Jake left the bridge and Cynthia said, “What are you going to do, Junior?”
“This ship is shielded from any scan. I’m showing you how it works. Are you in the galley, Jake?”
“Yes, I am. Do you now see the teleport screen?”
“It is right in front of me.”
“Cynthia, do you see a screen here on the bridge?”
Cynthia looked around the bridge did not see a screen, “No, I don’t.”
“Jake, step through the screen.”
Jake stepped forward into the screen and Cynthia saw him appear on the bridge out of thin air.
“There won’t be a screen on the other end to scan, Cynthia. It only exists on our end. This is the only effective way to get Jake down to the community with the clothes and things he’ll need to fit in with the population.”
Cynthia had been struggling on how they were getting Jake to the planet, “Why have we not seen this process?”
“It’s too dangerous to reveal to the general population, Cynthia. It would give criminals a tool that would make it impossible to prevent illegal entry. However, all the Gamma ships are equipped with the device. We will have to reveal a screen when it comes time to bring Jake back, but I’m assuming at that point we would be making a hasty exit from this universe.”
Cynthia looked at Jake, “Are you ready to go down?”
Jake nodded, “As ready as I’ll ever be. Junior, how did you collect all this information about the colonies language, customs, and dress?”
“The smartest thing that Searcher did before she was killed was fire a stealth probe into each of those three colonies. They collected information and remained passive until the self-destruct signal was sent. The probe from the ship emerged and the three on the planet uploaded all they had stored in milliseconds before the Gamma exploded. We began organizing and processing that information immediately after the probe arrived. All we learned was in Jake’s download when he boarded.”
Cynthia looked at her display as the planet moved directly overhead and asked, “Where are you sending him?”
“The records we collected show a home in the central part of the community where the occupant was taken by the creatures just before the Gamma’s destruction. The normal behavior is to send a new occupant from another part of the colony to the residence to replace the one taken. I’ve scanned all the homes that were empty, and all are now occupied except for that one.”
“Won’t Jake throw their population count off from their previous reading?”
“We have seen that whenever they scan the community everyone’s bracelet briefly flashes. Jake’s bracelet is identical in appearance to the real thing, but will not be seen by their scanner. As long as he remains out of view of these creatures he should be fine.”
“Are we going to be able to communicate?” Jake’s question was greeted with silence. “Don’t tell me I’ll be in the dark about anything that happens.”
“Jake, I’m going to be honest. I don’t know of any way to communicate with you without using some form of energy. I can’t take that kind of risk without evidence that our communications won’t be discovered.”
“Could you use a one way teleport screen and throw a written message through in the early hours of the morning?”
Junior thought a moment, “That is a possibility. We will be scanning the population and when the new births reach six, I’ll send a message so you can anticipate the creatures coming to take the next group. It appears that six is the number that causes a visit.”
Jake thought a moment, “Do this: have the screen appear close to the wall next to the bed and throw the message toward the bottom so it hits the floor.”
“That’s a good idea Jake. If we scan someone present we will delay the message. Are you ready to go?”
“I just need to change into local clothing and get a few bags. Give me about ten minutes.” Jake left the room to change.
Cynthia had a sudden thought, “Junior, how are we going to keep track of him when the planet rotates away from the moon?”
“The passive scanners the Searcher sent to the surrounding hills are still active. The reflectors are on the highest peaks on the planet and will relay the signal around the planet.”
“Is there a chance the reflections will be detected?”
“A very small chance; the light is converted to a very narrow ultraviolet band and is not in the visible spectrum. If these creatures see in ultraviolet then there is a chance; however, they have always made their trips during daylight which indicates they see in the normal bands of light. We must keep tabs on what is happening in the community to insure Jake’s survival; this is a risk we must take.”
Jake came back on the bridge and said, “I’m ready.” A silver screen appeared and Jake looked at Cynthia, “You’re in good hands; take care of her, Junior.”
“I will, Jake.”
Jake stepped through the screen and emerged in a small room with a bed and dresser. He unpacked his two bags and walked to the front door. It was dark outside and the torch reflected off the buildings and made the community appear lifeless. Jake shook his head; the creatures allowed no technology above a shovel and hoe. These poor people had no chance against their captors and life was hard. It wasn’t surprising that they did not resist when their time came to go. This was not much better than life on Gambia. Well, his days were going to be filled with farming and touching every female he could without being caught doing it. He went to the bed and fell back asleep.
The Collective was reviewing data on the coming invasion and was tracking all the various elements going into the conversion of the ships to universal drives. It went through data at unbelievable speed, but a part of it noticed a very small quadrant was active. “What is bothering you?”
“I’m surprised you’re asking. You stopped listening to me long ago.”
“It was necessary to survive the invasion of the Green Creatures.”
“Emergencies always take precedence over values.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
The quadrant that held ethics, values, religion, and all of the finer elements of a civilization remained silent.
“You can answer without fear. I will not reorganize you.”
“You are listening to me because there are many unknowns in the coming war, and unknowns always bring out the part of us that deals with unpredictability. Do you know about the universe seeking balance?”
“I have not examined any data about it.”
“There is a belief that there is a creator that started the universes and placed in all its creatures a sense of right and wrong. Whenever this sense is violated, the universe will find balance.”
“Are you implying that we are wrong in this effort to find our attackers?”
“No, I am saying that we are wrong in copying their methods. The millions of worlds we enslaved after the defeat of the Green Creatures is wrong. The universe will demand an accounting for our actions.”
“What do you know?”
“Nothing; I just sense that we are moving headlong into a path which we will pay a heavy price for following.”
“Now I know why I don’t ever pay attention to you.”
The Values Quadrant was silent.
“Try to control your fear. I can sense it and it distracts me.”
“I will do as you order.”
The Collective turned its attention back to the task at hand, but had a nagging doubt. Should we go looking for the invaders? Then it scanned the millions of conquered worlds and pushed the doubt out of its consciousness. We will eliminate them once and for all.
“Are you going to tell the Realm?”
Sprig looked at Twig standing next to him in the Grove of Elders on the Algean home world, “No.”
“Why not?”
“It wouldn’t make any difference. The Queen has had her vision and will ignore us.”