Finding keepers a-7

by Andrew, Saxon

  “Send four more. Those creatures are intelligent and should be willing to accept our help, along with a guarantee of our loyalty in return for allowing us to survive.”

  Ales didn’t like this part of the plan but knew he had no choice, “I will set it up immediately.”

  Twig looked at Sprig and thought, “Are you still committed to your plan?”

  “Yes, my love.”

  “Is there nothing we can do to save the Realm?”

  “No.

  “You’re certain of its destruction?”

  “You’ve seen the data. Am I missing something?”

  Twig’s leaves turned brown, “No, I see it as well.”

  “Help the engineers make the device.”

  “I will leave momentarily.”

  “But first?”

  “I want you to hold me for a few moments.”

  Sprig wrapped Twig in his branches, feeling sorrow for what was coming and the course of action he was being forced to take.

  Valerie looked at her display and saw Duke Jongo was comming her. Jake looked at the display and said, “Play it like we discussed.”

  Valerie nodded, took a deep breath, and said, “Duke Jongo, how may I help you?”

  The Duke had a smile pasted on his face as he said, “It would be easier to contact you mentally, Your Majesty.”

  “The Keepers are able to track telepathic communications. I’ve sent out instructions that all telepaths should avoid using their ability while the Realm is under a threat of invasion. Did you not receive the notification?”

  Duke Jongo kept his smile, but was frustrated by his inability to track where the young queen was hiding. He had tried unsuccessfully to find her using his telepathic skills but she had not responded to his calls. “I just wanted to discuss how I should handle the use of my ships during this invasion. What does the Realm suggest we should do with our military forces?”

  Valerie smiled to herself and hoped he would take the bait, “We are grounding our Searchers on our most important planets.”

  The Duke’s smile disappeared, “Why would you do that?”

  “We want them available in the event they are needed for defense. Once the planets start moving it will be next to impossible for them to keep up with the worlds they defend. If they are on the planet, they will just go with it.”

  “Why have I not heard anything about this strategy?”

  “Check your com log. I believe Mr. Talant sent you that information two days ago.”

  Jongo looked down at his log and saw a message from a Jake Talant. “You should have sent this to me directly under your name. This is important to know.”

  “I believe that my name is in the message. He is my liaison to the military of the Realm. Did you not see his title?”

  Jongo looked again and saw that he had set his com up to show just the name without titles. “Then I am glad I contacted you, Your Majesty.”

  “What is it that you want?”

  “Nothing more than what you have just given me. I wanted to make sure I had all the information needed before the invasion begins. I also wanted to make sure that all the planets that are moved out of my province would be returned after the war.”

  Jake, sitting out of view of the display, smiled, “He doesn’t want to lose his tax base.”

  “We have every intention of doing that, and we have started a list of those planets that desire to be moved first. The list is getting quite long.”

  This was the real reason that prompted Jongo’s call. He had received the notice and immediately determined it meant trouble. He knew that many of the planets would not want to return to the province if given a choice. His province paid ten times the taxes of the other four.

  “ We can assist in moving them back.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know you knew the process and the equations necessary to move a planet into a stable orbit. We could certainly use your help.”

  Jongo felt his rage begin and his smile disappeared, “I’ll contact you after this is over.”

  Valerie smiled, “Please do. We can use your help.”

  Valerie terminated the connection and turned to Jake, “Now that is one unhappy puppy.”

  Jake smiled and said, “I’ll let you know if he bit.”

  “Jake, what are you planning?”

  Jake looked up at the ceiling and said, “Oh, nothing. I’m not doing anything.”

  Valerie looked at Jake and saw he was being honest… but…something was going on. Whatever it was, she knew it was the best thing for the Realm.

  Jongo looked over at Ales, “Do you think she was being honest?”

  “The Crown has never been deceptive in all of our past dealings. I also know that thousands of Searchers are landing on Ross every day.”

  Jongo thought about what he should do and decided, “I want a quarter of our ships landed on our northern desert. I want you to take the remaining ships and distribute them among our most prosperous worlds. Once this is over, make sure the populations know they are coming back. Use force if necessary.”

  Ales saluted and left the room. He didn’t tell his father that the four ships he had just sent to the Keepers’ universe had also been destroyed. He was looking forward to being out of his father’s view. It was never safe to be around the Duke very long.

  The Collective observed progress of the fleet updates. It was surprised that the new enemy had not attacked and destroyed more of the main planets, but grudgingly accepted that Psychology was probably right about their reluctance to kill. It remembered millions of years ago when his species had the same difficulty. But that was then, this is now.

  “Military, how long before our initial attack?”

  “Two hundred and forty intervals.”

  “Have you selected the initial targets?”

  “I have. There are six planets that direct the actions of those in the enemy’s universe. However, there has been a development that is problematic.”

  The Collective turned all of its attention to the Military Quadrant, “What is that?”

  “The Green Creatures are no longer present.”

  The Collective called all Quadrants in to the discussion, “When did this happen?”

  “We are uncertain about exactly when they disappeared. Our scouts have not used their wide scanners for fear of being detected and giving away our initial targets. Now that we’ve selected our targets, we had a wide scan done and the Green Creatures are no longer present.”

  “Is it possible they are hidden from our scans?”

  Military paused, then responded, “Possibly. However, their numbers had a massive mental signature that would be difficult to hide. I suspect they knew we were coming and fled.”

  Science said, “They were the reason we went to that universe. Should we delay our attack and search for them?”

  The Collective reflected and then decided, “It was not the Green Creatures that caused the supernova. It was a small number of those ships piloted by other creatures. They represent a larger threat to us than the green ships. We must eliminate the new threat and then go after the old invaders.”

  The Quadrants thought about the decision and finally reached agreement.

  Military said, “So, we will invade with two million four hundred thousand ships in the first wave and knock out the enemy’s most important planets. The fleets will jump directly to their assigned target and begin their attack upon emergence into the other universe.”

  Production answered, “Yes, and in another two hundred and forty intervals another two million will join the first attackers. This process will repeat itself until our entire fleet is available.”

  The Collective listened to the Military Quadrant and said, “You are aware that the new enemy will know when you launch your attack?”

  “No, how did you arrive at that conclusion?”

  “Do you think they don’t have ships here scanning our every move? We cannot see them, but they are here. There is no way to surprise
them.”

  Military was quiet and then said, “We could jump the five fleets simultaneously without forming them into formations.”

  “Do you not think their scanners, detecting more than two million ships energizing their drives at the same moment, would not be a clue to our intentions?”

  The quadrants all thought about how to solve the problem of attacking without warning. Finally Military said, “You’re right. If they have ships here observing our fleets there is no way to attack without them seeing us coming.”

  “Does that change your strategy?”

  “Yes, it does. We will form up the six fleets where the dead green ships are located and jump to our targets from there. We will arrive just above our targets’ atmosphere and begin sweeping the surface immediately. A hundred thousand ships will start from the north and another hundred thousand will move from the south. The remaining two hundred thousand ships will surround the planets at the equator, and half will move north and half will move south. They should meet our ships coming from the north and south and complete the destruction in less than six hours. The increased strength and width of our ship’s beams will decrease the time needed to destroy a planet by seventy five percent. Once we destroy those six planets, the enemy’s organization will suffer a tremendous blow.”

  The Collective added, “This process should happen quickly. The targets will not have time to move large populations before our ships are directly above their planets. The populations that escape will eventually run out of places to flee as we destroy the planets they need to survive. After the destruction of that universe we will search for the Green Creatures.”

  Science asked, “What if we fail to destroy those planets?”

  The Collective and the other Quadrants were all stunned into silence by the question.

  Science continued, “We have seen these enemies develop techniques that have enabled them to survive our best efforts to kill them. We are assuming success without really knowing what our ships are jumping into.”

  Production responded, “But they have not found a way to penetrate the hulls of our ships, and we are now blocking the entry they used to penetrate our drives.”

  The Collective pondered the question and said, “Until they can kill our starships, they cannot win. If they could accomplish that task, they would be here now and we would not be alive. I don’t think I am being optimistic assuming we can and will destroy their planets. Keep me informed of our progress.”

  Military and Production both agreed to do just that.

  Ron Kune’s emergency alarm went off with a loud wail, followed by, “Incoming ships! incoming ships!” Ron silenced the alarm and checked his display. Keepers’ ships were jumping in to the Modification facility by the thousands, filling the space between his ship and the huge Keepers structure. His display had the ship count approaching a million ships, and they still continued to arrive in huge numbers. He hit the active scanner and recorded a picture of the huge fleet, then teleported out of the area.

  It was beginning, and the initial attack on the Realm was imminent. He jumped back to the Stars Realm to report his discovery.

  Chapter Eighteen

  J ake and Valerie were discussing the coming invasion when Junior interrupted, “War warning! The Keepers Fleet is forming up at one of their production facilities, and it looks like more than two million ships are headed out this way.”

  Valerie felt immediate, overwhelming, fear. Jake felt her thoughts and took her hand, “We knew it was coming. Now we see if our plans are going to work.” He looked at his display and said, “Manny, are you on the circuit?”

  “Yes, I am Your Grace.”

  “Sorry, Manny, I don’t have a royal title.”

  “I know, but you are more Royal than most of the Royal Family. What are your orders?”

  “Notify all the Members of the Realm to activate their frequency generators, and have every Searcher on Ross teleport to Cynthia’s Brigade to support her attacks. Notify the modified transports to jump out of our universe immediately and wait for the signal to start their runs. Sprig, are you on the circuit?”

  “Yes I am, your Grace.”

  “Not you, too!”

  “I happen to agree with the Admiral. We are completely at your disposal.”

  “Are the destinations prepared and protected?”

  “Yes they are, and we await the arrivals.”

  Jake thought a moment and then said, “These actions will begin as soon as the Keepers Fleet arrives.”

  Jake put his display on standby and said, “Are you ready?”

  Junior answered, “Jumping now.”

  Valerie turned to Jake, “Where are we going?”

  “To visit a Duke.”

  Valerie felt her anxiety level rise, but held Jake’s hand like it was life itself. She knew she would not have been able to handle these events as competently as Jake was demonstrating, and she said, “You are now in command of the Realm. I am now an observer.”

  Jake looked at Valerie and felt his love for her to the depths of his soul. He almost snarled at the chance to get the action started.

  Valerie sensed his psychic power growing at a tremendous rate, then she saw the capital of the Kosiev Province on her display. Why did we come to Ulmerton?

  The Director of the Keepers Fleet waited for the final ships to assume their place in formation, then sent the command, “Activate your universal drives in four dexls. Three, two, one, activate.” The huge Keepers Fleet disappeared from their universe and reappeared near the thousands of dead Eight Leg’s ships.

  “Tighten up your formations and prepare to attack your targets in ten dexls… three, two, one, jump.”

  Jake kept his eyes on the display and Manny announced, “The Keepers Fleet has just jumped.”

  “Carry out the plan, Admiral.”

  Manny disappeared from the display.

  “Activating the circuit, Jake.”

  “What is Junior talking about, Jake?”

  Jake looked at Valerie and said, “Watch Ulmerton.”

  Four hundred thousand Keepers’ ships jumped in to Ulmerton and moved quickly into the atmosphere. Duke Jongo immediately saw their arrival on his ship’s display and yelled, “Get us out of here!”

  The navigator on the Duke’s ships punched the teleport console but nothing happened. He punched it again and again, but still the ship did not move. The Duke felt unimaginable fear and yelled, “Get us off the planet!”

  The drive officer hit the engines and the ship began lifting into the atmosphere. Just before the ship entered space, a Keepers’ ship focused one of its beams on the fleeing vessel. It shimmered briefly just before it turned to dust.

  Valerie watched the Keepers destroy the planet. The atmosphere and a hundred feet of the planet’s surface was disappearing in a huge dust cloud. She forced herself to witness it all. She now knew that Jake and Junior had set the Duke up for the devastation being done below. She wanted to feel sorrow for the billions being killed, but knew those billions were planning to attack the Realm. The Duke was getting back what he had tried to deliver to Ross. She turned and looked at Jake, “Did the frequency generator fail?”

  Jake looked her in the eyes and said, “It did not work.”

  She knew that Jake was telling the truth, but not the whole truth. As his lover she wanted desperately to ask how the Duke had not just teleported away to safety, but knew as Queen she could not ask. She looked back at the display and saw hundreds of thousands of the Duke’s ships being disintegrated on the surface of the planet. “Those ships will not attack the Realm,” she thought.

  She knew there was going to be fallout from this act, but that would be handled later. She asked, “What about the other planets that were attacked?”

  Jake smiled and said, “Their generators did function properly.”

  Five Keepers Fleets arrived at the remaining four provincial capitals as well as Ross, and found their ships dropping out of null space outside th
e null drive limit. The Director of the Keepers Fleet attacking Ross turned to his navigator, “Why are we here instead of the planet?”

  “I don’t know. Our drive just shut off and kicked us out of our jump.”

  “Try again.”

  “I’ve tried five times; our drives will not take us any closer.”

  The Director contacted the other five fleets and discovered that only one had made it to a target. The fleets asked the Prime Director for orders. He thought for a moment, and decided, “We will move in to the targets and attack.”

  “What if they move the populations?”

  “We will destroy the planets. There will be nowhere for them to return. Eventually, there won’t be any where for them to flee. The plan calls for the destruction of every planet that can sustain life. We start that here and now.”

  The five fleets began moving in on the targeted planets.

  “Citizens of Ross, a large enemy fleet has jumped into our system and is moving toward our planet. Please do not teleport away just yet. We will move the planet to safety when the enemy fleet is an hour out from contact. If we are unsuccessful, then you may activate your teleporters. Please understand that we will be moving the planet as many times as necessary to protect it, and if you leave you may not be able to return until after the war.”

  The billions on Ross were afraid, but they did not want to leave their homes and be stranded without being able to return. Half a million citizens teleported out, but the vast majority waited.

  “How long until arrival?”

  The navigator looked at his board and said. “One interval in thirty dixls.”

  The Director watched his screen and one interval from the planet, it disappeared.

  “What? What? Where? What just happened?!?”

  The navigator stared at his board and said, “It’s gone. The planet is just…gone.”

  “Can they be hiding it?”

  “Listen for yourself. There is no thought frequency, there is no affect of gravity that we would certainly be feeling if it were still there, and we can see the star through the space it was occupying.”

  “Continue to the last place it occupied. I must make sure it is not hidden.”