“What is that?”
“You can broadcast a frequency and have the sparks exploded on contact instead of burning whatever it hits.”
Timmy looked at Tesa and she asked, “How would you get them to go back to burning?”
“I would suggest putting a frequency generator on each gun focused inside the magazine. Have a switch that you would push up for one frequency and pull down to send the other. At least that’s how I’d do it.”
Timmy looked at Scotty and said, “Vring, I have a damaged teleport board here in the corner. Can you see it in my thoughts?”
“Yes. It has a burned out coupler in the initial coil output unit. That prevents any energy from passing through the board.”
“Can it be repaired?”
“Yes, if you have a coupler. I see two of them in each of the sparks. You can use one of them to repair that board.”
Timmy looked at Scotty and said, “The Realm had their Algeans. They are what made the difference in their rise to power. It appears the Zord have a greater mental capacity than the Algeans. This is huge, Emperor Robbins.”
Scotty sighed, “Vring, did you know how to repair that teleportation board before we left to visit the Defense Facility.”
“Well, yes but if they would just give you a board, that would be a lot easier than the detailed repair of the broken one.”
“Actually, that broken board is much more advanced than the one that replaced it.”
“Not really, Your Majesty.”
“What?”
“All they’ve done is to insert a minor circuit to the output unit. You can get the components from any null drive to build that circuit and add it to the boards you currently have. Of course the null drive won’t work but you’d have an advanced teleportation board.”
Timmy said, “Show me what you’re thinking, Vring.”
“Ok.”
Timmy closed his eyes and after a minute opened them shaking his head, “He’s right. I can see it now. And he’s also right about the sparks. If you will bring me some of the wreckage of the damaged Ultraships, I can make the bowguns into a deadly weapon.” Timmy looked at Scotty, “The Zord have a brain that is incredible. Vring does see those circuits and understand how they work. This is a discovery that is monumental. We can now develop our communities so they can prosper. We have our Algeans, your, Majesty.”
Scotty paused and said, “Vring, that’s not the entire truth. You could have helped us with this before now. There’s something you’re not saying.”
Silence dominated the group and finally Vring said, “Your Majesty, you have three Searcher Ships in your fleet. All three of them have shown that they can make bad mistakes. To allow them to have teleportation worries us.”
Anglo who was in orbit overhead said, “What do you mean by mistakes?”
“Jessica was used to attack settlements on El Prado. She has an override that she could have activated to free herself from the Magrum. She didn’t do it and chose to just be an observer. You destroyed most of the planet and were still a danger to the humans up to the moment Jessica had her conversation with the Emperor. BC actually worked with Talben. We’ve seen that there are reasons to worry about your having that much power without some control on it.”
“We needed to stop the Duke from taking control of the quadrant.”
“Yes, but you went way beyond just stopping him. Destroying all of the technology and industrial centers would have accomplished that goal but you killed millions that couldn’t have been a danger after their production facilities were eliminated. Am I wrong?”
Anglo said, “No, you’re not. Charles took his vengeance out on the population for what happened to his family.”
“And you didn’t stop him.”
Anglo gave a mental sigh, “No, I didn’t. I should have but I was caught up in the moment. I was swept away by the brutality done to his children.”
“Just as BC made a decision to work with an evil tyrant to prevent huge losses of life, you didn’t make a decision based on the principles that White Hair embraces. Those millions were defenseless against you but the two of you killed them anyway.”
Scotty said, “Why are you helping us now?”
“Because you are our Supreme Leader and I am sworn to protect you and your subjects. I can’t allow Jingo, Grang, and Nathan to die if I can do something to help them. They are the core of your leaders. That still doesn’t remove my fear of releasing this technology.”
“Why, Vring?”
“Because that technology will outlive you, Your Majesty. How can we know your followers will be as committed to your principles?”
Scotty shrugged, “That’s the same issue the Defense Installation has. I wish there was some way to make sure we remain true but the future has a funny way of getting out of hand. We need look no further than the Great Gardners.” Scotty thought a moment and said, “The Algeans built a circuit into all of their teleportation boards that would cause them to self-destruct, didn’t they?”
“Yes they did.”
“Do you see that circuit?”
“Yes, as well as the frequency that made it operate.”
“Then put that circuit in every device your people create. Perhaps the wisdom of the Algeans was something we should follow. Your Ruler of the flocks will keep the device that will self-destruct any weapons you help create if we stray from our beliefs.”
“White Hair, you will keep that device and will designate who will hold it in the event of your death. We trust you implicitly and do not worry about the future with you in command.”
Scotty nodded, “Why don’t you help Timmy redesign the bowguns and I’ll get BC to bring a load of sparks for your experimentation.”
Timmy looked at Tesa and said, “All right!”
Greyson sat in orbit and watched Timmy during the meeting. His exuberance and excitement at the challenge was infectious and he wondered if he was going to be his partner. He had listened in to the Zord and knew he was right. The destruction of Haldale proved it. He was tasked with protecting Bristone but he knew he was given this task to be able to observe the qualities of the people he was now sworn to protect. He had to admit, the Zord were truly remarkable creatures. He felt his sagging spirits start to rise. His vision of the future began to brighten. He needed a partner.
Scotty was sitting on the hill with Julie and the ever present Grang staring at the stars. Julie looked at Scotty, “What’s bothering you?”
Scotty sighed deeply and looked away from the stars, “I almost wish we would just insure that our planet was safe and not worry about all the others.”
Julie and Grang both turned their attention toward him. “That’s something I’d never expect to hear from you.”
“I know, but now we’re on the cusp of creating a new breed of weapons and I worry about the future once they’re built. I see only war after war ahead of us and our descendants.”
Julie stared at Scotty and didn’t know what to say. Grang looked back up at the stars and said, “Some wars lead to good things. Not to have them only leaves things bad.”
Scotty and Julie both stared at the huge Magrum and Scotty burst out laughing. Grang looked at him, “What?”
“You have wisdom beyond your years, my Brother. I forgot why I had my dream. You just reminded me. There is too much suffering happening in our universe; we must try to remove it.”
Julie smiled at Grang and then said to Scotty, “Do you feel better?”
