“So we will hear every word we say.”
The technician nodded, “When he is on the ship with you. Once he’s on the planet you will not be able to communicate.”
Cynthia scowled at the tech.
The technician looked at her com, “You’ll be leaving is less than two hours. Mr. Talant should be out of the hospital by then.”
Cynthia narrowed her eyes, “Hospital?”
“They linked his armor in less than an hour, then ran him through the initial training exercise.”
Cynthia was astonished and shook her head, “Poor Jake.”
Valerie was standing by Jake’s bed when he regained consciousness. “I keep waking up to find the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen beside me.”
Valerie smiled, “You’re so gracious, and thank you. It’s time for you to leave.”
Jake sat up, then fell back from dizziness, “I hope I can walk.”
“You’ll be recovering rapidly and back to normal in just a few more hours. I just want to say a few things before you leave.”
Jake looked at Valerie, “Go ahead.”
“Jake, you are going to have to go down to the planet to search for your initiator. While you’re in the local population you are going to see some of them taken by the creatures to be killed. You must not use your armor to try to stop them.”
Jake just stared at Valerie, saying nothing.
“I mean it, Jake. Once you find your initiator, Commander Dodd has been ordered to teleport you and your initiator to the ship and make a grand exit back to the Stars Realm. We cannot risk losing you. Promise me you won’t take any foolish risks; the Realm’s survival depends on you.”
Jake saw Robby standing behind Valerie looking over her shoulder at him. Jake gave a heavy sigh and said, “I promise.” Robby disappeared.
Valerie’s shoulders dropped; she said, “Thank the creator you listen to reason.” She turned to the technician, “Send him to his ship.” Then she turned, leaned down, and kissed him fully on the lips. “I’ve wanted to do that since I met you on Cynthia’s ship. Now come back to the Realm, Jake. Remember, you’re about to meet the love of your life.” She turned and left the room.
Jake watched her leave and knew he had wanted to do the same.
The tech helped Jake stand, then led him to the teleport screen. He looked back at the door Valerie had exited, then turned and stepped into the screen.
The Collective turned its attention to technology. “Did you find the necessary information for universal travel?”
“Yes. It was really quite simple. The Green Creatures were limited to jumping through a single door into other universes.”
“And?”
“All that’s needed to jump in anywhere is a powerful enough generator. We have that in abundance.”
“Are you going to make your deadline?”
“We will have two million ships ready by the original deadline. It is a simple matter to modify our existing drives to incorporate the new one.”
The Collective turned its attention to the military quadrant, “Have you developed a plan for finding the Green Creatures?”
“We are sending one ship to each universe to scan for the enemy. If they are not present, then another will be searched.”
What are your plans for those where they are not present?”
“Why, we will prioritize them for later conquest.”
“And if you encounter a formidable enemy?”
“Scan them for weapons and then develop a counter for them.”
The Collective thought about that statement. “Scan all you want, but do not lead them here. Have the ship go to other universes before coming back to our home. I want the same thing done if you find the Green Creatures. Consider that we will not be in contact with the ships when they leave our universe and issue your instructions accordingly.”
The Quadrants all considered what was said and agreed.
Chapter Six
Jake stepped out of the screen onto the bridge of a ship that was much larger than Cynthia’s previous ship. Cynthia was sitting in the command chair with her hands on the chair’s arms. She turned and saw Jake, “How do you feel, partner?”
Jake looked at her with red eyes and collapsed into the other chair next to Cynthia, “It hurts to talk.”
“I imagine.” Cynthia shook her head, “I just can’t believe that they processed your armor in such a short time. Even at six weeks, I’ve seen brave warriors pass out from the pain. Is there anything I can do to help?”
Jake put his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes, “No, I just want to sleep.”
“Now would be a good time; I have another download for you to teach you about this ship and the burner they put in your armor. We also need to get you updated on the colony’s language.”
Jake groaned, “I don’t ever want to have another download as long as I live.”
Cynthia felt bad, “This one won’t be like the others, Jake. It’s strictly informational and it will allow you to sleep while it’s operating.”
Jake sighed, “Ok, how do we do this?”
“Put on these gloves; it will transfer through your hands.” Cynthia came over and helped him put the gloves on. He saw how weak he was and she set the download speed to medium. That would allow him to sleep four hours. “Ready?”
“Go ahead.”
She pressed the green button on the gloves and the download began. Jake closed his eyes and forgot his pain.
Cynthia stared at Jake and sensed that he was changed. She couldn’t quite put her finger on what the difference was, but she knew he was not the same young man she had first met at the casino. She sat down in the command chair and said out loud, “Well, you have all the data on this mission; what do you think?”
“There are many unknowns we are making assumptions about that could prove fatal.”
“I know. The major assumption that the last Searcher was discovered due to her thoughts is troublesome. What if her star drive is what gave her away instead?”
“I think we need to go in a different way.”
Cynthia was startled by the computer’s response, “How would you do it?”
“I have the exact coordinates of where the Searcher landed their ship on the moon. I analyzed its rotation and that spot should be on the side away from the planet in about one hour. I think we should jump into that universe and before our emergence into normal space, teleport to that location.”
“It is part of our orders not to use advanced technology.”
“If we follow our orders exactly then we have a high risk of being destroyed. If there is the one ship at the planet they will not be able to detect the brief teleportation flash on the opposite side of the moon. That side will also be in direct sunlight and will be extremely difficult to see. The Searcher’s records indicated that there were no electronic scans that could be detected, so I think the risk is worth it. I’ll have our invisibility mode on before we jump. It will also allow me to put an optical scanner on that side as we move around to the planet side after our arrival; that will give us warning if any ships are coming our way from the jump limit.”
“Do you think you can move around to the other side without being detected?”
“I believe so. I’m going to control the polarity of our hull so that we move magnetically over the surface. This way we should have early warning if anything shows up after we land.”
Cynthia knew that the moon had a huge magnetic field due to it having an iron core that was spinning as the moon rotated. The tiny field the ship used was going to very difficult to detect. “You sound different from any ship’s computer I’ve ever encountered.”
“I am the only one of my kind. I was made more than eight thousand years ago. The Algeans which were entrusted to care for me were reluctant to put me in a ship because of my rather independent thought processes.”