moment, then turned to Scotty and knelt. Samuel came forward and knelt beside Jing. Scotty looked at them and wondered what was going on. Bleath came down on all fours and lowered his head beside the two leaders.
Jing said, “We were once ruled by a Holy Realm that had a Royal Family that cared for us, protected us, and gave us a great existence. They lived with principles that we have made our own. One of those is to defend those that cannot defend themselves. I pledge my community to obey and follow you, Scotty Robbins.”
Samuel said, “We will also follow you.”
Bleath said, “You are our ruler. We will go where you need us. Your requests will be our commands.”
Jing said, “You are now the Royalty of our peoples. We are no longer four communities. We are one united by one ruler. You are our King.”
Scotty stood dumbfounded. He looked at Jingo, and he knelt. Jesa and Julie joined him. Everyone in the clearing knelt and lowered their heads. The Zord all lowered their heads to the ground. Scotty said, “I’m not worthy of this title. The three of you are more worthy than me.”
Jing said, “No, we are not. Even the murderer of your mother did not sway you from the Holy Principles. We know you are stronger than any of us. You have proven it today. You will accept this responsibility and protect us from our enemies and from ourselves. Only you can do it.”
Scotty said, “Please rise.”
The huge gathering stood and Scotty looked at Grang, “Your chances of survival are not good. However, you will determine your future.”
Scotty looked at Bleath and said, “Will you insure his safe arrival and protect him until he enters the hill?”
Bleath said, “We will do so, Your Majesty.”
Julie saw Scotty flinch at the honorific. He looked back at her, then turned to Bleath, “Thank you, my great friend.”
The Community rushed forward to congratulate Scotty. Bleath grabbed Grang in his claws and lifted with him. Jingo brought a bowgun, a quiver, and a shovel and gave it to Cezee. Cezee looked at Jingo and lifted. Jingo turned and saw the community’s happiness, and knew the price Scotty must have paid to release the Magrum. He looked over at the ship parked at the edge of the clearing and thought about what had just happened. Something was born today. He didn’t know what was going to come out of it, but he knew there wasn’t anyone else he would trust with the power given to Scotty. He also knew about Julie’s dream. Cezee had shared it with him. He had passed it off… but now? Perhaps Scotty was right about the Holy Realm. What could be created; could be recreated. He smiled, “Now that would be a fun venture.”
Julie stood at the edge of the crowd and knew. Her dream was coming. She saw the real expression of love and admiration the gathering felt for Scotty, and wondered what she had done to deserve him. That dream was real. Where did it come from, and why to her? He had also dreamed of her. They were connected for a reason, and she had no idea why. What could it be? She looked up at the daylight sky and knew the stars were there waiting just out of sight. Maybe they knew. Perhaps the answer was at the planet in her dream. She looked down and thought about what awaited them. She looked up at Scotty and walked forward, slipped under Scotty’s left arm, and hugged him while he shook everyone’s hand. He looked down at her with a troubled look and she smiled, “The dream is our destiny. We must embrace it and know it’s good.” He looked puzzled, but then smiled, and continued shaking the hands of those around him.
Vring remained at the edge of the clearing and decided, “If he goes, I go.”
Scotty, Julie, and Jingo were sitting on the shuttle’s bridge with Timmy and Tesa. Timmy looked at them and said, “I’ve been doing a little homework on the origin of this ship.”
Scotty looked around, “And?”
“This ship is a piece of the Holy Realm’s history, and was present when many important events happened. It is a one-of-a-kind ship in this universe.”
Julie furrowed her brow and asked, “What are you trying to tell us?”
“This is going to take a while. If I say something that isn’t clear, stop me. OK?”
Everyone nodded.
“I researched everything I could find out about this class of shuttle before your attack on the Magrum. This class of ship was first built when the Realm was new. This particular shuttle was manufactured by the Algeans specifically for the Alexander Kosiev.”
Timmy saw the shock on everyone’s face. “I know! You want to know how I made that determination. There were only fifty shuttles manufactured with two red generators. They were all assigned to the Kosiev. It’s important to understand that when the Algeans built something, it was superior to anything else. Those fifty shuttles were manufactured as powerful as the Searcher Class ships.”
“Timmy, how can that be possible? The Searchers were the most powerful ships ever created.”
“That’s right, Jingo. However, please remember that the Algeans also built those. The Kosiev had just defeated the Captors, and the red generators were starting to be designed into the newly designed Searchers.”
“Is this ship that old?
“Yes it is, Julie. The Kosiev had launched all of its shuttles to stop a Captor energy ball from striking our home world, Earth.”
“I remember learning about that as a child.”
“We all learned at age six about the Captor war, Scotty. The Kosiev did not have any shuttles, and Cassandra requested the Algeans build replacements when they had time to do so. Obviously the construction of the Searchers took priority, and it wasn’t done before the Kosiev went into the star and Cassandra and Tommy went into hiding. The shuttles were built after the Realm had more Searcher Class ships than Searchers to fly them. They were built to a higher standard than any of the other shuttles of that time.” Timmy paused and then continued, “They were given standard null drives and two red generators. The ship’s hull was covered in the new flexible Coronado Power Cells. Only three were used to build the entire vessel, and they were connected to the red generators.”
“Why weren’t they given teleportation ability?”
Timmy shook his head, “I really don’t know, Julie. I have speculated that they held off adding teleportation until the Kosiev was resurrected from the star. I suspect they wanted the newest system available at that time. Whatever the reason, those shuttles remained on their planet waiting for the Kosiev to make an appearance.”
Scotty said, “The Eight Leg invasion brought the Kosiev back to the Realm.”
“Yes it did. However, remember that the Kosievs’ landing bay was used to gather iron trees and stone trees. The shuttles remained where they were throughout the war with the Eight Legs.”
Timmy stopped talking and Scotty saw something was not being said, “Timmy, you need to tell all of it.”
“I’m just not sure if I should.”
“Let us be the judge of that.”
Timmy looked at Tesa and she nodded. He took a deep breath and continued, “After the defeat of the Eight Legs and the Red Demons that created them, the Algeans knew that the Alexander Kosiev had become intelligent. It was considered a mechanical life form. The Algeans decided the shuttles needed to be a useful tool for the giant ship and they modified them.”
“How?”
“I’ll tell you in a few moments, Jingo. Just try to be patient. They determined that the shuttles would actually be the tools the Kosiev would use to perform many tasks. They also upgraded the weapons and force fields accordingly. Those fifty shuttles were designed to be a fleet of warships for the Kosiev to use to fight the enemies of the Realm. However, the Kosiev and the Gardners disappeared and no one knew where they went for more than 12,000 years. They came back during the war with the Keepers. It was at that time that the shuttles were given to the Kosiev with brand new teleportation boards on top of the null drive boards.”
Timmy grew quiet again and Scotty asked, “How did that shuttle get to this planet?”
“This is all speculation, Scotty. I don’t have anything to prove it, but it feels right. That shuttle brought the last probe to El Prado. That probe would automatically teleport the planet if a universal drive was detected. It landed on the planet and the pilot took the devices to control it to the Duke. The Duke made him wait until he had time to learn its functions. Less than two weeks later, all teleportation devices failed and the Realm left our universe. The pilot was trapped here on the planet and held prisoner until the Duke could determine what was happening. He was later executed by a mob.”
