“My scouts have sent images of the fleets coming here and it appears they are organized with a thousand of the Mini-monsters surrounding each Monster. There’s good and bad news with this formation.”
Jinks nodded, “They won’t be able to use radical maneuvers in a formation like that but it is going to be next to impossible to get at the Monster.”
Michael nodded, “That’s how I see it, too.” Michael turned to Stoney, “I’m sending you to assist Audrey in organizing the planet’s defenses. We now have a hundred and twenty eight defense satellites above the planet. We’ve place two of them in the Northern Hemisphere and two on the Southern Hemisphere on top of every longitude.”
“I’ve been looking at their armaments on my way here. I’ll see if I can do something to help her.”
Michael walked over to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out two black headbands, “Both of you will need to start wearing these pretty much twenty four hours a day until this is over.”
Jinks looked at the band Michael was holding out to him, “Why?”
Michel shrugged, “This band will block your thoughts and any outside thoughts from entering your brains. The Legends are bringing a telepathic species with them that can suck your brain out faster than you can imagine. We have a thought blocker pattern built into the force field that we believe will protect the people on the surface but you are going to be outside the force field.” Michael held it out and Jinks took it. He handed the other to Stoney, “You’re probably going to be safe inside the force field but you’re going to be much closer to that species than the populations on the surface. We don’t want to take any chances.” Stoney took it and immediately put it on his head.”
Jinks saw him do it and shook his head as he put his on his head, “Always the over achiever.” Stoney shrugged and smiled. “When do I see my fleets?”
“They’re at Eden getting ready for the battle. You can go and meet them there.”
Jinks shook his head, “How? The barrier and the void are disrupted.”
“I’ve had your old pod brought in and Jester is being transferred into one of our Attackships. All Flag Officers will be in them during the coming conflict. We can’t afford losing any of you. All of our warships have been fitted with the new Light Drive.”
“I know nothing about flying that new ship!”
“Jester will handle that and the Weapons Computer will fight the ship. You will have a simulator on board that you can work on during whatever spare time you have but trust your computers to keep you out of trouble. Your job is to lead them from a safe distance.”
“What about you?”
“I have to do the same.”
They heard the door to Michael’s office open and they saw Jinks Junior walk in, “Hey, Dad, it’s good to have you around.” Jinks hugged his son and smiled, “I’m shipping out to Eden. You’re looking good, Son.”
“Thanks, I come from good stock.”
“I’m proud of you, Son.” JJ nodded and Jinks looked at Michael, “I’ll contact you as soon as I arrive at Eden.” Michael nodded and watched the three leave his office.
Michael went to his chair, thought about the team his father had during the last war and knew they were really something special. He sighed and thought, “Hensel.”
“Uhhh, hello Commander.”
“Are you busy?”
“I’m helping Mom wash clothes. I think she really misses going to work.”
“Are you able to see where the Legend forces are?”
“I can’t actually see their ships but I can locate their thoughts.”
“How long will it be before they arrive?”
“They’ll arrive here first; they left early because they had a longer trip. They should be here in three days. The ships going to M-87 will arrive a day later.”
“Will the ships going to M-87 run across the debris of their tools before the ships arrive here?”
“I’m not sure. It will be close to the same time.”
“Hensel, can you hear the thoughts of the Legend Ships trapped in the disruption?”
“I can but I’ve blocked them. Their suffering is too much to bear.”
“Thanks, Hensel.”
“Glad to help.”
The contact ended and Michael was surprised at how much older he sounded. How did that happen?
Hensel smiled. His parents had removed their objection to his looking around and he had learned so much in a short period and he continued to absorb tremendous amounts of information from the greatest minds on the planet. He started folding clothes as he looked in Audrey Stone’s mind. Now here was a treasure trove! He looked at his mother and didn’t have the heart to tell her that she was going to have a daughter; he could already hear her. She’d find out soon enough. He focused on Audrey and smiled.
“Katy, Jinks, Audrey, the Legends will be here in three days! Start moving your fleets into position. Wrap up your training and follow the plan.” Michael pressed his panel and Talel appeared, “The Legends will arrive in about three or four days. You should start getting your forces in position.”
“Let me know if you need me to send your forces back to aid your defense.”
“I will.”
Michael leaned back and pressed another button. Jan appeared on his display, “You should get moving. We’re expecting company in three days.”
“I’ll say goodbye to the children and see you in the morning.”
“That would be good.”
The Senior Legend saw the distant speck of light shining dimly in the void. The voyage was too long and it was impatient to get it done. He had chosen to go to this galaxy to avoid the battle at the ball galaxy. He was not going to take a risk if he could avoid it. The other Legends knew he was showing his cowardice but they respected his resourcefulness in coming up with the plausible escape.
He would waste time in the Spiral Galaxy until conditions became clear at the giant galaxy. The distant light grew larger and he ordered his fleet into normal space just outside the galaxy’s edge. He looked at the map the deceased Legends sent before they died and saw the planet he was looking for was on the opposite side of the galaxy from his line of approach. Can’t anything ever be easy?! He moved his fleet back into the void and skipped over the top of the galaxy and emerged into normal space above the planet’s location. He saw the flashing blue light on the map and looked at the spiral arm below him. He thought, “Lock in the coordinates of the star flashing on my panel and send it to all ships.”
“It is done, Great Leader.”
“On my command, we will jump in to that star and arrive half a million miles out from the third planet. JUMP!” The giant fleet of midnight black warships disappeared from normal space, jumped toward the distant star and were slammed out of the void into normal space just outside the edge of the star’s planets. “WHAT’S GOING ON!?”
“Great Leader, the void around this star has been disrupted. The only way to go to the third planet is to go through normal space.”
He stared at the tiny speck of light in the distance, “How long will it take us to arrive at our fastest speed?”
“Five days.”
“What?”
“Great Leader, it will take a tremendous push in normal space to get our ships up to one quarter of light speed and then we will have to slow. Our large mass works against us in normal space.”
The Legend decided that there was no way he was going to move in without a means of making a fast escape. He started to order the fleet to the ball galaxy when he heard, “ELDER, ALL OF OUR TOOLS HAVE BEEN DESTROYED!!”
“WHAT!! NOT ALL OF THEM?”