“Can you help our friends?”
AG looked down at Anglo and Jenny and stared at them for a minute; she then squirmed to get out of Matt’s embrace. She walked over to Jenny’s bed and closed her eyes.
Matt and Melanie entered the circle and the blue glow reappeared even brighter.
AG looked in Jenny’s mind and saw the residue left by the Demon’s thoughts. She was stronger now and she focused on it and quickly destroyed it. She then repaired the nerve damage that had been caused. She turned to Anglo and repeated the process. She could hear them trying desperately to reach out to each other and she linked their minds.
“Jenny.”
“Yes, Love.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m here with you where I will always be.”
The four couples released their hands and opened their eyes to see Anglo looking at Jenny. He looked up at the concerned people around his bed and smiled, “I don’t know what happened; I was lost in a dark space but then I felt Jenny. Whatever you did allowed me to find my way back; thank you.”
Jenny opened her eyes and smiled, “I felt you calling me, Anglo. I moved to your voice.”
The surgeon came up, “Their neural systems are stable. I need you to leave so we can get them into units to repair their bodies. They will be fine and I’ll let you know when you can come back and see them; right now I’m putting them in a coma.”
The doctor pushed a button on the head of the bed and Anglo and Jenny closed their eyes.
The four couples and Sprig and Twig stepped out of the room into the hall. Everyone looked at AG and hugged her. She smiled and laughed when Tommy tickled her. She loved her family.
Matt lifted his daughter and said, “You’re going to make a marvelous Queen someday.”
AG looked at her father and smiled, “Just like Mommy.”
Everyone hugged and started to leave but Tag said, “Before you go; I want to discuss an issue with you.”
Matt turned and looked at Tag, “Can it wait? We have so much to do for those that were lost in the battle.”
“No, we need to discuss this now and come to a resolution later.”
“What do you want, Tag?”
“Sprig, you are doing a great job but the Realm is still falling under the weight of the numbers; am I wrong?”
Sprig leaned forward, “We have made excellent progress in handling issues between the members but we are starting to see developments that we are just not able to handle as quickly as needed.”
Rose frowned, “What developments?”
“We are starting to see the rise of pirates and other groups that are making things difficult for a large number of planets. Remember, millions of new members were accepted into the Realm that do not know the peace and prosperity that happens when everyone works together. Some are taking advantage of the leadership vacuum. There are also a huge number of planets that have been colonized by members of the Realm that have not asked to be a member. Those independent planets are causing havoc with our members. What are you thinking, Tag?”
“We will divide the Realm into five sectors and we will each take one and go there as the ruling couple. We will all take the titles of Duke and Duchess and will all bow to the Realm’s King and Queen. We will take the responsibility of our provinces and restore order and handle as many of the problems as possible. Only the serious issues will be sent to the Royal Couple. The Realm’s armed forces will be distributed to the five provinces and will be used to enforce peace, but they will owe their allegiance to the King. Ross will distribute the armed forces as it deems appropriate. I am going to recommend that every Searcher be assigned a Red Warrior and they will become the main tool of our peace keeping efforts.”
Rose looked at her father, “Do you think the Realm will stand for that to happen?”
“Rose, I don’t want to do it. I want to retire and enjoy your mother for a few thousand years just flying around this wonderful universe we have; but we are needed. The deaths of those we loved so much demand that we make this work. They died so our Realm would survive. We also know that there are other universes that need help but they will have to wait until we get our own house in order. I may be all wrong about this, but I want you to think about what I’ve proposed and plan to meet in four weeks to decide our future course. Sprig, you and Twig will have the final say on what we do; it is your Realm and we will follow your orders. If you can come up with a better plan, then I will support you. We cannot wait longer to decide; the Realm is starting to decay at an increasing rate.”
Sprig thought a moment and thought, “We will be honoring those who died in four weeks. We will meet prior to that gathering and I charge you to think about what is suggested and the responsibility it places on you. If we move in that direction, you need to think about what that will do to your lives.”
Matt looked at Sprig, “We’ll see you in four weeks.”
Chapter 14
The small blue ship appeared above a planet that was a wasteland of barren plains. Below the ship was a structure made of orange energy that glowed brightly in the mist of desolation. The red being looked at his board and sighed, “I assume you are here to finish what we started.”
“Yes.”
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“You could have tried to hide in another universe; why didn’t you?”
“I thought about it but you would have been able to find me wherever I tried to hide, right?
Matt looked at Melanie and she nodded, “Yes, we would have found you.”
“I thought as much. I acted hastily destroying my last tool. You would have had your hands full trying to handle them. I planned to recreate them, but I know I wouldn’t be given enough time if you came looking for me. If I tried to run I would have had to leave all the facilities needed to produce them. I decided to just wait for you here and think about all that has happened. I think that somewhere along the way we lost ourselves and turned in a direction that should have been avoided. My culture knew nothing but self-love and death. We reveled in the pain and misery we caused. I have been observing your universe since the blue barrier was removed and I see some concepts that are foreign to me. I finally realized that creation is better without my species in it.
I’m the only one left and only an accident allowed that to happen. I don’t know if I can change enough to not do what we have done in the past. I’m a product of billions of years and I’m still capable of building those tools that you’re familiar with and you know how deadly those can be. I know, given time, I could build one that would kill everyone in your universe and love every minute of it. It would be better if you end it here and now.” The red being waited for the blast but nothing happened.
“I know that you have great difficulty harming anyone that is not attacking you but I cannot change what has made me what I am over the eons that we have existed. Sometimes a hard decision must be made to protect the ones you care about. I do not care that all of my species died. Quite frankly, they deserved it. At the end, I rejoiced at their deaths. I wish they had suffered more after what they did to me. I am incapable of feeling the close bonds that you can have with each other and I am a danger to you and your descendents. I do not blame you or feel remorse for what must be done. I suspect that you will regret doing this in the future, but this is now.”
“Are you sure that you cannot refrain from harming others?”
“I am, and now that I’ve seen what you have that I can never possess, I only feel anger and rage that I am incapable of having it, too. That rage is what consumes me; I long for peace.”
A bright blue beam struck the orange structure and it exploded shattering the planet under it causing massive earthquakes and tsunamis.
“Matt, I hate that we had to do this.”
“He was right; sometimes someone has to make the hard decision. This species had to be destroyed and it’s my belief that we were chosen for that task. Even if he promised to never hurt another civilization, I could not trust
