The Secret of Mars

“Leader Gart, there are three starships headed toward the planet,” a male lizard stated.

“Are they pirates?” Klonc asked. “Could they have followed your ships here in hopes of kidnapping the princess?”

“No, our ships are undetectable,” Gart confirmed. “If pirates, they might be checking the surrounding planets in hopes of locating survivors. Or they might be space explorers looking for new resources or places to discover. Whichever, we will be safe here. Rii, shield the complex. Make sure they detect nothing.”

“Shield already up,” the Commander replied.

“What happens if they decide to land?” a worried Klonc asked.

“Do not worry, Protector. We have centuries of practice hiding from spaceships. If they try to land, we will emit an electrical field that will disrupt their ships.” They watched as the three starships continued to grow closer, finally reaching the outer defense ring of their planet. “Rii, if they come any closer, emit the field enough to make them think twice about landing here.”

“Yes, Leader Gart.”

“Princess Amber, I want Lord Clute and Lady Critchee to take you and your team to the caverns below,” Gart said. “If these idiots try to land, they will take you down beneath the sea and hide you.” He turned to Lord Clute. “Use the training pool. It is less dense. Be sure they wear breathing apparatus.”

“Yes, Leader Gart. This way, Your Majesty.”

“While I appreciate the gesture, we Oonocks do not run from a fight,” Amber stated. “If my presence has endangered your people, we will stand and fight beside you.”

“Spoken like a true monarch,” Lady Critchee said. She smiled at Gart. “Told you she’d say that.”

“That you did,” Gart stated. He walked over to the princess, took her hand and brought it to his lips. “While I appreciate your willingness to fight beside us, Princess, I must insist.”

“Well, thankfully, she will neither have to fight beside you or take refuge,” Klonc said, quickly sliding in between Gart and his princess, breaking the leader’s hold of her hand. “Those three ships are from Earth. And they’re Oonock.”

“Oonock? How can you tell?” Amber excitedly asked.

“Observe your communications screen,” Klonc answered. Everyone turned to look and saw on the screen, bigger than life, the symbol of Earth’s Oonocks – three broken circles with a warrior to the left, holding a sword that crossed the rings.

“Anyone could send such a message,” Gart said.

“But only our people could do this,” Klonc answered. He raised his arm to show his communications bracelet. It was blinking purple – three short beeps, two long and three short. “That is a unique code given to the other guards and me when we were assigned the mission of escorting Princess Amber to Setus Three.”

“I never knew about a secret code,” Amber said.

“No, Your Majesty,” Klonc answered. “King Kiijon and your father knew what a dangerous place space could be, even with the peace patrols. In case you were ever in need of rescue a secured code was established, one that only King Kiijon, Head Commander Jazee, and your ten soldiers would know. Not even your father was told the combination.”

“What is someone leaked the codes?” Gart questioned. “Or that one of your guards accidentally slipped and gave away the code?”

“Your Leadership, an Oonock soldier would die before revealing the code,” Lord Clute quickly replied. “All Oonocks swear their loyalty and love to the monarchs.”

“But you yourself told me of one who broke that vow,” Gart stated, equally as fast in responding. “I believe his name was Jerrif or something.”

“JeffRa,” Lord Clute corrected. “Yes, JeffRa broke his most sacred vow and almost destroyed our monarchs, and our race.”

“Who is to say it did not happen again?” Gart asked.

“Each soldier was given a unique code that was specific only to him or her,” Klonc replied. “To ensure only one of the ten would receive the code, each bracelet is also designed to recognize only one soldier. If the bracelet’s identity and code do not match, no signal will be received.”

“Ingenious,” Gart said. “Lord Clute, you never told me of such securities.”

“I did not know,” he honestly answered.

“The Oonocks of Earth fought JeffRa off and on for the past six thousand years,” Amber announced. “Plus, during this same period, we had to conceal ourselves from that planet’s sentient lifeforms, humans. Our Commanders and leaders had to be very creative in security measures. You may allow those three starships to land.”

“I am still not comfortable doing so, Your Majesty,’ Gart said. “How could they have possibly known you were here?”

“My mother,” Amber replied, a loving smile on her face. “I am not sure how she did it, but she found me. My soldiers have come to take me to my sister.”

“Do as the Princess asks. Turn off the electrical field,” Gart ordered. “But I would like to perform one more test before we unshield the planet. Rii, open up communications.”

As instructed, Rii opened up just enough of the shield covering to permit a transmission through. He was able to contact the ships with no problem. “A message is coming through now.” As all watched, the screen before them changed to Kliinew.

“Klonc, where is our Princess?” he immediately asked, bypassing all the others in the room.

“I am here, Kliinew,” Amber said, stepping into view. “I am well and unharmed.”

“Thank goodness, Your Majesty.” Kliinew raised his hand to his forehead and bowed slightly. “Cring, contact King Kiijon and Prince Enok immediately. Tell them the bird is home.” He then turned his attention back to his princess. “If someone would send us coordinates, we will land and take you to Mars.”

Gart nodded to the officer on duty. “Give him the coordinates for the landing station. It appears our guest’s ride has arrived.”

When Kliinew and the three ships landed, they were quite surprised to find a thriving colony of Oonocks living on the planet. “This is unbelievable. For six thousand years we’ve waited to discover what happened to the other ships, and now we find six in just a matter of years.”

“Princess Amber told us of four,” Lord Clute stated. “And we make five. Who is the sixth ship?”

“Shortly after Princess Amber left for Setus Three, we received word that Starship Nineteen was spotted orbiting planet 318-X,” Kliinew replied. “She was pretty beat up, and it is unknown if there are any surviving Oonocks. A probe has been launched to investigate if there are any of our people alive on the planet. But it will be some time before we receive any data.”

Lady Critchee looked at her mate. “Starship Nineteen was Lord Devin’s. If my memory serves me correctly, Commander Tribbledorf commanded her. It contained members of several clans, including the only VeeRay to go into space. I believe there were eight.”

“Six went. I specifically remember because everyone was amazed that any VeeRay decided to go.” Lord Chute turned his attention to Kliinew. “Wouldn’t it more prudent to send a manned investigation team to determine if there are Oonocks alive or not?”

“King Kiijon and Staybo decided against that course of action,” Kliinew replied. “The planet is very hostile and located outside the protection of the Alliance. Even though it will take longer, it was felt safer to have an unmanned probe do the preliminary inspection. If there are signs that Oonocks do exist there, then details will be worked out for a manned expedition. Since you were with the original group who ventured further out into space, might you know where any of the other starships went?”

“No. Our ship must have been impacted by Creeno’s implosion, for we soon developed engine trouble as we were leaving our solar system,” Lady Critchee replied. “Luckily, we were able to find this beautiful planet to land on.”

“It was a miracle that we landed safely,” Lord Clute added. “The planet’s naturally occurring magnetic field caused havoc with our instruments. Made it impossible to navigate or send out a distress call. Thankfully, we landed in a swamp grove of spongy vegetation. It minimized our impact, but Starship Six could never fly again. Her hull was smashed, and the engines were speared by some trees that punched through the hull. If any of the other ships came back looking for us, they would not have been able to find us. The planet’s shield hid us from their radar, just as it hid them from us. It wasn’t until centuries later, when we became friends with the Caberan, that we helped them develop the technology to scan outside the magnetic field and open a passage large enough to get a spacecraft through.”

“And Princess, you’re sure you are alright?” Kliinew asked.

“Yes, Kliinew, I am fine,” Amber answered. “And very happy to see you and the others.”

The Commander looked around for the princess’s protector. “Where is Cainbow? Why is she not at your side?”

A sad look overshadowed Amber’s face. “We lost her in our fight with the pirates.”

“Pirates?” Kliinew asked, his voice slightly elevated, his eyebrows rising in concern. “Your grandparents and parents will not like that. How did you manage to escape?”

“Klonc will give you a detailed report of our journey. But first, I want to introduce you to the reason I am still alive. This is our host, the Supreme Leader of this planet, Leader Gart.” She lightly placed her hand on the Caberan’s shoulder.

Kliinew raised his hand to his forehead and bowed deeply. “Supreme Leader Gart, on behalf of King Kiijon and Queen Europa, along with Prince Enok, Jr. and Mistress Medaron, I sincerely thank you for your assistance. What may I offer you for all that you have done?”

“No thanks is needed,” Gart said, smiling at Amber. “It was my pleasure to rescue her. She is a most amazing creature.” He paused for a moment, then added, “But, if I might ask, I would like to fulfill the promise I made her and accompany her to Mars.”

“I don’t see why that can’t be arranged,” Kliinew stated. “If Her Majesty has no objections.”

“None at all.” Amber smiled.

“I am sure Leader Gart is needed here,” Klonc immediately responded, actually overstepping his bounds both verbally and physically, as he stepped forward, placing himself between the two beings once more. Kliinew gave him an odd look, wondering why he was questioning the princess’s decision and his agreement. Was he missing something? Was Gart not to be trusted?

Seeing the awkwardness in the situation, Lord Clute stepped forward. “If there’s room, Lady Critchee and I would also like to accompany you and perhaps travel to this Earth to meet the new king and queen.”

“Yes,” Lady Critchee promptly responded. “We feared we were the only Oonocks left in the universe. It will be wonderful to meet other Oonocks, perhaps see old friends.”

“Maybe even establish an exchange program,” Lord Clute suggested, hoping to keep the subject away from Leader Gart and the princess. “Have some of Earth’s Oonocks come here, and ours go there. Maybe even diversify our gene pool with some new joinings. Just think of the possibilities.” Since the FarCore portal, and its entrance allowing passage between Europa and Earth was still a secret, he silently added, “And Lady Critchee and I would love to visit our homeworld. To swim in her waters again, see the golden palace. Well, I can’t tell you what it would mean.” He reached up and wiped a tear from his eye.

“Then, if no one, including Klonc, has no objections, we’ll plan to leave tomorrow at 0-six hundred,” Kliinew announced. “Your Lord and Ladyship are most welcome. On behalf of my king and queen, I look forward to the exchange.” He looked at Klonc once more, waiting for an objection. This time the protector held his tongue. He decided it best to talk with the Commander in private about his concern over the growing friendship of Amber and Gart.

“Since you appear to be in Klonc’s capable hands, I will return to my ship and prepare for tomorrow’s departure. If you have no further need of me, Your Majesty, I will take my leave,” Kliinew stated.

“Make it so,” Amber replied.

“Perhaps you and your men would like to join us for night meal,” Gart invited. “We farm piiquid here and have several interesting recipes for it.”

“Piiquid? Really?” an astonished Kliinew stated. “While I thank you for your invitation, I must decline. I have much to do before tomorrow.” He bowed, raising his hand to his forehead. “Good night, Your Majesty.” He turned, then paused momentarily, remembering Klonc’s actions. “Klonc, report to me before Evening Meal.”

“Yes, Sir,” a happy Klonc replied.

“Oh, thank the Waters of Life,” Jeanip stated upon hearing the news that Amber was found safe and alive. “And you say she found Starship Six, as well as Lord Clute and Lady Critchee? I must say, Oonocks are popping up everywhere.”

“That they are,” laughed Earon. “Kliinew reported some species called Caberan saved her from some pirates and that the leader is accompanying her here. They are a cross between a lizard and a human, both aquatic and land-based animals.”

“Pirates? I don’t like the sound of that!” Jeanip grumbled. “I thought that Expanse of Space was supposed to be safe? We may have to restrict our Oonocks’ travel in the future if their safety cannot be assured.”

“It is safe, but some unsecured arrangements were made to get Amber to Mars,” Earon explained. “Apparently, she refused to wait for a standard transport next month. She insisted upon leaving immediately and take whatever transportation they could find.”

“I see our Princess needs a reminder of proper safety traveling protocols,” Jeanip grumbled again.

“I have the feeling Amber learned her lesson on this one,” Earon replied. “But things could have gone terribly wrong. She was very lucky.”

“That she was.”

“Kiijon also said that Klonc voiced some concerns over this leader. I think he said his name was Gort or Gert. Anyway, Klonc felt this being is getting too close to Amber, and Kiijon wants you to check him out. And Europa added for you to be nice about it. He is her rescuer.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Jeanip smiled. “If he’s hanging around our girl, I’ll check him out alright. And I’ll be nice. I always am.” Both he and Earon burst into laughter.

“Right! Like you checked out Terrance when he was interested in Europa? Do not forget that I was there when you tried to cut his heart out on the way to Saint’s Isle,” Earon laughed.

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?

“Nope.”

“When did you say they’re due to arrive?”

“Around fourteen hundred tomorrow.”