“Send ten battleships with them and you’ll finish your mission in one third of the time.”
“Thank you, Great One. Please send them to Earth for departure. How long will it take to provision them and get them here?”
“When do you plan to leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“They’ll be there tomorrow.”
The display went dark and Chris lifted his communicator. The organization for the fleets was going to have to be changed. Admiral Simmons appeared on his wrist unit and he said, “Change of plans.”
“Oh?”
“The Allies are sending a million battleships to join our efforts. Work on getting the formations changed to use them in the initial attack and the following cleanup.”
“Yes Sir!” The display went dark and he wondered if Allison ever smiled. She was the consummate commander and her demeanor told anyone around her that she would not tolerate incompetence or stupidity. She was twenty-three but an old twenty-three. He shook his head. There were none better than her at planning and implementing attack plans. He needed her in the coming fight.
“Barbie, are you ready to go?”
“Are we taking anyone else with us?”
“No, we’re going alone this time.”
“I’m so sorry, Chris.”
“Thanks. Take us out to the fleet and let’s get this over with.” The small pod lifted and accelerated out of Earth’s atmosphere. Chris didn’t need the scanner to see the gathering fleets. The one hundred fleets of pods had a thirty-mile separation between their tight formations. The battleships started arriving three hours earlier and they were flying in at high speed and forming up behind the long line of Pods. Chris pressed his communicator, “How long before we’re ready to go?”
He saw Allison’s face appear on his display, “The Pods are ready now. I’ve received confirmation that the last battleships will arrive in thirty minutes.”
“I didn’t expect them to get here that fast. Have you decided what formation we’re going to use when we arrive?”
“I have, Sir. I completed it last night and sent the coordinates for each fleet. I sent the battleship’s coordinates to them this morning.”
“How do you manage to do it so quickly?”
Barbie mumbled, “She has two computers on her Pod.”
Chris’s head went back and he said, “Do you have two computers?”
“I do, Sir. During battle, one handles flying and evading the enemy while the other operates the weapons. I discovered early on that it’s impossible to keep track of what the big picture is if I have to fly or fight my pod. Having two computers on board also allows me to use them to develop formations and get the information out in a timely fashion. I don’t have a bodyguard like you do, Sir. I had to find a way to do my job without one.’
“As soon as this mission is completed, you will select four ships to defend your pod while you’re directing our fleets.”
“Sir, I can handle it.”
“I’m not suggesting you can’t. But four of our pilots can learn a lot from watching you. We’ll select those that are fast tracked for promotion.”
Allison was silent for a moment and said, “You’re right. I learned so much from those years I worked with you and the other senior officers.”
“Such as?”
“Jinks and Stoney are incredible in coming up with fleet formations. They taught me most of what I know about it.”
Chris was slightly ticked. He didn’t want to but, when she remained silent, he asked. “What did you learn while commanding my bodyguards?”
Allison smiled, “I learned that you should never make a full scan unless you’re prepared to run.”
Chris actually laughed, “I remember that little episode. I learned something from it as well. Notify me when the fleet is ready.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Sir, the fleets are ready to skip out.”
Chris activated the main frequency on his communicator. “This is what you’ve trained to do for years. I know you’re ready for this and I expect the best you have in the coming fight. We will be skipping out to our arrival coordinates in a moment and once we’re there, we will assume the best formation to meet any forces sent out to stop us. Five seconds prior to our departure, everyone, and I do mean everyone, will activate their armor and keep it on for the duration of this mission. The species we’re going to be fighting are telepaths and your armor will prevent them from hearing your thoughts. Keep your armor on until I order otherwise. The Pod Drop Fleet will remain in formation around my ship behind the main fleet. We will be skipping out in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,” Chris activated his armor and it wrapped around him, “Four, three, two, one, Go!”
“The two million plus ships all disappeared at the same moment. Lukas watched the launch and shook his head, “Go with God, Chris.”
Chapter Six
The massive fleet of warships flew for three days and emerged into normal space just outside the edge of the giant lenticular galaxy. Chris stared at the giant and decided that the astronomer that described it as two Russian dolls dancing around a bright pole was pretty accurate. The brilliant jets shooting out of the central black hole were amazing. They weren’t as impressive as the hundreds of light years long plumes shooting out of M-87’s core, but they were impressive. Chris looked at the fleets in their formations in front of his pod and said, “Barbie, do you detect any scouts?”
“There are quite a few of them around us.”
“Too many to go after?”
“They’ll be hard to find, so you’ll have to send several thousand ships to take them out.”
“That’s not worth the effort. Are they reporting our presence?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe. I can’t understand what they’re saying, so many of them are yelling at the same time. Wait a moment!” Chris waited and watched the galaxy a hundred thousand miles away. “They’ve been ordered out. Their leaders don’t want them present when their warships arrive.”
“Good. That means we don’t have to go in looking for them.”
“Admiral Barber is entering normal space.”
Chris looked above his ship and saw the Montana breaking into normal space directly above his line of Assault Pods. “I was wondering when you were going to arrive.”
“It’s taken longer than I anticipated to collect and correlate all the data collected from my fleet of scouts.”
Chris pressed a button on his panel and linked Allison in to the conversation. “Admiral Simmons, Admiral Barber has arrived with the maps of that species planet’s locations. Admiral, please send a download of your information to both of our computers.”
“Sending it now.”
Chris watched the lights on his data board and saw them move across the panel. After ten minutes the lights went out. “How many of their planets were you able to find?”
“It’s taken about six years to map this galaxy and the civilization you’re looking for is the dominant species here. They live on more than a hundred and thirty five thousand planets.”
“Do they have a planet with a central government?”
“They do. Just type in the key word ‘Leadership’ and its location will appear.”
“Allison, I was planning to assign targets after the battle against their fleets but it appears it’s going to take some time before they organize an attack. Take the data and assign two hundred Pods and Battleships to attack one of their planets. I want you to also assign their second and third targets as well, if you have the time.”
“I’ll start working on it immediately.”
“Allison.”
“Yes Sir?”
“I will handle the planet with their central government.”