"Hi, Caleus," I said, as she came out of the Dove, "It only took you ten minutes to get here."

The blue Dove had appeared 20 feet above the Hawk's hangar deck a few seconds before, and Caleus had landed it next to one of the black Doves.

"Hello, Caleb," Caleus said, grinning, "I was in bed on the apartment deck of the Eagle when we thought-spoke. I had to go to the control deck and jump the Eagle to one of the Vultures here. But I ended up on the inside of the vessel instead of the outside, and it took me a little longer to land the Eagle on the Vulture's hangar deck than I had thought it would, and then I had to go down to get the Dove. Well, anyway, I think I can beat that time."

"To travel 52,000 light years in 10 minutes is fast enough for me," I said, taking her hand in mine, "Let's go up to the apartment and I'll buy you some breakfast. Unless you've already had yours?"

"I've had some coffee," she said, as we stepped through the green column onto the apartment deck, "but I could eat something. What's on the menu this morning?"

We went into the apartment to the right of the conference room and I said, "Anything your taste buds may desire, my fair lady, but don't blame me if the cook burns the toast."

We both laughed as we took some green and gray packets from a cubicle and sat down on a couch in the living room. While we ate we talked about how to train the eight men in the shortest amount of time and still teach them enough so they would be able to train the others.

After a while, we came to an agreeable solution. We would first have all eight men put on the uniforms from the Hawk's apartments, so Micro could begin teaching them the Creator's language, and we could talk to them by thought through the oval necklace. After that, we would take them for a tour of the vessel and teach them what we knew about it. Then we would take them to the control deck and jump the Hawk to an asteroid out in interplanetary space. If, by then, they had learned the Creators language, we would teach them how to use the Hawk's weapons and how to control the vessel.

The physical and mental test the eight people would have to take, when we brought them back to Earth, bothered us because they would have to take off the suits, and they may not get them back. We asked Micro about it, and they told us the suits could not be taken away from the people because each suit, once it has been worn by a person, is like part of that person's body. If anyone tries to take the suit, all the person has to do is think of the suit and the suit will cloth that person's body instantly.

We decided also that the vessels, which we would give Earth and Jade, should not be able to jump more than a light year from the two planets until the evil beings arrived in this galaxy. In that way, we could keep our little lie about the Galactic Republic of Calorn a secret for a while longer.

At 0500 hours, the island's time, I took the blue Dove, which we had placed two black scooters in, out through the side of the Hawk and drove it across the Vulture's hangar deck to the oval entrance. I could see the eight men who stood at the bottom of the wide half mile long ramp that led up from the ground to the hangar deck, so I turned the Dove to my right, drove it down the ramp, stopped it in front of the eight men who were dressed in civilian clothes, and opened the Dove's ramp.

As I stood at the top of the ramp, I motioned to the eight young men to come aboard the Dove, but they didn't move. Then, I spoke to them in the English language and told them they were welcome to come aboard. Four men on the left stepped forward, saluted me, and each said, "Thank you, Captain Caleb, Sir", and walked up the ramp. The other four stepped forward and said something that I didn't understand, saluted and followed the first four up the ramp.

They were all standing stiffly in front of the two scooters, so I told them to be at ease and to please sit in the eight seats behind them, which they did, and I went to the control seats, sat down, turned the Dove around and drove it back up the long ramp into the Vulture.

As I turned toward the Hawk, I heard a commotion behind me and glanced back. One of the scooters was now setting against the back of the control seat on my right and three of the men were paled faced, one man was black so his face wasn't, but all four men's eyes were wide open in surprise and their mouths were agape.

I smiled at them and said, "Everything's all right, gentleman. One of you just touched the steering-power sphere on the scooter. I'll show you how it works after we get into the Hawk," I then drove the Dove through the large white oval in the side of the black Hawk onto the blue hanger deck inside.

Caleus was sitting in the blue scooter waiting for us when I stopped the blue Dove beside the green column and opened the ramp.

I rose from the seat and turned toward the men, and said, "If one of the you men in the seats that have a white ball between them will place their hand on the white ball, I'll show you how to drive the scooters. That's right!" I said to the man in the scooter closest to me that had placed his hand on the sphere, "Now gently roll the ball back and forth and to the right and left. You see how easy it is to move the scooter. Okay, now turn the scooters toward the ramp and drive them out of the craft and, if you want to, drive them around the hangar deck for a while."

The men drove the scooters out of the Dove and I walked out behind them, and then I walked over to the blue scooter where Caleus sat and said, "That will keep them busy for a while I'll bet!"

"Look at them, Caleb!" she said, grinning, "They're acting like little boys with a new toy," Then she looked at me, "I see you have three black men and five white men. Is that the way the population on Earth is divided?"

"I really don't know, Caleus!," I said, "But that's probably about right."

"That sounds like the way it is on Jade," Caleus said

"Well, enough of that. I better round up the boys and get them into the suits," I said, as I walked out and flagged down one of the scooters.

"Go get the other men," I told the young man, "and meet me at the green column."

"Yes Sir, Captain Caleb," the young man in the back seat said, and then he said something, in another language, to the young man who was driving the scooter and that young man saluted me and drove the scooter away.

When all the young men were standing in front of Caleus and I, beside the green column, I introduced Caleus as the Captain of one of the vessels orbiting Earth. Then we took them up to the apartment deck to get them dressed in the suits. After they were dressed in the all black suits, which had white boots, gloves and hoods, we showed them how to use the black oval necklace and let each of them tell us his name by thought-voice. Then we both reintroduced ourselves using the Creators language, which we would speak from then on.

We spent the first hour aboard the Hawk showing the young men where and how to get food and water, how the cleaning-toilet worked, where and how to charge the steering spheres and oval keys for the Doves and scooters, where the Dove's crew members living quarters were, how to open and close the Dove and how to fly the Dove around the hangar deck, which they seemed to enjoy very much.

When we took the men to the control deck, Caleus and I let them all stand behind the control seats and watch while I jumped the Hawk out of the Vulture into deep space and very close to a small asteroid. The same one I had used to find out how the Eagle's weapons operated.

The young men walked around the control deck in awe at what they had seen and where they were now.

"Micro, do they know the Creators language yet?" I thought-said.

"The people will be able to read the language, but they will not be able to speak the language until a short time passes," Micro thought-voiced.

"Caleus, did you hear Micro?" I thought-said.

"Yes, I did, Caleb," she thought-said, "I believe it's time to teach these young men how to control this vessel. Are you ready, Caleb?"

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be," I thought-said.

In 12 hours we had taught the 8 young men all they needed to know about how to control the vessel and the vessel's weapons. What they needed now was time to practice, and they will get plenty of that when they train the next 8 crew members, and the next 8, and the next 8....

Caleus and I explained this to the young men when we called them into the conference room. We also told them that this vessel, the Hawk, and all the black Doves and scooters, were to be turned over to the eight of them, and they were to use the Hawk to train as many people as they needed to crew the vessel, which would be 464 people.

"After you have fully crewed this vessel," I said, looking at each of them as I spoke, "you will train 8 more people to be the ones to train the crew of a larger vessel like the one that now sets on the island."

Caleus spoke up and said, "The weapons you carry and the ones of this vessel can not be used to harm another human. I also want to point out that you are also protected from any harm as long as you wear that uniform. Don't let anyone take it from you! Have any of you noticed that you have also learned our language?"

The young men said they had noticed that they could understand what we were saying, but they had thought it was because of the oval necklace. Then they all started speaking to each other in their new language of the Creators.

"Okay, gentlemen," I said, smiling, "you can talk later. You are now the Captains of this vessel, and you are the first eight members of the Earth Space Force. I know that some of you were told to find out how these vessels were powered, and you were to bring back to your superiors the secrets of this power. You will have to decide on which is more important to you, your nation, or the safety of this world.

"Remember what Caleus told you? No harm can come to you as long as you are wearing the uniform of the Space Force! Not even a small bomb will harm you if you are wearing it. If you do remove the uniform and someone tries to take it from you, all you have to do is think of the uniform and it will return to you instantly."

I turned to Caleus, and said, "Have you anything more to add?"

"Yes, one thing," she said, "When the evil beings arrive in this part of the galaxy, we will expect you to join us in the battle against them. I believe that covers everything, Caleb."

"Okay, Caleus," I said, as I rose from the seat across the large oval table from the young men, "I believe it's time to return to Earth. Caleus and I will take the blue Dove back to the Eagle, and you, Captains, will jump the Hawk back to the island on Earth, but you won't be able to jump it into the vessel there. Take your physical and mental tests, and then you can start enlisting your crew."

There were a few questions from the young men, and then Caleus and I bid them good luck and departed for the hangar deck and the Dove.

"Well, Caleus, that wasn't too hard, was it?" I said, after we jumped the Dove to the Eagle, which set on one of the orbiting Vultures' hangar decks.

"I hope we do as well with the people of Jade," Caleus said, as she landed the Dove on the Eagle's hangar deck beside the green column.

"I don't believe we'll have any trouble with your people either, Caleus," I said, "They're no different than my people!"

"I guess you're right," Caleus said.

"I know I'm right!" I said, "lets go up and jump the Eagle to Jade, and we'll be ready for your people when they call you."

"All right, Caleb," Caleus said, and smiled.

Three days later, Caleus and I told the eight new Captains of the Jade Space Force good luck and then we left them to go back to the Eagle. Everything had gone as smoothly as it had with the people of Earth, and now all we had to do was lay back and wait for the two planets to crew the vessels. Until then, we could not go to the private place, in the library on the Creators home planet, and learn all the knowledge that the Creator's had accumulated in their life times. And, we thought, the evil beings would not bother us for many years.

Caleus and I were asleep, in separate beds, in our apartment aboard the Eagle when Micro woke us with their thought-voice:

"Caleb, Caleus, there is an alien vessel entering this galaxy! We believe it is one of the vessels belonging to the evil beings."

"They're here already!" Caleus said and jumped out of her bed.

"How long do we have before the vessel reaches here?" I asked Micro and stood up beside my bed.

"At its present rate of speed," Micro said, "the vessel will be in this system of planets in less than eight hours; however, the vessel will be in the system of planets which includes Earth in less than two hours."

I had to try to think fast, "Micro, jump the Eagle to where the alien vessel is as soon as Caleus and I are on the control deck, and make sure the Eagle is trailing the other vessel about 50 miles and at their speed. Caleus, let's get to the control deck!" I said, and we both ran out of the bedroom.

"Are we going to take on this vessel by ourselves?" Caleus asked as we ran.

"Why not!" I said, "It's only one vessel and we have some very powerful weapons. Another thing, Caleus, we don't know for sure if this vessel is our enemy."

"You're right, Caleb," she said, "but if it is the evil ones, we should get the Earth Hawk and the Jade Hawk to help us, don't you think?"

"Not until I've had a crack at them we won't!" I said as we stepped out on the control deck.

As we stepped forward to go to the control seats, the many stars that could be seen through the dome over the control deck vanished. There was now a deep blackness outside the dome except for one red spot directly in front of the Eagle. We sat down and brought both dent panels and both viewers up in front of us. The red spot ahead showed on the viewer as a red sphere that looked more like a small cratered moon than a space vessel.

I extended my thoughts out to the vessel to see if I could get any response from the vessel's crew, but all I got was some mumbo jumbo, like: "An oblong round blue square has spiraled down a white red plain into a pink black horizontal vertical wall", which didn't make any sense, so I pulled my thoughts back from the five miles in diameter sphere.

Caleus said, "I can't pick up any signals in any of the light or radio spectrum from the vessel ahead, and I've sent out a signal in all of them to the vessel."

"Micro, is this the evil.... Watch out!" I shouted, as a white ball shot toward the Eagle from the red sphere. The ball missed us by only a few inches as I moved the Eagle to the side to let it pass.

"I guess that answers my question!" I said, letting the air out of my lungs slowly.

"Damn, but that was close!" Caleus said, shaking her head.

"Let's try the Gravity Imitator to stop the vessel," I said as I touched the dent to activate it, "Caleus, get ready to slow down the Eagle when I hook onto the vessel ahead."

When the invisible gravity beam, which I could see on the viewer, spread around the alien vessel like a hand grabbing ahold of it, Caleus stopped the Eagle, and all hell broke out on the inside my head, then I blacked out.

When I opened my eyes, Caleus' face was close to mine, and I saw worry in her blue eyes. I tried to move and could feel nothing of my body. I saw Caleus move back and I realized that she was standing and I was lying below her. I tried to ask her what happened but I couldn't talk.

"Caleb, please say something," I heard/felt her thoughts as if they were way off in a tunnel.

"Caleus, what happened?" I thought-said.

"Oh, thank god, you can hear my thoughts!"

Caleus' weak thoughts were coming closer toward me down the tunnel, and I saw her kneel down, pick my head up, and look into my eyes, "I thought you were dead, Caleb," I could now hear her voice as well, "but Micro said you were just stunned by the evil beings minds as they died in the blast that destroyed their vessel," her eyes began to glisten as tears begin to form in them.

I felt a tingling all over my body as feeling came back into it, and now I could talk, and I said, "I believe I'm all right now. I can feel my body again, and I can speak. Let me try to get up, Caleus."

She held me down and said, "No, you lie here for a while longer until I say you can get up! You scared the hell out of me, Caleb Thorn, and I don't want you to do that again, ever!" her eyes filled with tears.

The feeling had came back in all of my body and I realized my head was laying on her lap, "What do you mean by that? What did I do?"

"You made contact with the evil ones with your mind, and that's what caused you to be stunned when they tried to kill you with their thoughts as they died. That's what you did, Caleb!" Caleus said, wiping at the tears with one of her black gloved hands.

"Oh," I said, "so that's what happened. Don't worry, Caleus, I'll not do that again. Now, if you want to hold me like this, I'll stay here the rest of my life," I smiled up at her.

"All right, Caleb, I guess you're well enough to get up," she smiled and helped me to a sitting position.

"Did the blast throw me out of my seat onto the deck?" I asked Caleus, as I stood up.

"No, Caleb," she said, "You were throwing your arms and legs around like a crazy man, and then you jumped out of the seat, fell on the deck, and lay there stiff as a log."

I was still a little dizzy but I managed to stand if I held onto Caleus to keep my balance. I saw that we had the stars back over the dome, so I asked, "What caused the blast that killed the aliens?"

Caleus helped me sit down in the control seat then she said, "I guess they shot one of those white balls at us about the same time as we placed the gravity beam around their vessel, and they got the blast from their own weapon. At least, that's what Micro believes they did."

"Is there anything left of the alien's vessel?" I asked, as I looked out at the stars.

"Just some small pieces, and not very many of those," Caleus said, as she went to her seat and sat down.

"Damn it," I said, "I didn't want to kill them. I wanted to talk to them to find out why they want to kill us. Nevertheless, the aliens will send another vessel to find out what happened to this one and they will come shooting to kill, so I'll never get that chance again."

"They were shooting to kill this time, Caleb," Caleus said, "and that's what killed them. You didn't kill them, Caleb. They killed themselves, and they tried to kill you. You tried to talk to them and couldn't understand their mumbo jumbo. That's what Micro told me, so forget about it and let's go back to Jade or Earth, all right?"

"Okay, Caleus," I said, and smiled at her, "but first, I want to collect a few pieces of that vessel to see what it was made of."

Caleus and I used the Dove to go out into space and collect the pieces of the alien vessel. The pieces were not scattered by the blast because of the gravity beam's effect to push everything toward the center of its influence, so we collected quite a few pieces of the alien vessel.

Most of the pieces we found, and brought aboard the Eagle, were no bigger than my fist, and they looked like pieces of red lava. The larger pieces, which were no bigger than five feet long, were formed into twisted odd shapes, and they were made of some kind of shiny yellow metal that was easy to bend and as heavy as lead.

"Micro, what kind of metal is this?" I asked, holding a piece that was two feet long, six inches wide and two inches thick.

"Gold," Micro said.

"Gold! Pure gold! No other elements in it at all?"

"No elements but gold," Micro said.

"What about these other pieces?" I said, laying the large piece of gold down on the hangar deck and picking up a small red piece.

"There are many elements in that piece," Micro said, "They are: Carbon, Hyd...", I stopped Micro by saying:

"That's all right, Micro, I don't need to know all the elements in this piece."

"Caleb," Caleus said, "if this is gold, we're very rich!" she paused, "But I guess there's nothing that this gold could buy that we don't have already."

"You're right, Caleus," I agreed, "gold is just another element to us now," I placed my arm around her waist, "Lets go back to the control deck and jump the Eagle to Earth."

"All right, Caleb," she smiled at me, "I want you to show me around your planet some day. I think it would be fun to see how another world looks."

"I'll just do that one of these days, Caleus," I said, and we both grinned at each other as we walked toward the green transport column. We left the pieces of the alien vessel scattered around the hangar deck in front of the ramp that led into the Dove.