Martin King and the Prison of Ice (Martin King Series)
Read Martin King and the Prison of Ice (Martin King Series) Online
Authors: James McGovern,Science Fiction,Teen Books,Paranormal,Fantasy Romance,Magic,Books on Sale,YA Fantasy,Science Fiction and Fantasy,Science Fiction Romance,aliens,cyberpunk,teen
The Earth is
safe from Moonstone, but now the real monsters are coming…
Martin, Darcy and
Tommy are just like any other teenagers—except that they have superpowers.
A fleet of Axis
Lord ships is flying to Earth on a mission of destruction. Martin and his
friends must help to raise an army against the aliens. Two ancient prophecies
are soon to be fulfilled, and a new galactic empire is waiting to be born…
But who is the
enigmatic Mulciber, who seems to know so much about Martin? And what is the
mysterious Prison of Ice?
This is the
second book in the acclaimed Martin King series. The first book has been
described by reviewers as a "hit" and a "majestic
masterpiece".
Martin King
and the Space Angels
Martin King
and the Prison of Ice
Martin King
and the Universe Room (Release date TBA)
© 2014
James McGovern
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook
may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share
this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each
recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not
purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for
respecting the hard work of this author.
The ten most important aliens in
the Blue galaxy were sitting at a long table, facing a hologram of Earth. The
hall had a white arched roof and grey stone pillars. Anova, a short Axis Lord
with tiny eyes, stood up to face the rest of the council.
“In conclusion,” said Anova,
“now that the City of Serenity has been breached we have no choice but to
terminate the entire project. Although the satellite is still in place, it can
only be a matter of time before the rebels disable it. We must act before it is
too late.”
Anova sat down, and there was a
general murmur of agreement. Nymon, the oldest member of the council, sighed,
stroking the hem of his striped green robe.
“It seems rather extreme,” he
said. “And yet, I suppose we have no choice.”
“I agree with Anova,” said
Daniz. “If we do not purge the planet, the Axis Lords from the city could
assemble a force to threaten us.”
“My husband is right,” said
Ilyssa. “It is distasteful, certainly, but unavoidable. We
must
destroy
the Earth.”
“I disagree.”
All members of the council
looked up at Prince Agamon. The prince was wearing a gold crown and a scarlet
robe. He was the most important member of the council—the only one with royal
blood.
“Excuse me?” said Anova.
“I have been to Earth,” said
Prince Agamon. “Although the humans are, admittedly, less advanced than the
Axis Lords, they are still a civilised and intelligent race. I argue that it
would be immoral to destroy them.”
Anova smiled. “It would be
immoral to
spare
the Earth. The rebels pose a threat to the security of
the entire Axis belt.”
“Listen to me,” said Agamon.
“The Axis Lords have committed many atrocities, but wiping out the Earth would
make our name even more infamous. It would be an act of genocide, which is
recognised as an offence of the greatest severity by the
Universal Justice
Federation
.”
“We are not under the
jurisdiction of the
Universal Justice Federation
,” said Nymon quietly.
“You are talking a little like my son, Falcon. And you know what happened to
him. Please let that be a gentle warning.”
Agamon sighed. “Our
Chronicle
strictly forbids the taking of an innocent life.”
“I hardly think that primitive
life is covered by that decree!” said Anova, smiling again.
Agamon resisted the urge to grab
the tiny man by the throat.
“Why do you care for the
humans?” said Orbin slowly. Orbin was a thin, black-haired Axis Lord with weary
eyes. “Why does their fate matter to you?”
“The fate of all sentient
creatures matters to me,” replied Agamon coldly.
“But the humans are savages,”
Orbin went on.
“Even if that was true,” said
Agamon, “what about the millions of Axis Lords that you are planning to wipe
out?”
“They are criminals!” said
Anova.
“That’s not true.” Agamon
clenched his fists. “The majority of the escaped prisoners were born into
captivity. It was their ancestors that committed crimes, not them.”
“They committed a crime by
escaping from the City of Serenity,” said Nymon. “So our actions are perfectly
legal.”
“Your argument is as ridiculous
as it is abhorrent,” said Agamon.
“Well,” said Nymon loudly. “I
see no reason for further debate. We will vote. All in
favour
of the
destruction of Earth—please raise your hand. Of course, a unanimous vote would
be preferred.”
All of the Axis Lords except
Agamon raised their hands.
“All those
against
the
destruction of Earth—raise your hand.”
Prince Agamon straightened his
crown. Although he was the only royal member of the council, he could not
override the decision of the majority. The decision had already been made. But
he still raised his hand.
“Very well,” said Nymon. “It is
agreed. The Earth will be destroyed. It is the only practical option, as I’m
sure any sensible person will agree.”
Prince Agamon stood up slowly.
“You leave me with no choice,”
he said. “I hereby declare my abdication of the title Prince of the Axis Lords.
From now on I will stand alone.”
There was a shocked silence.
Agamon tore off his red robe and cast it, along with his crown and sceptre,
onto the stone floor. He turned to face the council, the hologram of Earth
reflecting in his purple eyes.
“And I will defend the humans
with my last breath.”
*
The British Prime Minister was
sitting in his study at 10 Downing Street, playing with a Newton’s cradle that
one of his relatives had bought him last Christmas. It had been a very long
day. One of his Cabinet ministers had resigned after becoming implicated in a
tax scandal, and he had discovered that one of his other ministers was having
an affair with a third minister. The Prime Minister put his head in his hands.
“I don’t know why I ever wanted
this job,” he muttered.
At that moment, a man with white
hair and purple eyes appeared in his study.
“Good evening,” said the man.
“My name is Agamon. May I sit down?”
The Prime Minister tried to
reply, but he could only seem to produce a spluttering sound.
“Thank you.” Agamon sat down. He
was wearing some sort of costume—an old-fashioned frock coat and pinstriped
trousers.
“Now,” said Agamon. “We have
much to discuss.”
“Look here,” the Prime Minister
began, but he stopped.
What was he supposed to say?
How
dare you appear in my office like that?
“We have…” The Prime Minister
paused, selecting his words carefully. “We have… protocols for this kind of
thing. If you really are… what I think you are… alien, I mean.”
The Prime Minister put his
glasses on, as if to see the visitor more clearly. “Are you?” he continued.
“Are you an alien?”
Agamon nodded. “I am.”
The Prime Minister’s heart sank.
“I was formerly known as Prince
Agamon of the Axis Lords,” the alien said. “That is, until a few hours ago,
when I relinquished my royal title.”
“Why did you do that?” said the
Prime Minister.
“Because—and there is no easy
way to say this—my people plan to destroy your planet.”
“Destroy?” said the Prime
Minister weakly.
Agamon nodded. “Destroy.”
“Oh…”
“But don’t worry!” Agamon added.
“I have a plan. Now, how easy would it be for you to start preparing some
missiles?”
“Missiles?”
Agamon nodded. “Well, of course!
My people have the most advanced weapons in the universe. If you gather some
missiles I can increase their destructive power.”
“People will notice if we start
preparing weapons. We would need to have some sort of reason, something to tell
the people.”
“Why not tell them the truth?”
said Agamon.
The Prime Minister put his hands
on the Newton’s cradle, stopping the motion. He shook his head slowly.
“No. We would need to come up
with some sort of cover. I could get on the phone to the Russians. We could
arrange something—pretend there’s some kind of war on the horizon.”
“There
is
a war on the
horizon,” said Agamon.
“I mean a human war,” said the
Prime Minister. “We can’t just go round telling everyone that it’s aliens!”
Agamon frowned. “But the humans
already know about aliens, surely? What about the storms last year? What about
Moonstone—the destruction of all those landmarks? Her broadcasts were
televised. Everyone saw her.”
“Yes, well, the Alien Defence
Party has been giving us a lot of grief about that. A man called Alastair
Weathersby started the ADP as a protest party after all that business. They’re
always on the TV… you know the kind of thing. ‘Britain is overcrowded already
without aliens coming over as well. We need to act before an invasion of alien
immigrants’, and so on.”
“Well, I’m sorry to say this,
but the Alien Defence Party is right. And it’s happening now—the Axis Lords are
on their way. But they do not want to invade your planet. They want to wipe it
out.”
The Prime Minister shook his
head, trying to collect his thoughts.
“Why do your people want to
destroy us?” he asked.
“There is a prison on Earth
called the City of Serenity,” Agamon explained. “It is located on an invisible
island. Two years ago, the defences were disabled, and all of the prisoners
escaped.”
“Escaped? Where did they escape
to?”
“There is a satellite orbiting
the planet that prevents the aliens from leaving this world.”
“So they are still on Earth?”
Agamon nodded. “Yes.”
“How many?”
“Over a million.”
The Prime Minister rubbed his
eyes. “But… why haven’t they been spotted? How could a million aliens hide on
the planet without being noticed?”
“Axis Lords are remarkably
clever creatures. The ex-prisoners are currently living within several
invisible camps scattered around the world.”
“I see. So why don’t your people
just leave them alone?”
“The Axis Council is frightened.
They are worried that the Axis Lords on Earth will raise a force to rival their
supremacy—this is ridiculous, of course, but they are paranoid. Their paranoia
will destroy the Earth unless we act.”
The alien slammed his fist down
on the desk. “Now, will you help me to save your planet?”
The Prime Minister paused. He
was a tired man, but he was also a good man. He knew there was only thing he
could do.
He nodded, feeling a little faint.
“Missiles, you said? Well, I’d
better get on the phone to the Kremlin…”
