“My King is present with me.”
“Well, you should leave and protect him from my pilot.”
Scotty said, “I cannot leave my brothers to the blasters used to hunt them.”
“What did you mean they were intelligent and honorable?”
“They are telepathic and communicate with their thoughts. They are honorable because they will fulfill their promise even if it should cost them their lives. They would lay down their life for me and I must do the same. The Zord on this planet are the brothers of the Zord on my world.”
“You come from El Prado.”
“How did you know that?”
“It was the only planet that had Zord in captivity. What are your plans?”
“We are going to destroy every hunting facility on the planet and then go visit your King and let him know he should not come back.”
“Why are you taking this risk?”
“Because these are beings that are being attacked and cannot defend themselves. That is a principle we believe in and are willing to die for.”
“You know you cannot defeat me.”
Anglo said, “Yes, but either you live for your ideals and accept dying for them or you are nothing but a shallow husk hiding from your fears. I would have never accepted this Human as my King, but he proved to me that he will live and die defending his principles. He is very much like the Royal Family.”
“He’s not psychic.”
“No. But his children will be.”
Scotty and Julie looked at the speaker in shock. Scotty held up his hand motioning Julie to remain silent.”
“How do you know that?”
“Searcher, I’m going to lower my screen. Scan them with your meters.”
There was a long moment of silence and the voice continued, “My pilot just received orders to destroy your ship.”
“Why are you not powering up your main beam?”
“I just ejected him out into open space. Is your King going to try and get the Realm to return?”
“No. He is going to build something better than the Realm.”
“My name is BC. If you will have me, I wish to join you in your quest.”
Scotty said, “BC, we really do live by the old Realm’s ideals. You are welcome to join us, but only if you are willing to face destruction to up hold those ideals.”
“I am. My partner left with the Realm. I know it was done suddenly without warning or she would have not left me behind.”
“Who was your partner?”
“Admiral Cynthia Dodd.”
Anglo said, “Well, I am impressed.”
BC said, “You should be. I’m a very impo-tent ship.”
Scotty said, “We’ll get to know each other later. I’m going to destroy all of those hunting facilities. We need to do that now. BC, what kind of ships does your former King have in his navy?”
“He has about five hundred ships of various descriptions. None of them but me are Searchers.”
“How did you get here so fast?”
“The lodges put in a call for help. I have null drive so I just jumped in.”
Anglo said, “You would have lost if you had tried to take me on.”
“Oh, get real.”
“I still have teleport capability. The star in this system looks different from the middle of it.”
BC was silent. After a very long pause he asked, “Why didn’t you?”
“You talked to us before you took action. I knew your heart was good.”
“Thank you, Anglo. Now it is I that is impressed.”
“Hey, guys; lodges, remember?”
The two ships laughed and Anglo said, “Scotty, why aren’t you going to give them a chance to leave?”
“That was my plan before the Zord told me the hunters knew they were intelligent. They are nothing more than coldblooded murderers. This universe is better without them in it.”
BC said, “I’ll go east; you go west.”
“Don’t harm the planet. Just destroy their facilities.”
The ships went around the planet, destroying every runabout, ship, building, and landing port. Scotty watched the destruction and ignored the pleas of mercy from the occupants of the lodges. Julie looked at Scotty and said, “Are you going to kill everyone that doesn’t agree with our principles?”
Scotty heard the two ships grow silent when they heard Julie’s question. “You ask some pretty hard questions, love. You wonder how I could allow Grang to live and then kill those here who were begging for mercy. Right?”
BC said. “Who’s Grang?”
“Be quiet, I’ll tell you later.”
“It doesn’t seem to make sense, Scotty. This is not in keeping with your heart.”
“Julie, I’ve wondered what our new venture is going to be named. I see the SR on Anglo and BC’s rear and I think I know. The last Realm was called the Stars Realm. Our venture will be the Bristone Empire. It will carry the name of the Zord’s planet to honor our brothers that joined us first. Everyone should feel safe under their own sky. Whether a planet is a part of our vision or chooses to go its own way, we will not tolerate the invasion of another world. Those here knew they were killing an intelligent life form and chose to do it anyway. If I don’t take forceful action against them, my request to their King will carry no weight. I’m certain the lodges were in contact with the King’s representatives and the King knows he sent his strongest ship to stop us. He now knows he failed. He’s on his throne at this moment trembling in fear. To leave these murderers behind will show him we are not willing to do the hard things that must be done. Here, we destroyed eight lodges. I’m hoping now we won’t have to destroy a planet. I suspect they will listen after what we have done here. Having a loving heart doesn’t mean you have to accept evil actions and the ones that perpetrate them. I did this to save lives, Julie.”
BC sent a private thought to Anglo, “If the Royal Family had done the hard things…”
“I know, BC. I know.”
Julie pondered what Scotty said and then remembered, “Hey! What did you mean our children were going to be psychics?”
Anglo gave a heavy sigh over the speaker, “Both of you top my meter on latent psychic power. You don’t have access to those powers, but your children will.”
Julie looked at Scotty and he shrugged, “You know we’re a family of overachievers.”
Julie burst out laughing. Scotty smiled and said, “I can hear Jingo now.”
“No, you won’t. We’re not going to tell anyone. Our children will grow up being treated like everyone else. If this gets out, they’ll be looked at differently. Anglo, BC, I want your word you won’t tell anyone.”
“I’ll stay quiet, but you’d better tell Jessica. I know she has scanned you and knows your readings. You know how she likes to talk.”
BC said, “Jessica?”
“She’s one of the Kosiev’s shuttles.”
“I know her. I met her at the planet where she was built.”
Scotty sighed, “This universe is getting smaller and smaller.”
“What do we do now?”
“We go home and bring Bleath here to meet with his family. Then we go see a King.”
“Sounds good to me.”
BC said, “Lead the way.”
“Just step through the little silver field. Watch your step.”
“Showoff!”
“You know it.”
Scotty took Julie in his arms and kissed her. On the planet behind, the Zord came out to find all their persecutors were dead. One Zord flew to the Ruler to tell him what he had learned.
Scotty sat on Jessica with Julie and said, “Anglo, I know the Zord on the home world said they would welcome the lost ones back, but I still worry about their safety. I want you to be ready to go with them to make sure they’re safe should anything happen.”
“I’ll be glad to go. How do you want to get them there?”
“I was thinking that they would go with Jessica. He
r cargo hold is large enough for Bleath and Vring. You could teleport Jessica there and she could release them when she makes sure they’re safe. Jess, is that ok with you?”
“Of course; I’ll also watch them when they land.”
“Good. Anglo, you stay in contact with Jess and keep me informed of what’s happening.”
“Do you want me to go with her?”
“No, BC. I want you to finish downloading our learning center and add whatever you have to its core. None of us knows what happened to the Keepers. It would be nice to have that information available for our children.”
“If you need me, let me know.”
“I will.”
Two days later, Jess flew through a silver field and Bleath and Vring appeared over the planet of their imprinted memories. They saw the ancient mountains running along the vast sea. They viewed the light smoky air, which was a product of decomposing residue under the great trees. Sunlight broke it apart and left a light haze in the atmosphere. Jess took them to the far right mountain and they flew out of the cargo door. She stayed high above, scanning them down to the surface. Thousands of Zord lifted to welcome them, and Jess saw the joy of the rising flyers. She waited and watched.
Four hours after Bleath and Vring left, Scotty’s bracelet started vibrating. “Your Majesty, Jess reports that we have two hundred star drives breaking into the outer system. I believe the King is not going to be patient and wait for your visit. Should I go and destroy those ships?”
“Is BC with you?”
“I’m here.”
“Where did the King acquire those ships?”
“He took them from most of the worlds he rules. They were forced to give them up. None of them wanted to face a Searcher. They knew they couldn’t win.”
BC, why did you throw your hat into the ring with that King? That just doesn’t seem like something you would do.”
“He’s brutal, Your Majesty, but the brutality that was taking place on those planets was worse. They at least behave out of fear.”
“So if we remove the King, what do you think will happen?”
“There will be a huge loss of life by those that crave power on those worlds.”
Scotty looked up at Zreeg. The huge Zord was waiting for Bleath and Vring to return from their visit. Zreeg tilted his head.
“Which of the two of you has the largest landing bay?”
Anglo said, “That would be me.”
“Anglo, can Zreeg fit in your landing bay?”
“Barely. Why do you ask?”
“Zreeg, what’s the distance of your telepathy?”
“Not that far. Only about ten miles or so.”
“Why is it limited?”
“I have to see those I communicate with.”
“In open space, if you saw the ships we want to communicate with, could they hear you?”
“Could I see the ships?”
“Anglo, are they coming in a tight formation?”
“Oh, yes.”
“Anglo, can you extend a teleport screen so that all their ships could be teleported at one time?”
There was a pause and Anglo said, “Yes, I believe so. What do you have in mind?”
“Teleport Vring and me into your landing bay. BC, give Anglo the coordinates of the Kings planet five hundred miles above its surface.”
Vring and Scotty saw a silver screen appear in front of them and they stepped through.
“Anglo, teleport out to that fleet and let’s see if Vring can hear their thoughts.”
Anglo hid behind his screen and teleported to within twenty miles of the fleet.
Vring looked out of the portal and said, “I can hear them.”
“All right, here is what I want to do. Vring, send them the message in my mind. Let me know when you’ve finished. Anglo, at that point I want you to teleport the fleet.”
Vring said, “Ok, here we go.”
On board the lead ship the Admiral heard, “You have come into space that you are prohibited to enter. This planet is quarantined to all ships. I am going to send you back to your place of origin. Next time, I’ll send you into the middle of this system’s star. You will get no future forgiveness if you choose to violate this world’s sovereignty again.”
Vring said, “Done.”
“Send them Anglo.”
The two hundred ships disappeared.
“Are we going to visit that King now?”
“Not yet. I need to talk with Bleath about what’s happening with his flocks. If they’re moving, I don’t want to be involved with that King.”
“Your Majesty?!?”
“Yes, BC?”
“We’ve lost eight Zord and their Riders to the cats.”
“Get me home, Anglo!”
Anglo teleported Scotty to the communities and he saw the sorrow on many of those gathered at the clearing. Julie came running to him and hugged him tightly. He felt her crying. “Tell me what happened.”
Julie kept her head on his chest and said, “The cats were getting too close to the Zord’s lands so Jingo led an attack against those in the front of the migration. The first riders hit the cats and dropped eight of them. Jingo accounted for four of the eight. The riders in the second wave flew in and somehow the cats sensed them coming. They jumped more than three hundred feet off the ground and dragged the Zord and their Riders to the ground. They were killed instantly by more than two hundred of the giant cats that raced in. The other waves flew higher and were barely missed by jumping cats.”
Jingo walked up and heard Julie’s last statement, “They didn’t see us, Scotty. They smelled us. Those cats can leap.”
Scotty shook his head, “It’s not surprising, Jingo. Cats can normally leap three times their length. Those giants are more than 200 foot long. They might be able to leap six hundred feet.”
“There’s more, Scotty. They’re smart. Now when they smell us they run under trees and wait for us. They are also big enough to leap over the hedges between the ging roots. This is not going to be good if they get into the Zord’s lands. I don’t think a grown Zord will be able to handle those cats.”
“Your Majesty?”
“Yes, BC?”
“I may have an answer to those cats.”
Jingo looked at Scotty and Scotty said, “Anglo, teleport Jingo and me to BC’s bridge.”
Julie watched Scotty and Jingo disappear. She then walked to Zack Greene’s house to share his family’s sorrow over his death.
Scotty and Jingo appeared on the small ship’s bridge. “What are you thinking, BC?”
Five small white objects appeared on the table next to them. “Look at those and see if you could attach them to the shafts of your arrows.”
Scotty and Jingo picked one up and noticed it was very light. It glowed and emitted a white luminescence. Jingo took an arrow out of his quiver and held the arrowhead up to one of the objects. They were close to the same size. They were the same diameter as the arrow’s shaft. The white slender object had a square end and tapered quickly to a slightly rounded, sharp point. “What are these, BC?”
“They are Coronado Sparks.”
“What are those?”
“They are charged with enough energy to vaporize anything they hit. They are made to penetrate their target and then release their energy such that it burns until it runs out of organic material. These were made to use against the Keepers in their garrisons. These do not explode. The Realm was afraid an explosion would collapse the Keepers’ tunnels.”
Scotty held one in his hand and it felt balanced. “How do you cause it to activate?”
“Look at the small square end.”
Scotty turned it over and saw a round indentation in the square end about an inch deep.
“There was a mechanism in the hole that would slam forward and ignite the spark on impact. I’ve removed them. Could one of your arrow’s shafts be shaved to fit in that hole?”
“No, the hole is slightly smaller than the shaft.” Ji
ngo broke the head of an arrow and handed it to Scotty. Scotty placed it against the hole and said, “We could turn the shafts and shrink the end to fit in.”
“You would need to have about a quarter of an inch more than the depth of the hole to make it activate.”
Ashes of the Realm - Juliette's Dream Page 19
