Well, Hello, Anglo. What brings you out here?
Im here to bring Jenna and Carter back to the Empire, Timmy. The Emperor has a task for them.
Anglo, did Jingo visit the Emperor?
Yes he did, Carter. Your analysis is what led to your recall.
What analysis, Carter?
Anglo, Im going to share it with my team. Do you think the Emperor will mind?
No, just keep it to yourselves until he decides what to do about it.
Im sending you the download I shared with Jingo. I think it will explain a lot about the Invaders.
Lets go. The Emperor is waiting.
Jenna said, Give me the download, Gilene.
Jenna closed her eyes and felt a cold dread touch her soul. Then she wondered how Carter had seen it. She had watched the same report and missed what he had seen. She opened her eyes, He is smarter.
Gilene said, Yep, see if you can learn from him. Hes not an adversary; hes a resource.
Im usually playing that role.
You still do, just not with him.
I dont know if my ego can take it.
You came out here to grow and develop, Jenna. Do you think youll make a good Ruler of your Kingdom with a huge ego?
Gilene, are you saying Im not worthy of the position?
Not yet, Jenna; youre smart and experienced enough but you heart needs some attention.
Jenna took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She thought about the aunt she loved so much. June was also wise. She also had a giving heart. What had gone wrong with hers?
The Fleet Master looked at his information crewmember, How many ships have not yet finished a conquest?
Twenty thousand Sire.
Whats the estimated time until planting and completion of subduing the populations?
Less than two cycles if all goes to plan.
How many of our ships have been stopped by those ships?
More than eight thousand have been forced to jump away before they could attack.
The Fleet Master thought about it. Start putting eight ships with each of those that still need a planet. Once they jump in together, they should be left alone. I want this done in no more than two cycles.
Ill issue the orders, Sire.
The Fleet Master leaned back in his chair, Two more cycles and we can find the home of those abominable ships. Im looking forward to making them pay.
Jenna teleported down to the clearing and arrived in the circle surrounding the nightly fire. She saw many leaning back against the logs and she waited for her eyes to adjust. Were over here.
Jenna turned toward the voice and saw Robby Robbins, a young girl, and Carter. How had he beaten her here? She walked up and Carter stood to greet her, We meet at last.
Jenna looked up at him. She had no idea he was so tall. She was almost six feet and he was half a head taller. He was so well proportioned that his picture did not give away his size. Yes, I guess we do.
Robby said, Come sit with us. This is Dani Valrico. Shell be joining us in our search.
Are you related to Timmy?
Hes my Uncle.
Jenna sat down and leaned back against the log, Search?
Robby smiled, It was Carters idea.
Jenna looked at Carter sitting next to Robby. He smiled, Were going to go find us an Algean.
What!
Dani said, You saw Carters analysis of the pods the Invaders are growing?
Yes.
None of our scientists have come up with a way to counteract the effects of that pod. Think about what would happen if an invader ship dumped spores from that plant into a planets atmosphere.
They wont do that.
Carter said, I agree with her.
Jenna looked at Carter and wondered if he saw it first.
Dani asked, Why not?
It would be like throwing millions of credits away. Those pods must be worth a huge amount in the place the Invaders live. They wont waste it. Its cheaper to just conquer a planet the old fashioned way with beams, nukes, and missiles.
Dani thought a moment and said, Youre right.
Jenna said, Just where do you think youre going to find an Algean?
We dont know.
What makes you think theres one in this universe?
Carter did the math. Theres one here somewhere.
Jenna looked at Carter, I dont see how you arrived at that conclusion.
Carter smiled, Jenna, I would appreciate it if you would take a look at my equations. However, in the Defense Facilitys history files, there is a video of when the Algeans moved their galaxy. Have you seen that?
Yes, I did.
Did you move the view in close to galaxys outer edge?
No, I dont believe I did.
I did.
What did you see?
Tens of thousands of ships teleporting in to the galaxy at the last moment. Actually, hundreds of thousands.
So.
The Milky way was moved six hours later. Remember that Sprig felt that there was no chance of the Queen agreeing to move her galaxy.
So?
The Algeans also knew that piece of information as well as there were millions of Searchers forming up to attack the Milky Way. They would not go there until after that battle had been fought.
Who?
The ones that missed the bus. Look at that Video; thousands of ships barely made it in time to go when the galaxy was moved. All it would take is for one ship to be a few moments late to miss being moved. What is the chance of one ship; out of lets say five hundred thousand, being a few moments late?
Jenna thought about the probabilities and said, Were talking about Algeans here.
Who were assigned very important tasks to complete before the move; thats why so many ended up cutting it very close.
She let the patterns run through her mind and said, There is at least one that was left behind. Theres probably more but the probability of every one of them making the dead line is a hundred thousand to one. She looked up at Carter, Is that what you figured?
Carter tilted his head to the left, Yeah, thats pretty close.
Jenna stared at him, How close?
Carter signed and said, Now, I could be wrong but I came up with four million to one.
Jenna just stared at him, What did I miss?
Did you factor in that ten planets in the Provinces that did not send ships to attack the Stars Realm were not moved to the Milky Way?
No, why is that significant.
Because all of the other three hundred thousand were.
Jenna smiled, shook her head slowly, and turned to Robby, There are Algeans here somewhere.
Robby looked at Carter, You are obviously better at seeing things than I am at my current level. Why is that fact significant?
Because all of them were in the same small area of the Kosiev Province; fifty in that area were moved. Ten were not. Im sure the Algeans were given the task of cleaning up all of the loose ends. We know that Jake asked Sprig to move all the loyal planets to the Milky Way to defend them and Sprig agreed to do it. One of them missed the deadline. You know how the Algeans were perfectionists. Whoever was charged with moving those planets would not quit until they were moved. That Algean is still here.
Robby looked at Carter and then at Jenna. Well, we are going to go find him. Dani will go with Jenna and I will go with Carter. Our Zord will be going with us and we are going to search for him, or her, using telepathy. You will command your ships in any situation where combat might be required and we will not interfere with your decisions. However, Dani and I will be in overall command of your ships. Is that clear?
Have you been given that authority by the Emperor?
No, Jenna, would you like to ask my father if I have it?
Jenna shook her head. Carter said, I look forward to it Robby. Theres so much I can learn from you.
Jenna looked sharply at Carter and saw he meant it. She looked at Dani and wondered what she had to learn from the teenager. Then she heard in her mind, You might be surprised.