“Mistress Aeria, we are about to drop out of sub-space. By my calculations we’ll be coming out next to the planet’s moon,” a soldier to Aeria’s right announced.
“Very good. Give word to the fighters to prepare for launch. I want them flying attack formation alpha as soon as we drop out of the jump,” Aeria ordered.
“Yes, Mistress,” a second soldier called out, frantically working at his station.
“Diagnostics, I want long range sensors up and scanning immediately. Give me as much information as you can and link it to my control console,” Aeria commanded.
“Yes, Mistress!” yelled a group of soldiers working at consoles on the lower platform.
“Mistress, breaking jump field in 3… 2…. 1…”
In the blink of an eye, the Trident appeared suddenly in high orbit above Earth’s moon. Hatches all along the exterior sections opened and small ships poured out of them like a swarm of hornets. Hundreds of these ships flew out and away from the Trident, aligning in formations before heading towards Earth at breakneck speed. Each formation broke off in different directions, spreading out across the backdrop of the planet.
“Mistress Aeria, the fighters are away and are surveying the planet for any hostile contacts. So far there have been none,” the second officer reported.
Aeria had both expected this and was surprised by it. From her father’s unusual behavior she had expected some sort of resistance or perhaps another civilization she hadn’t been aware of, but so far there didn’t seem to be anything. She worked at the consoles surrounding her chair and pulled up an image of the planet on her screen. Deciding it was insufficient she pressed a large green button to her right and the projection of her screen disappeared, immediately being redisplayed on the massive screen at the end of the lower platform. Aeria leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand, and stared at the blue-green planet. She didn’t care how aloof her father was being about the discovery of Earth; she knew this was a triumphant moment that would be remembered forever.
“Umm… Mistress Aeria…” one of the soldiers from the lower deck called out in a wary voice. “I think there is something you should see…”
Aeria’s gaze shot to the soldier below, and with a suspicious glare she asked, “What is it? Put it on the main display!” At once the soldier went back to work and after a moment a small pulsating circle appeared on the display of the planet. Aeria didn’t know what to make of it. Losing patience, she asked curtly, “And what exactly am I looking at, Lieutenant?”
“Umm, I’m not sure how to say it, Mistress…” the man looked thoroughly baffled.
“Just spit it out, you fool!” Aeria scolded, a wild look in her eyes.
“Well, Mistress, it’s a transponder beacon from one of the royal holodisk devices. According to its log, it belongs to… Kronus,” the soldier seemed to cringe as he said it.
“What? That must be an error. Check it again!” Aeria snapped.
“With respect, Mistress,” the soldier closest to the lieutenant chimed in, “I’ve double checked the readouts, and the lieutenant’s assessment is correct.”
“That can’t be possible. Enhance!” Aeria shouted out. The display at the end of the platform zoomed into a heavily forested section of the planet where the pulsating circle was. There was no mistaking it, there was a holodisk device on the surface of the planet, but how could that be? Aeria’s grandfather Kronus was locked in a prison thousands of light-years away. “Can you connect to it? I want to see who activated it!”
“I’m sorry, Mistress; it’s a much older version that doesn’t have that capability. All we can tell from orbit is that it appears to be moving and that according to its log, the emergency beacon was activated just a few hours ago.”
Aeria didn’t know what to think. Only a member of the royal family could use one of those devices. How, then, did a holodisk device find its way to the surface? Moreover, who was using it? Obviously her grandfather had been less than truthful about his experiences with Earth, but did her father know this? Based on the way he had been acting, he must have known, but why hadn’t he said something? This was supposed to be a day of triumph, not a day of deception and half-truths! she fumed to herself.
“Umm… Mistress, there is more,” the lieutenant interjected, grimacing as he did. “It seems there is also an indigenous civilization on the planet. Based on initial scans they appear to be a pre-industrial, mostly agricultural species.”
“What?” Aeria was growing more alarmed with each report. “Are they lesser ones?”
“Well, that’s the strange part. They seem to be similar to the lesser ones, but initial scans indicate genetic variation inconsistent with any known species on record. We would, of course, have to test them directly to know for certain,” the lieutenant finished, looking unsure of himself.
Aeria glared at the man. What kind of circus was this? she wondered to herself. Before she could ask more questions the image on the massive screen changed, revealing an image of her father’s face peering at her and the rest of the soldiers. At once the soldiers stood to attention, but Aeria did not move. Instead she scrutinized the image with a cold stare.
“Has my ship been prepared?” Velion asked, ignoring his daughter’s icy stare.
“Yes, Father, it’s in the main hangar. I believe Thanatos is awaiting our arrival. Shall we depart?” Aeria asked, anxious to get some answers.
“No, I’ll be going alone. Thanatos can come if he wishes, but I need you to stay here,” Velion commanded.
“Stay here?” Aeria mocked, the anger in her voice evident. “Why can’t I come to the surface with you?” she demanded, squinting her eyes in contempt.
“Just do as I’ve told you!” Velion snapped. Without another word, the screen before Aeria returned to the image of the planet and the pulsating circle. Stay here, she thought darkly. Sitting for a moment brooding, her blood boiled with every thought as she wondered, how could he just dismiss me like that? I was the one to discover the planet! And now I have to stay here? It’s not fair! She slammed her fist down on the control console, the light of the projections flickering in shock as she did. The soldiers around Aeria quietly returned to work, trying to avoid eye contact.
As Aeria stared with fury at the pulsating circle, she remembered something. No one had told him about the holodisk on the surface! Realizing this, she quickly shut the control consoles down and stood to leave. She turned towards the lift doors and started walking briskly towards them. Before entering the lift she called out, “Prepare my ship for departure, I’m leaving immediately!”
“But Mistress, didn’t Lord Velion ask you to stay here?” One of the soldiers asked in a startled tone.
“That doesn’t concern you, so do as I’ve ordered!” Aeria shouted, losing her patience.
“Yes, Mistress!”
Aeria stepped into the lift and pressed the lowest symbol on the wall. Immediately the room began to move downwards and after a few moments it came to a stop and the doors slid apart. Aeria walked out of the lift into a large hangar filled with rows of small fighters. At the end of the hangar was a ship that was much larger than the rest. It was made of a gleaming silver metal and was fitted with several large weapon arrays. As she approached the vessel, the platform it was resting on began to rotate, spinning the back of the ship towards her. The door to the vessel started to open, dropping slowly to become a ramp. As Aeria walked up the ramp and into the ship she thought to herself, if my father doesn’t want to tell me what’s going on, then so be it, I will just find the answers on my own!.
The engines on her ship burst to life with a high pitched squeal; green light and hot vapor filling the hangar as it gently lifted off the platform. It hovered for a moment while Aeria configured the consoles. A large door a few yards in front of the ship jolted to life and started to lift up, disappearing into the ceiling. Beyond the door was a long narrow corridor with yellow flashing lights running the length of it on either side. The nose of Aeria’s ship dipped d
own and the vessel slowly hovered forward, stopping just beyond the doorway. Without delay the large bay door began to slide shut again; emitting a loud thud as it sealed itself shut. Aeria punched the accelerator when she heard the door close, and the silver vessel shot forward at an enormous speed, like a bullet racing down the barrel of a gun. The flashing lights became a blur as they sped by and after a few seconds the ship shot out from the corridor into a black ocean of stars, moving at an incredible speed.
Gaining her bearings, Aeria steered the ship towards Earth, racing at full speed towards the signal of the holodisk. It would take a few minutes to traverse the distance, but she would have her answers soon.