attack.” Sprig punched a button on his com and a picture of the Captor’s system appeared on the room’s maid display. Everyone saw row upon row of Captor ships arranged in bands surrounding the planet. The ships were not moving and were arranged in globes around the planet. Twig said, “We have the coordinates of every ship in the system. We should be able to program the old penetrators so that one is assigned to the ships located in the two outer bands.”
Tommy looked at Kosiev and said, “How do you make the balls release their dark matter on impact?”
Kosiev looked at McAllister again and Cade stood and said, “We put a miniature penetrator firing mechanism on the ball and have it fire when the penetrator hits the Captor’s screen. The sudden impact will actuate the firing assembly.”
Tgon-Gee said, “Have you tried this yet?”
Kosiev smiled and said, “As a matter of fact we have.” The display came on again and a small asteroid more than four miles across appeared on the screen. “Of course this asteroid does not have a screen but for the sake of seeing if the impact will cause the ball to fire, it will give you an idea of what would happen.” The display began moving and suddenly a bright flash appeared close to the asteroid and the asteroid blew up in a huge explosion. Nothing was left. “I’ve had this recording slowed down to one thousandth speed but I think you can see what would happen.”
Everyone in the room was amazed. Tommy said, “How long before those penetrators can be ready?”
McAllister said, “If we start manufacturing the balls immediately and our two Algean friends here can begin designating their targeting systems, about four weeks. We will need the Kosiev at the penetrator’s location along with all the other megaships that have had their skins converted to process the balls.”
Tommy smiled and said, “This will only work once. They won’t remain in a stationary position if this works.”
Rose said, “Can we produce more of the penetrators in time?”
McAllister shrugged and said, “No, we disassembled the facilities that manufactured them years ago. It would take more than three months to start producing them again.”
Cassandra said, “We don’t have that long. Four weeks is cutting it close as it is.”
Rose stood and said, “Welcome back Admiral Kosiev. You will assume your position as Fleet Admiral again and move your flag to the Alexander Kosiev. You and Tommy will be responsible for the actions against the Captors.”
Everyone in the room stood and began applauding. Kosiev felt his spirits soar; he was back and there was a battle to be fought. He felt like he was home again.
Tag looked at his old friend and for a moment was jealous. Then he looked at Tommy and Cassandra and knew that they were better qualified to handle the campaign. He looked at Rose and said, “Permission to be aboard, Your Majesty?”
Danielle stood up and looked at Tag with consternation on her face but then she heard Rose say, “Permission denied; I am not going to put all of our eggs in one basket. If something happens to the Kosiev, the Realm will need you to lead us.”
Tag took a deep breath then said, “You’re right.” Then he looked at Kosiev, shook his head, and said, “You always have the most fun; give em torg, Alex.”
“Kosiev smiled and nodded.
The Old Watcher thought about the nexus and decided to contact the First Male. “Do you have a moment?”
The First Male turned his attention from observing the system defenses and said, “I always have time for you.”
“The nexus should be ready for use in a short time. I’m surprised the strange ships have not attacked us yet.”
“I am also at a loss. However, if they see our layered defenses they may not want to take us on here in our own system.”
The old watcher thought for a moment and said, “I hope you are right but that has not stopped them in the past. I just wanted you to know that if they are coming it will be soon.”
“Thank you, Old Watcher. I’ll place every one on alert.” The First Male contacted the Queen and said, “First Mother, I fear an attack will happen soon. I want you prepared to jump away if the strange ships appear.”
“Where do you think I will be safer than right here among our warriors?”
“If they attack, then they will come looking for you and me. They have a weapon that can destroy us if it hits. I want you and your escorts to jump out of the system at the first sign of trouble and keep jumping until I tell you to come back.”
The First Mother was silent for a long moment and then said, “I want you to jump with me. If it’s not safe for me, it’s not safe for you.”
“First Mother, I have restrained from leading our attacks, but if I go then we will not have the leadership needed to defeat the enemy. I must refuse in this instance. This is our home and I will not run from its defense.”
“I know you are right but I want you at the center of our warriors starting now. If it gets dangerous, I order you to save yourself.”
The First Male fought the impulse to refuse and then said, “I will if I am in danger.”
“Please don’t be rash. As long as you and I survive our race will live. Do not jeopardize our future.”
“I won’t First Mother.”
“Tommy, I’m afraid that I may not be able to avoid igniting the particle in energy space much longer,” Cassandra thought.
“What’s happening Cassandra?”
“I am being drawn to the nerve centers, Tommy. Even in my sleep I have to fight entering them. I think that the time has come and I just don’t know what will happen if it ignites.”
“Sprig, will you and Twig join Cassandra and me for a moment.”
“Certainly, how can we help you?”
“Sprig, I am being drawn to the nerve centers of the energy particle. I have the feeling that it is time for it to ignite and I have to fight to stay out. The urge is getting more and more difficult to resist to go in and ignite the particle. “
“Cassandra, what do you think will happen if the particle ignites,” Twig asked.
“I honestly don’t know but it seems that my destiny is to do exactly that. It’s almost like a baby whose time for delivery has come.”
“Sprig, are the old penetrators ready for use?”
“Yes they are; the last of them were targeted and loaded with the Coronado balls yesterday. Cassandra, the temperature of the nerve centers has come down to where the Captors can use them again. Perhaps you should go ahead and ignite the particle let’s see what happens. I have studied it with Twig and we don’t have a real idea of what it will do but we suspect that the explosion will not enter our universe but will explode into a new one. I hope that’s the case but we just don’t know for certain.”
Tommy listened in and said, “Unfortunately, I don’t want to have to deal with it until after we launch our attack. Cassandra, you’re going to have to fight that urge at this time and we’ll deal with it after the battle. We are going to teleport all of our converted megaships into the Captor’s system one second after the penetrators are launched and each ship fire on one Captor and teleport out immediately. I need you in full control of the Kosiev.”
“I’m fighting as hard as I can Tommy but if I sleep, I may be pulled into one of the nerve centers. The Attack has to happen quickly.”
Tommy thought for a moment and then said, “Sprig, we need all of those penetrators to launch simultaneously. If they go in waves the Captors will start moving and the targeting will not be accurate. We have to hit them while they are stationary.”
“They are all set to launch together, Prince Gardner. Just tell us when,” Twig said.
Tommy looked at Cassandra and could feel her pain. He punched his com and said, “Admiral Kosiev, I need you on the bridge immediately. Admiral Mikado, have all of the Megaships got their targets programmed?”
“Admiral Mikado appeared on the display on Tommy and Cassandra’s command chairs and said, “We are
