The three looked at each other and the Johan smiled, “Come on! You both know you want to see this.”
The Welken and Myot Rulers smiled and said, “We will be on board by the time you arrive.”
Jinks walked into Lukas’s office as the conference with the three rulers ended. It was fed to every monitor in the One World Military. Lukas saw Jinks’ expression and waited for him to speak. “I know you had to worry about how I was going to receive this promotion of your son.”
“The thought has entered my mind.”
“You shouldn’t worry about it Lukas. He proved to me during the last battle that he’s better for the job. It grates my nerves that I did come to the right answer but not fast enough.”
“That’s not why I chose him over you.”
“It’s not? Then why?”
“Because he’s telepathic and can hear the thoughts of our enemies during battle. The time saved by having him make immediate decisions instead of communicating what he’s learned to you could be the difference between life and death.”
Jinks nodded slowly, “That makes sense. I would have thought that you would take the position.”
“I’d choose you over me, Jinks. If something happens to Chris, you will replace him.”
Jinks tilted his head, “How am I a better choice than you?”
“Because the Welken Royal liked you from the first moment he met you. That is something that is worth much more than you know. Where he goes, the other two will follow. It almost made me pick you over Chris but his telepathic gift is the trump card.”
Jinks smiled, “I can see you still see the big picture better than anyone else. I’m glad we had this conversation.”
“Jinks, are you going to be ok following Chris’s orders without question?”
“He’s your son, Lukas. I’ll do as he orders and I’ll ask questions afterwards. However, I do suspect that what happens afterwards will probably clarify any issues I might have.”
“Jinks, I need you to get the warriors being chosen to drop on enemy planets organized and trained.”
“Actually, Stoney is perfect for that assignment. He was an incredible assault trainer.”
Lukas smiled, “You’re right; I should have seen that.”
“I’m going to get the children organized into a fighting force so they can step into our fleets as soon as they reach the age of maturity.”
“Have we decided what age they’ll be allowed to join our fleets?”
“We’ll start moving the sixteen year olds into our fleets as soon as we have enough to constitute their own units.”
“You aren’t going to mix them in with the veteran pilots?”
“Lukas, you need to see those kids fly. I believe they would be reluctant to use all of their skills due to the respect they feel for their elders. They need to be free to use their natural abilities and that will only happen if they are in their own units.”
“Are you going to allow them to wear our Drop Armor?”
“No. That will be the job for older more experienced warriors. I don’t want the children to have to be forced to kill thousands of civilians if it come to that.”
“Do you think our veterans can do it?”
“They will be protecting our children. That is what will allow them to do it.”
Lukas smiled, “You are really special, Jinks. I depend on you so much.”
“Thanks, Lukas. Don’t worry about me. My ego can handle this change.” Lukas nodded and Jinks left his office.
Lukas left Fleet Operations and took a ground car to the Montana. He exited the car and walked toward the stairs outside the landing bay. An Engineering Lieutenant saluted him as he entered and said, “The Admiral is waiting for you on the bridge.”
Lukas returned his salute and smiled, “Lead the way.” He arrived on the bridge and the crew jumped to attention, “At ease! Return to your stations.”
Loree lowered her salute and smiled, “It’s an honor to have you on board, Sir.”
“I assume you listened to the conference I just had with our allies?”
“I did, Sir. Does that mean I will not be commanding the battleships?”
“I am going to request that the first fifty built be given to you to go out and start scouting the three galaxies. You know your heart is in being a scout.”
Loree’s smile was huge, “It’s what I’m best at, Sir.”
“Let’s get underway.”
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to the Welken Royal Planet. We’ll leave with the Royal’s ship.”
Loree looked at Hawk and he smiled. He turned to his control panel and began using the steering thrusters to lift the huge ship. Loree watched him play his keyboard and felt her affection for him. Audrey was right. They had become close during their time together on the Montana. The Montana lifted and moved higher into the night sky. It arrived at the edge of the upper atmosphere and blasted away at top speed.
Chris looked at his display and said, “I’m not sure I want a bodyguard, Sir.”
“This is not something I will yield on, Chris. Four special Pods are assigned to your protection and they will go wherever you go. Your life is too important to risk.”
“Who will be flying those pods?”
“Four of our best sixteen year olds.”
“LUKAS, YOU CAN’T SEND CHILDREN TO PROTECT ME!”
“Why not?”
“I’ll be going into very dangerous situations!”
“And you don’t want to risk their lives?”
“Exactly.”
“Then their presence might prevent you from doing something stupid. Your request is denied. The leader of the four is named Allison. I expect you to do a good job of training them. They will each be given a fleet of Pods once they’ve built enough pods for them.”
Chris looked at Audrey and shook his head. Audrey pressed her communicator, “Lukas, why did you choose these particular teenagers?”
“They participated in the last fleet maneuvers and they decimated the competition.”
Audrey smiled, “Just checking.” She looked at Chris, “Maybe they can teach us something.”
Chris pulled up the recordings of the last fleet maneuvers and watched the four teenagers in action. After fifteen minutes he started shaking his head, “A pod can’t do what they did in those maneuvers.”
“Lukas sent the best we have to protect you. If older pilots had won the competition, they would have been here instead of them.”
Chris nodded and blew out a breath, “What do you think about this, Barbie?”
“I want the updates their ships have.”
Chris smiled, “I’ll see about getting them once we complete this mission.”
“How do you feel about going to confront the Fellowship with the four Rulers?”
“It makes me nervous.”
“I can understand why. Here come your bodyguards.”
Chris looked at his display and saw a small silver object on his long distance scanner. “It looks like there’s only one of them.”
“Look again.”
Chris looked at the display and saw the object approaching at an incredible speed and in a moment he saw four pods flying so close together that they looked like one vessel. He shook his head at the skill needed to maintain that formation. In another moment he heard, “Sir, Ensign Simmons reporting for duty with my wing.”
“Has your wing been given a name?”
“We call ourselves the Falcons but we’ve not been given an official designation by Fleet, Sir.”
Chris activated his general frequency and said, “Fleet Control.”
“Yes 1-C.”
“What does 1-C mean?”
“You’ve been designated as First Commander, Sir.”
“That’s nice. What does it really mean?”