Annihilation: Book 05 - Searcher (50 page)

The assembled divisions held their heads higher. They welcomed the gifts but knowing the Realm respected their actions meant more than the actual gift.

Tag then looked down at the survivors and said, “Those of your brothers that died in the square that day have been moved to a fitting burial site. They along with all of you are hereby awarded the Crimson Crown our Realm’s highest award for bravery and upon your death you will join your fellow Red Warriors in Colony Park here on Ross to be interred with Dorg-Ross and the other heroes of the Realm.”

The Red Warriors erupted into cheers and were joined by the citizens of Ross as Danielle assisted by Admiral Grace stepped down and moved down the line of survivors and presented each of them with the Realm’s highest award for bravery. Each of them bowed to the queen and felt proud of the recognition for them and their fallen comrades.

Finally, Danielle returned to the stand and Tag raised his arms; the noise abated and then there was silence. Tag nodded at the Wiseman division and General Durk turned and ordered, “Third Division, move forward.”

Juck turned and moved back in front of the regiment he had just been promoted to command. He then moved forward to assume Brez’s place in front of Third Division. He turned and faced the division and ordered, “Third Division, Atten-shun. Forward, march.” Each of the units echoed his order in their turn to march and Third Division marched out of the ranks of the assembled divisions and moved in front of the Royal Stands. General Durk then ordered, “First and Second Divisions, Close ranks left.”

The two divisions turned and moved left to remove the space between second and fourth divisions. Durk then ordered, “Wiseman Division, Atten-shun. Right face. Forward March.” The Wiseman division then marched and assumed the position the First Division had formerly occupied.”

Brez was facing his warriors and wondered what was happening. He looked at Juck and the Cainth gave him a small shrug indicating he didn’t know.

The announcers were telling the viewers that this was unheard of and that they had no idea what was taking place. Tag looked down at the Third Division and said, “Colonel Juck, step forward.”

Juck flinched and marched forward and stood at rigid attention.

Tag looked out at the Red Warriors, “One of the benefits of our Red Warrior’s armor is that all of their actions are recorded. General Brez asked that we review the actions of Colonel Juck and we reviewed his contributions during the conflict. I can say without any doubt that we would have lost all five hundred in the square but for the fighting skill of this fine warrior. Colonel Juck, you are hereby promoted to the rank of General and you will assume command of the Wiseman Division immediately. The Wiseman division is being moved to the ranks of our Red Warriors and Third Division, which from this day forward will be named Brez’s Division, will assume the task of defending Ross and the Royal Family. Only our finest warriors will be allowed to fill the positions of the Warriors that died protecting life on Dafer. Richard Wiseman was one of my closest friends and he would demand that this be done. The Brez Division has set a standard for all of our future Red Warriors to follow.” There was no holding them back, the Red Warriors broke ranks and rushed forward to embrace the chosen defenders of the Realm. Every member of the Third Division was lifted to the shoulders of Red Warriors and carried around the field’s perimeter for the assembled crowds to cheer them. The cheering continued for hours afterward. Juck stood in shock and Brez said, “You deserve it my long time protector. Make me proud.”

Juck embraced Brez just as General Durk arrived and stood in front of Juck. Durk snapped to attention and saluted the small Cainth; Juck looked at him and said, “I relieve you, Sir,” and returned his salute. Durk dropped his salute and grabbed the small Cainth’s hand and said, “You have a good team, General.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Why retire and pick a house, Red Warrior. It’s time for me to enjoy what life remains.”

“Thank you for your confidence, General.”

“I couldn’t be leaving my Warriors in better hands. Besides, we need them to fight. They want to go to war.”

Juck remembered the savage battle and said, “Be careful what you wish for.”

“They’ll handle themselves well. They deserve the chance.”

After ten hours the announcers began broadcasting a warning for an important announcement from the Royal Family in fifty minutes. Twenty minutes before the announced time the Red Warriors received the order to assume ranks and they immediately teleported to their formations. On millions of worlds everyone wondered what was happening.

Danielle approached the podium and said, “My husband and I have ruled the Realm since its founding except for the brief period when Rose was Queen of the Realm. We initially refused to take the positions but the Realm insisted. We reluctantly agreed to do so until someone better qualified could replace us. Cassandra Gardner had a vision more than twelve hundred years ago of one of her descendents being born with higher psychic abilities than any of us in the Royal Family. Tag and I agreed to rule until that child was born and grew of age. That child is Matthew Anglo Gardner who led our fight against the Green Invaders. We are abdicating our thrones and Prince Gardner will be the new King of the Stars Realm. We are leaving the Realm in very capable hands.”

The crowd erupted into cheering. Everyone knew the role Matt had played in the war. Danielle held up her arms and the crowd slowly became silent. “We will continue to support him in any way he deems necessary. May I present to you King Matthew Gardner.

The roar was deafening not only on Ross but on every member planet of the Realm. Melanie stood next to Matt on the viewing stand with her ever present hat, which had become famous in the Realm, and waved at the cheering millions. The Realm began celebrating.

Melanie looked up at Matt and smiled. Her pride of him was obvious. Matt looked at Melanie and said, “Make sure you clean your hat.”

Melanie looked at the cheering crowd and said, “I’m giving my hat away.”

Matt furrowed his brow and Melanie said, “I am going to place it in Angels Tomb to thank her for what she sacrificed to save us.”

Matt embraced her and felt the tears. He closed his eyes and heard Angel say, “Love her, Magic. I can rest now.” Matt felt her go and knew she would always be in his heart. He looked at Melanie and knew he was going to marry her soon.

She said, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, My Love; I’m finally happy again.”

Melanie held him tight and felt him in her heart.

E
dison and Newton watched a rebroadcast of the final battle and felt the excitement of the moment. Finally Edison looked at Newton and said, “Did you tell him?”

“Yeah, I told him.”

Edison continued staring at Newton and the small spider squirmed and said, “Well, I kinda told him.”

“What did you say?”

“I gave him the device and told him that I wanted him to live to see me grow up.”

“That’s not telling him!”

“He knows I’ll live millions of years, Edison.”

Edison thought a moment and asked, “What about his mate?”

“She was in the ship the first time he used it so she was also affected.”

Edison thought for a moment and said, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right; humans are much smarter than we are.”

Edison looked at Newton and shrugged, “I’m sure he didn’t thank you because he’s just so busy. He’ll probably tell you in a thousand years.”

“Or sooner,” Newton said with a smile.

“I guess our next task is to remove the threat of our species to these good people and all the other universes.”

“Destiny insists it is our responsibility and is the only way to start to atone for all the universes we killed. He says it is a moral imperative.”

Edison was quiet and then shook his head, “We at our core are also good.”

Newton looked at the screen, “Perhaps.”

The End

F
our hours later the Sensor Leader said, “All ships are here, Supreme Male and have received their assignments.”

“Excellent, prepare to jump to our first meal.”

The White Furred Creature heard their remarks and hit the communication panel, “They’re all here. Begin your attack.” The Supreme Male’s Ship was the target of the plotter and he jumped his five hundred mile long ship in to six miles from the huge, thirty thousand mile wide, mother ship and fired his ship’s main beam. A thousand mile wide hole was blown through the mother ship and exited the other side. The beam was targeted on the mother ships engines and communication panels and the huge green ship began drifting. The green substance of the ship’s hull was not immune to the energy being used and all of its drives were destroyed.

The ship quaked violently and the Supreme Male said, “What was that?”

“I don’t know, First Fang but our ship is disabled. We are unable to move or communicate.”

The white ship entered the hole in the mother ship and stopped at the center of the huge green ship. Immediately millions of white furred creatures began exiting holes in its surface and spread out attacking every Eight Leg in sight. The spiders viciously fought back but their fangs stopped on the skin under the fur of the white creatures. The talons and teeth of the attacking clan ripped through the Eight Legs’ armor exposing them to the vacuum of space and exploded them.

The Clan Warrior exited the white ship and immediately sensed huge numbers of green Eight Legs floating directly ahead. It rubbed its feet talons and darted toward the huge floating mass and smiled as it began striking the Eight Legs with its talons. The eighteen inch retractable talons were made from a form of matter that no substance could resist and Eight Legs began exploding in their armor as the vacuum of space entered and pulverized them. This was wonderful. Three Eight Legs landed on the Warrior and bared their fangs to attack but could not penetrate its skin which was made of the same substance as its talons. The white warrior just shrugged them off and ripped them to pieces. She saw three of her other clan members approaching and was angered to have her fun interrupted. She snarled at them but heard, “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s millions more here for all of us.”

The warrior looked around and released its senses and saw her brother was right. “Come join in, I see a much larger mass of them behind the ship our beam penetrated.”

“We see it, too. Now quit wasting time talking and enjoy the moment.” The remaining Eight Legs were hit with beams and disintegrated as the four White Clan Warriors darted toward the larger group behind the transport. The White Warrior passed a group of ten Eight Legs trying to escape and ripped them apart and then fell on the huge mass of spiders.

The white creatures carried hand guns that disintegrated every Eight Leg unfortunate enough to be hit by its white beam. Those beams killed large groups of Eight Legs that were attempting to mass to attack the boarders. Each of the White Clan killed thousands of the spiders before they could respond and the spiders quickly determined that they could do nothing to protect themselves from these creatures. They tried to escape to formulate a plan to handle these mysterious creatures but the attackers sensed them where ever they tried to hide. The White Clan could sense any creature that possessed organized thought. Thousands of Eight Legs would attack a single white creature only to be disintegrated or ripped apart by teeth and talons. The white creatures easily maneuvered in the weightless environment by rubbing the claws of their feet which directed a propulsion beam behind them. The substance of their claws absorbed energy and used it for movement. These creatures were designed to kill in the empty vacuum of space.

They flew around the interior of the mother ship killing every Eight Leg on board before landing on the hulls of the thousands of ships parked inside the mother ship. They then used their talons and guns to rip their way into the interior of the smaller ships. The huge white ship used its main beam to blow large holes in the hundred mile long transports making it easy for the Clan’s warriors to enter.

The Supreme Male could hear millions of his children dying and could not grasp what was happening. His time to develop a strategy to combat these creatures was short as the Plotter entered the bridge of the mother ship and smiled as it killed every Eight Leg in the room. He saved the Supreme Male for last. As The Supreme Male backed into a corner he heard, “Your species is weak. Is this the best you can do?” The white creature back handed the Supreme Male into the back wall where he fell and jumped back up. “No wonder you’re being replaced.”

The Supreme Male bared his fangs and rushed the advancing white creature which contemptuously slashed him in half with his talons and burned the remains with his hand gun. He looked around the bridge and turned to go back to his ship. He killed fifty Eight Legs on his way out and wondered how the rest of his Clan was faring.