by Saxon Andrew
• • •
The Algean Commander saw the warships round Earth start disappearing on his monitor and thought furiously, “LAUNCH THE PENETRATORS NOW!!” More than a million streaks of light leapt out of the Algean ranks and flashed at incredible speed toward Earth’s surface. He stared intently at his monitor watching for explosions above the planet but everything was obscured by the brilliant flash of light erupting above the planet. It was impossible to determine if any of the advanced warships above the planet were part of the explosions. “LAUNCH THE SECOND BARRAGE!!”
Jimmy felt the Grang shudder and looked at the psychic generators power levels. “KOGO, WE’VE LOST FORTY PERCENT OF OUR POWER. WE CAN’T TAKE MORE THAN ONE MORE BARRAGE!!”
“Jimmy, Psychic Ship, Zord’s Wings, is down to thirty-percent power!!” Lola shouted!
Jimmy slammed a button on is panel, “I’m sending a third of our reserves to them. Kogo, if you’re going to do anything, now would be the time!” Lola reached across and took Jimmy’s hand as the second barrage flashed toward the psychic field surrounding Earth. Suddenly, a brilliant blue flash blew out of them and the psychic field turned a solid blue as the second wave hit.”
Lola looked at her console and said, “The power has increased in all six-Psychic Ships. We’re back up to sixty-percent!”
“Keep me informed, Lola.” He held her hand tightly as a bright blue field surrounded them.
• • •
“LAUNCH ANOTHER BARRAGE, NOW!!” The Algean Commander watched his monitor for the third-barrage and suddenly saw massive holes being blasted through the ranks of the Algean Warships above the planet. Not only were the Warships under his command exploding but the penetrators they fired were also vaporized before the barely left their launch ports.
• • •
Kogo’s eyes narrowed as he thought over the Fleet Frequency, “ALL SHIPS ARE FREE TO ATTACK ENEMY SHIPS. KEEP THEM FROM FORMING UP!!”
Tgen-Jee smiled and flew the giant Glod Warship into a gathering of a hundred Algean Warships. When he passed through their ranks, only five were still operational and they were taken out by a Prime that flashed in a moment later.
Dela looked at her console and asked, “Kogo, are we going to stay out of the fun?”
Kogo raised his shoulders, “We must maintain control. This ship commands our fleet and we can’t lose our focus on what’s happening.”
Dela’s eyes narrowed, “I want to kill them!!”
“That’s the price of command, my Love. We do what must be done, not what we want.”
The giant dog-fight above Earth was impossible to track. The number of ships blowing up were too numerous to compute and after three-hours, Grang said, “It appears the surviving Algean Warships are all flying in above Earth directly above Central City.”
Kogo checked the monitor and suddenly yelled, “ALL GLOD WARSHIPS TELEPORT IN ABOVE CENTRAL CITY AND BE PREPARED TO OPEN FIRE!”
“What’s going on?” Dela asked.
“They are going to use their remaining ships to crash into the psychic field.” He looked at Jimmy and saw he understood what was happening, “Can you stop them?”
“No, those ships have incredible power and some of them will make it through. We’re down to twenty-percent on four of our Psychic ships. It’s not enough.”
Suddenly, Jimmy’s eyes flew wide open as they heard, “Perhaps another ship might help.”
Kogo’s smile was huge, “Tag!!”
“Continue directing the fleet. We’re not up to speed.”
Kogo quickly ordered, “All Primes, break off your attacks and follow the Algean formation. We’ll pin them between the Glod Warships and the planet.”
The Primes flew out and formed up behind the Algean Warships as they flew at maximum speed toward Earth’s atmosphere.
• • •
The Algean Commander had lost ninety-percent of his forces and knew this was the greatest loss in his species long history. But he was not going to fail in his assigned task. He saw the enemy ships move off and start to form up and he knew his time was limited, “WE WILL DIE CARRYING OUT OUR ORDERS. GO TO FULL SPEED NOW!!”
• • •
Jimmy took a deep breath and held it. Kogo asked, “What’s wrong?”
“There are too many, Kogo. Our field has been strengthened by the addition of the Kosiev but it’s still not strong enough to stop all of them.”
Kogo felt his neck muscles go tight as he ordered, “All Glod Warships, open fire now.”
The Algeans might have made it through the massive barrage they flew into but in the center of the Glod ranks was the Alexander Kosiev and the new lens Sprigly installed its blasters made a huge difference. The sixty-basters opened fire and the center of the Algean formation ceased to exist. The first to die was the Algean Fleet Commander, who was in the center of the front ranks. The surviving Algeans saw there was no hope and they tried to pull up and away from the planet but were surrounded by the thousands of Primes following them in to the planet.
• • •
“Kogo, that was a good idea having the Primes follow them in.”
“Thanks, Tag. I didn’t want them to be hit by our blasters. I knew they wouldn’t be able to catch the Algean Warships; they are just as fast as the Primes.”
Kogo glanced quickly at the monitor and ordered, “Tgen-Jee, send half of your warships to pursue Algean survivors.”
“I appreciate the opportunity, but there aren’t any to pursue. It appears four of them teleported away and there are none remaining to attack.”
Danielle smiled, “All Fleet Warships, gather around Earth and hold position above the planet. Newton, Sprigly, are you ready?”
“We’ve been waiting for the Algean Warships to be removed. We couldn’t make the move with them still inside the Solar System.”
Kogo looked at Jimmy knew important information had not been given to him. He saw Jimmy’s expression and knew he saw it as well. Danielle focused and thought to Earth’s new Leader, “Mr. Gardner.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“We are moving Earth’s Solar System to the Bristone Galaxy in another dimension.”
“Thank you for saving us, Your Majesty.”
“Some might think I came to defend a member of the Stars Realm but I believe you left the Realm. That allows me to keep my word about not coming to their defense. I’ll talk with you once the move is completed.”
Kogo glared at Danielle, “You wanted Earth to be attacked.”
“I did.”
“Why, Danielle and why didn’t you tell us about it?”
“Because I was told to do it.”
“By who? No one has more authority than you.”
“Think about it, Kogo and let me know what you come up with.”
Kogo didn’t like her response and quickly said, “I believe that we need to move our vessels back to El Prado to continue our mission.”
Tag smiled, “I think with the Algeans removed, the five-hundred you left there should be enough.”
Kogo turned to him and asked, “Have you found the civilization that represents a threat in our universe.”
Tag glanced at Danielle before answering, “No, we have not.”
“Then we should return to El Prado.”
Danielle smiled, “Do what you think is right, Kogo.”
Kogo lifted his communicator, “All Primes will report back to El Prado immediately. Tgen-Jee, take your warships back with Earth and have them provisioned.”
“Thank you, Commander. We’ve used most of our stores in the fight.”
The Kosiev disappeared and they heard Sprigly announce, “Moving Earth in four-minutes. All ships returning to El Prado should leave now.”
Kogo looked at Dela and then looked at Jimmy, who smiled as he said, “Think about how many dominos have fallen by doing this.”
Kogo could only stare at him. A few moment later, the stars in the viewport changed as the surviving Primes teleported out
to El Prado. Three-minutes later, Earth disappeared.
• • •
The four surviving Algean Warships arrived at the Holy Grove and the Elders learned of the loss of all their warships. The Elders turned on the Senior Elder and began screaming at his incompetence. The Elder listened to them for over two-hours and then said in a thought that went out to every Algean Planet, “YOU WILL BE SILENT!!” Every Algean heard the thought and they fought to control their rage. The Senior Elder waited until the silence spread throughout the Empire and then he said, “I am going to share a conversation I had with a Northern Mountain Cat. Look in your memories and see what role the Cats have played in our history.” The Elder waited for a minute and then shared the message. The silence continued and the Second Elder said, “How can we allow the civilizations here to be attacked?”
“The choice is simple. We defend them and die with them, or we hide and possibly survive. As long as we have a huge fleet of warships, we would not be able to stand by and allow them to be conquered. By losing our fleets, we will have no choice but to hide; we cannot rebuild our fleets before we’re attacked. My primary duty is to defend us from extinction. My secondary duty is to defend those civilizations. If we had not become so arrogant and kept our primary duty in mind, we would have gone to the dark dimension with the Bristone Galaxy. But our arrogance has prevented that happening. Now we will pay the consequences of our decisions. Starting immediately, all manufacturing facilities on our planets will be removed. All commercial vessels will be moved to the civilized planets in our galaxy and perhaps they may be used to save some of their populations when the attack comes. We will play the role of what we are…plants. We will not use telepathy starting one year from now, so I recommend every one of us put our roots in the soil and contemplate what’s happened.”
“Are you certain we’re going to be attacked?”
The Lead Elder looked at the Second, “I saw it in the Cat’s mind. We were given this gift to remove our fleets in order to save us. I weep for the brave pilots that gave their lives but that is part of the price we must pay for our actions.”
“Without Warships, the Realm may come and attack us.”
“I’m going to handle that issue momentarily with the surviving nine-warships. But for now, thank Creation we are saved from a decision we could never make.”
• • •
Thele sat in his office and looked at Merele and Curan. His two-henchmen were not doing enough to make him feel safe, “Have we heard anything from the Algeans?”
“No, not yet,” Curan answered.
“That’s unusual. We should have heard something by now,” Thele mumbled.
A Naval Officer stepped into the office and said, “Nine-Algean Warships have just teleported in above Ross.”
Thele’s eyes widened in surprise as the three heard mentally, “We’ve come to deliver a message from the Senior Elder.”
“What is that?” Thele asked.
“We sent all of our fleets to carry out your orders to destroy Earth. We were met by defensive forces sent there by the Gardners and only four of our warships managed to escape.”
“WHAT?”
“We outnumbered them by the tens-of-thousands but we were no match for their technology.”
“But the Queen swore she would not defend the Realm!”
“It appears the Queen saw Earth as no longer being a part of the Realm. Like you said, they withdrew from the Realm before we attacked.” Thele was silent and the Algean’s smile could be heard in its thoughts, “We came here because the Senior Elder believes that you may decide to use this defeat to attack our species. You should be aware that these nine-warships can blow all your warships into dust and we will do exactly that if you send any of your warships into our galaxy. We will also find the three of you wherever you might try to hide and kill you after we destroy the Assembly Building and all its members. Before we leave, we will leave Ross in ruins. Do you have any questions?”
“Why would you do this?” Thele asked.
“Because our two-galaxies are going to be attacked soon and killing you now won’t really make a difference; you’re going to die anyway.” The three-leaders were silent and they heard, “Send one warship into our galaxy, and Ross dies.”
The military officer looked at his communicator and said, “They’ve teleported out.”
“Is what that Algean said true?” Curan asked the Naval Officer.
“Which part?”
“About those nine-warships being able to defeat all of our fleets?”
The Officer shrugged, “I’m not certain about that claim but they would be able to blast Ross back into the Stone-Age before we could stop them.”
Thele looked at Curan and Merele, “What are we going to do?”
Curan lowered his head, “The opportunity to do anything vanished with our treatment of the Royal Family.”
“What if we resign now?” Thele asked.
Merele spun his chair around and reminded them, “Queen Danielle said when we come begging, she will not lift a finger to help us. She’s right about the Realm no longer being what it once stood for. I suspect she believes the Realm needs to go. We need to decide how to escape this coming attack.”
“Are we going to tell the Assembly what’s coming?” Thele asked.
“If we do, we’ll probably be killed for what we’ve done,” Curan replied. Thele felt fear take hold of him and refuse to leave.
Chapter Eighteen
“Eyes.”
“Yes, Kogo.”
“Do you have a few minutes?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll come down to the planet.”
“You know where I am.”
Kogo stood up and Dela rushed into the bridge, “I’m going with you.” Kogo stared at her and she returned his stare without blinking.
“Grang, teleport Dela and I down to Eye’s current location.”
Jimmy and Lola stared at the two-Cainth and a moment later they disappeared. “He’s having trouble working it out.”
“You could tell him, Jimmy.”
“He needs to find it through his own efforts, Lola. Otherwise, he’ll develop a dependency on us. We may not be around next time.”
“Why wouldn’t we?”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going back shortly. We have a wedding to attend.”
‘We aren’t going anywhere soon?”
“Yes, we are, Lola. I saw in Danielle’s thoughts that she is going to send another Psychic Ship to relieve us in a week.”
“You’re able to see their thoughts?”
“So are you if you focus on them. You were too preoccupied with the end of the battle to look.”
“I don’t like leaving him, Jimmy.”
“Relax, we’ll be back before anything rough happens.” Lola closed her eyes and, after a moment, she reached over and took his hand. The blue field immediately appeared around them.
• • •
Eyes was laying under a giant tree, when Kogo and Dela appeared. He smiled and asked, “What’s bothering you, Kogo?”
“Infinity.”
Eyes’ closed his eyes for a moment as his head moved from side to side and said, “Go on.”
Kogo was holding Dela’s hand and he walked over and sat down on the grass in front of the giant Cat, “I’ve been told that our universe has been invaded by several conquerors. I think they’ve been called Universe Destroyers.”
“That’s true. The most recent were the Demons. The Spiders were once Universe Conquerors until Matt released them from the Demons.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“He was able to break the conditioning the Demon’s used to control them.”
“That’s not what I mean, Eyes.”
“Oh? What then?”
“The Universe is infinite, right.”
“Well, yes, it is.”
“If that’s true, then it would take any would be conqueror an infinite a
mount of time to conquer an infinite universe. According to how I understand infinity, that is just not possible.” Eyes stared at Kogo and then laughed. “What do you find so humorous?”
“Kogo, you’re the first one to ever challenge us on that concept.”
“So, are you saying it is impossible to conquer the universe?”
“No…well, yes when it comes down to THE UNIVERSE. However, it is possible to destroy our universe.”
Dela jumped in, “Aren’t they the same thing?”
“No, not really.”
Kogo started shaking his head and Eyes said, “You are aware the Universe is expanding, right?” Kogo nodded. “Well, to fully understand how that works, you have to know just how big the universe we live in is.”
“You said it was infinite.”
“I said THE UNIVERSE is infinite. The part of it we exist in isn’t.”
“You’ve lost me, Eyes.”
Eyes shrugged, “I’ll explain this as simply as possible, but it will still challenge your imagination.”
“Fire away.”
“The Universe came into existence a little over thirteen-billion years ago.”
“You’re talking about the Big Bang?”
“That’s right, Dela. About a billion-years after that happened, it expanded to its current infinite size in a very short time. That process is called cosmological expansion.”
“But for that to happen, it would have to violate the speed of light and I thought that was not possible.”
“That’s correct, Kogo. It’s not possible for matter in the universe to move faster than light but the universe is not bound by that constraint. Matter of fact, it is currently expanding faster than the speed of light in some places.” Kogo and Dela stared at Eyes in silence. Eyes Continued, “The further you move away from our current location, the galaxies are moving away from us faster than the speed of light. It’s believed that Dark Energy entering the universe is causing this expansion and the process is currently accelerating. Just keep that in mind as I describe our patch of the universe.”
Kogo nodded, “Go ahead.”
“When you look up at the stars in the night sky, the light arriving at our planet left those stars long ago. Since the universe started thirteen-billion years ago, we’re able to see those stars that are about 46 billion-light years away.”