Chapter Ten
Jake sat in the middle of the area just inside the entrance to the community. Jackson had sent word that there was to be a gathering to touch the Good Luck Man. Many of the men didn’t know about him, but were quickly told by the women of the community. Now all of them knew.
The area was not big enough for all three hundred thousand, so most of the men remained in the first row of homes as the women came in and began sitting in rows that surrounded Jake. Those that had already touched him stood with the men and watched as the crowd grew larger and larger by the minute.
Jake sat there and found himself feeling a kinship to all of these wonderful people. No wonder Kathea called all of the women her sisters; they all shared the specter of death and the gift of life together. He could feel their love for each other and it was amazing. He had only known his family briefly before they died, and Robby for only three years. He felt he had known these people forever. In a short period of time they had become his brothers and sisters.
He was nervous, because tonight he should find the one who would release his psychic powers and become the love of his life. He looked around as the crowd continued to swell. He looked out at the green fields surrounding the community and marveled at the beauty of the moment. He could see why the original settlers landed here. The community was clean and the air was fresh. He closed his eyes and waited to find the one that would be his love for life.
“Junior, what are they doing?”
“It looks to me like they are gathering all the women to touch Jake.”
Cynthia looked at the screen again and saw only women sitting in the rows surrounding Jake. “How did he make this happen?”
“I have no idea, but I hope the Keepers don’t interfere with the process.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. I really hope they don’t either.”
Jake opened his eyes as the community gathered, and saw light from the setting sun shine on the ancient colony ship that had crashed next to the row of hills. As he watched the light move up the ship he saw a giant, faded, SR appear on the tail fin of the giant ship. He had never seen it before, and he suspected it could only be seen during the setting sun. Now he knew who the Seniors were; he was a Senior. The humans had been praying for the return of The Stars Realm for thousands of years. He looked at the giant SR and now knew the meaning of the Realm that Valerie had tried to teach him with the history download. He saw in these people how important the Realm was for the safety of its citizens. His heart swelled with pride to know that he was a part of that community. Then he saw Jackson stand.
“Welcome my children. We have all heard about the Good Luck Man that brings us good fortune. You’ve heard that he has a quest to touch every female in our community. I have decided to help him make it happen. Perhaps he will bring us all good fortune, maybe even the return of the Seniors. However, it is always good for us to come together; we should do this more often to celebrate who we are.” Jackson walked up to Jake and smiled at him, then said to the crowd, “We will start with the inner circle and move outward. After you touch him join those in the houses.”
The closest row of women stood, walked by Jake, and touched him; some on his cheek, some on his hands, some on his head, and some on his neck. They all kissed the hand they used to touch him. Jake was moved beyond words. The first row finished and the second stood.
The leader of the Keepers’ garrison was watching his monitor. He called his second in command over and indicated the monitor, “What are they doing?”
“It appears they are touching the one in the center.”
“Why?”
“How would I know? These lesser beings always seem to be doing dumb things.”
“Could this be part of a rebellion?”
The Collective heard the word rebellion used by one his billions and immediately turned its attention to the two Keepers, “What are you asking about?”
The two Keepers shrugged and continued to look at the monitor. The Collective looked at what they were seeing through their thoughts. It did seem like nonsense, but an invader ship had been killed in that system. Could that ship have contacted the food before it was destroyed? “Send a security team and find out what they are doing.”
The last row of women had touched Jake. None had caused any effect on him. Jake looked at Jackson, “Is this all of them?”
Jackson tilted his head, “Yes it is, son.”
Suddenly a high-pitched whine broke the silence of the crowd, and a large Keepers lander came in swiftly and settled to the ground in the middle of the clearing. Jake moved out of the clearing and into the front ranks of the crowd. Fifty Keepers exited the ship and the leader approached Jackson. “What are you doing?”
Jackson felt his fear, but answered honestly knowing the Keeper would hear his thoughts, “We were having a ritual. We were touching one of our members because we believe it will bring good fortune.”
“Show me the one you were touching.”
Jake knew that his time was up. If he refused to step forward there could be a huge loss of life. Jake Stepped out of the crowd and walked forward. The crowd started moving with him and the Keepers raised their weapons.
The Garrison Leader contacted the Keepers’ ship on the moon and ordered it to come to the planet. Cynthia was yelling at Junior to teleport Jake out. Jake felt nothing but calm and continued his walk toward awaiting death.
“Shut up, Cynthia. The ship is starting to send power to the drives. I am going to fire three penetrators into their shafts and teleport to the planet.”
The Keepers’ ship received word to come and assist the landing team, when suddenly the ship felt a huge shake followed by three fuel tanks exploding inside the ship and pushing a blast of white hot flame through the interior of the Keepers’ ship. Every Keeper on board died in the blast. The blast was not seen or detected outside the ship. The hull not only prevented energy from getting into the ship, but also prevented anything from escaping.
The Collective, however, felt the deaths of the six hundred Keepers on the ship. It directed its consciousness to the fifty members of the landing party.
The Keepers’ leader pointed his scanner at Jake and tried to read it. Jake knew that his bracelet was a fake and that it wouldn’t react to the scans. As Jake watched, the Keeper actually took the scanner, hit it with his other hand, and tried it again.
“What’s wrong with your scanner?”
The leader looked at his second in command and said, “It’s a piece of junk. I never get the same reading twice.”
“Here, try mine.”
Jake watched the two Keepers exchange scanners and the first one pointed it at him again. He showed the results to the second Keeper.
“Junior, now would be a good time!”
“He’s not pointing a weapon at Jake. Just hold on a moment.”
“Your scanner is also bad.”
“The second shrugged mentally and thought, “Perhaps it’s not our scanners, but his sender that has gone bad.”
The Leader stared at the other Keeper a moment, then walked forward and grabbed Jake’s arm to look at his bracelet. That’s when events began moving fast. The world turned bright blue and Jake felt the release of his psychic power. He immediately saw the central intelligence of the Keepers watching him thorough the minds of the fifty Keepers just before that intelligence was knocked unconscious by Jake’s psychic blast. The fifty Keepers in the landing party fell to the ground twitching and every Keeper in the garrison was stunned unconscious. The Collective that was directly linked to the landing team was hit with a psychic blast that blew its compartments apart and scattered them out into the Keepers’ population. The Collective was effectively knocked unconscious, as well as all of its quadrants. The trillions of Keepers never noticed the Collective was out. Each of the individuals contributed
