The Lost Prince (8 page)

Violet’s glare softened slightly, “What did you find out?”

“It clarified a lot of issues for me.”

Her glare disappeared, “What do you mean?”

“You were wise to run.” Violet stared at him and Ian said, “You were selected to marry me.” Violet was stunned speechless. “I wondered why Ariene didn’t show up at the accelerated university until her last year. When you disappeared, she was the next one on the list. She took your place. She wasn’t told until after she graduated.”

Violet turned away from Ian and looked at the pond. After a moment she said, “Then I was lucky. I would have been killed in the attack instead of her.”

“I’m not completely certain about that, but you would have been absolutely miserable without Tad. You did the right thing to flee.”

They were both silent for thirty minutes and then Violet looked at Ian, “Why are you uncertain about my being killed?”

Ian stared at her and then looked up at the sky, “I think that if I had spent even a short time around you, I wouldn’t have left without you.”

Violet looked at his profile and heard him say, “Even though your heart belonged to another, I know I could not have allowed you to die.” Violet watched him turn and look at her, “After all, you are beautiful.”

She left the tree she was leaning on and threw herself on top of him. She said just before she kissed him, “Sometimes you discover that destiny never gives up.” Violet was no longer alone and Ian finally discovered what love was. Both of them entered a new world where everything had been turned upside down.

• • •

Violet entered the bridge and said, “E, where are the storage bags? I want to collect some of the fruit for our stores.”

“You’ll find the bags in the compartment under the processer in the dining room, Your Highness.”

Violet froze, “What do you mean?”

“They’re next to the left hand wall under the processor.”

“No, I meant by calling me that.”

“What?”

“Your Highness.”

“You were the number one Section. Whether or not you were married, your selection to that position carries the title that comes with it.”

“I am not a member of the Royalty.”

“If you say so.”

“E, I’m not.”

There was a pause and E said, “A poodle could declare that it is not a dog but that declaration wouldn’t change reality.” Violet stood and fumed. “If it helps at all, all of the top twenty selected for the position are given titles; their superior skills are what define them as being Royal.”

Violet thought about it and said, “So I have the title because of my mind?”

“Among other things.”

“What other things?”

“Your extremely fast reflexes, your physical speed, your ability to…”

“Alright, that’s enough.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Violet sighed, “E, please don’t use that honorific.”

“You’re just like Ian. He doesn’t like it either.”

“He doesn’t?”

“No, he’s always preferred to be addressed as a normal citizen.”

“Why is that?” Violet waited for an answer and said, “E, why is that?”

“I have to speak for what I sense in myself, but I think he views the Monarchy as a prison sentence.” Violet was surprised at the comment. Then E said, “I’ve never seen him happier than he is here.”

Ian entered the bridge and said, “What are you two up to.”

Violet said, “Oh nothing. I’m going to gather some fruit for our stores.”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll help you. There’s no telling when we can go back to the Union.”

E said, “I have discovered something that might help us do that?”

Ian looked at Violet and then said, “What is that?”

“The second ship did not have a faster-than-light drive.”

“What!?!”

“It used another process that went around light speed.”

Ian sat down and Violet remained standing. “What did it do?”

“It used a system that exited space and took the ship to another location instantly.”

“Something like those ancient warp drives they used to use in old science fiction stories?”

“Something like that. I’m not clear on the principles that make it work but I do know how to operate the system.” Violet sat down.

“How does that help us?”

“There is a small box on that ship that controls the system. I suspect it’s located toward the rear of that ship.”

“I’ve seen it. It had a small vibration when I touched it.”

“That box can be relocated here and I think I can use it to bypass the Nebula’s patterns.”

“How could we connect it? There’s no way we could move the controls off the ship.”

“You won’t need to move the controls. I’ve traced the circuits and know how to send the right signals to it. We just need to bring it here, power it up, and connect a fifty wire cable to it. I’ll make the connections to the cable once you put it in one of my outlets.”

Ian looked at Violet and saw she was bothered by what she was hearing. Ian said, “Do you know the voltage requirements?”

“Oh please. That’s easy.”

“How can we move that box here? It’s got to be heavy.”

“Use the sled. You can winch it on and bring it here.”

“Let me go back and take a look at it.”

“Take the sled with you.”

• • •

Ian and Violet pulled the sled out of the landing bay and moved toward the alien ship. “What’s wrong Violet?”

“I don’t want to leave here. This is the first time I’ve been happy in years.”

Ian stopped walking and turned to her. “Violet, if we don’t warn the Union about these aliens, it could lead to future disaster.”

“Let someone else do it.”

Ian stared at her and took her in his arms. “It’s not this place that brings us happiness. It’s being together.”

“If you go back, I’ll lose you.”

Ian leaned back and looked in her eyes. “Now Violet, you know how to stop that.”

“What do you mean!?!”

“You’ve escaped once. You can show me how it’s done.”

She looked in his eyes. “Ian, you have no choice but to do your duty.”

“I’ll not do it without you.” She stared into his face and he said, “I mean it.”

Violet sighed and said, “Well, let’s get on with it.”

Ian pulled her close and said, “In a minute.”

• • •

E listened to their conversation and knew that the most closely monitored people in the Union were the Royal Family. Escaping from that particular cage was next to impossible. E knew that Ian knew it as well.

• • •

Six days later the box was bolted to the floor just outside the reactor room. Ian touched it and felt the vibration. “It appears to be powered, E.”

“Take the cable you severed and push the end into the outlet.”

Ian grabbed the cable and was glad he had cut it with enough length to reach the wall. “Are you certain this is a good idea?”

Violet rolled her eyes and Ian shoved the cable into the outlet. They waited and a minute later they heard, “Alrighty then. Are you ready to trial this?”

Ian looked at Violet and then looked up at the ceiling, “I guess.”

“Good; if you and Violet will exit the ship I’ll start.”

“What do you mean exit the ship!?!”

“Look, I think this will work but if it doesn’t, there is no reason to place the two of you in danger. You both know you can survive here and I see that you are perfectly happy to spend your lives here. Don’t be dumb again and go all noble on me. Just get out.”

Ian stared at the ceiling and looked at Violet, “You heard the machine, let’s move.”

“Are you seriously leaving?”

“Violet, he’s right. I’m frightened at the prospect of losing my best friend, but if I were in his place I’d do the same thing.”

“Actually, you are in the same place.”

Ian snickered, “Oh yeah, I forgot.” Ian took Violet’s arm and pulled her out of the landing bay’s door.

Two days later they sat by the pond and Violet said, “I hope he didn’t get hurt.”

Ian shrugged.

“You’re being rather callous about this.”

“I know E. If the darn thing works, he won’t come back until he can operate it perfectly. He is persnickety.”

“If I am, you are as well.”

Ian smiled, “Yeah but you do it faster.”

Violet smiled and watched the ship moving toward them out of the night sky. “Welcome back, I was worried about you.”

“Well thank you.”

“Have you got it ironed out?”

“I have. I had to calibrate the fields to the Union’s maps. Determining how far each jump made using different field strengths wasn’t easy but I’ve got it dialed in.”

“I need you to do something.”

“What is that?”

“I need you to deliver a message to Euclid. Can you do that and get back here quickly?”

“Faster than you know. What message do you need delivered?”

Ian went on board and started talking. Violet wondered what he was doing. Finally he finished and E said, “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“No, it’s probably not, but it’s what I want done.”

“You’re the boss.”

Ian and Violet exited the ship again and it rose into the night sky. They watched it until it disappeared and Violet said, “Why would you want that?”

Ian continued to stare at the sky and said, “Freedom.”

“S
ir, I have a small ship a hundred thousand miles out sending an encrypted message to the planet.”

“Destroy it!”

“Sir, it’s gone.”

“Follow its track.”

“It didn’t leave one.”

The Nebula Fleet Admiral stared at his scanner officer, “How is that possible?”

“It’s not, Sir. But there is no track.”

The Fleet Admiral took a deep breath and sent a message to the Dark Officer.

• • •

The Lead Scientist listened to the message and started shaking his head. The Prince ended the message by saying, “I’ve sent my ship because I’m close to being found. You must do what I ask for the safety of the Union.” The Prince paused and said, “I’m truly sorry about Ariene. The two of you should have been together.” The message went dark and the scientist knew that the message was actually from the Prince. He fought his sorrow and then pressed a button.

“Yes Sire.”

“I want this message sent to the eighty Major Allies.”

The man on the display nodded and the screen went dark. He sat and wondered how the Prince had discovered his relationship with Ariene. He blew out a breath and shook his head. The Prince had to find the code to arm his ship. That’s how he found out. The Prince really was far beyond anyone else mentally. He pressed another button and a face appeared, “Bring me the list.”

“Why?”

The Prince’s message was sent and the face watched it on another screen. “You’ll have it in an hour. The most recent tests are being downloaded now.”

“Thank you.”

• • •

E arrived back at the planet and linked with Ian. “You’re back rather quickly.”

“I told you it wouldn’t take long.”

“Why are you still in orbit?”

“I want to trial something and I need your help to make it happen.”

“What is it you need me to do?”

“I need you to pull one of those blasters and activate the force field.”

“I hope this doesn’t involve firing at it.”

“It doesn’t.”

Ian looked at Violet and stepped away. She watched him activate the force field and suddenly he disappeared. She started screaming and he instantly reappeared. “Boy, you’re noisy.” He deactivated the force field and she ran forward and slapped him a good one. “What was that for?”

“You scared ten years off my life. Don’t you ever leave me like that again! Where did you go!?!”

“E jumped me to the bridge.”

“He did what!”

“It appears that the new star drive can jump a force field directly to the ship.”

“Really?”

“Really; he can also jump the field to a different location.”

“That’s incredible.”

“I know.” Ian looked up and said, “E, we’re going to stay here for a few days. Come down and let’s see if there’s anything else we want to take with us.”

“On my way.”

• • •

Ian looked at Violet and said, “Hand me that torque wrench.” She handed it to him and said, “Why are you replacing E’s blasters with a shoulder blaster?”

“E scanned that ship and found that the ship’s blasters are nothing more than a permanently mounted shoulder blaster.”

“That doesn’t make sense. I would think the ship blasters would be huge.”

“I agree but E tracked the wiring and discovered that the blaster’s power is determined by how much energy is sent to it. The shoulder blaster can handle a huge amount of energy. Making it larger wouldn’t really make a more powerful weapon.”

Violet shook her head, “This species is light years ahead of us technologically.”

E said, “Not really.”

They both stopped working and Ian said, “Why do you say that?”

“I’ve tracked the wiring of that ship and it is a powerful ship. However, the reactors that power it aren’t as strong as the ones I use.” Ian looked at Violet and raised his eyebrows. “They also manually enter the locations they want to jump their ship. That process is quite time consuming.”

“Why do think they do it manually?”

“Ian, their computers are far behind what we’ve developed. They’re really hundreds of years behind ours. They’re far ahead of us in other technologies but they can’t come close to our computers.”

“E, are you saying that our blasters will be more powerful?”

“Energy in; energy out. Whoever has the most, wins.”

Violet smiled, “Are you saying you have the biggest…”

“Stop that.” She looked at Ian and laughed.

E said, “I guess I do.”

Even Ian started laughing.

• • •

Violet sat in Ian’s lap in the command chair and said, “Why have you delayed going back?”

“I needed to make sure the Union had time to do what I asked.”

“What did you ask them to do?”

“I’ll tell you later.” Violet tilted her head and Ian said, “I’ll tell you if you’re willing to be Queen.”

“That’s ok, tell me later.”

“I thought you’d see it my way.”

“So what do we do now?”