War for Orion: Ghosts from the Past (42 page)

He led them down elegant Nesoi mineral
hallways and they passed through the mess hall which was booming
with voices. After making their way through, they entered a glass
hallway that passed over a field of pink water lilies. Kanti spun
in a circle admiring everything around her.

"He should be in his office," Bimisi took a
right after they reached the end of the walkway.

Bimisi stopped at a green door and knocked on
it. After a couple of seconds, the door opened and Bimisi motioned
them to follow him inside.

"Bimisi!" a fat red Filibian raised his arms.
"What brings you home? And with these companions?"

"This," Bimisi held his hand out to Kanti.
"Is the Princess of Orion."

"The Princess?" The fat Filibian raised his
eyebrows. "The daughter of Queen Adira who was supposed to have
died twenty years ago? That Princess?"
"That very same Princess," Bimisi smiled.

"Well, I'll be damned," he chuckled. "The
Queen fooled us all!"

"There have been recent attempts to capture
her after her identity was revealed," Bimisi said. "I brought her
here because I knew she wouldn't be safe anywhere else in
Orion."

"Say no more," The fat Filibian raised his
hand. "She can stay here as long as she would like and as long as
enemies are pursuing her."

"Where should I take them?"

"Give them the best room we have available!"
he replied. "This is the Queen's daughter, she will have nothing
less than the best."

"I will show them where they will stay,"
Bimisi bowed. "Follow me."

He led them out of the office and through
another glass tunnel. At the end of this tunnel was the giant glass
dome that Kanti had seen from above, thriving with plants from all
over Orion. Bimisi turned to Kanti when he noticed her admiring the
scenery.

"Even the harshest planets and moons have
plant life worth keeping in the Nesoi Garden. You'd be surprised at
some of the things that live in horrid environments."

"It's wonderful," she replied, awestruck at
all of the different plants and colors surrounding her.

"It makes the visitors feel like they're not
trapped in an underwater city. Filibians can breathe underwater,
but other races cannot so we made this for them. They can feel like
they're outside," He continued leading them down the garden path.
"Your room will be right this way."

He led them out of the garden and into a
hallway with only one set of wooden doors at the end. Bimisi pushed
the dark wooden doors, revealing a giant and luxurious living
chamber.

"This really is fit for a Queen," Kanti said
awestruck.

Camillus looked around the room. "I believe
you will be just fine with hiding here."

Bimisi led them inside of the chamber and
pressed a button near the doors, retracting the ceiling and
enveloping them in blue water.

"Some royals need privacy, so we installed
this to allow them to have it when they require it. Otherwise, they
usually opt to keep it open."

She walked around the room, observing all of
the different portraits of past rulers of Orion and important
politicians. Above a fireplace was a picture of Queen Adira. She
still couldn't believe that was her mom, but after all of the
events that had transpired, she knew it was true.

"This will be your new home until you are
safe," Bimisi told her, leaving her and Camillus alone in the
room.

There was loud talk echoing throughout the
Council Chambers as Queen Adira burst into the room.

"Quiet! Quiet!" She shouted over the talking
Council members.

"Is it true?" Hildereth ignored her request.
"Has a whole fleet been destroyed?"

"Yes. The reports are true. The fleet that I
sent has been obliterated."

That only brought about more loud chattering
among the members, which Adira knew she couldn't stop. The news was
heartbreaking and terrible, but it also meant Orion was in deep
trouble. She had underestimated this enemy and it had cost her an
entire fleet along with thousands of lives.

"Who are they?" Bertrade asked over the
chattering.

"Jahdiel and a race called the Crodillians,"
The Council hushed at the name Jahdiel, but confused looks crossed
their faces when she said Crodillians.

"Jahdiel?" Aldrick repeated. "The woman you
sent to the Black Hole?"

Adira nodded her head. "Impossible!" Reginold
debated. "It is impossible to come back after being sentenced to
the Black Hole!"

The Queen was still. "As impossible as it may
sound, it is true. I have seen her with my own two eyes. It is the
very same woman that I outcast myself all those years ago."

"Who are the Crodillians?" Aida asked. "I
don't ever remember hearing of them."

"They are an ancient race of Orion," Adira
informed them. "They were outcast many centuries ago for attempting
to overthrow the King and take Orion as their own," She recalled a
few things that she had read before the meeting. "There was a long
and bloody war, but they lost and were outcast to the Black Hole to
die."

"How are were the Crodillians and Jahdiel
able to come back?" Aldrick asked. "It makes absolutely no logical
sense."

Adira shrugged and looked around the table.
"I can't honestly answer that question. I have asked many
scientists and none have been able to answer the question
themselves."

Saidi shook her head. "It is because there is
no technology with the capability to do such things."

"There is a way. They have returned with
Jahdiel, who
I
outcast to what should have been sure death.
However impossible it sounds, she and the Crodillians found a way
to do it."

"What are we going to do?" Bertrade
asked.

"We're going to attack them!" Hildereth
slammed his fists on the table. "We are at war with whoever this
ancient race is!"

"Their weapons are superior to ours," Adira
sighed. "But Hildereth is right, we are going to war against the
Crodillians."

"They're unknown to us! How do we fight an
unknown enemy with such advanced technology?" Bertrade
exclaimed.

"We are unknown to them too!" Aldrick shot
back at her.

"Not completely," Aida shook her head.
"Jahdiel is with them, so they know who we are and where our
weaknesses may lay."
"That means nothing," Hildereth tried to assure them. "We aren't
the same as we were when she was outcast. We have become stronger
and more united in her absence."

"They destroyed an entire fleet in seconds,"
Adira revealed to them all. "None of our races had the chance to
lift a finger before they were wiped from existence."

"Seconds?" Hildereth asked. "How is that even
possible? Our fleet had hundreds of ships, surely some of them were
able to react."

"Our fleet didn't have a chance," She pulled
out a holopad and showed them imagery of what had happened.

"We must strike them quickly!" Reginold
slammed his fists on the table.

"That would not be smart," Abdul spoke. "They
will not talk peace and they said they plan on taking over Orion
and killing Queen Adira. Attacking them right now is not a wise
option."

"We must attack
now
!" Hildereth
persisted. "We take the war to them, not the other way around."

Adira shook her head. "I believe we must
defend
. Their weapons are too advanced. They are like
nothing we have ever seen or have prepared for. And who knows what
else they have at their disposal that they haven't shown yet."

"She is right," Aida nodded. "That imagery
shows they can take out a whole fleet with the lift of a finger.
Let them come to us on our terms."

"What about other worlds?" Bertrade asked.
"What planets are we going to defend besides Hera? We surely can't
defend them all from the Crodillians, but we also can't let all of
them be destroyed."

"Send a few hundred ships to Ares and the
rest to defend Hera," Hildereth suggested. "Those will be the two
planets we defend."

"That will leave all of the other planets
completely defenseless!" Bertrade argued.

Hildereth nodded. "They will most likely
attack Hera first, so we must be able to defend it at all
costs."

"Why send a few hundred to Ares at all?"
Aldrick asked.

"It is the planet of war," Hildereth
answered. "If we fail in our stand here, then they will be our last
line of defense to stop the Crodillians from taking over
Orion."

The others stared quietly, the possibility of
defeat sinking in for the first time. The Crodillians would be
greatly outnumbered, but the Queen's fleet lacked experience and
firepower for this war hungry enemy.

"We must act now if this is our plan,"
Reginold weighed in. "Every second we debate is another life
lost."

"I will tell all of the planetary leaders to
send every available ship to defend Hera and a few of their ships
to Ares," Abdul looked to the Queen.

Adira gave him a nod of approval. "This is
the only option that we have. If we can't fend them off here, Ares
will be our only hope of survival."

Adira stood up and dismissed the Council .
Abdul stayed behind the others to talk to the Queen privately.

"Do you really think we need to send ships to
Ares?"

"I have seen what they can do. They are going
to be a hard enemy to defeat. If we are defeated here, which I
believe is a possibility, there has to be one last line of defense
to kill the remaining Crodillians."

Abdul nodded, surprised that the Queen didn't
have faith that Orion's fleet could stop the Crodillian ships. He
departed the room and immediately took out his comlink to start
contacting planetary leaders. This needed to be done as quickly as
possible, if the Queen was right, the Crodillians would be here
soon.

"It's who?" Kirill asked again, making sure
he had heard correctly.

"Jahdiel!" the contact exclaimed. "She's not
dead!"
"This may be a problem," he replied.

"What are we going to do? There is no way
they'll strike an alliance with you if they find out you're the
reason she was outcast. And trust me, they will find out about
that."

"We'll stay quiet," Kirill reddened. "Do
everything in your power to make sure Jahdiel doesn't find out I'm
alive and that I'm the reason she was outcast," he ordered. "If she
finds out I'm alive, she'll come after me too."

"I will do my best," the figure promised.
"What are you going to do when they take over Orion?"

"You sound confident that they will," Kirill
observed.

The blue figure nodded. "Their weapons are
like nothing we have ever seen, as I'm sure you've already been
told."

Kirill shook his head. "I have seen video of
their weapons in action. They are very impressive to say the
least."

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Wait," Kirill said agitated. "We don't have
the manpower to take them on, neither does the Queen according to
you, so we will stay hidden until the right time reveals
itself."

"What about Adira?"

"What about her?" Kirill shrugged. "Let
Jahdiel kill her. It's too risky for me to get involved with any of
this right now. I need to observe the Crodillians before I decide
what actions I am going to take."

"I will keep you informed on any new
developments."

Kirill shut off the comlink without replying.
This definitely hadn't gone as he had hoped. Jahdiel was the
problem though, not the Crodillians. Maybe if he found a way to get
rid of her he could still strike an alliance with the Crodillians.
To risky of a move right now, but he'd wait and see how things
played out.