The Distributor heard the alarm and sat up from its couch. It silenced the Alarm and turned his boards to the scans of the eight universes that had been destroyed. He went through the summary and saw that no ships had entered any of the eight universes since their destruction. He turned the knob and viewed the data from the current universes being harvested and saw that the ships that had been attacking had not been seen.
It was glad that it had ordered all the starships that were not on the planets being attacked in those eight universes to be destroyed before the fleet left. Ummmm, it checked the inventory of the new Distribution Center and saw that after eighty turns they were not being affected by that dangerous spore. Now he could contact the Four Council Members and tell them that they were back to the level before the spore killed their supply. The position was still available on the Council after the Second Council Member was removed and he hoped they would choose him to be the replacement.
It turned off its board and thought about all that it had done. “Have I anticipated everything?” It didn’t see any loose ends, so it activated its board and sent the report to the Council. He stopped the scans of the eight universes and turned his system to scan the next ten systems to be invaded. He set the threshold of threats to awaken him, reclined on his couch, and lost himself in the ecstasy of the drug.
Jingos watched as Ron Kune yelled at the Flyers taking part in target practice at the edge of the clearing, “NO! NO! NO! Decrease the width of your beam to two inches. You’re cheating yourselves of the skill you’re going to have to possess to be successful.” The ten Flyers weren’t happy. Hitting those discs flying across the clearing while hovering was next to impossible, and Ron heard their thoughts. Uleeh flapped his wings and Ron rose into the air and yelled, “Send me ten discs.”
The ten Flyers heard him and thought he was crazy, hitting ten discs was impossible. The ten discs flew out across the clearing and Ron hit all ten before they make it halfway across. Jingos and the ten flyers were amazed at the shooting exhibition. Jingos was angry that he had been moved to second in command to Ron by the Division Commander. Now he wasn’t so sure about his feelings. He heard Ron say, “Everyone on the ground.”
The ten Flyers landed and Ron jumped off Uleeh and walked in front of them with his hands on his hips, “What are you going to do if an enemy has hostages and is holding them at gunpoint? You’re going to have to hit a target the size of those discs to be able to save the hostages and you’ll have to do it while in flight. If you can’t do it here; you can’t do it in the heat of battle. You’re cheating yourself to take the easy way out during this training.” Ron stared at the flyers and said, “You can do this. I know you can do this if you’re willing to work hard at your accuracy. This isn’t something that can be learned without your best effort.” He looked at the Flyers and said, “Let’s try it again.”
The ten Flyers were amazed at the Rider’s shooting skill but Ron saw their determination. Jingos jumped on Hileeh and lifted, “Send me five.”
Ron watched as the five discs flew out and Jingos hit three of them. He knew that was an incredible score and that Jingos had natural talent. He came back that evening and saw all eleven of the Flyers were still working. He smiled knowing that the Zord’s wings would be strengthened from the work and the Riders would become very dangerous warriors. If they continued at their current rate of improvement, he could put Jingos back in command and move to another unit; but not before they were ready. Jingos would know who he could count on under his command for the difficult assignments and they had to be proficient. It was better to have five units thoroughly competent than twenty only partially ready. He left to work in another clearing with ten more flyers. Time was growing short and he had been told there was trouble waiting for them in the universe they were scouting. Uleeh thought, “You’re going to need to get some rest soon.”
Ron sighed and felt his fatigue, “Later we’ll have time to rest. Now is not the time.” Ron touched the medallion on his chest. It had been given to an ancient ancestor who was the brother of a Searcher that had fought for the survival of the Stars Realm. He bore that Searcher’s name and he was not going to be less than what that medallion meant. He shook off his fatigue and lifted for the other group of trainees.
Jingos watched him leave and saw how tired the former Protector was. He vowed to be as good and drove himself every waking hour to perfect his accuracy. Within two weeks he was hitting fifteen discs with a half inch beam. He began assisting Ron in getting his Flyers ready and learned that impossible was no longer a word in his vocabulary. His unit became famous for Jingos’ favorite saying, “Shut up and shoot.”
At the end of training, Jingos and the ten Flyers could hover, teleport to different locations, and hit a continuous stream of discs flying over the clearing from eight different directions. Jingos was given his command back and he made those ten Flyers the commanders of ten of his units. His friendship with Ron lasted throughout their lives and he eventually made Ron his second in command. He learned what his Father had felt for the white haired Human and knew that he was better for the love he felt for the former Protector. Ron never told him but knew that Jingos had become a better shooter. Some things were best left unsaid.
Paul reclined against a log with TK and looked up at the stars from one of the clearings. They had a small fire burning and they didn’t say anything but just felt each other’s presence. TK thought about her parents and missed them so much. Paul felt her sadness but was not going to diminish her loss by depriving her of the feelings. He pulled her closer and stared at the sky. “I used to sit with my parents and gaze at the stars for hours. Those times were some of the best in my life. I’d give anything to do it again.” She turned and looked up at Paul, “But this comes close.”
Paul smiled and leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.
TK said, “You know you should have command of the Division.”
“Not really. It’s the initial contact that’s critical and I can be used best during that phase of our training. You’re right where you should be. You are the Division’s Heart and they’ll gladly die to support your commands. That’s a lot more important than skills, my Love.”
TK sighed, “Are your Scout Units ready?”
“They’re as ready as they can be given the time we had to prepare. We aren’t going to start a fight but to see what we have to face. We’ll wait until you arrive with the Division before we start shooting.”
“Paul, I don’t want to lose you. Please, be careful.”
Paul didn’t say anything but pulled her tighter and looked back up at the stars.
TK knew one could never anticipate what would happen during battles. She prayed she wouldn’t lose another love in her life. She looked back up at the stars and felt her fears slowly evaporate. Creation looked down at the two lovers and smiled back at them.
The eight thousand Flyers were gathered in a huge clearing on Criston and TK was standing in front of the eighty units. Jingos had command of forty Hundred Units and Paul commanded the other forty. The eighty Protectors had left to train the main units waiting for the Scout’s findings and Grang and Jingo had joined them to speed the training process. TK looked at the Flyers and could feel their anticipation at being back in action. She sensed they were ready.
“We are depending on you to collect the information we need to make a difference in the universe you are about to enter. You know our values and principles and I expect you to live and, if necessary, die defending them. I know you’ll make the Empire proud of you. I already feel that pride just standing here with you.” She paused and said, “I want you to remember that it is critically important that you not be discovered while you are gathering information. You are Scouts and you must avoid being seen so that our main force will be effective. We sense there is a danger lurking in that universe and I’m depending on you to find it and report back. I wish you the best and I know you’ll carry out your assignments.”
She nodded to Paul and Jingos and they turned to their units. Paul yelled, “You have your assigned coordinates and the place to report. Are you ready!?!”
The eight thousand screamed, “FOR THE EMPIRE!”
Jingos yelled, “Go to your assignments….now!”
The eight thousand Flyers disappeared from the clearing leaving TK to worry about their safety. She walked over to Malah and said, “Let’s go home.”
The huge Zord and TK disappeared
Day East and Kreen came out of their universal jump just outside a Galaxy that was absolutely beautiful. It had recently merged with another galaxy and the birth of bright blue stars filled it from one end to the other. Day stared at the billions of stars and sighed. He knew that recently was more like sixty million years earlier but that represented just a moment in the life of a galaxy. Galaxies merging seldom harmed stars in either galaxy because of the space between them. Gravity would usually attract any stars that came close to each other and lock them into a double star orbit around each other. The galaxy that emerged from the merger was twice as big and made young by the process.
“Where do you want to start?”
Day smiled and pointed toward the giant blue star shining brightly in the outer edge, “That would be a good place. Most galaxies have less than ten blue giants in them and I’d like to take a look at that one before we get to work. It’s incredible.”
Kreen smiled, “It’s unfortunate that those stars have the shortest life span. My scans indicate that it will go super nova in another hundred thousand years.”
“Yes, but while they live they are something to behold.” Day smiled and said, “Let’s start our scans from that star.”
“Maintain our stealth mode. We should also refrain from communicating.”
“Why do you say that, Kreen?”
“We don’t know if there are any telepathic species around that could hear our thoughts. If you need to communicate, do it over our armor’s circuits.”
“Will do.” The Flyer disappeared.
Day saw the giant star from a light year out and marveled at the monster. Kreen said over the circuit, “We should charge our armor while we’re here.”
Day tore his attention from the star and set his armor to charge. He watched the meter inside his helmet and saw the needle swing swiftly up to the maximum setting. He turned off the receptors and saw that Kreen still had his wings extended to their full width. He shook his head and knew that the Zord had more than a hundred times his capacity in storage. He waited and expanded his scanner to the area around the blue giant. There were more than a hundred Class G-Stars within twenty light years of his location and he set his passive scanner to pick up any frequency in the small band width of electromagnetic pulses. If there was an advanced civilization in that volume of space, it would be giving off those frequencies. He immediately saw that one star was emanating a huge wave of those pulses.
“Kreen, do you see those pulses?”
“I do and there is another planet just beyond that one also showing signs of civilization.”
“Well, it looks like it’s time to go to work. Let’s go look at the largest one first.”
The Flyer arrived in a solar system that was filled with starships moving in and out of the system. The planet in the habitable zone of the star was clearly industrialized. Day looked at his readout and saw there were more than fifty thousand ships in the system and most of them were not armed, “Let’s go to the closest moon and take a look.”
They teleported to the moon’s surface and looked up at the planet above them while they watched their scanners for any indication they had been detected. “Day, nothing in this system is moving our way. It appears our stealth mode works.”
“Are you able to see the surface from here?”
Kreen spread his wings and expanded his scanning field, “Yes, and it appears that this society doesn’t have any military structures within my view. This appears to be a peaceful civilization at first glance.”
“I didn’t see any military ships in the system either. Let’s go to the next planet and take a look.”
Kreen kept his wings spread as he turned around and said, “Wait a minute.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something in the outer system that is blocking light from the star behind it. I would have ordinarily missed it but that Blue Giant has a shadow in front of it.”
Day looked at the giant star that was the size of a small moon and saw what Kreen was talking about. He focused his scanner and saw that something was blocking light from the star. “Whatever it is, it’s not visible in normal light.”
“No, it’s hiding out there.”
“Do you sense any scans?”
“No, I don’t. It must be a ship of some kind that has stealth capability and is only scanning using passive sensors.”
“Teleport us out of this system and come back in on a route where we would not be in line with any stars.”
They made three teleports and arrived fifty miles below the object. Day couldn’t see what it was but knew it was big. It was blocking out a huge section of stars behind it and he used his computer to determine that it was about a mile in length. Kreen said, “I can hear the thoughts of the crew on that ship. It’s not from here and is scouting this system for conquest. I can see the board in front of their navigator when he looks at it and there are coordinates on the display. I would guess that is where this ship originated.” Kreen paused, “What do you want to do?”
Day thought about it, “Ordinarily I’d wake them up with a beam but we’re here to gather information. Can you take us to the location of those coordinates?”
“I think that’s the best choice. I’ll teleport us a light year from them.”
“Can you see the beings in that ship?”
“Yes, and they remind me of something.”
“What?”
“They do have two arms with hands but they appear to look very much like a wasp without wings.”
“Can you see anything else?”
“Yes, there is a weapons board with a rather large selection to choose from. This ship is heavily armed.”
Day looked up at the huge ship, “If this is a scout, their main ships must be huge.”
“We should go look.” Kreen teleported away.
The Sensor said, “Something using a strange form of energy is close to us.”
The Nest Master turned, “Where is it?”
The Sensor stared at its display, “It’s no longer here.”
“What was it?”
The Sensor shook its triangular shaped head, “I have no idea. Nothing appeared on my monitor but my scanner reported energy.”
“Could it be a malfunction?”
“Nothing is on my panel now. I don’t know.”
The Nest Master thought a moment, “If it happens again, notify me.”
“I will.”
Day and Kreen were above a planet that had been conquered by a strange looking species that looked very much like a wasp. It walked on four legs but had two arms with hands that had six fingers. It had the abdomen of a wasp extending beyond the four legs and a triangular shaped head. The eyes differed from a wasp in that they were set into the head in small indentations. Kreen had his wings extended and was feeding the scans into Day’s armor. They watched as the population was herded into camps all over the planet as large ships moved into the system. “I wonder what’s going to happen to those prisoners.”
“I’m more curious about what those ships are coming to do, Kreen. This planet has been defeated and offers no resistance. Why bring in the extra ships?”
“I have no idea but the planet put up quite a fight. Most of the larger cities are still burning to some extent but they were not been nuked from orbit. It looks like their fleet didn’t have much success against the invasion.”
Day glanced out at the space surrounding the planet and saw the wreckage of ships scattered around the planet in high orbit, “No, it appears they didn’t.” Day accessed his computer and queried it about information on wasps and related insects. He downloaded it and immediately felt a sense of dread. “Kreen, take a look at this download.”
Kreen took a look and said, “You don’t think that’s what they’re going to do?”
Day looked at the huge incoming fleet, “Those ships are either bringing something here or are going to take something away. I don’t see those warriors on the surface collecting anything but the population. This may get ugly.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
Day shook his head knowing whatever was going to happen was never good for a conquered planet. “It appears those creatures haven’t discovered a means of jumping inside the jump limit.”
“You’re right. I’ve scanned their warships and they have a force field that’s as good as a Zeta. I’ll need to see one of their weapons fired before I can assess their strength. We can probably assume it’s pretty strong if the beam to force field relationship holds true.”
“I was just thinking that as well. I’m glad we charged our armor; it could get dicey if they discover us.”
Kreen looked at his helmet’s display, “They are advanced in terms of the weapons on their ships but they are behind in terms of the finesse of their tools. Their drives are standard fare and their stealth is adequate to hide them from too close an inspection, but not that advanced. While I’m scanning the planet, you should keep your scanners on their ships. Let me know if you see one charging their weapons.”
“Already on it, Kreen.”
The fleet of ships arrived at the planet and thousands of small shuttles began dropping toward the planet. “Pick one and follow it down, Kreen.”
Day saw one of the shuttles landing at a compound where hundreds of captives were being held. The shuttle landed and the guards surrounding the compound started moving the prisoners toward the shuttle. As the line walked slowly toward the shuttle the guards would fire a hand weapon at the ones in the entrance and stun them; the shuttle crew would then carry them into the shuttle. “What are they doing?”
“I’m not sure, Day.”
Suddenly they saw one of the wasp creatures run out of the shuttle, grab one of the captives and drag them out of line. Day and Kreen saw that the wasp’s abdomen was much larger than those herding the hostages. The wasp threw the captive to the ground, whipped its abdomen around, and penetrated its body with a large stinger. The captive struggled but then grew stiff and ceased moving. After ten seconds the wasp withdrew its stinger and its abdomen was back to normal size.
The captives in line saw what happened and turned and fled in panic. The guards fired their weapons until all of them were on the ground. One of the wasps walked forward and hit the one that had stung the prisoner and it was clear it was angry that it had caused an orderly process to disintegrate into chaos. It was clearly saying something and the wasp it was addressing was cowering in front of the leader. The leader took a small container for its vest and sprayed a bright white X on the stung prisoner. The body was carried into the shuttle with the others being moved.
Day said, “The population is going to be used to feed their eggs.”
“What are they doing now?”
The leader of the wasps looked over the bodies lying on the ground and began pointing at some of them. The guards came forward, picked them up, and carried them back into the buildings of the small city. Day watched and knew what they were doing, “They’re leaving some of them as a breed stock for future invasions.”
Kreen saw Day had to be right, “This is just another form of Keeper. I wonder how extensive these creatures have become in this universe.”
“I think we’ll know once we collect all the information we gather. However, that first planet we recorded stands no chance against them. They don’t even have a war fleet.”
“We need to follow one of these ships when it jumps out, Day. We’re also running a risk staying in one place too long.”
“Go ahead and teleport to the jump limit and we’ll wait for them there.”
The Sensor worked his panel and just couldn’t localize the location of a strange energy signature. It scanned a wide area and tried to home in on the source but was frustrated in its efforts. He called the Nest Master over and he was also unable to find the source. Suddenly the reading turned to zero. “It’s gone.”
“What was that?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen that pattern before and it seemed to just fill a huge area above the planet. Whatever caused it was small.”
The Nest Master looked at the Sensor, “How do you know that?”
“I could see the energy of our ships in orbit behind it.”
“Can you estimate the size?”
“My best guess is that it is one tenth the size of our drop ship.”
“Are you sure there was something there? That’s too small to have been a ship.”
The Sensor hesitated, “No, I’m not sure and that may have been why I couldn’t locate anything. This is something I can’t explain.”
“Let me know if you see it again.”
“I will.”
Kreen watched the scans from the planet while they waited for a ship to arrive and noticed something, “Day, we may have a problem.”
“What!”
“I’m going to feed this to your display; I want you to watch the warship that was located about twenty miles to the west of our location.” Day watched as the ship slowly turned in orbit until its bow was pointed in their direction. “They are turning the ship so they can bring their main sensors toward us.”
“Do you think they saw us?”
“I don’t think they could see us but they must have detected something.”
“Why do you say that?”
“If they saw us, they would have fired on us. Notice that the bow was turned toward us for ten minutes and they didn’t charge their weapons. We are giving them something but they can’t see us.”
“What do you think it is, Kreen?”
“Well, we can eliminate anything physical so it must be energy. Their scanners must be able to see our energy frequency.”
Day thought about it and said, “Then their scanners must be better than the Invaders. You know how good our stealth mode is and it appears we’re not completely hidden. We need to tell Command about this.”
“I’ll send a probe with what we’ve collected so far.”
“I think that would be wise. Is there any way to hide our energy signature?”
Kreen looked at his systems and said, “It must be a product of our stealth mode. I think the advancements in bending light around us must be causing it. We can go to a camouflage mode and not use the energy bending feature.”
“Back to basics, huh.”
“That’s how their stealth works. We’ll try it and if I see one of their ships start turning toward us, I’ll have our armor automatically teleport to another location.”
Day thought about the suggestion, “Kreen, what would happen if we changed our armor’s surface to charge while we’re in stealth mode? Would it absorb the energy leaking around us?”
Kreen was surprised by the suggestion. He never ceased to be amazed at Day’s insights. “Let’s try this; teleport ten miles away and I’ll set my armor to charge inside the stealth field. Tell me if you see a change.”
Day teleported and said, “I can’t see you through a normal scan. Give it a try.”
“Alright, I’ve gone to charging.”
Day scanned the area with every possible scan his armor could make, “I don’t see anything. You are still fully cloaked.”
“I’m turning off the charging.”
Dray stared at his scanner and saw something, “It appears the color of the background has shifted ever so slightly to a different color. The area is growing fast.”
“My charging is back on.”
Day watched as the area was sucked into the position he knew Kreen was located.”
“It’s really hard to see and if I weren’t looking for it I would have missed it. Your armor has pulled in the energy and there is no difference in background. You should launch another probe.”
“It’s on the way. There’s a ship arriving at the jump limit. You should get back so we can follow.”
Day teleported back to Kreen’s back and watched as the huge green and yellow ship approached. It crossed the jump limit and disappeared. Kreen entered the jump coordinates he had collected and teleported to a nearby location.
Paul saw the first probe and downloaded its information. He assessed the capabilities of the wasps and prepared a download for his warriors. Just before he sent it the second probe arrived and he was glad he was delayed. The energy leakage represented a real danger to his Flyers. He included it into his download and sent it out to the warriors. He sent a copy to Jingos and had the probes jump to the Defense Facility to let them know about the problem with their armor.
He paused and looked at his roster. Day East was proving to be a good Scout. Kreen was proving to be everything his Father was; Kreej was known for his mental prowess. He made a note to look at future command for the two. Another probe arrived and he saw that the Wasps were not the real danger in this universe. He teleported to the Scout that had found a species that was extremely dangerous. Unlike the Wasps, they left no survivors.