“No, Joe. It just makes the most sense based on what I’ve seen.”
“I’m just not willing to disrupt the populations of two planets unless you are certain, Valerie. Are you absolutely convinced?”
Valerie struggled for an answer, “No, I am not certain, but I am not going to gamble on the creatures discovering Ross. I want the population ordered to teleport away for 24 hours. We’ll not involve Camerrill in this exercise, but as Ruler of the Stars Realm I order you to move Ross’ population.”
Joe stared at Valerie and signed, “Admiral, issue the order. According to the probe, the Keepers will clear the jump limit in two hours.”
All of them felt that this was a huge waste of time, but the Queen had spoken.
On Ross all communication devices began blaring out the warning, “All citizens on Ross must teleport to another planet immediately. We will keep you informed about returning, but you must be gone within the hour. An attack is imminent.” The announcement played over and over as the population of billions teleported away.
The Keepers Fleet approached the jump barrier and the Director turned to his sensor operator, “Where is the next target?”
“Before we entered this system I had mapped several possible locations using the same thought frequency of the last target, but one of them has changed radically since the last scan.”
“What are you saying?”
“One of the targets had a huge population, with a high percent of them being the species of the planet we just eliminated. However, now the planet is empty of life.”
The Director thought a moment as the fleet tuned in and listened telepathically, “If as we surmise a device is projecting phantom populations and it had a malfunction such that the real surface was revealed, that could account for the difference.”
The sensor operator thought about the proposal, “Yes, that’s possible. Are we going to go see if it’s valid?”
“Do you want to waste,” the Director looked at his display, “eighteen intervals to see? We know someone in this universe can deceive our scanners. We have wasted too much time already, and I’m not willing to throw away any more. If there’s doubt about a population’s existence, I would rather move toward one where we are reasonably certain of success.”
The sensor operator could hear the thoughts of all the Keepers in the fleet and determined that the over whelming majority agreed with the Director. “I’ll check that planet later, and if the population goes back to the original level we’ll know it is another decoy.”
“Where is your other target?”
“On your display, Director.”
“Jump in a quarter interval; tighten up your formations.”
The Keepers Fleet jumped and arrived at the jump limit in Camerrill’s system.
Valerie watched her communication panel as Fleet Command scrambled to move Camerrill’s population. Valerie thought, “I hate being right about this. Jake, you’re causing trouble. Hurry up and get those powers under control.” He couldn’t hear her, but she had to voice her frustration.
Joe appeared on her board, “I will not question you again.”
Valerie nodded, “That is a wise decision, but you need to get the population to safety.”
“I’m sorry, Sis.” Joe disappeared from her screen.
Valerie pulled up a picture of Jake on her display. He had just woken from his history download and had smiled when he saw her beside his chair. She stared at the picture in silence, “Come on, Jake. We need you now.”
Chapter Ten
Jake sat in the middle of the area just inside the entrance to the community. Jackson had sent word that there was to be a gathering to touch the Good Luck Man. Many of the men didn’t know about him, but were quickly told by the women of the community. Now all of them knew.
The area was not big enough for all three hundred thousand, so most of the men remained in the first row of homes as the women came in and began sitting in rows that surrounded Jake. Those that had already touched him stood with the men and watched as the crowd grew larger and larger by the minute.
Jake sat there and found himself feeling a kinship to all of these wonderful people. No wonder Kathea called all of the women her sisters; they all shared the specter of death and the gift of life together. He could feel their love for each other and it was amazing. He had only known his family briefly before they died, and Robby for only three years. He felt he had known these people forever. In a short period of time they had become his brothers and sisters.
He was nervous, because tonight he should find the one who would release his psychic powers and become the love of his life. He looked around as the crowd continued to swell. He looked out at the green fields surrounding the community and marveled at the beauty of the moment. He could see why the original settlers landed here. The community was clean and the air was fresh. He closed his eyes and waited to find the one that would be his love for life.
“Junior, what are they doing?”
“It looks to me like they are gathering all the women to touch Jake.”
Cynthia looked at the screen again and saw only women sitting in the rows surrounding Jake. “How did he make this happen?”
“I have no idea, but I hope the Keepers don’t interfere with the process.”
“I hadn’t thought of that. I really hope they don’t either.”
Jake opened his eyes as the community gathered, and saw light from the setting sun shine on the ancient colony ship that had crashed next to the row of hills. As he watched the light move up the ship he saw a giant, faded, SR appear on the tail fin of the giant ship. He had never seen it before, and he suspected it could only be seen during the setting sun. Now he knew who the Seniors were; he was a Senior. The humans had been praying for the return of The Stars Realm for thousands of years. He looked at the giant SR and now knew the meaning of the Realm that Valerie had tried to teach him with the history download. He saw in these people how important the Realm was for the safety of its citizens. His heart swelled with pride to know that he was a part of that community. Then he saw Jackson stand.
“Welcome my children. We have all heard about the Good Luck Man that brings us good fortune. You’ve heard that he has a quest to touch every female in our community. I have decided to help him make it happen. Perhaps he will bring us all good fortune, maybe even the return of the Seniors. However, it is always good for us to come together; we should do this more often to celebrate who we are.” Jackson walked up to Jake and smiled at him, then said to the crowd, “We will start with the inner circle and move outward. After you touch him join those in the houses.”
The closest row of women stood, walked by Jake, and touched him; some on his cheek, some on his hands, some on his head, and some on his neck. They all kissed the hand they used to touch him. Jake was moved beyond words. The first row finished and the second stood.
The leader of the Keepers’ garrison was watching his monitor. He called his second in command over and indicated the monitor, “What are they doing?”
“It appears they are touching the one in the center.”
“Why?”
“How would I know? These lesser beings always seem to be doing dumb things.”
“Could this be part of a rebellion?”
The Collective heard the word rebellion used by one his billions and immediately turned its attention to the two Keepers, “What are you asking about?”
The two Keepers shrugged and continued to look at the monitor. The Collective looked at what they were seeing through their thoughts. It did seem like nonsense, but an invader ship had been killed in that system. Could that ship have contacted the food before it was destroyed? “Send a security team and find out what they are doing.”