by Saxon Andrew
Gon shook his head, “He had a teleporter. We weren’t allowed to have one and he used it to escape.”
Dort nodded, “That’s what I’m saying. He was better prepared than us.”
Gon snorted and turned to Sam, “Don’t we have to enlist?”
“Being a Duke has its advantages. Jon gave me a notice to give to the Admiral over training. He’s expecting us.”
“Take me home first so I can pack a bag.”
“Climb in.” The ship lifted and headed west.
• • •
Jixie sat in her ship above Bristone and continued to organize the information she had stored. These Humans were weird creatures. They didn’t look at war as play. They looked at it as a necessity to protect themselves and others. Why would they want to protect civilizations they knew nothing about? There was no bond between them. So why worry about them? She shrugged and put that question aside. It also appeared that some kind of emotion called love drove them to do crazy things. That didn’t make sense either. However, more than three quarters of the information about their behavior was bundled around love and mating. What a waste of time! Just pick one and get it on. She was going to have to really examine humans when she enlisted. They were the ones in charge and she needed to know what made them tick. Now she had to make some decisions.
She knew she had to play by the rules they used in their competitions, so she couldn’t use most of her abilities. That was ok; she always liked a close competition. She also needed to decide what body she was going to use during playtime. It couldn’t be superior to the ones of her playmates. That was a rule she didn’t like. There were a number of species that were stronger, faster, and more capable of fighting than humans. But the humans were in charge. She might have to use that to get her way once she became a part of their playground.
She thought about the humans in the enlistment office and how they fell all over themselves assisting the female that had come in to enlist. She was what humans considered beautiful. Well, I’m a female, so I’ll use a human female form and make sure it’s a…knock out.
She had pulled a hair from the woman on the couch beside her in the library before she left so she would have human DNA to examine. Jixie looked at the hair and focused in on the cells at the base. She looked closer and saw the double helix of human DNA. So that’s how they operate. Umm, it wouldn’t be good to overdo it. She wanted to be, what’s the word, oh yeah, beautiful enough to get the males to assist her, but not so beautiful that she would have the undivided attention of every male around her. That could cause problems.
She backed out of the DNA and thought about how she wanted to appear. She decided that she couldn’t pick a form that was currently in use. It had to be someone from the past. She thought about it and smiled. The first Queen of the Stars Realm was nice to look at, at least according to everyone that wrote about her. I’ll build a form like hers. I’ll just make sure I’m six inches taller. I can’t be too short; I’ll get turned down again.
Jixie focused on Danielle’s image from the Realm’s history and moved it into the double helix and arranged the necessary molecules. She stared at the helix, made a few changes, and then focused it on herself. Bright flashes erupted from the small ship and after ten seconds, a blonde human female sat in the chair on the ship’s bridge, which had grown slightly larger to accommodate a larger body. She stretched her arms out and could feel the new body. Now this was an interesting experience. I need to take some time to get used to all of these new sensations. She fell back in her chair and closed her eyes. I also need to learn how to communicate properly. She closed her eyes and began processing the messages the new body was sending to her brain and scanned the downloaded information at an incredible rate.
• • •
Jack Callahan heard the chime and looked up to see a pretty blonde woman come through the door. He smiled and said, “May I help you?”
“I wish to enlist.”
“That’s fine but we need to handle some formalities.”
“Such as?”
“You need to know the Realm’s history. Who was the first King of the old Stars Realm?”
“Thomas Gardner, however, he was not the first ruler. His wife, Danielle, was the first. He was chosen to be King when their daughter Rose abdicated so that he could lead the Realm in preparing for the coming Eight Leg invasion.”
“Very good. Who was the first Ruler of the Bristone Empire?”
“Scotty Robbins. He was killed by the black ships when the first Bristone was destroyed.”
“That’s very good. What’s the most important piece of a Warrior’s Oath?”
“To leave the universe a better place than they find it.”
“I can see you know your history. Please fill out these forms and you’ll have to report for a medical exam down the hallway to your left.”
Jixie almost disappeared but then remembered that her new body was created from human DNA. She needed to know if it would pass an inspection. She relaxed and filled out the forms. She turned them in and went for the medical scan.
Jixie stood up against a white panel as the machine flashed a beam and the technician said, “You’re in extremely good health. It almost looks like you’ve never been sick in your life.”
“I can’t remember ever feeling bad. I’ve been fortunate.” Jixie smiled at the technician and he smiled back, “Take this to the Lieutenant and he’ll give you your orders.”
Jixie took the form and walked out. The technician wondered about the high electrical activity in the woman’s brain, but assumed the scanner needed calibration again. It hadn’t been taken offline for more than a year. He ordered a new one and teleported the unit back to the factory for overhaul.
Jixie decided that the information about humans was correct. Males just lost their minds when a female smiled at them. She placed the forms on the desk and smiled at the Lieutenant. She watched him stop processing a male recruit to take care of her first. This was fun. Now what was that other thing? Oh yeah, toss your hair back from your shoulders and bat your eyes. The Lieutenant actually walked with her to the door and held it open for her. Jixie laughed all the way to the terminal where she was to board a ship bound for training.
She arrived and noticed that all the new recruits were carrying a bag and when she looked inside one she noticed that they had packed extra clothes and personal items. The females had included a makeup bag. She knew what that was from the thousands of commercials she had seen in the downloads. She went into a building next to the terminal and concentrated. A bright blue bag appeared on the floor of the restroom and she picked it up and exited. She boarded the ship and smiled at two male recruits who stood, took her bag, stored it overhead, and offered their seats. Jixie said, “Thank you,” and batted her eyes and flipped her hair back off her shoulders. The male recruits sitting with her received envious looks from the other males close to them. Jixie also noticed that the females on the ship knew what she was doing and felt disgust at her behavior. “Umm, What’s a bimbo?” She closed her eyes and found the definition. If Jixie had an ego, she might have gotten angry. Instead she determined that the smiles were enough around other females. More than that would cause issues. She looked at one of the females that was staring at her and shrugged. The female laughed and turned around. Now where did that motion come from? She had to really search to find out what it was and why it worked.
• • •
Vremel teleported to El Prado and found the Cat waiting, “Why have you called me?”
“Have you ever seen a being that looked like this?”
Vremel looked at the image in his mind and said, “No, I haven’t. But let me ask the others. Vremel sent the image out to all of the Zord and asked, “Have any of you ever seen a being like this?”
“I have.”
The Cat leaped to his feet, “Where?”
“It was more than a hundred and sixty years ago. I saw thousands of them on a planet being attacked by the Meg
at.”
The Cat interrupted, “Where!?!”
“There’s more you should know first. The planet was one of the four that were under siege when the Dremor went to assist the Megat in ending the four planet’s resistence, so they could use their ships against Bristone and Ross.”
Vremel stared at the Cat letting him know to hold his thoughts and said, “What happened?”
“Those small beings killed every Dremor that attacked the planet in less than fifteen minutes. They only used hand blasters to do it.”
“Are you serious?”
“Look at my memory. I went to the surface afterwards and discovered that the beings were little more than children and they considered the Dremor and Megat attack as playing. They were upset that the Dremor and the Megat left and didn’t come back to play. They told me they would miss their playmates.”
Vremel said, “What did you tell them?”
“I told one of them that when they were older I would hope they would come and join us defending Creation against the evil attacking it. Why do you ask?”
“It appears that one of those beings is now here.”
Vremel waited for a long pause staring at the impatient Cat and the Zord finally said, “That is the being I spoke with.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, she has a slight curl in the hair next to her right ear. The beings did not all look alike, but had their own individual appearance, just like humans.”
The Vremel nodded and the Cat said, “How many beings were there?”
“Several million.”
The Zord said, “It appears that only one of them has come.”
The Cat looked at Vremel, “How did you determine that?”
“What are the chances of the only appearance we have of them is the one you spoke with. I see in your memory that you only spoke to that one individual.”
“That is true.”
“From what you said, it might be understood that you were only inviting her to come.”
There was a pause and the Zord said, “I can see how you arrived at that conclusion. They were children, so they may have taken me literally.”
The Cat said, “Several million of them killed a Dremor invasion force?”
The Zord sent the memory and Vremel and the Cat were stunned. “Those creatures move faster than the Dremor.”
“Much faster. They violated every rule of objects moving inside an atmosphere.”
Vremel said, “Vegal, did you sense they were good?”
“They were children, Vremel. The killing of the Dremor was only play for them. Their innocence was pure. However, I’ve seen children pull the legs off animals to see how they operate. not knowing they killed the animal. Their innocence was like that. That particular being said, ‘We can’t leave here until we’re old enough to be responsible.’”
The Cat said, “Well, it looks like that age has arrived.”
“Vegal, were you able to sense anything else about them?”
“They were children, but I sensed an ancient intelligence in them. They were so open, but I felt they were already the most dangerous creatures I had ever encountered.”
The Cat said, “They are not from this creation.”
“They’re not?”
No, they’re from another.”
“Are they from either of the two we know?”
“No, neither Creators know them.”
“Now that’s interesting.”
“We need to go look at that planet.”
Vegal said, “I’ll meet the two of you there.”
The three arrived at the planet and there was no one present. Vremel looked around and the Cat raised its nose and sniffed, “I can sense they were here but have left.”
“Where?”
The Cat looked at the two Zord and said, “Home.”
Vremel said, “One of them didn’t go.”
The Cat said, “That one was invited to stay and play.”
Vegal said, “Did I make a mistake?”
“I really don’t know.”
Vremel looked at the Cat, “And by extension, if you don’t know, neither does our mother?”
The big Cat nodded.
Chapter Three
Sam was on his bunk bed at the conclusion of their first training day feeling his pain. He rolled his head to the right and winced. Tgon was sitting on his bed shining his boots. “How can you move? I’m laying here trying to feel my hands and feet.”
“I told you that you weren’t so superior.”
“I’ll be happy with barely adequate. I’m dying here.”
“You’re holding your own, Sam. You’ll adapt in a few days.”
“Easy for you to say; you didn’t work up a sweat.”
“Talk to Dort.”
Dort linked and thought to them, “I can’t talk; my lips are inoperative along with the rest of me. I think I need an ambulance.”
Sam tried not to laugh but couldn’t prevent it and winced with the pain of every breath, “Stop it you’re killing me.”
Tgon continued to shine his boots and said, “There are some blessings from this.”
Sam laughed out loud and felt his body rebel. Dort couldn’t even frown.
• • •
Sam ran every day and lifted the heavy weights with his training unit and found that Tgon was right. His body still hurt at the end of each day, but he was getting stronger and his endurance had gone up considerably during the long, grueling training exercises. He was middle of the pack as far as his performance but Tgon was the best. The four weeks were designed to prepare the aspiring trainees for the final obstacle course. The physical training finally ended and after four long, grueling weeks the final obstacle course was in there in front of them. This was the final test to qualify for Warrior training and the three helped each other over the wall and around the most difficult tasks the course had to offer. They finished ten seconds ahead of the bell. Only ten recruits had completed it in the required time and they were given their next assignments. The three discussed what to do with the four days liberty before they reported and finally decided to all go to Ross and stay with Sam. Sam contacted Gregory and let him know that they were coming. Sam smiled at Gregory’s excitement. His cousin was a good man.
• • •
Sam planned to arrive at night and flew his personal ship in to Ross orbit and was escorted directly to the castle by the Algean defense ships. The teleport suppression field was deactivated long enough for him to teleport in and they arrived five minutes after they left the training facility. They exited the small ship and Gregory and Sandra were waiting on them at the landing pad. Sam stepped out and Gregory’s five year old son ran forward and jumped into Sam’s arms, “Hey, you’re getting almost too big to catch.”
“I’ll never be that big.”
“Just wait. You’ll be too big before you know it.” Gregory junior’s eyes grew wide and he said, “That’s big, Uncle Sam.”
Sam turned around when he saw Gregory’s eyes grow wide as he saw Tgon exiting the ship. “Nah, you’ll be bigger than that.”
Gregory looked in Sam’s eyes and said, “Really!”
“Just keep eating the right foods.”
Sandra came up and gave Sam a hug and said, “We’ve missed you. It’s good to have you home.”
Sam looked at Greg sr. and said, “Have there been any problems?”
“Nothing we couldn’t handle. Come on and let’s eat.”
“Where’s Jill?”
“It’s past her bedtime. She tried to stay awake to meet you, but just couldn’t do it. You can say hello in the morning.”
Sam turned and saw Dort and Tgon staring out at the huge city that stretched to the horizon. “It’s impressive, isn’t it?”
Dort said, “That doesn’t come close to describing this. There must be more than a million vehicles moving over the city.”
Gregory said, “There’s usually more than three million at any given moment.”
/>
Tgon stared at the giant city and they saw his wonder. He turned to Sam and said, “This is yours?”
“I’m the final authority here. The city’s elected council handles the everyday issues. I try to stay out of most problems.”
Tgon said, “I notice we arrived at night and came straight here. Was there a reason for that?”
Sam shrugged and Gregory said, “If the citizens knew Duke Robbins was here, they would rush to the castle for an opportunity to see him.”
Dort looked at Sam, “Is that true?”
Sam took a deep breath and slowly nodded, “My citizens love my family.”
Gregory saw Sam’s sorrow. His parents had been killed by a Surprise Grogat attack ten years earlier. That’s why all members of the Royal Family were now escorted directly to the Castle immediately upon arrival. The Grogat Squadron had hit his parent’s ship as it entered Ross’ outer system and waited for clearance. They felt they shouldn’t violate the rules they put in force. It cost them their lives. The Grogat had waited under cloak for a royal ship to arrive and finally had their chance. Jon and Sam were not onboard when the attack happened.
Greg said, “Let’s go downstairs. The staff has been waiting for your arrival.”
The four went through the portal and stepped into the dining room amid the hearty welcomes from the Castle’s senior staff. The visitors were welcomed and after a celebration that went on for hours, the three went to their rooms and fell asleep.
• • •
The next morning Tgon woke and decided to go to the landing pad and see what the city looked like during daylight. He walked out of the portal and looked out over the wall and was stunned. The Castle was surrounded by a two mile circle of parks and blooming plants and not one inch of it was visible due to the millions of people standing there in silence. The crowd saw Tgon standing there and briefly stirred but then settled back into silence.
Tgon ran to the portal and Gregory saw him exit into the main dining room. “Have you seen the crowd outside?”
“I have.”
“What are they doing here?”
“They’re waiting for the Duke to come greet them.”