The Lost Prince (9 page)

Ian discussed his plan and both E and Violet yelled at him. E said, “You aren’t that crazy.”

Violet said, “It appears he is!”

“It’s got to be done.”

Violet stared at him and said, “Then I go with you.”

“Oh no you aren’t.”

“Then you can drop me off. I will never leave the one…”

Ian looked at her, “The one?”

Violet took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. After a moment she said, “The one I love to go in alone ever again. If you go, I go with you or we are over.”

Ian looked at her and softly said, “There is no reason for both of us to face this risk.”

“Yes there is.” Ian raised his eyebrows. “I will not go on without you. If something happens to you I must be there. I will not make that mistake again.”

E said, “I think she means it.”

“You’re darn right I do.”

Ian looked at her and shook his head. After a long moment he said, “E, can you handle two?”

“I can.”

Ian looked at Violet and slowly nodded, “I can’t go on without you either. We’ll do this together.”

E said, “I don’t like this.”

Ian shrugged, “Can you get us in?”

“That’s not the problem; getting you out is the issue.”

“That’s good enough. You do need to find him.”

E said, “You can’t see it but I’m rolling my eyes.”

Violet laughed and Ian joined her.

• • •

Ian and Violet appeared in the women’s restroom. They looked around and opened the door. A woman was walking up and stared at them. Violet giggled and the woman shook her head. She stepped aside as the couple walked around her. They walked through the front door and moved toward a table under the outdoor canopy. A lone man was sitting at the table wearing a solid black Nebula uniform. Ian walked up behind him and said, “Do you mind if we join you?”

The Officer’s expression showed a moment’s exasperation and then he said, “If you value your life, you’ll leave now.”

“What would be the fun in that?”

The Officer suddenly realized he couldn’t detect the minds of the ones behind him. He whipped around to take the speaker’s mind and was shocked speechless. The Prince stood there and had a blaster pointed at his forehead. It took a moment for him to gather his wits and then he smiled, “I’ve never been surprised like that. I rather enjoyed it.”

“The world is full of surprises. Most of them have a way of jumping out at you.”

The Officer stared at the blaster and saw the rather attractive female with the Prince also had a blaster trained on him. He could possibly take the Prince’s mind but he wouldn’t be able to take them both before one of them fired. The Prince smiled, “You actually couldn’t take either of our minds. I want you to know that before you make the effort.”

The Officer smiled, “You sound rather certain about that.”

“Are you willing to die to find out?” Ian smiled and said, “A High Genetic is immune to that little mind trick.”

The Officer stared at the Prince and wondered if he was being honest. The Prince said, “I’ve just stopped by for a moment to discuss an issue that concerns both of us. I won’t take much of your time before we leave.”

“You mean if you leave.”

“Let’s worry about that when the time arrives, shall we. Will you talk with me?”

The Officer nodded toward the two empty chairs. He was surprised when they sat down with their backs to the front of the restaurant. The Officer saw his personal bodyguards out front and wondered how the two had gotten by them. He also wondered how he had not sensed the Prince. “You two are really are the dumbest people in this universe or I’m missing something here.”

The female said, “Oh relax. You’re really not all that.”

The Prince looked at the female and said, “Now I told you to be nice. Don’t insult our host.”

The female rolled her eyes and said, “Yes Dear.”

The Officer was absolutely astounded by their behavior. “You two are surrounded by more than a thousand of my soldiers and armored vehicles.”

The female shivered and said, “Yes, it’s exciting isn’t it?”

The Prince said, “Enough small talk.” He pulled a hand out from under the table and held out a blaster to the Officer. The Officer looked at it and the Prince said, “Take it.”

“Why?”

“I want you to tell me what you think.”

The officer took the blaster and stared at it. He manipulated it and tried to find a comfortable grip. The Prince said, “Be careful, it’s active.”

The Officer stared at the Prince and said, “You can’t be serious.”

The female said, “Oh it’s powered.”

The Prince said, “Tell me what you sense.” The Officer was still moving it around in his palm and after a moment he stopped and stared at the Prince. The Prince looked at his companion and said, “I told you he’d get it quickly.”

“Just a lucky guess.”

The Officer listened to the back and forth and said, “This was not designed to fit a human hand.”

The female said, “Ding, ding, ding, give the sadist a kewpie doll.”

The Officer’s eyes narrowed and he stared at the female for a moment and then turned back to the Prince, “Where did you get this?”

“On a planet where every living being was killed by a massive attack from space.”

“How powerful is it?”

“It will blow through a force twenty force field.”

The Officer stared at the Prince, “You’ve tested it?”

“I have.”

Suddenly they heard shouts and the Officer’s bodyguards were drawing their weapons and rushing toward the table. The Prince looked at the Officer and said, “I really don’t want to have our conversation interrupted, but I don’t like having to kill all your soldiers to continue it.”

The officer stood and yelled, “Did I summon you! You will leave here and take every soldier for three blocks around this building with you.” The officer leading the charge looked stunned and the Officer took the blaster and fired a bolt through the officer’s head vaporizing it. The beam went through the officer, shot through the armored vehicle outside the door, and went across a large lake into the water at the far shoreline, causing a huge geyser of super-heated steam. The Officer watched his troops sprint away and stared at the distant shore line. He turned around and put the blaster on the table and said, “I notice it didn’t explode the armor.”

“It punched a hole through it. To explode it, you should just hold the trigger and cut it in half.”

The Officer stared at the Prince and said, “What are you really doing here?”

“Before we get to that, do you see the orange button on the handle?” The Officer nodded. “Pick up the blaster and press that button.” The officer stared at the Prince with no emotion showing on his face. The female said, “If we wanted to kill you we could have shot you in the head earlier. I’m sorry we didn’t; it would have improved your appearance.”

The Officer picked up the blaster, looked at the Prince, and pressed the button. The blaster disappeared. He showed his surprise and heard the Prince say, “Hold out your hand and think weapon.” The Officer raised his arm and thought weapon and the blaster instantly appeared in his hand. He almost dropped it. He opened his hand and it disappeared. “Where does it go?”

The Prince shrugged, “I have no idea. However, you can keep it.”

The Officer stared at the Prince and said, “Why are you doing this?”

“To let you know the rebellion is over.”

The Officer leaned back and said, “Until you manage to get back to Euclid, our rebellion is far from over.”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong. A gathering was called and they authorized Euclid to elect a new Monarch. He should be crowned shortly and, once that happens, the Obelisk will activate all the others in the Union.” The Prince paused and said, “That includes the ones on the Nebula Planets.”

“There has been no gathering.”

“I authorized them to do it via teleconferencing. The vote was taken and approved the election of a new Monarch on Euclid.” The Prince smiled, “You don’t believe me?” The Officer didn’t say anything. “Contact your fleet above the planet and ask them to contact the Lead Scientist. Tell them to ask when the new King will be crowned.”

The Officer reached up and pressed the gold circle and spoke briefly. The three stared at each other and ten minutes later they heard, “Sir, the Coronation is in three days.”

The Officer stared at the two in front of him and considered trying to kill them. All of the Nebula’s efforts were wasted. Then he looked at the blasters they were holding and saw they were different from the one they had given him. The woman saw him staring and said, “These are much more powerful that the one you have.”

The Officer looked at the Prince and said, “You didn’t have to come here to tell me the rebellion is over. I would have found out in three days when the Obelisks activated on the Nebula planets that we were done. You have another reason for coming here.”

The Prince looked at the Officer and slowly shook his head, “I originally planned to come here and kill you.” The Officer’s expression didn’t change. “You killed a young woman that helped me.”

“That was necessary.”

“WHY!?!”

“To ensure no one else would. If I had taken no action, the population would not see any reason not to help you.”

The Prince stared at the Officer and said, “You were going to die but my companion here found some information that forced me to reconsider.” The Officer’s expression still remained neutral.

The young woman said, “I did a search of Euclid’s records.” The Officer turned and looked at her. “I wanted to know how many high level Genetics have disappeared.” The Officer’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “There were only two; I was one and an eighteen month old baby boy was the other. The Baby’s father had taken him to visit friends on York and they were never seen again.”

“What are you suggesting? I’ve been developed by the Nebula Geneticists.”

The Prince slowly shook his head, “You’re not really thinking this through.” The Officer turned his head to the Prince. “Euclid has been genetically altering humans for more than five hundred years to arrive at the current Genetics. Are you suggesting the Nebula could duplicate that in just a hundred years without any of the high level scientists you find on Euclid? Is there any other Genetic in the Nebula that comes remotely close to your level?”

The Officer’s facial expression didn’t change, but his mind was running through various possibilities at an incredible rate. The direction of that study was going in a direction that was threatening to overwhelm him. The Prince stood and he stopped his mind. He looked at the Prince who said, “The aliens that destroyed that planet are still out there. You need to think about that and all of the ramifications of what that means.”

The woman had stood with the Prince, “There’s one more thing you should know.” The Officer looked at her. “When you didn’t return to Euclid, your mother confronted the King and held him responsible for not protecting the second in the Monarchy Succession. She swore she would never forgive him and she left to live on York, which was the destination of her husband. She was eight months pregnant and her anguish, sorrow, and stress damaged the mind of her baby. The young man you found on York is your brother and the nurse taking care of him is your mother.”

The Officer stood up and screamed, “YOU’RE LIEING!”

The Prince looked at him and the Officer saw his expression; he snarled, “I don’t need your pity!”

“You can prove if what I’m saying is a lie. A simple DNA test will show who’s right.”

The young woman looked at him and slowly shook her head, “The Nebula took the best of us and twisted it into what you are today. You were in line to be the King. Look at what they’ve made you into.”

The two walked out of the restaurant and his mind screamed at him to order the troops back to kill them. The scream in his head grew louder but he couldn’t move. Suddenly the millions of possibilities running in the back of his mind concluded and the scream vanished. He sat down and focused his mind on the nurse in the hospital room. He had the same color eyes. Her nose and chin was very much like his. He remembered the young man sitting in the chair staring out into space and… saw his own face. He put his head in his hands felt the shock of the sudden revelation rush through his consciousness and for the first time in his life, he cried. He felt his mind working on what he just learned but all he could do was weep for what had been done to him. After an hour his weeping stopped and he raised his head. His normal expressionless face showed an emotion. Rage was close to taking him but he gathered himself and pressed his communicator. The Dictator appeared and said, “Have you killed him?”

The Officer’s face was expressionless, “I will in a very short time but I fear I’ve uncovered a plot to kill you.”

“WHAT?”

“I don’t know who it is but someone in the court is plotting to take your life. I’ve intercepted a message that was sent to Euclid.”

“Who!”

“I wasn’t able to get a name. I need to come and look at all of those that have access to you. I’ll be able to find them, but I need to do it quickly. You should avoid any appearances until I can find out who it is.”

“Come here now.”

“Do not allow any weapons in the main hall. That includes the guards. I’ll stand at the rear of the court and mentally scan everyone that enters.”

“Will you have a weapon?”

“Absolutely not! Once I determine who the assassin is, I’ll leave and send in your personal bodyguard to remove them.”

The Dictator knew the mental power of the Officer but also knew that from the rear of the court, his mind power wouldn’t represent a danger. If he moved forward, he’d just exit the court through the door behind the throne. “Get here quickly.”

“I’ll be leaving momentarily.” The contact ended and the Officer held out his arm and the blaster appeared. He looked across the pond and fired at a small tree more than a mile away and watched it explode into flame. He opened his hand, watched the blaster disappear, and called for his ship.

• • •

E said, “What happens now?”

“We’ll wait for a couple of days.”