think they will do after that discovery?”
Junior thought a moment, “I really don’t have a clue. What do you think will happen?”
“They will destroy every planet in our universe that has a breathable atmosphere. They’ll burn them all.”
Junior was shocked, “Why would they do that?”
“They will eliminate any place of escape. They will also develop the means to jump directly to our planets without having to come from the jump limit. That ability is the easiest technology to learn once you know it exists, and their ships will have the drive weakness removed. We won’t have time to move the populations before they attack. Some will escape, but huge numbers will be killed. I’ve seen a vision of their future attacks, and more than seventy percent of the Realm’s population will be killed.”
Junior listened and felt both fear and anger in equal measure, “What can we do about it?”
“We have a year before they modify enough ships to start their invasion. We can only slow them down by attacking them first. That entity I sensed is a development from all of the members of their species being connected. If we can kill enough of them, that entity will be hurt or even killed. I hate even thinking about the deaths I’m going to have to cause, but there is no other choice.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you to be my ship during this conflict, and that means you will have to do things that you are morally against. Are you able to do what must be done?”
“I don’t know. I need some time to consider what you’ve said.”
“I understand. Take me to Ross and drop me off at the Castle. I’ve got to persuade Valerie to approve this path. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
Junior teleported to Ross and teleported Jake to the surface. He remained silent above the planet as he watched the billions going about their daily lives. He made a decision and disappeared from the Ross system.
Edison watched the replay of the Keepers Fleet’s destruction. Newton watched it with him and said, “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not the heat of the star that melts their ships as much as the sheer magnitude of it.”
“I know. We have beams that are hotter than the star, but surrounding that ship with beams to a depth of fifty miles is just not possible. If any part of the ship is not continuously hit for more than ten minutes then the hull will not be damaged.”
“That hull material is quite the magic substance.” Newton paused and said, “They’re coming and we will be their first target. What do you think we should do?”
“We are going to evacuate to another universe and work on this problem.”
Newton lowered himself to the floor in surprise, “Why would we do that?”
“They used millions of their ships to search for us. If we can leave, then they may be forced to use a similar number to find us. It would reduce the force they can send against the Realm. We once lived in ships and we can do it again; however, if we don’t leave, they will return and destroy our home worlds. We would be forced into ships again; we might as well accept the inevitable and hope our home planets are not destroyed before we find a solution to them.”
“Where will we go?”
“I seem to remember a certain dark galaxy that everyone used to avoid. We’ll go there and start working on this problem. I also hope we can find a way to escape them permanently. Have you talked with Sprig about his findings?”
“Yes, and they are troubling.”
“Do you agree with them?”
“I don’t want to believe them, but I know he’s right.”
“That makes this search even more important. Make sure you assign our best to the task.”
“I will. Do you think we can find it?”
“We won’t know until we try. It looks like we are becoming nomads again.”
Newton turned his head upside down and asked, “Have you discussed this with the Queen?”
“Yes, but only the part about leaving. She thinks it is a good delaying tactic. She is of the opinion that if a large number of our old ships are no longer at the old universal jump point they may think we are going to attack them again. It would again be a delaying tactic so they would not use as many of their ships to invade. They do appear to be paranoid about us.”
“We did destroy more than a hundred thousand of their planets in our first invasion.”
“True, but then they developed that thought weapon and ended our invasion. I really don’t know what our leaving will accomplish, but to stay is disaster. It also gives us the opportunity to search for the item Sprig needs. I’ve discussed this with Destiny and the Nest Mother and met initial resistance, but I left them alone and they eventually came to my point of view. They really love the Realm’s Leaders.”
“We all do. When do we leave, Edison?”
“We don’t Newton. We are staying to help our friends in the coming war. Einstein is also staying; I couldn’t convince him to leave if we weren’t going.”
Newton turned his head left smiling, “I was wondering how I was going to jump ship before you left.”
Edison smiled and put a front leg on Newton, “Don’t get too excited; we’re going to have armor designed for us that is coated with the thought-blocking substance. Not only is our family going back into ships, we’re also going back into armor.”
Newton shook his head, “That stuff always made me itch.”
“Tell me about it.”
Jake sat in the map room at Castle Gardner staring at the millions of galaxies on the wall. Robby sat across the table from him, leaning back in a chair looking at the map together. Jake knew his subconscious was not happy with the direction in which he was moving. Robby was not happy either. Jake knew in his heart that killing on the scale needed to protect the Realm was not something he felt good about. Gambia had made him tough, but it also taught him to love those around him who would have been ignored by most people. He learned to survive, but he never failed to help those in need whenever he could. This decision was deeply troubling. He looked over at Robby and asked, “Do you see another way?”
Robby just stared at the galaxies and shook his head.
Valerie walked in and said, “Who are talking to, Jake?”
Jake looked up at her and once again was struck by the beauty of the Star Realm’s Queen, “Myself, Valerie.”
Valerie came over and stood behind Jake and hugged him, “What’s troubling you?”
Jake shook his head, “You already know the answer to that question. I just wish there was another way.”
Jake had shared his vision with Valerie the week before and shocked her. She had first felt distress and then anger, “Are they that callow? Do these creatures have no redeeming qualities?”
Jake had then told her what the Realm had to do to survive, and she resisted until he showed her the vision again.
“Jake, I’ve had time to think about what you’re planning and I’ve come to terms with what we must do.”
Jake saw Robby turn his head toward Valerie.
“What do you mean?”
“Jake, you’re worried that we are going against all of the principles that our Realm stands for.”
Jake nodded.
“Let’s forget our universe and just look at the Keepers’ universe. There are millions of worlds enslaved and consumed by these creatures. What would the Realm’s response to this have been if we had just stumbled upon them? One principle we hold higher than any other is that the Realm will defend those that cannot defend themselves. Those poor planets represent no danger to the Keepers, but were conquered and enslaved anyway. Even if they agreed to stay home and never come back, could we turn our backs on the billions being eaten? Jake, we turned our back on the millions on Gambia that were being preyed on by the wealthy merchant class. If we had stepped in and stopped the suffering, Gambia would have been saved from the Keepers’ attack. We would have been able to teleport the population.”
“Yes, but then you would have to interfere with a sovereign planet.”
“So what! This universe knows the Realm’s principles. We should have done the right thing. By refusing to
