The Royal Pursuit Read online

  “The Nicals don’t know who he is either. He just appeared out of nowhere and promised to protect them. Optima doesn’t believe him, but the others seem to. Does he even have a name?”

  “If he does, I don’t know it.”

  “Well, we should call him something. Referring to him as ‘the man in white’ can get pretty long.”

  He grinned at her comment. “Do you have any ideas?”

  “Pallid. It means white.”

  “Pallid it is then.”

  She sat up, smiling. “Well, I feel safe now that you’re with me. But I am getting chilly. It’s cold at night on this planet.”

  “Do you want me to make a fire?”

  “Actually, a fire might capture Pallid’s attention. I have a better suggestion.” Then she wiggled her eyebrows at him.

  He smiled. He enjoyed it when she initiated their lovemaking. He didn’t hesitate to fulfill her wish.

  ***

  Atlantis

  Planet: Earth

  Stacey gazed in awe at the building in front of her. She and her group were standing in front of the majestic arc, which loomed before them. The arc was the center of life on Atlantis, and its very presence demanded respect. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like when people flowed around it, but one thing was for sure: it must have been a busy place.

  The arc, much like the other buildings, was made of a material that created the rainbow effect whenever light hit it. They could enter through two entrances, one on each side of the arc. While Captain Reed and Mark chose one entrance, she and the others went into the other entrance.

  “Look. It’s the same six people we saw in the other buildings,” she noted as she ran to one of the walls inside the lobby. “Oh good! Their names are carved into the gold frame.”

  Stephen took out his camera and took pictures.

  Kent read the names aloud. “Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter.” He sighed. “It’s too bad I don’t recognize more than their names. If I knew how to read their language, I could tell what they had written under their names.”

  “We should look around and take pictures of everything that has words on it,” she said. “Then we can try to figure out their language. It would be wonderful to read what they wrote. We could learn so much more from their culture that way.”

  Stephen rushed to obey her as he ran around the room and took pictures of anything containing words on it.

  “This is a beautiful building,” Kent commented.

  The ivory walls seemed to go on forever. The only ceiling they saw was at the top of the arc. A gold staircase wound its way around the walls until it reached the top of the building.

  “Do you think this is real gold?” she wondered as she touched the staircase.

  “I think it is,” Kent said, “but Mark will tell us for sure. He has the equipment to do that.”

  Many doors lined the walls, where rooms waited for people to enter them.

  She continued her examination of the lobby. Like the other buildings, this room contained plush sofas and chairs with a circular table in the center of the room. The sofas were yellow, and the chairs were light green.

  She walked over to one of the sofas and touched the fabric and shook her head. “All the furniture we’ve seen here looks brand new. Everything in this city looks as if it was made yesterday. You would never know this place has been in the ocean for centuries.”

  “It almost seems like this city is waiting for someone to return to it,” Kent wryly commented.

  “If we could duplicate this material, we’d make a fortune selling it,” Stephen said, walking over to them.

  “There isn’t even a speck of algae anywhere,” she added. “This is really the most enchanting place I’ve ever seen.”

  Kent nodded his agreement.

  “Let’s check out one of the rooms along the staircase,” she suggested.

  They followed her up the stairs to the first room.

  She peered in the window beside the door. She couldn’t see anything. “These windows are tinted so you can’t see inside the room.”

  Kent turned the gold doorknob of the ivory door. “It’s not locked.”

  Excited, she eagerly followed him into the room, Stephen close behind her. The room was simpler than she’d anticipated. Two plush purple chairs sat in front of an ivory rectangular desk. Behind the desk was another purple chair.

  The furniture was trimmed in gold. The carpet was soft and matched the chairs. The walls were ivory. On one wall, she saw pictures of the same six people. On the wall behind the desk was a different individual. She studied the ugly man who appeared to be sad. Below his picture was the name “Hephaestus.” She wondered what made him so miserable.

  “Obviously, the six people we keep seeing were the primary leaders in Atlantis,” Kent commented, though the observation wasn’t necessary.

  Stephen took pictures of what he found.

  “Should we check out the next room?” she asked.

  They nodded.

  The next room was similar to the one they just saw except the furniture was red. There were pictures of the same six people, but the picture behind the desk was of a black haired good looking thirty-year-old man who had a serious look on his face. Below his picture was the name “Ares.”

  She turned to Kent. “Do any of these names seem familiar to you?”

  He frowned as he walked over to the picture. “Actually, they do. I think I’ve heard them before, but I can’t remember where.”

  She sighed, disappointed. “I keep thinking that I should recognize this name. The others aren’t so obvious, except for Zeus. That sounds familiar, too.”

  “I hate to break this up, but we’re supposed to meet Reed and Mark outside,” Stephen interrupted them.

  “Is anyone else bothered by Captain Reed?” Kent asked.

  “Yeah. He makes me nervous,” she confessed, afraid to voice her opinion aloud. It seemed wrong to criticize their group member.

  “That’s because we didn’t know him before we started this trip,” Stephen reasoned as he studied his camera to make sure all the pictures he took were there. “We’ve known each other for years.”

  “That must be it,” Kent agreed.

  She glanced at Kent. She knew him well enough to know when he didn’t trust someone, and he didn’t trust their captain.

  They walked outside the building and met Captain Reed and Mark. They compared their findings and discovered that the other side of the arc was the same as the one they had explored.

  “The only difference is that the rooms we checked out featured a picture of a woman behind each desk,” Mark said. “Look at how beautiful these women were.”

  He handed Stephen his camera so they could see the three pictures he had taken.

  “We only got to check three rooms. I’m sure the other rooms are just like those,” Mark added.

  Stacey grudgingly admitted that the women were extremely beautiful.

  “Were all these women models?” Kent asked.

  She nudged him in the side.

  “Oh, like you didn’t think Ares was gorgeous,” he replied.

  “At least I didn’t say it aloud.”

  “Lover’s quarrel. We better get out of their way,” Mark teased.

  “Seriously though, women don’t look like this unless they’ve had cosmetic surgery and a professional do their hair and makeup. This is unrealistic,” Kent said. “As was Mr. Handsome back there.”

  She secretly agreed with him. They resembled perfect dolls. They didn’t have any flaws. It was unrealistic.

  “I don’t care,” Mark said. “I’m going to put the blond on my screen saver when I get back home. Her name was Aphrodite.”

  Again, Stacey had an uneasy feeling that she should recognize the name.

  “We need to get back to the submarine,” Captain Reed interrupted. “I need to report our findings to our benefactor.”

  As they walked back to the submarine, she
couldn’t help but wonder, for the millionth time, who their benefactor was and why he kept his identity a secret.

  Chapter Eleven

  Heading to the Lake

  Planet: Lone

  The man in white didn’t wait for morning to lead Athen, Dour, and Optima into the wilderness. He pressed them all to go through the night. He had a mission, and now that the queen was free, he didn’t have time to spare. He recalled the future he had witnessed, and he had to get her before she got him. If she was pregnant, he must kill her. It would be a shame to kill her. She was beautiful. She didn’t have the striking beauty he was accustomed to. Her beauty was quiet and subtle, yet it was intriguing and drew him toward her.

  He hoped it was simply a matter of sterilizing her so that she would not be able to conceive. Then she would live and be free to be with him.

  “Where are we going?” Ruler Dour asked.

  “To Lake Solitaire,” the man replied.

  Dour frowned. “Why? Shouldn’t we be looking for the queen in the forest? Surely, she would not go to the lake. There aren’t any trees around it for a mile. She will be too exposed. She must be hiding in the trees.”

  “She will go to the lake. She is meant to go there.” He could see the question in Dour’s face, so he quickly explained, “She will follow us to get her magic back.” He held up the stone they had used to capture her magic.

  Dour seemed ready to reply but decided not to.

  The man grinned as he slipped the stone back into his pocket. It was better for Dour to remain quiet. The less he knew, the better off he would be.

  The man glanced over at Athen who hadn’t said anything during their walk through the trees. “Don’t worry about your queen. I know how to deal with her.”

  Athen gave him a sharp look but held back his reply.

  The man chuckled. “I have a bargain to make with her. I’m sure Raz could benefit from such a deal.”

  “You talk but you don’t make sense,” Athen finally responded, his voice stiff.

  The man shrugged. “Keep them in suspense. That’s always been my motto.”

  Athen shook his head.

  “Perhaps we should take the chains off of him,” Optima said.

  “Why?” the man asked.

  “It will be easier for us to get to the lake if he can carry his own flashlight. As it is, he trips over the tree roots, and it’s been delaying our progress.”

  The man raised an eyebrow. “I see your point. Very well. Release him. But, Dour will keep this Paler gun pointed at him. We remember how well you handled the gun when you had to watch the queen, Optima.”

  His biting remark was meant to hurt her, and by the startled look on her face, he knew he had succeeded.

  “I won’t let him get away,” Dour assured him as he took the gun. “Besides, I am sure he wouldn’t want to risk the same punishment the queen will suffer for escaping.”

  “No, I won’t,” Athen said.

  “We will see, won’t we?” the man remarked.

  Optima released his chains.

  Athen looked relieved.

  “Now that everyone is comfortable, can we continue our journey?” the man asked.

  They nodded.

  As they walked, Dour spoke up. “Are we allowed to know your name?”

  “Names don’t mean anything,” the man replied.

  “Perhaps not to you, but we like to call people by name.”

  “Yes, but not everyone shares your enthusiasm for such things.”

  “That hardly seems fair, considering you know our names,” Athen argued.

  The man stopped and put his cane up to Athen’s neck. “Did I ask for your opinion?”

  Athen pushed his cane away. “I’m not afraid of you.”

  “You should be.”

  Athen rolled his eyes. “Whatever you intend to do to any of us is of little concern. The queen is free, and she will destroy you.”

  He chuckled. “Can you see into the future to reveal such a thing?”

  “No. But your fear speaks loudly.”

  “Fear? I do not fear her.”

  “Then why do you pursue her when the Nicals are safe?”

  Athen’s question bothered the man. The man shivered despite the warm air. He turned his eyes away from the Razian. Forcing aside his unease, he motioned for the others to follow him.

  They walked on in silence as the insects buzzed in the night.

  ***

  Back at the Austere Complex, Xan walked over to the two Palers. “Can we trust you to stay here if we unchain you?”

  Jaz glanced at Falon. When she saw him nod, she said, “Yes.”

  Xan freed them from their chairs and gave them some water to drink. “We do not wish to harm you or the Razians. We only wanted to survive. We had no idea we stole the Olympians’ immortal power. That is why you came? To get the stone from us?”

  “Yes, it is,” Jaz said.

  She studied the room. Some Nicals stood up. Others were sitting around the table. It suddenly occurred to her they were a very close group, and she saw the same desperation in their faces that she’d seen in Palers who’d been condemned to the Great Prison during Omin’s reign. It was a terrible time.

  It was time to give the Nicals the benefit of the doubt. “Why did you wish to be immortal?”

  “You will let us explain?” Xan asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

  “Of course. Things aren’t always as they seem.”

  “No. They certainly are not.”

  The other Nicals’ expressions turned hopeful.

  Xan cleared his throat then began, “At one time, we were a prosperous civilization. Life grew in abundance. By ‘life,’ I mean our lives. We used to be about five million in number. Then we lost our ability to reproduce. You will notice that everyone in this room is an adult. The youngest person here is twenty-four. He was the last one born. A genetic mutation caused us to be sterile. It was one of those things that could not have been avoided. But we had hoped for a solution. We ran many experiments. One experiment seemed promising. Colan was able to insert a base pair into our DNA that would tell the males to produce sperm and the females to produce and release eggs. That way, our ability to reproduce would be restored, so we would not face the extinction we feared.

  “The first couple to test his experiment was successful. After several injections, their DNA changed, and they did conceive. Nine months later, they gave birth to a normal baby girl. We were greatly encouraged by this outcome. The couple and baby were healthy. More people volunteered for the injections, and more babies were born. We thought we had preserved our species. Unfortunately, one of the men had a negative reaction to the injections. His body produced a virus we later called the Eradicator because of its 100% mortality rate. No one survives it.

  “That was two years ago. We didn’t notice the virus at first, which is why we did not isolate it in time, and by the time we realized what was going on, two thousand people were infected. The elderly, pregnant women, and babies were the first to die. Transmission was rampant and easy. A simple sneeze or cough was enough to infect an entire room. We quickly quarantined everyone who was sick or came into contact with a sick individual. It did little good. We thought we had succeeded in eliminating the virus when it mutated again, which made it even easier to transmit. All we had to do was breathe as the virus traveled through the air. This virus does not cross species, so you will not be affected by it. Nicals are the only ones who get the virus. This also explains why our animal, insect, and plant life still thrive on Lone, though we do not.”

  He paused. Jaz noted the heavy silence in the room. Perhaps the Nicals were taking a moment to remember their lost loved ones, which would be understandable.

  “Those of us who are still alive,” Xan continued, “are the remaining members of our species, and we were getting sick as well. We had to do something to save ourselves. We were desperate. Optima read of the Olympians and their stone of immortality. Our intention was to
copy their immortal ability. We never wanted to steal their immortality from them.”

  “Did you even think to ask the Olympians if you could copy their power?” Jaz asked.

  “We didn’t have time,” he replied. “The Olympians take forever to get anything done. Our request to copy their immortality would have been discussed for weeks.”

  Jaz felt sick to her stomach after learning of their plight. Wouldn’t Palers have done the same thing if this happened to them? She recalled how much time the Olympians took when she had to seek their help in getting Queen Ann back to Raz. They weren’t in any hurry to listen to her.

  “We should give them their ability back,” Xan said. “They will die if we don’t. It is not right to steal so that we can live.”

  “There has to be a compromise,” Falon spoke up. “There can’t only be one solution. Why can’t both the Olympians and Nicals live?”

  “I agree,” Jaz replied. “Most of the time, it is a matter of looking at things from a different perspective.”

  “We would gladly accept the cure for the virus,” Xan said. “If we could find a cure, then we could live long enough to reproduce. Our life expectancy before the virus developed was eighty years. We would gladly accept that again. We don’t need to be immortal to be happy.”

  “You ask a very reasonable thing,” Jaz replied. “The Olympians do not have a virus invading their planet, so although they may be uncomfortable with aging naturally, they will not die anytime soon. You, however, could die shortly after the stone is taken from your possession. I suggest you keep the stone for now.”

  “The Olympians can wait,” Falon agreed.

  The Nicals breathed a sigh of relief, their white hair displaying their gratitude.

  “The man in white, the one who wants Queen Ann dead, chose to come to your planet for a reason,” Falon told Xan. “I don’t think it was to defend you from us.”

  “We need to discover his true motives,” she said. “Does anyone know how to find him?”