Chapter 13 Thorne
Chapter Thirteen
THORNE
Cupping Romi’s cheeks, I look deep into her eyes. “I love you,” I murmur against her lips, my words, a promise, a tattoo on her heart.
“And I, you,” she whispers.
I take the shape of those words and carve them into my soul. After giving her a lingering kiss, I straighten and force myself to step back. Curling my palm into a fist, I thump it lightly over my heart. “I will always carry you here while I travel,” I tell her.
She presses two fingers to her lips and blows me a kiss. A moment later, I sit astride Silver. On a gust of air, I press my heels against his flanks. Silver breaks into a trot before lifting to fly low over the ground.
The others on the team traveling with me rendezvous in the air over the next few minutes.
We travel for a full day to reach the far side of the planet.
We are following the leads from the intelligence Hunter and I received about the use of this isolated area as a hidden place to plan.
What the rebels don’t know is that one of our university teams set up cameras here several years prior to monitor wildlife.
When we got a report from a student about the activity here, we activated them for us to monitor.
As history spells out time and again, from galaxy to galaxy and planet to planet, events that lead to crises, such as the space storm that struck here a few years ago, can also lead to unrest. Once we got wind that this tiny but loud rebel faction wanted to essentially eliminate our peaceful democracy, we knew we had to pay closer attention.
They claim they don’t want to destroy our democracy.
They claim they simply want the opportunity to change the royal succession.
However, they are vocal about disagreeing with our people’s reverence for women.
They want to destroy our planet’s strength that has come as a result of our peaceful, benevolent system that cares for everyone.
Over the ensuing time since we discovered their planning and since Princess Jane’s kidnapping, we’ve taken steps to increase our monitoring. We don’t want to interfere much at this point, other than to ensure safety if needed. We’d like to see how far they plan to go.
Hunter and I are the lead spies for the security team.
During times of peace, not much is needed from us.
But, of late, we’ve led the secret group on mission after mission to better understand how sophisticated the planning is within the rebel group.
The kidnapping of our princess has shaken the leadership for our planet.
We land that evening on the outskirts, miles from the outpost and in the thick of a silver forest. We don’t want to arrive by air because we don’t want to be visible from a distance.
Our horses lead us through the forest. This side of the planet is similar to parts of Earth, where the days are incredibly long during the warm season and much shorter and darker during the cold season.
Hunter and I have already set up a camp.
Camp for us is fairly sophisticated in the sense that we have the equipment needed for shelters and all basic amenities.
Once our team is secure in camp, we activate a security dome over the entire forest area, including where our mounts will roam while they are resting.
Similar to horses on Earth, they need space to graze.
I glance over at Hunter at the small table where we sit. “Well? Any updates?” he asks.
I take a long swallow from my water and shake my head. “Raven communicated that he wanted to talk, so let’s see if we can reach him now,” I reply, referring to another team member who works remotely and often scouts ahead for us. I tap my communicator. “Raven?”
“Right here.” His voice crackles a little. Our shield can sometimes affect the communicators.
“What’s the update?” I ask.
“We monitored the cameras today, as usual. We did see alerts for activity from the rebels there. As predicted, based on our earlier recordings, your timing is perfect. They’re there.
However, there are more than we expected.
What concerns me the most is they have some of the visitors from Earth with them,” Raven explains.
Hunter and I both straighten in our chairs. “What?” I ask sharply.
Hunter’s brows hitch up as his gaze meets mine from across the table.
“We’re surprised and concerned too. We suspect that the men from Earth have somehow communicated with the rebels here,” Raven replies.
“Well, we have info they’ve been present at one of the bars in the rebel’s town,” Hunter comments.
“Whether or not the men from Earth knew about the uprising here, they do now,” Raven points out.
“The last thing we need is to stir this issue up further.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “The men from Earth are violating their agreement. No one can travel here and consort to act against our people,” I say.
“Exactly,” Raven replies. “You’ll have to take them into custody and bring them back to the capital.
We’ve already spoken with the queen and the king about it.
They’re all in agreement. Those men cannot remain here.
Beyond arresting them and forcing them to leave the planet, we will consider reducing the supplies we send Earth and ask our other allies to do the same. ”
“I guess we know what we’re doing tomorrow,” Hunter says dryly.
“How many men are here?” I ask.
“As it stands, there are more of you than them. Three stragglers haven’t been arrested from the protests and three men from Earth. You all have a twenty-man security detail,” Raven says.
“Sure, we have more of us, but how will we transport them all back?” Hunter asks pointedly.
“We’ll send transport,” Raven chimes in. “Once you have them in custody, let us know, and one of our high-speed hovercraft can be there within a few hours.”
I meet Hunter’s eyes, and we nod in unison. “Okay, we have a plan,” I say. “We’ll update you tomorrow.”
Later, as I try to fall asleep and get the rest I know my body needs, my mind spins to Romi.
Hunter and my other friends have told me once you experience the infinity pulse, you can feel the connection when you’re away, even from a distance.
I had honestly doubted this until I met Romi.
Even then, I wondered how I would feel all the way on the other side of our planet.
My doubts are kicked away now. There is no doubt I feel that connection. The pull is not as powerful as it is when I’m close to her, but its ever-present force pulses. I miss Romi. So very much.
Although I’m restless, I manage to fall asleep. I convince myself it’s because Romi somehow knows I need the rest and soothes me through our connection.
The following day, the first part of our morning goes smoothly. We make our way to the rebel’s outpost before they’re awake. We surround them with our horses and arrest them. The men from Earth are none too pleased.
“We are guests of your planet!” a man named Allen declares.
“You are,” I agree. “But as a guest of our planet and an emissary from Earth, you must respect our laws. These men are rebels, all of them under investigation for trying to interfere with our democratic processes and overthrow our royal family.”
One of the men from Earth sneers. “You look down on us, yet all of the goodness you have here came from what was first on Earth.”
“Our planet has a wealth of resources, none of which Earth gave us. Earth was once a leader in technology, and we have adopted some of those methods. Your people destroyed your own environment and much of what you had because you didn’t appreciate it.
We have learned from your mistakes and improved upon anything we learned from your people.
We love our planet. All of the beings who reside here honor our planet and our people.
On Earth, you hate half of your population, and you treat your women like indentured servants. ”
Another man from Earth rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you worship women here. We can take our women back,” he says.
“You cannot,” Hunter says.
“What little supplies you humans have on Earth are gifted to you from our planet and others,” I add. “You can travel freely amongst the galaxy. If you choose to interfere with the free choice of anyone in our galaxy, not just your planet, you will lose all support from us and our allies.”
The man who appears to be the leader of this little ragtag group from Earth blanches.
For they know that without the supplies from other planets, they will not survive.
As it is, they’re barely surviving, from what we can tell.
They don’t distribute their supplies evenly, which worsens the unrest among the people there.
One of the rebels finally speaks, “There may be more of them than us, but they can’t transport us.”
Our hovercraft appears on the horizon as if on cue, landing a short distance away on a flat grassy area. There’s grumbling and muttering before we begin to load everyone up.
Just as it’s about all over, one of the men from Earth makes a run for it, and I take chase. Unfortunately for him, he stumbles off the edge of a cliff.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter to myself.