Saturna and the Battle for Zard

by DP Scott

Almost forgetting about her gas mask Saturna spun around and took two giant steps toward the balcony before she remembered why she had returned to the passageway. Kneeling down she anxiously felt the cold dusty floor where she thought the mask should be. Her heart pounded as her hands slid quickly over the rough hard rock, while she peered about in the dusky blackness. She had to beat Thor and the unknown speaker to the hall and somehow warn Hete! And now she was wasting precious minutes!

  “Where is it!” she said, starting to tremble. “I have to find it…”

  Because her vision was poor in the tunnel, she was only able to see a short distance ahead and every time she moved it took a few seconds for her eyes to readjust, which frustrated her all the more.

  “I mustn’t panic. I’ll let the mask come to me,” she said to herself, trying to calm her rapid heart rate. Relaxing and letting her auri lead her, she continued to walk slowly up the passageway towards the Grand Dining Hall with her arms outstretched. “The mask will come to me, the mask will come to me,” she said over and over, pouring all her energy into locating it.

  And so it did. Right in front of her, caught on a small outcropping, the mask dangled precariously. Grabbing it, Saturna bolted towards the balcony and slid out of the tunnel’s opening falling to her hands and knees. As she crawled into position she could hear Hete still talking.

  “…and so because of this, I will be in charge of the castle, second only to our Queen Detis. You see things are slightly different on Zard compared to the planet Veectors. Kievils are well respected here, almost revered...”

  Saturna attempt to steal a peek over the top of the rail, the Veectoreze seemed quite engrossed in what Hete was saying. She tried to remain calm and think of a way to warn Hete, but panic began to encompass her being and her mind went completely blank.

  “Give me the courage to fight for my kingdom and the strength to stand up to the Veectoreze,” she prayed quietly. Catching Peep’s attention, she signaled for her to prepare for plan two or plan three. Saturna would decide which plan to use in the next few minutes. She felt her palms becoming sweaty as she prepared to signal the Kievils and wiped them on her jacket, grateful they had practiced each of the hand signals several times.

  A large crash was heard below and Saturna risked a second look over the railing. There was Thor standing with the low ranking dignitary, Pont. They had come close to ripping the door off the frame when they entered the Great Dining Hall and she saw Thor still clutching a piece of the handle in his hand threateningly.

  “What is going on here?” demanded Pont rudely interrupting Hete’s speech.

  “Welcome, please be seated my friends. We are just discussing the workings of the castle and who is in charge until our Queen arrives tonight,” replied Hete, ignoring the loud boorish entrance.

  “What Queen? The Queen is on Veectors and is not arriving tonight. Arrest him and all the Urites. They’ll go to prison to pay for this charade. You’ll soon learn who is in charge of the castle, Hete, my friend,” said Pont sarcastically.

  There was incredible chaos when all at once the Veectoreze sentries stood. Many of them knocked chairs backwards onto the floor as they reached for their weapons and a Urite servant to arrest. Thor watched the scene unfold and it infuriated him that no one had yet arrested Hete, the instigator. With a loud roar, he made his way to the front of the room, pushing anyone and everyone out of his way. Hete, frozen with fright remained standing, glued to the stool and cringing at the approaching giant.

  Horrified at the events, Saturna stood to full height. Gathering her courage she gripped the railing and called out, “My inhabitants, the Queen is indeed here and I COMMAND YOU to stop all this nonsense at once!”

  The uproar began to soften and the disbelieving Veectoreze sentries now stood still, looking upwards at Saturna. Regal and confident, Saturna met the gaze of the inhabitants, especially those of Thor and Pont.

  “Well Queen Saturna, this indeed is a surprise and puts us in a very difficult situation. I must notify my superiors and ask for direction. If you’d excuse me,” said Pont, bowing his head.

  “I will not excuse you Pont and let me remind you that I am your superior! You take direction from me. Thor, General of the Camp, I command that you apprehend dignitary Pont and take control of the sentries in this room!”

  While Saturna stood her ground against the Veectoreze with all eyes upon her, Uncle Tete tried to get the attention of Hete. He was still perched upon the stool, which was now to the backs of the Veectoreze, who had turned around to listen to Saturna. Without any way of escape Hete was in trouble, and Uncle Tete had a solution to save him. Dropping a long rope over the edge of the balcony with hopes Hete could grab onto it, Uncle Tete planned to pull him up over the balcony with the aid of the other Kievils. The problem was Hete, who was now afraid for Saturna, was oblivious to the rope, which dangled one and a half inches above his head almost hitting him whenever Uncle Tete swung it from side to side.

  “Ppeee, ppeee,” called Uncle Tete softly, using a child-like Kievil whistle noise, which was similar to the sound of a squeaky floor board. Recognizing the unusual tone, Hete looked up to where the noise was originating and realized what Uncle Tete planned. Latching onto the rope, Hete pulled it down and tied it around his waist. Immediately four of the Kievils began to heave him up, and within seconds, Hete was swinging out of control in the air above the Veectoreze sentries, who were all still mesmerized with the sudden appearance of Queen Saturna.

  Saturna bit her inner lip as she watched Hete come dangerously close to Thor’s head and then swing back towards Pont, not just once but twice. It was a miracle no one saw him. Afraid for Hete’s life, Saturna knew she had to keep all eyes upon her, and so she kept talking. She listened to the responses from Pont, interrupted him, and noisily tapped her fingers on the railing in an attempt to maintain the attention of the group. It was difficult to keep a neutral face when the charade occurring behind the Veectoreze was so dangerously real. She could hear little sound as the rope sneaked its way upward, but there appeared to be something wrong, for as much as the rope inched up, it always came back down the same amount. Consequently Hete continued to hover in almost exactly the same position. As she conversed with Pont, Saturna had to also become one with her auri. She informed the Urite servants to quietly leave the room during this distraction, and told them to lock the doors because she had a feeling things were about to become very ugly.

  “I’m sorry to make you aware of this, Your Majesty, but Thor is not under your command any longer and neither am I. Queen Detis will return tomorrow to claim the throne and the kingdom will be moved to Veectors. You may wish to surrender to me now,” replied Pont, arrogantly.

  “I am Saturna, Queen of Zard and YOU FORGET YOUR PLACE, dignitary Pont! Thor, General of the Camp, I order you again to arrest this treasonous inhabitant.”

  Thor remained unmoving with his hands at his sides. He felt extremely guilty when he remembered receiving the title of ‘General of the Camp’ from Queen Saturna. He could still hear her words: You are to lose your identity with Veectors and never be seen favoring the planet of your birth. As well, the responsibility of my safety and well-being will also be upon your shoulders. She had said this when the platinum statue had been placed in his arms.

  “Please My Queen! Do not ask me to turn against my planet and my inhabitants. I don’t deserve the honor you placed upon me,” answered Thor, bowing his head in shame.

  Hete was becoming quite a spectacle now, swinging wildly about ten feet above the heads of the Veectoreze. He flailed his arms and legs as though he was swimming and Saturna couldn’t figure out why he would think that would help. The rope was now moving upward more than downward, but was still making poor progress. Saturna hoped the Kievils wouldn’t drop him.

  It was becoming awkward to keep the attention of everyone in the crowd and when the rope suddenly began to make a squeaky noise, Saturna ra
ised her voice to a holler. “Yes Thor, you do deserve the honor of General of the Camp,” she shouted. “I’m aware of your many accomplishments. I saw how well you handled the bullen and it was an honor for the Zardian Solar System when you won the platinum statue. You are respected by your peers and the officers in your troop. And I take pride that you are now part of the Zardite army. Every inhabitant should be proud of their heritage and I will not ask you to turn against your planet. I only ask, what I ask of all the inhabitants of the kingdom, and that is to do what is right.”

  Pont stood looking bored at her speech and picked at his fingernails. “A lot of niceties, but I’m afraid you have no backup, no support. You see it’s too late, your army is locked in the barracks and we will not be intimidated by you. What is done; is done. Please come down from the balcony child. We have business to attend to and you are wasting my time,” demanded Pont.

  Saturna could feel something pulling at her pant leg and glancing downward, Peep was standing on her shoe whispering, “Plan two, plan two is the only plan that will work!” She knew Peep was right, they had no other option.

  “If you choose not come down from the balcony maybe if we start to shoot your servants one by one, you’ll change your mind! How about if we start with the stupid Kievil?” said Pont turning to point to Hete. Seeing the empty stool, Pont began to anxiously scan the room. “Find him you idiots!” he yelled angrily.

  Again there was chaos. The sentries bumped into each other looking for the non-Veectoreze in the room, quickly realizing it wasn’t just Hete, but that all the Urites had vanished too. Tables and chairs were overturned to uncover hiding places with no success. By this time, sentries had rushed to the nearest doorways discovering the doors bolted shut from the outside. As one of the sentries turned to notify Pont about the situation, he tripped on an overturned chair and tumbled to the floor. It was from this vantage point that he saw Hete dangling fifteen feet above them. The scream for Pont’s attention quickly engaged all eyes on the swinging Kievil.

  “Shoot him, shoot him, don’t let him escape!” commanded Pont to the sentry who had originally spotted him.

  When the sentry started to raise his weapon, Saturna screamed as loudly as she could, “Plan two, Plan two!”

  Immediately, the room was plunged into darkness.