A group of five dark-armored figures shot out of the portal and landed on the ground, each one piling on top of the other. The armor was dead giveaway as to who they were.
Thanonians, she realized, and her mind instantly went on alert mode.
“Ugh,” the one on the bottom said. “This is why I said we’d go one by one. But nooo, you all just had to get in along with me.”
He squirmed around under the weight of the pile of men and the ones on top of him rolled over one by one until he could finally get up. He dusted himself off and tried to maintain a classy poise, which was hard to do when one had been crushed under a human pile. He knelt in front of the boy, with his right arm over his left chest, and the others did the same.
“Your Majesty,” he bowed his head.
“YOUR MAJESTY?” Elizabeth yelled.
He’s the king of a criminal empire? she thought, her face contorting into a look of horror. Just how dangerous was this man?
The men turned to her with a look of puzzlement, as though they weren’t aware of her presence. Then they turned into a defensive stance, surrounding the boy in a protective circle.
“Stand down, Avon,” he said.
“But, my lord-”
“She’s a friend.”
Friend? What’s he blabbering about? she thought, her hands slowly reaching for her dagger.
Avon’s helmeted head looked at the boy for a little longer before turning to her. “Girl, you are in the presence of the great ruler of Thanos, the 83rd lord of the lands, Prince Ryul.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. She shifted glances between this Avon man and the boy, unable to understand what was going on.
“Like I said,” Ryul walked over to her. “Peace negotiations.”
He isn’t a criminal, she realized. He’s the prince of Thanos.
Her eyes widened as soon as she realized what this meant, “Wait then that’d mean-”
“Ah yes, I forgot to tell you,” he said. “The ones who were actually behind all those kidnappings wasn't us. It was the Getafixians.”
She stared at him for a few seconds, then her stare turned into a glare, “You’re lying to me again.”
Prince Ryul ignored her and turned to Avon, “How in the world did you get here?”
“Our Getafixian contact asked us to begin the war they planned.”
“WHAT?” Elizabeth yelled.
“You really need to stop yelling,” Ryul said. “I’m not surprised you don’t know this, but for the past few weeks the Getafixians have been controlling the Thanonian army.”
“WHAT?”
“STOP YELLING, WOMAN.” Avon yelled, and he literally sounded like Godzilla.
“Just listen would you?” Ryul said. “A small group of Getafixians, unknown to the other natives, captured me, and threatened to kill me. The Thanonians, not wanting to lose the only heir to the throne agreed to everything the Getafixians asked for, and so my planet was forced to wage a war against Armorica.”
“I don’t believe you,” she paused for a bit, the hesitation clearly showing in her voice. “But even if what you said was true, why would the Getafixians even do such a thing?”
“How should I know? I’ve been trapped in here all along. Speaking of which,” he turned to Avon. “How in the world did you get here?”
“Portals are easy to make when you have more men and good equipment, my Lord.”
“I know that. I’m asking you how you got to Armorica.”
“Ah, we brought one of the warships with us on the orders of Getafixians, and during an attack we were able to run away undetected in a small escape craft.”
“Undetected is an overstatement,” A voice echoed from the darkness of the cavern.
A group of fifteen men and women walked out, each one wearing a white cloak that had a hood to cover their faces.
The Getafixians, she thought.
“You,” Ryul grit his teeth in frustration. “What do you want?”
“Intruders cannot be allowed to go free,” the man at the front flicked his palm. A shot of wind hit Avon right in the chest and sent him flying into the wall.
“Stop it!” Ryul yelled. “You have what you want. Let these men go.”
“Men who waver from their orders cannot be treated like men,” he flicked his wrist again, and the four other men crashed into the pillars and walls as well.
Elizabeth grasped the chance and ran to them, “Thank you so much,” she said.
“What are you doing girl?” the Getafixian said, and a blast of wind knocked her against the wall as well.
“I’m on your side,” she groaned, wincing as she tried to get back up.
Another blast of wind hit her, pushing her against the wall again, “I’d hate to be the one to break it to you, but your Thanonian friends were right,” he said. “We’re the ones who kidnapped you.”
Elizabeth’s face changed, from hope to hopeless to one of pure disgust, “You think you can get away with this?” she glared at them, the pure rage showing in her fiery eyes. “We will leave this cavern, and when we do, Idhren will hunt you down until you’re captured and punished.”
The main chuckled, “That’s interesting,” he grabbed his hood and flicked it off.
Elizabeth’s eyes widened, her heart clamped, her brain went blank. There, under the hood was the last person she’d expected to see.
Idhren.
***
4-5
“Getafixian spies,” General Za’ad spat and glared.
Carlos just kept smiling. He made a quick scout to look at where they were. A curved, glass building stood in front of them. It wasn’t very tall, and was instead wide. He couldn’t see the whole thing but he deduced that it was circular in shape.
Military base, he realized.
“Take them away,” General Za’ad said. “We will interrogate these men.”
The Thanonians nodded and put Carlos and Q in chains.
“General Za’ad,” Carlos called out and the General looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
Got him, Carlos thought and filled with excitement. He was almost there.
“I know.” he said.
“You know?” the General asked. “You know what?”
“Prince Ryul.”
The General’s face dropped, and his composure disappeared.
“General?” one of the men asked. “Where should we take these spies?”
“Bring them to my office, cadet,” he said.
“Sir?” the cadet looked confused.
“I said,” the General’s voice turned stern. “Bring them to my office.”
“Yes, sir,” he saluted.
Carlos walked calmly as the men, led by General Za’ad, ushered them into the building. Tables were organized in two concentric circles from the outer wall to the inner walls. The General lead them through the inner wall and into another similar setting, where fewer people were working in a much smaller space.
The General kept heading further in until they reached a pale wall that didn’t have a door on it. Seated in this section were ten men in dark suits much like the General’s, but a little less grand.
Squad commanders, Carlos noticed.
This was their sector. Which meant the next one was the General’s. General Za’ad placed his hand on the wall and an outline of black formed around it. The wall rumbled and split open, creating a pathway for them. He walked in, but this time the men didn’t follow him. They pushed Carlos and Q forward, forcing them to stumble in behind the General.
Carlos didn’t get why those men had to stay back. A high profile man like Za’ad would obviously require security. Unless of course, the Thanonians were sure that his combat abilities were more than enough to repulse any assault. The thought didn’t sit well with Carlos, and he was alert as he and Q walked into the room.
The wall closed behind them, sealing them in along with the target they’d been after all along. The room was pure white, which was very weird when one considered th
e fact that the entire planet was nothing but a raw black. A wide desk was situated in the center of the room, with a tall chair on one side, and two simpler ones on the other.
“Here,” The General picked something off of the table and flicked it to Q without turning his head. Q shifted and caught a thin strand of metal with his cuffed hands.
“My men do not know who you both are,” he said. “They believe even regular metal handcuffs can hold you back.”
Q put the pick inside the cuff’s locks and began to free himself.
“Don’t I get one?” Carlos asked.
“Oh please, Commander,” he said. “I know you broke free of your locks the moment you stepped off the hover-carrier.”
Carlos grinned and dropped his empty handcuffs to the floor. Q, who had neatly picked his lock open, did the same.
The General sat down and took off his headgear, revealing his face for the first time. His elvish ears emerged first, after being constrained in that helmet for so long. His pale white skin seemed ghastly and vampire like against the jet-black shade of his fairly long hair. His blue eyes looked calm and yet deadly, as though he were passively letting everyone know he could kill them if he wanted to.
“So what do you know of the Prince?” the General asked.
“Nakiri,” Carlos said.
“What?”
“That’s what the Getafixians call the pocket dimension they use to trap dangerous criminals.”
“We are aware our Lord’s situation.”
“And I am aware of yours.”
“Okay, I’ve waited long enough now,” Q said. “What exactly is going on?”
“You have not told him?”
“No, General,” he said. “All I’ve told him is that the Thanonians are innocent of the crimes they have been charged for.”
“Well, boy,” General Za’ad turned to Q. “I do not know how, but your brother has indeed taken a glimpse at the truth of the situation.”
Q looked at Carlos, who just smiled in return.
General Za’ad went on, “The Getafixians are not as noble and pious as you believe. After this millennia of unnecessary tensions between Thanos and Armorica, our crown prince, Lord Ryul, went to the High Priest’s palace to discuss a peace treaty. Instead of getting back a peace treaty, we were sent a messenger who told us our Prince would die if we did not follow the Getafixian’s orders.”
“And they made you wage war?”
“War is a broader term. We have been asked to take out the rural cities of Armorica.”
“WHAT?” Q stood up in anger. “What kind of sick idiot would do something like that?”
“That would be High Priest Idhren himself.”
Q stumbled a bit at the mention of such a high powered name, but he kept talking, “Why do you think the Getafixians asked you to attack their rural cities?”
“We ourselves do not know. We do not want to be part of such a massacre but our prince’s life depends upon it.”
The General leaned in, “But, Commander,” he said, his blue eyes filled with wonder. “How ever did you find out about this scheme? It has never been recorded anywhere, and all of the men involved are sworn to secrecy.”
“It started when two of our friends were involved in the kidnappings,” Carlos said. “Idhren, who had always been a ‘leave no man behind’ kind of guy, was willing to focus on the war and forget about the kidnappings for a while. It didn’t seem like him at all. I began to realize that something else was going on and so I snooped around a bit.”
“How on earth did you find your information?”
“I hacked their servers,” he grinned. “You say the information was never recorded. Maybe you weren’t looking in the right place. I was able to find one file, entitled Operation ZeQuest.”
“ZeQuest,” General Za’ad murmured. “In the ancient Getafixian tongue it implies the act of pursuing greatness. It is just like Idhren to give his mission such a grand name.”
Carlos continued, “The file had data that led me to finding Prince Ryul’s file. I could trace his connection to Nakiri through that. Finally, I was able to tap into the drones that the Getafixians apparently let roam the city. One of them picked up on the kidnappings’ footage, and guess what? All the kidnappers wore white cloaks with hoods. Those costumes are exclusive to the Getafixian special forces, who are expertly trained in the arts of combat. The final nail in the coffin was that there were no records anywhere of spies being sent into Thanos.”
“That’s because they never sent any,”
“Exactly, so it was easy to go from that lie Idhren told to realizing that the Thanonians were being set up. But I was still unsure of how exactly you were being set up.”
“Well, so far you’ve been spot on.” the General smiled.
“Wait,” Q interrupted. “One of your carriers is over the Armorican capital right now isn’t it? We had that one even fire at us. Did the Getafixians ask you to take down the capital city too?”
“That was a warning shot we were commanded to fire. The carriers have now placed themselves over the four hundred thousand minor cities in Armorica.”
Carlos’ eyes widened, “And each one of those carriers’ weapons activate in an hour?”
“A little lesser than an hour, yes.”
“Damn it,” Carlos banged the table.
Four hundred thousand cities, he thought. How many people were in those cities? The total number would be above a 100 million easily.
“We can’t just kill those people!” Q said.
“We have no choice, boy,” Za’ad looked down.
“Of course you do. Do you think your Prince would like it if he found out you killed millions of people to save just him? And you know what? Even if you do kill those people, your Prince isn’t getting his freedom. He’ll just be trapped in Nakiri forever while you continue to be exploited over and over again.”
“Whoa there, buddy,” Carlos held onto Q’s shoulder.
General Za’ad wasn’t irritated. He was ashamed.
“I understand the decision is very difficult for you, General,” Carlos said. “Either option you pick will result in pain and death.”
“The Thanonians are my people,” he said. “I do not have any sympathy for a planet run by those Getafixian maniacs.”
“But you do not have to kill them.”
“What other choice do I have?”
“If you choose this you will only ensure your planet is destroyed.”
General Za’ad looked up at him, his eyes both confused and scared.
“I found something else under Project ZeQuest,” Carlos hesitated. “They have blueprints for a Level-S Alpha weapon.”
The general eyes widened.
Carlos forced the next words out of his mouth.
“The H.U.L.K.”
***
5-1
The general slumped in his chair, his eyes blank, “The H.U.L.K,” he said.
“What’s the H.U.L.K?” Q asked. To him it seemed weird, and cool, to have a bomb named after a super hero, especially one that could go berserk whenever he wanted to.
“It’s an energy bomb that can wipe out half a planet,” Carlos said.
Wow, he thought. So much for superhero.
“Wait so they need a ton of energy for that bomb to work?” Q asked.
“A ton is an understatement, my boy. That bomb would require energy that was on the order of that emitted by the stars.”
“Couldn’t they convert matter to energy and use that?”
“Of course. In fact that’d be the most practical way.”
“Don’t you see?” Q said. “They’re getting you to do their dirty work for them. The Thanonians wipe out the cities. They dig underneath those rural lands and use all that matter in the bomb.”
Za’ad seemed stunned, “It makes sense. The Getafixians cherish their planet’s forests for all those medicinal herbs, so there’s no way they’d touch those. The urban areas are out of the question whic
h means they’re left with just the rural lands in the minor cities.”
“You’ve been helping them beat you all along,” Carlos said.
“Oh god,” the General sunk his head to the table. He’d just led a scheme that was actually going to take apart his planet. Well, a good part of it.
“Call in all squad commanders,” he said.
Carlos nodded and stood up.
“Request confirmed,” a female mechanical voice said. “Calling all commanders.”
“I didn’t mean you, Commander,” the General said.
“Oh,” Carlos said, and sat down, trying hard to hide his embarrassed face.
“Engage the black room,” Za’ad said. “Disable all data tracking. Lockdown room security.”
“Acknowledged.”
The wall opened up and ten men walked in, each one with a full piece of armor minus the helmet. They all had the same elven face shapes with different shades of eyes, different body structures, but shared the same ears, and interestingly, the exact same shade of jet black hair.
Maybe all Thanonians have black hair, Q thought. Or maybe they all wear wigs.
As soon as the men walked in, the room started to tremor a bit. The white room became a dark shade of black, illuminated only by a grid of lights that had appeared on the ceiling. The desk sunk into the floor and the chairs shifted around the room. The floor rumbled as a large section of it slid open allowing a table to rise up. Q, Carlos and the General’s chairs shifted into position around the table, and another ten chairs popped up for the Commanders to take their seats as well.
The wall behind them closed just as they all sat down, “Lockdown complete,” the voice said. “Black room engaged.”
“Gentlemen,” the General looked at all his Squad Commanders. “We’re in a bit of trouble.”
All of them looked completely calm and composed as though they were seasoned to such situations.
“Commander Carlos has provided us with intel about Armorica’s next-gen weapon. The H.U.L.K.”
Every commanders’ eyes widened.
So much for calm and composed, Q thought.
General Za’ad spent the next fifteen minutes briefing them all about the situation, how the Getafixians were planning to convert land matter into energy that could fuel the bomb.
ZeQuest: A Space Opera Mystery Novella (The Quest Saga Science Fiction Adventure Series Book 2) Page 8
