Defending Earth-Searching for Death Feeders by Saxon Andrew Page A

happened. This one was blind when it consumed a meal.”
    The Leader snarled at the female but knew she was probably right. He looked at the Master standing next to him and thought, “Go and thank the Ship Commander for coming to assist us in finding the missing Ruler.” The Master walked away and the Leader looked around the huge gathering of Feeders that continued to grow. “Make it a policy to scan your surrounding for the presence of Carnivores before you begin consuming a meal.”
    “Shouldn’t we remove the carnivores from this planet?”
    The Leader snarled at the Master, who made the suggestion. “The carnivores serve a purpose. They prevent our meals from running out into the wilderness and attempting to hide. They save us the effort of having to go out and capture them again. This one was stupid. Just make sure none of you make the same mistake. Now go back to your territories and I’ll report our findings to the Fleet Leader.”
    The large gathering broke up and they moved back to their vehicles.
    • • •
    The monitor went dark and Kyle stood up, “You may discuss what you’ve just seen among yourselves and if you want to return, I’ll take you back.” Kyle looked at Legune, “Call me when you’re ready to act like an intelligent species!” Legune flinched at the remark and nodded.
    Kyle walked back to his Light Ship and walked to the bridge, “Amber, what did we learn about that ship?”
    “It’s a monster. It’s not as large as those used by the Legends but it does pack a varied assortment of heavy weapons.”
    “I only saw disruptors and missiles.”
    “It also has some extremely large tubes on its hull that appear to fire a powerful magnetic field.”
    “What would it do if it hit a ship?”
    “It would knock out the electronics. It’s like the EMP pulse made by a nuclear explosion.”
    “Could it penetrate our force fields?”
    “There’s no way to know except to go out and allow one to hit one of our ships.”
    “Can you make an estimate on its speed?”
    “If it came from that fleet we saw in Legune’s mind, it’s faster than our void stardrives. It did take longer than using the barrier but it was really quick in the void. I think the void is the only drive they have. The force field around it, when it arrived, can be penetrated, I think.”
    “We were lucky.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “The Feeders that came to the village all landed in the field where the colony ship moved its port out of the barrier; there had to be an electronic residue left behind. Their landing craft were left running and masked the evidence of our presence.”
    “I didn’t think about that. You’re right. Is that why you had the Colony Ship land in the field next to the buildings?”
    “It is. There’s no other place to land other than that field. We were also lucky the Feeders on that planet don’t have a warship.”
    “The ship that came in didn’t scan the barrier.”
    “What?”
    “I would think the Feeders that were working with the Legends would have told them about the barrier when the Legends kicked them out. But it appears they either didn’t or the ship didn’t suspect us of being present that far from our cluster.” Kyle leaned back in his command chair and put his hand on his chin. “One other thing.” Kyle looked up. “The scanner used to locate the dead Feeder wasn’t that advanced. I don’t think it would operate more than one AU.”
    “Are you pretty certain about that?”
    “The scanner they used was the largest one on that ship’s hull. I find it hard to believe a smaller one would have a longer range.”
    Kyle thought for a moment and tilted his head, “That makes sense.”
    “Why?”
    “The Feeders can detect the minds on ships over a very long distance. Why would they need an electronic scanner except for attacking warships near them?”
    “That is an excellent point.”
    “Did you send the Micro-probe to follow that ship?”
    “I did. What are