Virze nodded as she reached over and took his hand, “We will pay them back for those that died.”
Timmy looked up at TK as she left the room and knew she was going to have a huge role in making that happen.
TK left New Hope and jumped to Criston on Malah. They removed their armor ten thousand feet above the forest and Malah caught the afternoon wind in her wings, “Trey, do you have a moment?”
Trey heard her thought and smiled, “Hello, Aunt Tommie, I’ll always have a moment for you. I’m at the weapons practice center.”
TK briefly turned on her armor and found the coordinates and Malah turned and dove for a clearing ten miles to the north. Trey had his armor active and saw the large Zord in the skies to the south. He looked at ten of his protectors that were using their armor’s beams to hit small plastic discs that were shooting across the clearing. They were only allowed to fire beams that were smaller than the high speed discs and he saw that they were making excellent progress with their accuracy. It was rare that one made it across the clearing. He turned off his armor and walked over to Malah as she landed, “Hello Aunt Tommie and Malah, It’s good to see you. What brings you to my neck of the woods?”
“I’m going to use my favored status with you to ask for some of your protectors.”
Trey smiled, “Now you know that my two Father’s would not appreciate me giving you preferential treatment.”
“I know, but I have a valid reason for my request that they can’t match.”
Trey tilted his head to the right and smiled, “What would that be?”
“My Division is the first to leave for another universe and I barely have enough time to get your protectors acclimated to their units.”
Trey’s expression turned serious, “When are you leaving?”
“The Scouts are jumping out in two weeks and the remainder of the Division two weeks later.”
“Why are you rushing this?”
TK looked at Trey and shook her head slightly, “I’m not sure, Trey; but I sense a need to do it quickly. I just get a feeling that…I don’t know; I can’t explain it.”
Trey thought about TK leaving with her Division and looked at the level of danger. He then thought about her delaying her departure and his sense of danger increased, “You’re right; something is going on in that universe that is important for our survival. You can take all but ten of them.”
“What do you sense?”
“There is something dangerous there. You need to be careful and make sure you’re not traced back here. How many Scout Units do you have?”
“Eighty at the moment.”
“Then take eighty of the Protectors and assign them to their commands today. I’ll keep twenty here to start training the next hundred on the list.” Trey paused, “Who is in overall command of your scouts?”
“I am.”
Trey shook his head, “That’s not going to work. You’re going to have to stay here to get the main body of flyers ready. It’s not good tactics to force your troops to have to contact you in another universe to get approval for their actions or questions answered. I have someone here that has been instrumental in training the Protectors and he will assume command of your scouts as an advisor. I know you’ll be pleasantly surprised at his abilities.”
TK thought about giving up command of her troops to a stranger but Trey had made some good points, “Who is he?”
Trey turned and said, “Here he comes now.”
TK turned and saw a handsome young man walking toward her. He smiled and she recognized him, “You’ve grown up.”
“It couldn’t be avoided; time has a way of doing that.”
Trey saw that the two knew each other, “This is…”
TK interrupted, “Paul Blake.”
Trey heard the way she said it and knew, “It appears your time has come.”
Paul never took his eyes off TK as he said, “Yes, it has.”
TK ran forward and wrapped her arms around Paul’s neck and an incredibly bright blue flash jumped out of them. Paul smiled, “I’ve looked forward to this day since your Father’s birthday.”
“I’ve forced myself to not even think about it.”
Paul looked at Trey, “Your sense is right. There is a species in that universe that must be slowed down in their conquests.”
Trey and TK looked at each other and Trey said, “Do you see them?”
“I do. You should also get either Grang’s or Jingo’s Division ready to follow up on the initial incursion.”
TK held Paul tight and said, “Perhaps you should be in overall command and I should go with the Scouts; I can see your abilities are more advanced than mine.”
Paul laughed, “Your Flyers love you. You would only hurt their moral to make that change. Think about it for a moment and you’ll see it.”
TK closed her eyes and after a moment opened them, “You’re right.”
Paul turned to Trey and said, “You need to get the Protectors that are being reassigned moving so they can get their units ready. We barely have enough time.”
“Barely enough time for what?”
Paul looked at TK and said, “Why, to have a wedding before we leave.”
TK’s smile was dazzling and Trey knew that his time was still several years away. He really envied them as he watched the two nineteen year olds walk away to be alone for the first time. He shook his head and sent a thought to Jingo and Grang, “Fathers, it looks like it’s back to war. Please plan to meet with TK in an hour.” He watched as TK put her arms around Paul’s waist as they walked away and he smiled, “Better make it five hours.”
Vring watched as another ship melted in the star’s outer corona, “This is not going to work. Weed leaned back and said, “It appears you’re probably right.”
Eight ships had been burned in the effort to develop a hull that could absorb the energy of a star before it would burn. All eight attempts were failures.
Kreej said, “Call Carter.”
Weed leaned back, “What is he going to be able to do that we haven’t?”
Kreej smiled, “Even the Spiders said the Humans were smarter than they were. There are different types of intelligence and Carter has it in abundance. Call him in; what could it hurt?”
Alex said, “I’ll make the call.”
Weed shrugged and felt it was a waste of time.
Four days later, Carter looked up from the down loads of the eight failures and smiled, “Well, you can’t say you haven’t tried to make this happen. I also agree with Vring that this is a step in the wrong direction.”
Alex waited a moment and said, “Why do you say that?”
“Because you throw away all the work you’ve done designing the reflective hulls. Those are still formidable weapon systems that can’t be used if you move in this direction. You’re also expecting a physical material to handle the atomic heat at the core of a star. I just don’t see that happening.”
The group was silent and Kreej said, “Thanks for your input, Carter.”
“I said it can’t be done using the current process; I didn’t say it couldn’t be done.”
Weed turned sharply and said, “What do you mean?”
“You’re trying to move energy into a container. It’s the highest level of energy in creation and if you’re going to do that you have to fight fire with fire. You’ve got to move it with energy not a physical substance.”
Seed interjected, “You have something in mind to make that happen. What do you see?”
Carter said, “Alex, when we teleport objects, where does the teleportation happen? Does it take place at the back of the teleport screen or at the surface?”
“I’m not really sure. Weed, your species developed this process. Do you have the answer to this
