by Saxon Andrew
Pixie looked at Mitch’s body on the sands and knew something inside her had died. She forced herself to look away and looked at the thousands of blue ships above the planet. She felt a hatred for them that was close to taking her. She forced herself to focus on the plain and take deep breaths to calm her.
• • •
Jason appeared on Sam’s wrist unit, “Hello Admiral.”
“Your Highness, the landing against the Carnivores was interrupted by the psychic creatures.”
Jixie heard Jason and grabbed her neck. “What about Pixie!?”
“We don’t know. All of our ships were destroyed and we’ve not received any communications from the Warriors that were on the planet.”
Sam looked at Jixie and saw her concentrate, “Pixie! Are you alright?”
Pixie heard her mother and almost lost herself to her grief, “Mom, Mitch has been killed.”
“Oh my darling!”
“There are about three companies of Life Warriors hiding behind my invisibility field against a cliff wall. Everyone else was killed by a bombardment from space. We assume the Realm’s Fleet was destroyed.”
“It was. Give me a view of where you are.”
“Why?”
“I’m coming there to save you.”
“Mom, my place is here.”
Jixie focused and saw Pixie against the cliffs. She looked at the planet and saw thousands of the blue ships in orbit.
Jixie looked at Sam and said, “I’m going to join her.”
“Be careful.”
Jixie disappeared and materialized next to Pixie. Jixie extended her invisibility field and allowed those inside it to see each other. Russell looked at Jixie and was shocked, “Your Majesty, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to defend my daughter, Captain.”
All of the Warriors at the wall looked at Pixie and were shocked at the statement.
Pixie said, “You can’t, Mom.”
“Oh yes I can.”
“Only if you’re willing to leave Dad and be forced back to your former home; you know the restrictions against using abilities that your playmates don’t possess.”
Jixie was shocked and after a moment said, “You’re right.”
Pixie took a deep breath and blew it out. “Here is where my destiny lies. If I die, I’ll be with Mitch. I can’t live with you having to leave Dad. You made a vow you never would.”
“I’m sure he’d want me to do this.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to live without my mother. You will not use your talents against these creatures.”
Suddenly they all heard in their minds, “She’s right, Jixie. If you violate that restriction, you will be forced to return, even though no one here wants that to happen. That convention cannot be violated.”
“But Mother. Pixie may be killed.”
“She will have to fend for herself. You can’t intervene.”
Clarke looked at the two women and said, “We’re not dead yet. Now that there are two of you, we have a better chance.”
Pixie and Jixie looked at Clarke and he said, “Your Highness, will you take the Warriors that can’t hear the music to another location. They are restricting our maneuvering capabilities.”
The Warriors started complaining and Clarke said in a stern voice, “You need to do the right thing and allow us to do our job. This time you are a liability. Don’t make it worse.”
Pixie looked at Jixie, “Get them out of here, Mom.”
Jixie hugged her and fought her tears. “Follow me.” The hundred and fifty Life Warriors followed Jixie away from the plain. Pixie saw how her mother allowed them to see each other and maintained the new field around the Warriors still at the cliff wall.
• • •
The creature watched the scanner and said, “Supremacy, some of the creatures on the planet have disappeared from our scanners.”
“Target them mentally.”
“I have done that, but only half of the ones that disappeared are visible mentally and some of them have also disappeared.”
The Creature in the command chair looked at the scanner and said, “Are you telling me that some of the creatures are not visible to us?”
“Yes, I am.”
The leader looked at his scanner and said, “I do not see anything alive there.”
“I’ll replay my scan.”
The leader saw a large group of the fighters on the planet suddenly disappear. The mental scan showed some of them but suddenly half of them disappeared.”
“How could this be done?”
“I have no idea and nothing in our databanks has ever seen this happen before.”
“Get an armed unit down there and see what’s going on.”
The Scanner nodded and sent a mental message to one of the main battleships. An armored shuttle departed and dropped toward the planet.
• • •
Pixie looked up at the sky, “They’re coming.”
Russell said, “Everyone, keep the music in focus. Pixie, tell us if you see anything we can use against them.”
• • •
The shuttle landed at the forward edge of the flat plain and a hundred and eighty creatures emerged and began moving forward. The creatures had a weapon in each of the two arms that extended out of the front of their shells and were firing at everything on the plain, disintegrating everything their beams hit. Pixie said, “I will not allow them to destroy Mitch’s remains.”
Russell said, “Just hold on a moment. Do you see any way to stop them?”
Pixie stared at the advancing creatures and said, “Their force fields cover everything but the opening where the arms emerge. It appears they can’t fire their weapons through their force fields.”
Clarke said, “What is their physiology. What’s located between those arms?”
Pixie focused and said, “They are very much like a lady bug beetle. Their head is between their arms slightly back under the dome. That is where their brain is located.”
Russell said, “D Company…”
Clarke interrupted, “Sir, you should send B Company out.” Russell looked at him and Clarke said, “My Warriors hear the music without my presence. If we’re going to attack those creatures, we’ll have to spread out across their front. Some of your Warriors may lose contact with you.” Russell continued to glare at Clarke and he said, “Sir, I am not one to step out and take a risk. However, you’ll endanger all of us if they are able to see us.”
Russell looked at the advancing line and saw the creatures had a body that was black and domed shaped. Sunlight reflected of their shells with flashes of crimson. They were at least beautiful beetles. He turned to Clarke and said, “Get out there and see if you can stop them.”
“I’m going to retrieve Mitch’s Body.”
Russell said, “No you aren’t. You know they have every inch of this plain covered with their scanners and they’ll see if it’s moved. You will stay here, Captain!”
Pixie glared at Russell and stayed where she was.
Clarke said, “B Company, move out across the front of their line and I want one of you in front of every Beetle. Pull your swords and extend the handles. On my command hit them between their arms and get back to the cliff. Move out.”
Russell looked at Pixie, “Mitch and I wondered why we heard the swords. Now I know. It appears they knew we would need them.”
Pixie only nodded and watched as B Company sprinted out on the plain and formed a line in front of the advancing creatures. They stopped fifty yards in front of the beetles and pulled their camouflaged swords and extended the stocks from the sword’s handles. The creatures arrived at the line of Life Warriors and Clarke yelled, “Now.”
The Life Warriors drove the swords into the beetles with all the strength they had. They then pulled the swords out and ran for the cliff. Every one of the advancing Beetles stopped and remained still.
B Company arrived back at the cliff wall and Clarke said, “D Comp
any. Focus on the music I’m sending to you. Get it in your mind and don’t let it fade.”
Russell watched Clarke and after a few minutes Clarke turned and said, “They’ll be able to hear it now without you being present, Sir.”
“How do you do that?”
“I have no idea, Sir.”
Russell tilted his head to the left and said, “That figures.”
Pixie looked at Clarke, “What do you think they’ll do now?”
“There are too many options to really make a good guess. I think they could just explode everything in this valley or blow up the planet. My guess is they will blast the planet apart.”
Pixie shrugged and felt joy at the dead beetles.
• • •
“Supremacy, our investigation unit has stopped reporting.”
“What do you mean?”
“It appears all of them were killed at the same moment.”
The leader swung around and said, “You better be able to tell me how that happened!”
“We saw nothing on our physical or mental scanners. The unit just stopped and we were no longer able to contact them. They are not moving and our physical scans show their force fields are down and there is no life in their bodies.”
The leader swung around and moved his scanner in on the line of dead troops and brought in closer to the front of one of them. He moved it even closer and saw dark fluid on the ground at the front of its shell. He reviewed the scans and nothing was in front of them when the fluid appeared. The leader stared at the dead troops and knew he had to find out how they were killed or his life was forfeit if he reported without the information.
“Supremacy, do you want us to destroy the planet?”
“Stand by.” He thought about what to do and determined information was more important than anything else. He glared at the planet and sent a thought toward the surface.
Chapter Thirteen
Pixie jerked her head up and heard, “I’m going to assume that the ones that killed my troops are the species that was fighting the Grey Creatures. I’m considering just blowing this planet apart for your actions.”
Pixie looked at Russell, “Can they track the location of your thought’s Pixie.”
“No.”
“Then tell him what you think.”
Pixie looked up with a mask of hatred on her face, “I would have thought you’d put up a better fight. Why don’t you send a few more down to entertain us? It’s not fun being on the receiving end, is it?”
The leader heard the thought and knew his life was over if he didn’t find out how his troops were killed. He also knew that if he sent others down and they were also killed, there would be no escape from the Supreme Nest. He thought about what to do and after a few moments said, “I see that you were attempting to stop the Grey Creature’s invasion. That tells me that you were protecting the inhabitants. Are you willing to allow them to die?”
Pixie thought, “They’ll die anyway when you come and enslave them. I suspect they would prefer a quick death to the never ending suffering your miserable species would force on them.”
“Those who do our farming do not suffer.”
“Then why don’t you just walk on out into one of your fields and take the place of one of them for a few years and see how you feel then. Life with no hope is not worth living.”
The leader thought about how many of the workers on the farms rushed the guards and were killed. The numbers were always higher on the planets that had been conquered more than ten years.
“They are not my concern. However, I will give you a chance to save their lives.”
“Go on.”
“I will not destroy the planet if you agree to meet with me.”
The Scanner said, “You can’t do this, Supremacy!”
“You will remain silent or I’ll kill you and all your descendants.”
• • •
Pixie looked at Russell, “What do you want to do about this?”
“What is our primary duty, Captain Mille?”
Pixie stared at Russell and shook her head, “How can you trust that creature to keep his word?”
“I can’t, but what’s the alternative to the billion plus inhabitants on this planet? It at least buys us some time to see if there’s any way we can get out of this box. Besides, I believe our leaders could use whatever information we uncover about this species for future operations. You will be able to communicate with your mother and pass it on, won’t you?”
Pixie nodded and looked up, “My commander has agreed to meet with you.”
“I will arrive at the location of my troops momentarily.”
“Come unarmed and alone.”
“You do the same. I will guarantee the safety of your commander during the meeting.”
“There will be two of us meeting you but we will both come unarmed.”
“Why do you need two?”
“I’m needed to be a translator.”
“I don’t need a translator. I can hear his thoughts.”
“We’re not going to allow you to see his thoughts. I’ll translate the conversation.”
The leader looked at the Scanner, “Just how are they going to prevent me from seeing their thoughts?”
The Scanner looked puzzled, “I don’t think they can.”
“But what if they can do it.”
The Scanner said, “That is something we need to know.”
“Notify the Nest what’s going on and I expect you to follow my orders. I am the Supremacy here and even the Nest cannot overrule my decisions.”
“Yes Supremacy.”
• • •
Pixie looked up and said, “A small unarmed ship is leaving their largest ship.”
Russell looked at Pixie, “Can you stop it from seeing my thoughts?”
“I can. He will only hear the thoughts you direct to him. I’m sure he was planning to see your mind and take everything he wanted. He won’t be happy.”
“His happiness is the least of my concerns. Come with me and let’s go meet him. Don’t reveal us until we arrive at his location.”
“Yes Sir.”
• • •
The leader arrived on the planet and moved out of his ship toward the line of his dead troops. He moved around one of them and looked at it and saw the huge puncture of its head. He looked left and right and saw the fluid in front of the two dead troops. They were savagely killed with a physical instrument. Suddenly, two beings appeared three feet in front of it and it was shocked. He had not seen them and knew they could have killed him. He thought, “You appear to be more than I thought.”
Russell sat down and looked at the head inside the domed shaped creature, “We know what you are. Your actions here were exactly what we expected.”
The leader saw that he was unable to see the mind of the being. He had at least found out what had killed his troops. “You were rather vicious with my troops.”
Pixie said, “Your beams weren’t exactly a pat on the back.”
“That’s true.” He paused and said, “Why were you attacking the Grey Species?”
“We came to save the local population from being eaten by them.”
“Why would you do that? Do you have plans to conquer the planet?”
Russell shook his head and said, “We do not conquer or enslave any being. We fight to prevent species like you from subjugating or killing intelligent beings.”
“That sounds like a waste of good energy. If you weren’t going to use this planet you should have just left it alone. Incidentally, this planet has been marked as one of our future farms and we will not allow anyone to land on it.”
“If what you mean by a farm is enslaving the inhabitants and forcing them to grow food for you, then you would also be one of those we would seek to destroy.”
“What concern is it of yours who we choose to domesticate?”
“Forcing intelligent beings into slavery is not a valid description of domesticating a spec
ies. It’s a total disregard of any other species other than your own. You are blight on creation.”
“We see it as nothing more than using what creation offers for our comfort.”
“And you totally ignore the feelings of those you enslave. Your species is just as bad as the Grey Species.”
“We don’t eat those we domesticate.”
“No, but you force them to exist in a miserable existence and all they’ll ever know is suffering. How would you feel if your species endured what you force on others?”
“I don’t see that ever happening.”
“There are species in creation that could do exactly that to you and there’s nothing you could do to stop it.”
The leader now knew the meeting was worth the risk. “Just how do you know that?”
“The Creator has shown us her enemies.”
“The Creator?”
“The entity that created all that is here. She has allowed us to see the ones that are hurting her.”
The leader was confused, “I don’t have any idea what you mean by a Creator.”
“Of course not and you’ll never be able to hear or see her. You are one of the species that is trying to kill her.”
“We’re not trying to kill anyone.”
“But you do.”
“Sometimes, but for the most part we ignore everyone that’s outside our territory.”
“The billions of beings you’ve enslaved are suffering and the Creator can feel their misery. It is taking a toll on her and she is not well. We are fighting to save her.”
“I’m confused about all this Creator nonsense. We’re a very advanced society and if a so called Creator existed, we would know it.”
Russell stared at the beetle and looked at Pixie, “Let him hear it.”
“He doesn’t deserve it.”
“That is not a request, Captain. Allow it to get through.”
The leader looked at the two and wondered what they were talking about. All at once it heard a melody in its mind that filled his being. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced and for the first time he searched for a term he didn’t know. Russell looked at him and said, “You’re looking for the word beautiful.”
Suddenly the melody stopped. The Creature looked at the strange creatures in front of him and said, “What was that?”