by Lee Watts
"How's Caedmon?" he asked while still working the controls.
"I don't know," she answered. "He's breathing but unconscious. There's nothing I can do for him. Are we going to make it? Can you get us out of here?"
"I don't know," he replied. "The Cloud is collapsing, and it's causing a lot of energy fluctuations. I've tried opening a hyperspace portal three times, but the generator can't form a stable portal."
"What about one of the hyperspace gates like we came in through?"
"It's our only hope," he said. "There's one not too far from here, but..."
"But what," Aulani asked. "But it's toward The Cloud, and everything that comes into contact with it is being destroyed."
"Are we going to make it?"
"I don't know. It's going to be close!"
The small Ramillie ship raced toward the hyperportal from one direction and The Cloud sped toward it from the other. Alexander poured every bit of energy he could into the ship's engine, even diverting life support. At full speed, if The Cloud beat them to the hyperportal, there would be no time to turn, and they would rush headlong into the deadly wave of energy. Alexander reached over and grabbed Aulani's hand. If he was going to die, at least they were together. He'd done all he was destined to do, the Realm was safe, the prophecy fulfilled and his promise to the Elder kept. There was nothing left undone. Reaching the hyperportal at the same time, the ship and hyperportal disappeared as The Cloud increased in its rate of collapse.
In the space outside, Balin as everyone else in the fleet stood by a window and watched the infamous Cloud shrinking into the distance. It seemed stars and planets were all that could withstand The Cloud passing over them. They had scanned a few of the worlds, but they were totally devastated with all their cities in ruinous heaps.
With a brilliant flash, The Cloud finally reached its destruction point and completely disintegrated, leaving nothingness in its wake. After all the great commotion of the past few hours, all was suddenly and eerily still. So much had been lost. So much was gone: the Ramillie fleet, their worlds, The Cloud... the king. All gone. The war was over, and they had won, but at what price.
Then, after a long while, a rip in spaced formed just outside of the carnage left from the battle, brilliant flashes of light flickered from the doorway to the hyperspace dimension and out flew a lone, battered Ramillie craft with the last three people who ever escaped The Cloud.
CHAPTER 40
"...for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. - Song of Solomon 8:6
Linked by a chain around the neck to a tree was the miserable and grotesque guard dog Munford Pinwick was recently given by the soon-to-be Premier Lady of the Realm. Her mind encased in the repulsive, odiferous beast, Vivica paced back and forth the few meters the chain extended. From her position in the yard, she could see the screen the Pinwick family used to watch broadcasts. Munford's wife loved shows about Realm high society, which, in the years to come, would regularly feature the popular and joyous Premier Lady of the Realm at one resplendent event after another.
Carrying a watering can, Munford approached the revolting creature. Noticing it hadn't eaten the food he left for it the night before, the farmer was perturbed and decided to have a little chat with his new animal.
"Listen, Dog, jus' cause yur ugly as sin doesn't mean yur gettin' any special treatment. Tell you what, I'll teach you a trick. Do it right and I'll give ya our dinner scraps. This is people food, you'll love it. C'mon girl, sit up," Munford tried to encourage his new pet to do the trick. "Sit up, you can do it, Girl. Beg. That's it, beg."
With the only alternative to eat being hog slop, Vivica considered succumbing to humiliating process but couldn't bring herself to do it. Munford was disappointed but figured he could teach the dumb animal the trick with enough time.
"Alright, Dog. No scraps for you tonight."
The beast let out a whimper.
"Don't give me that sad ugly face. You still get to eat and don't turn yur nose up at this slop either. Why, this is the same stuff the best hogs in the quadrant git. If you know what's good for ya then you'll learn to eat slop or yur gonna starve to death."
With that, he poured some more lukewarm water into the animal's drinking dish, which washed a few of the dead flies from the bowl. During the long years Vivica was tied to that tree, through pouring rains, freezing winters and blistering summers, she indeed learned to eat slop, and on occasion, when she was good, and Munford was feeling generous, she was allowed to beg for scraps from her master's table.
***
In the Cheyenne Lyons Charity Hospital, Duchess Mara Yorin was doing the same thing she did every day, lying flat on her back while staring at the ceiling. The chart at the end of her bed did not list the name of the patient therein as no one knew the identity of the destitute, elderly woman who had been found wandering the palace grounds. Deprived of the T'lec anti-aging drugs she ingested for so many years, her body was now ravaged by what appeared to be extreme old age. Toothless and retaining only a few wisps of hair, the heavily wrinkled woman's arms were curled as her muscles constricted but refused to loosen. Though her mind was unaffected, it was nonetheless tortured from losing the ability to control her bodily functions, to form words, or even clasp a writing instrument. Her communications were limited to moans and unintelligible bellows of anger.
A nurse would come in two to three times a day to wipe Mara's mouth, change her diaper and replace the pouch of nutrients attached to her feeding tube. The nurses on duty were the only visitors the bitter old woman ever had in the long decades she was there. The name of the hospital and image of its chief benefactor, Cheyenne Lyons, appeared for a few seconds each time the entertainment screen was activated. Upon seeing this, Mara would cry out incoherently, and, mustering what muscles she had, would thrash about in rage. Noticing the connection, the first nurse Mara had put a note in her records to keep the screen off at all times. Because of this, during those slow-passing years, Mara's room was filled with only silence, the smell of her decaying body, and the sight of the smiling picture of Cheyenne staring back at her from the far wall every day.
***
Cale Rayne's plan to escape the fatal effects of The Cloud as it collapsed had worked. Unable to find transport off the planet, he had headed back to the throne room, sat in the transfer device and pushed the button to close it. Once inside the cocoon-like machine, the wave of deadly energy washed over the city, destroying buildings, streets, and causing a massive quake, but he survived. Whatever the materials used to construct the device, they were sturdy enough to protect him. When the skyscraper he was in crumbled, Cale was tossed about violently, but in testament to the engineering skills of the alien builders, the hardened materials of the device were not so much as dented. Even inside the artifact, Cale knew he fell several stories during the building's demise and had fallen even farther as the quake of the land mass went on for what seemed like an hour. As the machine tumbled and rolled, he jostled about the cramped space, and though he got battered a bit, was otherwise fine. Alive, he smiled in pleasure of having outwitted the great judgment and purging poured out on the inhabitance of The Cloud.
Nearly two full hours after feeling the final aftershocks of the quake, Cale figured it should be safe to emerge from his sanctuary and pressed on the switch to open it the device. It didn't budge. He pressed harder, but to no effect. Abandoning the switch, he pressed on the walls with all his might in an attempt to pry them open, but he remained tightly shut it. Panic gripped him as he yelled wildly in terror then was overwhelmed by a sudden and major claustrophobic attack. Despite crazed bursts of adrenaline-enhanced muscles, the device refused to open. Eventually, he passed out, rousing to consciousness, it took a moment for him to realize where he was. Forcing himself to calm down, he pushed until his muscles shook from the strain and then gave out entirely.
Though there was no way of him knowing it, it woul
d not matter if Cale could manage to generate a thousand pounds of pressure against the covering, as the device was buried beneath tons of rock and rubble. While it would one day be uncovered in an archeological expedition, that was not for thousands of years to come. Trapped in the lightless cocoon, Cale thought he would starve to death, but starvation was not to be his fate. With no water source, dehydration took its toll, and after nearly ten days, Cale lost consciousness. As his mind faded, he longed for the release death would bring.
Suddenly he was awake and felt fine. The ordeal was over, or so he thought. Trying to get up, he quickly banged his head on something and lay back down. Suddenly, in horrifying clarity, he realized where he was - back in the device. Detecting his former body's demise, the machine had disintegrated the corpse and transferred his life energy into a new body. He screamed as the nightmare began again. After nearly two weeks, the new body, deprived of water, also gave out. During the course of sixty years, the machine kept mercilessly reinventing him. He begged for death or at least insanity, but with each reincarnation, his mind and body were restored, at least for a short while. When at last the device exhausted its power supply, and Cale's body died for the last time, he awoke to find himself in the crushing and horrific forces of the Vortex. After only seconds in the Vortex, he longed to be in the device again, because forever locked in the device was still infinitely better than eternity in the Vortex.
***
Streams of sunlight poured through the tall windows as the bright, morning light bathed those gathered at the royal hall of the Realm palace in warm hues of yellow and gold. In his finest regalia, Alexander stood on the platform awaiting his bride. First to appear in the entryway at the opposite end of the grand hall was Hannah Kovacs. The tiny form carried a small basket of delicate red a white petals from the unique flower of a desert world far away. As the child gently littered the aisle with the petals, she made her way toward the front where awaited her mother. When the girl was in position, the music changed tone to herald the entrance of the bride. All rose in deference as Aulani appeared in the entryway. Ed Finch's eyes moistened as he beheld Aulani in what he always considered the most magnificent gown he ever created.
Slowly escorting his sister down the resplendent hall was Jaiden. Moving smoothly with his new robotic leg, Jaiden glanced over at Mei and Captain LaRouche. The Fortune was set to be at Theera-Enty for a few days because the Realm and several other nations were petitioning the captain for loans to help rebuild their countries now that the war was finished. Having paid off The Hammer, and the others he owed, Sosimo still had more money than most planetary governments.
Sev Suchet, in a hover chair, was at the front of the crowd and wept with joy in seeing how the Elder had blessed his family. At the bottom of the platform, the siblings stopped so Aulani could go over and hug her father. Returning to Jaiden, brother and sister ascended the stairs and, upon reaching the top, the king extended his arm. Jaiden placed his sisters' hand into the outstretched palm of Alexander, bowed to the king then stepped aside.
Caedmon began the service and Alexander and Aulani were wed. By the time the event was finished the sun was at its zenith, and the bright, warm sky shone a brilliant blue. As the royal couple walked out onto the spacious veranda overlooking the plaza to wave to the people, the gathered throng erupted in cheers. In the years that followed, it was in that plaza where was erected a grand memorial to those who fell in The Great War. Stretched across the top of the monument were these words: All These Gave Their Lives So Others Might Live and Live Free. Below the header was listed the honored heroes. Among the names were: Edric Canton, Imre Kovacs, Dakota Farabaugh, and Salazar Yorin. But, on this day, the plaza was full of Realm citizens celebrating the royal wedding, end of the war, and chanting "Long Live the Realm." High above the crowd, fluttering in the gentle breeze, the many displays of the banner seemed to wave back to the king, queen and rejoicing people. History recorded this day as the start of the golden period of the United Realm. The long night was finally over, and the new day had begun.
EPILOGUE
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." – Psalm 30:5
And so came to pass the end of the sixth age. I beseech thee to hold fast the memory of the souls in this tale - their trials and triumphs - faiths and frailties. Verily I say unto thee, these same struggles oft replay themselves throughout the ages, on endless worlds, and in uncountable lives. Yea, will these same tests and deceivers thou face in due course. Therefore, seeing thou knowest these things afore, beware lest thou also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from the Narrow Way.
Now unto the Elder - eternal, immortal, invisible, be honor and glory forever and ever. I pray thee may return one day. Wilt thou abide with me for a time again, I will tell thee of a far greater adventure. Lo, it is a tale of decisions and departures, of origins and opportunities, and of returns and revenge, but that is another story.
The End
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review on Amazon or goodreads, and visit us online at www.WaroftheRealms.com.