by Kyle Larson
The Moon Lords and those that joined their cause were exiled from Earth, never to return. They were allowed to keep their homes on the moon. Many of the other Nine Kingdoms forbid them from their worlds as well. The Moon Lords were seen as a threat. The three of them and their followers never intended to overthrow the king, as well as any other ruler of a kingdom. They just wanted a vote, and if the vote ended up keeping the king, they would respect the people’s wishes and continue government as usual.
Earlos realized, when it was already too late, the Nine Kingdoms felt threatened of them. Now, as the doors parted in the turbo-elevator, the Moon Lords looked out at the magnificent ship that would help them redeem themselves. Not only could Earlos protect one of his own, he could demonstrate to the galaxy that the Moon Lords intended to be good citizens and would even protect the thing they had once been against.
The thrusters on the Lunar Gale fired up, painting the dim hangar a brilliant red glow. The Moon Lords walked toward their ship and prepared to make way for the Antioch Belt.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
KELVIN WASN’T PREPARED to see his sister’s face on the monitor in front of him, or hear her voice. She was much older — a grown woman, her hair long and black, and her face looked just like their father. It was familiar but shocking.
“Kelvin,” Aren said, her voice hushed. It was a broadcast, not an open frequency transmission he could respond to. “They know you’re coming. Don’t come after me. They know you’re coming.”
Then her face vanished in static and the white noise filled Kelvin’s headphones. He couldn’t move and didn’t even think to answer the questions swirling in his head. How could she have found him? How could she know he was coming? Where was she? Wherever Aren was, there was complete darkness behind her. Kelvin touched his finger to the screen and scrolled through the different applications until he came to a tracer app. The app had detected Aren’s transmission and was in the process of tracing it to the source.
“Everything okay, your majesty,” Riz said, just behind Kelvin.
Kelvin jumped and ripped his headset off. He had no idea how long Riz had been standing there and his first instinct was to hide that he’d received a transmission from Aren. He didn’t want to tell Riz until he knew all the facts. Kelvin was well aware that Riz had been more than accommodating throughout their voyage to Mercury when Kelvin would come to him with questions about where Aren might be. Riz had spent many evenings in the radio lab with Kelvin, showing him techniques and applications that could help him track down Aren if he received another transmission. The tracer app Kelvin had just activated was one Riz had shown to him. Out of fear from being startled, Kelvin didn’t say anything about Aren’s warning.
“Oh, yeah, Riz, thanks. Just going over the archives since we’ve been on Mercury to see if any of Aren’s transmissions made it to us. Queen Evet mentioned some of her ships had picked up Aren’s transmissions over the years. She said they even make it to Mercury sometimes,” Kelvin said.
Riz’s reaction seemed to be one of alarm to Kelvin. He could tell Riz was trying to hide that, but there was no mistake at the widening of his eyes and raising of his eyebrow. This puzzled Kelvin, as searching for Aren’s transmissions were a pretty typical part of what he did when he was at a work station. It didn’t seem unusual to inform Riz that Aren’s transmissions made it to other ships and the planet nearest the Antioch Belt.
“Well, you let me know if you find anything. We’re coming up on the Antioch Field, my lord,” Riz said. “You’re going to have to give the order for us to activate the Hawk Drive. My lord, as your advisor and your protector, I want to make sure you are ready to go through with this. Once we’re inside the belt, we won’t be able to get out for days. We can’t come back out the way we go in. This crew and I support whatever decision you make, but you still have the option of turning back. The Traditions of Service are by no means a requirement for you to take your father’s crown. All I’m trying to say is…if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. You will have the chance to resume diplomacy.”
Kelvin knew Riz was trying to give him all the options — as he did with most everything — but, there was something unsettling to Kelvin about the tone. There was a nervous energy from Riz he picked up that he had not before. Kelvin’s perception could have been clouded by his own nerves, but something about Riz seemed different. The decision had been made that Kelvin would do whatever it took to complete the Traditions of Service, and Riz suddenly presenting him this option of turning back stirred conflict in the prince. Kelvin wondered if Riz was testing his resolve.
“I know, Riz. I know,” Kelvin said, shaking the uncertainty and trying to remember he was technically in command of the Monarch. With that command came the responsibility for everyone aboard. Kelvin reminded himself the people on board had trained for things like this and were excited to finally have a chance to prove themselves. In the end, though, if something happened and anyone got hurt, Kelvin felt the responsibility would be his. He remembered reading about this burden when he studied ancient Earth naval-marine history, as well as the early days of space flight, when commanders were more often leading their crews into battle or unchartered, dangerous parts of the solar system. “When we reach the belt, you are authorized to use the Hawk Drive.”
Riz grinned and nodded in acknowledgment.
“Very good, my lord. I’ll announce it to the ship and issue a turbulence alert before we activate the drive,” Riz said, patting Kelvin on the shoulder. “I’ve asked someone to come to the bridge to join you, as well.”
The main doors to the bridge parted and Amelia walked in. Kelvin could see her beaming with joy. She’d only been on the bridge once since they left Earth, as non-naval personnel were not permitted in the ship’s operational areas. Amelia wore an Earth Navy uniform and Kelvin noticed her insignia was marked as “CADET” rank. One of the bridge officers pointed Amelia to her work station. Kelvin waived excitedly to his friend, but he could tell she was taking the privilege of being on the bridge and in an Earth Navy uniform very seriously. He retracted his waiving hand, hoping he’d not embarrassed her.
“Welcome to the bridge,” Kelvin said with a smile when she sat down. Having his friend next to him helped ease his nerves and distract from the ominous message he’d just received from Aren.
“Kelvin,” Amelia whispered. “Do me a favor and don’t wave at me like that again when I’m in front of all the officers?”
“Sorry,” Kelvin said, trying not to laugh it off. “I’m still not used to this. If you want to call me sir, I think everyone else here is supposed to.”
Amelia rolled her eyes and started getting the console of her workstation ready. Kelvin could tell she already knew more about the console than he did . While his new digital assistant had done all the heavy lifting of bringing the workstation online, Amelia knew exactly what to do herself. He could imagine how good a commander she would be someday and looked forward to being able to have her be a part of Earth Navy.
“They gave me a digital assistant to do that,” Kelvin said, as Amelia shot him an awkward glance from the side of her eyes, since he seemed to be watching her every move.
“They offered me one, but I wanted to do it myself,” Amelia said, putting her headset on so that she could hear the chatter of the bridge. If Kelvin wanted to talk to her, it would have to be through that. The rest of the bridge crew were wearing them now, as the bridge buckled down and prepared for the activation of the Hawk Drive.
A big reason Riz emphasized that once they were inside the Antioch Belt it would take them a long time to get out was because of how much fuel the Hawk Drive would burn. The Hawk Drive was the fastest humans could go in their ships. It was as close to the speed of light they had been able to get. Any ship that would travel that fast would burn up most of their fuel — especially a ship as big as the Monarch. It would take the solar collectors on the Monarch days to recharge the engines, and potentially even longer since th
e asteroids distorted the sun. Riz hoped that their proximity to the sun would help the recharge go faster, but he knew once they were inside the belt they were stuck there for a while.
“Mara?” Kelvin asks. “Can you set up a private conversation between Amelia and I on our own frequency?”
All the two of them were able to hear was the chatter between Riz and the other officers as they ran routine diagnostics on the vital systems of the Monarch. Everything needed to be checked before they activated the Hawk Drive. At that extreme speed, there would be no room for error. While Riz and the crew were focused on this, Kelvin wanted to try and figure out what to do about the transmission he received from Aren.
“What’s up, Kelvin?” Amelia said. She looked over at him, but he could tell she was pretty focused on examining all the controls of her new workstation.
“Look, right before you got here, I got another transmission from Aren,” Kelvin said. “Mara, can you play the transmission for Amelia?”
“Wait, Kelvin–”
The transmission cut her off and Kelvin could see she was watching the brief, distorted video of his sister. When it was finished, Amelia stopped what she was doing and turned to face him, as if she’d seen a ghost.
“My god, Kelvin, she looks just like your father. What did Riz say when you told him?”
Kelvin didn’t reply right away.
“I haven’t shown it to Riz yet.”
“What?” Amelia snapped, her voice slightly raised. “Why not?”
“I don’t know.” That was the truth, Kelvin couldn’t say why he was compelled to keep this to himself. “He just…he has a lot to worry about right now. I mean, we are about to engage the Hawk Drive and head into the Antioch Belt.”
“Kelvin, you have to tell him. It’s a warning. She’s telling us–”
Amelia was cut-off again, this time by Riz’s command frequency which overrode any other frequency in their headset, even one from Kelvin.
“Turbulence alert is in effect. Get to your nearest harness and strap in. We are about to enter the Antioch Belt and engage the Hawk Drive. One-minute to depart,” Riz said, then the frequency clicked off. The klaxons echoed in every part of the ship.
“Did you trace the source?” Amelia asked.
“Yeah, its close to where Queen Evet told us the Pirates of Mercury would be. We are headed that way,” Kelvin said.
Kelvin and Amelia could see the Hawk Drive was almost primed and that they would be headed into the Antioch Belt.
“If you don’t tell him, I’m going to,” Amelia said, fastening her safety harness and motioning for Kelvin to do the same.
“I will, just wait until we finish the Hawk Drive jump,” Kelvin said. In his largest monitor, the Antioch Belt was directly in front of them. There was still a good distance between the Monarch and the belt, and it was hard to perceive that some of the asteroids were as big or bigger than Earth. They all looked like floating pieces of gravel from this range.
“But Kelvin, if the Monarch burns the Hawk Drive, we’re stuck in the belt for days. How do you think ships work? We have to recharge the solar cells and that’s going to take at least three days, probably more inside there.”
It was too late. The order to engage the Hawk Drive came over their headsets from Riz and the Monarch hurtled toward the Antioch Belt. What once looked like a scattering of small rocks suddenly became a collection of massive asteroids, some even blacking out the sun, and the Monarch shook violently as it finally entered the Antioch Belt.
The ship bounced across the belt like stone being skipped across a fast moving river. Kelvin and Amelia watched on their monitors as the Monarch dodged the asteroids that floated in it’s way. Both of them couldn’t imagine the stress and skill it took from the two pilots guiding the ship to keep it from smashing into one of the boulders. The g-force pushed Kelvin and Amelia back into their chairs, dropping their stomachs and giving them an uncomfortable sensation. It reminded them both of the amusement park rides they took back on Earth during celebrations. There was one ride, a rollercoaster, that would drop one-thousand meters in less than five-seconds, that was comparable to how they felt as the Monarch ripped across space.
With every second, the Monarch shook violently, which was the worst part for everyone aboard. Riz’s voice came through the headsets and comm speakers so everyone aboard could hear him.
“Right now, lieutenants Mason and Perra are flying us through the Antioch Belt. Because there are so many asteroids and many of them are the size of planets, we have to use the Hawk Drive to make sure we don’t get caught in their gravity. Each shake you feel now is us bouncing off a gravity well, which is pretty impressive since the Monarch is just a ship and these are celestial bodies as old as our star. If we didn’t have the Hawk Drive, they’d suck this ship down and we’d crash on the surface,” Riz said. He added in the information to try and distract the many people he imagined were very nervous in this moment. “We estimate we’ll be through this shortly and the shaking should stop. Just hang in there.”
After what seemed like a long time, the ship eventually reached a clearing and the Hawk Drive was disengaged, bringing the Monarch to a floating, gentle speed. It continued to move along, but that was the residual force from the Hawk Drive propelling it now. The notifications on every monitor in the ship indicating the turbulence alert status was downgraded to normal.
Kelvin and Amelia – not to mention the whole bridge crew — stared in awe of the millions of asteroids that surrounded them. Each one looked completely different from the other. They had been carved for billions of years and looked more alien than anything Kelvin had ever seen. He expected them to appear like they did in movies, but they were more breathtaking than he could have imagined. Many of them covered in ice, some had massive volcanoes they could see spewing lava into space that immediately turned to ice. It was quite a sight to behold.
There was only peace for a few moments after the rough ride. A proximity alert sounded. Amelia flipped through her workstation faster than any of the officers could and saw a massive object headed straight for them. The sensors were not registering it as a ship though because of it’s erratic movements.
“Sir Ristep, an incoming object. Roughly three-times the size of the Monarch,” Amelia said over the bridge frequencies. She felt as if every officer on the bridge stopped what they were doing to look at her in shock. Their job had been done faster and more efficiently by a fifteen-year-old.
Riz didn’t share in the astonishment.
“Science and sensor station, please confirm Cadet Boone’s findings. Cadet, please defer to the officers and wait for them to announce incoming from here on. You did good, but I need you to act strictly as an observer,” Riz said quickly, as he stood to walk toward the science and sensor station himself.
“Yes, sir,” Amelia said. Kelvin looked at her to see if she was red at all from the slight reprimand, but Amelia seemed fine. She was already aware in the chain of command nothing was personal.
Kelvin moved closer to Amelia’s workstation, as he could see she was trying to get a visual on the object using the telescopic sensor arrays. Whatever it was did not move like a ship. It reminded Kelvin of the large falcons he would see when he’d traveled to the surface of Earth for his science field trips. Ships, for the most part, moved in straight lines, but this was something between a bird and a fish.
“My god,” one of the science officers said through the frequency. Instead of trying to explain what she was seeing, she put the enhanced video feed onto the largest monitor on the bridge.
The Pirates of Mercury were one of the great legends of the Nine Kingdoms, but the only other that rivaled it were star dragons. Early explorers claimed to have seen the massive animals, swimming through space freely, but it was chalked up to bed time stories and fairy tales. Not today, because a star dragon was headed right for the Monarch. It was headed for them fast.
Riz and the rest of the bridge crew didn’t know what to do an
d they really didn’t have time to think. The star dragon just kept approaching them faster and faster. It was as yellow and orange as the sun, covered in glowing silver spots and a long tail that shimmered as if it was covered in ice. It’s eyes glowed yellow and instead of a snout and fangs, it had more of a beak for a mouth. In fact, the closer it got to them, it resembled a bird more than a dragon. It’s wings were like a dragon’s, but they were a deep color of red, with black veins drawing lines. No one on the bridge knew what to say.
The Star Dragon must have seen the Monarch, because it suddenly turned and veered off into the cluster of asteroids surrounding them. Just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone.
“Science and sensors?” Riz finally said, after a minute of complete silence on the bridge. “Did you get that?”
The science officer shook off the astonishment and scrolled through their workstation computers. The Monarch’s sensors managed to record the entire encounter, as well as take a deep analysis of the star dragon’s physiology. Astronomers and stellar biologists were going to get the news that the Monarch had just recorded the first stellar being. Alien life had been discovered years ago on several moons of Jupiter and Saturn, but those species shared many of the same traits as marine life on Earth. The star dragon was something truly alien, as it was able to survive the void of space, which was believed to be impossible.
