Free Pray for the Prey by Saxon Andrew Page A

world for last.”
    Arvolo smiled, “That’s what you do with desert.”
    Chris chuckled and said, “Make the assignments and let’s get this over with.”
    Arvolo stood and motioned to Cyanna to follow him, “You’ll have them shortly. The Computer on the Melbourne is working on the task.”
    An hour later Arvolo appeared on the Jukebox’s display, “You have your assignments. If you encounter any difficulty, notify your assigned partner and they will come to your aid. Otherwise, stay at your last assignment and await further instructions. We will jump to our targets in five minutes.”
    Chris watched the chronometer start the countdown and looked at his board. Every ready light was illuminated and he knew the crew was ready. He looked at Jillian and she smiled, “This is worth doing, my love.”
    He smiled and watched until the countdown hit zero and then jumped the Jukebox.
    • • •
    The forty ships in orbit above a highly industrialized world were bored. Most of them had attended the Festival and now the high of watching so many die had worn off. One ship’s Commander asked over the general frequency, “Do any of you ever get the urge to hit one of those cities on the planet with a good laser shot?”
    “I get the urge all the time. I’ve been told that one Commander did exactly that in the Posev Quadrant.”
    “What happened?”
    “They fired fifteen capsules in him and let him die chained to a pole.”
    “Well, there’s a good reason not to do it.”
    There was a long moment of silence until it was broken by one of the Commanders saying, “It might be worth it just to watch them burn.”
    They all laughed and wished they could fire on the planet.
    Twenty seconds later, all forty ships were expanding clouds of vapor as the ship that killed them jumped away.
    All over M-49 grey colored ships were being destroyed without warning. In less than an hour more than three quarters of a million ships had been blown apart. More than a hundred thousand planets saw the explosions taking place in high orbit above them and wondered what was happening. The Governors on the planet attempted to contact the ships that were there to impose their will on the population, but received no answer. After many attempts they contacted the Fleet Agency on the Home World to find out what was going on.
    The Fleet Agency began receiving calls which started as a trickle and rapidly turned into a flood of inquires about what was happening to the ships that were scattered around the King’s Empire. The Agency began sending messages out to their far flung subject worlds and many of the ones they contacted were cut off in mid-sentence. The Head of the Agency sent an emergency communication to the Fleet Commander who was also unable to contact any of the Empire’s Ships. Something was happening and it didn’t appear to be good. He rushed to the King’s Quarters and told him that something was happening to the Ships of the Fleet. The King stood and yelled for the Head of the Agency to report to him immediately. They were still arguing about what was taking place when the communication system illuminated and they heard a voice.
    “If you’re trying to reach your ships you’re wasting your time. We’ve just destroyed every one of them.”
    The King looked at the Fleet Commander who went to the panel and pushed the talk button, “And just who are you?”
    “That’s really not important. You should know that we are sending this conversation to every electronic device on your planet. We think your population should be aware of what’s about to happen to them. We are also sending it to all of the worlds you’ve be terrorizing over the centuries, so they will also know what is taking place.”
    “I’m afraid you have me at a loss. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “I have sent my fleet to every planet you control and have destroyed every ship you had stationed there. None of them survived and those worlds are now