Defending Earth-Searching for Death Feeders (2 page)

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Granting your wish. Come with me.” Amelee started walking beside the road and looked at Legune, “Stay off the road so you don’t leave tracks.” Legune looked at the Grondon tearing the two bodies apart and she ran to catch up to Amelee. The cart was covered in blood and she couldn’t get the vision out of her mind. They turned a bend in the road and Amelee stopped. She looked up at the sky and after a moment she looked at Legune, “Take a look around, this will probably be the last time you see your world.” Legune’s eyes narrowed and then went wide open as a small spaceship appeared hovering in the center of the road. The port on the side opened and Amelee smiled, “After you.”

“Where are you taking me?”

Amelee smiled, “To freedom.” Legune stared at her, looked at the Grondon towering over the trees behind them, and then stepped through the port. A moment later, the small ship disappeared.

T
he small ship appeared in intergalactic space and Legune sat in a chair and felt immense fear. Amelee looked at her and smiled, “I could have left you behind but I saw that you were sincere about not wanting a family. I planned to bring someone from your planet back with me and I decided that you would be a good choice. Now, if you’ll give me a moment, I need to make a change.”

“What change?”

“I’m going to assume my normal form. Relax, this will only take a minute.” Amelee walked over to the center of the small bridge and smiled. A flashing silver glow came out of the ceiling and surrounded her. Legune could see her form inside the glow but that was all. After what seemed like a long time, the glow disappeared and she saw an alien standing in front of her. She wasn’t terrifying in her appearance. She had two arms and legs just like her and, though they were different in proportion to hers, she wasn’t really that different. Her dark hair was the biggest difference. Legune shook her head and Amelee smiled, “Before I take you to my leaders, I want to answer any questions you might have and tell you what’s going on. I’ll start and if I say something confusing, stop me and I’ll clarify the issue. I’m going to do this telepathically, if that’s alright with you.”

“How could you prevent the Master from seeing you?”

“I’ll answer that momentarily.” Legune stared at Amelee and she heard in her mind, “You are aware that the Masters, as you call them, are also aliens?” Legune nodded. “I come from a civilization a very long distance from here that had an encounter with the Death Feeders, that’s what we call them…”

“That’s a more appropriate name for them.”

Amelee nodded, “You’re right. They feed on the brain and nerves of those they consume. They are probably unique in this universe in that they have no other means of taking sustenance other than the deaths of those they consume. They were allied to another species that attacked my civilization about a hundred years ago. We defeated their allies and the Death Feeders left to return to their civilization. One of the species in our alliance had a child born about thirty years into that war with mental capabilities that rival, and may even be more powerful than the Feeders. That child learned that the Feeders would one day return to consume us. We’ve been preparing for that day since he made that discovery.”

“It wasn’t your species that developed the powerful mind?”

“No, it was a species that we call Goran. The young male’s parents had five children that went back to their species and started preparing for the coming confrontation.”

“But you appeared to be able to deceive the Master… I mean Feeder.”

“Actually, a miracle of sorts happened. The parents of those children spent most of their lives living with my species fighting against the Feeders and their allies; we called their allies the Legends. They decided they didn’t want to go home, so they changed their DNA to my species and remained on my home world. They had eight more children in their human form, four sets of twins that were born humans. Those children ended up marrying a group of humans, that’s what we call my species, who were a hybrid of two different species in my civilization. The children of those unions were also born with incredible mental powers.

“You say this happened a hundred years ago?”

“More like eighty years.”

“Then there can’t be many of you that have this mental power you’re describing.”

“Well, you’re right, and you’re wrong.”

“What?”

“These humans that were born with the more powerful brains were different from normal humans. This new brain was genetically dominant and even if they didn’t marry a Human-Welken descendant, their children still inherited their different brain. The children of these unions matured mentally at a much faster rate than normal human children and they were allowed to genetically alter their ages before they were ten years old. Most of them chose a child bearing age. That meant that instead of a new generation every twenty five years like normal humans, they had a new generation every ten to fifteen years. Initially there were eight couples and they all had five to ten children each. The telepathic hybrid humans also had large families.”

Legune’s eyes narrowed and she shook her head, “That would mean that after eighty years there would be…”

“There would be more than a million who were born with the new mental capabilities?”

“What about the other species?”

“They weren’t limited to choosing a special mate initially. They naturally sought members of their species that were close to their mental level and the numbers in their species with this new brain grew at a fast rate as well. They also had large families.”

“I find it hard to believe that they deliberately chose those that were good matches.”

Amelee smiled, “I suspect they were nudged to select those that would make good mates. The current situation is that this new ability no longer needs special partners. Humans with this new brain can marry whomever they choose and their children will possess this newly developed telepathic mind. The Gorans have also found the same thing in their civilization and later discovered that many of them had the ability transferred to them through telepathic linkages with the members of their species who possessed these new skills.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I think you should choose which of the two species you want to be. That will allow you to fit right in to our society. I don’t see you ever going back to your planet.”

“What?”

“Your former Master will consume you if you reappear on your planet. It will want to know what happened that caused your disappearance. I can always change you back to your current form but I’m not certain that it will happen in your lifetime.”

“Why not?”

“We’ve been searching for the Feeders and haven’t been able to find them.”

“You need look no further than my world.”

Amelee shook her head, “The Feeders on your planet were left behind long ago when the Feeders originally conquered your galaxy. They moved on and left some of their species behind to control the planets they defeated. My leaders also think they were left behind to feed them. The Feeders in your galaxy don’t even have a ship to leave the planets they’re on and they were forced to fend for themselves for the most part. That’s how their leaders insured the planets would stay conquered and not pose a future threat to them.”

“Why did you want to take one of us back with you?”

Amelee tilted her head, “We need to take a good look at the Feeders behavioral patterns and how they control their subject populations. We’ve found that the beings exposed to them over a long period of time are a wealth of information.”

“So you take what I know and leave me here trapped on a strange world.”

“I’m responsible for making sure you find a place to live and teach you all you need to know to live in peace and comfort.”

“What if I choose to be that other species?”

“I’ll find someone in their society to be responsible for you.”

“Then I choose to be your species.”

Amelee tilted her head, “Why? Both are wonderful people.”

“I’ve seen you in action. I prefer the devil I know.”

Amelee sighed, “You really didn’t want to leave, did you?”

Legune shook her head, “I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m getting into or where this is leading. Quite frankly, I’m about scared out of my wits.”

“I’m surprised you weren’t frightened by my ship when it appeared.”

“We know about space ships. The Masters have sent space ships to my planet on very rare occasions. I saw one about twelve years ago hovering over my community.”

Amelee nodded and sighed, “Step on the spot I was just standing on.” Legune stood up and walked into the center of the small bridge. The flashing silver field glow surrounded her and she felt a sudden and severe pain sweep through her body. She heard in her mind, “At least now you won’t have to worry about being eaten by a Feeder every day of your life.” Legune gritted her teeth as she fought the pain and realized Amelee was right. A heavy weight lifted from her soul.

• • •

“Hensel. Hensel!”

“What, what?”

“You’re not easy to wake up.”

“I’ve always liked my sleep. Now that I’m old, sleep holds a joy I can’t describe.”

“You’re not old!”

“Come on Clarel, I’m over eighty years old and I’m tired.”

“Grand Father, your mind is as sharp as it’s always been.”

“I wish I could say the same about my legs and back.”

“If you would just use a gravity-unit…”

“I’d rather die than have to depend on machines to keep me alive.”

“You still have your stubbornness.”

“Get in line, you have it, too. Why did you wake me up?”

“Amelee has brought back a local from the most recent galaxy we’ve found with Feeders occupying the planets.” Hensel was silent and Clarel said, “Do you want to see her?”

“I do.”

“I’ll contact Amelee and have her come by.”

“Thank you, Child.” Clarel walked out of the room and Hensel sighed. So much had changed over the years. He leaned back in his hover chair and chuckled, didn’t want to depend on machines, did he? He couldn’t walk ten steps without his chair. He sighed and thought about all that had happened. He remembered his parents telling their children that they were going to stay on Earth. He immediately contacted the Nudges and accused them of interfering. They insisted they had nothing to do with Hengel and Averel’s decision. He fought his parents on their choice and eventually lost.

He sighed and realized that was the first instance where he was shown that he wasn’t all that he thought. Their staying on Earth proved to be the best thing that happened in preparing to meet the Feeders. The new Goran-Welken-Human hybrids were an incredible asset in the forces the Alliance was building. They were what brought the three civilizations into a close fellowship of brothers fighting for each other. Without them, he wasn’t sure that humans would have worked so hard to prepare and, without them, the effort would fail.

He smiled. He actually talked more with his parents after he left for Goran than he did while he was on Earth. He wished he had stayed with them, he loved them so much and he missed them more than he could say. Soon, he would join them. But first…a new leader of the military had to be chosen to keep pushing the effort against the Death Feeders.

He remembered the Feeder he killed that had attempted to kill his father. It revealed that the Feeders would be eventually coming back. He could still feel the evil of its mind, even after all these years. He missed his sister. She had made the biggest impact on pushing the Alliance to prepare. Like most shooting stars, she burned brightly and then died about ten years ago. He knew he was older than most of his species life expectancy. He supposed it was because he did what Clareela ordered. She was the one under all the stress and he sat back and did as he was directed. He could use her now. Clarel was like her grandmother in some ways, but not in the way that mattered. Clareela was an iron willed Goran driven to prepare for the coming war with the Feeders. He needed her council but had to choose the leader without her. His sensed that his time was about over. He thought for a moment and said, “Do you have someone to suggest?”

“You requested we cease our activities more than seventy years ago.”

“I’ve had time to think about that and I fear I was wrong to do that.”

“It’s good you see that now; we’ve followed your request and have hidden from your descendants. We have not nudged anyone during that time.”

“That’s true; they aren’t able to see you and those that knew about you have died over the years. But you can see the big picture that I may be missing. I didn’t see the most important piece of information about your species being attacked and destroyed by the Feeders.”

“Do you see it now?”

“The danger is the numbers. You are far more powerful mentally than the Feeders and you still lost to them. I can now see that you were overwhelmed.”

“Your civilization is very much like we were. You are also more powerful than them mentally but the numbers you’ll have to face will destroy you, if you try to take them on now.”

“Are we close to finding them?”

“Thank the Creator, you are not.”

“So the real task is to delay them finding us, not to confront them?”

Hensel heard the Nudge chuckle, “Once again, it’s proven that wisdom does comes with age.”

“Who should be chosen?” The Nudge told him and Hensel smiled. He should have seen it.

• • •

The Feeder looked at the crushed cart through the Elder’s eyes and frowned. It was covered in blood and bones were scattered around it. He lost one of the really smart females and he was instantly angry. He should have been watching but had slept well after his meal. This attack happened outside his normal range of perception. The Elder shook his head, “Master, the Grondon that attacked them had to be one of the largest in the wilds. Its foot print is larger than any I’ve ever seen; it had to be at least twenty feet tall.”

One of the scouts looked down and saw a single footprint in the dirt twenty yards from the crushed cart. The Telepath saw his thoughts and then saw him look up the road. Another scout was moving up the road who must have made the foot print. It thought, “Get everyone back to the village and get a scouting party to go and find that beast.”