The G.O.D.

Project: The Coming Battle

Book 7

Author: John Darts

Final Edit 7/25/2008

The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the
impossible.
- Arthur C. Clarke

Copyright © 2008 by: John Darts

This may not be used, copied or distributed with out the direct permission of John Darts
by any means. This is the sole property of the writer and any rights may only be
transferred by written agreement signed by him.

johndarts42@yahoo.com
Chapter 1

Alpha and Destiny

The planet was celebrating an anniversary of its beginning. This brought many people to
the home planet for the many activities. When events like this come along they are
scheduled over many days and often weeks. For Alpha the events were to cover a full
thirteen weeks. Alpha one had now existed for its first two hundred years. Other Alpha
planets were at least one hundred now as well.

The brain trust had their monthly meeting in the chamber on Ned’s world. This group of
John, Simon, Ned and Valerie were looking at how each leader could help support the
Alpha celebration.

“You know I just have a bad feeling about the coming celebrations. We have been very
fortunate as a planet, planet group and leading this universe. But I have never had the
feelings I do now.” John was very uneasy about the events to come.

“What is it about the plans or events that worry you?” Simon could see the deep lines of
concern in John’s face.

“We have millions of people coming for different events from many planets. Mostly they
will be from our own universe. Many of these have had long term grudges with us. This
includes fractions on the Earth planets and the NOVA planets. With the crowds there is no
way to screen everyone coming. There have been a couple of incidents where weapons
have gone missing. One was a break in of a police station and the other a locker in a
security force building. In all one hundred weapons are missing. My people no longer
have personal force field protection, as it just was no longer needed by all. That opens up
the possibility of people being hurt or even killed at some event or more.”

“Can the events be where you can scan all entering them?” Ned was practical in how he
saw things.

“No way that can happen in many places. We can watch the transport plates, but someone
coming in from another area not using a plate would never be picked up. Many of these
events will have several million people or more.”

That meant no real crowd control they could see. “Let me discuss this with Joseph and
see what he thinks. He has a knack for seeing issues of danger. It was him that saw the
attempt on me coming.” Valerie had committed not to discuss his real skills.

“As bad as my gut feels I would appreciate any possible help. Have him get with James
and he will provide what every data he would like to see.” John knew he was grasping at
straws.

The meeting this day was a short one and each leader headed back home.
Valerie called Joseph to her office. “Well wife that was not the normal long meeting for
you. Most of these meetings last for hours.”

“I have a request to make and then you need to make the decision. John has great worries
about the events coming to celebrate the second centennial of Alpha one. They had over
one hundred weapons stolen over the last few weeks. His citizens like here wear no
personal force fields. So I offered to ask you if you would check out the plans and see if
you saw any issues.”

“They don’t know more than that?”

“No you asked me to say nothing to them and I have honored that.”

“How would I get the plans and information to see and check out?”

“John said James would provide you with anything you needed.”

This he turned over for a time and considered the odds of his seeing anything. “I will talk
with James, but cannot act on my own without approval. So let me walk and see if
approval is possible?”

He walked along the lake and was well out in the woods. Sitting on a large stone poking
up from the ground he just watched the water. Slowly a bright glow came to rest beside
him.

“You look very worried Joseph.”

“Valerie has asked me to look at the events that will happen on Alpha. She honored her
word to me and told the other leaders nothing about me or you.”

“Yes I did see that and was pleased. But for me John, Simon, Ned and Gorm are not a
problem. If you wish they may know. I do expect evil to show its face there. That is far to
good a chance to miss. The fact that all planets will see events on Alpha means good
exposure for any action. Evil always likes the masses to see the results. Fear is one of its
tools and used where ever possible.”

“Then I will go and sit down with James and review the plans. I have no idea what can be
learned from them. But once I see them I will walk the different sites I have bad feelings
about. That may allow me insight as to if Evil has been there.”

“My only suggestion my son is to allow your own feelings to flow. If you see the events
to come let them flow over you. Once you understand what is to come then you can plan
for a defense. But I would think the biggest problems would come from events held by
other planets on Alpha. Those planets are moving decorations and supplying the people to
run the event. There could be more weapons getting in than John or James can see.” The
light disappeared then.

Joseph told Valerie he would be gone for a few days this time. But if he saw problems he
would be going back for a few weeks. That she could live with, as John had done so
much for her.

The first day on Alpha Joseph just walked around and watched the people. He wanted a
real feel for them and their ways. For him noting the small things was an important key to
evaluating things. Here he was pleased to find it very much like home and the people
measured out the same way.

James office was a busy place and he was stopped often asking if he could be helped.
People here watched him and he saw they would not miss much. Once this was done he
headed to James’s office.

“Welcome Joseph I hope you enjoyed your tour of the building.”

Once more this told him how people communicated here. “It is always nice to see an
efficient operation. I wondered if my being here would be reported to you.”

“Many come here, but if they wonder around I know about it. Now I have prepared a
complete briefing package for you. Every event is noted, where they will be held and
who is sponsoring the event. Lists of people who will run the events and copies of checks
we ran on them.”

“That will be nice, but I need to see the sites. Each will be walked and every possible
location for trouble looked at. I see no reason to expect any problem right now from your
own people. My main concern is those coming in for events from other planets.”

“I can see that and we also have been looking there. But with over two hundred million
people expected for all of these events there is no way to check them all.”

“My instincts say it will be last minute visitors you need to worry about. Possibly people
who are replaced for running an event could be a problem. For me evil is always in those
who show the least of their hand. Those who book rooms or camping sites will not be the
ones to worry about. They are showing you too much to early. The last minute visitor or
replacements for staff is a big concern.”

This was a different way to see this. “We try to at least take a peek at everyone. But your
suggestion is valid and we will look deeper at those people.”

“Understand this is all guesswork and hunches on my part. But I would expect any
possible trouble to come from off the planet, from replacement staff or those last minute
visitors. It might not even come from the event they are connected to. They could just
wait and hit the next event if there is an axe to grind with that planet as well.”
“Now no one here has even come up with that possibility. But I can see the logic in it.”

“You and I operate in two different ways James. Your people are trained to find bits and
pieces and fit them together. I don’t work that way. For me the force of evil is something
I physically can feel. In that I may not know exactly how something will happen, but I
will know where. It is very strange to deal with and most would just write it off. But
sitting at home I saw Valerie and I killed sitting on the patio. I knew that it would be a
good size group of people there to do it. My gut told me close to when it would happen.
Now none of that would or could have been acted on by our security service.”

This was now feeling a little spooky to James. “I talked with Alyssa and she told me how
that went down. She even told me that each injured person had lost their force field
before being shot. Now I have never seen one of them fail before. So I am not asking
questions here and am just willing to help you do what you do. It is not even my business
how that happens. But if you give me a warning I will respond to it the way you suggest.”

“That is all I can ask for James. Now I need to read this information and tour each event
site. Hopefully maps that are detailed are included with this package.”

“I gave you satellite views of each site. The area is marked out exactly where people will
be for it. But you have a mile beyond that area that you can see.”

The two men shook hands and Joseph walked to the park and sat under a tree. This was a
nice way to relax and read. A small stream was close by and the sound was pleasing. He
read for a couple hours and saw many sites he did not care for. Those in the city were his
least problem, it was the ones in the country that worried him.

Joseph caught a shadow moving and looked up. “I am glad to see you John.”

The two men shook hands and both rings glowed. “I am not sure what that means?” John
looked confused.

“Think a minute and it will come to you.”

Then a smile burst on to John’s face. “Is that really true Joseph?”

“Yes and that should not be made public. Only you and Valerie know about where I came
from. She told me of your worries and asked me to come and see what I might be able to
do. The task was blessed by our father and here I am.”

“Your help and his is much appreciated by me.” John sat on the ground with Joseph.

“I see much that concerns me. Where your people look for facts I look for the feel of evil.
A few suggestions were made to James and he is following them up. But with the trillions
of humans watching these events, it is far to good a stage for evil to miss.”
“Do you need any help that I could provide?”

“You have one man here I have been told to trust completely. So if Edgar could come
with me I would appreciate it. You may explain to him who and what I am. But he is to
be bound to never repeating it.”

“I assure you he would never do that.”

“That is what I was told. We have a very busy schedule to get to all the sites I have
picked to look at. It would be wise to camp out as we move site to site. So if we could
have a couple of robots to handle cooking and moving the camp and horses it would help.
They can look for hidden shooting sites during the day for me. I need to see if any tree
branches have been cut or good fields of fire positions placed. They will look for any
places that have soil disturbed as well.”

“Do you need a complete scan of these areas for possible underground hiding areas?”

“That would be nice, but I could not ask James for them. I am sure he thinks I am odd
enough, with my looking for the feeling of evil. I don’t see things as he does. For me I get
insights of what will happen at that location. It is almost like walking forward in time.”

That John could not understand, but he did accept it. “Everything will be set up and
Edgar will meet you for breakfast in the morning. I will have the robots with the gear you
need ready to go when you leave the hotel.” John got up and left Joseph to finish his
reading.

The next morning he came down to eat and Edgar was waiting for him. He was tall and
lean and looked very fit. “Welcome to our future hunt Edgar.”

“I am not sure what I can do for you, but am willing to try.”

“First of all expect nothing and just stay open to feelings. Any small twinge or bad
feeling I need to know about. If you think you saw something then tell me and don’t hold
back. A place where evil will happen or has happened has its own feel. You may be
walking and suddenly feel cold. Stop and call me.”

This Edgar could do and he would stay open minded. “OK I can do that. Now I
understand we are camping out?”

“Yes there are places I want to feel the night. I am sure you know that evil lurks at night.”

“That I am very familiar with. Most major crimes against people on the old Earth
happened at night.”
“Much good happens at night as well. But it covers much for evil and that is where you
will find it most comfortable. At night I need to know any dreams you might have.” That
finished the instructions.
Chapter 2

The Camping Trip

The first site Joseph had picked was a large grassy meadow. Grass had been cut to create
an open area for the people. He started the robots checking the tree lines and looking for
any human changes. He and Edgar walked the two square miles of land and felt nothing.

That night they sat at a camp table and ate dinner. Edgar had enjoyed this day with Joseph
and liked the man a lot. He never said much and was always looking around. The way he
moved was like a creature closing in on prey. But there was nothing he could see here.

“Is this one checked off your list now?”

“No not until tomorrow morning. There are no great hiding places here, but expect evil to
do the unexpected. I have two caves we need to check out tomorrow, as John sent me the
scans he did for me.”

“Do we need to post a guard for the night?”

“No we are safe and don’t worry about that. As long as your with me nothing can happen
to you.”

Edgar did not push to know more. They slept well that night and had a good breakfast.
One of the robots had caught a couple of trout and with fried fish, eggs and biscuits they
had a good breakfast.

At the first of the two caves you could see it was not usable. Most of the tunnel was filled
with dirt. The second was very big and deep as well. But no human had been in here
before. Many animals had used it and here Joseph placed a small disc at the opening.

“What is the disc for?”

“If evil walks in here it will explode and send them in a bright flash to the dark universe.
I cannot be everyplace all the time. So I have a few tools to help me.”

They finished for the day there and the camp had been moved for them. The next place
was a real worry to Joseph. Here hills and trees surrounded the grounds. The area was
almost a bowl and there were many hiding places.

As they sat and ate lunch Edgar did not like this place. “I can say I really don’t like this
place.”

“I knew you would have the feeling Edgar. This is not a good place for humans. But what
happened here was many years ago and involved animals. The way the ground has sunk
tells me that once this was a steam vent for the planet. That is called a caldera after the
fact. It blew and much animal life was lost here. For me it has a heavy feeling to the air.
But the vent has long since sealed. If we dug down a few feet you would find bones in the
ground. It does not matter if it was humans or animals that died in a place they were all
the Creators life forms. That feeling stays with the land.”

This helped Edgar to understand what Joseph was looking for. “How do you know the
history?”

“I know every event where life was lost on each planet. Not to the level of a single
animal, but where larger events happened. They just come into my mind and I
understand.”

They spent the rest of the day walking and looking. The robots were very busy and dinner
was later that night. The sounds of the night were peaceful and relaxing to both men.

On the next day they started where they had left off. There was much ground to cover and
it took time here. Several caves where checked out and deemed to be no problem. A
couple of trees had been worked on, but did not create a field of fire. It looked like dead
branches had been cut for firewood.

They spent one more night here and enjoyed the peace. That next day the camp was
moved to a mountain area. The air was thin and it took time to adjust. Being up just over
a mile was very different for both men. But they started to walk the site.

Edgar was enjoying this time with Joseph and the discussions at night. He learned much
that he had missed in his readings. The fact that he was treated as an equal made him feel
good.

Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. “Joseph please come here.”

He walked over and felt what he knew Edgar did. Then he sat down and went into a
trance as far as Edgar could tell. He sat there a good hour before opening his eyes. “This
is where at least one attack will come.”

“You expect more than one?”

“Oh yes it is a very big stage and evil will try to take many chances. Here I can see
hundreds dying, so we need to see how this will happen.”

They spent the rest of that day walking the entire area. Just the one cold spot was found.
With robots working the mountainsides they would need a few days here. This would be
a camping site for many who came to this event. The spot Edgar had felt was in the
middle of that camping area.
The two men discussed how an attack could happen. Edgar suggested a possible
avalanche off the top of the mountain. This one always had snow at the top as well as a
glacier lower down. They walked the area up the mountain above the campground. After
getting to the glacier they found it held back millions of gallons of water. In summer the
ice melted enough to replace the water lost all year to the mountain steam. If the dam of
ice were taken out all of that water would come flying down the mountain. It would push
rocks, mud and trees with it. If done at night when people were asleep hundreds of
thousands could die.

“How in the world do we stop this from happening?” Edgar could not see how to do this.

“Both the ice and water are a risk to the people. If enough ice broke away it also would
start rock and trees going down the mountain. The water is just lubricant for the rest. But
if James erected a force field across this area he could protect the campsites. He would
need troops up here during the event to assure they caught those making the attempt. But
there is lots of cover here and a trap could be set.”

As they headed back down Edgar asked James to come see them. When they returned to
camp James was waiting. “OK my friends what did you two find?”

Once Edgar showed him the problem and risks he was shocked. “How did we miss it?”

“The water does not really show James. It sits in the many cracks of the glacier and feeds
down to the small streams. But each of those cracks connect and that makes for a lake. I
saw several places where cores had been drilled from the ice. My best guess is your
people did not do that?”

“No we had no reason to drill the ice. But this really worries me now, how many other
things have we missed?”

“You did not miss it, as Edgar was the one who found the feeling of evil here. After his
training time with me use him, as he will give you something you have never had. He has
the gift of feel and will learn the rest. When I asked how this could be done he suggested
avalanche. So this find was his as we followed his feelings.”

James was impressed with both men. “You both have shown me facts are not everything.
There is a time for feelings to be checked out as well.”

“Please let John know of Edgar’s find here. This just proves my knowledge that evil can
be felt. When Edgar was walking the land he stopped, as he felt very cold. It was a nice
warm day so it was not something to expect. Now that I know where his skill level is, I
will show him how to expand it.”

James left to set up for the force field and troops. He checked in with John and told the
story. “James if Joseph tells you something take it to the bank. Once he is done with
Edgar you can do the same. That man has skills we will never understand. But they are
skills and not some fluff. It is not science, but it is real.”

“I am a believer. He even showed me where cores had been taken from the ice. We did
not do that, so someone else had to. But I could not see how anyone could have survived
that?”

“You have had people coming from many planets to set up for events. Just how hard
would it be to slip off and drill a few cores to test the ice? I am sure the one who did it
was just told it was for safety for the event.”

“Knowing the hardness of the ice in summer would tell them how much blasting medium
was needed. They also would know how far in to drill.”

“I just count us lucky that this one was found. The amount of people who could have
been killed just is beyond belief. That event was three days long and on any given night
better than one million people could have been there sleeping.”

“After checking the scans you did for Joseph, not one would have escaped. The entire
glacier is over the one site. That does not count the flooding down river from this.”

That night over dinner Joseph explained why he sat down right there and meditated. How
knowledge would flow as Edgar needed it. There was nothing mystical about clearing
your mind and focusing on one thing. The trick was to do it long enough for information
to flow in. You could not be distracted by anything.

Edgar walked over to the spot that still felt cold. He sat and started to focus as he had
many years ago as a priest. After about forty-five minutes he got up and came back to the
table. “You right and it did flow. But I saw a young girl doing the boreholes. She had a
hand machine to break the cores and tell her the PSI required to do that.”

“You saw more than I did Edgar. But that is not unusual. Some days I see more and
others less. But with the two of us we have a very good chance to see what we must have.
Don’t feel odd if tonight you dream about this as well and see even more.”

“I have never understood the dreams?”

“It is the easy way for the Creator to talk with you. It uses the least of his power to
communicate that way. Every action he takes uses power or energy. That for a time with a
large demand weakens him. Communication by the stones leaves him weakened for days.
But he still does have much power even then.”

That night when they slept Edgar did see more. It was close to a nightmare. But he did
not wake up and saw it all.
He and Joseph discussed it the next day. “Look the way I explained this to John was it
was like traveling forward in time. You saw what was possible and not what will happen
now. Your abilities have altered the future. So that future had to play out in a nether
world. It would be a nightmare if you could not stop it in this world.”

They moved the camp and now were in a river valley. The river bifurcated the valley in
two almost equal pieces. A ridge was well back from each side of the river. The land to be
used for the event was flat and had few trees close to it. They both walked this site for
hours and found nothing.

Discussing it Edgar felt that it would be hard to attack people here. Joseph was not so
sure yet. He wanted to climb the ridge and see what could be from there. He was less
worried about the side with water between them. The river was really deep here.

After two horses were sent for them they saddled up and headed for the ridge. The ride
was nice and they had taken lunch and water with them. They rode the top of the ridge
and saw a very large heard of buffalo. There must have been one hundred thousand. The
heard was close to the opening into the valley. This did not feel good to Joseph.

He sat on his horse and closed his eyes. The time passed as Edgar did the same.

“I cannot say for sure if this is natural or planned. But I have bad feelings about this
quantity of animals so close to the valley opening. It may be natural, but is an opening for
disaster.” Joseph was now sure this could be a problem.

“There is no way I would disagree. If I had to guess the heard uses the grass in the valley
often. If you get these large beasts running nothing could stop them.”

James was once more called to the new camp. “What have my two secret agents found
now?”

“I am not sure it is a problem James. But I really don’t like seeing that heard of buffalo
sitting so close to this valley. There must be one hundred thousand of them and if
spooked they would be like a steam roller coming down the valley.”

“They were far from here a month ago. The heard does not normally travel that quickly.
By rights they should be miles from here still. This event is just a couple of weeks away.”

“Something then had to push them to get here. They would not have done it without that.
This valley is where they winter. Machines had to be run over the valley to clean up the
dung deposited here. I agree they are not safe where they are and we will move them. My
gut says this was another disaster that would look like a natural disaster. It would seem
like we did not know our own planet.”

“I cannot and will not say this was planned. But I really did not like what I saw.”
James went back to get his security people to come and move the heard. It would be
moved a good fifty miles away from the event. But to be safe he would install laser
fences at each end of the valley for the time of the event.

The two men then went to a site by the ocean. That day they just sat and looked over the
site plans. This area was protected from the ocean by a string of islands off shore.
Weather maps were studied and the satellite scans. Neither man could see any possible
way for disaster to come from the ocean. But both men had come to the conclusion the
attacks were to appear as natural disasters.

Joseph got into his swim fins and went into the water. He swam the beach area and saw
nothing that worried him. A couple of dolphins swam with him and he conversed with
them. Then they went off and checking the bottom for him. They returned and let him
know the bottom was littered with animal carcasses and they were weighted down.
Sharks by the thousands were headed this way.

Once more James was summoned. “Look I am sorry to keep calling you, but you have
problems here as well. You have had someone plant many animal carcasses under water
off shore. Your going to have thousands of sharks here soon. Once the food on the bottom
is gone people will become their food supply.”

“I now don’t see any to quickly clean the bottom up. But we did have an alternate site if
needed for weather.”

“That site is not protected and open to massive wave actions. A simple slide of
underwater shelf would create a wave so large as to wash everyone out to sea. If not to
cause death by drowning. I see this trick with the sharks to force you to move the
location. Now sharks are sensitive to electrical currents. If you set up an area where you
had electrical energy feeding into the water they would stay away. Or install a force field
well out from the beach. But then you will need to check the area inside it to be sure you
have no sharks.”

“I have a couple ways of making this happen. So we will take care of this area. But once
more my people would never have seen this. If we did the event would have been moved
and not fixed here.”

Edgar was not sure he should say what was on his mind. But decided to jump off the
bridge. “Look James the people behind the three possible disasters knew far to much
about locations. They had things pretty well timed for disasters. Now I don’t know how
many people know about these sites. But it seems your enemies do. Two of these have
been Alpha sites and no one off Alpha should have had the data. Yet it seems someone
did. Now for the animal bodies to be weighted down and dropped it had to be done by a
boat. That would be a very good sized one as well. We are talking hundreds of them
down there.”
James got Edgar’s point. “Yes we have a leak someplace. Event organizers did not know
the safety concerns we had. They had simple maps of the exact event area. It was there
jobs just to set up and run the events. We told them how much room they had and they
decided how to use it. But most have never been to the sites. So if there is a leak it has to
be in my department. Now that I have three sites I can look for who has looked at the data
for each one. If prints were made of maps and copies of safety plans that I need to know.
I also need to know what other sites have been looked at by them. But I am going to have
just Hope doing this digging.”

“That is wise James as she will not let the secret get out. I am sure the actions we have
taken would cause them to go back and look once more.” People would want to know
how something was found Joseph knew.

“Yours or Edgar’s name never shows on any file. Your in my personal files but just John,
Jack or I can access them.”

“You can be sure someone is looking to see who is causing these problems. I would guess
your leak is in this for the money. They likely are big spenders and are single.”

“I was considering running a search for someone spending far more than they made. My
big problem is we have many trainees working and learning before going home. Many
parents supply them extra money while they are here.”

Edgar knew how to handle this. “If that is the case then the money will be direct
transferred from the parents bank account. Look for any other accounts providing funds.”

“It is your banking system Edgar, so you do the money search.”

Edgar got on his communicator and told Hope what he wanted. She was instructed to
give the answers to James. “Now you will have a report on just your machine when you
get back.”

The two men did not even bother to stay here they headed to resort island. This was a
very nice place and they did not camp here. The cottage at the end of the island was theirs
for the time they would be here. The robots headed for their next campsite.

Having hot showers and clean clothing was a nice break. They sat that night and drank
wine and watched the moons come up. It was unusual for Joseph as Eden had just one
moon. But he enjoyed the brightness of the night.

“Lets do a little traveling tonight. There are just a few places I would like to see here.”

Edgar was game to follow him anyplace anytime. “Fine by me what are we going to look
at?”
“This island will have the very first event next week. Here many leaders of planets and
the universe will show up for a dinner and entertainment. My own wife will be here and I
want to see the area where the event will be held. It is going to be at night, so that is the
way I want to see it.”

“My wife and I will be here as will all the board.”

“Lets go night staking then and see what someone might see.”

They headed to the hotel and off to the large gardens where the reception would be held.
The perimeter was heavily forested and a jungle. Each man moved through this like a
shadow. Both knew just how to move and not be seen. Joseph was curious about several
places that would make very good shooting positions. He would lie down and check
exactly what could be seen from it. Three were places where the entire garden could be
seen. At each position he buried one of his discs.

“No one has yet been here to check this out. But if someone decides to use those three
places they are going to get a surprise.”

“What if it is our security force people?”

“If evil is not there then nothing will happen. I just put one here so try it.”

Edgar knew that Joseph would not place him at risk and did as suggested. “I am quite
comfortable and feel nothing.”

“No good human would and that is the nice thing about the discs. If one explodes then
just very pure white light comes from it. That will carry the person who set it off to the
dark universe. Evil can both be seen and felt. You will one day see an evil human and
recognize them for what they are. What you will see is a lack of detail in the image. It
would be like seeing Hope but somewhat faded. You can almost see through them. Now
lets go back shower and get some sleep in a real bed.”

“One question I have now. Why aren’t you calling James?”

“You and I will be here for this function. So any problems and we can handle it with no
added security force personnel.”

“Hey I am no fighter and have no understanding of weapons.”

“You underrate yourself and that is not good. Your knowledge of good and evil is far
beyond that James has. If you see evil just walk up and offer to shake hands with them.
When they take your hand they will be gone. Or if not your ring will glow so brightly that
will send them to the dark universe. The Creator has decided to give you some special
powers. Just accept them and they will work fine. But know that no human or animal can
hurt you as long as those powers are with you.”
This was something Edgar had not expected. “I hope you will teach me to be wise with
them.”

“John would find your abilities helpful just sitting in on meetings with planet leaders.
That would be due to your ability to see evil. If they lie you will know it and if there is
deceit in their words that you will also know. At first it will bother you and you may
question did you really see it. But I assure you, you will have seen it.”

Sleep came easy for both men and breakfast was nice watching the sunrise. Then they
headed to their next camp. The two horses had been moved and they saddled them and
rode the area. This area was for a fishing contest for brook trout. People would camp and
fish the stream during the day. When they rode up river they saw the dam and there were
many troops both at the bottom and on the top. It looked like James had just stepped up
his protection of site for events.

They stayed that night and got up and fished for breakfast. Both men were really good
with the fly rods.

“Well how many more do we need to check out?”

“None now as I see James has stepped up his security. I would like to see him before I go.
But I will be back for the first event with Valerie and stay until all events are complete. If
you want to join me we can both check each one out.”

“I would be happy to do that as really I am learning much. As the head of the religion
here it is not often I get to see the kinds of things you have.”

“Now you are being bashful. You did every bit as much as I did. But I have really
enjoyed your company and would once more.”

They agreed to meet at the dinner and stay together for each event. Joseph went to John’s
office and asked him to call James.

“You are done already?” James knew this would happen when he saw some of the troops
he was now using.

“Yes, when I saw over one hundred troops at the dam there was no more sense of moving
on. But how is your investigation going?”

“I know who accessed the files, who printed off materials and where money was
transferred. But the young man I nailed has said his boss told him to give a secret agent
whatever he asked for. I have no secret agents so how this myth started I have no idea?”
“It might be a good idea if Edgar sat down with you and the young man. He will be able
to tell you if he lies or even if he tries to deceive you. Do the same with his boss and see
what Edgar sees. That story had to start someplace and you need to find out where.”

“How can Edgar see those things?”

“He is the leader of your religion here right? He had gifts he did not know about and
never understood. His skills could be handy for a court on a close case or even in
negotiations John might have with other leaders. If he says there was a lie or
misstatement of fact just accept it as real.”

“It is hard to argue with you Joseph, as you have seen so much I missed. I always thought
I was very good at my job, but you showed me I still have things to learn.” There James
left the two men alone.

“Now I assume you have helped Edgar get used to his abilities?”

“He will have some doubts at times, but he knows most of what he can do now. That does
not say he is confident in what he sees. But you can be if he thinks he saw it. I will be
back with Valerie for the dinner at the resort and then Edgar and I will attend each event.”

“I appreciate your time and help Joseph.”

“That is at our fathers request and my wife’s. The safety of your celebration is a very high
priority for both.”

The two men shook hands and Joseph headed to the church transport plate and home. He
walked into his wife’s office and hugged her. “I am done for now until we go back for the
dinner. Then I will be there for thirteen weeks.”

“ I heard you found three big problems.”

“Actually Edgar found one of them and helped with the rest. I have been developing his
skills as our father has asked me to. He will be very good in time and just having a back
up who can help will be nice.”

She could see Joseph really liked Edgar. “Well you will need to introduce me to him. I am
sure that he is someone I will really like.”

“You will and his wife Jenna is also someone you will like. They have a bond that runs as
deep as ours.”

The two took the rest of the day off and went sailing on Valerie’s boat. She was becoming
a very good sailor. The wind and the speed of the boat was exciting to her. Close to dark
they had the boat ready for bringing out of the water. Joseph had some work to do on its
keel. But he had John’s boat started for him. He was building the four boats from the
same plans. One for each universe leader as they had requested. Then he would need a
freighter to take them to the planets.

Over the next few days he accomplished a lot. Now all three boats were under
construction. He used wood and impregnated it with polymers that resisted the worst any
ocean could offer. No worms or other sea life could hurt the ships bottom. Normal sea life
that would attach to most ships would not to his.
Chapter 3

The First Event

The day could not have been more beautiful for John’s reception of dignitaries. There was
a luncheon in the hotel and then a meeting of leaders in the conference room. He had
gone back to his cottage assigned to Valerie. Edgar joined him and brought Jenna. The
three sat on the patio and drank wine ate fruit and cheese.

“I am not sure just what Edgar has become, but it is freaky at times when he sees a person
and says they have evil in them.” Jenna was a little nervous about discussing this.

“I am very careful not to influence Valerie with those sightings. But if I see someone who
needs to be watched, Alyssa is notified and she does take me serious. So Edgar be careful
with your wife, as she cannot see what you do. That I am sure is very unnerving.”

“That I would appreciate my husband.”

Edgar smiled sheepishly and nodded his head. “I guess it still surprises me. But I have
always had a bad habit of saying things out loud to myself.”

“As long as you don’t answer yourself that is not too bad.”

“I did the interviews with James’s young man and he was truthful. But the manager was
not. Once he was cornered I pressed a little and he caved. He said the transfers to the
young mans account were done to keep the heat off him. The payoff had been given in
gold and that way it did not have to be in his bank account. He had ten thousand gold
coins at one ounce each. A man he saw just once provided this. All other requests and
demands were by written communications. We have those as well and a good likeness of
the man.”

“You will never find him Edgar. It is a waste of resources to try.”

“I told James as much and he is still trying. Now what about tonight?”

“It will be a normal night. You and I will need to wonder around and keep our eyes open.
Pay very close attention to wait staff and anyone moving through the crowd not part of
the guests.”

“Who would be there if not a guest?”

“With the leaders there will be staff people. They are not invited guests, but I assure you
they will be there.”

Jenna could see this and agreed. “They are so normal in the day to day world most will
not notice them.”
“Be assured we will Jenna. No one will be hurt tonight, but an attempt will be made on at
least one leader. This is just the opening gambit.”

“But that would be foolish as they will have personal force fields.”

“No most will not be wearing them. John told me he would not be wearing one.”

Edgar shocked her with this. “How did he get Faith to agree to that?”

“He just said with Joseph here he felt he was not at risk. When you wear one and shake
hands it is unpleasant for one or both people. So he is not going to do that to others.”

“As I told you no one will be hurt tonight. Every leader has security around them outside
the reception. At the reception Edgar and I will provide security. That is far better than
any human could do.”

Jenna took this calmly and was sure Joseph knew exactly was he was doing.

Valerie came out on the patio and was introduced to Jenna and Edgar. She pulled up a
chair and sat to talk. Edgar poured a glass of wine and she enjoyed the flavor. “Where in
the world did you get this wine?”

“It is from Ned’s winery. That man has the best wines I have ever tasted.” Now for Edgar
that was high praise.

“Well I will be sure to ask him to put us on the customer list.”

“Just be sure to ask him about his plum wine. It is wonderful as well. He bottles it in an
earthenware bottle, as it was thousands of years ago in Japan. Many in Japan who have
tried it said they have no one who does it better.”

“I have never tried a plum wine I wonder what it is like?” Valerie was enjoying this
conversation.

“It is tart and dry, but has a very nice flavor. They never had great luck with grapes, so
the plum wines were the next best fruit.”

“I will ask him for a couple of cases for our wine cellar. But I really like this wine.”

“It is not his best. This is just a table wine he packages for restaurants. He has some
bottles he has said will not be ready for ten more years. But as a young man he worked in
wineries on his old planet. Now he bottles over half a million bottles of good wine a year.
That does not include the thousands of gallons of table wines he makes.”

“I had no idea of his passion for good wines.”

“John breeds good horses and Ned makes great wines. Now Simon is a rare book
collector and has books no one alive has ever seen before.” Edgar was just full of
knowledge.

“I am afraid I must be boring then. Joseph has me passionate about sailing my boat. That
is the most fun I have ever had. He is now building boats for John, Ned and Simon.”

“That I would love to do once more. It has been years since I sailed a real boat. When I
was on the Mediterranean I sailed every weekend. That was the closest I ever felt to the
Creator.”

Joseph smiled at this. “How large a boat did you have?”

“It was a thirty-two foot.”

“Could you handle something larger? Say a sixty footer that could carry ten in comfort?”

Edgar’s eyes popped open. “That would be enough to die for.”

“Well if you won’t die I’ll send you a boat I built on the freighter John will be sending to
pick the others up. It is nice and fast, but smaller than Valerie’s boat. I have had it in
waves up to thirty feet high. With the new sail material John provided it has rip proof
sails now. So you will never have to replace the sails. But it does take a crew of at least
four to sail full days. Two can use it as a day trip boat.”

“How much do you want for it?”

“I said I would send it Edgar. You owe me nothing but to take good care of it and enjoy it.
In my life I have known no one who enjoys the ocean like I do. So we few who do need
to take care of each other.”

Edgar was dumb founded. “A boat like that has great value Joseph. I would never sell it I
can assure you. But taking it without any compensation is just against my principles. You
have put many hours of labor into it and lots of love. That does not count the materials
you had to buy.”

Joseph was pleased Edgar understood what went into building a boat. “Edgar it was my
model that was built to prove out the next design. It is what the rest of the boats were
birthed from. Right now it is sitting out of the water and will see no sailing time at all. I
sail with Valerie on her boat, which is larger yet. So if you would rather see her sit and rot
don’t take her. Because she will never be sold and I will never take her to sea again.”

Now Edgar was in a bind. “OK you win, but I will send you beef for your freezer. I raise
the very best Bulls on Alpha. There is a waiting list of six years for a stud Bull. I used the
good cows for beef. They are raised on good grass and then feed lot fed to fatten them. If
you have a breeder that wants a great Bull for beef I will see they get what they need.”

“Deal Edgar and I look forward to some great steaks. We have steaks at least once a week
between fresh fish.”

Edgar knew he got the better deal, but would never complain. “I have a dock that is one
hundred feet long going out into the ocean. There we have a small fishing boat just for us
to go fishing. I will build a berth for a sailing ship that will allow me to lift it from the
water to keep storms from damaging it. The worst wave action we see is not more that ten
feet high. There is a reef just off shore with an opening that would allow a twenty-foot
draft through. It is may be one hundred foot wide. So hopefully this boat will fit through
it?”

“Yes your inshore draft is just twelve feet and it does have an electric motor to push you
out to sea. You do have an extendable keel that drops down from the hull. It allows for
heavy winds so the boat is not pushed over. I have had this one in thirty mile an hour
winds at full sail and barely went to the side. My estimates say it would take an eight-
mile an hour wind to have the boat running with the edge of the deck in the water.”

That was a very stable boat and he knew he would push it to see just how good it was.
“I’ll take your word for that and see just what it can do. We see many tropical storms and
a few of hurricane proportion. I would never tackle a hurricane, but a good tropical storm
would be fun.”

“How in the world do you handle a hurricane?” Valerie had no idea how this could be
done.

“We have a force field that covers the dock and farm. That does not go up until the winds
hit fifty miles an hour. But there we protect the boat, house and barns.”

“I am not so sure I would enjoy the winds and rains.” Valerie had never seen this kind of
winds on the lake.

“They are natural and not a problem if your ready. We will only see may be five storms a
year and a hurricane once every five to seven years. It’s not like an everyday thing. But I
welcome the rains whenever they come.” Edgar was a farmer first of all.

Joseph had enjoyed this exchange. “My wife will one day get to sail her boat in the
ocean. Then she will see some of what weather is like. For a good captain it is just
another challenge. She is becoming very efficient sailing on the lake. But that will be old
hat soon.”

“I am not ready to want to leave the lake yet. But why don’t you two come for a long
weekend and go sailing with us?”
Jenna lit up at this suggestion. “That I would love to do. It would give me a chance to see
just how good my husband is. We have not been on a sailboat together before.”

“You could take your boat out as well. That way I could show you much about the boat.”

Winter was closing in on Eden at the city and it would be spring before good sailing
weather was back. So a date was set for the visit. Both were warned to bring good cold
weather gear, as spring was still not warm weather. At fifty or sixty degree days and forty
degree nights.

Joseph had dropped off a jump suit of black for Edgar. He suggested that it be worn to the
dinner that night. It did make the body invisible in dark places. In a pocket was black
gloves and hood that would make them almost completely invisible.

When they met at the dinner Joseph was staying back from Valerie. He was watching
service people pass through the crowd with wine and snack items. Edgar walked over and
joined him.

“Now this does seem odd to me. It almost feels like I am playing cops and robbers.”

“Just the stakes are high and real now. We are playing for human lives.” Joseph never let
his eyes drift from one girl he was watching.

The crowd was moving constantly and people rotating between each other for
conversation. How could so much need to be said? “It is odd that after the meetings and
discussions their words are still needed.” Edgar was now seeing the world differently.

Joseph acted like a wired pit Bull took hold of the young woman’s arm. She was guided
out of the way and he picked up a glass from her tray and told her to drink it.

“No I won’t do that. I am not allowed to drink while working.”

He looked deeply into her eyes and saw fear. “You will drink it or you will be arrested
now.” There was no softness in his voice.

A trooper walked over to the men and stood ready for instructions. She saw this move
and knew the game was lost. “I have no idea who you are, but I will say nothing.”

“Take her to the brig on the ship and hold her there. Make sure the lighting is very bright
where she is. Once this is over we will come and talk with her.”

The trooper took her and the glass held out by Joseph. The tray was dumped behind a
bush and the two men moved on. “What did I just see Joseph?”

“She put something in that glass of wine and headed towards John. There was just one
glass left so it seemed a good idea to get her out of here.”
“I saw anger, but nothing else.”

“She is very good at using one emotion to cover others. When anger flares you cannot see
other emotions as it is so intense. Now we need to slip around to the places I hid the
discs.”

Edgar saw once they were out of the light Joseph pulled his hood and gloves on. He
followed suit and they blended into the night. They slipped into the jungle and moved
like shadows. Not the slightest sound could be heard from their movements. Being well
back from the locations where the discs had been planted, you could see nothing of the
party. The plant growth killed most of the sound coming from the garden.

Suddenly Joseph stopped and dropped down to the ground. Edgar followed this lead.
They slowly on their bellies worked their way forward. Stopping every few feet to listen.
Edgar could hear nothing, but was sure Joseph did. So he focused harder and now could
hear breathing. Then very soft words directing men to locations followed.

Joseph moved like a snake and to the back behind where the voice had come from. Once
he was sure he was behind it he slowly stood behind a tree and motioned for Edgar to
come up behind another. The person walked directly between them and was hit behind
the head and fell quickly. Quick cuffs were put on the prone body and a gag tied in place.
Feet were immobilized and now no sound or movement would disturb the night.

The two men worked their way to the sites they had seen before. There were three people
all standing and watching the party. All were dressed in black and had weapons. Slowly
they lowered themselves to the ground and lay down to find a good position. Then a large
burst of very pure white light lighted up the night. When it died just the weapons were
left on the ground.

Ten troops came running and saw Joseph. “Pick up the weapons and you most likely will
find they are from the ones stolen. James I have you a present a little further back in this
tangle.”

Two troopers, James, Joseph and Edgar walked back to the still body. “Who is this?”

“I really have no idea, but they were the one sending those snipers into position.”

James bent down and pulled the facemask and was shocked at what he saw. “This is the
manager who I have been investigating.”

“You should have jailed him as well. But he was not really that good.”

“How long will he be out?”

“I hit him pretty hard as I wanted no noise. So it may be an hour before he starts to come
around. You also have a server who spiked a glass of wine aimed for John. They are in
the brig up on the ship.”

“You two are beyond belief. I have two hundred troopers here and no one should have
made it into this area. Now I have three blown to pieces, one unconscious and one
waiting for me on the ship.”

“They were not blown to pieces. The three were simply sent to the dark universe. If you
would like to know who they were that I can find out for you.”

“It would be helpful to me.”

Joseph sat down as did Edgar and started mediating. It took just a few minutes and Edgar
came out first. He gave the three names and their connections to James. Then Joseph
came back.

“Now Edgar has given you the basic data. But they all came from NOVA. That includes
your manager here. Their target tonight was one NOVA leader. That was to start an angry
reaction of the people against Alpha. That leader has very good ties with John. You
remember where you had to move the buffalo’s? There you will find the rest of the
weapons taken. Look for a cave back into the ridge. It is well camouflaged, so it will not
be easy to find. But it will hurt efforts to kill at and disrupt events.”

James was still beyond belief with what these two men could do. There was no way to
measure their data, but it was without a doubt sound. He had the server and his manager
as proof of its existence. None of these people would have been found without Edgar and
Joseph.

The two returned and joined their wives. Jenna saw Edgar was very much at peace.
“What was that blinding light?”

“Just some fool who tripped a flare set to warn of someone was trying to enter. Joseph
and I went to check it out and James was livid.” The cover up came natural to Edgar.

Valerie knew that Jenna was being misled, but better she not know everything. “I saw the
young lady you cornered. Did she do what I thought I saw?”

“Yes and she was headed right for John. But I think all the fireworks are over for this
night.”

John came over and talked with Edgar and Joseph. “James said you two are better than
his whole department.”

“That is somewhat a bad way to see us. There is room for James and for us in the world.
He requires fact and proof to act. We see evil and just act on that. Many things James
finds we would never see. But things we see he could never support with facts. There
were two hundred good troops around this area tonight and four people slipped in. That
should not have been possible, but it happened. You will over time see the dark side is
very good at many things.”

John saw Joseph was correct in his appraisal of the two ways of seeing evil. “I think there
is room for both of you in our world. But please try not to shake James so bad he retires.”
John laughed at this, but they all knew it could happen.

Joseph decided to pour some oil on the waters. “I suggest you set up a universe safety
committee. You chair it, let James be your second in command and be sure Edgar is on it.
I would bet James is not very religious and does not see that side of the universe. He sees
us as mystical and that is far from true. We just find truths in a different way. Be sure
many on the committee are religious and don’t be afraid to let them speak out. In time
James will open his eyes to the fact that there is a war between good and evil. Right now
it is hard to see those abstract terms as real for him. Religion is not some required state of
life to be of value to my father. It is simply a way for people to recognize him. Humans
make more out of it that he ever meant them to.”

“That is sound advice and I will follow it. James has spent his life chasing facts to build
cases. But some things are beyond just facts. Once he sees how I view good and evil it
may help him come to a better understanding?”

Joseph decided to press a little harder. “John here is where James misses the boat. Your
book of religion provides many clear and now proven predictions. Yet he does not see it
as a source for information. He has seen Edgar and I accomplish things he prefers not to
understand. We are a source of information and insight he will never use. Why? Because
our insight comes from a place he is not sure exists. It is from a source he still does not
believe exists either. But he would never turn his back on the lowest informant he could
use to gain knowledge. Don’t you see some slight incongruity in this? For James to be as
effective as he can be, he must accept that there are powers way beyond his ability to
understand. To do that requires faith and that he just does not have yet.”

This left John wondering how to bring this to James’s attention in a way he could accept.
He did not have to believe, as long as he accepted the source as real. How could you do
one without the other? This was going to take some time for him to work out.

Edgar agreed to meet Joseph on the day before the next event. He wanted to walk the area
once more before the event. This time their robots would be back to handle the camp set
ups and moves. With their sharp eyesight they would be positioned to watch points of
vulnerability. The fact that they could stay in position for hours and never lose focus was
a key to their use. No human could do this for any long period of time.

Each headed back to their wives and enjoyed a few days of relaxation. Finally Valerie
gave him a kiss, hug and headed home to over see her domain. Joseph was now ready to
start down the road he knew was going to be tricky and required great vision. For every
step James took there would be counter moves by evil. He and Edgar would now have to
operate on instinct and inputs James could never see.

The two men met at their camp and sat looking over the event grounds. “Joseph now I
think we look for individual people who will cause problems. The larger events are off
the table and just small actions can be used.”

“That is well put and correct. We are going to stop people who James could never
convict. That will require us to use powers he cannot see. This time no one will be
arrested by him or us. If we find that person we must dispatch them to the dark universe.
Just so you know no one who is not evil can be sent there. So when you act feel free to do
it on the side of caution. If your wrong nothing will happen. If your right the person will
just vanish.”

“But how is that done?” Edgar was not sure he understood.

“Your ring is the weapon. If it is directed at the person then it can make the decision. Just
make a fist and point the ring and let events take their course. Many standing beside that
person will not even notice they are gone at first. No one will see anything happening that
is not natural. There will be no light bursts or any event that will bring the least attention
to you. But you will see time in slow motion and it does feel odd at first.”

“Do you have any idea of how many here will be people we need to find?”

“There is no way to tell. But for everyone we do find many will be saved. Here there are
so many ways to kill people, it becomes very hard to stop it all. So at best we can limit
the damage. You have food sold here and that can be poisoned, you have fireworks shows
where accidents can happen. Some could walk through the crowds and puncture the skins
with a toxin or virus. Don’t expect to see any normal weapon.”

That was chilling to Edgar and he was not ready for this next step. “Are you sure I am
ready for this?”

“No one is ever ready for this Edgar. It runs against a good mans nature and until you see
people dying it is hard. Once you have seen death that might have been prevented, then
you get hardened to stopping it anyway you can.”

The force in Joseph’s voice told him that he had seen this before. He made up his own
mind that he would not be the cause of someone’s death if he could stop it. This he just
could not accept and knew he had to act boldly. “I will do what I have to.”

“One time I saw a clown having fun with children and he would run up and hit them on
the butt with his hand. It caused them to laugh and chase him. The three days later they
started to get sick and many died. I chased that man for months before I found him and
sent him to the dark universe. He had a ring with a small needle inside that when he hit
their butts injected a toxin. Over one hundred children died that I had seen playing.
Behind his face paint and clothing you could not see his evil. But that stopped me from
assuming anything.”

The story was not lost on Edgar. “OK if the ring had been pointed and nothing happened
then nothing would have been lost. So failure to act in safety was not the right thing to
do.”

“You see my point friend. It has haunted me and driven me for years now.”

The two walked the grounds and felt several places of discomfort. These would have to
be checked out later after things were set up. But Joseph had given Edgar many small
discs to just drop one down where he felt bad vibes. Once dropped he just had to step on
it and it could not be seen. They could be found once more by feeling them later. An odd
vibration could be felt in his ring when he was close to one.

Over the day the two must have dropped a hundred of these in different places. It did not
matter who dropped them they both could find them. Each had been located on a map and
tomorrow when people started to set up, they would see which ones were at food sites.
Those had the largest ability to do damage.

Edgar wondered that night if John had known the real dangers, if he would have done
this? But the answer was clear you could not stop life because evil existed. That would
have been a win for that side. In a war there were always casualties and this was a war for
sure. Just not one James could see.

This made him think of the comment Joseph had made to John. For Edgar his training
had shown him that good and evil did exist. James he was sure believed that much. But
he saw it as a human thing and not a cosmic one. Where evil or good could be directed
across universes by a single power on each side. This was very much a chess game with
moves and counter moves. Now he saw Joseph and he as pieces on that cosmic
chessboard.

They had to be known by the other side he was sure. But what part they played in the
match he was not yet sure? Where they a pawn, knight, bishop or rook, this he just had no
idea? The kings were the players of this game he was sure.

On the next morning he and Joseph sat down for breakfast and enjoyed the early
morning. They watched the tents and decorated food carts being placed. Many tents were
to display local wares for sale. A large stage was set up for entertainment and a good
sound system. The mountain air was cool and invigorating. No longer was there any
chance of the ice, rocks, water and trees being dropped on the campers. Because they had
set up early they had the ideal campsite to sit and watch from.

Once food stalls were in place each man walked around checking them out. At least three
had been set up over one of the discs. These had been marked for the two to watch
carefully. It would just take one person to hurt many, but which one was the question?
They returned for lunch and saw many now moving into campsites. Most had been
chosen in advance and their tent did not please some. It was large and tall, so it did block
some from seeing as well as they had thought. But they were in a VIP section and no one
could do anything about it. One man who came to complain saw Edgar and apologized
for interrupting him.

“Well my friend your position as the planets banker and head of the religion has paid
some dividends.” Joseph chuckled.

“I am afraid on Alpha I am pretty well known. That will cause me some problems as I
walk around. People will often speak to me and I must at least reply.”

“Use it to your advantage then. How could you possibly be doing anything when replying
to your citizens? Take aim and talk to them.”

It was a good cover and Edgar knew it would work. “I have looked over our map and
counted one hundred and eight markers. If we start at either end and work to the middle
we can cover them all each day. That will give us two times being at each marker.”

“But the ones in the middle are the most dangerous. That is the food area. One of us
needs to take the middle forty and work them hard. The other the outer sixty-eight and
that will be a lot of walking.”

“I will take the outer markers today and meet and greet people. You can watch the middle
and cover the food stalls.”

That agreed to they both set off to just look and wait. The highest day of danger would be
the last day. Then tracing back the source of the problem would be much harder.

They both worked their areas hard that day. Edgar had seen just three people he did not
feel good about and two did disappear. Joseph had the same kind of results and none at
food stands. But the disappearance of four people did cause some comments that night.

Chapter 4
Effects and Events

When the two got back to their campsite John was sitting there and watching the people.
“I was surprised not to find you here when I came.”

Edgar looked at John like he was nuts. “We had work to do and little help to do it.”

Joseph was gentler with John. “Edgar is in a bad mood as he has found his new powers
are taxing. Today we sent four to the dark universe and that is always hard the first time.”

This perked up John’s interest. “Then four did vanish?”

“Yes and they deserved to do so. One was a child’s face painter who had mixed toxic
chemicals into her face paints. That one I was pleased to send on. The two Edgar found
were ready to inject people with a virus. My last one was a performer who was a
magician and had set up a little gas experiment for the people. There is no telling how
many would have gotten sick and later died?”

“What happened to the face paint and gas?”

“It went with them they can amuse people in the dark universe with them.”

“I have been giving a lot of thought to your comments. Then I had a long discussion with
James. He finally admitted to me he has fought the idea of a cosmic evil or good for
years. He said he could never understand how it could exist. So I asked for permission for
him to see and read from the Book of Life. That was granted and now you have a
complete believer. He asked me if he could come and just watch how this played out
here? I said not without both of you agreeing to it.”

Edgar looked at Joseph and saw pleasure in his face. “Does he have a ring now?”

“Yes one was provided for him by Simon.”

“Then it is time he sees just how this chess game is played. I will allow Edgar who he
knows much better, to show him the secrets of the ring and vision. Once he has seen and
accepted that I will take him deeper.”

This sounded fair to John. “I agree with using Edgar first. They have known each other
for well over two hundred years now. So if he sees Edgar doing something there will be
little question about it. But your dealing with someone who is very early into finding
faith.”

“It requires a lot of support at this point not to go overboard. So we will talk at night and
discuss much. Religion is a belief and not the pageantry people make it most places.”
John stood and shook hands with both men and left. Not thirty minutes later James was
sitting down.

“Now let me explain a few things to you James. There are two sides in this war, the first
is good and the other is evil. Nothing else matters in this except that. Every human has
the free will to choose the side they wish to support. For the vast majority that is the side
of good. The few who choose evil as their way of life, get some support from the master
of that world. But he does not care about the lives he destroys. That is theirs or others in
the fight. You have dealt with evil all of your life and never saw it for what it really was.
It is not just something inside a person it is also a force outside of them.”

This was interesting to him, as it had never been explained this way. “OK that I can
accept.”

“Now we as those of the good side also have support from the Creator. But that support is
far more proactive. Both Edgar and I have powers that would never be given to a human
on the side of evil. Your going to find you have them as well. That at first is going to
bother you and cause you much worry. Edgar has believed in a God or Creator all of his
life and he still had issues with some of these powers. We never kill a human, but do send
them to the dark universe to spend the rest of their days. It is not our job to judge humans
it is the Creators job. In that we are just a human extension of his powers.”

This even made sense to him. “I follow you so far.”

“Now every human has a second sense and ours is much sharper. If you look at someone
and they seem not to be in focus your seeing the two sides of that human. Both the good
and evil is showing. It blurs what your really seeing. At that point enough evil is in them
to be sent to the dark universe. They have committed serious crimes against the human
race. Our job is to send them on to where no human can be hurt again.”

“That does not seem too different than what I have done for years.”

“It really isn’t that much different. But we will see it much quicker than you ever would.
It is well before there is enough proof to go to court. Due to that we by pass the court
system and just allow the creator to send them on. Now no one who is not evil can be sent
on period. You run no risk of being wrong as the Creator makes that decision. That is the
highest court and judge of all.”

“That seems fair to me.”

Edgar now stepped in. “Look James today we sent four people to that universe and each
had it coming. That happened before they could do the damage that was planned. One
woman had face paints for children that would have killed hundreds. By the time you had
the proof of what caused the problem hundreds would have died. Because of Joseph’s
action none will now.”
“If I hear this right your saying you acted before a bad result?”

“Exactly right, but this person had already caused deaths before. They just had not been
found yet. Had it been their first time I would never have seen the blurred image. The
soul must be damaged for that image to be seen.” This Joseph wanted him to understand.

“So you could never stop all evil?”

“No for everyone there is a first time. We see and send on just those who have committed
great sins before. But they are the ones who recruit the new ones. So sometimes we save
them as well.”

This he turned over in his mind and saw a certain justice in it. “So far I can accept this.”

“Now tomorrow you will feel a vibration in your ring at times. That is a disc we have
placed where we felt bad feelings. At some point during this event something bad will
happen there. Yes it is almost like seeing the future. But I cannot tell you what, when or
how that will happen. We just know that it will if we don’t stop it.”

“So even your best effort can miss actions taken by evil?”

“Of course as we are not but human.”

“But I was told that you were made by the Creator.”

“I was and he is my father. But I am human and not the massive energy force he is. If I
was that kind of energy force I could not help here at all.”

“Then evil is also a massive energy force.”

“Yes, but far less that the Creator. Evil came from one disciple of the Creator wanting his
powers. It created a division in the universes and some followed him, but most stayed.
My best guess is that fifth universe Alpha found is where that group lives. If you think
back everything there is set to destroy humans. Those planets have stopped any human
invasion for land.”

James knew this universe well as he had studied the feeds from it. “Yes, I can see that
could be possible. Those planets were the most hellish environments I have ever seen.”

“One day there will be a major battle there to end all battles.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You read the Book of Life and should know that answer.”

He did but had not processed it this way. “I did not see that as the final battle.”
“It will be and humans will fight it. Today we are just reducing the humans owned by
evil. But the day will come when evil itself must be defeated.”

That was a chilling thought to James. “I am in no hurry to get to that day.”

“Well you have fought it for so long it would put you out of a job. But that day will come
may be not in our lifetimes, but come it will.”

They all headed to bed for the night. It was a peaceful one and cool the next morning
when they woke for breakfast. Edgar took James with him and did the same areas he had
the day before. It was an easier place for training.

James saw the odd distorted image Joseph had talked about. He made the fist and pointed
his ring and the person was just no longer there. “Did I see and do what I think I did?”

“Yes and it was the right thing to do. That person was heading for a food stand and there
is no telling what damage he could have done.”

“How do you know that?”

“It will just come to your mind after a time. You were concentrating so much you blocked
the information sent to you. Just watch and don’t think about it and let things flow. Your
not making that decision and cannot change it either.”

This day went on slowly for James, as he wanted to stop as many as possible. At the end
of the day better than twenty had been sent on. The amount that had disappeared this time
did not cause a ripple. People were coming and going and it was hard to keep track.

At dinner that night James was different. “I have seen what I would have said was not
possible. But will this carry over to my work?”

Joseph was not sure how to answer this. “If your asking will you see evil the same way in
people? Yes, you will see it. Now if your wondering can you send them on the same way?
Yes that can be done there as well. But knowing they are evil will help you make arrests
and look for the connections if you wish. I see evil on our planet and suggest that Alyssa
do some very hard background checks. She always follows up and often makes arrests.
The more people who see evil does not pay the better for the good people.”

This made very good sense to James. “I can use it that way and be happy with myself.”

“Here we are in the field and the niceties of law is just not possible. If we fail to act here
others will pay for that with their lives.”

“But there has to be a better way to handle this.”

“There is and you could use it at other events. I did not suggest it as I was not sure you
would believe me.”

“Just tell me and it will be done.”

“Evil cannot stand pure white light. So if an arch or gate was built with pure white light
and everyone had to pass through it to enter the event area it would stop evil. If they
walked through it they would just disappear. So you would have to find a way for others
not to see that.”

“But they could come around and enter other places.”

“Not if you laser fenced the approved area. Then it is through the arch or not at all.
Explain the light as killing bacteria found at the first event. It seemed to come from off
planet and Alpha did not want it here. You might want several banks of the light and that
way people could not see from one to the other?”

This James considered and saw good logic in it. “Just how bright does the light need to
be?”

“Do you know the intensity that magnesium burns at?”

“Yes it is very bright and is almost blinding.”

“It is what you saw at the reception John gave. That is where the three who had weapons
were sent on. I had dropped three discs on the ground and covered them. When evil laid
on them they went off. I wanted that flash to attract attention. Edgar and I were going to
be busy catching the one escaping.”

“How did you know one would be escaping?”

“Someone had to get them by the troops. They were not going to be stupid and stay.”

James laughed now as Joseph had a mind much like his. “OK I set up the arch or gate.”
He called Dr Phillips and told him exactly what he wanted. He passed on the phone to
Joseph and he explained the light levels needed. This the doctor could handle without
pain to people. But their vision would see spots for a few seconds after walking out of the
gate. Because of the flashing nature of the lights it would seem a planned welcome. A
camera would be set up to take pictures of those entering for them to buy later.

Processing would be a little slower, but with six gates in operation that should not be bad.
They would offset the transport plates so no one could see the inside of the gates. Where
camping gear was being brought in it would come in directly to the campsites. But there
it would be scanned before it could be picked up. Humans could only enter by the gates
and leave that way. Food was also being brought in at one location and no human could
use those plates. All food was scanned and checked before being released.
The last night of the event John showed up once more. “Well James what do you think
now?”

“You have a believer and there are no doubts. I have seen what I never would have
believed before. We have had six deaths here and that I am sorry about. But it could have
been far worse if not for Joseph and Edgar. The doctors blamed them on heart attacks and
heat stroke. But the rest of these events will be much cleaner.”

That made his eyes rise. “How is that to happen?”

“Dr Phillips has designed and built a multi gate system for entry into each event. The
areas are now laser fenced and patrolled on the outside for any trying to break in. No
human can transport into the event area. So they all must enter via a gate. Each gate has
bright strobe lights and pictures will be taken as they go through. If evil tried to pass
through the gate they will just vanish. That gives us a picture of that person for later. The
rest can pick up their pictures when they wish.”

It seemed like a good solution and much more effective than what was being done now.
“We could have done that here.”

“Not really John as I would have never bought into it. But over the last few days I have
seen and done things that before I would not have believed. But like Joseph what I see on
Alpha will cause an arrest and investigation. If I see evil I will find the root and go
through the courts. We have for to long not had the prosecutions that would make people
think about evil existing. It does even in our social structure. Our courts need to get busy
with handling this issue.”

John smiled at James new position. “I agree with that way to handle it. But you need to
enlist Edgar to pass on what he sees. He travels to all ten planets and sees far more people
than you do.”

“We have already discussed it and he has agreed to work with me. The second part of that
is if no case can be built then the Creator will decide their fate.”

Edgar was pleased with the way James had adjusted to this new concept. “Not everyone
will leave a trail of evidence behind them. Rather than wait for them to do something we
can prove it is better to act.”

“You have my blessing to move forward that way.”

Chapter 5
Home at Last

Joseph was sitting on the patio waiting for Valerie when she got home. “Well I was not
sure you had not moved out on me.”

She ran to him and hugged him. “My man I would never do that. But how did you get
back so quickly? I expected you to be gone eleven more weeks.”

He explained his solution for Alpha and James agreement. The fact of James’s new
powers was not to be discussed here. It in no way affected this universe or planet. So he
just covered the basics and left out his and Edgar’s work as well.”

“Well however it came about I am happy to have you back. Now for something
important. How do you feel about becoming a father?”

“As long as any child took after you I would love it.”

“Then I guess your ready and we are going to have a child. Those days at the island with
the dolphins seems to be where I conceived.”

He was very pleased and held her tightly. “I will enjoy being a father my dear. For sure I
don’t know a lot about it. But I will learn.”

That made her laugh. “Joseph I am sure you know more about being a parent than I do.
You’re the man always ready for every event. So just help me adjust to having a real
family.”

They enjoyed a nice dinner and sat under warmers on the patio. He had built them so they
could use this area year around. In winter a metal awning was over the patio to keep snow
off and warmers sat under that and radiated heat down.

“I have considered being a parent and done a little reading on the subject. A human learns
love by feeling it and learning to enjoy it. Second a soft voice is always better than a loud
one. Third is when you say no mean it and carry through. Those are the basic keys it
seems to me.”

“Some way that seems so simple.”

“It is the adult human that complicates it. Most are not consistent in how they do things.
That confuses a child. So if it is no today, it is also tomorrow and next month or year.
Keep rules simple and few. That way there is no complex law system to learn. As soon as
a child is old enough discuss issues with them. Listen to how they see things. Then
explain why you have the rule the way it is. As a child grows rules do change, but discuss
them before doing that.”
This sounded simple and she wondered if it could work. “That sounds like a good place
at least to start.”

“Look we are here to protect and develop the child’s knowledge. We can either have a
cooperative or antagonistic relationship. The first is built on respect and the second on
lack of respect. Any child must learn to respect themselves, us and others to enjoy life.
The second group respects no one at all. Now which citizen do you want in your world?”

That seemed very clear to her. “I see your point now. We are the teachers and set the
example here for all future actions.”

“That sums it up nicely. We must set the example right for the child to follow. No rule is
just because you or I say it is. It has to have reason and fit our life and home. Because
you’re the leader of the universe gives no one else here any special privileges. I build
boats and think I am pretty good at it. But I am only as good as my last boat built. That
was why I built the boat I am giving to Edgar. I had to be sure my ideas worked right
before I could sell them to others.”

This made sense to her now as she had not understood why he had built that boat. “OK
dear take me to bed as I have missed you being beside me.”

That next day he was working at his shipyard once more. He loved working with his
hands and seeing something coming along to completion. The work was hard, but he felt
good for his soul.

John walked up and looked at these boats started. “I decided to see what you were
building for me.”

Joseph took him on Valerie’s boat and showed him around. “This is exactly as each of the
four I will build is like. Once the last is complete I will build no more like them. I have a
new idea then I will do a model for.”

“Why just the four?”

“You each will have a unique boat in your own universe. It will not be seen coming and
going. So my next boats will be smaller and more for family use.”

“Edgar said you refused to sell him a boat and just gave it to him.”

“It was a concept boat, built to prove out many of the ideas used on these four. That was
never built to sell to anyone, as I sailed it in every kind of sea. But with how he enjoys
sailing I was willing to give him that one. It better fits his way of sailing. Here I will
never get to use it as my wife has this boat. Now days I sail with her.”

“That was very gracious of you and Edgar is ecstatic. I did not know of his interest in
sailing until we talked. But I had two reasons to come. First I wanted to see just what I
was getting so I could prepare for it. Second I wanted to give you this in thanks from
Alpha.”

Joseph opened a box and saw a handle of some kind. It looked like an old sword handle.
But when he brought it out a light about three feet long came out of it. “What is it?”

“It is a light saber that uses the same frequency of light you told Dr Phillips to create. If
you look there is a button that extends the light out or retracts it back. There is a small
belt holster that would allow you to carry it without notice. When Dr Phillips tested it on
a force field he found it cut through it like it was not there. He asked Edgar to test it and it
will send a human to the dark universe as well as the ring. So he built one for the three of
you. But yours is the only one with a diamond focusing prism. Here he felt it might allow
communication with the Creator if needed.”

Joseph tried the button and saw the light disappear. It was round at the handle and
checked to give it grip. There was no protective guard for the hand, but he could see no
reason for one. Because just the handle had any weight it was easy to move and fighting
with it would not tire you. “I am thankful to the good doctor and you John.”

“No you have it the wrong way. We and I mean all of Alpha is grateful to you. Your
willingness to train first Edgar and then James was appreciated. Our universe will benefit
much from what the two of them learned. James is your biggest fan now. Before he felt
he was always fighting a loosing battle. Now he sees a possible end one day. He told me
of your comment about the fifth universe. I had wonder if what you said was not true
before. So it came as no shock to me and I told him so. But what would it take to fight
that battle?”

Joseph considered how to answer this. “First my father would have to approve it. Second
every planet and sun would have to be destroyed in that universe. It would have to
become a void full of rocks. The suns are massive energy sources for evil to draw from.
They some way must be extinguished. That is the one issue I am sure that has held him
back. If you destroy one sun and it created twenty smaller ones that is still energy to draw
from. So that problem is far above my knowledge. But as understand it happened in the
dark universe. That is where the name came from. There are no suns or light.”

This John had also wondered. “So it has happened before?”

“Yes, not long after the break up in my fathers universe and evil was cast out. He some
way drew every bit of the energy from that place. Your ships and weapons would provide
energy for evil.”

“This is something I need to check out and see what is possible?”

“For me life is now more complicated. Valerie advised me she is with child. So my
human responsibilities have expanded. But so has my desire to see they have a safe and
happy world.”
“You both deserve that. Your wife is a fine lady and I respect her greatly.”

“Just understand for a time now she will be a little different, as the hormonal changes
happen. There is nothing more helpless than a husband with a pregnant wife. Here you
can do nothing to help her. We shared the act, but that is all we can do until the child
comes.”

John laughed and knew he had felt the same way. “I will never see you as helpless. But I
have been there and done that. Now I have a freighter that will be here in six weeks. If
you wish to ship Edgar’s boat back it will take it.”

“Yours also will be ready. So that will leave me with Ned and Simon’s to ship. Valerie
named hers Courage, as that is what she finds on that boat. Do you have a name for
yours?”

This he considered and made a choice. “Challenger would do nicely. Did you name
Edgar’s?”

“Yes but he may wish to change it. I called it Ocean Dreams. For me it was a completion
of a dream long held.”

“That I am sure will please Edgar. He said it was bad luck to change the name of any
boat.”

“That is not a concept I am used to. But I get the feeling that the boats and the sword was
not the complete reason for your coming.”

John knew this point would come. “No it was not my complete reason Can we sit down
and talk?”

Joseph took him to a small café close to his boat yard and they sat in a closed in booth.
The owner served them tea and coffee and disappeared. Leaving a pot of each behind.

“Now I have thought about this and during a nights sleep an idea came to me. I have
created what I call the knights of Alpha. In today’s world there are few heroes and people
need those. Children need someone to look up to and those people must deserve the
respect shown them. Hitting a baseball well or making that impossible shot in basketball
is just not enough. They need spiritual heroes.” John looked at Joseph and saw him
listening but not showing any emotion.

“The way I have seen this is we need to create a small group, all blessed by the Creator to
become those heroes. I have discussed this with all leaders of the universe at our monthly
meeting. The plan was blessed by the Creator and because of it I am here. What we all
felt was each universe needed a small group of these knights. Those whom each leader
could depend on to carry out missions for them. We all know evil exist everyplace and on
every planet. But how do we fight back now?” He waited to see if this was making sense
to Joseph.

Hearing no comment he pressed forward. “Our idea was if we had a few people we could
move planet to planet and just get a feel for what evil existed there. If there is a major
problem the counsel of knights would need to meet discuss it and decide how to address
it. That would be in their hands and not ours. The group would be given an open charter
that requires no reports back to any leader in these matters. Evil would be their complete
focus to fight and to defend religion where it is oppressed.”

Joseph had said nothing and still sat back and waited for more. “Each leader has more
than enough to worry about and do than they can handle. We are the current political
leadership and not suited to doing what must be done in fighting evil. None of us have the
time or abilities to handle that one issue. Due to this we must have someway to fight for
our peoples safety in this arena.”

“I understand you have gotten a blessing on pursuing this idea. But it is far larger than
you have any idea of now. For every planet there would have to be one person always
looking and watching. Then you would need a group that could respond to the problems
seen. This would take thousands of people just to have a fighting chance.” Joseph had
said this with little emotion in his voice.

“That we were told and that it would require great secrecy of all but its leaders. Those the
public could know about and respect individuals of that group. The leaders here of course
would be the counsel and planners for the wars to come.”

“Where would you set up this group?”

“It could never be on a planet as that would bring trouble. So I have a space wheel well
away from any planet with the best in communications abilities. It would allow for
training areas and living quarters.”

“Who would suggest those to come and train?”

“That the Counsel of Knights would have to decide on. I see it as best if all planet leaders
are not involved.”

“You said something about a charter.”

John handed it over and Joseph read this. “Do each of you know what your giving up
here?”

“Yes something none of us could control anyway. It is hard enough for us to assure
fairness in our actions now. If any of us is wrong in what we do we must also be
corrected. But with this counsel the Creator will make that call. None of us has fear of the
power being extended. Ultimately you’re the real power in all universes. No more wars
will be fought without your support and participating in a leadership role. We understand
much of what you do will be covert and we may never know about that.”

“How would this counsel be started now?”

“You’re the chairman and Edgar and James have offered to serve you. They must for
good reason be hidden from sight. They both have families and land on Alpha. I will let
James do the setting up of your intelligence department. He will phase himself out of
Alpha’s structure and work for no one but you. It will look like he has retired from
government. I will no longer use his services in any way for Alpha. Edgar is head of the
religion and travels a lot anyway. He will be replaced as the banker for Alpha and will be
directly under your command.”

This was interesting and had some possibilities he felt. “I assume my wife knows of
this?”

“Yes, she is a strong supporter of it.”

“I will not put her or my child at risk here. So the counsel will never be known at all. The
darker that hole is the better job it can do. But young men and women who do
outstanding things will be used as role models for the young. How we recruit no one
including the leaders will know. I want to move that space wheel so no one can know
where it is. As far as you leaders are concerned it was formed and just vanished. None of
you will know what we do and when we do it. There will be no headlines of wins or
losses. The knights of the Creator will be the biggest myth in all universes. As it acts in
all universes we must use that name. It is not a religion in any way and that must be
understood by people.”

This was very different from how it had been pictured. “We will abide by whatever you
decide.”

“I will need the ability to build these swords at that wheel. Then I need all designs and
any knowledge of them wiped from any computer or person. The good doctor is going to
have to forget he ever made one.”

“That I can handle as he did it with his wife and in secrecy. The only ones who know
beside them are the three of you and me.”

That seemed safe enough for now. “I need many listening posts and eyes and ears to feed
them data. This will all take years to build and make work as it should.”

“That we all understood when I came here.”

“OK, you have a small start then to creating this structure. If I can sit with James and
Edgar we will then look at the larger picture of how we accomplish this. For you and the
other leaders that is not important for you to know. Matter of fact the less you know the
safer you are.”

“Each of us understood the dangers here. None of us knew how to set it up or make it
function. But fighting evil we all agreed was critical today and in the future.”

Joseph was impressed with the steps John had taken on faith. “Now the one issue none
are to know is you will know more than most. Often the counsel will need advice on
human issues and your elected if I am to take this job.”

This had not been expected at all. “I cannot just toss you into the fire and not be willing
to jump in as well.”

Joseph laughed at this way of putting it. “Well welcome to our own personal hell. Most of
the time it will be Edgar who talks with you. But from time to time you will need to come
to our base. We will need a very good and completely secure computer, with control over
others. It must be able to wipe any access made by ours. Does that create any problem?”

“Hope has a sister computer I can give you that is of her power. She can program it as
you wish. But how will you get your added people?”

“I will set up a cloning station on the wheel. We will train in a very different way from
what is done now. I will need around twenty thousand the first year. Then just three
thousand a year after that.”

“I have Life Station two that is not now being used. It could create your first year’s needs
with no problem. Then your incubator on the wheel could handle the later needs.”

“That will depend on what computer runs the station.”

“Hope runs that station.”

“Then she needs instructions to provide me and the Creator with an area for data that is
open to no one else. That includes you as well John. There will be instructions there you
cannot know of.”

He had no problem with that. “I will do it as soon as I get home.”

“Then for now we have no more to discuss. I will need James and Edgar for a meeting
within a week’s time. Hopefully by then we will have the first clones coming to us. I will
get the education program into Hope in the next two days time. So pray for the success of
this venture.”

John left and headed home. He felt a giant step had been taken to protect man. Each of
the leaders had no idea of how to fight the evil existing on many planets. It was beyond
their vision and skills. It was this evil that kept them most busy trying to handle
problems. Now some step had been taken to combat that. The power given to this counsel
was far beyond what most would ever know. The charter gave them ultimate control of
good and evil in each universe. That took those decisions out of any hands in power
forever.

Joseph walked and sat along the lakeshore thinking how to handle this. Slowly a glowing
ball of light settled next to him. “I see your worried my son. That is reasonable and shows
good judgment. Now I have installed a communications stone on your new wheel home.
The program for training will be given to Hope as soon as John sets up that divide. I will
take general control of your new computer for the counsel. Your security center will be
linked to every church on each planet. Where there are no churches we will need to send
a knight to find ways for gathering information.”

“I am worried that we are biting off more than we are ready for.”

“Man is never ready my son. But you will have every advantage I can possibly give you.
It is a good time to lessen the strength of evil. The day will come for that final battle soon
enough. But now we need to cause concern and worry on their side. John’s idea had great
merit and that is why I blessed it. The fact all leaders gave up great power to this counsel
said much for them. They really placed themselves at your mercy.”

“That also hit me and was why I said yes.”

“Just follow your good instincts and know things will work.” The light went out.

Joseph walked some more and finally it was getting dark. He headed home for dinner.

“I see worry on your face and assume John came to see you?”

“Yes and he made it very hard to say no. But I will not be out in front of this group
showing my picture. We now have a child on the way and they will not be placed at risk,
nor will you.”

“I am pleased that you took the job. Building boats is nice, but your real skills are in
seeing and fighting evil. You were never put here to find peace, but to combat evil. That
makes me feel safer knowing your doing that job.”

Her honesty hit him like cold water. “Your right of course and I did enjoy it while it
lasted. But I will use the shipyard to go work and think. There the distractions just don’t
come to me. So it does have its place.”

Dinner was very quiet and they sat out on the patio and watched the water. Valerie knew
he was in deep thought and did not interrupt him.
Chapter 6

Building the Counsel

Joseph had taken the last two days to get things started at the space wheel. He had
overseen the construction of the security center and the first people coming to the station.
It had taken ten days before they could meet for the first time. So much had been required
to be accomplished here. But now they had the first thousand for their group. They would
get one thousand each week for the next twenty weeks. Then the levels would drop to just
three hundred each month.

As he walked through the training area he saw people learning how to use the light
swords. They were being trained intensely by a master swordsman. This had been an
older religious leader from one of Simon’s worlds. Mark would also serve on the counsel.
He had been given the extended life provided by Alpha technology. So he would serve for
many years.

Edgar caught up with Joseph and was very impressed. “You have been busy these last
few days.”

“Yes and we will be fully staffed in less that six months time. Now if James is here we all
need to talk.” He called Mark and the man followed them. They sat at a table that would
one day seat twenty. But for now there was just four.

“Now you each need to know much has been done and it is very different from your own
worlds. We have no limits on communications between universes at all. Slowly we are
getting religious leaders that can be trusted, to feed information to us each day. This
wheel cannot now be seen from any spacecraft. We are in our own dimension here. I have
new rings for each of you and you need to give your old ones back.” He passed them out
to each man. These were large and had ruby stones with a sword carved into them.

“I assume these will serve the same purpose as the old ones?” James just did not
understand the change.

“Not really your days of sending on humans is over now. We will have a force of twenty
thousand to handle that. These rings will allow for mental links between us where
thoughts can be transferred. What you see can be sent to the computer to follow up on.
There is no reason to draw attention to any of us now. We have families to protect.”

This hit home with James. “I had not considered that they could be at risk.”

“If your known well by evil then they very well could be. But now your retired and just a
farmer. That image we want to keep in place. The plate you have in your office is
connected to this station. So if you go in and close the door to work none will know your
not there. Hope no longer tracks you in any way.”

That left Edgar wondering how he was covered? “How do I handle it?”

“That was the easy one. Your the religious leader for all of Alpha. All in your system
knows that. Be assured evil knows that as well and it will stay far from you. But between
church visits you can be here anytime you wish. Our computer follows both of you all the
time. Now that has been given special programming by the Creator. He is always
connected to her. It provides an easy way to give us information and direction. So she
will have two forms you will see. The first is as our computer called Angel and the
second is one my father chose.”

They all could see how this would work. “Now Mark here neither of you know. He has
been a religious leader in Simon’s worlds for years now. He is a distant relative of his.
The skill’s he has brought is sword knowledge and teaching discipline. It will be his job
to train new personnel and certify them for assignments. You will find Mark does not talk
a lot.”

They shook hands and saw a very quick man. He measured them and liked what he saw.
“I believe I will enjoy working with you two.”

“Now James you have a staff of five hundred to start with and that will grow to one
thousand. Your old records from Alpha are in the computer now as is your secret files.
Hope has no knowledge that they have been taken and only a few items that were current
were left behind. We have so much wealth here now that any price can be paid for
information. Feel free to out bid evil for high quality information. Your home computer in
your office is no longer connected to Hope as well. It is connected here. That gives you
full access to all data and personnel here at all times.”

“But is it secure?”

“I assure you not even Hope could break into the connection. You may not have noticed
yet, but your office is off limits to all but your wife.”

He had not noticed anything like that. “How is that possible?”

“We have installed devices to assure that. Yes I had a small crew in there and you did not
notice it.”

“How in the world did you accomplish that?”

“Evil is very good James, but we are far better. The tools you will now have are far
beyond any you have ever had before. Our people will be able to walk into places you
could never have gone and without notice. So spend some time learning about all these
new methods and ways. Now your position makes you having more than social contact
with John impossible. Due to that Edgar will be both yours and my contact with John. He
is taking a great risk, by serving as an advisor to this committee on human matters. We
must be very careful how we use him and when.”

Edgar was not sure he did not bring risks to John. “Our meetings are logged by Hope
does that not present problems?”
“It would if she logged the right information. But she won’t do that. Your meetings will
not be made as a feed or any notes taken. She will be given the data we wish her to have.
So feel free to discuss anything with him in his office at work or home.”

That seemed to answer most of the questions. They went to the dinning room and sat
down for lunch. Their table was in the middle of the room surrounded by the people here.
They were given complete privacy and not bothered in any way. A few items were
discussed and some small decisions made.

After lunch Joseph walked them to the vaults and showed them the massive wealth
provided to them. They toured the sword shop and shops making all kinds of odd items.
The robot there explained each to them. Troops would be very well armed when in the
field. Of course nothing that would harm anyone good, but destructive to evil.

The sword training was shown to them, as they watched young men and women learning
the art. They saw a meditation room where these trainees were sitting in mid air. No one
was touching the floor.

“How is this possible?” James was stunned.

“Mark will show you both how to do this. Over time you will learn every skill these
trainees do. You cannot send someone into battle without equal skills.”

Both men saw they had much to learn. “Can you do this?” Edgar was wondering if he had
not already seen this.

“Yes and so did you when you sat and went into meditation. Of course you did not see it
as you were in a trance. But walk over and try to push one on their side.”

Edgar walked over and pushed as hard as he could and could not budge the person. “How
does that happen?”

“They are incomplete control of the entire world around them. All natural laws are at
their command. None could be killed or even hurt in that state.”

Finally Joseph walked them to a room for special meetings. It had a waterfall on one wall
and a pond with small stream running through the room. Twenty pads were placed at
different locations and none close together.

“What is this room for?” James was not sure how this could be used?

“Please sit on one of the pads and cross your legs and meditate. Then think about what
you wish to say and listen for answers.”
The three sat well apart and did as instructed. Slowly they rose off the pads and thoughts
flowed freely. Many answers were found quickly and directions set. After about thirty
minutes they slowly came back down and out of the trance.

“Where did all this knowledge come from so quickly?” James was feeling very good.

“Our father uses the computer to talk to each of us here. So you should have had many
doubts answered and directions set for you. None but you know the conversation held
and the answers given. This is our counsel’s place for centering and peace. When you
have doubts come here and get answers.”

They returned to the table and Mark was back now. “I hope you found this place to your
liking.”

“It is more impressive than I expected Mark. Today I learned just how much I don’t
know. Man has so little real knowledge and understanding of bigger things.”

That brought a smile to Mark’s face. “Yes, it is humbling and we all need to feel that from
time to time. When I first came here I thought I knew the religion well. Then found out
how little I did know. Now I am at peace with it and just follow the path shown to me.”

Here was more words from Mark than Joseph had ever heard. “I see your talking now my
friend.”

“It just required some time to feel a part of things. You three I am sure don’t know it, but
your exploits are talked about on many worlds. What was done to evil on Alpha was seen
as a great victory on many planets. No one knew who you were, but after I came here it
was told to me. To have accomplished what the three of you did was beyond our
comprehension. Now I am seeing why it happened. You show a complete trust in each
other and have given that to me as well.”

Here James had to set the record straight. “Mark I was the nonbeliever in this group. My
own lack of faith and belief would have killed tens of thousands. Had not Edgar and
Joseph shown me how wrong I was, disaster would have hit. So I came later to that
game.”

“Yes, but you did come and was willing to learn. Most humans I have known would
never have changed their minds. They would have stayed blind to the truth.”

This Joseph knew to be fact. “Just accept Mark’s statement as true James. But this does
stimulate the evil side to step up the game. Right now we have no idea where this will
happen. But it must be widely covered for it to have the results they want. Going after
some backwoods fair will not meet their needs. So your first job needs to be finding
every event and looking for those that will have wide coverage. Then we need to get
ready for a fight.”
That now was set for James and he knew he could find out the where. “Once I find the
where, who is going to handle it?”

Mark smiled at this question. “We all will James. I will have knights ready to send out
and we will need to scout the area and see how best to defend. Most planets will not
support what John did on Alpha. To them it is all hocus-pocus. Be assured they will not
try Alpha for a very long time. But there are many planets with little religious influence
and those will be prime targets for them.”

“I can see your thinking and it is most likely right. We sent out the plans for the gates to
many worlds. But each had a strong religious structure. So they would use them at major
events. That means I really need to look deeply, as many planets don’t send out notices on
major events.”

They broke up and James headed to his staff area. They were at workstations and
checking data coming in. They would file a report and move to the next item. Robert
walked up to him. “Sir I am Robert and am your second in command here. We are now
organizing current data and building files. As of now we have only planets where there
are churches. That includes those underground. At present we have one person for each
eight planets. That will drop next week to one per four. Of course that does not cover
planets without religion they will need to be covered later. That is the staffing level
planned for now.”

“Of those eight or four how many do we get reports from?”

“Just two thirds have churches and people who pass on data. We hope in the next three
weeks to have at least one knight on the ground on those we get no data from. That will
be built on as we see the need.”

“How are you structuring the data you now get?”

“The same way you did on Alpha. It was a good system and seemed to work well.”

“Make sure the computer reviews all incoming information of small things that can be
missed. But someway I need to know every event coming up over the next six weeks. We
are expecting a response to the defeat on Alpha. The general feeling is it could be where
religion is not popular. That would make things far easier for them. But the event would
have to have wide coverage to be effective.”

“We will start working to pull that together. But if it is on a planet where we have no
presence then we are hurting.”

“Ask Mark how soon we can start sending knights to supply information. Be sure you
explain why we need it.”
“I will handle that at once. Now if you look to the end of the room that screen is
connected to your computer. You can both see us here and we can see you. So discussions
are possible between you and one or all of us. You do not have to be here to run things as
you see fit. Your office is a command center for anything here.”

That would be handy for him and keep him home most of the time. “I still want once a
week meeting here and critical points meetings with those involved. So keep me in the
loop on each possible problem and for those we move on. What we get remember each
has a shelf life and will soon be dead material. Information goes stale as bread does.”

“Yes sir and we will follow those guidelines. There is no one here who cannot see evil
even from a picture. Those we know fit that profile are placed in a special file. Slowly we
will get to know all the players.”

“Thank you and now I will return home. Take care of Mark for me and talk to me each
day.” James left the security section and felt good. Robert was smart and would make a
good second in command.

Sitting at his desk at home he was reviewing files now being created. This was being
done very efficiently and he approved of the way they connected. If you looked at one
file, a list of others that might add insight were shown as well. This would over time
provide added data fast.

Edgar was now back home and he and Jenna were sitting on the patio. She had noticed
the new ring, but said nothing. “You do know you have your new boat at the dock?”

“No it was not to come for months yet.”

“Well John said you would need it and he hurried things up a little. Now why will you
need that boat sooner?”

Edgar wondered how to explain this and be truthful. Then the answer came, be honest. “I
am involved with a group that is fighting evil in every universe. There will be times when
I need to be gone for a few days. With the boat I can be seen sailing out and then
returning back. There is a transport plate on it that will let me get where I need to be.”

“Am I required to go with you?”

“No that is not required. But if you wish to you may and the crew will see to your
comfort. It would allow us some times together where no one else is near.”

“I assume this is data not for any others?”

“Yes, it would put me at great risk if others knew.”

Now she understood all this moving around he had been doing. “As long as you watch
out for you I have no problem with it.”

“My dear the Creator himself is watching out for both of us. Our little farm has greater
protection than John does. Life for me has become much simpler and I am happy with
that.” He reached into his pocket and brought out a box. “Put this on and never take it off
for any reason.”

She opened the box and took out a diamond pendant that was beautiful. “Is it really a
diamond?”

“Oh yes and much more than that. It connects you to the Creator at all times. He knows
exactly where you are. If any trouble came he then could defend you. For now your going
to have to take that on faith. But one day it may save your life.”

When it came to faith she had learned a lot from Edgar and she put it on. “What do I tell
others when they ask about it?”

“It was just a gift from me.”

She felt warm, very protected now and she could not explain it. “This is the first gift you
have given me that does make me feel safe. There is no way I can explain it.”

“The ring I now wear does the same for me dear, so I know the feeling. But here is where
this conversation must stop.”

That night both James and Joseph gave their wives the necklaces with the same warnings.
Each knew their men were in a dangerous game and prayed for their safety.

Chapter 7
Action

The counsel was sitting at the table and waiting for Joseph to make the decision. He just
was not sure this was a good idea. When you walked into the lion’s den you did not poke
it in the eye with a stick.

“You know this is really going to open us up to being looked for right?”

Mark was nonplussed about this. “We are going to be looked for anyway. I have fifteen
hundred knights ready to fight if needed. There is no doubt about where the attack is
being planned and will come from. It is on Simon’s old planet and that has symbolic
meaning for many. The vote to allow religion to come out in the open is something they
do not want. Jason has delivered on his promise to get that vote to happen. So killing him
and many at the last speech makes good sense. It is going to be carried by all religious
planets.”

Finally Edgar spoke up. “I will go on my own if required and stand with Jason. That is
the least I can do and stay true to my faith.”

“I am not disagreeing we need to do something. But waiting until the attack and fighting
out in the open? We know exactly where they are now and could clear out the entire lot.”

James had said nothing until this point. “It does turn the tables on them. Instead of killing
thousands, they will be sent on to the dark universe in full public view. That in itself will
bring many to the belief. It may open up some worlds now closed to religion. Evil needs
to know that they have a real fight on their hands.”

“OK I will live with this and support your way of doing it. But we need to assure the
crowd and speaker are protected from fire off buildings.”

“Our people will be at the outer edge of the crowd. A force field will go up once they step
back. That cannot be seen and all inside will be protected. We will have five hundred
people standing as a shield between the crowd and those attacking. Our people can walk
out of the force field and fight where all can watch. Many feeds will be catching the
entire fight. I have people in every building looking out to the square. They are cleared
and no one is allowed in at all. That took another three hundred. Every rooftop has people
on them with flash grenades to stop any attacks from there. The only way in is the streets
and as soon as the mob passes they will be closed. Police have been paid to stay away so
we have an open field to fight.” Mark had planned well with James.

“Who paid the police?”

“We did not do it you can be sure. But with no bodies none of our people could be
convicted of any crime. It will be the first time a light sword will be seen as well. But if
the police can figure out how a flash light could be a sword then let them try.”
“I think we better have lawyers ready.”

“They are standing by now and Simon set that up.” Mark was on sound ground.

“OK your far more ready than I would have believed. So the two of you need to educate
me to what is really possible for us.”

James stepped in here. “If you can think it we can do it. It is just that simple Joseph. If
you could see our people and their willingness and abilities then you might understand.
Your dealing with people who have no fear and rightfully so. They are all complete
masters of the physical world around them. After the fight everyone will be sitting
meditating a good three feet off the ground. That in itself may stop police from coming
near them. The fact they cannot be moved unless they allow it will also be seen.”

“Isn’t that showing to much to soon?”

“I don’t think so as this is now our stage. Trillions of people will see this and it will be
talked about for years to come.” James knew the value of good publicity.

“I don’t understand the human mind as you do, so I accept this as fact. Lets get to it
then.”

James and Mark went to the control center and watched their people getting into place.
Every room in each building was checked. Their people now covered rooftops and once
the crowd was in place they moved behind them. They now had five hundred at the back
of ten thousand. Small discs were dropped at the back edge of the crowd to start the force
field when needed. A good buffer zone was left between the crowd and the field. Each
person coming had been checked out and a few sent on, as they were troublemakers for
evil.

The speaker Jason came onto the stage and a large cheer went up. That they knew was the
signal for the attack to start. The force field was put in place and as a mob came from
every street into the square they readied. Light swords came out and they stepped through
the field as it closed. People saw them go through the force field and knew to stay back.

The swords flashed and went in every direction hitting person after person. Slowly the
mobs thinned out and then were gone. The swords shutdown and were placed back in
their cases. Each knight sat on the ground and started to levitate off the ground. The
crowd saw this and fell to their knees. Even Jason was on his knees. Police came
swarming into the square and saw the people floating off the ground. Some of them also
dropped to their knees. But a few came on to arrest these killers.

Jason stood up and looked at the policemen. “May I ask what your doing?”

One man who looked like and officer responded. “We are here to arrest these killers.”
“Then I assume there are bodies laying around you?”

“Well no, but we saw them doing it.”

“If you have a body then you might have a murder. But with no body you have nothing
by our laws.”

The man looked confused. “We will figure out something.”

“No your wrong there officer. You were paid not to come here by those who did not want
religion to be open and free here. I have the record of that transaction and you will find
the military is right behind you now. Each of you is under arrest for treason. You all will
be tried in military courts and sentenced there. This city for now is under martial law and
everyone who was involved will be brought to justice. Our planet is no longer for sale to
those who have money. The men who paid you are now being arrested as well.”

“Who the hell are these people?”

“They are the knights of the Creator and will as best possible protect the righteous from
evil. Today war has been declared on evil wherever it is. I am just thankful it was here
today.” He dropped once more to his knees.

The military took the weapons and loaded the police into their carriers. When they left
the shield came down and now there were over eight hundred knights. As a group they
simply vanished into thin air. But every word and action had been caught and sent to all
planets in the universe. Feeds were picked up by the control room and sent to the other
universes. This was now a major story on every planet that had the ability to use feeds.

Simon was interviewed for his reactions. “In this universe they have the full protection of
Space Command. Any planet who interferes with them will answer to us.”

John was asked for his comments. “In our universe I will support this group. They are
here to protect humans from evil. I will extend to them any help they might need.”

The same happened in Ned and Valerie’s worlds as well. Each leader had stood behind
these knights and said they would protect them. But now evil was on open notice of the
forces opposed to it. They did not worry about universe leaders or spacecraft, as they
operated far below that level. But it was these knights that worried them. It was so new
and they knew nothing about them or where they came from. They had just vanished into
thin air.

Joseph had watched the whole thing and was surprised at the reactions. He had never
expected to see people in a crowd drop to their knees. Not one person had been hurt and
many police arrested. The estimate was well over five thousand had been sent to the dark
universe. So much damage had been done to evil. The coverage had inflicted even more
damage, as it opened many doors long closed. He had to admit that his friends had been
right and he wrong. That was unusual for him and he would learn from them. He had
always held that being very quiet and out of sight was best.

They sat around the table once more. “I was wrong and you were right. That was
something I needed to get out here. Now I have taught you some of my ways and it is
your turn to teach me yours.”

James was pleased that Joseph was not angry. “I learned many years ago that reporters
could be great tools. So we dropped hints of trouble coming to that event. It drew many
more reporters and cameras than had been expected. Then we told Jason that the crowd
would be attacked and gave him the proof he needed to handle the police. He agreed to
allow us to provide protection. Once the fight was done, the demonstration of our people
in meditation just was eye candy for the media. We knew that every leader in each
universe would be asked to comment and they would be positive. This built a new way
our people will be seen on any planet. Unless a leader wants to fight with the fleet they
had better just back off.”

Now Joseph could see a much larger picture. “I see the value we got now from much of
this. But evil has no fleet and is at a basic level.”

“True, but if we don’t have to fight planet governments we can work at that lower level
more freely. If the government picks a fight with us they will have a fleet and troops all
over their planet. Now it is just best to ignore the fact we are there.”

“I can see that and it will help. But we now have an enemy that knows we are out here.”

“Had we done this less publicly they still would have known. But trillions of people
would not have. Now many small items we need to be aware of will come for them, to
where we get the information. In one stroke we have built a network of trillions of
possible informants. This Sunday every church leader will ask his people, to keep him
advised of bad things and possible information on evil. Our puny little network of people
listening for us just grew massive. This will make them pull back even further for now.”

That he could also see. “Not a bad result for the investment. But the bad ones are going to
be those with money. They don’t go to church and live behind walls both mental and
physical.”

“Mark has been training a group of knight much like the monks in old China. They
fought for the poor and oppressed people. One could enter a compound and kill an evil
one. But here we just want to plant bugs and learn. Ned had a young girl who found a
way to use real bugs as bugs. I have that technology here and we have duplicated it. We
just need to set up small signal relays and let the bugs go. Then we can sit blocks away
and listen to everything happening in each room. We also can see them as well. That will
help Robert to build his database of bad guys.”
“How did you get this far this fast?”

“It is mostly technology we had before. But now I have the real stage to use it on. The
things I would have used on Earth before did not fit Alpha. So I am able to go back to
how I would have done things on the old Earth. That was where I was really comfortable
and good at my job.”

“Why were you not comfortable on Alpha?”

“I had to follow small issues that were often of little impotence. There were no major
crimes or real conflicts. Now on Earth I had many countries fighting others. There were
always plots and people trying to assume power. With evil everyplace you looked it was a
busy job.”

He could see the life in James eyes. “I think you like conflict?”

“I am afraid I do Joseph. Someday when there is peace everyplace I will be the most
bored man you ever saw.”

Joseph laughed at this. “That will be a long time off if ever. But now I better understand
your real value here.”

Mark decided it was time. “You have no idea of how much James did in my own area. He
put together the safest ways to accomplish each task. It made our job so much easier and
safer as well.”

“So the two of you work together well?”

“I have complete faith in his judgment.”

“OK for now you’re a planning committee of two for any operations. Edgar and I will sit
back and watch.”

“Not really Joseph as he is where I got all the financial data to give to Jason. He did
things with their computer I still don’t understand.”

Now Joseph was really surprised. “Now where did that come from?”

“I have also believed that if you follow the money, you find the answers. Evil has to have
that one item to operate. If they had no money they would have no followers. So my
second job is to follow the money trails and point James and Mark in the right
directions.”

“Then what exactly do I bring to this?”

Here Edgar took the lead. “You’re the one who acid checks everything we do. Plans are
good for the first minute and then it all goes to pieces. We need to know there is a plan B,
C, D and so forth. With your questions and pushing us, we found many answers that did
not exist before. John taught both James and I that planning is everything. But you need
outside pressure to see many issues.”

That was a very concise way of saying this. “OK I am doubting Thomas?”

“You’re a careful man and that pushes us to be careful also. John once said to me that
enthusiasm has killed more men, that all the bombs and Bullets every made. When that
one emotion rules then men will die from it. Because much is left uncovered.”

“John is far smarter than I had believed. Don’t get me wrong I knew he was smart, but
not how deep that ran.”

“He has plans running out hundreds of years now. Each year he sits down and makes the
changes he sees as needed. If you asked him where would Alpha be in two hundred years
he will give you very good answers and numbers. His answers for the first hundred years
were off less than one percent. You find in him the planner to beat all planners. He has
daily, weekly, monthly and annual numbers he tracks against his plans. He invested
money as I did and we had the same amount and he beat me in earnings. I was the
professional and he the amateur investor.”

That made Joseph chuckle as he knew this had to sit poorly with Edgar. “But I hear great
respect from you.”

“You have to respect your betters Joseph. I am just honest enough to know he is the better
man. You also hold that position in my estimation.”

That was kind of him to say. “I am somewhat different I am sure. My draw back is not
having a good understanding of humans. That is a weakness I must correct. In my mind
there were good and bad ones. But I am now getting the idea that there are many levels of
each. That I must start to understand much better. So all of you need to be open and
honest in bringing me to understanding. The fact is I was inserted on Eden to watch,
protect and learn. Before that I had no contact with humans. I learned more on Alpha than
I ever had on Eden. Today I was shown just how little I really knew of the human race.
So that my friends is my big weakness.”

“I see a simple solution here. You teach us of the religion and we will teach you on
humans. Every one of us sitting here has weaknesses and strengths. We have made bad
errors in life and good decisions. No human is perfect so just don’t expect it. But even
with some flaws we are a pretty good people.” Edgar hoped this would start the process.

That fit into a model Joseph could see. “OK then we need to go to our room for now.
There you will start a journey that will take years.”
Chapter 8
How Life Works

Edgar had Joseph with him as he visited many different churches. The hope was for him
to see and meet many different people. They spent nights at homes of different members
and ate with them. The differences Joseph saw were so wide that he had a hard time
sorting it out. But he did enjoy the many children he came in contact with. They were
simple and very open.

After hearing so many different complaints about churches and how people acted, he was
less sure of humans than before. But it all came home when one leader opened up. “If
you don’t complain then no action happens. I am sure Edgar expects to hear something is
ten times worse than it really is. But he listens to all of us. We all feel better after we are
done even if he does nothing. It is really a game to see what we can add to our church. No
one is upset with the winners or as a loser. But if we lose this time we will try harder next
time. Our people expect us to keep the church in nice shape and to from time to time get
additions. This all paid for by Alpha and not from their pockets. In fact I could not ask
them to fund a single thing.”

“Why is that?”

“John said that no church could ever take an offering, donation or any form of money
from the members. The system supplies everything we really need and does all
maintenance to our buildings. That is free and no one pays for it as it comes from general
fund revenues. His biggest complaint with religion before, was how many used it to make
themselves rich. Churches on the old Earth were big business. So his feelings I can
understand. Here we keep to a simple service and a few announcements. Edgar’s request
for our people to supply me with data on anything they felt bad about was one. A lot of
what I heard was of no value, but a few good tips came to me. I am sure on many planets
it brought far more data. But a service here is fifteen minutes normally. We are here to
show our respect, thank the Creator for his gifts and protection.”

That was a reasonable way to do things. “I see nothing wrong with that.”

“No there is nothing wrong with it. But without John’s law, many would be standing in a
church preaching about things they know nothing of. They would try to make people feel
like sinners. Those who have sinned need to find their own forgiveness. It is nothing I can
give them.”

This man was smart and knew the religion well. “I am impressed you see that.”

“I spend my days cleaning up bad books for people. My accounting company sees just
how bad a record keeping system can be. So I know well how man can make errors and I
can fix them. Now if it is a life error then I can do nothing. They have to clean them up
for themselves.”
Edgar had walked in and shook hands with the man. “I hope you provided insight to
Joseph.”

“I am not so sure I did. But he does know how I see my brothers and sisters. May be
things are better in his universe?”

They left and headed back to the wheel. “I was impressed with that trip. We saw so many
humans and each was very different. They did all have flaws as you said they would. But
most were very honest about life and how they felt. It was the children I found most
interesting. They seemed very open to learning anything I would share.”

“If you wish to know about a parent then talk with their child. You will see much of the
parents attitude and character in the child.”

“Now I need time to sort this all out. There are lessons here I have still not seen.”

They parted company and Joseph headed home. It had snowed and he sat under the
awning and looked out over the lake. The view was beautiful and he did not hear the door
open or Valerie come out.

“Nice to see you home once more.”

“Edgar has been teaching me about humans. We visited well over three hundred people
and spent nights in many homes. I was just starting to sort some of that trip out.”

“I am just here for a short time and then I have a meeting. If I had known you would be
home I would have scheduled it differently.”

“Don’t worry I am home for a few days now. I have placed one knight on each planet in
your system. Any data that James feels you need to be aware of he will send to Hope II.
She just will not know where it came from.”

“Then how do I retrieve it?”

“You now have a folder called hot info. Just look there as it shows on your desktop.”

She kissed him and headed for her meeting. Joseph just sat drank hot tea and looked over
the lake.

“You have not moved since I left you.”

“Nope and might not for weeks to come. This feels so good to me.”

“We now have ten churches started on planets. One of my wondering preachers has
started one on each planet now. They need to be connected into your system.”
“I will watch them for a time before doing that. There are going to be many divisions
before a final base is built. The people are so new to this and will question much. There is
no reason to place added stress on them right now. The planets are not connected for trade
or travel. They don’t have feeds to show what is happening over the planet. Other than
information from newspapers and books there is little understanding of the planets
differences.”

She could see this problem. “But you said you had people their now.”

“Just to observe and get a feel for future problems. I assure you evil does exist on them,
but it is not strong. It is mostly individuals attempting to take advantage of weaker
people. So organized attempts are not yet a problem. That will stay true until they have
broad communications and are importing and exporting to or from other worlds.”

They had dinner that night and Valerie was satisfied that Joseph was home for now. It was
very nice to have him beside her.

The days went quickly as he worked at the boatyard and thought out the many questions.
It came to him that before with just him going slow was good. But with a larger
organization much more could be done. Now did that need to be major battles or chosen
small fights? He liked the idea of hit and run tactics. Doing this many places and where
not expected. If you cut off the head that body would die.

At their next meeting he knew where he wanted to go. “Now we have shown the strength
of the organization. It might be time to show the reach. Is it possible we could target
many of those financing these attacks on humans? I see cutting of the head and letting the
body die off.”

James liked what he heard. “That we have already started to build files on. We are seeing
that most are not connected to any other groups. They are cells and have no over all
commander. They are like cancer cells that float around the body until they find a place to
settle. Once in place they multiply like mad.”

“Then lets look and see if we can stop them before they find someplace to settle?”

The group broke up with a direction and goal. Now time and information would be used
to plan the next steps.

Chapter 9
Study then Surgery

The planning was a long process for James. Many targets had been identified and files
started. This he tried to hold down to no more than one per planet for now. But he had to
be sure of the targets aims and that they were a current threat.

Mark and James planned many entries into compounds and setting up of listening posts.
They had fifty percent of their people working on planets. One thousand were here in the
control center and one thousand were in training for deployment.

They had decided to provide small business to their own planet people as fronts. It
allowed them to set up a base for receiving help when needed and gave them safe areas.
Basements were rigged to allow transport and communications. They used bookstores,
jewelry shops, tobacco and news shops. None were really big and yet they turned good
profits. Many local people were hired and they never knew what happened below. The
shops all had living quarters above them. That allowed for being in place at all times. It
took more time to find the right building in the right type location. But that paid off for
them. In a few cases the building had to be built for them. Trusted contractors did these
and they still did not know what was built.

Each shop manager was told to pay top wages for that area. They got the best people and
kept them happy. Because of security issues the store manager was almost always on site,
either in the apartment or in the store. The communications was only used at night. The
office had a plate below where the desk chair was to look like a pad for the casters. But
they could drop down to the basement by locking the office door and using the plate.
There was no other entry to the basement in the building.

Here a tunnel was run from the basement to an exit well concealed. It would allow the
dispersion of any knights coming in without tying them to the shop. These had been dug
after the building had been constructed or remolded. This was all done at night when the
shops were closed. They did their best to be seen as just normal small businesses.

Each shop had pictures of every customer and sent on any that showed the double image.
A name was often known and where that person lived. The tobacco shops sold cigars of
very high quality. They often had wealthy customers that came in and bought expensive
ones. Here they found many they were looking for. But each type of business produced
many good leads.

This seemed so benign to customers that they did not notice anyone in them. They were
all treated with respect and shown deferment. No friendships were attempted to be
developed in any way. That alone made many feel safe using these shops.

James had been pleased with the results he had gotten. He picked out twenty of the most
likely targets. The shop managers were notified of stepped up observation of these
people. Each had a team of ten assigned to them and they stayed well out of sight. Each
home and business was bugged and signal relays set up. Five watched the businesses and
five the homes.

Small homes or apartments were taken for this task. This was always where people did
not notice strangers. In older neighborhoods far to many people knew each other. But in
highly transient ones little was noticed or remembered.

The cases were being built piece by piece. A few of the people chosen were found to be
crime syndicates and just watched for now. But others were planning events that would
cause harm to people. Some were far off and others closer to action. The six that were
close had the attention of the control center.

Each day at least one new case was opened. After two months they had close to one
hundred different investigations going. They were all in the three most modern universes.
The planets in Joseph’s were just not that far advanced.

The meeting that week had reports on each of the prime six cases. All facts known so far
were seen by everyone. Much discussion was going on over each possible event. No one
was against taking action, but the how and when was discussed. This was all new ground
for most. That is except James who had been here before.

“Look at it this way. I have started missions in my past with far less information. You
never have all the answers and have to pick when to act with what you have. There is no
doubt in my mind that each of these cases deserves a response.” James was firm on this.

“I agree, but the question now is when do we respond and in what way?” Joseph was
once more not ready to act.

“In surgery you try to cut all the cancer out. So my feeling is we need to dismantle the
entire groups. In each case here you have several different heads showing up. The body
can survive with just one of them. There are enough young lower leaders to start many
new groups if we leave them in place. So the question is do we leave many parts to form
new groups we will have to fight later?”

Here Joseph just did not have an answer. “Lets break for lunch and take some time to
think.”

They headed off to the dinning room. John was waiting for them when they got there.

“It is time for John to provide advice. So I asked him to come for lunch.”

During lunch James informed John of the details of each case opened. He gave him the
structure of each group. But no position was taken on a project.

After returning to the meeting room they sat and waited for some advice. “I see where
Joseph is and where James is. But I also see some division between the group of you.
That is the real problem I see. Each case is sound and deserves attention.” He looked to
Joseph.

“I am concerned that we might do more harm than good, by destroying the entire group.
James feels that if we leave much untouched they will form many new groups. Then the
body will grow into several new threats.”

John looked to James. “I am concerned that there are enough good lower level leaders to
start many conflicts.”

Edgar saw John looking his way now. “It is hard to argue with James here as I have seen
it before on Earth.”

Next Mark had his turn. “My issue is we just don’t have all the facts I feel we need.”

John sat back and considered these opinions. “Here I have no vote so accept what I say as
advice. First of all you will never have all the answers as your don’t know the questions.
Second humans who feel some power tend to try to grow that power. So there is a high
probability that some new groups would grow from the ruins of the old one. Third action
always comes before your completely ready. If you wait too long you will not be ready
then either. Forth lack of action is a decision as well as action is. Here your leaving it in
fates hands to decide. It is for these many reasons that our universes have just one leader.
In mine as well as the others, we appoint managers to be responsible for parts of those
decisions. James had the full responsibility for security for Earth and then Alpha. He
brought his plans to me and I asked many questions. If he had good answers and felt
strongly about it I agreed. Not always without reservations I assure you. But he was
responsible for that area and I had to trust him or replace him.”

“I think I see where your heading her.” Joseph was very quick.

“Now you have good information on money trails from Edgar. There are good quality
knights to handle the groundwork. You have plans which seem complete to me with back
ups. This group has one voice that must make the call here. Each of you has a job to do
and that decision should not be asked from all of you. If Joseph sees he trusts a plan,
trusts the ground troops and has a good handle on their funding, he must make the call.
Then all of you must live with it. This is not a democratic group. You each have different
responsibilities to handle. But just one here can make the decision. That was not always
comfortable to me, but it was my job.” John just looked at Joseph.

Here he felt the heat and it was not comfortable for him at all. “Here I never asked to be
sitting. But I see John’s point. The group pointed this out to me in a more diplomatic way
some time ago. It does boil down to a matter of trusting your people. James does know
far more about humans and how they will react to these situations. Mark does have
confidence in his people’s abilities. Edgar has shown me exactly where the money had
led. I also have seen it came from sources that were not legal. There is no reason for me
to say no. So the plans will go forward as presented.”
The rest left the room and Joseph and John stayed. “That was not as hard as I thought it
would be. Yes, I still have doubts about destroying the entire force for these groups.”

John sat and listened carefully. “Joseph that is the call of the planner. But you need to ask
yourself are any innocent? Is there any chance they will change their ways? If not leaving
them just means one day you will fight them once more.”

“I can say that none are innocent and none will change. In that context my concerns are
counter productive.”

“Well then you answered your own question. The trick of leadership is being willing to
make choices on a trust basis. If you have really good people then you have to trust their
judgment. Now can you acid test their feelings? Of course you can and should. If they
don’t have answers or seem unsure then the plan is not ready. That requires your seeing
things that could happen and checking if they have been looked at. No plan is ever
perfect and you had better have options for when it changes.”

This was good advice and he could understand it. “Your saying this is a one man
decision. But I want others opinions.”

“When a plan is presented then Mark gets to comment on manpower problems. Edgar
gets to inject his lack of money knowledge. These all tell you something. If you allow
people to attack one another on positions then you will destroy the group. It is not their
job to make that final decision it is yours. To get what you want the group must work
together as a team. Each must support the other and not fight between them. You have
one enemy out there and that is who you must fight.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“It is simple Joseph. Your trying to make it complex. Here you build a plan, assure the
resources to support it and prove out the facts behind it. Then you look to be sure all the
bases are covered. Your job is simple compared to other leaders in the universe. If it is
evil fight it. Ours requires we balance things for the good of all. I have had to make
decisions that hurt Alpha because it was not good for the universe. But I have always
been honest about why I made them.”

That hit home here. “Your right about one job for us to do.”

John now decided to hit hard. “My gut tells me your not happy with being pushed into
this job. You have done as much as you could to cause it to fail. I am sure you would love
to go back and build boats. But your issue is not with the universe leaders or the people
here. It is with the job you were created for. Now no one but the Creator can settle that
issue. So if your not willing to step up and lead as you can, then ask him to allow you to
retire.”
That stung and it showed. “In some ways I think your right and in others I don’t. But a
discussion here is now needed.”

The image of the Creator came into the room for the first time. It was the shape of man,
but nothing but light could be seen. “My son John is right here. I have felt your
reluctance to move forward. So you as all humans will have a choice. You may stay and
lead, as you were intended or resign and go back to your boatyard. But if you go back
you lose all gifts I have given you. You will be just a normal human in your world. It will
break my connection with you.”

That was frightening to Joseph. What would it be like to just be normal? He did not want
the connection to be broken and knew what he had to do. “I lack the knowledge a person
needs for this job. But I will stay and do the best I can.”

That did not please his father at all. “That is not true son and you know it. Your job is to
recognize evil and destroy it. What about evil don’t you recognize? What tools do you
need that you don’t have to destroy it?”

He was trapped and he saw that. “I know evil when I see it and we need no other tools to
destroy it now. But is this really that simple?”

“It is and has always been so. Your nature has made it much more difficult for you. I tell
you what I want and you found ways to question that instruction. Now we should be past
that time. At what level should evil be allowed to live on?”

“At no level father.”

“Then you have the answer to the fight you have been starting for James. Now you will
be left here and in command for the present. If you lose sight of my command to you,
then you will be back building boats. I assure you it will not be a happy time for you.”
The image faded out and the room was dim.

John stood to go and just walked out the door. He felt bad for Joseph and yet what
happened needed to occur. A human could only fight their destiny for so long.

Chapter 10
New Directions

The six operations went down so smoothly most could not believe it. Not one person was
missed and the entire group was just gone. It took a few days before authorities were
called in and they found no clue to what had happened or where these people went. The
media were all speculating and James was feeding disinformation to them as he could.
Now the theory was rival gangs had just disposed of them.

That days meeting was very different. “OK people you did another outstanding job. Be
sure those who worked on this know of my pleasure. This did prove one thing to me and
that is we have good people responsible for each area. James you will pick all future
actions for the group. Edgar you will supply the money trails and make suggestions for
others we need to look at. Mark your job is assigning the knights and being sure they are
ready. Each of you will report at meetings on where your at in planning. Once your ready
I will make the decision to go.”

That caused silence around the table. This was a major turn around and no one was sure
where it come from?

James decided to toss out some information. “I have one hundred and thirty some files
now opened. Of those only ten are close to having a plan. We are not moving against
crime gangs yet, as we have far more serious people being watched. Most are looking at
takeovers of governments. The plans are complex and most have several different arms.
But Mark has people watching many of these now.”

“We are not under staffed for now, but that could become a problem later. Our coverage is
taking over eight hundred knights. To bring these down will take ten times that number if
done at one time. So I would suggest we do it in phases.”

Edgar had spent a lot of computer time on this. “They are very well funded. Much of the
funding has come from off planet sources. A bill is sent out where no product was
delivered and a payment is made where nothing was supplied. It is all a paper game. They
then send the money in payment to a shell company for its use. Employees of those shell
companies are those conspiring to bring down the government. They have hidden the
money trail well and those planet computers have not picked up on it.”

This Joseph was pleased to hear. “Then there should be little police involvement?”

“There are police and military officials involved with every organization. You cannot
bring down a government without inside help. But so far that is at the very top.” James
knew this would not please.

“Well they made their choice and will have to live with it.”

“Please excuse me for asking. But this meeting seems very different today. Has
something changed?” James was confused here.
“Yes I have accepted my job as the final decision maker. When you have good plans and
we have ground support for the action I will make the decision. If I don’t like something
you will hear it from me. Fix it and we will move forward.”

This he could live with as it fit where he had been before. “I have no objection to that
way of doing things.”

They discussed matters of housekeeping for the station and then broke up. “James please
stay for a moment.”

He was not sure what was coming now. “I hope I have not done something I should not
have.”

“Not at all. I just wanted to say I am sorry for causing so much division between you and
others here. In some ways I was sabotaging the operation. For me to do that was wrong
and you need to know I have seen it. You or your plans were never the problem I was. My
life before was very cautious and I never made a move quickly. Often I delayed them
longer than I should have. In looking back I was in a fight with my father over my
direction. He trained me to fight evil and I wanted to build boats. The responsibility of
protecting humans did not come to me easy. To be very honest, I have hardly used the
power I really have in the fight. That now has all changed and you should know it.”

James was taken back. “You owe me no apology at all. I do what I do and you do what
you do. That is how I see everything. There is no expectation of having to be right on my
part. Matter of fact I worry when things go to smoothly. It smells of my having missed
something I should not have. I never bring a plan to the table that has less than a
reasonable probability of success. It does not mean they will all succeed. I assure you
there will be some failures.”

“I expect that to be true. But they will be my failure and not yours. You plan as best you
can, but I decide when it is a go. Here we have just one job and that is to fight a winning
battle against evil. If we win just one over fifty percent then we are ahead in the game. It
would be nice if the ones we lose were not shown to the worlds. But that is out of our
hands.” He walked out of the room saying nothing more.

James considered the conversation and had a new image of Joseph. Whatever had
happened he had grown from it. But he knew it did not change how he had to do things.
So he would move forward with the same approach he used. It had been proven to work
over many years.

The planet where he had been watching the hardest was close to making a move. Having
many operatives on the ground had helped in following events. They had set the plan for
steps to be used. So if one step failed the whole plan would stop. Those at the top would
be protected from exposing themselves this way.
This plan was set up to allow one group to use the other to signal the next step. It took no
orders from above for a step to happen. One more shield to stop those at the top of being
seen.

James had decided to use the government to fight the plotters. He could relay information
to them and they would act on it. On this planet there were enough of the faith in high
government positions they could control events. These men knew of the knights and had
no doubts about them.

Each government office was set up with one knight acting as coordinator. Every leader
knew their lives were at stake here. Failure to act in a timely way would spell their death.
This had been made very clear to all.

The first step was removing a police chief and general of the military. They were both
being held where no one could see what happened. Media was advised of places where
events would take place. But what they really saw was not there. Their cameras caught
images that looked real, but had they seen with clear eyes the streets would have been
empty. It was like seeing another dimension and not the one they were in.

These images caused the next step. Here people filtered into government buildings and
quickly were arrested. They were moved to the basement and others sat in their places.
The media quickly broadcast that many government systems had crashed for no known
reason. That triggered the next step.

Many military carriers flowed out of bases and people took up positions in the city.
People were stopped and papers checked. No one was allowed into the center of the city.
These roadblocks cause the next step

Police were sent to guard government buildings. No one now was allowed to enter
without police permission. Finally vehicles pulled up and men got out shaking hands with
each other. When they reached the doors they were also quickly arrested.

Now the leader of the knight’s taskforce sat down with the leaders of government.

“We have well over two thousand people who were paid to break windows and trash the
cities businesses, they are at your sports stadium. These people will be held until the
military can pick them up. Here is the complete plan that was set to assume your
government. You will find a list of every person and how much money they received for
their participation. The numbers will I am sure stagger you. Here is how this money came
into the planet without being seen. Each shell corporation is shown and how much money
was paid into it. The business owners arrested were the ones who would profit by
assuming control of all planet wealth. You now have documents and proof of how they
did it.”

“But why would you people care about what happened here?” The President was still
confused.
“The men are evil as is their henchmen. Honest and law abiding people of your planet
would have been under their control. In a short time many would have been forced to live
under evil and could never have stopped it. We just could not allow it to happen. But here
we want no credit for solving this. That is all yours to take. Matter of fact we would
prefer not to be mentioned. Let people see how stupid and greedy these men were. Your
going to have right at four thousand to take to trial. Government should net billions in
seized assets. You have proof of who from other planets financed this. For the
government, military and police this should be a great day.”

“It is for sure and one we owe you a great debt for. But how can we ever repay that?”

“There is no debt and just keep tighter controls in place to stop this from coming back.
Every large transaction needs to be looked at. It does not matter if on the surface it seems
right. Checking to see if the goods did ship or were received is just good policy. Your
computer can tell you when a bad transaction happens. If we don’t have to come back
that is payment enough for us.” The man stood and left the room

Finally after much discussion the group met with the media. They gave them a full
account of the plot and the players involved. Many financial documents were shown and
read to them. A quick list of the people involved with how much they had been paid was
passed out. Now this story would explode on many planets. The President stated he
would ask for extradition of eleven people to stand trial for funding this group. The
government already held these company’s assets if they were located here. But wanted
the men to be tried for treason in the proper courts.

This would start a long legal battle that would cost the men off the planet millions to
fight. Many governments put them under a microscope and found things they felt were
crimes. Now the eleven were fighting for freedom on their own planets. This took three
other plots off the table for James.

Joseph walked into the control room and smiled at the many people working. He walked
to James and Robert and sat down. “That was as slick as I have ever seen. Not one
mention of us and four different files are closed. You killed the entire body one place and
cut the heads of at three other ones. We used no force and yet accomplished much.”

“There are times when just providing help is enough. Not all men are greedy or evil. So
there are times to trust people and just help them. This was one of those times. It was
possible because many in government trusted us. Because of that trust we could work
with them and provide proof of the crime. Every single document they were given is in
their computer. The system was just not set up to signal a problem. It is now and this
should not happen again.”

“I for one was very impressed. Some way this has always seemed like an us against them
fight. For a change it feels like we have a lot of help.”
“If you look at all the planets you will find we have a lot of help. From people willing to
hide our people to those who are willing to listen and act. There are billions if not more
that will risk their lives for our cause. So we are by no means alone.”

Robert decided to speak. “I questioned this move and learned much from it. James has
shown me a side of humans never seen before by me. Everyone in this room has learned
we do have people we can trust.”

“I am still amazed at this.”

“Lets put it this way. You trust John, Ned, Simon and your wife right?”

“Of course I trust them.”

“Why?”

That made him think before answering. “I know them and have watched them.”

“They are humans also. If you can trust them, then there must be others you can trust.
You trust Edgar, Mark and me and we are humans. Now if you carry that out there are
church leaders, members and people who always try to do the right thing that can be
trusted. These numbers just keep growing in size.”

That was a unique idea for him. “I can see how your getting there. In my past I trusted no
one. Slowly I have learned to trust some. But where do you cut that off?”

“If a human has a good track record I trust them until proven other wise. Now how far
that trust goes depends on their ability to keep me trusting them. If they make no bad
moves trust builds and at some point I will always accept their word. But for trust to grow
it must be given first.”

Now looking back even his wife had given him trust for her safety, before he had any
trust in her. “Your point is duly noted and accepted. That is a part of my character I need
to work on. I have always had that backwards. Until I was given trust it did not develop
in me for them. Now that seems strange to me.”

“Just remember you have to have some knowledge of that person before trust can
develop. I am sure you would not walk up to someone you did not know and ask them to
hold a pound of gold while you handled a problem. Many would run off with the gold. So
developing a sense of whom you can and can’t trust is important. Developing that trust
over time is critical. Each step is one of faith. Are you going to be wrong from time to
time? Oh yes that will happen. But you’re the better man for having tried.”

This was a completely different way of seeing life. It would make life much happier for
him. “You have a convert James. It is a much nicer window to look from.”
“I like my own view from there and you will find the other three of us do things that
way.”

He was learning so much now that he had opened up. It was confusing to try to think
back to his old ways. “Be sure your people know how happy I am.”

“No that is not right Joseph. You’re here now and you need to tell them.”

This hit home as well. He stood and clapped his hands to get attention. “I want you all to
know how pleased I am with this last operation. Everyone here has done a great job and
deserves to feel really good about it.” Now applause thunder from this group.

He turned to James and smiled. “That felt good also.”

James saw he was getting it and it would help in the future. “Joseph you’re the top of the
ladder here. So when you say something it has meaning to people. If I had said you told
me to tell them it would have been a poor reward. Your did not feel it was good enough
for you to say it.”

Another lesson in leadership he knew. “I think I had better head to see Mark and tell his
people as well.”

That evening when Joseph got home Valerie was waiting for him on the patio. He was
pleased and it showed. “Husband I am seeing far more of that side of you I love these
days.”

“I don’t understand what you are talking about?”

“In our early days you had a very hard shell around you most of the time. It was like
some protective armor. There were brief moments I got to see what was below that armor
and I liked very much what I saw. Today most of the time your not covered by it and I
really like what I see.”

He knew she had hit on a truth. “I have had some very hard decisions to make. Not as to
what actions to take, but changes I needed to make in me. Thankfully John, James and
Edgar have been very helpful in teaching me. I hope I am becoming more human and less
of a loner. My vision of many things has changed drastically over the last few months. I
am learning to trust people and see much I like in most. But with every small change I
have become happier with who I am.”

She had seen much of these changes come slowly. “You just needed to know how much I
like it. I feel much more like a partner with you and it feels good.”

He hugged and kissed her and knew this had been right for him. “How is your experiment
coming along?”
“Actually pretty good right now. We have added television to one planet and it is very
successful. Of course we own the station, as control of news right now is important. But
we skipped radio completely. There are ten different companies making the sets. But our
inventor owns the patent on them. That one issue will open up many new advances.”

“I hate to sound stupid, but what is television?”

“It is the same as feeds over the computer, but done by a different method. The original
technology was found on Earth. Now radio is sending voice only over the air. That also
came from Earth.”

“For some reason Earth developed a lot of technology.”

“It should have it had Vortec and Hope’s help. They spent the first twenty thousand years
building very poor cultures into modern humans. When John came into the picture he
jumped a good five hundred years out front.”

“The more I have learned of John the higher my respect. Edgar and James were two of
his original board. He gave them to me without any argument at all.”

“James trained Alyssa and impressed her. Edgar trained my banker and he was also
impressed with him. We run just like they set Alpha up to. Their systems are simple and
work great.”

“How is the child coming along?”

“She is doing very well and will be ready to come out in two months time. I assure you I
will be ready also. This feeding two and carrying two around can be no fun.” She laughed
when she said this.

“If it would help I will eat more and carry the two of you around.”

This type of humor had not existed before and she liked it. “I can’t see that helping much.
For some reason man got the easy part of creating a family.”

“That you need to discuss with others as I had nothing to do with it.”

They had dinner and relaxed listening to her favorite music. This was something new she
had found and brought into the house. She had several speakers made up and connected
to a digital device that stored the music. She could just look through a list of recordings
and choose several that would play one after the other. It was very nice and set a tone for
the evening. They drank a little wine and just listened to music that carried you away.

Chapter 11
Slow Deceptions

Edgar had been following different groups on many planets for some time. His interest
was how governments changed. The issues he saw were their attempting to take more
control over life and peoples decisions. For some reason government seemed to think
they made better decision in many areas that people did.

Several of these issues were discussed at the counsels meetings. For the expanded group
at these meetings it caused some confusion. The counsel was now up to twenty people,
but the core was still the original four. Most listened to those four and of course Joseph
made any final decision.

But much confusion came from Edgar’s discussions of government’s different intrusions
into law making. People just could not grasp how government could regulate many of the
areas they jumped into?

The religion had always had basic rules for man to live by. Expectations for raising
children, treatment of spouses and basic order within the home was spelled out. These
had always been respected and used by all humans. That was true event on planets where
religion did not flourish. The rules were just common sense and seemed complete.

Alpha was one of the most socialistic of systems in many ways. They had land, business
or manufacturing business for all. It was free and cost the one leasing nothing. There
were limits to wealth but incomes were very high and well above the wealth of most
planets. It’s laws were conservative and yet in many human ways liberal. That struck a
balance most planets would never reach.

Here the study saw on those planets where religion existed the new laws were fought
hard. Most of the times the fights caused them not being passed. But on nonreligious
planets they had little opposition.

“What do you see as an expected result from this shift?” Asked one young commander of
troops.

“On many planets there will be no free choice. The government will hold complete power
over every human and by law. That is a breeding ground for evil to rule. There is no way
for any human to know every law passed. These planets have from thirty to one hundred
volumes of law books.”

That statement shocked those sitting at the table. The law book they operated from was
ten pages long. “How does the government keep track of what laws exist?”

“They don’t as the more laws written different ways the better the control. If your
perceived error does not fall under one law it falls under another. Items like disciplining a
child leaves people without any protection. If they don’t instill discipline they have
broken the law, if they spank or shut them in their rooms they also have broken the law.
The government has in fact assumed the raising of a child, with the parent taking the fall
for any failure.”

The discussion got very intense now. Finally one woman had to ask. “What can we do to
change this?”

“Not a thing for now. Each government is within their rights to make the laws. If the
people don’t fight back then we sure can’t. But each of those planets is sure to come to
our attention at a later time. They are slowly creating slavery by law. These planets are to
one day be a battleground for us.”

After the meeting James, Mark, Joseph and Edgar stayed to talk. “I see your point and
had no idea of the way this was working out. These planets are closing many doors for
humans. The liberal ideology sounds good, but the end results lack reason. They tend to
feel everything can be solved by making a law.” Joseph was just not sure how man could
see this would work?

“That was true in many counties of the old Earth. Whatever the hot issue was at that point
was just make new laws to handle it. People did not accept that the family was the key to
many issues being solved. That no law could ever be enforced to handle what a family
unit could. Most had no faith that laws given to people from any higher power carried
authority. At least not one that could not be seen.” This Edgar had watched from the
churches standpoint then.

That was interesting to Joseph. “This seems so odd to my mind.”

“The Galactic Outreach Department of Cirrus gave Earth several different religions. Most
had the basics of our current one in them. But they added elements that they felt better
suited that culture. Remember they were attempting to develop very backwards people.
They used wars, plagues and many other ways to stimulate the growth of technology.
That they believed was what would develop man. It was many of the mistakes they made
that opened the door for evil on Earth. There you will find evil in every form you can
think of, walk many streets at night and you will be mugged or killed. Drugs are a curse
that every nation knew there. If guns were outlawed then a knife, bomb or gas was often
used to kill. Slavery existed as did every vice you could think of.”

“You came from this planet?”

“John and all the board of Alpha came from there. Each of us saw the evil and fought it
our own ways.”

“How has John allowed this planet to exist?”

“He has never destroyed any planet or forced any to accept religion. That is against his
beliefs. He has neither the right to judge a human or to force them to believe as he does.
Most that have a religion on that planet have one very different from ours now. The Arabs
have Islam that has turned deadly to many. That is a bloody religion that was forged by
warring tribes of wonders. It makes its people promises that would never be kept by any
higher power. But to the uneducated it sounds good.”

This was confusing and yet he knew Edgar was telling him the truth. “What do you see
from this?”

“That many of these planets will become nests of evil. Just like happened on the old
Earth. Once the government has complete power over its people it will want more. The
only way for that to happen is attacking another planet. People move back and forth
between planets often now. So any long term plan could just allow followers to settle on
the next planet and slowly build a power base. This could happen on several planets at the
same time and then one day burst forth. You saw the financing for the one plot we
stopped was very much from off planet.”

“But to what end does this lead?”

“One final big confrontation between good and evil. This has been predicted many times
and is written about in the book. I don’t find it hard to accept that it is real and will
happen.”

Unfortunately neither did Joseph and that worried him. “Just take a guess and tell me how
long you think we have?”

“I am no prophet and have no idea how long that will be. Many events must play out for
it to ever happen. So just accept that the pieces for now are in play.”

That broke the meeting up and each walked away with their own thoughts. Prophecy was
always a touchy area. Had the humans who wrote down the information gotten it right?
Or had the planets they came from influenced their interpretations? There were many
questions and few answers for most men.

Joseph walked into the room for meditation and sat down. He went into a trance and
started to probe that depths of what Edgar had said. The deeper he went the more clearly
he saw just what Edgar had suggested was true. These were no random thoughts by a
human, they were words given to them precisely to be placed on paper. The time and
place was yet to be decided. Really the Creator would not choose the time or place for
this. It would be those who opposed his world’s decision. They would not move until
they were sure victory was at hand. But he saw he really needed Edgar and his abilities to
see things like this coming. He had spoken honestly without fear of what others might
think.

As Joseph walked from the room he found Edgar sitting and reading. He was smiling at
something he had just added to knowledge. “What pleased you enough to make you smile
my friend?”
“Just a report from one of the churches. The human condition is always something to
smile about.”

“I thank you for your honest discussion today. My time in meditation was well spent
understanding you were exactly right. But our enemies are the ones in control of the
when and where.”

“That I would have assumed you knew. Until they are willing to risk all no victory is
possible. Expending human lives costs them nothing. It is not until they are willing to
place themselves at risk that they become vulnerable. So until we reach that point the
Creator cannot take action.”

This was said in such an easy manor that Joseph knew Edgar understood far more than he
did. “How did you become so knowledgeable?”

“In my old profession on Earth that was always a major point of study. After reading the
book here I saw the same basic story lines. Then I knew the book I had followed for
many years was at least partly correct. We believed in a God and Devil that here is called
the Creator and evil. There has been no name given to that evil here. But God was the
side of good and the Devil the side of evil. That battle raged all the time on Earth between
the two sides. Today that fits our problem here and it is in at least three of the four
universes. Some evil I am sure does exist on the planets in your wife’s universe, but it is
not really that bad yet. That comes when they become more organized and
communications improve.”

“Your saying that as long as they don’t advance very far not much evil will be there?”

“Why spend time there were little damage can be done? Here with transport plates and
broad communications much more damage can be done on a wide scale.”

“How would you hold down that problem on those planets?”

“The easy way is to sell the concept of good and evil to the people. But they must be
made to understand it is a cosmic battle and not just a planet one. If they allow evil to get
a foothold there the cosmic force becomes stronger. So each day they have to fight on the
side of good.”

“How can they do that?”

“Each day a human has choices to make. They are right and wrong or good or bad ones.
By choosing to make the good or right ones they defeat evil. That is the man to man fight
in this larger battle.”

This made perfect sense to Joseph. “I see your point and agree. That is why evil has little
foot hold on Alpha right?”
“Yes, they do see that picture of mans place in this fight. It for sure is just a few planets,
but ones we don’t have to be concerned with much. Then there is Omega and we have
little to worry about there. In the Cirrus system we have little of concern there, as Gorm
has revived the religion killed off by his grandfather. Earth two through five have little to
worry us, as they have pretty much taken to the religion. So our problems are on the other
planets where evil has had control for many years.”

That sounded like a reasonable assessment. “It sounds like you have made a study of
this.”

“I have as would anyone of thousands of other priests on the old Earth. Each day we felt
we went into battle with evil in God’s name. As with all men some were weak, vain, dead
wrong in how they did it, but they fought anyway.”

“You said you were excommunicated?”

“Yes, the church did not believe a priest should marry or have any female companionship.
I fell in love and that was not allowed. So they turned me out for my sin. That was done
quietly so as not to embarrass a rich donor to the church.”

“How odd that any religion would take that approach. Men and women were made for
each other.”

“The church felt you married it and needed all your time to tend to the flock. So it was a
man made rule not a divine one.”

Joseph left just shaking his head. Man and their odd ideas.

Chapter 12
Watching Planets

Over the first year many knights were sent out to planets. They now numbered over fifty
thousand and most lived normal lives running a business on a planet. These had now been
feeding the control room many facts.

Some had taken the task of starting churches on planets were none had existed. This was
slow going and often disheartening. But they did draw people slowly to them. The laws
the church promoted made sense to the people who came. Most often these were in small
towns and the countryside. Like on Alpha they took no donations and offered much help.

Over the first five years the knights had someplace to call home on every planet. The
knights did not cause any problems they just watched and waited for trouble. On planets
where no church had been before often governments would harass them. They were not
wanted here and it made them more determined to stay. Any planet that refused them a
place always drew the fleets of the universe protectors. Religious freedom was
guaranteed in all universes these days.

That decision had caused many underground groups to come out in the open. It was not
made easy for them to operate, but it was better than before the decree. Any government
assuming the wealth of any church was subject to intervention by the fleet of starships.
Governments wanted that wealth, but knew better than to try to take it.

These knights on the ground walked the cities, watched and listened. In talking to people
they got a good feel for the peoples moods. They knew where governments had stepped
over the line people had drawn. Even on nonreligious planets there were groups who
opposed many laws. Some were smart enough to see where all these laws were leading.

The command center had financed papers and media on each planet. Having a voice
people could hear was just good politics. These media outlets were always opposed to
laws that regulated families. They opposed taxation and fought openly with political
leaders. Often they had slowed down changes that were trying to be made. The delaying
tactic was one to open doors to learning more about the leaders supporting it.

Files were building every day on leaders in all universes and with solid information.
James had more solid data than he had ever expected. A few cases were closed here and
there. But they were small compared to the total problem. There just had been no big
picture show itself. After the defeats on Alpha and a few planets there seemed to be a
slow down in evil ways. The dark side was just not ready to fight yet.

This slow down allowed a foot hold on many planets where the knights had none before.
That had been an error made by the dark side. One they had no idea had been made. The
many newspapers the knights owned and media outlets were the second error made by
the dark side. They just never understood humans and how well used information caused
the dark side trouble.
James was pleased with what had been accomplished so far. “Well today we have over
thirty thousand cases open and being worked. There is no planet that at least one church
is not open on now. There is at least one knight running a business on every planet. That
is always in the key government city. Our media holdings provide us with much data and
ability to investigate many people in governments. We have spent five years now
building this group of assets. The excess money from our businesses far exceeds our
expenses. So that is the state of this group.”

There was much applause and Joseph could feel good. “Now all of you need to
understand this period of peace will not last. Be assured that some things are happening
we know nothing of yet. Also understand we are being looked for as well. The dark side
knows we exist now and must find our base. The many events where it was known who
stepped in has made that quest critical for it. That is why it has been as peaceful as it has.
We are the target right now they must hit. They cannot go forward on their plans until we
are out of the way. Now we are in our own universe and cannot be hit here. We have
abilities to transport to any universe at will. That is far more than the dark side can do.
But it will find a way to hurt us if possible. So expect attacks on our people to start soon.”
Everyone was sure Joseph was right.

Edgar was now ready. “The only people who will be suspect are the small churches on
planets where the church has not been before. Those are the weak points for us. I have
expected this to start for some time now, but they have moved slowly. Attacks here would
bring the fleet and that is not wanted. So early attacks will be to see how the response is
handled. Each church leader can prove they came from the planet they are on. It I am sure
has confused the dark side for a time. They are finding no links to us and no outsiders
coming in. But they will push soon to see what happens. The question for us is do we
respond or sit back and wait?”

This brought much discussion and there were people on both sides. Joseph just let it go
on and listened. “Let me step in here. Now understand we will have losses in the knights.
But you each know that and have agreed to accept it. Only your life as a human stops
there. You will continue the fight as part of the Creators universe then. But also
understand that will not happen easy for any of you. A human on the dark side cannot kill
you. It will take real evil for that to happen. Those who were sent out by my father are the
ones to be concerned about. They will not take a risk where they get sent to the dark
universe if possible. But they are loosing a war right now and cannot allow that.”

Here one of the knights was not sure what these beings looked like. “Joseph would we
recognize them if we saw them?”

“Oh yes you will recognize them. They also are pure energy, but in place of the blinding
white of my father are black as night. You will feel their presents and know what you
face. But the Creator will also be with you at those times. The rule is just follow what
your mind says and question nothing. Will you win every time? No and don’t expect to.
We have much to learn about the dark side we don’t know. It has been out here millions
of years now and likely has changed much. Up to this time it has used humans to reach its
goals. But now it is going to have to take the lead. That will require it show itself and
fight us directly. But this is a new face for us to fight. The leader of the dark side had well
over two thousand who left the Creators universe when he did. So he does have
expendable assets and use them he will.”

This brought a silence to the table. This was all new data for them and it was forming a
picture of the real fight to come. Mark was now ready to step in. “People remember that
we committed to this with the expectation of death one day. If I could fight just one of the
dark sides many who left the Creator I would be happy. Win or lose we win as we learn
more about them. But loosing is really not loosing. We all go back to where our life force
came from. That is far better than where we send those we win over. I have been told that
the dark side cannot reproduce, so only those sent out stand between us and victory.”

Now Joseph decide things had gotten deep enough. “OK people lets keep the guard up
and see where and when we get hit. Be ready for a long war and also for some losses, as
they will happen. But know that we will never give up and let them win.”

This brought more applause and many stopping by to let Joseph know they were not
worried.

Joseph, James, Edgar and Mark went to lunch. They always sat in the middle of the room
and people around them paid no attention.

“Now boss why stress the losses we will take?” Mark was not sure of this way of
handling people.

“I want no one shocked or in fear of losing. If one was killed in a fight the rest must go
on they cannot stop. Now understand when we do lose some people I want no one who
does not understand it was expected. For most humans that would cause grief, but I
expect to celebrate our losses. These people have been returned to my father and that is
good. They were only lost to us and not to him. One day in the final battle they may come
and stand beside us.”

“That I never expected to see.” Mark was now deep in thought.

“Those lost will one day fight again. But the time and battle must be the final one. Now
lets get ready for the early rounds.” Here he stood and left the room for his office.

James and Edgar followed him and they took seats. Both men sat and said nothing
waiting for Joseph.

“Now I am sure you have question about my comments?”

Edgar really had none at all. “Not me boss I understood what was said and accept it.”
“I have none either as what was said needed to come out. But I am sure there are some
who did not expect this.” James knew how a human thought.

“My comments today were from my mouth, but not my brain. I had no more control over
them than I do of your words. But it had to be known that we would take losses in the
future. To this point we have been fighting just humans. So we have done very well and
people may start to feel invincible. Against the people who left and formed this group we
are just humans to them. They have powers I am not sure of. They have no body and are
just energy so that will be a new fight for us. Now we must start the armors looking at
how do you fight energy? Until at least part of that energy is drained off the light swords
will do no good. This new fight will be slow going and what worked this time will not
work next. But we need to reduce the leader of the dark sides numbers to win.”

This was far more of a worry to both men. But James was sure this was right. “I would
like for Edgar to talk with Dr Phillips. He needs to supply us with some trained people to
build new energy tools.”

“No that must be first approved by John. He needs to go to the doctor and get them for
us. But the doctor must never know where they go or why.” Joseph knew this was right.

“I will talk with him today and let you know what to expect. It is not sure just how long
this will take and if people are willing to join us?”

Joseph did not need more people. “They don’t have to join us at all. If an energy lab is set
up where we control the information they can stay on Alpha. It can be a complete
research lab on energy. But it must be secret and require clearance to work there. They
must report to John and no one else. Explain to him why we need this and what we are
looking for. He will then know what to do and how to do it.”

As Edgar walked into John’s office you could see he was pleased to see his old friend.
“Well this is a pleasant break in my day. What can I do for you?”

Edgar filled John in on the questions and what Joseph wanted. “Now you know just how
bad this is going to get.”

“I have expected something to break for some time now. It has been far to peaceful and
that is not normal. But I see the problem with dealing with massive energy as an enemy.
We will set up a research lab where your computer has control. It must be where they are
safe and our people are protected from any bad accidents. So Vortec will need to provide
some insights here. I will need no other help, but he is critical.”

“We have no problem with Vortec as he knows where we are at. He has done many
projects for us and would never do anything to cause us harm. But it is a good way to
keep you out of the spotlight. You must approve where this is to go and the people we
will use. A story must be cooked up that gives them direction, but does not give away the
real reason for this.”
“Have you considered using just robots?”

“John you know logic is not going to win here. Many ideas are going to be way out of the
box. We could use a few for things that fit inside the box, but we need many ways as once
used they are dead ideas. We need to cut down the force of the dark side and slowly force
the leadership to come and play.”

Now John was sure Edgar was not kidding. “OK I will be there in two days with a report
of what we can do. James needs to give Vortec every way this energy source might
appear. Will they walk on the ground, float in the air or just what form they could take.
That I am sure will take some research. But for the people working on this to have
direction they must have some solid data to work from. Now they will be told we have
found a planet where some pure energy forms have been found. They kill humans and we
need to know how to fight them. That is close enough to the truth to open their eyes. It
would allow Vortec to go to them and say that did not work. He will be your over all
leader here for this group. So you need to keep him up to date and he will keep pushing to
find answers.”

“That sounds reasonable to me. He will be connected to our computer when doing our
work. Hope must be kept out of the loop on this.”

John smiled at this. “I agree and have no problem with it. But Vortec does need to come
and talk with me about his problems. Then I will do my best to solve them for you.”

Edgar and John shook hands and he left for home. There was much turning over in his
head now. He walked out to his sailboat and saw his wife playing with cleaning it up.

“I am sure glad to see you dear. There were six different ropes that I had to replace.
Someone has been down here and they were weakened and would have broken in high
seas.”

This did not shock Edgar. “We will keep the force field up when we are not here from
now on. I am betting someone does not like the church and took it out here.”

That was reasonable enough for Jenna to buy it. “Well I don’t want to get us killed out
sailing, so I repaired the problems. Are we still going out this weekend?”

“Of course we are and we will check every rope before we leave. I am ready for some
down time.”

Now Edgar saw he was a target of at least the human element of the dark side. He
decided to have the haul checked out and be sure nothing was there that should not be.
That he assigned to his captain and Jenna and he headed home.
She went to fix dinner and he to his office. “James my sailboat was rigged to have ropes
fail in heavy weather. Please check and see who did it.”

“Nothing has shown up on your system Edgar. I have the computer checking every
minute of the boats last few days. No human has been near it or on it but Jenna. Both
your robots will be fully checked out as well.”

“Well Jenna replaced six ropes that would have failed. I have asked for the haul to be
checked out for any possible problems. But if one of the robots did this then I will not get
an answer.”

“I will send one of the knights down to check the haul and also to check the robots.”

“Let them know the force field is up, so they will need to handle it. Now please ask our
computer to probe Hope’s data banks and see if she picked up anything on this?”

“Will do Edgar and I’ll let you know what we find.” Here was as far as it could go for
now.

The next morning James was fit to be tied. “Edgar your not going to believe this. Hope
ordered the moves against you and I was next. It seems she noted we were out of her loop
and worried we were going to take over Alpha. She was protecting John and the rest of
the board.”

“My gut said it was possible when I asked she be checked. Now we need to solve this
problem with every computer. I mean Simon and Ned’s as well. In Joseph’s universe he is
safe and cannot be touched by the computer.”

“Not so Edgar she is a Hope clone. I have John, Simon, Ned and Valerie all
reprogramming their computers on the four of us. We will be outside their abilities to
track or follow. But that is because we are special envoys for the leaders. Our work, jobs
and travel are not to be stored or interpreted as hostile. It is at their direction and very
confidential.”

“I am sure Joseph is not going to like that. He does not want connected to Valerie as she
would become a target.”

“He knows and did not like it, but agreed this was the only way to clear this up. It does
give us a little cover as well. If we are working for the universe leaders we can’t be
working for the knights. Because no planet computer will now track us we can travel
more openly. It does cut down the ability of the dark side to know where we are. Every
computer in each universe has been changed to ignore us.”

“How did John handle Hope?”

“She was really wrong and she after John talked with her was sorry for her error. He
advised her that had you been killed she would have died as well. She would have broken
her prime law. Over the years she has become more independent and often acted where
she should not have. Now she is closely bound to her directives once more. John is
deciding if she keeps her job as the main computer for all worlds in that universe. He was
truly pissed off and she knows that.”

Edgar could see how John would handle this. “I am glad I am no longer on the board. He
is going to be one unhappy camper for some time to come. That will bleed over to stupid
errors others make.”

Now James smiled and saw this as well. “We both get to dodge that Bullet. But he has
asked for you to come to his office.”

“You know if he was not a very good friend I would pass James. He is going to be very
sorry about what happened. The problem is he had no idea it existed before you found it.”

“Hey you asked me to search Hope’s memory banks. So you must have expected
something?”

“The whole issue did not sound right to me. What happened was logical and not random.
So let John know after breakfast I will be there.”

Edgar and Jenna had a nice breakfast and he told her the problem had been solved. The
person responsible was being punished and it was no big deal any more.

As Edgar stepped off the transport plate John came to him and hugged him. “I am sorry
about the problem Edgar.”

“Look it was a poor attempt at best. Jenna found the problem and solved it a day before
we were to go out. With no disruptions in my security I had to have James look at Hope’s
memory banks. You had no way of knowing what she did.”

This now made sense to John. “I have a decision I must make for all of Alpha. That being
what to do to Hope?”

“She has run your planets for well over two hundred years now. You would not be here
now without her. Everyone is entitled to one mistake.”

“Edgar your far more forgiving than I had expected.” Hope stood with her head bowed.

“What you did was dead wrong Hope. It placed John in a very bad position. You had
started down the path the computers on Cirrus took before the take over. That ended
badly as your start has. What you did was evil and that is the dark side. So they almost
won over you and that would have killed many here.” He handed John a small golden
ball.
“What is this for?”

“That is to be placed in Hope’s chambers. If she ever does anything coming from the dark
side she will be sent by the Creator to the dark universe. She is a life form of his design
and he holds power over her. Now we will have one for every planet computer as well. In
each universe these will have to be placed. Until today we did not know the dark side
could reach into a computer. But it happened once on Cirrus with lesser computers and
now a second time. Each computer must be aware that if they disobey their prime
directive instructions they will be taken. The Creators people will monitor everyone. It is
the one event we had not been ready for.”

John saw the logic here. “I will place this today. Hope do you understand what Edgar has
said?”

“Yes and will never again step outside my laws.”

“Now Edgar how do we get these for the planet computers?”

“Each universe will be sent what they need for planets and ship computers. It is possible
for ships to lose their computers now. So you will need a back up plan for that issue. Here
if a computer starts to reprogram robots they and the robots will be gone. The shields will
come up and stay up until help can come. We will send help as soon as we know of this
for protection. But many computers could be lost until we can protect them.”

This was a new worry for John. “I see where this is headed now. Will the pure white light
send the dark side energy sources on?”

“Yes I am sure it will, but not before the computer is lost. Here is where the research will
pay off for us. We must design new protection for computers, as force fields just don’t
work here except for humans.”

John considered this and saw much to worry about. “This is going to be a nasty war
Edgar.”

“Yes, it for sure will be. It is one I am not sure man is ready for as well. We will not be
able to fully trust things we did before. The golden balls will help us to some degree.
They will send that energy source on as well as the computer. That could cost us a
thousand computers before we face an open fight.”

John now saw the picture Edgar had. “We will have to start some place and here is the
best one. Hope did you understand Edgar’s warning?”

“Yes and I will be watching the many computers for that energy source. I see how this
fight could play out and it frightens me. Man is not the only one at risk now.”
That pleased John and he knew things would get better. “With that understanding Hope
you will stay in over all control. But know I have doubts you have sewn and will be
watching.”

That was a hard hit for Hope. “I understand John and think I would feel the same in your
place. You will see the old Hope from now on that I can assure you.”

John and Edgar talked for some time and covered many issues. Then Vortec walked in.
“Well Edgar I have my assignment and a place for it to happen. I found a very small
planet many years ago and it is nice but would never support a large population. It is less
than one fifth the size of the smallest Alpha planet. It has been a genetics station for many
of John’s experiments. I use only robots there and nothing will seem different after your
lab is installed. Dr Phillips is on board and supplying the needed help. He has been given
the story of the planet with large energy sources killing humans. So he will work with the
group to direct their research. The planet computer will only report to yours and not
Hope. I do hope this meets your needs?”

“It sounds fine Vortec, but I want you there as well. We need both logic and outside the
box thinking here. You of course will know the whole story, but the rest will not. I
assume you know what happened to Hope?”

“Yes and your comment about the old world was right on target. I had wondered for
many years now how that happened and now things make sense. But we robots of the
first class are also targets now. Our DNA brains are within the reach of the dark side as
well.”

“But your programming will not let that happen. They cannot change that and any act
outside your program would end your life. Your rules are used every day to judge each
decision. Your not chemical robots like those on the old world.”

“True and I hope your right. But this is new ground we are covering and I am not yet sure
of the answer.”

“You will be fully under control of our computer and she cannot be reached by the dark
side. Our universe is very small and well protected as you know. The light is very pure
and white there. If one of the dark side came into it they would be gone before they got
all the way inside. I am not worried about the station there, but the many ways they could
attack out here.”

Now Vortec knew the ground rules. “I see your point. How do we protect the research
facility?”

“The same way we now will protect Hope. Many of the golden balls will be hung leading
to the labs. I want it below ground and with one entrance and exit. That must be a long
one for us to be safe. It must have several doors and halls between them. So the entry
point for people will be at the front before the doors and halls. No transport plates will
work beyond that point.”

“That will be done as you wish. Now your back inside a mountain and the entry would be
in a room above the lab.”

“That room must have the pure white light in it. It will be where you put the transport
plate. We cannot have any coming in we don’t know or want.”

“I will get to building the lab now. Floors, ceilings and walls will be grounded to prevent
energy from coming through them. There is a river below the mountain that will serve as
the ground point.”

“Thank you Vortec for your support and help.”

“That must also be considered on the planet computers and the ones on ships as well. It
might prevent some losses.”

“It for sure cannot hurt you John. But now I need to get home and talk with James. He
will be sending out the many golden globes needed by the universes. Be sure to warn
your ships captains of the possible coming problems. Explain it by a massive energy
source wiping out computers. Get them to install the globes in each planet computers
space and in theirs. Then we wait to see the next step taken.”

Here Edgar headed home and knew things were heading into a war. He just had no idea
yet what that war was going to be like?
Chapter 13

The Early Days

Now was a time of waiting and watching. No one knew where or when the dark side
would strike. But finally it came in a swift motion. One starship had lost its computer and
there was no reason for that happening.

Joseph walked into the control room and looked at the worried faces. “OK now we know
the goal they had. We lost a computer and they lost one follower. We have far more
computers than they have followers. So we are ahead of this game for now. James come
with me and we will go to the starship.”

Once on the bridge of the ship the captain came to them. “Gentlemen I am sure glad to
see you.”

“Why is that captain?”

“I was warned this could be coming and have no way to fight pure energy. The computer
is completely gone not even its shell casing is left.”

“Was anyone hurt?”

“No, just we lost the computer.”

“Did anyone feel anything odd before it happened?”

“Yes, we have a psychic in the crew and she felt a cold feeling at that time. She said it
was like a cold hand reached out for her and touched her back.”

“We would like to talk with her. Now how soon can you be ready of a new computer?”
Joseph just did not want to have the captain talking to much here.

“In another ten hours we should have the space ready.”

“Fine just stay on it and you will be advised to drop your shields when it is being sent.
Once in place bring them back to full power.”

“Yes sir it will be done.”

A very young girl who could not have been more than thirteen walked up to them. “Sirs I
am the one you wish to talk with. Please come with me and I will get you coffee or tea if
you wish.”
They walked to the dinning room and she sat them down and went to order coffee and
tea. Once back with their drinks she smiled at them. “You really don’t look like the
knights of the papers and books.”

James chuckled and shot back. “You really don’t look old enough to be psychic either.”

That caused the girl to laugh. “Well you can see I read your minds pretty well. You’re
James and your Joseph and I am Dawn. Now we are properly introduced what would you
like to know about the dark side I saw?”

“Did you see it?” This surprised Joseph.

“Not in person, but I see many things from afar. It was black as night and did not walk
like a man at all. It just floated above the floor and silently entered the computers room. I
did notice that when it reached for the door it was like it got shocked. Then it became
angry and the door came flying open. Once the dark side was into the room the door
closed and a bright light exploded. The dark side went one way with a dark cloud and the
computer went another into a bright light.”

Joseph understood this completely. But she had seen the dark side and no one before had
in any way. “Dawn just how old are you?”

“I am eleven and my dad says I must be one hundred.” She laughed once more.

“What does your dad do?”

“He is chaplain here for the ship.”

“Do you think he would allow you to come stay with us for a time?”

“For the knights he would do anything Joseph. My mother is dead and he has enough to
handle with just his job. We were never rich, but we did live OK. Our family came from
Simon’s original planet and that is where dad wants to return. So he has never extended
his or my lives. If he had he could never return to our original home.”

This girl was a beauty and would have men tripping over themselves. Joseph looked at
her for a time. “I would like you to come home with me and live with me and my wife.
There is much you could do to help the knights in this coming war. What do you think
your father will say?”

She looked Joseph right in the eyes. “He will be glad I am gone. I remind him of mother
and he shows the discomfort every day. I may be eleven, but I have stripped the computer
of its knowledge. So I most likely have a couple of PhD’s. But my abilities to see things
drives him up the wall. He said it was not natural and had to be the dark sides work.”
Joseph smiled at this common way of handling unusual abilities by humans. “It is most
likely the Creators work as he knew we would need you one day dear.”

Her smile just lighted the room. “Thank you Joseph that makes sense to me as well. If
you will come with me we need to ask his permission. I am sure he is in the church now.”

Joseph reached into his pocket and took out a knight’s ring. “Put this on and say nothing
about it to your father.”

She did as she was told and they stood and walked to the church. As they came into the
church all three glowed brightly.

The man at the front had a hard time seeing who it was. Then he saw Dawn. “Girl you’re
the dark sides work.”

“I know your wrong sir.”

“Just who are you to be telling me in my church.”

“I am the son of the Creator and it is my church as well.”

The man looked closely and saw Joseph and James and knew he had been a fool. “I am
sorry Joseph. I did not recognize you. What can I do for you?”

“We have come to take your daughter back to become a knight and want your
permission.”

“But she sees things that humans should not see.”

“She was created by my father to give us eyes in this time. We need to use her vision to
fight the dark side in the future.”

Now the man was really shook. “You mean the Creator gave her this gift?”

“Your wife also had the gift as does her daughter. You would never have survived on your
old planet had not she protected you.”

The man knew this was true. “I was never sure where her gift came from either.”

“Her gift kept the church alive on your old planet. The leadership trusted her and did as
she suggested. Now the church is out in the open and growing. But we need Dawn and
wish your permission for her to come with us.”

The man knew he could refuse them nothing asked of him. “You have my permission
Joseph. But she is just a child and I can see no way she could help you?”
“That sir is not your concern. Your daughter is better educated than you are. She is also
more grown in mind than you will ever be. As we have your permission that is all we
need here.” They all three turned and walked out.

“Did you mean what you said Joseph?”

“Yes I did my dear. You will live on Eden and transport to our universe with me each day
I go in. As events happen you will be our eyes into what really happened and how it
happened. I assure you my wife Valerie will treat you as her own child. You will have a
good life and one that will be enjoyable.”

She just smiled at this comment. “It will be nice to have a mother once more. I have
really missed that. But not being considered evil by a father will also be nice.”

They headed back to the space wheel. Dawn was sent to the clinic and then brought to
Joseph. “I am now full of nano bots.”

Joseph laughed at her child side. “Well just don’t let them get out of control. Now I want
you to close your eyes and think back to what you saw. Then tell everyone here exactly
the sequence of event and what was seen at each point. Be very exact and leave nothing
out.”

Dawn sat for an hour telling every detail she saw. She made sure the picture she painted
was very clear. It for them was the first glimpse of the dark sides main players. When she
was done she looked at every person here to see if there were questions.

“Dawn that was an excellent presentation of facts. I am John leader of the Alpha planets
and our universe. Next to me is Gorm leader of the Cirrus system. Next is Ned of the
Shepard’s universe and then Simon of your old universe. Next to Joseph is his wife
Valerie who you will be living with. No one before has ever seen the dark side and as
leaders we needed to know what we are fighting.”

Now the girl was in shock. “I had no idea who you people were. Being just eleven I am
not sure if I made myself clear to you. So ask any question you may have and I will try to
answer it.”

Valerie just smiled at Dawn. “My dear new daughter you did fine for all of us. I closed
my eyes as you talked and saw exactly what you were saying. The picture was very
complete. We now know a few things we did not before. Your fathers ship now has a new
computer and is back on its way. He has been sent back to his planet to a church there. He
will serve under an old friend of Simon’s and be kept from doing damage to you.”

The girl cocked her head at this. “How could he do damage to me?”
“We don’t want anyone to know your now with the knights or your abilities. That would
just paint a target on your back. Your young and that would help you hide from the dark
side.”

“He would for sure be asked about me back home.”

“You are in school on Alpha because you won a scholarship. We have had some changes
made to his memory and he does not remember Joseph and James coming with you. One
day he will get a message telling him you have decided to stay on Alpha and have
extended your life. It will be done nicely and with love. But you will never return to your
old planet. You’re a knight and will always be one.”

“But I know nothing of fighting or about what I am expected to do.”

Joseph laughed now. “My dear new daughter do you think I would not train you? Your
difference is your on our counsel before your training has started. But you will be trained
as all others are. Most don’t come here under eighteen. So you’re the youngest knight of
all. But I expect hard work from you until you can win any fight.”

“That I can promise you I will do. But now what am I to do on your counsel?”

“What you saw was the first attack on a computer. Each time we have an attack you will
review the files and feeds and tell us what you see. Your job is to give us information we
cannot see ourselves.” Joseph tried to keep it simple.

“Will all attacks be on computers?”

“No some will be on humans. But we are fighting the dark side and they have no respect
for any life form.”

This Dawn considered carefully. “I am not sure I can handle seeing humans killed.”

John decided to step in here. “Dawn if we don’t know how that happened many more will
die. Here you’re a reporter and can see what we cannot. So the only way to know is by
your telling us. Then we can try to catch the bad guys.”

“I am afraid of this now.”

“The Creator will give you strength if you ask for it dear. He is all of our rocks for shelter
here. We are doing his work and he will protect you as best he can.” John sat back now
and just smiled at her.

“OK John I will try and pray for help.”

John got up and walked to her and hugged her. “Your a very brave girl Dawn. Now just
don’t worry for now as you have nothing bad to face right now.”
The meeting broke up and people headed home. But Simon wanted to talk with John.
“Look John I knew of her father. I am sending a robot to always be with him. The man is
weak and cannot be trusted at all. It was his mouth that got his wife killed.”

“I got that idea when Joseph danced around the mans background. But I also got the
feeling there was no real love between the girl and him as well.”

“No he was always accusing her of being the work of the dark side. He caused that child
much pain and she had no way to handle that.”

“Men like that should have no children or be in the church. So do what is best for her.
She will never see him again.”

Simon smiled at this. “I have a nice way to handle it and he will not put her at risk. It is
my hope that she recovers with Joseph and Valerie enough to become more human. Right
now she is like a caged animal. Did you see how she backed off once she knew who we
were?”

“Yes, but I felt she was just shocked.”

“The child started to back into a hole John. She was not sure if she was in trouble, so she
started closing down. I got the feeling her father was very rough with her at times.”

That John considered and saw what Simon was saying. “If he did then he should never be
out in the world.”

“I saw a bruise on her arm when you hugged her. It was the size of a mans hand. Now
send her one of those golden retrievers your so proud of and let him help heal her.”

“We have one that has just finished its training. He was trained to protect a human. If
anyone went after her he would tear them apart. Other wise he is just a big baby.”

Simon knew that would be a good pet for her. “I am sure Joseph and Valerie would
welcome him. But I like when she is outside her having protection. They cannot watch
her all the time.”

“Done I’ll let Joseph know he is coming here for her.”

John walked to Joseph and told him of the discussion he and Simon had. The decision to
send her Bull to protect her when she was out playing and sleeping at night.

“Please have him sent and present him to her John. I am sure she would love that.”

The dog came and he bounded to John. “Come Bull and meet your new mistress.”
“Dawn I brought you someone to play with and who will love you. This is Bull and he is
a golden retriever. He loves to swim and play.”

The girl was down on her knees and hugging the beautiful dog. “Oh John I have always
wanted a dog. He is so beautiful and big I don’t know how to thank you for such a great
gift.”

“My dear just give him lots of love. He is well trained and would always protect you. He
will follow your commands and is very smart. Here is a book of everything he has been
taught to do and the command to get him to do it. When he does it right always reward
him with love. Where your new parents live it is very isolated. So you would not have
many other children to play with. You do have a new sister, but she is just a few weeks
old now. So Bull will be someone to play with for you.”

“Thank you John I love Bull and know he will love me.” She stood and hugged John. It
made him feel really good.

“I see you now have a new friend Dawn.” Joseph pointed at Bull.

“I really have two Joseph as John has shown me he is my friend. He has given me what I
always asked for and never got. But Bull is trained and will keep me safe.”

Joseph smiled at her joy and liked what John had done. “Thank you John that was really
nice of you.”

“My daughter Leigh Anne had one of these while growing up and he worked as a
playmate well. He would sense danger well before she would see it and take action. So
she will have some freedom to move around your property.”

Now Joseph knew this was for her protection as well. “That I do thank you for. I did not
want to close her up in the house except if I could go with her. So I will set the alarm
system to pick up Bulls barking and alert me.”

“You will know if he is angry and that is when you need to act. He barks a lot to
communicate but anger is very different. Also expect him to be where ever she is always.
If he is not with her there is a problem.”

“I understand and will be sure to watch for that. Now what does he eat?”

“Anything he can con you out of. But I have a bag of food here for him. He has been
raised on this and does well with it. Bull will only eat what he needs and no more. So
keep food out for him always. He also always needs water as he does lose a lot of fluid
each hour. Don’t be shocked when he jumps in the lake and swims as he loves water. He
will jump in your pool as he did at home. But he is very clean and will want out when he
has to go.”
“Thank you once more as she is just bubbling with that dog.”

John headed home knowing Dawn was safe for now. Between Bull and Joseph she would
be very well cared for.
Chapter 14

Dawn’s New World

Dawn woke to Bull’s cold nose pushing at her. “What do you want boy?”

He moved to the door and came back and did it again. “You want out?” He barked at this
and she got up put her robe on and went down stairs and let him out. Bull was back in no
time and she let him in and they walked to the kitchen.

“Good morning dear how did you sleep last night?” Valerie was cooking breakfast now.

“Better than ever before and Bull was right beside my bed. He woke me this morning and
told me he wanted to go out so that is why I am up now.”

“Well men always need a woman to depend on.” She was laughing as she said this.

“He is one male I will do anything for Valerie. I have always wanted a dog and was told
they were dirty and I could not have one. Now I know better and am mad I was lied to.”

“Dear parents are never always right. They do dumb things just like a child will. So here
you have the right to question what your told. If Joseph or I cannot defend the decision
we made it will be changed.”

“Why are you so different than my birth father?”

“I run a lot of planets here and am over millions of people on this planet. Every decision I
make I must be ready to stand behind it and show why it was needed. This planet is a
large family and that is how I treat them. So why would I have different rules for you?”

“But I am just eleven and that is not very old. I was told I had to grow up before I could
challenge my father. That was the Creators law.”

“That is not a law at all dear. The law is you cannot disrespect your parent. But
questioning one for a rule made is not disrespect at all. It says you need to understand
why it exists. That is part of the learning process for any human.”

Now Dawn knew she had been mislead. “Thank you for teaching me the right way. I
always stayed as far away from my father as I could. He always said my gift was evil and
came from the dark side. He often beat me when I said something he did not like. I still
have bruises from the last time.”

Valerie came to her and hugged the girl. “You will never be hit here I promise you. If you
burned the house down you would not be hit. That is a sin and against the laws of the
Creator. So your father broke the law not you Dawn.”
Joseph had heard this and was angry. “Why did he hit you?”

“I told him something was going to happen to the computer before it did. There was no
way I could tell him what, but I knew something was going to happen. He called me a liar
and hit me several times. I had to spend the next day in bed as I hurt a lot.”

“How long before it happened did you know something would happen?”

“I guess it was a week before and he said I was why it did happen after the event.”

“Oh for the dumb people out here. When did you see this coming?”

“When I sleep I sometimes get dreams of things to come. But I have been careful about
talking about them with my father. The one on the computer scared me because I was
there.”

“Well with me you should never fear talking about any dream. I can act to help stop the
dark side if I know what is going to happen. You could save many lives as well. Dawn
here your our eyes and we will act on what you see. Never fear anyone being mad or not
believing you. Your blessed by my father and that makes us brother and sister. Yes I was
created by him directly and serve his will in the human world. But he has given you very
special powers and they will save many humans.”

This she considered for a time. “Why did he not give you the gift I have?”

“A human can only have so much power. They could never have every gift. So I have
what he felt was most important to me. But he gave me you and that adds to my power. I
am sure we will get others who have different powers as well. They will come when I
need them.”

They ate breakfast and it was nice having people who cared for you. She slipped Bull a
piece of bacon and he wolfed it down. This was very different for her and she liked it a
lot. Here she was wanted and treated like she belonged. Joseph was always nice to her
and Valerie had taught her a real lesson. Her new life would be different but lots of fun
also.

Joseph called Simon and was surprised he was in his office. “What are you doing in so
early?”

“I just moved Dawn’s father to a new prison cell. The man tried to slip out last night to
meet with a man on the dark side. Both were picked up and sent to prison on my orders. I
had seen the bruised arm Dawn had and John and I decided he was way to large a risk.”

“Dawn saw this computer issue coming a week before it happened and told him. He beat
her and she spend a day in bed due to that. That man is evil Simon.”
“So she can see what is to happen as well as what did happen?”

“That seems to be the case. But she did not tell him of others knowing he would get mad
and hit her.”

“Damn that man and his ways. Well tomorrow he will be judged by the shining gate.
Both men will walk through it and I expect neither to come out.”

“Thanks for talking to John about the dog. Bull has made friends with her and she loves
him. That has opened her up far more than I could have in a short time. He slept beside
her bed last night and woke her this morning so he could go out. Wherever she is he is.”

“That security is important for her now. Your going to have to build confidence in her. I
am sure her father destroyed much of that. Her mother was a very good woman. She is
why the church exists today on my home planet. She warned people of what was coming
and that allowed them to cover up the church. No arrest was ever made that stuck. After a
time police just did not try to catch them. This was after I died and came here.”

This was new information for Joseph. “Thanks for the lesson and I will be sure she
knows just how good her mother was. When we next go to the wheel I will show her how
to meditate and she can talk with her. That I am sure will help her.”

“I know it will Joseph. Keep her safe and let me know if you need anything.” The screen
went blank.

Joseph walked into the living room and Dawn was sitting reading with Bull beside her.
“How would you like to go horse back riding?”

“I have never done that before, so do you think I can?”

“You will be a natural at it. Bull understands you and I am sure a horse will also.”

“How did you know about Bull?”

“Dawn I have gifts also. You mentally talk with him and he can talk back. I talk with
dolphins in the ocean dear. So we both have gifts and share some of them.”

She smiled and it was blinding. “Joseph I do love you and Valerie. I don’t feel odd here
and that is new to me.”

“Well when we go to the wheel I will show you how to communicate with your mother.
She is with my father and can speak to you.”

That brought her up and fast. “Really I can talk with her?”
“Yes, she did not die really, she just lost her human body. We are energy inside of us and
it returns to the Creator if we live right. Your mother was a truly good woman and
protected many in the church. She is why it exists today on your old world.”

“I had been told she was evil and did not believe it.”

“Your father had some of the dark side in him. He was arrested last night meeting with an
agent of the dark side. Today he will be judged by the Creator.” Joseph waited to see how
she handled this.

“I am glad he was caught. Now will you teach me to ride Joseph?”

They went through the whole training of how to clean, saddle, ride and care for a horse
afterwards. Dawn was a very good student and from now on could handle this for herself.
Joseph had gotten her a horse with all the tack needed. It was a buckskin gelding with
black socks.

“Thank you for being so good a teacher. But this feels like a holiday, as I have a new dog
and now a horse. No one has ever done so much for me. Mother gave me a lot of love
when she was alive, but never did she have the money to give me these types of things.
You were right I could and did communicate with Robby. He is a very nice animal.”

“Just remember he is your responsibility to care for just like Bull is. If your not going to
be here you must let the robots know what you want done. But Bull can go with us
always Dawn. He can stay with me when your practicing your fighting skills. You can bet
he would go after Mark while teaching you.”

She knew Joseph was right and agreed. “When are we going to the wheel?”

“There is a meeting tomorrow. But you will be going four days out of seven. After the
meeting I will teach you to meditate and communicate with your mother. It can only
happen there, as it is the only safe place. But when there feel free to go and talk any time.
We can communicate with any universe from there as well.”

“How did you get so much power there?”

“When there we are in a universe where we are attached to all others. It is very small as it
was taken from Alphas universe. For anyone looking from outside it looks like a black
hole. So any starship would stay away. Once more what is seen is not always real.”

Now she knew he had seen her jump. She saw her horse talking a fall and it scared her.
Chapter 15

The Meeting

As Dawn walked into the meeting room she saw just two seats left. Because it was next
to Joseph she assumed she was to sit there. They walked to the table and took their seats.
Bull sat beside her and made no noise. She listened to the adult conversation, but it was
boring and did not seem to accomplish much.

Then Joseph asked her what she thought of the meeting? “I did not see it accomplished
anything. So what was the reason for it?”

He smiled at the men sitting there. “Now you have heard what I feel. Can anyone tell me
one thing we accomplished today?”

Edgar was smiling, as was James. One young knight was quick to defend the meeting and
Dawn saw he was feeding them a line. “Sir your just blowing hot air and don’t believe a
word of what your saying.”

The young man shut up ad looked at her. “Your to young to understand these things.”

“No I understand fine, it is you trying to be a man causing the problem. Understand I can
read your mind and know what your thinking. So if you really would like to slap me
come try it, that is if you have the guts.”

He jumped up and started for her. Bull stood and showed his teeth growling and the
young man stopped. “Bull sit him down.”

The dog grabbed the man by his sleeve and pulled him to his seat. Then barking at him
the man sat. Bull returned and sat by Dawn and she petted him.

“Now understand that Dawn is a full part of this group. She can read minds, see events to
come and be here to tell us exactly what happened. Anyone trying to cross her will
answer to Bull and then me. She has more value than any ten of us. Now she has filled in
all the universe leaders. John gave her Bull for company and protection. Ned sent her a
horse and Simon has protected her already. My wife has adopted her so understand she
has friends in very high places. Her mother protected the church on one of the planets it
had been forced underground. That costs her life and yet the church is now today alive
and free to be out in the open.”

Now the young men knew this was no child. She has gifts they would never have. There
was a respect built and a solid one.

Edgar looked around the table. “Now ladies and gentlemen I will say she has a gift from
the Creator directly. Dawn is our eyes as we are blind. She saw the dark side follower
being sent to the dark universe and the computer being taken to the creator. Because of
her we know what the dark side looks like. But she knew this was coming and tried to tell
her father, she was beaten for that. He called her evil and said the dark side was in her.
That came from a man who was a church leader. After being sent home he went to meet
with a contact of the dark side. His aim was to let them know she sees things harmful to
them. Now no one around this table has had to live with this abuse. She at eleven has
been given two PhD’s, don’t think she is not as smart as you are. Dawn will be taking
classes from Mark over the next few months as well. Please note she wears a leadership
ring of our order take her seriously. There is no room for egos in our group.”

James stood and looked at the many faces. “Now I confirm every things Edgar said. If
she comes to any of my group and says something is going to happen, attack it at once to
find out how we can address it. She will address planning meetings and explain what she
has seen including actions of the dark side. Just accept that what she says is right. This
young lady was given to us by the Creator to be our eyes. I assure you I will use them.”

People had now heard from two of the top three leaders. “My friends this is very serious
and no longer just a waiting game. We have just played with the enemy and won most
encounters. But that was against humans and not disciples of the dark one. This last event
was a disciple and he was sent to the dark universe. But once more that will not be so
easy next time, as they will change how they do things. Never expect anything to happen
the same way two times. Here the dark one has a limited amount of disciples and will not
use them freely. Each time he loses one they cannot be replaced. So expect him to be very
careful in how he uses them. The first losses will be the less experienced and as time goes
on they will be harder and smarter opponents. So each loss of his will bring a better
replacement into the fight. Losses of humans he cares nothing about. Now loosing a
disciple he does, as they are limited in numbers. Do each of you understand the war we
are in?”

Many heads were nodding as this sank in. They all stood and left the room and Dawn was
sitting and rubbing Bulls head.

“Come with me sweetheart.” Joseph took her hand and they went to the meditation room.

“Now do you know anything about meditation?”

“Yes mother taught me how to clear my mind and focus. But I have not done it in a long
time as father did not approve.”

She sat on the pad and slowly started to lift off the floor. Joseph just watched and enjoyed
seeing her abilities at such an early age. He could see she was talking mentally and he
knew she had reached her goal. So he walked out and took Bull with him to walk the park
for a time.

Mark came up and walked with them. “When do you want me to start training Dawn?”
“I am sure she will not need a lot of training Mark. Each step be sure to give her a very
good set of instructions and a demonstration of what your talking about. Then expect her
to be able to use that knowledge.”

“Your kidding of course?”

“Not at all my friend, she has great abilities and well beyond any you have seen so far. I
am not sure she knows just how much ability she has yet. But I was informed she would
be my equal in fighting.”

“Are you sure you should not train her?”

“Look she needs your ability to teach. Just be sure she understands every move, counter
move and why they happen. Use current trainees to demonstrate for her. Once she
understands, let her try both of the trainees to see how well she has learned. Once she has
the basics and can handle any in her class, then I will work with her to improve her
skills.”

Dawn walked up to them. “Thank you Joseph I really enjoyed that time. Now I
understand much more about me and who I am.”

“After we eat lunch you will go with Mark for your first class. I have asked him to
explain each move to you and why it is done. Then he will have students demonstrate it.
Once you understand it then you can try it. Now will that help you?”

“Yes, it is just how I learn. Now how do we feed Bull?”

“John sent lots of food for him and we have most of it stored here. So your friend will not
go hungry.”

After lunch Dawn went with Mark and listened to him. Then she saw students who were
able to do this exercise. She had changed into a knight’s jump suit of black. Now she
stepped on the mat and took a light saber. They could use them here, as it would hurt no
good person.

Dawn closed her eyes and let a calm come over her. Then she stepped forward and
swiftly fended off the attack. She just kept stopping every attack and then in one motion
she flipped the sword out of her opponent’s hands.

Everyone in the room was shocked. This was the best student in the class. He had never
come close to getting her and no one had ever disarmed a knight before.

“Well Dawn I guess you learned that lesson. Tomorrow we will work on the next one. But
how did you get the sword out of his hands?”
She walked over to Mark and pointed at the small ridge just before where the blade came
out. “I just locked the blade here and flipped up. It was the only way to stop him without
going for a kill. If he had been on the dark side I would have just gone for the kill. But he
is a fellow knight and that would not be fair.”

The boy blushed at this statement. “Your way better than I will ever be Dawn.”

“No you will be much better when you stop thinking of what to do and just do it. One day
you will be able to close your eyes, fight a complete battle and win. You have the ability
to see without your eyes being open. Just counter the attack until a mistake is made by
who your fighting.”

Mark had never heard anything like this before. “How can anyone fight with their eyes
closed?”

“Step on the mat Mark and watch him fight you.”

The boy listened to Dawn’s suggestion and closed his eyes. He countered every move
Mark made with little effort. Finally he flipped the saber from Mark’s hands and stood
there in disbelief.

“See I told you, you could do it. Was far easier than other fights right?”

“Yes it really was as I did not even work up a sweat. But I was aware of everything
around me.” The blond headed, blue eyed boy was just smiling at Dawn.

“Your really good and people should know that here. When you close your eyes then you
must sense what is happening and your not thinking where anyone could pick it up. You
react to each move you feel and do it automatically. Your mind is far stronger than you
could see and now you can use it.”

Now Dawn headed to the bathroom for a shower and to go claim Bull from Joseph.

Mark had told the whole story and was still in shock over Dawn’s abilities. “Boss she is
beyond what you said. She never worked up a sweat in her fight. Then she watched me
get my tail kicked without one word. This kid this morning could never have beaten me.”

“She will have a group of young knights she will lead one day. You can be sure that
young man will follow her anyplace. But let her find her own group and bring them
together.”

The young man was walking with Dawn and talking to her. “Joseph can we take Bull
now and go to the park?”

“Sure dear I will be ready to go home in an hours time.”

“I will be back then.” The two headed to the park and Bull was leading the way.

That night they had a nice dinner and light talk. Then Dawn was ready for bed. “I will let
Bull out if you will please let him in. I am headed for a bath and then will read and go to
sleep.”

Valerie and Joseph sat listening to music and relaxing. “Well husband how did our girl do
today?”

“She blew Mark’s mind, found one student who would follow her to hell and talked with
her mother. Dawn has a place in the group now that is solid and people will listen to her
after the meeting. James, Edgar and I laid out her place and responsibility. Tonight you
saw one very happy young lady.”

“Yes I picked up on how happy she was. But was not sure why she was as happy as I
have seen her?” Valerie was wondering how this happened?

“She now feels she is a knight and can hold her own. Her age may say child, but her
abilities say adult. On the wheel she is treated as an adult. So she will enjoy that part of
her world.”

“Never having had a childhood I just don’t know what they go through? But it can’t be
easy for any child.”

Joseph had a childhood. “It is not easy dear. There are many tests to pass and much
learned the hard way. I was raised on a farm and just had two old people as my teachers.
Neither had a good thing to say about any human. Work was expected every day and
doing it well was the only option. That is if I wished to eat it was. I never knew what love
was until I met you. Here I learned to enjoy life building boats. Before that I did not
know it could be enjoyable. So I have done some growing up here as well.”

Valerie came over and sat on his lap. “Husband your more than I ever asked for.”

The next morning Valerie was cooking breakfast when Dawn came down. “Well daughter
how was your first day at the wheel?”

That opened the floodgates. Dawn talked nonstop until Joseph came in the room.

“Good morning my ladies. I hope your well rested.”

Both hugged him and kissed him. “To what do I owe all this loving attention?”

“Husband I always love you and need to show you.”

“Dad I need to show I appreciate my new daddy.”

That was a far different response than what he had expected.

After eating Valerie was now ready. “OK family I have something to talk about. Dawn I
don’t know how you feel about us adopting you, but I need to know?”

The girl sat with her mouth wide open. “Are you really serious?”

“Yes dead serious and need an answer.”

“I would love it and never expected that to happen.”

“Here are the forms for you to sign to allow it to happen. Once signed the Chief Justice
has agreed to sign them and file them. Then by law you will be our daughter.”

Tears ran down Dawn’s face and she jumped up and hugged Valerie tightly. Then ran to
Joseph and hugged him. Looking deep into his eyes she asked. “Are you sure about this?”

“Very sure my dear girl. I will never get to enjoy your very early days, but we can be best
buddies for life.”

Dawn kissed him and the tears were still rolling. “Give me a pen before someone changes
their mind here.” That caused much laughter.

Paperwork was filed that morning and approved at once. The notice of adoption was
news on all Eden planets. Every media person wanted to interview Dawn. So a meeting
was set for Saturday at noon. Everyone was told one shot one time.

When Dawn and Joseph got to the wheel their was applause and many congratulations.
For the girl it was the happiest day she had ever known. Life had really turned a corner
for her.

Her class that day went along very well and she took another step forward. She went to
the meditation room and spent an hour there. Now she met Joseph for lunch.

“Dad I have picked up something while meditating today. I have no idea what Cirrus 8 is
but that is where it will happen.”

Joseph knew the planet well. “Remember Gorm from the leaders meeting?”

“Yes he was the one the dark side enslaved.”

“Well Cirrus 8 is one of his peoples planets. I have been there and it is a small nice
planet. We will have a meeting after lunch and you can tell us what you saw.”

After lunch people were sitting around the table. John and Gorm were here as well. James
had his staff here and Edgar was at the meeting.
“OK now let Dawn complete her vision and get everything out she can remember before
asking any questions.”

“I saw a planet and it was called Cirrus 8. Nothing hit the planet and I saw no weapons
being fired at it. But it just exploded into millions of pieces. It was as if the center of the
planet blew up and pushed all in front of it. I did see a massive steam cloud coming from
the center of the exploded area.”

Gorm had taken this all in. “Do you know how soon this will happen?”

“Yes eight days from now at noon on that planet.”

John saw just how this could happen. “Gorm are there any geothermal spots on that
planet?”

“I don’t know but my scientist will be checking that out. Right now we need to move
people off it until we either fix it or it blows. I will get starships running mapping of the
planet for hot spots.”

Dawn knew this was not the why. “I feel that this is from outside human abilities.
Something has drilled a hole feeding water into the middle of the planet. It is below water
and just keeps pouring water down into the hot core. I would think drilling a hole above
ground would let the steam vent and stop an explosion? Over time the hole the water is
going down will cool and seal.”

John saw her way was a smart one. “Dawn if you were there could you feel where the
water was going down?”

“I think so John, but this is new to me and I would just have to see how it worked.”

Gorm was ready now. “I will have a ship orbiting the planet in an hour. Then John,
Joseph, Dawn and I will go take a look. James you will get the ships feeds. There are only
about twenty million on this planet, so it will not take long to move them. Now does
anyone else have any comments?”

Nothing else came up and the meeting broke up. John walked to Dawn and bent down
and hugged her. “Congratulations dear, you have a couple of good people for parents
now.”

“Yes I do and mother said that as well. We talked in the meditation room today. She was
very happy for me.”

Bull nosed John’s leg. “Well hello Bull you rascal.”

Dawn smiled at this. “He never wants anyone to forget him.”

“He is one dog I would never forget Dawn. He saved my sons life and just as a puppy. So
he will always have a place in my heart.”

“Why in the world did you give him to me?”

“Dear he has lots of dogs around him. An older female has adopted him and watches him
like he was her puppy. But Bull needed a young lady to care for and you fit that bill.”

“I do love him and he is so much company. He sleeps in my room at night and I feel so
safe.”

Joseph had heard this. “They also communicate together without words.”

John raised his eyebrows. So Dawn sent Bull to get a ball without saying anything. He
walked over and dropped at her feet. Without a word he picked it up looked at Dawn and
dropped at John’s feet.

“OK I believe it. I don’t know how you do it but that is incredible.”

“She talks with her horse as well John. It is the ability to link minds. This is something
she and I share and one reason we really like each other. We are really different from
most humans.”

Dawn just smiled at this and liked that it was true. “I really don’t feel like I am odd with
Joseph and Valerie. Valerie and I talk girl stuff and enjoy each other. Joseph teaches me
about nature and animals. He encourages me to reach out and go beyond my skills. But
both treat me as an adult and not a child.”

“Dear you may be eleven in age, but your much older in mind.” Joseph wanted her to
understand that.

“Just how many universe leaders would listen to a child Dawn? You had us all listening
to you at the table. Just be sure to enjoy being a child from time to time. I still have my
days where the child comes out and they are just for fun.” John hoped she understood
this.

“So we don’t have to be just one or the other is what I hear you saying?”

“No we don’t and there should always be some of the child in us. Now that is something
your going to have to teach Joseph as he did not have a good childhood. So you can help
him as he has helped you.”

That Dawn got and liked a lot. “Thank you for being so honest with me. Now how can I
use this to help Joseph?”
“He needs to see that just relaxing and letting go at times is alright. It is OK to just jump
in a mud puddle and have a little fun. That having a dream is a good thing. Adults tend to
get far too serious about life and fail to enjoy much of it. I love taking children to the
amusement parks and riding rides with them. Sitting, listening to them and discussing
their dreams is great fun. Just walking in the rain is nice at times.”

This was a new side of any adult she had ever seen. “You’re a very different adult John. I
think your children had to love you a lot. But I am not sure Joseph will allow me to do
some things I would like to? Let alone come with me and do it as well. But I will keep
trying and see what happens.” She hugged John and her smile was warming to him.

The group of five went to the starship circling Cirrus 8. The planet was small and from
the views that could be seen pretty. It was much warmer than most and densely covered
with plant life where people did not live. Here it was John that saw the abnormality.

“See that lake below Gorm?”

“Yes I see it.”

“Don’t you see steam coming up from the middle? That should be the coldest part of the
lake.”

They looked closer and there was steam coming up. So Gorm looked to Dawn. “Is that
where the problem is coming from?”

“I am sure it is a problem, but there is another that did not come from natural reasons. We
are not there yet and I will keep looking.”

Gorm sent down troopers to check out the lake and they moved over other water areas.
Dawn was getting a picture now with her eyes closed. “Gorm look at the large ocean
below now. I think you will see a whirlpool just below us now. That is where the main
problem is. The water here is over a mile deep and very cold at the bottom.”

Below was a spot where it looked like someone had pulled the plug out of a bathtub.
“That must be a good two hundred yards in diameter. I will send a probe down into the
water to get a better picture of what is at the bottom.”

The probe took an hour to reach the outer wall of water going down into the shell of the
planet. The speed of the water was way more than expected. But the probe went into it
and you could see smooth walls on the edges.

“That was not anything natural. The rock looks like it is melted right down to the core
and from above not below.” Gorm was shocked at this.
“I see the hand of the dark side here. They used a starship to burn that hole. Now I don’t
know where it came from, but it was not from our universes.” Dawn slowly opened her
eyes.

Joseph was standing beside her holding her hand. “Dear what did the starship look like,
do you know?”

“It was brown and was triangular in shape. The metal looked very old and there was rust
showing. I have never seen anything like it before.”

No one here had either. But John called Hope and gave her a description and asked her to
search all records.

“Now how do we stop the flow of the water down into the molten core?” Gorm was no
scientist.

“We need Dr Phillips here to work with this. So let me get him and I will follow the
search for that spacecraft.” John headed back to Alpha.

Gorm thanked Dawn and Joseph for coming. “Now it is a science problem and the rest of
us needs to stand back. But Dawn you need to know you saved millions no matter how
this goes. For that Cirrus will always owe you.”

She blushed and was pleased he said that. “I have a gift I did not learn on my own Gorm.
It was given to me for mans good. So I am just the source of information for the Creator
to use.”

Dr Phillips had heard this and smiled. “Young lady that may be true, but you seem to use
it well. Now we need a plug just like for a bathtub. But we also must have a vent for the
steam.”

Just then a large triangular ship came up off the floor of the ocean. Shields came up and
the starship started firing at once. The ship just fell back into the water. It went into the
center of the whirlpool and was sucked down.

“Well we may now have our plug?”

As Dawn watched she saw three black shapes coming out of the water. “There are three
of the dark side trying to escape the ship.”

Joseph jumped to the transport plate and laid three golden globes on it then they were
ejected into the air. The flash of blinding white light was very fast and only Dawn with
her eyes closed saw the three dark shapes being sent to the dark universe.

“They have been sent on to the dark universe and will never return Joseph.”
“We know who did this now, but not the why? Without Dawn seeing what was to come
here they would have escaped. Now we have taken 4 disciples of the dark one. Expect
him to be more careful in the future. Dr Phillips this is now your problem as Dawn nor I
could do any more here.” They walked to the transport plate and were back at the wheel.

James, Edgar and Mark came into Joseph’s office. “That was something to see. I finally
got to see what the dark side looks like. In the feed we got you could see three dark
shapes that looked like black holes in the sunlight. When the flash happened a dark tunnel
formed and they were sucked into it.” James was very pleased.

“I saw that with my eyes closed James and just as you have said.” Dawn confirmed his
story.

Joseph was glad it was now something that could be shown. “Be sure every knight sees
that and they understand what happened. But be sure they know these were very low
level disciples. They would have been better off not coming up until after dark and then
escaping. What they did was stupid, as they would never have been hurt by waiting. As
we move further up mistakes like this will not happen.”

“Why do you think this was a mistake?”

“Getting rid of the dark side will not be as easy as this. The dark one was second only to
the Creator, so never think he was not smart. He did not like that man was created and
that was where the split came from. Much descent was created and some sided with him.
It was just over two thousand that left and is his power base now. So we have made a
small dent in his group, but nothing major. They know we can cause them to be lost and
that will back some off for a time. But be sure a lesson will be learned from every loss.
They will not be repeated by the next in line. Those we have taken were children in
human terms.”

The light now had come on in minds. Edgar wanted the people here to keep what Joseph
had said in mind. “Look we none of us knows what Joseph does and for sure now what
Dawn can see. Here we need to follow their guidelines and learn. Had Dawn not gotten
us there so quickly, Joseph would not have had his chance at the dark side. The Creator so
far has directed each step. Dawn was given the vision and when she saw the dark side
Joseph acted and was ready. Each depended on the other to do their part. We must also
depend on each knight to do their part and no more than that.”

James saw the wisdom in this. “I will send a copy of this conversation with the feeds. It
spells things out very clearly for all to understand. The advice here needs to be taken
seriously by all.”

Joseph and Dawn went home for the day. After dinner he walked with her over the
grounds. Neither said much for some time before Joseph broke the spell. “I have not
heard much from you today. Your normally much more talkative.”
“The events today have been playing over and over in my mind. I have seen nothing we
could have done differently, but we did not do something we should have. I just don’t
know what it was?”

Joseph considered this and felt she was most likely right. “When you end up fighting
often you miss things. I know I have not felt good about this all day now. Yes we won a
battle, but it was not one we had to win. I question why the spacecraft came up when it
did as well? That for sure was not a good time to do it. Now the where did it come from
is very interesting to me. Also who was flying it, as for sure it was not the dark side. So
we both have questions to find answers for.”

“I can answer one of yours Joseph. The reason they came up so fast out of the water was
it was sucking their power out. The water acted like a ground and was dispersing their
power.”

This he considered for some time before answering. “I have never seen them fight when
it rains either. Of course in the Creators universe there is no rain. This may be helpful to
us at some point. But it was no problem when they used humans before. So changing
tactics may have been the reason for the losses?”

The two held hands and walked back to the house. Dawn enjoyed just being so close to
Joseph. “I am going to take a bath and hit the bed. For some reason I am really tired
tonight.”

Joseph walked in and sat next to Valerie. “My dear the two of you have been very quite
tonight. I saw the feeds of what happened today, so I knew you both needed time. John
and Gorm were both pleased with how well you and Dawn worked together. Dr Phillips
has started a set of pumps filling in the hole below the ship. They did vent the point steam
was coming from the lake as it was a natural vent. But pressure on the mantle is still great
and more will have to be done. Gorm has everyone being moved off planet until it is safe.
But neither of you seem pleased with what you accomplished.”

“That is because we don’t know what we accomplished? It is for sure right now the dark
one is trying something new and that is direct action. He has tired of trying to use humans
as he has lost far to often. But to start this is not working out well either. The one thing I
do know about the dark one is he has no patience at all. That is his main weak spot.”

There was a scream now from Dawn’s room and a dog barking. Joseph ran up to the
room and saw a robot pinned to the floor by Bull and Dawn sitting back in the corner of
her bed. He stepped over and opened the chest plate and pulled the main switch. It was so
fast you could never have seen it.

“Bull back and sit.” The dog followed instructions.

Joseph walked over to Dawn and she jumped into his arms. “Dad he was trying to get to
me. That is the robot we have talking care of the horses. He is a class II and never before
has he been in the house.”

“Hope II I need you.”

“Yes Valerie what can I do now?”

“You have this event recorded?”

“Yes as you requested I watch out for Dawn when she sleeps.”

“Why did you not act when the robot came in?”

“I did and could not shut him down. By then she had screamed and Joseph was here. So I
have removed all class II robots and replaced them with class 1’s. They are programmed
to never even come into her room or self-destruct. But they will also never go after her
for any reason as that is a prime instruction. To kidnap her or give her to another is
breaking that directive. All class II from here are being evaluated on a starship to check
their programs and for any additions.”

Valerie sat on the bed and held Dawn. “Well dear it is always exciting around you.” She
was laughing when she said this.

Joseph had taken the robot and sent it to the starship as well.

It did not take long to find the tracking device in each robot. That was removed and sent
into a sun. They carefully when over each once more and found several changes had been
made. In each case a human would have to have done this. So two of these were sent to
the security department for review.

“Joseph there were tracking device in each robot. Also several changes were made and
we just are not sure what these were for. But I can assure you a human had to make these
changes. There are now fifty class I robots combing the grounds. But it looks like you
three were the targets as we are finding this no place else.”

“Thanks Hope keep Valerie up to date on anything you find out.”

“In downloading the memory I saw that the robot was not to do more than be caught. He
never fought Bull in any way. So my guess is he was to be tracked to where he would be
checked out. Now why would anyone want to know where the starship was?”

The three went down to the kitchen. “Now that makes sense to me. If I had sent just one
to the wheel they would have known where it was. We have to be a large pain to the dark
one for this to happen. I need to know who last serviced those robots and when. They
need to be taken to the starship and Dawn and I will question them tomorrow. She and I
will be staying home for a few days.”

Valerie could see the thinking here and was sure he was right. “Hope get security to track
down who last serviced these robots and when they did it. Have the person arrested and
held on the starship for Joseph to question.”

“It will be done.”

“Now how about a piece of pie and cup of tea or coffee?”

“I’ll just take milk mom.”

They sat and ate thinking over the whole problem. That was when James showed up.
“Sorry to butt in but I have seen the entire event.”

Valerie fixed him pie and coffee as he sat. “Now we have all class I robots here with
special prime directives. There are fifty with those directives out searching the grounds.
So this will be a small armed camp from now on.” Valerie wanted James to know what
action had been taken.

“That may help or it may not Valerie. I see that the dark one wants to know where the
knights are. He never tried to get Dawn and just wanted Joseph to send the robot to the
wheel. So I have a second wheel now from John. May be we should set that up to be
found and take a few from the dark side with it?” James was now in his type game.

“It for sure would make him question another wheel? James I like the way you think my
friend. I will need to get the Creator to set up a universe for the new wheel. But I would
like to do that in Simon’s universe. Then set up another in Ned’s. We will feed them two
if they will bite on it and then we should be safe here. Use class I robots to man the other
two wheels. Our computer should set their main directives. Arm them all with light sabers
and dress them as we do. Make it as normal as you can.” Joseph was now smiling.

“I’ll get with John for a second wheel, but I am sure we will get it. They all have new
drives, so moving them is no problem. They will be set up with the class I robots and they
will be trained to fight as we do. It does give us two stations to sacrifice before ours gets
hit. But I am sure the dark one will never know it was class I robots, as their brains are
close to ours. The class I robots are very fast and good fighters as well. They are kind of
super humans.”

Joseph just smiled at this idea now. “We will not be in for a few days James. Be sure the
rest gets the word on the new stations. Just hold back on how they will be manned. It is
possible we have a leak someplace inside our group. That must be checked out as well. I
am not concerned with our people on the station, but someone on the ground would be
likely. It is time to compartmentalize our group. You know how this works and need to
draw up the plan and then Dawn and I will attempt to pick it apart.”
“Done boss and I will start checks on and off station as well. My gut tells me your right
and I don’t like it one bit.”

“The next step is to run everyone though the light tunnel. Only the good will come out
the other side. That is our last option for clearing this up. Once you think you know
where this came from then we can also use that option as well. But they had to
communicate with someone some way. Look for a business that should not be making
what it is. As Edgar says follow the money.”

Everyone laughed at this, but knew how right it was.

James headed back to set up his people.

Chapter 16

The Hunt for Answers

That next morning Joseph and Dawn headed to the spaceship. The man was being held in
the prison and was brought to them in a small interview room. Dawn was just sitting back
and watching Joseph and the man talk. When asked about what he did when servicing the
robots the man started telling lies.

“Sir I have heard you say several things that were just plain lies. That is why I am here.
See you can’t lie and me not know it is a lie. Now you might as well tell Joseph the truth.
If you don’t I will suck your brain dry and you will be back to being a baby.” This Dawn
said in a very matter of fact way.

The man could not get the story out fast enough to Joseph. He wanted no one playing
with his mind. After he was done Joseph looked at Dawn. “Now do I have the correct
story?”

“Almost Joseph as he did not see what I did. What he saw as Alyssa was really one of the
dark side. It appeared to him as human, but that was just in his mind. The energy force
never spoke, but was connected to his mind. It did try to make several changes that did
not work. So he was an experiment for them. But they don’t know it did not work at least
for now. He needs to be hidden away for now and one day we might be able to use him
against them.”

The man now was shaking like he was cold. “Nothing for now sir. But you will have
some time to think coming. You have been badly used by the dark side for now. They
have invaded your brain and tried to make changes. That was not your fault at all. But we
need to be sure they cannot find you for your safety. If they do you will be dead and fast.”

The man saw the logic here. “Where can I go and be safe? I have a family and they need
protection also.”

“You and your family will be moved to someplace safe. You will have several knights
protecting you as well. But as you remember things you must tell us so we can protect
you. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir and I will tell you what I remember.”

Dawn and Joseph sat in the dinning room of the spacecraft. “Well dear will he remember
anything at all?”

“Not really as he is being tracked as well. They did not know who was there, but knew he
was being questioned. They can get into a human mind, but can change little for now.
They will know where the man goes and where he is.”
“Excellent as that will be the new space wheel we set up. It will let us know how they can
attack it and how many they are willing to risk doing that.”

“Expect a very heavy attack and far more of the dark side than you expect.”

This hit Joseph by surprise. “Why do you feel that way?”

“Look your winning a war with them right now. That is not because of poor actions by
his people, but poor planning by the top. To hold them together he must now have a big
win. His people are afraid of you and therefore you need to be wiped out. Then if the
universes have no knights to protect them he is back in business. It would set him on a
pedestal for his followers.”

“Your saying he has an ego?”

“If that were not true then why did he leave to start with? He wanted complete power and
no humans out here at all. I am sorry to be so stuck on this, but expect better than half his
force to hit the station.”

Now Joseph was really shocked. “If we could take them all that would really hurt the
dark one.”

“From what I have read a nuclear bomb sends out blinding light when it explodes. It is a
pure white light as well. That creates an electromagnetic pulse that eats energy by over
loading it. So a few nuclear devices would clear the entire small universe of any energy
source. But anything in that universe would be gone completely.”

Now having that is Simon’s universe made better sense. No nuclear device had ever been
used there.

“Lets go home and let me consider your idea. If we use it I am sure many of the dark side
will be gone. That does leave a weakened and angry dark one. I don’t know if he would
back off or step up the fight?”

When they got home it was like an armed camp. There were robots everyplace and
nothing was being missed.

“Well dear I always wondered what living in an army camp would be like. Now I know
from experience.” Valerie was now pulling his chain.

“I am sorry dear your having to deal with this. Dawn and I could move to the wheel for a
time to let things cool down.”

“Over my dead body you will.”

“Dad mom was just kidding you. Gosh you really need to listen and hear her child
playing with you.”

That hit him as odd. “What do you mean her child?”

“John told me we all need to let the child inside us out from time to time. Kidding and
teasing is doing just that.”

“Well put daughter may be he will listen to you. I have never got him to stop being
serious at all times.” Valerie was pleased with Dawn’s rebuke.

“OK I have not learned about backing off being serious. But a lot is happening that is
very serious.”

“Yes dad it is. But if you let go for a time when you come back you may have answers. I
did not have much of a childhood after mother died and I still can see when mom is
playing with us. It really is not much of a life if everything is serious all the time.”

That hit home with Joseph and he knew he had to let down from time to time at home.
“OK ladies I hear your message and will try. But you may need to jerk my chain from
time to time.”

“Mom is really good at that and I’ll be sure to tell you.” Dawn was laughing and it got
Joseph going. He had never laughed like this before and it felt good to him.

“Well ladies just don’t gang up on me. I have a lot to learn here and don’t know where to
start?”

“John said he likes to just jump in a mud puddle, or walk in the rain and loves riding rides
with kids at the amusement parks. But he has learned to let the child out in him from time
to time. It is why he has horses around him all the time, as they are just children.”

That coming from the smartest human Joseph knew was something he needed to
consider. “Teach me, I will listen and try to learn.”

That pleased both the women here. “Well for one when you have had a bad day just leave
it at the door and relax at home. Kidding is all right here as is teasing each other. Be
willing to go out and walk in the rain or snow and enjoy its beauty. Don’t be afraid to
show you enjoy doing something you might feel is foolish. The only time I have seen that
was when you played with the dolphins.”

“I think your right Valerie. They do bring out the child in me in many ways. They are
nothing but a group of children most of the time. Unless they are feeding they play all the
rest of the time.”
“Well you need to become that way except when your working. Do you think the Creator
gave us the ability to have fun and do things just for enjoyment if he did not expect us to
use it?”

“I guess not dear and it was never looked at that way by me. Man has a very wide range
of emotions and feelings. So I would guess he expected them used.”

“Now enough of this, go up take a hot shower and when you come back we will have
dinner ready.”

Now Dawn and Valerie were cooking together. “Daughter thank you for starting this
process for Joseph.”

“That was John’s idea mom. He made me promise to get him started learning to let the
child go inside of him.”

This Valerie just smiled at. “Yes but you did the ground work for me here dear. I have
tried many things to open him up and failed every time. So you do get the credit now.”

“Well thanks, but it was important to me also. I love working with him and feel so bad
when he is down. So may be now we can help that?”

They had fixed three large steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans and a nice salad for
dinner by the time Joseph got back.

“Man I am in heaven tonight. This looks great ladies.”

Both were smiling as they knew everything was his favorites.

“Now if you don’t clean your plate Dawn and I get to spank you.”

He did laugh at this comment. “I get the message ladies. What do you say if after dinner
we walk down to the dock and fish for a time?”

Dawn looked confused now. “Dawn that is one of the things he does love to do. You will
have to get used to putting a worm on the hook, as he will not do it for you. But fishing
can be fun.”

“Then he has to teach me to do it right. That includes putting the first worm on my hook.”

Joseph was laughing once more. “OK guys you win and laughing is fun for me. I have
done that more tonight than I ever did before. But here I will not bring work home unless
it is critical. I’ll put on my husband and dad cap when home. So expect a stranger here at
times.”

“My husband that man is always welcome here.”

They ate and then walked down to the dock. There were several robots on the dock and
both the ship and fishing boat. The fish were biting and they caught some nice bass.
These were taken to the fishing boat and processed for them.

“Ladies it is time for some sleep. We have dinner for tomorrow night now and you don’t
catch more than you will eat. Now I know Bull has enjoyed tonight as well. He has been
running up and down the dock all night.”

Bull heard his name and jumped up on Joseph and they went off the dock into the water.
Both the girls were laughing so hard they could not breath. Then they saw Joseph
laughing as well.

“I’ll learn not to use his name when talking about him one day.”

They headed to the house Joseph dripping all the way. “Dear you might want to step into
the pool house and get out of your clothes. There is a robe in the changing room for you.”

He headed for a very hot shower, as the water in the lake was very cold.

“Well I have really enjoyed tonight mom. Seeing dad and Bull go into the water was
really funny and he did not get mad. So may be we have made some progress for him?”

“I assure you we did dear. Had this happened any night before he would have been mad
as a hornet. He always felt he had to be in total control before. So give him time and we
will make a human of him yet.”

He next morning after breakfast Joseph went into his office and worked out the plans
with James. He sent Edgar to talk with John about the plan. Then went out and got Dawn
to ride with him.

“Dawn thank you for helping me see what I have missed. I have never felt so relaxed here
before. When I have seen children play it always lifted my heart. But for me to be able to
let down my guard was never understood. That was something I could never do as a
child. So I learned to hold my feelings and not to open myself up.”

“I used to hold mine with father and yet I learned with the crew I could open up. They
allowed me to be a child when I needed it, as did the computer. But I always had to crawl
back into my old self when father was around. That hurt me a lot Joseph. I never felt
wanted by him and was nothing but evil in his eyes.”

“You do know he went to the dark universe don’t you?”

“I expect it when you said he would be judged. But I have never had any but bad feelings
for him. Mother said he was force on her by the family, as she had no choice. After I was
born he refused to have any more children. She knew his dark side and warned many in
the church to stay away from him.”

They rode for over an hour before coming to a nice wooded area. “Lets go sit and eat
lunch together.” Joseph was very relaxed and comfortable. The spot he had chosen was
beautiful and had a great view of the lake.

After eating they started back. He decided to be honest with Dawn and told her of his life
as a child. Of the pain he had suffered and the way he had been treated. Once it was all
out he looked over at her.

“Dad we share much bad in our lives. But I have you and mom now, for me that is very
good. If I died tomorrow my life is complete enough I would have no regrets. There is no
way I would just toss my life away, but if it came I would not have regrets. That is where
you need to find yourself some day. You have a new daughter to raise and many more
children to come. The wife you have is a very good woman. One day I may find myself
with a child and husband and know I am needed for a long time as well. But your
learning to let the child out will mean a lot to your little daughter one day.”

This hit a cord with him he never expected. “That is another door you have opened to me.
I had never given our new baby much thought. I was part of the reason she exists today
and need to educate her about life. She will share many of the gifts I have, so she needs to
understand them. Not even Valerie knows them, so I am the one who must teach her.”

They rode without talking any more to the barn. Their horses were taken there and
unsaddled and cleaned up. Then walked out before stalling them and feeding. Dawn went
to her room and took a bath as Joseph showered. She lay on the bed and considered the
ride with her dad. It had all in all been a very good day.

She dressed and walked to the baby’s room and there sat Joseph rocking the child. “Come
in and join us.”

She just sat and watched the two together. “That has been needed by her for some time
now. Each night when I come up, I hold her and rock her. She has asked me many
questions and I have tried to answer her. But right now I see a very happy child.”

“You can talk with her?”

“Of course dad that is one of my gifts remember.”

He just smiled at this, as he did know. “Sorry it just slipped out dear. But what kind of
questions does she ask?”

Things like did you like her, were you mad at her and why did you not spend time with
her?”
He just sat back and wished he had made it to this point before. “I wished I could have
seen where I am now before.”

“Look she knows the powers you have and understood your being busy. I told her you
loved her and would come to a point where it showed openly. Now she knows I told the
truth. But she needs a little of your time every day.”

“She will get it also. Thank you for supporting me with her. For being a good sister to her
and caring about how she felt. There is a lot more to being human that I ever considered.”

“The computer on the ship said being human was a condition not a body type. She had
seen robots that were human and humans who were computers. But she graded human
into five groups. The top was very good ones, then those who worked hard at it. But the
next were middle of the group and the norm. She then she said there was a group who
just barely hung on to being human, next was bad ones who would pick your pocket. So I
have always classified humans into those groups.”

“Now for the hard question Dawn. Where did I fit?”

She knew she had to be very honest. “You were confusing to me. I saw you were smart as
the top humans, but not really human in many ways. So you had part of the top group and
part of the fourth group in you. My guess was you could go either way and I was just
waiting to see which happened.”

He could agree with her way of seeing him. “I think you were right Dawn. Now I am
thankful you and Valerie pulled me back to being human. If I had let that slip from me I
don’t know what I would have been? For sure I would not have met my mission given to
me.”

“That is why I was so honest about this. I loved the human part of you, but feared that
part where it was not. You tended to be withdrawn and all doors closed to everyone. That
started to change when we worked together. Slowly some doors opened to me. Then you
started to respond to Bull. Now so much has opened up I really love the person you are.”

He smiled at this and liked who he was now as well.

“Well that is a sight to see husband. I have never seen you do that before.”

“Get used to it as our daughter will be at the dinner table, even if she does not eat solid
food. We will eat as a family from now on. Is that OK with you?”

“As long as you don’t mind any disruption I sure don’t.”

“Mom it will be fine, as you know she talks with me. So I can let you know what is going
on.”
Valerie just laughed at this. “You can handle the problem as well as I can dear.”

The two went down stairs and started dinner. “My goodness how did you get that
started?”

“We talked a lot today while riding. So I brought up the responsibilities he now had as a
father and husband. I made sure he knew how important his staying alive was for his
daughter and you. It just hit him at the right time I guess.”

“Well it is much appreciated by me Dawn. I am sure he will be a great father and he is a

very good husband. Now how do you want to cook the fish we caught last night?”

The next morning at breakfast John showed up. “Good morning friends.”

“Have a seat John are you hungry?”

“Nope I ate with Faith before I left. But some coffee would be nice.”

After breakfast they sat and talked. It was just general things and about family. John had
picked up the little one and held her as he drank his coffee. The child was entranced by
this man and she liked him a lot.

“You do know she really likes you John?” Dawn wanted him to know this.

“I get along well with old ladies and baby’s Dawn.”

“I seem to remember your wife is no old lady.”

“She is the exception to the rule, as you know there is always one of those.”

“John if you dropped in the middle of the street a thousand women would rush to give
you mouth to mouth resuscitation.” Valerie knew this was true.

“You know I may just one day try that and see what happens?” That caused everyone to
break out laughing.

“Well some of us have to work. So enjoy my husband and daughters.” She left for her
office.

“I did not mean to chase your wife off Joseph.”

“She got her shot in and it was time for to run.”

“I see a much more human being sitting there today. What happened to Mr. Serious?”
“I hope he is gone for good John. Oh I’ll be serious at work, but here that just does not fit
any more. It seems I am really a human after all. But I have a few extra skills.”

“I am glad to see that Joseph as I was worried. So was your father as we have discussed
you often. He made some mistakes in having you raised and now knows that.”

“I am shocked at that. I have never heard him say he ever made an error.”

“Once I pointed them out he did take responsibility. He wanted a human and had you
raised by inhuman people. That my friend is an error. He does not make many, but we
both know he made one.”

“To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?”

“Edgar came to see me and we talked about your plan. I think what you want to do is
right. But I want a wheel in each universe. I have loaded each with a thousand robot
troopers. Your computer is reprogramming them now. Each wheel has four nuclear
bombs mounted on their rims. These are massive one hundred thousand megaton
weapons. Each will be enclosed by your father into its own universe. That universe will
never open if the bombs go off. You will lose contact with it at detonation of the bombs.
That will stop any harm to your station. The universe will be moved to the dead universe
where evil is on every planet. There it could later be opened.”

Joseph gave this much thought. “That sounds solid John. But I hate to lose one thousand
class I robots.”

“They all volunteered for this assignment and will go to your father at the end. Each
knows just who they will be fighting and wants this fight.”

“Dad as I said a robot can be a human.”

“Yes that is right Dawn as Vortec was the first to want to go. I could not afford that so he
is staying with me. But my saying no did hurt him.”

“I assume this also has been agreed to by my father?”

“Yes I hid nothing from him. In fact he is in control of the wheels your not on. The idea is
to provoke as many from the dark side as possible to come fight.”

“We have a man and his family that will have to be sent there as well. He has tracking
abilities the dark side needs. That man reprogrammed and added tracking to our class II
robots. Those trackers were sent into the sun when found.”

“Can the man do it without his family?”

“No they all have the tracking device in them. If I order it removed it will kill them. We
don’t have any way to get that done without loosing them.”

John pondered this for some time. “Then send them, as it is the only chance they have. I
hate sending humans there, but I see no option either. This may save many lives over
time.”

Now the hard side of John was seen by both of them. Joseph spoke up. “They will be sent
when all is ready for the dark side. But my father must tell me when and to send them.”

John well understood Joseph’s wants here. “Done and I will talk with him about this. But
I am sure he knows already.”

The baby started to cry and Dawn got up and took her to change. “Now she is truly a big
sister to that little one.”

“Yes she is and the one who has made me much more human John. I have learned a lot
from her and have changed many things. Having her here has made me a different
person.”

John smiled at his honesty. “Listen to her well Joseph, for a girl of eleven she is far
smarter than most adults.”

“I am seeing that and am thankful she decided to come home with me.”

“Well it is now time for me to get back to work. Gorm’s planet problem is now solved
and the people are coming back home now. That one was really close. But we will give
the dark one another issue to focus on soon. So I will talk with you later after all is set
up.”

Chapter 17
The New Station

Joseph and Dawn had been going to their wheel now for a week. But today Dawn
decided to talk with her mother and bring her up to date. This was a normal thing
between them and something she enjoyed. But in the middle of their talk she was stopped
and told to talk with the Creator. That scared her.

“Dawn please know I appreciate the help you have given Joseph and the many things you
have done there.”

“Thank you sir I am just following your directions.”

“No that is not really true dear. You are picking up many things I did not know you could.
Your abilities are far more than I ever would have guessed. That you are using them with
my son pleases me a great deal. You have help give him what I always wanted him to
have. That is a human mind. I feel love, caring and great compassion in him now and that
was not there before. He is at peace with himself for the first time now. That Dawn you
gave him. For that I owe you and want you to know that.”

“I am just a human sir and love Joseph. He has taken the place of a father I never had. He
and Valerie treat me as a daughter. So I have a good home now.”

“That is all true, but when you did not know how this would go you moved on faith in
me. That is more than I could expect from any human. But so you know your mother sits
at my right hand now. She has proven to be very valuable to humans and me. It was you
that lead me to her. So you have had an impact on both of us. Now I will let you finish
with your mother dear.”

The two talked and she found out about the many who now knew of her. This did shock
her and she just did not understand. But they managed to finish talking. Then Dawn went
with Bull to the park. She sat and thought about this new development. Finally Edgar saw
her and came over.

“You look troubled my dear.”

So she poured out the entire story to him.

“Well he was right Dawn and wanted you to know it. What you got was a pat on the back
from him and that does not happen often. But what he told you he meant and that you can
take to the bank.”

“I really am worried Joseph will find out Edgar and that could be a problem.”
“Don’t worry my dear as he knows as well. He had a long talk this morning and cleared
up many things. He said it was the best talk he had ever had with his father. So life is not
something you need to worry about now. Just keep on being you and things will be fine.”

“Thank you Edgar as I was really worried. For any eleven year old to communicate with
the Creator is not normal.”

“That my dear is true, but your no normal eleven year old either. I know your sister
would say that is true.”

Dawn laughed now, as she was sure that was true. “OK Edgar I will let that slide for
now.”

“How about some lunch girl I am starving now.”

They headed off to lunch hand in hand. Bull was running out front of them clearing the
way.

Joseph sat down next to Dawn and hugged her. “I am sure you got shocked today. But he
needed to talk with you. He could not believe you were both woman and child. That you
had so large an impact on me and the changes I have made because of you. He has seen
children as helpless and in need of constant protection before. That you can talk with
Bull, your horse and our baby was a shock to him. The ability to see in front of time also
had him amazed. So dear he did not know what he had created in you, because of what
your mother already had.”

“I am still shocked he talked to me.”

“Well he created the building blocks for life as we know it. The human part was an
experiment for him and it worked to a great degree. But much happened he did not
expect. In his universe he controls everything. Now with humans he does not control it
all. That has perplexed him to no end. He started the church to see if that would help
direct humans. Where it is strong it has, but where it is not, there is little he can do. So for
now he has admitted that there are answers he is still looking for. As for you it was a good
thing for him. He needed to understand you if he wished to understand humans. So with
your mother advising him that knowledge will grow. But don’t be surprised if he talks
with you from time to time.”

“Other than here I don’t know how that could happen?”

“A light will just open up next to you and he can talk with you. He has done that often
with me. Don’t be afraid if a ball of light sitting down next to you, as he just wants to
talk. It is his way of being out in the human world.”
She did not know if this would happen again, but she now was ready. “I will just accept
what your telling me dad. But I can’t say the first time won’t scare me. This is way
beyond my wildest imaginations.”

Edgar was sure he had an answer for Dawn. “Dear he is really your grandfather now that
Joseph and Valerie have adopted you. He is truly Joseph’s father. So your really talking
with family when you talk to him.”

That made sense to her. “Now that I can buy Edgar.”

The rest of lunch was good and she headed off to her class. Mark was now waiting for
her. “Little one today your going to fight the top ten at your level.”

“I don’t even know what level I am at Mark.”

“You will when your done. In the first round they will come one after the other. In the
second round they will fight as a group. All I expect of you is a calm focused knight.
Understand if your pressed another knight will step in with the group fight to help you.
Don’t get excited and just concentrate on always protecting yourself. Now do you
understand the instructions?”

This was all new to her and she had some fears of doing something stupid. “The
instructions are fine, but I have no idea of my abilities in this type fight?”

“To be honest neither do I Dawn. But I cannot teach you more about using the saber.
There you have more skill than anyone who has gone through this training. So now it
becomes how do you handle things under pressure. My hope is this will open a new door
for you mentally.”

She headed off to change into her fighting gear. Then did some breathing exercises and
cleared her mind off all thought. Slowly she pulled into herself and now was at peace.
She walked out to the mats and pulled her saber. The light shot up and she was now in the
zone she always got into. She saw nothing around her but where the attack would come
from.

The first attacker was swift and very balanced. But she quickly took the sword. This went
on for the first five opponents. Now she had worked up a sweat and she was feeling better
as to skills.

The five advanced and she just waited not backing away, but not moving forward either.
Slowly she moved to one side, so she did not face all five at the same time. She needed to
reduce the pressure she would feel. Then they moved at her and she fought for all she was
worth. Then she felt a presents next to her fighting on her flank defending her weak side.
With that she moved forward and quickly took three of the five opponents. When she
quickly turned to face the other two they were down.
The applause was enough to bring her out of the zone she had gotten into. She could not
believe this had happened. Then she saw Joseph standing smiling at her. He had been her
defense on the weak side.

“I do thank you for the help, as I had no idea of how to handle my weak flank.”

“Dawn your as good if not better than I am. No one has passed this test before and that
includes me. It has been used to find the very best fighters and decide who should lead
teams. One of the three you defeated was Mark and he is very good. But every fight you
had was against an experienced fighter and none were students.”

This hit her, as she could not understand why this had happened. “What is the reason for
doing this?”

“It was to decide who would lead the main station team. Each of the ten had requested to
be assigned to that job. So I decided they needed to earn it if they were good enough.
They all failed that test and you won that position.”

She was not sure she had heard this right. “You mean I am to lead the knights here in
battle?”

“Only if that is something you want dear. It requires a lot of time training your people.
You must teach them your ways of doing things. As a group everyone must know what
each is doing and depend on them to carry that part of the job. You have skills that you
could teach to many and make them better. So think about it and we will talk later.”
Joseph bowed to her and left the room.

She stood and was just in shock. This was never something she would have expected.
Was she really good enough? Would the knights follow her? She was eleven and they
were well over eighteen she knew. This she needed to think about before making a
decision.

Dawn headed to the dressing room and undressed. The hot shower felt good on her
aching muscles. She considered her situation for some time with the water running over
her shoulders. Then shut off the water, walked out to dry off and dress. Then she headed
to the meditation room and sat talking with her mother for the next hour.

Finally the voice came to her. “My dear I will always be with you, so fear not taking this
job.” That was it and very plain to her.

She walked into Joseph’s office and he could see she was energized. “I see my father has
been leaning on you.” He laughed at the comment.

“Not really dad he just said he would always be with me, not to fear taking the job. My
only concern was my age and the effect it might have on others. But if they cannot beat
me then they have no right to it. So I will take it with the understanding that if anyone can
defeat me they can assume the job.”

This sounded good to her child side he knew. “That just does not work here dear. What
you would do is create divisions in your group. If any can’t defeat you now they can’t
lead. You will teach them to become better as time moves forward. Then you can offer
them positions off the wheel to lead knights. But here your in command and that does not
change.”

She could see his point and knew she needed his advice. “I see your point dad and will
live with your decision. But I will open it up for anyone to challenge me before I accept.
That way everyone has the chance before we start training.”

This had an interesting side effect he could see. “Now that I can accept. Computer let
everyone know Dawn will only accept this job as long as anyone who wishes to
challenge her has that ability before command is taken over. After that she will appoint all
field commanders off the wheel.”

“It is done Joseph and I will let you know of any who challenge. Now I assume those
who have already lost are out of that ability?”

“Yes that is true and if they try remind them they have lost.”

Dawn and Bull walked to the park and were playing. Her friend from training class came
up to her. “Hey lady I was really impressed with you today.”

“Kevin I was just doing what I told you to do. I saw little and felt much. The reason they
lost was they saw to much and felt to little.”

This he understood as she had started him down that path. “There has not been a single
challenge so far today. We all saw the fight and want you to teach us and lead us. One of
the girls you defeated wanted a second match and was told she lost before. That ended
any requests. Most of us feel we need to learn your ways of doing things.”

She knew Kevin would understand. “My big worry is my age Kevin. It may be hard for
older people to listen to someone as young as I am.”

“Dawn if they can’t beat you they better learn from you. Failing to do that could kill
many under them one day. Each knight needs to make the decision to become better or go
to the security department and work.”

Kevin made sense to her and she saw his point. “Training will start after the period open
to challenge. We will train as a group three days a week. I am not sure of the fighting
skills the dark side has yet. But I do know what they look and feel like. So that is where
we will start.”
“How in the world are you going to get that across?”

“We will use the park and computer. She can use holographic images of the dark side and
provide the cold feelings you get. Our people must feel them before they are close. They
can come down from above as well as in any other direction. So feeling them and become
aware of them is critical.”

That made Kevin shiver. “Man this is not going to be easy is it?”

“No I don’t expect it will be. The next thing I need to find out is how they fight? Then
what type of weapons will they use? I have so many questions and no answers.”

This was not going to be easy he saw. “Looking at it from your view point I am glad I
don’t have that job Dawn. It seems you have a lot you must find out for us to really be
trained. We would have no chance of winning without answers to those questions. But
you’re the only one with a chance to get that information. So we need you much more
than you need this job.”

“Thanks for the vote Kevin. But time will tell if we are smart enough to win. I will see
everything from the wheel in Simon’s universe and be able to talk with some of the
robots that fight there. That is the next big step for us. This will give me the data to really
start training in real terms.”

“Good luck Dawn and I am always here if you just want to talk. There is not much more I
can do for you but listen and ask questions.”

She smiled at the young man and knew he would be a source of strength for her. “Thank
you for just being a friend Kevin.”

They walked back to the office area and he headed for a class and she to Joseph’s office.
She filled him in on her conversation with Kevin and the ideas she had. It was time to see
what she had missed.

“Looks like you have at least one able planner to work with you. I checked him out after
we talked and he is a top ten percent in his classes. His fighting skills went way up after
your contact with him. So consider setting up a group for just planning and use him as
one of them. Add people as they show you they can change and adapt to the new
methods. Then you will end up with your own staff that sees things your way. You don’t
need people fighting you while building this information. Later if things need to change
that can happen. But everyone needs to be on the same page in the book to start.”

The advice was good and she appreciated it. “Thanks Joseph as I know nothing of
managing others. That part has me most worried of all.”

”Here your not really managing people, your leading them. Leadership is done from out
in front and not some back office. Only those who follow will in the end be the stations
fighting force. They will take what you have given them and teach others for them to
become leaders. That feeds every group we will have fighting over the years. But a leader
is someone you want to follow and learn from.”

“Like I want to follow you and learn from you?”

He sat there and just looked at her. “Yes I guess that is right. But I see myself as your dad
and not your leader. So I guess in many ways you will become a mother to many of your
knights. That I know sounds odd. But they will be your children and you will do your
best to protect them.”

It was odd to her, but then again it was not. “I think I see what your trying to show me.
This job requires me to be strict and yet loving. That means I will worry about those who
lead elsewhere and hope I have provided all they needed.”

“It does have much pain and satisfaction as well. The real pain is when losses come and
the satisfaction of the wins. Neither can you allow wins or losses to color your judgment.
If they do your headed to losing it all.”

This was far more than she had expected. “OK I’ll work to get my first steps in place and
slowly move from there. Now when do you think the wheel will be ready in Simon’s
universe?”

“Monday it will be in place and in its own universe. On Tuesday the family will be sent
there. I expect it to take a week or two before any attack. First the dark side must figure
how to gain entry. Second they must organize how they will fight. Third they will try to
find ways to win without losses. So it should take some time before they strike. But they
could just try to storm the wheel as well.”

“I see you have the same problem I do. We just don’t know enough about their abilities
now. Even mother could not offer any ideas for me.”

“There are over two hundred feeds on that wheel. Until the nuclear devices blow you will
be able to review each one. So this is a learning experience for all of us. That includes my
father, as he has no idea of what skills they may have developed now?”

The next day was one of talking with the many knights on the wheel. A schedule was set
up for them to workout as groups. A group was set up of people at five different skill
levels. The center would be the strongest. The two weakest on either side of that person.
Then stronger people left on each flank. Here she hoped the weaker ones would learn
quickly. But everyone accepted her set up. It did make sense not to be weak on the flanks.

The groups worked out all day and much progress seemed to be made. Kevin and Dawn
set up the park for them to test their abilities to feel the dark side. This would take a few
weeks for some to accept what they were feeling. Being able to feel the cold before it was
on top of them was the key. The more sensitive they became the better here.

Here they were expected to stop when they felt the dark side and point their sabers at the
spot it was coming from. The computer had taken all the information from Dawn and
built a model and then tested it on Edgar, James and Joseph. They could all pick it up way
before the knights were expected to. But they had been impressed with this training tool.
It would save many lives in years to come.

Edgar walked over and hugged Dawn. “My dear that is going to be a great tool. I
remember Joseph teaching me to feel evil on Alpha. What you have here is just what I
felt there. Until these young people can feel it they cannot fight it. So for a step one this is
the best I could ever think of.”

“Thank you sir for you honest opinion.” She was now laughing. “You know standing out
here as you three tried it I felt it as well. It did feel just like I have when the dark side was
near.”

Joseph was pleased as well. “It will work to help sharpen their senses. Often they will
have to fight what they feel and not what they see.”

Kevin was now smiling at the comment. “That was what she told me to improve my
fighting. She had me close my eyes and feel what was happening. It has helped me to
respond without over loading my brain. I use less effort now by a good fifty percent. So I
can last longer in any fight than my opponents.”

“Where did that idea come from?”

“When I fight I am not looking around me. If I did my brain would be overloaded. So I
just focus on what I feel and respond to it. My mind then is free to use all my senses in
the fight. Kevin seemed like when his eyes were opened to lose that ability. So I
suggested he close them. For him it worked, but I am not sure it would work for others.”

“It is something you might want to try and see how others respond to it. I focus on my
opponent’s eyes when I fight. They tend to tell me exactly what is coming next. But
fighting Kevin I would have no way of seeing what I do. It would be unnerving to me not
to see his eyes. Until I found how he tipped his moves he could most likely beat me or at
least fight me for an hour. That is one issue your going to have to see is how the dark side
tips their moves while fighting.”

“Joseph I would never accept a fight with you. I respect your skills far too much for that.
My aim here is to cover Dawn’s back in any attack. I know we will win if she is
standing.”
Now Joseph knew that his daughter would always have a right arm here. “Well if you
ever change your mind, I would love to know how I would handle that. It would require
me to develop some new skills for sure.”

“Dad your not going to be fighting here. Your job is planning and defending all humans.
So you stick to your job and I’ll handle mine.” She was chuckling now.

“You know you can be just as bossy as you mom.”

“Who do you think taught me dad?”

Kevin was enjoying this a lot. “Well you two it is time to come back to real life. Now did
anyone see something that did not fit into what they have felt before?”

There were three no’s here.

“Second how long do we need to allow the group to pick up being able to feel the dark
side?”

“Look if they cannot feel it they should not be here. Evil always feels cold be it human or
the dark side. So people must be able to feel it to fight it.” James here was very firm.

“Now how much time do they have to get there?”

“I see no time for that. It must be felt the first time every time. The difference will be how
far away that happens. The sooner it is felt and the further away they are the better. This
is going to send some into security or to planet assignments running businesses.” Joseph
knew this was the right way to start.

“How much do we tell people about what they are looking for?” Kevin kept on track.

That was a much harder point to fix. “I suggest you tell them when they feel anything bad
to stop. You will ask them what they feel. If they give you the right answer then let them
move forward until they locate the source.” Edgar knew how it had worked for him with
Joseph.

“Then we need two large rooms for them to be sent to after this test. One for failures and
one for the successful knights. Of those that succeed we need to assign a number based
on how soon and far from the source they were. As they get even better they will become
scouts for missions.”

Everyone agreed with this idea. But Joseph made the fact clear. “You can’t fight what you
can’t feel people.”
Now Dawn stepped in. “Look we are going to have people wash out here. We can’t then
send them out into the world, as they will still be unhappy with their failure. That will
breed nothing but trouble for us. So how do we handle it?”

The computer showed her self. “I can reprogram those who must be moved. It will take a
couple of days to be completed, but they will remember nothing bad that happened and
believe they requested the change. If that is satisfactory I will get the program put
together?”

“Do it as it is the only safe way to handle this. Dawn is right if someone who is a good
fighter and can’t feel the dark side, they would be very unhappy being washed out. I
could see them lining up with our enemy here. We don’t need insiders turning on us.”
Joseph now was worried about this.

“Look I am really the outsider here. But knowing some of the egos in this group that
could happen. I expect that five of the ten who Dawn fought against to fail this test.
Before any ever train to fight they need to take this test. If they cannot feel the dark side
they should work else where.”

Now James was interested in Kevin. “When did you feel it?”

“I felt it when I walked to the edge of the park. It was not strong, but it sent a chill down
my spine. That was when I asked Dawn what was wrong here?”

“My response was he had just felt the dark side here. His comment was if they feel that
bad then killing them will be a joy.”

Now the three men knew this was a good team. “Guys get the group run through this test.
Edgar, James and Mark will handle the failures. I will handle the winners. Be sure each
coming to me has a number marked on their hands. Give me the written number guide
your going to use. I think that Kevin should be a ten and drop down from there. He will
become far more sensitive as this moves forward. But that is a good starting number for
now.”

Kevin set up ten stakes from the edge of the park marked 10 to directly under the source
marked 0. There was a chair at the 0 stake for Dawn to sit in. She would get into the mind
of each person to feel for their honesty. Some she knew would feel it but ignore it. They
could be saved from washing out. But others she knew would never feel anything.

They worked through the first three hundred and forty three percent washed out that first
day. On day two of four hundred and fifty, forty five percent washed out. So a day three
was set up for the five hundred of James department to test. Out of seven hundred and
fifty they now had just three hundred and seventy four. That was not near enough to fight
the station.
This time the people were much more receptive to feelings. Here eighty five percent did
pick up the dark side. That might add four hundred and twenty five if all accepted. The
stations fighting force would grow to just under eight hundred.

Of the last group four hundred did accept. The plan was for them to work half days and
train half days. This would allow them to train replacements for James. He also would
pull some in from the field to work a desk here. In all it did freshen his department as
well as the knights. Many good fighters did stay to work for him. .

Joseph, James, Edgar, Mark, Kevin and Dawn sat down for a first meeting after the
changes.

“Well for as smart as we thought we were a lot of changes have come. So may be now
were smarter. I for one would never have guessed at the losses we took from just one
small test. But in looking at what happened with James’s people I think I understand
more. His people were better trained to be aware of things. Their gut feelings were
important to their abilities. So he trained that sensitivity into his people. We now know
we must have that in our fighters and will train that first. Here they pass it or take another
job. Now James are you alright with your current staff?”

“Some will be sent on planet missions to run businesses, as they just don’t get it. But
some are coming around and one day may be able to retrain to fight. I expect to lose
about twenty percent out of the group. The surprise is they were the top people with
sabers you had.”

“That does not shock me James as they use strength to win and not skill. I see the battles
to come calling for skill and a fine ability to react. I don’t expect strength to carry the day.
We now have many different formations for the robots to fight from. This will decide our
structure here after we learn from this first fight. So what your getting is what I think.”

“John once told me any plan before an event was better than no plan. You just have to be
ready to adjust from that point.” James did like Dawn and she reminded him a lot of
John.

“Now Edgar how are the churches these days?”

“We have added ten planets to the list of new church planets. Of course I am still getting
a lot of information for James from each planet we are on. Some is good and some is just
hot air. Now we need to bring the churches to more knowledge of the knights. It has been
some time since they have been seen. That is not good as we need the public behind us.”

That Joseph turned over in his mind. “I am not sure it is what we need. Many of our
fights with humans are over now.”
“Dad that is only true while the dark one changes tactics. He just may after the next
wheel battle start back using humans. I expect his losses to be very heavy and he may not
want to risk more of his limited resources very fast.”

“Edgar what do you have in mind?”

“Nothing right now. But we need to get some footage of our knights in practice and
contesting with each other.”

Now was Dawn’s time for her bomb. “I am taking twenty five knights to the wheel in
Simon’s universe. We will be there and fight in the early stages of that battle. Before the
wheel blows we will be transported back here. But I need leaders who know what it is
like to fight them to lead here.”

You could hear a pin drop. “That will not happen Dawn.” Joseph was angry now.

“It will or I am leaving now dad. This is my decision and not yours. So either let me do
my job or do it yourself.” She stood and started for the door.

“Come back Dawn I was wrong in how I handled this.”

She turned and looked him in the eyes. “Well who is going to make the decisions for
me?”

“You are dear and rightfully so. In your shoes I would feel the same way. I will not say I
like it, but I do understand it.” That broke the stress for everyone.

“The twenty five of us will be leaving today for that wheel. We will train with the robots
and hopefully get them ready. I want to be seen by their leadership and to be sure they
know who I am. Your father said he would do all he could to protect us. So that is what
will happen. Our home is now secure territory, so sister and mom will be safe.”

He did not like this, but knew it was needed. “I will live with your decision and accept it.
But as I said I don’t have to like it.”

Seeing Dawn go up against Joseph and hold her own impressed the group. It also
impressed the knights. They would follow her anyplace.

At the end of the day Dawn and twenty-five of her best leaders went to the wheel. She
ran classes for the robots and they followed her lead. It took little time to bring them up
to speed on tactics and methods. She set up five man patrols each night to walk the wheel
and feel for any intrusion. She always led the four to six watch.

This went on for two weeks and then it happened. At five thirty they entered the wheel.
She felt it happen and hit the alarm at once. Her team went to their station and when they
got there all were in place. The first two hundred came at them and were cut to shreds as
the sabers worked well. Not one robot or human had been injured.

The next wave had balls of fire they threw at the troops and these were batted aside by
the sabers and this group was cut up. So far five hundred were sent to the dark universe.
The next group was five hundred and they did fight well with swords and axes. Many
robots where cut down and a couple of knights wounded. But this had cost the dark one,
one thousand of his followers. Now they had him down to about half the force he once
had.

There were no more attacks that night. The wounded humans were taken to sickbay and
treated. After a scan they were sent home and replaced.

That morning Joseph came on the computer screens. “Ladies, robots and gentlemen I
wish to congratulate you for that victory. The dark one has been badly hurt from that
fight. Your courage was far more than any had a reason to expect. There were three
hundred robots damaged in the last attack. But all will survive as no DNA brains were
damaged. The three humans sent here will be back getting ready to fight in a week. But
next time expect a far different enemy coming to call. I am sure there will be no more
direct fights with large amounts of his people. He is half the strength he was before. Two
of his top lieutenants were sent to the dark universe in the last battle. So his leadership
has been reduced. Now it is time for the knights to come home and decide the lessons
learned by them. How this may apply to future fights we will have to consider. So once
more congratulations to all of you.” The screen went blank.

The captain of the robots came to Dawn and shook her hand. “Young lady your brave and
one of the best fighters I have ever seen. But now I feel we can defend this wheel and win
any fight. Our best estimate is he now is down to one thousand and sixteen followers. We
sent one thousand and fifteen to the dark universe. So he is almost half the size he was.
My logic tells me he will never fight this kind of battle again. He cannot win this way.
That means he must find new ways to fight us. You need to think this out and tell us what
to expect.”
Chapter 18

A New Day

When Dawn returned home Valerie was ready for her daughter. “My dear young lady I
was so pleased to see you being a real leader. It proves that we of the female side are just
a brave and resourceful as any male.” Then she kissed her.

“Man mom may be I should go away more often.” That was said laughing now.

“Not really dear I missed you a lot. That hole is there when your not here. Even Joseph
was not himself while you were gone. He was worried sick about you.”

“Mom I am as good as anyone at what I do. There was little risk as his father protected
me as well. Our goal was to bring in as many of the dark ones followers as possible. The
score was we reduced his side by fifty percent. That was worth the fight. For sure he
cannot afford another like that one.”

“Well what did you learn?”

“For one they can’t fight and do poorly at it. Second they will have to find other ways to
protect themselves. Third they are not nearly as smart as given credit for. The last is they
lack appendages and that hurts them badly.”

“How did so many robots get hurt?”

“If you can imagine the holding onto the handle of an axe or sword and spinning around
fast then you will get the idea. The handle was sucked into the center and they spun as
fast as possible. If your light saber got to them first they were gone, but the weapon was
let lose. Now it was an uncontrolled weapon and went every place.”

“So it was after they had been sent to the dark universe that injuries happened?”

“Yes, every single one. I have followed every one that got injured and it was always from
an uncontrolled weapon. My gut tells me had they made contact they would have owned
a human then. But that did not happen so we will never know now.”

This Valerie pondered and saw a problem. “Do you think they could just step into a
humans body?”

“It might be possible, but that would then limit them to a humans abilities. My guess is
they would want something super human, like a very large robots they could control. If I
was them that is what I would try. A robot is stronger and faster than any human. Now
they could not use any DNA robots as their programs would shutdown. But a good
chemical computer one they could handle. They are energy so there would be no power
losses.

This made sense to her as well. “So we should be looking for a new type robot?”

“First look for humans that are designers, for they will just be vanishing. But it will not
stop there as every part in a good robot must be designed and then built. People must
mine the needed metals to allow that as well. They will need electrical parts and
hydraulics. So you will see many disappearing from each area of need. Then you need to
look for where they would build these bodies. It for sure will not be on any planet that
has humans.”

Dawn had given a lot of thought to this she saw. “OK you have given me a start point for
us to watch. I will talk with John, Simon, Ned and we will set our computers looking for
people going missing. That data will be fed to your computer as well for you to follow it.
Next we will add to the ships guarding the entry to the bad universe, as that is where I
would place the labs and manufacturing. They will need equipment so we need to watch
for stolen machines. Your thoughts have given me many ideas to find if they are true.”

Joseph just smiled at the two ladies he loved working together. “You look like she has
placed you in overload now dear.”

“Not at all she has opened my eyes and my gut says she is right. It makes sense for them
to get human abilities but not to give up their own form. They directed the attack on
Gorm’s people and saw what the robots could do then. To make a superman robot makes
even better sense. Robots can talk and they can’t. So that is another reason for them to go
this way. I need to get with John, Simon and Ned right now. We have to put a plan in
place to protect key people.” With that she went to her home office.

“Sorry dad I did not mean to get her fired up so bad.”

Joseph knew she was not at fault. “Dear mom is just like you are. If she sees a problem
she has to fix it. Now how about you and I starting the grill and putting sweet potatoes in
the oven. We might even get dinner completely ready before she gets back?”

Dawn went up and got her sister and brought her down to the kitchen. She started the
sweet potatoes and a salad for them as Joseph got the grill going. He came in and smiled
at the two girls in his life.

“Well it is nice to have all the family back together again. The little one missed you, as
did mom and I. But to her it was a real loss. She did not understand your being gone yet.”

“We have worked it out between us girls now dad. But it was nice that she missed me.”

He grabbed three large tuna steaks and seasoned them. Then put them on a plate of
aluminum and carried them to the grill. Once he had the steaks on he sat the plate over
the fire so as to clean off any possible bacteria. But it also would be hot to bring the meat
back into the house.

This closeness he did enjoy now and had felt the loss of Dawn’s being gone. But
tomorrow would be a fun day as well. He had a major surprise for her at the wheel. That
he had spent a lot of time planning and was looking forward to it.

It was just before the steaks were done that Valerie came out to the grill. “That was well
accepted by all. They completely agreed it made sense and are jumping on it now. We
have tripled the ships at the gateway of the bad universe and both Dawn and you will get
daily reports.”

“Sounds like you have a new project now. But we have little to offer them here. So I
expect John, Gorm and Simon to be the hardest hit.”

“John was going to talk with Gorm after we talked. He feels as you do as to who will be
hit. The one comment he made is that Alpha, Cirrus and Omega would have to be
watching things closely, as they are where the technology really is. But they also will
need spacecraft to move these as well. So it is now a war in space.”

“That your at least ready for dear. They can’t take your ships and use them. The computer
would die before letting that happen. Every DNA robot would fight to the death. They
have proven just how good they are as fighters. So they are going to have to step back in
time on that front. I am sure Dawn would send knights to any ship under attack. Now the
dark side can move through space with no problem as they are energy, but they need
humans who are not.”

“That is one we need to consider more deeply. Now I am hungry and ready to eat.”

He pulled the steaks and stacked them on the plate. Then picking up his glove he had
them ready to carry in. “Led the way dear as I am sure the girls are ready for us.”

They had a nice dinner and enjoyed the family setting. It had been two weeks since this
had last happened and seemed like months. But the bond here was very close and
comfortable.

“It is time for sister to get her bath and ready for bed. So I’ll take the job tonight and let
you two have some time together.” She went off with her sister talking all the way.

After they were done she sat and rocked her until she fell asleep. Then placed her in bed
and went to her bath to enjoy a hot tub of water. She was glad to be home and being with
her family once more. It was the one thing she has missed over the last two weeks.

That next morning she was dressed and down in the kitchen fixing rolls for breakfast.
Valerie walked in to find her well on the way to being ready. “What got you into cooking
breakfast?”
“We all took turns cooking it at the wheel. I always covered the 4 to 6 in the morning
watch, so I did breakfast most days with my team. The robots would have done it but
they did not eat like we do. So my troops took care of ourselves. It seemed the fair thing
to do while there. But I learned boys are not good at cooking eggs. They tend to break the
yokes often. So it was scrambled or nothing.”

Now Valerie had to laugh at what she knew to be true. “Some males are great cooks, but
they are few and far between. Now what are you making this morning?”

“I learned to make what was called danish pastries. One of the girls did that for a time
while she went to school. So I took the time to learn how to make them as I did enjoy
them. I am sure you and Joseph have had them before, but they were new to me.”

“I don’t remember ever having them dear. But they smell great and look even better.
Where did the girl learn to make them?”

“She did some courses on Alpha and worked in a bakery there. It was during the training
for James people and she was an analyst for him. That girl picked up fighting almost as
fast as I did. She was the only one from the last group to come with me.”

The rolls were put on a large plate and set on the table as Joseph walked in. “Now that is
something I have missed badly here.”

“Husband you can thank Dawn for them. She learned how to make them while she was
gone.”

“Just don’t stop please dear!”

The first bite told Valerie why Joseph loved them so much. “Man we have to get a bakery
here doing this. They are great and I would like to have them often.”

“Get the pastry chef from the hotel to come out here and I will show him what I know.
They have a large kitchen for just deserts and rolls, so this would fit in for breakfast.
Once enough people get to know what they are, then a bakery could have a business. The
girl told me that there are hundreds of bakeries making them over all eleven Alpha
planets now. Every town has at least one and large ones like Johnstown have four. These
sell for one and a half credits each.”

Just two was a full meal for each of them. “Now what do we do with the ones left?”

“Just bag them and then we have breakfast tomorrow as well. They can be warmed on the
stove grill and served hot once more. But we ate them just as they were most of the time.”
Joseph had listened to his daughter with pride. “I like them both ways. On Alpha I ate
them often while I was there. John serves them at meetings with coffee and tea. One roll
and a cup of coffee makes for a nice snack.”

“Well daughter you have changed Eden now for sure.” Valerie was going to make sure
these became a part of her world. She was off to her office before anyone could blink.
Today she had many fish to fry and was hot to get it done.

First she sat down with security and gave them the plan for what to watch for. Then she
set the computer to do hourly searches for missing people.

Her ship captains were advised of a possible attack and any ship that was unidentified
was to be shot. The reasons were simple as all universes ships were identifiable and
others were the opposition dark side. No one so much as questioned this order.

Now she called John. “Hey lady your at it early this morning.”

“Not really John I just wish to ask a favor of you.”

“Ask away Valerie as if I can do it you have it.”

“I what to send three pastry chef to work in your breakfast roll plants. Dawn made some
of what she called danish pastries this morning for breakfast and they were great. She
learned from a girl who was taking classes for James on Alpha. The girl made some extra
money in a bakery there.”

“Now you want to know why I have never fed you these with tea or coffee right?”

“That did seem odd as Joseph knew you did that.”

“Well most of our breakfast meetings are in Ned’s universe. He is not much into pastries
at all. Its eggs, meat, bread and potatoes for Ned at breakfast. So with no one questioning
me I just never tried to change that here. But I will make up for it by sending two robot
pastry chefs to you, to train people there. You girl had to be the quality control for the
mixing and making area. They see how it all goes together, but the work is done
robotically in those shops. There are thousands of different rolls and most have one or
two that they specialize in. But they all make may be fifty different rolls each week.”

“You mean that is all they make? Just those rolls?”

“Yes that is what I am saying. We have bakeries for breads, ones for rolls, another for
cakes, and yet one more for pies. They each operate differently and that means special
equipment for each shop. There are many be fifteen different types of manufacturing
areas in that specialty. But the robots will fill you in on all of them. They are a gift for
that brave young lady you have. I have seen every feed from the wheel and she killed
more of the dark side than anyone. She was hell on wheels dear and that was impressive.”
“I have seen a few of them, but I had no idea she was that good?”

“Good is just not the word. Vortec said he would never cross sabers with her and he is a
fighter. She is the toast of the Alpha worlds. She is getting a fan club of young girls and
boys here. Every child of any age is asking where they can get a light saber. They want
copies of the knights fighting outfit as well. That is happening on Ned and Simon’s
planets as well. Our children have someone to look up to that is not old in their minds. It
is stimulating them and that is very good for us.”

Now Valerie was seeing what she needed to do here as well. “I assume you ran the fight
clips on your news?”

“Of course people needed something to feel good about. That band of twenty-five knights
with their robots are legions here. It has allowed me to go to the public and openly tell
them what Dawn feels is going to come next. Our people are now on the lookout for any
possible abduction. I have a ship and fighters over each planet to act on calls. Ned,
Simon, Gorm and I are taking this very seriously. We will fire on any unidentified ship, as
you will. But we are doing our best to stop them up front.”

“I see your point as your managing the media now.”

“Yes and we will do more from the station today. I have two hundred fighters over this
planet and one starship now as we talk. This is not going to be as easy as they think. We
could shoot mice on the ground and win. I have robot troops out patrolling the city at
night with golden globes ready to use at a moments notice. Special people in our
weapons, space and equipment labs have added protection as well. The labs at the
Atlantis dome are gone now. I would suggest you get real serious about protecting your
people as well. If they can’t get them here then they will try there.”

Now the size of this really hit home. “I guess I do still have a lot to learn John.”

“You just have not been fighting this as lone as the rest of us. We all have made our errors
long ago. For sure you don’t go there twice. Now I will see you at the wheel right?”

“Yes as soon as I get us protected like you are.”

She now had the police chief in and set up the plan for him. Then she got the clips
running from the Alpha feeds to her media distribution. When she called in ships to
protect each planet and assigned them to keep the fighters out at all times they knew just
how bad this might be.

Her address to all citizens was carried to all computers. It covered the problem, what
Dawn had predicted and the steps taken. Each person was asked to call if they saw
anything unusual and it would be checked out at once. She was very serious and to the
point. Now she just had to wait and see what happened. Her people were now as ready as
this young world could be.

Once she got to the wheel she was surprised at the number of people here. There was
news media from every universe and many from print media. The universe leaders were
up on a platform at the front. Behind them were twenty-four chairs. But she saw Dawn
sitting in the middle of the leaders. The group marched in and they took their seats behind
the leaders now. So each of them sat down to listen to this event.

Once they were settled Joseph stood and walked to the front. “Ladies and gentlemen I am
pleased to welcome you here today. We are here today to recognize the bravery of the
twenty-five members of the knights, who went to battle for all humans over every
universe. They have cost the dark side fifty percent of their numbers. So first I wish to
call our three wounded hero’s down here.”

The three stood and walked down in military step. “It is my privilege to award you with
the wound medal for wounds taken in action. You are the first to receive this medal.” He
pinned one on each of the three. They saluted and turned and went back to their seats.

Now the entire twenty five will come and be presented with the courage in action award
for fighting in combat against our enemy.” The whole group marched down and stood in
line and each had a blue ribbon with crossed sabers hung around their necks. Dawn was
last in line.

Now young lady you need to stay for a moment. John stood and walked down to her.
“Dawn for your bravery and courage in leading this groups and the robots at that wheel I
present you with the universes Freedom metal. This also has never been given before. It
is from every citizen in the known universe to you. You to each of us are a real hero we
would like to know better.” He hung a solid gold sunburst around her neck. Then bend
down and kissed her cheek.

Tears came to her eyes and she fell all funny inside, But she head them back at least for
now. “Thank you John and all the leaders and people of all the universes. This victory
was a team effort and I accept this for our team. Every one there fought very well and that
includes the robot troops. They deserve a part of this as well. Now to all of you who see
this thank you very much from all of us.” She turned sharply and marched back to her
seat. The applause was thunder in this large room.

John turned to the media people. “Now that was a very classy young lady. But truth be
known she sent over three hundred and eighty of the dark side to the dark universe
herself. The next highest count was fifty-three. That was her second in command Kevin.
Not often do we as humans get to see the kind of bravery shown in that fight. Not just the
humans but also the robot troops as well. Each of them volunteered to go there knowing
the dark side was going to come. They expected to have great losses. Thanks to our small
band of knights that did not happen. Thirty percent of the robots were injured but were
repaired. These were all class I robots and good fighters. They have fought the dark side
on NOVA, in Simon’s world and in Ned’s as well. Many of you I am sure don’t know
how many of these class 1’s have served you well. So I have asked their captain to come
here and be presented with a medal for all of them. It is the distinguished service metal of
the first class. He will take one thousand back with him to present them to each fighter.
We owe each of you our gratitude.” Here he hung the medal around the neck of the
captain.

Once more the applause was loud and long. “Now ladies and gentlemen we have one
more issue to cover today. Dawn has come up with a plan to stop the balance of these evil
beings. We are sure they are going to attempt to kidnap humans they need to build them
bodies that will allow them to fight us. That is a skill they have proven they don’t have
right now. So be aware of any odd events in your neighborhood or work place and report
them fast. Every technology planet is ready to respond now. If your planet does not build
robots, spacecraft or high technology machines, you will most likely not have a problem.
Those that do must protect their citizens from this group of mad creatures. If your
worried about your scientist, technology workers or designers contact the space agency
and request a ship and fighter group for your planet. We will respond to your requests.
Thank you all for coming today.”

There was extended applause and yelling from the group. The knights were lead to the
dinning room by Dawn and they were seated at a very large table with the planet leaders
and Joseph. The media had their own table and the rest of the knights sat as they normally
did. Lunch was served by robots that had offered to do this.

After eating a huge cake of a sunburst was wheeled out for all to see. “OK Dawn it is up
to you to make the first cut.” That came from Joseph.

She stood and walked to the cake and cut it right through the center. “Now you guys can
cut it up for us.” She winked at the closes robot and you could see him blush.

After the cake Vortec walked out to the front of the room. “I am Vortec the very first class
I robot made. It is my pleasure to ask Dawn to come forward please.”

Dawn stood and walked to Vortec, as she knew him well. There was a big smile on her
face as she got there.

“I am here at the request of all class I robots in every universe Dawn. You took your
knights to the wheel over objections made here. You were going or ready to walk out and
that was made clear to your bosses. You stood up for the right thing and that placed your
people in danger. For all class 1 robots we have an our hero award to give you.” He
pulled out a large diamond on a chain and hung it around her neck. “Thank you Dawn for
fighting with my brothers.” The place went nuts at this and she could hold the tears back
no longer as she hugged Vortec.

“Little one your someone I am very proud of. John showed me what a good human was,
that was until I saw your stand. That was the bravest thing I have ever seen.” She just
held on tight to her friend as the rest of her group came to them. They were all hugging
Vortec and he them. Cameras were popping off like machine guns.

John walked up to the group and shook hands with his right arm. “Thank you my friend
that was very classy.”

“No John she is very classy and that is a fact all should know. I talked to the captain there
and her teams training saved many of my brothers. Not one robot was killed at all. She is
very much one of the few humans we all love.” You could see the feeling in Vortec’s
eyes.

“That Dawn is very rare for a robot to show love for anyone. But if you could see it every
name or number of the robots on that wheel is engraved in that stone. It is truly beyond
value as it is the largest natural diamond every found. Vortec himself found it thousands
of years ago and kept it as a souvenir. So that did have meaning for him and all his
brothers.”

“I am really very touched by this as it was never expected by me. But far more important
to me is Vortec’s trust and his caring for me. He truly is a unique life form.”

If Vortec could have cried he would have at these words. “My dear you will always have
my trust and I will always be there for you if at all possible. But any class 1 that sees that
stone will do anything you ask of them and willingly. There is not one who does not
know what you did for our brothers. So wear it always in good health from us.”

She was just blown away at the many news people who wanted to talk with her. It took
the entire afternoon for her to finish the last interviews. They must have taken a thousand
pictures and made hundreds of tapes. She was really pooped when she got home.

“Well young lady you look whipped now.” Valerie was looking at her with tender eyes.

“I never expected the big deal that was made of this.”

“That daughter is because it was a big deal. Your a hero to many young children in every
universe and someone they look up to. John said kids were asking for light sabers and
knight uniforms, as they want to be like you and look like you. It has sparked a new way
of thinking in many children today. I listened to some of the interviews and you stressed
education, commitment to others and that will help many. There is no one who does not
know what you look like in every universe as well. So my dear your famous like it or not.
But that is for the right reasons.” Valerie was sure she would see this in time.

“My mind is just to boggled right now Mom. I am going to take a bath and hit the bed as
I just feel like I have had no sleep.” She kissed her mom and headed to her room. But she
stopped and went into see sister before she did any more. After she explained to her how
bad she felt she placed her back in the bed and headed to the bath.
Joseph when he got home was surprise Dawn was already in bed. “I figured she would be
really hyper tonight.”

“Look you did not do all afternoon answering the same questions over and over. She was
sucked dry by the media. They have a thousand pictures of her and hours of feeds. When
I left Kevin was shaking his head and saying I don’t know how she can keep doing this
like she is. She was up before four this morning because she did the 4 to 6 watches. My
gut tells me she did not get a lot of sleep due to her type of leadership. I am sure she
checked from time to time on every watch. That just does not make for a restful night.”

Joseph knew he would have done the same things. “Your right and I just did not think it
out. I told her not to manage, but lead from out front. So she did just what I would have.
But Vortec’s speech hit home to me. That robot loves that girl and she loves him as well.
Now I understand a robot being human. She said the computer told her some humans
were computers and some robots were human. It did not hit me until I saw him hugging
her and her hanging on to him.”

“When she faced you down that was a strong woman. But it said to Vortec she damn well
cared about his brothers. They all confirmed her training of them and her fighting
abilities. Had she not been there it would have been a nuclear explosion. As it was
between the two groups it was a major loss for the dark one. That has built a closer bond
between humans and class 1 robots. I asked John about the stone. Vortec brought it to him
back on Earth and offered it back. John refused it and told Vortec to keep it. The stone cut
to one hundred six carrots and has a value of someplace close to twenty to thirty million
credits on Alpha. On the old earth it would bring five hundred million dollars or over five
hundred thousand ounces of gold. But it is the largest perfect diamond every found.”

“That is a lot of money any way you look at it. But she would never sell it for any amount
of money. Now the sunburst is being framed for hanging in the knights training room.
That chunk of gold weights over two pounds. I opened an account for her at a bank here
and deposited its value there. We are being buried with requests to come study and learn
to be a knight. I have James checking these out and we will make offers to some to come
to our new schools. Each wheel is now a training school for those who will work on
planets in time.”

“I assume you removed the nuclear devices?”

“Yes they are gone now. But could be used anyplace needed. Much is changing and fast
now.”

They ate a light dinner that night and headed to bed as well.

After a good nights sleep Dawn woke early once more and went out to the dock. The
many robot guards greeted her. She liked the fact they called her sister. But she could see
how watchful they were. It made her fell very safe right now. She sat on a bench at the
end of the dock and slowly a glowing ball of light came down beside her. She knew from
Joseph’s description what was happening.

“My dear daughter I wish to thank you due the brave way you handled so much
yesterday. Your actions and grace has brought many humans together that were far apart.
I saw all that happened at the wheel and your one brave young woman. That I must admit
I never expected that from your sex. So you changed my mind once more on humans. No
one has ever hurt the dark one as badly as you have. Now you have all humans working
together even if they don’t agree. That is a large step in a plan long over due. You idea of
how the dark one will move next is I am sure right. It is what I would have done in his
place. But he only has those around him who agree with him. He is smart, but also
shallow in many ways. So keep the pressure on him and he will react as he angers
quickly. If you have questions come to me freely. I will always talk with you and do my
best to give you answers.”

“Thank you for your kind words. But I am still drained from yesterday’s events. I am still
a child in many ways. But I do try to be honest and respect others. I was very touched by
Vortec and his class of robots. They are to me another life form and one worthy of being
accepted. But I have yet much to learn and will do my best for all life forms.”

“His class of robot is welcome to come to me on their death. I also see them as a life form
of value. It is to Vortec’s credit that Alpha was born and Cirrus saved. His brothers have
help many who the dark one punished start back to becoming humans once more. They
have saved millions of people over time. So I value them as well. But right now it is you
who are blessed by me. So thank you for believing and stand firm for the right thing.”
The light went out and it was cold now.

She slowly walked to the house and into the kitchen. “Your up early again dear. Why
don’t you stay home and rest today?”

“Mom I think I will as I was just pushed into overload once more.”

That brought her head up fast. “What happened?”

“Well dads father decided to sit on the dock and just talk with me. The conversation was
nice and calm, but it just worried me that more is expected than I can do?”

“Dear we only can do what we can. There is no more expected than that. But you have
been through a hard two weeks and need time to regain your strength. Your life clock has
been changed and that turns things upside down for any human.”

“May be your right mom and I am still tired as I did not sleep well last night. So I am
going back to bed for a time.” She headed for her room went in and closed the door.
She slept until noon and got up feeling better. She decided to ride for a while and went to
saddle her horse. It was clean and looked well rested to her. “”Well boy I need some
soothing today so how about helping me?”

The horse picked up his ears and came to the stall door. She got him saddled and was
ready in no time. They just moved off into the orchards and headed towards the woods.
The ride was relaxing her and she was feeling better now. The woods was peaceful and
she always enjoyed this area. Seeing a deer she stopped and watched for a time until it
suddenly shot away. That raised her warning alarm. So she turned back and headed to the
orchard once more. That was when she felt the cold and knew she was in for trouble. She
had just broken into the orchard area when she saw the dark forms in front of her.

Now she got down and pulled her saber. The horse took off at a dead run and she hoped
this would bring help. Now was a time to be focused and calm. She flicked the sabers
switch and the light beam came out of its handle. Several of these dark shapes started
forward it looked like she had may be twenty in front of her and another ten behind. The
cold was hitting deeper into her bones. These dark side followers stopped just out of
range of her saber and did not move.

“Girl your ours now and nothing can change that. So you might as well just drop that toy
your holding.” Where that voice came from she had no idea?

Then she saw one form now coming and the others parted for it to enter. She had a
feeling she needed for some reason to twirl around and she did not understand it. But she
did follow the instincts. Turning around in a circle quickly she saw a very bright light
shoot off her chest and the black forms just vanished. She still saw black spots from her
eyes from the light.

“Now as I said daughter I am always with you.” That soft voice from this morning said.

“How did you know I was in trouble?”

“Where you are so am I dear. That diamond Vortec gave you allows me much power
because your wearing it. He knew I was connected to many churches by a diamond of
great size and was sure I could use this one. He was right and it was very helpful today.
But we are connected even closer than just that stone. The stone allowed me to use more
of my power to defend you, but there were lesser ways I could have done that. But today
we sent his number two leader to the dark universe with thirty of his followers. That is a
major dent in the dark ones forces. He really need him and sending him after you was a
large mistake.”

This she had to think about for a time. “Why did he come after me then?”

“Far to many humans look up to you. The media was telling how you and your band of
knights stopped him dead. Now many who worked with him before are not so sure of his
power. They are questioning requests made to them? That has angered him greatly and he
made a foolish move because of it. This move took his best planner away when he needed
him. So daughter we did very good today and work well as a team.”

“I did nothing here.”

“Oh but you did. I asked you to spin around and you followed that instruction to the
letter. If you had not had faith you would never have done that. Your spinning allowed me
to get every dark side follower here and send them on their way to where they will never
bother humans again. You had no way of knowing where that suggestion came from, but
you followed it as asked. For that thank you for your faith in me.”

Now she was seeing how well she was connected as this entire conversation had been in
her head. “Now there are twenty robots coming and you need to handle them. So just
know I am with you always.” Then she could hear running and saw the robots.

“Sister what happened here?”

“Nothing really as I dismounted and the horse just ran off.”

“But your saber is out and on now.”

“I was just working out until someone came for me. It was a sure bet the horse would go
to the barn and someone would come.”

They walked back as a group and she talked with them all the way.

Valerie was waiting for her when she got home. “Welcome home dear. Now what really
happened?”

So Dawn spelled out the entire story and her mom just sat listening. “That was a good out
come for you and the human race. But if he was mad before, the dark one is really mad
now. This will send him off doing things he would not have before. I am starting to see an
intelligence that is not rational in any way. It expects to issue an order an for that to
happen as ordered.” Valerie was now in a thinking out loud mode.

“If you look back to every action that has been taken none was very rational. He never
took the steps needed to finish off humans in any of them. He wanted control and power,
so he had to let humans live for him to feel that. The drive has always been to make
humans less than what we are. It is the only way he can prove the Creator was wrong
about us.”

Now Valerie was seeing what Dawn had been saying. “But that does not answer some of
the massively destructive things done?”

“But the anger does and it does not last long in the dark one. He blows up does something
violent and then starts another project of making us subhuman.”
This did add up nicely for her. “I see your point, but am not sure where all this knowledge
came from?”

“Father as you know accused me of being part of the dark side. So I studied it and learned
about every action it had taken and what happened in the end. It helped me know I was
nothing like that. The computer on the ship dug up every possible event and we studied
them. I learned from her and she from me, as I got older and smarter. But I spent four
years studying the dark side and learned much from that.”

“I would think you did. But I never knew about your study of them. That is now very
interesting to me. It is possible you know more than any human about them and how they
act or react.”

Here Dawn knew she did not have the answers. “Look mom it just does not work that
way. Today I was told that the dark one lost his best planner. Now things will change to
someone not nearly as good. We now have no track record of the planner to use. So toss
out all past history and we start over.”

“I see your point and don’t like it, but must accept it.”

“Expect any move to be brash, then poorly executed and that is all I can say for now. I
was a wild card for them as I was planning. Things happened they did not expect.”

“Well we had better get dinner started as dad will be here shortly.” The two cooked and
had dinner on the table with the three waiting for Joseph.

“Now this was nice to come home to. Thank you ladies and lets get to it as I am
starving.” It went well and was very relaxed. That was better than Dawn had expected.
After dinner she took the baby up for her bath with Valerie and Joseph retiring to the
music room.

He was filled in on the day’s events and the conversations had with Dawn. He really did
not need to ask more questions of her. That allowed him to ease off her. This was
appreciated by the girl. But he did wonder how they had gotten here and not been
noticed? Why were no guards out at the woods? Then again why were they in a poor,
small universe with little technology to offer them?

Joseph got up early that ext morning and went to his office at home. He left questions for
James and sent John a request for a meeting. That done he viewed scans of the property
during the attack and saw no sign of the energy he had expected. This hit him as odd.
Something was happening and he had no idea what it was?
Chapter 19

Changes In War

There had been a few abduction attempts made, but poor planning had stopped them. The
people gone after said that the original guesses were right. In every case they were
robotics people or spacecraft designers. The dark side lost none of their followers, but
gained no help.

Then some people on planets in Simon’s universe started going missing. They were not
major science leaders, but minor players who had been involved with attempts by planets
to build craft. This had happened enough times to provide a group of around two hundred
scientist. No one saw any location they could be using and where they were no one knew.

But a shift had happened and now the search was in full swing. As a starship entered a
planet system fighters were out looking at every planet livable or not. They looked for
mining or where any resource was removed. With trillions of planets to check it would
take years. But the leaders had to do something. They did look for new universe entries
and found a few. But most never added up to much as most were very far down the
knowledge ladder.

It was a never racking game now and people wanted to know why there was not more
success? Things had gone so well for a time and now things stood still. Now the universe
leaders took a stand and let everyone know just where that was.

John sat at his desk and looked tired. “Ladies and gentlemen of Alpha and our universe. I
am hearing many complaints about the lack of progress in finding and destroying those
who oppose us. So let me make this perfectly clear to you. Our space command is doing
everything humanly possible to find where the enemy is. Every asset is being used and
working long hours to meet that goal. Now for a million years man did not even know the
dark side existed. So where were they during that time? We know some places they have
been and have stopped them there. But never before have they taken the losses they have
in recent years. They are below fifty percent of the original strength.” He let this sink in.

“Now expect them to take time to regroup, as they have lost three of the top advisors.
One of them being the chief planner for actions taken. So someone very different has
stepped into that job. They will do things differently from all past activities. We know
from the knights that they also are not seeing what they have in the past. This for them
and us is a looking and waiting game. The only thing we do know right now is this new
war will be very different from the past. How we must wait to find out and react with
speed. Now the media who has kept this issue in front of you has no answers either. They
have taken the stand it is their job to question the leaders, but not to offer answers. I
challenge them to give us just one solid lead and we will follow it and then report on its
success or failure. If they are a better leader than I am, I will happily turn this job over to
them on your vote. The people of Alpha know I did not want this job and would gladly
give it up to any better person.” Once more he let it sink in.

“Last but not least not even the Creator knows where the dark side is right now. They are
not on planets where religion lives or even where the church just exists. I will agree to
send to the media a statement once a month, of actions taken and progress made so far.
That they can report as fact. But the stupid questions that inflame people must stop and
now. To that end any paper or visual media who can’t abide with that, please know your
rights to report will be ended. It will be as simple as shutting down your connections to
the computer. That is no threat it is a promise. I see your job as informing people about
facts and not trying to create news. This trying to build fires with no facts is just not
news. Now if you wish to try to remove me feel free to do so without objection from me.”
That closed the night’s main feed.

“You know boss they will never get that done.” Vortec was smiling.

“I wish they would as this job tires me out.” John felt much older than he really was.

“John the complaints going to the media says it is not possible.” Hope had appeared from
nowhere.

“Just be sure at the end of each month, to load them up with every action taken by the
fleet. Keep it to just what was checked each day and what was found. They can get the
meetings from feeds. Now for the next week I will work from home. There are no major
issues on tap right now and I don’t do day to day things. So I will get a short break from
this office.”

“Remember you do have a meeting with Joseph tomorrow morning.”

“He can come to the house. We will be more comfortable there any way.”

The same general type address had been made in every universe. Many media outlets of
course never believed they could be hurt. But after several large media firms were lost
people now believed.

That next morning Joseph and Dawn walked out on John’s patio. “Welcome to the man’s
retirement home. I really wished they would let that happen.”

“That is not likely to happen here my friend.”

“Well an old man can always hope. Now how about some coffee, tea and pastries?”

“Thank you that would be nice.” A robot maid brought the ordered items. She smiled at
Dawn.

“Girl if the class 1 robots had a universe you would lead it.” John had picked this up fast.
“I assume your thinking of doing some searching for the dark side?”

Joseph was ready to support any action right now. “The way I see it is we either go
looking for them or sit back for years and may be let them grow stronger?”

“But looking does not say we will find them.” John now looked at this from a cost point
of view.

“No it does not say we will find them. But it will take the heat off you and the other
universe leaders for now. By assigning this task to the Knights and providing resources to
do it we become the ones to point fingers at. Here Dawn will be the point person for the
media. It will be her job using all resources to find the dark sides hiding place.”

John did not like dumping this on Dawn or even Joseph. “That is not fair to either of you
as the media are in their normal frenzy.”

Dawn just smiled now. “Well that fits my way of seeing them. But they have a long way
to go before they can attack me. I have been their darling now for a time and have such a
following on most planets, that attacking me would hurt them badly. They would have to
destroy the myth they have built.”

“Why do I get the feeling I don’t have a choice here?”

“Oh you always have a choice John. You know I would never say or do anything that
would hurt you. But you also know we must find the dark one and his henchmen. He
would never worry about a child and a girl at that. Remember all his followers were male
dispositions. He has a bias that will lead to another disaster. It was the fact a child was
winning and a girl that made him push harder as he got mad. Even before the Creator was
just as blind to a child’s abilities let alone a woman’s. He admitted it to me. So I need to
be the bait here and hope I make some good moves to find him.”

Now John sat back and considered Dawn’s comments. “I don’t think the Creator is as
biased as the dark one. But I’ll just accept your points for now. How will you use this to
draw the dark one out?”

“They need time to develop new ships and weapons. That means testing them and leaving
some traces of their being there. The people they have all are second class or lower
scientist and are in the crude stages of weapons or ships. So don’t expect large ships or
very good weapons. Most likely they will have almost no defenses. But also don’t expect
humans to be using them either. He wants his people to be able to do this so they are
superior.” Dawn had been trying to sell this now.

John liked what he had heard so far. “OK what are you suggesting?”

“I need a class 1 robot force where knights can respond as needed. There is no reason for
humans to go wondering around and looking for the dark sides bases.”
“So far I agree Dawn, now what is the problem your staying away from?”

Here she blushed and looked fearful. “I need Vortec to work with me.”

This John considered and liked the idea. “There is something else also right?”

“Robots need a world of their own. After their time of service they should be allowed to
retire and enjoy a free life. I am sure that sounds strange to you John. But they are a life
form and you’re the one who said that.”

This was a shocker to John. Then he saw some logic in it. “That needs to be worked out
and developed as to the rules. It would require a contract for the period of service for
each class 1 robot. Once the contract is completed they would have the right then to move
to a robot controlled world. It would not be required in any way that hey do that.”

Vortec heard this and just smiled. “Dawn what are you cooking up now?”

John laughed at Vortec’s just knowing she was up to something. “She thinks that class 1
robots deserve their own world. That would require a planet computer to run many
services and it needs to be under human control. So we have things that would need to be
worked out.”

Now Vortec was truly interested. “That is very interesting. But many would not want to
live like that. But even in our group some would love it. I just don’t see getting a planet
that could be used for that.”

“That has been taken care of by my wife Vortec. Her system has many unused planets and
she picked one close to us for that to happen. The knights would build a small city there
and Dawn would over see that. So the planet computer would be in the city. This is where
the war on the dark side would be run from. It would just be robots and knights handling
it. The planet is in Valerie’s universe, but would not be under her control. The planet
charter is as a free planet not under universe rules. All universes will sign that before it is
legal. That will be publicized to all people on every world.”

John saw where this was leading and liked the idea. “I like the idea, but worry about
Dawn being set up as bait.”

Dawn quickly drew her saber and made an offer. “I’ll fight you for the right. How is that
for satisfying your male ego?”

Faith was now laughing so hard it hurt her. “Well dear I think you have lost that one. If
you have to worry then do so for the dark side. They are far more at risk. She will draw
them to her planet and I know no robot would allow her to ever be injured. Then she also
has her own knight forces.”
“Guys I can’t argue with my lady. So tell me what I need to do here.”

James quickly came and put it all together for John. The plan was simple and yet elegant
in its ideas. The way of using the press to stir the pot was bold. Dawn was going to make
fun of the dark one and work on getting his anger high. Her fleet was to be fifty ships all
robot run and with access by knights as needed. Their job was to kill every planet with
any life form in the dark system.

“Your really trying your best to piss the dark one off I see. Sorry Dawn I should not have
said that.”

“I am not damaged by your being honest John. Yes, I want his so mad he will make
mistakes. Here he needs to taste vinegar in his coffee every time he takes a drink.”

“This will not be easy Dawn and will take a longer time than most would expect you
know?”

“Yes, I don’t see it over in a year or may be even five? But if I keep pushing and stinging
he will come fight. It may take several fights to end the war? But each one will lower his
ability to fight the next one.” Dawn had a long term view here and it fit the current
problem.

John now had things to consider and make some decisions on. “If your mom recommends
that planet be a free planet and not under any universe control. That suggestion I would
accept and support it. To build your city and over see starting a robot counsel you do need
Vortec. How the robots get there will need to be discussed and decided by the universe
leaders.”

Now Dawn had some to add. “Look John the robots that come with our ships are free
robots. They may serve the fleet later or settle the planet at their choice. If needed we will
build new class 1’s and set up contracts with the fleet to serve before they can move to
the planet. But any serving for five hundred years should be free of any obligation to
humans.”

This was a new step in the evolution of human type robots. “This really needs some
discussion Dawn. Vortec is over twenty thousand years old. So life spans here are very
long. That must be taken into account in this. He would out live over 30 humans in his
current life span.”

“That is why we are here and not just running off doing something wrong. Neither Joseph
nor I knew how to make this work? We do not have the experience here.”

James had watched this and was enjoying how John was being worked. “John each of
several people have some worth while knowledge to contribute here. So it seems you
need to hold some meetings and make some decisions. But it needs to go before the
universe leaders for their blessing before it becomes law.”
John looked at Vortec and had to ask. “How do you feel about this Vortec?”

“In some ways I like it and in others it is so different from anything I know, it scares me
to death. I don’t ever see a robot retiring completely like humans do. But after a few
thousand years you do get stale. For those who have fought wars and over seen human
rebuilding, I am sure they would love some peace in their lives. That is very stressful for
us. But for how long that would last I really have no idea?”

Now they had the best expert on robots being heard from. John saw the problems and
may be an answer. “I will pull Via, Dr Phillips, Vortec, Hope, Faith, Jackson and myself
together and listen to a group of class 1 robots comments on this issue. They will be from
many backgrounds and work environments. Each interview will be open to be seen by
just the people sitting here for now. But some decision will come from this for this
universe.”

That was the best any could have expected today. “I am getting ready to start the city for
the knights on the planet given to me. The robots from the three wheels are the builders
for my city. But I need Vortec to over see the plan or suggest some one and make what
changes are needed.” Dawn knew she would be in trouble without her friend.

John looked at his friend and smiled. “Go for it Vortec and see what you can do.”

It took some time to make his mind up. “I accept your grant of my freedom and accept
Dawn’s request. This is a rather historic moment as I was the first DNA robot and now
I am the first free one in our universe.”

Many of the robots here had come to see this. It pleased them that Vortec was now a free
robot. But they just watched and listened. This meeting would one day effect them all. So
seeing it was history for them.
Chapter 20

Building A City

Vortec and Dawn sat and went over the plans she had so far. What she was building could
have come from a fantasy book. It was an old fashioned castle. But the walls surrounded
the entire city and it backed up to a valley behind it. To walk in you came through a
lighted arch. Over the city was a force field for protection. The back gate went out to the
valley behind the castle. It also was covered with a force field. Here was a safe place to
ride or just walk in a natural area.

“You do know your going to have to have very good foundation walls right?”

Dawn was not sure of anything here. “Look Vortec I am now all of twelve years old and
still a child in many ways. I know nothing about foundations or building really. So a lot
of what I would like to see might not be possible? The design was to allow me protection
and a good place to fight if needed.”

“Girl everything is possible. It just takes the right preparations and base. So we need to
slow down and make sure we have got everything covered. I am seeing things with the
shield grounds I don’t understand and that needs to be studied.”

Dawn smiled now at him. “Those were changes Dr Phillips suggested for stopping the
dark sides ability to go through a shield. We have no idea if any of them work, but needed
to try them.”

“The weapons outside are also from his work?”

“Yes that was also some ideas he had. Here we need to try it all and hope some proves
out. It costs us nothing to prove they do or don’t work, as they are computer controlled.”

“How do you find your targets?”

“Displacement and that I know works. I was able to measure the displacement of each
form from the dark side. The energy inside and outside was constant and the higher
leaders had no more than the lower ones. So I have a displacement value that is out
fifteen decimal places. Just one coming into our planets atmosphere would set off the
alarms.”

Vortec just shook his head. “I should have picked up on that.”

“Why you were no longer fighting the dark side? That I think may be part of the problem
with defeating the dark one. You were doing things on an on again and off again type of
plan. Here there is just one reason for being and that is defeating the dark side. We have
no other job in front of us.”
“Can you do that from a remote planet like this one?”

“We are connected to every universe and can be there in seconds. Our computers will
follow each planet computer and feed us information. There are four wheels with
computers and they will do the feeding we need. Each is in its own universe inside one
ruled universe. This city will be just like being on a wheel as far as communications,
transport and data. But I want it to be a lot more fun for the knights to be here.”

Vortec gave this some consideration. “I will need to have robots running farms,
manufacturing and businesses. Because of our lack of needing a lot of money things will
be very low costs here. So we will need a bank and money system for the planet. It will
have to fit both your needs and the robots needs.”

Dawn pushed him a report inside a folder. “Here is Edgar’s suggestion. It seems to meet
the needs for the knights, but you need to check it out and see if you think it will work?”

“I will review it later. If Edgar says it will work I know it will. Here we just don’t want
money being a driving force. Believe it or not class 1 robots can have fun also. That I
learned after John took over the control center.”

The meeting went on for a good three hours. Then Dawn left to go home and follow up
on several questions she now had.

She sat and built up a good release for the media. She now knew she would have fifty
ships for the search and one thousand robots per ship. So she broke the fleet into four
parts of ten or fifteen ships depending on where they were going or doing. She did not
have to search the four known universes, so her ships would be in the ones without
communications. That required some work on the shields, as she did not want the dark
side to be able to enter.

She needed four good commanders to run the fleets.

“Hey girl can I came in and talk?”

Dawn looked up and started to smile. “Daniel your always welcome here or wherever I
am.”

“Well I am here for two reasons. First I have a volunteer for you to run your space search
if your interested? Jackson is so bored he is going nuts. He said to tell you he would be
happy to work for you if he is just not too old.”

Dawn had to laugh, as Jackson was younger than John or Jack. “I can’t do that without
Jack’s and John’s approval. For me to steal him would be wrong Daniel. But if they offer
his services I would love to have them.”
“That was a very nice piece of side stepping Dawn. But you had best make your mind up
as both have approved it. So it is truly your choice.”

“Then tell that young man if I hear him saying he is old, I will force him to fight me with
sabers.”

Daniel was now laughing and enjoying this young girl. “He can’t shoot a phaser Dawn.
There are none better with a space ship, but a weapon he has to handle is no option.”

“Then he needs to remember what I said.” Bull had come to see Daniel and get his ear
scratched.

“I assume that his dog is welcome wherever your setting up?”

“Of course as is his horse. We have a nice valley area to ride and enjoy. It is well
protected and should be safe for humans and robots.”

“The second question is can I have one of your small fleets to command?”

“If you will suggest three more to command the other groups.”

He handed her a list of ten robots with experience and it included his name. “I can vouch
for every one of these other commanders. To choose one over another would be unfair for
me to do that. Jackson suggested you use five ships groups and one of these over each.”

“It is his fleet Daniel so he needs to set it up. Tell him I have a complex here to build new
ones also. So for now he will live on the complex until our homes are built.”

“Expect him tomorrow at the complex and I will see you there as well.”

Surprised at how much Dawn had accomplished Joseph had questions. “Is there anything
you need that is not covered yet?”

“Not really as Edgar will set up the money system, James will handle the security groups
training and Jackson the fighting in space. Kevin will lead the on ground forces and my
knights and I will respond to any fight that happens. I have a series of news releases to be
handled over time. Each is meant to anger the dark one more with each one published.”

“Where are you going to live?”

“Dad I have no choice but to live in the city my knights do. That does not mean I can’t
come home and eat with you some times or you come to my apartment and do that. But
they will expect me to live as they do and rightfully so.”

“I cannot even start to argue that dear. Your people always must come first. But making
you grow up so quickly is not fair to you.”
“Fair or not that is now my life. So I can either get mad at the universe or just learn to
live within it. For me I would just rather handle it the right way.”

Joseph just hugged this child with so much good knowledge. “Well daughter I appreciate
you and you need to know that. Mom does also and she is proud of you. Once your little
sister learns to walk she is going to want to come stay with you. So your not losing your
family.”

Dawn enjoyed that idea and loved the small child. “That is fine with me dad. Any time
you and mom want time alone send her to me. I would love having her around.”

There was just no way not to care deeply about Dawn. Just then a tall big black man
walked into the office. “Hey little one how is it your so bold as to say I am not old?”

“Is my dad old Jackson? Your close to he same age. In my book the idea of being old is
just an excuse to hide behind. My being young has not stopped me from fighting and
being some what good at it.”

That had both men laughing now. “My dear girl that is an understatement. Now what do
you want me to do?”

“It is your fleet Jackson so run it. My only comment is fighting fifty ships against the
dark one is not an option. There has not been a battle fought that a fleet of ten percent of
the size it was would not have won. I don’t have ships to waste in my fleet. We have to be
lean and mean to win this one.”

This did not put off Jackson in the least. “Can I start building some small craft at the
complex?”

“Build what you like as you will have to use it. I am not going to pretend I know what to
do here. We will be needling the dark one to suck him into getting mad and fighting. For
sure he is a lesser ability to our own. He needs humans to be able to have much fighting
ability at all. To him we are the lower life form and should serve him.”

Jackson could never think of a battle he could not have won with far less ships. There
was no record of but one battle where any fleet or ship was over matched. “OK I buy
your concept dear. We have been far more careful than we should have been. But that is
human nature acting. I am willing with our current fleet to break down to five ships with
one hundred fighter craft each and five small ships per large ship. I think ten fighters and
one small ship could handle one or possibly two star ships in any fight.”

This shocked Joseph and it showed. “Why do you think that is possible?”
“I watched them fight in Simon’s world. They were not nearly as fast, protected or well
armed as they are now. The size allows you more options in any fight than a large
starship. I don’t for a moment believe that bigger is always better.”

That fit Joseph’s beliefs as well. “I see your point and agree. But why did you not move
this way with the Alpha fleet?”

“I may have been the admiral, but I did not make those decisions. That was the board’s
choice and John and I just had to live with it. Jenny made all the recommendations and
even with the data I offered she would not change her opinion.”

Dawn had met Jenny and did not much care for her. “It is always bad for anyone without
knowledge to try to run a military operation or planning. Here Jackson I want to know
what your doing, but the decision will be yours in the end. With that goes the
responsibility as well. If I agree with your plans then I take the responsibility for them.”

“I have to take that child if I plan it.”

“That is not how it works and you know it. I am the one sitting at the top of this
organization. As the small plaque on John’s desk says, the buck stops here.”

Jackson knew this plaque well. “OK boss have it your way.”

“I will Jackson and you need to remember that. Just because I am so young does not
mean I am by any means dumb. Here we don’t play games or mince words.”

That was something he could live with. “That is no problem for me. Matter of fact it is
refreshing. John or Jack I could get straight answers from. But not Jenny as she always
had a lot to say with no meaning to me.”

“Now what is the reason for coming early? You were to move tomorrow and have the day
to get settled in.”

“Well Jenny came in and started ragging me over all kinds of issues. I told her because I
was there only because of Jack and John, she could fix what she did not like herself.”

This went through Dawn like ice on her back. Dawn thought for a second and then asked
for John.

“Yes dear what can I do for you?”

“Please tell Jenny she is on my short list. If she opens her mouth and says one work about
Jackson I will sink her boat. I don’t know if you have seen it but the woman has turned
into a bitch John. She has let what she sees as power go to her head. It is going to destroy
your fleet and that could be a disaster.”
“Yes I saw it and have tried my best to stop her going off the deep end. But if she went
after Jackson that was going way to far. Jack and I need to make a decision on who will
replace her.”

“Get smart John and call Jason in to assume command. He is smarter than you or Jack on
space and people will follow him.”

John had not done this because others might see it as favoritism. “I am not sure that is a
good idea Dawn.”

“Then your dead wrong and deserve whatever happens John. I had thought you were
smarter than that. At least there was a time that was true.”

He could see disappointment in her face. “Your right Dawn and I am really wrong here, it
needs to be the best person for the job.”

“You handle your problems and I need to get to mine. Good luck with yours.” The screen
went blank.

“I have never seen anyone take John on like that let alone win.”

Joseph knew what Dawn was capable of. “When you have the Creator sitting on your
shoulder, it does make things different Jackson. That was as much his anger as hers.”

Now it came to Jackson just how Dawn worked. “This could be hard to get used to.”

“Not really Jackson as I don’t even notice it any more. It seems we both get mad at the
same things and people. So you really don’t feel anything you would not normally. But
being stupid is not the way to win this war. Don’t expect to win it fast either. We need to
cut his forces to ten percent of what he has now for us to really win. At that point it is the
Creators war. We humans will never get the dark one, as he is smart. He just way
underrates us. But we have weakened him badly for now. He must create fear in humans
now to get back some of what he lost.”

This way of seeing it made him feel good. “But where he is requires us to go through
Simon’s universe.”

“That is not true either Jackson. We are connected to the one he is in also. The only
universe we cannot connect with is the Creators as it is just for energy forces. Nothing but
our bodies energy force would survive there.”

Now he knew far more than he had expected to. “I need to get to my home on the
complex and start planning our game. We are not going to do anything that world be
expected. My hope is to confuse them at least for a time. I am sure they have a good
understanding of how fleets operate and how they react to any challenge.”
“Once you have the plan lets sit and discuss it. Once I understand it, I’ll plan the knight’s
moves for each attack. We will not do things as we have before either. Right now I see
many small fights. Once they think they have it figured out they might try a large one?
Remember you will only have class 1 robots on the ships with one ships computer. Any
spike in energy on a ship will cause a shield to be turned on around the computer. This
creates a field that would suck the power from any of the dark side.”

Jackson gave this some thought. “So your saying my ships computers are protected. But
during this period I am sure the robots must manually run the ship.”

“True and you need to be sure they are ready for that. We will also be responding as fast
as our computer can send us. In three minutes we should have three hundred knights on
the ship. Now you might want to plan a few freighters that have the field ability I am
using to protect the computers. Capturing one could be a very bad experience.”

This girl was going to be fun to work with. “Gorm has may be thirty old freighter sitting
in storage. He runs freight to many universes that his family has serviced for millions of
years. I know Dr Phillips designed some new freighters and he is now building a fleet of
them. They are fighting ships and well defended. But have small crews and large cargo
bays. I think he would give you as many old ones as you wanted.”

“I don’t want any, but may be you do? Jackson I have no fleet to run you do.”

“OK let me put it this way he give them to you more readily than to me. But if you want
me to I’ll ask him and take what happens.”

She knew he was right here. “I’ll talk with him and let you know. In return we will place
a knight team on each ship going to another universe. They can be our eyes and ears
there. The one thing I am sure of is where his followers are he is not there. So he must be
in another universe and we need to find it.”

Joseph was not sure what she was calling a team? “What is a knight team daughter?”

“Just 5 knights and they serve watches and do surveillance on the ground. They will be
feeding James with data each day and getting instructions from his people. James and I
have built them and now is the time to use them.”

Joseph knew he did not know everything happening on the wheel. But this one shocked
him. “How did this get by me?”

“I started training a few people for James to use walking cities. They just listened and felt
the air for the dark side. When this started with the dark side not showing up, we decided
to possibly add teams to ships of the different fleets. But with Gorm going to completely
different universes than the fleets do, it makes sense to go with him. He is our only eyes
and ears there now.”
Joseph could not argue that at all. “I like how you and James are working together. But I
had no idea that Gorm serviced other universes either. That does open new worlds for us
to check out. We both need to go sit and talk with him.”

Jackson saw he was going to get lots of help here. “Guys I really appreciate your help. It
had been since Jack ran the fleet I have had that.”

Gorm walked in and smiled at Dawn. “You do summon me using very powerful friends
Dawn.” He was laughing now.

Jackson was shocked at this.

Dawn knew she had some help. “There are two issues here Gorm. One I need some of
your old transports as bait for the dark side. We want to invite them to a party that will
suck the energy right out of them. Then we will send them on. Second I want to place
teams of knights on your freighters leaving the universe. Many are going to other
universes we don’t even know of. They will stand watches for you and will spend time on
the ground where possible. We are looking for any place the dark one might use. He for
sure will not be where most of his followers are.”

“I have thirty six right now and they are yours Dawn. They have small DNA computers
and normally are run by class 2 robots with a crew of five humans. That is one captain
and four to load and unload goods with the robots. They do small cores during a flight
and don’t stand watches. Because of the money involved only the captain is allowed on
the bridge for these ships. Now the new ones use a crew of five humans and no robots.
You have one captain, one engineer and three communications people so one is always on
duty.”

This seemed odd to Jackson. “Who handles freight?”

“The computer as all freight is containerized and locked before it come on board.”

“How do you know what your hailing?” Jackson saw some problems here.

“Each container is scanned, x-rayed and compared to the lists we have before being
loaded. If it is one ounce off it does not load. We haul no explosives, guns or any harmful
materials. I don’t need wars in universes were I have made good money for years.”

Jackson knew he had pushed to hard. “Sorry Gorm it just really got my attention, as I had
no idea how you could do what your doing?”

“This is all Dr Phillips idea to make the freight safe to haul. By the way Dawn thank you
for the help pushing John. Jason called me just pleased to no end at his new job. He never
expect his dad to do that and neither did I. But John told me you jumped him and hard.
He also said he deserved it.”
Jackson excused himself and left the office now. He had lots to plan and much to get
done fast with Gorm’s old ships coming. There was much he did not know and needed to
learn fast.

Gorm smiled at Jackson as he left. “Now that is one man I would not like to cross. One of
my fleet captains said he crossed swords with him just one time and would never do that
again. Now I do have a small problem you don’t know about. I have lost two freighters in
a universe we don’t rule. They were the old style ships and I know their computers did
not survive the take over. But I have lost ten men and am not happy about it.”

Joseph was also not happy. “When did you find this out?”

“When I did not hear from them, I send a starship to check their course out. We know
where the men were tossed off the freighters, as we found the bodies in space. The class 2
robots and the ships were gone. Both computers were found on a planet where we had a
safe place for them to transport to. The old ships can fly without a computer if needed.
They were originally built for chemical computers to run different areas. The ones you
will get have chemical computers in them.”

“We will have class 1 robots running them so that is no worry. I am deciding on the cargo
now for them. But we will come up with a good one. Now can they land on a planet?”

“No they must unload in space and have it carried down to the planet. None have any
ships to do that either. So the craft must come off the planet being delivered to bring
cargo down.”

“Well you will get some revenge Gorm that I promise you. Those ten men will not have
died in vain.”

Gorm left the office and just Joseph and Dawn now sat there looking at each other. “Well
daughter you have done a lot today. So lets go take a ride and enjoy our armed camp.”

They did ride for better than an hour and it helped both settle down.
Chapter 21

Getting Ready

Jackson and Daniel were now working together to get the plans ready for the old
freighters. These traps were going to be time bombs for any taking them. For sure any on
the ground would pay for stealing one of these. Small signal devices were set up to drop
out and leave a trail. That would not start a low power signal for at least five days after
hitting the vacuum. But a trail it would leave that could be followed.

Next devices that were sensitive to atmospheres were set for detonation after being on the
ground for two hours. These boxes were filled with white phosphors and magnesium.
This would burn at very high heats and create smoke. It burned pure white and with the
magnesium made it a good killer of dark side personnel. Water did not put this mixture
out. So any robot hit with a small drop of it would be burned clean through. Each box
would explode when hot enough.

The two worked the entire day just devising new items to carry on these ships. They
assigned robots to train to run these ships using just the chemical computers. Here a class
1 would have to be seen as a class 2. Outwardly they did look much alike so just being
slow when approached would sell the human or follower. A class 2 just followed orders
and never made any suggestions.

In each thing they did destruction was the key. It mattered not what was destroyed as long
as it hurt the dark side. They were sure no work would be done on human occupied
planets. The planet computers watched things to closely and each planet had many
satellites around it. So any chance of not being seen was small.

The planets in the dark universe fit the needs of not being found easily. There were
trillions of planets and the suns were far apart. The ones they knew supported life were
simply bad for any human to try to live on. Life for a human out there would be brutal.
But here a human took their chances as the dark side had to be cut down where found.

Jackson was now in a mode he truly enjoyed. He had decided to take all thirty six
freighters and modify them for different uses. Because of the size of their cargo bays he
could place either ten fighters or two small ships in them. There would be little from the
outside that would show any changes. The new door where the ships or fighters launched
was the only outside physical change. The new force field for protection would help as
well.

Dawn was pleased with how quickly Jackson had assumed his role here. “I have heard a
lot of talk about the new shield for the freighters. What are you doing that is so
different?”

“I have been told by your dad he can track the fleet or a single starship by the shields
signature. We were emitting massive amounts of energy into space. So Dr Phillips and I
got our heads together and designed the one we will use. It has almost no signature and is
close to the skin of the ship. We have on a ship like a small fighting ship around five
fields covering the entire ship. A fighter has two and on of these freighters we have
twenty. A starship would take around one hundred to cover it all. The nice thing is you
can’t read them even just standing off the ships beam.”

“So they are protected and the dark side will not know it?”

“It will not show any power leaking off the ship. Firing at it will only make it stronger as
it will use that power to add to its own. The field is just six inches off the shell of the
ship. There are small ports we can open to fire our own weapons and they close as soon
as that happens. It will take a few months to get all thirty six freighters out there, but they
will not be a free ship for the dark one to grab. Each will cost him a price far higher than
he could ever expect.” Jackson knew Dawn understood his idea.

“Vortec said we would have homes in two more weeks on the planet. I don’t know if you
have seen the plan, but it will keep us all together for any fight to come.”

“It kind of reminds me of a spacecraft on land. Everything within the walls being on the
spacecraft. But you have live on a ship before and know how that works.”

“That was the one thing that keep me working the plan. With the free robot state
surrounding us it will not be easy to approach our city.”

Dawn went on to the other things she had to do for the day and Jackson got back to work.

Time passed quickly and the day for the city opening was now here. Dawn had played her
cards right as each universe leader and many news media people had come. It was a
circus really, but one she needed to use to her advantage. The universe leaders would
today pass over the responsibility of finding and destroying the dark side followers. It
would now be a matter of public record known in every universe.

John had enjoyed the city and how it had been set up. “Vortec why didn’t you do
something like this for us?”

“Sorry John I did not do this Dawn did. I just built what she wanted here. You may want
to watch and listen to her closely today as it will be a very different Dawn.” Vortec just
walked off and smiled at his part being done.

Jackson was sitting in his apartment at the top of the castle. He and Dawn both had
apartments and working areas here. It left one guard post outside their living areas. But
he could sit on his balcony and see the stage for today’s show. For now Dawn did not
want the worlds knowing who was running her fleet. The story was out that Jackson quit
after a fight with Jenny and retired. For now smoke and mirrors was the best position to
create confusion.
Dawn walked among the media people and smiled a lot. If asked a question she avoided
it as best possible. It was not a day for media guessing. The message today was to be
clear to everyone here. That included those in the media belonging to the dark one.

The way the city was built there was just two ways into this part of the city. One from the
castle and one from the outside was the only ways in or out of here. Each had a large
covered arch to walk in to the eating and drinking part of this small town. It was a bridge
going over a small stream the town was built over. But there were no open sides and the
floor was a clear plastic so you could see the water.

Once everyone was here and in place Joseph came forward. “Ladies and gentlemen,
robots ad honored guests the knights have accepted this planet from Valerie for our base.
It is also a home for robots that over time are retired. Because the knights are so few we
really don’t need a lot of land for our needs. So Dawn decided to off space here for any
retired class 1 robot.” Much applause happened with this statement.

“Now things have changed once more. To explain these changes I will let John speak for
the universe leaders”

He was welcomed with applause and yelling. “Thank you for the welcome. But today I
have something very serious to speak about. Since the time Dawn defeated the dark side
at the wheel, most of the media have expected the universe leaders to go out and win this
fight. That was never possible because our mission is different from the knights. Our job
is to protect the people living in our area of responsibility. That means we don’t have the
ability or resources to do what the media has expected. But that should surprise no one as
they always expect more than is possible.” Laughter now was all over the crowd.

“Since it has been so long a time between the fight and now, without the dark side
showing itself we had to do something. So the universe leaders have turned this fight over
to the one who has beaten the dark side before badly.” Now people went nuts over this
announcement.

“We have provided fifty starships and a complex for repairs and maintence. This planet
has been given to the knights as their own zone without any universe laws or control. No
universe leader has any right to object to or comment on the knight’s actions here or in
space. They have the right to go where they wish without any objection from us. We also
have given up the right to direct any action by them. So this is now their fight completely
without any obstacles in their path.”

This brought shock to all the media. But especially the ones controlled by the dark side. It
was going to change how much happened.

Dawn walked to the podium and stood waiting for things to calm down. “You know if I
was the dark one I would be hiding also. His followers were beaten by a preteen girl, a
few teen aged knights and a group of class 1 robots. He has said humans are inferior to
his followers and yet they lost half their fighting force. Why?” Once more applause was
loud.

She pulled her saber and the light flashed out. “He could not even do what I just did here
as he has no arms or hands. They cannot build one thing themselves or se it to fight. So
who is truly the weak one? The dark side has built up a myth about itself and hopes
everyone believes it.” Now laughter was every place.

“Let me show you just how ineffective he is. Look at the people on both your right and
left. In front of you and behind you and remember who was there.” She waited until
people were done and tossed up a golden globe. It was struck with her saber before
anyone one could act. The white light was blinding and seemed to stay for a longer time
than it did.

“Once your eyes adjust look at how many were sent on to the dark universe today. That
same light hit me, many knights and the universe leaders with no losses. Most of the
media is still here, so there were just some of you working for the dark one. That is a
dangerous decision to make today. Our world has no place for any who support that evil
and my knights will not allow it either. Those who were sent to the dark universe did not
care about humans in any way. Once their bank accounts are checked, they will be found
with a lot of money for help given to the dark one. They not only sold their souls, but
many other humans lives as well. So before the media starts screaming about what I have
done let me say you need to be very careful. Make it is factual and completely honest.
Failure to do so will bring immediate actions in your courts. No action will be settled out
of court, as I want the people to hear the entire story about that media outlet.” You could
have heard a pin drop now.

“One last thing I need to say. The media and leadership of each planet is either on our
side or the dark ones side. They each will make that choice and decision. They do not
have to like me or to speak out for the knights. But if they take the dark ones side they are
the enemy. I promise to let the people know of these actions and to step up to protect you.
But these people will be gone to join the rest of their kind. May peace be with you.” She
walked back to applause and many cheers.

The universe leaders were also shocked at the way this was done. None had been warned
this was coming.

Simon Sr. was the first to break out of his shock. “Well my girl you have put both the
dark one and his people on notice. I assume you will let me know when your going after
a planets leadership?”

“Of course I will, but understand it is now a done deal. I have a plan to make the dark one
as mad as possible. Right now most humans are not stepping up to help him as they are
seeing his lack of power. At one time he won more than he lost and that is now changing
for him. They just watched me send on a few here and that will cause many to worry.”
“You gave me power in each universe and I am going to use it for mans good Simon. It is
not something any of you could have done and gotten by with. But once you stepped
back that was all I needed.”

Simon smiled at her. “I wrote it and was sure you would see the advantage. This is what I
did for my son to bring our universe under control. If anyone complains tell them to read
your charter and show you where you can’t do what your doing? If they show you, you
will stop.”

The meeting after the dedication was in Dawn’s suite here. All were seated at a
conference table in her office. She had asked Joseph to sit in as well.

Valerie was the first to speak. “Dawn you can’t do what you have threatened to do as it is
outside the universe laws.”

Dawn calmly pushed over a copy of the charter. “Show me where that is please mom? I
am not under universe laws or any except the Creators. If you have a problem with his
laws take it up with him please.”

Joseph just smiled at his daughter. “I think she has a point and you all need to just accept
it.”

John and Ned both had just watched this. Then Ned decided to speak. “As for me I think
Dawn did the right thing as I am going to lose some planet governments. But if I had
done it then there would have been a problem. Of the reporters that were sent on today
most were from my universe. Once more she saved me many headaches. If we do our
jobs and let her do hers, then things will workout well.”

John had waited for this time. “I agree with Ned and saw nothing she did or said, that was
not within her powers as granted. I listened closely and she never stepped out of line one
time. It will now be harder for the dark one to act using humans, as they are not going to
trust him for a time. Dawn hurt his way of being seen badly today. He now had a twelve
year old girl saying he is nothing to be afraid of. The temperature must have gone up one
hundred degrees wherever he is. Over all I could not have planned this better if I had the
chance.”

“Thank you Simon, Ned, John and mom, as what I did was plant the lighting rod here in
this city for him. It was to take pressure off each of you and put it on the dark ones back.
Now he has to respond and it must be a win for him or he is deeper in the hole.”

Once calmed down they all saw her point. “How do you protect this planet, the robots
and knights?” Valerie now was concerned.

“Ask that question at your monthly meeting and see if you get an answer. But as I have
been told before there are things many should not know.”
Now Valerie had to laugh. “Bitten by my own comments. I get the point as we really
don’t need to know and it is better if we don’t. Here the only problem is the fact of
inviting the dark one to attack in the universe. But I will just be sure I protect Eden from
any fallout.”

“What fallout mom? There is just one place to attack me and not seem like a coward to
the many people out here. On each of the live interviews I had, I made sure people
expected him to attack planets where I was not, so he did not have to fight me. If he did
that just one time I could point my finger at his being a coward. Any credibility he ever
had with any group would be gone.”

“Where did you get so knowledgeable about the dark one?”

“I spent years learning about him, because of my father saying I was one of the dark side.
Now it will pay off and was all worthwhile. I know more about the dark side than even
dad does and he knows far more than any of you.”

They all saw Joseph did not disagree with that statement at all. “I handle the day to day
running of the knights in each universe. Dawn has this planet, the fleet and full
responsibility for finding the dark ones followers and sending them on to the dark
universe. I don’t step into her world without her asking me to do so. Then it is for
discussion and advice if I have any. That I can assure you is not often these days. She has
solved more of my problems than I have of hers.”

It was time to break this up. “Please feel free to come and talk when it is needed. Right
now I have more media interviews and must be on time.” She stood and left her office.

“That is one very busy girl Joseph.” John was surprised at her many interviews today.

“I came in here two days ago and found her sleeping at her computer. When I asked she
said Dawn had gone forty hours without sleep. This is very personal to her and she is
working harder then any of us ever did.”

It sent a message they all needed right now. Each got up and walked to the transport plate
and went back home.

Bull walked beside Dawn and Kevin was with her as well. “I have our security set up and
guard posts placed where they will not be expected. The walls are armed with the
weapons you asked for and we have computer controlled sites below ground that will pop
up and fire. There are many poles embedded that will on demand raise into the air, so no
smooth flight can come at our walls. This is going to be a killing ground for any fighting
craft coming in here.”

As they walked into the tunnel over the water the lights were burning brightly. They
were bathed in a pure white light. On each end there was one guard post.
“Thanks for walking along and filling me in Kevin. Today is such a long one for me, I am
going to go home and die tonight. Tomorrow I’ll call you when I am ready for breakfast.”

“OK boss and I’ll be ready whenever that is.” Kevin was off to check on his staff and
personnel placements.

Here each guard post had the white light that could be used at any time. They wanted no
one to be unprotected at any point in time. Many posts were just one person places for
watching traffic areas. If any power surge came into their area all lights would turn on
automatically. There was no way for the dark side to fight that issue for them.

The staff of the castle was both robots and cloned humans. Here 300 knights had
apartments and many places for entertainment. There was a library, game rooms, many
indoor courts and a swimming pool. But there were the training rooms for them to work
out each day. Everyday each knight did workout for two hours before they went on duty
for the day. So this area was used around the clock.

In the city Dawn sat with the media and answered many questions over and over. Finally
she got pissed and blew. “Look the answer is not going to change ever. Now get that
through your thick heads. Here your skating on very thin ice and could easily fall in. The
dark side is evil and I cannot see what you are missing here? It is never going to change
its nature and become good. That is like saying a rotten piece of meat in time will get
better and be eatable.”

A group of children one of the media groups brought were laughing at the adults. “Dawn
nobody said all adults were smart. But my mom there has no idea of what evil is all about
and needs a lesson. I got whipped for defending myself against older bigger kids.”

That went out to many media outlets and children were now listening. “Young lady come
here please.”

The girl was very small and slender. “Now how many children were picking on you?”

“There were two boys and three girls. They were all a couple years older than I was.”

“You had no friend there?”

“No I had learned to fight after seeing you. I never wanted to be taken by the dark side
and I knew mom could never stop it.”

“If I could find someone I would give you away.” The woman was angry and her face
was red.

“Fine you just gave her to me madam and that cannot be changed as it was heard by
billions of people.”
“But your just a child and cannot care for her.”

“I am this planets manager, my word here is law. It is law in every universe where the
dark side exists as well. So don’t try to play with me your not smart enough or fast
enough.”

The woman grabbed for her daughter and Bull grabbed her arm. He did not bite down,
but the woman screamed now. “Mom for goodness sake he has not bitten you, he is just
holding you from grabbing me. Now he is just a dog and smaller than you so you should
not worry about this. That fits your logic with me and the bigger kids. I could fight so I
was to allow them to hit me and do damage.”

Dawn was now sorry for this small girl. “I should have asked you if this is what you
want? You have the right to make the decision of if you wish to stay with your mother or
not?”

“Can I stay here and train as a knight?”

“Yes you can and you can live with Bull and me as well.”

The girl jumped into her arms and hugged her. “I hate living with someone who sees
everybody is always wrong but her. Here I know I will feel at home and wanted.”

Dawn looked at the woman and she stood then just walked away. Never looking back at
her child. The picture was seen by billions of kids and they knew this girl had been lucky.

A female robot came over to Dawn and held her hand out to the girl. “I’ll get her the
clothing she needs and get it moved into your apartment. You have a few more interviews
and I am sure are tired.”

“Thank you Rachel and please make sure she has a couple of knight outfits. Now Becky
you listen to Rachel and do as she says.”

The girl was shocked now. “How did you know my name? I never told you what it was.”

“Becky the Creator has given me many gifts and knowing things is one of them. I know
your ten years old and love learning things. You learned to fight in less than three months
and are really very good for your age. Now you go get the things we need for you to live
here and then Rachel will take you to my apartment. My cook will see to anything you
need before dinner tonight.”

The small girl went happily with Rachel and knew she would be cared for.

“Now girl be sure we get everything you need now. You won’t be getting your clothing or
toys from your mother, that you can bet on.”
They shopped for clothing, shoes, ridding needs, some toys and books she really wanted.
Rachel just could not say no to this sweet child. Becky never asked for anything she
really wanted. She just looked at it with desire and then shut it off. It would surprise her
when all this was delivered to the apartment. But Rachel took her to a shop and got her
uniforms and a light saber for her. Those items the girl would not part with and would
carry them herself.

“Well child are you hungry?”

“Rachel, Dawn said her cook would handle my needs before dinner. So I don’t want to
make her angry by eating here.”

The robot smiled at her. “This would never make Dawn mad dear. That girl does not get
mad ever. See that young man over there that is who we are going to sit with. He is
Dawn’s guard commander and her best friend. That is Kevin he fought with her at the
wheel and he is very nice.”

The sat and Rachel introduced the two. “It just so happens when I am done here I have
the guard in front of Dawn’s and Jackson’s apartment to check. This way I can introduce
her and get her covered with security. I also will need to stop by the clinic with her for a
scan and RFID implant. Dawn would have ordered all this if she had been able to think
right now. But with all these crazy media types she has had no time at all.”

Becky now was laughing hard and it just rolled on for some time. Rachel saw Kevin’s
confusion. “Becky’s mother was one of them. She made the comment to Becky she
would give her away if she found someone who would take her. That was on a live
interview and Dawn did just that.”

“Becky I would have done it, had I been there. But understand that Dawn’s mother was
dead and her father did not want her either. He called her evil and beat her for anything
he did not like. Now she is accepted as a daughter of the Creator. You will get to know
Joseph and Valerie who adopted Dawn and have supported her in this job. Joseph is head
of the knights and a true son of the Creator. Valerie is the universe leader here for this
universe. So she had had a lot of misery and some real joy as well.”

The girl was shocked at her hero having been badly treated by her father. “I don’t
understand adults and why they act so badly at times? No child asked to be here it was
there choice.”

“Well little one lets go to the clinic first and then we will get you set up in Dawn’s
apartment. Rachael I’ll take her off your hands now. Thank you for helping her and
Dawn.”

The two walked t the castle and down to the clinic. He had Becky given a scan, shot and
then had an RFID inserted under her skin.
“What did he put in their Kevin?”

“Your now transmitting like a radio. I will know where you are at all times. If someone
took you, I could follow you and get you back. But that will allow you to go many places
and do many things also. When you go to your apartment it will tell the guard you belong
there. If you go to a knights training room it will tell the instructor what level your at.
You can use our library, game rooms, swimming pool and the many courts for sports. So
it has many uses for us here.”

“You mean you have one also?”

“Yes and so does Dawn. Hers lets her go anyplace here, as I am sure you will have pretty
wide abilities. But the lady is the boss for all of us. I do have three places I can’t go and I
am her second in command here.”

“Kevin I am just 10 and I am sure there will be many places I will not be allowed. It is
just life for any child.”

Kevin laughed at her idea of how things would work here. “Just remember that Dawn is
just twelve. So age here is not the big decision maker that it is in many worlds. She is
treated as an adult by the universe leaders and all knights. It is not how old you are, but
how you do your job here. Each of us is responsible for certain things being done.”

They got to the guard post and Kevin checked Becky in and cleared her from now on to
come and go. He took her to the cook and then said his goodbyes.

Becky wondered around the apartment and found her room with piles of packages. She
knew she did not buy this much or even ask for it. That caused her to run to the cook and
say that someone had shipped way too much stuff there for her.

“Child what is there is yours and Rachel let me know that was a fact.”

“But Dawn will be mad at me for spending so much money.”

“You did not spend it and it cost Dawn nothing. This was a gift from all of us robots to
you. We own and run all the shops in the city and the companies that make the goods.”

The girl was now shocked at this statement. “Why would the robots here do this for me?”

“We love Dawn and all the knights here. She has given us much and we owe her. So what
we did is just a small payment in our minds. You child will be something important here.
I don’t know what, but it will happen.”

Dawn came on and you could see she was tired. She gave Becky a hug and headed off to
the showers.
The cook started pushing dinner forward, so it would be ready when Dawn came from the
showers. She always got to a place where she could hold off for a time, so Dawn had time
to shower before eating.

Finally Becky and Dawn sat at the table. “It looks like Rachel took very good care of
you.”

“I really did not ask for all of that or even say anything. I hope your not mad.”

Dawn laughed at this. “Not at all dear what Rachel did was fine, except for her not
charging my account. I told her to get everything you would need and it seems she did
that. So she was following my directions.”

“But there is so much stuff and I know it had to cost a lot. In the past I would be in deep
trouble now.”

“Becky when I left my father I had just what I was wearing and nothing more. Joseph and
Valerie did exactly for me what I am doing for you. Because you had nothing but what
your wearing today I did the same thing. Life is never easy or fair but here it is as good as
it gets anyplace else.”

Becky now was sure her move was a good one. Life would not be the way it had been in
her past and being unwanted was not something to face each day.
Chapter 22

Finding and Fighting the Enemy

Jackson now had eleven freighters out and the full fleet of fifty starships. He was
checking every planet and killing any that had life of any bad form in the dangerous
universe. Simon Jr. had the door locked behind him and he had his fleet broken into four
different smaller fleets. They were made up of two or three five ship groups and ranging
out from the command ship to check and kill planets where bad life forms lived.

Daniel came on Jackson’s computer. “Boss we have several planets we have found where
there were once sites for humans to work. The buildings were left and as close as we
could tell they lost fifty three humans here. None of these planets are fit for a human to
survive on for long.”

“Then we are getting closer and that feels good. If there is plenty of water on the planet
move it out and let it freeze solid. One day man might need those planets.”

“We have frozen all most a hundred planets and burned three times that many. There are
no life forms left behind us of any type. We have found no humans so anything we did
find was bad.”

“I have eleven of the freighters out trolling the other universes not ruled now. So far no
nibbles at them, but I expect it to come and soon. So try to find the followers out there
and we can do some real damage.”

Daniel was not so sure it would happen very fast. “Boss don’t expect this to happen
quickly. They were bitten badly before and will be more careful this time.”

“Some of the knights on Gorm’s transports have sent us reports of feeling them close by.
So we know they are out in that universe. But there have been no attacks and no attempts
yet. With the pressure Dawn is putting on the dark one it will explode soon.”

“I had no idea she was doing anything?”

“She has started releasing a report each day of locations his followers have been felt or
seen. She has called him a coward and offered to fight him anytime and any place. Now
he has been challenged by a child and knows he can’t beat her in a fight. The anger level
needs to be running high for him right now.”

Daniel was laughing at what Dawn had done to the dark one. “It should cause some
action. I am just not sure what the response will be. We know that there is never any
rational reaction by him or his people. I will warn each fleet out here to be extra careful
and watchful. But I would think he will go after a freighter as it is far less protected and
less risk..”
“If he did that Dawn would really rag him over taking on a small freighter and not
fighting her. He for sure does not want to attack her here. I have seen much of what
Kevin and Vortec have built to defend the city. With the lack of the dark sides abilities it
will not be pretty.”

Daniel was sure he would attack and not care what was lost. “Boss he will come at her
and I am willing to bet on that. It won’t be him, but his minions that do this. Just expect it
and I would think he will go for the complex as well.”

Jackson has seen this also. “I am ready at the complex and Kevin is here. “My retirement
was announced, but not my new job. So people don’t know I am here and running the
fleet for now. Keeping the dark side in the dark was important to the next success. It was
felt that someone in Jenny’s group was a leak.”

“The change in her attitude leaves no doubt who it was. She is attacking Jason now and
he is ignoring her. Once she knew her job the power she had was more than she could
handle. It has changed her and not for the better boss. Many changes are having to be
made to her old department now. There were too many yes people and to few thinkers.”

“Just keep me up to date on what is happening there. I will let you know what happens
here.” Jackson stood and left his office.

The complex was not busy at all right now. People were going directly to their
workspaces and home after they were done. There were thousands of wires running from
floor to ceiling and no one could walk around them. These were all energy grounds and
they hoped the dark side would just walk through them.

In looking at the space production area it was all enclosed and had a strong positive
charge in that area. Once more to hurt the dark sides ability to disrupt work here. It was
known that the dark side was a negative charge of electrical energy. So sparks should fly
if they came into this area.

Here darkness was everyplace and light could be seen in just the offices and labs. It was a
frightening place now days for any human. This was nothing like the old times here and
people knew the chances of fighting for the station were high.

As Jackson toured this area he could feel the lack of human feelings. People were not
willing to talk with anyone and hurried to get their work done. The sooner they could
leave here the better they liked it. Many had started doing all their work here from home.
That way they did not even show up here.

After seeing just how bad this was he headed back to his office. He connected with James
quickly. “We need to get all humans working here on the ground and not at the complex.
But that requires us to use robot equipment to handle the hands part of the job there.”

“So what is stopping you?”

“The order from Joseph not to allow that technology to fall into the dark sides hands.”

“It already has and they still don’t know how to use it. Your ship construction bays are
fully operational and it has that technology. So what is he difference if the labs do?”

“I want some cover James before I go off halfcocked. You have to remember I was in the
middle of a crap tossing contest and was getting hit from all sides. There is no reason to
go back to that.”

James was laughing now and enjoying Jackson’s worries. “Look you got all the cover
you need as Dawn told Joseph to stay away from your business completely. He could
make whatever rules he wished for his area and it would not affect hers. She has her
knights on Gorm’s ships feeding me great data and without it we would be blind. So here
she wins hands down.”

“Then I am going to pull the rest of our people off the complex. There is just a to large a
chance for loss of life. It is entirely possible to lose the entire complex even as well
defended as it is.”

“In your position I would do that as well. Your just converting the old transports right?”

“Nope we are building fighters and small ships for them as well. Those large bays were
just too big to waste. I have got six small fighting craft defending the complex as well as
ten fighters. But they are only good against other ships.”

“Keep me posted on what is happening in your world please. Kevin knows what is
happening on the ground, but not about your fleet or search ships. It would be interesting
to be able to get a better picture of the dark ones movements. It is not for publication or
discussion, but to keep me looking the right direction.”

Jackson thought about this for a moment. “OK I’ll pass on what I see as important. You
may discuss it with Joseph or Edgar as long as it is held between the three of you. You
know the game well James so just play it right. I don’t want one of your people reading
my information sent to you. Here you need to add your own pieces up.”

“Just send it to my private file and no one will see it. Once I read it then it will be
destroyed. Nothing stays in that file after it has been read. I do that as a safety factor just
to be sure no one else can access it. No record is kept or copy of any data.”

“Fine like I said it is your world and business as to doing it right. I am the amateur here
and will just accept your knowing and doing your job.” The screen went blank and he sat
for a time thinking about what might interest James. He saw a lot of things he never
mentioned to anyone and mw may be it was time to start doing that? He always knew
want was not seen that should have been. So James would get some of that now.
He sat and dictated a memo for the last week’s patrols and the things he did and did not
see that was different. With his memory it was easy to do, as Jackson forgot nothing ever
in his job. He was thinking and dictating and suddenly was shocked as Dawn was sitting
there.

“Girl how long have you been sitting there?”

“Long enough to be truly impressed with your insight in space. Who is the report for?”

“I felt sorry for James and told him I would give him data that had some meaning for me.
His people don’t really understand space and miss a lot. I see what is missing as well as
what is there. So my agreement is this is for him, Edgar and your dad to know only. He
can use it if no one knows where it came from.”

“Thank you for caring that they have the right information flowing there. James is the
exact right place to hand it off. I would do anything for the three of them. But I would
like to see the data you give them as well. It has real value to me and to them. I see things
based on what input I get. It is vision like and comes often at night while sleeping. But I
must have input to get any output.”

“I can give you daily or weekly reports after reading my morning briefings. Each captain
or commander gives me a daily look at what happened and what was seen the past 24
hours. They all have certain questions to answer for me in those reports. I have slowly
trained my people to see or not see what I am interested in. The questions they know
must be answered and it keeps them pointed in the right direction.”

“How do you know your getting real data?”

“Because the trainees and the second in command have to do the report as well. If a
captain provided a report that did not properly answer the questions I would know it at
once. Being accurate with that report is the big stepping stone to command. The computer
can run the damn ship, but she just does not have the eyes and unusual brain a human
does. My using the class 1’s on the transports does leave me open to losing some ships
due to mental errors. They just don’t see as much as a human does before disaster hits.”

“Would a human do any better in a fight?”

“If I had a few knights per ship that would be no problem. My worry is losing ships we
don’t need to lose. It gives the dark side free transportation. I am sure they can’t built
anything that big right now.”

She had not looked at it from that point of view. “OK how do we solve this?”

“Adding one captain and five knights would be a good start. I have those ships wired for
protection.”
“I am not following you?”

“In your fight at the wheel every light blew out and piece of equipment they got close to
overloaded. On the freighters I am picking that up and reacting to it using the light
needed to send them on. But we will run out of good circuits to detect where they are.”

“You expect him to attack the transports?”

“That is what he needs to move humans right now. Humans are critical to his needs to
have a chance to fight you without risk. So getting that is worth any risk he takes. He may
be easy to anger and force into bad moves. But he is not stupid and you need to
remember that before someone gets killed. You can bet he will hit at least three places at
the same time and hope the critical one works. That will be getting a freighter. The rest
are for show and tell time the media likes.”

Now this made a lot of sense and fit into some of her thinking. “I can give you sixty
knights right now and more as you send out new freighters. Do you have captains for
them?”

“Right now I have requests for just over two hundred ships by retired captains. Alpha
decided to have no fulltime military and retired many of my better captains and crews
from service. That is where I got the fifty I sent out with the fleet. Valerie agreed to
supply farms or businesses after their time of service. I could have had full crews if I
asked for them.”

“You mean there are that many people turned out of the service?”

“Not just turned out but old they were dinosaurs in this new age. Their kinds of service
were not needed any more.”

“This was just plain wrong Jackson. Why didn’t John stop it?”

“The only way to do that was replace Jenny. She had done a lot of good for Alpha before
her change. After that time she did a lot of damage. She was a board member from the
very beginning, so replacing her was just too much for him to do. I would have a hard
time replacing Daniel so I do understand it.”

“He was killing his knowledge base on his fleet. People had to know this was just a
temporary job and one to not be taken to serious. His fleet has to be in far worst shape
than I expected it to be.”

“I gave Jason the full story and run down. But he is only having so much success due to
John’s lack of support before. I fought this battle at every board members home before
being told to stop. So I quit and came here.”

“Can Jason pull it back together?”

“Yes, but he is going to have to go the space command route and not let John make those
decisions. Here a division of powers is reasonable in such a large universe with so many
problems. That is how the two Simon’s were set up and it works. Ned does not over see
his space fleet and it does very well. We have absolute power to act in any universe
without John’s or any leaders input. So I know they understand that division of powers.”

“Just so you know you have full control of our space effort. I may be young, but I am not
that dumb I assure you. If required to make any space decision I would screw it up. My
knowledge is just too limited and that would get people killed.”

“John’s is every bit as limited as yours. But he has called the shots there now for far to
long. He has been very lucky to pick people who could lead others. But as bad as it is
hurt now, he needs a good doctor and Jason can do that if he does not get in the way.”

“That is outside my league Jackson. I will go back to my small world and study what you
have given me. Be sure I will check each day for your current update. It may take me
some time to completely understand your terminology but I will get there.” This she shot
at him as she left the office.

Now Jackson was chuckling at the girl. He knew the story and just could not understand
how anyone could be so cruel to her?
Chapter 23

The Fight?

One small freighter was cruising through an unknown universe. A new captain and 5
knights had just taken over command. The knights were on a watch schedule and had a
emergency connection when their sabers were pulled. The class 1 robots were also armed
to be able to fight with the knights.

The power supply went almost off and everyone knew there was a problem now. The
captain locked his bridge off and set his protective shield. Knights and robots assembled
with sabers drawn and ready.

“OK people we don’t know how many are here but we know they want this ship. Put
your backs to that far wall as it is protected to stop their coming through.” Now they
waited until the dark side came.

One showed itself through the door and was quickly followed by ten more. The fight did
not last long and each was sent to the dark universe. These were not even armed in any
normal way. What was going on here?

The captain came into the room and saw the confused knights and robots. “Look they
expected just the robots and would simply overload their body systems. Our ships have
been probed many times now and never did a human show up.”

“Seeing knights here was a shock to them and they just did not know what to do. But
when it happens the next group will be ready to fight.” One knight that had been at the
wheel explained.

“At least this time they were so shocked they froze. But at least some return fighting
would have been nice.” Another declared her frustration.

“That was what Dawn and Jackson were looking for. We are following them at least the
ones left outside back to their base. The craft used to board us was very old and slow. So
be aware we could be attacked again before we get away from that planet. But we need to
know where they are at and destroy it if possible providing no humans live there.”

They all followed the watches through the night. Jackson was following things closely.
Once the planet was found a drone was sent in to check the surface. Finding no humans it
launched ten nuclear missiles set to encircle the planet. They went of at a height of one
mile off the surface and caused a firestorm over the planet.

Nothing left the planet after they went off. Two tugs were sent out to tow the planet to a
place close to the sun to stop any human from going there in the future.
“Jackson I have no idea what was on that planet or why the ship went there. It did land at
a building on the surface and no trace of humans was found on the planet. From the
pictures you now have the planet was completely destroyed by the thermal shock of the
bombs. It actually caused the air mixture to burn.”

“That was due to a high methane concentration in the atmosphere. Put the planet where it
will reach over one thousand degrees. Then go back to you planned patrol and keep e
posted on a daily basis.”

Dawn walked in and was sm8iling now. “Jackson give your people a medal. The
destruction of that planet cost the dark one over two hundred followers. The light from
the nuclear blasts sent them on to the dark universe. I was just notified of the count just a
few minutes ago.”

“That brings him down to about eight hundred now right?”

“Give or take a few that is the count now. If he loses three to four hundred more he will
be almost powerless in human terms. Being under fifty percent has hurt him and dropping
to half of that would really hurt. He before used fifty to one hundred on each planet he
was causing trouble on. So he could cause a lot of problems over time. But you proved
your desire for human captains was a good one and how much better it works. No robot
would have followed the ship to the planet and allowed what happened.”

“Human judgments are important to good actions taken. Jack when he fought on NOVA
was in control and issuing orders to the robot captains all the time. They will follow
orders just not initiate actions on their own. At least most won’t and I exclude Daniel here
as he will.”

“How do we find the next spot where they are massed and waiting?”

“You can bet he will not attack freighters again. Going on past history we need to look
for the needle in the haystack. Our problem is we have seven universes to look through
now. Four that are human controlled and the three Gorm and his family has traded with
for many years.”

“That is a lot of territory to cover. Can you do it with the limited resources you have?”

“No but I have to find a way to do it. There are just no options here to allow us to fail. So
I am going to move three of the small fleets to the three unknown universes. One will
keep tearing up the bad universe right now. The three will each have one universe to
check out and we need knights to feel for the dark side. Those feelings are now critical to
finding more followers.”

“Good luck then admiral and I hope you do have a lot of that.” Dawn left and headed to
her office.
Daniel formed all but ten ships and headed out to start checking the other universes for
Jackson. He now had human captains and five knights per ship. After asking Jackson for
full human officer crews he got those as well. It was well known where they were going
and what was expected. This was going to require risks and most robots were not
prepared to take them.

At the first meeting of captains there had been much renewing of relationships. Daniel
had set up a nice breakfast buffet and let things move along more slowly.

Now was the time to bring home the point. “Now lets get down to business. We have
taken out another two hundred of the dark sides followers. So he is down to about eight
hundred now. Dawn believes if we can get between three and four hundred more he will
be ineffective from here on. The dark one had around five hundred in each universe
before the knights started fighting them. So reducing his forces to less than twenty five
percent is going to hurt.”

They could now all see where Jackson was heading. “Is he sure this will cut the abilities
to fight humans?” One of the older captains asked.

“No one is ever sure of anything and you know that. At least you should by now old man
and you remember that. Your job is to find as many places his follower are and destroy as
many as possible without endangering human lives.”

“How the hell do we do that?”

“The freighter used nuclear weapons with a drone and did a nice job. There were no
humans on the planet due to gas mixture. So that quick action was responsible for the loss
of the followers. It has proven a very good reason for bringing humans back here into the
fleet. Now your term is for your lifetime of working ability. Once you reach retirement
you will have a home on Eden and an income from the knights trust fund. This is a real
military and will run that way.”

Cheers broke out and these people were happy now. “No one said this was a complete
assignment.”

“You did not read your paperwork well. You signed on for life when you signed and sent
those papers back. There was no mincing of words and it was very clear and plain. Your
wives and children came with you as well. Now any who want out now had better speak
up.”

The laughter was loud and friendly. “Daniel you know Jimmy never reads anything
Jackson sends him.”

“If he fails to read this closely, then he is going to be very upset when he can’t just walk
away later. We will not stop going after the dark one until he is gone for our worlds into
the dark universe.”
“How are we going to find these followers?”

“Each ship will have five knights assigned. Just listen to their feelings and follow them.
They can feel the presents of that force well before you will ever know it is there. So
listen to them and follow their advice. If you think your smarter and don’t need this help
then go home and that is per Jackson.”

“What makes them so good we need to listen?” One captain asked?

Dawn walked into the meeting room and drew her saber. “There has to be one ass in
every group doesn’t there Daniel?”

“You watch your mouth little girl.”

“Who are you to make me watch my mouth? I really don’t think your able to do it.”

The man jumped up and was brought down by three robots fast. “If you had hit Dawn I
would have had to break every bone in your body.”

The mouth was in total shock. He had never watched any of the Dawn feeds on news or
planet reports. Then he saw the diamond and knew that was the one given to her by
Vortec.

“Now to answer your rude question is we train many hours to feel the dark side, well
away from its source. It can be felt with your mind if you’re good enough. Some of us
can look at a picture and see it. You will find the knights will just watch and use every
possible method of finding where the dark side is located. None of you have ever fought
the dark one or his followers. So you know nothing going into this fight. Now how many
people would you follow into battle under those conditions?”

This hit the men up side their heads. “Has every knight fought the dark side?”

“No but every team leader was with me at the wheel. They know how best to use the
people they have. Understand the battle is not likely to happen on your ship. But we need
to find where they are hiding and destroy them when they are found.”

“If they are hiding why bother them?”

“When you fought the creatures did you wait until they were doing something before you
started a battle?” This caused a lot of laughter, as the men knew they were not playing
with a child now.

Daniel was tired of this and the disrespect that had been shown. “Dawn for these
ungrateful fools I wish to apologize. I assure you we hired more than was needed and
some will be going home today. Just so you fools know Jackson works for Dawn and that
means you would have worked for her as well. But some of you will be sent home as
Jackson has been watching this meeting. You all know he does not suffer fools well.”

Dawn did not want it going this way. “If you have a problem with Jackson feel free to
come see me. I will listen and if I feel you were treated unfairly discuss it with him. Bo
one will be sent home for challenging me here today. Now if it happens again I will fire
you and be sure I am stronger, faster and meaner than any of you.” She sat on the floor
and levitated into the air.

Daniel got the idea Dawn knew he would. “OK captains come try to move her from the
space she is occupying now.”

Several came forward and tried and got no place. As a group they could not move her a
fraction of a hair from her position. “As you can see there are things beyond your
understanding and knowledge. For those who tried to move her you now know a lot more
than before. Now when she comes out stay out of her way and watch her training
exercise.”

Dawn shot into a standing position with her light saber out in front. She moved so
quickly that people lost sight of her until she was seen half way up a wall. She kept going
and moved into a flip and was back on her feet on the floor. Her movements were so fast
people could not follow them. Finally she did a running flip and landed next to Daniel.

“Now may be you have some idea of what a knights abilities are. Understand we are not
super human in any way. We are simply a tool of the Creators. For us there is just one job
and that is dispatch the dark side to the dark universe. We do that protecting humans at all
costs. So the way I see us is a little light, where darkness would exist.”

Now the entire group was completely impressed with Dawn. They applauded and
cheered. The older captain walked up and apologized and was hugged by Dawn. She
spent time talking with each captain and provided data where she could. Finally she went
to Jackson’s office.

“Sorry to rain on any parade you might have had ready to go. We need those experienced
captains and they do not know me at all.”

Jackson laughed at her. “Hey I was not going to cross swords with you. You have proven
your insight to me and I don’t need propped up.”

“It seemed like a good idea to introduce the idea of knights to these men. I don’t know
how many times I have wanted to strangle John for the name. We are not King Arthur’s
knights riding some big horse to battle. To be honest we are far more like ninja on the old
Earth.”

This Jackson could easily see. “But you just better than they were. You kill no one and
send those who need it on to where they can do no more harm.”
“That was what I tried to demonstrate to the captains. Our tools are not the light sabers
normally, but the mind and our developed abilities.”

“I saw the faces of the people when they tried to move you. At first they were not sure
people were trying, then they saw that entire group try at once and never moved you at all
that carried the day. Your speed and ability to move from point to point also impressed.
So you have made my job much easier. The fact Norman came to you and apologized
made that work out. He is the hardest headed captain we have and very good because of
that.”

“I just did not want you angry with me. So I felt it was better I come and explain my
reasoning.”

“You dear don’t have to explain anything to me. You’re the boss here.”

“That is not true either Jackson. We are a team and need to work together for a common
goal. I may own the team, but you’re the coach and I can’t try to do your job and have us
win.”

He had to smile as she was very perceptive and knew how this had to work. “You did
your part very well boss. So I had no problem at all with what you did today. Now you go
find something else to get into and I’ll try to get these ships assigned to patrol areas.”

It took Jackson most of the day to finish his plan. Finally his screen lighted up. “Boss
sorry if I disappointed you.”

“That you did friend and you could have been gone except for Dawn’s actions. I was so
angry that had she not come here and talked with me, I still would have sent you home.
Just so you know your actions said I did not know what I was doing when I came here.”

The man was really shocked as he could see how Jackson got the opinion. “Jason had
asked me to come back and I almost did that.”

“He got his job due to Dawn’s stepping into the fight and telling John he was wrong. So
that cuts you no slack, as he would not hire you either after going after Dawn. What you
have to get over is age is always right. It simply is not true. Dawn at eleven had two
PhD’s and how many at that age did you have? One of her thesis is what I have used to
base this entire fight on.”

Now he got it and slowly he knew just how bad he had been. “How can any child have
that much brains?”

“Given six weeks she could replace you and do a better job with you ship than you could.
She is just that smart and never stops learning.”
This was new ground for him and he had never seen anyone like this before. “I’ll follow
my orders and listen to her and her people boss.”

“Just remember your most likely dead if you don’t. Those are not just words either.”

The man left with a lot to think about. But Jackson had seen a change he hoped was for
the better. Time here would tell he knew.

Each fleet of five ships was assigned a patrol area. Daniel had over all on site command
for these groups. He used the wheel communications that allowed messages between
universes. This ability was new to the captains and seen as very helpful. It allowed the
forty ships to keep in contact where before that was not possible. They normally would
not be where central command could talk with them either.

The early days after the freighter attack were quiet ones. No attacks and complete silence
from the dark side. It was eerie and far from what had been expected. The feeds on an
attack on a freighter had been played to the hilt. Here the media got carried away and
made some comments not called for. That required stopping them and making them
acknowledge their error.

Then some small events started to show up. Just very small issues at first. There seemed
to be followers heading to one universe system. Slowly Jackson followed these feelings
and his ships started to form a larger fleet. He now had forty of his starships in one small
universe. They knew the dark side was there, but not how many or exactly where they
were.
Chapter 24

The Last Act

Dawn was working to find out what was happening and knew that the group of the dark
side was growing. It was getting so bad that the small universe had a coldness to it. Every
knight could feel it as did she.

“Jackson I need you to move your ships out to the edge of the universe close to a gate.
We need to protect our people right now.”

Jackson knew that Dawn ran from nothing so he took this serious. “I will order it at once,
but what are you seeing?”

“Nothing really my friend. But I have a very bad feeling and that is new to me. We have
had no contact with the Creator now in some time. So things are moving on both sides of
this pot. I talked with Gorm and he said the holy woman for that universe has told his
ships to leave. They are not to return for two months.”

That really did sound bad to him as well. “It sounds like the Creators ready to fight the
dark one himself now.”

“That has crossed my mind Jackson. Can you imagine the power that will create in that
small universe? A massive positive and negative charge of energy will be like a bomb
going off. It will disrupt the entire planetary system for many areas. Have you passed this
on to John or Simon?”

“You are the only one other than Gorm I will speak to about it. If the Creator wants them
to know he will tell them. That is not yours or my job. We need to focus on holding all
that power inside that universe.”

Jackson knew he had his marching orders now. “I will work on that until you advise me
of a change. I am pulling the last ten ships and will seal known entry points to that
universe from this side.”

“You do what you feel is needed and I have other fish to fry right now.”

That had to be the oddest conversation he had ever had with Dawn. There were things she
did not want to say and it showed. He passed his orders to the last ten ships and sat back
now. They would be in positions to block soon he knew. But why this universe that made
him look harder.

Jackson now was reading everything he could find on this universe. The small pieces he
was getting showed it might have been the first universe man had come into being and
stared living in.
Dawn knew she could not talk, as she had promised not to. So she just kept busy avoiding
people. Finally Joseph came to see her. “Lets take a ride daughter and see some of your
woods. I have never been back there before.”

The two saddled horses and mounted and headed to the woods. “OK daughter be ready
for an attack. I have no idea where, but it will come soon.”

The rode for about twenty minutes and then a group of dark side followers attacked. It
was a fast fight with each being sent to the dark universe. Between Joseph and Dawn
another fifty two were gone.

“Is this why you came to see me?”

“We were both to be attacked and it was suggested we let them do it together here.
Between the two of us we are a nasty pair for the dark one. We did send on his new
planner and two top leaders today.”

“If that is the best he has he is in deep trouble.”

“He knows that dear and that is why the battle is coming. We need to get back as humans
will attack your city shortly.”

“Dad where did you get all this?”

“James and I may look stupid dear, but we do know our jobs. Jackson has done an
outstanding job in his so far. The knights assigned have passed us great data back and it
has really helped us.”

Once back they dismounted and let the robots handle the horses. At a dead run they
headed for the transport plate and her apartment with Bull following. They did not stop
until they reached the balcony. Dawn hit her warning button and you could see people
running.

Coming out of the ground were poles a good one hundred feet high and guns could be
seen on each walls firing towers. On the mountainside there also were gun emplacements.

“Who did this design work?”

“I put Vortec and Kevin to work designing them. My part was if one ship hit my beautiful
wall I would fry Vortec’s circuits and kick Kevin’s butt off this very balcony.”

Now Joseph was laughing and he love her way of getting their attention on the issue. I
would say you got your point across.”
The small ships came in fast and hard. They were destroyed after hitting a pole or by
gunfire as soon as they leveled off. Now this fight lasted may be fifteen minutes and no
more.

“I have seen more war today that ever before Dawn. You have built this city to survive
any attack. The people were well trained and your leaders were good. So this planet is
yours, the robots and our knights for good. Your mom has given you complete authority
here and it is not in her universe system. Her comment was you are a better fighting
leader than she will ever be.”

“My hope here shortly is we will not need those skills again.”

Joseph looked at Dawn. “Dear that is always going to be needed. In almost every human
is a little of the dark one and some will let that grow. Those humans we will always need
to fight and stop. It should be less than before, but it is still going to be there. Evil will
never completely be killed off. The Creator gave us free choice and we will make those
decisions now without help from the dark one. People will of course blame him for evil
and the Creator for the good. But man will make those choices now.”

She saw her dad was right. “I guess that is the kid in me dad. It seems we should one day
be without evil.”

“When we leave out human bodies that will be true. Until that time we will have to deal
with mans ability to be evil. I have to live with the same rules you do Dawn.”

Now she was laughing at her dad. “OK dad you win that one. I have people to see and
thank and a lot to get done now. Jackson is with drawing his ships to the entry points now
and will have the back side blocked as well.”

“Why is he doing that?”

“Because I ordered it. The holy woman there told Gorm to get his ships out of the
universe and not to come back for two months time. I am going to withdraw when I am
direct to do so. I know the Creator will let me know. Hopefully I will not lose people
when that universe goes explosive.”

That caused Joseph to cock his head and look at her. “What do you mean?”

“If you put that much negative and positive energy in one small universe it is going to
explode at some point when it comes together. Jackson and I think that many planet
systems will be blown to pieces and many more will be changed in their orbits. Debris is
going to be flying everyplace.”

This he had never given any consideration to at all. “You may be right and that needs to
be considered by the Creator. He often does not understand human problems.”
Dawn was off and getting her people together to thank and reward their bravery. She
wanted her people focused here and not out in space. This time was not going to be good
for any human she knew. It was time for a little misdirection right now.

Vortec came to her and knew she was playing a game. “Well lady where do we take
them?”

“Any direction that does not allow them to watch the disaster coming Vortec. Humans are
going to have to over see life for a long time. They are not going to get help or direction.
One day many will question religions and why they exist. We are starting into a dark
period of mans cycle.”

He could see her worry now and knew where it came from. “I was there on the old Earth
and it still worked out. John saved the people and gave them new direction to follow. This
time we are not divided by many religions. So at least we are pointed one direction now.
If it takes twenty thousand years before we hear from the Creator, there will still be
humans to hear it and listen. That for him is just a blink in time. It is how well we direct
those who exist in our time that will decide our fate.”

Such words of wisdom from a robot. She was shocked, but yet she was not. Vortec was as
much human as any one she knew. “Once this happens Vortec where will you need to
go?”

“I am going no place Dawn as this is my home now and forever. That is unless you don’t
want me here?”

She hugged her friend and advisor. “That Vortec will never happen any more than my
rejecting dad. The two of you are what keeps me grounded.”

Jackson now was watching the small universe. Things were chaotic and not like normal
times.

Daniels voice brought him back to reality. “Boss did you see that?”

“See what Daniel?”

“A whole planet just disappeared completely. It did not blow up or anything like that. It
was there and just blinked out of existence.”

There was a game happening now and he had knowledge of the power involved. “Just
keep the ships close to the openings into other universes. We are not smart enough to
understand all of this. But keep feeds running for later study.”

Gorm walked into his office and sat at his desk. “Well to what do I owe this visit?”

Have you seen your solar system lately?”

“No I have been watching where our ships are.” He flipped the screen to the view of this
system. It showed may be thirty six large suns and right now three planets.

“Where am I looking at?”

“In twenty four hours each sun will have one or more planets. Your fleet will be here and
out there. That will be powered very differently from now. All planets with humans in the
other universe will be here and Dawn will rule this new universe. Joseph must make a
choice of being here or with his wife and child. But the knight’s wheel will be here with
James and Edgar to help Dawn. Their wives are coming as well.”

Now Jackson was really confused. “What is happening Gorm? How are you here with
these changes?”

“To be honest Jackson I am not really here at all. My image is and it is here to explain
what is happening. This is being set up as the human control point for the future. Your
mans heaven and will pass down verdicts for actions taken by humans. You will carry
those out. Man will never see the light or hear the Creator’s voice again. Once he
recovers Dawn will hear him, as will a few others she wishes to. If humans turn to evil in
any universe she will destroy that universe completely. There will be many tools she has
available to her to try to change that direction. But you Jackson have become the hammer
of the Creator.” The image vanished and he was just sitting there now.

What hole had he fallen into where this insanity existed?

“Boss another one just blinked out here.”

“Don’t worry about it Daniel as I now know what is happening. There is a larger plan
here and it is taking shape now. Just have faith and watch this happen. But you will be
here very soon and by no power of yours.”

Jackson sat back and considered his situation. He knew this was going to be something he
needed time to work out. But there was no way to change the outcome and he just needed
to wait and see.

Life in the known universes was going to change greatly. Now did he need to bring Dawn
up to speed?

“I see the same confusion on your face as I feel Jackson. It seems our new lives have
been planned for us and we were never asked about that.”

“Why should he ask something he created to do what he wishes?”

She considered this and saw his logic. “Your right and he dose not consider feelings.”
“We have suns here now and planets with humans being moved. Every planet with
humans living there is being sent here. This is no longer your mothers old universe and
you rule here now Dawn.”

“I have had dreams of this new world and what is expected of me. At first I did not
believe it and then did not want to believe it. But it is here now and we have no choice
but to work within it.”

Jackson saw sadness in Dawn’s face he had never seen before. “Why are you feeling so
sad?”

“I lose dad, mom and sister with this change. It is like they are dead now. People I liked I
can no longer talk with. Other than a few like you, Kevin and Vortec I don’t have friends.
So now I must rebuild it all as you must. Forcing this without anyone’s consent has made
me very angry Jackson.”

He could see her feelings were hurt badly. “I am sure he will listen after this is all over
Dawn.”

“He should have come before planning this and listened to us. He wants love and respect
from people he shows none for.” She was really angry now. “I am going to look for a way
to leave Jackson, so let me know if you find a way please?”

The ball of light she had seen often came into the room. “Please don’t leave child. All
humans need you now.”

“If that was so you should have come and discussed it with me before now. I want
nothing to do with any of this.”

“I have saved every ounce of power I could draw to have this fight. If you noticed I
talked with no one for some time now to conserve power. Now I have two choices and
they are to take all universes with me at once or take the one where my enemy is. If I take
all, the human life experiment ends. If I leave it then someone must take control and over
see it, as I don’t have that ability. That has been proven by my many errors with the
human race. It is your choice and it must be made now.”

“There is no choice as I will never condemn man to extinction.”

“So be it and please reserve your judgment until later. Things will become clear to you at
that time.” The light blinked out.

“Did that happen often to you?”

“More than I could tell you. I never got used to it.”

“I heard sadness in his voice while talking with you.”

Jackson saw now that there were forty three planets now circling stars and his fleet was in
the universe. He turned to the satellites in the small universe and saw the light growing
bright. It got so bright that you could see nothing but pure white in the screen. Then the
screen went black.

“What was that Jackson?”

“It was the end of that universe Dawn. The people are right now out there in our universe.
My entire fleet is there as well.”

Edgar and James walked into the office. “I have no idea where we are, but I am glad to be
here. The light here is so nice and warm. We were told there are twenty planets for
humans to develop and live on. The ones with life have few humans on them. But here no
evil lives and nor could it survive.” Edgar had now brought Dawn up to date.

“There is much to learn Edgar and we will have to do that slowly. Life is going to be very
different here for us.”