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

by Saxon Andrew

  “Why would I turn my forces over to you? You haven’t been given the title of your own province.”

  “Do you doubt that I will be the next Duke? You also need to ask why it is that two of the strongest planets in the Realm were allowed to be destroyed. You don’t seriously believe the story the crown is using to explain it, are you?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Perhaps those devices designed to protect us were, shall we say, conveniently broken. Do you think that inexperienced child is worthy of the title? We all know that the Realm’s leader should be a strong, wise leader. One of our Dukes should have been given the title. Do you not also find it strange that one of the Realm’s ships attacked that universe and they responded to our unwarranted aggression? This is a clear attempt by the Realm trying to grab more subjects and power, but it backfired on them. Now, those of us in the Realm that can hold them accountable for their actions have been destroyed. We are paying the price of their unbridled ambition. Have you not heard your Duke say the Realm was not to be trusted?”

  Admiral Teplig thought about what was being said, “What’s in it for my province to support you?”

  “You need a new Duke. I’ll support you for that position once this affair is handled.”

  The Admiral didn’t even need to think about that offer, “Count us in. Just make sure you keep your commitment.”

  “Oh, you know I will. I need you to meet me to discuss how we will respond when the moment arrives.”

  “Tell me where and when.”

  Jongo had one more trip to make, then he would be ready. It would be a real shame if the probe protecting Nove Vista happened to be destroyed. Thank goodness for the stealth mode of his ship. He smiled as he entered Nove Vista’s current coordinates into his teleport unit; one more capital to meet a terrible fate.

  Valerie was on board the Kosiev to see if the trial would work on the cutting beam when her com buzzed. She pressed it and saw Manny. “What’s wrong?”

  “We’ve lost Nove Vista.”

  “How? They were ordered to move the planet.”

  “It appears that the probe was somehow destroyed and before another could be teleported in, a Keepers Fleet arrived and destroyed the planet.”

  “Manny, what happened to that probe?”

  “The ships that were monitoring for Keepers said that a red beam struck it.”

  Valerie was stunned. Only Searchers had red beams. “What’s being said, Manny?”

  “Ales Jongo is spreading a story that the Realm is destroying the provincial capitals and making it appear as if the Keepers are to blame. He says they are doing our dirty work for us.”

  Valerie felt her rage build, and vowed to make Jongo pay for the billions that died on Nove Vista. “Where is Jongo now?”

  “He’s meeting with the military leaders of the province and volunteering to assist them in their time of need.”

  “Do you know if he did the same with Del Robles’ leaders?”

  “They are being evasive. Admiral Teplig is not answering my calls ,and his second in command says he’s too busy protecting the province to waste time communicating with the Realm.”

  “You better start planning a defense, Manny.”

  “I’ve been working on it since the attempt on Ross, Valerie. However, if Jongo gets those two provinces to join him, he’ll have more than three times our ships to use against us.”

  “Does Jake know?”

  “Yes, and he says we need to keep the roof up and worry about the back door later.”

  “Keep me informed.”

  “What was that about?”

  Valerie looked at Tag and said, “We are facing a civil war if we can survive the Keepers. We have a number of the provincial leaders that have been posturing to assume the Realm’s throne. They are beginning to make their move while we are distracted by the Keepers’ invasion.”

  Tag’s expression turned hard.

  “I’ll explain what’s happening after we get the current issues handled. There won’t be a Realm to fight over if we can’t find a way to stop this invasion.”

  Tag looked at Danielle and she nodded.

  Valerie turned and said, “Are we ready for the trial, Cassandra?”

  “Yes, Alex, show us what you can do?”

  The Kosiev was parked a mile from an asteroid belt, then moved its nose toward one of the larger rocks. A bright yellow beam erupted from the surface of the giant ship and struck the asteroid. The huge rock split in half. It was cut cleanly through the middle.

  “Move out to fifty miles and try again.”

  Once more a huge rock was split in half.

  “Now a hundred miles.”

  This time the rock took twenty seconds to split.

  The Gardners began congratulating Cassandra. Valerie looked at the data and said, “Alex, how far were you from the Keepers Fleet when you felt their beams affect our processors?”

  The group became instantly silent. “Three hundred miles, Your Majesty.”

  “Tell me what you know about this new device you’ve just demonstrated.

  “It will only work once. I should be able to kill one of their ships before they destroy my central processors.”

  “And you’re willing to do it even if you can only kill one ship?”

  “They are the Realm’s enemy.”

  Cassandra sighed, “We are not willing to lose you for the destruction of just one ship.” She looked at Tag and he nodded.

  “Looks like we’re back at square one.”

  Tag shook his head, “I don’t understand why we’re here. We haven’t helped this situation even in a small way. I feel helpless.”

  Valerie thought to herself, “Welcome to my world.” Then she said, “There is a reason; we just haven’t found it yet. Those visions brought you here, and I believe it is to save us. We need to find it; I’m sure it exists.”

  Matt said, “I really hope you’re right and we weren’t just brought here to die.”

  Danielle was stunned. She saw the truth in Matt’s statement. She looked quickly at Tag and decided she would not leave his side from that moment forward. If they were going to die, she was going to make sure it was with him. There was no life without him.

  “Sprig, are you ready?”

  “Yes, we are. The coordinates for the Searchers are on your board.”

  “Manny, will you pass these coordinates to the Brez Searchers and ask them to teleport to them without their ships?”

  “Don’t they need their ships?”

  “Not at this moment. I need to talk with them first.”

  “They will be coming by Units.”

  “Thank you, Manny. Are you ready for the rescue?”

  “It’s set to take place tomorrow at twelve hundred hours Ross time.”

  “Good luck, Manny.”

  “We’re ready, Jake.”

  “I know you are.”

  Jake teleported down to a reviewing stand overlooking a huge barren field. The Searchers started teleporting in and the field was filling up quickly. Ten divisions arrived and formed up on the reviewing stand. Everyone was questioning their officers about what was happening, but no one knew. One of the Searchers recognized Jake and said, “Behold the White Demon.” The Searchers all started staring at the Reviewing stand and after a few minutes, silence settled over the field.

  Jake looked out at the finest warriors in the Realm and used telepathy to communicate with them, “I know that you’re wondering why we brought you here without your ships. We are going to provide you a new ship momentarily, but before we do that I need to see your heart. You have been charged with the protection of the Crown. Your duty is to make sure the Royal Family is not harmed. I need an answer from you. If you had to choose, which you would go to defend if you could only protect one? Would you protect the Queen or the Realm? I want you to think about this seriously. You can only go save one; which would it be?”

  Silence ruled the plain. Jake waited and after
ten minutes heard a Glod Searcher yell from the back of the formations, “My sword belongs to the Queen.”

  Jake said, “If you choose the Queen over the Realm, move out of your ranks and form up behind this reviewing stand.”

  Slowly at first, a few hundred moved forward. Jake saw that the majority of them were Glod. Then the Humans began leaving the formation and walked with their Glod brothers, shaking their hands. The Cainth rushed out and joined the Searchers moving behind the reviewing stands. Then it became a mad rush and all of the assembled warriors ran to join those that were forming up behind the reviewing stand.

  Jake tuned and faced the Searchers and said, “I know you had great difficulty making that decision. However, you have shown your loyalty to the Realm. The Royal Family is the Realm, and anything else is not what binds us. The Realm is facing two threats. The first are the creatures currently invading. The second are members of the Realm who have decided to take the throne. There will be a civil war if we defeat the invaders, and it will commence as soon as the war ends. Ross will be attacked and destroyed.”

  The Searchers started talking amongst themselves. Jake waited until silence returned. “I tell you this with a heavy heart. However, we must defend the Queen and you will be given a task to make sure she is safe. If I am wrong, and I truly pray every day that I am, then nothing will happen. However, I need you prepared for the worst. I ask you, what is your choice?”

  The mass of warriors screamed, “We fight for the Queen!”

  Jake smiled and said, “First we have an invader that requires we remove as a threat. Before we start that process, I want to share the words of a being that was a part of the invaders’ leadership.” Jake sent a vision of the meeting with Values so that all could see what the species attacking the Realm represented. Jake said at the completion of the vision, “This species has no heart. They deliberately killed theirs, and they have no remorse, no kindness, nor any regard for any other life form. We have no choice but to try and remove this threat to creation. You’ve seen recordings of the worlds they’ve enslaved and consumed. We are charged to end this evil, and we cannot back away from this responsibility.”

  “A Glod on the front rank yelled, “How are we going to carry out that charge?”

  Jake smiled, “We have constructed some ships that, we believe, will kill their ships. You are going to be teleported momentarily to a planet where you will be assigned one of these ships, and an Algean will be there to teach you how to pilot it. The information will be downloaded, so the training should be completed within seven hours. We will attack the Keepers Fleet that is forming in their universe to jump into our universe to carry out their attacks. Admiral Dodd will meet you at your ships and has command over those ships sent to the Keepers’ universe. Once we handle that hurdle, you will be released to find any of their ships in that universe. Thirty percent of you will remain in our universe under Admiral Busigleore’s command, and look for any of their ships that are here and destroy them. Once they are removed, you will receive your assignments to protect the Royal Family. You will be joined by the rest of your brothers when they finish with the Keepers’ universe.”

  Jake pressed his com, “Send the coordinates, Sprig.”

  Every Searcher on the plain felt their coms vibrate. Jake said, “Teleport to the coordinates on your com to board your new ships and begin your training.”

  One of the general officers yelled, “Ateeennnnshun!” The hundred thousand Warriors came to attention and saluted Jake.

  Jake returned their salute and said, “Dismissed.”

  One moment the plain was covered with thousands of Warriors; the next it was empty.

  “Junior, are you ready?”

  “Sprig has given me one of those new weapons, Jake. We can’t get close, but we should be able to see what’s happening and defend ourselves if necessary.”

  “Well, let’s go visit the Keepers Fleet and see what they do when we snatch their food source away.”

  “Jake, are you sure these ships will do what you hope?”

  “I’m not, but their designer was. That Demon tried to keep them from us knowing the Keepers would ultimately kill us. He wouldn’t have done that if they weren’t what we hope they are.”

  “How does this weapon work? What if we’re attacked by huge numbers?”

  “Questions, questions, questions. Let’s just get on with it.”

  “OK.”

  Manny looked at the main screen on the wall of his ship and shook his head. The twenty million transports paired off with twenty million Searchers was a vision he would never forget. They filled the space of the universe they had jumped in to assemble in advance of their mission. The teams had practiced on planets in this universe for more than eight weeks, and he knew that they were ready. He also knew the spies from the Brez Division would never know about Jake’s plans until it was over. He smiled and knew there was going to be a price to pay after the fact, but that would be faced at the appropriate time. The Keepers were going to get a wakeup call in another ten minutes.

  He keyed his general frequency and said, “We are going to make history today. You will be performing the task of liberating millions of worlds from their slave masters. This is what your oath is all about. You know what must be done, and it must be timed precisely. Make sure you make the grab exactly ten minutes from my mark. It must be timed so that the Keepers won’t have time to respond.

  Those of you that are transporting the freed communities have the coordinates of the planet where you will deliver them to the Algeans. They are waiting to tell them what has happened. Searchers, make sure the Captors’ energy ball is set for ten seconds after you pull the screen and get out of there. Upon completion of your assignment, you will report to your normal posts.”

  Manny hit a button on his console and said, “Are you ready?”

  Sprig answered, “We are excited about today’s event. We are waiting for the transports to arrive.”

  Manny keyed the general frequency again and said, “Searchers and Sailors of the Stars Realm, make the Realm proud. The operation will commence ten minutes from my mark. Ready……mark.”

  The forty million ships disappeared and Manny teleported back to the Realm to await the return of Brez Searchers, “This should be interesting. Let’s hope everyone will listen to reason.”

  Ron Kune teleported in to his assigned planet in full stealth mode and entered the atmosphere over the horizon from the Keepers’ garrison. He accelerated and hit the teleport field key as soon as he sighted the captured communities. The field formed underground, and he set his ship down on the surface and waited as the countdown continued. There was a Keepers’ ship in orbit above the garrison taking on food stores for transport to the home worlds. That ship might pose a problem during his escape, but it would be too late to stop the rescue of the population.

  He looked at his board and saw there were thirty seconds left to make the grab of the teleport screen. He checked the Captors’ energy ball and set the timer for teleportation and detonation. “Time to go!” With two seconds remaining, he lifted his ship, hit his thrusters, and watched as the terrain screamed by in his display. He roared over the six communities, stiffened the teleport field connection, and went vertical, pulling the silver teleport field out of the ground and over the population that was staring at the small white ship as it roared into the sky. Their view was brief as all six communities disappeared from the planet’s surface.

  Ron hit the weapons console and teleported the energy ball into the lowest level of the Keepers’ garrison, punched his teleport board, and held the arms of his chair tight hoping the Keepers’ ship wouldn’t have time to target him with their main beam. His ship disappeared two seconds before the Keepers’ beam went active. Five seconds after Ron teleported out, the Keepers’ garrison exploded and blew more than twenty miles of the planet’s surface into the atmosphere.

  The Keepers’ ship in orbit didn’t detect the cities being teleported out before
their sensors were blocked by the huge blast. The appearance of the small ship diverted their attention from the crust as it flashed away from the surface. The ship’s Director heard billions of his species die. What was happening?

  The Collective heard Military scream, “The farms are being taken!” Before it could respond, it was blown apart by the deaths of more than twenty million garrisons that all perished within two seconds of each other. The Collective did not recover quickly. The bulk of the Keepers’ population was still on the home worlds so it wasn’t killed, but it suffered a huge shock. It was unavailable just when the Keepers needed it most.