“They have charged weapons, sir,” Chuck said from behind the tactical station.
“Approach control, this is Jhahnahkan of the house of Sö’. Stand down your weapons; I am a representative of the High Council. I have Qiaoshan on board as well. We request standard orbit and shuttle passage to the council chambers.”
“Jhahnahkan is not a member of the high council; he has been missing for weeks. Qiaoshan could not possibly be on board your vessel, he was on the surface only hours ago.”
Before Jhahnahkan could answer, a barrage of weapons fire discharged from the defense platform at the Leif Erikson.
“Sir, heavy weapons fire…” Tim alerted. “Do you want to return fire?”
“Well that went well,” Jhahnahkan mused. “Negative, we don’t want to enforce their opinion that we want a fight.”
The laser cannons impacted with the mighty ship and rocked her about.
“Evasive maneuvers,” Jhahnahkan ordered.
“Sir, we can regroup at our secret moon base,” Lanatek offered.
“Secret moon base?” Jhahnahkan said, turning to Lanatek with a puzzled look on his face, “Go… change course… computer… engage phosphoresce shielding.”
The computer complied and the Leif Erikson disappeared from the defense platform’s scanners. With no target to lock on, they were forced to cease fire.
“Damage report”
Kate pressed some buttons on her panel and then turned to her captain, “Very little… only minor damage on the lower hull plating.”
“Lanatek, take us to your ‘secret base’, I’m very interested in hearing about this one.”
“She’s located on Ziton, the second moon… on the back side hidden in the mountainous region,” Lanatek said.
Lanatek provided Rex with the coordinates, then promptly began turning the ship and headed toward the Ziton base.
“ETA, twenty minutes,” Rex said.
Lanatek went over to Glenda’s communication station and punched in the frequency codes and instructed her to open a channel to the base. He then advised the base commander that they would be approaching and to prepare the landing bay for their arrival.
“So how long has this base been in place?” Jhahnahkan asked.
“The Southern Clan built this base a couple of hundred years ago,” he began, “Qiaoshan did not even know of it since he is of the Northern Clan. Only two council members knew of its existence… Luanren was one.”
Jhahnahkan and Qiaoshan both glanced at Lanatek and then over at Luanren and almost at the same time asked the question, “Who was the other council member?”
Lanatek paused a moment and looked at Luanren and made eye contact with him as she answered, “Tamika.”
After an awkward moment of silence, Glenda broke in. “Receiving a message with our landing coordinates, patching them to helm control.”
Rex received the coordinates and confirmed landing time in five minutes. He toggled switches and buttons to accommodate the landing procedure with the help of the onboard computer.
“Landing struts down and locked,” Kate confirmed.
“Slowing approach speed and adjusting pitch,” Rex added.
“Lower phosphoresce shielding,” Jhahnahkan ordered.
The Ziton base watched as the Leif Erikson suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
“There she is!” the base commander shouted. “Make ready to receive… docking clamps ready.”
The Leif gently set down on the landing platform and a crew, in life suits, secured the massive ship to the landing pad as it was lowered down into the station.
Once the ship had cleared the surface, the large base doors rolled closed above sealing them below inside the secret base.
The lower decks of the landing bay pressurized and the Leif Erikson let down the gangway at the lower side of the ship.
Jhahnahkan and his bridge crew exited the ship and were greeted by one very astute gentleman.
Lanatek was first to greet Acoth, the Ziton base commander. He shook his hand as he held his forearm in his other and introduced Jhahnahkan, Qiaoshan and the rest.
“It is good to see you my friend,” Acoth said as he studied the group.
“It is good to see you as well Acoth,” Lanatek said, “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”
“This is an impressive base station you have,” Jhahnahkan said as he looked around.
“You have not seen anything yet. We can house up to five ships under the surface. Right now we have only one other that is docked.”
“Wow!” Glenda exclaimed
“We try to keep the traffic down to a minimum to prevent detection. So far we have kept this base from the Northern Clan’s knowledge.”
“I’m sure they know that you have a base somewhere,” Rex said.
“We have intelligence reports that they have a base as well, we do not know that location… yet,” Acoth said confidently.
The crew walked down a stairway into a larger room all equipped with monitoring equipment and all sorts of electronics for base operations. They were escorted to a comfortable looking room complete with view screens where they could turn into any one of the Ackturrian broadcasts.
Acoth went over to a counter and opened up a fine bottle of whisky and poured everyone a drink. Kate passed on the offer and thanked him for his hospitality but explained that she was with child.
Rex gladly accepted his and took Kate’s from Acoth’s hand. “We don’t want this going to waste now, do we,” he said with a smile.
“That is a mighty nice ship you have there, Jhahnahkan,” Acoth said almost drooling as he studied the ship through a view screen.
“She is a nice ship, indeed,” Jhahnahkan said in agreement.
“I heard some stories about her fire power and that you nearly single handedly chased off your brother’s ships to the next sector,” Acoth said as he leaned against one of the backs of a couch.
“I wouldn’t say that so much, we just took them by surprise. If it wasn’t for the Southern Clan’s help, I am afraid we might not be here talking to you right now.”
“Well,” Acoth said, “you can fly with the Southern fleet anytime. We are happy to have you on our side.”
Jhahnahkan looked at Acoth sternly, “We do not need a civil war on our hands. We must stop this senseless fighting!”
“It is not our fault, talk to the Northern Clan and their evil plans to wipe out an entire race… tell me it is not necessary,” Acoth battered back.
“Civil War is what almost wiped out our race thousands of years ago. That is why we came to Ackturra in the first place.”
“That is simply legend,” Acoth said placing his hands on his hips.
“We have lost our roots…” Jhahnahkan said staring at Acoth. “You must understand, we can’t repeat history… we can’t destroy this planet like we did once before… These people I bring with me… they are from Earth. They are our ancestors from many thousands of years ago. Back to a time before we migrated here, we fought different factions and destroyed our home. Then we moved to the next planet in the system and would have destroyed that world as well. Our forefathers had enough wisdom to break away and separate the two fighting factions…”
Everyone in the room, including Acoth, stopped and listened to him. None of them could resist his voice and the power he spoke with.
Helen finally interrupted her grandson. “Jhahnahkan, you have the power within you. Do you realize you just used your power over us? Very good… very good indeed.”
Qiaoshan stepped over to his son and rested his hand on his shoulder, “You will make a great leader, my son.”
Jhahnahkan acknowledged his father by bowing to him slightly.
Qiaoshan turned to the crew and began: “We must get to the surface where I can transfer my leadership to my Son and put into place the true High Priestess of the council.”
Acoth looked on him with puzzlement. “What do you mean, transfer leadership? We all thou
ght Jhovahkan was the first born and would take over as leader.”
“It is a long story Acoth. I will address all of Ackturra and explain then… do you have a way for us to get to the surface.”
“No, I am afraid that since this war that is breaking out we have no way to get through the shields. Jhovahkan placed all Northern officers in command of every defense platform. That is why they would not grant you access.”
“I have a way my grandson,” Helen said as she held her crystal out in front of her.
“I will communicate to the council ministers and get it set up. We will have Helen transport us there, and they will have no time to respond. I will deliver my speech and transfer leadership to Jhahnahkan,” Qiaoshan said.
“The hard part will be getting Ghaia to step down as High Priestess,” Luanren said.
“You leave that to me Honey,” Helen said. “I have a trick or two myself you know… and I will enjoy every minute of it too,” she said with a wink. “But you will be left alone on Ackturra while I am dealing with Ghaia.”
“We will be alright mother,” Qiaoshan said reassuringly. “Once I transfer leadership to Jhahnahkan, the power will shift to the Southern side. It is likely that since the Northern movement has lost their commander they will back down and this civil war will settle.”
“Either that,” Jhahnahkan said, “or having my brother captive will have the opposite effect and they will become more embolden.”
“That’s the chance we will have to take,” Kate said. “Either way, I’m not leaving your side again!”
“We will all accompany Jhahnahkan to the surface,” Helen said.
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Glenda said with glee.
“We will watch your ship for you,” Acoth added. “She will be safe here.”
“Thank you Acoth,” Lanatek said as he shook his hand one last time.
“There are three more southern ships on their way to the base. They will arrive tonight,” Acoth began. “I thought it would be good to have a show of force and stave off any trouble.”
“Once I have become the leader of the high council, I will replace all the duty officers on the defense platforms and they will not restrict access to any fellow Ackturrian’s,” Jhahnahkan supposed, shaking Acoth’s hand.
“It was a pleasure meeting all of you,” Acoth said as he poured everyone a final shot.
“To Jhahnahkan…” Rex celebrated by lifting his glass in the air. “May you find the support of all your people to usher in peace.”
The entire group shouted in unison, “Here, Here” as they all tossed their shots back.
Qiaoshan contacted his ministers on the surface and made all the preparations for his speech. His ministers assembled all of the local Ackturrian’s to the hall and set up to broadcast his speech on all frequencies so every ship would receive. With the jamming stations now in the control of the South, they set up to pass through the incoming signal to be rebroadcast to all ships whether from the South or North as well as toward Karillia in hopes that this action would allow their torn relations to begin to mend.
Qiaoshan received the signal that they were ready to proceed. He motioned to Helen to begin opening the vortex and deposit them center stage. Helen could then stay behind and wait for the proper moment to extract Ghaia from the assembly. If Helen were to join them from the beginning, she would know that something was wrong and alert her guards to stop Qiaoshan’s speech. As it was, they were taking a big enough risk with Jhahnahkan accompanying them and not Jhovahkan.
The entire assembly was rumbling with noise. Everyone was excited to hear their leader speak. Everyone thought for sure that he was about to transfer leadership over to Jhovahkan, but there were mixed feeling among the crowd. Some were supporting Qiaoshan’s position while others were supporters of Genocide over the Zelinites, Jhovahkan’s position. No matter what the outcome, they all knew this day would usher in a new leader.
The vortex opened on the stage and out from the center of the maelstrom came Qiaoshan, followed by Lanatek, Rex, Glenda, the Russell brothers, and Doctor Collins.
They took their places off to the sides of the stage behind Qiaoshan.
Lanatek and the Russell brothers were armed with laser rifles in case there was trouble.
The Vortex closed and Qiaoshan stepped up to the podium.
Ghaia, as well as the other council members, stood on the opposite side of the stage. She intently looked over at Qiaoshan and then at the rest as they exited the Vortex. She had a concerned look on her face when Jhovahkan did not accompany them, but tried to rationalize in her mind that he would join them when Qiaoshan made the announcement. Little did she know that Jhovahkan had been taken prisoner. This news had not yet reached the council since the jamming stations had been taken by the southern clan and communications blocked.
The entire arena had exploded with the thunderous applause by the presence of their leader who was about to make a very important speech. The broadcast had begun and the message signal had been received by all the stations and resent out unblocked to all Ackturrians whether on planet side or shipside.
Qiaoshan raised his hands to acknowledge the applause and began to calm his people down.
“People of Ackturra…” he began.
The applause started up once again and everyone stood to their feet.
“Please,” he said trying to quite the assembly, “please… thank you… no really… please.”
The deafening applause finally began to quiet and stillness set in as they looked on Qiaoshan’s face. His expression was one, not one of joy, but of worry and great concern.
“Fellow Ackturrians…” Qiaoshan once again began. “Council members… ministers… statesmen… military officers and enlisted men… family members… I come to all of Ackturra to bring you this message.”
Applause began to ring out once again and Qiaoshan raised his hands to quiet them.
“Please… please… let me continue…” he said as he attempted to control the crowd. He knew that the following message would cause more outbreaks.
The crowed once more sat and quieted letting him continue his speech.
“Today… I am stepping down as leader of the high council of Ackturra…”
This time the crowed was silent and intently listened to his every word knowing that he was going to appoint Jhovahkan as their new leader.
“Before I continue, there are many things you must know… things that have been kept from you for hundreds of years.”
At those words Ghaia stood as she began to realize the next statement coming out of Qiaoshan’s mouth would be the end of her reign as high priestess. She looked around nervously.
Before he could begin speaking again, another vortex opened up behind Qiaoshan and out from the center exited Jhahnahkan, Katie, and
Luanren.
Ghaia let out a shriek as she saw the next person exit, now fully knowing what was about to happen.
Helen exited last and held out her cane toward Ghaia and began to pull at her with an invisible force.
Ghaia reached for her power crystal and before she could activate it, Jhahnahkan shouted in her direction a mighty “Noooo!”
His powerful voice sent out a shock wave that shattered Ghaia’s crystal into thousands of shards that crumbled to the ground.
Ghaia flew through the air as Helen pulled her to her with the power of her crystal. The two connected and tumbled backward into the vortex, which promptly closed after them.
The crowed went into a frenzy as Jhahnahkan stood beside his father with Kate and Luanren on Qiaoshan’s other side.
Tim and Chuck stepped forward showing their force to keep the crowd controlled and from starting a riot.
After a few unsettling moments the crowed finally began to settle down and Qiaoshan could continue delivering his speech.
“My people… please listen to my words and understand,” he again started.
The entire assembly was once again
quiet as they waited for the message Qiaoshan was about to relay to them.
“Four hundred years ago I was seduced by the wretched woman Ghaia. She was overcome by the effects of the infected crystals, yes,” he said with apprehension, “This is a part of our history that had long been forgotten, mainly due to the very nature of the infection that occurred… the crystals of Ackturra had been corrupted. Through this corruption, Ghaia did seduce me into having a child… She was not the intended high priestess… I have dishonored and shamed all of Ackturra by keeping this a secret. This knowledge was only known by a few of the council members. We thought it would be best to hold this knowledge from you in order to protect the office of the high council and to advance our cause with our fight with the Zelinites. Luanren was my true mate and is also mother to Jhahnahkan… not Ghaia.”
The crowed was aghast at the news and began to sound the arena with clamoring as they all began talking amongst themselves.
“This day I now bring to you change to the high council… I hereby appoint Luanren as the true high priestess of Ackturra and will serve in that capacity until the new leader of Ackturra takes his mate.”
Luanren stood forward to accept the honor that was being restored to her and bowed before her people. After a few moments of allowing the crowd to acknowledge her appointment and the cheers of those who supported her quieted down, she took the podium.
“It is with great honor and pleasure that I am restored as the rightful heir to the position of the high priestess of Ackturra… my first duty is to respectfully ask Qiaoshan, after seven hundred years of rule over Ackturra, to relinquish his authority.”
Qiaoshan stepped slightly back and removed his ceremonial headpiece and placed it out in front of him, “I do officially step down as high council leader and will yield this office to the rightful true first born son between Luanren and myself… Jhahnahkan of the house of Sö’.”
Jhahnahkan moved out before his father and stood facing the audience while Luanren took the ceremonial head dress and raised it above his head.
“I… Luanren, high priestess of Ackturra… do appoint my son Jhahnahkan of the house of Sö’… first born son of Qiaoshan… and rightful successor… as leader of the office of the high council by the written law of Ackturra and fully exercised by those powers given me by the office of the high priestess.”
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