“No way, Anglo!”
“Way, she abdicated the throne to come and face the death sentence the Zord had given her.”
There was silence and Greyson said, “You need to catch us up on all that has happened.”
“I’ll send you the download of Bristone’s history. Oh, and if you haven’t noticed, all of you are making it as we speak.”
Sena said in a whisper, “Let’s hope it’s a long history.”
Grace listened to the other Searchers and saw that they had regained their youth. They were excited at the opportunity to build something they could be proud to be a part. She also found that she felt alive again. Virze was so much like Melanie was when she came out of the Academy so many centuries ago. Grace knew she belonged in a ship and she would never allow allow anyone to take her out again. Perhaps Alex would eventually join them. He belonged in a ship as well.
The celebration began in earnest and for the moment the danger was forgotten. The Zord began arriving and then it spread into the skies as they circled and screamed their joy. All of the Zord that were saved during the Night of the Torg arrived and the noise was almost deafening.
Julie watched the gathering and felt the child growing in her womb. She could hear it and knew that BC was right. This child was going to be something special. She also heard it talking to Mallory’s baby. It was primarily in emotions but she knew that they were going to be close. Mallory looked at her from across the fire and smiled. Good, she felt it, too. She knew that the war would be delayed for them to grow up. She wouldn’t tell anyone, even Scotty, how she knew but she did. She couldn’t tell anyone because she couldn’t explain how she knew.
Scotty looked across the fire and saw Julie being congratulated by everyone. He thought about how lucky he was to have her and wondered about how they had come together. He knew there was a reason but he didn’t worry about what it was. Whatever had caused it was a good thing. He looked up at the stars and smiled. He felt an arm on his shoulder and saw Grang looking up as well. Then Jingo was there looking up with them. They didn’t say anything. They just stared at the massive gathering of stars overhead. Staring at the stars is where their friendship began. The stars shined down and for the first time seemed to be smiling back at them.
Bleath looked at Vring, “How certain are you about this weapon?”
“I see some problems with the software being able to work fast enough. It’s something we’ll have to work on and hope for a breakthrough.”
“Show me what you know.” Bleath looked at the data and said, “Have you thought about teleporting the data between the collection centers.”
Vring looked at Kreej who had been listening in and was stunned. “Don’t look so surprised. I don’t have this ring around my neck for no reason.”
“Father, you have got to join us.”
“You get the project moving and I’ll join you when you have a working model.”
Kreej just shook his head and saw the possibilities. Teleporting data was faster than light. It just might work.
Jilico watched his display and saw that there hadn’t been an attack. Where did those ships come from? Should he continue the jumps? He needed to reel in Daulun’s Kingdom but if he sent his fleet to make that happen he would leave his Kingdom wide open to further attacks. Ummmm. Maybe they had decided to give up. I’ll give it three more weeks. Then I’ll go and collect Daulun. He punched his communicator, “Ro, I want you here is three weeks to plan the acquisition of Daulun’s Kingdom provided there are no further attacks.”
“I’ll be there, Your Majesty.”
The probe in the room watched the King continue to sway in front of the window and sent the recorded conversation to Grace.
Chapter Ten
“Grace, are you ready?”
Yes, Your Majesty. Rehoben’s ship just arrived and he should be on planet in thirty minutes.”
“Teleport me up and let’s go say hello. Are the ships still making jumps to the assembled fleet?”
BC and Varner say the number has grown to more than eight hundred. I suspect they are planning to go to New Hope from there.”
“That makes sense. They’re armed and moving into formation. It would be a waste of time to make the fleet come back to Olympos.” Scotty appeared on the bridge and Virze stood up for him to take the command chair, “No, Virze. This is your ship to fight. I’ll take the second chair.”
“I’ll feed everything to your display.”
“Thank you, Grace.”
Virze was nervous having the Emperor looking over her shoulder but she said, “Take us there, Grace.”
The huge white ship disappeared from above Bristone.
Rehoben enjoyed his walk to the palace. He could have just landed on the tower but he always looked forward to the stroll through Olympos. The tall skyscrapers that towered above him and the throngs on the streets made him feel alive. The blue sky was beautiful and the thousands of vehicles overhead added a sense of destiny to his beloved planet. He greeted those he encountered and smiled at the happiness of the citizens. They were the reason he got up each day. The children laughed readily and the streets were full of them walking with their parents. Crime was almost nonexistent. No one wanted to face the brutal penalties of being convicted. Rehoben liked that no one recognized him. He was the power behind the throne that no one ever saw. He liked it that way.
He saw the castle ahead and he prepared himself to meet Jilico. The King was never in a good mood and today was not going to be any different. He had not been able to track down the ships that had attacked the Kingdom and he knew he was going to get grief over that. Now Jilico was planning to go ahead and annex Daulun’s Kingdom. He prayed that there would be limited loss of life in the campaign. He walked up to the gate and the guard immediately recognized him and pushed the crowd gathered in hopes of seeing King out of his way. He lowered his head so that if anyone took his picture it wouldn’t be a good one. He went through the gate and turned toward the armed guards at the armored door. No, today was not going to be a good one.
Rehoben stood at the door to Jilico’s quarters and waited. The white light at the ceiling illuminated and the door swung open. Rehoben was amazed at the size of the armored door and how smoothly it swung outward. This entire wing of the palace was double armored and could withstand a nuclear strike. He entered and walked down the long hallway and heard the door close behind him. There had been no more attacks so he knew he was going to take the fleet to attack Daulun after this meeting. He really didn’t like forcing others into the Kingdom, especially with the heavy handed rule that Jilico implemented. However, it was his duty to obey. He approached the door to Jilico’s study and entered. Just as he suspected, the King was not happy. He took a deep breath and walked up to Jilico’s desk and bowed.
Jilico looked up and then looked back at his display, “I see we only have seven hundred ships gathered for the attack.”
“That should be more than enough, Your Majesty.”
“He has more than two hundred planets in his Kingdom. I want at least fifty Searchers sent to each planet. I don’t want just enough; I want them to know who has the power.”
Ro raised his com, “Fleet Operations, send another three hundred ships to the attack fleet.”
“They’ll arrive momentarily, Sir.”
“Thank you.”
“Are the troop transports ready?”
“They are waiting for Admiral Hulent’s confirmation on the destruction of Daulun’s fleet.”
“What about the Governors for his planets?”
“They are waiting with the troops, Your Majesty.”
Jilico looked back at his display and pushed a button, “Do not disturb me until I notify you.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Jilico looked up at Ro and saw him disappear. He stood up and then found himself standing on the bridge of a
