usurper was on the screen once more. Lucius growled and slammed his fist down again and again and again until sparks jumped from the command console. “Get him off my sight!”
Someone pressed a button and the screen died.
“Get me out of this seat,” Lucius snarled. He couldn’t stand the seatbelts anymore. They were pressing him awkwardly, holding his half body in place. He was tired of sitting and staring in space and doing nothing to claim his throne. He wanted to stand up, to move, to get away from there…
“Where would you want to go, Lucius?”
“Do I look as if I care?”
Arrius nodded and unbuckled the seatbelts. He lifted his emperor in his arms and took him to the captain’s cabin where he put him on the bed.
The cabin was awful, Lucius realized, but it felt better than sitting on that wretched seat.
“How long has it been since you last recharged?” Arrius asked him.
Lucius moved his eyes at the overhead, at the dull, rusty spots that covered the gray metal. “I don’t know, I … can’t remember.”
“You haven’t recharged since Doctor Modius brought you back, have you?”
Lucius honestly couldn’t tell, but it seemed about it.
“Gods,” he heard Arrius mutter. He kneeled beside the bed and groped for some wires. It didn’t take long for him to hook them up with Lucius’s heart and brain. “You should rest now.”
Lucius shook his head. Retake my throne, is what I should. “I can’t let the usurper steal the victory that should’ve been my own,” he said. “He must not reach Talam. I have to stop him.”
“The usurper is already on his way to the Bion home world. Even if we throw the cargo from this ship and burn our engines to maximum it is still questionable whether we can reach the fleet in time.”
“I am not talking about reaching the fleet, captain. I am talking about taking my throne back and using the power it wields to stop him.”
Arrius narrowed his eyes. “Power…?”
Lucius exhaled. He shouldn’t have said that. “The throne has powers unknown to anyone else but the emperor and his successor. And now to you. Make sure it stays that way.”
“Of course, Lucius. I feel honored.” After a moment of pause he asked, “Will that power be enough to stop the usurper?”
“It will be. There is one power I find particularly appealing for this occasion, and that is a transmission to every cranial transmitter in the system. Maybe I will even override my flagship and crash it in the sun along with the wretched usurper on board.” But even though the thought of doing that was pleasant, Lucius knew he would rather have the usurper alive, begging before his feet. That would be a more welcoming sight.
“Why didn’t Emperor Titus use that power to stop the riots? To save you, or himself? And why didn’t the usurper use the throne to stop us from running away?”
“You don’t believe me?” Lucius couldn’t hide the irritation in his voice.
“Of course, I believe you, Lucius. But if the throne indeed has some powers, why weren’t they used? None of this makes sense to me.”
“The usurper has my body, captain. My father didn’t consider me a threat. I suppose the energy field around the throne was offline when he was approached. The usurper must’ve used that moment of weakness to strike a killing blow. At least, it’s what I would’ve done if I were in his place. As for the usurper, he is nothing more but what the name implies. And he is not either an emperor or a successor. Does it make any sense to you now, captain?”
Arrius nodded. “So you propose we go for the throne first?”
“I am considering it.”
“There are still automated defenses on Palatine that will make it difficult for us to reach the palace. If we go back to Burnum we can regroup with our fleet and prepare for an assault.”
You want to go back to Valeria, Lucius was certain. Somehow that annoyed him. There were more important things than love at the moment.
“With the fleet we can assault Stratonis,” Arrius went on, “and once we have armed ourselves we will take your throne back. Just as you said we should do in the first place.”
“Did you not hear what I said? We do not have time for such campaign. The usurper changed all that when he announced the attack on Talam. It’s not only about who claims victory between us, but it’s about the lives of my people.” Valeria was right. Attack on Talam will cripple humanity. “I don’t want to be an emperor of ghosts.”
“So we go for Palatine then.”
“I didn’t say that. I said I am considering it. Tell me, captain, do you know any doctors on Palatine?”
“I know a few, but I believe they are drafted for the attack. I doubt we’ll find them…”
“I will need the soldier’s body if we are to enter the palace.”
“I understand,” said Arrius and paused. He was thinking. “Maybe there is a doctor that is still there, an old friend of mine.”
That was good news. “How soon can you contact him?”
“With the cranial transmitter that Modius swapped, I will have to be at least few hundred klicks from his location.”
“So we will not know if he is there until we land.”
“I am afraid you are right. But, let’s just say the man defies authority. That being said, I think he skipped the call to arms.”
Lucius moved his eyes at the overhead. He kept them there while his mind raced through his options. Going to Burnum and gathering his fleet seemed logical and wisest of all, but it lacked the speed he needed. Landing on Palatine tackled the speed issue, but it left him vulnerable without a body and without his fleet. “There is another possibility,” Lucius said, thinking how crazy his next words would sound. “We land on Timor and do a sweep through the ruins.”
Arrius was puzzled. “What are you hoping to find, Lucius?”
“Jupiter’s scepter.”
Lucius could tell that the captain fought to keep a smile off his face. But he wasn’t the first one to react that way, so he let it go.
“Jupiter’s scepter is a myth,” said Arrius.
“It is not a myth. It is a weapon. The Bion archeologists and the abominations were searching for it when my father bombed the moon base. That is why I was there, to find it before they do.” Where I lost my friends, he thought bitterly. “With the weapon secured we will assault the palace and take my throne.”
“What if the Bions or- or the abominations have found it already?”
“You saw the moon base after the bombings. If my body of gold did not withstand, I doubt the weak savages and abominations would have fared any better.”
“But then the weapon might be destroyed as well.”
“Maybe. But if it’s still there, we will enter the palace with ease. Now leave me be. I need to think about this.” But the captain didn’t leave. He lingered beside the bed for another minute. “Is there anything else, captain?”
“Which course should we pursue for the time being?”
“Take us farther away from the battle and give me time to ponder on our options.”
Arrius nodded and left the emperor rest. Lucius didn’t even realize when fatigue took over. He didn’t even have time to think where they should go next, he just closed his eyes and then opened them again in a colorful dream. He was back to being a boy, that fragile little thing that somehow survived with his illness. Lucius recognized the room he was in. It was his room, wide and spacious just like the rest of his house. Portraits hung from the walls of young men that resembled his visage. Two of them wore military uniforms, their chests stacked with medals. Lucius had asked his father once who they were, but now he couldn’t remember. Maybe it was his father’s father, or his grandfather, but he wasn’t sure, they all looked the same.
He looked down from the portraits and found his mother standing in front of him. She wore an elegant sleeveless dress, white in color with a golden belt on her waist. In her hands she held a cake, the one with cherries and chocolate Lucas adored
. His mouth started to water as he watched her put the cake on the table. The other kids already surrounded her with laughter and hungry eyes all focused on the cake. Everyone wore cone hats in yellow and blue. What a funny thing to wear, Lucius thought.
Some of the kids broke into song. “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Lucas! Happy birthday to you!” They clapped their little hands. Lucas smiled.
“Come on, sweetheart,” said his mother, “blow the candles.”
He counted nine of them gently burning over the icing.
Lucas inhaled and gave the mightiest of blows he could muster. It left him coughing and left few candles still burning. Too weak, Lucius thought suddenly aware of the pain in his lungs. He barely got his breath back. In the meantime his friends helped him blow the remaining candles.
One of the boys pulled his mother’s sleeve down. “Can we eat now, Mrs. Carington?”
Alana gave the most pleasant laughter that Lucius had ever heard. It’s almost like a song. She brushed a lock of black hair from her face. “Of course you can, Oliver. Just let me get a knife. You’ll get the biggest piece, I promise.” She went to the kitchen. Meanwhile, one of the boys had bitten off a cherry from the top. His smile turned black and white and red. Oliver punched him on the shoulder.
“Wait for your turn, Matthew!” he said.
Matthew still chewed, his puffy cheeks expanding and contracting.
Alana came back and started cutting pieces for everyone. Lucas got the first one, but somehow he wasn’t hungry. He gave it to Oliver. His friend was all
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