Keeper and the Planters part 2

Copyright (c) 2020 by Randall R. Peterson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This is a work of fiction. All persons, locations and actions are from the author's imagination or have been used in a fictitious manner.

Keeper and the

 PLANTERS

Part 2

By R. Peterson

“Planters!” Jeff Bland gasped.

A hologram above the control level of the spaceship showed a seemingly endless wave of moon sized and larger spheres appearing over the horizon at the far edges of the known universe.

“I think you’re right,” Keeper said. “I believe what we are seeing is perhaps only the first wave of the legendary Sadinimo never before seen with humanoid eyes. I don’t recall ever witnessing an armada of this size and numbers.”

“Four-hundred nineteen thousand vessels,” Teuth injected as he moved his tentacles with great dexterity through beams of colored lights rising from the Centurion’s systems control panel. “Eighty-four light years away and approaching at a greatly magnified reverse light speed.”

“Is that an estimate?” Jeff was curious. The ship’s land-adapted cephalopod navigator was notorious for giving exact figures even with numbers approaching infinity.

“No,” Teuth told him. “I’ve counted the approaching objects with three different universal positioning scans and come up with those exact numbers.”

“Curious,” Keeper said. “The quantity four nineteen appears throughout history, on countless planetary systems, as a number of great implications. Science has yet to understand the significance of this numerological anomaly.”

“Six-hundred forty-three thousand, eight hundred and seventy two planets,” Teuth said.

“Back on Earth we always thought of the number thirteen and the number four nineteen as a bad luck … satanic,” Jeff said. “There were no thirteenth floors in hotels … and no room numbers four nineteen.”

“How long before we make contact?” Keeper asked.

“At their current velocity I would estimate three hours, twenty six minutes and fourteen seconds,” Teuth said.

“Estimate?” Jeff raised an eyebrow and grinned when he looked at the octopus-like creature operating the ship’s controls.

“The Sadinimo, if that’s what they are, appear to be increasing their speed exponentially. The rapid increase in velocity makes exact calculations very difficult.” Teuth didn’t look up but appeared to be absorbed in gathering data. His tentacles were moving so fast through the colored beams of light they looked like a blur. “Long range life scans have determined that one-thousand three-hundred and eighty-nine planets at the edge of the universe have just been stripped of all life forms.

“Plants or people?” Jeff gasped.

“Everything … all life forms including bacteriological,” Teuth said.

“Get us out of their path Teuth,” Keeper ordered. He turned to Jeff. “Wake up all members of the crew and have them prepare for maximum reverse light speed without hibernation. And have our organic science officer report to the control level as soon as possible.”

“Leika!” Jeff moaned as he hurried toward the ship’s inter-level transporter, “and I’m the one who has to wake the witch up!”

-------2-------

            First Officer Jeff Bland drained the hibernation fluid from the sleeping chamber and then opened the sealed cover. The organic science officer looked disheveled. The barbed quills that replaced hair on humans lay limp and tangled. She moaned softly and twisted as if caught in some otherworldly dream. He was glad her eyes were still closed. It was anyone’s guess what color they would be when she opened them. Porosities females had changeable eye color that covered the entire light spectrum and beyond. The eye color reflected their moods and was accompanied by an almost hypnotic ability to make male humanoid species fall hopelessly in love with them. Leika was dangerous and had both a sadistic and enamored personality when it came to matters of the heart.

Of the male crew members, only Keeper was immune to Leika’s exotic and irresistible charms. But then the ship’s captain was not humanoid. He belonged to a rare and mystical species from the opposite side of the universe called the Eyd that had evolved over eons away from any type of physical form. Teuth referred to him as a living hologram. Jeff thought the Centurion’s captain most resembled a spirit … or a god. The captain’s appearance as a humanoid was nothing more than an illusion. The space where his feet should have been was ever-changing multicolored flames … much like Leika’s eyes.

Leika’s lips moved and she murmured something. Jeff leaned closer to hear her better. Suddenly her eyes opened, as red as an exploding dwarf star and almost as violent. “Get back!” she hissed. Before Jeff could take a step back, he was flung across the room with some type of optic energy. He crashed into a cluster of hibernation fluid filters and crumbled to the floor. “How dare you wake me before my appointed time!”

“It was Keeper’s orders,” Jeff stammered. “The Planters are less than four hours away!”

“I know,” Leika said and Jeff felt his legs weaken. “I’ve been awake for some time, and when I’m awake, I know everything that goes on!”

“Then why did you pretend to be sleeping and then throw me across the room,” Jeff was astonished.

“That was for referring to me as a witch!” Leika glared. “She climbed out of the chamber completely nude and walked toward the sleeping level showers stretching her arms. Her anger seemed to evaporate like a comet that flies too close to a star. She was the most breathtaking and exotic female species that Jeff had ever seen. “Roll in your tongue and bring me some towels!” she smiled. “Make sure they’re clean … and lovingly warm.”

Jeff wanted to run, but instead he went looking for towels and the warming cabinets … like he was her personal slave.

-------3-------

            The Centurion was hurtling through space at reverse light speed squared to the maximum power of nine when Jeff and Leika entered the command level. Most of the ship’s more than ten thousand crew members were already at their duty stations. “It’s about time you woke up, sleepyhead.” Keeper glanced at Leika.

            “Next time send an alarm clock with more on his mind than taking advantage of an unconscious female,” Leika scowled at the ship’s first officer.

            “I never!” Jeff held up his hands in frustration.

            “Maybe that’s your problem,” Leika smirked.

            “I’ve bought us a little time,” Teuth said, “but at their current velocity, the Sadinimo fleet will overtake us in three-hours and twenty one minutes.”

            “We need to find a way to get out of their reach,” Keeper thrust his own hands into the light array.

            “I would suggest offering the Planters a life form to see what they do with it,” Leika said.

            “Now, wait a minute!” Jeff stammered. “I know you’re still angry, but this is murder you’re talking about.”

            “Not you fly-paper boy,” Leika laughed. “I would suggest sacrificing something from the gumball machine. Perhaps the Alpineen Sea Snake we captured on NMZ 12?”

Jeff Bland was closest to the strange storage device that Keeper kept exotic animal species in. Each life form was shrunk to marble size, encapsulated along with a critical natural environment and then stored in a device that indeed did resemble a 1950’s Earth gumball machine. “I would suggest a Maronian Saggoplatapus,” he said. “Without reduction, they’re almost as large as this entire ship and we already have too many. They’re extremely fast breeders … I count at least nine.”

Leika turned her head toward a group of mostly male cadets and didn’t say anything.

            “Enlarge one in a self-contained environmental sphere as soon as it’s beyond the ship’s gravitational field,” Keeper said. “We’ll see what these Planters do with the life forms they encounter.”

Jeff shook his head as he watched Leika stroll toward the youthful future officers. There was a mixture of exotic anticipation and sexual excitement in the group … dominated by an understandable fear of loss-of-control. “Better you than me,” he whispered.

-------4-------

More than half the crew watched on the overhead hologram as the first of the Planters approached the encapsulated sea creature. A beam of greenish light suddenly extended from the closest green sphere and turned the Saggoplatapus a vivid orange. A moment later the creature and the capsule it was contained in both disappeared. “Vaporized!” Jeff gasped. “I thought they might at least try to eat it.”

            “That possibility still might exist,” Teuth said. “The particle imprint that is always present in all destructurizations cannot be found on any of our energy scans.”

Jeff gaped. “And that means?”

“The planters obviously transported the creature inside their own ship or to another location,” Teuth said.

“That’s good news,” Keeper said. “At least we know our new friends aren’t outright

killers.”

            “We have other problems,” Teuth said. “Do you want it on the hologram?”

            “Why not,” Keeper said looking about the busy command level. “Why should we keep bad news to ourselves?”

Jeff gasped as the hologram appeared above them. “Are those what I think they are?”

            “Gorwat battle ships coming out to meet the universe’s newest invaders,” Teuth said. “I count more than five thousand … some are obviously cloaked.”

            “We’ll never survive in the middle of this type of war,” Keeper said. “Navigate us into the exact center of the nearest spiral galaxy!”

            “That will put us into a …” Jeff gasped.

            “… Black hole,” Keeper finished. “Don’t worry. I f we survive a rather bumpy ride around the event horizon you’ll have something wild … to tell your children.” Keeper smiled as he saw Leika approaching.

            “If we survive?” Jeff moaned.

TO BE CONTINUED …