Saxon Andrew - Greyson's revenge

Julie sighed and asked, “When are you leaving?”

Niles looked at Toland, “In the morning. We want to take a last look at the stars tonight.”

Jingo smiled, “Do you mind if we join you?”

“Not at all.”

Scotty stood up, “Then we’ll have a going away party tonight. We’ll have a blast.”

Toland smiled, “We hope to have one tomorrow as well.”

Kreej was lying down outside the fire in the middle of the clearing watching the huge party. Robby was leaning back against Kreej looking up at the stars. “Kreej, do you think they’ve thought the attack through?”

“They have.”

Robby took a deep breath, “It was wise of them not to mention it to the others.”

“I know. I admire their bravery. They’re afraid but they aren’t being affected by it. They needed this gathering tonight to prove their commitment is worth the price.”

Robby looked at Niles and Toland across the circle and slowly shook his head. Kreej thought to him, “You’re starting to miss Dani.”

“I am. Most of the time I can just focus on things happening around me but when things slow down, my thoughts turn to her.”

“She’ll be there when the time is right.”

Robby turned his head and looked at the Zord, “Have you seen something?”

“I saw it years ago. The two of you are connected. I think you and she are doing the right thing by avoiding contact. The connection has strengthened since she left. I think the decision not to make mental contact is making the connection stronger.”

“Then I’ll continue to abstain. Now that she’s not here, I don’t feel as bad about being around her.” Robby looked back up at the stars and smiled, “I’ve seen the vision of when you were very young asking Mom if she was Dad’s mate. You were really small back then.”

Kreej smiled, “Yes, I was. I decided at that moment that I was going to be your flyer.”

“Was the wait worth it?”

“Oh yes. Just as yours will be for Dani.”

Robby smiled and saw Dani Valrico’s face in the stars overhead.

Niles felt the reactors power up and watched as his panel began illuminating. He punched the diagnostics button and the display began displaying the status of Bristone’s systems. He glanced over at Toland and saw he was balancing the reactors output. “Are you ready for this?”

“I am.”

“I’ve rethought our engagement plan.”

Toland raised his head, “In what way?”

“We need to see if we can escape first.”

“You know we can’t jump out.”

“Yes, but we need to see it they can track teleportation. If we wait until the shooting starts we may not get the chance.”

“How do you want to do it?”

“Program in six jumps. A light year, three light years, ten light years, thirty, sixty and finally a hundred. We’ll jump each time we detect their arrival. I’m hoping we’ll lose them on the first one.”

“And if we don’t?”

“We release the probe and face them after the last jump.”

Toland turned back to his board and took a deep breath, “I think that’s a good plan, Sir. The ship is at optimum; ready to go?”

“I’m taking the ship; get the weapons ready.”

“I’m ahead of you.”

“Universal jump in 4,3,2,1, now.”

Scotty sat on board BC and watched the Bristone disappear. He lowered his head and remembered when the two former New Ulmerton Sailors had joined his fleet. BC said, “What’s bothering you?”

Scotty sighed and looked at the display, “They won’t be coming back.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because they realize they can’t without leading the Invaders here.”

BC thought about it and knew he was right.

The Invader Battleship hung in space doing a full active scan of the galaxy in front of it. The Commander watched the readout on his display and was thankful for something to do other than just watch a universe and do nothing. It had been such a long time since he was allowed to fight his ship. He welcomed the chance to get back into action.

“Sire, I have a ship that just jumped into normal space seventy light years from our current location.”

The Commander jerked his attention to his combat display and saw the small ship. Isn’t that where we arrived?”

The Sensor Being stared at his readout, “I can’t tell from this range but it’s close. I suspect they scanned our arrival and came to investigate.”

“Did they come from this universe?”

“I can’t tell. The track is too far away to read.”

The Commander hit a pad on his panel and said, “Power all weapons, expand the force field, and lock in an approach trajectory.” The huge black ship turned on its axis and prepared to attack.

Niles saw the ball galaxy off in the distance. Toland looked at his board and said, “How do you want to go about finding one of their ships?”

“Just sit here. We know there’s nothing within range of our scanners. Let’s see if theirs are good enough to see us.”

Niles reached forward and put his finger on the teleport board. He waited and kept his eye on his scans. He heard Toland say, “Disturbance breaking in normal space a hundred miles off the port side.” Niles pressed the board.

“Sire, the ship just moved a light year away.”

“Follow them. How did they move so fast?”

“I’m not sure. They left no reading.”

“What!?!”

“Whatever method they used to escape, it didn’t register on my board.”

“Don’t lose them!”

Niles looked at Toland and yelled, “Change the last teleport to a hundred thousand light years in deep space.”

“Why?”

“They scanned us from more than fifty light years. I want to make sure about them following teleport signals.”

Toland scrambled to enter the last coordinates as Niles punched the second jump.”

“They are now three light years away.”

“Continue the pursuit.” The Commander was troubled. He had never encountered a ship that did not leave a trace of their jumps. That small ship could be from an advance civilization that had been missed in the survey of this universe. “Do not lose them!”

“Sir, I don’t think they can trace a teleport.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because they scan before they chase us. I’ve picked up their scan on the last three jumps. They wouldn’t scan if they could read a trace.”

“That is at least one good piece of news.”

“Let’s do this; after the next jump, if I detect a scan, immediately take the last jump and see if they can see us.”

“Thirty light years, Sire.”

“I’ve detected a scan, hit it.” Niles punched the last jump.

The huge black ship emerged into normal space and the Sensor Being worked the controls on his panel. He looked up at the Commander and said, “They are no longer on my board, Sire.”

The Commander felt his rage and drew his side arm and shot the Sensor Being. “Get me someone here that can follow orders!”

Niles and Toland watched their boards closely. Toland had released the probe and was preparing to face the giant ship. After two minutes Toland looked up, “I have not detected a scan. It looks like we lost them.”

Niles recalled the probe into storage, hit his teleport board, and teleported another hundred thousand light years at a ninety degree angle to their last jump. Toland watched what he was doing and said, “You’re right. We’ve been moving on the same line. That’s my fault.”

“Don’t worry about it. Leave one of our stealth probes here to see if anything shows up.”

The Commander stared at the new Sensor Controller and heard, “They have been on the same track for all their jumps. I’m moving the ship eighty light years.”