Escape to Earth-The Legacy of a Conqueror Read online

  Chris shook his head, “They do not control their own destiny. It’s the species that’s directing that galaxy who’s to blame. However, even if they don’t, it was the right thing to do.”

  The Johan sighed, “I hope I have the strength of your convictions if I’m faced with a similar situation.”

  Jinks looked at the Welken and nodded toward the representatives fleeing the room, “You know that most of them will come to you individually to beg you to join our alliance?”

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “If you accept them, our alliance will be broken.”

  “You don’t think they can change?”

  “They’ve been working together for more than five years to meet a common enemy. If they haven’t changed during that time, when will they?”

  The Welken looked at the other two Rulers and saw them nodding in agreement. “I was hoping the Fellowship would become something special.”

  “They are what they’ve been. We will be leaving but if you have any trouble, contact us.”

  The Royal nodded and looked at Chris, “Your heart is strong. Don’t lose it.” Chris nodded and turned to leave.

  He looked at Jinks and Chad, who had removed his helmet. “Lukas?” Jinks nodded. Chris shook his head.

  “He had to know where we stand.”

  “I know. I just hate he allowed Audrey to suffer like this.”

  “She was told what was going on as soon as we left the prison. She’s waiting for you in orbit.”

  Chris smiled, “Perhaps I was a little hasty to be angry.” Jinks nodded and put his helmet back on as they exited the building. Chad followed his lead. “You just never know when trouble might raise its ugly head.”

  “Jinks, when did the armor come online?”

  “The first prototypes were approved five months ago. The miniature DE Reactors were installed four months ago. Making them small enough to fit was the main issue but Amanda and Trevor really performed magic with them.”

  Chris’s eyes went wide, “The armor uses Dark Energy reactors!? I thought they would use Dark Matter Reactors?”

  “That’s what’s taken them so long to come on line. However, the converters are producing them at a high rate and all pilots are going to be fitted for them before we start arming our ground forces.”

  “They aren’t going to be very comfortable while flying the Pods.”

  “They’re being made to replace the chairs in the Pods. You’ll be sitting on it; Press a button and the armor wraps around you in an instant. You’re going to like the features.”

  Chris nodded as they approached the armored shuttle, “I look forward to learning how to use it. Chad, thank you for coming.”

  “I didn’t want to miss it. Those Fellowship Reps are really a nasty bunch of punks.”

  “Yes they are.”

  “Chris, Lukas wants to see you as soon as you get back.”

  “He’s going to have to wait.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Audrey and I will take some time to be alone first.”

  Jinks smiled, “I’ll let him know.”

  Chapter Two

  Chris walked in the large office in Fleet Operations and sat across from Lukas and Salud. Lukas smiled, “It’s good to have you back. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you about what was going on.”

  “I understand why; you needed my reactions to be genuine.”

  “Exactly.”

  “I couldn’t hear the thoughts of Chad and Jinks in their armor. Is that a new development?”

  “It is. Piper assisted us in finding the proper scrambling frequency to block a telepath from hearing the wearer’s thoughts.”

  “Why would he do that? I would think being able to hear our thoughts was not something he would give up.”

  “He has finally come to the point where he trusts us. We’ve been talking with Barbie while you’ve been incarcerated, and she showed us the strange thought pattern she detected in M-87. We are of the opinion now, after the fact, that pattern came from a scout sent there from M-84. It appears a species in that galaxy is telepathic. It also appears it is highly aggressive.”

  “How did you come to that conclusion? They were attacked by the Green Civilization first. They only retaliated.”

  “But look at how they retaliated. The Green ships destroyed three planets. They came in and attacked and destroyed thousands of planets and they didn’t back off until they were highly outnumbered with the return of the invasion fleet.”

  “Why are you worried about them? We didn’t attack them.”

  “No, but we led the Orange Ships chasing our scouts toward their galaxy. We actually caused the destruction of those three planets.”

  “Do you think they know about that?”

  “They’re telepathic. One of them would have learned that the Green Ships followed skip traces toward their galaxy. If you possessed that knowledge, what would you conclude?”

  Chris shook his head, “They will eliminate the Green Ships as well as the Orange Ships. That only leaves us.”

  “That’s how I see it. I’ve asked Piper to check and see if he can detect any strange thought patterns around our galaxy.”

  “And?”

  “There’s six of them out there waiting to signal the proper time to attack.”

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “No, what are you going to do about it?”

  “Me?”

  “You are now in command of all our military forces and I’m counting on you to make the right decisions about defending us.”

  “Why would you choose me instead of Jinks?”

  “You are telepathic; he’s not. I believe the two of you aren’t that different in your command skills.”

  Chris shook his head, “What do you see happening?”

  “Piper says those scouts arrived after their attack in M-87. My real concern is that being telepathic, they will look at the thoughts of our pilots and learn about our technology. We have to prevent that from happening and we need to remove them as quickly as possible. We’ve developed a blocking field for our armor and ships that prevents telepaths from hearing the thoughts of our warriors but the armor hasn’t been distributed yet. We will be able to block them from learning anything from our warriors but we can’t block the thoughts of everyone on the planet.”

  “You’re right, they have to be removed.”

  “Yes they do, Chris, and in this particular case, it’s our own fault they are here. We caused it.”

  “What about the Invaders?”

  Lukas smiled, “We are about to enter an extended time of peace.”

  “What?”

  “The Invaders are trapped into a situation they can’t escape. If they send ships to the galaxy they conquered, M-84 will attack again. If they send ships here, M-84 and M-86 will probably launch against them.”

  “M-86?”

  “The Orange Fleets that were on their way there turned around and returned to defend their planets. For the first time in almost a hundred years, the civilizations in M-86 are not fighting for their survival. They have started banding together and have instituted a massive building campaign to manufacture warships. They’ve also launched a thousand ships to go to M-87 and deploy probes to keep an eye of them. If the Invaders go to attack M-84, they will seize the moment and attack them. M-87 has probes in M-86 and they have to know what’s happening. I’m sure they also believe we would join the fleets from M-86 in their attack.”

  “We would go and attack them there?”

  “We wouldn’t join M-86 because there is a real possibility that they would attack our ships as well, but they don’t know that. They would expect us to do it because that is what they would do in the same situation. A stalemate exists and we will have time to prepare for when the powder keg goes up.” Chris tilted his head and Lukas shrugged, “There’s too much anger and aggression out there. Eventually, someone is going to tire of waiting and go on the attack. That’s wh
en all hell will break loose and we’ll be sucked up in it, along with the other three galaxies.”

  Chris thought for a moment and shook his head, “If M-86 attacks M-87, then M-84 will not have to worry about being attacked and they will be freed up to attack us here.” Lukas nodded. “And if M-87 attacks anyone, the others will pounce on them.”

  “Right again.”

  “We need to really start building Pods.”

  “There’s something else.”

  “What is that?”

  “We’ve always taken the stance that we will only defend ourselves against outside aggressors.”

  “Yeah, I’m aware of that.”

  Lukas looked at Salud and she said, “That is going to change.”

  Chris looked at her and saw her anger. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve stood by and watched twice as another galaxy came to exterminate mankind and all I’ve done is live with my fear and pray we can survive. I’m done with that. I am not going to live in fear that my children are going to be blasted by an aggressive civilization that wants us dead. We will probably be the ones that light the powder keg.”

  Chris looked at Lukas, “Do you agree with this?”

  Lukas stared at Salud and then turned to Chris, “To a point. Those wishing our demise should be given an opportunity to change their evil ways, but if they refuse, then they deserve what they get. Being a father has changed my perspective.”

  “How is that?”

  “Do I want to wait for an intruder to enter my house before I defend my family or do I meet them outside?”

  Chris lowered his head and nodded slowly, “Audrey is pregnant.”

  Salud smiled brightly, “Congratulations!!”

  Chris looked up at her, “I understand what you’re saying.”

  Lukas shook his head, “No you don’t.”

  Chris jerked his head from Salud to Lukas, “What am I missing?”

  “You are chosen to be the Conqueror that goes out and removes those that pose a danger to us.”

  “Conqueror?”

  “You are tasked with removing any civilization that represents a threat to the planets of our allies and us.”

  Chris shook his head, “I don’t see myself as a conqueror.”

  “That’s why you’ll be a good one. I know you’re not ready to go out and take on those galaxies but we have some time to build the forces you’re going to need. We will announce your new position shortly and call for all of our planets to give you their total commitment and support to accomplish your mission.”

  “Lukas, you should be doing this?”

  “I don’t have the heart to do it. I would fail at the critical moment.”

  “Just like I just did.”

  Salud shook her head, “You didn’t fail. You told them that next time you would finish what they started. You actually wanted to finish it then but managed to stop and do the right thing. That’s what convinced us that you are the one destined to do this.”

  “You think this is my destiny?”

  “Lukas should have killed you before you were born to prevent the Stalkers from seeing you and learning that he was on Earth. He didn’t do it. You were created to do something remarkable. You are going to save us.”

  Chris looked at them and slowly shook his head, “Can the two of you imagine how many intelligent beings I might have to kill?”

  Salud’s smile turned hard, “If they were intelligent, they would leave us the hell alone!”

  Chris stared at her and started chuckling. After another moment he started laughing. Lukas joined him and Salud said, “What’s so funny!?”

  It took a minute before Chris managed to say, “We have to change the definition of intelligent life; coming after us is really stupid!”

  Salud nodded, “Indeed it is!” Chris grabbed his ribs and laughed even harder.

  Lukas laughed and managed to say, “She’s serious about this!”

  Chris fell back in his chair holding his ribs and managed to look at Lukas through his tears, “You think?” Lukas had to stand up and bend over to breathe.

  Salud stared at them and frowned, “I don’t see anything funny!” Her remark was greeted with another roar of laughter. Salud stood up and stormed out of the room.

  After some time had passed and they had caught their breath, Lukas said, “The most dangerous of our species are the females.” Chris nodded. Lukas took a deep breath and blew it out. He leaned back and slowly shook his head, “I’ve watched her at night staring at our children with more love than I can describe. But I can see the fear in her eyes wondering if they would live a full life or be killed by alien invaders. I would not go out to attack but I can’t allow her and all the other mothers on Eden and Earth to live with constant fear for their children. We have to bring them peace.”

  “Thanks, Lukas. I needed to hear this. I couldn’t understand why you’ve undergone such a radical departure from your previous views. Now, I do.”

  Lukas looked at Chris, “I’m very proud of you. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to raise you.”

  Chris smiled, “It was my destiny, remember. I suspect Pat had a hand in it but you’ve always been there taking care of me. It’s time I did my part.”

  “Can you do this?”

  Chris looked at Lukas and his expression turned dark, “I’ve heard the thoughts of real killers wanting our extinction. This conversation has freed me to look at them in another light.” Chris stood up, “I’m going to need enough ships to go out and do this. I can’t go and leave this galaxy and Eden undefended.”

  “The population on Eden is growing at a tremendous rate. It appears when humans are stressed by fear of dying, their birth rate skyrockets. When the original colonists went to Eden, nearly all of them were at childbearing ages. We’ve also made a rather remarkable discovery.”

  “What is that?”

  “I hate it but our people on Eden are forced to be a part of a military culture. Even the children are subjected to the fears of being conquered by aliens. Amanda and Trevor have built small training pods for the young adults and teenagers to fly.”

  “WHAT?”

  “They love it. They aren’t armed with anything more than bright lights that replace their disruptors and they are not given any instruction except to go out and play.” Lukas looked at Chris, “They can do things with a pod that are absolutely impossible. They can already fly rings around our veteran pilots and they’re getting better as they grow up.”

  “How many?”

  “There will be more than a million in six years.”

  “I do hope you’re looking for the leaders among them?”

  “Piper is assisting with that task. I’ve also asked Pat to look in on them and he’s also pointing out the ones to keep our eyes on.”

  Chris stared at Lukas, “I really hate that our children have to live like this.”

  “Don’t. They love it.”

  Chris stared at Lukas and said, “Are you saying our species is born for war?”

  “No, I’m not. But I am saying that we’re really, really good at it.”

  “I can live with that. I’ll see you later.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  Chris’s expression was a mask of anger, “The first thing I’m going to do is handle the issue of our galaxy being scouted. Then the Fellowship has to be dealt with.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  “Not really, but Pat may not like your killing them after all he’s done to defend them.”

  “Then Pat needs to wake up. I’m not going try hard not to kill them but I am removing their claws.”

  “They deserve what you choose to do.” Chris and Lukas looked around and heard, “I felt responsible for who they are because of what my species has made them. I observed the trial. They cannot change and I am satisfied that the ones that deserve to live are now working with you.”

  Chris felt the sorrow in
Pat’s thoughts and said, “I am not going to kill them if it can be avoided.”

  “I will not stand in your way if you choose to do so.”

  “Thanks, Pat.” Chris walked out of the room.

  Lukas watched Chris exit and said, “Thank you for not allowing me to kill him before he was born, Pat.”

  “I didn’t prevent you. You did that on your own.” Lukas’ head went back and wondered about Salud saying it was Chris’s destiny to be a conqueror. He continued to think about it until she returned an hour later to apologize for her anger. He shushed her and pulled her into his arms.

  • • •

  Chris met Audrey at the spaceport and they boarded Barbie. “Why did you want me to meet you here?”

  “I’ve been given a new job.”

  “What is it?”

  “I have been chosen to go out and conquer all the civilizations that represent a danger to Earth, Eden, and the Milky Way.”

  Audrey stared at Chris and finally started shaking her head, “You have got to be kidding me! I thought your decision not to destroy the Green Fleets was justified because we are not conquerors.”

  Chris shrugged, “That was then; this is now.”

  “Why you?”

  “Why not?”

  “I guess I don’t see you as the blood thirsty type.”

  “I’m not and I guess that’s part of the reason Lukas and Salud chose me to do it.”

  Audrey stared at him, “No one else took part in the selection?”

  “Do they not have the authority to make it?”

  “I guess they do. I just wonder if all of the others would support changing our philosophy from a peaceful outlook to an aggressive approach.”

  “How do you feel about it?”

  Audrey thought for a moment and sighed, “I guess I’m glad we’re going to take this war to them instead of waiting for them to attack us.”

  “Because….?”

  “I don’t want our child to be put in danger.”

  “Salud has children, Julie has babies, Sarah is pregnant, and my mother is also expecting a child. I’ve looked at the fleet personnel files and a huge number of our warriors already have children or are expecting a new arrival. Do you think they would feel any different than you?”