“Back in the barrier before they disrupt it and skip out. Angelo, drop a mini-probe.”
The two ships disappeared from the void and flashed away in the barrier before the oncoming fleet arrived and disrupted it.
“Stop here! Angelo, put the probe’s feed on my tactical.” Michael watched his visor’s display and saw the Legend Ships come in at incredible speed. They were the new model of battleship he decided to name Mini-monsters. “Langley, can you hear them?”
“No, Commander. It appears those ships have a rather strong thought blocker.”
“Is there anything you can detect?”
“The void drive is using a different frequency than their standard ships.”
“I thought stardrives didn’t give off a frequency?”
“Those ships do. I can see it from here. I would have to be right on top of their older models to detect them.”
“Is our field detectable?”
“We’ll need to check that out on the way back to Virgo. Hold on just a moment! I’m hearing one side of a conversation. Evidently those Telepaths don’t think we can hear them.”
“Put it on the speaker.”
“…no evidence that my Dram allowed your ships to be detected.” There was a pause and they heard, “I don’t care if three of them are ashes. That is due to your stupidity.” They waited and then heard, “I will take it up with the Elder. What are you going to do now? Run around in circles.” Another pause, “Don’t tempt me, Commander.”
“Angelo, have the probe do a full scan on those ships. Once we have the information, activate its self-destruct and get out of here.”
Jan watched her visor and saw the results of the scan collected into the databanks. She pressed a button on her panel and the two ships skipped away an instant before a hundred Legend Mini-monsters arrived at their former location. Langley activated the wall speaker, “That is one angry Commander. The Telepath is really giving it to him for allowing his ships to be scanned.”
Michael smiled and said, “Are they giving chase?”
“No.”
Michael turned the steering wheel and the Attackship made a hundred and eighty degree turn. “What are you doing, Commander?”
“We haven’t fired a heavy round…yet.”
“Commander!”
“Jay, we’re going to come over the top of the ships that followed the probe’s transmission. We’re going to come out of the barrier and fly between their ships and fire two heavy rounds each. Get in the barrier instantly afterwards and hit full thrusters.”
“Yes Sir.”
Michael looked at Jan, “He doesn’t sound excited.”
“I can understand why.”
“Are you against this?”
“Sir, this falls into your province. They should have disrupted the barrier but they didn’t. They have provided you an opening and if you choose to exploit it, then I’m here to support you.”
“Would you do it?”
Jan tilted her head and after a moment smiled, “I believe I would, Sir.”
“Jay, on my mark, three, two, one, Mark!”
Jay hit the thrusters and said, “I guess I was wrong.”
Josey looked at him, “About what?”
“I wondered if Michael had the guts to be a leader.”
Josey saw the giant Black Warships appear around their ship and she pressed two buttons simultaneously as Jay went back into the barrier. Josey saw the barrier form around their ship as hundreds of huge disruptor beams fired and missed them. The remaining ninety-six Mini-monsters were kicked out of the void into normal space as four of them exploded into massive void disruptions. “Is it possible he might possess more than he needs?”
Jay shook his head, “I suspect the Alliance Leaders will take that position when they view the recordings of what just happened.”
“You didn’t tell me what you think.”
“Michael is just like his father. He’s exactly what we need at this moment in time.”
“Jan is really lucky.”
“Luck has nothing to do with it.”
“What?”
“Come on, Josey. Who else would be a match for his intelligence and strong will? She’s perfect and he waited to make sure. I think she knows it, too.” Josey thought about it and after they arrived back at the Virgo Cluster and started the flight back to Earth, she knew Jay was right. She wondered why Jan’s ship was so quiet on the way back.
Chapter Seventeen
Michael sat in his office with Jan as they waited for Luke to arrive; finally, Luke entered with Averel. Michael looked at Averel and she shrugged. Luke said, “Averel is going to connect us with the other leaders of our Allies.”
Michael nodded and Luke looked at Jan, “You may leave.”
Jan stood up and Michael said, “She will stay here!” Luke’s eyes narrowed and Michael said, “She is my co-pilot and she needs to hear whatever is decided today.” Jan sat back down and tried to appear small.
Luke saw Michael wasn’t smiling and appeared to be defiant. He decided to wait for the other Leaders to link in before he started the conversation. Suddenly, Jan saw the Alliance Leaders in her mind sitting in their chairs. She was stunned and looked at Averel who shrugged and smiled. The Welken Royal leaned forward, “I’ve been given a copy of the recent engagement you had with some Legend Warships.”
“Was it enjoyable viewing, Your Highness?”
The Welken’s frown slowly disappeared and he shook his head as he started smiling, “I must say it was, Commander. However, we’re meeting today to discuss preventing a recurrence.”
Michael’s voice growled as he looked at Luke, “Then you can accept my resignation and you can choose another to replace me.” Luke’s mouth fell open and the other Leaders were also stunned. “I’ve been charged to lead our forces against ships I know nothing about with ships I also have no idea of their capabilities. The only way I can make decisions that will not place our forces in unnecessary danger is to know what our ships can do and what they can’t do in combat. I have a learning curve to fully understand how we should attack the new Legend Warships. That necessitates me doing exactly what I did yesterday! And if I need to do it again, I will.”
The Audon High Leader looked at Michael in the link and lowered its face, “And what happens if you get killed in the process?”
“Then perhaps the information I’ve collected will help the next First Commander to effectively meet and defeat the enemy fleets.”
Luke scowled, “Who could take your place and do a good job.”
“Talel possesses more talent than any of you suspect. He has a talent for using his ships in combat and from what I’ve seen in his mind, he and I think alike.”
The Leaders all looked at the Goran High Leader. He shook his head and smiled, “I agree with you, High Commander. He is the best we have.”
The Welken quickly responded, “Is he as good as the current First Commander?”
“In his own way, yes. I’ve discussed with him why he wasn’t chosen initially and he was angry that he was passed over. However, he and Michael met and he told me that the Alliance had chosen the right person for the position.” The Goran looked at Michael, “He was also highly impressed with what he saw in your mind.”
“He could do the job and I am going to put him in command of the new Attackships. That will remove a lot of my worry about their being used effectively. If something happens to me, he can step right in and replace me.” Michael saw the Leaders looking at each other and he quickly said, “All of you need to understand that I am not going to act foolishly. What I do will be thought out and risk versus reward will be considered carefully.” Michael looked at Luke, “Did the information we collected help our new pilots?” Luke sighed and then nodded. “If it means anything to you, I’m hoping I can convince my co-pilot to become a permanent part of my life and I will not endanger her without a very good reason to do so.”