Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven}) (6 page)

Upstairs the King of the Stars Realm thought to Valerie, “You have removed the protocols on the library?”

“Only for him, Father.”

“That is information that may not be a good thing to have known.”

“He is going to need every advantage we can give him, and he needs to know what he’ll be fighting for in the upcoming confrontation. He needs to know what we are.”

“You still see us being attacked, Daughter?”

“Yes, and it won’t be long before it starts.”

“Then the death of our Searcher is the opening of hostilities?”

Valerie sighed, “Yes, and there are going to be many more that die.”

“And you think this young lad is going to make a difference?”

“Without him we are lost, Father. He is our only hope, and if he fails then the Stars Realm is doomed.”

“I’m having extreme difficulty believing that. Our military is quite strong and we have millions of ships.”

“Listen to what information comes out in the meeting and then tell me you don’t believe it. We stand no better chance than that dead Searcher did.”

The King reflected a moment and said, “We’ll see.”

Meanwhile Jake remained motionless on the chair downstairs.

Einstein teleported in to Edison’s command center and said, “I have uncovered some disturbing news.”

Edison looked up from his terminal, “What is that?”

“These creatures are a product of our invasion. They are much more dangerous to intelligent life than we ever hoped to be. It appears we caused it to happen.”

Edison lowered his body and said, “Give me what you’ve discovered.”

Einstein pressed a button on a device on one of his legs, “You have it. I hope you know how to present this.”

Edison hoped so, too.

Cynthia said, “Ouch, that hurts!”

The Algean working on a device on her head said, “Oh, be still. These connections are absolutely critical if this is going to work.”

“Just what is this device?”

“It is a direct link to a ship’s computer.”

“Why do I need a link? I’ll just use telepathy to link.”

The Algean made another adjustment, “That’s the other thing; it blocks telepathy.”

Cynthia looked at the Algean and thought that this was not going to be good, “Are you changing my ship’s interface?”

“No, you are going to take command of a new ship. Now be quiet so I can finish,”

Cynthia thought, “Oh, this is not good.”

Jake opened his eyes and saw Valerie sitting in a chair next to him. “How long have you been here?”

Valerie smiled, “Only fifteen minutes. The library notified me when you were about to complete your download.”

“How long have I been here?”

“About thirty six hours. You need to start getting ready for the meeting that will be starting in four hours.”

Jake sat up and felt dizzy, so he laid back down. “That was some history lesson. I only asked for the early history, but it seems I have been given everything up to the present.”

Valerie smiled, “That’s my fault. I changed the protocol after you started.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Why do you think, Jake?”

Jake sighed, “It changed me, Your Highness. I’m not the same after seeing all that has happened.”

“Jake, please call me Valerie when we’re not in the public arena. I count you as a friend. I changed it because I felt you needed to know all that has happened in the Realm in order to appreciate what you are going to be risking your life to save. I also wanted you to see what happens when your psychic powers are released.”

“You mean what would happen to me emotionally.”

Valerie looked down, “Yes.”

“I will be bonded with that person for life, won’t I?”

Valerie nodded.

“Why does this bother you so much, Valerie?”

Valerie looked Jake in the eyes, then looked back down, “I was hoping that you would end up with me.”

Jake was shocked, “What do you mean? I’m nowhere close to being in your league. I’m not even playing in your league. Why, by all creation, would someone like you even be remotely interested in me?”

Valerie looked up and said, “Jake, I am the strongest psychic in the Royal Family. They all know that I am so far ahead of everyone else that I am for all intents and purposes making the critical decisions for the Realm. The reason I am not actually ruling the Realm is due to my age. The Realm would have great difficulty accepting a ruler as young as me. However, I have not felt anyone in the Realm that even remotely touches my heart. As soon as I saw you on Cynthia’s ship, I felt you. I could sense who you are. I felt the pain that has made you what and who you are. I knew a super psychic was coming and I have been searching desperately for you; partly because I know how important you are to the Realms survival, but also in the hopes that I might be your initiator. I am not your initiator. There is someone else destined to be your love, and what a great love the two of you will share. I envy whoever it is, even now. So the role I am left with is to be your friend, and I do hope you will be mine as well.”

Jake stared at her and shook his head, “You say such remarkable things for someone so young.”

Valerie shook her head,

“Being telepathic, I have already lived ten lifetimes. You grow up fast when you’re in the minds of adults even before you’re born. Trust me on this one, Jake; I am not a child.”

“I believe you, Val. I would consider it an honor to be your friend, and I am amazed that you see things in me that I don’t. I hope I can live up to your expectations.”

Valerie removed the headset from Jake’s head, “Well, now that you’ve seen the Realm’s history, what do you think?”

“Where are Atlas and Diana?”

“We know that once the Realm developed universal drives, they went to the Captor’s universe to try and get their captured brothers to see reason. The Captors’ red screen protected them against the heat of the newly created universe. They’ve been gone for four thousand years. They cannot, and will not, help us in the coming conflict.

“Where are the Gardners?”

Valerie smiled, “That question has been asked for the last ten thousand years; no one knows.”

“Then where is the Alexander Kosiev?”

“We’ve been asking that for eleven thousand years.”

The Map room was crowded. Jake saw three spiders at the main table with two Algeans. There were two Cainth and one Glod sitting together, and he saw they were getting animated in their discussion. He glanced at the front of the table and saw several species he didn’t recognize, along with three high-ranking military officers. One of them was a Vgrig. “That must be Admiral Zergl,” he thought. This meeting has some high powered individuals in attendance. He sat down in a chair away from the table next to Cynthia, and noticed that she was nervous. “What’s bothering you?”

“You, Jake! I don’t know how I got sucked up into this.”

“Probably because my power selected you to find me,” he snickered.

“That’s not even funny. That is probably exactly what caused me to be here. Oh, I don’t have a good feeling about this. This is not good.”

Jake looked at her, “Remember: as long as you’re with me, you’re safe.”

Cynthia looked at him with a smirk, “Do you think I wouldn’t be sacrificed to save you. If someone has to go, I’ll be the closest candidate. I just don’t really understand the forces at work here.”

“Welcome to my world, Cyn. I have no idea what’s going on. It’s nice to know I’m not alone.” Suddenly everyone stood and bowed. Jake and Cynthia jumped up and followed their lead.

The King of the Stars Realm, David Bolt Gardner, entered the room with his Queen, Elizabeth Andrews Gardner. Following them in were the two children of the Royal Couple, Joseph Spring and Valerie Rose Gardner. Jake saw Valerie and was astounded at how beautiful she was in the blue and rose colored dress she was wearing. She was going to be amazing as she grew older; she was already so beautiful. Valerie saw Jake looking at her, and smiled and winked at him. She then took her seat next to her father.

King David sat down and said, “Please be seated.” After everyone had taken their places, he looked at one of the Algeans, “Who is going to make the first presentation?”

The Algean said, “I am going to start, Your Majesty.”

“Please proceed, Sprig.”

Jake jumped straighter in his chair. “Was this the former King of the Stars Realm?”

Valerie saw him flinch and thought to him, “No, the Algean couple assigned to the castle staff always assumes the name of Sprig and Twig to honor them. The original is now the Elder leading the Algeans.”

Jake looked at Valerie and nodded.

Sprig indicated the other Algean and said, “We have the task of determining how the Searcher was detected by the creatures that destroyed her vessel. We know that no electronic scan would have uncovered the ship and it was also invisible; it bent light around itself. What we have come to consensus about is that the creatures could hear the thoughts the Searcher used to communicate with her ship.”

The room started buzzing ,and the King looked at the group sternly and they quieted down. “Our spider friends will have more to say about these creatures, but we know they are telepathic. The white spikes on top of their heads are used to communicate, and we know that telepathy is not bound by the physical laws of the universe. Those who use it can send a thought to someone in another galaxy and be heard instantly. We believe that the ship holding station above the planet could hear thoughts coming from the moon, and was able to locate the place but not see what was causing them. We think that a call was made and three ships arrived to investigate. The three ships traveled in from the jump limit, indicating that the creatures have not discovered how to jump inside the limit.”

Elizabeth asked, “How did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“The Searcher was on the moon running scans for ten hours. That is exactly how far from the moon that the jump limit is located traveling at one-third light speed. We aren’t certain if their ships are faster than that or not, but it is a starting place for determining their capabilities. The three ships kept the moon between the Searcher and their path, making sure they were not detected visually. We are reasonably certain that they detected the Searcher’s thoughts as they approached the moon because they arrived in a perfect triangle above the Searcher.”

Twig pushed a button and a video of the three ships coming around the moon was shown on the room’s main viewing screen. “The Searcher panicked at this point and turned on her screens and weapon systems. This allowed the three ships to see her and they immediately opened fire and destroyed her ship.”

Admiral Zergl asked, “How did their beam get through our screens?”

Sprig turned and said, “I’m going to allow Einstein to answer that question.”

Einstein pushed his device and the video showed the Searcher’s ship start vibrating rapidly. The internal camera in the ship showed the Searcher shaking violently just before she pressed the self-destruct button. The video showed the Searcher turn to dust just before the blast. “The beam they used was not made by energy.”

Zergl watched the death of one of his sailors, and everyone could see the anger on his face, “Then what was it?”

“We believe that the ship was destroyed telepathically.”

The entire room started talking at once, “Impossible! How can that be? No way that could happen!” Einstein listened, and finally the King called for order. “We didn’t want to believe it either, but it is the only thing that makes sense. We all know that even if our ship’s screens are active we can still communicate telepathically to someone outside the ship. Can we all agree on that?”

Everyone looked at each other. Zergl said, “We’ve all seen what you’re describing.”

“We think that those white spikes on their heads are not only used to communicate, but they can also focus their thoughts into a beam that will destroy most any kind of matter. We also surmise that the ships must have a device that amplifies the beam to make it extremely potent. The thoughts used to produce this beam are not organized thoughts, but a kind of buzzing. Some insects are capable of producing noises that can be heard over very long distances. Perhaps this “telepathic noise” was once used to call a mate, but now it is deadly when amplified and will go through any screen used on our ships.”

Sprig asked, “What evidence do you have that suggests the beam is amplified?”

Einstein turned to Sprig, “I’ll show you more proof when we look at the planet, but I want you to notice that when the three ships rounded the moon all three turned the nose of their ships toward the Searcher’s location.” Einstein replayed the video, and they all saw the ships turn their nose toward the surface of the moon. “This indicates the nose of the ship is where the beam originates, and tells us that there must be a device that directs it located there.”