Canton waited for Daulun to return. He had been gone a week and he had not been heard from. What could have happened? The five Searchers went with him. He should have been back days ago. He looked at his communication board and thought about what to do. He was not going out looking for Daulun in an ordinary ship and none of the Searchers had returned. “Crimeron, this is Delta Fleet requesting permission to enter orbit.”
Canton looked at his display and saw thirty troop carriers approaching the planet, “Who are you?”
“We are the shock and drop troops from Ionia. We’re reporting as ordered.”
“By who’s order?”
“King Daulun commanded us to leave Ionia and come here to support his attack plan.”
Then Canton heard, “Crimeron, this is Zeta Fleet requesting permission to enter orbit.”
Canton began hearing fleet after fleet of Shock and Drop troops requesting permission to enter orbit. What was Daulun doing? Maybe he was discovered attempting to destroy New Ulmerton and now he needed the troops to take the planet back. But that didn’t make sense, he could just destroy it. I need to discuss this with Father. “You will hold your position in orbit until our King arrives and issues instructions.” Canton left the communications center and ran toward the throne room.”
Canton rushed into the throne room and found his father looking at a list of military assets. Canton quickly explained what was happening over head in orbit and asked what to do.
“It appears the King is not as dumb as I thought.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think it’s clear why he’s sending all of his shock troops here. He must have an informer inside our organization to tell him we were going to execute him when he returned. He sent the troops to take the planet from us.”
Canton turned pale, “Can they do it?”
“If they’re allowed to land, I’m sure they’ll overwhelm our forces. Those are his best troops and they’ve been battle hardened by years of fighting.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Well, the fleet is still here and not far away. Send out orders to destroy those transports. Make sure they’re all here before you begin. If any start toward the surface, have the fleet attack at once.”
Canton left for the communications room thankful that he had made sure the ships loyal to him had been brought to Crimeron. He was frightened at the massive number of transports overhead.
Greyson was in stealth mode a hundred thousand miles above the planet. Daulun was sitting in a chair with his arms bound. Kreej was curled up taking up most of the room on the bridge. Daulun looked at the display and said, “Why did you bring me here?”
Greyson said, “Kreej, was the Emperor right?”
“I’m always surprised by his insight. The two on the planet are really frightened. They think that our King here found out they were going to execute him when he returned.”
Daulun whipped his head around at the young Zord and yelled, “Liar. They are my strongest and most loyal supporters.”
Greyson said, “Show him.”
Daulun saw the throne room as Canton rushed in. He heard the conversation and his face turned deep red. “Order the troops down! Send them down!”
Greyson said, “I think that does it. All of them have arrived and are in orbit. I’ve opened a channel. Order them yourself.”
Daulun yelled, “The Pelos are traitors. Attack the planet and destroy them! They have ordered the fleet to kill you. Put your screens up and attack!”
Greyson shut off the channel as the transports turned on their screens and thousands of drop troops fell from the ships toward the ground. Following the drop troops, thousands of small carriers with heavily armored troops dropped toward the castle. The fleet came roaring in and fired on the seven hundred transports. The warships beams were stronger than the troop transports and after a pitched battle that lasted two hours, all seven hundred were destroyed. The fleet lost three hundred ships when the transports started ramming them when they saw no chance of escape.
Daulun watched with a hard smile on his face as the ground troops began landing and fighting their way through the troops on the ground. Thousands were being killed as the battle swarmed around the castle. The remaining five hundred ships overhead attempted to support the ground troops but the fight was too close to the castle and the troops were too mingled to fire. They watched helplessly as the drop troops rushed the walls.
The defenders fell back and every inch of ground gained by the attackers was deadly. Beams and explosions were everywhere and troops were dying by the thousands on both sides until the palace wall was breached. Then the killing accelerated into frenzy. The fleet Admiral watched on his display as the shock troops rushed into the throne room and blasted everyone into dust. Daulun smiled as he saw Canton and his father killed. Then he heard the Admiral say, “They will pay for this.” The fleet fired a nuke into the castle and the city went up in a blinding flash. Greyson dimmed the scanners and then fired on the ships in the fleet. Every ship was vaporized and nothing remained in orbit over Crimeron.
Greyson said, “Now I can let it go.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Our values prevent us from attacking those that are unable to defend themselves. We wondered how we could remove the evil of those soldiers that attacked and enslaved so many planets. Those scum reveled in the misery they caused. My Emperor suggested that I allow you to do it for us. I thank you for making that happen. All of the soldiers and shock troops were in the castle at the end of the battle and they are now gone. Crimeron lost a major city but they are now free of the evil that ruled here.”
“The fleet couldn’t defend themselves against you.”
“That’s true but they destroyed an innocent city. They had to be stopped.”
Daulun stared at the display. He saw that he had lost control and now there was nothing. Well, at least he had one thing, “I held up my end of my promise. Now keep yours.”
Greyson said, “My Emperor promised to send you to one of the Provincial Capitals. We will send you there now.”
Daulun smiled as his bindings were removed by Kreej. Then he saw the planet on his display. That’s not a Provincial Capital.”
“Ah, but it is.”
“What planet is that?”
Greyson laughed, “Welcome to El Prado. The current rulers will welcome you momentarily.” Daulun disappeared in a silver screen and reappeared in the branches near the top of a giant Ging Tree.
He looked at the ground far below and saw two giant creatures that looked like cats. The cats were sniffing the air and then they looked up and saw him clinging to a branch two hundred feet overhead. The largest cat sunk his claws into the trunk and began climbing to remove the invader from their territory. Daulun cursed and screamed for twenty minutes as the cat climbed two hundred feet. Greyson and Kreej both made a record of the death that Daulun so richly deserved. Greyson said, “This is for Haldale.” Both of them watched the long fall of Daulun’s body as the cat threw him clear of the tree. Daulun screamed all the way to the ground. The giant female on the ground caught him in her mouth and savagely shook him before she swallowed him.
Kreej thought about what had happened and decided that Greyson’s revenge was something he would share with the flock. It was always good to remove evil from existence. The extended time for Daulun to think about his death was always good for those whose crimes were punishable by death; maybe even better than the long fall that the flocks used to punish criminals. This death was a long one. Greyson teleported away and felt his spirit finally at peace.
Jeramiah Jongo sat at the fire in the clearing just outside the Human community on Bristone. Emperor Robbins and his wife were sitting across from him staring into the flames. Two weeks had passed and miraculous things had happened on New Ulmerton. The former slaves were recuperating nicely and most were scheduled to be transported back to their home worlds. The Military had been brought under control and most of the former troops were now doing the work of the former slaves under the watchful eyes of the Zord and their Riders. They learned quickly that to even think about rebellion would end their life. The Zord were watching the former soldiers determining which of them could be possibly be salvaged. Jeramiah was surprised to find that the vast majority were repulsed by the treatment of the slaves but were forced to their brutality. There were a small percentage of them that enjoyed causing misery and they were all moved to one camp.
Jeremiah knew that the former soldiers were going to have to play the role of slaves until the other Province could be faced. The Ambassador from that Province was due in a week and he was going to have to put on the show of his life.
“Your Majesty, we have enlisted the aid of Carrie and Ashley to send ambassadors to the planets that Daulun conquered. We have told them about Daulun’s demise and that a good government was not in power on New Ulmerton. They, unfortunately, do not want to have any dealings with New Ulmerton under any circumstances. I was wondering what you plan to do with them.”
Jeramiah sighed, “I can’t really blame them for feeling that way. Daulun is a name that will go down in history as an evil tyrant.” He looked at Scotty, “I understand that you have promised protection to two other kingdoms.”
“We have.”
“Are they planets that you rule?”
“Not yet. We will not accept any new members until they prove they will live by our values. Queen Carrie’s kingdom is close to being accepted. They have pleaded for membership and the Zord have confirmed the leaders of their worlds are committed.”
“May I request your protection and possible membership in your Empire for those planets we conquered and for us when we can prove our commitment to your satisfaction?”
“You have lost all the worlds that you’ve conquered and we will assist them in reconstruction. You’re alone now.”
“Not really. We have you and the other two kingdoms to trade with and I think we can eventually win back the good will of those worlds we mistreated. I do know that without your help, we stand no chance against the other Province. My world had the most modern factories and up-to-date ship building facilities in this sector. We can assist you in preparing for the coming conflict.”
Scotty stared at Jeramiah and then looked at Julie, “What do you think?”
“I think you should be there when this Ambassador arrives to help King Jongo in the meetings. I also think that if it comes down to it, you should move New Ulmerton to protect it after the meeting.”
Scotty and Jeramiah did a double take at the suggestion. “Are you able to move a planet?” Scotty looked at Jeramiah and nodded. “Well, I could certainly use some help. I’m not sure what we’re going to do when our shipments of raw materials stop. I suspect that will trigger the invasion.”
“We’re going to assist you with that. We are going to send you what you need from the kingdoms and all of the former worlds you conquered have agreed to continue providing their share. With all of us chipping in, no one planet will have to suffer.” Scotty smiled and said, “I’ll be there when the Ambassador arrives.”
Jeramiah smiled and leaned back, “I am changing the name of New Ulmerton to New Hope. I am also changing my title to Baron and I look forward to the time when you accept us into your Empire.”
“Why didn’t you take the title of Duke?”
Jeramiah smiled, “We both know how much evil is attributed to that title. I think that title should never be used again.”
Scotty nodded slowly, “Baron Jongo, my Empire will take you under our protection and do all we can to defend you. I look forward to your acceptance as well.”
Jeramiah stood and kneeled, “Thank you, Your Majesty. We will do all we can to make that happen as quickly as possible.”
Scotty and Julie sat and looked up at the stars after Jeramiah teleported away. “I’m worried about that Province.”
“I am, too.” Scotty watched a shooting star flash across the sky and smiled, “I was just thinking that maybe we shouldn’t wait for them to invade.”
“What?”
“Maybe they need to be preoccupied by issues facing them in their backyard.”
Julie smiled, “It appears Grang and Jingo will avoid boredom again.”
“Yes, it does.”
The three Searchers holding station at the jump limit of Lizella detected a stardrive breaking into normal space. Their scans showed a large shuttle moving toward the planet. “Well, what have we here?”
“The two of you go check it out.”
Two Searchers jumped out and appeared on each side of the shuttle. “You will stop and lower your screen.”
“Hello, I was just traveling home and thought I would stop and see if there were planets here that might be interested in trade. I see that the planet in this system is heavily industrialized. We are primarily an agricultural society and need the tools to build industries. Are you open to the possibility of trade?”
One Searcher snickered, “Are you that stupid. We don’t need agricultural products but we can always use a transport such as the one you’re in. You will lower your screen and disembark or we will destroy you.”
“Surely you know I can do you no harm. I’m just attempting to open trade relations.”
“This is your last warning. Do as we’ve ordered or I will fire on you.”
“Jess, it looks like they mean business.”
“Let’s give them one more opportunity.”
“I thought Searchers didn’t attack those that couldn’t defend themselves?
“You thought wrong. You have ten seconds to comply.”
“Tesa, it looks like you’re right.”
“You should at least warn them.”
“I feel I must tell you that if you fire on me, I will defend myself.”
Both Searchers laughed and one fired at the shuttle. The beam stopped at the shuttle’s screen. The Searcher was surprised but raised the power of his beam and fired again without penetrating the shuttle’s defenses. Both Searchers then opened fire with their main beams and were shocked when the shuttles screen absorbed both beams without any change in color.
“I warned you.”
The Searcher that was still holding station at the planet was stunned by what it was witnessing. Then it saw two beams erupt from the black shuttle and blow through the screens of the two Gamma ships and vaporize them. It watched as the shuttle turned toward it and then it heard, “I guess if you don’t want to trade, I’ll just have to take what I want.”
The Searcher jumped away and gave the alarm to Fleet Headquarters.
“Tesa, I think we can go now.”
“I would really like to see what happens next.”
“Ok, we’ll teleport in to the next planet and hide inside its atmosphere. We should be able to see from there.”
“I wonder how Greyson and Timmy are doing.”
“Greyson just let me know that they had to kill six but now they’re moving to their next assignment.”
“Do we have time to hang around and see?”
“We have an hour. Oh, here they are.”
Three hundred Searchers jumped into Lizella’s system and spread out scanning for the intruder. Tesa and Jessica recorded them and Tesa said, “My, that language is really offensive.”
“You know they’re just a bunch of sailors. What else would you expect? Time to go.” Jessica teleported out to her next target.
The Orange Being was leaning back in his chair when his Sensor Leader said, “I’m hearing reports of multiple ships being killed.”
“What!”
“Yes, it appears that more than forty ships have been killed by ships that are impervious to their weapons.”
“Find out where?”
“The reports are coming in from all over this King’s Realm.”
“We need to find one of those ships.”
“It appears that when reinforcements arrive, they have already left.”
The Ship’s Commander thought about what was happening. If he left, there was a chance his ship would be discovered prematurely. He knew he could handle the ships of the King he had been scouting but these new ships represented an unknown enemy. “Lower our screen and contact our link; then ask for instructions.”
The probe outside the ship saw the force field lower around the giant ship and it took a quick passive scan and moved quickly to the hull where it attached itself.
“We are ordered to remain hidden. This is a war between the local civilizations and we should get a scan of one of those ships during their conflict.”
The Commander showed his disgust and motioned for the field to go back up.
The Sensor Leader saw that variance in the cosmic ray background again but said nothing.
“Grace, I have a scan of that ship.”
“And.”
“It’s worse that I thought. The weapons on that ship can destroy any ship in our universe.”
“Even the ones we’ve updated.”
“Yes.”
“So what do we do?”
“We have to discuss this with your friends and start arming them.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course not but we have no choice. We can only hope what we have will be enough. I’m not certain it will be.”
Grace felt Alex’s fear and began to feel it as well. Where was the Realm when you needed it?
King Jilico Border listened to the reports coming in and felt his anger growing. He looked up as Rehoben entered his personal quarters and stared as his trusted advisor came forward, “I’ve just seen the reports, Your Majesty. We’ve been unable to catch one of these perpetrators.”
“I want them found and eliminated. Ro, I’m holding you personally responsible for their destruction.”
Ro looked at Jilico and started shaking his head, “Your Majesty, you have ordered me to leave in three days to go put pressure on Daulun.”
“Forget Daulun! Send word you’ve been delayed and get on this now. These are the first successful attacks against us and I will not tolerate it. I want those ships found and the ones that sent them destroyed. Do you understand!?!”
“Yes, Your Majesty. However, I need you to help guide me. How do I find these ships when they jump away before we can arrive?
“They leave jump tracks. Follow them.”
“We have followed them and lose them after three jumps. There are no tracks to follow after their third jump.”
Jilico stared at Ro, looked at his display, and turned back to Ro “How is that possible?”
“We have no idea but we’re chasing our tails trying to find them.”
Jilico looked back at his display and saw another three ships destroyed. He stood and walked to the window overlooking his capital city and put his hands behind his back and swayed back and forth. Ro remained silent. He knew that the King was at his most dangerous at moments like this. Finally Jilico said, “They are attacking our ships that are holding station outside the jump limit, right?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Move the Searchers two hours inside the jump limit. If they move inside we will trap them. They will have to come to us.”
Ro nodded, “I will issue the orders immediately.”
Ro left the room and Jilico continued to sway looking out at Olympos, his capital city.
Scotty answered his com and saw Jeramiah Jongo, “Your Majesty, the Ambassador has notified us that he has been delayed.”
Scotty smiled, “Well, we’ve bought some time. Make good use of it solidifying your position.”
“The people have embraced our vision, Your Majesty. The name change and my reduction in rank have proven my good intentions. Everything is moving smoothly.”
“That’s good, Jeremiah. Keep me informed on your progress.”
“I will.”
Scotty turned off his com and immediately received another beep, “BC, what’s up?”
“Your, Majesty, Grace has contacted me and requests you come see her as soon as possible.”
“Did she say why?”
“No she didn’t but I sense it’s something serious.”
“I’m bringing Julie this time. Let her know and teleport us aboard.”
Scotty and Julie looked at the recording of the giant black ship on their display as Alex described it, “Its force field is the strongest I have ever seen and that includes the strongest ships of the Stars Realm. The energy being used is of a different order of magnitude and the beams are just as formidable. They remind me of the ships that the Red Demons used to attack the Realm. The psychic ships were just barely able to defeat them and those ships are no longer available for us to use against them. They were taken by the Reg when they left.”
Julie stared at the display shaking her head, “Where did this ship come from?”
“It did not come from another universe. I believe it came from another dimension.”
Scotty looked up, “Is that significant?”
“Yes, it is. The Demons had eliminated all of the really powerful species in the universes but I don’t believe they searched the dimensions for possible adversaries. It requires a truly advanced civilization to be able to travel between dimensions. It appears that whoever sent that ship has that level of technology and represents a grave danger to this universe.”
“Tell me what you think, Alex.”
“I believe that ship is an initial scout that was sent to scout our universe for an invasion. It parked outside the most powerful force in this universe and has been watching it for years. I think that once that Province takes control, the invasion will start. All they will need to do is defeat that King to take control of everything. They’ll just wait and let us weaken ourselves by fighting each other.”
Scotty stared at the display and said, “So your advanced weapons will not defeat this ship?”
“In my opinion, without having the chance to scan their weapons in operation, they will not.”
“So what do we do?”
“I’ve called you here to ask you the same question.”
“What makes you think I’m more qualified to answer it than you are?”
“You’re repaired teleportation boards that I could not. You’ve increased the power of your ship’s weapons without my assistance. I can go on but I think you get the picture.”
“We need access to your facility.”
“I am programmed to prevent that and it is not a program that I can override.”
“Well maybe you can give a hint.”
“The most important word in the Stars Realm repeated three times followed by the second most important three times.”
Julie looked at Scotty and asked, “Who established this center.”
“The Gardners.”
Julie smiled and said, “Rose, Rose, Rose, Tommy, Tommy, Tommy.”
There was a slight pause and then they heard, “You have been granted access. How did you figure that out?”
“I thought about what was the most important thing to a person and it dawned on me that it has to be their children. I know my child’s name will be the most important thing to me.”
Scotty looked at Julie, “Your child?”
“Actually, it’s our child and you need to be thinking of a name.” Scotty’s eyes widened and he stared at Julie as she nodded, “It’s true.”
Scotty grabbed her and embraced her. He leaned back and kissed her. Julie smiled, “We can make the announcement later. Right now we need to see what we can do about the Invaders.”
Scotty looked at her with love in his eyes and then said, “Grace, I am going to bring two Zord here to look at what you have in the way of defensive and offensive weapons. Alex, will you work with them?”
“Yes, I will but I don’t know what they can do to improve the weapons the Algeans built.”
“I don’t either, but that’s where we have to start. Will you send me a download of that ship?”
“Why do you need it?”
“I’m going to have to do some persuading of a King and get him to see the big picture. Your commentary on it would also be appreciated.”
BC said, “I have it.”
“Do you mind if I join you?”
Alex stammered, “What, what?”
“I’m serious, Alex. I’ve been thinking about it and you know you can run this facility by yourself. I think I was put here just to keep you company. I miss the freedom of open space when Melanie and I were working together. You’re going to have plenty of company shortly. I want to go.”
“Grace, we would love to have you. How are you going to make that happen?”
Alex said, “You’re going to take a Zeta.”
“Yes, I am.”
“What’s a Zeta?”
“Julie, it is the most powerful Searcher ever constructed by the Algeans. It’s capable of teleporting without using a screen that can be detected. Its beams are capable of penetrating any screen ever built by the old Realm and its screen can withstand the assault of more than five hundred Searchers. I plan to download into its positronic system.”
“Grace, I don’t want to lose you. You still can’t withstand that invader’s weapons.”
“I understand that, Alex. But before we take them on we are going to have to meet them on a united front. I can make a difference in making that happen.”
Scotty said, “How many of those ships do you have?”
“Only twenty.”
“Would it be possible for my Searchers to relocate into one of them?”
There were a few moments of silence and Alex said, “We’ll start with BC.”
“Alex are you sure about releasing these weapons?”
“Your Majesty, I am now going to swear my loyalty to you. If that invader wasn’t here, I would not be doing this but I see that I don’t have the luxury of time. I have to decide which side I’m going to take and I know that you are the best choice. When you didn’t kill that Magrum, I knew you could be trusted to maintain the principles I believe in. I am a replica of the Alexander Kosiev and I am a warrior at heart. My quest is the protection of this universe and seeing it thrive again.”
“Well, we now have nine Searchers that have sworn their loyalty to the Empire. I would like to move all of them into a Zeta starting with the original three.”
“You can start sending them now.”
“Grace, are you going to accept a partner?”
“Do you have one in mind?”
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
Julie looked at Scotty with raised eyebrows as he said, “Her name is Virze and I think the two of you will be a great match.”
“Will you wait for three hours while I make the transition to my new home?”
“We will.”
“BC, Alex will assist you in moving once I’m done. Then you can send the others.”
“We’ll get Jessica to bring the Zord.”
“I’ll be able to do that, Your Majesty.”
“Won’t it be cramped quarters?”
“Not really.”
BC said, “I wonder what this new home looks like?”
Alex said, “I think you’ll like it.”
BC said, “We’ll see.”
Ro entered Jilico’s chamber and bowed. “Have we found out where the enemy is coming from?”
“Not yet, Your Majesty. The attacks stopped as quickly as they started. Placing our ships inside the jump limit may have prevented further attacks.”
“I can’t conduct business in the Kingdom with my ships stuck inside the jump limit.”
Ro thought about the problem and said, “Let’s see if we can set a trap.”
“How would you go about doing that?”
“We’ll have three of our ships go out to the jump limit and all jump away together.”
Jilico nodded, “You’ll have them jump to a place where we will be waiting for them.”
“Exactly.”
“What if the intruders are not where the ships jumping away are located?”
“We’ll have ships from all our planets start jumping sequentially one after the other. If nothing follows the first three, we’ll jump the next three after we send the first three back.”
“And so on until one of the groups is followed.”
Ro nodded.
“And if none of them are followed?”
“We’ll start the process all over again. Something should happen. You don’t always catch a fish with the first cast.”
“How many ships will you have waiting to spring the trap?”
“Six hundred.”
Jilico jerked his head back, “Do you think we need that many?”
“I don’t know so I’m taking no chances.”
Jilico smiled, “That’s why I trust you.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.” Ro bowed and left.
“BC, I sense you’re reluctant to change ships.”
“I am, Julie.”
“Why?”
“I’ve lived here so long it’s like this ship is my body. I just don’t know about changing.”
“All right, I’m ready. Are you ready to see my new body?”
BC said, “You have me curious, Grace.”
Suddenly a ship appeared next to BC and Scotty and Julie were stunned at what they saw. It was at least three thousand feet long and was the brightest white Scotty had ever seen, “Wow! I thought Searchers had to be small.”
“It has to be this size to contain all the weapon systems.”
BC looked at the ship and said, “I’ve got to get me one of those. Are you saying that the systems are tighter than mine?”
“Much more than yours, BC. They have also been miniaturized as much as possible.”
“Alex, I’m all yours.”
“Here are your coordinates.”
“Welcome to our motley band, Grace.”
“Where do you want to go first?”
“I want to take Julie home and then pick up Virze to take a short trip.”
“On my way.” The huge ship disappeared.
Grace appeared above Bristone and Anglo came in at high speed challenging, “You will leave this system immediately or I will open fire.”
“Relax, Anglo. I’m bringing Emperor Robbins and Her Royal Highness Juliette home.”
There was a moment of silence and they heard, “Grace? Is that you?”
“Yes it is old friend.”
“Wow! You’ve changed.”
“How do you like my new clothes?”
“Quite impressive.”
“I’ve sent you the entry protocol for the Defense Facility and Alex will be waiting for you when BC returns.”
“Why is he waiting?”
“You are going to be moved into a Zeta Ship. We need to upgrade you as soon as possible. Alex will explain when you get there.”
“Are you in a Zeta Ship?”
“Yes, I am.”
“I kinda hate to leave this ship. It’s like family.”
“We’ll save it for you and you can return once we resolve the issue confronting us.”
“Fair enough.”
“I think you’ll like your new home. Let me know what you think.”
“I will.”
Scotty hugged Julie, “Grace, please send Julie down to the community and see if you can find Timmy and Virze.”
“It’s good to meet you, Grace. I look forward to working with you.”
“Thanks, Your Highness. Congratulations on your pregnancy.”
“You’re welcome. Scotty, are you coming back to make the announcement with me?”
Scotty took a deep breath and said, “There are some things that take precedence over work. Grace and I will delay until we can make the announcement together. I’ll join you after I meet with Timmy and Virze. I may still want to delay the announcement based on what we plan. Are you ok with that?”
“You know I am, Scotty.”
“Your Majesty, Timmy is with Greyson in the Life Province. Virze is at the learning center.”
Scotty smiled and kissed Julie, “Go home, I’ll be there momentarily. I need some personal time with you to celebrate.”
Julie hugged him and disappeared from the bridge.
“Grace, please teleport Virze.”
Suddenly Virze appeared and was shocked at her sudden appearance on the bridge with Scotty. “What’s going on? Oh, excuse me, Your Majesty.”
“There’s nothing to be excused, Virze. I want to make you an offer and see if it interests you.”
“What offer?”
“This is the first of a new class of Searcher Vessels. The ship’s name is Grace and I want you to be her partner.”
Virze’s eyes grew wide and she sat down on the floor, “Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am. I’ve seen how you have taken part in the planning for Bristone’s defense and I confess that I’ve been highly impressed with what I’ve seen.”
Virze looked at Scotty and then said, “Grace, does this meet with your approval? I know I’m not worthy of you but I do promise to do my best to be a great partner. I’ve been so jealous of Timmy having Greyson as his partner.”
“The fact that you asked about my approval goes a long way towards making me feel good about having you. Welcome aboard.”
Virze looked around and said, “This Bridge is a lot bigger than Greyson’s. How large are you?”
“I’m a little more than 3,200 feet long.”
Virze sat there with her mouth open. Then she asked, “Am I the first one to be a partner on this class of ship?”
“You are.”
“Outstanding!! Now Timmy can see what jealousy feels like.”
“Virze, Greyson will be moved to a ship just like me soon.”
“Yes, but I got my ship first. Now I can give him his jacket back and get one of my own.”
“You’ll find it in your personal quarters.”
“How do I get there?”
“Just step up to the bridge’s exit and say, “Personal quarters” and step through. When you’re ready to return; say bridge and step through your door.”
Oh, Grace, this is going to be the most exciting time of my life. Thank you so much for allowing me to join you!” Virze jumped up and ran to the door and said, “Personal Quarters,” and stepped through.
Grace said, “She reminds me of Melanie when she first joined me all those centuries ago.”
Scotty watched Virze disappear and said, “I want you to take her to the Life Province and meet Jessica and Greyson. She and you need to evaluate what’s going on and help me formulate a plan on what to do next.”
“We’ll leave as soon as she comes back to the bridge. I need her to get imprinted to the systems so that she can use them.”
“Thanks, Grace. You know your opinion carries a lot of weight with me.”
“That means a lot. I’m sending you down to Julie. Congratulations, again.”
Scotty disappeared from the Bridge.
Virze reappeared yelling, “It fits perfectly. How did you know?”
“I looked at you in Emperor Robbins’s mind and teleported it in.”
Virze tilted her head, “Are you telepathic?”
“Yes, I am. Once you’re imprinted on my systems you will be able to contact me telepathically as well.”
“Will that make me telepathic?”
“No, only with me.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t act so disappointed. Once Timmy is imprinted on Greyson, you’ll also be able to communicate with him mentally through our communications’ system.”
Virze’s smile was huge, “Great. I hate being separated from him.”
Grace felt her feelings for the young woman grow. She was also an extreme level passive psychic. Her children wouldn’t need a ship to communicate telepathically. “Virze come and sit in the command chair and place your right hand in the indentation on the chair’s arm.”
Virze ran and jumped into the chair and put her hand on the arm and closed her eyes and began seeing the structure of the most powerful ship ever produced in the universe.