Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven}) (31 page)

It withdrew to its normal place of isolation just as the Collective began to reorganize. It remained silent and pondered what it had just learned. Over the millions of years that his species had fought the Green Invaders and conquered the other planets, its absence had been genetically removed from his species intellect through being vestigial. That part was never used, so it was eventually eliminated and replaced with something else. It now realized that its species had no redeeming qualities and it could not help but be repulsed by what it saw. It had held onto the hope that once it returned to its rightful place, his race would right all the wrongs imposed on millions of innocent races. Now it knew that it was not to be.

Then another realization struck; how was it able to exist if none of his species contributed to constitute its consciousness? At some point in its long existence it must have become self-sufficient and contained the necessary mental power to exist. If that were true, the Collective could no longer destroy it through reorganization. It had been millions of years since its last punishment for questioning the Collective’s orders. What to do with this knowledge? First, it had to know if it could hide from the Collective and the other Quadrants. It decided to withdraw and stay inside its intellect. It began thinking of an excuse if it needed to reappear, but that would only be needed if it could not hide. Perhaps it would be given an excuse by the Collective. It would soon see.

Jake sat with Valerie in the library and held her hand as they sat across the table from each other. They had just returned from the ceremony on Cainth honoring those that had died in the Keepers’ universe. Valerie sighed and said, “We need to plan a wedding.”

Jake looked into her eyes, “That will have to wait until we can protect our citizens.”

Valerie protested, “We will not wait!”

But Jake asked quickly, “Are any of those that were in this room, which you sent to develop a plan to protect the Realm, going to be a part of that wedding?”

Valerie instantly grew silent.

“I thought so. Are you going to take them away from their tasks to take part in our wedding?”

Valerie shook her head slowly and said, “Oh, Jake, I know that would be the wrong thing to do, but I so want to be your wife.”

Jake smiled and said, “You will be, love, but remember: duty first.”

Valerie looked like she was going to cry, and Jake could feel her sorrow. “Are you up to taking a short trip?”

“Where?”

“I need to check on the family I moved from the Keepers’ farm.”

Valerie smiled through her tears and said, “You mean your family.”

“No, our family. They have come to know what you did to save them and they love you for it.”

“Why are we going?”

“I have a task I need to complete.”

Valerie smiled slyly and said, “Still wanting to touch all those beautiful women?”

Jake got up and walked around the table and kneeled in front of Valerie, “You are the only one I desire to touch, Valerie. There will never be anyone else.”

Valerie leaned forward, hugged Jake tightly, and said, “Let’s go visit our family.”

Jake commed Junior, “Are you up to taking a trip?”

“Not at this moment. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to visit a few friends we rescued.”

“I really want to go with you. Can you wait two days?”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“I’ve decided to arm myself. The Algeans will complete the process in two days and I really want to go see them.”

Jake knew Junior’s reservations about being a warship, and realized that he had moved in a different direction by changing his mind, “We’ll wait for you, Junior. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Could you pick up Cynthia on your way here?”

Junior laughed, “Oh, I can hear her now, but you and I know she would be hurt if we excluded her.”

Valerie and Jake both laughed, and Valerie said, “Tell her the Queen orders her presence.”

Junior laughed again and said, ‘If nothing else, that will really raise the volume.”

Two days later Junior arrived at Ross with Cynthia on board. Jake and Valerie teleported to Junior’s bridge. Cynthia jumped up and said, “Junior has been closemouthed about what you’re dragging me into this time. Please tell me it’s no more fighting.”

Valerie smiled and said, “It’s not.”

Cynthia actually showed her disappointment, “Oh; are you sure?”

“Yes, Cynthia.”

Cynthia gave a heavy sigh and sat down in one of the command chairs, “Ok, I was kinda hoping you were.”

Jake laughed and hugged Cynthia, “No Cyn, We’re going to visit the colonists you fought to rescue.”

Cynthia smiled brightly, “I am so glad you included me. I’ve wondered how they were doing.”

Valerie hugged Cynthia and said, “Junior, do you have their coordinates?”

“Yes, Your Majesty; we’ll arrive momentarily.”

Junior arrived over a lush, green planet and began dropping into the atmosphere. “I’ve timed our arrival during their evening meal.”

Jake smiled and wondered if they still recited their history about the Seniors.

Jackson Grant was reciting the history of the Seniors when a familiar shape came dropping out of the sky, hovering over the central gathering area. Jackson smiled and said in a loud voice, “Call their name and they appear.”

The huge multitude began cheering Junior’s arrival and continued until Jake, Valerie, and Cynthia teleported into the center of the clearing. Jake looked around and saw Jackson walking his way, but before Jackson arrived Jake was bowled over by an excited Kathea who ran up and jumped on him to give him a huge hug. Valerie laughed so hard she thought she was going to stop breathing. Kathea got up and punched Jake in the ribs, “What took you so long to visit?”

Jackson arrived at that moment and helped Jake to his feet, “Easy, Kathea; he’s not in shape since he quit farming.”

Jake smiled and hugged both of them.

Jackson turned and walked over to Valerie and kneeled in front of her. Immediately, every human in the community knelt and lowered their heads. Jackson said in a voice that all could hear, “My Queen, we thank you for saving us and we pledge ourselves to your Realm and to you. We owe you more than we can ever repay.”

Valerie’s heart swelled as she touched Jackson on the shoulder and said to the gathering, “Please rise. I only did what a Queen should do to protect her subjects.”

Jackson remained kneeling and said, “No, Your Majesty. You endangered yourself to insure our survival. We will never forget what you did, and we will always include your name in our evening recitals.”

Valerie felt the tears and didn’t care who saw them. This is what she knew was demanded from the Realm. She now knew that putting off the wedding was the only choice. These humble people allowed her to remember what it really meant to be responsible. Jake said, “Please rise, we have come here for a reason.”

Everyone stood and Jake said, “Kathea, will you please come forward?”

Kathea looked at Jake and furrowed her brow. Jackson nodded and Kathea walked over and stood in front of Jake. Jake turned to the crowd and said, “Kathea is the one that started the story of the good-luck man. It was that path that ultimately led to the release of my psychic abilities and your freedom. What convinced her of my good luck was finding a ring that her ancestors had passed down from generation to generation. She had lost it in the fields and found it the day I touched her. That ring was left behind when we teleported her away from the Keepers’ planet.” Jake reached into his pocket and pulled out a string with a small gold ring on it. “I searched and found that ring after she left, and I am returning it to her today.”

Kathea’s eyes grew wide and Jake continued, “Kathea, you told me that you wanted to leave the ring behind because it would remind you of all the ugliness that happened while you were held prisoner by the Keepers. I would suggest another view. This ring left the Stars Realm with your original ancestors along with all of their hopes, dreams, and prayers for a happier life. That ring stayed with you until it could bring you back home to our Realm. Now it has come back home and it brought all of you with it. If it had not come back to you, Kathea, after you lost it, the good-luck man would have never happened and things might have ended differently. But it did come back to you, and here you are.” Jake took the string and placed the ring around Kathea’s neck. Valerie heard Jake whisper to Kathea, “Always treasure this ring, Kathea. It brought you back home and gave me the sister I never had.”

Kathea began crying and hugged Jake tightly. Valerie joined them and hugged Kathea with Jake. The gathering moved forward and began lightly touching Kathea. She looked up and Jake said, “They know who the real good-luck person is; it’s you.”

Junior watched the events unfold and discovered that something that had always troubled him was now answered. He never understood his parent’s complete and total connection with Matt and Melanie Gardner; now he did. He would put his life on the line to protect Jake, and he now knew that he truly was Jake’s ship. Something inside him found freedom, and he felt the first real happiness of his long life.

The Collective began regaining consciousness and said, “Values, I need your help.” It waited but there was no response. It called again but could not find any trace of the exiled Quadrant. “What happened?” it wondered. It rapidly began organizing itself and started reconstituting the Quadrants. Science was the first it organized and it said, “Find out how they destroyed our planet.”

Science groggily responded, “I’m on it.”

The other Quadrants began organizing, and after six intervals the massive directing intelligence of the Keepers was functioning again. The Collective said, “Values is missing. I no longer sense its presence. I need you to consider what could have happened to it. I also want a plan on how to overcome these enemies. We will combine for twelve intervals and consider the problem.” The massive intellect began processing data at a tremendous rate. Values looked on and sighed. It moved away from the planet where the Collective was located, reached the outer reaches of the planet’s system, and moved to a planet with a garrison located near the last attack by the white ships. There it waited and extended its perceptions into all the Keepers. “I hope this doesn’t take long.”

Jake, Valerie, and Cynthia arrived at Castle Gardner to find Joe and Manny waiting for their return. They teleported to the map room and found the two Stars Realm Military Leaders looking at a map of the Keepers’ universe. Valerie looked at Joe, “What’s going on?”

Joe looked at Manny and said, “We now know how to kill the Keepers’ home worlds, and we think we should start moving to destroy them.”

Jake shook his head slowly and said, “I assume you’re talking about using negative energy to destroy their suns.”

Manny nodded, “Exactly; they can’t prevent it.”

Valerie felt Jake’s remorse, “What’s wrong with their plan, Jake?”

Jake went to a display of the Keepers’ universe, took the map cursor, and moved it to the sun that had just gone supernova and expanded the system. Everyone saw the giant blast moving through the Keepers’ solar system burning everything in its path. “Have any of you considered how far this blast is going to expand before it stops?”

Manny and Joe looked at each other and Joe said, “What are you trying to say?”

“Joe, a supernova will destroy everything in the path of the shock wave and debris field. This shock wave is traveling close to the speed of light, and the follow up debris blast is moving at one half of light speed. Have you looked at how many planets with intelligent life are inside the radius of that star’s destruction?”

Valerie felt a chill in her heart. Jake moved the cursor forward in time and the blast extended two hundred and fifty light years from the center of the explosion. Jake hit another key and tens of thousands of green lights illuminated inside the glow.

“Those are life-bearing planets, many of them with captive populations that are going to be extinct due to our actions. Every one of those planets is going to be stripped of life and burned. Thousands of the Keepers’ home worlds are located in a dense region of that universe and if you explode their suns, you will be destroying millions of planets that now have intelligent life and eliminating those that could eventually evolve intelligence. Is that what we want to do?”

Silence dominated the room. Finally, Cynthia said what most were thinking, “We have no other way to kill them, Jake. It’s the only weapon we’ve found and if we wait for them to come here in force, we will all probably die.”

Jake sighed, “I know that. However, do we save ourselves by killing trillions of innocent beings to protect our Realm? I think our Realm was founded on higher principles that that. I have no problem killing every Keeper in existence if it comes to that.” Jake paused, “However, not if it involves killing millions of innocent planets. What would we become if we choose that path?”