Ashes of the Realm - Greyson's Revenge (20 page)

Jingo said, “Won’t that weaken us.”

Everyone stared at Jingo waiting for him to say something else and he said, “What?”

Grang said, “Welcome to my world.”

Everyone started laughing and Jingo and Grang looked at each other. Grang shrugged which made them laugh harder.

“I hope so, however, we won’t know unless we try. I’ll be sending Timmy and Virze with the first things we need to do to make this happen and I trust you will follow their directions.” Scotty looked around the gathering and said, “There is one announcement that I have not made and I think it’s time I did. Julie.”

Julie handed Maddy to Jesa and stood and came over and stood beside Scotty. Scotty put his arm around her and looked at those gathered, “Julie and I are going to have a child.”

There was a moment of complete silence and then the roar from those present echoed off the forest. The cheers were loud and all of those from the community started hugging each other and jumping up and down.

Kreej looked at Bleath and said, “I’m the flyer.”

Bleath smiled and said, “Yes, you are.”

Grang got up, walked over, and hugged Julie. They saw his tears and he said, “I’m so sorry Madeline is not here.”

Scotty hugged Grang and said, “She is, my brother. She is.”

Jingo and Jesa joined them and the three brothers that were so different found how much they were alike.

The nine Searcher Ships listened to the meeting in orbit. Kelly said, “I’ve never seen that much happiness over the announcement of a child. Especially from a ruler.”

Anglo said, “You need look no further than your Stars Realm download. Every child of the Gardners prompted massive celebrations before the Realm was divided into Provinces.”

There was silence and finally Greyson said, “Just more evidence to support how wrong we were. Somehow, we lost our way.”

BC listened and added, “You need look no further than the planet below to see we have found our way back.”

William watched his scans and said, “It’s good to be back.”

“Hey Varner, how do you like your new Partner?”

“Jessica, he’s more than I could ever hope for. We’re a good team. The rest of you without one should start looking for a good candidate.”

BC said, “I’ve decided who I want.”

“Who is that?”

“This is turning into a space war. I’m asking Jingo to join me, Greyson.”

“Do you think the Emperor will free him from his duties with the Flyers?”

“We’ll see. I suspect he’ll want him involved in the fighting.”

“Good-luck, BC. You’ve made a great choice.”

“Did all of you know that June is Queen Ashley’s sister?”

“No way, Anglo!”

“Way, she abdicated the throne to come and face the death sentence the Zord had given her.”

There was silence and Greyson said, “You need to catch us up on all that has happened.”

“I’ll send you the download of Bristone’s history. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, all of you are making it as we speak.”

Sena said in a whisper, “Let’s hope it’s a long history.”

Grace listened to the other Searchers and saw that they had regained their youth. They were excited at the opportunity to build something they could be proud to be a part. She also found that she felt alive again. Virze was so much like Melanie was when she came out of the Academy so many centuries ago. Grace knew she belonged in a ship and she would never allow allow anyone to take her out again. Perhaps Alex would eventually join them. He belonged in a ship as well.

The celebration began in earnest and for the moment the danger was forgotten. The Zord began arriving and then it spread into the skies as they circled and screamed their joy. All of the Zord that were saved during the Night of the Torg arrived and the noise was almost deafening.

Julie watched the gathering and felt the child growing in her womb. She could hear it and knew that BC was right. This child was going to be something special. She also heard it talking to Mallory’s baby. It was primarily in emotions but she knew that they were going to be close. Mallory looked at her from across the fire and smiled. Good, she felt it, too. She knew that the war would be delayed for them to grow up. She wouldn’t tell anyone, even Scotty, how she knew but she did. She couldn’t tell anyone because she couldn’t explain how she knew.

Scotty looked across the fire and saw Julie being congratulated by everyone. He thought about how lucky he was to have her and wondered about how they had come together. He knew there was a reason but he didn’t worry about what it was. Whatever had caused it was a good thing. He looked up at the stars and smiled. He felt an arm on his shoulder and saw Grang looking up as well. Then Jingo was there looking up with them. They didn’t say anything. They just stared at the massive gathering of stars overhead. Staring at the stars is where their friendship began. The stars shined down and for the first time seemed to be smiling back at them.

Bleath looked at Vring, “How certain are you about this weapon?”

“I see some problems with the software being able to work fast enough. It’s something we’ll have to work on and hope for a breakthrough.”

“Show me what you know.” Bleath looked at the data and said, “Have you thought about teleporting the data between the collection centers.”

Vring looked at Kreej who had been listening in and was stunned. “Don’t look so surprised. I don’t have this ring around my neck for no reason.”

“Father, you have got to join us.”

“You get the project moving and I’ll join you when you have a working model.”

Kreej just shook his head and saw the possibilities. Teleporting data was faster than light. It just might work.

Jilico watched his display and saw that there hadn’t been an attack. Where did those ships come from? Should he continue the jumps? He needed to reel in Daulun’s Kingdom but if he sent his fleet to make that happen he would leave his Kingdom wide open to further attacks. Ummmm. Maybe they had decided to give up. I’ll give it three more weeks. Then I’ll go and collect Daulun. He punched his communicator, “Ro, I want you here is three weeks to plan the acquisition of Daulun’s Kingdom provided there are no further attacks.”

“I’ll be there, Your Majesty.”

The probe in the room watched the King continue to sway in front of the window and sent the recorded conversation to Grace.

“G
race, are you ready?”

Yes, Your Majesty. Rehoben’s ship just arrived and he should be on planet in thirty minutes.”

“Teleport me up and let’s go say hello. Are the ships still making jumps to the assembled fleet?”

BC and Varner say the number has grown to more than eight hundred. I suspect they are planning to go to New Hope from there.”

“That makes sense. They’re armed and moving into formation. It would be a waste of time to make the fleet come back to Olympos.” Scotty appeared on the bridge and Virze stood up for him to take the command chair, “No, Virze. This is your ship to fight. I’ll take the second chair.”

“I’ll feed everything to your display.”

“Thank you, Grace.”

Virze was nervous having the Emperor looking over her shoulder but she said, “Take us there, Grace.”

The huge white ship disappeared from above Bristone.

Rehoben enjoyed his walk to the palace. He could have just landed on the tower but he always looked forward to the stroll through Olympos. The tall skyscrapers that towered above him and the throngs on the streets made him feel alive. The blue sky was beautiful and the thousands of vehicles overhead added a sense of destiny to his beloved planet. He greeted those he encountered and smiled at the happiness of the citizens. They were the reason he got up each day. The children laughed readily and the streets were full of them walking with their parents. Crime was almost nonexistent. No one wanted to face the brutal penalties of being convicted. Rehoben liked that no one recognized him. He was the power behind the throne that no one ever saw. He liked it that way.

He saw the castle ahead and he prepared himself to meet Jilico. The King was never in a good mood and today was not going to be any different. He had not been able to track down the ships that had attacked the Kingdom and he knew he was going to get grief over that. Now Jilico was planning to go ahead and annex Daulun’s Kingdom. He prayed that there would be limited loss of life in the campaign. He walked up to the gate and the guard immediately recognized him and pushed the crowd gathered in hopes of seeing King out of his way. He lowered his head so that if anyone took his picture it wouldn’t be a good one. He went through the gate and turned toward the armed guards at the armored door. No, today was not going to be a good one.

Rehoben stood at the door to Jilico’s quarters and waited. The white light at the ceiling illuminated and the door swung open. Rehoben was amazed at the size of the armored door and how smoothly it swung outward. This entire wing of the palace was double armored and could withstand a nuclear strike. He entered and walked down the long hallway and heard the door close behind him. There had been no more attacks so he knew he was going to take the fleet to attack Daulun after this meeting. He really didn’t like forcing others into the Kingdom, especially with the heavy handed rule that Jilico implemented. However, it was his duty to obey. He approached the door to Jilico’s study and entered. Just as he suspected, the King was not happy. He took a deep breath and walked up to Jilico’s desk and bowed.

Jilico looked up and then looked back at his display, “I see we only have seven hundred ships gathered for the attack.”

“That should be more than enough, Your Majesty.”

“He has more than two hundred planets in his Kingdom. I want at least fifty Searchers sent to each planet. I don’t want just enough; I want them to know who has the power.”

Ro raised his com, “Fleet Operations, send another three hundred ships to the attack fleet.”

“They’ll arrive momentarily, Sir.”

“Thank you.”

“Are the troop transports ready?”

“They are waiting for Admiral Hulent’s confirmation on the destruction of Daulun’s fleet.”

“What about the Governors for his planets?”

“They are waiting with the troops, Your Majesty.”

Jilico looked back at his display and pushed a button, “Do not disturb me until I notify you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Jilico looked up at Ro and saw him disappear. He stood up and then found himself standing on the bridge of a ship with a young woman holding a weapon pointed at him. He saw Ro standing next to him and then he saw a blonde haired man stand and say, “I’m sorry to interrupt your meeting but we have a few things to discuss.”

Jilico looked at Ro and saw he was just as shocked as he was. Both of them stared at the young man and he said, “Why don’t the two of you take a seat in those chairs behind you. I need to take care of the fleet you’re assembling before we have our meeting.” The large display on the wall came on and they saw their Searchers in gathered and assembled into groups of fifty ships as three hundred more ships arrived and joined the fleet.

“That’s all of them, your Majesty.”

Jilico looked at Ro and saw he heard it as well. This young man was some kind of ruler. How did they get taken from the castle to this ship? They looked up at the display and saw a large white ship appear in the middle of their fleet. Then they saw the man raise a com and say…

Admiral Hulent saw a white ship appear in the middle of his fleet and was surprised by its arrival. His Communications Officer put a voice on the ship’s speakers. “Hello to each of you Searchers from the Life Province. I know you’re preparing to go conquer another Kingdom but I’m afraid I am just not going to allow you to do that. I hope we don’t have to destroy any of you but we will if you do not follow my instructions exactly. I don’t think I can stop you from testing my defenses first but please be aware that I will not tolerate your attack very long. So go ahead and take your best shot.”

Admiral Hulent felt his anger and picked up his com, “Attack and destroy that ship.”

The fleet began turning and firing on the intruder.

Jilico said, “You should tell them I’m on board. You’re trying to kill me.”

The young man smiled, “Relax. This demonstration is more for your benefit than theirs. You need to see what I can do if I choose.”

Ro felt the touch of cold fear go up his spine. He looked at the display and saw hundreds of ships coming in and firing.

Admiral Hulent watched as his entire fleet rushed in and attacked the white ship and nothing was getting through its energy screen. “Use your main beams.”

The red beams grew in intensity and the white ship looked like a huge explosion but nothing was getting through. The attack continued for five minutes as the thousand ships flew by and fired. Scotty looked at Virze, “Are you ready?”

“We have them all targeted, Your Majesty.”

“I trust you are not going to damage them.”

“No, we’re just going to fire through their screens.”

Scotty picked up his com and said, “I think I’ve allowed you enough time to take your shots. Now it’s my turn.” Scotty looked at Virze and nodded.

Admiral Hulent watched as hundreds of beams erupted from the white ship and started striking every ship in the fleet. He saw a bright white beam blow through his ship’s screen and demolish it like it didn’t exist. He looked at his display and saw that all of the fleet’s ships had their screens blown through. “Cease firing, cease firing.”

The Searcher fleet stopped firing and stopped moving. Then they heard, “I can see if any of you attempt to jump away. If I see a null drive field forming I will not miss from this moment on. Do you understand?”

Hulent nodded toward his com officer, “Yes, we understand.”

Suddenly a beam fired out of the white ship and hit a Searcher out on the far edge of the formation and it blew up in a giant fireball.”

“I will not repeat myself. I can kill every one of you before you could escape. You will remain where you are.”

Hulent said, “Do as he says.” His bridge crew looked at him and he shook his head. He had no idea who was in that ship.