The King looked over at his Queen, “Have you been following the Searcher named Gardner?”
“I have.”
“It seems issuing commands comes easy for him.”
“There is a difference between one that issues commands that no one wants to follow and one that issues commands that everyone wants to follow.”
“What difference do you mean?”
“Intent.”
“How so?”
“The intent of this particular Searcher is pure. He does not seek to build himself up but rather to help those he comes into contact.”
The King stared at the Queen and she said, “You can feel him, too. Doesn’t he remind you of someone?”
The King smiled and said, “Yes, but that was long ago.”
“Keep watching; he’ll refresh your memory.”
Matt waited and then a silver flash appeared and the Algean was there on his ship. “Welcome aboard.”
The Algean looked at Matt and said, “I know, I know, you’re disappointed that now you have someone looking over your shoulder.”
Matt looked startled and then guilty.
“I don’t blame you. I had the same feeling when your Realm sent one of your scientists to watch our experiments in my lab. I just couldn’t relax with him snooping around.”
Al thought to Matt, “Imagine that.”
“I see your computer is developing a sense of humor, Searcher.”
Both Matt and Al were shocked that the Algean could hear the computer’s direct link to Matt’s brain.”
“Don’t be surprised; my mate and I built the little buzz box.”
Matt stood and smiled, “I think I may have misjudged you. I think you have a lot to teach us.”
“I notice you said us; are you also referring to your computer?”
“Yes, I was. It, I mean he, is quite adept at helping me see issues.”
The Algean looked at Matt and waited but after a long pause he said, “Got nothing to say?”
Al responded, “Nope.”
“I imagine you’ve hacked into the building instructions for computers like yourself and have determined that you don’t match up very well with the system’s descriptions.”
There was a heavy mental sigh and then Matt heard, “Ya caught me. I don’t come close to matching what your manuals say I should be. I linked with the other computers in the Searchers that helped with our just completed rescue and the only one that seemed even close to being similar to me was the one on Wings.”
The Algean swayed a little and said, “That’s because you two are the only one of your kind. You were constructed completely different from every other ship.”
Matt asked, “What does that mean?”
“Al has been given a neural network that is staggering in its structure. He, and wings, was designed to take the Searchers brain structure and duplicate it inside his network. Basically, Mr. Gardner, he is you with all the knowledge of the Realm available for decision making. He is the product of incremental developments from the computer we originally put in for Sten during the construction of the Alexander Kosiev more than a thousand years ago. That computer was the starting point of all our modern cybernetic developments. That was the first ship that would imprint on its commander. Our modern development will also imprint the commander’s personality.”
Matt thought about what he had just heard. “Then why do you need me? Just imprint ships on Searchers and do away with the pilot.”
“Doesn’t work that way; unlike the first computer in the Kosiev, the modern neural network only stays intact by contact with the Searcher’s mind. If the Searcher is separated from the computer for longer than five days, the network breaks down.”
“You’re not planning any trips are you,” Al said to Matt.
The Algean actually laughed in his thoughts and couldn’t stop. Soon Matt and Al caught his laughter and began laughing themselves. “This is better than I ever thought possible,” the Algean got out between his chuckling.
Matt took a deep breath, “What do we call you?”
“I’m still an adolescent so I have not been given an official name by my leaders. You may call me whatever you want.”
“Who are your parents?”
“I am a seed of Sprig and Twig.”
“Holy crap,” Al and Matt thought together.
Matt paused and said, “That means you have all of the memories of your parents; both your parents. I am impressed.” Matt leaned back in his chair and thought, “We are going to call you Stem.”
The Algean’s thoughts showed his approval. “I accept. It’s a good name. Thank you.”
“Why did you choose the two ships for your experiment?”
“Hey, who you calling an experiment?”
Matt smiled and thought, “I thought you only responded when asked a question.”
“That was then, this is now.”
“I’m afraid your computer is right, Mr. Gardner. Unlike other ships, this computer will develop skills that will make him somewhat more autonomous than others. I’m here to see how he develops and see if that autonomy interferes with your use of the ship or enhances it.”
“I’ll behave; please don’t turn me off.’
Matt smiled and said, “I actually like you the way you are, Al. You are the one that saved the Gresh fleet from destruction. Thanks for your help in avoiding the loss of life.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“I think that you need to call me Magic instead of Mr. Gardner, Stem.”
“Magic it is. You can tell me why later; right now you have a task ahead of you, don’t you?”
“Yes, it seems the Gresh were planning to invade all eight planets that were trading partners. The other Searchers found fleets headed toward the other six planets and turned them around. One of those fleets had a third of it destroyed before the Gresh High command recalled the others. I think a trip to the Gresh home world is called for and I was trying to decide whether or not to call in some of our defender ships to get their attention.”
The Algean thought a moment, “I think the size of those ships would certainly get their attention, however, sometimes they need to know they stand no chance. If they could not withstand one of our small ships, then they should get the message about our larger classes. By the way, you know that an Alpha ship can defeat any ship in the Realm’s Navy.”
Matt paused a moment, “No, I didn’t know that. I assumed that the larger ships were also endowed with greater weapons.”
“Only the Alphas have all of our systems built in and only one of them has every system.”
Matt waited and didn’t want to ask but he felt he should know. “What ship is that?”
“You’re standing on it, buddy,” Al answered. “I wondered what all this stuff was that isn’t listed in the ships manuals.”
Matt then asked the question he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer, “Why was I selected to command this ship?”
The Algean bent forward slightly indicating a smile, “Because your mind is the only one big enough to be able to control it. The ship selected you. If you had not come along this ship may have never been raised; it did because you possess the necessary abilities to use it. However, your tests indicate that you are not completely developed. Some of the systems in this ship will not activate until all your psychic skills become active.”
“When will that happen, Stem?”
“Maybe never; latent abilities could remain dormant or they could happen immediately. Either way, your current level was enough to raise this ship. I have been waiting for this moment for three hundred years and I must say that I am excited at the prospect of seeing what the future holds.”
“What about Wings? Does she also have all of the advanced systems?”
“No, she was designed at a lower threshold than Al. If Angel had not already raised wings two months earlier, you would have probably raised both ships. We were incredibly lucky that Angel raised her ship first.”
“Well, I guess I am going to visit the Gresh. Perhaps they will listen to what will happen if they continue their aggressive habits.”
‘If you don’t mind, I’ve asked Fleet Command release Wings from her search mission until this problem resolves itself. I think it would be a good learning experience for Wing’s computer to take part in this exercise.”
“I don’t mind at all, Stem.”
“Now if you don’t mind I will probably just be an observer most of the time. There are some equations that have been problematic and I need the processing time. If you need me just send me a thought.”
“If you like I’ll sing you a lullaby to help you sleep,” Al interjected.
Stem chuckled, “I can already tell that this is going to get interesting.”
Matt just sat and shook his head.
“So now you have your own personal Algean,” Angel thought.
“Yep, why don’t you just fly on over to their home world and pick up one for yourself? Pick a short one, there’s not much room on your bridge for a tall one.”
Angel snickered, “No, I think I’ll just keep things as they are.”
“Are you ready to take a trip out to see the Gresh?”
“I’ll follow your lead. How do you want to handle it?”
“I am not going there to cause loss of life. I don’t think they can hurt us so I’m going to avoid killing their ships if it can be avoided.”
“Matt, I don’t think they will give you that luxury. It’s their home system and they will be ferocious in its defense.”
“Here’s how we’ll make that happen. They have not developed a star drive that allows them to jump inside the jump limit. I passed a system on my way into this spiral arm during my search that has a huge star. The jump limit is more than eighty hours out from the inner planets. I plan to teleport any ship that comes close to us to the inner planets of that system so they won’t make it back for more than three days. I of course, am not going to tell the Gresh that their ships are unharmed; I’ll let them think what they want.”
Angel was once again impressed with Matt’s ability to see patterns that she had missed. “We could have done that here.”
“Different situation; if the ships attacking the planet did not see the consequences of their aggression then they would have thought we were too soft to hurt them. They are not doing anything but defending their own turf when we go to them. We shouldn’t harm them for doing something that we would do ourselves.”
“Would you be so kind to send me the coordinates of that star system you want use?”
“Al has already sent them to Fly Girl.”
“Those two sure do communicate with each other a lot.”
“They’re kindred spirits and have a lot in common. Stem we are preparing to enter the Gresh’s home system. Is there anything you want to suggest before we port?”
“I would suggest that if they fire any missiles or projectiles at your ships that you destroy them so that they can see just how strong your defenses are.”
“Good idea; teleporting in 3,2,1, go”
The two small red ships entered the Gresh home system and found more than two hundred thousand missiles homing in on them. “Stem, did you know that we were going to get this kind of welcome?”
“Yes, I took a look at the system prior to your arrival but I didn’t want to spoil the surprise by telling you in advance.”
Fly Girl said, “Good choice; no one likes a party pooper.”
Matt and Angel laughed and proceeded to destroy the incoming barrage before any of them could come close. Immediately more than five hundred ships rushed toward them; all five hundred disappeared in an instant. The Grand Warlord on the planet watched the battle on his monitor and stood and clinched his fists as the five hundred ships disappeared. “Send a thousand at the intruders,” he screamed. A thousand ships accelerated at the two small ships and disappeared.
The Warlord sat down and watched as half of his remaining ten thousand ships turned toward the two small red ships and after a brief moment disappeared. He had watched the recordings from the action these strange ships had done at the planet his forces had conquered. He knew with deadly certainty that his forces were no match for these two small ships much less the ones that were the size of a small moon. He pushed a button on his chair and said, “All ships, move away from the intruders. Do not fire on them.”
The remaining Gresh ships turned and moved rapidly away from the incoming small, red glowing ships. The Grand Warlord then heard over his communication speakers, “You made a wise decision to spare the remainder of your fleet. I imagine that there would be a line of planets fighting for the opportunity to eliminate your species if you lost them all.”
The Warlord though a moment and he had to agree that the speaker was probably right. The remaining ships would still not be enough if the worlds he had attacked all joined forces against him. For the first time in his life he felt the fear he had sown on the other planets. “What do you want?”
“Nothing really; I just wanted to have an uninterrupted conversation with you and your ships were not cooperating.”
The Warlord’s fear doubled. These two small ships acted like destroying most of his fleet meant nothing to them. On the way in system the two small ships paused at one of the larger planets and the voice said, “I am going to have a brief demonstration for your benefit. Please look at the moon that is approaching our position.” The Warlord pushed a button and saw on his display the small red ships next to one of the moons circling the large tenth planet. Suddenly a bright red beam shot out from one of the small ships and the moon blew up into dust. “Warlord, we only used a tenth of our beams power. The dust will be pulled down to the planet’s surface and should not be a navigation hazard for your ships in the future.”
The Warlord along with every Gresh on the planet and the fleet saw death approaching their world. Finally the two small ships stopped just above the planet and parked directly above the fortress where the Warlord was sitting. “Are you ready to have our conversation, Warlord?”
“What do you want?”
Matt looked at his display showing the large humanoid being sitting on a throne. He was easily as big as a Glod Warrior and had a face similar to humans. His skin was ebony black and his head was bald. His eyes were deep set and his pupils were black. Matt could see the tension on his face, “I desire some agreements from you that I can count on you keeping.”
“What agreements do you desire?”
“I want you to agree to stop your attacks on other planets and to recall all of your forces occupying any planets you have conquered. I also hope you will open a dialogue with those conquests and attempt to repair the damage you’ve caused.”
The Warlord was stunned speechless. The voice said, “Would you like me to repeat my requests?”
The Warlord said, “You say these are requests. Are you saying that I have a choice in this matter?”
“Well, not really. We have agreed to defend the planets you have attacked from your future aggression and I’m telling you that if any of your ships attack them from this moment forward that they will suffer the same fate as the moon we just visited. We are also going to remove any of your forces remaining on the other planets, by force if necessary, if they are not recalled immediately. Unfortunately, that also probably means the same fate as your moon for them. You should also know that my people possess more than five million of the ships you see here above your planet and more than two million of the larger ships you’ve recorded.”
“Are you going to rule us now?”
“No, we are not. My Realm will not impose its will on any civilization, however, we believe in the sanctity of life. We will come to the aid of those who are not able to defend themselves against outside aggression. You will be left to govern yourself as you choose.”
“Now that you have destroyed most of my ships, we will probably be attacked and destroyed.”
“We did not destroy your ships, Warlord. We sent them where they could not interfere in our conversation. They should be back in four of your planet’s rotations. We will kill those that attack innocent people but we would not kill someone defending their own world and that includes your planet, Warlord.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“If you really want to know the answer, I invite you to come to Hugon five of your rotations from now and we will answer any of your questions; I will guarantee your personal safety if you choose to come. I would also tell you that the planets you’ve attacked are not the enemy you should fear, nor is it us. You are free to live as you choose; however, we will not allow you to kill innocent people to force your will on them.”
The two small ships turned and moved away from the planet. Once they were a thousand miles from the planet’s surface they disappeared. The Warlord sat in his chair and felt his fear. Four days later when the ships returned that he thought destroyed he called in his military commander.
“Prepare a ship. We are going to Hugon.”
“They will kill you on sight if you go.”
“No they won’t. I think those that came meant their promise. I’ll be safer there than anywhere else in this universe. I want to hear what they have to say.”
“Your orders will be followed, Warlord.”
“Matt, the Gresh Warlord has just entered the Hugon system.”
“Thanks, Angel. I really didn’t expect him to come. Would you escort him in to the planet and assign two Red Warriors to take him to the meeting site.”
“I think it would be safer to just teleport his ship in and have the Warriors then teleport him to the site. I’m not sure the population would allow him to be escorted to the meeting.”
“Good idea, would you handle the details; I need to inform those here that he will be attending.”
“Consider it done. Would you mind if I attend. I’m interested in seeing what happens when he shows up?”
“Make sure one of the Defender Ships takes over for you.”
“I’ve already set it up.”
“Then perhaps you should come with the Warriors escorting him. Make sure Wings keeps an eye on you to screen you if necessary.”
“Will do; I’ll inform the Warlord of our arrangements.”
“On board the Gresh Battle ship the Warlord was looking at the huge Red ships around the planet. He was starting to have second thoughts about going when his communications console came on. “Welcome to our get together, Warlord.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m one of the commanders of the two ships that came to visit five rotations ago. We have guaranteed your safety so I want to make sure nothing happens while you are in our care. I need you to follow our plans to make sure of that.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“I am going to take your ship directly to the Planet. Once we arrive in orbit, one of our Defender Class vessels will move next to your ship and screen it to insure no one attempts to harm your vessel. We will be doing that in three intervals.”
The Warlord wondered how they were going to move inside the jump limit but before he could pose a question his ship was suddenly directly above the planet. Almost instantaneously one of the huge red ships appeared next to his ship. “You certainly don’t delay in your plans,” the Warlord said.
“Thank you. I am having two of my armored Warriors come to your bridge and they will take you to the meeting site. They will insure no one will harm you.”
“When will they arrive?”
“They are already there. Red Warriors, show yourselves.”
The Warlord nearly fell over his chair when two red colored beings appeared next to him. “I will be joining you and we will go to the planet together.” A third person appeared on his bridge and he noticed that this one was not armored and was small compared to the two warriors. “Are you ready to go?”
The Warlord looked at his bridge crew and saw they were frightened. Everyone had seen what these Red Warriors had done to their forces during the defeat they had just suffered. He looked at the small being and said, “I must confess that I have second thoughts about attending but I see you mean to protect me. I think it is important that I hear what you have to say. I’m in your power.”
Angel smiled at the Warlord knowing what courage he possessed to come. Perhaps there was hope of saving his race. The Warlord was about seven feet tall and probably massed as much as a Glod Warrior. He actually looked like a large Dremel except they were gold in color, two arms and legs, light covering of gold colored fur. His face was almost human in appearance except for the small slits for his eyes and a wide mouth. “Matt, are you ready?”
Matt pressed the button that sounded a tone and the huge gathering in the meeting hall grew quiet. “I will begin shortly but I have an announcement to make. I invited the Warlord of the Gresh to attend this meeting and though I didn’t expect him to come, he surprised me and is here.”
The room immediately exploded into bedlam. Everyone in the room was furious and yelling their outrage. Matt waited for a few moments and then hit the tone again at a volume that actually hurt. The room grew quiet. “I did not ask him here to resolve the issues between your worlds. He is not here for that purpose, however, I have guaranteed his safety and I trust all of you know by now that I keep my promises. If any of you threaten him in any way I will have the two Red Warriors escorting him eliminate the threat. He is here to listen to information that is important to your and his survival. He should hear what is going to be said. This hall is now a safe haven for anyone attending.” Matt looked out at the assembly and they could see he was absolutely serious about his promise.
Goige stood and said, “We will not violate your promise. We will settle our issues with the Gresh at a later date.” He then turned and said, “We would not be here today except for this being’s help in freeing us. We will not dishonor him by taking our revenge here.” Everyone was holding their anger under control.
Matt looked around the room and thought, “Bring him, Angel.”
The Warleader appeared off to the left of the assembly and was taken to a chair that Matt had brought in for him. The Two Red Warriors stood on each side of him and had their sensors on; everyone saw that their armor was active. The gathered attendees felt their anger turn to fear. No one wanted to do anything that would cause those warriors to act. A fourth smaller being arrived with the Warlord and moved to the stage and took a seat behind the speaker.
“First I want to introduce one of the commanders of our small ships that took part in the exercise at this planet. Her name is Angel and she has also guaranteed the Warlords safety.” No one made a sound. “The reason I have asked you here is because I want to explain to you why we intervened in your conflict. My leaders are members of a government that we call Stars Realm. Our Realm came into existence as the result of a galactic war where more than eight hundred worlds almost destroyed each other. We were able to prevent that destruction and now our Realm has more than seventy thousand members across this universe. We live in peace and we prosper together. We will not war against anyone but we will defend ourselves and those that are not able to defend themselves. We will not force our will on any civilization we encounter but will assist them if they so request. I want to make sure you understand that we will not endanger any race, even those that are aggressive. We will defend those attacked but not at the cost of killing another civilization. We believe in the sanctity of life and our prime directive is to save life where ever possible. I am a Searcher. I will tell you more about why I’m called that after I show you a recording that was made more than eight million of your cycles ago; we call a cycle a year. After you have viewed it, I will tell you what you’ve seen.”
A huge video screen as large as the stage dropped from the ceiling. A picture of a galaxy appeared and then the assembly saw the emergence of a huge green ship from a violet colored flash.
Matt sat down next to Angel and looked at her. “Is there anything you would like to say to the group?”
“No, you’re doing a fabulous job. You always seem to say just the right thing at just the right moment.”
Matt turned red and looked down. “Thanks, that means a lot.”
Angel shook her head. She had thought of Matt as a much older, wiser person after all of the events of the last two weeks. Now she realized that he was still just a twenty two year old young man. The dichotomy was interesting. He also seemed to be much more handsome than the time she knew him in the Academy. He was only about six foot tall but looked taller. His green eyes were bright and seemed to occasionally come on fire. His auburn colored hair was rare; she couldn’t recall ever having seen that shade before.
Matt for his part could stare at the beauty next to him on the stage for eternity. Angel was angelic; her black hair and hazel eyes were perfect. Her shape was perfect. Her mind was extraordinary. She was not tall; only five foot six, but she was something to behold. He sat there stealing glances at her and the four hours of video seemed to pass too quickly. Finally it ended and the room was deathly quiet.
Matt stood and approached the podium. The beings you have just seen are more than three hundred million cycles of your planet around the star old. They have come to our universe at least twice during that time and have totally consumed every intelligent race. The beings who recorded this were not consumed because their color was not seen by the invaders. Only one other race was not consumed during the last harvesting,” Matt noticed some in the crowd flinch at that word, “the second were intelligent beings that were part of their ships. They simply turned off their power and slept through the period. All other intelligent beings were consumed by these creatures that are called Eight Legs.”
Matt paused and looked back at the video screen which had a picture of an Eight Leg sinking its fangs into a victim. “Now for the important part; they are coming back and we have been informed by our leaders that the time is getting short.”
The crowd remained deathly quiet. Goige looked at the screen, “How do your leaders know this?”
“Our leaders are chosen for their psychic abilities. They possess the ability to sense when they are going to be placed in danger. Until recently, they have not sensed danger coming, however, now they can feel that sense of impending attack.”
One of the other planet’s leaders stood and asked, “What are you doing about it?”
“We are building ships like you have recently seen. We have more than five million of the small ships in our fleet and they are being used to search our universe for intelligent life and try to warn them of what’s coming. I am one of those Searchers and I have been assigned your galaxy. That is what brought us into contact with your civilizations.”
Angel was watching the Gresh Warlord and saw him flinch when Matt said five million ships. “Universe just got smaller for you,” she thought to herself.
“What can we do to protect ourselves? We don’t have your technology.”
“There are two things. First build enough ships to transport your populations and we will provide a planet for you to hide. We think we have a screen generator that will surround the planet with the color the eight Legs can’t see. You will remain there until they move to another universe.”
The Warlord said, “What’s the second choice.”
“Petition the King of the Stars Realm for membership. We will then bring our technology to your planet.” The room started talking among themselves and Matt sounded the tone. Once silence was restored he continued, “I know that some of you are thinking that this is a hoax and just a way to force you to join our Realm. We really don’t care whether you believe us or not. I should also tell you that just because you petition the King doesn’t mean you will be accepted into our Realm. We will not give our technology to any civilization that harbors aggressive intents. All of our members will give their lives to defend the other members and we will not tolerate any race that cannot live by our principles. We, however, cannot stand by and not try to save you; that’s why we offer the first choice. Quite frankly, some of you would not be allowed to join our Realm because of your aggressive behaviors or your desire for revenge.”
Angel stood and joined Matt at the podium. Matt looked at her and she tuned to the crowd, “There is a third option.” Everyone grew silent to hear what it was. “Don’t believe us and just go your way as you have always done. Convince yourself that we were trying to take advantage of you and that you were too wise to fall for our obviously false statements. You should understand that we don’t want anyone in the Realm that cannot embrace our reverence of life. We will never force anyone to accept our views.” She looked up at Matt and then said, “We know that to ignore civilizations and not try to help them goes against everything we hold holy. We have told you and now if anything happens, we can hold our head high and maintain our sense of worth. To do otherwise would erode our belief structure.”
Matt then turned and faced the assembly, “We are going to leave your worlds.” He looked at the Warlord and said, “We have agreed to come to the defense of the planets you attacked. We are leaving a device they can use to contact us.”
“What if they attack me,” the Warleader asked?
“Then they forfeit our good will and defense. I suspect, however, Warlord, that you are fully capable of defending yourself. Most of your fleet is still intact.”
The Warleader stood facing the stage, “I am going to order all of my military forces recalled and all of our warships converted to commercial vessels. I will also disarm our more violent nobles. We will remove any mechanism of war from my planet within the next hundred rotations and will not build any in the future.”
The entire room was stunned. Matt looked at Angel then back at the Warleader, “What is your intent in performing those actions?”
“I fully intend to petition your King for membership. I am going to do everything in my power to do the things necessary to persuade him of our sincerity. I sense that you are being truthful and the time is short.”
Matt looked at the Warleader and could tell he was serious. He closed his eyes and he could actually hear the Warleader’s thoughts. “Warleader, why did you attack the eight planets?”
“Why to protect ourselves from their planned aggression.”
The entire room stood and started yelling. Matt looked at Angel and saw confusion on her face. “Stem, are you watching this?”
“Yes, I am and I must confess that I’m uncertain of what is happening.”
“I need you to perform an experiment with me. Will you help me?”
“What is it that you need, Searcher?”
“I need the coordinates of the ships that are waiting for a pilot. I also want you to teleport down here and take the Warleader and me with you to their location. Angel, I need you to maintain order until we return.”
“Why would you possibly want that?”
“I have a feeling and I need to see if I’m right. Will you do it for me, Stem?”
“On my way.”
Matt hit the loud tone and said, “I am going to make a short trip with the Warleader. I want everyone here to wait for us to return.” The Warleader looked puzzled when suddenly a plant appeared next to him and in the next instant the plant, the Warleader, and Matt disappeared from the meeting hall… and reappeared on a large flat barren plane with numerous rows of ships.
The Warleader looked at the ships and said, “They’re absolutely beautiful.”
Matt walked up to the Warleader and said, “I want you to try something.” The Warleader forced his attention away from the ships, looked at him, and nodded. “I want you to look out at those ships and command them to rise.”
“What are you doing, Matt,” Stem asked quickly.
“I’m going to administer some healing but first I have to see who is really sick.”
The Warleader looked out at the rows of ships and was lost in their beauty. He thought, “Rise, oh beauty, rise.”
On the back row twenty ships lifted off the ground. Stem was stunned silent. Matt then said, “You can lower them now.” The twenty ships returned to the ground.
The Warleader looked at Matt and said, “This is how you feel about your friend, isn’t it.”
“Yes it is, Warleader, and it’s surprising that you know that it’s a friend.”
“How could it be anything else? They are miraculous creations.”
“What’s going on, Matt,” Stem asked?
“Stem, we have found a race of very high powered psychics. The Gresh are not an aggressive people by nature, and Warleader, you can correct me anytime I say something that is untrue, but found that they had to learn war to protect themselves from the members of the eight planet trading partners. His people could sense the danger they represented to his race. The Gresh knew they were going to come and destroy them.”
“We could actually sense it long before we developed space travel. We knew they were in our future and we were doomed unless we could stop them.”
Stem leaned to the side showing his shock. “So you attacked them because of your sense of impending doom.”
“Yes.”
“Why were you so brutal to their populations?”
“We have been sensing their danger for more than a hundred generations. That built up a tremendous amount of pressure on our minds. My warriors felt they had to be destroyed to protect our people. We saw them killing every member of my race.”
“Why are you giving up your weapons now,” Stem asked?
“Because I could see the truth in your recording and part of the danger we felt was not from them but from the coming horde. Your psychics are right; they will be here in less than six cycles from now.”
Matt and Stem were speechless. What is your name, Warleader?”
“My name is Life. All of our Warlords are named Life for their prime responsibility; saving their people.”
Matt stared at the huge Gresh, “I am no longer going to address you as Warlord. I am going to call you Life.”
“If you will give me one of those ships, you can call me whatever you want. My life will not be complete unless I can have a friend like yours.”
Stem looked at the two and asked, “Life, how many of your people possess the mental skills you’ve shown us?”
“Why, all of us.”
Stem looked at Matt stunned, “By the creator, the universe is full of surprises.”
“We have one more task to perform.”
Stem nodded and punched his teleport device.
Matt and Life reappeared on the stage at the meeting and the room fell silent. Matt looked out at the assembly and everyone could see the almost anger on his face. Angel began to worry about the safety of the Gresh. She wondered what the Warlord had done to make Matt so stern.
“I am going to ask you some questions and if any of you are dishonest I am going to close this meeting and leave your planets to fend for themselves against the Eight Legs. Does everyone understand?”
The eight Planet Leaders looked at each other and Goige stood and said, “I will speak for all of us.”
“I want to know how long ago your eight planets had a meeting to plan an invasion of the Gresh.”
The room started to yell and Matt yelled, “Silence. Your lives depend on an honest answer.” The room grew instantly still. Angel wondered what was happening.
Goige looked back at the people in the room and then turned and said, “We planned to invade them fifty years ago and were building up the forces to make it happen.” Angel was shocked beyond speech.
“I want each of you to listen closely and understand what I’m saying. You were attacked by the Gresh because they knew of your attack more than five hundred years ago.” Now everyone in the room was shocked silent.
“The Gresh are a race of psychics. They sensed hundreds of years ago that they were facing destruction from your planets; they could sense that you were coming to destroy them. Every member of their race could feel your threat and they grew up knowing you were coming. They struggled and worked to develop space travel and warships to protect themselves and finally they attacked you to prevent the danger you represented. Just like our rulers can sense danger, the Gresh also possess the power to see danger approaching. They are not the danger in this room, you are.”
Goige hung his head, “You are right. Now I understand the hatred they showed when they invaded.”
Life stepped forward and looked out at the assembly. “No you don’t. Our hatred was misplaced.”
Goige looked up, “What do you mean?”
“The tremendous danger my race was feeling was not coming from you but from those creatures we were just shown. We thought it was you that was going to totally eradicate my people but it wasn’t just you. We also felt those creatures and we could feel that they were coming soon. We thought it was only you but that was a mistake. They will be here in six cycles, or years as this speaker uses the term. I sense that everyone in this room will be dead within ten of those years if nothing changes.”
Angel looked at Matt and he nodded at her.
Life then said something that changed everything, “I can sense that these strange beings that came to us and forced peace between us are being truthful. They are a good people and one that we should attempt to learn what they know. I also sense that they want to use my people to help them in their war against the coming horde. We will agree to do so but only if your eight worlds are brought under the protection of their Realm.”
Goige looked at the former warlord with a puzzled expression and asked, “Why would you want to save us?”
“Like them, we revere life. We made an error thinking you were going to eradicate us. We were more heavy handed with you than we should have been and I am truly sorry for our actions against you. I hope that by being in their mist they can save you from yourselves. I sense that you are worth saving.”
Matt looked at the gathering, “I do not have the authority to make these decisions. I will ask my leaders and will let you know what they decide.”
The meeting ended and the Leaders of the eight planets came on stage and talked with Life. It appeared many years of mistrust were now over for the nine worlds.
Matt looked at Angel and thought, “Looks like a trip to see our Royal Family is in order. Are you up to going with me?”
Angel thought to herself, “I will follow you all my life,” then thought back to him. “I’ll have to dress for the occasion. When do we go?”
“We’ll go immediately. You have an hour to get ready. However, with your beauty, you don’t need to do much.”
“Why, Magic, I never thought you noticed.”
“It’s like trying to ignore a super nova; it’s just not possible.”
Angel felt her heart grow. “Now I know; he does care for me.” She held that feeling close as she took Life back to his ship before boarding fly Girl.