Annihilation - Finding Keepers (Annihilation Series (Book Seven}) (49 page)

“Sprig, you know that’s not true.”

“Cassandra, it’s not what I know to be true. History asks this question, “Did the Algeans attack you first, or did you invade my galaxy and conquer us? They also see that you threatened to destroy our only remaining natural food if we didn’t yield to your forces. They weren’t there to see the debt we owed you for giving us our lives back from the never-ending hunger that was our daily meal. That part was removed from the history of our war. The Provinces view the Realm as the aggressor.”

Jake nodded, “The people of the Realm saw Ultimate Warriors in the Gardner Family. Warriors that had the reputation of being unbeatable and endowed with mental powers that none could survive. They know the power of the Algeans, yet the Stars Realm’s military, with a fleet less than a thousandth of their ships, brought them to their knees. The members of the Realm feared what the Realm was at its founding. The defeat of the Eight Legs and Demons only solidified their belief that the Realm was forced on them.”

Joe asked, “How did they possibly think that they were forced into the Realm?”

Danielle quit sobbing and said, “We told them to join the Realm or we wouldn’t protect them from the Eight Leg invasion. The people saw the Realm using the invasion to expand our power. Planets were forced to join the Realm in order to survive. It was just another example of what we forced on the Cainth.”

Jake nodded, “And once they were members of the Realm, we would not allow them to step out of line or they would see the business end of our ships. We have stepped in thousands of times to prevent planets from attacking their neighbors. We’ve also prevented the provinces from attacking each other.”

“But that was to maintain peace.”

“No, Melanie, the provinces viewed that as a way to enforce the Realm’s control over them.” Jake looked at the Gardners and said, “And the ones that could teach them about the importance of those early conflicts were gone. The beings that lost loved ones to save the Realm’s members were absent. The ones that the trillions of citizens respected and loved were nowhere to be found. And no one knew why you left.

“You abandoned your legacy and left it to the whims of historians that hated anything warrior. Historians that never faced the horror and death associated with survival. They viewed your wars as the grasping of power. The five provinces began selecting their own Searchers for their fleets and those Searchers owed allegiance to the province, not the Crown. The millions of planets actually looked at their provincial governments as a shield against the Crown’s dictatorial edicts. The provincial Searcher’s and Red Warriors no longer go to Glod to grip the two swords. They no longer have the Crown and SR on their ships. Now they are coming to destroy the Royal Family that has exercised its will on them for thousands of years. They are coming to fight for their freedom from a Ruler far removed from their daily lives. “

Cassandra started crying, “I’m the one to blame. I didn’t want to wait the long years until the Keepers invaded. I just couldn’t bear the worry of waiting so long.”

Jake stared at Cassandra and then looked at Tommy. Jake decided they needed to know the whole truth. “It was your fault, Cassandra and you made that decision based on faulty information. You had it all wrong.”

Tommy looked angry, “How do you stand there and say that?”

“Because it’s true. Why were you so reluctant to wait the long years? Was it because of the stress and fear you lived with every day waiting for Matt to come?”

Cassandra looked up and nodded.

“But that stress came from not being able to control your psychic powers. That problem had been eliminated with Matt’s arrival.”

Jake turned to Tag and Danielle, “The two of you ruled during those years. Were they unbearable?”

Tag looked at Danielle and said, “No, they were the most exciting time of our lives. We knew the Eight Legs were coming and we led the creation of the Searchers and the search for other worlds to defend.”

Jake looked back at Tommy and Cassandra, “This time would have been no different. Your family would have energized the Realm and begin working on possible weapons to use against the coming invaders. Instead you took the easy way out and the Star’s Realm not only lost its way, it also lost thirteen thousand years of time to develop a defense against the Keepers. This time would have been happy and exciting for all of you.”

The Gardners finally saw it. Sprig could see and feel their sadness.

Jake stood up and turned toward the maps of the galaxies covering the walls. “And now, if you send the Alexander Kosiev out to destroy the attackers, their beliefs will be proven to be true. You will prove yourselves to be nothing but warriors and tyrants maintaining your power. They will all fear the Realm and will one day rise up in rebellion. Ross will ultimately be destroyed when one ship eventually gets close enough to fire on the planet, and the Realm will celebrate its independence.

“Manny told me that there were more than five hundred Searchers in the Brez Division alone that owed their loyalty to one of the Provinces. All it would take is for one of those ships to get close enough to Ross and the Royal Family will be gone and a foot note in history.”

Jake turned around and looked at the Garners, “You will have no choice but to enforce peace among the members, and you’ll become the dictators they think you are.”

Tag looked at Jake and said, “I just can’t stand by and watch the Stars Realm commit suicide.”

“The real Stars Realm is not in danger.”

Matt said, “But you just said Ross is going to be attacked.”

Jake walked over and took Valerie’s hand and pulled her up out of her chair, “This is the Star’s Realm.” He looked at Tag and Danielle and said, “Do you not remember what Tgon-gee said at the founding of the Realm?”

Tag and Danielle looked at each other and shook their head.

“He said ‘The Queen is what will unite us. We will handle our own worlds, but she will decide all issues between us. She will not be an honorary Queen but one that rules us all.’”

Danielle smiled, “I was petrified at the responsibility.”

Jake looked at Valerie and she could see his love, “The chosen ruler of the Realm is the Stars Realm embodied in one person. Without the chosen Ruler of the Realm, there is no Realm. Every planet in this universe knows that if the Royal Family is eliminated, the Stars Realm will be destroyed.”

Jake looked at Tag and Danielle, “Danielle, what would you have done if the worlds you ruled decided they did not want you as Queen?”

“I would have sent them on their way and wished them luck.”

“What if they weren’t allowed to go their own way, but were instead forced to remain?”

Danielle thought for a long moment and said, “I just can’t envision the Stars Realm I love doing that. We should never force anyone to be in the Realm.”

Jake said, “The members of the five provinces decided centuries ago to handle their own affairs and no longer accept the rule of the Stars Realm’s monarch. However, they were given no choice because of the Realm’s Fleet and Red Warriors. No one was willing to face the consequences of doing anything that would bring that might down on them. If you destroy those ships, you’re sending the message that membership is not optional.”

Jake paused. “Now, they see the war we just fought as another attempt by the Queen to expand her control into other universes. The Keepers didn’t come here first. We sent one of our newest and most powerful warships into their space to spy on them and, as a result of our action, they attacked our innocent planets out of self-defense. Now that the Keepers have been exterminated, their fear becomes monumental. The Realm now feels that the tyrants on Ross must be stopped before their lives are threatened again. The rulers of the provinces are playing to their fears. Two of the Dukes have been deliberately killed; one by the Realm and one by Ales Jongo. We were forced to do it in self-defense and Jongo for in his lust for power. In both instances, billions died. To protect the Royal Family from the Five Provinces, trillions will have to die. I’m not prepared to do that, are you?”

Jake looked at the silent group considering his words and continued; “Now, the provinces are sending thirty million ships to destroy the Rulers of the Realm and the Realm’s tool makers. Sprig knew this was coming and made plans to save his species. He no longer trusted the Realm’s leaders to do the right thing, and he was right to do so. The Spiders also saw what was coming and could not take part in the coming civil war. They will not kill again after their destruction of so many universes. The Algeans also knew that stopping the founders of the Stars Realm from preventing the coming civil war was impossible. They knew you would take action to preserve the Realm you created. They saw the civil war that would follow would be unimaginable. They both knew that if you did use the Kosiev to attack the traitors, the consequences would be catastrophic.”

Cassandra was clearly distraught, “Jake, how can we stand by and allow billions to die?”

“The same way we sat and watched Ulmerton die at the hands of the Keepers. The same way you allow a child to fall and hurt itself while learning to walk. The Algeans and Spiders will never take part in killing another creature. They build the Realm’s weapons because they saw the Realm as a peace maker that would never use them inappropriately. They also began to see long ago that the Realm was turning into something that made them fear the possible uses of their creations.” Jake paused, “The Algeans have been building those weapons so that if the Realm should ever forget its ideals, the weapons could no longer be used.”

Everyone in the room looked at Sprig and he leaned right showing his agreement.

“Now, as a result of their actions, the provinces forfeit the Realm’s protection and are no longer in the Realm. They want freedom, they will have it. The only territory remaining loyal to the Stars Realm’s Queen, Valerie Rose Gardner, is the territory she rules. This galaxy is the Stars Realm’s holy ground and always has been. It is the only place the Realm actually rules. All the other galaxies now belong to other kingdoms. This galaxy is where eight hundred planets begged to be allowed to join the Realm. Those planets knew the horror of war. This is where the Cainth and Glod gave their eternal allegiance to the Queen. This galaxy is the Queen’s Royal Fief and we are not going to allow it to come to harm.”

“There are more than twenty million ships coming that say otherwise, Jake.”

“I know, Alex, but we cannot harm those that we have promised to protect even if they are planning to attack us. They are attacking because we have been unwilling to give them the freedom to grow up, and in the process of holding them in the Realm, we have violated every principle the Realm was built on.” Jake looked around the room and dropped the bomb, “We are moving the Stars Realm to protect it from its traitors.”

Valerie said, “You’re going to do what?!?”

Jake took the map controller and pushed the buttons. The cursor moved quickly across the universe and left the edge of the most distant galaxy and continued to move outward. Finally it stopped. Valerie said, “Sprig, that looks like your galaxy.”

Melanie said, “And the Demon’s Dark Galaxy is there with it.”

Jake looked at Sprig and nodded. Sprig moved over to the map, then turned and faced the Gardners, “The Spiders went to the Dark Galaxy under the pretense of escaping the Keepers. They searched for and found the mechanism the Demons used to move their galaxy out of normal space into a dimension that overlaps all universes. They replicated it and moved the Dark Galaxy back into that dimension. We now have that device and we moved our galaxy, along with all the millions of newly rescued, primitive, farming civilizations we transported from the Keepers’ universe, to join them in that dimension. Now our destiny is to help these new civilizations grow and thrive. We don’t have to teach those rescued civilizations about the value of peace. They’ve learned it from the Keepers. It wouldn’t matter whether the Keepers were defeated or not. We were going to take direct action to protect those that have been brutalized for centuries. We could no longer trust or be a part of a Realm that had lost its way and its principles. We assumed the Gardners would never allow us to move the Milky Way Galaxy and would use the Kosiev to put down the rebellion.”

Sprig turned from the map and said, “Jake, I visited Jackson Grant and asked if he would be interested in living on the planet where his people were held by the Keepers. He told me that the original colonists had selected that planet because of its beauty. The Keepers came later, but the humans still see that planet as their world. I asked if he wanted to go with us to another dimension and they said no. The humans all said that wherever the Queen of the Realm was located that is where they belong. Their planet is now on the opposite side of Ross’s sun sharing this solar system. They didn’t care if they were destroyed in the coming civil war; they would never be disloyal to the Realm and the Queen and her mate that saved them. It was this spirit that created the Stars Realm. Those in the provinces have no appreciation of what the Realm has done for them. The Realm’s gifts are expected and resented.”

Jake took a deep breath, turned, and said, “And we are going to join those two galaxies and take this new family of ours along with all the planets in our galaxy.” Jake got a faraway look and said, “For thousands of years the humans that were held by the Keepers told the tale every evening of the magical Realm they had left. They longed to return and live in the peace and protection of that beautiful place. They learned the real value of what the Stars Realm provided by experiencing the harsh brutality of being conquered.” Jake looked at the Gardners and said, “How many members of the Realm tell a similar tale now?”