by Saxon Andrew
“Why would they fear us?”
“Whippet told me that anyone who crossed your order would end up dead. He was insistent that the transgressor would die. I wondered how that could be. How would your civilization that was not technologically advanced harm anyone, much less find them, if they were determined to disappear? That had to mean you had the assistance of a technologically advanced civilization or your civilization was technologically advanced.”
The High Priest snorted, “You saw we’re farmers.”
“I saw what you wanted me to see. I asked Mariah where she got the materials to build the planetary defenses and she told me that you provided them. I asked her if there were millions of commercial ships that came to the planet to deliver them and she didn’t remember seeing them. That means those materials were here on the planet.”
The Head Servant looked at the High Priest, “Is this true?”
“You will remain silent!” He looked at Grant, “What if they were?”
“Then you are not the farmers you pretend to be. There are places where you have advanced technology stores kept. If they’re here, they’re being used.” The High Priest stared at Grant and remained silent. “I really thought that Earth was the real danger to the Universe, especially when they started their conquests. However, they are mere children when compared with the danger your species represents.” Grant glanced at the Head Servant and saw his confusion. He also saw the confusion of the Warrior Priests surrounding them.
“The Choten-Zan are a peaceful culture. We detest violence.”
“You said that absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The High Priest nodded. “You have been planning to take control of all intelligent life and prevent them from any aggressive behavior. You justify this using the same logic Earth used to conquer the thousands of planets they invaded. However, Earth would make slaves out of all the planets under their, and your, control. Fortunately, Earth backed off their conquests but you are getting ready to begin yours.”
The Head Servant stared at Grant, “The Choten-Zan are not conquerors.”
“You’ll call it bringing salvation to the masses. Whatever term you choose to use, it will be used to hide the fact that you are conquerors. However, I’m here to inform you that it will fail.”
The High Priest smiled, “And why is that?”
Everyone in the room looked at the High Priest and saw the scorn on his face. The Head Servant shook his head, “Your Holiness, this can’t be true.”
“The only way to stop the violence is to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
Grant smiled, “You’ll fail because you don’t have all the facts.”
“What facts? There’s nothing anyone can do to stop us.”
“Are you aware that the Survivors of Avalon did not install the weapons on the Orion?” The High Priest’s eyes narrowed. Grant tilted his head, “Ahh, that one surprised you. They did work on the Orion but they only finished installing the final hull plates and connecting them to the central processors. My parents were the ones that designed the Orion’s weapons. The weapons the survivors were installing here were just larger models of those used on their crimson warships. The Orion is light years beyond them. You wrongly believe the weapons on your warships are more powerful than the Orion.”
The Head Servant shook his head, “What warships are you talking about?”
Grant looked at him, “There are thousands of chambers under the surface of your planet that have them stored. The Priests that prove themselves to be warriors are the ones sent to fly them.”
Every Priest in the room looked at the High Priest. He sat on his cushion in silence. Grant smiled, “You’re considering calling my bluff by attacking the Orion.” He still remained silent staring at Grant. “You think that if I’m here on the planet, it won’t operate at maximum power.” The High Priest sat up straight, then stood, and went to his console. Grant smiled, “You would be wrong.”
The High Priest pressed a button and he was surrounded by a force field. “You’ve said that it takes two pilots to unlock your ship.”
“I have, but it only takes one to operate it with a standard crew. The Orion now has a crew on board manning the weapons.”
“All I have to do is kill you and be patient until the female dies of old age. That ship will no longer be an issue.”
Grant took his left glove in his right hand and pulled it off. He held up his left hand and everyone in the room saw his little finger was a small nub. “If you kill me, I’ll just regenerate in a few months.”
“Both of you won’t live forever.”
“No, we won’t. But you should know that our genes are dominant. Our children will have the same genetic structure as Cinny and me and their children will also have the genes. There will be many generations to come that will be able to fight the Orion.”
“Then you leave me no choice but to destroy it.”
Grant lifted his communicator off his belt and said, “Are they on board?”
“The shuttles have just arrived.”
The High Priest’s eyes narrowed. Grant said, “Cinny sent four webbed shuttles down and removed all the Avalon Survivors. They’re on the Orion now.”
“Then they’ll die along with everyone else.”
The Head Servant looked at Grant, “I was wrong. He has betrayed our beliefs.”
Grant looked at the Head Servant and shook his head, “It appears he kept everyone here in the dark. We will not attack the Temple.”
The High Priest sneered and pressed a button on his console. A large monitor on the wall illuminated showing the Orion hanging in space. Thousands of warships were rising from the planet’s surface and boosting into space. Grant shook his head, “You just can’t allow yourself to believe that my parents were able to create a technology that was above yours. The last piece of information you are missing is that they were the first of the genetically modified humans.”
The High Priest stared at Grant and slowly looked at the wall monitor. He watched his fleet of warships surround the Orion and open fire…to no effect. Then the giant ship unleashed its beams and swept them through the ranks of the Zan Warships. The ones caught in the giant beams were vaporized. The other warships immediately attempted to escape but the beams found them and killed them all. The Orion moved quickly toward the planet as the planetary defenses began opening fire on it. The giant ship was washed in the massive beams but it continued to move toward the planet. It arrived in orbit and opened fire on the thousands of ship chambers and the huge beam platforms that had risen from the planet’s surface. There were no explosions; however, whatever the Orion’s beams hit, disappeared. The Orion moved around the planet and every weapon was destroyed. All of the huge stores of warships below the surface were vaporized. After one orbit, there were no weapons remaining on the planet.
• • •
The High Priest sat on his chair and watched all his years of planning go up in vapor. He looked at Grant and saw him shake his head. He knew he should be in a state of rage but felt nothing but a supreme regret that he had somehow lost his way. He pressed a button removing the force field, lifted the blaster, placed it against his head, and pulled the trigger. No one in the room moved to stop him. Grant blew out a breath and looked at the Head Servant, “I really didn’t want it to come to this. He did take us in and keep us safe.”
“But as you said earlier, he did that for selfish reasons. You have nothing to feel bad about. He betrayed our principles.”
Grant stood up and turned to leave. He stopped after several steps and turned around, “I truly hope you will lead the others back to those beliefs.” The Head Servant nodded and Grant turned and left the room.
• • •
Grant walked on the bridge and Cinny saw his expression. She ran up and put her arms around his chest, “What happened?”
“The High Priest took his life with a blaster. I really didn’t want him to die after what he did for us.” Cinny nodded and felt her tears sta
rt running down her face.
Blake looked at them and said, “There has also been a development on Earth.” Grant and Cinny looked at him. “Tatum Channing and his advisors left with the colony ships. His son stayed on Earth and led the fleets against the Invader’s Starkillers. When Tatum arrived back on the planet, the ruling Parliament removed him from office and replaced him with his son.”
Grant nodded slowly and then smiled, “I think we no longer have to worry about Earth’s intentions for the near future.”
Cinny continued to cry and Grant held her tightly. Grant looked at Sneaky and said, “Tell Slick and Iggy that their children will remain on the planets they were dropped on until we’re sure there won’t be any aggressive behavior out of them.” Sneaky nodded and began sending the orders.
Margaret and Bobbi entered the bridge and Bobbi said, “What are we going to do now?”
Grant hugged Cinny and smiled, “There is a certain dish served on Lovely that I happen to really like. I’d like to have a chance to eat it without being interrupted.”
Cinny laughed in spite of her tears and said, “We never did finish our first date.”
Grant put his head on top of hers and smiled, “Perhaps the wait was worth it, my Love.”
Cleve stood up and walked over to hug Margaret, “Well bring it on, I’m famished.”
The crew laughed as Grant sat down in his chair and said, “Orion, take us to Lovely.”
The giant ship instantly vanished from normal space not taking the time to submerge. It must have been hungry as well.
The End
Books by Saxon Andrew
The Annihilation Series:
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in Weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Searcher
Demon’s Sacrifice
Finding Keepers
Prequel-Psychic Beginnings
Searching for a Hero
Dahlia’s Deception
Ashes of the Realm:
Juliette’s Dream
Greyson’s Revenge
Death of an Empire
The Return of the Realm
Lens of Time:
The Pyramid Builders
Planet Predators
Pray for the Prey
The End of Time
Star Rover-The Worst of Time
Star Rover-Running Out of Time
Lens of Time-Chosen To Die
The Fight for Creation
Life Warrior
Scout Warrior
Ultimate Warrior
Star Chase
The Lost Prince
Nowhere to Run
Nowhere to Hide
Probe Predators
Jesse’s Starship
Mike’s War
Joshua’s Wall
Nemesis
Revenge is Best Served Hot
The Search for Orion
Coming Soon
Trapped in Time
The Time Takers
Taming A Planet
Extinction
Also an audiobook at Audible.com
The Lost Prince
Love Conquers All
The Power of a Queen
A Rose Grows in weeds
Tommy’s Tale
Copyright © 2014 by Saxon Andrew. All rights reserved. Screen Writers Guild no. VQEA3E380432.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
First Electronic Edition: December 2014