The huge green ship came out its universal jump and oriented to the closest galaxies. The Ship’s Male pressed a control and said, “What do your sensors indicate?”
“Of the three hundred closest galaxies, one of them appears to have a larger life signature indicating intelligence. All of them possess indications of intelligence.”
“Orient on the strongest source and prepare to investigate.”
“Notifying navigation immediately.”
The Ship’s Male pressed another control and announced, “Prepare yourselves to feed; the time is soon.” Throughout the thirty thousand mile wide globe, millions of shapes began to stir.
The Stars Realm Searcher Ship Orange Sky sat motionless a hundred miles from the giant vessel. Searcher Qingz pressed the activation control that energized the red screened probe and it immediately began looking for jump tracks. Quingz sat and watched and waited for what he knew was coming but refused to communicate until the huge ship jumped; he was uncertain if his communications would be detected. The green giant turned half a rotation and then disappeared in the silver-blue flash of a star drive.
“Fleet Command, this is Orange Sky reporting; the invader has jumped and I can confirm that our sensors do not detect their presence.”
“We’ll pass that information to the fleet, Searcher.”
“I can also confirm that I remained undetected a hundred trigs from their location.”
“We will also pass that along. The first probe has jumped to the invaders jump coordinates and is currently following them visually. It appears that they detected a planet with intelligent life.”
“I will remain on station until their next vessel appears, Fleet Command.”
“Carry on, Searcher Qingz.”
“Father.”
Yes, Stem”
“The Admiral was right; they do not appear on our sensors.”
“Notify Admiral Gardner; we are beginning operation blindfold.”
Stem turned and thought, “Magic, operation blindfold has been initiated.”
“How many ships are in the first group?”
“Six, they will follow the invaders in to the first planet they attack and visually record anything they see. It has been confirmed that our ships are invisible to them. We should see if they are using any new weapons that were not in the recording the Captor’s gave us. “
Matt sat in his command chair with his chin resting on his hand. He hesitated but then asked, “Who is in command?”
Stem looked at his instrument and said, “Searcher Angel Dodd, Admiral.”
Matt sat up straight and thought, “Angel, be careful following those ships in system.”
“I will, Magic. We’re not getting closer than the third moon and only when their entire fleet arrives at the planet.”
Matt put his chin back on his hand and closed his eyes. Al sensed Matt’s nervousness and watched what Matt was seeing in his mind. Stem had also noticed something bothering Matt but was uncertain about what it was.
Angel thought to her squadron, “Alright, listen up. We are going to wait until the mother ship has entered close orbit around the planet. We will then jump in no closer than this planet’s third moon. I will stop just above the moon’s surface and begin recording. I want the rest of you to teleport in the same distance but on different angles so we don’t miss anything happening on the planet. If any of the green ships start moving toward you, teleport out immediately, any questions?”
No one responded so Angel knew they understood what was required. The six Searchers waited ten hours until the mother ship finally arrived at the planet. Once the huge one hundred mile long transports began leaving the mother ship, Angel thought, “Port to you assigned locations in three seconds.”
The six small ships disappeared, assumed their positions, and began recording. Angel was two miles above the surface of the moon looking directly down toward the planet. “Begin recording, Fly Girl.”
“Started ten seconds ago, Angel.”
On the surface of the moon a small green shuttle sized ship was investigating facilities that the planet had built on the moon’s surface. The structure they had just examined was a storage facility with no life in it. As the shuttle prepared to move to the next facility the Eight Leg piloting the shuttle noticed a small shadow move across the surface of the moon directly in front of his vessel. He turned his attention upward but could not see or detect anything that would have caused the shadow. “How could that be,” it wondered? He moved his ship toward the shadow that had become stationary on the moon’s surface and again looked upward. There was something blocking the star’s light but it was not visible. He decided to investigate.
Matt watched in his mind as Angel’s ship stopped directly above the moon’s surface and then he saw that her ship was casting a shadow on the moon’s surface. He looked closer and saw the tiny green ship enter that shadow. “Angel, get out of there, your ship is casting a shadow on the moon.”
Before Angel could comprehend what he was saying the small green shuttle shot off the surface of the moon and hit her ship. Matt saw the green light directly under the ship attached to Wing’s hull and he thought to Al, “Al, teleport them out of there, now!”
Al teleported in next to Wings, extended the silver screen, and dragged Wings through it.
The two ships reappeared and Matt thought, “Angel, answer me.”
“All he got was a weak thought, “Something hit me.”
“Fly Girl, talk to me.”
“Matt, my systems are down. Whatever they used to breach my hull has knocked my engines off line. I’m losing power.”
Al thought, “No Matt, don’t go!”
Matt disappeared and reappeared on Wings’ bridge. He stood to face the creatures that had boarded but they were not there. He turned and saw Angel lying on the floor with blood flowing from three wounds. He ran to her and lifted her head. “Angel, oh Angel.”
She opened her eyes and smiled weakly at him. “I messed up. Oh, Magic, it hurts so much.”
“He held her close and thought, “Hang on, Angel. Hang on.”
Al immediately teleported both ships to Ross and then teleported Angel and Matt into Dorg-Ross General Hospital’s emergency center; Matt yelled, “Somebody help her!”
As emergency personnel rushed forward, Angel looked up at Matt and thought to him, “Matt, I’m so sorry. I love you,” The doctors picked her up, placed her on a stretcher and rushed her into an operation room. Matt followed them in and watched as they fought to save her. “There’s something in her system that’s paralyzing her,” a surgeon yelled. Matt stayed in her mind and saw her slipping away. “Angel, I love you with all my heart.” In his mind he could feel her smile and then she was gone. His despair was unbearable. Then he felt the rage building. He closed his eyes and looked back at the system and saw the three Eight Legs that had boarded Angel’s ship floating is space just outside their ship wondering what had happened to the vessel they had boarded. His anger grew and he felt something happening.
Al was in orbit above Ross and felt the final system activate and come to full power. He watched as a pulse of violet lightning shot out of his hull and more than a quarter of the way across the universe it struck the three eight legs floating in space. They imploded so fast that one moment they were there floating and in an instant they disappeared from existence.
Stem had been standing on Aladdin and watched what was happening to Angel’s ship and even for an Algean things moved faster than he could keep up. Al thought, “Stem, give me the coordinates where I can take Wings. She’s damaged and needs immediate repair.”
Stem thought them to Al and he quickly teleported to the repair facility on one of the Algean planets. “The final system is now active, Stem. Please help me save, Fly Girl.”
Stem pushed his instrument and Fly Girl disappeared. “I have to go help her, Al. What happened?”
“Angel is gone, Stem.”
Stem felt a wave of sorrow engulf him but then teleported out.
Al sat in space above the planet and felt tremendous pain. Even though he knew it was coming, he was not prepared for it to happen. Like Matt, he felt a need for vengeance. He flashed a thought to Matt, “I’ve given Fly Girl to the care of the Algeans.”
“Thank you, Al.”
Al could feel Matt’s despair, “Magic, are you going to be alright?”
“I honestly don’t know. I really didn’t think it would happen so quickly.”
“Me, either.”
They both remained silent for thirty minutes. Matt had left the operating room as soon as he felt Angel slip away. He noticed in the back of his mind that the doctors were still trying to revive her; her body had not died even though she was gone. Finally, after two hours, a surgeon came out and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Admiral. We tried everything possible. She was hit by three of these that were coated in some kind of powerful neurotoxin that overwhelmed her system.”
The surgeon opened a towel he was holding and Matt saw three nine inch green shards. Matt reached for them and the surgeon said, “We have removed the neurotoxin but whatever these are made of is also dangerous. They’re sharp so please use caution.”
Matt took the towel and folded it over the three shards. “I will; thank you, Doctor. I know you gave your best effort.”
A silver field appeared and Anglo Gardner appeared in the hallway. He came forward as Matt and the surgeon bowed. Anglo looked at them and then said to Matt, “The Royal Family humbly asks if I may take Angel to see that she receives the honor that she so richly deserves.”
Matt looked Anglo in the eye and Anglo could see Matt’s pain. “Thank you for being here, Your Grace. I can’t think of anyone else that she would prefer to take care of her at this moment.”
“We have notified her family and we have made arrangements to receive her in Colony Park in two days.”
Matt almost lost control at that moment; only those that won the Crimson Crown were buried in Colony Park with Dorg-Ross. Anglo pressed his com and an honor guard of twenty Red Warriors from the Wiseman Division appeared. They marched into the operating room and two of them in the middle gently lifted Angel, turned with their comrades and carried her out into the hall. Anglo turned walked over to Angel and placed The Crimson Crown Medal around her neck then bowed deeply to her. Matt walked over to her and kissed her one last time. Anglo nodded and he, along with the twenty members of the honor guard, disappeared.
“There is something wrong, First Fang.”
The Ship’s Leader turned his attention to his sensor male, “What is that?”
“Three of our children have disappeared.”
The Ship’s Leader immediately removed his attention from the invasion of the planet and focused totally on the Sensor Male. “Where did they go?”
“I can’t locate them. Their pod is floating about a fil above the third moon where they were examining the structures for life. I cannot find any of the children that were in that pod.”
“What was their last communication?”
“The pod pilot said that they were going to investigate a shadow. That’s the last communication they sent.”
“A shadow?”
“Yes.”
This was something serious. No member of his race had been harmed for more than a hundred million years. Of course these were just children without much intelligence but their disappearance was significant. The young would often lose all focus if they detected a meal but there was no other evidence of a meal near the location of their pod. The Ship Leader pondered what to do. Should he contact the family’s Supreme Male? No not before all things were examined. He turned his attention back to the Sensor Male and said, “Order one third of the children to come and look for their brothers.”
The Sensor Male turned to his controls and sent the order. More than a million small green ships lifted from the planet and headed at full speed toward the third moon.
Searcher Leng saw the sudden explosion of green ships from the planet and thought to the remaining four Searchers, “Time to go. The sensor probe will have to take it from here.” The five red ships disappeared from the system.
The rush of green ships reached the third moon and fanned out in all directions looking for their missing brothers. Thirty hours later after the planet had been completely harvested of all intelligent life the remainder of the green ships joined the search. They continued to search for four days.
Angel’s funeral was held two days after she died. More than ten million citizens of Ross and a million Searchers lined the ten mile route her silver casket traveled from Castle Gardner to Dorg Park. The Royal Family followed her along the route and silence was observed by the huge gathering. Anglo Gardner, Matt and two Red Warriors rode on the four corners of the red floater carrying her. As the floater moved along Tgon-Gee Avenue the crowds on each side of the wide street would bow until the floater had passed. They would then fall in behind the procession and follow it. The Stars Realm Anthem played the entire route and finally it arrived at Dorg Park. Matt, Anglo, and the two Red Warriors dismounted the floater, lifted the Casket, and carried it forward into the park. They arrived in the middle of the statues of the colonists that had been executed in the war that had founded the Stars Realm. There next to Admiral Dorg’s resting site they stopped and placed the Casket in a bright white structure with an angel on each corner that had her name on it. The four then took three steps back, saluted, bowed, and Anglo with the two Red Warriors moved to the front line of mourners. Matt remained beside her resting place with his head bowed. Thomas and Danielle Gardner bowed to the structure and then turned and walked slowly to a stage facing the gathered millions. Danielle stepped forward to the podium and looked out at the crowd.
“There are no words that I possess to tell you what we are feeling today. This young woman is the first member of our Realm to lose her life to those that have come to destroy us. She died carrying out her duty to protect us from harm. She has denied herself the joys of life to work toward saving us from those creatures and has been at the point of our efforts to survive their invasion. She will lie here in this holy ground and remind us of what sacrifices we must all face in order to ultimately survive. Just like the colonists memorialized here for what they gave to found our Realm, she has also sacrificed all. Her place here is for all the Searchers that are out there protecting us and when we come here we should remember all of them and what they represent. Angel truly represents the very best of all of us and we mourn her death and will take this moment to thank her for her sacrifice.” The King and Queen of the Stars Realm walked slowly off the stage and stopped directly in front of Angel’s tomb. They bowed deeply and held the bow. The two Red Warriors of the Wiseman Division shouted together, “An-gel!” The crowd then answered, “An-gel.” Over and over the millions yelled her name in unison. Matt stood with the Gardner’s and felt his tears. A part of him was gone and he missed it so much it literally hurt almost more than he could bear. “I love you, My Dearest. I always will.” The millions continued to shout her name.
Al sat in orbit over the planet and watched the ceremony. He felt Matt’s pain of loss and thought about why Angel had to die. He hadn’t mentioned it to Matt but he had deduced that visions like Matt had seen only occurred when an event was powerful enough to affect the future in some great way. Just as Cassandra had foretold Matt’s coming, this event had to mean something had to happen in order for something else to take place. He didn’t want to believe it but he knew deep down that Angel had to die. Over and over he asked himself, “Why?”
Stem thought to him, “Because there are no accidents, Al.”
Al was surprised by the response. “Were you listening to me, Stem?”
“No, Al, you have developed telepathy. I don’t understand how that could possibly happen but I can hear your thoughts.”
“Perhaps that final system coming on has something to do with it?”
“Could be; why didn’t you tell me that Matt saw Angel’s death?”
“Because that’s something that he felt she could not know in advance. The daily fear of anticipating it would have made her life a living hell and paralyzed her from functioning. The fewer that knew reduced the risk of her learning.”
“I know what that knowledge must have done to Matt.”
“I suppose, however, I must say that his inner strength is something I admire. He never let her feel his pain. I don’t know if anyone else could have done that.”
“You did it with Fly Girl.”
“Point taken, Stem; how is she doing?”
“We have her in an induced electronic coma. We are repairing her systems and fortunately, those shards did not hit her central processors. She is not out of the woods yet, but I think she can recover. It’s going to take time.”
“Please keep me in the loop. I feel strongly about her.”
“I will. Is Matt going to come out of this ok?”
“I don’t know. He’s changed. Like Fly Girl, it’s going to take some time.”
“Will you send me one of those shards that struck Angel?”
Al reflected a moment and then made a decision, “I’ve just teleported two to your location. Handle them carefully. I’ve sent it on the condition that as soon as you determine how it hit Angel through the ships walls that you’ll tell Matt. The last one will remain in the box beside Matt’s command chair; no one may have it. Do we have a deal?”
“Yes, and, Al?”
“Yes, Stem.”
“I do count you as my best friend.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“You’re welcome, Son.”