Seven Crowns (Bellaton Book 1)

by E. V. Everest

  All traces of a smile left his face. Fond memories washed away by harsh reality. His words were clipped. “That was her choice. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be there for all of you. But she believed this would keep us all safer.”

  “What do you mean safer? Are you dangerous?”

  He let out a low rumbling laugh. “Oh, of the two of us, I promise you pose a far greater threat than I do.” He paused to guzzle another cup of coffee, and his face filled with a resigned sadness. “It’s a long and incredibly bitter story. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather hear it when you’re rested?”

  She shook her head. “I want to know why I’m here, who is after me, and what my mother has to do with it.”

  He placed the coffee cup on the table and sighed. ‘Fine. Where do you want to start?”

  “What is this ship? Where are we going?” she asked.

  “We are on a spacehauler called the SS Beatrice, affectionately known by her crew as the Bumblebee. A low-level supply ship.”

  “Why Bumblebee?”

  “Just like a bumblebee stops at many flowers to pick up pollen, this ship stops on many planets, picking up valuable cargo and supplies, which she then returns home.”

  Ana nodded. “But where is home? Where are we going?”

  “We are headed to the Cassiopeia Galaxy, home of the Seven Worlds. More specifically, to Bellaton, the largest planet in our solar system.”

  Ana’s brow creased. It was a lot to take in.

  He studied her expression and said, “Maybe it will help if I show you.” He swiped a palm over their tabletop, and it glowed bright white. “Show me home,” he whispered. Ana couldn’t help but notice that his voice shook ever so slightly as he said the words.

  A hologram of a blue and green planet appeared above the tabletop. It was similar to Earth, but the landmasses were all wrong, and instead of a solitary white moon, there were four of varying sizes and colors, all orbiting the planet. Looking at it, Ana had the strangest feeling of déjà vu. She reached out as if to touch it, to try to remember, but her hand passed through the projection.

  Samuel continued, “This is Bellaton. And these moons”—he gestured to each of them in turn—”are her shield. There were once six, but today only four remain. Most are uninhabited. Used primarily for mining and docking.”

  “But what does this have to do with my mom and me?”

  “This is home, Ana,” he said, stressing the words. “Your mother’s home. My home. Yours.”

  “My mom was an alien?”

  “I suppose that depends on your definition. Earth is a colony of Bellaton. We all share 99% of the same DNA.”

  Ana’s jaw dropped. “We’re a what?”

  “A colony.”

  “How can we be a colony and not know it?”

  “Don’t you remember what those pesky Americans did to the British?” He considered for a moment. “I think it involved tea? Either way, they ran them off.”

  “You’re not making any sense.”

  “The point is it’s much easier to run a colony that doesn’t know it is a colony.”

  Ana opened her mouth and then shut it. This colony business was too much to take. She’d have to come back to that. “None of this explains why I am here or why anyone would want to kill me!”

  “Alright, alright. I’ll tell you. But will you grant me one favor, Ana? Will you promise to let me finish before you say anything?”

  She nodded. Her tray of food was pushed aside now, forgotten. She was hungry only for answers.

  “Our world, and now many others, are ruled by seven families. One for Bellaton and one for each of her moons. The families are wealthy and powerful. Some even have what we call ‘the gift,’ but you would call ‘magic.’”

  “You can’t be serious,” Ana blurted.

  “Each family has a different gift—persuasion, precognition, healing, what have you. In some families, like yours, it’s very common. In others, it is very rare. Even the families don’t understand the origin of the gift. It’s beyond our science.”

  “So, what’s my family’s gift?”

  “Healing.” He sighed. “You promised not to interrupt.”

  “Sorry.”

  “At one time, the Council of Seven ruled judiciously, and the people of Bellaton and her colonies were happy and prosperous. It was a golden age. A time of beauty, art, and technological advancement. But, over time, things began to change. The families no longer agreed on how to rule. Alliances were formed and dissolved. The council no longer served the interests of their people or planet. Only their own greed and lust for power.

  “Jump ahead many, many years. The council was constantly at odds, and the tie-breaking vote seemed to always come down to your family. It wasn’t long before accidents began to happen. At first, they seemed like random tragedies: shuttle crashes, sporting injuries, and ordinary health concerns. But they grew too numerous to discount. Your mother was pregnant at the time, and your father wanted to leave. But your mother insisted they had to stay and fight for their home.

  “Then your grandfather died. Horseback accident…” He trailed off for a moment. “Your mother knew it was time. The date of their departure was set, but as your parents went to board the shuttle, they were discovered. Only you and your mother escaped with your lives.”

  Ana had been wordless throughout the entire story, listening to every word with bated breath, but now her brow furrowed. “What about my brothers and my dad? I mean he’s a deadbeat, but I’m pretty sure he’s alive.”

  “My mistake,” he corrected. “I meant the only surviving heirs. Your family’s council seat is always occupied by a woman.”

  She studied him for a moment. His voice was nonchalant, but his eyes shifted away from hers. He was lying. But about what? Finally, she said, “I don’t believe you.”

  He smiled sadly. “Then perhaps you will believe your mother.”

  Ana’s eyes turned sharp. If this was a joke, it was not a funny one, and she was prepared to tell him so. But then he pulled a letter from his beat-up blazer and handed it to her. Even from afar, she knew the letter was genuine.

  She took it with shaking hands. The envelope was faded with age. How long ago had it been written? In her mother’s familiar looping script was only one word, Ana. She was scared to open it. Scared to read it. These would be the last words her mother ever gave her. Once she read them, that would be all. It would be like losing her all over again.

  She traced her fingers over the curling loops of her name, trying to decide what to do. She wanted to rip it open and engulf the words like a child drinking from a water hose on a hot summer day. But another part of her, a bigger part of her, wanted to tuck the letter into a drawer and never open it. That way her mother would always be there. Waiting. Never truly gone. Always with more words to be spoken.

  “You should open it,” he said softly. “But it doesn’t have to be today.”

  She glared at him. Angry that he could see through her and the wall that she had built up so carefully.

  “I need another cup of coffee,” he said, pretending to survey the room. He got up for a moment, giving her a chance to wipe the pool of tears forming in her unblinking eyes. He came back with another pot of coffee.

  The crewman from the other table looked murderous this time.

  “Samuel, I think that guy wanted some coffee,” she said, inclining her head toward him.

  Samuel smiled and raised his coffee cup to him in a toast. “He had his chance.”

  “And?” she demanded.

  “And I’ll bring it back when I’m done.”

  “No, my family. What happened to my family?”

  “Oh. You landed on Earth and restarted your lives. But the threat did not disappear. Luckily, there were those who still remained loyal to your family.”

  “Ms. Kandinsky?” Ana guessed.

  “Yes. One of many.” Samuel drained the last cup of coffee from the pot and stood up. “I think that’s all for tod
ay.”

  “What do you mean?” Ana asked. “You still haven’t told me who is after me.”

  “Even I don’t have that answer.”

  7

  Belly of the Bee

  Time passed very slowly on the Bumblebee. Samuel barely allowed Ana to poke her head out of her room. “You never know where enemies or eavesdroppers might be lurking,” he warned.

  Ana was beginning to think Samuel was more cat than human. The way he slunk down the halls with his lanky frame, eyes darting from corner to corner, and the way he could flip the switch to near sloth-like behavior. Just like with Petrie, she never knew what she was going to get.

  Speaking of, it had been three days, and Ana was feeling increasingly guilty about her feline friend. She hoped he was okay. She hoped he had run into the cornfield and was catching mice this very moment.

  Ana had spent most of the first few days catching up on sleep, but by day three, she had developed a routine. The days usually passed something like this: Ana would wake up, think of a million new questions, and then pace around her room until Samuel came to answer them.

  Will Bellaton have gravity? Yes.

  Did the people there look, well, like people? Also yes.

  Would she be getting a change of clothes when they arrived? Oops. Samuel returned later that day with one of the crew’s oversized green jumpsuits. She eyed it cautiously, but it smelled freshly laundered, which was more than she could say for her own clothes.

  Would she go to school? To her disappointment, yes. She would attend the Academy for Royals, a school for children of the seven families and their allies.

  Who were the families? Why did they have so much power? There were seven families— the Halts, the Nobles, the Fleurs, the Jacobses, the DuBoises, the Rockwells, and the Arkwrights. Each controlled an industry important sector, except for Ana’s family. The Nobles were known for technology and information. They were hackers, spies, and tech moguls. The Fleurs specialized in pharmaceuticals and research science. They were physicians, scientists, and drug pushers. The Jacobses ran the banks and had a heavy hand on the monetary system. They were accountants, lenders, and thieves. The DuBoises held the political arena. They were orators, diplomats, and politicians. The Rockwells controlled the military. They were soldiers, weapons engineers, and world destroyers. The Arkwrights dealt in commodities and natural resources. They were miners, engineers, and market manipulators.

  Finally, Samuel would insist they break for lunch. They would take their time eating. Samuel would disappear after. She would lie around. Eat some more. Gaze out the glass dome roof. Wonder about Bellaton. Nap. Walk the ship. Worry about her brothers. Worry about Petrie. Stay up late reading.

  Today was day four, and Samuel was late. Her stomach growled, and she decided, obstinately, that she would not be waiting any longer. A girl has needs. And gelatinous sugary sweet miniature eggplant fruits had become one of them.

  As Ana rounded the corner, she caught a glimpse of a familiar fat cat padding down the ship’s corridor. “Petrie!” she shrieked, a smile breaking across her face. He turned to look over his tail at her, and she ran toward him, ready to scoop him up into her arms.

  Upon seeing her barreling personage, Petrie fled. “No! Petrie!” she shouted after his darting body. He made it to an intersection and turned left. She thundered along the metal corridor in pursuit. As she turned the bend, she nearly collided with Holden and a couple of other men. She grabbed the wall just in time to slow herself.

  Holden’s top lip turned upward in a half smile. “Looking for this?” Petrie rested in Holden’s arms, purring traitorously. As Ana reached out, Petrie blinked up at Ana as if he had never seen her before.

  “My poor baby,” she cooed. “My poor Petrie. Did the bad men shoot at you too?” Petrie turned his head away from her haughtily. “Don’t be mad,” she said, taking him into her arms and scratching his favorite spot under his chin. He nestled into the crook of her arm and began to purr loudly.

  A tall, thin man looked over at Ana with unbridled loathing on his face. “Baby?! That monster scratched up three men in the haul bay this morning. They’ve been trying to catch him for hours.”

  “Well,” Ana said thoughtfully, “you can’t expect him to like everybody. He is a cat, after all.”

  Petrie burrowed deeper into her chest and purred as though to punctuate this statement.

  From behind her, Samuel’s sleepy voice grumbled, “I’m human, and I like very few people myself.”

  She turned and raised an eyebrow. He looked as though he had just been dragged out of bed.

  He staggered past the three men. “C’mon, Ana. Stuff and things and coffee,” he mumbled.

  Ana looked at Holden for a long moment, wishing she could stay and talk, but Samuel was already walking away. She shrugged at Holden as if to say, What can you do?

  His eyes sparkled with amusement. “You better get going,” he said. “He might be worse than the cat.”

  She stowed Petrie in her quarters and hurried to meet Samuel in the cafeteria. When she arrived, he was shuffling toward the coffee pot. He grabbed it, walked across the room, and slammed it on their usual table. He sunk into his chair with a groan.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, taking the seat across from him.

  “Nicotine withdrawal. This floating coffin,” he said, raising his voice, “won’t let me smoke a bloody cigarette anywhere on board!”

  Heads turned to stare at them.

  “What happened to keeping a low profile?” She smirked. She couldn’t help it. It had been a very dull four days. She had counted the stars. Literally.

  “Don’t mess with me, Halt. At least not until I finish this cup,” he growled. There was nothing intimidating about Samuel. His lanky frame and pale olive skin bordered on malnourished. She suspected the cigarettes might be playing a part in this. “Tomorrow is the day. You remember the plan? You, me, cargo bay, pretty parade, school.” He took a long draft from his mug and slammed it on the table. “Nobody dies. Got it?”

  She nodded. Despite Samuel’s brevity, the plan was a bit more complex. Whoever had chased Ana onto this ship would be waiting. The solution was to leave not with the crew but with the cargo. No immigration. No security.

  Once they made it safely to Bellaton, they would be unpacked from their cargo hiding spot. Ana would then make her grand entrance at the back to school parade. The town held one every year. It was televised in every province. Soon, the entire planet would know the Halt line had survived.

  “Five a.m.,” he continued, “on the dot. Don’t bring the cat.”

  Ana started to protest.

  “Someone will gather him for you. Don’t worry.”

  One thing was bothering her. One tiny nagging catastrophically huge detail. “How is running toward my problem going to help me? These people, the ones who want to kill me, won’t I be doing exactly what they want?”

  He smiled a grinchy smile. “These people, Ana, these glittering perfect people, grow fat in the night on secrets. The worst thing you can do to them is to bring it all into the light. After all, it’s easy to kill someone who never existed. We’re going to make sure every citizen knows your name. The last of the forgotten Halt line on Bellaton. Talk about the spotlight. They won’t touch a hair on your head.”

  * * *

  The following morning, Ana crept through the silent halls of the Bumblebee. Samuel had timed everything perfectly. The ship was on a skeleton crew at this early hour. So far, Ana had only passed one crewman. Even the lights were dimmed to conserve energy. They’d return to full brightness at the next shift change at 6:00 a.m.

  Finally, she reached a hard stop— a metal door that had read “Crew Only.” She took a deep breath and said, “Enter.” The door slid open. Inside was a small security station complete with surly-looking guard.

  She smiled and stepped purposefully into the room. “Good morning,” she called, approaching his booth.

  The guard look
ed her up and down. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before,” he said in a raspy boom.

  “Just transferred. I got on at Galari.”

  The man’s shoulders relaxed. “I was on leave that day. Got a pal stationed there. Maybe you know him?”

  Ana’s pulse quickened. If he asked too many questions, she’d be caught. She needed to stop him from talking. She thought of one of her classmates back on Earth. Whenever the teacher tried to assign homework, he would prattle on and on—asking questions, complimenting the teacher’s shoes, anything to waste time. Sometimes, it worked. Sometimes, the bell rang, and they left with no homework. Ana hoped it would work for her today.

  She took a deep breath and in a single stream of air said, “Maybe so! I was only stationed there for a few months, but I love meeting new people, don’t you?”

  “Sure—” he started.

  “So many great people on Galari,” she interrupted. “I was on kitchen duty for the last month. Have you ever tried a frostbiter?” She didn’t give him a chance to answer. “Ilzadee fruit cryogenically frozen, blended for twenty minutes, and then not one but two—that’s the secret—dollops of whipped cream.” She brought her fingers to her mouth and kissed them. “Delicious.”

  The guard’s eyes were glazing over as another crewman filed into the room. He cleared his throat. “Crewman,” he barked, glancing at her insignia. “Welcome aboard. Now, please step into the screening area.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” she said. “Have I been talking too much? I didn’t mean to hold you up.”

  He shrugged. “It’s no problem.”

  She stepped forward and waited for the scan. Samuel had promised it would be just like the one in the cockpit when she arrived on the Bumblebee. A pulse of light washed over her. This time her identity was not confirmed. Instead, the light dissipated.