Chapter Thirteen: To Know the Enemy

William pushed forward again. He swung high, but was blocked. He swung low, and was blocked again. Then he tried to stab forward, sending out a small bolt of electricity to shock his opponent.

But she knew all his tricks, and had already tumbled backwards gracefully and well out of reach.

Then Sun was on the attack. With William outstretched, she hit his staff hard to knock him off balance. She swung her glowing hot staff low, hoping to singe the tops of his shoes. But he had used the momentum she gave him from hitting his staff, and turned away just in time.

She continued to swing around, this time higher, and hit him square on the shoulder, but he blocked her. For a moment, that’s where they stood, facing each other. Her glowing staff only inches from his left shoulder. His staff starting to gain back electricity, glimmered as he held it straight up down his left side.

They were both breathing hard from the battle and glistening with sweat. Sun smiled, and William began to lean in for a kiss.

Suddenly the doors to the training room opened, and Kate walked in. William and Sun smiled at each other again, then backed away to face their guest.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I have news that cannot wait,” she told them.

“Go ahead,” Sun told her.

“Hermes suggested we consult the box for designs for a gunship.”

“Yes, we know,” William said.

“His question was far simpler than you and I discussed.”

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” he responded.

“He instructed Maria to ask for battleships, specifically to fight the Nekuia. He thought that if the beings who gave us the box intended to help us fight them, they might have had such designs. And they did.”

“What do mean specifically designed to fight the Nekuia?” Sun asked.

“The ones who gave us the box, they knew how to fight them. They just didn’t have the time to build an army,” Kate told them. “The Nekuia have a weakness, and now we know what it is.”

Chapter Twelve: Down the Rabbit Hole

Lucas woke up. Again, not knowing where he was. He remembered talking to the leader of Machinists. He remembered finding out who Trent was, and how he revived the group. Then they hit him with the sonic sleeper for the second time two days. And his ears were already starting to hurt.

He sat up and looked around. The room was small. One bed was up against the wall and a toilet sat in the opposite corner. It had no doors, no windows.

His heartbeat and his breath quickened. He’d seen plenty of rooms before that had no visible doors. But sitting there in an unknown place with no visible exit was almost too much for the young Alexander.

Lucas was just about to give in to his paranoia when a crack appeared in one of the walls. He started to calm the moment it did. Just knowing it existed was enough.

The crack grew vertically, then hit a corner and turned, creating a long rectangle. The door opened and Trent walked through.

“Hello, son,” he said.

Lucas looked up at him. “If you hit me again with the sleeper, you could damage my eardrums permanently,” he told him.

“As long as I have a choice, I won’t,” Trent said.

“And you didn’t have a choice the last time?”

“That’s a long story,” he said, taking a seat on the bed. “I’ve told your family we have you in custody.”

“In custody?”

“I am your custodian, and I will look after you.”

“You mean you have me held prisoner.”

“We only want to speak with you, Lucas.”

“About what?”

“The Nekuia,” Trent said bluntly.

“What?” Lucas asked. He was shocked that Trent even knew that word, that name. He tried to play off his surprise by acting like he did not know the word either. “The what?”

“We both know they exist,” Trent said. “But, unfortunately, not much more than that. That’s why you’re preparing for war.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“It’s Ok. You don’t have to admit anything,” Trent told him. Then he reached out his hand. “Come with me. I’ll show you what I know. Then you will know we’re on the same team.”

“We’ll never be on the same team,” Lucas said coldly. “You’re murderers and we’re not.”

“Just come with me, son.” And he stretched out his hand a bit farther. Lucas hesitated at first, but then reached out and grabbed it.

The two exited the room together and Lucas found himself traveling down another long hallway. At the end was a sealed door. Trent opened it and the two walked through into a large room with windows, lots of windows.

Lucas could just see the light exploding on the other side of the door, but when he walked through he stopped dead in his tracks. He walked straight up to the wall of windows and just stood there, staring.

The vast red desert stretched out before him, and he knew. He finally knew exactly where he was. And which planet he was on.

Chapter Eleven: The King Has Returned

Five humans and one android sat in the council chamber and discussed how to protect the two members who were not there, along with everyone else in the solar system.

Io was bound for Jupiter Station where a dangerous alien race could soon attack. Lucas had been kidnapped by political fanatics from Earth who had already assassinated two members of the Alexander family.

“We must prepare for war,” William warned the group.

“If we just start building an army the people will rebel,” Maria responded.

“Rebel against what?” Kate asked. “We’re not anyone’s leader.”

“Everyone on Earth looks up to this family,” Maria said. “You know that.”
“I don’t care what they look to,” William interrupted. “If we want anyone to survive, we must prepare to fight the Nekuia.”

“He’s right,” Fernando suddenly interjected. “Maybe they’ll come next week, maybe next year. Either way, we need to begin preparing our defenses now. Or we’ll end up just like the race of beings that gave us that box.”

With that, everyone in the room sat back in their seats and kept silent – except for Sun Alexander, the council chair.

She leaned forward, and sat up straight.

“William, you will continue with your preparations. Only, I want you to double your recruiting quota. You will also create an engineering panel. Hermes, will lead the group,” Sun said.

“You want me to lead the panel?” Hermes questioned. After all, he was an android. He was Io’s companion and had been from the first moment she began building him. It wasn’t unheard of for androids to earn positions of power on Earth. But, it was still unusual.

“Yes. You can consult Io, and keep everyone on track. Your job will be to create gunships, warships. Our focus, for so many years, has been transports. It’s time we started making a different kind of ship.”

“Yes, mam,” Hermes said.

“Kate, you will keep in contact with them and be ready to craft any question that can help. They will have full access to the box, but they will need your help to use it. That box is a library, let’s start using it again.”

“I’ve also come across some old plans for a warship created during the first Battle for the Library,” Kate offered up. “It was never built, but it has some brilliant design details. It could help.”

“Good.”

Kate watched her mother continue to dole out orders. She told Maria to tell the people that the Machinists were back, and they had taken Lucas hostage. No one knew about Lucas. The Machinists had not made contact. But everyone on the planet would take notice. And, most important, they would all believe that it was the reason for the increase in military action.

Then Sun demanded Fernando, the Administrator, simply find a way to pay for everything. No matter the costs, he must find a way. He agreed without hesitation.

Everyone agreed. No one hesitated. Not even Sun who for weeks had struggled to regain her confidence.

When her son, James, betrayed the family and plotted its demise, she was unable to quickly rebound. The matriarch that had once ruled the family was gone, and a weakened version of her sat at the head of the council chamber meetings.

But, tonight that woman was gone, and Sun was back. She sat at that same table, and took control. She made a plan, she gave out instructions and she led the family.

Kate was finally starting to admire her mother again. Then a guard knocked at the chamber door, and entered.

“What is it?” Sun asked.

“You requested I interrupt if we received word,” the guard said.

“They have contacted us?”

“The leader of the Machinists is waiting on the communicator, m’am. He said his name is Trent,” the guard told her.

“Thank you,” Sun responded.

“M’am,” he continued. “There’s just one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“He looks very familiar.”

Chapter Ten: A Brave New World

Lucas slammed his head against the floor of the vehicle when it hit the bump. It woke him up. He kept blinking, rubbing his eyes and then slowly sat up.

He looked around trying to figure out where he was and what had happened.

The vehicle he was in was large, like the old transports. Some makeshift shelving and cages had been added to the sides, and the seats were two simple benches.

Four men sat up front, facing forward. No one turned around to notice him. They were all wearing the same uniforms as the reclamation company that worked for the Alexanders.

That's when he remembered what happened.

He was headed to an outside garden in the Alexander compound for a meeting with Fernando when one of the guards came by. He told Lucas that Fernando changed the meeting location to one of he shuttle bays and wanted him to escort Lucas there.

A shipment of historical artifacts had arrived and Fernando wanted their authenticity verified before he could pay for them.

It seemed a bit strange, but Lucas had no reason to doubt a guard in the Alexander army. Lucas was not one to doubt anyone but himself.

As he approached the shuttle bay he saw men in the reclamation uniforms working in the bay. It seemed logical to see them there. But almost the very second he stepped inside the bay area, he was hit him from behind with a sonic sleeper.

All he could do now was watch and wait. With a sleeper, he could have been out for hours or days. He could be anywhere on the planet. There was no way to know.

Lucas pulled his knees up to his chest, and hugged them. It was cold in the vehicle, but that wasn't the only reason. He was alone.  

Finally it stopped moving and three of the men got out. The fourth turned around and looked at Lucas, but said nothing. Then the back doors opened. One of the men took Lucas by the arm and guided him out.

The first thing he noticed was the smell. The air was cold and stale.

Then he looked around and could see down a long hallway until it disappeared around a corner. The floors, walls and ceiling looked like stone. Two of the men lead the way, and the other two just stared at Lucas until he followed. He could tell with the first step that he wasn’t walking on stone. The floor had some give to it.

They headed down the hallway and around the corner where Lucas could see a doorway at the end.

Still no one spoke to him.

The men opened the hatchway door at the end of the hall, and everyone stepped into a small room. Once the hallway was sealed off, the men opened a second door on the opposite wall. The air hissed through the hatchway. The air smelled different, better. And Lucas could feel the change in pressure. It forced him to step back and one of the men immediately pushed him back.

Everyone stepped through the second hatchway and into a large room with metal walls and no windows. As soon as Lucas crossed the threshold he could see  group of men and women standing in one corner. The man standing in front of the group looked familiar, but Lucas couldn’t place him at first.

He rubbed his eyes again, and took a long look. Then it hit him. He thought he was looking at the leader of the Machinists the Alexanders executed all those years ago. But it couldn’t be him. That man died. Lucas was sure of it.

Then he spoke.

“My name is Trent. And don’t worry, I’m not a ghost,” the man told Lucas. “I’m just his son.”