“Come. We don’t have much time,” Falon ordered. He pointed a gun in her direction.
Jaz took his lead and pointed her gun at William. “Get up,” she demanded.
William jumped up, whether from excitement or fear, Ann couldn’t tell. Maybe it was a little of both.
“Follow me,” Jaz said.
William followed her, still blinking to clear his vision.
Falon motioned to Ann that she should follow him. She obeyed. Her ankles protested with each step she took, but she forced aside her pain and kept walking. She hoped Hathor would get there soon. She didn’t like the way things were going.
***
Six years in the past
In front of Ann’s house
Xenia, Ohio
Planet: Earth
Kent glanced at his watch as he and Stacey sat in his car, listening to the news on the radio. From where they sat, everything looked relatively calm. There was no sign of war, but several people drove around the neighborhood faster than the speed limit allowed.
“I hope Hathor’s alright,” Stacey said. “I don’t want Ann to be hurt or have to end up with that creep William.”
“I wonder if he even knows to come here. What if that alien was wrong?” Kent asked.
“Something strange is occurring over here at the United Nations where the alien invasion began,” a reporter stated over the radio. “It no longer appears that the aliens are going to hurt us. They aren’t firing at our military or displaying any other aggressive behaviors. In fact, all they are doing is removing the chips out of people’s hands. It seems they are trying to undo the damage the alien we thought was Alexander Napoli was doing to us. Perhaps their goal is not to make us a slave race. Perhaps they wish to save us from a tyrant’s rule. These aliens may be our friends.”
“Thank goodness,” Stacey said. “Maybe we’re safe.”
Just as Kent was about to respond, Hathor appeared in the middle of the yard.
“How do they just appear and disappear like that?” she commented in wonder.
“Who cares? I’m just glad he came.” Kent got out of his car, went to Hathor, and explained everything. “So Ann’s going to the planet called Pale, but she’ll be four years in the future,” he finished.
Hathor shook his head. “I can’t believe I missed her at the United Nations.” He pulled out a foreign device and turned it on.
“Whatever that clone is planning, he’s expecting you to follow him. Be careful. I think it may be a trap.”
“Yes, I know. As Ann would say, he’s playing cat and mouse with me.”
“Good luck, Hathor.”
Hathor glanced at his friend then at Stacey. “You really like her, don’t you?” He nodded to Stacey.
“Yeah. She’s great.”
Hathor paused for a moment before he finally plugged in the information he needed to get to where Ann was. “Thank you, Kent. For everything.”
“I’m guessing I won’t see you again,” Kent said. Though he’d only known Hathor a short time, he was going to miss him.
A long moment passed then Hathor shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The past will have to go back to how it was before all of this happened.”
“I figured as much.”
“You’re a good friend, Kent. I’ll never forget you,” Hathor said then pressed a button on the device in his hand and vanished.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Two years in the past
Omin-2’s secret room
Alpha Head I
Planet: Pale
Ann glanced around the secret room. It was small, and she noticed an ovular-shaped glass capsule. From the looks of it, Omin’s clone was asleep inside of it, waiting until the moment was right to wake up.
Falon closed the door. “Now we will wait for Omin-2’s orders. You might as well make yourselves comfortable.” He motioned for Ann and William to sit on the floor.
Ann didn’t like the idea of sitting next to William but obeyed since there wasn’t enough room to sit anywhere else. She put her head in her hands, wondering how much time she had before Omin-2 returned. If Hathor didn’t come soon, she wasn’t sure if she would make it out of this alive.
She had determined that she would fight to the death rather than marry William, which was obviously Omin-2’s plan. She knew that if she was with William, she would be manipulated by Omin-2 and that would put Raz at risk. She also didn’t want to marry anyone but Hathor. She thought about what he had told her about their daughter. Katherine was her name. If she didn’t marry Hathor, then Katherine wouldn’t exist.
She scanned the room again. If only there was a way to escape…
A flickering light hit her eyes. Jerking her head to the source of the distraction, she realized the light was bouncing off a small knife. She glanced up at Jaz who gave her a slight nod.
Ann blinked. Did she see that right? Was Jaz trying to tell her she had an ally in this room?
Jaz glanced at Falon and let her eyes drop to his hand where his chip was firmly implanted. Then she looked back at Ann, giving the knife a slight turn so that its silver tip reflected the light again.
Ann’s eyes lit up with understanding. Jaz planned to disable Falon’s chip, and in order to do that, she needed a distraction.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Ann said.
Falon groaned. “Now?”
She shrugged. “Nobody told me I’d be abducted or else I would have gone back on Earth.”
Falon frowned. “Can’t you wait? I’m sure Omin-2 won’t be long.”
“No. I have to go now. Please? My bladder’s going to burst at any moment!”
“Alright.” He turned his back on them so he could open the door.
Jaz lunged at him and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back.
“What are you doing?” he demanded, struggling to get away from her.
“Something for your own good,” Jaz replied, straining to keep his hand still while she placed the knife to where the chip was inserted.
Ann got up to help her when William reached for her hand.
“She’s got it,” he told her.
“She could use my help,” she replied.
She shook his hand off and went over to Jaz who was struggling with keeping Falon’s hand still.
“Thanks,” Jaz said then made an incision and pulled the chip out.
Almost at once, Falon stopped fighting. He turned back to them, startled. “What…?” He stared at his bleeding hand.
“You were under Omin-2’s control,” Jaz explained. “But we got the chip out, so you’re fine now.”
“Thank you for saving me from that thing.” Falon nodded to the chip that was on the floor.
Jaz stepped on it and smiled. “Team members look out for each other, right?”
He returned her smile. “Right.” He glanced over at Omin’s clone, which was in hibernation. “I’m going to destroy that thing before it can do any damage.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll escort Queen Ann and William back to Athena’s ship,” Jaz said. “Once I get Athena’s chip out, she can take William back to Earth and Queen Ann to Raz.” She glanced at Ann. “We still have one of Omin-2’s time travel devices in that ship, so taking you back to Raz in your own time won’t be a problem.”
“What about Hathor?” Ann asked. “How will he get back?” Ann wondered.
“We will find Hathor and bring him back, too.”
Ann breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn’t wait for all of this to be over.
In silence, William and Ann followed Jaz out of the room.
***
Omin-2 crawled through the ceiling until he was above the Leader’s Office. It was his office. At least, it would be once he eliminated his creator. He peered through a small hole and saw Omin. This was going to be as easy as abducting the queen of Raz.
Grinning, he smashed the vent with his foot and gracefully fell to the floor, landing on his feet.
Omin le
apt out of his chair. “Who are you?”
Omin-2 pretended to be hurt. “You don’t recognize your own face?”
“No, you can’t be my clone. I’m not dead.”
“Too bad for you, you did die. Now I’ve come back to the past to kill you.”
Omin growled. “You can’t do that!”
“Of course I can. And I will.”
Omin-2 swiftly pulled out his gun and shot at Omin who managed to dodge in time to miss the bullet from hitting his chest. Instead, the bullet hit his shoulder.
Omin examined his wound. “This isn’t a Paler bullet.”
“How observant.” Omin-2 rolled his eyes. “I’ve been to Earth and am back here.”
“Earth? Why would you need to go there?”
“You’ll just have to wait and find out what’s so significant about that place.” His lips curled up. “If you live long enough, that is.”
Omin frowned, then walked slowly behind his desk, but Omin-2 kept his gaze on him, careful to watch where his hand was going.
“I take it you conquered Earth while you were there,” Omin said, his hand inching its way to a drawer.
“Would you create me to do anything less?” Omin-2 shot Omin’s good arm before he could open the drawer.
Omin grimaced and clutched his other arm.
“I’m not stupid,” Omin-2 snapped. “In fact, I exceed you in intellect.”
“You’re going to kill me? Fine. Get it over with.” He stepped out from behind his desk. “I just hope you’re prepared to run a planet.”
“Earth was simple. This one will be, too.”
Omin-2 raised his gun, aiming it straight for Omin’s chest. His finger caressed the trigger. But then pain shot straight up his arm and to his chest. He dropped his gun and collapsed.
Omin tilted his head in interest. “Not feeling well?”
Omin-2 screamed, clutching his chest.
“It’s a shame you won’t be killing me,” Omin said, stepping over to him. “For the first time in my life, I had respect for someone.”
Omin chuckled. He picked up the gun and aimed it at his clone. Then, after a moment, he set it on his desk. “Actually, I think I’ll watch you die on your own.”
***
Guard Falon continued to stab the frozen clone until he was sure it was dead. He sat down, out of breath from his labor. Finally, Omin would no longer be a threat to the future Pale or to anywhere else in the universe.
***
Omin watched as his dead clone disappeared. Curious. It was as if his clone no longer existed, which was fine with him. He didn’t need a rebellious descendant.
He took out his gun and headed to his secret room. He would destroy the clone and the technology to make more of them. Then, his clone, or any other successive clone, wouldn’t be a threat to him in the future.
***
Hathor appeared in an isolated area of Alpha Head I. He didn’t recognize the place but figured it had brought him to where Omin-2 and Ann had arrived. He looked at his surroundings. The only thing he saw in the steel room was a one-person spaceship. He recognized it as Omin’s personal ship. This must be another one of Omin’s secret rooms.
He held onto his sword as he walked across the room. He hadn’t used his sword yet, but with Omin, one could never tell if trouble was right around the corner or not.
As if to prove his point, a laser beam almost hit his head. Startled, he raced toward the nearest barrier he could find, which happened to be Omin’s spaceship. Another laser beam whizzed past his head. His ear rang from the sound of it. He made it to the ship just in time to avoid another laser beam.
His heart pounding furiously, he stood still for several seconds so he could properly assess the situation. Someone was shooting at him with a Paler gun, but he hadn’t seen anyone out there.
Everything had gone quiet. The only thing he could hear was his shaky breathing. He took the Book of Spells out of his pocket and enlarged it. After he recited the spell that would reveal his attacker, he shrunk the book and put it back into his pocket. Tightening his hold on the sword, he glanced around the side of the ship.
The Olympian spaceship was now visible. He strengthened his grip on his sword before he ran to the Olympian ship. As he guessed, the laser beams shot at him, fast and furious. He reacted by using the sword to bounce the beams harmlessly away from him.
He reached the closed door of the ship and tugged on the handle to open it. It was locked, a fact that didn’t surprise him. Thankfully, Razian swords were strong enough to penetrate through Olympian spaceships. He cut through the door, anticipating another round of laser beams, so he dodged behind the door until he had a big enough opening to jump through it.
Athena groaned as he entered the ship. “Don’t you know how to die?” She raised the gun and got ready to fire it at him.
She must have the chip in her. There was no other way she would attack him, not with the alliance between Olympia and Raz. He acted defensively so as not to cause her any harm. His sword blocked her gunshots until he was able to grab her hand.
She released the gun, which fell harmlessly to the floor. “Let me go,” she cried out, pushing against him.
He scanned the ship for something that would remove the chip, his gaze finally going to the pocket knife on the floor. Athena continued fighting against him, but he dragged her over to the pocket knife. Despite her struggles, he managed to cut out the chip.
When she finally stopped fighting him, he showed her the chip. “Athena, do you feel alright?”
She blinked several times then took the chip. “I barely remember getting this,” she whispered. “I was searching for Queen Ann when we were forced to land on Earth. Omin’s clone had a group of people with him whose job it was to insert these chips into us.”
“Us?”
“Zeus, Ares, Apollo, Second Commander Jaz, and Guards Lino and Falon.”
“Do you know where Queen Ann is?”
She rubbed her head and swallowed. “Most of what happened after I was implanted with the chip is foggy, but I know Second Commander Jaz and Guard Falon took her and William to the secret room where Omin’s clone was created. Omin’s clone mentioned making William the king of Raz. If I remember correctly, William brought the chip injector with him.”
“He must be planning to implant a chip into Ann. We’ve got to hurry! Raz can’t be under that Paler’s control.” And I can’t afford to lose her to William.
She picked up the Paler gun and joined him as he rushed out of the ship.
***
Meanwhile, Ann and William followed Jaz through the dark corridors that would take them back to the Olympian spaceship. Without warning, William jumped on Jaz’s back and tackled her to the ground. Ann reacted on instinct. She kicked him in the jaw, distracting him long enough for Jaz to reach for her knife. He caught the knife first and swiped Jaz’s hand where blood seeped from the wound.
Ann made an attempt to get the knife from him, but he used his height to his advantage and hung it over her head so that she couldn’t reach it. Jaz stood up and punched him in the stomach. He hunched down so that she was able to grab the knife.
“Run, Queen. Go to the Olympian spaceship. Omin’s clone has given Athena direct orders to keep you alive,” Jaz said. “It should buy us time until Falon and Hathor can come for you.”
Ann knew better than to stick around, but in her panic, she didn’t pay attention to where she was going. As she raced around, she made turns at random. It wasn’t until she was deep in the maze that she realized she was lost.
She finally stopped and looked around. It was so dark in here. Her heart raced with nervous dread. The silence around her should have comforted her, but instead, it only increased her anxiety. Was William catching up to her? Did he know where she was? Was he going to kill her because she chose Hathor over him?
After a few minutes passed, she began to think clearly again. She had to backtrack her steps. It was the only chance she had of ge
tting out of this maze. She turned around and quietly walked back in the direction from which she came. Each footstep seemed to echo in the corridor despite her best effort to not make a sound.
She felt helpless as she tried to recall her steps. Every corridor was the same. There was nothing to distinguish one from the other. She sighed as she continued to walk. Was this pointless? Should she just wait and hope Hathor would find her?
The fear that William might find her if she remained in one place motivated her to keep going. She knew what Omin-2’s plan was, and apparently, William was in agreement with it.
As she turned down another corridor, she wondered if she was going in circles. Maybe she should just follow one corridor and see where it led. Just as she was about to do that, she bumped into someone. She screamed and fought to get away, but the person grabbed for her. Backing up, she tripped and fell to the floor.
“Stay still,” William hissed as he put all of his weight on her arm. He took the chip injector out of his pocket and put it up to her hand.
“No! I don’t want the chip!” she shrieked when she realized what he was doing.
He couldn’t get her to be with him willingly, so he was going to force her to want to be with him? Even though she knew he’d planned this, she still couldn’t believe he was actually doing it.
Suddenly, his weight left her. It took her a moment to realize Hathor had pulled William off of her just in time to stop him.
Hathor punched William in the jaw. William tried to fight back, but Hathor’s fighting skills exceeded his. By the time Hathor had William quivering on the floor, his sword pressing on William’s neck, Ann found enough strength to get to her feet.
She went over to them, still trembling from being attacked.
“Permission to kill him,” Hathor said, his body rigid, ready to strike his opponent.
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