Timmy sat with Virze and smiled, “It’s just about time, isn’t it?”
“It is. You better be thinking of a name.”
“Junior has a nice ring to it.”
“It does, doesn’t it?”
The nurse stepped in and smiled, “It’s time to go.”
Virze looked at Timmy and he felt her love, “I’ll be right here.”
Carter teleported in and gave Jenna a huge hug, “It’s good to see you; I’ve missed you. Carter kissed Jenna and said, “Are you up for a trip?”
“Where are we going?”
“Weed and Seed are close to trialing the new spores on the orange pods. They said we could join them.”
Jenna smiled, “How long will we be gone?”
“They said that the trial should be done within six months.”
Jenna smiled at Carter and lowered her head, “Then I guess I won’t be able to go.”
“Why not?!?”
“Because I’ll need to be near a hospital in six months.”
“Is something wrong? Are you ok!?!”
“Yes, I’m fine but the baby will need some attention.”
Carter stared at Jenna with confusion written all over his face until he saw Jenna smile, “Are you serious?”
Jenna laughed out loud and jumped into Carter’s arms, “Yes.”
Carter turned circles and laughed out loud, “Then I’ll stay here with you.”
“No, no, you should go; just pop in once in a while. We need to understand how the spores work and you are the perfect one to go with them. I can’t think of anyone else that can think on their level.”
Carter sighed and kissed his wife. He was going to be a father.
Greyson sat in orbit and saw that two more couples who possessed high passive psychic readings were going to have children. Mike and Carrie had a young son and it appeared he was going to be matched up with the Emperor’s Daughter. Robby and Dani were the first but it looked like there were going to be other active psychics joining them soon. Greyson thought about the history of the Ancient Realm and knew that psychics appeared when there was going to be a conflict that endangered the universe. The war was not far away.
“You’re right to worry.”
Greyson was startled, “Hi, Grace. I didn’t notice you arrive.”
“That’s because I’m trialing our new stealth software. It appears it works.”
“I thought I was distracted but I usually don’t miss another ship. Are we going to get it?”
“Yes, you should go see Alex as soon as you’re free. We’re also moving you into a new Zeta-A ship.”
“I thought I couldn’t be moved again?”
“This ship makes the move less dangerous. You’ll be fine and we’ll preserve the backup on your current ship.”
“I’ll go tomorrow. What did you mean by I’m right?”
“The coming war is not far in the future. Matter of fact, it’s not far at all.”
“I would have thought it wouldn’t happen until the children had grown up.”
“There are two strong psychics and that’s all that’s needed. The others are a failsafe against something happening to them. It is coming…and soon.”
Greyson thought about what Grace was saying, “You sound worried.”
“I’m not sure they’ll be enough, Greyson. I worry that they may only minimize the damage and not prevent it.”
“What makes you think that?”
“The Stars Realm fell and trillions lost their lives in the civil wars afterwards. The three galaxies that escaped were just a small part of the former Realm. They represented less than a hundredth of a percent of the Stars Realm’s total populations. Their tremendous psychic abilities did not prevent the Realm’s downfall.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because we may have to make hard decisions about who survives and we shouldn’t wait until the last moment. The release of our spores will cause a violent reaction from the power behind the Invaders.”
Greyson looked down on the planet and said, “The psychic children must be protected at all costs.”
“Now you see it. Go see Alex and get upgraded. Time is growing short.”
Greyson watched Grace jump away and thought about their conversation, “Anglo.”
“Yeah, Greyson.”
“Are you able to relieve me for a few days?”
“You want to be upgraded?”
“Have you already had the upgrades?”
“Yes, I’ll take over. You should go now.”
Greyson teleported away.
The orange colored creature rose from its couch and looked at the communication panel that processed all of the millions of conversations sent by its fleets. The last message that had caught its attention was the decision to continue normal planting operations instead of searching for the troublesome ships that had slowed the harvests. It observed the destruction of the two large ships and had almost decided to intervene to force the search but the quick kills had made it pause. The four Council Members had pressured it for a reason why the shipments had been reduced and were not at all pleased with its response. It had grudgingly decided to allow the return to normal operations but had set up a reminder alarm to remind it to follow up. The alarm is what brought it off the couch.
It checked the scans of the last harvest and no more ships had come to attack his fleets. It appeared they knew they stood no chance against the new ships and had ceased their activity. Production levels were getting back to normal and had actually increased, but the stockpiles were still below the desired level. The Council had turned their attention back to their drug induced state and left him in peace. It wondered how the Council had even noticed the reduced levels but decided that they must have set their own alarms.
Well, perhaps its concern was unfounded. It turned, reclined on its couch, and wished his time as Distributor would hurry and end. There were just so many things that kept it having to wake up and handle. He wished he could just get a good thousand years of relaxation like the Council Members. He briefly thought about the former family that had exiled his group for their drug use. It thought about looking in on them but quickly decided the risk was just too great to take. They were best left in the past. It worried that they may one day come and eliminate his group. It was their loss. They had no idea how wonderful the drug could be to help make the millennium pass pleasantly. Time ceased to exist when the drug kicked in. The couch made the connection and he felt the drug enter his system. Ahhh, that’s better.
Carter looked down on the orange colored planet. It looked very much like an orange colored desert. The scanners showed huge clouds of orange spores blowing in giant wind storms. “Why did you decide to trial the spores in this universe?”
Weed turned from the display, “We’ve noticed that the Invaders are quite linear in their attacks. You know that the coordinates for universes are sequential, right?”
Carter nodded.
“We didn’t want to go to a universe where they might still have ships present, so we selected a universe with coordinates a hundred smaller than the current universe being invaded. It wasn’t affected but the next one to it was this one. This universe is dead and there’s no reason for them to return.”
“Do you think they might have left a probe behind?”
“We considered that but I’m sure they would have discovered thousands of years ago that it was a waste of technology. If a ship came here it would immediately leave. Why would they really care about anyone coming here to investigate? I’m confident we can trial our spore here and not be bothered.”
“Do you think the entire universe is dead?”
“No, they only invaded planets with intelligent life that could do the farming.”
“Some of the unaffected planets could eventually develop intelligence.”
Weed turned and replied, “That’s true, but once they developed a star drive and investigated one of the contaminated planets their civilization was doomed. The spores would go back with them to their home world and infect the ecology.”
Carter shook his head, “These creatures are killing universes more efficiently than any of the Red Demon’s tools ever accomplished. If they kill them all, won’t it stop their drug production?”
Weed leaned back showing his disagreement, “No, they’ll just develop a ship to enter the atmosphere of the dead planets and take the drug from the blowing spores. However, that won’t happen for millions of years with the number of available universes left to attack. I think the production of the drug is actually the primary focus of their efforts and destroying intelligent life is simply a byproduct.”
Carter sighed, “I have to agree. Otherwise they would just be harvesting the drug from universes like this one.”
Seed leaned forward agreeing, “You see it as well.”
“So what’s next?”
“We’re going to drop a packet of spores on five planets like this one and observe what happens.”
Carter frowned, “Just a packet?”
“I think you’ll be surprised at what happens. Would you like to do the honors?”
“Certainly, what do I need to do?”
Weed handed Carter a small plastic bag with a green powder in it, “Teleport this down to a hundred feet above the surface of the planet and release it so that it hits a hard surface.”
“Why a hundred feet?”
“The fall will burst the bag and release the spores.”
Carter turned on his armor and took the packet in his hand. He teleported out of the ship and looked down on the dead planet. He checked his scanners and saw a huge orange storm blowing across a vast plain. He teleported the bag ten miles in front of the oncoming orange cloud and released it above a rocky plateau. He focused on the bag and saw a small puff of dust from its impact. Carter looked at the planet and felt an overwhelming anger at creatures that would do this to a living world. He teleported back to the ship as it jumped away to find the next four targets. “How long will it take for the spores to start working?”
“We’ve delayed the response for thirty days.”
“Why that long?”
“We want them to be carried by the invaders to other locations before they discover their existence and this will be a good way to see if the delay works.”
Carter smiled, “That’s a good plan. Are we going to stay here?”
“No, we’ll come back in twenty nine days and start recording what happens.”
Carter smiled, “Good, I get to see Jenna.”
“Alex.”
“Yes, Grace.”
“The Algeans have started their trial. How far along are you on the new power system?”
“Not far enough. Keep me posted on what’s happening.”
“You need to hurry.”
“Grace, we’re doing all we can. I’ll let Vring and Kreej know what’s going on. We’ll do all we can.”
“Alex, I’m worried.”
“Should we delay the Algeans?”
“You know that won’t stop them. They are driven by different goals.”
“How so?”
“They’re working to prevent the discovery of the Stars Realm in their dimension. We are a secondary consideration.”
Alex paused, “Grace, I’m afraid I’m on their side on this issue. My first loyalty is to the Realm.”
“As is mine; this is a clear conflict of interest for them and us. Unfortunately we are not given any wiggle room on this issue either. We are sworn to the Realm and must allow them to continue but we’ve got to do all we can to try and save our friends here. You are the key to making that happen.”
“Do the Algeans Know?”
“They do; but like us they also have no room to maneuver. Their first loyalty is with the Realm.”
“We’ll step up our trials, Grace. If we fail I want you here with me.”
“I’m sorry, Alex. My destiny lies with our friends.”
Alex decided that he was going to triple the trials. He couldn’t allow Grace to come to harm. Even Grace didn’t know she was his first priority even ahead of the Realm and he was not going to allow her to die; no matter what he had to do to protect her.
TK and Malah waited in the Defense Facility to receive their armor. TK had selected Malah two weeks earlier and had been given her Zecka just five days ago. “Are you excited?”
“Yes, I am, TK. I’ve seen what the flyers can do and I want to start learning how to use my armor. What about you?”
“I’m not sure. I’m still young to be placed in the ranks of the Flyers. I’m concerned that they might resent me. I know Jingos is not happy with having to wait.”
“You just don’t look at their thoughts. I’ve never understood the reluctance of Humans to look at the thoughts of others. Jingos totally supports you getting armor now. All the citizens of the Realm want the Royal Family to have every protection possible. Jingos feels the same way.”
“I wish Mon and Dad would get fitted.”
“Your father just doesn’t feel he should. Your Mother supports him in that decision.”
“Even so, it bothers me for some reason.” TK thought a moment and said, “Malah, we feel that to invade a person’s privacy it wrong. We’ll only do it if circumstances force us to it. You don’t have that problem because all of your species are telepathic. Besides, I don’t need to look as long as I have you.”
Malah laughed, “Right you are. Let’s go and get us some technology and afterwards I’d like to use it to get home.”
TK laughed with her and said, “Lead the way great Flyer.”
The giant Black Ship entered a solar system and moved on the planet. It was obviously civilized and had a huge population centered in numerous industrialized cities. No ships rose to meet the incoming Invader and the only thing indicating the planet had space technology was two giant satellites orbiting the planet on opposite sides. The satellites were more than a hundred miles in diameter and the Invader saw a force field go up as it drew closer.
The Ship Master looked at the huge structure on his display and turned to his Sensor Master, “What can you determine about that satellite?”
“The force field is quite strong. Before it went up I scanned the surface and didn’t see any type of beam emplacements. Once the field was active, my scans were blocked.”
“Send a copy of this to Fleet.”
The Sensor Officer nodded and sent the report.
“Prepare our beams.”
“They are targeted on the structure, Sire.”
The Ship Master quickly looked back at his display as the Sensor Master said, “Incoming missile.” The missile was tiny. It was less than three hundred feet long but it did have a force field around it. The Satellite had only fired the one missile and that bothered him.
“Readings?”
“None are getting through the force field.”
The Ship Master may have regretted his next decision if he had lived long enough. He decided to allow it to hit his force field and destroy itself. The missile went through the force field without even a spark to indicate it had impacted. It hit the giant Black Ship and it exploded so violently that the force field didn’t have time to drop before the blast was reflected back into the center of the explosion doubling the intensity of the blast.
Timmy looked at Robby and Dani and said, “I wondered what you saw that brought us here.”
“We weren’t sure, Timmy.” Robby looked at Dani and continued, “We just saw this planet and knew we should come here.”
“It looks like we’ve found a weapon to use against the Invaders if we can persuade the planet to give us the technology.”
Dani shook her head, “No, that’s not going to help us. This will actually harm our efforts to survive.” Timmy leaned forward in his command chair and stared at her. Dani saw his expression and shook her head, “The only thing this will do is cause the Invaders to build a stronger ship.”
Robby nodded, “They’ll lose ships here but they will record the technology that planet is using to enhance their capabilities. This is not good.”
Greyson said, “So getting the technology is wasted effort if they are going to come up with a counter to it.”
Robby and Dani nodded. They waited as fifteen Black Ships jumped in and were destroyed.
Greyson said, “There’s a Black Ship at the jump limit recording what’s happening. I can see their scan. Should we teleport one of those missiles to open space to take a look at it?”
Robby shook his head, “No, the Invader will record its disappearance and know that there is another adversary here. It would make them start looking for us again.”
Dani watched the battle and sighed, “We need to see how long it takes them to build a new ship and bring it on line. Greyson, leave a screened microprobe here to record what happens.”
“The probe is launched.”
Timmy looked up from his command board, “How did you know to come here?”
“Timmy, Dani’s and my ability to sense danger is growing stronger. We saw this happening and knew the best decision was to come here.”
Greyson said, “I did get a reading on the force field being used by the missile. It appears to match the frequency of the force field it hits almost instantaneously. Maybe Alex can use this.”
Robby looked away from the display and thought a moment, “No, it won’t help. I suspect that the invaders will simply modify their force fields to use two different frequencies so that if one is read the other will stop the missile. At least that’s how I would counter it.”
“What if two don’t work?”
“Then they’ll use four and have them changed a thousand times a second, Timmy. We could do that and I’m certain they will as well.”
“Then why are we here?”
Dani looked at Robby and he nodded, “We’re sensing the Invaders will be delayed here. It gives us more time to develop our defense. At least that’s what we think is causing us to be here. We can’t think of another reason.”
Timmy stared at the huge battle at the planet and saw more Black Ships jumping in, “They are somewhat single minded, aren’t they?”
Robby nodded, “Yes, they are.”
The Black ships continued to come and more than three thousand had been destroyed. After two hours, Timmy sighed, “Should we go now?”
Dani furrowed her brow and said, “Not just yet.”
Robby looked at her, “Do you see something?”
“Something else,” Dani pointed at the display on the wall and said, “That!”
A black colored ship fifty percent larger than the other Black Ships appeared on the display and moved on the satellite. The first missile arrived and exploded on its force field. The satellite saw the explosion and launched a hundred missiles. They were all stopped by the new ship’s screen. The huge Black Ship moved closer to the huge orbiting structure and fired a massive orange beam into it. It exploded and fell toward the planet below. The ship then fired into the planet and the single beam blew away the atmosphere and cracked the planet. The fault line in the planet’s surface ran more than six thousand miles and the surface caught fire from the magma rushing up to the surface.”
Robby watched the devastation and said, “It appears I may have been wrong about them being delayed.”
Dani looked away from the display, “They have the next ships waiting for when they’re needed. Now we know why we needed to come see this. We have to develop a ship that is not just slightly stronger than their current ship but many times more powerful.” She looked at Timmy, “Let’s go home. I’ll send this recording to Alex as soon as we arrive.”
Timmy stared at the now dead planet as Greyson teleported away. Greyson realized that Grace may have been right. This enemy was something to fear.