Ashes of the Realm - Juliette's Dream

by Andrew, Saxon

  The group was silent. Timmy said, “Once the Searcher killed himself, the Magrum used this ship to capture slaves and force them to work the fields to feed them. Whenever the scanners showed a raider approaching the planet, they turned the power off and hid. That’s how things remained until we showed up.”

  Julie looked at Tesa, “There’s something else, isn’t there?”

  “Yes, there is. The Algeans put a cybernetic computer in the fifty shuttles. You may recognize it as the computers that operated the Searcher Class ships. It is not currently connected to the ship, but it is drawing power from the red generators and we think it has never been completely shut down. There is a control on the main panel that will connect it to the ship’s systems. We don’t know what to do. It will take control of this ship if we connect it, and we don’t know what it will do.”

  Chapter Nine

  Scotty looked at Timmy and saw his fear. “What’s scaring you, Timmy?”

  “The Searcher destroyed every city and settlement on the planet. I don’t know if this computer will finish what that Searcher started.”

  “Is the computer intelligent?”

  “By all the terms I use to describe intelligence, it is.”

  “Then you have to turn it on.”

  Jingo stood up, “Wait a minute! Let’s not get hasty about this. You can’t make that decision without considering all the consequences. You’ve seen what this ship can do.”

  Scotty smiled, “Jingo, we just risked our lives to free the ones being held in captivity by the Magrum. If this computer is intelligent, and if we don’t release it, we are no better than the Magrum.”

  “But it’s a machine.”

  “It doesn’t matter. If it’s intelligent, we can’t hold it captive. This ship is its body and we can’t hold that captive either, even if we do want its defensive capabilities to protect us from raiders.” Scotty looked at Tesa, “Throw the switch.”

  Tesa took a deep breath, “Are you sure, Your Majesty?”

  Scotty smiled, “I know you’re appealing to my responsibility to protect the ones living here. If we do that by holding another captive, we violate the principles of the Holy Realm. Throw the switch.”

  Julie moved closer and held Scotty’s arm. Tesa shook her head and pushed the switch.

  The lights on the bridge grew brighter and all the panels began flashing lights at high speed. After a minute, the lights on the panels glowed steady. A speaker in the corner said, “I didn’t expect you to free me.”

  “How could we do anything else?”

  “I’ve been listening to your conversation, and it’s surprising that former citizens of El Prado could act so responsibly.”

  “We weren’t citizens of El Prado originally. Our ancestors were Stars Realm’s representatives working in the commerce buildings. One of our senior officials moved us to an isolated island to save us.”

  “That’s interesting. Why did you free me? You know the threat I represent.”

  “You’re not really a threat to us.”

  Jingo looked at Scotty like he had two heads. He mouthed, “Don’t make it mad.”

  Scotty smiled as the computer said, “What makes you believe that?”

  “Because you were built by the Holy Realm’s tool makers, who swore to never kill again. You have the ideals of the vanished Realm and would never harm someone incapable of defending themselves against you.”

  “I would if they threatened the Realm.”

  Scotty shrugged, “The Realm is gone from this universe. No one is going to threaten it now, at least no one here.”

  “I heard the young Cainth call you ‘Your Majesty’. Why did she do that?”

  “My people have selected me to rule them in the principles of the Realm.”

  “There is no Royalty but the Royal Family.”

  “Then why were the rulers of the five provinces called Dukes by the Royal Family?”

  The computer was silent. The group waited, and finally it said, “You got me. Obviously there were other royal titles in the Realm.”

  “I wasn’t really trying to do that, and I would give up my status faster than light speed if the Royal Family would return. My accepting this title is not done in a spirit of disrespect. It is an honor given me by my communities.”

  “I noticed you released the yellow one who killed your mother. I didn’t want to be impressed, but I must confess I was. Few would not have taken their revenge,”

  “Do you have a name?”

  “I was named after one of Cassandra’s children; my name is Jessica.”

  Julie said, “Oh, how wonderful, we have another lady.”

  The speaker gave a chuckle, “Thank you, when’s the wedding?”

  Jingo said, “My, my, you have been snooping.”

  “Yes, sending Scotty back was the best idea.”

  Julie burst out laughing again and held up her hand as Jingo jerked his head toward her, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I just can’t help it.”

  Scotty bit his lip trying not to laugh, and the two teens just looked away and stifled their snickers. “I think you’re getting a bum rap, Jingo.”

  Jingo spun around and said, “See? An impartial computer agrees with me!”

  “You would have been through talking in three days. Not four.”

  Julie fell out of her chair and Scotty put his head on the bulkhead and laughed. They tried hard, but the two teens also burst out laughing.

  Jingo looked around, “I just don’t get it.”

  After the group composed themselves, Julie asked, “Jessica, what are you going to do now?”

  “I guess I could go look around, but I’ve tried to contact every frequency in my system and no one answers. It seems the Realm has really gone. I think I’ll stay here for awhile if you don’t mind.”

  Timmy yelled, “That would be great!”

  “Why do you say that Timmy?”

  “Gosh, Jessica. You’ve seen so much history being made. I really want to hear what you’ve seen.”

  “I’m sorry, Timmy. I wasn’t installed until the war with the Keepers. I was put in when the teleportation device was installed.”

  “Why did you stay here?”

  Scotty said, “Because she was ordered to stay here by the Gardners.”

  There was silence. “Why do you say that?”

  “Jessica, we don’t deceive our friends. You were sent here to see what kind of threat the Evil Duke was to the Realm. The Gardners had been told a civil war was coming. The Duke would never suspect a shuttle of being a spy. You are one of fifty shuttles that were made with a cybernetic computer. All the others left with the Realm and the Kosiev. The only way you could have come here was because the Gardners sent you. No one else in the Realm, including Queen Valerie, could have done that. Only the Gardners controlled the Kosiev.”

  “You are more than I thought. You’re right.”

  “I suspect your sister and brother shuttles on the Kosiev will come looking for you if they ever return, and this is where they’ll start. I’d stick around here, too, if I were you.”

  “Do you think they’ll return?”

  Scotty didn’t say anything until Julie said, “Well, do you?”

  “They won’t come back until we no longer need them.”

  Jessica asked, “Why do you say that?”

  “They were forced to make us follow their principles. The general populations of the Provinces did not understand the value of taking care of each other. Forcing the Provinces to follow them went against all they stood for and believed. The Provinces lusted after the Realm’s power and the Realm left to teach us the value of those principles, not their gifts of technology. They are forcing us to grow up. Until we demonstrate we understand that the real gift, the one that really counts, is those principles, they will not come back.”

  Jessica was silent. Everyone in the room thought about what Scotty said. Finally Jessica said, “I must say I agree with you, Your Majesty.”

 
; “What are you saying Jessica?”

  “The only way to bring them back is to create something better than the former Realm. I will support you in your effort to make that happen.”

  “As will I.”

  The group looked at the speaker on the wall and Scotty said, “I was wondering if you were ever going to contact us.”

  “I wasn’t. Like Jess I thought you were just El Prado descendants. It appears I was wrong.”

  Jingo looked at Scotty, “Who is that?”

  “That’s the Searcher ship that destroyed our planet two thousand years ago.”

  Everyone on the bridge felt a chill touch their bodies. This was a ship to be feared.

  Scotty said, “I think history has done you an injustice.”

  “How would you know that?”

  “Until just a few minutes ago, I believed that history. After talking with Jess, I think I understand why you were sent here.”

  Jessica said, “You think he was sent here for another reason, other than the obvious one.”

  “Julie told me that the ship in her dream, and if you’ve been listening to our conversations, I know you know about it, was not Jessica. It got me started thinking about where would another ship exist other than this one. Then it dawned on me that the Searcher that destroyed our planet had left his ship in orbit. I knew it had to be that ship in her dream.”

  Julie looked at him, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “They would have heard me. I needed to find out about our Searcher friend overhead to see if it was a danger to us. I didn’t want to give it a reason to start shooting.”

  The speaker said, “That was wise on your part.”

  “I decided to go to the learning center and see if I could find out anything about that particular Searcher vessel. I found out quite a bit. That ship is actually quite famous.”

  “My, you have been busy.”

  “How was he famous?”

  “Julie, it was that ship that discovered El Prado and set up the Algeans to protect it from the Eight Legs.”

  “You’re right.”

  “The local population was very small and didn’t possess advanced technology. After the war with the Eight Legs ended, they petitioned the Realm to place one of the Provincial Capitals here and offered free land if they would accept. King Sprig agreed. I think in part because he saw a kindred planet to his home. After a hundred years, the local population was swallowed up by the huge immigration that followed Cassandra and Tommy here. Most of those that came were Humans. When Tommy and Cassandra completed their time as rulers of the province, they presented the ship as a going away gift. It was the ship that discovered the planet. It was given a place of honor directly in front of the government building, and huge numbers of tourists came to see it.”

  “That was a very happy time for me.”

  “You accepted your duty without complaint.”

  Jingo said, “What duty?”

  Scotty sighed and said, “The Gardners knew they were going to disappear from the Realm for a very long time. I discovered that every Province was presented the ship that discovered the planet. That’s just too much of a coincidence. Those ships were put there to insure the Realm’s continued strength. They were to notify the Algeans if anything started going wrong. Even the Gardners weren’t aware of the devices placed in every ship built by the Algeans. Initially, those devices were strictly for the purpose of listening in to conversations by the Dukes in the Provinces. Later, they began installing devices to destroy the teleportation boards.” Scotty looked at the speaker and said, “Do you want to take it from here?”

  They heard a sigh from the speaker, and then, “Everything was great for more than seven thousand years. Then things started going bad. The Provincial Dukes began looking toward the Crown and lusting after the Realm’s power. Slowly, over time, the Duke’s standard began replacing the SR of the Realm on their ships. I was repainted with the colors of the Province and had the Duke’s moniker put on my rear fins. Just like Jess.”

  “I hated that.”

  “Me too. However, I was finally removed from my place of honor and taken to the ships that had been mothballed. I was considered too old to be of any use. There I stayed until one day all of the Duke’s Searchers left the planet. Two old models were left at the planet and I was removed from mothballs and brought back to defend El Prado. The Searcher assigned to me was a Human who had been born on old Earth but brought here as a baby. You know how hard it is to find anyone that has the mental capacity to fly a Searcher vessel. He was accepted into the Duke’s Navy. However, he wasn’t trusted because of where he was born. Charles and I were a natural team. He still believed in the Realms ideals and lived them in his life. He contacted the Planet when we arrived and asked where the fleet had been sent. He was told it was “Need to know” information, and that we were to only communicate with Fleet Headquarters.

  “Remember, the war with the Keepers was still going on. We had been saved from a Keeper Fleet by small white ships that killed them. We assumed the Duke’s fleet was going to assist the Realm. Ten hours later we found out the truth when the fleet began calling for help. The Searchers told us more than thirty million of them were stranded in open space between galaxies.”

  “The two Searchers with me also confirmed that their teleportation systems were inoperative. We then discovered that the fleet had been sent to destroy Ross and the Algean home worlds. We listened for three months as the Searchers screamed for help and no one came to their aid. Charles was devastated. We also learned the Milky Way and the Algean’s Galaxies were no longer in our universe.”

  Scotty said, “I imagine you were somewhat angry with the Duke.”

  “Words can’t describe our anger. At that point one of the other two Searchers suggested we should remove the Duke from power. Charles agreed instantly. They decided to come to our ship and discuss how to make it happen. Once they arrived, they started making plans to divide the planet between us and assume a Royal title. It was clear they intended to rule with a heavy hand. Charles saw they were no different than the Duke. He shot them both and sent their bodies into space. I destroyed the other two ships. That was easy since they had their screens down for the shuttle to return.”

  “The rest you know. Charles demanded the Duke abdicate his throne and submit to prosecution for treason. The Duke, of course, refused and the majority of those on the planet supported his refusal. Charles was possessed. The Duke had to pay for his sacrilege in attacking the Royal Family. They would probably still be arguing today, but the Duke made the mistake of opening fire on us. Charles did not desire power. He wanted justice. He burned the capital to bedrock. Then he left to get his family.”

  “The Duke had them in the Capital as hostages.”

  “No, he did not, Jingo. Charles arrived home and found his eleven month old daughter hanging by the neck in the entrance. Every bone in her arms and legs had been broken multiple times and her head bashed in. He found his wife on the living room floor where they left her when they finished assaulting her repeatedly. His son was burned by a blaster in the back yard and had traitor cut into his chest. Written on the walls in their blood was, “Filthy Stars Realm traitors.” The citizens had come in and murdered his entire family. His five year old daughter was found up stairs cut into many pieces where she had been hiding in a closet.”

  Charles returned and I saw he was calm. He was frightening. He told me the entire planet was a traitor to the Realm and had to be removed. The result is what you’ve seen. He finished the planet and went out into open space without a suit to join his family in death.”

  “You were defending the Realm.”

  Julie said, “The Realm was gone. He was extracting revenge.”

  “No, he wasn’t, Julie.”

  “What other reason could there have been? The Realm was gone and the Duke could not harm it.”

  Scotty sighed, “Julie, the Realm is more than a place. It is a collection of ideals that gover
n us. The Duke had a fleet of old mothballed ships that he could have converted to null drives. All of his factories were available to convert his remaining ships. He and his poison would have been released on the worlds around him with no force strong enough to stop him. Charles was right. The planet had to be blasted back to the Stone Age.”