Andria exchanged glances with Erica, who was also surprised, and, thanks to his confident statement, followed him with revived hopes. They went along a spiralled corridor and entered a huge chamber filled with an extremely bright, white light. In the middle there was a huge object covered by a thick silver fabric. Taurus removed the cover to reveal an enormous spaceship, larger than three buses together and as wide as the front gates of Ivorin’s house.
“This is the Queen! The spaceship that can reach the sun and return. It’s fast and made from lead and titanium alloys to stand the extreme temperatures. Ivorin is very proud of it,” he said, enjoying their excitement.
“Andria is impressed!” Andria replied without taking her eyes off the spaceship. “How much do you want for this and actually, can you fly it?”
“Ivorin is an engineer. Arthas is the pilot. Ivorin doesn’t need money. He needs something else, though, that can’t acquire by himself.”
“Anything you need! And who is Arthas?” she said eagerly.
“Ivorin needs two small nuclear reactors for the spaceship. The Princess and her … unstable servant should find two of them at the Royal nuclear warehouse. After the Princess brings them, she can use the spaceship, but they will still belong to Ivorin. These are the terms. Arthas is the son of King Martin, you must have met him before”.
“He is crazy! We can’t do that,” Erica said suddenly.
But Andria was thinking and Erica couldn’t believe that she didn’t reject the offer at once. Ivorin was waiting, smiling a bit and the princess started to smile too.
“We have a deal,” she finally replied and shook hands with Ivorin in front of the astonished Erica. “We will, however, need some help for this mission.”
Ivorin understood what she meant when she looked at Taurus.
“Ivorin will provide Taurus and Sila for the mission,” he said without hesitation.
“Erica, I’m going to need ehm … your skills in thievery,” Andria said.
“You are insane!” Erica cried. “You are both insane, do you know that? We are going to spend the rest of our lives in jail if they catch us. Something that probably will happen as I never stole anything nuclear before, like from the Royal warehouse, guarded by soldiers, CCTV and stuff. I mean, we should rethink this!”
“I don’t like this either, but it seems it’s the only way. Come on, I need your support here. I can’t do this without you. I’m just wondering how to hide him from prying eyes”. She pointed at Taurus, the big robot. “Erica, I’m not going to give up on the plan. For some reason I want to do it, like it’s my destiny. It’s my dream! Do you have any dreams that you would do anything to fulfil?”
“I used to have, but then I realised that was pointless, because they would never come true,” Erica answered with a melancholic tone.
“It’s never late to work on them. It’s always worth to risking it for your dreams, even if sometimes you are the only one who can see this path. Everybody else thinks you are crazy, but you know that you aren’t. They just don’t know what you are capable of and that’s why they have doubts about you. I know! If you help me with my path, I’ll help you with yours. What do you say?”
“I was always doubted by others, but I also doubted myself and at the end I never really tried to make my dreams true. Let’s do this, Andria! Let’s do this!” Erica said and they hugged tightly in front of Ivorin, who watched, unable to understand this expression of feelings. Displayed on his Bi-glasses, there was only an analysis of Erica: Unstable, hormonal disorder.
“We should meet the pilot first. I’m curious to get to know him,” Andria said and then she turned to Ivorin. “Andria is thankful for your help. Soon Ivorin will have his reactors. Thank you.” She smiled and he tried to smile back rather awkwardly.
After they returned to the palace, Andria asked her father to invite all the royal sons for the celebration of fifty years of peace that would occur three days later and she promised that she would wear the magic perfume as well, to see if anyone could smell it. Her father happily agreed and arranged the invitations with the assistance of Roy, who was suspicious about Andria’s change of behaviour. Nothing would pass him unnoticed—he was the kind of man who paid attention to the details.
“Don’t exaggerate. She was a teenager, full of revolutionary ideas and reactivity. But it seems like she is growing up now,” King George said, unconcerned.
After three days, the celebration began and a lot of noble families came to the big ball room. This was a familiar, but not desirable situation for the princess who was greeting them as the hostess of the palace at the entrance. Even if she wasn’t enjoying it, she managed to keep her smile and politeness at all times. Her intention was to meet the man who would fly the spaceship for her or teach her how to do it herself, Arthas, the oldest son of King Martin. She also had put on the magic perfume to keep her father satisfied.. She couldn’t smell it though and, it appeared, nor had any of the men who had arrived already and passed close to her.
“Maybe the tall guy with the green jacket and the long sideburns, or one of these twins?” Andria thought, wondering who might be the one who would smell her perfume and who could be Arthas. “Mm, maybe the nice guy over there with the confident walk.” The man was walking, extremely proud, wearing an expensive grey trench coat. “No way, too confident! That one’s too short, that one is weird, and he seems to macho for me.” One by one, she rejected the men that passed through the entrance and she started to realise that no one was interesting to her and no one smelled her perfume either, and there was still no sign of Arthas. Roy, in a perfectly ironed grey robe, was standing just next to her to announce every new guest.
“How is it going Princess? Are you enjoying the celebration so far?” he asked her teasingly.
“It couldn’t be more fun,” she replied, bored.
In the meantime a blonde fat boy in his twenties entered with closed eyes, sniffing the air.
“I smell something,” he said.
“Oh no, not him!” Andria thought, panicked.
The boy continued his way towards her, still sniffing while Roy announced his name.
“Prince Arthas, son of King Martin,” he said loudly.
“No! It can be true, it can’t be him! How is it possible he is the pilot and he can smell my perfume too?” Andria tried to imagine being with him as a couple, but her imagination wasn’t that strong.
The fat boy stood in front of her sniffing her carefully and then he passed her and continued to the buffet.
“Aha, I smell roast beef,” he said as he opened his eyes in front of a big plate full of meat. He grabbed one and started chewing it greedily.
“I guess someone found the love of his life here,” Andria thought again and went closer to meet him. “Excuse me, Prince Arthas?”
“Did that girl just speak to me? Nah, I just imagined it,” he muttered out loud to himself and continued eating.
“If you mean me, yes, I spoke to you. Are you Arthas the pilot”?
“Oh, now I’m scared, it seems so real!” he said. “I should stop playing video games, I think people are recognising me as a pilot.”
“What’s your problem? I’m speaking to you and you’re just standing there, eating and living within your illusions. Wake up, dude, welcome to reality and stop ignoring me!” She tapped him upset.
“Did a girl say just now that I ignored her? Ok, this is definitely my imagination.”
Andria pinched his arm hard and stepped angrily on his foot with her high heel, making him scream in pain.
“Is this your imagination too?” she said to him.
“Ouch, you hurt me!” he said, rubbing his arm. “Sorry, I’m not used to this. Girls never speak to me.”.
“You should get out of your room and stop playing your video games more often then … and stop speaking with your mouth full! I don’t like to see your chewed beef between your teeth.” Andria couldn’t keep the formalities anymore, after her disappointment bot
h for the fat pilot and the perfume that nobody could smell.
He tried to leave the meat on a plate for later, but at the last moment his arm stopped and his hand couldn’t let it go. It started to tremble, as if he was making an effort, concentrating to make his hand obey. Andria noticed his disagreement with his body.
“You can do it. Just leave it! Let it fall on the plate,” she encouraged him.
“I know, but it’s just so difficult! I think it’s stuck to my hand. I can’t help it!” he said shamefully.
Andria realised then that her mission depended on a guy that couldn’t leave the food on his plate and she felt helpless.
“Try to speak to it. Tell it that you don’t need it anymore and you can survive without it tonight.”
“Really?” he asked.
“Just say it. Oh my God!”
“Oh lovely, delicious and smelly smoked beef! Succulent, crispy and pretty…” he started speaking to the meat.
“Do I attract insanity?” Andria asked herself as Arthas continued.
“Please let my hand free as I don’t need to eat more tonight and actually I’m not hungry nor bereft of food. I can live without you for now, for some hours or minutes, I guess.”
“Great, now leave it,” Andria ordered him.
Arthas left it, relieved, and turned to Andria charmed.
“Now I smell something else…” he said to her.
“No, you don’t smell anything. Stop smelling!”
“Ok, I don’t,” Arthas said and straightened up.
“Listen, Ivorin told me that you are a pilot. Can you fly a spaceship?”
“I’m an excellent pilot,” he said confidently.
“When did you last fly?”
King Martin had just entered the room and Andria noticed him speaking with Roy so she led Arthas off to her chambers.
“My son, they kidnapped my son!” King Martin said desperately.
“What? He is there at the…” Roy realised that Arthas wasn’t at the buffet anymore and he almost had a panic attack.
“I remember I left him at the electric station to buy some snacks and then probably he disappeared,” King Martin said.
“But, your majesty, your son came here a few minutes ago. He was talking with Princess Andria in front of the buffet, you can’t have left him at the electric station.” Roy started to understand that he shouldn’t pay attention to the panicked words of this man anymore. King Martin always exaggerated and created conspiracies in his confused mind.
King Martin started to remember, slowly, that he had actually seen his son running to the entrance of the palace with closed eyes.
“I hate you,” Roy thought after the situation had been clarified. He wondered how it was possible that this man ruled a kingdom. “One day his stupidity will cost us all or maybe he will forget himself somewhere and relieve the world of him.”
In the meantime, in her chamber, Andria explained her plan to Arthas, who agreed to fly the spaceship with her.
“I’ve never been to a girl’s room before! I expected it to have more pink,” he said, while Andria was trying to explain about the nuclear reactors.
“Yes, I’m not the typical girl I guess,” she replied. “So, listen, after we are ready with fuel and everything, we are going to pass the gates of the Forbidden Forest and from there we’ll fly up to the sky.”
“Ok, I understand. Do you have a boyfriend?”
Andria lost her patience again.
“Could you concentrate on my plan? There are more important matters to discuss.”
“Yes, sorry, you are right. So we fly to the surface and then what?”
“Then you will take us to the sun. According to Ivorin, the spaceship is made for such high temperatures,” Andria said, calm again.
“Ok, let’s do that,” Arthas agreed easily, not seeming to pay attention to the details of the plan. “So, do you have a boyfriend?”
“No, I don’t have and I’m not interested in having one at the moment. I have this project in my mind so…” Andria answered, a bit annoyed by his persistence.
“Ok, ok, don’t get mad. I was just wondering if. you know … ehm … if you are interested in finding someone, but you aren’t, I got it! But if you rethink it in the future and you want someone, well…” Arthas was too nervous to speak clearly and his words petered out.
“Arthas, I think you and me we could be really good friends. What do you think?” Andria stopped him before he made the situation more awkward.
“Yes… sure,” he answered, disappointed.
Suddenly Erica came in, excited, bearing news.
“I just spoke with my friend Jake, the hacker, and he agreed to join us in our mission.”
“These are perfect news! What did he ask in exchange?” Andria asked, excited that her plan was coming into effect.
“Surprisingly, nothing. He said that the experience itself would be rewarding enough. Although, he asked a little favour from you as a princess.”
“Here it comes,” Andria suddenly lost her excitement.
“He has a criminal record that needs to be cleared.”
“I’ll do whatever I can. Erica, have you met Arthas? He is our pilot.”
“Really? I was expecting him … different. Nice to meet you, Arthas,” Erica said in a neutral tone that didn’t show positive or negative impression.
“Second girl that speaks to me today! I must have been changed.” He looked at his belly as he spoke to himself.
“Now that the team is complete, the only issue that remains is the reactors,” Andria said, but before she could continue a maid entered.
“Your father is calling you, Princess Andria.”
Everybody returned to the ball-room where King George, standing in the middle, was about to give a speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to this event and honouring us with your presence. Fifty years have passed since our kingdoms were shattered by the Second Revolution of the Machines. My father’s generation still remembers those insane days of treachery, when the robots came up against their masters and instead of being useful tools they became hostile weapons. So the kings of that time fought, won and banned the robots and their worshippers from our society and humanity has now lived fifty years of peace and prosperity. Nobles, we gathered here today after my daughter reminded me of how important it is to remember our roots, so proposed to invite you all here to connect with the other royal families and empower our friendship. Come here, Andria, our guests would love to listen you!” He offered his position to the surprised Andria who tried unsuccessfully to hide behind a tall man in a green jacket.
“What? No!” she said as everybody made space, revealing her position. They looked at her waiting for her speech, or, as she thought, waiting for her failure, to spot a weakness to gossip about, later during their days of laziness. Andria, however, wasn’t the kind of person who would offer the satisfaction to any vicious people, because her soul was brave and not so easily deterred. Her father encouraged her with a smile and whispered for her to go closer to him. She smiled back and stood in front of everyone.
“Even if I wasn’t born during those dark days of fighting and insecurity, I wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully if we don’t honour these people who gave their lives for us to be free. Those days proved us that if we stay together and trust each other we can handle any situation in the future.” Andria scanned the crowd for Erica and Arthas and she thought of her two robots hidden in her apartment. So ironic to speak about trust, she thought.
There was silence in the room, tears in some eyes and then a loud applause filled the room with warmth and joy and her father was proud once more. If he knew his daughter’s plans! She was surprised by her own confidence in talking in front of so many people, but the most shocking for her was that she actually enjoyed it! She felt comfortable attracting people’s attention and she wasn’t sure if she should worry about that feeling. But she didn’t have time to worry as other m
ore important matters were keeping her mind busy. She had to organise stealing the nuclear reactors, so she decided to ask her father for the permission to go and inspect this industrial area.
King George was more than pleased to listen to his daughter’s request, as it seemed that she involved herself in managing the kingdom, showing some interest in public matters and boosting the presence of their authority in the industrial circles. He was sorry for not being able to accompany her due to his workload and offered to send Roy instead, but Andria refused as Roy could jeopardise her plan with his annoying observation.
“Your mother would be proud of you for showing such marks of responsibilities equal to your position. You remind me of her,” her father said emotionally.
Andria wondered if her mother ever had had the idea to steal two nuclear reactors, to go to the sun with a thief, a hacker and a fat, insecure pilot, on a spaceship built by a crazy scientist who spoke about himself in third person.
The nuclear warehouse was inside the industrial area and its entrance was guarded by two soldiers and monitored by cameras which Jake, the hacker, would have to deactivate with his computer. When Andria arrived in the area the managers and the workers surrounded her and followed her as she was guided to the factories and warehouses. Beside her limo and escort vehicles, she had a big truck in her convoy that Erica and Jake parked away from the rest of the cars, closer to the warehouses to more easily access their targets. Inside the truck, Ivorin’s robots were waiting for orders. Andria’s visit was the distraction they needed to pass unnoticed, steal the reactors and get away. Jake, a handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair, started working on his computer to hack the security systems. Andria had liked him at the beginning, but unfortunately he didn’t smell her perfume so she was disappointed. When Jake controlled the cameras, Sila, the pink robot went out and approached the two soldiers while Erica was giving orders to it by the radio.
“Dance with them, Sila,” Erica said.
Sila put on some music and started to dance, alone at the beginning and after a while she grabbed the two soldiers, who didn’t know how to react to this occurrence. They followed her lead and even enjoyed it a bit. She was dancing rock ‘n roll with them, throwing them high and making them twist extremely fast. Erica noticed even Taurus was moving slightly to the rhythm, but he got embarrassed and stopped when he realised that she saw him. After the pink robot danced the guards away, it was Erica’s time to do her magic. She used lock-picks to unlock the six locks on the gate and then she slipped inside with Taurus behind her. According to Ivorin’s plans, they would find a room with the reactors inside, but when they opened the room, it was empty. She started to panic at the beginning, but then she remembered Roy, with his methodical and patient approach, and she started to look around for any evidence that could drive them to their target. The warehouse was huge, she would need hours to search all the rooms, so she needed to think a practical way to find them. She then saw the main office where they kept records of anything that came in or out and she started searching the desk for any delivery papers.
Farnath: The Frozen Heart Page 4
