Matt looked at Sprig, “We’ll see you in four weeks.”
Chapter 14
The small blue ship appeared above a planet that was a wasteland of barren plains. Below the ship was a structure made of orange energy that glowed brightly in the mist of desolation. The red being looked at his board and sighed, “I assume you are here to finish what we started.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You could have tried to hide in another universe; why didn’t you?”
“I thought about it but you would have been able to find me wherever I tried to hide, right?
Matt looked at Melanie and she nodded, “Yes, we would have found you.”
“I thought as much. I acted hastily destroying my last tool. You would have had your hands full trying to handle them. I planned to recreate them, but I know I wouldn’t be given enough time if you came looking for me. If I tried to run I would have had to leave all the facilities needed to produce them. I decided to just wait for you here and think about all that has happened. I think that somewhere along the way we lost ourselves and turned in a direction that should have been avoided. My culture knew nothing but self-love and death. We reveled in the pain and misery we caused. I have been observing your universe since the blue barrier was removed and I see some concepts that are foreign to me. I finally realized that creation is better without my species in it.
I’m the only one left and only an accident allowed that to happen. I don’t know if I can change enough to not do what we have done in the past. I’m a product of billions of years and I’m still capable of building those tools that you’re familiar with and you know how deadly those can be. I know, given time, I could build one that would kill everyone in your universe and love every minute of it. It would be better if you end it here and now.” The red being waited for the blast but nothing happened.
“I know that you have great difficulty harming anyone that is not attacking you but I cannot change what has made me what I am over the eons that we have existed. Sometimes a hard decision must be made to protect the ones you care about. I do not care that all of my species died. Quite frankly, they deserved it. At the end, I rejoiced at their deaths. I wish they had suffered more after what they did to me. I am incapable of feeling the close bonds that you can have with each other and I am a danger to you and your descendents. I do not blame you or feel remorse for what must be done. I suspect that you will regret doing this in the future, but this is now.”
“Are you sure that you cannot refrain from harming others?”
“I am, and now that I’ve seen what you have that I can never possess, I only feel anger and rage that I am incapable of having it, too. That rage is what consumes me; I long for peace.”
A bright blue beam struck the orange structure and it exploded shattering the planet under it causing massive earthquakes and tsunamis.
“Matt, I hate that we had to do this.”
“He was right; sometimes someone has to make the hard decision. This species had to be destroyed and it’s my belief that we were chosen for that task. Even if he promised to never hurt another civilization, I could not trust him to keep his word. We’ve been fortunate in the past of becoming friends with our adversaries, and I think that if we had destroyed any of those former adversaries we would have lost this conflict.”
Melanie shook her head, “How do you come up with that?”
“What role did our first adversary play in this conflict? The Algeans are the ones that provided the bulk of our technological advances. The Captors gave us the red screens that allowed us to defeat the Eight Legs. The defeat of the spiders allowed us to learn of this dangerous species. If we had killed any of those adversaries we would have not prevailed.”
Melanie thought a moment and nodded and said, “Yet you killed this entire species.”
“This species is different from all the others. Just one of them could destroy us with it’s tools and in the end, he knew it. Melanie, all of the devastation on the planet’s surface was recently done. This Demon has destroyed all of the other structures in this galaxy so no one can come and discover their technology at a later time and use it. He was actually wise and gave the only gift he could to all of creation; his life. I can only imagine the force of will it took to make his choice and follow through on it. I think he turned his rage on himself and actually wanted to die; just like the last tool he created. They were forced to do it; he made the choice.”
“Matt, look.”
The dark galaxy the blue ship had entered began fading and in moments it had disappeared leaving the blue ship in an empty void. “Melanie, it’s over; just one more trip to make.”
The blue ship appeared above the planet of the Reg and the three Reg materialized on the bridge; Matt thought, “We would all be dead except for your kindness. Thank you from all of the beings in this universe.”
“Actually, it was one of your creations that made the difference. We never saw that happening but now all creation can grow and evolve naturally.”
Matt heard what they said and understood more than was being said, “You’re leaving.”
Even Melanie could sense the Reg’s surprise. One of them thought, “You have surprised us more than any creature we have ever encountered. Yes, we are leaving this dimension and going where we can evolve. Now that the danger of the Demons is over, we only represent a hazard for you. We now understand why the compulsions not to harm others were placed in us by the creative force. No species should possess this much power without controls over it.”
“What about the crystal ships?”
“They will, of course, go with us; they are one with us. We cannot risk you possibly using them inappropriately. They will return to our population and grow up.”
“They were children?”
“Yes; and this confrontation helped them achieve the level of consciousness necessary to continue their development. We have been waiting on you to finish the last act and then come here before we leave. Now that we have communicated with you, we can go in peace. We also thank you and your warriors for taking part in making this happen.”
Matt stared at the three Reg and said, “I am going to miss having you around.”
“You will always be a brother.”
The Three Reg disappeared and Matt saw the planet fade into nothingness. The next moment he and Melanie were standing in Castle Gardner’s map room and he knew the blue ship had also gone with the Reg to its new home. Melanie looked up at Matt and hugged him tightly, “We’ll have to take care of ourselves now.”
“I hope we’re up to the task.”
“Matt, what did that Demon mean that we will regret killing him in the future?”
Matt furrowed his brow, “I have no idea.”
“It’s probably nothing.”
Matt thought for a long moment, “I hope so, Melanie. There was something in his thoughts that bothers me. I wonder if allowing us to kill him might have an ulterior motive we can’t see.”
Matt hung his head and felt a piece of him was gone with the Reg. He sighed and held Melanie close.
Sprig looked at Destiny and his now famous three children. “Why have you asked us here, Your Majesty?”
“Because now it is time for you to begin repaying your obligation to the Realm.”
Destiny cocked his head left, “What obligation?”
“To serve and protect the Realm.”
Edison looked at Sprig, “What do you need us to do?”
“I need two of your species to be assigned to every Star Realm’s embassy on every member’s planet.”
“Why?”
“Because our two species are the best at processing huge amounts of information and correlating them into something we can use to direct our future development. I will also have two of my species to assist in handling the issues and coming up with a course of action. We will also be the best at assimilating any scientific breakthroughs into the various civili
zations under our care. We must have some of us on every planet to make sure that individual actions do not cause problems to other members. We will assist the Gardners in restoring order in the Realm; you are needed.”
Destiny looked at his children and said, “How many members does the Realm have?”
“More than twenty million and another eight million independent planets.”
Newton shrugged, “That’s less than lived on two of our old main ships; I would be happy to assist in this project.”
Sprig shook his head, “Sorry, but you three are being given Royal Titles and will become my direct assistants. You’re the one’s that will be used to handle our most difficult issues.”
The three spiders looked at each other and Newton jumped straight up four feet and yelled, “Allllllll Riiighttttttt! This is going to be fun.”
Destiny looked at Sprig, “What about me? You must have called me here for a reason.”
“You will be my Chief of Staff directing all of the Crowns actions. For starters, I need you to choose those of your children with the right temperament to become our ambassadors. I need your help, Destiny.”
Destiny stuck out his leg and Sprig took it in a branch and shook it, “Like the lad here said; this is going to be fun.” They turned and watched the three young spiders jump around the room in glee.
Sprig looked out at the multitude of beings surrounding Colony Park. He tuned his thought recorder to verbal and stepped up on the dais, “I welcome all of you that have made the journey today to honor our warriors that once again have given their lives for the Realm. I’m sorry that all of you that requested to come were not allowed to attend. We can only accommodate twenty million and more than sixty billion asked to be here. For those of you watching on your home worlds, the Realm appreciates your viewing this ceremony. One thousand warriors on five hundred ships confronted a race of beings that were ancient when our universe was born. That race evolved to become universe destroyers and designed species to go from universe to universe killing all intelligent life. Their technology was so far ahead of us that we had no chance of matching them for their destructive capability. A race in our universe called the Reg built ships for us to meet them in battle, and without their help we would not be alive today. The Reg have now left our universe for a new home in another dimension and we will greatly miss them.”
Sprig paused a moment, “The Reg told us that they would provide the ships but we had to provide the warriors. We were also instructed that the ships would select the crews. The five hundred ships chose their two man crews and the ones chosen were the best our Realm had to offer. Out of five hundred ships, only a hundred and fifty survived. Just like the public square where our marines confronted the green horde, the numbers are identical. I don’t know what this means and greater minds than mine will ponder the significance of those numbers for centuries to come but we paid a heavy price for the continued existence of the Stars Realm. One of those lost was one of my children and his mate. They moved into the Demon’s attack and gave precious seconds to reform our line. Two Gresh gave their lives to slow the tide of Demon ships and there were many other sacrifices made by those who faced the Red Demon attack. I am going to show you a recording of the battle so you can see what those brave warriors faced to save our universe from destruction.”
The monitors began showing the battle as the huge fleet of Demon ships arrived a hundred miles from the line of blue ships. The Realm saw the savagery of the battle and saw once again that the Realm’s warriors did not flee but stayed and fought even when it looked hopeless. The appearance of the Kosiev and the sudden turn of tide as all of the remaining ships except Matt’s dove into the Kosievs’ outer skin made the viewing trillions marvel at the power of the two mile long ancient ship as it moved forward and destroyed the Demon Fleet.
“The Reg provided us with the most powerful ships in the universe but they would have failed except for the arrival of one of the Realm’s ancient ships. The Alexander Kosiev once more proved that it is the most powerful weapon ever built. That ship has now become intelligent and is the Stars Realm’s newest member. As king of the Realm, I have granted it the complete freedom to fight the enemies of the Stars Realm.”
Sprig paused and looked out at the huge gathering. “We are making a change to the hallowed ground we are standing on today. The cleared section next to the statues honoring the colonists killed on Ross to start the Realm will be dedicated to those that gave their lives saving the Realm from its most deadly foe.” Sprig turned and nodded.
A blue field appeared and suddenly a statue of the Kosiev and one blue ship appeared firing a bright blue beam into bright orange ships. The statues were made from the crystal structure left behind by the Reg and would last for eternity. The detail of the ships was incredible and the Realm gasped at their beauty. Sprig turned back to the gathering, “Those were created by the Reg and given to us for what we accomplished. Every warrior that fought in that battle is awarded the Crimson Crown and will be interred here with all of the Realm’s heroes. Those that survived will be brought here on their death and will be interred with their fellow warriors.”
Sprig paused and then turned back to the podium, “Those that perished with their ships will have a marker with their name on it placed here beside the statues. The name of this place will be changed from Colony Park to Life Park to honor those that placed their self in harm’s way to protect us all. It is a place for all of us in our universe to come and see that our Realm has been built and maintained by the lives of those that believe in what we stand for and were willing to die for its continued existence.”
The huge gathering erupted into a roar of approval. It continued for thirty minutes and grew in volume. Sprig raised his branches and the crowd grew quiet.
“We are going to change the structure of the Realm immediately.” The trillions of viewers leaned forward and listened for what was to follow. They knew something monumental was about to be announced. “We have made progress, but we are not doing the things necessary to insure the Stars Realm’s continued peace and prosperity for its members. The Realm has grown too big to rule from just one location. We have learned that there has been an emergence of pirates attacking ships and killing innocent crews. Planets have been attacked by fleets of ships robbing them of their riches and valuables. Some members do not understand the responsibility of being a member of the Realm and protecting every other member as if they were a member of their family. Other members joined to save themselves from the attack of the green invaders and have not truly accepted the Realm’s ideals and principles.”
“There are also planets that have been colonized by our members; colonies that have declined to join the Realm and are currently causing havoc against our members. I am telling every member today that you will be allowed to leave the Realm immediately if you prefer to be independent; we will freely allow you to choose your own course with absolutely no interference from us. Every member will be contacted within the next thirty days to make your choice. We will not force any world to be a part of what we are building. You must freely accept our company; no one will be coerced.” The huge crowd was silent. Sprig then turned and said, “Will the Gardner Family please join me.”
The five couples move up to the platform and stood behind Sprig. The members of the Realm saw the humans that so much had been written about and so much witnessed. Sprig turned back to face the gathering, “The Realm will be divided into five provinces. The first province will be named Life’s Land for the Gresh who died in the final battle. The second will be named Grena’s Glory for his mate that died with him. The third will be Stem’s Ground for my child that died. The fourth will be called Petal’s Path for his mate that died with him. The fifth will be called Kosievs’ Quest to honor the ship that saved the Realm in three wars.”
“From this day forward the name Gardner will only be used by the King and Queen of the Stars Realm. Ross will be the home of the chosen ruler of the Stars Realm and thi
s galaxy will be its Royal Possession. This galaxy alone will be ruled by the Royal Family. Each of the five couples will take the name of the female for their Royal Name. Tag and Danielle Ash will be the Duke and Duchess Ash of Life’s Land and will rule that province following the ideals of the Star’s Realm. Rose and Chris will be the Duke and Duchess Andrews of Grena’s Glory. Matthew and Melanie Grace will be the Duke and Duchess Grace and will rule Stem’s Ground. Anglo and Jenny Connor will be the Duke and Duchess Connor and will rule Petal’s Path. Tommy and Cassandra Dodd will be the Duke and Duchess Dodd and will rule Kosievs’ Quest. They have sworn their allegiance to the Stars Realm and will follow the Realm’s Royal Couple’s decrees. They will move to their provinces and bring order and peace to their members. Each of them will be assigned four million Searchers to assist them with protecting their citizens and a corresponding number of Red Warriors. The future ruler of the Stars Realm will be chosen by those families. It has also been decreed that the Stars Realm’s rulers may not rule longer than a thousand years. The successors chosen by the provinces to replace the provincial rulers must be approved by the Crown.”
Sprig paused and looked out at the trillions watching and said, “Those of you who are not currently members of the Realm as well as those that choose to leave the Realm may rule yourself as you deem appropriate, but I want to be sure you understand this; we will protect our members. We will not tolerate any form of aggression and will deal with it quickly and effectively. I think you know the power of the humans being sent to bring in a new age of peace and prosperity to the Realm. I am also sure that our future rulers will represent many other races in our realm. It is my belief that the Realm at this moment in time is in the best hands to help shape it into something that will amaze all of us in the future. To those that are attacking ships and planets, I caution you to stop immediately. If you continue we will not ask questions; we will act decisively. Those that are being honored here today died to preserve the Stars Realm; we will not let them down. Stars Realm, may I present your new provincial Rulers.”
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