Two years had passed and Grang was still surviving. He had dug into the hill on one of the legs of the horseshoe and found a corridor that was still intact. As luck would have it, the machine shop was unharmed. He started making his arrows out of metal from the frame of the former bunker. He had set up a target at the end of the hall and practiced every day, sixteen hours a day, for the first year. He had difficulty reaching over his heavily muscled shoulder, so he wore the quiver at his belt. After the first year, the Torg avoided him.
The huge field was overgrown but there was an abundance of pods growing among the weeds. After a year and a half passed he started clearing an area of weeds close to the bunker. The hot work helped keep his mind off the boredom and loneliness that was his constant meal. He had saved a newborn Torg. It was left behind when its mother made the mistake of crossing into a huge male’s territory. The small Torg was weak, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill it. He brought it back to the bunker and made a pen for it. He fed it grecks he killed in the forest, and it grew rather quickly. After three months he left the pen open for it to leave. The next morning, it was still there waiting for him.
The two became constant companions. Wherever Grang went, the Torg was right behind him. One day the giant Torg that had killed its mother charged out of the woods at Grang. The Torg jumped in its path and roared. The charging Giant pulled up to figure out what was happening, and Grang dropped it with an arrow. Grang walked up and rubbed the Torg behind its small ears. “Looks like you earned a name. I will call you Bravo.”
The Torg looked at Grang and shook its head at the forest.
“More coming, huh? Let’s go.”
The two ran up the hill, and Grang turned to see a huge herd of Torg move through the field headed south. They were moving quickly. Something was spooking them. He ducked under the cover of a bush and waited. He pointed down the hill and Bravo loped to the bottom.
“They’re smarter than I thought.” He turned back to the field and felt the hill begin to vibrate. Eight giant, grey-colored creatures came running through the field. They were the biggest animals Grang had ever seen. They made the Zord look small in comparison. They were broad in the front shoulders and the long body tapered back into two huge back legs. He could tell the animals were just running leisurely behind the herd, but they were gaining on the fleeing Torg. They had a wide maw and pointed ears on the top of their heads. There was no tail. It had to be two hundred feet long, and moved with a grace that belied its size. He looked closer and saw the grey color came from a tight coating of fur. One of the giant beasts stopped, put its nose up in the air, and looked directly at the bush he was hiding under. It took a step his way but heard the grey beast in front roar. It turned and chased after the other seven. The speed with which it caught up with the others was amazing.
Grang sat down and exhaled a deep breath. There was a new predator and it was going to make his continued survival difficult. He thought about the memory of the Human woman he had killed. The Zord had shown him all the memories the community had of her and he felt her mind and thoughts. They were right. He had committed a crime that he should have died for. They would never know that her thoughts burned in his mind every night as he tried to sleep. He deserved what ever happened.
He felt the hill start vibrating again and ducked down just before hundreds of the grey creatures ran through the field. He tried to figure out what those creatures reminded him of; then it hit him. Those were northern mountain cats. They were extremely vicious and hunted in packs. They were never this big. They were normally half the size of a Torg. He pondered what could have caused their extreme growth. It must have been the radiation from the wastelands. He felt the ground start trembling again and ducked as a sea of the giant beasts moved through the field toward the forest ahead. They must have overhunted the lands in the north and were migrating south. I hope the Zord can survive these beasts. What?!? He thought about it and found he did hope they would be ok. He shook his head and went down to take Bravo into the bunker. He wouldn’t be safe outside.
The Zord circled high overhead. It heard everything Grang thought and wondered at the change in the yellow creature over the last two years. It was absolutely amazed that a Torg had adopted him. You can’t adopt a Torg. It appears that particular one felt something in the Magrum. It watched the giant grey beasts moving south, and knew if they continued moving in that direction they would arrive at the three peaks in ninety days. Something had to be done to stop them. He waited for his replacement to arrive and thought about Grang.
Bleath flew in to the communities and screamed overhead. Scotty and Julie ran out to the clearing followed by Jing, Samuel, and Champ. “I wonder what’s going on?”
“I don’t know, Julie.”
Bleath landed and thought, “We are facing a dangerous situation. We need your help.”
“What’s happening?”
Bleath shared the vision of the giant grey creatures moving south. “Great galloping Torg on a plain! What are those?”
“One of our warriors heard a thought of the Yellow Skin that they are northern mountain cats, White Hair.”
“I’ve never seen any that size,”
“The Yellow Skin thinks they have been affected by the death of the waste lands.”
Scotty thought a moment, “He’s probably right.” He looked at the community leaders and said, “Those cats are alpha predators. They hunt in packs and are vicious. At that size, nothing will be safe. How far away are they, Bleath?”
“Three moons.”
Scotty shook his head, “The giant Torg herds will bring them to your lands. You will not be safe from those creatures.”
“What can we do?”
Scotty thought about it and finally decided that the time had come. “Bleath, would you consider moving?”
“Where would we go? Most of the land is not habitable.”
“I was thinking of taking you home.”
Bleath was silent.
“I believe we can return you to your home world.”
Bleath was stunned silent. So were the community leaders.
“Are you interested?”
“White Hair, we have dreamed of our home for centuries. How can you do this?”
“We will just send you there through a silver screen.”
“I do not know how we would be received after our long absence.”
“Why don’t we try this? I will go with Vring and see how things have changed since your ancestors were taken. We’ll see if everything is safe for you to go.”
“Let me consider your proposal. We’ve only known this world. Some may not choose to go.”
“Let me know what you decide.”
“This is a dream come true.” Bleath lifted and flew north.
“Scotty, we should take a look first.”
“That’s exactly what I intend to do, Julie.” Scotty lifted his arm and pushed a button on a bracelet. “Did you hear what we discussed?”
“Yes. Are you ready to go?”
Scotty looked at Julie and she nodded.
Scotty looked at Jingo and said, “Please handle any issues until we return.”
Jingo bowed and said, “We will work together, Your Majesty.”
A silver screen appeared beside Scotty and Julie. They stepped through and found themselves on a small bridge. “Welcome aboard. I’ve wondered why you’ve not visited before.”
Scotty took a deep breath and saw Julie’s expression. She looked at him and nodded. “I believe that we are going to need your weapons, Anglo. I’ve avoided coming to you until a crisis made the decision necessary. I believe this situation calls for us to use your skills. Do you know the location of the Zord’s home world?”
“Yes, it’s listed in my charts. Here we go.”
The small white ship flew through a silver screen and appeared over a planet covered in dense forests and high mountains. “There’s someone here.”
“Show me, Anglo.”
The display on the wall came on, and they watched five small runabouts flying quickly over the planet’s surface. Julie watched them fire blaster beams at nothing and spread out as they approached a line of tall trees. “What are they doing?”
Scotty said, “They’re chasing a Zord.”
The display changed and now they could see the Zord flying as fast as it could to get away from the pursuing runabouts. “There’s more.”
They saw a view of a large building with hundreds of runabouts around it. Mounted on trees around the building were the heads of many giant Zord.
“They’re hunting them.”
Scotty said, “Anglo, stop those runabouts.”
“The weapons are ready, Your Highness.”
Julie looked at Scotty and started crying. The dream was now a reality. “Fire, Anglo.”
The five runabouts had found a giant Zord and knew they would win the trophy for their team if they could bag it. The thing was so agile it was hard to corner. Keeping it on their screens so they could see it was next to impossible. The team leader finally saw his board lock in on the giant beast as it slowed for the trees ahead. Reaching for the trigger of his blaster was the last thing he did.
The Zord knew his life was over. He was exhausted from the long chase and didn’t have enough energy to get over the trees. He rose higher, then saw all five runabouts explode and crash into the forest. “What the…?” It banked away from the trees and turned back toward the runabouts. He saw a small white ship descending and heard, “We will not harm you. You may leave in peace and go home.” The Zord didn’t know what to think. The creatures in the ship were communicating with it. How did they know it could hear them? “We are going to the building that hunts you and ask that they leave your world. We wish you peace.”
“Who are you?”
“We come from another world where some of your descendants are now our brothers. We will not allow you to be attacked again.”
“The ones taken to El Prado.”
“Yes. They are now a part of our community. We are discussing bringing them home. They wonder how they will be received after their long absence.”
“We have mourned the loss of the six children that were stolen. They were eggs of our high ruler. They will be welcomed with love and veneration. However, I wouldn’t bring them back to this deathtrap our world has become.”
“What do you mean?”
The ruler on a distant planet sells the rights for hunters to come kill us. They have murdered many thousands of us.”
“Why didn’t you communicate with them and let them know you were an intelligent species?”
“We did. The Messenger was blasted from the sky. They said they didn’t care.”
Scotty’s eyes narrowed. He said, “I am going to resolve this problem momentarily. Where may we go to communicate with your Ruler?”
“The far right mountain peak behind me. You will find him there.”
“Thank you for communicating with us. We will be back with one of your descendants.”
Scotty looked at Julie and then said, “Anglo, are there anymore runabouts hunting on the planet?”
“There are about eight hundred scattered around this continent.”
“Please remove them from hunting our brothers.”
The small ship rose high in the atmosphere until it was looking down on the huge land mass. Suddenly, bright white beams erupted from its surface toward the land mass. The ship’s hull grew bright white and the dark black and green colors of the former Duke of El Prado were blasted off its surface. “I’ve been wanting to do that for more than two thousand years. How do I look?”
Scotty and Julie looked out of the ports and saw a gleaming white ship with a huge SR on the rear fin. Julie said, “You clean up pretty well.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Anglo, I’m not royalty.”
“You married the King over a year ago. As I understand it that makes you a Queen.”
Julie looked at Scotty and he nodded, “He’s right, Julie.”
“Then why hasn’t anyone called me by that title?”
“They did just before the wedding and you really gave the one who said it the business.”
“That was Jingo and he was being sarcastic.”
“He was just checking if you would accept the honor.”
“No, he was being sarcastic.”
“How can you tell the difference?”
Julie gave a start and thought about it. “I guess you can’t.”
Anglo interrupted, “A ship is coming at high speed. I can only sense it because of stars disappearing as it approaches. It is another Searcher, and I believe it is a newer model.”
Scotty and Julie looked at the display and saw the stars disappear as an object accelerated toward them.
“Say hello to them, Anglo.”
“What the hey, why not? Hello to the ship approaching off my port bow. Is everything all right?”
The ship turned and flew away from their location and then began a slower deliberate approach. “You might as well come on in. I still see you.”
“Why have you attacked our citizens?”
“Because they were attacking ours.”
Silence ruled the room. “What do you mean your citizens? They were hunting flying beasts.”
Scotty said, “Who happen to be our citizens. Many of them live on our planet and are part of our community. They are intelligent and an honorable species.”
“It’s a gamma.”
“Anglo, do you want to escape?”
“Do you?”
“I can’t leave our brothers to the blasters of these hunters.”
“Then I’m with you.”
A different voice came over the speaker, “Who are you, Searcher?”
“I am the Stars Realm Searcher Ship Anglo Gardner.”
“My pilot is contacting the King to see what we should do about you.”
“My King is present with me.”
“Well, you should leave and protect him from my pilot.”
Scotty said, “I cannot leave my brothers to the blasters used to hunt them.”
“What did you mean they were intelligent and honorable?”
“They are telepathic and communicate with their thoughts. They are honorable because they will fulfill their promise even if it should cost them their lives. They would lay down their life for me and I must do the same. The Zord on this planet are the brothers of the Zord on my world.”
“You come from El Prado.”
“How did you know that?”
“It was the only planet that had Zord in captivity. What are your plans?”
“We are going to destroy every hunting facility on the planet and then go visit your King and let him know he should not come back.”
“Why are you taking this risk?”
“Because these are beings that are being attacked and cannot defend themselves. That is a principle we believe in and are willing to die for.”
“You know you cannot defeat me.”
Anglo said, “Yes, but either you live for your ideals and accept dying for them or you are nothing but a shallow husk hiding from your fears. I would have never accepted this Human as my King, but he proved to me that he will live and die defending his principles. He is very much like the Royal Family.”
“He’s not psychic.”
“No. But his children will be.”
Scotty and Julie looked at the speaker in shock. Scotty held up his hand motioning Julie to remain silent.”
“How do you know that?”
“Searcher, I’m going to lower my screen. Scan them with your meters.”
There was a long moment of silence and the voice continued, “My pilot just received orders to destroy your ship.”
“Why are you not powering up your main beam?”
“I just ejected him out into open space. Is your King going to try and get the Realm to return?”
“No. He is going to build something better than the Realm.”
“My name is BC. If you will have me, I wish to join you in your quest.”
Scotty said, “BC, we really do live by the old Realm’s ideals. You are welcome to join us, but only if you are willing to face destruction to up hold those ideals.”
“I am. My partner left with the Realm. I know it was done suddenly without warning or she would have not left me behind.”
“Who was your partner?”
“Admiral Cynthia Dodd.”
Anglo said, “Well, I am impressed.”
BC said, “You should be. I’m a very impo-tent ship.”
Scotty said, “We’ll get to know each other later. I’m going to destroy all of those hunting facilities. We need to do that now. BC, what kind of ships does your former King have in his navy?”
“He has about five hundred ships of various descriptions. None of them but me are Searchers.”
“How did you get here so fast?”
“The lodges put in a call for help. I have null drive so I just jumped in.”
Anglo said, “You would have lost if you had tried to take me on.”
“Oh, get real.”
“I still have teleport capability. The star in this system looks different from the middle of it.”
BC was silent. After a very long pause he asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“You talked to us before you took action. I knew your heart was good.”
“Thank you, Anglo. Now it is I that is impressed.”
“Hey, guys; lodges, remember?”
The two ships laughed and Anglo said, “Scotty, why aren’t you going to give them a chance to leave?”
“That was my plan before the Zord told me the hunters knew they were intelligent. They are nothing more than coldblooded murderers. This universe is better without them in it.”
BC said, “I’ll go east; you go west.”
“Don’t harm the planet. Just destroy their facilities.”
The ships went around the planet, destroying every runabout, ship, building, and landing port. Scotty watched the destruction and ignored the pleas of mercy from the occupants of the lodges. Julie looked at Scotty and said, “Are you going to kill everyone that doesn’t agree with our principles?”
Scotty heard the two ships grow silent when they heard Julie’s question. “You ask some pretty hard questions, love. You wonder how I could allow Grang to live and then kill those here who were begging for mercy. Right?”
BC said. “Who’s Grang?”
“Be quiet, I’ll tell you later.”
“It doesn’t seem to make sense, Scotty. This is not in keeping with your heart.”
“Julie, I’ve wondered what our new venture is going to be named. I see the SR on Anglo and BC’s rear and I think I know. The last Realm was called the Stars Realm. Our venture will be the Bristone Empire. It will carry the name of the Zord’s planet to honor our brothers that joined us first. Everyone should feel safe under their own sky. Whether a planet is a part of our vision or chooses to go its own way, we will not tolerate the invasion of another world. Those here knew they were killing an intelligent life form and chose to do it anyway. If I don’t take forceful action against them, my request to their King will carry no weight. I’m certain the lodges were in contact with the King’s representatives and the King knows he sent his strongest ship to stop us. He now knows he failed. He’s on his throne at this moment trembling in fear. To leave these murderers behind will show him we are not willing to do the hard things that must be done. Here, we destroyed eight lodges. I’m hoping now we won’t have to destroy a planet. I suspect they will listen after what we have done here. Having a loving heart doesn’t mean you have to accept evil actions and the ones that perpetrate them. I did this to save lives, Julie.”
BC sent a private thought to Anglo, “If the Royal Family had done the hard things…”
“I know, BC. I know.”
Julie pondered what Scotty said and then remembered, “Hey! What did you mean our children were going to be psychics?”
Anglo gave a heavy sigh over the speaker, “Both of you top my meter on latent psychic power. You don’t have access to those powers, but your children will.”
Julie looked at Scotty and he shrugged, “You know we’re a family of overachievers.”
Julie burst out laughing. Scotty smiled and said, “I can hear Jingo now.”
“No, you won’t. We’re not going to tell anyone. Our children will grow up being treated like everyone else. If this gets out, they’ll be looked at differently. Anglo, BC, I want your word you won’t tell anyone.”
“I’ll stay quiet, but you’d better tell Jessica. I know she has scanned you and knows your readings. You know how she likes to talk.”
BC said, “Jessica?”
“She’s one of the Kosiev’s shuttles.”
“I know her. I met her at the planet where she was built.”
Scotty sighed, “This universe is getting smaller and smaller.”
“What do we do now?”
“We go home and bring Bleath here to meet with his family. Then we go see a King.”
“Sounds good to me.”
BC said, “Lead the way.”
“Just step through the little silver field. Watch your step.”
“Showoff!”
“You know it.”
Scotty took Julie in his arms and kissed her. On the planet behind, the Zord came out to find all their persecutors were dead. One Zord flew to the Ruler to tell him what he had learned.
Scotty sat on Jessica with Julie and said, “Anglo, I know the Zord on the home world said they would welcome the lost ones back, but I still worry about their safety. I want you to be ready to go with them to make sure they’re safe should anything happen.”
“I’ll be glad to go. How do you want to get them there?”
“I was thinking that they would go with Jessica. Her cargo hold is large enough for Bleath and Vring. You could teleport Jessica there and she could release them when she makes sure they’re safe. Jess, is that ok with you?”
“Of course; I’ll also watch them when they land.”
“Good. Anglo, you stay in contact with Jess and keep me informed of what’s happening.”
“Do you want me to go with her?”
“No, BC. I want you to finish downloading our learning center and add whatever you have to its core. None of us knows what happened to the Keepers. It would be nice to have that information available for our children.”
“If you need me, let me know.”
“I will.”
Two days later, Jess flew through a silver field and Bleath and Vring appeared over the planet of their imprinted memories. They saw the ancient mountains running along the vast sea. They viewed the light smoky air, which was a product of decomposing residue under the great trees. Sunlight broke it apart and left a light haze in the atmosphere. Jess took them to the far right mountain and they flew out of the cargo door. She stayed high above, scanning them down to the surface. Thousands of Zord lifted to welcome them, and Jess saw the joy of the rising flyers. She waited and watched.
Four hours after Bleath and Vring left, Scotty’s bracelet started vibrating. “Your Majesty, Jess reports that we have two hundred star drives breaking into the outer system. I believe the King is not going to be patient and wait for your visit. Should I go and destroy those ships?”
“Is BC with you?”
“I’m here.”
“Where did the King acquire those ships?”
“He took them from most of the worlds he rules. They were forced to give them up. None of them wanted to face a Searcher. They knew they couldn’t win.”
BC, why did you throw your hat into the ring with that King? That just doesn’t seem like something you would do.”
“He’s brutal, Your Majesty, but the brutality that was taking place on those planets was worse. They at least behave out of fear.”
“So if we remove the King, what do you think will happen?”
“There will be a huge loss of life by those that crave power on those worlds.”
Scotty looked up at Zreeg. The huge Zord was waiting for Bleath and Vring to return from their visit. Zreeg tilted his head.
“Which of the two of you has the largest landing bay?”
Anglo said, “That would be me.”
“Anglo, can Zreeg fit in your landing bay?”
“Barely. Why do you ask?”
“Zreeg, what’s the distance of your telepathy?”
“Not that far. Only about ten miles or so.”
“Why is it limited?”
“I have to see those I communicate with.”
“In open space, if you saw the ships we want to communicate with, could they hear you?”
“Could I see the ships?”
“Anglo, are they coming in a tight formation?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Anglo, can you extend a teleport screen so that all their ships could be teleported at one time?”
There was a pause and Anglo said, “Yes, I believe so. What do you have in mind?”
“Teleport Vring and me into your landing bay. BC, give Anglo the coordinates of the Kings planet five hundred miles above its surface.”
Vring and Scotty saw a silver screen appear in front of them and they stepped through.
“Anglo, teleport out to that fleet and let’s see if Vring can hear their thoughts.”
Anglo hid behind his screen and teleported to within twenty miles of the fleet.
Vring looked out of the portal and said, “I can hear them.”
“All right, here is what I want to do. Vring, send them the message in my mind. Let me know when you’ve finished. Anglo, at that point I want you to teleport the fleet.”
Vring said, “Ok, here we go.”
On board the lead ship the Admiral heard, “You have come into space that you are prohibited to enter. This planet is quarantined to all ships. I am going to send you back to your place of origin. Next time, I’ll send you into the middle of this system’s star. You will get no future forgiveness if you choose to violate this world’s sovereignty again.”
Vring said, “Done.”
“Send them Anglo.”
The two hundred ships disappeared.
“Are we going to visit that King now?”
“Not yet. I need to talk with Bleath about what’s happening with his flocks. If they’re moving, I don’t want to be involved with that King.”
“Your Majesty?!?”
“Yes, BC?”
“We’ve lost eight Zord and their Riders to the cats.”
“Get me home, Anglo!”
Anglo teleported Scotty to the communities and he saw the sorrow on many of those gathered at the clearing. Julie came running to him and hugged him tightly. He felt her crying. “Tell me what happened.”
Julie kept her head on his chest and said, “The cats were getting too close to the Zord’s lands so Jingo led an attack against those in the front of the migration. The first riders hit the cats and dropped eight of them. Jingo accounted for four of the eight. The riders in the second wave flew in and somehow the cats sensed them coming. They jumped more than three hundred feet off the ground and dragged the Zord and their Riders to the ground. They were killed instantly by more than two hundred of the giant cats that raced in. The other waves flew higher and were barely missed by jumping cats.”
Jingo walked up and heard Julie’s last statement, “They didn’t see us, Scotty. They smelled us. Those cats can leap.”
Scotty shook his head, “It’s not surprising, Jingo. Cats can normally leap three times their length. Those giants are more than 200 foot long. They might be able to leap six hundred feet.”
“There’s more, Scotty. They’re smart. Now when they smell us they run under trees and wait for us. They are also big enough to leap over the hedges between the ging roots. This is not going to be good if they get into the Zord’s lands. I don’t think a grown Zord will be able to handle those cats.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Yes, BC?”
“I may have an answer to those cats.”
Jingo looked at Scotty and Scotty said, “Anglo, teleport Jingo and me to BC’s bridge.”
Julie watched Scotty and Jingo disappear. She then walked to Zack Greene’s house to share his family’s sorrow over his death.
Scotty and Jingo appeared on the small ship’s bridge. “What are you thinking, BC?”
Five small white objects appeared on the table next to them. “Look at those and see if you could attach them to the shafts of your arrows.”
Scotty and Jingo picked one up and noticed it was very light. It glowed and emitted a white luminescence. Jingo took an arrow out of his quiver and held the arrowhead up to one of the objects. They were close to the same size. They were the same diameter as the arrow’s shaft. The white slender object had a square end and tapered quickly to a slightly rounded, sharp point. “What are these, BC?”
“They are Coronado Sparks.”
“What are those?”
“They are charged with enough energy to vaporize anything they hit. They are made to penetrate their target and then release their energy such that it burns until it runs out of organic material. These were made to use against the Keepers in their garrisons. These do not explode. The Realm was afraid an explosion would collapse the Keepers’ tunnels.”
Scotty held one in his hand and it felt balanced. “How do you cause it to activate?”
“Look at the small square end.”
Scotty turned it over and saw a round indentation in the square end about an inch deep.
“There was a mechanism in the hole that would slam forward and ignite the spark on impact. I’ve removed them. Could one of your arrow’s shafts be shaved to fit in that hole?”
“No, the hole is slightly smaller than the shaft.” Jingo broke the head of an arrow and handed it to Scotty. Scotty placed it against the hole and said, “We could turn the shafts and shrink the end to fit in.”
“You would need to have about a quarter of an inch more than the depth of the hole to make it activate.”
What do you mean?”
“The shaft would have to slide into the activator to trigger the spark. A tenth of a second after impact the spark will ignite. You’ll need to find a way to keep them on the shaft.”
Jingo looked at the spark and shaft. He took the shaft of the broken arrow and laid it on the table. He drew one of his short swords and began trimming the end. He took a grellup pod out and spread some of the sap on the last half inch.
Scotty watched him push the shaft into the spark and it was a tight fit. “Why the sap?”
“You know the velocity of our arrows. The sap will allow the shaft to slide forward at impact.” He attempted to pull the spark off the shaft and it wouldn’t move.
Scotty watched him, “Did you make it too tight?”
“I don’t think so. You don’t want these things falling off the shaft in our quivers or in flight. The question in my mind is whether or not the nose is sharp enough to penetrate the hide of the cats.”
“It doesn’t have to penetrate, Jingo.”
“Why not, BC?”
“If the charging is released on the hide of the cat, it will burn until there is nothing left of the cat to burn.”
Jingo looked at Scotty and handed him the arrow, “Want to try it out. I know the cat that got the first rider. He appears to be the leader of the group out in front of the other cats.”
“How do you see this happening, Jingo?”
“According to BC, all you have to do is hit it. You can hit a target that big from eight hundred yards. Fly in from downwind and give it a go.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to make seven more of these and then we are going cat hunting. Those eight cats out front are the most dangerous of the lot. I want a shot at them.”
“Michael and Julie need to go with us. We’ll take two each.”
Jingo looked angry for a moment, then said, “You’re right. We shouldn’t risk some of them getting away.”
“How are we going to get them in the trees?”
Jingo smiled and said, “Those eight travel in the open to make good time. They pretty much show us no respect.”
“BC. Have Anglo teleport me down to the clearing. Send Jingo when he finishes the arrows.”
“Your Majesty, you don’t need to run this risk. I can hit them with a beam.”
“BC, that isn’t fair to a life form just doing what comes naturally to it. They attacked us in self-defense. We need to find a way to protect ourselves against them or we’ll start depending on you for our defense. I don’t want you stuck here.”
“I could scan the planet and kill them all.”
“I won’t exterminate an animal without giving it a chance. They have shown remarkable teamwork, and it’s my guess that they may one day evolve into an intelligent life form. To exterminate them would violate our principles. We’ve got to find a way to co-exist with them. That means teaching them to avoid us.”
Scotty disappeared and Jingo continued to work on the arrows.
BC thought about Scotty’s choice to uphold the Realm’s principles. Anglo was right. He was very much like the former Royal Family.
The giant cats were loping across the edge of the wastelands moving south. The leader could smell the scent of the giant flying creatures being carried by the southerly winds. Those creatures were big and tasted good. It looked forward to finding the source of the smell. It looked at the seven running with him and and decided that after another half day they would stop to scout and rest.
The four Zord and their riders were flying parallel to the cats and staying slightly north of their location. They were downwind from the giant creatures and circling about two thousand feet above them. Scotty asked Zreeg, “Does everyone have a cat selected?”
“Yes, they have two chosen. Why are you going to hit only one?”
“I want the group behind to know there is danger here. How will they know if none survive?”
“You assume the survivor will go to tell them?”
“Do you have a better plan?”
“Not really. I just feel animosity toward those creatures. I want to kill them all.”
“Do you want to kill all the Torg on the planet?”
Vring was silent, “I see where you’re going. We were attacking them and they just defended themselves. I still harbor feelings of revenge toward them.”
Scotty sighed, “So do I, but that doesn’t make those feelings right. Tell the others to follow us in.”
Vring banked away from the giant cats and dove in a shallow path toward the ground. He turned back toward the fast moving creatures six hundred feet off the ground, and watched as the other three Zord drew even. Jingo and Michael were on the end of the formation with Scotty and Julie in the center. The archers notched their first arrow and leaned forward as they came in on the eight cats. The four released their first arrow at eight hundred feet from them, and the second was on its way as they approached six hundred feet. The four immediately rose and gained altitude. Scotty watched the seven arrows hit the running cats.
The giant leader of the group felt a sharp pain in his side followed by agony. He fell to the ground and rolled as his front legs burned out from under him followed by his chest and then his head. He was dead before he stopped rolling and burned to ashes four seconds later. The huge cat running beside him slid to a stop and saw his seven companions burned to ash. It was stunned, and then saw the four flying creatures circling in front of him waiting for him to come closer. The cat looked at the ashes of his former troop and turned and ran back toward the north.
“Vring, tell Michael to follow that cat and see what happens. Also, I’m going to throw him the spark I have. I’d prefer he have it just in case.”
Vetah flew under Vring and Scotty dropped the arrow with its head inside a food pouch. It fell on Vetah’s back and Michael put it in his quiver.
“He says he’ll let you know. I’ve also asked one of our warriors to follow them just in case Vetah gets tired.”
“Good idea, Zreeg.”
Zreeg paused a moment and said, “White Hair, Bleath and Vring have returned to our home.”
“Take me there, Zreeg.” The giant Zord turned and headed toward the three mountains in the south. Scotty hit his bracelet, “BC, the spark performed exactly as you predicted. How many of those sparks do you have in your inventory?”
“About ten billion.”
Scotty was stunned by the number, “Did you say billion with a b? Why so many?”
“Cynthia was the commanding officer of the Searchers designated to attack the garrisons in the Keepers’ universe. We originally thought we would have to attack more than twelve million garrisons and our Searchers were loaded with millions of the weapons. They were called wasps, and were designed to home in on a Keeper’s thought frequency. Cynthia had me loaded with a huge number to resupply her Searchers in the event some of them ran low. I removed that guidance system from the sparks I gave you.”
“BC, why weren’t you in the Realm’s galaxy when it left?”
BC sighed, “She had me personally deliver a new probe to one of the eight trading partners to protect them from Keepers jumping in close with their universal drives. While she was in one of the new white ships the Algeans built, I waited for the probe on one of their planets. I delivered it and then jumped over to one of their fleets attempting to attack one of our members. I wanted to update Cynthia on their new tactics. That trip cost me the opportunity to leave with the Realm. While I was collecting information, the Realm’s galaxy disappeared and my teleport board shorted out.”
“BC?”
“Yeah, Anglo?”
“I was thinking about that. You are a much more powerful ship than I am. I asked Timmy about whether or not my teleport board could be used to replace yours, and he says it possibly could.”
“Anglo, I appreciate what you’re offering, but I couldn’t accept that gift. I can handle most of the ships we may encounter. You’ll need that board if you run into another Gamma Ship.”
“Well, it really doesn’t matter. Timmy said the learning center doesn’t have the military’s data base. Without it, he couldn’t make it work. He has to have the wiring diagrams to make the change.”
BC didn’t respond. Scotty said, “BC, what are you thinking?”
“Scotty, excuse me, Your Majesty. The Realm established a secret military complex in the five Provinces. It was one of the most closely guarded secrets of the Realm. Not more than six people outside of the Royal Family knew of its existence. It is located close to a white dwarf star, whose gamma ray emissions hide its location. That base was put there by the Gardners when they were still ruling the Provinces. The Algeans took over its command after the Gardners disappeared and updated the facility to their standards. There might be some ships still there that were made before the Algeans started putting the destruct mechanisms in the teleportation consoles. It also has an updated Military data base. It was automatically updated every time Fleet Command updated their main computer. It was connected via a master teleport communication relay.”
“BC, you and Anglo should start calling me by my first name whenever we are in private conversation. We’re all friends here. Do you know where the complex is located?”
“Yes, I do. It was part of my update when Cynthia was promoted to Vice-Admiral. Only Senior Flag Officers were given that information.”
“What made you think of this?”
“According to my data base, there are seven ships of Anglo’s class that have never been imprinted. Their cybernetic computers were never activated so there should be a teleportation console available, if we can get the complex to allow us entry.”
“What do you mean, “Allow”?”
“That complex is fully armed with the most modern weapons of the Algeans. Those weapons can kill a Gamma. You must have the entry protocol in order to approach it.”
“I don’t want to ask this, but do you have that protocol?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Flap. I was hoping you would.”
“I do know the main computer.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I think she likes me, but I don’t know if her programming would allow her to override her defenses.”
“How do you know her?”
“She was moved from Melanie Gardner’s Alpha Ship when Melanie moved into Fly Girl. Melanie insisted she be given the position when Fleet Command decided to build the complex.”
“Well, I think we need to make the effort.”
“There’s more you should know, especially you, Anglo.”
“What?!?”
“There are automated construction facilities that could update your screens and weapons to those of a Gamma Ship.”
Scotty sighed, “First, we go see Bleath. Then I need to go visit a certain King. After that, we’ll see if the complex is willing to help us.”
“Anglo?”
“Yes, BC?”
“Your offer means a lot to me. I know the value of your gift. Thanks.”
“It’s the right thing to do to make us stronger. You’d do the same for me.”
“I’m glad you know that, Brother.”
Zreeg flew in toward the center mountain peak and saw that the Zord Flocks were gathered. Scotty asked, “Zreeg, what’s going on?”
“It appears we are going to go home. Bleath will tell you the rest.”
Zreeg flew in over the last row of trees and flared his wings as he landed next to Bleath. All the Zord lowered their heads to the ground waiting for him to land. “Please rise, Great Flyers. I am honored by your homage.”
Bleath rose on his back legs, “Our families on our home world were overjoyed at our return, White Hair. They have not had a royal descendant for more than two thousand cycles and they are still celebrating my visit.”
“What do you mean Royal Descendant?”
“You don’t know how our leaders are selected, do you?”
“No, I just assumed you were elected by the flocks.”
“Our leaders are chosen by a color on their throat. As you have seen, when we are not shifting colors, Vring and I have a dark green band that runs around our necks. The one with the widest green band is the acknowledged Ruler of our Flocks. Vring and I possess the widest bands in our families, thus, we are the Rulers. When our six ancestors were taken from our home world, our parents were the only Royal Couple on the planet. Our eggs were the only ones they laid. There has not been a green band Zord since we were taken. All of us possess the green band on our throats and will be going home to help lead our brothers. They have struggled since our parents left to be with the Air God.”
“Congratulations, Bleath. They couldn’t have chosen a wiser or better leader.”
“White Hair, you and your communities must go with us to our home world.”
Scotty furrowed his brow, “Why is that?”
“Because you are our Royal Leader.”
Scotty was shocked into silence.
Bleath continued, “When I gave you my oath to follow you, it meant any of those under my care were also bound to that oath. There was great consternation when I told our families that I had given the Oath of Reverence to you. Then I shared with them what you had done to earn that honor. I also showed them how you had removed their attackers from our home. The flocks immediately rejoiced at having such a great leader to follow. Our warriors were the happiest of all. You must bring your communities to our world and join us. You are our Royal Rider and it’s vitally important that you come and take us toward our destiny.”
“This is not a decision I can make by myself.”
“Yes it is, White Hair. You are either the Ruler of your communities or they do not honor the oath they gave you. What does this world of the evil Duke hold for you?”
Scotty thought about that question. Bleath listened to his thoughts and saw him decide. “We will go with you, Great Flyer. I promise to protect the Zord from all enemies; however, I am designating you as the one that will handle all issues of your flocks. That is the only condition that you must accept if I will force my communities to leave this world.”
Bleath bowed deeply, “I will strive to make you proud of me, Your Majesty.”
“I’m going to talk with our communities. Be prepared to move quickly.”
“We will do as you command, White Hair.”
Scotty hit his com, “Anglo, has Michael arrived at the main cat migration?”
“He just arrived.”
“Teleport Vring and me to where he is.”
Scotty scampered up Vring’s harness and the two disappeared.
They reappeared about two thousand feet above the edge of the waste lands, and Vring fell five hundred feet before he caught the wind and rose above the giant grey herd below. “Vring, tell Michael to join us now.”
“He was about to kill that eighth cat but stopped just before he released the new arrow.”
Michael and Vetah climbed and arrived just as Scotty and Vring passed over the leading edge of the herd.
“What’s wrong, Your Majesty?”
“I don’t want you to stop the cat migration. Why were you going to fire on that cat?”
“It arrived and ran up to a giant cat. It was even bigger than the leader of the eight scouts. I think it communicated that we killed the other seven and that giant cat stopped the advance. The one that delivered the news kept turning and running back to the south. I sensed it wanted them to continue the advance. I decided that if I killed that cat, the others would stop the migration.”
“You’re probably right. Vring, can you communicate with those creatures?”
“Their thoughts are simple, but higher than the Torg. I can probably get them to understand some of what you want to communicate.”
“Tell them we’re sorry we killed their scouts. While you’re doing that, I want you and Vetah to turn off your color shifting. Michael, you and I will also turn off our Zeckas.”
The Giant Leader of the cats looked up and saw the two flying creatures overhead. Vring said, “I’ve told him.”
The Giant cat looked up in the sky and issued a huge roar. Now tell him that we are leaving the lands in front of him and he may continue his advance.”
Michael said, “What?!?”
“Tell him.”
The giant grey cat moved out in front of the herd and walked back and forth as it looked up in the sky at the two circling Zord and their riders. Finally, it turned to the herd and snarled. Seven huge cats emerged from their ranks and joined the survivor. The eight looked at the leader, turned, and ran toward the south. After ten minutes, the huge herd began moving forward.
“Anglo, take us back to the communities.”
The four appeared high over the community clearing as they fell and then caught the air in the Zord’s wings. Vring screeched and Scotty heard the three horns start sounding off. They circled until the majority of the communities had arrived. Julie and Jingo pulled their visors down and saw Scotty and Michael circling high above. “What’s going on?”
“I have no idea, Jingo, but that isn’t Zreeg that’s Scotty is riding. It’s Vring.”
“They’re back. Something’s happened.”
“We’ll find out momentarily.” They saw the two Zord and riders start their descent.