He turned his display to slow speed and put a close up of one of the new weapons the Strangers had used against them. He had to slow it down three more times before he could get a good picture of what they looked like; super fast missiles with screens that penetrated the new five screened ships like they were protected by thin leaves. He also watched as the tiny missiles hit the band of power missiles. Those tiny missiles were not screened. He began thinking about how to overcome this new weapon and he kept coming back to screened missiles. He looked at his display on the arm of his chair and decided to ask the Elders about possibly screening their own missiles and extending their range.
The Algean Elders swayed in their groves discussing the new technology of the Strangers. The fourth Eldest said, “We have analyzed the new weapon and found that it is a missile that has its own protective screen. It is also faster than any manufactured object we have ever recorded and is also as powerful as our power missile but doesn’t use the negative matter. It appears to have a range of one point five punds.”
The seventh eldest said, “The new fleet leader asks if there is any possibility of screening our own missiles and extending their range.”
The Eldest listened to their discussions but wondered if his race had finally encountered another race strong enough to defeat them. Millions of cycles ago his race had been almost totally destroyed except for seeds that had survived in space. His species was still paying the price of that virus that had infected their food. Now there was a new strong enemy. The only thing that worked in the last battle was ramming the Strangers ships. Then he had a thought. “Power missiles will no longer be effective against the Strangers. They can be stopped with those small missiles they use. We need to come up with a new plan and I think I have a thought that might help us destroy their home system.” The remaining Elders quit talking among themselves and listened to the Eldest. “How many ships do we have remaining in all our fleets?”
The Tenth Eldest looked at his portable com and said, “Eighteen million.”
“How many of those are scouts?”
“Six million.”
“If we were to remove everything inside a scout ship and install eight engines along with the five screen force fields; how much faster would they be?”
The tenth worked his calculator and said, “Twice as fast as the power missiles and if you used that empty space for additional fuel you would extend the range to 3,000,000 punds instead of one third pund.”
“We will put a negative matter warhead on the front and use the scouts to ram the Strangers,” the Eldest said.
“How many tools would be needed to fly the ship? The Second Eldest asked.
The Fourth Eldest that was responsible for ship building said, “We could tie all controls into one control board. Since it will basically be a one way trip, one tool is all that would be needed to pilot the ship.”
“How long will it take to convert them? The Eldest asked.
“Two cycles,” the Fourth Eldest answered.
“Begin the conversion. We will destroy this home system of the strangers no matter the cost. We will use eleven fleets to make sure we win and every ship is ordered to ram if the opportunity presents itself. Are there any objections?”
“The Eleventh Eldest said, “What if we lose all of our ships in the conflict?”
“We will still have seven fleets for home defense; as long as we destroy the Strangers, it will be worth it; we can always rebuild and our food requirements will be reduced.”
No further objections were given and the plan was agreed to be implemented.
Chapter 21
Admiral Dorg came out of null space and commed spaceport authority to identify his ship. He had barely entered normal space when an Earth Megaship jumped in next to him. The Dublin commanded by Captain Bridget O’Donald pulled up beside Dorg and then opened a communication channel.
“Oh, I’m sorry Admiral, I just received word of your arrival; your ship wasn’t listed on arrivals for today. Is there any assistance you need?”
Dorg was impressed with the fast reaction to his jump and made a note to contact Earth prior to any future arrivals. “No, I’m going to visit the prison where my brother was held captive during the Human-Alliance conflict. I’ve heard a lot about it and I want to see it for myself.”
“Could we offer you a guide to the installation, Sir?”
“No, I want to go alone. I have some feelings tied up in the history of that conflict and I need the time alone to process them. I don’t want to be rushed.”
Captain O’Donald looked at Admiral Dorg who was the highest ranking Stars Realm officer and wondered if he was being honest. She, however, was not going to question his reasons. She liked commanding her ship and was not going to do anything to upset this Cainth Warrior. “Yes Sir, I have sent the locking protocols for the facility to your console and I hope you enjoy your visit.”
“Thank you, Captain; you may return to your duty station,” Dorg said and watched the Dublin disappear into the blue-white flash of its star drive. Dorg locked in the coordinates of Callisto and accelerated around to the other side of Jupiter where it was currently located. He brought the shuttle down to five thousand feet above the surface of the moon and then his com beeped. “Is that you, Mr. Gardner?”
“Yes it is Admiral. I am going to approach your ship from the surface and board thru your shuttle bay, if it meets your approval.”
“By all means; I’ll come open the bay door for you.”
“That is not necessary; I’ll enter thru the wall. Standby, I’m approaching now.”
Dorg looked out of the shuttle’s viewport and saw nothing. If Thomas Gardner was approaching, none of his instruments or sensors registered anything near his ship. Suddenly, a silver ship shaped like a cylinder with rounded ends appeared next to his shuttle and he could see a corridor extend from its side to his ship. A minute later Tag joined him on the shuttles bridge with Ron-Dar following behind him.
Dorg stood and hugged Tag and then shook Ron-Dar’s hand. He then pointed out of the viewport and asked, “What is that?”
Tag looked with him at the silver ship and said, “That is what started all of our meetings.” Dorg looked puzzled and Tag continued, “That is an Alfont Starship.”
Dorg was stunned. “A what!”
“I stumbled on it when I was on Earth’s moon trying to escape capture by Earth’s government. It was touching the dead body of his master that set off the tone that set the Alliance on a path to annihilate my planet.”
Dorg stared at the silver ship and felt the wonder of what powers that ship must possess. Then Tag said something that grabbed his attention. “The ship is actually intelligent and his name is Atlas.”
Dorg sat down in his command chair and said, “What do you mean intelligent?”
A voice came out of the speaker on the wall display, “What Tag is trying to tell you is that I actually have a mind of my own and make my own decisions. I am my own ruler and choose what path I follow. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Admiral. You’ve changed a lot since the Ross conflict.”
Dorg could only sit and stare at the ship holding station next to his shuttle. Then he said, “Why are you showing me this ship. This is information that could explode on the people of the stars Realm, especially with the history of planets being destroyed because of contact with their artifacts.”
Atlas said over the speaker, “Maybe he hasn’t changed as much as I thought. Is he always this serious?”