by Saxon Andrew
Kellie put her face on Danielle’s chest and soaked her gown with her tears. Danielle rocked her slowly and put her head on top of Kellie’s. The trillions viewing the event had their fears removed. The Queen was back and things would never be the same. For the Military, Danielle showed them what they meant to her. Many vowed that they would one day stand on that stage with the Queen.
• • •
Finally, Jimmy and Lola stood and walked out of the Throne Room to the cheers of the gathered thousands. Cassie and Rose followed them and the cheers on Ross and Earth were thunderous. Finally, Tag offered his arm to Danielle, and they walked out of the Throne Room to deafening cheers into a better and brighter future.
• • •
Tag looked at Danielle, as they walked up the aisle, and asked, “Are you still glad to remain here on Ross?”
Danielle looked around and smiled, “It would be a terrible waste of a Castle, not to do it.” Tag burst out laughing and everyone wondered what Danielle said to him.
• • •
Danielle and Tag waited outside the Throne Room in a greeting line, as James rushed up and stopped in front of Danielle, “Your Majesty! Kogo and Dela have taken a psychic ship and left to scout the Yellow Civilization.”
Daniele was caught off guard, “WHAT! “I’ll discuss this with you later.” James bowed and Danielle forced herself to smile at the next one in the greeting line. Three-hours later, James saw Danielle with her gown pulled up to her knees running toward him in the throne room. “What’s happening, James!?!”
“I’ve been putting him off for months and he left without orders.”
“Can we stop him?”
“He’s in their universe by now, Your Majesty.”
“Call me Danielle in personal meetings. When did they leave?”
“The moment the event started.”
“Damn, I wondered where they were. Their seats were vacant; I should have seen this coming.”
“Would you have stopped the event to stop them?”
Danielle nodded, “To protect them, I would have.”
“I suspect Kogo knew that and timed his launch with your walk to the stage.”
James, get in touch with Sprigly and find out what he knows. I’m going to change and join you here.”
James bowed and Danielle rushed away. James looked at Tag, “Aren’t you going to change clothes?”
Suddenly, Tag’s Red Armor appeared, “I always have a change of clothes.”
“Doesn’t Danielle have armor?”
“Yes, but she needs some time to pull herself together.”
James nodded and worried about what was happening.
Danielle teleported to Tag’s location and saw him in his armor. She slapped her forehead with her palm, “I should have thought of that!”
She turned to James and heard Alex over her wrist communicator, “DANIELLE!!”
“Yes!”
“A single giant Black Warship has jumped into our universe and is holding its position.”
Danielle rolled her eyes, as she stamped a foot, “Why does everything happened at once?! Tag, I’ll meet you on the bridge.” Tag nodded and teleported out. She turned to James, “You should get back to the control room at Bristone and I’ll use Seedel’s Twin to stay in contact.”
James turned toward the doors as Danielle disappeared.
Chapter Eighteen
As soon as Danielle arrived on the bridge, Alex ask, “How do you want to handle this?”
“They must be here to talk, Alex. Teleport out to their location and keep the masking field up.”
“Activating weapons!” Danielle started to stop Alex but decided it might be better to be safe.
They arrived fifty-miles out from the Giant Black Warship and Grace began announcing the results of her scan, “Their hull teleport field is down and none of their blasters are charged. They have every weapon and force field shut down.”
Danielle looked over at Tag and he raised a shoulder, “They want to talk. Let’s hear what they have to say.”
Danielle activated her telepathy module as she focused her thoughts, “Is there a reason you’ve sent a ship here?”
“Yes. I’ve been asked to come and speak with you.”
Danielle recognized the being’s thoughts, “You’re the one who commanded the fleet that came here.”
“That is why I was chosen.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“You were right about my civilization barely holding on against the Yellow Warships attacking us. They’ve destroyed all our worlds in every other galaxy except the last one we occupy now. We are critically low on building materials to construct enough warships to hold out against them. I’ve come to you to ask for help.”
“What do you think we can do?”
“I don’t know. We’ve decided that your threat is real and we will not risk the consequences of any further incursions into your universe. But we’re at a critical juncture and we must find raw materials to construct our ships. Is there anything you can do to help us?”
Danielle looked back at Tag and watched him exhale slowly as he shook his head. She started to tell the Black Ship Commander that there was nothing to be done just as Seedel’s Twin entered her mind, “Your Majesty.”
Danielle flinched, “Yes, Seedel.”
“There are more than three-thousand advanced civilizations in the Algean’s galaxy where all life has been removed. My brothers and sisters weep for the killing we caused and perhaps some good could come out of our actions by using those planets to help them survive.”
Danielle quickly thought, “Elders, are you hearing this?”
“We are.”
“Will you allow the Black Ships to harvest the deserted cities in your galaxy?”
“I can’t blame my Twin for what happened. I sense that allowing the Black Ships to survive will help with their sorrow. I will approve them taking what they need.”
The Commander was getting nervous and almost ordered the ship to jump out when Danielle thought, “How long will it take you to get enough ships and transports to remove raw materials from four-million-planets?”
“HOW MANY?!”
“The creatures that staked out your ships when they were here have eradicated all life on four-million advanced planets. They and the civilization that rules the galaxy where they are located have agreed to allow you to take what you need.”
Danielle thought so the Commander could hear, “Seedel, do you have the location of those planets?”
“Every DEC knows where every one of them are located. Those of us that have been united see them in our nightmares.”
“Can you translate those locations into coordinates.”
“It will take about an hour to complete the task in the Control Room.”
“Please ask her to start working on it and tell her to send them to you when it’s done. You will then send those coordinates to the Black Ship at my location.”
Seedel replied, “Danielle, my twin doesn’t have to ask me. I hear everything she does. I’ll start working on it now.”
Danielle turned her attention to the Commander, “Remain here until you receive the coordinates. Understand that only the planets in that galaxy will be harvested by your ships.”
“You need not worry about that; we are sorry for the harm we’ve caused and your gift is so much more than we ever expected.”
“Understanding why you did it doesn’t make it right. But it does allow us to help you survive. Go in peace.”
“I want to answer your previous question,” the Commander replied. “If those planets have large cities on them, it will take at least four-years to harvest them.”
“Then you need to get to work! Contact me if you need to communicate further.”
“How would I do that?”
Danielle said, “Seedel?”
The Twin answered, “Simply focus your thoughts and say, Danielle, I need you.”
“Thank you
. You have probably saved my civilization with this gift.”
“Take us to Ross, Grace!” The Kosiev disappeared and arrived above Ross. Danielle and Tag immediately teleported to their personal living quarters to change out of their armor and into comfortable attire. Danielle looked up, “Seedel, I hate to keep interrupting what you’re doing but has there been any word from Kogo?”
“I really don’t expect to hear from them any time soon. If they’re just starting their scouting mission, it could take a while before they send any messages.”
Danielle knew Seedel was right but not knowing what was happening to them was killing her. “Let me know the instant you hear anything. By the way, what ship did they take?”
“That was the clever part of their plan, Danielle. They went to Ross and everyone assumed they were there for the ceremony but just late arriving. The Grang teleported them on board from a bathroom in the castle where they were hiding.”
“THE GRANG!!”
“It appears the Grang has a tight relationship with Kogo and Dela.”
Danielle lowered her head and mumbled, “Well, at least they took one of our best ships.”
“Emperor Robbins said the same thing, Danielle.”
“What psychics went with them.” There was silence and Danielle said, “Seedel?”
“They didn’t take a psychic couple with them. They won’t be able to use the Grang’s psychic weapons.”
Danielle’s head fell and she knew Kogo and Dela had taken a huge risk.
• • •
Kogo and Dela left before a deal was struck with the Black Civilization. The Grang was holding position in a dreary, dark, Dimension. Dela looked up from her console and calmly asked, “So, how do we handle this?”
“We’re going to focus on the Yellow Universe. I think Danielle and Tag will allow the Yellow Warships to destroy the last galaxy of the Black Civilization. We need to gather information on what the Realm will have to face if the Yellow Warships finds our universe?”
“Do you think they will, Kogo?”
“Hopefully not for a very long time. But it may take a very long time to develop weapons needed to defeat them. The quicker we can see how far they’re advanced, the longer we’ll have to get ready.”
Dela nodded before asking, “How do we begin?”
“I don’t understand why the Yellow Civilization hasn’t just over powered the planets in the Black Galaxy. The records Atlas collected show they have just as many warships. I want to find out what they’re doing with all those ships?”
“How do we do that?”
“I’m not going to jump into their universe now.” Kogo looked up, “Grang, I want to jump into the closest universes to the Yellow Civilization and take a good look around from all sides.”
“That could take a while.”
“We aren’t going to rush this. We’ll launch slivers back to the control room as we gather information. They’re doing something with all those warships and it isn’t in the Black Galaxy.”
“Using our dimensional drive to jump into closest universe,” Grang announced.
• • •
Over the next four-weeks, the Grang went to eight-universes bordering the Yellow Universe, all of them were identical. Kogo studied the recordings and heard Dela, “Why did they kill everything?”
Kogo closed his eyes and opened them before answering, “Nothing will evolve to one day challenge them. They are worse than any civilization in our databanks.”
“The Algeans harvested everything on the planets they invaded long ago.”
“Yes, but that was just in their galaxy. They are mites compared to what this civilization does.” Kogo hesitated a few minutes, then looked away from the monitor, “Grang.”
“Yes, Kogo.”
“I want you to start moving directly away from the Yellow Civilization until you find a universe with life in it. Don’t waste time in dead universes, keep jumping until you detect life. Before you start this process, launch a sliver to the probe and send everything we’ve recorded so far to the control room; include our remarks.”
“I think it would be a good idea to move the probe with us. Leaving it here might lead to it being discovered,” Grang suggested.
Kogo thought about it and nodded, “Just make sure it’s in deep open space and nowhere near a galaxy. You should also jump into open space in the universes we scout.”
“I’ll send the programming to the probe now. We’ll be ready to start jumping in an hour.”
Kogo nodded slightly and turned back to the monitor, what he was seeing was horrific.
• • •
“Danielle, we’ve received a sliver from Kogo.”
“WHAT’S HAPPENING, SEEDEL?”
“He’s jumping into the universes closest to the Yellow Civilization. He says that the Yellow Civilization has more warships than the Black Galaxy and he wants to find out how they’re being used.”
“What did he find out?”
“Danielle, he scouted eight universes and all of them are devoid of life, all life, not just intelligent life.” Danielle sighed. Seedel continued, “He’s of the opinion that the Yellows are making it impossible for an intelligent species to evolve to challenge them.”
Tag listened to them and interjected, “He’s probably right.”
Danielle asked, “Is there any way to send a sliver to the probe he’s using?”
“I immediately sent one out the moment his arrived but it returned. It appears the probe Kogo is using is being moved and the coordinates from his sliver are no longer any good. Contacting him is not possible.”
Danielle’s expression showed her stress and Tag quickly tried to ease her mind, “He’s right to move it!” Danielle turned to him. “It would be a huge risk to leave it in the Yellow Universe; we have no knowledge of their scanners. If they captured that probe, they’d see its dimensional drive. That blue and green field could cause it not to be able to use its drives.”
“But it’s programmed to self-destruct, Tag.”
“I know that, Danielle, but then Kogo would have no way to send us back the information he’s collecting.”
Danielle took a deep breath, “You’re right, Tag. Is there any way we could send a ship to find him?”
“Now without knowing his exact location. The ships we sent to find him would be in tremendous danger to make the effort.” Danielle stared at him and Tag raised his hands, “We don’t know their detection capabilities. He’s the best we have at scouting. We’re going to have to trust him to stay safe.”
Seedel thought, “I’m glad Dela is with him. That will make him cautious and not take big risks.”
Tag started shaking his head and almost didn’t respond…but he felt Danielle and Seedel needed to understand the big picture, “I would ordinarily agree with you, Seedel. What you’re saying would be true if Danielle and I were doing the scouting.”
Danielle lowered her eyes, “But…”
“Kogo and Dela are Cainth Warriors. Both come from a warrior culture and the mission is more important than their lives. The greatest glory a Cainth Warrior can have is to die as a warrior. Neither of them would worry about the consequences of their decisions.”
Danielle closed her eyes and thought, “Tag is right, Seedel. Keep trying to get a sliver out to them.”
“Do you think they’ll turn around and come back if I can get one through to them?” Seedel asked.
Danielle was silent and Tag finally answered, “Probably not. Remember that Kogo and I did what had to be done when we led the DECs to the Algean Galaxy. If we were ordered to return, we wouldn’t have done it until we accomplished our mission.”
Danielle knew Tag was right, “That’s what warriors do, Seedel,” she said in a soft thought.
• • •
The ten-thousand plus DECs that had united with an Algean listened to the conversation and began to understand what the Realm’s Universe was facing. The creature parts of the new entities began
asking questions of their twins and began to understand a very important concept…sometimes killing was necessary to protect the ones they love.
• • •
“KOGO, I’VE DETECTED LIFE IN THIS UNIVERSE AND THERE ARE MORE YELLOW WARSHIPS HERE THAN I CAN COUNT.”
Kogo turned to Dela, “Well, we’ve found our answer.”
Dela sighed, “They’re attacking every universe they find with life in it.” Kogo nodded. “That explains why they haven’t overwhelmed the Black Civilization.”
“You’re right, Dela. They’re sending their fleets out in an ever-expanding circle around their universe; it would take the vast numbers of warships they possess to keep that circle expanding.”
Dela stared at the monitor, then turned to Kogo, “So, the Black Civilization is just one of thousands they’re attacking?”
“It does appear that is the situation.” Kogo replied.
“It also appears that one civilization in this universe is giving the Yellow Warships all they can handle,” Grang reported.
“Show me what you see.” Kogo requested.
Grang used the long-distant scanner that Sprigly developed and the wall monitor suddenly showed a huge space battle. The Yellow Warships were being attacked by orange colored warships a tenth of their size. But the blasters and missiles being used by the smaller ships were taking out thousands of the giant Yellow Warships.”
“Grang, find one of those small warships that’s been damaged and left behind.”
“Searching.” An hour later, the Grang announced, “A galaxy in this universe has been destroyed by the Yellow Ships and they’ve moved on to others to continue their attack. There are thousands of those orange ships scattered around that galaxy.”
“Find the coordinates of some that aren’t demolished. Jump into a dimension and then jump directly to those ships, using your dimensional drive,” Dela ordered.
Thirty-minutes later, the Grang jumped out and then immediately jumped back into the universe. A small orange vessel was a hundred-yards from the Grang’s hull. “Is that vessel showing any power?”