by Saxon Andrew
Chapter 1
Matthew Gardner looked out at the spiral galaxy he had just been assigned to examine. He was a Searcher and this was his first assignment since graduating from the Stars Realm Academy. “I hope I don’t mess up.” He checked his sensors and decided to start his search on the closest spiral arm and work his way in toward the center of the huge galaxy and then move back out on another spiral arm. His display read more than three million type G suns in the arm he was about to enter which offered hope his search for intelligent life was going to be successful since most of the known inhabited planets were orbiting the medium sized class g stars. His long range sensors were also set to alarm if any sign of technology was discovered in any other star types near the class G’s. He set his sensor systems and reached forward and pressed a white button on his console. His small ship began jumping into the galaxy targeting the stars that had the best probability of life. He sat back and watched his sensors as his ship moved through more than a hundred systems a minute. He looked at his readouts and saw that this arm of the galaxy was going to take more than twenty days to complete. He stared at his display for two hours and grew bored; he sat back, closed his eyes, and thought about the last five years.
He had volunteered to join the Star Realm’s Navy on Cross, his home planet, when he was seventeen and hoped he would be accepted into the academy. Growing up he had read everything he could find about the Realm’s Searchers. He wanted to pilot a ship out into the universe exploring new worlds and species; at every opportunity he and his friends pretended to be Searchers fighting off suspected enemies of the Stars Realm. Finally he turned seventeen and was at the age where he could volunteer to join the Stars Realm’s Navy. The numerous tests he had to take were difficult, exhausting, and after six weeks of examinations he had been notified that he was to report to Ross at the Kosiev Academy to continue his testing. His excitement on receiving the news was monumental and all of his friends gathered to celebrate his good fortune. He was the only one to pass the tests and earn a trip to Ross. There was no jealousy among his friends but they did throw a party that he was still attempting to recover.
He arrived on a commercial star ship along with six hundred other applicants from the worlds of the Realm and was teleported to a huge parade ground where everyone was told they were going to meet the Queen of the Stars Realm in person. He could still remember his excitement at the prospect of actually seeing her and when she arrived and welcomed everyone he felt that even if he wasn’t accepted into the academy that the opportunity to actually see her was worth all the headaches and worries that the exams had given him.
Then the Queen surprised the assembled applicants and stepped down into their ranks after her welcoming speech. She then started walking down the lines shaking each person’s hand. She had finally arrived in front of him and took his hand and said, “Thank you for wanting to be a part of our service.” He felt like a nervous child at that moment and as she touched him he felt a small shock. As she started moving away she looked back at the Admiral following her and quickly nodded at him. The Admiral handed him a red coin with the Queen’s picture on one side and Castle Gardner on the other. He stared at the coin as the Queen and her attendants continued down the lines of recruits. He looked around and noticed that everyone was given a coin and they were all looking at it as the Queen continued her walk. He noticed that the two recruits on each side of him had been given a gold colored coin and he wondered why his was different. She finally finished and waved to everyone and boarded a shuttle that flew her in the direction of the huge castle in the distance.
The admiral that has followed her through the ranks then moved in front of them and yelled in a loud voice, “Those of you that were given red coins will remain where you are; everyone else, please pick up your bags and move to the ship at the north end of the field and board for a short flight to the Academy.”
He felt his heart fall into his stomach. He had failed and was not going to be chosen. The applicants with gold coins smiled and ran to the end of the field and lined up to board the huge transport. The admiral waited until everyone had left and watched as the transport lifted with the ones that received the gold coins; then he turned and said, “I’m sure you’re wondering about the red coin.” There were only about a hundred people remaining and they all looked at each other nodding. “You have passed the first of two tests. We will now take you to see if you pass the second.” The hundred remaining applicants were shocked speechless. The admiral smiled and said, “You should all know that rose is more valuable than gold in this Realm. Please board the ship at the other end of the field and wait there for your instructions.”
He grabbed his bag and ran to the ship with the others and entered to find an Ensign assigning each of them seats. Once they were all boarded, the ship lifted into orbit and then everyone heard, “Teleport in five seconds.” They all looked out through the forward glass and saw a silver field forming in front of their ship; the ship moved forward and reappeared above a planet.
“Everyone, please move to the field in the landing bay immediately,” a voice said over the intercom and they grabbed their bags and moved out of the main cabin and entered the shuttle’s landing bay. The silver field was glowing brightly in the rear of the bay and the recruits followed the admiral through it. The group exited the field to find themselves on the surface of a planet that was remarkably barren. Off in the distance were buildings that had fallen into decay. Most were missing walls and some were little more than piles of rubble; but there lined up in front of them was row after row of small, silver, ships. Matt immediately recognized them as those used by Searchers to perform the work of the Realm. They were beautiful. Their smooth lines and gleaming silver surfaces reflecting the sun’s rays were awe inspiring.
“They’re beautiful aren’t they?”
Everyone turned and saw an Algean standing next to the admiral. The Algean was more than fifteen feet tall and had blooms that smelled wonderful. “I’m sure you’re trying to figure out why we brought you here. The reason our Queen took the time to walk through your ranks was that she wanted to touch each one of you to see if you possessed the necessary psychic ability to be able to bond with one of these ships. She can sense those abilities and you are here because she determined that you possess psychic ability in a measure that is above normal. What skill you have was increased when she touched you and in the coming days some of the things you’ll be able to do will surprise you. However, only those that can bond with a ship will be accepted as a Searcher into the Stars Realm’s Navy. The others that were at the initial gathering have all demonstrated on their tests that they have outstanding abilities and they will be offered positions in our support fleets as will those of you who are not successful here.”
The Algean walked around to stand between the recruits and the silver ships, “You are here to see if you can raise a ship. Each one of you will step forward one at a time and look out at these ships and command the ships “to rise”.” The Algean then pointed to one of the recruits and said, “You will go first followed by you.”
Matt thought, “Oh no. I don’t want to go second. I want to watch others go before I try.”
The first recruit stepped forward and everyone watched as he stared at the ships for thirty seconds but nothing happened. The Algean said, “Step back to the end of the line and you will be given another chance after everyone has tried.” He then said to Matt, “It’s your turn.”
Matt stepped forward and nervously looked out at the ships. His heart was pounding a mile a minute but as he stared at the ships he once more marveled at how beautiful they were. He forgot his nervousness as he stared at those beautiful works of technology and thought about how wonderful it must be to be able to fly a ship like those in front of him. He then smiled and thought, “Rise.”
For a moment nothing happened, then in the back row one of the ships rose and hovered ten feet above the others. The Algean and admiral looked at each other surprised.
Then they looked at him and saw his smile. “What is your name,” the Admiral asked?
He blushed and answered, “Matthew Gardner, sir but my friends call me Magic.”
The Admiral looked at him and asked, “Are you related to the Royal Family?”
“No sir. I was raised in a state institution after my parents were killed in a ship accident when I was a baby. My name was given to me by the state to honor our royal family.
“How did you come to be called Magic?”
Matt shrugged, “As a kid I liked doing magic tricks. The name stuck.”
“Well, Magic, you are accepted into the Fleet Academy and that ship will be yours when you graduate. You might be interested to know that only the ships on the back row have all of the advanced systems the Algeans build into our ships. They will respond only to those that have the requisite psychic ability to fly them. Only ten other recruits in the last year have raised an Alpha Ship. You should be proud.”
The alarm went off and he was brought back to the present. His ship had found a planet with intelligent life and has dropped out of star drive. It looked like the planet was the center of a huge space battle. Thousands of ships were attacking the planet and large numbers of the defender’s ships were being destroyed. Matt looked at his display and saw the attackers would prevail if things continued as they were going. He thought a moment and then he sent a thought, “This is the Stars Realm Searcher Aladdin. I am requesting all ships to stop their attacks immediately and hold their current position. I will stop any ship that does not follow my instructions.”
The fleet attacking the planet continued their attack and Matt said, “I have given you fair warning. You have ten seconds to disingage or I will destroy any attacking ship within the orbit of the planet’s closest moon.”
Matt heard a thought answer him, “Who are you? We cannot stop defending ourselves if the Gresh won’t stop firing at us.”
He thought back, “I’ll talk with you momentarily.” Matt then jumped Aladdin into the orbit of the moon and said, “This is your last warning. Cease your attack immediately.”
The attacking ships saw the tiny three hundred foot long red glowing ship that had jumped into the system and six of them turned and started firing on it. Their beams and missiles hit the small red ship but were stopped by the ship’s screen. Matt shook his head and then put his hand into an indentation on his chair arm and linked his mind to his ship’s weapons system; his weapon console lit up and linked to his mind. Twenty of the attacking ships were inside the orbit of the moon and the attacking fleet saw twenty red beams leap out from the small ship and disintegrate the twenty ships instantly. The attacking fleet was stunned at the small ships power. “I will destroy any ship that fires a weapon in this system.”
The attackers and defenders stopped immediately. Matt watched his sensors and then thought, “Who is in command of the fleet that is attacking this planet?”
He listened and heard a thought, “I am.”
“Why are you attacking this planet?”
“Who are you to ask?”
“I am a representative of a civilization that values life. We do not normally interfere in the disputes between other civilizations; however, we will do what we can to save life if possible.”
“You just took the lives on those ships you destroyed.”
“You ignored my request to stop until I could determine if you were justified in this attack. I asked everyone to hold their positions but you refused. More than the lives on those twenty ships would have died if you continued to ignore my request. Now I ask again, why are you attacking this planet?”
“Another thought joined the conversation, “We refused to surrender to them and give up our freedom.”
“You do not have the power to refuse,” the first voice answered. “Refusal means destruction.”
“Has the planet here in this system ever attacked your worlds,” Matt asked?
The commander of the attacking fleet answered, “Not yet; only someone very stupid would attack us now.”
“So you are here to force this planet to accept your will as to their destiny.”
“They will bend to our will.”
“You will hold your positions until I tell you otherwise,” Matt thought.
“And if we don’t?”
“I will destroy every one of your ships in this system and then go to your home world and remove their ability to wage war.” All the ships in the system remained stationary wondering if this small ship could carry out its threat. Matt hit his com and said, “I have intervened in a battle between an invading fleet and a planet. The aggressors are attempting to force their will on the planet and are not acting in self defense of their worlds. I am sending you my coordinates along with the recordings of the battle along with our conversations.”
Matt heard, “Stand by.”
He waited for three minutes and then heard, “We are coming.”
Matt looked out at the attacking ships and saw that they were all about two thousand feet in length, “Looks like we’re about to get their attention.”
Suddenly a huge red globe appeared next to Matt’s ship. It was three hundred miles in diameter and dwarfed the ships around it. “We’ll take it from here, Searcher.”
“Thank you, Fleet Command. I’ll continue my mission.”
“Good luck, Searcher.”
Matt placed his hand back in to the indentation on his chair and turned off his weapons console. He then pressed the white button and his ship disappeared from the planet and continued its sweep of the spiral arm. He wondered how fleet Command was going to handle the situation he had stumbled into but decided that they would do the right thing. They also had more experience in dealing with this situation.
“I hope they support my firing on those ships. Well, worrying about it won’t change what happened.” He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. He could feel his ship around him and marveled at the power such a small ship possessed. Then he thought about graduation from the academy and the day he was imprinted on his ship.
Matt stood at attention in the ranks of his graduating class. The day was beautiful and the high clouds against the light yellow sky of Ross made the moment memorable. The graduating officers all wore tight fitting, rose colored, uniforms with a blue sash of a Stars Realm Fleet Officer. Matt’s auburn colored hair stood out among those around him; he was well muscled, in great physical shape, about six feet tall, and he stood relaxed and at peace. His green eyes were closed as he watched the proceedings in his mind. He was trying to restrain his excitement; he was finally going to get his ship. His classmates knew him for his unselfish acts of kindness and the strength of his character. He was also an Alpha Commander; that gave him immeasurable respect from those cadets that had struggled to master ships without all of the advanced systems of an Alpha. His turn finally arrived and he walked across the stage and had the Academy Commanding Officer pin the small ship to his collar. His pin was different from most of his class mates in that his ship was surrounded by a red circle indicating that he was going to command an Alpha Ship. There were only two thousand of those ships serving in the fleet of five million Searchers. He thought that his classmates would resent him for commanding one of the Alphas but they recognized the talent one had to possess to be able to handle those ships effectively and respected those that flew the Alphas.
He saluted the Admiral and then left the stage and returned to his seat. “Congratulations, Magic.”
The thought startled him momentarily and then he smiled and thought, “Thanks, Angel. And congratulations to you.”
“You’re welcome. Are you looking forward to meeting your ship?”
“Absolutely, and I’m sure you are as well.”
“I can barely wait. Have you thought of a name?”
Matt paused a moment and said, “I’m going to name it Aladdin. And yours will be called?”
“Wings.”
They both laughed mentally and Matt thought, �
�It’s a perfect name for your Alpha.”
“As is yours; you will certainly be flying a magic carpet.”
Matt reflected a moment and said, “Angel, please stay in touch. I know we’ll be given different galaxies to search but I do want to keep in contact with you.”
“Magic Gardner, four years and now when we’re leaving you finally make a pass. Your timing is the worse I’ve ever seen.”
Matt got flustered and Angel thought to him, “Don’t get bothered. I know that with both of us getting Alphas it would send the wrong message if we were an item. I’ll make sure we don’t lose contact.”
“Thanks, Angel. I’m glad you understand.” Matt glanced up at the stage and saw Angel looking at him with a big smile. She was number one in her class and the truth was that he never thought he had a chance with her. He had actually made sure his grades were not so high that his fellow students would not feel threatened. Now he wished he had spent more time with the beautiful young woman looking at him from the stage. Then he heard, “Searchers, report to your ships”