As Jake and Cynthia flew toward the Keepers’ garrison, Jake thought to Cynthia, “I need your help making this happen.”
“What is that, Jake?”
“I want you to go to the Glod and Cainth communities and tell them what’s happening now. They must gather in the center of the community so we can lift them quickly.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I am going to wait here at the compound and kill anything that pokes its head out of the ground. If a large number get out I’m going to fight a delaying action to give our ships time to arrive.” Jake saw Cynthia start to argue and said, “Cynthia, when my powers were released every Keeper in this garrison was stunned and knocked out. Those closest to the Human camp were actually so damaged that they will not be able to participate in the coming fight. I really do sense that they will not regain consciousness for at least three more hours. Go get the Realm’s Citizens prepared to leave, please.”
Cynthia started to protest, but then reluctantly nodded her agreement, peeled away from Jake, and headed toward the Glod colony.
Junior broke out of universal drive in the Realm and commed Fleet Command, “I need Valerie Gardner’s com code.”
“We need confirmation about who you are.”
“Oh forget it.” Junior hit another frequency, “Sprig, I need Valerie’s com code.”
“Junior, what are you doing back? What happened?”
“I don’t have time, Sprig. Connect me with Valerie now!”
Sprig reached forward and pushed a button. He also hit another button bringing Twig and Edison into the conversation.
Valerie saw her com blink, “Sprig, why are you calling me?”
“He’s not, Your Majesty, I am.”
“Who are you?”
“My name is Junior and I am the ship that took Jake Talant to the other universe.”
Valerie’s heart went into her throat, “What’s wrong? Is he all right?”
“Yes, his powers have been released. But he’s refusing to leave until we bring transports to take the three colonies off that planet.”
“Junior, you were ordered to teleport him away when he released his powers.”
“I know that, but evidently none of you managed to get Jake to agree. He blocked every effort to cover him with a teleport screen,”
Edison said, “He did what?”
“He blocked the screen from forming. You’re wasting time. He says we have a ten hour window to get them out before the Keepers’ ships arrive. He is going to hold off the garrison on the planet.”
“Junior, where is Cynthia?”
“She decided to stay and assist him in the fight, Your Majesty.”
Edison hit his board, “Fleet command, I want three Delta-size transports readied to leave our universe.”
“Edison, Jake also said to set the teleport screens on the transports to only move the DNA of Human, Glod, and Cainth.”
Edison said, “That is going to take some time.”
“I’ll take one transport, Edison.”
“I’ll take the second.”
“Thank you Sprig and Twig. Newton and I will handle the third. How long until those ships are ready?”
Admiral Zergl, who had joined the conversation, looked at his board. We have to bring a much bigger teleport system on board and connect it. It’s going to take at least six hours to get the screen working.”
Valerie said, “That’s cutting it close. Admiral, have we managed to cover any of our Warriors in the telepathy coating?”
“About fifty of them have the new armor.”
“Get them on a ship and move them to the Keepers’ planet. We have to support Jake and Cynthia quickly.”
“It will take at least four hours to power up the armor and load all the weapons.”
“Then you had better start moving, Admiral.”
Zergl disappeared from the conference screen.
Valerie dreaded the next question, but had to ask, “So Jake found his initiator, Junior?”
“Yes and no, Your Majesty.”
Valerie leaned back in her chair, “What do you mean by that?”
“Jake touched every woman in the human colony with no results.”
Valerie was puzzled, “Then how were his powers released?”
“A Keeper touched Jake; it released his powers. Evidently it took the combined mental connection of the entire Keepers species to break through that shell of his.”
Valerie was stunned; then she understood. “That’s why his psychic self keep bringing Keepers to wherever he was! It’s why the Searcher died. That colony of humans was the only place where Keepers regularly made contact with Humans without killing them. It makes sense now.” Then it hit her; Jake did not find the love of his life. She jumped up from her chair, “Junior, where are you?”
Joe Gardner, who had joined the conversation, said, “No you’re not, Valerie.”
Valerie ignored him, “Junior, answer me.”
Junior struggled, but knew he had to answer the Queen of the Stars Realm. “You have my coordinates.”
“Valerie, you can’t go there!”
“Valerie appeared on Junior’s bridge and said as she stepped through the silver screen. “Joe, you’re in charge until I return. Remember when you said you would never question me again?”
Joe looked at his Sister on his com and slowly nodded. “Don’t start, now.” Valerie sat in a chair and said, “Well, what are you waiting for?”
“Your Majesty, it is not safe there.”
“Do you intend to go back?”
“I have to, Your Majesty.”
“Maybe it’s because you left some friends there.” Junior said nothing, “Well so have I, so quit wasting time.”
“Is everyone going to accuse me of that all day?”
“Only if you keep doing it.”
Junior hit the drive and the ship disappeared from the Realm’s universe.
Joe watched Valerie’s face disappear from his com, contacted Admiral Zergl, and ordered him to speed up getting the Warriors ready.
Junior arrived back in the Keepers’ colony next to the moon. Valerie looked at her display and saw the Keepers’ ship on the moon’s surface, “Junior, is that what I think it is?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I think we killed it when I fired three penetrators up their drive ports.”
“Junior, we’re alone now; please dispense with the “Your Majesty” and call me Valerie. Did you share this information with Joe or Admiral Zergl?”
“No, I had too much happening too fast. I’ll launch a probe and send it back with the video and informationabout what I did.”
“Joe and Edison thought that might be a weakness in their design.”
“It is, Valerie, but using it is going to be difficult. If their drives are operating, the penetrator will explode before it can enter the tube. The weak point is located at the very front end of the drive.” Junior paused, then said, “Valerie, I am very uncomfortable with you being here. If we face any trouble I am taking you out of here.”
“Not without Jake, you won’t.”
“Sorry, but I will. You are too important to the Realm to risk.”
“Junior, my value is nothing compared to what Jake means to our success. I’m here because he broke a promise to me and I hope I can convince him to keep it.”
“Valerie, you won’t. We will either save those Humans on the planet or Jake will die trying to prevent their deaths.”
“Where is he?”
“He’s currently on the planet blowing up exits from the Keepers’ garrison.”
“Oh, my ancient ancestors! Take me there.”
“I’ll take you to where you can communicate with him, but I will not place you in danger.”
Valerie started to protest, but then decided that she did not want to force Junior to choose between being tried for treason for disobeying a direct order from the Queen or keeping her safe. She suspected he would take the treason charge. “Take me there.”
Junior teleported them to just above the planet’s atmosphere. Valerie looked at her screen and could see Jake flying over the Keepers’ garrison, firing hornets at any exit he could find. Valerie thought, “My, my; aren’t you the busy warrior?”
Jake could see the dark lines going down toward the ground and he fired a hornet every time one appeared, “Valerie, what are you doing here? Are you insane?!?”
“I was going to ask you the same question. You promised you would not put yourself in danger. You know how important you are to the Realm’s survival.”
“I’m nothing compared to you. You must leave now! Junior; why did you bring her here?”
“Because I swore an oath of allegiance to the Stars Realm and its rulers. I will not allow her to be placed in harm’s way no matter what she orders. Just promise you’ll come visit me in prison, Jake.”
“Junior, how can they arrest a ship? You could teleport out any time you wanted and besides, you might enjoy the rest and relaxation. Excuse me a moment, I need to destroy this hanger.” They watched as Jake flew close to the surface and fired a high speed penetrator into the doors of a hidden hanger. “There. I’m sorry, Valerie, but these people have become my family. Would you leave Joe behind to die?”
Valerie didn’t know how to answer, “If it meant the survival of the Realm I would have to do just that.”
Jake continued to fire wasps and hornets while he thought about what Valerie said, “All right, we have a ten hour window before the Keepers can get a ship here. It’s probably longer because when I released my psychic abilities I think I knocked the central intelligence that directs the Keepers off line. I don’t sense that it has recovered yet, and no ships will come until it does. Our main threat is the Keepers in the building below. I also sense that all of the Keepers on the western side of the structure were either killed or so damaged that they will not be able to take part in an attack. Cynthia will be back soon, and she will help with the defense of the communities. You can help, Valerie.”
“How, Jake?”
“Junior, take her down to the Human colony and talk with them. I know they’re terribly frightened and you can help calm them down.”
“Jake, I’m going to hold you to that promise. If it comes down to it, you must leave with me.”
“I love you too, Valerie.”
Valerie felt the tears. He had seen inside her thoughts and knew how she felt. “Junior, take me down.”
Jackson worried that the community was close to panicking. They could hear huge explosions coming from over the hills to the east. He tried to sooth their fears but just didn’t know how to answer their questions. Suddenly everyone saw a ship coming down at a high rate of speed and stop just above the surface of the central square.
Valerie stepped through the silver teleport screen and appeared in front of the gathered community. Jackson saw this beautiful young girl and wondered why someone so young was here in an obviously dangerous environment.
Valerie smiled, “Hello everyone. I know that all of you are scared about what is going to happen to you after the death of these Keepers. I am the Queen of the Stars Realm and I am doing all I can to get ships here to move you safely away from this planet. I see from your expression that you think me too young to actually be the Ruler of the Realm, but I was chosen because of my psychic abilities. I do not know if we will be able to make your escape happen before the Keepers arrive, but we are doing everything in our power to save you. I want you to know that there are more than twenty million planets that are members of the Realm, and three of them are the races from which the three colonies here are descended. The original home world of your race is one of the founders of our Realm, and I am descended from those founders. Take heart and know that you are not forgotten and we will do all we can to protect you.”
“Why was Jake sent here?”
Valerie looked at Jackson and said, “We are now at war with the Keepers. There are a hundred thousand of their ships in our universe and we are working hard to develop the weapons to kill them. Jake is going to be the Realm’s strongest psychic, but he needed to have his abilities released. We know that our founders which were super psychics had to have their powers released by what we call their initiator. I believed that she would be in your population.”
Jackson thought a moment “Is that why he was touching every female?”
“Yes, but I was wrong. There is no woman that could have broken through the psychic shell that contained his powers. I’ve learned that it was necessary for him to be touched by a Keeper, and the combined telepathic connection of their entire species was needed to make it happen. This is the only place where the Keepers make contact with Humans without killing them.”
“Oh, they kill us.”
“Yes, but they also come among you to remove those chosen by them. Jake’s inner psychic self saw this and manipulated events to bring him here.”
“His coming here can get us all killed, Young Queen.”
“Do you call this living? Your species in the Realm live a hundred and fifty years; you are taken at around 35 years of age. You slave in the fields to feed yourself for the Keepers to consume. You are allowed no technology to spare you the hard labor. You are livestock here, but in the Realm Humans are admired and respected by all the trillions of citizens.”
“So what happens now?”
“We are not taking you to the Realm if we can move you.” The gathering started talking among themselves so Valerie switched to telepathy to communicate with them, “It’s not what you think.” Everyone heard her in their thoughts and even Jackson was surprised. “We have citizens in more than a thousand universes. I am not going to take the chance of taking you to the Realm where the Keepers Fleet might scan you and come to take vengeance. I am sending you to a planet of humans who will take care of you until this conflict is resolved. It is time to learn who you are and to know that humans do not give in to tyranny or slavery.”
A young woman stepped out of the crowd and said, “You came here to take Jake back to the Realm didn’t you?”
Valerie looked at the woman and marveled at how beautiful she was, “Yes, but he would not go without you. Our survival depends on Jake and his developing psychic abilities. I was hoping he would listen to reason and leave.”
Jackson shook his head, “You are at least being honest about it.”
Valerie looked around and saw the goodness of the people around her, “He forced me to make this attempt to move you. I could not understand why he was taking this risk with the trillions in the Realm at risk if something happened to him.” Valerie paused and then continued, “But now, after seeing you, I know the truth that he saw before I could grasp it. To turn away from the few to try and save the many is a wrong that only corrupts the values our Realm was founded upon.” She left her thought open so everyone could hear, “Junior, have you been listening to this?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I will not leave without these people. Do you understand?”
The hundreds of thousands of humans waited for a response, “If it comes down to it; we will all die here together, my Queen. I will not abandon you.”
“Thank you for this gift, Junior.”
Jackson looked around, “Who is this Junior?”
“He’s the ship hovering here. He’s an intelligent, mechanical, life form that was made a citizen of the Realm more than thirteen thousand years ago. He was made my friend just a moment ago.”
The young woman looked at Valerie and said, “You love him, don’t you?”
“I now care about Junior very much.”
I wasn’t talking about him; you love Jake. You must be the one he was trying to find.”
Valerie stared at the young woman, “What prompted you to say that?”
“Because he is worthy of a Queen, and nothing less than love would have brought you here to share our fate.”
Valerie lowered her head, “You’ve got it all wrong; it is I that am not worthy of him.”
Jackson shook his head, “Not from where I stand. You were meant for each other.”
Valerie smiled, then walked up and kissed Jackson on the cheek. If a black man could blush, Jackson did.
Kathea walked up and hugged Valerie, “I, too, love our Good Luck Man. I know you’ll be happy together.”
Valerie was approached by many in the crowd to tell her of their good fortune caused by touching Jake. She listened and stored them in her heart. She kept hearing in the back of her mind, “I love you too, Valerie.” The explosions over the hills grew louder.
Cynthia teleported to the row of hills overlooking the Keepers’ garrison; she turned up the magnification in her helmet and saw Jake continuing to fire at the building and surrounding grounds, “Should I come and join in the fun?”
Jake disappeared briefly and reappeared a short distance above his last position. “No, Cynthia. The Keepers are starting to move some of their larger focused-beam platforms to the surface and I can’t protect you, dodge the beams, and fight effectively.”
“How are you doing against that weapon?”
“I’m dodging it. My new psychic skills allow me to sense it before they fire, and I can also see it coming slow enough to get out of the way. The problem is there are so many exits to that facility it’s just a matter of time until they fire a wide spread of those beams. I’ve managed to kill any beam platform that fires at me so far, but they’ve stopped firing for the last fifteen minutes so I believe they are marshalling their weapons to fire in unison.”
“Then you need to get out of here right now.”
“Not yet. I’m going to have to get down to ground level shortly but if I go now, those beams will be available to use against the colony. I want them to fire, which will allow me to target their larger beam platforms. I’m also sensing that the central intelligence of these creatures is starting to reform and get organized. Ships are going to be sent shortly.”
Suddenly Jake pressed the teleport button on his jaw, disappeared from the west end of the camp, and reappeared over the eastern boundary. Cynthia then saw hornets leave Jake’s armor at an incredible rate. Even with her view magnified, the small missiles left faster than her scanner could track. She knew the hornets were not designed to fly that fast. Jake was doing something that made them fly as fast as a high speed penetrator. The surface of the Keepers’ facility exploded like it was on fire.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes, I’ve set the coordinates of the beam and it will overlap the two on each side of my platform.”
“We will fire simultaneously in twenty degrons. Have your team start charging your weapon.”
The ten Keepers turned off their hearing and began sending their rhythmic thoughts toward the aperture feeding into the barrel of their platform. The firing officer watched as the intensity level rose to maximum, and waited as the countdown reached zero. He pressed the discharge button and felt the recoil of the beam as it left the facility at light speed. Immediately after the recoil, the three teams stationed at the central opening on the surface were hit by a hornet and all thirty Keepers in the three groups were blown into fragments. Of the hundred beams fired, all hundred platforms and the thousand Keepers manning them disappeared in huge explosions.
The Leader of the garrison was dumbfounded by the destruction being done by the single entity that was hovering over his vast complex. If one of his brothers fired at that creature, then that brother died. Everyone that had moved to the surface of the complex to take a shot had been killed. He continued to try and contact the Collective, but had no success. His teams had fired a three-square-mile pattern at the floating entity and had somehow missed. He was not going to order any more warriors back to the surface until the Collective gave him instructions. He continuously had attempted to contact the ship on the moon, but he sensed no one in the area where they were supposed to have landed. He could only assume that the ship had somehow been killed. He thought a moment and decided, “Well, if not killed, then out of contact like the Collective.” Another explosion rocked his chamber and he sent a thought to all of the surviving Keepers to stay away from the surface until further notice.
The Collective managed its first thought in three hours, “Are any of you here?” He heard nothing in response. It was still mentally groggy and processing data very slowly. It did, however, sense that it was slowly picking up speed. Then he heard, “I assume you did not want me to respond.”
The Collective was startled, “Values, how did you survive that hit?”
“You separated me from you. I only received a minor charge from whatever that thing was.”
“Obviously, whatever it was is an enemy. Help me get the other quadrants organized.”
“Which one do you want me to help first?”
“Military.”
“I will begin now.”
The Collective watched as the Values Quadrant started pulling the various pieces of the Military Quadrant together to allow them to reform. He was thankful that he had separated Values; recovery should speed up now that one of the Quadrants was functioning normally. As Military began to organize, the Collective felt the growing connections to all of the Keepers begin to function normally. Then he heard, “What happened?”
“We’ll discuss that later. Right now send some ships to that farm where the strange ship was killed.”
“I had a ship on the moon there.”
The Collective sent his senses to the farm planet and could only sense the population in the garrison. It saw that it was greatly reduced in size. There was no indication that the ship was there, “The ship is not responding. Get the ships that came back from the search to go there now!”
“All of them?”
“Yes, and send any others that are available.”
“The orders are going out.”
Admiral Zergl looked at his display and said, “Are you charged and ready?”
Major Draygen nodded, “We could always load more inventories into the skin, but that would take more time.”
“What you have will have to be enough; teleport to your ship and go assist the Queen. Make sure of her safety.”
Dragen hit his com, “Report to the landing bay and charge your weapons. We will be teleporting to the planet momentarily and assisting in the defense of the three colonies. Remember, we do not know if this coating will protect us or how long it will hold up to their beams. Do not allow yourself to be a stationary target. Teleport now.”
The fifty Red Warriors teleported into the Landing bay of the small attack ship and Captain Ethan Rucker hit his com, “Belt in; we’re jumping in twenty seconds.” Ethan charged the ship’s weapons and counted down the jump. The small ship disappeared in a purple flash.
The Collective sent a thought to the Garrison Leader, “What is happening?” The Leader thought about the last three hours and the Collective watched his thoughts. It sent its senses into the garrison and the Military Quadrant totaled the remaining inventory.
Military ordered, “Send all your survivors and attack. You have ninety thousand and you will have to overwhelm the forces facing you. Kill everyone in the three farms.”
“Jake?”
“Yes, Junior?”
“More than 400,000 ships have jumped in at the jump limit and are moving in-system. They will arrive in less than ten hours.”
“Junior, if the transports don’t arrive in time I want you to take Valerie and jump away.”
“I’ve promised her not to go without you. You must go with us or she will stay.”
“Junior, you must save her. She’s the Queen.”
“Yes, but you are our only hope of survival. I’ve doubted her, but now I believe she’s right. Either you go with us or we all die here.”
Jake didn’t want to live if he had to leave the colony to the Keepers, but he knew that he could not allow Valerie to die. “I’ll make the decision when there are no other options, Junior. Do not lose a lock on her; do you understand?”
“I won’t, Jake, but I also have you locked in on my board. Don’t block me, Jake.”
“Pray I won’t have to, Junior.”
Cynthia screamed into Jake’s com, “Massive forces leaving the building! I’m targeting the air units!”
Jake looked out at the garrison and saw thousands of Keepers’ vehicles and troops pouring out of the ground around the central building. He teleported to the ground next to Cynthia as thousands of beams ripped through the space he had just occupied. Jake watched everything go into slow motion, but saw so many black lines going out into the oncoming horde that he knew he could not hit them all. He released his armor and began teleporting away from the incoming beams and projectiles being fired at him. His armor took on a life of its own as wasps, hornets, beams, and auto cannon projectiles left in a solid wave of death. The front ranks of the oncoming Keepers were obliterated by Jake’s and Cynthia’s combined fire.
Cynthia thought to Jake, “I told you this was not good on Ross.”
Jake killed twelve Keepers’ aircraft as they approached the row of hills, “Yes, you did, but admit it; aren’t you having fun?”
Cynthia hit eight more circling around to the left, “Yes, but don’t tell anyone.”
Jake smiled, then felt his rage build. The Keepers were gaining ground, but they were dying by the thousands.
The Humans could hear the explosions moving closer and knew that a massive battle was happening just over the hills from their colony. Valerie thought, “Junior, what’s happening?”
“Jake and Cynthia are holding off more than eighty thousand Keepers.”
“Junior, you have to get them out of there.”
“I would if I could, but Jake is still blocking my efforts.”
“Junior, can you scan Jake and get a reading on the level of his psychic power.”
“Yes, but why do you want me to do that?”
“I want to make sure he has really been released.”
“Standby, I’ll send the reading to your com.”
Valerie looked at her com, saw the reading was at the top of the psychic meter, but no higher than her own reading. “Junior, it’s not high enough. He has not been fully released.”
“What are you talking about, Valerie? I felt the psychic wave that killed those Keepers.”
“Junior, that wave came off the shell holding his powers in. He is not fully released. He still has to touch his initiator.”
“Valerie, we don’t have time for him to touch everyone again.”
“He doesn’t have to, Junior; I am his initiator.”
Junior was speechless.
“I felt him the first time I touched him, but I did not release him so I assumed it was someone else. I was bonded to him that day; we have to get him to come here.”
“If he comes here then the colony and you will die.”
Valerie screamed, “He must come here! It’s our only chance.”
Jake saw that he was not going to stop them all. The Keepers were only a mile from the break in the hills that would lead them to the Human colony. He felt a huge weight of sorrow and wondered why his psychic powers were not able to overcome this enemy. Suddenly the entire front of the Keepers blew up in huge explosions. Ethan Rucker came in over the row of hills in stealth mode. The fifty Red Warriors teleported out of the ship and took up positions on each side of Jake and Cynthia as Ethan released his weapons and fired a barrage of high speed penetrators into the front ranks of the advancing Keepers. He then teleported forty miles past the garrison and turned to line up another pass.
The Collective was watching the battle take place from the mind of the Garrison’s Leader as he directed his troops from his bunker. When the explosions started at the front of their advance the Collective could feel the Keepers being killed. This was a new experience for the Collective, and caused a high level of consternation. He detached himself from the Garrison Leader and asked the Military Quadrant, “How are they attacking our front? Those projectiles came out of nowhere.”
“It has to be a ship that is invisible to our sensors. This species has also found a way to hide their thoughts from us.”
“How much longer before the fleet arrives at the farm?”
“Seven intervals.”
The Science Quadrant added, “I would recommend that you not connect with the forces at the farm. We don’t know how they hit us, and it could happen again. Those forces must be isolated from the Collective.”
The Collective examined that suggestion and almost disagreed, but it still felt the shock of the disorganization of its components, “Military, assign someone to keep contact and send us reports. Separate yourself from us and keep us informed.”
Jake watched the Red Warriors knock the front line of the Keepers back three miles, then he saw the beam platforms being aimed at their position, “Teleport behind their lines now!” The Warriors teleported away just before seventy of the focused beams hit the hill they were on. The entire hill disappeared. The Keepers began advancing again just as Ethan came roaring in. He released a six mile wide barrage of hornets that targeted the beam platforms and any other mobile weapon. One of the platforms saw the hornets leave from midair and fired in front of the barrage.
Ethan felt the beam hit his small attack craft and his weapon console shorted out. He banked hard left and then went vertical back into orbit above the planet. The coating saved the ship but the external weapon pods were useless. He tested his Coronado beams and discovered he could only fire them manually. The projectors were inside the nose of the ship and had not been hit by the Keepers. He turned his craft and saw on his display that thousands of Keepers were coming out of a hole in the ground a mile in front of the gap to the colonies. He teleported a thousand yards in front of the hole and lined up for a shot.
Jake and the fifty Red Warriors saw the breakout of the Keepers and Jake tuned his armor to the frequency of the commander, “We are going to have to jump in and out and slow them down.”
Major Draygen tripped the command circuit and said, “You have your assignments, don’t take too long in one place.”
The Red Warriors jumped in among the advancing Keepers and began releasing a hail of high velocity projectiles and hornets. Jake teleported into his assigned position and once again saw everything slow down. To the Keepers he appeared to be moving faster than they could visually follow. Everywhere he moved Keepers died by the hundreds. More beam platforms had come out of the ground and Jake fired a steady stream of wasps and hornets. Ten Red Warriors were hit by multiple Keepers’ beams and had their armor fail. The Keepers then hit them hundreds of times and they disintegrated. The battle became more intense as hundreds of Keepers began coming out of a new hole. Then he heard over his com circuit, “Jump out, I’m coming in with beams.” The remaining warriors and Jake teleported to the left and right flank of the Keepers as Ethan came roaring in with all ten power cells firing at full power. Every Keeper in the center of their line was burned out of existence as Ethan teleported back into orbit. Jake continued to fire his auto cannon and heard, “Jake, you’ve got to come to the colony now.”
“Why is that, Junior?” He teleported to the other side of the Keepers’ formation as fifty beams hit the ground where he was just standing.
“Valerie says that your powers have not been released.”
“Junior, I’m a little busy right now and if I’m not released, what was that blue psychic blast?”
“That was the shell holding your powers. The Keepers removed it, but they did not release your full ability.”
Jake jumped into the middle of the Keepers’ formation and fired at the Keepers on each side as they tried to reform their line. “Junior, we’re down to twenty eight Red Warriors and I’m the one doing the most damage. If I leave, the colony will be in range of their weapons. There’s no way I can go.”
“Jake, those ships coming in from the outer system will be here soon. If they arrive, we’re all in range of their weapons.”
“Where are the transports, Junior?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t care what you think, Admiral, get those ships moving immediately.”
“But, Your Majesty, we’ve had to remove the power to the weapon consoles to power the teleport fields to only take the colonists. There is a battle taking place that can hit those ships before they can teleport the colonists.”
Joe decided at that moment that Admiral Zergl was going to have to go. He just couldn’t make the tough decisions in a crisis. Joe keyed his com, “What does our probe say about the situation in the Keepers’ system?”
Edison responded, “The battle with the garrison is just outside the hills surrounding the colonies. The transports are tall enough to extend above those hills such that the Keepers can shoot off the tops of them before we can teleport the colonists.”
“What about the incoming Keepers Fleet?”
“They’ll arrive in less than an hour.”
Joe thought about what to do. “How long will it take to teleport the colonists?”
“At least fifteen minutes. The process is difficult because we have to leave those bracelets and connections behind.”
“Can we take smaller ships in to take the colonies?”
“It took us ten hours to get these working. There’s no way to move the screens or modify others.”
Joe thought a moment and then decided, “When the Keepers Fleet is twenty minutes out, teleport in and take the colonists.”
There was a momentary pause and Edison said, “I was hoping you would make that decision, Your Grace.”
“Admiral, notify our people at the Keepers’ planet what we are doing.”
Zergl started to protest but saw the Prince’s expression and ordered the message sent.
“Jake, the transports are coming in forty minutes. If we don’t knock out every Keepers’ beam platform here, they will disable the transports. The Keepers Fleet is an hour out.”
Jake looked at the Keepers still pouring out of the ground and knew there was no way to get them all. He continued to fight, but knew there was no hope.
“Jake, there is hope.”
“I don’t see any way to make this happen, Valerie.”
“That’s why you must come here at the last minute and let me touch you.”
“Why?”
“Remember what happened to the Keepers when your psychic shell was broken, it could happen again when your powers are released.”
Jake suddenly saw what she was saying, “That will only happen if you are truly my initiator.”
“Do you doubt that I am, Jake? Look in your heart; you must have felt something when I first touched you.”
Jake thought back to when Valerie had shook his hand on Cynthia’s ship and he did feel something. “But what if you’re not?”
“Then Junior takes us back to the Realm. However, this is the only chance we have to save your family.”
Jake fired six hornets at Keepers that were coming up on Cynthia’s right flank, and watched his auto cannon take out a beam platform that come out of the hole to his left. “Tell the transports to hold off. We have to wait until the fleet is just above planet to try this. The closer they are, the better the chance of success if the next psychic event is not as strong as the first.”
“I love you, Jake.”
“I love you, too.”
Joe punched his com, “Prince Gardner, your sister has asked that you delay the transports until after the fleet reaches the planet.”
“What? She must be out of her mind!”
Manny looked at Joe on his com and said, “Her exact words were, “I know you love me and this makes no sense to you, but you must do as I ask. I also want you to have 400,000 Searchers ready to teleport in if I call for them. Please do this for me, Joe.”
Joe felt his heart beat faster for fear of losing his sister. “Manny, what would you do?”
“I’d listen to her, Joe.”
Joe shook his head, then lifted his com, “Fleet Command, I have a Red Priority Order.”
Ethan made another pass at the Keepers’ front and blew their forces back four hundred yards. Just before he teleported into space, three beam platforms hit his left wing and disintegrated it. He arrived in space and saw the huge Keepers Fleet approaching. His stealth controls were destroyed right after his weapons console, so he used his teleport system to jump out of the system. He knew that only Jake, Cynthia, and eighteen Red Warriors were all that remained between the Keepers and the colony. He felt severe sadness at the death of Major Draygen. He had died when he landed among forty beam platforms, destroying them just before three platforms hit his armor. He prayed for the safety of those still fighting.
The Fleet Leader watched the battle taking place on the ground and knew he could not use his beams until he got a reading on the attacker’s mental frequency. The Collective had it but was not communicating directly with the fleet, so he was forced to take it from the inhabitants of the colony. “Let me know when you have the needed frequency.” He could not use the full force of the beam without that frequency, because it would kill all the Keepers that were currently fighting the invaders. “I have it, Fleet Director.” The 400,000 ships all saw the frequency and downloaded it to their main beam.
The huge fleet came to a stop and pointed their ships’ bows at the planet below.
“Jake, the fleet is arming their weapons.”
“I’m coming, Valerie.”
Valerie waited in the center of the gathered colonists and hoped her plan was not just wishful thinking. She felt in her heart that she had to be right, then there was Jake in front of her with his armor disappearing. He walked forward, lifted her in his arms, and kissed her. The blue flash that erupted from the couple blinded everyone.
The Keepers Fleet in orbit was hit with the psychic blast just when all the crews were tightly connected mentally sending their thoughts to their ship’s main beam. It killed every Keeper in the fleet and every Keeper on the planet. Junior looked at Jake and Valerie still holding the kiss and sent the message to Ethan, “Notify the Realm to send the Transports and Searchers now.”
Ethan hit his jump button, disappeared from the Keepers’ universe, and arrived at Fleet Headquarters, “Send the transports and Searchers now.”
Joe hit his com, “Launch your ships.”
The three transports disappeared and 800,000 Searchers jumped into the Keepers’ universe.