Annihilation Series-Searching for a Hero (23 page)

Dahlia entered the underground tube to return to the main command bunker and closed her eyes. The huge creatures were rounding up the survivors and putting them into holding camps. She listened to one of them inform the prisoners that they were going to be required to build facilities and that failure to perform at a high level would lead to death. Dahlia opened her eyes and then felt something. She closed her eyes again and saw a face.

S
prigly watched Ping for ten hours as he stared out into space. Finally, Ping said, “I’ve not had the courage to stop this from happening.” Sprigly remained silent and after a moment Ping raised his eyes and looked at Sprigly, “All of those I loved would still be alive if I were willing to do what had to be done.”

“You don’t know that, Ping.”

“Sprigly, you know I’m right.”

Sprigly lowered his branches and his leaves turned from green to brown, “I don’t want to believe that.”

Ping looked at the floor, “What would have happened if I had gone to the Cats as soon as I learned they were searching for me?”

“I don’t know.”

“They would have told me about the coming invasion and I would have started a process to find where the portals would appear when the invasion started. We would have responded to the first attack and Mios and Jodie wouldn’t have been killed.” Sprigly’s leaves turned slightly browner. “And if I had started attacking that other Creation, Nicole would have been with me instead of here. She would still be alive.”

“But then the Royal Family would have been killed.”

Ping began shaking his head, “That asteroid would have been thoroughly inspected if the Realm was in a state of war. It wouldn’t have come close to Ross.” Sprigly didn’t know what to say and he was frightened at Ping’s emotionless voice. “I’ve been very selfish, Sprigly. While I’ve been casually scouting around, billions of beings have been killed by the aggressive civilizations. My personal loss pales in comparison.”

“You can’t blame yourself for this, Ping!”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“I’ve lost my wife and my best friends to get me to see this. You were right when you said that I had to come to terms with my title so I could make the orders that would place millions of our warriors in harm’s way. The loss of Nicole has stripped me of worrying about my survival. I only have one purpose now.”

“What is that?”

“I have to find the one that will lead us against those evil civilizations.”

“And if you find him?”

“Then, I can find peace.”

“Ping, we need you.”

Ping looked at Sprigly with an expression that held great menace, “I intend to do what must be done.” Ping blew out a breath and looked at the floor again, “But first, I have to say goodbye.”

Sprigly saw that Ping was looking for the release death would give him. His heart was shattered and the only thing that was keeping him alive was making Nicole’s death mean something.

• • • • •

The funeral for Nicole was huge and the monument placed in Dorg’s Park was beautiful. Ping placed a bouquet of Roses on it and stood in front of it with his head lowered. The trillions of citizens watching it were silent as he stood there. For a long moment, the entire Realm was silent. Scott watched Ping and saw his sense of loss. Nicole had chosen her mate well. Ping would always be a member of his family and he loved the young man for the love he had for his daughter. He walked forward with Jessica and Victoria. They bowed to the monument and turned and walked away leaving Ping standing alone in front of the monument. He walked away and the giant crowd turned and followed him out of the park, leaving Ping alone in his grief. The cameras remained on Ping and the Realm watched for ten hours as he stood there alone. Finally, Ping bowed and lowered his head. He stood and backed away from the monument taking four hundred steps; one for each day he had been married to her. He stopped and bowed again…and then he turned away. The Realm saw the expression of a man who was driven. They felt his rage and they knew the ones that did this were going to pay for their actions.

Ping walked to the edge of the beautiful park and found Victoria waiting for him. He looked at her and his eyebrows came together, “I’m not here to make you feel better, Ping.” He continued to stare at her and she said, “I’m here to tell you to make those that killed her pay for this. Nicole loved you more than life and the last thought she had was to worry about you if she didn’t survive.”

“How do you know that?”

“I heard her thoughts at that moment. She prayed you would understand why she had to do it.” Ping stared at Victoria and after a moment he lowered his gaze. “She knew her duty was to defend the Crown…and the succession.” Ping looked up at her confused. “She told me that she would not accept the Crown. She said that it was my destiny to rule the Realm. She was going to spend her life loving you. Now, I’ve waited here to swear to you that my father and I will not rest until they pay for this. We will do everything in our power to provide you what you need to exact revenge on those monsters. If we had died, I don’t know if the one that followed us would do what was necessary. Nicole knew this when she attacked that ship.”

Ping raised his head and stared at Victoria and saw Nicole’s spirit in her. He went forward and hugged her. Victoria wrapped her arms around him and wept. Ping whispered, “I will always bow to you, Your Majesty. I understand why this happened, now. Thank you for telling me.” Victoria continued to cry as Ping looked up at the sky and felt his anger grow.

• • • • •

Admiral Kosiev looked around the table at the attendees and glanced at Ping. He was different. The difference worried him. A force field had not been found to stop the beams of the ships that invaded. He was worried that the Realm could lose millions of ships if they attacked the five civilizations that invaded. He shook his head slightly and announced, “This meeting is called to order. Prince Kendel has asked us to be here to make plans to invade the civilizations that attacked us. I’m turning this meeting over to him.”

Ping looked at Admiral Kosiev and saw his fear. He looked at the Slegan Director and Lead Pack Leader and saw their reluctance. The Algean Elder had shrunk as small as possible to attend but he still touched the twenty foot high ceiling. Sprigly sat beside Ping and wondered why the Elder had been requested to attend. He looked at Rider and Vremel sitting next to the wall and saw they were also confused at what was going on.

Ping stared at the group and said, “You’re all worried that I’m hell bent on revenge and might be making a mistake in going after the invaders.” He paused and no one said anything but the huge Zord nodded. Ping smiled and knew the Zord never hid their feelings. Rider actually smiled. They knew what he wanted. Ping stood up, “I must confess that my anger is overwhelming but I have not lost sight of my overriding duty to defend the Realm. The invaders can’t attack us at the moment but they will eventually develop a technological answer to the block that prevents them from returning. I have scouted one of them and they are building warships at an incredible rate. We will have to face these beings again and to delay that action would endanger the Realm to a level that is frightening. We are forced to take action now.”

Kosiev shook his head, “We have no defense against their beams. We should wait until we develop a force field.”

“I’ve considered that; however,” Ping looked at the Algean Elder, “Those beams are a creation outside our existence. A force field that would function here might not operate there. Am I right?”

The Elder leaned forward showing his agreement, “You are.”

“We have to go there to find a defense against them.” Ping turned to Kosiev, “I assume you know Earth’s ancient history of world wars.” Kosiev nodded. “The pilots of the aircraft that went out to attack their enemies did not have force fields or defenses against the ships they were attacking, did they?” Kosiev stared at Ping for a moment and then nodded. “Those battles were won by the pilots that were superior in their flying skills. They didn’t have anything to avoid destruction but their skills at flying their ships. We’ve been spoiled by seeking to avoid conflict without the protection of force fields. The invaders also don’t have a field to stop our energy pulses. It will boil down to which force has the better pilots.” Ping turned to the Elder, “Which species in the Realm has the best pilots?”

The tall Algean was silent for a moment and then thought to the group, “Is that a rhetorical question?”

Ping smiled, “The answer is obvious.”

“Are you suggesting we take part in this fight?”

“No, I’m ordering it.”

“By what authority?”

“The Crown has given me the authority to do whatever I deem necessary to win this conflict.”

“OK.”

Kosiev looked at the Elder with his mouth open, “Just OK?”

“We have sworn to follow the Crown’s directives without equivocation. We will never betray the Realm again. If the King says we should fight, we will fight.”

Ping smiled, “The Slegan made a huge mistake when they decided to take on the Realm. They didn’t factor in the Algeans in their plans.”

The Pack Leader looked at Ping, “No, we didn’t. They’ve never involved themselves in the Realms actions before. We assumed they would stay out of our conflict.”

Ping shook his head, “You assumed wrong. Your fleets would have been taken out so fast that you’d have been amazed. The Algeans have the most advanced ships and pilots with synaptic skills that are amazing.”

Kosiev was startled by Ping’s remark, “What do you mean the most advanced ships? They have the same ships we have.”

Ping turned to Kosiev and shook his head, “Not really.”

“What do you mean?”

Ping smiled briefly, “Don’t get paranoid. The Algeans will fight for the Realm faster than any other ally. Their ships are better because they can build them that way.”

“What do you mean? We can use the same ships they do.”

Ping looked at the Admiral and saw the Elder and Sprigly weren’t comfortable with the direction the discussion had taken. “Admiral, how fast are the reflexes of a human pilot?”

“They’re incredibly fast.”

“Compared to what?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“An Algean can process data a million times faster than a human. Their reflexes are ten times faster and their ability to communicate telepathically between their pilots puts our processes to shame. If I built a ship around an Algean’s skills and put a human in it, what do you think would happen?”

Kosiev thought about the question and heard the Slegan Director say, “They would crash it.” Kosiev looked at the Director and he said, “I mean no disrespect to your pilots, but the ship would respond faster than the pilot could control it. He’d be forced to overcorrect constantly.”

Ping nodded, “Exactly right; the Algeans have the most advanced ships because they have the pilots that can fly them. The ships are built to the abilities of the species that man them. They are, thus, necessarily more advanced than the ones the Realm uses. They build the most advanced Searcher Vessels possible for the Realm. They don’t build their ships better because they want a superior ship. If we could fly their ships, they would gladly produce them for us.”

Kosiev sighed, “You’re right. However, why did you agree so quickly to enter this fight?”

The Elder turned to Ping, “Will you answer the Admiral’s question, please.”

Ping smiled, “You wonder if I know what it is.” The Elder was surprised by Ping’s statement and his leaves turning bright green gave away his emotions. “They want to take part in this struggle because the primary thing that motivates an Algean is the thirst for knowledge. We’ll be fighting in a different Creation and there will be things there we’ve never seen here. That is a temptation an Algean would find hard, if not impossible, to resist.”

The Elder started shaking from side-to-side showing his laughter. “My adolescents have been barraging me with cries to take part in the effort. If you hadn’t ordered me to join the fight, I would have volunteered.”

Kosiev leaned forward, “You know that many of them will probably die if they go.”

“Yes, but we will learn much that will make us better for the effort.”

The Pack Leader leaned back in his chair, “We are not the pilots you are. We were only able to defeat the Realm’s Searchers because of technology. One-on-one, the Searchers were superior to us.”

Ping nodded, “That’s true but you got better. The ones that survive this fight will be light years ahead of where they are now. You’ll have to employ trapping tactics.”

The Director furrowed his brow, “Trapping tactics?”

“Allow them to chase a ship into an ambush until your pilots develop the skills needed to take them on in one on one confrontations.” The Director looked at the Pack Leader wondering if they should get into this situation. Ping saw his expression and shook his head, “Your species had gone to all the trouble to build millions of ships and trained your pilots, who are very aggressive by nature naturally, to fight. Now, what are you going to do with those pilots? Send them home and tell them, ‘Oops, we made a mistake.’ Do you think they’ll go back and be model citizens? What do you think they will do when they learn that they could have been out in space flying at light speed attacking a worthy opponent?”

The Pack Leader looked up at the ceiling, “They’ll remove us from our lofty positions and put someone in our place with more courage.”

Ping nodded slowly, “That’s how I see it.”

Kosiev laughed out loud. Everyone turned to him and he said, “My Searchers have been screaming for a worthy opponent for years. They long for the vast struggles their forefathers fought before them. The Realm is at peace yet we keep a massive military against the minute possibility the Realm might be endangered. I may be reluctant to send them but they’re fighting the ropes to be released to be what they’ve trained their whole lives to be.”

Sprigly said, “What is that, Admiral?”

“A warrior fighting for a just cause.” Kosiev turned to Ping, “So how do you want to do this?”