Annihilation: Book 05 - Searcher Read online

  The Queen smiled and thought, “We Gardner’s have always felt our love deeply. We know at our core; Love conquers all.”

  Chapter 6

  Anglo Gardner entered the map room and approached Matt and Angel. “It’s good to see the two of you again. I see you have been quite busy doing the Realm’s work.”

  Angel looked at him and said, “We are going to delay our wedding, Your Grace.”

  “Why would you want to do that?”

  Matt looked at the Baron and smiled. He liked this Gardner. “We don’t want to delay; however, our oath leaves us no choice. There are millions of planets that have to be contacted because the time draws nigh that the invaders will come. We are needed to get the search organized and we cannot spare even one Searcher at this moment; much less two.”

  Anglo Gardner looked at the two Searchers and saw their sincerity. He was impressed with these two who had placed their oaths ahead of their own desires. He almost ordered them to take the time to have their wedding but knew it would diminish the importance they felt for their commitment; it would take away from their joy. “We will honor your wish and delay. Please notify us at the first possible moment you can bless our home with your union.”

  Angel smiled, “I suspect you will know as soon as we do, Your Grace.”

  Anglo actually laughed out loud, “Ah, I see we have quick students here.” Anglo turned and looked at Sprig. “You have a few moments until you start bringing in your adolescents; perhaps you can discuss Searcher Gardner’s lineage with him.”

  “Are you sure our Royal Couple would not like to do that?”

  “Yes, I am. They have asked if you would tell him.”

  Sprig leaned back and turned to Matt and Angel, “If you will come with me, perhaps the garden would be an appropriate place.”

  Matt and Angel followed Sprig to the Garden where they had discovered their love for each other and they remembered that happy moment. Sprig observed them and felt their happiness. Once they had sat on a bench, Sprig thought, “How much do you know, Searcher?”

  “I’m not sure if what I know is real; I think every subject of the Realm would like to think they are descended from a member of the Royal Family. I can actually see some of them in my mind. I see memories from hundreds of years ago but I don’t know if they are real or not.”

  “They are real.” Matt and Angel were surprised. “Twelve hundred years ago the Captors left our universe. We were told about the coming invasion and I met with the Royal Family and discussed how we could possibly survive the might of the Eight Legs. Twig and I had discovered a means of reading an individual’s psychic power and we learned something that was amazing to us. When we used our device to read the power of the Royal family members, it registered half of the scale which was phenomenal. Twig had an idea that psychic abilities were genetic so we quietly made several trips to measure the psychic power of other family members.”

  “Why did you do that,” Matt asked?

  “To see if others in their families also possessed similar abilities. We scanned Thomas Gardner’s parents, Cassandra Gardner’s parents and sister, and Danielle’s parents.”

  “What did you find out,” Angel asked?

  “We discovered that both of Thomas’ parents and Danielle’s parents possessed a high level of psychic power but displayed no psychic abilities. The same was true of Cassandra’s parents but it was the scan we took of her older sister that shocked us.”

  Matt looked at Sprig and knew that to shock an Algean was almost impossible.

  “Cassandra Dodd, that’s right Angel, she and you have the same last name, was the most powerful psychic in the Royal Family; her psychic abilities and power were as strong as all the others combined. However, her sister moved our scanner up three quarters of our scale. She possessed psychic power more than fifty percent stronger than Cassandra but exhibited no psychic ability to use that power.”

  Matt was confused, “I’ve never heard of Cassandra Gardner’s sister.”

  “That is because she never had her power released. She was a latent psychic that had passed the power she possessed on to her four children and each of their scans showed they possessed latent psychic powers that were incrementally stronger than their mother. We learned that if the psychic power is not released in a person, then it grows in their descendents.”

  Matt and Angel thought about what they had just heard and then Matt looked at Sprig with a serious expression, “You decided to produce a super psychic.”

  Sprig’s leaves turned greener, “Did you reason that out or did you just know it?”

  “It explains a lot about my memories. Those powers that are passed down to the next generation carry a certain amount of the previous one’s memories with it, right?”

  “Yes, it does. Please remember that Danielle Ash and Cassandra Dodd only had limited psychic skill when they came into contact with the one that released their powers. Thomas Gardner had been born released and his powers were manifested from a very young age. It was his touch that released Danielle. Tommy and Rose Gardner were also released at birth and their powers were incrementally stronger than their parents. It was Tommy’s touching of Cassandra that released her psychic power. However, both Danielle and Cassandra had already been manifesting some psychic abilities so we believe that they had reached the extent of their psychic development. Their power would not have grown in their children.”

  Matt looked confused, “I’m not sure I understand what you are explaining, Sprig.”

  “Did you know that Rose’s along with Tommy and Cassandra’s children did not exhibit any psychic abilities? Rose had five children and Cassandra had seven and not one of them demonstrated any psychic abilities.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Very few do. Once we scanned their children we understood what was taking place. All of their children registered more psychic power than their parents but had no way to use it; they were latent psychics.” Sprig looked at the two Searchers thinking about what they had just heard. “Think about psychic power in terms that we plants are comfortable with; think of it as a seed. The seed is planted in good soil and it starts to develop. The seed is passed to another generation and receives more nourishment and grows. Each new generation adds to the development until finally it reaches a point where it is fully developed and cannot grow any more in the vessel that holds it. Then it starts to sprout and the vessel begins to manifest some psychic skills. Once the right kind of food is delivered it bursts out in full bloom.”

  “So the psychic power grows from generation to generation until it reaches full maturity in a person. It won’t come out until it is fully developed. Why didn’t Thomas Gardner need this right kind of food,” Angel asked.

  “Because it happened to reach maturity with his birth; no one else was needed. His children, Rose and Tommy, were given their parents power fully developed, however, that only happens in the next generation. It does not pass beyond one generation.”

  “That explains why Tommy and Rose’s children did not have psychic abilities,” Matt said.

  “Exactly right,” Sprig paused and then continued, “It was at that point that Cassandra told us something that shocked all of us. She and Tommy were disappointed that their children did not share their abilities but Cassandra did possess a psychic skill that allowed her to have glimpses of the future; not possible futures like some psychics see but the actual future. She announced that one of her descendants was going to have psychic powers and abilities that dwarfed her skills and would be greater in their abilities than anyone could possibly imagine. We questioned her how far in the future this child would appear and she didn’t know. She did say that the child would have both bloodlines. When we asked her what other bloodline, she said she didn’t know. She just knew what she saw. We decided to try and make the event happen before the Eight Legs invaded.”

  “What?” Matt looked at Angel and then back at Sprig, “how did you intend to make that happen?”


  “Twig and I knew the two bloodlines; one was the Gardners and the other was the Dodds.”

  “But Cassandra’s children all had Gardner genetics in their makeup.”

  “Yes, but Cassandra’s sister’s children did not.”

  Suddenly Matt understood. “You traced the children that came from those beginnings and have been measuring the psychic power of each generation. You have also prevented as much as possible any of the two branches marrying and having children.”

  “Right again. It wasn’t always easy especially as the numbers grew. We sometimes had to use the realm’s help in transferring families to prevent members from coming into contact with members from the other branch. Sometimes we failed but it appeared that when members from the two branches actually managed to get together and ultimately married, their children actually lost most of their psychic power. We theorized that until the seed of psychic power was fully developed, it would fail if those two branches came together.”

  Angel said, “It really wasn’t that hard to keep them apart was it?”

  “Yes, it was extremely difficult; that’s why the seed developed from generation to generation. If you put five thousand people in a room with two latent psychics among them, the psychics would find each other faster than you could imagine. Their latent power actually pushed them to find a good match. They wouldn’t know it was happening but they would find the most comfort in the presence of another latent psychic.”

  Matt said, “You’ve already tried to produce the super psychic, haven’t you?”

  “Yes we have.”

  “And.”

  “The child of the parents from each bloodline was born with remarkable abilities; but not abilities superior the original Gardners possessed.”

  Matt looked down at the ground and Sprig said, “You know him.”

  “Who,” Angel asked?

  “Anglo Gardner,” Matt answered.

  Sprig’s leaves turned bright green again showing his amazement at Matt’s insight. “Anglo Gardner is quite talented and is a tremendous addition to the Royal Family.”

  “But he is not a child of the King and Queen,” Angel observed.

  “It’s not who your parents are that make you a member of the Royal Family; it’s who you are.”

  “So I am like Anglo. My parents also came from the two branches.”

  “Yes and no.”

  Matt looked up, “What do you mean?”

  “Yes your parents came from the two branches but no you are not like Anglo. We worked hard to prevent your parents from coming together and failed miserably.”

  “So you’re saying I’m an accident; something that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

  “Just like black holes finding their way into a Coronado Power Cell, wonderful things happened as a result of the event.”

  Matt just shook his head not knowing what to think. Sprig placed a branch on his shoulder and thought softly, “Your parents met at a space port on Cross. They were going to different locations to take new jobs. While waiting for someone to join them before they teleported out, they left where they were waiting and went to the port’s lounge and found each other. They only talked for a half hour before their protectors found them but that was enough. By the time the two protectors discovered where they were, it was too late even though the protectors grabbed them and whisked them away.”

  “What are protectors,” Angel asked?

  “The most powerful children of the two branches were assigned a team of psychics to insure their safety. It was the team’s responsibility to make sure they did not come into contact with anyone from the other branch but to also make sure they were not harmed in an accident or any other unplanned event. Latent psychics would not sense danger coming. The two teams dropped the ball.”

  Matt asked, “What happened?”

  Your parents gave each other their com codes. They continued to communicate and finally they decided to meet again. Your father was arrested before he could teleport to your mother’s location but while he was waiting for an official to come take him to a holding facility, a janitor entered the room he was in from a back entrance and he escaped and then used the teleport system to go and meet your mother. They then teleported to another location and the teams lost contact with them; they were lost.”

  Matt was wishing he had known his parents; he knew their love must have been instant and strong. Then Sprig said something that jerked him back, “Matt, your father was a direct male descendent of Thomas Gardner. Every generation produced a male child that carried the psychic power forward. Your mother was a direct female descendent from Cassandra Dodd’s sister. Your parents possessed the most powerful psychic readings our scanner had ever measured. Both of them literally pegged the meter at its highest setting.”

  Angel and Matt just stared at Sprig speechless.

  “We have been able to piece together how your parent died.” Matt felt an instant sorrow consume his soul. He let Sprig tell what happened but he could see it in his mind. He was only a baby but suddenly he remembered. They were so happy and in love. As sprig told Angel he relived what happened. His parents were returning to Cross to celebrate their first meeting with their new child. Their happiness was incredible, he could feel it. They took a ship instead of teleporting in because they didn’t want to be identified. There was still that arrest that had never been resolved and his father was taking no chances. Just before the unscheduled ship came out of jump and rammed their ship, Matt remembered crying. He sensed danger even as a baby but just couldn’t communicate it to his parents. Everyone on both ships died in the crash, except for Matt. He had pushed the flames and blast away as it came toward him. Somehow the atmosphere didn’t escape and he continued to breathe until the rescuers teleported in and found him crying in the rubble. When they traced his parent’s identities, they found names that were false. The child was taken to a state institution and was given the name he had on the ships registry that was also assumed to be false; it wasn’t. He missed them and he could feel their love for him. It was Sprig’s discussion that allowed him to remember. He came back to the present and heard Sprig say, “We don’t know why they had assumed fake identities but..”

  “It was because you tried to arrest my father to prevent them meeting,” Matt interjected. “They took a ship instead of teleporting and used those names out of fear for that unresolved arrest.”

  Sprig was silent. Then he said, “We caused their death because of our actions. I cannot express my sorrow for you because of our incompetence.”

  Matt sighed heavily as Angel took his hand, “If you had been successful and kept them apart then they would have missed the happiest time of their lives. They loved to a level that amazes me, Sprig. Even if they knew it was going to end the way it did they would have still made the same choices.”

  The three sat silent and then Angel asked, “What did you mean he is not like Anglo?”

  They saw blooms appear on Sprig’s branches which indicated the happiest an Algean can be, “Because our scanner actually broke when we scanned Matt’s psychic power level after you released him. It was too high for the machine to handle.”

  Matt and Angel sat there stunned. “What does that mean, Sprig?”

  “It suggests that you are the one predicted by Cassandra, and if you are, we may have a chance of survival against the coming horde.”

  “I don’t feel very powerful. Are you sure?”

  “I remember Cassandra Dodd. I liked her and respected her more than any other human except for a young man named Wes McAnn. Once she was released, just as you were released by Angel, her power grew each time she found herself in a stressful situation. She did not posses her abilities immediately; they evolved with her. You have opened a hundred and seventy advanced systems on your ship. No other Searcher has ever opened more than seventy. Only two remain and once you open those you will be moved to a new vessel that we are currently constructing.”

  “What kind of vessel, Sprig?�
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  “One that operates only on psychic energy; it will become the most powerful instrument to ever exist. We don’t know if you will evolve enough in time to use it in the coming war but we are hoping you do. You are our last hope; there are no other descendents that have anywhere near the psychic reading you possess.” Sprig paused and thought, “Even when we tried to prevent you, the universe trumped all our efforts and brought you into existence. Like Queen Danielle said, “Love will find a way.”“

  “Sprig, the stress of remembering the death of my parents has opened a skill.”

  Sprig stared at Matt, “The Eight Legs will be here in three years and eight days.”

  Angel and Sprig were both shocked at the announcement. “Sprig’s leaves turned light brown and he thought, “We must hurry and prepare. There’s not much time.”

  Chapter 7