by Kyle Larson
“What in the world is the matter with you?” Aren yelled at Woad.
The man was much shorter and thinner than Aren, who was quite tall in her own right.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, I panicked. We’ve run into serious problems with the weapon.”
“Don’t ever let it happen again. If I need to I’ll find someone else to do your job and you can report to hull cleaning duty. You’ve done that before, I remember. You wanna do that again?”
The terrible memories of how sick he’d gotten never left Woad. He didn’t doubt her threats, and he never wanted to do hull cleaning again. When many of the crew looked to Aren, they didn’t see a commander, they saw a master who they feared. Since the Colonel seemed to rule with fear, Aren figured she would have to make the Wanderers more afraid of her than they were of him. Woad was someone she succeeded in doing that with, as well as promising him a high place in the command structure of the Wanderers once she was in command.
Woad also knew how desperate Aren was to keep the weapon she’d enlisted him to build secret. That was something unspoken they both knew could be used against her ambitions, but Woad had to be careful if he was going to use it against her. That would be the last resort.
“You said there is a problem. What’s the problem, corporal?” Aren snapped, irritated she even needed to ask.
Woad snapped out of his frightened trance of recall.
“The weapon…the blast is too powerful, ma’am. We won’t be able to test it out and I’m afraid if I keep fusing the cannons together we will overload the conductors of the Empress. We are going to have to deploy the weapon on its own.”
“I’m not an engineer, Woad. What does that mean?”
“I’m going to have to build an entire ship just to house the weapon. That’s going to take more time. It won’t be complete before we reach Venus.”
That was not good news to deliver to Aren. Woad was under strict orders that the weapon needed to be finished not long after they reached Venus. The weapon was something of a super-electro cannon, so they just referred to it as the super-cannon. It was composed of the dozens of electro cannons they had stolen from the Earth Navy shipment bound for Mercury. Aren found the plans for the weapon in an old computer in the stock holds of the Empress. It was from the old wars and was something the Saturn Conquerors built. It was a way to fuse multiple electro-cannons together to make not just one super-cannon, but could also use anti-gravity waves to bring down the shield over Venus.
Woad’s job was not only to build the weapon but to adjust the current of each electro-blast to absorb the energy from Venus’ gravity shield. Very little was known about how the Venusians built their gravity shield, but Woad was confident he’d cracked their secrets and could bring it down. Once that happened, their bombardment of the planet would leave the Gravity Warriors little choice but to surrender. Aren hoped it wouldn’t come to that. So far, in their attacks, no one had been killed. Once deaths started, it would change the Nine Kingdoms response to the Wanderers.
“Then build a ship. What do you require from me? You have the materials in the cargo hold. Use the Earth Navy components,” Aren said as if her answer should have been obvious.
“It’s going to slow the Empress down, ma’am. In order to build a ship in that amount of time, we’re going to require round the clock labor and we’ll have to move the construction outside of the cargo bay, in space. Once the construction moves into space, we’ll have to slow our current speed to avoid any debris.”
There was no debating that. As much as it angered Aren, she knew Woad was right. There was no getting around the laws of space travel. There was so much stellar debris in this part of the solar system it was hazardous for the crew to be away from the ship’s hull. The Empress was a big ship, but it wasn’t big enough to build an entire ship from within. This would make Aren’s ambition to defeat Venus that much more difficult. Though it would be difficult, Aren chose to accept this as an alternative path to their victory, rather than a setback.
“The new recruits – the ones from the Lunar Guardians. The artificial beings,” Aren began.
“They like to be called people, ma’am. We’ve already had some issues with the other crew, calling them robots or Alcon bots,” Woad corrected, trying to be helpful.
“That’s what they are, corporal,” Aren said, coldly, not interested in giving her new recruits the respect the undoubtedly hoped they would receive by joining the Wanderers. She knew she would eventually need to be sensitive to the origins and prejudice of her new crew.
A few hundred artificial beings from the Lunar Guardians had left their home on the moon to join the cause of the Wanderers. They did so because they thought their race would always be at risk from being enslaved by the Nine Kingdoms again. Many were still bothered by the fact large groups of their people were rumored to be in floating warehouses, inactive, in orbit above some of the most remote moons of Jupiter. It had been a cause to free them, and the ones most determined to do so felt the Wanderers were most likely the ones who would help them. The Colonel promised them justice against the Jovians, who were also rumored to still use forced labor of artificial beings; so, they left the Lunar Guardians to take up the Wanderers cause. They couldn’t care less about the Nine Kingdoms, they just wanted the last of their people freed.
Aren shrugged off their choice nomenclature and continued with her orders.
“The artificial people can withstand more radiation than we people can, so you don’t use them until we need to start construction outside the cargo bay. Start whatever sort of sensitive dialog you need to with them, but prepare them for the simple fact that their physiology can withstand it and ours cannot, and it’s a simple matter of pitching in. We’ll need them working in the vacuum as soon as we can’t keep working on the cannon inside of the ship. How long is this going to take anyway?”
“Most likely a couple of weeks after we arrive at Venus. I can’t say.”
Aren considered her options before reacting to what should be bad news. Instead of giving an answer, she turned and walked to the nearest workstation and brought a long-range sensor readout of the Nine Kingdoms. The Wanderers’ managed to hack into most of the sensor satellites deployed by each kingdom in the Nine Kingdoms. The satellite network was the Nine Kingdom’s closely kept secret, but the Wanderers hackers were very good and now they knew where almost every ship in every navy of the Nine Kingdoms was, at all times.
Uranus had launched their fleet of Corsairs. It was hard to determine how long it would take for them to arrive at Venus, but there would be time.
“Then we’ll build the ship in orbit of Venus, if we have to. The Uranian Corsairs won’t arrive until weeks after we get there. By the time they do, the super-cannon will be ready and it won’t matter how many ships they have. We’ll disable their fleet, take their ships, and then take Venus,” Aren said.
Woad moved behind Aren and could see a dozen Corsairs that had just departed Uranus. The Corsairs would certainly be a challenge for Aren’s ten ships and the last thing she wanted was the Colonel or other Wanderer squads to join her. The Colonel going after the Monarch was the perfect distraction for Aren to put forth the plan that reformed in her plan.
“Yes, ma’am,” Woad said. He waited for Aren to say more, but she just stared at the map of the Nine Kingdoms in front of her.
“On the double, corporal, and I expect daily reports of progress,” Aren said, her finger pointed at the cluster of Corsair ships. “Whatever you need, just make sure it’s ready.”
Corporal Woad nodded his head and quickly left Aren’s office. Her gaze turned back to the map and a small shuttle that carried her brother near the orbit of Venus.
CHAPTER FOUR
VENUS WAS A brilliant blue, a shade much closer to Earth than Kelvin or Amelia expected. If not for the extensive cloud coverage, it could have been Earth. The continents looked similar, as well as the landscape. The solar discs that helped tame the sun and kept Venus cool we
re in an orbit far away from the planet, so the planet was all anyone could see. On Mercury they covered the orbit, but here on Venus they were nowhere to be seen.
Kelvin and Amelia didn’t have time to enjoy the view. Almost as soon as Venus became visible, their communications station started buzzing. Kelvin switched his chair to run it, while Amelia focused on scanning the area for Wanderer ships. They were close to Venus, but if the Wanderers showed up, they would still be in trouble.
The incoming communications were from the Royal Palace of Venus. There was an audio link but no visual, which was different from a standard planetary transmission. Kelvin also noticed the transmission was not encrypted, another unusual aspect of the Royal Palace establishing a stellar communication link with an official vessel. Since Kelvin was aboard the shuttle, it was considered an official vessel from the Kingdom of Earth. If the message was not encrypted, anyone in the Nine Kingdoms monitoring would be able to hear it.
Nevertheless, Kelvin accepted the transmission and established an audio link.
“Greetings, Royal Palace of Venus, this is Kelvin Sellwood, prince and heir to the throne of ––”
“Prince Sellwood, power down your craft at once and prepare to be received by our tractor beam. The gravity in this vicinity will be difficult for your digital assistant and craft to maneuver. We will take over piloting and make sure your vessel is delivered safely to the Royal Palace,” a stern voice said at the other end of the transmission.
Kelvin didn’t reply –– mostly because he had no idea what to say. He glanced at Amelia, who shrugged her shoulders and took another look at the sensor station. Whoever the person was speaking to them was correct, the gravity was indeed intense and it would be difficult for a craft their size. Not many ships traveled to Venus, mostly because the Venusians were not known for their hospitality and openness to receiving visitors. They were not unlike the current state of Earth, the only difference is they still had ambassadors in every other kingdom, but they didn’t host any ambassadors. Venus was a mystery, but they still tried to keep up relations with the Nine Kingdoms, at least so they could remain informed.
“They’re right, Kelvin. It would be a pretty bumpy ride if Mara tried to pilot us in,” Amelia said.
“I know when to let someone else do the driving,” Mara concurred. “I’m powering down the thrusters and guidance systems. Tell Venus we’re all theirs.”
He took a deep breath and then adjusted the microphone on his headset so the words would come through clear.
“Understood, Venus. We defer to your tractor beam,” Kelvin said.
The connection terminated and suddenly the shuttle leaped forward. Luckily, Kelvin and Amelia were strapped in their seats, but the sudden increase in speed was still jarring.
“Jeez, is that them?” Kelvin said. The speed rocked him back in his chair.
“Yeah, I hope they know the limits of this shuttle’s structure,” Amelia said, bringing the status of the shuttle online. The speed was the threshold the shuttle could withstand, but still within the safety limits. Any faster and the shuttle would tear itself to pieces. “I hope whoever’s flying this knows what they’re doing.”
The shuttle hurtled toward the misty, blue atmosphere of Venus. There was barely time for Kelvin and Amelia to take in the view as the planet got larger through their front window. The stars and darkness of space they’d both become accustomed since their departure from Mercury vanished and was replaced by the clear blue skies of Venus. Once in the atmosphere, the shuttle slowed. They could see the clouds below them covered the surface completely, whether it was land or another of Venus’ vast oceans.
“It’s beautiful,” Amelia said, as she motioned to a sunset on the horizon. The sun loomed much larger on Venus and it was the first time they’d seen it look so familiar to what their lives on Earth had accustomed them to. The sun was almost completely blotted out on Mercury, so this was a welcome view for both Kelvin and Amelia.
Just as they started to relax and enjoy their slow descent through the skies of Venus, the shuttle rocketed forward in what felt like a free fall dive. It reminded them both of the ancient amusement park rides they took as young children. There was still nostalgia for the roller-coasters that had been constructed long ago on Earth, and children still loved them. Kelvin remembered he and Amelia both rode them until they were sick, but never failed to go back each year.
Those quick memories made Kelvin miss much simpler times.
The fog of the clouds quickly turned from bright white to a dull grey, and in a few seconds, the shuttle slowed and coasted thousands of feet over the lush landscape of Venus. The sky was now overcast, but it was still better than the darkness Amelia and Kelvin had lived in the last eight months.
“It’s beautiful!” Kelvin said.
In his research of Venus, he’d come to expect the surface of the second planet from the sun to be much more rocky and barren than the endless rainforest in his view. Amelia used the environmental sensors to get an idea of what the climate might be.
“The oxygen in the atmosphere is at insane levels, Kelvin. The atmosphere is almost completely absent of pollutants. It’s like there isn’t any sort of technology on this planet. I can’t detect any sort of power grid or exhaust from a power source,” Amelia said.
“That’s the big mystery of Venus, Millie: no one knows how they power their planet. The consulates for other kingdoms are on the main continent on the southern pole with most of its population, but according to our sensors, we are in the most sparsely populated area of the planet. Venus is the only kingdom to keep the location of its Royal Palace remote and hidden.”
“I heard some of the officers on the Monarch say they use gravity for everything here, Kelvin. They’ve spent centuries learning how to use it for all sources of power and it’s one of their most closely guarded secrets,” Amelia added.
“That’s what most people think, but no one knows. Most of the Venusians have been alive since before the Nine Kingdoms were even founded. Queen Tendai is estimated to be over six-hundred years old,” Kelvin said.
Long life was not unusual in the Nine Kingdoms, but it was not a natural occurrence. With the advancement of medicine over the centuries, humans found ways to regenerate their cells and live hundreds of years. Venus was unique in that it was the only planet in the Nine Kingdoms that long life occurred naturally in, and aging literally stopped once a person reached their peak physical condition, usually between the ages of twenty-five or thirty years. Only people born on Venus were blessed with this seemingly eternal youth. No scientist in the Nine Kingdoms was able to explain it. It was one of the many mysteries of the solar system that remained a mystery.
On Earth, most people made the decision to live a natural length of life, not living much past the age of one-hundred years. Each kingdom was different and there was no law anywhere in the Nine Kingdoms that told people to limit or extend their life. It was a matter of personal choice, but the decision was best made at the age of twenty-five, to ensure the best health for the rest of a person's life. Venusians were unique, because they had all been alive since the first wars of the solar system, and had many stories to tell.
Unfortunately, the historians of Venus were not known to be forthcoming. Firsthand history of the wars that forged the Nine Kingdoms was one thing Kelvin hoped to learn while he was on Venus if whatever task the Tradition of Service Queen Tendai and King Etho required would allow it.
In the horizon, Kelvin and Amelia could see mountains rising up, and suddenly the shuttle dropped in altitude to where it was barely skimming the tops of trees in the dense forest. Just from their glances down, they estimated the trees themselves to be hundreds of feet tall, bigger than even the mighty Redwoods of Earth. They were in a valley of endless rocky peaks that took over the horizon. Kelvin and Amelia felt odd since they had gotten used to seeing the unchanging view of stars through the portholes of the Monarch. After a few minutes of passing through the one valley that had
been carved out in this sea of mountains, they could see an end –– the mountains created a wall that closed off the valley and just in front of it the Royal Palace of Venus floated.
The Royal Palace floated just above the treetops and was right in the line of sight of Kelvin and Amelia. It looked like an intricate series of smooth, pointed rocks that jutted up into the sky and interconnected, with bridges extending to surrounding mountain peaks. It was the strangest and most unique structure either of them had ever seen. Its windows sparkled in the few rays of sun that broke through the cloud ceiling. It was the only artificial structure they could see. As grand as it was, when they got closer they could see the design was simple and elegant, but it was nowhere near the size of the Royal Palaces of Earth and Mercury.
“That’s just…that’s just incredible,” Amelia said, her eyes wide with wonder.
“Dare me to snap a picture and upload it to the Tube?” Mara said. The Royal Palace of Venus was something of a mystery to the rest of the Nine Kingdoms. Only a handful of royalty from outside of Venus had ever visited it. Many paranoid, conspiracy theorists with their own Tube channels had elaborate ideas that there was something sinister afoot at the Royal Palace. If Mara made good on her joke it would have been huge news around the Nine Kingdoms, and most likely not appreciated by Queen Tendai.
“No!” Kelvin and Amelia snapped back at her.
“I’m kidding! Jeez, you two need to lighten up. Literally. Get it? Since we’re on Venus. Lighten up?” Mara joked back.
“Can you please keep a lid on your wit while we’re here, Mara. Something about the name ‘Gravity Warriors’ makes me think Venus isn’t known for its sense of humor. I’ve got a job to do.”