War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past

by Conner Walworth

  Moran opened the door and saw Kanti and Giustino pulling up in their police car. "You have visitors Anlon!"

  Anlon approached the door and watched as Moran left his house. Moran hadn't even so much as glanced at the officers as he entered his cruiser. Anlon waived at the two approaching officers.

  "Hey Anlon," Kanti greeted.

  "What was Moran doing here?" Giustino asked.

  Anlon shrugged. "He just came by to check up on me and see how I was doing."

  Kanti smiled. "That was nice of him."

  "There's someone else who wants to check up on you too Anlon," Giustino said.

  "Someone else?" he asked, confused.

  "Queen Adira," Anlon stared at both of them speechless. "Pack your things. You leave tomorrow," Giustino said, as he turned around to go back to his car.

  Anlon looked over at Kanti for an explanation. "I don't know Anlon. He just got a call this morning from the Queen's personal adviser and he said the Queen wants to see you immediately. He hasn't told me anything other than that."

  "Why does Giustino seem so mad about it?"

  "I don't know. He was fine this morning, but after that call he seemed very agitated," She smiled at him before she turned back around to get to the honking car. "You get to see the Queen, Anlon! You should be excited!"

  Anlon turned around and went back into his house. This wasn't good. He was supposed to start training tomorrow and now he had to go see the Queen for reasons he didn't even know. It could play out in his favor. His father was a friend of hers, so maybe she could help him. He went to the living room and picked up his comlink.

  Chapter 9

  "What's wrong Anlon?" Moran asked.

  "The officers came to tell me that the Queen wants to see me."

  "The Queen? Why does she want to see you?"

  "I don't know Moran, they just said I have to leave immediately," he replied. "I wasn't given a choice, they said I have to leave."

  "When did they tell you that you have to leave?"

  "They told me that I'm leaving tomorrow," Anlon answered.

  "Okay Anlon. This may actually be a good thing," Moran told him.

  "Good?" Anlon exclaimed. "Good in exactly what way? It's going to give Donnchadh just that much more time to get away."

  "Anlon, listen to me," he said. "If the Queen wants to see you, then she knows what happened to Armino, trust me. She may want to ask you more questions so she can send a GSOU team to get these guys. Right now, she knows just as much as the officers and probably thinks she can get more out of you than they could. She also probably knows you're as stubborn as Armino and that you held a few things back so you could act on your own."

  "You're telling me that I should tell her what's going on?" he asked. "How do I even know I can trust her? She could put me in jail for lying the first time!"

  "Anlon trust me," Moran insisted. "She was very close to your father, so she's going to want to catch these guys as much as you. She won't care that you lied and there is zero chance she'll lock you up for it. Remember that she has many more resources at hand that even I can provide for you."

  "Fine. I'll tell her what she wants to know, but I won't make it easy."

  "I don't care if you come out and tell her right away or if you wait," Moran said. "But you have to tell her that Donnchadh was involved. The Queen and your father were too close to keep something like that from her."

  "What about my training?"

  "You can do it when you get back," Moran told him. "I think seeing the Queen is going to work out in your favor Anlon. Donnchadh won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

  "Okay," Anlon breathed out. "If you think so."

  "You can't do this all on your own Anlon, you need allies in this. Having the Queen on your side will be a good thing. Make sure that she's on your side."

  Anlon hung up the comlink. He tried to shut his eyes, but he couldn't with all of the thoughts streaming through his head. His family had been killed three days ago and since then, his whole entire life was changing faster than he could keep up with. He was going to go out to kill the races that had killed his family, but before that, he was getting the chance to meet the Queen of Orion. He wasn't sure why he was being afforded the opportunity, but if Moran was right, his chances of catching the races were about to go up.

  Donnchadh knocked on Ulisse's door and patiently waited for a response that didn't come. He knocked on the door again, but instead on doing it softly, he banged. The door hissed open and Ulisse stood in the doorway.

  "I'm almost done Donnchadh," Ulisse said, as he went back to his bench. "There are still a few things that I need to perfect before it is completed."

  Donnchadh cleared his throat. "You do understand that we leave for Hera today?"

  "Yes. I know we leave today, but this wasn't an easy poison to make. This takes a lot of time and concentration to do."

  Donnchadh moved closer to Ulisse. "You had three days to make this. What were you doing the whole time?"

  "I haven't left my bunker in three days Donnchadh, and if I'm not mistaken, the third day isn't over yet," He shot back. "If you think it's so quick and easy, why don't you make a poison yourself?" Ulisse continued after Donnchadh's silence. "I didn't want to make a regular poison. I wanted this to be a special one," He reached up and grabbed a vile off of the shelf above the bench. "It won't be a secret forever that the Queen didn't die of natural causes. We both know Kirill, he couldn't keep that quiet forever."

  "He won't tell anyone."

  "Ah. He may not, but there are others besides us who know how she really died. They will leak it eventually when the time is right."

  "What does your poison have to do with someone leaking who killed the Queen? All that matters right now is that she dies."

  Ulisse turned and smiled. "I want history to know that I made the poison that killed Queen Adira. Not just any poison though, a poison that nobody could detect. The best poison ever created. It will by my little signature in history."

  Donnchadh rolled his eyes. "Ulisse the great poison maker. Everyone will be so impressed."

  "My name will never be remembered any other way," Ulisse spat. "Besides, what if I did make a regular poison that's been seen before and the doctors somehow found out."

  "So what," Donnchadh said. "She'd be dead, that's all that matters."

  "So," Ulisse started. "If there is any suspicion whatsoever that someone had the Queen poisoned, Kirill would never get his spot on the Throne"

  "He doesn't necessarily want that spot on the Throne. He may put someone else in that spot and use them as a puppet."

  "He may, but that'd be very unlike him," Ulisse said. "But it'd be much easier if there were no suspicions revolving around the Queen's death no matter what he chooses to do."

  "How much longer do you have until you have finished it?"

  "I am done," He held up a vile. "I told you to be patient."

  Donnchadh smiled and turned for the door. "I am going to get Sanguinarius. Head for the ship and you can tell both of us exactly what this poison will do when we arrive."

  Donnchadh walked out of the bunker and headed straight for Sanguinarius' bunker to tell him they were moving out now. Ulisse had cut it close making his poison and it left no time for relaxation. Kirill had told him three days and it was the third day. He had failed the last mission, though no one else knew, and he wasn't about to fail this one because he got behind on schedule. He approached Sanguinarius' door and banged one it.

  "I'm coming! Stop banging on the door!" A voice shouted from inside.

  The door hissed open. "It's time to leave Sanguinarius."

  Sanguinarius turned around and headed to his dresser. "How long until we leave?"

  "Be at the ship in five minutes," Donnchadh responded.

  He turned and left the bunker, briskly walked down the hall to the elevator. He got on the on and went up to where Cerberus was kept. As he lowered the ramp and got on Cerberus he saw Ulisse already waiting wi
th a brown satchel in his hands.

  "Didn't bring much," Donnchadh said, as he approached him.

  "No. We will be in and out. No need to over pack."

  "Always prepare for things not to go as planned," Donnchadh advised. "You should know that by now."

  "If things don't go as planned on this mission, we're dead anyway," Ulisse sat down at one of the tables in the main cabin of the ship. "Will Sanguinarius will be here soon?"

  Donnchadh looked out the ramp and nodded. "He's on his way to the ship as we speak."

  Ulisse pulled a vile out of his satchel and set it on the table. "It won't take much explaining to understand what it does."

  Sanguinarius walked up the ramp with a big bag in his hands.

  "Sit," Donnchadh ordered. "Ulisse is about to tell us what this poison will do."

  Sanguinarius sat across from Ulisse. "What special concoction did you stir up this time?"

  Ulisse smiled. "It will kill her very quick which is the most important thing."

  "I would hope so, it took you three days to make," Donnchadh muttered.

  "Two and a half, technically," Ulisse corrected. "Anyway, it can be added to drinks or food. Once it's in the digestive system, it changes from liquid state to a gaseous state. It will make its way to her lungs where it will release toxic fumes, the same kruma, but much more severe than the small doses those junkies take."

  Donnchadh moved towards him. "That isn't undetectable like we agreed on."

  "I don't want it to be undetectable," He admired the vile. "When her autopsy is done, they will think she overdosed on kruma. When Orion finds out she was really assassinated, and they will find out, I will reveal that it was I who concocted the poison. The first to ever create a poison to do such a thing."

  "Natural causes!" Donnchadh shouted. "That's what you were told to do, not write your name down in history!"

  "You can't be forced to smoke kruma Donnchadh," Ulisse said. "It can only be done willingly, so it will pass without question. I promise you there is not a single race in Orion who can make a poison like this, therefore, not a single race will even begin to think that it was poison."

  "He has a good point," Sanguinarius nodded. "The Queen is very healthy, if she just dropped dead that would raise questions."

  "And you think races will believe she overdosed on kruma?" Donnchadh exclaimed.

  "Oh no, of course not. But only a few races will know that was the actual cause of death, or so they'll be led to think," Ulisse replied.

  "Only the politicians and her Council will think she overdosed. They would never tell the races of Orion the Queen Adira overdosed on kruma," Sanguinarius grinned. "It's genius!"

  "It's so stupid that it may work," Donnchadh agreed. "Most of the politicians are fools so there is a chance that it may pass by unquestioned. If it looks like she overdosed, they may accept it easier than her just dropping dead."

  "My thinking exactly," Ulisse smiled, proud of his thinking.

  Donnchadh made his way to the pilot seat. "Your rationale had better be right because I won't take the fall for this one if it backfires."

  He sat down and fired up the engines. The bay doors opened and the dock protruded out of the mountain. As soon as Cerberus was out in the open, Donnchadh applied the thrusters and lifted the ship off. In a couple of minutes they were off of Erebos and Sonodrive was initiated.

  Anlon rolled over in his bed, still unable to get much sleep. He had tried to go to bed early to get rest before he saw the Queen, but the nervousness of meeting her had kept him from sleeping at all. He decided to get out of bed and get ready to leave for the spaceport. He was sure that the ship was already there since he was supposed to leave in two hours, so what would it hurt if he got there a little early? As he was getting dressed a knocking came from his front door. Anlon walked downstairs to see who it was.

  "Hey Anlon," Kanti greeted. "I thought I could take you to the spaceport this morning."

  "It's a little early isn't it?"

  "Yeah it is, but I thought we could talk before you left."

  "Come on in then," he motioned. "Not like I have any plans for this morning."

  She walked inside his house and went to the living room. She looked around the room and sat down on one of his couches.

  "Does Giustino know you're here?"

  She shook her head. "No, but he doesn't need to. He's really obsessed with you Anlon, or your case anyway. He thinks you're keeping stuff from him," Anlon didn't respond. "Are you keeping stuff from him?"

  "I," he started. "It's kind of complicated, actually. It'd be better if we didn't talk about it."

  "So you are. Is that why the Queen wants to see you?" Kanti asked. "Are you going to tell her things that you didn't, or couldn't, tell us?"

  He looked over at the picture of his family on the wall. "Yes. There are some things that only she can know."

  She put her hands on his knees. "It's okay Anlon, I'm not going to tell Giustino. We're friends, we can tell each other secrets. The Queen will be able to help you much more than anyone here would ever be able to anyway. If I were able to go to her for help, trust me, I would."

  "Let me talk to the Queen first and then I'll tell you what's going on when I get back. It's important that I go over it with her first before I tell anyone else."

  "You promise to tell me what's going on?"

  "I promise," Anlon smiled. "Did you want something to eat?"

  "No, I'm okay Anlon," She answered, seeing the toaster-tarts on the counter.

  "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go to the spaceport!"

  "I'll meet you out in the car," Kanti got up.

  Anlon grabbed his toaster-tarts and met Kanti at her car. He opened the passenger door, threw his bag in the back, and sat down next to Kanti while munching on his breakfast. She put the car in drive and headed for the spaceport. The first couple of minutes was filled with awkward silence, until Anlon couldn't take it anymore and finally broke it.

  "So, tell me more about Demeter."

  "There's not really much to tell, but I did keep some stuff from you the first time we talked. You know, since we're revealing secrets to each other now I think it's a good time to tell you."

  Anlon looked over at her. "Was it bad stuff?"

  "No! It's just stuff I don't want everyone to know. Actually, no one that I know here knows about it yet. I've kept everything to myself so far."

  "What is it?" he asked.

  "I ran away from Demeter."

  "Ran away? But you're legally an adult, isn't that kind of impossible?"

  "I am," She nodded her head. "But the family I lived with refused to let me leave and live on me own."

  "Why would they do that?" he asked. "It's obviously not where you came from."

  "I don't know," she shrugged. "It was Demeter so there was nothing to be afraid of, yet they always seemed fearful for me."

  "That's really strange," Anlon said. "Maybe something happened to your parents and they didn't want the same to happen to you."

  "Maybe. My whole life there I never saw any danger though, so I don't know if I can believe that."

  "How'd you get away without them capturing you?"

  "I met a Feleen one day, and after we got to talking, he said he could get me off of the planet without anyone's knowledge," she replied. "I was sick of it there, so I agreed. I paid him everything I had and he snuck me off to Gaea. No questions asked."

  "Did your family ever try to come after you that you know of?"

  "No. I think they finally gave up on me After all of those years of running, they must've finally accepted that I was never going to stay.

  "Do you ever miss them or think about them?"

  She was quiet a moment. "I do sometimes, but I know they weren't my real family and that I was only with them because they were hiding me from something," She let out a breath. "I thought if I got away from them I could find my parents and try to live a life with them, but I was wrong."

  "Yo
u'll find them Kanti," Anlon put his hand on her shoulder. "They're out there somewhere."

  "I hope so," she smiled. "There's the spaceport," she pointed.

  She pulled into one of the parking spaces designated for regular cars and they both exited the vehicle, walking a quarter mile to the spaceport. It was overly crowded, with races from planets all over Orion. There were some Anlon was familiar with, and others that were completely foreign to him. As they squeezed their way through the crowd, they saw a beautiful ship with the Queen's symbol of a phoenix painted on the side.

  The ship was immaculate. It's chrome paint reflected everything in the spaceport. The shape of the ship itself was similar to the phoenix that was painted on the side as the wings curved out and the thrusters on the back would surely create the tail of the phoenix when set to max power.

  Anlon stared in awe at the ship. "I've never seen a ship so beautiful."

  "Thanks," Came a voice from behind him. "There are a lot more like this one on Hera though, so it's not all that special for one of the Queen's ships."

  "I'm Anlon," He held out his hand.

  "I know who you are," The man said, grabbing his hand. "I'll be your pilot to Hera."

  The pilot turned around and walked up the ramp to the ship without another word.

  Anlon turned to Kanti. "Thank you for everything you've done for me."

  "It's my job," she smiled.

  "You've done much more than you job requires of you. I really appreciate it, Kanti."

  She blushed. "Stay safe, Anlon."

  "I will," he replied. "I'll see you when I get back," He entered the ship.

  "How would you like to sit in the co-pilot seat?" The pilot asked over his shoulder.

  "Don't have to ask me twice!"

  "Pay really close attention and you'll be able to pilot a ship on your own in no time," he winked.

  The pilot pressed a couple of buttons and pulled the yoke back, lifting the ship off. Anlon wasn't sure what he was doing, and knew the pilot was kidding about flying soon, but he still paid attention to learn as much as he could. As the rose in the sky, the District of Hassental quickly shrunk to specks of vibrant colors and Anlon couldn't keep the excitement of leaving the planet for the first time off of his face.