Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven}) (43 page)

Tag smiled and said, “I need to talk with a certain young spider about that.”

Jake looked at Valerie and said, “Why don’t we go to Ross and discuss it with him?”

Cassandra asked, “Won’t we cause a huge commotion if we show up?”

Jake shook his head, “No, you were written out of the Realm’s history more than ten thousand years ago. The current Realm doesn’t know anything about you.”

Matt looked at Jake with a stern expression, “Why did they do that?”

“Because the Realm does not appreciate war or warriors; the Realm’s leaders decided that it was not a good thing to reveal the wars that formed the Realm. We’ll discuss this later, but we should be fine going to Ross. I’m also going to invite Sprig to join us.”

Matt smiled, “That old weed; I’m looking forward to seeing him.”

Jake smiled and said, “And he you, Matt.”

Cassandra said, “Alex, can you find Ross?”

“Yes, it’s being moved around but I’ll have us there momentarily.”

The giant ship disappeared and came out of a teleport screen above Castle Gardner. Valerie looked at Jake and sensed he was hiding something. He should have been excited, but she could see that there was something else. She would ask him about it later. Right now, she was excited. She knew that the Realm was going to survive the Keepers, and that brought her joy.

Joe and AG were lost in each other’s arms.

S
prig and the three young spiders were euphoric at seeing the Gardners again. They all teleported in to the map room and celebrated the return of long, missing friends. Tag updated them on why they had been gone, while Jake left the room and contacted Junior.

“How’s it going?”

“Great, Jake! My parents are being brought up to current technology and the work should be completed soon.”

Jake paused and said, “Junior, will Sprig tell the Gardners?”

There was a long moment of silence, and Junior finally answered, “No; it would only distract them from the task at hand.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I discussed it with him after our conversation. I told him that the plan has been changed and that I am following your lead. I suggested he might want to do the same.”

“What was his response?”

“Jake, you shocked him more than you can know when you caught him listening in on your meeting. He knows you possess knowledge that could disrupt his goal, but he also saw that you didn’t reveal it to Valerie or the other Gardners. He’s waiting to see which direction you intend to go. He had written off there being any possibility of a change in the direction of events, but he’s going to see if you can make a difference.”

“And the Spiders?”

“They’ve already carried out their part of events. They know they’re out of their depth from this point on. They have decided that if they are going to follow anyone it will be you.”

“What about Matt? They owe him much more than me. Can they be trusted to stay the course?”

“They know that if they don’t, Matt will be killed. They’ll do it to make sure he survives.”

Jake took a deep breath and said, “I’m going to need you quickly. Can you leave your parents?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“We need to move some planets and kill some ships. I think moving the planets will come first, but I’m not married to the order…yet.”

“I’ll let them know.”

“Thanks, Junior.

“You bet.”

Valerie came in and found Jake staring out of the window overlooking the Fleet Academy in the distance. “Jake, are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

Jake had sensed her coming. He turned and sighed, “I can’t, Valerie. I know you think it’s an issue of trust, but it isn’t. Who leads the Realm now, Valerie?”

Valerie was about to tell Jake it was an issue of trust, but she was stopped by his question. She thought about it and said, “You don’t think it’s me, do you?”

“Who will be making the decisions from this point on? It won’t be me and ipso facto, you either.”

“Why do you say that, Jake?”

“Who will control the weapon that can kill the Keepers?”

Valerie shrugged, “We will, Jake.”

“You’re exactly right, Valerie. Now before you make me tell you everything, I want you to think about what impact that information will have on the five Provinces. When you come up with an answer, ask me again and I’ll answer your question. Think about whether or not you want that answer, especially with the people you must interact with.”

Valerie was struggling with what Jake meant and decided to think about it. She hugged Jake and they went to the map room to discuss their future plans. Later that night it hit her. She saw what Jake was trying to get her to see, and her heart went into her throat. She knew he was trying to protect her, and she resolved to put her trust and her entire being in his hands. She loved him more at that moment than ever before. She knew the burden he had taken and knew she could not help him. She was thankful she didn’t know anything after the afternoon meeting. Danielle would have seen it. She worried about the man she loved so much.

Valerie and Jake entered the map room, and Valerie noticed that the Gardners did not stand and bow. She looked at Jake and knew he saw it as well. They took their seats and Tag turned to Edison and asked, “Edison, I thought about the Demons and I wondered about something.”

“What was that Mr. Gardner?”

“Why would the Demons create a new tool to replace you if you had never been defeated?”

“But we were defeated. The Keepers had defeated two invasion attempts.”

“We didn’t know that at the time we fought them.”

Edison thought for a moment and then he saw it, “The new tool was built to handle the species that defeated us.”

Tag smiled and said, “What other reason was there for its construction? There was no other reason for them to replace you. I also feel the last Demon knew we were going to be attacked by the Keepers and he wanted us to kill him so that they would destroy us. If he was no longer around, there was a good possibility that no one would make this connection.”

Sprig said, “Then the new white creatures he created possessed a weapon that would penetrate the Keepers’ ships.”

Matt said, “Where are those creatures? Weren’t they destroyed?”

Newton said, “I know where to find them. They are in our old universe.”

Jake was startled at Tag’s comment, and everyone saw it.

Tag asked, “What’s bothering you?”

“What if that Demon didn’t choose to die to prevent you from finding those new tools?”

“What do you mean?”

“How long after the Demon’s defeat did you go to see him?”

Matt thought a moment and said, “We were all occupied with Anglo and Jenny’s survival. I think it was about four weeks.”

“What if the last remaining Demon went back and destroyed those creatures and ships to prevent us from using them in our defense? Now his statement about wishing we had not killed him would make more sense. He would have to know that once the Keepers showed up on our doorstep, the Spiders would find them in their databases and know they were defeated by them. What better way to make us pay for killing his species than removing the only thing that could save us?”

Tag jerked, “I didn’t even consider that. We need to go look now.”

“Does the Kosiev have a universal drive?”

Tag looked at Jake and nodded.

“Well, I agree. Let’s go see.”

Cassandra said, “Alex, we need to take a trip.”

“Ready when you are.”

The three spiders, Matt, Jake, Cassandra, Tommy, and Tag teleported out of the map room to the Kosiev. Valerie looked at Danielle, “You’re not going?”

“Nope. I want to get to know you.”

Valerie looked at one of the Realm’s legends and began to wonder what she was looking to find. She smiled and said, “By all means. Let’s go get a bite to eat and I’ll bring you up to date on the Realm.”

“That sounds wonderful.”

As they walked to the terrace overlooking the castle’s garden, Danielle wondered what the Queen’s fiancé was hiding. She had seen nothing but adoration from this young queen, but something about Jake bothered her. Now Valerie was giving signals indicating she was holding something back. The Realm was different and the Realm’s Leadership was….different.

They arrived at the terrace and their meal was waiting for them. Valerie looked out at the flowers and felt serene. Her peace was broken when Danielle asked, “I get the feeling that Jake is hiding something from us. Do you know what it might be?”

Valerie was immediately glad Jake had kept his silence. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Danielle shook her head and said, “I don’t mean any disrespect, but I can’t help but think he is not telling us everything.”

Valerie sighed heavily and Danielle thought, “Here it comes.”

“He’s probably upset with your manners.”

Danielle was thrown back with that remark. “What do you mean?”

“How would you react if you were still the chosen Queen ruling the Realm and a group of strangers appeared and took control away from you? They don’t bow or show you the courtesy your position deserves; they issue orders to your staff without consulting you, and just assume that they are now ruling the Realm. How would that make you feel and what would you have done, Danielle? I’m sure Jake is biting his tongue because of who you are, but he has noticed your total disregard and lack of respect of my position in the Realm.”

Danielle immediately felt remorse. Valerie was right. They had just barged in and taken over as if they were in charge. “Your Majesty, I apologize for our behavior. I hope you understand that the Realm’s safety is what is foremost in our mind, and is part of why we are not being good guests.”

Valerie smiled and said, “I think we have refrained from being impolite to you because we do recognize your importance. It bother’s Jake a lot more than me.”

Danielle thought about it and wondered if that was it, but she knew that if roles were reversed she would have straightened it out and it would have bothered her…a lot. That’s probably what it was. She remembered that Jake introduced her as the current Queen of the Realm and her family had not responded appropriately. It’s surprising that he didn’t say anything. “Let’s start over, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, call me Valerie, Danielle, especially when we’re not in public. I do count you as a friend, and I really have questions about what the Realm was like when you became Queen.”

Danielle saw Valerie’s wide-eyed innocence and put the problem of Jake aside. “I was shocked when I was chosen to be Queen, Valerie.”

“Really, why?”

The two began talking as only two people who have shared a common experience could.

The Alexander Kosiev broke out into the former universe of the Eight Legs. They immediately saw that the billions of white ships were no longer present. Matt felt a surge of anger, “That last Red Demon was quite busy before we came after him. It knew that without his knowledge the Keepers would defeat our ships. He also destroyed every installation on his planet before we arrived so we couldn’t find out what he put in the new tool’s ships. He was right, I regret having killed him. If I had it to do over, I’d kill him slowly.”

Jake said, “It was the last evil thing he could do, and I suspect he made you kill him.”

Matt looked at Jake, “You’re right. He said he wouldn’t be able to resist creating another tool to attack us. What I thought was a genuine sacrifice was actually another act of evil.”

Tag stared at the scanners’ displays and said, “Alexander, do you see anything remaining in this universe that could help us?”

“No, it even destroyed the bodies that were floating in open space.”

Newton looked at Edison and said, “Is there any way we can lengthen the cutting beam to make it an effective weapon?”

“We have been unable to do it so far.”

Jake said, “What about putting one of the devices inside the Kosiev’s outer skin and see if it could make it effective.”

Tag turned to Jake, “It looks like that is the only thing left to try. I was so certain that the weapon would be here.”

Cassandra said, “Take us back, Alex.”

Jake said, “As soon as we return, I need to check up on my ship. He’s with his parents and I must make sure the effort to save the civilizations in the Keepers’ universe is on schedule. I’ll meet you at the Castle Gardner when I finish.”

Tag nodded his head absently as he stared at the displays one more time.

As soon as the Kosiev broke back into the Realm’s universe, Cassandra said, “I want to take a crack at one of those Keepers Fleets with Alex.”