by Kyle Larson
“No, Kelvin, that’s not what a Gravity Warrior would do. I need to stand with our people. Someday I’ll get back there, but I’m here to fight with Earth Navy. The Wanderers are still out there.”
“Will you just meet her? Please. That’s all I’m asking. You won’t ever have to speak with her again.”
Amelia hesitated and then nodded her head reluctantly. Kelvin turned and motioned to the entrance. The doors parted and Juda walked in, accompanied by her two guards. She was allowed privacy in her quarters, but was supervised anytime she was in another part of the ship. Juda walked in and her eyes immediately went up into the stars. She had hoped Kelvin would let her come back to this room as soon as she came aboard.
A peace had come over Juda, but she was still determined to escape. There was no reason for her to fight at the moment, so she decided to get to know her new home. She was taken care of and Kelvin kept his promise about her attending school. Their first group lessons would be in a few days. Holloway was letting them have a few days to get settled.
“Hi Juda,” Kelvin said.
Juda still didn’t feel comfortable being friends with Kelvin, so she nodded in acknowledgment.
“Who’s this? Your other sister?” Juda said.
Amelia shook her head and scoffed. “Oh, she’s lovely, Kelvin. I’m so happy you brought this war criminal aboard.”
As soon as the words came out of her mouth she saw them cut Juda. All the wonder she’d had in her eyes when she first walked in the observatory was gone in disappointment. Kelvin was angry Amelia would say that. He didn’t want to be cruel to Juda. He could tell that she knew better than anyone what her crimes were.
“I’m sorry,” Juda said. Her face went pale and she turned around to walk away.
“Juda, wait,” Kelvin said.
“I’m done. Just leave me alone,” Juda said.
She rushed out of the room, with her guards close behind her. As soon as she was gone, Kelvin looked at Amelia and shook his head in disappointment, then walked off the observatory. Amelia turned her vision back to Venus, as it got smaller until it was gone.
Amelia’s vision was replaced by the darkness and the unknown.
Queen Eleyn stepped into the holo-projector transmitter and watched her son appear before her. Kelvin was coming in clear, despite the great distance between his position and Earth. She’d spent nearly an hour trying to reduce the puffiness of her eyes from crying. Something in Eleyn told her Aren really was gone. Even when she’d returned an enemy of Earth, they were still at least grateful she was alive. This time she knew her daughter was gone.
Erelm had been in mourning. Just as he’d started to get better, the news of Aren’s probable death hit him. It sent him back into the darkness. She’d joined him there, the last few days. They said few words to each other. They just watched Tube and cried when the night came. Eleyn had enough and decided to get back to her life. She hadn’t spoken with Kelvin though.
The Earth Navy had just declared Aren dead. They found her shuttle badly damaged. It looked like it had been scorched and Kelvin relayed to the investigative authorities that the shuttle already appeared to have been in poor condition when she launched it. Earth Navy concluded that it was either a secondary-shockwave from the Empress’ self-destruction or other space debris. They could find no trace of her, but there was no explanation for she could’ve survived.
“Hi mom,” Kelvin said. Eleyn could see his eyes start to tear up. She knew the grief he shared with her.
“Kelvin, I’m so sorry, honey. Your father and I have been a mess.”
“I know. I’m sorry, mom. I tried to save her. I swear to you both, I tried to save her.”
“We know, son. Your father and I are very proud of you.”
There was silence. Eleyn hated what she had to say to Kelvin.
“Kelvin, I’m sorry, but I have some bad news. The Royal Council has ordered that the Monarch will be integrated into the defense fleet Earth Navy will be deploying within the next few months. They need the ship and we can’t spare any others.”
“What?” Kelvin said. “They can’t do that!”
“You’re right, Kelvin, they can’t. Not without royal approval, which they were given by both your father and I. People have died now, Kelvin. This is serious. When this is over, you can resume the Traditions of Service, but until then, Earth needs every ship it can get. There’s no reason in the Nine Kingdoms you need a ship like the Monarch to be taking you from planet to planet.”
Eleyn could see Kelvin was angry, but his silence told her he understood she was right.
“What if I hire a ship? They can’t order me to suspend the Traditions of Service! Uncle Earlos will take me out on the Lunar Gale. Someone on Earth will let me use their ship, I just–”
“Kelvin,” Eleyn said. “Your uncle is under a lot of stress and there are no pilots on Earth that will take you –– they’ve all joined Earth Navy. We are going to make sure the Wanderers don’t get anywhere near Earth. When you get home, we’ll discuss what you can do to help. You can resume your Traditions of Service someday but now is not the time. I didn’t see it when you started, but I see it now.”
“We’ll see,” Kelvin said. It wasn’t over for him, but he didn’t want to fight with his mom. He could tell she was very sad. “Are you and dad okay?”
“No,” Eleyn said and shook her head. “We’re not okay, Kelvin. We need you to come home now. You might think the Nine Kingdoms need you, but we need you, too.” Eleyn started to choke back tears. She’d never said this out loud, but she thought it every day. “Kelvin, you’re all we have left. Please come home.”
Tears formed in Kelvin’s eyes. The Sellwoods were always so busy trying to make sure everyone else was okay they had little time to take care of one another.
“I know, mom. I’m sorry. I’m coming home. Tell dad, I’m coming home,” Kelvin said.
Kelvin’s transmission faded away and Eleyn stood by herself. She looked out the window at the full moon in the sky. It lit up all the clouds just below her window.
Beyond the moon, she could barely make out the stars and wondered if there was a small chance that Aren looked back at her.
EPILOGUE
THE SARACEN HAD been in the darkness for days. The ship was near a strange part of the Antioch Belt, where the enormity of each rock blocks out large patches of the sun and stars. It was true darkness. Armit Basumak steered the nimble ship toward the belt. He and his people, the Tana Tribe, were searching for the Wanderers. They wanted to join their cause. The Tana Tribe just wanted a planet to call home, but they were willing to fight for it.
Armit thought of his family, his three children, all cramped up in their tiny quarters most of their lives. It broke his heart, every day. He and his partner, Pelagia, were lucky enough to grow up on the dunes of Mars. They saw the red sand bleed into the white and green fields at the edges of the first Martian forests as they grew up. A planet that came to life from nothing, still changing before their eyes every day since humanity made its mark on it.
Mars had been habitable for centuries, but only in the last few decades had it developed a lush eco-system of its own. There were still deserts, but an ocean had formed and continents thrived. Several species of fish and plant life thrived in their oceans. Armit and Pelagia were raised amongst it all. They longed for their children to see it, too, which is what brought them to this dark corner of the Nine Kingdoms.
Suddenly, a proximity alert sounded. A small shuttle appeared in its sights and it looked badly damaged. Armit was the only one on the bridge at the moment, working what would be the equivalent of the night shift. He tried to scan the ship but it was unregistered in the Nine Kingdoms database. This close to the Antioch Belt, there was a big chance it was with the Wanderers. Armit decided to try and contact it. He had been a little sleepy before the alert, but he was wide awake after.
When he raised the frequencies, the shuttle did not respond. He could see the power on th
e shuttle was almost gone, which meant it could be affecting the life support. Armit decided to initiate docking procedures, just in case there was anyone on board that needed help. The Tana Tribe always helped those they could and even if the shuttle wasn’t with the Wanderers, Armit wanted to make sure they were okay. They had the power to spare and could at least help get the shuttle recharged.
Just in case it was the Wanderers, Armit wanted to wake his co-captain and friend, Mela Attez. He knew she’d want to be there when they made their pledge to join them. They’d seen the videos on Tube that the Colonel and Aren Sellwood played. Their declarations of independence and their intention to give that to everyone in the Nine Kingdoms. All Armit wanted was a solar system without borders and kingdoms. He loved different cultures, but he didn’t think it was necessary he had to identify as one. By declaring your allegiance to one kingdom, Armit felt he and the Tana Tribe would be surrendering their culture. He didn’t see it as joining a bigger culture, like most people in the Nine Kingdoms did.
“What is it, Armit? It’s past two in the morning,” Mela’s voice came on over his mobile. Armit put it to his ear.
“We have a drifter I’m picking up. Single passenger shuttle. No registration, so I’m thinking it may be a Wanderer. You might wanna come to check it out with me?”
“Do you seriously think that’s a good idea? We’re in the middle of nowhere, it’s the middle of the night, and you decide we need to pick up a strange, unregistered ship. Are you serious, Armit?”
“This could be our way to make contact. We help them and they help us. Besides, their life support was failing, so whoever it is, I at least want to give them a jump. Go by the armory and grab some electro-pistols if it makes you feel better, but we’re docking with that ship.”
“You need to start checking with me before making decisions. Because this is now a potential security issue, I’ll be there. I’ll be getting you an electro-pistol, as well.”
It didn’t take them more than a few minutes to meet at the docking airlock. The Saracen docked with the craft. They could see through the portholes the shuttle’s airlock opened as soon as the docking sequence finished. Mela handed Armit an electro-pistol.
“I’m not kidding, Armit. Next time you wake me up before you make this decision. I don’t care if it’s Aren Sellwood herself,” Mela said. She drew her electro-pistol and held it ready as she opened the airlock. They could now see into the shuttle and the only light was an emergency red strobe blinking. There was no movement.
Armit raised his electro-pistol and they both went in. In a few meters, they were on the shuttle and in front of them a woman was face down on the floor, her long hair splayed out. Mela, a trained doctor, holstered her electro-cannon to her and moved quickly to the unconscious body. She checked the vital signs of the woman and felt a faint pulse. Mela immediately picked up her arms and motioned to Armit.
“Help me lift her, Armit. We need to get her to medical.”
The two of them lifted the woman, whose face was still to the ground, and carried her to the small medical facility on the Saracen. When Mela turned on the lights and flipped the woman over, she couldn’t believe the face she saw.
It was Aren Sellwood. It was someone she and the rest of Tana Tribe strove to be. The videos of Aren on Tube were often played during communal meals and the crew all spoke of their hopes to actually meet Aren someday.
Mela put an oxygen mask on Aren’s face, and in a few moments, her eyes opened. Aren sat up quickly and ripped the mask from her face. She took in a deep breath as if she’d just woken from a nightmare. One of the biggest reason Mela and Armit had been stunned to see her is it was rumored she’d been killed at what everyone called the Battle of the Gravity Warriors; though, there were also rumors she’d survived. Mela and Armit knew Aren had just come from a nightmare. She’d just lost her fleet and she’d lost the battle.
Aren relaxed and looked anxiously at the electro-pistols Mela and Armit held.
“Who are you with?” Aren said. The calm tone of her voice did not match the panic in her eyes.
“Commander Sellwood, you’re among friends. Welcome aboard the Saracen. I’m Captain Mela Attez and this is my co-captain, Armit Basumak. We’ve come to join the Wanderers.”
“I’m so sorry to hear about what happened at the Battle of the Gravity Warriors. The Colonel was a great man. No doubt his leadership will be missed, but I’ve no doubt you and Commander Anker will rise up to take it,” Armit said.
The Battle of the Gravity Warriors? Is that what they’re calling it?
“The Colonel’s dead?” Aren said, miraculously remembering to fake concern in her tone. She didn’t know these people and where their loyalties were intended for. “You’re sure?”
Mela shook her head. “I’m sorry, commander. My people, the Tana Tribe, welcome you aboard our ship and are at your disposal. Can we take you back to the Wanderers? We were headed into the belt so we could locate Commander Anker. We’d heard rumors of certain recruitment points within the belt.”
Aren thought. She’d had hours to plan where she was headed before life support started to fail and she lost consciousness. The derelict shuttle she was able to hop aboard from her escape shuttle was the perfect way to disappear and let the Nine Kingdoms believe she was dead. If Riz thought she and the Colonel were dead, he would move to claim the Wanderers for his own. If she went back to join him, he’d either banish her or have her executed for her failure at Venus. There was one backup plan she had, one person she thought she could convince to help her, and that could give her a chance to reclaim the Wanderers for her own. It was a long shot, but Aren believed it was her last chance. She had to try.
“No, we can’t go into the Antioch Belt. I’m pretty sure Earth Navy was tracking my shuttle.” This was a lie. “Take me to your bridge. Commander Anker and I have a secret mission, to double the strength of the Wanderers. If you want to join, now is the time, and I will need your help.”
“It’s an honor.”
Aren naturally took command and started her journey aboard the Saracen with lies –– just as she had deluded the crew of the Empress, she would lead the Tana Tribe to her will. First them, and then the Wanderers.
It didn’t take long for the Saracen to turn around and head away from the Antioch Belt. Aren Sellwood smiled as she saw the stars come into her vision. Someday, she knew, they would all be hers.
The
End
The Kelvin Voyages Continue In…
The Lost Princess of Earth
AFTERWORD
THANK YOU, ONCE again, for investing your time in another story from The Kelvin Voyages. I can’t express how much fun I had writing The Gravity Warriors of Venus and how excited I am to continue watching Kelvin and Amelia grow up. I’d like to thank first and foremost, my family and friends for their support, whether it was yesterday or twenty-years ago. I’ve been blessed with encouraging, positive people to always give me that extra push and I hope you all know how much that would help.
I’d also like to thank Stumptown Coffee Roasters for their grant to support the time and effort that went into this book. In addition to being a benefactor, they’ve also been my employer for the last fourteen years, providing me with a workplace that’s like a second home and a steady paycheck that allows me to support myself and pursue passions I have. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the supplier of the gallons of coffee consumed while writing these books!
I’ve run out of words here in this afterword, but I’d like to say I’ve never been more excited about where this story is headed and I hope you’ll come along with me for the ride. It’s great to have you here!
-Kyle Larson
December 15, 2018
