by Jay Key
Orbius raised his hand, seeming about to speak.
“I see why you have so many mines,” began Duke. He could tell that the Orbmaster was irritated. Duke thought that he probably had an opening line planned for such an occasion. The bounty hunter loved ruining plans. “I mean, this entire place is mustangsen. Not the most decorative material out there.”
“What about it?” Orbius spoke.
“Nothing, just that a good interior design firm could make a killing on this planet,” added Duke.
“I see.”
Orbius’ voice matched his appearance—bland. It wasn’t overly masculine or feminine; it didn’t fill the room, nor was it meek or inaudible. He raised his hand again, pointing into the far corner of the chamber. Duke squinted but saw nothing outside of a towering curtain, approximately the length of a spaceship.
“Guards, a little help,” said Orbius in an agitated tone. Three ran over and started to tug on a cord that also hung down from the ceiling. It matched the cord on Orbius’ waist but with much more girth.
“Sorry, my friends,” started Orbius. “They were supposed to be over there for the grand reveal.”
“The grand reveal of what?” asked Po’l.
The spaceship-length curtain was a perfect size for what it covered—a spaceship. The Deus Ex Machina, to be exact.
“Your ship!” shouted Bu’r. Oddly enough, Duke didn’t say anything. He tightened his grip on his gun.
“You don’t look shocked, bounty hunter. And why is that?”
Before Duke could answer, Po’l blurted out, “Why do you have this ship in your throne room? I thought the point was to use it to terrorize our people and escape to other worlds.”
Orbius did not answer. It was as if he knew that the gears were turning inside the Nova Texan’s head.
“He doesn’t want the Deus to go anywhere. Terrorize your people, yes, but not by flying it over settlements and blasting his way to obedience.”
“I don’t need your ship to terrorize these primitives.”
“I don’t understand,” said Bu’r.
“It’s what the Deus is made of, huh?” said Duke. “You want to harvest it as you would any mine. It’s made of your precious mustangsen.”
“How many more pieces of decor does he need?” chimed in Po’l.
“I thought it was quite a coincidence. I mean, think about it—the most monumental slab of mustangsen in the known universe happens to end up on my planet in the middle of my final conquest of these rebellious twerps. Sure, you probably don’t call it ‘mustangsen’—but it is, you know.”
“Hard to believe, indeed,” Duke said, barely managing to squeeze the words through his clenched teeth. He turned to Ishiro’shea and whispered, “I guess it can get us into trouble as well as out? We should totally write a review if we make it outta here.”
“I still don’t get it,” said Bu’r.
“He’s not mining the mustangsen for decorative purposes,” began Duke.
“No,” Ja’a interjected, “he’s using it to control the Orb.”
“What?” asked Po’l, as confused as Bu’r.
“Yep,” said Duke. “The rings on his fingers, this room, the Deus—heck, even the mounds of junk in the Keeper’s cave—all of it was mustangsen. It somehow controls the Orb.”
Ja’a looked down at her chest.
“My necklace.”
“Very good. You aren’t as stupid as you look,” said Orbius in a congratulatory manner. He bowed sarcastically.
Duke thought for a moment. “Your father had a necklace like that as well, right?”
Before Ja’a could answer, Orbius cut in.
“Yes, your father,” he rolled his eyes. “What a nuisance! He thought he could challenge me, overtake me. He started all of this, you know? He asked for help and the Orb summoned me. He thought he could alter it all by barging in and trying to summon a worthy adversary for me. And guess what? He failed. Miserably. The Orb brought you two.”
Orbius pointed at Duke and Ishiro’shea and giggled. Duke tried to wrap his head around the fact that the Orb selected him and Ishiro’shea to save the planet. And it was He’j that had requested it, wearing the other half of the necklace that Ja’a wore at this very moment. Heavy stuff. He decided that he liked it better when he thought that it had been merely random chance and an insane maniac’s practice sessions at dimensional portal manipulation that had sucked them into the astral anomaly and deposited them on this cursed rock.
“Yes, girl, your father failed. And then I killed him. Struck him down like I have so many of your friends. And like I will do to your annoying rebellion. Kind of sad, if you think about. I mean... sad for you. It’s actually pretty great for me.”
“It’s not over,” Ja’a insisted.
“Oh, but it is, my flower. It is.”
Po’l broke through the line and charged at the throne. Orbius waved his hand and motioned the guards to halt the angered rebel. Po’l slashed down the guards with his sword. Gar released Uu’k and started to head towards Po’l.
“Halt, General. No need,” said Orbius, without any trace of fear.
He held his hand high. An object floated upward at a leisurely pace from behind Orbius; when it was an arm’s length above his head, it stopped and hovered. The sphere glowed a radiant violet, and tiny fragments of electricity pulsed around its outer shell. Sporadically, the pulses would halt, revealing the sphere’s cloudy interior. It was The Orb That Controlled Everything and Must Be Respected.
Orbius manipulated his fingers in a calculated manner; the mustangsen rings danced. A beam shot out and crashed in front of Po’l. The explosion sent Po’l into the air with a velocity that defied the laws of normal physics. He was thrown across the room and crashed into the side of the Deus, then met the floor with the sound of shattering bones. A muffled scream escaped Uu’k’s gag. No one could have survived that, thought Duke.
Orbius laughed. “Just a sampling of what I can do.”
He’s pleased with himself.
“You mean what the Orb can do,” corrected Duke.
“It’s all the same to you, bounty hunter,” said Orbius. “Now put down your weapons and kick them over to me, or you will end up like your friend with the broken spine over there.”
“Why should we?” exclaimed Ja’a. “You’re just going to kill us anyway.”
“I will squash your rebellion, yes. I will throw you into the mines—especially you, bounty hunter—but I won’t kill you. I’m not a tyrant.”
Orbius looked disappointed that no one appeared to agree with this sentiment.
“And, you my radiant daughter of He’j, I do need a queen. Or at least someone that is somewhat attractive. I mean, I can’t even tell the male Northerners from the female Northerners. Am I right? My hometown wasn’t exactly known for beautiful women—but this is another level. Then again, Newark had its other benefits.”
He trailed off into self-reflection before regaining his train of thought. “I’m being serious. I had one servant pegged as a guy—a year later, she’s pregnant.”
No one shared his joviality, but it did make Duke curious about Vernglet’s gender. He hoped that he hadn’t insulted him/her by defaulting to masculine pronouns.
“I would rather die than have any part of this,” Ja’a said boldly.
“No you wouldn’t,” replied Orbius. “Dying looks quite painful, if you ask me.”
“You will have to kill me. I won’t go to the mines and I definitely won’t stand by your side.”
“Such vigor. I like it.”
Duke looked over at Ja’a. In a low voice, he said, “Drop your weapons. As long as you’re alive, there’s hope. It will give Mo’a additional purpose. As bleak as the prospects of the rebellion look, Mo’a will always try to rescue his best friend’s daughter from enslavement.”
“What’s that?” asked Orbius, trying to make out what Duke and Ja’a were saying. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot. If you don’t, I’ll have Gar s
lit this puny wretch’s throat right in front of you.”
Uu’k squirmed, but not as much as Duke would have expected. She’s tough. She’s a spy, after all.
“Fine,” Ja’a huffed. She dropped her bow.
Duke knelt down and put both of his guns on the floor. Ishiro’shea followed suit with his katana and Bu’r with his mace. They kicked them all to the Neprian guards. They were officially weaponless.
“I totally should have led with the kid,” said Orbius to himself.
“Hey, Ot!” yelled Duke. For a brief moment Orbius seemed taken aback at the use of his real name. It was doubtful that his priestly servants referred to him as anything other than Orbius, if they were even that informal.
“Why yes, Duke LaGrange, bounty hunter and failed rebel. Go on.”
“So,” began Duke, ignoring Orbius’ insult, “what’s the plan?”
“Why should I tell you ‘the plan’, bounty hunter? I mean, that’s like Villain Mistakes 101.”
“True. But you aren’t just a villain. You’re a villain with a magical Orb. That has to give you some leeway, right?”
“I suppose.”
Gar looked back and snarled at Orbius.
“Simmer down, General,” Orbius said. “We have this under control. You have the girl under control, right? That’s our ticket. Their weapons are on the ground. We’re good.”
“So, the plan. What do you get out of running this one-horse primitive planet? Is it just ego?”
“Ego?”
“Yeah, or is this payback from being pushed down on the jungle gym at recess?”
“Compelling. But no. You’re going to be disappointed by my answer.”
“Try me.”
“I’m actually the good guy. The one that is on the side of right. The light side. The hero. The protagonist.”
Duke didn’t think the joke was funny. Then he realized that Orbius wasn’t joking.
“The Orb could be in far worse hands than mine.”
“You’re enslaving an entire race. You are aware of that, right?”
“A race that wants to free the Orb from my possession—and, in turn, it would end up in worse hands. Probably. Therefore, the Southern Neprians are necessary casualties for the greater good. You see, I’m the only one that can control the Orb—and if I control it, it’s not doing any damage.”
“No damage!” screamed Ja’a. “Have you seen what you are doing to my people?”
“Refer to my last comment, sweetie,” replied Orbius. “Stop resisting and the pain will stop. I never understood why you challenged me in the first place. These guys didn’t.”
It looked like Gar was trying to muster a smile.
“You know,” Orbius continued, “I’m not trying to control you or your people. Just protect them.”
“From what?” asked Duke.
“I told you, bounty hunter—worse things than I.”
“Any names?”
“No one has stepped out from the shadows yet, but that’s how the universe works. A great power is discovered or built or acquired—and eventually the most evil and sinister entity ends up with it. Maybe that’s you, Duke LaGrange. Have your rebel friends thought about that? As it goes, tragedy ensues until balance is restored. Look at Earth. He knows what I’m talking about.” Orbius pointed to Ishiro’shea. “You’re from New Tokyo, right?”
Ishiro’shea did not move a muscle.
“The Orb is power that can’t be harnessed by anyone other than myself.”
“Or someone else with access to a ton of mustangsen,” challenged Duke.
“I’ll admit, it helps control the Orb. It’s my remote control, so to speak. But, I am one with the Orb now. It’s part of me and I am part of it. It called me here to bond with me. I’m the one it chose as the savior of this planet.”
“It also chose us,” Duke said with a smirk.
“Ah yes, it did. I thought about that when I heard that you had landed outside of Dre’en. I thought about it a lot. But, it was quite obvious to me.”
“It was?”
“Yes, Duke LaGrange, it was. The Orb wasn’t going to send someone to actually challenge me or overtake me, definitely not that—it was going to send someone that would prove so useless that they would actually crush the rebellion for me. The rebels view you as their best shot at taking me down. Coupled with all of the traitors that I already have—like your old friend, Lo’n—your demise will destroy all hope that’s left.”
“Pretty self-centered view, wouldn’t you say?” asked Duke.
“I would not say. See, old He’j just asked the Orb to send help. He didn’t say help for what. I killed him before he could elaborate any further. So the Orb did send help—help for me. Help to stop this futile cause that’s killing more people than necessary.”
Ja’a, Duke, Ishiro’shea, and Bu’r all exchanged glances. It isn’t totally insane to consider Orbius’ rationale, thought Duke. Could the Orb have known what He’j meant? Does it really want to quash the rebellion so it can spend more quality time with this nutjob?
“So, if we stop the war and surrender,” began Ja’a, “and acknowledge that you are the one true master of the Orb and should reign over Neprius—”
“Yes,” Orbius said eagerly.
“—you will free my people from the mines.”
Orbius thought about this and started to speak, but caught himself. He pondered a bit more. Gar peered back to make sure that his boss had heard the question.
“No.”
“What?”
“No. I still need mustangsen mined. Duke’s ship should help for a bit but it won’t last forever. And, if you think about it, you kind of deserve some punishment for this annoying resistance.”
“Then—” started Ja’a.
“Yes?”
“Then we won’t surrender. You will have to kill us now.”
“This is growing very tiresome. Fine, if you really want to die, I can make that happen. This will be as painful as it was for your father.”
The Orb ascended even higher above Orbius’ throne and pulsated with even brighter colors. It spun faster and faster as it prepared to strike the rebels.
The blast was blinding and deafening.
But Duke was in one piece. He looked around. So were his companions. The blast didn’t look or sound like the one that had hit Po’l.
Duke scanned the room looking for the source of the burst. His eyes panned to Orbius’ throne. The Orb was no longer hovering in the air—it wasn’t anywhere to be seen. General Gar and his guards had been displaced by the explosion but appeared to be alive. Orbius, though, wasn’t visible.
Duke swivelled his head again, towards the Deus Ex Machina. In the cockpit was a barely visible silhouette. The figure was thin and boney, with a head too big for its body. Vern.
“Nice shot, Vern!” shouted Duke.
How did he do that? He doesn’t know how to work a spacecraft—he’s a primitive, thought Duke.
The Neprian priest poked his head out from a side window.
“Did I hit it?”
“You did good, Vern. Impressive shot,” yelled Duke.
“It just told me what to do—it’s like it knew that I needed to save you. And there was no other way. As in, no other reasonable way to survive. None whatsoever. You were goners.”
“We get it, Vern,” said Duke. He turned to Ishiro’shea. “Saved us again. Maybe we leave a slightly better review now.”
Just as Duke finished his thought, another noise filled the throne room. The Deus fizzled and shook and the light in the cockpit dimmed. It was powering down.
“So it is still broken. Its timing is impeccable,” said Duke to his ninja companion.
Emerging from behind his throne, Orbius was regaining his composure and shaking off the proverbial cobwebs. The blast had knocked him off of the altar and down to the floor but he didn’t appear injured.
“What just happened?” he screamed. “And where’s the Orb?”
&n
bsp; No one responded.
The bounty hunter continued to scan the room. There was no sign of the Orb, nor was there any sign of Orb shards, fragments, or shrapnel; there was nothing that said that the Orb was destroyed.
“Is that Vernglet Wip?” Orbius asked General Gar. The general was struggling to his feet with Uu’k still in his clutches. “I thought you disposed of him. Who cares? Guards! Kill him.”
The guards charged the Deus. The remaining guards surrounded Orbius. One of them grabbed Uu’k and passed her to the Orbmaster. Unfortunately, the rebels’ weapons were still very much out of reach.
Chapter 37
Give Me Back My Sphere
FOUR JAVELIN-TOTING GUARDS STORMED the doors of the Deus. Duke could see the panic in Vernglet’s eyes. The lifeless ship had no other option than to accept the inevitable breach. Duke, Ishiro’shea, Bu’r, and Ja’a stood next to each other—too far from their weapons to retrieve them without having to deal with Gar and the rest of the armed soldiers. However, Orbius seemed preoccupied with the attack on the Deus.
“You will pay for that, Wip. Not smart, man, not smart.” Orbius paused and regathered himself. “Where is my Orb?”
“Destroyed,” shouted Duke, diverting Orbius’ attention from the Deus.
“Destroyed, you say? If it is, then this has no chance of working.”
Orbius twinkled his fingers, rubbing the mustangsen rings against each other. Nothing. He did it again, nothing. For the third attempt, he completed the motion with a clenched jaw and progressively reddening face.
“No chance of doing what, Ot?” Duke smirked.
The Orb sped from an unseen location in the corner of the room and into the tyrant’s clutches. Orbius turned his attention back to the quartet of rebels.
Shit.
“Now, while my minions take care of that traitorous rat in the ship, I get to finally dispose of you. Despite the brief delay, this should be fun. For me, that is.”
Orbius laughed maniacally.
First thing that he’s done that’s worthy of a true supervillain, thought Duke.
The soldiers began prying Vernglet from the cockpit of the ship. He was grabbing anything that he could, to no avail.