all know that rose is more valuable than gold in this Realm. Please board the ship at the other end of the field and wait there for your instructions.”
He grabbed his bag and ran to the ship with the others and entered to find an Ensign assigning each of them seats. Once they were all boarded, the ship lifted into orbit and then everyone heard, “Teleport in five seconds.” They all looked out through the forward glass and saw a silver field forming in front of their ship; the ship moved forward and reappeared above a planet.
“Everyone, please move to the field in the landing bay immediately,” a voice said over the intercom and they grabbed their bags and moved out of the main cabin and entered the shuttle’s landing bay. The silver field was glowing brightly in the rear of the bay and the recruits followed the admiral through it. The group exited the field to find themselves on the surface of a planet that was remarkably barren. Off in the distance were buildings that had fallen into decay. Most were missing walls and some were little more than piles of rubble; but there lined up in front of them was row after row of small, silver, ships. Matt immediately recognized them as those used by Searchers to perform the work of the Realm. They were beautiful. Their smooth lines and gleaming silver surfaces reflecting the sun’s rays were awe inspiring.
“They’re beautiful aren’t they?”
Everyone turned and saw an Algean standing next to the admiral. The Algean was more than fifteen feet tall and had blooms that smelled wonderful. “I’m sure you’re trying to figure out why we brought you here. The reason our Queen took the time to walk through your ranks was that she wanted to touch each one of you to see if you possessed the necessary psychic ability to be able to bond with one of these ships. She can sense those abilities and you are here because she determined that you possess psychic ability in a measure that is above normal. What skill you have was increased when she touched you and in the coming days some of the things you’ll be able to do will surprise you. However, only those that can bond with a ship will be accepted as a Searcher into the Stars Realm’s Navy. The others that were at the initial gathering have all demonstrated on their tests that they have outstanding abilities and they will be offered positions in our support fleets as will those of you who are not successful here.”
The Algean walked around to stand between the recruits and the silver ships, “You are here to see if you can raise a ship. Each one of you will step forward one at a time and look out at these ships and command the ships “to rise”.” The Algean then pointed to one of the recruits and said, “You will go first followed by you.”
Matt thought, “Oh no. I don’t want to go second. I want to watch others go before I try.”
The first recruit stepped forward and everyone watched as he stared at the ships for thirty seconds but nothing happened. The Algean said, “Step back to the end of the line and you will be given another chance after everyone has tried.” He then said to Matt, “It’s your turn.”
Matt stepped forward and nervously looked out at the ships. His heart was pounding a mile a minute but as he stared at the ships he once more marveled at how beautiful they were. He forgot his nervousness as he stared at those beautiful works of technology and thought about how wonderful it must be to be able to fly a ship like those in front of him. He then smiled and thought, “Rise.”
For a moment nothing happened, then in the back row one of the ships rose and hovered ten feet above the others. The Algean and admiral looked at each other surprised. Then they looked at him and saw his smile. “What is your name,” the Admiral asked?
He blushed and answered, “Matthew Gardner, sir but my friends call me Magic.”
The Admiral looked at him and asked, “Are you related to the Royal Family?”
“No sir. I was raised in a state institution after my parents were killed in a ship accident when I was a baby. My name was given to me by the state to honor our royal family.
“How did you come to be called Magic?”
Matt shrugged, “As a kid I liked doing magic tricks. The name stuck.”
“Well, Magic, you are accepted into the Fleet Academy and that ship will be yours when you graduate. You might be interested to know that only the ships on the back row have all of the advanced systems the Algeans build into our ships. They will respond only to those that have the requisite psychic ability to fly them. Only ten other recruits in the last year have raised an Alpha Ship. You should be proud.”
The alarm went off and he was brought back to the present. His ship had found a planet with intelligent life and has dropped out of star drive. It looked like the planet was the center of a huge space battle. Thousands of ships were attacking the planet and large numbers of the defender’s ships were being destroyed. Matt looked at his display and saw the attackers would prevail if things continued as they were going. He thought a moment and then he sent a thought, “This is the Stars Realm Searcher Aladdin. I am requesting all ships to stop their attacks immediately and hold their current position. I will stop any ship that does not follow my instructions.”
The fleet attacking the planet continued their attack and Matt said, “I have given you fair warning. You have ten seconds to disingage or I will destroy any attacking ship within the orbit of the planet’s closest moon.”
Matt heard a thought answer him, “Who are you? We cannot stop defending ourselves if the Gresh won’t stop firing at us.”
He thought back, “I’ll talk with you momentarily.” Matt then jumped Aladdin into the orbit of the moon and said, “This is your last warning. Cease your attack immediately.”
The attacking ships saw the tiny three hundred foot long red glowing ship that had jumped into the system and six of them turned and started firing on it. Their beams and missiles hit the small red ship but were stopped by the ship’s screen. Matt shook his head and then put his hand into an indentation on his chair arm and linked his mind to his ship’s weapons system; his weapon console lit up and linked to his mind. Twenty of the attacking ships were inside the orbit of the moon and the attacking fleet saw twenty red beams leap out from the small ship and disintegrate the twenty ships instantly. The attacking fleet was stunned at the small ships power. “I will destroy any ship that fires a weapon in this system.”
The attackers and defenders stopped immediately. Matt watched his sensors and then thought, “Who is in command of the fleet that is attacking this planet?”
He listened and heard a thought, “I am.”
“Why are you attacking this planet?”
“Who are you to ask?”
“I am a representative of a civilization that values life. We do not normally interfere in the disputes between other civilizations; however, we will do what we can to save life if possible.”
“You just took the lives on those ships you destroyed.”
“You ignored my request to stop until I could determine if you were justified in this attack. I asked everyone to hold their positions but you refused. More than the lives on those twenty ships would have died if you continued to ignore my request. Now I ask again, why are you attacking this planet?”
“Another thought joined the conversation, “We refused to surrender to them and give up our freedom.”
“You do not have the power to refuse,” the first voice answered. “Refusal means destruction.”
“Has the planet here in this system ever attacked your worlds,” Matt asked?
The commander of the attacking fleet answered, “Not yet; only someone very stupid would attack us now.”
“So you are here to force this planet to accept your will as to their destiny.”
“They will bend to our will.”
“You will hold your positions until I tell you otherwise,” Matt thought.
“And if we don’t?”
“I will destroy every one of your ships in this system and then go to your home world and remove their ability to wage war.” All the ships in the system remained stationary wondering if this small ship could carry out its threat. Matt hit his com and said, “I have intervened in a battle between an invading fleet and a planet. The aggressors are attempting to force their will on the planet and are not acting in self defense of their worlds. I am sending you my coordinates along with the recordings of the battle along with our conversations.”
Matt heard, “Stand by.”
He waited for three minutes and then heard, “We are coming.”
Matt looked out at the attacking ships and saw that they were all about two thousand feet in length, “Looks like we’re about to get their attention.”
Suddenly a huge red globe appeared next to Matt’s ship. It was three hundred miles in diameter and dwarfed the ships around it. “We’ll take it from here, Searcher.”
