Chariots of Heaven

  * * *

  Aeria lowered the throttle as her ship gently landed on a large stone structure; another complex constructed by her grandfather. From the looks of it, Aeria guessed it was part of the groundwork for what would have been a large city center or palace. It was connected to a large square grid that stretched out across the land. From the ground it looked like nothing more than an odd assortment of stone platforms and lines, but from the air it was clear that it was meant to serve as the foundation for one of Kronus’s settlements. Like the pyramid they’d just left, it was unfinished; abandoned to stand the test of time and nature. It hadn’t fared well as most of the structure was either crumbled or buried.

  Aeria looked out through the glass of her cockpit to examine her surroundings. The unfinished compound was now covered by dozens of parked fighters and hundreds of soldiers building military encampments. All around her, men and women clad in polished black armor busied themselves with setting up tents and unloading cargo containers. It wouldn’t be long before the abandoned foundation would stand as a city again, if only a temporary one. At the center of the commotion stood Velion’s enormous black vessel, dwarfing all those that surrounded it. The outside of the ship was protected by thick black shielding and all along the side were covered ports for the vessel’s weapons array. In a fight they would open and reveal a dozen devastating plasma cannons on either side of the ship. There wasn’t a vessel in existence that could out last this battle cruiser, except perhaps the Trident.

  Aeria had no doubt that her father had noticed her arrival and would be waiting for her aboard the monstrous ship. She wasn’t looking forward to the encounter. For all of her bravado in front of Thanatos, she knew that the consequences of her disobedience would be severe. Shutting down the controls of her ship, she pushed her chair back and prepared to disembark. Opening the rear hatch of the vessel she tried to ready herself for what was to come. If she was going to be the hero of the day, then it was up to her to play her cards wisely and in a timely fashion. There were a great many secrets hidden on the planet, and as far as she could tell, she was the closest to discovering them. If her father wouldn’t give her the credit she deserved, then she would take it for her own.

  As the rear hatch lowered to the ground Aeria saw Thanatos approaching, a smug look on his face. He always got a sort of enjoyment out of watching Aeria get in trouble with her father, and the heavens knew that he’d witnessed it often. She might have been the favorite child of Velion, but she was far from the most obedient. “Are you ready?” he asked, his smug grin growing.

  “Always,” she replied coldly. Thanatos didn’t seem to notice the tone because he kept the same grin on his face. Together they made their way through the bustling encampment towards the royal ship, each step bringing more apprehension. They stopped short, just under the port side of the ship. A few feet above them a hatch opened and an unsuspended platform lowered to the ground. Aeria took a deep breath as they stepped onto the platform.

  Thanatos looked over at her and grinned again. He patted her hard on the shoulder and said, “What’s the worst that could happen? He’ll probably just banish you to live with your uncle Hadius in the underworld.”

  “Hilarious,” Aeria responded coolly. She knew he was trying to make her feel better but there was honestly no telling what her father would do. The unsuspended platform levitated up, lifting them quietly into the bowels of the battle cruiser.

  Once the platform stopped moving each of them stepped off and started down a dim corridor running along the inside of the ship. After walking approximately a hundred feet they came to short metal staircase. Climbing it, Aeria could see the door to the bridge of the ship. Like the Trident, as they approached the door, a panel of green lights illuminated. Thanatos gave her one last look and pressed the uppermost symbol. The door slid open revealing a room identical to the control room of the Trident, only on a smaller scale. In the center of the lower platform three men stood around a large round table talking to each other.

  As Aeria and Thanatos made their way down to the bottom platform the three men ceased their conversation. The two men standing next to her father immediately tensed and stood to attention, both calling out, “Mistress!”

  Velion gave an almost imperceptible nod and both men stood down, although neither seemed to relax. “Father,” Aeria said, lowering her head in a bow. Velion didn’t move as he silently examined his daughter with a cold stare. She raised her head and looked him in the eye. No one said anything for almost a minute. Growing visibly uneasy, Thanatos shifted his weight and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could Velion raised a solitary finger to silence him.

  “Explain yourself, Aeria,” Velion commanded.

  Thanatos and the other two men stepped back warily, but Aeria stood her ground. Boldly, she replied, “Why should I? You certainly haven’t.” The shock that went across the room could be felt as easily as a gust of cold air. Even Thanatos was taken aback by what he was hearing. The look of horror that was frozen on his face nearly made Aeria laugh, but she knew better. The fury in her father’s eyes was enough to stifle any humor she might find in the situation.

  “What did you just say to me?” Velion hissed, his voice filled with anger.

  “I think you heard me,” Aeria responded. She could feel the anger growing in her stomach. She couldn’t believe his nerve, demanding explanations when he had given none.

  Velion’s eyes widened with rage and his whole body shook with fury. Aeria knew that if she hadn’t been his daughter, he would have killed her then and there, on the spot. No one dared defy him like this, but today was different. She would no longer tolerate his lack of respect. Feeling bold she pressed on, “Tell me, Father, how long have you known about Grandfather’s secrets on this planet?”

  Clearly trying to restrain himself, Velion spoke through gritted teeth, “That is none of your concern!”

  “Isn’t it? I am one of the ruling Council of Twelve, am I not? Charged with finding the most precious of heavenly jewels! Why wasn’t I told we’d been here before?!” Aeria demanded, her anger growing by the second.

  “How dare you take this tone with me! Have you forgotten your place, child? I do not answer to you!” Velion shouted. The three men watching were all horrorstruck. Clearly they had not expected Aeria’s defiance.

  “No, Father. You don’t answer to me alone, but you answer to the council, and by keeping us in the dark you have betrayed us!” Aeria spat before she could think about what she was saying. At once, she knew she had crossed the line.

  “Betrayed you?!” Velion bellowed. With lightning fast speed he reached over the table and slapped Aeria across the face.

  The blow hurt her pride more than anything. She could taste blood in her mouth from where her tooth had torn into the cheek, but it was nothing. She’d taken far worse before, but never from the hand of her father. Not wanting to appear weak in front of the soldiers, she glared back at her father and spat the blood on the floor. Velion also seemed rattled. He had never struck her before and clearly he hadn’t meant to. Quietly he whispered, “All of you, get out.”

  Not wishing to excite their ruler’s wrath again, everyone poured out of the control room. Aeria turned to leave but was stopped when her father shook his head and said, “Not you.”

  After the door closed behind Thanatos, Velion fixed his gaze on his daughter once more. In a voice that was straining to be calm he said, “You have every right to be angry with me. It is true that I have kept you and the rest of the council in the dark about Earth’s history. But that does not give you the right to be insubordinate in front of the soldiers.” He glared at her. Aeria nodded. Despite her anger with him she knew that she had been out of line. “Now, I understand it must appear as though I have deliberately kept you in the dark, but that is not the case. I didn’t tell anyone about Earth’s hidden history because I didn’t know for certain that it was true. For all I knew, your grandfather was telling the truth. It wa
sn’t until many years after he’d been imprisoned that I discovered there might be more to the story.”

  “But why wouldn’t you at least tell me when we found it? Did I not have a right to know?” Aeria asked, trying to remain calm as her cheek tingled with pain.

  “I realize now my error in not telling you, but in my defense I didn’t know what to tell you. I had no more information about what we would find here than you did. For all I knew, there could have been an army, ready for battle the moment we landed. This is why I asked you to stay on the Trident. If a battle broke out, there was no one I’d rather have commanding the ship than you,” Velion finished.

  Aeria blushed a little at the compliment. Perhaps she had been too hard on her father. Looking back at it now, his actions and motives made perfect sense. If she hadn’t been so bullheaded, she might have seen it earlier.

  “At the same time, I didn’t want to start a panic. A lesson you would be wise to learn is that an army that panics, is an army that falters. If I had shown my uncertainty to our soldiers, they might have lost faith in my ability to command. You must remember that much of our power lies in the perceptions of those that follow us. One isn’t revered as a god by showing hesitation or uncertainty,” Velion continued, eyeing his daughter thoughtfully.

  Aeria nodded and looked to the floor in shame. “I’m sorry, Father. I acted impulsively and showed you disrespect.”

  Velion sighed and gave a small smile, his anger fading from his face. “I should have known better than to expect you to just do as you were told. You’ve never been one to sit idly by when there was action to be had.” Velion walked around the table and put his arm over Aeria’s shoulder and kissed her head. “Now that we know there is no danger here, I can commend you on a job well done.” He looked down at Aeria. As he was almost a foot taller than her, she had to look up to meet his gaze.

  “A job well done?” Aeria asked, suddenly confused.

  “Why yes, you did find Earth, after all. Don’t think that this will go unrecognized. Once we set up a more permanent settlement, I’ll be sending a messenger back to Tython to tell the others of your discovery,” Velion grinned at her, knowing this would make her happy.

  Aeria’s heart sank, despite the good news. She had been so disobedient and yet, her father had repaid her actions with kindness. She could feel a tear welling in her eye, but wiped it away before it could fall. Velion smiled again and hugged her. This made her happy, and the fact that the others weren’t there to witness her soft side, made it even better.

  “Oh, wait, Father, I have news.” Aeria pulled away from the hug and looked up at Velion. “I wasn’t going to tell you because I was mad at you, but I suppose I should.” Velion smile faded and a look of worry passed over his face. The same look of worry he’d had on the Trident and in her memory.

  Aeria paused for a moment, wondering how he would take the news. She hoped he wouldn’t be angry with her again. “You asked that I explain myself, so I will. The reason I came to the surface was because the Trident’s long range sensors picked up an emergency beacon coming from a royal holodisk.” The worried look on Velion’s face grew more severe. Aeria pressed on, “The sensors indicated the device belonged to Kronus, and had been activated a few hours prior to our arrival.”

  “How is that possible?” Velion interjected.

  “That’s exactly what I went to find out. But what I discovered doesn’t quite make sense.” Aeria stopped, unsure of how to tell her father what had transpired.

  “Well, spit it out! What doesn’t make sense?” Velion demanded.

  Frowning, Aeria went on, “I found two of the locals in possession of the device; two girls to be exact.”

  “But you said the device had been activated,” Velion murmured, confused.

  “That’s the part that doesn’t make sense. Both girls were able to use the holodisk,” Aeria finished, watching her father’s reaction closely. Velion did not speak. Moving to the nearest chair he sat down in it, looking defeated and somewhat sad.

  Confused by his reaction, Aeria asked, “What is it, Father?”

  Velion covered his face with his hands, and through them he quietly said, “It is as I feared.”

  Aeria shook her head, dumbfounded. What did he mean? Had he expected this?

  “You grandfather’s sins seem to have no end. If he were not already imprisoned for eternity, I would lock him away again.” Velion dropped his hand and shook his head in despair.

  “I don’t understand? What do you mean, his sins?” Aeria sat in the chair closest to her father.

  “It is important we bring this news to the Council of Twelve immediately. What happened to the two girls? Do you have the holodisk?” Velion asked urgently.

  Aeria shook her head. “No, they fled into the woods while I was fighting off a group of wolves that attacked us.”

  “Wait, I don’t understand. Start from the beginning.”

  Aeria regaled her father with the tale, explaining that she had landed on an unfinished transport building just in time to see the older of the two girls fighting a large predator. She explained that after watching the fight for a few minutes she had decided to intervene and save the girl’s life. He gave her a very worried look when she told him of the girl’s ability to speak their language and seemed unconvinced that the girls found the device by accident. She explained how the pack of wolves attacked and how she had let the girls flee with the device.

  “You should have followed them; why didn’t you?” Velion asked, disapprovingly.

  “I was more worried about the unfinished building than the girls. I found it odd that they were at the foot of it when I arrived, so I wanted to see what they were after. I knew that if they fled with the device we’d be able to follow the beacon,” Aeria replied.

  Frowning, Velion said, “Unless they learn how to turn it off. Do you have any idea where they went?”

  “My sensors picked up a settlement a few miles from where I found them. I’m guessing that’s where they were headed.” Aeria shifted, realizing how foolish the assumption sounded.

  “Then let’s hope you’re correct. We need to find them and that holodisk as soon as possible. I believe what you’ve told me, but I must see them for myself. Go summon Thanatos, but only him. We can’t risk bringing someone we can’t trust. Not even my personal guard.”

  Surprised by the urgency, Aeria nodded her head and did as her father commanded. After collecting Thanatos, the three of them met back in the control room of the royal ship. Velion took the center seat on the upper platform and started the ships engines. With a roar, the enormous black vessel lifted off the ground. Looking below as they ascended, Aeria could see the confused looks being exchanged by their soldiers. Only the royal guard had been alerted to their departure, but even they weren’t given details of their destination.

  Aeria walked over to one of the control consoles and began working with the projected screen. After a moment she smiled. It was still there. The beacon was still broadcasting and as she expected, it was nestled in the center of the settlement she discovered. Working the controls again she called out to her father, “I’ve entered the coordinates of the beacon. It was right where I thought it would be.”