Emily’s Revenge (The Mamluks Saga Book 3) (3 page)

After sending the coordinates to the others, and to the space pods on our ship, I gathered everyone and went to the back of the ship. On the floor, there was a circular door that led to the space pods. Naturally, there were only two, one for each soldier, but they had enough room inside to fit three Mamluk-sized bodies. Luckily, there were exactly six of us on the ship.

I pressed the button on my
sija
that opened the door. “Hurry, inside.” Everyone marched down the small, narrow stairway. I went in last when the ship was clear. The lights on the lower level automatically came on.

With Saule and Samantha, I headed to one of the space pods. We paired with another soldier, and the other three got into the second space pod. I pressed the button on my sija to open our space pod and lay on the bottom with everyone piled on top. Once the others got inside their space pod, we pressed the buttons on our
sijas
that closed them up.

Finally, I pressed the button for takeoff, and just as I did, the ship rocked a bit, and we tumbled around. Desperately, and strongly, I gripped Saule as she firmly gripped Samantha. I closed my eyes, and the next moment, I felt the space pod discharge from the ship, and we blasted away at faster-than-light speed.

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I
stood up and slammed my fist on the button that activated the radio. “What’s going on up there? Someone talk to me!” The space pods on the rebel ships were suddenly descending and rocketing away.

A soldier responded in a hurry.
“The rebels are fleeing in the escape pods, My Ruler.”

I blew out a loud gasp and clenched my fist harder. “This is insane. How could they have found a habitable planet that fast?” I turned and looked at London. “Do you think they’ve gone to one of the planets under my rule?”

He sternly shook his head. “I highly doubt it.”

I quickly pointed at the transmitter on the control board. “Get in contact with my advocates. I want to make sure.”

London nodded and got right to it. “Certainly, Great Emily.” He pressed a button that linked the transmitter to the control center on each planet. He turned the transmitter on and moved away. “You are linked.”

I stepped toward the device and bent down. “This is Emily. I need to speak to my advocates.”

One after the other, a soldier at each control center replied, all saying the same line. “Connecting you to the advocates now, My Ruler.” Once I was connected to the
sijas
of my advocates, one at a time, they gave me a formal greeting.

“Listen up, everyone. As you probably know by now, the rebels are getting away; but we don’t know where they’ve gone. I want
all
of you to be on high alert. If
anything
comes up on your radar, destroy it!”

They responded accordingly, emphatically ensuring me they would follow the order. I sat back down and put my hand over my forehead.

London quickly turned to me. “Is there anything I can do in the meantime, My Ruler?”

I glanced at the screen to reflect.
Juozas, what have you done with our Champion?
I put my hand down and stared at London. “Yes. There is something you can do.”

He straightened up and stared back at me with passionate eyes. 

“I want you to run a search through the universe. Scan as far as our technology will allow.” I leaned toward him and felt my face become tense. “Find them, London.”

His face reddened with eagerness as he turned to the control board. “Absolutely, Your Greatness.”

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W
hen we landed, everyone was still lying on top of me, and inside the space pod we looked like a pile of twisted brushwood. I lifted my hand and pressed the button to open the space pod. Once it opened, I heard the insistent pitter-patter of something on the outside. A cold
whoosh
came into the space pod that made us more alert. Everyone staggered off of me and went outside. I heard their feet
splat
on the surface below
,
and a bunch of mud flew up and hit me.

Samantha was still inside with me, nestled in the crook of my arm, crying with a red face. I sat up and lifted her into my arms. I held her close to my chest as I stepped out of the space pod. I felt water dripping down on us from the sky and finally realized it was raining.

I slipped on the muddy ground we had landed on and fell on my side. From above, I saw thick, gray clouds. I held onto Samantha harder and sat up in the mud. I checked the area and saw thousands of space pods spread out across a lumpy, muddy, foggy terrain.
Isabella?

Through the wet mud, Saule walked to me and bent down. She reached out and helped me up. “We made it, Juozas,” she said with an ecstatic smile.

I hugged her with one arm, holding Samantha with the other. “I knew we would—I just knew it.”

I stepped back and carefully handed Samantha to Saule. “Please, watch her for a moment. I must find Isabella.” Saule gently rocked Samantha in her arms as I staggered ahead.

I swiped away the heavy fog as I went. “Isabella? Isabella, please, let me hear your voice.” The thought of losing her was making me angry. I dreadfully hoped that she had survived the attack. “Please, I need you.”

Finally, I heard her call to me in the distance.
“Juozas—Juozas?”

I hurried to her voice, slipping and nearly falling a few times. “Yes. I am here.” At last, I found her on the muddy terrain. I let out a joyful cry and grabbed her strongly. I held her in my arms and let the rain wash away our tears.

A short while later, we found Saule. She kindly handed Samantha to Isabella, and Isabella deeply thanked her for watching our infant child. Moments later, as we regrouped with the others, I found Robert, Bill and Elos. I was delighted to see that they had made it as well. We shared hugs and cheered in the rain; but I had to stop the celebration for a moment to reflect on the ones we had lost.

I turned around and checked the others. “Everyone, everyone...can I have your attention please?”

They stopped in place and turned to me.

“We have escaped my mother’s wrath— but she
will
find us, and soon. Still, with this small victory, let us not forget the ones we have lost. Remember their sacrifice. Honor it, and with that honor, we will continue to fight for freedom.”

A few comrades howled and threw their hands in the air. I smiled at the passionate response and followed along, then everyone joined in.

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W
e headed out and traveled through the fog, rain and mud for miles on end, with nothing in sight but giant indentations in the landscape. Finally, after seeing so many, I decided to stop and take a closer look.

“Wait a moment, everyone. Let’s have a look at these markings.” I lowered myself to one knee and placed my hand on the edge of the marking. The group huddled around me and studied it, too.

“What ya thinkin’, Juozas?” I heard Bill say.

It was hard to tell with the rain coming down. I exhaled and wiped some water off my face. “I’m not quite sure.”

Robert turned around and broke through the huddle. “Let’s look at it from a distance.”

I stood up, and with the others, I stepped back and looked around at all the markings. After studying the spacing of each one, a thought popped into my head. “Footprints, perhaps?”

Isabella glanced at me with tremendous fright in her eyes, and she propped Samantha up a little. “I certainly hope not.”

I nodded. “Yes, let’s hope.”

We carried on, and after a few more miles of nothing but mud and fog, at last we found some greenery. “Look—over there.” I eagerly waved everyone on. We jogged ahead and reached the vegetation in a flash. There was a massive yet scattered forest of trees and plants just below us, stretching past a muddy slope.

Throughout the forest, I saw a collection of huts. We went down the slope and came up to a set of trees. I led Isabella to a tree and checked the shrubs. There were brown nuggets on the shrubs that looked edible. I yanked a few off and sniffed them, then I held one out to Isabella’s nose.

She sniffed it and quickly pulled her head back. “Oh my—I don’t know, Juozas.”

I held it out and narrowed my eyes. “What do you think, Bill?” I called to him.

He walked over to me with several nuggets in his hand. The texture was soft and slippery, and it had tiny ruffles all over. Bill shrugged. “What the hell.” He shoved one in his mouth and chewed with the few teeth he had.

Everyone close by, including me, watched with great curiosity.

After devouring the nugget, Bill nodded and revealed a toothless grin. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

I heard some chuckles, then everyone began to eat. We stayed by the trees and ate all the slippery nuggets we could find. Isabella mashed them up and forced the goop into Samantha’s mouth—and thankfully, she cooperated and gobbled it right up. I smiled and kissed her wet head.

Good girl.

Afterward, we made cups with our hands and drank the pouring rain. When I was done, I made another cup for Samantha and put my hands to her lips. Isabella angled her for me, and I carefully dripped the water into her mouth.

Suddenly, the ground shook mightily, rocking us a bit. Everyone froze and looked around. The ground shook forcefully again, and many of us nearly lost our balance. Those who had
sijas
quickly held them up and spread out.

I guarded Isabella and Samantha and held my
sija
up. We stood there and waited as the ground continued to shake. From behind us, just up the muddy slope we had come down, I saw something massive coming at us through the fog.

A moment later, from all sides, more and more massive figures began to appear.

“Aim your weapons!” someone in the group said.

I threw a hand up to stop them. “No. Not yet.”

“Have you gone mad, Juozas! Those things are coming right at us.”

“Just trust me, please.”

Finally, an enormous creature came into view and got closer and closer. We backed away at a steady pace. The colossal beasts broke through the haze and fully revealed themselves. They had big, wide, orange eyes, dark, scaly skin, saggy faces, and giant ears that dipped down to their shoulders.

I estimated the creatures to be at least twenty feet in height, and I wouldn’t dare guess their weight. They stood on four thick limbs with hooves on their feet, and from behind them, I saw long tails, swinging around as they looked down at us with disapproving stares.

All at once, the beasts roared, blowing a foul mist into our faces and causing us to stagger back a few inches. As we recovered, a few soldiers stepped forward and prepared to blast the creatures.

I reached out to them in a hurry. “Wait!”

A horn sounded, and it seemed as if it was coming from the tops of the beasts. I narrowed my eyes as I looked on. On the backs of the creatures, I saw a group of mysterious beings step forward. It was hard to study them from the ground. I stepped toward the nearest beast and took a closer look. The onlookers mounted on their backs were undoubtedly males of their kind.

“Hello there,” I called out.

The group of strange beings began to growl and jump around on the beasts’ backs. They all pulled out what looked like sharp daggers and jumped down to the ground.

I carefully moved backward. “Everyone, stay close.”

We got in a tight huddle with Samantha, Isabella, and anyone who didn’t have a
sija
in the middle. The rest of us aimed our
sijas
and waited for the rowdy creatures to make a move.

I was at the front of the huddle, glaring at the frolicking group as they came closer with their daggers. Now I could see them clearly. Like us, they stood on two legs and had two arms, were very muscular and tall, but not as tall as us, and their faces had all the same features. Furthermore, their bodies were coated with thick, dark brown fur, and they had sharp teeth, claws, and small, pointed ears.

For attire, they wore only short coverings that went around their waists. They surrounded us and stopped for a moment.

One of them walked forward and got close to me. The creature had green eyes and a glare that told me he wasn’t pleased to see us here.

I lowered my
sija
and stepped closer. “Hello. My name is Juozas.” I extended my hand to the creature.

He looked down at my hand, then looked up at me with a wicked smile. “What is this? An act of kindness? Or a ploy of deception?” The creature’s voice was naturally gruff, yet still clear enough to understand.

I put my hand down. “Your language is quite similar to ours. I am pleased.”

“Where have you come from?”

“We come from a planet called Earth.”

The creature laughed, and his comrades were quick to join in. He put his arms out with a big smile. “So, there are other creatures beyond our world?”

I nodded. “Yes. In fact, there are many more.”

Quickly, the creature’s face changed, showing a vein of fear. He stepped even closer to me and sniffed us, shifting his head from left to right. In a hurry, he stepped back and whistled to his comrades. “These creatures are dangerous. Aim your weapons and attack.”

The group began to growl and bark at us. They lifted their spears and draggers and rushed toward us. A soldier next to me lifted his arm to shoot, but I quickly lowered his arm, and he fired a laser that hit the ground, stopping the natives and everyone in our group before they could shoot.

The native creatures backed away and growled softly. I studied them carefully and saw utter concern stamped on their faces.

“Lower your
sijas
, My Friends.”

“Juozas, enough! These creatures want us dead,” Bill barked.

“Please, just lower your
sijas
.” I lowered mine, and after a long stare down, everyone followed along—including Bill.

I exhaled as I checked the natives. “We are not here to hurt anyone.”