Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven}) (48 page)

J
ake and Junior jumped in above Ross and Jake thought, “Valerie, are the Gardners with you?”

“Yes, they are Jake. Where have you been? I’ve been receiving reports that ships are attacking and destroying the Keepers Fleets that have been attacking the Realm.”

“I’ll explain momentarily. Will you meet me in the map room with the Gardners?”

“We’re headed there now.”

“Junior, it might be better if you join Twig.”

“I want to hear what you have to say.”

“OK, but I’ve seen recordings of your mother when she’s angry.”

“I forgot about that.”

‘Forgot about what, you insolent child? Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick about you. Just who do you think you are?”

“Too, late. Good luck, Junior.”

“Mom, we had to kill the Keepers. Calm down and listen to what Jake is going to say. I think you’ll understand.

“If you think you can shut me up..”

“Be quiet, Fly Girl.”

“What?”

Al said in a soft tone, “He said he had to kill the Keepers. Can you think of a better reason for his absence?”

Fly Girl thought about what Al said, “Did you kill them?”

“They will be gone in less than three drags. There are only three fleets still alive in our universe, and they will be killed within a quarter of a drag.”

“How did you…?

“Listen in and you will understand.”

“Do as he says, Love. It appears our child is grown up.”

Jake teleported in to the map room and found everyone sitting at a table waiting for him. Valerie ran forward and embraced him, “I’ve been so worried.”

“I’m fine, Val. I need you to listen to what I’m going to say and reserve your judgment until I finish. Can you do that for me?”

Valerie looked into his eyes and saw that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. She nodded and took her seat at the head of the table.

Jake turned and looked at AG who was sitting next to Joe, “I’m surprised that you haven’t been more involved with this war.”

AG smiled, looked at Joe, and then back at Jake, “I didn’t want to interfere with your extermination of the Keepers. I have done my best not to get involved. My role in this begins now.”

“You could have told me and removed a lot of stress. I’ve been avoiding you.”

“No, your stress was part of my vision. No one could know what was happening until now. Why don’t you explain what’s going on and why we were brought to this particular place and time in the Realm?”

Tag looked at AG and said, “You knew what was going to happen?”

“Yes, and you’re not going to like it. However, you need to hear Jake out and realize that he is the greatest psychic in the Realm’s history. You must do as he asks.”

Danielle looked at Jake and said, “What are you asking us to do?”

Jake looked at the Gardners and said, “I’m going to ask you to do absolutely nothing.”

The people sitting around the table looked at each other and Matt said, “It appears you have been deceptive about a number of things.”

“That’s true.”

“Where did you get those ships to kill the Keepers?”

“I went back to the Eight Leg universe and found a small craft inside the Nest Mother’s ship. I gave it to the Algeans to build weapons to defeat the Keepers.”

“Did you know that ship was there when we went the first time?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you get it then?”

“Two reasons. First; I didn’t want the Kosiev to have access to that weapon and second, I wanted to keep you occupied until the Keepers were handled.”

Melanie was obviously angry and said, “What? You don’t think we can be trusted?”

“That is also true.”

That statement brought an uncomfortable silence crashing down on the room.

Danielle said, “You worried that we would do more harm than good.”

“That is also true, and it is not an opinion but a reality that I’m hoping I can get you to see.”

AG looked at him and smiled, “Do we have time for this?”

“Barely, but I feel I must get everyone to understand what’s going to happen.” Matt pressed his com and said, “Sprig, will you join us in the map room?”

A silver field appeared and Sprig stepped out.

Tag looked at him and said, “You were in on this, too.”

“Not really, Mr. Gardner. We were operating independently, but Jake persuaded us to change our plans and work with him.”

Cassandra said, “The defeat of the Keepers is what probably persuaded you to change them, right?”

“No, not really. Our plans were made not caring whether the Keepers were killed or not.”

Tommy said, “What plans, Sprig?”

Sprig looked around the room and said, “Our plans to leave the Stars Realm.”

Jake looked at Sprig, “How much more time do we have?”

“About a drag if nothing is done.”

“Don’t wait on us, Sprig. You have a responsibility you must fulfill.”

“We have already gone. I was talking about you.”

Jake smiled, “Good. I have a family that needs your protection.”

Valerie looked at Jake and said, “Jake what are you talking about? You have me totally confused.”

Jake sighed and said, “Ross is going to be attacked in about an hour by more than twenty million Searcher Class ships. Sprig’s galaxy was going to be attacked by ten million ships.”

The silence was deafening. Then everyone started talking at once. AG sent a thought to everyone present, “SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!”

Matt and Melanie were stunned by the power of that thought.

“Thank you, AG. How long have you known about this?”

“Sprig, I saw it before we entered the Kosiev.”

AG’s statement silenced the Gardners.

Jake turned back to the group. “Ordinarily I would have just gone through with my plans but I knew that if I did, you would have done something I wanted to avoid.”

Tag asked, “What did you not want us to do?”

Jake looked at him and said, “Prevent the destruction of the Stars Realm.”

Joe looked at Valerie and said, “That sounds like treason to me, Jake.”

AG looked at Joe and shook her head and whispered, “You must listen.”

Tag said, “You must know we would never let that happen.”

“That’s why we’re here having this discussion. It’s your fault that it’s happening.”

Tag started getting angry, “Where do you get off making that accusation?”

Sprig said, “Because it’s true.”

Danielle put her hand on Tag’s arm and said, “Perhaps we need to hear what they’re trying to tell us?”

Jake looked at Valerie and said, “I’m sorry, but I was not sent to save the Realm. I was sent to save you.” He turned back to the Gardners and said, “The Realm has been on the path to meltdown for more than eight thousand years and once the process started, there was no stopping it.”

Cassandra said, “Oh, we can stop it.”

“That’s what I’m trying to get you to avoid. If it weren’t for the Alexander Kosiev, I would have just ignored you. But I believe you could use it and destroy all the ships being sent against Ross and the Algeans. Cassandra I need you to ask it to delay and hear what I have to say before it decides to act.”

They all heard, “I took an oath to destroy all enemies of the Stars Realm both foreign and domestic. I will be going to destroy those ships momentarily.”

“What if the enemy is the Stars Realm?”

Cassandra said, “Alex, you might want to hear what he has to say before you take any action.”

“I will, but you’d better hurry it up. Those ships are forming up and will be here in fifty minutes.”

Danielle asked, “How was this our fault?”

“Because you were lazy and took the easy way out.”

AG nodded, and Melanie and Danielle heard the truth in Jake’s statement.

“You decided that you didn’t want to wait until the war with the Keepers started. You abandoned the Realm. You walked into the skin of the Kosiev and arrived thirteen thousand years later. Just like the Keepers, you took the heart of the Realm and removed it. You assumed everything would be fine and that the new leaders of the Realm would continue the ideals of the Realm without you. You were short sighted, foolish, and self-serving in your actions. You also created the structure for the Realm to self-destruct.”

Tag said, “All of the Leaders of the Realm that replaced us had great psychic skills. They did a great job.”

Jake shook his head, “That was your first mistake. You assumed that anyone with strong psychic power would be good. Did it ever dawn on you that the two most powerful enemies the Realm faced, the Eight Legs and Demons, were also psychic? Their main form of communication was telepathy. Even the Keepers were connected telepathically. Those Leaders you left behind ruled for their thousand year tenure, and they selected their successors who were often selected to continue their power. Those successors forced Sprig off the throne and put the real power and influence over the Realm’s members into the five provincial rulers. They changed the Realm’s history and the direction in which it was moving after you left.”

Tag looked at Sprig and saw him lean right with his agreement.

Jake continued, “The biggest mistake you made was dividing the Realm into five provinces with your family ruling them.”

“We had to do that to save the Realm!”

“No you didn’t, Matt! You could have each taken Searchers and Red Warriors and assumed the responsibility for a sector without actually segmenting the Realm. You created five mini-Realms with five ambitious Dukes that gazed at Ross and longed for the Crown. You divided the Realm and lost the cohesion that held it together with a common bond. Now you had five ambitious Dukes sabotaging anything the Realm did and putting a different slant on its intentions. They painted the Realm as heavy handed in their lust for the Crown. The Dukes also applied pressure such that the Ruler of the Realm was not always the strongest choice for the succession. It was the Dukes that got the Government on Ross to vote that the Star’s Realm King or Queen could only serve for a thousand years. They used the structure you set up for the Provinces and said that was what you intended. You weren’t here to dispute their claim. Sprig was forced to choose a successor and the Algeans knew at that moment that the Realm, the real Realm, was a thing of the past.”

Danielle said, “I see it, now.”

“You don’t see all of it, Danielle. You’re missing the part about how peace destroyed the very spirit the Realm was founded on.”

Danielle furrowed her brow and then said, “If we stop this rebellion we will destroy everything the Realm has stood for.”

“Now you see it.”

Tommy looked at Danielle, “Mom, what are you saying?”

Danielle sighed heavily and started crying, “We didn’t know. We just didn’t know.”

Tag put his arm around her and turned to Jake, “Please, help me understand.”

Jake sat down and took a deep breath. “We’ve had thirteen thousand years of peace since the Demons were defeated. Do you know what happens when you never know war or conflict? You forget the price that was paid for that peace. You also develop disgust for anyone associated with the military. The early wars of the Realm were erased from the Realm’s history because the Realm’s population viewed those wars as tools for power mad beings to take control over every planet it could conquer. This view was promoted by the Dukes.”

“Why did they get that notion?”

“Joe, the history was removed to prevent the Realm from feeling disgust for the savagery and conquests of the founders of the Stars Realm.”

Tag said, “What do you mean?!?”

“The Realm has enforced its peace on all the millions of members. They have never experienced the fear of being killed or destroyed until the Keepers arrived, and they view that early history differently that those that were there to witness it. They ask, why does the Realm need a huge military complex if there has been no one to attack the Realm? They read the history and saw Humans living on just one planet attacking two civilizations and forcing them to join their government.”

“That’s not what happened!”

“That depends on your point of view, Tommy. Did the Cainth really have a choice about joining you? What would you have done if the Cainth had not decided to make Earth a Clan Member? You were there with a fleet to blow them back into the Stone Age. There was no real choice. Join or die.”

Tommy said, “That’s not the way it happened.”

“Remember, they look at the facts, not the underlying forces. Then these Humans, with their two allies, defeat an Alliance of more than 800 planets, to take power over them, so they can attack the Algean Galaxy.”