“Alex, I’m worried about what’s going to happen when we start killing the orange pods.”
“I’ve thought about that myself, Grace. We’re not ready to take those creatures head on yet. They destroyed the last two ships we sent against them with just one beam. We’re just not ready.”
“That’s part of my concern, but what bothers me most is what the real power behind those ships is going to do if we’re successful.”
“What do you mean?”
“If this creature is also addicted to the orange drug, it’s going to react violently to anything that attacks its supply. I’m not certain that the Invader’s Ships are the best it’s capable of producing. We know it’s at least a billion years ahead of us technologically. I’m really concerned about what its response is going to be.”
“The Invaders have pretty much ignored us since they destroyed those two ships and have continued in their usual fashion. They invaded another universe and we’ve not been scouted in the last eight years.”
“I know, but Weed says they’re close to finding a solution to the pods. If we use it, we could be in danger. It might cause them to start scouting again.”
“We’re not far from developing the technology to take on their ships, Grace. We just need more time.”
“If we kill the pods, time is what we may not have. That Creator of the Invaders will respond. We need ships that can take them on now.”
“There are a few minor circuits that are giving us trouble. Once the industrialized planets build the necessary micro-circuit factories, we’ll make faster progress. Ten of them are close to getting their facilities on line. We already have more than a hundred thousand ships waiting on us to install advanced power technology once it’s developed.”
“Alex, I just don’t feel good about this.”
“I’m doing all I can, Grace.”
“I hope it’s enough.”
The Lab was spotless and the display on the front wall was flashing at an amazing speed. Carter watched the symbols flashing and couldn’t understand what they were indicating. The two Algeans stood next to him watching the flashes and swayed gently in the lab’s ventilation. After fifteen minutes the display stopped and a bright red zero appeared on the screen. Carter looked at the Algeans and pointed at the screen, “Does that mean anything?”
“As a matter of fact it does.”
“Uhh, what?”
“We have finally found a way to kill the orange plant, its pods, and its spores.”
“Really!!”
“It appears so; at least the batch in the containment dish is dead. We have to mass produce the spores that caused the plant’s death to make sure but it looks like they’re what we’ve been attempting to create.”
“It’s taken a long time to get this far.”
Weed leaned forward in agreement, “Eight years is actually shorter than what we thought it would take. This has not been easy.”
“How does it work?”
“The spores we made enter the orange plant’s DNA and inhibit two of its major functions.”
“What functions are those?”
“The ability to absorb nutrients or gases; the plant will starve or suffocate. The spores that kill it will reproduce from the plants tissues and release themselves by the billions into the atmosphere.”
Carter thought a moment, “Will these new spores be dangerous?”
Seed turned to Carter, “That’s what’s been the major delay in developing them. What happens when all the orange plants are dead? We didn’t want to create a spore that would then mutate to attack another host. This particular spore will only function with an orange plant as a host. If the orange plants are not available the spores will just become inactive. The new spore’s core DNA cannot be changed or modified. This should not only kill the orange plants but also the spores the plant had already released.”
“What about the possibility of the orange plant mutating to survive?”
“It can’t do it. Their structure is an artificial creation and the internal tissues are fixed and cannot adapt even to a different environment.”
“What will this spore you’ve created do to someone on the planet that’s addicted to the orange plants?”
Weed hesitated, “It will remove the plant from their tissues. Unfortunately, it will probably kill them in the process.”
“Why!?”
“Removing the plant does not remove the addiction to it. It will attack the skin that has the orange spores embedded and we expect the orange colored skin on any addicted being to flake off. While that process is taking place, the body will go into withdrawals and you’ve seen what the end result will look like once the tremors hit. You must understand that any captured populations that are now addicted are living a delayed death sentence anyway. There is no way to save them.”
“I thought those severe tremors were from the plant?”
“No, actually the body eventually gets to the point where it cannot absorb any more than a specified level of the toxin. However, the demand for it continues to rise and can’t be met by what’s available. The withdrawal tremors hit and the body dies horribly; an overdose of the drug also causes the same death.”
“Why aren’t the Invaders dying? It’s obvious by their skin color they’re addicted.”
Seed stared at the experiment’s results as she said, “Remember, the Invaders are using a product that is processed from the plant. The ones being forced to farm the pods are getting it raw. The processed drug is addictive but doesn’t prevent the body from continuing to process it at an infinite level. It’s the raw plants and spores that kill the planets it’s grown on. We do think that if the drug is removed from the Invader’s bodies, they will die as well. We just don’t see any way to wean the body from this powerful drug’s influence.”
“Where did you find the spore to kill it?”
Seed replied, “That’s the ironic thing about this. This spore was developed by the Alfont and used to kill our food source millions of years ago. We’ve modified it to target the orange plants and it’s quite virulent and almost impossible to stop. Once it’s introduced to a space faring species, its spread is almost guaranteed. My species died millions of years ago because of it.”
“Couldn’t they just quarantine a planet that’s been exposed to your spore?”
“If they knew it was there, it might be possible. However, the spores don’t start acting immediately. The initial spores will become active after we determine an appropriate delay to insure their spread. Right now they are designed for a thirty day delay. They will cling to clothing, space suits, the hulls of ships, and get into most ship’s environmental systems. They can survive temperature extremes up to and including the vacuum of space and still be viable. All it takes is for one ship to leave an infected planet and the spores are on their way to every stop it makes. Once it gets on a planet, it will infect any ship that lands. Of course we’ll help with the spread by dropping some of them on every planet the Invaders are currently farming. I’m certain that some of them will be on the packets of orange drug they’re processing and will be taken back to their distribution center before the spores activate and start infecting those exposed.”
“When are you planning to start this process?”
Weed thought a moment, “We want to trial it first in one of the universes the Invaders has already killed. We’ll drop the spores on several planets and see what happens.”
Carter looked up at the display and smiled, “I suspect whoever is running the show for the Invaders is going to be somewhat upset with our meddling; especially if we destroy their stockpiles of the drug.”
“That’s what we hope. We need to get them out in the open where we can see what we’re dealing with. Right now, they are unknown and we’re working in the dark.”
“Do you mind if Jenna and I go with you?”
“No, you should plan to leave in two days. The Invaders will be wrapping up their destruction of the universe they’re now farming and start moving to their next target within the next nine months. We need to hurry and perform the trial while we have a maximum number of planets to attack.”
“I’ll let Jenna know.”
Scotty looked at Julie and blew out the candles. He shook his head and wondered at how fast the years had flown. It seemed just yesterday he was ten years old on El Prado looking at stars. Now he was forty six and starting to feel it. Julie was still as beautiful as the day he first saw her and her smile still warmed his heart. He noticed that his white hair was starting to turn a slightly different color and he knew it would be noticeable before too much longer.
He looked and saw Grang and Geena with Maddy who was growing up to be a beautiful Cainth Female. Scotty smiled knowing that Maddy was Grang’s favorite. She was a commander of a twenty unit of Flyers and was moving up in the ranks quickly. Robby was growing up to be a tall young man and he was proud of the way he and Dani fit in with everyone. Their psychic abilities were amazing and really helped him make good decisions; they did an excellent job of not demonstrating them around the citizens of the Empire. Dani’s sense of impending danger was invaluable. They were married three years ago and anyone could see how happy they were together. Jenna and Carter were married six months later. They were a high powered couple as well and Carter never ceased to amaze him with his brilliance.
Michael and Carrie had just had a baby girl and, to June’s shock, had named her Maranda. Carrie explained that the real Maranda was one of the most beautiful people she knew. June finally knew she was forgiven and insisted on babysitting her at every possible moment. Even Samuel loved the little girl.
The forty six industrialized planets were making progress in the construction of ships but they were not able to stand up to the new ships the Invaders had brought in. Alex and the Zord were still working on a power system that would allow them to take one on but in the initial confrontation, the Invaders had destroyed two new ships with one beam into each of them. They still weren’t there yet.
Scotty heard laughter and didn’t even have to look to know that his daughter was the source. TK was seven and was psychic. Unlike her mother, she had blonde hair but her eyes were green like Julie’s. Scotty chuckled; I wonder where she got that hair. It would soon be time for her to choose a Zord and there were hundreds competing to be on the list for her selection. Once she decided, she and the Zord would go to have their armor installed.
The Flyers had all been fitted and were now an imposing force. They were responsible for the fast growth of the Empire. Scotty heard Julie shout, “Tommie Katherine, only one piece of cake.” Scotty heard TK laugh again and smiled; TK was always up to something.
The Empire had grown to more than a thousand planets but its future was going to be determined by the forty six industrialized worlds that had been moved close together to build the ships to fight the Orange Creatures. Twenty more planets had developed industry to the level where they were slated to be moved to the galaxy where the other industrialized planets were located within thirty days. The ship’s structure was there but the means to provide them enough energy to take on the Black Ships was still not developed. Scotty started greeting the guests and put his worries aside for the moment.
TK saw her Father start greeting guests and worried about him. The stress of ruling the Empire was showing and she knew her Mother was worried about his health. She continued to listen to Jingos as she glanced at the long line of attendees that were hoping to see the Emperor. She saw a couple at the back of the line with a young boy and a baby girl. Who were they? Oh yeah, Carrie and Michael Blake. Their planet was one that was to be moved in a few weeks. She stared at the young boy and saw him immediately look her way and smile.
“I’ve been wondering when you were going to notice me?”
TK’s mouth fell open.
“Yes, I’ve been listening to you all night.”
“You’re telepathic?”
“Of course; I started to beg off and not come but I wanted to see what my future bride looked like. I must say, I am impressed. You are absolutely beautiful. However, now we’ve started communicating, I suspect there will be compulsions to stop us. Do you feel them yet?”
TK did. That told her more than anything this boy just said that he was right about their future. TK smiled, “I’ve been wondering who I was going to be matched up with. You must be further along in your development than I am.”
“Maybe, however, I had to see you before the compulsions became too strong to overcome. Now that I have, I can wait until the right time. You’re really something.”
TK smiled as she stared at him, “You’re not so bad yourself. I’ll see you when the time is right. I’ll try to catch up before we meet again.”
The young boy smiled, nodded, and turned to bow to Emperor Robbins. Scotty nodded and as they stepped away he immediately looked at TK. TK shook her head and wondered how her father, who had no active psychic ability, sensed the boy’s connection to her. She smiled and turned back to ten year old Jingos, Jingo’s youngest child. He had inherited his father’s natural ability to carry on a conversation for hours and he hadn’t even noticed her not paying attention to him. Once he got on a subject, it would take a stunner to stop him from talking for hours. She interrupted, “Jingos, you know you’ll get a Zord of your own before too much longer. Just have patience.” Jingos started complaining again and TK looked at the young boy as he walked with his parents to the other side of the huge room.
TK sighed as she felt the negative feelings hit her. He was right. She was being pushed away from any feelings for him. Even so, he was a very attractive boy with an interesting mind. Even negative compulsions couldn’t prevent her seeing that. She was going to have a talk with her Aunt as soon as possible. Dani could tell her what to expect. TK looked around. Where was Dani and Robby? They should have been here already.
Dani and Robby stood in a crater on the surface of a moon overlooking a huge industrialized planet. They had surrounded themselves with a psychic bubble that would hide them from the Black Ship’s sensors and used their armor’s passive scanners to view the battle taking place above the planet’s atmosphere.
“That ship is a different model than the one that destroyed our two ships.”
Dani shook her head, “I don’t think the ship is new although it has been modified. They’ve added a raised bridge on the hull which will give them additional weapon storage and a better view around the hull. Putting that bulge in the hull changed the lines and shape but everything else looks just like the one that killed our ships.”
Robby stared at his scanner and said, “They’re also able to communicate without having to lower their force field. I detect a frequency being used.”
“That is a change, Robby, but it’s not advancement in their weapons. The strength of the force field is unchanged and the beam cannons on the hull are essentially the same size, location, and barrel length. There have been incremental changes but the ship is still basically what they’ve been using since our last encounter.”
Robby briefly glanced across the surface of the moon and saw the ruins of a base that the Invaders had destroyed directly across the crater from where they were standing. There wasn’t much left of the giant structure. He shook his head and looked back up at the planet with the fleet of huge Black Ships in orbit. The Invaders were kicking off the preliminary invasion of this universe by first attacking the strongest planet and eliminating its fleet. They watched as the Invader Ships destroyed thousands of ships jumping in attempting to defend the planet.
One of the Invader ships had been destroyed when nine hundred ships attacked simultaneously. The destruction of the Black Ship was not good for the planet, as six more Black Ships jumped in to support their attack. Robby and Dani watched their scans as the remaining defending ships were burned out of existence. The twenty Black Ships hung in orbit, killing any new ships that jumped in attempting to save the planet.
Dani looked at Robby, “Why are they just hanging in orbit?”
“The task of this fleet is to soften up the forces they’ll have to face when the entire fleet arrives in nine months. It’s clear this planet has become the major force occupying this universe. More than three hundred thousand ships have already been demolished in the initial attack and, according to my scans, another two hundred thousand jumped in afterwards. They’re waiting because they want to make sure whoever is on the planet calls in all the forces available to defend it. That will weaken all the other planets that they now control.”
“If they’re not invading to start farming, what are they going to do with this planet?”
Robby sighed, “Dani, you know what happens next. This planet is far too industrialized for their purposes. Most of the land masses are covered with huge cities. The effort to clear land for growing pods would be too expensive and time consuming.”
Dani watched as the number of ships jumping in became fewer and finally an hour passed where none appeared. Nineteen of the Black Ships jumped away for other military targets leaving one behind. The ship waited another hour and then it happened. A brilliant green beam shot out from the huge ship and struck the planet at the largest city’s location. The beam was more than a thousand miles wide and when it hit; the continent below was shattered and the shockwave blew the atmosphere away. The Invader moved around the planet and fired four more beams into other major population centers. The entire surface caught fire and a once beautiful green and blue planet turned into a red burning ball of smoke and ash.
Robby watched the planet die and felt his anger start to rise. Dani felt it as well and didn’t want to control it. She was also feeling horror and grief at the huge loss of life. She looked at the Black Ship and said, “Robby, they’ve lowered their force field.”
Robby looked at his scanner and saw that a new frequency was being used to communicate, “Dani, they must have to drop the force field to communicate to another dimension. Now would be a good time to make them pay.”
“How do you want to do this?”
“We know where their reactors are located. We’ll teleport in and hit them with our armor’s strongest beam and then we’ll teleport away immediately after we fire.”
“They also have a missile storage bay on the other side of the ship from the reactors. I’ll hit that port simultaneously with the hit on the reactors. Are you ready?”
“Let’s do this before they stop communicating”
“Do you think they can see us?”
Robby thought a moment, “If we were just using our camouflage there would be a chance. However, we’re using our psychic ability to hide our armor. I don’t think they’ll be able to see us through that. At the first sign of a weapon warming up on their hull, teleport back here. Are you ready?”
Dani connected with Robby mentally and they teleported together. The force field went back up behind them and the two knew that the communication had stopped. They arrived on the hull of the giant ship and they simultaneously fired their armor’s main beam at their selected targets. They immediately teleported away as the Giant Black Ship exploded into a huge fireball and then fell toward the planet. There was no atmosphere to burn the ship as it rolled over and descended. It crashed and added its mass to the burning surface of the now dead planet. The fire was so hot that the entire ship melted and merged with the magma rushing out of the cracks blown into the planet’s molten core.
Dani went into Robby’s arms back on the moon’s surface and held him as they watched the ship turn over, slowly at first, then faster, fall toward the surface. It finally hit and shattered into a huge debris field.
“Do you think they can trace this back to us?”
“I don’t think so. Even if they have a probe recording everything, we were inside their force field when we fired. The probe will see that nothing penetrated their screen and that the explosion came from inside it.”
“Let’s go home, Robby. It’s your Father’s birthday.” Robby sighed and nodded. The two of them disappeared from the moon. The Invaders were one universe closer to finding their home.
“Alex, getting the teleport module to draw power from the reactors is not going to work. Aligning the field inside the core is just too delicate a maneuver to make consistently happen within the walls of the reactor. A piece of the reactor gets taken with the energy and causes the reactor to explode. This process is entirely too dangerous to use on a large scale.”
“Vring, I’ve seen that but without the additional power, we can’t face the Invader’s ships. The new model is impenetrable to any weapon we have. Even the reflective hulls won’t function at their current level. Their beam overloads the collectors too fast to focus back at them.”
Kreej said, “You would think it could handle that much power but it overloads and fails. Obviously, there is a limit to how much it can handle. It would work if the power could be loaded at a slower, increasing level but the Invader’s beams hit at maximum power. It’s the initial, sudden surge that makes the hulls fail. We just can’t charge them to a high enough level to match the Black Ship’s beam. We need a larger power source to charge them to make them effective. This is frustrating.”
Vring was silent for two minutes as the three contemplated what to do. Then Vring said, “I agree Kreej.”
Alex looked at the data again and asked, “Do you think they would work if they were charged properly?”
“We can’t charge them to a high enough level to handle the Invader’s beam with the power we currently use. You know those cells will handle a much higher level of charge than we’re currently able to give them. However, hit them with a massive charge above what they’re using and the hulls will overload. The power level the two ships used was significantly below the threshold of the Invader’s main beam. The two ships were in another universe and weren’t able to continuously charge their hulls. They only carried the charge from our universe and over time, that charge will diminish and that makes the ships vulnerable. There were no additional red reactors beyond those on the ships to recharge them after their arrival. If the hulls had been at maximum charge, I believe they would have worked. We are not capable with our present technology of bringing them to their full capability.”
Alex thought a moment, “So they will only work in this universe where we have the reactors to keep them charged, however, using the reactors is too dangerous. Have we wasted our time on this technology?”
Kreej said, “Why do we have to use reactors?”
Vring said, “Where else would you get the necessary power to penetrate their force fields?”
Kreej smiled, “Can you think of any other power source that is as strong as ten red generators?”
Vring looked at Kreej, “Where are you going with this?”
Alex said, “You’re right. It would be easier but more complicated.”
Vring said, “What are you two talking about?”
Kreej smiled, “Why not use a star to get the power for the weapons and force fields?”
Vring was surprised by the suggestion and started thinking out loud, “There wouldn’t be a reactor containment wall to deal with.”
“And you can start the sending screen far enough out to charge the hulls and then move it closer to send the maximum energy.”
Vring understood, “You’re right, Alex. However the field would be exposed to an extremely high level of radiation.”
“Only if a blue giant star was used. Class G Suns don’t emit that high a level of gamma rays; most of them are kept in the core. The most numerous stars in most universes are the Class Gs.”
Vring sighed, “We’re back at square one.”
Alex did a quick computation, “Yes, but the challenges using this method are easier than trying to use power from inside a reactor. This involves gross modifications that are easier to handle than the delicate fields used inside a reactor.”
The three were silent as they thought about the idea and Alex said after thirty minutes, “This is the way we must go. Let’s get busy and see where we are with what we have on hand.”
“Well, pick a target and try to teleport an energy charge at it.”
“There’s a moon circling a planet not far from here; let’s start there.”
“Good idea Kreej; you and Vring go there and take some readings. That will give us a baseline to work from.”
The two Zord turned on their armor and teleported out of the Defense Facility.