UF-2 BOOK 2 CHAPTER 7
BY BARBIE LEE
EDITED BY CATHERINE LINDA MICHEL

So, we come to the end of Book 2, Seeds Of War. Will our heroes and heroines be able to avert was with the Earth alliance, or will there be a space battle the likes of which would curdle even E.E. 'Doc' Smith's sensibilities? This chapter is a bit more violent than previous ones so be prepared. Also, a new player enters the game. Who is it? Who are they? Only the author knows. Strap in, settle back and get ready for ACTION!

FROM BEFORE: "Stepping back sadly, I shook my head in pity at those who were no more than pawns in this sordid mess. The front line troops would be the first to be sacrificed. Then millions more troops would be poured into a battle the humans could not win. “Please pull all animal life forms out of the Trag galaxy, or war will be upon your head."

I thought Lucus was mad before. I had misjudged. His face turned purple as he exploded. "YOU CAN NOT THREATEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE EARTH ALLIANCE. GUARDS! ARREST THIS WHORE AND HER WHORING ESCORTS!"

And NOW...

 

The guard on Toni's right was swinging his rifle off his shoulder. Toni's reflexes were a hundred times faster. Toni pulled his sword off his left hip with his right hand and cut the man in half. I reached over my back for a sword that would only be there for me. Toni had already turned and shot one of the guards by the door before I had laid my hand on the Queen's Sword.

Sherry had her sword out and swinging as the guard to her left was bringing his weapon to bear on her. She stepped up with her right foot to face him as she brought her sword up. She caught the guard in the middle as she swept up with the blade. She split him open from bottom to top.

I wanted Lucus to taste what he had started as I leapt forward bringing my sword over my head from between my shoulder blades where I had retrieved it. A shield screamed as sparks lit up the assembly room when my sword smashed into the force field guarding the president and his council. A hole formed in the force field around my blade, refilled, formed again, and then the field collapsed as the room was plunged into total darkness.

Toni fired his blaster again and another guard died. By this time, Sherry had her blaster in her left hand and she fired at where the president had been.

Unless the humans had special gear for seeing in the dark, they were lost. Sherry and I could see in the dark as well as Toni. It was part of the blessing our daughters had given us as we carried them in our womb and shared life forces.

The president and his council had dropped down through a lift under their seats when the shield had been activated. In the time it took for my sword to collapse the shield they had fled the massacre they had started.

"TO THE SHIP!" I wanted to pursue the President, and kill him in the worst possible way, but it was too late for that. In my mind I could feel them speeding away on a transport as I spoke.

"FOLLOW ME!" Toni shot two more soldiers who had blindly and stupidly run into the room.

We were in the hall running for our ship parked two blocks away in a VIP dock. Alarms were now going off and a security door slammed shut at the end of the hallway. I could hear them slamming shut behind us as well.

"MY TURN!" I swung my sword into the door. There was a flash of light as it disappeared.

"Gotta get me one of them swords." Sherry laughed as we fled through the opening where a door used to be.

Toni pushed me to my right as he dodged left. A blaster shot plastered the end of the hall in front of us. Toni spun and fired in the direction we had escaped from. He fired twice more before he turned to follow Sherry and me down the hall in the direction of our ship.

There was no doubt, Toni would have already been at the ship if Sherry and I had not slowed him. I was wishing with all my heart I had morphed, with the gestation of our daughters, to look like a Pash like all the other mothers, but it was not ordained. By the laws of physics, Sherry and I were not designed for running fast. We were also not dressed for battle. We did the best we could with our gowns and heels.

"Last door. Soldiers on the other side waiting by the ship. Six of them." Ahead of Sherry and me, Toni had reached the security door leading to the VIP dock.

"I sense them. Sherry and I will take the three on the right." I was swinging my sword at the door. Like the time before, there was a flash of light, and the door disappeared.

The soldiers were ready, but not that ready. I guess they expected it to take a few seconds for the door to melt from blaster fire. The Queen's Sword caused molecular collapse. A good way of explaining it would be to say anything it touched turned into a black hole. Of course objects I was slicing through could not sustain a black hole as there was not enough collapsed matter in the center. The matter collapsed in on itself, couldn't hold in that form, and rebounded back out as light, X-rays, gamma rays, and a whole host of other energy particles.

The soldiers never stood a chance. Toni was by my left side when the security door disappeared. Sherry was in lock step right behind me. Toni fired three times as I caught a blaster shot with my sword. Sherry fired twice and I trapped another blaster shot. Toni took care of the last soldier.

It was a waste of life. They were defending a tyrant when they were thinking democracy. Why does human history repeat itself over and over and over? Are humans that stupid or is it a karma they carry? We were at the ship when I screamed. “NO WAIT!

Toni yanked back his hand before he touched the ship. “Force field. I sense it too.”

“They set up a shield around the ship. Let me see if I can collapse it without touching our ship.” I was sticking the point of the sword up close to the side of the starship.

“Careful, you touch our ship with that sword and we will walk home, and could you hurry? More soldiers are on the way.” Toni turned to guard our backs.

An eerie glow formed around our starship as I moved my sword in close to it. A black hole spread out from the tip of the sword half way around the ship as the sword swallowed the force field. Black holes could be formed from solid matter, as well as pure energy of a force field. There was a huge suction as the force field collapsed at the end of the sword. I thought we were all going to be swept in before there was a flash of light. The power generator for the force field had burned out, and the field collapsed.

“Toni!” I touched the side of the ship and a ramp flowed out of the ship while a door formed.

“GO! I’M RIGHT BEHIND YOU!” Toni fired twice down the hall leading from the meeting room.

I wrapped my skirt up in my left hand and sprinted up the ramp with Sherry right beside me. I hadn’t even made it inside when I screamed. “TONI, NOW!”

The flight console was in front of me. I glanced over my right shoulder to see Toni as he literally jumped into the ship. I slammed my hand down on the hatch control and the ramp flowed back into the side of the ship. The opening closed. The star map was up in front of me and I touched a star with my finger. The ship gave an unexpected shake.

“Did they trap us?” I was looking at an unfamiliar star map that generated in front of the flight console.

Toni had made his way up beside me. “I don’t know. Let me check.”

He slid down into the seat and pulled the console up in front of him. “No, we aren’t in the Earth’s dimension. I strongly suggest you find your seats. I have no idea where we are. They must have been trying to toss another force field over us and you jumped through it. It bounced us out in unexplored space.”

I was looking for my seat as Sherry took hers. “Great. And home is which direction and through how many dimensions?”

I looked over at Sherry hoping she could sense the way home with her seer abilities. “You sense anything? Got any ideas in that mind of yours?”

Sherry got real quiet, then shook her head. “I have no idea where we are, but we have company.”

“I have it.” Toni brought a starship up in the hologram. “Nothing I’ve seen before. Sherry are they friendly or hostile?”

“Neither. They are curious, wondering what we are doing.” Sherry had her eyes closed so the physical world wouldn’t distract her as she felt with her emotions for the other ship.

‘Permission to come aboard, Your Highness.’ Was in our minds. Obviously the life on the other starship had mind thought.

‘Our ship or your ship?’ Toni projected back.

‘Our ship is a lot bigger. Would you like to transport over?’

‘Sure.’ Was hardly out of Toni’s mind before all three of us were standing in a huge control center. I took a look and then a second and third look at our hosts. They were almost there. It was as if I was looking at a Will-O-Wisp. I couldn’t see through them, but they were not definite forms either.

One of them walked up in front of Toni and nodded. ‘Welcome aboard Your Highness. I sense uncertainty in your mind. Either this was an unplanned trip, or you are lost.’

He walked over to Sherry. ‘Ah, one who can see the future. An unexpected pleasure. Your Highness, welcome aboard.

Was Your Highness his normal greeting, or did he sense Toni and Sherry were heads of our clans? I was trying to puzzle out the question when he turned toward me. ‘It is difficult for me to verbalize, so I use mind thought. You carry the Queens Sword. You are Queen of the Pash. We know about the sword because we can see it. Many millennia back it was a gift to the Pash Queen. We also know of the seeds of war that are being sown between the human race and the Trag race.’

“Can you stop the war.” It was more natural for me to use my voice than my mind for conversation and sometimes I forgot.

‘We can not interfere. It has not been that long ago that you learned some things are ordained. The seeds of war may or may not produce fruit.’ He backed up and what I perceived as a female stepped up in front of me.

She held her hand. ‘May I see the Queens Sword?’

I reached over my back and brought it up in front of me. “If you touch it, it will destroy you.”

She reached out. ‘I am the sword designer. It will not hurt me.’

Holding out the sword with two fingers, I handed it to the woman. She took it in her hand and examined it. ‘It needs an adjustment. It has lost some power over the millennia. I will be right back.’

I didn’t have time to dispute her taking the sword. She was gone.

Another woman appeared in front of us. ‘I have programmed into your ship’s drives, the portals back to the Pash dimension. When you return to your ship it will take you home.’

Toni nodded his head. ‘Thank you for your help. You are most kind.’

The first woman reappeared with the sword. She held it out to me. ‘I do not believe you will have any more trouble collapsing any force fields. The molecular collapse should cause a wrap around effect as your sword touches the field.’

I took the sword and slid it over my back. Did she know about our escape from the Earth Alliance because they were there, or because she read our minds? I decided not to ask. “Thank you for all you have done for us.”

She held out her hand toward Sherry and a sword appeared. “I brought a gift for you also. If this war happens then you may find a need for this.”

Hesitantly Sherry took the sword. I could only imagine she was afraid it might not be adjusted to her body. She didn’t have to worry. The sword was in her hands and it didn’t make her disappear. “I do not have anything to offer in return besides my thanks.”

“You have the heart and conscience of honesty. That is enough.” The woman who handed Sherry the sword closed her eyes and nodded as she backed away

The woman looked around at Toni and Sherry. ‘You may stay if you want. The War would not reach you here.’

“No, it is our destiny for whatever happens, to try and prevent the war. If that’s not possible then we must support the Trag even if it means dying. Some causes are worth dying for. Dying for a just cause cannot be wrong.” I answered before Toni or Sherry had the chance.

‘As you wish.’

We were back on our own ship without that familiar flash of light when transported by beam. I looked around. “Toni?”

He gave the mental thought, ‘thank you’ before he reached up and touched the star map in front of his console. “We are home.”

I had a million questions about the life entities we had met. Our curiosity had to be put on the back burner, as war was looming larger and larger. Possibly several races could be wiped from history once the war commenced. The Pash were one of those who could become extinct.

Now it was a game of waiting to see if we were going to war, or not. I was positive Lucus wasn’t going to back down from declaring war with the Trag. He wanted their galaxy and he didn’t mind sending in a few billion innocent soldiers to die for his cause. And they would do it because their Commander in Chief said it was the right thing to do. All wars are insane! Good young men and women died needlessly for all the wrong reasons.

Sherry immediately left to contact the underground of the human population and their allies. Lucus would label them traitors and have them tortured and executed if he won this coming war. They really were putting their lives on the chopping block if war broke and the Trag and their allies didn’t win.

The Earth Alliance took in a huge number of non-human allies as the clouds of war became darker and darker. Everyone could smell the spoils of war. Planets, property, goods, land, and slaves could be had for the taking after a war of this magnitude.

The Trag had the Pash as allies and the underground movement on their side. It was nine days before the Trag ultimatum for all settlers to leave their galaxy when I met another plant intelligence as they gathered to support the Trag.

It was our daily trip to the Trag galaxy to try and negotiate a settlement to this madness. When Toni stopped the ship we were smack dab in the middle of millions of other unidentified ships. Shields on the alien ships immediately went up as one, and enough firepower focused in on us to make us a distant memory.

“What’s going on?” I was watching the monitor and it didn’t look good.

“I don’t know.” Toni called the Trag over the communicator. “Trag, this is Pash starship. Clarify the situation.”

“Pash, you are cleared. The Muvin have joined us.” Came back.

We beamed into the council building where we always met the Trag. I was looking at a life form there I had never seen. It reminded me of…? I had no idea. The body was round and red in color. There was no head or eyes, but it had a lot of limbs waving back and forth. I imagine it was sensing its environment with its branches or whatever. Not everything needed eyes to understand what was going on around them. What they did need was the ability to handle tools or objects if they were space travelers. This thing could do that with the snake like limbs it had. They also needed the ability to intake quantities of food if they were mobile. Then they needed the ability to think or reason if they were intelligent. I guess this thing could probably do that. They were driving starships, so they had to have something in the mental capability department as well. They also needed the ability to understand instruments. Driving a starship wasn’t done by sticking an arm out the window and feeling the air currents to see if one was headed in the right direction.

“Trag, do you have more allies? I would like to know in advance. The next ones might shoot us and then ask if we were on your side or not.” I stepped back from the Muvin as I had no idea if it understood we were not the enemy.

The Trag that stepped up to meet us turned one eye toward the Muvin. “The Muvin are not allies of the Trag. They join this war because their galaxy is not too distant. We stop the humans now, or the Muvin will find they have to fight alone when humans want their galaxy.”

I started to tell the Trag that was the exact definition of an ally, but thought better of it. The Trag had some unusual ideas about who was or wasn’t an ally. “How many ships did the Muvin put in space? Can they tell the difference between friend and foe? If it comes to war we will have many Earth Alliance ships fighting with the Pash and Trag. We certainly don’t want to have to defend ourselves from those who are fighting on our side.”

“Muvin put many ships in space.” The Trag answered, as it waved an arm toward the Muvin.

Sighing, I glanced over at Toni. “Make sure the computer does a ship count before we leave. There will be a bunch of Trag ships in there, but we can do a fair estimate if we subtract the number we have been checking the past week.”

“Sure, I was thinking of doing that already.” Toni beamed us back aboard our starship.

We found Jeeter and Bunny on Durus Nine. The large settlement where Toni and I had first landed, almost twenty days ago, was nearly deserted. The only life forms left were non-human. I was positive the Earth Alliance would find it tough sledding trying to defend illegal alien life forms instead of illegal humans.

If I hadn’t sensed it was Bunny, I would have never known it was she. She had changed her looks to those of a beautiful human female. I acknowledged her with a nod of my head. “You could have fooled me if I didn’t know you.”

“The pirates like this form. I use whatever is pleasing to them.” She had her hand resting on her phaser and it looked natural.

I was sure she had plenty of practice the way she casually carried herself. My attention was turned to Jeeter. “How’s it going?”

Jeeter shook her head. “Still have several colonies to visit yet. It would have been faster if Bunny and I had split up but it wasn’t safe. She watches my back and I watch hers. There is no honor among thieves. They will slit your throat, or doublecross you in a heartbeat if it suits them, or if they can see a profit in it.”

“Yeah, just like Earth Alliance.” I muttered under my breath.

“Captain, we need more time and more of those bio balls from the Trag. There are more pirates and claim jumpers than you estimated.” She held up an empty cylinder to show me.

“I guess you didn’t want to go back to the Trag and pick it up yourself? I can’t blame you. Probably a good idea. The Trag have allies and they are vegetable life forms also. I don’t know what the Muvin think of us. We need to set up a buffer between the Trag and Muvin ships and the other life forms that are joining in this war.” I took the cylinder from Jeeter. Toni and I would go back and get it refilled.

We tried to set up a meeting with Lucus and the Earth Alliance at a neutral location to stop this madness. It was to no avail. They never answered our request. I imagine there were a couple reasons they wouldn’t meet with us. They were afraid of an ambush like they tried on us, or they were gathering forces for the looming clouds of war.

Despite my prayers the final day arrived. To many of the Pash and a few billion humans, it was the final day of life. The Pash had been gathering in the Trag and Earth dimension for hours. My monitor was almost solid white with Pash starships. Toni and I kissed our daughters goodbye before beaming aboard a Star Destroyer. Pash Star Destroyers weren’t large ships, as they carried a compliment of twelve fire control stations. The energy those individual gun turrets were able to hurl was more than an Earth Alliance Battle Cruiser would be able to withstand. Their Star Destroyers wouldn’t be any safer. The problem was, they would outnumber us a hundred to one. How many shots can one take before we take one ourselves? The odds were against us surviving, no matter how powerful our weapons were.

I looked over at Toni and smiled. “I love you with all my heart. I have always loved you. Thank you for my life.”

Toni smiled. “Thank you for loving me. You are my life.”

“It’s time.” I reached up and touched a dot on the hologram in front of my console. Millions of Pash starships jumped distance and dimensions, as they were sync, locked with our ship.

“GOD HAVE MERCY!” Came from one of the hundreds of thousands of ships in front of us.

“Underground, this is the Pash. Please stand down and do not fire.” I wanted those ships to know we were not the enemy. Luckily, no one got trigger-happy on either side.

“Pash, where did you come from? You weren’t there a second ago.” “My god, my whole screen is filled with ships.” “I thought there were only a couple dozen Pash.” “Anyone able to count the number?” “Are all those ships Pash?” Came back from other ships scattered across space.

“Cut the chatter. The Trag and Muvin are moving up.” I could see hundreds of thousands of ships approaching from the Trag home planet.

“Trag, this is Pash. Did you get your screens in place?” I was hoping the Trag did their part. With our superior numbers, the Pash were going to take the brunt of the battle against the Earth Alliance. Those screens I was hoping were in place would bring the Earth Alliance ships to a halt, trapped in an electronic field the Trag had spread across space. The net would only work so long before the Earth Alliance figured it out and broke their ships free. Hopefully, in that short period of time, we could destroy most of them if things when as planned.

“Pash, Trag, net is in place.” Came back over the communicator.

“Pash, deploy to battle positions.” I could see a few hundred thousand ships approaching from the Earth Alliance. All the Pash ships disappeared off our scope. I knew if the Earth Alliance had seen them, they would think it was a blip on their screens and nothing more.

Our screen looked empty with only Trag, Muvin, and underground ships left on it. The Pash had moved back out of scanner range into battle groups. Five ships to a group, they would appear, pick targets, disappear, come back and do it over and over until they were either destroyed themselves, or the Earth Alliance and their allies were destroyed. War was for killing. A great man once said, “The idea is to not die for your country, but to make the other poor bastard die for his.”

I switched to the Earth Alliance frequency. “Admiral Baker, this is Queen Brandy Winter of the Pash Escubanesa Clan. I am here with King Tonlosania of the Pash Escubanesa Clan. We wish a conference.”

“We have no need for conference, your Highness. We are here to protect the settlers. Back off, or face our guns.” Came back.

“Admiral Baker, are you in too big a hurry to engage in war you can’t spare a few minutes to talk? Are your men so eager to die that you can’t talk to King Tonlosania and me? I promise the war won’t go away, even if you take a few minutes longer to begin. Please, your men might like a few of those minutes to think about their families. Please give me the honor of meeting my opponent if for no other reason.” I was praying something I said got through to Baker.

“I heard what you did in the meeting with President Lucus. You tried to kill him under the guise of a meeting. I will not give you that opportunity with me.”

“On screen.” Immediately Admiral Baker came up on a hologram in front of me.

Admiral Baker did not look pleased as he stared back at me from across twenty thousand miles of space. “I am not going to let you try the same trick on me you did on President Lucus. This is a waste of time.”

“Admiral, Neither I, nor my mate, nor counsel started the fight when we were meeting with Lucus. If I had started that fight we wouldn’t be here discussing it. Lucus and his counsel would be dead. The only reason he’s alive is because we were caught off guard. It was us who were ambushed in that meeting. Think about it. We managed to fight our way out of the hall and back to our ship after Lucus ordered his men to arrest us. Do you honestly think we would kill the guards before killing Lucus if it had been us who started the fight? Would you in that kind of situation?”

Admiral Baker looked doubtful before he answered. “Don’t bring any weapons and you may come aboard.”

“Do we have your word as an officer and gentleman this is under a white flag of truce, and you won’t try the same trick Lucus tried?” I didn’t like the no weapons idea but if there was any way to halt this madness I was willing to give it a try. I was probably going to die anyway, so why not die trying to save a few billion lives?

He nodded in agreement. “You have my word. You may return to your ship after we talk.”

“Tell your gunners to stand down. We are going to approach.” I glanced over at Toni and he was slipping off his sword and phaser.

Admiral Baker turned his head to talk to someone across the deck. “First Officer, tell our gunners to stand down. We have a Pash Starship approaching.”

“Aye aye, Captain. Gunners, stand down, Pash Starship shall be allowed to pull up alongside.” Came from someone off the side of the view screen.

I waited a couple seconds as Admiral Baker turned to look at the screen. I was waiting to give him time for the command to get through to his gunners. “Are their fingers off the triggers? We move pretty fast. I don’t want to get shot by someone who had a twitch.”

“My men don’t twitch. You may approach.” Admiral Baker looked disgusted.

I glance over at Toni. “Beam our crew over to another ship in case his gunners are twitchy.”

“Not a chance.” He touched the red dot that was in the hologram. We were beside the Admiral’s Battleship the Missouri. Less than half a second later we were inside the control deck of the Missouri.

“Permission to come aboard, Admiral.” I was looking at Admiral Baker who looked shocked that we were already there.

“Holy sh... you don’t waste any time do you? You were twenty minutes away.” He blinked his eyes to make sure we weren’t hologram generated.

“Admiral, I asked to talk. Twenty one years ago your Earth Alliance signed a treaty with the Trag. The treaty stipulated there would be no humans or animal life allowed into the Trag Galaxy.” I handed Baker a copy of the treaty.

“This treaty is non-negotiable. If you declare war on the Trag for defending their rights in a treaty your own Earth Alliance signed, then you are no better than the pirates and slavers you are protecting. Lucus thinks this will be an easy victory and none of the blood letting will get back to soil him. He’s wrong. The Trag do not go by rules if a treaty is broken. If you start a war by defending the pirates and slavers, who have illegally settled into the Trag Galaxy, then there are no rules.” I could see Admiral Baker was an intelligent man, but how much he was willing to follow illegal orders, or how much he would take upon himself to follow a signed treaty, was anyone’s guess. The military drills into their men that they must follow orders, no matter what, and without question. If an officer doesn’t follow orders, then he can kiss his career goodbye.

Admiral Baker was looking at the treaty. “Captain Jaser, pull up a copy of this Earth Alliance treaty from our records.”

“Yes Sir.” The Captain to our right walked over to a seaman sitting in front of a console and repeated the command to pull up the treaty.

“Your Highness, you must convince the Trag there are rules to war. We are civilized and will treat prisoners decently. We will not harm civilians or non-combatants. We do not destroy cities needlessly. I’m sure you would be able to convince the Trag they need to follow the Global Convention.” Admiral Baker looked first at me and then at Toni.

Shaking my head, I looked Baker in the eyes. “Admiral, if you don’t honor a treaty, you have lost all honor and can not expect the other side to be honorable.”

I sighed as I thought about how humans had always wanted to fight wars. “Admiral, you are the first flotilla to arrive at the Trag Galaxy. There are millions of other ships headed this way at flank speed as we speak. We both know some of those ships will be arriving in a few days. Others, posted on the other side of the Earth Alliance settlements, will be traveling for over a year before they arrive.”

“This war will not be fought only here. It is going to be spread clear to the other side of human settlement. I can assure you with the first shot fired, Earth itself is going to be under attack. Those Earth Alliance ships on the other side of the universe are going to be destroyed before they even know they were in the war zone. Every human settlement is going to be attacked almost immediately. This is going to be the most ungodly war humanity ever started, and possibly the last, because the Trag and Pash don’t take lightly to someone signing a treaty and then breaking it because they feel like it.” I watched disbelief grow in Admiral Baker’s eyes.

“You wouldn’t...” He had never heard of such a thing and his mind couldn’t comprehend instant war across the spread of humanity.

“I would and so would the Trag, the Muvin, the Pash, and a dozen of their allies. Admiral, your wife’s name is Dee and your two sons are named Chris and Charles. The first shot will unleash a war you do not want. Your family will be victims of that war. It will reach all the way back to them. If you’re lucky, you will die and not realize what you have done if you persist in following illegal orders. You have been ordered to defend pirates and slavers who are breaking a treaty the Earth Alliance has signed. If you were following orders to enforce that treaty then you would be legally and morally right.” I was desperately praying somewhere, I was getting through to this man.

Captain Jaser handed a copy of the treaty to Admiral Baker. “Her copy is correct. Nothing was altered or changed on it.”

Admiral Baker studied the treaty and then looked it over again. “Have any new treaties been made?”

“No Admiral.” Captain Jaser shook his head.

“I see. Our orders are in direct violation of this treaty?” Admiral Baker sighed as he knew his decision could possibly end his career. “Are you really positioned to strike our convoys on the other side of the universe?”

For the first time I saw a chance of stopping this war before it started. “Yes, and everything in between. My King will give you a ride over and back if you like?”

Shaking his head, he smiled. “No, as much as I believe you, and I would like that ride, I would be deserting my post. Would humanity be wiped out?”

“I doubt it. Not completely. There would be a few isolated pockets of humans left. The Trag don’t take kindly to broken treaties. They would do their best to make sure humans were taken off the species list. Humans would lose any ability to travel in space. Any ship that lifted off a planet would be a target and that would be a pointer back to where other humans were. The Trag would eradicate any humans they found.”

Admiral Baker glanced over at Captain Jasper. I knew he was looking for support one way or another. “Admiral, President Lucus sent you out on a fool’s errand. He was thinking of this war costing a few thousand or a few million lives and then the Trag Galaxy would be his for the spoils. I promise you, it’s not a mouse you are fixing to swat. You are about to unleash a dragon and this dragon will have his revenge on every human.”

I really didn’t want humans to know the number of Pash they would be up against, but I was desperate to stop a war before it began. “My Lord, if it pleases you, bring up the Pash Starships.”

Toni nodded in agreement. “It is done.”

“HOLY MOTHER OF MARY!” Came from the helmsman.

Admiral Baker turned to look at why his helmsman had spoken out. “OH SHIT!” He was looking at a view screen that was almost pure white with ships scattered as far as the sensor could monitor. “Where did they come from?”

“They just appeared, Sir.” The helmsman was trying to decide if his monitor was being fed erroneous information.

“Admiral, what you are looking at is not a hologram. Those Starships are real and their weapons are lethal. Your shields are useless against their phasers because their phasers are in a different sync than your phasers or shields. One hit from one of their guns and your ship is history.”

“Please, for the love of God, for the lives of every man, woman, and child, do not enforce a broken treaty against the Trag. You will be signing the death warrant for all of humanity.” I was praying Admiral Baker had a little bit of self-initiative in him.

Again I turned to Toni. “My Lord, if it pleases, deploy our ships to battle position and be prepared to give the order that no quarters are to be given or taken.” I was praying a little bit of military protocol would jump start the Admiral’s mind. It was what he had been trained to follow all his life.

Toni was staring straight at the Admiral. “It is as ordered.”

The helmsman’s screen went blank except for a view of space. “They are gone.”

Turning to look at the view screen the Admiral had passed beyond shock. “Are they on the other side of the universe?”

“Some are. They have broken up into battle groups. Each group is following one of your flotillas, ready to wipe them out if my King gives the command.”

Admiral Baker glanced in Toni’s direction and I could tell what he was thinking. I shook my head. “Or if he stops communicating with them. Admiral, we communicate by mind thought. So do the Trag and most of the others who have joined this battle. They don’t need equipment or mechanical devices to talk to one another across space. This is what I was trying to explain to Lucus when he tried to have us imprisoned. The treaty the Earth Alliance signed with the Trag wasn’t to protect the Trag from humans, it was to protect humans from the Trag. The Trag were going to wipe out the human race before the Pash intervened on the behalf of humanity.”

I glanced at Captain Jasper. “This is one treaty you must defend with all your honor.”

Admiral Baker took a deep breath and sighed. “Please your Highness. Give my staff and me time to discuss this alone.”

I had no idea how old Admiral Baker was, but at that moment he looked to be five hundred years or more. “Certainly Admiral. My King.”

We were back aboard our Starship and just as quickly the ship was at the edge of their scanner range. Toni was studying me. “What are your feelings?”

I shook my head. “The Admiral believes me but he’s fighting with years of following orders without question. It depends upon how much backbone he has. He is an honorable man, but can he overcome his military training and make a career decision? It also depends on how many of his staff will support him.”

My years as Captain of outpost UF-2 had given me the knowledge of what Admiral Baker was going through. We were still waiting an hour later when Jeeter and Bunny’s ship showed up on our screen along with four Trag ships following along.

“Captain, the Trag have been counting noses and I think they are ready to give it more time.” Jeeter came over the communicator.

Looking over at Toni I was wondering if he was thinking the same thing? “Jeeter, has everyone left?”

“The humans have, Captain. What is left isn’t by choice. It’s non humans who are stranded without any ships to leave by.” Was Bunny’s reply.

As the Earth Alliance ships started moving my heart jumped up in my throat. Then we picked up a transmission. “Trag, this is the Commander of the Earth Alliance Space Fleet. We are here to pick up any trespassers in the Trag galaxy. We request permission to proceed.”

“Admiral Baker, this is Trag Alliance. You have one day to pick up those illegally in Trag galaxy.”

“I’m wondering if this is a trick?” I was looking at Toni. “Could be they want us to stand down and then they will attack?”

“We will wait to see. A few days waiting should be plenty.” He was double-checking his monitor for any extra ships from the direction of earth.

Jeeter pulled up beside us. “Permission to come aboard?”

“Permission granted.” I touched my console.

Jeeter and Bunny were standing inside our ship. Jeeter shook her head. “I love your transporter.”

She held out her hand toward me. “Your plan worked. We traded these things with the pirates and they did the rest.”

I was looking at the bio balls in her hand. “Changing all the human pirates into females desiring sex, not war, wasn’t exactly my idea. The Trag came up with the idea a long time ago.”

Bunny picked up a couple of the bio balls out of Jeeter’s hand. “Who would have thought a war could be fought and won with a few little things like this?”

I had to laugh. “The Trag are good at things like that. I imagine that was why Lucus and his cabinet didn’t want to meet with us. They were too busy with female problems. I gave them a dose of the same when I leaned over the banister to talk to them. The virus was a lot smaller and airborne as I let it slid out of my hands. Hopefully the new council and President they elect will honor the Trag treaty without the threat of war. I know human nature though, and I wouldn’t bank on it. Maybe the threat of visiting one of the Trag planets as male and leaving as female will keep the pirates and trespassers away?”

Jeeter nodded in agreement. “I imagine it will. Big, strong, tough pirates don’t want to change into sex starved female nymphomaniacs. I hope the Trag haven’t come up with a virus for my species.”

“Who said they haven’t?” I winked at Toni as I answered Jeeter.

I thanked God no one died in an insane war that day. It was funny that a little thing the size of a bb could divert a war. Did the life forms that handed Sherry a Queen’s Sword know what had happened? I was curious to find them again.

FROM THE EDITOR: I know that this seems like a cliffhanger, but this is the very last bit that Barbie sent me. IF there is any more, I will get it up and posted ASAP. Both Barbie and I want to thank ALL the commenters, those who left kudos, and those who send private messages. We REALLY appreciate your input and corrections that you suggest. YOU readers are the reasons why writers write and post stuff for free on sites like this one, and on behalf of all the great authors here and on other sites,we thank you, from our hearts.