“Grace!”
“Yes, Alex. What’s wrong?”
“The Invader’s ship has left and was not replaced by another ship.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am. The probe sent me the information and also sent me the message they received. My language program has most of their dialogue translated and understands the bulk of what they say. They are going to invade another universe and come back later to take ours.”
“Alex, were you able to determine what universe they were going to attack.”
“We got a break. Instead of using their dimensional drive the ship’s commander went directly to the universe being attacked. The probe sent me the coordinates. Why do you ask?”
“At some point in time we are going to have to see if our attempt at developing a ship to take on their main battleship is successful. I would rather do that in another universe. Is the Bristone ready to face one of their ships?”
“I just don’t know. The only way to find out is to send it out to confront one.”
“Will you put a universal drive on the Bristone and activate one of those old stealth probes? I’ll see what Emperor Robbins wants to do.”
“I now have two more of those Ultraships converted to the new technology. Let the Emperor know they are also ready for trial.”
“I’ll let him know. Are you able to convert one of the new Zeta ships to that technology?”
“I am. I just need one of you to volunteer.”
“I should be the first, Alex. I’ll let you know what the Emperor decides.”
“Grace, are you planning to go and confront one of those ships?”
“I want to do it but unfortunately, I would be the wrong choice, Virze.”
“Why is that?”
“We only have twenty Zeta Ships in our inventory. We are not set up to build a Zeta in our factory at the Defense Facility. Those twenty are all we’ll ever have. The Zeta is a product of the old Realm and we are going to need thousands of ships to face the Invaders. We’re going to have to build a ship of our own design that can handle them. We can build ships like the old Ultras. That’s the kind of ship that will have to confront them first. However, it will have to be much larger to fully use the new technology.”
“What happens if it fails?”
“I don’t even want to think about that. We have to have a starting point and we’ve invested ten years in the reflective hulls. Our planets with large manufacturing facilities are ready to begin building them but we can’t do it until we know if they are going to be able to stand up to those huge ships.”
“What about the Zetas that are still at the Defense Facility?”
“We’re going to hold them in storage until the trial is done. If it’s successful, the nine of us will transfer into them after their hulls have been redesigned and then we’ll update the ships we’re currently using. We’ve found more than enough Searchers in Rehoben’s Fleet that have demonstrated that they will follow the values of our Empire. Rehoben has allowed them to leave his fleet and join us. I think Rehoben is ready to swear loyalty to the Empire and is moving his kingdom toward that end. I must say that he has greatly impressed me with his organizational skills and his firm commitment to our vision.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen that as well. Kreej has confirmed it and the Emperor is watching his kingdom closely.”
“How about you and Timmy?”
“We are going to be married soon. I love him so much, Grace.”
“You two are made for each other. You should take the next step.”
Virze stared at the display showing the stars at the former location of the Invader’s ship. “We don’t need to wait. We don’t know how much time we’ll have if this trial is a failure.”
“I didn’t want to say that but you’re right to think that way.”
“Let’s go home. Alex was right. It looks like we will have some time before they return.”
“You might want to think about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“If the trial is a success, I suspect the Invaders will start looking for the place the Ultra came from. Either way, you should make your plans quickly.”
“Take me home, Grace. We’ve put it off long enough.”
Virze hit her com, “Timmy, are you at Bristone?”
“Yes, I am, Love.”
“Please marry me now.”
“I’m so glad you’re ready. We’ve put it off too long.”
“I’m on my way.”
The large white ship disappeared.
Scotty, Julie, Robby, Grang, and Jingo sat at a table looking at Niles and Toland. Scotty said, “I don’t want to send you against one of their ships but we have to know where we stand.”
Niles looked at Toland and said, “We’ve known this day would eventually come, Your Majesty. We’ve been preparing for a long time.”
“Even so, if it looks like you’re in real danger, I want you to jump away.”
Toland shook his head, “I’m sorry to disagree with you, Your Majesty. We have to see if they can destroy our ship. We must stay and take on anything they can throw at us. I think we have to see if we can be destroyed and running will only endanger the ships that come after us.”
Niles nodded, “I agree and we’ve prepared for the worst. If we survive, then we’ll be as thankful as anyone but we must find out. We owe it to the Empire to give it our best effort.”
“I don’t want to lose the two of you.”
“And we don’t want to die but we must see what the Invader’s capabilities are.”
Scotty shook his head, “I just don’t like sending someone out to fight with no hope of survival.”
“All of us will possibly face that moment someday. There is always hope, even now; just not a lot of it.” Niles looked at Scotty, “Would you go, if you were the only one capable of facing this enemy, to fight for the Empire? If you say you wouldn’t, Toland and I will reconsider.”
Julie said, “I wouldn’t let him go.”
Niles shook his head, “That is not an answer. Would you go?”
Scotty looked at Julie and slowly shook his head, “You wouldn’t be able to stop me, Julie. Both of us know it.” He then looked at Niles, “Make this count for something. My prayer is you come back.”
Toland smiled, “Oh, we’ll make it count. We’ve been looking forward to a good fight that means something. We owe a huge debt for the planets we allowed to be invaded by Daulun. This is the first part of repaying it. Maybe now we can save them from another enemy.”
Grang looked at them and said, “Do you need anyone else to assist you.”
Scotty looked at Grang, “Now is not your time, Brother.”
Niles shook his head, “No, the ship is built for two. We do appreciate your offer.”
Grang looked at Scotty and then at Niles and grunted.
“Vring, is the probe ready?”
“Yes it is. We’ve attached it to the Bristone and it will detach once we arrive in the other universe and the Bristone encounters one of the Invader’s Ships.”
Scotty looked around the room and asked, “Does anyone else have anything to add.”
Robby said, “They have to go. Our survival depends on it.” Everyone looked at the ten year old. “I can’t explain how I know it but we are in much greater danger if they don’t. It’s imperative that they go.”
Scotty looked at his son and wondered what he knew.
Niles said, “We’ve changed the color of the Bristone to green. It will not match any ship here in color. They should experience a lot of difficulty matching it to any ship they may have recorded when they were here. The rear engines were also changed along with the lines of the hull. Even if they come here looking, they shouldn’t find anything to match.”
Julie sighed and asked, “When are you leaving?”
Niles looked at Toland, “In the morning. We want to take a last look at the stars tonight.”
Jingo smiled, “Do you mind if we join you?”
“Not at all.”
Scotty stood up, “Then we’ll have a going away party tonight. We’ll have a blast.”
Toland smiled, “We hope to have one tomorrow as well.”
Kreej was lying down outside the fire in the middle of the clearing watching the huge party. Robby was leaning back against Kreej looking up at the stars. “Kreej, do you think they’ve thought the attack through?”
“They have.”
Robby took a deep breath, “It was wise of them not to mention it to the others.”
“I know. I admire their bravery. They’re afraid but they aren’t being affected by it. They needed this gathering tonight to prove their commitment is worth the price.”
Robby looked at Niles and Toland across the circle and slowly shook his head. Kreej thought to him, “You’re starting to miss Dani.”
“I am. Most of the time I can just focus on things happening around me but when things slow down, my thoughts turn to her.”
“She’ll be there when the time is right.”
Robby turned his head and looked at the Zord, “Have you seen something?”
“I saw it years ago. The two of you are connected. I think you and she are doing the right thing by avoiding contact. The connection has strengthened since she left. I think the decision not to make mental contact is making the connection stronger.”
“Then I’ll continue to abstain. Now that she’s not here, I don’t feel as bad about being around her.” Robby looked back up at the stars and smiled, “I’ve seen the vision of when you were very young asking Mom if she was Dad’s mate. You were really small back then.”
Kreej smiled, “Yes, I was. I decided at that moment that I was going to be your flyer.”
“Was the wait worth it?”
“Oh yes. Just as yours will be for Dani.”
Robby smiled and saw Dani Valrico’s face in the stars overhead.
Niles felt the reactors power up and watched as his panel began illuminating. He punched the diagnostics button and the display began displaying the status of Bristone’s systems. He glanced over at Toland and saw he was balancing the reactors output. “Are you ready for this?”
“I am.”
“I’ve rethought our engagement plan.”
Toland raised his head, “In what way?”
“We need to see if we can escape first.”
“You know we can’t jump out.”
“Yes, but we need to see it they can track teleportation. If we wait until the shooting starts we may not get the chance.”
“How do you want to do it?”
“Program in six jumps. A light year, three light years, ten light years, thirty, sixty and finally a hundred. We’ll jump each time we detect their arrival. I’m hoping we’ll lose them on the first one.”
“And if we don’t?”
“We release the probe and face them after the last jump.”
Toland turned back to his board and took a deep breath, “I think that’s a good plan, Sir. The ship is at optimum; ready to go?”
“I’m taking the ship; get the weapons ready.”
“I’m ahead of you.”
“Universal jump in 4,3,2,1, now.”
Scotty sat on board BC and watched the Bristone disappear. He lowered his head and remembered when the two former New Ulmerton Sailors had joined his fleet. BC said, “What’s bothering you?”
Scotty sighed and looked at the display, “They won’t be coming back.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because they realize they can’t without leading the Invaders here.”
BC thought about it and knew he was right.
The Invader Battleship hung in space doing a full active scan of the galaxy in front of it. The Commander watched the readout on his display and was thankful for something to do other than just watch a universe and do nothing. It had been such a long time since he was allowed to fight his ship. He welcomed the chance to get back into action.
“Sire, I have a ship that just jumped into normal space seventy light years from our current location.”
The Commander jerked his attention to his combat display and saw the small ship. Isn’t that where we arrived?”
The Sensor Being stared at his readout, “I can’t tell from this range but it’s close. I suspect they scanned our arrival and came to investigate.”
“Did they come from this universe?”
“I can’t tell. The track is too far away to read.”
The Commander hit a pad on his panel and said, “Power all weapons, expand the force field, and lock in an approach trajectory.” The huge black ship turned on its axis and prepared to attack.
Niles saw the ball galaxy off in the distance. Toland looked at his board and said, “How do you want to go about finding one of their ships?”
“Just sit here. We know there’s nothing within range of our scanners. Let’s see if theirs are good enough to see us.”
Niles reached forward and put his finger on the teleport board. He waited and kept his eye on his scans. He heard Toland say, “Disturbance breaking in normal space a hundred miles off the port side.” Niles pressed the board.
“Sire, the ship just moved a light year away.”
“Follow them. How did they move so fast?”
“I’m not sure. They left no reading.”
“What!?!”
“Whatever method they used to escape, it didn’t register on my board.”
“Don’t lose them!”
Niles looked at Toland and yelled, “Change the last teleport to a hundred thousand light years in deep space.”
“Why?”
“They scanned us from more than fifty light years. I want to make sure about them following teleport signals.”
Toland scrambled to enter the last coordinates as Niles punched the second jump.”
“They are now three light years away.”
“Continue the pursuit.” The Commander was troubled. He had never encountered a ship that did not leave a trace of their jumps. That small ship could be from an advance civilization that had been missed in the survey of this universe. “Do not lose them!”
“Sir, I don’t think they can trace a teleport.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because they scan before they chase us. I’ve picked up their scan on the last three jumps. They wouldn’t scan if they could read a trace.”
“That is at least one good piece of news.”
“Let’s do this; after the next jump, if I detect a scan, immediately take the last jump and see if they can see us.”
“Thirty light years, Sire.”
“I’ve detected a scan, hit it.” Niles punched the last jump.
The huge black ship emerged into normal space and the Sensor Being worked the controls on his panel. He looked up at the Commander and said, “They are no longer on my board, Sire.”
The Commander felt his rage and drew his side arm and shot the Sensor Being. “Get me someone here that can follow orders!”
Niles and Toland watched their boards closely. Toland had released the probe and was preparing to face the giant ship. After two minutes Toland looked up, “I have not detected a scan. It looks like we lost them.”
Niles recalled the probe into storage, hit his teleport board, and teleported another hundred thousand light years at a ninety degree angle to their last jump. Toland watched what he was doing and said, “You’re right. We’ve been moving on the same line. That’s my fault.”
“Don’t worry about it. Leave one of our stealth probes here to see if anything shows up.”
The Commander stared at the new Sensor Controller and heard, “They have been on the same track for all their jumps. I’m moving the ship eighty light years.”
The Commander nodded and the ship jumped. The Sensor Being stared at his board and said, “Nothing appears on my board, Sire. They may have jumped again during the delay of my arrival.”
The Commander whipped out his side arm again and saw the Sensor Being stand and stare at him with no fear. Ummm, this was one brave controller. He could be counted on during a fight to keep his composure. He lowered his gun and said, “I want random jumps. Find that ship and get a message out to Command with a recording of what just happened.”
He leaned back in his chair and felt his excitement grow. Maybe there was an enemy that would challenge his ship. It had been so long since there had been anything to generate any excitement. He hoped his ship would be the one to find that ship.”
The probe attached to the black ship dropped off when the Force field was dropped to send the message and make a scan. It waited for the black ship to disappear and then teleported four hundred thousand miles into open space and jumped back to the Empire.
“Well, what now?”
“I think we need to pull the probe back in and go take a look at that galaxy being invaded to see what the Invader’s tactics are. Program a hundred quick teleports into the board at different points in that galaxy and have the final one jump us into deep space where we can take a look at what we’ve found.”
“Are you just putting off the fight?”
“No! I’m gathering as much information as possible to help the Empire. There’s no rush to have the confrontation as long as we can collect information about these creatures.”
“I know you’re right. I just want to get it over with. The waiting is starting to make me jumpy.”
“I know, Toland. Let’s do our duty.”
“That’s why you’re in command. You’ve always kept a clear head.”
Niles looked at his board, “Ok, starting run in 3, 2, 1 now.”
“Grace, I understand that you have an issue you want to discuss.”
“I do, Your Majesty. I think we need to think about using armor for our Riders.”
“You’re talking about the armor that was used by the Red Warriors?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Before I respond, tell me why you want to move in that direction.”
“You’ve just held the funeral for the Riders and Zord that were killed in defending Priven. We wouldn’t have lost them if they had been wearing armor. We are also going to face a highly advanced civilization in the future and we’ll need every advantage we can get.”
“Will that armor stand up to the beams of the Invaders? The Keepers were able to kill our warriors in spite of their armor. The only real advantage of it would be in our universe against the planets that are still aggressive. I don’t think that’s reason enough to release that technology here.”
“It would have saved those lost Flyers.”
“I know but sometimes a price must be paid for your actions. If we are able to sweep all opposition before us because of superior technology, it would only be a matter of time until resentment would rear its ugly head. We must persuade others to our values; not force them to it. Unless the armor is effective against the Invaders, I don’t want to use it against the planets in our universe. Will it be effective?”
“I don’t have enough information to know.”
“I’m like Alex on this issue Grace. Once that technology is released, it will be impossible to put back into the bottle. I’m uneasy about the Zeta Ships but we need them to face the coming invasion. I can also accept it because there can only be twenty of them. After this is over, I’m going to recommend that we put them back under Alex’s care. According to the defense database, once a person has armor; they cannot have it removed.”
“Then it’s a control issue with you.”
Scotty thought about it and said, “Yes, I guess it is.”
“Then only give armor to the Searcher’s Partners. I know you’ve screened them with the Zord and every other mechanism available to you.”
“Why are you so adamant about this, Grace?”
“If Virze had armor, she could have teleported down and saved those brave warriors. She could have also removed the cannon from the top of that building and they would still be alive. I think it’s better to have more options available than less. You just don’t know what we might have to face and I’ve seen what armor can do in the hands of the right warriors.”
Scotty didn’t want to give in. He struggled but then said, “Grace, have you allowed Bleath or Vring to take a look at the armor’s technology?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“Have them look at it. Then I’ll make a decision.”
“What do you expect them to do?”
“Why see if it can be used against the invaders. I’d wait until the probe arrives from Niles first. It could make a difference in their analysis.”
Grace reluctantly said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Niles watched the video of the Invader’s Black Ships attacking numerous planets. The giant ships would come in system sweeping away all the forces sent against it. Nothing survived the beams of the black ships. Once at the planet, it was called upon to surrender. Any delay was met with a devastating bombardment from orbit. Once all resistence had been annihilated, giant troop carriers left orbit for the surface. Thousands of large, orange colored beings spread out and took control of the inhabitants. Any that resisted were killed. The black ships detected their presence but didn’t stop their attack. In every instance another black ship was called in to confront the small ship. Each time a huge ship appeared the small ship jumped away.
“We need to go to another universe and see what it looks like when they complete their invasion.”
Toland looked at his scanner, “I have a coordinate from the track one of their ships left.”
“So you agree with me?”
“I do. What are they trying to do? There must be a reason for their attacking these universes. We need to find out.”
“Do you think that track will take us to a universe they’ve captured?”
“If they were going home they would use their dimensional drive. The coordinates I copied are to a universe. I suspect we can find out there.”
“Well, I’ll make sure the probe has our change in plans recorded. We need to see. Send me the coordinates.”
Toland touched his pad, “They’re on your panel.”
Niles hit the universal drive and watched as the universe changed.
“Grace!”
“Yes, Alex.”
“The probe I had attached to the Invader’s Ship has just returned. It appears our boys are avoiding being attacked.”
“Why, I thought they went to confront one of those ships.”
“They did but I think they are attempting to gather as much intelligence as possible. The Invaders chased them but lost them after a huge teleport. It appears they can scan about eighty light years but are not able to follow a teleport trail.”
“That’s a valuable piece of information.”
“Yes it is. They were smart to test their capabilities before taking on one of them on head-to-head.”
“I know the Emperor is starting to worry. Their probe has not made it back and I know he fears they were both lost.”
“I think those two will make certain the probe gets back. I suspect they are scouting the Invaders first. I really hope they make it back.”
“We all do, Alex.”
Niles and Toland scanned the planet and saw the inhabitants were working in fields growing a strange plant. It was orange in color and grew to about fifteen feet in height. The limbs spread out parallel to the ground and appeared to have one round fruit on each branch. The inhabitants were picking the orange balls with breathing masks on their faces and dropping them into a vehicle parked under each tree. As each fruit fell into the vehicle, one of the orange colored soldiers would wait at the end and supervise the removal of a clear package filled with an orange powder. They noticed in an adjoining field the inhabitants were growing crops to feed themselves.
All of the planet’s cities were abandoned and basic wood structures were built on the huge farms growing the plants. There was very little evidence of advanced technology on the planet. Their scans also revealed more than ten large cities had been hit with nuclear warheads.
“It looks like we have dimensional drug dealers.”
Toland said, “Watch this.”
One of the inhabitants picked one of the fruits and removed his breathing mask. It smelled the fruit and immediately fell off the ladder and tumbled to the ground where it spasmed so hard its arms and legs broke. Then the picker convulsed and its chest collapsed. An orange soldier walked up, pulled a gun, and shot the dead body incinerating it. The soldier then turned and shot the six workers that were picking fruit from that plant. It motioned for more workers to take the place of those killed.
“Niles, this is terrible.”
“You notice we have not been discovered. That means most of their ships are now in that other universe.”
“Niles, did you notice the color of the inhabitant that was burned.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going to freeze the video.”
Niles watched as the picker that had breathed the fruit quit twitching. As the chest collapsed Toland froze the video. The formerly brown colored picker was now a bright orange color. “It appears the invaders are addicted as well as the population.”
“We need to collect one of those fruits.”
“Stand by. Get a vacuum container out of storage.”
Toland left the bridge and came back with a clear round container. Niles used the scanner to zoom in on one of the fruit from a tree well ahead of the harvesting efforts. He read the coordinates and entered them in his board. He read the coordinates of the container and enabled the board. He pressed the teleport pad and a bright orange fruit appeared in the container.
“Toland, teleport this to a probe along with all that we’ve recorded so far and send it out into deep space to return to the empire.”
Toland began pressing the keys to release a probe.
Niles leaned back and decided that they had done all they could to scout the Invaders. Now it was time to see how the Bristone would hold up under attack. He looked at Toland and hoped his friend survived the coming attack. Toland made the teleport and Niles smiled, “Are you ready?”
“I am. Let’s go do this.”
The Bristone broke back into the first universe and ejected the probe. They waited for what they knew was coming.
“Sire, that ship is back at the place they were first detected.”
“Go there immediately.” The commander felt his excitement. They were not getting away this time. He sent the message to five other support ships that surrounded the small ship eighty thousand light years away. No matter which way it tried to escape a ship should be able to follow it. He smiled as his ship broke into normal space and the small ship was still there.
“It doesn’t have a force field up.”
“Scan it.”
“Our scans are being stopped at that ships outer hull.”
The commander watched the small ship wondering why it didn’t flee. Then a brilliant white beam struck his force field and rocked the giant black ship.
“We’ve blown a hole in their force field that lasted two seconds. We did not hit the ship.”
Niles teleported away.
“What are you doing?”
Niles jumped and saw another ship emerge. He teleported again and said quickly, “Are you sure about the hole in their force field?”
“Yes, it was about ten feet in diameter.”
“We can’t trial our beam.”
“I thought that was why we’re here.”
“It is but think about this.” Niles teleported again as two giant ships emerged. “What will those creatures do if we hit them and destroy one of their ships?” Niles teleported again and barely missed being hit by one of Invader’s main Beams.
“They’ll strengthen them.”
“We didn’t think our Zeta Beam would penetrate. Now we know it will open a hole that we can send things through. We can’t show them our focused beam. If the Zeta Beam opened a hole, the new beam will blow through. We don’t need to trial it.”
Niles teleported again and Toland said, “I’m turning off the hull.”
Niles smiled at Toland and released the probe as he teleported away. The probe waited until the four ships that had emerged chased after the Bristone and then teleported to deep space and jumped back to the Empire.
“It appears the Black Ships are all jumping out after us.”
“Weaken the Zeta Beam and fire at one of the ships.”
The Commander was closing in on the small ship when a brilliant white beam struck his force field again and was stopped. The small ship disappeared and the Commander was right behind it. He watched as his Weapons Controller fired and hit the small ship with a main beam. The small ship exploded and blew small fragments out from the center of the explosion.
Eight hundred of the Giant Black Ships arrived and scanned the explosion. There was nothing large enough to gather for examination. The Fleet Commander said, “Do any of you have a record of this ship in your databanks?”
The Ship’s Commander looked at his Sensor Controller and he said, “Not really. There are a couple of ships in the last universe we were watching that resemble it very slightly.”
“Show me.”
The Commander looked at his display at an Ultraship and compared it to the ship he had just destroyed. Then he heard, “I have a ship that is similar in size and color in the universe I’ve been watching.”
The Commander looked at the Ultraship again and said, “It’s the wrong color, the engines are different, and the bridge is not in the same location. The lines of the hull are also different.”
“It is about the same size.”
“But that is all they have in common. It probably came from the other universe.”
The Fleet Commander ordered, “Go back and really take a look at that universe. Take four hundred ships with you. The rest of you spread out and take another look at this universe to make sure it didn’t come from here.”
The Ship’s Commander received his quadrant to search and motioned to his navigator. The Black Ship disappeared. The small fragments of the Bristone continued to travel away from the center of the ship’s destruction. The final micro probe waited and then teleported to deep space after all of the giant ships disappeared.