“Captain, we have another transport entering normal space at the jump limit.”
Leo looked at Matt, “Perhaps I’m not so paranoid after all.”
Matt shook his head and said, “Drop a screened probe and teleport out of here. We’ll watch from a distance.”
Leo looked at Sen-Gen and nodded. The Rossville disappeared.
The second transport’s commander looked at his display and turned to his Sensor Male, “Where are they?”
“They are not answering my communications and they are not on my scan.”
“Is it possible for them to be in this system and you not to be able to see them?”
“No, First Fang, it is not.”
“Leave immediately.” The second transport jumped away.
“Admiral, I would suggest you teleport that probe away from this system. I suspect things are going to get busy here shortly,” Matt said.
Leo looked at Melanie and she said, “He was talking to you.”
Leo flinched and said, “You’re the only admiral on this ship, Sir.”
Melanie shrugged and said, “Not anymore, Admiral.”
Leo furrowed his brow as Matt moved toward his chair, “You have done an outstanding job of fighting your ship and planning for all possible contingencies. I am highly impressed with the skills you have displayed and I along with Admiral Grace agree that we need you in another position. You are hereby promoted to the Rank of Rear Admiral and will take command of the megaships that, after what I have seen today, will be playing a major role in the coming war with the invaders. This is a battlefield promotion and given that I have the authority to do as I please, you will be second in command to Admiral Grace. I congratulate you and your fine crew and can say without reservation that the Stars Realm is proud of the way you have carried out your duties today.”
The bridge crew stood and applauded their former captain. Word spread through the ship and soon all of the crew was yelling his name. Matt looked at Melanie and saw that they had made a good decision. Leo was overwhelmed. This was sudden but then he had a thought, “Your Grace, do I have the authority to determine the commanders that serve under me?”
“Admiral, I expect you to assume total responsibility of the Megaships and make them the outstanding force they once were.”
Leo smiled and turned to Sen-Gen, “Sen-Gen, you are hereby promoted to the rank of commodore and will make the Rossville your command ship. You may appoint the captain of your choice but I expect you to be responsible for half of the ships in my fleet.” Leo then turned to Matt and said, “It was her idea to get the ship out of this system quickly and she is the one that selected the officers for this vessel. If it is not presumptuous for me to say, she would make a fine commanding officer in the Realm’s Navy.”
Matt looked at Leo and said, “You have confirmed my choice of you, Admiral. Giving others credit does not diminish your achievement; in fact it makes you stronger. I see that you are not self serving but truly possess the command traits needed by the Realm. I now charge you and your new commodore to go find others like yourselves and build a fleet truly worthy of that name you carry.”
Leo smiled and bowed to Matt, “It will be my pleasure, Your Grace.”
Matt pushed his com and said, “Al, please send the recording of this action to Sprig and send a copy of the promotions to Anglo Gardner.”
“Done and done.”
Matt turned to Leo and said, “Let’s go win us a war.”
Leo nodded but his head was already filling up with all the things to be done.
The Ship’s Male listened to the second transport’s report and ordered, “Recall all ships immediately.” The Sensor Male looked at him and the Ship’s Male said with bared fangs, “I said immediately.”
The Sensor Male jerked around and began issuing the orders. He knew he had just come close to being killed. He kept at his duties and did not look at the Ship’s Male until the jump to the system was completed and the Ship’s Male addressed him.
“I want an organized sweep of this system. Do you know what I mean by organized?”
“Yes First Fang, I will begin immediately.”
The Ship’s Male stared at the Sensor Male and knew he would not kill him. He was disappointed that he had lost control but glad that now his orders were being carried out with the proper sense of urgency. The ships leaving the mother ship were evenly spaced and fanned out from the line of travel that the transport must have taken into the system. He moved to the communication frame and contacted the Supreme Male. The Supreme Male downloaded what had happened and felt his anger grow. The probe that was in the Ship’s Male’s abdomen suddenly penetrated to its full length and the Ship’s Male shriveled and died.
The Sensor Male saw the Ship’s Male’s death and then saw the Supreme Male on his console. “You are now the Ship’s Male. I will not tolerate such incompetence. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Supreme Male, I understand.”
“The Family will arrive shortly. Do not move your main ship inside the jump limit of any system until we arrive. You may send your ships to feed but stay away from those systems that you have been investigating until my arrival.”
“Yes, Supreme Male.” His communication screen went dark. The new Ship’s Male looked at the dark screen as the second Sensor Male entered the command chamber. “Recall all ships immediately.”
A transport moving in system detected a small object fly past his ship at amazing speed. He began to report it when the command to return was given. “What if we detect something,” he asked.
“Return to the ship now!” The transport’s commander raised two legs and turned around and headed back to the main ship.
“What are they doing, Al?”
“It looks like they are packing up and leaving.”
Matt sat and watched for three hours as the mother ship retrieve all of its ships. The Mother ship then jumped away. “Where did they go?”
“They have jumped to a system with a civilization and are launching their ships from the jump limit, Matt.”
Matt thought, “Melanie, it looks like they are not going to try and find any more hidden planets. I suspect that their home fleet has issued orders to stay safe until they arrive. I want you to go and help Admiral Kosiev get his fleet organized. Your ability to see things clearly can help him immensely and it will also cut through any resistance he might get from Fleet Command. After seeing his megaship in action I believe we will need them ready quickly.”
“I do not like leaving you because this is the center of action but you’re right. I’ll see you as soon as possible.”
“Be safe.”
“You, too.”
Matt reflected for a moment and then thought, “Cassandra, are you busy?”
“Not for you.”
“Do you mind if I come and see you; I have an interesting recording of our attack on one of their transports?”
“By all means come immediately; I’d like to see it.”
“Al, do you know where she is?”
“We’re leaving now.”
The First Reg looked at the Third, “It seems they learn quickly.”
“Does this remove responsibility for our gift?”
The First pondered the question for a week and said, “No, not yet. They have learned how to kill them on their own but not the big ships. They must survive the main fleet without our help.”
“They have the means to kill their biggest ship now.”
“I know, but could you live with the doubt about the main fleet?”
The Third pondered the question for four weeks and still did not have an answer.
The Supreme Male contacted the Nest Mother and waited for her to download all that had happened. He waited until she said, “Why have you not notified me about these losses?”