by Saxon Andrew
“What’s wrong,” Stem thought?”
“Where did you get the material to build this ship?”
“It was buried several miles under this planet’s surface. We only found it after we developed the instrument that measures psychic power. One of our vessels passed through this system and the instrument measured a huge psychic wave. We came back and dug it out of the ground. We tried to cut it with a Coronado power cell and the energy from the cell caused it to start morphing into what you see.”
Matt and Al looked at a ship that was made from the same crystal material that they had seen when they had contacted the Reg. It glowed with the same translucence as the towers they had seen on the Reg’s planet. Matt was stunned and he thought, “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to sit in the command chair and see if it activates the ship.”
“On my way.”
Matt teleported to the crystal ships open port and saw Sprig and Stem waiting on him. He walked forward and followed them into the ship. “Matt, this is the control room for this vessel. This chair is the command chair and we want you to sit in it.”
Matt looked around and saw another chair. He also saw a section of the wall behind the chairs that was recessed and strangely shaped. He walked toward the command chair and as he approached a golden light began emanating from it. “Don’t worry, that light only comes on when the person that the chair was designed for approaches.”
“How do you know that?”
“We discovered that when we found who the other chair was designed to fit. However, please sit down and tell me what you feel.” Matt furrowed his brow and sat down in the chair. The chair immediately started shifting colors rapidly from gold to blue to violet to red. “How does it feel?”
Matt sat there and the chair felt like it was made for him. It fit him exactly and when he placed his hand in an indentation on the chair arm it fit exactly. It fits me perfectly, Sprig. What is that indentation in the back wall?”
Sprig looked at Stem and then thought, “That indentation was the last thing to develop. Our engineers had no idea what it was so they called me in to examine it. I wouldn’t have known what it was six months ago but as soon as I saw it I knew what it was designed to hold.”
Matt tilted his head to the side and Sprig said, “It’s made for Al.” Matt and Al were shocked speechless. “Do you remember when you called us to your ship and I told Al about how he reminded me of the Captors and Atlas?” Matt nodded. “I looked at Al’s systems on that visit. That indentation matches his system’s shape perfectly.”
“Sprig, how long was this underground?”
“More than a hundred million years, Matt, and these are custom made for you and Al.”
Matt thought, “Al, what do you think of this?”
“I am almost shocked into a coma, Matt. How is this possible?”
Mat closed his eyes and forced his mind to go blank. He could feel the ship around him and as he let it slip into his mind he had a vision. He opened his eyes and looked at Sprig and Stem. “I know what’s happening and this ship will not operate right now; it may never operate.”
Sprig leaned right to show his surprise, “Why?”
“Because the race that made this will not allow us to use it unless we already know another way to kill the Eight Legs; the reason it quit developing was because I used this ships type of power to kill three of them.”
“What!”
“Those last two systems came from this ship, didn’t they?”
“Yes, they did.”
“I used the last system to fire some kind of psychic charge at the three Eight Legs that had boarded Angel’s ship and killed her. I saw all three of them totally implode.”
Stem thought excitedly, “That’s why they haven’t left the system yet.”
Matt looked confused, “What do you mean?”
“During their invasion of the first planet more than a third of their ships exploded off the planet and began frantically flying around the system. At the conclusion of the harvesting of the planet the remainder of the ships joined those flying around the system.”
“They’re searching for those three I killed.”
“That must be it, Matt. It also appears that they don’t know how it was done which leads me to believe that those three did not communicate the existence of invisible ships.”
Matt sighed and said, “That last system will no longer function on my ship.”
Sprig thought, “Tell us what you know.”
“I visited the race that made this ship. I learned that they are actually older than the Eight Legs and when they were invaded the first time they killed some of them until they learned that they were immune to the bite of those creatures. They just put up with them in every invasion after that first one. This race cannot take a life except in self defense nor can they directly cause loss of life. I asked them why they allowed so many to die without helping and they told me that killing one even if they are killing a million is just as bad as killing a million. They cannot directly assist us in killing the Eight Legs.”
Sprig and Stem were silent. “Then why did they leave this ship?”
Matt shook his head, “They are so far ahead of us psychically that it boggles the imagination. They knew millions of years ago that I was coming to communicate with them. This ship is proof of that. Consider this, if I wanted to help you but in doing so I would go against everything I believed holy, how could I help you?”
The two Algeans looked confused, “I can’t hand you a weapon to shoot somebody, but if I happen to lose the parts to make a gun and you find it millions of years after I misplaced it and then figure out how to build it, then they are not directly responsible for what follows.”
“That’s a thin line, Matt,” Stem said.
“Only if that gun is the only way I have to kill someone; if I already possess a means to kill them then they did not give me something I didn’t already possess; which means that before this ship will activate we have to find a way that will kill the invaders without using the power in this ship.” Mat paused, “I am so impressed with the beauty and integrity of the Reg and proud that they considered me a brother. This is the only way they can get around their principles to help. I felt that they wanted to help and this is evidence that supports that feeling.”
Sprig and Stem looked at Matt and said, “Then that suggests that a way exists outside of this ship to kill them or they would not have left this ship those million years ago.”
Matt nodded, “Logic absolutely supports that belief.”
“Then we have to find it, Matt.”
“Yes, we do.”
“I am calling a meeting of the Realm’s leadership in two days,” Sprig announced. “Will you please plan your schedule accordingly?”
“Al and I will be in attendance.”
“How do you know my schedule allows for that?”
Stem shook, “You bucket of bolts; we couldn’t keep you away. Tell him he can’t go, Matt.”
“You stay out of this you grass clippings.”
Matt and Sprig smiled glad to see them back at it again.
“First Fang, we have been unable to find the missing children.” Four days had passed and the entire system had been searched in great detail; no trace of the three was found.
The Ship’s Male was uncertain of what to do. His responsibility was to search this universe and see if it warranted a full harvest. He was given four intervals to make the decision and had not even used a thousandth part of one interval; however, this disappearance of the children was problematic for him. He searched the data records and determined that there was no record of any disappearances in the recorded history files. It was only three children of the billion on his ship the number was not important but their disappearance was. He was told by the Supreme Male that the Nest Mother suspected a highly advance life form existed in this universe. Could that life form have taken them? He pondered that question and then looked at t
he Sensor Male. “Are there any readings of any ships in the system other than the planet we just harvested?”
“No.”
“He knew about the crystal creatures in this universe but they had never disturbed them after the initial attempt at harvesting them. The Supreme Male had already decided to just ignore them as a waste of time. “Did you see a crystal ship in this system?”
“No.”
Most of the family was still digesting their last harvest and needed the four intervals to complete their meal. Should the timetable be moved up? The Ship’s Male wavered on what to do. Then he sat on his bed and quivered. His large black central section with the hour glass on the bottom moved down ten meters and he inserted his eight legs into their electronic receptacles. He replayed all that his children had seen in the system and just couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. “Where is the next harvest?”
“Do you want the closest or largest,” the Sensor Male asked?
He was tempted to go to the largest because unlike the rest of the family, his ship had not consumed as much as the others in the last harvest which meant his ship had already consumed their meal which was why his ship was sent ahead to scout. But, if there was danger then it was probably close to his current location. “The closest,” he responded.
The Sensor Male issued the order and all of the green ships in the system began reentering the mother ship, “Arrival in two measures, First Fang.”
The Ship’s Male settled in and decided that he would harvest the next planet and see if there was another disappearance; then he would contact the Supreme Male either way. The decision would then be his to make about what to do.
The Colonel in Fleet Command watched the feed being sent from the sensor probe at the harvested planet. He immediately pressed his com, “The ships are reentering the mother ship. They will be jumping soon.”
“Notify us of their jump track as soon as they leave.”
“I have the probe ready to follow and relay that information as soon as the track is read, Sir.”
Another planet was going to die. The Colonel waited for the information and felt anguish as he hoped that someone could find a way to stop these deadly creatures.
The meeting was room was full as Sprig called the room to order. He immediately turned the meeting over to Matt who explained the Reg and his beliefs about what they had done. Danielle looked at Matt as he spoke and saw that he was changed. She thought about what she would be like if she lost Tag and understood what he must be enduring. She was surprised that he was holding up as well as he appeared. After Matt finished and took his chair, Tag said, “How are we going to find the means to kill these creatures?”
Sprig thought, “We are going to have to attack them and use anything we can think of to hit them.”
Matt leaned forward and said, “The danger of attacking them has gone up tremendously.”
Tag flinched, “Why?”
Matt looked at Sprig and then said, “Because we have uncovered how they knock out ships so quickly, Your Majesty.” Matt put on a glove and reached over and unfolded a white cloth in front of him. He lifted a green colored pointed shard and held it up for the attendees to see. “This is what killed Angel and damaged her ship. Each of the three Eight Legs all fired one of these when they entered the ship and all three hit her.”
The attendees all looked at the shard and Danielle asked, “What have we learned about that, Searcher?”
Matt looked at Sprig and Twig and said, “Not a lot but we can surmise several things. If I am wrong about anything, please correct me.”
Sprig thought, “Please continue, Searcher.”
“It appears that the Eight Legs can actually see intelligent life even through solid walls. The only holes in Angel’s ship were made in a direct path from the three that penetrated her hull. All three of them fired at the only life on the ship and there was no other damage anywhere else. These shards went through our strongest materials to hit her and were not affected by the passage; the holes they made left no residue when they passed through. It is my belief that this is one of their weapons systems but they only use it when they penetrate a ship so that they can consume what they hit. The shard was covered in an extremely powerful neurotoxin that paralyzes the victim it hits giving the Eight Leg time to consume the victim before they die. Another by product of this toxin is that it holds the brain in a stasis so that even if the body dies the brain can still be consumed giving up any memories it holds.”
“Why does that make attacking them more dangerous,” General Durk asked?
“Imagine a fleet of our ships attacking them and the invaders fire a barrage of these shards. Our sensors would not detect them coming and they would penetrate our screens and hulls before we even knew they were approaching. Just because they have only used them on ships they’ve penetrated in the past does not mean that is the only way they can be utilized. I suspect that if the invaders learn that we can teleport away before they can land on our ships that they will fire first and then harvest the crew. If we dared to use our warriors against them, they would fire these shards right through their armor and devour them at their leisure.”
The room was silent. Everyone understood the implications of what he said.
“The attack on Angel also removed one of the methods I was planning to use against them.”
Sprig leaned right and said, “What was that, Searcher?”
“I was planning to teleport the mother ship into the heart of the hottest star in our universe.” The room stirred at the idea. “However, it won’t work.”
“Why not,” Twig asked?
“When I teleported Angel’s ship to my location, which was a very dangerous thing to do in hind sight, however, I wasn’t thinking clearly at that moment; the three inside her ship were left behind. It appears even our teleportation screens are ineffective against this material. This also means that we will be unable to teleport any kind of weapon into their ships.”
“Every time we discuss these creatures they seem to become more powerful and dangerous,” Tag observed.
“Not necessarily, Your Majesty. I have been concerned from the start that these creatures may see all of the ships and planets we’ve hidden behind the red screens simply by reading the energy emissions coming from them. They may be invisible visually to them but the planets stand out like a flaming torch with the energy it emits. After I killed the three Eight Legs, their entire fleet searched the system looking for them. Our ships emit energy but they obviously didn’t see Angel’s ship. The only way they found her was by the shadow that her ship cast on the moon’s surface. It defies all odds that one of their smallest ships just happened to be located where that shadow was cast.” Matt paused and the room could see his anguish. Matt took a deep breath and continued, “However, it gives us information that is vital. I think this mother ship is here to scout our universe and see if it warrants a full invasion. Right now it is only going to planets that show intelligent life, however, the full invasion would examine every star. We know how to bend light around planets psychically. If we can prevent the member planets from casting a shadow then they should truly be invisible to them. I think the data supports that they ignore any kind of energy and use their vision only that allows them to see those systems that have intelligent life. It may be that the substance they use to cover all of their creations prevents them from seeing energy. When they look at a galaxy, all they see is where intelligent life is located; I don’t think they even see the stars.”
“That is the first good news I’ve heard,” Danielle responded. “What else have you surmised?”
“We don’t need to waste time hitting them with any energy weapons. If they are immune to teleportation then I think we can rule out all forms of energy.” Matt looked at Sprig.
“You are probably right, Searcher; but we still should verify that beyond all doubt.”
“Then you have to hit them outside the jump limit and jump away immediately. Make ten
fast, and I do mean fast, jumps and then teleport away. I hope they can’t follow fast enough and conclude that they missed arriving at the last jump track before it dissipated. Reading jump tracks, since they use the process to travel, is probably something they are capable of doing. We can’t reveal that we can jump inside the jump limit or use teleportation. This race is so old that they may have the information in their stored data that would allow them to develop the processes if they ever suspect that it is actually being done.”
“We could also land all our ships and just ignore them until they leave,” Tag said.
Matt looked at the King of the Stars Realm and said slowly, “I have thought about that, too, Your Majesty. However, that would be a weight on our civilization that would ultimately lead to our downfall. Are we going to sit by and watch millions of civilizations we were unable to contact be killed as we hide? The Reg didn’t leave that ship because they wanted to help. They left it because their civilization is in decline because of the horror of what they are unable to stop. I could feel the pain they felt for all the ones that have been killed. We are here today with an opportunity to stop these creatures and save all of the universes in creation. If we ignore that opportunity, what will we become after they leave? I have tried to find a reason for Angel’s death and until this moment I have only suffered because I can see no reason. The odds of what happened to her are so high against it happening that it staggers my sense of reality but I now know that it was for a reason and the death of these universe killers must be it. I do not believe that we should just hide, Your Majesty.”