Free Lens of Time by Saxon Andrew

will never desert you in an hour of need.” RV reached in his pocket and said, “This will deactivate the sensor buoy and bring it into normal space. It is yours to copy and use as you deem best. It is untraceable and encrypted.”
    The Leader of the Council said, “We will send a representative to work out how we want to move forward with this alliance.”
    RV bowed and said, “Thank you.” The Leader smiled and looked at the Operator.
    The Operator turned to RV and said, “You may go back to the one you love. I’m going to do the same after you leave. Your thoughts have reminded me how much she means to me.”
    RV stuck out his hand and after a moment, Jeff shook it. Every member of the Council felt the bond between the two very different beings. They all wanted to go home to their mates. Like Jeff remembered, sometimes the ones that are the most important are forgotten.
    • • •
    RV jumped back to the Havana and found Cyanna waiting on him. She rushed through the shuttle’s opening port and jumped into his arms. She tried hard not to cry but her tears would not be denied. “Shhhh, it’s alright.”
    “Please tell me you weren’t in any danger.”
    RV stroked her hair and held her close. He softly said, “You were there with me and that made all the difference.”
    Later when RV gave George his report on what happened, she felt her heart skip a beat when he related that they knew the location of their new worlds. George said, “Are you sure we can trust them?”
    RV slowly nodded and said, “It’s a remarkable thing that the civilizations that are telepathic are the ones that can be trusted the most. Deception is just not part of their society. I honestly feel we should share our technology with them.”
    “Aren’t they already ahead of us in most areas?”
    “They are, especially in force field development, but they don’t have beams as powerful as the ultra. We need to give it to them.”
    “RV, this is a critical decision. If they have it, they will be able to defeat any of our ships.”
    “They can do that now. I’m more concerned about the other advanced civilizations among the Majors and the other sector. We need to assist them.”
    George ran his hand through his hair and said, “Do what you need to do.”
    • • •
    RV opened the frequency and said, “Is the being named Jeff available for a conversation?”
    “Stand by.”
    After six minutes RV heard, “Hello my friend. What prompts this contact?”
    “I have discussed our new agreement with my leaders and we’ve decided to share our beam weapon with you.”
    “Our beams are quite powerful and are adequate.”
    “We’ve measured the power of your beams and they are not as strong as the one we have on our ships.”
    Jeff stared at RV and said, “Just how much more power does your beam have compared to ours?”
    “Ours are ten times more powerful.”
    Jeff stared at RV on the display and finally said, “I find that difficult to believe.”
    “I’m going to give you some coordinates. If you will bring a ship I will be more than happy to demonstrate the difference. If you could bring a target with you, it would make the demonstration more effective.”
    “Give me a moment.” Jeff disappeared from the display and twenty minutes later reappeared, “I will be coming with two ships. One of them will be the target. May I also bring the Leader of the Council?”
    “By all means.”
    • • •
    Two hours later the Havana saw two large orange ships break into normal space. One of them was a new model that had not appeared in the previous chase of the attack craft. RV saw Jeff appear on his display, “We’ve brought our newest battleship. We’ve kept this ship a secret as it has our most powerful force field.”
    “I really don’t want to damage your ship, Jeff.”
    “We honestly don’t think you can. We’re willing to risk that damage to demonstrate the superiority of our technology.”
    RV smiled and Jeff saw something