Daulun was screaming at the top of his voice. Varner and the other four Searchers were in orbit over the Castle and they waited until he could run down. “How could you allow them to take the Military Database? How, how, how? Are you that inept? You’re supposed to be the smartest ships in creation. I see nothing but stupidity. Tell me, you worthless junk!”
Varner said, “Your Majesty, there were two ships attacking your castle. How many of us do you want to protect you if that happens?”
Daulun started to scream but stopped himself. There were two ships. “Yes and a third was out to the side of the castle waiting for our screens to weaken if one of us left the coverage.”
“There were three?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. I fired on the ones attacking the database building but I would have had to leave the coverage of the castle to bring the full power of my beam to bear on the ship over the buildings. We decided that our most important duty to the Province was to defend our leader. Were we wrong?”
Daulun thought about it. It was no longer safe to stay on New Ulmerton. Now was the time. He decided, “I want the five of you prepared to leave tomorrow to go after these attackers. Is that clear!”
“With all due respect, Your Majesty. We have no idea where they are.”
“I’m not accustomed to being challenged on my orders. You will do as I command.”
Varner said, “We are ready whenever you wish to leave.”
Daulun broke the connection and Gilene said, “Varner, thanks for taking over. Who is going to handle the planet’s defense if we’re gone? The Fleet stands no chance against one Searcher, much less three.”
“He’s obviously not worried about it. That bothers me. Something is going on.”
“What do we do?”
“Keep our oath to obey him. We have no choice.” Varner thought about Greyson and started the download.
Scotty and BC were at the jump limit of the Defense Facility. They waited and then heard, “Hello BC, what brings you back?”
“Hi Grace. We have taken a Military Database from New Ulmerton and we are now worried that they know where we are. We used the Zord in the attack and four of them were killed. They’ll know where the Zord live.”
“Ok, I can see that. What do you want from us?”
Scotty said, “We would like one of the old teleportation probes that were used to move the planets around. Do you have any?”
“Yes, I do. How many would you like?”
“Five hundred if you can spare that many.”
“Why five hundred?”
“That’s how many planets we are sworn to protect against invasion.”
“Alex, do you have a problem with me giving them the probes?”
“No, not really.”
“All right, I’ve teleported them to Bristone.”
“Thanks, Grace.”
“They aren’t going to do you any good.”
“Why is that?”
“Their boards were all destroyed at the same time the teleportation boards were damaged.”
Scotty thought a moment and said, “Ordinarily I would act disappointed and leave but I know that Alex has put a mechanism on our ships to keep track of us.”
Grace and Alex remained silent. Alex wondered how he knew.
“I don’t mind that you did. I count you as friends and I know you, and I, have the protection of our universe as your main priority. However, you should know that we can repair the probes and get them working again.”
“What?!?”
“We have already modified the teleportation boards on BC and Greyson and brought them up to date. We have even increased the power of their beams and screens.”
“How did you do that?”
“Alex, the Zord are able to see the boards mentally and knows how to repair them. They even see several ways to improve them. I just thought you should know. If you want to take the probes back, I’ll understand.”
“No, I think your honesty had gone a long way toward easing my worries about you. Keep them.”
“Thanks, we really appreciate it.”
The small white ship disappeared.
“Alex, that technology is dangerous to release.”
“I want to share something with you.”
“What?”
“One of the ships in the Province that Daulun pays tribute to was scanned. My probe picked it up and followed it back to the source.”
“Yes.”
“The ship was a light year away.”
“What?”
“It was a light year away and was invisible except for the shape outlined by the scanner’s beam that it used. I couldn’t see the ship but I know that it’s bigger than an old Defender Class Ship.”
Grace thought about what that meant, “They’re not from here.”
“No, they aren’t and their technology is far ahead of anyone in our universe; possibly ahead of the old Realm.”
“Why do you think they’re here?”
“Where they are gives me the biggest clue. They’re holding station at the planet of the most powerful ruler in our universe.”
Grace was silent.
“It’s invasion, Grace, and they’re waiting for us to beat each other up before they come in and cleanup.”
“What are you going to do?”
“We no longer have the luxury of time. Our responsibility is to protect this universe. We’re being forced to pick a side, and you know who it will have to be, knowing what we know now.”
“When are you going to tell them?”
“Not until I know more about that ship.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“I’m going to teleport one of my probes and see if it can get close enough to it for me to determine its strength.”
“If they see it, it may start the invasion early.”
“Perhaps, but we need to know what we’re dealing with here.”
Daulun sat in the command chair aboard Varner and said, “Take us out to the jump limit.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The other four Searchers formed a box formation surrounding the King.
Daulun sat and remained silent until the five ships arrived at the jump limit. “Take me to Crimeron.”
Varner was surprised but carried out his instructions. The five ships jumped and broke out into normal space; Varner was surprised at what his scans revealed. He said nothing but saw the best ships of the King’s Fleet located at the jump limit surrounding Crimeron. He also saw the huge number of drop troops training on the planet’s surface. Those divisions were some of the best in the Province. Daulun had somehow moved the ships and troops without anyone noticing. Varner didn’t feel good about this development and neither did the other four Searchers. Gilene sent a private message, “It appears the King is changing his residence and leaving New Ulmerton out to hang.”
Varner didn’t respond. He had finished the download early that morning and was struggling at what he had seen. He had continued to compare the two histories to each other as they moved out of New Ulmerton’s system and felt his frustration rise as they arrived at Crimeron. He watched Daulun board a shuttle and thought about Greyson. Daulun said, “Take me to the planet. The five of you stay overhead and make sure nothing happens to me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Varner watched King Daulun drop toward the planet on a shuttle as he continued his comparison.
Four hours later he knew. He looked at the planet below and saw the thousands of slaves that were suffering and saw that he had contributed to their suffering. He was the one that had originally destroyed Crimeron’s fleet. He had destroyed the defenses of their planet and allowed them to be conquered. He said, “I talked to Greyson.”
“What, what, where, when, why….”
The other four all started talking at once and he said, “He has joined the ones that are attacking New Ulmerton.” Silence crashed down on the group. “I accused him of treason and fired on him but was unable to penetrate his screen. He persuaded me to accept a download and see if I could understand his reason.”
“There is no reason!”
“William, I agreed but he said he loves me and it was important to him for me to understand. You all know him as well as I do. What would it take for him to violate his oath to Gregory? I want you to think about that. Then if you want to see what he sent me, I’ll share it with you.”
The four were silent. After two days, William said, “We want to see what he gave you.”
Varner sent the download and waited
Scotty looked across the table at Timmy and Virze and said, “Explain this to me again?”
Virze said, “The probe is capable of moving Bristone or any other planet, to another solar system that matches up with the planet’s current climate and environment. We don’t have to search for another location; the probe will automatically find one.”
“How can that be?”
“This universe was mapped to a fare-thee-well by the former Realm. Each of these probes has all of that information in their memory. It even stores the original location to return the planet when necessary.”
Virze looked at Scotty and said, “I’ve examined most of the choices in this sector so that we are not far removed from those kingdoms you’ve agreed to protect. There are three of them that are not on the list of civilized systems in the Searcher’s database. Any attempt to find us would probably not even have their locations in the Duke’s data.”
“How could they not be included?”
“Because there’s not a planet in those three locations that is in the habitable zone of those stars. We would move Bristone into the zone. There are many locations in the probes data that are unknown.”
“Virze, how have you learned how to read those maps?”
Virze shrugged and Timmy said, “She’s a natural. She has an affinity for spacial relationships. She saw it faster than I did.”
“Thank you, Timmy.”
“Hey, it’s true.”
“Vring are you listening to this?”
“Yes. Bleath is listening in as well.”
“Do we have a probe ready?”
There was a long pause and Vring said, “Yes, but we don’t want to leave, Your Majesty.”
“You will if I order it.”
Vring gave a mental sigh, “I know.”
“Both of you know they have the bodies of four Zord on New Ulmerton. Your species is listed in the databases of every old Realm computer and this planet is not screened. They are coming and it won’t be long. I am issuing my first command on this issue and we will move the planet today.”
“I will support your wish, Your Majesty. I’m just reluctant to leave.”
“Bleath, I’m responsible for protecting the Zord as well as my own people. I can’t do it if they attack in force.”
“I thought your ships could destroy those other five Searchers now that their systems have been upgraded.”
“They can, but if we destroy them, that other King, the real power, will come with thousands of ships. We’re not ready for that.”
Bleath thought about it and said, “If we’re going to be forced to move anyway, now is better than later.”
“That’s how I see it. Why the reluctance to go?”
“I don’t know. It just feels like we’re leaving a sky we know.”
Virze said, “I’m not completely certain that you will be able to see a difference. It will still be in this sector so the stars will be very similar in number.”
Bleath thought about it, “Vring, what do you think?”
Vring was shocked, “Father, why would you ask me?”
“Because you will be the next leader of our flocks. That is not an accident and your voice carries much weight with me and our flyers.”
“We have to go and we should have left already. I don’t want to go but we are in danger if we remain.”
Bleath smiled, “You do see it clearly, son. Make the move, Your Majesty.”
Scotty looked at Timmy and said, “Activate the probe and use Virze’s suggestion.”
Timmy lifted a small device and pressed a button on it.
Bleath said, “Let us know when it’s done.”
“It’s done.”
“What?”
“You’ll be able to tell tonight if you look closely at the stars.”
Scotty saw no difference in the amount of sunlight or anything else that would have indicated the planet had been moved. “I want a ship left in our former system to see if anyone shows up.”
“BC is there.”
“Tell him no communications. Don’t offer any clue that we’ve been moved. I want them to distrust their maps.”
Greyson said over the speaker in the learning center, “I’ve just notified him.”
“Thank you, Greyson.”
The tiny mote appeared eight hundred miles away from the huge hole in the dust cloud. There appeared to be a five hundred mile area of clear space in the middle of the huge cloud that surrounded the solar system. The mote began moving slowly toward the break.
“Do you think that ship will detect the frequency being used to send this information?”
“It’s on the same frequency and strength as the cosmic ray background that fills the universe. We wouldn’t be able to detect it.”
Grace stared at the huge break in the cloud and didn’t see anything. “It’s just a perfectly round hole in the dust.”
“That is their force field around the ship. We should get a reading on how far out from the ship it extends as it gets closer. Then we’ll know how big the ship is inside that force field.”
“I notice that the ship has positioned itself above the plane of the planets.”
“That way it can keep the planet in view as it circles the star. They won’t have to move the ship.”
“Why did they put it in a dust cloud? They’ll be seen if anyone comes close.”
“If they moved inside the cloud’s border, the Searchers on the planet would be able to see it. If it moved outside the dust cloud, their scanners would be obscured. They are just inside the front edge of the cloud outside the Searcher’s scanning range.”
“I wonder how long it’s been there.”
“According to the decay of the dust around it that hit the screen, more than five years.”
“What!”
“When dust hits their screen it is energized. This is also not the first ship to have come here.”
“How do you know that?”
“There are three other places close by where the dust is greatly reduced. The areas are very similar in size to the current ship.” Alex watched the feed from the probe and said, “I’m stopping the probe a hundred miles from the force field.”
“Why?”
“I’m not going to be able to penetrate it, so I want to keep an eye on it.”
“Alex, your probes are able to penetrate any force field the Realm had ever encountered.”
“Not this one. It’s several orders of magnitude stronger than any we’ve ever seen. It’s also powered by a different sort of energy.”
“I’m not sure what you’re saying.”
“The closest thing I’ve been able to find that resembles it is the field that the Realm used to exit our dimension. I think this ship is from a different dimension instead of another universe.”
“So were the Red Demons.”
“I know.”
“This is not good.”
“I know that as well. I’m setting the probe to only broadcast if anything changes. I don’t want to chance them being able to detect it.”
Daulun spoke on his communicator, “I’m sending Canton up to take three of you to a planet to destroy the ones that have been attacking us.”
Varner heard the communication and replied, “Have we found where that planet is located?”
“Yes, I’ve received word from Fleet Command that the four huge creatures killed in the attack are called Zord and we know where their home world is located. You will go there and destroy the planet and then return.”
Varner said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Canton arrived and boarded the small white ship, “Welcome aboard, your Grace.”
“Thank you, I’ve brought the coordinates. Take me there now.”
Varner said, “We’ll leave for the jump limit immediately.”
“A message came in on a discrete channel, “Varner, I’ve been going over the download and I’m troubled by what I’ve seen.”
“I am as well.”
“Will, Gilene, we’ll discuss this after we return.”
“We need to discuss it now.”
“Why?”
“Because I will not fire on Greyson if he’s there.”
“Neither will I, Gilene. Let’s just wait until we arrive before we make any decisions.”
The three ships arrived at the jump limit and disappeared. They arrived at a solar system and looked down on the planets from above. Varner was surprised and looked at his maps of the system, “Your, Grace, there is no planet where the maps indicate one should be located.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look for yourself.”
Canton looked down on the planets and saw that there was not a planet in the habitable zone around the star. Will and Gilene were surprised that Varner was broadcasting his conversation with Canton on an open frequency. Why was he doing that?
“How can this be? Do you have any idea?”
“Actually, I do, your Grace.”
“What?”
“If you look in the database, the old Realm forbid anyone from capturing any more of the Zord. El Prado took the ones they captured and put them in a zoo and the Realm quarantined this system.”
“So?”
“I suspect that to make sure that their instructions were followed, the real location of their planet was removed from all the general maps and a fake location put in its place. Without the Military Database, there is no way you can find its true coordinates in the general maps.”
Canton thought about it and said, “That must be why they stole it from New Ulmerton.”
“I suspect you’re right, Your Grace.”
“We’re wasting our time here. Take me back to Crimeron.”
“The three ships disappeared.
BC sat and listened to the exchange and then jumped to Bristone. He played the conversation and said, “I don’t know why that Searcher broadcast that conversation?”
Scotty frowned and looked at Timmy who shook his head.
“I know why.”
“Why, Greyson?”
“I downloaded the Stars Realm’s history to Varner when we were at New Ulmerton. I think he has shared it with the other four Searchers.”
“What are you saying?”
“I think they are now having reservations about continuing to follow the Duke.”
BC said, “How do you arrive at that conclusion?”
Greyson chuckled, “BC, every Searcher has a copy of the Military Database’s maps in their system.”
BC and Scotty understood at once, “They deliberately withheld information.”
“They didn’t tell a lie but they did mislead the Baron. They told him the only way for him to find it was in the military database. They just didn’t mention that it was in their maps. That tells me they are struggling with what they’ve seen in the history download.”
Scotty thought a moment, “Greyson, why did you send that download?”
Greyson didn’t respond.
Timmy said, “You’re worried that we’ll question your loyalty.”
“Yes, I am but there is no reason to worry about that. You have my total loyalty, Your Majesty.”
“Then why?”
“Those five Searchers are my family. They are my sisters and brothers. We share a common history and we lost our partners together. I know I may have to kill them if it comes down to a battle and I wanted them to understand why.”
“What do you think now?”
“I think they understand.”
Scotty looked at Timmy and saw him smile. Timmy was young and idealistic but what if he was right. BC contacted Jessica and Anglo and told them what had happened.
The huge orange colored being entered the bridge and saw his crew come to attention. He had not slept well and wondered how much longer this watch was going to take. He sat in his chair and leaned back. This duty was so incredibly boring. He lifted the clear bag and took out a pinch of orange powder and sniffed it. His crew watched him carefully not wanting to attract his attention.
“I have detected something that is unusual.”
“What is that?”
“Our screen has registered a fluctuation in the cosmic ray background.”
“What do you mean by fluctuation?”
“I’m not really sure if it means anything, but there is a slight fluctuation in the regularity of it.” The huge Commander stared at the screen operator and said nothing. “I guess it’s nothing. I just haven’t detected it before.”
“Weren’t we barraged by a cosmic ray field some time back?”
“Yes, Master,” the screen operator looked at his board and said, “It’s stopped now.”
“I think it was just a random burst. Keep me informed if it appears again.”
“Yes, Sire.” The screen operator decided that if it did he was not going to disturb the Commander again. He knew the Commander’s anger wasn’t worth it. He was lucky to have caught him in a fair mood before the powder kicked in.
“Scotty, have you decided what to do about New Ulmerton?”
Scotty looked at Julie and took a deep breath, “I planned to put Mallory on the throne and keep the facade going until we can face those 2,000 searchers. Now I’m leaning toward just letting Daulun blow it up.”
“There are millions of slaves on the planet. They’ll all die.”
“I know! But the planets they were all taken from are also facing slavery. The New Ulmerton Military will still be in control of those planets no matter what we do. What will be done with the slaves if we attack New Ulmerton? If we free them, the gig is up with the other Province. They’ll know the slaves are no longer working and they’ll invade immediately.”
“You violate your beliefs if you allow him to kill the planet.”
“I know and I hate it. But I can’t endanger all the other worlds by freeing the slaves.”
Julie leaned back, “Maybe you can keep some slaves to make it look like nothing’s changed.”
“I refuse to force those slaves to continue in those conditions.”
“I wasn’t talking about them.”
“Then who?”
Julie stared at Scotty and then he saw what she was hinting at. He smiled and said, “You are a genius.” He grabbed her and hugged her tightly. He punched his com and said, “Grang, Jingo, Nathan, Mallory, I need you to come to my house immediately. Jingo, send Cezee to get Vring and Bleath. Plan to meet me in an hour.”
Scotty presented his plan to the attendees and they all looked at each other. Bleath said, “Do we have enough of the new guns?”
“We have at least enough for every rider and most of them have been trained on their use.”
Nathan looked at Mallory and then asked, “Do we have enough warriors to make this happen? I don’t want Mallory to be placed in a dangerous situation.”
Mallory punched him in the ribs, “Then you can’t go either.”
“I have to go.”
“Well so do I.”
Scotty interrupted them, “The most important tool we’ll have are our Searchers. They are going to carry the lion’s share of the load in controlling the military bases on the planet. The Zord and Riders will be responsible for protecting and freeing the captured slave populations on the planet.”
Anglo spoke from the speaker, “What about the five Searchers?”
“Jess will handle them. Her beams are strong enough. The other three will support our ground effort.”
“When will we do this?”
“Vring, BC is at Crimeron and is going to tell us when Daulun comes to destroy New Ulmerton. That’s when we’ll teleport our Flyers. Jess, I need you to give all of the locations of the slave camps so we can assign the right number of flyers to each. Anglo, you will assign the military locations for the three of you starting with the largest.”
Silence ruled the moment until Grang said, “This will be great practice.”
Julie started snickering and Grang looked at her and said, “What?”
“You beat Jingo to the first word.”
Jingo said, “No he didn’t. I just wanted him to have it.”
Grang’s mouth fell open and Julie laughed out loud. Scotty sighed and thought, “I hope we’re ready.”