“You don’t really need a headband to begin the download but it will work faster if you do. Both of you need to lie down, place the bands around your heads, and relax. The download will make the neural connections and teach you all of its functions. It’s going to take twelve hours so make sure you’re comfortable before you start this process.”
Kreej looked at Neelah, “Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready for ten years. I’m really curious about this system.”
Alex watched the two Zord start their download and wondered how they knew the Armor was ready. It had been completed just two days earlier. He waited for Robby to arrive and determined that he would hold that question until then. He wished Grace was still at the Facility. He missed her wisdom. This armor was light years ahead of the Realm’s Armor. Even the beam was stronger than a Zeta and the surface could be made reflective. With the two hundred foot wing span of a Zord, a planet could be ravaged. He was extremely nervous about releasing this power into his universe. If the Zord ever decided to take control there would be nothing that could stop them. Maybe I’m just being paranoid. Still, you can never be too careful. He hoped he would never have to activate the circuit that would destroy all the Armor and those who wore it. He vowed to never allow another evil Duke to take control.
The Ten Ruling Masters viewed the updates from the problem universe. They discussed the next steps to eliminate the civilization that was sending ships to slow their conquest and where to start the search. “We have nothing in our records that resemble those ships.”
The youngest Master stared at his display and said, “I remember that there was once a civilization in one of the universes we examined that had very strong beams.”
“I remember that civilization. However, we decided to wait until it destroyed itself before we invaded. It appears that the war happened and most of the ships with those beams were destroyed.”
Zyl looked at the Fourth Master and didn’t say anything. That universe was still at war and was not yet ready for their attention. Certainly nothing like those ships was seen there. That universe would have to be low on the search list. Then he heard something that changed his mind. The Second Master said, “According to my records, that universe is missing two galaxies.”
Zyl looked up, “What?”
“Our scans could be in error but there are two less than the first time we visited.”
“Do you know which ones are missing?”
The Second looked and said, “No. With billion’s of galaxies, it would be impossible to make that determination. I only now noticed the total number does not agree with our original survey. There is a possibility that two could have been missed due to being behind a much larger galaxy.”
“I thought we took several views from different angles.”
“We do, but then two others could have been moved behind.”
“Has this ever happened before?”
The nine Master’s consulted their displays, “It doesn’t appear to have ever happened before.”
Zyl said, “They may be hiding from our scans. That is where we will go next. Notify the Fleet Master.”
Suddenly Zyl’s panel illuminated with a bright blue light. All ten Masters felt instant fear. Zyl looked at them and closed his eyes briefly. He opened them and pushed the button, “How may I serve you?”
The Ten listened and hoped they would survive the contact.
Robby stood in the landing bay at the Defense Facility and looked at the group glowing in their new armor. The two Zord were sitting and even in that pose they were enormous. Scotty keyed his communicator, “Alex, is the armory ready?”
“Yes it is. You may teleport one at a time and select your stores.”
“Thanks, Dani will go first.”
Dani teleported away. Robby said, “Load up on as many armaments as you can. We won’t be back soon, so make good use of the inventory.”
Kreej commed, “Alex, is there a limit to what we can take?”
“I don’t have an infinite supply of ordinance. Just keep in mind that there will be more than six thousand Flyers that will need to be supplied.”
“What are you saying?”
“You don’t need to take a billion hornets. You’ll never use that many. A hundred thousand would be a rational number.”
“What if I want double that number?”
“Then take them. What makes you think you’ll need that many?”
“We may decide to remove the Invaders from planets they’ve conquered.”
“Then come back for more. That probably won’t happen in the near future and remember we’re going to have to supply all of the ships we’re building as well.”
“What about Captor Balls?”
“That’s easy. Now that you’re covered with a red force field, you can go to their original home and pick up as many as you want. My records indicate that there are still several million at their old hive.”
Robby smiled, “Don’t be greedy Kreej.”
Kreej said, “I was talking about Neelah.”
“No, you weren’t.”
“Yes I was.”
Neelah shoved Kreej with one of her wings, “I’ll use good judgment, Alex.”
Robby shook his head, “The Captor Balls are too big to take into our armor. Load up on those if you must, Kreej; you can have my share.”
“Robby, our ships will need them more than us. It’s the main tool that has kept the invaders away from our ships.”
Robby looked at Carter, “Ok, we’ll only take a hundred per Zord. Load another hundred on Pyle and Gilene.”
Alex said, “That is reasonable, Robby.”
Dani appeared and Robby said, “You’re next Jenna.”
Jenna did a double take and then disappeared.
Carter looked at Robby and he said, “Ladies go first. We must always remember to be a gentleman.”
Dani laughed, “Never forget that. Boy it was hard making choices.”
“Tell me what you saw.”
“Oh, the first answer was a good one but the real one is you want to be enlightened before you go.”
Robby pretended to be looking out the port, “Are you going to tell me?”
Dani thought about it, “You’ll find some small blunt nosed projectiles in the far left of the armory. If you ever have to board a ship and want to do maximum damage without burning any of the electronics, you’ll need them.”
“So you know about the dimensional drive?”
“I do.”
“Did you take any?”
“I did.”
“Do you see something I don’t?”
“Only that I’ll be with you when it happens.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Darn, I thought it would be Jenna or Carter.”
Carter listened to them and said, “What are the two of you talking about?”
Robby and Dani looked at him and Dani said, “Oh, nothing.”
Carter stared at them and Robby said, “I’ll tell you before it happens.”
Carter shrugged, “Fair enough. Who’s next?”
“You are.”
“Where did you say those slugs are located?”
Robby laughed and looked at Dani, “He’s one smart cookie.”
Carter raised his arms in a strongman pose and said, “And handsome besides.”
Kreej and Neelah listened to the back and forth and Neelah thought, “It feels like family.”
Kreej nodded, “We need to get Jenna and Carter a Flyer.”
“That comes later.”
Kreej said, “Get the message to Vring. He needs to start making the list now.”
Neelah nodded. “Your Sister would be good for Jenna.”
“Only if she passes Vring’s scrutiny.”
“Afraid of being accused of playing favorites?”
“Not at all, I just don’t know all of the Flyers available. There may be one better.”
Neelah looked at Carter, �
�He’s going to be hard to match.”
Kreej looked at Carter and nodded, “Yes he is.”
Jenna reappeared and Carter disappeared. After an hour Robby said, “Alex, is Carter ok.”
“I’m sitting here in amazement.”
“Why?”
“He’s combined several weapon platforms that are going to be devastating. Robby looked at Dani and said, “We need to go take a look at what he’s doing.”
Jenna, Robby, and Dani teleported to the Armory. Kreej looked at Neelah, “Yes, he’s going to be hard to match.”
Neelah just shook her head wondering what was going on in the armory.”
The ten new Ruling Masters looked down at the new Fleet Master. Kye looked around the gathering and said, “You understand your assignment?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You will bring the ship to us when you capture it.”
“I will, Sire.”
The Fleet Admiral turned to go. Kye looked at the others and said, “Have we decided which universe we will search first?”
“The last ten Masters were discussing that when we were called in.”
“We’ll not waste time looking at their decisions. We will go to the first one and work our way to the most recent.”
The nine Masters began issuing orders. Kye was not going to repeat anything the former Masters had decided. He did not want to see that light illuminate. The missing two galaxies were not discovered until much later.
Timmy and Virze were three hundred thousand miles from a planet that was being forced to grow the orange plants. The local populations had been rounded up and put in communes and the farm beside farm structure was taking shape.
“Do you think it’s too late to save the inhabitants?”
“Grace looked at her scanner, “The spores are in the atmosphere and their levels are growing. I suspect it is too late for those that have been in the farms more than a few days.”
Greyson said, “The intensity is highest at the farms. However, some of the spores have been blown into the upper atmosphere.”
Grace said, “Look out!”
“Two Giant Black ships appeared without warning next to the two Searchers. A beam shot out from the two ships and enclosed them in a force field that was surrounded by another structure with an orange gas.”
“Grace, my teleportation and communication boards are not functioning. We cannot get a message out and teleportation does not work in this environment.”
“Timmy, what’s happening?”
“Calm down, Virze. I think they have trapped us inside a force field surrounded by a dimensional field. If we leave this force field we will probably be destroyed by that field without the screen that protects their ships. They are now able to hide their emergence into normal space. I suspect they are going to take us to their home planet. If we leave this dimension, we will not be able to return. It looks like we’re trapped. I’m so sorry, Virze. I never thought we would both die. It’s my fault.”
Timmy suddenly found himself on Grace with Virze. She ran to him and hugged him tightly.
“Timmy!”
“Yes, Greyson.”
“That force field is the same strength as the one’s used on their ships.”
“It doesn’t matter, Greyson. If we go out into that dimensional gas, we’ll die.”
“Grace, we have to save Timmy and Virze. Will you help me?”
“What do you want to do?”
“I’m going to fire a full Zeta beam at the force field and I want you to also fire and overlap my hit.”
“What are you planning?”
“I’m going through the opening with my force field at maximum strength. Once the force field closes behind me I’m going to self-destruct.”
“Greyson, you can’t do that! You must not do that!”
Greyson ignored Timmy. “Grace, you know you are more important than I am to this effort. If we don’t try it, we all die.”
“Greyson, listen to me.”
“Timmy, this is the only way to save Virze. Someone has to warn the Empire. Grace, will you help me. Those ships are going to jump soon!”
“Give me a marking beam. I’ll hit just to the left of it. Greyson, are you sure there’s no other way?”
“If there is, we don’t have time to find it. Be ready to leave.”
“I’m sorry, Greyson?”
“Take care of Timmy.”
“I will.”
Greyson fired a low powered beam into the force field and the he and Grace hit the field with a max powered Zeta beam. A huge hole began appearing and Greyson flew through it. Grace stopped firing and the force field closed. Then a gigantic explosion rocked the force field and blew out into the two ships that were maintaining the fields. The shock wave hit the two ships and crushed their hulls into the walls away from the blast. The force field around Grace was blown out of existence and Grace teleported away just before the blast reached her. The shock wave continued out from the center of the explosion and hit the planet destroying the black ship in orbit and burning the atmosphere away.
Grace had teleported six hundred thousand miles away from the planet and stopped to view what happened. Timmy held Virze and watched the planet burn. He felt agony. His partner was gone and part of him died with Greyson. He took a deep breath and Grace said, “Those people were already dead. This was much more merciful than the death that orange plant would have given them.”
Virze held Timmy and said, “Grace, take us home.”
Grace teleported away just before fifty ships and the new Fleet Master arrived. The new Master had received the good news of having captured one of the small ships but there was nothing remaining in the system but destruction. No one survived to tell what had happened. He looked at his communication panel and saw the connection to the Ruling Masters illuminate. He had notified them that he had captured one of the enemy’s ships. He pressed the button and knew he was dead.
Chapter Fifteen
Robby and Carter sat on Pyle and shook their heads. “Kreej, do you sense anything?”
“No, Carter, I don’t.”
Robby looked down on the planet and knew they had guessed wrong again. “Pyle, call Dani and ask them to meet us at Bristone.”
“They’re on their way.”
Carter shook his head, “What are you going to do?”
“Go home and think about this. We’ve been at this for eight months and are no closer than when we started.”
Carter hit his chair arm with a fist, “I know he’s here somewhere.”
“I agree, Carter, but where? Do you have any other ideas?”
Carter shook his head. He stood up and walked to the view port and stared at the planet below. I feel something just barely below my consciousness yelling at me how to find him but I just can’t get to it.”
“Let’s go home and find out what’s been happening.”
Pyle said, “On my way.”
They arrived above Bristone and Robby thought, “Dani, have everyone meet after dark at the fire.”
“Will do.”
The six tired travelers sat at the fire watching the flames. Robby sat with Dani beside him still not making contact. Kreej and Neelah were lying on the ground just inside the logs feeling the warmth of the fire. Carter was leaning back against a log with Jenna under his arm. Jenna sighed, “I just knew he would be at one of those ten planets left behind.”
Robby frowned, “He could very well be there and not allowing us to hear his thoughts. However, we did a good search with our scanners. If he’s still there, he’s able to avoid them. I guess I just have to give in and realize we aren’t going to find him.”
Dani shook her head, “Maybe we’re wrong and none were left behind. Perhaps it realized there was no time and left to make the move.”
Jenna said, “I really thought that if anyone could come up with where to find it, Carter would do it.”
Carter looked down at Jenna, “Why do you say that?”
Jenna saw Carter’s expression change. He started laughing.
Robby said, “What’s so humorous?”
Carter said, “We’ve been going about this all wrong and it’s my fault.”
Even the two Zord straighten up.
Carter continued, “What can we guess about this imagined Algean?”
“He’s obviously brilliant.”
“That’s true, Dani. But consider this. What could possibly make an Algean miss a dead line?”
“I’m not sure what you mean?”
“Robby, when is an Algean not in full control?”
Robby lowered his head then looked up, “When they’re an adolescent.”
“Exactly! If something catches their interest, it is next to impossible to stop them from investigating. They can’t stop themselves. I suspect that’s what caused them to miss the move.”
Kreej said, “Are you saying that this Algean was an adolescent?”
“That would explain a lot. But knowing that it was an adolescent tells us where to find him. Jenna made me see it.”
Jenna did a double take, “See what?”
Carter stood up and looked out of the clearing toward the forest, “If the Algean was an adolescent, it would be drawn to the most interesting places in our universe. Carter looked back at Robby, “Where is the most interesting place in this universe?”
Robby smiled, “You’re standing on it.”
Carter took his index finger and tipped an imaginary hat. He stepped over the log and walked to the edge of the forest and stopped next to a tall bush, “Well, are you going to say anything?”
“I guess ya caught me.”
The two Zord and Jenna were stunned.
“What gave me away?”
“This fire is where all major decisions are made. It’s where we discuss new technology, where we’re going next, and what our plans are. You were drawn here and you could not resist coming.”
The tall bush shrank to eight feet and stepped forward. “Well, I’ve missed seeing you at the fire but things have still been quite interesting.”
Robby smiled, “Come join us. We can discuss old times tomorrow. You’re not planning to disappear are you?”
Ashes of the Realm - Greyson's Revenge Page 26