War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (31 page)

"I have not the slightest idea where she may
be, but I do have one promising lead that may lead us directly to
her," he said. "They gave her the name Kanti Cordula. If she just
left the planet without changing her identity, we should find her
without too much trouble and very little questions will be raised
in the process."

"I will have my people search for the name
and see where they find her," she told him. "Thank you. You may
come back to Hera to plan out your search, or you may do it all
from your ship. Just make it quick. The sooner she's here the
better."

Adira hung up her comlink and made a call to
a friend who would be able to find her daughter quicker than
Cearbhall, if her daughter was still going by the same name. When
he answered, she told him to find her quick and send her on the
first ship back. He understood the importance and urgency and went
straight to work and had yet to fail her in countless years of
selfless service. Adira just hoped he still had one more mission in
him for her daughter's sake.

Jahdiel's patience was growing thin in
waiting to leave this battle-torn Galaxy for Orion. Merikh had made
it seem like they were leaving quick, but he was taking his time,
making sure every minute thing was ready to go before they
launched. Excitement hadn't been the first feeling she had felt,
but as time went by, that's what was gnawing away at her. Things
obviously wouldn't be the same as when she had left, she was well
aware of that, but it was still her home. Deep down she knew that's
where she belonged, no matter what others thought of her.

She walked up to Merikh who was staring out
of the window at his organizing fleet, arms crossed behind his
back.

"Are we almost ready to leave through the
Black Hole?" she asked.

He slowly turned around to face her. "We are
readying our remaining fleets to leave. We need all of them to come
along with us on this journey back to Orion."

"All of them?" she asked surprised. "You
aren't going to leave any fleets here?"

"We are bringing every Crodillian along on
this journey," he replied coldly. "I don't wish to ever return to
this Galaxy. Let the surviving rebels live in the death and
destruction they have created. I will not."
"This is your home," she replied. "You'll miss it as I miss
Orion."

"No," he corrected her. "It is our prison.
Orion
is our true home, just like it is yours. Just because
we have never lived there ourselves, doesn't mean that it is not
our home. Our ancestors called it home, therefore, we call it
home."

"You're right," Jahdiel nodded. "I am sorry
if I offended you. I didn't think you thought of Orion as home"

"You did not offend me," He smiled, putting a
hand on her shoulder. "We don't know what we're going to face when
we return, so I want everything I have available ready to go. I
promise you, we'll never return to this Galaxy willingly."

"The Queen is a peaceful woman, I am sure
that she will let you stay," Jahdiel assured him.

"Yet she outcast you to what she thought was
a sure death. I wouldn't call that a peaceful women."

"She thought I was trying to kill her and was
only looking out for herself. She should've looked deeper into it,
but honestly, I don't know if I can blame her too much."

"What will stop her from thinking the same
about us when we show up out of a Black Hole? We were once outcast
from Orion, wrongly and unjustly like yourself, which will surely
lead the Queen to think we're there to kill her," Merikh said. "I
don't want to prepare to confront a peaceful Queen, only to get
there to be annihilated on first sight. If she attacks, we will be
ready to attack back."

"I understand completely," she nodded. "But
she has never been one to opt for war. She will try her hardest to
make peace from my experience with her. You may be strange to her,
but bloodshed and unnecessary deaths are not in her nature."

"Then all the better for us," Merikh grinned.
"Let her try to make peace. We will hear it out, but I don't count
on her being peaceful."

A crew member came up from behind them and
interrupted. "The entire fleet is here and ready to leave at your
order sir."

"How many survived the rebel attacks?" Merikh
asked.

"We will have a total of four fully manned
fleets. All have one Colchian and a mix of bombers, fighters, and
commanding ships," he informed Merikh.

"Excellent," Merikh looked to Jahdiel. "Do
you think that is enough to defend ourselves from the Queen, if it
comes down to that?"

Jahdiel thought for a moment before
answering. "I believe it is. Our technology is superior to anything
the Queen has ever seen. I doubt that they have even come close to
discovering the technology you possess in my absence."

"They have not discovered it," he agreed. "We
only discovered it from being outcast to this Galaxy. There are no
planets in Orion that produce the minerals necessary to make our
weapons and ships. I urge your Queen attack us instead of make
peace. I assure you she will die for it," Merikh looked down to the
crew. "Fire up the Warp Reversal!"

The crew scrambled below deck to get
everything ready for travel back through the Black Hole. Merikh had
ordered scientists to confirm the Warp Reversal before he sent
fleets through, but it had been on small unmanned objects. Only
reports of success had come back, but they also hadn't sent four
fully armed fleets through with living crews.

He trusted them and was willing to risk his
life, along with his entire race, to get back to Orion. They had
all heard of the stories growing up, passed down from generation to
generation, and now they had a chance to travel back to their true
home Galaxy.

"The Warp Reversal is ready!" The lead
officer shouted to Merikh as he sat.

"Are all fleets ready and in position?" he
asked the officer.

The officer got on the comline and checked
with all of the other fleets. When he had confirmed that they were
all ready, he looked back up to Merikh and gave a thumbs up.

"All fleets are in position and are ready to
pass through the Warp Reversal!"

"Then activate the Warp Reversal!" Merikh
ordered.

The crew sat in their seats on the deck below
and worked quickly on computers in front of them. The stars slowly
started to disappear around them and were replaced by complete
darkness. The ship felt like it was spinning, and for a moment,
Jahdiel thought she may have made a mistake. She shook the thought
from her mind and looked to Merikh.

"We are about to go home."

The ship continued to spin uncontrollably in
the endless expanse of darkness while Merikh and Jahdiel stared
straight ahead, ready for whatever was next, whether it be death or
Orion.

Anlon jumped to the doorbell ringing and
looked out the study window to see who was there. A tall, built,
man was waiting patiently for him. He ran downstairs opened the
door to invite Moran in.

"I have some things I need to show you,"
Moran pushed his way in.

"Hi to you too," Anlon shut the door. "What
do you have to show me?"

"You remember those weapons I talked
about?"

Anlon nodded. "Are you finally going to show
me where they're at?"

"Yes. I'm about to show you where they're
at."

"What are you waiting for, let's go," Anlon
walked to the door.

Moran grabbed him by the shoulder. "They're
here. They've been in your house the entire time."

"In my house? That's impossible!"

"You didn't think your father would hide them
far, did you?" he laughed. "He kept them hidden here, right under
your nose in case he ever needed to get to them quickly."

"Where are they? There's nowhere to hide them
where I wouldn't have found them already."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Moran
winked. "He kept two hidden caches here that no one but him would
be able to find. The first one is actually up in his office."

"His office? There's nothing up there!" Anlon
swore. "There's no way I wouldn't have found them."

"Follow me," Moran motioned. "I'll show you
right where they're hidden."

Anlon followed Moran up to his dad's office,
still not believing that there was a hidden cache of weapons
stashed up there. When they arrived at the office, Moran walked
over to one of the bookshelves and started closely examining
it.

"No way," Anlon said in disbelief. "They're
behind the bookshelf?"

"Hold on. Let me find it," Moran replied.
"Just pay attention to what I do right now so you can do it
later."

Moran took four family photo albums off of
the bookshelf, immediately causing an unlocking noise from
somewhere within the room. He then walked over to Armino's desk and
pulled out the top drawer from the desk, flipping it over to reveal
a concealed button. After pressing it, the bookshelf hissed out to
the side, revealing an eye and hand scanner.

"That's all I can do," Moran told him. "The
rest, only family members can do."

"What do I have to do to open the door?"
Anlon asked, moving towards it.

Moran pointed to a small sensor. "Let it scan
your eyes, then place your right hand on that pad," He instructed
like he had done it before himself. "After you have done those, in
that exact order, state your name."

Anlon followed Moran's instructions exactly,
and to his surprise, the door hissed open, revealing what had been
hidden from Anlon his entire life. A small room stockpiled with
weapons and gadgets lay in front of him. Not once in his entire
life had he expected to find any of this here, yet here it was
looking directly back at him.

"He wanted to have some weapons close, in
case he couldn't get to his other cache time." Moran said from
behind him. "Obviously they weren't close enough, but even he
didn't expect Donnchadh to come after him."

"Some?" Anlon's jaw dropped. "This is enough
for a small army."

"Wait until you see the other cache," Moran
grinned. "This is just a small little closet compared to the next
one."

Anlon walked around the room and picked up
the different weapons to get a closer look. Moran came up from
behind him and put his hand on Anlon's shoulder.

"You can look at these later. The next cache
is outside," He walked to the door. "We need to be quick about
this."

"Wait for me!" Anlon put the weapons down.
"Where outside did he hide the next secret cache?"

"In the shed," Moran kept walking. "Where
else do you think he'd hide it?"

"The shed? The shed is smaller than his
office!"

Moran opened the back door to go outside.
"The cache is in there, I've seen it with my own two eyes."

Anlon followed him out to the yard, trying to
keep up. "What's in this cache that he couldn't keep in the other
one? There was more than enough stuff in that one!"

"You'll see soon enough, just be patient," He
reached the shed and opened the door to a small cramped area.

Equipment that his dad had stopped using
years ago was crammed in all corners with broken gadgets scattering
the floor. Anlon didn't know how anything could possibly be hidden
in this mess, but he knew Moran wouldn't be mistaken. Moran reached
up to find the switch and turned the lights on.

Anlon observed as Moran rummaged through the
shed trying to find something, but he wasn't sure what exactly
Moran was searching for as he tossed around junk for several
minutes.

"What are you looking for?"

"A family picture," He replied from a corner
of the shed. "He said it'd be hidden in here somewhere, but didn't
say exactly where. I figure it's buries somewhere under all this
junk."

Anlon walked over to Armino's workbench and
pulled open the drawer. "This one?" Anlon asked, holding the
picture frame up.

Moran quickly moved towards Anlon and
snatched the picture frame. "This might be just what I'm looking
for," Moran opened the picture frame, revealing a small bug on the
back of the picture. "Touch that black bug."

Anlon did as he said. "Ow!" He yelped as the
bug pricked his finger. "What is that thing?"

"Blood test," Moran replied, waiting for
something else. "Now hold on one more second."

After finishing the sentence, a monitor
raised from the ground with a pad and scanner next to it.

"Welcome, Anlon Valens," the computer greeted
him. "Please place you hand on the pad and state your name."

Anlon did as the computer asked, and watched
as it receded back into the ground.

"What was all that about?" Anlon turned to
Moran.

"Just security measures. There's some really
cool stuff in here."

Anlon stepped back after seeing Moran do the
same, unsure why he had moved until a rectangular opening revealing
itself in the floor. Anlon looked down and saw stairs that led to a
dimly lit hallway and began walking down them without as much as a
glance to Moran.