Andrew Saxon - Finding keepers

The Algean said, “I am going to start, Your Majesty.”

“Please proceed, Sprig.”

Jake jumped straighter in his chair. “Was this the former King of the Stars Realm?”

Valerie saw him flinch and thought to him, “No, the Algean couple assigned to the castle staff always assumes the name of Sprig and Twig to honor them. The original is now the Elder leading the Algeans.”

Jake looked at Valerie and nodded.

Sprig indicated the other Algean and said, “We have the task of determining how the Searcher was detected by the creatures that destroyed her vessel. We know that no electronic scan would have uncovered the ship and it was also invisible; it bent light around itself. What we have come to consensus about is that the creatures could hear the thoughts the Searcher used to communicate with her ship.”

The room started buzzing, and the King looked at the group sternly and they quieted down. “Our spider friends will have more to say about these creatures, but we know they are telepathic. The white spikes on top of their heads are used to communicate, and we know that telepathy is not bound by the physical laws of the universe. Those who use it can send a thought to someone in another galaxy and be heard instantly. We believe that the ship holding station above the planet could hear thoughts coming from the moon, and was able to locate the place but not see what was causing them. We think that a call was made and three ships arrived to investigate. The three ships traveled in from the jump limit, indicating that the creatures have not discovered how to jump inside the limit.”

Elizabeth asked, “How did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“The Searcher was on the moon running scans for ten hours. That is exactly how far from the moon that the jump limit is located traveling at one-third light speed. We aren’t certain if their ships are faster than that or not, but it is a starting place for determining their capabilities. The three ships kept the moon between the Searcher and their path, making sure they were not detected visually. We are reasonably certain that they detected the Searcher’s thoughts as they approached the moon because they arrived in a perfect triangle above the Searcher.”

Twig pushed a button and a video of the three ships coming around the moon was shown on the room’s main viewing screen. “The Searcher panicked at this point and turned on her screens and weapon systems. This allowed the three ships to see her and they immediately opened fire and destroyed her ship.”

Admiral Zergl asked, “How did their beam get through our screens?”

Sprig turned and said, “I’m going to allow Einstein to answer that question.”

Einstein pushed his device and the video showed the Searcher’s ship start vibrating rapidly. The internal camera in the ship showed the Searcher shaking violently just before she pressed the self-destruct button. The video showed the Searcher turn to dust just before the blast. “The beam they used was not made by energy.”

Zergl watched the death of one of his sailors, and everyone could see the anger on his face, “Then what was it?”

“We believe that the ship was destroyed telepathically.”

The entire room started talking at once, “Impossible! How can that be? No way that could happen!” Einstein listened, and finally the King called for order. “We didn’t want to believe it either, but it is the only thing that makes sense. We all know that even if our ship’s screens are active we can still communicate telepathically to someone outside the ship. Can we all agree on that?”

Everyone looked at each other. Zergl said, “We’ve all seen what you’re describing.”

“We think that those white spikes on their heads are not only used to communicate, but they can also focus their thoughts into a beam that will destroy most any kind of matter. We also surmise that the ships must have a device that amplifies the beam to make it extremely potent. The thoughts used to produce this beam are not organized thoughts, but a kind of buzzing. Some insects are capable of producing noises that can be heard over very long distances. Perhaps this “telepathic noise” was once used to call a mate, but now it is deadly when amplified and will go through any screen used on our ships.”

Sprig asked, “What evidence do you have that suggests the beam is amplified?”

Einstein turned to Sprig, “I’ll show you more proof when we look at the planet, but I want you to notice that when the three ships rounded the moon all three turned the nose of their ships toward the Searcher’s location.” Einstein replayed the video, and they all saw the ships turn their nose toward the surface of the moon. “This indicates the nose of the ship is where the beam originates, and tells us that there must be a device that directs it located there.”

David said, “It would be a good idea to stay away from the bow of those ships.”

“Absolutely, Your Majesty. However, we don’t know the effective range of their beam. We think it is more than three hundred miles at full power.” This statement stunned the attendees, and the room was silent.

Valerie asked, “How did you arrive at that distance?”

“I’m going to ask Newton to answer that question, Your Highness, but first I would like Edison to tell you what we discovered about the colonies on the planet.” Valerie nodded at Edison.

Edison started the video and it began showing views of the three colonies on the planet’s surface. Edison narrated what they were seeing, “These three colonies are made up of three races from the Stars Realm; Human, Glod, and Cainth. They were aboard a colony ship that left our universe more than two thousand years ago, and this planet is where their trip ended. Notice the huge colony ship just outside the valley where these colonies are situated.”

The view of the ship grew, and everyone could see a huge piece of the stern missing. “This ship was forced down to the planet’s surface and the colonists were placed in the three communities. We have learned several things from the Searchers scans of these colonies. First, each of the colonies has exactly 300,000 colonists. Second, every one of the colonists is younger than forty years old. Third, the colonists grow their own food and their primary occupation is farming the land around their community. Fourth, every colonist has a band on their left arm with an orange colored light on it. Fifth, when a new child is born, it appears the oldest colonist is taken from the community by these creatures. Sometimes the creatures will wait until several children have been born to gather up the older colonists. I am going to show you a video of that actually taking place at the Human colony.”

Jake watched as everyone in the meeting saw the colonists gathered and then shot on the conveyer belt. He saw the extreme distaste the attendees had for how the Humans were treated.

Edison continued, “I am going to zoom in on the creature that shot the Humans. I want you to watch the spikes on top of its head and the device he uses to shoot them.”

The creature took the device and pointed it at the six colonists. The white spikes on top of the creature’s head started moving very rapidly as the creature activated the device. “Notice that nothing happened to the Humans even though the creature’s spikes were moving rapidly. It was when the device was activated that the damage was done. We see this as supporting the theory that their thoughts are amplified by this device. The Searcher’s scan revealed that all six colonists were still breathing but all of their higher brain functions had been damaged beyond repair.”

“These creatures are using the colonies on that planet as a food source. Those six Humans were sent into that building to be processed and shipped out on the vessel orbiting the planet. They were still alive so they would be, excuse this term, fresh on arrival at their destination. The ship must arrive when the creatures have collected enough colonists to send to their home worlds. We also know that millions of planets in that universe are exactly like the one you’re seeing; small communities with identical populations all farming to feed themselves. These creatures are harvesting all intelligent life in that universe and are thereby controlling any threat that they may become if they were allowed to evolve naturally.”