Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven})

by Saxon Andrew

  “If all of our energy was released it would, according to my computer, destroy this entire solar system. That’s why the Realm put limits on that circuit. In order for us to release all of our energy, we must fly into the corona of the sun and turn off our screens. The heat from the sun would melt the outer layer of our ship’s skins and release all of its energy, including the black holes and negative energy. The computer still doesn’t know what the effect would be, because nothing like this has ever been done with our type of ships. However, the Algeans told me that the Gamma ships are the most powerful ships ever constructed by the Realm. I, like you, Nerg, long to be with my family. This may not work, but it is the only way I see to strike at these creatures.” Mord paused and said, “If you are willing to do this, send me a signal on my console. You have five segs to think it over.”

  “What if we choose not to do this?”

  “Then we return to the Stars Realm and try to find peace and happiness until these creatures arrive to kill the new loved ones.”

  “We could always jump to a different universe and live out our lives.”

  “That’s true, Zuck, but your ancestors would eventually be consumed by them. I know how much you loved Reeg, Zuck. Do you think you can ever be happy without her?”

  The lights started illuminating on Mord’s console, and after thirty seconds all eighty eight lights were glowing red. “It’s unanimous. We will take a day to prepare ourselves to go on our mission. Take this time to remember all of those you loved and those memories that bring you happiness. I am more proud of you at this moment than you will ever know, and I am humbled by your bravery. I will prepare a probe for the Realm to record what we do and explain why we are doing it. It includes all of your names and should the Realm survive, future generations will know of your bravery.”

  The next day Mord and the other survivors teleported in to the outer system of the targeted Keepers’ production planet. Mord keyed his communications panel and sent an open transmission into the system, “I suspect that there is a Stars Realm ship in this system, and if you are inside the orbit of the fifth planet you should move to the outer reaches of the system immediately.”

  Besens heard the communication and saw the eighty nine Gamma ships on his scanners. She was not going to return the communication and give away her location on the third moon. She decided that the Keepers had been warned of her presence and it might be in the best interests of her ship’s safety that she do exactly what the Cainth suggested. “Get us out of here, Cren.”

  “Already moving, Bes.”

  Mord saw the teleport energy of the Searcher and saw Keepers’ star drives lighting at the planet. “This is for Brayent!” he yelled into his com, and the eighty nine ships teleported into the outer corona of the systems star and turned off their screens.

  The six thousand advanced Keepers’ ships assigned to protect the planet jumped to the position of the small white ships and found them gone. They immediately read the jump tracks and followed them before any of the navigators had a chance to see where they led, which turned out to be the worst, and last, decision they made that day. They arrived ten seconds behind the Gammas and were able to see the massive explosion from a great vantage point. Ordinarily, their hulls would not have been affected by the blast, but this was not an ordinary explosion. The sun went supernova and the first blast of nuclear fire engulfed the six thousand ships and melted them.

  As soon as Mord communicated on an open frequency, the Collective and all of the Quadrants moved their attention to the production planet. They watched as the small ships disappeared and the six thousand ships give chase. The system’s sun was 120,000,000 miles from the planet, but the Keepers’ scanners actually operated instantly at universal distances so the operators of the scanners on the planet saw the sun go supernova. They watched in fear as the blast moved toward the planet. They had about ten and a half minutes before the explosion reached the planet at the speed of light. The Collective and all the Quadrants saw the star’s explosion moving outward and knew that billions of their species were about to die. They also knew that their abilities were about to be diminished. There’s something about seeing death coming and not being able to do anything to stop it that causes a fear which touches the depths of one’s being and is never forgotten. The Collective could not do anything but watch death move toward the planet.

  More than sixty thousand Keepers’ ships had jumped into the system and were located inside the protection of the forts. All of them had received the first modification to have their drives protected. The new gates had been installed on the rear drives of the ships, but the systems to open them hadn’t. Those ships were unable to get underway and save themselves. Some of them turned on their drives in the hope of burning the new bafflers off and blew burning fuel into the interior of the ship. There was no escape; Death was coming and grinned at the meal. The billions of Keepers on the planet had no clue that there were only moments of life remaining for them. Ten point seven minutes after the explosion in the star’s corona, the atmosphere of the planet on the side facing the star was blown away, along with every ocean and three hundred feet of land surface. As the full blast arrived, the rest of the planet was melted into minute particles and became part of the shock wave moving into the outer solar system.

  The Collective knew it was coming and could do nothing to stop the pain from the loss of billions of Keepers that were part of its consciousness. The Collective was fragmented again, and perhaps that was a blessing; the pain stopped.

  The Values Quadrant was separated from the Collective and was not affected by the huge loss of life, but it too, watched the destruction of the planet and wept for the lost billions.

  Besens watched the burning of the planet and recorded the event. She was humbled by the bravery of the Cainth pilots that had sacrificed themselves to give the Realm more time. With a heavy heart, she teleported back to the Realm to deliver her reports. She hoped she would be as courageous if fate called upon her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

  By the end of the month, every Searcher had viewed the sacrifice of the Brayent Survivors and vowed to do the same if duty called on them. A week after the death of the Cainth pilots, the Cainth home world placed the eighty nine names on a stone tree monument at the entryway to the government center. It was put there to remind everyone what bravery really meant. It recorded the actions of the brave hundred and eighty nine, and Valerie Gardner christened the monument with an engraving of the Crimson Crown at the top to honor them. In Life Park on Ross, grave markers with their names and the Crimson Crown were placed with the other heroes of the Stars Realm.

  Junior watched the ceremony from orbit and felt remorse for his initial reservations of sending those survivors to fight the Keepers. He now understood that survival often demanded a payment that most were unwilling to give. He had not allowed the Algeans to put the advanced weaponry of the Realm on board, but now he knew that half measures were a path to destruction. He left Ross and jumped to the shipbuilding facilities in the Algean Galaxy.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The Values Quadrant took the time to look around the Keepers’ universe while the Collective was fragmented. It saw the suffering on the millions of planets that had been enslaved by his species. He could see that the Keepers did not feel anything for those enslaved, and it knew that it was due to the absence of any of the finer emotions that would cause remorse. Their original goodness had been removed when it had agreed to separate until the Green Invaders were defeated. It then learned that the Collective, drunk on the power of victory, had decided to keep it in exile. It didn’t possess enough power to overcome the combined might of the Collective, and spent its time helplessly watching his species become Alpha Predators in their universe. It knew that to continue on the current path would lead to destruction. He could not get the Collective and its Quadrants to believe it.

  Now it was at a crossroads; it had made a determination that troubled it deeply. It had selected o
ne of the Keepers on a planet far from the home worlds and attempted to enter its consciousness. It discovered that the place in the Keepers intellect that housed the finer emotions of love, compassion, religion, and devotion was no longer present. There was no place for it to return. It refused to believe it, attempted to enter a hundred other Keepers, and failed every time.

  It withdrew to its normal place of isolation just as the Collective began to reorganize. It remained silent and pondered what it had just learned. Over the millions of years that his species had fought the Green Invaders and conquered the other planets, its absence had been genetically removed from his species intellect through being vestigial. That part was never used, so it was eventually eliminated and replaced with something else. It now realized that its species had no redeeming qualities and it could not help but be repulsed by what it saw. It had held onto the hope that once it returned to its rightful place, his race would right all the wrongs imposed on millions of innocent races. Now it knew that it was not to be.

  Then another realization struck; how was it able to exist if none of his species contributed to constitute its consciousness? At some point in its long existence it must have become self-sufficient and contained the necessary mental power to exist. If that were true, the Collective could no longer destroy it through reorganization. It had been millions of years since its last punishment for questioning the Collective’s orders. What to do with this knowledge? First, it had to know if it could hide from the Collective and the other Quadrants. It decided to withdraw and stay inside its intellect. It began thinking of an excuse if it needed to reappear, but that would only be needed if it could not hide. Perhaps it would be given an excuse by the Collective. It would soon see.

  Jake sat with Valerie in the library and held her hand as they sat across the table from each other. They had just returned from the ceremony on Cainth honoring those that had died in the Keepers’ universe. Valerie sighed and said, “We need to plan a wedding.”

  Jake looked into her eyes, “That will have to wait until we can protect our citizens.”

  Valerie protested, “We will not wait!”

  But Jake asked quickly, “Are any of those that were in this room, which you sent to develop a plan to protect the Realm, going to be a part of that wedding?”

  Valerie instantly grew silent.

  “I thought so. Are you going to take them away from their tasks to take part in our wedding?”

  Valerie shook her head slowly and said, “Oh, Jake, I know that would be the wrong thing to do, but I so want to be your wife.”

  Jake smiled and said, “You will be, love, but remember: duty first.”

  Valerie looked like she was going to cry, and Jake could feel her sorrow. “Are you up to taking a short trip?”

  “Where?”

  “I need to check on the family I moved from the Keepers’ farm.”

  Valerie smiled through her tears and said, “You mean your family.”

  “No, our family. They have come to know what you did to save them and they love you for it.”

  “Why are we going?”

  “I have a task I need to complete.”

  Valerie smiled slyly and said, “Still wanting to touch all those beautiful women?”

  Jake got up and walked around the table and kneeled in front of Valerie, “You are the only one I desire to touch, Valerie. There will never be anyone else.”

  Valerie leaned forward, hugged Jake tightly, and said, “Let’s go visit our family.”

  Jake commed Junior, “Are you up to taking a trip?”

  “Not at this moment. Where are you going?”

  “I’m going to visit a few friends we rescued.”

  “I really want to go with you. Can you wait two days?”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “I’ve decided to arm myself. The Algeans will complete the process in two days and I really want to go see them.”

  Jake knew Junior’s reservations about being a warship, and realized that he had moved in a different direction by changing his mind, “We’ll wait for you, Junior. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Could you pick up Cynthia on your way here?”

  Junior laughed, “Oh, I can hear her now, but you and I know she would be hurt if we excluded her.”

  Valerie and Jake both laughed, and Valerie said, “Tell her the Queen orders her presence.”

  Junior laughed again and said, ‘If nothing else, that will really raise the volume.”

  Two days later Junior arrived at Ross with Cynthia on board. Jake and Valerie teleported to Junior’s bridge. Cynthia jumped up and said, “Junior has been closemouthed about what you’re dragging me into this time. Please tell me it’s no more fighting.”

  Valerie smiled and said, “It’s not.”

  Cynthia actually showed her disappointment, “Oh; are you sure?”

  “Yes, Cynthia.”

  Cynthia gave a heavy sigh and sat down in one of the command chairs, “Ok, I was kinda hoping you were.”

  Jake laughed and hugged Cynthia, “No Cyn, We’re going to visit the colonists you fought to rescue.”

  Cynthia smiled brightly, “I am so glad you included me. I’ve wondered how they were doing.”

  Valerie hugged Cynthia and said, “Junior, do you have their coordinates?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty; we’ll arrive momentarily.”

  Junior arrived over a lush, green planet and began dropping into the atmosphere. “I’ve timed our arrival during their evening meal.”

  Jake smiled and wondered if they still recited their history about the Seniors.

  Jackson Grant was reciting the history of the Seniors when a familiar shape came dropping out of the sky, hovering over the central gathering area. Jackson smiled and said in a loud voice, “Call their name and they appear.”

  The huge multitude began cheering Junior’s arrival and continued until Jake, Valerie, and Cynthia teleported into the center of the clearing. Jake looked around and saw Jackson walking his way, but before Jackson arrived Jake was bowled over by an excited Kathea who ran up and jumped on him to give him a huge hug. Valerie laughed so hard she thought she was going to stop breathing. Kathea got up and punched Jake in the ribs, “What took you so long to visit?”

  Jackson arrived at that moment and helped Jake to his feet, “Easy, Kathea; he’s not in shape since he quit farming.”

  Jake smiled and hugged both of them.

  Jackson turned and walked over to Valerie and kneeled in front of her. Immediately, every human in the community knelt and lowered their heads. Jackson said in a voice that all could hear, “My Queen, we thank you for saving us and we pledge ourselves to your Realm and to you. We owe you more than we can ever repay.”

  Valerie’s heart swelled as she touched Jackson on the shoulder and said to the gathering, “Please rise. I only did what a Queen should do to protect her subjects.”

  Jackson remained kneeling and said, “No, Your Majesty. You endangered yourself to insure our survival. We will never forget what you did, and we will always include your name in our evening recitals.”

  Valerie felt the tears and didn’t care who saw them. This is what she knew was demanded from the Realm. She now knew that putting off the wedding was the only choice. These humble people allowed her to remember what it really meant to be responsible. Jake said, “Please rise, we have come here for a reason.”

  Everyone stood and Jake said, “Kathea, will you please come forward?”

  Kathea looked at Jake and furrowed her brow. Jackson nodded and Kathea walked over and stood in front of Jake. Jake turned to the crowd and said, “Kathea is the one that started the story of the good-luck man. It was that path that ultimately led to the release of my psychic abilities and your freedom. What convinced her of my good luck was finding a ring that her ancestors had passed down from generation to generation. She had lost it in the fields and found it the day I touched her. That ring was left behind when we teleported her away from the Keepers’
planet.” Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a string with a small gold ring on it. “I searched and found that ring after she left, and I am returning it to her today.”

  Kathea’s eyes grew wide and Jake continued, “Kathea, you told me that you wanted to leave the ring behind because it would remind you of all the ugliness that happened while you were held prisoner by the Keepers. I would suggest another view. This ring left the Stars Realm with your original ancestors along with all of their hopes, dreams, and prayers for a happier life. That ring stayed with you until it could bring you back home to our Realm. Now it has come back home and it brought all of you with it. If it had not come back to you, Kathea, after you lost it, the good-luck man would have never happened and things might have ended differently. But it did come back to you, and here you are.” Jake took the string and placed the ring around Kathea’s neck. Valerie heard Jake whisper to Kathea, “Always treasure this ring, Kathea. It brought you back home and gave me the sister I never had.”