Ashes of the Realm - Death of an Empire (Ashes of the Realm (Book Three)) (13 page)

It turned off its board and thought about all that it had done. “Have I anticipated everything?” It didn’t see any loose ends, so it activated its board and sent the report to the Council. He stopped the scans of the eight universes and turned his system to scan the next ten systems to be invaded. He set the threshold of threats to awaken him, reclined on his couch, and lost himself in the ecstasy of the drug.

* * *

Jingos watched as Ron Kune yelled at the Flyers taking part in target practice at the edge of the clearing, “NO! NO! NO! Decrease the width of your beam to two inches. You’re cheating yourselves of the skill you’re going to have to possess to be successful.” The ten Flyers weren’t happy. Hitting those discs flying across the clearing while hovering was next to impossible, and Ron heard their thoughts. Uleeh flapped his wings and Ron rose into the air and yelled, “Send me ten discs.”

The ten Flyers heard him and thought he was crazy, hitting ten discs was impossible. The ten discs flew out across the clearing and Ron hit all ten before they make it halfway across. Jingos and the ten flyers were amazed at the shooting exhibition. Jingos was angry that he had been moved to second in command to Ron by the Division Commander. Now he wasn’t so sure about his feelings. He heard Ron say, “Everyone on the ground.”

The ten Flyers landed and Ron jumped off Uleeh and walked in front of them with his hands on his hips, “What are you going to do if an enemy has hostages and is holding them at gunpoint? You’re going to have to hit a target the size of those discs to be able to save the hostages and you’ll have to do it while in flight. If you can’t do it here; you can’t do it in the heat of battle. You’re cheating yourself to take the easy way out during this training.” Ron stared at the flyers and said, “You can do this. I know you can do this if you’re willing to work hard at your accuracy. This isn’t something that can be learned without your best effort.” He looked at the Flyers and said, “Let’s try it again.”

The ten Flyers were amazed at the Rider’s shooting skill but Ron saw their determination. Jingos jumped on Hileeh and lifted, “Send me five.”

Ron watched as the five discs flew out and Jingos hit three of them. He knew that was an incredible score and that Jingos had natural talent. He came back that evening and saw all eleven of the Flyers were still working. He smiled knowing that the Zord’s wings would be strengthened from the work and the Riders would become very dangerous warriors. If they continued at their current rate of improvement, he could put Jingos back in command and move to another unit; but not before they were ready. Jingos would know who he could count on under his command for the difficult assignments and they had to be proficient. It was better to have five units thoroughly competent than twenty only partially ready. He left to work in another clearing with ten more flyers. Time was growing short and he had been told there was trouble waiting for them in the universe they were scouting. Uleeh thought, “You’re going to need to get some rest soon.”

Ron sighed and felt his fatigue, “Later we’ll have time to rest. Now is not the time.” Ron touched the medallion on his chest. It had been given to an ancient ancestor who was the brother of a Searcher that had fought for the survival of the Stars Realm. He bore that Searcher’s name and he was not going to be less than what that medallion meant. He shook off his fatigue and lifted for the other group of trainees.

Jingos watched him leave and saw how tired the former Protector was. He vowed to be as good and drove himself every waking hour to perfect his accuracy. Within two weeks he was hitting fifteen discs with a half inch beam. He began assisting Ron in getting his Flyers ready and learned that impossible was no longer a word in his vocabulary. His unit became famous for Jingos’ favorite saying, “Shut up and shoot.”

At the end of training, Jingos and the ten Flyers could hover, teleport to different locations, and hit a continuous stream of discs flying over the clearing from eight different directions. Jingos was given his command back and he made those ten Flyers the commanders of ten of his units. His friendship with Ron lasted throughout their lives and he eventually made Ron his second in command. He learned what his Father had felt for the white haired Human and knew that he was better for the love he felt for the former Protector. Ron never told him but knew that Jingos had become a better shooter. Some things were best left unsaid.

* * *

Paul reclined against a log with TK and looked up at the stars from one of the clearings. They had a small fire burning and they didn’t say anything but just felt each other’s presence. TK thought about her parents and missed them so much. Paul felt her sadness but was not going to diminish her loss by depriving her of the feelings. He pulled her closer and stared at the sky. “I used to sit with my parents and gaze at the stars for hours. Those times were some of the best in my life. I’d give anything to do it again.” She turned and looked up at Paul, “But this comes close.”

Paul smiled and leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

TK said, “You know you should have command of the Division.”

“Not really. It’s the initial contact that’s critical and I can be used best during that phase of our training. You’re right where you should be. You are the Division’s Heart and they’ll gladly die to support your commands. That’s a lot more important than skills, my Love.”

TK sighed, “Are your Scout Units ready?”

“They’re as ready as they can be given the time we had to prepare. We aren’t going to start a fight but to see what we have to face. We’ll wait until you arrive with the Division before we start shooting.”

“Paul, I don’t want to lose you. Please, be careful.”

Paul didn’t say anything but pulled her tighter and looked back up at the stars.

TK knew one could never anticipate what would happen during battles. She prayed she wouldn’t lose another love in her life. She looked back up at the stars and felt her fears slowly evaporate. Creation looked down at the two lovers and smiled back at them.

The eight thousand Flyers were gathered in a huge clearing on Criston and TK was standing in front of the eighty units. Jingos had command of forty Hundred Units and Paul commanded the other forty. The eighty Protectors had left to train the main units waiting for the Scout’s findings and Grang and Jingo had joined them to speed the training process. TK looked at the Flyers and could feel their anticipation at being back in action. She sensed they were ready.

“We are depending on you to collect the information we need to make a difference in the universe you are about to enter. You know our values and principles and I expect you to live and, if necessary, die defending them. I know you’ll make the Empire proud of you. I already feel that pride just standing here with you.” She paused and said, “I want you to remember that it is critically important that you not be discovered while you are gathering information. You are Scouts and you must avoid being seen so that our main force will be effective. We sense there is a danger lurking in that universe and I’m depending on you to find it and report back. I wish you the best and I know you’ll carry out your assignments.”

She nodded to Paul and Jingos and they turned to their units. Paul yelled, “You have your assigned coordinates and the place to report. Are you ready!?!”

The eight thousand screamed, “FOR THE EMPIRE!”

Jingos yelled, “Go to your assignments…..now!”

The eight thousand Flyers disappeared from the clearing leaving TK to worry about their safety. She walked over to Malah and said, “Let’s go home.”

The huge Zord and TK disappeared

* * *

Day East and Kreen came out of their universal jump just outside a Galaxy that was absolutely beautiful. It had recently merged with another galaxy and the birth of bright blue stars filled it from one end to the other. Day stared at the billions of stars and sighed. He knew that recently was more like sixty million years earlier but that represented just a moment in the life of a galaxy. Galaxies merging seldom harmed stars in either galaxy because of the space between them. Gravity would usually attract any stars that came close to each other and lock them into a double star orbit around each other. The galaxy that emerged from the merger was twice as big and made young by the process.

“Where do you want to start?”

Day smiled and pointed toward the giant blue star shining brightly in the outer edge, “That would be a good place. Most galaxies have less than ten blue giants in them and I’d like to take a look at that one before we get to work. It’s incredible.”

Kreen smiled, “It’s unfortunate that those stars have the shortest life span. My scans indicate that it will go super nova in another hundred thousand years.”

“Yes, but while they live they are something to behold.” Day smiled and said, “Let’s start our scans from that star.”

“Maintain our stealth mode. We should also refrain from communicating.”

“Why do you say that, Kreen?”

“We don’t know if there are any telepathic species around that could hear our thoughts. If you need to communicate, do it over our armor’s circuits.”

“Will do.” The Flyer disappeared.

* * *

Day saw the giant star from a light year out and marveled at the monster. Kreen said over the circuit, “We should charge our armor while we’re here.”

Day tore his attention from the star and set his armor to charge. He watched the meter inside his helmet and saw the needle swing swiftly up to the maximum setting. He turned off the receptors and saw that Kreen still had his wings extended to their full width. He shook his head and knew that the Zord had more than a hundred times his capacity in storage. He waited and expanded his scanner to the area around the blue giant. There were more than a hundred Class G-Stars within twenty light years of his location and he set his passive scanner to pick up any frequency in the small band width of electromagnetic pulses. If there was an advanced civilization in that volume of space, it would be giving off those frequencies. He immediately saw that one star was emanating a huge wave of those pulses.

“Kreen, do you see those pulses?”

“I do and there is another planet just beyond that one also showing signs of civilization.”

“Well, it looks like it’s time to go to work. Let’s go look at the largest one first.”

* * *

The Flyer arrived in a solar system that was filled with starships moving in and out of the system. The planet in the habitable zone of the star was clearly industrialized. Day looked at his readout and saw there were more than fifty thousand ships in the system and most of them were not armed, “Let’s go to the closest moon and take a look.”

They teleported to the moon’s surface and looked up at the planet above them while they watched their scanners for any indication they had been detected. “Day, nothing in this system is moving our way. It appears our stealth mode works.”

“Are you able to see the surface from here?”

Kreen spread his wings and expanded his scanning field, “Yes, and it appears that this society doesn’t have any military structures within my view. This appears to be a peaceful civilization at first glance.”

“I didn’t see any military ships in the system either. Let’s go to the next planet and take a look.”

Kreen kept his wings spread as he turned around and said, “Wait a minute.”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s something in the outer system that is blocking light from the star behind it. I would have ordinarily missed it but that Blue Giant has a shadow in front of it.”

Day looked at the giant star that was the size of a small moon and saw what Kreen was talking about. He focused his scanner and saw that something was blocking light from the star. “Whatever it is, it’s not visible in normal light.”

“No, it’s hiding out there.”

“Do you sense any scans?”

“No, I don’t. It must be a ship of some kind that has stealth capability and is only scanning using passive sensors.”

“Teleport us out of this system and come back in on a route where we would not be in line with any stars.”

They made three teleports and arrived fifty miles below the object. Day couldn’t see what it was but knew it was big. It was blocking out a huge section of stars behind it and he used his computer to determine that it was about a mile in length. Kreen said, “I can hear the thoughts of the crew on that ship. It’s not from here and is scouting this system for conquest. I can see the board in front of their navigator when he looks at it and there are coordinates on the display. I would guess that is where this ship originated.” Kreen paused, “What do you want to do?”

Day thought about it, “Ordinarily I’d wake them up with a beam but we’re here to gather information. Can you take us to the location of those coordinates?”

“I think that’s the best choice. I’ll teleport us a light year from them.”

“Can you see the beings in that ship?”

“Yes, and they remind me of something.”

“What?”

“They do have two arms with hands but they appear to look very much like a wasp without wings.”

“Can you see anything else?”

“Yes, there is a weapons board with a rather large selection to choose from. This ship is heavily armed.”

Day looked up at the huge ship, “If this is a scout, their main ships must be huge.”

“We should go look.” Kreen teleported away.

* * *

The Sensor said, “Something using a strange form of energy is close to us.”

The Nest Master turned, “Where is it?”

The Sensor stared at its display, “It’s no longer here.”

“What was it?”

The Sensor shook its triangular shaped head, “I have no idea. Nothing appeared on my monitor but my scanner reported energy.”

“Could it be a malfunction?”

“Nothing is on my panel now. I don’t know.”

The Nest Master thought a moment, “If it happens again, notify me.”

“I will.”

* * *

Day and Kreen were above a planet that had been conquered by a strange looking species that looked very much like a wasp. It walked on four legs but had two arms with hands that had six fingers. It had the abdomen of a wasp extending beyond the four legs and a triangular shaped head. The eyes differed from a wasp in that they were set into the head in small indentations. Kreen had his wings extended and was feeding the scans into Day’s armor. They watched as the population was herded into camps all over the planet as large ships moved into the system. “I wonder what’s going to happen to those prisoners.”