Legacy of the Guardians
by AJ Marks
Part 12
Randall made his way into the Council room, wondering what happened now. He got the request from the president of a special meeting. There was no news from the Skartians, at least that he knew of, so he guessed he would have to wait and see.
“Kinser, you know what’s going on?” Randall asked, seeing the Ilderian ambassador as he sat down.
“No I do not,’ Kinser replied. “I thought you might know something, as you are closest to the Skartians, even though you are at war with them.”
“They’ve been quiet lately, but we’re keeping up our defenses, can’t be too careful,” Randall replied to Kinser. It seemed that neither of them knew what the meeting had been called for. Randall hoped the meeting had nothing to do with the Skartians. With a declaration of war between the two races any military build-up would be meaningless, and expected.
They did not have to wait too long when the President made his way into the chamber, looking rattled. Randall wondered what happened to cause such a calm person such a reaction.
“Wonder what has him worried?” Randall whispered to Kinser.
“Don’t know, but whatever it is, he is worried,” Kinser said. “I know that his race is one of the older races still around.”
Randall agreed with Kinser. Only a few races were as old as the President’s race, which was over a million years. Randall glanced around looking at the older races, who also had a strange look.
“Something strange is going on Kinser, the older races all look worried about something,” Randall said to his friend.
“Guess we’ll find out Ran Dall,” Kinser replied, as the President reached the podium.
“Selected delegates of the council, I have some disturbing news to tell all of you,” the President said to them. “Many of you know of an ancient world, a planet called Tagad, others call it Alpha-X-5, or the mysterious planet of the universe. Not long ago a few of our ships registered an enormous power reading coming from that system. Together with a few other races we investigated the event. We found that the something had destroyed, not only the planet, but the entire system, including the sun.”
Randall stared at the President in shock. He knew of nothing that had that much power. Blowing up a planet too tremendous power, but to destroy a star, beyond what he could comprehend.
“At first our scouts thought that they were in the wrong area, but after careful calculations they determined that the system was gone,” the President continued on saying. “Not only were the planets and sun gone, but all traces of the system.”
Randall knew of no race with such technology, or motive to do something.
“You think the Skartians have anything to do with this?” Kinser asked, worried.
“My gut tells me no, its not related, but that its important,” Randall replied. “If it is the Skartians testing a new weapon, then they have developed a weapon unlike any in the universe.”
“Does anyone have any knowledge of how this might have happened?” the President asked the group.
“Could it have been the lost inhabitants of the system, finally coming back and not wanting anyone to discover their technology,” one ambassador said.
“That was a theory we thought of, but with no proof, we also sent a science team in, they discovered no power sources, fluctuations or rips in time,” the President said.
“Is there anyone who has the knowledge to do this? A race not part of the Council?” Randall asked. He watched as the President hesitated before replying.
“None that we know of, of course there are always legends and such,” the President said. They all knew about such legends, of powerful ancient races, but no real proof they ever existed. “Does anyone have any additional information?”
The question was met with silence.
“Until we discover who did this, I suggest you all warn your governments,” the President stated. Randall had to agree.
*****
Steve walked back to his office after stopping by the cafeteria for a sandwich. He had a few things to take care of before he reported back to Jack. The Seydlitz was about to join Fleet R, and he wanted to make sure he had all the information before informing Jack of that. He entered his office when his secretary stopped him.
“Sir, you had a call from Ambassador Randall, he wants you to call him back, urgent,” she said to him.
“Okay, thanks Marcy,” Steve said, proceeding into his office. He wondered what Randall wanted, and that it was urgent. He dialed the phone waiting to see Randall on the screen.
“Steve, was hoping you’d call soon,’ Randall said, answering the phone.
“Got a message that you wanted to talk to me?” Randall said.
“Yeah, you ever hear of the planet Tagad?” Randall asked, surprising Steve a bit.
“Yeah, that’s the universe’s equivalent of the lost continent of Atlantis, only in this place we have a location, but nothing about the race,” Steve said recalling the planet in question. “We’ve got a vessel that is scheduled to explore that planet next year.”
“Well, cancel it,” Randall said. “The planet’s no longer there.”
“Someone blew it up?” Steve asked stunned.
“Yep, not only the planet, but all the other planets, the sun the entire system,” Randall said. “It’s like there is no system at all, not even debris according to the report.”
“Any idea as to who’s behind it?” Steve asked, concerned that maybe the Skartians had developed something so deadly.
“No, and the older races all looked rattled. Something’s going on, and whatever it is, its big,” Randall said.
“What do you think?” Steve asked.
“My gut tells me that the Skartians are not involved, but with everything going on, can’t rule it out either,” Randall replied.
“Well, I’ll let Jack know about this, he’ll probably e worried about this as well,” Steve said.
“Yeah, though so, wanted to give you a warning, about this,” Randall said.
“All right, thanks,” Steve said, ending the call, and making his way past Marcy and to Jack’s office. The information he received concerned him, yet the power Randall said was required seemed beyond even what the Skartians could produce.
He walked right into Jack’s office without even knocking watching Jack look up at him.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, as Steve closed the door once more.
“There could be a problem, maybe, don’t’ know,’ Steve said to him. “Got off the phone with Randall, and there is a dangerous new player out in the universe, either that or the Skartians just became the most dangerous race in the universe, though I hope not.”
“What happened?” Jack asked, now very interested in what Steve had to say.
“Seems the Randall was informed that the planet Tagad, and its entire system are gone,” Steve said. “Everything, destroyed, planets, sun, everything.”
“Let me guess, we have no idea who was behind it,” Jack said, as Steve nodded his head yes. “That’s what I thought. You think the Skartians are involved?”
“If they are, they’ve developed a weapon of unknown destructive ability,” Steve said.
“And what better place to test it than a deserted planet,” Jack said.
“They could have picked a better spot though, or they were going for shock value, but I’d think they want people to know,” Steve said, thinking outloud at the possibilities.
“Send a warning to all patrols, and warn them about this new destructive possibility,” Jack said. “So they are to be careful in engaging any unknown vessels.”
“On it, anything else?” Steve asked.
“Can’t think of anything else,” Jack replied. “Any word on the status of the Seydlitz?”
“Not yet, but we have the funds to construct a sister ship now,” Steve said, knowing that Jack would love that news.
“Great, maybe go with eth old German battlecruiser names, the Goeben, or something like that,” Jack said.
“Might work,” Steve said, “I’ll look into it. Kind of different than using city names.”
They both nodded, knowing that most battlecruisers were named after towns, but sometimes a break was nice. The Seydlitz was actually the first not named after a town. The carriers were named after battles that had happened on Earth. The latest carrier was named Pluto, after the engagement there, one of the first human victories in space.
“Well,” Jack said as Steve started to leave, “let me know if anything else comes up.”
With that Steve walked out of the office and towards the command center to send out the information to all commands.
*****
Ahmed stretched his muscles, at least as much as possible considering the restraints. Ever since his captors told him they had his parents, he had not heard from them. Aside from the frightened woman who came in with some sparse food and water, he had seen no one. He knew she was only following orders, and felt a bit sorry for her.
He had been tempted to call in the rescue force, but the thought of being able to leave kept him from being terrorized by the group. He had no idea if they had managed to get his parents or not, and hoped the Special Forces team beat the terrorists to their house. He thought about bluffing, and see if that might get someone higher up to see him.
Perhaps the top person might come and see him, especially if he thought Ahmed was part of a bigger, secret group. However, if that person was a Skartian, then things might bet ugly for him. They might know who he was. A fine line he had to walk, and he had to make it seem like he worked for the US military, or some other secret organization for some country.
He thought about the lies that the Skartian probably told his brother. A common theme they all told. One group of people was stronger, faster, and mentally and physically better than any other group. It was the first stage of their plans. From there they would divide and conquer, a similar way to how they started World War Two. It appeared this time they were using the religion of Islam as their way to divide the world. They put Islam against both Christians and the Jews, inflaming the hatred.
Ahmed silently laughed at that thought. The idiots believing this stupidity from the Skartians. Religion was a small part of a wider universe humanity was already a part of. The things that divided them only served to make the Skartians stronger.
He was still devoutly religious, but when a person is light years away from Earth, fighting a race that wishes to destroy all of humanity, piety difference mean little. A lesson Ahmed learned early on when fighting the Skartians. Every race had different religions, if you could not accept others then you were doomed to be alone.
The door opened and he looked up to see who might be coming in. Too early for the girl with food and water. He noticed four people enter the room, one being his brother.
“Well dear brother, I see they are treating you well, perhaps too well,” his brother said, sneering at him. Ahmed made a guess, their parents were already gone.
“What’s the matter little brother, our parents already gone?” he asked, seeing that his guess was correct by the reaction they all gave.
“I’d be careful if I were you brother. You’re treading on soft sand, and you could sand.”
“Perhaps, but the agency I work for already knows where I am, and they are monitoring me. They are a very powerful group,” Ahmed said. “I’ll say it again, my message is for the top dog, not these lap dogs you keep bringing in.”
He watched the others react to his insult.
“Enough of this,” one said, stepping forward. Ahmed looked at the group, seeing the same man as before, who he knew was a Skartian.
One of the men appeared to be a bodyguard for the Skartian, the other man he had not seen before, and could be a higher ranking person in the terrorist cell. Ahmed had no way of knowing though.
“You will tell us what you have to say,” the man said, standing over Ahmed, trying for a dominating position. Against others it might be effective, but the tactic did not work well against a person who had seen as much as Ahmed.
“And you are?” Ahmed asked, an almost bored tone in his voice.
“Someone who could have you killed with a mere word,” the man replied threateningly. “Now tell me!” he screamed.
“And I can have you killed,” Ahmed replied calmly, shocking the men in the room, more with the calmness he spoke the words than what he actually said.
“Then you’re delusional,” the man said, as his brother started laughing.
“No, I’m not,” Ahmed said with deadly seriousness in his voice. He stared down the man talking to him. “You’d be wise to let me talk to your head man. My people are only sending one person, and if I fail, they will not hesitate to attack you directly. If they do, no one will survive. This is your one chance to live.”
“And why should we be afraid of you or this ‘group’ that you speak of?” the Skartian asked.
“Because, they managed to rescue my parents, who are already out of the country,” Ahmed said with assurance in his voice. “They have eyes everywhere.”
“And what if I sad we have your parents,” the other human said.
“Then I’d say you’re lying. If you did, you’d have shown me already,” Ahmed said, guessing about the situation.
“Hmm, it was a pity they did,” the man said without emotion. The bodyguard came up and force Ahmed to stand.
“So, is this regular treatment for your guests?” Ahmed asked, receiving a blow to the stomach, and quickly pulled back up.
“Tough guy, well, we have ways to deal with you,” the man said, even as the two continued to stare at each other.
Now that they were so close Ahmed had no problem determining the man was another Skartian. It confirmed the intel of more than one Skartian on Earth. His heart fell at that bit of news. He would have to wait until he had more of them in one place, to try and capture or kill as many possible.
“Well, just to let you know,” the second Skartian said, forcing Ahmed’s attention back to him, “we have some very powerful allies as well.”
Ahmed watched him smile, but the statement shocked Ahmed a bit. Did he mean the Skartians, or some other race? He barely saw the blow that knocked him out.
“Take him and put him in the truck, we’ll have him see the big guy, then see what he has to say, then kill him,” the first Skartian said to the other two. They picked up Ahmed and dragged him to the truck.
Ahmed’s brother looked down at him, wondering what exactly his brother got himself into, and hat group did he honestly think he was a part of. True, their parents had been removed before their group got there, and in the battle that followed two men had been knocked out.
The leaders even issued an alert for anyone at the airports. So if they got out of the country, is was not through normal routes. A small part of him felt relieved his parents did escape.
Helping put his brother in the back of the pick-up, he was told to get in to see the leader.
End part 12
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