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behave the same. Some hope! They have a new mother ship, more dangerous than ev er, and are back in Earth orbit; still obsessed with getting their hands on the fire crystal.” Tom shook his head. Amber had nodded. “We should have removed it all from the cave, or destroyed their ship when it was possible,” he said.
    “Or maybe both,” Amber added.
    “So that’s the problem,” Tom declared. “Their excuse is they would use it for peaceful purposes. What a joke!”
    “Why not just warn the Zaarks off?” Calvan asked.
    “Off course, we’ve tried that,” Amber said. “They got here before us unfortunately, and now they know we can’t attack them. The battle that would follow would destroy Earth.”
    “Please , don’t let that happen!” Calvan said. He was looking concerned and alarmed now.
    She grasped his hand reassuringly, “Don’t worry, we would never allow that to happen,”
    “So what will you do?” Calvan asked red-faced with embarrassment.
    “If we don’t give them the fire crystal , they’ve threatened to burn the surface of your planet bare. They’ve got powerful beam weapons, and no living creature would survive” Tom said with a deadpan expression.
    Calvan was shocked. “ Would they really do that?”
    Tom answered. “Imagine a really spoiled kid who wants a toy. He likes it, and must have it. It’s his whole focus in life at the moment, but he’s told NO.”
    “So what has that to do with anything?” Calvan asked.
    “Well imagine the Zaark leader is that kid - throwing an uncontrollable fit of temper, but instead of throwing his toys out of the cot he wants to nuke your planet.”
    “Because he can’t have what’s he sees as an entitlement.” Amber agreed, and then added. “Yes they are capable of it, and have no conscience at all.”
    “Sit down,” Tom said gently to Calvan. “As always we have a plan, or I should say Amber has.” He looked at her, as if passing the baton.
    Amber explained. “We’re going to lure them away from this sector - far away in fact, to a very hot and lively place called the Galactic Hub”
    “Where ’s that?” Calvan asked.
    Amber waved a finger and an image appeared on the wall-screen. It was the Milky Way Galaxy.
    “This is where we all live,” Amber said. “Here’s where we are now,” she explained “and here’s where they will be going.”
    Two arrows had appeared on the image. One was pointing at a bright yellow dot , towards the rim of the galaxy, and the other right into the bright dense center.
    “We’ll drop them into the center.” Amber declared.
    “How would you do that?” Calvan asked in amazement.
    Amber explained. “The fire crystal is down there.” She gestured as the image changed to the white blue globe of Earth. “ We can move the crystal up to the mother ship, but that would provoke an all out battle in local space, and I’ve already said what that would result in.”
    “So, what’s your plan?” Calvan asked. Obviously , this was leading up to an explanation.
    Amber answered, “I plan to drop the Zaarks, and their mother ship into the supermassive black hole that forms the center of the galaxy. It’s the hub, and everything else revolves around it, just like a wheel.
    “You see, Amber has planned a vanishing trick,” Tom added.
    “Good plan,” Calvan said, not really taking much of this in. Amber had made it seem so matter of fact, and simple. “Will they be crushed to nothing?”
    “No, just the opposite, they won’t feel a thing. From where they ’re standing, it will be a journey into the spinning edge of the hole, and they revolve slowly around and out from the other side,” she explained.
    “Except for them the ‘other side’ is infinity,” Tom added. “They’ll reappear in a space that seems normal, and probably think they can find us again. Some hopes! They’ll be in an entirely different universe, and there will be no return – ever,” he added, to make his point. “The