“It’s something I put together in the lab.”
Matt said, “Launching the penetrator.”
Destiny watched as the penetrator shot out at the transport from more than seven thousand miles. It was near one third light speed when it arrived at the transport but missed the target.”
Sprig said, “We just can’t get a strong enough reading on that low power frequency.”
“Does that mean we have to be closer to hit them?”
“Probably.”
Edison looked at Destiny, “May I ask them a question, Father.”
Destiny looked at the child and said, “Matt, I have a child that has a question.”
“What is it?”
“Have you accounted for the shift in frequency that occurs at one third light speed?”
Sprig said, “What?”
“At that speed the frequency will shift higher because you’re moving faster into the sine wave. It might be shifted closer to a cosign pattern. With that shift the signal should be stronger.”
Sprig sat quiet for thirty seconds which was years for a humans mind. “No, we haven’t; standby just a moment while I make some adjustments on the second penetrator.” Three minutes passed and then Sprig said, “Launch the second penetrator.”
Matt said, “Firing second penetrator.” The penetrator launched and again flew at the transport, turned slightly as it got close, and hit it dead center.”
Destiny looked at the child and said, “That was impressive. Is there anything else you would like to suggest?”
“I think I have found a way to teleport our green substance, Father.”
“Sprig.”
“Thank you, Destiny. We would have missed that.”
“That’s not why I’m calling; my child thinks he may have found a way to teleport the green substance.”
There was dead silence on the com. Finally Sprig said, “Do tell.”
“I’m going to send him to your ship. I’ll let him explain what he has developed.”
“Father, if you’ll just give me his coordinates, I can teleport to him with my device.”
Matt and Sprig heard the comment and Sprig asked, “Did you give him the teleport device to study?”
“No, I didn’t.” Destiny looked at Edison and asked, “How did you build a teleport device?”
“Once you know that it’s possible to teleport, the principles are pretty obvious, Father. I found the bulk of the information from a race we harvested fifty million years ago.”
Matt looked at Sprig on his communicator and said, “From the mouth of babes.”
Sprig stood stunned on the bridge of the Rossville. He knew the mental capacity needed to grasp those concepts and here was a child saying they were obvious. Are they further advanced mentally than we are?
“Destiny, does your species have this kind of mental capacity?”
“Sprig, since we have been free of the compulsions placed on us, we are changing. Our minds are actually clearing and thought is easier. Our telepathic range is going up daily. I’ve been told that my children are developing interests in a wide range of topics. I know that we can store tremendous amounts of information but we have never really correlated what we have stored. I think this child is an example of what we are becoming.”
“We may not be able to use what he knows before the invasion starts but if he is right, we won’t need a penetrator; we’ll just teleport the bombs directly into their ships.”
Edison looked at his father and said, “Why do that, just teleport them back to where they came from with a ten thousand penetrators on their hulls set to launch when they enter normal space.”
Even Sprig was shocked at that idea.
Chapter 20
The Supreme Male looked at his communications board and saw that his family was ready for the harvest. He had contacted the Nest Mother and informed her of his time for departure and she had approved. He looked at his Sensor Male and said, “Begin sending the first wave through the entry point. Have them jump upon arrival and form a barrier to prevent interruption to our entry.”
“I am issuing orders now.”
“It’s starting, Matt; fifty main ships have just come through the entry point.”
“I see them, Destiny. We will track them with our new sensor board at fleet command. How long will it be before the first million come through?”
“It usually takes about four of your months. At that point the universe will be mapped for intelligent life forms and the remainder of the family will begin coming en mass with assigned destinations.”
“I’m struggling with whether or not to hit those ships if they move in on a planet but I’m not sure if it’s wise to do it before we are ready to take them on.”
“I would be surprised if they move on a planet during the initial phase of the invasion. The first wave knows their responsibility is to map targets and they will not go against their instructions. You have some time before you are forced to act.”
“I hope you’re right. We’re assigning a Searcher to each of the ships that come through in the first wave. They have a main ship penetrator if they have to use it but I don’t want to do anything that changes the invader’s normal entry protocols.”
“If you start hitting them they will change.”
“Then we will hold off as long as possible.”
“What happens if they stumble on to one of the Realm’s planets?”
“Then we will move the planet.”
Destiny flinched, “You can do that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t tell you. We moved that first planet you looked for and replaced it with a barren planet.”
Destiny laughed, “I should have guessed. Well, it should make for interesting viewing. I do expect them to send fifty or more ships to investigate the system those two main ships were destroyed.”
“Let them. That is only going to make them wonder what happened.”
“I’d hate to be their Supreme Male when the Nest Mother is asking for answers.”
“I’ve heard he’ll taste good on a cracker.”
Both Destiny and Eyes laughed at that.
“Attention all Searchers, this is Fleet Command. We will be tagging you to the invader’s ships as they enter our universe. Stay with your assigned ship and be prepared to launch your penetrator on command. We anticipate a four or five month delay until the main body starts arriving so be patient and don’t lose your assigned ship. If the invader has launched ships before the fire command, notify us so we can send support to knock out the small ships. The remainder of the Searcher fleet will standby awaiting the coordinates of those mother ships that have launched ships.”
Life waited and watched the ship he was assigned jump away and join the other ships as they formed a wall a hundred thousand miles from the entry point. He read the jump track and knew that his assigned ship was not moving very far so he held his position another hundred thousand miles further out. He was sorry that he was going to be forced to kill that huge ship but more would die if he didn’t. He looked over at the mass of ships around him with their red screens glowing and felt a sense of pride at being a part of this group of fine pilots. It seemed the war with the trade planets was just yesterday and he still remained thankful for the people who had come and given his people new meaning for their lives. He waited and anticipated the coming conflict. He knew it was going to be unlike anything he had ever imagined. “Wild Man, are you locked in on our ship?”
“Yes, Life, I’ve got him covered like the seat of your pants.”
Life laughed and felt the bond between him and his ship.
Colonel Brez stood in front of General Durk. The Commanding General of the Red Warriors had called him in and he was wondering what was going on. “He’s probably angry about that attack ship that managed to land on one of the megas during the last battle.”
General Durk looked up from his desk and Brez snapped to attention. Durk returned his salute, “Sit down Colonel.” Brez took a chair and Durk said, “We are anticipating that we will not be able to hit every invader ship before they launch their ships. We also know that there is a good possibility that some planets may have invader ships landing on their surface. We are not going to just stand by anymore and watch as civilizations are destroyed. You are promoted to the rank of General and will assume command of the Third Division and will be the first unit teleported to defeat the invaders on the ground.”