“I didn’t expect this when I offered to communicate.”
Chris slowly shook his head, “There is also a selfish reason for this.”
“What is that?”
“If any of your civilizations attacks my galaxy, I will be the one to punish the offender. I don’t want to kill like I did the last time. I’m really hoping you can prevent any of your civilizations from forcing me to do that.”
“What’s to prevent you from conquering my galaxy?”
“That’s simple.”
“What?”
“Just don’t attack us and you’ll be safe.”
Kilon stared at Chris, “You’re serious.”
“I am. My Alliance is not aggressive. We do not intend to take territory. But we will be the worst nightmare of anyone foolish enough to attack us.”
Kilon pressed a button on his desk. A tall black being entered and Kilon said, “This being has just downloaded some data into our network. I want you and Grel to take a look at it and tell me what it is.” The being bowed and walked out. “How were you able to stop from exterminating the ones that killed your mate?”
“It took one of my Senior Officers pointing out what kind of example I was setting for my son to follow.”
“I can’t believe you took that very well.”
“I had my hand on her throat in an instant.”
“She must be very brave.”
“She’s the bravest person I know. She saved me from losing my soul.”
“Do you honestly think you would have?”
“Do you have children?”
“A son and daughter.”
“You will find yourself looking at them and realizing how many sons and daughters your actions killed. You will never be the same if you don’t control your intentions.”
Allison listened to the conversation and sighed. She should have acted earlier. Chris just told her what he was thinking every time he saw Michael. He carried a heavy burden and she didn’t see any way for him to ever find redemption.
Kilon stared at Chris and said, “I will consider what you’ve said.” He looked up as the door opened as the tall black being rushed in and said, “Commander, this is incredible. This is far beyond anything we’ve ever seen.”
“Can you build them?”
“With these plans, an idiot could build them.”
Kilon looked at Chris, “Thank you. Your galaxy has nothing to fear from us as long as I’m in command.”
Chris nodded, “That new reactor plans also include the schematics of a thruster system that will allow you to travel to the Monster Galaxy in three weeks.” Kilon looked at the tall engineer and he nodded. Chris said, “Use them wisely.”
“I will, my friend. You’ve probably saved me again.”
“Make it worth it, Kilon.”
Chris turned and Kilon said, “Take him back to his ship.” The engineer nodded and led Chris out of the room. Kilon sat down and thought about a species that strengthened strangers and expected nothing in return. He thought about the Green Civilization and began having second thoughts about their destruction.
Chris walked on the bridge and Allison got up and went to her chair. Chris deactivated his armor and stretched. He turned the ship and moved out of the huge landing bay. He moved it a mile away and dropped into the barrier. He skipped out and Kilon heard, “Commander that ship disappeared from our scanners as soon as it entered the void.” Kilon nodded and continued to think about what he was going to do with this new technology. His crew thought about a ship that was undetectable with a force field beyond anything ever encountered. Their fear was real and the message went out about a small invincible ship.
Chris looked at Allison, “M-87?”
“I think we need to go home first?”
“Why?”
“There’s been a development that Lukas wants to discuss with you.”
Chris tilted his head, “Do you know what it is?”
“No.”
“I want you in the meeting with me.”
“Why?”
“I need your insights. You see things I might miss.” Allison nodded as the ship appeared above Earth. She shook her head. The universe had gotten much smaller. She didn’t have time to think about why they were recalled before they were standing in front of Lukas and the rest of the Leadership Team. She looked at Chris and realized he saw the same thing. She didn’t know if this was a benefit or not of their new barrier drive. She didn’t even remember to ask Chris how he knew she was so competitive. Along with the entire Leadership team the Welken, Myot, and Johan Rulers and their fleet commanders were present. Something radical must have happened. Five minutes into the meeting, she and everyone else in the room saw Chris was not happy! And she really couldn’t blame him. She could see in his eyes that his nightmares were alive and well.
Chapter Thirteen
“I don’t care why you want to do it, it’s not the right thing to do and it won’t work.”
Lukas and Jinks looked at each other and Jinks said, “Chris, if we are going to continue this war against the Legends, we have to prevent them from connecting us to it.”
“First of all, you’re being foolish to go out looking for them now.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s downright foolish to give the others the opportunity discover us now. That would bring all of them into the fight before we can even build enough ships to beat the ones in M-87. You can’t risk that before we’ve built enough of the new Barrier Pods.” Jinks stared at Chris and then looked at Lukas who shrugged. Chris shook his head, “Second. The species in M-84 is telepathic. Every pilot we have assigned there will have to wear their armor a hundred percent of the time to prevent them from seeing what you’re planning to do. We’ve already lead one aggressive civilization to their galaxy and what do you think they’ll feel after they’ve been promised we’ll defend them? They’ll know they’re being set up again and if I were in their place I would fight you to the last. It’s unethical and I’m ashamed you’re even considering it.”
“But what choice do we have?”
Chris looked at Lukas, “It wouldn’t deceive the Legends. The whole idea is flawed.”
“Why?”
“They aren’t stupid. If they are led to believe that their attackers are in M-84 what will they find when they go there and look? None of the planets there have ships like ours and I’m going to guess that the Legends will be able to see that their species are not flying the ships that attacked M-87. They’ll search that galaxy for humans and, not finding them, they’ll come to the conclusion that the ships had to of come from our galaxy. The only way to prevent that is to have a planet in that galaxy with a large enough population of humans to make them believe it. Are you going to take half of Eden’s population and move them there? Are you willing to allow them to be the sacrificial lambs to save the rest of mankind? You should also know that the Legends currently in M-87 know that silver ships come from the Milky Way!”
Chad said, “We could paint the new pods a different color.”
Chris shook his head, “And the first time one of their beams broke through our force fields that paint would be burned off revealing the silver hulls underneath.” Chris looked around the group sitting around the table and lowered his eyes, “Don’t think for a minute that the Legends don’t have weapons powerful enough to break through our fields. The silver coating will help a ship escaped before it fails but they will see that the ship’s they’re attacking are actually silver in color.”
Sarah looked around and said, “Uhhh, exactly when did they see one of our Silver Ships?”