Annihilation: Book 05 - Searcher (26 page)

“I hope they can find what else they need, brother.”

“As we all hope, brother, as we all hope.”

“Sprig!”

“Yes, Twig.”

“One of the green transports has entered the Hugon system.”

Sprig immediately focused on the Hugon system and saw the hundred mile long ship sitting at the jump limit. As he watched, the ship remained stationary and then disappeared. “I fear they will be back.”

“Why did they come? Surly they didn’t sense any intelligent life.”

Sprig reflected a moment and said, “I suspect that planets they harvested during the last invasion that looked like good candidates for the future were planned to be revisited. I suspect that when the mother ship looks at this system and sees the planet is missing it will generate a visit. Make sure the adolescent is prepared to move the planet if I’m right and I’m not sure if we should replace it.”

“Why not, Love?”

“Because if they have records of the planet, they will know the replacement doesn’t match their records.”

“Yes, but think about the confusion it will cause them.”

Sprig’s leaves turned greener and he chuckled at the idea. “Good idea; let’s see if we can give them something to try and figure out. Has the generator been programmed to teleport out when they penetrate its screen?”

“Certainly and the screen will disappear with the generator.”

“This should be interesting.”

“It might move the time table for the full invasion sooner than they plan.”

“It probably will but we cannot control them finding out. Matt has found a way to kill them. Let’s hope he’s right in that estimate.”

Twig thought a moment, “We need them to come if we plan to kill them. Now might be a good time.”

“I hope so, love.”

“P
rince Gardner, would you and Admiral Grace teleport to the meeting room at Castle Gardner thirty minutes from now and please come separately?”

“I’ll notify Admiral Grace, Sprig.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

“Melanie.”

“Yes, Al.”

“You and Matt have been asked to port to the meeting room at Castle Gardner in thirty minutes; I suspect you will be met there by the King and Queen of the Realm. Fly Girl has the coordinates and you should go first. I’ll come in thirty one minutes.”

“I better dress accordingly, don’t you think?”

“Baggy coveralls would probably not be called for in this meeting.”

Al could feel her smile, “Even if I ironed them? I’ll see you there.”

“What’s up?”

“Al, I’m not sure but if you want to teleport to Ross and watch from orbit but I’m positive it won’t be a problem.”

“I’m going, too.”

“The same goes for you Fly Girl. You sound a little nervous.”

“Matt, I like my new commander. I don’t want to see her hurt.”

“So you’re going to watch over her?”

“Yes I am, Al.”

There was a moment of silence and Matt thought, “What’s wrong, Al, got nothing to say.”

“I know when to shut up, Matt; she’s serious.”

Matt wondered about Fly Girl’s attachment to Melanie. He had wondered how the ship would respond to another commander in Angel’s place. “I’ve lost one, Matt. I’ll not lose another.”

“I understand Fly Girl.”

“Ross has approved our arrival and I’ve sent the coordinates to Fly Girl.”

“Then let’s travel shall we.” The two small ships disappeared.

Matt waited on board and Fly Girl announced, “Melanie has teleported down.”

Matt waited a minute them pressed his teleport button and appeared in the meeting room. He immediately saw Tag and Danielle along with Durk, Sprig, Twig, Robert McAnn, Teng-Gee, and Terlen. “Looks like a full house with the leaders of Earth, Glod, and Cainth.” he thought. Then he saw Melanie in a rose colored dress without her hat. Al saw what he was looking at and said, “Good Grief. I didn’t know she had it in her.”

“What, Al?”

“To show up without that hat.”

Matt smiled but he was surprised at just how pretty she was; then he forced his attention to the Royal couple. He bowed and said, “It’s good to see you again.”

Tag and Danielle returned his bow and Danielle said, “Sprig, why don’t you lead this meeting.”

“Thank you, but first I need to take some readings.’

“Do whatever you deem necessary, old friend.”

Sprig looked at Matt and said, “Prince Gardner, please move to that end of the room and Admiral Grace please move to the other end.” Matt and Melanie did as instructed and were facing each other a hundred feet apart. Sprig moved to Matt and raised a device and adjusted its settings. While Sprig made his adjustments, Melanie looked at Matt and saw how handsome he was in uniform. Then she heard Sprig say, “Admiral Grace, I want you to start walking toward Prince Gardner until I tell you to stop.” Melanie shrugged and took five steps forward. “Stop.” Sprig then walked forward and moved his scanner around Melanie. He looked at it and them went to Matt and did the same thing. Twig came over and looked at the device Sprig was holding and her branches jerked. They both looked at Melanie and Sprig said, “Begin moving again.” She walked forward and after she covered half the distance Sprig said, “Stop.” He scanned them both again and made adjustments to his device.

“What are you doing, Sprig,” Tag asked.

“I’m confirming something, Your Majesty. The devices we used to measure psychic strength all exploded in the psychic wave you felt. We built this one so that we could attenuate it. I’ll give you the results momentarily. You may move forward again but do not come closer than five steps, please.” Melanie walked toward Matt and stopped five steps short. She looked at him and he raised his eyebrows indicating that he didn’t know what was going on. She shrugged and waited as Sprig scanned them again. Twig came over and read the results again and she looked directly at Sprig, “Do you think we should risk it?”

“We have no choice; they have to be together in the ship.”

Danielle and Tag stood; Tag said, “Is there a risk to what you’re doing Sprig?”

Sprig turned and said, “Maybe, however, we have no choice but to do it.”

Danielle looked at Matt and Melanie and said, “Melanie, why don’t you move back to the other end of the room while we discuss what’s happening here.”

Melanie made a perfect bow and said, “Yes, Your majesty,” and moved back to the end of the room wondering what was going on..

“Sprig, what are you doing?”

Sprig turned and said, “Your Majesty, you might remember that I showed you the psychic reading that Prince Gardner possessed on one of our scanners a few years ago. It was more than twice as strong as Cassandra Dodd who until that point had registered the highest reading we’ve ever recorded.”

“Yes, we remember.”

Well, the wave that yesterday exploded every scanner we possessed; they were incapable of dealing with the strength of that wave. What I have been doing here is measuring the psychic power of Prince Gardner and Admiral Grace as they moved closer to each other. I discovered the following; Admiral Grace’s power has changed in a small way.”

Tag and Danielle looked at each other and Tag said, “Then why do you keep making adjustments to your scanner?”

“Because as she approached Prince Gardner his psychic power increased more than a hundred times with each foot she moved closer.”

Everyone in the room turned and looked at the two Searchers. Matt and Melanie’s faces showed their obvious confusion.

“What are you saying, Sprig?”

Sprig walked over and ran the scanner over Tag and Danielle. He showed it to them and they could see the needle barely above the zero mark. “When she was five steps away, the meter pegged at its highest setting. I am going to have to attenuate it so that it can measure psychic power in a million measures. Just one tenth of a measure is where Cassandra Dodd would be if we scanned her.”

Tag and Danielle fell back in their chairs. Finally Danielle said, “How is this happening?”

Sprig looked at Melanie and said, “There must have been a third blood line, Your Majesty. The power of that blood line eventually fully developed but was not released. I believe it became dormant and has been absorbing power for more than twelve hundred years. She cannot use it but it acts like a power source for Prince Gardner’s field.”

Matt frowned, “What does that imply?”

Sprig looked at Matt, “It explains why all those links exist between the two chairs on the ship. She is the power source for what that ship is going to be able to do. That is why she has to be a part of the ship; it will not work without her.” Sprig looked at Melanie and asked, “Do you feel anything as you move closer to Prince Gardner?”

Melanie looked at Matt, “I find that I can hear the thoughts of everyone in the room and I can sense my ship in orbit above the planet.”

Melanie looked up at Matt and he could sense her feelings. She had a sharp intellect and he could see the depth of her mind.

Danielle looked at Tag and then said, “Sprig, what should we do now?”

“We have to allow them to make contact. The ship will not work unless they are able to link.”

Danielle looked at Tag and Tag asked, “I ask again; is there danger in them making contact?”

Sprig raised his branches, “I don’t know but they have to do it.”

Matt looked at Melanie and nodded. She walked quickly forward and took both his hands in hers. Sprig’s scanner blew apart.

“Oh well, I didn’t have time to recalibrate it.”

Everyone tensed up ducking their heads looking around waiting for something to happen but after a minute everyone relaxed and Twig said, “Well, I guess the universe won’t blow up as we feared.”

Danielle looked at her and said, “Please tell me you’re joking.”

Twig and Sprig both raised their branches and Sprig said, “We’re in uncharted skies here, Your Majesty. Remember that when Tommy and Cassandra first touched the energy particle had a sharp spike in temperature. It seems that Cassandra was right, Prince Gardner has control of his power.”

Matt and Melanie held each other’s hands and felt the power build around them.

“Fly Girl, are you ok?”

“Yes, Melanie is ok.”

“Were you worried?”

“I was. I felt the power of that wave.”

Al watched Matt and Melanie and felt himself relax for the first time since Angel died. “I’ve been worried about him.”

“I could see that. Now you can relax. He has a new friend.”

“Just a friend?”

“There was only one integrator that caused love in Matt. Angel is gone but I sense that they do like each other a great deal.”

“Friends can help him heal. I still wish you had a place on that ship.”

“It’s not finished yet; who can tell.”

Matt and Melanie continued to hold each other’s hands as Matt’s power built around them. Each of them could feel the force building and reveled in the enhanced view of the universe.”

Danielle stood and said, “This meeting is delayed until tomorrow.”

Matt looked up and said, “We can’t wait until tomorrow. Just give us an hour and we will be ready to continue.”

Danielle looked at Tag who nodded and she said, “An hour it is.”

Matt took Melanie’s hand and led her to the garden where he had discovered his love for Angel. She went with him and saw in his mind what had happened. “Do you think we should be here?”

“Yes.”

She looked at him and said, “Are you sure, Matt? I cannot be Angel.”

““I’m not asking you to be her. I brought you here to apologize for my initial unwillingness to allow you to work with me. I can now see that this was an absolute necessity. I would not have found a weapon to use against the invaders without you questioning what happened. I believe that you and I can make a huge difference in this war and I will not hold back in insuring that we work well together. I’m sorry for how I treated you when we met. I do consider you one of my closest friends.”

She looked at his mind and saw he meant it. She opened her eyes, smiled, and said, “I will honor Angel with you every day for her sacrifice, I’m honored to be your friend, and I will do all I can to help you.”

“I am now excited at our prospects, Melanie.”

“I just hope we can stop them.”

Matt released her hand and they walked back to the meeting room where they found Sprig trying to explain what happened. Everyone stopped and Matt said, “We can try and explain this later but right now we need to move on to some important matters.”