by Lee Watts
When the Ramillie fleet exited hyperspace and found the Realm forces hiding behind the gas giant, they decided to set up a crossfire by having half of their forces go around each side of the planet to box in the Realm ships. The abandoned mining moon marked the point the assault force would split directions.
Aboard the Dauntless, Aulani, Caedmon, and Balin all watched as the HPT showed the king's ship sprinting to the surface and the energy buildup of the stone.
"Come on, Alex," Aulani whispered. "He's going to make it, isn't he?" She turned and looked to Balin for reassurance, but the war-worn eyes of the man met hers without such hope.
Balin merely shook his head slightly.
"No," he whispered.
Aulani, tears immediately flooding her eyes turned to the window, the planet Alexander ordered the fleet behind obstructed her view of the moon.
"ALEX," she cried in anguish.
At that moment, surrounded by hundreds of Ramillie warships, the Plyeecian stone reached its flashpoint and detonated. The explosion ignited the tizanite surrounding it and in turn igniting the many rich veins of the ore throughout the planetoid. As the entire moon exploded in a brilliant ball of light, it sent a shockwave roaring through space and ripping apart the Ramillie ships. Billions of shards of the burning shattered moon slammed into the invading strike force. Ninety percent of the invading fleet was destroyed in the initial explosion.
"That's it," Balin announced. Keying the command console, he addressed the fleet. "Admiral Balin to all ships, engage the enemy!"
Speeding around the covering planet, the Realm members, at last, saw with their eyes what the sensor readings had shown, but the sensors didn't prepare them for the utter devastation of the Ramillie fleet. Most of the ships that remained were so heavily damaged, that even if the Realm took no action, most of them would likely explode on their own any moment.
"Proximity alert," called out the sensor operator. I'm detecting another hyperspace portal opening at the edge of the system. A Ramillie ship is exiting."
"Lyons to Dauntless," came a call over the speakers of the Realm flagship.
Cheers erupted on the bridge.
"HE'S ALIVE," Aulani shouted in joy.
Balin activated his communication controls.
"Glad to hear your voice, Sire, though surprised."
"I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I activated a hyperspace portal. Inside the moon, the distortion field wasn't as strong, but I had to travel to the edge of the system to open another portal to normal space."
I'm sending a squad to your position to give you cover, but I doubt you'll have much company. I'd come myself, but I have some mopping up to do."
"I understand, Admiral. Good hunting."
In less than an hour, the remaining Ramillie force was utterly destroyed. Realm losses were zero. News of the decisive victory spread quickly, and with each retelling of the tale, it grew in the number of Ramillie ships destroyed. With each passing day, more and more races joined the Coalition, and for the first time in the galaxy-spanning war, the Ramillie were on the defensive, but that would soon change.
CHAPTER 21
"A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity." – Proverbs 17:17
A craft of foreign design approached the border detection net of the United Realm. Coming to a stop, the pilot keyed in the code he was provided. A moment later, the status indicator showed green, and the vessel slipped through unnoticed. Forewarned of where Realm ships were patrolling, the craft deftly made its way through Realm space without challenge at last arriving at the Theera-Enty system.
Cale Rayne tracked the ship's approach with a pair of night-vision binoculars. In digitally-enhanced shades of green, he saw the landing gear extend as the ship neared the landing pad of the palace. As chief of palace security, he ensured the pad was clear and only the guards he personally trusted were on watch that night.
Gently landing, the boarding plank lowered and a lone person exited the craft. The visitor wore a cloak and kept the hood up to obscure his face. Cale was there waiting for him, and with a silent nod indicated all was clear.
After the pair was inside the palace, a stowaway slowly exited the craft. Reaching the door, this hooded figure withdrew a small transmitter from the folds of her garment and activated it. The old code signal still worked, and with a satisfactory clank, the door slid open. With a crooked smile, the hooded form slowly moved into the royal building.
Alexander sat at the end of the elongated table in the royal conference chambers awaiting the visitor's arrival. Inside the room, a pair of royal guards, adorned in blue and white armor, flanked each of the room's two doors. Each guard sported a pistol holstered on one thigh and sheathed across their back was a recently developed weapon of the king's invention and electro staff.
Recognizing the chief of palace security, the door guards allowed him, and his companion, to enter the room with the king without challenge.
"What's this?" Alexander asked.
"Everything went according to your orders, Excellency. I have taken all necessary precautions. No one in the Realm knows he's here except us."
"That's a relief," Salazar said as he drew back the hood of his cloak. "You wouldn't want word to get out that you and I are in secret negotiations now would you, Brother?"
"I don't know if I'd call them negotiations. All you mentioned is needing to meet at the palace but wouldn't say why. We're here. So, what's this all about, Salazar?"
"Down to business already," Salazar mocked. "Not even a word of welcome for your older brother? I am family you know."
"Family?" Alexander retorted in shock. "Family is trustworthy. You left me in a hole on that forgotten planet to die."
"I seem to remember things far differently, Brother. I remember you promising to give me the bracer in exchange for taking you to the world with the Plyeecian stones, but you betrayed me and changed the deal. Then you promised you would give me the bracer when you returned from exploring the caves, but when you returned you betrayed me and changed the deal. Then you promised you would give me the bracer after you got out of the pit. Three times you promised and kept going back on your word. Me, on the other hand, I said I would take you to the planet where there were weapons to help you against the Ramillie, and I lived up to my end of the deal. I said I would wait for you to return from the caves, and I did, and when you tried to change our deal the third time, sure I forced your hand, but I didn't leave you helpless, though I easily could have. No, I let down the chain allowing you to climb up and escape. Time and again in our negotiations, I've been the one honoring our agreements, and it is you who keep breaking them. So, who's really the more trustworthy here?"
"Humph..." Alexander grumbled with a puff. "You have quite a way of phrasing things to your benefit, Salazar. No wonder you're the top politician in the galaxy. Well, you have the bracer now. What else do you want?"
"As I mentioned at our last family reunion, the bracer powers a Plyeecian transfer device that moves life energy from a damaged body into a new, perfectly healthy one. The Ramillie found such a device, but no one in their right mind would dare attempt to enter The Cloud, steal something from one of their core worlds and expect to escape."
"True," Alexander conceded, "but as you may have heard, I'm not exactly on the best terms with the Hegemony right now. You can't possibly think I could arrange some sort of exchange with them for you. You're far too cunning for that. So, why are you here?"
"I said the Ramillie have one such transfer device; I didn't say it was the only one."
"Ah," Alexander realized as it was all starting to make sense, "somewhere in this galaxy you know of another, and I bet it just so happens to be in the possession of one of the members of the Coalition, and you want me to set up a deal."
"You're not as naive as everyone says, Brother."
Alexander smiled in a mixture of sarcasm and annoyance at the quip.
"So, who is it? The Chinix? The Orelli?"
>
"No," Salazar answered calmly.
"Who then?"
Salazar gave a wicked grin before answering.
"You."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. You've been so busy spreading this war to every sector of the galaxy that you haven't taken time to see what's right under your nose."
"You mean it's here? On Theera?"
"In this very palace."
***
As the two half-brothers were discussing ancient alien relics, the aged and hunched Mara slowly made her way through the darkened halls of the palace she once called home. Ravaged by the effects of being long denied the T'lec anti-aging drugs her body had become dependent upon, she was a haggard and desperate woman. Riddled with advanced arthritis, the crone's every step was labored agony. Her only hope was that no one had found or been able to open the private security cabinet in her former suite. Her entire, withered body trembled from pain, advanced age, and withdraw symptoms, but she pressed on. The addict, compelled by her all-consuming need for the drugs, would undergo any agony to slake her body's intense craving for the remedy. With each step, her mind became more frantic to have the drugs. The intensity increased with each second of anticipation passing as an eternity. Panting in exhaustion of the physical effort and the cravings, she, at last, reached the door. Again, activating her hidden transmitter, she pointed it at the door, but it only issued a soft, but unpleasant buzz as the signal was rejected.
"No," she snarled in hushed rage as with trembling hands she pushed the button a second time. Again, the buzz told her the signal wasn't working. With a curse, she threw the worthless transmitter down and in bitterness, and rising panic stared at the sealed entryway. Noticing the plate mounted on the wall next to the door, she lifted one of her gnarled, liver-spotted hands and pressed it against the scanner. Trembling as the blue beam glided over her hand, she panted in anxiety while waiting to see if her print was still accepted.
With a pleasant beep, the light on the plate flashed green, and the door slid open. Desperate, she took no time to consider if someone might be in the room and hurried as best she could inside the chamber. Hobbling toward a painting, she reached the wall in near exhaustion. Hands shaking nearly uncontrollably, and salivating from her toothless mouth in eagerness she reached under the lip of the frame and felt for the hidden switch. Locating it, she pressed it, and the painting slid upward to reveal a secret compartment. Desperately trying to control her body, she keyed in the numeric sequence. Hitting the last number, the hag hissed in delight as she heard the click of the panel unlocking. Frantically, she reached in the darkened opening.
***
"If it's in the palace why didn't you use it when you were regent?" Alexander asked.
"Because the bracer powers the device. Without the bracer, specifically the jewel in its center, the device is useless. As you might recall, I didn't acquire the bracer until recently."
"Where is the device?"
"You think I'm just going to tell you?" Salazar mocked. "Maybe you are as naive as everyone says after all. No, Brother. I've been betrayed by you too often. I won't simply tell you, but I'll go with you. Then maybe we can both get what we want."
Slowly, Alexander rose from his seat. It was only then when Salazar noticed the pistol holstered on the Realm king's right thigh.
"Brother," Salazar jibed in mock hurt, "you make me feel like you don't trust me."
"Then you'll understand when I say you lead the way, and I'll follow."
Salazar gave a devilish grin.
"As it always should have been," he replied with a glower. "This way."
With that, Salazar turned and headed for the door leading to the main hall with his half-brother and security guards following. As Alexander considered the immensity of the palace, with hundreds of rooms spread between multiple floors and subbasements, he wondered in what remote, seemingly insignificant chamber the device might rest. So, he was surprised at Salazar's comment as they entered the main hall.
"We're here."
Alexander hesitated. For a moment he thought the whole situation was some kind of a trick or possibly a trap. The device couldn't possibly be in the royal hall. He knew every inch of the room. Since Salazar made no other moves or announcements, Alexander deduced his half-brother wasn't joking.
"Where?"
"Right in front of you."
Alexander looked, and directly before him was the throne.
***
Mara's fingers, disfigured from arthritis, felt a small container. Clasping it, she withdrew her hand and found the prize within her palm was indeed what she so desperately craved. She cackled in delight and relief. Adding to her ecstasy was her noticing the container was nearly full. Shaking, she struggled to get the top off. With great effort she succeeded and poured a few of the precious capsules in her other hand. Usually, she would take one such tablet per month. That, coupled with some radiation treatments and a few injections was the regimen the T'lec doctors used to sustain her youth. Not reasoning, she brought her withered hand to her mouth and swallowed three of the pills. Trembling the shook the container again, causing several more to fall into her waiting hand. Forcing them down she ingested half the bottle before turning to leave the room.
Gripping the bottle tightly and clenching it to her chest she exited the room, looked over her shoulder and seeing the way was clear, headed back to the side door of the palace she had used.
***
"Father's throne?" Alexander commented inquisitively.
"Yes and no," responded Salazar. "It seems during the conflict with the Orelli, our father, and my grandfather, chanced upon that planet with those stones you're so fond of. There they found all kinds of relics including the device. They were under the impression it was ancient Ramillie, but I've since learned it dates back even further, and is from the time of the Plyeecians. With some effort, they were able eventually able to decipher the markings denoting the chair's function. My grandfather left me the details of the device and the location of the planet where they found it in his will."
"How does it work?"
"If my grandfather's notes are accurate, it's quite simple. Sit in the device then press the main jewel on the bracer once. It will then close, scan the occupant, and if the body is failing, the machine then converts the body to energy and rematerializes it in a new, perfectly healthy state."
"As simple as that?"
"There is supposedly one side effect. It causes permanent sterility. But, I've never been what you would call the family type anyway. So, I'm willing to make such a sacrifice."
Tentatively, Salazar took a step closer to the throne. As he drew near, carvings of the disc-like back of the chair began to radiate with yellowish-gold energy.
"That's why it glowed for father but never for you," deduced Alexander. "Only he had the bracer when he was on the throne. With all the repairs to the main hall, I haven't sat in it yet."
"All I've ever wanted is to be free of this accused disease that's eating me alive. Here is the only means in the universe of doing that. Now, I don't expect you to just hand the device over, so I offer something in return, and it's something you want as intently as I want the throne."
Alexander locked eyes with his sibling.
"And that is?"
***
Mind swimming from the overdose of the drugs starting to impact her system, Mara was disoriented and wandered the halls desperately trying to find an exit. Losing her bearings, she at last found a way to leave. Designed to keep people out not in, the door automatically opened at her approach. Stumbling into the courtyard and cool night air she staggered through the wet grass. Struggling to breathe, she convulsed as her internal organs began to spasm.
Collapsing to the dirt, she thrashed in pain as the drugs coursed through her system. As a massive stroke ensued, she lost all control of her muscles.
***
"What you want most is to win your war with the Ramillie. I can give you that."
&
nbsp; "How?"
"By bringing the Assembly members in on your side. Think about it Alexander, as Chief Minister of the Assembly of Worlds my voice has tremendous sway. In a matter of weeks, you could see your little Coalition surge to one-thousand times its size. You could save the Realm, be the hero of the galaxy and bring this war to an end, and all it costs you is one Plyeecian relic. I'll even buy you a new chair."
Alexander turned his gaze from his brother to the throne, or transfer device, or heirloom from their father. He wasn't sure how to think of it. It was all those things, and more. Before him was a means to immortality a way to cheat death or the pain of losing a loved one. You wouldn't have to lose them; they could stay forever. The great boundary to endless life could be overcome. The device promised so much, but the more it promised, the less comfortable Alexander was with the idea. He was silent for several moments as he contemplated the ramifications of such a device.
"It's not natural," he finally declared.
"Of course, it's not natural," Salazar added. "Neither is traveling at light speed, or half the materials used to construct this building or even the pistol at your side. No, but these are items humanity has developed. The scanning techniques doctors use to see inside a body aren't natural, but simply a means to accomplishing a good. The synthetic drugs used in treatments aren't natural but have a positive effect. This device is no different. It extends life, which is something medical science has been trying to do since time began."