Creation's Guardian Ch. 12

Amanda walked away and sat on the shore next to Tamar gently rubbing Tamar's back as Nicole stood in front of Lyssa. "Don't worry, Lyssa. I'm not gonna just stand here and tear you a new asshole. My name's Nicole. Heaven knows I've made more than my fair share of mistakes. Some of them were real biggies so I can understand that sometimes shit just happens when we least expect it.

See that big lug over there? He may be Creation's Guardian, but he's also kind, and gentle, and yet he's the strongest man I've ever known. Like most great warriors, he hates war. To him, war is never an imperative but is sometimes a necessary evil to achieve the greater good. I don't know what the greater good is in this particular situation. But I trust him and I love him with every fiber of my being. Every woman on this beach feels the same way.

When you abducted Tamar and the others this morning, you hurt him. That's the part we all find unforgivable, the pain he felt when they went missing. Seeing and feeling his anguish and his worry really hit me especially hard. He gave me hope when I had none. My soul was in a very dark place and my despair was so deep that I was ready to end my life. The Guardian took all of that away. He rescued my soul and gave me back a life worth living again. Just as I would give my life for him, so too would every other woman here. The reverse is also true. He would give his life for any and all of us. We all know that without a doubt. You've stirred up quite a hornet's nest here. I'd advise you to tread very carefully if you want your empire to have any hope of surviving."

"Nicole, when you've finished with those two bitches, send them over here. The Guardian wants to talk to them," Cassandra called out.

"I've said all I need to, my queen," Nicole replied. She looked at Lyssa and Jacobia and said, "You'd better go. The last thing you want to do is to keep HIM waiting. Remember what I said, tread carefully."

Lyssa and Jacobia walked over to the picnic table where Bob, Cassandra, and Aphrodite were sitting. Bob pointed to the bench opposite him and said, "Have a seat you two." Once they were seated he continued, "Don't worry, you'll both get to meet the rest of the Atlantians and their families before the day is over. Your judges have asked that the Atlantian Empire be given a chance to prove themselves worthy of their continued existence. All three judges are also uncomfortable asking for your execution. Therefor it's been decided that the two of you will end this day one of two ways. You'll either be restored to your former positions or you'll remain here as sisters to the Atlantians and servants to myself. Because of that fact, it's only fair that you be allowed to see and hear everything that transpires as your empire is tested."

*****

Lyssa and Jacobia watched in shock as Bob created a 3D holograph of Lyssa's situation room. Sue, Kendra, and Amy were sitting at a long table with several of their aides.

"How in the hell did this happen," Sue inquired. "We're supposed to be Lyssa's guardian's for heaven's sake. I know she's not dead. I can still feel her life force. I just can't locate her position. What the fuck? It's like we're being blocked." She turned to a fleet officer and asked, "What's the latest report from the Vicious?"

"Her captain reports that he's been within scanning range of the McCadia Cluster for the last twenty minutes. He's not picking up any signs of the Seeker. Though he's still two hours away from her last confirmed position. If she's disabled in that cluster, she could be very difficult to detect at anything more than extremely short range," the aide replied.

"Lain, what about your link to Lyssa? Are you getting anything from her through that," Amy asked.

"No, nothing. If she were dead or incapacitated in some way, I'd at least get static or some kind of background noise. All I'm getting is silence. I think Lyssa's been taken prisoner and the link's being jammed."

"You're probably right Lain," Kendra replied. "I think this has something to do with the twelve women Lyssa ordered Jacobia to arrest this morning. Can you play the recordings of Lyssa's conversations with Jacobia for us?"

After Lain finished playing the recordings, Sue shook her head and groaned. "What the fuck? Who is this Guardian of Creation? Why didn't Lyssa tell us about him before she ported out of here? At least we know she made it to the Seeker. The question is, what do we do now? I suggest we declare her missing or captured. We put everyone on high alert and send every ship we can spare out to find her. I realize it's a big fucking galaxy, but we've got to start somewhere."

Suddenly communicators were going off all around the room as a huge red digital display appeared over the main viewscreen and began to count down from thirty minutes. The fleet officer spoke first. "Minister, every reactor on every ship including the Vicious has somehow been taken offline. The fuel rods are locked in place and the antimatter injectors are jammed open. They'll all go critical in twenty nine minutes. The engineers can't jettison the reactors. The shuttles and escape pods are also all offline. "

Another aide spoke up, "It's the same thing with the planetary reactors both here and on New Cronus. They'll all go off at about the same time. If we don't find a way to stop them from exploding, it'll be an extinction level event. The engineers at the plants say they've never seen anything like this before. Every safety protocol has been overridden and there's no way to shut the reactors down. We even had the staff psychics try psionic intervention to no avail"

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! What a time for Lyssa to be M.I.A. I have no fucking clue what to do in this situation," Sue said.

Bob's voice came through the overhead speakers. "Well ladies, it seems like you have a small problem on your hands. I'm Creation's Guardian. I'll be there in a minute or so to explain to you how to solve it. I would suggest that everyone keep their weapons holstered while I'm there. The disruptor beams would only be reflected back at the user and I'd rather not kill anyone unless I have to." He gave Cassandra a kiss and said, "Okay Sweetie, you can drop the defensive shields around Neuveia. These people aren't much of a threat to us. I won't be gone long. In the meantime, keep those two entertained with your stories."

A few seconds later Bob appeared in Lyssa's situation room. One of the aides stood with his disruptor in his hand as Sue yelled, "STAND DOWN! DAMMIT, I SAID STAND DOWN!" The aide fired anyway and the disruptor beam reflected back at him off of Bob's defensive shield killing the aide. Sue stood with her fists clenched on the table and said, "Let that be a lesson to the rest of you! When I say stand down, you fucking stand down!" She looked at Bob and said, "I apologize, Mr. Guardian. That action was taken without my knowledge or consent. You said you could help us. I really hope so because I'm at my whit's end here."

"Oh I can help you all right," Bob replied. He glanced at the countdown and said, "You have twenty three minutes left so there's still a little time yet. First off let me say that your queen and her however many greats granddaughter are safe. They're currently on my home planet Neuveia and are being held as prisoners of war. I'm the one responsible for your reactors not playing nice for you. I started the process and I can just as easily end it by returning them to their normal state. All you have to do is agree to an unconditional surrender.

When Lyssa ordered those arrests this morning, she actually kidnapped five of my government officials and their families. Since then a state of war has existed between the Atlantian Empire and the Neuveian Federation. Your surrender will end the war and return things to normal. Fail to surrender and...Well I'm sure Lyssa will miss all of you."

Sue nodded her head, sighed deeply then said, "Okay, now all of this makes sense. I don't suppose it would be possible to talk to Lyssa before we make any decision?"

Bob smiled and said, "I don't see why not. Just remember, time is short. You only have nineteen minutes left." he waved his hand and Lyssa appeared on the viewscreen. "Go ahead, she can hear you, Sue."

"Lyssa! Thank heavens! Are you all right? Hey where the hell are your clothes?"

"I'm fine, Sue. But you're running out of time. The empire's about to be blown to bits and you're worried about my modesty? Forget about me for now. You know the protocol. I can't help you with this decision. It has to be made by the three of you. You've got eighteen minutes left, do your damn jobs!"

Sue looked at Amy and Kendra. "Lyssa's right. We're running out of time. We don't have any other options. I say we surrender."

"Having an empire doesn't do us any good if we're all dead," Amy replied. "I agree, surrender."

Kendra nodded her head, "I concur. Let's get this over with.

Sue hit a button on the console in front of her. "COMMS, tie me in to the Emergency Broadcasting System empire wide." when a yellow light flashed on the console Sue said, "My fellow Atlantians. As you know reactors all over the empire are going critical. It's the same with every reactor on every ship in our fleet. In just under twelve minutes, they're all gonna explode extinguishing all life and destroying everything we've all worked so hard to achieve. The only way to stave off this disaster is for us to surrender unconditionally to the Neuveian Federation. Therefore every Atlantian citizen will be under the jurisdiction of the President of the Neuveian Federation or her authorized representative." Sue looked at Bob and said, "The Empire is yours, Sir."

Once again communicators were going off left and right. The fleet officer looked at Sue in shock and said, "All ships are reporting their reactor status as nominal!"

"All planetary reactors are operating within normal limits as well, Minister," another aide said in amazement.

Sue looked at Bob and said, "Thank you, Guardian. What happens now?"

"You're welcome, Sue. Now? I head home. I have a chat with Lyssa then I send her and the rest of your people back here. Nothing changes. Lyssa's still your queen. The surrender was only a formality to prevent unnecessary bloodshed. My condolences for the one death that did occur."

Sue shook her head and laughed softly. "You're something special, Guardian. I sincerely hope we can become friends."

"Call me Bob and we are friends, Sue. Who knows, by the time Lyssa returns we may even be allies and exchange ambassadors." With a wave of his hand, Bob was gone.

When he returned to the beach Bob wasn't surprised to see Lyssa and Jacobia talking to Cassandra and Aphrodite like they were old friends. Once he sat down he said, "Lyssa, Jacobia, it feels really good to finally be able to say welcome to New Atlantis ladies. This planet is Neuveia. It's exactly like Earth was six thousand years ago. This continent is in exactly the same location and is the same size and shape as the original Atlantis. To the north west of us is Tranquility City, the seat of the Neuveian Federation government."

He created a star map of the galaxy. "Down over here is the planet you know as Earth. I've renamed it Cailin in honor of my brightest star. These two are your New Atlantia and New Cronus. Up here in this third spiral arm is where we are right now. You'll notice that there are five other stars close by. Each of them is home to another planet in the Neuveian Federation. A while back I was tasked by The Maker of All Things," Bob held up a hand, "I know, I know, you don't believe in her. That doesn't matter though, because SHE obviously believes in you. Anyway, she wanted me to stop all the bloodshed and bring peace and prosperity to the people of what I now call Cailin.

The Neuveian Federation was Cailin's brainchild. We divided the population up between Cailin and these five planets with a small contingent here on Neuveia to act as a central government. For the most part we've been successful. We've eliminated nuclear weapons, made war, violence, and crime impossible. Illnesses and diseases no longer exist. Everybody's equal now. They all started with the same things. Everyone has the chance to go as far as their talents will take them. That's not to say we don't have our fair share of naysayers, we do. It's just that right now, they have to behave themselves because they don't have the power to do anything about it." Bob chuckled softly then continued to explain everything that had happened up to that point to Lyssa and Jacobia.

When Bob finished talking Lyssa said, "Well I guess that explains the nudity. It seems you've had one hell of a bumpy ride too. You've managed to accomplish quite a bit in a very short time. According to that star map the planet we're on is at the far end of what my people call the Gamma Quadrant. That's gotta be around a hundred thousand light years from the planet you now call Cailin. You don't seem to have any interstellar capabilities. How in heaven's name are you able to maintain a stable government over that great a distance?"

"I've established portals that allow instantaneous travel between every planet in the federation," Bob replied.

"That's the most amazing thing I've ever heard," Lyssa said. She thought for a moment then continued, "I heard what you said to Sue about exchanging Ambassadors. I really think it's a great idea. Would it be possible to place portals on New Atlantia and Neuveia for the diplomatic staff to use?"

"That would be easy enough. But for now I'd suggest one portal to a side and secured on embassy grounds. Once both embassies are fully operational and the diplomats are up to speed, we can talk about opening other portals for trade and tourism if you want."

"Sounds good to me," Lyssa replied. "My palace sits on just over five hundred of your acres so there's plenty of room for your embassy there and it would be totally secure as well. My people could have a building ready for your use in about four months. Do you think you could have a building ready that soon too and how much space would you need for your portal?"

"Actually, I could have both buildings and their portals ready for use in less than an hour if you want and I'd only need about a hundred square feet for the portal. I don't know what you use for a communications system but there's a very narrow channel between time and space that we use for communicating with the various planets in the federation. Like the portals it's instantaneous and allows me to talk with Amanda and her governors in real time. I'd be willing to give you access to that technology if you need it."

Lyssa laughed softly then said, "I forgot who I'm talking to here. If you want to put the buildings up, I'm more than willing to let you have at it. We communicate through a subspace radio system that would take about a hundred years to send a message this far so yeah, I'd love to have access to your communications system."

"That sounds like a plan to me. Why don't you take some time and see if you can get a fresh start with Amanda and her governors. After that we can get the ball rolling on this other stuff."

While Bob was talking to Lyssa, Kadir, Cailin, and Persephone had gathered all the Atlantians and their families together and had them sitting in a series of half circles on the beach about fifty feet away from the picnic table. Lyssa thanked each of them in turn before sitting on the beach herself.

She sat gathering her thoughts for a minute or so then began speaking. "There's so much I want to say to all of you that I hardly know where to begin. I owe each and every one of you an apology and not for just this morning's incident. I take full responsibility for everything that's happened. I should've never let Dr. O'Riley experiment on intelligent beings to begin with. But I did and as the ruler of the Atlantian Empire it was my duty to monitor and follow up on those experiments. That I failed miserably in that duty is abundantly clear to me. If I had done my job properly, I would've known of the existence of your ancestors and I would've done everything in my power to protect them and you from harm.

It breaks my heart that you and your ancestors suffered so much because of my incompetence. I can't change what's already happened. But I can assure you that these things can never happen again. Right after I was informed that the experiment failed, I enacted laws forbidding any interference with the normal development of any intelligent species." Lyssa proceeded to tell them everything that happened from the end of the war with the Groms to the present day. She continued with, "I know you're not my subjects but I'd like to consider all of you as long lost sisters if I may. You're also welcome to visit the Atlantian Empire whenever you choose." Lyssa stood and began brushing the sand off of her legs.

Amanda stood and after looking around and getting slight nods from everyone, she turned to Lyssa and said, "Well considering the circumstances, we don't think any one of us would've acted any differently. So I guess that means you're off the hook with us too. We also share the same DNA so considering each other long lost sisters isn't unreasonable either. Every one of us would love to visit the empire, but right now all of us have too much on our plates and none of us has the time to spare. On top of all that, as you can see, we're all very pregnant. We're all carrying twin girls and we're all due to deliver in a couple of months. However, the first chance we get, we'd all love to take you up on your offer to visit your empire."

Amanda pulled a surprised Lyssa in for a hug while giving her a kiss on the cheek. She stepped back taking Lyssa's hand and said, "Come on. Let's get back to the picnic table. We've still got an alliance to forge yet."

TO BE CONTINUED...

As always, your comments are welcome and appreciated! They help me become a better writer. Also your vote is my only reward so thanks in advance! Bob54z