“Director, the population reading is not changing as we move in-system.”
“Good! Organize our coverage; we’ll start with the northern hemisphere and then move south. Do you detect any star ships?”
“No, this planet appears to be very backward in their technology.”
“That may be true, but it has a large population.”
“That it does, Director.”
“Have you read the thought signature of the population?”
“Yes, and our emitters are tuned to that band. Have you decided if you are going to collect any of the inhabitants for shipment to our universe?”
“We are not doing that now. This is a war fleet and we cannot provide care for them.”
“As you wish, Director. How many for stores?”
The Director listened to the thousands of Keepers in the fleet and found the needed number, “Two million should be enough.”
The Sensor Operator looked at his display, “That is the population of one of the cities on the coast next to that spaceport.”
“Make sure the emitters are set accordingly.”
The devices on the Keepers’ ships that made the intense beam were remarkable devices. If set at zero frequency they would emit a beam that would destroy all matter they hit. They could also be set at specific frequencies that matched the thought frequency of the selected population and would only target that population; everyone else would not be affected. The intensity of the beam would determine whether it would stun or kill. The fleet had their intensity set to kill.
The stealth probe followed the Keepers Fleet in to the planet and positioned itself to record the coming action. Gambia was slightly bigger than Ross, and had a circumference of thirty thousand miles. The huge fleet stopped above the planet and waited as the ships moved into a line. The hundred thousand Keepers’ ships entered the atmosphere of Gambia and lined up at the equator, with seven ships evenly spaced every mile halfway around the planet. They dropped to a mile above the surface and waited for the order to be given.
“Activate the emitters.” Every Keeper on every ship connected with the other Keepers on their ships telepathically and turned off their hearing. They then began sending the vibrating thought patterns into the emitter at the front of the ship. Each navigator watched their boards while the weapons operators focused the intensity of the beam as it rose to the desired threshold. At that point the Director sent the command to the fleet, “Move forward.”
Abul Cahale was stretched out on a chair on the front of his yacht when he noticed something in the sky at the horizon moving toward his ship. The young women that were attending him stood and looked at the approaching line of…something. As the objects moved closer, Abu saw that the objects were huge star ships and they were approaching quickly. The three women had moved to the bow to get a better view. Abu saw them waving and then start twisting, screaming, and turning to dust. He jumped up and ran toward the rear of the huge vessel. He didn’t make it past the main cabin before the most intense pain he had ever felt gripped him, then he was gone as the dust from his body blew away in the sea breeze. The yacht continued sailing until it ran aground.
The Keepers’ beams showed no discrimination between rich or poor. Unlike the population, there were no class distinctions; it treated all the same way. The long line of brown ships moved north and left millions dead behind it. Animals were not touched by the beam, fish were not affected, birds flew through it safely, and plants never noticed it pass. Only Humans felt the intense pain and death. The probe captured it all and witnessed the horror taking place.
The line of ships moved toward the main city of Gambia, destroying everything outside the city proper. The population standing on the outskirts of the tall grey buildings looked up into a blue sky and saw the line of ships approaching. The public speakers were blaring a warning of an invading fleet and called for everyone to flee the city, but the inhabitants saw there was no time to exit. Many running from the city saw the ships approach Degrund Park.
A young man and woman standing in the park outside the city embraced each other and then turned to dust. Two children ran from the oncoming shadows and tried to hide under the slide in the park. They saw the people closest to the approaching ships turn to dust and hid their eyes just before they died. At the Abu Galei hospital located next to the park, the maternity ward heard the babies go silent as the beams crossed the room. Hundreds of dogs were roaming the park with leashes dangling, trying to find their owners that had blown away in the wind as the ships passed overhead.
The ships approached the outer city limits and moderated the intensity of their beam. As the brown ships moved over the city, the beam began hitting the inhabitants and destroying their higher brain functions. People began falling to the ground and twitching as the fleet passed overhead. More than two million people were left scattered on the streets, and in homes twitching as their raw nerves sent messages to a brain that was no longer able to receive them.
The long line of ships crossed over the North Pole and then continued moving south. Everywhere humans were dying a horrible death. The dying didn’t stop until the Keepers Fleet moved over the South Pole and then moved back to their starting point at the equator.
The Fleet Director was elated. No resistance had been given. This universe was going to be easy to conquer. “Send your shuttles to pick up your stores.”
A hundred thousand shuttles left the Keepers Fleet and descended on the space port. Each picked up twenty of the still-twitching bodies and took them back to their ship. Being brain dead was actually a mercy to those taken. Any that were left behind were hit with the terrible beams and destroyed. Soon fires broke out where stoves were left on, and many cities began burning. Some were started when vehicles ran into buildings and other structures, causing huge explosions when their fuel tanks ruptured. No one was alive to put them out.
The probe recorded it all and disappeared to deliver its information to Fleet Command. Another probe arrived to replace it and settled in behind the Keepers Fleet as it moved away from the now dead planet. For Gambia, there were no class distinctions after the Keepers. Everyone was dust.
Edison watched the recording taken by the probe with Sprig, Joseph, Valerie, and Admiral Zergl, who had all commed in on his communication panel. Edison noticed the hard expression of the Gardners and could sense the anger from the others. “Edison, what do you think about this?”
“Prince Gardner, This is remarkably similar to the process my species once used to attack planets. The main difference is that we collected information from the inhabitant’s brains and stored it. These creatures just kill all intelligent life except for those needed for food. I now feel the anger and outrage that this causes when it is visited on others. It amazes me that the Realm allowed us to live.”
“Where are they going now?”
Valerie said, “They’re going either to Ross or Camerrill, if we don’t move the populations before they arrive outside the jump limit.”
Admiral Zergl did a quick flinch, “How do you know that?”
“Because Jake Talant was at both of those planets before he left for their universe. I believe his psychic self is directing these creatures to come to him.”
“Why would he be doing that?”
“I just don’t know, Joe, but everything points to it. He was arrested on Camerrill and that Searcher was killed immediately after we found him. The first planet they attacked successfully was where he was born. The next attack will have to be another location where he visited recently. That would have to be Ross or Camerrill. We need to get the populations moved quickly.”
The other conference attendees looked at each other. Finally Joe asked, “Valerie, do your psychic abilities tell you where they are going?”