War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (36 page)

"That's a perfect name for it," Anlon moved
towards the ship. "It's beautiful."

"It is one of the best ships in all of
Orion," Moran boasted. "It has all of the latest technology,
including Sonodrive, force field, stealth field, and many other
things that will come in handy when you get caught in tight
spots."

"Can we go in?" Anlon turned to Moran.

"That's why we're here," Moran smiled. "Go on
and check it out."

Anlon walked towards the rear of the ship and
the ramp slowly hissed down for he and his companions to board.
After reaching the top, a strange race appeared from around the
corner.

"I'm Falcone," He held out his feathery hand.
"I'll be your pilot."

Anlon took it. "I'm Anlon and these are my
companions," Motioning to Camillus and Kanti.

"This is where I leave you, Anlon," Moran
approached from behind. "If you ever need my help, you know where
to find me. I wish you nothing but good luck and success on your
mission. Go out there and save Orion," Moran said goodbye to Kanti
and Camillus before leaving the building.

"Why don't I show you and your companions
around your new ship?" Falcone smiled to him through his yellow
beak. "You won't believe what this ship is equipped with."

Falcone showed them where the bunkers, cabin,
and kitchen were; making them feel at home. There was a weapons
cache on the ship, as well as a separate room for them to train in
with the holotapes Ferris had provided. He showed them how to man
the turrets and use the other various weapons, just in case they
needed to be used.

After the tour was over, Falcone led them to
the cockpit. "So where are we going young Valens? I heard we are on
some type of secret mission," His dark gold eyes gleamed.
"Erebos. We're going to find the Deimos Brotherhood's hidden
base."

"Excellent! I was told that might be your
answer," The race put his brown and white, feathery, hand together.
"I actually know someone there who may be able to help us by giving
us useful information. If not, we at least have a place and lay low
while we're staying there."

"We have an important passenger on board,"
Camillus nudged Falcone. "You weren't told about this, we only just
found out ourselves," Camillus pushed Kanti forward. "Meet the
Princess of Orion."

"Nice to meet you Princess," He grabbed her
hand and bowed. "I didn't know the Queen had a daughter to be
completely honest with you."

"You should've seen how I reacted when I
found out she had one," she replied. "You don't need to do all of
that for me by the way. I'm just a normal person."

"Oh, but I must," he winked. "Why are we
going to Erebos with the Queen's daughter?" He shifted his
attention to Anlon.

"The Queen said to keep her with me so she'd
be safe."

"Does the Queen know you're going to Erebos?"
he asked. "Personally, I don't think anyone is safe on that moon,
but I could be mistaken."

"She does know we're headed there," Anlon
nodded. "She still wants Kanti to stay with me."

"Interesting. Not a very safe place to take a
Princess if the whole idea is to keep her safe from harm."

"I don't very much like the plan either,"
Camillus agreed. "It's too dangerous."

"What kind of robot are you exactly?" Falcone
looked him up and down. "I bet there's some very advanced
technology under all that covering."

"I'm a special humanoid, made specifically
for Queen Adira," His skin rippled a black color and his image
changed.

"You can change your yourself to be someone
else?" Falcone stared in amazement at an exact reflection of
himself.

"That along with many other things," he
replied in Falcone's voice.

"I like this humanoid! He'll be able to help
us out a lot on Erebos."

"He already has helped us. He used his facial
recognition to save us from an assassin on Gaea."

"He's coming with us everywhere. Everywhere!"
Falcone nodded. "Oh, yeah! My friend on Erebos may have someplace
to hide Kanti. I can't believe I let that slip my mind."

"He does?" Camillus asked. "Where is it?"

"Not quite sure," he shrugged. "He does a lot
of hiding, so I'm sure he has some safe places when times get
dangerous. I'm sure he'd be more than willing to let the Princess
hide at one them."

"Can we trust him?" Anlon asked.

"Of course! The both of us go way back."

"He's on Erebos," Kanti pointed out. "How
could we trust someone there?"

"Not everyone on Erebos is a criminal,"
Falcone rolled his eyes. "Just a large majority of them. But no
worried, I've known the guy for a long time, he's a trustable
guy."

"I'll be the judge of that," Kanti sat down
in the cabin. "I'm not leaving with someone I don't feel safe
with."

"I think it's time for us to go," Anlon sat
in the co-pilot seat, looking over all of the buttons.

"Sure thing kid," Falcone sat down. "I'll
even teach you how to pilot your new ship if you're
interested."

Anlon felt the engines roar to life as
Falcone pressed a few buttons on the dash. The ship lifted straight
up and out of the circular building. The races below them shrunk as
they got higher in the sky, oblivious the Princess of Orion was
directly above them. Falcone pushed the yoke forward and roared off
Hermes, pulling up a small map of Orion. After some brief scrolling
through the system, he poked a circle that immediately lit up
orange.

"Pull that handle down," Falcone ordered.

Anlon didn't waste a second, quickly grabbing
the handle and pulling it down. He was about to ask what it did
when he felt the ship lurch forward and a blur of lights zipped all
around them. He got up and passed Kanti and Camillus who were
talking quietly in the cabin, deciding he'd rather be alone in one
of the cabins to think things over. He still wasn't entirely sure
what they were going to do when they arrived at Erebos. An attempt
on his life had already been thwarted and someone else had tried to
take Kanti, all before they had even left Gaea to begin the
mission.

The bunker had a large bed, decent sized
closet, a weapons cabinet, dressers, and everything else a normal
room would have. He walked over to the weapons cabinet and starting
unloading all the weapons he had brought along, laying on his bed
when he finished. After a couple minutes of silent thinking, he
heard his door open and looked up to see Kanti walking towards
him.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

She smiled. "Everything is fine."

"Okay. What's up?"

"I just wanted to be with you," She sat next
to him on the bed. "We haven't done anything but talk about this
mission in awhile. I thought we could forget about it for a little
while."

The Queen sat at her usual spot in the
Council Chamber, which she had been sitting in far too many times
the past week with too much bad news. She honestly didn't know why
she was still holding secretive meetings with the traitor present.
Playing it from her chambers for all of Orion to see would do just
as much good. That's how she felt anyway, knowing nothing she said
would be kept a secret from the enemy.

She cleared her throat and placed her hands
on the table in front of her. "You are all probably sitting here,
wondering where my daughter is and why she isn't sitting next to
me," She looked at the members. "She is safe. That is all you need
to know and that is all you will know."

"That's all?" Aldrick stood up. "You called
this meeting to tell us that your daughter is
safe
, but not
where she is at?"

"What else do you expect me to reveal?" She
glared at him. "I don't know if you remember or not, but there is a
traitor amongst us. Everything I say goes right back to the Deimos
Brotherhood!"

"She is right," Abdul backed her up. "She
can't reveal any more information at this time. It is too
dangerous. The enemy has gotten too close to be comfortable
anymore."

"Where else could she possibly be more safe
than on Hera in the Palace?" Bertrade asked.

"Someplace where poison won't be able to be
hand delivered to her table," Adira said harshly. "The enemy is
amongst us, what do you all not understand? I will not bring my
daughter to the enemy after years of making sure that very thing
didn't happen."

"I can't see how she would be any safer out
in Orion," Aida said. "The enemy will have a better chance of
catching her out there."

"An attempt to capture her has already been
thwarted, but I never released her name at the last meeting. I
found a bug in my room so someone is watching me very closely."

"You are sure this is the Deimos
Brotherhood's doing?" Alura asked.

"I am positive," she nodded. "She is now in
the presence of some very trusted friends. She will stay with them
until the enemy has been defeated."

"They'll go after her again!" Aldrick slammed
his fists on the table. "It isn't safe for her out there. She needs
to be here on Hera where it is safest. Too many things could go
wrong out in Orion."

"You are making
yourself
look like the
traitor," Adira chuckled. "If anyone tries to take her with the
individuals she is with, they will be killed, like the last person
that tried to take her. She is safest with them, whether you want
to believe it or not. I have full faith in all of them."

Aldrick slumped back in his seat, embarrassed
to have been accused of being the traitor.

"Adira is right," Abdul said. "The Queen
isn't safe in her own home, so what makes you think that her
daughter will be safe here?"

The others looked at each other, finally
seeming to understand why the Queen wouldn't bring her daughter to
Hera.

"Are you sure that your daughter will be safe
with the individuals she's traveling with?" Alura asked.

"She couldn't be put in any better hands. If
I could, I would put my own life in their hands."

Kanti rolled over to face Anlon. "Do you
think what we talked about will actually pan out?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, besides
meeting Falcone's friend, anything could happen."

"Are you sure that we can even trust this
friend of his?" She looked deep into his eyes. "We've just met
Falcone, we barely know if we can trust him with our lives."

"If Moran gave Falcone to us for our pilot we
can trust him, along with anyone his says is trustworthy. He knows
how important this mission is, and how important you are, so I'm
confident he wouldn't bring any danger upon us."

She put her hand on his cheek. "I'm not
worried about what happens to me. I'm worried what happens to you
once the Deimos Brotherhood finds out that you're looking for
them."

"They won't find out that I'm looking for
them," he smiled. "Even if they do, I'll be safe with Camillus and
Falcone. We've already survived one attack. We'll all get through
this alive."

"You're in more danger than I am because the
Deimos Brotherhood wants you dead at all costs."

"But they want you alive at all costs. I
think that is more dangerous."

"I'm guessing you're going to send me on the
first flight out if his friend checks out?"

"I think it's a good idea," he smiled
reassuringly. "It's not safe on Erebos. If there's someplace else
for you to go that's safer, that's where you need to go."

"It's not safe for you either. You're working
for the Queen. They all despise the her on Erebos."

"I have to find the base for Adira so she can
get rid of the Deimos Brotherhood once and for all. I know it's not
safe, but once I do that, you and the Queen will both be safe and
you won't have to hide anymore."

"Why can't I help with finding them?" she
asked. "You didn't seem to have a problem with it before you found
out I was the Princess. I know going with this friend is the safe
thing to do, but I don't want to hide, Anlon. I can't do it
anymore."

"Even before I found out you were the
Princess, I really didn't want to bring you along. Now you're one
of the most important people in Orion, there's no way I can risk
anything happening to you."

Kanti rolled her eyes. "I'm still me, Anlon.
I can take care of myself just like I did on Gaea."

"I promised the Queen I'd keep you safe," he
said firmly. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do. Whether it
is keeping you with me on Erebos or sending you into hiding with
Falcone's friend."

"I guess I understand. Not like I have much
of a choice."

"I'll send Camillus with you wherever you go.
He'll keep you safe when I'm not there with you."

"But you need him more than I do," she
insisted. "Who knows what'll happen to you alone on Erebos."

"Someone I trust needs to keep you safe,"
Anlon rubbed his hands through her hair. "I don't want anything to
happen to you while I'm looking for the Deimos Brotherhood. I want
to come back to you once all of this is over."