The Secret of Mars

“Leave it to Uncle Earon to get arrested,” EJ laughed upon hearing the news. “What did he do, drop a candy wrapper on Mars’ red soil?”

“He’s under investigation for the murder of the Commander of Mars,” Kiijon stated.

Immediately the smile disappeared from his son’s face. “Murder? Uncle Earon? That cannot be! How is Mattwa taking the news?”

“I haven’t told her,” Kiijon said. “In fact, she doesn’t even know I’m gone. She thinks I went to visit Gardawyn to get some TeePoon leaves. I have to get back before she realizes I’m not at the Complex.” Kiijon handed his son a detailed report. “This was received twenty minutes ago. I scanned it, but I did not have time to read it. I need for you to read it and figure out what is going on up there. When you do, contact Chancee. He already planned on visiting in a few days for the egg’s emergence, so your mother won’t expect anything. Don’t try to reach Jazee or me. Your Mattwa is always with us and could discover our secret.”

“You can count on us, Dattwa,” Medi said when her mate did not respond.

“Dattwa, Medi stumbled on a Mars’ secret,” EJ blurted out. He had to inform his father of what they had discovered before he left. “While we were talking with Mr. Hollands from the PSD she realized he was hiding something. It seems Uncle Earon was right. They knew about the obelisk. They have been studying it, hoping to use it as a weapon. I think that’s the real reason why our permits were yanked. We discovered their dirty secret.”

“I should have known that human greed was involved somehow,” Kiijon said, giving no indication of being surprised by this new news. “These people have learned nothing. But I can’t worry about their hunger for money and power now.” He turned to leave, then stopped. “EJ, when the little one hatches I may need to send you to Mars.”

“We’ll be ready to go,” Medi said, watching her father-in-law disappear through the portal.

EJ gave Medi an inquisitive smile. “WE will be ready? You hate interplanetary flying. It makes you terribly sick.”

She walked over and rested against EJ’s chest, relishing the feeling as he placed his arms around her. There, inside his embrace, she was safe, and he was safe. But they had already lost six to the angry red planet. She could not allow her mate to go alone. “You and I have always been able to beat the odds as long as we were together. I don’t know what is going on up there, but I’ll be damned if I’ll let Mars take my husband too.” EJ leaned down and kissed her. When the kiss ended, she asked, “Do you think they will try Uncle Earon on Mars?”

“I do not know, My Love,” EJ replied. “Let us go get some coffee and take it and this report on the porch and read it together. Hopefully, it is not a bad as we fear.”

“No, it probably will be worse,” Medi sighed.

“I told him he was free to go, but he just sits there staring at the wall,” the new Commander told Latrill and Phameena. Once the transport left without the Oonocks, the Commander knew there was no way for Earon to escape from Mars. And honestly, it was breaking his heart to see the monarch just sitting there so despondent over his second niece’s loss. He could conduct his investigation just as well with Earon in his quarters as in the cell. But when he opened the door and gave the alien his freedom, Earon just sat there, saying nothing.

“Actually, Commander, we feared this might happen,” Phameena said. “Some years back, a human killed his oldest son just for spite. Nothing else. No noble purpose, no revenge, no desire for notoriety. Just spite. It took Monarch Earon many years to recover from his son’s death, but he emerged a stronger Oonock. But when Mary, and then the others disappeared, he was thrown back into that period when his son was taken. As long as Amber was safe, he could hold it together. But once she too was taken, the fragile shell around him broke. For you see, the family is everything to us Oonocks. We love too hard and too much, especially our males. Put them in the role of protector, and they’ll take on three keeman bulls by themselves and come out triumphant. But take away one of his children, and he crumbles to the dust.”

“How do the females manage to stay strong?” the Commander asked.

“We must stay strong to help them back up,” Phameena said. “May we take him to his quarters now?”

“Yes, by all means,” the Commander replied, stricken by Phameena’s words. He had heard of the Oonocks great ability to love, but he had never witnessed it before. If he had had any doubts about Earon’s innocence, they were washed away with Phameena’s statement.

Phameena and Latrill walked down the short hallway to the holding cell where Earon sat. As the Commander had said, the door was wide open. Earon was sitting inside staring into space.

“Earon, it is I, Phameena,” the once temptress said. “Latrill and I have come to take you to your quarters. The Commander told me you are free to go. Can you walk?” Silence was the only response. Phameena didn’t know if Earon even heard her words, but she tried again, this time sitting her hand on top of his just as she did that day when he returned to Europa after their son’s death. “Earon, let’s go. It does no good to sit in here.”

“Have we heard from Amber?” came a soft broken voice.

“No.”

“What about Jeanip or the others?” Earon asked.

“Nothing.”

“Does Europa know?”

“We thought it best not to tell Earth about Amber’s disappearance,” Latrill stated. “Since there is the possibility she will return we saw no need to contact them. Not yet.”

“Do you really believe that?” Earon asked.

“We all do, Your Majesty,” Latrill responded.

“Thank you for that, Latrill,” Earon said as he suddenly stood, clasping the soldier on his arm. Without another word, he walked out of the cell, down the short corridor and out of the station. He continued in a straight line and not toward his quarters.

“Sire, we need to go left,” Latrill stated, thinking his liege was too disoriented to know which way to go. Earon did not say a word but continued on his straight course.

“Earon, where are you going?” Phameena asked. “You are going the wrong way.”

“I am going to the hangar,” Earon finally said. “I am going to get into a spacesuit and go out to that obelisk. I am going to get on my knees and beg it to return my niece and take me.”

Phameena grabbed his arm and spun his around. “Earon, no. I won’t let you. What if the obelisk takes you too, or worse, kills you? Think of Europa. If she loses you too, it will destroy her. And what of EeRee and your boys? No. It’s out of the question!”

Earon looked down into her face and her eyes. They were such a beautiful shade of lilac. But truth be told, he did miss her green eyes, the eyes of the temptress. He rested his hand on her cheek. “My Sweet Phameena, I have to do this. I can never go back to Earth or Europa if I do not bring at least Amber home. I allowed my pride to deny me the joy of my first hatched and I paid dearly for that mistake.”

“Earon, you are not responsible for TJ’s death,” Phameena stated.

“But I am, at least in my soul,” Earon said, smiling. “And I will not be responsible for Amber’s. I must do this. I do not know how, because I am not connected to the Orbs like Europa or EJ, but I am the one that needs to get her. I feel it inside me, Phameena. I will be okay.” He turned and started toward the hangar.

“No Earon,” Phameena said, running after the male.

Latrill and Phameena both argued with Earon all the way to the hangar, but they could not deter his course. Upon reaching the hangar, he walked over to the table where Amber’s empty spacesuit laid. “Amber has no spacesuit, so she cannot return. I need to take it to her so she can come back.”

“No,” Phameena screamed again. “Latrill, you have authority over him in security matters. Tell him he cannot go.”

Earon looked up into Latrill’s face this time. He saw the look of acceptance and knowledge. “You know I am right, do you not, Latrill? You can sense it too.”

“I, I,” Latrill stammered. “I sense something, something that tells me you are correct, Your Majesty. I will go with you.”

“No, you must remain here with Phameena,” Earon said. “The obelisk will see two of us as a threat. I must do this alone.” He now turned back to Phameena. “The obelisk recognized Amber that day in the Observation Room. It recognized her again the morning she disappeared. It identified her as part of the Orbs because of this.” He held up his amulet. “THIS will help it identify me also. The obelisk will recognize me and take me to where Amber is so I can bring her home. Trust me, Phameena.”

“What if you’re wrong?” she asked.

“I am not,” Earon said in confidence. “I need for you and Latrill to distract the guard so I can get into a suit and take off in a flyer. He is never going to let me fly out of here if he sees me. Can you do that?”

Phameena hesitated. Should she let him go, should she trust in the Orbs and Fates? Earon believed, Latrill believed. Why couldn’t she? “Yes,” she finally whispered.

“And Phameena, do not freak out if I disappear for a while also,” Earon said, giving her his best encouraging smile. “I have to go inside the obelisk to get her. With any luck, I’ll have Mary too.”

Phameena raised up on her tippy toes and kissed her monarch on the cheek, then ran toward the security station, Latrill right behind her. On the way, she grabbed a spacesuit and carried it over to a flier that was closest to the guard’s station. Once there, she began to step into the suit.

“Phameena, what are you doing?” Latrill asked.

“Getting into this damn suit,” Phameena stated. “I need for you to start arguing with me?”

“What? Why?”

“We have to distract the guards,” Phameena stated, giving the protector a crossed look for not realizing what she was attempting to do. “Just talking to them isn’t going to do it. We have to do something to keep their minds on us.”

Finally realizing what Phameena was attempted to do, Latrill shouted loudly, “No, Phameena, I will not allow it. We’ve already lost too many monarchs. I will not allow you to go.”

“I’m the only one that can,” Phameena shouted back while keeping her eye on movement in the guard shake. At last, she saw the two guards stand and walk to the doorway to investigate what was going on. “Monarch Earon is too distraught to go. Plus, he’s under house arrest. I am the only one who CAN go.”

“No, Phameena, I will not allow it,” Latrill yelled, grabbing the glove out of her hand as she tried to slip it on. “I am in command of security, and I state you cannot go.”

“As the mate of a royal monarch, you have no authority over me,” Phameena screamed back, hoping the guards did not know Oonock security protocols or that Latrill could override her decisions.

“Here, what do you think you two are doing?” one of the guards asked as they came running up to the two Oonocks.

“I am going out there to get my princess,” Phameena said, pulling her glove free from Latrill’s grip and placing it on her left hand, locking it in place.

“The hell you are,” the other guard stated, grabbing the glove and trying to pull it off. “You are staying right here. No one is allowed to leave the station, per the Commander’s orders.”

“Your Commander has no jurisdiction over me,” Phameena vehemently sneered.

“Oh yes he does,” the first guard said, grabbing Phameena by the arm.

“You will not touch her,” Latrill yelled, pushing the guard away. “She is a member of the royal family. Your Commander’s authority does not encompass her.”

“We’ll see about that,” the guard screamed back. The four beings argued loudly, drawing in everyone from the hangar, everyone except Earon. He finished suiting up and managed to slip unnoticed into one of the speeders. As quickly and as silently as possible, he started the engine and flew through the exit tube before any of the humans knew what transpired.

“What’s happening?” the second guard asked when the alarms began to sound.

“Someone took a speeder without authorization,” the second guard stated, looking around. It was then that he noticed the smile on Phameena and Latrill’s faces. “Oh, so that’s what all this was about. Keeping us distracted while one of your friends took a speeder out. You two just bought yourself a night in the brig.”

“Any idea what’s on the menu for dinner tonight?” Phameena chuckled, holding out her wrists to be handcuffed.

Earon knew he could not open the bay doors with Phameena, Latrill and the humans inside. If the room depressurized, the oxygen and those inside would be sucked out instantly. Everyone would suffocate within seconds. He would have to chance the exit tunnel, a device that allowed a flier or speeder to leave the hangar without opening the hangar doors. He had never tried it before. He didn’t even know how it worked. But it was his only way out. Silently raising the speeder into the air, he flew to the tunnel and shot through it, surprised to see himself outside after only a few seconds. He had made it!! Entering the obelisk’s coordinates into the dashboard, he watched the horizon. Ten minutes after he took off, the top of the obelisk appeared and grew closer with each tick of his timepiece. Soon, the entire structure was visible, foreboding, menacing, yet his only means to save one, possibly two, princesses. He had turned off the radio, so there was no distraction from the station trying to reach him. He figured that he ticked off the new Commander and had most definitely got himself more time in the brig.

Now less than a mile away, Earon pulled back on the throttle, slowing the speeder down. So far there was no reaction from the obelisk, and he wanted it to stay that way. Not wishing to activate its defenses, he landed about a mile in front of the obelisk and walked the rest of the way in. Checking to make sure his amulet was visible on the outside of his suit, he exited the speeder. Amber’s spacesuit securely held in his grip, he walked to within thirty feet of the obelisk and stopped.

“Since you are part of the Orbs and FarCore, I believe you know who I am,” Earon began, not completely sure what to say. “I am Earon Waters, son of King Enok and Queen Medaron of the Earth Oonocks, true rulers of the Oonocks of Europa. I am the brother of the current queen, Queen Europa. You can see by the amulet attached to my suit that I tell you the truth.” Nothing happened. He was still alive, so that was a good sign. “I know you have a reason for taking King Kiijon and Queen Europa’s granddaughters and I am here to help. Please, take me in one or both of their places. My family has already lost so much. Do not take these loved ones from us too. I beg of you.” Earon waited again, but the response was the same. Still not knowing what to do, he dropped to his knees. “Please, I know you understand me. Allow me entrance and bring the girls these spacesuits so they may return home.” Earon felt a sort of tingling sensation in his body. Then a great force as a mighty wind was sucked into the obelisk, pulling him and the two suits inside. Not sure if this was a good or bad thing, he closed his eyes and waited. Still breathing after the wind and tingling stopped, he opened his eyes to see a small light overhead and a long tunnel stretching before him. Upon taking two steps forward, he felt a cramping sensation, as if his suit had suddenly shrunk and was three sizes too small. Barely able to breathe, he unscrewed his helmet and lifted it off, hoping wherever he was he would be able to breathe. He was shocked to hear the sound of his gill slits open and suck in life-sustaining waters. Now realizing why his suit was so small, he quickly slipped out of it, releasing his three sets of wings. Stretching them out, he flapped them in the water, allowing his spacesuit to drift down to the floor. Positive he was somehow in FarCore, he grabbed the suits and sped down the tunnel, smiling when he swam past the map of the solar system. He began to call out Amber and Mary’s names as he continued forward, passing the broken Window of Universes and arriving at the table of Orbs.

“Mary, Amber, can you hear me?” he shouted loudly.

“Yes, we hear you,” came Mary’s voice as she and her sister appeared down a hallway. Mary ran while Amber swam to the waiting embrace of their uncle. Watching from a short distance away was the Ancient, smiling at the reuniting of the broken family.

“Oh, this is just impossible,” a frustrated Anew said, plopping down into a nearby chair. “There are too many maps here of the universe. And I cannot find a way home if I can’t find the one with Earth.”

“I thought you found a map with Ursa Major on it?” Swaybuk asked, a little amused at the frustrated Ancient.

“We did,” Soojay confirmed. “But as soon as we brought up the next map it was gone. And we haven’t been able to find it since.”

“Have you two tried asking for it?” Swaybuk asked.

“Asking for it?” a confused Anew inquired.

“Yes, just asking for it,” Swaybuk laughed. “Like we do for the food. This is a superior ship, far more advanced than anything we will design for several thousand years. But as we have seen by the technology, although advanced, it is very simple. It is like FarCore. Whenever Prince EJ needed something, he only asked, and the answer was provided.”

“Sir, it couldn’t be THAT simple,” Soojay chuckled.

“Why not?” Swaybuk said. “What do you have to lose? Give it a try. Announce yourself, then ask.”

“He’s right,” Soojay stated. “Go ahead, Anew. You’re the Ancient. It might recognize you and answer.”

Thinking this was a dumb idea, Anew said. “I am Anew. Show me a map of Earth.” Nothing happened. She didn’t say anything, but she gave Swaybuk a “told you so” look.

“You have to ask better than that, Anew,” Swaybuk chuckled. “It’s not going to show you anything with that attitude.”

“I do not have an attitude,” Anew quickly stated, her voice slightly raised in irritation.

Swaybuk walked over and leaned down very close to her ear, so hopefully only she would hear. He whispered into her ear, smiling when he saw a look of glee fill Anew’s face.

“Even if the ship doesn’t respond?” Anew curiously asked.

“Yes,” Swaybuk whispered. “And twice if it does.”

Anew jumped to her feet, shook out her arms and tried to clear her mind, which was quite hard to do at the moment, especially with Swaybuk so near. Finally, she pushed his body away, stating, “Go stand over there. I can’t think with you so close to me.” Swaybuk laughed out loud, then went to stand beside Soojay on the other side of the room. Anew closed her eyes and said, “I am Anew, youngest of the Ancients. We are lost and are trying to find our way home. Could you show us how to navigate through the universe and return to Mars?”

The map disappeared, leaving no indication it had ever existed. The space remained unoccupied for three minutes, then it began to spark and pop as a new, more detailed map emerged. It took five minutes for the new map to upload, but when it was finished, it was the same map as before.

“That’s the same dang map,” Anew muttered, disappointed for several reasons.

Soojay stared intently at the map. Something was different about this one. The lines comprising this map seemed to be thicker, and the density was heavier. “No, Anew, I don’t think so. This one’s different. It’s almost as if there’s more than one.” Soojay stepped forward, placed his hand on the front of the map and pushed his hand to the right. To everyone’s surprise, the map moved to show a different map. Hoping against the odds, he swiped his hand three more times to reveal more maps beneath. “There’s a whole slew of maps here piled on top each other.” He quickly used his hand to move all the maps back to his left. “Anew, ask it to show you the way home.”

“I am Anew the youngest of the Ancients. Please show us the way home.” A green spot beside the Helix Nebula began to blink. Then a line appeared, traveling to the left. When it reached the end of the map, it stopped. Soojay quickly pushed the current map to the right to reveal the one underneath and watched as the green light continued now across that map. As the line ended, he brought up the next map until, twenty-seven maps later, was Mars. “We did it,” shouted Soojay. “We found the way home.”

Anew looked at Swaybuk smiling, holding up two fingers. He laughed and nodded his head yes. She ran over and threw her arms around him, giving him a big kiss.

“What’s all the commotion in here?” Jeanip asked as he walked inside. “Hey, you two, not in front of the kindergartners.”

“We found the way home,” Soojay yelled.

“You what?” a surprised and hopeful look appeared on Jeanip’s face. He diverted his attention to Swaybuk, “Is that right?”

“Yes, Sir,” Swaybuk said, removing his arms from around Anew and standing tall like a soldier. “We have a map back to Mars.”

“How?”

“We asked,” Swaybuk said. “You’re going home to your Phameena and sons, Sire.”

Jeanip smiled broadly. “In that case, give Anew a big kiss for me too.”

“How many are there?” Earon asked, seeing the large crystals cases hanging on the wall in the cavern.

“One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,” Weenow replied, smiling at the astonished look on his face. It was the same look he had seen on Mary and Amber’s when they first saw the sleeping colonists.

“And you have protected them all these millennia?” Earon asked.

“It was FarCore who protected them,” Weenow replied. “And still does. It put me in suspended animation also, possibly fearing JeffRa’s destruction could somehow reach me inside these protected walls.”

“And those other two caverns are filled with the lifeforms of Mars?” Earon asked, still trying to comprehend everything.

“Yes, for the day when Mars will become a living planet again,” Weenow answered. “Mary has told me about these beings called humans. With the help of other aliens, they are trying to bring life back to this planet.”

“She told you the truth,” Earon said. “But what I still do not understand is why you, I mean FarCore, took the girls.”

“I am not sure, but I believe somehow FarCore recognized Mary as being part of the Orbs,” Weenow stated. “And as such, she could hold the key to repairing the window. But more importantly, it realized that there was another part of Mary that lived in another body. Her sister. While the Orbs’ power can be used outside of FarCore, there is no way for FarCore to send itself outside to accomplish things. It needs an instrument, some structure to channel its power through. Like the obelisk.”

“Or a set of identical twins,” Mary smiled. “FarCore knew Amber would know something was wrong and would come to find me. Together, we formed a bridge it could work through.”

“Yes. But that would only work if one was inside and the other outside. Why bring both in here?” Earon asked.

“I have been pondering that question ever since Amber arrived,” Weenow answered. “I could find no reason for both sisters to be here together. I thought perhaps it was to heal the window faster. The blood of two sisters would heal the window much quicker, but then I realized there was only one of me and I could not offer enough to combine with two sisters’ blood. Even an Ancient has limitations. Then I thought perhaps there was something the girls had to do together, but I could discover nothing to indicate that either.”

“So you do not know why it took Amber?”

“Because I asked it to,” Amber stated. “The day I stood before the obelisk, I requested to see Mary. Next thing I knew, I was in here with her.”

“Could the reason be that simple?” Earon questioned.

“FarCore is a simple place,” Weenow said.

“Plus, Amber had no way of knowing we knew what to do,” Mary added. “She did not know we accidentally figured out how to mend the window. And we had no way to tell her, or our parents, that I was safe and the secret I had uncovered.”

“Then, apparently, that is why the obelisk let me in,” Earon stated. “Because I asked so I could bring Amber her suit and send her and Mary home.”

“No, Uncle, I cannot leave,” Mary said.

“I am not leaving you here,” Earon adamantly stated. “You and you sister are returning to Mars and then back to Earth to your parents and grandparents.”

“If Mary goes, I cannot repair the Window of Universes,” Weenow said.

“I will stay, and you can use my blood,” Earon replied, determined he would not leave Mary behind.

“I mean no disrespect, Your Majesty, but you are not connected to the Orbs,” Weenow said. “You may be a monarch and wear the amulet, but your connection is very weak. Only Mary or Amber’s blood can heal the broken glass.”

“No,” Earon said, rising and swirling around the room. “I will not leave her behind. I cannot.”

“Uncle, please,” Mary said. “I need to finish what I started. It is imperative that I stay. You need to take Amber back to safety and tell Grandfather and Grandmother about what we found hidden here. Then I need you to find Uncles Jeanip and Swaybuk, Anew and the others. Please.”

Earon thought for a moment, thinking about what Europa would do, would say, if he left Mary behind and they could never retrieve her. He could not sentence his sister to any more loss. “No. It’s out of the question. I WILL NOT LOSE ANYONE ELSE!”

Without saying a word, Weenow walked over and retrieved from the table of Orbs a trinket. He then walked over to Earon, took his hand and placed the toy in his palm. As Earon stared in disbelief, his legs began to tremble and he collapsed onto a nearby rock. “Where did you get this?” he asked.

Not knowing why their uncle had reacted so, the twins looked into his palm at a hand-carved tantar, a flying creature from Europa. “It is a tantar,” Amber said, seeing no significance to the toy.

Earon looked up into the Ancient’s face. “How?”

“Mary tells me that an Oonock’s essence flows out into the Waters of Life when they die,” Weenow said. “There, everything they were continues. Loved ones are reunited, wrongs are forgiven. It is a time of great happiness. We Ancients have our essence encased in a crystal that is taken back to our homeworld and placed upon the holy mountain. There, we are combined with those that have gone before us. I do not know which belief is right. Perhaps they both are. But what I do know is that sometimes, when a love is adamant, the essence of someone gone can take shape.”

“Like Great-Grandmother Medaron can?” Mary asked.

“Kind of, but I believe it’s a little different than that,” Weenow said, remembering the stories Mary told him about Queen Medaron’s ability to transform her essence into a watery figure and talk to them. “This occurrence can transcend the universe. Such an event happened while I was rejuvenating in the crystal two days ago. In my mind, I saw a young Oonock with lilac eyes and glowing hair. He held that object in his hand. He said someone very special had given it to him the day he left Europa for Earth. He never knew why she did that until after he died.”

“Did he tell you his name?” Amber asked.

“Terrance,” Weenow said. “Prince Terrance Abraham Waters.”

“Phameena gave TJ the tantar as a going away present,” Earon said, as he stared at the impossible toy. “So he would never forget his, his. . .” He stopped and looked at his two nieces. He could not say “his mother,” for only a few knew Phameena was TJ’s biological mother. “So he would never forget his aunt.”

“He asked that I give it back to you so that you can return it to her,” Weenow said. “He also told me to tell you it was not your fault, his death. Did you hear me, Your Majesty? It was not your fault. Neither the Orbs nor the Fates were punishing you.” Earon wept again for the loss of his first hatched son, but this time the tears brought a sense of peace and closure. At last, he realized his once hateful wishes did not cause his son’s death. “Come, Princesses, let’s see if we can repair some of that window while your uncle contemplates leaving Mary here.”