by Saxon Andrew
“No, but the King of the Bristone Empire has started a massive ship building campaign.”
“Do you know why?” the Elder pressed further.
“No, we don’t. However, we’ve been told by a very good source that it has nothing to do with the Realm.”
“Why have you not mentioned this to me?”
“We were planning to come and ask if you knew anything about it.” The Elder saw that Curan was being honest. “We’ve started activating all of our stored warships.”
“What?”
“We are hoping you can tell us that we’re overreacting and if we are, we’ll put them back in storage.”
“How can I tell you anything? All of this is new to me.”
“Our source has told us that Zord and Cats have been seen at the King’s Castle. But we have no idea what that means.”
“What that means is a real threat to them has been detected.”
“What?”
“It sounds like a Creational Crisis.”
“What is that?”
“DO YOU NOT KNOW YOUR OWN HISTORY!?!”
“Apparently, we don’t. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The last crisis was the Demons.”
“Oh, my.”
The Great Elder shook and said with dripping sarcasm, “I tell you about the most dangerous threat the Realm has ever faced and all you have to say is ‘Oh, my’?”
“We need to find out what’s going on.”
“There you go saying something intelligent. Send a representative to the King and ask.”
“I’ll notify Thele immediately.”
“That would be good.”
“Uhhh…why haven’t you sent someone to ask?” Curan asked.
“I happen to know the Empire is not exactly enamored with me now.”
“Why is that?”
“I sent a fleet and made some demands on them.”
“Why would you do that?”
“It was wasted effort and it doesn’t matter now. However, you would be better received than me.”
“I’ll get back to you.”
“See that you do.”
• • •
Curan left the Holy Grove and the Great Elder began to feel the first trickle of fear run through him. He may have been in error to have treated the Queen with such disrespect. But surely there wasn’t another attack coming? Was there? He’d force her to defend them by threatening the Bristone Empire if it came down to it. Yes, that should do it.
• • •
“Grace, how does it feel?”
“It’s good to be home, Tag.”
“I trust you and Alex are now on good terms.”
“We’ve never been on bad terms.”
“Alex, are you sure about that?”
“I’ve missed her more that I can say and it may have affected my behavior a little.” Danielle snorted and Alex said, “OK! I was not myself.”
Danielle smiled, “Now was that so hard to admit?”
“More than you know. At least that Cainth Female wasn’t here to hear it.”
“That reminds me, Tag, you should call them to come back.” Tag touched the back of his head and Danielle said, “Tag, just leave the darn thing on!”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes, I am.”
Tag smiled and focused his thoughts, “Dela, I need you and Kogo to report to the Kosiev.”
“We’ll meet you when you exit the Facility.”
“We’ll be leaving in about ten minutes.”
“See you then.”
“BC, we’re ready to leave.”
“I’m opening the doors. Come back and don’t be a stranger.”
“I’m certain we’ll be back rather quickly. I’ll see you in a few weeks. Have Sprigly contact me when he shows up.”
“I’ll let him know. Is there anything you want me to tell the Spiders?”
“Tell them to settle in and I’ll let them know why I asked them to come back, if Sprigly hasn’t already told them.”
“Be careful.”
The huge doors lifted and the Kosiev backed out of the landing bay and moved out into space. Two small warships were waiting outside and Tag thought, “We’ll open the bay for you to come in.”
“If you don’t mind, we’re prefer to stay in our ships and continue the tutorial.”
“That’s fine. Do you have the coordinates where we’re going?”
“We’re moving inside Alex’s drive field. We’ll just go along for the ride.”
“Alex, are you ready?” Tag asked.
“Grace is going to handle the driving like she did before. I have the weapon systems.”
“Good enough, let’s go visit some former friends.”
“Do you think they’re no longer your friend?”
“Grace, you weren’t here when we went to see the Cainth. Look at the recording in Alex’s databanks and I think you’ll get the picture.”
“Oh, my! Kogo attacked Tag?”
“It was just a little practice, Grace.”
“Better put the force field up, Alex.”
“I’m a head of you.”
“Alright, next stop the Orion Nebula.”
• • •
“Alex, I thought you tracked them from their former planets to this location.”
“Tag, I tracked the probe’s signal to one of their ships here. I looked in the ship’s databanks and learned about a hundred of their warships surviving the Algean attack two-millennia ago. I didn’t actually go to the planet they’ve inhabited.”
“So, where are they?”
“My scanners aren’t finding anything.”
“The dust out here is hot and my scanner is not seeing anything either,” Grace replied. “The Orion Nebula is one of the largest star-producing places in the Milky Way.”
Tag sat back in his chair and thought aloud, “That has to mean the Glod have used the dust to hide where they settled. Sprigly, can we do a search for them?”
“Tag, this area of space is more than two-hundred-light-years across. Without operational scanners, we could move right by them and not see them.”
Danielle looked up, “Alex, turn off your masking field.”
“What?”
“Turn it off. We’re out in open space and if we can’t go to them, perhaps we can get them to come to us.”
“Is this a good idea?”
“Why do you ask that, Dela?”
“Well, I know if we still had warships, we wouldn’t have come out to hand out flowers when you showed up.”
“Alex, is the force field active?”
“I have the outer field set so that it’s clear so we can see through it. The inner field will go to full power if anything hits the outer shield.”
“Shut it down!”
The viewport brightened slightly as the masking field dropped. They sat, waited, and stared out of the front viewport at the beauty of the Andromeda Nebula.
“Why don’t we just broadcast a message?”
“It won’t get through the dust, Dela,” Alex replied.
“And telepathy?”
“Will only be understandable at close range,” Sprigly answered. “I suspect that is part of the reason they came here. Algean Warships would not be able to hear them telepathically.”
“The Glod always were wise in the ways of war.”
“That’s why they were attacked, Danielle.”
“I have something!” Grace said. Everyone jerked their heads to the monitor, where they saw an ancient warship moving out of the gas in front of the ship. It moved quickly until it arrived three-miles in front of the Kosiev and then it stopped, “You are violating our space and you are ordered to leave immediately!”
Danielle focused on the Glod Warship and thought, “I have come to speak with the current ruler of the Glod.”
“We do not communicate with anyone.”
“Send a message to your ruler that Queen Danielle G
ardner wishes to communicate with him.”
The comment was only greeted with silence and Sprigly said, “That ship is unmanned. It appears to have a telepathic broadcasting unit on board that relays to another source.”
“Can you find the source, Sprigly?”
“No, Tag. It’s hidden inside the dust cloud.”
They heard the hidden ship say, “I see there is an Algean on your vessel.”
“Yes, his name is Sprigly and he is sworn to me, just like you are.”
“We are no longer a member of the Realm you created.”
“Neither am I. That’s something we have in common.”
“You are the Realm, if you truly are Queen Gardner.”
“That is true, but I am not the Realm that attacked your planets long ago. That is no longer the Stars Realm.”
“That’s what they call themselves.”
“A potato could call itself a tomato and it wouldn’t be true.”
“I see no way to reconcile this situation.”
“Then don’t try. Bring your leader out to me and we’ll have our discussion here.”
“Stay where you are and I’ll discuss this with my controller.”
Dela stared at the monitor and asked, “How can they act so…”
“Confident!” Kogo replied.
“Yeah. That ship is a joke compared to the Kosiev or our Primes.”
“What you see is often not what is there.”
Dela’s eyes narrowed as she turned to Kogo and he said, “That wasn’t me.”
Tag smiled, “The Glod have been here almost two-millennia, I’m reasonably certain that ship is not what we’ll have to face. The Glod would not sit on their hands and only hope to hide.”
Dela nodded, “They are warriors like us.”
“Some of the best the universe has ever created,” Danielle said wistfully.
“What happens now?”
Danielle sighed, “If the Glod are their normal selves, we could be here while they argue about what to do. This could take a while. They don’t make quick decisions.”
“It appears they’ve changed, Danielle.”
“Why do you say that, Grace.” Suddenly, more than forty-thousand huge warships emerged from the dust and surrounded the Kosiev. “Oh, there’s more coming!” Grace announced. Everyone stared at the viewport and saw a ship start emerging from the dust cloud. Even Tag’s mouth was open as it moved clear of the dust; it was a monster. He looked up, “Alex?”
“That ships force field is more powerful than any I’ve ever scanned and it’s is double my tonnage.”
“More powerful than yours?”
“Like I said, more powerful than any I’ve ever seen.”
“BEFORE I DESTROY YOUR VESSEL, IS THERE ANY LAST WORDS YOU WISH TO SAY?”
• • •
Curan looked at the Bristone King and said, “We have learned that you are preparing for war.”
Scotty knew there was a spy among his staff. He’d need to get the Cats in to find him, “And just how do you know this?”
“Is it true?”
“If you are not aware of the recent intrusion of your hired thugs into my Realm, you should know that I will not tolerate the Realm interfering here.”
“It’s my understanding that the Algeans and by proxy, the Realm are not the object of your build up. If it were, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Send your thugs. We’re ready for them now.”
“Why do you have ill will for the Realm? We’ve given you complete freedom and have left you alone.”
“That changed a while back.”
“The Realm did not order the Algeans here.”
“Then you don’t really control them, do you?”
Curan tried everything he knew to get the King to reveal what was going on and failed. After an hour, Curan said, “If there is a danger to you that also threatens the Realm, you should tell us so we can work together to defeat it.”
Scotty hesitated and then made a decision, “Queen Danielle has decided that we will not work with the Algeans. If you have a problem with that, take it up with her.”
Curan stared at the King and felt a chill run down his spine, “Do you know where I can find her?”
“I suspect she will find you first. However, this conversation is over.”
Curan stared at Scotty Robbins and saw something in his eyes. “You hate us.”
“You have betrayed every principle the Realm ever stood for in ruling your subjects. I detest what you’ve become and you deserve whatever happens to you.”
Curan bowed and left the throne room. He boarded his shuttle and flew up to the large commercial vessel in orbit above Bristone. He didn’t tell Thele he had a First Edition of The Stars Realm History; it could get him into some difficulty if Thele knew he had it. He had opened it and had the computer search for Zord and Cats in the giant volume and what he saw frightened him. He needed to find another edition and get it to Thele. This smacked of a Creational Crisis and if it was…he shook his head and wondered where he could hide from a force large enough to destroy all life in a universe.
• • •
Scotty glared at Curan as he left the throne room and pressed a button on his panel the moment he was gone, “James.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“I need to send a message to the Algeans that they can understand.”
“They only understand one thing.”
“I’m aware of that. Take eleven of the Primes and one Psychic Ship that have the masking field installed.”
“They might react forcefully to us.”
“Not if you make the message clear to them.”
“I’ll leave immediately.” Scotty leaned back and knew the time for being subtle was over.
• • •
The Great Elder was discussing the current situation in the Holy Grove when a message came out of the communication panel, “I’m here to speak to the Great Elder.”
The Great Elder stopped the discussion and looked at his Defense Elder for answers, “I’m not detecting anything again.”
“Who is this?”
“I am Prince James Carter of the Bristone Empire and Emperor Scotty Robbins has charged me to come here and deliver a message.”
“You will pay for coming to our Holiest of Places without permission.” Thousands of Algean Warships were flying around the planet searching for the source of the transmissions without success.
“The Emperor knows that your species only understands strength and he wants to make sure you know what will happen if you enter our space again. We will not offer any warning to your vessels if they violate our sovereignty again and we will immediately come here and destroy this planet. We will, of course insure that you are one of the first to die if it comes to that.”
The Great Elder sneered, “And you think you can get through my forces to do it?”
“We can do it right now but felt it fair that you be given a warning first. We will fire one of the old Searcher’s red beams into your planet and it will hit right where you are standing now. We will no longer tolerate your aggression and any further violation of our territory will be dealt with.”
“Do you think you can threaten me?!”
“No, but I can promise you that you will die.” James punched a button on his panel, “Light them up!”
Suddenly, eleven small warships and one giant ship appeared directly above the Holy Grove in low orbit. A hundred Algean Warships flashed in on the small squadron and were blasted into dust. James said, before the twelve-ships disappeared, “We will keep this promise!”
The Great Elder could hear the pilots of his defense forces yelling they could not find where the twelve-ships had gone. He now knew his plan of holding the Bristone Empire hostage was no longer an option. How did they develop warships so far beyond his own? He looked at the other Elders and saw they were swaying in fear. He was frozen on what to do. “Great Elder, those small ships are just as fast and maneuver
able as our own and their beams are more powerful.” The Great Elder began to sway with the other Elders. He knew leaving the Sacred Grove was not an option. The people would never stand for it. He could do nothing about this threat and the other Elders knew it. Soon, the rest of his species knew it as well.
Chapter Eleven
Danielle smiled, “I challenge you to the Quilleron Rite to determine who is right in this matter. You may choose your champion to represent you.”
“How do you know about this rite?”
“I was challenged by it long ago and I chose my husband to be my champion just before he threw his swords into the Solar Arch at the gate to the Quilleron Temple.”
“If you truly are Danielle, no one can defeat your Consort.”
“And lives will be wasted for no good reason.”
“That’s what was said long ago.”
“And it’s still true today.”
“Your Majesty, I humbly apologize for my disrespect.”
“You had to be careful and protect my subjects from any subterfuge the Realm would use to find you. I beg your forgiveness for not being here to protect your people when they were attacked.”
“ALL SHIPS WILL TURN OFF THEIR WEAPONS!”
“But how do we know for sure it’s really her?”
“Would you like to take on Tag Garner to find out, Benga?”
“No…I would not.”
“Tgon-Gee swore our loyalty to Danielle and we keep our oaths. I have no doubt it is truly her. No outsider has ever been allowed to the Solar Arch to see the two-swords. She is who she says she is. How were you able to find us, Your Majesty?”
“You left a probe at your former planet and my ship traced its emissions here.”
“We didn’t know it could be traced.”
“We will remove that probe to make sure no one else does.”
“Are you Tag Gardner?”
“I am.”
“Why are you here, Your Majesty?”
“I’m here to save you from a coming threat to our universe.”
“Do you think this threat can find us here?”
“I’m not sure but I’m not taking any chances with those I’m sworn to protect.”
“What is it you want to do?”
“I’m going to move your planet to the Bristone Empire and start training your warriors to meet the coming attack.”
“Your Majesty, my name is Tgon-Cee and I am a descendant of the great Tgon-Gee. We will do as you instruct us but I know my people will be fearful of giving up this place where we’ve been able to hide for so long.”
