“Grace will you send us the wiring diagrams so we can install the board?”
“I’ll do better than that. I’m sending some of my mechanical workers to install it now. It’ll take a few hours but it’s a lot safer than you attempting it yourself.”
BC said, “It’s here.” Scotty looked outside the viewport and saw a small globe next to the ship. “Open the landing bay, BC. And thank you for your help. Do you have a name?”
“Yes, my name is Alexander.”
“Any relation to the Alexander Kosiev?”
“I am a copy of his processing systems.”
“Now I understand your caution; you are driven to protect this universe. And again, thank you.”
“There’s something that I feel you should know.”
“What is that?”
“New Ulmerton is not your real problem.”
Scotty looked at Grang and saw him sit up in his chair, “It isn’t?”
“No. The King is actually in power because another one of the former Provinces allows it. It is there that your real threat lies. If you pressure New Ulmerton enough, he may call for help.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because that Duke has more than two thousand Searchers in his fleet; if you remove the King at New Ulmerton, you will certainly cause the other Duke to investigate.”
Scotty sighed and said, “One step at a time. This news certainly changes our options. Thank you for your help, anyway.”
Scotty watched the mechanical engineer come in and start installing the teleport board. He wondered if the former leaders of the Stars Realm had the problems that were facing his small empire. It was so fragile.
BC was just about finished with his update. Grace watched the work being done and said to Alexander, “How did you find out about the other Duke?”
“I wondered why New Ulmerton needed so many slaves. Any industrial society quickly learns that the price of using physical labor is too high. Then I saw ships leaving with raw materials. I placed a probe on one of them and discovered the former Province was alive and doing well out on the other end of the universe. It survived almost intact from the civil war and is now expanding its power. It sent two thirds of its ships to attack Ross and held two thousand in reserve.”
“Does it take slaves?”
“No, but it rules with a very heavy fist. Why have slaves when you can force your will on those you rule.”
“Are they aggressive?”
“Well, New Ulmerton is paying tribute to them in the form of raw materials and it is bankrupting their economy to do it. I’ve also seen hundreds of ships arriving with raw materials from other places. It appears that King is setting up many civilizations to absorb into this Kingdom. That Province still has the old technology of the Realm.”
“Do they have teleportation?”
“No, not yet, however, they are working on it.”
“It wouldn’t be good if they get it.”
“Tell you what. When Anglo comes in, give him a level ten beam and screen.”
“Why?”
“I want to see if he’ll refrain from using it except when absolutely necessary.”
“Why is that important?”
“If he can’t avoid using a ten, what will he do with a fifty level beam?”
“You make a good point. It sounds like you’re starting to trust them.”
“To a point; however, I still have the probes on them if needed.”
“I’ll send the engineers out to Anglo to do the updates. I agree, we should exercise caution in allowing anyone near us. I’m sorry, Alex; I didn’t think it through.”
“Thank you, Grace. You’re starting to see what I fear and it’s vitally important that we work together on this.”
June and Mallory were in the forest gathering grellup pods with twenty children. Mallory learned two days earlier that she had been assigned to June to assist her in the chores she was assigned. The first two days were spent in silence as she followed the orders given her. She gathered pods and observed June. Mallory was amazed at how the children loved the beautiful black haired woman. She wondered why June was given such menial chores. She sighed and continued to pick pods. One of the children ran up and asked, “Miss June, can I come to your house and play tomorrow? Pleasssseee.” Immediately, ten others started yelling, “Me, too. Me too.”
June smiled and said, “Tomorrow is the full moons. I won’t be here but maybe I can see you the next day.”
“Awwwww, ok.”
Mallory picked a pod, looked at June, and asked, “What does full moons have to do with anything?”
“I go to the Zord community every month when the two moons are full to see if they will carry out my sentence.”
Mallory sat back on her heels, “What sentence?”
“I’ve been sentenced to death and my penalty can only be carried out during the full moons. So far they have not been able to get the ten elders together to carry it out. Maybe it can be done tomorrow.”
Mallory looked at June like she had three heads. “Are you serious?”
June looked at Mallory and smiled, “Yes, I am. I deserve to die for my crimes. I know Samuel will suffer when it happens but he understands why.”
“What did you do to get a death sentence?”
June lowered her head and said, “So many awful things that cause me misery at the thought of them.”
Mallory took her legs out from under her and sat down facing June. “Tell me what you did.”
June took a deep breath and sighed. Then she looked across the clearing and yelled, “Jinny, quit picking on Beal! You know that’s not how we treat each other.”
Mallory saw the young Cainth girl frown and say, “Yes, June.”
June looked at Mallory and said, “I was once the Queen of the Criston Kingdom.” Mallory furrowed her brow. June smiled wistfully and said, “Before I was queen, I was the oldest daughter of King Talben. I was married to a wonderful man named Lem and we had a son. That was the happiest time of my life. I loved Lem so much. But Lem died in a ship explosion and I was so angry at a universe that would take my joy. I turned bitter.”
“My son asked if I could find a kingdom for him and I thought of Criston. The King was young and had a daughter. I hatched a plan to kill his wife and replace her. My plan was successful. I made it look like an accident.”
Mallory was shocked. “Are you serious!?!”
“Yes, then I invited the King to come to visit and eventually had my father persuade him to marry me to join our kingdoms. I told him I loved him and he finally agreed. Once I was on Criston, I began bribing the nobles ruling the planets in the Kingdom to support me in replacing him. I made that happen by build hunting lodges on this planet and selling hunting permits to kill the Zord. We killed thousands of them. All the lodges had their heads mounted on trees.”
Mallory shook her head, “That’s terrible.”
“I know. Then I found out the truth.”
“What truth?”
“My father planned to use me to annex Criston into his Kingdom years before Lem died. He had Lem killed and suggested to me through someone else to kill Wesley’s wife. He twisted me and made me a monster and I went down the path never knowing what he was doing. My son knew it all and never told me.”
Mallory looked at June and said, “You never had a clue?”
“No, I didn’t. The Zord saw it in my son’s mind and allowed me to see what had happened. They graciously allowed me to go back to save my youngest sister; my father was arranging another accident to kill her and her family. I promised to come back for them to carry out my sentence if they would allow me to try and save her.”
“Did you…uhh..save her?”
