The chamber door swung open and Sini accompanied by Commandant Konya entered. We all stood while Sini took her seat at the Throne and Konya positioned herself two steps behind the Throne. "Be seated," Sini said.
"Thank you for rearranging your schedules in order to meet on such short notice." She nodded at me. "The Lord Chancellor has convinced me to call forth the Council of Kings. Due to the importance of the subject, I thought all of you should be present."
Sini raised her hand and pressed on the clusters of the Golden Vine Ring. White light arched from the Ring to the floor. The arc shimmered and turned into a rainbow. The seven colors separated from the rainbow, straightened, and each morphed into several human shapes.
The Kings looked at Sini. As they noticed the presence of the Council members, their expressions were that of surprise. Mhikhel stepped forward. "Siniastra, do you think it wise to continually reveal the Council's existence to others?"
"Grandfather, this is my Royal Council. If Lord Chancellor Kuinsi is correct, we will have to make a decision today that will affect the very fabric of Tiranoan society. I believe that this decision must not be made solely by Arvors."
Mhikhel's fingers plucked at his beard. "And what could be so important?"
"Lord Chancellor, please proceed," Sini said.
My pulse raced. I stood and approached one of the figures in the rear of the room. "Ahrtzor Whey-ki," I said.
He didn't respond. I took another step and stood directly in front of him. "Ahrtzor Whey-ki," I said softly.
The old man raised his brown-spotted bald head and smiled softly. "No one has called me that since my mother died. Did you know her? Such a sweet, innocent woman."
"I read her Terra New Journal. How you fled the Precession of the Equinoxes Cataclysm that would devastate Terra. How your ship was sucked through a Black Cavity and you became stranded in this galaxy."
The old man arched a gray eyebrow. "I thought I erased her journal after she died. Well, never mind. If you read it, then you know I have no regrets that I killed the Eunuchs to save her."
I stepped back, stunned. "You killed Grand Eunuchs Rohfek and Nhoth."
His head bobbed. "With the help of the Dittos. We flushed the Eunuchs out the ship's main garbage vent. They disappeared without a trace. Mom never suspected my involvement. Kwenerra was a different story. She confronted me and the Dittos. Said the Sibyls had evidence and would stream it on all the vids unless we agreed to grant them their own portion of the ship separate from the Archonan and KaNoa quarters. I didn't believe her, but I couldn't risk any further turmoil on the ship, so I agreed."
His tale was worse than I had imagined, especially if the Dittos were who I thought they were. "The Dittos. They were the clone children of the Grand Eunuchs Nhoth and Rohfek?"
"Yes, and I paid dearly for their help. I had to protect their precious privileges to ensure their silence." He shook his head slowly. "As prolific as those two were, you would never have known they were Eunuch clones. Of course, some of their sons were pretty weird."
I avoided looking at Nalena even though I wondered what she would think of being a descendant of a Eunuch. Instead, I had another question for Ahrtzor. "Did you have any children?"
"Yes, a son, Arvor, who followed in my footsteps. I gave him everything, even the code to the Imperatora's secrets from Earth." He chuckled. "Kwenerra never suspected that I saw the code and downloaded the file to my private archives." He waved his hand in a circle encompassing the Kings. "That's how we created this."
I was so focused on learning more about the Imperatora's scientific secrets that it almost slipped past me. "Earth? I thought you fled Terra."
"We did. Earth was the name for Terra in Mom's native tongue."
I wanted to be sure it was the same. "The third planet from the sun?"
Ahrtzor tilted his head. "How could you know? A virus destroyed all the records about Terra's location. Not that it matters. After Precession, Terra would have been uninhabitable."
Mom gasped. "You're wrong," she said. "I've been to Earth. It was habitable."
Ahrtzor turned toward Mom, titled his head. "Who are you? You look like my sister Kwenerra. And how could you have been to Earth without this Council knowing?"
King Mhikhel walked to Ahrtzor. "She is the High Sibyl." He turned to Mom. "And what is this nonsense that you have been to Earth?"
I sensed Mom's anger. "You'd know the whole story if you hadn't insisted in shutting down the Ring after your death. Now is not the time to tell it, though. Suffice it to say that Zhun'Mar, Tarnlot, Mirae, and I were sucked through the Black Cavities to Earth. Zhun'Mar, Mirae, and I made it back through the Cavities thanks to an Earther. An Earther who is my son's father."
Ahrtzor eyebrows arched. "Then the Precession did not decimate life on Earth?"
"I don't know whether it did or didn't. But current day Earth has life with an advanced technological society," Mom replied.
This meeting wasn't going as I planned, but an unexpectedly important points had been uncovered. I coughed to draw attention. "If I may, I'd like to explain why I asked for this meeting. And then recommend what should be done."
To my surprise, all eyes turned to me, even Mhikhel's. I looked at Sini; she nodded. "I had expected to discuss how much should be disclosed regarding the founding of Tirano, including that the Nhoths and Rohfeks are scions of clones. That seems unimportant in light of what Ahrtzor has disclosed. That Tirano was founded by Earthers."
I paused. "My mother has described the bountiful resources of Earth, including vast deposits of sihlcon. We could benefit from establishing trade with Earth and make Tirano no longer dependent on Tamok sihlcon. I propose we establish a taskforce that I would head. The taskforce would be charged with discovering how to safely traverse the Black Cavities to Earth and back."
Every head in the room nodded. Perhaps, some day I will be able to meet my father.
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