by Tew, J. D.
‘Dan! For the last time I am not a dude. I am a woman,’ she said.
‘Correction, you are a girl, duh. I have my stuff. Let’s go meet the others,’ I said.
It was fricken dirty in Karshiz. The wind was constantly in my face and to make matters worse, my socks were still wet. We had to wash our clothes in well water, and I didn’t take care of my stinky fungus-filled socks till the night before we arrived in Karshiz. I was lucky enough to wear soggy socks. Mariah told me that I smelled like a wet dog, and that wasn’t far from the truth.
The run down was simple: we had a plan. A righteous plan, that was equally radical. Well, basically, it went down as it should have.
“Linc was monitoring the Urilians since we arrived on their ship. He doubled his vigilance when Ted flipped his lid. Well, let’s just say it became an obsession for Linc.”
“Teenager versus the multiverse. It seems like a stretch. What made this possible?”
“Everyone knew that King Trazuline ran a tight ship. He had earned the respect of Zane for his brilliant strategy, which helped Zane achieve dominance. Zane entirely trusted Trazuline. So no one worried about us when we were under Trazuline’s watch. Plus, we found two major weaknesses in King Trazuline’s fortress. One, he held a strategy meeting once a day with his commanders. I know they were boring, because I eavesdropped on them. It was his executive council, and it purported to govern the entire planet of Karshiz. They discussed stuff like the commodity markets, the rebellions in some of the outskirts on the other side of the globe, and exports to planets like Saritia. These meetings also compelled the Bromels to attend. With the palace’s best security assigned to sit idly at these meetings, each session gave us an opportunity to make a clean getaway.”
Two, the other mistake was wicked huge. The captain of the ZF-Targine, the ship that took us to Karshiz, left his vessel for about thirty minutes every day—exactly the same time of day every day—to hang out with a lady friend. That moment was the best time for us to escape. We had the ‘when’ and the ‘how.’
Mariah and I were going to meet Lincoln and Liam at the commons of the castle, which was a giant conservatory, but nowhere near as well guarded. Our guards, bored, were tailing us loosely.
Anyway, as Mariah and I passed the foyer, we accidentally took a couple of wrong turns. We were walking down a corridor of the subterranean castle that was unfamiliar to us. Mariah let out exclamation of delight as she observed intricate oil paintings on the wall.
‘Mariah…’ I said, urging her to keep walking.
‘I have to see this!’ she cried out, delighted. ‘All my life I’ve seen human art. I’m really curious how galactic species express themselves.’
‘Mariah. Quiet for second,’ I said.
‘What is it?’ she asked, alarmed.
‘Don't you notice anything different?’
‘Yes,’ Mariah nodded, understanding. ‘The guards. We lost them somehow. Dan, this is huge. We have to tell Lincoln!’
Our excitement was short-lived. The guards shuffled around the corner, loud and disorderly. One of them said, ‘There they are.’
Mariah hid her disappointment. ‘We were just observing art. Can you lead us to the conservatory?’ The guards led us toward the conservatory, where we found Lincoln and Liam napping on one bench each. Some warriors! Just as we were about to wake them up, King Trazuline appeared from behind a column in the garden.
We were startled. The king’s time was very valuable, and this was our first chance meeting since our first day here—the time when he had ticked us off.
'Let them rest. I want to show you both something,' King Trazuline said, appearing a little nervous. ‘Come with me.’ We followed him. He was taking us to his lair. It was difficult to keep up with his long and hairy legs.
‘In here,’ he motioned to us, holding an index finger near his lips. We passed through a secret doorway in the conservatory.
The king pressed buttons on a computer situated in the center of this hidden room. Instantly, we heard a high pitch whine, and flashes of light swirled about us in the room, then stopped.
‘What is that sound?’ I asked.
The king sighed with relief. Finding his confidence in speaking out loud, he said, ‘My lair is a protected by a stalbrux. The stalbrux is generating a magnetic field as we speak. Anything we speak of within my chambers is secret. Mariah, shut the door please.’
‘I remember. So this thing is called a stalbrux,’ Mariah marveled at the new-found freedom. She turned to the royal figure. ‘Why are we here?’
‘I have carefully thought over what you said. You were most unhappy that I did not tell you everything. You have trained more here since then, and I have been most impressed.’ He let out a long breath. ‘Very well. I will tell you more. Ted is on Tritillia.’
‘Whoa!’ I said, holding both my hands out in excitement. Then I furrowed my brow. ‘Where is Tritillia?’
‘It is a planet several light years away from here. We have found Theodore's coordinates! Look here.’
As we watched, mesmerized, a hologram emerged from an inscription on the marble floor. A third-dimensional luminescent figure developed before our eyes. It was a planet on display, spinning with exquisite detail. The king walked over to the glowing image of the planet and gingerly pressed his finger on a specific spot on the planet’s surface. ‘Here. See this tiny heat signature. It is much too hot to be anything other than a vessel on fire. These readings are old, but we believe he could still be in the vicinity. Plants do not need warmth as much as we do. They have no need for a fire.’
‘Plants?’ I asked, bewildered.
‘Tritillia is a planet of giant sentient plants,’ Trazuline said, his eyes serious.
‘Oh my gosh,’ Mariah covered her mouth. ‘Are they dangerous? Is Ted safe?’
‘Rest assured he is still alive. We have observed that his signature is still active. But we have noticed another separate signature here—much larger—and alarming.’
‘What is it?’ Mariah asked, breathless.
‘My gut tells me it is an invasion. We are not sure why or where they are headed. Since the Dark King Quasikeum took control of the army, the powerful within the Elon race—but still a minority—has sided with Odion under our noses.’
‘Elons?’ I asked.
‘The dominant plant race of Tritillia. Highly intelligent, and in fact, a far more evolved race than yours.’
‘Giant talking plants. How cool.’ I immediately thought of Ted. ‘What will you do?’
‘I don’t know what you want.’ Mariah decided to confess her concerns. ‘You say you are supporting Ted, but that you also support Zane. I don’t understand.’
Trazuline sighed. ‘It is not that simple. We all have a role here. My role and my beliefs will take me down the right path, but what of you and your friends? When will you start thinking for yourself or do you plan to follow everyone else’s beliefs to the end of the galaxy?’
‘Whoa, dude—I mean, sir. That’s as clear as mud,’ Dan said, puzzled.
Pritok barged into the stalbrux lair before Trazuline could answer. ‘Sire! I'm sorry to interrupt your session. I need a word.’
Mariah conveyed a tense glance to me that could be portrayed as don’t decide anything now. ‘Sounds like you have an emergency. Should we perhaps leave you, sir?’ Mariah asked with a sincerity faked perfectly from her days in theater school back on Earth.
King Trazuline placed his hand on Mariah’s shoulder and said, ‘No, we will step outside to confer for a bit. I am not through speaking to you kids. It will only take a moment.’ His eyes pleaded with us to wait.
‘Fine,’ Mariah said. King Trazuline and Pritok stepped outside after shutting the door upon us.
‘It seems too easy,’ I said.
Mariah looked at me, confused and curious. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Dude. We’re in the king’s secret chamber. He just told us he has coordinates to Theodore's position on
Tritillia. And we’re alone.’ My eyes gleamed with mischievousness as I eyed the computer controls on the wall.
Mariah returned my smile. ‘I think I know what you mean.’
We started searching frantically. I played with the central computing system, and Mariah looked through his papers on the desk. The optical image of the green globe continued to rotate in the center of the room, nearly distracting us.
‘Hurry! He could return any minute now,’ Mariah said in hushed tones.
I read out loud all the names of the controls, spelled out in foreign languages. Mariah heard me talk gibberish and snapped at me, ‘Dan, this is no time to play games.’
‘I’m not,’ I said, smug in my cleverness. ‘I’m reading out the names of these controls, and the translator tells me what they say in English.’
‘Brilliant!’ Mariah squeezed my shoulder once in approval.
As I cited one caption underneath a button, the computer beeped back, ‘Live video feed.’
‘That’s it!’ I cried out as I pressed that button. My heart leapt as I saw the three-dimensional image of the monarch, appearing just as he had a few minutes ago. He was speaking, but no sound came out. This projection replaced the image of the spinning green planet.
I said, ‘I think I have it. Something is playing here. It is the king and someone else. I can't make out the other person. Come over here quick. I don't know how to turn on the sound!’
Mariah ran over and also rapidly uttered the various gibberish displayed on the panel. Acting upon the instant translation, she pressed another button and accidentally made the hologram disappear.
I groaned, ‘Whatever you just pressed took away the image. Press it again!’
She pressed again and then I turned a green knob; the sound of two voices congruent with the video started to play. The hologram appeared in the center of the room. ‘That’s it!’ I exclaimed, forgetting to keep my voice down. ‘Go watch the door, Mariah!’
Within the hologram, King Trazuline was standing in front of a man with a hood over his head, as his favorite guard Pritok looked on. The king said to the hooded man, ‘Your objectives are to find Theodore and erase your target. Do you understand? You leave tonight.’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘I have procured the currency you wanted, as well. It will be waiting for you here if your mission is successful. If you fail, I wouldn't show your face around here.’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘Make sure you find your point of contact first. The prophecy demands it.’
‘Yes, sire.’
‘Now go! I cannot be seen with you.’
That was the end of the conversation, as the hooded figure left the scene. The hologram continued to play. It was like a security camera following the king and recording on an endless reel.
Mariah grabbed my shoulders. ‘They’re coming back. Turn it off!’
I panicked. ‘I don’t know how!’
Mariah shrieked. ‘They are right outside of the door, Dan! Turn it off!’
Right before the door opened, I turned off the audio, but the hologram continued to play. The king was indulging in a badly mumbled conversation with Pritok as they walked side by side. The hologram continued to play, and Mariah, her eyes wide open, stood with her back to it, shielding it from the king's view. With one last attempt I pressed the button I thought would end that damn hologram. He walked beyond where I was standing and I trembled with fear.
‘Alright. Where was I? Ah yes, will you join me in my fight?’ the king asked. He acted as if he didn’t suspect a thing.
Inwardly surprised at the lack of outrage, I turned around slowly to speak and let out a silent sigh of relief, as I turned to see that the hologram was gone.
‘Your Majesty,’ Mariah sang out in her best seductive voice, ‘We have carefully considered your offer. As you know, Ted means the whole world to us. We accept your mission.”
My eyes bulged, but I reasoned that Mariah must have known what she was doing. ‘Yes, I concur,’ I said, in my best steady voice.
King Trazuline looked jubilant. He appeared ready to give each of us a hug, as he spread his arms out wide. ‘Excellent,’ he said.
‘But,’ Mariah clasped her hands behind her back, pacing around. ‘We have a confession to make.’
The king stared at her, concerned. ‘Hmm?’
‘We’re not ready yet. Liam is at level five now, and he so badly wanted to be at level six in tactical defense before we go. He said to me that he would stab himself if anything happened to us just because he failed to train properly.’
A note of understanding registered on the king’s face. ‘Yes, yes. I am so proud of you. You finally understand the commitment.’
‘And,’ I spoke up, ‘Lincoln wants to achieve level eight in offensive maneuvers. He really wanted that goal.’
‘Wow,’ the king muttered, ‘Even my best trained guards are at level nine. That is not so far off.’
‘So, give us one week, Your Majesty. We will be ready.’
‘Excellent.’ The king said. “Permission granted.’ He walked over to a painting on his wall and stared at it. It was a desert landscape, obscured by the rippling heat of the sun. At least that is how Mariah described it later. When he turned his back, I glanced at a console to my left and saw a series of numbers on a piece of paper. I lifted them, stuffing them into my pocket. I figured they could be useful, a password, or maybe code for something.
‘Okay Mariah,’ I said, urging her with my eyes to leave.
“King Trazuline told us that he knew we loved Ted, and he wished us godspeed, and we left.”
Mariah and I knew we had to act fast. We strolled up to Lincoln and Dan who were still in the conservatory. I could tell Mariah was getting all giddy and star-crossed as she approached the love of her life—Lincoln.
‘Now be quiet, he might be napping, you know how crabby he is when someone wakes him up,’ Mariah said.
I walked toward him. Relieved, I noted that he was now awake. He was lying on the bench, mulling over the mission. ‘What’s up, Dan?’ he asked as Liam, also awake, looked on.
‘Watch out for the guards,’ Mariah snarled at us, ‘Pretend to be talking about the paintings on the walls.’
Pretending to point toward an enormous portrait of King Trazuline firmly seated on a Rangier Cliguire, ferociously leading his men into battle, I fiercely whispered to Lincoln and Liam, ‘Oh my God, you will not believe this, I saw that rotten Karshiz King in a meeting with some Rangier, and I heard them talking about taking out Theodore. I think.’
‘What!’ Lincoln and Liam clenched their hands into fists, but for the sake of show, pretended nothing had happened. A guard was glancing at them, and they had to act natural.
Lincoln angrily strode toward Mariah. ‘What’s this?’
‘Take it easy, honey,’ Mariah said sweetly and with a gentle tone. I could not go beyond the fact that she was calling him, hon—yuck, and they were looking at each other like there was something I didn’t know. ‘Daniel overheard a conversation between Trazuline and an assassin, and they might have been talking about killing Ted the first chance they had. The assassin was a Rangier, or we think he was. Dan said he was wearing a hood.’
Lincoln shook his head. ‘That isn’t good, not good at all. If there is a Rangier assassin on his way to hunt down Ted, he could do it right under our noses.’ Lincoln exclaimed at another painting, walking away with a fake smile. He whispered to Mariah, ‘Where is Ted?’
“Then Mariah told him everything—”
“Slow down. So someone was hired to assassinate Theodore?” the warden asks.
“Yes. It was totally uncool of that weird king to be making up some evil plot to kill our bro. We needed to prepare for the great Karshiz getaway. We decided to get ready the night before by gathering all of our gear and weapons.”
The warden looked at me confused, and said, “They allowed you to have weapons?”
“Once we were assigned to o
ur quarters, King Trazuline had decided to let us carry around our assigned weapons. He was really lapping up our newfound fervor at that point. Besides, it was like the Wild West in Karshiz. Would you abandon four teenagers in a foreign land with nothing to protect themselves? Stranding us there was bad enough,” I said.
“You are right. I would not,” the warden said.
“As for the weapons, I received something I always wanted: a hover board! It wasn’t named as such. It was like XR-23 or something boring like that.”
It had straps like a snowboard. I was also given a shoulder-mounted cannon. It fired balls of plasma that could rip holes through anything I shot. I mounted it on my back, and it was controlled with my IPU implants. All I had to do was look at my target and just think about destruction, and the target would be obliterated.
Liam was given a plasma axe, and it was fitting, because there was no one in our crew that could even lift the damn thing. It was more than just an axe. It gave off a sonic boom whenever he slammed it on the ground.
Watching him use it was probably the most frightening thing ever. He had a vein that bulged from his forehead with every lashing of his axe. He showed us once what it was capable of, and it was nothing short of amazing. It made my tre-flips on my skateboard down an eight-stair ramp back home look weak.
He ordered a concrete pillar in the simulator one day. It was four feet in diameter thick and solid. With one blow from his axe and tons of veins pumping wildly, he cut that damn thing in half. Hell, it was the craziest damn thing I had ever seen, but I was just beginning to see crazy.
Mariah had a laser rifle, and it was like nothing ever made by human engineering. That thing was half the size of a Barrett 50 caliber rifle, but had the accuracy and range. It was scoped, but the scope wasn’t anything like the scopes I used with my dad when we went hunting.
“Her laser rifle, when zeroed, could destroy a nickel off a donkey’s back from a mile away, and she loved it. Her face lit-up like a wildfire every time she hit a bull’s eye. She had the same look when she was with Linc. Those two were so happy when they were together. Liam and I made bets for when we thought they might hook up. They always toyed with the idea, but neither of them made a move. We just assumed they were together.”