GalaxyBillies

Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Space is big. Really BIG! It's so big, in fact, that light from the farthest star takes billions of years to travel from one side to the other. That is, assuming there really are sides to space.

With something so large you might wonder why a small, blue world is causing so much commotion. After all, what's one insignificant planet in a galaxy full of life-bearing ones?

And yet, the largest battle fleets ever assembled are poised on the perimeter of the solar system of that same small blue planet. On one side of the battle is a military fleet commanded by Vice Chancellor Greklor.

Greklor's single goal is to exterminate the denizens of the planet known as Earth. Not because they are a threat, but because he has a dirty little secret he needs to cover up. It seems, the selfsame Vice Chancellor attempted to create an army of super-soldiers out of the humans. To achieve that, he sent his eldest two sons to conquer the planet.

Unfortunately the humans had other ideas and killed the invaders. Greklor quietly swept the  conspiracy under the carpet and tried to forget about the whole thing.

Recently, a small group of humans were accidentally responsible for the death of Greklor's youngest and only remaining son. That death convinced the Vice Chancellor that his secret was in jeopardy and humanity needed to go.

That is why the Galactic Fleet sits and prepares for attack.

On the other side is an odd assortment of ships. There are several Space Cycle gangs reporting back to MegaDan Scholes, Voice of the Galaxy. MegaDan put the word out to the galaxy to save humanity after learning about the Vice Chancellor's transgressions. The Space Cyclists were unexpected but welcome.

There is also a fleet of delivery and courier vessels belonging to The Corporation. They are there because The Chairman's daughter, Sheanna'Ree has befriended Betty Sue and her kin and asked her father for help. What she didn't expect was that he had a fleet of military grade courier and delivery vessels at his disposal.

Two final vessels sit a little way back of the battle lines. One, a powered asteroid, is the flagship of the Corporation fleet. On board is The Chairman of the Corporation.

The other is the semi-sentient starship, Grokmar which has the last hope for humanity on board: a group of five humans from the Appalachian Mountains.

It's hard to say whether the humans plight is desperate or not with people like that.

***

Greklor slammed the comm station so hard it exploded in a shower of sparks. How dare that insolent whelp speak that way. Greklor was Vice Chancellor of the Galactic Counsel. The Chairman was just some two-bit businessman.

Greklor swore under his breath. "I'll deal with you later, Chairman. You will rue the day you decided to cross me."

The door chime to his room sounded.

"Now what?" In two strides Greklor was at the door.  He palmed the door open to see the sweating ensign standing at attention.

"Sir, we tried contacting you from the bridge but your comm is out so I came down," the ensign said.

"My comm is broken," Greklor growled. "What is so important that you left your station?"

The ensign gulped and stood a little straighter. "The ships we detected earlier have arrived." He unconsciously took a step back. "There are a lot more than we expected."

Greklor pushed past the ensign and stomped his way to the bridge. Every single member of the bridge crew stared at the forward screen as if mesmerized. Greklor ignored the screen and went to the command chair.