around the Duke very long.
The Collective observed progress of the fleet updates. It was surprised that the new enemy had not attacked and destroyed more of the main planets, but grudgingly accepted that Psychology was probably right about their reluctance to kill. It remembered millions of years ago when his species had the same difficulty. But that was then, this is now.
“Military, how long before our initial attack?”
“Two hundred and forty intervals.”
“Have you selected the initial targets?”
“I have. There are six planets that direct the actions of those in the enemy’s universe. However, there has been a development that is problematic.”
The Collective turned all of its attention to the Military Quadrant, “What is that?”
“The Green Creatures are no longer present.”
The Collective called all Quadrants in to the discussion, “When did this happen?”
“We are uncertain about exactly when they disappeared. Our scouts have not used their wide scanners for fear of being detected and giving away our initial targets. Now that we’ve selected our targets, we had a wide scan done and the Green Creatures are no longer present.”
“Is it possible they are hidden from our scans?”
Military paused, then responded, “Possibly. However, their numbers had a massive mental signature that would be difficult to hide. I suspect they knew we were coming and fled.”
Science said, “They were the reason we went to that universe. Should we delay our attack and search for them?”
The Collective reflected and then decided, “It was not the Green Creatures that caused the supernova. It was a small number of those ships piloted by other creatures. They represent a larger threat to us than the green ships. We must eliminate the new threat and then go after the old invaders.”
The Quadrants thought about the decision and finally reached agreement.
Military said, “So, we will invade with two million four hundred thousand ships in the first wave and knock out the enemy’s most important planets. The fleets will jump directly to their assigned target and begin their attack upon emergence into the other universe.”
Production answered, “Yes, and in another two hundred and forty intervals another two million will join the first attackers. This process will repeat itself until our entire fleet is available.”
The Collective listened to the Military Quadrant and said, “You are aware that the new enemy will know when you launch your attack?”
“No, how did you arrive at that conclusion?”
“Do you think they don’t have ships here scanning our every move? We cannot see them, but they are here. There is no way to surprise them.”
Military was quiet and then said, “We could jump the five fleets simultaneously without forming them into formations.”
“Do you not think their scanners, detecting more than two million ships energizing their drives at the same moment, would not be a clue to our intentions?”
The quadrants all thought about how to solve the problem of attacking without warning. Finally Military said, “You’re right. If they have ships here observing our fleets there is no way to attack without them seeing us coming.”
“Does that change your strategy?”
“Yes, it does. We will form up the six fleets where the dead green ships are located and jump to our targets from there. We will arrive just above our targets’ atmosphere and begin sweeping the surface immediately. A hundred thousand ships will start from the north and another hundred thousand will move from the south. The remaining two hundred thousand ships will surround the planets at the equator, and half will move north and half will move south. They should meet our ships coming from the north and south and complete the destruction in less than six hours. The increased strength and width of our ship’s beams will decrease the time needed to destroy a planet by seventy five percent. Once we destroy those six planets, the enemy’s organization will suffer a tremendous blow.”
The Collective added, “This process should happen quickly. The targets will not have time to move large populations before our ships are directly above their planets. The populations that escape will eventually run out of places to flee as we destroy the planets they need to survive. After the destruction of that universe we will search for the Green Creatures.”
Science asked, “What if we fail to destroy those planets?”
The Collective and the other Quadrants were all stunned into silence by the question.
Science continued, “We have seen these enemies develop techniques that have enabled them to survive our best efforts to kill them. We are assuming success without really knowing what our ships are jumping into.”
Production responded, “But they have not found a way to penetrate the hulls of our ships, and we are now blocking the entry they used to penetrate our drives.”
The Collective pondered the question and said, “Until they can kill our starships, they cannot win. If they could accomplish that task, they would be here now and we would not be alive. I don’t think I am being optimistic assuming we can and will destroy their planets. Keep me informed of our progress.”
Military and Production both agreed to do just that.
Ron Kune’s emergency alarm went off with a loud wail, followed by, “Incoming ships! incoming ships!” Ron silenced the alarm and checked his display. Keepers’ ships were jumping in to the Modification facility by the thousands, filling the space between his ship and the huge Keepers structure. His display had the ship count approaching a million ships, and they still continued to arrive in huge numbers. He hit the active scanner and recorded a picture of the huge fleet, then teleported out of the area.
It was beginning, and the initial attack on the Realm was imminent. He jumped back to the Stars Realm to report his discovery.
Chapter Eighteen
J ake and Valerie were discussing the coming invasion when Junior interrupted, “War warning! The Keepers Fleet is forming up at one of their production facilities, and it looks like more than two million ships are headed out this way.”
Valerie felt immediate, overwhelming, fear. Jake felt her thoughts and took her hand, “We knew it was coming. Now we see if our plans are going to work.” He looked at his display and said, “Manny, are you on the circuit?”
“Yes, I am Your Grace.”
“Sorry, Manny, I don’t have a royal title.”
“I know, but you are more Royal than most of the Royal Family. What are your orders?”
“Notify all the Members of the Realm to activate their frequency generators, and have every Searcher on Ross teleport to Cynthia’s Brigade to support her attacks. Notify the modified transports to jump out of our universe immediately and wait for the signal to start their runs. Sprig, are you on the circuit?”
“Yes I am, your Grace.”
“Not you, too!”
“I happen to agree with the Admiral. We are completely at your disposal.”
“Are the destinations prepared and protected?”
“Yes they are, and we await the arrivals.”
Jake thought a moment and then said, “These actions will begin as soon as the Keepers Fleet arrives.”
Jake put his display on standby and said, “Are you ready?”
Junior answered, “Jumping now.”
Valerie turned to Jake, “Where are we going?”
“To visit a Duke.”
