by Saxon Andrew
Danielle, Weed, and Seed disappeared from the Robbin’s Bridge.
• • •
Twig stood at the edge of the grove and felt the anger of the gathered leaders. She had told them everything that happened, including the destruction of the sensor buoys and the razing of the former universe. The gathered Algeans were horrified at the numbers that had been killed and once again felt horror and sorrow at what their actions had caused. They were also angry that their Elders were being removed from the Sacred Grove. The mood of the gathering was fluctuating as they linked and shared their thoughts. They all grew silent as a silver screen appeared next to the grove and they saw Danielle Gardner and two young Algeans appear. They waited, simmering in their emotions.
Twig turned and said, “I have told them what has happened. I’ve left nothing out.”
Weed looked out at the vast numbers and thought so all could hear, “I can feel your sentiment. You bring shame to me and my mate.”
The roar of thoughts was enormous until Weed and Seed combined their minds and roared above them, “You will be silent!”
Silence slammed down on the vast plain as they felt the power of the two at the Grove. The power of their minds was stunning to the assembled mass and they had not sensed anyone with that much power since Sprig and Twig had first absorbed each other. Even Twig was amazed at the power of the thought.
“What would Dorg-Ross say to you about what has happened to the innocent people that were burned? What would he say!?! He would look at you who were supposed to protect the ones he fought for and see that you turned your backs on them. He would weep at the broken promise we made to him when we joined the Realm. That universe our beloved hero came from is dead! Everyone is dead! You stand here and show anger to us who fought to save it, yet you were nowhere to be found at the critical moment. You turned your backs on your promise. You deserve the Demons. You placed your galaxy ahead of all other life. You chose to protect those worlds brought here by the Realm ahead of the Realm that fought and died to save them. You dishonor yourself and our ancestors. You chose to leave the Realm behind to fight alone for survival against massive forces. Would Dorg-Ross have left and not defended us against an invader even if it endangered his own people?” Weed paused and yelled, “WOULD HE!”
Weed waited and looked out at the gathering and saw their leaves begin turning brown. First, in isolated places and then it spread throughout the vast multitude. The first to turn brown were the Elders. “YOU HAVE NO HONOR!”
Seed said, “We attacked the Demons and knew you would be coming to defend us. We had no doubt that you would come to fight for those civilizations. What we found was destroyed sensor buoys. Now trillions are dead and you have the unmitigated emotion to be angry at those you betrayed? You deserve to die.”
Twig finally saw what her mate had done. She thought, “We were wrong. We were so wrong.”
Weed looked at Twig and said, “We have sworn our loyalty to the worlds that fought for that universe. I am going to share with you what has happened.” Weed sent Robby and Dani’s vision and the last moments of the Robbin’s Family. The billions of Algeans felt the love of the four and saw their willingness to die for those they loved and to prevent the Realm from being discovered.
Seed said in a quiet thought that everyone heard, “They knew that if they saved themselves, the Three Galaxies of the Stars Realm would be discovered and destroyed. They gave their lives for hard hearted beings that turned their backs on them. They held true to the principles we took an oath to follow. I do not want to lead you. I have been told that if I don’t, you will not be saved by those fighting the Demons. Please tell me that you will not accept us. You deserve the Demons.”
The former Eldest said, “We will accept you.”
Weed said, “Before you make that decision, you will swear that you will never defend the worlds of this galaxy again.” Silence ruled the moment. The Eldest looked at Weed and asked, “Why do you require that?”
“They are the reason you broke your oath. You placed their welfare ahead of your commitment to the Realm. You will never be allowed to do that again.”
“Then who will assume that responsibility?”
“The ones you will swear to obey. You will never be allowed to bring dishonor to us again.”
Danielle said where all could hear, “I have also sworn to obey the Empire that has stood by the old principles that the Realm was originally founded on. Ross has also sworn their loyalty as well.”
Weed looked out and said, “At this moment, the ships of that Empire are attacking the Demon Fleets that are killing civilizations in four universes. They are fighting for life. I don’t know if we will prevail, but I will die fighting with my Emperor. I do know that as a result of attacking their fleets, the Demons will be coming here soon. If you decide to make me your Elder, you will join that fight and make your lives count for something. You will swear your loyalty and you will never again betray that oath. I will know if you mean it and if any of you choose not to join us, we will leave all of you to handle the Demons alone; just like you left our friends in our old universe. Now decide. I have a war to fight and we’re wasting time.”
Twig bowed and said, “I will make the oath.”
The former Eldest said, “I will as well.”
Danielle watched the vast plain bow and in one thought they shouted, “We make the oath.”
Weed stared at the gathered Leaders of the Algeans and said, “We will be moving this Galaxy in three hours. You will return to your planets and acquire the oaths of your subjects. We are going to need you to send your engineers to a facility that we will be moving to our galaxy after we move it. We are going to need you to modify the Searchers so they can stand up to the Demon’s Fleets. Go now.”
One moment the plain was standing room only with billions of Algeans and the next it was empty. Weed turned to Twig and said, “I feel your shame, but you will not give in to it until this war is over.”
Twig remained bowed and said, “I want to die but I will follow your command, Eldest.”
“We need your help, Twig. Don’t let us down again.”
Twig leaned forward and thought softly, “I won’t.”
“Twig, you need to tell the Adolescents that if they want to defend our Galaxy, they will have to join the Searchers and fight for the Empire in a warship. It is those ships that will be responsible for defending all of us.”
Twig looked up and Weed saw the change in her. “We have been on the sidelines too long allowing others to carry the burden.”
Weed smiled, “Yes we have but that is going to change.”
Twigs leaves began turning green.
• • •
AK said, “Trey, the war has started. Admiral Kune is confronting the Black Ships and has lost more than two thousand in the initial contact.”
“How many does he have remaining?”
“Twenty seven thousand; he is being forced to fight on the run.”
“Has he encountered any of their advanced ships?”
“Not yet but you know they will be arriving shortly.”
“Danielle, you need to come back to the Robbins. The war has started and we are going to have to go support our fleet.”
“You can’t go, Trey.”
“What do you mean? Of course I’ll go.”
“Look at the danger level if you do?”
Cassie said, “She’s right.”
Trey was starting to get frustrated, “Sometime you just have to ignore the danger to do the right thing, Cassie.”
Tag said, “Only if you are stupid enough to do it.”
Trey snarled, “My sailors are being killed.”
“So you are going to reveal the one weapon that can confront the Demons head on before we manage to get them where the Robbins could be most effective. Is that what you intend to do?”
Trey felt his anger dissipate instantly. He took a deep breath and exhaled, “You’re right.” He thought a moment and
said, “Paul, please organize the fleet and go to support our ships. Use Grang and Jingo and the other Flag Officers and take all of our available ships with you.”
“Yes, Your Grace.” Trey heard, “All Empire Flag Officers will Teleport to the Bristone for an organizational meeting immediately after teleporting to the Defense Facility. Trey, we need you to take us there. We do not have dimensional drives to make the jump.”
Danielle appeared on the Robbins and Trey said, “Prepare to jump in one minute. The Gardners and I along with Cassie will be joining you on the Bristone after the jump.”
“Thank you, Your Grace; I can use your suggestions.”
Danielle said, “Cassandra, you and the Kosiev will remain behind to be upgraded by the Defense Facility. You are not strong enough to meet the Black Ships.”
Alex thought to Cassandra, “I never thought I’d ever hear those words, yet they are true.”
“I know my friend. We’ve stagnated over the centuries and it’s time we begin to grow again.”
Danielle had a thought, “Is there an engineer that knows the new upgrades that can assist the Kosiev in assimilating them?”
Trey thought a moment and said, “Yes, there is. Junior, teleport to the Kosiev and assist them with the upgrades.”
“On my way.”
Suddenly Trey jerked his head at Danielle, and he saw her smiling. She said, “Maybe we can bring them both back to life.”
Trey and Cassie smiled and were amazed at the smallest details that Danielle saw that they missed. The huge Fleet disappeared.
• • •
The Distributor heard the Alarm go off and immediately hit the activate button on his board. He sat back and thought, “Oh this is just marvelous.” Those white ships had found his fleets. Now his plan to harvest to build their supply went up in dust. He paused and pressed the button he hated to touch. The Council appeared and he said, “The white ships have found our harvesting fleets and are currently attacking the older ships.” The Distributor immediately saw the rage of the First, “I thought you said they wouldn’t be found?”
The former Distributor said, “He can’t be blamed for technology he didn’t know about. This at least tells us how advanced the makers of those ships are.”
The Distributor looked at the Fourth and nodded. Both of them knew that the debt had been paid between them. The Distributor said, “I do agree with the Fourth. It appears that they can track us and see what we do. We need to take steps against that in any future dealings with them.”
The First had turned his rage toward the Fourth but considered what they said, “So you think they are able to scan us?”
“Yes, I do. That means they are much further advanced than we thought. I have seen that none of their ships use the Creative Power so they are probably not the source of that wave. This is going to be a war of technology.”
“What are you doing about it?”
“I’m sending our advanced ships against them. We need to know where we stand in fighting them.”
“What if they are stronger?”
“Then we will have to build the last model or go meet them in our ships.”
The First stared at the Distributor and said, “Build the last model. I’m not sending the Family out into the open until we know where that wave originated.”
The Second asked, “What do we do with our ships in those universes?”
“How many universes have they entered?”
“Just the first.”
The Fourth said, “There is a possibility that the others were scouted and that troublesome spoor released.”
The First felt immediate fear but the Fourth continued, “Planting has not begun so none of the ships in those four universes has left and come here. Our facilities are still safe.”
The Distributor said, “We have to assume any dust we harvest will be contaminated. The same thing can be said about our fleets as well. What would the council like me to do?”
The First looked at his board and said, “The White Ships are attacking with a limited number.”
“Yes, they are.”
“Send in the advanced ships to support our ships. Let’s just see where those beings are technologically.”
The Distributor turned to his board and started issuing orders.
• • •
Ron had jumped the fleet eight times and each time he had lost ships. The Black Ships had also lost thousands but they had millions to lose. Lt. Washington yelled, “Advanced Black Ships are appearing in the mass.”
Ron hit the jump command and the remaining eighteen thousand ships disappeared. “Spread out and fight the incoming ships individually, fire once, and jump to the next location.” The Empire Fleet had barely entered normal space when thousands of Black Ships started emerging with them. Ron saw a ship twice as large as a normal Black Ship emerge ten miles from the BES America and Ron watched as his main beam hit the new ship, burn through its force field, and hit the hull, causing a massive blast. Another ship appeared just as Ron hit the jump button and fired an intense beam at the America. Lt. Washington said, “I got a reading on the beam that was just fired and it would have penetrated our force field.”
The America appeared in normal space and he yelled, “Give me a ship count.”
“Sixteen thousand, three hundred and fifty two.”
“We will start jumping without stopping to fire. We are going to make them chase us.”
The Empire Fleet disappeared but not before six hundred more ships were hit and destroyed.
Ron’s fleet was purely defensive. They were outnumbered and had no chance against the massive numbers pursuing them. “Message coming in.”
“Put it on the speaker.”
“Admiral Kune, I understand you are on the run.”
“Admiral Blake, it’s good to hear from you. I am being chased by at least a million ships. I’ve lost almost half my ships and we can’t stop long enough to fire. We are totally defensive.”
“On your third jump from now, take your fleet to the following coordinates and accelerate away on a 270 degree bearing.”
“Notifying the fleet, Sir.”
Ron jumped the Fleet two times and then jumped to the coordinates Admiral Blake had given him. His fleet raced away in normal space as thousands of Black Ships began emerging in the middle of the three hundred thousand Empire ships that had their reflective surfaces activated. The Empire’s Ships had fully charged the surfaces with the power of a star and they were gleaming too bright to look at without eye protection.
The Black Ships first to emerge were blasted with thousands of beams and blown into dust. As hundreds of thousands started emerging, the killing of Black Ships continued, but many were able to start firing at the ships surrounding them. The most advanced Black Ships fired their huge beams at the white ships and had a beam three times more powerful come back and blow through their force fields like they didn’t exist. Those incredibly hot beams blew holes completely through the Demon’s newest ships, killing everyone on board.
Ron saw the destruction on his display and keyed the general Frequency, “Charge your reflective hulls and let’s get into the fight.”
The sixteen thousand survivors turned and joined the other ships and began killing the ships that had killed so many of their comrades. The Black Ships were being killed so quickly that none of them were able to get out a warning to the ships that were homing in on the battle site.
• • •
The Distributor moved his scanner to the site of the battle and saw the total destruction of the ships being sent to kill the White Ships. He punched his board and yelled, “All ships! All Ships! Break off the attack and return to your home port. Do it now!”
One moment there were hundreds of thousands of ships fighting and the next there was empty space. The only thing remaining of the destroyed Black Ships was an expanding cloud of gas. The reflected beams had blown through the huge ships and disintegrated everything they hit.
Ron keyed his com, “Thank you for coming, Sir.”
“I’m sorry it took us so long.” Paul keyed his com and said, “Admiral Grang, Jingo Dorg, and Maddy Dorg, take your fleets to your assigned universe, check to see if any of the Invaders are still there, and see if they were able to plant any pods. If they did, release the spores and assist the planet any way you can. My fleet and Admiral Kune’s ships will remain here.”
Suddenly two giant transports arrived and Paul heard, “Admiral Blake, before you ships leave, we think they will need someone to help them communicate with the civilizations that have been attacked.”
“Hello, Danielle, what do you suggest?”
“I have brought enough Algeans with us to assign one to each ship. They are telepathic and should be able to prevent any unnecessary loss of life. If it meets with your approval they will start teleporting to your ships to help them make contact.”
“By all means, we can use all the help we can get.”
Danielle watched as a roster of the ships in the fleet appeared on the display with their coordinates. Algeans loaded the coordinates into their teleport bands and began disappearing. Danielle said, “They will stay with your ships until the Fleet returns home.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I am no longer a Queen.”
“Even so.”
• • •
Zord Claws entered the planetary system and began moving toward the civilized planet. It was beautiful glowing blue and green and there were large cities scattered across its surface. Captain Bare stopped three thousand miles from the defense satellite and nodded to the Algean, “This is the Bristone Empire Ship Zord Claws and we are checking to see if you need any assistance.”
The Commander saw the White Ship moving in and was very nervous. Was this another conqueror? He heard the thought and said, “No, we were able to hold them off until you arrived and saved us. We thank you for stopping those ships.”
“They were intent on destruction and slavery of your populations. For the moment, they have left this universe. We’re sorry it took so long for us to come. We wish you life and good fortune.”