Planet America (10 page)

But the rub was this: The central character in all this had not been Calandrx or Erx or Berx, but Hawk Hunter. In fact, it was Erx and Berx who first found Hunter on the desolate planet of Fools 6, not quite a year before. That Erx and Berx were the last ones to see him before he went AWOL made them very suspicious in the eyes of the Empire's top inquisitors. That's why the investigation into
Vaffaire
Zazu-Zazu had been ongoing for so long.

And Calandrx's involvement? He'd been instrumental earlier, by getting Hunter a spot in the most recent Earth Race, which the pilot won superbly, making Calandrx a pile of money. But the triumph also led to Hunter being commissioned by the X-Forces and sent into deep space, where he disappeared.

"They keep asking us the same questions over and over," Erx was telling Calandrx now. "First, the interrogators from the Space Forces, then the Solar Guards, then the X-Forces. Once they seemed finished with us, they just start it all over again. We told them everything we know—"

"But at some point it must end," Calandrx said. "Right?"

Both men shrugged on cue. "Surely. But when it does, so what?" Erx said. "What will we have to do then?"

Calandrx played upbeat. "You will go back to your duties, of course."

But both men were immediately crestfallen.

"That will be impossible, brother," Erx said. "Obviously you have not heard the latest news on our predicament?"

Calandrx shook his head no.

"They have barred us from flying in space," Berx replied, barely able to say the words. "No matter what happens in the inquiry, we've been grounded... permanently."

Calandrx felt his heart sink. This was a blow he'd experienced himself some years ago. Grounded: It was a fate worse than death for most.

"But that's ridiculous!" Calandrx roared. "With all your years of service? With all your battle decorations? With all you've given for the Emperor?" His voice was very loud—not a good thing, considering his current location. But he didn't care.

"For what reason are you banished?" he asked them.

Both men just shrugged.

"We've seen too much? We know too much?" Erx replied. "Take your pick."

On those words, the door suddenly opened, and two enormous Earth Guards walked in. They didn't speak; they rarely did. Instead, they simply indicated it was time to go. The three men gloomily trooped out.

They were led down a long corridor, dark and brooding, with many locked, unmarked, ornately carved wooden doors on either side. There was no doubt about it now; they were in a building very close to the Imperial Palace. Calandrx took a sniff. He detected the unmistakable scent of Venusian perfume in the air. Not a good sign ... O'Nay, the Empress and their son were all known to use the fragrance.

They finally reached a huge black door located at the far end of the hallway. The air was especially thick with perfume here. One guard opened the door to reveal a room vast even by imperial standards. An entire forest of precious maple must have gone into the woodwork; the floor was dull with ancient metallic rugs. A huge fireplace dominated one side of the room. Several giant logs, precious oak, were roaring within.

The guards nudged them inside and quickly shut the door-behind them. The first thing that went through Calandrx's mind was:
This doesn't look like a torture chamber
.

But when the Empress was involved, who knew?

That's when they looked to their right and saw, by the light of the fire, a diminutive figure dressed in white, sitting on a couch.

All three men sighed with relief. This was not O'Nay, nor the Empress, nor the mindless Prince. It was, in fact, the fourth member of the Imperial Family, the sweet and beautiful Xara, Princess of the Galaxy.

She looked up at them, and all three went to one knee immediately. Erx and Berx had never met the Princess formally before, and they'd certainly never seen her this up close. As a friend of her father's, Calandrx had spoken to Xara many times, but that was back when she was a little girl. Of course, all three had seen her from a distance over the years, but until that moment, never did they realize just how beautiful she was.

To say she was just a smaller version of her mother was doing her an injustice. Though the Empress was regarded as a true galactic beauty, Xara was even more radiant, more angelic, more heavenly, and quite a bit younger. She was not yet twenty, of slight build, her hair luxuriously blond. It was hanging loose over her shoulders now, a real treat, as she rarely appeared in public without it being tied back somehow. She was wearing a simple, form-fitting white smock with a sash tied loosely just above her abdomen. She was barefoot.

"Uncle Petz," she said with a sad smile. "It has been too long."

"The years have been worth the wait as I now see how beautifully you've grown," Calandrx told her.

She blushed and motioned them closer. The three men rose and slowly moved toward the couch. Calandrx introduced Erx and Berx, but the two men could barely speak.

"I have heard about your exploits," Xara told the two explorers. "Our citizens are better for your service."

Both men bowed deeply.

"You honor us, my lady," Erx managed to croak.

The fire crackled as another log materialized from nowhere and was added to the small blaze. An awkward moment came and went.

Finally, Calandrx said, "My lady, excuse us, but we are a bit surprised that it was
you
who called us here."

She pushed some hair back from her face.

"I understand," she said. "And I'm the last one to indulge in such cloak-and-dagger stuff. But I'm afraid it was necessary. No one must know of our meeting like this."

"And they will not," Calandrx assured her. Erx and Berx bowed in agreement as well.

Again, the fire crackled.

"So, we are here then, my lady," Calandrx said. "How can we help you?"

Xara wiped her eyes. For the first time, Calandrx realized that she had been crying.

"You are Hawk Hunter's closest friends," she began with trembling lips. "He told me so himself. That's why I must ask you. Have you heard from him ... anything at all?"

She looked at them, a faint glimmer of hope in her teary eyes. But Calandrx glanced at the others, and they were shaking their heads no.

"We're sorry, my lady," the old pilot told her. "We have not."

Xara's hand went to her mouth. "Do you know where he is?"

Again, all three men just shook their heads.

Erx spoke up. "If only we did. We miss our brother Hunter, his company and his spirit."

Xara turned away for a moment. The words sounded too much like a eulogy to her.

"It's been so long since he was last heard from...." she whispered. "He left us so suddenly. And there are things he should know...."

Finally, she began to cry in earnest.

Calandrx glanced at the others and did an eye roll. At the same time, though, his heart became a bit heavier. He'd gone through this sort of thing—a couple centuries ago. They all had. And it was understandable. Hunter was a good guy. Handsome, honorable, mysterious. Was there anything else a teenage girl could want?

So the mystery was solved. They'd been called here not for some dark reason but to comfort a teenage girl who had lost her first love. It was not the type of work Calandrx, Erx, and Berx were known for, but they were hugely relieved. They could have been summoned to the Imperial Palace for many things a lot worse than performing a mission of adolescent comfort.

Erx and Berx gave Calandrx the high sign now. The meaning was clear. It would be up to "Uncle Petz" to do the actual hand-holding. The pilot shrugged, then sat down next to Xara on the couch. And indeed, he took her hand in his. It felt incredibly soft.

"May I ask you all a question?" she resumed with a sniff.

All three men solemnly nodded yes.

"Do you believe the notion that the farther we go out into the Galaxy, the more we will learn about the empires that have passed?"

All three nodded, Calandrx with authority. "/ certainly do, my lady," he said.

"Why do you believe so?" she asked.

Calandrx shrugged—a bit impolite maybe. "Because it is true, my lady. The farther we look out there, the more we look back into time. The more we look, the more we find evidence of the three previous empires. Scant evidence, but evidence, nonetheless. With each planet that's reclaimed, we see the handiwork of our predecessors, their footprints in the dirt, their fingerprints on civilizations, some of whom haven't the slightest idea what went on in their history before. And neither do we, really. That's why it's so important."

"But that's the problem, isn't it?" she asked with a sniff. "That as a race, in this time, this place in history, we are so obsessed with our past?"

She addressed Calandrx directly. "I know that in addition to being a great warrior, Petz, you read the poets from the previous ages."

Calandrx did a slight bow. "Reading and understanding are two different things, my lady—"

"No need to be modest, Uncle," she said. "Just tell me: What do the poets say about this? Is our obsession with the ancients healthy? Is it just in our human nature to want to know? Or are we just like the adopted child, never resting until all is known— good or bad—about the past?"

Calandrx just stared back at her for a long moment. He couldn't help it. He was more than mildly astonished that such a question would come from the lips of an Imperial Family member, a clan not exactly known for intellectual prowess.

"Dear Princess, I believe the answer to your question lies somewhere in between," he said finally. "True, we may be obsessed, but it's still important to know."

She dabbed her eyes again.

"I agree," she said. "And that means that I single-handedly signed Hunter's death warrant."

There was a real gush of tears now as Calandrx, Erx, and Berx exchanged worried glances. What was she talking about?

More eye dabbing. "What I have to tell you cannot leave this room," she said, trying to rescue some mascara that was running down her cheek.

"We promise," Calandrx said, squeezing her hand tighter.

"I am the one responsible for Hawk being lost," she suddenly blurted out. "After he and I met, and he told me the few clues he had as to where he might have come from—before being found on that ridiculously desolate planet—I uncovered an emblem on an ancient spacecraft that was found many years ago deep in the ice up on Mars. It was the same design as the flag that Hunter always carries with him.... You've seen his ancient piece of cloth?"

All three men nodded. "The flag is a series of white and red stripes, with a field of stars set in blue," Calandrx said.

"Yes, and so was this emblem that I showed to him," Xara went on. "And I told him something else as well—something that is such an Imperial secret, I'm not sure my father even knows."

She took a deep breath.

"Our scientists many years ago were able to interpret a slight burn mark that is evident on this spacecraft in the ice," she said. "They determined that it is the result of a very long-range scanning device which, if understood properly, would lead a person to a place called the 'lighthouse.' It was a beacon of sorts, calling all those once familiar with that flag to come home....
That's
where I think Hunter went. To find his lost home ..."

She looked at them, more tears about to cascade from her eyes.

"Don't you see?" she said. "I'm the one who urged him to take the X-Forces' commission so he could go to deep space. 7 gave him the means by which he is now a fugitive. Now, if they catch him, he will be worse than dead—and it will be all my fault."

The three men stayed frozen in place. All three knew pieces of the story Xara had just told them, though they hadn't been aware just how involved she was in the beginning of Hunter's quest.

"You did what you thought was a noble act," Calandrx finally told her. "Every person must know his past. You were just helping a lost soul find his home. It was an honorable thing to do."

"Besides, Hunter is very clever," Erx said. "Should someone catch up to him and return him for trial, he would very smartly argue his case. The worst sentence is not a foregone conclusion. Others have beaten it before."

"But you don't understand." Xara began sobbing again. "Those that are now in pursuit of him—their goal is not to bring him back for being AWOL. They are worried what he might uncover if he finds what he is looking for—and they will kill him before he does."

Now dead silence fell on the room. The Empire killing one of its own officers? Even the darkest elements of the imperial military were never accused of that.

They were all quiet for a very long time. The fire was roaring, but they barely felt its heat.

Finally Xara said, "There is really only one thing that can be done to help Hunter."

"Please my lady," Calandrx said. "Just tell us, and we will do it."

She looked at all three of them. At that moment, they would have jumped over the moon for her.

Well, almost...

"You must find him," she finally said to them.

All three were stunned.

Find Hunter? How?

Calandrx looked at the others. They appeared as shocked as he. Suddenly, this had changed from imperial hand-holding to... well, to what exactly?

They had no idea where Hunter was. And they knew there was a good chance Hunter didn't know where he was himself! He was most likely in some part of the Galaxy not under control of the Fourth Empire. And how does one exactly go about looking for a person out in the vast fringes of space? Especially one who probably doesn't want to be found?

But all three men were soldiers, and this was their Princess. They were supposed to do anything she asked, simply for the honor of it.

"But I'm afraid that this is a mission of desperation that I am sending you on," she said. "One fraught with danger for you as well."

"What do you mean, my lady?" Calandrx asked her.

"I've heard whisperings," she confessed. "And the things I hear are rather frightening. The foundation of the Empire itself may be at stake here. And that is not good for us, nor is it good for Hunter."