The Lost Prince (20 page)

“Why?”

“If we wait two days and go, that computer will begin to suspect we can hear it.”

“Those missiles have to be destroyed.”

“Not really. We just need to prevent them from falling into their possession.”

Violet said, “How do you do that without destroying them?”

“Violet, how many of the old ships were found with intact missile units?”

“Forty.”

“Doc, do you have any blast bombs in the armory.”

“How many do you want?”

“Forty.”

“Sure.”

Ian said, “Booby traps.”

“Yes, and if one goes off, they all go off.”

“How do we set them and not have them discovered by a scan?”

“We pull the activate plug and push then in with the handle held down by pressure. We’ll set them all on the same frequency and if one is disturbed, it will broadcast the frequency. The others will then rebroadcast the frequency before they explode. That way those around the planet will hear at least one frequency, no matter where they’re located from the first blast.”

“What if there’s a small earthquake and one is released?”

“As long as we are nowhere around there, the earthquake will be blamed for the ancient weapons exploding.”

Ian started nodding. “We need to let the ships take us down and use the gravity sleds to stay off the surface. We don’t want to leave any new tracks. The ships can hover and drop us off with the locations of the ships we need to handle. We’ll have to do ten each and get out of there.”

“What happens then?”

“We go back to the Union and I deliver all the recordings of what we’ve learned. Then I tell the King that you three will be issued pardons and relief from your Royal Duties.”

“Are you out of your mind?”

“Does the Union have a ship capable of catching me? And if they did, do you not think I could still give them the slip if it came to that.”

“They won’t do it.”

“They will.”

Andi looked at Drey, ‘Why do you say that?”

“I’ll make them an offer they can’t refuse.”

Andi smiled, “Now that would be interesting.”

“I’ll record it for you.”

• • •

Three days later, the four were woken by an alarm and the intercom said, “Do you still want us to leave?”

“Have you detected anything?”

“No, nothing.”

“Power up and join the search. We’ve doubled the number in each unit and we need every available ship to take part.”

“Powering up.”

• • •

The two ships were beside the closest moon and saw the three ships lift from the planet and move into the upper atmosphere. They formed up on each other and disappeared.

“Get down there now. Get it done quickly.”

“Why, Drey?”

“If it were me, I’d wait about twelve hours and send a ship back just to make sure. I might even do it sooner, but I know I wouldn’t return for four hours at the earliest. I would suspect that if I were heard, any that did would wait at least that long to come.”

The two ships screamed down to the surface and dropped off the four sleds and assisted them when a large distance had to be traveled. Two hours and thirty minutes later the four sleds were picked up and the ships submerged out of normal space. Andi was back with Drey and Ian looked at them on the display and said, “I was more nervous than a sinner in church.”

Drey said, “I was probably just being paranoid.”

E interrupted saying, “I have a ship emerging into normal space above the planet. They immediately heard, “I’m here. Why did you send the message through another ship?”

“I want you to scan the surface of that planet and compare it to the one you made before you left. If anything on the surface is different, and I do mean anything, notify me instantly.” The ship entered orbit and began its scan.

Drey said, “I’m starting to like that computer. It’s refreshingly sneaky.”

“That was close, Drey.”

“But not close enough. Let’s wait until that ship leaves before we jump. You two whiz kids need to keep your sensors out to see if you feel any pressure waves moving this way.”

Three hours later the ship jumped away and Doc said, “I feel small pressure waves starting to build.”

“Stay where you are and wait.”

An hour later six alien ship destroyers emerged and rescanned the planet. After another hour they jumped away. Drey said, “Wait for it.”

Thirty minutes later a FTL ship arrived at the planet. The beams on the moon did not fire at it. “Nothing here.”

There was a long pause and they heard, “Return to the Hub.”

“Why did you send me here?”

“It was the logical thing to do if two variables were true. It appears they aren’t. Return to base.”

Violet said, “What two variables?

Andi said, “One we could hear its communications and two we were here for a reason and now that we’ve exposed our existence, we would come back.”

“Why would we come back?”

“Because it is next to impossible to unite with other ships without a common meeting coordinate. This is a logical place.”

Drey smiled, “I’m impressed.”

“You saw it too.”

“Even so.”

“How did you know there would be another ship?”

Drey smiled, “The devious use three attempts. The really devious use four.”

Doc said, “I would use five.” Just as another FTL ship arrived.

Even Drey had to laugh.

T
he two ships arrived on Hellhole and Drey dropped off Andi and left for Euclid. The three had made it clear they were not going back under any circumstances. Before he went to Euclid, he went to San Rosa and spoke at length with the President. He revealed what they had uncovered and finally managed to get him to listen. After a day, the President called him in and told him what he had been able to do. Drey thanked him and left for Euclid.

He arrived in orbit and asked for clearance to visit the Lead Scientist. The Duke that was head of security came on the display and said, “We currently have the one you’re here to see in confinement.”

“You do.”

“Yes and you will land your ship immediately.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Suddenly three ships appeared around him and the Duke said, “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”

Drey smiled at the Duke, “I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.” The Duke saw the ship disappear and continued to hear Drey speaking, “I’m going to send you some information and I’ll give you two days to take a look at it. At the end of that time, I’ll discuss my next possible actions.”

The Duke hit his board, “Where is that ship?”

“We have no idea, Your Highness. It’s not here.”

“Then how is he still communicating?”

“We have no idea.”

The Duke looked at Drey and said, “What possible actions are you referring to?”

“I’m considering destroying the Obelisk. Don’t look at me like that. You know I have a missile that can do it. However, I’ll hold my judgment until you have the opportunity to view the material.”

The Duke looked at his board and saw a massive file arrive. He looked at the blank display and took the file to the Scientific Building. Four hours later, he took it to the King. Four hours after that, the members in the Senior Royalty arrived and the King gave them the file. At the end of the next day, the Duke pushed his communicator, “Are you still there?”

“Of course.”

“I notice that you didn’t include in the file how you’re able to escape detection.”

“You know who I am.”

The King interrupted the conversation, “Why did you lie about having the Princess on your ship?”

Drey looked at the Duke, “You have a recording of our previous conversation.” The Duke nodded. “Send it to the King or this conversation is done.”

The King said, “Send it to me.” The Duke paused and the King said, “If you value your position you won’t keep me waiting!” Drey watched the King look away from the display for a few minutes and then turn back and say, “The truth.”

Drey said, “But not the whole truth.”

“You’re pretty slick, Andrea.”

“Not really. I’m like a bolder crashing into everything in its path. There’s not much subtlety with me.”

“Do you honestly thing you could fire on the Obelisk and not be destroyed?”

“Do you see the satellite above the planet sending weather images to the surface?”

The King reached out of the display and moved his arm, “I do.”

“Stop me from destroying it.” Suddenly the satellite exploded.

The Duke yelled, “Where is that ship!?!”

“It’s not here!”

The King listened and said, “You want something. What is it?”

“First thing is for Cole to be released from confinement and put back to work.”

“He conspired for the Princess to escape.”

“That’s the other thing. I want you fanatics to get a real life and join the human race. You’ve becoming more of a liability than an asset.”

The Duke screamed at him, but Drey watched the King’s expression. He was actually curious. The Duke disappeared from the display and the King said, “He’s really too emotional to hold that position. Tell me what you mean.”

“Why did the highest ranking Royals on the planet leave and refuse to return?”

“I’ve wondered about that.”

“Rule this planet for about ten years and you’ll make a break for it as well. You have allowed yourselves to be trapped in a system that’s broken. All of Euclid’s Genetics are kept here, instead of being allowed to go out and improve the other worlds in the Union. You decree that the highest ranking Genetics must marry and do not allow any emotions to enter the process. That is insanity. What you’ll eventually end up with are genetics like I was in the Nebula.”

“It’s necessary to marry the highest ranking Genetics.”

“What’s the difference in the scores of the top fifty?”

The King looked at a screen and said, “Two points.” Drey lowered his head and looked at the King through his eyebrows. The King saw him and said, “I thought there was a larger difference.”

“I suspect there was a few hundred years ago. The smart thing to do would be to put the highest ranking Royals in the same school and whoever the top one matched up with, that would be the Royal Couple. That way they would have chosen each other and not only be bound by duty, but by real feelings for each other. The way you do it is asinine.”

“They might not choose each other.”

“Trust me on this one; they can only bond with someone they know. It’s impossible to care about another you’ve never met. They’ll find someone in their classes that will win their heart and they will match up.”

“You took the one that was slated to marry me.”

“How do you feel about her?”

“She’s very pretty.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I’m sure we’d get along.”

“What about the one you really care about.”

The King stared at Drey and his eyes narrowed, “Leave her out of this.”

“Now ask yourself this one question. If you had to have someone at your back with a blaster, who would you want there?”

“We do our duty.”

“And create humans that will eventually be devoid of all emotion and feelings for anyone else. You’re brilliant idiots. Look at what the Nebula made me to be and you’ll see where you’re headed. How do you like that picture?”

“You appear to be doing ok.”

“You should have seen me two years ago.”

“What happened?”

“I took the medicine I’m asking you to take.”

“I can’t change this with a wave of my hand.”

“Why not? Are you the King or not? If you are, who can tell you no?” Drey paused and said, “This is an issue you will have to decide how to handle, but there are other issues at the moment we must handle and by the end of this conversation you will probably not like me very much.”

“I don’t like you now.”

“I get that a lot. However, there are some things you’ll need to get moving on and there are a couple of issues you will be forced to move on.”

“If I’m King, as you say, how could you force me to do anything?”

“By doing the things you can’t control to control you. The first item is that you will issue a Royal Decree that the Lost Prince and Princess, as well as the most recent Princess to disappear will be released from their Royal duties and accepted back on Euclid as full citizens.”

The King smiled, “I’m not inclined to do that. It would cause others to disappear.”

“You won’t have a choice.”

“Why is that?”

“The President of San Rosa has contacted the other planets in the Union and gotten them to agree to remove you as King if forced marriages continue.” The King’s expression turned ugly and he scowled. “Contact him if you like. Your legacy will be the first Monarch of Euclid to ever be removed from power.”

“You’re lying.”

“You should have paid attention to that recording. I don’t lie. You should be thanking me.”

“Why would I do that!?!”

“If you agree with their petition, you can marry the woman you really love and no one on Euclid can do anything to stop you.”

The King’s expression underwent a strange metamorphosis. It went from rage, to shock, and then to a smile. Drey watched him and said, “Be honest. You thought about running away with her to be happy.”

“I actually did.”

“Now you have the perfect excuse to make this happen and end this madness.”

“Why do you want the others pardoned?”

“You’ve seen the information we’ve collected and what we did to collect it. They need to be at the pointed end of the Union’s spear against those slavers we will ultimately have to face head on. They have to have access to the scientists here to build what we need to face them and have any chance to survive.”

“There’s another reason.”

“I love the most recent runaway.”

The King shook his head and smiled, “That is what will tip me toward your argument. If I do as you ask, will you share how you’re able to avoid detection?”

“Yes, and I’ll bring the two ships back to download their information into your computers. That’s where the really good stuff is. Cole is the best one to make all this work.”

“I’ve seen the records. Do you think we have a chance against them?”