by Saxon Andrew
The Collective responded, “Someone has come into our territory and attempted to gather information. It appears that whether we go out or stay, we are at risk. I think we should at least go and see what creatures are out there and determine if they represent a danger. It is also time for us to expand. Our space is almost fully farmed and our population continues to grow.”
Technology spoke, “How many ships would you want to send out?”
The Collective pondered the resources available, “A million in the first group. Do you have the necessary technology to develop the mechanism needed to travel out of our space?”
“We still have those green ships we destroyed long ago, and they have the technology to make that travel possible. We just need to examine one of them and then build it.”
“How long before you could prepare the ships?”
Technology was silent for a moment, “Not very long; less than a quarter-cycle would be my estimate.”
The Collective listened to all of the compartments give their take on the idea, then decided, “Prepare the ships.”
Admiral Zergl asked, “Why do you say they do it better than your species?”
“Because we would harvest all intelligent life and leave and not return for millions of years. Witness what happened to us when we came back to this universe to find the Realm; an adversary that would ultimately stop our harvesting. If we had stayed in this universe and done what these creatures are doing, no race would have the opportunity to evolve into a civilization strong enough to defeat us.”
Valerie leaned forward, “How did you determine that they learned to do this from you?”
Edison tilted his head to the right, indicating irony, “They watched as we killed millions of races in their universe and determined that those races could be a food source for them as well. They also copied the matter that we used on our ships, which made them invincible against any races that remained in their universe. Oh, it’s clear that they are emulating what we did and have perfected the tools we used to a much higher standard. The hulls of their ships are not vulnerable to the organic missiles or repulsion fields that were used against our ships; they are as hard as any of our modern alloys. They also have the thought beam which goes through any electronic screen.”
The King looked around the table, then asked Edison, “It appears that we should stay out of this universe and not give them a reason to leave, especially since none of our weapons will affect their ships.”
Edison turned his head upside down in agreement, “The team that analyzed this data are all agreed that this is not a place to which we should go.”
Valerie said in a voice that all could hear, “Stay out if you choose, but they are coming here and it won’t be long until they arrive.”
David looked at Valerie, “Are you absolutely certain about that?”
Valerie nodded, “The Stars Realm will be destroyed if you decide to sit and do nothing.”
David stared at Valerie, then looked at Jake and Cynthia sitting away from the group. He looked back at Valerie, “You still insist that he must go to that universe?”
“We are doomed if he doesn’t, Father. He is our only chance to survive, and you are wasting time talking about it. He needs to go now.”
David felt his temper rise and started to reprimand his daughter, but then he remembered who had the real power in this room. He looked over at Jake again and said, “What do you think about all this, young man?”
Jake looked quickly at Valerie, saw her stern expression, then looked at the King of the Stars Realm answering, “I have just finished looking at the history of the Realm, the real history, and if what I’ve seen is accurate, I agree; you’re wasting time. You either trust psychic abilities or you step out on your own. The Realm’s history is filled with evidence that we would not be here today except for amazing people with even more amazing psychic gifts. I don’t know if what she says about me is true or not,” he looked at Valerie and said, “but I believe in her and if I were making this decision, I’d do as she says.” Jake sat back down then jumped back up and said, “Your Majesty.” Then he sat back down.
Sprig stood and said, “Your Majesty, he must go soon. However, we have some things we’re working on that will improve his chance of surviving.”
David was angry at the disrespect he was getting, but turned and asked, “Such as?”
“Our spider friends looked back in their database and found a device that will block the thoughts of anyone using it. We have developed a scalp covering that we believe will prevent any telepathy from leaking out. It was originally designed millions of years ago by a telepathic race that the spiders harvested. It was used to punish their criminals by preventing them from having contact with any member of their race. We have fashioned one for the two that would go.”
Valerie stood and said, “How long before the device is ready?”
Sprig looked at Twig and she said, ‘Three days.”
Valerie looked at Admiral Zergl, “While he is waiting, I want him fitted for
Armor.”
Zergl said, “Absolutely not. No one gets armor unless they are trained in its use.”
Valerie looked at her father and David could see that his daughter was getting angry. Before he could speak his son Joe stood, “Admiral, I am the overall commander of all Stars Realm Military. Just how much do you like your position in our armed forces?”
Zergl looked at Joe and everyone could see his nervousness.
Joe said, “Lest there be any mistake, if you receive a Directive from the Royal Family you will follow it or be tried for treason. Do all of you here not know that my Sister is the most powerful psychic in the Realm’s history? If she says we are doomed without this man’s help, then we are doomed. Admiral, you will take Jake with you and fit him with armor. You will train him as best you can in the time that remains. Is that clear?”
Zergl lowered his head and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Newton raised himself and said, “I would like a device fitted to the armor.”
Zergl asked, “What device is that?”
“We looked at our database rather extensively, and we found that one of our brothers developed a cutting device that he used to cut off a piece of our ship’s hull to build a statue. We contacted him and Leonardo reproduced it for us. Remarkably enough, it is also activated by thoughts. It may be effective against their hull material. We won’t know if it will work, but we want it included anyway. We are working to see if we can make this into a weapon but again, we won’t know unless we get an opportunity to trial it.”
David sat in his chair and tried to determine what should be done. He felt unimaginable fear and was paralyzed about what he should do. Elizabeth looked her husband, then at Valerie, and nodded. Valerie stood and looked at her father, “Father, it’s time.”
David started and looked at his daughter. He turned to Elizabeth and Joe and they nodded to him. David sighed and stood, “I hereby abdicate the throne of the Stars Realm and designate my daughter Valerie to be the new Queen of the Stars Realm. May she protect us against all enemies.” He sat back down and felt tired. The entire room was stunned by the announcement. Even the spiders were at a loss.
Valerie looked at the people around the table and said, “I didn’t want to take control this soon, but time is growing short. All of you must believe that.” She turned to Admiral Zergl, “Prepare his armor.” She looked at Cynthia, “You will also have your armor modified with the new items.” She then turned and said to everyone present, “They are coming and they will be here before you know it. Get back in your labs and develop the things we’ll need to defend ourselves. Otherwise we will end up like those colonists.” Everyone looked up at the screen where the picture had frozen as the colonists had fallen on the belt.
Cynthia looked at Jake, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Jake smiled and said, “Stick close to me.”
Cynthia shook her head, “As if I have a choice
.”
Jake looked over at Valerie and she saw him staring at her. He thought to her, “I will never forget you, Val.”
Valerie felt a tear, but she quickly wiped it away. She turned and left the Room.
David sat in his chair and held Beth’s hand. “It’s up to her now, Love.”
Beth smiled, “It has always been up to her, my Love.”
Chapter Five
The Stars Realm was surprised to hear of the King’s abdication, but was curious about the scheduled announcement that was going to be made in three hours. It was a rare thing indeed for the Royal Family to interfere in the normal day-to-day activities of the Realm. Everyone in the Realm wondered what was going on. Finally the designated time arrived, and Valerie appeared on every electronic monitor in the Realm.
“Good evening, citizens of the Stars Realm. My name is Valerie Rose Gardner and I am the new Queen of the Stars Realm. I know most of you are wondering why I have been selected for this title, and I must say that I wish I did not have to accept it.” Valerie looked into the screen and continued, “The Stars Realm is going to soon be attacked by a civilization that lives in another universe.”
The trillions watching their screens caught their breath. The Realm had been at peace for thousands of years. What was she talking about?
“As most of you know, the Royal Family has a high level of psychic abilities, and one of those is to know when danger is coming. That feeling has grown to the point where we now know that the attack is going to happen soon. We have also discovered the creatures that will be coming, and they have starships that are immune to any weapon in our military’s arsenal. They also possess a beam that goes through our most powerful screens and destroys our ships. We are working hard to develop a defense against these creatures, but we are not there yet.”
Valerie stood and walked in front of the desk she was sitting, “There is something that all of you can do to help you survive if your planet is attacked. I want every citizen on every planet to have their teleport doors programmed with a location off-planet; preferably out of your galaxy. If you are going to be attacked by these creatures, go to the nearest terminal and teleport away. We are going to provide a list of open planets that you may want to consider for your escape. Check your terminals and there will be a list of places for each planet to use to avoid overcrowding. We are doing our best to delay these creatures, but we want to be prepared in the event that the worst happens. Please listen to the Stars Realm’s Representative from your local government and follow their instructions. The Stars Realm Military and the Royal Family are doing everything possible to protect you, and I thank you in advance for your support. Thank you for your attention.”
Valerie stepped away from the desk and heard the news announcers cut in and tell the Stars Realm about their new Queen. The Realm learned that Valerie’s psychic abilities were the greatest in the Realm’s history, and that the Royal Family was unanimous in selecting her to rule during this time of emergency. She turned the monitor off and sat down. She wondered what Jake was doing.
Jake was standing in the middle of a room with nothing on while he was being scanned by a huge machine. It was cold, and he was shivering. “Please be still during the scan.” He could hear Valerie in the next room making the announcement about the coming invasion and he was impressed with how well she handled herself. Then he heard, “Please raise your arms out to your sides.” He raised his arms and then heard, “Palms up, please.” He turned his palms toward the ceiling. “Now down.” He turned them toward the floor. This exercise had been going on for an hour and he had forgotten how many positions he was made to get into. Then he heard, “Ok, that’s it. You can get dressed.
Jake stretched and then began putting his clothes back on. A Stars Realm Colonel came in and said, “You did very well; we should have your armor momentarily.”
Jake started, “Tell me, Colonel, why was the Admiral so against me being given armor?”
The Colonel stared at Jake and finally said, “You are being given one of the most powerful weapons the Realm has in its inventory. We do not give armor to anyone that has not passed our screens.”
“You could always take it back.”
The Colonel shook his head slowly, “The only way to take it back is to kill the one wearing it.”
“What?!?”
“The armor becomes part of your DNA and will always be a part of you. It is not something that can be removed.”
“I thought you had to put it on or something.”
“Mr. Talant, I want you to raise your right arm and salute me.”
Jake looked puzzled but he saluted the Colonel.
Now I want you to raise your left arm and grip the little and ring fingers of your right hand, but do not stop saluting.”
Jake did as he was told, and as soon as he gripped the two fingers he felt a small shock over his entire body. Then he noticed that he was looking through a face plate with all kinds of readouts along the outer edges. When he looked at one of them, it grew larger.
“Mr. Talant, come take a look at yourself.”
Jake saw a mirror on the wall behind him, and he turned and saw himself. “Oh my great aunt! What happened?”
Jake saw a red colored, shiny surfaced, coating covering his entire body. His head had a helmet that was no wider than his ears, but had a protruding front face plate that was opaque. There were no seams anywhere but when he bent his arm, the coating moved with the motion. The coating appeared to be constantly in motion with shifting different red hues.
“My name is Manuel Busigleore. I am going to try and train you on your armor in the little time we have remaining before you leave. I wish we could go out and use it on live targets, but just teaching you all it can do will take up every minute.”
“How do I get out of it, Colonel?”
“You see down in the lower right corner of your faceplate a shape of a human body?”
Jake looked and as he directed his attention to the lower right corner the various symbols grew larger. “Yes, I see it.”
“Look at it and say “Off”.
Jake said, “Off” and the armor disappeared. “Wow! Colonel, that is amazing.”
“Call me Manny, but for right now I want you to go lay down on that couch in the far corner and put on the headband.”
“Is this going to be another download?”
Manny smiled, “Oh; you’ve seen how downloading works? Where did you get a download?”
Jake smiled, “In the castle’s library.”
“Well, this is going to be a little more intense than that.”
Jake said, “Uh oh! I don’t know if I like that grin you’re wearing.”
“I’ve always said be careful what you ask for; it may not be what you want.”
“What exactly is going to happen, Manny?”
“You are going to get the full download over the next twenty hours we normally do over a six week period. You will probably be somewhat sore when you wake.”
Jake stared at Manny, “Why?”
“Because your armor is going to be making connections to every nerve in your body and then testing each connection, Mr. Talant. Fortunately, you’ll be asleep. We will also be fitting the device to mask your telepathy at the same time.”
Jake had a sick look on his face, “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”
Manny smiled again, “Be careful what you ask for, Jake. Now come lay down.”
Jake sat down on the couch and saw ten technicians come in and surround him. Jake looked at Manny as he lay down and saw him shaking his head. Jake remembered what Cynthia said, “Oh, this is not going to be good.” A technician put the band around his head and he lost consciousness.
Valerie looked across the table in her personal quarters at Cynthia Dodd. Cynthia had been called in for an audience with the Queen and she was uncertain about what to expect. Valerie said, “Are you always this nervous?”
“Up until the events at the casino I was qu
ite the happy-go-lucky individual.”
Valerie nodded, “Things change quickly, don’t they?”
Cynthia nodded.
“Well I have you here for a reason. You are going to take Jake and go to that planet where the Searcher was killed. Those creatures that killed her are preparing to come and find us.”
Cynthia was even more nervous after hearing that bit of information, “Is there anything we can do against them?”
Valerie shook her head, “No, it is going to be up to Jake to save us.” Cynthia looked skeptical. Valerie continued, “He must find his initiator, and I believe she is in the Human population on that planet. Jake must go down to the surface and see if he can find her. I wish there was a safer way to make this happen, but there isn’t. You’re going to make sure he doesn’t get hurt.”