“So, what are we going to do with them?” Ngi asked Bosternd, nodding towards the man, whose memory the Thestrans were watching. Ngi was busy unhooking his armor. He had come late to the gathering and was still suited for battle. He dropped his chest and back plates onto the ground by his chair and stretched.
“That’s up to Aul,” Bosternd said. “He wanted to be in charge and now he is.”
“But he’s useless,” Nk said. He inhaled on his Tgarian cigarette, holding his breath for a minute before letting the smoke roll out of his mouth.
The Thestran Delegates had only just learned that Surpens used Tgarus weed. Although they were not surprised to see the weed, they were shocked to see Surpen’s generals partaking of it.
“Not only is he useless, but he’s dumber than an ass,” Nk said. The other generals chuckled in agreement.
“I asked Aul what he wants me to do with the prisoners,” Bosternd told the others. “But I don’t expect to get a reply back from him for at least a week.”
“Figures,” Ngi grumbled, unhooking his shin guards.
“Hey,” Bosternd said quietly. He sat up in his chair. “Would you look at that?” In the distance, he could see Rhen walking across the field.
“What?” Nk asked.
“Rhen’s not chained up anymore,” Bosternd told him. The other generals shot to their feet to get a look at Rhen. He was walking towards the Surpen Castle with his head down. It appeared as if he had been visiting with the Surpen Beasts of War and was now on his way back home. The generals hadn’t seen him walking around on his own in a long time. “Andres must have released him,” Bosternd said. “I wonder why.”
“Hey, not going to stop and shoot the breeze with some old friends!” Ngi yelled in Rhen’s direction.
Rhen stopped walking. They watched as his pointy ears turned towards them. He lifted his head up, to see who had spoken, and turned to walk towards them. “Crap,” Ngi said quietly. “I didn’t expect him to come over here.”
“What do we do?” Authe asked the others. He didn’t feel comfortable around Rhen anymore, so he was hoping the others would tell him he could leave.
“Nothing,” Bosternd said. “We treat Rhen like nothing has happened.” The generals sat back down on their chairs. Out of the blue, Bosternd turned towards the prisoners and pointed at the soldier, whose memory the Thestrans were watching. “Listen to what we say and watch what happens. If you do, I will find a way to set you free. Do you understand?” The man nodded, so Bosternd turned back to face the fire. A moment later, Rhen wandered down a small slope to join them.
The Thestrans were shocked, when they saw Rhen. He had become the animal in the book that Lilly had found. His body was two times larger than a horse’s. He was green in color and had a thick, scaly hide and long neck. Rhen’s head was large and he had glowing, red eyes and pointy, fuzzy, green ears. There were sharp fangs sticking out of his mouth. He had small wings, which were tucked into his body and a row of spikes that ran down his spine all the way out to the tip of his green tail. Rhen’s front and back feet had vicious looking talons. He flexed them as he walked across the sandy grass towards the generals’ fire.
Stopping by Ngi, Rhen gazed at his old friends before sitting down on his back haunches. The generals regarded their Prince in the glow of the fire light without speaking. His red, glimmering eyes looked menacing. The horrible blue collar around his neck caught the reflection of the flames from the fire, making him appear like a creature from Hell.
“They let you out for a stroll?” Nk asked Rhen. Authe slapped at him to be quiet.
Rhen gazed at them, wondering why Authe would slap Nk for his question. With a bob of his head, Rhen said, “I did well in battle today, so Dad is letting me take a walk before dinner.”
“How… generous,” Ngi said with sarcasm, while Authe flailed about in his chair.
Rhen stared at Authe as they sat in silence. He didn’t see the need to comment on Ngi’s sarcasm. After a few minutes, he asked, “Has Authe been—”
“Yes,” Bosternd told him.
Rhen grinned, showing off his long, sharp fangs. Authe always acted strange, when he partook of Tgarus weed. Rhen watched Authe in the hopes of seeing him flail about comically, but Authe remained still. He was too afraid to move while Rhen’s red eyes were boring into him.
After five minutes, during which no one spoke, Rhen stood up to leave. “Thrilling conversations you guys have,” he said, turning to go.
“Well, we were talking about the Thestrans,” Bosternd lied. “But we thought you might be uncomfortable discussing them, considering you knew so many of them.”
Rhen turned around to face the generals. He swished his tail back and forth with vigor before sitting down on his hind legs as he waited for them to restart their conversation.
“I still think Thestran women would be better in bed than Surpen women,” Authe said, scratching at his left armpit.
Rhen chuckled at the sight of him. He loved watching Authe, when he was high. Feeling himself relax for the first time in months, Rhen dropped his body down onto the ground to rub his head in the dirt. He stroked his head back and forth, pulling up large clumps of grass in the process.
Bosternd’s mouth dropped open at the sight of him. Rhen looked like an animal taking a dirt bath to rid itself of fleas and ticks. After a brief pause, during which the generals stared at Rhen with disbelief, they continued their conversation. “Surpen women are just as good as Thestran women, if not better,” Nk said. He handed his cigarette over to Authe.
“You’re just tied up by your woman,” Ngi told him. Nk growled.
For no reason, Authe hiccupped with laughter. The sound was so bizarre that all of them laughed. Rhen bared his long sharp fangs in a smile. It had been a long time, since he had had so much fun.
“So,” Authe said. He went from laughing to sobbing. “D… D… Did you hear that the Black Angel is g… g… gone?” Ngi handed Authe a towel for his face and Authe sobbed into it. As he cried, he would fling his left leg out into the air at unpredictable moments.
“Did someone kill him?” Ngi asked. He already knew the Black Angel was missing, but they didn’t have anything else to talk about with Rhen.
“No,” Nk said, gesticulating with his cigarette. “The Angel has disappeared. No one has any idea why, but he hasn’t saved anyone in months.”
“Some say you killed him, Rhen,” Bosternd murmured in Rhen’s direction. The other generals stared at Bosternd. They had all heard that rumor but were too afraid to mention it.
During their conversation, Rhen had returned to rubbing his head in the dirt. A large, dust ball had formed around him. After Bosternd spoke, Rhen jerked his head up from the ground to look at his old friends. An inch of dirt cascaded down his snout onto the grass. Despite themselves, the generals laughed. Rhen smiled in response, baring his fangs. He snorted, blowing the remaining dirt off of him and onto them. The generals jumped up and stared at their clothing in horror. Rhen laughed and they joined in, hitting at their clothes with their hands to remove some of the dirt. Authe was smacking his back with such force that he was going to give himself bruises. “We all need baths now,” Nk said, pounding on his chest to remove some dirt that had lodged under his tunic.
“Yeah,” Ngi said, doing the same.
Authe turned his dirty face towards Rhen. “So, Rhen, did you kill the Black Angel?”
Without hesitating, Rhen nodded. “Absolutely,” he told Authe. “During our battle on Solar System 24, I saw the Black Angel heroically dive down to save some jerk, so I ate him. Yup,” Rhen said, patting his side with one of his claws. “He was delicious.”
A silence followed Rhen’s words. It wasn’t until Bosternd started to chuckle, followed by Rhen, that the generals realized Rhen had been teasing them. “Oh, my God, I thought you were serious,” Ngi yelled out, wiping at his dirty face with his hands. He was feeling ashamed of the fact that he had believed Rhen.
“He’s not?�
� Authe asked. Ngi swiped at him with a hand.
“No, Authe,” Ngi said. “He was teasing us.”
“Just like he used to,” Authe said in a dreamy voice. “Do you remember how he used to tease us?” Authe asked Nk. Nk nodded and turned back to Rhen.
“Have you ever seen the Black Angel?” Nk asked.
“Nope and I hope I never do,” Rhen told him. “I mean really. What a load of crap. Running around the Universe saving people. Who the hell cares? What’s the point? We’re all going to die soon anyway. Why prolong the misery?”
The generals fell silent. They knew Rhen was thinking about Ceceta. They hoped Jet had saved her, but there was no way for them to find out. Just as the Thestrans couldn’t get any information about them, they had no idea what was going on in the rest of the Universe.
“I don’t want to die. My wife is pregnant with our 9th child. I want to see if I get another boy or a girl this time,” Nk told the group.
“What on Surpen would you do with a girl Nk?” Ngi teased him.
“I’d love her forever and ever and ever,” he told them. “She’d be my little angel.”
Rhen snorted and glanced towards the prisoners. He would never have a family. He would never marry again. He was jealous of Nk and had grown annoyed by his company. “Why are they here?” Rhen barked at the generals, when he saw the prisoners watching them. “I thought my Dad ordered you to put them in the dungeon.”
“The dungeons are full,” Ngi told him. “The jails are full. Punishment Island is full and the holding pens are full. We can’t fit them anywhere.”
“Well, then put them in their own dungeons on System 41 or release them. They can’t stay here or someone will decide to kill them,” Rhen told him.
“Rhen,” Bosternd said with hesitation, “you’ve been killing so many people lately—”
“I’m not killing anyone,” Rhen interrupted with a snarl.
“Uh, yes, you are,” Bosternd said. He hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by antagonizing Rhen.
“My Dad is killing people,” Rhen growled. “I’m just doing my job by carrying out his orders. My role is no different than yours. You told me that yourself, after we conquered Solar System 28.”
Bosternd was caught. Those had been his words to Rhen, but now he needed to push Rhen into realizing that he was enabling his father’s success. Rhen could end Surpen’s reign of terror today if he wanted to. “Yes, you’re right,” Bosternd said. “But what we’re doing is wrong. It must end.”
Rhen snorted. “Really Bosternd. I’m surprised by you. I thought you wanted Surpen to be glorious.”
“It is glorious,” Bosternd yelled. He held up his hand in the ensuing silence. He knew from experience that yelling at Rhen wouldn’t work. Taking a breath, he continued, “Now, it can stop. Remember what we used to talk about?”
“I don’t remember anything,” Rhen said, sounding tired as he rose to go. “All I remember is… pain.”
Bosternd lunged forward, putting his hand on Rhen’s scaly shoulder. “So, stop it,” he pleaded with Rhen in a fierce whisper.
Rhen looked at him with his glowing, red eyes. “I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. You’re the only one who can. You’re invincible. Stop this craziness.” Rhen didn’t answer. Bosternd grew concerned that he might have gone too far. Back peddling, he asked, “What pain are you talking about?”
At that comment, Rhen turned to leave. “No. Wait Rhen. Please,” Bosternd urged. Rhen paused to look back at him. “I misunderstood you. Can you help me?” Bosternd asked, his eyes pleading.
Rhen shook his head. “Bosternd, I can’t help anyone or anything. It’s over for me.”
“No, it’s the beginning Rhen. It’s not the end. You can stop it, all of it,” Bosternd reiterated. “You’re in control, not Andres.”
“You don’t understand,” Rhen growled.
“Well then help me. I’m your friend. Help me, help you.”
Rhen was quiet for a moment then he gave a sad chuckle. “I think I sang a song about that once,” he said. Turning away from the group, he walked towards his father’s castle.
Bosternd’s shoulders dropped and he sighed. “We almost had him. He was so close to speaking openly with us, but then he just shut down and walked off.”
After a few minutes, Nk asked, “So, what do we do now?”
“I don’t know. It’s always so difficult to get a chance to speak to him alone, and just now, when we had the opportunity, we didn’t accomplish a thing. I wish I knew what to do next.”
“We need to report to the Opposition Leader,” Nk mentioned.
“I think Rhen is ready for a change,” Authe said.
“No,” Ngi said. “I think we waited too long. He’s lost hope. I don’t think we’ll be able to get him back.”
“The Leader insists there’s still hope. According to the Leader, Rhen is still fair game. That’s why Andres hasn’t attacked Thestran yet. He’s afraid of losing control of Rhen, when he challenges the Thestrans.”
“But Rhen does whatever Andres asks,” Authe said. “He’s not fighting Andres.”
“Rhen does whatever Andres asks of him, when we’re at war with planets that he has no ties to,” Nk clarified.
“Correct,” Bosternd said. “But here at home, in private, he sticks it to Andres. We’ve all seen him do it. He’s very subtle about it, but Andres knows what’s happening.”
“He won’t attack Thestran,” Authe said, scratching at his left armpit again.
“Who knows,” Bosternd said. “That’s the problem. Who knows where his heart lies.”
Rhen wasn’t opening up to anyone. If the Opposition Force were to act now, Rhen might turn against them to protect Andres. If Andres were to order Rhen to eliminate Thestran, he might turn against Surpen. No one knew where Rhen’s allegiance lay.
“We’re in a stalemate,” Nk said.
“Yes,” Bosternd said. “And the ones who will suffer the most are the smaller planets that surround us.”
“Is the Leader still considering the possibility that we will have to kill Rhen?” Ngi asked the others. Bosternd nodded as Ngi said, “How do you kill Rhen?”
Nk gave him a strained smile. “Very, carefully.”
“No one is killing Rhen,” Bosternd snapped. “We still haven’t used our greatest weapon in this battle.”
“The Ceceta factor,” Authe said quietly.
“Yes, assuming Jet did his job and she’s still alive,” Bosternd told them.
Bosternd turned to stare at the soldier, whose memory the Thestrans were watching. To the generals, he said, “I’m going to take a chance and send that one to Thestran. The Thestrans need to know we’re trying to stop this situation from the inside. Take the others and release them on Solar System 41.”
Nk laughed. “You’re following Rhen’s orders? You’re not going to wait for Aul?”
Bosternd gave him a wicked grin. “That’s right. I am going to follow Rhen’s orders. I want to make Rhen’s relationship with Aul and Andres as difficult as I can. As Loreth works to heal the rift between them, I’m going to do whatever I can to make it deeper.” He was feeling desperate. Rhen needed to come to a decision. They couldn’t keep waiting forever.
“You’re just going to get Rhen punished,” Ngi said. “I don’t agree with your plan. I don’t want Rhen to get in trouble.”
“Maybe it will force him to choose a side,” Nk said. He rose to his feet. “Things can’t continue like this anymore.” He regarded the prisoners from System 41 and waved for a battalion of Surpen soldiers to approach. They had work to do. They had prisoners to release.
There was a swirling in the minds of the Thestrans and they felt themselves returning to the present. “Wow,” Reed said.
“Wow, is right,” James said.
None of them could believe what they had seen. Aul was in charge, Rhen looked terrible and the Opposition Force was desperate.
“Sounds as if they want us to
wait,” the Zorthan King said, from his temporary seat on the Council Chamber.
“Yes,” James said. “It does.”
“Shall we vote?” the Vivist King clicked mockingly. He thought it was ridiculous that James was King of Thestran and yet he followed his Council’s decisions, even if he disagreed with them.
James stared at the Vivist King. His large, hairy, grey, scorpion body looked offensive in the Council Chamber. Both sets of his beady eyes were pointing towards James. James wished he could throw the Convention members out of the Council, but he needed them as much as they needed him right now. “Does the Council have any objection to waiting until we hear from the Surpen Opposition Force before we mobilize?” James asked the room. No objections were made, so James rang the bell to signify the decision had been made. He was pleased the Zorthans had stopped asking everyone to attack Surpen. It seemed they had finally realized the futility of attacking Surpen at the present time. No one could beat Rhen or his army. This was one battle that needed to be waged internally.
Later that week, Rachel developed an antidote to the virus in Rhen’s blood. The Thestran Royal Family was overjoyed by the news. They could save Rhen. The only problem was that the antidote had to be administered over six days, one shot for each day.
A few weeks later, the Thestran Council received word that Surpen had conquered Solar System 43. It seemed the Opposition Force had yet to connect with Rhen.
--
Bosternd hadn’t seen much of Rhen in recent days. He barked at his men to keep the prisoners from System 43 in line and wondered if he would see Rhen, when he passed the Throne Room. Peering in, Bosternd noticed the room was empty. He felt himself flush with anger at the sight of the chains for Rhen’s collar. When they reached the anteroom to Andres’ study, Bosternd heard people arguing, so he told his men to halt. They stood in silence in the anteroom, waiting for the King’s meeting to end and listening in on his conversation.
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