Keesha and I were married in a small chapel in the mountains, with only our closest relatives in attendance. The two friends that she grew up with and graduated high school and college with were her bridesmaids and my brother was my best man. We had our reception in a beautiful mountain lodge with huge picture windows overlooking a beautiful valley and high misty mountains beyond. The day was exactly what we wanted. A quiet, relaxing, intimate day shared with our family and friends while pledging our love, lives, hopes, and dreams to each other. It was a perfect day that went flawlessly smooth.
At the end of the day, we retired to our honeymoon cabin and consummated our union, over and over. Suffice it to say, we had a great time. Poor little Keesha slept until noon afterwards but awoke happy, and then started repeating her new name over and over in varying combinations. “Keesha Riley” “Mrs. Keesha Riley” “Mrs. David Riley.” She was so cute. Then with surprise in her voice, “Oh no, I almost forgot.” She leapt off the bed into my arms and with glee said, “Good morning, I almost forgot our morning hug.” I didn’t have the heart to remind her that it was already after noon and no longer morning. Who cares anyway, it’s the thought that counts.
As the weeks cascaded to months, we continued our life together, now as husband and wife, it seemed as if all was right with the world. For a change, there was very little squabbling between nations. All literally was right with the world. We were in one of those brief lulls of history when war was not being waged anywhere. I doubt that it was because of my marriage, but it did make a nice wedding gift for us. Hopefully, the peace will last, but if you’re a student of history, you know that peace is short lived.
We are a very territorial, savage species that rarely works in harmony with our human neighbors or the other species of our planet. We take and only give back in small gestures to ease our conscience. Our true and only saving grace as a species is that we do have a conscience. We at least try to care, and with our intellect and technology we try to help. We are noble creatures, and the expressions of our nobility through music, art, and literature rivals that of any species on any world in the known universe. So, we can be amazing and wonderful at times, but that savage that we carry within us is ever present, subdued only by our intellect and conscience.
Keesha and I were now (in our mannerisms) an old married couple. We live to love, please and cherish each other. We have made it a habit to cuddle up in my lounge chair almost every night to watch the news before going to bed. Tonight, was no exception. Cuddled up on my lap watching the end of a movie before changing the channel to the news, Keesha became restless. “What’s wrong?” She said nothing and then smiled a mischievous smile, turned and kissed me with passion and longing. She kissed me again, this time with more passion as my heart raced. Keesha turned over onto my chest and continued to kiss me deeply and passionately. I cuddled her up with my arms around her and held her tight against my body. With her head on my chest and my arms around her, we lay almost motionless for several minutes, just enjoying being that close to each other and that much in love. She kissed me gently, and then turned around and lay back onto my chest, with my arms wrapped lovingly around her. I gently kissed her neck, then picked up the remote and flipped the channel to the news.
Keesha smiled and giggled when I turned on the news, and I hugged her close and kissed her neck again. Then we saw it! The news anchors were frantic, their faces and voices filled with fear. Puzzled by what I was seeing I said, “What the hell….” Keesha whispered softly, “David…” As we watched in horror, they told us what was happening. China was being invaded; our world was being invaded by alien beings that were killing indiscriminately. Most of the major cities in China were destroyed and the invaders were sweeping through the provinces killing everyone. As soon as they played the video of the unbridled carnage, I knew who they were. Sway’s armada, now led by a ruthless warlord King Ponzac XII, had found and invaded my world and was attacking and killing my people. He didn’t know what happened to Sway and was 13 generations removed from Sways rule. Sway was a mere legend to Ponzac, almost forgotten. His family had ruled a large section of the Milky Way for centuries and now he wanted to add our planet to his realm.
I sat up on the edge of my chair and turned Keesha sideways in my lap. “Precious, there’s something I have to tell you, something I’ve been keeping from you.” With the horror of what she had seen on the news still in her face, “Oh no…what?” Then as she listened with wonder, I quickly told her the whole story. Without questioning a word I said, as if she knew all along, she said, “You have to do something…what can I do to help?”
Keesha was a brilliant, astute young woman and even though she had no idea of the power I possessed; she did know me. She trusted my truth, honesty, integrity, and honor. I said, “Precious, the only safe spot on earth is within the ship I created. I need you to pack an overnight bag for yourself.” “But David…what about you?” “I’m going to get you to safety, and then go kick some heads in.” Keesha’s eyes grew wide, “David…” “I’ll be okay Keesha, I promise. Let’s go get ready.”
We rushed upstairs and Keesha started laying out cloths on the bed. I pulled an overnight bag from the closet for her and got dressed. She was packed and we were both dressed in under 15 minutes. I grabbed a flashlight and walked her down the hill behind our home to the entrance to the cavern. We entered and she was awestruck. By now, both as my housekeeper and my wife we had been together for over three years and she had no idea that any of this stuff was out here. She looked around with the bright-eyed fascination of a child and instantly started asking a veritable barrage of questions. “I’m sorry sweetheart; I just don’t have the time to answer everything. I’ll show you everything and explain it all to you as soon as I get back.” She hugged me and timidly said, “Okay.”
I looked into her eyes and told her that the only safe place on Earth was in my ship, and made her promise to stay inside no matter what. She agreed and we entered my ship. “Pegasus is fully equipped and the controls are set so that you can’t hurt anything, so feel free to explore.” I cuddled her up in my arms and held her for a minute or so, then kissed her deeply. As we looked into each other’s eyes I said, “Stay put, and stay safe, I’ll see you in a little while.” “I love you!” She replied. As I turned to leave, “I love you too precious!” I ran down the stairs and (with my remote) closed the door to Pegasus behind me.
Over the past few years, the power of my mind continued to grow and I saw no sign of it slowing down. It was like this power imparted by the amulet was meant for a human’s physiology. As I discovered and experimented with the power I possessed, I discovered the ability to fold space/time. For an instant, I could simultaneously exist in two locations at once. I could literally think myself from one place to another. Sway and Jamook used the transporter or shuttle on the ship created by the Mirrioda. I had no need of a transporter or a shuttle. I could transport myself anywhere by the sheer force of my will. I hadn’t tried to transport off world but had learned to easily move around on Earth. So, I transported myself to China to evaluate the situation and with the clumsiness of a kid playing with a complicated new toy; I landed right in the middle of an alien army and was instantaneously assailed.
Reminiscent of the whirling blades of a food processor, I immediately retaliated. I slaughtered hundreds in less than a minute with my bare hands. Then they turned and ran. Realizing my tactical error, I grabbed one of the fleeing creatures and in his native language, began tortuously questioning him. After several minutes it verbally spilled its guts, and then I literally spilled its guts with its own curved knife-like weapon. I now knew the location of their fleet and their command ship. I then transported myself to the command ship, again very clumsily. I would like to have made a dramatic entrance, on the command bridge, but instead ended up appearing in their chow hall. This time as they attacked, I released a narrow beam of power like a paper-thin doughnut emanating in all directions around me. The invisible beam sliced through them like a high-powered laser beam through butter. Those standing were sliced a-midriff and those that remained sitting were decapitated, their wounds instantly cauterized. I walked over to a diagram of the ship on the bulkhead and finding the bridge I transported myself there.
King Ponzac was an imposing figure, bipedal with two arms like us, but he was over 8 feet tall, stocky and muscular with yellow/green smooth reptilian skin. He had a mouth full of sharp crocodile-like teeth in an elongated snout and above the snout two large black glassy, lifeless-looking eyes. His clothes were Spartan and made of thick shiny black cloth without adornment. The only adornment he did wear was an amulet that looked exactly like mine, but was much larger and made of fine gold with a large palm sized shimmering black opal in its center. It looks like Sway was remembered, and the amulet still elicited fear and reverence as a symbol of power.
Ponzac whipped around after I appeared and immediately raised his arms and emitted a short gruff grunt that stopped his bridge crew from attacking. He stared at me for a moment then noticed my amulet. I didn’t usually wear it, but I slipped it on for some inexplicable reason as I was getting dressed. He pointed at it and in a gruff hissing voice said, “Where did you get that, and who are you?” He appeared to realize that it was the original amulet, but I wasn’t sure. “I’m King David, master of the universe, guardian of Earth.” “This amulet was given to me by Jamook, who acquired it from Sway of the Mirrioda.” He shouted at me, “Sway is a legend, a myth; mine is the amulet of power!”
He reached out for my amulet and I grabbed his wrist. He felt the power of my arm and in anger raised his other arm and struck down at me. Still holding his wrist, I ducked under the blow flipping him head over heels to the deck. He sat up facing away from me. I grabbed his shoulder with my left hand, and then with my right plunged my fingers deep into his skull. Then grasped his snout with my left hand and with a twisting tug, yanked his head off. I raised his head up and slowly turned, giving a 360-degree view of Ponzac’s severed head still dripping thick almost black, dark red blood. The bridge crew dropped to their knees, begging for mercy from their new ruler.
I let Ponzac’s head slip from my fingers, bounce, and roll around on the deck. I paused briefly then reached down and picked up the imposing amulet that once adorned King Ponzac. If I were to try to wear it, it would look more like a breast plate than an amulet. It was huge, about 12 inches across and about an inch thick. It’s worth a fortune, and now it’s mine. I’ll give it to Keesha as a little gift when I get home.
“Who is the second in command here?” I shouted. A tentative voice from another of these imposing creatures uttered submissively, “I am.” I ordered him to stop the attacks on Earth and recall his ships and troops. He without delay started barking orders to the crew with authority and confidence that instantly became submissive when speaking to me. The word was sent out, but in the time it took for me to slaughter the hundreds of alien soldiers in China, find my way to the ship, wreck the meal of a few of the crew members and dispatch King Ponzac, the second and third wave of the attack had commenced. Australia and the nations of the Pacific Ocean were under attack, as was the Western half of North America. The ships of the armada were softening up the area with savage air strikes prior to landing their troops.
“Stop the attacks, NOW!” I shouted. “My King, many of the ship commanders refuse to believe that Ponzac is dead. They won’t listen.” “Show them to me,” I said. He took me to a holographic display that displayed the position of each ship. I instructed him to alter the color of the ships that would not discontinue their attacks. It took several minutes for him to comply and then said, “It is done, my King. Those displayed in blue have discontinued their attacks, while those in red continue their attacks.” I stared at the display and noticed that the air strikes had almost reached America’s eastern seaboard. “Keesha…no, she’s okay, she’s in my ship, and nothing can hurt her there.” I refocused my concentration on the task at hand and after a few seconds of focused thought, with a mere thought, I crushed the hulls of all the ships displayed in red. The other ships quickly retreated out of the Earth’s atmosphere and then quickly pledged their abiding loyalty.
I ordered the commanders of all the ships to attend a meeting on the command ship, and as they began to assemble, I transported myself back to Earth to check on Keesha. Our home and the cavern were intact, as was the surrounding countryside. I went into the house and got a quick shower and changed. Then I entered the cavern and found everything as I had left it. With the remote, I opened the door of the ship and walked up the stairs. “Keesha…It’s just me, everything is okay.” “David!” She shouted with glee as she emerged from one of the back rooms. “Are you okay?” She said as she jumped up into my arms. “Sweetheart, I’m the invincible master of the universe, of course I’m okay.” She smiled giggled and said, “I’m so glad you’re back.” Then I proceeded to explain what happened.
I censored it of course; she didn’t need to hear how savage I was during the defense of Earth, she only needed to know that it was over. I reached into a sack that I was carrying and showed her the gold and opal copy of my amulet. A crew member from the ship cleaned the blood off of it for me. “Oh my Gosh…! Is that real gold.” “Yep, and it’s my gift to you.”
She reached out to take it from my hand, but it was much too heavy so I sat it on a table so she could look at it. “I have a meeting on the command ship that I have to attend. I want you to stay here until I get back. It’s still not safe to leave Pegasus yet,” I said. “But I need to call my Mom and make sure she’s okay.” She said pouting. “The surrounding area wasn’t hit, so I’m sure she’s okay. We’ll go check on her when I’m through with my meeting.” She reluctantly agreed and hugged and kissed me goodbye. As I left, I turned and said jokingly, “I shall return soon Queen Keesha…my Queen of the universe.” Her jaw dropped open, then she smiled with a little smirk as we both waved goodbye.
I transported myself much more accurately this time, arriving at the back of the meeting hall were most of the ship commanders had already assembled. I walked to the front of the room and looked over the crowd, my arms folded across my chest. “Is everyone here?” A feminine voice from the left side of the room chimed in, “We are still waiting for two commanders. They are docking now and should be here monetarily.” “Who are you?” I questioned. “I am Communications Officer Kindra Mattraya.” “You are not Zet, and I’ve never seen your species. Why are you on a Zet ship and what is the name of your species?”
She answered (in almost perfect English), “I am Tetrite of the planet Tetra. The Zet force my people to help them because of our language skills. We can master almost any language in a very short period of time.” I nodded my head in acknowledgment, as the last two ship commanders entered the room. I paused briefly and surveyed the room. I noticed that there were 2 additional species on the vessel also subservient to the Zet. It was then I realized that by crushing those other ships I had inadvertently killed beings that didn’t warrant it. I briefly dipped my head in sorrow then looked up.
In the native tongue of the Zet Empire, I addressed everyone in the room.
“I am King David, master of the universe, guardian of Earth, and usurper of the Zet Empire. You will listen and obey. I am the possessor of the amulet and the power of King Sway of the Mirrioda, the founder of your Zet Empire. Again, you will listen and obey. All violent hostility must stop. From now on the Zet Empire will stop its expansion and establish peaceful relations with the worlds in and around its boarders. Those species that were subjugated under your rule will be freed; if they wish to continue their relationship with the Empire they may do so as equals. Any violation of this edict will result in severe and grave punishment. You will also pay reparations and provide assistance to my world. You will help rebuild what you have destroyed!”
While presenting my edict, I heard dissenting murmurs in the crowd. They were too used to being masters of all they surveyed. I stood for several moments looking through the crowd until the murmurs stopped and there was again silence. I glanced over at Comm. Officer Mattraya and saw a pensive smile on her face. Then quickly looked back into the crowd and said, “Does anyone have any complaints or comments about my commandments.” Everyone sat silent, but I could sense their displeasure, even though I couldn’t see it in their expressionless reptilian faces. I appointed one of their best engineers as temporary Fleet Commander to oversee the reparations and rebuilding of what they had destroyed. I ordered them to carry out my commands and then acquired a communication device, so they could contact me if they had any questions. Finally, I could return home.
