Annihilation - Tommy's Tale (Annihilation Series (Book Four)) Read online

  Cassandra said, “You’re saying that they are an electrical energy life form?”

  “That’s exactly what they are.”

  Tommy said, “Then we will call then eels or even better Captors.”

  Sprig said, “Good choice for a name. I’m not sure what it is but when they exploded away from the planet, they reminded me of something I’ve seen before.”

  Twig said, “They look like wasps leaving a nest to attack an encroacher.”

  Tommy said, “No, not wasps.” Everyone looked at him and he said, “Wasps will only chase you a short distance from their nest and then turn and go back. These creatures are like bees or hornets. They will chase you and never give up. It makes me think that before they became energy that their race was probably some form of insect. What has me troubled is that Rose, my parents, and I all sense that it doesn’t matter what we do, they are a danger to us. Avoid them, hunt them, run from them; it doesn’t matter.” Tommy paused and then said, “Atlas, Rose looked at that planet years ago and there was no response when she did. I’m going to look and see what they are doing now. I’ll let all of you look at what I see.”

  Atlas said, “You might want to move to some other location further away from your home galaxy before you do that.”

  Tommy thought for a moment and said, “You’re right. We will wait to see until after the crew is trained on the Kosiev.”

  “There is one more item,” Sprig said. Tommy and Cassandra looked at each other briefly and sprig continued, “When you and Captain Dodd were dancing, Twig and I were somehow affected mentally.”

  Tommy said, “What do you mean?”

  “All of the information we have been storing was reoriented in both of us. The reason we were able to connect you and the energy readings was due to this change. We can see things we have not been able to grasp before. Both of us have changed radically.”

  Tommy thought for a moment and said, “Have you two ever exchanged information?”

  Twig said, “Sure, we discuss things every day.”

  “I don’t mean discuss; have you ever actually absorbed what the other has in their storage?”

  The two plants didn’t move. “Are you alright?” Cassandra asked.

  Twig said, “I don’t know if anyone in our history has done that. I don’t know what the effect would be on us but it would be like putting an entirely different being in your consciousness. There is a possibility of being overwhelmed by the one you store.”

  Tommy looked at the two Algeans and pondered Twigs answer. “Well, I can’t ask you to take that kind of risk. I just wondered what your perspectives would be if you could see everything from the other’s point of reference. Thanks for your help on the energy problem; we will comply with your request about avoiding contact.”

  Cassie thought to Tommy, “It’s odd that when we avoided being around each other that it was easy to do just that; now it’s a severe pain to know I can’t let you hold me.”

  Tommy looked at her and answered, “I would say you have no idea how much it hurts but I suspect you can see it in me.” Cassie looked at Tommy and nodded. Tommy saw her nod and thought, “We can still be together in our minds.”

  Cassie smiled ruefully at him, “It’s not enough; not near enough.”

  “I know.”

  The accident happened as Rose was dedicating one of the newest megaships that had just been completed at the Bergrend ship yard. The new ship was named the SR Megaship Tony Chen and Rose had just addressed the huge crowd gathered for its launch. A heavy hauler was leaving the rear of the huge ship having just unloaded its stores for the commissary when the driver suffered a heart attack and lost consciousness. He slumped forward and pushed the accelerator rod completely down. The hauler accelerated forward and hit the central support for the ship.

  Rose saw the truck accelerate into the support and could see that without the support the ship was going to roll out of its cradle. The crowd gathered was going to be directly in the path of the rolling ship. The crowd saw the ship shift and began toppling toward them; a panic ensued with screams and people running over each other. Rose looked at the ship and thought, “Stop!” The huge ship stopped in mid roll and remained stationary. Rose was amazed. There was no possible way she could have stopped that ship with her mind. She had learned early in life the limitations of her telekinetic skills; but there the ship stayed halfway out of its cradle. Rose looked at the ship and mentally pictured it moving back into the cradle and the ship turned back over and stayed in the front and rear supports. The port manager yelled over his com, “Get some jacks under the ship now.”

  Rose looked at the manager and asked, “Is the crew on board?”

  The manager looked at her and said, “Yes they are but I imaging they are pretty shook up by what just happened.”

  Rose looked at the ship again and thought, “Rise.”

  The Ship smoothly lifted from the cradle and began moving up into the afternoon sky. It disappeared in three minutes.”

  The port manager listened to his com and said, “Captain Miller has just let me know that the crew has the engines on line and are in control of the ship.”

  Rose released the Megaship and saw the port manager looking at her with a strange look. “The Captain tells me that the ship was more than six thousand miles above the planet when he gained control. How did that ship lift off with no power?”

  Rose looked at him and said, “I don’t understand how it happened but let’s be thankful it did.”

  The port manager nodded but he still had that look on his face as Rose left to board her shuttle. “This has to be connected to my aura growing at Wes’ wedding,” Rose thought. She contacted her parents and said, “Will you please meet me at the Castle as soon as possible. I have something to discuss with you.”

  Chapter 10

  Rose watched as Tgon-Gee entered her office. The huge Glod Crown Prince came forward and bowed to his queen. “How may I be of service, Your Majesty?”

  “I’ve called you here because I have some questions and I’m sending you on a mission,” Rose said. “I saw the aura around my brother and Captain Dodd through your eyes and the aura extended beyond the room. I need you to go see how big their auras are now.”

  Tgon-Gee pondered what he was being asked and said, “Has something happened?”

  Rose considered being evasive but knew that this was one warrior that she knew she could trust. “There was an accident at the space port and I lifted a megaship more than five thousand miles into the atmosphere to save the people that were about to be crushed. I did it with my mind.” Tgon-Gee’s eyes widened and Rose continued, “In the past the most weight I could lift was about two hundred pounds. I know that to be accurate because I’ve checked that talent my entire life. It seems my limit has increased. You saw my aura to be three feet from my body. Where do you see it now?”

  “It is still three feet from your body.”

  “Consider this,” Rose said, “If my aura is three feet and I can lift a megaship; if Tommy’s aura is ten feet, what could he lift? I’m concerned that he doesn’t know about his new strengths and might cause an accident. I need you to see if his aura is still as large as we saw it.”

  Tgon-Gee looked at Rose and said, “The aura surrounding your brother and Captain Dodd was considerably larger than ten feet, Your Majesty.”

  Rose looked at him and said, “How much larger?”

  “I looked through a view port and saw it had extended more than a mile from the learning facility.”

  Rose stood and said, “Go to the learning facility now and see how large it is on both of them. Try to get him to experiment in an environment that won’t endanger anyone. I’m going to tell him you are on your way.”

  Tgon-Gee bowed and said, “I’ll be there within the hour.”

  Tommy, the adolescents, Cassandra and Atlas were discussing what was needed to move forward with their plan. The entire conversation was being done telepathically so it was moving qu
ickly. Tommy said, “We need some baselines to see where we are in relation to the Captor’s abilities. For example, how strong are their weapons compared to our current armaments? Atlas, were your weapons effective against them?”

  “No, they had absolutely no effect on them. Their beam weapons vaporized us when they were in range.”

  Tommy thought for a moment and then said, “We need to try your beams against one of our new ships. That will at least show us if we have any chance in a battle.” Tommy keyed his com and said, “Admiral Mikado, I need your assistance.”

  Mikado appeared on Tommy’s com and said, “How can I help you?”

  “I need a new megaship to fire a new beam weapon at to determine how effective the beam would be against our newest screens.”

  Mikado thought for a moment and said, “If it’s a strong screen you need, you might consider using one of the old forts we just moved away from Earth. The screen on that is still stronger than the megaships.”

  “Does the fort still have jump capability?”

  “Yes it does, Your Majesty.”

  Tommy looked at Cassandra and said as he spoke to Mikado, “Captain Dodd is going to send you some coordinates; please jump one of those forts to that location, please.” She nodded and went to select a location that was distant from the learning facility.

  Mikado smiled and said, “When do you need it there?”

  Tommy laughed and said, “An hour from now.”

  Mikado smiled and broke the connection.

  Tommy looked at the two Algean Adolescents and asked, “Would you two like to come along?”

  “Twig’s leaves turned bright green and she said, “Oh, yes. I wouldn’t miss this for all the information in my reader. I’ve never seen Atlas’ weapons.”

  Cassandra came back in and said, “I’ve commed the coordinates to Admiral Mikado. I’ve also secured a heavy shuttle to take us there. Atlas, would you like to come on board with us or do you want to go there yourself? We have plenty of room.”

  Atlas said, “Move over. I’ve never been a passenger.”

  “Tommy, may I talk with you for a moment?”

  Tommy started and said, “Hello, Rose. Sure, does it need to be private?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  Tommy looked at the group and said, “Please excuse me for a moment; let’s plan to leave within the hour.”

  Tommy went to his quarters and sat down at his desk, “What’s up, Rose?”

  Rose explained all that had happened both at the wedding and afterwards. Tommy listened but was inclined toward skepticism. “Rose, what are you saying?”

  “Tommy, it’s like a man who has suddenly become a hundred times stronger and presses the accelerator rod in a vehicle and breaks it off. Now there’s no way to stop the vehicle before it hits something. On a much larger scale, what if you, without meaning to, you push against the wall of the learning facility and break the facility in half.”

  Tommy understood. Rose continued, “And you are not alone; we need to look at Captain Dodd as well.”

  “What do you mean we?”

  “I’ve sent Tgon-Gee to look at your auras and to perform some experiments. He should be there within the hour. He’ll report to me what he finds out.”

  “This has you worried, doesn’t it, Rose.”

  “Yes it does, Tommy. My talents were not the only ones increased during the wedding. Our parents are also the proud new owners of three foot auras. They both have noticed changes in their psychic skills. Mother can now use telepathy with anyone, it’s not just limited to Dad.”

  Tommy looked at Rose and said, “We’re going to another site to test Atlas’ weapons to see where we are compared to the eels. I’ll take Tgon-Gee with us.”

  Rose said, “Eels?”

  Tommy shrugged and said, “The Captors are an electrical energy life form. We also think that before they lost their physical bodies that they were probably insects closely related to bees or hornets.”

  “Tommy, keep me informed, please; about you and those eels.”

  “I will, Rose.”

  Tgon-Gee arrived in S. R. Megaship Tribulation. Tommy commed him and said, “Hi, Tgon-Gee. We are leaving for a site to test some weapons. I just spoke with Rose and I would like for you to come with us.”

  Tgon-Gee said, “I’ll come to your ship momentarily.”

  Sprig said over the com, “Tgon-Gee, if it is not too much trouble, could you have the ship that brought you here standby in the event we need to compare our current armaments to the weapon we’re testing.”

  Tommy said, “That’s a good idea, Sprig. Does it pose any problems to keep it here on standby?”

  Tgon-Gee looked away from his screen and said, “No, this is my personal vessel. It is at your disposal.” Tgon-Gee boarded a shuttle that ferried him to the heavy shuttle. As he approached the heavy shuttle Tgon-Gee saw the dark aura surrounding it. It extended more than four hundred yards from the ship’s hull. Tgon-Gee took a deep breath and worried about the power of the two humans that possessed those auras. “We’ll see what it means, I hope,” he thought and entered the landing bay.

  “Have you selected a good place to conduct the test, Twig?” Cassandra asked.

  “Yes I have. It’s located in deep space far from the closest galaxy. I’ve also made sure there were no energy centers close to the coordinates. Hi, Tgon-Gee, welcome aboard.” Twig said.

  “Thank you. Are you ready to jump?”

  Cassandra said, “We were waiting on you. She keyed the com and said, “We will be jumping is two minutes. All hands, jump in two minutes.”

  Tommy sat in the chair beside Cassandra marveling at how beautiful she looked. She had on a short sleeve t-shirt and her auburn hair was down. He wanted to reach over and take her hand. She thought to him, “Not yet. We have so much to look forward to and now I’m sure that we have to wait.” Tommy looked at her and nodded and continued to stare at her. She said, “What?”

  “I remember how much I hated you and thought you were an ugly looking.”

  “Don’t say it, though I know I deserve it.”

  “That’s just it,” Tommy said, “I know that our contact has locked us to each other but I can see quite objectively that you are beautiful. Why did you hide it? You never dressed or wore anything but those severe looking military uniforms.”

  Cassandra looked at Tommy and said, “I’ve never felt any thing for anyone. I’ve had no desire for any companionship. No one interested me.” Her eyes grew moist and she said softly, “When you touched me it felt like I came alive. I felt things I’ve never felt before. For the first time I’m comfortable in my own skin. I know deep inside me that I’ve been waiting for you my whole life.”

  Tommy looked at her and it took all his effort to not reach for her. “It was the same for me, Cassie. I need you now more than you’ll ever know. I’ll wait forever if needed to be with you.”

  Cassandra smiled and said over the ship’s com, “Jumping in 3,2,1, jump.”

  They broke out into the pitch-black of empty space and saw one of the forts floating in space ahead of them. “Trust Mikado to be punctual,” Tommy said. “What do our sensors say, Cassie?”

  “The screen is at full power and there are no biological readings on it.”

  “Atlas, are you ready?”

  “Open the port and I’ll take a shot at it.” The shuttle landing bay opened and the Silver ship moved out of the bay and moved toward the large asteroid. Atlas said over the ship’s intercom, “Sprig, are your sensors ready.”

  “Yes they are, ready when you are.”

  “I’m firing in 3,2,1, fire.” A bright blue beam stabbed out from the small silver ship and hit the screen around the asteroid. The beam penetrated the screen and hit the rock surface causing a giant explosion. Immediately after the beam turned off, the screen came back on line and surrounded the asteroid.

  Tommy watched the beam penetrate the asteroids screen like it wasn’t there. He shook his head and
said, “Atlas, hide yourself, please.” Atlas disappeared from the sensors. “Tgon-Gee, please call your ship to this location.” Tgon-Gee pushed his com and gave coordinates to his ship and waited twenty seconds until it appeared.