“The Demon came and disintegrated them. It knew those ships were the only weapon that could kill the Keepers’ fleets. We just left here less than an hour ago.”
Twig thought, “Then why did you come back?”
Jake paused and pushed a button on his command chair, “I downloaded the original destruction of the white creatures and watched it from the moment they emerged into this universe. They were here for about four hours before the Demon had them killed, and most everyone who has ever viewed the recording started watching it at the moment of that destruction.”
Junior asked, “What does that have to do with you coming back?”
Jake pushed a button and sent a feed to Twig, “I want you to watch this portion of the playback.”
Junior and Twig watched as one of the huge white ships approached the Nest Mother’s ship and stopped. A small white craft exited the ship and flew toward the giant green ship. As it approached a bright white beam hit the green hull and blew a hole big enough for the small craft to enter.”
Twig said, “I didn’t know those creatures had small craft like that.”
“No one did, Twig. But think about it. What if they find something that needed to be taken to the main ship. Those creatures would not be able to lift it with their personal propulsion.”
“Why do you think they went into that ship, Jake?”
Jake smiled, “The white creatures didn’t know that we had taken the Nest Mother’s chamber. I’m sure the leader wanted the chamber to take all the information that had been gathered over the long harvestings of the Eight Legs. I’m sure it feared the Demons and hoped to someday break free of their control.” Jake paused and said, “It was at this moment that the Demons activated the compulsion and the Demons began killing themselves. Keep an eye on the Nest Mother’s ship.”
They watched and, as the carnage continued with the billions of ships, they saw a single white creature fly out of the mother ship and attack another creature that had left their main ship.
“The white creatures did not use their ships to kill each other. The crew of that small ship attacked each other and the sole survivor left the ship inside and flew out to continue killing. It is my belief that the Demon did not know that craft was inside the Nest Mother’s ship. It has a weapon on it that can kill the Keepers’ ships, and I want you to take your transport, move that ship back to your labs, and duplicate it.”
Twig and Junior were quiet. Finally Twig said, “Why are you giving us that weapon? You must know what we are planning.”
“I do, but I am not going to give it to anyone that can’t be trusted with its power. I need you to make a hundred thousand of those weapons and I will send the Searchers from the Brez Division to have them installed. Those beams will not be given to the Realm’s military. The Brez Division has expanded and is now responsible for the security of the Crown’s galaxy. The majority of those Searchers are Gresh, Cainth, Glod, and Human. They can be trusted.”
The two remained silent. Jake continued, “That beam can destroy any substance in existence; even our ships cannot survive it. I will command that division and see that they are destroyed if we win this.”
“And what do you expect us to do with the one we have, Jake?”
“Use it to make sure your project is successful. You may no longer trust us, Twig; but I trust your species implicitly. You’re going to have a large family to defend shortly.”
Twig said, “We will follow your lead from this point forward. We will make your plan ours.”
“Thank you, Twig. We need to make sure the ship is there.”
A small shuttle teleported to the surface of the green ship and entered the hole in its surface. “The ship is there, Jake. We will start work on the weapon immediately.”
“Thank you, again, Twig.” Jake turned off his display and said, “Junior, I need you to take me to Admiral Busigleore.”
“Jake, you haven’t told me your plan.”
“Can your parents access your core?”
Junior was stunned, “I honestly don’t know.”
“Well, until this is over, you’re going to have to stay away from them. I’m sure the Reg would give parents the tools to manage the behavior of their offspring. You can’t risk everything on the chance they can’t.”
“Why do you think they can?”
“They responded to your distress beacon in less than ten seconds. I believe they heard it before it actually activated. That concerns me, Junior. Just tell them you’re not where you can leave me for the short term. Hopefully we can delay them getting suspicious, but I’m certain that the Gardners are already wondering what I’m hiding from them and they may ask your parents to find out.”
“Are you going to meet with the Gardners again?”
“Not if I can avoid it. I can probably hide what I’m planning from them, but I’m not so sure I could from AG.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jake sat down and looked at Manny. “Thank you for meeting with me, Admiral.”
“Call me Manny, Jake. What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to give me command of the Brez Division’s Searchers, and make sure every one of them is totally loyal to the Queen.”
“That would strip Ross of its defenses.”
“I know.”
“I need to know why.”
Jake stared at Manny and finally decided. He began telling Manny what was going to happen and his plan for handling it.
Two hours later Manny was convinced, “Does Valerie know?”
“No, she doesn’t, and she would not go along with what I’m going to do.”
“I can see that.” Manny sat and mulled over what Jake had told him. “Why did you tell me and not just order me to give you the ships?”
“You are the only one in the Realm that can see if what I’ve told you is true. I was thinking that you might know of something that I’ve missed that would change my plans. Do you know anything I’ve missed?”
“I know a number of things you don’t know, but they only support what you’re planning. I’m not certain you can make this happen.”
“Me either, Manny but I have to try.”
“This could be considered treason, Jake.”
“So shoot me, but first help me.”
“The Division is yours. There are five hundred Searchers that are spies, and I need to assign them to another venture.”
Jake stared at Manny. “Don’t act surprised. I have more than six thousand scattered throughout the Realm. The Division is yours. I’ll notify the General Officers that they are to follow your orders without question, no matter what you ask of them.”
“I want Cynthia Dodd to be second-in-command.”
Manny smiled and said, “Another promotion?”
“An Admiral outranks a General, and she is going to have to command the operation in the Keepers’ universe.” Jake paused, “Manny, if Joe knows what I’m planning, AG will know.”
“I know. I’ll make sure I stay away from any meetings with them.”
Jake tilted his head, “That’s a good Idea.”
Manny nodded, and worried.
The Kosiev jumped away from the Keepers Fleet it had attacked, and the Gardners replayed the recording of the battle. “I tried everything in my inventory and nothing affected their hulls.”
Tag said, “We see that. Do you think flying through one would cut it in half?”
There was a long pause, “I’ll try that, but I want Cassandra taken off if I do.”
Cassandra sat up in her chair, “Why do you say that?”
“I felt their beams and they started to get through to my processors. I’m of the mind that I would be broken in half if I tried it.”
“Then we won’t try it.”
Tag looked at Cassandra and knew she would not allow him to place the ship in danger. “Can you think of anything else we can do?”
She shook her head.
“If we still had those blue ships we used
against the Demons, there might be a good chance of damaging them.”
Matt sighed, “That possibility does not exist. The Reg took them when they moved out of our universe. I’m also pretty certain that they would not allow us to use them to kill another species if they are not also endangered by that species. And they are not where we can reach them. They left for another dimension and we do not possess an interdimensional drive.”
“Perhaps that cutting beam is a possibility.”
Tag shrugged, “You’re probably right, Alex. Take us to Ross and let’s see if the spiders are ready.”
The Collective asked Military, “How many ships are ready for the second wave?”
“Ten million. I have also learned another of those psychic waves happened in that other universe.”
“What?”
“It appears another being has been released.”
“Was there any damage to our fleets?”
“No, it happened far away from our fleets.”
“Psychology, have you seen this data?”
“Yes, but I don’t really know what it means.”
The Collective thought and asked, “Could those beings develop a weapon that uses that wave, and are just waiting for us to attack with our larger fleets?”
Silence greeted his question. Psychology said, “We won’t know unless we go ahead with the attack.”
“Don’t send the full fleet. Send four million and an observer to see if they possess that weapon. How many planets have been destroyed?”
“We have destroyed seven thousand which were all uninhabited. We are going to jump a small fleet in on one of their inhabited planets within twelve intervals to see if we’re successful.”
“Then hold off on sending any ships until we make that determination.”
Three hundred thousand Keepers’ ships waited for the scout to arrive and give them the coordinates needed for their attack. The Fleet Director watched his display and the scout jumped in and transmitted the location. The Keepers began sending thoughts to the main beam and when all ships reported ready, the Director said, “Jump in 5,4,3,2,1, jump.”
The three hundred thousand ships jumped into the upper atmosphere of Del Robles and immediately accelerated toward the planet’s surface firing their main beams. The two continents on one side of the planet blew up in a huge blast, and everything was burned a hundred feet into the planet’s surface. The official designated to activate the probe to teleport the planet away was killed in the first Keepers’ blast.
The Keepers Fleet spread out, and in two hours the planet was a smoldering ball of bare rock. The Director jumped his fleet back to the home universe to report his success. Now they could destroy this new enemy and they looked forward to the next attack. For Del Robles, twenty billion died and the Realm lost another provincial capital.
The Gardners were in the map room discussing the cutting beam with Edison and Valerie when Joe rushed in the room and interrupted the meeting, “Valerie! The Keepers have destroyed Del Robles!”
Valerie stood, “How did they get through the frequency generator?”
“It appears they used their universal drives and jumped directly above the planet’s atmosphere. They accelerated to the planet’s surface and fired their weapons. The teleport official was killed in the initial volley.”
Valerie hit her com, “Move Ross now.”
“What?”
“I said teleport Ross right now. Don’t question one of my orders again or I’ll have you shot for treason.”
The Gardners looked at each other and listened as Valerie punched her communications panel. “Attention all members of the Star’s Realm. The Keepers have found a way to jump in to our planets. I am ordering your teleportation official to move your planets every ten minutes until we find a way to counter this new threat. You will activate the first move immediately.”
Valerie punched another key, “Sprig!”
“I’ve just heard, Your Majesty. We are working on how to deal with this new tactic.”
“In the meantime, I want you to order the teleport officials off-planet and to take station near the probe. At the first scan of a universal drive I want the planet teleported.”
“The Keepers Fleet will emerge from their drives in three seconds from the field being detected.”
“How much time does it take for the planet to be moved?”
“About two seconds.”
“Then get five ships up for every planet. There is only one second to respond and we can’t allow fatigue from constant surveillance to allow us to lose another planet. I would also suggest that shifts only last thirty minutes and overlapping ten minutes.”
“The orders are being sent.”
“Now, how can we make this a mechanical process?”
The Gardners listened to Valerie issuing her instructions and their opinion of her changed. Danielle had already seen the mettle of the young woman, but the others saw just a young, inexperienced ruler. She demonstrated that they were wrong.
Tag looked at Danielle, “You’re right. She deserves our respect.”
“I wasn’t much older when I assumed the throne, and Rose was even younger. Her psychic power is greater than Rose’s.”
Tag felt bad, and the other Gardners began to feel shame at how they had disregarded her opinions.
“We can set the probe to initiate the move when it detects a universal drive. However, it will take several rotations to send the instructions to the probes’ processors.”
“Then get on it. I’m sure the Keepers will try to take advantage of this tactic. I want the provincial capitals moved every ten minutes even if we have a mechanical answer.”
Sprig disappeared off her board.
“Jake, are you in this universe?”
“Yes, I am, Valerie. I’ve just received the news. I was talking with Sprig when you commed him, and I think you are doing exactly what needs to be done.”
“When are you coming here? We need to make some decisions.”
“Valerie, you are going to have to handle that end for the foreseeable future. Junior and I are tied up with this project. If you need any suggestions, call me. However, I’m sure the Gardners will help you with any serious threat to the Realm. I’m going to see if we can coat our Searchers with a new process so they can stand up to the Keepers’ main beams. I’m starting with the Brez Division Searchers, and if it works we’ll use it on the remainder of our fleets.”
Valerie sensed that Jake was not telling her the real reason for not coming, and she suspected that it had something to do with the Gardners. She pressed her com and said, “Just be careful and get back here as soon as you can.”
“I will, Love. Take advantage of the Gardner’s experience. They’ve survived this kind of conflict. I’m sure they’ll offer you good council.”
Melanie listened to Jake and still felt something was not right, but it could have been he was stressed over the loss of an important planet. She looked at Danielle and saw she was also sensing something.
“Sprig, how’s the development coming along?”
“I heard what you told Valerie, and you’re not far from the truth.”
“How’s that?”
“We have duplicated the material used to make the hulls on the white ships, and we are going to use it to coat the surface of ships that have been mothballed by the Realm.”
Jake thought about that a moment, “Tell me what you mean. I’m not sure I follow you.”
“If you take the Searchers from the Brez Division and bring them here to be armed, it won’t go unnoticed.”
“That’s true, but we have a cover story.”
“Which may not be believed, Jake. This way we will have the 100,000 ships ready for the pilots to come and use when we’re ready. If the Demon really did develop these ships to kill the Keepers, then their thought beams will not penetrate that white substance. We’ve also duplicated their scanners, and during a trial we were able to see every Keepers’ ship in o
ur universe. They can’t hide anymore.”
“That is good! What about the beam?”
“Remarkably, that was the easiest part. It operates on a frequency outside the normal band we know. Once we got a reading on it, developing a weapon was simple.”
“When will you be ready?”
“I have more than twenty thousand of our planets working on it. We should be ready in less than ten rotations.”
“Then we are going to move the captured civilizations in nine rotations. I’m bringing the Brez Searchers in nine rotations as we move the farms.”
“We’ll let you know if anything slows us down.”
The Collective received the data and ordered, “Organize the ships into units and begin the invasion. Recall the fleets currently in that universe and get them organized into the major fleet.”
Production asked, “You’re not worried about that psychic weapon?”
“I’ll worry about it if they use it.”
“Get the scouts to start assigning targets. We need to use this method before the new enemy finds a way to counter it.”
Twelve million Keepers’ ships organized into forty fleets of 300,000 ships. The scouts began jumping in with target coordinates, and the forty fleets jumped.
Alex Jongo received the news about the destruction of Del Robles and actually held a private celebration. Duke Zenic posed a real problem to his mounting the Realm’s throne because of his own ambition, and now the Keepers had solved another problem for him. He contacted the military commander of the province and offered to lead his forces in the absence of a successor being chosen.
“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?”
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