by Saxon Andrew
Danielle nodded and said, “Sprigly, scan me and then scan Tag.”
Sprigly held the device close to Danielle and his leaves turned red in shock, “Your psychic charge is almost as much as Tommy and Casandra’s were together.” He walked over to Tag pointing the device at him and said, “He has the same reading!”
“Well, you better turn that meter off.” Sprigly was shaking as he turned the meter off and Seedel said, “What’s going on?”
“Hold on to your leaves, Love; this should be something you’ll never forget.”
Tag smiled, “If our charges are now identical, it’s safe to make contact.” Danielle nodded. “You know the Black Warships in that other universe will detect this.”
“That’s why the time has been shortened to four-months from the original estimate of three-years,” Danielle replied and then asked with a smile, “Are you ready?” Tag smiled and wrapped Danielle up in his arms. The bright-blue flash that erupted from them knocked Sprigly and Seedel to the floor. Tag closed his eyes and held her tight as the powerful shock shook them. After it stopped, he looked in her eyes, “Are you, all right?”
“I can just never get used to it.”
“Well, fortunately, it doesn’t happen very often.” Tag went to the control panel and said, “The Generators are full and so are the reserves.” He looked up and said, “BC, have the readings changed on the Psychic Ships?”
“Give me a moment to get everything back on line! Whatever you did was beyond anything I’ve experienced.” They waited and heard, “One thing is different.”
“What is that?” Tag asked.
“My systems are more than twice as fast as before.”
Sprigly and Seedel stood up groggily and Sprig shook his branches. “Are you two ok?”
“Yes, Danielle. The flash has completed our union. We now have every memory instead of most of them.”
• • •
Still shaking, Seedel managed to say, “I thought we had everything.”
“So did I, but it appears there was a lot we missed.”
“When are we going to the Realm?” Sprigly asked
“In about two-weeks. Some time is needed before we go.” Tag smiled and hugged her tightly. Danielle softly whispered, “I’ve missed you so much.”
• • •
The massive fleet moved through the outer defense satellites without tripping a warning. It arrived above Ross and moved in orbit above the giant Government Center on the planet’s surface. Danielle glanced at the Giant Castle beside the Center and began to reminisce; so many memories. Her children were born there and the Realm was formed around its walls. She blew out a slow breath and thought, “I’ve timed my arrival so that you would be in session.”
Thele was listening to one of the Representatives presenting a proposal for another tax and he froze along with everyone else in the room. Thele said, “Danielle, what a pleasant surprise. I’ve been wondering when you would come to see us.”
“Save it, Thele. You have one chance and one chance only. All of you will resign your positions and turn the government over to me and Tag or I’m leaving you to rule in our place.”
“Your Majesty, it is no longer lawful for Royalty to rule the Realm.”
“Ok, you’ve had your chance.”
Curan ran up to the podium and said, “Thousands of civilian ships are lifting off the planet.”
“WHAT?”
Curan listened to a device in his ear and said, “More than a hundred-thousand have lifted and more are lifting as we speak.”
“What is going on?”
Danielle smiled, “It appears some of your citizens do not want to be ruled by the current government.” Danielle paused a moment and said, “Before you attempt to stop them, you should be aware that I will prevent any interference.”
Thele looked quickly at Curan and curtly nodded. Curan lifted a device and began speaking into it. Suddenly, the giant monitor on the front wall of the Assembly came on showing a giant fleet directly above them. Fifty-Warships came rushing toward the fleet and a small glowing warship vaporized them. “I would stop sending your ships out to interfere. You’re going to need them in the future.”
Thele shouted to Curan, “Call in the Algeans!!”
“They refuse to come!”
Thele’s eyes narrowed and he said to Danielle, “I understand there might be a danger coming to threaten the Realm.”
“There is.”
“And you’re just going to allow it to attack the Realm you made?”
Danielle walked to the front viewport and looked down at the Government Assembly Building before saying with obvious anger, “The Realm I made died when you attacked two of the Realms’ most loyal allies. As you just said, royalty is no longer allowed to rule the Realm. The Realm has lost the Royalty that once served it.”
“We can change that law!”
“I’ll consider it but first everyone in the room will immediately resign and go back to their home planets.”
“But we’ve been chosen by the members of the Realm.”
“You passed a Law that makes your positions lifelong and anyone who dies will be replaced by those you choose. You are nothing more than dictators driven by the need for power. Resign now!”
“How do you know this?”
“It’s why there hasn’t been an election in ten-years.”
Thele looked out at the Assembly and said, “I have a motion on the floor for all of us to resign. All in favor, stand up.” Fifty-seven representatives stood and Thele looked around the room. He smiled and knew he was going to remain in power. He looked at the standing representatives and said, “Your resignations are accepted. You will be replaced immediately.” Suddenly, the standing Representatives disappeared.
“That was your last opportunity to convince me to defend you.”
“Surely you will not leave us unprotected!”
“You have the Algeans NS they are also no longer under my protection. I’m sure you’ll have the necessary talents to survive what’s coming.”
• • •
While Danielle was speaking with the Assembly, the ships lifting off Ross were given coordinates telepathically by Sprigly and Seedel. The ships entered the coordinates and they began disappearing from above Ross. Curan quickly spoke into his communicator, looked at Thele and nodded.
Hundreds of thousands of Realm Warships were jumping in but remained far away from the planet. The Primes had moved around Ross and held their positions. Tag sent a thought to the warships, “You will live if you remain where you are.”
• • •
While the confrontation was taking place at Ross, a single Prime blew through Earth’s atmosphere and landed in a street outside a modest residence. The port opened and a Spider leapt out of the ship and moved toward the front door. Two-Red-Warriors moved forward and raised their blasters. The Spider said to them, “If you want to live, you will leave now!”
One Warrior looked at the other and said, “We’ve been ordered to make sure this family doesn’t leave.”
“I’ve just rescinded that order. Leave now, or die.”
“One of the warriors raised his blaster and the other put his hand on his arm, “Wait!” He looked at the Spider and said, “Did Queen Danielle send you here?”
“Yes!”
Suddenly the front door opened and the Gills came running down the front steps. The Spider stepped in front of them between the two Red Warriors and said, “Get on board the ship.”
The warrior said, “I have felt the call but I have an oath to defend the Realm.”
“You must decide now!”
“May I bring my family?”
“I’ll wait five-minutes before I leave.”
The warrior teleported away and the remaining warrior lifted his blaster and fired at the Spider. The beam didn’t even flash when it hit the Spider’s armor. In a heartbeat, the Spider ripped the blaster out of the warrior’s hand and drew back one of its front l
egs, “Last Chance!” The warrior teleported away. A moment later, the other warrior appeared with a woman and three-young children. “Get on board now!” The Spider ordered.
The warrior’s armor disappeared and he assisted his wife, as he passed the children into the ship. The Spider leapt in and closed the port. It rushed to the control panel as fifty-Red-Warriors teleported in. The force field activated as the warriors opened fire to no avail. The ship disappeared and then lifted into the bright morning sky above Earth. In an instant, it was gone.
Rose ran forward to the front of the Prime and said, “ARE YOU A SPIDER?!”
“I AM!”
“WOW!”
“Hang on, we’re going to get you to a safe place.”
Frank Gill looked at the Spider, “Why did you make a special trip to us?”
“It appears the Queen rather likes your daughter. I’m taking you to the Castle on Bristone and the King will make sure you’re taken care of.”
“BRISTONE!! WILL I SEE A ZORD?!” Rose yelled.
The Spider started laughing, “Yes, you will.”
The former Warrior looked at his wife, “I know. I should have listened to the call.”
“I’m glad you didn’t wait any longer.”
The warrior smiled, “So am I.”
• • •
Merle came running into the Assembly and rushed up to the podium, “The data-crunchers have found something everyone leaving Bristone have in common!”
“What is that?”
“Every one of them currently hold a Royal Title or are closely related to one of the Realms Royalty.”
Thele dropped his head, “How was the Queen able to set this up without us knowing?”
“A warrior has reported to his commander that his partner said to a Spider that he has felt the call, whatever that means.”
“A Spider!?!”
“Yes, it appears they’ve returned.”
Curan looked at Thele, “It appears the families of the Reps that resigned are no longer at their homes.”
“Where are they going?”
“We’ve not been able to trace them!” Merele replied.
A Warrior walked up and said, “Mr. President, there is a huge crowd gathering outside the building demanding to know what’s going on.”
“Tell them I’ll issue a statement in two-hours.”
“What are you going to tell them?” Curan asked.
“I’ll tell them the Queen came and ordered us to accept her rule.”
“Do you think that will satisfy them?”
Thele shrugged and tilted his head, “I think everyone that wouldn’t be satisfied has left.”
“I hope you’re right.” Thele could only shrug.
• • •
Danielle watched the last small ships disappear and ordered, “Close it up and head back to Bristone.” The massive fleet disappeared from Ross’s scanners.
Tag went to his chair and asked, “How did you know they would have the necessary transportation to leave.”
“I knew that the psychic-blast we made would blow through this universe and free the potential psychic abilities of those that had them. The problem of having a wealthy citizenship is that they can afford to purchase personal spacecraft to move around the Realm. Waiting two-weeks for those that were released to find a way out was just long enough to make it happen.”
“Danielle, I scanned most of the ships that lifted from Ross and it appears they, for the most part, are your descendants.”
Danielle smiled, “I guess I have more children than I thought.”
“Rose had ten-children.”
“I know, Tag. And that little girl at the house is one of her descendants.”
“I felt it as well.”
“Now, it’s up to the Cats to sort them out.”
• • •
The mass of civilian spaceships arrived above El Prado and were given coordinates on where to land. The ships began moving into the atmosphere and landing in a huge clearing, where the occupants left their ships and waited for further instructions. The Cats had stampeded the Torg out of the clearing and more than a thousand-Cats surrounded it sending out a constant mental warning for them to stay away.
• • •
Jim and Ellen Pickney were looking around feverishly and Ellen could not stop wringing her hands, “WHERE DID HE GO!?!”
Jim’s head was turning left and right as he answered, “I don’t know. He said he had to leave and disappeared into the crowd.”
They continued to shout Jimmy’s name and suddenly a giant Cat appeared, which silenced them immediately. “Do not worry about your son. He is looking for his complement.”
“Complement?!”
“He has been searching for her for a long time. He needs to find her just like you found each other.”
Ellen looked at Jim as he shrugged, “I was never at peace until you came into my life, Ellen.”
“But he’s only twenty-years old.”
“We were nineteen, Love.” Ellen began crying and fell into his arms. The Cat moved on reassuring families and waited for the first round to end.
“Later that night, Jimmy arrived at the campfire outside their ship and was holding the hand of a young woman. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and Jimmy smiled as he said, “Mom, Dad, this is Lola. She and I will be getting married soon.”
They looked at the young woman as she stepped forward, hugged them, and said, “I feel like I’m finally alive. Thank you.”
“We need to go and break the news to her parents. Would you like to go with us?” They stood up and Jimmy smiled, “Their ship is about two-miles from here.”
Ellen smiled and by the time they arrived at Lola’s ship, they knew their family had just grown by one more member. They talked until morning, when a Cat appeared and announced, “I will be sending you to Bristone in a moment. Your two families will be assigned to a family there until quarters can be built for you. Do you have any questions?”
“What about our ships?” Ellen asked.
“They’ll remain here.”
Jimmy and Lola were hugging each other and the Cat said, “Please step away from each other. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
Lola moved back and said, “There’ll never be enough time.” Jimmy smiled and nodded just before the Cat hit them with a teleporter.
• • •
Dela and Kogo had teleported all the Major Clan Leaders from each of the fifteen-Cainth Planets and listened to them argue. She finally had enough, this was ridiculous. “I’M FED UP WITH ALL OF YOU!!” The Clan Leaders stopped yelling at each other and turned to Dela. “Kogo and I are taking you back to your planets and let you stew there! Your planets will be moved to the Bristone Galaxy because if we leave them here, all of you will die! I thought we came from a species of warriors but all I’ve seen is frightened old Cainth too frozen to do anything but argue! The Glod didn’t hesitate to enter this fight and that clears up which species are the true warriors. GET ON THE SHUTTLE NOW!!”
Dela’s father looked at her, “You will conduct yourself appropriately around us!”
“I am!! Everyone that I brought here, get on the shuttle or I’ll teleport you on board!”
Another Clan Leader said, “You expect us to just do as you order us?!”
“No…I expected you to want to fight!! That was sheer stupidity on my part. Get on the shuttle, now!”
The Clan Leaders looked at each other and then back at her in silence and Kogo interjected, “Don’t worry about your safety; we will fight to protect you from any harm. We’ll tell the Queen that you lost your warrior’s heart along with your courage after the Realm blasted it out of you. We have wasted enough time and we need to get back into preparing to fight the coming threat. Please enter the shuttle.”
Dela’s father lowered his eyes, “Just what do you expect us to do?!”
“I expected you to take your orders from the Queen you swore to follow without co
mplaint and do your part in what’s needed to defend our people. I can see whatever made us one of the most feared species in the Realm is no longer in you!” Dela said scornfully.
A young Spider stuck its head out of the shuttle, “Do you want me to start teleporting them on the shuttle, Commander?”
“WAIT!” Dela’s father shouted, “Did he call you Commander?”
“I command three-hundred of the small Warships we arrived here in. I don’t have the time to listen to you whine.”
“Why were you chosen to be a Commander?”
“Because I haven’t lost the thing that made my species dangerous, like you bunch of sniveling cowards!”
One of the Clan Leaders drew his swords and stepped out from the group. Kogo was on him in an instant and had him on the ground in less than thirty-seconds with a sword at his throat. Dren yelled, “STOP!” Kogo looked at Dela’s father and he said, “Where did you learn to fight like that? You weren’t that good when you left here.”
Kogo raised his sword and said, “Getting ready to fight again has connected me with my warrior spirit. I’m not going to ask you again to get on the shuttle!”
The Clan Leader lying on the ground said, “My clans will join you.” Kogo looked at him, “Even if the others refuse, we will fight with you.”
Dren said, “My Clans will also join you.”
“Why have you changed your mind, Father?”
Dren stared at Kogo, “It took seeing the four-swords used again to convince me. I cannot bear the thought of sitting on the sidelines while you fight for us.” Dren turned to the others, “What about the rest of you?”
“Every Clan Leader pulled their swords, lifted them overhead, and yelled the Cainth War cry.”
Dela rushed to her father and hugged him. He pulled her close and said, “Notify us on what you need done.”
“Thank you, Father.”
Dren leaned back and saw Dela’s tears, “You’ve made me proud Little One.”
Kogo yelled, “Notify all your warriors that we will be coming for them quickly! Now go to the shuttle and we’ll take you home. You will see the stars change over your worlds in a few days.”
Kogo was wrong…they were changed that night.
• • •