Annihilation Series-Searching for a Hero (14 page)

Ping looked across the lab at the picture of a young couple sitting in the throne room on Ross. His eyes narrowed and he stood up and went across the room and stared at the picture. Sprigly said, “Now they were the bigger than life heroes of the Realm.”

Ping continued to stare at the picture and said, “I’ve seen them.”

Sprigly stared at Ping and finally said, “In photos?”

“No, in person.”

“Ping, you can’t be serious.”

“The woman came to me and told me that she hoped I would do the right thing and kill myself for the worthless scum I am. Later, the man came and apologized for her remarks. He said she didn’t understand how accepting destiny could be so difficult.”

Sprigly leaned far back and said, “Ping, you had to be dreaming or hallucinating.”

Ping thought about it for a moment and he looked at Sprigly, “Why?”

“They’ve not been seen in more than three thousand years.”

Ping thought about it and said, “I was in a severe state of depression at the time.” He turned back to the picture and said, “They were older.”

Sprigly came rushing around his desk and stood beside Ping, “How much older?”

“They looked to be in their mid-forties.” Ping looked at Sprigly, “Why is that important?”

“There is no picture in existence of the Gardner’s appearing older than thirty. If you were hallucinating, you could have only pulled up things you’ve seen.”

“That’s not necessarily true; I’ve had some nightmares with things that couldn’t have ever existed.”

Sprigly leaned forward, “Perhaps you’re right; besides, what you’re describing is a role reversal for them.”

“Oh?”

“Danielle Gardner was the one with the good heart. Tag was the Warrior. I would think that they would have appeared with Tag reading you the riot act and Danielle smoothing things over.”

Ping looked back at the picture and said, “They were there, Sprigly.”

Sprigly almost quivered hard enough to shake his leaves off, “If what you’re saying is true, you won’t be doing this alone.”

“Why do you say that?”

“They must know what’s happening and are following events closely. I may have my greatest wish fulfilled…I may meet the Gardners.”

Ping sighed, “Trust me; I’d rather have not met them.”

“Speak for yourself. I’d give up a hundred thousand years of my life to see them.”

Ping shook his head and laughed, “Just how long are you going to live?”

“Around a million years or so.”

Ping shook his head, “I don’t know that I’d want to live that long with all that I’ve seen so far.”

Sprigly hit Ping on the back with a branch, “Trust me, it grows on you.”

“So does fungus.”

Sprigly laughed and went back to his panel. Ping continued to stare at the picture and wondered what the former Queen of the Realm thought about him now.

• • • • •

Ping went to his ship that was in orbit above Sprigly’s space laboratory eight hours later and took off his shirt. He was exhausted and he fell into his command chair and closed his eyes. The never ending pressure of worrying about his role in the coming conflict was starting to wear on him. He rubbed his eyes and tried to get the energy to get up and go shower.

“I’m sorry for what I said earlier.”

Ping’s eyes snapped open and he saw the blonde haired woman standing in front of him. “Will you please confirm I am not hallucinating?”

The woman smiled and shook her head, “No, you’re not.”

“Are you Danielle Gardner?”

“I am.”

There were a million questions he wanted to ask but he knew she wouldn’t stay long enough to answer them. He took in a deep breath and said, “I deserved what you said. There’s no need to apologize.”

“Yes there is; I blamed you for doing what I’ve done.”

Ping’s brow furrowed, “What is that?”

“Stepping away from my responsibilities.” Ping stared at her and didn’t know what to say. “I left the Realm long ago and decided that my time was over. I now realize that we could have made a difference in the conflicts that the Realm has endured since our departure.”

“Have you decided to get back in the fray?”

“We really don’t know if we can make a difference in what’s coming.”

“What, exactly, is coming?”

Danielle nodded toward the second chair on the bridge and said, “May I?”

Ping nodded, “By all means, please sit down.”

Danielle walked over to the chair and leaned back, “It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in a Searcher Ship.” She sighed and looked at him, “Do you know the history of the Three Brothers?”

“I’ve read it.”

“Then you’re aware that they were a gift from another Creator.”

“If I remember correctly, that Creator became our Creator’s mate.”

“He did. The gift was given to our Creation to help us overcome those forces of evil that were threatening to overwhelm the Realm.”

“History has surmised as much.”

“What they didn’t see was that his Creation was also under attack from formidable enemies. He hoped that once we defeated those that were attacking here that we would go and help him against those forces in his domain.”

“I don’t remember that ever happening.”

Danielle shook her head, “It didn’t. Now our Creation is going to be invaded by those evil beings. You are a development of both Creators. There is only one of you and, if you’re not successful, the other Creator will probably die.”

Ping shook his head, “I was hoping you could reduce the pressures I’ve been feeling; this information only makes them worse.”

“You will have to learn to live with those fears; I know my husband and I faced them more times than I care to remember.”

“I could use your help in seeing what I need to do.”

Danielle smiled and slowly shook her head, “Quite the reverse is true. You are going to have to see if there is anything we could do to help you. We are secondary to what your quest is. We’re both not certain that we could do anything to help.”

“Would you help me if I needed you?”

“You need to make sure we could make a difference; if we make an appearance, it would create a rather major distraction to your efforts and would possibly undermine your authority. You should really think this through before you decide anything.”

Ping nodded, “I’ll give it some thought; I just feel so alone in this.”

“Then you haven’t found the one that will release you?” Ping stared at Danielle for a long moment and she smiled, “You have found her!”

“Yes, but I sense that we cannot come together yet…I really don’t know why.”

“Follow your senses; they’ll take you where you need to go and once the two of you make contact, I suspect you’ll have everything you need to move forward. We were worried that you had not found her yet.”

“No, I found her. What do you mean I’ll have everything I need?”

“Your abilities will probably dwarf what Tag and I have been given. I suspect you won’t need our help.”

Ping stared at her and something entered his mind, “I won’t need you here; it’s later that I’ll be calling you.”

Danielle stared at Ping, “Did you just see that?” Ping nodded, “Good, that at least gives us an idea of what we need to do.”

“What is that?”

“You’re going to have to develop a defense that will allow your ships to enter the other Creation and take on the violent species destroying it. Without it, they would be heavily outnumbered and outgunned.”

“How do I find out how to develop one?”

Danielle stood up and shook her head, “That is why you are here.” Then she disappeared. Ping stared at the place she had been standing and smiled. He didn’t know where that thought had come from but he knew that he was being helped by…something. His fatigue vanished and he simply felt tired. He walked off the bridge to take a shower and get some sleep. It was the first time since Mios’ and Jodie’s deaths that he had a peaceful night of sleep.

T
he Director watched the Elite Engineer give instructions to the team concerning the new weapon ports being placed on their existing ships. He finished and walked over to the Director, “How are we supposed to build ports for weapons we know nothing about?”

The Director shrugged, “We’ve been given the dimensions of the port and how much room will be needed inside the ship. Personally, I didn’t think we would have that much this quickly.”

“You know that by removing our current beams we will be defenseless against an attack.”

“No, there will still be thousands of ships that will not get the upgrades.”

“Why is that?”

“We are going to assist the Realm in removing some very violent species from our universe.”

“Have you considered that we could also be seen as one of those species?”

The Director snorted and laughed, “That was then; this is now.”

The Elite Engineer stared at the Director, “Oh really?”

“Really; we’ve felt a change happening and our desire to expand and attack other civilizations has diminished; have you not felt it?”

The Engineer sighed, “Yes, I suppose I have. What could be causing this change?

The Director shrugged, “Perhaps coming into contact with one that showed us we were wrong. Whatever it is, we need to move quickly and we need the plants manufacturing new ships to have the new specifications installed.”

“I’ll get it done; just tell the Realm we need those weapons to install now.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

• • • • •

Ping sat in the clearing on El Prado again and stared up at the night sky again. He was constantly amazed by the beauty and it never grew old. “Rider, this is a beautiful place to live.”

“The first Emperor of the Bristone Empire felt the same way.”

“Are you talking about Scotty Robbins?”

“I am; he grew up on this planet and spent many nights at this very clearing, looking up at the same stars.”

“Was he a tool as well?”

“No, he wasn’t. He was a human that decided to bring peace to a universe caught up in a civil war that seemed to never end. His talents were not outside what the average human possesses. He was an extraordinary person.”

“I imagine he was.”

“You really have no idea.”

Ping stared at the giant Cat, “Why do you say that?”

“He is what caused our Creation to come together again and he did it with a high sense of morals and strength of will that was incredible. No one that came into contact with him was ever left the same. He made those around him much better from the contact.”

“Why haven’t I met a Zord?”

“They’re listening in on our conversations. They have decided to allow us to handle whatever needs to be done.”

“Why, I would think they would want to get in the fight.”

“They are not armed to fight in what’s coming and they know it. They’ve had their place in history and are now happy living here as they once did in ancient times.” Ping shook his head and Rider said, “What?”

“The new energy guns we’ve developed can be made to fit on a Zord’s harness. I would have thought they’d jump at the chance to have a good fight.” Ping heard a loud noise and looked up to see two giant creatures screaming down at the clearing. The wind passing over their wings was incredibly loud.

The two giant creatures landed in the clearing and the larger of the two thought, “Did I hear you correctly about the new beams fitting our harness?”

Ping laughed and looked at Rider, “Their time in history my backside!” He looked at the Zord that appeared very much like a giant dragon in Earth’s mythology, “Yes you did.”

“Well you can count us in.”

“Do you still have your teleportation capabilities?”

“We’ve never lost them; and we still have our armor.”

“How many warriors do you have to use?”

“Three or four million.”

Ping stared at the twenty five foot high Zord and though he knew they weren’t reptiles in that they were warm blooded, he couldn’t help but see them as dragons. “We’ve started building the new blasters and have sent them to be installed on the Slegan and Realm warships. However, if you’ll send a representative to Sprigly’s laboratory, I’m sure he’ll start building them for you.”

The larger Zord looked at the smaller one and it disappeared. “He’ll discuss it with him now.”

Rider looked at the huge Zord, “Vremel, are you sure about this?”

“We are at heart warriors. I’m surprised your family is not getting in the fight.”

Rider looked at Ping and his sadness was clear, “We are not efficient in fighting in space. We are at our best on a planet’s surface and I can see that we won’t be needed in the coming invasion.”

Ping looked up at the Cat and shook his head, “If we’re successful against their attack, we will need land forces to take them on in their Creation.”

Rider jumped to his feet faster than Ping could see, “YOU WILL?”

“That’s how I sense it. But we’ll have to win here first and that’s not a certainty.”

Rider raised his head and roared at the night sky. The roar was deafening and the ensuing roars answering the giant Cat were immediate. Vremel looked at Ping and thought to him, “He just asked the Cats if they wanted to fight again.”

Ping heard the roars coming in from all directions and heard them sweeping out to the horizon. He smiled and shook his head. The Zord said, “It appears they want to do it.”

Rider lowered his head, smiled, and said, “You have no idea,” just as tens of thousands of Cats began teleporting in screaming their joyous roars to the night sky.

• • • • •

Admiral Kosiev looked at the King on his display, “It appears our Lt. Kendel has enlisted the aid of the Zord in the coming attack.”

“What!”

“They leaped at the opportunity. It appears our number of weapons to use has increased rather dramatically.”

“Are we going to be able to manufacture enough blasters to go around?”

Kosiev smiled, “You and I have never seen the Algeans put their minds and efforts into building weapons for the Realm. The last time they did was when they built the original Searcher Ships for the Old Realm. They have more than a hundred thousand of their planets building them by the thousands per day. They’re teleporting them to where they’re needed and the modifications are being done at break neck speed. The Zord were armed in less than a week.”