There was a long moment of silence and then they heard, “They didn’t know they were leaving until the very last moment. They had every intention of fighting the traitors but Jake talked them out of it. Before they knew what was happening, every teleport device was disabled and the Realm was transported away. We lost contact with the Realm the moment they disappeared.”
“I’ve wondered if I had done something wrong. Thanks for telling me.”
“I’m absolutely certain they would have come for you if they could.”
Scotty thought he could feel a sense of affection for the shuttle from the defense system. He wondered about Jess not being allowed near the facility. BC said, “Your Majesty, I’m going to teleport you to Jess and go find Anglo.”
“That’s a good idea, BC. Let me know what’s going on.”
“Will do.”
Nathan sat in his command chair and listened to Daulun’s transmissions as he screamed at the Searchers that had failed in protecting his daughter. “Boy, he’s hotter than an overused blaster.”
“Yes he is. Stand-by just a moment, I want to hear something.”
Nathan heard the communications and wondered what Anglo was focused on.
Greyson listened to Daulun’s rants and finally had enough, “Your Majesty.” Daulun stopped screaming and focused his anger on the ship that had the gall to interrupt him. Greyson continued, “Our choice was simple; we could protect you or protect her; it was impossible to do both. It was especially true if another Searcher Class ship was involved. Two of us went to the attack on the building facility and that only left four of us to insure you weren’t taken with her. Would you like us to focus on your daughter in the future? You know your safety is the most important thing to us and our loyalty and protection is to you first.”
Daulun was going to order the Searchers to fire on the disrespectful ship but then thought about what it said. If he destroyed it, his protection would be diminished. He fought hard and brought his emotions under control. Finally he said, “Ok, how do we find her?”
Greyson listened to suggestions from the other five and thought about why he interrupted Daulun. He felt sick to his being at what he had become. Then he heard Daulun sneer, “You don’t have any ideas?”
“I was going to suggest sending every scout back to that planet we destroyed and have them started searching for the place that ship originated from that point. If any scouts are destroyed, we’ll know we’re getting close.”
Daulun yelled, “Why can’t the rest of you be that smart? Make it happen!!”
“Something is wrong with that Searcher.”
Nathan looked at his display, “Which one?”
“The one that destroyed Haldale. His transmissions have subtle overtones challenging the King. Something is wrong with his responses.”
“Is that important?”
“I don’t know, Nathan. However, we need to develop a plan to deal with those scouts.”
“Anglo!”
“Hello, BC.”
“You need to go to the Defense Facility to be upgraded. Scotty is there waiting for you.”
“I’m going to have to handle an issue with scouts that are being sent to find us.”
“I’ll do that. I am now the proud owner of a brand new, old, teleport board and I’ll bring Jessica in to help when she completes her updates.”
Anglo downloaded all that he had recorded and BC said, “I think we should try to fool them.”
“How?”
“I’m going to teleport in on those scouts that are searching in the opposite direction of the Empire. By destroying them it should send them in the wrong direction. I suspect it may delay them.”
“They could figure out that we’re doing that but you’re right. Without knowing for certain, that is where they will be forced to go first. They wouldn’t know that we’re listening to their plans.”
“Have they started sending the jump coordinates?”
“Not yet. I’ll leave this in your capable hands and head over to see Grace.”
“Do you want to leave Nathan with me?”
“That’s ok, BC. I’ll stay with Anglo.”
“See you later.”
Julie woke up and found Mallory asleep in the rocking chair. Kreej was coiled up on the ground in front of her house. Julie saw Mallory’s peaceful expression and wondered what had happened. She touched Mallory on the shoulder and she slowly opened her eyes and yawned. She stretched her arms and said, “Good morning, Your Majesty.”
“Good morning, Mallory. Did you find out what you wanted to know last night?”
Mallory smiled and looked at Kreej, “He actually answered every question I threw at him. He’s shown me his species entire history from the time they were kidnapped to El Prado to last night. I was amazed at what your husband and Jingo did on The Night of the Torg. That is a memory I’ll never forget. I’ve learned a lot.”
“What about June. Do you understand now?”
“Yes, I do. I could feel her terrible pain at discovering just how evil her father was and what she had become.” Mallory looked at Julie and said, “The Zord will never have ten elders to execute her sentence, will they?”
Julie smiled, “Just don’t tell June. It’s the only thing that keeps her from focusing on her crimes. She is their Grang.”
Mallory shook her head. “I would have killed him but I can see that would have been a huge mistake.”
“What about your Father?”
Julie saw Mallory frown, “He’s been deceiving me my entire life and I can see what kind of person he is now. I just wonder how he could have ever made me his successor. He’s worse than Canton.”
“He probably wouldn’t have allowed you to succeed him…”
Mallory interrupted, “What do you mean?”
“When were you supposed to marry?”
“Next year.”
I’m taking an educated guess here, but I suspect he is getting you married so you can have a child before he names his successor. That future husband of yours…”
“Canton.”
“Yes, Canton appears to be pretty cold blooded. I suspect your father wants him to be in charge in the event that something was to happen to him.”
“But he’s not in the Royal Family.”
“No, but if you have a child and you were to die in an unfortunate accident…..”
Mallory saw it, “Canton will become the Ruler until my child comes of age.” Mallory thought for a moment then angrily said, “And after Canton solidifies his power, the child will also have an unfortunate accident. Everyone is right, my father is evil. He’s disgusting.”
“That’s how I see it. He would never allow someone with a good heart to assume the throne. He picked Canton because of the attacks on him by other members of the Royal Family and he can count on him to make them pay. I suspect he was quite angry about those attacks and would do anything to prevent them from assuming the throne.”
Mallory nodded, “He was incredibly angry. Three months after the last attack, ten of my family members were killed in a hover accident. The runabout lost power and fell to earth.”
Julie just looked at Mallory. She shook her head and said, “I remember he was smiling when he heard about it. He didn’t know I was watching him. I should have learned from that experience that he is not what I thought him to be.”
“Well, do you think he’ll try to find you?”
“He’ll exhaust every means possible. I’m his only child and he knows he’ll lose the throne to another family member if he doesn’t have me around to have a child or he will have to have another. He’ll use all of his resources to find me.”
“Did you know this Canton?”
“I thought I did, but it was all a lie. He pretended to be high and noble by ridding our galaxy of slavers. Now I see he’s one of the biggest slavers in our Realm. He disgusts me as well. He’s the son of my father’s best friend and I know what kind of man he is. He had his oldest daughter
executed for treason. She was a good person and would never commit the acts she was accused of committing. Now I suspect it was done to make Canton his successor. I’m almost certain that he and my father came up with the marriage to continue their control. I think that ship was right; I’ve been incredibly naive.”
“Mallory, what do you want us to do with you? We know you’re not an enemy but if we send you back, they could force you to tell them where we are.”
Mallory frowned, “I’m sick to my heart at what I’ve learned. I never want to see my Father again. I’m quite happy to stay here with June and the children. I think it’s ironic that two Princesses are picking pods for the community.” Mallory looked up at the sky and said, “When is Nathan coming back? I want to thank him for treating me with kindness.”
Julie smiled, “He’s with our ships attempting to prevent your father from finding us. However, he should be back within a week. When I see him, I’ll tell him you want to speak with him.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. Now I need to go and take the children to the woods. June won’t be back until tomorrow and I know they miss their time in the forest.”
Julie smiled, “Thank you, Mallory, and welcome to our community.”
Nathan sat in a chair wearing a spacesuit. Every port was open to space and Nathan watched as numerous machines moved in and out of the bridge. He saw cables running out of the bridge toward the reactor. The cables they were replacing were one third the size of the new ones. Panels were out of the ceiling and scattered on the floor next to him. Scotty offered to take him back to Bristone but he had refused. He just didn’t want to leave Anglo during the updating. It was like leaving the hospital during a loved one’s surgery. He felt Anglo should have someone present. “Nathan.”
“Yeah, Anglo.”
“You were right about the Duke’s daughter. I’ve just talked with Julie and it appears she was deliberately deceived by her father. She was going to be married to a real cold blooded Baron that would have eventually eliminated her.”
“I thought her emotions were real. You were still angry about Haldale and missed it.”
“She said something that concerns me.”
“What is that?”
“She had dreams about Bristone. She also said you were in her dreams.”
“It could have just been someone that looked like me.”
“Now you’re missing it; she was certain it was you.”
Nathan thought about what he was hearing. “Does that mean anything?”
“Yes it does. I’ve had Jess scan the Princess when she and Scotty arrived home and she has a passive psychic reading that is huge.”
“Where are you going with this Anglo?”
“You do as well Nathan.”
“What!”
“Yours is actually higher than hers. Why do you think you were able to take the bowgun training from the Zord when very few others could? It’s because your mind is different from all the others.”
Nathan thought about the training and remembered everything felt so real. Then Anglo said something that snapped his attention back.
“I believe that this universe is preparing for a huge war that will determine our survival.”
“What do you mean by that!?! How does my having a high passive psychic reading have anything to do with the starting of a war?”
“We have some time before my updating is completed, so I’m going to share my thoughts with you. I want you to listen and see if you see anything wrong with my deductions.”
“Sure, I just don’t understand where you’re going with this.”
“You’ve seen the history of the Stars Realm.”
“Of course.”
“The first King and Queen of the Stars Realm were the strongest psychics on their planet. They ended up together. The historians concluded that the war with the Alliance was just for the purpose of them meeting. Those same historians also agree that it was primarily done for them to have a child that would ultimately stop the destruction being done by the Algeans. It seems that the creative force that made everything seeks balance. When life is being destroyed in huge numbers, the universe seeks balance.”
Anglo paused and Nathan thought about what he had learned of the Realm’s ancient history. Anglo let him digest what he had said and continued, “The thing that most don’t see is that every time the Realm was threatened by an overwhelming enemy, an individual, or a couple, that possessed super psychic abilities appeared. It was those super psychics ability to chart a path that saved the Realm.”
“Anglo, we don’t have any psychics in our community and we certainly don’t quality to be a realm.”
“The old planet Earth wasn’t a realm originally and that’s where the first psychics appeared. We’ve not had any really strong psychics since the Realm left with the Gardners. We’ve also not had any one that I’ve scanned over the last thousand years that possessed anything more than very minimal psychic readings. Now we have ten people that top the scale on passive readings. Four of them are now couples.”
Nathan said, “Scotty and Julie.”
“Yes, and Michael and Carrie also top the passive readings. I think you should know that Carrie and Michael almost knew the moment they met that they were meant for each other. It happened in just a few hours.” Anglo paused and then said, “Julie and Scotty had dreams about each other. Julie had hers since she was five years old and she knew Scotty was going to be her lifelong love as soon as she saw him.”
“Are you saying that the Princess and I are going to be matched?”
“Yes, and you had better not try to avoid it.”
“Why not? I’m not certain I’m ready for any kind of relationship.”
“Because, if this is a psychic event, you and she will be forced together with terrible consequences if you try to avoid it. If Bristone has to be attacked to make that happen, it will be. There is no force stronger in the universe than psychic power and events will happen to make those dreams become a reality. That princess saw you in her dreams.”
“Why would there be passive psychics appearing all of a sudden?”
“Because the children of these couples will possess active psychic powers and judging from the strength of the passive readings, they will be as strong, and maybe stronger, than the Gardners that created the former Realm. The real super psychics will come from the marriage of the children of those couples.”
“I don’t know if I like my destiny being predetermined. I don’t like being forced into anything and certainly not my personal life.”
“That view should depend on how you see the creative force that made everything.”
“I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Anglo.”
“The creative force is what brought life to an empty void. It has always brought good things into existence. Sometimes evil arises and threatens the balance of creation and that’s when the super psychics appear. It’s the tools creation uses to restore balance. Now, picture yourself being offered love by the force that originally created it. That love would be more than you could ever hope to create by yourself. Would you turn your back on that gift? Look at Scotty and Julie and observe how they feel about each other. Don’t you wish you had what they’ve been given? However, that’s not the reason you should at least see if the Princess is destined for you.”
“What other reason is there?”
“As I said before, those super psychics only appeared when there was going to be a terrible conflict; and now we see them starting to appear. Honestly, I believe our future survival depends on you and the other passives having children that will someday save us. Answer me honestly, were you not attracted to the Princess when you saw her?”
Nathan remembered how beautiful she was as she slept. He remembered how she bravely defended her father even in the face of kidnappers that she didn’t know. He saw her pain at seeing the brutality being visited on the slaves. He shook his head, “I honestly don’t know, Anglo. She’s very pretty b
ut…I just don’t know.”
“Have you ever been attracted to anyone else?”
Nathan sighed heavily, “No, not really.”
“Well, when we’re finished here, I’m dropping you off at Bristone and I’m going to assist BC.”
“Oh no you won’t! Not without me.”
“Nathan, you need to see if there is any truth to what I’ve said. That discovery is much more important than handling a few scouts, and if for no other reason than my peace of mind, I need you to go and see. One other thing.”
“Yes.”
“I am going to request that Emperor Robbins make you my assigned Partner. You will be my Searcher, Nathan. I’ve seen your loyalty to me and though I’ve told the emperor that I would never accept another partner, I’ve changed my mind. We make a good team.”
Nathan smiled, “Yes, we do. I’m honored that you would accept me as your partner.”
“First things first; you need to go see a Princess and settle this issue. Will you do that for me?”
“You’ve made me curious about what you’re suggesting. I will do it if for no other reason than you think I should.”
“Good, our next stop is Bristone.”
Chapter Three
Gernud was beginning to get bored. He had started his search from the planet that Daulun had destroyed and moved out into his assigned search arc. He had passed through more than two hundred systems and had found nothing. What really annoyed him was that he was told to search every star in his assigned sector not just the G-type suns. The chance of finding intelligent life around a massive star was remote at best and he thought about skipping some of them. However, Fleet Control would read his logs and see his route. It wouldn’t be good if he skipped anything.
He jumped into a system with a G-type sun and his communication panel lit up, “You are entering restricted space of the Harmony Association. Turn back immediately or you will be destroyed.”
He looked at his scanners and saw no life in the system he had just entered. He searched for a probe that could have transmitted the message and saw nothing. He backed out of the system and pushed his com, “Fleet Control, I have entered a system and have received a warning about trespassing into some kind of Association.”
Ashes of the Realm - Greyson's Revenge Page 4