by Seven Steps
“Its over,” Arees said softly.
More scraping.
The sound of nails ripping through the roof.
Metal squealed as it was slowly peeled back.
Something wet and putrid dripped on their heads.
The roof was open, though the darkness in the crate didn’t change. In fact, it seemed to grow deeper.
The stench of rotting flesh overpowered them.
Something growled.
Then, there it was.
Light.
It shined briefly on the monster, showing them its eight spindly legs, its veiny wings, a rubbery round body, and rows and rows of sharp, dripping teeth before the darkness returned.
Then, BOOM! An explosion sounded not too far away.
The light returned.
The beast broke its attention from them, and hurried away.
BOOM! The explosion moved closer.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
A series of explosions surrounded them.
“What is it?” Lex asked, jumping up from the floor where he’d laid his body over Arees.
Something whizzed over the crate and exploded in a ball of light.
“Hurry!”
A young, dark haired man stood on top of the crate where the monster once was, beckoning them, illuminated by the light of a ship behind him.
They scrambled out of the crate and past groups of scattering Dark Ones.
Another explosion, this time further off.
“Who are you?” Lex asked.
“No time to talk! Keep moving!”
The ship’s cargo hold was open. They raced up the ramp and inside of the safety of the ship. The door closed behind them.
The man was already at the pilot’s console, lifting them off of the Dark, and into the atmosphere. With the explosions stopped, the Dark Ones raced after them. They landed on the ship, and started to carve their way inside.
“Oh no, you don’t!”
The man pressed a blue button on the console and the ship hummed with electricity.
The Dark Ones fell back to the ground, as the ship broke through the atmosphere, leaving the Dark far behind.
CHAPTER 14
MUNGOGIA
Jun-Su walked through the Mungogian jungle, advancing with an army of women toward the Mokook, a large wooden tower in the center of Mungogia’s main village.
For the sake of comfort, and her sanity, she’d disregarded her heavy, sweat drenched robes hours ago, leaving her in only a clinging, thin, white jumpsuit that covered her from neck to ankles.
How could anything possibly survive in this heat?
She took in a shallow breath and nearly choked. The smell of hot, wet dung permeated the air. It was inescapable. If she breathed in through her mouth, she tasted it. If she breathed in through her nose, she smelled it. The horrific odor seemed to slither down her throat and churn her insides.
Still she would not turn back.
It would take more than vile smelling air, and oppressive heat to keep her from what she wanted. What she needed. What she craved.
Ultimate power.
The Mungogians would make up half of the universe’s most powerful army. The other half would be comprised of the Boikis’ Martians. But neither option would come easily. Boikis would have to persuade a King. Jun-Su would have to climb Mount Olympus and rob the Gods.
It’s going to be a long afternoon.
She squinted through the soupy mist, and spied a tall tower across the clearing. Made of a hollowed tree, it stretched up to the sky and out of sight.
The Mokook.
“There it is.” Heart pounding in anticipation of her prize, she took a step forward, then stopped.
She’d only seen pictures of the Mungogian monsters. The grainy photos did little justice to the beast standing before her.
Guarding the Mokook was a gigantic green, hairless being. Naked, and genderless, its oblong face began with a sloping forehead. It had three eyes - one large green one in the middle and two smaller green ones beneath it. Its nose protruded from its face, hanging limply. Thin lips wrapped around a wide mouth filled with flat teeth. Six powerful arms - three on each side – held onto a spear the length and width of a man, with pointy barbs at one end. It stood on four legs.
Jun-Su couldn’t hide the trembles of fear that shot down her back. Should she fail, this thing would tear both her and her army, apart.
She took a deep breath to steady herself, and turned to General Tari on her left.
“Send in the detonators.”
General Tari, blond hair pulled back, blue eyes bright, raised her wrist to her sweat lined lips.
“Send in the detonators.”
Almost instantly, Jun-Su heard the hum of small aircraft. Hundreds of flat, silver discs flew through the air and surrounded the tower.
The Mungogian guard looked up, its three brows pressed down in confusion.
The discs formed a ring around the tower, before silently releasing small square packages. The packages floated gently to the ground.
The guard looked down as one of the squares landed at its toeless feet. It picked it up with its large hand, and examined it.
A second later, the bomb detonated, blowing the guardian to pieces.
Jun-Su ducked as a charred arm flew over her head and landed several yards behind her with a thud.
That was her cue. It would only take a few minutes before the rest of the Mungogians would come to investigate the commotion. They had to act quickly.
“Move in,” she shouted, running at full speed toward the tower. Soldiers, clad in all black, ran ahead of her, using their bodies to form a barrier around her.
A large, flat disc dropped from the sky to Jun-Su’s feet.
Her heels clicked against the metal as she jumped on it. The narrow disc jolted, then raised high in the sky, heading to the top of the tower. She held out her hands to steady herself. The disc was only shoulder wide, leaving no room for error. If she were to fall, not even her most hawk-eyed soldier would be able to catch her. She bent her knees to a near kneeling position to better balance.
Below, the ground shook and rumbled. Through the ever-thickening clouds, she saw the outline of the Mungogians as they charged at her army with an agility that belied their size.
One by one, their green bodies imploded from her army’s Venian blasters.
After the tenth implosion, the giants finally stopped their onslaught and took shelter behind a knot of trees.
Not so dumb after all.
Jun-Su’s small craft rose higher. Finally, she spotted a window. A spear shot past her, pinning itself to the wall of the tower. Then another, and another.
The giants were aiming at her!
Jun-Su reached up, willing her fingers to touch the edge of the ledge.
Just a little higher.
Another spear nicked the disc, sending it sideways. She jumped, stretching as far as she could toward the small ledge. Her fingers found purchase. She kicked her feet, trying to boost herself up into the window.
Another spear whizzed by her head, catching the corner of her ear. She swore as the pain buzzed through her.
Fear and adrenaline gripped her and, with all the strength that she could muster, she pressed her feet to the tower, pulled herself upwards, and fell through the window headfirst.
Heart racing, eyes darting about, Jun-Su pressed her back to the wall beneath the window ledge, searching for a presence in the room.
She was alone.
Steadying her runaway heart, and inhaling a shaky breath, she stood and walked toward the center of the small room.
A glass lid turned upside down was positioned atop a golden pedestal.
Glass and gold? Here?
The glass was warm to the touch. She peered at what it held.
Under the glass was a small, oval insect. It had no discernible front or back.
Jun-Su lifted the heavy glass and set it gently on the floor next to her. She
picked up the squirming, pink insect between two fingers and examined it.
So many possibilities in such a small thing. You are going to bring me the one thing I’ve always wanted. Unchallenged power.
She put the bug in her mouth, flipped it to the back of her tongue and swallowed it.
It wriggled going down.
No. Not down. Up. The bug stopped midway down her esophagus and wriggled upward.
Jun-Su doubled over, gagging, and knocking over the glass that had housed the small monster. She dry heaved as the bug wriggled its way past her throat, up the back of her nose, and into her brain, squirming its way into the soft tissue
Intense pressure overcame her. Her vision blurred. The room spun. Blood rushed from her nose, creating red pools at her feet. She screamed and fell face first into the pool of blood. Shattered glass cut at her hands and face, but the pounding in her brain blocked everything else out. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, could no longer even scream. She tore at her hair, trying to get the creature out. The skin on her forehead ripped apart.
Coldness settled in the middle of her head.
The world turned to black.
I’m blind!
Suddenly, her vision returned in sharp bursts of color. There was three of everything.
The pain began to lessen and her mind began to return to her.
It’s happened.
She spat out a mouth full of blood and focused on the gold pedestal before her. Her vision cleared. The three pedestals merged into one.
Climbing to her feet, she walked on shaking legs toward the window.
Her head swam, and there was a pain in the back of her brain, but she didn’t care.
I have control!
She saw her hovercraft beneath the window and stepped on. No more spears came her way and the blasters below quieted as she descended.
She stepped off of the craft to the ground, and held up her hand.
“Enough!”
Her army turned to her, then drew back in horror.
Jun-Su willed two of the Mungogians to come to her.
The giants stepped forward, their eyes staring straight ahead, lifeless. They turned to each other. The one on the right dropped its spear and fell to its knees. The one on the left raised its spear above its head and slammed the point into the neck of the other, decapitating it. Green slime oozed from the deadly wound, coloring the moss dark.
The army recoiled, and looked back at the Countess.
“You have the Eye of Mungogia,” Tari gasped.
“And with it, I will rule these creatures,” she sneered.
Indeed, in the center of her forehead was a shimmering, green eye. The one thing that could control the Mungogians. With this eye in her possession, they would be powerless to refuse her. Powerless to stop her from her ultimate goal.
The Mungogians silently stood at attention. Their will was gone. They were slaves to the eye.
“Send in the ships!” The Countess cried out. “We will gather our Martian army, and then, we will take Zenith.”
CHAPTER 15
Magistrate Embrya’s skin goose bumped. Something was wrong. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Zenith, sensing the change in her demeanor, trembled. Lightning shot across the sky.
She dug her fingers into the arm of her throne and tried to steady herself. Something bubbled inside of her that she hadn’t felt in years. Fear. She breathed in and held the breath until her heart stopped pounding.
“Bright,” she called.
The barefoot Zenithian appeared in the doorway. Every few seconds her body went out of focus and glowed.
“Bring me Mungogia.”
Bright extended her wings and fluttered from the room, appearing moments later with an octagon shaped mirror.
The ground stopped shaking, but all was not still. Electricity pulsed in the air and the lightning continued to crackle uneasily.
The Magistrate took it into her hands, and the mirror clouded, then changed. The Mungogian were on the march. In front of them was the Countess Jun-Su, the eye of Mungogia carved into her forehead.
Oh no!
The Magistrate turned to her wall of mirrors.
The Mungogians were a powerful army. If they were under Jun-Su’s control, then she would have a long battle ahead of her. And, if Jun-Su was allied with the Martians, then she would need all of her strength to stand a chance in battle. Already the Glorium warriors were filling her planet from shore to shore, anxious to protect their mistress.
But what if it wasn’t enough?
Does Jun-Su realize what she’s doing? If something should happen to me, the universe would collapse. Unless she plans on stealing my power...
The horrible thought made her stand and pace the throne room. If Jun-Su stole her and Heedon’s power, she would rule over Zenith and every planet in the realm. She would be one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
But, with women like that, it’s not enough. It’s never enough. She’ll want all of the power to herself. She’ll come after me first, then the rest of the Universal Council. I have to warn them.
Already, she heard Heedon’s heavy footsteps coming down the hall.
I must warn the Council. We must prepare for war.
CHAPTER 16
Mars
Mars was indeed a war planet.
In the year 2210, war ravaged planet Earth. Five years later, after the catastrophic loss of millions of lives, the United States surrendered to the Eastern Allies. As part of the terms of surrender, the country was deweaponized, and separated into four quadrants, each divided by a high wall. With the loss of power, the newly divided states fell into poverty in the north, and extreme poverty in the south. Once proud cities were stripped clean of their wealth. Buildings were demolished. Disease ran rampant. Millions of lives were lost. The once great world power was reduced to a third world country in less than a year.
But the United States never accepted defeat easily.
A group of high-ranking politicians, scientists, and military commanders, aptly calling themselves Last Stand, gathered what was left of the military and space programs and secretly launched several ships to Mars over the span of a decade.
The planet was colonized and domes were built to house the budding civilization. Soldiers, scientists and their families were sent to Mars by the thousands. The goal was that within twenty years, they would come back as an unstoppable, well-trained army and take the United States back to its former glory.
They never came back.
The Last Standers were targeted and killed. With everyone who knew about the Mars program gone, the exported Americans were left to fend for themselves.
The General at that time, a man named Wells, was proclaimed the official leader of the planet. He became the first King.
To keep the people occupied, and morale up, Wells created and instituted the first war game, a mixture of military tactical training, football, rugby.
It was an instant success.
Then came the virus, Androphomigia 3. It wiped out a third of the planet, including three quarters of the female population, before being contained.
Martian women became a precious commodity. They were rounded up and sent to special living quarters where they could receive top medical treatment. The men called the quarters: Women’s Barracks.
Laws were passed. Only men who passed strict physical, mental and genetic testing were allowed to sire children with them. In time, the population grew. Domes were expanded. Homes and factories were built. New vegetation was planted. A new King was elected. The planet, once again, was strong.
CHAPTER 17
Miles and miles of red clay made up the northern hemisphere of Mars. Breaking the terrain were twelve massive, clear domes, each several miles around. A red, glaring haze hung over the planet, burning Jun-Su’s eyes. She’d gotten use to the haze before. She would get used to it again.
Her ship landed on one of the many bulls-eyes in the
clay, directly outside of one of the domes. The circle dropped them into an underground, well-lit hanger.
The Martian spaceport. It smelled vaguely of sulfur, but it was spotless. Grey concrete floors that gleamed. Black cavernous walls and ceilings. Besides her ship, the port was empty.
They must not get many visitors in this wretched place.
In a few moments, she would come face to face with Boikis again.
The Countess put a dark veil over her face, careful to cover her new third eye, and remembered the first time she’d set eyes on Boikis.
It was eight years ago. Venus was host to an interplanetary conference. Rulers from every planet in the district attended. That is, every planet but Mars. Instead, the Martian King, Haggarty, sent his ambassador, Boikis, in his place. With his chiseled jaw, tanned skin, warm brown eyes, short-cropped black hair, straight teeth and bright smile, he was the most beautiful creature that Jun-Su had ever laid eyes on. She didn’t know why her body reacted the way it did to this man. She’d been around slaves her entire life and had never given them a second look. But, this was no slave. This was a Martian man, a warrior. Something about him made her heart flutter, her hands sweat. Jun-Su found herself circling the room, her eyes glued to the Ambassador, for most of the evening. Confusing thoughts and emotions swirled within her all night, until, finally, she gave into the undeniable pull that propelled her feet to march across the room to the food table where he stood.
She had to meet him.
“Ambassador Boikis. It is a pleasure.”
Their eyes met. Jun-Su’s heart stopped beating. The man was even more beautiful up close.
He pounded three fingers against his chest, saluting her. Each finger represented a piece of the Martian creed: Loyalty, Respect, and Strength.
“The pleasure is mine, Countess.”
“You may call me Jun-Su.”
“Yes, I remember you from when the Council was introduced.”
Jun-Su nodded. So he did notice me.
“I’m sorry to hear that King Haggarty is ill,” she’d said.
“I will communicate your condolences to him.”
She smiled coyly. “He made an excellent decision in sending you in his stead. Your efforts here didn’t go unnoticed.”