Evolution's Essence

by H. Lee Morgan, Jr

  “Best idea invented in my not so humble opinion. It was more for me you know. It really makes my orgasms sing through me and lets the stars shine. But now we really need to go. That playful hour flew by too fast. Oh, before I forget, Callier received the suits you made for them. She’s thankful. It integrated well with their Zeelin armor.”

  “Good.” He armored up and returned the weapons to their proper place before making the Ligers come close so they could touch and teleport beneath the city and arrived in the spacious docking bay able to fit fifty Dorgenox’s inside.

  The docking area forty five kilometers long and half as wide and two kilometers tall. It was the biggest carrier vessel in known history after the City of fire was revived and transformed into a massive ship. The city-ship was a total length of fifty nine kilometers from bow to stern and thirty at its widest. It’s depth was fifteen kilometers and was unlike any ship in the Empire. Despite its fearsome outlook it was mainly the most advanced learning city anywhere. Visitors from far and wide come to visit. The ship was more like a Creelin colony though. A mobile city with resources aplenty for anyone’s needs and desires. In the two decades it had been in use it has been used three times in Keptl attacks and singlehandedly vaporized their three largest pushes in Empire space. Each time the Goliaths numbered over fifty. More than enough to conquer entire solar systems. Even the Emperor’s flagship couldn’t match the size or power the city did.

  Right now though it was empty except for personal craft and emergency personnel to come rescue at any time there is distress during this massive operation. Outside the energy field keeping the vacuum of space away was the massive portal gate in its oval form. Dozens of craft stabilized the object. Due to the blue light emanating off the giant star the ceramic was tinted light blue.

  Standing around were the forty four daughters of Oliver and Renee and over eighty Ligers belonging to the girls who follow their eldest sister, Isabella. Behind and chatting everywhere else was the Empire’s best and strongest Psionic users. Each and every single one had a modified Valek able to sore several years worth of energy that would be needed. Jake Dorgen stood over by Vanishing Claw and Talon with Andrea laughing from some joke Talon told. Hundreds more Ligers stood scattered about among those that came to offer help in this much anticipated and costly endeavor. In all there was eight five thousand nine hundred and thirteen who came and were able to offer their support, knowing the danger.

  “Let’s keep things simple Everyone!” Renee clapped her hands to gain their attention and it worked. Her voice carried through speakers after using the chip to patch into the city systems. The crowd quieted. “Oliver will strategically place each of us next to a power relay. This includes those of you with Ligers. Your jobs are simple. Pour as much power into the grip that will be obvious as soon as you see it. And keep the sensor display in the green area using your power. All here are Class Twelve minimum. In the red means you’re pumping too much and will burn yourself out. Those with Ligers will have them bite the grip and distribute your power to them so they can power their areas.

  “What we’re doing can simply be stated as throwing up a Psionic barrier around the entire star itself.” Many of the men and women gulped. Having hearing such was about to happen made reality set in. “Olly has already sent the barrier generators into a stable orbit, that will take the power you’ve input into the relay and generate a barrier to drones roughly a thousand kilometers wide. He’s put billions of these generators out there already. What we lack in numbers the Creelin will fill. This star is too large for any one of us to contain, let alone all here. It’s the fifth largest star in Andromeda.

  “It was why my match had each of you sign a waver to allow each of you to gain a Valek able to store your Psionic energy and for a full year you’ve hopefully did minimal power usage to store up for today.” Some laughed nervously and not everyone had stuck as closely to the guidelines rather than learn as much about their Valek as store as much as possible.

  “Around, you’ll find large crates. When I unlock them you each will attach your Vlaek to the blob-like canisters in this box, it will protect you from any excess heat, light and radiation by bulking your armor up considerably by twenty five centimeters. When we return you will deposit it back. The suits will be destroyed after in the event they leak radiation. It will keep you cool and safe though. Olly’s suit already tested the durability by appearing in the star’s corona for twenty of our hours. If it can sustain the corona even for a few seconds, where we’ll be will be plenty safe for our fifteen plus hours.

  “Lastly, know that if there is a failure, the relays will teleport us out the nanosecond it detects an error so never let go. We need all the stellar dust before Oliver drops a manmade white hole to negate the super massive black hole that it will become if we do nothing. The moment the archway is charged we all leave before the white hole meets black. Do not deviate from the plan. Keep it simple and hold on. If you get bored, use your chip to play a game. No matter what you see or hear, trust that Oliver has thought of every possible eventuality.”

  “Even if Keptl show up with our asses free-floating in space?” Soifon of Wind grinned.

  “Even Keptl.” Oliver spoke up. “Samuel is well read on every eventuality even should the Creelin betray us.” This raised eyebrows. “I’m not going to let anyone harm my family or friends or any of you who came to help me find out what happened to my people. By coming here and offering aid, you have my sincerest gratitude.”

  “We understand, Daddy.” Vikki coolly interrupted another Soifon classical retort.

  “Lad, ye aren’t the only one eager to find out if yer people still live.” Jake Dorgen said and it wasn’t hard to hear his baritone voice. “For many of us, this is the next to last stop to meet the creators of our whole race. If they live, ye can bet this isn’t for ye why we come. Me personally, I want to find if they can hold their liquor like ye can.” This caused many to chuckle. “Enough talking. We got a star to explode… Damn, never thought them words would leave me lips.” At this he belly laughed and it was infectious.

  When it ran its course Renee said “Laxus, disengage locks on the Star Suits.” The AI complied and each metal crate opened with a hiss where inside were cylinder canisters holding twenty liters of jet black liquid.

  All around clothes of individuals was replaced into fearsome Solarian style armor. All men had the same fearsome complete covering, full body pattern of Oliver’s and women were smoothly cloaked like Renee with a facemask. Telekinesis made short work by passing the canisters to everyone. At a thought the Valek sent a tendril into the dark liquid and drank in thick gulps to build up the metal’s thickness till the liquid was gone. The extra insulation felt awkward to everyone. The Ligers though were more uncomfortable, but soothing thoughts from their masters kept them docile when their collars did similarly.

  Sparky looked the most fearsome of all when his collar, patterned after the Ligers after extensive modification, could wear spiked armor at any moment. He would go too since after all Renee spent months researching how Oliver could send his Psionics to Nova and the Pride when they could not. Eventually she added a gene sequence she found in the Ligers and spliced it into the Drake so he could use her power to be the first Drake in history to use Psionic powers as well as she can. After adding the larger canister he needed, he looked even more formidable.

  Sadly the gene would only work for bonded Drakes. It required the bond he and Renee shared for him to draw upon. Still, he was not alone. A dozen more bonded Drakes and their companions had also come.

  Many walked around to try getting comfortable till Renee instructed the masses to calmly head to the teleporter that were coded to send individuals to designated relays. Soon as a person was gone another stood on the teleporter to likewise get sent.

  It took twenty minutes to clear the deck and just before Oliver used the ship’s teleporter he activated a hyperspace teleport on the ceramic gateway. Outside the force field, the massive r
ing vanished faster than a blink.

  Immediately his suit’s visuals dimmed due to the extreme star’s brightness as he stood on a platform twenty meters wide with a pedestal jutting from the center. The platform was transparent and below Oliver’s feet was the gateway and below it was the star that was so massive it was a straight horizon even though the platform was over a hundred and fifty thousand kilometers from the surface. He didn’t need to bother activating magnetic boots to stick to the platform as he walked to the dais where a wide bar waited. Soon as his armored hand grasped hold a display appeared and he began rapidly taking in thousands of readings as fast as he could manage. Even faster than the day he was found on the desert planet and Stephanie let him use a crystal to learn Human history and everything else that started him on this path.

  Through his mind’s eye he saw Nova and his Pride were all comfortably safe on their relays. All suits being scanned were reading everything was in more than reasonably safe parameters. The suits were easily able to block everything harmful from reaching their bodies.

  More information passed his console as the Creelin began landing on their areas. Soon as Netul landed there came a chip-produced hologram of the legendary Creelin warrior saying “My people are in place and awaiting your command.”

  “Everyone, Begin transferring power in five, four, three, two, one…” Oliver counted down and sent power to Nova who sent it to all the others while biting down.

  Barrier generators activated everywhere and spread out. The naked eye couldn’t see the drones spread out systematically as everyone orbited the star, but with unified help the barriers began spreading and combining. In what seemed twenty minutes the barrier completely encased the cobalt super giant. Everyone continuously poured their power, keeping the gauge display in the green section. Some struggled, but were managing. Many of the more skilled didn’t even make the needle quiver a hairsbreadth.

  “Very good everyone. The barrier is trapping everything except gamma, alpha, beta, neutron and x-ray radiation. The heat and cosmic radiation are effortlessly holding. Now comes the difficult part. I need to destabilize the gravity field keeping the star from leaving the core. Everyone, brace yourselves for space-quakes and an increase of heat. Do not let go or the material will escape the hole you’ll leave behind. If there is a fault, you’ll leave the area immediately. All sensors are fully operational. I’m initiating he program. If you feel you need to put a barrier around yourselves to ease your mind, I will not stop you so long as you continue fueling your relay. In three, two…”

  At zero he pressed a holographic button and from every angle the drones and relay stations generating the barrier shot a laser-like beam of silver light straight down simultaneously.

  For several moments nothing happened, but then the star seemed to roll as if some gargantuan creature was rudely awakened under the surface.

  Pillars of flame rushed up and out thousands of kilometers wide as the star went nova and spread in a haphazard way. The pillars struck the barrier, but nothing escaped. Heat and light intensified to the point that the star’s former surface was mere meters away, held back by a relatively thin shell. Although the barrier was ten kilometers thick after all. The platforms all shook almost dangerously, but it held. Below where Oliver stood he could no longer see the gateway at all.

  Yet the giant oval was doing as designed. Port holes began hungrily consuming billions of tons of matter through small holes once thought to allow air and water to flow in and out of the former King’s Tusk Tower part. It’s sturdy design ate like it was meant. Ravenously. The confusing pathways in the interior was actually a way to distribute the excess heat for the heavy, raw stellar matter to collect and the exploding vibrations cycled through itself to keep from ripping itself apart. The smooth outer walls also reduced surface tension so it could sit in the most dangerous area as long as it needed till satisfied its appetite.

  Hours began to pass and slowly the quakes equalized, but it was still dangerous work. So far all went according to plan.

  More hours passed.

  At fifteen hours, five minutes and eleven seconds the gateway could accumulate no more. It was filled to capacity and soon as readings indicated such Oliver didn’t bother announcing it was complete. He activated the gateway teleportation to send it between galaxies, sent everyone back to their ships and dropped a massive spike containing the ingredients of a white hole.

  Simultaneously.

  An instant later everyone was back aboard the hangar and was confused by the abrupt change of scenery and it was cleared up as Oliver shouted “Success!”

  Half the people collapsed from sheer exhaustion. The other jumped for joy.

  Amidst the congregations came a deep voiced “Welcome home, Mom, Aunts, Grandpa, Grandma and Grandpapa.”

  Heads spun and it was Isabella who shouted in surprise “SAMUEL! My Babies!” she looked at her two daughters too.

  Samuel and all the third generation along with other family members of those who left stood a ways back. Samuel was now fully grown and like all the half Solarian males they each stood two hundred centimeters tall minimum. They all were heavily muscled. Females were curvy and thickly muscled too, but didn’t grow near as tall as their brothers or cousins.

  “Stars! We know where they get their height from.” Renee laughed, throwing her head back as she said “How long?”

  “You’re two hours earlier, but it’s been more than two years Grandma. If you can’t tell.” His wry smirk couldn’t hide how relieved he was his family came back.

  “What have we missed?”

  “Not too much. The Empire has been waiting and watching all these years and aside from a few things, not much.”

  “Except if you don’t consider he’s made you a great grandmother, My Queen.” Poked the head of a youthful olive skinned woman with a toddler on her hip, coming up beside Samuel.

  “OH MY STARS! I’M A GRANDMA NOW!” Isabella shrieked, then pounced over to stand in front of the couple.

  Suddenly Isabella was jerked back and slapped. Her mask pulled away and she confusedly asked “Ma? Why did you?”

  “Your own son was about to gut you.” Renee glowered at her firstborn.

  “What?” Isabella turned and saw Samuel had his Star-saber out and stood poised in front of the girl. “Sammy? My boy? What is that look? So deadly…”

  “You moved too threatening to his offspring and the armor didn’t help him take you as less a threat to his female you moron. Have you forgotten how your papa used to be when your sisters were toddlers?” Renee almost growled at the stupidity of her eldest daughter. “Besides, you forget we must rid the excess armor. My Valek tells me it radiates lethal amounts in extended close proximity.”

  “She’s Samuel’s Match.”

  “What?” Isabella and Renee asked simultaneously as Oliver spoke.

  The Solarian sniffed and detected scents like no other biped as the demure woman gently coaxed Samuel down and to put his blade away. “Their scents match. I can approach safely I believe, but first…” he turned and ridded the excess material from his body into a biohazard tub and changed into something more comfortable. His Pride followed the master’s example.

  Samuel stiffened as his much larger grandfather approached them and stopped to stare down Samuel till he lowered his eyes in surrender. The youth stepped aside and Oliver knelt to sniff the child and mother. “Good. Your female is strong. Class Fifteen judging by her aura and my great grandson has no defects…” Only Oliver could approach without too much risk because Samuel’s own heightened senses recognized that not only was he not a threat, but an Elder member of the bloodline. Oliver sniffed again. “Smells like Samuel… Renee, scan the babe and verify if my nose is correct. The child remains Half Solarian though he should be quarter.”

  The queen if Fire approached, did a scan and took a painless blood sample, looked her eyes and grinned. “Yup, the hellion’s DNA sequence is stable. The spliced gene I designed for humans isn’t w
eakened after the second generation. Just as I designed. A complete relief. The child’s adult potential will be close to his father’s than Samuel is to his mother and me. A ten to fifteen percent loss of power, but still above spliced Humans. Good nose.” She swatted her male playfully.

  “What is your name?”

  “Kelek, General. It is an honor to meet you and join your family.” The woman held her hand out. His own consumed hers, but she was surprised the grip was gentle. “This here is Luke. I’m from Earth, fifty two years old and mated to Sammy for the past year and a half.”

  “How did you two meet?” Renee asked as she eagerly held out her hands and the new mother passed the chunky babe over and gurgled a laugh as his great grandmother tossed him in the air.

  “No use romanticizing it, My Queen. Sammy cast a search and found my blood analysis was perfect for him. I was curious about the Half’s over here and thought ‘What the hell.’ And came by. Then all of a sudden as I enter the hall he stops talking to a group of friends and fucks me on the spot in front of everyone. I must say that was one of the best romps I ever had.”

  “You raped her?” Renee stopped tossing and glared at her grandchild.

  “Hey, back off, Bitch! I hoped he would.” Kelek defended her blushing man. Renee merely arched an eyebrow and somehow managed to not crack up.

  “Really?”

  “Well, yeah. I saw the holo-vids of Queen Isabella crawling all over Davan and knew it was a possibility knowing I was a genetic match. Like mother like son and he didn’t rape me. He ravished me like no one at a sex center or ex-boyfriends ever had before. Luckily his sister her sent us to his room. Stars! We didn’t leave bed for a month and he only calmed when he found out he got me pregnant.”

  “Stars! I like you already.” Renee finally smiled and hugged the woman. “Not many have the vagina able to stand up to me, let alone call me a bitch.”

  “Solarian women don’t have a monopoly being outspoken.” Kelek grabbed her son and walked up to a silent Queen Isabella. “Want to meet Luke?” a throaty growl came behind. Without looking Kalek said “Knock it off Sammy. She won’t hurt our son… right?”