The Broken Reign

by Jeremy Michelson

“Well, target it and fire.”

  “I’m afraid I can’t do that, Captain,” the ship said, “Weapons systems are locked. Please input the code to release them.”

  The Captain sighed and slumped against the chair. “Probably just as well,” he said, “Okay, are you flight worthy? Can you lift off and make orbit?”

  "Yes, Captain. Flight systems are coming online. Telemetry is feeding to navigation consoles now."

  Pete and Tony sat down at the console. "Holy crap, Cap," Tony said, "This thing says it can make orbit in twenty-one seconds."

  “Without smearing us on the floor?” the Captain asked.

  Lou dropped down into a chair and started moving his hands across the console.

  “The ship has inertial dampeners,” he said, “Says they’re ready.”

  “Captain, do you have coordinates?” the ship asked.

  “Sure,” Captain Kelsey said. He rattled off the coordinates The Red Witch had given him.

  “Coordinates confirmed,” the ship said, “Permission to lift off?”

  The Captain put his chin on his hand. He seemed amused. “You bet. Get us off this rock,” he said. He shook his head. “I don’t know why that girl needed a pilot. This ship seems to do fine all by itself.”

  Vazsa felt a sense of motion. She looked at the big screen. They seemed to be slowly rising. The soldiers had stopped fighting and were staring open-mouthed. Except for one.

  She recognized King Hurdroth. He was at the front of the crowd. His face was red and his mouth moved like he was shouting. He jabbed his sword into the sky over and over.

  She wished the weapons systems were active. There was no doubt in her mind a single shot from this ship would wipe him from the planet’s face.

  They rose for several seconds. The view on the screen rotated to the grey clouds in the sky. She felt a pressure and suddenly the clouds were parting. For an instant, she saw blue sky. Then the sky purpled and went black. On the screen, stars appeared.

  The view panned and something amazing rose from the bottom of the screen. A blue, green and white curve.

  “Is that...” she started to ask. Words failed her.

  Lou took her small hand in his rough one. “That’s your world, girl,” he said, “Looks peaceful from up above, doesn’t it?”

  “We have arrived at the coordinates, Captain,” the ship said, “What is your command?”

  They all looked to the Captain. He shrugged. “Beats me. I’m not running this show,” he said.

  “Now it is time for me to gather Amaya.”

  Vazsa's head whipped around. As did everyone else. The Red Witch was standing in the doorway. In her hand, she held the silver teapot. As they watched, the lid of the teapot popped open. A long-haired white cat with brilliant blue eyes poked its head out.

  “Merp," it said.

  Eighty-Four

  Joshua

  Joshua felt the ground tremble before the ship started to move. He exchanged a quick glance with Kojanza. She felt it too, then. The plasma rifle in his hand was getting hot. How long until it ran out of power? Or blew up in his hands?

  He didn’t want to find out.

  The horde of bearded soldiers continued to writhe closer. He picked off another warrior that broke away from the pack to rush them. He could see Hurdroth near the front, screaming and waving his sword. Joshua tried to shoot him, but he was still too far away.

  There was a thrumming sound coming from the black ship now. With crack of branches overhead, the ship started to rise. A wave of heat washed over him. He saw the soldiers had stopped fighting and were staring up at the ship with their jaws dropped.

  Joshua grabbed Kojanza’s arm. “Let’s get out of here while they’re distracted.”

  She nodded and they ran into the forest. Joshua stopped to look back. The ship slid forward from the rock overhang, then continued a slow rise. He could hear Hurdroth screaming at the ship. The man had come completely unhinged.

  As he watched, the ship rotated, its nose pointing toward the gray sky. For a moment it hovered. Then it shot away so fast his eye couldn’t follow it. A thunderous crack echoed through the canyon.

  The clouds shredded at the point the ship had pierced them. Rapidly dissipating under the darkening sky.

  The soldiers stood around for several seconds, staring dumbly at one another. He watched Hurdroth run up to a man and run him through with his sword. The fighting started in earnest again.

  The sun was going down, darkening the valley, the air getting colder. Would they keep fighting into the night?

  Joshua turned away. Now he was stuck on barbarian world. Lifespan, unknown, but probably short. He leaned back against the tree trunk. His leg hurt. He was tired. Weary. What was going to happen now?

  Kojanza put her hand to his face. He smiled at her.

  “Joshua, we should go deeper into the forest,” she said, “We are still too close to the fighting.”

  “Are we ever going to get far enough away from it?” he asked.

  “No, you’re not.”

  A well-groomed man in finely tooled leather armor stepped from the shadows. Other men followed. Grim faced men in armor, swords in their hands.

  Joshua whipped up the plasma rifle. The man held up his hand.

  “Before you do that. You should know my archers have their bows drawn and arrows pointed at your lady,” he said.

  Joshua turned, looking frenetically. There they were. Camouflaged by brush and snow. His eyes picked them out. As the man said, bows drawn, pointed toward Kojanza.

  Joshua raised the plasma rifle at the man. “Who are you?”

  The man’s eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know who I am?”

  "He is General Hemsdell," Kojanza said, "Kill him, Joshua. He will not let us live."

  “Don’t be so hasty, Joshua,” Hemsdell said. He smiled, holding up his empty hands. “The vessel is gone, but I’m sure there are other secrets of Amaya’s you can lead me too.”

  Joshua’s hands tightened on the rifle. His palms were sweating. Was there any way to get Kojanza out of this alive?

  “I don’t have any secrets,” he said, “I’ve been lost in this world since the first day I arrived. Call off your archers. If she gets hurt, you die.”

  Hemsdell shook his head. “It appears we are at an impasse. However, I cannot let you go. You are too valuable.”

  An armored arm flung across Joshua’s neck. He was yanked backwards. The plasma rifle flew from his hands. He fell to the snow on his back. A heavy boot pounded his chest and held him down.

  Joshua’s vision wavered as pain washed over him. He heard sounds of struggle. Fists pounding on armor, men grunting and laughing.

  He lifted his head. Kojanza was fighting the soldiers with her bare hands. Two of them grabbed her arms. Her legs kicked out, hitting another in the groin. He doubled over, face going red.

  Joshua struggled against the boot weighing on his chest. The soldier wearing the boot pulled out his sword and put it to Joshua’s throat. Joshua stopped struggling.

  “Hold her down,” one of the soldiers said, “and cut those pants off her.”

  Hemsdell’s face appeared over his. He shook his head, a sad expression on his face. “You see? If you had just cooperated, then things wouldn’t have gotten so uncivilized,” he said.

  Joshua wanted to explode up off the ground and strangle the man. But rage wasn’t going to help him now. He needed something else.

  “If she gets hurts, I’ll never tell you where the other ship is,” he said.

  Hemsdell’s eyes widened just a fraction of an inch. “What other ship?” he asked.

  Joshua put anger on his face. “You know damned well what other ship,” he said, “You know Amaya had two ships.”

  Hemsdell barked a command to his soldiers. The sounds of struggle stopped. He could hear Kojanza breathing hard. Don’t screw this up, he told himself.

  Hemsdell crouched. He took a dagger from his belt and held the edge to Joshua’s chee
k.

  “Is there really another ship, Joshua?” he asked.

  “Don’t play stupid, Hemsdell,” Joshua said, “Amaya never did anything without a backup. My Grams always, always, had backup plans.”

  Not that he could remember. Grams always kind of winged things. She never even made grocery lists as far as he could remember. But Hemsdell wouldn’t know that.

  Hemsdell pressed the knife against his skin. He felt a twinge of pain and warmth trickled down his cheek.

  “Tell me where this other ship is,” Hemsdell said.

  “We need to come to an agreement first,” Joshua said.

  “If you don’t tell me, immediately, you will watch as my entire army rapes your woman,” Hemsdell said, “If that doesn’t loosen your tongue, then I shall start cutting pieces off her until you feel like speaking.”

  “If she’s hurt, then I will never tell you,” Joshua said, “This ship is hidden so well that you will never find it even if you search for the rest of your life.”

  Hemsdell pulled the knife away, a thoughtful look on his face.

  “What do you want?”

  “I want to be left alone,” Joshua said. “I want Kojanza left alone. You can have the whole fucking planet for all I care, just give us a quiet corner and leave us alone.”

  Hemsdell appeared to ponder it, tapping his finger on his chin.

  “How close is this ship?”

  Joshua slapped at the boot in his chest. “Tell this oaf to get off me.”

  Hemsdell glanced up at the soldier. The sword came away from his throat and the boot lifted. He got to his feet, body shaking. From the cold ground or fear, he wasn’t sure which was more.

  He stood eye to eye with Hemsdell. They stared at each other for several seconds. What the hell was he going to tell him? Sorry, I made it up. Can we go now?

  “How far away is the ship?” Hemsdell asked again.

  Joshua glanced back toward the canyon floor. The clash of metal and shouts of men still rose up to them.

  “Who’s winning?” Joshua asked.

  Hemsdell smiled. “I am. I always win. Now tell me where that ship is. Does it have more of the old weapons?”

  Joshua sneered at him. “Of course it does. You think Amaya would stuff it full or rose petals or something?”

  “One never knows,” Hemsdell said, “She was known for being eccentric as well as murderous.”

  That sounded like Grams. Joshua wondered how the old lady had gotten herself queen of an entire world. And then gave it up and came back to live in Portland in the little house on Oak Street.

  Why Grams? What was the point of it all?

  Hemsdell brought up his dagger and tapped it on Joshua’s chest. “Where is the ship, Joshua, blood of Amaya?”

  Joshua looked around. The archers still stood, bows drawn. “Tell your archers to stand down,” he said, “I’m not telling you anything under threat.”

  Hemsdell barked a command to the archers. They lowered their bows.

  Joshua motioned to the men holding Kojanza. “Tell them to let her go.”

  Hemsdell rolled his eyes and told the soldiers to release her. Kojanza pulled away from them, looking daggers at them. She walked over to Joshua and stood by his side.

  He smiled at her. They needed a distraction.

  “Where is the ship?” Hemsdell said, “I am getting tired of asking. Tell me now or I will kill you both and be done with it.”

  How about some Dues ex Machina again, Grams?

  No bolts of lighting came from the sky to strike Hemsdell and his men dead. No giant robots. No farting horses with plasma rifles strapped to their saddles.

  Time to keep making stuff up and hope something goes their way.

  “The ship is quite a ways from here,” he said, “It’s in...” Crap where would a good place be to hide some stupid spaceship. A place people wouldn’t normally go. “It’s in...”

  Kojanza put her hand on his arm, “No Joshua, it is too dangerous to go to the city, don’t tell him. He will make us go with him.”

  City? Understanding flooded him. He wanted to kiss her. The woman was a genius.

  “I know,” he said, “But what am I supposed to do?”

  Hemsdell’s eyes narrowed. “City? You can’t possibly mean Aytahan? Amaya destroyed it. Wiped it from the face of the world.”

  Joshua shrugged. “Most of it. The stuff above ground anyway.”

  Hemsdell tapped his finger on his chin, a thoughtful look on his face. “You’re telling me the ship is hidden underground in the ruins of Aytahan?”

  Joshua smiled. “You catch on fast.”

  “He’s lying.”

  They all turned to look. Lord Fortune limped into the small clearing. He leaned against what looked like a man in a dog suit. Or maybe a dog that was shaped like a man. Behind him, his face bloody and misshapen was Dovd.

  Joshua cursed his luck. If he could have convinced Hemsdell to take them on a journey to Aytahan, somewhere along the way he was sure he and Kojanza could have escaped.

  “He’s lying,” Lord Fortune said again, “There is no vessel in Aytahan. There is nothing there. There is no other vessel.”

  Joshua measured the space between them with his eyes. Could he run over and kick the old man in the balls before the soldiers stopped him? Probably. He tensed. Ready to spring forward. Kojanza gripped his arm.

  “How do you know this, Lord Fortune?” Hemsdell asked.

  Fortune limped closer. He gave Hemsdell a weary smile. Beside him the dog man whined, his eyes darting about.

  “Because my brother has been there,” Fortune said. He patted the man dog’s head.

  Brother? Joshua wondered what kind of union produced that.

  “After Queen Amaya turned my brother into this,” Fortune said, waving a hand at the dog man, “We found out Yord had been blessed with remarkable healing powers. His body regenerates itself rapidly and he appears to never age.”

  “Do get on with this,” Hemsdell said, “There is still a battle I have to finish today.”

  Fortune’s face was gray and lined with pain and weariness. “I sent Yord to Aytahan several years after I was sure Amaya was gone,” he said, “I wanted to know if she was hiding in the city. He searched it very thoroughly. There was no living thing there. There was no object larger than a pebble left unbroken. After Yord came back it took him months to recover from the strange wasting disease that had taken hold of him. I didn’t recognize him when he returned. His hair had fallen out and the flesh was practically falling off his bones. The city is a very dangerous place. Go there if you want, but you will find nothing.”

  Strange wasting disease? Hair falling out?

  “B-b-b-ark! Bad place,” Yord said.

  “Holy crap, Grams, you nuked a whole city?” Joshua whispered.

  He shivered. What had the people of the city done to deserve that?

  Hemsdell rounded on him, grabbing his coat. “It seems your usefulness is at an end,” he said.

  He raised his dagger.

  Something whistled through air. Hemsdell stared at the arrow sticking through his forearm. His hand let go of the dagger. It dropped to the snow. He looked back to Joshua.

  Suddenly the air was filled with arrows.

  Eighty-Five

  The Red Witch

  The Red Witch stood in front of the giant window on the command deck of the Cuore del Sangre. The Captain called it a screen, but to her, it was a window. The stars stood out, clear and sharp. Bright points against the blackness. The chill, sterile scent of the room made her shiver.

  Father had told her the stars were other suns like the one that circled overhead. Some of those stars have other worlds orbiting around them, Saven. They might even have other kinds of people on them.

  She closed her eyes against the tears that tried to well up. How was this going to ever work?

  “What next, Red?” Captain Kelsey asked, “We’re at the coordinates.”

  He lounged back in the
command chair, hand propping up his chin. Saven gave one last glance at the window with its bright stars and gentle curve of the world below.

  She took in the other faces staring at her. Strangers to her, and her to them. She felt an ache in her heart. Missing her father, mother, even her sisters. Missing the simple life in the cave.

  Am I worthy of this?

  It was too late to ask such a question. She had come too far, committed too much to this.

  What if I fail?

  The faces stared at her, expectant. None of them understood. Not even the forest girl. Though she, of all of them, would be closest to knowing.

  The Red Witch looked up to the ceiling. A dark web of supports arced out from the center. A small red disk about the size of a dinner plate glowed at the center of it.

  “Cuore del Sangre,” The Red Witch said, “Do you hear me?”

  “I hear you, Saven, blood of Amaya,” the ship said. The smooth tones of its voice were at odds with the pounding of The Red Witch’s heart. “Wherever you are within me, I hear you.”

  “Call the satellites,” The Red Witch said.

  She wasn’t sure what the satellites were. Father’s book had only said they had to be called. She wished father had put more details into his thin, red book.

  The screen changed from a view of the stars and planet below. It flowed into a round circle, drawn in red. Shapes dotted the circle. From father’s book, she understood this was supposed to represent the world below, but it didn’t mean anything to her.

  “Damn, it is Earth,” Pete said.

  “You had doubts?” the Captain asked.

  “Well, it sure didn’t look like Earth,” Pete said, his voice tense.

  The map of the world rotated on the screen, its land masses outlined in red.

  “Hey, there’s Florida!” Lou said, “I wonder what it looks like here.”

  “Probably a lot colder,” Tony said, “This planet’s in the grips of an ice age right now.”

  Their chatter was meaningless to her. She watched as small red triangles appeared on the screen. They hovered around the outer edge of the circle. The triangles rotated for several seconds, then started to pulse.