“I’m certainly not going to tell you but why do you ask?”
“Because we can open a door between our universe and that new universe that would allow you to make a new home there; being energy creatures you might like it better than this one.”
“Why don’t you go there?”
“Because we are not energy creatures but organic; we could not exist in those conditions. You would be the only life in that new universe. There would be no one to endanger you.”
“Perhaps, but before that particle exploded, it killed one of my warriors who came too close to it and burned up.”
“The new universe is not as hot as that particle was before it exploded. The blast is expanding at light speed and the temperature is going down.”
“Well, I am not going to send one of my children in to see,” the First Mother interjected.
“So it is going to be war between us.”
“I’ll go,” said the Old Watcher.
The First Male was startled, “No you will not.”
“Yes, I will. Don’t you see that this is a chance for us to be safe for billions of years? I have seen millions of my brothers die in this war. I no longer want to exist in this current situation. I will go; I must go.”
The First Male could feel the Old Watcher’s pain. Then he had a thought, “How are we going to know if you survive?”
“We can keep a telepathic channel open with him and allow you to listen in,” the voice said.
“Tell me how to do this. I’m ready to go.”
“Old Watcher, are you sure this is what you want to do. Like you, I don’t want to lose another of my old friends.”
“Yes, First Male.”
“Can you pull him out if the temperature is too high?”
“No, we can’t; it’s a one way trip.”
The First Mother said, “We don’t have to go but he should be allowed to follow his chosen path, First Male.”
“I know, but I don’t want to see him die.”
The Old Watcher thought, “Tell me what I need to do.”
“Go to the nexus near your system and wait just outside, we’ll tell you when we’re ready.”
“I’m already at the nexus.”
Tommy stood and Cassandra came into his arms. “Are you ready, love?”
“Yes, I am, Tommy.”
“Old Watcher, accelerate into the nexus toward the particle in the center; don’t slow down.”
Old Watcher thought, “First Male, no matter what happens, please try to find a way for our warriors to live with these strangers. I sense that they do not want to harm us.”
“I’ll try, old friend.”
“I’m starting my run,” and the Old Watcher disappeared into the nexus.
Tommy and Cassandra watched as the huge Captor flew at the particle and then disappeared through it. “He has gone into the new universe.”
“Old Watcher, can you hear me,” the First Male shouted; there was no response.
After a minute Sprig thought, “I was hoping this would work. This was our best chance.”
Another minute passed and the First Male thought, “At least he died on his terms.”
“First Male!”
“Yes.”
“This is glorious. I’m young again. All of my systems are at full capacity. The food is the best I’ve ever had. Send one of our wounded warriors here. Do it now.”
The First Male was stunned. A huge Captor ship that had a giant piece missing from its side flew out to the nexus. Tommy and Cassandra could see that the red color of its screen was weak and barely visible.
“I’ll go next, First Male. I can’t survive much longer.”
“Go, warrior. Go with Old Watcher.”
The injured Captor flew into the nexus and approached the particle at a much slower speed. It hit the particle and disappeared.
“Fist Male, I am whole again. My injuries have been healed. The energy here is so abundant that my healing machines are operating at fantastic speed.”
“Is it too hot?”
“No first male; it’s perfect.”
“How big is that universe, Old Watcher?”
“It’s not big but it is expanding at the speed of light. It is truly beautiful and the energy is the purest I’ve ever tasted.”
The First Male was uncertain of what he should do. “First Mother, I need your guidance.”
“I think that this new universe has been waiting for us. We have stopped our development millions of years ago because there was not enough of the pure food we needed. We expand our numbers slowly because of that lack and our population growth has stagnated. This sounds like a place where we can begin to evolve again.” There was a moment of silence then everyone heard her say, “All warriors that have been wounded, go to the nexus and fly toward the particle in it. Go immediately. Those warriors that can no longer move, attach yourself to one that can and go to the nexus.”
Tommy and Cassandra saw thousands of Captors move toward the nexus. Some of them were missing huge portions of their hulls and others were barely flickering with the red energy that characterized a living Captor. They began entering the nexus and started to disappear into the particle. “First Male, the warriors are regenerating. The energy is healing them.
“Take the ships that are dead and tow them into the particle,” the First Mother ordered.
Two of the warriors stopped flying around the system and attached themselves to a devastated hull. The two hulls had no red light and had more than seventy percent of their outer hulls missing. The two warriors towed the ships into the particle and after a few moments the old watcher shouted in joy, “They’re alive again. They’re alive again. They’re regenerating themselves.”
The First Mother thought, “All warriors, go to the construct and take one of our dead warriors into the nexus. Do it now.”
The stream of ships entering the nexus became a river and then swelled into a flood. Hundreds of thousands of warriors pulling dead Captor ships flew into the nexus. Tommy and Cassandra could hear the shouts of joy from the new universe as the Captors emerged into the high energy environment. They could see the dead ships coming back to life and shared what they were seeing with the Algeans and their crew. Sprig and Twig were overjoyed at the vision and moved and held each other as they wrapped their branches together.
Suddenly Lt. Ortiz said, “Thousands of Star Realm megaships in the outer system.”
Sprig hit his com and said, “All Star Realm ships, leave this system immediately.”
Tag heard the com and said, “What’s going on? Where are Tommy and Cassandra?”
“They are assisting the Captors to leave our universe. Leave now, the Captors will attack because they have no choice. If you love your son, Thomas Gardner you will take your fleet and leave immediately!”
Tag was struggling as he saw hundreds of thousands of Captors move toward his fleet. He looked at Kosiev who said, “Do you trust the Algean?”
Tag punched his com and said, “All ships, teleport to Ross immediately.” The thousands of megaships disappeared.
The First Male felt his instincts slow and then he thought angrily, “Why did you bring those warships to my home?”
Tommy answered, “That was my father. He was afraid that you were going to kill me and he came to protect me.”
The First Mother thought to the First Male, “They are not so different from us. We also protect our young.”
“First Mother, are you saying we should leave here and go to this new universe?”
“Yes, I am. All warriors, enter the nexus; the oldest will go first.”
“First Mother, you should go now. I can’t protect you if all our warriors leave.”
“I am in no danger from these strangers. They have proven to me that they do not wish to harm us. I no longer feel the need to attack them; they have earned our trust by giving us this gift of a new and better home. You and I will go last, together.”
The First Male searched his systems and found that she was right. His instincts no longer saw these strangers as a threat. He did not feel the need to attack them. “You have always been the wisest, First Mother. I also no longer feel the need to attack them.”