Hengel ended the call, “Turn around and take us back! Averel, Shanghai has detected something happening in the barrier in the Pandora Cluster. I’m turning around to go check it out.”
“Please…let me know what’s going on. I have the information and I’m assuming Shanghai is the name of your computer.”
“It is. I’ll check in shortly.” Hengel took the ship in the barrier and skipped across the universe toward the Pandora Cluster. He arrived far outside the cluster and his Battle Pod was thrown out of the barrier. “What’s going on Shanghai?”
“It appears the Legends have exploded a massive device in the barrier disrupting it inside their cluster.”
Hengel saw the galaxies in the Pandora Cluster were little more than small specks of light. Being able to sneak in undetected had now been taken away. Killing that telepath appeared to have some consequences. The telepath had probably asked the Legends not to disrupt the barrier so it could hunt intruders. Now that it was dead, the Legends decided to remove the barrier. He wondered if going after it was worth the price.
He could have just kept his thoughts blocked and used Shanghai to listen for it. But the scouts deserved their vengeance. He shook his head and turned around. He moved away from Pandora until the barrier was clear and he skipped back to Earth. The advantage had shifted back to the Legends. Now the Alliance had lost the means of traveling at super-light speed in that cluster and the Legends’ new warships were just as fast as the Battle Pods.
Now battles would be fought like the old sailing vessels on Earth. Move close and fire massive broadsides and the Legends had the Monster that could deliver far more than anything the Alliance possessed. Hengel sat straight up in his chair. If they could disrupt the barrier in their cluster…He arrived at Earth and heard the emergency frequency activate, “All ships, all ships, the barrier has been disrupted. I repeat, the barrier has been disrupted. All movement will be done in the void.” Hengel shook his head. The Legends would be coming as soon as they had their new ships.
Chapter Fifteen
The giant conference room was full. The meeting was being held on the Welken Royal Planet because the Royal had the largest facility available in the Alliance. On this one occasion, the Royal had taken his seat with the rest of the Leaders of the Alliance at the head of the giant table and notified Luke that he would lead the meeting. Luke immediately transferred it to Michael. Michael protested but Luke told him, “What am I going to say about what’s happened? This meeting is to determine what our military is going to do to respond to this new threat. That’s your domain.” Michael stared at him and then nodded.
Every officer above the rank of Commodore was seated in rows by planet on the left side of the giant room. The lead scientists and engineers were seated to the right. Along the wall behind the huge front table were specially invited guests. Jay, Josey, and Jan sat against the wall and felt very small. Jay stared at the row after row of flag officers and shook his head, “I didn’t know there was this much brass in the universe.”
Josey snickered, “I didn’t either. I knew we had a massive number of fleets but seeing that many Admirals really brings it home.” Josey looked at Jan, “You’re being quiet.”
“I wish there were more of them.” Josey and Jay looked at each other and Jay nodded. Trust Jan to see the bigger picture. They still didn’t come close to the numbers they were going to have to face.
Michael walked in followed by Lukas and Salud. The entire room stood and began applauding them. Lukas nodded and Salud smiled at everyone. This was the first time many in the room had seen the former leader of Earth. His reputation was known throughout the four galaxies and the Leaders from the former Fellowship felt better with his being present. Luke was good but he was not his father.
The two had aged but still possessed a youthful exuberance. Michael sat down and Lukas remained standing as the applause continued. He raised his arms and motioned everyone to their seats but they continued to cheer. He shook his head, looked at Salud and waited. Finally, everyone sat down and he said, “Thank you. That is more than I deserve.” Some started clapping again and he quickly said, “Ok, maybe not.” The attendee’s laughed and Lukas said, “I think we all know why we’re here. We need to discuss how we’re going to respond to these new developments. Michael has asked me to handle this part of the meeting and I’m going to turn the floor over to each Leader to tell us what they think about these dangers facing us. We’ll start with the newest member to our Alliance and after the Audon Leader speaks, the Goran will follow.” Lukas sat down and the Audon Leader stood up.
“It took twenty hours to arrive here for this meeting where it only took a few seconds two weeks ago. Our advantage in speed has been removed as well as our ability to hide in the barrier from the Legends’ forces. Now it is going to take fifty days to arrive at the Legends’ Cluster with our fastest Warship; we are going to have to deal with a universe that just got a lot larger.”
Budge pressed the panel in front of him and Lukas said, “I have an attendee who asks to clarify something you said, High Leader.” The Audon looked at Lukas and nodded. Lukas pressed the glowing button on is panel and Budge saw his panel’s light turn green. He stood up and said, “It won’t take us fifty days to arrive. Meaning no disrespect, High Leader, but only the barrier inside our cluster has been disrupted. We can move outside the cluster in less than two days and then use the undisturbed barrier in intergalactic space to skip to the Legends’ cluster. Of course, travel inside the Legends’ cluster will be slowed to our top speed in the void but they will not be able to move any faster than our ships.”
Budge sat down and Josey stared at him. It took some real moxie to stand up and correct one of the Alliance Leaders. She stared at him as he leaned over and spoke to Nudge. Those two were something different than most of humanity. The Audon started speaking and she looked away.
“I stand corrected and I understand the need to keep all of our facts straight. But the fact is we’ve been slowed down by the barrier disruption. I think the ability to hide in the barrier will be missed more than the speed it offered.”
The Audon finally took his seat and the Goran High Leader stood, “I will not repeat anything my esteemed friend and ally has said. I can see everything he’s said is on the side monitor and I’m going to assume everything we discuss will be recorded and a copy sent to all of us.” Lukas smiled and nodded. “My concern is about that predatory telepath that managed to kill two of my scout warriors. My thanks and respect are offered to our greatest scout warrior.” The Goran Leader turned and looked at Hengel and Averel sitting in the row behind the front table. Hengel lowered his head and the Leader continued. “He uncovered that the telepath is a member of a species that is more extensive than the Legends. They are currently under the mistaken idea that my species is located in this galaxy. The Legends have promised this galaxy to them if they’re successful in defeating our forces and I suspect after M-87, this galaxy will be next. This creature is a form of what human legend says is a vampire. It feeds on the minds of their prey and learns all the prey has in its mind. It’s not going to take them long to find out that my species is not here. That means both our galaxies will be attacked. We need to decide how we’re going to confront this new menace.”
The Goran Leader sat down and the Myot Ruler stood, “My fear is that those new Legend Warships are going to be too much to handle. Thank you.”
He sat down and the room burst out laughing. Lukas laughed and after a moment said, “Very well succinctly said, Your Supremacy.”