“Could the planet possibly be hidden?”
“I don’t know how they could hide a planet but if they could then it is hidden quite well; I cannot detect anything in that orbit.”
“Launch our attack craft and distribute them around the star in the orbit that planet should be in. Let’s look all the way around the star.”
“Launching ships, First Fang.”
Matt, Melanie, and Stem sat on Aladdin and watched the feed from the probe as millions of attack craft move toward the orbit from which the planet was just moved.
“What do you think they will do?”
“I’m not certain, Al. My guess is that they will be pretty confused. If it were me, I would move on to the next planet. We could keep them jumping indefinitely since they only have one mother ship in our universe. It would be a different story when the full fleet arrives.”
Stem listened to Matt and thought, “I think I might have a way to really confuse them.”
“What’s that, Stem,” Matt asked?
“What would you do if you don’t find a planet in this system?”
“I don’t know; I might go back and look at the last planet and see if there was any evidence of celestial damage that I missed.”
“What if we move that planet out of the system and when they go look for it we move it here.”
Matt chuckled, “Yeah, that would be fun but we don’t want them communicating with the main fleet that planets are being moved. We could do one thing; we could hide the planet and when the ship goes back to report it missing turn off the screen when the mother ship comes looking. I suspect they already think we can hide planets or they wouldn’t be jumping to these systems.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Melanie, I’m hoping they will leave a ship at the planet and then go back and look at the second system. When they leave for the second system, we should be ready to teleport in and try some of our new weapons on the ship they left in the first system. They may just send a ship back to the first system to make sure it’s still there. Either way, it may offer an opportunity to attack another ship. Stem, if we can make this happen, I’ll need a portable star drive to jump the ship away if we kill it; we won’t be able to teleport it.”
“You’re assuming we will be able to kill it.”
“If we can’t, I’d rather find out attacking one ship than the whole fleet.”
Stem leaned to the left and said, “You make a good point. That is if they do what you think they’ll do.”
“Let’s see what happens. They may just go on to the next system but if it were me, I’d want to take another look at that dead planet to see if it matches the one that’s missing.”
“Matt, I’ll check with Sprig and see if we have a ship ready for combat operations.”
“Good idea, Al; the ship the invaders send will probably be a transport.”
“It will be, Matt.”
Stem looked at Melanie and asked, “How do you know that?”
“They’ve lost two small ships already; they won’t take the risk of sending that type of ship alone in a system.”
The Sensor Male listened to the attack craft reporting their findings; nothing. He looked at the data from the first harvest and the planet was green and full of life. Several different species were not far from developing intelligence. What could have happened to make it disappear? He looked at the planet they had investigated before arriving in this system and compared it once more to the planet that was there during the last harvest. Then it struck him, “There’s not enough water.”
The Ship’s Male heard him, “What did you say?”
“I was just examining the last planet and compared it to the data we have from the last harvest and there’s not enough water on the planet.”
“What do you mean?”
The Sensor Male sent a picture of the planet from the last harvest and one taken on their flight into the previous system. He looked at the two and he had to agree, there were much bigger oceans during the last harvest. “Could the water have been locked up in the polar ice caps?”
“I didn’t really scan them to make that determination. May I dispatch a ship to go make that scan?”
“Send a transport. What are you thinking?”
“I’m not sure, First Fang; I wonder if it’s the same planet. As I look at the two, I can see differences that just haven’t had enough time to happen.”
“You know massive changes can happen in just a million years? The last harvest was eight million years ago.”
“Yes, but that water has to be somewhere.”
“It might have gone underground.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” The Sensor Male thought a moment and then said. “I would still like a better scan.”
“Then send the ship.”
“This just in for your viewing pleasure; a transport is heading out to the jump limit,” Al reported.
“Where, Al?” Al adjusted the feed and focused in on the large ship moving toward the outer system. “Boy, you picked that one ship right out; I’m impressed.”
“Don’t swell his head bigger than it already is, Matt. The probe is set to alarm anytime one of their ships changes their direction dramatically from the others.”
“Fly Girl, who asked you in this conversation?”
“Oh relax; we know you’re smart.”
“Al, what does Sprig say about a ship being ready?”
“The Megaship Rossville has finished its trials and is ready if we want to take a shot at them.”
“That ship was Admiral Dorg-Ross’s old ship,” Melanie said.
Matt looked at her, “Really; are you sure?”
“Oh yes, I know everything about the Cainth Admiral. Remember, he’s the one that ordered the colonists killed on Ross.”
“Do you hold a grudge about that, Melanie?”
“Absolutely not; he paid for his crime in ways that he should not have endured. My people love the old Admiral and I hope that someday I’ll have a resting place close to his.”
“Well, his ship is coming and I think I want to be on board to watch.”
“Not without me,” Melanie said.
“Or me,” Stem said.
‘Or me,” said Al.
“Or me,” said Fly Girl.”
“I can see Melanie and Stem going on board. Just how are the two of you going to fit?”
“Matt, their landing bay will hold six ships our size; it won’t be a problem.”
Matt shrugged and said, “Get it approved with the ship’s Captain and let them know that my crew and I will be joining them on their arrival.”
After a few minutes Al announced, “It is approved; they’ll be teleporting in about one hour. They’re currently loading the live penetrator rounds.”
Everyone looked at each other and could see each other’s excitement. Matt could feel the need to kill the coming ship.
Chapter 17
Captain Leonovitch Alexander Kosiev looked over his command board and watched as his crew reported their readiness for battle. He thought about what his ship was about to undertake and his mind was full of concerns about the success of the mission. He was also concerned about the observers that were going to be present. “I hope I don’t mess up anything.” He put that out of his mind and focused on the task at hand. “Weapons, I want the first penetrator fired at optimum range. Set your range correctly.”
“Aye, aye, sir.”
“Ensign Mendel.”
“Yes Sir?”
“Have your team ready to place the portable star drive as soon as the all clear is given. We need to move it quickly if the attack is successful.”
“We’re standing by and ready, Captain.”
Leo looked over at his sensor officer and said, “Lt. Sen-Gen, make sure the red screen stays active during this exercise and make sure it’s extended to maximum distance during the firing of our weapons. I want them to have as little warning as possible before impact of our penetrator.”
“I’ve set the screen to expand automatically upon firing, sir. The penetrator should be at two thirds speed when it leaves the coverage of the screen.”