“I suspect your sister and brother shuttles on the Kosiev will come looking for you if they ever return, and this is where they’ll start. I’d stick around here, too, if I were you.”
“Do you think they’ll return?”
Scotty didn’t say anything until Julie said, “Well, do you?”
“They won’t come back until we no longer need them.”
Jessica asked, “Why do you say that?”
“They were forced to make us follow their principles. The general populations of the Provinces did not understand the value of taking care of each other. Forcing the Provinces to follow them went against all they stood for and believed. The Provinces lusted after the Realm’s power and the Realm left to teach us the value of those principles, not their gifts of technology. They are forcing us to grow up. Until we demonstrate we understand that the real gift, the one that really counts, is those principles, they will not come back.”
Jessica was silent. Everyone in the room thought about what Scotty said. Finally Jessica said, “I must say I agree with you, Your Majesty.”
“What are you saying Jessica?”
“The only way to bring them back is to create something better than the former Realm. I will support you in your effort to make that happen.”
“As will I.”
The group looked at the speaker on the wall and Scotty said, “I was wondering if you were ever going to contact us.”
“I wasn’t. Like Jess I thought you were just El Prado descendants. It appears I was wrong.”
Jingo looked at Scotty, “Who is that?”
“That’s the Searcher ship that destroyed our planet two thousand years ago.”
Everyone on the bridge felt a chill touch their bodies. This was a ship to be feared.
Scotty said, “I think history has done you an injustice.”
“How would you know that?”
“Until just a few minutes ago, I believed that history. After talking with Jess, I think I understand why you were sent here.”
Jessica said, “You think he was sent here for another reason, other than the obvious one.”
“Julie told me that the ship in her dream, and if you’ve been listening to our conversations, I know you know about it, was not Jessica. It got me started thinking about where would another ship exist other than this one. Then it dawned on me that the Searcher that destroyed our planet had left his ship in orbit. I knew it had to be that ship in her dream.”
Julie looked at him, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“They would have heard me. I needed to find out about our Searcher friend overhead to see if it was a danger to us. I didn’t want to give it a reason to start shooting.”
The speaker said, “That was wise on your part.”
“I decided to go to the learning center and see if I could find out anything about that particular Searcher vessel. I found out quite a bit. That ship is actually quite famous.”
“My, you have been busy.”
“How was he famous?”
“Julie, it was that ship that discovered El Prado and set up the Algeans to protect it from the Eight Legs.”
“You’re right.”
“The local population was very small and didn’t possess advanced technology. After the war with the Eight Legs ended, they petitioned the Realm to place one of the Provincial Capitals here and offered free land if they would accept. King Sprig agreed. I think in part because he saw a kindred planet to his home. After a hundred years, the local population was swallowed up by the huge immigration that followed Cassandra and Tommy here. Most of those that came were Humans. When Tommy and Cassandra completed their time as rulers of the province, they presented the ship as a going away gift. It was the ship that discovered the planet. It was given a place of honor directly in front of the government building, and huge numbers of tourists came to see it.”
“That was a very happy time for me.”
“You accepted your duty without complaint.”
Jingo said, “What duty?”
Scotty sighed and said, “The Gardners knew they were going to disappear from the Realm for a very long time. I discovered that every Province was presented the ship that discovered the planet. That’s just too much of a coincidence. Those ships were put there to insure the Realm’s continued strength. They were to notify the Algeans if anything started going wrong. Even the Gardners weren’t aware of the devices placed in every ship built by the Algeans. Initially, those devices were strictly for the purpose of listening in to conversations by the Dukes in the Provinces. Later, they began installing devices to destroy the teleportation boards.” Scotty looked at the speaker and said, “Do you want to take it from here?”
They heard a sigh from the speaker, and then, “Everything was great for more than seven thousand years. Then things started going bad. The Provincial Dukes began looking toward the Crown and lusting after the Realm’s power. Slowly, over time, the Duke’s standard began replacing the SR of the Realm on their ships. I was repainted with the colors of the Province and had the Duke’s moniker put on my rear fins. Just like Jess.”
“I hated that.”
“Me too. However, I was finally removed from my place of honor and taken to the ships that had been mothballed. I was considered too old to be of any use. There I stayed until one day all of the Duke’s Searchers left the planet. Two old models were left at the planet and I was removed from mothballs and brought back to defend El Prado. The Searcher assigned to me was a Human who had been born on old Earth but brought here as a baby. You know how hard it is to find anyone that has the mental capacity to fly a Searcher vessel. He was accepted into the Duke’s Navy. However, he wasn’t trusted because of where he was born. Charles and I were a natural team. He still believed in the Realms ideals and lived them in his life. He contacted the Planet when we arrived and asked where the fleet had been sent. He was told it was “Need to know” information, and that we were to only communicate with Fleet Headquarters.
“Remember, the war with the Keepers was still going on. We had been saved from a Keeper Fleet by small white ships that killed them. We assumed the Duke’s fleet was going to assist the Realm. Ten hours later we found out the truth when the fleet began calling for help. The Searchers told us more than thirty million of them were stranded in open space between galaxies.”
“The two Searchers with me also confirmed that their teleportation systems were inoperative. We then discovered that the fleet had been sent to destroy Ross and the Algean home worlds. We listened for three months as the Searchers screamed for help and no one came to their aid. Charles was devastated. We also learned the Milky Way and the Algean’s Galaxies were no longer in our universe.”
Scotty said, “I imagine you were somewhat angry with the Duke.”
“Words can’t describe our anger. At that point one of the other two Searchers suggested we should remove the Duke from power. Charles agreed instantly. They decided to come to our ship and discuss how to make it happen. Once they arrived, they started making plans to divide the planet between us and assume a Royal title. It was clear they intended to rule with a heavy hand. Charles saw they were no different than the Duke. He shot them both and sent their bodies into space. I destroyed the other two ships. That was easy since they had their screens down for the shuttle to return.”
“The rest you know. Charles demanded the Duke abdicate his throne and submit to prosecution for treason. The Duke, of course, refused and the majority of those on the planet supported his refusal. Charles was possessed. The Duke had to pay for his sacrilege in attacking the Royal Family. They would probably still be arguing today, but the Duke made the mistake of opening fire on us. Charles did not desire power. He wanted justice. He burned the capital to bedrock. Then he left to get his family.”
“The Duke had them in the Capital as hostages.”
“No, he did not, Jingo. Charles arrived home and found his eleven month old daughter hanging by the neck in the entrance. Every bone in her arms and legs had been broken multiple times and her head bashed in. He found his wife on the living room floor where they left her when they finished assaulting her repeatedly. His son was burned by a blaster in the back yard and had traitor cut into his chest. Written on the walls in their blood was, “Filthy Stars
