Yes, Gilene wants the job.
Shes a good choice.
Shes already transferred in and is leading the final construction of the Robbins hull.
Wheres the Zeta she was in?
Ive put it back in storage.
Dont worry, Alex. Ill be fine.
Easy for you to say.
Grace smiled and looked forward to sharing the new ship with Alex. She knew that was going to be her last transfer. She wouldnt leave him again.
Trey, what is my role in this attack?
Jingo, you, Grang, and I are just along for the ride this time. The Zetas will have complete control of the combat.
So Ill ask again, why am I here?
I assumed you might enjoy watching some payback.
Jingo heard Grang grunt over his communication board, I know youll like it but I hate just sitting and doing nothing.
I dont think youll have time to worry about that.
What do you mean?
At our last scan, there are more than four hundred thousand Black Ships in that universe and I suspect more than half of them will be sent to attack us.
Oh, that sounds just marvelous. Why dont they send them all?
Theres not enough room for them to occupy the space well be located. Theyll get in each others way.
If youre scared, say youre scared.
Oh shut up, Grang. A blaster bolt through your head wouldnt scare you.
It might.
Now youre teasing me.
Now Jingo, Id never do that.
Yes you would.
OK, I would, but not this time.
Trey listened to the back and forth and sent a thought to Greyson, Are the three of you ready?
We are linked and our scanners are overlapped. If things get dicey, well teleport out.
Just have a good time. You owe them for Varner.
And I owe them for hurting Timmy when they killed my former ship.
Then if youre ready, you are now in command.
Actually, Jessica and I are following Graces lead.
Then notify her to make the jump and start the party.
Trey, why are you really there?
Because I would never send them to fight alone, Cassie; their actions should be witnessed and recorded. They deserve no less from those of us that love them.
I love you so much, Trey.
The three large ships disappeared.
Chapter Seventeen
The Distributor was snapped into consciousness when the alarm sounded. It stumbled to its console and looked at the display. Ummmmthose ships are different. Theyre smaller and the lines are different. He looked at the closest available ships and sent the orders for them to attack. It then started thousands of ships in organized waves at the intruders. A thousand from the top, a thousand more from the bottom, and simultaneously sending four thousand into the center of the white ships formation. It was so focused on sending ships to attack in a pattern that was optimum that it didnt look at the battle. That was a mistake.
Here they come, link in and follow my lead.
Trey watched the thousands of Black Ships erupting into normal space so fast that it was hard to keep track of their numbers. He took his eyes off the scanners and looked at the display and saw a vision from hell. The three Zetas were teleporting from one location to another so fast that the incoming ships had no chance to surround them. The fifty mile wide main beams swept through the mass of Invader Ships and left nothing behind but disintegrated, blasted hulls. The ships couldnt arrive fast enough to fire a beam before they were blown apart.
Trey turned back to the scanners and saw Grace was suddenly surrounded by a mass of ships that completely blocked her from view. The globe of ships disappeared as Grace combined her twelve main beams into one wide beam and quickly rotated. That beam swept around in a huge circle and erased every ship within fifty miles of her. Trey heard Greyson say, Great move, Grace. Im going to use it, too.
Trey looked at the board and saw that only fifteen minutes had passed and the kill count was at ninety thousand. He sat back and watched the Zetas start meeting the ships before they could completely emerge into normal space. The Carnage was incredible.
The Distributor sent another twenty thousand ships and glanced at the display. He froze and saw that none of his ships were on the screen. The three white ships were now hitting any ship just as it emerged from its null drive and none were even getting a shot off. He looked at his secondary screen and saw the Four Council Members were also watching the battle. He looked back at the three intruders and noticed that one of them appeared to be changing brightness. He focused closer and saw that it was flickering at forty six pulses per second. Suddenly all three ships disappeared. It changed the display to the main scan and saw the three ships on the other side of the universe. It sent the coordinates to ten thousand more ships and watched the three ships disappear. Wait! One of them used a universal drive. It focused in closely and got the coordinates, I have the coordinates where one of their damaged ships jumped. May I have your permission to go there?
The First yelled, Go and kill that ship. Number Four, take over his board and bring that place in view.
The new Distributor pressed a button and he fell into his ship. He thought the coordinates and enabled the drive. The bright Orange Ship disappeared.
The Fourth Council Member arrived at the Distributors console, entered the coordinates into the main scanner, and pressed the enable button. The view suddenly appeared and they saw the Orange ship appear among thousands of planet sized green ships. The Orange ship hung in space for one long moment and disappeared. Shut it down, shut it down.
The Fourth killed the power to the entire console and sat there trembling in his chair. The Three Council members were also trembling from fear and couldnt move or speak. The new Distributor sat on his ship and couldnt raise his hand to send him up to his console. All of them waited to be killed. The first three Council Members dropped into their ships and jumped to a vacant dimension to hide. Soon Orange Ships were disappearing at an ever increasing rate. As alarms sounded warning of accidental contact with the former family, fear drove a mass exodus that emptied the planet of those that made it their home for a billion years.
Well, he didnt stay long.
I suspect he is cleaning up his chair right now.
Why do you say that, Greyson?
I detected an active scan just before it arrived and it cut off faster than Ive ever seen.
Lets hang around a little while and see if they show up. Did you get a scan of that Orange Ship?
Yes and it matches up with the ships used by the Red Demons. I dont believe we can stand up to that ship.
I was afraid of that.
Reflecting energy back at it will do no good. It would just replace energy used. That energy cant be increased to a higher level so our current reflective weapons systems will be ineffective.
While were waiting, move over to one of the Green Ships and lets take a look at it.
Trey, have you been listening?
Worrying about it wont change it. These ships are historic and I want to see one up close.
Greyson sighed and teleported over to one of the giant vessels. This thing was huge. Greyson was amazed by a ship as big as a planet. Do you want to take a look inside?
Absolutely.
Greyson moved to a huge port in on the top of the ship and flew inside. He forgot his worries as he marveled at the giant ship that had once been a killer of universes. Soon they began seeing millions of dried up carcasses of Eight Legs that had been consumed by their leaders. Trey quietly said, This is what compulsions lead toward. The Realm saving this species was one of the noblest things they ever did.