The Third Craft

by James Harris

  “True. But I cannot lie for personal gain. You know that.”

  “I do.”

  “Then let me present my irrefutable evidence that you must trust Stell and me and join with us.”

  “You mean, you join with me.”

  “Please don’t play the Royal card on me. This situation is too serious.”

  “I’m not. If you wish any alliance, it must be on my terms as Prince of the Realm.”

  “No!” Stell spoke up. “I will not agree. I am no man’s subject. I am also a Prince of the Realm by blood and I demand equal status to Kor.”

  “Stell, you can be such an ass,” Kor said. “You are not my equal by any stretch. However, based on this so-called evidence from Amonda, you might not be my subject either.”

  Stell bit his tongue.

  “Prince Kor,” Amonda said, “please watch your main screen for the evidence. I promise you will have a change of heart.”

  The massive view screen lit up with a grainy image of Kor’s old teacher, Asunda, seated at the helm of Gamma I. He placed his hand over his left chest and smiled. He looked worn and tired.

  “My Liege,” he said. “Our secret code, so that you know it is truly me speaking, will be given at the end of the transmission.”

  He rose out of his command chair and began to pace the room. A series of remote cameras followed him.

  “Sire. I am many light years away. Forgive me, but I must remain with the fleet for obvious security reasons. It will take years for this to reach you. Therefore … this has to be a one-way conversation, I’m afraid. I trust that it reaches you in a timely fashion. Also, I hope that you and your crew, all three crews, still live.”

  He passed his hand contemplatively over his forehead. “Where to begin? I guess it was Alpha City. My father, a truly gifted wizard, had whispered strange warnings in my ear before dying. He had visions about the future. His warnings made no sense to me until we were in space evacuating the planet. I realized that there might be an evil presence among the twelve Ancients we had selected to journey with us. But who? Who was that evil one? Only during the space flight did I get an inkling of the danger that we were all in.

  “As a precaution, based on my dead father’s warnings, I decided not to go into a cryogenic deep space sleep. It was a risky move because I had to remain semi-conscious for many years. I risked aging to death before the foretold treasonous event took place.

  “Years later, I sensed Amonda visiting our Gamma I spaceship. She must have figured what I was up to because she left a timed message to awaken me after she and the queen had departed. Yes, Kor, one of the Ancients was the dreaded Queen of Abishot herself. She is a master of disguise and treachery.

  “After Amonda and the queen had departed, I awoke, thanks to Amonda. Amonda was not aware that the queen had secretly planted a time bomb on board. Luckily the other Ancients were quick to alert me to her madness.

  “The bomb was diffused with the help of the Ancients who helped me solve the protective code that surrounded the device.

  “Which brings me to now. Amonda left me her transporter ID code for secret encrypted transmissions to her craft in the event that contact was necessary. If you are watching this transmission, those circumstances have arisen. The queen and Amonda have come to your newly discovered planet. My father’s visions foretold of a great battle on behalf of the people of that planet.

  “It is the queen’s will that these people be enslaved. You must stop her. The vision saw that Stell and you were united as brothers in your quest to defeat this Ancient wizard.”

  Asunda walked dramatically over to the main consol and stared directly into the screen.

  “My Prince. Forgive me. I withheld vital information about your family from you. I wish I could say it was in your best interests, but I am ashamed to say it was in the interests of politics. Your father, the sovereign king, gave me specific instructions that you were not to know the true heritage of your brother, Stell, the crowned Prince of Abishot.

  “In fact, Stell is a Prince of the House of Narok. He is your brother by blood. He is your father’s son and your younger brother. You are both charged with the safe keeping of the other. These were your father’s words to me before he went under transition on Sargon. Kor, you are responsible for your brother’s safety and he for yours. Protect each other from the evil influence of the queen and unite with him as crown princes in your new territory.”

  Asunda placed his hand over his heart and smiled. “I trust this transmission finds both of you alive and well. You are truly brothers in your adventuresome spirit. Protect each another. This is my final word as your Master.”

  Then he smiled wanly. “Oh yes, the code. There is music in the universe.”

  The recording flickered and ended.

  “We are real brothers, Kor, you and I,” Stell said. “What a mess we’ve created … I’ve created.”

  “Who would set brother against brother like this? For what possible purpose?”

  “You know who. We must get together and talk. There is so much I have to tell you. There has been so much deception. We can undo the damage of the Abishot. Are you willing to meet me? No tricks.”

  Kor thought for a moment. “Yes,” he said finally. “I will meet with you.”

  “A car is waiting for you outside,” Stell said.

  Joe stepped out of the shadow. “Dad, don’t do it. They kidnapped you once and almost killed you.”

  “You don’t understand: where I come from, blood is everything. Your bloodline is your path in life, your past and future. Stell is my blood.”

  “I agree with Joe, Dad. You can’t trust these people not after all that’s happened.”

  It’s not about trust. It’s about an alliance against a common enemy.”

  “You want to forgive Stell, don’t you,” Hawk observed.

  “Forgiveness is a sign of strength, not weakness.”

  “But the things he did …” Joe said.

  “Can never be undone. What shall we do? Wring our hands and live in the past, or move on and fight for this planet?”

  “Fight,” they both said.

  “Then I shall meet with Stell and you will remain here until I return.”

  “But …” they both said.

  “This is a fragile enough truce as it is. I don’t want you two in the mix.”

  CHAPTER72

  “Stell, I have to return downstairs before I am missed,” Amonda said as she patted him on the shoulder.

  “It’s going to be OK, you’ll see.”

  The transporter door hissed open. She raced down the stairs and blew through the exit door leading to the tenth floor, straight into the skeletal arms of the queen. She screamed in surprise. The queen slithered around and pinned her against the wall adjacent to the doorway.

  “Where have you been, my precious little witch?”

  “I went to the roof,” Amonda managed to say.

  “Did you now? Didn’t I tell you to stay with me?”

  “Yes.” Amonda steeled herself for an attack.

  “Didn’t I tell you and your brother not to chat unless I was there?”

  “Yes.” She pursed her lips. It was coming. She knew it was coming.

  “What did you talk about?” The queen saw the spark of fear in Amonda’s eyes. “What did you tell him?”

  “Nothing of consequence, Majesty. Just family talk.”

  “Nothing? I don’t believe you.”

  “You call me a liar?”

  “I know better than that. Your cult of wizards frown on deceit and lying, don’t they? They have the Oath, don’t they? No. You are cleverer than that. I would never get the truth out of you, not the real truth. But you will tell me.”

  Out of habit, Amonda began to raise her aura as protection.

  “Impudent young rascal!” the queen said, shredding Amonda’s veil of protection like a flimsy curtain in a hurricane. She circled Amonda like a hungry wolf checking out its next meal. “Your wizard
tricks are no match against me.”

  Amonda could not resist the dreadful power of the queen. “Please, Mother, you don’t have to do this. I will gladly tell you what you want to know.”

  The queen smiled cruelly within the shadow of her ominous hood. “No bother, child. I can get it myself.”

  No sooner than the words had left her mouth, than her skeletal arms shot out like a sprung trap and grabbed Amonda roughly about the skull. That instant, Amonda’s will and bladder failed simultaneously.

  In a flash, she was joined with the queen’s ancient mind. Each saw the other’s thoughts and shared their memories.

  Amonda was trapped there. She couldn’t leave until she relinquished her hold on the memory of Stell and Kor’s conversation. She fought hard. She moaned and screamed and tore at the queen’s hands on her skull.

  But the beast was too strong. Amonda swooned. In her unconscious state, she revealed all.

  The queen summoned H into her office.

  “Tell me, H, where could one acquire a suicide bomber at this time of night?”

  H stared in disbelief. This had to be some kind of sick alien joke, he thought.

  “I assure you, I am not joking,” the queen said, as if reading his mind. “I need one of those nutballs, and I need him tonight.”

  “That’s madness! Do you think we keep an inventory of these crazies?” H said.

  “Yes I do, as a matter of fact.”

  H blushed at the simplicity and frankness of the response. He looked away for a moment and then mumbled. “We happen to be holding a suspected terrorist in isolation.”

  “Is he dedicated to triumphing his cause through suicide?”

  “Aren’t they all? They only live to hate. Of course he is prepared to die. He sees himself as a martyr, fighting against the evil empire of the West.”

  “Perhaps we can help speed him on his way to martyrdom. Bring him to me. And, oh yes, load him up with lots and lots of explosives, will you? Oh, and don’t give him the detonator. We wouldn’t want an accident.”

  The queen pushed him hard and H bowed and left the office.

  All was quiet on the gravel and tar roof of the old brownstone. The moon was rising in the east like a pallid orange ball. Stell was impatient for news of any kind. What was keeping Amonda? He couldn’t abide being cramped in the transporter any longer. He opened the door and stumbled face to face into the grizzled old queen. He yelped in surprise.

  “Out for a stroll, are we?” she asked. She handed him a fruit drink. “I thought you would be thirsty.”

  Stell fell back into the crew area in shock. The queen entered. The door hissed and closed behind her.

  She indicated a seat. “Do you mind?”

  “Of course not. Sit. I was just getting some air, I …”

  “You were on your way to meet up with Kor. Well, don’t bother.”

  Stell’s huge black eyes narrowed as he examined the queen. “What have you done with Amonda?”

  “I know everything!” she said. “My ungrateful children, conspiring behind my back. What were you thinking?”

  Stell’s mouth moved but no words came out.

  “Were you going to team up with your long lost-brother and beat up on your ancient mother? Was that it?”

  Stell found his voice. “So it’s true then. Kor is my real brother?”

  The queen waved her hand as if swatting a fly. “What of it? The old Abishot King had inferior genes, what can I say? I secretly arranged for the stored frozen sperm of the Narok King to be substituted for his. No one knew.”

  “I know! Amonda knows!”

  “She knows because she is a wizard. She caught me at a weak moment many years ago and read my mind. That’s how she found out. She has kept her mouth shut until now.”

  “The Narok King knew, too, didn’t he? He found out somehow.”

  “Of course, why do think he allowed you to live? I told him so that he would spare your life. Why do you think he adopted you as his own? You were his son. It was kept quiet to avoid scandal in the House of Narok.”

  “That’s why he let you live. You were threatening to tell his wife.”

  She laughed. “Silly man. He did nothing wrong, but he was afraid of some scandal. Perhaps a weakening of the Narok military position.”

  “It was you who arranged my escape from the castle of the House of Narok, wasn’t it?”

  “We had to convince you that there had been an evil plot of the Narok to kidnap you. That you were a prisoner in a gilded cage. Otherwise, you would never have willingly returned to your real home.”

  “And there wasn’t any plot, was there?”

  “Of course not. No one knows how the old man died. It might have been that the Narok King had him killed. Who knows? I used your bloodline for leverage to save our lives.”

  “You let me almost kill my brother?”

  “A happenstance of sperm. Your true family raised you in the end.”

  “But not the beginning. Where were you?”

  “Hiding, idiot! They sent me into exile, but I wasn’t safe there. Can you believe it? They grant me exile and yet don’t give me protection. The Narok hated me. The bastards were constantly trying to murder me.”

  “I can only wonder why,” Stell said.

  “I had my loyal servants. They protected me.”

  “And you rewarded them by making them part of your council.”

  “They deserved the reward.”

  “They were a bunch of irrelevant old men who believed in mass murder. Worse still, they were stupid and egotistical. They accomplished nothing and millions died.”

  “Oh shut up, you ingrate!”

  The bickering went on for an hour. In the end, Stell gave in. His mouth was dry. He gratefully drank the drink she had brought.

  “If I do meet with him, will you try to harm him?” Stell asked.

  She touched his slender arm.

  “You plan to meet at the Smithsonian, don’t you?”

  Stell snatched back his limb.

  “The basement of the Air and Space Museum. How appropriate.”

  “Stell, you have to understand,” she crooned. “It’s not personal. I’m quite fond of the boy in a way. But, he stands in our way. We didn’t travel all this way to be undone by one man. He has to go.”

  Stell felt weary. No, he felt woozy. His defenses and cognitive reasoning began to melt. His vision slowly began to double.

  The queen held up the empty drink container. “I gave you a little something to help you sleep, Stell. You’ve been under a huge strain.”

  He looked at her with hate in his eyes.

  “Don’t harm Kor.” He tried to shout the words but they came out slurred and distorted.

  The queen understood his meaning. “Don’t hate me,” she said. “Sleep. You’ll see, it’s all for the best.”

  Stell’s thin arms twitched as he tried to resist. His muscles were flaccid. His eyes were wild in frustration and anger and then they glazed over and shut. He slumped in his chair and slept.

  CHAPTER73

  The bomber was a young man. He would have been handsome had it not been for the unkempt bush of black facial hair that smothered his face. His eyes criss-crossed the room, looking for a trap, as he was led into H’s former office.

  “Ah, my brave warrior,” the queen purred, masking her amused indifference. “You have come to ferret out the infidels, have you?”

  His eyes were watery and red. His fanaticism was liquid. “I have a holy mission to rid the world of the Satan of all Devils.”

  “Of course you do. And God blesses you.”

  He felt the warmth of her words and sensed she was a Believer.

  “I couldn’t help but notice your coat of weapons,” she said, referring to his chest pack of high explosives.

  “I serve God.”

  “Don’t we all,” she said without feeling, and yet there was a hidden message of mysticism.

  He looked up warily.

  �
�Tell me, warrior, do you understand the gravity of your mission?”

  “I do. This is what I was born to do.”

  “And what’s that?” She began to push the youth. He must follow her directions obediently.

  “To create chaos in the land of the infidel. So they will see the great Satan for what he is and rise up and slaughter him and his kind.”

  She hesitated for an instant, unnerved by his naive belief. “You have been well trained by your mullah. God will bless him with everything he deserves.”

  “God will save all who believe,” was the simple reply of the youth. “And kill the rest.”

  The queen gave the man the directions for his holy mission. The underground bunker beneath the Smithsonian would soon be the grave of Kor.

  Amonda never knew about the suicide bomber. The queen kept her unconscious after learning all she needed to know about the meeting between Stell and Kor. Amonda was a powerful wizard, but the queen was the one who created her. Her power dwarfed Amonda’s.

  Few could conceive what willpower it took for Amonda to recover from the queen’s mental onslaught and claw herself back to consciousness from the dark abyss. She was like someone who had just held their breath for four minutes and was now breaking the water’s surface. There was nothing sweeter, more precious than air and consciousness.

  Amonda broke through with a scream and a howl. She began to recover her senses.

  She found herself locked in a spare office. She exploded from her place of confinement and slowly, painfully, crawled up the stairs, one by one, to the rooftop. Her physical strength had been sapped as severely as her mental will had been attacked. She conjured up her skills of wizardry, and blew apart the locked steel rooftop door.

  She clung to various tree branches and lawn furniture on her way to the transporter. Grasping the open sides of the transporter door, she flung herself up and in.

  She spotted Stell slumped and unconscious in one of the command seats. “Stell! Stell! You’ve got to get up!”

  Stell, hearing her voice, began to stir. He groaned when he heard his name. His huge, black eyes blinked like an owl’s several times as his mind began the journey back to the here and now. It took several minutes, but he was able to sit up on his own.