by Saxon Andrew
William bowed and went to get James.
Chapter Nineteen
Jon linked and said, “Teg, what’s the status of the forts for Ross?” Molly listened in to Jon’s side of the conversation. “Get them moving. Send half of them to the planet while the other ten are being fully charged. Send the first ten after the second are at full power. The Dremor found the planet and are attacking it now.”
Molly saw Jon’s thoughts and, though he tried to hide it from her, she saw that he was amazed at how beautiful she was tonight. She also saw that he was not going to violate her desire to not have another relationship. She thought back to Sara’s remark, “If you want to wallow in your misery, you’re welcome to it.” She couldn’t get that thought out of her mind.
• • •
Molly arrived back at her quarters and took off the emerald dress. She hung it up carefully and started putting on her uniform. She pulled her boots on and sat on the edge of the bed. She stared at the mirror across from her and saw the sorrow written on her face. She lifted her wrist unit and pulled up the frequency. Sara Robbins appeared on it, “Your Majesty, I never want to face the sorrow I’ve had when Jeremy died.”
Sara stared at her for a moment and then said, “The sorrow of loss never outlives the joy of love. Sorrow only thrives when you refuse to remember the joy. You’re in an occupation that could end your life at any moment. I’d want the most joyous moments I could have if I were in your position.”
Molly stared at her and said, “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I’ll always be here for you, Molly; no matter what you decide.”
The small display went dark and Molly remembered the zoo she and Jeremy had visited. She smiled and remembered the first time he kissed her. Her smile grew and when she finally left her room, she was still smiling.
• • •
Jon called the Senior Officers on the command channel and said, “We’re going to Bristone.”
“Why Jon?”
“Teg, our enemies know the location of our capital. If they make it through the forts, we need to be there to defend the castle. I’ve notified the Queen and she agrees. Get your Warriors loaded and ready for extended combat.”
The three Colonels broke contact and began issuing orders to their warriors. Jon looked at his display and pulled up a star map. He took out his sword and two stars started flickering. Bristone and Ross, which one was going to be hit? Or were both of them going to be attacked? He felt his fear but knew he had to be at Bristone. He went to the armory and restocked his armor; thirty minutes later he teleported into the assembly room. Ten minutes after he talked with his warriors, his regiment arrived on Bristone.
General Dickinson saw Jon’s regiment arrive outside the castle and immediately contacted Queen Victoria, “Your Majesty. Jon Robbins has just teleported his regiment to the castle. I am responsible for the defense of the Royal Family. I am going to move his warriors into my ranks.”
“General, you will do whatever Admiral Robbins tells you to do. His regiment could defeat your entire division faster than you can imagine. Look at the recording of his most recent operations if you doubt that. For the moment, you will follow his orders.”
Dickinson said, “Yes Your Majesty.” He resented this youngster coming in and taking command. While he waited for Jon to get his Warriors organized, he pulled up the recordings of Jon’s most recent campaigns. He viewed two actions and decided that the Queen knew what she was talking about. When Jon arrived, he saluted and said, “How can we help you, Sir.”
Jon expected some resistance from the General but was glad he was wrong. “I need you to get some heavy blasters around the perimeter of the castle and see my quartermaster for some old Coronado portable shields. Assign one to each of your blasters and I want their beams aligned such that every square inch of the castle is covered by a blaster beam. High energy will kill a Dremor, General. You’ll need to assign your warriors to take positions inside the blaster’s force fields and fire their blasters at any Dremor that attempt to take them out.”
“I’ll get on it.”
Jon contacted Admiral Mandel and said, “Admiral, the fleet will not be able to defend against the Dremor. If they show up with ships you can attempt to quickly teleport close to the ships and take them out but if your ships linger longer than a second, crews will die. You will not bring in the fleet if the Dremor don’t have ships with them.”
“We’re sworn to protect the Queen, Jon.”
“Contact Newton and discuss this with him. He can tell you what to expect. We can’t afford to lose our fleets if we intend to continue the fight for Creation.”
Mandel hesitated, ended the contact, and then called the Spider. He argued, but in the end he knew his ships stood no chance against the Dremor. Modern Electronic force fields represented no barrier to a Dremor. Any ship that was attacked would be killed. Only the three ships used to transport the Zeta Regiment could hold them off; but even they could be overwhelmed if enough Dremor attacked.
Dern said, “Jon, you need to talk with the Queen about evacuating.”
“I’ll do it but I don’t think I’ll have much success.”
Teg threw in, “Use your charming personality.”
“That will certainly get her to stay. Charm is not one of my talents.”
Molly listened in to the back and forth and disagreed with Jon. However, she wasn’t going to tell him. She went over and began looking at her Warrior’s armor.
• • •
“Supreme Spirit, we have found evidence of the species that flies the white ships on the planet where our fleet was killed.”
The SS jerked around and stared at the First. “Are you certain?”
The First kept its outer layer in its station and said, “The area that has the residue of the children’s deaths is covered with burns that are consistent with the white ship’s technology.” The First paused and then said; “And only the area with the burns has the residue present. It appears the killers came in after the attack began. All of the children were killed in one place.”
The SS said, “Do we know the location of the civilizations where the white ships originate?”
“We do. The Megat had it in the data they transferred to us. There are two planets that direct them. I’ll send their locations to you now.”
The SS turned off his senses and looked at the psychic trace. One of the planets definitely had a danger vibration associated with it. The other one gave off no reading. “How could that be?” He wanted to attack them both but millions of years of caution made him edge way from attacking a known danger. He considered that no information might be more dangerous than a known danger.
He reengaged his senses and looked out at the fleets surrounding his ship. The gathered fleets were larger than some nebulas. The grey forms filled a space more than two light years across. “Give me an image of the two planets.” The SS looked at the two planets in his mind and saw they were both heavily populated, but one was much larger in populations than the other. He looked at the one that had the larger population but still didn’t like the high level of danger it presented. “First, designate two senior fleets and have them attack the planet with the smaller population.”
The First looked at the planet and took a psychic reading to send to the two attacking fleets. The Supreme Spirit saw the First take the reading and then come back to awareness and look at him. The First had seen that there was no reading on the planet and the Supreme Sprit knew he wondered why that one was chosen. The First engaged his station and issued the instructions to the two fleets.
The SS watched him and waited for him to question his choice but was disappointed that the First didn’t respond to his decision. This First was quickly developing into a rival. He needed to be removed before his development continued. Could the First sense his animosity? He thought about removing him anyway but knew the fleets that were from the First’s family would not accept his death if it appeared to have been do
ne without a justifiable reason. The SS turned away from the First and knew that he would eventually do something to cause his death. He waited for the fleets to return and give a report on their attack.
The First looked at the Supreme Spirit and knew that it saw the danger he represented. He had been receiving messages from the fleets that their leader had lost an entire fleet of children during his rule and that was not acceptable. No leader had ever lost a fleet in their long history and certainly not one that was responsible for so many children. There was a building momentum of anger and the Supreme Spirit was the object of that anger. The First was blocking the psychic trace of that anger from the Supreme Spirit and knew that he was going to have to exert extreme caution to prevent it being seen. He focused on his station and saw the anger of the fleets building. They also waited for the two fleets to report back. Appropriate vengeance for the children’s deaths could lower their anger. The First suspected that the SS had made a critical error in selecting the planet with the smaller population. He knew that whoever had killed the fleet of children was not psychically seen by the leaders of the fleet transporting them. The killers had to have been invisible in the psychic traces. That meant the planet chosen by the SS was by far the more dangerous of the two. He waited and watched the thousands of fleets’ anger grow. Losing children was something every Dremor would never accept. The protection of children was one of their most dominant instincts.
• • •
Jon stood in front of Queen Victoria and Grainger. Victoria said, “I understand your fear, but I will not leave my subjects here while they are being attacked.”
Jon shook his head and said, “Your Majesty, you must reconsider.”
Victoria looked at him with an expression that the issue was decided and said, “Why?”
“Because the people on Bristone are not your only subjects; they represent less than one millionth of one percent of the citizens in the Realm and you do the vast majority of your subjects a disservice to place their welfare behind the ones on this planet. You know what will happen if something happens to you and we cannot guarantee your safety if you remain.”
Victoria was shocked by what Jon said. She sat back on her throne and looked at Granger, who was also surprised by Jon’s statement.
Jon continued, “This is the Capital of the Realm but in reality, you are the Realm. Even if this planet is lost, as long as you survive, the Realm continues. You can’t place the welfare of all your subjects in such jeopardy.”
Victoria was now struggling with what to do. “What will my subjects think about a ruler that runs from an enemy?”
“I mean no disrespect when I say that they’ll question your sanity to stay against the particular enemy that is coming here. They’ll know you’re being reckless to stay.”
Victoria looked at Granger and he gave a begrudging nod. Victoria looked at Jon and said, “We don’t really know if they’re coming here.”
“Yes we do.”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed and she said, “How could we know that?”
Jon blew out a breath and said, “My sword has revealed that two planets were targets but now it’s only Bristone that is going to be hit.”
“What do you mean sword?”
“I have been given a sword by the one that created me and my brothers. It allows me to see things.”
“Then show me proof that they’re coming here and I’ll consider going.”
Jon hesitated and said, “Please pull up a star map of the Realm in this galaxy.”
The main display on the wall illuminated with the Swirling shape of Bristone’s galaxy centered in it. Jon reached over his shoulder and felt the sword hilt. He pulled the sword and Victoria gasped, grabbed her stomach, and collapsed in the chair. Grainger jumped up and ran over to her. He lifted her and laid her on the floor and yelled, “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
Jon sheathed the sword and said, “I don’t know. This has never happened before.”
Grainger yelled, “Bring in the doctor, now!”
Suddenly, Pride appeared and ran over to Victoria. He looked down at her and said, “She’s alright. She’s unconscious but she’s alright.”
Grainger stared at Victoria and felt his fear. He was not what Victoria was and he knew it. He held her head in his lap and Jon said, “Look at Bristone’s star, Your Majesty.”
Grainger looked at the map on the display and saw a bright light blinking rapidly. He reached over and pressed a control on Victoria’s throne and saw the light grow larger. The map settled on a star system and Grainer saw that it was Bristone’s.
Jon said, “That is where the Dremor are going to attack.”
Grainger looked at Pride and said to Pride, “You will take the Queen and her doctor with you. I will remain here.”
Jon said, “But Your Majesty.”
Grainger said, “As long as Victoria survives, the Realm survives. I am expendable. Now do as I command.”
Pride stared at Grainger and then looked at Jon. Jon was slowly shaking his head but Pride thought, “She will be with us, Your Majesty.”
Victoria, her doctor, and the giant cat disappeared. Grainger looked at Jon and said, “Do your job. Protect my subjects.”
Jon bowed and teleported out. What had happened to the Queen? He was reluctant to pull the sword again.
• • •
Sprigly focused his mind and could hear the faint thoughts in the outer regions of Bristone’s planetary system. He pressed a button on the fort’s panel and said, “The Dremor have arrived. They are currently gathering next to the eighth planet.”
Jon said, “Recall the forts from the sun.”
“They are fully charged, Admiral. We’ve just been building a surplus of power. They’ll be in position is two minutes.”
Jon watched his helmet display and waited. Suddenly, the ten giant asteroid forts overhead doubled in number. The twenty forts spread out evenly around the planet and began synchronizing their computers. Jon toggled his communicator, “Admiral, Mandel, have any ships been detected in Bristone’s system?”
“That’s a negative; no ships but our fleets are currently in the system.”
Jon said, “Please withdraw the fleets to a safe location.”
Mandel shook his head but pressed his console and said, “All ships will teleport to the assembly location. You will maintain your formations and wait on further instructions.” The thousands of Realm Battleships teleported out to a location across the galaxy.
Jon pressed the castle’s frequency and said, “Your Majesty, the Dremor have arrived and are currently in the outer system.”
“Keep me informed, Admiral. I’ve received word from the Cats that Victoria is conscious and is doing well.”
“Thank you for telling me, Your Majesty. I’ve been worried about her.”
“You just focus on your duties. My citizens are depending on you.”
The display went dark and Molly said, “I hope we won’t be needed.”
Teg said, “There is a good probability we won’t; this time.”
Jon nodded and said, “We’ll not make that assumption just yet. Get your Warriors formed up and prepare to defend your areas of responsibility.”
Jon hit his communicator again and said, “Sprigly, how are you going to handle this?”
“I’m going to wait for them to move on the planet before I engage the field.”
“Don’t wait too long.”
“My operators will be able to detect them mentally, Admiral. I don’t want them to see the force field until they start their attack.”
“Set your scanners to detect a grey color that is in the upper level of the spectrum.”
There was a pause and Jon heard, “Thank you, Admiral. We’ve got them on the scanners now. They’re starting to move in.”
Jon said, “Activate all armor. The Dremor are moving in.” Jon’s old armor appeared over his modern armor and the bright force field activated. Jon teleported out to Molly’s unit and she
looked at him, “This is going to happen too quickly for me to respond. You have the portion of the castle where the King is located. I need to be here.”
Molly said, “It’s good to have you, Sir. We can use the help.”
Jon pulled up the feed from the Algeans scanners on the forts in orbit and sent it to his Warriors. The massive grey mass was moving at an extremely high velocity toward the inner planets. Zeta Regiment focused on the melody and waited.
Jon said, “Sprigly, let me know if you detect any warships.”
“Will do, Sir.”
• • •
Juliette activated her computer and received the war warning. All of the civilizations in the Realm were notified that Bristone was going to be attacked and that no calls would get through until after the attack was over. She read further and saw that the Dremor were going to attack Bristone in force. Her heart went into her stomach and she saw that Jon was on Bristone leading the defense. Cassandra came rushing into her room and saw her expression, “I see you’ve read the warning.”
“I have.”
“It’s possible that the Royal Family and the first successor could die in this battle.”
Juliette looked at Cassandra and showed her disgust, “How can you be plotting at a time like this?”
“I’m not. If they die, I’m turning myself over to the Realm.”
“For the Creator’s sake, why?”
“You can’t allow James to become King.” Cassandra paused and said, “I can’t allow him to become King.”
“Now is not the time to start talking like this. Jon is on Bristone.”
Cassandra looked at her daughter, “You love him?”
“I do, but he has turned his back on me because of the marriage. I’ve probably lost him.”
“Don’t give up, yet my darling child. We’ll find some way out of this.”
Juliette looked at her mother and said, “He’s on Bristone and the Dremor are attacking. If he dies, there’s no reason for you to die as well. My life will be over anyway.”
“Just trust the Creator’s will, Jilly. We’ve got to trust he’ll survive.”
