Greyson and Jessica were in stealth mode over the Capital of Life Province. There were a hundred Searchers with their screens overlapping Olympos protecting it. Timmy said, “I don’t see anything we can do. We might as well go have a shot at some of their ships.”
“Actually, the two of you have been given other plans for the near future.”
“Tesa, who said that?”
““I don’t know.”
“Greyson, do you seen anything?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Oh, relax. It’s just me and my new partner.”
Timmy frowned, “Virze, is that you?”
“Yes it is, Tim. I’ve been sent here to get you and Jess to go to the Defense Facility for further upgrades. I’ve sent you some coordinates and we’ll meet you there.”
Greyson said, “New Partner?”
“You’ve got me. I don’t know what she’s talking about.”
“Let’s go see. We’re wasting time here.”
Greyson and Jessica teleported to the coordinates and saw a huge gleaming white ship in front of them. “Hi, what do you think of my new partner.”
Timmy was stunned, “How, what, who..”
“Emperor Robbins asked if I would accept a post as a Searcher on this ship and Grace allowed me to join her.”
“Hello Greyson and Jessica.”
Jessica said, “Well, I am jealous of your new outfit. If my scans are right, you are a handful of trouble for somebody.”
“Thank you, but don’t stay jealous too long. You and Greyson are going to move into one of these ships as soon as Alex finishes with Anglo.”
Silence ruled the channel. “By the way, I sent one of my probes through those Searcher’s screens and we can listen in to the King’s conversations. I’ll patch you in so you can listen while you’re being upgraded.”
“You sent a probe through their screens?”
“Yes. I could just explode the castle but we have a bigger problem than that king. Alex will update you when you arrive. I’ve also given you the entry protocol for the Defense Facility. You need to go now so we can start making plans. Greyson, if you will contact your family and schedule them for the upgrade I would greatly appreciate it.”
“I’ll get on it right away.”
Timmy said, “Virze…”
“I know, I know, you want your jacket back.”
“No, I just wanted to say that it doesn’t surprise me about your new position. You are a perfect choice.”
Greyson and Jessica disappeared. Virze started crying. “What’s wrong?”
“I love him so much. He has the warmest heart. It’s him that I’m undeserving of having.”
“Oh, don’t sell yourself short. From my position, you are perfect for each other.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes, I do. Now let’s see what’s going on at the castle.”
Virze closed her eyes and watched the King swaying back and forth in front of a huge window.
Vring and Kreej absorbed the data being fed them telepathically by Alex. He had speeded up the feed six times until the Zord were comfortable with the rate of transfer. It really was amazing at how fast the two were absorbing the data and Alex knew that most computers couldn’t operate that fast. Vring said, “Stop it here.”
Alex stopped the feed, “Is something wrong.”
“I just want to make sure that I understand something before we go any further. I should have seen this relationship but I wasn’t interested in technology.”
“What is that?”
“It seems that a ships beam is usually just a bit weaker than the force field protecting the ship. I’ve noticed that it would take two Searcher Class Ships to defeat a single Searcher. As I look at the information you’ve given me, that relationship looks like it’s been consistent. Am I right?”
Alex thought a moment, “I don’t see an exception to it. Why do you think that’s important?”
“Well, if that relationship also holds true for the invaders from the other dimension, if you could take the power of their beam and focus it tighter, you should be able to penetrate its force field.”
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to communicate.”
“Well, if a Searcher could capture another’s Searcher beam and focus it into a much narrower reflection, that reflection would be much more powerful than the original beam. Right?”
“Ummmmm, if the reflection was captured and sent back without losses, yes.”
Kreej said, “I see where you’re going. If you could penetrate the force field with the reflected beam, you could then fire your own beam through the break in the field.”
Alex thought about it, “That would require extraordinary timing.”
Vring tilted his head to the right, “Hey, we’re just looking at possibilities right now. However, I’ve not seen a force field that could recover faster than two tenths of a second after penetration. It normally requires a reboot of the master coverage program.”
“I’m not sure that would be true of all technologies.”
“It’s the same principle as a flat tire on a landing gear. If it punctures, the hole must be closed. That requires going to the hole and filling it in. While that is happening, the field would be greatly weakened. Technologies may differ but the physics are the same.”
Alex thought a minute, “So what if you’re right. How does that help us?”
Vring stared at Kreej and said, “I’m not sure, but I want us to keep that in mind as we look at the weapons in the download. I think we can all agree that we don’t have a beam strong enough to penetrate their screens and I’m reasonably certain that their beams will blow through ours. We’ve got to come up with a different system to handle that ship. Let’s continue our look at the database and talk about this afterwards.”
Alex said, “Resuming download.”
Grace and Virze teleported in and commed Scotty.
“Hello Grace, welcome back.”
“Thank you, it’s good to be home. Do you have a moment?”
“I’ll make time for you. Bring me aboard.”
Scotty appeared on the Bridge and Virze bowed, “Welcome aboard, Your Majesty.”
Scotty nodded and Grace said, “We’ve been watching King Borders in the palace and we see a pattern that might help us.”
“What is that?”
“He always shuts off his com and orders no interruptions whenever he meets with his top advisor. We could teleport them out during that time and no one would know they’re gone.”
“I thought he had screens over the castle. Wouldn’t that prevent him being teleported?”
“With a standard teleport system, it would.”
“But not with yours?”
“Not with the process I use. I will use a probe to make a hole in the screen and teleport him out through the hole. I’ll pull the probe out when he has passed through it.”
Scotty thought a minute and said, “Let me think about how I can use this. Why don’t you and Virze take a few days off while I discuss this with my staff.”
“Your Majesty, would you mind if I join Timmy while you’re thinking about this.”
“Not at all, but you should know that he will be here with the rest of my staff. Grace, I want you here giving us any insights you might have.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
“Virze, I’m calling Timmy, Tesa, and Jingo back in as well. We’ll meet tomorrow at seven PM around the fire.”
Virze started getting excited at seeing Timmy and the rest of the Empire’s leaders.
“Grace, will you go and bring Vring and Kreej back so they can attend.”
“We’re on our way.”
James Silvey heard a knock on the door and heard Carol say, “Yes, he’s here. How can I help you?” He didn’t hear what was being said so he stood and went to the front door of his home. He saw a young man who couldn’t be much older than twenty standing at the door. He was wearing the uniform of a Searcher Pilot. James said, “I’m here. Is something wrong?”
“No, Sir, I hope you’ll give me a few moments of your time to discuss something with you.”
Carol looked at James and he could see her fear. There were many of the former soldiers on the planet that frowned on what James did during the liberation of the planet. She hoped he was not going to be hurt for his actions. “Please, come in.”
They entered and the Searcher saw a young girl and boy sitting at a table reading a book. James saw him looking and said, “They have not been educated and we want them to catch up.”
The Searcher looked at James and smiled, “I think we’ve made a good decision.”
“What is that?”
“My name is Tim Valrico and I am a Searcher in the Bristone Empire’s Fleet. During the liberation of the planet one of our Searchers saw your bravery in standing up to the guards while releasing the slaves. He also heard you defended by the woman you helped and was impressed with what he saw. He has humbly requested me to ask you if you are willing to become his pilot and partner.”
James showed his shock and took a step backwards into the room, “Why on New Hope would he select me? I’ve never had a higher rank that a private.”
“That’s because you did not hold to the brutality of the military. That is a good thing in our view. However, before you accept, you should know that if you do, you will be leaving New Hope and moving your family to Bristone.” Tim looked at the children, “There your children will be educated by our best teachers and have access to a Realm Learning Center.”
James looked at Carol and saw her excitement, “I want to say yes, but I know there are so many others better qualified that I am.”
Tim said, “We believe in the old principles. It’s easy to follow those when you aren’t facing a blaster. You faced the real threat of being killed for your actions but you had the courage to stand up for your beliefs. Trust me on this, you have everything our Emperor wants in his Pilots and he has approved your selection.”
James looked at Carol and smiled, “Would this mean I can stop people from being enslaved?”
Tim smiled, “Absolutely.”
“Then I’m your man.”
Tim’s com activated, “Hi James, My name is Varner and you will be my pilot. Thank you for accepting my offer and if you will pack the things you want to take with you, I’ll teleport you and your family on board when you’re ready.”
“Give me just a moment.” James looked at Carol and said, “Carol, will you marry me?”
Carol felt her tears start and came into his arms. The children ran up and hugged them around their legs. James stood there and Carol said, “I already have.”
James smiled and said, “Give us two hours.”
Carol said, “Make it three. I need some time with James.”
Tim smiled and extended his hand, “Welcome to our family, James.”
Varner waited in orbit and felt his spirit coming alive again.
The group at the fire was large. The two Zord stood just outside the circle watching the proceedings while the others renewed old friendships. Nathan and Mallory were talking with Timmy and Virze. Tesa was holding Maddy while Jesa and Jingo caught up with her experiences. Samuel and June were sitting with Jing reminiscing about life on El Prado. Grang sat on the ground and was leaning back on the log staring up at the Stars. Jeramiah Jongo and his oldest son were talking about how much things had changed on New Hope. Bleath flew in with Zreeg and one of his son’s. They joined the other two Zord and started getting an update on what was happening at the Defense Facility. Queen Carrie and Michael Blake appeared in the circle and Carrie ran up to hug June. Right after her, Queen Ashley Talben, Jenna, and Glenn appeared and she rushed up to June as well.
Grang watched it all and was thinking about all that had happened since his defeat at the Magrum Compound. He still missed Bravo but knew he had to be doing well. It seemed like just yesterday he was picking pods on El Prado. A Searcher appeared and looked around and went to Timmy. Grang stared at him and knew he had seen him somewhere. Where was it? Ummm, the Guard. The one that led the slaves on New Ulmerton that night. Things must have changed for him as well.
Many members of the community began gathering outside the circle and waited to see what was happening. The number grew until the entire clearing was full. Bleath listened to the thoughts of the gathering and felt the strength of those in the circle around the fire.
The ones in the circle heard the gathering grow silent and they looked toward the community lined up down the hill. Scotty and Julie were walking up and the thousands gathered stood and bowed. Everyone stopped talking and bowed as Julie and Scotty entered the circle around the fire.
“Please rise and make yourselves comfortable.” Everyone sat down and the silence was complete. Scotty led Julie to a log and she sat down with Jingo and Jesa and took Maddy in her arms. Scotty smiled and then walked into the center of the circle. “It’s so good to see old and new friends here tonight. We will take some time when we finish our discussion to enjoy each other but first I have to make sure that all of us are working together against a threat to our freedom.
Scotty looked at Vring and said, “Will you share with everyone what we know about the invader.”
Vring showed the recording that Alex had made and listened to his commentary on what he had learned about the ship. Scotty watched all the rulers of the many worlds in their kingdoms and saw their apprehension. When the vision was completed Scotty looked around and said, “We are going to have to face that enemy in the future. What we are doing here tonight is making plans on how to delay that confrontation until we are able to deal with it. I have developed a plan that I’m hoping will delay their invasion but there are things we need to do in the time we have remaining.”
Scotty looked at Jeramiah, Ashley, and Carrie, “I am going to take complete control of your kingdoms. I need to know now if you will accept my commands.”
Carrie said, “I will abdicate my throne immediately if you will accept us into your Empire.”
Ashley said, “I will do the same.”
Jeramiah stared at the two Queens and stood, “My Kingdom does not fully accept the values that you require for admission into your Empire, yet; but I will also step down if necessary to join.”
“I do not require you to do that. What I require is that you do everything in your power to make my vision become a reality. I intend to move some of your planets from their current location to another galaxy closer to Bristone. Most of your advanced industrial planets will be moved so that they are located where we can easily move materials between them. We will start a massive construction project on most of your worlds and start building ships that can stand up to the invader. Before we can do that, all of your worlds will have to become industrialized. We will all have to work together to make that happen as quickly as possible. One of the first to go will be New Hope. Jeremiah, you will be the main force behind this project. Your planet is the most industrialized and has the most engineers.”
Jeramiah bowed, “I will do whatever you need.”
“Your world will also become the Capital of my Empire. Bristone belongs to the Zord and I will not change their world through industrialization.” Scotty looked at Bleath, “I hope you understand why I choose to do this.”
“I not only understand but thank you for it.”
Scotty looked up at the stars and said, “There is so much pain and suffering up there. We are going to end it if we can survive this invader.” He looked around the circle and then looked at Vring, “Do we have any hope?”
Vring said, “We do.”
Everyone saw Scotty take a deep breath and say, “Thank the Creator. What have you discovered?”
“Actually, it comes from an ancient weapons system used by the Humans in their very first conflict before the Realm ever existed. There was a device called a Coronado Power Cell that was used to absorb and store energy. We are looking at making that cell not only absorb energy but reflect it back at the source. We are several years from making it happen and we are also going to need ships that are between three and four thousand feet long. They will not use a force field for protection but will defend themselves with their outer skin. We are also going to need production facilities ready within ten years.”
Grang said, “Do you think those invaders will give us that long?”
Everyone turned toward him and stared. He said, “What?”
Scotty chuckled, “That’s a good question. Our Searchers are going to see if the King of the Life province will agree to have a war with us. I believe that as long as we’re fighting among ourselves that they will wait to take on the ultimate victor.”
Jingo said, “Won’t that weaken us.”
Everyone stared at Jingo waiting for him to say something else and he said, “What?”
Grang said, “Welcome to my world.”
Everyone started laughing and Jingo and Grang looked at each other. Grang shrugged which made them laugh harder.
“I hope so, however, we won’t know unless we try. I’ll be sending Timmy and Virze with the first things we need to do to make this happen and I trust you will follow their directions.” Scotty looked around the gathering and said, “There is one announcement that I have not made and I think it’s time I did. Julie.”
Julie handed Maddy to Jesa and stood and came over and stood beside Scotty. Scotty put his arm around her and looked at those gathered, “Julie and I are going to have a child.”
There was a moment of complete silence and then the roar from those present echoed off the forest. The cheers were loud and all of those from the community started hugging each other and jumping up and down.
Kreej looked at Bleath and said, “I’m the flyer.”
Bleath smiled and said, “Yes, you are.”
Grang got up, walked over, and hugged Julie. They saw his tears and he said, “I’m so sorry Madeline is not here.”
Scotty hugged Grang and said, “She is, my brother. She is.”
Jingo and Jesa joined them and the three brothers that were so different found how much they were alike.
The nine Searcher Ships listened to the meeting in orbit. Kelly said, “I’ve never seen that much happiness over the announcement of a child. Especially from a ruler.”
Anglo said, “You need look no further than your Stars Realm download. Every child of the Gardners prompted massive celebrations before the Realm was divided into Provinces.”
There was silence and finally Greyson said, “Just more evidence to support how wrong we were. Somehow, we lost our way.”
BC listened and added, “You need look no further than the planet below to see we have found our way back.”
William watched his scans and said, “It’s good to be back.”
“Hey Varner, how do you like your new Partner?”
“Jessica, he’s more than I could ever hope for. We’re a good team. The rest of you without one should start looking for a good candidate.”
BC said, “I’ve decided who I want.”
“Who is that?”
“This is turning into a space war. I’m asking Jingo to join me, Greyson.”
“Do you think the Emperor will free him from his duties with the Flyers?”
“We’ll see. I suspect he’ll want him involved in the fighting.”
“Good-luck, BC. You’ve made a great choice.”
“Did all of you know that June is Queen Ashley’s sister?”
“No way, Anglo!”
“Way, she abdicated the throne to come and face the death sentence the Zord had given her.”
There was silence and Greyson said, “You need to catch us up on all that has happened.”
“I’ll send you the download of Bristone’s history. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, all of you are making it as we speak.”
Sena said in a whisper, “Let’s hope it’s a long history.”
Grace listened to the other Searchers and saw that they had regained their youth. They were excited at the opportunity to build something they could be proud to be a part. She also found that she felt alive again. Virze was so much like Melanie was when she came out of the Academy so many centuries ago. Grace knew she belonged in a ship and she would never allow allow anyone to take her out again. Perhaps Alex would eventually join them. He belonged in a ship as well.
The celebration began in earnest and for the moment the danger was forgotten. The Zord began arriving and then it spread into the skies as they circled and screamed their joy. All of the Zord that were saved during the Night of the Torg arrived and the noise was almost deafening.
Julie watched the gathering and felt the child growing in her womb. She could hear it and knew that BC was right. This child was going to be something special. She also heard it talking to Mallory’s baby. It was primarily in emotions but she knew that they were going to be close. Mallory looked at her from across the fire and smiled. Good, she felt it, too. She knew that the war would be delayed for them to grow up. She wouldn’t tell anyone, even Scotty, how she knew but she did. She couldn’t tell anyone because she couldn’t explain how she knew.
Scotty looked across the fire and saw Julie being congratulated by everyone. He thought about how lucky he was to have her and wondered about how they had come together. He knew there was a reason but he didn’t worry about what it was. Whatever had caused it was a good thing. He looked up at the stars and smiled. He felt an arm on his shoulder and saw Grang looking up as well. Then Jingo was there looking up with them. They didn’t say anything. They just stared at the massive gathering of stars overhead. Staring at the stars is where their friendship began. The stars shined down and for the first time seemed to be smiling back at them.
Bleath looked at Vring, “How certain are you about this weapon?”
“I see some problems with the software being able to work fast enough. It’s something we’ll have to work on and hope for a breakthrough.”
“Show me what you know.” Bleath looked at the data and said, “Have you thought about teleporting the data between the collection centers.”
Vring looked at Kreej who had been listening in and was stunned. “Don’t look so surprised. I don’t have this ring around my neck for no reason.”
“Father, you have got to join us.”
“You get the project moving and I’ll join you when you have a working model.”
Kreej just shook his head and saw the possibilities. Teleporting data was faster than light. It just might work.
Jilico watched his display and saw that there hadn’t been an attack. Where did those ships come from? Should he continue the jumps? He needed to reel in Daulun’s Kingdom but if he sent his fleet to make that happen he would leave his Kingdom wide open to further attacks. Ummmm. Maybe they had decided to give up. I’ll give it three more weeks. Then I’ll go and collect Daulun. He punched his communicator, “Ro, I want you here is three weeks to plan the acquisition of Daulun’s Kingdom provided there are no further attacks.”
“I’ll be there, Your Majesty.”
The probe in the room watched the King continue to sway in front of the window and sent the recorded conversation to Grace.