Ashes of the Realm - Death of an Empire (Ashes of the Realm (Book Three)) (15 page)

“Are you looking forward to getting back into the fray?”

Grang smiled and nodded.

“It won’t be much longer, Father.”

“Good.”

* * *

Kreen and Day looked down on a planet that looked like the surface was alive. An entire continent was covered with billions of the wasp creatures. “Can you get a closer view?”

The view changed and they watched as ships landed and started moving bodies of paralyzed captives into shuttles that took them down small avenues between mile after mile of small discs on the planet’s surface. The shuttle would stop and the Wasps would lift a body from the shuttle as another Wasp moved forward and stung it. They noticed that every one of the Wasps stinging the bodies had swollen abdomens. Once the body was stung it was lowered into a tube and a cap was placed on top of it. The workers then moved to the next tube to continue the process. Kreen changed the view to another area and they saw caps being pushed up by Wasps that were half the size of the adults. Once they emerged, the adults would put a device on top of the tube and suck out a dried out husk. The remains were thrown on a large vehicle that transported them to a building where they were dumped into a container that moved into the building.

Day took a deep breath, “This is not a good thing, Kreen.”

“They have no choice but to operate this way.”

“What do you mean? They’re killing millions of intelligent beings.”

“What happens if they don’t?”

Day thought about the question and saw where Kreen was going, “Then their population will decrease.”

“This is their only way to reproduce. They must have a host for their eggs and remember that the Wasp on the other planet was in agony to find a host when its abdomen was swollen. This is not an option for them.” Kreen paused, “Are they dangerous; absolutely. Are they evil; no they aren’t? They only took enough from the last planet to meet their needs and left many behind to start over. They are not eradicating any species; they’re just trying to survive.”

“Maybe so, but I wouldn’t want to be on a planet they invaded.”

“They would leave my species alone. We’re too big to fit in those tubes.”

“Oh, I’m sure they could make one to fit you.”

“They could, but they wouldn’t. It would be a horrible waste of real estate. Look at your data on wasps again and you’ll see that only one egg per host; two would end up eating each other.”

Day stared at the nightmare on the planet and said, “We should report back. I don’t know if I’ll ever get this image out of my mind.”

“It’s not so bad, Day.”

Day snorted, “This coming from a carnivore.”

Kreen smiled, “That does have a way of changing one’s perspective.”

“Get us out of here.”

The Flyer disappeared.

* * *

Paul watched an invasion fleet attacking a civilized planet. The planet didn’t have space travel and could only launch missiles from the surface that were hit by the attacking ship’s beams before they could clear the atmosphere. The Grey Ships sat in orbit and rained nuclear destruction down on the planet. The beings on the planet were defenseless and the ships showed them no mercy. Every city and concentration of population, even small ones, was hit by high energy beams or a nuclear bomb. The attack lasted two days and at the end, nothing could be seen alive on the planet. The Grey Ships scanned the planet and, satisfied they had killed everything they could find, turned and began moving out of orbit.”

Paul looked at Grej and said, “It appears they have no reason to be here except to kill the inhabitants of that planet.”

“I traced them here from six planets that they killed just like this one. They just show up and kill everything.”

“It looks like the fleet is dividing up into three units. I want you to take the one on the left.” Paul called in two more Flyers, “Each of you take one of the other two units and follow them. We still have a week left and I want to know what these ships are going to do and where their home world is located. Let’s hope one of those units is heading home.”

Paul jumped back to the assembly point and saw eight more probes had arrived. He decided that this universe was not a safe place to live. Perhaps the Flyers could change that.

* * *

Timmy, Virze, TK, Paul, Jingos, Grang, Jingo, and Trey looked at the display on the wall in the conference room on the top floor of the Capital Building on New Hope. They watched recordings of seven different species that were attacking other civilizations. The Grey Ships were the last one viewed and were clearly the most aggressive.

“I’m not so sure the Red Demons weren’t right about eliminating intelligent life. I understand there are six more aggressive civilizations that take slaves which are not included in this recording.”

Jingo slowly nodded, “There are many species that are very aggressive in that universe, Your Majesty.”

“Where do we start?”

“The Grey Ships are the most violent and they have taken complete control of three galaxies. I think they should be where our initial efforts are directed.”

Trey looked around the table and said, “What are your thoughts about the Wasps?”

Timmy looked at Trey and was amazed at the maturity of the twelve year old. He just acted, and sounded, much older. “They are certainly dangerous to other species. We need to handle them after the Grey Ships. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve had a discussion with Kreej’s son about them and I want to attempt something before we take any action.”

Timmy frowned, “Trey, I’m not willing to place you in danger.”

“That’s ok, Your Majesty. I can do it all by myself without your assistance.”

Grang tried not to smile but couldn’t help himself. Jingo saw him and had to turn away from the table to clear his throat to hide his.”

“Trey, I’m serious about this.”

“So am I. You can’t stop me from going and I will do what my senses tell me must be done. I will not allow the Empire to be endangered by not acting on what I see.”

Timmy glanced at Virze and turned back to Trey, “Tell me what you see.”

“Kreen showed me his recording of the planet attacked by the Wasps. They did not bombard the planet from orbit and cause massive destruction on the planet’s surface. They left more than fifty percent of the population behind. I also watched as one of their leaders was furious over the behavior of one of his warriors that frightened the captives. Kreen is right. The Wasps are acting humanely within the requirements of their reproductive needs.”

Virze shook her head, “They are eating intelligent creatures.”

Trey shrugged, “In order to reproduce. How do you know they don’t need an intelligent species in order for their offspring to develop intelligence?”

Virze narrowed her eyes but didn’t know how to respond. Timmy said, “They are killing innocent civilizations.”

“Yes, they are and that’s what needs to be changed. I want to see if I can make that happen.”

Paul said, “You are not going to stop them from taking hosts for their eggs.”

Trey smiled, “I don’t intend to.”

“Then what are you going to do?”

Trey smiled, “I’m going to make them an offer they can’t refuse.” He looked around the table, “I’m leaving after this meeting onboard Greyson with Kreej, Kreen and Day East. By the way, you need to promote those two as soon as possible. They are a remarkable team. TK, you, Paul, and Jingos are welcome to go with me but I’m not going to wait on you.”

Timmy looked at Virze and she knew that Timmy had been right; Trey would tell them when he was ready to rule.

Grang said, “I would like to attend as well.”

“I’m sorry; but you and Jingo should pick one of the aggressive species and start your planning to neutralize them. TK’s command will handle the Grey Ships and Wasps and join you once they’re handled.

Jingo said “Do you thing you can handle them in time to assist us?”

“If everything goes according to plan, we’ll be there before you are.”

TK looked at Paul and he nodded. She turned to Timmy, “Your Majesty, we will go with Trey. If it meets with your approval, we will postpone this meeting until we see what Trey is going to do.”

Timmy stood and everyone rose and bowed, “Make sure he is not put in jeopardy.”

TK looked at Trey who had a huge smile. She shook her head, “I’ll do what I can.”

Jingo looked at Grang and made eye contact. They both knew TK was going to have her hands full trying to make Trey do anything. They both smiled and turned to leave. Scotty would be proud.

TK looked at Trey, “Where are we going?”

“To see if we can set up a conversation with the leader of the Wasps.”

“Just how are you going to do that?”

Trey smiled, “Oh, we’ll just scout around first.”

TK looked at Paul, “I’m not sure about this.”

Paul looked at her, “You don’t have to be; he is.”

* * *

The seven teleported aboard Greyson and Trey said, “Did you get the coordinates from Kreen, Greyson.”

“I have them locked in.”

“Go to full stealth mode and take us there.”

The new Zeta-A that Greyson had been moved into disappeared.”

* * *

The Nest Master watched his display at the civilized planet he was scouting. This was going to be the next place to gather hosts and it felt bad that the beings were going to have their lives disrupted. There was just no other option. Suddenly it heard a thought, “There is another option and I would like to discuss it with your leaders.”

The Nest Master stood and saw that everyone on the bridge heard it as well. He looked at the Sensor and saw that it was not detecting anything. “Use a full scan.”

“The ships in this system will see us.”

“We’ve already been seen. Make the scan.”

The Sensor made a full active scan around their ship and nothing showed up, “Nothing!”

“You can quit wasting your time trying to see us. However, I need you to assist me in having a conversation with your species’ leadership.”

“I am not going to lead you to my home world.”

“You don’t have to; I’ve already been there. I must say the number of cells on the main continent is amazing.”

The Nest Master felt immediate fear; what was this? The Sensor still showed nothing on his scans. “I’m still not going to take you there.”

“That’s a shame, I really didn’t want to destroy your planet but I will if you don’t agree to help me.”

“Raise all screens, power all weapons, and fire a spread around our ship.”

The scout looked like it was on fire as it fired a barrage of beams around it. Suddenly a bright red beam blew through its force fields and cut off the top of a rear stabilizer fin.

The Sensor yelled, “That beam was strong enough to cut us in half.”

The Nest Master looked at Weapons and it shook its head. They weren’t hitting anything. Another bright red beam blew through the force fields and cut the top of the second fin. “Cease firing, cease firing.”

“That’s wise of you.”

The Nest Master looked around his bridge and pointed to the Driver as he said, “You should know that I will not lead you to my home world even if it costs me my life.”

“I’m not asking you to lead me there. I just want you to go back and ask for a meeting. If your leadership agrees, come back here and tell me how they want to handle it.”

“And if they don’t agree to your meeting?”

“Do you see the large moon circling the eighth planet?”

The Nest Master nodded to the Sensor and the moon appeared on his display, “Yes, I do.”

Suddenly the moon exploded in a blast that vaporized it. Not even debris was left behind. “I really think your leaders should consider my meeting. I do not intend to harm your species at this point but if you refuse to discuss my intentions, I will fire a much stronger beam into your home world. I’m sending you the coordinates of your home world now.”

The Sensor looked at its display and the Nest Master saw its immediate fear.

The thoughts of the being continued, “You are aware of how long it takes the planet you’ve been watching to make a full rotation?”

“Yes.”

“You have that long to come back. Or you have that long before your planet dies. One or the other is going to happen. It’s your choice.”

The Nest Master saw several ships moving toward him and nodded to the Driver. The Wasp Scout disappeared.

* * *

TK looked at Trey, “What do you want to discuss with them?”

“Their choice of hosts.”

Paul burst out laughing, “What a great idea. I should have thought of that.”

TK, Jingos, and Day looked at each other. Thought of what?

* * *

The Wasp Scout arrived in its home system and immediately sent a communication to Ship Control. “They want to do what?”

“They insist that our Leaders meet with them or they are going to destroy our home.”

“Let them come; they won’t return.”

“You don’t understand. They do not appear on our sensors and they fired through my force field like it didn’t exist. I’m sending you a demonstration of their weapons.”

The Ship Controller watched the recording of the moon being blasted and keyed his com, “You’re saying that you couldn’t see them on your sensors and your force field was ineffective?”

“Do I have to keep repeating myself? Whoever did that could come right in to our system and kill our planet. Now notify the Hive Rulers and show them what I’ve given you. If we don’t meet with them in two thirds of a rotation, they are going to attack.”

The Nest Master waited and saw that his crew was worried. He hoped those at Ship Control understood the danger but you never knew about them. He decided to go over their head. He commed his nest brother, “I need the Hive Mother’s connection.”

“Hello, Tel. And how are you?”

“This is serious, Zel. Our planet is going to be destroyed if I can’t speak with our leaders. You must help me! I’m deadly serious about this danger and the clock is counting down.”

Zel looked at Tel on his display and saw his fear. What convinced him was the fear of his crew behind him. “This is the code to the Hive Princess. Show her what you have.”

“Thank you, Zel. I may be tried for treason but I’d rather die than see our families killed.”