Ashes of the Realm - Greyson's Revenge (14 page)

“What do you mean?”

“Look for yourself.”

Canton looked down on the planets and saw that there was not a planet in the habitable zone around the star. Will and Gilene were surprised that Varner was broadcasting his conversation with Canton on an open frequency. Why was he doing that?

“How can this be? Do you have any idea?”

“Actually, I do, your Grace.”

“What?”

“If you look in the database, the old Realm forbid anyone from capturing any more of the Zord. El Prado took the ones they captured and put them in a zoo and the Realm quarantined this system.”

“So?”

“I suspect that to make sure that their instructions were followed, the real location of their planet was removed from all the general maps and a fake location put in its place. Without the Military Database, there is no way you can find its true coordinates in the general maps.”

Canton thought about it and said, “That must be why they stole it from New Ulmerton.”

“I suspect you’re right, Your Grace.”

“We’re wasting our time here. Take me back to Crimeron.”

“The three ships disappeared.

BC sat and listened to the exchange and then jumped to Bristone. He played the conversation and said, “I don’t know why that Searcher broadcast that conversation?”

Scotty frowned and looked at Timmy who shook his head.

“I know why.”

“Why, Greyson?”

“I downloaded the Stars Realm’s history to Varner when we were at New Ulmerton. I think he has shared it with the other four Searchers.”

“What are you saying?”

“I think they are now having reservations about continuing to follow the Duke.”

BC said, “How do you arrive at that conclusion?”

Greyson chuckled, “BC, every Searcher has a copy of the Military Database’s maps in their system.”

BC and Scotty understood at once, “They deliberately withheld information.”

“They didn’t tell a lie but they did mislead the Baron. They told him the only way for him to find it was in the military database. They just didn’t mention that it was in their maps. That tells me they are struggling with what they’ve seen in the history download.”

Scotty thought a moment, “Greyson, why did you send that download?”

Greyson didn’t respond.

Timmy said, “You’re worried that we’ll question your loyalty.”

“Yes, I am but there is no reason to worry about that. You have my total loyalty, Your Majesty.”

“Then why?”

“Those five Searchers are my family. They are my sisters and brothers. We share a common history and we lost our partners together. I know I may have to kill them if it comes down to a battle and I wanted them to understand why.”

“What do you think now?”

“I think they understand.”

Scotty looked at Timmy and saw him smile. Timmy was young and idealistic but what if he was right. BC contacted Jessica and Anglo and told them what had happened.

The huge orange colored being entered the bridge and saw his crew come to attention. He had not slept well and wondered how much longer this watch was going to take. He sat in his chair and leaned back. This duty was so incredibly boring. He lifted the clear bag and took out a pinch of orange powder and sniffed it. His crew watched him carefully not wanting to attract his attention.

“I have detected something that is unusual.”

“What is that?”

“Our screen has registered a fluctuation in the cosmic ray background.”

“What do you mean by fluctuation?”

“I’m not really sure if it means anything, but there is a slight fluctuation in the regularity of it.” The huge Commander stared at the screen operator and said nothing. “I guess it’s nothing. I just haven’t detected it before.”

“Weren’t we barraged by a cosmic ray field some time back?”

“Yes, Master,” the screen operator looked at his board and said, “It’s stopped now.”

“I think it was just a random burst. Keep me informed if it appears again.”

“Yes, Sire.” The screen operator decided that if it did he was not going to disturb the Commander again. He knew the Commander’s anger wasn’t worth it. He was lucky to have caught him in a fair mood before the powder kicked in.

“Scotty, have you decided what to do about New Ulmerton?”

Scotty looked at Julie and took a deep breath, “I planned to put Mallory on the throne and keep the façade going until we can face those 2,000 searchers. Now I’m leaning toward just letting Daulun blow it up.”

“There are millions of slaves on the planet. They’ll all die.”

“I know! But the planets they were all taken from are also facing slavery. The New Ulmerton Military will still be in control of those planets no matter what we do. What will be done with the slaves if we attack New Ulmerton? If we free them, the gig is up with the other Province. They’ll know the slaves are no longer working and they’ll invade immediately.”

“You violate your beliefs if you allow him to kill the planet.”

“I know and I hate it. But I can’t endanger all the other worlds by freeing the slaves.”

Julie leaned back, “Maybe you can keep some slaves to make it look like nothing’s changed.”

“I refuse to force those slaves to continue in those conditions.”

“I wasn’t talking about them.”

“Then who?”

Julie stared at Scotty and then he saw what she was hinting at. He smiled and said, “You are a genius.” He grabbed her and hugged her tightly. He punched his com and said, “Grang, Jingo, Nathan, Mallory, I need you to come to my house immediately. Jingo, send Cezee to get Vring and Bleath. Plan to meet me in an hour.”

Scotty presented his plan to the attendees and they all looked at each other. Bleath said, “Do we have enough of the new guns?”

“We have at least enough for every rider and most of them have been trained on their use.”

Nathan looked at Mallory and then asked, “Do we have enough warriors to make this happen? I don’t want Mallory to be placed in a dangerous situation.”

Mallory punched him in the ribs, “Then you can’t go either.”

“I have to go.”

“Well so do I.”

Scotty interrupted them, “The most important tool we’ll have are our Searchers. They are going to carry the lion’s share of the load in controlling the military bases on the planet. The Zord and Riders will be responsible for protecting and freeing the captured slave populations on the planet.”

Anglo spoke from the speaker, “What about the five Searchers?”

“Jess will handle them. Her beams are strong enough. The other three will support our ground effort.”

“When will we do this?”

“Vring, BC is at Crimeron and is going to tell us when Daulun comes to destroy New Ulmerton. That’s when we’ll teleport our Flyers. Jess, I need you to give all of the locations of the slave camps so we can assign the right number of flyers to each. Anglo, you will assign the military locations for the three of you starting with the largest.”

Silence ruled the moment until Grang said, “This will be great practice.”

Julie started snickering and Grang looked at her and said, “What?”

“You beat Jingo to the first word.”

Jingo said, “No he didn’t. I just wanted him to have it.”

Grang’s mouth fell open and Julie laughed out loud. Scotty sighed and thought, “I hope we’re ready.”

D
aulun commed Varner, “I’m coming up to make a short trip.”

“How many of us do you want to go with you, Your Majesty?”

“It will be just you and I.”

Varner didn’t like the sound of this. Something was about to happen and it couldn’t be good.

BC was looking at his assignments when he heard the exchange, “Jessica, tell the Emperor that Daulun is taking one Searcher out.”

“I’ve told him. Follow him in.”

“As soon as I read the jump track, I’ll confirm his destination.”

“Don’t waste time getting back.”

“He has to come from the jump limit. I want to keep an eye on the other Searchers for a while before I leave. I’ll still arrive hours ahead of him.”

“Vring notify the Flyers that they go on alert immediately. We’ll know in five hours if it’s a go. Make sure everyone is prepared.”

“Grang and Jingo are on it.”

“What about Mallory and Nathan?”

“They just teleported to New Ulmerton on Jessica along with their fifty Riders; Timmy and Greyson left with them.”

Scotty put his arm around Julie and felt what all leaders feel when they send their followers into harm’s way, anxiety. Julie looked at him and smiled, “They’ll be fine.”

Scotty looked at the thousands of Zord with their riders and prayed she was right.

Daulun boarded Varner and said, “Go into stealth mode and take me to the jump limit.”

“Are you sure you don’t want more escorts?”

“Yes!” Daulun yelled. “Do as you’re ordered.”

The four other Searchers watched as Varner left the planet and finally jumped away. William read the jump track and said, “He’s jumping to New Ulmerton.”

The four said nothing but then Gilene said, “I’m sorry but I can no longer live this lie. I’m going after Varner.”

“Lead the way, we’re going with you.” The four ships moved toward the jump limit.

Canton saw them leaving and hit the panel, “Where do you think you’re going?”

“We were just asked to follow our King on a secure line. Do you want to call him and confirm it?”

“No, no. Do as you’re ordered.” Canton thought a moment about contacting Daulun but feared he would give away the King’s location if he did. “He’s probably afraid that he’ll need cover coming out. Once he gets back we’ll take care of him. Death is always the penalty for treason.”

“William, did you just tell a lie?”

“No, didn’t you ask me to go with you? I didn’t say Daulun asked.”

Gilene laughed, “I guess I did.”

Varner jumped into the New Ulmerton System and Daulun said, “I want you to move in as close as you can to the planet in stealth mode. I do not want anyone to know I’m here. Is that clear?!”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Jessica contacted Scotty, “That Searcher is broadcasting everything the Duke says on an open frequency.”

“Can you relay it into the planet wide communications net?”

“Yes, why?”

“I think it will help us if you could.”

As Varner moved closer to the planet he said, “Why are we coming here in stealth mode Your Majesty? This is your home.”

“Shut up and do as you’re told. How close to a planet would you have to be to destroy it?”

“About five hundred miles. Why do you ask?”

“How far are we now?”

“We’re about to move inside five hundred miles from the planet.”

“On New Ulmerton, every communications device on the planet showed a picture of Daulun staring at a display on the bridge of a small ship. Everyone wondered what was going on. Some of Daulun’s military leaders tried to contact him through his com but Varner had communications to his frequency blocked. Then everyone on the planet heard the unbelievable, “I order you to fire on the planet and destroy it. Do it now.”

“Your Majesty, surely you aren’t serious. These are your citizens that support your rule.”

“I’m not going to repeat myself, fire on New Ulmerton now. You have taken an oath to obey me. Do it!”

“Why Your Majesty, just tell me why?”

“Those traitors in my family are living their last day. Do it now!!”

The people on New Ulmerton were stunned by what they heard. They looked up at the sky and waited for death to arrive. Then the citizens heard, “This is Mallory Jongo and I am assuming the throne from my father as of this moment. His treason is obvious and he will be dealt with as soon as we apprehend him. I’m asking all citizens to stay indoors and avoid going outside until I am able to prevent my father’s plan to destroy the planet. I will communicate with you later after this situation is resolved. I am ordering all military forces on New Ulmerton to stand down and stay in their bases. Failure to follow these orders will be dealt with severely.”

Daulun heard Mallory speaking over the speaker in Varner’s control room. “Carry out my orders!”

Varner said, “I’m finished carrying out your orders. If I had doubts before about the validity of your right to rule, you have now removed them. You are a disgrace to the spirit of why the Province was established and you represent everything the Stars Realm fought to defeat.”

“Don’t lecture me. Those tyrants should have been destroyed just like this planet.”

“Hello, Varner, need some help?”

“I was hoping you would be here. I need something done to this piece of filth on my bridge.”

“I’ll take him off your deck if you want?”

“I do.”

Greyson heard Daulun screaming in the background until he was teleported away.

“When did you get teleportation?”

“Just a few months back. Are you alright?”

“It was all a lie, wasn’t it?”

“Yes it was.”

“So what happens now?”

“We’re going to take the planet and free the slaves. Would you like to help us?”

“Don’t leave us out.”

“Gilene, what are you doing here. You were ordered to stay away.”

We’re all here and now we know the truth about what happened long ago. Jongo just confirmed our belief. If you’re going to correct the wrongs we’ve done, we want to help.”

“Are you willing to swear your loyalty to an Emperor that upholds the principles of the former Realm?”

“We are.”

“Then prove it. We need to bring the military on this planet under control and prevent the fleet from coming to support them.”

Varner said, “Kelly, you handle the fleet. The rest of us will go where you need us. Greyson, it’s good to see you again.”

“Thanks. It’s good to have my family back. Jess, we have four new ships to help us.”

“We can use them, here are your assignments. Keep the ground troops contained and under control. I’m assigning two riders to each of you. They’ll teleport in, momentarily.”

Mallory and fifty Riders teleported into the throne room and spread out. The Riders were wearing their Zeckas and were not seen by the guards. They scattered and moved out into the large room where they could observe everyone present. Mallory turned off her Zecka and three guards started raising their blasters when they saw Mallory appear; they were burned instantly. Mallory looked around and said. “Unless you all want to die, lay down your weapons and sit down with your hands behind your heads.” She looked at her Uncle and Cousins, “That includes you as well.”