by Saxon Andrew
Alex heard her and sent a thought, “Do you have a moment.”
“I do.”
“I need you to do me a little favor.”
“What is that?” Alex told him and heard laughter, “I’ll handle it.”
“Thanks.”
• • •
Jimmy and Lola arrived at the front of the large conference room and immediately saw Emperor Robbins sitting on his throne talking with Tgon-Cee. He glanced at them, pointed to two chairs at the front of the room, and then turned to continue his discussion with the Glod King. Jimmy remained where he was and held Lola’s hand, stopping her from going to the chairs. The Realm’s Senior Military Officers were all greeting the Bristone Officers and catching up on what had happened since they left for Ross…but they saw the Emperor motion Jimmy to a chair and they instantly grew silent and went to their chairs. The Bristone Officers wondered what was going on. They looked at the officers from Ross and saw them sitting at attention in their chairs. They were quick on the uptake and went directly to their chairs and sat in silence wondering what was going to happen that had their friends so nervous.
The conference room became silent and it took a few moments for James and Tgon-Cee to notice. Tgon-Cee looked at the officers as James suddenly noticed the silence. He also noticed that the successors to the Realm were still standing at the front of the room. He nodded to Tgon-Cee and he went to his chair in the front row. He turned to Jimmy and said, “I’ve reserved two-chairs for you in the front row.”
“They won’t be necessary,” Jimmy replied. “We’ve already viewed the material.”
James looked out at the room and asked, “Have all of you viewed it?”
Jimmy answered him, “No, just Lola and I have seen the transfer.”
Staring at them James asked, “Where is Tag and Danielle?”
“They won’t be attending.”
James’ anger was immediate, “I thought they called this meeting because of a crisis?!”
“That’s correct.”
James was getting angrier by the moment. This Realm Prince was not addressing him properly. He was speaking like an equal and he had a higher title…or did he? James paused and wished there was a way to ask who was the ranking Royal but there was no way to do it in the middle of this confrontation. “If this is such a big crisis, why did they choose not to attend. Perhaps we should delay this meeting until they can make an appearance?”
“Delaying this meeting will only put our Alliance in greater jeopardy. This information must be shared now,” Jimmy replied.
“Then why didn’t they come, if it’s so important?”
“For the very same reason you chose not to go to Ross,” Jimmy replied.
The officers in the room were extremely nervous at what was happening. This was behavior unbecoming of Royalty. Kogo and Dela sat on the front row and Kogo rolled his eyes. Dela took his hand as he thought to her, “This is a huge cluster…” Dela squeezed his hand hard and he sighed.
James’ eyes narrowed again as he said, “I didn’t go to Ross because of the danger in the Realm’s Universe.”
Lola smiled, “We took more than two and a half-million-warships into the Realm’s Universe and we’ve not lost one of them. The danger there is greatly exaggerated. You didn’t go to Ross because it would cause your subjects to question your judgement. Queen Danielle and Tag didn’t come here because her subjects would have believed she abandoned them. She decided that sending our officers here was appropriate and respectful to you. We are here to represent the Realm in this meeting.”
James was angry and he wanted to slap the two youngsters down, but…Danielle said they were just as psychically talented as her. He didn’t possess psychic talents and he knew that he would probably make a huge mistake if he didn’t show them the same respect he’d offer the Gardners.
Jimmy stared at James and could see what he was thinking. He held his breath and James finally broke his silence by saying, “I welcome you to Bristone and I’m going to request that you lead this gathering.”
Jimmy lowered his head slightly and saw James smile. That little courtesy took the tension out of the situation, “We will be glad to do so.”
“Will you tell us what we’re going to see before the transfer begins?” James asked.
“One of the Gardner’s oldest friends went to the Black Warship’s home universe to scout what was there.”
“Who was this friend?” James asked.
“He is known in history as Atlas.” The revelation shocked the entire room. James suddenly realized that this information he was about to see was not going to be good news. James gathered his wits and asked, “Why are we going to use the transfer bands to see these recordings? Can’t we just watch them on the monitors?”
Jimmy raised his left shoulder, “Atlas is rather compulsive about including everything he records. Using the monitors would take more than five-weeks to see everything. However, if you prefer to do it that way…”
James interrupted, “How long using the transfer bands?”
“Four-hours.”
James stood up from his throne and moved to the transfer chair beside it. He put the transfer band on his head and all the gathered officers followed his example. He looked at Jimmy and asked, “What will we see?”
Jimmy hesitated, and looked around the room, before answering, “Things that will challenge the courage of everyone in this room.”
James stared at him and wondered if replacing his father was a good thing. He reclined his chair and said, “Let’s get started.” Jimmy went to the master control panel and inserted a data crystal into the console. He announced, Transfer will begin in twenty-seconds.”
• • •
JP reclined on his chair and shook his head. He didn’t want to be here but his father gave him no option. “JP, you will be eighteen in four months and it’s time you became a man. You will be in the meeting and we’ll discuss it afterwards.”
“Yes, Father.”
• • •
JP thought, “I really don’t know about you being here with me.”
“No one will see me.”
“Those two from the Realm are very talented.”
“They still won’t see me.”
“Are you saying you are more talented than them, Rose?”
“No, my talents come from another place. Just relax. You might be thankful I’m here with you.”
“I doubt that,” JP replied but found out quickly he was wrong. It was Rose that kept his fears at bay and helped him understand what he was seeing.
Jimmy waited until everyone’s eyes closed and then walked over to the two-thrones beside the Emperor’s Throne. He sat down and tipped his head for Lola to sit beside him. A servant came out of a door and asked, “Would you like some refreshments while you wait?”
Lola smiled, “Thank you, I would.”
They waited and hoped for the best when the transfer completed.
• • •
Four-hours later, the first officers began opening their eyes. James opened his eyes and Jimmy saw they were wide open. This didn’t look good. James raised his chair instantly and turned to Jimmy. Lola smiled and put her hand on James’s arm, as James opened his mouth, and said quietly, “Your Majesty, everyone has not completed the transfer. Please hold your comments until everyone is done.”
James stared at Lola with a terrified expression but he managed to close his mouth and fight to slow his heart rate. This was…horrific. He sat back in his chair and forced his mind to wrap around what he had just seen. Soon, he felt calm come to him, he glanced at Lola and saw her staring at him, “Thank you.” He smiled as he heard her thought, “We must set the example for our warriors.” James nodded and heard many officers screaming. He looked out and saw that it was his officers that were doing the screaming. The warriors from the Realm sat up straight in their chairs and remained silent. He looked out at those screaming and shouted, “YOU WILL BE SILENT!!!” He stood up and
went back to his throne.
The officers closed their mouths and watched the other officers sitting around them. They were not alone in their fear. After everyone was sitting silent, James stood up and looked at JP in the back of the room. He was sitting in his chair and staring at him. Thank the Creator that he had not been one that woke up screaming. He nodded to JP and JP nodded back.
Finally, the transfer was completed and everyone in the room was staring straight ahead in silence. James was still too shocked to respond and he looked at Jimmy, kept his voice calm, and stated, “Please lead the discussion on what we’ve seen.”
Jimmy looked at Lola and nodded for her to start. Lola stood up and smiled as she said in a calm soothing tone, “I know what you’re feeling, I felt the same thing, after seeing those recordings. You want to find the biggest rock you can, lift it, and crawl under it.” Several officers managed to chuckle and nod. Lola continued, “However, that is not an option. Fleeing to the Dark Dimension to hide from those civilizations is also not an option.”
Admiral Solomon managed to ask, “Why not?”
“Because those two-civilizations can be beat by superior technology.” The officers looked at her like she was crazy. She smiled and continued, “We already have warships that can defeat the Black Ships.” Solomon rolled his eyes and Lola quickly said, “I know, the ships being used in their universe are three-times the size of the ones they sent here. But the real issue here is that they vastly outnumber us. It really boils down to numbers.” She was staring at Solomon and he thought about her comment and then nodded.
James asked, “But if we move all of our forces to the Dark Dimension, we won’t have to face off with them.”
Lola turned to James, “You’re assuming they will never develop a dimensional drive.” James tilted his head and Lola quickly added, “I know the odds of that happening are remote, at least I hope they are.” James nodded slightly. “However, consider this; there will be only one winner of the war between the Black and Yellow Civilizations. I suspect the losses both of those civilizations will have to endure to win that war, will greatly reduce their numbers, hopefully to a number we can deal with.”
The room was silent, when James asked, “Then, why should we remain in the Realm’s Universe.”
“Because there are a thousand highly industrialized planets there than can add their might to building up our forces.”
James stared at Lola and wondered how she could be so calm after what he just witnessed, “We’re outnumbered more than a thousand-to-one.”
Lola nodded, “Our estimate is more like five-thousand-to-one by both of those civilizations. The DECs outnumber us ten-thousand to one.”
“And you still think staying in the Realm’s Universe is what we should do?”
Lola turned to Jimmy and sat down, as he stood up, “Yes, we do. It would be like fearing the loss of a battle and leaving all your weapons behind as you flee. This threat is in the future and we must do all we can in the time we have before this war begins. Throwing away the planets in the Realm is just not good strategy. We can always flee to the Dark Dimension if it comes down to it. But we should…no…we must use every available tool to prepare for what’s coming.”
JP spoke up from the back of the room, “What about the DECs?”
Jimmy looked at JP and shrugged, “Before we can really prepare to take on those civilizations, we must first find an answer to eliminating the DEC’s.”
James quickly asked, “And if we don’t find an answer?”
Jimmy turned to James and said matter-of-factly, “Then we’ll have no choice but to flee here and allow the DECs to greet the winner of the Black and Yellow War.”
The room was still and silent. James stared at Jimmy and finally asked the critical question, “How long do you intend to keep looking for an answer?”
“Until the DECs have killed all the life in the Realm outside of the thousand protected planets. The Gardners are hoping that you will continue to build the Coronado Field Ships so we can add more defended planets to build up our forces.”
“And what will happen to those planets?”
“We’ll expand the Coronado Field around them and use Sprigly’s dimensional drive to move them one-by-one to the Dark Dimension, Your Majesty.”
“Why not move them now?”
“Then, there would be no hope for trillions of beings left behind. Our Queen believes they are worth doing everything possible to save them. We will be confronting the DECs in an effort to delay their attacks on civilized planets.”
James looked at Kogo, “How is the construction of Field Ships progressing?”
“We’ll have four-hundred completed in five-months. There are fifty completed and ready to immediately jump to the Realm.”
James nodded slightly and turned back to Jimmy and Lola, “Thank you for being here to help us understand what we’re facing. Please tell Queen Danielle that I commend her on her decision to send you here; you’ve done an excellent job of explaining our options. We’ll follow Danielle’s lead in this until something happens to change our minds.”
Kogo stood up, “Do you have the universal coordinates of the Yellow Universe.”
Jimmy’s eyes narrowed, “Why do you ask?”
“I need to go there and really take a good look at their technology.”
James quickly interrupted, “Kogo, that is not a good idea!”
“If you expect me to lead our fleets against them, I must understand what we’re up against. If you refuse to allow me to go, then I feel I must resign my position and you can choose another to lead.”
Dela was beside herself in fear but knew now was not the time to react. James stared at Kogo and finally replied, “I cannot allow you to go, if there is a risk of you being captured.”
Kogo bowed to James, “I will take every step needed to make sure that doesn’t happen, Your Majesty.”
James glanced at Jimmy and Lola before turning back to Kogo, “Bring me a plan and I’ll consider it.”
Jimmy quickly added, “Sir Kogo, I must agree with Emperor Robbins, this is not a good idea.”
“You might feel differently if you had to send millions of our ships up against an enemy you know little or nothing about.”
Jimmy stared at Kogo knowing there was no possibility of changing his mind. He glanced and Lola and saw her eyes close slightly; she saw what was going on. Jimmy looked at Emperor Robbins, “Danielle and Tag would like to see the plan Sir Kogo develops.” James nodded. Jimmy then asked, “Why don’t we allow our officers to break off into small groups and discuss what they learned from the transfer and what we can possibly do to meet these enemies.” James nodded and Jimmy turned back to Kogo, “Sir Kogo, will you and Admiral Solomon assign the groups of naval officers into discussion groups and General Turner, if you and Tegen-Jee will assign the ground Officers to their groups, I would greatly appreciate it.”
The officers stood up and began forming the groups. Jimmy glanced at James and saw him nod to him. Jimmy realized James was going to delay Kogo, as long as possible. It might be that Queen Danielle and Tag were the only ones that might change his mind.
• • •
Lola went to Emperor Robbins during the group meetings and said softly, “I have a personal message from Queen Danielle.” James tilted his head towards her and Lola handed him a small data crystal. James inserted it into his console and listened to the message. At the end, he smiled and turned to Lola, “Please send Cassie Gardner to me in the morning. I’ll make the necessary arrangements to make sure she’s treated like family.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
James looked out over the meeting and finally managed to surreptitiously query his computer about who had the highest Royal standing. He was surprised to see that the Successors to the Realm’s Throne were determined more than three-thousand years earlier to be second only to the King and Queen of the Stars Realm. He wondered if Jimmy and Lola knew about that. He glanced at them and
chuckled to himself; they were well prepared for this meeting and they probably did know. He suspected that they realized he didn’t know they had a higher Royal Title and deferred to him to avoid embarrassing him. He realized at that moment that Tag and Danielle had chosen well.
• • •
The next morning, Cassie teleported down with her bags and was welcomed by Emperor Robbins. Cassie bowed and was terribly homesick for Ross. James smiled and said, “Please rise, Cassie Gardner.” Cassie stood up straight and James gave her a hug, “I have chosen a family you are going to live with here. However, I have something I need you to do before I introduce you to them.”
“What is that, Your Majesty.”
“Leave your bags here, we’ll move them, and come with me.” James took her hand and led her out of the throne room. Soon, they arrived in the huge courtyard just outside of the Castle’s entrance and James led her to the edge of a huge fountain. He stopped and she looked up at him. James asked loudly, “Are you ready?”
Cassie heard in her thoughts, “I am.” Suddenly, a giant creature appeared next to the fountain and Cassie’s mouth fell open. “You must be Queen Danielle’s daughter.” Cassie could only nod with her mouth still open as she gawked at the giant Zord. “I understand that you wanted to meet one of my species.” Cassie’s mouth closed and she nodded vigorously. “Would you do me the honor of taking a flight with me?”
“YES! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?” she shouted with glee.
The giant Zord went down on four-legs and extended one of its front legs to her. James smiled, “Walk up his leg and he’ll lift you to the saddle.”
Cassie ran to the extended leg and kept her balance as she ran up it. The Zord raised its leg and lifted Cassie to a saddle between its wings. Cassie jumped on the saddle and the Zord thought, “Put your legs in the stirrups, wrap the leather harness around your waist, and connect it to the front of the saddle.” Cassie pulled the leather harness around her and clipped it to the front of the saddle. “Are you ready?”
Cassie laughed and yelled, “Am I ever! I’ve dreamed about this from the moment I learned about the Zord as a first-grader.”