Annihilation: Book 06 - Demon's Sacrifice Read online

  Chapter 10

  The red being jumped from his seat and adjusted his display. “Are you busy?”

  “We’re all busy.”

  “I have been monitoring some kind of recording device that was in the last tool’s universe. It just exploded.”

  “Do you think it was programmed to self destruct?”

  “I examined the device closely and there was a destruct circuit in it but it was not active. For it to explode, something had to activate it.”

  “What did the device record?”

  “The second tool’s arrival and destruction.”

  “Show me what you recorded.”

  It touched a key and waited.

  “There is no evidence of anything triggering the destruct circuit but the explosion is a result of that circuit.”

  “It had to be activated.”

  “Yes it did but we detected nothing.”

  “Is there any kind of force that we can’t detect?”

  “Only the original creative force.”

  “Now I’m starting to be afraid.”

  “The Elders should know about this.”

  “Are you telling them?”

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Me either.”

  “I fear their wrath more than a possible brush with the Creative Force. They are quite impulsive when they get angry.”

  “I do not choose to be the bearer of bad news the way they are acting.”

  “Once more you show your wisdom.”

  “By the way, what color is the creative force?”

  “Bright blue; why do you ask?”

  “No reason. I just wanted to know in the event I encounter it in my searches.” The first Demon left and the second remembered the bright blue ship that had destroyed the old tool’s ship. He also remembered that his ship was knocked off line after being hit by the edge of the beam that destroyed the giant green vessel. He was more frightened than he could show.

  Life and Grena jumped into the Gurlocke system and found a fleet of ten thousand war ships advancing toward the fourth planet. “What’s going on here, Life?”

  “These two civilizations were friends before they entered the Realm. It appears the Gurlockes have raised the price of a mineral that the Klunds need for their food purifiers five times. A type of mold that came from a meteorite makes most of the food grown on Klund poisonous unless it is processed with a beam fired through the mineral grown on Gurlocke. The higher price has led to a fall in the Klund’s economy and recession has hit them hard.”

  “Why are they attacking?”

  “Because they want to survive; let’s see if we can prevent this attack.” Life and Grena appeared in front of the advancing fleet and Life thought, “This is as far as you go in system. You will turn your ships around and go home.”

  “You are going to have to destroy us. We are starting to have our people die because of the scarcity of Amexra and it’s going to quickly get much worse.”

  “Stay where you are. I am going to talk with the Leader of Gurlocke.”

  The invading fleet knew they were no match for the Star Realm’s Searchers but they were desperate. “You have two hours. We are willing to die here to save our people, which will be better than the death caused by the mold.”

  Grena hit her com, “Twig, have you a moment for me.”

  “What is it Grena?”

  “Life and I are in the Gurlocke system attempting to stop an invading Klund Fleet from attacking.”

  Twig thought a moment and then said, “It’s over Amexra isn’t it?”

  “Yes it is.”

  “It’s our fault, Grena; the Klunds have appealed for help six months ago but there were too many other issues to remedy. What are they saying?”

  The Klund Admiral says his people are dying from a lack of the mineral. The increased price has also devastated their economy.”

  “We just can’t keep up with the thousands of issues that pour in every hour. How are you planning to resolve this problem?”

  “Life is going to talk with the Gurlocke Ruler, Vazid.”

  “Tell him he has complete authority to handle this issue for the Realm.”

  “I will, Your Majesty.”

  Life was speaking with the Ruler of Gurlocke and not making any progress.

  “I don’t care if their life depends on our mineral or not. We are entitled to make a profit. We plan to raise the price again next cycle.”

  “That goes against all the principles the Realm was founded on and it has caused loss of life on Klund.”

  “That’s their problem. We must take care of our own people.”

  “Your standard of living is one of the highest in your sector. You make great profits without raising the price.”

  “Even so, we can do better.”

  Grena listened to the conversation and broke in, “Life, the Crown has given you complete authority to handle this issue. Whatever you decide will be backed up by the Realm.”

  Life looked at his display with the pompous Ruler of Gurlocke and said, “Vazid, your planet’s charter is revoked and your membership in the Stars Realm ends immediately. As you are no longer a member of the Realm, we are not required to assist you against the fleet currently moving toward your planet. When they arrive, please explain your pricing policy to them. Good day.”

  “Wait, wait, wait; you can’t do that!”

  “Consider it done. It is my belief that the Klunds will come and take whatever they need and change your standard of living rather dramatically; bombardment has a way of doing that. I suspect that they will leave a military presence on your world to insure that all future shipments are also free. That will stop the deaths your heavy handed pricing is causing.”

  “You can’t do this. We have no way to defend ourselves.”

  “Did you think you could just arbitrarily raise your prices with no adverse effect on your customers? They are dying and you don’t care. It’s time you see the consequences of your actions.”

  “Let’s work this out.”

  “You had a chance and you chose to violate every principle of the Realm. You are not what this Realm stands for, Your Majesty.”

  Vazid was scared. He did not think anything would be done. This was the fifth price increase and nothing had been done after the other four but he saw the fleet in his system and knew he was in dire trouble. “I’ll give them enough to stock their purifiers and go back to the original price.”

  Life stared at the Ruler for a long moment and then he heard, “Please.”

  Life hit his com, “We have come to an agreement with the Leader of Gurlocke. I would recommend you accept it.”

  The Klund Admiral came on their display, “What is the nature of the agreement?”

  “You will be given enough free Amexra to stock your purifiers and the price will go back to the original one your planets agreed.”

  The Admiral was amazed; this was more than he expected, “How do we make this happen?”

  Vazid said, “I will stock freighters and start them to your world immediately.”

  The Admiral smiled and said, “That is good; we will stay here in the outer system until those shipments arrive. How long before they leave?”

  Vazid had hoped they would leave so he could try to get help against them but he knew that any ships that appeared would not stop the Klund Fleet from attacking. “The first will leave within an hour and the rest before tomorrow is over.”

  “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

  “What about our Charter, Searcher?”

  “You are still a member but you are on probation for five years. Any price increase will be viewed as a violation of that probation. If a violation happens, all high technology you receive from the Realm will be stopped. Think seriously about what that will do to your standard of living. Honor this agreement, Your Majesty.”

  Life and Grena watched until after the last freighter had lifted from Gurlocke and the Klund Fleet returned home. “This could h
ave been handled after the first price increase, Grena.”

  “I know; the Realm is still falling in on its own weight. Even Algeans have limits.”

  “True, but they are preventing the total collapse of the system. Think about where we would be if they were not working on it.” Life thought a moment, “Will there be civil war?”

  “I wish I knew, Life.”

  “Let’s go handle the next issue.”

  “Right with you, Love.” The two Searchers disappeared.

  Two years had passed and Matt and Melanie were looking at the rosters of the crews that had been found and were wishing the process could be done faster. “Every time new ships appear we have to send everyone back to see if one of the ships will respond to those that have already failed. Half of the crews we have now were initially rejected. Do you see a faster way to do this?”

  Melanie thought a moment, “List all Searchers on a board similar to the one used to find civilized planets and assign them a time to fly by. Forget using the Defenders and just run them by. I think we’ve found that speed is not an issue; have them teleport in and go by the crystals at full speed. If any respond, Al can identify which Searcher caused it.”

  Matt thought about the suggestion and said, “We’ll set it up so it happens automatically. We’ll order the first million to report to their ships and send the instructions directly to their computers. When the first million are half way done, we’ll order the second million to their ships. That’s a good idea.” Matt thought about the numbers of ships and then sent a thought, “Edison, can you help me with an issue?”

  The Spider immediately responded, “I’ll be pleased to help you any way I can.”

  Matt filled Edison in and the small spider thought about the problem, “It might be easier to just have them teleport in front of crystal in micro-ports. Once they start the process, they would complete it in less than a second and be returned to where they started.”

  “Can we use a screen that fast?”

  “It can be done faster but we want to make sure the crystals respond.” The small spider paused, “If you will allow me to use several crews that have been chosen I will determine the maximum speed that the crystals can respond and set up the gates in front of each crystal.”

  “Can you handle this project for us?”

  “Yes, Your Grace. I’ll start immediately if you will notify Fleet Command to allow me to set up the board and download the program for each ship.”

  “Stand by just a moment. Fleet Command.”

  “Yes, Your Grace.”

  “I have assigned a project to a Spider named Edison. You will assist him in making this happen.”

  “Yes, Your Grace; we will be awaiting his instructions.”

  “Ok, Edison. You have your clearance.” The small spider disappeared from their screen.

  Melanie looked at Matt, “It may be time to allow the Spiders to assist the Algeans in handling the Realm’s issues.”

  “Not yet; the invasion is still a fresh memory and the citizens are not ready for that yet. However, we’ve got to do something soon.”

  “What’s bothering you, Magic?”

  Matt looked at Melanie and lowered his head, “I’m getting the sense that we need to make another trip in our ship.”

  “You think we need to go to that dark galaxy, don’t you?”

  Matt quickly looked up, “Did you hear me thinking about it?”

  “No, but it doesn’t make sense to plan to fight a foe we don’t have any information about. I just worry about leaving AG an orphan if we go.”

  “No one else can go; none of the other ships have completed development.”

  Melanie shrugged, “None of them possess your level of psychic ability; to send someone else wouldn’t be right.”

  “Are you willing to make the trip?”

  “Only if we can prevent those creatures from seeing us; do you know if we’ll show up on their sensors?”

  “No, I don’t.” Matt thought a moment and then said, “Al, I need to make a short trip.”

  “I’m teleporting you now.”

  Matt looked at Melanie and said, “I love you,” then disappeared.

  Aladdin jumped into the Reg’s system and waited. After a few moments the three Reg appeared on the bridge, “Your plan has danger, Brother.”

  “I need to see what we’re facing. Is there any way to prevent them seeing our ship?”

  “Possibly; if you stay out of the Galaxy’s perimeter and set your ships screen at absolute minimal power you may not be seen. Make your scans from there. If you enter the galaxy they will know it. Even if they do not see your ship they will detect your approximate location.”

  “Will they see my scans?”

  “Probably, but they will not know from where they are coming if you stay outside. You should anticipate a rather large reaction if you go forward with this venture.”

  “I will be satisfied if I can just get a ship count on what’s coming.”

  The three Reg were silent and then one thought, “Be careful.”

  “I’ll do my best.” The three Red disappeared.

  “Matt, you’re not planning to go to their galaxy?”

  “Al we have to know what we’re facing and I have the only working psychic ship. I sense it is something I must do.”

  “You do recognize what your loss would do to the Realm, I hope.”

  “Yes, but I still have to go.”

  Al was silent for several minutes and finally thought, “I hope your ship is all it’s cracked up to be. Melanie will be with you.”

  “That is the only thing that makes me hesitate. Let’s go home, Al.”

  Matt appeared in AG’s room as Melanie was rocking her to sleep. The baby immediately opened its eyes when Matt appeared and stared at him intently. “She knows what you’re planning. It has her worried.”

  Matt came over and picked AG up and hugged her. He saw she still had the intent look, “Look at my thoughts little one and see what I see.”

  AG tilted her head and continued to stare at him. Melanie asked, “What are you doing?”

  “She has twice the power of you and me; I’m letting her sense what I’m feeling.”

  AG continued to stare and then she smiled. Matt handed her back to Melanie and she went to sleep quickly. Melanie looked at Matt, “Well, when do we leave?”

  Matt looked at the Woman he loved so much and said, “After you put her down we’ll tell Sprig what we’re doing and then go.”

  “You are going to do what?!?” Sprig yelled.

  “It’s something I sense we must do.”

  Sprig sent a thought, “Tag, Danielle, I need you in the library. Matt and Melanie are planning a trip to the dark galaxy.”

  Tag and Danielle teleported in immediately and Tag looked at Matt, “What are you planning to do?”

  “Tag, I sense that I must go and see what we’re facing from that galaxy. Use your sense and tell me what you see.”

  Tag closed his eyes and after three minutes he opened them and looked at Danielle and Sprig, “He’s right; he has to go.”

  Danielle looked shocked, “Tag, that’s entirely too dangerous. We don’t know what technology they possess that could kill them both.”

  Tag shook his head, “That’s one reason why he should make the trip; however, my sense of danger goes down if he goes.”

  Sprig thought, “Does it go up if he stays?”

  Tag shook his head, “No, but that reduction is significant. I suspect that it will take them longer to find us if he goes. We aren’t even close to finding all the crews and we need all the time we can get. I fear for them as much as you do but Matt is right, they must make this trip.”

  “Do you know if they survive it?”

  “No.” Tag looked at Matt, “Do you know?”

  Matt shook his head. Then Matt was surprised when Melanie said, “AG thinks we’ll come back.”

  Danielle, Sprig, and Tag just stared at her. Finally, Daniel
le asked, “How do you know that?”

  “She looked in Matt’s mind and saw his plan. She then smiled and went to sleep. You know her psychic field is stronger that anyone in the Realm. We can’t see it but she could. We’ll be back.”