“What is that piece of wood?”
“Oh, it’s a magic wand I was given by a friend of mine when I was a child. I performed magic tricks and he said every magician should have a magic wand. However, it was this green shard with two others that hit her. I teleported her ship away from the attack and the three Eight Legs were left behind. We learned the teleportation does not affect them either.”
Melanie looked at the shard and furrowed her brow. “Why weren’t these left behind if teleportation doesn’t affect this substance? It also begs the question that if they could penetrate our hardest substances used to build those walls, why did they stop in her?”
Matt looked at her and was dumbfounded. He thought about her questions and then he saw it, “Al, teleport me an armored hammer from the tool locker.” A white colored hammer appeared on the table in the corner of the bridge. Matt lifted the shard and placed it on the table and then struck it with the armored hammer as hard as he could swing it. The shard didn’t even bounce off the table. “What are you doing, Magic,” Al asked.
“I hope my most important feat of magic ever, Al.” Matt walked back over to his command chair and picked up the magic wand, went back to the table, gripped it, then stabbed it into the shard that instantly broke in half.
Melanie said, “Oh my ancient ancestors; what have you done?”
Matt was crying. He now knew why Angel had to die and he had been blind to it. He turned and embraced Melanie and said, “Thank you, Melanie; now I know why you’re here. Now I understand why I lost my love and I can finally find peace.”
As soon as Matt embraced Melanie, Tag and Danielle jumped straight up out of their chairs in Castle Gardner. “GREAT HOLY GROAD ON A GALLOPING HORSE!” Danielle shouted. “Who did that?”
“I don’t know but we need to find out, like right now,” Tag exclaimed!
“Sprig, what just happened?”
“I don’t know Your Majesty, but every psychic scanner we possess has just overloaded and exploded.”
Tag looked at Danielle and then thought, “Matt!”
Matt released Melanie, “Yes, Tag.”
“What has just happened?”
“I have found a way to kill the Eight Legs.”
Tag and Danielle were stunned and then excited. When did you discover that?”
“About two minutes ago, why?”
“What were you doing less than a minute ago?”
Melanie and Matt turned red and Matt said, “In my excitement at making the discovery I hugged Admiral Grace. Why do you ask?”
“Sprig, what should we do?”
Sprig thought, “Matt, I want you and Admiral Grace to avoid touching each other until I can get there. Do both of you understand?”
“We do, Sprig; what’s going on?”
“Matt, we have just recorded a psychic wave stronger than we’re capable of measuring. We honestly don’t know what it means but until we do we need to make sure it wasn’t the two of you that caused it. Please wait until I can build a new scanner and I’ll arrive right after it’s built.”
“We’ll do as you ask, Sprig.”
“You can tell him that you two caused it, Matt.”
“Why do you say that, Fly Girl?”
Because I am now telepathic and I am just outside your ship; I felt that wave as it went through me.”
Sprig thought, “I heard that. Now it’s even more important that you avoid any contact, even mental.”
“We will do as you ask; Melanie will you please go to Fly Girl?”
“Sprig, when you come, bring the green shards with you, please.”
“I will have them with me.”
Melanie disappeared from the bridge. “I felt it, too, Magic. What happened?”
“I have absolutely no idea, Al.”
“Did you feel anything?”
“Not really,” but Matt did feel something happen when he embraced Melanie.
Melanie appeared on Fly Girl’s bridge and fell into her command chair. “What happened to me? I feel…so… different.” She had entered Matt’s mind as soon as he touched her and she could see everything he was. She was greatly impressed with what she saw. She could sense something was happening to her senses but wasn’t sure what it was.
The Sensor Male jerked on his bed. The Ship’s Male looked at him, “What’s wrong?”
“I have just been hit by some kind of pulse.”
“What kind?”
“My instruments did not measure it. It did not exist in normal space but it passed faster than light speed. It registered for only a micro measure.”
“Could this possibly be evidence of the advanced life form the Nest Mother thinks is here?”
“I have nothing to make that decision. Nothing in our data banks resembles it.”
“Could it have been natural phenomena?”
“I have nothing to say either way, First Fang.”
“Notify me if you sense it agin.”
“I will.” The Sensor Male said, “I am also bothered by the lack of a sensor reading.”
The Ship’s Male said, “What is that?”
“I have been examining the information stored from the last harvest and I saw a planet that should have developed food in abundance.”
“What do you mean?”
“After we finished our harvest of a planet, we left numerous lower life forms that were not far from developing organized thought. I look at that system and I see no sign of a meal. I wonder what could have happened to it.”
“Perhaps the planet had a natural catastrophe?”
“Perhaps, it would have been an excellent meal.”
The Ship’s Male thought about what the Sensor Male said. It would be a waste of time to investigate a system that had no visible meal but he respected the observations of his sensor leader. “Where is our next harvest?”
“Not far from our current location.”
“Dispatch a transport to that world’s location to investigate. Give them the coordinates of our next harvest so they can join us after their investigation.”
“The transport has been notified and will be leaving at the conclusion of our meal.”
“It’s probably nothing,” The Ship’s Male thought, “but this makes three nothings that are out of the ordinary; the disappearance of the children, that odd wave, now this missing intelligent life. Something just doesn’t seem right.” He turned his focus back to the planet below and watched as his children devoured the inhabitants.
The Reg felt the wave pass their planet and one of the three looked at the other. “I see they have found the power unit.”
“I hope they can find what else they need, brother.”
“As we all hope, brother, as we all hope.”
“Sprig!”
“Yes, Twig.”
“One of the green transports has entered the Hugon system.”
Sprig immediately focused on the Hugon system and saw the hundred mile long ship sitting at the jump limit. As he watched, the ship remained stationary and then disappeared. “I fear they will be back.”
“Why did they come? Surly they didn’t sense any intelligent life.”
Sprig reflected a moment and said, “I suspect that planets they harvested during the last invasion that looked like good candidates for the future were planned to be revisited. I suspect that when the mother ship looks at this system and sees the planet is missing it will generate a visit. Make sure the adolescent is prepared to move the planet if I’m right and I’m not sure if we should replace it.”
“Why not, Love?”
“Because if they have records of the planet, they will know the replacement doesn’t match their records.”