The Fight for Creation: Book 01 - Life Warrior (2 page)

The Cat listened to the Zord’s thoughts and hoped they were doing the right thing. Only time was going to determine if they were.

• • •

Jon had just turned five when he had his first major accident. He was playing follow the leader with Dern and had climbed the tree with him to the top branch. Dern released the branch and fell through the tree. Jon sighed; Dern knew he had an advantage with his four arms being able to grab branches as he fell but he was not going to lose. He took a deep breath and released the branch and looked for one he could grab. Dern reached the ground far below and saw Jon tumbling through the tree, hitting branches at a velocity that was too high. He felt his heart go into his throat and knew that he was stupid to have made the jump. He thought Jon would back down but he should have known better; Jon never gave in to his fear. Jon fell through the tree and crashed to the ground and remained still.

Dern ran over to him as Tegen came running around the building at full speed. He arrived just as Dern lifted Jon’s head. Teg shook his head and said, “You shouldn’t have done that.”

“I know! I was stupid.”

Jon opened his eyes and shook his head, “What happened?”

The two examined Jon and said, “You fell.”

“I know that; why am I not dead?”

They took off his shirt and Jon didn’t have a scratch. The three looked at each other and Dern said, “We’ll not be playing this game again. Someone could get hurt.”

Jon nodded and looked up at the tall tree, “I guess I was lucky the branches slowed me down. I should have recognized my limitations and not done it.”

Dern and Teg looked at each other and then helped Jon up. He limped to the building and they took him to his room.

• • •

The three ten year old children sat in the grass in front of the building they lived in at the orphanage. They stared out at the fields a half a mile away where crops were being harvested by a large machine. No one said anything but they heard each other’s thoughts. Jon said, “I’ve always liked fresh corn. Dinners should be better for a while.”

Dern smiled, “I can barely tolerate the taste of that foul yellow stuff.”

Jon smiled, “But you like okra. How can you like that?”

Dern shrugged, “It just means I get more of what I like and so do you.”

Tegen looked at them and said, “Jon, what has you so worked up?”

Jon shook his head, “I’m not sure.”

Tegen nodded, “I can’t sense what it is either but I feel something.”

The two looked at Dern and he looked down, “I think the time has come.” Jon continued to stare at Dern until he lifted his head and looked at them. “We are not going to get what we need if we remain here. Both of you know it.”

Tegen looked at Jon, “He’s always been the tactician. You have a wider view of things. Do you disagree?”

“I don’t have enough information to make the call, Tegen.” He looked at Dern, “Are you sure about this?”

They could see how much Dern was bothered by the question but he said, “I don’t want to say I am because I know where it leads; but it’s true?”

Tegen said, “Show us what you see.”

The three closed their eyes and after three seconds Jon said, “He’s right.”

Tegen looked at Dern, “So how do we do this?”

Dern looked at Jon, “You’ll have to be the one to start it.” Jon nodded. Dern continued, “It doesn’t really change things; we’ll always be connected.”

Jon smiled, “You know it does change things radically. But the time has come and there’s no avoiding it.” Jon paused and said, “I wish I knew what my real last name is.”

Tegen looked at him, “They’ve tried to find Dern’s and your parents’ records, but there was just no possible way. The Dremor don’t leave any DNA behind in the dead bodies to track. The only reason I know mine is because it was my parents’ house where we were hidden.”

Dern said, “Jon, we are brothers. We can choose our own name.”

Tegen said, “My last name was Gee, which is an honorific among my people for the ruling class.”

Dern said, “Then that will be our name. My people usually don’t have last names, so it won’t be a problem for me.”

Jon slowly shook his head, “We’re going to be adopted by families that will be highly insulted if we refuse to take their last names.” He thought a moment and said, “Gee will be our middle name.”

Tegen and Dern looked at each other and put their hands out on top of each other. Jon added his and said, “Tegen-Gee, Dern Gee, and Jon Gee, three brothers that will never lose their love and connection with each other. Are you ready to begin our quest?”

“WE ARE!”

Tegen said, “You know they’re watching us and recording what we’re doing.”

“I do. I don’t know why, but we frighten them very much. That warrior superintendent was put here to make sure we’re monitored. Beginning tomorrow we will only communicate with spoken words. We’ll need to hide our link and make them think we’ve lost it.”

Dern shook his head, “That’s not going to be easy.”

“It’ll be easier than you think. Just make sure you ask for my okra at the table instead of just taking it and everything else will be easy. Over the next few weeks we need to look at each other and act like we didn’t understand each other’s thoughts.” They laughed and Jon said, “We’ll do this for three months and then I’ll ask about being given a family. Once I leave, you won’t remain here long.”

The three kept their hands in the center and Jon said, “We will come together again.”

• • •

Three months later, Jon approached the Superintendent and asked about the possibility of being adopted. The Superintendent was a former White Warrior that had retired from the military and he said, “We tried to do that when you were really young and the three of you went into hysterics whenever we tried.”

Jon looked sad, “My brothers and I have been linked mentally where we could hear each other’s thoughts. Whatever linked us has been slowly fading and now I can no longer hear them. I’ve begun wishing I had a family of my own species. I miss not having a mother and father.”

“I’ll check into it.”

• • •

A month later Dern said, “Jon, what was the date of the founding of the Bristone Empire?”

Jon looked up from his test booklet and said, “It was…” and then he stopped. “Dern, link with me now.” They linked and Jon said, “Tegen, join us.” Tegen linked in and Jon said, “Dern, have you answered any of Tegen’s questions during this test?”

Tegen said, “He told me when the two royal families were united to form the Bristone Realm.”

“Have you written that answer down?”

“Not yet. I read the test before I started answering the questions. What’s going on?”

“They’re testing us to see if we still have a mental connection. The dates you’re asking about were never mentioned in any of your classes. However, they were mentioned in one of the other two’s classes. If you get them right, they’ll know we’re still connected.”

Jon continued filling out his test and thought to the others, “You know what to do.”

The link was broken and Jon found a question that he didn’t know how to answer, but saw that Dern had been covered on it in his class. He smiled and put a wild guess in the answer space.

• • •

The Superintendent looked at the three tests and said, “They all missed the critical questions. They were close in estimating the dates but their answers were wrong.”

The Admiral looked at the former White Warrior on his display and asked, “Is that significant?”

“We’ve tested them more than eight times over the last four weeks and they have correctly answered every question except the ones not covered.”

“That wouldn’t prove that they aren’t still linked.”

“They have never missed the answer to a question before these tests; these are the first times this has happened.”

“That still doesn’t prove anything.”

“All three of them complained to the test administrator after the exam that some of the material was not covered in class. They have always taken pride in their good grades.”

The Admiral thought about it and said, “Do you think they figured out what we were doing?”

“They’re ten years old. According to every test we’ve given them, they are at their age level in every maturity measurement we’ve taken. Seeing the subtlety of this requires a cynical adult way of thinking. I don’t think they have that in them.”

The Admiral looked at the Superintendent and said, “You’ve had all the recordings of their behavior examined?”

“We even had the Cats view them. If there’s still a link, no one can see anything in their behavior that would indicate it still exists.”

“I’m just worried about what might happen if we’re wrong.”

The Superintendent leaned back in his chair and said, “I would think you would want to separate them even if they had a link.”

The Admiral thought about the observation and slowly nodded, “You’re right. We need to place them in families that understand the importance of who they’re accepting into their homes.”

“That is something you’ll have to determine. I think my job here is done.”

The Admiral smiled, “Thank you for accepting this assignment. I know you’ve been forced to delay your retirement and we appreciate your help.”

The White Warrior smiled, “You know my life is dedicated to the Realm. Let me know if you need me again.”

“I will.”

L
ady Cassandra Gardner looked at her cousin on her display and shook her head, “You can’t do this! You are in line for the throne.”

“You know that will never happen.”

“It will if the Royal Family doesn’t have a child.”

“They’re younger than us and have many years to start a family.”

“Even so, this is not something you should even think about. This decision will have a major impact on the secession.”

Duchess Sarah Robbins stared at her cousin and said, “Cassie, you have a daughter. Robert and I have been unable to have children. I am not going to continue the loneliness we’ve endured over not having a family. I will adopt this child and nothing you say will prevent it.”

“I can get the King and Queen to stop it.”

“Be my guest; have at it.”

“And if they order you not to do it?”

“We will abdicate our titles and adopt this child anyway.”

“That will certainly lead to a rebellion among the Bristone Planets. You know they’ll never accept that. You are the designated family.”

Sarah slowly shook her head and said, “Cassie, I know you lost George years ago and you still miss him. What would your life be like without Juliette in it?”

Cassie struggled but Sarah could see her expression give away the answer, “What ifs don’t change reality. You can’t adopt a child that has no Royalty.”

Sarah smiled, “We can and we are. Do what you have to do.”

Cassandra’s display went dark and she pounded her fists on her desk. She knew that if Sarah didn’t have a child, Juliette would be the next in line for the throne. She couldn’t allow this common child to enter the line of secession ahead of her.

She fell back in her chair and thought about what she could do to stop it. The Royal Family would not stop them; Sarah knew that was an idle threat. But sometimes accidents happened. She thought about it and decided that an opportunity would eventually present itself and she would have to be ready to act. She knew the child would be protected in the Dukes territory and after an hour she placed a call to her cousin. The Admiral appeared on her display and she said, “Jim, I need your help.”

Jim narrowed his eyes and listened. Finally, he said, “I’ll do my best to assist you, but you will need to pay a price for my involvement.”

Cassandra thought, “Here it comes.”

Cassandra tilted her head to the left and Jim said, “Your daughter is going to need a husband. My son is a year older and would be a fine choice for her.”

Cassandra thought about it. Jim was a sixth or seventh cousin so he was not a close relative. The boy was handsome. She looked at Jim and said, “I believe he would.”

Jim smiled and the display went dark.

Cassandra was thankful that the members of the Royal Family had lost their psychic abilities centuries earlier. It wouldn’t be good for anyone to be able to see her thoughts; especially Juliette.

• • •

Jon sat and waited in the Superintendent’s office. He thought that he would have been the first one to be adopted but Dern and Tegen were placed immediately. They departed more than three months earlier, leaving Jon behind at the orphanage. They assured him every day that he was going to have a family and to just be patient. Jon wondered why Humans were not as willing to take him as the Cainth and Glod were for his brothers.

However, he was told that his new family was coming to take him to his new home today. He wondered what they were going to be like. He didn’t remember his mother, but something inside him still felt the love she had for him. He sighed and knew he would never have anyone to love him like that and wished the universe had not dealt him such a rotten hand.

The Superintendent entered the room followed by a young woman with red hair and a man with strikingly blonde hair. Jon stood as the superintendent said, “Jon, this is Sarah and Robert Robbins. They have petitioned the crown to be allowed to adopt you and have been approved.” The Superintendent looked around and said, “I’ll be outside if you need me.” He looked at Jon and stepped outside.

Sarah came forward and gave Jon a huge hug, “It’s good to finally meet you.”

Jon hugged her and said, “Finally?”

“We’ve been working to bring you into our family for months. The red tape was enormous and the approval process was filled with time consuming paperwork and interviews.”

Sarah released Jon and he walked over to the man and stuck out his hand. The man smiled and pulled Jon into an embrace, “Welcome to our family, Son.”

Jon felt his enthusiasm and returned his hug. Robert released Jon and Jon sat down, “Why did it take so long?”

Robert looked at Sarah and then said, “We have a lot of rules that control things we do.”

“What kind of rules?”