Royal Hearts (27 page)

“What’s his problem? I’m already going ten
over the speed limit,” Kent grumbled.

Hathor glanced back and recognized Carson,
who was motioning for them to pull over.

“I know him,” Hathor said. “I think he has
something to tell me.”

Kent found the nearest parking lot and pulled
into it.

“He’s a friend of one of Ann’s friends,”
Hathor explained as he tried to undo his seatbelt with no success.
He still had trouble figuring these things out.

Carson quickly ran up to his window, urging
him to roll it down.

Hathor did as Carson wished. “Carson? What is
it?”

“Does this look familiar to you?” he asked,
handing Hathor the device.

Hathor studied it then nodded. “It’s from
Pale. It’s how they do time travel.”

“So it is important. William had it with him
at school, and I took it. I thought it might have something to do
with how you and Ann got back to this time.”

“It does. I’m glad you got this.”

“Well, I didn’t get everything. He also has
something else.”

“What?”

“It’s something to inject a chip into
someone’s hand. I recognized it from what I saw on TV.”

“A chip?” Hathor tensed. Omin’s clone must
have decided that if he couldn’t kill Ann, he would settle for
implanting her with the chip, and William was his tool for doing
so. Then Ann and Raz would follow the clone’s orders. This wasn’t
good.

“Look,” Carson said, “as I was leaving the
school parking lot, I saw William get in his car. He’s looking for
me, so I have to go. I don’t want him to know I gave that thing to
you.”

Hathor glanced at the device. “Thank you,
Carson. And good luck.”

“You too.” He ran back to his car and drove
off.

Hathor shook his head in amazement. “I didn’t
think people on this planet could be so helpful.”

“We have our moments.” Kent grinned. “Now
that we found the device you need, we should continue our search
for Ann. I’m sure she went to her house.” He shifted the car into
drive and left the parking lot.

***

Ann’s house

Xenia, Ohio

Planet: Earth

Ann had just finished explaining everything
Hathor had told her to her parents while Stacey sat next to her on
the couch in silence. “I know this sounds like fiction, but it’s
not,” Ann concluded when she saw her parents were staring at her in
shock.

“And you go to this planet Raz, to be a
queen, in four years from now?” her mother finally asked.

Ann nodded. “I know this is the last thing
you expected to find out about me, but it’s the only way you can
understand why I have to go and help defeat Alexander Napoli. He’s
really a Paler, and he’s after me. If he can kill me, then I won’t
become the queen of Raz, and he’ll succeed in making Razians his
servants. I have to fight for Raz. The queen is the only one on
that planet with enough power to do this.”

Her father shook his head. “Is it possible
that Hathor lied to you?”

“No. I wasn’t sure about this whole thing
when he first told me, but after seeing the video of Alexander, I
know it’s true.”

Her parents sat back in their chairs, each
taking time to reflect on what they had just learned.

“Did we have any say in whether or not you
became queen of Raz?” her mother finally asked.

The question caught Ann off guard. She hadn’t
thought to tell them about their early deaths. She debated whether
or not to reveal that to them, but in the end, she decided against
it. As painful as it was, it was meant to happen, and even with
that being the case, she didn’t want to tell them.

She was saved the awkwardness of having to
tell her mother anything when the front door flew off its
hinges.

She jerked back, barely noting that Stacey
and her parents did the same.

A human woman and a Paler entered the house
and went directly to Ann, who scooted as far back on the couch as
she could.

“You’re coming with us, Queen Ann,” they
spoke simultaneously.

“You can’t come barging in here and take our
daughter away!” her father yelled, his face red as he stood up to
them.

The Paler sighed. “Athena, I told you there
was going to be a distraction.”

“It’s to be expected, Guard Falon,” Athena
said. “These people care for her. Obviously, they won’t be willing
to let her go.”

Ann blinked several times. Something about
the two seemed familiar. In another time, she suspected they were
allies, but that was all she could recall.

“You’re not taking her,” her father repeated,
getting up so he was standing between her and the two
intruders.

Before anyone could protest, the Paler
reached out, grabbed her father by the collar and threw him against
the wall. The impact knocked him unconscious. Too stunned to move,
Ann could only watch as Athena came over to her.

Ann’s mother, however, was quick to act. She
grabbed the lamp next to her chair and smashed it over Athena’s
head. Unfortunately, this didn’t knock Athena out.

Athena glanced at her mother and sighed.
“That was extremely annoying.”

The Paler picked up another lamp and hit her
mother on the head with it. Her mother collapsed on the floor,
blood trickling down the side of her face.

“No!” Ann screamed.

Ann didn’t think about what she was doing.
She merely acted on instinct. She kicked Athena behind her knees.
Startled, Athena fell to the floor. Ann was ready to step on her
neck when Falon grabbed her from behind. Ann struggled against him
while Stacey jumped on his back and put her hands over his eyes so
he couldn’t see what he was doing. Seeing her opportunity to act,
Ann slipped out of his arms. Athena lunged at her and grabbed her
arms, pinning them firmly behind her back.

Falon leaned forward with enough force to
throw Stacey off his back, and she landed on her hands and knees.
Disregarding her, he walked up to Ann and took out the thin rope he
had in one of his pockets. He quickly and effortlessly tied Ann’s
hands and feet together.

“Paler rope. Made to endure the toughest
fighter. Even Omin himself couldn’t break free of this stuff,” he
sneered.

Ann stopped struggling, realizing it was
pointless to waste the energy she might need later.

“Speaking of Omin, his clone will be
delighted at the gift we will present to him,” Athena said with a
smile. “We won’t have to worry about the threat of Raz now.”

“Do you want to keep fighting me?” Falon
asked Stacey who was getting to her feet.

“It’s okay, Stacey,” Ann assured her, despite
her fears. “Hathor will come for me.”

“Oh, we’ll get him, too,” Falon said. “He
can’t outwit the Palers and Olympians.”

Ann raised her eyebrows. Olympians? “You’re
one of the goddesses from planet Olympia?” she asked Athena.

Athena frowned. “I thought you didn’t
remember anything.”

“I don’t. Hathor filled me in on the
details.”

She rolled her eyes. “That meddlesome Hathor.
We’ll have to do something about him when we capture him. He’ll
surely come to your rescue.”

“What do you want me to do about them?” Falon
asked, nodding toward Ann’s parents and her helpless friend.

“Leave them,” Athena replied. “They are of
little consequence to us.”

Falon picked Ann up, and Athena followed him
out of the house.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Six years in the past

On the brink of Earth’s Atmosphere

Galaxy: Average

Leader Paff found the adjustment to time
traveling to be easier than he’d anticipated. He had wondered if
the other warships could follow him into the past, and they had. No
one reported any missing Paler, which was a great relief. He had a
feeling they would need all the Palers they could get.

Since they had gone back to the past, it had
been easy for him to locate Second Commander Jaz and Guards Lino
and Falon. He wondered why Guard Falon was on another part of the
planet, but when he realized that Queen Ann was with Falon, he
relaxed. He must be rescuing her. Hathor was in the area, too, so
he mistakenly figured that Ann no longer needed his assistance.

His concern turned to Omin’s clone. He
located the clone at a place called the United Nations. He also
found that Second Commander Jaz and Guard Lino were there. Since he
still wasn’t getting a response from Jaz’s telecommunicator, they
must have run into trouble with the clone.

Captain Hanty knocked on Paff ’s door.

“Enter,” Paff said.

“We will be entering Earth’s atmosphere in
ten minutes,” the captain said. “I have noticed some aircraft
activity below. It is safe to assume we will face immediate
conflict with the Earthlings, Leader.”

He sighed, not liking the news. “I was afraid
of that. Omin’s clone has already rallied up an army of innocent
lives who are forced to do his bidding. How many warships should we
send into the atmosphere right now?”

“From the size of their army, I suggest
twelve of our best warships. We stand a better chance of success if
we begin with our best men.”

Paff nodded. “Send out the order. Tell the
others to hold back until they are instructed to intervene.”

“Who should we send on the ground mission to
confront Omin’s clone?”

He had been asking himself the same question
since they entered the Average Galaxy. “I am the Leader, so I will
be the first to go. Then I recommend nine of the top combative
fighters we have. If we need reinforcements, then we will call for
it.”

“Very good. Permission to leave.”

“Granted.”

The captain left, giving Paff a few minutes
of privacy before he had to confront Omin’s clone, which was
something he was dreading. He couldn’t forget how terrified he had
been of Omin. There was one time when he fought Omin and had almost
killed him, but he had a friend who talked him into being merciful,
to not give into the violent Paler nature. Now that the Palers,
himself included, had been unbrainwashed from being violent
killers, Paff knew he would not kill Omin’s clone out of revenge.
He would kill him in self-defense. Or he would die trying.

His gaze fell upon the picture of Halima that
sat on his desk. He smiled as he thought of her. She was the one
source of strength that never wavered in his life. He looked down
at the letter he had written to her and reread it, making sure he’d
told her everything that was in his heart. If he was going to die
on this mission, he wanted to at least die knowing he had told her
how much he loved her. He folded the letter and put it into a
special container that would preserve it. In case the warship was
destroyed, it was set to deploy for planet Pale into the future six
years.

“Leader Paff?” Captain Hanty interrupted.

Paff glanced up, startled that he had
returned. Paff cleared his throat. “I’m sorry. What is it?”

“We’re ready to enter the atmosphere. I’ve
gathered your nine ground troop members.”

Paff nodded. “Thank you, Captain.”

He followed Hanty out of the room.

***

Ann’s house

Xenia, Ohio

Planet: Earth

By the time Hathor and Kent arrived at Ann’s
house, the radio announcer was commenting on the alien spaceships,
which were heading for the United Nations. “For now, it seems, the
aliens are focusing their efforts on one location. That, of course,
could change at any moment, so everyone is urged to stay inside.
All military personnel from around the world are keeping watch over
their nations just in case the aliens break up and start invading
other parts of the world.”

“The Palers won’t do that,” Hathor said.
“They just want to capture Omin’s clone. If they engage in any
combat, it will be in self-defense.”

“I’m glad you know the aliens because I’d be
panicking right now if you didn’t just tell me that.”

Hathor saw the front door of Ann’s house was
missing, so as soon as Kent stopped the car, he jumped out and ran
inside where Stacey was holding an ice pack to Ann’s mother’s head.
Ann’s father, meanwhile, was talking frantically into the
phone.

“Where’s Ann?” Hathor asked, the evidence of
a struggle already making him assume the worst.

“It was horrible,” Stacey said, crying. “They
just barged in here and took her away.”

“What happened here?” Kent asked then stopped
in the middle of the room. “Whoa! Is everyone okay?”

“They captured Ann,” Hathor informed him. “Do
you know who captured her?” he asked Stacey.

Stacey shook her head. “One of them was an
alien. The other one was a woman. We tried to stop them, but they
were too strong for us.”

“Who are you?” Ann’s father demanded, coming
over to Hathor and Kent. “Do you know anything about Ann?”

“I’m Hathor. I came to protect Ann, but…but I
got here too late.”

“Hathor?” her mother asked. “The young man
from Raz who took her to be queen over there?”

“Please, don’t talk. You need to rest,” her
father said, concerned for his wife. He turned to Hathor and Kent.
“Well? Is she okay?”

“I don’t know,” Hathor replied. “I hope
so.”

He groaned. “What are we going to do?”

“Can you use something from that magical book
you have?” Kent asked.

Hathor pulled it out of his pocket. It
immediately grew to its normal size.

Everyone but Hathor and Kent gasped in
surprise.

“You really are from another planet, aren’t
you?” Ann’s father whispered.

Hathor nodded. “Raz. This is really the
magician’s book, but in cases like this, it’s the job of the king
to use it.”

“So she really is married and queen of
another planet,” her mother mumbled. “I just couldn’t believe
it.”

“Now, please. I need you to rest,” her father
said as he sat by her and held her hand.