know what those letters mean but they sure knew how to make a cigar in those ancient times.”
Matt shook his head and smiled, “Are these the only examples you have?”
“Unfortunately, they are but I wanted to share these with you.”
“Well put them away and we’ll have another if we can survive this next event. Boy, these are good.”
They sat, smoked, and relaxed. Tag said, “We need to do this more often.”
Matt smiled. “Just be sure to bring the cigars.”
A silver screen appeared and Sprig and the Spiders stepped into the room. Newton smelled the smoke and asked, “What is that?”
Anglo answered, “It’s called a cigar and these were made in ancient times.”
“Do you have any more?”
Tag, Anglo, and Matt looked at each other and all three said simultaneously, “No.” Anglo looked at them and said, “ these are the last ones.”
Newton sighed and said, “They smell wonderful.”
Anglo slid the box under the table and said, “Why don’t we start our meeting.”
Matt filled them in on what the Reg told him and then looked at the spiders. “Is it true that you are working on a psychic drive?”
Edison and Newton looked at Einstein and the small spider said, “I have developed a model that I believe will operate on the wavelength that psychic wave had when it passed our ship. I trialed it and it did not move. I’m not there yet.”
“When this meeting is over, I want you to take it to Cassandra Dodd and let her see it. Perhaps it needs someone with psychic ability to make it work.”
Einstein turned his head to the left, “I didn’t think of that.” He looked at Newton, “You’re right; they are smarter than us.”
Destiny said, “Why do you say that, Einstein?”
Edison and Einstein looked at Newton who looked around and said, “They didn’t think that King Gardner understood that I extended his life span but I told them he did.”
Matt flinched and caught himself before he said anything. Sprig thought, “Uh, when did you extend his lifespan, Newton?”
“You remember; I gave him the device to protect his ship and I told him I wanted him to live to see me grow up.”
Sprig looked at Matt and he understood what he had missed. “Uh, Newton, I forgot to ask how long it was extended.”
“Well, Melanie was on board when you used it the first time so both of you should live about one and a half million years.”
Matt fought to keep his expression neutral. Then he heard Newton tell Edison, “I told you he knew.”
“I agreed, Newton.”
“Well, you didn’t initially.”
Destiny was watching Matt and knew that the human really didn’t know until this moment. He sighed, “Newton is that process you used reversible?”
“Probably, but why would anyone want it reversed?”
“I was just thinking that we might want to use it on others that have a specific idea about how long they want to live.”
The little spider tilted his head and shrugged.
Matt looked at Destiny and shook his head. He sent a private thought, “I’ll discuss this later. I don’t want to put anything in his mind that would take away his focus on the coming task.”
“I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Please remember they’re only children.”
Then Matt had a thought break through, “Uh, Newton. Is the process genetic?”
Newton smiled and said, “Absolutely, you pass it on to your children. I’m sure you want to see them grow up, too. Why do you ask?”
Matt looked at Newton, “Most people don’t know but Melanie is expecting a child.”
Everyone started congratulating Matt but something Einstein said to himself caught his immediate attention, “I wondered where that psychic field was coming from.”
Matt said, “Einstein, what did you just say?”
The little spider was looking at a device and he jumped when Matt called his name. “I have a device that can read the strength of psychic fields, which I used in working on the psychic drive. There is one here in the castle that appeared about six months ago and has been growing at a phenomenal rate.”
“Show me what you mean.”
“May I use the display?”
“Go right ahead.”
Einstein plugged his small device into the display and a picture of Castle Gardner’s layout appeared. “I can see any field in the galaxy I’m located but the last few trips here have allowed me to see the strong fields here. The blue circles are the psychic fields in the castle. The one right here is yours, Your Majesty. Notice how it is light blue. Your field is the strongest here, or it was.”
Sprig looked at the display and said, “This must be the former King and Queen.”
“You’re right.”
“This smaller one over here must be Anglo Gardner’s field.”
“Right again.”
Sprig looked at the display, “What is this black circle?”
Einstein shrugged, “That is the one I’ve been having trouble identifying. It must be Melanie’s baby.”
“Why is that circle black?”
“Oh, I needed some way to measure the strength of fields so I used colors. That field is actually violet.”
Sprig looked at the display and said, “Einstein, that circle is black.”
“Not really, let’s look at it this way.” Einstein made an adjustment and all of the fields were placed side by side. “This thinnest circle is Anglo’s.”
The group saw how each circle grew progressively thicker. Matt’s circle was five times thicker than Tag’s and Danielle’s. However, the circle next to Matt’s was five times thicker than his. Everyone in the room stared at that circle. Einstein saw them staring, “See why I was confused about where that field was originating.”
Matt looked at the field and then said, “We will continue this meeting in three hours. Please discuss what I’ve just told you and let’s discuss our next course of action.” He downloaded the information in the display and went to see Melanie. As he turned to leave he said, “Sprig, come with me, please,” then he thought, “Melanie, Tag, Danielle, meet me in our quarters please.”
Matt and Sprig entered and found the rest of the Royal Family waiting. “I need to fill you in on what I have just learned. Matt told them everything that had happened at the Reg and then what he had learned from the young spiders. He sent the information from his com to the rooms monitor and everyone saw the psychic circles that Einstein had recorded.
Melanie looked at the display and said, “Oh my ancestors. I thought the voice in my head was just me thinking about what my baby would say if it could talk.”
Matt turned and said, “Sprig, I thought psychic’s children would not have psychic abilities.”
“That is not what I said, Your Majesty; I said that the children of first generation psychics would have higher abilities than their parents but that the children of the second generation would not possess those abilities. You are the first generation, Matt and Melanie does not display abilities. There is a good probability that your child’s children will possess psychic skills at a higher level than it will have, if the display is right, which will be considerable.”
Melanie looked at Matt, “You haven’t said anything about taking a long time to become an old man.”
“I don’t know what I think about that. How do you feel?”
Melanie smiled, “That just means I have longer to love you. How can you not like that?”
Sprig thought, “We live that long naturally so it really won’t seem like a long time. There’s so much to see and learn that the time just slips away.”
Matt scratched his head, “Put like that, how can I disagree. Let’s discuss it after a thousand years.”
“Make it ten thousand for me. I’m starting to get curious about what our children will become.”
