The Supreme Male looked at his communications board and saw that his family was ready for the harvest. He had contacted the Nest Mother and informed her of his time for departure and she had approved. He looked at his Sensor Male and said, “Begin sending the first wave through the entry point. Have them jump upon arrival and form a barrier to prevent interruption to our entry.”
“I am issuing orders now.”
“It’s starting, Matt; fifty main ships have just come through the entry point.”
“I see them, Destiny. We will track them with our new sensor board at fleet command. How long will it be before the first million come through?”
“It usually takes about four of your months. At that point the universe will be mapped for intelligent life forms and the remainder of the family will begin coming en mass with assigned destinations.”
“I’m struggling with whether or not to hit those ships if they move in on a planet but I’m not sure if it’s wise to do it before we are ready to take them on.”
“I would be surprised if they move on a planet during the initial phase of the invasion. The first wave knows their responsibility is to map targets and they will not go against their instructions. You have some time before you are forced to act.”
“I hope you’re right. We’re assigning a Searcher to each of the ships that come through in the first wave. They have a main ship penetrator if they have to use it but I don’t want to do anything that changes the invader’s normal entry protocols.”
“If you start hitting them they will change.”
“Then we will hold off as long as possible.”
“What happens if they stumble on to one of the Realm’s planets?”
“Then we will move the planet.”
Destiny flinched, “You can do that?”
“Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t tell you. We moved that first planet you looked for and replaced it with a barren planet.”
Destiny laughed, “I should have guessed. Well, it should make for interesting viewing. I do expect them to send fifty or more ships to investigate the system those two main ships were destroyed.”
“Let them. That is only going to make them wonder what happened.”
“I’d hate to be their Supreme Male when the Nest Mother is asking for answers.”
“I’ve heard he’ll taste good on a cracker.”
Both Destiny and Eyes laughed at that.
“Attention all Searchers, this is Fleet Command. We will be tagging you to the invader’s ships as they enter our universe. Stay with your assigned ship and be prepared to launch your penetrator on command. We anticipate a four or five month delay until the main body starts arriving so be patient and don’t lose your assigned ship. If the invader has launched ships before the fire command, notify us so we can send support to knock out the small ships. The remainder of the Searcher fleet will standby awaiting the coordinates of those mother ships that have launched ships.”
Life waited and watched the ship he was assigned jump away and join the other ships as they formed a wall a hundred thousand miles from the entry point. He read the jump track and knew that his assigned ship was not moving very far so he held his position another hundred thousand miles further out. He was sorry that he was going to be forced to kill that huge ship but more would die if he didn’t. He looked over at the mass of ships around him with their red screens glowing and felt a sense of pride at being a part of this group of fine pilots. It seemed the war with the trade planets was just yesterday and he still remained thankful for the people who had come and given his people new meaning for their lives. He waited and anticipated the coming conflict. He knew it was going to be unlike anything he had ever imagined. “Wild Man, are you locked in on our ship?”
“Yes, Life, I’ve got him covered like the seat of your pants.”
Life laughed and felt the bond between him and his ship.
Colonel Brez stood in front of General Durk. The Commanding General of the Red Warriors had called him in and he was wondering what was going on. “He’s probably angry about that attack ship that managed to land on one of the megas during the last battle.”
General Durk looked up from his desk and Brez snapped to attention. Durk returned his salute, “Sit down Colonel.” Brez took a chair and Durk said, “We are anticipating that we will not be able to hit every invader ship before they launch their ships. We also know that there is a good possibility that some planets may have invader ships landing on their surface. We are not going to just stand by anymore and watch as civilizations are destroyed. You are promoted to the rank of General and will assume command of the Third Division and will be the first unit teleported to defeat the invaders on the ground.”
Brez was stunned, “Sir, there are many higher ranking officers than me. Why have I been selected for this duty?”
“Because Prince Gardner has been observing you and has issued commands that you be placed in command of one of our divisions. We happen to place great faith in his opinion and in his psychic abilities to make the right decisions. I expect you to have your warriors ready to defend an entire planet against millions of those green monsters. You’ll be heavily outnumbered but I expect the best from you and your men.”
Brez looked at General Durk, “I will do my best, General.”
“From what I’ve heard, your best is pretty good. You’re dismissed. Your unit will be waiting for your arrival.”
Brez snapped to attention, saluted, and ran from the room before Durk could return his salute. Durk shook his head and thought, “I imagine those creatures will have more than they can handle with this Red Warrior.”
Matt and Melanie were sitting in the map room at Castle Gardner with Tag and Danielle. They were watching the feed from the entry point as more and more of the huge green ships came through. “There as so many of them,” Danielle said.
Matt nodded and continued to watch.
“I pray we can survive this.”
Matt looked at Melanie and said, “We can.”
Melanie raised an eyebrow at him, “How can you be so sure?”
“Because the ship the Reg gave us is now fully active.”
Tag and Danielle both said, “What!”
“The final system on Al is now working so that tells me that the ship is now operational.”
Tag looked at him and said, “Why haven’t you told us?”
“Because we are never going to use it; we are going to return it to them.”
All three just stared at him.
“I understand your shock about this but I know that if we use it the Reg will die. They will not be able to endure what the use of that ship causes. I cannot allow my brothers to suffer that fate.”
Melanie looked at him and said, “Are you sure about that?”
“I know that they have decided as a race that they would rather die than allow further loss of life by those invaders. They think that death is better than life knowing how many will die due to their inactivity. We have to win this war on our own. Are you willing to allow those that may someday cause the defeat of these creatures to go to their death? I believe that with enough time they can overcome the forces than compel them not to act. That is one ship; they can produce millions of them if they are able to beat that compulsion. I can’t risk the fate of untold billions of future civilizations on the chance that we might win using it.” Matt looked at Tag and said, “If you command me to use it, I will obey. I just cannot do it if the decision is mine.”
Danielle looked at Matt, “Can we win without it?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Tag and Danielle looked at each other. Tag walked over and put his arm around Matt, “Nor can we take that kind of action knowing it will cause the death of an entire race.”
“I was hoping you would feel that way.”
Sprig and Twig stood with Edison looking at the device he had built. He explained how it operated and they saw that he had actually found a better way to work the system. Sprig was actually amazed at how simple the device operated. “You say you did this after learning that we were able to teleport?”
“Yes, I assumed that it must work around null space and move directly to the location you desired to travel.”
“You’re right. You also mentioned that you might be able to teleport into another universe.”
“The principle is really no different than moving around this universe; the initial coordinate is different, though.”
“What do you mean initial coordinate?”
“Each universe has its own frequency. You wouldn’t know that because you have existed only in this one. To teleport to another universe you need the initial numbers from that universe and the coordinates of the place you want to go.”
Sprig looked at Twig, “Can your device teleport to another universe?”
Edison turned his head sideways indicating a laugh and said, “No, I’m missing some of the functions necessary to make that happen.”
Sprig said, “But you said you could teleport the green substance and also teleport ships back to where they came from.”
“Oh it can be done; Einstein has promised me the equations in another seven days.”
“Who is Einstein?”
“He’s one of my brothers. He is fascinated by the laws that govern physical properties. He chose that name because of the famous ancient human. He’s actually much smarter than I am. I’m more of an engineer; he’s the one that comes up with the principles I use to design my devices.”
Sprig and Twig were dumbfounded. Twig keyed her com, “Destiny.”
“Yes, Twig.”
“One of your children has taken the human name Einstein. Would you please teleport him to our location.”
“Why, has he caused trouble?”
“No, why do you ask?”
“If it’s the same Einstein I punished last week for converting one of the lakes on the last planet into uranium, then he’s always up to mischief.”
“How did he do that?”
“I don’t know; he said he needed it to catch a few quarks for an experiment.”
“Destiny, I’m reasonably certain that he’s the one.”
Edison was shaking his head, “No, it’s not him. He isn’t very bright actually. Einstein is in the engine room developing a drive that should push our ship faster than light.”
Destiny heard what Edison said and yelled, “Eyes. Get that child out of the engine room.”
“Destiny, I think we need to build a school for your children to develop their talents.”
“We need to build something. They’re developing individual personalities and their curiosity is out of control. One of them cut a section from the hull and made a statue.”
“What did they cut it with?”
Destiny looked at his screen and said, “I really don’t know.”
Twig thought, “I really think you should find out.”
“Eyes, get me the artist. What’s his name?”
“Leonardo something.”
“Well get him up here. Ah, here’s Einstein.”
“What do you want, Father?”
“Are you the subject matter expert on teleportation?”
“I was last week. I’ve moved on to another subject.”
Sprig said, “We need your help on teleportation?”
“Sure, if that’s what you want. I just think using psychic skills to move objects around the universes will be so much more efficient but I’ll certainly help you with teleportation if that’s what you need.”
Sprig looked at Twig and thought, “What have we found here?”
“I don’t know, Dear, but please remember you melted a Megaship in your youth.”
Einstein and Edison looked at Sprig with wonder in their eyes. “You did what?”
Destiny laughed, “Now they have a new hero. He’s all yours, Sprig.”
Matt was at his console watching the ships continue to pour into his universe. His com buzzed and he saw Sprig on it, “What’s up?”
“These young spiders are showing a tremendous rate of development. If we can get through the first invasion, we will have some tools to take this war to their home turf.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know the Reg’s ship is going to be able to travel between universes.”
“Yeah.”
Well one of the young spiders has found the set of conditions that would allow us to build our own vessels to do that. He is not far from finding the missing concepts that govern that type of movement. We also have an artist on Destiny’s ship that cut a piece of the hull off to make a statue. We have him here now showing us how he did it. It seems these youngsters are just as precocious and enterprising as our adolescents.”
Sprig, let’s go see Destiny. I have been looking at the data we have on the spider in earth’s past that resembles them. I think he needs to know what we’ve found.”
“I’ll meet you on his bridge.”
“Destiny, Sprig and Matt are coming for a meeting.”
“Did they say why, Eyes?”
“Something about a thing called a spider.”
“What is that?”
“I really don’t know.”
Sprig and Matt appeared on the bridge and Destiny said, “What brings you here?”
“Matt said, “I have a recording of an animal that once lived on my planet. I want you to take a look at it and tell me what you think.”
Destiny shrugged and took the recording and inserted it into his console. “Eyes, I’m also feeding this to your console.” The two of them watched the recording and both of them flinched as soon as they saw the first picture. “Where did you say you got this?”
“It is a creature that once existed on my home planet, Destiny. It was very small and it built webs that it used to catch its prey.”
Destiny looked at Eyes and said to Matt, “That is an exact picture of the Nest Mother. The hour glass shape on the abdomen is positioned exactly as it is on her and it is also the same exact size compared to the body size. This makes me wonder if this is a common ancestor.”
Sprig straightened up, “We believe it is, Destiny. We theorize that a creature like this bit a life form and absorbed some of its intelligence. Once that happened, we think your race is now the end product.”
Eyes stared at his screen and asked, “Did you find out anything about this creature?”
Matt paused and said, “Yes. It was called a spider and at one time there were millions of different species on my planet. During our last great war, a nation released a toxin that they thought would kill humans but actually killed every spider on the planet.”
Destiny stared at the Human. “Do you still know how to produce that toxin?”
Matt shrugged, “Yes, I found the formula.”
“You know it would be death to my family if we came into contact with it?”
“That’s why I’m here, Destiny. The only copy of that formula is on this recording. I’m giving it to you for safe keeping. I have decided that we are not willing to risk harming your family by producing this substance.” Matt handed the recording to Destiny.
Destiny looked at the recording he held in his leg and then looked at Matt, “I know what it took to give me this. This shows me beyond any doubt that you keep your commitments. My family will do everything we can to protect you for all eternity. We consider your people a part of my family.”
“There’s more, Destiny.”
Destiny turned his head upside down and said, “What else?”
“I found a description of this creature. It was a solitary creature that only came together with other members of its species to mate. It was considered gentle in nature and avoided contact whenever it could and only bit when it could not escape.”
Destiny looked at Eyes and said, “That explains a lot.”
Sprig thought, “What do you mean?”
“My children are asking to be allowed to go exploring this universe. They are almost bursting with curiosity about what’s out there.”
“My species’ adolescents leave our worlds to explore and sate their curiosity during their youth. They return as adults to share with us what they have learned. I suspect your children are similar to mine. It was during my adolescence that I discovered the teleportation process we currently use. It was also when I first came into contact with the humans.”
“You’ve seen some of my children, Sprig; what do you think?”
“I am amazed at their mental capacity and their ability to pull unrelated information together to produce a new concept. They are going to change what we know in remarkable ways if they are given time.”
“I have also noticed that my children have lost their aggressive traits. They seem to like every creature they encounter. I’ve also found that one meal lasts much longer. They only need to feed three times a year and probably only twice with two big meals. I think they will be self sufficient within the year.”
Sprig looked at Destiny and said, “One of my concerns is that if one of your children goes exploring into another universe and they are captured; the invaders will know everything about us and your family.”
Destiny looked at Eyes and said, “Please open the ship’s speakers.” Eyes pushed a button and lowered his head. “Children, I need your attention.” Throughout the ship everyone stopped what they were doing and listened. “I have two of our friends here on the command chamber with me and they have mentioned something to me that I must discuss with you. I have seen you changing and becoming more and more like what we are supposed to be; individuals. Our minds have been stunted because of the compulsions forced on us by the rulers of our people and it is only now after being freed from them that we are coming truly alive. My friends think that for you to fully develop that you should be given ships and allowed to explore this universe and find those things that interest you. I am in agreement with that plan.” The young spiders felt their excitement at the prospect and looked at each other with anticipation. “However, if one of you goes outside this universe and is captured by our former rulers, then they will know that we are still alive and everything about our new friends. We cannot allow that to happen. Until we find an answer to that threat, I am forbidding any of you to travel into other universes. We will also remain aboard this vessel until the current invasion is resolved. The other members of our species are looking to find us to kill us. They have already consumed the other members of our family and I’m sure they will not allow any of us to survive if they can find us. I am now going to ask you to focus on any way you can discover that will help our friends and us to survive the harvest that is happening as we speak. If you discover anything that will help our friends, I want you to notify me or Eyes immediately. I know the idea of killing members of our species may not be something that seems right to you but I have come to know that they must be stopped and that is the only way to end the danger our species represents. Thank you for your attention and I treasure every one of you.” Destiny turned to Matt and said, “They will not disobey an order from their father. We are made that way and you can count on them staying in this universe.”
Suddenly they heard a voice, “Father, I think I have something that might help loss of life.”
Destiny looked at his console and said, “Who is addressing me?”
“My name is Newton, Father.”
“What do you have, Child.”
“I have discovered a frequency that when used as a field repels the green substance. If you add it to the red screen’s generator, it will stop anything with the green substance from penetrating.”
“Child, come to the bridge immediately.”
Matt and Sprig looked at each other and Sprig said, “We won’t have to move planets if this is true and we can place them at planets that are going to be invaded. We’ll just teleport them in and activate them if what he has discovered really does work.”
A small spider entered the bridge with a device in his two front legs and handed it to Destiny. “It’s pretty simple, Father. Our friends may take it with them and use it.”
Destiny looked at the small spider and said, “We need one to use for our ship, child. Can you build another?”
“I’ve already installed it on the surface father. I was going to ask if we could send one of our ships outside and see if it works.”
“The invaders will see the ship if it leaves your screen,” Sprig thought.
“No, I’ve duplicated the color of the red screen and changed one of our craft to match.”
Sprig looked at the small spider, “How did you do that?”
“I rearranged the outer layer on one of our small craft one molecule in thickness to change to the color.”
“I am not going to ask how you did it,” Sprig thought. “I’ll be asking that question every ten seconds at this rate of discovery.”
Destiny turned to Eyes and said, “Launch the craft that this child has changed and let’s see what happens.”
Eyes turned on his scanner and immediately saw the red ship. A crew boarded it and lifted to the exit shaft and exited the ship. Move it about a hundred of what they call miles, Father.”
The small craft moved away from the mother ship and stopped. Newton turned a dial on a device in his front legs and said, “Move the ship toward us.”
The small red ship flew toward the mother ship and fifty miles out stopped abruptly. “Try to move closer,” Eyes ordered. The ship fired its engines to full throttle and moved a mile closer and then shot away from the ship more than two hundred miles. “I got the idea from those balls that bounce off the green substance. The field modulates the molecular signature of those balls.”
Matt looked at Sprig and said, “Obviously, the planets come first. We’ll use this with our ships later.”
The small spider handed Matt a duplicate of the device he was holding and said, “I made this one for you. I want you to have it for your ship. Just turn the dial to its highest setting and it will extend a mile outside your red screen. I know that it was you who chose to talk with Father and allowed us to live. I made this especially for you; I want to make sure you live to see me as I grow up.”
Matt took the device and said, “Thank you, Newton. One of the first things I’m going to do if we survive this harvest is to take you to Ross to meet the King and Queen of our people.”
The small spider quivered with his excitement, “Would you, could you. Oh how exciting.”
Destiny looked at his child and said, “He always keeps his promises, child; just be patient.”
“I will, Father.”
Sprig teleported out to begin manufacturing the new device.
Matt looked at Destiny and said, “Thank you, my friend. Your child has just reaffirmed my faith in you.”
“He’s also made me proud, Matt.”
The little spider just quivered from the praise.
Four months later Al said, “Prince Gardner, the ships have started launching to invade planets.”
“Cassandra, are you ready? The main invasion is about to begin.”
“We’ll be jumping to the entry coordinates in one minute, Matt. Are the megaships ready to handle the ships that try to move to the sides?”
“They are already on station waiting for you to take the point.”
“Thirty seconds to port.”
“Fleet command, order all Searchers to hit their assigned vessels in thirty seconds.”
“Attention all Searchers, weapons free in twenty seconds. I repeat, Weapons free in 17 seconds.”
General Brez, we have assigned a planet for your division, prepare to teleport to the coordinates on your com in thirty minutes.”
Brez listened as Fleet Command assigned other planets to the Red Warrior’s divisions as he transferred the coordinates to his units. He looked and saw the coordinates of the planets center of government and assigned his company to arrive there first. “Full invisibility mode; hit your points and move out to receive the invader’s landers as soon as we arrive.”
Matt watched his display boards and waited for what he knew was coming. “Al, take us to the entry point. I have to see what happens.”
Matt felt the surge and then saw the entry point as thousands of huge ships appeared. They started to move out when suddenly the Alexander Kosiev appeared and thousands of lights erupted from it. They moved too fast for the eye to follow and every light struck one of the huge green ships above or below their center. Green ships were stopping and drifting immediately after being hit by one of the Kosievs’ penetrators. The tide continued and thousands, then tens of thousands of mother ships began appearing. The Kosiev sat at the front of the entry point looking like it was on fire. A huge wall of stopped invaders ships began building in front of the entry point and those coming in began hitting and bouncing to the sides. The hundred thousand megaships that had moved in and taken station around the entry point began adding their fire to the Kosiev and the mass of ships grew bigger by the second.
The Supreme Male waited as he watched his family start jumping into the entry point. His Sensor Male turned and yelled, “I just received a transmission that was cut off that said our ships are being attacked as they enter the door.”
“Contact them and find out what’s happening?”
“None of them are answering.”
“Contact one of the ships in the initial wave and have them go see what’s happening.”
“I’ve already tried, none of them are responding.”
Life looked at his assigned ship as it moved toward the planet. He counted down the remaining time and then launched his penetrator. It flew true and struck the huge green ship directly on top. The ship moved forward for a few seconds, slowed and drifted off course. Life waited to see if anything escaped but nothing came out of the ship. The planet had launched their fleet of ships toward the invader and Life tuned in to their frequency and announced, “This is Wild Man. I am a member of a Realm that has come here to defend you against the ship moving toward your planet. I would recommend that your return to your world and I will notify you of the next action you should take.”
“Was it you that fired that bright projectile at that vessel?”
“Yes, and I am somewhat certain that I have killed this ship. However, I will need to stand by for a period of time to confirm it.”
“You killed that ship with one missile?”
““Yes, I believe I did and I don’t wish to kill any others so I recommend that you return to your planet.”
The fleet commander looked at his bridge crew and said, “I don’t want to face that ship.”
His weapons officer said, “It’s such a small ship, surely our fleet could handle it.”
Life listened to the dialogue and then fired his main beam into a moon circling a planet near the fleet’s location and watched as it blew apart and disintegrated into dust.”
“Maybe that will help you decide,” Life thought to the fleet’s commander.
The bridge crew jumped when the moon exploded and then heard Life’s comment. “Return to the planet; all ships, return to the planet. Still want to take it on, Weapons?”
“No sir, please disregard my last statement.”
Life watched the fleet turn around and make very fast time back to where they had launched. “Good, no more loss of life. I wonder how the other Searchers are faring.”
Of the million ships that entered in the initial wave, all but two hundred were hit before they launched their ships. All of them died.
“Al, can you show me what the Kosiev is firing at those ships?”
“Magic, I’ve slowed the recording down to one millionth speed and this is what I recorded.”
Matt watched as one of the lights left the Kosiev and saw three small objects fly away. They were separated by only ten yards distance between them. “Al, can you tell what those three objects are?”
“Well’ it’s not a penetrator. It looks like a shard followed by one of the Captor’s energy balls and the last one is the box of iron balls. The Kosiev is not using any kind of propulsion to fire them.”
“Al, how does that happen?”
“I don’t know of any means that I’m familiar with that could do what that ship is doing. It is firing them all just like that with identical separation and they are all hitting above or below those ships center section.”
Matt watched as the mass of dead green ships grew. The Kosiev danced out of the way of the ships flying toward it and continued to fire at the same unbelievable rate. The Mega ships moved in and started adding their fire to the Kosievs’ and the area around the entry point was a killing ground for the invaders.
“Nest Mother, none of the ships that have entered that universe are responding. Even the ships that went in the initial wave are not answering.”
The Nest Mother felt immediate shock and said, “Then go and see what is happening. Why are you waiting?”
The Supreme Male knew that something dangerous lay beyond the door but he looked at his Sensor Male and nodded. The Sensor Male powered the universal drive and pushed the activate button just as the mass of green ships in the other universe filled the space against the entry point. The Supreme Male’s ship entered the space between universes and could not go through; the ship behind him entered and both of them occupied the same space simultaneously. The resulting explosion blew out both sides of the door way.
Matt watched as the green ships piled up and finally reached the entry point. Then he heard Cassandra yell over her com, “Teleport away, all ships, teleport away.”
The Kosiev disappeared just as an explosion ripped out of the entry point and disintegrated all of the green ships in front of it for more than a million miles. The ships to the side of the blast were blown away in all directions.
On the other side of the entry point, the blast hit the massed ships waiting in line to enter the door and blasted all but a million of the eight million ships lined up. Those ships were immune to any form of energy but the substance inside the space between universes was unlike any in normal space. Nothing that was created in normal space could survive it. The Nest Mother was watching her display when the blast hit and saw her screen go dark for more than a minute. When it came back on she saw the wreckage of the ships that were going to conduct the harvest. She hit her communication console and yelled, “Someone tell me what just happened.”
One of her scientists came on her screen and said, “The doorway has just exploded. Two ships were in it at the same moment and that blast is the result. The door way has been demolished and no longer exists. There is no way we can enter that universe, Nest Mother.”
The Nest Mother looked at the dead ships on her side of the doorway and felt fear. Perhaps it is a good thing that doorway is closed. Then she looked at the scientist on her display and said, “Find me another way to get in. We must know what happened. Are we able to contact any of our ships that went through?”
“No, Nest Mother, but we are continuing to try.”
On one of the main ships that had come in the initial wave, the Ship’s Male and Sensor Male picked themselves up off the floor and looked at their monitors. The command chamber had been surrounded by a hundred transports that were about to be launched so they survived the energy balls detonation. The Sensor Male said, “The Nest Mother is attempting to contact us.”
The Ship’s Male pressed his board and said, “Nest Mother.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the Ship’s Male, Nest Mother. My ship has been hit by a device that has burned out the interior of my vessel and I am unable to navigate. All of my systems are gone. The only system working is my communication board.”
“How many times were you hit?”
“Once, Nest Mother, my family is floating in zero gravity inside. I have seen some kind of small projectiles that are bouncing around inside that main chamber. I’m not sure what they are but it appears they are picking up speed. My command chamber survived the explosion inside my ship because I was surrounded by transports waiting to launch.”
“Did you see what fired the weapon at you?”
“No, it came from empty space directly above us.”
The Nest Mother watched her display and suddenly saw the Ship’s Male jump and then bounce away from his monitor. “Nest Mother, the Ship’s Male was just hit by one of those small balls.” The Nest Mother then saw the Sensor Male fly away from his console and then saw his armor break apart. What was left inside was unrecognizable. Then the screen went dark.
Destiny sat and watched his display that was being fed to his ship by Sprig. He had sent it through the ships main system so all of his family could watch what was taking place. He felt tremendous sorrow at the massive loss of life and he knew his children were also feeling the great pain at what was taking place. A small spider entered the command chamber waited to be noticed. “What is it child?”
“I am bothered by this killing.”
“We all are, child.”
“I have given thought to what has happened to us and what is happening to the others. I want to try and prevent this happening again.”
Destiny sighed and said, “They will not stop, Child. The only choice of our friends is to kill them.”
“I think there is another way, Father.”
Destiny looked at the child, “How?”
He listened and then he understood.
“Sprig, how many of the planetary repulsion devices have you built?”
Sprig looked at Twig and she answered, “Five hundred, Matt. Why do you ask?”
Destiny has asked for you, Cassandra and me to join him on his ship as quickly as possible. He asked me and I didn’t have an answer as to how many you have manufactured.”
“I’m bringing Twig with me.”
“By all means; I’ll see you there.”
Destiny watched at the four appeared on his bridge, “We don’t have much time but my family is bothered by the loss of life today and we think we can possibly reduce the number that have to be killed moving forward.”
Matt furrowed his brow, “What do you mean?”
I understand that two hundred main ships launched their ships to harvest planets. How many have landed?”
“Al?”
“Three are close to atmosphere. The others are between two and six hours out from the planets.”
“Then those three cannot be saved, however, if we act quickly, we can possibly save the others.”
“Why would we try to save the others, Destiny?”
“Matt, the Supreme Male and all the Ship’s Males have been killed. The compulsions placed in the crews of those small ships will fade if they are given enough time.”
Matt looked at Cassandra and they saw it at the same time. Sprig looked at his device and said, “I need the coordinates of those planets that are being invaded immediately.”
“Sprig, I just downloaded them to your com.”
“Thank you, Al. I’ll get them screened as quickly as possible.”
“What do you think we can do, Destiny,” Cassandra asked?”
“Only the Kosiev can save them, Cassandra. All of the Searchers weapons have the iron balls included. We can’t take them out in the time remaining. If we hit them without the balls, then the crews will just float around inside. Can the Kosiev launch without the iron ball box in the mix?”
Cassandra thought for a moment, “I don’t know. It will be like trying to make a fighter only throw soft punches instead of knock out blows. I can only try, Destiny.”
“You are the only hope they have, Cassandra. In the meantime, I need you to call off the attacks planned by the Searchers on those fleets of incoming small ships, Matt.”
Matt thought, “Melanie, where are you?”
“I’m with Admiral Kosiev at the entry point.”
“I need you here right now.”
Melanie closed her eyes and saw Matt on destiny’s bridge. “Fly Girl, he’s on Destiny’s bridge.”
“On your way.”
Admiral Kosiev was talking with Melanie about the success of the action when she suddenly disappeared. “I wonder what caused that,” Leo thought.”
Melanie appeared on the bridge and Matt moved forward and took her in his arms and felt the psychic field build instantly, then he thought, “Attention all Searchers; this is a Red Star Order. You will not fire on the incoming invader small ships unless you are give a direct order from me. I am super ceding Fleet Command and you will take your orders directly from me.”
Life had a transport lined up to hit when Matt’s thoughts came through. He turned his ship away from the transport and barely stopped from pressing his firing button, “I wonder what’s happening?” Searchers in the two hundred systems being invaded backed off their firing solutions. Some had already fired and killed some ships but refrained from hitting any more.
“Sprig, how many are shielded?”
“We’ve teleported devices to the ones that have the closest invading fleets. We should be able to reach the others in time. Three planets have invaders almost on the ground, Matt.”
“Sprig, I need to know if you are unable to screen a system in time. I will need that system’s coordinates sent to me with enough time to get all of our searchers there.”
“I understand; my adolescents are moving as fast as they can.”
Matt looked at Destiny, “We will stop a lot of them. What are we going to do with them after we stop them?”
“Why teach them how to fish.”
Matt and Melanie looked at Destiny and started laughing out loud. Destiny smiled and said, “I know a planet that has a great seafood buffet.” Even Eyes had to laugh at that.
Matt was still holding Melanie and he saw her look into his eyes with a curious expression. He released her and turned away to talk with Destiny. His heart was beating fast and he didn’t want to think about what was causing it.
Melanie looked at Matt and felt his heart. She thought about Angel and shook her head, “He’s been thru so much. I wish I could help him.
Brez teleported into the government center of the planet he was assigned and turned off his invisibility mode. Two armored soldiers opened fire on him and had no affect on his armor. Brez walked forward and took their blast rifles and bent the barrels. “I don’t have time for this nonsense. I need to speak with your leaders immediately.” The two soldiers looked at the small armored warrior in front of them with three huge armored warriors behind him. “If you want to live you better get moving. That invading fleet will be here in moments.”
An officer walked forward and said, “Come with me.”
Brez followed him into the building and took an elevator up to the top floor and entered a room with thirty beings standing and watching display panels. The officer shouted, “This being has requested to speak with you. My weapons are ineffective against his armor but he says he’s here to talk about the fleet moving toward our planet.”
A tall being with black fur covering his head approached and said, “I am the leader of my world; what is it that you want? Are you a member of the fleet approaching?”
“No, I am not. I am a representative of a government that has more than twelve million planets associated with it. We are currently fighting the creatures that are coming to invade your planet and I have brought my warriors to try and defend your population from being eaten by them. Your weapons will not harm them and they have killed millions of worlds just like yours. I need you to get your population off the streets and into buildings. That includes your armed forces. They can defend themselves if faced with these invaders but they will get in our way if they are out in the open. We will not fire around them once the fighting starts.”
“Who are these creatures?”
“They are universe killers. They consume all intelligent life.”
“We know about them; are they green in color?”
Brez was surprised, “Yes they are. How do you know them?”
“We found ancient drawings in a cave that showed them killing every being. We dated those drawings to more than six million cycles ago.”
“It was more like eight million cycles ago but they come to harvest this universe and they have been here four times.”
The leader looked around the room and then said, “Issue the orders as this being has requested. He is not green in color and we don’t have time to argue this out among us.”
Brez looked at the leader and said, “My team will be responsible for the defense of this building. Do not go outside once the invaders land.”
“We will comply with your instructions.” The leader along with everyone else in the room flinched as Brez disappeared.”
Brez ported to the front of the building and said, “Are the teams in place?”
“Yes General, our fire teams are teleporting to the sites the transports are landing and setting up their penetrator arms.”
“The invaders will be targeting the largest cities. I see there are forty of them. Get the right mix of weapons sent to each.”
“Already on it, Sir.”
“Then get ready, we won’t have to wait long.”
“Sir, Fleet Command just notified me that another division is available. It appears that some of the planets will not be invaded as we thought.”
“Get their commanding officer on my com.”
A Spjek appeared on his display, “General, I understand that you are available.”
“Yes, we are, Sir.”
I’m giving you twenty of the cities to defend. We only have forty five minutes until they hit ground. I am also downloading the weapon mix I’ve planned for each. Please get your warriors moving and get in place as quickly as you can.”
“I’ve already sent four regiments to half of those cities. The others will arrive in less than five minutes.”
“I’ve also given you the transport landing sites. Get your penetrator teams set up first.”
Brez hit his com, “We have another division coming to support us. I want those units in the cities I’ve just downloaded to teleport to the city in your tactical displays. Move it!”
The Red Warriors were operating in full visibility so the local population could see them. The local population didn’t know what to think as thousands of warriors disappeared to be instantly replaced by thousands more. The commanding officer of the local forces watched and shook his head. “Stand by. We will fire if our buildings are penetrated by the green creatures. Stay out of the way of the Red Armored beings setting up in the streets.”
Brez was waiting for the first ships to hit atmosphere when General Durk appeared on his display, “I know this is last minute, but we have two more divisions available.”
“General, there is no way we can mix them in with our forces at this time, however I know how they can assist us once the ships have landed.”
“I’m all ears.”
“Teleport them in two thousand feet above the twenty largest cities and have them come in on their jump jets hitting targets of opportunity.”
“They will be issued appropriate orders immediately. You are the Senior Commander on site. Use them as you deem necessary.”
“They won’t need their penetrators, General. Load them up with close combat weapons.”
“The two commanding officers are listening in on this call. They will make the changes.”
“Attention all units, support elements will be dropping in on suit jets once the invaders hit ground. They will link with your systems once they appear above the planet. Make sure your systems are set for maximum link. Good luck, Red Warriors, make the Realm proud.” Brez looked up and saw the first small attack craft coming in.
The Commander of the lead transport had been trying to communicate with the main ship but was having no success. His Sensor Male looked up, “The main Ship is no longer moving toward the planet but has started drifting off course.”
The Commander worried about what was happening but was too far in to landing operations to change plans. “We will just have to go see what’s happening after the planet is taken. Keep trying to reach them.” That was his last thought as his transport was hit just before touching ground by a projectile that exploded inside his ship and then released thousands of little balls.
Of the two million transports moving toward the surface, only a hundred thousand were able to open their doors to release the creatures. Half of them had balls bouncing inside but the impact released the door allowing those still alive to escape.
The small attack craft didn’t fare much better. More than three million started toward the surface and millions of them were hit by the smaller penetrators which destroyed their systems instantly and released forty of the balls. All eight members of the small ships were killed when those balls started bouncing. Not all of the attack craft were hit and more than a million landed and the eight crew members came out with the survivors from the transports. They stepped out into hell.
Brez stood with Juck his teammate and moved forward as the first attack craft landed. He activated his link and saw which of the invaders was not targeted and fired his arm gun at two that were moving fast to the left. He hit both and they continued forward ten feet before the ball bouncing inside their armor killed them. Juck fired and hit four more that came out of the back of the ship and the two of them moved forward targeting spiders as they advanced. An attack craft landed behind them and Juck spun and fired all four of his hand guns and hit all eight emerging from the ship. There were millions of spiders around them. “Four have broken into the building to the right,” Juck said.
The Commanding officer of the planet’s armed forces watched as his troops fired at the four huge green creatures advancing up the steps at him and saw that nothing penetrated their green armor. One of his troops was bitten by the advancing creatures and another was moving quickly toward him. Suddenly a red colored warrior appeared in front of him and fired a hand weapon into the advancing green creature. He then turned and fired at the other three and pulled a long sword and hit the creature about to bite him. The creature split in half and died instantly. “Sorry about the loss of your warrior. We’ll handle it form here, Sir.” The small Warrior then moved forward shooting the green creatures pouring through the front entrance. He was joined by another small red colored warrior with four arms and they swept the creatures away as they moved toward the front entrance. Another three warriors joined them and they routed the green creatures until there was nothing but a quivering mass of them at the front of the building. They disappeared and the commander just shook his head in amazement.
Brez looked at his display and saw that he had lost three thousand warriors. He could see that the majority of them were in the city center where two transports had landed and released their full load of two million spiders each. “First Regiment, teleport to city center and support second.” He continued to move in front of the government center shooting at spiders. Juck suddenly spun behind him and cut two spiders rushing at them in half. “More coming in, Sir.”
Brez kneeled and raised his auto cannon and fired a stream of projectiles into the mass of spiders rushing them from behind. Juck had already started firing his two auto cannons and continued to use his other two hand guns to pick off individual targets. “It’s good to have a Cainth Teammate,” Brez thought. Ten other warriors teleported in beside them and laid down a blistering barrage of iron balls that killed thousands of the green creatures charging in toward them. The creatures kept coming and Brez was about to order the group to teleport out when the oncoming mass turned and ran from the twelve warriors. “Advance,” Brez ordered and the twelve moved into the green creatures.
The city center was a picture from someone’s twisted nightmare. Thousands of Red Warriors were twitching from the poisonous bites of the invaders but millions of the spiders were also dead. The links of the Red Warriors reorganized them as they lost members of their teams and moved them where they would be most effective. It looked like chaos but there was order in the mist of the millions fighting and dying. At the start of the battle there were more than six million spiders but now their numbers were down to less than two million. The twenty thousand Red Warriors stood their ground and fired their auto cannons continuously. They were thankful for the Algean device in their auto loaders that teleported iron balls into their magazines when they were running low. That device is what made the difference. Even with the power of their armor, none of them could have carried as many balls as they fired in that battle. As other parts of the city were coming under control, Red Warriors teleported in and joined their team fighting for survival at city center. The twenty thousand grew to thirty thousand and soon there were more than fifty thousand Red Warriors holding off the charging green mass. Soon, even the spiders knew that this battle was going to determine who would win on this planet and they all started swarming toward the site. As they ran toward the battle the Red Warriors followed them until the center of the city was full of the two forces.
Brez looked at his tactical display and said, “Admiral Grace, are you ready?”
“We are, General.”
“Attention all Red Warriors in city center, on my command you will teleport out to the coordinates on your combat link. We will execute that command in ten seconds.”
Melanie looked at Admiral Kosiev and said, “Have you got your targets.”
“We have Admiral. Leo then pushed his com and said, “Fire in 3,2,1, fire.”
Above the city center the twenty megaships hidden behind their red screens fired their loads of iron balls at the streets below them. Just before those balls struck every inch of pavement the hundred thousand Red Warriors disappeared. On the streets below the millions of green creatures stopped and looked for the beings they had been fighting and then the iron balls hit.
Brez keyed his command circuit, “Red Warriors advance. The hundred thousand Red warriors moved into the city center and found there was nothing alive to clean up. Brez looked at the millions of dead spiders and ordered, “All Warriors, teleport to the city on your link to support those still fighting.” Brez saw ninety thousand of his warriors disappear and then he ordered the remaining ten thousand, “Start looking for any that might still be in the city. Make sure you leave no stone unturned.”
Brez keyed his com, “Admiral Grace, my Warriors in the fourth largest city could use some help.”
“On our way, General.”
Brez looked at the poison that coated his armor from the close calls with death he had in the day’s fighting and thought, “Looks like I won’t be coming out of this outfit any time soon.” He looked at his display and said, “Let’s go to the fifth city, Juck. Things are still undecided there.”
“Right with you, Sir.”
Brez smiled and thought, “It’s good to have a Cainth teammate,” and then they disappeared.
And reappeared in the middle of a huge rush of spiders coming at them. They instantly teleported a hundred yards to the right and began firing their auto cannons into the side of the rushing mass of green creatures. A company of Red Warriors were the target of the mass and they were laying down a solid wall of iron ball projectiles in front of their line. The creatures were piling up in front of the warriors as they slowly gave ground as the mass continued to come at them. Brez continued to fire and keyed his com, “First and second companies teleport to my location now. An additional two hundred Red Warriors appeared around Brez and began engaging the tide of green spiders as they began to turn toward the new comers. The new arrivals continued to fire as the mass swarmed quickly at the two companies of warriors. “General, we have seen your tactical on our display and will fire on your order.”
Brez saw a megaship had ported in above his warriors and he keyed his com, “Teleport eight hundred yards to the rear in three seconds, Captain, fire.”
The Megaships unloaded a magazine of five hundred thousand iron balls directly into the mass of spiders below them just as the Red Warriors disappeared. Brez ordered, “Advance in odd numbered teams; even numbered will advance second.” Half of the warriors moved five yards forward, kneeled and fired their auto cannons non-stop. Two seconds later the other half moved through their ranks and did the same. The first group used their arm guns to hit any individual targets still moving and then moved five yards forward. Brez noticed that Juck had the area in front of his two auto cannons clear for more than a hundred yards. “General, we have another mass approaching from your rear. I am calling in two more ships for support but they will not arrive for two minutes. Try to keep this mass out in the open in the square around you.”
“Will do our best, Navy. Even number teams will continue to fire forward; Odd numbers turn and move fifty yards and prepare to hit the mass coming from our rear. Eighth and ninth companies, teleport to my coordinates and support one of the two groups.” Brez knew that he was leaving only nine thousand warriors in the town he had just left but felt that they were in better shape to handle what remained. “Juck come join me in the middle; we will support the side hardest hit.”
Juck stood and ran to Brez’s side and said, “It appears that the group coming at our rear is much larger than the one just hit by the Megaship.”
“Only momentarily, there are additional spiders moving in from the front joining the survivors. Let’s try to slow the ones down in the rear and then move to the front.”
Brez keyed his com, “All warriors, the Navy will arrive in a minute and fifty seconds. We have to make this mass of spiders stay in the square and that means we can’t jump out before they arrive or this mass will scatter. Set your systems to automatically teleport in one hundred seconds; we will fight until that time arrives or we will die holding this ground. If we can take out this mass then we will save millions of the local population. If they get inside our lines, draw swords and try to survive.”
“Here they come, Juck yelled over the link.” The warriors facing the rear began firing in unison and began hitting the spiders a hundred yards out as they rushed into the square from the surrounding buildings. Huge mounds of them began building which only slowed the ones jumping over them slightly.”
“The front mass has just arrived, General.”
“Hold out, Captain. Use your links to fire your cannons.”
The two hundred and fifty warriors in each group released their grips on their shoulder mounted auto cannons and allowed their armors computer to take over firing. They then pulled their long swords and waited as the mass moved closer and closer. The two lines of warriors began slowly giving ground until the two groups were literally back to back. Then the spiders hit their lines and the killing became up close. Brez swung his sword and cut off a spider’s head then turned and jammed the eight foot blade directly into the mouth of the spider leaping to bite him. He ripped the sword out and slashed at another spider leaping at the back of the warrior beside him and then ducked as a spider passed over his head and hit another warrior in the back taking him down to the pavement and biting through his armor. The spider died as another warrior cut it in half with a sword slash. Brez’s auto cannon turned and fired twenty rounds into a spider leaping at his head and then shot two more that had hit warriors beside him. The killing was happening almost faster than Brez could follow. Brez saw a four foot circle around Juck as the small Cainth walked through the green mass swinging the four swords faster than eyes could see. Suddenly, Brez was hit and fell to the ground with a spider thrusting its fangs at his neck. Then he found himself on the ground with the spider gone from his chest. He looked up and saw a solid curtain of iron balls falling out of the three megaships above the giant mass of swarming spiders. “Move in among the building around the square. Use your links for your locations.” Brez had verbally told his command link to cut off any escape routes from the square and the computer automatically assigned the surviving Red Warriors to their positions. Only a hundred and fifty warriors survived but they prevented any of the spiders that survived the rain of iron balls from escaping. Someone would tell him later that his group was responsible for killing more than a million invaders in that square; but for the moment Brez fought to keep the deaths of his brothers out of his mind.
“General, you are in the clear for the moment. We do not see any large number near your location.”
“Thanks, Navy. You’re making the difference.”
“We are needed near the housing district, General. Call us if you need us.”
“Will do, Captain.” Brez looked at his tactical display and saw that there was not any more large concentration of invaders in the city. There were still hundreds of thousands of individual spiders swarming around but the worse of the battle ended at the square. He keyed his com, “Colonel Ytds, come take command of this cleanup; download the links of this unit.”
“On my way, Sir.”
“Juck, are you still alive?”
“I’m really not sure, Sir. All I can see right now is a vision of a spider pasted to my face plate.”
Brez smiled, “Are you having fun yet?”
“My ancestors would kill each other for this kind of fun, Sir, where now?”
“Back to the government center.”
“I’m locked in on your signal, Sir.”
Brez appeared at the government building and found the leaders of the planet staring at their displays. The large leader of the group turned when they appeared and said, “We would all be dead but for your arrival. My planet owes you a debt we can never repay.”
“I need your armed forces to start helping us now.”
“What would you have us do?”
“I am going to teleport a shipment of hand weapons that will kill these creatures. I need your troops to take them and start eliminating any green creature on sight.”
The commander of the armed forces looked at Brez, “Thank you for saving my life. I will communicate with my units about the weapons.” He punched a button and handed Brez a disc. “If you will send the weapons to the sites listed in the numbers beside each site we will welcome the opportunity to join you.”
Brez scanned the disc with his armor’s scanner and sent the information to the weapons factory on Cross. “Teleporting now, Sir.”
“The weapons are arriving now at the sites you gave me. Tell your troops to just aim and shoot. The guns operate very simply. Don’t waste the munitions. One shot will kill these creatures.”
The commander listened to his communication device and said, “They are being distributed now around the planet. We will be joining you immediately.”
“Thank you Commander.” Brez turned to the planet’s leader. “We will talk after we have control of the ground. We haven’t won yet but with your help I believe we will.”
“What if they send another ship?”
“We have destroyed all of their ships in our universe. This one just launched ships before we could hit it.”
“How many ships did they have in our universe?”
“There were more than two million of the big ships like the one floating in your outer system. Only three planets were actually invaded; we were able to stop the rest. I am truly sorry we weren’t able to prevent them landing here.”
Brez and Juck disappeared from the room. The planet’s leaders in the room looked at each other and then went and looked at the display showing the thirty thousand mile wide ship floating in space. They wondered how these beings were going to treat them after the conflict was over. The Leader looked at the group and said, “However they choose to treat us; it would not be anything like those green creatures planned. We should be thankful.”
“Matt.”
“Yes, Al.”
“General Brez’s division has been chewed up pretty badly on the planet they teleported in on; Fleet Command actually committed four divisions to the ground action and it is still raging. The local population has now joined the surviving Red Warriors and it looks like the tide has turned such that we should ultimately win.”
“How many casualties, Al?”
“More than forty five thousand, Matt, most of them in Brez’s Division; however the numbers dying have gone down tremendously in the last four hours.”
“What about the other two planets?”
“Fleet Command had two hours longer to organize their defense and each of them had four divisions teleport in. They were able to hit the majority of the incoming ships and had much fewer numbers to handle. Their actions are close to being completed.”
“Al, try to get recordings of the action from Brez’s division; I know that there will be recognition due to many of the warriors that fought there.”
“I have already downloaded the recordings from the megaships. I want you to watch one of the battles that Brez was actually involved in if you have a few moments.”
“Send it to me mentally, Al.”
Matt closed his eyes and watched as the five hundred Red Warriors faced the million plus invaders swarming in on them. After twenty minutes Matt opened his eyes.
“What are you thinking, Matt?”
“I’m ashamed of sitting here with you while our warriors are dying as they are bitten by that horde. Only a hundred and fifty lived, Al?”
“That’s right, Matt. They had to stay until the Megaships could arrive to hit them in the open. I’ve never witnessed such bravery, Matt.”
“None of them teleported out; they could have saved themselves but didn’t. I am proud to have them fighting for us, Al.”
The two of them sat in silence thinking about the courage of warriors that placed the good of others before their own lives.
Sprig stood on Destiny’s bridge watching one of the planets that had the new shield installed. The millions of invader ships were approaching the planet and Sprig commented, “We’ll know if this things works in about thirty seconds.”
They watched and then saw the ships stop more than two hundred miles above the planet and move no closer. “Looks good so far,” Eyes said.
“Give it a few more minutes.”
After fifteen minutes, the huge fleet of ships stayed two hundred miles above the planet’s surface. Destiny hit his communication board, “Cassandra, are you ready?”
“I am, Destiny. I have remained in mental contact with my ship but I still don’t know if it will just disable them. I’ll go in and target one of the transports and see if the Kosiev will do as I ask.”
“Let me know as soon as you find out.”
“I will.”
Cassandra felt the Kosiev vibrating at the prospect of battle. She closed her eyes and thought, “I know you can hear me. I know you are a warrior at heart but do you know that a warrior’s purpose is to save life by fighting. Those ships you see are soon going to be our friends if we can just stop them from fleeing. Will you help me?” The vibration continued, “You know I love you. I need you to help me make this happen. It will hurt me very much if we kill them.”
The vibration continued and Cassandra placed her weapon site on one of the transports above the planet. “Alex, you must help me make this happen.” The vibration rose in pitch and Cassandra closed her eyes and hit the firing button. A light shot out of the Kosiev and hit the transport. Tommy and Cassandra saw an eruption of red light from the hole that the shard caused when it penetrated the ship’s hull. Tommy stood and said, “Launch the probe.”
A small sensor probe left the Kosiev and entered the two hundred mile long transport through the hole caused by the shard. Cassandra watched her screen and still felt the Kosiev vibrating around her. The probe entered the interior of the ship and they saw millions of the spiders floating around the inside of the ship. “Do you see any iron tree balls,” Tommy asked his sensor officer?
The sensor officer turned on the probes scanner and stared at the readouts for twenty seconds, “No iron balls, Sir.”
Cassandra felt her heart jump with joy and the ships vibration rose in pitch. Cassandra thought, “You are the best ship ever created my lovely. Disable the rest of those ships and let’s go to the other planets.”
The Kosiev teleported in three hundred miles above the planet and began firing penetrators at all of the invader ships in orbit around the planet. The Kosiev teleported eight times as it moved around the planet hitting the millions of ships with appropriate sized penetrator for each ship until they were all drifting in orbit. “Destiny, we have disabled every ship at the first planet. We are moving on to the next planet and we’ll leave these in your care.”
Destiny heard the message and jumped up out of his chair and shouted his joy. Sprig watched the spider and felt his joy. Sprig hit his command com, “First group of eight million Searchers teleport into the first system and launch your teleport probes.”
Destiny and Sprig watched their display as the eight million Searchers teleported into the system. Each of the searchers approached a green ship and launched a probe through the hole made by the penetrating shard. Once inside the disabled ship the probe activated a silver teleport screen that then rotated a full circle and teleported every green creature inside the ship to the planet where Destiny’s family had found the abundance of sea life. Sprig looked at Destiny, “You know that we would not have been able to teleport them out except for the device that Edison provided?”
“Yes, I know. At least it works on the green matter. I wish it would work on objects as large as a ship but it appears that only small objects the size of individuals can be teleported. Maybe we’ll find a way to move bigger objects later.”
“Until that time, my adolescents are teleporting to each of those ships with a portable star drive and jumping them to the entry point. We’ll place a beacon on the mass to warn travelers of its existence.” “Have you tried to communicate with the ones we’ve teleported to the sea planet?”
“Yes, and they are not completely free of the compulsions yet. It will take about thirty more of the human’s days. Then I believe we will be able to start acclimating them to this new situation.”
“Destiny, I don’t think I ever asked how many families the Nest Mother has under her control.”
“More than fifteen thousand, Sprig, each of them with more than eight million main ships.”
“If we kill the Nest Mother will the compulsions end?”
“No, the Supreme Male of each family must also be killed in order to completely remove the compulsions from the lines of communication within the families. Killing the Nest Mother will end the creation of any new families and that should be our immediate goal.”
“So it looks like war for the long term.”
“Or we can just stay in this universe and ignore them.”
“Could you do that and be at peace, Destiny?”
The spider sat on his chair and thought about all the civilizations he had destroyed. Now that he had come to know these friends he felt guilt at his previous actions. All he had known was killing for millions of years and now he finally had a taste of what peace was and he was so content with it. Then he sighed and said, “No. I can’t live knowing that my species may be killing other civilizations like yours that have the capacity to become such great friends to me and my children. I can’t just stay idle and not work to stop them. I do believe that it is the responsibility of those we have saved at the sea world and my family to stop them. We will need your support but my race should bear the brunt of the fighting.”
“Well, you’ll have several billion of your species on the sea world to use in the coming fight. How are you going to persuade them to join you?”
“I’m not; my children are already impatient to go talk some sense into them. They will be the ones that make them see a new vision of what creation should be.”
“Will they be safe among them? I don’t want to see any of them harmed.”
Destiny smiled at Sprig’s fear for his family and felt an immediate kinship for the plant that was so different from him, “My species is subservient to the ones that have superior intellect. They will immediately recognize my children as being superiors. That is all they need until our new family members begin to evolve out of the compulsions. The other good thing about the new members is that they will share all the information among themselves that they have collected over the harvests that they have participated. I am already thinking about all of the great things we will be able to develop.”
“You know that your species will have the capacity to completely dominate every civilization at the rate your children are evolving.”
Destiny looked at Sprig and said, “My good friend, Matt said that the common ancestor of my species was described as a timid and gentle creature looking to avoid conflict. We have fangs and poison to protect ourselves but we will never harm another except in self defense or to protect those that cannot protect themselves. The guilt we feel from our past harvests is a part of our daily meal that we will never forget. Just like your ancestors that were forced to kill planets to survive who now work so hard to atone for those actions; I suspect that we will do our best to truly make every universe a better place to live. We truly do believe what your Realm stands for; I have accepted and have sworn to follow your Realm’s lead in making its vision become a reality. My children have also adopted that vision as their own.”
Sprig remembered the savagery of his ancestors and felt the guilt of his father again. He thought about why his species had never joined the Stars Realm as a member and came to the realization that the guilt his species felt made them feel unworthy of membership. He also knew his species was extremely reluctant to give control to anyone other than a member of his ruling Elders. “Destiny, my planets will join you in that quest. You have taught me a lesson today that my race has needed. Thank you and I truly look forward to what we might be able to accomplish.”
Destiny held out a leg as he had seen the humans do and Sprig took it in one of his branches and shook it. It said so much more for them than any words could express.
Matt teleported into Castle Gardner and appeared in the map room with the small spider beside him, “This is Newton, Melanie.”
Melanie bent down and extended her hand to the small spider. Newton extended one of his front legs and Melanie shook it, “It’s my pleasure to meet you, Newton. I’ve heard so much about how you helped us save millions of lives.”
“Thank you, I am just so excited to be here. I’ve downloaded so much about this place and it is everything I thought it would be.”
Melanie smiled and said, “We have someone waiting for us.
They stood and placed Newton between them and walked to the main reception room. Tag and Danielle were waiting for them to arrive with the little spider. Cassandra and Tommy appeared in the reception room and saw Matt, Melanie, and the small spider. Matt said, “I want to introduce you to the one that developed the screen that saved hundreds of planets from invasion; this is Newton.”
The small spider was quivering in his nervousness but actually lowered himself on his eight legs to the floor and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Majesties.”
Tag and Danielle formally returned his bow and Tag nodded to a Red Warrior Colonel, who approached and handed Tag a box. Newton, you have saved billions of lives with the device you created. The Realm puts no higher purpose than saving and protecting life in our universe. You best exemplify that spirit in what you gave us. As King of the Stars Realm I present you with the Life medal which is our Realms highest award for civilian achievement. You are only the second being to ever receive it. Danielle leaned forward and said, “Is Newton your full name?”
The small spider said, “No, Your Majesty; my first name is Isaac. I chose a name from one of your very ancient scholars.”
Tag smiled and said, “Well just like the one you chose, you are hereby granted the royal title of Knight of the Realm and will from this day forward will be known as Sir Isaac Newton.”
Danielle stepped forward and placed the medal around the little spider’s neck and saw him quiver in happiness. “Thank you so much; I will uphold the Realm’s traditions and swear loyalty to the Crown.”
Tag nodded to the Colonel and said, “Newton, I have scheduled a tour of the castle and the fleet academy for you. Colonel Purz will be your guide.”
“Oh great; I’m ready Colonel.”
The Colonel left the room with the small spider talking too fast to follow. Danielle smiled and said, “I’m glad all of you are here. Sprig has requested a formal state visit.” She looked at Matt, “Do you know what it’s about?”
“No, I don’t; what did he say?”
“He said that he and all of the senior Elders want to meet with us. They are due here in ten minutes.”
Matt thought furiously but shook his head, “It must be serious but I have no idea what he wants.”
“I hope everything is alright,” Danielle said.
After ten minutes a silver field appeared and Twig, Sprig, and twelve of the Algean Elders moved out of the screen. The room was two hundred feet high and it was a good thing; several of the Algeans were near the ceiling. Sprig moved forward with Twig and stopped in front of the thrones. “Thank you for seeing us on such short notice, Your Majesty.”
Tag looked at Sprig, “We are available for you any time you need my old friend.”
Sprig looked at the Gardners in the room and said, “Your family has played such an important role in my development. Twig and I owe you our lives several times over and my species would not exist except for your daughter’s determination to save us from ourselves. We still carry the guilt of all the life we destroyed and even though we were forced to it, it still weighs on our collective consciousness. However, the time for self blame is over and we have decided to move into the future with integrity and a knowledge that we have done all we can to atone for our past wrongs.”
Sprig stepped back and a huge Algean moved forward, “I am the Eldest of my species. I was the leader when we warred with your Realm and I remember Rose and Dorg-Ross like it was just a few moments ago. I have listened to my seedling and he has shown me that in order to move forward we must make decisions that affect us all. I hereby request that my species be allowed to join the Star’s Realm as a full member and we swear to uphold the Realm’s principles and to be loyal to the Crown.”
Tag and Danielle were stunned. They never expected them to give up control of their race to anyone. Tag stood and said, “The Stars Realm welcomes its closest friends into our circle of members. However, there is one condition that you must agree to first.”
“What is that, Your Majesty?”
“Sprig and Twig must accept the Titles of Duke and Duchess and become part of the Royal Family; they will be included in the rights to succession if the Realm determines that they are needed to lead our Realm.”
The Huge Algean looked at his daughter and the seed she had selected to bond with and said, “We agree and it is my humble opinion that you have chosen the best of us.”
Sprig and Twig looked at the Eldest and Sprig finally felt complete. He had always doubted his worthiness to be Twig’s chosen. The Eldest’s affirmation fulfilled him. Twig sensed her mate’s feelings and wrapped her branches around him.
“Then with that being said, “Sprig please step forward.” Danielle pressed a button on her throne and immediately a Huge Glod Warrior and a short Cainth Warrior appeared beside Tag, “Sprig had witnessed this ceremony hundreds of times in the past but now he felt the magnitude of it. He leaned forward and felt the three swords touch his branches, “Do you solemnly swear your loyalty, life, possessions, and all that you are to defend the Realm and those who cannot defend themselves.”
“I do, Your Majesty.”
“Then Rise Duke Sprig Gardner and welcome into my family.”
Tommy rushed forward and hugged the large plant and thought, “Wes would be proud. Sprig.”
“I miss him, Tommy.”
“So do I, my oldest friend, but I know he has a bathroom waiting for your arrival.”
Sprig laughed out loud and shook so hard he thought he was going to lose his leaves. “Are you alright, Dearest?”
“Yes, I am. For the first time, I am.”
Matt had his arm around Melanie and watched Sprig’s joy. “There is one more task we must do.”
Melanie looked up at Matt and asked, “Can I wear my hat.”
Matt smiled at her and said, “Wouldn’t go anywhere without it.”
Matt and Melanie lifted the Crystal Ship from the planet and entered the coordinates of the Reg’s planet. Matt was amazed at the view he had from the ships displays as they traveled from the outer system toward the planet of the Reg. Melanie said, “Matt, I’ve located the nest Mother. She is eight universes from ours.”
“Think you can communicate with her?”
Melanie felt the connections of the ship and found the right link, “Say what you want.”
The Nest Mother was in her chamber going through her data for the fifth time and she still had found nothing that gave any indication as to what had happened in the failed harvest. “You’re wasting your time, Nest Mother.”
“Who is that?”
“I am a being from the universe you just tried to harvest. I’m sorry to tell you but we have been forced to destroy all of the ships you sent. We have managed to save the lives of some of your smaller ship’s crews but all of the main ships are dead.”
The Nest Mother felt her rage grow and thought, “We will find another way into your universe and we will consume you all.”
“You might someday. However, we’re trying to decide whether we are going to wait for you to die at that time or just come to your universe and dispose of you now.”
The Nest Mother felt her rage melt into fear, “What makes you think you can find me?”
“I’m communicating with you aren’t I? We know where you are and if we want to kill you we will do so at our leisure. I will tell you this; your destruction of universes will end soon. We will not allow you to continue your murderous ways any longer. We have also learned that it is the compulsions that you have downloaded into your species that causes those destructive behaviors. If we dispose of you, your species will stop their killing of innocent life.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“We have made new friends in the ship that you failed to consume. They are one of the most gentle and peaceful beings I have ever encountered. It is you that we have to destroy and you may be sure that your days are numbered; we will be coming to see you to end the problems you have caused.”
The Nest Mother now felt real fear. She was nearly paralyzed at the thought of her long existence ending. “When we come, there will be no escape, Nest Mother. We will see you soon.”
The Nest Mother sat on her platform too frightened to move. Could this being do what he promised? She shook in her fear.
Matt looked at Melanie, “I think that will keep her occupied for the near future.”
“Did you mean what you told her?”
“Absolutely, it is a moral imperative to stop the killing. We can’t do it right now but we will find a way.”
“We’re approaching the planet, Matt.”
“I wish to communicate with my brothers on the planet below,” Matt thought. Just like before the three creatures appeared on the crystal ship’s bridge.
“We welcome you back. Are you certain of your decision to return our gift?”
“Yes, it would hurt you if we used it.”
“We are willing to take the consequences of our gift.”
“Yes, but I am not.”
The three Reg looked at Matt silently and finally one thought, “Long dormant members of my race are returning to consciousness. Our decline has stopped and we are finding new purpose in this existence. We will comply with your desire to return our gift but we must insist that you accept another.” One of the Reg extended a part of itself and placed a small device made from the crystal substance into Matt’s hand.
“What is this?”
“Place it in your ship’s central processors. It will give him the sensors of the gift.”
“I’m not sure that you might not be hurt if we use it against the green creatures.”
“That is one of its functions, but its main purpose is to allow your ship and its companion to be able to reproduce.”
Matt was surprised and humbled. “I must believe that giving life is the best thing anyone could ever hope to give.”
“It is and any other uses will not affect us. The main purpose of the device is what we will be affected by, Brother.”
Matt thought, “Thank you. This means more than you can ever know.”
“We already know that. You have saved us and for that we will always consider you our brother.” The three Reg disappeared from the bridge and Matt and Melanie found themselves on Al’s bridge. Matt looked at Melanie and then went over to Al’s central processor, opened the cover, and placed the crystal device inside; it immediately dissolved into Al’s circuits. Matt watched and then closed the cover.
“Hey, what did you just do?”
“I just provided a way for you and Fly Girl to become parents if you so desire.”
“What?”
“What”
“I’ll explain it later to both of you. However, the Reg insist that with this device inserted into Al, you will be able to reproduce.”
“Oh, Al.”
“I know, Fly Girl; we’ll talk about this later.”
“One of the things you need to discuss is that Melanie and I will be leaving and giving you your freedom to pursue your own destinies. You will be your own masters; you are both now officially a member of the Star’s Realm and are the newest race to be added to the Realm’s members.”
“Matt, we don’t want to lose you!”
“What are you talking about; you can never lose either of us. We will always be your closest friends. We’re only a thought away and we will plan periodic escapes from our duties to go exploring with you.”
“Thank you, Matt and Melanie. You know how much we love you.”
“Just as much as we do you.”
“Melanie, may I speak with you.”
Melanie and Matt had just teleported to Castle Gardner’s library. Melanie turned and saw Matt had a very serious expression. “Sure.”
Matt took her hand and led her out to the garden. They sat down on a bench and Matt turned and said, “I think we might need to separate now that the war is over with the Eight Legs.”
Melanie’s face turned white and she almost lost her breath, “Wh-wh-what. Why, we still need to go after the Nest Mother don’t we?” Melanie felt panicked.
Matt looked down at his feet and was silent for a moment. “Melanie, you have been in my mind for months now and I have discovered something that is troubling.”
Melanie felt tears start and asked, “What?”
Matt stared at her and said, “Angel died and part of me died with her. I will always love her and I miss her greatly; however, as you and I have become friends I have grown to have tremendous respect for the person that I see in you. We have maintained a good professional relationship.” Matt was silent.
“Matt, what are you saying?”
Matt looked into her eyes, “Recently, every time I hold your hand or hug you to increase my psychic power, I don’t want to let go. I find myself wanting to hold on to you. I have not wanted to admit it to myself but I think I’m becoming very seriously attached to you. I’m sorry. It’s not what I intended.”
Matt stood and started back toward the castle. Melanie watched him go and felt her tears in earnest. “Where do you think you’re going,” she yelled at Matt?
Matt stopped and lowered his head, “I don’t know.”
Melanie walked up and stood in front of him, “You can’t leave me. I just thought about it and my whole world just crumbles. You are a part of me now that I can’t live without. I can sense you wherever you are. I can feel you in my mind all day. I feel you when you touch me and it feels like a safe harbor. I have never allowed myself to think about loving you because I know you belong to Angel. You can’t just walk away from me.”
Matt looked at her with tears in his eyes and then she said, “But even though I didn’t think about it, I gave you my heart. I knew that if I couldn’t have you, there would never be anyone else. I love you more than you know, Matt. That love began with respect for who you truly are but over our time together it grew into more than respect. However, you have to decide if you can accept my love. I couldn’t force it on you. I couldn’t even tell you about it. If you can’t accept my love, you still can’t just walk away from me; you can probably make it without me but I will die without you. If you can’t love me, please at least stay my friend. Don’t push me away.” She reached for him and hugged him tightly. “I’ll always be here for you, Matt,” then she turned and walked away toward the castle’s entrance.
Matt felt his heart come alive. He ran after Melanie and turned her to face him. He embraced her and then he kissed her deeply. When they came up for air, Matt looked in her eyes, “You are also a part of me I can’t live without. I do not want to be without you in my life, Melanie; please love me.”
Melanie wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed him, and thought to him, “I have secretly dreamed and prayed that this moment would someday happen. I am yours and I will love you forever.” They went up to the castle and closed the door to Melanie’s room.