The Acolytes of Crane

16 MARIAH: KARSHIZ





“I’m just devastated, and he’s standing closer to me. I felt his infectious energy; it was obvious that he cared about me. The way he looked at me, it was as if I knew him all my life. He said, ‘Without you, we would all be lost.’ And then we—”

A guard walks in, wearing his usual stern expression. “Prisoner eight-six-seven-eight. Come with me,” he requests, breaking up our conversation.

“What is going on?” I ask.

“Mariah, tell me the rest in a few minutes when you come back. I know your release is tomorrow, but I want to hear the rest of the story!” my girlfriend Javon says, deferring to the authority of the guard out of fear. She clasps my hand for a moment, attempting to reassure me. I’m allowed to mingle with the other female prisoners in the common room, and we’d bonded right away.

I walk toward the guard, and I keep my distance. Standing too close to a guard was bound to make him feel threatened. I turn, looking at Javon and say, “If I don’t see you, then you know…”

“I’m so happy for you, my turn will come soon. When you hear I’m out, give me a call! Bye, chica!” She waved at me jubilantly.

“The warden would like to speak with you,” the guard says as he escorts me to the meeting.

“Am I in trouble or something? Can you tell me? Ugh—God help us,” I say. The guards tend to ignore me. He has a thread dangling from the cuff of his uniform. I want to pull it off badly, but to approach a guard over something so trivial would be ridiculous.

Thankfully, the Multiversal Council does not harbor female war criminals very long. This unexpected meeting worries me that the council may have changed its plans to release me at this time.

A few of the other female prisoners, staring behind bars, are pointing at me in condemnation as I walk by their cells. It is never a good thing when someone is called to see the warden. Every time the warden sees me, he brings up the time I spat on his face. I fear him slightly, but I would not dare to show my anxiety. Not in here. My mother and father would be proud.

It is a typical stroll through the prison. Those who are not part of the cleaning detail sit in their cells, twiddling their thumbs. I walk by them, and I cannot help feeling sorry for them. A part of me wishes I could swap places with them, but just barely.

The guard says, “Turn around. Hands placed above your head ... She is clean, warden.”

“Am I here, because you are sending me home a day early?” I ask.

“Not quite. Sit down prisoner,” the warden says, “Guard, wait outside.” He glares at me. “What do you know about Nilo, prisoner?” The warden cuts right to the chase. Usually he at least warms up to me.

“We met him in Karshiz. We were never close, so I apologize if I cannot offer much information about him.”

“Were you ever in conference with King Trazuline?” the warden asks, undeterred.

“If you have five minutes, I will tell you,’ I say, pulling my black hair away from my face. “I will tell you about the time we met. I can’t say I like him very much.” I am pretending that I don’t like Trazuline, because I want to prevent the Multiverse Council from learning of my carefully concealed association with his rebellion force. He is a major player in the resistance. I pray to God that the resistance is still flourishing without me.

“Take the five minutes to tell your story. Then we will go over your final exit counseling,” the warden says. I notice he is tickled to be in my company. Perhaps I should play up my feminine allure to him. Just don’t overdo it. He is bouncing on the edge of his seat, like a kid starting a brand new video game.

“Have you found my friends yet?” I ask playfully. I prayed for Theodore, fearing him and the other boys are either dead or imprisoned. I still have hope.

“No, we haven’t. It is likely we never will,” he says. I sense he is lying. Call it woman’s intuition.

“Okay,” the warden says, sensing that I believe him. “Let’s start with Karshiz then.”

“Linc always told me, if I ever talk about our time on Karshiz, to leave out the part where I got a verbal lashing from the king,” I utter conspiratorially, throwing my head slightly back. I try to gain the warden’s trust, without really giving up anything of value. Call it bait and switch. “I prefer to include it, because it just shows how vulnerable we really were.”

“That is good. I like accuracy. Any details you may find insignificant; I may find useful. Do you mind if I record this? With our database destroyed, we are left searching for what really occurred, up to Eppa’s destruction,” the warden says.

“No. Not at all. I suppose, after Theodore destroyed Eppa, everything is probably in shambles.”

“That is the long and short of it,” the warden says.

I start. “We were previously aboard the Uriel. The ship that carried us was called the ZF-Targine. It landed on Karshiz, the realm of King Trazuline, after a smooth descent.”

Our new objective began with the lowering of its hatch.

The boys unbuckled and gathered their gear. The hatch continued to drop and a Sepheran navigator said, ‘This is Karshiz. I guess it is dry like my sense of humor and as hot as the Karshiz princess! Hey! Do not disengage your harness until the cabin has depressurized. Stand by for your brief.’

The hatch lowered to form a ramp with the ground and the sun silhouetted a being who stood directly outside. My eyes were still adjusting to the glaring light, but I could still see a glistening crown hovering over the person’s head. As he walked underneath the shade of the vessel’s hatch, I saw he was a royal tyrant. He was both impressive and frightening.

‘Welcome to Karshiz. I am King Trazuline. Apparently, Zane finds you too strategic to remain on the Uriel, where his enemies constantly target him. My planet, however, has infinite possibilities for your safety. And the best facilities for your training. Which, after all that has happened, we’ll have to escalate.’

‘At least someone wants to look after us. After all, the Urilians yanked us from our cushy lives on Earth,’ Lincoln said.

‘For me to agree to take you in, was a huge risk. It will be my duty to assess your skills and develop all of you into noble tacticians,’ Trazuline said, as he walked up the hatch. He was no longer shaded by the shadow of the ship and sun. ‘Zane doesn't trust you enough to stay aboard the mother ship and you have negatively affected the morale of the Uriel. That is why you are in Karshiz under my guidance.’

‘We haven't done anything to affect morale! Theodore is the one who went crazy!’ Dan shouted.

‘Dan, is it?’ Trazuline asked. Dan nodded his head. ‘I am a king, and you are a soldier. My position on this planet and in this fight was earned, so my subordinates respect me and follow their complaints by saying—your majesty, or sir. I would appreciate it if you can trust me and give me the respect I deserve by honoring my position. And remember, my daughter is aboard the Uriel, training with the other teams. Your friend put her in considerable danger.’

We all nodded our heads. I felt like I was being scolded at school and bowed my head downward, because a part of me was ashamed.

‘Where will we stay?’ Liam asked.

‘See my palace over there?’ he asked. What a sight! His majestic, colossal palace sat upon a hill, casting considerable shade over the city—a long and deep shadow that could be perceived either as fearful presence, or as the natural consequence of an inspiring spectacle. We did not know yet. Although at first glance the castle seemed far away, we knew from our frame of reference that it would be nothing short of massive once we arrived there. ‘My guards will escort you through the town to the castle.’


‘Is this city named Karshiz?’ Lincoln asked.

‘This is one of a thousand towns on the planet Karshiz. They are all represented by symbols. This town's symbol is a sand surfer, because this is where the annual sand surfing competition is held.’

‘So this planet is named Karshiz? You are the king of the entire planet?’ I asked.

‘Last time I checked.’

Liam looked surprised, and asked, ‘Where is your security detail? Our president back home always has a secret service entourage.’

‘An attempt on the king would be futile. I have a rolesk, one that is truly unbridled and dangerous. I could see an assassination plot on me from a mile away. Now, please dismount the ship and follow my guards through the town. Do not stop in the bazaar and be careful. There are many Rangier swindlers and thieves.’ The king walked out of the ship and into the sun. ‘Before you arrive at the main corridor of the castle, my guard detail will bring you to the armory and then, the training simulator. Once there, we will determine your official skill sets. We have a mission that we must finish quickly.’

Above his head, the crown that hovered over it glowed and radiated an indigo blue light. He summoned a whirl of Dietons. They piled upon each other systematically until a portable flying unit was constructed, and it enclosed the king. The Sepheran contraption sucked him up and lifted him out of my sight.

‘I don't trust him,’ Liam whispered.

I placed my hand on his forearm and said, ‘Take it easy, big guy. Give him a chance. Besides, if he has a rolesk, he will be watching us closely.’

‘If you are done whispering amongst each other, we will escort you to the armory,’ the guard suggested.

“The planet Karshiz was inhabited with many different species. The majority of the population consisted of hairy Karshiz natives like King Trazuline, a handful of Rangiers, and Humans. As I am sure you already know, Karshiz harbors a human trafficking ring.” I pause, looking at the warden. I wonder if he has been satisfied, or if he has been looking at me that way because he wants to fantasize about me.

“Yes. The Multiverse Council is aware of this trafficking. It is part of the culture. The traffickers are treated as equals, and they are not punished under any laws,” the warden says.

I hold my head up in disgust, recalling America’s abolition of slavery not too long ago. I wish to challenge the guard. “Is the Sepheran slave ring widely accepted among the ‘culture’ as well?” I ask.

The warden refuses to take my bait, shrugging instead. “The council tends to focus its interest only on what they can control. That doesn't include your radical ideals. Anyway, we are getting off topic. Please continue about the king. And tell me more about the Rangiers.”

“Rangiers are an interesting bunch. They have a few intriguing skills, like conjuring imaginative projections, for one. Rangiers altered the way in which they and their environment were perceived. This was very useful to them in battle. They were able to fool the enemy into seeing things that weren’t there.

“Anyway, while we were still aboard the Uriel, Nezatron told us some Rangiers were not to be trusted, and to stay clear of any bazaars in the town. Trazuline did not seem to worry about it. His detail was leading us right through it.”

The warden is smiling, and he asks, “Did the boys, as you call them, ever know they were going to be an ambush by these lowly scum Rangiers?”

“No. Not at all. They were always trying to either garner a kiss from me, or find some fresh excitement.”

“So what did you think of Karshiz?” the warden asks.

“I would have liked to leave, because of the smell alone.”

The warden laughs and says, “I have been there a few times, and I know exactly what you are referring to. The putrid environment gives me sinus troubles. Please carry on about the Rangiers.”

“It was easy to identify a Rangier. They wore bands around their heads that looked similar to rolesks. They used it for their imagery projections. Rangiers were perceived as thick-necked people. They wore clothing with a hood attached to cover up that characteristic, as well as to hide their projection bands. Lincoln told me they had extremely large occipital lobes inside their brains. That is why their heads were so big.”

“How could you tell that they were deceiving you?” the warden asks.

“A smell that didn’t quite mesh, or an odd glance out of the corners of their eyes. Things like that.” I shrugged. “There were always these little discrepancies.”

The warden gazes straight at me, nodding. “We’re getting off track again. Tell me about your trip through the bazaar.”

“Yes. We were on the way to King Trazuline’s palace under heavy guard in a land hovercraft. As we sped through the desert, there were dust devils rising up from the sand—nasty things, really. They’re what you call mini dirt cyclones. When large birds flew overhead, they had to fly very high, because otherwise they’d get sucked in to a certain death.”

After an exhilarating ride through the desert, we were now slowing down as we approached the bazaar. It was amazing, just like lifting a scene out of present day marketplace Egypt or Morocco. Rows upon rows of white tented stalls, offering wicker baskets, ornamented silver plates, and fragrant spices like myrrh, with customers and merchants yelling as they haggled with each other. Exotic parrots for sale squawking above the din, and vapors of incense wafting through the air. I couldn’t resist!

The guards were following close. It would be difficult for any mischief to occur under their watch. Through the hordes of customers flinging coin and pulling merchandise, I saw an interesting tent.

When I had the boys’ attention, I yelled, ‘Hey guys, Check out these trinkets!’

I had to shout, because it was windy outside and difficult for them to hear me. It was probably tunneling through their ears. The gusts were blowing my hair into my mouth, and it was sticking to my tongue. Every time I pulled a strand out, I only introduced another.

Liam said, ‘Hey, these are cool.’

‘Madam Espinosa, we have been instructed to take you directly to the castle. No stops,’ one of the guards said.

‘Can't we just stop for a second?’ I asked.

We turned the corner on the hovercraft and the guards stopped. ‘Wait, do you hear that?’ the first guard asked. He and his comrades pushed outward slightly from our group, as if readying for an assault. Just as the guards approached the adjacent shacks searching for signs of unrest, the merchants and stalls disappeared in the blink of an eye.

‘Attack! Attack!’ another guard yelled. The boys and I gasped at the sudden vanishing of our alluring surroundings and dropped to our knees inside the hovercraft. We feared for our lives.

‘It’s a trap!’ Dan yelled.

Instantly, we found ourselves in a closed alley by the palace—a perfect spot for an ambush. We knew right away that Rangiers were at work with their projection devices.

‘Hurry!’ the lead guard hollered, ‘Get the kids straight away to the castle. Hold them off!’ I fell to the ground as the guard brusquely pushed me out. The boys scrambled over the sides of the vehicle in their mad flee to evade.

Our hovercraft was hit right in the engine. The hood of the craft exploded, sending sparks into our direction. I screamed. It was time to abandon ship, and start running for our lives.

From the rooftops, two turret sentries floated above us and started firing lasers against the Rangiers, who by now had been detected. These Rangiers started speeding away on their turbo-cycles to avoid our escorts’ outgoing fire.


I remember running faster than I ever had. We were now darting out of the alleyway and back among the tented stalls—these were real this time. I could feel the retaliatory fire from the Rangiers hitting shacks around us. A fruit stand blew up next to me, splattering my face with fragments of melon. I kept running. The lead guard looked back, firing lasers over our heads at the retreating Rangiers.

‘Open the gates!’ our valiant escort yelled.

The gates unfolded. I didn't even know if the boys were behind me. I passed beyond the gate, turning to watch for the others. Fortunately, they were close behind. Large and bulky, Liam was falling behind. Lasers were zinging by him. The gates started to close in. Dan and Lincoln whizzed through the closing space easily, but Liam was barely able to make it through. Just as I thought the gates would click shut and trap him out, Liam’s arm protruded through!

‘Halt! Let in one more!’ I yelled to the sentries. Running up, I pulled back the closing door, and simultaneously pulled at his visible arm.

‘Yeow!’ Liam screamed in agony. A laser shot had skimmed his thigh. Finally, he wiggled through just in time, and the gate shut with a loud clang. Thanks to the castle’s perimeter forces, the rogue Rangiers were in full retreat. We guessed that the king’s protectors would be chasing them on hovercrafts by now to seek and to destroy them.

Horrified, I saw the lead guard rush over to Liam’s side. ‘Liam! Were you hit?’

‘My leg!’ Liam moaned in excruciating pain. He was rocking on his back and holding his leg up near his chest. The lead guard decisively ripped Liam's pant leg off and applied a shiny ointment onto his wound.

‘It’s just a scratch, kid. You will be alright,' the guard said. ‘That is going to take some time to heal. Maybe by fifteen morgets it’ll be as good as new.’ He glanced around warily. ‘We should keep moving. You are all safe now, so breathe easy. Welcome to the home palace of His Royal Majesty, King Trazuline of Karshiz.’

The dark hallway was lined with mounted plasma cannons, monitoring the entry into the castle. As we walked, I was still shaking all over from our recent danger.

‘Is that it? That was hardly a welcome. We get attacked and then we just carry on?’ I whimpered, wiping away the melon chunks from my face.

‘Listen, Madam Espinsoa. You chose to be a warrior when you volunteered for the mission of the Great Zane, so I am appalled to hear you speak thereof. Get used to it! This is the life we live. There are attacks on our units everyday, but this ambush was different. The timing of it is alarming. We have a schedule to keep, so we must stay on course.’

Liam stopped limping along and asked, marveling, ‘My leg is feeling much better. What was that stuff you put on it?’

‘The stuff I massaged into your wound was deflicontis mucilage. A most useful ointment. Ah, here we are. Armorer!’

‘Yes sir!’

‘I want the status of my squad. Notify His Majesty the humans are safe and in my custody. After you are finished with the communicator, issue us one rifle and a laser cartridge for each of our guests.’

‘Yes, sir.’

We all marched off to a huge marbled room two stories high and of colossal size—about two football fields side by side. We gaped in awe at the magnificence of it all.

‘We are now in the training facilities of His Majesty,’ the lead guard announced.

‘Whoa, dude!’ Dan exclaimed, his eyes bulging. ‘Bigger than even that on the Uriel!’

‘The Uriel, as majestic as it is, is constrained by the necessity of design intended for space. Here, we have no such limitations,’ the guard intoned dryly. He pushed a button on his jacket, and before our eyes, an array of bull’s eye targets emerged from the floor through an automatic shaft lined in the floor. Another guard approached us, hauling a wooden barrel of rifles.

‘Let’s just go over a couple of things first,’ the lead guard said, his eyes darting sideways at the rifles, ‘Time for your training to begin. His Majesty has decreed so.’

Lincoln piped up. ‘Now? We just barely escaped an ambush, and we haven’t even been given a decent tour!’

‘Exactly why you should start now. These Rangiers were after you, as instruments of Odion.’

Lincoln pointed toward the wall, as if pointing outside to indicate the site of the ambush, ‘Are all Rangiers bad?’

‘No. Rangiers are very intelligent and they are peace-loving. Unfortunately, their projection skills and mastery of illusory deception makes them very highly sought after. Only a few Rangiers have become corrupted, yet you still must be careful. Odion knows you’re on the planet, and you must defend yourself. There’s no time to lose.’

‘Odion wants us that badly?’ Lincoln asked, somewhat in a state of shock. ‘We’re just teenagers from Earth!’

Dan jumped in. ‘Dude, we’ve been over this. Zane was very clear why we were valuable to him. Get in with the program.’

‘A very wise boy. Theodore knew this, and you doubtlessly need his guidance now,’ the guard said, nodding his head. He held out a rifle, striking in its beauty and handicraft. ‘Never, and I mean never hold your finger on the trigger unless you plan on shooting the weapon. Always assume the weapon is loaded and capable of firing. Your relationship with a weapon is based on respect. It can end a life, it can destroy a home, and this power is steered by you. Always point the rifle in a safe direction—muzzle toward the ground.’

‘Right, sir. That’s the TZ-47. Locked and loaded,’ an assistant confirmed.

The guard firmly held the rifle closer to us and fiercely said, ‘Hear what he just said? Locked and loaded. This gun is ready to fire and we will treat it accordingly. Follow me.’ We walked over to the firing range they had just summoned. It was the length of a bowling alley. Eight target simulating holograms were displayed in front of us.

‘What is your name, sir?’ Lincoln asked the lead guard.

‘You have it correct,’ the guard said.

‘Sir?’ Liam asked, disappointed.

‘Yes. Names do not matter. I am only a subject of His Majesty, King of Karshiz. His name is the only name that matters here, aside from our Supreme, Zane. Now, listen. This is the firing range. This weapon fires a laser that can incinerate on contact.'

‘Who is going first, dude… I mean—sir?’ Dan asked; his unruly shock of hair was flopped over his eyes due to our recent battle.

‘You will,’ the guard said. He handed Dan the rifle. Dan lovingly embraced it with his fingers, then held it into position, confident.

‘This is just like a first-person shooter! I will give you a lesson, Mariah! Ha ha,’ Dan said. He lowered his body into a prone position and prepared to fire. ‘Just aim and shoot, sir?’

‘Correct. It’s not that simple. You are to be elite warriors, so let us reduce the size of the targets to exaggerate distance. Lasers have a completely straight and linear trajectory.’

Comfortable in his challenge, Dan was talking trash as usual. To my surprise, the guards around us smiled to each other. My guess is that they did exactly the same thing when they were out of earshot of the king. Following Dan’s lead, the other boys started bragging about hunting with their fathers for deer years ago.

Well, they can brag all they want. I wasn't impressed with their shooting. After they all finished about twenty rounds among all three of them, the best score was four bull’s eyes.


They didn’t even invite me to hold one of the rifles or ask me to step up. They just automatically forgot about my existence in the shooting range because I was a girl. Well, I showed them! Back on Earth, I lovingly recalled the many hours of laser tag battles with my friends—not just girls, but also tons of astonished guys, several of them much older than me.

After the boys showed off their mediocre skill, I stepped up to the firing platform. The three boys snickered when I defiantly held the rifle in my arms.

‘Okay Mariah, this is the trigger and this is where the laser comes out,’ Dan said. He seriously felt he was being very helpful and that I would swoon at his chivalrous gesture.

‘Thanks, Dan,’ I hissed, surprising him with my reaction. ‘How very belittling and ignorant of you.’ Resolutely, I aimed, attempting to block out my seething thoughts. Then I missed my first target by about a mile. More snickers from the lads.

The guard knowingly leaned in and whispered into my ear, ‘Let your memory of the ambush go. Put it behind you. I know you are rattled, but this is right up your alley. Take a deep breath. After you exhale completely, squeeze the trigger.’

I followed his lead exactly and nailed a bull’s eye with ease.

‘Hey!’ Dan yelled in astonishment.

I turned back to the boys with a wicked smile. ‘There’s more.’

I proceeded to nab five more bull’s eyes in a row.

The boys were shouting about luck from behind me.

The lead guard, sporting a wide, beaming grin, sauntered over to my side. ‘I think we have a natural here. Shooting a rifle just doesn't seem to be the thing for you, boys. I hate to say, but she showed you. Now, there was a purpose to this lesson. I wanted to show everyone that all weapons are suited for certain body types and attributes. Yes, it is great to be proficient with many weapons, but it is best to perfect your skill with one that suits you.’

‘So what does this mean for us, right now?’ Lincoln asked.

‘We have already scanned you aboard the Uriel, and we know exactly what weapons to issue all of you. I knew Mariah would be the best with the rifle. We will stop by the armory on the way to meet King Trazuline. There, we will issue weapons that we designed specifically for each of you,’ the lead guard said. ‘Oh, and my name is Pritok, but I still prefer to be called sir. Xalag and I are special aides to His Majesty.’ He pointed to one of the guards directly behind us.

Another man dressed in the same attire as our guard ran over and said, ‘The king’s escorts made it out safely. One of the wounded is in the infirmary. He requested your presence, my Captain.’

Pritok looked at us and said, ‘I have to go. My troops will take it from here. We will meet again someday. I am sure of it. Doviant. It means good luck.’

The nameless guards brought us to our rooms after we received our previously issued weapons and equipment, the ones from the Uriel, through shipping crates. These crates had been hauled into the castle through a hydraulic hover lift. We radiated pride as we truly felt that the king was taking our role very seriously, treating us like privileged guests. The guards told us that the king was waiting for us at the castle’s lounge.

We left to meet the king, after dropping off our gear in the dorms. We were marched to what we were told was the king’s strategy room. Our newly assigned escorts kept staring at us and keeping a respectful distance from us, as if we were celebrities.

To the uninitiated, a strategy room conjured up the image of a drab boardroom, replete with whiteboards, projector screens, and a huge oval table in the center, covered with wood veneer. However, the king’s strategy room was elegant, consisting of an enclave much like that of a church’s alcove. A round room, it had oak furniture, a marble floor, and stained glass windows showing medieval-themed motifs. As I approached the king, I could see that he had a hearty pitcher of beer right beside him. In the room was a body odor that could make a bum’s nose crinkle.

The closer we were to the king, the more I wrapped my face with the scarf to filter the stench.

Upon our arrival, King Trazuline stood up strong and prideful. He sounded irritated and disappointed.

‘Well, how was your trip through the town?’ he asked, and none of us responded. His tone was slightly sarcastic. ‘That is precisely why you are here. You are lacking a defined leader, and your confidence is impaired. What will you do when you are shoved into battle?’

‘We will fight, your majesty,’ Lincoln said. I was surprised to see his assertiveness, since he was the more cerebral one.

King Trazuline sneered. ‘Like you did in the bazaar? I specifically instructed you not to stop. You could have all been killed. Your assigned guard detail will be increased. One guard for each of you.’ Sitting back, he took another swig of his suds. He burped out loudly and said, ‘Want some?’

‘No, thanks,’ Dan politely declined. We exchanged startled glances at each other.

After wiping his mouth, the king shook a finger at us. He gazed into Lincoln’s eyes, and scolded,

‘I had you humans ranked among the top of the recruits. You are all brilliant, but you have failed me with your cowardice. To see you run like sissies after that tea party with the Rangiers just outside the castle.’

The boys were stunned. I think they even believed him, becoming ashamed of themselves.

That was all the fuel I needed; no one talked to us like that. My mother would give me hell if I let any man, alien or not, push me around. I didn’t care—for that one fleeting second—if this was a king of an entire planet, imbibing a brew right in front of us. That he had millions in his servitude and was the right-hand man of the demigod Zane. ‘Respect is earned,’ I affirmed to myself, seething. I was ready to blow up in the face of that arrogant beast. To the boys’ shock, I stormed over to him with my fist clenched and my posture straight.

I said, ‘Listen here! We are strong and will fight for you, if you just give us a chance!’

“That was all that came out of my mouth before I felt a crushing weight on my back. I had to kneel as if bowing to his glory. He made me cower with his rolesk.”

“From what I know about you, Mariah, I cannot imagine you taking that,” the warden says. I am still in the holding room with the warden, halfway done with my story.

“I have not always been as strong as I’d like to be. Just as the crushing pressure was starting to make me buckle down even more to the floor, he waved his hand in the air. Suddenly, I was free.”

King Trazuline gazed at me admiringly and said, ‘You have fight within you, but you lack the patience to make it work. I am your last hope in the multiverse. Can't you see that?’

‘Yes, your majesty,’ I said. As if I had a choice of words.

To my surprise, the king’s features softened as he stared at me. He clapped his hands and motioned for the guards to take the boys away. ‘Take them to their rooms!’

The boys twisted their heads around with pleading eyes as I saw them leaving, my heart sinking. What did Trazuline want with me? Was he trying to isolate me? Why?

The king looked at me in the eyes for a few more seconds, and he turned to the doors to ensure that everyone was gone. He mouthed the words, ‘I want to speak to you alone.’

Nodding, I say nothing. I sense he doesn’t want me to speak. He seemed worried about being overheard.

‘Follow me,’ the king mouthed to me as he beckoned at me. I walked in lock-step behind him as he led me to a secret door in the room. ‘Step inside.’


I did.

The door shut electronically. He breathed a sigh of relief, and said, ‘This room is powered by magnetism. The electromagnetic field around this chamber keeps Dietons outside. What we say in this room, stays in this room.’

My heart beat as I realized his apparent change of heart—or his well-crafted plan. ‘Why would someone create a room to keep Dietons away?’

The king’s eyes took on an appearance of innocence. What a change from that brash display in the strategy room. ‘Could you imagine living in your house on Earth with absolutely no privacy? Imagine going to the bathroom, while cameras watch you and document every move you make. How would that make you feel?’

It was an easy answer. ‘Vulnerable.’

‘Precisely. We are in an age of peril, Mariah. No one to trust.’

‘Why should we trust you?’ I asked. I’d had enough of Zane. We trusted him, and look how far it got us.

The king held his hands up in the air, temporarily lifting his robes off the floor. He turned his back to me. ‘I have given you a purpose. Zane was deathly afraid of you all staying on his ship because of your unbridled spirit. I was the one who seized the opportunity to solve Zane’s problem and make him happy. But he doesn’t know everything.’

He cackled at me. ‘Mariah, I know Theodore is alive. His ship crashed on another planet.’

My blood chilled. ‘What! How do you know that?’

He whispered to me, ‘Because I helped him escape.’

I stood stunned. This powerful discipline of Zane, standing right before me, was admitting to something that could cost him his life— treason. His pungent stench was also starting to overpower me again. It was hard to think straight.

‘Where is Ted?’ I demanded, furious that he’d been hiding a secret from us.

‘I can’t tell you. We have to work together.’

‘Wait a minute,’ I said, stepping back from him. ‘You know where he is, and you’re not telling us? How can we work together if you don’t tell us?’

‘Please understand,’ he asserted. ‘It could endanger all of us to have such valuable information. Zane could crush you all, and I would be powerless to stop him.’

‘Where is Ted?’ I insisted.

‘Work with me. I will tell you.’

I gazed at him, furiously thinking. Why was he speaking to me alone? Was he trying to pry our team apart, one by one? Aha, I thought. We were the key to getting Ted back, and Trazuline was pretending to be the good cop. After Ted reached out to us, and Zane captured him, Zane would just terminate us all and amply reward his loyal subject Trazuline for luring us. I had to play my hand carefully.

‘It makes perfect sense,’ I lied through my teeth. ‘I need to discuss this with my team.’

Trazuline visibly relaxed at my apparent change of heart. ‘That's fine. Just think about what I have said. We could rescue Theodore together.’

‘Thank you very much for giving us this valuable information. You have given us fresh new hope.’ I left the chamber, shaking over the revelation about Ted still being alive.

“Before I exited, Trazuline whispered. ‘Be very careful how you tell your team. Everywhere, Zane’s spies may be eavesdropping on you.’”

“This sounds like something straight out of a spy story. What did you do?” the warden asks, flashing his teeth.

“I took control of the team, because someone had to. When I caught up to the boys, I said, ‘Wait up, you guys. Listen to me for a second. Let's all meet in the recreational lounge, after we put up our stuff.’”

We requested for the guards to let us mingle by ourselves in one of the lounges. It was a huge lounge, and we positioned ourselves inside the center, playing a game of electronic shuffleboard. The magnetic disks sailed along with ease on the marble floor as we babbled to each other, holding our electronic shuffleboard paddles straight up as if they were walking sticks. The guards were far away, taking our activity as a sign that they could ease up. They appeared bored, and reveled in the opportunity to gossip among themselves.

I knew that Zane, or one of his minions, could be listening every second, but I chanced it. Who could be listening in every second, twenty-four hours a day?

I told the guys about the shocking revelation of Ted being alive. We fell into an excited banter, but did our best to appear casual. ‘What should we do? We don't have a choice. We have to play ball with these guys,’ Liam said.

‘My mother once told me, Aunque la mona se vista de seda, mona se queda. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but you can still make a purse out of something else!’ I said.

The boys looked at me like wavering bowling pins. ‘Okay,’ I relented, ‘I admit we have not been at war. We are not used to fighting for our lives, and that is why we are having a difficult time. They are giving us weapons and training us,’ I lowered my voice and leaned in so they all could hear me. ‘We could escape. So far, we have been so predictable. Let's take control of our own lives and leave here!’

‘Yeah, I think this Traz guy is just bluffing. But he knows about Ted. What do you have in mind?’ Dan asked.

‘Trazuline told me he knows Theodore is alive. We could find Theodore ourselves. What's stopping us?’ I gazed at the disk in front of me and gave it a half-hearted push. It fell short of the required baseline. I ignored my faux pas.

Lincoln rolled his eyes. ‘Reality check. We have to find out where Ted is. Trazuline’s not telling us. Plus, we need a ship. Trazuline helped Ted find a ship, but he’s not going to do the same for us. Plus, how about the guards that are constantly following us?’

I seized the moment to motivate them further. I said, ‘Don't you see? They are protecting us. We mean something to them. I am sorry, but I do not trust Trazuline. He seems like a good guy, but there is something he is not telling us.’

Lincoln pressed on his disk and pushed it out accurately, making us envious of his grace under pressure. ‘They will not even know what is coming. We can do this. We just have to make a plan. We can escape and find Theodore,’ Lincoln said.

“That was all I needed to hear, and even I started to believe...”

“Believe in what?” the warden asks.

“Us. When Theodore left, we were freaking out. We were like a car with no steering wheel, empty of gas. He brought us to the Uriel and without him, our purpose was gone. But we found ourselves when we heard he was alive.”

“I see. Well, it has been a pleasure, Mariah. I have to admit, there is actually no real exit debrief. My prisoners leave, and before they go, I tell them one thing.” I scoot to the edge of my seat to hear, nearly falling off. “If you pick up another rifle to fight for Sephera and Zane, or resist us in any way, with Theodore and your misfits, you will be in here again. And not in a way that is considered easy. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then, tomorrow you will be free. Make the best of it.”

A guard barged into the room and yelled, “Warden! We have a situation!”

“Wait here! I want two guards on this prisoner. Why are the alarms sounding?” the warden asks.

“I am not at liberty to say in front of the prisoner, sir,” the other guard answers. The two extra recruits arrive to take over command.

The two original guards leave, and I am left sitting between the gun muzzles of the two freshly arrived guards who are watching me intensely. What could be so pressing? I have never heard the alarms sound before, besides drills, but usually the warden seems prepared for those instances.


This was probably my weirdest encounter in this prison. If he is keeping my friends captive here, it may not be the last time I see this prison. I sigh.