He heard the music start as Tag and Danielle began walking down the aisle. Everyone stood and bowed to the former King and Queen of the Realm even though it was not required. Next came Stem and his mate Petal followed by Life and Grena and the rest of the wedding party. Suddenly the music changed and he saw Melanie step into the aisle being led by her father. Matt was stunned by her beauty and lost himself in the vision approaching.
“Al, she’s beautiful.”
“Just like you.”
“I love you so much, Al.”
“And of all the things I’ve ever experienced, that is what humbles me the most, Fly Girl. I couldn’t live without you.”
Melanie walked the traditional walk down the aisle and saw Matt staring at her and his love was clear for all to see. It’s what made her complete and filled her heart with joy. She glanced up and thought, “I’ll love him, Angel, just as you did.” Then she arrived and the ceremony began.
The citizens of the Realm were caught up in the scene on their displays and there was silence in the Realm. Aerial traffic on all the worlds of the Realm was almost nonexistent. Everyone was glued to their monitors. The majesty of the moment enthralled the trillions of citizens and they also felt the emotion of the moment. The ancient yet new words, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here together…” began and the Realm felt their new allegiance to the couple tasked with the responsibility of protecting the Realm. The millions of planets in the Realm knew what this couple had done in the fight with the Green Invaders and felt safe with the new king and Queen. The homage being given to this young couple was well deserved.
Finally, Sprig announced, “I present to you King Mathew and Queen Melanie Gardner. Long live the King.”
The ensuing party was unlike any in the Realm’s history. The numbers teleporting around the Realm to celebrate set a new record and brought so many different yet similar species together. The party on Ross was monumental. However, in that moment Matt and Melanie were lost in each other.
A young female spider in the back nudged Edison and thought to him, “Have you made plans for the celebration?”
Edison looked at her and was struck dumb by her beauty. All he could do was stammer, “Uh… no…not..not really.”
“Maybe you would allow me to accompany you.”
Edison shook his head up and down and thought, “By all means. Please join me.”
Einstein and Newton giggled at Edison until two more females approached them. Destiny smiled and watched his children; they were growing up. He looked up at Matt and Melanie and thought, “Thank you for giving us our life. Now we have to make sure you have yours.” He knew the Nest Mother would not rest until this universe was completely harvested.”
Chapter 2
Nine months after the Coronation and Matt’s and Melanie’s wedding, Anglo, Destiny, Sprig, Twig, Newton, Edison, and Einstein sat in the map room at Castle Gardner and Sprig asked, “Why did you want to meet me here?”
Destiny looked at the three young spiders and said to Sprig, “My children asked me a question and it caused me to become concerned.”
“What question, Destiny?”
“Newton wanted to know how our common ancestor became a merciless killer when none of us are that way after the compulsions were removed.”
Sprig thought a moment and said, “It is a rather dramatic change in personality.” The room was silent as Sprig digested the information. Sprig suddenly felt a wave of fear, “Either she was injected with compulsions that made her become what she is or the creature she bit was like that and she absorbed it from the bite. If the compulsions were deliberately placed in her, then another species exists that intentionally destroys intelligent life.”
“That’s what we think. However, it is not genetic or we would also have them built into us, which makes us lean toward another species. Every Nest Mother has acted the same since my species became intelligent. The males have to have the compulsions downloaded into them for them to work; this is an artificial mechanism.”
“How many Nest Mothers have there been since the original?”
“Twenty.”
Sprig thought a moment and said, “If the compulsions are not genetic, then how do the new Nest Mothers receive the compulsions?”
Newton said, “It is our belief that they are put in each new Nest Mother by the species that originally gave us intelligence.”
Sprig was shocked at the implications of the small spider’s statement.
Destiny saw that Sprig understood and said, “We have also discovered something that worries us.”
Edison took the map room’s controller in his front legs and moved the cursor toward the far left end of the map. It finally stopped on a dark galaxy that was as far away from the closest galaxy on the edge of the universe as that galaxy was from the center. Anglo looked at the dark galaxy and asked, “What is that?”
Einstein said, “Whatever it is, it is impossible for it to exist here.”
Sprig looked at the little spider, “Why do you say that?”
Einstein nodded to Edison and Edison pressed the controller. All of the galaxies of the universe began moving quickly together until they all formed one giant ball of light. The far galaxy was now near where the former edge of the universe was located. Sprig immediately understood. “It’s too far away to have been part of the blast that started this universe.” Einstein nodded. “But if nothing existed before that blast, how can that galaxy exist?”
Newton answered, “It can’t; it defies everything we know about celestial mechanics, which leads us to believe that it might be part of a different dimension which overlaps our universe at the edge. We also believe that whoever put the compulsions in our Nest Mothers must be there.” Newton turned from the map and looked at those around the table, “My species is nothing more than a tool for them. If you kill the current Nest Mother as you plan, what do you think they will do?”
Sprig looked at the galaxy that was older than the universe and knew the intelligence there was ancient before this universe was created. He felt fear, “I don’t know.”
Destiny looked at the dark galaxy, “We know what these creatures think of other life forms.”
Sprig looked at Destiny, “What do you mean?”
“They took an ancestor of mine, gave it intelligence, the capacity of storing a huge amount of information to use to make them more deadly and then sent it out to kill all intelligent life in every universe. I can only believe that they did this because they were either too lazy to take the time to do it themselves or considered other life forms so far beneath them that they did not warrant their attention. I think they knew intelligent life would evolve naturally and become highly advanced civilizations if left alone so they created a tool to prevent it. They also placed compulsions in my species so they could exterminate all of us quickly if they so chose. All it would take is to make the Nest Mother order the males to consume their children. They would then release a compulsion in the Nest Mother to kill herself and my species would be eliminated.” Destiny turned and looked at Sprig, “What would you do if you discovered one of your tools had malfunctioned?”
Sprig shrugged, “I would repair it or replace it.”
“I don’t think they know about us being here helping you, yet. The Nest Mother is still functioning and I suspect the families are still harvesting universes. I’m concerned about what would happen if the Nest Mother was removed and the families eliminated. The beings that did this might be somewhat annoyed at our impertinence for breaking one of their tools. I think their reaction would be catastrophic to those that were guilty of interfering with their plans.”