You walked into the skin of the Kosiev and arrived thirteen thousand years later. Just like the Keepers, you took the heart of the Realm and removed it. You assumed everything would be fine and that the new leaders of the Realm would continue the ideals of the Realm without you. You were short sighted, foolish, and self-serving in your actions. You also created the structure for the Realm to self-destruct.”
Tag said, “All of the Leaders of the Realm that replaced us had great psychic skills. They did a great job.”
Jake shook his head, “That was your first mistake. You assumed that anyone with strong psychic power would be good. Did it ever dawn on you that the two most powerful enemies the Realm faced, the Eight Legs and Demons, were also psychic? Their main form of communication was telepathy. Even the Keepers were connected telepathically. Those Leaders you left behind ruled for their thousand year tenure, and they selected their successors who were often selected to continue their power. Those successors forced Sprig off the throne and put the real power and influence over the Realm’s members into the five provincial rulers. They changed the Realm’s history and the direction in which it was moving after you left.”
Tag looked at Sprig and saw him lean right with his agreement.
Jake continued, “The biggest mistake you made was dividing the Realm into five provinces with your family ruling them.”
“We had to do that to save the Realm!”
“No you didn’t, Matt! You could have each taken Searchers and Red Warriors and assumed the responsibility for a sector without actually segmenting the Realm. You created five mini-Realms with five ambitious Dukes that gazed at Ross and longed for the Crown. You divided the Realm and lost the cohesion that held it together with a common bond. Now you had five ambitious Dukes sabotaging anything the Realm did and putting a different slant on its intentions. They painted the Realm as heavy handed in their lust for the Crown. The Dukes also applied pressure such that the Ruler of the Realm was not always the strongest choice for the succession. It was the Dukes that got the Government on Ross to vote that the Star’s Realm King or Queen could only serve for a thousand years. They used the structure you set up for the Provinces and said that was what you intended. You weren’t here to dispute their claim. Sprig was forced to choose a successor and the Algeans knew at that moment that the Realm, the real Realm, was a thing of the past.”
Danielle said, “I see it, now.”
“You don’t see all of it, Danielle. You’re missing the part about how peace destroyed the very spirit the Realm was founded on.”
Danielle furrowed her brow and then said, “If we stop this rebellion we will destroy everything the Realm has stood for.”
“Now you see it.”
Tommy looked at Danielle, “Mom, what are you saying?”
Danielle sighed heavily and started crying, “We didn’t know. We just didn’t know.”
Tag put his arm around her and turned to Jake, “Please, help me understand.”
Jake sat down and took a deep breath. “We’ve had thirteen thousand years of peace since the Demons were defeated. Do you know what happens when you never know war or conflict? You forget the price that was paid for that peace. You also develop disgust for anyone associated with the military. The early wars of the Realm were erased from the Realm’s history because the Realm’s population viewed those wars as tools for power mad beings to take control over every planet it could conquer. This view was promoted by the Dukes.”
“Why did they get that notion?”
“Joe, the history was removed to prevent the Realm from feeling disgust for the savagery and conquests of the founders of the Stars Realm.”
Tag said, “What do you mean?!?”
“The Realm has enforced its peace on all the millions of members. They have never experienced the fear of being killed or destroyed until the Keepers arrived, and they view that early history differently that those that were there to witness it. They ask, why does the Realm need a huge military complex if there has been no one to attack the Realm? They read the history and saw Humans living on just one planet attacking two civilizations and forcing them to join their government.”
“That’s not what happened!”
“That depends on your point of view, Tommy. Did the Cainth really have a choice about joining you? What would you have done if the Cainth had not decided to make Earth a Clan Member? You were there with a fleet to blow them back into the Stone Age. There was no real choice. Join or die.”
Tommy said, “That’s not the way it happened.”
“Remember, they look at the facts, not the underlying forces. Then these Humans, with their two allies, defeat an Alliance of more than 800 planets, to take power over them, so they can attack the Algean Galaxy.”
“Sprig, you know that’s not true.”
“Cassandra, it’s not what I know to be true. History asks this question, “Did the Algeans attack you first, or did you invade my galaxy and conquer us? They also see that you threatened to destroy our only remaining natural food if we didn’t yield to your forces. They weren’t there to see the debt we owed you for giving us our lives back from the never-ending hunger that was our daily meal. That part was removed from the history of our war. The Provinces view the Realm as the aggressor.”
Jake nodded, “The people of the Realm saw Ultimate Warriors in the Gardner Family. Warriors that had the reputation of being unbeatable and endowed with mental powers that none could survive. They know the power of the Algeans, yet the Stars Realm’s military, with a fleet less than a thousandth of their ships, brought them to their knees. The members of the Realm feared what the Realm was at its founding. The defeat of the Eight Legs and Demons only solidified their belief that the Realm was forced on them.”
Joe asked, “How did they possibly think that they were forced into the Realm?”
Danielle quit sobbing and said, “We told them to join the Realm or we wouldn’t protect them from the Eight Leg invasion. The people saw the Realm using the invasion to expand our power. Planets were forced to join the Realm in order to survive. It was just another example of what we forced on the Cainth.”
Jake nodded, “And once they were members of the Realm, we would not allow them to step out of line or they would see the business end of our ships. We have stepped in thousands of times to prevent planets from attacking their neighbors. We’ve also prevented the provinces from attacking each other.”
“But that was to maintain peace.”
“No, Melanie, the provinces viewed that as a way to enforce the Realm’s control over them.” Jake looked at the Gardners and said, “And the ones that could teach them about the importance of those early conflicts were gone. The beings that lost loved ones to save the Realm’s members were absent. The ones that the trillions of citizens respected and loved were nowhere to be found. And no one knew why you left.
“You abandoned your legacy and left it to the whims of historians that hated anything warrior. Historians that never faced the horror and death associated with survival. They viewed your wars as the grasping of power. The five provinces began selecting their own Searchers for their fleets and those Searchers owed allegiance to the province, not the Crown. The millions of planets actually looked at their provincial governments as a shield against the Crown’s dictatorial edicts. The provincial Searcher’s and Red Warriors no longer go to Glod to grip the two swords. They no longer have the Crown and SR on their ships. Now they are coming to destroy the Royal Family that has exercised its will on them for thousands of years. They are coming to fight for their freedom from a Ruler far removed from their daily lives. “
Cassandra started crying, “I’m the one to blame. I didn’t want to wait the long years until the Keepers invaded. I just couldn’t bear the worry of waiting so long.”
Jake stared at Cassandra and then looked at Tommy. Jake decided they needed to know the whole truth. “It was your fault, Cassandra and you made that decision based on faulty information. You had it all wrong.”
Tommy looked angry, “How do you stand there and say that?”
“Because it’s true. Why were you so reluctant to wait the long years? Was it because of the stress and fear you lived with every day waiting for Matt to come?”
Cassandra looked up and nodded.
“But that stress came from not being able to control your psychic powers. That problem had been eliminated with Matt’s arrival.”
Jake turned to Tag and Danielle, “The two of you ruled during those years. Were they unbearable?”
