your colony ships, we’ll send ten-thousand warships to the LMC and attack that civilization with the large warships. I’m certain they’ll respond, and we’ll lead them to your space. They’ll discover all your warships have left to defend your colony ships and they’ll start destroying your inhabited planets. You’ll lose ninety percent of your population to get ten percent into my galaxy.”

  The aliens continued staring at her in silence and Jingle added the coup-de-grace, “You should also be aware that we’ve not allowed you to detect our most powerful warship. While we’re leading those giant warships to your territory, we will be attacking every colony ship you’ve sent to my galaxy and you won’t be able to prevent it.”

  “I don’t believe you! You’re lying!”

  Jingle sighed, “I know what’s coming next and why does it always have to lead to killing. Can’t you just accept my word for it? You’re going to regret the next step if you push it.”

  “You’re going to have to show me I’m wrong before I consider communicating further with you.”

  “Tell me what you mean by that,” Jingle responded.

  “I’m sending a warship to confront your ship. You don’t want to face it because you know you’ll die.”

  Jingle pursed her lips and Alex said over the link, “I’ve made it back, Jingle. I’ll handle this.”

  “Alex, can you do it without killing them?”

  “I’ll try but that is going to be quite difficult. Tell him to send three warships.”

  Jingle shook her head and looked up at the five aliens, “Send three warships.”

  “One should be enough!” the alien replied.

  “I’m considering asking you to send ten ships, but I don’t want to kill the crews on those ships if it can be avoided. I’ll reveal my ship to allow your warships to locate me. Once they move inside the range of my weapons, we’ll start the fight. Please keep in mind that I wanted to avoid this, but you’ve left me no choice.”

  The five beings disappeared from the monitor and Jangle said, “Alex has turned off his hull coating and three alien warships are moving in from the planet.”

  “Alex, be careful.”

  “I’ll try to avoid harming the crews, but I can’t guarantee it, Jingle.” Jingle stared at the monitor and her fear filled her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Alex, they’ve detected us and are forming a triangle formation to surround us.”

  “Brooks activate the energy fields. We’re going to full speed and fly through the middle of that formation. Target the rear stabilizers on those ships with a defense missile and deactivate the explosives in the war heads.”

  “Is that a good idea?”

  “They won’t see the missiles launch and as soon as they hit their stabilizers; target those damaged stabilizers with a focused blaster and cut them off the ships as we pass. I’m going vertical immediately after they’re hit and hope they won’t have time to target us.”

  “Why are you choosing to use the force field, Alex?”

  “We’ve not determined if they can detect it. Now is as good a time as any to find out, Brooks.”

  • • •

  Jingle watched the battle unfolding and saw Alex had the rapids turned broadside to the three incoming warships. They were approaching at high-speed and suddenly the Rapids disappeared. Jangle zoomed in on the three warships and Jingle saw them suddenly twisted off course. The tall stabilizers on the rear of the ships were hit by something and bent ninety degrees just before a brilliant small diameter blaster beam hit them and sheared them off. The three ships tried to bring their blasters to bear but the ships were struggling to regain control. None of them got off a shot. Alex came around and fired a brilliant broad blaster beam in front of the three warship’s bows and turned away. The three warships fired at the space the blaster beams appeared from but hit nothing.”

  The Lead Alien listened to the communications from the three warships and heard the unit leader shouting, “WE CAN’T DETECT THE SHIP DOING THIS! IT COULD HAVE DESTROYED US THREE TIMES BUT HELD OFF!”

  The five aliens appeared on Jangle’s monitor and said, “Call off the attack.”

  Alex replied over the link, “I heard them.” The Rapids turned and moved in close to the Clapper.

  “I’ve called off the attack,” Jingle replied. The three damaged warships turned and headed back toward the distant planet. She looked at the five aliens and saw their normal pale color had become almost bright white. They were obviously frightened although their faces showed no emotion she could discern. They were bipedal with two arms and two legs with slim bodies. Their faces had two eyes and a nose, but their mouths were a small line just above their chins. It was difficult to see if it opened. They had hair…but it was fine and pale in color making it hard to see on their heads.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Jingle said softly.

  “What is that?” the center alien replied.

  “You’re wondering how we could have built warships like this without you being aware of it.” The alien’s eyes blinked, and it was the first time Jingle had noticed it. “You should know that there are more than a million planets in the Union and you’ve only been watching ten of them.”

  The aliens continued to stare at her in silence and Jingle began, “You now find yourselves in an untenable position. You now know we can destroy every colony ship you’ve constructed, and we can lead the civilization with the giant warships to your territory and assist them in destroying your planets. You forced this confrontation with your warships, and you’re frightened at the prospect of being forced to do whatever we demand. That’s on you! I tried to avoid it and simply negotiate with you, but you wouldn’t listen! Now you feel you have no options and that is not a good place to be when trust is trying to be established. All of this could have been avoided if you had just done the right thing from the start.”

>   “What are you talking about?” the Lead Alien asked.

  “You could have simply gone to the Union and asked us to help you; all of this could have been avoided.”

  “And you would have simply agreed to help us?! That’s ridiculous.”

  “All you had to do to find out was to simply ask us.”

  The five aliens stared at Jingle for a very long moment before the Lead Alien responded, “Will you help us?”

  Jingle smiled broadly, “I thought you’d never ask. Yes, we are more than willing to assist you out of your current dilemma.”

  “And how are you going to do that?”

  “Your main issue is you need a place to move your populations before your civilization is attacked, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “A secondary issue is that you don’t have nearly enough colony ships to move all of your populations quickly.”

  “Will you get to the point?!” the center alien said harshly.

  Jingle eyes narrowed, “Your anger is due to you knowing you have no options. That’s your fault and I asked you not to send your warships! I will talk with you showing the proper respect, I expect you to do the same!”

  The Lead Alien was silent for a moment and replied, “You are right. I apologize for my tone.”

  “We’re going to allow you to come into our galaxy and colonize some of our uninhabited planets. You can start moving your populations immediately and your colony ships can make multiple trips to move you. It will take ten round trips to move all of the populations on your planets.”

  The five stared at her again and after a long moment, the Lead Alien said in what was clearly a careful tone, “And you’re just going to hand over those planets with no strings attached.”

  “Oh no! There will be some requirements.”

  “I thought so!”

  “You will be allowed to move to uninhabited, habitable planets but you will be required to elect representatives to represent your species in the Union’s government. You will participate in the decisions that are made by our government and agree to defend the Union against all outside aggression; the Union will agree to do the same with your civilization.”