by Kyle Larson
Kelvin remembered reading stories and fables in his history class about pirates that roamed the oceans of ancient Earth. Most stories and historical accounts of Earth’s pirates involved treasure. In those stories, there was always a map that lead to some legendary island that hid the treasure, usually buried by another set of pirates. It seemed odd to Kelvin that among these equations would be a fantastical word like ‘treasure’. Kelvin looked around and no one had noticed what book he was holding. He quickly grabbed a few others to hide the field guide from Amelia. Kelvin still felt he needed to keep his desire to find his sister a secret. The search for the Pirates of Mercury would serve as good cover for it.
To hide the field guide, Kelvin covered with a much larger book, The Atlas of Mercury’s Caverns. When humans initially settled on Mercury, they used giant robots to build tunnels and entire cities below Mercury, where the earliest pioneers lived. Kelvin opened the giant book, which had thousands of miles of tunnels mapped out. It was an older book, so the Royal Tower and the city Titan were the only things on the map. Kelvin remembered hearing about tours people could still take of the underground cities, even though most of them were now empty. The cities sat like ghosts of the pass, in the deep, dark underground of Mercury.
“What books did you find, Kelvin?” Amelia said, which caused Kelvin to jump. Just seconds earlier she had been further down the bookshelf from him.
“A map of the old Mercury underground,” Kelvin said, holding the book up.
Amelia looked confused for a second. Kelvin wasn’t sure if she could tell he was hiding something from her.
“That’s cool. My parents went on that tour a long time ago, when they first got married. I’ve seen some pictures and videos of it. Looks sweet. Wish we had more time. Maybe we can take the tour after…” Amelia’s voice trailed off. Kelvin could tell from her expression she was equally unhappy about Quen Evet’s request and Kelvin’s acceptance. “Kelvin…you don’t seem nervous at all? Do you realize what you just agreed to do?”
The excitement hadn’t really died down inside Kelvin until Amelia said those words. Suddenly, the difficulty of his actual task became very real. The Pirates of Mercury, if they were even real, had avoided being seen, not to mention captured, for hundreds of years. What Queen Evet asked of him could turn out to be impossible, and if he couldn’t do it, traveling to the other kingdoms in the solar system would be pointless. He would still be king, but not the way he wanted. Kelvin wanted the other kingdoms to feel connected to Earth and he wanted to be one of the royal houses that helped bring prosperity to the solar system. Kelvin could suddenly feel the pressure that everyone in the solar system was putting on him, whether they meant to or not.
There was pressure, but also a great buzz throughout all of the kingdoms about Kelvin and what he was doing. All the Tube he watched, whenever his name was mentioned in a newscast, was always done favorably. People wanted to know more about Kelvin, and up until this point, that was fine, because there wasn’t really news. The only reports were of how close the Monarch was to Mercury, but now that he was here, all the kingdoms would be expecting updates. Kelvin doubted it, but he wondered if that was why Queen Evet was so hasty with her request and how quickly it must be complete.
“Kelvin, come on now, you should finish your reading before your private dinner with the queen this evening. There’s still a lot about Mercury you’ll need to know if you’re going to have a conversation with her about its state of affairs,” Holloway said.
Kelvin gave Amelia a shrug, pulled away by his official duties before he could give her an answer. Amelia was more concerned for Kelvin than she was for the Monarch or herself. She believed Queen Evet was toying with Kelvin, and that giving him this impossible task was just a way for her to call attention to herself and Mercury. Mercury was a very proud planet, but they were also very insecure. The people of Mercury, not least of all their queen, had a lot to prove to the galaxy. They could potentially go down in history as the planet that gave the king-to-be of Earth a task too difficult to handle.
As Kelvin made his way toward the private office to finish his reading, he heard Riz’s phone ring. When Riz answered it, he couldn’t hear what the man was saying, but Kelvin knew it was one of his parents. Every other word was ‘yes’ or ‘your majesty’. Kelvin quickened his pace, being that he’d forgotten up until that moment how angry his father must be with Queen Evet. The Queen of Mercury was sending Kelvin into harm’s way, not even considering the disappearance of Princess Aren. Kelvin wanted to find his sister, so he didn’t care, but he hadn’t thought what his parents would say.
“Lord Kelvin,” Riz said, covering the both speakers on the phone. “Your father, his majesty King Erelm, demands you contact him via holophone immediately. There should be a holophone projector in your study. He’ll be awaiting your call.”
Suddenly, the Pirates of Mercury didn’t seem so scary to Kelvin Sellwood.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE PRIVATE OFFICE was completely dark aside from the flickering figure of King Erelm. For a few seconds at a time, the king looked like he was standing in the room with Kelvin as he entered. Holloway closed the door behind him. It was just Kelvin and his father now. There was no mistaking the expression of anger in his father’s face, but Kelvin wasn’t afraid of it being directed at him. The king looked pleased when he caught sight of Kelvin and smiled. Then the hologram of King Erelm, being beamed all the way from Earth, blinked on and off like a television with bad reception or a slow connection.
“Hello, father,” Kelvin said, offering a courteous bow of his head to his father.
“Hello, son,” the king’s distorted voice said back. Kelvin had noticed all the devices connected to the Solar Net, which was how everyone in the Nine Kingdoms browsed and streamed. This close to the sun, no matter what anyone did, the intense radiation would disrupt the holographic transmission. Kelvin could still understand his father well enough.
“I need you to come home, Kelvin. I can’t order you as your king, but I must ask you as your father. Please go to that dinner tonight and tell Queen Evet you cannot accept this task. It’s time to come home, Kelvin. If what you want is for Earth to be part of the Nine Kingdoms, I will make that happen by the time you take the throne.”
Kelvin couldn’t remember the last time he heard his father speak like this. His father seemed afraid for him. The idea of Kelvin setting off on a dangerous task like finding the Pirates of Mercury brought back memories for King Erelm. The first days when Princess Aren disappeared were the hardest, not that the present ones were any better. Kelvin felt bad for his father.
“I didn’t want to tell you, dad,” Kelvin started. He’d sworn everyone who knew about Princess Aren’s transmission to secrecy, along with keeping himself quiet. Kelvin didn’t want to give his father false hope. “I think I know how to find Aren.”
Kelvin watched his father’s face drop, but there was intrigue in it as well.
“Dad, we picked up a transmission,” Kelvin began, nervously. Now he wished he’d contacted his father as soon as he’d heard the transmission. “It was in the Antioch belt. It was a distress call, from Aren.”
“How? Kelvin…what do you mean?” the king’s eyes were wide. He was astonished. “Kelvin, when did you hear this transmission?”
King Erelm did not seem angry, but he immediately appeared to be frantic. The holographic projection flickered a few more times. The king must have seen it on his end, because when it stabilized, he began speaking again.
“I will have our ambassador send a message to Queen Evet that the Earth Navy will be conducting a rescue operation in the Antioch region. As your king, I declare this to be a global emergency, and you are to order the Monarch to return to Earth at once. Do I make myself clear, Kelvin?” King Erelm spoke with a strength Kelvin had not heard before, but had only seen in old Tube clips he found of his father making speeches as a much younger man. Suddenly, King Erelm seemed like a different person entirely.
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What the king asked Kelvin to do would break the request Queen Evet made. Once again, Kelvin was faced with the prospect of failure from his setting out to the Tradition of Service. If he broke the agreement he entered into with Queen Evet, no matter the reason, it was doubtful she would allow him the chance to fulfill it again, and it would send a bad message to the rest of the Nine Kingdoms of the Sun. What the king asked Kelvin to do put him in a position he felt unfair. Once the agreement was broken, there was no going back, and it would be something that would haunt Kelvin’s reign as king and forever affect his relationship with the other kingdoms.
“I’m sorry, father,” Kelvin heard the words start to come out of his mouth, but he couldn’t believe he was actually saying them. “I cannot break my agreement with Queen Evet, and you can’t send Earth’s Navy to Antioch. It’s clear under the rules of Tradition of Service that if I receive any outside help from Earth, other than the ship I arrived in, my task would count as unfulfilled. I would not have proven myself to Queen Evet, and the rest of the Nine Kingdoms would think of me as a cheat.”
“This is not a request, my son,” King Erelm responded, surprisingly calm. “There are more important things than this old, silly tradition of you bowing before other queens and kings in the Nine Kingdoms. This is your sister’s life we are talking about.”
“The Antioch Belt is where I have to search for the Pirates of Mercury. If Earth Navy is there and the Monarch is attacked by the pirates, they will help defend us. I can’t have that, father,” Kelvin said, remembering to watch his tone. Confidence was good, but he didn’t want to sound like he was talking back or being disrespectful to his father. Kelvin was trying to protect his crown, and he believed the Monarch was more than capable of finding Aren, while capturing the Pirates of Mercury at the same time. At the young age of thirteen, Kelvin already felt the need to protect his family’s legacy.
The words Kelvin spoke to his father gave him no pleasure. As his father’s son and Aren’s brother, Kelvin wanted the Earth Navy to come search for Aren. He honestly wanted all of the help he could get, but he reviewed the rules of the task he’d undertaken, and there were no exceptions. Even if Kelvin and the Monarch went missing, if they were rescued by anyone else, Kelvin would forfeit his completion. Of course, when Kelvin set out on this journey, he didn’t expect to hear a transmission from his sister or expect to be sent after the most dangerous legend in the Nine Kingdoms.
“In case you forget, my son, it is I who is king and it is I who decide where to send the Earth Navy. You don’t have to follow my orders, and quite frankly, I’m more concerned with the life of your sister than your need to impress a bunch of off-worlders,” the king thundered. The anger Kelvin expected suddenly appeared.
Off-worlders was considered a very offensive term, on Earth and throughout the Nine Kingdoms. It came from an ancient time in humanity, where people feared one another because of what country or kingdom they were from. It was a time when differences kept people apart and at war. Humanity had evolved to celebrate their differences and borders. The Nine Kingdoms of the Sun were different because the charter had been that all humans were welcome in any of the kingdoms. Even when King Erelm withdrew from official appointments after Princess Aren’s disappearance, people from all over the Nine Kingdoms could still come and go from Earth. Off-worlder was a way of saying the king didn’t consider some people from other kingdoms welcome. Kelvin shuddered when he heard King Erelm use this expression.
“I’m not trying to impress anyone, father. I’m trying to restore our kingdom to the place it was before you decided to shut the Royal Tower off from the rest of the Nine Kingdoms. Aren and our family are more important to me than any of this, I won’t disagree with you there, but I can find her. I will find her and I’ll do what Queen Evet is asking and I’ll prove to Earth and the rest of the kingdoms that we are ready to be leaders once again. I have the Monarch, I have Sir Ristep, and I basically have a fleet of my own to do this. There is no reason for you to risk more lives than will already be out there. You can’t order the Navy here.”
“You watch me,” King Erelm said, getting ready to end the transmission.
“He’s right, your majesty,” Riz said, stepping out of the shadows. Kelvin was surprised and didn’t know how long Riz had been listening. He hadn’t seen or heard him come in. “You can’t send the Earth Navy into Antioch. The Fleet Commander will refuse. Only Kelvin can request their assistance.”
“You’d do well to mind your business and know your place, my lord,” King Erelm said, with a vicious tone Kelvin had never heard. Kelvin knew there was history between Riz and his father, that they were old friends, but this was the first evidence that it was a troubled relationship.
“My place, your majesty, is the appointment both you and Queen Eleyn gave me. I am to protect Lord Kelvin and by that appointment, I am also responsible for making sure all rules in the Tradition of Service are followed. One of the rules says that unless Kelvin requests your assistance or aid, you cannot do anything that will interfere in his task for Queen Evet. Only he can ask for you to send the Earth Navy. It doesn’t matter if you make the order, your Fleet Commander will be bound by Earth Laws,” Riz stated, calmly.
King Erelm shook his head in frustration. It was true, these laws had been put in place to protect royal heirs and give them a chance to takes risks on their own. There were events in history where nervous parents sent help to their children undertaking the tasks, ruining any chance they had. The rules were changed and made law so the royal heirs could call for their own help if they wanted it. Everything Riz said was true, along with the fact Earth Navy’s Fleet Commander would not break the law.
“Kelvin,” the king said, turning away from Riz after shooting him a nasty glare. “I’m asking you to think about your sister. She should be where you are now. She should be preparing to be Queen of Earth right now, but she’s not. She’s lost…she’s stuck out there. You said you heard her yourself. We don’t know what kind of danger she’s in. We don’t know how much time there is left to help her.”
“We also don’t know if the transmission was one that’s been floating in space for years since she’s been lost. Ghost transmissions are all over the solar system,” Riz interjected.
King Erelm didn’t pay any attention to him. He kept his eyes on Kelvin, who looked up at the king nervously.
Kelvin wondered if he was being selfish and he was nervous to do the wrong thing. Riz made a good point that they really didn’t know if they would find Aren in the Antioch belt. Even if the Earth Navy went in, there was a chance they would lose ships and live, something Kelvin did not want on his conscience. Kelvin was confident the Monarch would be their best chance at accomplishing everything he originally set out to do. It was a ship capable of safely navigating parts of the Antioch belt, and he could discreetly search for his sister while trying to engage the Pirates of Mercury. He just wished his father would have some faith in his plan. It wasn’t as if Kelvin would be flying into the Antioch belt all by himself. He had a whole ship filled with people who were able to help him, and it wouldn’t break any rules.
“Father, I will find Aren. That was my plan all along. I’ll find Aren, find the Pirates of Mercury, and I’ll give Queen Evet what she wants. You have to see this is bigger than you or I. This is about the legacy of the crown and of Earth. I have to do this, father. I’m sorry. I hope one day you can forgive–”
The holograph of King Erelm vanished. There was no pretending it was solar radiation that interfered with the transmission. The king ended the transmission and had given Kelvin his answer about whether he approved or not. Kelvin didn’t doubt that his father would try to send the Earth Fleet, but Riz’s assurances about the Fleet Commander respecting the law were certain.
Riz felt for Kelvin. He didn’t think it was fair a fifteen-year-old boy, just trying to do the right thing, had this much pressure put on him. He watched Kelvin walk defeatedly over to his desk and do his d
uty of reviewing Mercury history and facts about Queen Evet to prepare for his dinner. Riz admired Kelvin’s sense of duty, but was also relieved he’d managed to call off Earth Navy.
Riz wanted to tell Kelvin what became of Princess Aren, but he knew the day where Kelvin and the rest of the Nine Kingdoms would find out for themselves was just around the corner. All the secrets would be revealed and as nervous as it made Riz, he was relieved.
Riz hated secrets.
CHAPTER TWELVE
QUEEN EVET WAS as nervous as Kelvin was about the dinner. She was well aware of the potential historical significance about this first meeting with the Kingdom of Earth. She was older than Kelvin, but age would matter little in the next five years, and whether the young prince completed the Traditions of Service or not, once he gained the crown, Earth would be a kingdom Quen Evet would be forced to deal with. Queen Evet had the uniquely difficult task of showing Mercury was a strong planet, but would resume its relationship with Earth. In a sense, Queen Evet was relieved she could hit a reset on diplomatic relationships between the two worlds, as King Erelm had a reputation for being difficult, as well as her own parents’ past diplomatic hostilities.
One thing Queen Evet and the rest of the monarchs of the Nine Kingdoms wanted to avoid was a war. Whispers of the prospect had been going on since Earth withdrew from dealings with the Nine Kingdoms. The Jovian Kingdom of Jupiter, which was the wealthiest of all the kingdoms due to its control of not only the gas giant but it’s 69 moons, each of which had its own network of cities and mining facilities. The royal family of Jupiter were nearly as secretive as King Erelm had become, but they sent their ambassadors across the Nine Kingdoms to keep trade up and maintain some sort of appearance.