The Royal Pursuit (6 page)

She slowly turned back to the
spaceship and walked up the rest of the steps. She hoped the Augurs
wouldn’t be too long in their meeting with Hathor. The sooner
Hathor was there with her, the sooner she could feel safe
again.

Chapter
Five

Planet: Earth

Galaxy: Average

The United States naval submarine
glided swiftly through the water. It was designed for a small group
of people, and it wasn’t built for war. This particular group who
inhabited the submarine for the past couple of weeks was on a quest
to find a land only heard of in myths and legends.

Atlantis. Stories and movies were
created in man’s desire to speculate what such a land had been
like. In all of them, a common theme emerged: Atlantis’ technology
far surpassed anything any other place had managed to
attain.

Atlantis was a place of dreams and
hopes. It was a place for man to reach his full potential. At least
that’s what Stacey Russell had theorized in her thesis as a
graduate student studying Anthropology at Wright State University
in Dayton, Ohio.

Intrigued by her master’s thesis, her
teacher wished to show it to the dean. The dean, in turn, related
it to a personal friend who had searched for such a place but never
imagined he might be fortunate enough to find it. Had it not been
for Stacey’s thorough research and strong thesis, his hope would
never have materialized.

Stacey did not know the identity of
her benefactor. She only knew he funded her expedition to search
for the legendary land. With the exception of the captain, she got
to choose the three members of her team who would assist her on her
quest.

Among them, she chose her husband,
Kent Russell, whose expertise was Astronomy. He had begun his
college career with an interest in Physics Education, but one
course in Astronomy convinced him to change his major. A master’s
degree later, he found himself on board the most exciting adventure
of his life. The remaining two members of her team were Mark Ryan
and Stephen Kyle who would help them navigate their way through
Atlantis.

Stacey sat at the small kitchen table,
writing in her daily journal, which recorded their journey. She
hoped to publish it if their trip was a success. Though she’d
devoted two years of her life to studying Atlantis, she couldn’t
help but wonder if that was enough preparation.

“
Penny for your thoughts,”
Kent said as he walked into the tiny room.

She smiled. “I’m just putting my
thoughts down on paper.”

He pushed his glasses up his nose.
“The captain says we can expect to reach Atlantis early tomorrow
morning.” He crossed his fingers. “Here’s hoping your years of
study will pay off.”

Her heart pounded with excitement.
“The closer we get, the more I fear I’m wrong.”

“
Even if you are, then at
least you will get to pursue your dream. Some people spend their
whole lives never realizing their goals.”

“
I suppose I should be
grateful for that, but part of the fun is dreaming. After we’re
done, I’ll miss the hope.”

He stared thoughtfully at her. “In
that case, you will have to dream something else.”

She nodded. She knew he was right. She
just couldn’t imagine how anything would be as thrilling as
searching for Atlantis.

***

Palace Grounds

Planet: Raz

Hathor stood outside the palace,
waiting for the Augurs to arrive in their spaceship. He wore a
purple silk suit, which was what kings usually wore when
entertaining guests.

It was mid-morning on Raz, or noon on
Earth in Ohio, which was where Ann was born. He figured that Ann
would arrive on Lone by that afternoon.

He knew the chance the Augurs would
finish this meeting by afternoon was slim to none. With luck, he
would be on Lone by this evening. He touched the emerald under his
shirt. He was relieved she had given it to him so he could protect
her. This meeting shouldn’t take too long, he hoped.

The Augur spaceship was a circular
black disk that moved smoothly through the sky. It was remarkably
fast compared to any other spaceships he was familiar with. He
straightened as he watched the ship land on the ground.

Four Augurs left the ship. Their
straight black hair complimented their black polyester uniforms,
which had gold trim along the edges. By the way they shook his
hand, he was reminded of how formal they were.

“
I am Gaius,” the Augur
said, although the introduction was unnecessary considering his
name was sewn onto his uniform. “It is a pleasure to meet you in
person. I would like to introduce Amalia, Manos, and
Dimitris.”

“
I am Hathor, king of Raz,”
he replied, his style more relaxed.

“
We are sorry the queen had
to depart on an emergency, but it is good you stayed.”

Hathor was about to ask him why he had
been so insistent that he stay behind, but he chose to remain
quiet. If Gaius wouldn’t tell Ann, why would he tell Hathor? “Will
you come with me to the Grand Oak Room?” Hathor asked
instead.

“
Yes, we will,” Gaius
agreed.

Hathor noted that Gaius seemed to
speak on behalf of the other Augurs. Hathor led them to the room
with a large oval oak table and matching chairs.

Hathor sat at the head of the table,
which was normally the position reserved for the queen, but since
he was acting in her place, he was allowed to sit there. He
motioned for them to sit as well.

One by one, they sat down.

A servant entered the room and asked
if anyone needed anything to drink or eat. It wasn’t something that
had always occurred when guests arrived to talk to them, but Ann
had insisted it was the proper way to treat their guests to
refreshments, so it became standard Razian procedure.

Gaius nodded. “Whatever you serve to
drink will be fine for all of us. We will be requiring dinner as
well. This meeting may continue through tomorrow.”

Hathor sighed but hid his
disappointment. Instead, he consented to the notice and made
arrangements for their overnight stay at the palace.

After the servant gave the Augurs
lemonade, something Ann taught the cook to make, Hathor cleared his
throat. “May I ask why you chose to come to Raz?”

“
We wish to be allies.
Before we do, we need to discuss the terms and conditions of such
an alliance,” Gaius said, smiling. “Amalia, do you have the book of
those terms and conditions?”

“
Yes, Gaius,” she replied
as she took a large book out of an object that looked like a
suitcase.

Hathor’s eyes widened as she placed it
in front of him.

“
We will have to go over
everything in here,” Gaius said. “We have to ensure you are
agreeable to all we ask.”

Hathor opened the book and flipped
through it, overwhelmed and disheartened at the task ahead of him.
The book was 1038 pages long. It was going to take them a couple of
days to get through all the rules in it. How was he supposed to go
to Lone and help Ann if he was stuck here reading through this
boring stuff?

I’ll do it for Ann, he told himself.
She wanted to make an alliance with them, so he would honor her
wishes and trudge through it, no matter how much he dreaded
it.

***

Aboard the Paler Spaceship

Galaxy: Mythical

“
We are nearing the Lone
atmosphere,” Falon announced as he steered the ship expertly around
the stars. “I advise you to get ready for the landing.”

Ann strapped herself into her seat and
watched as Jaz and Athen did the same. The ride to Lone had been
uneventful. She had anticipated an offensive attack from the Nicals
but none came. They must be waiting for us to get there before they
do anything, she thought as she peered out the window next to
her.

Everything looked so peaceful up here.
It was hard to imagine that conflicts were going on when it was so
quiet and still in space. She wondered what the Nicals were like
and what had compelled them to steal the Olympians’ immortal power.
The Olympians didn’t have any dealings with them, so it couldn’t be
personal. It had to be something else.

She took a deep breath as they entered
Lone’s atmosphere. It looked remarkably like Earth, she noticed.
Earth wasn’t the only planet in the universe that contained human
beings on it. The Nicals could be similar to humans, if not human,
she thought. Hathor and Athen were humans. The gods and goddesses
on Olympia were humans. They had other creatures on their planet
that weren’t full-blooded humans. Some of their creatures were
animals. She often wondered how those creatures, such as the
Sphinx, got to be the way they were but never took the time to ask
the gods about it.

She forced her mind back to the
impending landing on Lone.

Falon glanced over at Jaz. “Do you see
a suitable landing spot?”

Jaz studied the terrain below them.
She was ready to shake her head when a clearing among all the trees
came into her view. “There’s a good place.” She pointed to
it.

He veered the ship toward
it.

Ann tightened her hold on the armrests
of her seat in response to the ship’s sharp turn. She squinted
through the bright sunlight. She spotted many wooden houses and
buildings among the trees. She frowned. It didn’t seem like the
Nicals were very technologically advanced. By the looks of the
place, it was amazing they managed to do any kind of space
travel.

The Paler ship was quickly approaching
the clearing up ahead.

“
We’re due to land in three
minutes,” Jaz said.

Ann shifted in her seat uncomfortably.
Maybe it was her imagination, but she swore her seat felt unusually
warm. It could be nerves.

“
The wheel feels hot,”
Falon said.

“
So do these controls,” Jaz
added.

Okay, so it wasn’t her imagination,
Ann realized with growing alarm. “Is this ship supposed to warm up
as you land it?”

“
No,” he replied.
“Something’s wrong.”

She glanced at Athen, who remained
surprisingly calm.

“
We need to evacuate,” Jaz
said. She jumped out of her chair and grabbed some parachutes then
handed them to everyone. “This ship will blow up in thirty seconds.
We need to act fast.”

Startled, Ann grabbed her parachute
and unfastened her seatbelt. She struggled to put on her parachute
but was having trouble getting her arm through one of the
straps.

“
Here. Let me,” Athen
said.

She jerked. She didn’t realize he had
finished putting his on and had walked over to her.

Jaz and Falon already had their
parachutes on. Falon raced to the door and kicked it
open.

“
Count to five and push
this string,” Jaz told her and Athen.

Ann hesitated. She’d never been
skydiving before, and she didn’t exactly relish the idea of doing
it now. But her feet burned from standing on the floor and the
walls around her began to glow a bright red color.

Athen grabbed her hand. “I’ll help
you. Come on.”

She felt like such a moron. She was
the Queen of Raz, and yet she remained completely helpless in
dangerous situations. She never realized how much she relied on
Hathor until that moment. Her mind shut down in an emergency, and
she didn’t like it.

Athen led her to the door, and they
jumped out of the spaceship together.

Falon and Jaz followed
them.

“
Pull the string!” Athen
yelled over the rush of loud air that surrounded them in the free
fall.

She obeyed and her parachute
opened.

Athen released her hand as he pulled
his own string.

Above them, the spaceship exploded.
She winced as bits of flaming steel flew past her. She fully
expected one of those pieces to hit her, but the parachute acted as
a covering so she was safe from them.

Looking down, she cringed at the sight
of the trees rapidly approaching them. This was going to hurt. She
closed her eyes and tightened her grip on the straps of her
parachute. She braced herself for the impact. But as it turned out,
it was unnecessary. The parachute wrapped itself around her,
forming a protective cocoon. When she hit the trees, she didn’t
feel a thing. She simply got bumped harmlessly around by the trees
until she landed on the ground.

She dared to open her eyes. The white
parachute deflated, allowing her to push it aside so that she could
get out of her cocoon. She stood up. Looking at the sharp tree
branches around her, she shivered at the realization that had it
not been for the parachute, she would have easily died if one of
those branches pierced her in the right place.

“
Are you alright?” Athen
asked as he ran over to her.

How did he manage to act so fast?
Perhaps it was his training. Though Hathor had been more thoroughly
trained in these situations, Athen had received his own training in
case Hathor needed someone to replace him.