Trees within the mother-ship detected underground earth vibrations. Due to the sealant basin of the mother-ship, the messages the trees received from the vibrations, were accessible after the delay in transmission. Demla and a few other forest folk picked up the alarm signal being sent from the trees.
The trees told them that a few thousand of heavy-moving troops and vehicles headed towards the mother-ship. They reckoned that this moving block of muscle, iron and stone, was just a few days march away. Residents of the mother-ship needed to be informed now, and besides the perimeter tower guard, a small reconnaissance team was to be deployed, to warn of the oncoming attack.
Without further consideration, the elders gave the official consent for the migration to begin. The guard were to stay on duty until the majority of the others connected and one frequency was circulating by energy vibration. A selected member of the guard was to stay on the mother-ship, to be responsible for the recall of the rest of the guard. As confirmed by the elders, it was unnecessary for the guard to connect because the existing connection should be strong enough to open the vortex, and migrate the mother-ship.
Jessica, Leo, Relt, Thorn, True and Mulrog attended a final migration meeting with the elders, as the last of the reconnaissance patrols arrived back. Relt asked for the patrol leader to join the meeting. And as the man entered, at the invite of the elders, he ate and drank from the provisions on the large table. Relt looked at the patrol leader, who was an old breed hunter, and with a flat handed gesture prompted him to speak.
The patrol leader started his report “At dawn this morning the chaotic noise generated by a colossal battle movement, hit our ears kilometres ahead of the actual event. We skirmished to higher ground for a clearer view, once the early morning haze cleared. But we didn't get the view we wanted due to the permanent shield of dust this movement created around it. We determined though that it was a heavy move. Not just reptilian troops, but vehicles made of stone. These troops advanced in rows, with at least fifty armed soldiers in each. The reptilian force is now one day's march away. If the aim of this whole move is to attack us, I reckon that we have made them angry.” and Mulrog translating for the elders.
It was obvious from the report that the delayed vibrations detected by the trees gave unreliable information.
Relt thanked the patrol leader and asked him to stay at the meeting as an advisor. Thorn looked at Jessica and True, and added “If what we saw during our dome network escape, is the same as those stone vehicles; I'm sure you'd agree the reason for the movement is to attack humans. Because those vehicles are used to transport flesh after rough butchering at the attack location.”
Jessica and True nodded in agreement. Leo explained that trenches had been dug at five hundred metres on the other side of the mother- ship perimeter. And that each was large enough to make sure it was not possible for the reptilians to leap or drive over them.
Relt added that together with Mulrog and Thorn, messages were to be sent to other old breed settlements via pigeon, and forest folk via tree root network. To explain the plans and stages of the migration, and although not confirmed a success yet, others are welcome to follow afterwards.
The elders rose from the seats and told Mulrog to translate that the meeting has finished, and everyone should take up the pre-arranged positions on the mother-ship. The migration was to start now. Those tiarians not on guard duty took up the positions and connected and tuned into the body energy vibration. Once they connected, the elders took control and raised the frequency. Guards in the towers now sighted the advancing reptilian army. They sounded a cow-horn alarm and the guards this side of the mother-ship launched the sap grenades.
The guard had returned to the mother-ship. At the perimeter the vessel was unguarded. A group of elders concentrated on the vortex while the others continued to raise the frequency of the one vibration required to launch and move the mother-ship. To open the vortex though, it first had to be located. The easy part was to open the vortex once they anchored a suitable one. Thousands of vortexes existed, so temporary doorways could be created.
During the search the elders carried out on a different level of consciousness, to find a vortex which had the required characteristics of width, length and position; they were to send out a call to the vortex itself and hoped to receive a signal back which showed the one to use. The elders chose the right vortex at last and the doorway opened. Those from the perimeter guard who had returned to the mother-ship, but had not been part of the connection for the energy vibration flow; had the perk of observing this spectacle.
At first a growing line mid-air above the mother-ship dome appeared. The line contained every colour of a rainbow. As this line grew in length, it split in the centre. Once the line had reached a length to accommodate the mother-ship in diameter, a rumbling thunder filled the sky as the line's central split widened; making room for the hole to come into existence. The hole grew until it had reached the line's edges.
As the tiarians watched, they could look into this amazing hole or vortex entrance. Through the hole the vortex tunnel walls, covered in a mixture of orange, pink, purple and red colours, could be seen to turn in both clockwise and anti-clockwise directions. Now the point of no return had arrived as the mother-ship lifted upwards towards the vortex doorway.