War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (21 page)

Blasts rang around him, but his men had
retreated quickly and there had been no fatalities. He knew that
the Queen's men would come rushing down soon and tried to ready his
men for the impending invasion.

"They're coming!" He pointed up the stairs.
"Ready your weapons!"

Surely enough, men were rushing down the
stairs. Both sides immediately began firing on each other in a
frenzy of laser fire. The Queen's men seemed endless as they came
in squadrons down the stairs. The rate at which he was losing his
races was alarming and they were quickly getting overrun by the
enemy. He looked at the dead bodies of races surrounding him and
cursed to himself.

Donnchadh turned around and ran down the
hallway, leaving his dying men behind him in the hopeless
slaughter. It would look like a cowardly thing to do, but there was
no way he would survive if he stayed behind. This had obviously
been a well thought out attack and was coordinated to be quick and
precise.

He raced towards the hangar and boarded a
small Falcon Fighter. It wasn't very big and only fit a max of two
people, but it would get him out of here alive. It was loaded with
weapons and was a swift evasive ship, just what he needed. The
hangar doors slid open and he quickly flew the Falcon Fighter out,
surprised to be met with no resistance as he flew above the raging
battle below.

Donnchadh landed the ship in a nearby canyon
and watched the Queen's ships destroy his home. They stayed there
for another full hour before finally leaving. When the last chrome
ship left, his base went up in a ball of fire and the ground
collapsed below it, leaving a black chasm of emptiness. Donnchadh
clenched his fists and cursed under his breath. The Queen would pay
for this, she wouldn't get away with killing his family.

Anlon stared at Donnchadh. "I didn't know. No
one ever told me."

Donnchadh breathed heavily. "Your father and
the Queen are the monsters, not me."

"No!" Anlon shouted. "What did you think they
were going to do? You
kill
races for a living! It's his job
to take out races like you, even if he did used to know you! You
used to do what he did, you of all races should know that!"

"Those were my brothers that died. My
family!"

"No. Armino was your family."

"
Was
my family," Donnchadh corrected.
"I made a new family after he left me to die."

"So that gave you the right to kill my
family?"

"Yes!" Donnchadh yelled. "I killed his entire
family and made him watch, just the way he made me watch as my
family was killed."

"You ran like a coward," Anlon spat. "My Dad
didn't run."

"I only ran so I could kill him and make him
suffer for what he did."

Anlon shook his head in disgust. "You're an
evil, twisted, monster, Donnchadh."

"I am what your father and the Queen made
me."

"No," Anlon corrected. "Someone else turned
you into the monster you are now, you're not the same race my Dad
was friends with."

"You know nothing," Donnchadh muttered.

Anlon threw himself at the cell. "I hope the
Queen kills you!"

"Why don't you, boy? What's stopping you from
killing me?" he chuckled.

Anlon took a step back. "It takes a real man
to forgive and move on from the past. I have more important things
at hand right now other than carrying out an act of vengeance on a
monster as far gone as you."

Anlon turned around and walked out of the
dungeon before Donnchadh could come up with a reply to anger him
further. The guard turned the magenta force field back on as he
passed and he walked up the stairs to find empty and quiet
hallways. He found an empty room and crashed in it for the
night.

Anlon woke up early and decided it was best
to leave Hera now so he could get back to Gaea sooner to start his
mission. He rolled out of the bed and walked to the door, quickly
moving down the halls to get to the hangar. Once inside, he walked
up to the ship and the ramp hissed down to reveal the pilot waiting
at the top.

"How was your visit Anlon? Was the Palace
everything you thought it'd be?"

"I guess, I didn't really know what to
expect," Anlon boarded the ship. "I am leaving much earlier than I
expected to though. I thought I'd be here a little longer."

"No one usually stays as long as they'd like
here. Most leave about as quick as you did, to tell you the
truth."

"I think I got everything done that I needed
too, we'll just have to wait and see."

"That's excellent," he beamed. "Now I hear
you want to make a quiet entry back home?"

Anlon shook his head. "How did you know?"

"Queen already told me," he winked. "Figured
you be here early too, so I just stayed on the ship for the
night."

"Thanks," Anlon smiled. "You mind if I go up
to a bunker and call someone while you take me back?"

"No. No," He waved his hands. "You do what
you have to do Anlon."

Anlon smiled and walked up the stairs, taking
the bunker he had dropped his luggage in when he had first boarded.
He didn't bother closing the door and took out his comlink to call
Moran.

"How's everything going on Hera so far?"

"Things didn't really go as planned."

"What'd you do Anlon?" Moran asked. "I told
you making an ally of the Queen was important."

"I did everything that you told me to!"

"So you told her everything? She's on your
side?"

"Yes," Anlon answered. "But that's not why
I'm calling you right now."

"Okay. Why are you calling me then?"

"We ran into Donnchadh and his friends while
I was here."

"You what?" Moran asked stunned. "Start from
the beginning and don't leave anything out."

"I was trying to until you cut me off."

"I thought it was just some unimportant stuff
you were going to tell me, or that you did something very stupid. I
was leaning more towards you did something stupid."

"When have I ever done anything stupid?"

"Where would you like me to start?" he asked
sarcastically. "It doesn't matter, tell me what they were doing
there."

"They were there to assassinate Adira."

"How did they get in the Palace in the first
place?" Moran asked. "Security there is tight."

"I'm not sure, but I saw them in the kitchen
as I was trying to find a room. As soon as I saw Ulisse, I knew
what they were doing there and I ran to tell Adira."

"So you prevented it?"

"That's not all," Anlon continued, ignoring
the question. "They caught Donnchadh, but Ulisse and Sanguinarius
escaped."

The line was silent a moment. "That's good,
but the Queen will kill Donnchadh soon. After everything he's done,
she'll kill him herself."

"No she won't," Anlon told him. "She said
she's sending him to Themis for a proper trial. He'll suffer more
that way."

"That's interesting. I thought for sure that
she'd kill him herself after everything that he's done. You know,
that gives you a chance to kill him yourself, though Adira may not
like it."

"No, that's not what I want to do anymore.
There's been somewhat of a change in plans and priorities," Anlon
said.

"The Queen got you to work for her, didn't
she?" he chuckled. "It's okay, that's not a bad thing. As long as
she's on your side, that's all that matters at this point."

"She is on my side," Anlon assured him. "But
this isn't a quest of vengeance anymore. The Queen may be in even
more danger than originally thought."

"Not on the comlink," Moran said. "We will
talk more when you come back. When exactly will you be back by the
way?"

"I've already left, so I should be there
within a couple of hours," Anlon informed him. "No one but you
knows I'm arriving, so keep it quiet. I don't want anyone knowing
I'm home."

"You got it kid," he said. "See you when you
get here."

Anlon hung up the comlink and laid back on
the bed. He had to find the Deimos Brotherhood and the Queen's
daughter very quickly. He knew failure was an option before, but
now that he was working to save the Queen, failure wasn't an
option.

She'd also told him about someone was going
to help him, but he had no idea who to expect or when they'd reveal
themselves. Though he didn't know who they were, they surely knew
who he was and what his mission was. He cleared his mind of all the
questions that he couldn't answer and forced his eyes shut.

Adira marched down the stairs that led to the
dungeon and woke up the guard who was posted outside of the magenta
force field.

"Open it," she demanded.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and
deactivated the field. "Would you like an escort in, your
majesty?"

"No, I'll be fine," She waived her hand. "Try
to stay up while I'm in here. Once I leave I don't care what you
do."

"Do you know what cell the prisoner you want
to see is in?" The guard asked timidly.

"Yes. I know where the scum is," She
continued marching down to the last cell. "How dare you show your
face back up here in my Palace, Donnchadh!"

Donnchadh didn't turn around, or even
acknowledge that there was someone behind him.

"You broke your oath to me and you
killed
one of your brothers!"

"You should know all about that Adira,"
Donnchadh spoke over his shoulder.

"What should I know about? I have done
neither of those two things."

"Oh, so you've never broken an oath?" he
asked. "I guess you're right, in a way, but it was much worse than
that in the end wasn't it?" Adira was silent, not knowing how to
respond. "I know what you did, Adira. Did you really think no one
would find out?"

"Find out what?" Adira asked.

"I know you sent Jahdiel to a Black Hole. You
tried so hard to keep it covered up, but I know what you did. You
didn't even give her a proper trial, you just sent her off to her
death, yet you call me a monster. How is sending someone to the
Black Hole any different from killing them?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about
Donnchadh," Adira replied. "She just disappeared, no one knows what
happened to her."

"I'll tell you what happened to her, she
disappeared into a Black Hole that you sent her through," he
chuckled. "You may be able to lie to everyone else about it, but
you can't lie to me about it, so stop pretending."

"So you broke your oath because you believe
that I sent Jahdiel to a black whole fifteen years ago?"

"I never said when you sent her," Donnchadh
grinned. "But fifteen years seems about right from what I've
heard."

"That's when she went missing, you fool."

"You didn't report her
missing
until
almost two years later. You made a fake report that you sent her
scouting for new planets, but neglected to pay attention to the
small details," Donnchadh said. "It's okay, when you tell enough
lies, you forget what the lies you have told are."

"Fine. I sent her to the Black Hole fifteen
years ago because she was plotting to have me killed," she
whispered. "That is still your reasoning for breaking your
oath?"

"Not all of it, but it was where it all
started," Donnchadh confessed. "How can I work for a Queen who is
just as murderous as the men she sends me out to kill? What does it
matter who I work for, when in the end, both are the same?"

"
We
are not the same. You kill
innocent people. I kill monsters like
you
."

"That's what I thought at first too,"
Donnchadh told her. "I refused to be turned and become one of the
enemy, but when he came in the torturing chamber and saw me, that
quickly changed."

"When who came in and saw you?"

"What can you tell me about the tragic death
of your husband?"