The Director turned back to his console, “Keep me informed if anything else happens.”
Cynthia raised her shoulders and waited for the Keepers’ ship to lift, but it didn’t move. She lowered her shoulders and looked at her board, “The fuel line comes through the wall.”
“Yes, it does. If we detect that ship starting to power up we are going to fire a high powered penetrator into each of their three drive tubes and move away.”
“How much longer are we going to give Jake?”
“As long as it takes.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
Jake walked up the hill toward Jackson Grant’s quarters. Kathea had found him in the northern field and said Jackson wanted to speak with him. He was worried. He did not want to deceive the leader of this colony, but knew that was exactly what he was going to be forced to do. There was no possible way he could tell him the truth. He thought about what he was going to say, but then decided that the best course of action was to clear his mind and just go with the conversation. He saw Jackson rocking outside his quarters. As he approached Jackson said, “Take a load off your feet. Come sit down.”
Jake forced himself to relax, sat down in the rocker, and started rocking. Jackson looked out at the people working in the fields and didn’t say anything. Jake also looked out at the fields, rocked, and found peace in the rhythm of the chair.
“So you’re the Good Luck Man.”
Jake smiled, “I’m probably more mystified by that title than you are, Jackson.”
Jackson smiled and looked at Jake, “Why is that?”
“I woke up one morning and remembered my father telling my mother that I was a good luck baby. She told him that if I touched every woman like I touched her that they would all feel the good luck. He replied that if I touched them all then good luck would have to follow.” Jackson said nothing. “I don’t know if she meant that I was touching her in her heart or actually touching her, but I decided to see. I moved to my new quarters and started touching every female I could. I know you must think I’m crazy to try and touch every female.”
“I do. Why don’t you have a mate?”
That question surprised Jake. He answered honestly, “I haven’t found her yet.”
Jackson didn’t know what to think. Everyone had a mate by the time they were this young man’s age. Jackson’s expression said it all. Jake continued, “I don’t know why, Jackson, but I feel that if I touch the one for me I’ll know it immediately. I may be wrong, but I have to see.”
Jackson stared at Jake and knew he was telling the truth. He could tell when someone was not being honest, and he saw that Jake really believed what he said. “Well, we have to help you find her. Five days from now we are going to assemble the community and every female that has not touched you, will. You should have a mate and it is my responsibility to make sure everyone does. Do you really think this good luck thing has any truth to it?”
Jake shook his head, “I honestly don’t know, but so many have claimed that touching me brought them luck. I don’t know if my parents were a little crazy about me or if I just misunderstood what they were saying, but something is going on.”
Jackson felt better about the Good Luck Man. He wasn’t crazy as he suspected, but just giving in to a whim. Something was happening; the Keepers were staying away. That still had him bothered, but that had to be totally unrelated to this young man. It had been years since everyone in the community had gathered, and he actually looked forward to the assembly. “You can go back to work now.”
Jake smiled and said, “I really enjoy the view from your rocker; we have to do this again.”
“Anytime; just not during work hours.”
Jake smiled and left for the fields.
The Director of the Keepers invasion fleet was frustrated. Three weeks had passed and every planet the fleet investigated was empty of life. Something was going on that he could not fathom. He called the other ships’ Directors to conference and asked, “Is there anything else we can do to find these Green Creatures?”
“Perhaps they no longer exist, and these planets are where they once lived.”
“But all of the technology on those planets is still operating.”
“We must send a messenger back to the Collective and see what it would have us do.”
A Sensor Operator interjected, “I would like to propose an option.”
The Lead Director thought, “What is that?”
“I have scanned this universe and have found some planets that have the same species as the farm where we destroyed that strange ship. Maybe it is only the Green Creature planets that have no population. Perhaps we should go see a planet with one of those species that live on the farm where the ship was attempting to hide.”
The Director thought about that proposal and could hear the agreement from the other Ship Directors. So far the fleet had nothing to show for their actions. “Where is the planet with one of the species?”
“It is not that far, and the star drive barrier is only eight hours from the planet.”
“Prepare your ships; we will be jumping to this planet.”
“Valerie?”
“What is it, Joe?”
Joe was silent.
“What is it?”
“The Keepers Fleet has jumped from Webbering.”
“And?”
“The stealth probe read their jump track and they are not going to one of the Spider’s planets.”
“Where are they going?”
“Gambia.”
“Oh no, Joe! Is there anything we can do to save that planet?”
“No, Sis. The Searchers that have the protective coating are all assigned to the Spiders’ planets. The Keepers Fleet has already entered the jump limit at Gambia and will be at the planet is less than six hours. We are not equipped to undertake any kind of response quickly enough that would allow us to move even a small part of the population. The Keepers Fleet is close enough to see optically if we tried to teleport in and start moving the population; it would reveal to them how we are hiding our own populations if we tried. We can’t risk revealing what we’ve been doing.”
Valerie could see in her mind the vision she had years before. She had seen the massive killing but she did not recognize the planet where it was happening. Now she saw the rags the bulk of the population was wearing and the decrepit condition of the buildings. She closed her eyes and wished she could forget. It made sense that the Keepers would go to Gambia. Now, after the fact, it had to be Jake’s psychic self that brought them. This was another avenue to get Jake to the Keepers’ universe. The fact that Jake was already there would have no impact on the various paths that had been set in motion. She thought about Jake and worried.
“Director, the population reading is not changing as we move in-system.”
“Good! Organize our coverage; we’ll start with the northern hemisphere and then move south. Do you detect any star ships?”
“No, this planet appears to be very backward in their technology.”
“That may be true, but it has a large population.”
“That it does, Director.”
“Have you read the thought signature of the population?”
“Yes, and our emitters are tuned to that band. Have you decided if you are going to collect any of the inhabitants for shipment to our universe?”
“We are not doing that now. This is a war fleet and we cannot provide care for them.”
“As you wish, Director. How many for stores?”
The Director listened to the thousands of Keepers in the fleet and found the needed number, “Two million should be enough.”
The Sensor Operator looked at his display, “That is the population of one of the cities on the coast next to that spaceport.”
“Make sure the emitters are set accordingly.”
The devices on the Keepers’ ships that made the intense beam were remarkable devices. If set at zero frequency they would emit a beam
that would destroy all matter they hit. They could also be set at specific frequencies that matched the thought frequency of the selected population and would only target that population; everyone else would not be affected. The intensity of the beam would determine whether it would stun or kill. The fleet had their intensity set to kill.
The stealth probe followed the Keepers Fleet in to the planet and positioned itself to record the coming action. Gambia was slightly bigger than Ross, and had a circumference of thirty thousand miles. The huge fleet stopped above the planet and waited as the ships moved into a line. The hundred thousand Keepers’ ships entered the atmosphere of Gambia and lined up at the equator, with seven ships evenly spaced every mile halfway around the planet. They dropped to a mile above the surface and waited for the order to be given.
“Activate the emitters.” Every Keeper on every ship connected with the other Keepers on their ships telepathically and turned off their hearing. They then began sending the vibrating thought patterns into the emitter at the front of the ship. Each navigator watched their boards while the weapons operators focused the intensity of the beam as it rose to the desired threshold. At that point the Director sent the command to the fleet, “Move forward.”
Abul Cahale was stretched out on a chair on the front of his yacht when he noticed something in the sky at the horizon moving toward his ship. The young women that were attending him stood and looked at the approaching line of…something. As the objects moved closer, Abu saw that the objects were huge star ships and they were approaching quickly. The three women had moved to the bow to get a better view. Abu saw them waving and then start twisting, screaming, and turning to dust. He jumped up and ran toward the rear of the huge vessel. He didn’t make it past the main cabin before the most intense pain he had ever felt gripped him, then he was gone as the dust from his body blew away in the sea breeze. The yacht continued sailing until it ran aground.
The Keepers’ beams showed no discrimination between rich or poor. Unlike the population, there were no class distinctions; it treated all the same way. The long line of brown ships moved north and left millions dead behind it. Animals were not touched by the beam, fish were not affected, birds flew through it safely, and plants never noticed it pass. Only Humans felt the intense pain and death. The probe captured it all and witnessed the horror taking place.
The line of ships moved toward the main city of Gambia, destroying everything outside the city proper. The population standing on the outskirts of the tall grey buildings looked up into a blue sky and saw the line of ships approaching. The public speakers were blaring a warning of an invading fleet and called for everyone to flee the city, but the inhabitants saw there was no time to exit. Many running from the city saw the ships approach Degrund Park.
A young man and woman standing in the park outside the city embraced each other and then turned to dust. Two children ran from the oncoming shadows and tried to hide under the slide in the park. They saw the people closest to the approaching ships turn to dust and hid their eyes just before they died. At the Abu Galei hospital located next to the park, the maternity ward heard the babies go silent as the beams crossed the room. Hundreds of dogs were roaming the park with leashes dangling, trying to find their owners that had blown away in the wind as the ships passed overhead.
The ships approached the outer city limits and moderated the intensity of their beam. As the brown ships moved over the city, the beam began hitting the inhabitants and destroying their higher brain functions. People began falling to the ground and twitching as the fleet passed overhead. More than two million people were left scattered on the streets, and in homes twitching as their raw nerves sent messages to a brain that was no longer able to receive them.
The long line of ships crossed over the North Pole and then continued moving south. Everywhere humans were dying a horrible death. The dying didn’t stop until the Keepers Fleet moved over the South Pole and then moved back to their starting point at the equator.
The Fleet Director was elated. No resistance had been given. This universe was going to be easy to conquer. “Send your shuttles to pick up your stores.”
A hundred thousand shuttles left the Keepers Fleet and descended on the space port. Each picked up twenty of the still-twitching bodies and took them back to their ship. Being brain dead was actually a mercy to those taken. Any that were left behind were hit with the terrible beams and destroyed. Soon fires broke out where stoves were left on, and many cities began burning. Some were started when vehicles ran into buildings and other structures, causing huge explosions when their fuel tanks ruptured. No one was alive to put them out.
The probe recorded it all and disappeared to deliver its information to Fleet Command. Another probe arrived to replace it and settled in behind the Keepers Fleet as it moved away from the now dead planet. For Gambia, there were no class distinctions after the Keepers. Everyone was dust.
Edison watched the recording taken by the probe with Sprig, Joseph, Valerie, and Admiral Zergl, who had all commed in on his communication panel. Edison noticed the hard expression of the Gardners and could sense the anger from the others. “Edison, what do you think about this?”
“Prince Gardner, This is remarkably similar to the process my species once used to attack planets. The main difference is that we collected information from the inhabitant’s brains and stored it. These creatures just kill all intelligent life except for those needed for food. I now feel the anger and outrage that this causes when it is visited on others. It amazes me that the Realm allowed us to live.”
“Where are they going now?”
Valerie said, “They’re going either to Ross or Camerrill, if we don’t move the populations before they arrive outside the jump limit.”
Admiral Zergl did a quick flinch, “How do you know that?”
“Because Jake Talant was at both of those planets before he left for their universe. I believe his psychic self is directing these creatures to come to him.”
“Why would he be doing that?”
“I just don’t know, Joe, but everything points to it. He was arrested on Camerrill and that Searcher was killed immediately after we found him. The first planet they attacked successfully was where he was born. The next attack will have to be another location where he visited recently. That would have to be Ross or Camerrill. We need to get the populations moved quickly.”
The other conference attendees looked at each other. Finally Joe asked, “Valerie, do your psychic abilities tell you where they are going?”
“No, Joe. It just makes the most sense based on what I’ve seen.”
“I’m just not willing to disrupt the populations of two planets unless you are certain, Valerie. Are you absolutely convinced?”
Valerie struggled for an answer, “No, I am not certain, but I am not going to gamble on the creatures discovering Ross. I want the population ordered to teleport away for 24 hours. We’ll not involve Camerrill in this exercise, but as Ruler of the Stars Realm I order you to move Ross’ population.”
Joe stared at Valerie and signed, “Admiral, issue the order. According to the probe, the Keepers will clear the jump limit in two hours.”
All of them felt that this was a huge waste of time, but the Queen had spoken.
On Ross all communication devices began blaring out the warning, “All citizens on Ross must teleport to another planet immediately. We will keep you informed about returning, but you must be gone within the hour. An attack is imminent.” The announcement played over and over as the population of billions teleported away.
The Keepers Fleet approached the jump barrier and the Director turned to his sensor operator, “Where is the next target?”
“Before we entered this system I had mapped several possible locations using the same thought frequency of the last target, but one of them has changed radically since the last scan.”
“What are you saying?”
“One of the targets had a huge population, with a high pe
rcent of them being the species of the planet we just eliminated. However, now the planet is empty of life.”
The Director thought a moment as the fleet tuned in and listened telepathically, “If as we surmise a device is projecting phantom populations and it had a malfunction such that the real surface was revealed, that could account for the difference.”
The sensor operator thought about the proposal, “Yes, that’s possible. Are we going to go see if it’s valid?”
“Do you want to waste,” the Director looked at his display, “eighteen intervals to see? We know someone in this universe can deceive our scanners. We have wasted too much time already, and I’m not willing to throw away any more. If there’s doubt about a population’s existence, I would rather move toward one where we are reasonably certain of success.”
The sensor operator could hear the thoughts of all the Keepers in the fleet and determined that the over whelming majority agreed with the Director. “I’ll check that planet later, and if the population goes back to the original level we’ll know it is another decoy.”
“Where is your other target?”
“On your display, Director.”
“Jump in a quarter interval; tighten up your formations.”
The Keepers Fleet jumped and arrived at the jump limit in Camerrill’s system.
Valerie watched her communication panel as Fleet Command scrambled to move Camerrill’s population. Valerie thought, “I hate being right about this. Jake, you’re causing trouble. Hurry up and get those powers under control.” He couldn’t hear her, but she had to voice her frustration.
Joe appeared on her board, “I will not question you again.”
Valerie nodded, “That is a wise decision, but you need to get the population to safety.”
“I’m sorry, Sis.” Joe disappeared from her screen.
Valerie pulled up a picture of Jake on her display. He had just woken from his history download and had smiled when he saw her beside his chair. She stared at the picture in silence, “Come on, Jake. We need you now.”
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