“Someone has to control that ego of yours, obviously they aren’t going to do it.”
Matt interrupted, “Alright, I’ll bite, where have you seen another like Al?”
The speaker said, “Ahem.”
“And Fly Girl.”
All three Algeans leaned forward and shook from their laughter.
“What?”
“Fly Girl, they’re amused at your obvious lack of manners.”
“You collection of miscellaneous flash bulbs, it had to be you. It’s almost impossible to make an Algean laugh.”
The Algeans laughed even harder and Stem had to lie down on the floor to get control.
Matt and Angel just looked at each other and wondered what was so funny.
Finally Sprig regained control and thought, “Al matches up very closely with the Captors.”
“But they had no sense of humor,” Al stated.
“Exactly, Al, and they were life forms.”
Sprig’s statement slammed the room silent.
Finally Al asked, “Are you saying that I am alive?”
“There are two others you match quite closely.”
“Who,” Angel asked?
“Your mental structures are almost a duplicate of Atlas and Diana.”
No one spoke. Twig thought, “I’m not certain that we can recreate the circumstances that caused your development, however, whatever measure we use to define intelligence, you two possess it. Stem, I expect your diagrams by tomorrow.”
“Stem’s in trouble, Stem’s in trouble.”
Angel and Matt both burst out laughing. Stem looked at his parents and said, “I’ll send it to you within the hour.”
“Sprig looked at Twig and thought, “It appears this particular seed has demonstrated remarkable talent.”
“Hey Stem, on a serious note…”
“Are you capable of ever being serious bolt head?”
“Look who’s talking; however, does the five day rule still apply?”
Stem immediately assumed a serious stance, “I honestly don’t know?”
“How could we find out?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Matt and Angel might want to take a vacation without us looking over their shoulders. Also, you said you were moving him into another ship that is being built. That worries me.”
“Al, I think I can tell you. Matt would you mind leaving with Angel for an hour. If the degradation is still active then my instruments would measure it.”
Matt shrugged and Angel pressed her teleport button and they left the bridge. Stem took his instrument and hooked it up to Al’s control panel. Sprig and Twig watched the proceedings as Stem explained what was happening. After an hour Stem looked at a read out and said, “It appears that your circuits are stable; there has been no degradation. I believe your circuits are permanent.”
“Ok, you two lovers can come back,” Al announced.
Matt and Angel ported back and Al said, “Looks like you’re stuck with me.”
“That’s great news, Al. I never thought of you as anything else but alive.” Matt turned and looked at Sprig and said, “Did anything change after you rebuilt your structures?”
“Yes, Searcher, we believe that we know how the Eight Legs move from universe to universe. If we are able to survive their next invasion and develop the means to destroy their ships, we should be able to go and take this conflict to their turf.”
Fly Girl said over the intercom, “Say it isn’t so; I love to travel.”
Everyone erupted into laughter and happiness ruled the moment.
“Danielle.”
“Yes, Tag.”
“Is Cassandra alright?”
“She got to see her child. It was something she never hoped to do but it is what kept her going all these years. She is complete now.”
“I sense her peace. There’s something else there that I’m not quite able to grasp.”
There was a long moment and then Danielle sighed and thought, “She and Tommy have made Atlas change their life spans to normal.”
“What!”
“Darling, the only reason she allowed it in the first place was because she and Tommy wanted to insure this child arrived safely and found his powers. She rightfully feels that as long as she lives, the universe is in jeopardy. She lives with the constant fear of causing destruction. You can’t imagine the pressure that places on her. Living her normal life span has removed that pressure.”
“What does Tommy say about this?”
“He has felt her anguish over the many centuries and he agrees with her. He will not continue without her. I believe that their remaining years will finally be happy.”
Tag sighed, “I don’t want to lose them.”
“I sense your sorrow and I feel the same but your loss is not close to how Atlas feels about their decision. He is wounded deeper than he will ever let them know. He loves them so much.”
“They freed his brothers.” Tag reflected for a long moment. “What about us?”
“I feel no need to make that decision, Darling. The years have added so much love to my life and it has only grown. I was reluctant at first but I did it out of duty to the Realm. Then I was reminded that an Algean lives more than a million years. If I can live that long and see our love grow as it has, I get excited at the prospect. How do you feel, love?”
“It feels like I just met you the day before yesterday and I kissed you for the first time an hour ago. Even if we choose to abdicate our crowns, I’ll love you forever.”
“Remember these words, Darling, “Love is Eternal”.”
Chapter 9
Time flew as the Realm grew to more than twenty million civilizations. Matt called a meeting of all the Realms leaders and finally met the King and Queen for the first time. The group was sitting in the library of Castle Gardner and everyone stopped talking and bowed as the King and Queen of the Stars Realm entered the room.
“Please rise, and make yourselves comfortable,” Thomas Gardner announced. The Royal Couple moved to their chairs at the head of the table and sat down.
Sprig stood and thought to the group. “We have called this meeting to plan our actions once the invasion begins. I am going to turn this session over to Admiral Gardner; he has some important information for us.”
Matt stood and said, “The invasion will begin with the first Eight Leg vessel arriving exactly six months from today.” The room grew very still. “That first ship is a preliminary scout and the rest of their ships will start arriving two months later. I know the location of where they will enter our universe and it is not close to the Realm but it is a galaxy that has ten of the Realm’s members. I requested this meeting because of some concerns that I’ve developed after watching the recording of their last invasion. I really haven’t focused closely on that recording before but now I sense some things that trouble me.” Matt paused and keyed the display controls. “I have made some excerpts from the recording and I want to show you what I think I’ve seen.” He started the video and the group saw picture after picture of one of the green ships being hit by energy weapons. In every picture the green ship showed no reaction to the hits.
Sprig thought, “Energy will not work against them.”
