"When can you take her?" Anlon asked.
"Right after I give you your directions to the Deimos Brotherhood's base."
"I'm going with you too," Camillus said. "You're not traveling anywhere alone."
"Already had that planned," Anlon revealed. "We decided back on the ship you'd go with her."
"You don't trust me with the Queen's secret daughter?" Bimisi pretended to be offended.
"Now that you've finally decided that Bimisi is trustworthy, I think it's time we set things in motion," Falcone got up. "No more taking our time."
"I'll get your holomap with the marked location right now," Bimisi walked over to a counter and picked something up off it. "This will show you where I think their headquarters are," He handed the holopad to them. "I need to get these two to Nesoi as quickly as I can. The Deimos Brotherhood probably already knows of her presence if they're still after her. The quicker I get her out and into safe hiding, the better."
Falcone nodded. "You can go. Anlon and I are good from here."
Bimisi pushed Kanti and Camillus out of the door without even a goodbye. Anlon looked over to Falcone who gave him a quick nod to pull out the holomap. They checked the marked location and saw that it was quite a distance from Kremiville, so they'd need a cruiser, but that wouldn't be hard to get. They left the apartment building and looked for someplace that they could get a cruiser, being on Erebos, they just stole one.
Donnchadh felt the ship land roughly on the ground of his new home of captivity. He slowly started to get up, trying to reposition the chains that were rubbing up against the sores that he had developed from wearing the chains for so long. The ramp opened, allowing light to stream in and light up the cell of the small ship. Donnchadh immediately felt the intense heat, which he could already tell was worse than that of Themis, beating down on his skin. The guard opened his cell and led him out of the ship onto the soft, light brown, sand of Keres for the first time.
He looked around him, seeing nothing but sand dunes and intense heat beaming off of the ground. Beads of sweat started forming on his head before he even made it to the gate of the prison which was a mere few steps away. Donnchadh looked straight ahead and saw the prison that he would be kept in, guarded only by several warbots.
They were placed outside of a tall, and sloppily built, steel wall that had no other forms of security. He could make out a tall building on the other side of the wall that was made out of the same steel as the wall itself. From here, it looked like a metal jungle with several spherical tunnels leading to one big square area in the middle.
The guard led him towards the gate. "The warbots won't stop you from trying to escape, if that's what you really want to do. They're here to keep the things on the outside from getting in."
Donnchadh didn't want to ask what kind of things lived in the barren wasteland. He knew if he did try to leave, he wouldn't last more than a couple of days due to the heat and lack of supplies. The guard took him through the gate, past the warbots, and through an unsealed tunnel. They trekked their way up a set of steep stairs and Donnchadh followed the guard through the maze of tunnels he had observed from the outside, until finally reaching the big square room.
"This is where you'll spend most of your time," He unlocked Donnchadh's chains and shoved him forward. "Try to make friends here, not enemies," The guard walked away and left him alone in his strange new home.
He walked down to the center of the square room and looked up through the roofless ceiling, covering his eyes from the sun. It felt like a giant heat trap and now understood why the judges had chosen it for him.
A couple criminals approached from behind him and Donnchadh turned to face them.
"Welcome to Hell," A big green creature told him. "This will be your home, and your grave."
"So I've been told," Donnchadh replied.
"It's up to you how you die," the creature continued. "I don't know what they told you about us, but we don't kill each other here like many like think. We have code that we follow. You will either die from the heat or the Walk of Death. Whatever your preference is."
"The Walk of Death is leaving this heat trap I presume?"
The big creature nodded. "There are worse creatures out there than you'll find in here, believe it or not. Keres is unforgiving and no one survives out in the wasteland, no matter how strong they are."
"I don't deserve to survive after what I have done," Donnchadh muttered to himself.
"None of us do," The creature patted him on the back. "But we keep on living until the day we die. Make the best of the days you have left, though it may sound stupid here since there is nothing but death and hopelessness with no opportunity to make up for your past."
Anlon picked up his comlink while Falcone was flying the cruiser to the location Bimisi had highlighted on the holomap.
"Adira?" Anlon answered, surprised to be getting a call from her.
"Are you all safe?" Adira asked.
"Yes, everybody is safe," Anlon replied. "Is it safe for you to be contacting me right now?"
"I'm on a secure line, in a secure place. We can talk for a short time before I have to let you go. What is going on?"
"Falcone had a contact who was able to find a hideout for Kanti and he also had a possible location of the Deimos Brotherhood."
"Who is this contact?"
"Bimisi. He said he gets intel for you."
Adira chuckled. "He'll hide her well. He's reliable, as long as I keep paying him, and I'll make sure to pay him well for this favor."
Anlon smiled in relief. "She's already left with him and Camillus to go to the hideout."
"They will be safe wherever he decides to take them."
"How are you holding up?" he sensed exhaustion in her voice.
"I'm holding up fine," she sighed. "No attempts have been made on me, but I still haven't found the traitor."
"Do you still think it's one of your Council?"
"Yes," she replied. "Finding which one it is has proved to be impossible. I think it may be Aldrick, but then again, if it was him he wouldn't be so obvious in his protests of my decisions."
"We will know if we have found the base soon," Anlon told her reassuringly. "Then you will no longer face the threat of Kirill trying to take your spot on the Throne."
"Donnchadh was sent to Themis for judgment today," she changed the subject.
"What was his final judgment?"
"He was found guilty on all accounts and sent to Keres," she revealed. "He will die a slow death there."
Anlon had heard stories of Keres from his dad and knew it was the harshest of moons of Themis to be sent to. No one ever came off of the moon alive once they were sentenced there. He had also heard prisoners were allowed to leave the prison to try to live in the wasteland, but he doubted that those rumors were true.
"I will call you back once we have confirmation of the Deimos Brotherhood's base."
"I look forward to hearing back from you. Maybe we can finally get rid of this threat to Orion."
Chapter 29
Abdul ran into Adira's chamber, not bothering to knock and completely out of breath. She turned to him, furious that he had barged in without permission, but saw fear covering his face. She put down what she was doing and rushed towards him.
"What is the matter Abdul?" she asked, concerned that something had happened to Kanti or Anlon.
"You're going to want to see this for yourself," he stammered. "There has been a troubling discovery," Abdul handed her his comlink.
Adira looked at it and didn't recognize the figure. "Who is this?"
"My name is Vaneese, your majesty," he answered. "I am a trader and a mineral harvester. My crew and I have run across something... strange."
"What do you mean by strange?"
"We were making our usual run near Ovrean when this fleet appeared out of nowhere!"
"A fleet?" she asked, confused. "I'm sure there is nothing to worry about. I'll make some calls and figure out w
ho's fleet it is."
"They appeared out of thin air, your majesty!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "They aren't from Orion! I don't know who they are, but I assure you, they're not from anywhere in this Galaxy."
"That's impossible. I'm sure they belong to someone from here and they just came out of Sonodrive."
"No, your majesty. No one jumps out of Sonodrive where we are," he assured. "I trade for a living and I have never seen ships like this. They're huge. They're alien, almost lifelike in a way. They're like nothing I, nor any of my crew, have ever seen. Trust me, if these were from Orion, I wouldn't be wasting your time right now."
"Could you shift the comlink so I can get a better view of them. I'm sure I can figure out who's they are."
"Of course, your majesty," He turned the comlink for her to see out of the cockpit window.
Adira's jaw dropped in utter horror at what she saw on the comlink. There were thousands of ships just waiting out in space, none from any planet in Orion. Vaneese wasn't exaggerating when he said they were life-like either. They seemed to glow in a way and were made of materials that obviously weren't native to Orion.
"They just popped up out of nowhere!" he shouted again. "All of them! All at the same time!"
Adira thought for a moment. "Have you tried to contact them yet?"
"No. We have tried to stay hidden so we could contact you first," he said. "They don't look like they're here for peace. They look like warships."
She nodded in agreement. "I would like you to make contact with them now. I want to find out who they are, where they came from, and why exactly they're here."
"Yes, your majesty," He kept her on the comlink as he contacted the mysterious ships through comline. "This is Vaneese, I am contacting you on behalf of Queen Adira. What is your business here in Orion?"
An image of a terrifying race appeared on Vaneese's comline. The blue image stared at him silently, not saying a single word in response. The pilot jumped back in his seat, but regained his composure quickly, not wanting to show fear in front of the Queen. He straightened up in his chair and spoke to the race again.
"What is your business here in Orion?"
Vaneese's eyes widened as an orange light illuminated on one of the enemy ships. A couple of seconds later, the light shot from the ship and enveloped his ship in a ball of fire.
"Vaneese?" Adira asked. "Vaneese are you okay!"
"What just happened Adira?" Abdul looked to her concerned.
"They're gone," she stared. "We have a new threat to Orion. Call an immediate Council meeting now!" she ordered him. "There are no exceptions, everyone is to be there in ten minutes!"
She raced down the hallways to the Council Chamber. This new threat was much worse than the Deimos Brotherhood. Sure the Brotherhood and Kirill were a threat to her life, but they didn't have fleets of warships. This new threat was legitimate and could possibly be a big problem for all Orion if they weren't stopped.
Council members quickly trickled into the room, all with looks of concern and worry on their faces. Abdul had no doubt told them what was going on, but they still didn't know how bad it really was. When everyone was in the room, Hildereth asked the first question.
"What is going on?" he exclaimed. "I heard that someone is attacking Orion!"
"I'm not entirely sure what is going on. I only know what I've seen and I'm having a hard time understanding it."
"What do you know?" Alura asked.
"A group of traders contacted me from near Ovrean," she started. "They ran into a massive fleet of ships. From what I saw, thousands."
"Thousands of ships?" Aldrick repeated, in disbelief. "Where did they come from? No one in Orion has that many ships!"
"That's the weird thing. The traders told me that they appeared out of thin air."
"Impossible!" Bertrade argued. "Someone is scheming against us and has amassed a giant fleet in secret where they thought it wouldn't be discovered."
Adira shook her head. "I saw the ships. They look like nothing that is from Orion. I would know of something like this, even if it had been happening in secret."
"I saw them too," Abdul backed her up. "They're alien to us. The ships are twice as big as anything we have."
"I had the traders try to make contact," Adira continued where she had left off. "And there was no response from the ships. An image on the comline came up and there was reaction from the pilot, but there was just silence."
"Could you make out who it was?" Saidi asked.
Adira shook her head. "No I couldn't see the image, but shortly after that, I completely lost communication with the traders."
"Lost communication?" Reginold asked. "Did you try to make contact again?"
"I did on my way to get all of you," Abdul said. "There was no response from the other end after multiple attempts."
"I have reason to believe they were shot down," Adira took in a deep breath.
"What are we going to do?" Alura looked at the whole Council. "We can't sit by idly talking."
"This is an act of war!" Hildereth stood up. "We must send a fleet to meet these ships immediately!"
The others talked while the Queen listened to their arguments. Most of them sided with Aldrick, as did she, but she wanted to hear what everyone had to say. Adira had made her decision before the Council had even arrived and now she knew at least Hildereth would back her, even if the others decided not to. She interrupted them after five long minutes of tense back and forth debate to inform them of her decision.
"I stand with Hildereth on this," she told them. "We cannot let this strange fleet of ships come in and attack us. We must respond with force. Nothing less."
"We must try to talk to them first!" Bertrade argued. "You can send a fleet, but negotiating must be attempted. We are not equipped to go to war with this enemy if they are as massive as you say. We are ill-equipped to go to any type of war."
"The time for negotiation is over!" Hildereth shouted. "They have attacked a ship taking direct orders from the Queen! That was an act of war. They started it Bertrade, not us."
The Queen took both of their thought into consideration. "We will send a fleet, but before we engage in combat, we will make contact and see if we can avoid any further bloodshed."
She looked around the table for anyone who disagreed. Hildereth looked discontent with the decision, as did Bertrade, but neither one of them spoke a word of protest.
"It is done then," she stood. "I will get a fleet ready to disembark and meet these mysterious ships."
Kirill let out a breath of frustration and picked up his comlink to answer the incoming call. "Yes?"
"Are you working with anyone that has access to massive fleets of ships?"
The question took him off-guard. "What are you talking about?"
The blue figure quickly explained of the events that had just taken place at the Palace. "The Council thinks that fleet poses a threat to Orion."
"I only wish they were mine," Kirill chuckled. "Do they have any guesses as to who it may be?"
The figure shook his head. "Their only guess is some alien race, which is absurd!"
"I would say there have been stranger things than this, but that would be a lie," Kirill said. "Do you think you can find out who is in charge of these ships?"
"The Queen is sending a fleet to make contact with them as we speak."
Kirill contemplated for a moment. "This may be good for us. We may be able to make an alliance if they really want to take out the Queen. It will help us attain our goal much swifter than originally planned."
"Maybe. We don't even know who they are yet, so that's pushing it a little bit."
"I will send a scout ship to observe the outcome of this confrontation," he grinned.
"What do you think is going to happen?" the figure asked. "Surely nothing good will come of this."
Kirill shrugged. "They shot a ship down who was on orders from the Queen, without saying a word. Do you honestly think they want to t
alk to a fleet of ships on orders from the Queen?"
"The Council changed her decision to attack immediately, which I believe is going to be a fatal mistake."
"Fools. And she is even more foolish to listen to them." Kirill shook his head. "Keep me informed on the details of everything. My scout will tell me the outcome of the confrontation, but I want details from the inside."
The figure nodded and hung up the comlink. Kirill took in a deep breath and smiled. There was finally someone else who wanted to take out the Queen. Despite what his contact felt, he had a feeling he could strike an alliance with whoever it was. If they really were from somewhere else, which he had a hard time believing, he could convince them he was a good person to have sitting on the Throne after they destroyed the Queen. Someone familiar with Orion who would be able to get the races to listen.
He would just be using them, of course, but they had what he lacked. If they were as powerful as his contact had made them out to be, he would undoubtedly get his spot on the Throne. As many ship as possible of theirs would be preserved before betraying them and ridding Orion of them, but that would come later. First he had to gain their trust and strike an alliance. If he could make it all happen, he was confident he'd be able to infiltrate them from within and wreak enough havoc in order to seize control of their fleets. If he could do that, no one in Orion would dare oppose him once on the Throne. He would rule with an iron fist and every race he deemed worthy to live, would never think of defying him.
Chapter 30
Falcone parked the cruiser near the spot that Bimisi had marked on the holomap. They were surrounded by grey dirt and a lake of lava encircling two mountains. Anlon looked over to Falcone after several minutes of silent waiting.
"There's nothing here Falcone. Are you sure you came to the right place?"
"Yes," he nodded. "Bimisi marked the exact location right over the lake of lava in the mountains, but I don't see how we're getting over there. There's nowhere to land the cruiser once we cross and I don't see entrances anywhere."
War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past Page 26