The red being jumped from his seat and adjusted his display. “Are you busy?”
“We’re all busy.”
“I have been monitoring some kind of recording device that was in the last tool’s universe. It just exploded.”
“Do you think it was programmed to self destruct?”
“I examined the device closely and there was a destruct circuit in it but it was not active. For it to explode, something had to activate it.”
“What did the device record?”
“The second tool’s arrival and destruction.”
“Show me what you recorded.”
It touched a key and waited.
“There is no evidence of anything triggering the destruct circuit but the explosion is a result of that circuit.”
“It had to be activated.”
“Yes it did but we detected nothing.”
“Is there any kind of force that we can’t detect?”
“Only the original creative force.”
“Now I’m starting to be afraid.”
“The Elders should know about this.”
“Are you telling them?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Me either.”
“I fear their wrath more than a possible brush with the Creative Force. They are quite impulsive when they get angry.”
“I do not choose to be the bearer of bad news the way they are acting.”
“Once more you show your wisdom.”
“By the way, what color is the creative force?”
“Bright blue; why do you ask?”
“No reason. I just wanted to know in the event I encounter it in my searches.” The first Demon left and the second remembered the bright blue ship that had destroyed the old tool’s ship. He also remembered that his ship was knocked off line after being hit by the edge of the beam that destroyed the giant green vessel. He was more frightened than he could show.
Life and Grena jumped into the Gurlocke system and found a fleet of ten thousand war ships advancing toward the fourth planet. “What’s going on here, Life?”
“These two civilizations were friends before they entered the Realm. It appears the Gurlockes have raised the price of a mineral that the Klunds need for their food purifiers five times. A type of mold that came from a meteorite makes most of the food grown on Klund poisonous unless it is processed with a beam fired through the mineral grown on Gurlocke. The higher price has led to a fall in the Klund’s economy and recession has hit them hard.”
“Why are they attacking?”
“Because they want to survive; let’s see if we can prevent this attack.” Life and Grena appeared in front of the advancing fleet and Life thought, “This is as far as you go in system. You will turn your ships around and go home.”
“You are going to have to destroy us. We are starting to have our people die because of the scarcity of Amexra and it’s going to quickly get much worse.”
“Stay where you are. I am going to talk with the Leader of Gurlocke.”
The invading fleet knew they were no match for the Star Realm’s Searchers but they were desperate. “You have two hours. We are willing to die here to save our people, which will be better than the death caused by the mold.”
Grena hit her com, “Twig, have you a moment for me.”
“What is it Grena?”
“Life and I are in the Gurlocke system attempting to stop an invading Klund Fleet from attacking.”
Twig thought a moment and then said, “It’s over Amexra isn’t it?”
“Yes it is.”
“It’s our fault, Grena; the Klunds have appealed for help six months ago but there were too many other issues to remedy. What are they saying?”
The Klund Admiral says his people are dying from a lack of the mineral. The increased price has also devastated their economy.”
“We just can’t keep up with the thousands of issues that pour in every hour. How are you planning to resolve this problem?”
“Life is going to talk with the Gurlocke Ruler, Vazid.”
“Tell him he has complete authority to handle this issue for the Realm.”
“I will, Your Majesty.”
Life was speaking with the Ruler of Gurlocke and not making any progress.
“I don’t care if their life depends on our mineral or not. We are entitled to make a profit. We plan to raise the price again next cycle.”
“That goes against all the principles the Realm was founded on and it has caused loss of life on Klund.”
“That’s their problem. We must take care of our own people.”
“Your standard of living is one of the highest in your sector. You make great profits without raising the price.”
“Even so, we can do better.”
Grena listened to the conversation and broke in, “Life, the Crown has given you complete authority to handle this issue. Whatever you decide will be backed up by the Realm.”
Life looked at his display with the pompous Ruler of Gurlocke and said, “Vazid, your planet’s charter is revoked and your membership in the Stars Realm ends immediately. As you are no longer a member of the Realm, we are not required to assist you against the fleet currently moving toward your planet. When they arrive, please explain your pricing policy to them. Good day.”
“Wait, wait, wait; you can’t do that!”
“Consider it done. It is my belief that the Klunds will come and take whatever they need and change your standard of living rather dramatically; bombardment has a way of doing that. I suspect that they will leave a military presence on your world to insure that all future shipments are also free. That will stop the deaths your heavy handed pricing is causing.”
“You can’t do this. We have no way to defend ourselves.”
“Did you think you could just arbitrarily raise your prices with no adverse effect on your customers? They are dying and you don’t care. It’s time you see the consequences of your actions.”
“Let’s work this out.”
“You had a chance and you chose to violate every principle of the Realm. You are not what this Realm stands for, Your Majesty.”
Vazid was scared. He did not think anything would be done. This was the fifth price increase and nothing had been done after the other four but he saw the fleet in his system and knew he was in dire trouble. “I’ll give them enough to stock their purifiers and go back to the original price.”
Life stared at the Ruler for a long moment and then he heard, “Please.”
Life hit his com, “We have come to an agreement with the Leader of Gurlocke. I would recommend you accept it.”
The Klund Admiral came on their display, “What is the nature of the agreement?”
“You will be given enough free Amexra to stock your purifiers and the price will go back to the original one your planets agreed.”
The Admiral was amazed; this was more than he expected, “How do we make this happen?”
Vazid said, “I will stock freighters and start them to your world immediately.”
The Admiral smiled and said, “That is good; we will stay here in the outer system until those shipments arrive. How long before they leave?”
Vazid had hoped they would leave so he could try to get help against them but he knew that any ships that appeared would not stop the Klund Fleet from attacking. “The first will leave within an hour and the rest before tomorrow is over.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“What about our Charter, Searcher?”
“You are still a member but you are on probation for five years. Any price increase will be viewed as a violation of that probation. If a violation happens, all high technology you receive from the Realm will be stopped. Think seriously about what that will do to your standard of living. Honor this agreement, Your Majesty.”
Life and Grena watched until after the last freighter had lifted from Gurlocke and the Klund Fleet returned home. “This could have been handled after the first price increase, Grena.”
“I know; the Realm is still falling in on its own weight. Even Algeans have limits.”
“True, but they are preventing the total collapse of the system. Think about where we would be if they were not working on it.” Life thought a moment, “Will there be civil war?”
“I wish I knew, Life.”
“Let’s go handle the next issue.”
“Right with you, Love.” The two Searchers disappeared.
Two years had passed and Matt and Melanie were looking at the rosters of the crews that had been found and were wishing the process could be done faster. “Every time new ships appear we have to send everyone back to see if one of the ships will respond to those that have already failed. Half of the crews we have now were initially rejected. Do you see a faster way to do this?”
Melanie thought a moment, “List all Searchers on a board similar to the one used to find civilized planets and assign them a time to fly by. Forget using the Defenders and just run them by. I think we’ve found that speed is not an issue; have them teleport in and go by the crystals at full speed. If any respond, Al can identify which Searcher caused it.”
Matt thought about the suggestion and said, “We’ll set it up so it happens automatically. We’ll order the first million to report to their ships and send the instructions directly to their computers. When the first million are half way done, we’ll order the second million to their ships. That’s a good idea.” Matt thought about the numbers of ships and then sent a thought, “Edison, can you help me with an issue?”
The Spider immediately responded, “I’ll be pleased to help you any way I can.”
Matt filled Edison in and the small spider thought about the problem, “It might be easier to just have them teleport in front of crystal in micro-ports. Once they start the process, they would complete it in less than a second and be returned to where they started.”
“Can we use a screen that fast?”
“It can be done faster but we want to make sure the crystals respond.” The small spider paused, “If you will allow me to use several crews that have been chosen I will determine the maximum speed that the crystals can respond and set up the gates in front of each crystal.”
“Can you handle this project for us?”
“Yes, Your Grace. I’ll start immediately if you will notify Fleet Command to allow me to set up the board and download the program for each ship.”
“Stand by just a moment. Fleet Command.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“I have assigned a project to a Spider named Edison. You will assist him in making this happen.”
“Yes, Your Grace; we will be awaiting his instructions.”
“Ok, Edison. You have your clearance.” The small spider disappeared from their screen.
Melanie looked at Matt, “It may be time to allow the Spiders to assist the Algeans in handling the Realm’s issues.”
“Not yet; the invasion is still a fresh memory and the citizens are not ready for that yet. However, we’ve got to do something soon.”
“What’s bothering you, Magic?”
Matt looked at Melanie and lowered his head, “I’m getting the sense that we need to make another trip in our ship.”
“You think we need to go to that dark galaxy, don’t you?”
Matt quickly looked up, “Did you hear me thinking about it?”
“No, but it doesn’t make sense to plan to fight a foe we don’t have any information about. I just worry about leaving AG an orphan if we go.”
“No one else can go; none of the other ships have completed development.”
Melanie shrugged, “None of them possess your level of psychic ability; to send someone else wouldn’t be right.”
“Are you willing to make the trip?”
“Only if we can prevent those creatures from seeing us; do you know if we’ll show up on their sensors?”
“No, I don’t.” Matt thought a moment and then said, “Al, I need to make a short trip.”
“I’m teleporting you now.”
Matt looked at Melanie and said, “I love you,” then disappeared.
Aladdin jumped into the Reg’s system and waited. After a few moments the three Reg appeared on the bridge, “Your plan has danger, Brother.”
“I need to see what we’re facing. Is there any way to prevent them seeing our ship?”
“Possibly; if you stay out of the Galaxy’s perimeter and set your ships screen at absolute minimal power you may not be seen. Make your scans from there. If you enter the galaxy they will know it. Even if they do not see your ship they will detect your approximate location.”
“Will they see my scans?”
“Probably, but they will not know from where they are coming if you stay outside. You should anticipate a rather large reaction if you go forward with this venture.”
“I will be satisfied if I can just get a ship count on what’s coming.”
The three Reg were silent and then one thought, “Be careful.”
“I’ll do my best.” The three Red disappeared.
“Matt, you’re not planning to go to their galaxy?”
“Al we have to know what we’re facing and I have the only working psychic ship. I sense it is something I must do.”
“You do recognize what your loss would do to the Realm, I hope.”
“Yes, but I still have to go.”
Al was silent for several minutes and finally thought, “I hope your ship is all it’s cracked up to be. Melanie will be with you.”
“That is the only thing that makes me hesitate. Let’s go home, Al.”
Matt appeared in AG’s room as Melanie was rocking her to sleep. The baby immediately opened its eyes when Matt appeared and stared at him intently. “She knows what you’re planning. It has her worried.”
Matt came over and picked AG up and hugged her. He saw she still had the intent look, “Look at my thoughts little one and see what I see.”
AG tilted her head and continued to stare at him. Melanie asked, “What are you doing?”
“She has twice the power of you and me; I’m letting her sense what I’m feeling.”
AG continued to stare and then she smiled. Matt handed her back to Melanie and she went to sleep quickly. Melanie looked at Matt, “Well, when do we leave?”
Matt looked at the Woman he loved so much and said, “After you put her down we’ll tell Sprig what we’re doing and then go.”
“You are going to do what?!?” Sprig yelled.
“It’s something I sense we must do.”
Sprig sent a thought, “Tag, Danielle, I need you in the library. Matt and Melanie are planning a trip to the dark galaxy.”
Tag and Danielle teleported in immediately and Tag looked at Matt, “What are you planning to do?”
“Tag, I sense that I must go and see what we’re facing from that galaxy. Use your sense and tell me what you see.”
Tag closed his eyes and after three minutes he opened them and looked at Danielle and Sprig, “He’s right; he has to go.”
Danielle looked shocked, “Tag, that’s entirely too dangerous. We don’t know what technology they possess that could kill them both.”
Tag shook his head, “That’s one reason why he should make the trip; however, my sense of danger goes down if he goes.”
Sprig thought, “Does it go up if he stays?”
Tag shook his head, “No, but that reduction is significant. I suspect that it will take them longer to find us if he goes. We aren’t even close to finding all the crews and we need all the time we can get. I fear for them as much as you do but Matt is right, they must make this trip.”
“Do you know if they survive it?”
“No.” Tag looked at Matt, “Do you know?”
Matt shook his head. Then Matt was surprised when Melanie said, “AG thinks we’ll come back.”
Danielle, Sprig, and Tag just stared at her. Finally, Danielle asked, “How do you know that?”
“She looked in Matt’s mind and saw his plan. She then smiled and went to sleep. You know her psychic field is stronger that anyone in the Realm. We can’t see it but she could. We’ll be back.”
“Melanie, she’s just a baby; how can she possibly know that?”
“How could Rose get that mobile above her bed to mimic the Ross solar system? Remember, her power is much higher than Rose’s was as a baby.”
“How did you know about that?”
“It’s still hanging in the Ross observatory and still showing the exact positions of all the planets. I asked the curator and she told me about its creation.”
Danielle smiled as she remembered the day it happened. She shook her head and said, “Don’t stay long. We’ll be worried until you return.”
Melanie smiled and embraced Danielle and Tag, “As long as you two are alive, the Realm is safe. You have meant so much to us and I know how much you mean to the Realm.”
Sprig added, “She’s right.”
Matt and Melanie stepped together and Matt punched his bracelet. Danielle looked where they had just been standing and said, “Just like us, they don’t understand the impact on the Realm if we lost them.”
Tag took Danielle’s hand, “I think they know. They’ll be careful.”
Sprig leaned forward, “Why do you say that?”
“Who other than Matt communicates with the Reg?”
Sprig and Danielle both flinched. Sprig said, “I didn’t think of that.”
Matt looked over at Melanie and said, “We can only use the smallest setting on our screen when we enter space around their galaxy; the Reg insist that anything higher will be seen.”
“Did they say anything else?”
“They said that we can go close to their galaxy but we must not enter it. Anything that enters that galaxy’s influence will be detected by those creatures. We can scan from outside its borders and they will probably see our scans but will not know where we are located. The Reg also said to expect a massive response.”
“Anything else?”
“They said be careful.”
Melanie started laughing.
“What’s so funny?”
“That is so out of character for the Reg. Usually they have an answer for everything.”
Matt smiled and shook his head, “Are you ready.”
“Let me look at the drives just a moment. I know there is a dimensional drive in our inventory but I’ve never used it. Give me a few moments to learn how to use it.”
“You’re amazing, Love.”
“Actually, the ship will teach me. It feels like it has a life of its own.”
Matt watched Melanie’s chair and saw a deep purple color wash through it and go into the walls surrounding them. The color changed to violet and then orange. “Ok, I’ve got it.”
“That quick?”
“Yes, we’re going to have to leave our universe and enter the space between dimensions. The color of that space is orange and our ship had to adjust its hull to withstand the energy. The tricky part is we are going to have to use a high energy screen to move through that space and I’m going to have to reduce it instantly upon emergence into the dark galaxy’s space.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“I’m hoping nothing but stay tuned to your weapon console. This is just a fly and spy mission and that is what my chair is built to handle. You might want to watch things through my thoughts but keep your weapon panel ready.”
“It’s your ship, Melanie.”
Melanie smiled and thought about AG. Then she energized the drive and the blue glowing ship appeared at the blue barrier surrounding the edge of the universe. “We’re going through.”
The small blue ship moved forward and picked up speed. It reached the edge of the barrier and as it crossed the color of the ship changed to orange as it emerged into dimensional space. Matt could feel the ship pick up speed but nothing changed in the orange color surrounding the ship. After twenty minutes, he felt the ship begin to slow.
“Are we there, yet?”
“We’re approaching the border and I have to change the energy of the ship as we cross. Now be quiet, this is not going to be easy.”
Matt watched the front wall of the ship and saw it changing color to a faint blue. The color moved slowly back until the inside walls were all the same light blue color. Melanie, released her board and fell back in her chair, “That was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done. This ship is amazing; I couldn’t have done it without its help.”
Matt was looking at his display and there in front of them was the dark galaxy. He saw that most of the stars were extremely old and were dying. He tuned in his weapons panel and looked at Melanie. “Do you need some time to rest?”
“Give me just a few minutes. I want to set my board up to take a fast scan of the entire galaxy but not until after I back the rear of our ship into the border with dimensional space. I’m not going to risk them finding us. Only the nose will be in their space.”
If we have time, I’ll hold the ship at the border as long as possible but the warning from the Reg about a massive response concerns me. I’m holding our screen on the front at its lowest setting but I don’t want to be caught out in the open.” After ten minutes Melanie backed the small ship back into the border of dimensional space until only the part of the ship with the two chairs was still in normal space. “Be ready, I’m starting the scan in ten seconds.”
Matt looked into her mind and counted it down with her, “3..2..1..energize.”
The Red Demon watched his board as he searched for the missing universe. Suddenly his alarm went off and he was immediately moved to the command chair of his ship as it lifted off and jumped to his assigned coverage area. It looked at its sensors and could see the direction the scan had originated but could not determine where the scan was located. Millions of the orange ships were jumping out to the edge of the galaxy and running out from the galaxy’s outer edge. Nothing had been sensed entering the galaxy so it had to be outside the border.
“What’s happening?”
“Some agency is scanning our domain. They are in normal space, that much we know but we are unable to find its location. The direction is out toward the largest spiral arm.”
“Could this be the missing universe’s responsibility?”
“I doubt it. This scan is happening in normal space and we know that universe is not in normal space. This must be a different agency located in another universe. We are analyzing the scan now.”
The second being watched his board and wondered if this was another appearance of the blue ship but dared not mention it. If it was that ship, he knew it came from the missing universe but he could not think of a way to suggest that possibility without giving away what he knew. One thing he did know, if he found the blue ship he was going to stay away from it. His small ship had already demonstrated that it could be damaged.
“What are you doing?”
The second being jumped and said, “Looking for the source of those scans.”
“Well move out into the space outside our galaxy and start searching. I told you it had to be outside our galaxy.”
The second being set his board and cringed against the possibility of encountering the blue ship again.
“Oh my, ancestors,” Melanie said as millions of orange ships exploded out of the dark galaxy less than a second after she began her scan and started moving out from its border. Some of the ships were larger than the Captors and all were moving faster than light speed. The orange ships had arrived in a cone shape and had linked their screens as they moved outward. They looked like a giant bubble being blown up and Tag saw that nothing would be missed as that bubble expanded toward their location.
Matt watched the oncoming wave of ships and said, “Time to leave.”
Melanie backed the ship back into dimensional space and accelerated away from the dark galaxy’s location. Melanie had her eyes closed and Matt could tell she was concentrating but he also sensed something was wrong. He didn’t want to break her concentration so he looked at her thoughts and saw that she was monitoring the border to see if any of the Demons entered dimensional space. He determined that she was going to jump to another universe if any appeared. It was a long twenty minutes until they reached the blue barrier and Melanie flew into it at a high velocity. Matt watched the wall change color faster than he could track visually. Once inside the barrier, Melanie slumped over her console. Matt jumped up and grabbed her.
“I’m ok. I could sense the thoughts of those beings and I never want to do that again. They are evil personified.”
Matt held her tight and she passed out; Matt held her and jumped the ship to Ross where he waited in orbit and held Melanie in his arms. He kept seeing that mass of ships moving out toward them and wondered if the crystal ships were going to be enough against the massive force he had just witnessed.
In her crib below, AG sensed her parent’s return and began sending soothing thoughts to her mother and began erasing some of the evil that had entered Melanie’s neural pathways. Slowly and gently she destroyed the poison of the Red Demons; no one could survive that much exposure to the massive evil of their minds. Melanie sighed in her restlessness and then fell asleep. Matt saw what his daughter was doing and was awe struck at the power of their two year old. Melanie slept with tranquil dreams; only then did AG go to sleep.
Tag teleported to the ship and found Matt holding Melanie “Is she all right?”
“She is now, Tag. We won’t be going back.”
Tag looked at Matt and saw what they must have experienced. “Was it that bad?”
“Worse than you can ever imagine. We’ll share what we found in two days. I’m taking Melanie home.”
Tag nodded and the three of them disappeared from the crystal ship.
Two days later the leaders of the Stars Realm met in the map room. Sprig stood and thought to the group, “As most of you know, Matt and Melanie went to the home of the Red Demons and scanned their galaxy. We are here to see what they discovered and plan our strategy against their possible invasion. Matt, the floor is yours and Melanie’s.”
Matt stood and looked around the room at those in attendance; Cassandra, Tommy, Anglo, Jenny, Stem, Petal, Life, Grena, Destiny and his three children, General Brez, Twig, Tag, Danielle, Admiral Kosiev, Atlas and Diana who were present in orbit, and AG who was sitting in her mother’s lap. “I’m going to lead this presentation and Melanie will help remind me if I forget anything. The first thing I’m going to show you is what happened when we sent a scan into the dark galaxy. You will see it at normal speed and then I’m going to slow it down.” He pressed a button on his display and there was the dark galaxy. “Most of the stars in this galaxy are dying and some of them have degenerated into black holes, which trap light and prevent it from exiting. That’s why this galaxy is not the normal bright lights we see from most other galaxies. This galaxy is ancient and is probably where this race evolved. Now observe what happened when we sent a scan. We sent the scan at this moment.” The attendees saw a huge mass of orange ships explode out of the galaxy moving quickly toward the source of the video. It appeared that a huge tidal wave of ships moving faster than could be seen was screaming toward the camera. “It was at this point where we exited the dimension and flew as quickly as possible back to our universe. Now let’s slow it down.”
At extreme slow motion the wave of ships could be seen as they appeared at the edge of the galaxy and began moving out. Some of the ships were very small, about the size of a Searcher vessel, and some were gigantic, larger than five thousand miles. As they swept outward, everyone could see they were swarming back and forth in the gaps to make sure nothing escaped their notice. “That globe of expanding ships was moving faster than the speed of light and covered every inch of space as they expanded outward. They reacted to our scan less than a second after we sent it, and I must believe that they have a system of defense that automatically launches their ships if anything is detected. We do not possess anything that comes close to their response to a small scan. Those ships are what we will have to face if they discover our location. There is no possible invasion; they are coming. I think our scan may have slowed them but I’m uncertain how much. These Demons are evil and I don’t fully know the power of our crystal ships but nothing in our arsenal can harm them. Our only hope is to find the crews for the Reg’s ships and pray they can protect us.”
The room was quiet. Finally, Sprig stood and thought to the group, “Some of you will be in those ships protecting our Realm. My prayers are with you, and I hope your ships will be enough to prevent our destruction.” He looked at Matt and thought, “Should we send some of our population to other universes?”
Matt shook his head, “It’s not possible to move them through the psychic barrier the Reg has put in place. Only the ships they are providing can move through it and only one of them is operational. It could only move four or five at a time, and I suspect that if those beings penetrate the barrier and sense those in our universe, they will send their next tool scanning for any life forms that came from here. If the Reg lower the barrier to allow us to send large numbers away, the Demons will immediately see us and attack in force. Our only hope will be the crews of the crystal ships and I still don’t know the power of those ships.”
“Why have none of them fully developed?”
“I don’t know, Tag. There are many unknowns here and I suspect that those ships are a life form.” Matt paused a moment, then shook his head,” I don’t even have a guess. I hope a large number will be created, but with the difficulty we’re having finding the crews, I suspect it won’t be as many as I would like to have. At least Edison has set up a system where we can send possible candidates to new ships in one tenth the time it has taken in the past.”
Sprig looked around the room and said, “This meeting is adjourned. I see nothing more that can be done that we are not already doing.”
The red being looked at his board and saw nothing that could have sent the scan.
“You’re not alone. Even the Elders have come up with nothing.”
“What are we going to do?”
“They are operating on the assumption that there are two advisories we must find and destroy. One they believe exists in normal space and one that is not in the dimensional plane. Two thirds of us are being assigned to scan universes for civilizations that have universal drives. The others will continue to search for the missing universe.”
“So you are being sent to search?”
“Yes, and you will continue to search for the missing universe.”
“I’d rather be out searching.”
The first being paused, “You are being watched by the Elders and I don’t think they will let you go too far from their sight.”
“Why?”
“That missing tool issue, they think you haven’t been completely open about it.”
“Of course I’ve told them all I know.”
“Even so, you will be searching for the missing universe. I hope you find it.” The first being paused again, “For your sake.”
All the second being could think about was a blue ship.