too, watched the destruction of the planet and wept for the lost billions.
Besens watched the burning of the planet and recorded the event. She was humbled by the bravery of the Cainth pilots that had sacrificed themselves to give the Realm more time. With a heavy heart, she teleported back to the Realm to deliver her reports. She hoped she would be as courageous if fate called upon her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
By the end of the month, every Searcher had viewed the sacrifice of the Brayent Survivors and vowed to do the same if duty called on them. A week after the death of the Cainth pilots, the Cainth home world placed the eighty nine names on a stone tree monument at the entryway to the government center. It was put there to remind everyone what bravery really meant. It recorded the actions of the brave hundred and eighty nine, and Valerie Gardner christened the monument with an engraving of the Crimson Crown at the top to honor them. In Life Park on Ross, grave markers with their names and the Crimson Crown were placed with the other heroes of the Stars Realm.
Junior watched the ceremony from orbit and felt remorse for his initial reservations of sending those survivors to fight the Keepers. He now understood that survival often demanded a payment that most were unwilling to give. He had not allowed the Algeans to put the advanced weaponry of the Realm on board, but now he knew that half measures were a path to destruction. He left Ross and jumped to the shipbuilding facilities in the Algean Galaxy.
Chapter Fifteen
T he Values Quadrant took the time to look around the Keepers’ universe while the Collective was fragmented. It saw the suffering on the millions of planets that had been enslaved by his species. He could see that the Keepers did not feel anything for those enslaved, and it knew that it was due to the absence of any of the finer emotions that would cause remorse. Their original goodness had been removed when it had agreed to separate until the Green Invaders were defeated. It then learned that the Collective, drunk on the power of victory, had decided to keep it in exile. It didn’t possess enough power to overcome the combined might of the Collective, and spent its time helplessly watching his species become Alpha Predators in their universe. It knew that to continue on the current path would lead to destruction. He could not get the Collective and its Quadrants to believe it.
Now it was at a crossroads; it had made a determination that troubled it deeply. It had selected one of the Keepers on a planet far from the home worlds and attempted to enter its consciousness. It discovered that the place in the Keepers intellect that housed the finer emotions of love, compassion, religion, and devotion was no longer present. There was no place for it to return. It refused to believe it, attempted to enter a hundred other Keepers, and failed every time.
It withdrew to its normal place of isolation just as the Collective began to reorganize. It remained silent and pondered what it had just learned. Over the millions of years that his species had fought the Green Invaders and conquered the other planets, its absence had been genetically removed from his species intellect through being vestigial. That part was never used, so it was eventually eliminated and replaced with something else. It now realized that its species had no redeeming qualities and it could not help but be repulsed by what it saw. It had held onto the hope that once it returned to its rightful place, his race would right all the wrongs imposed on millions of innocent races. Now it knew that it was not to be.
Then another realization struck; how was it able to exist if none of his species contributed to constitute its consciousness? At some point in its long existence it must have become self-sufficient and contained the necessary mental power to exist. If that were true, the Collective could no longer destroy it through reorganization. It had been millions of years since its last punishment for questioning the Collective’s orders. What to do with this knowledge? First, it had to know if it could hide from the Collective and the other Quadrants. It decided to withdraw and stay inside its intellect. It began thinking of an excuse if it needed to reappear, but that would only be needed if it could not hide. Perhaps it would be given an excuse by the Collective. It would soon see.
Jake sat with Valerie in the library and held her hand as they sat across the table from each other. They had just returned from the ceremony on Cainth honoring those that had died in the Keepers’ universe. Valerie sighed and said, “We need to plan a wedding.”
Jake looked into her eyes, “That will have to wait until we can protect our citizens.”
Valerie protested, “We will not wait!”
But Jake asked quickly, “Are any of those that were in this room, which you sent to develop a plan to protect the Realm, going to be a part of that wedding?”
Valerie instantly grew silent.
“I thought so. Are you going to take them away from their tasks to take part in our wedding?”
Valerie shook her head slowly and said, “Oh, Jake, I know that would be the wrong thing to do, but I so want to be your wife.”
Jake smiled and said, “You will be, love, but remember: duty first.”
Valerie looked like she was going to cry, and Jake could feel her sorrow. “Are you up to taking a short trip?”
“Where?”
“I need to check on the family I moved from the Keepers’ farm.”
Valerie smiled through her tears and said, “You mean your family.”
“No, our family. They have come to know what you did to save them and they love you for it.”
“Why are we going?”
“I have a task I need to complete.”
Valerie smiled slyly and said, “Still wanting to touch all those beautiful women?”
Jake got up and walked around the table and kneeled in front of Valerie, “You are the only one I desire to touch, Valerie. There will never be anyone else.”
Valerie leaned forward, hugged Jake tightly, and said, “Let’s go visit our family.”
Jake commed Junior, “Are you up to taking a trip?”
“Not at this moment. Where are you going?”
“I’m going to visit a few friends we rescued.”
“I really want to go with you. Can you wait two days?”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“I’ve decided to arm myself. The Algeans will complete the process in two days and I really want to go see them.”
Jake knew Junior’s reservations about being a warship, and realized that he had moved in a different direction by changing his mind, “We’ll wait for you, Junior. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Could you pick up Cynthia on your way here?”
Junior laughed, “Oh, I can hear her now, but you and I know she would be hurt if we excluded her.”
Valerie and Jake both laughed, and Valerie said, “Tell her the Queen orders her presence.”
Junior laughed again and said, ‘If nothing else, that will really raise the volume.”
Two days later Junior arrived at Ross with Cynthia on board. Jake and Valerie teleported to Junior’s bridge. Cynthia jumped up and said, “Junior has been closemouthed about what you’re dragging me into this time. Please tell me it’s no more fighting.”
Valerie smiled and said, “It’s not.”
Cynthia actually showed her disappointment, “Oh; are you sure?”
“Yes, Cynthia.”
Cynthia gave a heavy sigh and sat down in one of the command chairs, “Ok, I was kinda hoping you were.”
Jake laughed and hugged Cynthia, “No Cyn, We’re going to visit the colonists you fought to rescue.”
Cynthia smiled brightly, “I am so glad you included me. I’ve wondered how they were doing.”
Valerie hugged Cynthia and said, “Junior, do you have their coordinates?”
“Yes, Your Majesty; we’ll arrive momentarily.”
Junior arrived over a lush, green planet and began dropping into the atmosphere. “I’ve timed our arrival
