Annihilation: A Rose Grows In Weeds Read online

  Annihilation: A Rose Grows in Weeds

  Saxon Andrew

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Epilogue

  About Saxon Andrew

  Introduction

  “Get Mikado and Ren-Bir on the com,” Dorg ordered. The two ship captains appeared on his display and Dorg said, “We have a Plant scout that just jumped into the system on the other side of the sun. I am sending you the coordinates of the ship and I am planning to jump in and surround that ship with our three vessels and fire immediately on emergence from null space. The Dremel are going to detonate a nuclear weapon on an asteroid close to the scout and we will all jump one sem before it goes off. Have your jump officers synchronize their systems with Rossville and use your primary beam and two needles. We’ll begin the operation as soon as the plant ship crosses the jump limit by 15 minutes, any questions?”

  “No sir,” they both said and broke connection to ready their ships.

  Lt. Glensh looked up from her display and said, Sir, the scout has crossed the jump limit and is one drag inside it.

  “Klas, tell the Dremel to launch the missiles on my mark, we will jump at 14 sems after launch. Ready, mark; please count down the launch for us.”

  “Ten sems, nine, eight, seven….two, one, fire.”

  “Mark 14 sems and jump; ready weapons,” Dorg ordered.

  The time counted down and Glensh said, “Jumping now.”

  The three megaships jumped and broke back into normal space surrounding the Algean Scout just as the nuclear explosion detonated. “Fire now,” Dorg yelled!

  The scout was hit by three 5,000 foot wide primary beams and six needles. The 6,400 foot long scout disappeared in an explosion that didn’t even leave rubble. Nothing remained of the huge ship bigger than dust motes and expanding gas.

  Chapter 1

  “Tag,” Danielle thought, “it’s time.”

  “What?”

  “Our little one is telling me that it’s time.”

  “Call the doctor, get to the medical facility, oh my god, call Leila to come help you, I’m on my way.”

  “Take your time, Darling. The baby says it will begin in three hours so I should begin preparing.”

  Tag just sat stunned, “Danielle, can the baby communicate in words?”

  “Not exactly, but her meaning is clear.”

  “You just said her, is it a girl?”

  “Yes she is, better be thinking of a name.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Tag ordered the Captain of The London to jump the megaship straight to Earth. They had been testing the new ship on its first field trials and it had performed marvelously. “We have Admiral Kosiev on a channel for you sir,” Lt. Thomas said.

  Tag pressed his com and said, “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to discuss Admiral Dorg’s upcoming effort to contact the Dremel. I’m concerned about him going in only one ship. He’s going into hostile territory and I don’t want to run the risk of losing him; he is after all a Cainth warrior and is reluctant to run from a good fight. If the Plant fleet is there he could bite off more than he could handle.”

  Tag stared at his console for a moment and said, “Let’s have a conversation with him prior to him leaving. He will probably know we’re trying to protect him but I agree with you, we still need to do it.”

  Kosiev thought for a moment and said, “If we position it right, he won’t.”

  Tag laughed, “Five credits says he’ll know immediately.”

  Kosiev smiled, “You’re on.”

  “Sorry I have to run, Admiral but the baby is due to be born in three hours and I have to hustle to be with Danielle.”

  “Congratulations, you better hurry to the medical center. How do you know you have three hours?” Kosiev asked.

  “The baby told her.” Tag cut the connection and jumped on a shuttle to take him down to where Danielle was waiting for him.

  Kosiev looked at the blank screen and shook his head, “The baby told her? I will never get accustomed to that family.”

  Danielle sat in her bed and held Tag’s hand. “I love you, Tag. I was so lucky to have found you.”

  “Danielle, I’m not completely certain that it was luck. Think about all that could have happened to prevent our meeting.” Danielle started to protest but Tag raised his hand and said, “Wait, hear me out.” Danielle sat back and folded her arms. “I’ve never explained to you how I’m so good in martial arts. You’ve seen firsthand how quickly I can respond to an attack. Do you know how much thought goes into my reactions?” Danielle raised her eyebrows and Tag continued, “None, absolutely none. It’s like my body is taken over by a power that I don’t control. I can see all that is happening but it’s like I’m a spectator to what’s taking place. This gift I was born with actually controls me in those attacks. I have been thinking about you and I for some time and I had an insight; maybe my gift and yours sensed each other and placed us in circumstances that would bring us together.”

  “Tag, get real. How could that have possibly happened?”

  “Think about it Danielle. Why did you ask me out? I would have never asked you. Think real hard, was it an impulse you couldn’t fight. You’re beautiful and I’m just average. Every red blooded male in our school was chasing you but you were attracted to none of them and some of them were really great looking. I was also in love with Leila at the time but my attention turned to you when you touched my hand in the lunchroom when we met. Am I really that wrong?”

  Danielle thought back to the moment she met Tag. Leila had brought her over and introduced her to him and his best friend Eric. Eric, who was very good looking, immediately asked her out but Danielle ignored him and only looked at Tag. She gave herself several reasons for asking him out but she had to admit that after he took her hand in his and she felt the little shock that always happened when they touched and then looked into his eyes; she had no interest in anyone else from that point on.”

  “Tag, are you saying destiny made this happen and we had no free will?”

  “What I’m saying is that how could the two strongest psychics on Earth end up together by chance? Perhaps the universe made this happen so that this child would come into existence. I don’t even want to think about what her purpose would be and I haven’t talked about the odds of me crash landing on the moon right next to Atlas’ cave. There’s just too much coincidence that defies all logic.”

  Danielle just closed her eyes and thought about all that Tag had said. Her talent of seeing the truth was screaming at her that he was right. There were too many coincidences. What or who made this happen? “You’ve got me wondering about this but perhaps I better wait until after this is over to talk with you.” Suddenly, Danielle doubled over and her water broke. Tag grabbed her hand and then let the doctors take her into the birthing room. He opened his link to her and let her know that he was right there with her. He sat down and shared the intimate moments of their child being born.

  Tag thought in his deepest thoughts, “I’m anxious to hear
what she thinks but it can wait. Whatever the reason, it can’t be bad if it gave her to me.” Tag then closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and joined Danielle in the birth of their Daughter.

  Tgon-Gee and Dorg were sitting in the waiting room while Danielle was delivering. They had jumped in as soon as Leila told them it had begun. Tgon-Gee had made Leila promise to tell him when it was time and Leila knew that a broken promise to a Glod was never a good thing; especially not to the Crown Prince. Five hundred pounds of a seven foot six Glod warrior was best kept as happy as possible. Tgon-Gee had then commed Dorg and asked him to come immediately. Dorg jumped to Earth on the Rossville, sent Tresk to Ross to pick up Klas, and then took a shuttle down to the medical center. Dorg ran into the waiting room, looked at Tgon-Gee and asked, “Why is it so important for us to be here? You act like its life or death.”

  Tgon-Gee raised his head and said, “Dorg, do you remember when you once said that you’re glad that Tag was on your side and I corrected you by saying, no, we had better be glad that we’re on his?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “The foundling being born today will sense us here and sense our love and protection for it and its parents. I have seen its aura; and I want to make sure the foundling knows that we are willing tools for it to use. Dorg, you have no idea of the power this child will posses. I only pray that its spirit is like its mother’s and not warrior like its father’s or ours.”

  Dorg could see the Glod Prince was nervous, “You’re really afraid, aren’t you?”

  “Dorg, you would be too if you understood the power being born today. I wanted you here to protect your people just like you protected mine when the Alliance attacked the Humans. The foundling will have a special place for us because we are here. You do not want to miss this moment.”

  Dorg looked out the window of the waiting room at a beautiful spring day on Earth and thought about what Tgon-Gee was saying. Dorg and his race were skeptical about psychic powers. Their main claim to fame was being one of the most aggressive warrior races in the galaxy. However, he had seen firsthand how everything that Tgon-Gee had said had been verified by subsequent events during the war with the former Alliance of Worlds. Tgon-Gee said that Tag could not be defeated and Tag had gone out and proven it defeating five Glod martial arts champions bare handed with no weapons. He also knew from first-hand experience that every time his race had challenged the humans they were beaten when this young human led them. He thought about it and it came to him that without Tag and Danielle’s wisdom and forgiveness that his race would probably be extinct now. They had given his people, and him, another chance. He knew in his deepest feelings that he would give his life for the two humans and their race. He also discovered at that moment in the deepest part of his being that he would do the same for their child. He looked at Tgon-Gee and said, “Thank you. I will always value your trust in me to have me here with you today. I will protect this family with everything I have.”

  Suddenly both Tgon-Gee and Dorg felt something in their mind that was like a warm glow. Tgon-Gee smiled and said, “The foundling hears you and accepts you.”

  Dorg no longer needed to be persuaded about anything psychic. He could feel the child in his mind and he held on to that warm glow as long as he could.

  Tag was sitting in the room with Danielle and their new daughter. He could actually see the psychic field that surrounded the two of them and he wondered at what psychic talents their daughter would have. Danielle and the baby were asleep in the bed with the baby lying on her chest. As Tag watched them, Danielle without opening her eyes said, “She’s beautiful isn’t she?”

  “Just like her mother,” Tag said tenderly. “She’s got blond hair just like you.”

  “But she has your eyes, Tag.” Danielle quit talking and used her thoughts to speak with Tag. “You’re wondering about what we were discussing before the baby started coming?”

  “Yes, I am. I think you may glean why we ended up together.”

  “This is probably going to sound crazy but it feels right to me.”

  “Then it must be right; I’ve never known you to be wrong,” Tag thought softly to his wife.

  “Tag, our baby brought us together.”

  Tag just looked at her with a stunned look on his face. He didn’t know how to respond to what she said. “Tag, the part of you that is used to produce a child also has psychic powers. Your DNA was looking for a match that would compliment your talents. I also believe that my DNA was doing the same. Just like your body taking control of you when you’re attacked; your genes sought the perfect partner. Somehow, our inner selves saw each other even when we had never met and manipulated events to insure we would come together. All of this was for us to have this child. The defeat of the Alliance was simply a byproduct of the process. You are right; it is not an accident that the two strongest psychics on earth ended up together.” Danielle placed her head tenderly next to her new baby and nuzzled her cheek.

  Tag continued to stare at her. “Are you telling me that we had no say in what happened? We had to come together? I find this hard to believe.”

  Danielle kept her eyes closed but thought, “Don’t you see, love? We loved each other from the first moment we touched. Our inner selves longed for each other long before that happened. It was what we are that brought us together. The universe has a reason for this and we may not ever know that reason. However, how do you feel now that our daughter is here? Look deep inside yourself and tell me what you feel.”

  Tag closed his eyes and looked at his deepest feelings. Danielle waited and watched him as he sat for several minutes. Finally he opened his eyes and said, “I feel at peace. It’s hard to describe, but somehow I feel complete.”

  “As do I; we need a name, Tag. Oh, what a hoot; a name tag. I made a funny.”

  Tag smiled and said, “I have read a great deal about Earth’s ancient history and I learned that the flower most associated with love was the rose. I would like her name to be Rose.”

  “Tag, what a wonderful name; I agree with you. She will be Rose Luanna Gardner.”

  “Luanna,” Tag asked?

  From my great grandmother who lost her husband and raised her children on her own; she was the strongest willed person in my family. I suspect our daughter will be a lot like her.”

  “Rose Luanna Gardner it is. Are you ready to let the two new uncles in to see her?”

  Danielle smiled and said, “I look a mess but they deserve to see her after sitting there for hours. Call them in.”

  Tgon-Gee and Dorg walked in the room and saw Danielle and the child. Tgon-Gee came to the bed and bowed low to them and Dorg also hit a knee. Danielle said, “Please stand, you’re here with friends. There’s no need to bow.”

  Tgon-Gee said, “My Queen, I can see your child’s aura. She will be the future leader of all our races. She deserves my homage and my total loyalty. I can feel her presence.”

  Dorg said, “I can’t see anything about an aura, but I, too, feel her. I also give her my total loyalty just as I’ve given it to you, Majesty.”

  Tag and Danielle looked at each other both a little unsettled by the admission that the two leaders could feel their baby’s presence. Danielle thought to Tag, “I think that life has taken a major turn here.”

  Tag only smiled because like his two friends, he could also feel her and what a great feeling it was.

  Chapter 2

  Admiral Dorg sat in the fleet command chair on the Stars Realm Megaship Rossville. He had just returned from the birth of the Gardner’s baby two days ago and he was introspective about what that child would mean to the Stars Realm. He could still remember the feeling he had when the baby was born. He glanced at the status display on one of his four consoles that gave a read out on the ships readiness for jump. The Commander of the ship, Tresk, sat just below his chair issuing orders to his crew for departure within three drags. Dorg shook his head and focused on the mission he was about to undertake. He would think about th
e child and the possible implication of what Tgon-Gee had said later.

  He was impressed with his former adjutant’s knowledge of the ship’s systems. Tresk had come a long way from being a staff officer to a warship commander and the ship’s crew was excited about the mission. His communication console beeped and he looked over and saw the two human leaders of the Stars Realm Military, Admiral Kosiev and Prince Thomas Gardner. “Good day Mr. Gardner and Admiral,” he said into his com.

  Kosiev smiled at him and said, “We just wanted to check on you to see if everything was on schedule for your departure.”

  Dorg was a Cainth Warrior and in the aftermath of his species being defeated by the Humans during the Alliance conflict he had learned to respect and actually like his former enemies. The Cainth looked remarkably like a four armed earth kangaroo. The main differences, other than four arms, was that the Cainth had small ears on the side of their heads instead of the long ears of the earth kangaroo and their two legs were very thick and strong which made them walk somewhat stiffly. They had a light covering of brown fur and very narrow eyes that were totally black. His species was known in the past for being extremely aggressive and territorial usually shooting first and talking later. The defeat at the hands of the humans had forced his race to reevaluate their former viciousness and come to embrace the concept of working with other races to become friends and allies. Now his race and the humans had become Clan Brothers sworn to defend and protect each other. After the defeat of the Alliance by the Humans, Cainth, and Glod, his race attained a high status among the 832 races that now made up the membership of the Stars Realm. He had taken a life oath to make up for the deaths of the human colonists that he had ordered murdered during the attack on the human colony planet Ross. His ship was named for the city on that planet where 20% of the colonists were executed. He still had nightmares of the humans that had been killed and he drove himself to make up for their deaths with what life he had remaining. Now he was going to try and save a world that was going to be destroyed by the plant creatures that literally destroyed planets and consumed all life.