Chapter 3

Mark docked the shuttle as fast as he could. He’d been taking readings all the way back to King Rufus’s planet. It had only been five days since he’d talked and given the plans to the leader of the Imperial Space fleet. If he’d listened to Mark, then the first ships should be there soon. Mark was just praying that the Styrox was delayed a little longer. From everything that Mark had seen and read after talking to the fleet leader, it wouldn’t have been much longer before they attacked. Going over everything that the King had implemented, plus a few things Mark had added, Mark knew that eventually they would fall, but not for at least a week. At least from everything he saw, it should be a week, especially with him there.

Mark had finally finished explaining everything to the King; as he was about to leave, the King asked him a simple question, “So Mark, what do you think our chances are?”

Mark wasn’t one to lie. Looking King Rufus straight in the eye, he replied, “Not that good. They have power, numbers, and time. Honestly? I give us a week with no help. Even with help, a lot of shit is getting destroyed.” King Rufus shook his head in the affirmative, “I thought that was what you might say; I’ve already evacuated over 3/4 of the planet.”

Mark smiled. He remembered his earlier dealings with King Rufus. Of all the Royalty, Presidents, and Generals, King Rufus had been his favorite. “I hope you don’t mind; I’ve added a few things over the years that we were able to integrate with your systems here,” King Rufus said as he led Mark behind the throne to a control room.

Mark’s smile got even bigger. King Rufus had a few thermal nuclear missiles, anti-matter drones, and even a few plasma cannons. That was nice! “I thought you might like these,” King Rufus chuckled at the look on Mark’s face, “I don’t know why, but something you said years ago prompted me to purchase them.”

“Something I said?” Mark asked.

“Yes, let me see, I think it was, oh yes! Now that everything’s working, try to keep it that way. So I got a few students of the central school to help, plus, I added a lot of goodies to help keep them that way.” King Rufus responded.

Here, Mark thought the planet was completely defenseless; well, the Styrox were definitely in for a surprise. Mark and the King hurried to the planet shield array; at present, the Styrox could blow it away without even an afterthought. Mark looked at all the readings, calculating the amount of increase he’d need to keep the Styrox at bay till help arrived. The rest of the day and well into the night, Mark, Sam, and the ten and fifteen-year students worked on the planetary defense systems. Nissie, her red hair no longer dull and the joy apparent on her and Sam’s faces, took notes while watching Arthur and Catrina. The next morning, Mark was finally ready to test everything he’d done to improve the system; everyone held their breath when Mark re-started the system. Mark’s smile started to grow wider when the shield output rose to twice what it had been. A few adjustments, and it was soon at three times. Still not satisfied, Mark had everyone readjust their settings again. His smile grew even wider when the shield output hit four times, almost as powerful as the shields on the ships.

Implementing the rest of his plan, he turned and started to explain, “I have the shields strong enough to resist almost anything that they can throw at us.” Pointing to 4 new switches, Mark went on, “Activating these four switches will boost the shields for an hour, maybe 2; during that time, nothing will be able to penetrate them. Any longer than that would destabilize the shields, and we’d be defenseless. This will also increase the power of the weapons, but remember, they are seriously limited, plus the extra drain on the power plants might cause them to fail.” Mark had to rest; he’d talked too much.

Not entirely surprised by their reactions, Mark watched as everyone went to their posts. Damn, he hadn’t realized just how tired he was. Looking over another system, it seemed he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. Walking up behind him, Nissie and Sam both finally got his attention,

“Mark, you need to get some sleep; you’re going to pass out. If I remember right, you haven’t slept in four days; you’re going to kill yourself.” Finishing, Nissie crossed her arms over her ample breasts, a look of concern and love dominating her features. “I have to re-check all the systems,” Mark breathed out, “they have to be...” “What damn good will they do us if you’re dead before they get here!” Nissie almost screamed at Mark, her eyes afire with a passion Mark hadn’t seen in quite some time. Almost bowing his head to her, Mark knew she was right. It wouldn’t do to have him missing anything. Looking at everyone, Mark whispered to Nissie. Nissie’s eyes grew large, and then she nodded before speaking up, “Mark said to examine everything twice; if you find something that doesn’t look right, no matter how small, write it down, and I’ll give it to him when he gets up. Everyone nodded, a look of relief on their faces.

Mark went to lay down, more tired than he’d felt in years; damn, he hoped he had enough systems enhanced to keep them alive. Out, as soon as his head hit the pillow, Mark was hoping for restful sleep.

Mark was in a dark room; he could hear Nissie and Sam sobbing uncontrollably, and both started to scream the closer he got. What the hell? He opened his mouth to speak, and Tantka’s voice came out! Again, both of his women screamed as he tried to tell them it was him, Mark, but they just fled as they pulled weapons. Running away as fast as he could, he finally lost them. Looking at his reflection, he saw Tantka’s reflected back at him. Looking up, he saw Tantka with his arms around Sam and Nissie; they were snuggled up to him, looking straight at Mark. Tantka smiled an evil smile as he drove a knife into both of the women. Mark started to scream, then suddenly jerked awake, still screaming. Both Nissie and Sam came running. They were holding him while he violently shook. Both tried to calm him, “It’s alright, Mark, we’re both here; nothing has happened to us or the children,” Nissie said as she and Sam held him tight.

Mark finally stopped shaking, got up, and started checking on everything that had been written down by the others. He had to admit the ten and 15-year students were a lot better than most of the students he’d seen. Mark had just finished checking everything for the second time, having readjusted many systems again. It had been six days since he’d warned the Imperial space force leader. Mark had just added a new update to all the equipment when a proximity alarm went off. Checking his drone, Mark now saw that the fleet was starting to advance. Sighing, Mark knew they’d start attacking at any moment. Smiling a moment, Mark activated several commands. Looking over the readings, Mark nodded to Sam, and she also started to activate several commands. Suddenly, there was a hissing, crackling noise over the space com, “Rufus planet,” came a sing-song voice, “you have a galactic hour to surrender before we attack; you are surrounded; you have no chance, and we will reduce your planet to a smoking ball of debris.”

They heard Rufus growl before he answered, “This is King Rufus. Attack us if you dare! You will find us far harder to defeat than you think!” With that, King Rufus snapped off the com and activated several buttons. They all watched as the first eight ships shimmered and then exploded. Nearby, eight others were damaged. The fleet fired on the eight damaged ships, destroying them instantly as punishment for being damaged.

Mark’s mouth dropped open, “and when were you going to tell me about the pulse cannons?” Mark asked as they watched the front line of the fleet move into a more defensive position. “I told you I had a few goodies. I thought you liked surprises?” King Rufus said as he fired again, destroying another eight ships and damaging two others that were destroyed almost as fast. “Sure, I like pleasant surprises, but I like to know as much as I can first,” Mark replied. The King laughed, and then the fleet opened up on the planet. Many in the fleet were angry and surprised when their weapons not only didn’t penetrate the planet’s atmosphere but actually bounced off a few times, striking a few more of the fleet ships and destroying them instantly. Mark could have sworn he’d heard Tantka issuing orders when the leader of the fleet was talking. ‘Tisking the King smiled at Mark, “Before you came, Mark, we had no chance; at least now, we can take as many of the bastards with us as we can. I know, I know, 20 ships out of 5000 is really nothing, but I feel better knowing I killed a few hundred or thousand of those bastards.” Mark smiled the same old King Rufus, who was always full of surprises as he was. The fleet started to take positions around the planet when another 20 ships on the far side of the planet exploded, including one of the big command ships.

The King looked over at Sam and Mark, his mouth agape, damn it took his cannons two tries, and he hadn’t gotten that many. The debris scattered as another 30 tried to take their place and were destroyed; this time, many in the fleet fired at various points, destroying most of Mark’s drones. Smiling, Mark was glad they’d done their job well. Though they were only down 80 ships, it was the one command ship he’d wanted to take out. If he remembered right from the information he got from the Imperial leader, the Styrox needed all their leaders, though they could go on without them. Mark was hoping that they would be a little disorientated and that any advantage would be a delay that would help them last longer. Finally, the fleet pulled back to just out of range with the pulse cannons. ‘Good,’ Mark thought, ‘they are unsure,’ he hoped Tantka was also; this was unlike Mark’s usual tactics. An hour later, the com hissed and crackled again, “You will pay for the deaths of the Styrox you have killed; we know that you,” the leader pointed at Mark, “are the reason that these pitiful humans are able to resist us.” Join us as your associate has, and we will spare this planet and all there.” Mark had been gathering readings. Finally, he had what he wanted and pushed a button, “I have only one answer for you,” Mark answered; the image on the screen shook as Mark’s drone slammed into the rear of the ship, destroying one of the four engines.