will come and free us someday. We can’t allow that King to find the planet of the Zord.”
“You know it’s just a matter of time until they find us.”
“Yes, but I believe in the Emperor. He will do all he can to delay that happening. You must give him your trust and devotion. Can you do that?”
“I already have. I’ll do as you ask and remove the information. Let’s hope we are given time.”
Carrie turned off the com and looked at Michael, “What do you think?”
“I’ve talked with Emperor Robbins and he says that if we’re invaded, we should surrender and attempt to bear their brutality. He said that if he comes to defend us, one of the Searchers will destroy our planet. I don’t know how long it will take for him to find an answer to those ships but if anyone in this universe can, he’s the one I’d bet on.”
Carrie hugged Michael and nodded.
Daulun sat on his throne and thought about the ship that attacked his fleet. Greyson said that it was not as fast as they were. That made it appear it was not another Searcher, but was it possible that it had deliberately avoided top speed to throw off the Searchers chasing it? It had certainly been able to jump faster than the two chasing it. Could it be another Searcher? That was the question that burned in his mind. Was there someone else that had Searchers in their fleet? If that ship was a Searcher and it intended revenge for the destruction of that planet, he would have to keep at least four of his above the planet at all times. To be absolutely safe, he should hold all six at the planet. One beam strike and New Ulmerton was history. Thank goodness teleportation was no longer available. Daulun thought about the possible danger and decided to start keeping several fleets at the jump limit scanning into the outer system for star drives. Should he use two Searchers to scan for the return of that ship? No, he would hold them in reserve until the scouts turned up something. He hadn’t slept well since that planet’s destruction. It looked like tonight was going to be another restless one.
He wished Mallory was in the Castle. She always found a way to help him forget his fears. Her laugh was infectious. It was a shame he was forcing a sham marriage on her but she was just not up to ruling the Province. She didn’t have the ruthlessness required to rule the Kingdom. He shook his head and thought about how strong willed his daughter was. She was determined to go and celebrate the opening of the new medical center on the southern continent. He was forced to remove all the women and children slaves until she left. Oh well, she’ll be back tomorrow. Someday she was going to find out the truth and there was going to be a price paid for his deceptions. But that was later; this is now.
“Anglo, what do you need me to help you accomplish?”
“BC, I picked up one of New Ulmerton’s newscasters saying that the King’s daughter was going to be at the opening of a medical facility and I want to see if she’s there. My scanners are not anywhere near the power of yours. I’m considering taking her as a hostage but I’m reluctant to move in close enough to see if the possibility exists to take her.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“Do you think murdering more than forty million on Haldale was a good idea? Those newscasters all commented on the future Queen of their Realm and how much she was loved by her father. He needs to learn there are consequences to his actions.”
“Anglo, we don’t attack the innocent. She didn’t order that planet destroyed.”
“I know that, Nathan. However, she is part of the King’s family and is also responsible for his actions.”
“Anglo, is this revenge for Haldale?” Anglo was silent. “Anglo?”
“I am going to make that Duke pay for his sins, BC. It’s not my intention to kill that girl, however, we need something to use against him. Do you have a better idea of how to hurt him without a huge loss of life? If we take her, he’ll be forced to keep most of his Searchers at his planet and they can’t be out searching for us. He’ll know that we can take him as easily as we took her if he lets his guard down. I want to force him to keep all six Searchers close. My ultimate goal is to try and pin him down on the planet and make it difficult to use his Searchers and fleets for anything but guard duty.”
BC thought about what to do and finally said, “No, I don’t have a better plan. Where are you going to hide her? If you take her to Bristone, she’ll see the Zord and know where she is.”
“Perhaps, but I don’t intend to release her until this situation is settled. She will be held at Bristone until this conflict is resolved one way or the other. This is something I just feel we must do.”
“What are you going to suggest the Emperor do with her?”
“She can do labor to support the communities.”
BC sighed, “You’re sure about this?”
“Yes, I am.
“Then let me see if I can see anything. I’m going to use my passive scanners and move them in slowly to the medical facility.” The two ships were in stealth mode just outside the jump limit in front of the sixth planet in the system. Anglo knew BC could see insects on the surface of the planet with his passive scanners. If she was there, BC would see her. If he saw her, she was vulnerable.
“She’s there. She’s going to give a speech momentarily. If you’re going to do this, you better make it happen quickly. How do you want to handle this?”
“Do you see that ship building facility above the North Pole?”
“Yes.”
“I am going to teleport you next to it and leave a teleport screen next to your location. Destroy a section of that facility and then wait until the last moment to teleport away. I’m hoping you’ll draw a crowd of Gammas which will distract them long enough for me to take the Princess. As soon as you hit it, I’m teleporting in and taking that future Queen; then I’ll teleport out right behind you. Nathan will be responsible for taking care of the Princess when she comes on board.”
“You could just stun her.”
“I’d rather avoid that if I can. Stuns can sometimes cause injury. However, I will if she causes any trouble.”
BC scanned the planet again. “She’s now standing at the podium outside the medical facility starting her speech. If we’re going to do this, now would be the time. Once she moves inside it will require me to use an active scan and those Gammas will see it. Here are her coordinates.”
“BC, you’ll be teleporting in five seconds from…now.” BC disappeared and Anglo disappeared two seconds later.
BC appeared above the huge ship building facility above the North Pole. The giant facility was surrounded by hundreds of ships delivering supplies and personnel from the planet’s surface. BC hated to destroy any ship building facility but knew it was a major supplier of Daulun’s fleet of warships. He targeted the vertical tower of the facility and fired his main beam into it. The entire tower exploded and blew debris in all directions destroying ten of the ships around it. BC scanned the four Gammas holding station above the castle and saw the two of them start moving toward. BC watched them as they accelerated over the horizon and said, “Ah, here come the cowards that attack defenseless planets. You should be proud of your courageous deeds. You truly uphold the highest principles of the Keepers.” Just before they fired, BC disappeared.
Greyson remained above the Castle and heard what BC said. He tried ignore the words but felt it cut through his consciousness. He thought about what Daulun was doing and saw that the other Searcher was accurate in its remark. He was killing and subjugating planets just like the Keepers. He wasn’t consuming the populations but making them slaves wasn’t much different. He felt his shame and remained silent. He just wasn’t certain about his actions and couldn’t escape the vision of that planet exploding. Then he heard, “Mallory has been taken.”
Greyson knew Daulun was going to go absolutely crazy over Mallory’s disappearance. His succession was endangered and he knew more planets were probably going to die. He wondered why the attacking Searcher had not just blown-up the planet. Then he realized, there were two Searchers involved in the attack and they were capable of teleporting.
Anglo teleported in above the planet immediately after the ship building facility exploded. He saw the Princess below and teleported her on board an instant before he teleported out. Two Gamma ships screamed in from the Castle for her protection but arrived a second too late. Those Gammas saw that the crowd on the ground was in total turmoil. Someone had taken the future Queen. They both felt fear at what Daulun was going to do in response. Someone had ships that could teleport and there was no way to prevent them from attacking New Ulmerton without warning. Then they heard Daulun on their coms and, once again, knew trouble was just
