“Stop, Destiny,” Sprig thought but he was beside her before he could order her shot.
Destiny placed one of his front legs on hers and said, “We also feel the pain and shame of all the civilizations we have destroyed. We have decided to try and make up for all the sorrow we have caused. Will you help us?”
The large spider with huge fangs looked at her son and said, “I do not think there is enough time remaining to repair all that I have made to happen.”
“We must try, Mother.”
Sprig thought, “Put your weapons away; she’s free of the compulsions.”
The three Red Warriors lowered their arms, but kept close watch on the huge spider and continued to hold their weapons.
The Nest Mother looked and saw the three small spiders and said, “You are some of my children.”
The three ran forward and she grasped them in her two front legs. I am so sorry for what I’ve done to you.”
The three spiders reveled in their mother’s legs and felt extreme happiness. She sensed their glee and held them close. Destiny said, “This is Edison, Newton, and Einstein; they are responsible for freeing you from the compulsions.”
She looked at them and said, “Thank you, my children. Thank you for my freedom.”
Sprig watched the family of spiders and pressed his com, “Matt, I think you should come and talk with the Nest Mother.”
“On my way, Sprig.”
Matt arrived to find the Nest Mother embracing her children. Destiny saw him walking toward them, “Nest Mother, this is the being that saved us when he could have destroyed my ship. He is the ruler of this universe and we owe him for what he has done to free us.”
The Nest Mother turned and faced Matt, “Thank you for what you have done. I know it must have been a difficult decision.”
“It was, but it was the right thing to do. I am trying to save your species from destruction but I fear time is growing short. The beings that created you are developing another species to replace you, and it is my belief that you will be destroyed because you will no longer be needed by them.”
The Nest Mother felt anger, “They have already killed one of my families and then killed the universe where they attacked us. What can I do to help?”
Matt was shocked. The Reg were right again. “When did that happen?”
More than sixty times the amount of time you’ve kept me here. The family was completely eliminated and then the rest of the universe was killed. We saw that whoever did it destroyed large population centers from space with some kind of energy beam. It also used the same beam to kill those on the planet’s surface. That beam went through our armor as if we were not wearing it. That universe was destroyed in one fifth the time it would have taken my family.”
“The beings that forced you to kill made the creatures that did it. I have it on good authority that your species will be the first target of these new creatures. I want to bring your families to my universe for protection if they can come here without the compulsions. Is that possible?”
The Nest Mother thought for several minutes, “It will be difficult. The Supreme Males control their families and as long as they live, my children are in danger of being consumed by them. I cannot remove the compulsions once they are in place.”
Matt thought, “Could you remove the Supreme Males from their families?”
“I believe I could, but then the Ship’s Males would just replace them. They also have the compulsions.”
What if you ordered them to bring their Ship’s Males with them for a brief meeting; would they then download the compulsions in the one’s left behind?”
“They shouldn’t if forced to attend quickly enough. What do you have in mind?”
“We still have Destiny’s ship.”
“Who is Destiny?”
“I am; it is my new name.”
“We can take his ship to your universe and have the Supreme Males come to that ship with their Ship’s Males in transports. Once they arrive, we will teleport you to another ship and then jump that vessel into a universe that has been recently harvested. We will set the universal drive to self destruct upon arrival so they will be stranded in that universe. There will be plenty of planets with food for them and they should survive.”
“I’m glad you have a plan that allows them to live. I will not kill any more of my children.”
“Will it work?”
“That part of the plan will. What do we do about the remaining ships?”
“Have the Supreme Males order them to stay where they are until otherwise ordered. We think the compulsions will fade in four weeks and at that time you will return and we will attempt to move their ships to our universe. There are enough uninhabited planets for them to settle on until they get themselves oriented to their new world view.”
The Nest Mother thought about the plan and finally said, “When do you want to do this?”
“The sooner the better; we have a limited window of opportunity before this universe is blocked from entry and we have to get it done before that happens.”
“Then let’s do it.”
Matt looked at Sprig, “Can you make this happen quickly?”
“With their help, we should be ready in two days.”
Chapter 6
The Green Ships were searching every foot of the empty universe to find another door. The Senior Supreme Male was watching his board for any reports of success when his Sensor Male shouted, “Universal Drive in the central region.”
“Go there now!”
“Message coming in.”
“What!”
The Sensor male sent it to the Supreme Male’s board, “Who has been in command while I’ve been gone?”
The Supreme Males were stunned; it was the Nest Mother. The Senior Supreme Male keyed his board. He could tell she was angry, “I have, Nest Mother.”
“Well no thanks to you but I have been rescued by the ship that was left in the other Universe. It was hiding from those creatures that abducted me and managed to save me. We are going to have to destroy those creatures. This Ship’s Male has found another way into their universe and we must act quickly and decisively. I want every Supreme Male and every Ship’s Male in their families to come to this ship immediately. Order all your ships to remain where they are, board transports, and come here now.”
The Supreme Males felt their compulsions kick in and wanted to consume their families but knew that they were not ordered to do so by the Nest Mother. They issued the orders and began boarding transports to come.
The Nest Mother looked at Destiny, “They are coming.”
“Nest Mother, should we download compulsions into the ones left in command?”
“You won’t be away that long, don’t waste my time.” She snarled, “I told you to come immediately!”
“Yes, Nest Mother.”
“Order your Ship’s Males to the surface of their vessels immediately for pick up by the transports. I will not tolerate a delay in your arrival.”
Some of the Ship’s Males were considering downloading the compulsions anyway but they felt their fear rise and scrambled from their command chairs and rushed to get to the surface of their ships.
The Nest Mother looked at Stem, “They won’t have time to do any downloading. It takes time to get to the surface of their ships.”
“Will there be room for all of them in this ship?”
“Each family can get two million in a transport. It will take about four transports for each family so we’ll need to board about fifty thousand transports. We can easily hold that many since you’ve removed the ships from this vessel.”
Stem looked at the Nest Mother and asked, “Will they be able to rebuild their universal drive?”
The Nest Mother looked at Destiny who thought a moment and looked at the Nest Mother, “I don’t believe they will. Our ship builders only build ships. I’m sure the information is available to them in their storage of data but the compulsions prevent them from
being able to focus on it and correlate all the information they would need. I’m sure they’ll try, but I don’t believe they will overcome the compulsions to build what they need. We are also disabling the system that’s used to down load compulsions; later generations will be quite different. They will be able to find planets that will provide them with the food they need to live. Fortunately, the first planet has enough native life for them to survive for many years.”
Destiny looked at his board, “Some of the transports are moving our way.”
The Nest Mother pushed her communication key, “Bring your ships on board; I will talk with each family separately once every ship has arrived.”
The transports began entering the ship and after five hours all of them were in births. Destiny checked his board and announced, “That’s the last one.”
Edison hit the universal drive key and the huge ship disappeared and reappeared just above a planet in another universe. The Nest Mother’s board immediately lit up with questions from the Supreme Males. Stem looked at the Nest Mother, “The devices are armed, move to the teleport circle. The four moved and stood on a large silver circle on the floor of the command chamber and Stem keyed his com, “Ready to port.” A silver screen appeared above them and moved down on them just as the first Supreme Males entered the room.
“What’s going on?” a Supreme Male yelled just as the universal drive console and download panel shorted out and blew apart.
The Stars End hung in orbit a hundred miles from the huge green ship. Sen-Gen looked at the Nest Mother, “Is there anything you want to say to them before we leave?”
The nest Mother looked out at the green ship hanging above the planet and sighed, “No, they won’t understand because of the compulsions and hearing it will only make the compulsions hit them harder. Let’s leave them to find their own way.”
Sen-Gen saw her sadness and nodded to Captain Mendel. Mendel hit the jump drive and the Stars End disappeared.
The Stars End appeared above Ross and the four teleported to the map room. Destiny looked around and saw Matt and Melanie along with Sprig and Twig looking at the map of galaxies. Sprig turned, “Welcome back. I trust your plan was a success.”
“Yes it was. Why did you want us here?”
“We are going to bring your families to our universe and we need to find planets for them to live on. The planets need to provide the necessary food for them to survive and we want to have them located close to each other.”
The Nest Mother turned her head to the left, “What are you doing?”
Matt looked at her, “Your families are going to have to stay in this universe until we find a way to defend ourselves against the new species being developed to replace you. They will not be able to leave to harvest other universes and I suspect they will no longer desire to do any harvesting. They will also need time to evolve into what they choose to be. A planet is the perfect place for them to accomplish those things. They will still have their ships if they want to go out and explore but they need a place to call home.”
“Do you have enough planets for us?”
“Come over here and take a look, Nest Mother.” Matt stepped aside and let her come and look at the walls of the map room. “I have marked every system with a planet that possesses the proper atmosphere, no intelligent life, ample food, and good climate with a green light.”
Sprig brought galaxy after galaxy into sharp focus and the Nest Mother saw millions of green lights glowing in them. She stood amazed at what she was seeing. “You’re going to just give us those to live on.”
“Yes we are; it is our belief that if your children develop like the ones we have here now that your species will contribute more to our life than you would ever imagine. It is in our best interests to have you in our community.”
The Nest Mother looked at the wall, “Will you help me find the best place for us?”
“I think I already have,” Sprig thought. A galaxy grew larger and the five spiders in the room saw a huge concentration of green lights out on one of the spiral galaxy’s arms. “There are more than eight million available planets on that arm all within two hundred light years of each other. Your family will all be close to each other and can support each other as your children grow up. I would highly recommend that one of those planets become a university for your brightest children. We will provide instructors and the necessary technology to help them learn all that we know. I would also suggest to our King that a ship building industry be set up on another planet. We will provide you with all of the teleport technology necessary for your many worlds to stay in contact.”
Matt smiled, “We will certainly provide you everything you need.”
Destiny looked at the galaxy and felt his heart sing. “With the teleportation system we will only be a moment from each other. It is a perfect choice Sprig.”
The Nest Mother looked at Destiny and said, “Until I learn enough, I am placing you in command of our families, Destiny. Please make the best possible decisions for my children.”
“I will, Mother. We have good friends that I trust with my life to help us.”
Matt smiled at the spiders and then nodded at Melanie, “We have delivered a thousand Defender Class ships to the planet where your children are waiting for your return; they are yours to use as you want. If this galaxy pleases you, you may start moving your family there whenever you are ready.”
The Nest Mother was over whelmed by the compassion of the beings that she had sent ships to destroy. She decided that these new friends were going to be protected like they were her own children. “We thank you for your generosity and I look forward to building a close relationship with you. I can already feel the changes taking place in me and I know my children are feeling like me.”
Sprig looked around the room, “We need to begin our plans to bring your families to our universe and acclimate them to their new life.”
Einstein stood, “I have already designed a small red generator to attach to their universal drives to jump their ships here.” He handed a device that fit in his leg to Sprig.
“This generator makes enough power to vaporize a planet?”
Einstein turned his head upside down and said, “And then some.”
Matt shook his head and said, “Life as we know it is about to change dramatically.”
The five spiders just looked at each other thinking about all that they wanted to see happen.
Four weeks had passed and the millions of ships left behind by the Supreme Males waited for instructions. No one dared leave and violate the order to remain but changes were taking place among the inhabitants. The Sensor Males left behind began contacting each other questioning what was happening.
“Why have they not contacted us?”
“I don’t know but the warriors are undergoing some kind of change. They are questioning why we kill so many races and quite frankly, I don’t have an answer.”
“Nor do I; it just seems wrong what we have been doing. I’m not certain the warriors will follow the Supreme Male’s orders even if he did come back.”
“It is problematic.”
“Attention all my children.”
Every ship grew silent. The billions were uncertain about what to do if ordered to harvest.
“I have removed the Supreme Males from the families in order to remove compulsions that have been placed in our species to kill other intelligent life. I have discovered that we were actually designed by advanced beings to be a tool to remove any possible competition for them. We had compulsions placed in us that forced us to go out and destroy life. I’m sure by now that some of you have started to question why we have done it and some of you may even be considering refusal to do it again.”
On all the ships the warriors looked at each other and wondered how she could possibly know they were not going to follow her orders.
“I have had the compulsions removed from me and I am not going to ever kill another intelligent being and I will not allow
you to do so either. Our killing days are over. The only ones I would ever consider killing are the ones that forced us to perform the horrors that we have committed. We are going to stop our warlike ways immediately.”
The inhabitants of the green ships began feeling something alien to them: happiness. Then the Nest Mother continued, “I have learned that the beings that created us are going to destroy us with a new species they have developed. I have made new friends with the inhabitants of another universe and they are going to block that universe from attack. We must move there immediately to be safe. They have given us planets to live on and we will be going there momentarily. In the interim, I am appointing the Sensor Male on each ship as the new ship’s commander and I will be sending an engineer from our new friends to modify our universal drives. Once the drive is modified, jump your ships to the new universe. You will arrive at a location where there will be ships waiting to direct you to your new homes. The engineers will begin to arrive momentarily. Please take them from the ships outer surface to the command chamber. I will contact you again once we are all safe in the new universe.”
Six weeks passed and only half of the families had been moved. Destiny looked at Stem, “We’re running out of time. We only have five days remaining before the Reg’s barrier is put in place.”
“There’s just so many, Destiny and we can’t manufacture Newton’s device fast enough. We have to jump them to our universe, go to the surface, teleport to another ship to jump back here and start the process again. My engineers are starting to get tired from the continuous work.”
“Will the Reg delay?”
“They say the barrier must go up on that day. I suspect that whatever the beings have cooked up to replace you will arrive at that time.”
Destiny looked out at the millions of ships remaining and said, “Please hurry and save as many as possible.”
“We’re doing our best, Destiny.”
The last day arrived and there were still more than a third of the families waiting to be moved. Destiny looked at Stem and said, “We must have them jump away and try to flee what’s coming.”
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