“No, I just don’t see me being able to protect our planet without the five remaining.”
“Where did the sixth one go?”
“He was reported accelerating at maximum power toward the attackers. He probably overloaded his reactors and burned up. There’s no trace of him remaining.”
“You have to admire his loyalty?”
“They’re built that way.”
“Have you thought about possibly allowing the attackers to destroy the planet?”
Daulun’s head snapped around, “That’s a dangerous remark to make, Canton!”
“Well, think about it for a moment. You know that Crimeron is just as developed as New Ulmerton and one of your best castles is there. You could rule the Realm from there just as easily as from here.”
“What are you saying?”
“If you took the five remaining Searchers to find your daughter and left the fleet here to defend the planet, you know those attackers could get through the fleet as easily as you could. If they destroy New Ulmerton, there won’t be any family members left to challenge your choice for succession. All of your family issues will be solved.”
“What happens if the ones attacking us don’t destroy the planet?”
“Perhaps you might have to do it yourself.”
Daulun thought the idea had merit. He had promised Canton’s father that he would make sure he was the successor. It there were no remaining relatives, he could name whomever he chose. Canton is smart and a lot more cunning than I am. Well, a few billion would have to die but most of them were slaves. “Canton, I will think about your idea. I’ll let you know later.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Would you like me to choose the most advanced ships in the fleet to move to Crimeron now? If we start moving them a few at a time, they won’t be noticed.”
“That is an excellent idea. Please make that happen. You might also tell your father to move there as quickly as possible.”
Canton bowed and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.” The fact the King was going to allow him to move ships meant he was going to do as he suggested. Canton was surprised again by his Father’s wisdom. He feared he would be tried for treason but Daulun went for the idea. Now he had to make sure most of his supporters and their ships were moved away from the planet and Jongo’s followers remained behind.”
Kreej said, “Jessica, that Duke is more evil than we know.”
Jessica was next to New Ulmerton’s closest moon in stealth mode listening to any plans the Duke was formulating. “Why do you say that?”
“He is going to take all of his Searchers and move to another planet. He’s hoping we come and destroy New Ulmerton. If we don’t do it, he’s going to come back and do it himself.”
“Why?!”
“To remove the other members of his family from possible succession in order to name that officer Canton to the throne. The idea was proposed by that officer.”
Jessica thought about what Kreej said, “Keep listening in. We’ll go back when BC comes to relieve us. The Emperor should know about this development.”
Scotty, Jingo, Nathan, Grang, Mallory, Timmy and Tesa were sitting in the learning center discussing tactics to steal the military data base from New Ulmerton. Timmy had a video of the building that housed the system and he was using a laser pointer to indicate the defenses.
“I just don’t see how you’re going to get out with the database without heavy losses. There are more than two hundred troops armed with blasters protecting that building. It’s also under the protective screen of two Searchers in orbit overhead. You won’t be able to teleport in through that screen. You’ll have to teleport more than four miles away and work your way to the building. That also means if you’re successful, you’ll have to carry the system that same distance to get away and all without the Searchers overhead getting wind of what you’re doing. If one blaster is fired they will know something’s happening and open fire on you.”
Scotty leaned back in his chair, “Timmy, how much will that system weigh?”
“It’s very similar to the learning center’s computer. I guess between two and three hundred pounds.”
Scotty looked at Grang, “Do you think you can handle that much weight?”
Grang looked at Scotty, casually waved his hand, and grunted.
“I’ll take that as a yes. My main concern is getting to the device without being discovered. There are so many guards that we’ll be in a cross fire along the entire route and some of those blasters will be firing from behind protection.”
Jingo said, “They shouldn’t be able to see us.”
“No, but those Searchers overhead will if they use their scanners. Right now they are scanning the outer system but I’m sure they’ll direct fire on you once they determine the theft is in process.”
Mallory looked at Nathan, then back at Scotty, “I know where the computer is located in the building and most of the guards are outside. There are only twenty inside the facility.”
“How are they armed?”
“The ones inside have hand blasters. The guards outside have the shoulder mounted heavy duty blasters with a range of seven hundred yards.”
Timmy looked at Tesa and said, “We just don’t have the right weapon to make this happen.”
“May I ask a question?”
Scotty started and said, “Sure Vring. What’s on your mind?”
Vring was sitting outside the learning center listening in, “I was just looking at Timmy’s thoughts and I notice that those “sparks” you use on your arrows were originally designed to seek and destroy a target. Why don’t you use them to go after anyone holding a blaster?”
Timmy sighed, “Vring, those were designed by the Algeans and were one of the most advanced weapon systems they ever produced. All of the sparks we possess are set to attack Keepers. They won’t go after anything else.”
Vring didn’t say anything and Scotty said, “You had a reason for asking that question. What is it?”
“Well, I was looking at the diagram of the guidance system of that spark on the table in front of you and it appears to be simple to reset it to attack a different target.”
Timmy’s eyes grew wide and he looked at Scotty with amazement on his face. Scotty held up his hand to tell Timmy to be quiet and said, “What do you mean?”
“From what I see of the receiver on the guidance board, there is a master frequency that opens the system to accept new target frequencies. If you broadcast the master frequency at a bundle of sparks and then broadcast the frequency of a blaster.” Vring didn’t say anything else.
Timmy could not contain himself, “Then it will seek and destroy anything in its sensors that has that frequency.”
“Exactly and once it locks on, all the other sparks will ignore what it has targeted. At least that’s what I can see in the diagram.”
Nathan said. “Vring, you understand those diagrams?”
“They’re not really that complicated. If you just allow your mind to follow the path of energy through it, it shows what it is designed to do.”
“Could you design a better system?”
“I can see several things that would make the device more adaptable, so to answer your question, yes. I can design a better system. Most of my brothers could do the same.”
Timmy thought a moment and said, “I’d hate to have all those blasters exploding. It could bring down the building and alert the Searchers overhead. “
“That’s where the secondary frequencies come in.”
“What secondary frequencies?”
“Timmy, you can program the spark to go after the frequency of a blaster but have it hit anything made of organic material near it.”
“Vring, how do you know this?”
“It’s obvious. If the diagram Timmy has in his thoughts is accurate, that’s how those sparks were made to operate. There’s also another thing you can do.”
