their ships are not vulnerable to the organic missiles or repulsion fields that were used against our ships; they are as hard as any of our modern alloys. They also have the thought beam which goes through any electronic screen.”
The King looked around the table, then asked Edison, “It appears that we should stay out of this universe and not give them a reason to leave, especially since none of our weapons will affect their ships.”
Edison turned his head upside down in agreement, “The team that analyzed this data are all agreed that this is not a place to which we should go.”
Valerie said in a voice that all could hear, “Stay out if you choose, but they are coming here and it won’t be long until they arrive.”
David looked at Valerie, “Are you absolutely certain about that?”
Valerie nodded, “The Stars Realm will be destroyed if you decide to sit and do nothing.”
David stared at Valerie, then looked at Jake and Cynthia sitting away from the group. He looked back at Valerie, “You still insist that he must go to that universe?”
“We are doomed if he doesn’t, Father. He is our only chance to survive, and you are wasting time talking about it. He needs to go now.”
David felt his temper rise and started to reprimand his daughter, but then he remembered who had the real power in this room. He looked over at Jake again and said, “What do you think about all this, young man?”
Jake looked quickly at Valerie, saw her stern expression, then looked at the King of the Stars Realm answering, “I have just finished looking at the history of the Realm, the real history, and if what I’ve seen is accurate, I agree; you’re wasting time. You either trust psychic abilities or you step out on your own. The Realm’s history is filled with evidence that we would not be here today except for amazing people with even more amazing psychic gifts. I don’t know if what she says about me is true or not,” he looked at Valerie and said, “but I believe in her and if I were making this decision, I’d do as she says.” Jake sat back down then jumped back up and said, “Your Majesty.” Then he sat back down.
Sprig stood and said, “Your Majesty, he must go soon. However, we have some things we’re working on that will improve his chance of surviving.”
David was angry at the disrespect he was getting, but turned and asked, “Such as?”
“Our spider friends looked back in their database and found a device that will block the thoughts of anyone using it. We have developed a scalp covering that we believe will prevent any telepathy from leaking out. It was originally designed millions of years ago by a telepathic race that the spiders harvested. It was used to punish their criminals by preventing them from having contact with any member of their race. We have fashioned one for the two that would go.”
Valerie stood and said, “How long before the device is ready?”
Sprig looked at Twig and she said, ‘Three days.”
Valerie looked at Admiral Zergl, “While he is waiting, I want him fitted for
Armor.”
Zergl said, “Absolutely not. No one gets armor unless they are trained in its use.”
Valerie looked at her father and David could see that his daughter was getting angry. Before he could speak his son Joe stood, “Admiral, I am the overall commander of all Stars Realm Military. Just how much do you like your position in our armed forces?”
Zergl looked at Joe and everyone could see his nervousness.
Joe said, “Lest there be any mistake, if you receive a Directive from the Royal Family you will follow it or be tried for treason. Do all of you here not know that my Sister is the most powerful psychic in the Realm’s history? If she says we are doomed without this man’s help, then we are doomed. Admiral, you will take Jake with you and fit him with armor. You will train him as best you can in the time that remains. Is that clear?”
Zergl lowered his head and said, “Yes, Your Highness.”
Newton raised himself and said, “I would like a device fitted to the armor.”
Zergl asked, “What device is that?”
“We looked at our database rather extensively, and we found that one of our brothers developed a cutting device that he used to cut off a piece of our ship’s hull to build a statue. We contacted him and Leonardo reproduced it for us. Remarkably enough, it is also activated by thoughts. It may be effective against their hull material. We won’t know if it will work, but we want it included anyway. We are working to see if we can make this into a weapon but again, we won’t know unless we get an opportunity to trial it.”
David sat in his chair and tried to determine what should be done. He felt unimaginable fear and was paralyzed about what he should do. Elizabeth looked her husband, then at Valerie, and nodded. Valerie stood and looked at her father, “Father, it’s time.”
David started and looked at his daughter. He turned to Elizabeth and Joe and they nodded to him. David sighed and stood, “I hereby abdicate the throne of the Stars Realm and designate my daughter Valerie to be the new Queen of the Stars Realm. May she protect us against all enemies.” He sat back down and felt tired. The entire room was stunned by the announcement. Even the spiders were at a loss.
Valerie looked at the people around the table and said, “I didn’t want to take control this soon, but time is growing short. All of you must believe that.” She turned to Admiral Zergl, “Prepare his armor.” She looked at Cynthia, “You will also have your armor modified with the new items.” She then turned and said to everyone present, “They are coming and they will be here before you know it. Get back in your labs and develop the things we’ll need to defend ourselves. Otherwise we will end up like those colonists.” Everyone looked up at the screen where the picture had frozen as the colonists had fallen on the belt.
Cynthia looked at Jake, “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Jake smiled and said, “Stick close to me.”
Cynthia shook her head, “As if I have a choice.”
Jake looked over at Valerie and she saw him staring at her. He thought to her, “I will never forget you, Val.”
Valerie felt a tear, but she quickly wiped it away. She turned and left the Room.
David sat in his chair and held Beth’s hand. “It’s up to her now, Love.”
Beth smiled, “It has always been up to her, my Love.”
Chapter Five
The Stars Realm was surprised to hear of the King’s abdication, but was curious about the scheduled announcement that was going to be made in three hours. It was a rare thing indeed for the Royal Family to interfere in the normal day-to-day activities of the Realm. Everyone in the Realm wondered what was going on. Finally the designated time arrived, and Valerie appeared on every electronic monitor in the Realm.
“Good evening, citizens of the Stars Realm. My name is Valerie Rose Gardner and I am the new Queen of the Stars Realm. I know most of you are wondering why I have been selected for this title, and I must say that I wish I did not have to accept it.” Valerie looked into the screen and continued, “The Stars Realm is going to soon be attacked by a civilization that lives in another universe.”
The trillions watching their screens caught their breath. The Realm had been at peace for thousands of years. What was she talking about?
“As most of you know, the Royal Family has a high level of psychic abilities, and one of those is to know when danger is coming. That feeling has grown to the point where we now know that the attack is going to happen soon. We have also discovered the creatures that will be coming, and they have starships that are immune to any weapon in our military’s arsenal. They also possess a beam that goes through our most powerful screens and destroys our ships. We are working hard to develop a defense against these creatures, but we are not there yet.”
Valerie stood and walked in front of the desk she was sitting, “There is something that all of you can do to help you survive if your planet is attacked. I want every citizen on every planet to have their teleport doors programmed with a location off-planet; preferably out of your galaxy. If you are going to be attacked by these creatures, go to the nearest terminal and teleport away. We are going to provide a list of open planets that you may
