TEN: NOVA BOMB
"Mr. Lysander! Mr. Lysander!"
Dorcas Camillo entered the Lysander home upon receiving a message from him. He went to the dining room where he would usually be, but instead of Baptista being in his usual seat, it was his daughter.
"Katharina? What are you doing here? Where's your father?"
The lean Katharina Lysander stood up and approached Dorcas. "My father had to take care of some things for me before I leave. He wanted me to congratulate you."
"For what?"
Katharina smiled. "I guess you haven't heard. Tortila Suntoris is dead. The Byzants rebelled against him and claiming themselves independent. Whatever you did help us out substantially. He's proud of you. So am I."
She stretched out her hand and a maid presented him with an uniform.
"What is this?" Dorcas asked.
"Your present!" Katharina said. "Your gift is now you're Commander of the king's heroic Democrat Guard. You're coming with me to Crystal Metropolis. Congratulations!"
Dorcas stared at her, then at the Democrat Guard uniform. "You think this is what I wanted?"
"What? You want to continue to be a thug in a planet that will no longer be there. The Byzants will turn on each other just like they did Tortila. If I were you, I would take the uniform and start your new life among the Santos royalty."
"The Santos?" Dorcas whispered.
The maid presented him with the uniform and Dorcas slowly took it.
"Whatever goodbyes you have to make, you have a couple of days to do so. Then, if you interested, you come back here and we go together. Maybe we can talk about what you want to do for fun when we get there."
Katharina kept talking while Dorcas continued to stare at her beautiful brown eyes. The more he looked into them, the more he could see his future.
Perhaps Crystal Metropolis won't be so bad after all, he thought.
****
Crystal Metropolis was feeling the pain of the entire ATM. None felt it more than the Santos king. He saw that despite taking the Force of Arms decree, it seemed as if there was no end in sight. Many times he asked himself and his court, “How can you kill an enemy that doesn’t fear death?”
His court had no answer. No one had the answer it seemed in Crystal Metropolis. He saw that his reign could end in a split second like the former ruler Cheron if he could not find a way out of this.
He remembered going to Cyprun, the ancestral home of the Santos family, and getting many remarks from the soldiers on the ground defending themselves in the devastating attack. He knew that their pain was great, making his pain greater since he was the king of an entire galaxy, and he felt full responsibility for the attack. The former Santos home was no more and Ichiamo knew he had to do something drastic to turn the tide.
The scourge of the Santos clan, gossip, began to appear and before long, he was hearing people talking about his downfall. Even worse, they started to compare him to his tyrannical father Timon.
Going into his bedroom, Ichiamo made a call to his ace in the hole in Solaria. He was left with leaving messages.
"What are you doing about this, Baptista? I have people already wanting my head and you're doing what?"
"I think you want me dead just like the rest of them."
"I know I shouldn't have trusted you."
After so many messages on the phone for days on end, finally a message comes through from Baptista Lysander.
"I'm coming to Crystal Metropolis. I have an idea."
****
Instead of having him come to the Santos Palace, he met with Baptista as his plane came down. He and his daughter Katharina Lysander stepped down from their cruiser to meet Ichiamo and only one of the members of his court, a cousin named Humber.
The minute he saw them, Ichiamo hugged Baptista, and he hugged and kissed Katharina on the lips.
"You said you have an idea?" Ichiamo asked.
"I do," Baptista answered. "I must warn you that it's risky. And a bad move could mean everything we work hard for."
Around the time of the Cyprun attack, there was several battle plans mentioned to Ichiamo by his generals with only the king’s knowledge on it. No one else knew about Baptista's involvement in learning the inner sanctums of the House of Latium and the Troyuvant drug gangs.
However, they did know about Baptista's daughter Katharina.
Since he made a deal with Baptista, Katharina Lysander arrived in Crystal Metropolis already creating buzz around her. She was one of the most beautiful women ever come out of the family or Solaria.
On top of that, she was already established in Solaria and the ATM was speaking her name. Katharina Lysander was an accomplished singer. Her voice was a burst of energy for the soldiers, especially for the famous squad Rooster Boys. As a prerequisite, pilots and soldiers had to learn Katharina’s songs and played them on a daily basis. It was a way to keep the fight in them, since Katharina lately have been writing and singing songs that were about nothing but honor and victory.
Her popularity and voice had reached Crystal Metropolis and the king's chambers. However, this was becoming an uncertainty as his popularity dwindled.
The king and Solaria's main benefactor went to the Santos Palace chambers and from there, Baptista gave him the Dreamweaver device and Ichiamo hooked it on his bald forehead, in which his shaved to show his shame in losing the war.
The minute he hooked it on, his journey took him into the design and architecture of a long, massive missile. Ichiamo became the fly on the wall once again and he saw every dimension of this impressive missile that was build. Ichiamo knew that the design of this missile was the trademark of the Second Renaissance. Its designs kept up with the essence of The Code.
When he took the device off slowly from his head, he glanced at Baptista.
"You're telling me they have possession of these weapons?" Ichiamo asked.
"They had possession," Baptista responded.
Ichiamo's mind went on high alert. "What are you saying? How dangerous is this?"
"Well, from what I've heard, it has enough firepower to destroy an entire planet. Can you imagine a bunch of terrorists having that kind of power?"
Ichiamo shrugged. "I don't want to know!"
It was here that the two leaders conversed with one another, making their own battle plans. With each sentence they spoke, Ichiamo could see his confidence rise again. Perhaps whatever this weapon was, it could mean the end of the war and a way out of the mess he was in.
Maybe he could finally get revenge for Cyprun.
****
Juliet came to see his family and she could see it in Lucius’s face as well because she had it, too. She told them that when the rest of them came back to Solaria, they got together and conversed with one another just to keep some line of communication open during a turbulent time.
They all met in Barao’s middle-class neighborhood. Everyone they passed greeted them with congratulations and was overjoyed in the fight they gave against their enemies. At this point, they were tired, but took the praises and applause anyway.
Lucius tried to say something to his friend Alonso, but all he could come up with was “sorry.”
“They have to pay,” Alonso said plenty of times with the same rage. “I want them to pay.”
Lucius could not agree more, but there was a time and place even for that.
At Juliet’s middle-class home, they had a normal dinner. Everyone lend her a helping hand in cooking and setting up the table. All were hurt, but they kept their control as they got through it the best way they knew how.
On a balcony, Lucius and Alonso spoke with one another, but mostly it was Alonso doing most of the talking while trying to fight the sadness and the tears. He backed his throat down with hard Hungaro liquor.
“She would have loved this,” he said. “All these people coming here to give their support being so proud of us. All that and I can’t even appreciate it because all I think about is…”
/> His worry increased. Lucius patted him on the back.
“Why did she have to die? I should have been the one.”
“It could have been anyone of us out there,” Lucius said.
“He’s telling the truth.”
Coming from out of nowhere was Iago Fenton, the son of Dr. Claudius Fenton, who took on his father’s profession in the war. He went to some of the planets of the Cyprun Valley System, giving out his support.
“It could have been any one of us," he said. "It could have been you. Then we would have been in this same situation mourning you.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you,” Lucius said as he gave Iago a deep hug.
“I’ve never been a people person, Lucius. You know that. I tell you one thing. I've seen so many people and felt their pain more from this war than any other time in my life. Sometimes, I wish all I could do is jump into their skin and see what they were going through.”
“I don’t feel it anymore,” Alonso said. “I thought this was something good. I mean I told my mother what I was doing and she was so proud of me. Now I feel nothing.”
“You can’t die,” Iago said. “And if you tried to do, all I’m going to do is try to save you.”
Everyone had those same feelings. All of their parents were thrilled for them when they found out that they joined the Santos king’s Force of Arms. Alonso was cool with everything Iago was saying, probably the first time he heard him make any kind of sense.
“I don’t know about you,” Lucius said, “but I’m ready for all this to end. This has gone on far enough.”
“And what are you planning to do about that?” Iago asked.
Lucius’s thoughts were to King Ichiamo. He remembered a conversation he had with him before he left for the other Cyprun Valley planets.
“I’m going to Crystal Metropolis,” he said.
“For what?” Iago asked.
“Something’s about to go down. I couldn’t believe it myself. I don’t know too much about it, but the king told me that it was going to make all our dreams come true.”
“I don’t see how that can happen,” Alonso said as he took another swig of alcohol.
“Well, the king was confident about it. Whatever it is, I’m going back into space.”
“Well, let’s make a toast,” Iago said as he shows off his beer bottle. “To the end of the war, we hope.”
All of the boys were in agreement. All of them were thinking about Lucius’ mission and all of them were thinking to themselves.
What was King Ichiamo planning?
****
The king decided near the end of 78 B.E. that his special plan with Lysander would be converse about. He brought his most trusted court, strators, and close partners together. All waited in the Strator Circle, whispering about what Ichiamo had up his sleeves. Lately, people were choosing sides between staying loyal to the king and appointing another family member into the position.
Ichiamo used these rumors to get them on his side, and with the announcement he was going to make, he was going to shock some people.
Before he said anything, he turned to Baptista, who was behind him. Baptista gave a nod and it was all Ichiamo needed as he began to speak.
“I’m glad all parties involved could come here,” he said. “I came here because all of you have doubts about this war and doubts about me. That’s why I have to say my special announcement. This could decide who comes out of this war in the end. However, it’s not without risk.”
Then, the special group came: Second Renaissance scientists and advisors appointed by the Lysander Foundation.
“These men have been working with a special project,” Ichiamo explained. "I will let them explain what it’s all about.”
Ichiamo took his seat and let the special scientists have the floor. Three men took center stage. Two would talk while a third would present them with pictures and maps of the surround ATM as well a special map of the planet Troyuvant with special holograms. It was proven that these men knew and have worked on occasion with the latest technology.
One of the scientists, Conrad, talked first. At the same time, he presented them with a special hologram from a small pocket computer. It showed the blueprints to what was said by the strators to be some kind of strange capsule.
“This is a Nova Bomb,” Conrad said. “It’s has been years in the making, even before this strange war happened.” He pointed out the dimensions and the measurements of it. The Nova Bomb was supposedly the size of one pillar of the Santos Palace. "It’s not the outside, but more of the inside that counts. This bomb has enough elements in it that could literally… cook a planet.”
The other scientist, Conrada’s partner Leonato, spoke. “If put on the right spot, it could destroy a planet completely. The end could definitely justify the means with this instrument.”
They gave close-up demonstrations with the holograms of the bomb hitting Troyuvant. Ichiamo watched the audience and he was correct about their reaction. Their jaws dropped and terror struck them all.
On the hologram, the bomb literally made a mess of the entire countryside of Troyuvant.
“But there are risks, as my partner has told you,” Leonato said, being the more benevolent but concerned one. “This is a destructive weapon. If used, it could mean a lot of lives taken and the crust of the planet cracking.”
“Worse,” Conrad said, "this could cause black holes and suck in anything it comes into contact with. Since Troyuvant has plenty of moons, the ones closest to the planet will be the most effective. Put the bomb on one of the smaller moons, the planet could diminish within seconds.”
Conrad and Leonato talked more and more of the pros and cons of the bomb, leaving some blue in the face. They could not fathom something of this magnitude causing such destruction.
Ichiamo took the floor again. “So I talk with you on this day, my people. We’re planning to drop one of these bombs on the heart of Troyuvant.”
One of the strators, an upstart named Salarino, stood up. “You’re actually saying that there are more of these bombs?”
“At least seven,” Conrad said. "After we had done some testing in a faraway place, we knew that this could be the start of something. So we made more just in case this happen again.”
“Then, it was taken from us by followers of the House of Latium," Leonato replied. "Us being Second Renaissance followers don't associate ourselves when these vile men. Luckily, thanks to Baptista Lysander, we were able to recover the Nova bombs. And we can supply them to you if needed."
“That’s a lot of power for one to have,” Salarino said. “But you also said that many lives can be taken from this.”
“That’s true,” Ichiamo said, “but it won’t be any worse than the lives we’ve already lost from this war. Now all of you came to me time and time again, asking me when this will end. Well, now I have an answer for you. However, I won’t use it without the support of the people in this room, the people of Crystal Metropolis and the entire ATM?”
Ichiamo paused for a few minutes. He knew that this was going to be crucial for the ATM. Someone with that kind of power could be as ruthless as ever, making the people feared and want to harm that person. He knew that if it ever came to that kind of power, his rule was over for sure. At the same time, he knew that the war would continue if a decision was not made.
Thus, more questions would arise from the ordeal.
“The people will never know,” Ichiamo finally said. “But the enemy will. They want death. This is the next best thing. And yes, there’s a concern about innocent life. Well, that would be the ultimate cost. So this is when I ask you what’s more important? The lives sacrificed to end the war or the lives of our soldiers to continue it?”
The room went silent immediately. No one knew what to say at that moment. All eyes were on Ichiamo, and this time, probably the first time, they did not see a fool. They viewed a major player who knew about odds just by watching his forefa
thers.
Whatever decision was made, it would bring the fate of Ichiamo’s rule and the Force of Arms War once again on a threshold.
****
Lucius Gaines was back in the air, on the mission he thought he was not going to get. What was different was that he was going at a slower pace. Partially, it was because he was not flying his typical Ostro fighter. He flew the wider, longer planes that were mostly flown around Crystal Metropolis for recreation and can carry many passengers known as the Beau Lombards. He was the pilot of one along with another pilot from Sicili.
INIQUITOUS DOMINION: The Galactic Classic Page 21
