Ultimate Warrior (The Fight for Creation (Book Three)) (29 page)

“Pixie, I have a task to do and in order to pull it off, I need my ship to match another species’ ships color and not match any feature of the Realm’s fleets.”

“I’m coming.”

Ken knew he was going to have to bring Pixie on board but he knew she wouldn’t like what he was going to do. Pixie appeared and Ken went and put his arms around her. She held him tight and put her head on his chest. “Is this the end game, Ken?”

Ken sighed and said, “I’m afraid it is, Darling.”

“You can’t do this alone.”

“There’s no other way.” Pixie looked up at him and he quickly said, “To allow anyone else to take part in this will lead to the Realm’s destruction.”

“Why?”

“Pixie, I can’t tell you without your parents finding out. They must not get involved in this.”

“There must be something I could do to help you?”

Ken blew out a breath and said, “There is one thing but I think I can do it without it.”

““Tell me what it is. Don’t tell me what you’re doing; just what you need from me.”

Ken walked over to the observation lounge and pulled out a chair for Pixie and sat down next to her, “I need to understand how you jump without teleporting or going through null space.”

“I travel through the edge of normal and null space. There is a small layer between the two where they don’t make contact. I enter that layer to make my jumps.”

Ken thought a moment and said, “That explains why you can’t be traced; you don’t leave anything in normal space or null space that could be seen.”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I believe that I’m going to need access to that layer in order to make my plan work.”

“Ken, only those that are mentally capable of seeing that layer can use it. You don’t have that capability. I can go with you and help you.”

Ken stared at Pixie and smiled, “Pixie, I’ve recently undergone a series of changes and if you’ll just give me the coordinate of one place in the layer, I’ll be able to use it.” Pixie stared at Ken. Ken smiled, “I am a unique creation. The patterns I’m able to see is the only part of my brain that I’ve been able to access until now. That talent is connected to more talents that have just now manifested themselves.”

“What are you saying?”

“You can no longer see me wherever I am.” Pixie nodded. “I am now able to hide my physical and mental pattern from any species in creation. I’ve been given that ability by the Creator to use the most dangerous species ever created. It might not work but I am here at this moment in time to be the failsafe that was made to possibly save all life.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to use a species to kill the ones that will kill all of us if they’re not stopped.”

“But what happens if you fail?”

Ken looked at the floor, shrugged, and then looked Pixie in the eyes, “Then we all die.”

Pixie felt her fear surge, “How long do we have before that happens?”

Ken looked out of the view port at the stars and said, “The Cats and Zord have not allowed the Realm to see the four most dangerous species in Creation because we are nowhere near their power or destructiveness. Just one of their ships could destroy every ship in the Realm. They thought we would have enough time to eventually develop the tools we would need to face them thousands of years in the future.”

“But?”

“Three of them are not going to give us the time we need. They are starting an expansion and once that begins, no planet in Creation will survive. It will pick up speed and in less than fifty years, all life will be gone. The Realm will be gone in less than a year. They will then turn on each other leaving only one victor. That victor will eventually run into the real apex predator and then only one will exist.”

“Why would the Creator make species that dangerous?”

“The three that will kill all life evolved into what they are now. They deliberately chose to turn from the Creator millions of years ago and she saw what was eventually going to happen. She experimented with a few species until she found the necessary elements she needed. She created the most dangerous species hoping to never have to use them. I was created because she saw that they were going to have to be used to stop the other three.”

“What is it that makes you so special?”

“None of the four species can’t see me; I’m the only one in Creation they can’t see.”

“Can’t you reason with them?”

Ken shook his head, “You can’t reason with the three species; they’re just too evil. The most dangerous species does not possess intelligence which eliminates any possibility of negotiation.”

“What do you mean they’re not intelligent?”

“I’m not going to describe them. Jixie will see it and she will not stay out of it.”

Pixie thought about his statement and said, “I’m sending a coordinate to your wrist unit.” Ken looked at it and shook his head. Pixie said, “What?”

“After seeing it, I should have been able to figure it out on my own. I thought it was more complicated than this.”

“I don’t understand it, Ken. I just use it. Are you that far beyond me now?”

Ken took her hands in his, “No, I’m still the same man that loves you more than life. You have nothing to worry about, my love.”

“Please be careful and come back to me.”

“Pixie, if I fail. There won’t be anything to come back to.”

“Then you must not fail.”

“I’ll let you know how it works out.”

“What?”

“It’s going to have to be done one at a time. I’ll be back after the first one if all goes well.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

Ken could only shrug.

• • •

Four days later, Ken and Pixie looked at the two hundred foot long ship and Pixie shook her head, “Ken, a shuttle could kill this ship.”

“Then I’ll just have to make sure I don’t run into a shuttle.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Pixie, if the species I’m going after gets a shot off at me, no ship we have will survive it.”

“You’re not making me feel better.”

Ken turned to Sprigly, “You’ve added the teleport system?”

“I have and it will operate with your thoughts. Just make sure you have the location you want to use preprogrammed.”

Ken nodded and turned to Pixie, “You should be able to see what happens. Just don’t come anywhere near where it’s happening.”

“I don’t know if I want to see.”

Ken smiled, “I can understand that.” Ken hugged Pixie and boarded the small scout ship. He powered the controls and pressed the communications console. He looked around and closed his eyes. He felt the pattern of the ship and extended a mental field around it.

Pixie and Sprigly stood watching the ship and suddenly it disappeared. Sprigly looked at his control board and sent a scan. The scan didn’t see it. Pixie stared at the place the green ship had been and was not able to see it either. Ken said, “Sprigly, can you detect the ship?”

“I cannot. Nothing I’ve tried has allowed me to see you.”

Ken stopped the mental pattern and the green ship reappeared on the landing bay floor. It slowly lifted and moved toward the hangar door. It moved through the force field holding atmosphere in the giant room and began moving quickly away from the Algean Construction Facility. Pixie watched it and saw it disappear just before Ken activated the teleport key. She looked up at the ceiling and found the star system Ken was jumping to. She didn’t want to watch but couldn’t stop.

• • •

Ken teleported out into open space and looked at the star on his display. He wondered about how his mind had suddenly changed several weeks back and knew that the Creator had sent him a key to unlock it. Once his mind expanded, he understood why he had always avoided doing anything that would get him noticed. He was the last of a long line of millions of others just like him who were created to have his mind released if the need arose. All of his predecessors had avoided doing anything that would prevent them being used. His lack of ambition was a product of making sure one would always be available.

He took a long deep breath and calmed his nerves. He felt his body relax as he focused on what he had to do. He felt his pulse slow and his heart rate slow to seventy five beats a minute. He closed his eyes and looked at one of the home worlds of the Illineg. He saw one of the giant defense satellites above the planet drop its force field to allow a giant transport to dock. He took a deep breath and activated the first teleport circuit.

• • •

The giant transport began moving toward the huge defense satellite just as a tiny green ship appeared and fired a high powered energy beam into the huge facility hitting the main reactor room. The tiny ship disappeared just before the satellite exploded, taking the transport with it. Ten green ships read the teleport signature and disappeared.

Ken arrived in open space and extended his mental field and dropped into the layer between normal and null space just a moment before the ten ships arrived. The ten ships began scanning and spread out looking for the small green attacker but were unable to find it. Ken watched them move rapidly around the area and felt their frustration. Someone had successfully attacked a home world for the first time in a million years and they were going to pay for it. After two days the ships disappeared. Ken looked to the right and saw ten thousand ships arrive at the planet that had been attacked. He looked a little further to the right and saw thousands of ships start arriving at the other home worlds of the Illineg. The first part of the plan had been successful; now for the second.

Ken stared at another Illineg home world and waited. He stared at the planet searching for what he knew must be on it. Finally he saw the pattern and found the giant building next to a sprawling city. He entered the coordinates into the two teleport module, leaned back, and activated the first circuit. His ship appeared just above the planet and he fired his main beam into the giant building, exploding the huge reactors inside it. He immediately activated the second teleport circuit and disappeared as a giant nuclear explosion on the surface roared out from the building, burning the city and sending a massive radioactive cloud into the atmosphere.

An Illineg warship read the teleport signature and more than fifty thousand ships from thirty planets jumped to the coordinates. Ken entered the layer and watched the huge fleet begin searching for him.

Pixie watched the events and felt her heart in her throat. Ken had just barely made it into the layer before the first green ships arrived. They were responding faster and they had almost caught him.

Sprigly looked at Pixie’s thoughts and watched what was happening. He said, “The next one will be it.”

Pixie looked at him, “What?”

“The next one will be when he teleports to the real dangerous species.”

Pixie looked at the ceiling and prayed for her love’s survival.

• • •

Jixie sat in Castle Gardner and watched was happening through Pixie’s thoughts. She knew Ken just wasn’t fast enough and thought about going to assist him, but forced herself to remain where she was. This was more than he should attempt alone. She sat and thought about what she could do.

K
en remained in the layer and ignored the ships that were searching for him. He looked out into Creation and finally found four hundred Illineg warships that had been sent to destroy civilized planets. He focused in on one of them that was sitting in orbit above a planet preparing to fire it. Suddenly, it disappeared and Ken followed its pattern to one of the Illineg home worlds. He breathed a sigh of relief. The ships being sent out to kill planets had been recalled to defend the home worlds. All of the Illineg forces were now back in their home universe.

He looked at the next Illineg planet he had targeted and saw a million green ships around it. He watched their pattern of movement and knew that there was not going to be time to fire on anything before he was attacked. He looked at the fifty thousand ships looking for him and waited in the layer for three days. The ships finally left and he entered the next two teleports into his console. He knew he had to act quickly and not allow the Illineg to start sending ships out to find where his ship had come from. He knew that they were searching all of creation and had come up empty. Failing by scanning, they would resort to sending out ships to take a closer look. There could be no delay in the final step of the initial plan.

He stared at the board and it took him thirty minutes to force himself to calm down and gather the courage to activate the initial teleport. He blew out a breath and thought, “This is for you, Pixie,” just before he activated the circuit.

• • •

Ken’s ship emerged into normal space and he immediately activated the second teleport location. Suddenly, everything around him underwent a profound change. He saw more than five hundred black beams moving toward his ship but they appeared to be moving very slowly. He saw the teleport field surround his ship slowly and his ship start to disappear. He looked out at the incoming black beams and they looked like thick columns of smoke moving his way. He knew they were traveling at the speed of light but they were not going to arrive in time. He watched everything disappear around him and he used Pixie’s jumping ability to jump out of the teleport field directly into the layer at the second location. He could have jumped away but decided that he must see the Apex Predators in order to plan his next attacks. He expanded his mental field that appeared to be unaffected by slow motion as he arrived in the layer and time began moving at normal speed. Right behind him, two million green ships appeared. He focused on them and searched for what he knew was coming. He didn’t have to wait long and what he saw stunned him.

• • •

The two million green ships arrived around the teleport location in the shape of a giant hollow globe. It was clear they thought the small ship had a field around it that prevented it from being seen. The huge globe began contracting in the hope of physically hitting the hiding ship. Moments after the contraction began, a massive shape appeared outside the giant globe.