touched them all then good luck would have to follow.” Jackson said nothing. “I don’t know if she meant that I was touching her in her heart or actually touching her, but I decided to see. I moved to my new quarters and started touching every female I could. I know you must think I’m crazy to try and touch every female.”
“I do. Why don’t you have a mate?”
That question surprised Jake. He answered honestly, “I haven’t found her yet.”
Jackson didn’t know what to think. Everyone had a mate by the time they were this young man’s age. Jackson’s expression said it all. Jake continued, “I don’t know why, Jackson, but I feel that if I touch the one for me I’ll know it immediately. I may be wrong, but I have to see.”
Jackson stared at Jake and knew he was telling the truth. He could tell when someone was not being honest, and he saw that Jake really believed what he said. “Well, we have to help you find her. Five days from now we are going to assemble the community and every female that has not touched you, will. You should have a mate and it is my responsibility to make sure everyone does. Do you really think this good luck thing has any truth to it?”
Jake shook his head, “I honestly don’t know, but so many have claimed that touching me brought them luck. I don’t know if my parents were a little crazy about me or if I just misunderstood what they were saying, but something is going on.”
Jackson felt better about the Good Luck Man. He wasn’t crazy as he suspected, but just giving in to a whim. Something was happening; the Keepers were staying away. That still had him bothered, but that had to be totally unrelated to this young man. It had been years since everyone in the community had gathered, and he actually looked forward to the assembly. “You can go back to work now.”
Jake smiled and said, “I really enjoy the view from your rocker; we have to do this again.”
“Anytime; just not during work hours.”
Jake smiled and left for the fields.
The Director of the Keepers invasion fleet was frustrated. Three weeks had passed and every planet the fleet investigated was empty of life. Something was going on that he could not fathom. He called the other ships’ Directors to conference and asked, “Is there anything else we can do to find these Green Creatures?”
“Perhaps they no longer exist, and these planets are where they once lived.”
“But all of the technology on those planets is still operating.”
“We must send a messenger back to the Collective and see what it would have us do.”
A Sensor Operator interjected, “I would like to propose an option.”
The Lead Director thought, “What is that?”
“I have scanned this universe and have found some planets that have the same species as the farm where we destroyed that strange ship. Maybe it is only the Green Creature planets that have no population. Perhaps we should go see a planet with one of those species that live on the farm where the ship was attempting to hide.”
The Director thought about that proposal and could hear the agreement from the other Ship Directors. So far the fleet had nothing to show for their actions. “Where is the planet with one of the species?”
“It is not that far, and the star drive barrier is only eight hours from the planet.”
“Prepare your ships; we will be jumping to this planet.”
“Valerie?”
“What is it, Joe?”
Joe was silent.
“What is it?”
“The Keepers Fleet has jumped from Webbering.”
“And?”
“The stealth probe read their jump track and they are not going to one of the Spider’s planets.”
“Where are they going?”
“Gambia.”
“Oh no, Joe! Is there anything we can do to save that planet?”
“No, Sis. The Searchers that have the protective coating are all assigned to the Spiders’ planets. The Keepers Fleet has already entered the jump limit at Gambia and will be at the planet is less than six hours. We are not equipped to undertake any kind of response quickly enough that would allow us to move even a small part of the population. The Keepers Fleet is close enough to see optically if we tried to teleport in and start moving the population; it would reveal to them how we are hiding our own populations if we tried. We can’t risk revealing what we’ve been doing.”
Valerie could see in her mind the vision she had years before. She had seen the massive killing but she did not recognize the planet where it was happening. Now she saw the rags the bulk of the population was wearing and the decrepit condition of the buildings. She closed her eyes and wished she could forget. It made sense that the Keepers would go to Gambia. Now, after the fact, it had to be Jake’s psychic self that brought them. This was another avenue to get Jake to the Keepers’ universe. The fact that Jake was already there would have no impact on the various paths that had been set in motion. She thought about Jake and worried.
“Director, the population reading is not changing as we move in-system.”
“Good! Organize our coverage; we’ll start with the northern hemisphere and then move south. Do you detect any star ships?”
“No, this planet appears to be very backward in their technology.”
“That may be true, but it has a large population.”
“That it does, Director.”
“Have you read the thought signature of the population?”
“Yes, and our emitters are tuned to that band. Have you decided if you are going to collect any of the inhabitants for shipment to our universe?”
“We are not doing that now. This is a war fleet and we cannot provide care for them.”
“As you wish, Director. How many for stores?”
The Director listened to the thousands of Keepers in the fleet and found the needed number, “Two million should be enough.”
The Sensor Operator looked at his display, “That is the population of one of the cities on the coast next to that spaceport.”
“Make sure the emitters are set accordingly.”
The devices on the Keepers’ ships that made the intense beam were remarkable devices. If set at zero frequency they would emit a beam that would destroy all matter they hit. They could also be set at specific frequencies that matched the thought frequency of the selected population and would only target that population; everyone else would not be affected. The intensity of the beam would determine whether it would stun or kill. The fleet had their intensity set to kill.
The stealth probe followed the Keepers Fleet in to the planet and positioned itself to record the coming action. Gambia was slightly bigger than Ross, and had a circumference of thirty thousand miles. The huge fleet stopped above the planet and waited as the ships moved into a line. The hundred thousand Keepers’ ships entered the atmosphere of Gambia and lined up at the equator, with seven ships evenly spaced every mile halfway around the planet. They dropped to a mile above the surface and waited for the order to be given.
“Activate the emitters.” Every Keeper on every ship connected with the other Keepers on their ships telepathically and turned off their hearing. They then began sending the vibrating thought patterns into the emitter at the front of the ship. Each navigator watched their boards while the weapons operators focused the intensity of the beam as it rose to the desired threshold. At that point the Director sent the command to the fleet, “Move forward.”
Abul Cahale was stretched out on a chair on the front of his yacht when he noticed something in the sky at the horizon moving toward his ship. The young women that were attending him stood and looked at the approaching line of…something. As the objects moved closer, Abu saw that the objects were huge star ships and they were approaching quickly. The three women had moved to the bow to get a better view. Abu saw them waving and then start twisting, screaming, and turning to dust. He jumped up and ran toward the rear of the huge vessel. He didn’t make it past the main cabin before the most intense pain he had ever felt gripped him, then he was gone as the dust from his body blew away in the sea breeze. The yacht continued sailing until it ran aground.
The Keepers’ beams showed no discrimination between rich or poor. Unlike the population, there were no class distinctions; it treated all the same way. The long line of brown ships moved north and left millions dead
