“It was I who was not good enough to have you. I am so thankful you chose me.”
Sprig felt his love for her and pulled her tighter to him.
Chapter 9
Fifty more crystal lumps had appeared at the Reg’s outer system and Matt decided that the search for the chosen had to begin immediately. He contacted Fleet Command. “I need all of our Searchers to make a short trip to a coordinate I’m sending you. I want ten thousand of them to board a defender class vessel and go to those coordinates and follow the instructions of Aladdin upon arrival. Implement those instructions immediately. I will be having them do this periodically so have the Searchers save the coordinates of the ship that is used to transport them to speed the process.”
“We will have the first ship ready in an hour, Your Grace.”
“Al.”
“Yes, Magic?”
“I am sending a defender class vessel with ten thousand Searchers on board to the site. Have the ship fly closely by the crystals and see if any respond.”
“And if one does; what happens?”
“The Searchers will teleport to their ships and fly by the ships individually. Please give them the order and time to fly by.”
“You must think I’m an Algean.”
“You big dummy; you could do that simple task in your sleep.”
“Excuse her, Magic; she’s not herself lately.”
“Not myself? You pompous old windbag! I’ll show you who not herself is!”
Matt smiled, “Let me know if anything happens.”
“You’ll be the second to know. What do we do when we find one of the chosen?”
“Have them report to me.”
“It’s like old times, Magic; this is fun. I’ve missed working.”
“I need you and Fly Girl to come up with a last name.”
“Why?”
“I’m enlisting both of you into the Realm’s Navy. It will help identify you.”
“We’ll work on it; you know how easy it is for us to reach agreements.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“See, I told you she was ornery.”
Matt turned his attention away before the two started on each other. He almost wanted to listen, but just didn’t have time.
“What’s up, Jenny?”
“I’ve be ordered to teleport to the Ruben James to take part in some kind of project that Prince Gardner has ordered.”
“What kind of project?”
“I don’t know; is there anything in your data banks about it?”
“No, just the usual.”
“Well, I’ll teleport back as soon as I can. See if you can find out what’s going on.”
“I just found out from Lemgar that Prince Gardner is involved in finding some kind of new warrior or something.”
“That’s odd. I’ll let you know what I find out. Keep things warm for me.”
The ship’s computer said, “Aye, aye, Sir.”
Jenny teleported to the Ruben James and was directed to report to the ships’ auditorium. She walked in and saw thousands of Searchers sitting and discussing what was happening. She took a seat and listened in on conversations around her. It appeared that everything was speculation so she sat back and leaned her head on the headrest and went to sleep.
The Ruben James teleported to the coordinates and was directed to fly close to some crystal formations that were floating in space. The huge Defender vessel moved slowly along the row and the fifth crystal gave off a golden glow. Al had become bored watching more than a hundred previous vessels fly by with no result; the glow energized him. Al waited until the ship had cleared the last crystal and immediately commed the commander. “Captain, please put me on the ship’s intercom.
“Intercom is active.”
Jenny was jerked out of her sleep by a loud voice. “Attention all Searchers and crew members on board the Ruben James; Searchers, you will teleport to your individual ships and return to the coordinates listed in your navigation system and fly by the crystals at the time designated. You will do this immediately.” The ten thousand Searchers all disappeared from the auditorium. “Crew members of the Ruben James, you will standby and wait for further instructions. Please move your ship a hundred thousand miles further out.”
Jenny appeared on Paris and saw the coordinates on her display. “What happened?”
“I don’t know; I was taking a nap.”
“Oh, Jenny, you and your naps.”
“No one else knew either.”
“Well, twenty minutes until we go.”
Jenny waited and teleported at the designated time and found herself in a long line of Searchers moving toward a row of what looked like crystal rocks that glowed with a blue white luminance. She head on her ships speaker, “Maintain your spacing and speed.”
Paris moved forward until they were in front of the first crystal and passed along the row. Each crystal grew dark as they came near it but as they passed the fifth crystal it emitted a gold color.”
“Searcher ship Paris, move out of line and report to the coordinates on your display immediately. Your ship will meet you later. All other personnel will now leave and report to their previous duties.”
“What just happened, Paris?”
“I was watching those crystals and they turned dark whenever a ship came near them. I saw the fifth one give off a golden glow as we moved past it.”
“Do you have any idea what that means.”
“No, but you have been ordered to go immediately. I’ve looked at the coordinates you’ve been given and I’m not sure about the exact location but it is in the Ross system.”
“Oh my God!” Jenny hit her teleport button and disappeared from Paris’ bridge.
She reappeared in a large room where all the walls were covering in galaxies. She knew that this had to be the map room at Castle Gardner. She turned around and saw two of the most familiar faces in the Realm. Matthew and Melanie Gardner were sitting at a table playing with a baby. She jerked to attention and the Prince motioned her forward. She walked to within three paces and bowed. “Welcome to our map room, Searcher. What is your name?”
“Jennifer Ann Connor, Your Grace.”
“Well come and sit down; we have a few questions.”
Jenny sat in a chair across the table from them. The baby looked at her and laughed. “Our child likes you,” Melanie said. “She knows good people when she sees them”
Jenny smiled and said, “Thank you, Your Grace.”
Melanie looked at Jenny and noticed something, “What is that pin on your collar?”
“It was given to me by my mother for safe keeping.”
“That pin was given to all of the original Ross Settlers to commemorate the founding of their colony.”
Jenny furrowed her brow, “Yes it was. One of my ancestors was one of the colonists that were executed by the Cainth.”
Melanie looked at Matt and then asked, “What was your ancestor’s name?”
“George Guadalupe Gonzales.”
